Opening Trends (III): More Gibraltar

The English, KID and London are trendy

Traditionally, the Gibraltar Masters, a ten-round Swiss tournament, is the first big open of the year. This year almost 250 players from 58 countries took part, among them 95 Grandmasters and 53 International Masters. 14 players had a rating of 2700 or more and the Elo-average of all participants was 2375, a number only a few open tournaments which will be played in 2019 will reach. The strength of the Gibraltar Masters indicates how relevant the games played in this tournament are for current opening theory. Moreover, the Gibraltar Open is played according to Sofia Rules: draws before move 30 are not allowed, a rule which increases the theoretical relevance of the games. In rounds 1 to 7, every player had the right to take a "bye" for which he or she would receive half a point without playing the round.

Numbers: Is Black the new White?

After the World Championship Match Carlsen vs Caruana in London chess players started to wonder whether it's still an advantage to play with White. After all, it's usually Black who decides which direction the opening will take. However, the results in the Gibraltar Masters clearly favour White: White won 411 games, 297 ended with a draw and Black won 292 games.

1.e4 was played in 45% of all games in the Masters. Yesterday we looked at the trendy Black responses.

1.d4 was played in about a third of all games.

1.Nf3 (12%) and 1.c4 (9%) were much less popular opening moves. In ChessBase Magazine 187 Evgeny Postny recommended a line against the English which Maxime Vachier-Lagrave likes to play. In Gibraltar, the French grandmaster had a chance to try it again. 

ChessBase Magazine 187

Anand, So, Gelfand, Duda, Shankland, Navara, Adams, etc. annotate the games of the WCh match. Chess Olympiad with video specials by Pelletier. Plus 11 opening articles with new repertoire idesas, e.g. 1.e4 Nc6 or a new recipe in the London System!

Kiik vs Vachier-Lagrave | Photo: John Saunders

If you want to reach a Nimzo-Indian with Black after 1.c4 you better know what to do against the Mikenas-Flohr system. 

At the Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk aan Zee 2019 German talent Vincent Keymer, who started in the Challengers, played two interesting games with White against the Mikenas-Flohr system but got nothing tangible in the line with 5...Ne4 and in Howell-Nakamura in Gibraltar White again failed to get anything in the opening. Currently, it is White's turn to come up with something in the line.

English Mikenas System A18 - CBM 149

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 d5 4.e5 d4 5.exf6 dxc3 6.bxc3 Qf6 7.d4 e5 8.Nf3 exd4 9.Bg5 Qe6+ 10.Be2 — After the developments of recent years, the position in the diagram has crystallised into the critical one for the evaluation of the whole line. As Evgeny Postny shows, Black probably has nothing to fear here.

King's Indian revival?

Things are easier for King's Indian devotees. They can simply offer White to transpose into the main lines.

After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 the move 2...e6 (to reach a Nimzo-Indian) was twice as popular as the move 2...g6. However, after 2...g6 the Grünfeld and the King's Indian were about equally popular.

Dragon specialist Gawain Jones showed that "his" patterns are also relevant in the King's Indian. 

King's Indian: A modern approach

Bologan: "If you study this DVD carefully and solve the interactive exercises you will also enrich your chess vocabulary, your King's Indian vocabulary, build up confidence in the King's Indian and your chess and win more games."

Jones (with Black) does not mind a fianchetto | Photo: John Saunders

Click or tap the second game in the list to switch

The Nimzo-Indian is considered to be more solid and more positional than the King's Indian but the results in Gibraltar favoured the latter: in 69 King's Indian games Black scored 54.3% but against the Nimzo-Indian, it was White who scored better. Here are two nice attacking games which White won.

Click or tap the second game in the list to switch

A lifetime repertoire: Play the Nimzo Indian

This DVD provides everything you need to know to be able to play one of the most classical openings with Black, the Nimzo-Indian, arising after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4. Nearly every World Championship and top tournament features the Nimzo-Indian.

The Benoni and the Benko were only rarely played in Gibraltar.

The Dutch Grandmaster Sipke Ernst unearthed an old line of the Trompowsky to quickly outplay his opponent. But the Dutch opening did not fare well in Gibraltar: White scored 8½/9!

Click or tap the second game in the list to switch

Trompowsky for the attacking player

Tap into your creative mind and start the game on a fresh note. The Trompowsky (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5) is an opening outside of conventional wisdom. Create challenges and make your opponent solve problems early on.

Cheparinov was one of several on the losing side of a Dutch | Photo: Niki Riga

The London System

The easy-to-learn London is about five times more popular with amateurs than with professionals. Thus, if you want to avoid the London, you should take care that your next tournament has a number of professionals!

The London can transpose into a Caro-Kann. The player who had Black in the game below is one of the many talented Indian players. Last year in Gibraltar he needed to make an IM-norm to get the title and even made a GM-norm. However, against the London he still had to suffer.

30-minute training: Learn to play the London System

Links

• Opening trends (I): St. Petersburg
• Opening trends (II): Gibraltar
• Gibraltar: Loving life on the Rock
• All stories on Gibraltar 2019
• Official site