ChessBase
Magazine #159
Review by Prof Nagesh Havanur
Way back in 1980s and 1990s Jan represented the Western challenge to the
Soviet domination of world chess. In a way he was a worthy heir to Fischer
and Larsen. He also founded the New in Chess magazine that continues
to thrive after 25 years. Nowadays Jan plays less. So it was a pleasant
surprise to see him in Wijk aan Zee tournament this year. Playing in “B”
section he shared second place with Baadur Jobava with 8.5/13. Not bad for
a 62-year-old veteran, and the games were always interesting…
In the following position he missed a combination that he found only after
the game. Can you see what he it was?
Black to play |
In the “A” section Levon Aronian won, and in this issue you
would find a special report and all the games. But the event everyone waited
for was Zürich Chess Challenge, with Carlsen participating in his new
avatar as world champion. He had come in for some serious criticism for
his negative tactics in the title match at Chennai. In Zürich, however,
he was a cavalier without reproach, playing in uninhibited style. Deservedly,
he came first. But the tournament was not a one man show. Caruana won the
rapid event and along with Aronian beat Carlsen, drawing close to him in
the final rankings. This issue includes games from both the main event and
the rapid tournament. Blitz games, however, are missed. The most dramatic
encounter in the main event was obviously the game, Nakamura-Carlsen.
Here the critical position occurs after the
36th move:
[Event "Zurich Chess Challenge 2014"] [Site "Zurich SUI"] [Date "2014.02.01"]
[Round "3"] [White "Nakamura, Hi"] [Black "Carlsen, M."] [Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E20"] [WhiteElo "2789"] [BlackElo "2872"] [PlyCount "122"] [EventDate
"2014.01.29"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Be7 6. e4 dxe4
7. fxe4 e5 8. d5 Bc5 9. Bg5 O-O 10. Nf3 Bg4 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 Nbd7
13. O-O-O Bd4 14. Ne2 c5 15. g4 a5 16. Kb1 Ra6 17. Ng3 g6 18. h4 a4 19.
Rh2 Qa5 20. Bd2 Qc7 21. g5 Ne8 22. h5 Rb6 23. Bc1 Rb3 24. Qg4 Nb6 25.
Be2 Nd6 26. Rdh1 Bxb2 27. Bxb2 Nbxc4 28. Bxc4 Nxc4 29. hxg6 Qb6 30. g7
Rd8 31. Qh4 Rxb2+ 32. Ka1 Rxh2 33. Rxh2 Qg6 34. Nf5 Re8 35. Qg4 Qb6 36.
Qh3 Qg6 {[#]} 37. d6 $2 ({In this issue Daniel King offers} 37. Qf1 $1
b5 (37... Na5 38. Qb5 $18 {Kavalek}) 38. Rxh7 $1 Qxh7 (38... Kxh7 39.
Qh1+ $18) 39. Nh6+ $18) ({Elsewhere in the issue Michal Krasenkow suggests}
37. Qf3 $1 {without further analysis. Now the interesting attempt} Nd6
$5 {is met by} 38. Nxd6 $1 ({But not} 38. Rh6 $2 Qxg5 $1 39. Rxd6 (39.
Rh1 $2 Nxf5 40. Qxf5 Qxf5 41. exf5 Kxg7 $19) 39... Qc1+ $11) 38... Qxd6
39. Rh6 Qd7 40. Qh1 $18) ({Carlsen himself offered the waiting move} 37.
Rh1 $1 {It guards the back rank against the kind of rook check seen in
the game, and now there is no way of preventing the advance of the d-pawn.}
b5 38. d6 $18) 37... Nxd6 38. Nxd6 Rd8 $1 39. Nc4 $6 (39. Nc8 $1 Kxg7
40. Ne7 Rd1+ 41. Ka2 Qe6+ 42. Qxe6 fxe6 43. Rh6 {still offered White a
few winning chances.}) ({It's too late for } 39. Nf5 $2 Rd1+ 40. Ka2 Qe6+
41. Kb2 Qb6+ 42. Kc2 Qb1+ 43. Kc3 Qb3# {-Kavalek }) 39... Qxe4 40. Qh5
$2 (40. Ne3 $1 Qd3 41. Nf5 Qd1+ 42. Kb2 Rd2+ 43. Rxd2 Qxd2+ $11 {-Kavalek})
40... Rd3 $1 41. Rh4 Qf5 42. Qe2 b5 43. Nd2 Qxg5 44. Qxd3 Qxh4 45. Ne4
Kxg7 46. Qf3 (46. Nxc5 $4 Qd4+ $1 $19) 46... Qf4 47. Qg2+ Kf8 48. Kb2
h5 49. Nd2 h4 50. Kc2 b4 51. axb4 cxb4 52. Qa8+ Kg7 53. Qxa4 h3 54. Qb3
h2 55. Qd5 e4 56. Qh5 e3 57. Nf3 e2 58. Kb3 f6 59. Ne1 Qg3+ 60. Ka4 Qg1
61. Qxe2 Qa7+ 0-1
In fairness to Nakamura it should be mentioned that he was in dire time
trouble and took recourse to a move that turned out to be a mirage.
This issue also covers the Gibralter Open won by Ivan Cheparinov after
a rapid tie-break with Nikita Vitiugov and Vassily Ivanchuk. I was curious
to know what happened to Vassily. He survived more than one scare and went
down before Vitiugov in a wild game.
Ordinarily rapid and blitz games are not annotated in ChessBase Magazine.
Perhaps there is a need for change in this policy. Many players see ChessBase
Magazine as an important source of annotated games. If such games are not
explained in the magazine it is not easy to follow them. After a little
search I found the game on the ChessBase news page itself, with fine annotations
by Alejandro Ramirez.
[Event "Gibraltar Masters TB 2014"] [Site "Caleta ENG"] [Date "2014.02.06"]
[Round "1.3"] [White "Vitiugov, Nikita"] [Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Result
"1-0"] [ECO "D28"] [WhiteElo "2737"] [BlackElo "2739"] [Annotator "Ramirez
Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2014.02.06"] [SourceDate
"2014.01.04"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O
Nc6 {Committing the knight to c6 is not the usual approach in the Queen's
Gambit Accepted. The move a6 first is preferred, although it scores horrendously
at the grandmaster level.} 7. Qe2 a6 8. Rd1 {This is the difference with
the move order, White doesn't need to fear b5 here.} b5 9. Bb3 $6 (9.
dxc5 $1 Qc7 10. Bd3 Bxc5 11. a4 $14) 9... c4 10. Bc2 Nb4 11. e4 Bb7 12.
d5 {The central expansion looks dangerous, but both players are out of
their opening theory knowledge.} Nxc2 13. dxe6 $6 {Fighting chess. Black
isn't actually forced to sacrifice anything here, but Ivanchuk sees a
chance.} Nxa1 (13... Qc7 14. exf7+ Qxf7 15. Qxc2 Bc5 $17 {with obvious
compensation for the pawn.}) 14. Rxd8+ Rxd8 15. exf7+ Kxf7 16. Ng5+ Kg8
{Black has more than enough material for the queen, the question is wether
his king will survive and will his knight be rescued from a1.} 17. e5
Ne4 18. Ne6 Re8 19. Nxf8 Kxf8 20. f3 Nc5 21. Be3 Nd3 22. Bd4 Rd8 23. Bb6
Rd5 24. f4 Kf7 $2 {A bad blunder. It was already mandatory to ptay attention
to the knight. The king is actually safer on f8 than on f7.} (24... Nxf4
$1 25. Qf3 Ke8 $1 {The knight on f4 is poisoned, so the game turns very
complex.} 26. Nc3 $13 (26. Qxf4 Rd1+ 27. Kf2 Rf8 $19)) 25. Nc3 h5 26.
e6+ Ke7 27. Nxd5+ Bxd5 28. f5 {Black's still ahead in material, but that
knight is doomed and his king is unsafe.} Kd6 29. Bd4 Rg8 30. Qxh5 Nc2
31. Bb6 Kc6 32. Qf7 Rc8 33. Qd7+ Kxb6 34. Qxc8 Nd4 35. h3 Nxf5 36. e7
Nxe7 37. Qd8+ Kc6 38. Qxe7 Nxb2 39. Qxg7 Na4 40. h4 c3 41. h5 c2 42. Qg6+
{Truly complex game, but one in which Ivanchuk got lost on his own.} 1-0
This brings me to other sections of the issue. There are as many as 13
opening surveys from King’s Gambit to Queen’s Indian. Among
them Moskalenko’s essay on the Budapest and Marin’s piece on
the Winawer are noteworthy. However, it’s Martin Breutigam’s
writing on King’s Gambit that is the icing on the cake. I used to
believe John Shaw’s recent work, The King’s Gambit
(Quality Chess 2013), was the last word on this opening. Breutigam’s
analysis, however, advances the frontiers of theory further.
Of late contributors to CBM have shown a remarkable interest in the evolution
of theory. In this issue landmark games by old masters, Rubinstein and Maroczy
receive attention. So also games of Petrosian and Korchnoi. Every bit is
relevant and nothing out of context. Garry would have approved.
In addition there are trademark sections on strategy, tactics and the endgame.
In all there are 1759 OTB games of which 92 are annotated. Last, but not
least there are 41 correspondence chess games annotated by Robert Alvarez
and Juan Morgado. I would have loved to see a little more prose by way of
explanation in their notes. These veterans know a lot, and we need to share
their understanding.
The move that Timman missed (see above) was...
[Event "Wijk-aan-Zee 'B' 2014 "] [Site "?"] [Date "2014.01.22"] [Round
"?"] [White "Goudriaan, Etienne"] [Black "Timman, Jan"] [Result "*"] [SetUp
"1"] [FEN "2b2k2/2q2p2/r4P1p/p7/1p2Q3/1P2P3/Pp4PP/5RK1 b - - 0 32"] [PlyCount
"1"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] {In the game Timman played the prosaic move}
32... Be6 {and still won anyway.} ({Afterwards Timman discovered} 32...
Rxf6 $1 33. Rxf6 Qe7 $1 34. Qxe7+ Kxe7 35. Rf1 Bf5 $19) *
Recommended – Order
ChessBase Magazine here
All Opening Surveys in CBM #159
Check out if there are anything here that is suitable for you. There's
a free sample at the end...
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Schandorff: English A37
1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nf3 d6 6.0-0 Bf5
The setup suggested by Lars Schandorff with 6...Bf5 has seldom been
seen in practice so far. The intention is ...Dd7 followed up by ...Bh3.
The plan is extremely simple, but generally achieves its aim – equality
– quite safely. |
|
Moskalenko: Budapest Gambit A52
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Nf3 Bc5 5.e3 Nc6
Richard Rapport’s spectacular win with black over Boris Gelfand caused
Viktor Moskalenko to put these variations under the microscope. Surprisingly,
it is hard to demonstrate an opening advantage for White and in practice
Black scores well. |
|
Krasenkow: Benoni A70
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Bd3
Bg7 8.h3 0-0 9.Nf3 b5 10.Nxb5
The setup with Bd3 and h3 is extremely dangerous for Black. Michal
Krasenkow can, e.g., point to his score of 18.5 out of 20. Theoretically
9...b5 is the correct move, but our Polish author shows that the practical
problems after 10.Nxb5 are all Black’s. |
|
Kuzmin: Pirc Defence B07
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nbd2 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Bd3 0-0 6.0-0
Actually with this move order White does not so much want to play
the Pirc as simply to avoid the Grünfeld Defence and the King’s Indian.
Objectively speaking, Black can equalise, but as Kuzmin shows, in
most lines White has a very comfortable game. |
|
Postny: Caro-Kann B12
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.dxc5 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.c3 e6
In this variation White absolutely wants to hang on to the c5-pawn,
but in return Black may get the e5-one. But White then often gets
the bishop pair and a lead in development. According to Evgeny Postny
the best way to start is with 7.Be3. |
|
Szabo: Sicilian B81
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e6 7.g4
Compared to the Keres Attack, White often loses a tempo here. This
makes it easier for Black to equalise, but the positions are very
sharp. Krisztian Szabo demonstrates in his article that Black can
count on equality both with 7...d5 and with 7...Be7. |
|
Havasi: Sicilian B90
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3
Be7 8.f3 Be6 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 a5
In this variation of the English Attack, 10...a5 is not the main
move (that is 10...Nbd7), but Gergö Havasi has had good practical
experience with the move of the rook’s pawn. In his article the young
Hungarian explains ideas, motifs and typical patterns. |
|
Marin: French C16
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 b6
Instead of knowledge of variations, what one needs to have in this
very strategic system is an understanding of the plans for both players.
Mihail Marin shows you how things are. There are 22 annotated games,
many of which have extensive comments. |
|
Breutigam: King's Gambit C33
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4
In the second part of his repertoire for Black against the King’s
Gambit Martin Breutigam deals above all with 3.Bc4. His recommendation
is 3...Nf6. He also examines the weaker alternatives on move 3. |
|
Antic: Bogoindian E11
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 a5 5.a3
Who is actually favoured by the insertion of the moves 4...a5 5.a3?
In any case Black should reply 5...Bxd2+ and a comparison with the
4...Bxd2+ variation comes to mind. Dejan Antic has a few interesting
ideas. |
|
Skembris: Queen's Indian E12
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Bf4
No other top player make have included the Miles Variation 4.Bf4
in his repertoire, but Spyridon Skembris, who has played the variation
with both colours, is nevertheless surprised that there is no simple
route to equality for Black. |
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Stohl: Queen's Indian E15
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Nc3
The Queen’s Indian with 5.b3 is the main variation is this opening.
The subsequent sequence of moves has crystallised out as the best
in several games between Aronian and Karjakin. Igor Stohl brings you
right up to date. |
|
Gutman: Nimzoindian E25
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5
Nxd5 8.dxc5 Qa5 9.e4 Nf6 10.Be3 0-0
Carlsen may have preferred 7...exd5 in his WCh match, but the alternative
7...Nxd5 is considered to be the main continuation. Lev Gutman has
investigated the important variation with 9...Nf6 and can see a slight
advantage for White.
|
Free opening survey - download a sample!
Michal
Krasenkow: "A Challenger" (Modern Benoni with 7.Bd3 Bg7 8.h3 ...
9...b5 10.Nxb5)
Michal Krasenkow has an excellent performance with the line that he presents
in his article: With the line 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5
5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Bd3 Bg7 8.h3 he scored no fewer selbst einen
exzellenten Score vorweisen: 18,5 out of 20!
After the usual moves 8...0-0 9.Sf3 b5 the Polish GM recommends
to take on b5 not with the bishop but with the knight: 10.Nxb5.
Here Black must choose between two replies, he plays either 10...Nxe4 or
10...Re8 - both moves were played about 200 times (Mega 2014).
But the first reply looses on the spot! White answers 10...Nxe4
with 11.Bxe4 Re8 12.Ng5!! and due to the threat 12...h6 13.Ne6
black is already on the edge of the abyss.
But Krasenkow also for 10...Re8 shows a forced line where
Black can easily go astray, and even after the best movesc, things remain
difficult
for him.
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