Technical Editor: 1M Sergey Soloviov

Cover design by: Kalojan Nachev

Translation by: GM Evgeny Ermenkov

The publishers would like to thank Phil Adams for advice regarding the English translation.

Copyright Denis Yevseev 2011

Printed in Bulgaria by "Chess Stars" tid. - Sofia 1SBN13: 978 954 8782 83-8

Denis Yevseev

Fighting the French: ANew Concept

Chess Stars

Other CHESS STARS Books

Repertoire books:

Opening for White Acc. to Kramnik 1.~f3 by A. Khalifman Volume 1a: Old Indian, rare lines in the Classical Variation, 2006 Volume 1b: The Classical Variation, 2006 Volume 2: Anti-Nim-Ind, Anti-Queen's Indian, English, 2008 Volume 3: English (l...c5), English (four knights), 2011

Opening for White According to Anand 1.e4 by A. Khalifman Volume 8: The Sicilian, Paulsen-Kan and rare lines, 2006 Volume 9: The Sicilian, Paulsen-Taimanov and other lines, 2007 Volume 10: The Sicilian, Sveshnikov, 2007 Volume 11; The Sicilian, Dragon, 2009 Volume 12: The Sicilian, Rauzer Attack, 2009 Volume 13: The Sicilian, English Attack, 2010

Opening for Black According to Karpov by Khalifman

Current theory and practice series:

An Expert's Guide to the 7.Bc4 Gruenfeld by Sakaev, 2006 The Sharpest Sicilian by Kiril Georgiev and At. Kolev, 2007 The Safest Sicilian by Delchev and Semkov, 2nd rev.ed. 2008 The Queen's Gambit Accepted by Sakaev and Semkov, 3rd. rev. ed., 2008 The Easiest Sicilian by Kolev and Nedev, 2008 The Petrosian System Against the QID by Beliavsky and Mikhalchishin, 2008 Kill K.I.D. by Semko Semkov, 2009 The King's Indian. A Complete Black Repertoire by Victor Bologan, 2009 The Scotch Game for White by Vladimir Barsky, 2009 The Modern Philidor Defence by Vladimir Barsky, 2010 The Moscow & Anti-Moscow Variations by Alexey Dreev, 2010 Squeezing the Gambits by Kiril Georgiev, 2010 The French Defence. A Complete Black Repertoire by Nikita Vitiugov, 2010 A Universal Weapon l.d4 d6 by Vladimir Barsky, 2010 The Meran & Anti-Meran Variations by Alexey Dreev, 2011 The Safest Grunfeld by Alexander Delchev and Evgenij Agrest, 2011

More details at www.chess-stars.com

Contents

Preface .............................................. 8

Part 1. The Rubinstein Variation 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d.5 3.tld2 clxe4 4.tlxe4

1 Various; 4 tlf6 Quick Repertoire .................................... 14 Step by Step ................................. 16 Complete Garnes ............................ 31

2 4 .ld7 Quick Repertoire .................................... 39 Step by Step ................................. 41 Complete Garnes. . 55

3 4 tld7 Quick Repertoire .................................... 65 Step by Step ................................. 69 Complete Garnes ........................... 105

Part 2. All Other Black Replies 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.tld2

4 3 g6; 3 b6; 3 tle7 Quick Repertoire .................................... 117 Step by Step ................................. 124 Complete Garnes ............................ 143

5 3 tlc6 Quick Repertoire .................................... 151 Step by Step ................................. 154 Complete Garnes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

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6 3 . J.e7 Quick Repertoire .................................... 183 Step by Step ................................. 186 Complete Games. . . . . . . 195

7 3 h6; 3 a6 Quick Repertoire .................................... 202 Step by Step ................................. 206 Complete Games. . . 216

8 3 ... c5 Quick Repertoire .................................... 221 Step by Step ................................. 223 Complete Games. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

9 3 .. ~f6 Quick Repertoire .................................... 233 Step by Step ................................. 235 Complete Games. . . . . ...... 247

Part 3. The Isolated Queen's Pawn

it 3 . ~f6 4.J.d3 cS S.c3 ~c6 6.~gf3 cxd4 7.cxd4 dxe4 8.~xe4 J.e7 9.0-0 0-0

10.~c3 ............................ 257 10.J.e3 ............................ 268 Complete Games .................. 278

i2 3 ... ~f6 4.J.d3 c5 S.c3 ~c6 6.~gf3 cxd4 7.cxd4 dxe4 8.~xe4 J.b4+ 9.~c3 0-0 10.0-0 b6 11.a3 J.e712.ge1.lb7 13.J.c2 ............................ 285 Complete Games .................. 297

3 3 cS 4.c3 cxd4 S.cxd4 dxe4 6.~xe4 Ab4+ 7 .~c3 ~f6 8.Ad3 0 - 0 9.~f3 b6 10.0-0 Ab711.fte1 1l ... ~bd7 ............................ 310 Complete Games .................. 322

i4 3 . a6 4.~gf3 cS S.c3 ~c6 6.Ad3 cxd4 7.cxd4 dxe4 8.~xe4 Ab4+ 9.~c3 ~f6 10.0-0 0-0 1l.a3 Ae7 12.J1e1. Complete Games .....

336 349

is 3 .. a6 4.~gf3 cS S.c3 ~c6 6.Ad3 cxd4 7.cxd4dxe4 8.~xe4Ae79.0-0 ~f6 10.a3 358 Complete Games. .362

i6 3 .. a6 4.~gfJ cS S.c3 cxd4 6.cxd4 dxe4 7.~xe4~d78.Ad3~gf6 9.0-0 Ae7

10.~eS .............................. 367 Complete Games. . . . . 370

i7 3 cS 4.c3 ~c6 S.~gf3 cxd4 6.cxd4 dxe4 7.~xe4 Ab4+ 8.~c3 ~ge7 9.Ad3 ~dS 10.0-0 .......................... 372 Complete Games. . . 377

PREFACE

The move 1...e6, in response to the initial advance of White's pawn to e4, was tried as early as the 17th century. However, it enjoyed its first wave of popularity during the middle of the 19th century. After the French players scored remarkable victories with this opening in the telegraph match between London and Paris in 1834, it was named the French Defence. Later, the famous Russian master Karl Jaenisch published the first serious analyses of this opening in 1842. At the be-ginning of the 20th century the French Defence became the favourite weapon of numerous great masters. We should mention here the out-standing contribution of the Hungarian maestro Maroczy, who replied to 1.e4 almost exclusively with the French and wrote a monograph on it. Many new ideas and analyses appeared, thanks to great players of the past, such as Chigorin, Alapin, Steinitz, Rubinstein, Nimzowitsch and many others. Based on their analytical work and practical experience, an extensive theory of this opening was created. Most of the strongest chess players in the world have played this opening and this is not at all surprising. It is based on a very solid positional foundation. Black is fighting against White's powerful e4-pawn in the centre and this is in harmony with all the classical principles of playing the opening.

Nowadays the French Defence is one of the most popular open-ing schemes in response to l.e4, so every player who begins his games by advancing his king's pawn two squares will regularly need to play against it. I should like to suggest a new concept of combating it. White plays 3.ltJd2 (1.e4 e6 2.d4 dS 3.ltJd2) and then he deploys his pieces according to the scheme ~gJ, .id3, c3, 0 - 0, against almost anything that Black may play (with only minimal excep-tions), and this will usually lead to exchanges in the centre and the appearance of an isolated queen's pawn for White. Accordingly, after one rarely played move - 3 ... h6, as well as against four very popular variations: 3 ... a6, 3 ... i.e7, 3 ... cS and 3 ... ltJf6, White plays in the same fashion and aims for the same type of position with an isolated pawn in the centre. The scheme of development we have chosen enables us to reduce the study of this tremendously popular opening to a mini-mal number of pawn-structures in the middle game. White thus avoids the necessity to study some fundamental but complicated variations of

8

the French Defence such as, for example, 3 ... lt)f6 4.e5, or 3 ... cS 4.exd5 exd5, as well as many others, all of which demand extensive theoretical knowledge and vast practical experience.

I should like to emphasize that the essence of my new concept is not so much how to play positions with an isolated queen's pawn, but how best to attain them. The most important idea is that White should be striving to reach and play positions of this type.

This book is not an opening monograph in the standard sense of the word. In fact, the majority of the variations analyzed in it deal with one specific pawn-structure, so we have devoted the third part of the book entirely to positions with an isolated queen's pawn, arising from different lines of the French Defence. It is a well known fact that an IQP can arise from various other opening systems. Thus the positions we analyze are quite similar to lines from the Nimzo- Indian Defence, the Panov attack in the Caro-Kann Defence, as well as to some of the varia-tions of the Queen's Gambit Accepted and the Alapin variation against the Sicilian Defence.

It is very difficult to say exactly who was the first player to try out the scheme of development which we suggest here. Readers will find in our book several games by the English grandmaster Jim Plaskett. Among them there are some very beautiful victories and some other games in which he did not play so well. He demonstrated numerous important ideas, most of them in the middle game, in the following encounter, which he won with White in spectacular fashion: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 dS 3.lt)d2 J.e7 4.lt)gf3lt)f6 S.J.d3 cS 6.c3 It)c6 7.0-0 dxe4 8.lt)xe4 cxd4 9.cxd4 0-0

9

10.~c3!? ~b4 ll .ibl b6 12.gel .ib7 13.~eS ~bdS 14.Vd3 gc8

IS.Vh3! ~xc3 16.bxc3 VdS 17 .id2 g6 18 .ic2 VaS 19.Vh4 gxc3 20 .ib3! ~dS 21.Vh6 .ib4 22.~d7! gd8 23 . .ixdS gxd7

24.gxe6! fxe6 2S . .ixe6+ ~h8 26.J.xc3 gd8 27.Vf4 and Black resigned, Plaskett - Short, Great Britain 2000.

In general, the side with an isolated pawn in the centre should try to develop his initiative on the kingside. I will quote here another exam-ple from grandmaster practice: l.e4 e6 2.d4 dS 3.lt:Id2 It:If6 4 .td3 cS S.c3 ~c6 6.~gJ cxd4 7.cxd4 dxe4 8.~xe4 .ib4+ 9.~c3 0-0 10.0-0 .ie711.a3 b612.gel.ib713 . .ic2 ~aS!?

10

14 .t.gS! h6 lS .t.f4! ~c4 16.~eS! ~d6 17.'i'd3 ~f5 lS.gad1 ~dS19.~xdS 'i'xdS 20.'i'h3 ~xd4

21.J.xh6! gfdS 22.gxd4! 'i'xd4 23 .t.gS (it was even stronger for White to play here 23.'i'h5! !:if8 24.i.h7+! ~h8 25.i.e4!+-) 23 J.xgS 24.'i'h7+ ~f8 2S.'i'hS+ ~e7 26.'i'xg7 'i'xeS 27.'i'xeS and White gradually realised his advantage in the game Kornev - Gleizerov, Kalu-ga 2003. No doubt Black's play in these games was far from perfect, but my intention here is to highlight how White should play in such positions.

We have to pay special attention to two other popular replies for Black against 3.1Z1d2: 3 ... dxe4 and 3 ... 1Z1c6. The Rubinstein variation, which begins with 3 ... dxe4, is quite different from all the other lines of the French Defence and is like "an opening within an opening ... " We devote a separate study to it in Part 1.

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The interesting move 3 ... 1ilc6 is another very specific subject within the structure of the French Defence in general, as well as in the context of this book. White must prevent Black from equalizing quickly and rather simply, so he plays in an entirely different manner and positions arise in which the character ofthe fight is quite different. We deal with 3 ... lilc6 in Chapter 5 of our book.

Some very seldom played lines, in particular 3 ... lile7, 3 ... g6, 3 ... b6, as well as a few others, are dealt with in Chapter 4. I will mention that, in reply to them, with only rare exceptions, White should develop his forces according to the same scheme: 1ilgf3, .id3, c3, 0-0. I recom-mend this harmonious set-up as an almost universal weapon for White in the entire complex of variations.

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.Denis Evseev Saint Petersburg, July 2011

Partt The Rubinstein Variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.~d2 dxe4

In this system Black reduces the tension in the centre early and immediately clarifies his inten-tions. He wants to simplify the struggle and patiently complete his development, safely deploying his forces. Then he plans to ex-change several of the minor pieces and carry out the freeing pawn-advance c7-c5. It is evident that Black cannot hope for more than equality even if he plays very ac-curately.

Tournament practice has shown that his opening concept is simple but can be very effective. On the one hand, White is not faced with any serious strategic or tactical problems, so he can choose how to deploy his pieces

and on which flank to evacuate his king. On the other hand, Black's game is simple and quite logical and his position has no real weaknesses, so White must work very hard to obtain an open-ing advantage.

It is interesting that the move 3 ... dxe4 was tried in practice long before Akiba Rubinstein's star be-gan shining in the chess firma-ment. The first games with it were played during the second part of the 19th century and some of the greatest players of the time such as Bird, Paulsen and Emanuel Lasker were involved in them. In fact, although the opening system is named after Rubinstein, this move-order was not often seen in his games.

The Rubinstein variation is tremendously popular nowadays and is considered to be one of the most reliable ways of equalizing out of all the opening systems against l.e4. It is used fairly fre-quently by the majority of the players who have the French De-fence as a regular weapon in their opening armoury.

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Chapter 1 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.~d2 dxe4 4.~xe4

Quick Repertoire

In this chapter, we shall exam-ine all the possibilities for Black apart from the main lines 4 ... id7 and4 ... tt:lbd7.

4 tDf6 Of all the ways for Black to

avoid the main lines (with the ex-ception of the move-orders which lead into them by transposition), this is the only move, which de-serves serious attention and sets White a quite complicated task to obtain an opening advantage. Black has several alternatives in the position of the last diagram and we shall deal with them in the "Step by Step" section.

S.tDxf6+ ~xf6 In this variation, in contrast

with the classical lines in which Black usually fianchettoes his

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light-squared bishop or else de-velops it on the long diagonal via the route d7-c6, he develops his forces according to an entirely different scheme: id6, tt:lc6, 0-0, hoping to quickly advance with e6-eS, opening the c8-h3 diagonal for his bishop.

The bonus for Black in this set-up is that he mobilizes his forces very quickly, but an essential drawback is that his queen is overexposed. Because of this he is forced to play an early h7-h6 and after castling on the kingside, he has great problems defending against White's battery of queen + bishop along the bl-h7 diago-nal.

6.tDf3h6 White's next move 7.i.d3

will create the threat of trapping Black's queen with 8.i.gS, so Black cannot continue the game without this prophylactic move.

7 .id3 .id6 8.0-0 tDc69.c3 0-0 10.'We2 eS

Black has almost completed his development and he has ac-complished the desired pawn-break, but the real fight is just beginning.

11.ti'e4

This marks the start of tactical complications and from this mo-ment right up to Black's 1'1th move, the majority of both sides' moves are practically forced.

11 g6 12.dxe5 ~xe5 13. ~xe5 .i.xe5 14 .i.xh6

White has won a pawn, but his queen and bishops are both under attack, so the forced play contin-ues. Meanwhile, Black should not forget that his rook on fB is hang-ing too.

14 .tf5 15.ti'c4 b5! This is Black's best chance.

With the help ofthis tactical blow, Black saves his rook from the at-tack with tempo and furthermore has the later possibility of pen-etrating to his opponent's second rank.

16.ti'xb5 ~UbS 17.ti'c4 .i.xd3 IS.Ybd3g5

(diagram) White already has two extra

pawns, but his bishop remains endangered in Black's camp.

19.ti'e2! White attacks the enemy bish-

3.l)d2 dxe4 4.ljjxe4

op on e5 and prepares a queen-sortie to the h5-square.

19 gb6 White would be very hap-

py with the variation 19 .. J'!eB? 20.ti'h5 if4 21.h4!

20.gael geS 21 .i.xg5! .i.xh2+!

Black loses after 21...ti'xg5 22.f4+-

22.q;,hl! It is weaker for White to play

22.'it>xh2 because of 22 ... ti'hB+! 22 gxe2 23 .lxf6 gxel

24.gxel gxf6 25. q;,xh2 gxf2 26.geS+ q;,g727.gbS

White has an extra pawn and good winning chances in this rook and pawn ending.

15

Chapterl l.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.~d2 dxe4 4.~xe4

Step by Step

4 ... ~f6 Of all Black's attempts to avoid

the main lines 4 ... i.d7 and 4 ... lLlbd7 (excluding move-orders which lead to them by transposi-tion), this is the only move which deserves thorough atten-tion and creates problems for White to obtain an opening ad-vantage.

The alternatives for Black are: 1) 4 ... e5?! 5.dxe5 - see Chap-

ter 4 (3 ... e5); 2) 4 ... b6 5.lLlf3 - see Chapter

4 (3 ... b6); 3) after 4 ... lLlc6 5.lLlf3 lLlf6 (The

moves 5 ... i.e7 and 5 ... b6 are ana-lyzed in Chapter 5; 5 .. :~d5 6.i.d3 - see 4 .. :~d5) 6.lLlxf6+ ~xf6 (6 ... gxf6 - see Chapter 5) 7.i.d3 h6 8.0-0 i.d6 9.c3 0-0 10.~e2 and

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the game transposes to the main variation B.

4) the position after 4 ... h6 5.lLlf3 lLlbd7 (5 ... lLlf6 6.lLlxf6+ ~xf6 7.i.d3 - see 4 ... lLlf6) 6.i.d3 lLlf6 will be dealt with in Chapter 3;

5) it is rather dubious for Black to play here 4 ... c5?!, since after 5.dxc5 ~xd1 + 6. ~xd1 f5 (He fails to solve his problems if he plays anything else: 6 ... lLlf6 7. lLlxf6+ gxf6 8.i.e3; or 6 ... lLld7 7.i.b5 lLlgf6 8.lLlxf6+ gxf6, Mati-lainen - Olkinuora, Gausdal1996, and now the simplest way for White to maintain a clear advan-tage is 9.i.e3) 7.lLld6+ hd6 8. cxd6 lLlf6 9.i.f4 lLle4 1O.~e1 lLlc6 1l.i.b5 i.d7 12.f3 lLlf6 13.hc6 hc6 14.lLle2 and Black has no compensation for the sacrificed pawn, Lorenzini - Gonzalez, Bue-nos Aires 1997;

6) 4 .. .f5?! He manages in this way to accomplish quickly the planned undermining move in the centre c7 -c5, but too many weaknesses appear in his camp. 5.lLlc3 lLlf6 (after 5 ... c5, White has the powerful riposte 6.d5! exd5 - Black also has great problems

after 6 ... lLlf6 7.i.bS! - 7.W1xdS) 6.lLlf3 cS. This is relatively the best for him. (If Black tries any-thing else, his position remains unpromising owing to the vulner-ability of his e6-square: 6 ... i.d6?! 7.i.c4 0-0 8.0-0 h6 9J:!el geB 1O.W1d3 Cascudo - Lopez, Spain 2002; 6 ... lLlc6?! 7.i.c4 i.b4 B.O-O hc3 9.bxc3 0-0 10.lLlgS! lLldS 11.gel lLlaS, Uaneza - Corredor, Spain 1999. White must continue here with 12.i.f1!, maintaining powerful pressure, since it is very bad for Black to play 12 ... lLlxc3?, because of 13.W1d2+- and White wins a piece; B ... O-O 9.a3 hc3 10.bxc3 lLle4 1l.W1d3 ~hB 12.gel W1eB 13.i.f4 i.d7 14.lLleS lLlxeS IS.heS c5 16.gabl Kuporosov -Eliseev, Bor 2000) 7.i.gS

7 ... cxd4 (White maintains a considerable advantage af-ter 7 ... lLlc6 B.i.bS i.d7 9.dS exdS 10.lLlxdS i.e7 1l.0-0!. The posi-tion is open and White's lead in development is a very important factor, for example: 1l ... lLlxdS 12.W1xdS hgS 13.lLlxgS W1xgS 14.gfel+ ~dB1S.gadl+-; 11 ... 0-0 12.gelgeBI3.lLlxe7+ gxe714.hf6 gxel+ IS.lLlxel! gxf6 16.'1WdS+-;

3.lLld2 dxe4 4.lLlxe4

1l ... lLle4 12.gel! hgS 13.lLlxgS W1xgS 14.lLlc7+ ~e7 IS.lLlxaB gxaB 16.f3) B. W1xd4 W1xd4 (B ... i.e7 9.0-0-0 0-0 10.i.c4 Tella -Kujala, Finland 2000) 9.lLlxd4 eS (9 ... a6 10.i.c4 eS 11.lLle6 he6 12.he6) 1O.i.bS+! ~f7 (1O ... i.d7 1l.lLlxfS) 11.lLlf3 lLlbd7 12.i.c4 Black's king is exposed and thus he has great defensive problems;

7) 4 ... i.b4+?! This is not a good move, because now there arises a position which is similar to the variation with 4 ... i.e7 except that White has an extra tempo, since the move c2-c3 is useful for him. S.c3 i.e7 6.lLlf3 lLlf6 7.lLlxf6+ i.xf6 B.i.d3 0-0 9.W1e2 i.e710.i.f4 (An-other move for White that deserves serious attention here is 10.i.d2!? cS 1l.dxcS hcS 12.0-0-0-+ with good attacking prospects; as well as 10.i.e3!?, preparing queenside castling and considerably imped-ing Black's freeing pawn-advance c7-cS.) 10 ... i.d6 1l.i.g3 lLlc6 12.0-0-0 i.d7 13.lLleS !'kB 14.f4 Kar-pov - "Fidelity", Turin (simul) 19B2.

B) 4 ... W1dS S.i.d3

Black should not be greedy in the diagram position. He loses by

17

Chapter 1

force if he attempts to win a pawn with a line which has been tried in practice several times: 5 .. .f5?! 6.lLlg3 ti'xg2? (It is still not too late for Black to play more prudently - 6 ... c5 - but after for example: 7.lLlf3 lLlc6 8.c4 ti'd8 9.d5!? exd5 10.cxd5 ti'xd5 1l.0-Ot White has a dangerous initiative, because Black's king is stranded in the centre and there are too many open files and diagonals around it.) 7.lLlf3 ~h3 (7 ... i.e7 8.i.f1 +-) 8.i.g5 (Black's queen has been trapped.) 8 ... h6 9.i.f1+- Acs -Zdjelar, Hungary 1997.

Here Black could also consider 5 ... lLlc6 or 5 ... lLlf6.

8a) 5 ... lLlc6 6.lLlf3 (Black suc-ceeds in exchanging his oppo-nent's powerful bishop on d3, but White wins several tempi after this, while after 6.c3 he must con-sider the possibility of 6 ... e5!?) 6 ... lLlb4! (6 ... e5? 7.dxe5 lLlxe5 8.lLlxe5 ti'xe5 9.0-0 i.e7 10.!:1el Manes-cu - Piotrovskis, Tallinn 1997; 6 .. . lLlf6 7.lLlxf6+ gxf6 8.0-0 - see 5 .. . lLlf6)

7.i.f4! (the position is not so clear after 7.0-0 lLlxd3 8.~xd3 lLlf6 9.lLlxf6+ gxf6 10.i.f4, Pavicic

18

- Rajcevic,Yugoslavia 1976, 10 ... i.d7! 1l.c4 ti'a5 12.a3 O-O-O? with good counterplay for Black) 7 ... lLlf6 (also after 7 ... lLlxd3+ 8. ti'xd3 ti'a5+ 9.c3 lLlf6 10.b4!?;!; White's prospects are preferable) 8.lLlxf6+ gxf6 9.hc7 i.d7 10.c4 lLlxd3+ 11.~xd3 i.b4+ 12.We2 ti'c6 13.i.g3 ~a6 14.a3 i.e715.a4! (pre-venting 15 ... b5) 15 ... i.c6 16.!:1hd1 !:1d8 17.b3 !:1d7 18.~e3. White has consolidated his position and Black's compensation for the pawn is nowhere in sight, Sonnberger - Sulava, Goetzis 1996.

8b) 5 ... lLlf6 6.lLlxf6+ gxf6 7.lLlf3

7 ... !:1g8 (7 ... lLlc6 8.0-0 !:1g8 - see 7 ... !:1g8; 7 ... i.d7 8.c4 ti'd6 9.0-0 lLlc6 10.i.e3 lLle7 - after 10 ... 0-0-0, White has the re-source 11.~b3!? ~12.c5 - 1l.b4 lLlg6 12.c5 ~d5 13.b5!:1g8 14.whU Mortensen - Crouch, Copenha-gen 1995 (game 1). Black's king is endangered in the centre of the board, while after castling his queen will be unsafe. After 14 ... 0-0-0, it is very good for White to play 15.lLld2! threatening 16.i.e4) 8.0-0 lLlc6 9.!:1e1 i.d6

1O.g3! (White must restrict the mobility of Black's rook on g8 and bishop on d6 before he begins active operations in the centre. If he plays immediately 10 . .ie4 Yffh5 Il.d5 then Black has the resource 1l .. .f5!?+t with good counterplay.) 10 ... W1h5 (This is in fact his only move, because after 1O ... .id7, White has the powerful riposte 1l . .ie4 W1h5 12.d5t with the initiative.) 1l . .ie2 Yffh3 12.d5 CiJe7 13.dxe6 he6 (It is quite reasonable for Black to prepare queenside castling as quickly as possible; after 13 ... fxe6 it is very good for White to play 14 . .ib5:t, stranding Black's monarch in the centre.) 14 . .ib5+ .id7 15.hd7+ W1xd7 16.Yffd4! (White not only at-tacks f6 but also prevents his op-ponent from queenside castling.) 16 ... W1g4 (after 16 ... Yfff5 White has the resource 17.W1a4+! c6 18.CiJd4, increasing the pressure) 17.W1xg4 (Entering a slightly bet-ter endgame seems more reliable for White than playing 17.Yffxf6 0-0-0 with a complicated fight in which Black has some compen-sation for the sacrificed pawn.) 17 .. .l::ixg4 18.c3 0-0-0 19 . .if4!:t. White has a slight but very stable

3.CiJd2 dxe4 4.CiJxe4

advantage thanks to the vulner-ability of Black's kingside pawns, Glek - Hoang Thanh Trang, Bu-dapest 1998 (game 2).

9) 4 ... .te7 5.CiJf3 CiJf6 (5 ... CiJd7 6 . .td3 CiJgf6 - see Chapter 3; 5 ... b6 6 . .ib5+! .id7 7 . .id3 CiJf6 8.CiJe5 CiJc6 9.CiJxd7 CiJxd7 10 . .ib5 CiJdb8 1l.c3 and White maintains a great advantage owing to his power-ful centre and active bishop-pair, Wendel- Jaeger, Germany 1989, or 6 ... c6 7 . .td3 .tb7 8.W1e2 CiJd7 9 . .if4 CiJdf6 1O.CiJeg5 CiJd5 1l . .id2 CiJgf6 12.CiJxf7!? ~xf7 13.CiJg5+

~e8 14.CiJxe6 W1d6 15.CiJxg7+ ~d8 16.CiJe6 and White has three pawns for the piece and the initia-tive, Rozhkov - Sazanova, Nizh-nij Novgorod 1998; 7 ... CiJd7 8 . .if4 CiJdf6 9.CiJeg5. Now it would be very bad for Black to play 9 ... h6? in view of 10.CiJxf7! ~xf7 1l.CiJe5+ and White's advantage would be decisive, while after the forcing line: 9 ... CiJh6 1O.c3 .id6 1l.hd6 Yffxd6 12.CiJe5 0-0 13.W1e2 .ib7 14.0-0-0 c5 15 . .ic2 his attack is very dangerous, Kr.Georgiev - Bjerring, Cappelle la Grande 1992)

6 . .td3 b6 (The moves 6 ... .td7

19

Chapter 1

and 6 ... llJbd7, as well as 6 ... 0-0 7.~e2 llJbd7, transpose to posi-tions analyzed in Chapters 2 and 3; Black cannot solve his opening problems with 6 ... llJxe4 7.he4 c5 8.0-0 cxd4 9.llJxd4 0-0 10.c3 llJd7 11.~e2 llJf6 12 . .tf3;t and White is better, J.Polgar - Simic, New York 1986; while after 8 ... llJc6, Mateo - Moreto, La Roda 2007, White should continue with 9 . .te3 and after the forcing variation 9 ... cxd4 1O.llJxd4 llJxd4 1l.hd4 0-0 12.'d3;t there arises a position in which White exerts some pressure thanks to his more actively placed pieces.) 7.llJxf6+ hf6 8 . .te4 c6 9.0-0 .tb7 1O.~e2 llJd711 . .tf4 0-0 12J'!adl.te713.c4 llJf6 14 . .tc2 'c8 15J'!fell!e8 (15 ... c5?! 16.d5!) 16 . .teS!;t

This standard middlegame position arose in the game G.Kasparov - Pereiro, Cordo-ba (simul) 1992 (game 3) and White's advantage here is obvi-ous. His forces are perfectly mo-bilized and ready for active opera-tions, while Black, just as before, finds it very difficult to carry out the thematic pawn-break c6-c5 under favourable circumstances,

20

something which is absolutely es-sential for him in order to obtain a good game. At this particular moment, after 16 ... c5, White has the powerful riposte 17.dS! exdS 18.exd5 and after Black captures on dS with any of his pieces, White has the tactical shot 19.1!xd5! fol-lowed by 20.'d3, winning mate-rial, while after 18 ... .td6 19.~c4 his passed d-pawn becomes very powerful.

5.~xf6+

A) 5 gxf6 B) 5 'xf6

A) 5 gxf6 Black unnecessarily weakens

his pawn-structure with this, and practically forces himself to castle queenside. Yet there are also some benefits with this capture. Black increases his control over the cen-tre (in particular, White's knight is deprived of the e5-square, which it can use in the classical lines of the Rubinstein variation) and can exploit the half-open g-file in the future. This last factor, however, is not very important,

3.liJd2 dxe4 4.liJxe4 liJf6 5.liJxf6 gxf6 6.liJj3

because White can easily neutral-ize it by transferring his bishop to the g3-square (~f4-g3), or by fianchettoing his king's bishop. In general, the defects of Black's last move are much more important than its pluses, so we can say that although it is playable, objective-ly speaking the move is not very good and strong players only use it very rarely. The only idea then may be to confuse some not so well prepared opponent.

6.~t3

6 b6 This is the most reasonable

way for Black to develop. He must prepare queenside

castling, so any attempts to devel-op his kingside first are not very sensible and facilitate White's task, for example: 6 ... ~e7 7.g3 b6

8.~g2 ~b7 9.0-0 liJd7 1O.c4 liJf8 1l.dSt Svidler - Fietz, Darmstadt (simul) 2000 and in view of the variation 1l ... exdS 12.liJd4 Black has great difficulties.

It is not good for Black to try to develop his bishop to c6, be-cause it will become a target for

White's central pawns: 6 ... ~d7 7.g3 ~c6 8.~g2 liJd7 9.0-0 V!1e7 10.c4 0-0-0 1l.V!1c2 (Here White could already consider playing: 11.dS!? exdS 12.liJd4t) 11 ... hS 12.dS! exdS 13.liJd4t and White has a powerful initiative, Szopka - Czyz, Wroclaw 2006.

It seems more natural for Black to try 6 ... cS, but this under-mining move does not combine well with his previous move. The centre is opened too early and his king might remain stranded in the centre: 7.~e3

7 ... V!1b6 (7 ... cxd4 8.liJxd4 a6 9.V!1hS V!1c7 10.0-0-0 liJc6, Holz-ke - Hoennekes, Bad Wiessee 2007 and here White's simplest reaction would be 11. liJxc6!? V!1xc6 12.~d3 eS 13.f3t; 12 ... ~d7 13. cj;1bl t and Black will find it very difficult to castle queenside because of White's unpleasant pressure against the f7-pawn)

8.~e2 liJc6 9.0-0 ~d7 (after 9 ... cxd4 1O.liJxd4 ~c5, Matras -Bashkite, Warsaw 2001, White can simply exchange several piec-es and then invade Black's camp along the open files: 11.liJxc6 ~e3 12.fxe3 V!1xe3+ 13.cj;1hl bxc6

21

Chapter 1

14.~d6 i.d7 15.i.h5t with very dangerous threats for White) 10.c3 i.e7 (Black has great prob-lems after 10 ... 0-0-0 11.b4! cxd4 12.tLlxd4t) 11.d5 (here 11.b4 is not so strong because of the line: 11 ... cxd412.tLlxd4 tLlxd413 . .b:d4 ~c7) 11...exd5 12.b4! d4 (12 ... 0-0-0

13.~xd5 i.e6 14.~h5) 13.bxc5 ~xc514.tLlxd4 ~xc315.i.f3

Just as in many variations of the 6 ... c5 line, an open position has arisen in which Black's king is in terrible danger, Richter -Petrovs, Munich 1936.

7 . .tb5+ Before placing his bishop on

d3, White wishes to weaken his opponent's position slightly.

7 c6

22

This move blocks the diagonal of Black's own bishop, but other-wise he will simply lose a tempo, while his position is not attractive in any case:

7 ... i.d7 B.i.d3 i.c6 9.~e2 i.b7 1O.i.f4 i.d6 11.i.g3 ~e7 12.0-0-0 tLld7 13J'!hel 0-0-0, Brodsky -Zschischang, Yerevan 1996 and White can maintain his comfort-able advantage in several ways, for example with 14.i.aM

8 .td3 Y!Jc7 9.~e2 .tb7 lO.a4!

The pawn-structure is such that Black's king can be safe nei-ther in the centre nor on the king-side. With the move in the game, White is also ready to "welcome" it to the queenside with an attack.

lO ... tL\d7 Black's defence would not be

any easier after 1O ... a611.0-0 tLld7 12.a5 b5 13.c4 0-0-0 14.id2t .1.15J'!fcl.

1l.a5.td6 11 ... c5 12.0-0 i.d6 13.i.e4

12.a6! Black's bishop is pushed back

into a passive position and Black

3.liJd2 dxe4 4.liJxe4 liJf6 5.liJxj6 Y!!xf6 6.liJj3

will be unable to prevent the opening of files on the queenside (if he castles there) anyway.

12 Ac8 13.0-0 liJf8 14.c4 Ad7 15.Ae3 liJg6 16.g3 0-0 17.h4

Black was forced to castle kingside, but this was an ac-knowledgement of the failure of the whole strategy chosen by him on move five. It is quite obvious that his monarch will not find a safe haven there either, Lastin -Agasieva, Baku 2008 (game 4).

B) 5 1bf6

In the classical lines of the

Rubinstein variation, Black usu-ally fianchettoes his queen's bish-op or else develops it on the long diagonal along the route d7-c6, after which he attempts sooner or later to accomplish the pawn-break c7-c5. Here, after 5 .. :~xf6, he develops according to an en-tirely different scheme: .id6, liJc6, 0-0, hoping to advance quickly e6-e5, opening the c8-h3 diagonal for his light-squared bishop.

Black mobilizes his forces very swiftly with this set-up, but his queen is somewhat exposed, so he needs to play h7-h6 at a very ear-ly stage of the game and after he castles kingside he will have de-fensive problems against White's queen + bishop battery along the bl-h7 diagonal.

6.liJf3 h6 Black can hardly manage

without this move, because after White's next move 7.i.d3 he will be threatening to trap the enemy queen with 8.i.g5, so most of Black's alternatives just lead to a transposition of moves: 6 ... .id6 7.i.d3 h6, or 6 ... liJd7 7 . .id3 h6, or 6 ... liJc6 7 . .id3 h6 - see 6 ... h6.

Original positions arise only after 6 ... Y!!d8 and then 7 . .id3.

23

Chapterl

The diagram position has been tested in practice numerous times and it is similar to the main lines, usually arising after the move-order 4 ... ilJd7 S.ilJf3 ilJgf6 6.id3, which we shall analyze in Chapter 3. The difference is that in this case Black's knight is on bB and not on f6, which is undoubtedly in White's favour. White usually tries to castle queenside in simi-lar situations. The game becomes very sharp and concrete and each tempo is of paramount impor-tance. Accordingly, the fact that Black is a couple of tempi be-hind makes the organization of his queenside counterplay very difficult. We shall have a look at several examples illustrating his problems:

1) 7 iJ.e7 (a transposition of moves arises after 7 ... ilJd7 8.~e2 1J.e7 9 . .if4 - see 7 ... .ie7; but not B ... cS 9.dS!) 8.~e2 ilJd7 9.1J.f4 cS (It would be too slow for Black to play 9 ... ~f6?! 10.0-0-0 a6 1l.ilJeS 0-0 12.wb1 'lfIeB. He is forced to make such awkward moves in order to develop his bishop on b7.13.h4 bS14J:~h3 .tb7

lS.~g3. White has organized a crushing attack while Black has been completing his development. There follows a quick and spec-tacular finish: lS ... whB 16 . .tgS

~dB 17.hf6 hf6 1B.hh7! heS 19.~hS if4 20.~gS and Black re-signed, Sermek - Sula, Istanbul 2000.) 10.dxcS!? ilJxcS? (He should have played instead 10 ... ~aS+ 1l.iJ.d2 ~xcS 12.0-0-0 0-0

24

13.h4-+, although even then White's extra tempi are a telling factor.) 1l . .ibS+ 1J.d7 (Black's po-sition is very difficult after 11 ... wfB 12.0-0) 12.0-0-0 ~b6 (it looks as if his best is 12 ... ~aS, but even then after 13.~d7 ilJxd7 14. ~d1 ~dB lS.ilJeS 0-0 16.ilJxd7 ~xa2 17.c3+- White's position is winning) 13.~d7 ilJxd7 14.ilJeS

~dB, Dominguez Alcon - Perez Gonzalez, Padron 200B and here, his simplest winning line is: lS. ilJxd7 ~d716.~d1+-

2) 7 ... cS B.1J.e3.Bearing in mind what happens later, we should say that Black was not obliged to lose so quickly, but even with better defence he would still have great problems: B ... ~b6 (after B ... cxd4

9.~xd41J.e71O.~f3 0-0 11.0-0-0 ilJd7 12.wb1-+ White's threats are very dangerous; while after B ... ilJd7 a very good continuation is

9.~d2, followed by 10.0-0-0) 9.0-0 ilJc6 1O.c3 ~xb2 (10 ... 1J.e7 1l.b4!t) 1l.dxcS (it might be in-teresting for White to try here

l1.~e1!? with the idea 12.dS!) 11 ... ~xc3 (l1 ... 1J.e7 12.~b3!;!;) 12.~b1 'lfIaS (after 12 ... 1J.e7 13.1J.e4 0-0

14.~a4! Black's queen is in se-rious danger and White is also threatening to capture on c6) 13.ilJd4 ~dB? (this is the decisive mistake, but even after 13 .. 1J.e7

14.~xc6 bxc61S.~f31J.d7 16.~b7t Black's position is very difficult) 14.1J.e4 ~d7 15.ilJxc6 bxc6 16.~f3 1-0 Dimitrov - Martinez Ramon, Padron 2004.

7 .id3

7 ... id6 There is a transposition of

moves after 7 ... lik6 8.0-0 i.d6 9.c3 - see 7 ... i.d6. Black's attempt to castle queenside is tremen-dously risky: 8 ... i.d7 9.c3 i.d6

1O:~e2 0-0-0 11.b4 gS 12.bSliJe7 13.c4 i.f4 14.i.b2 g4 lS.liJeS ixeS 16.dxeS WIgS 17.i.e4 Zarnicki -Jerez, Villa Martelli 1997; or 11 ... liJe7 12.bS liJdS 13.c4 liJf4 14.ixf4 ixf4 lS.a4 Ortel - Nagy Dani, Hungary 2001 (game 5) and it becomes quite clear that White's attack is running effortlessly.

It would be dubious for Black to try the manoeuvre 7 ... i.d7?! 8.0-0 i.c6. After 9.liJeS i.d6 White can play 10.Wle2 and trans-pose to the favourable variation 7 ... i.d6 8.0-0 i.d7 9.Wle2 i.c6 10. liJeS, but under the circumstanc-es it is even stronger for him to play 1O.f4, for example: 10 ... 0-0 11. Wle2 ~h4 12.i.e3 liJd7 13.liJxc6 bxc6 14.i.e4 and Black is in great trouble, Chernyshov - Bozic, Lito-mys11996.

His queen on f6 is awkwardly placed and it seems too slow for him to head for the liJd7+cS set-

up: 7 ... liJd7 8.0-0 cS 9.c3 i.d6 10. ~e2 ~e711.liJeS a6 12.i.f4liJf6 13. dxcS ixcS 14J'!adl. White has a great lead in development, Spiel-mann - Havasi, Budapest 1928.

The immediate undermining move c7-cS, in connection with the development of the knight to c6, looks interesting for Black: 7 ... cS 8.i.e3 liJc6 (it is much weaker for him to play 8 ... liJd7?! 9.0-0 i.d6 10.i.bS Rudolf - Mnatsakan-yan, Yerevan 2006; or 8 ... cxd4?! 9.ixd4 ~d8, Savickas - Stauskas, Panevezys 2007, 1O.Wld2 ~11. 0-0-0 and in both cases Black can hardly complete his development without losing material) 9.dxcS!? (This is a very interesting possi-bility. White radically changes the character of the struggle, compro-mising his pawn-structure in the hope of exploiting his consider-able lead in development. How-ever, it would be also good for him to calmly play 9.0-0, for example: 9 ... cxd4 1O.liJxd4 i.d7 11.i.e4 i.e7 12.liJxc6 ixc613.i.d4 eS14.ixc6+ bxc6 lS.i.c3 0-0 16.~h5 i.d6 17.f4, winning a pawn) 9 ... Wlxb2 10.0-0 i.e7 (or 1O ... ~f6 11.liJd4 i.d712.liJbS!lc8, Janosevic - Puc, Belgrade 1948, and now 13.!lbl and again White has a powerful initiative, for example: 13 ... WleS

14.~d2 ixcS lS.i.f4 ~f6 16.i.d6t, or 13 ... i.e7 14.i.e4 WleS lS.Wld3t) 11.liJd4 0-0 12.liJxc6 bxc6 13.i.d4 ~b8 (after 13 ... ~b7 White should play 14.~g4 i.gS lS.i.eS!, plan-ning later to increase the pressure with !lab1 and i.d6).

25

Chapter 1

The diagram position was reached in the game Zugaj -Varini, Portoroz 2005. White could have obtained a consider-able advantage with 14.~g4!, with the idea of 14 ... eS (l4 ... i.gS

IS.~e4 fS 16.~xc6) IS.~e4 fS 16.~xc6! exd4? 17J~abl+-

8.0-0

8 ~c6 Just as on the previous move

it would be rather awkward for Black to try to develop his bishop to c6: 8 ... i.d7 9.~e2 i.c6 10.ttJeS

(diagram) The combination of a bishop

on c6 and a queen on f6 is very bad for Black and impedes the completion of his normal de-velopment: lO ... ~h4 (10 ... ttJd7 11.ttJxc6 bxc6 12.~e4 Niebling

26

- Eidam, Bad Wildbad 1997; lO ... heS 11.dxeS ~h4 12.f4 - see lO ... ~h4; 11 ... ~e7 12.i.d2! ttJd7 13.b4! a6 14.a4 ttJb6 IS.bS axbS 16.axbS ~xaI17.~xal i.d7 18.~g4 g6 19.h4+- and White's initia-tive becomes decisive, Z.Szabo - Frank, Gyula 2001.) 11.f4 heS (11 ... 0-0 12.i.e3 - see 7 ... i.d7) 12.dxeS ttJd713.i.e3 ~e7 (13 ... 0-0 14.b4!?) 14.i.bS hbS (White ob-tains a great advantage after 14 ... 0-0 IS.~xc6 bxc6 16.~f3 c5

17.~c6 Amrein - Frank, Har-kany 1998; Black's most reliable move here is 14 ... ttJb8;!;, but even then his position is so passive that White's advantage is beyond any doubt: IS.~adl 0-0 16.c3 a6 17.i.d3 ttJd7 18.b4! etc.) IS.~xbS b6 (Black cannot castle queenside: 15 ... 0-0-0 16.ha7) 16.~c6 0-0 (He again loses a pawn if he cas-tles queenside: 16 ... 0-0-0 17. ~a8+ ttJb8 18.~xa7) 17.~adl ttJcS 18.hcS ~xcS 19.~xcS bxcS

20.~d7 and White's advantage is overwhelming.

It would be too passive for Black to develop his knight on d7: 8 ... ttJd7 9.~e2 ~e7 (for 9 ... 0-0

10.~e4 - see 8 ... 0-0 9.~e2 ttJd7 lO.~e4; Black's position is quite

3.ltJd2 dxe4 4.ltJxe4 ltJf6 5.ltJxj6 V!1xf6 6.ltJj3

cramped after 9 ... c6?! 1O.b3 0-0 1l.i.b2 13e8 12.ltJe5 Tiviakov -Abel Naby, Cairo 2002; White has a stable edge after 9 ... b6 1O.i.e4 13b8 1l.b3 0-0 12.i.b2;!; Tiviakov - Kadziela, Warsaw 2009, game 6; 9 ... i.f4.

Black lacks space, so his de-sire to simplify the position is understandable, but White has a simple and very powerful riposte: 10.i.e3! White plans to recapture on e3 with his pawn, fortifying his centre and opening the f-fi.le, so it would be unsatisfactory for Black to exchange the bishops and thus White's initiative runs effortless-ly: 10 ... 0-0 1l.13ae1 13d8 12.ltJd2!t Fodre - E.Szabo, Hungary 2008) 10.ltJe5 0-0 1l.i.d2 c5 12.c3;!;

White plans to increase his pressure with f4, 13ad1 and later

possibly 13f3-g3 and meanwhile Black must still solve the prob-lem of the development of his c8-bishop.

After 8 ... 0-0 9.~e2,

the game transposes to the main line with 9 ... ltJc6! 10.c3 e5 - see 8 ... ltJc6, while if Black plays something else White quickly ob-tains a clear advantage:

9 ... V!1e7? 1O.~e4 f511.~e2ltJd7 12.i.c4 13f6 13.13e1 ltJf8 14.ltJe5 and since Black's pawn-structure has great defects White enjoys an overwhelming advantage, M.Rytshagov - Reuter, Germany 1994;

9 ... ltJd7? 10.~e4 13d8 (it is more or less the same after 10 ... 13e8) 1l.V!1h7+ c.t>f8 12.13e1 b6 (Black has great problems after 12 ... cS 13.i.e3 cxd4 14.,ixd4 e5 15.i.c3; or 13 ... b6 14.i.e4 13b8 15.13adl and White has a clear advantage. His attack is very strong in the variation 12 ... g5 13. h4 c.t>e7 14.hxg5 hxg5 15.~h5--+ Kujovic - Dobrotka, Slovakia 2001) 13.i.e4 13b8 14.i.d2! (creat-ing the threat 15.i.c3!) 14 ... b5 (14 ... i.b7 15.,bb7 13xb7 16.i.c3) 15.a3 13b6 16.i.c3 c.t>e7 17.d5 e5 18.

27

Chapter 1

~d3 (~19.ltJd4) IS ... g6 19.~xh6 ghS 20. ~e3 gh5, Villavicencio -P.Garcia, Gran Canaria 19S9. With 21.ltJxe5!+-, followed by 22.f4, White could have obtained a decisive advantage.

9.c3 0-0 10.fte2

10 ... e5 Black must play this move

right now; otherwise, White will continue with 1l.ltJd2!, prevent-ing it for a long time:

1O ... ltJe7, Hrvacic - Sunara, Split 1999, 1l.ltJd2!;!;. White plans 12.ltJe4 and 13.f4, radically pre-venting e6-e5, while after 1l ... e5 (1l ... ~h4 12.f4!) White will con-tinue with 12.ltJe4 ~e6 13.!c4!

~g4 (13 ... ~f5 14.f4!+-; 13 ... ~g6 14.ltJxd6 cxd6 15.dxe5 dxe5

16.~xe5) 14.~xg4 hg415.hh6! exd4 16.cxd4, winning a pawn;

or 10 ... geS, Shagalovich - Zil-ber, Minsk 1957, 1l.ltJd2!;!; (~ltJe4, f4). Here, the move 1l ... e5? leads to considerable material loss for Black after 12.f4!+-

1l.fte4 The game enters tactical com-

plications and from this moment

2S

until Black's 1'Jtlt move, the major-ity of both sides' moves are practi-cally forced.

1l ... g6 Black should prevent the

rather unpleasant check on h7: 1l ... geS? 12.~h7+ \tlfS 13.gel !e6 14.!e3 gadS 15.!e4 exd4 16. ltJxd4 ~d717.hc6 hc61S.ltJxc6 bxc6 19.~g5! and Black resigned, I.Gurevich - Chow, New York 1994.

12.dxe5 Here 12.hh6? fails to 12 ...

!f5 13.~e2 e4!=F and White loses material after 14.he4 gfeS, or 14 . .bfS exd3!

12 .. ~xe5 13.~xe5 he5 14 . .ixh6.tm

15.ftc4 This is again the only move for

White; it would be bad for him to play 15.~e3? gfeS=t Bach - Bocks-berger, Germany 1999; or 15.~f3? ~h4=t

15 ... b5! This is Black's best chance.

With this tactical shot he is able to move his fS-rook away from the attack with tempo and later

3.li:)d2 dxe4 4.li:)xe4 li:)f6 5.li:)xf6 Yffxf6 6.li:).f3

he has the possibility to invade his opponent's second rank with it.

After 1S ... hh2+ 16.c,t;xh2 %!Id6+ 17.%!If4 Yffxf4+ 1B.hf4 .ixd3 19JUd1 .tbS 20.hc7 Fi-lev - Todorov, Sofia 2004, or 15 ... hd3 16.Yffxd3 %!Ih4 (16 ... hh2+? 17.c,t;xh2 Yffh4+ 1B.Yffh3+-) 17.f4 White preserves his extra pawn.

16.Wxb5 gtbS 17.Wc4

17 J.xd3 Here again, the check on h2

would not help Black much: 16 ... hh2+ 17.c,t;xh2 Yffd6+ 1B.c,t;g1

~fbB (1B ... hd3 19.hfB ~xfB 20. YffaS hfl 21.~xfl) 19.%!IaS hd3

20.~fd1 c,t;h7 (20 ... ~xb2? 21. ~xd3! %!Ixd3 22.%!IeS f6 23.Yffe7 ~b1+ 24.

~xb1 Yffxb1+ 2S.c,t;h2+-) 21 . .te3 ~xb2 22.%!IgS and White's attack was victorious in the game Yu -Tse, Canberra 2007.

After 17 ... ~xb2 1B.hfS YffxfS 19 . .te3;!; Black's pieces are active-ly placed but White has an extra pawn and a solid position.

The move 17 ... i.e6!? deserves very serious consideration for Black. There might follow: 1B.Yffa4

~xb2 19.i.cl! ~b6 (after 19 ... ~bbB

White has the resource 20 . .te4) 20 . .te3 ~d6 21.~ad1 hc3 22 . .ic4;!; - Black has succeeded in regain-ing the sacrificed material but White has consolidated his posi-tion and Black's weak a7- and c7-pawns remain vulnerable.

lS.Wxd3g5 Black fails to trap the enemy

bishop inside his own camp, so he should play here 1B ... ~xb2!? After this White must play very accu-rately to maintain his advantage: 19.i.cl! He must place his bishop on e3, after first evicting the en-emy rook from his 2nd rank. 19 ...

~b6 (the outcome is similar after 19 ... ~bbB20 . .te3~dB21.Yffc4hc3

22.~adl;!;) 20 . .te3 ~dB 21.%!Ic2 ~c6 22.~ad1 ~xc3 23.~xdB+ %!IxdB 24. Yffa4;!;. Just as in the variation with 17 ... .te6, the forced play has led to a situation in which the material balance has been restored and a very important factor for the eval-uation of the arising position is the vulnerability of Black's pawns on a7 and c7.

The diagram position was reached in the game Rozentalis -

29

Chapter 1

Odeev, Minsk 1986. Now White should play: 19."Be2! There might follow: 19 gb6 (White retains at least one extra pawn in the other variations: 19 .. J~e8 20."Bh5 ~f4 21.h4+-; 19 ... ixh2+ 20.~xh2 "Bxh6+ 21.~gl; 19 ... j,f4 20.g3) 20.gael ge8 (Here again, after 20 ... i.f4 21.g3 "Bxh6 22.gxf4 gxf4

23.~h1, or 20 ... ixh2+ 21.~xh2 "Bf4+ 22.g3 gxh6+ 23.~g2 W1f5 24.ghl, White'sextrapawnguar-antees his advantage.) 21 .ix:g5! .ix:h2+! (21...W1xg5 22.f4+-)

22.~hl! (but not 22.~xh2 be-cause of 22 ... "Bh8+!) 22 gxe2 23 .ix:f6 gxel 24.gxel gn'6

30

25.'it>xh2 ~f2 26.ge8+ 'it>g7 27.gb8

White has an extra pawn and good winning chances in this rook and pawn ending.

Chapter 1 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.ctld2 dxe4 4.ctlxe4

Complete Games

1 Mortensen Crouch Copenhagen 1995

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.~c3 dxe4 4.~xe4 fld5 5 . .id3 ~f6

6.~xf6+ gxf6 7.~f3 .td7 8.c4 fld6 9.0-0 ~c610 . .ie3 ~e7

1l.b4! White reacts energetically

against Black's somewhat awk-ward opening set-up.

1l .. ~g6 12.c5 fld5 13.b5! White deprives Black's bishop

of the c6-square and squeezes his position even more.

13 .. gg8 14.~h1! This is a common-sense pro-

phylactic move, but it also pre-pares the rather unpleasant (for Black) manoeuvre 15.~d2, which would not work immediately be-cause of 14.tLld2? tLlh4 15.i.e4 tLlxg2!

The deployment of Black's forces obviously lacks harmony. The majority of his pieces (par-ticularly the bishops) are too pas-sive, while on the contrary his queen is too active.

14 ... a6 It is bad for him to play

14 ... 0-0-0 because of 15.tLld2 and White wins material, since Black has no satisfactory defence against 16.i.e4, and if 15 .. .f5 then 16.i.c4+-. Therefore, instead of completing his development, Black must ensure a possible line of retreat for his queen.

15.a4 axb5 16.axb5 gxa1 17.flxa1 .le7 18.~d2 .lc8 19. .ie4

It seems very strong for White to play 19.1M!a8 fld8 20.b6! (threat-ening 21.i.b5+ wf8 22.i.h6+ ) 20 ... c6 21.tLlc4 f5 22.flb8! and Black

31

Chapter 1

can hardly move. 19 . frdS 20.g3 f5 21 .lg2 f4

22.Jxf4 ~xf4 23.gxf4 gg4

Black has managed to activate his pieces somehow, but his posi-tion remains difficult as before. His king is unsafe and his bishop on c8 is very passive, so he will hardly manage to survive.

24.~f3 gxf4 25. fret gf6 26. "ge3 .lfB 27.~e5 gh6 2S.f4 "9h4 29.~f3 eb5 30.ga1

White begins the decisive in-vasion.

30 .. .lg7 31.gaS ~dS 32. "ge4+-

Black has no defence. 32 ... frd5 33.frxd5+ exd5 34.~g5 gf6 35 . .lh3 gxf4 36. gxcS+ ~e7 37.gxc7+ ~fB 3S. gcS+ me7 39.gc7+ ~fB 40.c6. Black resigned.

32

2 Glek - Hoang Thanh Trang Budapest 1998

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.~c3 dxe4 4.~xe4 "9d5 5 . .ld3 ~f6 6.

~xf6+ gxf6 7.~f3 ggS S.O-O ~c6 9.ge1 .ld6 10.g3 "9h5 1l . .le2 frh3 12.d5 ~e7 13. dxe6 he6 14 . .lb5+ .ld7 15. hd7+ "9xd7 16.frd4 frg4 17. frxg4 gxg4 lS.c3 0-0-0 19 . .lf4;!;

After the exchange of the bish-ops, there arises an endgame which is very comfortable for White. Black's kingside pawns are very weak and White's knight will fight very effectively against them. Accordingly, Black must try to exchange knights, since this would facilitate his defence con-siderably.

19 .. ~c6 20.hd6 gxd6 21. geS+ gdS 22.gae1 ga4 23.a3

ga524.~g2 It is more precise for White to

play 24J,,~8e4! 24 . gad5 Black overlooks a key moment

to make use of an important stra-tegic finesse (see our comments above): 24 ... ttJeS! This would not have solved all his problems, but

he would have more chance of holding the rook and pawn end-ing.

25.g8e4! After this move, Black will not

be able to exchange knights any time soon.

25 gfS 26.gle2 h5 27.g2e3 gdl28.b4

28 a6 This is another imprecision,

which is difficult to spot but quite crucial.

Black had to try to contain White's pawns with the move 28 ... as!? However, such endgames are very unpleasant for the de-fending side. At first sight, the position might seem quite defen-sible (in fact, it is!), but Black has long-term difficulties. Finding counterplay is very hard (and, if the opponent plays precisely, practically impossible), so he is restricted to making only passive moves for long periods of the game, with great risk of making a mistake.

29.c4 White's queenside pawns be-

gin advancing and Black's prob-lems become even greater.

3.tiJd2 dxe4 4.tiJxe4

29 b5 30.gc3

Chapter 1

~e6 52.h6 ge4? This is a blunder in a hopeless

position. 53.h7. In view of 53 .. J!xh7 54.~d6+- Black resigned.

3 Kasparov Pereiro Cordoba (simul), 1992

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.~d2 dxe4 4.~xe4 J.e7 5.~) ~f6 6.J.d3 b6?! 7.~xf6+ hf6 S.J.e4 c6 9.0 0 J.b710.~e2 ~d711.J.f4 o 0 12.gad1 J.e7 13.c4 ~f6 14.J.c2

Black has played this game in the Rubinstein variation rather slowly. The middlegame has al-ready begun and he has still not made the thematic pawn-break c6-c5, which is vital for him to obtain an acceptable position; otherwise he risks remaining cramped inside his own camp. Under the circumstances, White should play in such a way as to be able to answer c6-c5 with d4-d5; alternatively he might try to pre-vent the freeing move c6-c5 alto-gether by placing his own pawn on c5. All these ideas motivate the actions of both sides in the next few moves.

34

14 ~cS 15.gfe1 geS 15 ... c5?! 16.d5! 16.J.e5! ~d7 After 16 ... c5, White has the

idea of 17.d5! exd5 18.cxd5 and it would be bad for Black to re-ply with 18 ... ~xd5? because of 19.9xd5! hd5 20.~d3+- and White wins, while after 18 ... i.d6

19.~c4t his passed d-pawn be-comes tremendously powerful. However, if we continue this last variation with 19 ... ~d8, Black can still offer resistance, while the way the game continues he never gets another chance to carry out this key pawn-break.

17.ti'e4 ~f8 lS.~g4 f6 19.J.g3

White improves his position, move by move, while Black re-mains inactive.

19 ti'dS Here, again after 19 ... c5, White

has the powerful riposte 20.d5! and then if 20 ... exd5?! 21.'I&xc8 1:'laxc8 22.cxd5+- his d-pawn is unstoppable, but even after Black's only move 20 ... e5 his po-sition is hopeless.

20.h4 J.d6 21.h5 J.xg3 22. 'l&xg3 ti'bS 23. 'l&h4 ~c7

Black's last chance of offer-ing any significant resistance was 23 ... c5!? White would be clearly better even then, but Black's piec-es would be slightly more active.

24.cS!

As often happens when the op-ponents are of different strengths, one of the sides usually succeeds in realising all his ideas almost effortlessly. Once White has im-peded Black's pawn-break c6-c5 the rest of the game turnsinto an execution.

24 ... gadS 25.b4 ~cS Here Black should have tried

25 ... h6. 26.h6 ~hS 27.hxg7+ ftxg7

2S.ge4 ge7 29.gg4ftf7 30 .gg3 ~d7 31.ge1 ggS 32.gxgS+ VxgS 33.d5! cxd5 34.c6+-

This is the beginning of the end.

34 ... ~f8 35.ftxf6+ ftg736. Vf4 gf7 37.Ve3 Vb2 3S.~e5 gg7 39.ftf4 ~gS 40.~d3 Vc3 41.ge3 Vc1+ 42.~h2 ftd2 43.b5

White was winning immedi-ately with 43.~g4+-

43 d4 44.gf3 ftxf4+ 45. gxf4 gg5 46.~f3 gh5+ 47.~g3

3.~d2 dxe4 4.~xe4

e5 4S.~c4+ ~e6 49.gxf8+ Black resigned.

4 Lastin Agasieva Baku 2008

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.~d2 dxe4 4.~xe4 ~f6 5.~xf6+ gxf6?!

In this game, White demon-strated the drawbacks of Black's last move quite convincingly.

6.~f3 b6 7.~b5+ c6 S.~d3 ftc7 9.fte2 ~b710.a4!

In this pawn-structure, Black's king will be safe neither in the cen-tre nor on the kingside, so White shows his readiness to "welcome" it to the queenside, if necessary ...

10 ... ~d7 Black cannot expect anything

positive from the variation 10 ... a6 11. 0-0 ~d712.a5 b5 13.c4 0-0-0

14.~d2t, followed by 15JUci. 11.a5~d6 White maintains a clear edge

after 1l ... c5 12.0-0 ~d6 13.~e4 12.a6! ~cS 13.0-0 ~f8 14.

c4 ~d7 15.~e3 ~g6 16.g3 0 - 0 17.h4

(diagram) Black was forced to castle

kingside and thus admit that the

35

Chapter 1

plan begun with his 5th move was wrong. It is obvious that his king will not be safe there either.

17 cif.>hS lS.h5 ~e7 19.c5 bxc5 20 .dxc5

20 .txg3? Of course, Black's position is

very difficult, but after 20 ... !e5 21.!d2 l3gS he could have still resisted. The piece-sacrifice is not correct and he loses quickly.

21.fxg3 Wlxg3+ 22.Vg2+-Wlc7 23.J.d4 Vf4 24.Vh2 Vg4+ 25.cif.>f2 e5 26.gg1 Ve6 27.gael Vd5 2S.Y!!Ih4 Wle6 29.~xe5

~f5 30 .txf5 Vxf5+ 31.~fJ h6 32 .txf6+ cif.>h7 33.gg7+ cif.>hS

34.~+ cif.>gS 35.Vg3+. Black resigned.

5 Ortel Nagy Dani Hungary 2001

l.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.~d2 dxe4

36

4.~xe4 ~f6 5.~xf6+ Vxf6 6.~fJ h6 7.J.d3 J.d6 S.O-O ~c6 9.c3 J.d7?!

Black's decision to castle queenside is too optimistic. Cas-tling kingside would be much safer.

10.Ve2 0-0-0 1l.b4 ~e7

12.b5! White has numerous attrac-

tive possibilities here: 12.~e5!? or 12.c4!?, but it seems to me that the move in the game is his most convincing response to Black's opening set-up, which is not quite correct. White's b-pawn advanc-es, depriving Black's bishop of the c6-square and paving the way for its neighbour - the c-pawn - to advance as well, if Black tries to transfer his knight to d5, as he has planned.

12 ~d5?! Black does not even try to pre-

vent White from carrying out his plan, but his position was difficult anyway. It is hard to suggest any-thing better, for example: 12 ... g5 13.llJe5j or 12 ... @bS 13.c4 llJg6 14.!e4

13.c4 ~f4 14 .txf4 .txf4 15.a4

It is also very good for White to play IS.g3 .id6 16.cS .ie7 17.c6-+ with a powerful attack, but after the move in the game, Black's de-fence is no easier.

1S c5 16.aS .id6 17.a6+-.ib8?

It would be more resilient for him to play 17 .. .'i!.>b8.

18.Be4

White's attack is crushing, but it looks as if he wishes to empha-size his patience; otherwise, he could have mated his opponent much earlier.

18 bxa6 19.bxa6 me7 20. Bb7+ md6 21.dxeS+ mxc5

3.lLld2 dxe4 4.lLlxe4

22 Ve3 23 .ie4 f5 24 .ixf5 .ie6 2S.Ve7+ ftd6 26.ftxd6 hd6 27.Vxa7+ mxe4 28. he6+ .idS 29.hdS+ mxdS 30 .ftd1 + me6 3"'~d4+ mf6 32. Bd7 .ic5. Black resigned, and this was not at all premature .

6 Tiviakov Kadziela Warsaw (rapid) 2009

1.e4 e6 2.d4 dS 3.~d2 dxe4 4.~xe4 ~f6 S.~xf6+ Vxf6

6.~J b6 7 .id3 ~d7 8.0-0 .id6 9.Be2 b6 10 .ie4 ftb8 1l.b3 0-0 12 .ib2;t

12 Bf4?! White would have maintained

the advantage, no matter what Black played, but his last move is the cause of his greater prob-lems later. We have already men-tioned in our first illustrative game that the active position of the queen, when the other pieces remain passive, cannot be the most harmonious set-up of piec-

22.ftfd1 es. It was much simpler for White It would be safer for Black to

to play 22J~aS+ d6 23.~b4+ have moved his strongest piece c7 24.!kS+ .ic6 2S.~b7+ mat- back inside his own camp: 12 ... ing on the next move. .ib7 13.hb7 !!xb7 14.lLleS heS

37

Chapter 1

1S.dxeS \We?;!;; or immediately 12 ... \We?;!;

13.c4 .lb7 14 .txb7 gxb7 lS.gfe1 gbbS 16.gad1 gfeS 17.g3 Wg4 ls.mg2 gbdS 19. 9c2

You can now see the conse-quences of Black's 12th move. His queen is endangered and he can hardly evacuate it from the ene-my camp without making conces-sions. It is difficult to recommend moves like 19 .. .fS?!, while the exchange of queens would con-siderably weaken Black's pawn-structure.

19 ... Wf5 20.9xf5 exf5 21.dS

The arising endgame. is very difficult for Black.

38

21 .ib4 22.gxeS+ ~eS 23.~d4 g6 24.mfJ..ld6 2S.~c6 a6 26.b4 mfB 27 .id4 ~eS 2S. .!xeS .!xeS 29.c5

29 M6? Black loses quickly after this

move. He had to first insert the

exchange of pawns: 29 ... bxcS 30.bxcS .if6, preserving some chances of survival, because in reply to 31.d6, he would have the possibility of 31...cxd6 32.cxd6 ~c8.

30.d6 cxd6 31.cxb6+-White's b-pawn is unstoppable

now. 31 .idS 32.b7 .ic7 33.ge1 gxe1+ 34.mxe1 meS 3S.bSW+ .!xbS 36.~xbS mdS 37.~xa6. Black resigned.

Chapter 2 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.ll~d2 dxe4 4.li~xe4 .id7

Quick Repertoire

In this chapter we shall ana-lyze one of the two main lines of the Rubinstein variation - the move 4 ... i.d7, which was played for the first time in the game Cor-zo - Capablanca, Havana 1902 and retains its popularity even today. The Russian grandmaster Alexander Rustemov is one of the main exponents of this system and he plays it quite successfully. There are some other players who have this variation as a part of their opening repertoire, such as Mikhailo Stojanovic, Konstantin Chernishov, Eduardas Rozentalis, Boris Gelfand, etc.

The idea of Black's last move is to develop his bishop early to c6, followed by the preparation of an exchanging operation with tDd7

and then tDgf6. With this order of moves, in contrast to the classical variation with 4 ... tDd7, Black solves right at the very beginning of the game one of his main prob-lems - the development of his light-squared bishop. However, this set-up has its drawbacks too - the bishop on c6 blocks the c-pawn for the break c7 -c5 and also the bishop can become a target for White's knight on e5, so Black must usually acquiesce to its exchange. As a result, White often obtains the bishop-pair and a stable positional advantage, but Black's position has no real weaknesses and is difficult to breach.

5.tDf3 .ic6 6 .id3IOd7 7. 0 - 0 IOgf6

39

Chapter 2

S.~eg5!? This interesting and aggressive

move was played several times, and quite successfully at that (3 wins out of 3 games), by Viorel Bologan. It has also been tried by Victor Korchnoi, Emil Sutovsky, Michael Roiz and various other famous players.

Black's position is cramped, so simplifications are not in White's favour. He avoids the exchange and his knight eyes the e6 and fl-squares.

S ... .id6 Black must play very care-

fully and accurately; otherwise he might come under a crushing at-tack right away.

The provocative move B ... h6?! could have tragic consequences for Black after 9.lLlxe6!

If B ... i.e7, White has the re-source 9.lLlxfl! with the initiative. You can see all this in detail in the section Step by Step.

9J:iel h6 (diagram) 10.~h3 White has various possible sac-

rifices at his disposal, but they do not work, for example: 1O.gxe6?! i>f8! with a rather unclear posi-tion, so his knight retreats, ready to be transferred to f4.

10 .ixf3 White was threatening 1l.lLle5,

40

so Black's reply was practically forced.

1l.l'1xf3 e6 12.~f4 0 - 0 13. ~h5 geS 14.~xf6+ ~xf6 15. .id2 e5 16.dxe5 .ixe5 17.g3 Yfd5 IS.Yfxd5 ~xd5 19.9abl .id4 20 .e3 .ib6 21.gbdU

The arising position is quite typical for the variation with 4 ... i.d7 in general. Despite the nu-merous exchanges, White has a stable advantage in this endgame, thanks to his bishop-pair, and re-tains serious winning chances.

Chapter 2 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.~d2 dxe4 4.~xe4 .id7 5.~f3

Step by Step

S .Ac6 The alternatives for Black have

no independent theoretical im-portance:

S ... lDf6 6.lDxf6+ gxf6 7.g3 -see Chapter 1;

S ... i.e7 6.i.d3 i.c6 - see S ... i.c6 6.i.d3 i.e7; 6 ... lDf6 7.lDxf6+ hf6 8.0-0 0-0 9.c3 i.c6 1O.i.f4 lDd7, or 8 ... i.c6 9.c3 0-0 1O.i.f4 lDd7, or 9 ... lDd7 1O.i.f4 0-0 -see S ... i.c6 6.i.d3 i.e7 7.0-0 lDf6 8.lDxf6+ ixf6.

6 .Ad3 ~d7 It is rather dubious for Black

to play 6 ... lDf6?! Just as in some other lines of the Rubinstein vari-ation, (for example variation A in Chapter 1), this voluntary weak-ening of the pawn-structure only complicates Black's task of ensur-

ing the safety of his king: 7.lDxf6+ gxf6 (it would be even worse for him to play7 ... 'lWxf6?, which would lead to material loss after 8.i.gS hf3 9.'lWd2! hg2 1O.hf6 hh1 1l.i.eS - Black's compensation for the queen is clearly insuffi-cient, Gajsin - Dettmann, Kosza-lin 1997; while the move 9 ... 'lWxd4? loses immediately: 10.i.bS+ and Black resigned, Kotkov - G .Ako-pian, Krasnodar 1966) 8.0-0

and here: 8 ... tvdS?! - this move only

helps White to open the position advantageously with c2-c4 fol-lowed by d4-dS. 9.c4 tvhS 10.dS! exdS 11.~e1+ @d8 12.lDgS! 'lWxdl 13.lDxf7 + @c814.~xd1 ~g81S.cxdS i.e8 16.i.fS+ i.d7 17.i.e6!+- with a winning position, Akopian -Karatorossian, Linares 2001;

41

Chapter 2

8 ... i.d6 9J!e1 tlJd7 1O.c4 ,bf3 l1.~xf3 c6 12.i.h6 ~c713.~hSBlack's king is obviously uncom-fortable in the centre and it will be very difficult for him to prepare queenside castling owing to the vulnerability ofthe f7-pawn, Alar-con - Morales, Peru 1996;

8 ... tlJd7 9.c4 ,bf3 10.~xf3 c6 1l.i.f4 ~aS 12.a3 eS (White is also better after 12 ... 0-0-0 13. b4 ~a4 14.~h5! and Black's f7-pawn is indefensible.) 13J'!fe1 0-0-0 14.dxeS fxeS lS.b4 ~c7 16.i.gS f6 17.,bf6 tlJxf6 18.~xf6 i.g7 19. ~e6+ cj;>b8 20J'!adl -Black has lost a pawn without any compensation whatsoever, Fur-hoff - J.Mortensen, Copenhagen 1998;

after 8 ... i.e7 9J'!e1 tlJd7, Yu-renok - Varley, Aberdeen 1994, White should play 1O.c4!t, pre-paring 1l.dS with a powerful ini-tiative;

8 ... ,bf3 9.~xf3 c6 1O.i.d2 i.e7 llJ'!ad1 tlJd7 (It was maybe worth the risk of accepting the sacrifice: 1l ... ~xd4!?, but after 12.i.c3 ~h4

13J'!fe1~ White obtains powerful compensation, becauseif13 ... tlJd7, he has the counter-strike 14.i.a6!) 12J'!fe1 ~c7 13.~hS (White at-tacks the f7-pawn and prevents his opponent from queenside cas-tling.) 13 ... tlJf8 14.dS! (This pawn-break is decisive!) 14 ... eS (Black loses after 14 ... cxdS lS.i.bS+ tlJd7 16.13xe6+-; as well as following 14 ... exdS 15. i.b4 tlJg6 16.,bg6 fxg617.~h6 cS18.~g7+-) lS.dxc6

~xc6 16. i.e4 ~c8 17.~f3 13b8

42

18.i.e3 b6 19.i.c6+ 1-0 Nisipeanu - Torres, Naujac 2000.

6 ... ,be4 7.,be4 c6 8.c3 tlJf6 9.i.c2. Later, Black can choose between several possible set-ups, basically depending on where he develops his bishop - to e7, d6, or g7. He will deploy his queen's knight on d7 in any case, so sooner or later it will amount to a transposition of moves - see 6 ... tlJd7 7.0-0 ,be4 8.,be4 c6 9.c3 tlJf610.i.c2, variation A.

6 ... i.e7 7.0-0 tlJf6

8.tlJxf6+. In general, White avoids the exchange of this knight in the majority of the variations, because he has a space advantage and exchanges are not favourable for him. In this particular case, this transformation of the position is justified because Black ends up with a bishop on f6 instead of a knight, and it is not so well placed there. 8 ... ,bf6 9.c3 tlJd7 10.i.f4 0-01l.13e1

(diagram) We can try to assess the results

of the opening at this moment. Black has practically completed his development and has obtained a very solid but somewhat passive

3.tiJd2 dxe4 4.tiJxe4 j,d7 S.tiJgfJ j,c6 6.j,d3 ttJd77. 0-0

position, which is rather typical for the entire Rubinstein varia-tion in general. His minor pieces, however, are not placed so well. If his bishops were on b7 and e7 and his knight on f6, then the po-sition on the board could be con-sidered as almost equal. Black can try to redeploy his pieces to these squares, but that takes time and meanwhile White will consider-ably improve the placement of his own pieces. White's plan in the near future is very simple: ~e2, ~adl and then ttJeS.

11 ... i.xf3 (Black did not play so well in the following game-fragment: 1l ... ~e8 12.~e3 ttJf8?! 13.ttJeS heS 14.heS f6 IS.j,g3 and White's advantage was over-whelming in the game Gligoric -Barcza, Stockholm 1962; Black's attempt to organize counter-play on the queenside with 11 ... as 12.~e2 ~e8 13.~adl a4, was not really in the spirit of the po-sition, since it enabled White to effortlessly increase his pressure on the other side of the board as well as in the centre: 14.ttJeS heS IS.dxeS ~h4 16.j,g3 ~gS 17.j,c2 ttJb618.h4 ~e719.~hS g6 20.~h6

~f8 21.~c1 ~ad8 22.hSt Medvegy - Poulsen, Budapest 2004, game 7; it would be a bit more logical for Black to choose 1l ... b612. ~e2 j,b7

13.~adl ~c8, Ivanovic - Raicevic, Budva 2002. His last move was played with the idea of developing the queen to e7, so he needed to protect the c7-pawn. Here howev-er, White can exploit the tempo-rary weakening of his opponent's queenside and play 14.j,a6!?;!; with an advantage, for example: 14 ... ha6 IS.~xa6 c616.~xa7 ~a8

17.~b7 ~a2 18.ttJeSt) 12.~xf3 c6 13.~g3 ~e8, Pelikian - Segal, Sao Paulo 1998.

It would be very useful for White to try to breach his op-ponent's position with a march of his h-pawn, so he should play here 14.j,c7!? ~c8 IS.h4!;!;, main-taining the initiative.

7.0-0 (diagram)

Black has three possibilities in the diagram position:

A) 7 ... he4 B) 7 j.e7 C) 7 lLlgf6

43

Chapter 2

A) 7 J.xe4 This move has been played

numerous times (and he even continues to play it ... ) by the emi-nent grandmaster from Lithuania Eduardas Rozentalis.

We have already mentioned earlier that Black often trades his light-squared bishop for White's knight in this variation. You may consider this exchange to be a po-sitional concession, but that does not bother Black at all. In general, having played 4 ... .td7, he should be ready to exchange his bishop for the knight anyway. In this case, however, he is doing this voluntarily and a bit too early and White obtains a very comfortable game. Still, Black's position, just as in the majority of the cases in this variation, is passive but very solid and White cannot breach it at all easily.

8.J.xe4 c6 9.c3 White prepares the c2-square

for the retreat of his bishop. 9 ... ~gf610 . .ic2

(diagram) We will mention here that the

diagram position is encountered

44

in practice very frequently; never-theless we shall not analyze very many games with it. The point is that both players usually follow set schemes and the ensuing de-velopments are slow and adhere to a well known script. White re-lies on his bishop-pair in order to develop his initiative (mostly on the kingside), while Black wishes to complete the mobilization of his forces, advance c6-c5 and gradually exchange pieces, sim-plifying the position. Accordingly, I shall give here only a few, very typical, examples.

Black must now choose where to develop his bishop - to d6, e7 org7.

lO . .id6 This is the most natural

square. 10 ... g6. This method of devel-

opment has been played many times by the Danish grandmaster Lars Bo Hansen and of course it is possible, but it is the least logical in this situation. The deployment of the bishop on the f8-a3 diago-nal seems more natural. 11.~el .tg7 12 . .tg5 h6 (Black only creates

3.liJd2 dxe4 4.liJxe4 !d75.liJgj3 !c6 6.!d3 liJd77.0-0

a target for his opponent for the further development of his ini-tiative on the kingside. He should have preferred here 12 ... 0-0

13.~d2;!; with only a slight edge for White) 13.i.f4! 0-0 14.~d2 Wh7 15J'!ad11!eS 16.~cU and the placement of Black's king has be-come much less secure, so White has excellent prospects for the future, Perez Candelario - Her-nando Rodrigo, Montcada 2009 (gameS).

10 ... i.e711.1!e1 0-0 12. ~d31!eS (Black would not change much with 12 ... c5 13.i.d2;!;) 13.i.d2 ~c7 14.1!ad1 1!adS 15.liJg5 liJfS (15 ... h6 16.liJf3;!;) 16.~f3 i.d6 17.g3 h6 1S.liJe4 liJxe4 19.1!xe4 c5 20.d5! exd5 21.1!xeS 1!xeS 22.~xd5 1!e5

23.~f3;!;. White has increased the scope of his bishops. In particu-lar the a2-gS diagonal has been opened and his light-squared bishop will occupy it sooner or later, Adams - Bacrot, Moscow (blitz) 2007.

lUlel Be7 For 11...0-0 12.liJe5 ~c7 13.~e2 - see 11 ... ~c7.

12.Be2

12 . 0-0 12 ... 0-0-0?! This move is

not in harmony with the spirit of this variation, since Black usu-ally plays prudently and straight-forwardly in order to equalize. 13.liJe5 1!hfS 14.h3 ~bS 15.b4 h6 16.1!b1 (his king is seriously endangered) 16 ... .ixe5 17.dxe5 liJd5 1S.i.d2 liJe7 19.f4 g6 20.a4 hS 21.~f2 liJb6 22.i.e3 liJecS 23. bS-+ files are opened now and Black is in trouble, Reiner Gon-zalez - Cruz Lima, Las Tunas 1996.

12 ... i.f4

The consequences of this move require an exact evaluation, be-cause 12 ... i.f4 deprives White of his only long-term advantage -the bishop-pair. Accordingly, White must rely now entirely on dynamic factors - his lead in de-velopment and the misplacement of Black's queen. 13 . .ixf4 ~xf4 14.liJe5liJxe5 (14 ... 0-0, Belkhodja - Wegerle, Germany 2005, 15.g3 ~h6 16.liJc4!;!; - White's knight is ready to attack the enemy queen-side from the d6- or as-squares, while Black's queen is isolated from the action.) 15.dxe5liJd5 (af-

45

Chapter 2

ter 15 ... lDd7 16J3ad1, Black must castle queenside, but his king will hardly be safe there, for example: 16 ... 0-0-0 17J'!d4 YHg5 lS.l'!g4 Wlh6 19.93;!;; or 16 ... YHg5, Levush-kina - Egger, Munich 2007, 17.l'!d4 with very similar play) 16. l'!ad1 0-0-0 (after 16 ... 0-0, Black's problems are even great-er: 17.g3 YHg51S.c4lDb6 - or IS ... lDb4 19.1'!d7 - 19.1'!d6, for ex-ample: 19 ... l'!adS 20.f4 Wle7 21. Wld3 g6 22.l'!d1 and White's pres-sure is tremendously powerful) 17.l'!d4 Wlg5 lS.l'!g4! Wlh6 19.93 g6 20.ole4

20 ... lDc7? (This is a very bad decision for Black. He had to play 20 ... Wlg7, which White probably intended to counter with 21.hd5 l'!xd5 22.c4 l'!d7 23.Wle3 wbS 24. l'!d4 l'!hdS 25.l'!edU, maintaining some edge) 21.l'!f4 l'!d7 22.Wlf3 YHg7 23.hc6! bxc6 24.YHxc6 and in view of the threat of 25.l'!a4 White's attack should be impossi-ble to parry, Oratovsky - Belezky, Albacete 2002.

13.ttle5 gfe8 For 13 ... c5 14.olg5 l'!feS - see

13 ... l'!feS. 14 .ig5

46

14 h6 It is obviously dubious for

Black to opt for 14 ... he5?!, since that would only help White to de-velop his initiative on the kingside 15.dxe5 lDd5 16.l'!ad1 lDfS 17. h4 lDe71S.h5 h6 19.olf6! gxf6 20.exf6 Wlf4 21.fxe7 l'!xe7 22.l'!d4 YHf6 23. Wld3l'!eeS 24.l'!e3 (Black no longer has any defence.) 24 ... l'!edS 25. l'!g4+ whS 26.l'!eg3! l'!xd3 27.l'!gS+ wh7 2S.hd3+ Wlg6 29.l'!xfS! and Black resigned, Beliavsky -Jensen, Copenhagen 2004.

14 ... olfS 15.l'!ad1 g6 16.l'!d3!? (White's rook is ready to be trans-ferred to the kingside) 16 ... lDxe5 (Black was obviously frightened by White's manoeuvre on the previous move, so he was in a hurry to carry out this exchange. Instead he could have played the natural move 16 ... olg7, which would be countered by White most probably with 17.l'!f3!?) 17. dxe5 lDd5 lS.h4 ole7 19.old2!? (White is playing enterprisingly and very aggressively.) 19 ... l'!adS (19 ... hh4?! 20.c4 ttlb6 21.l'!h3 ole7? 22.l'!xh7! wxh7 23.YHh5+ wg7 24.Wlh6+ wgS 25.hg6 fxg6

3.tiJ d2 dxe4 4.tiJxe41d7 5.tiJg.fJ 1c6 6.1d3 tiJd77.0-0

26.'i;Yxg6+ c;!;>h8 27J~~e4+-) 20.hS 1f8 2U'!h3t Palkovi - Herodl, Werfen 1989 (game 9).

14 ... cS lS.gad1 cxd4 16.cxd4 1b4 17.gfl 'i;YaS 18.1b3 h6 19.1h4 18 20.f4t. The position is quite open now and White's light-squared bishop has been deployed perfectly and has no opponent. His kingside initiative is very dangerous, Chandler - Malich, Germany 1992.

lS.~h4 This bishop becomes a bit

isolated on the kingside later, so White could have considered here the move lS.1d2!?;!;, planning to re-deploy his queen later to g3 or h3.

lS tiJdS l6J~adl

l6 t'5!? This is an interesting attempt

by Black to exploit the vulnerable position of the enemy bishop.

l7.c4 tiJf4 lS.'ire3 tiJxeS 19. dxeS ~b4 20.'i;Yxf4

The variation 20.gf1 tiJg6 can only be in Black's favour.

20 hel 2l.gxel gS 22. hgS bxgS 23.'irxgS+ 'irg7 24.'irf4;!;

In this double-edged position White is still slightly better, Ka-legin - Voloshin, Ufa 1993.

B) 7 ~e7

Black is not in a hurry to de-velop his king's knight to f6 and makes instead another useful de-veloping move. It is difficult to tell what the advantages of this move-order are, because it usu-ally amounts to a transposition in the majority of the variations. Maybe Black wishes to avoid the tactical tricks arising in the fol-lowing variation: 7 ... tiJgf6 8.tiJegS and here after 8 ... 1e7, White has the tactical blow 9.tiJxf7! - see variation C.

47

Chapter 2

8.'I'e2 It is not so good for White to

try to transpose to the variation we have just analyzed with 6 ... fie7 7.0-0 /t)f6 8./t)xf6+ .ixf6 9.c3 and 8.c3 /t)gf6 9./t)xf6+, because of 9 ... /t)xf6! (after 9 ... hf6 1O.fif4:t White achieves what he was after) 10./t)eS ~dS 1l./t)xc6 (11. f3 fibS!=) 11 ... ~xc6 and White's advantage is only symbolic. The position is quite simplified and Black's minor pieces are perfectly placed.

8 ... ~gf6 9.~eg5!?

This interesting move has been tried by such outstanding attack-ing players as Emil Sutovsky and Luke McShane. White's knight avoids the exchange and comes closer to the enemy king, attack-ing the key-squares e6 and fl, or-if Black castles kingside - the h7-square as well. It is worth men-tioning that with his last move White is prepared to sacrifice his knight (in fact, Black can even force his opponent to do so - see for example the variation with 9 ... h6) and his initiative more than

48

compensates for the sacrificed material in the ensuing complica-tions.

9 ... .ixf3 This decision is practically

forced. It would be too risky for Black

to opt for 9 ... h6?! 1O./t)xe6! fxe6 1l.fig6+ 'it>f8 12.c4! (it is essential to deprive the enemy knight of the dS-square; it is weaker for White to continue with 12.~xe6?! fidS+ Mozer - Csorba, Hungary 2003) 12 ... fid6 (after 12 ... /t)b6, with the idea 13 ... fie8, Noskov - Lyrberg, Cappelle la Grande 1995, White develops a very powerful attack with 13.dS! 13 ... exdS 14./t)d4-+ or 13 ... fie8 14./t)d4 ~d7 15. /t)xe6+ 'it>g8 16.fifS-+) 13.'1Wxe6 ~e7

This was how the game Antal - Z.Varga, Budapest 2000 devel-oped. White regains his piece by going into an endgame: 14.~xe7+! fixe7 (after 14 ... 'it>xe7, it would not work for him to play IS.dS? /t)f8=t and Black saves his bishop; but after IS.cS /t)xcS 16.dxcS fixcS 17J'!elt White restores the ma-terial balance and maintains a powerful initiative) IS.dS /t)xdS 16.cxdS fixdS 17.fif4 c6 18J~fel

3.ttJ d2 dxe4 4.ttJxe4 id75.ttJgf3 ic6 6.id3 ttJd77.0-0

if6 19J3adlt - Black has big problems bringing his rook on h8 into play and White has a great advantage.

It is not advisable for Black to play 9 ... 0-0 10.ttJeS h6 (not 10 ... ttJxeS? 11.dxeS ~dS 12.f4 h6, Bos Swiecik - Garcia Menchon, Sitges 1993, 13 . .lc4! ~aS. Black must pre-serve the possibility of an interme-diate check with the bishop from the cS-square - after 13 .. :~d4+ 14 . .le3 ~xb2 IS.exf6, he loses a piece - 14.exf6 .lcS+ IS.C;!;>hl hxgS 16.fxg7 c;!;>xg7 17.fxgS+- - White has an extra pawn and a crush-ing attack.) 11.ttJxc6 bxc6 12.ttJf3 c5 13.c3;!; - White has a stable advantage thanks to his powerful bishop-pair and Black's weakened pawn-structure, Schetchikov -Lafaurie, Paris 1998.

10."I'xf3 c61U~el

11 ~a5! This is an important interme-

diate move and you will see its idea a bit later. White's queen will go to the h3-square, so Black should not play 11 ... h6 at the mo-ment because of 12. Wfh3!

He will also have great prob-lems after 11 ... 0-0?! 12.~h3

Black loses immediately after 12 ... h6? 13.ttJxe6! ~aS, Richard -Aljelda, Antalya 2009 (13 ... fxe6 14.Wfxe6+ 13fl IS . .lg6 ~f8 16. hfl+ ~xfl 17.Wfxe7+-) White can win in several ways here and his most convincing is: 14.b4! hb4 (14 ... Wfb41S.c3+-) IS.ttJxg7! ixeI16.hh6+- with a crushing attack in view of the threat of 17.ttJf5.

It is preferable for Black to continue with 12 ... g613 . .lc4! (bad is 13.ttJxe6? fxe6 14.Wfxe6+ 13m and White's bishop has no access to the g6-square, Mar - Rosie, Oropesa del Mar 1999) 13 ... ~aS 14.c3 (Now Black must consider the possible sacrifices on e6 and fl.) 14 ... ~fS (This is practically the only move for Black. It would be a disaster for him to opt for 14 ... 13fe8? IS.ttJxfl c;!;>xflI6.he6+ c;!;>g7 17.hd7 ttJxd7 18.~xd7+Guex - Sparacino, Switzerland 1994; it is also tremendously risky for him to choose 14 ... C;!;>h8 15. Wfh6--., and he is almost defence-less against the transfer of White's rook to h3 along the route e3-h3.)

49

Chapter 2

lS.g4!? 'xg4+ 16.'xg4 lDxg4 17. lDxe6 1'!fc8 (17 ... 1'!fe8 18.lDc7+-) 18.lDgS hgS 19.hgS;!;. White's advantage of having two bishops against two knights in this almost open position is quite obvious.

12.c3

12 0-0 12 ... h6?! Playing like this

against Emil Sutovsky is equal to pulling the tail of a tiger. 13.lDxe6! (it is also very good for White to play 13.'fNh3!?, but the sacrifice is much more convincing) 13 ... fxe6 14.1'!xe6. White's attack is deci-sive. 14 ... 'fNd8 (14 ... l!if7 lS.J.c4-+) lS.J.g6+ I!if8 16.'e2. White is at-tacking the enemy bishop on e7 and preventing Black's king from retreating to g8. White's rook will inevitably come soon to the e1-square, which will crown his offensive victoriously. 16 ... lDdS 17.c4lDc7 18.J.f4! lDf6 19.1'!e1 J.b4 20.hc7+- - Black cannot cap-ture on c7 because of the mate on e8, so he can already resign, Sutovsky - D'Costa, Reykjavik 2006.

so

13.Vh3 White would maintain some

edge after 13.'g3 g614.'h31'!fe8 lS.J.d2 J.f8;!; Watson - Hodgson, London 1990, but in similar posi-tions it would be almost automat-ic for Black to advance g7-g6, so White does not need to lose time to provoke it.

13 h6 After 13 ... g6, White at least

wins a tempo in comparison to the game Watson - Hodgson.

14.~f3!;!; At this particular moment, the

sacrifice on e6 leads only to an unclear position: 14.lDxe6?! fxe6 lS.'fNxe6+ I!ih8! (but not lS ... 1'!f7? 16.J.c4 1'!af8 17.'xe7+-). Here, White loses after 16.'fNxe7? 1'!ae8 - this tactical possibility is the es-sence of Black's idea of sending his queen to the as-square on move 11; after 16.'fNh3 J.d6 17. hh6 'fNhS 18.'fNxhSlDxhSoo, or 16. J.xh6 gxh6 17.'fNxe7 1'!ae8 18. 'fNd6oo, there arise double-edged positions in which only Black can be better.

3.ttJd2 dxe4 4.ttJxe4 i.d75.ttJg.fJ i.c6 6.i.d3 ttJd77.0-0

White has the initiative. For example, after 14 ... i.d6, White has the powerful resource 15J'!xe6! fxe6 16.~xe6+ and then if 16 ... lOU? 17.i.g6 he ends up with ex-tra material, while if 17 ... ~hS he maintains the advantage with the simple move 17.~xd6, but he can also consider 17.ttJh4!?-+. Af-ter 14 .. J!adS 15.ttJe5 Black must seriously consider the possible sacrifice 16.,ixh6!, while in the variation 14 ... ti'h5 15.~g3, his queen will be very uncomfortable on the h5-square.

C) 7 ~gf6

the most popular move for Black in this position.

8.~eg5!? Black's position is cramped,

so White should avoid simplifica-tion. His knight eyes the e6- and V-squares.

The other principled moves S.ttJg3 and S.ttJed2 lead to much calmer positions.

8 .. .id6 This is the safest move for

Black. It would be tremendously

risky for him to opt for S ... h6?! 9.ttJxe6! fxe6 1O.i.g6+ ~e7 1l.c4 (it is also good for White to play llJ!el, again with a powerful at-tack, Solodovnichenko - Sand-eep, New Delhi 2009)

1l ... i.e4 (after 1l ... .bf312.~xf3 ttJb6, Golubev - Sher, Geneva 1993, White's simplest response would be 13.b3-+, preserving nu-merous threats: 14J!el; 14.d5;

14.~xb7) 12.he4 ttJxe4 13.l!el ttJef6, Klima - Kukla, Strmilov 2005 (The position is very bad for Black after 13 ... ttJdf6 14.ttJe5 Teske - Wachovius, Reckling-hausen 2003). White can contin-

This is the most natural and ue with 14.d5!t and he maintains

51

Chapter 2

a powerful initiative, for example: 14 ... eS IS.lilxeS lilxeS 16.f4! ~t7 17.fxeS .tcS+ IS . .te3 etc.

White obtains a very comfort-able game after S ... i.xf3?! 9.Wlxf3 c6 lOJ'!el.te7 (we have reached a position from variation D: 7 ... .te7 S.Wle2 lilgf6 9.lilegS i.xf3 10.Wlxf3 c6 lU'!el with an extra tempo for White, since it is his move now) 11.V9h3

Here, for example, Black loses immediately after 1l ... cS?, Pila-vov - V.Kiselev, Ukraine 2010, because of the spectacular tacti-cal strike 12 . .tg6!! fxg6 13.Wlxe6

~fS 14.dS+- with the unavoid-able threat of IS.d6. Black's only chance of avoiding immediate loss is the move 1l ... lilfS, but in that case he has no counterplay whatsoever and his king will re-main stranded in the centre for a long time, while White can pa-tiently prepare the decisive open-ing of the game. Here is a game in which even such an outstand-ing player and superb defender as Ulf Andersson was Black, but even he failed to withstand White's offensive: 12.c3 V9c713.g3 .td6 14.c4 Wld7 IS . .te3 h6 16.~adl

52

lilSh7 17.lilxh7 lilxh7 IS.dS cxdS 19.cxdS eS (19 ... lilfS 20 . .td4 ~gS 21..tfS+-) 20 . .tfS Vge7 21.f4 e4 (21...0-0 22.fxeS i.xeS 23.d6! V9f6

24.~fllilgS 2S.Wlg2 g6 26 . .tcS!+-) 22.he4 lilf6 23 . .tbl 0-0 24.g4!

~feS 2S.gS .tcS 26.~hl! i.xe3 27. gxf6 WlcS 2S.V9g3 gS 29.V9h3 .td4 30.V9xh6 and Black resigned, Hel-lers - Andersson, Eksjo 1993.

After S ... .te7, it is very inter-esting for White

to continue with 9.lilxt7! (after 9.Vge2, he can transpose to the very advantageous variation D, but the piece-sacrifice is even more promising) 9 ... ~xt7lO.lilgS+

~gS 1l.lilxe6 WlcS 12.~el .td6 13 . .tfS (it is worse for White to continue with 13.c4?! lilfB 14 . .tfS .td7+ with numerous exchanges, which are very advantageous for Black, Moen - Thorstensen, Nor-way 2002) 13 ... .tdS, Winsnes -Bus, Gothenburg 1993, 14.V9d3!1'. Now, in view of the threat of 15. c4, White has the initiative.

9.gelh6 This is the right moment for

Black to push the rather unpleas-ant enemy knight back .

10.~h3

3.liJd2 dxe4 4.liJxe4 1J.d75.liJgj3 1J.c6 6.1J.d3 liJd77.0-0

10 .ixf3 Here, in view of the threat of

1l.liJe5, Black's decision is practi-cally forced.

The alternatives are weaker. It is bad for him to play 10 ...

g5?! because of 1l.liJe5 Jukic -Zecevic, Porec 1994.

He cannot be happy either with the line: 10 ... 0-0?! 11.liJe5 h6 12.liJxc6 bxc6 13.liJe4~ with a very pleasant position for White, Strzemiecki - Karbowiak, Poland 2006.

It would be too slow for him to opt for 10 ... b6?! 1l.liJe51J.b7.

(13 ... ~cB 14.fff3~) 14.,hb7 l'!xb7 15.fff3 ~cB 16.ffg3t - White has excellent attacking prospects, Golubev - Epishin, Geneva 1993 (game 10).

11. VxJ c6 12.~f4

12 0-0 Black's alternative here is 12 ... ~a5!? 13.c3

and now: It would be too dangerous for

him to choose 13 ... 0-0-0?! 14.b4 ffc7 15.b5 c5 16.h3 (White not only avoids the attack against this pawn, but impedes the advance

It is simple to calculate that of Black's infantry on the king-Black's bishop has come to the b7- side) 16 ... mbB 17 . .id2 h5 (Black square in four (!) moves. He will is preparing IB ... g5; after the im-have to accept the punishment mediate 17 ... g5 IB.liJe2~ he would for that: 12.i.b5 0-0 13.i.c6 l'!bB have great problems advancing

53

Chapter 2

his pawns further) 18.~e2! h4 19.a4 e5 20.i.g5 (20.a5!?) 20 ... ~de8 21 . .ixf6 ~xf6 22.dxe5 ~xe5 23.a5t. After b5-b6, Black cannot avoid opening of files or the h1-a8 diagonal as a result of a5-a6, so his king will be in great trouble, Bologan - M.Ivanov, Dresden 2006 (game 11);

It is safer for him to continue with 13 ... 0-0 (after the inclusion of the moves ~d8-a5 and c2-c3, White's knight cannot go to h5, but that would not change the character of the fight much) 14.i.d2 ~fe8 15.~h3 e5 16.~e2 i.f8 17.a3 ~ad8 18.~ad1 exd4

19.~xd4t with a slight advantage for White, Bologan - O.Foisor, Bastia 1998.

13.tlh5

13 ge8

54

The situation would be almost the same after 13 ... ~xh5 14.~xh5

~f6 15.~h3 ~e8 16.i.d2 e5 17.~f5 ~c8 (after 17 ... exd4, White has the line: 18Jlxe8+ ~xe819.hh6!) 18.dxe5 ~xf519.hf5 he5 20.c3t with an endgame which is abso-lute identical to the one arising in the main line, Kryakvin - Cherny-shov, Belgorod 2010.

14.tlxf6+ tlxf6 15 .id2 e5 16.dxe5 .!xe5 17.g3 ti'd5 18. ti'xd5 tlxd519.gabl.id4 20.c3 .ib6 21.gbdU

This position is quite typical for the variation with 4 ... i.d7 in general. White has the two-bish-op advantage and so maintains a stable edge in this endgame, with quite real winning chances, Bologan - Bauer, Germany 1998 (game 12).

Chapter 2 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.~d2 dxe4 4.~xe4 .ad7 5.~ffl

Complete Games

7 Z.Medvegy Poulsen Budapest 2004

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.~d2 dxe4 4.~xe4 .id7 5.~f3 .ic6 6 . .id3

~d7 7.0-0 .ie7 S.c3 ~gf6 9.~xf6+ .ixf6 10 .if4 0-0

lU~eU

White's prospects are slightly better, because Black's minor pieces are a bit misplaced. If his bishops were on b7 and e7 and his knight on f6, then we could con-sider the position on the board as equal. Black can try to redeploy his pieces to these squares, but that takes time and White can use these tempi to considerably im-prove the placement of his own forces. His plan is very simple in the next few moves: ~e2, gad1 and then ~e5.

11 ... a5

This operation by Black to seize additional space on the queenside seems sensible, but is not quite in the spirit of the position, because White can effortlessly increase his pressure on the kingside and in the centre.

It seems more natural for Black to play 11...b6, or 1l ... hf3

12.~xf3 c6. 12. lYe2 geS 13.gadl a4 14.~e5 he5

As a result, he is forced to give up his more important bishop for the enemy knight.

15.dxe5 lYh4 16 .ig3 lWg5 17 .ic2 ~b6 lS.h4 lYe7

19.lYh5 It also seems good for White to

play 19.h5!? with the initiative. 19 .. g6 20.lWh6 lWfS 21.lYc1

gadS 22.h5 gxdl 23.gxdl gdS

55

Chapter 2

24 .ih4 gxdl+ 25.1bdl ~d7 31.lYd8+ rtlg7 32.lYd4+ 26.ha4 ~xe5 27 .if6 ~d7 Vxd4 33.cxd4 28.hc6 ~xf6 29 .ixb7 ~xh5 White has reached the desired

The position has changed con-siderably during the last ten moves. There were numerous ex-changes, White has lost his two-bishop advantage and Black has ended up with the powerful tan-dem of "queen and knight" against his enemy's "queen and bishop". Still, White's outside passed a-pawn is so powerful that the position is clearly better for him.

30.Vd7?! White not only attacks the c7-

square, but creates the threat of 31.~c8. His desire to exchange queens is justified, but his most precise technical decision would be 30.a4 ~b8 31.~f3 ~a7 32 . .tc6! and his a- and b-pawns would be practically unstoppable.

30 ... lYc5 Here Black could have consid-

ered 30 ... ~h6!? 31.~d8+ (after 31.~xc7? ~c1+ 32.'it>h2 ~xb2+ he would even be better) 31...'it>g7

32.~dl (White is forced to retreat) 32 ... ~g5 33.a4 ttJf6 34.b4 ~e5 35.

~d2 c5! with good counterplay.

56

endgame. Black will be forced to give up his knight for the enemy a-pawn, but things are far from simple.

33 ... ~f4 34.rtlfJ. ~d3 35.a4 ~xb2 36.a5 ~c4 37.a6 rtlf6 38.rtle2 ~b639.rtle3 rtle7 40.a7 rtld6 41.a8lY ~xa8 42 .ixa8 c5 43.dxc5+ rtlxc5

It is not easy to tell whether this endgame is winning for White without a thorough analysis.

44 .1e4 Here White could consider

44.f4!? 'it>d6 45.'it>d4, occupying the important d4-square with his king.