Beating 1e4 e5: A repertoire for White in the Open Games Zoom Beating 1e4 e5: A repertoire for White in the Open Games [Illustrated] 1857446178, 9781857446173

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John Emms

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First publi shed in 2010 by Gloucester Publi shers plc (formerly Everym an Publishers plc ) , Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London EC1V OAT Copyright © 2010 John Emms The right of John Emms to be identified as the author of thi s work has been as­ serted in accordan ce with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of thi s publication m ay be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or tran smitted in any form or by any m eans, electronic, electrostatic, m agnetic tape, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publi sher. British Libra ry Cata loguing-in-Publ ication Data

A catalogue record for thi s book is available from the British Library. I S B N : 978 1 8 5 744 617 3 Di stributed in North America by The Globe Pequot Press, P.O Box 480, 246 Goose Lane, Guilford, CT 06437-0480. All other sales enquiries should be directed to Everym an Chess, Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London E C 1V OAT tel : 020 7 2 5 3 7887 fax: 020 7490 3 708 email : [email protected] ; website: www.everymanchess.com Everyman is the registered trade m ark of Random House Inc. and is used in thi s work under licence from Random House Inc.

Everyma n Chess Series

Chief advisor: Byron J acobs Commissioning editor: John Emms Assi stant editor: Rich ard Palliser Typeset and edited by First Rank Publishing, Brighton . Cover design by Horatio Monteverde. Printed and bound in the US by Versa Press.

Co n t e n t s

Bibliography

4

Introduction

5

1

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part I)

9

2

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part II)

49

3

Italian Game: Classical Main Line

80

4

Italian Game: Two Knights Defence

124

5

Italian Game: Other Lines

162

6

Bishop's Opening

175

Index of Variations

219

Index of Games

222

B ibl i og ra phy

Books

Attacking with 1 e4, John Emms (Everyman Chess 2001) Beating the Open Ga mes, Mikh ail Marin (Quality Chess 2007) Italia n Ga me a nd Evans Ga mbit, J an Pin ski (Everyman Chess 2005) Nun n 's Chess Openings (Everyman Ch ess/Gambit 1999) Play the Open Ga mes as Black, John Emms (Gambit 2000) Sta rting Out: Open Games, Glenn Flear (Everyman Chess 2010) The Giuoco Pia no, Eduard Gufeld and Oleg Stetsko (Batsford 1996) The Two Kn ights Defence, J an Pin ski (Everyman Chess 2004) Understa nding the Open Ga mes, Andy Solti s, Edm ar Mednis, J ack Peters and Wil­ liam H artston ( R H M 1980) Electronic sou rces, DVDs and databases

Chess Informants 1- 103 Chess Today Mega Database 2010 (Chess Base), with Peter Lukacs as the m ain contributor in the Italian Game section The Italia n Ga me, Stefan Kindermann (Topschach .de 2009) The Week in Chess

4

I n t r o d uct i o n

Returning to the Italian Game The Italian Game (1 e4 e S 2 lLlf3 lLlc6 3 i.C4) occupies a very speci al place in the order of chess openings. Not only is it one of the oldest recorded openings in chess history - its exi stence has been recognized for hundreds of years; it's al so th e first opening that m any pl ay­ ers learn, especi ally those who begin chess at an early age. (For th e record, I don 't count Scholar's Mate as an open­ ing!) A s w e progress and m ature, we tend to move on to more sophisticated openings. I say 'more sophisticated' only because young players will natu­ rally play the Italian Game in an un so­ phi sticated way. As we now know, there are plenty of ways of playing the Italian G ame which are anything but un sophisticated. This book examines the Italian Game and th e Bishop's Opening and

aim s to provide a repertoire for White in the Open Games. The backbone of the repertoire is based on what is now con sidered to be the m ain line of the Italian Game: 1 e4 e 5 2 lLlf3 lLlc6 3 i.c4 i.C5 4 c3 lLlf6

and now 5 d3 (rather th an S d4, which releases the ten sion an d usually leads to more simplified position s).

Thi s wasn't always the case though. Only 30 years ago (not a long time when you con sider the long history of

5

Beating 1 e4 eS thi s opening) the view on 5 d3 was generally quite dismi ssive. For exam­ ple, in Understanding the Open Ga mes, a book I grew up with and greatly ad­ mired, this is what American grand­ m aster Edmar Mednis wrote: "[5 d4 i s] the only logical follow-up to 4 c3. Of course, the solid 5 d3 is play­ able, but what then is the point of White's fourth move. "Often there is more th an one good pl an in a given opening position. Yet once a particul ar pl an has been chosen, one must be con sistent in executing it. Skipping to and fro between various courses will only lead to indigestion ! " I remember being surpri sed by 5 d 3 when playing a fellow junior Nick Thomas (he was obviously ahead of his tim e in comparison to other juniors ! ) . I h ad only ever faced 5 d4 previously, and like Mednis I was left wondering about the logic of such a follow-up. More to the point, I al so remember I wasn't able to find an easy solution for Black. Even though 5 d3 is an old m ove, it was only during the 1980s that grand­ masters really began to appreci ate that the 'quiet Italian ' was a viable option for White, one which could easily be compared to various d3 lines in the Ruy Lopez. Practitioners during thi s period included players such as John Nunn, Lev Psakhis, Sergey Dolmatov and Ser­ gey Kudrin, while even An atoly Karpov pl ayed it very occasion ally, most nota­ bly in his 1981 world championship

6

m atch again st Viktor Korchnoi. In the 1990s there were some new discoveries, adding an extra string to White's bow. A group of players dem­ on strated that White could play the Italian Game m ore aggressively. Delay­ ing king side castling provided m ore options, including l aunching a sus­ tained attack again st the bl ack king usin g a combin ation of pieces and pawn s. In thi s book I 've decided to cover both approaches (the Classical Main Line and the Modern Variation) to give the reader a choice, depending on his style and m ood. In any case, even if you wish to add just one line to your repertoire, some knowledge of the other i s useful in order to recognize and appreciate overl apping pl an s and tactical ideas, as well as the numerous tran sposition al possibilities. Can you count on a theoretical ad­ vantage using the Italian G ame? I don't think you can . I could say "Where can you? Good luck tryin g to prove an edge again st the Marshall G ambit! ", but I better stop myself at thi s point. Basi­ cally, there are m any lines in th e Italian Game which do lead to an advantage for White, but there are al so m any which 'only' lead to interesting posi­ tion s, with level chances. I don't think thi s m atters. After all, when all i s said and done, it's worth remembering th at understanding the position better than your opponent is much more impor­ tant th an any theoretical edge the po­ sition m ay offer. In thi s book my aim i s

Introduction to h elp you to really understand the Italian Game and Bishop's Opening. In recent years there h ave been a number of players whose creative ef­ forts over the board h ave enrich ed the theory and ideas of the Italian G ame. They h ave m ade the task of studyin g , playin g and writin g about the Italian Gam e a lot easier than it might h ave been, and for thi s they deserve a huge amount of credit and gratitude. The list of Italian G am e h eroes includes players such as Sergei Tiviakov, Viktor Bologan, Sergei Movsesian, Alexander Aresh­ chenko, Zah ar Efimenko, Michael Ad­ ams, Boris Gelfand, Evgeny Alekseev and Vladimir Kramnik. I could on, but however long the list was, it would al­ ways miss out someone who deserved to be there. Throughout thi s book there are m any g ames and g am e snippets involving these players, but you don 't need to stop there. You coul d do much worse than check out players such as Tiviakov and Bologan on an online da­ tabase, and play through all of their games in the Italian G ame, as I'm sure this would h elp you to get a good feel for the opening. As for my own experiences in thi s opening, I returned to the Italian Game in 2000 so that I would h ave another weapon to go with the Ruy Lopez. Since then I h ave avidly studied and played the Italian G ame - fortunately with good results. I'm finding that even now I'm learning new things. For example, just a few days ago I pl ayed a game and

my opponent surprised me with a completely new idea. H aving said that, after 10 years of studying the opening it's probably gettin g to the stage where I 'm learning fewer things, so thi s seem s like a good time to share my thoughts.

Arriving via the Bishop's Opening While considering a 1 e4 e S repertoire for White for thi s book, one deci sion I h ad to m ake was how to reach the Ital ­ ian G ame. I didn't h ave much h esita­ tion about choosing a route via the Bishop's Opening. Using the move or­ der 1 e4 eS 2 tLlf3 tLlc3 3 -tC4 would require coverage of the Petroff Defence, which I decided again st for two rea­ son s. Firstly, the Petroff leads to com ­ pletely different positions to those in the Italian G ame, whereas the Bishop's Opening and Italian Game are closely linked as White uses very similar de­ velopment pattern s. Combining the Italian Game and the Bish op's Opening provides a 'system ' type of repertoire, and thi s seemed like a logical step to take. The second problem is a practical one. The Petroff i s a unique opening, in that the theory it has generated vastly outweigh s its popularity at anything under 2 600 level - it's almost inversely proportion al to it. I wasn't attracted by the idea of a con siderable percentage of the book being taken up by an open­ ing which readers would face only oc­ casion ally. By including the Bishop's Opening, I hope th at the repertoire option s will be

7

Beating 1 e4 e5 useful in more than one way. Firstly, and most obviously, there's the option of always choosing the Bishop's Open­ ing move order in your games. Sec­ ondly, those of you who are always pre­ pared to face the Petroff might wish to use only the Italian G ame part of the repertoire. Finally, some players like to keep their opponents guessing by us­ ing a combination of 2 tZ'lf3 and 2 Ji.c4, choosing one or the other for specific occasions, depending on factors such as the opponent's repertoire.

Chapters at a Glance Throughout the book I 've generally presented the m aterial using the tradi­ tional m ove orders. For example, I refer to the Italian G ame as 1 e4 e5 2 tZ'lf3 tZ'lc6 3 Ji.c4, rather than 1 e4 e5 2 Ji.c4 tZ'lc6 3 tZ'lf3 . I 've sometimes tweaked move orders within games, normally in order to cover early alternatives in a convenient way. Before plunging in, I think it's worth laying down a brief summ ary of the chapters, on thi s occasion using the Bi shop's Opening move order: 1 e4 e5 2 Ji. C4 2 tZ'lf3 tZ'lc6 3 Ji.C4 is the Italian Game (Chapters 1-5). If Black an swers 2 tZ'lf3 with 2 ... d6, White can pl ay 3 Ji.C4, which i s covered

8

in Chapter 6 (Gam e 46). White cannot play an Italian G ame set-up with Ji.C4 and d3 if Bl ack chooses 2 ... tZ'lf6, 2 ... d5 or 2 .. .f5 - basi­ cally m oves which attack the e4-pawn . 2 tZ'lf6 If 2 ... tZ'lc6, White replies 3 tZ'lf3 with a direct tran sposition to the Italian G ame (Chapters 1-5). Second move altern a­ tives are con sidered in Ch apter 6. ...

3 d3

Now: a) 3 ...tZ'lc6 (the most common choice) 4 tZ'lf3 tran sposes to the Italian Game: 4 ... Ji.C5 5 c3 i s covered in Chap­ ters 1-3, while other m oves (4 ... Ji.e7, 4 ... h6, 4 ... d5 etc) belong in Ch apter 4. b) 3 ... c6 is the m ain alternative for Black (see Chapter 6). c) Other m oves, like 3 ... Ji.c5 and 3 ... Ji.e7, are al so covered in Chapter 6. Now, without further ado, it's time to plunge in ! It just remain s for me to. wish you every success with the Italian Game and Bishop's Opening. PS Please look out in the future for free updates on thi s book at www.everymanchess.com . John Emms Hildenborough May 2010

Cha pte r O n e Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part I)

Before the early 1990s, the autom atic way to play this li pe as White involved early castling, usually on move 6. Around this time, h owever, a few play­ ers began experimenting with the plan of del aying castling. Over the years this idea h as really caught on, so much so th at nowadays some would argue th at it's the m ain line of the Italian G ame. One key advantage of delaying cas­ tling i s that White can carry out the typical tLlbd2-fl-g 3 m anoeuvre more efficiently, simply because of the trivial reason th at there's no obstacle of a rook on fl. Sometimes thi s tempo­ saving i s the height of White's ambi­ tion s, and once the knight lands on g 3 White i s h appy t o castle. However, an ­ other option - one th at is more ambi­ tious - is to delay castling further, or even di spen se with the idea com ­ pletely, in favour of l aunching an at­ tack on the king side. Of course the

World Ch ampion Wilhelm Steinitz h ad been doing something similar more th an a hundred years earlier, but th at was in the Ruy Lopez rather th an the Italian Game. Let's begin by playing through a few early moves: 1 e4 e S 2 tLlf3 tLlc6 3 ..Itc4 ..Itcs 4 c3 tLlf6 S d3 a6

Thi s little pawn move h as been Bl ack's most popul ar choice in recent

9

Beating 1 e4 e5 years. It pre-empts any possible b2-b4 advance by giving the bishop a useful hideaway on a7. On a7 the bishop i s completely out o f h arm 's way, whereas on b6 Black h as to be wary of tiJbd2-C4 ideas. 6 i. b3 White normally plays this move sooner or later, regardless of whether he wants to delay castling or not. Though it's not a threat at thi s precise moment, at some point White needs to takes measures against ... tiJas, which can now be answered by iLc2. If White carelessly allows thi s exch ange of knight for bishop, h e h as no chance of g aining any advantage. 6 ... iL a 7 Again thi s i s the m odem choice. Black m aintains m aximum flexibility over where to place his d-pawn and al so doesn't commit his king yet. 7 h3

Continuing the theme o f m aximum flexibility! White not only delays cas­ tling but also the tiJbd2-f1 plan . The reason : to keep the option of i.g s open

10

for one further move in case Black cas­ tles. The immediate 7 tiJbd2 i s of course pl ayable, and thi s move is covered in Chapter Two. A key possibility for Bl ack is to ad­ vance in the centre with ... dS, and thi s m ove can be played in numerous posi­ tion s. Paradoxically, in the m ain line Black pl ays ... d6, only to play ... dS just a couple of moves l ater! Confused? Don 't worry. Everything will h opefully be­ come clearer once you've pl ayed through a few of the g ames. If Bl ack does pl ay ... dS in the near future, White must choose between two pl ans. These will be covered in depth within the g ames, but in a nut­ shell they are: Plan A: White h olds the centre, keeps thing s as blocked as possible and slowly builds up an attack on the king ­ side. Plan B: White exch anges pawn s on dS, castles kin g side, pressures Bl ack's centre and searches for dynamic piece play. White can al so execute Plan A if Bl ack settles for ... d6. Returning to the position in the dia­ gram, 7 h 3 is a multi -functional m ove reg ardless of which plan White chooses. Let's list a few things it does: 1. It prevents ... tiJg4, something White usually needs to do before play­ ing tiJbd2-fl. 2. It facilitates action on the kin g ­ side when White chooses Plan A: either

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part I) the ttJh 2-g4 m anoeuvre or the aggres­ sive g 2-g4Iunge. 3 . It prevents ...�g4. As we'll see throughout thi s book, White doesn't usually need to fear the pin on the f3knight. However ... �g4 is a useful op­ tion for Black in lines where White chooses Plan B. I could go on, but I think the sim­ plest solution i s to go straight into the illustrative g ames. Let's begin with some games where White successfully carries out Pl an A.

Game l

D.Howell-A.Ashton

British Ra pidplay C h a m pion s h i p, Ha l ifax 2008 1 e4 e S 2 ttJf3 ttJc6 3 �C4 ttJf6 4 d3 �CS

5 c3 a6 6 �b3 �a7 7 h3

The m ain advantage of the 7 h 3 move order i s that, i n contrast to 7 ttJbd2, White m aintains the option of meeting 7 ... 0-0 with 8 �g S ! (see Tivia­ kov-El Taher, G am e 10). 7 d6 •••

7 ... dS i s covered in Roy Chowdhury­ Skjoldborg (Game g). 8 ttJbd2

White begins the knight m anoeuvre round to g 3 . Castling would tran spose to lines con sidered in Chapter Three. 8 0-0 ...

8 ... ttJe7 is covered in Games 7-8. 9 ttJf1

9

•..

dS

g. . . dS h a s been the popular choice in practice and it i s certainly Black's most ch allenging respon se to White's ttJd2-fl pl an . It can 't be denied th at Black has lost a tempo by pl aying ... d6 and then ... dS in quick succession, but there's a cast-iron logic for doing so. Once White's knight m oves from d2 to fl, White i s in a much less favourable position to an swer ... dS with exds, 0-0, :el, ttJc4 etc, to attack the centre and the es-pawn in particular. Bl ack often follows the rule of thumb to play ... dS only after White's knight is committed to fl. g ... �e6 i s covered in Yemelin-Klimov (Game 6). 10 'iVe2 !

In respon se, White usually m eets thi s advance by protecting th e strong ­ point o n e 4 rather than exch anging on dS. That is, he chooses Plan A in stead of Plan B. 10 exds ttJxdS 11 ttJg 3 i s too slow and gives Black enough time to get or­ ganized. For example, 11 ... �e6 12 0-0

11

Beating 1 e4 e5 f6 ! 13 l:[el (m aybe White should play 13 �e3 ! ?, an approach con sidered in Emms-Greet, Game 11) 13 ...'iVd7 14 d4 exd4 15 cxd4 �f7 16 �C2 l:.ae8 and White had less than nothing in S.Movsesian-V.Akopian, Carl sbad 2007.

king side h a s been weakened. I s thi s weakness significant?

1 3 liJh41

The option of keeping the ten sion with moves such as 10 ... �e6 or 10 ... l:!.e8 is discussed in G ames 4- 5 .

Yes it i s ! And it's immediately ap­ parent why. N ot only does White threaten 14 liJg 6, but when a knight reaches the juicy f5 outpost it's going to be mightily difficult for Black to di s­ lodge it, even more so now th at ... g6 would leave the h6-pawn hanging. Black's defence from thi s position coul d probably be improved upon, but it's already clear th at he is experienc­ ing much discomfort.

11 dxe4 'iVe7

13

11 ... liJh 5 i s covered in Gonzalez Vidal-Gomez, (Game 3) 12 liJ g3 h 6 ? The natural follow-up to 11 .. :ii'e 7 must be 12 ... �e6 (see Tiviakov­ Sargi ssian, Game 2), and I can see no reason to delay thi s move. Is Black's choice of 12 ... h6 the first sign th at he is un aware of the danger in thi s position ? True, it's desirable to eliminate the possibility of .1i.g 5 or liJg 5, but the drawback i s that Black's

If 1 3 ...� e 6 both knight m oves t o f5 look enticing, but 14 liJgf5 has the ad­ vantage of vacatin g g 3 for the queen . For example, 14 ... 'ilVd7 1 5 'iVf3 and the threats of 16 �xh 6 and 16 liJxh 6+ are not easy to m eet.

Returning to 10 'ii'e 2, Black must decide whether to cl arify the situation in the centre immediately or keep the ten sion for at least one more move. lo

...

12

dxe4

...

xg 7 19 �xf6+ 'ii'xf6 20 liJh S+, and al so ex­ ploits a down side to 17 ... l:.fe8 - the f6knight no longer h as e8 available. Again st 1 7 ... liJd7 ? I h ad pl anned 18 liJh S ! , which exploits another drawback to Black's rook move ! 17 h4!

Should White pl ay b3, t o m eet ... �bS with c4? Thi s is what Rybka wants to do ... 14 liJh41

No! 14 �b5 15 'iff3 ...

Computers, at least initially, assess that Black i s well placed here. Perhaps they are taking into con sideration the fact th at White i s unable to castle ei­ ther side at thi s moment. My feeling, though, i s th at White's king stuck in the centre m ay well be safer th an Black's king tucked behind those three kingside pawn s, at least in hum an vs. human battl es! 1 5 l:tfeS? ...

Perhaps the m ain problem for Black is not the assessm ent of the position, but rather the fact th at it's m ore diffi­ cult for him to handle. After just one seemingly n atural move by Black, the computers begin to acknowledge White's attacking potenti al . ls .. :iVe6 ! pre-empts liJfS ideas and,

Thi s m ove creates a m ajor threat, and it al so introduces h S-h 6 ideas. I had analysed the immediate 17 liJxg 7 'ili'xg 7 18 liJfs but couldn 't find a follow up after 18 ... 'iIi'g 6. With a pawn on h4 in stead of h 3 , though, White could win here by playing h S . 17 J:te6? Initially thi s move seem s to discour­ age liJxg 7 because it appears to give Black a second option of capturing on g 7, with the king . However, thi s proves to be worse than capturing with the queen ! 17 ... ..t>h 8 ! was the only decent way ..

21

Beating 1 e4 e5 to meet White's threat. The point be­ hind the king m ove i s th at 18 ttJxg 7 'iWxg 7 19 ttJfS 'iWg 6 20 h S 'iWg4 no longer works for White because it's not check on h 6 . In stead I h ad planned to keep up the pressure with 18 h S . 1 8 ttJxg7 ! 'it>xg7

18 ... 'iWxg 7 is more resilient but still winning for White: 19 ttJfS 'iVg 6 (19 . :ili'f8 i s met by 20 i.h 6; or 19 ... 'Wh 8 20 i.h 6 with the point that 20 ... ttJe8 2 1 'iWg 3 + :g6 allows 2 2 ttJe7 m ate) 2 0 h S . Here 2 0 . :ii'g4 2 1 ttJh 6+ win s the queen, while 20 .. ttJxh S 21 llxh S i s hopeless for Black in the long run . .

.

.

19 i.h6+!

David Ledger looked a bit shocked when I played thi s move, which either win s the queen or forces m ate. Perhaps he had been expecting 19 ttJfS+? 'it>h 8. Sportingly, he allowed me to execute the m ate. 19 ... 'it>xh6 20 ttJfS+ 'it>g6 2 1 'ii'g 3+ 'it> h s 2 2 'iWgs mate (1-0)

Sergei Tiviakov is one of the Italian G ame's greatest advocates. He's always

22

coming up with n e w and interesting ideas, and it's no coincidence th at his g ames are featured more than anyone el se's in thi s book.

Game S

S. Tiviakov-R. Buhmann

Neustadt an der Wei n strasse 2009 1 e4 eS 2 ttJf3 ttJc6 3 i.C4 ttJf6 4 d3 i.cS 5 c3 a6 6 i.b3 i.a7 7 h3 d6 8 ttJbd2 0-0 9 ttJf1 dS 10 'iWe2 i.e6

Thi s is a good m ove. Black increases the ten sion by introducing the possibil­ ity of a bishop exch ange after a trade on e4. White can react either solidly or aggressively. If 10 ... h 6, White can continue with 11 ttJg 3 but 11 g4! ? is an attractive al­ ternative, especially now that Bl ack h as given White's attack a 'hook' with ... h6. The g am e V. Komliakov-I .Yagupov, Rus­ sia 1995, demon strates some of White's attacking possibilities: 1 1 ... dxe4 12 dxe4 ttJd7 (the typical reac-

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part I) tion to g 2-g4 - Bl ack's knight heads for e6) 13 lLlg 3 (I quite like 1 3 lLle3 ! ? lLlcs 14 ..tC2, when the knight can al so go to dS - compare G on zalez-Gomez, G am e 3) 13 ...lLl c s 1 4 i. c 2 lLl e 6 1 5 lLlfS l:t e 8 16 h4 lLlf4 1 7 ..txf4 exf4 18 l:r.dl 'ii'f6 19 gs hxg s 20 hxg s 'ii'g 6 2 1 lLlSh4 'ii'h s 2 2 'ii' d2 ..t c S 2 3 g 6 ..td6

24 gxf7+ ! ? (Rybka prefers the para­ doxical 24 'ii'd S ! , because even after an exch ang e of queens White keeps an initiative: 24 ... 'ii'x ds 2 5 ':'xdS ..te6 2 6 .l:.h S etc) 24 .. .'�xf7 2 5 l:tg l i. g 4 2 6 i.b3+ �6 2 7 l:[xg4! ? 'ii'x g4 2 8 'iVds ttJes 29 lLlxes ':xe s ? ? (after 29 ... i.xe s there's nothing obvious for White; now the attack i s decisive) 30 'ii'f7+ 'iii> g s 3 1 cJtd2 ! �h 6 3 2 .:1h l 'ii'h s 3 3 lLlfS+ ':'xfS 34 exfs and Black resigned. 10 ... lie8 is m ore solid. Black doesn't fear 11 ..tg s because he plan s to m eet it with 11 ... dxe4 12 dxe4 ..te6, followed typically by an exch ange of bishops on b3 and the queen working her way to e6. For example, 13 l:Idl (I h aven 't found any g ames with 13 ..ta ! ?, but this looks like the sort of m ove Tiviakov

might choose) 13 ... 'ii'e 7 14 lLle3 ..txe3 1 5 'ii'x e3 ..txb3 16 axb3 'ii'e 6 17 ..txf6 'ii'xf6 18 0-0 'ii'e 6 19 :dS f6 with a level position, V.lordachescu-Z.Gyimesi, Ro­ mania 2004. If 10 ... l:te8 is m et by 11 lLlg 3, Black can play 11 ... h6 safe in the knowledge that White no longer h as aggressive g 2-g4 ideas at his disposa1 . Even so, there are some interesting possibilities here: a) 1 2 0-0 ..te6 1 3 l:tdl (otherwise Black might pl ay ... lLlas, ...dxe4 and ... ..tc4) 1 3 ... 'iVe7 14 lLlh4 dxe4 1 5 lLlhfS 'ii'f8 16 dxe4 ..txb3 17 axb3 lLle7 18 'ii'f3 (threatening lLlxh 6+) 18 ... lLlxfS 19 lLlxfS ':'e6 (K. Landa-M.Adam s, En schede 2006) and here 20 b4 introduces the possibility of b S at some point. White's position i s the more comfortable, even if Bl ack might be able to equalize with accurate pl ay. b) White can al so begin king side ac­ tion with 12 lLlh 2 ! ?

Thi s move offers m ore chances for both sides to unbalance the position. For example, 12 ... ..te6 1 3 lLlg4 dxe4 14

23

Beating 1 e4 e5 dxe4 .i.xb3 15 axb3 l:te6 ! ? (ls ...l2Jd7 ? allows 16 .i.xh 6 ! gxh6 17 l2Jxh 6+ �f8 18 'ii'g 4 - Kobalija - which i s very good for White) 16 .i.d2 l2Je7 17 O-O-O! ? "We8 (M. Kobalija-M.5orokin, Russian Cham­ pionship 2005) and here Kobalija gives 18 l2JfS ! ? lId8 19 .i.e3 .i.xe3+ 20 'ilVxe3 with an unclear and roughly level posi­ tion. c) After 12 l2Jh4 White has to watch out for ...l2Jxe4 tricks. For example, 12 ...l2Jas 13 ii.c2 l2Jxe4 ! ? 14 dxe4 'ii'x h4 15 exds l2JC4. Let's return to 10 ... ii.e6. Wh at should White play? ll .i.c2 1 ?

Here's th at 'mysterious' bishop move again ! 11 l2Jg 3 h as been White's most popul ar choice in practice. With accu­ rate play Black h as very good chances of reaching a level position, but thi s move might still appeal t o those who prefer m ore simplified positions. Play normally continues 1 1 ... dxe4 (there's al so 11 ...l2Jas ! ? 12 .i.c2 dxe4 1 3 dxe4 .i.C4! 14 'ilVd2 'ikxd2+ 15 l2Jxd2 .i.e6 16

24

l2Jf3 l2Jd7, as in E.Vorobiov-V. Diu, Kras­ nodar 2002; thi s looks fairly level and I'm surprised we h aven 't seen it more often) 12 dxe4 .i.xb3 13 axb3

and now: a) 1 3 ...'iWd7 14 0-0 'iWe6 1 5 b4 h 6 and here the plan of 16 l2Jh4 intending l2Jfs forces Bl ack to defend with some accu­ racy: 16 ... 'ii;Jh 7 ! 17 l2Jhfs l2Je7 18 .i.e3 (perhaps 18l2Jxe7 'ii'x e7 19l2Jfs 'ilVe6 20 'iWf3) 18 ...l2Jxe4 ! ? (18 ... .i.xe3 looks wiser, and equal) 19 'ji'g4 g6 20 'ilVxe4l2Jxfs ? ! (better i s 20. . .g xfS ! 2 1 'ifxb7 .i.xe3 2 2 fxe 3 c 6 with g -file counterplay) 2 1 l2Jxfs 'iWxfs 2 2 'iWxb7 .i.xe3 2 3 fxe 3 'iWd3 24 'ikxc7 'ilVxe3+ 25 'ii;Jh 2 'ii;J g 8 26 .l:.f6 with some advantage for White, L.McShane-Z.Gyimesi, G erman League 2006. b) 1 3 ...l2Je8 ! again reroutes the knight to d6, a more favourable square. Thi s seems to be a reliable option for Black: bl) 14l2Jfsl2Jd6 15 0-0 (15 g4 is ag­ gressive, but after lS ... 'ilVf6 16 h4 'iWe6 1 7 b4 f6 ! 18 h S .l:.ad8 19 l2J3h4 .l:.d7, V. Bologan -V.Mal akhov, Kemer 2007, it's

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part /) not clear what White does next) 15 ... ttJe7 16 ttJxd6 'iix d6 17 litdl We6 18 "YWC4 'ifxC4 19 bXc4 :ad8 with equality, V. Bologan -V.Georgiev, Wijk aan Zee 2007. b2) 14 ttJd2 ! ? ttJd6 15 ttJC4 ttJxc4 16 bXc4 ttJe7 17 0-0 "iVd6 18 b 3 IUd8 19 i.a3 Wf6, again with a level position, L.McShane-J .Werle, London 2009. Against 11 ..tg 5 Black can employ a similar plan to reach a level position : 11 ... dxe4 1 2 dxe4 ..txb3 1 3 axb3 'ii'd 6 14 ttJg 3 We6 15 b4 ttJe8 16 0-0 f6, S.Movsesian-V.Topalov, Tripoli (rapid) 2004. Finally, although in some position s White can contemplate meeting ... ..te6 with ttJg 5, I don't think thi s i s one of them. There are various pros and con s to weigh up about an exchange of knight for bishop on e6, but here the debate might even be redundant, due to tactical reason s : 11 ttJg 5

16 'iti>xe2 :f7 is equal) 14 ..txf7+ 'iti>xf7 with good compen sation for the ex­ ch ange. 11

dxe4

11 ... d4 must be a con sideration here. There's also 11 ... b 5 ! ? with the intention of pl aying .....tc4 - after exchanging pawn s - to force a queen ex­ change: 1 2 ttJg 3 dxe4 1 3 dxe4 ..tC4 14 'ii'd 2, as in A.Maier-A.Stoer, Aug sburg 2003. White could try 12 ttJg 5, the idea being that after 12 .. :ile7 1 3 ttJg 3 the queen now h as space on f3 : 1 3 ... dxe4 14 dxe4 ..tC4 1 5 ttJf5 'ii'd 7 16 Wf3 etc. 12 dxe4 ttJhS We've already seen thi s idea in a similar position (Game 3), and White's respon se i s the same. 1 2 ... We7 1 3 ttJg 3 would tran spose to Tiviakov-Sargissian (Game 2). 13 g3

h6 Thi s move certainly has its uses, but Black must always be a bit wary about playing it unprovoked. In D.Howell-M.Mchedlishvili, Dres­ den Olympiad 2008, Black in stead 13

11 ... dxe4 ! ? (1l ... We7 12 ttJxe6 fxe6 i s solid) 12 ..txe6 (or 12 ttJxe6 exd3 1 3 ttJxd8 dxe2) 12 . . . exd3 1 3 ttJxf7 ':xf7 (13 ... We7 14 ttJg 5+ 'ii'x e6 1 5 ttJxe6 dxe2

...

...

25

Beating 1 e4 eS chose 13 ... liJf6. The young English grandmaster responded with the bold 14 ..ig S ! ? h 6 1 5 ..ih4 ! ? - bold, because it gives Bl ack the opportunity to trap the bishop with ... g S . H aving said th at, it's possible that the execution i s weaker than the threat, because l S ... g S 16 liJxg s hxg s 17 ..ixg s 'iftg 7 18 f4! left White with tremendous pl ay for the piece. Indeed, after 18 .. :iVd6 19 fS ! ..ic8 20 liid l 'ii'c s 2 1 liJe3 l:th 8 22 liJdS liJxds 23 ':'xdS 'ii'b 6 24 ..ib3 'iftf8 25 h4 l:tg8?, White could have reached a winning position with 26 'ii'h S ! .

Tiviakov carries on with the typical attacking pl an on the kin g side. 1 5 ... liJf6 16 liJhf5 liJe7

Black can try to chan g e the ch arac­ ter of the position by playing 16 ... ..ixe 3 ! ? Exch anging the a7-bishop for a knight on e3 i s an underrated de­ fen sive resource in m any lines. The bishop on a7 looks impressive, but when White goes for an all -out assault on the king side there's a danger it might become an uncomfortable spec­ tator. It's a fierce battle between the bishop and knight pairs after 17 ..ixe3 ..ixfs 18 exfs 'ifds 19 0-0 e4 20 f3 ! ? Alternatively, if White i s unwilling to alter the pawn structure, the slower 17 liJxe3 is possible, planning 'iftfl-g 2 and/or g 3-g4 followed by liJfS. 17 g4

Bl ack doesn 't h ave a decent defence to the threat again st f7 after the dS­ rook moves: for example, 2 6 ... 'ifte8 2 7 l:.d6 ! ! l:.f8 2 8 ..ixf7+! .:txf7 2 9 .l::[f6 'iff2+ 30 'iftdl etc. It's very possible th at Black should avoid ... g s at that m om ent and in stead choose something like l s ... 'ii'e 7 (or 14 .. :ii'e7 a m ove earlier) when the position remain s doubled edged. 14 liJe3

White must avoid 14 liJxe s ? liJxe s 1 5 'ifxh s liJd3+ 16 ..ixd3 'ifxd3. 1 4... b 5 1 5 liJh4!

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It's still possible to castl e king side, but Tiviakov senses blood! 17 ...liJg6 18 liJg2 !

Preventing ... liJf4 - sometimes you have to go one step backward before going two steps forward. Black is afflicted by a typical m al -

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part I) aise. His pieces look well placed and there seem s to be n othing much wrong with his position . In fact, objectively maybe there's isn't; it's just irritatin gly difficult to come up with an effective plan . In the g ame, Buh m ann begins to drift. Meanwhile, Tiviakov slowly edges forward on the king side.

24 �xh6 'iVb6 2 5 ttJxg7 axb3 26 ttJxe8 bxa 2

Or 2 6 ... .l:.xe8 2 7 'it'f6. 27 ttJf6+ 'it> h 8 28 'it>d 2 1

Thi s is much stronger th an 2 8 'it>b2 ? b4! .

18 ... tiJd 7

18 .. :it'd7 intendin g stronger.

.. Jlad8 looks

19 h4 tiJC5 20 'ilff3 l:te8 21 �d2 c6 2 2 b3!

2 8 ... ttJf4

Perh aps Buhmann h ad initially thought th at 28 'it>d2 was impossible because of 28 ... l::t d 8+. H ere 2 9 ttJdS ! is the only m ove, but it's a very effective one. 2 9 ttJxf4 exf4 30 'li'xf4 �C4 3 1 'it>e1 .l:.d8

White wants to castl e queenside be­ fore going any further, so he blocks the attack on a2. Thi s seem s to invite ... as, but Tiviakov h as calcul ated that his attack will be the quicker.

32 l:.a l 'it'a 5 33 tiJd 5 ! 1-0

24 h S White's attack is breakin g

A wonderful attacking displ ay by Tiviakov, and a great advert for the Modern Variation . There's no doubt that thi s opening requires a certain amount of subtlety. But if you get it right, as Tiviakov does here, it can be very rewarding.

through very quickly: 24 ... tiJf8 2 S ttJxg 7 ! 'it>xg 7 2 6 �xh 6+ 'it'xh 6 2 7 'iVf6+ 'it'h 7 2 8 h 6 and 'ilfg 7 m ate; or 2 4. . .ttJe7 2 S ttJxh 6+! gxh6 2 6 �xh 6 �c8 2 7 'ii'f6 ttJe6, and now 2 8 �f4! i s the m ove Ry­ bka wants to win with !

Next we consider three games in which Black chooses to del ay, or com ­ pletely dispen se with, the ... d6-dS ad­ vance. In thi s first game, White goes all out for an attack - and succeeds !

22

•••

a5 23 0-0-0 a4

Thi s doesn't work, but after 23 .. :iic7

27

Beating 1 e4 e5

Game 6

V.Yemelin-S.KlimoY

St Petersbu rg 2009 1 e4 eS 2 lDf3 lDc6 3 .i.C4 .i.cS 4 c3 lDf6 5 d3 a6 6 .i.b3 .i.a7 7 h3 d6 8 lDbd2 0-0 9 lDfl .i.e6

The ... d6 and ... .i.e6 idea is seen in many lines of the Italian Game. It's a solid option for Bl ack and i s favoured by m any strong pl ayers. In thi s particu­ lar position, for example, both Carlsen and Aronian have played 9 ... .i.e6. 10 .i.xe6?! fxe6 needs to be avoided, here and in m any simil ar positions af­ ter ... .i.e6, for obvious reason s. White shouldn 't present Black with an open f­ file and extra control of centre squares unless there is a good reason to do so. One good reason is if White can trade his f3 -knight in stead of his light­ squared bishop. Black still gets an open file and some central control, but thi s tim e White gain s the bishop pair and Black loses some influence over the light-squares. For example, if Black

28

plays 8 ... .i.e6 (a move earlier), White h as the possibility of 9 lDg s ! ? If Bl ack h as already castled thi s move m akes little sense. But here 9 ... .i.xb3 10 ii'xb3 0-0 1 1 ii'xb7 win s a pawn, as indicated by Ivanchuk, even though Black is not completely devoid of compensation . In stead, the imbal ances caused by 9 .. :iVd7 10 lDxe6 fxe6 are not easy to assess. I'm still not 100% certain which side h as been favoured more by the exchange on e6. However, White's play in R.5lobodjan-Z.Gyimesi, G erman League 1997, is certainly worth noting, especially the way he slowly shuts the a7-bishop out of the g am e : 1 1 lDf3 0-0 12 0-0 l:[ae8 13 �h 2 lDe7 14 lDh4 h6 1 5 g 3 ! g s 16 lDg 2 lDg6

17 f4! g xf4 18 g xf4 exf4 19 lDxf4 lDxf4 20 .i.xf4 �h 7 2 1 'ife2 'iff7 2 2 d4! ii'h s 23 �xh s lDxh s 24 .i.e3 .l:.f6 2 5 .l:txf6 lDxf6 26 .l:tfl l:tf8 2 7 'it>g 2 :g8+ 2 8 �f3 d s 29 exds exds 30 .i.c2+ �g 7 3 1 .i.fs b6 3 2 .i.f4 c 6 3 3 .:tel .:te8 34 :g l+ and Bl ack resigned. Black sometimes prefaces ... .i.e6 with 9 ...h 6, perhaps to avoid the possi-

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part I) bility of 9 ... �e6 10 �g s (see below). Here 10 ltJg 3 �e6 would tran spose to the main game, but White h as another option in 10 g4! ? As we've already seen, thi s aggressive lunge i s often a promising way to respond to ... h6. Here's a young Viktor Bologan demon­ strating White's attacking potenti al and m aking it all look very easy: 10 ... ltJh 7 (lo ... dS 11 'ife2 tran sposes to the note on 10 ... h6 in Tiviakov­ Buhmann, G am e 5) 11 ltJg 3 �e6 12 llg l dS 1 3 'ife2 l:te8 (13 ... dxe4 14 dxe4 i.xb3 15 axb3 'ilid7 followed by .. :�e6 or ... l:tad8 might be stronger) 14 exds ! ? i.xds 1 5 ltJe4 �xb3 16 axb3 ( I prefer White here) 16 .. .f6 17 h4 'itth 8 18 �e3 i.xe3 19 'ifxe 3 'ifds 20 O-O-O!

20 ... 'iWxb3 2 1 g s fS 2 2 ltJcS 1i'b6? (22 .. :i'dS offers a better chance; now the queen i s hopelessly out of play) 2 3 gxh 6 .l:tad8 2 4 :'xg 7 e 4 2 5 ltJg s ltJxg s 26 'iVxg s ltJes 2 7 l:th 7+! and 1-0, V.Bologan-G. Prakash, Mamaia 1991. Let's return to the position after 9 ... i.e6: 10 ttJg3

10 �g s i s rare in thi s position, but part of m e i s tempted by it. Thi s m ove is a standard way of trying to exploit Black's l ack of ... h 6 . However, compared to the similar position reached in Emms-Flear (see Game 11) it might not be so effective, since h 2-h 3 isn't such a vital move here. Even so, I think it de­ serves attention. It certainly worked out well for White in A. Purtov­ R.Farakhov, Alushta 2004: 10 ... 'ife7 (preparing ... �xb3 followed by 'iWe6; 10 ... h 6 1 1 �h4 gs 12 �g 3 ltJh s i s un­ clear, and I don 't trust 12 ltJxg s hxg s 1 3 �xg s, if nothing else because of 13 ... �xf2 + ! ) 11 �C2 (11 ltJe3 ! ?) 11 ... h 6 12 �h4 dS (12 ... g S ! ?) 13 'iW e 2 dxe4 14 dxe4 'iWcS ! ? 15 �xf6 gxf6 (lS ... �C4 16 'iWd2 g xf6 17 ltJe3 l:tfd8 18 'ilicl i s a critical line - I think I prefer White h ere) 16 ttJe3 :fd8 17 .ltb3 ltJas ? (a blunder, although by now White's ad­ vantage cannot be di sputed) 18 �xe6 fxe6 19 ttJh4 ! .

Thi s win s a vital pawn : 19 ... 'ilie7 20 'ilig4+ 'ilig 7 2 1 'ifxe6+ 'iff7 2 2 ii'g4+ 'iVg 7 ? 23 ttJhfS and Black resigned.

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Beating 1 e4 eS Fin ally, 10 .JiLc2 is al so possible. For example, if 10 ... d5 11 'ife2 we h ave tran sposed to Tiviakov-Buhmann (Game 5). 1o h6 ...

The most popul ar choice. Bl ack de­ cides to prevent the possibility of .JiLg 5, and thi s m akes it easier for him to play ... d5 if needed (see the note to Black's 1 1th move, below). The immediate 10 ... d5 i s risky be­ cause it invites the pin with 1 1 .i.g 5 ! ? (11 'ife2 is, of course, al so possible). H ere 11 ... dxe4 12 tt'lxe4 .JiLxb3 1 3 axb3 appears to be precarious for Black, and it would be without the resource 13 ... tt'lxe4! 14 .JiLxdS tt'lxf2, as played in F.Nem eth - I . Danilov, Eforie Nord 200S. Even so, White kept an edge in the g am e after 15 'ifc2 :axdS 16 0-0 tt'lg4+ 17 'iith l tt'le3 lS 'ife2 tt'lxfl 19 ':xfl. There's a strong case for Black to ex­ change bishops immediately, and per­ haps significantly 10 ... .JiLxb3 i s what both Carl sen and Aronian h ave chosen to do when reaching thi s position : a) After 1 1 axb3 tt'le7 1 2 tt'lh4 'iith S 1 3 0-0 d5 1 4 'iVe2 'i!i'd6 1 5 .JiLg 5 'iVe6 1 6 b 4 h 6 17 .JiLe3 .JiLxe 3 lS 'ifxe3 l:tadS 1 9 tt'lgf5 tt'lxf5 20 tt'lxf5 lId7 2 1 ':fel dxe4 22 dxe4 'iith 7 (22 .. JUdS 23 'ifg 3 tt'leS al so looks okay) 2 3 ':'a5 b6 ! ? 24 ':'xa6 :fdS 25 'i!i'f3 g6 26 tt'le3 'iit g 7 Black had sufficient play for the pawn to hold the bal ance in I . N epomniachtchi-L.Aronian, Mainz (rapid) 2009. b) H owever, 11 'ifxb3 'ifcs (l1...:bS ! ?) 1 2 0-0 tt'le7 13 d4 tt'lg 6 14

30

.JiLg 5 tt'ld7 1 5 tt'lf5 g ave Bl ack m ore problems to solve in K. Kulaots­ M.Carl sen, G ausdal 2007. Returning to the g ame, and 10 ... h 6, how should White proceed from here?

1 1 tt'l h 2 !

Operation s o n t h e kingside begin ! Thi s knight can hop into g4, offering a trade of minor pieces. Black h as to be careful because an exchang e on g4 gives White the opportunity to open the h -file for his rook. One significant advantage White enjoys is that, in contrast to several position s where the queen h as to go to e2 and only l ater f3, here she can reach the m ore desirable attackin g post in one jump. Note th at thi s i s one of those posi­ tion s where 1 1 tt'lh4? i s impossible - it simply loses a pawn to the typical tac­ tic 11...tt'lxe4! ' 1 1 tt'le7 Black responds by moving another minor piece to the kin g side, to help out in defence. Just like White's tt'ld2-fl-g 3, Bl ack's ... tt'lc6-e7-g 6 i s a typical ma.•.

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part I) noeuvre in the Italian Game. Action in the centre with 11 ... d5 is still a serious option here. White replies with 12 'it'f3 and now:

I think White's best ch ance is 18 iLe3 iLxe3 19 liJxe3 when the possibilities of liJf5 and liJd5 still give Black something to think about. 12 liJg4

a) 12 ... liJa5 1 3 iLc2 dxe4 14 dxe4 ltJC4 15 liJg4 liJd7 16 0-0 (16 liJf5 ! ?) 16 ... 1t'h4 17 liJf5 iLxf5 18 exf5 liJd6 19 f6 ! ltJxf6 20 liJxf6+! ? (20 liJxe 5) 20 ... g xf6 21 'itth 2 f5 2 2 g 3 'ii'f6 2 3 'iVh 5 'itt g 7 24 g4 f4? (Black shoul d pl ay 24 ... e4 2 5 iLf4, when White h as promising compen sa­ tion for the pawn) 2 5 g 5 ! Ve6 2 6 iLxf4! with a big advantage for White in view of 26 ... exf4 27 :ael, A.Morozevich ­ M.Adam s, Yerevan 2008. b) 12 ...dxe4 i s more solid: 1 3 dxe4 i.xb3 14 axb3 liJh 7 15 h4 (perhaps White can apply more pressure with 1 5 ttJg4 liJg 5 16 Vf5) 1 5 . . .'ii'd 7 ! (Black loses quickly after 1 5 ... 'iIi'xh4? 16 liJg4 'i'd8 17 liJf5 - a n asty accident is going to happen on h6 or g7, or both ! ) 16 liJg4 l:!.ad8 17 0-0 'ili'd3 ! , V.Tkachiev-G . Flear, Clichy 1995. Thi s defen sive resource with ... 'ii'd 3, offering the exch ange of queen s, is well worth remembering, and Black i s very close to equality here.

12 ... liJg6

The Brazilian grandmaster Vescovi has played 12 ... liJh 7 here, but in a l ater g am e he preferred the text move (see below). I wonder whether thi s i s be­ cause of 1 3 liJh 5 ! ? (13 'i'f3 'ii'c 8 14 liJe3 iLxe 3 ! 1 5 iLxe3 iLxb3 16 axb3 f5 was okay for Bl ack in V.lordachescu­ G .Vescovi, Bermuda 2004). For exam ­ ple, 1 3 ... 'ii'd 7 ? 14 iLxh 6 ! iLxg4 (if 14 ... gxh6, White plays 15 liJgf6+) 1 5 hxg4 g x h 6 16 'i'd2 'ii'x g4 17 "i/ixh 6 'ii'g 6 18 liJf6 + ! ; o r 1 3 . . .iLxb3 1 4 'i'xb 3 ! with pressure (White must avoid 14 axb3 f5 !). If 14 ... 'itth 8, White could con sider 15 liJxg 7 ! ? 'itt x g 7 16 iLxh 6+ 'itth 8 and now 17 iLxf8 or 17 O-O-O! ? 1 3 liJfs liJh7 The g ame J .Cubas-G .Vescovi, Sao Paulo 2006, provides another example illustrating the problems Black can face here: 1 3 ... l:te8 14 'ii'f3 h 5 15 liJxf6+

31

Beating 1 e4 e5 'iVxf6 16 g4! (16 'iVxh s .txfs 17 'iVxfs 'it'xfs 18 exfs ttJf4 i s okay for Black) 16 ... .txb3 17 axb3 ttJh4 18 'iVg 3 ttJxfs 19 gxfs ds 20 1:[gl .tcs ? (thi s should lose, but with .tg s on the cards Bl ack was already under some pressure) 2 1 �g s 'iVb6 (or 2 1 . . .'iVc6 2 2 �e7 ! ) 2 2 .lte3 ! (preventing ... .tf8 ! ) 2 2 ... g 6 2 3 fxg 6 f6 24 .txcs 'fixcs 2 5 'ii'h 4 dxe4 2 6 'fixh s :e7, and here White could have forced an immediate win with 2 7 .l::t g 4 intending :h4. The ri sky attempt to win a pawn with 13 ... .ltxfs 14 exfs ttJh4 backfires after 15 g 3 ! ttJxfs 16 'iVf3 ttJxg4 1 7 hxg4 ttJe7 18 g s ! etc.

14 h41

White i s slowly beginning to turn the screw. 14 .txe6 fxe6 15 ttJxg 7 i s tempting, but l s ... �xg 7 16 .txh 6+ �h 8 17 .txf8 'iVxf8 looks unclear to m e and lets Bl ack off the hook to some extent. 14 JWd 7 ..

Against 14 ... h s I prefer 1 5 ttJh 2 to 1 5 ttJge3, s o that after l s ... ttJf6 White can set up an annoying pin by playing 16 .tg s .

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15 h S

White's attack seem s t o b e building up steam, but surely it's not yet hope­ less for Black? 1 s ttJ e7? •..

It i s now! It looks like Black's only chance lies with l s ... .txfs 16 exfs ttJf4! (16 ... ttJe7 is strongly m et by 17 f6 ! ) . Perhaps Klimov was worried about the knight being trapped with 17 g 3 but Black can save him self here with 17 ... 'ii'c 6 !, even though White must still be better after 18 .:r.f1 ttJh 3 19 'iVe2 ttJ3g s 20 .txg s ttJxg s 2 1 0-0-0. In any case, thi s i s infi­ nitely superior for Black compared to what h appen s in the g ame. 16 ttJgxh6+1 �h8

Of course ! Somehow Black h ad missed th at 16 ... gxh6 i s m et by the crushing 17 'iVg4+. Unfortunately for Black, declining the knight is no help at all . 1 7 'ii'g 4 g 6 18 .txe6

18 ttJxf7+! l:txf7 19 hxg6 is even m ore deci sive: 19 ... ttJxg 6 20 'iVxg 6 .txb3 2 1 axb3 : g 8 2 2 :xh 7+! ':'xh 7 2 3

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part I) 'i'f6+ J:[gg 7 24 ..th 6 etc.

0-0 9 h 3 ttJe7 10 .l:te1 ttJg 6 1 1 ttJf1 ..te6 12 ttJg 3 h 6 1 3 d4 'ue8, but for conven ­ ience I 've ch anged the m ove order into the one where White delays castling. 6 . . ...ta7 7 h 3 d 6 8 ttJ bd2 ttJe7

18 'i'xe6 19 ttJxe7 'i'xe7 20 hxg6 fxg6 ...

2 1 f3 1-0

White is just going to play ..td2 and 0-0-0, with a good extra pawn and a decisive advantage. Bl ack seemed to put up very littl e resi stance in thi s game, and you would be forgiven for thinking this was the work of an inexperienced player. Yet Sergey Klimov is a grandmaster, rated over 2 500. It just goes to show that it's not th at easy for players, even very strong ones, to deal with the pressure of having to defend again st White's obvious attacking intentions on the kin g side.

Game l

O.Korneev-D.Ca m pora

Sevi l l e 2010 1 e4 e 5 2 ttJf3 ttJc6 3 ..tC4 ..tC5 4 c3 ttJf6 5 d3 a6 6 ..tb3

Note that the game's actual m ove order was 6 0-0 ..ta7 7 ttJbd2 d6 8 ..tb3

As I m entioned in the previous g ame, the knight m anoeuvre from c6 to g 6 i s a typical pl an for Bl ack, mirror­ ing White's own knight m anoeuvre to g 3 . Black's knight definitely prefers the g 6-square to c6. One merit of the c3pawn which i s often forgotten i s how well it restricts Black's knight when it i s on c6. If 8 ...0 - 0 9 ttJf1 a n d only then 9 ... ttJe7, I think White should just tran spose to the m ain game with 10 ttJg 3 ttJg6. I don 't think 10 ..tg 5 ttJg 6 gives White anything. 9 ttJf1 ttJ g 6 10 ttJ g 3 0-0

Thi s is an important moment. Black's knight on g6 is very well placed to battle again st any typical king side action from White. 11 ttJh4 is pre­ vented; 11 ..tg 5 ? ! achieves less than nothing after simply 11 ... h 6 ! ; and fi­ nally, 11 ttJh 2 with the plan of ttJg4 and

33

Beating 1 e4 e5 'iff3 i s well met by 11 ... dS when White has to avoid 12 'iVf3 ?? It:Jh4 ! . He can play 12 It:Jg4, but 12 ... dxe4 13 It:Jxf6+ 'ifxf6 14 It:Jxe4 'iffS, as in 5.Yudin­ V. Belov, St Petersburg 2006, i s basically level. 50 wh at does White do?

lems, but after 11 ... h 6 Black i s ready to advance in the centre. b) 11 ... i.. e 6 12 d4 l:te8 13 litel h 6 tran sposes t o the m ain g ame. c) l1...bS i s Black's m ain alternative here, and thi s is covered in the next game.

11 a-a!

12 lite1

Thi s prevents 12 ... d S ?, which fails tactically to 1 3 exds It:Jxds 14 It:Jxe s It:Jxes i s ::'xe s i.. xf2+ 16 �xf2 'i!Vf6+ 1 7 'iVf3 'i!Vxe s 18 'iVxdS. The immediate 12 d4 i s also possi­ ble, with a likely tran sposition.

He changes plan ! Let's call thi s one ' Pl an ('. The position i s virtually symm etrical now, but the advantage of the first move still counts for something. White is the first to be able to push in the cen­ tre, and thi s is often enough to give him a small advantage. 11 ... h 6

Bl ack usually pl ays thi s m ove, either here or a bit later, to prevent both i.. g s (as a reply t o ... dS) and It:Jg s (as a reply to ... ];te8). He usually follows up, in some order, with ... lite8, ... i.. e 6, ... c6, ...'ifC7 etc. Meanwhile, White will build up the pressure with :el, d4, i.. e 3 etc. Altern atively: a) If 11 ... dS ? ! 12 i.. g S ! and the pin on the knight causes Black some prob-

34

12 ... i.. e 6

12 ... lt:Jh 7 ! ? i s interesting and cer­ tainly playable. Black is mirroring a plan which White often employs holding the centre and advancing with the knights on the king side. One g am e worth seeing is S. Kindermann ­ D.Sebastian, G erman League 2006 . Kinderm ann demon strated on his ex­ cellent DVD why White shouldn't fear aggression from the black knights: 1 3 d 4 'if e 7 ( 1 3 ... 'iff6 i s a decent alterna­ tive) 14 i.. e 3 (14 It:Jfs is al so possible)

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part I) 14 ... liJg S 1 5 liJh 2 ! ? liJf4?! (thi s i s very temptin g , but Black should play some­ thing else h ere) 16 h4! liJh 7 (after 16 ... liJge6 17 liJfs 'ii'd 8 18 g 3 Black i s driven back completely) 1 7 liJfS ! .JtxfS 18 exfs, and Black supposedly strong knight on f4 actually turned out to be a fatal weakness. If 18 .. :iVxh4 19 g 3 'iVg s 20 'iith l 'ii'xfs 2 1 gxf4 exf4 2 2 'il'f3 and White win s the knight for in sufficient compen sation . Or 18 ... 'ii'f6 19 g3 liJh 3 + (in the g ame Bl ack chose 19 . . .'ii'xfs 20 gxf4 exf4 2 1 ..td2 but White soon won) 20 'iitg 2 'ii'xfs 2 1 'ii'g 4 'ii'x g4 2 2 liJxg4 and the knight is trapped on h3 (analy­ sis by Kindermann). Obviously I wouldn 't rule out 12 ... liJh 7 on the basis of thi s g ame, as there are several alter­ natives for both sides early on . 13 d4

White finally advances in the cen­ tre. We'll come across thi s structure quite a few times throughout the book. This central ten sion certainly favours White, and because of thi s he should look to m aintain it as long as possible. He should only advance with dS or cap-

ture on eS if there is a concrete reason for doin g so, as otherwise thi s would only help Black. likewise, Black i s usu­ ally reluctant to exch ange on d4, as thi s gives White a powerful, mobile pawn centre. 13

••.

.:e8 14 ..te2 !

Once again we see thi s retreat, avoiding the exch ange of bishops and the easing of Bl ack's position . In thi s in stance, with White enjoying the ini­ tiative in the centre, it's much easier to understand its merits. The bishop on e6, blocking the e-file, i s not particu­ l arly well placed to help Black put pres­ sure on White's centre. H aving said th at, White probably doesn't h ave to retreat immediately, since 14 ..te3 ..txb3 1 5 'il'xb3 looks a bit better for him. One word of warning: although liJfs is undoubtedly a very tempting option, and one which should always be con ­ sidered, White h as to be careful not to play it too early otherwise he run s the risk of his central control being loos­ ened. For example, here 14 liJfS ? ! exd4 1 5 cxd4 d S ! leaves White in some trou­ ble. It's better to build up slowly and check out liJfs possibilities l ater on . 14 ... e6 15 ..t e3 'ilVe7 16 "jji'd 2 l:tad 8 1 6 ... 'iith 7 might be more accurate, since 17 liJfS looks less threatening here: 17 ... ..txfS ! 1 8 exfs liJf8 ! 1 9 dxe s ..txe3 20 'ii'x e3 dxe s, when 2 1 liJxes only brings about an equal position after 2 1 ... liJ6d7 ! 22 liJxd7 l:[xe3 2 3 liJxf8+ .l:txf8 2 4 .l:txe3, a s in R. Perez G ar-

35

Beating 1 e4 e5 cia-L. H enris, Ch arleroi 200S. The m ore patient 17 l:tadl .l:.ad8 tran sposes to the note to Bl ack's 17th move - see be­ low.

looks like White can refute it with care­ ful pl ay. Therefore Black should just accept a m an ageable disadvantage with 17 ... �h 7. Then 18 'ii'c l vacating the d-file looks sen sible, after which there are still some ttJfS possibilities in the air. For example, 18 ... b S (S.J essel ­ Wang Li, Yerevan 2006) 19 ttJfS ! .)i,xfS ? 20 exfs ttJf8 2 1 dxe s .)i,xe3 2 2 'ii'x e3 dxe s 2 3 liIxd8 'ii'x d8 24 .)i,b3 is good for White. 18 ttJxe s ! ttJxe s 19 .)i,f4!

17 :!ad1

17 ttJfS ! looks promising for White. Bl ack has to be very careful . For exam­ ple: a) 17 ... .)i,xfs 18 exfs ttJf8 19 .)i,xh 6 ! g xh 6 20 'ii'xh 6, C. Lamoureux-F. Forgues, French League 2008; or b) 17 ... dS 18 ttJxg 7 ! �xg 7 19 .)i,xh 6+ �g 8 20 exds ..txdS 2 1 ttJxes .)i,b8 2 2 'ii'g s ttJh 7 2 3 'ili'g 3, A.Areshchenko­ E.5utovsky, Gibraltar 2007, with good pl ay for White in both cases. c) In A.Vol okitin -Zhou Jian ch ao, Khanty Mansiysk 2007, Black chose 17 ... exd4 whereupon 18 cxd4 dS! 19 ttJxg 7 �xg 7 20 .)i,xh 6+ �g8 21 .)i,g s ttJxe4 proved to be in sufficient for White. However, 18 .)i,xh 6 ! looks much stronger: for example, 18 ... d3 19 .)i,xg 7 ! , o r 18 . . ..)i,xfs 19 exfs gxh 6 20 'ii'xh 6 ! . 17 ... d S ? !

Black i s trying to solve all his prob­ lems at once with thi s advance, but it

36

19 ... ttJxe4

A much earlier game had continued 19 ... ..txh 3 20 .txe s ? ':xe s 21 dxe s 'ili'xe s with excellent play for Black, who threaten s ... 'iVxg 3, S. Kudrin -A. Kosten, London 1988. It's possible th at White players were discouraged by that gam e, but 20 exd s ! appears to be a ma­ jor improvement as far as I can see. For example, 2 o ... ttJfg 4 21 'ii'e 2 ! ; or 20 ... .)i,g4 21 l:txe s ! ; or fin ally, 20 ... ttJf3+ 2 1 g xf3 'ii'd 7 2 2 .)i,es intending 2 2 ... 'ii'x ds 2 3 'ii'd 3 ! . 2 0 ..txe4 dxe4 2 1 ..txe s 'ii'e 7 2 2 ttJ h S !

Thi s i s very strong , although even

Italian Game: Modern Variation {Part I} the simple 2 2 ttJxe4 leaves Black with nothing substanti al for the pawn, with the try 22 .. .f6 losing to 23 i.. xf6 g xf6 24 'i'xh 6.

Game 8

C.Bauer-T.Nyback

French league 2009

2 2 f6 2 3 i.. xf6 ! gxf6 2 4 'iix h6 ...

White's attack should be winning. The various threats of ttJxf6+, J:[e3 and .l:.e4 cannot be m et properly. If 24 .. .f5 2 5 .l:r.e3 i..b 8, White has the nice m ove 26 f4! intending 26 ... exf3 27 l::t x e6 ! and wins.

1 e4 e5 2 i.. C4 ttJc6 3 ttJf3 i.. C 5 4 c3 ttJf6 5 d3 a6 6 i.. b 3 i.. a 7 7 ttJbd2 0-0 S h3 d 6 9 ttJf1 ttJ e 7 10 ttJ g 3 ttJ g 6 11 0 - 0 b 5

24 i..f 5 ...

25 ttJxf6+?

I'm not sure why Korneev avoided 25 g4!, as it looks very strong : 25 ... i..h 7 26 ttJxf6+ �h 8 2 7 ]:txe4! 'i!Vf7 (perhaps he had missed th at after 27 ... 'iix e4 28 lLlxe4 ':xe4, White can pl ay 29 'iff6+) 2 8 ':del l:txe4 29 ':xe4 must b e winning for White. 2 5 �f7 2 6 ttJxeS l:.xeS 27 �f4 ...

27 g4 intending 2 7 ... i.. g 6 2 8 f4! i s still good for White. The fin al position, where the pl ayers agreed a draw, i s no longer so clear. 27 JWf6 2 S g4 i.. g 6 29 'ifxf6+ �xf6 30 ..

a4 ¥z-¥z

Black's light-squared bishop will go to b7, where it can influence events in the centre. Thi s is a very reason able alternative to the pl an of ... h 6, ... i.. e 6 and ... .l:!.e8 seen in the previous g ame. White certainly has chances of keeping a slight edge in the ten sion­ filled position s after 12 d4 i..b 7 (or 12 ... c5 1 3 i.. c 2 cxd4 14 cxd4 i..b 7 15 i.. e 3 l:te8 16 :el, V. Bologan­ R. Kasimdzh anov, French League 2007) 1 3 i.. c 2 (if 13 d5, Black will break with ... c6) 13 ... :e8 14 l:[el h6 15 a4, and in­ deed thi s has been played in quite a few games. However, it's clear th at af­ ter White plays d4 Bl ack's light-squared bishop is more actively pl aced on b7 th an, say, e6 or d7. So if the d3 -d4 ad­ vance isn't quite so attractive against

37

Beating 1 e4 e5 ... �b7, what el se can White consider doing? Well, if ...�b7 does h ave a weakness, it's the fact that on thi s square the bishop no longer control s some key light squares on the kin g side. Thi s en­ courages White to just hold back in the centre, restricting the bishop's influ­ ence there, and to begin action on the king side, where its l ack of presence might be exploited. Let's see how Christian Bauer tries to do thi s : 12 a4 � b 7 1 3 l:.e1 ]:te8 14 lLl h 2 1 ?

White keeps the d-pawn firmly on d3, blunting the b7-bishop, and begins typical action on the king side. H e can now think about moves such as 'ii'f3, lLlg4 and lLlfs . I'm not sure whether objectively thi s is a better way to pl ay th an 12 d4, but it does at least give Black something different to think about. 14 lLlfs ? ! would be premature here, and after 14 ... d s ! it's not easy for White to hold his centre. Don 't rush with thi s move !

38

14 ... d 5

With the pressure off h i s e-pawn, Black strikes in the centre with ... ds. Thi s advance i s such a n atural reaction to a m ove like lLlh 2, although that doesn't mean alternatives don't exist. For example, 14 ... lLld7 planning ... lLlcs to hit the bishop and the a4-pawn . Let's foll ow another g am e involving Bauer h ere, C. Bauer-M.Godena, Swiss League 2004: 15 'iVf3 (normally White would be reluctant to give up his light-squared bishop, but after l s lLlfs ! ? lLlcs 16 axbs axbs 1 7 lLlg4 lLlxb3 18 'iVxb3 White's knights on the kin g side pose a threat, and 18 ... �xf2+?? 19 'ifi>xf2 l:txal loses to 20 lLlfh 6+ g xh 6 21 lLlxh 6+ 'ifi>g 7 2 2 'ii'x f7+ 'ifi>h 8 2 3 �g s etc) l s .. JU8 16 as ! ? (White wants t o an swer . . .lLlcs with �a2, so he releases the ten sion; 16 lLlfs lLlcs 17 �C2 is al so possible) 16 ... lLlcs 1 7 i.a2 lLle6 18 lLlfs lLlgf4 19 i.xf4 (19 d4! ?) 19 ... lLlxf4 20 d4 'ii'f6 2 1 li[adl with a ten se position offering equal chances. 1 5 'ii'f3

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part I) Thi s looks enticing, but in fact the knight i s going back to g 6 next m ove. The g am e O.Eismont-S.Hirsch, Duis­ burg 2000, demon strates a typical bat­ tle between White's king side pl ay and Black's advancing pawn s in the centre: lS ... h6 (to prevent .Yl.g S) 16 tiJfs cS 17 exds (17 ..txh 6 ! ? g xh 6 18 ..txdS ..txdS 18 ... tiJxd S ? ? loses to 19 tiJxh 6+ - 19 exds i s an interestin g piece sacrifice) 17 ... c4! (thi s thematic pawn sacrifice is forced, since 17 ... ..txdS fails to tactics on h6: 18 ..txdS 'ifxds 19 tiJxh 6 + ! , or 18 i.xds tiJxds 19 axbs axbs 20 ..txh 6 ! ) 18 dXc4 e4 19 'ife2 "ii'd 7 20 tiJd4 (20 ttJxh 6 + ! ?) 20 ... ..txd4 21 cxd4 bXc4 22 ..txC4 tiJxds and Black h as some com­ pen sation but I still prefer White's posi­ tion after 23 b 3 . 1 6 'ife2 tiJg6

White was threatening ..tg s, and af­ ter 16 ... h 6 1 7 tiJg4 tiJxg4 18 "ii'x g4 (or 18 hxg4) the knight i s not especially well placed on h4 after all . After 16 . . .tiJg 6 Black's argument i s that White's 'free' "ii'd l-e2 i s not par­ ticularly useful, given that ... tiJf4 will attack the queen ag ain.

knight on f4 and to trap the queen with l:tadl.

2o ... 'iff6 2 1 tiJfs g61

Nyback chooses to sacrifice his f­ pawn, preferring complication s over a passive position . 2 1 ... tiJg 6?? loses to 2 2 g S I . For ex­ ample, 22 .. :iWb6 leads to a king hunt and a nice m ate in the middle of the board: 2 3 .Yl.xf7+! c;t>xf7 24 tiJh 6+ c;t>e7 2S "ii'f 7+ c;t>d6 2 6 tiJfS+ c;t>cS 2 7 ..te3+ c;t>c6 2 8 'iWds m ate. Thi s i s worth a dia­ gram !

1 7 ttJg4 tiJf4 18 "ii'f 3 tiJxg4 19 hxg4 dxe4 20 dxe4

After some to-ing and fro-ing with the queen and knight, Black still has problems to solve here. Firstly, White is just threatening to win a pawn by tak­ ing on f4. Secondly, 20 ... 'ifd3 is the move Black would like to play, but thi s is very well m e t b y 2 1 ..te3 1 . If 2 1 . . ...txe3 22 fxe3 ! White threaten s both the

2 1 ... tiJe6, blocking the diagonal, i s a wiser choice, but White keeps an ad­ vantage here after 22 g S ! tiJxg s (or

39

Beating 1 e4 e5 22 .. :ii'd8 2 3 'ii'g 3 ) 2 3 i.xg s 'ii'x g s 24 axbs. The point i s that Bl ack cannot recapture on bs, since 24 ... axb s ? ? loses to 2 5 .l:r.xa7 ! (deflecting the rook from back rank duties) 2 s ... .:txa7 26 ltJh 6+! gxh6 2 7 'ili'xf7+ 'it>h 8 2 8 'ili'xe8+ �g 7 29 'iVg 8+ f6 30 'ii'f7 m ate. 2 2 ltJh6+ g7 23 ltJxf7 1:tf8 24 i.xf4

Possibly 24 axbs is more accurate. 24 ... axbs 25 i.xf4 exf4 26 e s ! would tran spose to the note to Black's 2 5th move, below, while after 24 .. J:txf7 2 5 i.xf7 'iVxf7 26 bxa6 i.c6 2 7 i.e3 it's still complicated but White must be better.

2 7 ltJh6?

Here 2 7 'i!i'h 3 ! , intending 2 7 ... .l:txf7 28 i.xf7 'iVxf7 29 l:tad1 ! , would have been very strong : 29 ... I1e8 30 l:.d7 l:.e7 31 .:ted1 ! i.cs 32 b6! cxb6 33 'iVh 6+ g8 34 ':d8+ .:te8 35 l:!.ld7 ! :!xd8 36 .:txf7 xf7 3 7 'ii'xh 7+ i s winning. After 2 7 ltJh 6 Bl ack i s allowed right back into it. The rest of the game isn't really important for our purposes. H ere are the rem aining moves: 2 7 . . .'iVxgs 28 ltJg4 h S 29 ltJh2 'ili'xb s 3 0 i.d S c6 3 1 i. a 2 l:t a d 8 3 2 l:t a d 1 'iVxb2 3 3 l:txd8 lbd 8 34 ': b 1 'ii'xf2+ 3 S 'ii'xf2

24 ... exf4 2S axbs a s ?

i.xf2+ 3 6 xf2 .:td2+ 3 7 e1 .l:!.xa 2 3 8

The point behind 2 s ... as i s that 2 s ... axb s 2 6 e s ! i s very good for White: 26 ... 'iVxf7 2 7 'iVxb7 'iVxb3 28 :xa7 ':xa7 29 'i!i'xa7 'ii'x b2 30 'ili'd4! and it will be very difficult for Black to cope with the passed e-pawn . However, Black should pl ay 2 s .. J�xf7 ! 26 bxa6 i.c6 2 7 i.xf7 'ii'xf7. White has a m aterial advantage and should be better, but it won't be easy to overcome those two powerful bishops.

l::t x b7+ 'it>f6 3 9 ltJf3 ':'xg2 4 0 ': C 7 gs 4 1

2 6 gs 'iVe7

l:txc6+ e 7 42 f 1 l:t g 3 43 ltJ d 4 l:t e 3 44 ':c S f6 4S ':xa s :xe4 46 :a6+ f7 47 ltJf3 'it>g7 48 ltJxg s ':C4 49 %:ta 3 f6 SO ltJf3 l:!.c8 Sl f2 fs S2 :as+ e4 S 3 'it>e2 1-0

In the final two games of thi s chap­ ter we con sider Black's m ain alterna­ tives to 7 ... d6. These are 7 ... ds, 7 ... 0-0 and 7 ... h 6 . Let's begin with 7 . . . . d s :

Game 9

S.Roy Chowd h u ry-J.Skjoldborg

Prague 2008 1 e4 e S 2 ltJf3 ltJc6 3 i.C4 ltJf6 4 d 3 i.cs S c3 a6 6 i.b3 i.a7 7 h 3 d S

Black's d-pawn advances straight­ away to ds. The advantage of thi s ap­ proach is that Black doesn 't spend a

40

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part I) tempo on ... d6 before playin g ... ds. The disadvantage i s that White hasn't committed him self to the ltJd2-fl pl an, and he h as other possibilities.

play his opponent here, and it's worth giving the rest of thi s grandmaster bat­ tle to show how Conquest slowly g ained an advantage: 18 .. .l::t a d8 19 l:tfdl ltJe7 20 'ifg4 'i!Vf7 2 1 l:!.as ! ? ltJg 6 22 g 3 1:tfe8 2 3 .l:tds

8 exd s

Thi s i s an important mom ent, with White choosing a completely different strategy - Plan B. In stead of holding the centre, as we've seen in previous games, White chooses to open it. He will castle quickly and then try to combin e pres­ sure on the centre (in particular th e e s ­ pawn) with dynamic piece play. If White wants to stick to Plan A, there's an argument here for 8 We2, and if 8 ...0-0 9 .i.g s ! utilizing the fact that White h asn 't had to play ltJd2-fl before developing thi s bishop. S.Conquest-J . Parker, British League 2009, continued typically with 9 ... dxe4 10 dxe4 .i.e6 11 ltJbd2 .i.xb3 12 axb3 'i'd6 1 3 ltJh4 We6 14 ltJfs ltJe8 1 5 b4 f6 16 .i.e3 .i.xe3 17 ltJxe3 ltJd6 18 0-0 when you could only describe the chances as level . Even so, there i s still plenty of scope for either side to out-

2 3 ... c6? (thi s seemingly impercepti­ ble weakening of d6 is eventually fatal ; there's nothing wrong with Bl ack's po­ sition after 23 ... ltJe7) 24 l:td3 'i!VC7 2 5 ltJdc4 ltJxC4 26 l:txd8 l:txd8 2 7 We6+! �h 8 2 8 ':xd8+ 'ii'x d8 29 ltJxC4 'ii'd l+ 30 �g 2 hs 31 h4 'ifd3 3 2 ltJd6 �h 7 33 Wfs ! Wxd6 34 Wxh s+ �g8 35 Wxg 6 'iVd2 3 6 h s �f8 3 7 'iffs Wd8 3 8 We6 1-0. 8 ltJxd s 9 0-0 0-0 10 ': e1 ...

41

Beating 1 e4 e5 Quickly attacking the e s-pawn . White must continue with purpose, otherwise Black would soon reach a comfortable position . 10 f6 ...

Thi s move looks like a surpri sing way to defend the e s-pawn, but it's not that easy for White to fully exploit the pin on the dS-knight and the tempo­ rary weakness of the a2-g8 diagon al . What's more, defen ding the e s-pawn with pieces presents more problem s for Bl ack than you might think. H ere are some alternatives: a) 10 .. J:te8 ? ! i s m et strongly by 11 d4! .

This i s a key tactical th eme t o re­ m ember - Black loses a piece if he cap­ tures on d4. 11 ... e4 is the obvious choice, but 12 tiJg s leaves Bl ack in diffi­ culties. For example, 12 ... .i.fs (or 12 ... e 3 1 3 .i.xe3 ':xe3 14 �xe3 tiJxe3 1 5 'ifh s, winning) 1 3 tiJxf7 ! �xf7 (13 ... 'it'd7 i s m et by 1 4 'iWh s - Lukacs) 14 'ifh s+ g 6 ( 1 4. . .� e 6 1 5 c 4 regains the piece) 1 5 'it'xh 7+ � e 6 (or l s . . .�6 16 'it'h4+ �e6 1 7 .i.g s 'ii'd 6 18 tiJd2) 16 g4 with a big

42

advantage for White, M. Kobalija­ V. Petkov, European Ch., Plovdiv 2008. b) 10 ...'it'd6 rather invites 1 1 tiJbd2 intending tiJc4 or tiJe4. In thi s position 11. .. tiJf4 looks critical : 12 tiJe4 (12 tiJC4 'iVxd3 13 .i.xf4 'ii'x dl 14 :axdl exf4 1 5 tiJces - Lukacs - al so looks promising) 12 ... 'ii'x d3 (or 1 2 ... 'ii'g 6 1 3 .i.xf4 exf4 14 �fl �h 8 1 5 'ii'd 2 with an edge for White, V.Nevednichy-R.Dabo Peranic, Bizovac 2006 - after the exch ange on f4, Black's a7-bishop i s in con stant danger of being shut out by d3-d4) 1 3 .i.xf4 'ii'x dl 14 l:t.axdl exf4 1 S tiJeg s .

I think th at White's activity i s worth m ore th an a pawn h ere. For example, ls ... tiJas 16 .i.xf7+! �xf7 17 tiJxf7 �xf7 18 tiJe s+ �6 19 l:td8 threatening tiJg4+ followed by :ee8. c) 10 ... .i.e6 i s a decent option for Black: Cl) The tactical justification i s 1 1 tiJxe s ? tiJxes 12 l:[xes .i.xf2 + ! intending 1 3 �xf2 ? 'ii'f6+. Thi s theme i s well worth remembering because it crops up in m any simil ar positions. b) 1 1 tiJa3 bs! 1 2 tiJC2 'fi'f6 1 3 'ii'e 2

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part I) h6 14 .lte3 .ltxe3 1 5 fxe 3 .l:tad8 was equal in F.Vallejo Pon s-V.Topalov, Dos Herm anas (rapid) 2008, but I'm not totally convinced by 1 1 ttJa3 . c) Lukacs's suggestion of 1 1 'ii'e 2 ! ? looks m ore interesting. H e gives 11 ... .l:te8 (if 1 1 ... 'ii'f6 12 iYe4 and .. J:�d8 runs into .i.g s ; or 1 1 .. .f6 1 2 d4 .l:te8 13 dxes i..f7 14 iYdl ttJxe s 15 ttJxe s l:[xes 16 ':xe s fxe s 1 7 ttJd2 iYh4 18 'ii'e 2 c6 19 ttJf3) 12 ttJg s and assesses the posi­ tion as "+1=". It's worth playing a few more m oves after 12 ... ttJf4, which looks critical to me: 13 i.. xf4 i.. x b3 14 axb3 exf4 1 5 'ii'x e8+ 'ii'x e8 16 ':xe8+ ':xe8 1 7 'ii?fl ttJe s (otherwise White plays d 4 t o kill the a7-bishop) 18 d 4 h 6 ! (18 ... ttJd3 ? 19 ttJa3 ! leaves Black's knight embar­ rassed, and it becomes trapped after 19 ... ttJxb2 20 .l:tbl ttJd3 2 1 l:tdl ttJb2 2 2 .l:!.d2) 19 ttJf3 ttJxf3 20 gxf3 c 6 2 1 ttJd2 i.b6 22 b4 with a l evel endg am e posi­ tion. ll d4

11 ttJbd2 is possible but I feel th at White's best ch ance of an edge might well be to clarify things in the centre,

accept an i sol ated queen's pawn ( IQP) and then try to exploit the light­ squared weaknesses in Black's camp. If thi s is the case, the knight most cer­ tain ly belon g s on c3 rather th an d2. 11

•..

exd4

There was little choice, as White was threatening 12 dxe s uncovering an attack on ds. 12 ttJxd41?

1 2 cxd4 would be very promising for White after 12 ... �h 8 1 3 ttJC3 ! , but 12 ... ttJas ! , as played in F. De la Paz­ N . 5hort, Ottawa 2007, i s a stronger m ove. Black doesn 't mind investing a tempo or m ore if it mean s he can swap off White's powerful light-squared bishop. That g am e continued 13 ttJc3 (13 i.. c 2 ! ? ttJb4 14 i.. e 4 fs forces the exch ange, but thi s i s worthy of con sid­ eration because .. .f6-fs i s quite a con­ cession from Black) 1 3 ... ttJxb3 14 iYxb3 c6 1 5 i..f4 l:tf7 16 i.. g 3 i..fs and here White should h ave played 17 ttJh4.

12

..•

ttJxd4 13 cxd4

The exchange of knights mean s that it's easier for Bl ack to support his re-

43

Beating 1 e4 e5 m aining knight on d5 with ... c6. On the other hand, it al so mean s th at White gets to keep his powerful light-squared bishop! 13 .. .';£th8 14 tDc3 tDxc3?!

I don't like thi s move, and neither does Black's bishop on a7! The solid 14 ... c6 is the most obvious choice, although it's entirely possible that White keeps a small edge in the symm etrical structure arising after 1 5 tDxd5 cxd5 16 1i'f3 �xd4 17 �xd5, be­ cause of his slight lead in development and Black's weaker king . At the very least Black will have to displ ay some accuracy to equalize. 14 ... tDe7 is another try, and here White could con sider buil ding up the pressure with 1 5 d5 intending 'iVf3, �f4 (or �e3), .l:.adl etc. 15 bxc3 l:te8 16 l:txe8+ 'iVxe8 17 �f4 c6 18 'iVd 3 �b8

19 �xb8?!

White begins to drift and lets Black off the hook. 19 �d2 ! prepares l:tel and keeps up the pressure. For example, 19 ... �d7 20 .:tel 'iWf8 21 �C2 g6 22 'i!i'f3 intending to m eet 2 2 ... �c7 with 2 3 �h 6 ! 1i'xh 6 24 'ti'xf6+ 'ti'g 7 25 'ti'xg7+ h 8 ! . later o n 1 realized th at White would have more chance of an advantage by playing 10 'tJe3 ! ?, which discourages 10 ... 'tJg 6 in view of 1 1 'tJds . 10 i.. h 4 i.. e 6

Again st 10 ... gs 1 would have been very tempted to play just like in the game, with 1 1 'tJxg s ! ? hxg s 12 i.. x g s . However, there's also nothing wrong with the simple 11 i.. g 3 . let's see how this worked out well for White in the game V.Zhelnin-A. Kolev, Odessa 1989: 11 ... i.. g 4 (perh aps 1 1 ... i.. e 6 i s wiser) 12 ttJe3 i.. x e3 1 3 fxe3 'ike7 14 h 3 i.. d 7 1 5 ttJh 2 'it>g 7 16 'it'e2 as 17 a 4 .:tab8 18 0-0 i.e6 19 i.. c 2 'tJg8 20 l::tf2 f6 2 1 'tJf1 'ike8 22 i..h 2 i..f7 2 3 'tJg 3 'tJce7 24 d4 and White had built up a significant advan­ tage without h avin g to do anything spectacul ar. 10 ... 'tJe7 is al so possible a m ove later. 11 'tJe3 no longer m akes sen se

14 "ii'f3 (White mustn 't get too ex­ cited: 14 'ii'h s ? ? 'tJf4! 1 5 'ikxh 6 'ii'x d3 ! and it's White's king which is the ter­ minally weak one) 14 ... 'tJf4 15 0-0-0 'ii'd s (White was threatening both 16 g3 and 16 d4) 16 "ii'x ds 'tJxds 17 'tJxe s 'tJxc3 18 bxc3 fxe s 19 :td2 'it>g 7 (19 ... :e8 ! ? m ay be stronger) 20 :tel f6 2 1 d4! (now White i s definitely better) 2 1...h s (the problem for Black is th at 2 1 ... exd4 allows m ate with 2 2 l:te7+ 'it>h 8 2 3 'tJg6) 2 2 lId3 ! 'it>h 6 23 :g 3 i.. g 4 24 h3 exd4 (or 24 ... i.. d 7 2 5 ':g6+ 'it>h 7 2 6 i.. c 2 'it>h 8 2 7 .l:te3 ! etc) 2 5 hxg4 dxc3 26 'tJfs+ 'it>g s 27 gxh s+ and Black re­ signed, G .5ax-M. Brancaleoni, Bratto 2003. Black might h ave been doing okay somewhere in that g ame, but it's clear that he's under some pressure. 11 'tJe3 1 Still not committing the king. How­ ever, if Black were to play 11 ... i.. x e3 12

51

Beating 1 e4 e5 fxe3 then of course kingside castling and utilizing the newly-opened f-file suddenly becomes highly attractive.

1 3 ... ..t>g7 14 'ilf3 liJb8

11 ... g51

The pin is very annoying and it's dif­ ficult to refrain from playing thi s move, but it's likely th at Bl ack is now in some trouble. Glenn suggested 11.. . ..t>h 7 ! intend­ ing .. J:tgB and only then .... g s as a crea­ tive way for Black to solve some of his problems. 12 liJxg 5 !

Again 12 .i.g3 was possible, but thi s sacrifice was simply too difficult t o re­ sist! 12 ... hxg5 1 3 �xg5

White h as fabul ous compen sation for the piece: Black's king is un safe; the pinned knight on f6 i s a con stant source of concern ; and the bishop on a7 is more or less out of the g ame. If Bl ack ever takes on e3, White recap­ tures with the f-pawn after which l:r.fl is going to be decisive. True, Black can defend initially, but White's initiative lasts for a very long time.

52

To support the f6-knight with ... liJbd7. In general Black would welcome an exchange on e6, to provide cover for fS and dS, but he must still be wary of some concrete lines. For example, 14 ... l:th B ? 15 �xe 6 ! fxe6 16 liJg4 1:tfB 17 'ifh 3 ! and White wins. 1 5 liJf5+ �xf5

The knight must be taken : lS ... ..t>g6? loses to 16 �h4 (threatening 'ilg 3+) 16 ... :g B 1 7 'i/i'g 3 + ..t>h 7 lB �xf6 ! 'i/i'xf6 (or lB .. J:txg 3 19 hxg3+ ..t>g 6 20 ':h 6 m ate ! ) 19 'ilVh 3 + ..t>g6 20 'ifh 6 m ate. 16 'ii'xf5 liJbd7 1 7 h41

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part / I) With two ideas: h s -h 6+ and llh 3 fol­ lowed by l:.f3 or :g 3 . White doesn't have to castle king side to activate the rook.

here was that both pl ayers were in some tim e trouble, but I m an aged to keep everything together.

17 ... .:.g8 1 18 l:t h 3 'fie7 19 �f3 �h81

d 4 e 3 3 6 fxe3 'fid6 3 7 g s 'fih2+ 3 8 �d 3

The best try. 20 �e2 !

3 2 dxc6 4:Jxb3 33 axb3 bxc6 34 g4 e4 3 S 'fihl 39 �c2 'fie4+ 40 'ii'x e4 4:Jxe4 41 ':'xf7 i.xg s 42 'iti>d3 1-0

Planning t o bring in the final piece with :h 1-h 3 - g 3 . There's no hurry t o take o n f6, and indeed 20 i.xf6+?! 4:Jxf6 2 1 'ii'xf6+ 'i'xf6 2 2 llxf6 l:txg 2 2 3 �e2 l:tf8 would offer Bl ack good chances for survival .

Game 12

J.Emms-A.Cireet

Britis h C h a m pio n s h i p, Douglas 2005

20 ... .:g6 2 1 h S ':'xgs

What else can Black do?

1 e4 e S 2 4:Jf3 4:Jc6 3 i.C4 i.cs 4 c3 4:Jf6

2 2 'it'xg s 'it'h7 2 3 :g3 ':g8 24 'fifS+ �h8

S d3 a6 6 ..tb3 ..ta7 7 4:Jbd2 0-0 8 4:JC4

2 S .l:r.xg8+ �xg8 2 6 h 6 �h8 2 7 llhl c6

dS

Or 2 7 ... 4:Jf8 28 ':'h 3 4:Jg6 2 9 ':f3 liJf4+ 30 :'xf4! exf4 3 1 '1Wg s and White win s.

Black m akes the thematic . . .d s break, ignoring the double attack on the es-pawn . To me thi s looks like the best way of meeting 8 4:JC4.

28 :h3 ..tb6 2 9 :g3 i.d8

g exd s

I don 't think Black has much to worry about after 9 4:Jcxe s 4:Jxe s 10 4:Jxe s dxe4. For example, 11 d4 (the only chance for an edge i s to try to block out the a7-bi shop, but Black im­ mediately seeks to activate it) 11 ... Cs! 12 i.e3 (M.Klinova-Qin Kanying, New Delhi 2000) and now 12 .. .'ii' e 7 intend­ ing ... i.e6 i s Black's simplest route to a decent position . Fin ally Black's dark-squared bishop is back in the action, but it's too late to save him. 3 0 ':'g7 ! d S 3 1 exd s 4:Jcs

31 ... cxds can be met simply by 3 2 .txds. Glenn's one remaining chance

9 ... 4:Jxd S 10 0-0

With White's king finally tucked away, the threat to es becomes real. How should Black deal with it? 10 ... f6 !

Thi s is a key move, which demon-

53

Beating 1 e4 e5 strates that Black i s not afraid of the temporary weakness on the a2-g8 di­ agonal . For example, 1 1 ltJe3 can be met by 11.. . .i.e6 followed by ... 'iith 8 . 10 .. J:t e 8 looks seemingly more at­ tractive and is certainly playable, but I feel White can cause Black m ore prob­ lems after thi s move: 11 %:tel .i.g4 (Black must avoid 11..:iVf6 1 2 d4! e4 13 ltJcd2 ! , attacking ds and N, P.5vidler­ H.5teingrim sson, G ausdal 1991) 12 h 3 .i.xf3 (if 12 ... .i.h s White can safely grab the pawn with 13 g4 .i.g 6 14 ltJcxes and follow up with d3 -d4 to shut out the a7-bishop) 13 'iVxf3 'iVf6 14 ltJd2 'iWxf3 15 ltJxf3 ltJf6 16 .i.g s :ad8 17 l:tadl h6 18 .i.h4 with a n agging edge for White, P.Van der Houwen-1Masek, correspondence 2003. The pawn s on d3 and e s are both weaknesses, but White's two bishops might become a handful if the position open s up.

11 l:.el

Given how effectively Black deals with this obvious move, there's an ar­ gument here for trying something else. If I were to reach this position again, I

54

would be tempted to play 11 .i.e3 ! ? It might seem strange to offer Black the chance to grab the two bishops, but ac­ tually I think White should be happy to get rid of his dark-squared bishop. It's not easy to find a useful role for it; in­ deed, it's in danger of becoming White's worst minor piece. I won't go as far as to claim that this gives White an advan­ tage, but it can lead to some interesting positions. If 11...ltJxe3 (this i s certainly not the only move) 12 fxe3 ! 'iith 8 13 d4, the position looks genuinely unclear.

White's aim - not for the first time - i s to keep the a7-bishop firmly out of play. The g am e Z.Hajnal - L.Vajda, Eger 2002, continued 1 3 ... e4 (thi s looks too committal) 14 ltJh4 ltJe7 15 g3 g s ( l s ... .i.h 3 ! ?) 16 ltJg 2 b s 1 7 ltJd2 fs 18 'iVh s ! ltJg6 and I prefer White's position here. As well as the g ame's 19 .i.c2, White could consider the pawn break g4 (now or l ater), or even 19 h4 intend­ ing to m eet 19 ... gxh4 with 20 ltJxe4! fxe4? 21 ltJxh4! with a winning attack: 2 1...ltJxh4 2 2 %:txf8+ 'iixf8 2 3 'iWe s+ 'iWg 7 24 'iWe8+ and it's m ate next move.

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part / I)

Other m oves are possibl e, but vacat­ ing the a2-g 8 diagonal is the simplest solution . I think Black i s fully equal here.

1 3 d4 looks like the only other logi­ cal continuation, but after 1 3 ... exd4 14 llxe8+ 'ilixe8 1 5 cxd4 �e6, or 15 lLlxd4 lLlxd4 16 cxd4 �e6, Black i s well coor­ din ated and probably h as an edge.

12 h 3

1 3 ... lLlxe3 14 lLlxe 3

White n eeds to prevent . . . �g4. I wanted to play 1 2 lLlh4 intending 'iWh 5, but I couldn 't find a reason why Black should avoid the straightforward 12 ... g 5 ! 13 lLlf3 b5 14 lLle3 lLlf4 when White is in serious danger of being worse.

14 fxe3 ? ! m akes much less sense with the TOok on el. Besides, after 14 ... b 5 ! White's knight would h ave to retreat to the ugly a3-square to avoid droppin g the d3 -pawn.

11 �h81 •••

12 .. .lIe8

12 ... b5 13 lLle3 lLlf4 14 d4 exd4 1 5 cxd4 lLle7 was equal in ReA.Tzermiadianos-H.Gretarsson, thymnon 2003, and even 15 ... lLlxd4 ! ? i s possible: 16 lLlxd4 'ii'x d4 1 7 'ii'f3 � e 6 18 liJc2 'iVxf2+ 19 'iVxf2 �xf2+ 20 �xf2 liJd3+ 2 1 �f3 lLlxe1+ 22 lLlxe1 is ag ain equal . 13 �e3 1

14 ... lLla s ? 1

Better l ate than never (see the note to White's 1 1th m ove), even if the cir­ cumstances here are less favourable for White.

It is desirable to kick the bishop off the a2-g8 diagon al, but now Black's knight i s misplaced, he loses his grip on the centre and White can get in d3-d4. 14 ... �e6 15 �xe6 ':'xe6 16 'ilib3 looks a bit awkward for Black, but 16 ... 'ii'c 8 should be okay for him. Alter­ n atively, there's 14 ... 'ii'd 6 to prepare ... �e6. White can try 15 lLlh4 here, and 15 ... �e6 16 lLlef5 'iVd7 17 'iWh5 �xb3 18 axb3 �g8 19 .:ta4! i s the kind of thing White should be aiming for. Unfortu­ nately, Black can spoil the fun with something like 15 ... �xe3 first, and only then ... �e6.

55

Beating 1 e4 e5 lS i.c2 i.e6 16 d4! exd4 17 liJxd4 i.g8 18 'iVg4 i.xd4 19 cxd4 liJc6 20 d S

i.d5, but in fact 43 i.g4+ ! f5 44 liJe5+ 'it>e7 45 liJxf7 fxg4 46 liJg 5 i s still very good for White. 42 i.ds liJe6+

Now White is probably winning. Passive defence with 42 ... i.e8 ! offers Bl ack better chances of survival . 43 i.xe61 i.xe6 44 liJb6!

Now White enjoys a small advan­ tage. His pieces are the more active, and the isol ated d-pawn, although re­ quiring protection, does have a slight cramping effect on Black's position. 20 ... liJe s

20 ... liJe7 2 1 �ed1 'iVd6 is equally playable, but not 21 ... liJxd 5 ? ? 22 liJxd5 i.xd5 23 'iVh 5. 2 1 'ii h 4 'iid 6 2 2 l:ted1 'ii'f8 2 3 litac1

Intending liJd5+. The pawn endings are winning for White because his king i s so far advanced and Black run s out of waitin g moves.

:ad8 2 4 i.b1 ':e7 2S 'iib 4 c6 2 6 dxc6

44 ... gS 4 S liJd S+ i.xd s 46 �xd S �d7 47

liJxc6 2 7 'iVb6

g4! �e7

The c- and d-pawn s have been ex­ ch anged, leaving a symmetrical struc­ ture. White's m ore active pieces still promise an edge, something which i s m aintained through to t h e endg ame.

Or, for example, 47 ... a5 48 b3 b6 49 b4 axb4 50 axb4 h6 51 b 5 etc.

27

•..

l:.ed 7 2 8 ':xd 7 l:r.xd 7 29 i. e 4 'iVd 8

30 'iVxd8 liJxd8 3 1 a 3 g6 3 2 ':c8 'it>g7 3 3 'it>f1 i.e6 34 'it>e1 'it>f7 3 S i.f3 'it>e7 3 6 liJC4 �d 1+ 3 7 'it>xd1 i.xc8 3 8 'it>d2 i.e6 3 9 'it>C3 'it>d7 40 'it>d4 i.f7 41 'it>cS 'it>c7

During the g am e I was concerned about the defence 41 ... liJe6+ 42 'it>b6 liJd4 43 liJa5 ? liJxf3 44 g xf3 i.e6 ! 45 h4

56

48 'it>cS 'it>d7 49 'it>b6 �c8 S O a4 �b8 Sl b41 �c8

If 51 ... �a8, White win s by 52 �C7 �a7 53 b 5 axb 5 (or 53 ... a5 54 f3 h6 5 5 �c8 - but not 5 5 b6+?? �a6 ! - 5 5 ... �b6 5 6 �b8, winning as in the g ame) 54 axb 5 �a8 55 b6 h6 5 6 f3 and it's m ate in four. S2 'it>a 7 a s l

The l ast try. 5 3 bxa 5 ? �C7 ! 54 a 6 b 6 ! 5 5 'it>a8 'it>c8 ! i s only a draw, but...

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part / I)

53 b 5 ! cJ;C7 54 cJ; a 8 1-0

9 exd s ! ?

After s4 ... h6 55 f3 cJ;b6 56 cJ;b8 White win s the cruci al b-pawn and with it the g ame.

White chooses Pl an B : taking o n d s a n d relying o n active piece play and pressure again st Black's centre. 9 'iVe2 has been played m any times, even by such players as Bologan , but the problem is th at after 9 ... l:te8 10 ttJfl White is basically a tempo down on the m ain line, with Black having played ... ds in one go. If White wants to keep his option s open in the centre, then committing to king side castling with 9 0-0 is a rea­ sonable choice, although 9 ... dxe4! 10 dxe4 "fIe7 does leave Black with an equal share of the chances. For exam ­ ple, 11 ttJh 2 i.e6 12 i.c2 .:1ad8 1 3 'iff3 ttJd7 14 ]:tel f6 15 ttJdfl Wif7, K.5han ava-M. Kobalija, Tbilisi 2009.

Game 1 3

M.OratoYsky-Y.Gozzoli

Ta rragona 2007 1 e4 e S 2 ttJf3 ttJc6 3 i.C4 ttJf6 4 d 3 i.cs 5 c3 a6 6 ttJbd2 i.a7 7 i.b3 0-0 8 h3

8 h3 i s basically an attempt to tran spose to the m ain lines discussed in the previous chapter, if Black pl ays 8 ... d6. But wh at happen s if Bl ack ad­ vances one square further? 8 d5! ...

In a n ideal world, Black would like to pl ay ... ds in one jump a nd with White having pl ayed ttJfl, but usually he can meet both these condition s only if White pl ays in accurately (for exam ­ ple with the move order 8 ttJfl ? ! d s ! ) . Even so, o n e out o f two i sn 't bad, and this looks like a reliable option for Black.

9 ttJxd S 10 ttJe4! ...

Thi s i s the only move to challenge Black. Note that one of the points behind playing ... ds with the white knight on d2 i s revealed after 10 O-O?! ttJf4!, which i s something White definitely needs to avoid. Compare Roy Chowd-

57

Beating 1 e4 e5 hury-Skjoldborg (Game 9), where White doesn 't have this problem because the knight is still on bl. With the centre semi-open, 10 ttJfl ? ! i s far too slow. Either 10 ... ttJf4 ! ? 11 �xf4 exf4 followed by .. J!e8+, or simply 10 ... �e6 11 ttJg 3 f6 12 0-0 �h 8, i s m ore than okay for Black. 1o ... �f5

10 ... h 6 ? is strongly m et by 11 �xh 6 ! '

G arcia-O. Ruiz, Vill a Clara 2007), and here Quezada Perez assesses 16 ... lLld4! 17 cxds ttJxb3 18 axb3 as unclear. 1 1 0-0

11 ttJg 3 is al so possible. 11 ... �g 6 12 0-0 ttJf4 13 �xf4! exf4 14 ttJe4 �xe4 1S dxe4 1i'f6 16 'ifds ! proved to be better for White in V.Bologan-M. Krasenkow, Spanish Team Champion ship 2006, but I prefer 12 ... ttJf6 ! when the position looks equal to me. 11 ...�g6 12 :e1 �h8 1 3 �a4 White lures the b-pawn forward to create some light-squared weaknesses on the queenside, although thi s does con sume some time. After the m ore typical 1 3 ttJg 3 f6 14 ttJh4 �f7 1 5 ttJhfS 'ii'd 7 16 1i'f3 :ad8 the position is simi­ l ar to Xu Yuhua-Short, above, and the chances are level . 1 3 ... b 5 14 �b3

Thi s tactical shot, intending 11 ... gxh6 1 2 �xds 'ii'x ds 1 3 lLlf6+, is well worth remembering. H owever, Black does have two de­ cent altern atives here: a) 10 .. .f6 ! 1 1 0-0 (11 �e3 ! ?) 1 1 ... �h 8 is extremely solid (compare my g am e again st Greet). After 12 l:t e l � e 6 1 3 ttJg 3 1i'd7 1 4 ttJh4 :ad8 1 5 1i'h s �f7 1 6 'ii'f3 ttJde7 17 � C 2 � d s 18 'ii'h s �f7 19 1i'f3 the position was equal in Xu Yu­ hua- N . Short, Jinan 2003. b) 10 .. .fs ! ? i s riskier but al so play­ able. For example, 11 O-O! �h 8 12 ttJeg s h 6 1 3 ttJh4! hxg s ! ( 1 3 ... ttJce7? 14 .:tel ! i s good for White - Quezada Perez) 1 4 'Wh s+ �g 8 1 5 �xg s 1i'd6 16 c 4 (R.Perez

58

14 ...f5?!

Thi s i s too ambitious and too loos­ ening; it certainly does the bishop on g 6 no favours at all . Furthermore, White's set-up is well geared to meet thi s advance. H avin g said that, while

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part 1 /) lookin g through m any g ames I h ave noticed a tendency for Black to lunge forward with .. .f5 even when it's n ot justified. Thi s could be caused by the natural inclination amon g st m any players to be always doin g something, even when the best course of action i s to 'do nothing'. 14.. .f6 ! i s still the best m ove here.

a4, leaves White with a solid edge Black still h as m any light-squared weaknesses to defend. 20 J:tde8? .•

Suddenly White's pieces come to life, and Black h as to deal with prob­ lems both on the king side and in the centre.

A whole book could be written on the subject of 'the wrong rook'. 20 .. J:t.fe8! prevents liJd7 ideas, and the resultin g position after the long tactical sequence 2 1 �g 5 ! ( 2 1 d4 �xd4!) 2 1 .. ..l:!.xe 5 ! ( 2 1 ... hxg 5 ?? 22 'ii'h 5+ �g8 2 3 �xd5+) 2 2 �xf6 l:txe2 2 3 �xd8 �xf2+ 24 �f1 l:txel+ 25 ':xel �xel 2 6 �xd5 liJxd8 2 7 �xel offers Black excel ­ lent drawing chances.

16 .:ad8 17 liJxg6+

2 1 liJd7?

17 d4! is a strong alternative, since 17 ...exd4? 18 ':e6 ! i s immediately crushing. If Black plays 17 ... e4, the a7bishop i s once again shut out of the game. Wh at's m ore, after 18 �xd5 'i'xd5 19 liJxg 6+ hxg6 20 �f4 Black must be careful n ot to be m ated down the h-file.

Missing an opportunity: 2 1 d4! �xd4 and only then 2 2 liJd7 is strong er. White keeps some advantage after 22 ... l:txe2 23 ':xe2 'iid 6 (23 ... liJxc3 24 bxc3 'ii'd 6 25 liJxf8 �xc3 26 l:r.e8 ! ! �xal 2 7 liJg6+ �h 7 28 �f7 ! wins) 24 liJxf8 �e5 2 5 liJg 6+.

15 liJeg5 'ii'd 6 16 liJh41

...

2 1 ...l:lxe2 2 2 .l:[xe2

17 'iIi'xg6 18 'iWe2 h 6 19 liJf3 'iif6 20 ...

lZ\xe 5 1 ?

22

Heading for complication s. 20 i.. d 2, possibly foll owed up by a2-

•••

liJxC 3 1

An important resource, which saves Black. The neat perpetual check which follows i s more or less forced.

59

Beating 1 e4 e5 2 2 ... 'ii'd 6 2 3 ttJxf8 would give White a decisive advantage. 2 3 bxc3 'ifxc3 24 �b2 'ifxd 3 2 5 ttJxf8

If 2 5 J::t e 6, not 2 s ... 'ikxd7?? 26 ':xh 6 mate(!) but in stead 2 s ... 'ii'd 2 ! (covering h6) 2 6 ttJxf8 'ii'x b2 and again White will take the perpetual check. 25 ... 'ifxe2 2 6 ttJg6+ �h7 27 ttJf8+ �h8

Yz-Yz

In the next two games we con sider lines where Bl ack castl es quickly, either on move five or six.

Game 1 4

V.Bologa n-B.Heberla

E u ropea n C h a m pion s h i p, Plovd iv 2008 1 e4 e5 2 �C4 ttJf6 3 d 3 ttJc6 4 ttJf3 �C5 5 c3 a6 6 �b3 0-0

We've seen thi s idea of quick cas­ tling before, in Tiviakov-El Taher (Game 10). The only difference here i s that h 2 h 3 and ...� a 7 h aven't been pl ayed, but thi s slight ch ange coul d be m ore sig-

60

nificant th an it initially appears to be. 6 ... ds 7 exds ttJxds 8 0-0 0-0 9 h 3 (or 9 ttJbd2) transposes to lines con sidered below. 7 h31?

White keeps all h i s option s open, and thi s move is useful in preventing ... �g4 l ater on . Alternatively: a) Judging by what we've seen in previous games, there's a great temp­ tation to pl ay 7 .tg s ! ? here. Indeed, after 7 ... h6 8 �h4 d6 9 ttJbd2 Bl ack suf­ fers the usual pains from the pin . For example, 9 ... ttJe7 10 .txf6 (or 10 d4! ?) 10 ... gxf6 1 1 'ii'e 2 fs 12 0-0-0 �h 8 1 3 d4 exd4 14 cxd4 �a7 1 5 es and Bl ack's king remai n s a concern, M. Kobalija­ A. Kharlov, Internet 2004. Altern atively, 8 ... g s 9 �g 3 d6 10 ttJbd2 �g4 (I prefer 10 ... ttJh s) 11 h 3 �h s 12 'ii'e 2 �g6 13 h4 ttJh s 14 hxg s ttJxg 3 15 fxg 3 hxg s 16 0-0-0, ag ain with some advantage to White, V.lvanchuk-M.Marin , Canada de Cal atrava (blitz) 2007. However, Black has a strong defen­ sive resource in 8 ... .te7 ! .

Even though thi s move breaks the

Italian Game: Modern Var iation (Part 1 /) pin, it might not be easy at first to un­ derstand its real strength. After all, hasn 't Bl ack just given up a tempo with ... B(f8}-cs-e7 in an otherwi se normal looking position ? That's a fair question, but it's not quite as simple as th at. It could be argued in Black's favour that White's bishop on the h4-d8 diagonal i s now somewhat mispl aced, since i t of­ fers Black opportunities to relieve some pressure via exchanges. S.Tiviakov-M.Marin, Reggio Emilia 2007, continued 9 tDbd2 d6 (9 ... tDh S 10 .1g3 tDxg 3 1 1 hxg3 d6, as indicated by Marin, bypasses White's possibility on the next move) 10 �g 3 ! ? (10 0-0 tDh S ! 1 1 .txe7 'ii'x e7 sees Black's exchanging plan in action) 10 ... .:e8 (Tiviakov's idea was to m eet 10 ... tDh s with 11 tDxe s ! ttJxes 12 .txe s dxe s 1 3 "ii'xh s 'ii'x d3 14 "i'xes with some advantage, since 14 ... .tg4 can be an swered safely by 15 .1C4). Here Tiviakov's 1 1 tDfl ? ! looked too slow and cumbersome with the bishop on g 3 blocking its n atural route, and with 11 ... dS ! (Marin) Black's posi­ tion already looks comfortable. I would prefer 1 1 0-0, planning typical central action with h 3 , .:tel, d4 etc. Black can grab the bishop pair with 11 ... tDas (but not 11 ... tDh S ? 12 tDxe s ! ) 12 .tc2 tDh s, but as compen sation White can gain space on the queen side after 1 3 b4 ttJxg 3 14 hxg 3 (14 fxg 3 ! ?) 14 ... tDc6 1 5 .1b3. b} 7 tDbd2 ! ? intending 7 ... dS (7 ...�a7 transposes to Games 11-13) 8 exds ttJxdS 9 0-0 i s al so possible. Now:

bl} We've seen previously that White must be wary of ... tDf4 ideas, but here 9 ... tDf4?! 10 tDe4! g ains a key tempo attacking cS, and if 10 ... tDxd3 ? ! there follows 1 1 tDfg S ! .

Suddenly Black i s facin g a fierce at­ tack: for example, 11 ... h 6 ? (Black h as to pl ay 11 ... tDXC 1 ! , although even here 12 'iWh S ! .tfS 1 3 .txf7+ �h 8 14 l:[axcl h 6 1 5 tDxcs 'ii'x g s 16 "ii'x g s hxg s 17 .t d S is very good for White) 12 'iVh S ! 'ii'e 7 13 'ii'g 6 ! hxg s 14 tDxg s and Bl ack is forced to give up his queen . b2} 9 ... .tg4 i s logical and has been pl ayed a few times: 10 h3 .th S 11 tDe4 .ta7 12 l1el (or 12 tDg 3 ! ? .tg6 13 1:.el) 12 .. .f6 1 3 .te3 ! .txe3 (if 1 3 ... �h 8, 14 .txa7 l:Ixa7 15 tDg 3 .tf7 16 d4! open s up the centre to White's advantage) 14 fxe3 .tf7 1 5 'ii'd 2 h 6 16 d4 and White's centre pawn s promise him a slight ad­ vantage, P.svidler-T.Ern st, G ausdal 1991 . Let's return to the position after 7 h3: 7

•••

dS

In m any ways thi s is the con sistent

61

Beating 1 e4 e5 follow up to 6 ... 0-0, especi ally since 7 h 3 appears to do little to discourage this advance (in comparison to, say, 7 0-0). If 7 ... i.a7 White shouldn 't hesitate to reply with 8 i.g s ! (see Tiviakov-El Taher, G ame 10). Likewise, 7 ... d6 can and probably should be m et by 8 i.g s ! . I n either case Bl ack has lost the possi­ bility to unpin with ... i.e7. 8 exd s l

Again w e see White choosing Plan B. If 8 'ii'e 2 h 6 9 lLlbd2 i.e6 10 lLlfl Bl ack has gained a tempo by playing ... ds in one go, and he might even find a better move than the usual ... i.cs-a7. 8

...

lLlxd S 9 0-0

Some other moves h ave been tried here: a) 9 ... i.a7 tran sposes to Roy Chowd­ hury-Skjoldborg, (Game 9). b) 9 ... lLlf6 10 .:tel 'iVd6 11 lLlbd2 ! 'i!Vxd3 12 lLlxes lLlxes 1 3 l:[xes i.a7 (if 1 3 ... i.d6??, 14 i.c2 ! traps the queen in mid board ! ) 14 'ii'f3 ! 'ii'xf3 l s lLlxf3 with an edge for White, R.Mainka-R.5tern, H ockendorf 2004. The 'exchange' of pawn s in the centre often benefits White, whose pieces tend to be a bit m ore actively pl aced. There's pressure ag ain st f7, and possibilities of lLlg s, ];te7 and i.f4 or i.g s . c) 9 ... lLlb6 10 ':'el h 6 1 1 lLlbd2 ! (not 1 1 lLlxe s ? ! i.xf2+! 12 'itxf2 lLlxeS 13 ];txe s ? 'ii'f6+) 11..:ii'xd3 12 lLlxes 'ii'g 3 1 3 'ii'f3 ! 'ii'xf3 14 lLldxf3, as played in V. Kramnik-M. Krasenkow, Wijk aan Zee 2003, is similar to the previous note.

Thi s time White must avoid 9 lLlbd2? lLlf4 ! . 9

...

lLlde7

By removing the knight from its po­ tenti ally vulnerable post on ds, Black hopes to avoid some tactical possibili­ ties and al so expose the d3 -pawn . What's more, Bl ack can now reinforce the e s-pawn if need be by playing ... lLlg 6.

62

After Krasenkow's 14 ... lLle7 I think Kramnik could have won a pawn with 15 lLlxf7 ! ':'xf7 16 l::tx e 7 ! i.xe7 17 lLle s I really can't see anything wrong with this. Bl ack can improve with 14 ... lLlxes l s lLlxes i.d6, but here 16 lLlg6 .l::t d 8 17

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part / I) ttJe7+ Wf8 18 lDxc8 l1axc8 19 �e3, as indicated by Lukacs, gives White the advantage of the bishop pair in an open position. 10 lDxe s l ?

1 0 lI e l lDg 6 11 lDg S ! ? i s another possibility. For example, 11 ... h6 1 2 'ill S ! hxg s (or 12 . . .lDce7 1 3 lDe4 �b6 14 �xh 6 ! ) 1 3 'ii'x g 6 lDas ! ? (13 .. :i!kf6 ! keeps the m aterial balance, and after 14 'ii'xf6 gxf6 15 lDd2 �b6 16 lDe4 �g 7 17 �e3 %;Id8 18 l:[adl the position looks equal to me) 14 'iVxg s lDxb3 15 axb3 'i'xd3 16 'ifxes �d6 17 'ife3 'ikc2 18 lLld2 �fS 19 b4, R.Mainka- H . Bastian, Hoeckendorf 2004. White i s threaten­ ing to unravel with lDC4 or lDf3-d4, and I don't think Bl ack h as got quite enough compen sation for the pawn.

here. White wants to increase the pres­ sure with :el, �g 5 etc. 13 ... �e6

I think Black can obtain a more fa­ vourable version of the g am e by flick­ ing in 1 3 ... h6! here. If 14 �h4 (14 �xe7 'i!Vxe7 1 5 lDc3 �fS 16 dS lDe s looks equal) 14 ... �e6, the insertion of ... h 6 a n d � h 4 seems t o help Black. For ex­ ample, 1 5 lDc3 �xb3 16 'iVxb3 'ii'x d4 ! ? (or 16 . . .'ifd7) and because the bishop i s attacked o n h4, White h as to settle for the less threatening 17 �xe7 lDxe7 18 l:.adl (or 18 'ifxb7). 14 lDc3 �xb3

It's a bit l ate for 14 ... h 6 now, since 1 5 dS ! hxg s 16 dxe6 f6 i s something Black would rather avoid. 1 s 'ii'x b3

10 ...lDxe s 11 d4 �xd4 12 cxd4 lDsc6

1S

We've reached an IQP position. Will White's d-pawn be a strength or a weakness? In the g ame Black soon manages to capture it, but the cost of doing so it too great. 1 3 �gS

I wonder about 1 3 dS lDas 14 lDC3

•.•

'ii'x d4?

Too greedy! Now Bologan is able to whip up a fierce initiative. lS ... lDxd4 16 'ii'x b7 is only a bit bet­ ter for White, and there's al so nothing wrong with l S ... 'iVd7: 16 �xe7 (16 'i!Vxb7?? l:tfb8 traps the queen, or 16 dS lDd4 17 'ii'C 4 lDdfS and the knight

63

Beating 1 e4 e5 heads for d6) 16 ... tiJxe7 17 'ii'x b7 tiJc6 18 dS tiJd4 19 d6! 'ifxd6 20 :tadl .:tab8 21 'iVe4 cS and the position is equal . 16 l:tfe11 tiJa5 17 'iWa 3 tiJec6 18 litad1l 'iWa 7

Not a pleasant move to have to play! With the bl ack queen and both knights stranded on the queen side, Bologan isn't slow to seek action on the other side of the board, with decisive results. 19 tiJd 5 tiJC4

If 2 6 ... l::tfd8, White finishes Black off with 2 7 1:[g S+ �f8 28 :tfS :d7 29 'ilVh 8+ �e7 30 .l:te s+ �d6 31 'ii'f6 m ate. The only way to avoid m ate is with 26 ...h 6, but 2 7 'iWxh6 Vb6 28 l:tg S+ 'ifg6 29 l:txg6+ fxg 6 30 'iVxg6+ i s an easy win. 2 6 ..JUe8 2 7 l:tg5+ �8 2 8 :f5 1-0

White m ates after 28 ... l::t e 1+ (or 28 ... l::t e 7 29 'iVh 8 m ate) 29 �h 2 �e8 30 'iWxf7+ �d8 3 1 litdS+ �c8 32 'iff8+. Plan B can be just as dangerous as Plan A! 20 tiJf6+1

Game 1 5

Thi s striking sacrifice leads to a m ating attack, although to be fair White i s spoilt for choice here. 20 'ifc3 ! is al so strong : 2 0 ... tiJd6 2 1 tiJf6+! �h 8 (2 1...gxf6 2 2 ii.xf6 i s even quicker) 2 2 "iiVd 3 g 6 2 3 'ii'c 3 tiJbs and now the at­ tack on the queen can be ignored with 24 tiJg4+ ! ! tiJxc3 2 S ii.f6+ �g 8 26 tiJh 6 m ate.

Note: the actual m ove order of this game was 3 ... tiJf6 4 d3 ii.cs s 0-0 d6 6 c3 0-0 7 b4 i.b6 8 a4 a6 9 i.g s 'ife7 10 tiJbd2.

20 ... gxf6 2 1 'ii'g 3 1 fxg5 2 2 'iWxg 5+ �h8

4 c3 tiJf6 5 d 3 o-ol?

2 3 'iWf6+ �g8 24 .l:!.d 5 1 tiJ4e5 25 l::t d xe5

Black castles even more quickly than in the previous g ame. If White reacts slowly, Black's intention is al­ most certainly to play ... dS here.

tiJxe 5 2 6 ':xe 5

Despite being a rook ahead, Black's position i s hopeless.

64

J.Nun-J.Spesny

Czech League 1998 1 e4 e5 2 tiJf3 tiJc6 3 i.C4 ii.C5

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part / I) Can Black play ... dS even sooner? The answer i s no. S d3 actually sets a little trap, which h as caught out a fair number of players. The immediate S ... dS? is a serious error which can be punished by 6 exds tLlxds 7 'iYh 3 ! .

The threat t o capture o n dS i s a sur­ prisingly awkward one for Black to meet, given that 7 ... tLlas ? run s into 8 'i'bS+. If Black plays 7 ... i.e6, White can safely grab the pawn with 8 'ii'xb7. Black still has problems with his cS­ bishop (8 ... tLlce7 and 8 ... tLlas both lose to 9 'iYh S +), and if 8 . . tLlde7 there fol­ lows 9 'iVbs i.xC4 10 �xc4 and White i s simply a pawn u p for nothing. 6 b4! ? (see following diagram) This move isn't an attempt to win a pawn with b S . In stead the idea i s to force Black's bishop to m ake a decision and to g ain some space on the queen­ side. The b2-b4 advance nearly always makes more sense if Black hasn't yet played ... a6 allowing the bishop to drop back to a7 in one go. One thing White has to bear in mind when advancing with b4 and a4 is th at queen side cas.

tling becomes less desirable, so White usually ends up castling short.

If 6 i.g s Black should play 6 ... h6 7 i.h4 i.e7 ! . Compare the note on 7 i.g s in the previous g ame. 6 tLlbd2 i s a decent alternative, pl anning to m eet 6 ... dS with 7 exds tLlxds 8 tLle4 (or 8 0-0 i.g4 9 tLle4) 8 ... ii.b6 9 0-0 compare Oratovsky­ Gozzoli (Game 13 ) . The most common choice for White here is actually 6 0-0, indicating a de­ sire to play the Classical Main Line seen in Chapter Three (for example, after 6 ... d6 7 i.b3 a6). But what happen s if Bl ack insists upon 6 ... dS here? -

65

Beating 1 e4 eS You would assume that it would be somewhat risky, given th at White hasn't spent any time on .i.b3 or h 2-h 3, but that doesn't seem to be the case and it's noticeable th at some very strong players have tried thi s recently. It's early days, but I think a critical line is 7 exds liJxds 8 l1el (8 b4 .i.e7 trans­ poses to 6 ... i.e7 in the next note, while if 8 ... i.b6 ? White can pl ay 9 i.xds 'ifxds 10 c4 and 11 cS trapping the bishop) 8 ... i.g4 9 h 3 i.h s 10 liJbd2 (10 g4 i.g6 1 1 liJxe s liJxes 12 l:txe s c6 is playable, but it does give Black con sid­ erable compen sation for the pawn) 10 ... liJb6 ! (10 ... liJf4?! 11 liJe4! .i.e7 12 liJg 3 i s good for White) 1 1 b4! ? (11 i.bs i.d6 h as proved to be acceptable for Black: for example, 1 2 liJe4 fS 1 3 liJg 3 i.xf3 14 ..wxf3 ..wd7, Ni Hua­ P.Harikrishn a, Reggio Emilia 2007) 11.. . .i.d6 (11 ...liJxc4? 1 2 liJxC4 leaves e S ­ hanging) 12 i.b3 �h 8 1 3 liJe4 f6 14 a4 and White is slightly the m ore active, D.Vocaturo-M.Godena, Sarre 2009. It will be interesting to see how thi s rel atively fresh l i n e progresses. If White wants to prevent or discourage ... dS and is h appy to play the Classical Main Line with 0-0, he could try the m ove order 4 d3 liJf6 5 0-0 0-0 6 ]:tel; or 6 h 3 intending 6 ... d S 7 exds liJxdS 8 1:el tran sposing to Emms-Wittman (Game 34); or fin ally 6 i.b3 ! ? as suggested by Kinderm ann . 6 ... i. b6 This i s the most n atural retreat, and al so by far the most popul ar, but

66

6 ... i.e7 ! ? i sn 't silly. White should avoid the greedy 7 b S ? ! liJas 8 liJxe s, as 8 ... liJxC4! 9 liJxC4 dS 10 liJcd2 (or 10 exds 'iWxds hittin g g 2 and b S ) 10 ... dxe4 ll liJxe4 a6 12 bxa6 .l:txa6, as played in S.Vysochin-M.Godena, Internet 2008, gives Bl ack excellent compen sation . After the wiser 7 0-0 dS ! ? 8 exds liJxdS, the idea is that White's weak­ nesses on the queen side created by the b-pawn 's advance compen sate Bl ack for the problems he experiences de­ fendin g e s . The critical line seem s to be 9 b s liJas

10 i.xdS ! (rather than 10 liJxe s i.f6, again with good compensation for Bl ack) 10 .. :ii'xds 1 1 c4. For example, 11..:iVd8 12 i.d2 ! (12 i.b2 e4! ) 12 ... b6 1 3 liJxe s i.f6 14 i.xas bxas 15 d4 i.xes 16 dxe s i.e6 17 liJa3 and White was better in W.spoelman - I . Kurnosov, Budva 2009; or 11...'iWe6 12 %:tel f6 13 i.d2 b6 14 i.xas bxas 1 5 liJd4 ! ? 'ilVd7 16 liJc6 a6 with an unclear position, S.Tiviakov-L. Babujian, Mashhad 2010. Thi s line could certainly do with further tests.

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part / I) 7 a4 a 6

If 7 ... as, White can safely grab the es-pawn : 8 b S t'iJe7 9 t'iJxe s ! dS 10 exds t'iJg6 1 1 t'iJxg 6 lle8+ 12 'itJlfl hxg6 13 i.g s 'ifd6 14 .Jtxf6 'ifxf6 15 d4 11e4 16 t'iJd2 :f4 17 f3 with some advantage for White, A.G alliam ova-E.Vasiukov, Moscow 1989. True, White's king isn't ideally placed, but Bl ack's dark-squared bishop is shut out and two extra pawn s have to be worth something. 8 i. g5 Now that Black can no longer unpin with ... .Jte7, thi s m ove becomes much more desirable. A typical continuation after 8 0-0 is 8 d6 (or 8 ... dS 9 exds t'iJxds 10 'ifb3 lLlf6 1 1 t'iJg s 'iWe8, B.Gelfand-A.Shirov, Munich 1993, and here Gelfand sug­ gests 12 .Jte3 with an edge for White) 9 lLlbd2 t'iJe7 10 .Jtb3 (intending t'iJC4 to hit the b6-bishop) 10 ... t'iJg 6 11 t'iJc4 .Jta7 12 .i.e3 .i.e6 13 .i.xa7 ]:txa7 14 ]::t e l lIa8 with a roughly level position . 8 d6 9 t'iJbd2 'ife7 ...

thing similar in a m ain line of the Four Knights G ame. There it even h as a n ame, 'the Metger unpin'. If 9 ... h 6 10 .i.h4 gs then 1 1 .i.g3 i s of course okay, but 11 t'iJxg S ! ? hxg s 1 2 .i.xg s would be hugely tempting (com­ pare Emms-Flear, G am e 11). 10 0-0!

White is wise to castl e kingside here, especially with the queenside pawn s well advanced. Moreover, if White doesn 't pl ay 10 t'iJfl, there's no ch ance of falling for a very nice trick. I was considering the variation 10 ... h 6 1 1 .i.h4 g s (11 . . ..Jte6, planning a n ex­ change of bishops followed by ... 'ife6, looks fine for Bl ack) 12 t'iJxg S ? hxg s 1 3 .i.xg s which a t first seemed fairly promising for White. It would be, but for 13 ... t'iJxe4! ! 14 .i.xe7 .i.xf2+ 1 5 'itJle2 .Jtg4, which i s m ate for Bl ack!

...

Please watch out for this one ! 10 t'iJd8 •••

Planning to deal with the pin by playing ... t'iJd8-e6. Black does some-

10 ... h6 11 i.h4 and only now 11...t'iJd8 avoids t'iJh4 and forces White to find another plan. On the other hand, ...t'iJe6 no longer comes with tempo. In

67

Beating 1 e4 e5 L.Yudasin-R.Hess, New York 2004, White sensibly chose to start action in the cen­ tre: 12 as i.. a 7 13 d4 (now ... lDe6 would drop the e-pawn) 13 ... exd4 14 lDxd4 (14 cxd4 is also interesting, intending 14...lDc6 15 e S dxes 16 dxes lDxes 17 lIel lDxf3+ 18 'ii'xf3 with play for the pawn) 14 ... lDc6 15 lDfS ! ? (I prefer White's position after 15 lDxc6 bxc6 16 'ili'f3 - a6 is a constant worry for Black) lS ... i.. xfS 16 exfs lite8 17 'iVc2 l:iad8 18 b S ! ? dS? (I'm not sure why Black avoided the straightforward 18 ... lDes ! ) 19 bxc6 dXc4 20 cxb7 'iVe2 21 .l:.a2 'ii'd 3 22 lDf3 and White had a clear plus. l1 lDh4!

plan, but Bl ack could con sider 13 ... aS 14 bS and only then 14 ... lDf4. Judging by what happen s l ater, thi s in sertion of pawn s moves which gives Bl ack more control of cS might be a good idea. 14 lDe3 !

H eading for d S . 1 4... lDg6 1 5 i.. g s h 6 1 6 i.. xf6 'iVxf6 17 lDd S 'iVd8 18 lDxb6 cxb6 19 g 3 !

Restricting the knight on g 6 . 19 ... i.. h 3 20 .l:.e1

Initially I h ad no idea why White in­ duced ... h6 in stead of just pl aying 15 i.. xf6, but m aybe it's because Bl ack now h as to watch out for 'ii'h s ideas attacking g6 and h 3 . 20 i.. e 6 2 1 'iVb3 i.. x C4 2 2 lDxC4 d S 2 3 .•.

lDe3 dxe4 24 dxe4

The right idea, interferin g with Black's unpinning plan . Flicking in 11 as i.. a 7 before pl aying 12 lDh4 i s al so good. Any quiet move, like 11 l:tel, allows 11 ... lDe6 and after 12 i..h 4 Bl ack could even just pl ay 12 ... h 6 followed by ... lDf4-g 6 to fin ally break the pin . 1 1 d4 lDe6 would al so be fine for Bl ack. 11

•••

lDe6 12 lDfS 'iWd 8 1 3 i.. h 4 lDf4

Moving thi s knight to g 6 i s the right

68

I didn 't like Black's plan of exchang­ ing bishops (20 ... 'ii'g s looked less ac­ commodating) and White enjoys a sig­ nificant advantage now. His structure is healthier and his knight, eyeing out­ posts on fS and dS, is clearly stronger than its counterpart. 24 ... ':c8 2 5 l:.adl 'iVe7 2 6 ':d 3 l:.fd8 2 7 l:ted1 l:txd 3 2 8 l:txd 3 : d 8 29 lDd S 'iVe6

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part / I) 30 �d1 Wh8 3 1 b5 axb5 3 2 axb5 :d6

5 d 3 a6

33 c4 ttlf8? 34 'iVa 1 ! ttld7

The move order S ... d6 6 i.b3 a6 is just as likely. 6 JLb3 d6

Black forgoes the possibility of ... dS in one move, but commits neither his king nor his dark-squared bishop. There are m any possibilities for tran sposi­ tion s into lines we've already covered, since Black often plays ... iJ.. a 7 at some point. Here I'll focus m ainly on lines where Bl ack del ays or avoids thi s move. 7 ttlbd2 3 5 IIa 3 ?

Missing a big chance: 3 S ifa8+ ! Wh 7 36 'iVd8 ! threaten s a devastating 3 7 0,e7. Black i s forced t o pl ay 3 6 . . .ttlcS but then 37 ttlf6+ 'iVxf6 3 8 .l:!.xd6 win s the exch ange.

N aturally White can play 7 h3 (or 7 0-0 of course), with a likely tran sposi ­ tion to m ain lines, but here he decides to pl ay the ttld2-fl-g 3 m anoeuvre as quickly as possible. 7 . 0-0 ..

3 8 exf5 'iVxf5 3 9 :a3 'iV c 2 40 ': C 3 'iVe2

7 ... iJ.. a 7 tran sposes to the note to Bl ack's 7th move in Emms-Flear (Game 11).

41 'iVf1 �d2 42 �C1 �XC1+ 43 .l:!.xc1 e4

8 ttlf1 ! ?

3 5 . . .ttl C 5 3 6 f 3 W h 7 3 7 :a8 f5 !

Now Black i s right back in the g ame.

44 fxe4 Yz-Yz

In the final two g ames we con sider lines where Black dispen ses with the modern treatment and del ays or avoids ... 1i.a7, or even ... a6. These lines coul d be con sidered as 'older' but they are still very popul ar at all level s.

Game 1 6

J.M.Degraeve-J.Dorfma n

French League 2007 1 e4 e 5 2 ttlf3 ttlc6 3 1i.C4 1i.C5 4 c3 ttlf6

A bold move, invitin g Black to play ... ttlg4. If he doesn't, White will just carry on with ttlg 3 and there may be some advantages to delaying h 2-h 3 .

69

Beating 1 e4 e5 S

••.

dS

A s we've seen before o n more than one occasion, thi s is the n atural re­ spon se to ttJf1. Alternatively: a) The critical continuation i s 8 ... ttJg4 ! ? 9 d4! ? (9 ttJ e 3 ttJxe3 10 �xe3 is just equal) 9 ... exd4 10 cxd4 and now:

al) 10 ... ttJxd4 ! ? i s dangerous and unclear, but White h as good chances to emerge un scathed and with some ad­ vantage: 11 ttJxd4 'tWh4 (or 11 ... :e8 1 2 ttJ e 3 :xe4 1 3 ttJf3 �xe3 1 4 fxe 3 ttJxe3 15 �xe3 l:txe3 + 16 'iiif 2) 12 ttJg 3 'iVf6 13 �e3 ttJxe3 14 fxe3 �b4+ 1 5 'iii e 2 �g4+ 16 ttJf3 'iVxb2+ 1 7 'iVc2 etc. a2) 10 ...�b4+ 1 1 �d2 .:te8 (or 1 1 .. :ii'e 7 1 2 ttJg 3 ttJf6 1 3 �xb4 ttJxb4 14 0-0 �g4 15 h3 �xf3 16 'iVxf3 with a clear plus for White, G .5ax-F. Berkes, Hun g arian League 2003) 12 ttJg 3 �xd2+ 1 3 ii'xd2 ttJf6 (or 1 3 ... dS 14 e S f6 1 5 h 3 ttJh 6 16 O-O-O ! ?) 14 O-O! (9 d4 would be totally unplayable without thi s resource) 14 ... ttJxe4 (otherwi se White's centre gives him an edge) 1 5 ttJxe4 l:1xe4 16 �xf7+! 'iiih 8 1 7 l:tfel (17 d S ! intending 1 7 ... ttJes 18 ttJg s :g4 19

70

f4 looks even more promising) 1 7 ... :xe1+ 18 l:txel �d7 19 dS with an obvious advantage for White, G.Zentai­ K.Valko, Hungarian League 2003. 8 ...ttJg4 9 d4 has h ad little practical testing so far, so it's difficult to m ake a definitive assessment. The signs are looking quite promising for White, though. And as a back up, there's al­ ways 7 h 3 ! b ) 8 ... �e6 9 ttJg 3 ( 9 �g S ! ?) 9 ... h 6 and now: bl) 10 h3 dS 11 'iWe2 :e8 12 ttJh 2 ! ? ii'd7 13 ii'f3 is similar t o positions we've seen before, but here Black can utilize the fact that his dark-squared bishop isn't committed to a7 - it might instead drop back to defend on the kingside. For example, 13 .. J:tad8 (13 ... as ! ?) 14 �C2 bS 15 0-0 �e7! ? 16 %tel ttJh 7 and Black was solidly placed in M. Kobalija-E. Inarkiev, Ramenskoe 2006. b2) 10 0-0 �a7 11 h3 (11 �C2 ! ?) 1 1 ... dS 12 'iVe2 dxe4 (12 .. J:te8 tran s­ poses to the note on 10 ... .:te8 in Tivia­ kov-Buhmann, Game 5) 13 dxe4 �xb3 14 axb3 'iVd6 15 ttJfS 'iVe6,

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part 1 /) and h ere 16 .i.xh 6 ! ? i s interesti n g : 1 6 ... g xh 6 17 lDxh 6+ xf7 24 "i'xh 7+ c;t;>e6 2 5 'ii'x c7 and White was on top in L.Ruan-Y.Shen, Beijing 2009. Black might h ave better ways to de­ fend here, but it seem s wise not to al­ low thi s sacrifice. 14 ... 'iVd7 1 5 lDf5 'iiJlh 7, as in I . N epomniachtchi-Z.Al m asi, Dres­ den 2007, looks safer, and Black was just about holding his own after 16 .!:tdl 'ife6 17 .i.g 5 ! l:tad8 18 b4 .i.b6 ! .

There are some decent altern atives for Bl ack here: a) 10 .. .f6 followed by ... .i.e6 and ... c;t;>h 8 i s wh at I 've suggested for Black in similar position s. In thi s particular situation, though, White has just enough time after 11 0-0 .i.e6 (if 11 ... c;t;>h 8, White should play 12 l:Iel discouraging ... .i.e6 in view of d3-d4) to get in the desirable 12 .i.e3 ! .

9 exd 5 ! ?

Chess i s not a n easy g am e ! I freely admit that previously I 've questioned the strategy of combining the lDd2-fl­ g 3 m an oeuvre with exd5. Maybe I 'll try to justify thi s as the exception which proves the rule. Or m aybe White's case is helped by the fact th at, with the omission of h 2-h 3 , his development i s a bit quicker th an usual . 9 'ife2 .i.e6 i s similar to note 'bl' above. 9 lDxd 5 10 lDg3 •••

10 lDf6 •••

Thi s m akes at least some difference: 1 2 ... .i.e7 ! ? (12 ... .i.a7 ? ! 1 3 .i.xa7 ! l:!.xa7 14 d4 exd4 1 5 lDxd4 is the kind of posi­ tion that Black must avoid; or 12 ... .i.xe3 1 3 fxe3 'iiJlh 8 14 'iVd2 and White will push with d4) 1 3 d4! c;t;>h 8 14 dxe 5 lDxe3 1 5 fxe 3 'ifxdl 16 l:!.axdl .i.xb3 1 7 axb3 .i.C5 18 c;t;>f2 ltae8 (18 . . .lDxe5 19 lDxe 5 fxe5+ 20 e2 l:txfl 24 lDxfl followed by c;t;>d3-e4) 2 1 l:d7 lDg6 2 2 c4 fxe5 (V.Mal akhov-V.Georgiev, Solin 2006) and now 23 c;t;>e2 e4 24 lDg 5 ':'xfl 2 5 lDxfl would h ave kept an advantage.

71

Beating 1 e4 e5 b) 10 ... h6 11 0-0 l::t e S (ll ... liJf6 trans­ poses to the main game) 12 liJe4 ! ? ii.e7 ! (if 12 . . . .i.fS o r 12 ... .i.a7 you have to remember the standard trick 1 3 ii.xh 6 ! ) 1 3 .:r e l .i. e 6 1 4 liJg 3 ii. c s was equal in S. Kudrin-M. Khachiyan, Las Ve­ gas 2006. White could con sider 14 h 3 ! ? in stead of 14 liJg 3, and i f 1 4.. :i!t'd7 then 15 liJg 3 .i.d6 16 liJh S ! ? and possibly d3d4. c) 10 ...liJf4 11 ii.xf4 exf4 12 liJe4 .i.e7 (after 12 ... .i.b6 13 0-0 the bishop i s once again in danger o f being blocked out by d4) 13 0-0 ii.g4 14 d4 planning "iVd3 . White's strong centre promises him an edge here. 11 0-0 h 6

Preparing ...l:.eS, which at the mo­ ment would be strongly met by 12 liJg s ! .

change on e3 thereby strengthening White's pawn structure and opening the f-file. 12

.•.

ii.xe 3

If 12 ... .i.d6, 1 3 liJh4 ! ? aim s for f2-f4 - White doesn't always have to play l:[el ! Thi s plan worked to perfection in T.Gharamian- D.Marholev, La Fere 200S: 1 3 ... ii.g4 (13 .. .l::t e S ! ?) 14 'ilVd2 ! (lining up .i.xh 6 possibilities) 14 ... liJe4?! (14 ... liJas 15 ii.c2 .:reS 16 liJhfs .i.fS 1 7 b4, with an edge for White) 15 liJxe4 'iVxh4 16 f4! liJe7? 17 liJxd6 cxd6 lS fxe s dxe s 19 .i.cs l:.aeS 20 l:tael 'tWh s 2 1 d4, when Black was tied up in knots and saw no reason to continue the struggle. Admit­ tedly thi s was poor defence by Black, but even so White's pl an looks promis­ ing. 1 3 fxe3 l:[ e 8 14 liJh41

12 .i.e3 1

Ag ain we see thi s move, and it's the only one here which allows White to fight for an advantage. Bl ack must m ake some kind of concession . Either he must spend time safeguarding his bishop or, as chosen in the g ame, ex-

72

I prefer White here. At th e very least his position is the easier to play. 14 ... .i.e6 l s liJhfs ii.xb3 16 Vxb3 l::t e 61

16 .. :ikxd3 1 7 liJxh 6+ i s good for White. There's not enough time for 16 .. J�bS?, which i s m et by 1 7 liJxg 7 !

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part / I) 'iii' x g 7 18 l::t xf6 ! 'iit xf6 (or 18 .. .'ii' xf6 19 ttJh 5+) 19 l::tf l+ 'iit g 7 20 'i!Vxf7+ 'iith 8 21 .uf6, winning.

coming. Black's can 't pl ay 2 2 ... 'i!Vxb2 because of 2 3 l:tbl.

17 'iVxb 7 ! ?

Again the threat i s 2 3 ltJxh 6+. Black tries to prevent it with ...

2 2 'iVf2 !

2 2 . . .'it>h7

Bold pl ay by Degraeve, and he i s in­ stantly rewarded. 17 ... l:ta7?

2 3 ltJxh6! 1-0

Thi s looks like a critical mistake. True, Black reg ains his pawn, but only at a cost of losing coordination . If 17 .. J:tb8 18 'i¥xa6 and Black doesn't h ave an effective discovered attack again st the queen. Or 17 ... g6 18 lLlxh 6+ 'iit g 7 19 ltJxf7 ! 'iit xf7 20 ltJe4, and White threatens ltJg 5+. However, after 17 ... 'iith 7 ! preparing ... g6 the position i s still very unclear.

... but it happen s anyway! Dorfman resigned in view of the following lines: 2 3 ... 'iit xh 6 24 'i¥h4+ 'iit g 6 2 5 g4 (threat­ ening m ate on h 5) 25 ... ltJf6 26 J:[f5 ltJxe4 27 'iWh 5 mate; 23 ... gxh6 24 'i¥xf7+ ltJg 7 2 5 l::t d 7 l::t g 6 26 ltJf6+; or finally, 23 ... :txh 6 24 ltJg 5+ 'iith 8 25 'i!Vxf7 with m ate to follow.

Game 1 7

18 'iVb3 'iWxd 3 19 l::t a dl 'ifbs 20 'iVc2 !

White certainly isn't about t o ease Black's position by exchanging queen s.

S.E renbu rg-M.Kreizberg

Tel Aviv 2002

20 ...l:.b7? .

Black h ad to play 20 ... 'iWC4 prevent­ ing White's next move. 2 1 ltJe4! Threatening 22 ltJxh 6+. 2 1 ...ltJe8

If 21 ... ltJxe4 22 'iWxe4 and l::t d 7 i s

1 e4 e S 2 ttJf3 ltJc6 3 .i.C4 .i.cs 4 c3 ltJf6 S d3 d6

5 ... d6 i s still a very popul ar move or­ der for Black, especially at club level . Again transposition s are frequent, since Black typically pl ays ... a6 at some

73

Beating 1 e4 e5 point. In this game I 'll focus on lines where he doesn't.

6 �b3 h6

Black has quite a few alternatives: a) What should White play ag ain st 6 ... 0-0? Hopefully 7 �g S ! should be an automatic reaction by now! Play i s similar to Tiviakov- El Taher (Game 10) and in fact a tran sposition is possible after 7 ... �e6 8 ttJbd2 a6 9 h3 �a7 10 ttJh 2 h 6 11 �h4. b) 6 ... �e6 can be m et by 7 0-0, 7 ttJbd2, 7 �C2 or even 7 �a4! ?, exploit­ ing the fact that there is no ... bS avail­ able for Bl ack. There's al so the possibil­ ity of 7 ttJg S ! ?,

74

which works because 7 ... �xb3 8 �xb3 win s a pawn. True, Bl ack gets some compen sation, but it's not totally convincing : after 8 ... 0-0 9 �xb7 'it'd7 10 0-0 iLb6 11 �a6 ttJe7 12 ttJd2 h6 13 ttJgf3 ttJg 6 14 ttJC4 'iVe6 15 'iVa4 ttJh S 16 'fWdl, as played in S.Tiviakov-S.sul ski s, I stanbul 2003, White must be a bit bet­ ter. Black can avoid the pawn loss with 7 ... dS 8 ttJxe6 fxe6 9 ttJd2 0-0 10 0-0, as indicated by Lukacs, when we reach a position of dynamic imbal ance. Bl ack's light-squared control and pawn struc­ ture h as been compromi sed, and White h as the bishop pair. But Black enjoys some central control and can seek ac­ tion down the open f-file. If pushed, I think I prefer White because there's more scope for improvement in his po­ sition, and if Black releases the ten sion in the centre it i s likely to expose his structural weaknesses. One possible continuation from here would be 10 ... Vie7 11 "iYe2 Wh 8 12 ttJf3 l:tad8 13 .lta4 .ltd6 14 .l:!.el. c) 6 ... iLg4? ! , either here or in m any other similar positions, is a m ove you are likely to m eet quite often when fac­ ing less experienced players. One of the key advantages for White i s that while iLg s i s nearly al­ ways a concern for Black, ... iLg4 gener­ ally causes White no problem s at all ; in fact he positively welcomes the m ove ! Why i s thi s so? 1. With the c3 -pawn covering d4, Bl ack is n ever in a position to increase

Italian Game : Modern Variation (Part / I) the pressure on the pin with ... ttJd4. 2. ttJbd2 reinforces the defence of the f3-knight, but more importantly White h as the basic plan (after h 2-h 3 and ... �h 5) of ttJfl-g 3 . Thi s forces Black to either spend tim e safeguarding his light-squared bishop or agree to an undesirable exch ange. In effect, White can use Black's bishop as a hook to g ain momentum on the kin gside. I noticed a number of Kasparov games from simultaneous displays with his opponents choosing 6 ... �g4. They were all wins, with the longest game l asting just 34 moves !

Let's see how White shoul d proceed: 7 h3 �h 5 8 ttJbd2 0-0 9 'iVe2 d5 (passive play i s likely to get crushed: 9 .. .'iIi'd7 10 g4! �g6 11 ttJf1 l:[fe8 12 ttJg 3 ttJe7 13 .1g 5 h6 14 �xf6 g xf6 15 0-0-0 l':ted8 16 ttJh4 �h 7 17 ttJh 5 'iVc6 18 ttJxf6+ �8 19 ttJxh 7+ 'iit g 7 20 g 5 'iit xh 7 2 1 'iVh 5 ttJg 8 2 2 'ii'xf7+ 'iith 8 2 3 ttJg6 m ate, G.Kasparov-B.Guillot, Besancon 1999) 10 ttJfl dxe4 1 1 dxe4 �g6 (if 1 1 ... h 6, 12 ttJg 3 �g6 1 3 ttJh4 gains m ore time) 1 2 ttJ g 3 ttJh 5 1 3 ttJxh 5 �xh 5 14 g4 �g6 1 5

h4! h 5 (or 1 5 ... h 6 16 h 5 �h 7 17 g 5 1) 16 ttJg 5 !

16 .. .'ilVe7 (16 ... hxg4 1 7 h 5 �h 7 1 8 h 6 i s very strong) 1 7 g xh 5 �h 7 1 8 1:[g l ..ti>h 8 19 ttJxh 7 ..ti>xh 7 20 'ii'g 4 'ii'f6 2 1 ':'g 2 g 6 2 2 �xf7 ! and 1-0, A. Kofidis­ S.Beshukov, Greece 199 5 . It's not easy defendin g again st thi s type of attack, whether you are an am ateur facing the mighty Kasparov, or a grandmaster with a rating of 2 500! d) Finally, there's the solid option of 6 ... �b6.

Thi s is typical prophyl axis against d3-d4 and i s usually combined with the m anoeuvre ... ttJe7-g 6. Compared to the

75

Beating 1 e4 e5 ... a6 and ... i.. a 7 plan, Bl ack is saving a tempo. What's more, if White castl es, pl ays i.. e 3 and exchanges bishops, Black i s happier to recapture with the a-pawn rather than having to play ... .l:.xa7. The 'only' problem for Black i s that on b6, the bishop cannot escape cap­ ture if White pl ays liJd2-C4. It therefore makes sen se for White to choose thi s plan, and this gives h i m good chances of gaining an edge. For example, 7 liJbd2 ! liJe7 (7 ... 0-0 i s al so met by 8 liJc4) 8 liJc4 liJg6 9 0-0 0-0 10 h 3 h 6 1 1 l:t e l i.. e 6 12 d 4 i.. x c4 (12 .. .l::t e 8 1 3 ds ! ? i.. d 7 1 4 a4 - Kramnik - i s a line which demon strates why White isn't always in a rush to trade on b6) 13 i.. x c4 exd4 14 cxd4 liJxe4 (or 14 ... ds 1 5 exds liJxds 16 i.. d 2 c6 17 'iVb3 "ifd7 18 a4 with an edge - Kramnik) 15 i.. d s liJf6 16 i.. x b7 l:tb8 17 i.. c 6 and again White is slightly better, D.Bojkov- K.Haznedaroglu, Is­ tanbul 2001.

7 liJbd 2

Now th at Bl ack h as pl ayed ... h 6 to rule out i.. g s, there's no real need to

76

hold back with thi s any longer, espe­ cially if White is pl anning on delaying castling in favour of liJfl-g 3 etc. On the other hand, it's worth re­ membering that in nearly all cases White can revert back to the Cl assical Main Line by castling at any stage. If, for example, White plays 7 0-0 here or on the next move, Black might be 'tricked' into a line where he i s commit­ ted to ... h6; a perfectly respectable line, but not necessarily one he would have chosen h ad White castled earlier. For example, here 7 ... 0-0 8 liJbd2 a6 9 ':'el i.. a 7 10 h3 would tran spose to G ames 18 and 21. Moreover, the m ove order chosen here mean s that White even h as the option of playing 10 liJfl and delaying h 3 - 10 ... liJg4 achieves noth­ ing after 11 d4! . See al so Bron stein­ Ivkov (G am e 28), where Bl ack delays ... i.. a 7. 7

...

0-0 8 h 3 liJ h S I ?

Aiming for ... liJf4 and ... "iff6, which i s one of Bl ack's m ain plan s in the Cl as­ sical Main Line (see Game 18). 8 ... i.. e 6 is, as usual, a solid option

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part / I) for Black. If White wants to avoid cas­ tling, transposing to the Classical Main line, he can try one of the followin g : a } I f 9 li'lfl ds 1 0 'iie 2 Black can try to utilize the tempi g ained avoidin g ... a6 and ... i.a7: 10 ... li'las ! ? (or 10 ... as ! ?) 11 i.xds ! (White h as to improvise, since the autopilot respon se 1 1 i.C2 ? allows 1 1 ... dxe4 1 2 dxe4 i.C4! which i s embarrassing) 1 1 ... i.xds 1 2 exds li'lxds 13 li'lg 3 li'lf4 ! ? 14 i.xf4 exf4 1 5 li'le4 l:te8 16 b4 i.b6 1 7 bxas i.xas 18 0-0 fs 19 'ii'c 2 fxe4 20 dxe4 i.b6 2 1 Iladl "fiIe7 22 es J:[ad8 2 3 "ife4 J:[xdl 24 l:.xdl 'iVcs 25 'ii'g 6 iVxf2+?? 2 6 'iith l and Black re­ signed in I . N epomniachtchi-E.5utovsky Netanya (rapid) 2009, in view of 26 ... .l:tf8 2 7 .l:td7 'iif l+ 2 8 c;;t>h 2 with mate on g 7 . A win for White, but over­ all thi s line looks quite unclear. b} 9 i.c2 ds 10 "ife2 and now: bl} 10 ... d4 1 1 li'lfl as 12 g4 a4 13 tiJg 3 with complex play. b2} 10 .. Jle8 11 li'lf1 "ifd7 12 tiJg 3 b s ! ? and White should play 1 3 0-0 dxe4 14 tiJxe4 tiJxe4 15 "fiIxe4 with a roughly equal position , since the typical 13 tiJh4?! allows a tactical trick with 13 ... dxe4 14 dxe4 i.C4 15 "iff3 li'lb4! . 9 d41?

White exploits tactics involving the unprotected knight on h s (9 ... exd4 10 cxd4 li'lxd4 11 li'lxd4 i.xd4 12 'iVxh s) but thi s advance in the centre i s quite committal . Another option worth con sidering was 9 li'lfl iVf6 10 g 3 ! ?, preventing ...tiJf4 and leaving the knight poorly

placed, albeit at a cost of weakening the king side. White can play i.e3, swap off bishops and then aim for li'le3ds/g4 or li'lh4. 9

•..

i.b6 10 li'lC4

Eren burg suggests 10 0-0 here. If Bl ack plays 10 .. :iVf6, 11 li'lC4! would transpose to the g ame. I think 10 ... li'lf6 ! i s stronger, and the position looks equal to me.

10 "fiIf6 •••

Black can, and probably should, play 10 ... exd4 11 tiJxb6 axb6 12 tiJxd4 (12 cxd4 li'lf6 leaves White struggling to defend e4 properly) 12 ... li'lf6 1 3 f3, as indicated by Erenburg . Here 13 ... ds should equalize. 11 li'lxb6 axb6 12 0-0 tiJf4 1 3 'iit h 2 Superficially it looks like Bl ack is do­ ing pretty well. It seem s that with the knight on f4 and the queen on f6 he enjoys some pressure on the king side. Black's position certainly isn't bad, but perh aps a key point is that there are more opportunities for improvement in White's (for example, i.e3, tiJg l, g 2 g 3 and eventually f2-f4) and there's the

77

Beating 1 e4 e5 long-term advantage of the bishop pair. Perhaps realizing this, Kreizberg chooses to go for an adventurous at­ tack on White's king, but it proves to be over-ambitious. Erenburg's preci se play demonstrates both the resilience and potential in White's position.

'iVg 6+ 19 'it'f2 �xh 3 20 tiJxh 3 .l:i.xh 3 21 'it'e2 etc.

17 �xf4!

I can only think that Black forgot thi s m ove was possible because White h ad avoided it for so lon g . 17 .. JiVxf4+ 18 g3 "iVg4 1 3 ... .l:i.a S ! ? 14 �e3 exd4

Committal, but con sistent with Black's previous move. 1S cxd4 .l:i.hS There was still time to change tack with 15 ... .l:i.e8 (Erenburg), but Black wasn't going to back down .

The only other m ove to protect the rook was 18 ... 'iig 5, but 19 f4 'iig 6 20 f5 iVg 5 2 1 'Yi"f3 intending .i.dl is crushing. 19 "iVxg4 �xg4 20 f4! �c8 2 1 fS !

16 tiJg1!

Bl ack was threatening the deadly 16 ... �xh 3 . Now 'Yi"f3 becomes an im­ portant resource for White in some lines. 16 ...tiJe7?

Thi s m eets with a rather simple refutation . Rybka wants to play 16 ... .l:i.h4 in­ tending to an swer 1 7 g3 with 17 ... �g4. However, Bl ack's attack h as a desperate look to it after 17 f3 : for example, 17 ... .l:i.h 5 18 iVd2, or 17 ... tiJxg 2 18 'it'xg 2

78

I bet by now the rook was wishing it was back on the sleepy a8-square ! 2 1 ... d S 2 2 �d1 1-0

If 22 ... :g 5 , 23 h4 puts the rook out of its misery.

Italian Game: Modern Variation (Part / I)

Key Notes 1. 7 ltJbd2 0-0 8 ltJC4 i s a tricky al­ ternative to the m ain line, especially since Bl ack seems to get into diffi cul­ ties after 8 ... d6 (Gam e 11), which i s his most n atural reaction . 8 ... dS (Game 12) looks like a wi ser choice. 2. The i.. g s pin can be a very power­ ful weapon when the circum stances are favourable, for example in Games 11 and is. The pin i s not quite so effec­ tive if Black still h as the option of ... i..c s-e7. The notes to Game 14 show that Bl ack should be willing to break the pin in thi s way, even though it's at a cost of a tempo. 3 . If Black aim s for a very quick ... dS, usually White should exchan g e pawn s and execute Pl an B (see Game 14 and some notes in G am e i s ) . Remember that S ... dS? is too early and is an swered by 6 exds ltJxdS 7 'iVh 3 ! .

4 . Executing th e ltJbd2-fl-g 3 ma­ noeuvre without a preparatory h 2-h 3 carries some risk, as Black always has the possibility of meeting ltJfl with ... ltJg4 attackin g the f2-pawn. However, as the notes to Games 11 and 16 dem­ on strate, White can sometimes an swer ... ltJg4 by playing d3-d4. lf you think the resulting complication s favour White, it might be worth tempting Black with thi s option . s . If Bl ack di spen ses with the ... a6/ ... i.. a 7 plan and in stead chooses ... i..b 6, the most natural reaction by White i s to force a knight-for-bishop exchange with ltJbd2-C4 (see Game 17, note on 6 ... i..b 6). 6. Less experienced players are often attracted by an early ... i.. g 4 pin . This move causes White no problem s at all and he should be happy to face it (see Game 17, note on 6 ... i.. g 4).

79

C h a pt e r T h r e e Italian Game: Classical Main Line

In thi s ch apter we'll con sider lines where White castles early and develops in a more tradition al styl e. I was tempted to call it 'the old m ain line' because thi s i s how White played when th e Italian Game with c3 and d3 first cam e to prominence back in the 1980s. But despite a growing threat from the modern lines di scussed in the previous two ch apters, it rem ain s sufficiently popul ar today not to be labelled with 'old'. Simply put, White's prim ary pl an after castling is to play l:.e1, h 3 , ttJbd2f1-g 3 and th en, after all the necessary preparation, advan ce with d3-d4. Of course there are lines where Bl ack cuts across thi s idea and White has to change course, but generally speaking thi s i s what he wants to do.

1 e 4 e 5 2 ttJf3 ttJc6 3 .i.C4 .i. C 5 4 c3 ttJf6 5 d 3 a6 6 0-0 d6 7 .i.b3 .i.a7

Of course there are various oth er move orders here. For, example 6 .i.b3 .i.a7 7 0-0 d6, or 6 0-0 .i.a7 7 .i.b3 d6. Basically, White pl ays i.b3 fairly early on for the usual reason- to avoid the possibility of ... ttJas forcing its ex­ ch ange. S .l:te1

Let's take a brief look at the opening moves : 80

8 ttJbd2 h as actually been White's most popular choice in practice, but I

Italian Game: Clas si cal Main Line prefer 8 l:tel. In m any cases the two moves reach the same position, but 8 .l:r.el offers White more possibilities in some of the key lines and al so cuts out one or two option s for Bl ack. More to the point, it's useful for White to main­ tain the possibility of ii.g s for as long as possible. 8 0-0 9 h3 ...

Thi s i s a key m ove. If White pl ays 9 tLlbd2 ? ! Bl ack can seize the initiative with 9 ... tLlg4! 10 �e2 �h 8 ! and there's no stopping .. .f5. Practice h as shown that after 11 h3 lDh 6 12 lDfl f5 ! 1 3 i.xh 6 g x h 6 Black's activity and open lines more than compen sate for the structural damage to his kin g side, and this i s a variation White needs to avoid at all costs.

The position after 9 h3 i s a tabiya for the Classical Main Line. It has pro­ vided the battleground for hundreds of grandmaster g ames. As m entioned above, next on the agenda for White is ttJbd2-fl-g 3, and only then will he be­ gin to think about pushing with d3 -d4. I n most circum stances it's a mi stake to

advance with d3 -d4 before the knight m anoeuvre. Black would continue to put pressure on the centre with m oves like ... l:te8, and it would be difficult for White to develop his queen side pieces and protect both e4 and d4 at the same time. Furthermore, releasing the ten­ sion in the centre with dxe 5 or d5 nor­ m ally only eases Black's position . The resulting position s after 9 h 3 are covered i n the first five games of the chapter. Th ere are three m ain op­ tion s for Bl ack here: 1. H e can execute the plan of ... lDh 5, ... 'iVf6 and ... lDf4. Thi s i s covered in Frois-Korneev (Game 18). 2 . He can play ... �e6, with or with­ out ... h 6 first. This approach i s covered in Games 19-21. 3 . H e can play 9 ... lDe7 followed by ... lDg6 (see Felg aer- Hector, G ame 2 2 ) . The final s i x g ames o f this chapter deal with earlier options for both play­ ers and al so some move-order issues. Warakom ski-Bartel (Game 23), for ex­ ample, shows how White can come un stuck if he doesn't pay enough at­ tention to these intricacies. White's chief alternative to the m ain line i s to choose a plan involving �e3 (seejollowing diagram). Thi s approach has been a favourite of Tiviakov's. Objectively Black should be okay but it's not particul arly easy to meet for the un suspecting. It even caused Anand problems when he faced it (see G ames 24-25).

81

Beating 1 e4 e 5

If Bl ack plays 7 ... 0-0 in stead of 7 ... i.. a 7, White has the interesting if doubl e-edged possibility of 8 i.. g 5 , which i s covered i n Tiviakov-Pavasovic (Game 26). After that we con sider 7 ... i.. g 4 in Kinderm ann-Dietmayer Kraeut1er (Gam e 27), and fin ally lines without ... a6 in Bron stein-Ivkov (Game 28). Note that 5 ... 0-0 6 0-0 has already been covered in the notes to Nun ­ Spesny (Game 15). Without further ado, let's move on to the g ames:

9 ... h 6 i s a necessary precursor t o the pl an, because the immediate 9 ... lLlh 5 is met convincingly by 10 i.. g 5 ! forcing an awkward queen move. After 10 .. :i¥e8, if nothing el se there's 11 d4 (11 lLlh 2 ! ?) 11...h6 12 i.. e 3 and White coul d end up a tempo ahead of the m ain lines: 12 ... 'i¥e7 1 3 lLlbd2 'iVf6 14 lLlfl lLlf4 15 lLlg 3 etc. Thi s demonstrates one of the ad­ vantages of playing 8 .l:tel in stead of 8 lLlbd2 - the immediate 9 lLlh 5 i s a m a­ jor possibility for Black after 8 lLlbd2 0-0 9 h 3 . ...

1 0 lLlbd2 lLl h S 1 1 lLlf1

Game 1 8

A.Frois-O.Korneev

Ma laga

2005

Note th at 11 lLlxe 5 ? ? is a blunder because of 11...lLlxe 5 12 1Wxh 5 lLlxd3 or, even worse, 11...'ifh4 ! . 11 .. :ikf6 12 i.. e 3 !

1 e4 e s 2 lLlf3 lLlc6 3 i.. C 4 i.. c S 4 c3 lLlf6 S d3 a6 6 0-0 d6 7 i.. b 3 i.. a 7 8 :e1 0-0 9 h3 h6

Black plan s aggressive action on the king side with ... lLlh 5, .. :ikf6 and ... lLlf4. Thi s i s an appealing option and it's no surpri se th at it h as been Black's most popular choice over the years.

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12 lLle3 i s al so possible, but the feel ­ ing i s that White's best chance of find­ ing an advantage lies with thi s offer to trade the dark-squared bishops. How­ ever, it should be pointed out that White's isn't always going to force the exchange of these bishops. Indeed, if Black avoids exchanging on e3, which

Italian Game: Clas si cal Main Line he tends to do in practice, White will often play d3-d4. In thi s case, as we've seen before, a significant part of White's strategy is to block the a7bishop out of the action . What's m ore, all the tim e White has the option to exch ange bishops with dxe s followed by �xa7, whereas Black doesn't. Thi s tension i n the centre undoubtedly fa­ vours White.

equal) 17 tiJg l ! . Thi s knight retreat i s o n e point o f 1 4 'it>h 2; indeed it's a typi­ cal plan for White. The idea i s to kick the knight back with g3 and slowly m ake progress on the king side: 17 ...�ad8 18 g3 tiJfg 6 (now thi s knight i s a poor piece, restricted by the pawn on g 3 ) 19 l:tfl ds 20 'iWe2 tiJc6 21 tiJg 2 lif7 2 2 h4 �df8 2 3 �adl tiJge7 (A. Karpov-A.Yusupov, Bugojno 1986) and here 24 f4! (Karpov) would h ave m aintained an edge for White. a2) 13 fxe 3 ! ? is perhaps more ch al ­ lenging.

1 2 .t'hf4 ••

Occupying f4 straight away looks attractive, and thi s is Black's most popul ar choice here. However, worthy alternatives do exist: a) 12 ... il.xe3 i s committal but it does at least cl arify the position to some extent. If Black wants to exch ange on e3, now i s probably the time to do so; after ... tiJf4, any exch ange on e 3 only encourages fxe 3 to force the knight to retreat. White can recapture in either way: al) 13 tiJxe3 tiJf4 14 'it?h 2 (14 tiJds lLlxds 1 5 exds tiJe7 16 d4 tiJg6 i s equal) 14 ... tiJe7 1 5 a4 il.e6 16 �xe6 fxe6 ? ! (af­ ter 16 ... tiJxe 6 ! - Karpov - the position i s

Black can no longer carry out his ... tiJf4 plan and needs to regroup, while White will begin action on the kin g ­ side: 1 3 ... 'i¥e7 (to give the knight a square) 14 g4 tiJf6 1 5 tiJg 3 il.e6 16 d4 (I'd be tempted to hold the centre and continue with 16 .:ttl ! ?, intending 16 ... ds 17 exds tiJxds 18 'iVe2) 16 ... il.d7 ! 1 7 'iVe2 tiJh 7 18 'iVg 2 'it>h 8 19 �tl with an unclear position, O.5vetushkin­ CMarcelin, Yerevan 1999. White i s the more active but Black's position i s solid enough.

83

Beating 1 e4 e5 b) 12 ... ltJe7 (providing reinforce­ ments for the king side) 13 d4 (13 �xa7 J:txa7 14 ltJe3 ltJf4 15 'it>h 2 :taS trans­ poses to note 'al', above) 1 3 ... ltJf4 (13 ... ltJg 6? fail s to the tactic 14 ltJxe s ! dxes 1 5 'iixh s, since l s . . . exd4 16 cxd4 �xd4? loses to 17 �xd4 'ifxd4 lS 'ii'x g6) 14 ltJg 3 ltJeg 6 15 �C2 ! .

The deci sion t o retreat the bishop looks strange at first sight (how m any times h ave I said that?), but it's actually a strong move. Th e key idea for White (see note 'b2') is to interfere with Bl ack's king side action by playing ltJfs : bl) l s ... ltJh4 16 ltJxh4 'ii'x h4 17 'iif3 g6 lS l:tadl �g 7 19 �b3 'iff6 20 �h 2 l:teS 2 1 l:td2 �e6 2 2 �xe6 (finally the tim e i s right to release the ten sion) 2 2 .. J::t x e6 2 3 dxe s dxes 24 l:td7 �b6 2 5 Itedl and White's control of the d-file g ave him the edge in L.Dominguez Perez-V. Quezada Perez, H avana 200S. b2) ls ... c6 16 ltJfs J:eS 17 ltJh 2 ! ? h s l S �h l (planning g 3 ; returning with lS ltJf3 ! ? now that g s has been weak­ ened m ay be stronger, and thi s posi­ tion looks a bit better for White)

84

lS ... dS ! 19 dxe s 'ii'g s (Rybka wants to play 19 .. .llxes ! 20 �xa7 l:[xa7 2 1 'ifd4 b6 22 ii'xb6 l:tb7 2 3 Vxa6 llbS 24 ii'a4 l:txb2 with counterplay) 20 ltJg 3 ! h4? 21 ltJf3 "iWh 6 2 2 ltJfs (White i s already win­ ning here, but according to the data­ base there now came ... ) 2 2 ... 'ii'g S ? ? 23 ltJxg s and 1-0, Hou Vifan-W.spoelman, Wijk aan Zee 2007. c) 12 ... �e6 1 3 �c2 coul d easily reach position s similar to those in note 'b' where White voluntarily plays �c2. For example, 13 ... ltJf4 14 d4 ltJe7 15 ltJg 3 g s ! ? (lS ... ltJeg 6 is met by 16 ltJfS, and l s ... g 6 by 16 ltJh 2 h s 17 Vd2) 16 ltJh 2 ! :fdS (A.Ol sson - K.On g , Gothen­ burg 2005) and here 17 ltJfS ! i s a good m ove, because 17 ... ltJxfs i s m et by the strong zwischenzug lS ltJg4 ! . Earlier, 13 �xa7 .l:!.xa7 14 ltJe3 ltJf4 15 ltJds and 13 d4 �xb3 14 axb3 are al so possible. 13 ltJg3 13 d4 is a good altern ative. Bl ack usually m eets it with 1 3 ... ltJe7 which tran sposes to 1 2 ... ltJe7, above.

After 1 3 ltJg 3, initially there appears to be no danger at all for Bl ack, but

Italian Game: Clas si cal Main Line watch out for some hidden traps lurk­ ing in thi s position ! Not the first idea you would think of, but thi s pawn m ove i s almost a ne­ cessity! The first thing to note i s that an in­ nocent move such as 1 3 ... ..ie6 can be m et by 14 ..ixf4! (14 d4 i s also good), when 14 ... 'iWxf4?? 15 lLlh s, trapping the queen in mid-board, i s easy to miss. (This expl ain s the reasoning behind 13 ... g 6.)

spon se: 14 ..ixf4! exf4 15 lLlh s 'ii'g 6 16 lLlxf4 'tWg 3 17 'tWd2 ..ixf2+ 18 'iWxf2 'iWxf4. Black h as regained his pawn, but after 19 e s ! White stands better. Perhaps the most important alter­ n ative for Black is 13 ... g s ! ?, further sup­ porting the strong knight and thus eliminating any tricks. Bl ack will hope to organize some action on the king­ side, but 1 3 ... g s does saddle him with light-squared weaknesses which White can justifiably expect to exploit after the logical respon se 14 lLlh 2 ! .

14 ... exf4? i s al so a mi stake, losing a pawn after 1 5 lLlh s 'iVe7 (or l s ... 'ilVg 6 16 lDxf4 ..ixb3 17 'tWd2 ! 'iVg 3 18 d4) 16 lDxf4. The well -known Spanish grand­ master Vallejo Pon s once fell for this, albeit in a blindfold game. Actually, Black can escape real h arm with 14 ... ..ixb 3 ! 15 axb3 exf4 intending 16 lLlh s 'iVg 6 17 lLlxf4 'ilVg 3 18 'ilVd2 i.xf2+ 19 'ilixf2 'ili'xf4. But 16 lLlfl ! fol­ lowed by d3-d4 allows White to achieve his positional goal of blocking out the a7-bishop, with some advantage. 13 ... lLle7 i s met by a similar re-

White's long-term goal s are t o oc­ cupy the 'real outpost' on fs and to force the f4-knight from its 'pseudo outpost' with a timely g2-g3 advance. For example, 14 ... 'iWg 6 1 5 d4 h 8 21 l:te4! T. L. Petrosian­ played was in H.Melkumyan, Yerevan 2010. H ere Black felt obliged to give up a piece for after compen sation insufficient 21 ... .i.xf2+ 22 'it>xf2 'ii'b 6+ 23 l:te3 l:tfe8 24 .l:[ael. If Black plays 21 ... c5 in stead, 22 :h4 gives White a promising attack. He is already threatening m ate with 2 3 .i.g8+ �xg 8 24 'ifh 7. c) 1 3 ... h 6 h as been played by Nigel Short. It's a m ove Bl ack woul d like to pl ay and it might even be his best op­ tion . Where should White retreat his bishop?

Cl) If 14 .i.h4, Black can claim he h as g ained something because the bishop can no longer come back down the cl­ h6 diagonal to annoy the black queen in certain lines. a) 14 .i.e3 i s a decent respon se, and 14 ... .i.xe3 1 5 fxe 3 ! ? Vd6 16 d4 f5 17

93

Beating 1 e4 e5 .ltb3 �h 8 was roughly equal in Z. Efimenko-N.5hort, Kemer 2007. After studying thi s position for quite some time, I realized that there was a third option : White doesn 't have to move the bishop at all : c 3 ) 1 4 ttJe4! ? i s a very interesting possibility for White here. If Black takes the bishop it looks to me like White gets a fierce attack in return . Here's just a sample of the m any possible lines: 14 ... hxg s 1 5 .ltb3 'iWbs 16 ttJfxg s

Black definitely h as some problems to solve here, the m ain one being to find a stable square for his under pres­ sure queen . Bl ack h as fewer concerns after 14 .lte3 .ltxe3 1 5 :xe3 h 6, as played in Z.Almasi- L.Aronian, European Team Ch., Heraklion 2007. It's al so worth not­ ing that 14 c4 is less effective here, since Black h as 14 .. :iVd6 intending 15 ttJe4 'iVf8 ! .

14 ttJC5 •..

16 ... .ltxb3 (or 16 ... .ltfs 17 .ltC4 'ii'x b2 18 'iVh s ttJd8 19 :abl 'iVc2 20 ttJxf7) 17 'i!Vh S ! l:.fe8 18 axb3 ttJd8 (18 ... 'iVxb3 ? i s m et by 19 l:ta3 ! 'iVds 20 c4) 19 'iVh 7+ �f8 20 ttJg 3 ttJf6 2 1 'iVh 8+ �e7 22 1i'xg 7 and the attack i s still burning strongly. It's still early days in the develop­ m ent of this line. With accurate play Bl ack might well be okay, but it does seem easy to go wrong . Initially Short's 12 ... h 6 looked like the most reliable m ove to me, but I can no longer say thi s with any certainty in view o f 1 4 ttJe4 ! ? 1 4 ttJe4!

94

Desperately trying to ease conges­ tion by exchanging a pair of knights, but White is having none of it. Predojevic's an alysis in Chess Infor­ m a nt 102, given below, suggests that there i s no easy way out for Black, but he can minimize White's advantage: a) 14 .. .fS ? ! 1 5 .ltb3 'iWbs 16 .ltxe6+ 1:Ixe6 17 a4 1i'ds (or 17 ... 1i'xb2 18 ':'e2 1i'b6 19 .lte3 ttJd4 20 cxd4 fxe4 21 dxe4 exd4 22 .ltxd4) 18 c4 'iVas 19 .ltd2 'iWb6 20 as "ii'x b2 2 1 .ltC3 .ltxf2+ 2 2 'ifi>f1 'iVxal 2 3 .ltxal .ltxel 24 ttJeg s l:[e7 2 5 ttJxel ttJxas 2 6 ttJ C 2 with a clear advan ­ tage for White.

Ita lian Game: Classi ca l Main Line b) 14 ... ltJf8 ! 1 5 'ii'e 2 h 6 16 ..te3 ltJg 6

17 ..txa7 ':'xa7 18 'ife3 b6 19 ..tb3 'ifd7 20 ..ta4! J:taa8 21 l:tadl with an edge for White. If 2 1...fS ?, 22 d4! i s a strong reply: for example, 2 2 ... b S 2 3 ltJcs 'iff7 24 ltJxe6 bxa4 2 5 dS etc. l S ltJg3 !

Thi s is an extremely favourable I QP position for White: Black's rooks are momentarily di sconnected and his mi­ nor pieces could be in better positions. The immediate threat i s 20 ..tb3 fol­ lowed by 2 1 dS, and in fact thi s isn't easy to m eet. 19 ...ltJf6

Covering the ds-square (and h 7 af­ ter 'ifd3), but is it enough? 20 ..tb3 'ifa s 2 1 ..txe6?

Missing a huge opportunity. White can still play 21 dS ! , and in­ deed Predojevic's analysi s suggests that it leads to a deci sive advantage: 2 1...l:td8 (or 2 1...ltJxds 2 2 ..txdS lId8 2 3 .l:!.xe6 ! ) 2 2 dxe 6 ! l:txdl 2 3 exf7+ 'i?r>f8 2 4 :axdl :la8 2 s ltJh4 'iVg s 2 6 ltJgfS . No trades! White i s planning d4, or even b4 to force the knight back to d7. lS ... h6 16 ..te3 ltJd 7

16 ... l:tad8 looks more n atural, but even here 17 d4 exd4 18 cxd4 ltJb4 19 .ibl! (19 dxcS 'ifc4) 19 ...ltJd7 20 a3 ltJc6 (Predojevic) 21 ..ta2 followed by dS looks very strong . 1 7 ..txa 7 ':xa 7 1 8 d4! exd4 19 exd4

It's difficult for Black to meet White's m any ideas, including l:.d3-g 3 . 2 1 ....:.xe6 2 2 .l:!.xe6 fxe6 2 3 a 3 'iVd s 2 4 ':e1 .l:!.a8

White still has a small edge here, but Black is certainly over the worst and the game soon ends in a draw. 2S ltJe2 :idS 2 6 'ii'e 2 'i!Ve4 27 'ife4 'ifd s 2S Ve2 Ve4 29 'iVe4 'iWd s 30 'ii'e 3 'ii'd 6

95

Beating 1 e4 e5 31 'ir'b3 ttJa5 3 2 'ii'c 2 ttJc6 3 3 'ii' b 3 ttJa5 34 'ii'c 2 ttJc6 3 5 ttJC3 'ii'f4 3 6 ttJe2 Yz-Yz

Game 21

A.Areshchen ko-A.Aleksa ndrov

Aeroflot Open, Moscow 2007 1 e4 e5 2 ttJf3 ttJc6 3 .i.C4 .i.C5 4 c3 ttJf6 5 d3 a6 6 Ji.b3 .i.a7 7 0-0 d6 8 ':'e1

The game's actual move order was 8 ttJbd2 0-0 9 h 3 .i.e6 10 l:[el l:.e8 1 1 ttJfl h6 12 ttJg 3 'iVd7 13 .i.c2 ds 14 'ii'e 2. 8

...

0-0 9 h 3 h 6

As we have seen previously, thi s pawn move i s often a precursor to ... ttJh s. However, it's al so a useful wait­ ing m ove if Black wants to play ... .i.e6.

ther down the road with his kingside pl an s, whereas Black's extra ... h 6 may only prove to be semi-useful, or even a hindrance if White is lucky. In truth, the difference i s fairly insignificant and Black's position i s solid. Even so, this rem ain s an option for the those prefer· ring quieter position s : 11 ttJfl l:te8 (or 11 ... Ji.xb3 12 axb3 lle8, if Black doesn't want to allow White to change his mind and pl ay 12 Ji.C2 ! ) 12 ttJ3h2 (so th at White can an swer ... ds with 'ii'f 3; both 12 ttJg 3 and 12 Ji.e3 are al so pos­ sible) 12 ... Ji.xb3 1 3 axb3 'ii'd 7 14 'ii'f3 'ii'e 6 1 5 ttJg 3

10 ttJbd2 Ji.e6

We are faced with th at perennial choice again: do we allow an exchange of bishops or avoid it with Ji.c2? 11 .i.c2

In compari son to the position after 9 ... .i.e6, it seem s to me that there's slightly m ore appeal to allowing an exchange here. White i s one move fur-

96

l s ... ttJe7 ! (avoiding l s ... 'ii'xb3 ? ! 16 ttJfs ! when White threatens both 17 ttJxh 6+ and 17 Ji.xh 6) 16 b4 c6 17 ttJg4 ttJxg4 18 hxg4 ds 19 ttJfs ':'ad8 20 g3 f6 2 1 'iii> g 2 dxe4 2 2 dxe4 ttJxfs 2 3 gxfS 'iVC4 24 Ji.e3 .i.xe3 and V2-%, P. Leko­ V. Kramnik, World Championship, Mex­ ico City 2007. This was model defence by Kramnik, and objectively Black must be okay in this line. However, perhaps it's not as easy as Kramnik makes it look. Indeed,

Italian Game: Clas si cal Main Line when Leko decided to switch sides he wasn't able to display the same accu­ racy: 14 4:Jg 3 (instead of 14 'iff3) 14 ... 4:Je7 15 b4 c6 16 4:Jg4 'ilfe6 17 .ie3 ! ? (17 'ii'f3 would transpose t o LekoKramnik) 17 ... .ixe3 18 4:Jxe3 dS 19 exds 4:JexdS (19 ... cxdS looks stronger) 20 4:JC4! 4:Jd7 2 1 4:Je4 4:Jf4 2 2 'ilff3 b S 23 tLlas (23 4:Jcd6 ! ?) 2 3 ...fS 24 4:JcS 4:JxcS 2 5 bxcS 4:JdS 26 4:Jb7 ! e 4 2 7 dxe4 fxe4 2 8 'iVg 3 4:Jf6 29 4:Jd6 :e7 30 b4 with a clear advantage, V.lvanchuk-P.Leko, Nice (rapid) 2009. As I've stressed previously, Black should be okay but there is cer­ tainly enough scope in these positions to outplay your opponents.

Another typical decision to m ake: capture or keep the ten sion ? 13 'ife2 13 exds ! ? looks like a totally in­ nocuous version of the pawn capture, but even here there is a drop of poison in the position : 1 3 ... .ixds (the two other recaptures are al so possible, but thi s looks the most n atural) 14 4:Jg 3 "ii'd 7 1 5 .ie3 .ixe3 16 l:[xe3 l:te7 ? ! 17 4:Jh4! .ie6 18 4:Jh S ! 4:Jxh S 19 'ii'xh s 'iVd6 20 :g 3 ! 'it>f8 21 :el and suddenly White h as drummed up a fierce attack from seemin gly nowhere.

11 ... :e8

Thi s m ove, in conjunction with ... dS, i s Black's m ost con sistent follow-up. If Black plays 11 ... 4:Je7 it's White who advances in the centre. H ere 12 tLlfl 4:Jg 6 1 3 4:Jg 3 :le8 14 d4 reaches Korneev-Campora (Gam e 7). Thi s i s an example of how the Modern Variation can tran spose to the Classical Main Line, and vice-versa. 1 2 4:Jf1 d S

H . H amdouchi-P.Van Hoolandt, Nice 2002, concluded 2 1 ... .id7 2 2 :ee3 e4 2 3 dxe4 'ii'd 2 24 .ib3 'iVxb2 2 5 l:tef3 4:Jes 26 4:Jg6+ 4:Jxg 6 27 Wxg6 1-0. Bl ack showed much greater accu­ racy in J . Degraeve-J .Votava, Erfurt 2009 : 16 ... l:.ad8 ! (in stead of 16 ... l:te7 ? ! ) 17 'iVe2 .ixf3 18 'iVxf3 4:JdS 19 l:teel J::t e 6 20 .l:.adl, with a roughly level posi­ tion . 13 . 'iVd 7 Black must also decide when or if he should release the tension . In ..

97

Beat ing 1 e4 e5 E.Alekseev-F.Caruan a, Kh anty-Man siysk 2009, Black did so straight away: 13 ... dxe4 14 dxe4 b S (14 ... liJh S ? can be safely an swered by 1 5 liJxe s here) 15 liJ3h2 (15 liJg 3 would allow Black the option of forcing a queen exchange with l S ... i.C4) l s ...liJe7 16 %:tdl 'iic 8 17 'iff3 liJh 7 18 liJg4 liJg 6 19 liJfe3 l:td8 20 liJfs :xdl+ 2 1 'iix dl 'iid 8 2 2 'iie l hS 23 liJh 2 liJf4 24 i.xf4 exf4 25 l:tdl 'ii'e 8 26 'iid 2 i.xfs 2 7 exfs and White was bet­ ter. There might well be some possible improvements here, but to me 1 3 ... 'ilfd7 followed by ... l:tad8 looks m ore flexible. 1 4 liJg3 :tad8

1 5 'it h 2 1 ?

The idea behind thi s move i s to pre­ pare liJh4 - the immediate 15 liJh4 al­ lows l S ... i.xh 3 ! 16 g xh 3 'ifxh 3 1 7 liJhfs liJg4 18 i.e3 � 2 + 19 'ittl 'i¥h 3 + 20 'itg l with perpetual check, N .5edl ak­ B. Predojevic, Zlatibor 2007. H owever, Bl ack h as nothing to fear providin g he finds the right respon se, and it i s pos­ sible th at 15 'ith 2 isn't the best m ove objectively, even though it works very well in thi s game.

98

Blitz games aren 't always helpful pointers but when they involve the World's elite, they do at least reveal the first m ove which goes through a super­ grandm aster's mind. H ere are a couple of recent examples from thi s position : a) 1 5 i.d2 i.cs (a typical m ove - if White begins action on the king side, thi s bishop m ay want to return to f8 to provide cover ... ) 16 iladl d4! ? ( ... especially if White plays an eventual c4, when the bishop would look silly on a7) 17 i.bl bS 18 ':cl! dXc3 (thi s is committal - perh aps Black didn't want to be left with a pawn on d4 after 18 ... i.f8 19 cxd4; 18 ... i.b6 ! ? is an alter­ n ative) 19 bXc3 i.f8 20 i.e3 and White's plan now is d3-d4, B.Gelfand­ V. Kramnik, Moscow (blitz) 2008. b) 1 5 liJh 2 b S 16 lVf3 (threatening i.xh 6) 16 ... liJh 7 1 7 liJg4 d4 18 liJfs i.xfs 19 exfs, as played in L.Dominguez Perez-S.Mamedyarov, World Blitz Ch., Alm aty 2008, i s the kind of promising king side action White i s looking for. ls ... liJe7 ! , intending to m eet 16 'ii'f3 with 16 ... liJg6, looks like a stronger de­ fence to me. 1 5 . . .'it h 8 I s it possible that Aleksandrov was unaware of the significance of 15 'ith 2, and thought it was just a waiting move? l s ... 'ife7 ! , as pl ayed in A.Minasian ­ S.Gal dunts, Yerevan 1 9 8 2 , cuts across White's plan (16 liJh4?? i s rudely m et by 16 ... liJg4+ ! ) and forces him to re­ think.

Italian Game: Clas si cal Main Line 16 ttJh41

A star move. Areshchenko is in no m ood to retreat ! It's difficult for Black to do an ything apart from accept the piece sacrifice, but then he run s into a fierce and ulti­ m ately decisive attack, perfectly exe­ cuted by the Ukrainian grandm aster. 20 ... dxe4 21 dxe4 gxfS 22 gxfs ii.e4 2 3 f6 1 lte6 24 :xg8+1 �xg8 2 5 .i. e 3 ttJe7

White was threatening simply 2 6 .l:tg 1+ �h 8 2 7 'ii'g 4 and m ate o n either g8 or g 7 . Now thing s begin to run like clock­ work on the kin g side. White gradually strengthens his position and Bl ack drifts into passive defence. 16 ... ttJg8?1

2 6 fxe7 .i.xe7 2 7 .l:.gl+ .i. g s 2 8 'iV h s .l:tf6 29 b 3 1 ii.bs 30 a41 ii.e6 31 :xg s+ hxgs 32 'ifxgs+ lig6 33 ttJxg6 fxg6 34 b41

The light-squared bishop joins the party and there's simply no defence for Black.

Perh aps Aleksandrov was worried about 16 ... ttJe7 1 7 'iVf3, but thi s still looks tenable for Bl ack after 17 ... dxe4 18 dxe4 ttJg 6.

l:tf7 40 'iVxes+ :g7 41 'iVgs ii.e8 42

1 7 'iVf3 ii. e s 18 ttJgfs ii.f8 19 g 4 1 g6

.i.xg7+ 'ii'x g7 43 'ifh4+ 'ii' h 7 44 iYf6+

34 l:te8 35 ii.b3+ �h8 3 6 'iVh4+ 'ii' h 7 •..

3 7 .i. h 6 1 l:tf8 3 8 'iVgS I l:txf2+ 3 9 �g3

iYg7 45 es gs 46 a s 'iixf6 47 exf6 ii.d7 48 .i.ds .te8 49 ii.f3 b6 50 ii.g4 ii.b7 51 ii.fs 1-0

Game 22

R.Felgaer-J.Hedor

Pol itiken C u p, Cope n hagen 2002 1 e4 e s 2 ttJf3 ttJe6 3 .i.e4 ttJf6 4 d 3 .tes

Bl ack's previous play ( ... ttJg 8 and ... ii.cS-f8) clearly showed that he was basing his hopes on kicking the knight away from fS . But... 20 l:tgll

5 e3 a6 6 0-0 .ta7 7 i.b3 d6 8 .:tel 0-0 9 h 3 ttJe7

Again we see the typical ... ttJe7-g 6 m anoeuvre by Bl ack. One other idea worth m entioning i s

99

Beating 1 e4 e5 9 ... �h S ! ?, breaking the pin on the fpawn and planning ... tUg S (or ... tUh S) an d .. .fS.

11 ... tU h 5 1 ?

White can certainly continue with 10 tUbd2, but again st such a non­ developing move 10 d4! ? seems justi ­ fied. With action h appening in the cen­ tre, Black is di stracted from his pl an, and a bonus for White i s th at ... lIeS isn't possible with the f-pawn hanging. 10 .. :iVe7 11 J.. e 3 h 6 (11 ... tUxe4? 12 dS ! win s m aterial) 12 tUbd2 J.. d 7 1 3 tUfl (13 J.. C 2 ! ? pre-empting ... tUas looks sen sible) 13 ... tUas 14 J.. C 2 bS 15 tUg 3 ( 1 5 a4! ?) l S ... cS 16 dxes dxes 17 tUh4 tUC4 is .1i.cl tUd6 19 'ii'f3 c4 20 a4 was solid for Black in V. Nevednichy­ V.Tkachiev, Manila 1992, but White m ay have stronger option s and even here he might still h ave a slight edge.

There are certainly some similarities here to the lines di scussed in Frois­ Korneev (Gam e is). Bl ack's basic plan is once more ... tUhf4 and ... 'ii'f6. He might even be able save a tempo by avoiding ... h6. Or m aybe not...

10 tUbd2 tUg6 11 tUf1

Now if Bl ack chooses a m ove such as 1 1 ... J.. e 6, 1 1 ... .:.eS or 1 1 ... h6, White re­ plies with 12 tUg 3 and we tran spose to position s seen in Korneev-Campora (Gam e 7). With thi s move order, though, Bl ack h as a serious altern ative:

100

12 d4

Thi s i s again White's most effective plan . The d4 advance creates central ten sion and blocks out the a7-bishop. 12 J.. g s m ore or less forces 12 ... 'ii'e S. It looks tempting but in reality White doesn't gain a great deal from this in­ sertion of moves, as the bishop is vul­ nerable to ... h 6 possibilities. Al so, 13 tUxe s tUxes 14 d4 tUf6 1 5 J.. xf6 g xf6 16 dxes fxe s 1 7 tUg 3 �h S i s okay for Black, A.Grosar-S.Polg ar, Bled 1994. 12 ... tUhf4

Of course Bl ack h as to avoid 1 2 ... 'iVf6 ?? 1 3 J.. g S ! . 1 2 ... 'iVeS has been played a few times, and even by Shirov, but it does look a bit strange to move the queen

Italian Game: Clas si cal Main Line here without being forced to by i.g s. True, White is discouraged from playing ttJg 3, but 13 ttJe3 ! planning ttJds or ttJfs does the job just as well. 13 ... ttJhf4 (13 ... exd4 14 ttJds ! ) 14 ttJfs exd4 15 ttJ3xd4 (15 cxd4 also looks promising) ls ...'ifd8 16 'iff3 ttJe6 was Z.Efimenko­ A.5hirov, German League 2006, and here White looks pretty active after 17 i.e3 . 1 3 ttJ g 3 'ili'f6?

Thi s is certainly Black's most n atural follow-up to his previous play. What's more, it's worth noting th at, according to databases, 1 3 ... 'iff6 has been Black's most popular choice here. Everything seems to be l ooking rosy: the e s-point is securely defended, the knights seem well placed and the queen enjoys being on the f6-square. But... 14 ttJhS! A shocking m ove for Black to face. Since 14 ... ttJxh s allows 1 5 i.g s ! win­ ning the queen, Black i s forced to re­ treat and must allow a damaging ex­ change of pieces on f4. 1 3 ... 'iIi'f6 i s sim­ ply a blunder, and evidently White's two-move trap i s sophisticated enough

to h ave snared a number of highly­ rated victi m s ! Let's return for a moment t o Bl ack's 1 3th m ove to con sider better option s. In view of this trap, it's clear now th at ... 'iYf6 requires some preparation . 1 3 ...h 6 ! i s a logical move, preventing the i.g s idea. It's worth comparing thi s t o the 1 2 ...ttJ e 7 variation in Frois­ Korneev (Game 18), and indeed it leads to a direct transposition after 14 i.e3 ! 'ilff6 1 5 i.c2. Thi s might b e White's best option, since 14 i.xf4 ttJxf4! 15 dxe s dxes 16 'iYxd8 (16 ttJxe s ? 'ili'g s ! ) 16 . . .l:txd8 17 ttJxe s l:td2 18 i.xf7+ �f8 (Marin) i s unclear, while the immediate 14 ttJfs can be met by 14 ... exd4 intend­ ing 15 cxd4 ds. Another possibility is 1 3 ... i.d7 ? ! but after 14 i.e3 Black is no nearer to play­ ing 14 ... 'iff6 as it still run s into 15 ttJh s ! . I n the g ame V.lvannikov-E.Gafner, St Petersburg 2000, Bl ack decided he couldn 't do without 14 ... h 6 anyway, but thi s admission really questions the value of 13 ... i.d7. After 15 'iYd2 Bl ack still has problem s to solve:

10 1

Beating 1 e4 e5 After the game's 1 5 ... 'iIt'c8 ! ? White coul d have even gained an advantage with the simple 16 �xf4 exf4 17 ltlh 5 �xh 3 18 ltlxf4 ltlxf4 19 'ilt'xf4. Note al so that 15 .. :ii'f6 ? 16 dxe 5 ! highlights an­ other problem with Black's 1 3th m ove. Finally, one of the earliest g ames reaching thi s position featured a very young Vladimir Kramnik di splaying his understanding of the intricacies in thi s l i n e . V. Kramnik-D.Campora, Moscow 1989, went 13 ... 'iIt'e7 ? ! 14 �e3 ]:Id8 1 5 �c2 ! h 6 16 ltlf5 'it'f6 with a clear plus for White - Black h as basically wasted a tempo with his queen . H ere 1 7 g 3 ! forced the knight t o retreat, since 1 7 ... ltlxh 3+? 18 �g 2 ltlg 5 19 ltlxg 5 hxg 5 20 'it'h 5 would h ave been virtually win ­ n i n g for White. Incidentally, the earliest g am e I could find reaching 1 3 ltlg 3 featured a similarly young G ata Kam sky. His op­ ponent pl ayed 13 ... 'it'f6?, but Kamsky didn't punish him with 14 ltlh 5 ! . N ow let's return t o the position af­ ter 14 ltlh 5 :

1 5 �xf41

Black's e 5-pawn will end up on f4, and thi s will leave him with no pres­ sure on the d4-pawn and a miserable bishop on a7. It's payback time for what happened in Svetushkin­ H aslinger! 1S ... ltlxf4

Black even loses the f-pawn after 1 5 ... exf4 16 'it'd2. 16 ltlxf4 exf4 17 'ii'd 2 'ii'f6

Or 17 ... g 5 18 e S h 6 19 exd6 'ii'x d6 20 h4 �g4 2 1 'it'd3 �xf3 2 2 'it'xf3, V.Belikov-M.Novik, Sochi 1990. In all of these lines White i s enjoying a power play with one black piece 'sittin g on the bench'. 18 e S dxe s 19 l:txe s

14 :ii'e 7 •.

19 ltlxe s i s al so pretty good, but this move looks even stronger. 19

••.

c6

A desperate defen sive try based on ... �b8 ideas. It's hardly a surprise th at there's a refutation, and there's proba­ bly m ore than one. 19 ... �d7 20 l:[ael c5, as played in P.Ti shin-J.Geller, Sam ara 2002, al so

102

Italian Game: Clas si cal Main Line tries to reawaken the dark-squared bishop before it's too late. But 2 1 1he4! (instead of the g ame's 21 dS? ':adS 2 2 ..tC2 .1i.bS) 2 1 . . ..1i.bS 2 2 :xf4, i f not quite as destructive as the m ain g ame, should still give White a near deci sive advantage. 20 l:ael h6 2 1 !tle41 .1i.b8

If 2 1...g S 22 h4 and Black's position collapses: for example, 22 ....1i.fs 2 3 hxg s hxg s 2 4 liJxg S ! .

30 ... .1i.g s, 31 .1i.c2 m ates quickly. Don't be fooled by these apparently quiet lines. There are m any traps lurking . The previous five g ames covered the 'main line' with lIel and h 3 . In the n ext few g ames we con sider altern ative op­ tion s for both colours, beginning with some king side aggression from Black:

2 2 l:r.xf4

Game 2 3

T. Warakomski-M.Bartel

Pol i s h League, Ka rpacz 2008 1 e4 e 5 2 liJf3 liJc6 3 .1i.C4 .1i.C5 4 d 3 liJf6 5 c3 a6 6 .1i.b3 d6 7 0-0 .1i.a7 8 h 3

Thi s could, and often does, lead to the m ain line after S ... o-o 9 iiel. But get ready for something a bit differ­ ent... 8 ... h 6 ! ?

White i s happy to self-skewer (is that the right term ?). Even if Black were able to win the exch ange, White's pres­ sure on f7 would more than compen­ sate. As it is, White gets to play a deci­ sive combination on th at square.

Fair enough. Bl ack often plays this move. 9 l:iel?! g 5 !

22 ...'i¥g6 23 l:.xf7 ! l:txf7 24 l:te7 'ii' b l+ 2 5 liJel .1i.f4 2 6 'ii'e 2 1

Not falling for 26 'it'xf4?, when the amazing defensive resource of 26 . .1i.e6 ! , intending 2 7 .1i.xe6?? 'i¥xel+ 28 'iith 2 'i¥xe 6 ! , allows Black to fight on . .

.

26 ... .1i.f5 2 7 ':'xf7 'iit h 8 28 g4 .1i.d3 29 'i'xd 3 'iVxel+ 30 'iit g 2 1-0

If Black saves the bishop by pl aying

But not thi s !

103

Beating 1 e4 e5 Suddenly it becomes clear th at Black doesn't have to castle king side after all, and White's early h 3 has pro­ vided enough encouragement for this aggressive pawn lunge. The roles have been reversed: Black is trying to do to White what White often did to him in Chapter One !

16 'ilVc1 (16 f3 'i!Vh4! is crushing) 16 ... 'iVf6 17 ttJd2 0-0-0 18 .id1 :g8 19 .ixg4+ l:t8xg4. With ... h2, ... 'Wh4 and ... :g1+ on the horizon, it's difficult to see how White can escape unharmed.

10 .ie3

J.. d 7 1 S .i d S Getting out of the way of the b­ pawn and thus enabling the plan of b4, a4 and b S .

10 ttJh 2 tries to prevent ... g4, but fails. Thi s move hasn 't fared well in practice: 10 ... .l:tg8 (Black can also play 10 ... g4 immediately: 11 hxg4 :g 8 12 'iVf3 'iVe7 1 3 .ie3 .ixe3 14 fxe3 .ixg4 1 5 ttJxg4 ttJxg4 with at least equality for Black, M.Adam s-A.5hirov, Elista 2007) 11 .ie3 g4 12 J.. x a7 g xh 3 ! was played in Hou Yifan-P.H. Nielsen, Am ­ sterdam 2009.

In the game the young Chinese grandmaster accepted a clear disad­ vantage after 13 g3 ttJxa7 14 ttJd2 h S 1 5 f7 2 7 'iVh 7+ We8 2 8 lLlxf8 'iVxh 7 2 9 lLlxh 7 We7, as indicated by Malcolm Pein in CHESS, White's knight on h 7 i s trapped. 25

21 .txe6?

..•

2 4 'iVxh6+ Wg8 25 'iVg6+

.•.

Wh8 2 6 'iVh6+ 1/z-1/z

It seem s only right to include a Tivi­ akov g ame with .te3, since he was the one player who really put thi s move on the m ap .

Game 25

S.Tivia kov-D.De Vreugt

Die re n 2003 1 e4 e 5 2 .tc4 lLlf6 3 d 3 .tC5 4 lLlf3 lLlc6 5 c3 d6 6 .tb3 a6 7 0-0 .ta7 8 .te3

With this move order, if White wants to play .te3 there's no reason to hesitate. As we see in this game and in

10 9

Beating 1 e4 e5 some sub-variations, White might not have to play h 3 at all . However, it's al so worth mentioning the move order s ... a6 6 0-0 iJ.. a 7 7 iJ.. b 3 0-0 where Bl ack holds back with his d­ pawn and can con sider meeting 8 iJ.. e 3 with 8 ... dS ! ? For example, 9 exds liJxds 10 iJ.. x a7 l:txa7 11 Itel liJf4 12 d4 exd4 13 cxd4 iJ.. g 4, as played in S.Zagrebelny­ A.Aleksandrov, Moscow 2004. If White wishes to avoid this possibility, he can play 8 h3 intending 9 iJ.. e 3 only after 8 ... d6. 8 0-0 9 liJbd2 liJe7 Thi s typical knight move has been Black's most popular choice, but it does allow White to carry out his intended plan . In particul ar, White can now play liJh4 without worryin g about ... liJxe4 tactics. Let's look at some alternatives in thi s position : a) 9 ... iJ.. x e3 10 fxe3 reaches a struc­ ture simil ar to the previous g ame, with White h avin g an open-file for his rook. As I mentioned there, these position s are usually easier for White to play, because his pl an s - usually involving action on the kingside - are m ore obvi­ ous. An example: 10 ... liJas 11 iJ.. c 2 cs 12 'ii'e l liJh s 1 3 a3 ! ? g 6 14 b4 liJc6 1 5 iJ.. b 3 liJg 7 16 iJ.. d s (16 d4! ?) 16 ... cxb4 1 7 axb4 iJ.. e 6 18 liJC4 with a bit of pressure, F.Vallejo Pon s-A.5hirov, Dos H ermanas 2008. b) 9 ... iJ.. e 6 i s solid, but 10 iJ.. x e6 fxe6 11 iJ.. x a7 l:i.xa7 12 'iWb3 'ike7 1 3 d4 still offers White chances of an advantage. .•.

1 10

The structure is reversed from the previous note; thi s tim e Black pos­ sesses the open f-file. However, White has been able to advance in the centre and activate his queen, and further­ more Black's rook on a7 is mi splaced all of thi s m akes a difference. S.Tiviakov-H .Jonkman, Santo Domingo 2002, continued 1 3 ... liJd7 14 a4 as 15 'iYbs 'iff6 16 ds with an edge for White. c) Black's best m ove might well be 9 ... h 6 ! . Thi s prepares ... .l:.e8 and, if White does nothing, ... dS. The problem for White is that 10 liJh4? is met simply by 10 ... liJxe4 ! . Typical play from here is 10 h3 lte8 and now: Cl) If 1 1 liJh4 ! ? liJxe4? White h as 12 'ifh s ! . H owever, Black can play 1 1 ... liJas ! intending 1 2 iJ.. c 2? (12 'ii'f3 ! is best) 12 ... liJxe4! . (2) Tiviakov h as pl ayed 1 1 l:tel iJ.. x e3 ! 12 fxe 3 ! ?, but of course the rook is not ideally placed on el here. c3) 11 iJ.. x a7 ':xa7 12 li!el liJe7 1 3 d4 liJg 6 14 liJC4 iJ.. e 6 1 5 dxes iJ.. x c4 16 iJ.. x c4 liJxe s 17 liJxe s dxe s 18 'iYb3 'ife7 19 a4 c6 20 as :taa8 with an equal po-

Italian Game: Clas si cal Main Line sition, R. Felg aer-A.Onischuk, Buenos Aires 200 5 . In summ ary, 9 ... h 6 ! i s a very solid option which seem s to promise Bl ack a position with level chances. 10 ttJh41

So simpl e ! White plan s St.xa7 fol ­ lowed by f2-f4, after which the position will resemble a King's G ambit Declined - and a good version for White - rather than an Italian Game. Tiviakov h as noted th at the m ove order 10 St.xa7 .l:i.xa7 11 ttJh4 allows Black the possibility of 11 ... gS prevent­ ing f4. Still, even thi s position looks quite promi sing for White after 12 "i'f3 ! ttJd7 (Bl ack must avoid 12 ... g xh4 13 'iVxf6 ttJg 6 ? ! 14 St.xf7+! ) 1 3 ttJfS (and White should probably avoid 1 3 'iWe3 gxh4! 14 'ilYxa7 ttJb6 ! ) 1 3 ...ttJxfS 14 exfs . 10 (61! ...

This looks a bit slow and it does nothing to challenge White's basic plan . Let's con sider altern atives: a) 10 ... ttJg6 1 1 ttJxg 6 hxg6 12 St.xa7 ':'xa7 1 3 f4 c6 transposes to the m ain game, and thi s was actually the move

order adopted in both games in the n ote to White's 14th m ove. b) With f4 coming, 10 ... St.e6 in order to relieve some of the pressure ag ain st f7 looks sen sible. Even so, White still keeps an edge with 11 St.xa7 ':'xa7 12 f4, and he gradually built up some pressure on the king side after 12 ... exf4 1 3 l:txf4 dS 14 d4 cS 1 5 eS ttJd7 16 St.C2 in Z. Efimenko-B.Avrukh, Saint Vincent 200 5 . c ) 10 ... St.g4 ! ? 1 1 'i!Vel ! i s not even a minor inconvenience, unless Black con­ tinues with 1 1 ... ttJh S ! to prevent f4.

B.Michiels- P.Vandevoort, Pays de Charleroi 2003, continued 12 h 3 St.e6 13 'iVdl (perh aps 13 St.xe6 fxe6 14 St.xa7 l:[xa7 15 g3 l:ta8 16 'iWe2 ttJf6 17 'i£i>h 2 and slowly building for f4, a la Karpov-Yusupov) 13 ... ttJf4 (Black is close to equality after 13 ... ttJg 6 ! 14 ttJxg 6 St.xb3 1 5 'ii'x b3 hxg6 16 d4 l:tb8) 14 St.xf4! exf4 1 5 'iif3 St.xb3 16 axb3 ttJg6 1 7 ttJxg 6 fxg 6 18 'ilYg4 'iVf6 19 ttJf3 ':ae8 20 lUel c6 21 b4 .:te7 22 l:te2 l:tfe8 2 3 l:tael with a n edge - d4 and eS will eventually arrive.

111

Beating 1 e4 eS d) There's still time to pl ay 10 ... �xe3 here: 11 fxe3 �h S (or 11 ... lDg6 12 lDfs c6 13 d4 ds 14 'iff3 �e6 1 5 l:1ae1 with a small advantage for White, D.Barua­ K.Sasikiran, Nagpur 2002) 12 h3 lDeg S 1 3 'ii'e 1 g 6 14 g4! ? "ike7 1 5 'ifg 3 lDeS 16 .:tf2 lDg7 17 l:taf1 �e6 lS d4 l:!.aeS 19 lDhf3 f6, as played in I . Khamrakulov­ A.Rizouk, Lorca 2005, demon strates good defence by Black. White enjoys more freedom, but Black's position is difficult to break down.

14 fxe 5

It's possible that 14 "ikf3 might be even stronger. What i s certainly true is that it has led to three easy win s fOT White. Strangely (and promisingly from our perspective !), in all three g ames Bl ack fell for the same trap: 14 ... 'iVb6+ (thi s plan is flawed; Simon Williams' suggestion of 14 ... b s offering protection to f7 would h ave been wiser) 15 �h 1 �g4 16 'ifg 3 ! �e2 ? (in­ tending ... lDh s after rook moves, but...)

11 �xa 7 ! l:[xa 7 12 f4!

Of course! I definitely prefer White's ch ances here. 12 ... lDg6 1 3 lDxg6 hxg6

17 fxe s ! �xf1 (or 1 7 ... dxes lS l:txf6 ! gxf6 19 'ifxg6+ �h S 20 'ifxf6+ �gS 21 l:te1 'ilfe3 2 2 lDC4 'jffx d3 23 lDxes and 1-0, V.5ikula-M. Hrenic, Latschach 2006) lS exf6 �xg 2+ ( Bl ack chose to suffer less in W.Hendriks-D.Ledger, H astings 200S/09, with lS ... �e2 19 'ifxg 6 'ii'x b3 20 'ii'x g 7 m ate) 19 �xg 2 ds 20 fxg7 l:teS 2 1 l:ttl and White soon won in D.5advakasov-H .Melkumyan, Dubai 2007. 14 ... dxe5 1 5 lDf3 �g4!

If ls .. :ii'e7, 16 lDg s planning 'ife1h4 looks promising for White. 16 'ii'e l lDd 7 ?

112

Italian Game: Clas si cal Main Line Thi s i s a blunder. Black would still be fighting after 16 ... i.xf3 17 ':'xf3 a s ! intending 18 'iVg 3 ? ! a4! . 1 7 'iVg3 ! i.xf3 18 l:txf3

S c3 d6 6 i.b3 a6 7 0-0 0-0

Perh aps one the m ain reason s 7 ... i.a7 i s played so often i s because it really does discourage 8 i.g 5 ? ! . Given th at Black has yet to commit his king, and furtherm ore White h as committed his, Bl ack shouldn 't hesitate to advance on the king side: 8 ... h 6 ! 9 i.h4?! (it's not too l ate for 9 i.e3 ! ) 9 ... g 5 ! 10 i.g 3 (it's pretty obvious th at the piece sacrifice 10 ltJxg 5 ? hxg 5 11 i.xg 5 shouldn 't work, and 11.. . .:.g 8 ! 12 h4 i.g4 is a g ood reply) 10 .. :fie7.

The pressure ag ain st f7, g6 and e5 i s too much t o handle, and Black loses a pawn by force. 18 ltJcs 19 i. xf7+! l:1xf7 20 lixf7 'fit xf7 •..

21 'iVf2+ 1-0

Resignation is a bit premature, but perh aps De Vreugt didn 't wish to ex­ perience Tiviakov's renowned tech­ nique. After 2 1...'fitg8 2 2 'ii'x c5 l:1a8 2 3 d4 White should win i n the long run . So far we have concentrated on Black's m ost popular choice, 7 ... i.. a 7, but in the next two g ames we con sider 7 ... 0-0 and 7 ... i.. g 4.

Game 26

S.Tivia kov-D.Pavasovic

E u ropea n C h a m pions h i p, Plovd iv 2008 1 e4 e S 2 i.C4 ltJf6 3 d 3 ltJc6 4 ltJf3 i.cs

Black will castle queen side, and the time gained attacking the white bishop with ... h6 and ... g5 will give him a vital head start in the race of pawn storm s. For example, 11 ltJbd2 i.d7 12 d4 0-0-0 13 d5 ltJb8 14 i.a4 lidg 8 15 i.xd7+ ltJbxd7 16 'fith l ltJf8 17 ltJg l h5 18 f3 h4 19 i.f2 i.xf2 20 l:1xf2 g4 and Black is the only one attacking, G.Carames­ G . Flear, San Sebastian 1995. This i s cer­ tainly a line that White needs to avoid. Incidentally, if you really want to warn someone about the dangers of combining i.g 5 and 0-0 wh en Black

1 13

Beating 1 e4 e5 hasn't castled, then the following, of­ ten quoted and quite beautiful line usually does the trick: 5 0-0 d6 6 �g s ? ! h 6 7 �h4?! g s ! 8 � g 3 h s ! ? (8 . . .�g4 i s a good alternative, with a safe edge for Black) 9 ttJxg s h4 10 ttJxf7

10 ... hxg 3 ! ! 11 ttJxd8 �g4 12 'iVd2 ttJd4 13 ttJC3 ttJf3+ ! 14 gxf3 �xf3 and, faced with an inevitable m ate, White resigned in V. Knorre-M.Chigorin, st Petersburg 1874. Returning to the game, and the po­ sition after 7 ... 0-0: 8 �g51?

If �g s i s a good idea when only Black h as castled, and a bad idea when

1 14

only White has castled, wh at about when both sides h ave castled? ' Doubled-edged' i s probably an ac­ curate assessm ent. Once the bi shop is forced back to g 3 , White must work h ard to avoid it being shut out of the g ame. On the other hand, Black's weaknesses on the king side won't go away. If White wants to reach lines identi­ cal or similar to those we've already covered in thi s chapter, he can simply play 8 :e1. Black will nearly always re­ treat prophyl actically with ... iJ.. a 7 to tran spose directly, either here or a bit later. Occasion ally, though, Bl ack keeps his bishop on cS, and after a subse­ quent ... ds there's the option of retreat­ ing it to f8 to cover the kin g side. H ere are some possibilities: 8 ... h 6 9 ttJbd2 �e6 (note that if 9 ... ttJg4 10 .l::t e 2 ..t>h 8, 11 h 3 ! forces the knight back to f6 and thwarts Black's .. .fs plan - thi s is one drawback of ... h 6).

Warnin g ! White must avoid 10 iJ.. c 2? here, in view of the tactic 10 ... ttJg4! 11 :e2 �xf2+! 12 ':'xf2 ttJe3

Italian Game: Clas si cal Main Line 13 'ili'e2 tDxc2 14 l:tbl ii.xa2 when i s b 3 ii.xbl 16 tDxb l tD2b4 17 cxb4 tDxb4 favours Black. 10 h3 shoul d be played. For exam ­ ple, 10 ... .:te8 1 1 tDh 2 (or 1 1 tDfl ii.xb3 12 axb3 dS 1 3 'iVe2 ii.f8 14 tDg 3 g 6 i s b 4 'iVd7 with a n equal position, M.Erdogdu-L.Aronian , Bursa 2010) 11 ... dS (11 ... ii.xb3 12 axb3 dS 1 3 b4 ii.f8 14 'iVf3 dxe4 i s dxe4 'iVd7 16 tDC4 l:.ad8 17 tDg4 tDxg4 18 hxg4 'iVe6 19 tDe3 tDe7 20 'iVe2 c6 21 tDC4 tDc8 22 ii.e3 tDd6 al so offers equal ch ances, A.5hchekachev-R.Kholmov, Om sk/Perm 1998) 12 'iVf3 'iYd7 13 tDdfl 'ith 7 14 ttJg 3 l:.ad8 i s ii.c2 d4! ? 16 c4! ? and there's a ten se battl e in prospect, with White attacking the king side and Black seeking action on the other win g .

D.Lobzh anidze-D.5vetushk i n , Dres­ den Olympiad 2008, continued 16 ... bS 17 cxbS tDb4 18 ii.bl axbs 19 a3 tDa6 20 tDfS tDg8 2 1 tDg4 f6 2 2 ii.a2 ! (it's definitely worth getting rid of the Ital ­ ian bishop here ! ) 2 2 ... ii.xa2 2 3 l:.xa2 'i'e6 24 l:tal ii.f8 2S 'iVg 3 cS 2 6 a4 b4 2 7 i.d2 tD e 7 28 f4! tDxfS 29 exfs 'ilfxfs 3 0

fxe s h S ? (30 .. .fxes 3 1 lifl 'iVg 6 3 2 ii.xh 6 ! i s unclear) 3 1 l:tfl 'iVg 6 3 2 :xf6 ( 3 2 tDxf6+! g xf6 3 3 'iVxg6+ g 7 14 .idl i.. g 6 15 liJC4 ];te8 16 .ic2 'it'd7 17 Vd2 l:r.ad8 when Karpov had a rock­ solid position and went on to win. However, I really don't see a reason for White to delay the liJc4-e3 plan seen in the previous note, and thi s pre-

Italian Game: Clas si cal Main Line sents Black with m ore of a ch allenge: 12 h 3 �h S (if 1 2 ...�d7 White can play 13 ttJc4 ttJh S 14 �h 2 ttJf4 1 5 ttJe3 with an unclear position, or perhaps 13 �h 2 preventing 1 3 ... ttJh S in view of 14 ttJxes) 1 3 ttJC4! �g6 14 ttJe3

14 ... 'it>g 7 (I think Black should pl ay 14 ... ttJh S 1 5 �h 2 ttJf4 16 'ii'd 2 'it>g 7 17 �dS with unclear pl ay) 1 5 'ii'd 2 ttJe7 16 h4! g4 17 ttJh 2 'ii'c 8 18 �dl h S 19 �C2 �c6 20 Itae l ! 'it'd7 21 'it>h l 'it>g8 2 2 f4! exf4 2 3 lIxf4 �xe3 24 'i¥xe3 'ii'e 7 2 5 �fl ttJd8 2 6 l:tf2 ]:te8 2 7 'it'd2 ttJd7 2 8 �e3 ttJb6 29 ttJfS 'ili'f8 30 eS dS 3 1 lIefl Wh 8 32 b3 with a dominating position for White, B.Philippeit-A. Beyer, corre­ spondence 2004 (in fact, Black resigned here). Okay, Bl ack's defence was far from perfect, but thi s ttJc4-e3 plan does give him something to think about. 12 'it>h11 Releasing the pin on the f-pawn so that White can play h 3 . White definitely should avoid 12 tDC4 'it'f6 ! 1 3 ttJe3 il.xf3 14 'ii'xf3 'i¥xf3 15 g xf3, as played in A.Vajda-Z.Gyimesi, Nagykanizsa 2003. It's hard to see the

bishop on g3 taking any further part in the g am e ! 1 2 'it'f6 The m ost n atural follow-up to 11 ... ttJh S, but Bl ack has other decent option s here: a) 12 ... 'it>g7 1 3 h3 �d7 14 ttJh 2 ttJxg 3 + 1 5 fxg 3 fS ! (one of the points of 12 ... 'it>g7) 16 exfs �xfS 17 ttJe4 �b6 18 g4 �xe4 19 dxe4 with an equal posi­ tion, S.Tiviakov- E.Van den Doel, Wolvega 2008. b) 1 2 ... ttJg 7 ! ? (providing light­ squared cover on the kingside) 1 3 h 3 �h S 1 4 il.h 2 'it>h 8 1 5 ttJC4 'it'f6 16 g 4 � g 6 17 ttJe3 ttJe6 18 ttJfS �a7 19 'i¥e2 with an almost symmetrical position, again roughly level, K.5hanava­ G.5argissian, European Ch ampion ship, Dresden 2007. 13 h 3 il.d7 ..•

14 ttJd4 14 d4! ? is critical but Black seems to be okay: 14 ... exd4 (14 ... �a7? 15 ttJxe s ! ) 1 5 e s ! ? (15 ttJxd4 ttJf4 16 ttJxc6 �xc6 1 7 'ili'f3 was agreed drawn i n J. Nunn­ J . Pinter, Hel sinki 1983) l S ... 'ii'g 6 !

1 17

Bea ting 1 e4 e5 (ls ... dxe s ? ! 16 ltJe4 "ile7 17 ltJfxg s ltJxg 3+ 18 fxg 3 hxg s 19 'ii'h s win s for White - Nunn; or l s ... ltJxg 3 + 16 fxg 3 'ii'g 6 1 7 cxd4 ltJxd4 1 8 ltJxd4 i.. xd4 19 l::tf6 ! 'iWg 7 20 'ilVh s ! ) 16 cxd4 ltJxd4 17 ltJxd4 i.. xd4 and it's not clear whether White has enough play for his pawn investment, although thi s could do with a test. 14 ... ltJf4

After 14 ... exd4 1 5 'iWxh s Bl ack h as some problem s to solve, with f4 or e s /ltJe4 ideas in the air. 1 S ltJxc6 i.. x c6 16 ltJC4 d S !

is sometimes good, sometimes bad and occasion ally somewhere in-between it all depends on the specifics of the position . The same cannot be said about ... i.. g 4. Although it might be stretching things to call thi s outwardly enticing m ove an outright mistake, White is usually more than h appy to see it arrive on the board. In the notes to Game 17 we saw how White can deal effectively with an early ... i.. g 4 if he h asn 't castled. In the followin g g am e White h as committed his kin g , but a similar plan should still promise him some advantage.

Game 2 7

S.Kindermann­ M.Dietmayer Kraeutler

Austri a n League 2007 1 e4 e S 2 ltJf3 ltJc6 3 i.. C 4 i.. c s 4 c3 ltJf6 5 d 3 a 6 6 0-0 d6 7 i.. b3 i.. g 4

Thi s seem s t o equalize. 17 ltJxe s ! ? 'iWxe s 18 d4 i.. x d4

18 ... "ilxe4 19 f3 "ilie7 20 l:%.el "ild6 2 1 dxcs �xcs 2 2 i.. xf4 gxf4 2 3 'iWd3 i s a risky pawn for Black to take. 19 exd s i.. xd s 20 i.. xf4 'ii'xf4 2 1 i.. xd s i.. e s

H ere the database gives 2 1 ... "ilfs ?? 2 2 g 3 77, but 2 1 ... i.. e s i s a thousand times more likely! 22 g3 Yz-Yz

We've seen that pinning with i.. g s

1 18

8 ltJbd 2 !

Black h as yet t o commit h i s king, and he shouldn't b e encouraged to at-

Italian Game: Clas si cal Main Line tack on the kingside. 50 White should avoid giving Bl ack a 'hook' with 8 h 3 ? ! i.h s 9 tLlbd2, when 9 . . .h 6 followed by ... g s would be a tempting plan. 8 0-0 ...

If Black in sists on castling long, White leaves the king side alone and just organizes action on the other wing . For example, 8 ... 'iWd7 9 .l:tel 0-0-0 10 i.c2 ! d5 11 b4 i.a7 12 a4! etc. 9 h3

Now it's okay to put the question to the bishop, although there's al so noth­ ing wrong with pl aying 9 .l:.el first. 9 i. h s ...

It might be better just to accept the loss of tim e and retreat to e6. 1 0 l:te1

There's no point del ayin g the strong tLlfl-g 3 pl an. 10 l:te8 10 ... ds can be m et by 11 exd s ! tLlxds 12 tLle4. Thi s can be compared to simi­ lar position s arising in Chapter Two, but here White's tempo g ain, caused by ... d7-d6-ds, leaves him in control : 12 ... i.a7 1 3 tLlg 3 i.g6 14 tLlxes tLlxe s 1 5

l:lxes left White a pawn up for nothing in P.Lyrberg-J .Barkh agen, Budapest 1993, but giving up the bishop pair with 1 3 ... i.xf3 14 'iVxf3 i s hardly fun for Bl ack either. 11 tLlf1 h6 11 ... ds is again premature: 12 exds tLlxds 13 tLlg 3 i.g 6 14 d4! win s a pawn with a tactic we've seen before. 11 ... 'ifd7 12 i.g s ! is al so awkward for Black: 12 ... i.g6 13 i.xf6 gxf6 14 tLlg 3 fs 15 exfs i.xfs 16 tLlg s i.g 6 17 'iWf3 'ife7 18 tLlse4 'it>h 8 19 tLlfs 'iVf8 20 tLlf6 l:ted8 21 h4 i.b6 22 i.ds :ab8 2 3 h s with a dominating position, V.spasov-M.Mitkov, I stanbul 2001. 12 tLlg3 Thi s i s good enough, but White can play with even more ambition : 12 g4! i.g 6 (White i s well enough protected after 12 ... tLlxg4 13 hxg4 i.xg4 14 'it>g 2 'iVf6 1 5 i.e3) 1 3 tLlg 3 .

...

The h 3 /g4 set-up is particularly ef­ fective when reinforced by a knight on g 3 , which i s useful both in defence and attack. White has a firm grip on the kingside and if he isn 't careful Black

1 19

Beating 1 e4 e5 can easily get squashed, as in the fol­ lowing example: 1 3 ... 'iWd7 14 ltJh4 �h 8 1 5 �g 2 ltJe7 (ls ... ltJd8 planning ... ltJe6 looks wi ser) 16 g s ! ? (16 'iWf3 ltJh 7 17 ltJhfs i s solid and good) 16 ... ltJfg 8 17 'ii'g 4! 'ii'x g4 18 hxg4 as (or 18 ... hxg s 19 ltJxg 6+ ltJxg 6 20 �xg s and llh l+ is coming) 19 1:[h l a4 20 �C2 �h 7 21 gxh6 gxh 6 2 2 gs and White soon won, T. Halmeenmaeki-G. Buchh auser, corre­ spondence 2000. 12 ... �g6

12 ... .i.xf3 13 'i!Vxf3 would just be an admission that the whole pl an with ... �g4 was misguided. ltJfs is coming and White has a ready-m ade attack. 1 3 ltJh4!?

13 ... ltJxe4!

Definitely the best. After 1 3 ... .i.h 7 14 'ikf3 Black i s already under con sider­ able pressure on the king side and he h as absolutely no counterplay. 14 l:[xe4! �xe4 1 5 'ifg4 .i.xd 3 16 ltJh5 g 5 17 'ii'f3 �h8

17 ... ds 18 'ili'xd3 gxh4 19 'ii'f3 i s good for White. 18 'ii'xd 3 gxh4 19 'ii'f 5 :g8 20 �xh6

20 �xf7 might be stronger. Rybka 's m ain line i s 20 ... 'ii'e 7 2 1 �xg 8 :xg 8 22 �xh 6 ltJd8 23 ltJf6 'ii'f7 24 �g s ltJe6 25 �xh4 and White i s better, although the position remain s complicated. 20 ... 'ife7?

After 20 ... :g 6 ! White might well be advised to accept the perpetual line 21 �g7+ l:[xg 7 2 2 ltJxg 7 �xg 7 2 3 'ifxf7+ �h 8 24 'i!Vh s+ �g 7 2 5 'ikf7+ etc. 2 1 ltJf6 !

Now White is firmly back in control. 2 1 .. .1::t g 6 2 2 'ifh 5 'ifxf6

2 2 ... �xf2+! 2 3 �h l 'iWxf6 24 �gs+ �g 7 25 .i.xf6+ :xf6 would have been a toug her nut to crack. 23 �g5+ �g7 24 .i.xf6+ :txf6 25 'ifg5+ :g6 26 'ifxh4 :h8

If White doesn 't want to sacrifice the exch ange and enter the following complications, 1 3 ltJh 2 intending 'ikf3 i s reasonable, or just 1 3 'ii'e 2. One nice line, certainly not forced, i s 1 3 'ii'e 2 �h 7 (13 .. :iVd7 i s met by 14 ltJh4!) 14 ltJh 2 ds 15 ltJg4 ltJxg4 16 'iVxg4 'ii'f6 17 ltJh s ! 'ifxf2+ 18 �h 2 �g6 19 �xh 6 ! (over-protecting g l ! ) 19 ... gxh6 20 :e2 and White wins !

120

And here Bl ack should h ave tried 26 .. .fs . 2 7 'ili'e4 ':xh3 2 8 'iVf5 !

N ow i t really i s over a s a contest. 28

•••

:h7 2 9 'ii'xf7+ �h6 30 'ii'f 8+ :hg7

31 'ili'h8+ l:h7 32 'iVf8+ l:.hg7 33 �d5 lig4 34 'iWf6+ :7g6 35 'ii' h 8+ �g5 36 :d1 :f4 3 7 :d2 .i.b6 3 8 g3 1:[g4 3 9 �g2 e4 40 lle2 �f5 41 �xe4+ l::t x e4 42 'i!Vh5+ 1-0

Italian Game: Clas si cal Main Line now Bl ack must be wary of d4-ds. Came 28

D.Bronstein-B.lvkov

Amsterd a m 1968 1 e4 e S 2 ttJf3 ttJc6 3 �C4 �CS 4 c3 ttJf6

5 d3 d6 6 J.. b 3

Even if White i s planning to castl e king side under most circum stances, I think 6 �b3 i s a good m ove ag ain st 5 ... d6 because: 1. It forces Black to be careful with move orders. More specifically, 6 ... 0-0 can be an swered by 7 J.. g s ! . 2. With ... d s much less likely after ... d6, White can afford to delay castling for a m ove or two. 6 ... h6 7 0-0

7 ttJbd2, togeth er with sixth -move altern atives for Black, was discussed in Erenburg- Kreizburg (Game 17), where White del ayed castling. 7 0-0 S ttJbd2 .••

Of course there's nothing wrong with 8 Iiel, but in thi s g am e White tries something a bit different. S �e6 .••

Even here Black often plays 8 ... a6, when 9 !tel would tran spose to norm al lines. If Black plays 8 ... �b6, 9 ttJC4 i s a logical reply after which 9 ... �e6 tran s­ poses to the m ain g ame. 9 ttJC41?

Thi s i s an attempt to both utilize the early ttJbd2 and exploit Black's omission of ... a6 and ... �a7. White avoids the exchange of bishops and

9 �b6 •••

9 ... b s ! ? i s double-edged: it forces the exchange of light-squared bishops but at a cost of offering White something to attack on the queenside. 10 ttJe3 �b6 (10 .. :.d7 ! i s better) 11 �xe 6 ! fxe6 12 a4 a6 1 3 axbs axbs 14 :has 'ii'x a8 15 'ifb3, forking b s and e6, i s the type of line th at Black has to avoid. Strangely enough, the risky-looking 9 ... a6 i s actually pl ayable here. If 10 d4 (10 .:tel and 10 a4 are decent alterna­ tives) 10 ... exd4 11 cxd4, Black doesn't have to play 11 ... �xC4 to avoid losing a piece - he can play 11 ... b s ! ? Here 12 dxcs bXc4 1 3 �a4 ttJes 14 ttJxes dxe s was roughly level in M.Maric-F.l zeta Txabarri, Oviedo (rapid) 1993. 10 a4

10 ttJxb6 axb6 i s less ch allenging for Bl ack because White cannot keep the bi shop pair; for example, 11 Iiel �xb3 12 �xb3 :e8 13 'ilVC2 'ilVd7 with a level position, K.Asrian-V. Korchnoi, Dagomys 2008. 10 ... lieS

121

Beating 1 e4 e 5 Lining up the possibility o f... ds. The impatient 10 ... �xc4?! i s inad­ visable, and in R. Ramesh-M.Lodhi, New Delhi 2007, Black was soon regretting his loss of control of the light squares: 11 �xc4 as 12 .:tel tDe7 1 3 tDh4! 'ifd7 14 h3 g s (if 14 ... c6, White plays 15 �a2 and 'iff3) 1 5 tDf3 tDg 6 16 d4 c;t;>g 7 17 �e3 "fie7 18 tDd2 tDf4 19 �fl tDd7 20 tDC4 f6 2 1 g3 tDe6 2 2 �e2 .l:Ih 8 2 3 c;t;>h 2 l:f.ad8 24 �h s c;t;>h 7 2 5 �g4 'iff7 2 6 �fs+ c;t;>g 7 2 7 b3 with a large advantage. 10 ... tDd7 1 1 tDxb 6 ?! �xb3 12 "fixb3 axb6 was level in Y. Kosashvili­ Y. Kraidman, Tel Aviv 1989, but I think White again took on b6 too readily. 11 �a2 intending b4 looks stronger to me. 11 �C2 1

1 1 : e l �cs ! ? 1 2 as ( 1 2 �a2 ! ?) 12 ... tDg4! 1 3 tDe3 �xe3 resulted in a draw S.Movsesian­ quick in A.Morozevich, Sarajevo 2008. I wonder whether either player was aware of thi s earlier game. 11 tDd 7 ? 1 •••

In his notes for Chess Informant 6, Ivkov prefers 11 ... �xc4 12 dXC4, al­ though he still evaluates thi s position as a clear advantage for White. I 'm not convinced that Black's position is so bad - he is after all quite solid. That said, I do still prefer White, who can slowly improve his position and also think about tDh4-fs ideas. 12 asl �XC4 1 3 axb6 �e6 14 bxc7 'ii'xC7 l S d4

Thi s is unusual, and a nice example of Bronstein's renowned creativity. Bl ack is invited to double White's c­ pawn s, but at a cost of ceding the light squares and giving White a bind on ds. Another point i s to protect e4, so that if 11 ... ds White can safely take a pawn with 12 tDcxe s tDxes 13 tDxe s dxe4 14 dxe4 "fixdl l s .l:!.xdl etc.

Ivkov al so evaluates thi s as a clear advantage for White. The two bishops, central control and better structure indicate that thi s time there's no ar­ gument from m e ! l S . . .�g4 16 d S �xf3 ? 1

16 ... tDe7 i s better, but 17 h 3 �h s 18 g4 �g6 19 tDh4 (Ivkov) i s still very promising for White.

122

Italian Game: Clas si cal Main Line 17 'i!Vxf3 l ltJd4 18 cxd4 'iVxC2 19 it.xh6 1

Winning a pawn, in view of 19 ... g xh 6 20 'iVg4+. White has a virtually deci sive ad­ vantage here but Bron stein begins to let it slip; and the fin al position, where the players agreed a draw, i s genuinely unclear. 19...ltJf6 20 'i!Vg3 ltJ h 5 21 'i!Vg4 g6

22 dxe 5 1

2 2 :acl! 'ii'x b2 2 3 ':'C7 intending 23 ... 'iVxd4 24 'it'd7 (Ivkov) should be winning for White. 22 ...l:txe 5 23 f3 'ikxb2 24 it.e3 .l:.e7 2 5 'i'h4 ':C7 2 6 g41

And here 26 'ili'g s keeps an edge. 26 . .ltJf6 2 7 l:!.ab1 'ii'e 5 2 8 l:tfd 1 ltJh7 2 9 .

J:tbc1 :xc1 Yz-Yz

Key Notes 1. Remember to pl ay 9 h3 in stead of 9 ltJbd2 ? ! , which allows Black to seize

the initiative with 9 ... ltJg4!, ... �h 8 and .. .fS . 2. White needs to prepare d3-d4 properly. A prem ature advance can

lead to the centre coming under too much pressure, m aking it difficult for White to develop his queenside. Nor­ m ally it's best to wait until the queen 's knight h as reached the king side before thinking about thi s advance. 3 . In the m ain line with 9 ... h6, 10 ... ltJh s and 1 1 ... 'iVf6 (Game 18), White's most promising pl an is to play it.e3 and then d3-d4. The position looks deceptively quiet, but there are some cleverly concealed traps for Bl ack to negotiate. 4. White should always be looking for ways to shut the a7-bishop out of the g ame. There are often tactical mean s to achieve thi s aim (see, for ex­ ample, Game 2 2 ) . 5. Whenever Black plays . . .ltJh S, both sides must be wary of possible tactics involving a discovered attack with ltJxes. 6. The most ambitious way of m eet­ ing the popul ar ... i.e6 plan is with i.c2 (see Games 20-21). 7. Be careful to avoid pl aying on auto-pilot - White's position doesn 't pl ay by itself. G ames 19 and 23 are included to provide a stern warning for those who think otherwise! 8. The it.e3 pl an is a good second option for White (see G ames 24- 2 5 ) . If An and can struggle again st it, then m aybe your opponents will too! 9. An early ... it.g4 i s seemingly an enticing option for Black, especi ally for inexperienced pl ayers, but White should be very happy to face thi s move (see Game 27).

1 23

C h a pt e r F o u r Italian Game: Two Knights Defence

When White plays 4 d3 again st the Two Knights Defence, there's an invitation for Bl ack to tran spose to the m ain lines with 4 .... i.c5 5 c3. Indeed, thi s i s some­ thing which very often happen s. In thi s ch apter we'll focus o n altern atives to thi s bi shop development. Bl ack's most popular alternative by some di stance i s 4 ... i.e7. I suspect that thi s m ove i s favoured by those who norm ally pl ay the closed m ain lines with ... i.e7 again st the Ruy Lopez, as Bl ack's system of development is very simil ar. A key position, which has ari sen in literally thousands of games, i s reached after the following moves: 1 e 4 e s 2 liJf3 liJc6 3 i.C4 liJf6 4 d 3 i.e7 5 0-0 0-0 6 i.b3

White can al so play 6 �el or 6 c3, an d these are perfectly good options, but for repertoire purposes I 've chosen to focus entirely on 6 i.b3 .

1 24

6 ... d6 7 c3

Bl ack h as arrived at a m ajor cross­ roads, an d there are numerous options for him: a) The most popul ar choice in prac­ tice is the typical RUy Lopez plan of g aining space in the centre and on the queen side, with 7 ... liJa5 8 i.c2 c5. This i s covered in Tiviakov-Werle (Game 29). b) Th e little pawn m ove 7 ... h 6 has more uses th an you might think. This option is con sidered in Nevednichy-

Italian Game: Two Knig hts Defence Mitkov (Game 30), along with 7 ... ttJd7 and 7 .. .c.th B in the notes. c) Developing the light-squared bishop to e6 is just as much an option here as it is in ... iLcs lines. 7 ... iLe6 is covered in Malakhov-Carl sen (Gam e 3 1), a s well a s 7 ...iL g 4 in the notes. The following three g ames cover lines where Black pl ays an early ... dS. The most significant of these i s un­ doubtedly 6 ... dS (in stead of 6 ... d6). There are obvious similarities to the ... dS lines we've con sidered in previous chapters; the only noteworthy differ­ ence is the placement of Bl ack's dark­ squared bishop. White's most promising option is Plan B: 7 exds ttJxdS.

We also take a look at two other lines involving an early ... dS. The para­ doxical 6 ... d6 7 c3 dS ! ? is con sidered in the notes to Game 3 3 , while the sh arp but theoretically dubious 4 ... dS is cov­ ered in Emms-Wittm ann (Gam e 34). Fin ally, in Bologan-Tom ashevsky (Game 3 S) we con sider 4 ... h 6, which i s Bl ack's best altern ative t o th e m ain moves, 4 ... iLcs and 4 ... iLe7.

Game 29

S.Tivia kov-J.Werle

Dutch Cha m pion s h i p, lee uwa rde n 2005 Many of the notes in thi s g ame are based on Tiviakov's own excellent notes for Chess Base. 1 e4 e 5 2 iLe4 ttJf6 3 d 3 ttJe6 4 ttJf3 iLe7 5 0-0 0-0 6 iLb3 d6 7 e3 ttJa5 8 iLe2 e5

In thi s position White must decide between two possibilities: a) The ch allenging B l:.e1, leading to sharp, forcing pl ay, i s the subject of Tiviakov-Ivani sevic (Game 3 2 ) . b) B h 3 prevents the ...iL g 4 p i n and can be con sidered the safer option . Thi s i s covered in Kramnik-Kasparov, Game 33.

7 ... ttJas i s a popul ar move, and one th at i s likely to be played by anyone who uses the Chigorin Defence (9 ... ttJas) in the mainline Ruy Lopez; or the ... ttJas pl an again st a variety of d3 Lopez lines, for example 1 e4 eS 2 ttJf3 ttJc6 3 i.bs a6 4 iLa4 ttJf6 S 0-0 iLe7 6 .l:r.e1 b S 7 iLb3 d6 B c3 0-0 9 d3 ttJas 10 iLC2 cS. Note that thi s position can also be reached from the m ain game, if White chooses 6 l:.e1 (in stead of our 6 iLb3 ) and then 6 ... d6 7 c3 ttJas B iLbS ! (White saves the bishop i n a round­ about route) B ... a6 9 iLa4 bS 10 iLC2 cS. In our line, the positions reached are simil ar to those in the d3 Lopez,

1 25

Beating 1 e4 e5 with just a couple of slight differences. A positive for White is that his bi shop has reached c2 in less time (c4-b3 -C2 in stead of bs-a4-b3-c2). On the other hand, Black isn't committed to ... a6 and ... bS and might be able to use these two tempi more effectively el sewhere.

9 U ll

Th e pl an of a3 and b4 to g ain space is not exactly new, but it's noticeable th at m any of the leading Italian Game experts are favourin g thi s approach . It's certainly a way of tryin g to exploit Bl ack's l ack of ... a6 and ... bS - White's plan would be less effective in the analogous d3 Lopez positions. One advantage of thi s plan i s that it can be implem ented at quite a few dif­ ferent moments. For example, White can play 9 %:tel ltJc6 10 ltJbd2 .l:.e8 and now, in stead of the traditional 1 1 ltJfl intending ltJg 3, h 3 and d4 (or ltJe3, h 3 , ltJh 2-g4 etc), White can switch with 1 1 a3 .i.f8 12 b 4 when 12 ... a 6 reaches the note to move 12 in the m ain game. In S.Tiviakov- L. Bruzon Bauti sta, Calvia Olympiad 2004, Bl ack in stead chose

1 26

12 ... g 6, but then 1 3 .i.a4! cxb4 14 axb4 .i.d7 15 ltJC4 h6 would have been fa­ vourable for White had he continued with 16 b S ! ltJas 17 ltJe3, as indicated by Bruzon . 9 ltJ c6 10 b4 a6 Black normally prevents the pawn advancing to b S . If, for example, 10 ... l:e8 White could con sider 11 b S ! ? ltJ a s 12 c4! (Lukacs) when suddenly the bl-knight changes course and will be very effectively developed on c3, whereas Bl ack's knight on as will take a while to rejoin the action . Black i s usually reluctant to swap pawn s on b4 unless he really h as to: 10 ... cxb4 11 axb4! increases White's central control and activates the rook on al. .•.

1 1 l:[e1 l:te8

At first sight the apparently loose l1 ... dS looks like it shouldn't work at all, but it's actually playable because Black can use tactics to avoid losing his e-pawn : a} 1 2 exds ltJxds (if 12 .. .'iVxdS 13 ltJbd2 and ltJC4-b6 becomes an idea) 13 h 3 ! ? (preventing ....i.g4; 1 3 1tJxe s ? ltJxes 14 ':'xe s .i.f6 i s Black's idea, while 13 .i.b2 .i.g4! 14 ltJbd2 cxb4 1 5 axb4 ltJf4 left Black quite active in Zhang Zhong­ L. Bruzon Bauti sta, Calvia Olympiad 2004) 13 ... .i.f6 ! ? 14 bxcS ( Dolm atov suggests 14 ltJfd2 ! ? pl anning ltJe4) 14 ... .i.fs was V. Belikov-S.5magin, Kazan 1995, and n ow White should con sider 15 l:.a2 preparin g d4 to hold on to the extra pawn .

Italian Game: Two Kn ig hts Defen ce b) There's something to be said for 12 lLlbd2, intending 12 ... d4 13 cxd4 cxd4 and now 14 �b3 reactivating the bishop: 14 ... oltd6 1 5 lLlh4 lLle7 16 'ii'f3 i.g4 17 fig 3 etc, R.Picard-T.Cali stri, Gu­ ingamp 2006. 1 2 h3

White often chooses the plan of lLlbd2 and �b2, aiming for d3-d4, but Tiviakov tries something a bit different. The position after 12 lLlbd2 �f8 1 3 i.b2 h a s been seen in a few games. Some examples:

a) 1 3 ... b S 14 d4! c4 (14 ... exd4 15 cxd4 cxb4 i s met by 16 dS! and here 16 ... bxa 3 ? loses m aterial to 17 �xf6 'i'xf6 18 dxc6; or 14 ... cxd4 1 S cxd4 exd4 16 lLlxd4 lLlxd4 17 �xd4 �b7 18 'lWf3 with an edge for White, R.5chmaltz­ R.Berzin sh, German League 2002) 15 a4 i.b7 16 dS lLle7 1 7 lLlfl g6 18 �Cl �g7 19 lLlg 3 fid7 20 oltd2 l:tec8 2 1 'ii'e 2 lLle8 22 .l:!.a3 lLlC7 23 l:teal was a typically complex Lopez-styl e battle in Z.Efimenko-I.Saric, Kerner 2007. With White beginning to press on the a-file, Black hit back with 23 .. .fS ! ? and the

unclear complication s continued after 24 exfs lLlcxdS 2 5 lLlh4 lLlf4 26 'iVg4. b) 13 ... lLlh S 14 lLlfl (thi s time 14 d4! ? offers a g ambit, and 14 ... exd4 1 5 cxd4 cxb4 16 dS bxa3 1 7 �xa3 prom­ i ses decent compen sation) 14 ... g 6 1 5 lLle3 lLlf4?! (thi s wastes time; Hebden prefers lS ... oltg 7 aiming for an eventual .. .fS) 16 g 3 lLlh S 17 h 7 45 ':a7+ 'i?i>g8 46 lZ'ld4 ':'C5 47 lZ'lf5 h S ? 48 lZ'lh6+ c;ii> h 8 49 g5 1-0

A great performance from Tiviakov and a hugely in structive game. It's re­ assurin g to be reminded that even strong grandm asters can be outplayed in these 'quiet' positions.

Game 30

V.Nevednichy-M.Mitkov

E u ropea n C h a m pio n s h i p, O h rid 2001 1 e4 e 5 2 lZ'lf3 lZ'lc6 3 �C4 lZ'lf6 4 d 3 �e7

is norm ally used in a different way - to free h7 for the knight! It might not be the first idea th at comes to mind, but there's some solid logic behind it. Bl ack wants to pl ay ... lZ'lh 7-g S to exch ang e at least one pair of minor pieces, and m aybe two, in order to ease the con ­ gestion in his position and al so to loosen White's control of the dark squares in the centre. Bl ack h as al so tried other pl an s in­ volvin g m ovin g the f6-knight: a) 7 ...lZ'ld7 frees f6 for the bishop and al so aim s for ... lZ'lCS . With the pres­ sure off e4, 8 d4 i s a logical respon se. Now:

5 0-0 d6 6 �b3 0-0 7 c3 h6

Thi s little pawn move i s sometimes played just to prevent lZ'lg s when Black is planning the typical regrouping m a­ noeuvre ... ,Ue8, ... �f8 and possibly ... g 6 and ...� g 7 , so that he is better placed to fight in the centre (the rook adds pressure down the e-file; the bishop influences events down the long di­ agonal ) . In thi s particul ar line, though, 7 ... h 6

al) The tempo-losing 8 ... lZ'lf6 ! ? is ac­ tually not as bad as it looks, since 9 lZ'lbd2 �g4 pressures White's centre. Even so, I was slightly worse after 10 dS lZ'lb8 1 1 h 3 ! �c8 (if 11 ... �h S, White plays 12 %:tel followed by lZ'lfl-g 3, or g 2 g4) 12 l: e l lZ'lbd7 1 3 lZ'lfl lZ'l e 8 1 4 �C2 g6 1 5 .th 6 lZ'lg7 16 g4! lZ'lf6 17 'iVd2 c;ii>h 8 18 lZ'lg 3 lZ'lg8 19 �e3 in A.Minasian -J . Emms, Paris 1994. a2) 8 ... �f6 9 �e3 lZ'las (or 9 ... l:te8 10

13 1

Beating 1 e4 e5 ds l'iJe7 11 c4 l'iJg 6 12 l'iJC3 l'iJh4 1 3 �a4 with an edge for White, L.Psakhis­ E.Geller, Soviet Championship 1983) 10 .YLc2 l'iJC4 11 .YLcl and White can build slowly here because there's not a huge amount of pressure on his centre. The continuation of the g am e D. Pikul a­ S.smagin, Biel 1996, is worth noti n g : 11 .. Jle8 12 a4! ? l'iJf8 1 3 b3 l'iJb6 14 a s l'iJbd7 1 5 l'iJbd2 l'iJ g 6 16 b 4 a6 1 7 l'iJC4 exd4 18 cxd4 l'iJb8 19 l'iJe3 l'iJc6 20 z:tbl. White has gradually seized more and more space whereas Black seem s to have been going round in circles. b) 7 ... �h 8 unpin s the f-pawn in preparation for ... l'iJg8 and .. .fs . White must react energetically in the centre to h ave a ch ance of g aining an advan ­ tage: 8 l'iJbd2 (development i s key; 8 h 3 ? ! l'iJg 8 ! 9 d4 fs is what Black i s hop­ ing for) 8 ... l'iJg 8 9 d4! (everything else i s too slow and Black just breaks with .. .fs).

�f6 1 3 exfs (or 1 3 l'iJe3 fxe4 14 l'iJd2) 1 3 ... �xfs 14 l'iJe3 �g6 1 5 l'iJds l:tac8 16 �e3 a6 17 h3 �h s 18 �c2 l'iJge7 19 �e4 with some advantage for White in view of his greater activity and better structure, D.Sermek-N. Pedersen, Gron­ ingen 1993. b2) Bl ack can change course with 9 ... .YLf6 but then even the simple 10 dxe s is enough for some advantage, because of Bl ack's less than optim ally pl aced pieces: 10 ... l'iJxe s 11 l'iJxe s dxe5 12 l'iJC4 (M.Magomedov-V.Mal aniuk, Koszalin 1999) 12 ... �e6 ! ? 13 l'iJe3 (13 �e3 ! ?) 1 3 ...'iIi'xdl 14 l:txdl l:.ad8 15 ':xd8 l:r.xd8 16 �xe6 fxe6 17 �fl (Ma­ gom edov). White will org anize him self with �e2 and �d2 etc, and the weak­ ness of Black's doubled e-pawn s i sn't going away. 8 l'iJbd 2

8 l:tel and 8 h 3 are al so viable, and indeed there are tran sposition al possi­ bilities if Black follows up with ...l:te8 and ... �f8. H owever, with 8 l'iJbd2 White has something el se in mind ag ain st Bl ack's m ain plan. 8 .l:.el l'iJh 7 9 l'iJbd2 l'iJg s 10 l'iJxg 5 �xg s 1 1 l'iJc4 �e6 12 d4 .YLxC4 1 3 �xC4 �XCl 14 l:[xcl Vf6 15 �d5 l'iJe7 16 �b3 was ever so slightly better for White in L.Psakhis-O. Romanishin, Lviv 1984. 8 l'iJh7 8 ... .l:!.e8 i s Bl ack's other m ain choice here. For example, 9 l:tel �f8 10 h3 g6 (if 10 ... l'iJa5 11 �C2 cs, White can again con sider the a3 and b4 plan) 11 d4 (White could pl ay m ore slowly with 11 ••.

H ere Black h as a choice: bl) 9 .. .fs (con sistent, but...) 10 dxe s dxe s 11 l'iJC4 (or even 1 1 exfs �xfs 1 2 � C 2 'it'd7 1 3 .:tel) 1 1 ... 'it'xdl 12 ':'xdl

13 2

Italian Game: Two Knig hts Defen ce tDfl �g7 12 tDg 3) 1 1 ... �g7 1 2 a3 (to prevent ... tDb4, which Black plays after 12 �c2 exd4 13 cxd4) 12 ... a 5 ! (gaining counterpl ay on the queen side) 1 3 .JtC2 �d7 14 tDfl a4 (intending 1 5 �xa4 exd4 16 cxd4 tDxd4!) 15 d5 tDe7 16 C4 tDh 7 17 tDg 3 b 5 ! ? 18 cxb5 �xb5 19 �d2 c6 20 dxc6 �xc6 21 �C3 with a com­ plex and roughly level position, S. Kudrin- K.Thorsteins, G ausdal 1982.

not 15 J::t g l here?) 15 ... �xg 5 16 f4 �xf4 17 �xf4 exf4 18 ':'xf4 'ili'f6 in C.Goral s­ P. H aba, Internet (freestyle) 2006. 10 tDxg5 �xg 5 1 1 f4!

9 tDC4 1 ? tDg5

9 ... .Jtg4 can be m et aggressively by 10 tDe3 �h 5 1 1 g41. Thi s i s difficult for Black to face, even though it might be okay for him after accurate defence: 11 ... �g6 12 tDf5 �xf5 1 3 gxf5

Thi s is the point and the justifica­ tion behind White's previous play (avoiding l:el and not spending a m ove on h 3 ) . It's easy to forget that d3d4 isn't White's only pawn break ! 11 J::t e l would tran spose to Psakhis­ Rom anishin, above. 11 ... exf4 12 �xf4 �xf4

13 ... �g 5 14 tDxg 5 hxg 5 15 �h l tDa5 16 �C2 g6 17 :g l �h 8 18 fxg 6 fxg 6 19 �e3 'iVf6 20 11g 3 tDc6 2 1 \'Vg4 \'Ve7 22 l:.h 3 �g7 23 l:txh 7+! �xh 7 24 �xg 5 1i'g 7 2 5 'iWh4+ �g8 2 6 .Jtb3+ and Black resigned in J . Emm s-M. Pein, Southend 2005, in view of 26 .. .l::t f7 27 �f6 g5 28 �xg 5 and :g l. 1 3 ... tDg 5 looks better than 1 3 ... �g5, and Black was close to solving his prob­ lems after 14 �h l �h 8 15 tDxg 5 (why

A.Onischuk-P.Blatny, Elista Olym ­ piad 1998, in stead continued 12 ... �e6 1 3 tDe3 ! ? (13 d4 .Jtxf4 14 l:txf4 'ifg 5 15 'iff3 reaches the m ain line) 1 3 ... �xf4 14 :!.xf4 'ifg 5 (Onischuk prefers 14 ... tDe7 but still assesses 1 5 d4 tDg 6 16 :f3 'iVh4 17 .Jtc2 as a clear advantage for White) 1 5 lif3 h 5 ? ! 16 d4 tDe7 17 'i!fd3 c6 18 �c2 and White was slowly build­ ing up the pressure in the centre and on the king side. Thi s King's Gambit pawn structure is certainly favourabl e for White, which i s why it's worth keep­ ing in mind the idea of f2-f4. 13 :xf4 'ifg5 14 'iff3

133

Beating 1 e4 eS 'iWh 7+ 'it>f8 and now the brilliant 26 l:txf6 ! ! and White win s - Golubev) 23 !De3 .i.g6 24 !Dfs l:.ae8 25 .:tf3 .i.xfs (or 2 s ... 'it>h 7 26 h s ! i.. xh s 2 7 �h 3 .i.g6 28 ':'xh 6+) 26 'ii'xfs :te7 27 .i.c2 g6 (if 27 ... g s, 28 hxg s hxg s 29 �h 3 ! 'ifb s 30 l:.h 7 'ii'e 8 31 'iVh 3 win s - G olubev) 28 'ii'x g6+ :g 7 29 'ii'xh 6 fs 30 e 7 ! .l:r.e8 31 'iWe6+ 'it>h 8 32 ':xfs and Black resigned. 15 h4! 14

..•

bS!?

Black wants to kick the knight away so th at he can l and his own knight on e s . White must react vigorously other­ wise he loses his advantage. 14 ... .i.e6 i s m ore solid, but White's exch ange sacrifice in s. Roy Chowdhury­ A. Filippov, Manama 2009, looks very promising : 1 5 d4 !De7 16 h4! ? (thi s i s committal, and 16 'iff2 intending 16 ... !Dg6 17 l:If3 i s a decent alternative) 16 ... 'iWbs 1 7 ds .i.d7 18 .:tfl 'ii'c s+ 19 �h l f6 20 e s ! (not allowing Black to con solidate) 20 ... !Dg 6

1 5 !De3 ? ! !De s ! 16 'iWfl !Dxd3 ! , over­ loading the queen, was Black's idea. White can save him self with 17 �xf7 ! 'ii'x e3+ 18 �h l, and here 18 ... .i.e6 19 ':'xf8+ ':'xf8 20 .i.xe6+ 'it>h 7 2 1 'ii'xf8 !Df2+ 2 2 'it>g l !Dg4+ 2 3 'it>h l !Df2+ is perpetual check. l s :iVg6 16 !De3 !Des 17 'ilVe2 'ifg3 •.

The immedi ate 17 ... .i.e6, accepting a disadvantage, i s the safer option . 18 ':'afl .i.e6 19 d4!

White i s h appy to sacrifice the h­ pawn, as he i s fully coordinated and ready to attack fiercely on the king side. 19 !Dg6 20 : 4f3 'ifxh4 21 !Dfs l 'ifd8 After 2 1 ... .i.xfs 2 2 lir.xfs, Rybka wants to play 2 2 ... !Dh 8 which sum s up ..•

2 1 e 6 ! !Dxf4 2 2 'ilVxf4 .i.e8 (or 22 ... i..b s 23 'iffs ! .i.xC4 24 .i.c2 lIf7 2 5

134

Italian Game: Two Knig hts Defen ce Black's position ! 22 'ili'xb 5 .l:.b8 2 3 'ike2 1

White could h ave played 2 3 �a4, but thi s pawn sacrifice looks even stronger. 2 3 ... .i.xb3 24 axb3 ':xb3 25 ':'g3 1

The threats o n the king side begin to mount. The first one Black has to pre­ vent is 26 �C4 threatening the rook and the knight. 2S ... d 2 �g4 17 l:tel ! 'ii'x el+ 18 'iii> x el .1i.xf3 19 g xf3) 9 ... 'ii'xf2+ (9 ... .1i.xf2+? 10 �1) 10 �h l (threatening both 11 .1i.xd5 and 11 .l:i.e2, but Bl ack h as a resource ... ) 10 ... ttJf6 ! 11 :e2 ttJg4 12 c3 (forced, to prevent ... ttJd4) 12 ... �f5 (or 12 ... b5 13 .1i.d5 ! .1i.b7 14 ttJbd2 l:tae8 15 ttJe4! 'iix e2 16 'iix e2 ttJf2+ 1 7 'ii'xf2 .1i.xf2 18 ttJxf2 with a clear advantage, A. Dyakov-M.lbar, cor­ respondence 2002) 13 h3 .l:.ae8 14 d4 .1i.e4 15 hxg4 �xf3 16 l:txf2 .1i.xdl 17 dXc5 ttJe 5 18 ttJa3 and White went on to win in R.Gwaze-M.Lyell, British (h., Scarborough 2004 . I get the impression th at those who play thi s gambit as Black are counting on White either chickening out - as I

During the g ame I was aware th at 8 ttJxe 5 was supposed to be good for White, but I felt a little bit uncomfort­ able with idea of plunging into any possible preparation from my oppo­ nent - Black needs to at least know all the tricks if he wants to risk playing thi s line. So I took an 'easy' option . I counted on the fact th at even after a quiet (but useful) move White would still hold an edge. If you want to grab the pawn with 8 ttJxe5, you need to be prepared for some tactical lines but the rewards are high. H ere's a brief summ ary of what to expect: a) 8 ... .1i.xf2+ 9 'iii> xf2 ttJxe5 10 l:txe 5 'ii'h 4+ 11 'iii>fl ! 'ii'f6+ 1 2 'ii'f3 'ii'x e5 1 3 .1i.xd5 c6 14 .1i.b3 'ii'xh 2 1 5 .1i.e3 .1i. e 6 16 .1i.g l 'iYh4 17 ttJC3 as 18 .l:[el a4 19 .1i.f2 'ii'h 1+ 20 'iii> e 2 'i!i'h 6 2 1 .1i.xe6 lIae8 2 2 'iii> d l :xe6 2 3 ttJe4 and White h ad suc-

15 1

Beating 1 e4 e5 did - or losing their way in the heat of battle. I 'm sure there are some further tricky lines to negotiate, but I'm equally sure th at objectively White must be able to keep an advantage, and proba­ bly a significant one. The further good news i s th at, as far as I can see, 'chickening out' still probably leads to an edge for White and it al so spoils Black's fun ! 8 ... liJ b6 If S ... .:teS White h as the intriguing 9 d4! ? (9 liJg s i s a decent alternative). After 9 ... liJxd4 10 liJxd4 i.xd4 1 1 i.xd S ! (not 11 C 3 ? i.xf2+ 12 �xf2 'iWh4+) 11 ... 'iVxds 12 c3 White win s a piece for two pawn s and some (but probably not enough) compen sation, following 12 ... i.d7 1 3 cxd4 exd4 14 i.f4.

in the game P.Jaracz-R.Forster, Guarapuava 1991, although the move itself isn't bad: 10 liJC3 'fi'g 6 (threaten­ ing ... i.xh 3, but...) 11 liJe4! i.e7 (if 11 ... i.xh 3 ?, 12 liJh4 win s a piece) 12 liJg 3 i.d6? (Black needs to patrol h4, so 12 ... i.f6 was required). Here White missed the ch ance to play 1 3 liJh4! 'iff6 14 liJe4!, when 14 ... 'iVxh4 1 5 i.g s traps the queen, and 14 ... 'iVdS 15 'Wh S ! gives White a fierce initiative. One possibility is ls .. .'lWeS 16 liJg 6 ! intending 16 ... hxg6 1 7 liJf6+! gxf6 is 'iWxg6+ �h S 19 %:te4! (diagram please ! )

9 i.b3

9

•..

h6

Bl ack wants to play ...lIeS, but he needs to prevent liJg s first. He can leave the e-pawn h anging for the mo­ ment, since 10 liJxes can be an swered by 10 ... liJxes 11 :xe s i.xf2 + ! ' 9 ... 'iff6 l e d t o a quick win for White

15 2

19 .. .fxg 6 20 :h4+ �g 7 2 1 i.h 6+ �h 7 22 i.xfS m ate. In stead the g am e continued 13 c3? �h S? (13 ... i.e6 ! ) 14 liJh4! (White doesn't miss his second chance) 14 ... 'ii'f6 15 liJe4 'iWe7 ? 16 'Wh s and Black resigned as there are too m any threats: for example, 16 ... i.e6 17 liJg s h 6 lS liJxe6 fxe6 19 liJg6+. 9 ... aS 10 a3 reminds m e a bit of our previous g am e (Kramnik- Kasparov), but a better version for White because Bl ack has voluntarily retreated his

Italian Game: Two Knig hts Defen ce knight to b6. Here's one example: 10 ... ttJd4 11 ttJxd4 (11 i.a2 ! ?) 11 .. :iVxd4 (11 ... exd4 can be met by 12 'iWh s .i.d6 13 ttJd2 followed by ttJe4 or ttJf3) 1 2 .i. e 3 'iVd6 1 3 'iWh S ! .i.xe3 14 l:txe3 a 4 1 5 i.a2 ttJd7 (hardly ideal, but the e-pawn required protection) 16 ttJd2 g6 17 'iWh 6 'iVf6 lS ttJe4 'iVg 7 19 Vh4 and Black was struggling to untangle his position in S.B.Han sen-M.5antos, H avana 200S. 10 ttJ c3

If 11 ... i.e7 White could spend a tempo on 12 a3 to safeguard his bishop again st ... ttJas ideas, since it's unclear how Bl ack further develops his position (for example, ... .i.fs is met by ttJg 3). It's true th at Black's position remain s solid, but White m ay be able to increase the pressure with ideas like i.d2-c3. 12 ttJfg 5 !

Sometimes ... h 6 isn 't enough to dis­ courage ttJg S ! Moving the knight to e4 as quickly as possible is the most obvious plan here, and despite ... h6 I hadn 't entirely ruled out the possibility of ttJg S ... 1 0...l:. e 8 11 ttJ e 4 i.f8?

Thi s i s clearly the most desirable re­ treat for th e bishop (on d6 it can be captured at any moment, while on e7 it blocks the e-file) but it loses - because Black's king requires this square ! Again st 11 ... .i.d6 I was con sidering the line 12 d4 exd4 1 3 ttJxd6 l:txel+ 14 "ifxel cxd6 (14 ... 'iYxd6? 1 5 'ili'eS+) 1 5 'ii'e 4 dS 16 'iVf4 g S 17 'iVg 3 with good compen sation for the pawn, but there may be even better option s for White.

12 ... hxg5?

Black's only real chance i s 12 ... ttJdS. After 1 3 'ii'f3 i.e6 (not 1 3 ... hxg s ? 14 i.xds Vi'xdS ? 1 5 ttJf6+) 14 ttJxe6 fxe6 1 5 'iYg4 White h a s 'only' a virtually deci­ sive position al advantage. 1 3 ttJxg5?

1 3 "iVh S ! is more forcing (mate i s threatened!) and more decisive. Bl ack must protect f7, but after 13 ... i.e6 White can win with 14 ttJxg s .i.b4 (had the bishop retreated to d6 in stead of fS on move 11, Bl ack could have played 14 ... .i.xb3 followed by ... Vi'f6) 15 i.xe6 fxe6 16 "iff7+ 'iith S 17 :e4. 13 ... l:!.e6?

153

Beating 1 e4 e5 Black can fight on with 1 3 ... g 6 ! 14 �xf7 "iHf6. White must be winning af­ ter 1 5 .i.g 5 but this certainly isn't as clear cut as 13 � 5 . 1 4 'ilYh 5

Now it's easy. 14 ... .i.c5 15 'iVxf7+ 'it'h8 16 'i:Vh 5+ l:!.h6 17 4:Jf7+ �h7 18 .i.xh6 g6 19 �g5+ 'iit h 8 20 'iVxg6 1-0

Game 35

V.Bologan-E.Tomashevsky

Aeroflot Open, Moscow 2006 1 e4 e5 2 �f3 �c6 3 .i.C4 �f6 4 d3 h 6

Black wants to develop with ... g6. ... .i.g7 . ... d6 etc. Although it's unusual for Black to fianchetto in 1 e4 e 5 open­ ings. it's not difficult to appreci ate the m erits of thi s approach. especially when you consider th at ... lUe8 . ... B(e7)­ f8 . ... g7-g6 and ... i.g7 i s a typical re­ grouping m anoeuvre in the m ain lines. Why not save time by playing ... g6 and ... i.g 7 straightaway? Of course. it's not quite as straight­ forward as th at. For one thing. after 4 d3 Black first h as to deal with a serious threat. Yes. it h asn 't been m entioned before. but 4 d3 carries a threat ! For example. 4 ... d6? which i s not such a rare blunder. can be punished by 5 �g 5 ! . The best Black can do is 5 ... d5 6 exd5 when he i s a whole tempo down on the ultra-sharp 4 �g 5 varia­ tion of the Two Knights. If 6 ... �xd5 7 0-0 and Black i s already in big trouble. or 6 ... �a5 7 .i.b5+ (or even 7 0-0) 7 ... c6 8 dxc6 bxc6 9 .i.a4 h6 10 �e4 with zero compen sation for the pawn . Similarly. 4 ... g 6 ? is al so met by 5 �g 5 ! . and thi s is the reason Black spends a m ove on ... h 6 . 5 0-0 d 6

I think th at thi s i s Black's most accu­ rate m ove order. If Black plays 5 ... g 6. White has no need to prepare d4 with c3 because the immedi ate 6 d4! looks even stronger. Thi s reminds me of 4 d4 against the Two Knights. True. White has wasted a tempo by spending two m oves in stead of one advancing his pawn to d4. but

154

Italian Game: Two Knig hts Defen ce Black h as arguably wasted two tempi on ... g6 and ... h 6 . H ere's o n e example: 6 ... exd4 7 lDxd4 (7 eS dS 8 i.bs lDe4 9 lDxd4 al so looks reason able) 7 ... i.g 7 8 lDxc6 bxc6 9 e s ! lDh 7 1 0 Vd3 ! (preventing 1 0. . .0-0) 10 .. :ii'e7 was A.Tuzhik-G . Evtushenko, Novosibirsk 2007, and in thi s position 11 lDc3 looks good. Bl ack can h ardly contemplate pl aying 11 ... i.xe s, in view of 12 :el g s 13 f4.

his development in rel ative peace. Let's take a look at other m oves: a) Black must avoid 7 ... i.g 7 ? 8 dxe s ! . b ) 7 . . .lDxe4?! 8 dxe s must al so be good for White. c) 7 ... i.g4 i s very strongly met by 8 'iVh 3 ! .

6 (3 86 7 d41

A quick d3-d4 i s the most ch alleng­ ing respon se to Black's slow develop­ ment. What's more, playing d4 h ere and now m ore or less obliges Black to make a further prophyl actic move ( .. :ii'e7, to go with ... h6) that he wouldn 't h ave chosen to do in an ideal world. After the slower 7 .:tel i.g 7 8 d4 Black can probably dispen se with .. :ile7, at least for the m om ent, in fa­ vour of the m ore desirable 8 ... 0-0. 7 :ile7 •.

By defending e S (and f7) Black cuts out any tricks and i s now able to finish

For example, 8 .. :ii'd7 9 i.xf7+! 'iVxf7 10 'ilxb7 �d7 11 dS ! lDe7 12 'iVxa8 lDxe4 13 lDbd2 and White already en ­ joys a deci sive advantage, S . Fedorchuk­ S.Bednarek, Warsaw 200 S . I recently reached thi s position (against G avin Wall, London League 2010) but failed to spot 11 dS in my calcul ation s. In stead I chose 8 ii.bS ? ! , which i s good enough for an edge, but nothing like 8 "iVh 3 ! . I got lucky with a trick after 8 ... lDd7 ! ? 9 dS lDe7? (Bl ack shoul d pl ay 9 ... ii.xf3 10 'ii'xf3 lDe7) 10 lDxe s ! . d) The paradoxical 7 . . .exd4 isn't as bad as it looks: 8 cxd4 i.g 7 (8 ... lDxe4? is m et by 9 .l:tel dS 10 ii.xd S ! } 9 lDC3 0-0 10 i.bS ! ? (10 dS lDe7 11 h3 c6 12 dxc6 bxc6 was V.Genba-V.Malaniuk, Moscow

155

Beating 1 e4 e5 1995, and now 1 3 %:tel gives White an edge; but 10 h 3 ? ! liJxe4! is something to avoid) 10 ... .i.g4 1 1 .i.xc6 bxc6 1 2 h3 .i.d7 1 3 .te3 l:tb8 14 b3 with a small advantage, R. Kuczyn slh 8 24 cs (White's attack i s quicker, but there's still much to play for) 24 .. .f5 2 5 exfs g xfs 26 f4! (killing the d7bishop) 26 ... 'ii'g 6 27 i..f2 e4 28 ltJhfl i..f6 29 ltJe3 1:[g 7 30 'Ot>h 2 ltJe7 3 1 1:[gl lUg 8 32 a4 ltJf7 33 'ii'e 2 ltJes ! ? 34 'Ot>h l i.. e 8 (thi s sacrifice feels a bit desperate, but 34 ... ltJf7 is an swered strongly by 3 5 ltJh S ! ) 3 5 fxe s i.. x es 3 6 ltJgfl 'ii'g s 3 7 ltJc4 i..h s 3 8 g4 fxg4 3 9 ltJxe s g 3 40 ltJf7+ (40 'ii'x e4 should win ) 40 ... .:.xf7 41 i.. d4+ lIgg 7 42 �xe4?? (42 i.. x g7+! 'Ot>xg 7 43 ltJxg 3 ! wins) 42 ... i..f3+ (oh

Italian Game: Two Knig hts Defen ce dear!) 43 'iixf3 l:txf3 44 .i.. x g 7+ 'iix g 7 45 i.e4 'ili'C3 46 ':g 2 l:tf2 47 cxd6 cxd6 48 b S axbs 49 axb s liJfs and White re­ signed. 14 i.e2

Continuing the plan . Now White is ready to increase the pressure with .ie3, 'iid 2 and :ad1. Whereas a premature dS should be avoided, exchanging on eS can be con­ sidered, especially if White prefers a position without ten sion. H ere 14 dxes liJxe s 1 5 liJxes dxe s (or l s .. J:txe s 16 .if4 :tee8 17 'i¥d2) 16 .ie3, as sug­ gested by Lukacs, promises White a small advantage. 14... liJ h 7 1 5 i.e3

placed. Furthermore, after 17 ... liJb8 18 b4 Black still can't pl ay 18 .. .fs, as 19 exfS g xfs 20 'iVh s i s a strong reply. Note that lS .. .fS ? 16 exfs gxfs 17 dxe s dxes 18 .i.. c S ! (or even 18 liJh S ! ) leaves Bl ack struggling. 16 'ili'd 2 "ii'f6 17 'it> h 2

Bl ack was threatening 17 ... .i.. xh 3 . 1 7. . ..i.. e 8 18 lIad1

18 a3 ! ? followed by b4 would be a typical idea to gain space on the queen side, but Bologan's plan proves to be very effective indeed . 18

..•

'it>h8 19 liJe2 ii'e7 20 liJgS !

White wants t o free up the f-pawn and is happy to accept an exchange of knights to do so. 20 ... liJxgs 2 1 .i.. x gs f6

Or 2 1 ... .i..f6 2 2 .i.. xf6+ 'ii'xf6 2 3 f4 (Lu­ kacs). 2 2 .i.. e 3 fS 2 3 .igs .if6 24 .i.. xf6+ llxf6 2 S f4!

l S ... hS

White i s quite happy to see Black weaken the g s-square, and thi s m akes any subsequent .. .fS less desirable. Lukacs suggests l S ... liJg S ! ? as an improvement. I think Bologan would have reacted with 16 liJxg S hxg s 17 dS. The advance i s justified here because Bl ack is denied the possibility of ... liJe7, and on b8 the knight i s very poorly

At first sight it m ay look like thi s po­ sition, full of ten sion, offers equal chances for both sides, but there are two key factors which swing the game almost deci sively in White's favour:

15 9

Beating 1 e4 e5 1. White's pieces are better posi­ tioned than their counterparts. For ex­ ample, Black's rook on f6 would prefer to be on f8 defending its partner; and his queen i s uncomfortable on the e­ file, as demon strated by 2s ... exf4? 2 6 exfs. 2. Black's king i s weaker than White's. His decision to play ... h S has done him no favours at all, and he ex­ periences some problems with dark­ squared weaknesses, especially after the exchange of dark-squared bishops. Let's see how Bologan ruthlessly ex­ ploits his advantages:

l1xc7 l:lxe6 3 8 l:.xb7. 34 lbxe4 'iVe s 3 5 g3 l:t4f7

3 S ... :f3 loses to 36 'iVh 6+. 3 6 'it>g2 'it>g7 3 7 'it'd 2 c6 3 8 c4 cxd s 39 cxd s h4 40 gxh4 'ifh s 41 'ii'c 3+ 'it>g8 42 'it'g3 :f4 43 .l:.d2 1-0

Black's position is hopeless. If 43 .. .l::txh 4 there's 44 �f2 :xf2+ 4S 'iVxf2 with no decent defence to the threat of 46 lbf6+. An exceptionally well played game from Bologan . He didn 't seem to give his opponent any ch ances at all .

Key Notes

2 s .. :i!Vg7 2 6 fxe s dxe s 2 7 exfs �xfs 2 8 �xfs l:txfs

28 ... gxfs 29 dxe s l:[xe s 30 lbf4 (Lu­ kacs) is even worse. 29 lbg3 l:tff8 30 ds! lbd8 3 1 lbe4

Now White has a juicy outpost for his knight to add to all his other advan­ tages. 3 1 .. JU4 3 2 'it'e3 l:tef8 3 3 lbc s ! e4

3 3 ... .l:.4fS h an g s on to the e s-pawn, but 34 d6 i s a strong reply and so i s 34 lbe6 lbxe6 3S dxe6 l:te8 3 6 l:td7 'iVf8 37

16 0

1. The space-gaining plan of a3 and b4 looks like a promi sing way for White to play again st ... lbas and ... cs. It's worth going through Game 29 more than once to really appreci ate Tivia­ kov's brilliant strategical play. This is a model g am e from White's point of view. 2. Game 30 demon strates that White doesn 't always h ave to play for the d3 -d4 advance, and he sometimes leaves the rook on f1 for a reason - to play f2-f4! 3 . When Bl ack plays ... dS, as he does in G am e 3 1, don 't forget about the possibility of playing �a4, which adds pressure to the centre by hitting the knight on c6. Often this move comes as a surprise. Played at the right moment, it can be annoyingly difficult for Bl ack to meet. 4. The best an swer to 6 ... dS is Pl an B:

Italian Game: Two Knig hts Defen ce exch ange on dS and then hit the e S ­ pawn . 8 l:t e l (G ame 3 2) i s the sharpest try and an attempt at a direct refuta­ tion ; 8 h 3 (Game 3 3 ) is the safe option . S . Black's g ambit after 4 ... dS (Game 34) i s probably un sound in the final analysi s, but bear in mind th at your opponent is likely to be prepared. If you are also prepared for some forcing lines, by all mean s take the pawn . Al­ ternatively, White h as good chances of keeping some advantage without en­ tering the complication s.

6. Again st 4 ... h6 (Game 3 S ) White should try to play c3 and d4 as quickly as possible. He should then try to keep the ten sion in the centre, since thi s m akes i t very difficult for Bl ack t o ar­ range his m ain pawn break .. .fS . White shouldn 't be tempted to close the cen­ tre with dS unless there is a concrete reason for doing so. 7. Be ready to punish 4 ... d6? with S It:'Jg S . It's easy to forget that 4 d3 sets up a threat!

16 1

C h a pt e r F i ve Italian Game: Other Lines

1 e4 e 5 2 lLlf3 lLlc6 3 .i.C4

Now it's time to consider alterna­ tives for Black in the Italian G ame, on his third and fourth moves. Thi s chap­ ter isn't particul arly long for a couple of reason s. 3 ... .i.cS and 3 ... lLlf6 are the overwhelmingly popular choices in practice, and altern atives are quite rare. Likewise, after 3 ... .i.cS 4 c3, only a small percentage of g ames continue with anything other th an 4 ... lLlf6. More to the point, most of Black's rare op-

16 2

tion s do nothing to prevent White from carrying on with the usual system of development. Indeed, transpositions to previous chapters are possible in some places. H aving said all th at, there are rea­ son s why m any of Bl ack's option s in thi s ch apter rem ain rare, and I have covered a few theoretical recommen­ dations in which White tries to punish Black rather th an settling for a slow build-up. In particul ar, White can often play the d4 advance much earlier than normal , and this puts pressure on Black's position from an early stage. I should stress, though, th at m any of Black's options are playable in the sense that White can only expect a small advantage, and one or two have perhaps been unfairly dismissed. In Tanti-Sutton (Gam e 3 6) we con­ sider various option s for Bl ack on his fourth m ove: 4 ... 'ii'e 7, 4 .. :ili'f6, 4 ... ..tb6

Italian Game: Ot her L ines and 4 ... d6. Bokar-N asybullin (Game 37) covers some third-move option s : 3 . . . .i.e7, 3 . . . d6, 3 . . . g6, 3 .. .f5 and 3 ... li::l d 4.

Game 3 6

J.Ta nti-J.Sutton

.i.b3 intending li::l c 4; or 5 d3 li::lf6 6 .i.b3 d6 7 li::lb d2 with the sam e idea, which i s a logical way t o m eet a n early ... .i.b6. b) Does 4 ... 'iWf6 prevent White's ad­ vance? 5 d4! (No it doesn't! There's nothing wrong with 5 0-0 d6 6 d3, though.)

Correspondence 2003 1 e4 e S 2 li::lf3 li::l c 6 3 .i.C4 .i.cs 4 c3

4 ... 'iVe7

Thi s move isn't an attempt to pre­ vent or discourage d4 - as we shall see, accepting the g ambit carries too much risk. Black's idea is to offer the e 5-pawn extra protection so th at he doesn 't have to give up the centre after White's advance. Here's a brief round up of other rare moves: a) 4 ....i.b6 5 d4 'iVe7 i s another move order to reach the same position (in fact, thi s was the one chosen in the game). White can al so choose to play with d2-d3, probably tran sposing to lines we've previously covered. For ex­ ample, S 0-0 li::lf6 6 d3 d6 7 li::lb d2 0-0 S

Now: bl) If 5 ... exd4, 6 e 5 ! is strong : 6 .. :ii'g 6 (6 . . .li::l x e5 i s met by 7 'iVe2) 7 cxd4 .tb4+ S li::l c 3 d6 (or S ... 'iVxg 2 9 :g l VWh 3 10 .i.xf7+!) 9 0-0 .i.g4 10 h 3 (10 li::lb 5 ! ?) 10 ... .i.xf3 1 1 'ili'xf3 dxe 5 12 li::lb 5 0-0-0 1 3 .t d 3 'iVf6 1 4 'iVg4+ �bS 1 5 .i.g 5 'iVe6 16 .i.xdS and 1-0, V.Karavaev­ D.Metlyakhin, Moscow 1994. b2) 5 ... .i.b6 has similar motives to 4 ... 'iIi'e7 5 d4 .i.b6, but the queen i s more vulnerable o n the f6-square and Black h as to lose more time: 6 0-0 h 6 (if 6 ... d6 White h as 7 .tg 5 'iVg 6 S dxe5 dxe5 9 li::l x e 5 ! and here 9 ... 'i¥xg 5 10 li::l xf7 'iVC5 11 .i.d5 li::lf6 12 li::l xh S .i.g4 1 3 'iVb3 - Bilguer - looks very good for White) 7 a4 a6 S dxe 5 ! ? li::l x e5 9 li::l x e5 'i¥xe5 10 'iVb3, V. Egin-B.5aidov, Tash­ kent 2009.

163

Beating 1 e4 e5 S d4

Black has some problems here. 10 ... 'ilVe7 is th e natural way to defend f7, but how does Bl ack continue after 11 e s ? c ) 4 ... d 6 i s usually condemned on the grounds that Bl ack is forced to give up the centre after 5 d4, since s ... i..b 6 6 dxe s ! win s a pawn . However, I feel th at S ... exd4 6 cxd4 i..b 6 ! isn't quite as at­ tractive for White as it first l ooks, as his centre coul d easily come under some pressure. I think White still needs to play one or two accurate moves, and thi s should be enough to give him some advan­ tage: 7 i..b s ! (7 h 3 - to prevent ... i.. g 4 7 .. .'�jf6 8 ttJC3 0-0 9 0-0 ttJxe4! 10 ttJxe4 ds is the kind of thing White needs to avoid, but 7 ttJC3 ttJf6 8 ds ttJes 9 ttJxe s dxe s 10 i.. g s might be sufficient for an edg e) 7 ... i.. d 7 8 0-0 ttJge7 (or 8 ... ttJf6 9 ttJC3 - or 9 e s ! ? - 9 ... 0-0 10 h 3 .l:f.e8, J . Szabo-L. H azai, Hungarian League 1996, and now just 11 %:tel) 9 ttJC3 0-0 10 h3 and White's cl assical centre must count for something, M. Krakops­ J . Pinter, Elista Olympiad 1998.

164

Of course White doesn 't have to pl ay d4. He can settle for d3 and reach positions similar to those in previous ch apters, and indeed thi s is something Tiviakov h as done. White can even ar­ gue that in thi s case Bl ack h as commit­ ted his queen to e7, something he wouldn 't necessarily want to do in the m ain lines. Thi s probably isn't a huge issue for Black, but a tempo does count for something, and furthermore Black i s deprived of the typical ... ttJe7-g6 idea. Let's take a look at an example: 5 0-0 ttJf6 6 d3 (6 d4 i..b 6 tran sposes to the m ain g ame) 6 ... d6 7 ttJbd2 0-0 (if 7 ... a6 8 i..b 3 0-0 9 lIel i.. e 6 10 ttJfl i.. xb3 11 axb 3 ! ?, Bl ack's queen isn't well placed for the typical ... ds ad­ vance: l1...ds? 12 exds ttJxds 13 d4! ) 8 b4! ? i.. b 6 9 i..b 3 (intending ttJC4) 9 ... a6 10 ttJC4 i.. a 7 11 i.. g s h 6 12 i..h 4 ttJd8 13 ttJe3 ! c6 14 �h l �h 8 1 5 ttJfs ! i.. xfs 16 exfs gs (otherwise how does Bl ack get his knight on d8 back into the g ame?) 17 fxg 6 fxg 6 18 d4! e4 19 ttJd2 g s 20 i.. g 3 and Black's position was begin-

Italian Game: Ot her Lines ning to look sh aky in S.smagin-Duong Thanh Nha, Montreal 2000. After 20 ... liJf7 21 f3 e3 22 .l:.el %:taeS 23 .l:[e2 liJh s 24 liJfl White won a pawn . 5

•..

�b61

s ... exd4 6 O-O! i s known to be prom ­ i sing for White. It's basically a Scotch Gambit where Black's queen h as found herself on e 7 ! a ) If 6 ... dxC3 7 liJxC3 d 6 White plays the obvious and strong S liJdS. b) 6 ...liJes 7 liJxes 'iWxes S f4! dXc3+ 9 �h l cxb2 10 fxes bxal'iii' 11 'iii'd s liJh6 12 �xh6 l:tfS 13 'iix cs (F.wiltenburg­ K.Woschkat, correspondence 1999),

intending 1 3 ... gxh6 14 liJa3 'iWb2 15 liJbs . c ) 6 ... d3 7 e s ! (not allowing Bl ack to consolidate) 7 ... d6 S �g s f6 9 exf6 liJxf6 10 liJbd2 �g4 11 b4 �b6 12 a4 as 1 3 h 3 ..txf3 1 4 'ifxf3 was V.Chekhover­ V. Panov, Tbilisi 1937. Black has no op­ tion but to castle long, but this is hardly ideal given that it's likely to open up there in the near future. 6 0-0

A few sources give a 'refutation '

based on dS followed by d6, a pawn sacrifice to clog up Bl ack's queen side. While I agree th at thi s i s an attractive idea, I'm not 100% convinced it's so great for White, or even his best option . A centre pawn i s a centre pawn after all ! One line i s 6 ..tg s liJf6 7 dS liJdS (7 ... liJbS S d6 ! is a more favourable ver­ sion for White - compare below) S d6 cxd6 9 liJa3 ! ? (if 9 0-0, Black pl ays 9 ... liJe6 justifying his deci sion to choose dS in stead of bS, and here 10 ..txf6 'iVxf6 ! 11 'iix d6 �C7 100ks okay for him) 9 ... �xf2+

10 �e2 ! �b6 11 liJh4 ds ! 12 liJfs 'iWcs 13 �e3 d4 14 liJxg 7+? (14 cxd4! i s much stronger) 1 4... 'it>fS 1 5 ..th 6 'it> g S 16 :fl? ds ! a n d Black went o n t o win i n D.spence-R. Parker, British League 2006. In the final analysis, the compli cation s in thi s line might well favour White, but I can 't help feeling th at Black's ch ances h ave been underestim ated. 6 ... liJf6 6 ... d6 7 h 3 liJf6 S :tel would tran s­ pose.

165

Beating 1 e4 e5 7 l:[e1 d6 8 h 3

don 't think White can dispen se with thi s m ove, as ... �g4 would be too annoying. It's no longer easy for Bl ack to find an effective role for his light­ squared bi shop, especi ally since White i s ready to m eet ... �e6 with dS. 8

...

h61?

of Warakom ski-Bartel Shades (Game 2 3 ) . Bl ack's idea is not to pre­ vent �g s, but rather to play ... g S-g4! Before you get too nervous, I should say th at thi s i s under much less favourable circum stances for Black, as the g am e amply demon strates. If 8 ... 0-0 White h as to solve the typi­ cal problem of how to develop his queen side while keeping his centre intact. Let's see how Bologan achieves thi s : 9 liJa3 (planning liJc2 to support d4; 9 �g s i sn 't effective here, and 9 ... h 6 1 0 Jil.h4 g s 1 1 Jil.g 3 'it>h 7 12 'i!Vd3 liJh S 1 3 �h 2 1:[g 8 14 liJbd2 'iVf6 1 5 � d S liJf4 16 �xf4 gxf4 17 'it>h l liJe7, M. Oella Valle­ M.Eckstein, correspondence 1999, pro­ vides a good reason why thi s is so) 9 ... liJd8 10 liJc2 c6 11 �d3 liJe6

166

12 a4! as 13 b 3 ! .l:ld8 14 �a3 'iWC7 15 'iVd2 liJf4 16 �fl Jil.e6 17 c4 h 6 18 ':adl with a pleasant space advantage for White in V.Bologan-O.5ekulic, Igalo 1994. 9 a4

Threatening to win a piece with 10 ds liJas 11 �a2 followed by b2-b4. 9

•..

a6

If 9 ... aS I think White should pl ay 10 liJa3, as in the g ame. 10 liJa 3

10 b4! ? worked tremendously well in O.Tyomkin-I.Zugic, Montreal 2004. After 10 ... g S ? ! 11 as �a7 12 b S ! liJd8 13 �a3 liJd7 14 dxe s liJxes 1 5 liJxe s 'iVxes 16 b 6 ! Bl ack's position was already verging on the point of collapse. Ag ain st 10 b4 Bl ack should probably abandon any aggressive ideas on the kin g side. After 10 ... 0-0! 1 1 �a3 liJd7 12 b S liJas 1 3 �a2 'iYf6, as played in E.Torre-R. Ekstroem, Lugano 1989, it looks like White should be a bit better, although it's not totally clear how ef­ fective his queen side advance really is. 10

...

g5

Italian Game: Ot her Lines to play. All of thi s overrides any "pas­ sive" barbs which could be aimed at the bishop retreat. l l liJxg 5 ? hxg 5 12 i.xg 5 1:.g8 13 h4 exd4, A.Reggio-S.Tarrasch, Monte Carlo 1903, i s just an un sound sacrifice. 1 1 dxe 5 ? ! dxe 5 12 liJh 2 ? ! g4! 13 hxg4 .l:!.g 8 14 g5 hxg 5 1 5 i.e3 i.xe3 16 ':xe3 :th 8, K.Honfi-M.Damjanovic, Sa­ rajevo 1966, is an example of another success for Black. It's possible that Bl ack was just fol ­ lowing previous g ames, perhaps un­ surprisingly if you con sider that Black won the earliest six g ames I coul d find reaching thi s position ! On the evidence of thi s particul ar g ame, though, I h ave to say I favour the idea of revertin g back t o the solid approach with 10 ... 0-0. After all , ... h6 can hardly be con sidered a wasted tempo. Still, White can fight for the advantage if he develops in a similar way to Bologan , above: 11 liJc2 .l:!.e8 12 i.d3 iYf8 ! ? 1 3 i.e3 (I quite like 1 3 b4! ? or even 1 3 b3) 1 3 ... exd4 14 cxd4 d 5 ! (14 ... liJxe4? loses to 15 d5 ! ) 15 e5 liJe4 16 liJh 2 i.a5 17 l:te2 f6 18 i.xe4 dxe4 19 exf6 �xf6 20 b4 i.b6 21 d5 i.xe3 22 ':xe3 liJe 5 23 ':xe4 i.f5 with compen sation for the pawn, G .5ax­ E . N agy, Balatonlelle 2003. 11 i.f11

Logical and very strong . On fl the bishop provides rock-solid support for the g 2 -pawn, which i s important in view of the impending ... g4. Wh at's more, the c4-square becomes available and liJC4 is a move White really wants

11 ... g4

There's no going back. After 11 ... 0-0 12 liJC4 i.a7 13 i.e3, Bl ack would h ave a half decent positi on only if he were allowed to play ... g 5 -g 7 !

12 hxg4 i.xg4 1 3 liJC4 i.a7

In V.Spasov-D. Kontic, Niksic 1991, Black took the plunge with 1 3 ... i.xd4 ! ? 14 cxd4 liJxd4 1 5 i. e 2 liJxe2+ 16 �xe2 1:[g 8. I don 't quite believe in Black's compensation, and neither does Rybka. I wonder why Kontic chose to go 'all in' like this. Did he overestim ate the objective value of the sacrifice? Did he consider Black's practical chances to be reasonable? Or did he becom e aware

167

Beating 1 e4 e5 that Black is in some trouble if he just pl ays 'normally'.

here is th at castling is illegal !

14 �e 3 1

16 ... .txd4? is worse: 17 �xd4 lUxd4 18 'iVC3 lUc6 (or 18 ... lUe6 19 lUe3 ! and either lUdS or lUf5) and here 19 e s ! is very strong .

Simple stuff, and a huge improve­ ment over 14 b4! ? exd4 15 e 5 ? ( 1 5 b 5 ! is still quite promising) 1 5 . . .lUxe5 1 6 cxd4? i.xf3 17 gxf3 1:.g 8+ 18 i.g 2 lUxf3+ ! and Black win s, N . Rossolimo­ M.Campos Lopez, Skopje 1972.

15 'iixf3 exd4 16 (xd4 lUxd4

1 7 'ii'd 1

17 14 ... i.xf3

Taking on f3 is positional suicide, but Black does at least win a pawn . The problem for Black i s that his position i s more difficult th an it looks. N atural moves don 't seem to work for various reason s: a) 14 ... lUxe4? loses a piece to 1 5 d5. b) 14 ... 0-0-0 1 5 dS ! i.xe3 16 dxc6 ! i.a7 17 lUas and Black i s facin g serious problems on the queen side. c) 14 ... l:tg8 1 5 dxe s (lS d5 lUb8 16 i.xa7 l:txa7 1 7 lUe3 also looks good) ls ... lUxe s (or ls ... dxes 16 i.xa7 ':xa7 17 b4) 16 lUcxes dxe s 1 7 i.xa7 .l:[xa7 18 'iVd3 .l:.a8 19 �e3 and Bl ack i s worse, although thi s line might represent his best bet. The key thing to remember

168

•••

lUe6?

17 ... lUc6 was Bl ack's best chance for survival : 18 e s ! dxes (if 18 ... lUxe S, 19 i.xa7 .l:txa7 20 f4 win s the knight) 19 i.xa7 ':xa7 20 lUxe s ! lUxe s 21 'iVd4 cS 22 'iVxe s 'iVxe s 23 l:txe s+ ..t;>f8 24 l:txcS and White's advantages (stronger mi­ nor piece, better structure) offer him good winning ch ances. 18 i.xa 7 ]:txa 7 19 esl dxes 20 lUxe s

Bl ack h as no hope of surviving. The position h as been blown open and White is ready to unleash a series of threats. There will be no good way of dealing with them because Black's pieces are totally uncoordinated. 20 (6 .•.

If 20 ... 0-0, White plays 21 i.C4 in­ tending lUxf7 or lUg 6. 2 1 'iV b3

Ita lian Game: Ot her Lines

2 1 ... xe3 ttJcS 16 �C4 (16 .l:!.d6 ! ?) 16 ... h6 17 ttJf3 .l:.e8 18 l:.acl as 19 a3 a4 20 ttJh4 Wf8 2 1 l:td6 .lte6 2 2 �xe6 l:.xe6, D.Pikula-A.Raetsky, Zurich 1998. 9 �e3 The most challenging move, pl an­ ning "fiId2 and 0-0-0. It's true that ... h 6 prevents a piece from coming t o g s, but if Black castles king side White can think about pushing a pawn to that square ! 9 'ii'e 7 Black suffers in the g ame from some congestion with her minor pieces. In particular, the light-squared bishop becomes blocked in and doesn 't see the light of day until it's too late. I feel that Black can avoid some of the later problems by pl aying 9 ... ttJa6 ! . The intention is to meet 10 'iii'd 2 with 10 ..."fiIf6 and then 11 0-0-0 with 11 ... �b4! 12 c3 �e7, when Black is far better placed th an in the game. 10 "iVd2 1 ttJd7 11 0-0-0 ...

For example, 11 We2 f6 12 l:tdl c:l;e7

185

Beating 1 e4 e5 11 ... � C7

The difference here i s that after 11 ... �b4 12 c3 �as there is nothing to prevent White from launching into king side action with 13 g41 . It looks crude, and it i s; but it's also quite dangerous for Bl ack. For example, 1 3 ... tDf6 14 g s tDxe4 1 5 Vc2 tDxg s (or l S ... �fS 16 tDh4 g 6 17 tDxfs gxfs 18 f3 tDxg s 19 'iVxfS) 16 �xg s hxg s 17 tDxe s l . I f 11 . . .�CS 12 �xcS 'ii'x cs (or 12 ... tDxcS 13 tDxe s ! ) White again gets going with 1 3 g41. 12 'iYc3 � b 6 13 g4!

sacrificing m aterial was the best prac­ tical chance. After 14 ... 0-0 15 :hg l ! g6 (trying to block things up) 16 g s h S 17 tDh4! c;tr>g 7 White h as 18 tDfS + ! gxfs 19 exfs when Black will struggle to survive. However, Black could try to bail out to a pawn­ down ending with l S ... tDcs 16 'ii'x es 'ili'xe s 1 7 tDxes tDxb3+ 18 axb 3 . 1 5 tDxe 5 O-O?

ls ... �e6 is strongly m et by 16 tDxc6 ! , but thi s was Black's best chance since there is still some hope for sur­ vival after 16 ... 'ii'C 7.

H ere it comes! Thi s would have also been White's an swer to 12 ... 0-0.

16 tDg6

1 3 ... �xe 3+ 14 fxe3 !

16 ... 'iVxe4 1 7 tDxfS i.xg4

It's more important t o keep pres­ sure on eS than it i s to m aintain a per­ fect structure. 14 Vxe 3 would allow Black to pl ay 14 ... tDcS followed by ... as, with counterpl ay.

1S l:thg1

14 ... tDf6?!

It's hard to believe th at Zaton skih overlooked White's 16th m ove. It's more likely that she mistakenly felt her position was already bad enough that

186

Thi s is winning for White.

Rybka likes 18 tDd7 ! , which win s for

White after 18 ... tDxd7 19 l:r.hg l tDf6 20 l1d4 'iYf3 21 ltf4 'ii'e 2 22 �xf7+! c;tr>xf7 2 3 l:tgxg4 or 18 ... �xd7 19 ':hg l c;tr>f8 20 l:r.xd7 tDxd7 2 1 Vxg 7+ c;tr>e7 2 2 Vxf7+. Vallejo's choice, however, is ultimately good enough. 1 S ... l:txfS

If 18 ... �xdl, White plays 19 tDd7 1 .

Bis hop 's Opening 19 l::t d 4 'fif3 20 l::tf4 'fih3 2 1 'ij'd 2 h 5 2 2 :1 g 3 'fi h 4 2 3 a4 .:te8 24 � b 1 ttJe4 2 5 i.xf7+ � h 8 2 6 'ilt'g2 ttJxg3 2 7 i.xe8 ttJf5 28 i.. g 6 'fie1+ 29 �a 2 'iVa 5 30 'iVe4 1-0

Game 41

N .Mitkov-G.Timoscenko

Lj u b lj a n a 2003 1 e4 e 5 2 i.. C4 ttJf6 3 d 3 c6 4 ttJf3 d 5 5 i.b3 i.d6 6 exd 5 ! ? cxd 5

By capturing on ds so quickly, White prevents Black from releasing the ten­ sion with 6 ttJc3 dxe4 (or indeed 6 ttJc3 d4). If Black i s not careful he coul d eas­ ily end up tran sposin g to De1chev­ Jovanic (Gam e 38). On the other h an d, the early pawn exchange does give Bl ack extra option s for development, the m ost significant of which i s the possibility of ... ttJc6. 6 ... ttJxds i s examined in the next g ame.

H . H am douchi-E. Bacrot, Paris 2002, Black in stead chose 8 ... d4 and the g ame continued 9 l:tel 0-0 10 ttJbd2 l:[e8 1 1 i.xf6 ! gxf6 (Black would much rather keep his pawn structure intact, but if 11 ... 'ii'xf6 White has 12 ttJe4 'iWg 6 1 3 ttJxd6 'iVxd6 14 ttJg s which looks prom­ ising) 12 ttJe4 i.e7. Here Lukacs's sug­ gestion of 1 3 ttJg 3, preventing .. .fs and intending to follow up with ttJh4, looks very sen sible and I prefer White's posi­ tion . I found that White could al so con­ sider sacrificing with 13 ttJh4! ? fs 14 "iWh s ! , and now either 14 .. .fxe4 15 i.xf7+ �f8 16 l'he4 or 14 ... i.. x h4 1 5 i.xf7+ �f8 16 i.xe8 'iWxe8 17 'iWxh4 fxe4 18 'fixe4. 7 ... i.e6

If 7 ... 'iWas+ 8 ttJbd2 i.e6 9 0-0 ttJc6, White can undermine Black's centre in a promising way by pl aying 10 C4! , as indicated by Lukacs.

7 i.. g 5

7 0-0 ttJc6 8 i.g s tran sposes to the main gam e after 8 ... i.e6 9 ttJC3 . In

For example, 10 ... 0-0 11 i.xf6 gxf6 12 cxds i.. x ds 13 ttJe4 with strong pressure again st Bl ack's king side weak­ nesses; or 10 ... d4 11 c s ! i.. x cs (ll ... 'iWxCs ? loses a piece to 12 i.xe6

187

Beating 1 e4 e5 fxe6 1 3 �xf6 gxf6 14 lDe4 'ilVb4 1 5 a3) 12 �xe6 fxe6 13 'ifb3, again with some advantage to White. 7 ... lDc6 8 0-0 �e6 9 lDc3 i s another way to tran spose to the m ain g ame, but in this line White has the possibil­ ity of 8 lDc3 ! ? forcing Black to m ake a commitment in the centre with 8 ... d4, since 8 ... �e6 9 �xf6 gxf6 10 �xds �xds 11 lDxds 'iWas+ 12 lDC3 �b4 13 0-0 �xC3 14 bxc3 'ilxc3 1 5 lDd2 looks good for White. V.lvanchuk-L.Domin­ guez, H avan a 2005, continued 9 lDds �e6 10 0-0 �xds 11 �xds h6 12 �xf6 'iWxf6 13 c3 dXc3 14 bXc3 0-0 15 l:tbl with an edge for White, m ainly be­ cause of his excellent bishop on ds. In his notes to Chess Informant 93, Ivanchuk gives 9 ... h 6 ! ? (in stead of the game's 9 ... �e6) 10 �xf6 gxf6 1 1 lDd2 .l:tg 8 ! ?, and now either 12 lDe4 ':'g6 1 3 0-0 �b8 14 f4 fs, o r 12 'i!Vh s :g6 1 3 0-0 �e6 14 l:tael �xds 15 �xds �b4 16 �e4 �xd2 17 �xg 6 fxg 6 18 'iVxg6+ 'iit d 7 19 J:le2 �b4 20 f4 �d6, both lead­ ing to unclear positions. My feeling, though, i s th at generally White's posi­ tion i s the easier to pl ay. Ivanchuk al so notes the possibility of 9 .. :ii'a s+ ! ? 10 �d2 'ii'd 8, and here I suggest 1 1 lDg s 0-0 12 'iWf3 . 8 0-0

8 lDc3 tran sposes to lines con sid­ ered below after 8 ... �C7 9 0-0 lDc6 or 8 .. :iVas 9 0-0 lDc6. 8 lDc61 As I mention ed previously, the early exchange of pawn s on ds does allow ...

188

Black to develop his queen's knight to its most active square, and the evi­ dence suggests th at thi s i s what he should do. 8 ... lDbd7 9 lDC3 'iWas 10 'iWel would tran spose directly into Delchev-Jovanic (Gam e 38). 9 lDC 3

Now Black needs to protect ds, since 9 ... d4 10 lDe4 �e7 1 1 �xe6 fxe6 12 'ii'e 2 looks better for White. 9 �C7 Thi s i s definitely the correct bishop retreat. 9 ... �e7 would protect ds and al so break the pin on the f6-knight, but White coul d then g ang up on the newly vulnerable es-pawn . 9 ... 'iWas ! ? i s a decent altern ative for Bl ack, though : a) White h as replied with 10 'iVel in a h andful of g ames, but to m e thi s m ove looks rather toothless when Bl ack's queen is protected, and there's nothing wrong with 10 ... d4 here. For example, 11 �xe6 dXc3 12 �b3 cxb2 13 %:tbl �b4 14 �d2 �xd2 15 'iWxd2 'iWcs 16 .l:!.xb2 0-0 with equality, J . Degraeve...

Bis hop 's Opening R.Hess, Cappelle l a Grande 2008. b) In stead of 10 'ii'e l, I suggest a less forcing approach . If Black castles kin g ­ side White will split his pawn s with .i.xf6, and in that scenario it's not to­ tally clear what the queen is doing on as. For example, 10 a3 ! ? (lining up the possibility of .i.a2 and b4)

10 ... 0-0 (if 10 ... d4, White has 1 1 .i.xe6 intending 1 1 ... dxC3 12 b 4 ! ) 11 .i.a2 (White can al so con sider 1 1 .i.xf6 gxf6 12 'ii'c l ! ? intending to m eet 12 ... �g 7 with 13 .i.xds ! .i.xds 14 b4; and al so just 11 .l:.el) 11 ... d4 (ll ... 'iVcs ! ?) 12 b4 'ii'd 8 13 .i.xe6 fxe6 14 ltJe4 .i.e7 15 .l:.el reaches a complex and roughly equal position in which White will look to exploit Bl ack's vul­ nerable centre pawn s and squares. 10 .l:.e1 In G . Kam sky- B.Gelfand, Bazn a 2009, White threw in 10 ltJb s but I don 't think thi s is worth doing. After 10 ... .i.b6 11 l:[el a6 12 ltJc3 Bl ack coul d just tran spose to the m ain game by playing 12 ... .i.c7 if he wanted to. More to the point, Gelfand's ambitious 12 .. :ii'd6 1 3

.i.h4 0-0 14 .i.xf6 gxf6 1 5 'ii'd 2 �g7 leaves Black with a m ore favourable version of the type of positions we see l ater on in the m ain gam e . 10 a6 A very useful move, which elimi­ n ates the possibility of ltJbs and al so .i.a4 - the l atter can now be answered by ... b S . 1 0 ... 0-0 has al so been pl ayed, but 10 ... a6 looks more flexible. In any case, if White plays 11 .i.h4 Black is likely to play ... a6 sooner or l ater: for example, 11 ... .l:.e8 12 h3 a6 tran sposing to the m ain game. 11 .i.h4 .•.

Thi s position is full of tension and it requires subtle play from both sides. The possibility of .i.xf6 is always hang­ ing in the air, but White has to be care­ ful with the timing of thi s move. If played too early, Bl ack might switch to castling queen side when it is he who will benefit from the opened king side. Even if Black castl es king side, a prema­ ture .i.xf6 might allow Bl ack to coordi­ nate with a quick ... �h 8 and ... .l:.g8.

18 9

Beating 1 e4 e5 11 �h4 is a useful move, as the new possibility of �g3 hitting the es-pawn gives Black something more to think about. 11 ... 0-0 12 h 3

More finesse from White, who i n ­ troduces the possibility o f tDh 2-g4. The immediate 1 2 �xf6 ? ! i s unwise, since 12 ... gxf6 13 'ii'd 2 h 8 followed by ... 1:[g8 100ks good for Black. However, 12 'ii'C l ! ? i s more promising, and contains a nasty trick. 12 ...I:tc8 1 3 �xf6 (13 h 3 ! ?) 13 ... gxf6 14 'iVh 6 is, according to Lu­ kacs, "not frightening because of the cold-blooded 14 ... tDas".

But Black's blood would indeed run cold if White unleashes 1 5 �xds ! , which i s crushing: l s . . . �xds 16 tDh4 �e6 17 tDe4 etc. It looks like Bl ack can survive, though, with 14 ... h 8 ! . If White does nothing amazing, ... .:g8 will be strong , but after 1 5 i.. x ds i.. x ds 16 tDxds 'ili'xds 17 'ii'xf6+ g 8 White has nothing bet­ ter than perpetual check. Fin ally, White h as to keep in mind the possibility of �g3, but pl ayed here

19 0

it is toothless: 12 �g 3 ? ! d4! (Bl ack ex­ ploits the fact th at the f6-knight is no longer pinned to free his position ) 1 3 tD b l (or 1 3 �xe6?! dxc3 14 � b 3 cxb2 1 5 .l::tb l e4!, D.Howell-E.Bacrot, Antwerp 2009) 13 ... �xb3 14 axb3 tDd7 with no problem s for Black, A.Needlem an­ G .5oppe, Ezeiza 2000. 12

•••

l::t e 8 1 3 tDh2

1 3 'ili'Cl ! ? i s again possible, and if 1 3 ...1i'd6 White must grab the bull by the horn s and continue with 14 �xf6 ! g xf6 1 5 1i'h 6. Play i s extremely compli­ cated, and probably roughly equal, but I would fancy White's chances more over the board. Here are just a few pos­ sible lines: l s ... 1i'd8 (if l s ... �d8 16 tDh 2 and Black cannot prevent tDg4 with 16 .. .fs ? because of 17 tDxd s ! exploiting the pin) 16 d4 (after 16 %:te3 h 8 17 �xds ! ? i.. x ds 18 tDxds "ili'xds 19 "ili'xf6+ g8 20 tDg s ! ? Bl ack can save him self with 20 ... ..td8 ! intending 21 tDe4 1i'xe4! 22 .l:[g 3 + 'ili'g 6 23 .l:[xg 6+ hxg6) 16 ... e4

17 1:txe4! dxe4 18 tDxe4 �xb3 19 tDxf6+ 'ili'xf6 20 'ili'xf6 �xc2 21 :tCl �d8 22 'ii'd 6 ..te7 23 1i'g 3 + �g6 24 ds tDb4

Bis hop 's Opening 2 5 d6 .i.f8 2 6 d7 :ed8 2 7 l:tC7 and it's not easy to judge for sure, but White is certainly on the front foot here. 13 :iWd6 ••

If 1 3 ... ttJd4 14 ttJg4 .1i.xg4 15 hxg4, Black cannot keep his strong knight on d4 without losing the ds-pawn . After lS ... ttJxb3 16 axb3 "iVd6 17 .i.xf6 gxf6 18 Vi'f3 Itad8 19 g 3 White can hope to increase the pressure with 'iii> g 2 and l:th 1. 1 3 ... .i.as, planning ... d4, i s a critical altern ative. After looking at thi s for a while I decided that White could sacri­ fice the exchange here: 14 ttJg4! .i.xg4 15 hxg4 d4 16 ttJe4 .1i.xel 1 7 'ilixe1 and I like White's compen sation .

17 ttJf3 e4? 18 "iVh 6+ is very good for White after either 18 ... 'iii> g 8 19 dxe4 dxe4 20 .l::[ x e4 ! , or 18 ... 'iii> e 7 19 dxe4 fxe4 20 l:tad1 ! ' However, 17 ... d4! is stronger after which the position remain s very unclear. 16 ttJg4 .i.d8

Timoscenko clearly wanted to avoid giving up the light squares with 16 ... .i.xg4 17 hxg4 ttJxb3 18 axb 3 .

17 �e 3 ?

14 .1i.xf6

Finally, with White in a better posi­ tion to exploit the con sequences, it is time for thi s capture. 14 ... gxf6 1 5 'iWh 5 ttJd4 lS ... fS ! ? is possible here, and it might be better than Black's choice in the g ame. After 16 'iWg S+ Black i s forced to play 16 ... 'iii>f8, as 16 .. 5,ii'h 8 ? run s into 17 'ikf6+ 'iii> g 8 18 ttJxdS ! . In thi s position

Mitkov errs at a critical moment, and the con sequences are fatal . The rook does need to get involved in the attack, but White chooses the wrong move order. 17 ttJh 6+! would have left Black with all the problems : a ) If 17 ... 'iii> g 7, 18 .l:[e3 ! gives White a much better version of the g ame - ba­ sically he g ains a cruci al tempo. Here 18 .. JU8 loses to 19 .i.xdS ! .i.xds 20 litg 3+ 'iii>h 8 2 1 "iVg4 forcing m ate. b) Moreover, again st 17 ... 'iii>f8 White can still play 18 �e3 planning 1:[g 3-g8+. Rybka i s equally keen on 18 .i.xdS ! .i.xds 19 ttJxdS 'ii'x ds 20 c3,

19 1

Beating 1 e4 e5 h4+ 'it>fs 48 cJi>cS f3 49 l:tb7 f2 so .:tf7+ 'it>e6 0-1

Game 42

V.Neved nichy-A.Beliavsky

E u ropea n C h a m pions h i p, Plovd iv 2008 1 e4 e S 2 .tC4 ttJf6 3 d 3 c6 4 ttJf3 d S S .tb3 .id6 6 exd s ttJxd S

intending 20 ... ttJc6 2 1 c4 Wd7 2 2 ttJfS ! when Bl ack i s forced t o give u p h i s queen t o avoid m ate. In summ ary, 17 ttJh 6+ looks very promising and seem s to give White a clear advantage. After 17 l:te3?, how­ ever, the tabl es turn very quickly. 17 .. .'�h81 18 ttJh6 lU8 19 :g31

Threatening .txdS, but here it's Black to move ... 19 ... fS !

... and thi s m akes all the difference. White's attack is stopped in its tracks and he finds his pieces, in particular the rook on g 3 , in very awkward posi­ tion s. 20 llel f4 2 1 :g4 fS! 2 2 :gs .txgs 23 'i!Vxg s ttJf3+!

Winning. The rest is of no interest. 24 gxf3 l:tg8 2S ttJxg8 lbg8 2 6 'iWxg8+ 'it>xg8 27 d4 e4 2 8 'it>fl 'it>f8 2 9 'it>e2 .tf7 30 ltgl .t h S 31 .ixd S .ixf3+ 32 'it>el 'ii'f6 33 ':'g8+ 'it>e7 34 .tb3 e3 3S fxe 3 'iWh4+ 3 6 'it>d2 'i!Vf2+ 3 7 'it>d3 .t e 2 + 3 8 ttJxe2 'iixe 3+ 3 9 'it>C4 'i¥xe2+ 4 0 'it> b 4 f3 41 1:[g7+ 'it>f6 42 l:txb7 f2 43 .tC4 flW 44 .:tb6+ 'it>gs 4S .txe2 'i¥xe2 46 c4 f4 47

19 2

Thi s move somehow feels inconsis­ tent - why play ... c6 before ... dS if you are going to recapture with the knight? - but it's actually quite a solid option for Bl ack. The resulting position s can be compared to simil ar ones reached in the ... dS lines of the Italian G ame. How do they compare? With the knight on dS firmly protected, Bl ack's position here h as a more solid feel, but on th e other hand his pieces are likely to be more passively placed. In particu­ l ar, the queen 's knight cannot use c6 and as a con sequence Black enjoys less control of the d4-square. 7 0-0 0-0

Bis hop 's Opening 8 .l:Ie1

8 liJbd2 i s an alternative move order which is well worth con sidering. The likelihood for transpositions into lines con sidered below i s very high : for ex­ ample, 8 ... �C7 9 .:tel liJd7 (or 9 .. J:te8), 8 ... l:te8 9 l:tel, or 8 ... liJd7 9 .l:.el. More to the point, if Bl ack plays 8 ... �g4 9 h 3 �h s White might keep the rook o n fl for the moment and continue with 10 liJe4 (or 10 liJC4 ! ?) 10 ... �C7 ll liJg 3 �g6 1 2 �g s f6 1 3 �d2 planning liJh4. 8 liJd7 Thi s h as been the most popular choice for Black, but attempts have also been m ade to avoid blocking in the c8bishop: a) The most active try i s 8 ... �g4, but here Black must be willing to g ambit a pawn in return for weakening White's kin g side. Thi s i s an idea we've seen previously, for example in the note to Bl ack's 9th move in Tiviakov- Ivani sevic (Game 3 2). The critical line run s 9 h 3 �h s 1 0 g4 � g 6 11 liJxe s, a s played in E.Alekseev-A.Shirov, Germ an League 2007. ...

Shirov cl aimed th at he "failed to find the full compen sation for a pawn both in the g am e and the analysi s", but it is worth noting that since then he h as been willing to offer the gambit ag ain, so perhaps he h as changed his mind. The g am e continued 11 ... �xe s (11 ... liJd7 ! ?) 12 l:txes liJd7 1 3 lIel 'ilVh4 14 'iVf3 l:[ae8. H ere Shirov gives 1 5 �d2 ! (rather than Alekseev's 1 5 lUl) l s ... .l:1.xel+ (or l s ... liJe s 16 'ifg 2 liJf4 17 �xf4 liJf3+ 18 'i¥xf3 l:txel+ 19 'iit g 2 'iVf6 20 'ilVg 3 ! 'ii'x b2 2 1 �d2 'ili'xal 2 2 �xel 'i¥xbl 2 3 �c3 ! and "White i s clearly better despite being the exchange down " - Shirov) 16 �xel l:te8 17 �C3 ! "and Bl ack seem s worse to me". (Here 17 liJc3 liJe s 18 'ii'g 3 also looks good for White.) It will be interesting to see fur­ ther developments in this line. If White doesn't want to grab the pawn he can pl ay 10 liJbd2 liJd7 1 1 liJe4 �c7, but objectively thi s should be okay for Black because he has solved the problem of activating his light� squared bishop. For example, 12 liJg 3 �g 6 13 a3 h 6 14 d4 exd4 1 5 'ifxd4 �b6 with level chances, S.Tiviakov-A.5hirov, Benidorm 2008. b) Black's other m ain option is 8 .. ..l!!. e 8 which both protects th e e s ­ pawn and keeps the c8-h 3 diagonal open for the bishop (it does commit the rook, but you can't have everything ! ). A typical continuation i s 9 liJbd2 �C7 10 liJe4 (10 h 3 ! ?) 10 ... �g4 11 h3 �h s 12 liJg 3 �g6 1 3 �g s 'iWd7 (Lukacs prefers 13 .. .f6 14 �d2 �f7 when I think White

193

Beating 1 e4 eS should still continue with 1 5 ltJh4 and ltJhfs) 14 ltJh4 ltJa6 15 ltJxg6 hxg6 and even though Black remain s solid, White's bishop pair counts for some­ thing, V.Tseshkovsky-G .Agzamov, Yere­ van 19S2. Looking at altern atives, 9 ltJg s as played in S.5ul skis-D.5emcesen, Borup 2009, is an interesting way to try and exploit the temporary weakening of f7:

9 ... l:te7 (if 9 ... h6, the critical try i s 10 ltJxf7 ! ? �xf7 11 c4 ltJf6 - or 11 ... .1i.b4 1 2 lie4! - 12 cs+ .1i. e 6 1 3 cxd6 'ilfxd6 1 4 .1i.e3 ltJbd7 l s ltJ(3) 10 'iVh s .1i.fs 1 1 ltJe4 (11 ltJc3 ! ?) 11 ... .1i.g 6 12 'ifh4 'ifd7 1 3 ltJbd2 (again 1 3 ltJbC3 ! ? comes into the reckoning) 1 3 ... ltJa6 14 ltJf3 .1i.c7 1 5 .1i.g s 1:teeS ( l s .. .f6?? i s answered by 1 6 .1i.xf6 ! ) 16 l:.adl .1i.dS ( 1 6 .. .fs ! ? might be stronger) 17 .1i.xdS .l:r.axdS lS ltJg 3 f6 19 d4 exd4 20 ':xeS+ .l:lxeS 21 'ii'x d4 bs 2 2 a4! and by now White was doing very well. g ltJbd2 White can al so ch ange the character of the position entirely by playing 9 d4! ? exd4 10 .1i.xds ! cxds 1 1 'ilfxd4,

1 94

leavin g Black with an IQP.

From the evidence so far, it looks like Black's best chance of equality is to offer to sacrifice the pawn for some activity: 11 ... .1i.cs ! (11 ... ltJb6 12 .1i.f4 .1i.fs 13 .1i.xd6 'ili'xd6 14 ltJa3 l eaves White with a small but comfortable edge, S.Tiviakov-J.Granda Zuniga, El Sauzal 200S) 12 'ili'd3 ! ? (after 12 'ifxds 'ifb6 13 .l:te2 ltJf6 14 'ilfb3 'ilfa6 1 5 ltJC3 .1i.e6 16 'ifa4 'ifb6 Bl ack's activity provided suf­ ficient compensation in S.Tiviakov­ A.5tefanova, Wijk aan Zee 2004) 12 ... 'ifb6 13 :te2 ltJf6 14 ltJc3 .1i.g4 (Mik­ h alevski prefers 14 ... .1i.d7 ! 15 .1i.e3 .1i.xe3 16 ':xe3 ltaeS, and I agree that thi s just about equalizes) 1 5 ltJa4 'ir'c6 16 ltJxcs 'it'xcs 1 7 .1i.e3 'ilfc4 is 1:[d2 ! 'ilVxd3 19 ':xd3 .1i.xf3 20 g xf3 was A.Morozevich­ B.Gelfand, Biel 2009. Thi s i s a good position for White, who h as a much stronger minor piece. Let's see how Morozevich nurtured his advantag e : 20 ... 1:tfeS 2 1 litb3 .l:te7 2 2 1:[ d l 1:[cS 2 3 .1i.xa7 ! ? ':'xc2 24 .1i.e3 (White's pawn m ajority h as great po­ tenti al, whereas Black's d-pawn can 't

Bis hop 's Opening get going and i s just a liability) 24 ...l:td7 25 �bs h6 26 a4 ':'C4 27 b3 .l:.h4 28 f4 .l:th s 29 �g 2 liJe4 30 l:td4 ':'d6?? (a blunder, but Black was already strug­ gling) 3 1 .l:txe4! and Black resigned. Overall, 9 d4 i s certainly worth con­ sidering if you enjoy playing again st the IQP. 9 ... �c7 Black takes prophylactic action against either liJe4 or liJC4. The altern ative is to drop the bishop back to f8. The g ame S.Conquest­ R.Cifuentes Parada, Olot 1994, provides a good advert for White's chan ces: 9 ... .l:te8 10 liJe4 �f8 (10 ... �c7 tran s­ poses to the m ain g ame) 1 1 �d2 ! b6? (Black should play 1 1 ... h 6 - Cifuentes) 12 d4! (Black i s not well placed to m eet thi s pawn break) 12 ... �b7 13 c4 liJsf6 14 liJxf6+ 'iVxf6 1 5 dxe s ! liJxe s 16 l:txe s ':'xe s 17 �C3 �d6 18 c s ! (thi s i s very strong) 18 ... bxcs 19 liJxe s �xes 20 "iVd7 �xc3 2 1 'i!Vxb7 and White won. 10 liJe4

10 ... .l::[ e 8

Reg ardless of whether or not Bl ack

is going to play ... .l:.e8, it might be more accurate to begin with 10 ... h6 which eliminates the possibility of �g s (see the next note). Al so, after 11 �d2 Bl ack has alternatives to tran sposing to th e m ain game: a) 11 ... �h 8 (planning .. .fs) 12 h 3 ! ? ( 1 2 liJg 3 ? ! a s 1 3 a 3 fs i s fi n e for Black, M. Kobalija-A.Motylev, Sochi 2007) 12 ... as 1 3 a3 fs ? ! (but thi s i s prem a­ ture)

14 liJc3 ! (explaining White's deci­ sion to keep the knight on e4; after a knight exch ange, the bi shop will come to c3 to pressure the es-pawn) 14 ... liJxC3 1 5 �xC3 "iVf6 16 lir.e3 b6 17 'i!i'e2 f4 18 :e4 liJcs (if 18 ...�b7, White plays 19 d4) 19 ..txes ..txes 20 l:txe s liJxb3 2 1 cxb3 �a6 2 2 "iVe4 cs 2 3 .l:tel with a clear advantage for White, European V.Nevednichy-D. Fridm an, Ch ., Plovdiv 2008. b) 11 ... liJ7f6 12 liJg 3 (12 liJxf6+ 1Ii'xf6 13 d4! ? is interesting, the idea being to m eet 1 3 ... exd4?! with 14 �xds ! cxds 15 ..tb4 �d6 16 ..txd6 'ifxd6 17 'ii'xd4 with a clear positional edge) 12 ... l:te8 13 h 3

195

Beating 1 e4 e5 as 14 a3 a4 1 5 .lia2 .lid7 ! 16 liJh4?! (White should continue with 16 c3 in­ tending 'iV(2) 16 ... e4! was Z. Efimenko­ T. Paehtz, European (h., Dresden 2007. Black i s at least equal at thi s point, since neither capture on e4 helps White: 17 dxe4 .lixg 3 18 fxg 3 liJxe4, or 17 liJxe4 liJxe4 18 ':'xe4 ':'xe4 19 dxe4 Wxh4 20 exds i.. xh 3 ! .

which temporarily took some pressure off the centre, but N evednichy's con­ vincing respon se demon strates that it's prem ature. After 1 3 ... liJg6 White can continue actively with 14 'ilVh s or 14 liJg4! ?, but in truth there's not a great deal wrong with Black's position .

11 h3

Of course White isn't obliged to m ove the knight, since 14 .. .fxe4 15 dxe4 reg ains the piece in view of the pin . N aturally Beliavsky realized this, but probably he underestim ated White's piece activity after .. .fs .

11 i.. g s ! ? induces 11 . . .f6 and follow­ ing 12 .lid2 �h 8 13 h3 liJf8 14 d4! exd4 1 5 liJxd4 White has a typical small ad­ vantage (better king position, slightly more active pieces), M.Bosboom ­ A.Raetsky, H afnarfjordur 1998. 11 ... h 6 12 .lid2 liJf8

Black can still play 12 ... liJ7f6 but Be­ liavsky's choice i s al so reason able as the knight can reroute to g6. It's only the next move where Black starts to go wrong . 1 3 liJ h 2 ! ?

14 'ii' h s l

14 ... liJh7?!

It's possible that Black's best bet is in fact to take the knight. After 14 .. .fxe4 1 5 dxe4 .lie6 16 exds cxds 17 litadl White's position is the more favour­ able, as the centre pawn s could come under heavy pressure, but thi s is far better for Black th an what he gets in the g ame. l S liJf3 !

13 . . .fS?!

Thi s advance looks tempting, and I'm sure Beliavsky must h ave felt it was justified after White's previous m ove

196

lS .. J::tf8?

Sheer panic! Moving the rook back

Bis hop 's Opening to f8 looks wrong, and it is. Good or bad, Bl ack should probably try l s ... �e6 16 lLlcS 'ili'f6.

th at 19 ... �e6 20 lLle4 .l:tfS isn't a great deal of fun for Bl ack, White still has some work to do.

16 lLlc3 !

20 lLlxd 5 ! cxd 5 2 1 �C3 .l:te8 2 2 'iff3

Simple, and very strong . White win s a pawn by force: for example, 16 ... lLlhf6 17 'iVg 6 'iVe8 18 'iVxe8 !Ixe8 19 lLlxdS lLlxdS (or 19 ... cxdS 20 �c3 ! ) 20 �f4 ! . However, the g am e provides another twi st. 16 ...f4 17 'iVh4?

17 lLlxe s ! is completely crushing. My only guess is that both players over­ looked that 17 .. JUS loses to 18 lLlxc6 ! : for example, 18 . . .bxc6 19 .l:te8+ lLlf8 20 lLlxdS cxdS 2 1 .l:txd8 l:txh S 22 ':'xd S ! . 17 ... lLlg5

Even though 17 'iVh4 was a mistake, there was a beautiful point to it. If Black plays 17 ... 'iVxh4?, White is not obliged to recapture the queen .

Winning a key centre pawn, after which Black's position soon collapses. 2 2 ... �e6 2 3 �xe 5 �a5 24 c3 �f7 2 5 'i¥g4 .l:.e6 2 6 �d4 'i¥e7 2 7 !:txe6 1-0

27 ... �xe6 28 lIe1 ! is pretty convinc­ ing. Apart from the slight slip on move 17, thi s was a very nice game from Nevednichy. The good news - from our perspective - is th at thi s game demon­ strates it's easy even for a world-cl ass grandm aster to misplay Black's posi­ tion .

Game 43

G.Pa pp-D.l ppolito

Lu bbock 2009

In stead 18 lLlxdS ! ! leaves Bl ack with no good reply: 18 ... 'iVh S 19 lLlf6+, or 18 .. :i!i'd8 19 lLle7+ �h 8 20 lLlg6 m ate.

1 e4 e5 2 �C4 lLlf6 3 d3 c6 4 lLlf3 d5 5

18 lLlxg5 hxg5 19 'i¥h 5 �f5 ?

�b3 a 5

All in all , thi s was not a good day at the office for Beliavsky. While it's true

By threatening t o trap White's bishop, Black succeeds in gaining some

197

Beating 1 e4 e5 space on the queen side. Although he lost the game, thi s move became popu­ l ar for a while after it was used by Ev­ geny Bareev against G arry Kasparov.

Bl ack's other m ain alternative to 5 ... �d6 i s 5 ... �b4+.

At first sight you could easily accuse thi s of being a beginners' m ove: patzer sees a check, patzer plays a check. But 5 ... �b4+ actually contains a subtl e idea. The point i s to provoke c2-c3, af­ ter which Black retreats to d6 safe in the knowledge th at, in contrast to pre­ vious g ames in thi s ch apter, White can no longer attack the d5-pawn with ttJC3. The key debate is whether or not

1 98

it's worth spending a tempo to achieve this. White has two options: a) 6 �d2 often leads to simplified positions which are m arginally better for White. Some examples: 6 ... �xd2+ 7 ttJbxd2 ttJbd7 (or 7 ... dxe4 8 ttJxe5 0-0 9 dxe4 ttJxe4 10 ttJdf3 ttJd7 1 1 0-0 ttJxe5 12 ttJxe 5 with a persistent edge be­ cause of the pressure on f7, B.Larsen­ J . Nunn, London 1986) 8 0-0 0-0 9 :el l:te8 (after 9 ... d4 10 C3! c5 1 1 cxd4 cxd4 1 2 ttJC4 'ii'e 7 1 3 'ii'd 2 b6 14 a3 ttJC5 1 5 � C 2 ttJfd7 16 b 4 ttJb7 1 7 �a4 ttJd6 1 8 l:tacl White was better in R. Berzin sh­ Z.Gyimesi, Stockerau 1993) 10 d4! ? exd4! ( 1 0. . .dxe4?! 1 1 ttJg 5 ! .:te7 1 2 ttJdxe4 ttJxe4 1 3 .l:txe4 leaves Black in trouble, with f7 difficult to defend) 11 exd5 l:txel+ 12 'ilr'xel cxd5 (or 12 ... ttJxd5 13 �xd5 cxd5 14 ttJxd4 ttJf6 15 'ii'e 3 'iib 6 16 litel �d7 17 ttJ2b 3 , W.so­ E .Torre, Manila 2006) 1 3 ttJxd4 ttJC5 14 c3 �d7 15 ttJ2f3 'ii'b 6 16 'ii'd 2, R. Kasim dzhanov-L.Chri stian sen, Yere­ van 1996. Black i s very close to equality in these IQP positions, but I would still rather be White. b) 6 c3 l eads to more tension -filled positions after 6 ... �d6, and now: bl) Warnin g ! The idea of delaying castling in favour of the typical 'ii'e 2 and ttJbd2-fl pl an i s flawed here, as Tiviakov found to his cost: 7 ttJbd2 0-0 8 'iVe2 ttJbd7 9 ttJfl ? ! ttJC5 ! 10 il.c2 b 6 ! (planning ... �a6) 11 b 3 ? ! dxe4 1 2 dxe4 �a6 13 c4 ttJe6 14 ttJg 3 �b4+ ! 15 �1 b5!,

Bi s hop 's Opening

and White's position was not a h appy one in S.Tiviakov-K. Lahno, Beni­ dorm (rapid) 2008, although Tiviakov did turn the g am e around later. b2) More recently, Tiviakov has cho­ sen the modest plan 7 0-0 0-0 8 l:.el (S.Tiviakov-A.PridoTOzhni, Moscow 2009). It's likely that Black will have to capture on e4 sooner or later, leaving a symmetrical structure. In this case White's gained tempo with c2-c3 must make a difference, and he can also point to a more active king's bishop. Let's see a few more moves of the game: 8 ... dxe4 9 dxe4 lLla6 10 .ltg s lLlcs 11 .ltC2 h6 12 .lth4 as 13 lLlbd2 bs 14 lLlfl g s .

Tiviakov is pretty scathing about thi s move: "I would h ave never m ade thi s move, critically weakening the king side. Of course, now (and in the immedi ate future) White has no mean s t o exploit it by organizing a direct at­ tack; but since all the pieces are still on board, White can l ater exploit thi s weakness which i s wh at eventually came about in thi s g ame." The g ame continued 1 5 .ltg 3 "ilJe7 16 lLl3d2 .lte6 17 lLle3 .:tad8 18 'ike2 .ltC7 19 lLlfs .ltxfs 20 exfs with a significant advantage for White. s ... lLlbd7 is less flexible than s ... .ltd6, althoug h in practice it usually ends up tran sposing. For example, 6 0-0 .ltd6 7 exd s ! lLlxds (if 7 ... cxds the premature knight development is felt after 8 .ltg s ! , and here 8 . . .d4 9 lLlbd2 0-0 1 0 lLlC4 .ltC7 1 1 .:tel .l:.e8 12 .lta4! causes Black prob­ l ems, as indicated by Cifuentes) 8 lLlbd2 0-0 9 l:[el reaches N evednichy­ Beliavsky (Game 42). Fin ally, S ... dxe4?! 6 lLlg s i s known to be good for White. After 6 ... .lte6 White has a pleasant choice between 7 lLlxe6 fxe6 8 .ltxe6 and 7 .ltxe6 fxe6 8 lLlxe4; or if 6 ... .ltg4 White plays 7 .ltxf7+ �e7 8 1!r'd2, when 8 ... h 6 fails to 9 'iYb4+. 6 a3

Kasparov's choice was 6 lLl c 3 and thi s remain s a critical option even though improvements have been found for Black. The m ain line run s 6 ... .ltb4 (6 ... d4 7 lLlxe s ! i s good for White) 7 a3 .ltxc3+ 8 bxc3 and now we h ave:

199

Beating 1 e4 e5 11el, as in our m ain g ame) 9 ...ltJxC3 10 bXc3 0-0 1 1 :el "fiIC7 12 d4 b6 (M.Adam s-A.5hirov, Sarajevo 1999) and here one possibility i s 1 3 'iVd3 intend­ ing 13 ... ..ta6 14 'ii'f S. 6 ... a4

a) The stem game, G . Kasparov­ E.Bareev, Lin ares 1993, went S ... ltJbd7 9 exds ltJxds 10 0-0 0-0 1 1 1:tel ! .l:!.eS (if 11 ... ltJxC3 there follows 12 'ii'd 2 ltJbs 1 3 ..t b 2 e 4 14 ltJg S with a strong initiative, as indicated by Kasparov) 12 c4 ltJe7 1 3 ltJg s h 6 1 4 ltJe4 and the potential of the bishop pair gave White some ad­ vantage. b) S ... a4! (thi s i s useful as it fixes the a3-pawn and prevents a4 and ..ta3) 9 ..ta2 'ii'd 6 10 0-0 0-0 11 exds cxdS (again st 11 ... ltJxds Tiviakov suggests 12 'ii'e l ltJd7 1 3 c4 or 1 3 11bl with an edge for White) 12 h3 ltJc6 1 3 ]:tel (or 13 Itbl ! ? - Tiviakov) 1 3 ... lleS 14 ..tg s with a complex and roughly equal position, S.Tiviakov- K. Landa, Reggio Emilia 2007. White's other option is 6 a4. The m ain thing to remember here i s th at Bl ack i s likely to meet exds with ... ltJxds rather th an ... cxdS, as the latter would leave a hole on b S . For example, 6 ... ltJbd7 (if 6 ... ..tb4+ White should pl ay 7 c3 - compare S ... ..tb4+) 7 exds ltJxds S 0-0 ..td6 9 ltJc3 ! ? (White can of course play more typically with 9 ltJbd2 0-0 10

200

The two m ain advantages of 6 a3 are th at White's bishop can rest peace­ fully on a2 and he no longer has to worry about ... ..tb4. The disadvantage is that in some lines Black finds the extra space on the queenside useful . If 6 ... ..td6 White goes ahead with 7 exds or 7 ltJc3, reaching either similar position s or ones which directly tran s­ pose. I don 't see a convincing reason for Black to delay ... a4. 7 ..ta2 ..td6

8 exd 5

White's m ain choice here has been S ltJc3 and now: a) S ... dxe4 9 ltJg 5 0-0 10 ltJcxe4 ltJxe4 11 ltJxe4 ..tfS ! . Black follows the sam e formul a we saw in the m ain line - Efimenko-Golod, G ame 39, but White gains slightly in comparison because his light-squared bishop is safe from

Bis hop 's Opening harassment by ... tiJcs : 1 2 'iVf3 �xe4 1 3 dxe4 tiJd7 1 4 0-0 � c s 1 5 ': d l with a small edge, B.Michiels-K.Maslak, Par­ dubice 2009. Other m oves for Bl ack are inferior: for example, 11 ... �e7? ! 12 'ilih s ! tiJd7 1 3 0-0 intends f4 and i s good for White, G . Lane-L.Henris, Brus­ sel s 1995. b) 8 ... d4 i s simil ar to s ....i.d6 6 tiJc3 d4. After 9 tiJe2 cs 10 tiJg 3 tiJc6 11 0-0 it's difficult to tell which side, if any, has benefitted from the extra moves. Black i s further advanced on the queen side, but White's bishop i s once again safer from harassment on a2 than on b 3 . c ) 8 ... �e6 ! ? h a s been Black's m ain choice. 9 �g s and now:

Cl) 9 ... d4 i s solid: 10 tiJe2 h 6 1 1 �h4 (perh aps White should stay on the cl­ h 6 diagon al with 11 �d2 ! ?) 11...tiJbd7 12 �g 3 cs 13 c3 'iib 6 14 0-0 0-0 with an equal position, A. Borisenko-S.Mikheev, Moscow 2008. c2) If 9 .. :.as 10 0-0 tiJbd7 there's a significant difference from Delchev­ Jovanic (Game 38). Because of the ad-

vance of the a-pawn, Black's queen i s protected o n as, and so there are no tricks involving the X-ray with 11 'iVel. In view of this, I suggest 10 �xf6 ! ? gxf6 11 0-0 in stead. White's intention is to meet 11...tiJd7 with 12 d4! , which looks quite promising to me. (3) 9 ... :as ! ? i s a creative way to use the as-square: 10 0-0 tiJbd7 and now 11 d4! causes Black a few problem s:

11...h6 {I think White h as an advan­ tage after either 11...exd4 12 'iVxd4 or 11...0-0 12 exds cxdS 13 dxe s tiJxes 14 .l:.el) 12 �xf6 (12 exds ! ?) 12 ..:iVxf6 13 'iVel ! ? (this is interesting, but 1 3 'ii'd 2 ! with similar ideas looks stronger to me) 13 ... b6 14 dxe s tiJxe s i s tiJxe s �xe s 16 exds cxdS 17 �xdS 0-0 (17 ... .i.xd S ! 18 tiJxds ':xdS 19 f4 0-0 20 fxe s 'iVxes must be equal) 18 �xe6 fxe6 19 .l:tdl �xh 2+?? (White i s only slightly better after 19 ... �xc3 20 bx(3) 20 �xh 2 l:.h s+ 2 1 �g l 'iVf4 2 2 'it'xe6+ �h 8 2 3 'ii'd 6 and 1-0, V.lnkiov-P.Mein sohn, Lyon 2006. Returning to 8 exds, Black must make the usual deci sion : whether to recapture with the pawn or the knight.

201

Beating 1 e4 e5 8 ... ttJxd 5

8 ... cxdS seem s fully pl ayable too. For example, 9 ttJc3 i.e6 10 i.g s (or 10 0-0 ttJc6 11 i.g s lias ! ?) 10 ... d4? ! (I'm not convinced by this; Black should cer­ tainly con sider 10 ... "iVas here, or 10 ... .:!as) 11 ttJe4 i.xa2 12 i.. xf6 ! g xf6 13 l:[xa2 fS 14 ttJg 3 ! 'ilf6 1 5 c3 dxc3 16 bXc3 ttJc6 17 0-0 0-0 18 ttJd2 �h 8 19 'ile2 f4? ! 20 ttJge4 'ii'e 6 2 1 ttJC4 i.e7 22 ':b2 and White was beginning to take control in M.Sebag -S. Prudnikova, Re­ thymnon 2003.

probably choose o n e o f 1 0 ... ttJd7, 10 ... l:te8 or 10 ... i.. g 4 - compare the Nevednichy-Beliavsky g ame. 11 ttJ b d 2 i.g4 12 h 3 i. h 5 1 3 ttJe4 ttJ d 7

9 0-0 0-0 1 0 :e1

10 ttJbd2 first is al so possible. 14 ttJg3 1

Thi s i s much better than 1 4 ttJxd6. White wants to eliminate a black bishop, but he is going after the stronger one ! 1 4 i.g6 1 5 ttJh41 . . •

If White can force thi s knight-for­ bishop exchan g e without having to m ake any concessions, the chances are he will come out with at least a slight advantage. We've now reached a position very similar to the one seen in the previous g ame, Nevednichy-Beliavsky. The extra m oves on the queenside don 't change things significantly. 10 ... 'ilC7?1

At first sight there doesn 't appear to be anything wrong with thi s m ove at all , but I can't escape the feeling that Black's queen i sn 't particularly well pl aced on c7, or at least Black shoul d use the tempo elsewhere. H e should

202

15

..•

.:tfe8 16 ttJxg6 hxg6 1 7 h 4 1

Bis hop 's Opening Papp's play in thi s g am e provides an excellent demon stration of how to ex­ ploit White's edge in thi s type of posi­ tion . The h5 push will nibble away at Black's kingside pawn cover and fur­ ther expose some light-squared weak­ nesses. 1 7 ... liJ7f6 18 h s liJxh s 19 liJxh s gxh S 20 'ii'x h s liJf4 2 1 'ili'fs l

Even though the bishop o n c1 h as yet to play a part in the g ame, White wasn 't about to give up his bishop pair. 21 ... liJe6 22 :e4

The m ajor pieces are beginning to l and on strong outposts. White is ex­ ploiting to the full Black's lack of light­ squared control . 22

.••

In a difficult position to play, Ip­ polito falters. 25 ... .i.f8 ! provides much needed support for the king and would h ave kept Black firmly in the contest. 2 6 .te3 1

It's possible that Ippolito h ad over­ looked th at thi s move was possible, due to the tactic 26 ... .txe3 27 fxe3 (threat­ ening lIfl) 27 ... liJg 5 28 .txf7+! liJxf7 29 .:tfl. 2 6 ...lIa s ?

As so often h appen s, one error 'logi­ cally' follows another. Even here, 26 ... .i.f8 is Black's best move. 27 nfl !

'it'e7 2 3 'ii' h 3 'ii'f6 24 .l:th4 g6 2 S

l:t h 7 !

I really like Papp's focussed plan of action on the kin g side. Some players m ay have been tempted to take a time out to develop the queen's bishop and rook, but Papp appreciated that it was more important to firstly tie Black down to passive defence. 2 S ... .t C S ?

The threats are beginning to mount. One idea is 28 g4! and then 29 .txe6 ':'xe6 30 g 5 followed by m ate down the h -file. It's too l ate for passive defence. For example, 27 ... .tf8 28 f4! exf4 29 ':xf4! liJxf4 (or 29 ... l:tf5 30 .txe6 ':xe6 3 1 .td4 ! ) 30 .txf7+ 'ii'xf7 3 1 ':'h 8+ 'it>g 7 3 2 .td4+ lIae 5 3 3 .txe 5+ l:txe 5 34 'ii'h 6+ 'it>f6 35 l:txf8 and White wins. Bl ack's attempt to gain counterplay is met by a convincing refutation :

203

Beating 1 e4 e5 27 ... e4 28 dxe4 'iix b2 29 .id2!

G ame over: White threatens both 30 .ixas and 30 .iC3. 29 .. J:tbS 30 .ie3 'iix e3 3 1 Vi'xe 3 'iitx h7 3 2 .ie41 .id4 3 3 'iVd 3 .ies 34 .ixbs exbs 35 'iWxbs li!.e7 3 6 'iWxa4 b6 37 :d1 4:Jgs 3 8 li!.e1 fS 3 9 e S 4:Je4 40 J:[xe4 fxe4 41 'iVxe4 .ixa 3 42 'iVh4+ 'iitg 7 43 'iif6+ 'iit h 6 44 f4 .ies+ 45 'iitf1 'iit h 7 46 g4 J:[g7 47 e4 1-0

Game 44

M.Sebag-A.Stefa nova

Rethym non 2003

in the Two Knights Defence with 4 d3 (Chapter Four). The difference, of course, is that Bl ack has a pawn on c6 rather than a knight. To some extent thi s mean s his position is more flexible. The flipside is that often he exerts less pressure on White's centre. Indeed, in the notes to thi s g am e we see several examples of White being able to ar­ range the d3 -d4 advance much earlier th an in analogous positions with ... 4:Jc6. 5 0-0

Make sure you don't get caught out by s 4:Jxe s ? ? 'iWas+! S

1 e4 e S 2 .ie4 4:Jf6 3 d 3 e6 4 4:Jf3 .ie7

By pl aying this move, Black i s set­ tling for a set-up with ... d6 in stead of ... dS. In fact the immediate 4 ... d6 i s sometimes played a n d virtually always tran sposes (but it's always worth l ay­ ing a trap ! ) . In contrast t o the criti cal 4 ... dS, gen­ eral ideas become more important than move sequences. The resulting position s are simil ar to those reached

204

•••

d6

Ivan Sokolov once played S ... bS again st me, cl aiming some space on the queenside. Thi s idea doesn 't look bad, but it hasn 't caught on : 6 .ib3 d6 7 c3 as ! ? 8 4:Jbd2 (8 a4! ?, preventing Bl ack's expan sion pl an s on the queen­ side, i s a suggestion from Lukacs; he gives 8 ... b4 9 .l:!.el 0-0 10 d4 4:Jbd7 11 4:Jbd2 with a slight advantage for White) 8 ... a4 9 .ic2 0-0 10 d4 4:Jbd7 11 li!.e l lle8 12 4:Jfl .if8 13 4:Jg 3 'iWC7 14 h3 g 6 1 5 .ie3 .ig7 (lS ... .ib7 ! ?) 16 'iVd2 4:Jf8 17 .id3 4:Je6 18 li!.acl .id7 (J . Emms-I,Sokolov, Hastings 2000/01). In thi s position, in stead of 19 c4? ! al ­ lowing 19 ... exd4 20 4:Jxd4 bxc4 2 1 4:Jxe6 .ixe6 2 2 .ixC4 with equality, I could h ave kept a small plus with 19 .ibl cS 20 dS 4:Jd8. Black has al so played S ... 'iWC7, seem­ ingly keeping the option open of either ... d6 or ... dS. There's nothing wrong

Bis hop 's Open ing with thi s move per se, but after 6 ':el 0-0 7 .ib3 Black really has nothing bet­ ter than ... d6, in which case why com­ mit the queen so early?

noeuvre his own queen 's knight to g 3 : 6 . . .ttJbd7 7 l:[el ttJfS S ttJbd2 ttJg6 9 ttJfl 0-0 10 .ib3 .

6 c3

White has numerous ways to play thi s position, but I'm going to sti ck with the book's philosophy and choose C2-c3 lines where suitable. Those looking for something slightly different could do worse th an investi­ g ate 6 !tel 0-0 7 ttJbd2 ttJbd7 S a3 ! ? Here are two examples, from m any: S .. :iVC7 9 .ia2 b5 10 ttJfl as 11 ttJg 3 ttJC5 12 c3 .ie6 1 3 d4 .ixa2 14 l:[xa2 ttJe6 15 b3 :feS 16 l:.d2 .ifS 17 .ib2 l:tadS with a typical edge for White, V.An and- I .Sokolov, London (rapid) 1995; or S ... ttJC5 9 ttJfl d5 ! ? 10 exd5 cxdS l l .ia2 e4 12 dxe4 ttJcxe4 13 .ie3 a6 (J . Nunn -E . Rozentalis, Hastings 1997/9S) and here 14 .id4 followed by ttJe3 pressures the ds-pawn . 6

•••

0-0

Black has occasion ally delayed cas­ tling to carry out the ... ttJ(bS)-d7-fS-g 6 plan, again st which White should m a-

T o m e , this looks a bit like some po­ sition s from Ch apter Three, with the difference that Black's dark-squared bishop is less actively posted. The game Romanian A.Fedorov-V. lordachescu, Team Ch . 2006, continued 10 ... h 6 (or 10 ... ttJh S 11 d4 ttJhf4 12 ttJg 3 ) 11 ttJg 3 ttJh 7 (Fedorov prefers 1 1 ... l:!.eS) 12 d4 ttJg s 13 ttJfS ttJxf3+?! (and here 13 ... .if6 is better) 14 'iVxf3 .ie6 1 5 'iVh 5 .ixb3 16 axb3 l:!.eS 17 dxe s dxe s lS l:!.dl (White is firmly in control now) ls .. :iVcs 19 .ixh 6 ! gxh 6 20 ttJxh 6+ 'it1S 2 1 ttJfS 'litg S 2 2 l:td3 with a winning attack: 2 2 ... .if6 2 3 :h 3 l:tdS 24 g4! 'iVe6 2 S g s l:!.d7 2 6 gxf6 'iYxf6 2 7 �h l l:.adS 2S :g l �fS 29 'iVh 6+ 'liteS, and here 30 'iVh S+! capped off a very nice game for White. 7 .ib3 ttJbd7 7 ... .ig4 transposes to the note on S ... ttJcS, below, after S h3 .ih s 9 .l:tel ttJbd7 10 ttJbd2 ttJC5 11 .ic2. Tiviakov has tried 9 .ie3 ! ? (in place of 9 :el), adopting the same plan of discouraging

205

Beating 1 e4 e5 ...tLlcs as the one he has chosen in a similar position (see the note on 9 i.e3 in Malakhov-Carlsen, Game 3 1). Let's follow the game S.Tiviakov-P.Haba, Neustadt an den Weinstrasse 2008: 9 ... tLlbd7 10 tLlbd2 dS ! (10 ... tLlcS ? loses a pawn to 11 i.xcs dxcS 12 g4 - the point behind 9 i.e3) 11 'ii'e 2 dxe4 12 dxe4 'fiC7 13 l:tfel i.cs 14 i.g S ! ? h6 15 i.h4 (this looks equal, but just watch how once again Tiviakov works his magic and squeezes something from the posi­ tion) lS ... i.g 6 16 ..tg 3 tLlh S 17 ..th 2 tLlf4 18 i.xf4 exf4 19 eS :ae8 20 'fiC4 'fib6 2 1 l:1e2 'iVbs 2 2 'iVxbs cxbS 2 3 i.ds .l:.e7 24 e6 tLlb6 25 exf7+ i.xf7 26 ':xe7 i.xe7 27 i.xb7 tLla4 28 ..tc6 a6 29 C4 ..tf6 30 cxbS ..txb2 3 1 l:.bl i.xa2 ? 3 2 llxb 2 ! tLlxb2 3 3 bxa6 .:tf7 3 4 tLles :C7? (34... .:.e7 i s the only chance) 3 5 i.b7 ':cl+ 3 6 �h 2 tLla4 37 a7 tLlb6 38 tLld7 ! tLla8 39 i.xa8 :C7 40 i.b7 and Black resigned. 8 l:.el l:te8 Planning the typical ... h 6, ... i.f8 and ... g 6 regrouping idea. 8 ... tLlcS 9 i.c2 i.g4 is perh aps Black's m ost solid option here.

206

The idea, one that we've seen before in Ch apter Four, is to relieve pressure by exchanging two sets of minor pieces. If Bl ack achieves his aim he is very close to gaining full equality. As far as I can see, B.Gelfand-A.Yusupov, Munich 1994, remain s a key g ame, and I'm surprised Black hasn 't chosen this route m ore often : 10 h 3 i.h s 11 tLlbd2 tLle6 12 tLlf1 tLld7 ! 13 tLlg 3 ..txf3 14 'fixf3 g 6 ! (the immedi ate 14 ... i.g S is met by 1 5 tLlfS and here 1 5 ...i.xCl 16 lIaxcl tLlf6 17 d4 i s slightly awkward for Black) 15 i.e3 (or 15 i.h 6 l:te8 16 l:Xadl ..tg S) lS ... ..tg s 16 lladl i.xe3 17 'i!Vxe3 and here Yusupov suggests 17 ... 'fWb6 with an equal position. One alternative worth con sidering i s 11 i.e3 tLle6 1 2 tLlbd2. True, in com­ parison to Tiviakov's plan White has 'missed the boat' with i.xcS . On the other h and, after 1 2 ... tLld7 White can play 13 'ii'C l ! ? Thi s worked well in W. Kruimer-G.5hell, correspondence 2001, after 13 ... i.f6 14 d4 tLlb6 15 a4 c5 16 dxcS dxcS 17 as tLld7 18 i.a4. Check­ ing thi s again, though, I'm not really sure why Black avoided the obvious 13 ... tLlg S . Perh aps White's idea is to pl ay 14 i.dl ! ? Looking at other ways t o interfere with Black's plan, it's al so worth con­ sidering 10 d4! ? For example, 10 ... tLle6 11 dxe S ! ..txf3 12 'iVxf3 dxe s 13 g3 l:.e8 14 tLld2 g6 1 5 tLlC4 'fiC7 16 a4 with a comfortable edge for White, D. Pikula­ D.Brankovic, Nis 1995. 10 .... exd4! 11 cxd4 tLle6 i s stronger, and here I think

Bis hop 's Opening White's best chance of an advantage i s with 12 dS ! (rather than 12 .1i. e 3 dS ! ) 12 ... i.xf3 1 3 gxf3 lD c s 1 4 lDc3. 9 d4!

As I m ention ed in the introduction to thi s game, White finds it easier to carry out the d3-d4 advance if Black chooses ... c6 and ... lDbd7 over ... lDc6. Without a knight on c6 and with no ... i.g4 available, there i s significantly less pressure on d4. Note that White shouldn 't delay d4 for very long, otherwi se the risk is Bl ack will play ... dS himself. For example, 9 lDbd2 h 6 10 lDfl (play 10 d4!) 10 ... i.f8 11 lDg 3 dS ! 1 2 h 3 dxe4 1 3 dxe4 'iIIC 7 14 lDh4 lDcs 1 5 .1i.c2 g 6 16 i.e3 as 1 7 'i!i'cl