Baixe o app para aproveitar ainda mais
Prévia do material em texto
Editorial Panel: GM A.Bezgodov, IM V.Ivanov, S.Klimov, S. Soloviov Technical Editor: IM Semko Semkov Translation by: GM Evgeny Ermenkov IM Semko Semkov Author Khalifman's photograph by Elisabeth Karnazes Cover design by Kalojan Nachev Copyright O 2004 by Alexander Khalifman and Sergei Soloviov Printed in Bulgaria by "Chess Stars" Ltd. - Sofia ISBN 954 8782 41 3 Opening for White According to Anand 1.e4 Book 111 Alexander Khalifinan 14th World Chess Champion Contents Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Part 1 . 1.e4 c6 2.d4 l various without 2 ... d5 and 2 ... g6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2 2 ...g 63.Qc3d64.f48g7.4 ... d5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3 2 ... g6 3.Qc3 8 g 7 4.f4 d5 5.e5 without 5 ... h5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 4 2 ... g6 3.43~3 Bg7 4.f4 d5 5.e5 h5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 5 2 ... d5 3.Qc3 various without 3 ... dxe4 and 3 ... g6 . . . . . . . . . . 68 6 2 ... d5 3.Qc3 g6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Part 2 . Caro-Kann Defence 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Qc3 dxe4 4.Qxe4 various; 4 ... Qf6 5.Qxf6 7 rare lines; 4 ... Qf6 5.Qxf6 exf6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 8 5 ... gxf6 6x3 various; 6 ... 8f5 7.&3 without 7 ... Qd 7. . . . . . . 106 9 5 ...g xf66.c3Bf5 7.QBQd7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Part 3 . Caro-Kann Defence 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Qc3 dxe4 4.Qxe4 Qd7 5.Qg5 ... ... 10 various without 5 adf6 and 5 Qgf6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 11 5 ... Qdf6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 12 5 ... Q@ 6.8d3 without 6 ... e6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 13 5 ... Qgf6 6.8d3 e6 7.alf3 without 7 ... B d 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 14 5 ... Q@ 6.8d3 e6 7.Qlf3 8 d 6 8.Be2 h6 9.Qe4 Qe4 10.Be4 without 10 ... Q f6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 15 5 ... Q@ 6.8d3 e6 7.QlB Ad6 8.Be2 h6 9.Qe4 Qe4 10.Be4 Qf6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Part 4. Caro-Kann Defence 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Qc3 dxe4 4.Qxe4 8f5 5.Qg3 8 g 6 6.h4 h6 7.Qf3 7...Qf6; 7...e6.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .219 7...Qd7 8.h5 8 h 7 9.8d3 8 d 3 10.Bd3 e6 l l .8f4 without 11.. .Q%. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .243 7...Qd7 8.h5 Bh7 9.8d3 Ad3 10.Bd3 Bc7 11.8d2 e6 12.0-0-0 0-0-0 13.Qe4 without 13 ... Qgf6; 12 ... Qgf6 13.Qe4 without 13 ... 0-0-0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .255 7...Qd7 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 8 d 3 10.Bd3 Bc7 11.Bd2 e6 12.0-0-0 Qgf6 13.he4 0-0-0 14.g3 Qc5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .264 7...Qd7 8.h5 8 h 7 9.8d3 Ad3 10.Bd3 Bc7 ll.Ad2 e6 12.0-0-0 Qgf6 13.Qe4 0-0-0 14.g3 Qe4 15.Be4 8e7; 15 ... 8d6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278 7...Qd7 8.h5 8 h 7 9.8d3 Ad3 10.Bd3 @c7 ll.Ad2 e6 12.0-0-0 Qgf6 13.Qe4 0-0-0 14.g3 Qe4 15.be4 Qf6 . . . . . . .289 7...Qd7 8.h5 8 h 7 9.8d3 Ad3 10.Bd3 Qgf6 11.8f4 e6 12.0-0-0 without 12. ..8e7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .299 7...Qd7 8.h5 8 h 7 9.8d3 Ad3 10.Bd3 Qgf6 l l .8 f4 e6 12.0-0-0 8 e 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .310 Part 5. Scandinavian Defence 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 24 2...Qf6.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .323 25 2...@xd5 3.Qc3 without 3...Ba5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .330 26 2...Bxd5 3.Qc3 Ba5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .338 Index of Variations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .350 Preface Dear readers, Now, finally you hold in your hands the third volume if the se- ries "Opening for White according to Anand - 1.e4". We plan to deal gradually with the semi-open chess openings. We have analysed extensively the Scandinavian Defence as well as the Caro - Kann Defence in our volume three. The Scandinavian Defence is definitely one of the neglected side- lines of the contemporary opening theory. Only just a few grand- masters dare to include it in their opening repertoires at high level once in a while. On the other hand it is worth noting that the only time when the Scandinavian Defence was tested in a World Cham- pionship Match (Kasparov - Anand, New York 1995, game 14); Black had no problems in the opening whatsoever. So, matters are in fact far from simple and the widespread opinion that after 1.e4 d5 2.exd5, White obtains the advantage as he pleases happens to be quite far from the truth. White needs to have extensive opening knowledge and to play precisely and energetically in order to secure an opening advan- tage. I hope that the resume of the acquired theoretical knowledge up to now as well as some new and original analyses will help play- ers of different levels to solve that problem successfully. The Caro-Kann Defence leads to positions that are sometimes similar to the Scandinavian Defence if you have in mind the pawn structure and the standard opening strategy. On the other hand, contrary to the not so solid Scandinavian Defence, it enjoys the repu- tation as the opening of the chess-academics. Capablanca, Botvinnik, Petrosian and Karpov - this list of great chess-champions that have been life-long devotees of the Caro-Kann Defence can be easily ex- tended. The reliability of that opening has been proven in a period of decades and presently in the 21 century, the Caro-Kann Defence is enjoying its second (third.. ., fourth.. .?) youth. That opening might not be so attractive and popular a t amateur level - it is often con- sidered to be a bit passive and dull etc. I will not try to dissuade the skeptics with just one statement. I will only recommend to the read- ers to have one more look at the games of the classics that we have mentioned before. Meanwhile, the games of some of the present high- class grandmasters and most of all Bareev and Dreev can also show you the hidden dynamics of the allegedly dull positions and the ex- quisite beauty of the seemingly simple positional decisions in that opening. White has tried and will definitely continue to try numerous ways to obtain an advantage against the Caro-Kann Defence. The Panov Attack, the closed system with 3.e5, as well as the slightly artificial move 3.f3, the two-knight system - all these lines have their adher- ents. The author of that book does not attempt to formulate a final evaluation of that opening. He still ventures to recommend the move 3.Qc3 as the most correct from the point of view of the classical opening principles. That system has also yielded the best tourna- ment and match results in the practice of the eminent Indian grand- master Anand. We did not restrict ourselves to only analysing the main lines. We have tried to give you some definite recommendations as how to tackle lines that are considered to be second rate. Still, the main topic of that book are Black's two most principled ways of playing - 4...Qd7 and 4...8f5. Both lines are extremely popular in the con- temporary opening practice and essential novelties come up practi- cally every month. We had to analyse extensively a lot of lines in order to avoid the possibility of our book becoming theoretically ob- solete in a only short period of time.. .That work brought about plenty of interesting discoveries and sometimes surprising results and the author shares with pleasure all these with the readers. A word of caution, though ... Do not relyon an immediate win even after applying some quite surprising idea. Be ready to counter a tough resistance from your opponent. The super-solid Caro-Kann Defence has a respectable reputation to live up to! A.Khalifman 14th World Chess Champion Part l 1.e4 c6 2.d4 We will deal in chapters 1-4 with Black's attempts to avoid playing the main line 2...d5, in favour of some other tries on move two. The game often tran- sposes to lines of second hand importance of some other open- ings like the Pirc Defence and Modern Defence as well as the Alekhine Defence and even the French Defence. In Chapter 1 are examined numerous continuations of Black, but the focus is on the move 2...d6. In chapters 2-4 is considered the variation 2...g6 3.Qc3, but only lines with d7-d5 or even d5-d6-d5 (Chapter 2). Positions when Black refrains from d5 will be covered in Book IV (1.e4 d6; Le4 g6). In these two openings we recommend to White active schemes with f2-f4, so we follow the same plan (f4) against the fianchetto. Chapter 3 deals with the variation 1.e4 c6 2.d4 g6 3.Qc3 Bg7 4.f4 d5 5.e5 without the most popular move 5...h5, which is the subject of Chapter 4. We will analyse in chapter 5 all other possibilities for Black after 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Qc3 ex- cept the main line and obviously best 3...dxe4 (parts 2-4) and 3...g6 (Chapter 6). We have to tell you that all these moves are a kind of concession by Black and they all enable White to obtain a considerable advantage. Chapter 1 2...d6 Black's first two moves are obviously not well connected logi- cally together, but still many people play like that in practice. That means White should be well prepared! Now about some other moves: 2...Qf6?! 3.e5 Qd5, leads to a quite difficult position for Black from the Alekhine Defence. 2...Bc7 3.Qc3. There might follow: 3...Qf6, or 3...g6 4.f4k; 3...f6?! This move is extremely anti-positional. 4.f4k; 3...d6 4.f4 - see 2...d6) 4.e5! a d 5 (4 ... Qg8 5.Qf3+) 5.Qe4 d6 6 . ~ 4 Qb6 7.Af4 d5 8.Qg5 e6 9.c5k. 2...b5?! 3.a4 b4 4 . ~ 4 d5 (4 ... bxc3 5.bxc3 d5 6.Qd2 dxe4 7. Qxe4. The position resembles a bit the main lines of the Caro- Kann Defence, but the difference is that the b-file has been opened. This is definitely in favour of White, because of his lead in de- velopment. 7...Bd5 8.Bc2f; 7... Qd7 8.a5 QgfE 9.8d3k; 7...8f3 8.Qg3 Ag6 9.Qf3 Qd7 10.a5 e6 l l .Ba4 c5 12.Qe5 a6 13.8a3+) 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.e5 e6 (6 ... 8 a 6 7.e6 fxe6 8.8xa6 Qxa6 9.Qf3 Qf6 10.0-0+) 7.8b5+! White wishes to prevent the move 7...Pa6 - and that explains the last check. Black's natural piece-coordina- tion is thus disrupted: 7...8d7 (7 ... Qd7 8.Qf3+) 8.8d3f. 2...Qa6. This exotic route of the knight is hardly to be recom- mended! 3.Qc3! (It is best for White to ignore the enemy piece, which is obviously not on the right track ... moreover that in answer to 3.8xa6 - Black can play 3...Ba5+ followed by 4... Bxa6 and preserve his pawn structure intact with a good po- sition.) 1) 3...g6 4.8xa6! Now, it is good for White to capture the knight. 4...bxa6 5.d5! (This reso- lute advance emphasizes White's lead in development and extra space.) 5...Ag7 (5 ... c5 6.e5 d6 7.Qf3 dxe5 8.axe5 8 g 7 9.8f4 (1.e4 d6); 3...g6 4.f4 - see Chap- Bb7 10.Be2 a f 6 11.0-0-0 0-0 ter 2. 12.Ehel+, and White has power- ful pressure in the centre. There a) 3...Qd7 is an additional chance for him to win immediately after the frivolous move 5.. .cxd5?? 6.Bxd5! Pb8 7.Be5+- with a spectacular double attack against Black's two rooks.) 6.dxc6 Ba5 (6 ... dxc6 7.Bxd8+ &xd8 &age2 Pb8 9.b3 Qf6 10.8f4k) 7.8d2! dxc6 8.ad5 Bd8 9 . 8 ~ 3 e5 10.Qe3 Be7 11. Qc4 Pe6 12.Bd6! Bxd6 13.Qxd6 &e7 14.Qb7!f and White has ex- cellent winning chances. 2) 3...b5?! Black plays two quite arguable moves in a row in the opening and that is more than enough to justify immedi- ate aggressive actions by White: 4.a4! b4 5.Qce2 d5 6.e5 e6 7.f4 c5 8.Qf3+. 3) 3...Qc7. Black continues with his quite dubious manoeu- vre, but he has nothing better: 4.d5! This has not been tried in practice yet, but White should exploit the possibility to acquire more space in the centre. 4...Qf6 5.QB d6 6.dxc6 bxc6 7.e5 Qfd5 8.Qe4 8f5 9.Qg3 8 g 6 10.8d3 e6 11.0-0 Pe7 12.exd6 Bxd6 13. Axg6 hxg6 14.Be2 Qf4 15.Be5f. White has excellent prospects in the middle game, because of Black's pawn weaknesses on the queenside. 3.Qc3 We will analyse a) 3...Qd7, b) 3. ..Bc7 and c) 3...e5. About 3...Qf6 - see Book IV 4.f4! This is a n important and quite favourable resource to im- prove White's position. The activ- ating of the f-pawn creates won- derful attacking prospects for him. 4...e5 5.Qf3 Bc7 6.8c4! Black's position is already dif- ficult. He can hardly complete his development without consid- erable losses. 6...exd4 This is relatively Black's best, but the fact that he had to give up the centre creates additional possibilities for White. 6...Qe7? - this loses a t least a pawn. 7.fxe5 dxe5 8.Qg5+-. 6...h6 7.0-O! This is White's most energetic decision. He should not waste any time on prophylactics, because Black is not threatening b7-b5 a t all. (7.a4 agf6 8.0-0 8 e 7 9.&hl& Almasi - Bacic, Tucepi 1996) 7...b5 (7 ... Qgf6 8.&hl Be7 9.fxe5 dxe5 lO.dxe5 a x e 5 l l . k f 4 Ad6 12. Chapter 1 Qxe5 Axe5 13.Bxfl+ &xfl 14. Bh5+ Qxh5 15.&.,xe5+ &g6 16. Bxc7+) 8.8xf7+! &xfl9.fxe5 &e8 10.8f4 b4 ll.exd6 Bxd6 12.e5 Be7 13.Qe4+. 7.Bxd4 Bb6 Black is trying to exchange queens. White must comply with this trade only under other con- ditions - much more favourable for him. Black is faced with the choice to lag in development even more! 7...Qb6 8.8b3! 8 g 4 9.Pe3 0-0-0 10.0-0-0 Qf6 11.h3 Pe6 (11 ... Bxf3 12.gxf3 c5 13.Bd3 c4 14.8xb6+-) 12.8xe6 fie6 13.e5+. 8.8e3! Bxb2 8...Bxd4 - The exchange of queens even increases White's already huge advantage. 9.8xd4 b5 10.Bd3! b4 ll.Qe2 c5 12.8e3 Qgf6 13.0-0-0 8 b 7 14.Qg3 d5 15.exd5 Qxd5 16.ghel 0-0-0 17.8e4 Q7f6 18.Qg5 Be8 19. 8f5+ &b8 20.8d2+. 9.0-0 Black has big problems to complete his development and a t that moment, only his knight on d7 and his queen are active. Meanwhile, his queen is really endangered, so he is forced to lose some more time. 9...Qb6 9...$Yb6 10.8xf7+! &xf7 11. Bc4+ d5 12.Qxd5 Ba6 13.Qe5+ 4...e5 axe5 14.fxe5+ Q% 15.Bxa6 bxa6 4...f6?! 5.f5+ Lee - Sidenko, 16.Qc7 Pb8 17.exf6 gxf6 18.Pd4 UECC 1998. Be7 19.Pxf6 8xf6 20.e5 Xb7 21. 4...8d7?! This is a strange Pxf6+ b e 7 2 2 . 9 ~ ~ 6 &d7 23. idea. Black does not need that Pc5+-. bishop so much. 5.Qf3+ Aguera 10.8b3 Ba3 ll .Qg5 Qh6 - Trabanco, Asturias 1992. 4...Qf6 5.Qf3 Ag4 (5 ... Qbd7 6.e5 Qg8 7.Ad3+ Papp - Cseh, Hungary 1993) 6.h3 Bxf3 7. Bxf3, White has the bishop pair advantage and also a lot of extra space, so he is the absolute mas- ter of the situation: 7...e6 8.8d3 Qbd7 9.g4 0-0-0 10.8e3 d5 ll.e5 Qe8 12.0-0-0 Qa5 13.f5 Qc7 14.&bl8a3 15.Qe2 Bb6 1 6 . 8 ~ 1 PdB 1 7 . ~ 3 8 e 7 18.Qf41 Forgacs - Kostic, Caorle 1989. 4...e6 - This solid move by Black requires some patience by White for the preparation of a successful attack. Black has al- most no chances to organize any counterplay and his position re- mains very passive. 5.Qf3 d5 6. e5 c5 7.8e3 a6, Paragua - Yasay, Manila 1997'8.dxc5 Bxc5 9 . 8 ~ ~ 5 Bxc5 10.Bd2 Qc6 11.0-0-0 age7 12.8d3 Ad7 13.&blf. Similar positions arise in the French de- fence. White is dominant on the dark squares and he has a last- ing advantage. 4...g6 5.Qf3 Bg7 (5 ... Qd7, NO- omen - Raijmaekers, corr. 1998, 6.8c4! b5 7.8133 a5 8.a3k;6...8g7 7.Qg5 d5 8.exd5+; 7...e6 8.8xe6 fxe6 9.Qxe6 Ba5 10.8d2 &f7 11.Qd5 Bb5 12.Qg5+ &f8 13. ac7+-; 7...Qh6 8.8xf7+ Qxfl9. Qe6 Bb6 10.Qxg7+ &f8 11. Qe6+-) 6.Bc4! b5 (6 ... Qf6 7.e5 43g4 8.0-0 0-0 9.h3 Qh6 10.8e3 d5 11.8b3 Qf5 12.8f2 b6 13.Qe2 Pa6 1 4 . ~ 3 f6 15 .8~22) 7.8b3 b4 X.Qe2 Qf6 9.Qg3 0-0 10.0-0 a5 11.~3 bxc3 12.bxc3 d5, Klinger - Binder, Bayern 2000,13.e5! This is the simplest way for White to prove that' he has the advantage all over the board. 13 ... Qg4 14. Ebl &a6 15.Pelf. 5 .a f3 k g 4 About 5...Qd7 - see 3...Qd7. 6.8e3 Qd7 7.h3 Axf3 8.Qxf3 Qgf6 9.0-0-0 Be7 10.g4 Black is in a big trouble and White's offensive is irresistible. Black can castle on either side indeed, bit that is hardly any con- solation for him.. . 10 ...g 6 10 ... 0-0-0 ll.g5 Qe8 12.fxe5 dxe5 13.Bxfl exd4 14.Bxe7 dxe3 1 5 . 8 ~ 4 1-0 Saulin - Dvalishvili, Moscow 1996. l l .Bc4 b5 12.8b3 b 4 13.Qe2 e x d 4 14.8xd4 0-0 15.h4 c 5 16.8xf6 8 x f 6 17.Pd5. Black has no defence against White's unavoidable vic- torious kingside attack. 17... Pab8 18.g5 &g7 19.h5 Qb6 20.hxg6 hxg6 21.f5 gxf5 22. exf5 a x d 5 23.Pxd5 f6 24.g6 Xfe8 25.af4 Qa5 26.811133 &f8 27.Pxd6 1-0 Lastin - Reutova, Ekaterinburg 1997. Chapter 1 4.dxe5! This decision might seem to be surprising. It looks like White facilitates the defence of his op- ponent by exchanging pieces. He is in fact observing strictly the requirement of the position. At first, Black loses his right to castle because of the trade of the queens and that will be rather uncomfortable for his king. Sec- ondly, the placement of the c6- pawn turns out to be not so good for Black, because that helps White to fight very effectively for the all-important e5-square. We would like to tell our read- ers that White's advantage is not so great that he can win without too much of an effort! We recom- mend to you to study carefully that interesting endgame in or- der to master the methods of im- proving White's position. In fact, it is not even an endgame - it is a middle game without queens. 4. ..dxe5 5.Bxd8+ &xdB 6.f4! White should not be afraid to isolate his central e4-pawn. The activity of his pieces is a much more important factor in that position. We must analyse the follow- ing ways for Black to try to hold the centre: c l ) 6...Ad6 and c2) 6...Qd7. 6...f% 7.Qf3 Bg4, Inmortal - Florish, ICC 2003. Black complies with a change of the pawn struc- ture that is quite favourable for White: 8.fxe5! Pxf3 9.gxf3 fxe5 10.Ag5+ 8 e 7 11.0-0-0+ &c7 12. Pg l Qf% 13.f4 h6 14.8h4! g5 15. fxe5 gxh4 16.Xg7! a g 8 17.8c4+. c l ) 6...Pd6 7.fxe5 It looks like White surrenders deliberately a most important central outpost to the enemy bishop. This is not true a t all. The black bishop can be ousted from there, or exchanged favour- ably for some of the white pieces (a knight, or even a bishop). 7...AxeS 8.Pd21 White should avoid compro- mising his pawn structure with- out any purpose and necessity. The capture on c3 will break his pawn chain on the queenside and he does not need additional weaknesses a t all. B...f6 9.0-0-0 &c7 10.af3 4)d7 10 ... Ad6 - Black preserves the possibility to develop his light-squared bishop. This how- ever slows down the develop- ment of the rest of his pieces. ll.h3! (The black bishop will not go to g4 anymore.) 11 ... 8 e 6 (White can exploit the advan- tages of his position in an inter- esting fashion after: l1 ... Qe7 12.g4! This is a peculiar form of "a minority attack", thanks to which White obtains good attack- ing prospects on the kingside. 12 ... h6 13.Qd4 a6 14.Qf5 Qxf5 15.gxf5 Re8 16.Egl Pe7 17.Qe2 Qd7 18.Qf4k) l2.Qd4 Ad7 13. 8 c 4 Qe7 14.8e6 Be5 15.8xd7 8xd4 16.8f4+ 8 e 5 17.8xe5+ fxe5 18.8e6 Qg6 19.Qe2 Qf8 20.8133 Qbd7 21.9hfl Qf6 22.g4! White now occupies the open f- file with a huge advantage. 22 ... axe4 23.Pfl+ &b6 24.Rxg7k Putic - Jung, Toronto 1995. ll.h4! White fixes the weaknesses on Black's kingside prior to the completion of the opponent's development. It becomes evident that Black's defence is very dif- ficult. 11 ... Qe7 l1 ... h5 - Black prevents the further advance of the white h- pawn "mechanically ". Mean- while, he creates plenty of weak- nesses in his position with his last move. 12.Qe2 Qe7 13.9b4 Pe8 14.Qxe5! (This is the best moment for White to trade the bishop! He creates irresistible threats after his bishop pen- e t ra tes to the excellent d6- square!) 14 ... axe5 15.8d6+ &b6 16.Qc3 (White's attack is deci- sive.) 16 ... a6 17.Qa4+ &a7 (17 ... &a5 18.8c7+ &xa4 19.Pd4+ Qc4 20.9xc4+ &b5 2l.a4#) 18.8c5+ &b8 19.Qb6 Bg4 20.Pd4+-. 12.h5 h 6 13.g3! White ensures the wonderful outpost on f4 for his bishop and after that Black's dark-squared bishop will feel quite uncomfort- ably. 13 ... Ad6 It is too dangerous for Black to play: 13 ... 8xg3 14.Rgl Ad6 15.Rxg7 (White's rook joins the action with a decisive effect!) 15 ... Qe5 16.Qxe5 fxe5 1 7 . 8 ~ 4 8 d 7 18 .Pf l Pad8 19.Pff7 b5 20 .8e2 b4 21.Qdl Rde8 22. 8c4+-. 14.8f4 Qe5 15.8e2 Qf7 16.Pxd6!+. This excellent ex- change-sacrifice will soon turn out to be only temporary. White will recapture his material with an interest.16 ... Qxd6 17.Pdl Pd8 18.e5 fxe5 19.Qxe5! P e 6 2 0 . 8 ~ 4 Qxc4 (20 ... Axc4 21.Qxc4 Qec8 22. Qe4+-; 20 ... Ad5 21. 8xd5 cxd5 22.Qxd5+ Qxd5 23. Pxd5 PB 24. Qf3 Pf6 25.Qd4 a6 26.Qf'!+-; 21 ... Qxd5 22.Qxd5+ cxd5 23. Xxd5 - see 20 ... Ad51 20 ... Qxc4 21.Qxc4+ &c8 22. Qd6+ P x d 6 23.Pxd6! Qd5 24.Qe4 P g 4 25.9fl &d7 26.8e5 Axh5 27.Qc5+ &e7 28.Qxb7k. Chapter 1 c2) 6...ad7 8 . 8 ~ 4 f6 9.f5! That is White's most aggres- sive and best plan. He shows that the kingside is the focus of his interest. He will prepare there a pawn offensive a t first, followed by a piece-attack. %..he7 10.g4 b5 It is quite natural that Black has nothing else left to do except play on the queenside. There are 7.Qf3 Ad6 not enough prerequisites for a This placement of the bishop successful play there, however ... is solid, but passive. Were there 11.8e2 b4 12.Qdl other more aggressive possibili- This is only a temporary re- ties for Black? Yes, there were treat - the white knight will be some other tries, for example: 7... soon back in action successfully. f6 8.g3 Ac5 9.Ph3! (Most of the 1 2 ... 8 b 7 13.g5 c 5 14.Qf2 chess players are used to the idea Qc6 that the move g2-g3 is usually followed by fianchettoing of the light-squared bishop. That is true in general, but still there are no rules without exceptions ... ! White must increase the pres- sure against the key e5-square immediately.) 9...b5 (Black does not wish to fortify White's cen- tre with an exchange on f4, so he decides to try a pawn sacrifice 15.c3! that is not quite justified.) 10. Black's knight has no access Axd7 8xd7 ll.fxe5 Bg4 12.exf6! now to the wonderful d4-square Qxf6 13.Qe5 Pe8 14.8f4! (White and his counterplay disappears has played precisely and Black's completely. compensation for the pawn is 15 ... bxc3 16.bxc3 Qb6 17.h4 insufficient. The outcome of the Qe7 18.h5 h6 game will soon become a matter This is White's first consider- of technique ... ) 14 ... Pe6 15.h3 able achievement - he has the 8 h 5 16.g4 8 e 8 17.0-0-0 &e7 18. g6-outpost. Qd3 Ad4 19.Qe2 Pb6 20.e5 Qe4 19.gxf6 gxf6 20.ah4 &c7 21.Qg3 Qxg3 22.Pxg3k Khenkin 21.Qg6 P h 7 22.Qxe7 Axe7 - Mozes, Lido Estensi 2003. 23.981 Qc8 24.Pg6! That positional idea is well familiar. The white rook is impossible to be ousted from there! It is not necessary to re- treat i t from thatsquare even if i t is under attack! 24 ... a d 6 25.8d3 &c6 26 .~4 8e8 27.Qg4! A similar idea was discovered by the great English player of the lgth century H. Staunton and later it has been exploited successfully numerous times. 27 ... 8xg6 28.fxg6 Phh8 29. Qe3 Qe8 30.Pbl Xd8 31.Qd5+ &d6 32.8e3 Qc7 33. Xb7 Xd7 34.Hxa7 axd5 35.9xd7+ &xd7 36.cxd5+-, and White's pawns were powerfully supported by the couple of active bishops and they easily settled the out- come. I t was a very instructive game, despite having been played so many years ago - Fuderer - Udovcic, Sarajevo 1951. Black seldom plays that line, since he will have to com- ply with a long and difficult de- fence, without any bright pros- pects ... Conclusion Whenever Black does not play the most natural and best move 2...d5 on move two - he usually loses the battle i n the centre. He remains i n a passive position and often becomes the victim of a crushing attack. This is the reason of the rare occurrence i n practice o f the lines that we have analysed in this chapter. Chapter 2 Playing such move, Black to some extent is "self-eliminating" himself from immediate fight for the centre. His design is to lure the opponent into seizing the centre, hoping to create counterplay later against the overextended pawn chain of White. The arising variations put a link between three openings - the Pirc, Caro-Kann and Modern Defence. 3.Qc3 d6 3...d5 4.h3 - see Chapter 6. 3...8g7 - see chapters 3-4. 3...af6. A rare move and quite deservedly - White can immediately take over the initia- tive. 4.e5 a d 5 (4 ... Qg8 5.f4k) 5.Qxd5 cxd5, Dehning - Dicks, Dortmund 2003, 6.9f3! e6 7. h4! White can start the assault right away, using the weak dark squares. 7...h5 (7 ... a c 6 8 . ~ 3 d6 9.exd6 Bxd6 10.h5k) 8.Qh3! (capturing on h4 is not a threat) 8...d6 (8 ... Bxh4?? 9.Qg5 9xh l . Otherwise Black is a rook down. lO.Bxff+ &d8 ll.Qxe6+! dxe6 12.Pg5+ Be7 13.Bxe7#) 9.Qg5 9c7 (9 ... 9d7 10.Bf6 gn8 ll.Qh7 8 e 7 12.8g5 Qc6 13.kb5+) 10. Bf6 Hg8 ll.exd6 Bxd6 12.8b5+ Qc6 13.0-0 a6 14.8xc6+ bxc6 15.Xel Xb8 16.b3 Be7 17.Qh7+. 4.f4 In this chapter we are going to examine positions that arise after d7-d6-d5 (on the fourth move or a little later). We'll con- sider the moves: a) 4...Pg7, b) 4...dS. 4...Bb6 - see the book about l...g6. 4...af6 - see the book about l...d6. a) 4...Pg7 We remind you that in this chapter we consider only varia- tions with an early d6-d5. The rest is covered in the Book IV (1.e4 g6). 5.433 8g4 This is an important link in Black's plan. In the current pawn structure an exchange of the light-squared bishop for any en- emy piece is a very pleasant op- tion. 5...d5 6.e5 h5 - see Chapter 4, but here White has an extra tempo; 6.Ae3 d5 Only this move leads to posi- tions that are subject of this book (or more precisely, in chapters 2- 4). All other moves are typical for the system with an early fian- chetto, part of the book about l...g6. By the way, if Black has a longing for the scheme with the bishop on g7, he should play it without losing a tempo on d6 - see Chapter 4. 7.e5 This move is a must. It allows White keeping the edge. He has a space advantage, but the ad- versary is not doomed to humble waiting. A complex play is ahead. The main line branches here to a l l 7. ..e6 and a2) 7...Bb6. 7...ah6 - see line bl . 7...f5 8.h3 8xf3 (8 ... 8 h 5 9. Le2 a h 6 10.Pgl 0-0 ll.g4 fxg4 12.ag5 Qf5 13.Bd2 gxh3 14. Pxh5 gxh5 15.ae6+) 9.Bxf3 e6 10.g4 Qe7 ll .Bd32 Juhnke - Perkins, Graz 1972. 7...h5 8.h3 8xf3 9.Bxf3 Qb6 (9 ... e6 - see line al) 10.0-0-O! (Black is unable to cope with two unpleasant threats at the same time: e5-e6 and g2-g4) 10 ... e6 (10 ... h4 ll .e6! f5 12.g4 hxg3 13.Pgl Ph6 14.9xg3 Qf6 15. @g2+-; 11 ... fxe6 12.8d3 Eh6 13.g4 hxg3 14.Bxg3 &f7 15. Phgl+-) ll.g4 a d 7 12.f5! hxg4 13.hxg4 Pxh l 14.Bxhl 8xe5 15.fxe6 fxe6 16.Bh7 0-0-0 17.g5 Ad6 18.Bxg6 8 b 4 19.Bxe6 Bxc3 20.bxc3 Ba5 2l.&b2+. a l ) 7. ..e6 A good calm move which re- inforces Black's position. 8.h3 Axf3 9.Bxf3 h5 This is a prophylactic mea- sure against possible g2-g4. As a result we have the same position like in Chapter 4 line a, but Black has one tempo less (there he is to move and plays 9...h4). With his tenth move White takes advantage of this. 9...Qe7. Allowing White a free hand on the kingside: 1O.g4! (White gets a clear edge. Now he is threatening f4-E) 10 ... h5 11. 0-0-0 Qd7 12.8d3 a b 6 13.f5 exf5 14.gxf5 axf5 15.8xf5 gxf5 16.2Zhgl Bf8 17.Bxf5 Be7 18. &g5 Be6 19.Bf4 a d 7 20.Pdfl Pg8 21.h4 8 e 7 22.8xe7 &xe7 23.Xg5Ifr Kosanovic - Brestian, Hallein 1988. Chapter 2 1O.g3! White's idea is simple - to avoid the blockading h5-h4, which could be met now with g3- g4 and perceptible advantage. Immediate 10.g4 was bad due to the check on h4. That would have cost White a pawn. (White could allow h5-h4. We consider this type of positions in Chapter 4. Still it is better to prevent the blockade if such an option exists.) 10 ... Qe7 Other continuations are: l 0 ... Qd7 11.Ad3 Qh6 (11 ... Be7 12.0-Of) 12.8f!2 Bb6 13. 0-0-0 Qf5 14 .8e2 8 f 8 ( the bishop steps back in order to pro- vide a retreat square on g7 to the knight) 15.g4 Qg7 16.Pd3 0-0-0 17.f5 gxf5 18.gxf5k Z.Ve- roci - K.Pedersen, Copenhagen 1989; 10 ... E!? An interesting idea of GM Korchnoi. Black is planning to build a flexible though solid line of defence. In this case White would find it difficult to carry on his main attacking plan, namely g3-g4. Perhaps White should open up play a t once: ll.exf%!? (Black achieved the draw with- out exerting himself too much following 11 .O-0-0 Qh6 12.8e2 Qd7 13.Bg2 Be7 14.Qbl0-0-0= Matanovic - Korchnoi, Erevan 1965) l1 ... Bxf6 (l1 ... Qxf6 12. Ad3 $?fl 13.0-0-0 Qa6 14.g4+) 12.Pd3 Qe7 13.g4 Bh4+ 14.&d2! Losing the right of castling is not dangerous since the opponent cannot create threats to White's king. 14 ... Qd7 15.lgael 0-0-0 16.&cl&. Black is lacking active possibilities. His pawn on e6 could easily become a sore point; 10 ... Qh6 - this move does not promise a good game to Black. The further i t inerary of the knight leads only to f5 where it will be immediately attacked by g3-g4. 11.0-0-0 (ll .g4 fails to l1 ... Bh4) 11 ... Qf5 12.8f2 8 f 8 13.g4 Qh4 14.Bg3 Be7 15.8d3 Qd7 16.&bl Bc7 17.f5 g5 18.f6+ Kiik - Jouhki, Joensuu 1997. White's pawn chain is literary cutting the enemy position on two badly linked parts; ll.g4 A standard plan. White uses the fact that the knight on e7 cut off the black queen from h4. 11 ... Qd7 11 ... hxg4 also does not hinder White's attacking aspirations. (l1 ... Bb6 12.0-0-0 Qd7 13.Pd3 0-0-0 14.&bl+) 12.hxg4 Pxhl 13.Bxhl Bb6 14.0-0-Of; 12 ... Bb6 13.Pxh8+ 8 x h 8 14.0-0-0 Qd7 15.8f2 0-0-0 16.8114 Xe8 17.Ph3 8g7 18.S gxf5 19.gxf5 Qxf5 20.8xf5 exf5 21.Bxf5f when the fl-pawn is in danger. 12.8d3 hxg4 13.hxg4 P x h l Black is not able to avoid con- siderable troubles after the still untested in practice 13 ... Qb6 14.Pxh8+! This exchangeshould be executed right away in order to take advantage of the clumsy placement of Black's bishop in the corner. 14 ... 8xh8 15.0-0-0 0-0-0 16.f5! Creating strong threats. A possible continuation is: 16 ...M 1 7 . M Qxf5 18.8xf5 exf5 19.Phl! 8 g 7 20.Ph7 Pg8 21.Bxf5 Axe5 22.Pxf7 Xd8 23. Pxd7 Pxd7 24.Bxe5+-. 14.Bxhl Bb6 15.0-0-0 0 16.Bh4 He8 17.Bf2 Eh8 18.f5 - a logical development of the kingside attack. 18 ...gx f5 19.gxf5 Qxffi 20.Pxf5 exf5 21.Bxf5 Bb4 22 .Bxf7t Glek - Lukov,Werfen 1990. Hitting without delay the b2- pawn, Black faces the opponent with concrete problems. 8.9bl The best way of protecting the pawn. This move is not only de- fensive though. I t creates the possibility of advancing b2-b4 in suitable circumstances. S...Qh6 9.h3 Qf5 10.8f2 Axf3 ll.Bxf3 h5 l1 ... Qxd4. This very risky move has never been tested in practice, moreover that White regains the pawn in a flash: 12.Bd3 c5 13.b4! This is better than the immediate capture on d5. 13 ... Qe6 14.Qxd5 Bc6 15. bxc5 Qd7 16.Bf3 &f8 17.8b5 Bc8 18.04+- and White's attack should prevail. l1 ... e6 12.g4 Qe7 (Black should refrain from taking the pawn here too: 12 ... Qxd4 13.Bd3 c5 14.b4 Qbc6 15.bxc5 Qxc5 16.Pxb7 0-0 17.Pb5k; 16 ... Qb4 17.Bb5+ Bxb5 18.Qxb5 Qdxc2+ 19.&d2 0-0 2O.a3+-; 17 ... Qxb5 1 8 . 8 ~ ~ 5 Qxc2+ 19.&d2 Qxc3 2O.&xc2 Pc8 2l.&xc3 Pxc5+ 22.ad4 Pc2 23.8b5+ &f8 24. Exa7 h5 25.g5+-; 20 ... Qe4 21. 8 b 5 + &d8 22.Pd7+ &c8 23. 8xa7+-) 13.Ad3 f6. Black de- cides to Start chipping a t White's powerful centre before the oppo- nent prepared the push f4-f5. Still White's chances remain higher. 14.exf6 Bxf6 15.Be3 Qd7 16.Qe2 0-0-0 1 7 . ~ 3 Qf8 (Black is forced to defend the pawn by this clumsy move, because the Chapter 2 threat on e6 was very real.) 18.b4 h5 19.&d2! Excellent! The par- ticular characteristics of the arisen complex position ensure complete safety to White's king on d2. 19 ... hxg4 20.hxg4 Xxhl 21.IXxhl &b8 22.Qcl a5 23.a3 axb4 24.axb4 Ba7, Kuindzhi - Minakov, USSR 1972. The game is quite ancient, but perfectly played by White until this mo- ment! He obtained significant advantage. It would be best un- derlined with the move 25.8g3rt which would question the safety of Black's king. l1 ... Qd7 12.b4 e6 13.g4. Of- fensive on both flanks is rarely approved by chess strategy. How- ever in the current position White could successfullv afford it because his centre is extremely solid. 13 ... Qe7 14.8d3 f5 15.Qa4 Bc7, Klovans - Csom, Saint Vincent 2001. White could have exposed the awkward placement of Black's pieces by 16.8h4 a c 8 17.Pglk. 12.g3 This is a typical prophylactic move against the blockading h5- h4. 12...e6 12 ... Qxd4 13.Bd3 c5 14.b4rt; 12 ... Qa6 13.Bdl! e6 14.b4 (It tu rns out t ha t Black cannot castle neither on the queenside, nor on the other flank. White is ready to attack the enemy king in any case.) 14. ..AB (14.. .O-0 15. g4+-; 14 ... 0-0-0 15.aa4 Bc7 16. Bxa6 bxa6 17.Qc5 Bb6 18.0-Ort) 15.a3 8 e 7 16.Bd2 &B 17.8e2 &g7 18.Pgl Bd8, Prielozny - Bronis, Slovakia 2000. White should have kept accumulating pluses with 19.g4 hxg4 20.hxg4 Qh4 21.&fl+. 13.b4 Qd7 14.Qa4 Bc7 15. Ad3 b5 With the help of this commit- ting move Black is bolstering up the queenside. However despite removing the danger of a pawn assault on this part of the board, Black is not done with all his problems. 15 ... a5 worse is 16.b5+ since in near future White would be able to add to his advantages a control over the open b-file. 16.Qc5 Qxc5 17.dxc5! What is White's de- sign? He is intending gradually to build for the enemy bishop a steady cage from which it would be extremely difficult to escape. This uncommon strategic plan is rarely seen in practice. What are the backwards of capturing with the other pawn? In that case the bishop retained chances sooner or later to break free through the a5-square. 17...h4 18.g4 a g 3 (18 ... a e 7 is better, 19.g5! a5 20. a3 axb4 21.axb4 &d7 22.0-02.) 19.Axg3 hxg3 20.g5 a5 21.a3 axb4 22.axb4 Axe5 There could be no second chance of trading the useless bishop for three pawns. However in this multi- pieces position the white bishop is obviously stronger than the pawns. 23.fxe5 Bxe5+ 24.&fl Bxg5 25.&g2 Xh4 26.Xhfl f5 27.Bxg3 Bxg3+ 28.&xg3. White exemplary led the ending to vic- tory: 28 ...g 5 29.Pal Pxal 30. Pxal Xxb4 31.Pa6 &d7 32. Pa7+ Qd8 33.gg7 f4+ 34.ag4. The invasion of White's king quickly decides the game. 34 ... e5 35.8g6 e4 36.&f5 f3 37.&e6 Pa4 38.&d6 &c8 39.PeS 1-0 Bologan - Galego, Mondariz 2002. This move looks like a provo- cation! Black puts the pawn to d5 in two steps, losing a tempo. Still we would not say i t was a mis- take. White's advantage needs proves! How could be this pos- sible? The fine point is that in comparison to Chapter 6, the white pawn moved from f2 to f4. Principally this is not bad, but takes the edge off the 4.h3-idea which we recommend in Chap- ter 6. Besides, what could be said about the placement of the black bishop on f8 instead of g7? It could be that Black is not worse off because of that! Too often the bishop on g7 proves isolated and Black has to return it back wast- ing time (concrete evidence of that could be seen in Chapter 4). As a whole, the things are not simple. White should demon- strate strong enterprising play in order to achieve even the small- est advantage! It is worth mentioning that this scheme is often employed by grandmasters Badea, Chernin, Ehlvest, M.Gurevich, Hickl, Minasian, Norwood .... 5.e5 h5 Black fixes a t once the pawn s t ruc ture a n d prepares t he squares g4 and h5 for his pieces. There is no sense to play Ag7, neither on this move, nor later. Why to place the bishop on a square that has become "bad? In such event the position would be the same as in Chapter 4, but with an extra tempo for White. When you reach that chapter, you'll see that Black is trying to return the bishop on f8. We'll mention shortly the in- consistent move 5...Bc7, which offers White nice opportunities: 6.Ae3 h5 7.Qf3 8 g 4 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 e6 1O.g4! 8 b 4 ll.f5 c5 Chapter 2 (11 ... hxg4 12.hxg4 Exh l 13. Bxhlk) 12.fxg6 fxg6 13.8d3 Bg7 14.gxh5 cxd4 15.8xg6+ a d 7 16.Bxd4 Qc6 17.0-0-0 Qxd4 18.Pxd4 8xc3 19.Bxc3 Bxe5 20.Hel Qg5+ 21.abl Qe7 22.984 Qh6 23.Qe5+- Sauerwald - Roescher, Norway 1998. 5...Qh6 (GM Bologan is a re- nown expert in playing this po- sition as Black, but with the bishop on g7 - Chapter 3, line e. The main plan of Black is an at- tack on d4. Against precise play of White it cannot succeed, be- cause Black fails in securing his knight on f5) 6.Qf3 Bg4 7.h3! The simplest solution of the prob- lem. Black is forced to exchange the bishop a t once. Then it be- comes evident that the pressure on d4 cannot ensure equality to Black. The game Rublevsky - Bologan, Dortmund 2004, went on with: 7.Be3 Bb6 8.Pbl Qf5 9.8f2 e6 10.8e2 (lO.h3!? Axf3 ll.Bxf3 Qxd4 12.ed3 c5 13.b4!) 10 ... c5 (see how useful is the bishop on B!) ll.Qa4 Ba5 1 2 . ~ 3 8xf3 13.Bxf3 Qd4! with suffi- cient counterplay. Later in the game Black blundered and lost, but he was well after the open- ing stage. 7...Bxf3 8.Bxf3 Bb6 (8 ... Qf5 - when the knights lands on this square, White can win a tempo with g4.9.Qe2 Bb6 1 0 . ~ 3 h5 ll.g4! a g 7 12.Qg3 Qa6 13. f5 hxg4 14.hxg4 Pxhl 15.Qxhl 0-0-0 16.Qg3f) 9.Qe2 e6 10.g4 c5 11.Bb3! Trading queens White gets a considerably better end- game. l1 ... Qc6 12.8e3 c4 13. Bxb6 axb6 14.a3 b5 15.Pg2 b4. Any other move would have al- lowed White to prevent this ac- tivity and deprive the opponent of counterplay. 16.&d2! bxa3 17.bxa3 Bxa3 18.f5! Qg8 19.f6f. The black knight is out of play with minimal chances for re- vival. White's edge is evident. 6.Qf3 We'll examine in details: bl) 6...8g4 and b2) 6...Qh6. 6...Bb6. This happened in only two games, but between strong players. Therefore we have to pay attention to the move. 7.Qa4 Ba5+ 8 . ~ 3 8 g 4 9.Qc5 Bc7 (9 ... b6?? 1O.Qb7+-; lO.b4+-) 1O.e6! (a typical re- sourcewhich impedes Black's development) 10.. .f5! Correct! Black hopes to carry out the ma- noeuvre ag8-f€i-e4 some day. Any capture on e6 would have aggra- vated Black's difficulties. (10 ... fxe6 l l .Bd3 8 f 5 12.Be2 Bc8 13.Qg5f; 10.. .8xe6? ll.Qxe6 fxe6 12.8d3+-) l l .Be2. At first sight this move looks like protec- tion for the pawn on e6. In fact White's intention is much deeper. 11 ... kg7 12.%2e3! Axf3. I t is time to destroy the knight which was hoping to triumph on e5. (12 ... Qf6 13.Qe5+-) 13.gxf3! Ex- actly so! The pressure along the opened g-file compensates by a margin such an insignificant (in the concrete position!) flaw like doubled pawns. 13 ... b6 14. Qd3 Qd6 15.Pgl Xh6. An ugly method of defending the g6- pawn, but there was nothing other available. 16.8d2 Qa6 17.0-0-0 Qc7 18.Pel 0-0-0 19. Qf2! The knight is striving for g5 and, possibly, f l . This alarming idea pushes Black into a venture on the queenside. 19 ... c5 20.Qh3 Be6 21.&bl Qa4 22.Qd3 c4 (22 ... cxd4 is also bad due to 23.b3+) 23.Bc2. After the exchange of queens White's advantage in- creases. Why? Because the queen could turn to be the only vital piece of Black! 23 ... Bxc2+ (23 ... %2c6 fails to simple 24.Qg5+) 24. &xc2 White exemplary pressed home his huge positional advan- tage: 24 ... 8f8 25.Qg5 Pf6 26.b3 b5 27.a4 cxb3+ 28.&xb3 bxa4+ 29.&xa4 Eh8 30x4 Qh6 31.8134 Pe8 32.2382 Pff8 33.Pc2 &b7 34.8a5 8xd4 35.Pbl+ &c6 36. cxd5+ &xd5 37.Pxc7 1-0 Bakre - McNab, York 2000. bl) 6...Ag4 Most often this move leads after ?.h3 8xf3 8.BxM e6 9.8e3 h4 10.8d3 Qh6 11.0-0 Qf5 12. Bf2 to the Model position of this scheme which is considered in the line b2b 7...Bg4. Of course Black could have avoided the Model position, but that was not a good idea. 7.h3 Axf3 8.Bxf3 e6 8...Qh6 9.8e3 Qf5 10.8f2 h4 l l .Bd3 e6 12.0-0 - iii. 8...e6. 8...h4?! 9.f5! (Black had bet- t e r avoid this blow) 9...gxf5 10.Qxf5 e6 ll .Bf2 f6, Roesch - Maciejewski, Lodz 1989, when simplest is 12.8d3+. 8...Bb6, Tungalag - Batcen- gel, Ulaanbaatar 2002,9.8d3! A promising pawn sacrifice! If Black accepts it, he will suffer a severe attack. For instance: 9...Qxd4 (9.. .e6 lO.Qe22) 10.8e3 Bb4 (there is no other retreat) l l . a3 Ba5 (l1 ... Qxb2?? 12.&d2, Black is losing the queen: 12 ... e6 13.9hbl+-) 12.e6! (crushing the shelter of Black's king) 12 ... kg7 (12 ...E 13.Bg3 Eh6 1 4 . 8 ~ 6 8g7 15.8xg6+ &f8 16.8d2+-) 13. exfl+ &xf7 14.0-0 Qd7 15.S g5 16.8xg5 Bb6+ 17.&hl Bxb2 18. f6 Qgxf6 19.Pabl Qxc3 20.8g6+ &xg6 2 1 . 9 ~ ~ 3 Qe4 22.6e3 Qxg5 23.Pxb7k. 9.Pe3 h4 Blockading the kingside. In answer White follows the routine - he develops the light-squared bishop and castle kingside. Here are other continuations: 9...Qh6 - see line 6...ah6 7.8e3 8 g 4 8.h3 8xM 9.Qf3 e6. 9...Qd7 10.8d3 Bb6, Mur- shed - Norwood, Calcutta 1993, 11.Xbl c5 12.dxc5 Bxc5 1 3 . 8 ~ ~ 5 Qxc5 14.Qb5&, a n d White's Chapter 2 knight invades the enemy camp; 9.Bf3 e6 10.8d3 h4 11.0-0 Qd7. 9...Bb6 10.Pbl h4 (10 ... 8 b 4 10 ... Qe7 11.0-0 Qf5 12.Pf2 - 11.8f2 Qe7 12.a3 Bxc3+ 13.Bxc3 see the Model position of the a d 7 14.8d3f Thomaschke - scheme. Menk, Pinneberg 1997) 11.Pd3 Qh6 12.0-0 Qf5 13.8f2 Qxd4 14.Bg4 c5 15.b4i Van de Oude- weetering - Hendriks, Nether- lands 1995; 9...8b4 10.Pf2 @a5 - this idea is unconvincing. White naturally is not going to castle long. 11.8e2 h4 12.0-0 (Now we see tha t the active moves of Black have been just a waste of time.) 12 ... Qd7 (12 ... 8xc3 13. bxc3+) 13.Qdl Pe7 1 4 . ~ 3 Qh6 15.a4 Bc7 16.Qe3 Qf5 17.a5. Black has no counterplay, but not everyone is able to stay and wait (which is objectively the best policy in such positions) As a re- sult Black produced the sharp, but dubious move 17 ... c5?! 18. Qxf5 g x f 5 19.c4! And here comes the punishment for the unrea- sonable activity of Black! His position crashes down. 19 ... Pd8 (19 ... dxc4 20.d5f) 20.cxd5 exd5 21.8d3 Qf8 22.8b5+ Qd7 23. 8xd5 1-0 Kiik - Koskela, Hel- sinki 1997. 10.kd3 Bb6 Only this move is of indepen- dent significance. All the other continuations lead to transposi- tions: 10 ... Qh6 - see 6...Qh6 7.8e3 P g 4 8.h3 Pxf3 9.Bxf3 e6 10. Ad3 h4. 10 ... Qd7 11.0-0 Qh6 - see 6...Qh6 7.8e3 Bg4 8.h3 8xf3 1l.Ebl The simplest decision. This move only seems to be de- fensive. Actually it conceals an attacking spirit! In the near fu- ture the pawn break b2-b4 could cause Black a lot of trouble. 11 ... Qh6 (l1 ... Qa6 12.a3 Qh6 13.b4 Qf5 14.Qa4 @c7 15.8f2+.) 12.0-0 Qf5 13.Pf2 Qxd4 If Black refrains from capturing the pawn, this would mean that he has just wasted time in vain. 14.Bg4 c6 15.b4L White has more than sufficient compensa- tion for the pawn, Van de Oude- weetering - Hendriks, Nether- lands 1995. We'll examine b2a) 7. ..Bb6 and b2b) 7...8g4. The other moves are: 7...b6 - an ingenious idea. Black is trying to trade the light- squared bishops via a6. 8.8d3 8f5! (&..&a6 is bad due to 9.e6!+) 9.0-0 8xd3 10.Bxd3 e6 ll.Qe2 8 e 7 1 2 . ~ 4 &B!? The artificial castling is a good decision. On proper occasion the rook on h8 could help Black in his attempts of creating counterplay. (12 ... 0-0 is entirely possible too. White could answer simply 13.b3g) 13. cxd5 cxd5 14.Pacl White cap- tures the open file. 14 ... Bd7 15. Pc2 a5 16.Pfcl Qa6 17.a3L Kha- chian - Minasian, Erevan 1999. Black should be very careful; 7...8f5 - and what about the knight on h6?! 8.bd2 a d 7 9.h3 b5, Hoiberg - Boe, Arhus 1992. A fresh idea! Ignoring his devel- opment, Black launches ah offen- sive on the queenside. lO.a4!? We suggest to clear the situation on the queenside right away by at- tacking the b5-pawn. 10 ... a6 (10 ... b4 ll.Qe2 Pb8 12.Qg3 8 g 7 13.8e2L; 10 ... Ba5? offers the opponent a perfect opportunity for placing the counter-strike 1l.b4! It turns out that White is winning at least a pawn. l1 ... Ba6 12.9a2 &g7 13.axb5 Bb7 14.bxc6 Bxc6 15.8b5 Bb7 16.0-0 0-0 17.Aa6+-; l1 ... Bxb4 12.axb5 Qb6 13.bxc6 kg7 14.8a6 0-0 15. 0-0 e6 16.Pfbl Be7 17.Be2+-) ll.Ae2 Qb6 12.0-0 Qc4 13.Bcl &g7 14.Af2 0-0 15.adlL; 7...a6, Sauvadet - Germes, France 2003. A waiting move which is rarely seen. Neverthe- less it could turn quite useful in further queenside actions. That's why we propose to cut resolutely all hopes of Black in this part of t he board. 8.a4! Now Black should forget about b7-b5 for a long time, if not for good. Addi- tionally, White could favourably block the queenside with the move a4-a5. 8...a5. White pre- vents a4-a5, hoping to activate the knight Qb8-a6-b4 on occa- sion. However this idea is slow and not too effective. (%..&g4 9.h3 Qf5 10.8f2 8xf3 ll.Bxf3 Bb6 12.Qdl! Qxd4? 13.Bc3! c5 14 .8xd4 cxd4 15.Bc8+ Bd8 16.Bxb7 a d 7 17.Bxd5+-; 12 ... k g 7 13.a5 Bc7 14.g4 hxg4 15. hxg4 Xxhl 16.Bxhl Qh6 17. Qe3&) 9.8d3 Qa6 (9 ... 8 f 5 10. 0-0 8 x d 3 l l .Bxd3 e6 12.Qe2 Qf5 13.8f2 h4 14.b3 Qd7 15x42) 10.0-0 Qb4 11.8e2 8 % 12.Hcl Qg4 13.8d2. Black squeezed ev- erything possible out of his pieces! But all these attacks prove to be strikes on thin air. Having repelled the annoying enemy pieces, White sets about counter-attack. 13.. .&g7 14.h3 Qh6 15.8el!2. A possible plan for the future is Bdl-d2, Qc3- dl-e3, c2-c3 with superb play for White. b2a) 7...Bb6 8.Qa4 White's knight is a bit awk- ward a t the edge of board, but Chapter 2 this is only a temporary stand. It has enough possibilities to join quickly his army. 8...Ba5+ 9 x 3 8 g 4 9...Bc7!? 10.8e2 8 g 4 11.0-0 Qf5 12.8f2 e6, Sepp - M.Gure- vich, Brugge 1995, 13.b3!? Per- haps only this flexiblemove al- lows White to fight for the edge. I t provides possibility for the manoeuvre Qa4-b2-d3 as well as the advance c3-c4 with gain of space. 13 ... Qd7 14.Qb2 8 h 6 15.Qd32. Consolidating the cen- tre, White has the better game. 1O.Qc5 lO...Bc7 10 ... Qf5 11.8f2 e6 12.Bb3!? (12.Qb3 Qd7= Jaracz - Urban, Plock 2000) 12 ... Bb6 (There is no time for 12 ... Axf3 in view of 13.Bxb7! Bb6 14.Bc8+ Bd8 15.Bxd8+ &xd8 16.gxf3k) 13. Qd2! This move transforms the active bishop on g4 from an as- set into a weakness. It is under threat of extermination tha t Black has no right to ignore. (13 ... Qd7? 14.Qxd7 &xd7 15. h3+-) 13 ... Bxb3 14.Qdxb3 b6 (14 ... 8xc5 15.121~~5 b6 16.8a6! Qxa6 17.Qxa6 h4 18.Qc7+ &d7 19.Qxa8 Pxa8 2O.h3+-) 15.8a6! A strong intermezzo. White is using at maximum his powerful knight on c5.15 ... Qxa6 (15 ... bxc5 16.8137 c4 17.Qa5 c5 18.h3+-) 16.Qxa6 &d7 17.h3+-; 13 ... h4 (vacating h5 for retreat of the bishop.) 14.h3 P h 5 15.Qxb7 Qd7 16.Bxb6 axb6 17.8d3 Pa7 18. Axf5 gxf5 19.Qd6+ 8xd6 20. exd6 Pg8 21.Ph2 Qf8 22.8xh42. 10 ... Bb6!? A logical continu- ation which deserves a thorough investigation although i t has never happened in practice yet. Returning to b6, the queen is re- newing the threat to b2. defend- - ing his own on b7 in the mean- time. If White does not wish to repeat moves, he must embark on a double-edged offensive on the queenside. ll.b4. This move is well-founded. Black cannot immediately oust the knight with b7-b6, while the counter- attack a7-a5 is in White's favour. l1 ... a5 misses the mark because White can answer 12.b5! Qf5 13.Pf2 e6 (13 ... cxb5 14.Xbl b4. The pawn on b5 has no other defence. 15.Ba4+ Qc6 16.Qg5. Threatening simple h2-h3 a t the first place. 16 ... f6 17.Pxb4 axb4 18.Bxa8+ a d 8 19.Qge6 bxc3 20.Pb5+-) 14.bxc6 8xc5 15.cxb7 Bxb7 16.dxc5 Bb2 17. Bclk; l1 ... Qf5 12.8f2 e6 13.h3 Pxf3 14.BxBL. l l .h3 Qf5 12.8f2 8 x f 3 13. Bxf3 b6 14.Qd3 The game Bologan - Badea, Sovata 1999 saw a knight's re- treat to b3, but d3 is a more suit- be catastrophic for his scattered able place. pieces. Understanding this, 14...h4 Black is loolung for complications Black prevented g2-g4, but himself and precipitate the missed e5-e6. Inversely, 14 ... e6 tragic outcome. 2l...c5 22.b3 was not better because of 15.g4!+ c x d 4 23.cxd4 B c 3 2 4 . 8 d l 15.e6! Qxd4 25.Ec1 Bb2 26.Ae3 Eh8 This heavy blow considerably 27.Ef2 White is winning a piece upsets Black's co-ordination. and that is not all ... 27...%xb3 15 ... fxe6 28.8xd4 b x d l + 29.Exdl Pc8 15 ... f6, Karpatchev - Jaracz, 30.Hdfl Xg8 3l.XxfS+ 1-0 Ka- Germany 2003, 16.Bg4! Eh6 j ak in - Kotsur, Halkidiki 2002. (16 ... 988 17.0-0-O+) 17.0-0-0 Bd6 18.Qel 8xe6 19.Qf3 Qg7 b2b) 7...Ag4 20.8xh4L. White regained the pawn maintaining better chan- ces. Why? Mostly because of the bishop pair advantage and bet- ter development. Still this posi- tion deserves practical testing. 16.Bg4 Rh6 17.Qe5 Qd7 8.h3 Qf5 8...Axf3 9.Bxf3 usually leads to t he Model position of the scheme. Possible deviations are: 9...e6 (9 ...Qf5 10.8f2 - see 8... Qf5) 10.8d3 (10.8f2!?) 10 ... h4 (10 ... Q f 5 l l .8 f2 h4 12.0-0 - see 18.8d3 8...Qf5) 11.0-0 a d 7 (11 ... 8 e 7 The main problem of Black 12.b3 Ba5 13.Qe2 Qa6 14.a3 Qf5 is that his pieces cannot come 15.8f2 Qc7 16 .~42 Henrichs - into play. The little material ad- Nowik, Essen 2003) 12.Qe2 b5 vantage is of no importance. 18. .. (12 ... Qf5 13.Af2 - see 8...Qf5) 8 g 7 (18 ... axe5 19.fxe5 0-0-0 13.b3 a6 1 4 . ~ 4 Qf5 15.cxd5 cxd5 20.0-0k.) 19.0-0 Axe5 20.fxe5 16.Zfcl 8 a 3 17.23~6 Qb8 18.Pc2 41fS 21.a4 White is calmly pre- a x e 3 19.Bxe3 a d 7 20.f5 gxf5 21. paring a queenside attack. If Axf5 a c 6 (21 ... exf5 22.b4 8xb4 Black does not take urgent mea- 23.Bb3+-) 22.8g4+ A.David - sures, the opening of play would Peyrat, France 2002. Chapter 2 9.8f2 Pxf3 10.Bxf3 h4 Bad is 10 ... e6 ll.g4+. 11.8d3 e6 12.0-0 This is the Model position of the scheme. It could be reached after different move orders. We should note that the position af- ter 12.0-0 is examined also in Chapter 4, line a l , but i t is White's turn there. By the way, exchanging on f5 does not promise White an ad- vantage. 12. ..ad7 12 ... 8 e 7 13.Qe2 a5 (13 ... a d 7 -see 12 ... Qd7 13.Qe2 8e7) 14.b3 Qa6 (14 ... Qd7 - see 12 ... Qd7; 14 ... a4 15.c4+) 15x4 Qb4 (15 ... Qc7 16.&h2&) 16.8bl a4, Pujos - Bolding, Marseilles 2001. White could gain material ad- vantage: 17.a3 Qa6 (17 ... axb3 18.Pxf5f) 18.cxd5 cxd5 (18 ... Bxd5 19.Pe4 Bd7 20.bxa4k) 19.bxa4 @d7 20.Bb3 0-0 21. 8d3f with an extra pawn and excellent winning chances. 12 ... b5 (An attempt to seize space on the queenside.) 13.a4! b4 (13 ... bxa4 14.Pxa4 Qd7 15. Pfalf ; 13 ... @b6? A witty, but in- correct idea. 14.axb5 Qxd4 15. &hl! A beautiful move! It turns out that Black is not able to avoid decisive material losses. 15 ... Qxf3 16.8xb6 Qd2 17.Pfdl+-; 15 ... c5 16.Qxd5 exd5 17.@xd5+-; 15 ... 8 c 5 16.Qa4 Bc7 17.Bdl+- winning a piece; 16 ... Qxf3 17. Qxb6 8xb6 18.8xb6 Qd2 19. Xfdl Qd7 20.8xa7 Qe4 21.8xe4 dxe4 22.bxc6 Qb8 23.881 Hxal 24x7 0-0 25.Pd8+-, and the c7- pawn promotes to a queen.) 14.Qe2 a5 1 5 . ~ 3 a d 7 16.Pfcl Bb6 1 7 . ~ 4 Be7 18.cxd5 cxd5 19.8b5 Pa7 20.gc6 Bb7 21. Paclk. White is dominating not only on the queenside, but all over the board, Sermek - Rue, France 2001. 13.Qe2 White has to forget for a while about kingside play. Therefore he should be looking for chances on the opposite flank. Black has the choice: b2bl ) 13 ... Ae7 or b2b2) 13 ... a5, in- tending to meet the standard plan of White (b2-b3) with 8a3 . The other moves are rarely played: 13 ... Bb6 14.b3 8 a 3 15.Pabl a5 16x4 Ba7 17.&h2 Pc8 18.9fdl Bb6 19.Xd2 a d 8 20.Pc2L Bellin - Mestel, Hastings 1980; 13 ... b5 14.b3 (planning c2- c4) 14 ... b4 (Black opposes the enemy's intentions) 15x4 (nev- ertheless White makes this move because the opening of play in- creases the potential of his pieces) 15 ... bxc3 16.Qxc3 Ba5 17. Pfcl Bb4 (17 ... 8 a 3 18.22~2 Bb2 19.Pdl 8xc3 20.Pxf5 Pxd4 21. 8xd4 gxf5 22.Pxc6 Bxa2 23.Pdcl Bd2 24.8f2 Eh7 25.Pc8+ Xxc8 26.Pxc8+ &e7 27.8xa7k) 18.Qe2 Bb6 (18 ... c5? This attempt of cre- ating counterplay fails due to tactical reasons: 19.dxc5 8xc5 20.Pxc5 Qxc5 21.a3 Bxb3 22. &X&+-; 21 ... Bb6 22.b4+-) 19. Pc2 Ba3. Black prevents Pacl, but White could use this square for another piece! 20.&h2 &f8 2 1 . 8 ~ 6 gxf5 22. Qcl! An excel- lent option! On d3 White's knight will show its full power. 22 ... Pc8 23.Qd3+ YMoiseev - Lorscheid, Kecskemet 1990. b2bl ) 13 ... 8 e 7 14.b3 &B 14 ... 8 a 3 1 5 . ~ 4 - see line a l a , Chapter 4 (!). 14 ... a5 15x4 &f8 - see 14 ... &B. 14 ... c5 15.c4+. 14 ... Bc7 1 5 . ~ 4 0-0-0, Kingroche - Gnejs, ICS 1997, 16. Efcl+. 14 ... Ba5 - on this square the queen is only helping the oppo- nent to attack the queenside. 1 5 . ~ 4 0-0-0 16.a3 dxc4 17.bxc4 &b8 18.Pfbl &a8 19.8e4+ Migl - Vonthron, Germany 1992. 1 5 x 4 Amazingly, exactly this posi- tion is considered in Chapter 4 (line a2b), but with an extra tempo for White (the bishop had returned to B). We recommend there two promising plans: 16. &h2 and 16.a3. As strange as it may seem, the extra tempo does not help Black much - he is still going to suffer! 15 ... a5 (15 ... &g7 16.Pfcl a6 17x5 b5 18.a4 Bc7 19.&h2 Phb8, Treffert - Brecht, Germany 2002. White could in- crease his pressure on the queen- side with the na tu ra l move 20.b4f intending Pa3, Pcal.) 1 6 . ~ 5 b 6 An active defence - un-dermining the c5-pawn, Black activates his pieces a little. How- ever this decision has its draw- backs too - White can enforce a nasty pressure along the open- ing up line c. 17.cxb6 Bxb6 1 8 . 9 f c l &g7 19 .kx f5 exf5 20.Qc3f Smirnov - Ehlvest, Panormo 2002. 14.b3 8a3 14 ... 8 e 7 - see 13 ... Pe7 14.b3 a5. 14 ... a4 - an attempt to pre- Chapter 2 cipitate simplification. But in this position even exchanges do not alleviate Black. Even on a half-empty board White could easier make use of his long-term advantages! 15x4 axb3 16.axb3 Be7 17.cxd5 cxd5 18.Pxa8 Bxa8 19.Hcl Bd8 20.8xf5 gxf5 21.Bd3 Bb6 22.Ec8+ Ad8 23.8e1 f6 24.&h2 &f7 25.Qgl!+ Almasi - Hickl, Graz 2002. A typical, though paradoxical method of activation of the knight. Black has a difficult time ahead with his main weakness being the king. 1 5 . ~ 4 Be7 15 ... Qb6 16x52 16.Pabl This move is of the "general- strengthening" type. Anyway it causes no damage. White could have launched at once the same he started on the next move. 16 ... &fS We already know of this situ- ation! Since castling in any di- rection could bring about sad consequences, Black is opting for an artificial castling. Of course, he should not expect some great improvement in result of that manoeuvre. 17.ah2 &g7 (diagram) lS.Qgl!! A splendid idea of Michael Adams which deserves special attention! Having realized that the knight had little prospects on e2, he is carrying out a paradoxi- cal plan. The white queen and knight interchange their places! l8 ... gad8 19.8e2! Qb8 20.Qf3 Now we can see that Black's situ- ation gravely deteriorated. The least evil is that he is deprived of any active or even semi-mean- ingful plan. In the imminent fu- ture White will exchange on f5 to proceed with capturing the h4- pawn (after preliminary Bel) . That is why Black decides on clearly unfavourable opening up of the play. 2O...c5 21.8xf5 exf5 22.cxd5 P x d 5 23.Bc4 B d S 24.dxc6 White won a pawn and the game came quickly to an end: 24 . .ha6 2 6 . ~ 6 b5 26.Be2 Qb4 27.Pbdl Qxc6 28.8xh4 B e 7 29.Pxd5 B x d 5 30.Xdl B c 5 31.Pf6+ Pxf6 32.exf6+ &h6 33.Qg5 1-0 Adams - Norwood, Leeds 1991. A little note for the most at- tentive and studious readers - pay attention to lines a1 and a 2 in Chapter 4. A similar situation, does it not ? Conclusion In this chapter we consider in detail a paradoxical, absolutely "anti-classic", but nevertheless entirely viable and quite popular concept of Black for the opening battle. It does not suffice that he allows the opponent to seize the centre and reinforce it. O n top of all Black even demonstratively, to say, fully intentionally, sacrifices a tempo playing d7-d6-d5! The reason behind this idea is to paralyse White's centre, luring the pawn to f4 and waiting for the pawn con- struction d4-e5-f4, and eventually counter-attack it. One would ask why not to execute the same idea without losing a tempo? Black could have played d7-d5 i n one move and deploy his bishop to g7? The answer is in Chapter 4, where we examine thoroughly this varia- tion. In the current chapter Black intentionally leaves his bishop on f8 i n order to use i t i n the counter-attack against White's centre after c6-c5. We think that White's tasks are more complicated here. This is the paradox of the system. Modern practice shows that White often fails to pick up the keys to Black's position. Still the first player could achieve a stable space advantage or the bishop pair. (A stable space advantage means that Black has no chances to break free from the cramped position - the white centre is too firm.) Thanks to his supremacy in space White could play on both flanks depending on the circumstances. Black is deprived of counterplay anyway. Most often Black blockades the kingside with h5-h4, after which he is forced to spend efforts on defence of this pawn. (It could become a tangible target, a s shown by the game Adams - Norwood). The main, most efficient and popu- lar plan of White, is the pawn storm on the queenside. Chapter 3 This position could be reached by completely different move or- ders. Black players often begin with l...g6. We should announce right away that this system is one of the most pleasant for White in the Caro-Kann defence. When you are through this chapter, you'll understand why ... 5.e5 How to assess this position? First of all we notice a "stuck piece - the bishop on g7. Black will have great problems activat- ing it, of course if White refrains from serious mistakes. Black of- ten finds himself forced to lose time in order to include the bishop into play via ... B! This chapter covers different moves of Black except the main option - 5...h5. We have to un- derline tha t the firm though cramped position of Black allows him to vary move orders without risking to lose immediately. In any case White needs patience, strong play and some strategic mastery. Every so often White players "lose their h e a d because of the "bad play of the opponent in the opening and pay a dear price! We analyse the following con- tinuations: a) 5...Bb6, b) 5...e6, C) 5...b6, d) 5...f6, e ) 5...Qh6. We'll mention some r a re moves here: 5...Qa6?! - why? 6.Qf3 h5, Michel - Bombardiere, Santiago 1994, 7.Pxa6 bxa6 8.aa4 Ba5+ 9.c3+; 5...b5, Novopashin - Dzuban, USSR 1978. A strange idea! It is hard to say what is Black aim- ing for. 6.a4! Simplest. White at- tacks the queenside a t once, forc- ing the opponent to create weak- nesses. 6...b4 7.Qce2 a5 8.af3 Qh6 9.ag3 Qf5 10.8d3! Qxg3 ll.hxg3k. Later White could efficiently make use of the opened h-file; 5...8f5 - a challenging con- tinuation! The black bishop is kind of provoking the opponent: 'Chase me please!' 6.g4! White should comply with the "plea"! Seriously spoken, White can in- crease his space gain without risk. Black fails in organising counterplay. 6...8d7. On that square the bishop is a t least for- mally developed.(~lack is in pre- dicament after 6...8c8 7.8e2 e6 8.Qf3 b6 9.0-0 8 a 6 10.8xa6 Qxa6 ll.f5f Brause - Chesscat, ICS 1995) 7.8e3 Qh6 8.h3 f5 9.g5 Qff 10.h4 h6. This position has been reached in the game Norvoll - Bennett, IECC 1998. White could maintain his edge with l l .Bf3 Bb6 12.0-0-02; 5...a6 - a waiting move. It is rarely seen which is of no won- der to us - Black cannot pretend to equality this way. 6.QB Bg4, Paul - Hoehn, Badenweiler 1994. White should gain the bishop pair advantage without unneces- sary complications: 7.h3 8xf3 8. Bxf3 Bb6 (8 ... b5 9.f5 Bb6 10. Be3,; 8...e6 9.8d32) 9.Bf2 Qh6 10.g4 e6 ll.Ad3L. The space ad- vantage of White throughout the board makes us judge in his favour. a) 5.. .Bb6 (diagram) Amazing - what is the queen doing there? This paradoxical move cannot be directly refuted. Of course Black violates the prin- ciples of development in the opening, thrusting the queen ahead before the light pieces. But one should think concretely! White has to exert himself in or- der to reveal the minuses of this unusual manoeuvre of the queen. 6.8e2! Black hoped to pin the white knight with 8 g 4 after his ap- pearing on f3. Anticipating the opponent's intention, White makes a useful developing move. At the same time he draws the sting from 8g4. 6...QhS This happened in the game Socko - Teplitsky, Bled 2002. We must admit tha t later White played too sharply and finally not only did not get any advantage, but even lost. When meeting "rare" variations, it is good to be very accurate! 7.Qf3 Ensuring support to the cen-tre without superfluous tricks. Let Black, who had deployed his pieces so originally, be looking for complications! 7...Bg4 8.0-0 Qf5 Black has no other plan ex- cept of attacking the pawn on d4. But White parries the attempt and draws the enemy back. Chapter 3 Because good players does not "cut the o x v ~ e n " to his own This position was reached by transposition in the game Mi- chiels - Krasenkow, Amsterdam 2004. 10.h3. Michiels followed a similar plan, but with a delay, moreover he took on f3 by rook. 10 ... 8xf3. Only move, but now White gets the bishop pair ad- vantage in a safe position. 11. Bxf3 e6 12.Qc5 a d 7 13.Qxd7 Bxd7 14x32. Black is doomed to a long unrewarding defence. " U bishop without any necessity. This bishop could have made a career on f5 or g4 instead of grieving on c8, don't you think?! 6.QB b6 Obviously Black will be trad- ing the light-squared bishops. Therefore, White should move the other bishoo in order to take on a6 without losing time. 6...Qh6 7.8e2 b6 - a correct decision! If Black cannot activate the bishop, he must exchange it. This does not solve all problems though, because of some particu- larities of the pawn structure. 8.8e3 8 a 6 9.0-0 Axe2 10.exe2 Qd7, Vonach - Behnke, Bad Wiessee 1998. The queenside is not a suitable place for shelter- ing Black's king. Why? It is easy to explain - in view of the weak- nesses caused by b7-b6. Using this a s a hook, White could quickly stage there an unpleas- ant attack. The conclusion is: if Black would not like to leave his king in the centre for good (and most probably he would not wish to do such things), he should pre- pare a short castling. Hence, White should take measures to disturb the opponent's king in case of a short castle. This aim This move is inconsistent. could be achieved by 11.8f2! An Still we cannot call it a mistake extremely useful move! On h4 - Black did not blunder material the bishop will be able to display and his position is quite solid. its best qualities. We cannot say Perhaps this move should be de- the same about the nominally scribed as unprofessional. Why? deployed, but actually without any prospects black bishop. 11 ... 0-0 12.Pael! White is con- centrating forces on the kingside. And what about the opposite flank, could the Reader ask. On the queenside Black is unable to organize real counterplay be- cause his pieces are passive. This allows White to transfer his army against the black king. 12 ... c5 13.Qdl Qf5 14.c3L We would not like to be into Black's shoes. He must be constantly on watch for the threat g2-g4. If such event White's pawns with the logistic support of all other pieces could start a direct offen- sive against Black's castle. Black would like to solve these prob- lems by moving the fl-pawn, but that would produce too many weaknesses. 6...Qe7 7.8e3 Qf5 8 . 8 B h5 9.g3 - a healthy, although not necessary move. White wants to avoid even a temporary blockade of his kingside and plans to meet 9...h4 with the simple 10.g4, re- jecting the black knight and get- ting the edge. 9...Qd7, Guehl - Weiss, corr. 1998. A totally illogi- cal move - what is doing that knight on d7? On that square it is developed only for the record - in fact it has no prospects. I t was better to choose the familiar plan with an exchange of the light-squared bishops through a6. 10.8d3f. We do not see an adequate plan for Black. In- versely, White possesses a lot of good possibilities, because the opponent deprived himself of counterplay. 7.8e3 8 a 6 The character of play is the same after 7...Qe7, Montalvo - Frometa, Havana 2002, 8.8f2! Ba6 9.8xa6 Qxa6 10.0-0 0-0 11.8h42. 8 . 8 x a 6 Qxa6 9.Be2 Qc7 l0.8f2 Bc8 11.0-0 9 a 6 12.8d2 Qe7 13.adl Unfortunately White's rook must remain on a1 in order to protect t he a2-pawn. White should not worry about tha t though. Firstly, the strongest piece of the enemy, the queen, is practically excluded from play because of that pawn. Secondly, the rook is scaring Black's king, which is afraid of castling queen- side in view of the presence of White's heavy piece there! 13...0-0 14.Qe3 Pfd8 15.8h4 Pd7 White has played very well so far and reached this favourable position in the game Tsikari- shvili - G.David, Oropesa del Mar 1999. Unfortunately, later he was less successful and even- tually even lost. Besides it was Chapter 3 big time for launching a direct attack: 16.g4! c5 17.c3+. White could soon achieve f4-f5 with great success, taking advantage of the complete passivity of the opponent. C) 5...b6 This is a favourable for White position from the game Vavrak - Kotan, Topolcianky 1994. White should continue mobilising forces for a kingside play: ll.%?e2 Qc7 12.Xael0-0 13.Qdlk. d) 5...f6 6.QB Ba6 6...Bg4. An inconsistent deci- sion - what was the purpose of b7-b6 then? Looks like a trifle, but there are no trifles in chess. Sooner or later the weakening of the queenside will tell. 7.8e3 e6 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 Qe7 10.g4 Qd7 11.Ad3+ Stevanec - Frometa, Bled 2002. 7.kxa6 Without losing tempo! 7...axa6 8.0-0 Of course, White could pay attention to the typical pawn sac- rifice e5-e6. We also dedicated some time to it. However the con- sequences of that move seemed not too clear. Most importantly, White does not need premature complications. He is able to face the opponent with difficult tasks with a calm, consistent play. 8...e6 9.Ae3 ae7 lO.Af2 %2d7 This move is quite popular. I t brings Black satisfactory results. Still we have doubts in such de- lay of development. In addition Black weakens his position. Per- haps it is worth refraining from the common 6.Qf3 in favour of the sharp move: 6.h4!? Amazingly, but this is a nov- elty! Although it is hard to think up of a more logical move. White brings at once his rook into play, upsetting the black king a t that. This brainchild of GM A.Bez- godov deserves a thorough inves- tigation. 6...QhS 6...h5 - this "mechanical" breaking of the h-pawn gives White a small, but lasting and unclouded edge. Why? Because Black is left without perceptible counterplay in a cramped posi- tion. 7.8d3 f5 8.Qf3L. 7.h5 8 g 4 Apparently Black is forced into winning a pawn. Otherwise White will attack comfortably "for free". For instance: 7...Qf5 when Black will hardly like the varia- tion: 8.hxg6 hxg6 9.Pxh8+ 8xh8 10.8d3. Black's king is obviously in trouble. l 0 ... fxe5 ll.fxe5 e6 12.Bg4 Bh4+. It is understand- able why Black is striving to trade queens. But the knight would not be able to escape from the h4-square! 13.Bxh4 Qxh4 14.g4! c5 15.885 c4 16.8fl+-. 8.8e2 gxh5 8...8xe2 9.2fxe2 a f 5 10.8f2 fxe5 (10 ... e6 ll.g4 Qh6 12.exf6 Pxf6 13.g5+- winning a piece) ll.fxe5 0-0 12.hxg6 hxg6 13.g4 a d 6 14.2fh4 a c 4 15.Bh7+ &fT 16.Ph6 Eg8 17.0-0-0+-. 9 . ~ ~ ~ 4 hxg4 10.Pxh6! This way White ensures an easy access to the enemy king. It is still early to talk about mat- ing attack, but there is no doubt that White's initiative compen- sates by margin the sacrificed exchange. 10 ... B x h 6 l l . B x g 4 &?fS This position is interesting and complicated. I t is better to wait for practical testing which will hardly take long to start. For now we'll confine to this varia- tion: 1 2 ... Xg8 13.Bh3 &g7 14. af3 Bb6 15.ae2 Qa6 16.F$f2!+_. The dozing white rook comes into play which spells hard time for the adversary. A most natural continuation - Black is completing develop- ment of the kingside. 6.Qf3 We'll examine thoroughly threemajor choices of Black: e l ) 6...f6, e2) 6...0-0 and e3) 6. .. Bg4. 6...b6 7.Pe3! (White is not in Chapter 3 a hurry to develop the light- squared bishop!) 7...Qa6 8.Bd2 Qc7 9.0-0-0 8 g 4 10.8e2 Qf5 11. 8 f 2 e6 12.g3 BB 13.h3 8xf3 14. Bxf3 8e7 15.g4 Qg7 16.Qe2L Vi- tolinsh - Dzuban, Moscow 1979. 6...Bb6 7.Qa4 Ba5 8 . ~ 3 f6 9. Qc5 0-0, Grigoriants - Krasen- kow, Istanbul 2003. We suggest to White to play 10.8e2!?, resist- ing the temptation to chase Black's queen out of a5. The queen will have to leave that square anyway. 10 ... Bc7 (10 ... b6?? ll.b4+) 11.0-0 b6 12.Qd3 ( th i s square i s kept for the knight) 12 ... 8 f 5 13.b3 8 e 4 14. QaL. e l ) 6...f6 7.Pe3 Qf5 Usually Black prefers 7. ..0-0 - see line e2 or 7...8g4 - see line e3. 7...Qd7, Sharma - Abdul, Dhaka 2004. A clumsy move. The knight is barring the way to the light-squared bishop. The knight itself has no active prospects. 8.8d3! This is the most aggres- sive place for the bishop which is ready to participate in the kingside attack. 9...Bb6 (8 ... 0-0 9.h4!? with attack) 9.Bcl2. 7.. .b5, Bhanindra - Laxman, Avadi 2000. We suggest the fol- lowing plan: 8.a4!? b4 9.Qe2 a5 (in order to prevent White from playing a4-a5) 10.Qg3. The knight can assist the attack. This position deserves practical test. A possible continuation could be: l 0 ... 0-0 l l .Pd3 Qg4 12.8d2 8 a 6 13.f5! 8xd3 14.cxd3 fxe5 15.Qg5 gxf5 16.Qe6 Bd6 17.QxB exd4 18.0-O+. 8.88 fxe5 9.fxe5 8 h 6 An experimental try which brought White full success in the game Stellwagen -Van der Wiel, Hoogeveen 2001. In our opinion White could have punished the experienced GM Van der Wiel for his non-standard treatment of the opening. 10.8d3! Qe3 10 ... Bb6 ll.Qa4 Ba5+ 1 2 . ~ 3 0-0 13.Qc5 b6 14.Qb3 Ba4 15. Be2 8 a 6 16.9xa6 Qxa6 17.g4 Qg7 18.g5 Exf3 19.Bxf3 8xg5 2O.Bg4k. 11.8xe3 Axe3 12.Be2 8 h 6 13.Qdl! White should not hurry with castling, because one the most important attacking resource of his is the advance of the h-pawn. 13 ... Ag4 (13 ... 0-0 14.h4 c5 15.h5 g5 16.dxc5 g4 17.Qd4 Bc7 18.Qc3 Qc6 19.Qxd5 Ba5+ 2 0 . ~ 3 Qxd4 21.Be4 Efl 22.@xd4+-) 14.Qe3 Axf3 15. BxM B b 6 16.Bh3 Axe3 17. Bxe3 0-0 18.0-0-0 Qa6 19.h4 Qb4 20.&bl Qxd3 21.Pxd3k. Despite elimination of the light pieces White's advantage is per- ceptible. The imminent threat is 22.h5 with a strong attack. e2) 6...0-0 7.8e3 f6 Black is stubbornly refusing to develop the bishop to g4. 7...8g4 8.Ae2 Qf5 (8 ...R 9. 0-0 - see line e3) 9.8f2 f6 (9 ... e6, Wuestenhube - Thamm, Bauna- tal 2000, 10.h3 8xf3 11.8xf3L) 10.h3 8xf3 11.8xf3 8h6 , Fontai- ne - Trommsdorf, Cannes 1995, 12.g3 fxe5 (12 ... Bb6 13.Pbl fxe5 14.dxe5 d4 15.Qe4 Ba5+ 16x3 @xa2 17.cxd42) 13.dxe5 e6 (13 ... g5 14.axd5 cxd5 15.Bxd5+ Bxd5 16.8xd5+ e6 17.8xb7 a d 7 18. 8 x a 8 Hxa8 19.Pdlk) 14.h4 Ba5 15.0-02. 8.h3! Not only depriving Black's pieces of g4, but aiming for g2- g4 too! White's design is simple, but not less dangerous because of it! In practice dozens of times Black's castle cracked like a nut shell under this attack. 8...af7 Black is playing safely, but slowly. The immediate attack g2- g4 has no chances to succeed so White bolsters the centre. The other continuations are: S...b6 9.Bd2 fxe5 (9 ... 8 a 6 10. 0-0-0 am ii.aa ~ x f l 1 2 . ~ d x ~ fxe5 13.dxe5 e6 14.g4 Qh6 15. Be3 c5 16.f5 d4 17.f6+; 15 . . . a n 16.h4 c5 17.h5 d4. Black's coun- terplay is clearly lagging behind. White's threats are more effec- tive: 18.hxg6 hxg6 19.8d3 axe5 20.axe5 dxc3 21.8xg6 Pf6 22. 8h7+ &t% 23.m cxb2 24.&bl+-; 9...Qa6 1O.g4! fxe5 -timid 10 ...S bears the seal of despair e.g. 11. g5 Qf7 12.h4k - ll.Qxe5! Bd6 12.0-0-0 a f 7 13.h4. White is way ahead in creating concrete threats. 13 ... Qc7 14.h5 g5 15.h6 Bh8 16.Bd3 gxf4 17.8xf4 axe5 18.8xe5 Axe5 19.Bg5+ Bg6 20. 8xe5 1-0 Wahls - Von Wersch, Berlin 1996.13 ... axe5 is also un- satisfactory: 14.fxe5 Be6 15.h5 gxh5 16.gxh5 Pd8 17.h6 A B 18. Ah3+-) 10. axe5 afl 11.0-0-0 axe5 12.fie5 8 e 6 13.h4! Advanc- ing the g-pawn is not efficient in this position, but White has a more dangerous plan instead - to open the h-file. 13 ... h5 (trad- ing bishops does not help too: 13 ... k g 4 14. Be2 8 d 7 15.h5 gxh5 16.Xh4 b5 17.Pdhlk) 14.8d3 Be8 15.Qe2 86 16.Qf4 e6 17.g4! hxg4 18.h5 g5 (18 ...p h5 19.bd-15 20.8h6 1-0 S.Petronic - B.10- nescu, Banja Dvorovi 2000) 19. Qg6 8 x d 3 (19 ... Pf7 20.h6 &h8 2l.h7+ Exh7 22.Hxh7 &xh7 23. Qxh8 &xh8 24.Phl+ &g7 25. Bh2 8 g 8 26.Bh6+ &f7 27.Bf6+ &e8 28.9h8+-) 20.8xd3 Pf5 21.Edgl c5 22.Pxg4 8 h 6 23.Qh4 Bxh5 24.Xggl+-; 8...Bb6 9.aa4 Be7 (9 ... Ba5+ 10x3 Qd7 ll .b4 Be7 12.g4 a5 13.b5 c5 14.8d3 fxe5 15.fxe5 c4 1 6 . 8 ~ 2 b6 17.0-0 Qf7 18.Bd2+) 10.Bd2 Qd7 ll.g4! fxe5 12.dxe5. Capturing by knight also main- tains White's edge. Apparently GM Berelovich wanted to avoid Chapter 3 unnecessary exchanges. In such a favourable position it is all a matter of taste. 12 ... e6 (12 ... b5 13.Qc52). 13.Qc5 Qxc5 1 4 . 8 ~ ~ 5 Pd8 15.0-0-0 b6 16.Ad6 Bd7, Berelovich - Hartoch, Dieren 1999 (The exchange sacrifice does not yield sufficient com- pensation: 16 ... Zxd6 17.exd6 Bxd6 18.Ad3+) 17.h4! The sim- plest path to success, we think. Uncovering Black's king, White should easily prevail. The pawn loss does not matter at all. 17 ... Qxg4 18.h5 gxh5 19.Pxh5 Be8 20.Eh3 Qh6 21.8d3 Qf5 (21 ... Exd6 22.Pgl! Pd7 23.Xxh6+-) 22.Pf5 ef 23.Pgl a6 24.Bh2+-; 8...b5, Zimer - Rakhman- gulov, Nikolaev 2001. This at- tempt of obtaining counterplay is untimely and not well founded. Black's position is not so good to allow such liberties. 9.g4! b4 (9 ... a5 10.Ad3 a4 ll.a3+) 10.Qa4 fxe5 ll.Qxe5 Qfl 12.Bd2 Qxe5 13.fxe5 Ba5 14.b3+. Black got many real weaknesses through- out the board; 8...fxe5 - in answer to this move White tried all three recap- tures. We prefer taking with the knight. 9.Qxe5! The knight found an excellent outpost in the centre. Although Black could ex- change it, that would not solve his problems. 9...Qf5 (9 ...Qfl 10.Bd2 axe5 ll.fxe5 c5 12.dxc5 e6 13.0-0-0 Qc6 14.h4 8 a 5 15.h5 g5 16.h6 Axe5 17.Ph5 d4 18. Exg5+ &h8 19.Pxe5 dxc3 20.Bd6 cxb2+ 21.&bl Xd8 22.Pf5!!+-; g... Qd7 10.f3d2 Qf5 11.Bf2 c5. Try- ing to counter-attack. I t de- mands extreme precaution from White, since the critical square d4 is not secure enough. 12.dxc5! a x e 5 13.fxe5 Axe5 14.Bxd5+ Bxd5 15.Qxd5 8xb2 16.9bl e6 17.Pxb2 exd5 18.g4 Qe7 19. Pg22) 10.Pf2 Bc7 l l .g4 Qd6 12.Bd2 b5 13.8g2 e6 14.a3 a5 15.0-O! White's kingside is a bit compromised by the pawn ad- vance, but in the current situa- tion that is not dangerous. Why? Because neither pawns, nor pieces of the opponent have real chances to "visit" White's king. 15 ... Qd7 16.Pfel a x e 5 17.fxe5 Qc4 18.22~1 Be7 19.b3 Qb6 20.Be32 Kripp - Nopp, Bad Liebenzell 1996. 9.Qe2! The knight transfer makes the d4-square unassailable. 9...fxe5 9...Bb6 10.Bcl2. lO.fxe5 c5 11.~3 Qc6 12.Bd2 Notice that the black knight on fl is barring the way to its own rook. That's why White can safely delay castling. 12...cxd4 13.cxd4 Bf5 14. Qg3 e6 15.Ae2 Pc8 16.0-0 Having completed develop- ment, White achieved a stable advantage. It consists in the ac- tivity of his pieces. If you have any doubts about that, please consider the prospects of the g7- bishop and the f7-knight. 16. .. 8a5 17.Qxf5 gxf5 18.Efdl White should not avoid a queen exchange. After i t he ob- tains a favourable safe position with good winning chances. 18...Bxd2 19.Pxd2 Qa5 20.b3. Restricting the knight on a5. In order to illustrate
Compartilhar