ANAND e4 Vol 3

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