Sveshnikov/Kalashnikov [B32−33]

Written by GM John Fedorowicz, GM Tony Kosten & IM Richard Palliser

Last updated Sunday, 17 July 2011

The Sveshnikov

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqkvl-tr0 9zpp+p+pzpp0 9-+n+-sn-+0 9+-+-zp-+-0 9-+-sNP+-+0 9+-sN-+-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tR-vLQmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

he Lasker/Pelikan/Sveshnikov is one of Black's sharpest choices but White can

sidestep the wild tactical lines with the positional choice by not doubling Black's f−

pawns.

TThe LPS is for players with nerves of steel and an attraction to piece play.

The Kalashnikov

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqkvlntr0 9zpp+-+pzpp0 9-+nzp-+-+0 9+N+-zp-+-0 9-+-+P+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tRNvLQmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

The Kalashnikov Variation has become very popular of late. I think White should

retain some advantage with patient play. The d5 square and the d6 pawn should be what he

looks to.

All the game references highlighted in blue have been annotated and can be downloaded in PGN form using the PGN Games Archive on www.chesspublishing.com.

2

Contents

1 e4 c5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 d4 cxd4 4 ¤xd4 ¤f6

4...e5 5 ¤b5 d6 (6...a6 Kalashnikov − Intro, Lowenthal & other 4th [B32]) XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqkvlntr0 9zpp+-+pzpp0 9-+nzp-+-+0 9+N+-zp-+-0 9-+-+P+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tRNvLQmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

6 c4 (6 ¤1c3 Kalashnikov − Intro, Lowenthal & other 4th [B32]) 6...¥e7 7 ¤1c3 (7 b3

Kalashnikov−Positional line − other 7th [B32]) 7...a6 8 ¤a3 Kalashnikov−Positional Mainline [B32]

4...d5!?, 4...£b6!?, etc. Kalashnikov − Intro, Lowenthal & other 4th [B32]

5 ¤c3 e5

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqkvl-tr0 9zpp+p+pzpp0 9-+n+-sn-+0 9+-+-zp-+-0 9-+-sNP+-+0 9+-sN-+-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tR-vLQmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

6 ¤db5 d6 7 ¥g5

7 ¤d5 Sveshnikov 7 Nd5 & sidelines [B33] 7 a4 Sveshnikov 7 Nd5 & sidelines [B33]

7...a6 8 ¤a3 b5

3

8...¥e6 Sveshnikov/Pelikan 8...Be6 [B33]

9 ¥xf6

9 ¤d5 ¥e7 10 ¥xf6 ¥xf6 Sveshnikov−9 Nd5 Positional Line [B33]

9...gxf6 10 ¤d5

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqkvl-tr0 9+-+-+p+p0 9p+nzp-zp-+0 9+p+Nzp-+-0 9-+-+P+-+0 9sN-+-+-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tR-+QmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

10...f5 Sveshnikov with ...gxf6 − 10...f5 [B33] 10...¥g7 Sveshnikov with ...gxf6 − 10...Bg7 [B33]

Press F4 or click on 'Bookmarks' (F5 in older versions) to toggle the Navigation Pane,

then click on the appropriate bookmark to go straight to that section.

Ctrl + 2 resizes the page to fit the window.

All rights reserved Chess Publishing Ltd

4

Kalashnikov − Intro, Lowenthal & other

4th [B32]

Last updated: 11/03/11 by Richard Palliser

1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 e5

Other moves: 4...£b6!?

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+l+kvlntr0 9zpp+pzppzpp0 9-wqn+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-+-sNP+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tRNvLQmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

The so−called Grivas Sicilian. Black is happy to lose a tempo with his queen to force

White's knight back to b3, after which he hopes to have gained an improved version of the Taimanov or Scheveningen. This is a decent side line for players who want to avoid serious theory, 5.¤b3 ¤f6 6.¤c3 (6.¥d3 d5!? this break looks very premature to me, Dervishi,E−Sax,G/Bratto ITA 2004.) 6...e6 7.£e2!? a critical test, (7.¥e3 £c7

8.f4 is very sharp, Caruana,F−Zhang Pengxiang/Ruy Lopez Masters, Merida 2008,

7.¥d3 a6 8.£e2 d6 9.g4!? rare, but also pretty aggressive, Smits,M−Golod,V/Belgian League 2007.) 7...¥b4 the most ambitious move and the one which Black would really like to make work, (7...d6 Tukhaev,A−Oleksienko,M/Ukrainian Championship, Poltava 2008) 8.¥d2 0-0 9.a3! (9.e5!? Ivanchuk,V−Polgar,J/Mexico City 2010)

9...¥e7 10.0-0-0 d5!? Robson,R−Yermolinsky,A/US Championship, Saint Louis 2010.

4...£c7!? 5.c4!? the most ambitious reply, 5...¤f6 6.¤c3 ¤xe4!? the point, 7.¤xe4 £e5 regaining the piece, but getting behind in development, Ivanchuk,V−Movsesian,S/Warsaw POL 2005.

5

4...d5!? a suggestion in 'Dangerous Weapons'. 5.¥b5 a critical choice, (5.¤xc6 aiming for a small pull, 5...bxc6 6.exd5 £xd5 7.£e2 Sokolov,A−Zozulia,A/Basel Open 2007., 5.exd5

£xd5 Shirov,A−Raupp,T/Mainz (rapid) 2010, when 6.¥e3! is best.) 5...dxe4 6.¤xc6 £xd1+ 7.¢xd1 a6 8.¥a4 ¥d7 and so Black saves his piece, Kotronias,V−Todorov,T/French League 2009.

5.¤b5

5.¤f5 is an unusual sideline, 5...d5 (5...¤f6!?) 6.£xd5 £xd5 7.exd5 ¥xf5 8.dxc6 bxc6 with equality, Khachiyan,M−Adams,M/Chicago Open 2010.

5...d6

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqkvlntr0 9zpp+-+pzpp0 9-+nzp-+-+0 9+N+-zp-+-0 9-+-+P+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tRNvLQmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

I'm sorry, maybe it's just me (Fed), but the Kalashnikov seems like a positional atrocity.

Doesn't Black get better play from the Sveshnikov? 5...a6 the rare Lowenthal Variation, ("why anyone would play such a line is beyond me" −

Fed!) 6.¤d6+ (6.¤5c3 aims for a Kalashnikov, but Black can try 6...¥c5!? as in Djukic,N−Todorovic,G/Kopaonik SCG 2005.) 6...¥xd6 7.£xd6 £f6 8.£xf6 Fed always thought that this was the easiest road to an advantage,

a) 8.£d1 is the traditional main line, 8...£g6 (8...¤ge7 9.¤c3 0-0!? Bauer,C−Markos,J/European Club Cup, Kallithea 2008) 9.¤c3 d5!? Black's sharpest approach, (9...¤ge7 is a decent alternative, 10.h4 h5 11.¥g5 d5 12.exd5 ¤d4 (12...¤b4 13.¥xe7 ¢xe7 14.¥d3 ¤xd3+ 15.£xd3 is Black's old choice, Amanov,Z−Shtyrenkov,V/Alushta 2009) 13.¥d3 ¥f5 14.¥xf5 ¤dxf5 15.£d3 (15.¢f1!? Fusco,L−Molina,R/Villa Martelli 2008) 15...f6 16.¥e3 see Efimenko,Z−Vallejo Pons,F/Khanty Mansyisk RUS 2005) 10.¤xd5 £xe4+ 11.¥e3 ¤d4 12.¤c7+ ¢e7 when 13.¦c1 has generally been considered most critical. (13.£d3 ¤xc2+ 14.¢d2

Barua,D−Tiwari,A/Commonwealth Championship, New Delhi 2007) 13...¥g4 14.£d3 £xd3 15.¥xd3 ¦d8 see Yankovsky,R−Collins,S/Berkeley Open 2011.

b) 8.£c7!? I've always considered this to be at least as testing as the theoretical main line, 8...¤ge7 9.¤c3 ¤b4 (9...b5!? is a tricky sideline and one which Black would like to make work, Jelecevic,I−Baci,V/Croatian League 2008) 10.¥d3 d5 11.f4!? Skaperdas,K−Kaloskambis,M/Attica Team Cup Final 2007

6

c) 8.£a3!? Spassky's move and one which is not without its dangers. 8...¤ge7 9.¤c3 ¦b8! see Llaneza Vega,M−Exposito Amaro,J/Montcada Open 2009.

8...¤xf6 9.¤c3 (9.f3?! Berenguer Martinez,J−Sarmiento Alfonso,S/Las Palmas ESP 1999)

9...¤b4 best, (9...d5?! this gives White an edge, 10.exd5 ¤b4 11.¥d3 ¤xd3+ (11...¤fxd5 12.¤xd5 ¤xd5 13.¥d2 White has the bishop pair and the queenside majority, Videki,S−Giordanengo,O/Lenk SUI 2000.) 12.cxd3 ¥f5 13.0-0! (13.¥g5 Al Qudaimi,B−Turov,M/Dubai Open 2009) 13...0-0 14.¥g5 ¥xd3 15.¦fd1 ¥f5 16.¥xf6 gxf6 favours White, Ilfeld,E−McCollum,P/San Francisco USA 2000) 10.¥d3 (10.¢d2 d5?! see Kotronias,V−Stankovic,M/Kavala GRE 2002) 10...d6!? 11.¥g5 ¥e6!? 12.0-0-0 ¤g4 13.¥h4 g5 14.¥g3 ¢e7 15.h4 (15.¥e2!? Nisipeanu,L−Polgar,J/Khanty−Mansiysk 2009) 15...¤xd3+ 16.¦xd3 Nisipeanu,L−Vallejo Pons,F/Heviz 2008.

5...h6!? 6.¤d6+ (6.¤1c3 transposes to a rare Sveshnikov after 6...¤f6) 6...¥xd6 7.£xd6 £e7 (7...£f6!?) 8.£d1 White must retain the queens if he wants an edge, (8.£xe7+ is toothless: 8...¤gxe7 9.¤c3 ¤b4) 8...¤f6 9.¤c3 0-0 10.f3 ¦d8 Black is so well centralized that he can count on equality even in the face of White's Bishop pair, Bryn,T−Bryn,A/Gausdal 2004.

6.¤1c3

This is totally the opposite of the positional 6 c4. It leads to wild positions, but I prefer White.

6.¥c4 This provides Black with a target. 6...a6 7.¤5c3 ¤f6 8.0-0 ¥e7 9.¥g5 0-0 10.¥b3 ¥g4 11.£d3 ¦c8 12.¤d2 ¤d4 13.¦fe1 ¤h5 14.¥e3 ¥g5 15.¥xd4 ¤f4∓ Joecks,C−Shabalov,A/Hamburg GER 1999.

6.a4 a6 (6...¤f6 7.¤1c3 a6 8.¤a3 transposes to the Sveshnikov, when 8...¥g4! is a pretty easy equalizer) 7.¤5a3?! Losing control of the center. 7...f5 8.¤c3 fxe4 9.¤xe4 d5 10.¤g3 ¤f6 11.c3 ¥e7 12.¥d3 0-0 13.0-0 ¤g4 14.h3 ¤xf2 15.¦xf2 ¥c5-+ Isaza,Y−Gamboa,N/Cali COL 2001.

6...a6 7.¤a3 b5!?

If Black doesn't play this the knight on a3 returns to play immediately. 7...¥e7!? 8.¤c4 (8.¤d5 ¤f6 9.¥e3 (9.¤xf6+ ¥xf6 10.¤c4 is critical) 9...¤xd5 10.exd5 ¤d4!

an active and effective leap, Socko,B−Radjabov,T/European Team Ch., Novi Sad 2009.) 8...b5 9.¤e3 ¤f6 10.g3 (10.¥d3 0-0 11.0-0 ¤b4! Bacrot,E−Ikonnikov,V/Bundesliga 2009) 10...h5!? A terrible waste of time. 11.¥g2! (11.h4 b4

12.¤cd5 ¦b8 Souleidis,G−Naiditsch,A/Rilton Cup, Stockholm 2010) 11...h4 12.0-0 ¤d4 Wasting even more time. 13.¤cd5 ¤xd5 14.¤xd5 ¥e6 15.¤e3 hxg3 16.hxg3 £d7 Black is hoping for a miracle mate on the h file. 17.c3 ¤c6 18.¦e1 ¦b8 19.a4± Anand,V−Radjabov,T/Linares ESP 2003.

7...¤f6 could transpose to the above, but allows an immediate transposition to the Sveshnikov after 8.¥g5

8.¤d5 ¤ce7?!

7

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqkvlntr0 9+-+-snpzpp0 9p+-zp-+-+0 9+p+Nzp-+-0 9-+-+P+-+0 9sN-+-+-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tR-vLQmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

8...¤ge7 9.c4 ¤xd5 10.cxd5!? This looks like a good positional alternative to 10ed5

10...¤e7 11.¤c2 ¥d7 12.¥d3 g6 13.0-0 ¥g7 Now play resembles a Kings Indian defense with black's queenside weakened for no good reason. 14.¥e3 0-0 15.¦c1 f5 16.f3 f4 17.¥f2 g5 18.¤b4 ¤g6 19.¥e2 h5 20.¢h1 ¦f7 21.a4! Completely exploding the queenside while on the other flank black hasn't started. 21...bxa4 22.¤xa6 ¤f8 23.¦c6!+− Kasparov,G−Lautier,J/Moscow RUS 2002 A very rude way of winning the a4 pawn.

8...¤f6 offers a transposition to the Sveshnikov, 9.c4 (9.¥g5 is B33) 9...b4 10.¤xf6+ £xf6 11.¤c2 £g6 12.¤e3 ¥e7 13.g3 ¤d4! Black needs to act quickly, Topalov,V−Radjabov,T/M−Tel Masters, Sofia 2008.

9.c4

This leads to very sharp situations. Ivanchuk's move 9.¤b4!? has been catching on recently, 9...¤f6 10.c4! ¤xe4 11.cxb5 £a5

12.¥d2 with unclear play, Abrahamyan,T−Hahn,A/San Diego USA 2004. 9.¥g5 h6 10.¥xb5+! is dangerous, Jobava,B−Kusnetsov,S/Ukrainian Team Championship

2010.

9...¤xd5 10.exd5

10.cxd5 ¤f6 Black can look forward to good counterplay on the dark squares.

10...bxc4 11.¤xc4 ¤f6

11...¥e7 12.¥e3 (12.¥d2 a5 13.£b3 also worked well in Karjakin,S−Kosteniuk,A/Lausanne SUI 2003) 12...¦b8 13.a4 f5 14.a5 ¤f6 15.¥a7 ¦b7 16.¥b6 £d7

8

XIIIIIIIIY 9-+l+k+-tr0 9+r+qvl-zpp0 9pvL-zp-sn-+0 9zP-+Pzpp+-0 9-+N+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-zP-+-zPPzP0 9tR-+QmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

Black's Q−side is blown out. 17.¥e2 0-0 18.0-0 f4 19.f3 £f5 20.¦c1 ¢h8 21.¦e1 £g6

22.¥d3 £f7 23.¥f2 ¤xd5 24.¥e4 ¥e6 25.¤b6 ¦c7 26.¥xd5 ¦xc1 27.£xc1 ¥xd5 28.£c7± Ivanov,A−Fedorov,A/New Delhi IND 2000.

12.¥e3 ¦b8 13.¥e2

13.a4 ¤g4 14.¥d2 £d7 15.¥e2 ¥e7 16.0-0 0-0 17.a5 ¤f6 18.¤b6 £f5 19.f4 ¥d8 20.fxe5 ¥xb6+ 21.axb6 £xe5 22.¥f4 £e7 23.¥g5 ¦xb6 24.£d4 ¦b8 25.¥xa6 £e5= Svetushkin,D−Fedorov,A/Istanbul TUR 2000.

13...¥e7 14.a4 0-0

14...£d7 15.0-0 ¥b7 16.¥a7 ¦d8 17.¤b6 £f5 18.¦c1 e4 19.¦c7! XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-trk+-tr0 9vLltR-vlpzpp0 9psN-zp-sn-+0 9+-+P+q+-0 9P+-+p+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-zP-+LzPPzP0 9+-+Q+RmK-0 xiiiiiiiiy

19...¥xd5 20.¥xa6 ¥e6 21.£c2 h5 22.¦d1 ¤g4 23.h3 ¤e5 24.¤c8+− Shirov,A−

Fedorov,A/Istanbul TUR 2000.

15.0-0

These positions look like real suffering for Black and the results prove it.

9

15.¦c1 a5 16.¥d2 ¦a8 17.¤xa5 ¦xa5 18.¦xc8 £xc8 19.¥xa5 £c5 20.b4 £xd5 21.£xd5 ¤xd5 22.¥f3 ¤c3 23.¢d2 ¤xa4 24.¦a1+− Bauer,C−Nataf,I/Clichy FRA 2001.

15...¥b7 16.¤b6 ¤d7 17.a5 ¤xb6

17...¤xb6 fared little better in Karjakin−Kosteniuk/Dannemann Match 2003 17...f5 18.f3 ¤xb6 19.¥xb6 £d7 20.£d2 (20.b4 ¥d8 21.¥xd8 ¦fxd8 22.¥c4 ¥c8 23.¦b1² Van

den Doel,E−Nataf,I/Esbjerg DEN 2001.) 20...¥d8 21.¥f2 h6 22.¥e3! Black is too passive, Pavlovic,M−Kosteniuk,A/Biel SUI 2003.

18.¥xb6 £d7 19.b4 ¥d8 20.¥e3 f5 21.f3 ¥f6 22.¦b1 £f7 23.¥c4 ¦fc8 24.£d3²

White was carrying the play while Black's counterplay was bottled up, Karjakin−Kosteniuk/Dannemann Match 2003.

10

Kalashnikov − Positional line − other 7th

[B32]

Last updated: 21/07/10 by Richard Palliser

1 e4 c5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 d4 cxd4 4 ¤xd4 e5 5 ¤b5 d6 6 c4!? ¥e7 7 b3

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqk+ntr0 9zpp+-vlpzpp0 9-+nzp-+-+0 9+N+-zp-+-0 9-+P+P+-+0 9+P+-+-+-0 9P+-+-zPPzP0 9tRNvLQmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

At first sight these b3 lines look good for White, but Black manages to get his share of the

play. Other alternatives to 7 ¤1c3: 7 ¥d3 ¤f6 (7...¥e6 8 0-0 ¦c8 9 b3 ¤f6 10 ¤1c3 a6 11 ¤a3 0-0 12 ¤c2 b5 13 cxb5 ¤a7 14 ¥b2 ¤xb5

15 ¤xb5 axb5 16 £e2 £b6 17 ¢h1 ¦fd8 18 ¤e3 £b7 19 f3 ¦b8= Lutz,C−Kaeser,U/Altenkirchen GER 1999., 7...a6 8 ¤5c3 ¥g5 is seen in Jobava,B−Kotanjian,T/Batumi GEO 2003) 8 0-0 0-0 (8...¥e6 9 ¤1c3 a6 10 ¤a3 0-0 11 ¤d5 ¦c8 12

¥e3 ¤d7 13 ¤xe7+ ¤xe7 14 f3 f5 15 exf5 ¥xf5 16 ¥e2 ¤c5 17 £d2 £c7 18 ¦fd1²

Bezgodov,A−Nilssen,J/Aars DEN 1999.) 9 ¤1c3 (9 ¤5c3 ¤d7 10 b3 ¥g5 11 ¥b2 ¤c5 12

¤d5 ¥h6 13 ¤bc3 ¥e6 14 ¦e1 ¤e7 15 ¥c2 ¦c8 16 ¤xe7+ £xe7 17 ¤b5± Yagupov,I−Nilssen,J/Aars DEN 1999.) 9...a6 10 ¤a3 ¥g4 11 f3 ¥e6 12 ¥e3 ¦c8 13 £d2 ¤e8 14 ¤d5 h6 15 ¥b6 £d7 16 ¥e3 £d8 17 ¥b6 £d7 18 ¤b1 ¥g5 19 £e1 ¥d8 20 ¤bc3 ¤b4 21 £e3² Jedryczka,K−Nataf,I/Cappelle La Grande FRA 2000, Black has trouble breaking White's grip.

7 ¥e2 a slightly unusual and committal move order, 7...¤f6 8 ¤1c3 a6 9 ¤a3 0-0 a) there seems to be a fashion to delay castling, 9...¥e6 10 ¤c2 (10 ¥e3 0-0 11 0-0 ¦c8

12 ¦c1 h6 13 £d2 Polgar,J−Radjabov,T/Baku (rapid) 2010) 10...¦c8 11 b3 0-0 and Black soon equalised in Kramnik,V−Radjabov,T/Baku (rapid) 2009

11

b) 9...¤d4!? 10 0-0 ¥e6 11 ¤c2 ¦c8 (11...£b8 12 ¥g5 h6 13 ¥e3 ¦c8 14 f3 ¤a7 15 ¤d5 ¤xd5 16 cxd5 ¥d7 17

£d2 ¤b5 18 a4 ¤c7 19 ¥d3 ¤e8 20 £f2 ¤f6 21 ¢h1² Rocha,W−D'Israel,D/Sao Paulo BRA 1999.) 12 ¤e3 (12 b3 Luther,T−Atarov,E/playchess.com INT 2004) 12...¤d4 13 ¤ed5 ¥xd5 14 cxd5 ¤xe2+ 15 £xe2 ¤d7 16 ¥e3 f5 17 f3 f4 18 ¥f2 ¥h4 19 ¦fc1 ¥xf2+ 20 £xf2 £a5 21 a3 ¦c4 22 ¤a2 ¦fc8 23 ¦xc4 ¦xc4 24 ¦c1 ¦xc1+ 25 ¤xc1 h6= Haznedaroglu,K−Nataf,I/Batumi GEO 1999.

7...f5

7...¤f6 8 ¥d3 0-0 9 0-0 ¤d7! (9...a6 10 ¤5c3 ¥e6 11 ¤a3 ¤d7 12 ¤c2 ¦c8 13 ¦e1 ¤c5 14 ¥f1 f5

15 exf5 ¥xf5 Aseev,K−Ivanov,V/St Petersburg RUS 1999.) 10 ¤1c3 a6 11 ¤a3 ¤c5 12 ¤d5 ¥g5 with good play, Atakisi,U−Adams,M/Turkish Team Championship 2010.

8 ¥a3

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqk+ntr0 9zpp+-vl-zpp0 9-+nzp-+-+0 9+N+-zpp+-0 9-+P+P+-+0 9vLP+-+-+-0 9P+-+-zPPzP0 9tRN+QmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

On first sight this looks great for White, but I've seen Shabalov win easily from this

position more than once. 8 exf5 ¤f6 9 ¥d3!? Provoking e4 giving white d4. 9...e4 10 ¥e2 ¥xf5 11 0-0 a6 12 ¤d4

¤xd4 13 £xd4 0-0 14 ¤c3 £e8 15 ¥f4 ¦d8 16 ¦ad1 ¢h8 17 f3 £g6 18 fxe4 ¤xe4 19 ¤d5² Ponomariov,R−Zubarev,A/Kharkov RUS 2001.

8...¤f6 9 ¤1c3

9 ¥xd6 ¤xe4 10 ¥xe7 £xd1+ 11 ¢xd1 ¢xe7 12 ¢e1 ¥e6 13 ¤1c3 ¤xc3 14 ¤xc3 ¦hd8 15 ¥e2 e4³ Schneider,D−Shabalov,A/Philadelphia USA 1999.

9...0-0 10 ¥xd6 a6 11 ¥xe7 £xe7 12 ¤d6 fxe4 13 c5 ¥e6 14 ¥c4 ¦ad8 15 0-0 b6

Gelfand,B−Tregubov,P/Shenyang CHN 2000.

12

Kalashnikov − Positional Mainline 6.c4

[B32]

Last updated: 17/07/11 by Richard Palliser

1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 e5 5.¤b5 d6

The Kalashnikov aims to create an imbalance similar to the Sveshnikov.

6.c4!?

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqkvlntr0 9zpp+-+pzpp0 9-+nzp-+-+0 9+N+-zp-+-0 9-+P+P+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9PzP-+-zPPzP0 9tRNvLQmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

This is the positional method. White wants to pound on the backward d6 pawn.

6...¥e7 7.¤1c3 a6 8.¤a3

13

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqk+ntr0 9+p+-vlpzpp0 9p+nzp-+-+0 9+-+-zp-+-0 9-+P+P+-+0 9sN-sN-+-+-0 9PzP-+-zPPzP0 9tR-vLQmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

8...f5!?

This move gives me the creeps, but isn't easy to refute. 8...¥e6 9.¥e2 the solid old main line, a) 9.¥d3 ¥g5 10.0-0 (10.¤c2 ¥xc1 11.¦xc1 £g5 12.¤e3 ¤ge7 13.¤cd5 0-0 14.h4 £g6

15.¥b1 ¦ad8 16.0-0 ¢h8 17.¦c3 f6 18.¤xe7 ¤xe7 19.¦d3± Nijboer,F−Ikonnikov,V/Vlissingen NED 2001.) 10...¥xc1 11.¦xc1 ¤ge7 12.¤c2 0-0 13.£d2 White has a nice grip on the position with control of d5 and play vs d6. 13...f5 14.exf5 ¤xf5 15.¥xf5 ¦xf5 16.¤e3 ¦h5 17.f4 Black's pieces are scattered. 17...¤d4 18.¤e4 d5 19.¤g3 dxc4 20.¦cd1 ¦xh2 21.¢xh2 £h4+ 22.¢g1 £xg3 23.fxe5± Arakhamia,K−Gohil,H/Amsterdam NED 2001.

b) 9.¥e3?! Losing time. Black was going ...¥g5 anyway. 9...¥g5 10.£d2 ¥xe3 11.fxe3 ¤f6 12.¥e2 0-0 13.0-0-0 £b6 14.¢b1 £a7 15.h3 ¦fb8 16.g4 b5 17.g5 ¤e8 18.cxb5 axb5 19.¥xb5 ¤b4 20.¥xe8 ¤xa2∓ Baczynskyj,B−Stripunsky,A/Hatfield, PA USA 1999.

c) 9.¤c2 ¥g5 10.¥e2 ¥xc1 11.£xc1 ¤f6 12.0-0 0-0 13.¦d1 ¦c8 14.£e3 Black is very passive. Gofshtein,L−Fernandez Alonso,M/Salou ESP 2000.

d) 9.¤d5!? ¦c8 10.¥e3 ¥g5! an instructive move order which avoids any accidents on b6, Ponkratov,P−Moiseenko,A/Russian Team Championship, Dagomys 2010.

9...¥g5 10.0-0 ¥xc1 (10...h6 11.¤c2 ¤ge7 12.¥e3 (12.¥xg5 hxg5 13.£d2 ¤g6 14.¦fd1 looks pretty good.) 12...¥xe3 13.¤xe3 0-0 14.£d2 ¤d4 15.¤c2 ¤xc2 16.£xc2 Anisimov,P−Eljanov,P/St Petersburg RUS 1999.) 11.¦xc1 ¤f6 12.¤c2 (12.£d2 0-0 13.¦fd1 ¤d4 14.¤c2 ¤xc2 15.¦xc2 ¦c8 16.£xd6 (after 16.b3 White has pressure on d6. What does Black have?) 16...£xd6 17.¦xd6 ¥xc4 Tselutin,E−Annageldyev,O/Ashgabat TKM 2000.) 12...0-0 13.£d3 £b6 14.b3 ¤b4!? Navara,D−Moiseenko,A/French League 2011.

9.exf5

9.¤c2 ¤f6 10.exf5 ¥xf5 transposes. 9.¥d3 f4 10.¤c2 ¤f6 11.¤d5 0-0 12.b4 ¢h8 13.a4 £e8 14.f3 ¥d8 15.¥a3 ¤e7 16.0-0?

White's king was safer in the wide open spaces. 16...¤exd5 17.exd5 b5 18.c5 ¤xd5

14

19.¥e4 ¤c3 20.£xd6 ¤xe4 21.fxe4 ¥b7³ Stearns,A−Shabalov,A/San Francisco USA 2000.

9...¥xf5

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+-wqk+ntr0 9+p+-vl-zpp0 9p+nzp-+-+0 9+-+-zpl+-0 9-+P+-+-+0 9sN-sN-+-+-0 9PzP-+-zPPzP0 9tR-vLQmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

10.¤c2!

The knight comes to control the key light squares immediately. 10.¥d3 also fighting for control of the light squares, 10...¥e6 11.0-0 ¤f6 12.¥g5 0-0

13.£b1 ¢h8 14.¤c2 ¤h5 15.¥d2 ¤f4 16.¥xf4 ¦xf4 17.¤e3 ¦h4 18.¥e4 ¥g5 19.£d3 £c7 20.¤cd5 £f7 21.g3 ¦h6 22.f4 exf4 23.¤xf4 ¥xf4 24.¦xf4 £h5 25.¦h4² Wedberg,T−Nataf,I/Hasselbacken SWE 2001.

10.¥e2 ¤f6 11.¤c2 0-0 12.0-0 ¦c8 (12...£d7 13.¤e3 ¥e6 14.¥f3 ¤d4 15.¥d5 ¤xd5 16.¤cxd5 ¥d8

Improving over the above game. 17.b3 b5 18.¥b2 ¤f5 19.¤xf5 ¦xf5 20.¥a3 bxc4 21.bxc4

e4„ Meijers,V−Shabalov,A/Istanbul TUR 2000, Black's position has good prospects.) 13.¥e3 (13.¤e3 ¥e6 14.¥f3 ¢h8 15.¥d5 ¥d7 16.b3 b5?! Loosening the Q−side for no real gain. 17.¥b2 ¤b4 18.£e2 £e8 19.¦ad1 £g6 20.¥a3 a5 21.¥xb4 axb4 22.¤xb5

¤h5 23.£d3 £g5 24.¥e4± Vokarev,S−Shabalov,A/Linares ESP 2000.) 13...b5!? Hoping to clear out the center. 14.¤d5!? White's safe move keeps things from getting out of control. (14.cxb5 axb5 15.¥xb5 ¥xc2? (15...d5!? Black's center has good creeping chances.) 16.£xc2 ¤d4 17.¥xd4 exd4 18.£b3++−) 14...¥xc2 15.¤xf6+ ¦xf6 16.£xc2 ¤a5 17.b3 d5 18.¥g5 ¦f7 19.¥xe7 ¦xe7 20.¥g4 ¦c6= Dominguez,L−Fedorov,A/Linares ESP 2002, Black's opening looked shaky, but now it's around equal.

10.g3 ¤f6 11.¥g2 ¦c8 12.0-0 0-0 13.¥e3 doesn't impress, Morozevich,A−Radjabov,T/Melody Amber (rapid), Nice 2009.

10...¤f6 11.¤e3

11.¥d3 ¥e6 12.0-0 0-0 13.¥g5 (13.b3 £d7 14.¥b2 ¥d8 15.¤e4 ¤xe4 16.¥xe4 ¥b6 17.£d3 ¥f5

18.¦ad1 ¦ad8 19.¥c1 ¥xe4 20.£xe4 White has a nice positional edge. 20...£f5 21.£xf5

¦xf5 22.¥e3 ¥xe3 23.¤xe3 ¦f4 24.¦d5² Leitao,R−Nataf,I/New Delhi IND 2000.)

15

13...¤g4 14.¥xe7 £xe7 15.¤e3 £h4 16.¤xg4 ¥xg4 17.f3 ¥e6 18.£e2 ¤d4 19.£e4 £h6 20.¦ae1 ¦f7 21.£e3 £xe3+ 22.¦xe3 ¦c8 23.¤e4² Dvoirys,S−Nataf,I/Koszalin POL 1999, White can play for f4.

11...¥e6 12.g3 ¦c8 13.¥g2 ¤a5 14.0-0!?

White offers the c−pawn, Leko,P−Shirov,A/Monte Carlo MNC 2004.

16

Sveshnikov 7 Nd5 − & sidelines [B33]

Last updated: 22/12/10 by Richard Palliser

1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 e5

5...£b6?! is inaccurate, 6.¥e3! a strong pawn sacrifice. (6.¤b3?! transposes to the Grivas Variation.) 6...£xb2 7.¤db5 £b4 8.¥d2! White is already close to winning, Lastin,A−Kononenko,D/Russian Team Championship 2009.

6.¤db5

Other continuations don't pose Black too many problems: 6.¤b3?! ¥b4 (6...d6?! 7.¥g5 ¥e7 8.¥xf6 ¥xf6 9.¤d5 is Hracek,Z−Vokac,M/Opava CZE 2000 in

B54) 7.¥d3 d5 8.exd5 ¤xd5 9.0-0 ¤xc3 10.bxc3 ¥xc3 11.¥a3 I don't believe this for a second. Black's king might be in the middle for a short time, but in no danger and that's alot of material. For this and other 6th moves see Crepan,M−Sveshnikov,E/Celje SLO 2003.

6.¤f5!? White threatens both ¤d6+ and ¤e3−d5, and so virtually forces Black's reply: 6...d5 7.exd5 ¥xf5 8.dxc6 bxc6 9.£f3 £d7 10.¥g5 e4 Volokitin,A−Kuzubov,Y/Moscow RUS 2007.

6.¤de2!? John Emms and Richard Palliser suggest playing this move in their book 'Dangerous Weapons: The Sicilian'.

6...d6

6...h6!? stops ¥g5, and invites Lowenthal−style play: 7.¤d6+ (7.¥e3 d6 8.¤d5 ¤xd5 9.exd5

¤b8 10.a4 a6 11.¤a3 ¥e7 Ivanov,A−Efimov,I/Minsk 1985, 7.¤d5 ¤xd5 8.exd5 a6 9.dxc6

axb5 is nothing special, 7.f4!? is unusual and dangerous, 7...a6 8.¤d6+ ¥xd6 9.£xd6 £e7

10.fxe5 ¤xe5 11.£d4 d6 Black's reinforcement of the powerful central knight once again gives him easy equality, Magem Badals,J−Oms Fuentes,L/Pamplona ESP 2006) 7...¥xd6 8.£xd6 £e7 9.£d2!? (9.£xe7+ ¢xe7 10.¥e3 d6 11.f3 offers a plus) 9...0-0 10.¥c4 d6 11.b3 ¥e6 equal, Honfi,K−Bilek,I/Kecskemet 1966.

7.¤d5!?

17

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqkvl-tr0 9zpp+-+pzpp0 9-+nzp-sn-+0 9+N+Nzp-+-0 9-+-+P+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tR-vLQmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

White looks for a mobile queenside majority. With White searching for some way to play

for advantage this move could be on it's way back. 7.a4 Aiming to retard Black's queenside expansion. 7...a6 8.¤a3 ¥g4!

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+-wqkvl-tr0 9+p+-+pzpp0 9p+nzp-sn-+0 9+-+-zp-+-0 9P+-+P+l+0 9sN-sN-+-+-0 9-zPP+-zPPzP0 9tR-vLQmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

This discovery equalizes on the spot. GM Alexander Ivanov specializes in this line from

White's point of view. (8...¥e6 9.¥g5 ¦c8 10.¥c4 ¤b4 11.¥xf6 £xf6 12.¥b3 £g6 13.0-0 ¦c5

14.f4 exf4 15.¤e2² Ivanov,A−Hossain,E/Stratton Mountain USA 2000., 8...¥e7 9.f3 ¥e6

10.¥c4 ¦c8 11.¤d5 0-0 12.¥e3 ¥xd5 13.¥xd5 £a5+ 14.c3 ¤xd5 15.exd5 ¤b8 16.£b3 £c7

17.¥b6 £d7 18.0-0 ¥d8 19.¥e3 £c7 20.¦ac1 ¤d7 21.c4 ¤c5³ Tomic,B−Kanellopoulos,G/Patras GRE 1999.) 9.f3 (9.¥e2 ¥xe2 10.£xe2 d5 Panarin,M−Moiseenko,A/Russian Team Championship, Dagomys 2010.) 9...¥e6 Now White has been weakened on the a7−g1 diagonal. 10.¥g5 (10.¥c4 ¦c8 11.0-0 ¤b4 Black keeps d5 under control with a comfortable game, 12.¤d5 ¤bxd5 13.¥xd5 ¤xd5 14.exd5

¥d7 and Black had no problems in Ivanov,A−Parligras, Bled Ol 2002) 10...¥e7 11.¥c4 0-0 12.¥xf6 ¥xf6 13.¤d5 ¥h4+ 14.g3 ¥g5 15.0-0 ¢h8 16.¢g2 f5 17.exf5 ¥xf5 18.¥d3 ¥e6 19.¥e4 ¦c8 20.c3 ¤a5³ Vescovi,G−Shabalov,A/Paget Parish BER 2001.

7...¤xd5 8.exd5

18

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqkvl-tr0 9zpp+-+pzpp0 9-+nzp-+-+0 9+N+Pzp-+-0 9-+-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tR-vLQmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

8...¤b8!?

I prefer this to the alternative: 8...¤e7!? as Black must be on alert for a variety of pitfalls in the early going, 9.c4 (9.c3 ¤f5

10.a4 ¥e7 11.¥d3 0-0 12.0-0 a6 13.¤a3 ¥g5?! I understand this positionally motivated move, but it leads to a very passive game, Naumann,A−Babula,V/Graz AUT 2003)

9...¤g6 (9...¤f5! 10.¥d3 ¥e7 11.0-0 0-0 The knight is better placed on f5 than g6.) 10.£a4!? (10.¥e2 ¥e7 Laurin,E−Sevillano,E/Los Angeles USA 2003) 10...¥d7 11.£b4 £b8 12.h4! I was impressed with the way White handled the position. 12...h5 An ugly move to have to play, but the g6−knight is in trouble. 13.¥g5 f6 Black's kingside is full of holes. 14.¥e3 a6 15.¤c3 White can consider Na4 to b6. 15...f5 16.g3 ¥e7 17.¥e2 f4 18.gxf4 exf4 19.¥d4 0-0 20.¥xh5 ¤xh4 21.0-0-0+− Bhat,V−Wang,P/Dallas USA 2002 Black's king is sitting on 2 very open files. It reminds me of castling queenside in a Benko Gambit.

9.c4

9.£f3!? The beginning of an incredible idea that to me looks artificial. I can't see why though! 9...a6 10.£a3 ¥e7 11.¥g5!? f6 (11...¥xg5? 12.¤xd6+ ¢f8 13.¤xc8+ ¢g8 14.¤d6

¥e7 15.¤xb7± The tactics work nicely for White.) 12.¥d2 a5? Amazing enough this loses a pawn for nothing. (12...b6 13.¥b4 Other moves allow Bb7 unraveling. 13...0-0

14.¥xd6 axb5 15.¥xe7 £xd5 16.£d3 £xd3 17.¥xd3² The entire thing is amazing.) 13.£c3! ¤a6 14.£xa5 b6 15.£a4 0-0 16.c4 ¥f5 17.£d1!+− Iordachescu,V−Genocchio,D/Lido Estensi ITA 2002 The troublemaking queen returns to homebase after snatching a pawn.

9.a4 aims to fix a weakness on b6, 9...¥e7 10.¥e3 a6 11.¤a3 ¥f5 12.¤c4 ¤d7 13.a5 Ganguly,S−Ris,R/Amsterdam NED 2004.

9...¥e7

19

9...f5!? This may transpose to the main line, but it looks premature, 10.f3?! a very strange looking move, I guess it's meant to prevent Black's e4 push, see Dutreeuw,M−Daels,M/Eupen BEL 2003.

10.¥d3

10.¥e2 0-0 (10...a6 11.¤c3 f5 12.0-0 0-0 13.f3 ¥g5 14.¥xg5 £xg5 15.£c1 £h4 (15...£d8!?

Black should blockade with ...a5 and ...¤a6 to c5) 16.£e1 £e7 17.£f2 ¤d7 18.b4 a5 19.a3 e4 20.£e3 £e5 21.f4 £e7 22.¤b5± Mezentsev,V−Keatinge Clay,A/San Francisco USA 2000.) 11.0-0 a6 12.¤c3 ¤d7 (12...¥f5 Black develops, but without a point. Organizing counterplay is crucial. 13.b4 I think this is premature. 13...¤d7 (13...a5!? Securing the c5 square looks best.) 14.a4 ¦c8?! Black misses the boat. (14...a5 was Black's last chance,) 15.a5! Now Black's queenside is in terrible shape. 15...e4 16.¤a4 ¥f6 17.¦a3 ¤e5 18.c5 dxc5 19.¤xc5± Paragua,M−Harikrishna,P/Heraklio GRE 2002 White has all the play.) 13.¢h1 f5 (13...a5!?) 14.f4 ¥f6 15.£c2 g6 (15...exf4 16.¥xf4 ¥e5 17.£d2 White has achieved very good results with this move in practice, Apicella,M−Wagner,C/Clichy FRA 2007) 16.¦b1 (16.¥d2 ¦e8

17.¦fe1 ¤c5 18.b4 ¤e4 19.¤xe4 fxe4 20.¦ad1 ¥f5 21.g4 ¥d7 22.c5 £c8 23.g5 ¥g7∓

Bronnikova,E−Rybenko,K, Essentuki RUS 2003) 16...£e7 17.¤a4 a5 18.¦e1 b6 19.¥f1 ¦b8 20.b4 axb4 21.¦xb4± Apicella,M−Tirard,H/Cappelle La Grande FRA 2000.

10...a6

Black should kick the knight. 10...0-0 11.0-0 ¥d7 (11...¤d7 12.¢h1 (12.£c2?! g6 Seems to help Black.) 12...f5 13.f3 ¤c5

14.¥e3 (14.¥c2!? White should keep the bishop pair.) 14...¤xd3 15.£xd3 b6 16.b4 f4 17.¥g1 ¥f5 Stellwagen,D−Van Wely,L/Leeuwarden NED 2003 With balanced play.) 12.a4 f5 13.c5!? Black let the knight hang around on b5 a little too long. 13...¥xb5 14.axb5 e4 15.c6 ¤d7 16.¥e2 ¤e5 17.f4 exf3 18.gxf3 ¥f6 19.¢h1 b6 20.¦a2 £c7 21.f4 ¤g6 22.b3± Anand,V−Topalov,V, Monte Carlo MNC 2003.

11.¤c3 0-0 12.0-0 f5

20

XIIIIIIIIY 9rsnlwq-trk+0 9+p+-vl-zpp0 9p+-zp-+-+0 9+-+Pzpp+-0 9-+P+-+-+0 9+-sNL+-+-0 9PzP-+-zPPzP0 9tR-vLQ+RmK-0 xiiiiiiiiy

13.f3!?

White takes it slow, keeping Black's center under control and looking for queenside expansion.

13.f4 ¤d7 14.¥e3 exf4 Releasing the tension gives Black the e5 point immediately, and as White is getting the b4 stuff going I agree with this decision, Prathamesh,S−Sharma,V/Mumbai IND 2004.

13...¥g5

13...¤d7!? 14.¥e3 (14.¢h1 ¤c5 15.¥c2 a5 When White will have to work to get in b4., 14.b4?!

a5! Secures c5 for the Nd7.) 14...¥g5 (or: 14...¤c5 15.b4 ¤xd3 16.£xd3² Black has the bishop pair, but White's c5 looks fast,, 14...£e8 15.b4 Black's queenside pieces are unlikely to see the light of day, Cerda,G−Plazaola,M/Buenos Aires ARG 2003)

15.¥f2 £f6 Preventing b4 while developing, Matulovic,M−Milanovic,D/Belgrade YUG 2002.

13...£e8 14.¥e3 f4 15.¥f2 ¦f6 play resembles a Kings Indian Defense, Leenhouts,K−Zhigalko,S/Hengelo NED 2004.

14.¢h1 ¤d7 15.b4!

This well−timed and well−prepared push keeps Black's queenside under control.

15...a5

Alternatively: 15...¥xc1 this is similar to Leko−Krasenkov, but Black has problems nevertheless, 16.¦xc1

(16.£xc1 Rodriguez Guerrero,E−Ramirez,A/Havana CUB 2003) 16...b6 (16...£h4

17.£e1! £xe1 after the queen swap Black's hope is grim defense, Matsuura,E−Zambrana,O/Sao Paulo BRA 2003) 17.a3 (17.£b3 ¢h8 18.¤a4 Wojtazek,R−Poobesh Anand,S/41st World Junior 2002) 17...¢h8 18.£d2 ¥b7 19.¦c2 ¦c8 20.¦fc1 £h4

21

21.g3 £e7 22.f4± Ivanchuk,V−Babula,V/Bled SLO 2002, Black's Bishop on b7 isn't functioning and Black's counterplay is non−existent.

15...b6!? slows down White's c5 stuff, but is mighty passive.

16.a3 axb4 17.¥xg5 £xg5 18.axb4 ¦xa1 19.£xa1 £e3 20.¥e2 b5!?

XIIIIIIIIY 9-+l+-trk+0 9+-+n+-zpp0 9-+-zp-+-+0 9+p+Pzpp+-0 9-zPP+-+-+0 9+-sN-wqP+-0 9-+-+L+PzP0 9wQ-+-+R+K0 xiiiiiiiiy

An interesting attempt at activity and the best idea I've seen so far. Espinoza's idea keeps

Black in the game. 20...e4?! 21.£c1± Leko,P−Krasenkow,M/Essen GER 2002 White's space, control of b5,

and structure give him a nice edge. 20...¤b8!? 21.£b2 ¤a6 worked well for Black in Svidler,P−Timofeev,A/Moscow RUS

2004.

21.£c1

21.cxb5 ¤b6 followed by ...¥b7 or ...¥d7 looks decent. Black can follow up with ...¦c8 getting pressure on d5.

21...£xc1 22.¦xc1 bxc4 23.¤b5 ¥b7 24.¤xd6

24.¥xc4 ¦f6 was also insufficient in Kasimdzhanov,R−Smirnov,P/Rethymnon GRE 2003.

24...¥xd5 25.¥xc4 ¥xc4 26.¦xc4 e4 27.fxe4 fxe4

27...¤e5 Kovacevic−Espinoza, Bled Ol 2002.

28.¢g1=

Leko,P−Kramnik,V/Monte Carlo MNC 2003.

22

Sveshnikov/Pelikan − 8...Be6 & 8...Be7

[B33]

Last updated: 19/04/11 by Richard Palliser

1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 e5 6.¤db5 d6 7.¥g5 a6 8.¤a3 ¥e6

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+-wqkvl-tr0 9+p+-+pzpp0 9p+nzplsn-+0 9+-+-zp-vL-0 9-+-+P+-+0 9sN-sN-+-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tR-+QmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

Bird's Variation. Black lets the offside knight on a3 back into the game. This variation,

while being tricky, should be easy for White to handle. 8...¥e7!? is a speciality of Roeder, it is very rare but perhaps not so bad, 9.¤c4 0-0 10.¥xf6

¥xf6 11.£xd6 ¤d4!? Korneev,O−Maze,S/Elgoibar ESP 2005. (11...£xd6 12.¤xd6 ¥e6

is the main continuation here.)

9.¤c4 ¦c8

9...¦b8!? 10.¤d5 ¥xd5 11.¥xf6 £xf6! with good play, Vallejo Pons,F−Vedmediuc,S/European Championship, Aix−les−Bains 2011.

10.¤d5 ¥xd5 11.¥xf6 gxf6 12.£xd5

23

XIIIIIIIIY 9-+rwqkvl-tr0 9+p+-+p+p0 9p+nzp-zp-+0 9+-+Qzp-+-0 9-+N+P+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tR-+-mKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

12...¤d4

12...¤b4 13.£d2 d5 14.exd5 £xd5 (14...¤xc2+ 15.£xc2 ¥b4+ 16.¢d1 £xd5+ 17.¢c1 is good for White) 15.£xd5 ¤xd5 16.0-0-0 ¤b4 17.a3 (17.c3 ¤c6 18.¥d3 is a nice edge)

17...¤c6 18.¤b6 ¦d8 19.¦xd8+ ¢xd8 20.¥c4 ¥c5 21.¦d1+ ¢e8 22.¤d5 ¥xf2 23.¤xf6+ ¢e7 24.¤d5+ ¢f8 25.¦f1 ¥h4 26.¤b6² Sameeh,H−Elgabry,M/Cairo EGY 2000.

13.0-0-0!?

13.¥d3 is better, 13...£e7 14.£a5! ¦xc4 15.¥xc4 ¤xc2+ 16.¢e2 ¤xa1 17.¦c1! is very strong.

13...£e7 14.¢b1 ¦c5 15.¤xd6+ £xd6 16.£xd6 ¥xd6 17.c3 ¢e7 18.cxd4 exd4 19.g3 ¦d8 20.¥d3

Rantanen,Y−Cifuentes Parada,R/Hoogeveen NED 1999.

24

Sveshnikov 9 Nd5 − Positional Line [B33]

Last updated: 17/07/11 by Richard Palliser

1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 e5

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqkvl-tr0 9zpp+p+pzpp0 9-+n+-sn-+0 9+-+-zp-+-0 9-+-sNP+-+0 9+-sN-+-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tR-vLQmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

This dynamic move creates an unbalanced situation. Black accepts a backward pawn and

gives White control of d5. In return Black pushes White's knight to a3 and can contest the d5 point.

6.¤db5 d6 7.¥g5 a6 8.¤a3 b5 9.¤d5

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqkvl-tr0 9+-+-+pzpp0 9p+nzp-sn-+0 9+p+Nzp-vL-0 9-+-+P+-+0 9sN-+-+-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tR-+QmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

This is a quiet line, White abstains from giving Black doubled f−pawns, and tries to keep a

small plus due to his control of d5.

25

9...¥e7

9...£a5+ 10.¥d2 £d8 11.¤xf6+ (11.¥g5 £a5+ is a common way of making a quick draw,

11.c4 is critical) 11...£xf6 12.¥d3 £g6 13.0-0 ¥e7 14.c4 with a plus, Tiviakov,S−Reinderman,D/Rotterdam NED 2000.

10.¥xf6

The Positional line. 10.¤xe7!? was played a lot over twenty years ago: 10...¤xe7 11.¥d3 (11.f3 is slow,

Petrov,M−Ravagnani,T/Padova ITA 1999) 11...d5!? the most principled response, (11...¥b7 is also popular, 12.¥xf6 gxf6 13.£h5!? (13.c4 bxc4 14.¤xc4 d5 has been seen a lot) 13...d5 14.0-0-0 with sharp play in Naiditsch,A−Sutovsky,E/Dortmund GER 2005.) 12.exd5 (12.¥xf6 gxf6 13.c3 ¦g8 Grosar,A−Podlesnik,B/Bled SLO 1999)

12...£xd5 13.£d2 ¤e4 depriving White of the bishop−pair, Morozevich,A−Radjabov,T/European Team Championship, Crete 2007.

10...¥xf6

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqk+-tr0 9+-+-+pzpp0 9p+nzp-vl-+0 9+p+Nzp-+-0 9-+-+P+-+0 9sN-+-+-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tR-+QmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

11.c3

11.c4!? aims for a more closed position, where Black has practically no counterplay, 11...b4 (11...¤e7! 12.¤xf6+ gxf6 13.cxb5 0-0 14.£d2 ¥b7 with good play, Kovchan,A−Moiseenko,A/Ukrainian Championship, Kiev 2011.) 12.¤c2 a5 Rogozenko considered this advance more precise than

a) 12...¦b8 13.b3 ¥g5 (13...0-0 14.g3 ¥e6 15.h4 a5 Areshchenko,A−Jakovenko,D/Russian Team Championship, Dagomys 2008) 14.g3 0-0 15.h4 ¥h6 16.¥h3 White has no real advantage, Morozevich,A−Leko,P/San Luis ARG 2005.

b) 12...0-0!? this gambit seems fine for Black, 13.¥e2 (13.¤cxb4 ¤xb4 14.¤xb4 £b6

see Anand,V−Radjabov,T/Bilbao 2008, 13.g3 ¥e6 14.¥g2 Nisipeanu,L−Radjabov,T/Kings Tournament, Medias 2010) 13...a5 14.£d3 ¥e6 15.0-0 ¥g5 16.¦ad1 Karjakin,S−Timofeev,A/Khanty−Mansiysk 2009.

26

13.g3 (13.£f3 ¥e6 14.¦d1 a4! Black is happy to allow his kingside to be broken up so long as he can obtain some counterplay on the queenside, Movsesian,S−Papadopoulos,I/Greek Team Championship 2008) 13...¥g5 (13...0-0 14.h4!? ¥e6 15.¥h3 (15.¥g2!? a new approach, 15...g6! Morozevich,A−Shirov,A/Tal Memorial, Moscow 2008) 15...a4!? this bold pawn sacrifice is the most forcing way to fully equalize, 16.b3 (16.¤cxb4 ¤xb4 17.¥xe6 fxe6 18.¤xb4 £b6 Nisipeanu,L−Shirov,A/Foros 2008) 16...¥xd5 17.cxd5 ¤d4 18.¤xd4 exd4 19.0-0 ¦e8 with comfortable equality, Nepomniachtchi,I−Ni Hua/Russia−China, Sochi 2009.) 14.¥g2 modest, but safe and strong, 14...0-0 15.0-0 ¤e7 16.¤ce3 (16.b3?! Movsesian,S−Tregubov,P/Russian Team Championship, Dagomys 2008) 16...¥xe3 17.¤xe3 ¥e6 18.£d3 £c7!? (18...£d7 Korneev,O−Nataf,I/Ourense ESP 2007) 19.¦ac1 ¦ac8 was quickly drawn in Movsesian,S−Tregubov,P/European Championship, Plovdiv 2008.

11...0-0

Black can also delay this obvious move: 11...¥g5 This idea looks best either now or after ...0-0. Black prepares ...f5 and might have

...¥xe3 later. The advantage of playing it immediately is to avoid castling too soon. 12.¤c2 ¤e7 challenging the pride of White's position immediately, (Alternatively, 12...¦b8 tries to hinder White on the queenside, 13.a4 this move is "the only way to fight for an advantage" according to Rogozenko,

a) 13.¥e2 0-0 14.0-0 a5 15.£d3 (15.b4 ¤e7 16.¤xe7+ £xe7 17.bxa5 £c7 18.a4 bxa4

19.¦xa4 £xc3 20.a6 ¥e6 21.a7 ¦a8 22.£d3± Vescovi,G−Matsuura,E/Brasilia BRA 2000, White's guy on a7 is alive and well.) 15...¤e7 16.¤ce3 ¥xe3 17.¤xe3 £c7 18.¦fd1 ¦d8 19.¦d2 ¥e6 20.¥g4² Almasi,Z−Illescas Cordoba,M/Pamplona ESP 1999.

b) 13.a3 a5 14.¥d3 ¤e7 15.¤xe7 £xe7 16.£e2 0-0 (16...£b7 17.0-0 0-0 18.b4 a4 19.c4±

De Firmian,N−Sutovsky,E/Julian Borowski GM 1999, Black's a4 is gonna need attention.) 17.0-0 ¥d7 18.b4 axb4 19.¤xb4 ¦fc8= White controls d5, but has targets on a3 and c3, Kasparov,G−Kramnik,V/Frankfurt GER 2000

13...bxa4 (13...0-0?! 14.axb5 axb5² Shivaji,S−Delaune,R/Philadelphia USA 2001 − Black should avoid this type of thing as b5 is a permanent target.) 14.¤cb4 ¥d7 (14...¤xb4

15.cxb4!? 0-0!? Bacrot,E−Radjabov,T/FIDE Grand−Prix, Baku 2008) 15.¥xa6 ¤xb4 16.¤xb4 (16.cxb4 0-0 17.0-0 ¥c6 18.¦xa4 is an interesting positional exchange sacrifice, Berg,E−Smith,A/Stockholm SWE 2007) 16...£a5 17.£xd6! but Black might be OK here, see Volokitin,A−Van Wely,L/Merida ESP 2005.) 13.a4

a) 13.h4!? ¥h6 14.a4 bxa4 15.¤cb4! 0-0 (15...¥d7 16.¦xa4! looks strong, see the brilliant Karjakin,S−Radjabov,T/Warsaw POL 2005) 16.£xa4 a5 17.¥b5 ¤xd5 18.¤xd5 ¥e6 and Black held the balance in Grischuk,A−Illescas Cordoba,M/Dresden Olympiad 2008

b) 13.¤cb4 0-0 14.a4 bxa4 15.¦xa4 transposes 13...bxa4 14.¤cb4 (14.¤xe7 £xe7 15.¦xa4 ¥b7 16.¥d3 0-0 17.0-0 £d7 18.£a1 £c7 19.£a2 a5

20.¦a1 ¥d8 21.¤e3 ¥c6 22.¦a3² Ivanovic,B−Shariyazdanov,A/Budapest HUN 1999.) 14...0-0 15.¦xa4 (15.£xa4 ¤xd5 16.¤xd5 ¥d7 17.£a2 a5 18.¥c4² Zapata,A−Echavarria,J/Cali COL 2000) 15...a5 16.¥b5 ¥e6 (16...¤xd5 17.¤xd5 f5 18.exf5 ¥xf5

19.0-0 ¦c8 20.c4 ¦c5 21.£e2 ¥e6 22.¤c3² Tiviakov,S−Haag,M/Bergen NOR 2000.,

27

16...¥d7! should equalise) 17.¤xe7+ £xe7 18.¥c6 ¦ab8 19.¦xa5 £c7 20.¦b5± Maiorov,O−Beshukov,S/Krasnodar RUS 1999.

11...¦b8 Unusual, these days, but gives White the 'problem' of committing himself 12.¤c2 0-0 13.h4 ¥e7 (13...¤e7 14.¤xf6+ gxf6 15.¥d3 d5 16.exd5 £xd5 17.¤e3 £e6 18.¥c2 f5

19.£h5 £g6= Solozhenkin−Sitnikov,D/RUS−chT Saint Peterburg 1999.) 14.¤ce3 a) 14.a3 ¢h8 15.¤ce3 ¥e6 16.¥d3 £d7 17.g3 ¥d8 18.£h5 ¤e7 19.0-0-0 ¥b6

20.¤xb6 ¦xb6³ Cioara,A−Jianu,V/Bucharest ROM 2000. b) 14.g3!? ¥e6 15.a3 (15.¥g2 £d7 16.¤ce3 ¥d8 17.0-0 ¤e7 18.¤xe7+ £xe7 19.¤f5 £d7

20.£d2 d5 21.¦ad1 £a7= Mueller,K−Khalifman,A/Porz GER 2000.) 15...a5 16.¤ce3 ¦e8?! 17.a4! Karjakin,S−Shirov,A/European Team Championship, Crete 2007

14...¥e6 15.£f3 £d7 16.¦d1 (16.g4 with sharp play, Motylev,A−Filippov,V/Sochi RUS 2005.) 16...¥d8! 17.¥e2 (17.¥d3!? Karjakin,S−Eljanov,P/Warsaw POL 2005.) 17...¤e7 18.h5 h6 19.0-0 £c8! flexible, 20.¤xe7+ ¥xe7 21.¤f5 (21.b3!? ¥g5 offering a pawn, Jakovenko,D−Ivanchuk,V/Foros UKR 2007.) 21...£c7 22.£g3! (22.¥d3 is not so dangerous for Black, Karjakin,S−Yakovich,Y/Dagomys 2007) 22...¥g5!? sacrificing the d−pawn for activity, Landa,K−Eljanov,P/Bundesliga 2007.

11...¤e7 12.¤xf6+ (12.¤xe7 ¥xe7 13.¤c2 ¥b7 14.£d3 d5 15.exd5 £xd5 16.£xd5 ¥xd5 17.¤e3 ¥c6

18.¤f5 ¥f6 19.0-0-0 ¦d8 20.¦xd8+ ¢xd8= Werle,J−Bosch,J/Hoogeveen NED 1999., 12.¤c2 ¤xd5 13.£xd5 ¦b8 14.¤b4 ¥b7 15.£d3 0-0 16.a3 ¥g5 17.¥e2 f5 18.¥f3 g6 19.0-0 a5

20.¤d5 ¥a8 21.b4 ¢h8 22.¦ad1 ¥h6 23.¦fe1 ¥g7 24.¦e2 ¦c8 25.£xb5± Van den Doel,E−Wiersma,E/Groningen NED 1999.) 12...gxf6 13.£f3 (13.¥d3 d5 14.¤c2 ¥b7 15.exd5 £xd5 16.¤e3 £e6 17.£h5 (17.a4 ¦d8 18.£c2 b4 19.¥c4 £b6 20.a5 £c6 21.£b3

0-0 22.£xb4+− Shabalov,A−Gamboa,N/New York USA 2000.) 17...0-0-0 18.¥c2 f5 19.¤xf5 ¤g6 20.¤e3 ¢b8 21.£f5 £e7„ Stefansson,H−Shabalov,A/Paget Parish BER 2001.) 13...f5 14.exf5 ¥xf5 15.¥d3 ¥e6 16.0-0 0-0 17.¦fe1 f5 18.¥f1 f4 19.c4 ¤f5 20.¦ad1 £b6 21.cxb5 axb5 22.¤xb5 ¦xa2 23.£g4+² Tiviakov,S−Bosch,J/Hengelo NED 2000.

11...¥b7 In my opinion this is an inferior way to fight for the d5 point. 12.¤c2 ¤b8 (12...¤e7 13.¤cb4 0-0 14.a4 a5 15.¤xe7+ ¥xe7 16.¤d5 bxa4 17.¦xa4 ¦c8 18.¥c4 ¦c5 19.£d3²

Sibarevic,M−Sermek,D/Ljubljana SLO 1999, White's control of d5 gives a slight pull. ) 13.g3

a) 13.¤ce3 ¤d7 14.¥d3 0-0 15.0-0 ¥g5 16.a4 bxa4 17.£xa4 ¤c5 18.£c2 a5 (18...¥xe3 19.¤xe3 g6!?) 19.¦fe1 g6 20.¥c4 a4 21.¦ad1² Ehlvest,J−Hossain,E/Dhaka BAN 2001.

b) 13.a4 bxa4 14.¦xa4 0-0 15.h4 an important move that indirectly strengthens the d5 point by eliminating ...¥g5 x e3 ideas. (15.¤ce3 ¤d7 16.b4 ¥g5 17.¤c4 ¤f6 18.¤xf6+

£xf6 19.¥d3 d5³ Brinck Claussen,B−McShane,L/Copenhagen DEN 2000, Black won the fight over the d5 point.) 15...¤d7 16.¤ce3 a5 17.¦a2 g6 18.£f3 ¥g7 19.h5 ¥xd5 20.¤xd5 ¤b6 21.¤xb6 £xb6 22.¥c4! Korneev,O−Arizmendi Martinez,J/Albacete ESP 2001

13...¤d7 (13...¥g5 14.h4 ¥h6 15.a4 bxa4 16.¦xa4 ¤d7 17.¥g2 a5 18.0-0 0-0 19.¦a2 ¤c5 20.b4 axb4

21.¦xa8 ¥xa8 22.cxb4 ¤e6 23.£d3 ¥xd5 24.exd5± Suba,M−Rodriguez Vinueza,A/Malaga ESP 2001 − White has a dangerous passed pawn while Black lacks active play.) 14.h4 0-0 15.¤ce3 ¤b6 16.¥g2 ¦c8 17.0-0 ¤xd5 18.¤xd5 ¥xd5 19.£xd5 £b6 20.¦fd1 ¥e7 21.¥f1 ¦c5 22.£b3 £c6 23.a4± Ashley,M−Casella,M/Los Angeles USA 2000, White's light−squared−bishop is stronger than Black's bishop.

28

12.¤c2

The knight heads for e3 or b4 to bolster d5. 12.¥e2 ¥g5 13.¤c2 ¥e6 14.0-0 ¤e7 15.¤cb4 ¢h8 16.a4 bxa4 17.¦xa4 a5 18.¤xe7 £xe7

19.¤d5 £b7 20.b4 f5 21.bxa5 fxe4 22.¤b6 ¦ad8 23.¦b4 d5 24.a6 £a7 25.£a4 ¥e7 26.¦b5 e3³ Fedorov,A−Grishin,E/St Petersburg RUS 2000, White's a7−pawn is halted and the white king looks very exposed.

12...¥g5

12...¥b7 13.h4 ¤e7 14.¤xf6+ gxf6 15.¥d3 ¢h8 16.¤e3 f5 17.exf5 f6 18.£b3 d5 19.0-0-0 £c7 20.¢b1 £c5÷ Shabalov,A−Halkias,S/Linares ESP 2000.

13.a4

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwq-trk+0 9+-+-+pzpp0 9p+nzp-+-+0 9+p+Nzp-vl-0 9P+-+P+-+0 9+-zP-+-+-0 9-zPN+-zPPzP0 9tR-+QmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

With this move White can force concessions on the queenside. 13.g3 ¤e7 14.¤cb4 ¥e6 15.¥g2 a5 16.¤xe7+ £xe7 17.¤d5 £b7 18.0-0 b4 19.c4 ¦fc8

20.£d3 a4 21.¦fd1 ¥xd5 22.exd5 g6³ Xie Jun−Galliamova,A/Kazan RUS 1999 − White has nothing to do.

13.h4!? ¥h6 14.g4 ¥f4! this pawn sacrifice is considered Black's main try, see Smerdon,D−Mikhalevski,V/Queenstown Classic 2009.

13...bxa4 14.¦xa4 a5

This is Black's best vs the positional line. Black avoids weak pawns and has the ...f5 break. 14...¢h8 15.¤ce3 ¥xe3 16.¤xe3 a5 17.¥c4 ¤e7 18.0-0 f5 19.exf5 ¤xf5 20.£d2 ¤xe3

21.fxe3 ¦xf1+= Tiviakov,S−Van der Wiel,J/Rotterdam NED 2000.

15.¥c4

29

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwq-trk+0 9+-+-+pzpp0 9-+nzp-+-+0 9zp-+Nzp-vl-0 9R+L+P+-+0 9+-zP-+-+-0 9-zPN+-zPPzP0 9+-+QmK-+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

15.¥b5 is Smyslov's line, 15...¤e7 (15...¥b7 16.0-0 ¤e7 17.¥c4 ¢h8 (17...¦b8 18.¤xe7+

£xe7 19.£d3 £c7 20.¦a2 ¥c6 21.b4 axb4 22.¤xb4 ¦a8 23.¦xa8 ¥xa8 24.¥d5 ¥xd5 25.¤xd5

£c5 26.g3² Asrian,K−Pridorozhni,A/Yerevan ARM 2000.) 18.b4 f5 19.¤xe7 £xe7 20.¥d5 axb4 21.¦xa8 ¥xa8 22.¥xa8 ¦xa8 23.¤xb4= Palac,M−Nedev,T/Pula CRO 2000, White's c3 pawn offsets his control of d5.) 16.¤xe7+ (16.¤cb4 is possibly the most precise, but should transpose) 16...£xe7 17.¤b4 ¥h3!? Adorjan's surprising idea, Black hopes to open up White's king for the duration, but White will get light−squared control, 18.¥c6 ¦ac8 19.¦xa5 (19.¤d5!?) 19...¥xg2 20.¦g1 ¥h3 21.£h5 (21.¦a6 Zapata,A−Ramirez,A/Decameron DOM 2003) 21...¥h4 was the impressive game Korneev,O−Shirov,A/Pamplona ESP 2006, but I think White should play 22.¤d5 £d8 23.£h6 here.

15...¦b8

The most natural, attacking b2, but Black has been investigating other possibilities: 15...¤e7 16.0-0 ¤xd5 17.¥xd5 ¥d7 18.¦a2 ¦c8 19.¤a3 (19.£d3 £b6 Naiditsch,A−

Carlsen,M/Dortmund 2009) 19...¥e6 20.£d3 ¥xd5 21.£xd5 ¦c5= Vescovi,G−Mecking,H/Sao Paulo BRA 2000, White's knight can't get to d5.

15...¥b7 16.0-0 ¤b8 17.b4 ¤d7 18.£d3 axb4 19.¦xa8 ¥xa8 20.cxb4 ¤b6 21.¤xb6 £xb6 22.¦a1² Dervishi,E−Cacco,C/Padova ITA 1999, White's passed pawn and control of d5 make Black's life difficult.

15...¥d7!? is an old suggestion of Sveshnikov, intending ...£b8, and ...¥d8−b6, 16.0-0 (It might seem strange to leave the rook exposed, but it does currently block the a−pawn and practice has shown 16.¦a2 a4! 17.0-0 ¤a5 to be fine for Black.) 16...¤b4!? (16...¤e7 looks better, 17.¦a2 ¤xd5 18.¥xd5 ¦c8 transposes to 15...¤e7, above.) 17.¦a3 ¦c8 with complications that may slightly favour White, Volokitin,A−Radjabov,T/Biel SUI 2006.

16.b3

30

XIIIIIIIIY 9-trlwq-trk+0 9+-+-+pzpp0 9-+nzp-+-+0 9zp-+Nzp-vl-0 9R+L+P+-+0 9+PzP-+-+-0 9-+N+-zPPzP0 9+-+QmK-+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

This and 16.¦a2 can transpose, but the rook move gives White the extra option of playing

b4 in one go. 16...¢h8 Black clears the a2−g8 diagonal ready for ...f5. (16...g6!? can be played too, 17.0-0 (17.¤ce3 ¢g7 is the point) 17...¢h8 18.b4! ¥d7! (18...axb4 19.cxb4

¥e6 20.b5 with some advantage, Anand,V−Leko,P, San Luis ARG 2005) 19.£e2 axb4 20.¤cxb4 ¤a5 21.¦fa1!? with an edge playing with two knights against two bishops, Kasimdzhanov,R−Leko,P/San Luis ARG 2005.) 17.¤ce3 (17.0-0 f5 18.exf5 ¥xf5 19.¤ce3 ¥g6 20.f3 (20.£a4 £c8 21.¦d1 e4 22.b3 ¥f7 23.£a3 £d7 24.¤f1

¤e5³ Socko,B−Krasenkow,M/Plock POL 2000. The Polish GM is a Sveshnikov expert. Here Black has good attacking chances.) 20...¥f7 21.£e2 ¥xe3+ 22.¤xe3 d5 23.¦d1 £b6 24.¥xd5 ¦bd8 25.¢f1 e4© Blehm,P−Cyborowski,L/Warsaw POL 2001.) 17...g6

XIIIIIIIIY 9-trlwq-tr-mk0 9+-+-+p+p0 9-+nzp-+p+0 9zp-+Nzp-vl-0 9-+L+P+-+0 9+-zP-sN-+-0 9RzP-+-zPPzP0 9+-+QmK-+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

Black wants to support ...f5 with his g−pawn. a) 17...¥e6!? has been tried a few times recently, 18.b3!? (18.£a4 ¥d7! 19.¥b5?! ¤b4!

was soon catastrophic for White, Nepomniachtchi,I−Zhigalko,S/Kirishi RUS 2005)

18...¥xe3 19.¤xe3 £b6 20.0-0 Ganguly,S−Al Sayed,M/Abu Dhabi UAE 2005, when 20...¥xc4 is simplest.

b) 17...¥xe3 18.¤xe3 ¤e7 is a solid alternative, and may be best, 19.b3!? f5 20.exf5 ¤xf5 21.¤d5 (21.¤xf5 ¥xf5 22.0-0 was equal in Carlsen,M−Van Wely,L/Schagen NED 2006) 21...¥b7 22.0-0 ¦c8 and White only had a small edge in Karjakin,S−Topalov,V/Wijk aan Zee NED 2006.

31

18.h4! This is the most dangerous for Black. (18.0-0 f5 19.£a4!? gave Black problems in Anand,V−Kasparov,G/Linares ESP 2005.) 18...¥xh4 19.g3 ¥g5 20.f4 with sharp play in Kramnik,V−Van Wely,L/Monte Carlo MNC 2005.

16...¢h8 17.¤ce3

17.0-0 f5 18.exf5 (18.f3 Bologan,V−Nataf,I/Moscow RUS 2001) 18...¥xf5 19.¤ce3 ¥g6 (19...¥e6 is worse, 20.£d3 ¥xe3 21.¤xe3 ¥xc4 22.£xc4 (22.bxc4!) 22...¤e7= Vescovi,G−Mecking,H/Sao Paulo BRA 2000.) 20.¥e2 (20.¥d3 ¥f7!? (20...¥xd3

21.£xd3 ¥xe3 22.fxe3 ¦xf1+ 23.£xf1 ¦xb3 is fairly equal) 21.¥e4 ¤e7 22.¤xe7 £xe7 23.¤d5 £b7 24.b4 axb4 25.¤f6!± Konguvel,P−Harikrishna,P/New Delhi IND 2001.) 20...¥f7 21.¤c4 ¥g8 22.¥f3 ¦b5 23.¥e4 ¤e7 24.¤xe7 ¥xe7 25.¥c2 ¦c5 26.¦e1 e4 27.¤e3 d5³ Rodriguez,A−San Segundo Carrillo,P/Cala Galdana ESP 1999.

17...g6

17...¥xe3 18.¤xe3 ¤e7 is a bit meek, and in Leko,P−Radjabov,T/Morelia 2008 Black was ground down in textbook manner.

18.h4!?

18.£e2!? is a new approach in a position which has been topical for a while now, 18...f5 19.h4 ¥xe3 20.£xe3 f4! (20...fxe4 21.h5! with some pressure for White in Anand,V−Shirov,A/Linares 2008.) 21.£d2 see Volokitin,A−Shirov,A/Poikovsky 2008.

18...¥xh4 19.g3 ¥g5 20.f4!?

XIIIIIIIIY 9-trlwq-tr-mk0 9+-+-+p+p0 9-+nzp-+p+0 9zp-+Nzp-vl-0 9R+L+PzP-+0 9+PzP-sN-zP-0 9-+-+-+-+0 9+-+QmK-+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

This is a highly committal move of Topalov's. Instead, with 20.¦a2 White opens the h−file and hopes to swing his rook to h2, this was the

actual move order of Topalov,V−Leko,P/Linares ESP 2005. 20.£e2!? is a dangerous idea, planning to swing the queen across to h2, Karjakin,S−

Shirov,A/FIDE World Cup, Khanty−Mansiysk 2007.

32

20...exf4 21.gxf4 ¥h4+ 22.¢d2

22.¢f1 f5 23.exf5 led to a quick disaster for White in Delchev,A−Kotanjian,T/Kusadasi TUR 2006.

22...¤e7

Leko's choice. 22...f5!? is riskier, 23.¥d3 Ponomariov,R−Van Wely,L/San Sebastian ESP 2006, but White

has other, more dangerous alternatives, see the notes.

23.¢c1

23.¢c2 is somewhat more logical. 23.£g1 is Karjakin's latest try, see Karjakin,S−Ivanchuk,V/FIDE Grand−Prix, Nalchik

2009.

23...¤xd5 24.¤xd5 ¥e6 25.£d4+ ¢g8 26.¦a2

26.¢b1 ¥xd5 27.£xd5 ¥f6 28.¢c2 £b6 Jakovenko,D−Shirov,A/Foros UKR 2007.

26...¥xd5 27.£xd5 £f6 28.£d2 ¥g3 29.¦f1

XIIIIIIIIY 9-tr-+-trk+0 9+-+-+p+p0 9-+-zp-wqp+0 9zp-+-+-+-0 9-+L+PzP-+0 9+PzP-+-vl-0 9R+-wQ-+-+0 9+-mK-+R+-0 xiiiiiiiiy

29...d5!

This is Rogozenko's strong suggestion that either deflects White's bishop from the defence of f1, or closes the a2−g8 diagonal.

29...h5?! is worse, see Topalov,V−Leko,P/Linares ESP 2005 in the archives.

30.¥xd5!? g5!

This attack on the dark squares is possible now that the f1-rook is loose, see Korneev,O−Devereaux,M/Port Erin IOM 2006.

33

Sveshnikov with ...gxf6 − 10...Bg7 [B33]

Last updated: 07/01/10 by Richard Palliser

1 e4 c5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 d4 cxd4 4 ¤xd4 ¤f6 5 ¤c3 e5 6 ¤db5 d6 7 ¥g5 a6 8 ¤a3 b5 9 ¥xf6 gxf6 10 ¤d5 ¥g7

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqk+-tr0 9+-+-+pvlp0 9p+nzp-zp-+0 9+p+Nzp-+-0 9-+-+P+-+0 9sN-+-+-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tR-+QmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

Black protects the f−pawn so as to be able to exchange the d5−knight without allowing

mate in 1 (!) This is sometimes called the Novosibirsk Variation, and tends to become more popular whenever the mainline is having problems.

11 ¥d3

11 g3 f5 12 exf5 ¥xf5 13 ¥g2 ¥e6 14 c3 Leko,P−Kramnik,V/Linares ESP 2000. (27) 11 c3 is a good alternative for White, when Black should return to the mainlines with

11...f5 as 11...¤e7?! is not so good now, because of 12 ¤c2 f5 13 ¤xe7 £xe7 14 exf5! when 14...¥b7 (14...¥xf5?? is impossible, 15 £f3 hitting f5 and a8 and Black can resign.) 15 ¤e3 0-0 16 ¥e2 ¢h8 17 a4! White has an extra pawn and control, and now begins to exert some typical queenside pressure, Ivanchuk,V−Radjabov,T/Cap d'Agde (rapid) 2008.

11 c4!? this uncompromising approach is quite a rare choice these days, 11...f5! 12 cxb5 ¤d4 13 b6!? Malisauskas,V−Shirov,A/Amplico Life rapid, Warsaw 2009.

11...¤e7 12 ¤xe7 £xe7 13 0-0 0-0 14 c4

34

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+l+-trk+0 9+-+-wqpvlp0 9p+-zp-zp-+0 9+p+-zp-+-0 9-+P+P+-+0 9sN-+L+-+-0 9PzP-+-zPPzP0 9tR-+Q+RmK-0 xiiiiiiiiy

This is critical, but double−edged. 14 c3 is the quieter move, although Rogozenko feels that this is "a promising way to meet

the 10...Bg7 system." 14...f5 15 ¤c2 ¦b8 The mainline, dissuading White from playing a4. (15...f4 is a dangerous alternative, planning a kingside attack, and was chosen by Kasparov, 16 £h5! White should stop Black from playing ...£g5 (16 a4

bxa4 17 ¦xa4 £g5 18 f3 ¥f6 19 ¥c4 ¢h8 was unclear in Polgar,J−Kasparov,G, Prague 2002) 16...¢h8 17 ¤b4 ¥e6 18 a4 bxa4 19 ¦xa4 a5 20 ¦fa1 White is clearly on top on the queenside, and Black's kingside attack has failed to materialise, Nolte,R−Isaev,J, Calcutta 2001.) 16 exf5 e4 17 ¦e1 (17 ¥e2 ¥xf5 18 ¤b4 £g5 19 ¢h1 ¥e5

Adams,M−Kramnik,V/Wijk aan Zee NED 2001. (33)) 17...¥xf5 18 ¤e3 ¥g6 19 ¤d5 £e5 20 ¥c2 a5 21 f4 £e6 22 £d2 ¢h8 A useful move that avoids any potential problems along the a2−g8 diagonal, Anand,V−Radjabov,T/Mainz GER 2006, where Black was soon in total control.

14...f5 15 £f3

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+l+-trk+0 9+-+-wqpvlp0 9p+-zp-+-+0 9+p+-zpp+-0 9-+P+P+-+0 9sN-+L+Q+-0 9PzP-+-zPPzP0 9tR-+-+RmK-0 xiiiiiiiiy

The most popular reply here. 15 £h5!? is the older line, 15...¦b8! best (15...£b7 16 ¦fe1 bxc4 17 ¤xc4 d5 18 exd5 £xd5 19 ¥xf5

¥xf5 20 ¤e3 ¥g6 21 £xg6 hxg6 22 ¤xd5 ¦fb8 23 b3 a5 24 ¦ac1 a4 25 b4± Chandler,M−Darnstaedt,F/Solingen GER 2000.) 16 exf5 e4 17 ¦ae1 The only move to counter

35

both the threats of ...¥xb2 and ...exd3. 17...¥b7 18 £g4! (18 cxb5!? Black does well here, see Horvath,T−Nedev,T/Feugen AUT 2006) 18...¦fe8 (Kolev and Nedev, following Cox, suggest 18...¢h8!?, which looks like a pretty decent alternative. 19 ¥xe4 ¥xb2 (19...¦fe8!) 20 ¦e3! Shirov,A−Markos,J/Spanish Team Championship 2009) 19 cxb5 d5 20 bxa6 ¥c6 21 b3 (21 ¥e2!? White simply gets his bishop off prise and prepares to improve his rooks, Najer,E−Yakovich,Y/Novokuznetsk 2008., 21

¦c1!? Topalov,V−Carlsen,M/Nanjing 2009) 21...¢h8!? Shirov,A−Carlsen,M/MTel Masters, Sofia 2009.

15 cxb5!? is met by 15...d5 16 exd5 e4 17 £e2 and now 17...¦b8 18 ¦ab1 ¦b6!? led to a brilliant Black win in Cheparinov,I−Carlsen,M/Wijk aan Zee NED 2005

15...£b7!?

The queen moves off the e−file to unpin the e−pawn. Alternatives: 15...¦e8 stopping exf5, 16 ¦fe1 b4! 17 ¤c2 f4! subtle constraining strategy, Black stops the

white knight from landing on d5, 18 ¥e2 ¦b8 19 b3 ¢h8 20 £h5 d5! freeing the sixth rank, Shirov,A−Kramnik,V/Linares ESP 2000.

15...bxc4 used to be the favourite move here, but after 16 ¤xc4 d5 17 exd5 e4 18 £e3 ¥b7 19 d6 £f6 (19...£h4!? 20 g3 £h3 21 ¥e2 ¥h6 is interesting, Kotsur,P−Sharbaf,M, Hyderabad 2005) 20 ¥c2 f4 21 £h3 ¦ac8 22 b3 £g5 23 d7! ¦c6 24 ¥xe4 ¦h6 25 £f5 £h4 (25...£xf5! 26 ¥xf5 ¥xa1 27 ¦xa1 ¦d8 is the best chance, and Black managed to draw in Ceteras,M−Serradimigni,R, Coppa Latina VI B1 corr 2003) 26 h3 ¦h5 (26...¦f6? 27 d8£ wins, Anand,V−Kasimdzhanov,R, Hyderabad 2002) 27 £g4 ¥xe4 28 £xh4 ¦xh4 29 ¦ad1 ¦d8 30 ¦fe1 Black is in trouble, Yagupov,I−Ataman,A, Istanbul 2003.

15...d5!? 16 cxd5 fxe4 17 ¥xe4 ¦b8 18 ¦fd1 f5!? is Anand,V−Radjabov,T/Linares 2009.

16 £e2!

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+l+-trk+0 9+q+-+pvlp0 9p+-zp-+-+0 9+p+-zpp+-0 9-+P+P+-+0 9sN-+L+-+-0 9PzP-+QzPPzP0 9tR-+-+RmK-0 xiiiiiiiiy

16 exf5 £xf3 17 gxf3 e4! 18 ¥xe4 d5! 19 ¥xd5 ¥xf5 20 ¥xa8 ¦xa8 21 ¦ae1 ¥d3 and

practice has shown that Black has no problems to draw, despite the apparent material deficit, Filip−Madan, Iasi 2003.

36

16 cxb5?! is doubtful: 16...d5 17 exf5 e4 (the point of removing the black queen from e7) 18 £f4 £e7 19 ¥e2 ¥xb2 White was in trouble, and went on to lose, Shirov,A−Gullaksen,E, Bergen 2001.

16...bxc4 17 ¤xc4 fxe4 18 £xe4 £xe4 19 ¥xe4 ¦b8 20 ¦ad1!?

Instead, Rogozenko mentioned 20 ¦fd1 ¥e6 21 ¥d5 with a plus.

20...¥e6 21 ¥d5

XIIIIIIIIY 9-tr-+-trk+0 9+-+-+pvlp0 9p+-zpl+-+0 9+-+Lzp-+-0 9-+N+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9PzP-+-zPPzP0 9+-+R+RmK-0 xiiiiiiiiy

21...¦fd8 22 b3

with an edge for White who has two strongly placed minor pieces and a queenside pawn majority. Black's centre and bishop pair are not to be underestimated, though, Oleksienko,M−Zherebukh,Y/Lviv UKR 2006.

37

Sveshnikov with ...gxf6 − 10...f5 [B33]

Last updated: 17/07/11 by Richard Palliser

1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 ¤c6

There is an alternative move−order: 2...e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 ¤c6 6.¤db5 d6 7.¥f4 e5 8.¥g5 Reaching the same position with an extra move.

3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 e5 6.¤db5 d6

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqkvl-tr0 9zpp+-+pzpp0 9-+nzp-sn-+0 9+N+-zp-+-0 9-+-+P+-+0 9+-sN-+-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tR-vLQmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

7.¥g5 a6 8.¤a3

8.¥xf6 gxf6 9.¤a3 f5!? (9...b5 will transpose to the mainline) 10.¤c4 a) 10.£h5 is more critical b) 10.¥d3 f4 (10...¥g7) 11.¤d5 b5 12.c3 ¥e7 13.¤c2 ¥e6 14.g3 fxg3 15.hxg3 ¤a5

16.¤ce3 ¤b7 17.b4± Rocha,W−Arruda,W/Sao Paulo BRA 1999 − Black's play made no sense.

c) 10.exf5 ¥xf5 11.¤c4 transposes 10...¤d4 11.exf5 ¥xf5 12.¤e3 ¥g6!? 13.¤cd5! Nakamura,H−Shirov,A/Wijk aan Zee

2010.

8...b5 9.¥xf6 gxf6 10.¤d5 f5

38

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+lwqkvl-tr0 9+-+-+p+p0 9p+nzp-+-+0 9+p+Nzpp+-0 9-+-+P+-+0 9sN-+-+-+-0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9tR-+QmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

The sharpest and most popular move.

11.c3

11.¥d3 is the main alternative: 11...¥e6 12.0-0 a) 12.£h5 ¦g8 (12...¦b8 13.0-0 ¦g8 14.£xh7 ¦g6 15.g3 ¦h6 16.£g8 fxe4 17.¥xe4 f5

Walsh,H−Van Riemsdijk,H/Mar del Plata Open, Argen 2000.) 13.g3 ¦g5 (13...¤d4

led to a draw in Romanenko,V−Uesugi,S/World Open, King of Prussia 2010)

14.£d1 ¦g4 15.f3 ¦g8 16.£d2 ¦c8 17.c3 h5 18.¤c2 h4 19.a4 ¤a5 20.£e2 ¥h6 21.axb5 ¢f8 22.bxa6 ¤b3÷ Vallejo Pons,F−Moreno,J/Cala Galdana ESP 1999.

b) 12.c4!? A sharp approach and one which hasn't been popular since around the time that the Soviet Union came to an end, Hou Yifan−Krush,I/Istanbul 2008. 12...£a5+!? 13.¢f1 fxe4 14.¥xe4 0-0-0 is then critical.

12...¥xd5 (12...¥g7 13.£h5 f4 (13...¦c8 14.c3 h6 15.¤c2 f4 16.¢h1 0-0 17.g3 £g5 18.£xg5 hxg5

19.a4 bxa4 20.¦xa4 a5 21.¤a3² Walsh,H−Idigoras,A/Buenos Aires ARG 1999.) 14.c4 bxc4 15.¥xc4 0-0 16.¦ac1 ¤d4 (16...¦b8 17.¤xf4!? is Volokitin,A−Yakovich,Y/Moscow RUS 2007) 17.¤c2 ¤xc2 18.¦xc2 ¦c8 19.¦fc1 ¢h8 20.g4 ¦c5 21.f3² Acs,P−Gagunashvili,M/Athens GRE 2001 − this could be White's best in the ...gxf6 lines.) 13.exd5 ¤e7 14.c3

a) 14.c4?! This gives up too many dark squares. 14...¥g7 15.£d2 e4 16.¥e2 b4 17.£xb4 ¦b8 18.£a4+ ¢f8 19.¦ab1 ¦g8 20.£c2 ¤g6 21.c5 ¥d4 22.¢h1 dxc5 23.f3 ¤f4 24.fxe4 ¦xg2 25.¦xf4 £g5 26.¦g4 ¦xg4 27.¥xg4 £xg4 28.¤c4 £f3+ 29.£g2 £d3³ Rodriguez,A−Moreno,J/Cala Galdana ESP 1999.

b) 14.¤xb5?! e4 15.¥e2 ¥g7³ c) 14.¦e1 was popular a few years ago, but since then Black has uncovered

sufficient defensive resources. 14...¥g7 15.c3 (15.¦b1 White protects the b2−pawn and plans queenside play with c2−c4, see Czarnota,P−Felgaer,R/Lugo ESP 2007)

15...0-0 16.£h5 e4 17.¥f1 ¦e8 18.¦ad1 ¤g6!? Smikovski,I−Tregubov,P/Novokuznetsk 2008

d) 14.£h5 e4 15.¥e2 ¥g7 16.c3 0-0 17.¤c2 f4 18.f3 breaking up Black's pawns like this is White's main try, Shabalov,A−Moiseenko,A/Edmonton Open 2008

14...¥g7 15.£h5 e4 16.¥c2 0-0 17.¦ae1 (17.¦ad1 £c8 18.¦fe1 b4 19.cxb4 ¥xb2 20.¦e3 ¥xa3?? (20...¥g7!? Looks very reasonable.) 21.¦h3+− Geirnaert−Aksay 41st World

39

Junior Goa 2002) 17...£c8 18.¢h1 (18.f3!? is more direct, see Nataf,I−Spasov,V/Calvia ESP 2004) 18...¤g6 19.¥b1 (19.f4 exf3 20.¦xf3 ¦e8 21.¦ef1 ¦e5 22.¥xf5

£e8 23.¤c2± Singh,G−Harikrishna,P/Calcutta IND 2001.) 19...b4 20.cxb4 ¥xb2 21.¤c2 ¥c3 22.¦e2 (22.¦c1 ¥b2 23.¦ce1 ¥c3 24.¦c1 ¥b2= Galkin,A−Krasenkow,M/Saint Vincent ITA 2000.) 22...¥g7 23.f4 exf3 24.£xf3 f4 25.¤e1 £c4 26.£e4 ¦fc8 27.¤d3 a5 28.bxa5 £xe4 29.¦xe4² Leko,P−Krasenkow,M/Batumi GEO 1999.

11.¥xb5!? this piece sacrifice was popular many years ago, 11...axb5 12.¤xb5 ¦a4 13.¤bc7+ (13.b4?! ¦xb4 (13...£h4!? This looks like Kasparov preparation. The threat of ...£e4+ forces White to castle, 14.0-0 ¦g8 White is down a piece and completely lost. 15.f4 ¢d8 16.c3 ¦a6 17.a4 In many cases White's knight on d5 gets in the way, 17...fxe4 18.f5 ¥b7 19.¦a2 e3! The rook on g8 and bishop on b7 form a murderous duo from long distance! 20.¤xe3 £e4 21.¦e1 ¤xb4!-+ Breaking what was left of White's resistance, Shirov,A−Kasparov,G/Linares ESP 2002.) 14.¤bc7+ ¢d7 15.0-0 ¦b7 (15...¦g8!) 16.£h5 ¤e7 17.£xf7 ¢c6 18.¦ab1 fxe4 19.¦xb7 ¢xb7 20.¦b1+ ¢c6 21.¦b6+ ¢c5 22.¦b3+− Shirov,A−Lautier,J/Monaco MNC 2000 − keep in mind this was a blindfold game.) 13...¢d7 14.0-0 ¦xe4 15.£h5 ¤d4 16.c3 ¤e2+ 17.¢h1 ¢c6 18.g3 Vallejo Pons,F−San Segundo Carrillo,P/San Sebastian 2009.

11.g3 not White's main continuation, but a fairly sensible one nonetheless, 11...fxe4 12.¥g2 ¥g7 13.¥xe4 ¥e6 14.£h5! ¦c8 15.c3 ¤e7 16.¦d1 ¤xd5 (16...¦c5 17.¤b4 £b6 18.£g5

¢f8 19.£e3 f5 20.¥g2 e4 21.¤ac2 ¢f7 22.¤d4² Sax,G−Shariazdanov,A/Bihac BIH 1999.) 17.¥xd5 Volokitin,A−Moiseenko,A/Ukrainian Championship, Kiev 2011, when 17...£d7 is natural.

11...¥g7 12.exf5

12.¥d3!? this might be White's most aggressive course of action. Most of the time White gets a safe king, while Black's is a bit drafty, 12...¥e6 13.£h5 (13.¤xb5!? axb5 14.¥xb5 is dangerous for Black, 14...¥d7 (14...¦c8 see Almasi,Z−Sutovsky,E/Paks HUN 2005) 15.exf5 ¤b8! this move makes a lot of sense to me,

a) 15...0-0 16.0-0! (16.£g4 ¢h8! Istratescu,A−Moiseenko,A/Canadian Open, Montreal 2008) 16...e4! (16...¦b8 17.a4 ¦e8 (17...f6?! Stefansson,H−Stany,G/Parsvnath Open, New Delhi 2011) 18.£g4 ¢h8 19.£e4! the queen eyes the knight on c6, Almasi,Z−Wang Yue/Paks HUN 2006) 17.a4 ¦e8 18.£g4 ¢h8 19.¦ad1 Kotronias,V−Papadopoulos,I/Greek Championship, Rhodes 2008, when 19...¦b8 seems best.

b) 15...¦b8 16.a4 ¦g8!? is interesting (16...0-0 17.0-0 transposes to 16...¦b8 above)

16.a4! undoubtedly critical, (16.£g4 0-0 17.0-0 h5! Almasi,Z−Ni Hua/Reggio Emilia 2009,

16.¥d3 ¦a5!? an active and complex choice, Gutsche,D−Hamarat,T/correspondence 2004) 16...0-0 17.0-0 Kaidanov,G−Polgar,J/Hilton Head theme match 2010, when 17...¥xb5 is best.) 13...0-0 14.0-0 f4 15.¦ad1 ¢h8 16.g3 ¦g8 17.¢h1 ¥f8 18.¥e2 ¦g5 19.£f3 f5 20.gxf4 (20.exf5 ¥xf5 21.¤xf4!? led to sharp play in Svidler,P−Van Wely,L/Wijk aan Zee NED 2004) 20...exf4 (20...fxe4 21.£xe4 ¥f5 22.£e3 exf4 23.¤xf4

¤e5 24.¤d5 ¤g4 25.¥xg4 ¦xg4 26.¦g1 ¥g7= Anand,V−Leko,P/Wijk aan Zee NED 2001. ) 21.¤xf4 ¥xa2 22.exf5 ¦xf5 23.£e4 ¦f7 24.¥h5 ¦f6 25.c4 ¤e5= Anand,V−Topalov,V/Monaco MNC 2001, with equal chances in a sharp position.

40

12...¥xf5

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+-wqk+-tr0 9+-+-+pvlp0 9p+nzp-+-+0 9+p+Nzpl+-0 9-+-+-+-+0 9sN-zP-+-+-0 9PzP-+-zPPzP0 9tR-+QmKL+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

13.¤c2 0-0

13...¥e6 14.a4 a) 14.g3 This line is no problem for Black. 14...0-0 15.¥g2 f5 16.0-0 a5 17.¦e1 a1) 17.£h5 ¦a7 (17...¦b8!?) 18.a4! bxa4 19.¦xa4 ¤e7 20.¤ce3 ¤xd5 21.¥xd5 ¥xd5

22.¤xd5 ¦b7 23.¦h4! ¥f6 24.¦c4 £d7 (24...¥g7 25.b4±) 25.¦a1 ¥d8 26.b4 ¦b5 27.¦d1± Nunn,J−Delaney,P/Bunratty IRL 2000, Black's K is wide open.

a2) 17.£e2 ¦b8 18.¦fd1 £d7 19.¤a3 ¤a7 20.¦d2 £f7 21.¦ad1 ¢h8 22.f4 b4 23.¤c4 ¤b5 24.fxe5 bxc3 25.bxc3 ¤xc3 26.¤xc3 ¥xc4 27.£e3 dxe5 28.¥d5 ¥xd5 29.¦xd5 f4∓ Mohr,G−Jelen,I/Bled SLO 1999.

17...¦c8 18.¤a3 ¤a7 19.£d2 e4 20.¦ad1 ¥e5 This unopposed B defends d6 and could do serious damage on the dark squares. 21.¤c2 ¢h8 22.£h6 £e8 23.¤ce3 ¤c6 24.a3 £g6 25.£h4 £f7 26.¦d2 ¦b8 27.¦ed1 ¥xd5 28.¦xd5 ¤e7 29.¦5d2 ¦g8 30.¢h1 ¦g6 31.f4 exf3 32.¥xf3 £g7∓ Ivanchuk,V−Leko,P/Monaco MNC 2001, Black has good attacking chances.

b) 14.¤ce3 ¤e7 15.g3 ¤xd5 16.¤xd5 0-0 17.¥g2 f5 18.0-0 a5 19.£d2 ¦b8 20.¦ad1 ¢h8 Sometimes White's knight on d5 gets in the way. 21.¢h1 £d7 22.f4 e4 23.¤e3 ¥xa2 24.¦a1 ¥c4 25.¤xc4 bxc4 26.¦xa5 ¦b3 27.¦fa1 £b7 28.£xd6 ¦xb2³ Wang Pin−Krasenkow,M/Shanghai CHN 2000.

14...0-0 (14...¦b8 15.axb5 axb5 16.¦a6 (16.¤cb4!?) 16...£c8 17.¤cb4 ¤xb4 18.¤xb4 d5! With the B pair and a formidable center Black gets good play. 19.¦a5 0-0 20.¦xb5 d4 21.¦xb8 £xb8 22.¥e2 e4³ Borriss,M−McShane,L/Dresden GER 2000.) 15.axb5 axb5 16.¦xa8 £xa8 17.¤ce3 £b7 18.g4 White clamps down on Black's f5 break, but is lagging in development. 18...¤e7 19.¥g2 ¤xd5 20.¥xd5 £e7 21.h4 ¦c8 22.g5 ¦c5 23.¥e4 d5

41

XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-+-+k+0 9+-+-wqpvlp0 9-+-+l+-+0 9+ptrpzp-zP-0 9-+-+L+-zP0 9+-zP-sN-+-0 9-zP-+-zP-+0 9+-+QmK-+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

24.¤xd5 ¥xd5 25.¥xd5 e4 26.¢e2 £e5 27.¥b3 £c7 28.£g1 b4 29.g6 hxg6 30.£xg6 ¢f8=

Kasparov,G−Leko,P/Wijk aan Zee NED 2000.

14.¤ce3 ¥e6

Returning to survey d5. 14...¥g6!? provokes White into a sharpening of the struggle, 15.h4 ¥e4?! (15...h6!? 16.£g4

e4! is probably a better try, Mista,A−Moiseenko,A/Warsaw (rapid) 2007.) 16.h5 (16.¥d3 ¥xd5 17.¤xd5 f5 18.g4! takes the fight to Black, Yu Yangyi−Wang Yue/Chinese Championship, Xinghua 2011., 16.a4 ¥xd5 17.¤xd5 b4 18.cxb4 ¢h8

Ponomariov,R−Rogozenko,D/Istanbul TUR 2000., 16.¥e2 ¥xd5 17.¤xd5 f5 Palac,M−Vaisser,A/Cannes FRA 2000) 16...£g5 17.¥e2 (17.¦h3 ¢h8 18.¦g3 (18.g4!? White plays for a kingside light square bind. 18...f5! It's now or never.. White had the strong positional threat of ¥d3. 19.gxf5 ¥xf5 20.¦g3 £h6 21.¤xf5 ¦xf5„ Sadykov−Ni Hua 41st World Junior Goa 2002 White's king is in bad shape.) 18...£h6 19.¥d3 ¥xd5 20.¤f5 £f6 21.¥c2 ¥e6 22.¤xg7 d5 23.£d2 b4 24.h6 e4 25.¤h5 £e5 26.¦g5 f5 27.f4 exf3+ 28.¢f2 bxc3 29.bxc3 £e2+= Timman−Leko/Sarajevo 1999.) 17...¦a7 18.¥f3 ¥xf3 19.£xf3 f5 20.h6 ¥xh6 21.¦h5 £g6 22.¦xf5 ¦af7 23.¦xf7 ¦xf7 24.£g4 ¥xe3 25.¤xe3 £xg4 26.¤xg4 ¢f8 27.¢e2 b4= Polgar,J−Leko,P/Wijk aan Zee NED 2000.

15.¥d3 f5 16.£h5

42

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+-wq-trk+0 9+-+-+-vlp0 9p+nzpl+-+0 9+p+Nzpp+Q0 9-+-+-+-+0 9+-zPLsN-+-0 9PzP-+-zPPzP0 9tR-+-mK-+R0 xiiiiiiiiy

16.a4 b4 17.0-0 bxc3 18.bxc3 ¢h8 19.¦b1 e4 20.¤f4 ¥d7 21.¥c4 ¥e5 22.¤e6 ¥xe6

23.¥xe6 £g5 24.¥d5 ¦ac8 25.¤c4 ¤e7 26.¤xe5 dxe5 27.c4 ¤g6 28.¢h1 ¦cd8 29.¦b6± Leko,P−Kramnik,V/Frankfurt GER 2000.

16.0-0 ¦a7! (16...¤e7 17.¤xe7+ £xe7 18.¥xf5! Aronian,L−Harikrishna,P/Lausanne SUI 2001. (31), 16...¢h8!? J.Polgar−Illescas/Dos Hermanas 1999) 17.a4 (17.f4 ¤e7!

McDonald,N−Kwiatkowski,F/Hastings Challengers 2001) 17...¤e7 18.¤xe7+ ¦xe7 19.axb5 axb5 20.¥xb5 d5 gave Black reasonable compensation for the pawn in Anand,V−Leko,P/Wijk aan Zee NED 2005.

16...e4 17.¥c2 ¤e7 18.¦d1

18.¤f4 ¥f7 19.¥b3 d5 20.£g5 ¤g6 21.£xd8 ¦axd8 22.¤exd5 ¤xf4 23.¤xf4 b4 24.¤e6 ¥xe6 25.¥xe6+= Anand,V−Kramnik,V/Frankfurt GER 2000.

18...¤g6

18...b4!? This is an original pawn sacrifice in order to drive the knight away from the centre, Goloschchapov−Volzhin/RUS−Cup 1999.

19.f4 exf3 20.gxf3 £d7 21.0-0 £f7

43

XIIIIIIIIY 9r+-+-trk+0 9+-+-+qvlp0 9p+-zpl+n+0 9+p+N+p+Q0 9-+-+-+-+0 9+-zP-sNP+-0 9PzPL+-+-zP0 9+-+R+RmK-0 xiiiiiiiiy

22.f4 ¦ac8 23.¦f3 ¦c5 24.¦h3 h6 25.¦g3 ¢h7 26.b4 ¦cc8 27.¦d2±

Ponomariov,R−Eljanov,P/Kharkov RUS 2001.

44