Classical Two Knights [B56B59]

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

Last updated Tuesday, 31 May 2011

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he Classical Two Knights isn't what you would call super theoretical. These lines
are the solid ones. The readers can follow these without much change in the
theory. It's important to note concepts not so many tactical points.

The Benko system with 6...b6 against the Sozin is seeing a shift in main lines ... 7

b3, 7 de2 and 7 db5 are falling out of favor, and being replaced by 7 xc6!?.
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.

Contents

1 e4 c5 2 f3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 xd4 f6 5 c3 c6
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6 c4
6 f3 Classical 2 Knights 6 f3 & Miscellaneous [B56]
6 e2 e5 7 b3 (7 f3 h6 Boleslavsky Variation 6 Be2 e5 7 Nf3 & Intro [B58]) 7...e7
Boleslavsky Variation7 Nb3 [B59]

6...b6
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6...e5 Classical Sozin, 6 Bc4 6...e5 & Intro [B57]

7 b3
7 e3 Sozin Benko System 7 Be3 [B57]
7 db5 Sozin Benko System 7 Ndb5 [B57]
7 de2 Sozin Benko System 7 Nde2 [B57]
2

7 xc6 bxc6 Sozin Benko System 7 Nxc6 [B57]

7...e6 8 0-0
8 f4 Sozin Benko System7 Nb3 misc. eighth moves [B57]

8...e7
Sozin Benko System7 Nb3 & 8 0-0 [B57]

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Classical 2 Knights 6 f3 &

Miscellaneous [B56]
Last updated: 31/05/11 by Richard Palliser

1.e4 c5 2.f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 f6 5.c3 c6

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This is in many ways the most natural move here.
5...d7 The Kupreichik Variation. Black may develop along Najdorf, Classical or even
Dragon lines while trying to avoid too much theory. 6.f3 e5 7.b3 e7 8.e3 0-0
Shirov,AHeberla,B/BadenBaden GER 2011.

6.f3
The modern favorite. Others:
6.f4 e5 (6...g6!? This is my preference. We transpose into a Dragon where White has played
the outof fashion Levenfish Variation.) 7.f3 e7 8.c4 0-0 9.0-0 (9.f5 a5!
10.d5 b6!, 9.b3 b8 10.0-0 b5 11.d3 a5 Leventic,IBiliskov,V/Pula CRO 1999.)
9...exf4 10.xf4 g4 (10...b6+ 11.h1 xb2 12.d5 xd5 13.exd5 is unclear) 11.d2
h5 12.ae1 g6 13.h1 e8 14.b3?! (14.a3!? giving the a2bishop an escape
hatch on a2 is interesting.) 14...a6 15.d4 a5! 16.f5 xb3 17.axb3 xe4?!
(17...xf5!?) 18.h6+ gxh6 19.xe4 xe4 20.xe4 f8 21.g5! hxg5 22.f6+ h8
23.d3 Salmensuu,OAtalik,S/Groningen NED 1999.
6.g3 e5 (or 6...g6!? once again transposing into a Dragon where White has played the insipid
g3.) 7.de2 e7 8.g2 a6 9.g5 (9.h3 is more normal, 9...b5 10.e3 b4 11.d5 xd5
4

12.exd5 leaves White on top, he can use the e4 and f5 squares) 9...h5?! this looks

ridiculous. White should get a comfortable game by playing around the d5 square.
10.d2 e6 11.h3 c8 12.0-0 b8 13.a4 bd7 14.a5 0-0 15.fc1 e8 16.e3 h4
17.g4 h7 18.d5 g5 with good darksquared play, Stanke,JBaklan,V/Hamburg
GER 1999.
6.e3 g4!? (I prefer 6...e5 here instead, 7.f3 (7.b3 transposes to the mainline once
White plays f3) 7...e7 8.c4 0-0 9.0-0 e6 10.b3 a6 (10...a5!? I find this to be
the most accurate.) 11.e2 c7 12.fd1 h6 13.h4 a5 14.f5 xf5 15.exf5 xb3
16.axb3 c6 17.d3 fd8 18.d5 xd5 19.xd5 xc2 20.xb7 f8 Jukic,B
Jovanovic,S/Pula CRO 1999, White's pawns are a mess.) 7.g5 (7.b5!? is critical,
White continues his development, allowing Black to capture his darksquared
bishop and double his pawns, but plans to use the ffile: 7...xe3 8.fxe3 d7
9.xc6 (9.0-0 e6 10.xc6 is a better move order) 9...bxc6 10.0-0 e6 (10...e5! 11.f3 f6
12.f5 g6) 11.f3 (11.e5!? is the sharpest, Novik,MAgopov,M/Finnish League 2011)
11...f6! 12.xf6?! (12.e2) 12...gxf6 13.xf6 g7 Black's bishops more than
compensate the doubled pawn, Petrosian,TMotylev,A/Tiayuan 2005) 7...h6 8.h4
g5 9.g3 g7 10.b3 a6?! Black might be able to omit this, Najdorf move, and save
an important tempo,
a) 10...e6 is most common, 11.e2 h5 12.h4 (12.h3 h4!) 12...gxh4 13.xh4 c8!
14.0-0 f6 Adams,MKramnik,V, Belgrade 1995
b) 10...xc3+!? 11.bxc3 e6 12.b5 a6 13.xc6+ bxc6 14.d4 is not too clear
11.e2 ge5 12.h4 g4 13.h5 f6 14.f4 g5 15.d2 xf4 16.xf4 e6 17.d5 a5
18.0-0-0 c8 19.b1 Leventic,IJovanovic,S/Pula CRO 1999 Black's forces are
too uncoordinated to put up good resistance.
6.h3!? is a speciality of Movsesian, intending either Keres Attackstyle play, or to continue
as in 6 g3, with g2, 0-0, followed by ge2g3. 6...g6 (6...e6 7.g4 a6 8.g2 is like the
'slow' Keres Attack) 7.de2 h5!? Movsesian,SLikavsky,T/Czech Rep CZE 2005.

6...e5
6...e6 transposes to the English Attack in B80.
6...xd4 7.xd4 g6 8.g5 g7 9.b5+?! lending Black a helping hand, (9.0-0-0 0-0 10.e5
d7 11.h4!) 9...d7 10.xd7+ xd7 11.d5 h5 12.b4 e6 13.c3 a5 Black's
counterplay is rolling. 14.b3 a4 15.b4 a3 16.g4 axb2 17.d1 c6
Kriventsov,SKarklins,A/Philadelphia USA 1999.
6...b6!? I've said it at least a million times... if Black can force White to play b3 then
this should be played.

7.b3 e7
7...h6?! After White plays f3 Black doesn't have to play this, as the g5xf6 idea would
weaken White's crucial dark squares. 8.e3 e7 9.d2 a5 10.a4 d7 11.e2 0-0
12.0-0 b6 13.fd1 b7 14.a3 c5 15.c3 a4 16.c1 f5 17.exf5 xf5 18.c4+ h8
19.1e2 a5 20.a2 f8 21.g3 Morozevich,AMilos,G/Internet 2000, White
has things under control on the light squares.
7...e6 8.d5! xd5 9.exd5 with a plus.
5

8.e3 0-0
8...e6 is the main alternative, 9.d5 (9.d2 a6 10.g4? allowing Black to break with ...d5:
10...d5! 11.g5 d4 12.gxf6 xf6 13.0-0-0 dxe3 14.xe3 d4 15.b1 c7 16.f2 0-0-0 17.h4 b8
Marchadour,CTe Llalemand,R/Vichy FRA 2000.) 9...xd5 10.exd5 b8 (10...b4
11.c4 (11.b5+?! f8! and the dpawn drops) 11...a5 12.d2 b6 13.a3 a6 14.e2 00?! (14...c5! was most accurate) 15.0-0 e8 16.c1 c5 17.b3 f5 18.b1 h4 19.b4

axb4 20.axb4 d7 21.d3 Tindall,BDwyer,D/Mingara NSW AUS 2000, White

has several plans: organizing c5, locking the kingside with f4, or fighting for control
of the afile.) 11.c4 (11.e2 0-0 12.d2 a5 13.a3?! White shouldn't touch this side.
13...bd7 14.c4 a4 15.c1 b8 16.a2 d8! playing to exchange darksquared bishops,
17.0-0 b6 18.xb6 xb6 Black is guaranteed excellent play on the dark squares.
19.b4 bd7 20.c3 c5 21.b5 d8 22.c3 b6 Zufic,MKozul,Z/Nova Gorica SLO
2001., 11.a4! menaces a5, so 11...a5 12.b5+ with advantage) 11...0-0 12.e2 bd7
(12...a5!) 13.0-0 e8 14.e1 a5 15.h1 b6 16.a3?! (16.d2!? keeps White fighting for
an advantage.) 16...c5 17.d2 g5!

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Black gets play on the dark squares. 18.f2 xe3 19.xe3 a4 Saptarshi,R
Murugan,K/Calcutta IND 2001.

9.d2
9.d5 is less accurate, 9...xd5 10.exd5 b8 11.d2 f5 getting the kingside pawns
moving before deciding on the best placement of the queenside pieces, Zhang
PengxiangDreev,A/Ergun CHN 2006.

9...a5!?

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The most aggressive, attempting to break up the white queenside. If White stops Black's
...a4 idea with b5 then Black can try ...a7.
9...e6 can be played here, too, but will transpose to the last note.

10.b5
Played to control b5 and to stop the further advance of the pawn.
10.a4? b4! leaves White in a miserable situation, as he can hardly stop the liberating ...d5.
10.a4!? is an interesting new idea, White aims to exploit the b6square, rather than the b5
one, 10...e6 (10...d5!? 11.b6?! d4 12.xa8 a4! Black drives the knight to a passive
square before capturing, Wang Yu AKosintseva,T/Ergun CHN 2006) 11.b6 a4!?
a daring exchange sac to gain the initiative, 12.xa8 xa8 13.c1 a3! with good
play, Rodriguez,AMilos,G/Sao Paulo 2005.
10.d1 a4 11.c1 a5 12.a3 e6 with active play, Rodriguez,ACHESS TIGER/Vicente
Lopez ARG 2001.

10...e6
10...a7! is better, 11.d3 e6 (11...c6 12.a3 (12.b5 and Black can repeat 12...a7)
12...a4 13.c1 e6) 12.d1 c8!? Playing for a future ...d5, 13.a3 b6 14.f2
fd7 15.d2 c7 16.0-0 d5 Short,NStefansson,H/Reykjavik ISL 2002.

11.d5
11.0-0-0 is risky, 11...b4!? 12.a3 d5!? with sharp play, Fedorov,AIvanchuk,V/Moscow
RUS 2005.
11.d1 a7 12.e2 c8 is also OK for Black.

11...xd5 12.exd5 a7
12...b4?! 13.c4 b6 14.0-0 a6 15.c6 b8 16.c1 d7 17.a3 f5 18.b4 Reyhan,D
Demir,G, Istanbul TUR 2003.

13.e2 c8!

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An important idea.

14.d1 b6 15.c4 c7 16.c1 a4 17.0-0 d7 18.h1 ac5

and Black has a good darksquared blockade on the queenside, Popovic,PDamljanovic,B,
Budva SCG 2004.

Classical Sozin, 6 Bc4 6...e5 & Intro

[B57]
Last updated: 08/03/11 by Richard Palliser

1.e4 c5 2.f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 f6 5.c3 c6 6.c4 e5!?

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This unusual idea has been championed by GM Epishin with great success.
6...d7 is an inferior idea, Black will have trouble equalizing. 7.0-0 g6 8.xc6! (8.h3
Zacharias,CGeorgiev,V/Hamburg GER 1999) 8...xc6 9.g5 g7 10.d5
Korbut,EMatnadze,A/Litohoto GRE 1999.

7.f5
This is the best of the various knight moves.
7.b3 e7 8.f3 0-0 9.e3 e6 10.d5 c8 11.xe7+?! This helps Black's development.
(11.c3 looks normal, but White is loose on the a7g1 diagonal.) 11...xe7 12.xe6
xe6 13.0-0 fd8 14.e2 d5 15.exd5 xd5 16.c3 b6 17.ae1 e8 Preusser,R
Epishin,V/Werther GER 2000.
7.de2 e6 Black must challenge White's control of d5, 8.xe6 fxe6 9.g5 h6 10.h4 e7
11.d2 0-0 12.0-0-0 b5 13.f3 a5 14.b3 fd8 15.e1 ac8 16.b1 b4 17.b2
xc2! 18.xc2 xa2+ 19.d3 xb3 20.e3 c4 21.f2 g4+ 22.fxg4 xh4+
23.g3 e7 Livshits,GEpishin,V/Saint Vincent ITA 2000.
7.f3 makes sense, 7...e6 8.b3 h6 9.0-0 e7 White is essentially a tempo up on certain 6
e2 e5 7 f3 lines, Airapetian,CFedorowicz,J, San Diego USA 2006.
9

7...e6
7...xf5 8.exf5 d7!? is too greedy, 9.0-0 0-0-0 10.g5 xf5 11.xf6 xf6 12.d5 with
complete control of the central light squares, Milos,GDisconzi da Silva,R, Sao
Caetano 1998.

8.b3
8.e3 Played directly this avoids Black playing ...g6 and ...h6 with gain of tempo. 8...c8
9.0-0 d4 10.d3!? e7 11.cd5 White is ready to expel the strong black knight
with c3, Flores Rios,MEpishin,V/Badalona 2005.

8...g6

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9.e3
Playing for the d5 point looks logical.
9.h6?! d4 10.g5 e7 11.f4 xb3 12.axb3 h5 13.f5 xg5 14.fxg5 0-0 15.h6+
g7 16.d2 f6 17.gxf6+ xf6-+ Schneider,DEpishin,V/Connecticut USA 2000
the knight on h6 is a goner.

9...h6
Black exchanges his potentially bad bishop.
9...d4 is the alternative.

10.ed5 xc1 11.xc1 0-0

Macieja,BWojtaszek,R/Warsaw POL 2005.

10

Sozin Benko System 7 Nb3 & 8 0-0

[B57]
Last updated: 14/10/06 by TonyK

1 e4 c5 2 f3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 xd4 f6 5 c3 c6 6 c4 b6!?

This avoids the messy and unpredictable Velimirovic Attack. The Benko System is my
personal favorite.

7 b3

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7...e6
7...g6?! this gives White opportunities for d5, 8 e3 c7 9 d5 xd5 10 exd5 e5 11
b5+ (11 e2!?) 11...d7 12 xd7+ xd7 13 f4 g4 14 d4 f6 15 xf6 exf6 16 00 e7 17 d4 0-0 18 f5 d8 19 h1 e8 Ruiz Gonzalez,GBu Xiangzhi/Budapest
HUN 1999.

8 0-0
The main move, but there are important alternatives in the next chapter.

8...e7
11

8...a6 9 a4
a) 9 d3 c7 10 f4 e7 11 f3 0-0 12 h1 d7 (12...b5 of course) 13 d2 b5 14
ae1 ac8?! Black's setup looks very suspicious. 15 d5 exd5 16 exd5 fe8 17
dxc6 xc6 18 h3 f8 19 a5 b7 20 c3 Oral,TDrei,A/Reykjavik ISL 2000.
b) 9 e3 c7 10 a4 (10 f4 b5 11 d3 e7 12 f3 (12 a3 This prevents ...b4 ideas,
but allows ...b4 ideas in return, 12...b8 13 f3 b4 14 e2 e5 With the knight pushed
away from d5 this idea comes into play. 15 f5 b7 16 g3 h5 Why Black's delaying
castles can be important. 17 h3 h4 18 e2 d5 19 exd5 e4 AfekFedorowicz Amsterdam
1996) 12...b7 13 a4 b4 14 e2 (14 b1 is a more secure way of bolstering the e4
point, but Black is fine here as well. 14...a5 15 1d2 0-0 16 h1 b8 17 d4 bd7 18
b5 b8 19 ae1 c8 20 h3 c5 A real history lesson! ParmaPetrosian Moscow
1971.) 14...b8!? Black's puts pressure on e4 and is already threatening ...d5 breaks.
I've had a lot of experience with this line over the years. Black's 14th move is the
product of working with GM James Tarjan in the early 80's. 15 g3 (15 d4!? Takes
the starch out of the ...d5 break, but exposes the bishop to the e5 break.) 15...h5!

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One of the points of not castling too soon. 16 c3 h4 17 h1 d5 18 f2 h3!? Black envisions
a queen trade so throwing this in could weaken White's pawn structure. 19 g4? This
gives white too many weak pawns. (19 g3 Would be similar to the game, but with one
less weak pawn.) 19...bxc3 20 ac1 dxe4 21 xe4 xe4 22 xe4 xe4 23 xe4
c6 Kaufman,RFedorowicz,J/Guelf Pro Am 2002, White's pawns on a4, f4 and
g4 are all targets. And Black's knight can redeploy to d5.) 10...b6 11 e2 e7 12 f4
b7 13 f3 b4 14 a5?! this hands Black good counterplay, 14...b5 15 b6 c8 16
e2 0-0 17 ad1 d7 18 f2 c7 19 d2 ac8 20 fd1 fe8 Petrov,A
Arbakov,V/St Petersburg RUS 2000.
c) 9 e2?! it is hard to see what the queen is doing here, sometimes White needs
e2. 9...e7 10 a4 c7 11 a5 0-0 12 e3 d7 13 a4 xa5 14 xa5 b5 15 d3
bxa4 16 xa4 c5 17 a2 f6 18 b4 xd3 19 cxd3 d7 Koeller,O
Tyomkin,D/Biel SUI 1999.
9...a5
a) 9...d7 10 a5 c7 11 e2 c8 12 f4 b4 13 f3 e7 14 e3 0-0 15 f2 b8
(15...e5!? Challenging the center looks interesting.) 16 a4! xa4 17 xa4 d5 18 e5
d7 19 c3 Kuczynski,RKozul,Z/Ohrid MKD 2001.

12

b) 9...c7 10 a5 (10 f4 b6 11 d3 b7 (I prefer flexibility. 11...e7!? 12 h1 0-0 13

f3 b8=) 12 f3 b4?! Black should finish his kingside development first.
(12...e7!? Is ok for black.) 13 g3! Now white has to resort to contortions. 13...d5
14 e5 e4 15 xe4 dxe4 16 f2 b8 17 a5?! Not sure what this accomplished.
17...b5 18 e3 e7 19 f5 exf5 20 d4 Friedel,JGerzhoy,L/Heraklio GRE 2002)
10...e7 11 f4 (11 e2 0-0 12 e3 d7 13 f4 b4 14 b6 c8 15 f3 d5? This ruins
everything. 15...e5!? was ok 16 e5 e8 17 f5?! this gives Black a chance. 17...exf5 18
xd5 xd5 19 xd5 c7 20 c4 Ademi,SO'Donnell,R/North Bay CAN 1999.) 11...0-0
12 e3 d7 13 a4 xa5 14 xa5 b5 15 d3 bxa4 16 xa4 c5 17 a2 b8 18 c3
xd3 Ciric,DTyomkin,D/Biel SUI 1999. With the bishop pair and better placed
forces.
10 e3 c7 11 xa5 xa5 12 d2 e7 13 fd1 c7 14 e2 d7 15 f4 c6 16 xd6
xd6 17 xd6 xd6 18 xd6 xe4 19 xe4 xe4 20 d4 f6 21 f3
Mikhalchishin,AKozul,Z/Bled SLO 1999.
8...c7 9 g5 a6 10 xf6 gxf6 11 h5 d7 (11...b5 12 d3 b7 13 a4 b4 14 d1 0-0-0 Here
Black has done several things wrong: 1) he can leave the queen on b6 till e3 or
h1, 2) 0-0-0 is insane as Black is open already, 3) just because the fpawns are
doubled doesn't mean ...0-0 is bad. 15 e3 e5 16 f4 xd3 17 cxd3 b6 18 fe1 f5 19
xf7+ Mirumian,VManik,M/Ostrava CZE 1999.) 12 h1 e5 13 e2 0-0-0?
Yikes! Black is asking for it. 14 f4 g6 15 g3 e8 16 f3 e7 17 f5 c6 18 g2
b8 19 ad1 h6 20 h3 e7 21 d4 Zambrana,OBakre,T/Athens GRE 2001.

9 g5
Threatening to capture on f6 to double the black pawns.
9 e3 c7 Once the white bishop retreats from the exposed c4square these positions look
like the Scheveningen with an extra move for each side, so some of these games can
be found in [B82]. 10 d3
a) 10 e2 a6 11 f4 b5 12 a3 b7 13 g4 g6 14 g5 d7 15 g4 (15 f5!? b6 16 d4
Black must take care,) 15...b6 16 d4 c4 17 xc6 xe3 18 d4 xg4 19
xh8+ d7 20 d4 xc6 Jimenez,JMendez,E/Buenos Aires ARG 2000.
b) 10 f4 0-0 (10...a6 11 d3 d7?! Much too passive... Black needs d7 for the f6
knight and the bishop is best placed on b7 anyway. 12 f3 b4 I like to wait for
ae1 then play ...b4. 13 ae1 (13 a3 xd3 14 cxd3 b5 15 ac1 With alot of
development.) 13...0-0 14 g4 c6 15 g5 d7 16 h5 g6 17 h3 fe8 18 f5
Mortensen,EVon Bahr,O/Sweden SWE 2003) 11 d3 a6 12 g4 b5 13 g5 d7 14
h5 g6 15 h6 e8 16 f3 f8 17 h4 g7 18 af1 f8 after this Black must
really take care of the f6 square. If a knight lands there its curtains. 19 e5 d5=
Galstian,BEvdokimov,A/Oropesa del Mar ESP 1999.
10...a6 11 a4 b6 12 f4 (12 e1?! In these ...b6 systems White can't afford to sit idly by.
That's what happens here. 12...b7 13 e2 0-0 14 f3 fd8 15 f2 d7 16 ad1 a5 17 xa5
bxa5 18 e2 dc8 Siraco,MKrush,I/Internet ICC 2000.) 12...0-0 (12...b7!? One
good setup is 12...0-0 followed by Nb4. 13 d2 a5 14 b4 c6 (14...xc3! 15 bxa5 d5
16 e5 e4) 15 b5 a5 16 bxa6 xa6 17 b5 Cernousek,LSedlak,N/Athens GRE
2001.) 13 h1 b7 14 f3 (14 d4 xd4 15 xd4 d7 16 h5 e5 17 e3 exf4 18 xf4
e5= Parligras,MNevednichy,V/Lasi ROM 1999 Black has the strong Sicilian
13

knight.) 14...b4 15 h3 e5!? Black has d5 covered so this becomes possible. Any
tricks with the Bd3 are finished. 16 d2 exf4 17 xf4 d7 18 c4 b5! White's
weak back rank make this possible. 19 a5 xd3 20 cxd3 b4 Zheliandinov,V
Atalik,S/Podlehnik SLO 2001.
9 h1 a6
a) 9...c7 10 f4 a6 11 a4 (11 d3 b5 12 f3 b7 Dgebuadze,ANijboer,F/Groningen
NED 2002) 11...b4!? This or ...b6 are the best tries. 12 e2 0-0 13 f3 d7 14
g4?! too loosening. (14 a5 c6=) 14...d5! the logical reaction. 15 e5 e4 16 f5?! exf5
17 gxf5 xf5 18 d4 g6 Smith,BFedorowicz,J/Bizovac CRO 2000.
b) 9...0-0 10 e2 At this point black has transposed into a Scheveningen where
white retreated Nb3 prematurely. 10...d8?! I've always followed the rule than when
the f2 pawn is no longer pinned then black's queen should drop back to c7. (10...c7
11 a4 (11 f4 a6 12 e3 b5 White is passive.) 11...b6 12 f4 a6=) 11 e3 c7 12 f4 a6?!
This allows white a Maroczy Bind type space advantage. (12...b6!?) 13 a4 d7 14
c4 c5 15 c3 b6 16 c1 b7 Black's best hedgehog setup is with knights on d7
and f6. 17 f3 b4 18 d4 Zapata,AStefansson,H/Havana CUB 2002
10 d3 c7 11 e2?! f4 and Qf3 is a better chance 11...b5 12 g5 h6 13 d2 e5 14 a4
b4 15 d1 d5 16 f4 xd3 17 cxd3 dxe4 18 dxe4 c2 Zyla,J
Miroshnichenko,E/Swidnica POL 1999.
9 a4!? This space gaining idea shouldn't prove too dangerous. 9...0-0 10 e3 c7 11 d3
d8?! (11...b6 12 f4 a6 13 f3 b7 14 h3 b4 is normal) 12 f4 d5 13 e5 e4 14 b5
b8 15 c3 a6 16 5d4 d7 17 c2 xd4 18 xd4 c5 19 xe4 dxe4 20 xe4
xd4 21 xd4+ Zapata,AMendez,E/Sao Paulo BRA 2001.

9...0-0
9...e5 10 e2 0-0 11 h1 d7 (11...a6) 12 f4 g6?! I've seen A Ivanov win in similar
fashion after ...g6. 13 h5!

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-+-trk+0
9zpp+lvlpzpp0
9-wq-zppsnn+0
9+-+-+-vLL0
9-+-+PzP-+0
9+NsN-+-+-0
9PzPP+-+PzP0
9tR-+Q+R+K0
xiiiiiiiiy
This strong move gives white a nice advantage. 13...xh5 14 xe7 g3+ 15 hxg3 xe7 16
d2 ad8 17 ad1 c6 18 f5! Ivanov,AEvans,B/Los Angeles USA 2000.
9...a6 10 h1 c7 11 f4 0-0 (11...b5 12 d3 d7 13 f3 0-0 14 a4 b4 15 d1 a5 16 e5! dxe5 17
fxe5 d5 18 e4 g6 19 xe7 xe7 20 e3 Lanc,AKrak,T/Nove Zamky SVK 1999.) 12
d3 b5 13 a3 b8 14 e2 b7 15 ae1 b4 16 axb4 xb4 17 e5?! fd5 18 xd5
14

xd5 19 xe7 xe7 20 xa6 dxe5 21 fxe5 h4 Cuartas,CPupo,E/Cali COL

1999.

10 xf6 gxf6!?
10...xf6 is more natural, 11 xd6 d8 12 g3 e5! with good comp.

11 h5 e5 12 e2 h8 13 h1 g8 14 f4 g6 15 ad1
15 a5 xa5 16 xa5 White shouldn't have too much here, more often than not Sicilian
endings favor Black. 16...b6 17 c6 b7 18 xe7 xe7 19 ad1 ad8 20 h5 g7
21 f3 f8 22 fd3 c8 23 f3 e7 Kaidanov,GFedorowicz,J/Seattle USA
2000.

15...d7 16 d3 ac8 17 f5 e5 18 h3 g7 19 f4 d8 20 d4 g8
White's heavy pieces are piled against h7, but Black is very solid.

21 fh4 b5 22 d1 b4 23 e3 c5=
Van Riemsdijk,HRachels,S/Manila 1990.

15

Sozin Benko System 7 Nb3 misc.

eighth moves [B57]
Last updated: 14/10/06 by TonyK

1 e4 c5 2 f3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 xd4 f6 5 c3 c6 6 c4 b6 7 b3 e6

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvl-tr0
9zpp+-+pzpp0
9-wqnzppsn-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+L+P+-+0
9+NsN-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
8 f4
A clever move, that became popular after being recommended in one of the 'Beating the
Sicilian' books. White threatens d6 and lures the black knight to e5, so that he can
gain a tempo with f4. Others:
8 g5 a6 The most logical, but there are others: (8...d7?! looks very passive, Black
shouldn't be afraid of doubled fpawns. 9 h5 de5 10 e2 a6 11 0-0 e7 12 ad1 d8
13 xe7 xe7 when Black allows a trade of darksquared bishops, two things happen:
1) The d6pawn becomes a target, and 2) Black's bishop could be important for
kingside defense. 14 f4 d7 15 h3 Benjamin,JBurnett,R/Philadelphia USA 1999.,
8...d7?! 9 a4 e5 10 e2 e7 11 f4 g6 usually the knight on g6 provides White with a
target, 12 f5 e5 13 a5 c7 14 0-0 0-0 15 e1 h8 16 h4 d8 17 ad1 h6 18 h3 h7 19
e3 Velimirovic,DSedlak,N/Subotica YUG 2000., 8...e5 9 b5+ d7 10 a4 e7 11
0-0 a6 12 xd7+ exd7 13 a5 c7 this position is basically a b5+ Rossolimo with the
exchange happening much later, Zambrana,OFranco Ocampos,Z/Buenos Aires
ARG 2003) 9 xf6 gxf6 10 h5 (10 e2 d7 11 0-0 e7 12 h1 h5 after the game GM
de Firmian suggested 13 Bxh5, and then playing some defense. If Black castles
16

queenside White's king looks the safer of the two. 13 f4 h4 14 d2 a5 15 xa5 xa5 16
ab1 c8 17 f3 c5 18 h3 b5 19 fc1 f5 20 exf5 xf5 21 g4 g6 22 f5? exf5 23 f3 0-0-+

Fedorowicz,JGulko,B/Salt Lake City USA 1999.) 10...d4 11 xd4 xd4 12 b3

e5 13 h4 (13 e2 to play for an advantage White must keep queens on, and play
for f4.) 13...g5 14 h3 h5 15 g3 b5 16 f4 xg3+ 17 hxg3 b7 18 a3 g7 19 f2
e7 20 f5 h6 21 h2 d2 22 fxe6 fxe6 23 ah1 xc3 24 bxc3 xe4 Bajkovic,N
Stajic,S/Kragujevac YUG 2000, White's structure is miserable.
8 e2 a6 (8...e7 9 0-0 0-0 10 e3 c7 11 f4 a6 12 a4 b6 13 d3 b4 14 g4 b7 15 g5 d7 16 d4 g6
17 f5 exf5 18 exf5 ae8 19 f6 d8 20 f2 e5 Bibko,IBocharov,D/Novosibirsk RUS
2001, White's king is out in the wide open spaces!) 9 f4 c7 10 g4 These Keres
Attack bayonets are complicated, but Black has resources. 10...b5 11 d3 e7 12 g5
d7 13 e3 c5 14 g1 b8 15 xc5 dxc5 16 e5 b7 17 0-0-0 b4!
Velimirovic,DDamljanovic,B/Belgrade YUG 2000, Black is much faster.
8 d3 e7 9 f4 (9 e3 c7 10 f4 a6 11 g4 b5 12 g5 d7 13 g4 b6 14 a4?! Playing on both sides
helps black. Now white's queenside comes apart after a few simple moves. 14...xa4
15 xa4 bxa4 16 xa4 b8 17 d2 d5! 18 e5 b4 19 xb4 xb4+ Was Tate vs Fedorowicz
World Open Philadelphia 2003) 9...0-0 10 f3 b4?! Black is losing time. 11 e3
xd3+ 12 cxd3 a6 13 d1 d7 14 0-0 fe8 15 g3 h8 16 d4 Polgar,S
Hort,V/Munich GER 2000, Black is all tied up.
8 e2 a6 9 g4 h6 10 e3 c7 11 f4 b5 12 a3 b7?! I prefer to have this guy defending e6.
12...Rb8!? or 12...Be7 are ok 13 f3 d7 14 e2 b6 15 xb6 xb6 16 0-0-0 g5
17 e5 0-0-0 18 exd6 xd6 19 f5 exf5 20 gxf5 b8?! Madl,IPeptan,C/Batumi GEO
1999 (20...he8!)
8 a4 e7 9 a5 c7 10 e3 0-0 11 d3 e5?! 11...d7 and ...b4 looks ok 12 f4 xd3+ 13
cxd3 d7 14 0-0 b5 15 axb6 axb6 16 f3 Ruiz Gonzalez,GBelichev,N/Budapest
HUN 1999.
8 e3 c7 9 f4 (9 e2 a6 10 f4 b5 11 f3= Roberts,DLewis,A/Birmingham ENG 2001,
White has a passive Scheveningen setup) 9...e7 (9...a6 10 a3 After White plays this
castling queenside becomes risky, 10...b5 11 e2 e7 12 g4 d7 (12...h6!? 13 g5?!
White shouldn't surrender the e5 point without a fight. 13...hxg5 14 fxg5 d7) 13 g5
b8?! Black could do without this. 14 d2 0-0 15 f5 e8 16 f6 f8 17 fxg7 (17 h4
White should go nuts with this. 17...b4 18 axb4 xb4 19 h5 d5 is very doubleedged, but
fine for Black,) 17...xg7 18 h5 de5 19 d4 g8 20 f2 g7 Chuprys
Fedorowicz/Brantford Canada 2002 ) 10 0-0 a6 11 a4 0-0 12 d3 b6 13 h1 (13
f3 b7 (13...b8!? 14 g4 b4 15 g5 d7 16 f5 e5 17 g3 e8 Black is setup well for
active counterplay.) 14 g4 fe8 15 h3 g6?! I'd rather not touch this side. Black
must make white work for the break. (15...f8 16 e5 dxe5 17 fxe5 xe5 18 xf6 xd3) 16
g5 d7 17 f5 f8 18 f4 ce5 Very often a knight cemented on e5 saves the day.
19 h4 h5 20 f6 d5 21 exd5 g4 22 f1 de5 23 d4 c5?? (23...exd5) 24 xc5+
BlokhuisBerkmortel/2003) 13...b7!? More often than not Black is better off
delaying this. It's good to keep a close watch on the e6 point. (13...b8 14 e2 b4 15
d4 d7=, 13...b4!?) 14 e2 b4 15 d4 d7 16 f3 (16 f5 e5 17 f3 f6=)
16...ae8 17 d2 c5 At this point Black is ok, maybe even slightly better. 18 ae1
c6 19 e5 bxd3 (19...cxd3!? This looks like the correct knight. 20 cxd3 xf3 21
xf3 (21 xf3? c2! Winning the exchange.) 21...dxe5 22 fxe5 d8 Was another

17

more solid try.) 20 cxd3 xa4 Strelnikov,SSharapov,E/Kharkov UKR 2002,

greedy, but why not. White has nothing major going.

8...e5

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvl-tr0
9zpp+-+pzpp0
9-wq-zppsn-+0
9+-+-sn-+-0
9-+L+PvL-+0
9+NsN-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-+QmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
9 e2
9 b5+ d7 10 xd7+ (10 xe5 dxe5 11 xd7+ xd7 12 0-0 e7 13 d3 a6 14 ad1 d8 15 g3 00 16 d3 c7 17 fd1 b5 Klima,LCvek,R/Ostrava CZE 2000, White has no chance
for activity., 10 d4 xd4 11 xd4 offers nothing.) 10...fxd7 (10...exd7!?) 11 e2 a6
12 d1 e7 13 0-0 0-0 14 h1 ac8 15 c1 fd8 (15...fe8 it's always good to keep
an eye on e6) 16 f4 c4= Aarthie,RBakre,T/Calcutta IND 2000.
9 e3 c7 10 e2 a6 (10...d7 transposes to the mainline) 11 f4 c4 (11...c6 might be
safer, 12 a4 b6 13 0-0 e7 14 f3 b7 (14...b8!? Stepping off the h1-a8 diagonal
makes sense. Black should remain as flexible as possible. Black should be in
position to deal with the g4 g5 push. 15 g4 0-0 16 g5 d7 17 g2 e8 Is a nice setup
for black.) 15 e1 d7 16 h1 (16 g3 0-0 17 h3 With black's bishop on b7 white
might be able to weaken the e6,d5 square complex.) 16...0-0 17 d1 fe8 18 f2
a5 19 d4 f8 20 g3 c6 Voitsekhovsky,SAndreev,E/St Petersburg RUS
2002 Was solid for black.) 12 xc4 xc4 13 f3 e7 (13...c7 14 g4 b5 15 a3 b7 16
g5 d7 17 0-0-0 a3 and 0-0-0 is a bad mix 17...c8 18 b1 e7 19 he1 b6 20 xb6 xb6
21 f5 exf5 22 d5 xd5 23 exd5 c7 Voicu,CPeptan,C/Lasi ROM 1999.) 14 0-0-0 0-0
15 g4 d7 16 g5 b5 17 b1 c7 18 d4 e8 19 h4 b4 20 ce2 b7 Farkas,T
Susak,Z/Paks HUN 1999

9...d7
This is Black's most popular.
9...a6 also controls b5, 10 g3 (10 0-0 e7 11 h1 c7 12 a4 b6 13 g3 b7 14 d2 0-0 15 f4
ed7 Reefat,SWu Wenjin/Udaipur IND 2000, White's pieces are in no shape to
attack., 10 e3 c7 11 f4 c4 12 xc4 xc4 13 f3 might be best, see 9 e3, above)
10...h5!? Black attacks on the dark squares, 11 f3! d7 12 f2 c7 13 d4 e7 14
18

0-0-0 c8 15 b6 xb6 16 xb6 c6 17 d4 d8 18 f4 g6 19 g3 e5 20 e3 g4

21 he1 0-0 22 f5 Gormally,DChandler,M/Scarborough 2001.
9...e7!? 10 e3 c7 11 f4 c6 12 d2 0-0 13 0-0-0 d8?! Black doesn't need this.
(13...a6!) 14 f3 a6 15 g4 b5 16 g5 d7 17 f2 b7 (17...b8!?) 18 hg1 ac8 19
b1 a5 20 xa5 xa5 21 d4 Dembo,YRuiz Gonzalez,G/Budapest HUN
1999.

10 e3
10 0-0 e7 11 a4 0-0 12 a5 c7 13 a6 fb8 14 axb7 xb7 15 e3 b4

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-+-+k+0
9zp-wqlvlpzpp0
9-+-zppsn-+0
9+-+-sn-+-0
9-tr-+P+-+0
9+NsN-vL-+-0
9-zPP+LzPPzP0
9tR-+Q+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
16 f3 a5 17 a2 a4 18 d4 c4 19 xc4 xc4= Polgar,JTimman,J/Wijk aan Zee NED
2000, White didn't do much.
10 d2 e7 11 0-0-0 a6 12 g4 c6 13 f3 h6?! this weakens the kside and makes White's
life easy. 14 h4 c7 15 g5 h5 16 h2 hxg5 17 hxg5 0-0-0 18 f4 d7 19 d4
Malinin,YMishchenko,V/St Petersburg RUS 1999.

10...c7 11 d4
11 f4 c4 12 xc4 xc4 13 d3! xd3 14 cxd3 Some experts believe White to be better
after the exchange on d3, but I beg to differ. Black's structure is solid and the
bishops are capable of exploding. 14...e7 15 a4 0-0 16 h3 fc8 17 0-0 h6 18 fc1
a6 19 a5 c6= Dervishi,EEfimov,I/Saint Vincent ITA 2000.
11 b5!? xb5 12 xb5+ ed7 (12...c6! 13 d3 d5 is equal) 13 d3 d5 14 exd5 xd5 15
d4 e5 16 f3 b4+ 17 c3 exd4 18 cxb4 xb4 19 0-0 0-0 20 e4 f6 Wedberg,T
Veingold,A/Upplands Vasby SWE 2000.

11...e7 12 f4 c6
12...g6!? 13 0-0-0 0-0 14 g4 e5 was OK in Polgar,JKramnik,V, Novgorod 1996.

13 d2 0-0 14 0-0 a6 15 a4 b6 16 g4 c8 17 g5 d7 18 f5 e8 19 f6 f8?!

19...gxf6 20 gxf6 xf6
19

20 ad1 ce5 21 fxg7 xg7 22 h5

Klimov,SKorotylev,A/St Petersburg RUS 2001.

20

Sozin Benko System 7 Be3 [B57]

Last updated: 14/10/06 by TonyK

1 e4 c5 2 f3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 xd4 f6 5 c3 c6 6 c4 b6 7 e3!?

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvl-tr0
9zpp+-zppzpp0
9-wqnzp-sn-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+LsNP+-+0
9+-sN-vL-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-+QmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
This pawn sac has been overlooked, but deserves attention.

7...xb2 8 db5
8 cb5? b4+ 9 d2 xc4 10 c7+ d7 11 xa8 xe4 wins.

8...b4 9 e2 a5

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvl-tr0
9zpp+-zppzpp0
9-+nzp-sn-+0
9wqN+-+-+-0
9-+L+P+-+0
9+-sN-vL-+-0
9P+P+QzPPzP0
9tR-+-mK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
Black brings the queen back to safety. Others:
21

9...e6!? Is this really a move? 10 xe6 fxe6 11 0-0 f7 (11...a5!? The always
materialistic Fritz gives Black a slight pull.) 12 ab1 a5 13 b3 g6 Polzin,R
Martinovic,S, Gleisdorf AUT 2000, around here Black looks ok, but things fell apart
quickly.
9...g4!? 10 f3 xe4 is interesting.

10 d2 d8 11 d5 xd5 12 exd5 e5 13 b3!?

This looks best. White plays to keep Black bottled up.
13 f4 g4 14 xd6+ exd6 15 b5+ d7 16 fxe5 dxe5 17 xe5+ e7 18 xe7+ xe7 19
d3 c5 20 0-0-0 0-0-0 21 c4 f5= Khachian,MSargissian,G/Yerevan ARM 1999.

13...a6 14 f4!
14 a3 c7 15 f4 g4 16 c4 b5 17 a5 c5 18 b6 b8 19 xc8 xc8 20 c4 g6
Armanda,IZelic,Z/Pula CRO 1999. After Black castles, White's game looks
strange.

14...g4 15 d4
15 a3 f5!? This odd looking move seemed ok to me. If the g4 redeploys to e4 Black
would be in good shape,. Cela,AFedorowicz,J/New York USA 2004.

15...g6 16 a4+ d7 17 c6!? c8 18 c3 g8

Total confusion! It looks like the pieces were dropped on the board randomly.

19 h3 h6

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+q+kvlr+0
9+p+lzpp+p0
9p+Nzp-+psn0
9+-+P+-+-0
9L+-+-zP-+0
9+-vL-+-+P0
9P+P+Q+P+0
9tR-+-mK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
Objectively Black is probably winning, Asauskas,HIzoria,Z/Yerevan ARM 2000.

22

Sozin Benko System 7 Ndb5 [B57]

Last updated: 14/03/09 by Richard Palliser

1 e4 c5 2 f3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 xd4 f6 5 c3 c6 6 c4 b6 7 db5

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvl-tr0
9zpp+-zppzpp0
9-wqnzp-sn-+0
9+N+-+-+-0
9-+L+P+-+0
9+-sN-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
Black's best plan is to transpose into a Scheveningen.

7...a6
7...g4 not a very good idea as this move helps White. 8 d5! the simplest road to
advantage. (8 f3 d7 9 e2 a6 10 e3 a5 11 d4 e6 12 0-0-0 b5 13 b3 b4? White was
gonna play d5 anyway. 14 d5!? exd5 15 exd5 e7 16 c4 b5 17 xb5+ axb5 18 he1
Balogh,CRuiz Gonzalez,G/Budapest HUN 1999) 8...xd5 9 xg4 db4 (9...f6 10
e2 e6 is solid) 10 e2 e5 11 b3 bd3+ 12 cxd3 xb5 13 d4 b4+ 14 d2
d3+ 15 f1 b5 16 e2 a6 17 d2 xb2 18 b1 a4 19 xf7++ Macieja,B
Krush,I/Presov SVK 2000.

8 e3 a5

23

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvl-tr0
9+p+-zppzpp0
9p+nzp-sn-+0
9wqN+-+-+-0
9-+L+P+-+0
9+-sN-vL-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-+QmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
8...d8?! undeveloping the queen, 9 d4 g4 10 xc6 bxc6 11 0-0 (11 c1 g6 12 h3 e5 13
b3 g7 14 f4 d7 15 e3 a5 16 0-0 0-0 17 c1 c5 18 f2 xb3 19 axb3 h5 20 e3 b8
21 g4 h6 22 g2= Feldman,BFernandez,J/New York USA 1999
even after all that Black looks ok.) 11...xe3 12 fxe3 e6 13 f3 f6!? 14 h5 (14 xf6 gxf6
15 xf6 g7 16 f3 e5) 14...e7 15 a4 g6 16 d1 h6 17 d4 0-0 18 b6 g7

19 d2 a7 20 xc8 xc8 Navara,DMiroshnichenko,E/Pardubice CZE 1999.

9 d4 e5
Kramnik's choice.
9...g4!? Black gains the bishop pair, but White gets development. 10 0-0 ce5 11 b3
xe3 12 fxe3 e6 13 h5 g6 14 h3 c7 15 a4+!

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvl-tr0
9+pwq-+p+p0
9p+-zpp+p+0
9+-+-sn-+-0
9L+-sNP+-+0
9+-sN-zP-+Q0
9PzPP+-+PzP0
9tR-+-+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
This surprising move puts Black's opening play in doubt. 15...c6 16 f3 g7 17 xc6 00 18 d4+ Balzar,ADinstuhl,V/Mainz GER 2000.
9...e6 10 0-0 (10 d2 e7 11 0-0-0 c7 12 e2 a5 13 g4 b5 14 g5 d7 15 d3?! How many times
can the guy move this piece? 15...e5 16 hg1 ac4 17 e2 xd3+ 18 xd3 b7
Drmic,BPalac,M/Bizovac CRO 2000, Black has taken advantage of White's loss of
time.) 10...e5 (10...e7 11 b3 0-0 12 f4 d7 13 f5 xd4 14 xd4 exf5 15 exf5 c6 is a good
alternative) 11 e2 b5 12 f4 c4 in most cases the c4 pawn clogs Black's queenside
play. Ideally Black would like an open cfile + b4 break possibilities, 13 xc4 bxc4
24

14 e2 (14 e5 d5 15 f3 b7 16 xd5 xd5 17 g3 Dgebuadze,ASchabanel,S/Le

Touquet FRA 2002 White's huge lead in development is tough to deal with.)
14...c7 15 ad1 Kabanof,NVan Delft,M/Dieren NED 1999: this is very ugly for
Black. The c4pawn blocks the normal Sicilian cfile play.

10 b3 c7 11 e2
11 d3 e6 12 f4 (12 e2!? a tricky move that keeps a wary eye on c4, see Macieja,B
Kotronias,V/Calvia ESP 2004.) 12...c6 13 a4!? De FirmianFedorowicz/Chicago
2000.

11...e6 12 f4 c4
12...c6 is safest

13 xc4 xc4 14 f3
Black must be careful here due to lagging development. In the long term the bishop pair
will do damage.

14...e5
14...c7 with ...b5 to follow is possible.
14...d7 15 0-0-0 c8 16 d4 b5 Black has the bishop pair, and play on the cline
Ivanchuk,VKramnik,V, Paris 1995.

15 f5 b5 16 0-0-0 d7 17 b1 c8 18 c1 h6=
Macieja,BBlehm,P/Warsaw POL 2001.

25

Sozin Benko System 7 Nde2 [B57]

Last updated: 14/10/06 by TonyK

1 e4 c5 2 f3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 xd4 f6 5 c3 c6 6 c4 b6 7 de2

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvl-tr0
9zpp+-zppzpp0
9-wqnzp-sn-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+L+P+-+0
9+-sN-+-+-0
9PzPP+NzPPzP0
9tR-vLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
This move shouldn't cause Black any great difficulties. I'm in favor of Black delaying ...0-0
and getting on with ...b5 and ...b7.

7...e6 8 0-0
8 b3 e7 9 g3 h5!? 10 e3 a5 11 f3 d7 12 d2 e5 13 0-0 c8 14 f2 b6 15 ad1
c4 16 xc4 xc4 17 d3 0-0 18 fd1 fc8 19 a3 e8= De Vreugt,D
Gulko,B/Wijk aan Zee NED 2001, Black has good prospects on the queenside.

8...e7
8...a6 9 b3 e7 10 h1
a) 10 g5 0-0 (10...d7 11 g3 0-0-0?? Might as well resign! 12 e3 c7 13 a4 dg8 14
c4 h5 15 b6 b8 16 e1 h4 17 f1 h5 18 c1 e5 19 e3 c6 20 d5!+ Plachetka,J
Kolesar,M/Pardubice CZE 2000.) 11 h1 (11 xf6!? gxf6 12 h1 f4, f5 and f4 looks
like a good plan) 11...c7 12 d3 b5 13 ad1 e5 14 d4 b7 15 f4 c6 16 d3
b4 17 b1 a5 Hunt,AKrush,I/Hampstead ENG 2001, Black can take the b3
bishop at her leisure and has pressure on the a8h1 diagonal.
b) 10 e3 c7 11 h1 d7?! (11...b5 has to be better) 12 f4 0-0 13 f5 b5 14 g3?!
(14 f4!? looks very logical) 14...h8 15 h5 a5 16 d4 b7 17 xf6 gxf6 18
h5 xb3 19 axb3 c6 20 f4 g8 21 fxe6 fxe6 22 xf6!+ Collins,S
Londers,J/Bruges BEL 1999
26

10...c7 11 g3 (11 f4 a5 12 d4 xb3 13 axb3 0-0 14 e1 d8?! (14...b6!? Black can

cause trouble on the a8h1 diagonal) 15 f3 b6 16 e5 e8 17 e3 b8 18 d4 b5
19 f2 c6 20 ae1 d5? Schneider,DBuscemi,E/New York USA 1999 )
11...h5!? an added bonus to delaying ...0-0. Black can cause serious trouble by
running his hpawn to h3. 12 h3 b5 13 a3 a5 14 d3 b7 15 a2 c4 16 f4 c8
17 ge2 h4 18 f5 e5 19 d5 xd5 20 exd5 c5 21 c3 d8 22 f3 b6
Schneider,DKrush,I/New York USA 2001.

9 b3
9 a3!? This was also successful in ChristiansenGulko. My preference is for Black to get
going on the queenside first. 9...0-0 10 a2 preserving the bishop. 10...d7 11 g3
ac8 12 h1 e5 13 f4 c4 14 e2 a6 15 e5 e8 16 a4 h4?! (16...f5!?) 17 ge4
d5 18 d1 e7 19 d2 c6 20 xc4 dxc4 21 d4 Lalic,BTimman,J/Kilkenny
IRL 1999.
9 h1 0-0 10 a3 a6 11 a2 c7 12 g3 (12 f4 b5 13 f5 e5 14 d4 c4 If White's light
squared bishop can't be captured then it must be blocked, Todorovic,G
Damljanovic,B/Topola SCG 2004) 12...b5 13 f4 a5 14 f5 c4 15 xc4 xc4 16
g5 a7 17 f4 c5 18 d2 c7 19 f3 e5 (19...b4 20 axb4 xb4= Saladen,R
Pupo,E/Cali COL 1999 (36) Black's has decent counterplay.) 20 d1 a5 21 b4! This
clamps down on any active counter chances, Christiansen,LGulko,B/Salt Lake City
USA 1999.

9...0-0

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+-trk+0
9zpp+-vlpzpp0
9-wqnzppsn-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+LsN-+-+-0
9PzPP+NzPPzP0
9tR-vLQ+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
10 g3
10 d3 a6 (10...a5 11 g3 h8 12 e3 a6 13 ad1 b5 14 e5 dxe5 15 xe5 xb3 16 axb3 b4 17 a1
b7 18 a4 g4 19 g3 xe3 Tuturin,SBelichev,N/Budapest HUN 1999 Black has
the bishop pair for nothing.) 11 g5 c7 12 ad1 e5 13 g3 b5 14 a3 b7 15 d4
ac8 16 fd1 fd8 17 f4 c5 18 xf6?! xf6 19 h5 f3+! 20 xf3 xd4
Schuermans,RBerkvens,J/BEL 2000.
27

10 g5 d8 11 g3 h6 12 e3 c7 13 h5 d7 14 f4 a5 15 d4 xh5 16 xh5 d5!?

White was developing a nice initiative so Black sacs a pawn to break it. 17 exd5 c5
18 xc5 xc5+ 19 h1 xb3 20 axb3 exd5 21 xd5 c7 22 a5 b6 23 h5 c6
De Vreugt,DGulko,B/Esbjerg DEN 2000.

10...a6
10...a6!? This seems very passive and is time consuming. 11 h5 b5 12 g5 xh5 13
xe7 xe7 14 xh5 b4 15 e2 b7 16 g3 b6 17 a3 (17 a4!? Attempting to lock
the queenside looks best. Then white can try f4 f5 ideas or pile on d6.) 17...a5 18
axb4 axb4 19 g5 Black's lack of counterplay gives white a slight pull. Henrikas
Paragua 41st World Junior Goa 2002

11 h1 a5 12 g5 h6 13 e3 c6 14 f4 b5 15 e5 b7 16 f2 e8 17 g4
xb3 18 axb3 dxe5 19 fxe5 f5!
A typical Sicilian defensive move,

20 h3 h7 21 ce2 c5
Schneider,DGoldin,A/Connecticut USA 2000, Black's b7c6 battery keeps White
occupied.

28

Sozin Benko System 7 Nxc6 [B57]

Last updated: 08/03/11 by Richard Palliser

1.e4 c5 2.f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 f6 5.c3 c6 6.c4 b6 7.xc6

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvl-tr0
9zpp+-zppzpp0
9-wqNzp-sn-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+L+P+-+0
9+-sN-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
I think this is White's most dangerous line. If it means anything it was also Fischer's choice.

7...bxc6 8.0-0 g6

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvl-tr0
9zp-+-zpp+p0
9-wqpzp-snp+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+L+P+-+0
9+-sN-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQ+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
Sensible.
8...e5 If Black plays this he had better deal with the c4bishop. 9.b3 e7 10.b2 g4?
Black can't afford to waste time. (10...0-0!? or, 10...e6!? doesn't look too bad) 11.d3
0-0 12.a4 c7 13.f3 h5 14.ad1 g6 15.e2 ad8 16.d2 h8 17.g3 h5
18.d3 Leventic,IJankovic,A/Bizovac CRO 2001.
29

8...e6 I prefer this over the alternatives. Black should try an early ...d7 to bother, or trade
off, the c4 bishop. 9.e2 e7 (9...d7!? chasing down the c4bishop makes good
sense, 10.d1 (10.a4 a5 11.b3 a6! forcing c4 and shutting down the Sozin
bishop, Ristic,NNikolic,N/Budva SCG 2003, 10.b3 e7 11.b2 0-0 transposes below)
10...e7 11.b1 0-0 12.f4 c7 13.d2 b7 14.bd1 e5 15.g3 a5 16.a4 ad8
17.b3 b6 18.c4 (18.xb6!?) 18...xa4 19.xa4 b6 20.c2 b4 21.b3=
Mezentsev,VLobo,R/San Francisco USA 2000, the bishop on a4 is a big pawn.)
10.b3 0-0 11.b2 d7 this was Kramnik's choice,
a) 11...b7?! 12.ad1 (12.e5!) 12...c5?! (12...d7!? intending to harass the c4 bishop
or to challenge the b2 bishop with a timely ...f6.) 13.d3 c6 14.g3 fd8 15.d5!
xd5 16.exd5 e5 17.f4 e4 18.h3 ab8 19.g4 Kersten,UBischoff,D/Altenkirchen
GER 1999.
b) 11...c7 12.f4 d5 13.d3 b7 (13...c5? 14.exd5 exd5 15.xd5 xd5 16.e4) 14.ae1
fe8 15.h1 I like White's plan here. Black has to take this buildup seriously.
15...c5?! (15...f8 keeping the e5, f5 plan under control.) 16.e5 d7 17.f5! exf5 18.e6
f6 19.exf7+ xf7 20.e6+ f8 21.xf5+ Shaposhnikov,ELugovoi,A/Saint
Petersburg 1999.
c) 11...d5!? 12.exd5 cxd5 13.xd5 exd5 14.xe7 e8 15.a3 a6 16.a4 c7 and
...g4 is dangerous for White
d) 11...e5 is popular.
12.a4 c7 13.f4 (13.d3 e5 Dervishi,ELapiccirella,M/Bratto ITA 2001) 13...b7 14.ad1
ae8 15.d3 Golubev,MKuznetsov,S/Ordzhonikidze UKR 2001.

9.e3!?
9.e5!? dxe5 10.e2 c7 (10...d4 11.e3 d6 12.ad1 c7 13.f4!? was Topalov,V
Kramnik,V, Novgorod 1997) 11.f4 e4!? This is a reasonable way of bailing out.
Black's pawn structure is slightly inferior but his position is solid. 12.xe4 xe4
13.xe4 g7 14.c3 0-0 15.e3 b8 16.f2 f5 17.f3 fd8 18.d1 h5 19.fd2
g4 20.xd8+ xd8 21.xd8+ xd8= Mueller,KCsom,I/Lippstadt GER 1999.
9.b3 g7 10.f4 c7 11.e1 d7 12.d2 0-0 13.h6 b6 14.xg7 xg7 15.f4 c5
16.d5 xd5 17.xd5 b8 18.e3 e6 19.c4 d5?! (19...d8!?) 20.exd5 xf4 21.b3
exd5 22.xd5 Wedberg,TBarkhagen,J/Hasselbacken SWE 2001.
9.a4 g7 (9...a5!? or, 9...a6!? trading off the attacker) 10.a5 c7 11.f4 0-0 12.h3 d8
13.e2 d5 14.d3 b8 15.e5 e8 16.f3 e6!? 17.h4 c5 18.h5 c4 19.e2 d4 20.d1
b7= Kristovic,MPalac,M/Bizovac CRO 2000, Black is very active.
9.e1!? this move has some merit as an alternative to the 9 e5 pawn sac. 9...g7 10.e5
dxe5 11.xe5 b4 12.f4 d6 13.xd6 exd6 14.e1+ f8 15.f4 e8 16.ad1
Gajsin,EEhrenfeucht,W/Koszalin POL 1999, Black is seriously underdeveloped.

9...xb2!?
Accepting the pawn seems rather risky, but it has to be admitted that refusing the pawn with
9...a5 or 9...c7, while less critical, also makes sense.
9...c7 10.f4 g7 11.h1 0-0 12.d4 b8 13.e2 a5 14.b3 e5 15.fxe5 g4! A nice idea.
Black gains control of the crucial e5 point. 16.a4 xe5 17.h3 e7 18.ad1? g4
30

19.hxg4 h4+ 20.g1 xg4 21.g3 xg3+ 22.h1 d5 Rodriguez Gerrero,E

Damljanovic,B/Dos Hermanas ESP 2000.
9...a5 10.f4 g7 11.e5 g4! allowing this can't be right. 12.d4 c5 13.f2 0-0 14.d5
dxe5 15.e1?! (15.xe7+ h8 16.d5 was best) 15...d8 16.h4 f6 17.e1 e6
18.d1 xd5 19.xd5 xh4 20.xh4 e3 21.xf7+ xf7 22.xd8+ xd8 23.e1
exf4 Berndt,SPopovic,P/Fuerstenfeld AUT 2001.

10.d4!?
White has a huge lead in development.

10...e5 11.b1 a3 12.b3 a5 13.e3

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvl-tr0
9zp-+-+p+p0
9-+pzp-snp+0
9wq-+-zp-+-0
9-+L+P+-+0
9+RsN-vL-+-0
9P+P+-zPPzP0
9+-+Q+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
13...c7 14.g5 g7 15.xf6 xf6 16.f3 e7?
16...g7 17.d5 cxd5 18.xd5 e6 19.xa8 xb3 20.cxb3 0-0 21.d5 is sadly Black's
best chance

17.fb1 h5 18.d5 g4 19.b7 xf3 20.xc7+ d8 21.xc6 g4 22.xd6+

e7 23.a6+
ArizmendiWaitzkin,J/Mermaid Bach Club 1999.

31

Boleslavsky Variation 6 Be2 e5 7 Nf3 &

Intro [B58]
Last updated: 11/03/11 by Richard Palliser

1.e4 c5 2.f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 f6 5.c3 c6 6.e2 e5

6...xd4!? this rare approach has been favoured by the Russian Grandmaster Konstantin
Chernyshov, 7.xd4 g6 8.g5 g7 see Abkarian,SPilavov,G/StanitsaLuganskaya
2010.

7.f3

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqkvl-tr0
9zpp+-+pzpp0
9-+nzp-sn-+0
9+-+-zp-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+-sN-+N+-0
9PzPP+LzPPzP0
9tR-vLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
This is probably the best.

7...h6
To stop g5xf6.
7...e7 8.0-0 0-0?! Black must play ...h6 to keep some control over d5. 9.g5 h6?! wasting
even more time (9...e6!?) 10.xf6 xf6 11.d5 e7 12.c3 f5? weakening more light
squares, 13.exf5 xf5 14.b3 h8 15.xb7 d7 16.a6 b8 17.b4 c8 18.xe7
xe7 19.xd6+ Gashimov,VOvezov,D/Oropesa del Mar ESP 1999.

8.0-0 e7 9.e1

32

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqk+-tr0
9zpp+-vlpzp-0
9-+nzp-sn-zp0
9+-+-zp-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+-sN-+N+-0
9PzPP+LzPPzP0
9tR-vLQtR-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
White plays to stop Black's freeing ...d5move by indirectly attacking e5.

9...0-0 10.h3 e6
10...a6 11.b3 e6 12.b2 a5 13.a3 fc8 14.f1 b8 15.c1? (15.b4 c7 16.c1 c4=)
15...xc3! 16.d2 c5 17.b4 b6 18.bxc5 xb2 19.cxd6 d8 20.b4 xb4
21.axb4 c6 Vallejo Pons,FAvrukh,B/Istanbul TUR 2000.

11.f1

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-wq-trk+0
9zpp+-vlpzp-0
9-+nzplsn-zp0
9+-+-zp-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+-sN-+N+P0
9PzPP+-zPP+0
9tR-vLQtRLmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
11...b8!?
This redeployment, whilst popular, takes a lot of time.
Alternatives:
11...a5!? This is Black's best and safest road to equality. 12.d2 d8 (12...c7 seems to
make more sense, as Black keeps his rooks connected, but 13.b5 b6 14.c4 allows
White a Maroczy Bind,) 13.a4 (13.c1 a5 14.d2 is a well known drawing
repetition) 13...h7 (13...d5!? if Black can play this he should, 14.exd5 xd5!? 15.xe5
xe5 16.xe5 c7! with adequate compensation for the pawn, Georgiev,K
33

Balogh,C/Kusadasi TUR 2006. ) 14.c4 g5 15.xg5 (15.c3 xf3+ 16.xf3 g5

17.ad1 d4 18.d3 c8 19.b3 xd2 20.xd2 g5= Barua,DKhalifman,A/Las Vegas
USA 1999.) 15...hxg5 16.c3 f6 17.d3 g4 (17...d4!? looks alright) 18.hxg4 xg4
19.d5 g6 20.e2 g7 21.b4 e6 22.a3 c8 23.ad1 Barua,DKhalifman,A/Las
Vegas USA 1999, Black's position is extremely passive.
11...a6 12.a4?! this isn't needed. It prevents ...b5 which Black shouldn't play anyway.
Black's control of b4 can be quite useful. (12.d5 b5 13.c3 (13.a4!?) 13...a5
14.xe7+?! picking up the bishop pair, but freeing Black's game. 14...xe7 15.h4
fe8 16.f3 c6 17.f5 xf5 18.xf5 b4= De Wit,DApicella,M/Albufeira
Algarve POR 1999.) 12...c8 (12...c7 13.b3 b4 14.b2 fd8 15.d2 f8 16.c4 d7
17.xe6 xe6 18.c4 d5 19.exd5 fxd5 20.xd5 xd5 Wu WenjinBu Xiangzhi/Qingdao
CHN 1999, Black's forces are very active.) 13.b3 a5 14.b2 fd8 15.d2 b4
16.ac1 d5! Black breaks out with the better game, 17.xd5 fxd5 18.exd5 xd5
19.d3 xd3 20.xa5 xa5 Zelcic,RDreev,A/Las Vegas USA 1999.

12.b3

XIIIIIIIIY
9rsn-wq-trk+0
9zpp+-vlpzp-0
9-+-zplsn-zp0
9+-+-zp-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+PsN-+N+P0
9P+P+-zPP+0
9tR-vLQtRLmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
12.a4 a6 13.a5 bd7 14.d5 xd5 15.exd5 f5 16.c4 g6! the bishop leaves the h7
square for the black king, and can sometimes come to h5 to pin the f3knight. (This
is why I realised long ago that this is superior to the 'obvious' 16...h7 17.b4 c8
18.b2 e4 19.d2 f5?! Black's position is full of holes and White's counterplay looks
easy to manage, Van der Wiel,JNijboer,F/Leeuwarden NED 2001) 17.b4 all part of
White's plan of exploiting his queenside majority, 17...e8 18.b2 e4 19.d2 g5
20.a3 c8 21.d4 e5 this is Black's ideal setup, the knight attacks c4 and
threatens to come into d3, Guliyev,NKorotylev,A/Moscow RUS 2006.
12.h4?! Fighting for the wrong light square. 12...c6 13.f5 xf5 14.exf5 d5 15.f4
exf4 16.xf4 d6 17.xd6 xd6 Martirosov,VYermolinsky,A/Stratton Mountain
USA 2000.

12...a6 13.b2

34

13.a4 c7 (13...bd7 14.b2 c8 is the mainline) 14.b2 e8 15.d2 c6 16.c4 d4 the

knight looks nice here, but it's only temporary, 17.a5 ad8 18.e3 c6 19.a4 c8
20.cd5 xd5 21.exd5 xd5 22.c4!+ Zelcic,RKozul,Z/Bizovac CRO 2001.

13...bd7 14.a4 c8 15.a5

15.d2!? e8 (15...c5! 16.a5 c7 17.c4 c6 is better) 16.c4 aiming to bring the knight to
e3, Felgaer,RIllescas Cordoba,M/Dos Hermanas ESP 2005.

15...e8

XIIIIIIIIY
9-+rwqr+k+0
9+p+nvlpzp-0
9p+-zplsn-zp0
9zP-+-zp-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+PsN-+N+P0
9-vLP+-zPP+0
9tR-+QtRLmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
15...c6 16.d5 xd5 17.exd5 c5 18.b4 xd5 19.d2! e4 20.c4 f5 21.xe4 with two
bishops and the better structure, Volokitin,AKozul,Z/Ohrid MKD 2001.
15...c7 16.d2 d5!? is a good choice, Zagrebelny,SAseev,K, St Petersburg 1997.
15...c5?! 16.b4 c8 17.d5 xd5 18.exd5 f5 19.c4 White's queenside action is very
fast, Neiksans,ABarber,H/Panormo GRE 2001.

16.d5
16.d2?! not as good as the direct d5, 16...b8 17.c4 c6 18.xe6 fxe6 19.c4 c7
20.a4 cd8= Sebe,RVukovic,Z/Bucharest ROM 2000.

16...xd5 17.exd5 f5 18.c4 g6 19.b4 e4 20.d4 e5 21.b3

Ganguly,SZhang Zhong/Shenyang CHN 1999 Black has good play.

35

Boleslavsky Variation 7 Nb3 [B59]

Last updated: 11/03/11 by Richard Palliser

1.e4 c5 2.f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 f6 5.c3 c6 6.e2 e5

This creates an unbalanced situation where the fight is over the d5 point. Can Black break
with ...d5 or will White play d5 with a spatial advantage? This will determine the
outcome of the battle.
6...e6 transposing into a Scheveningen is possible.

7.b3

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqkvl-tr0
9zpp+-+pzpp0
9-+nzp-sn-+0
9+-+-zp-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+NsN-+-+-0
9PzPP+LzPPzP0
9tR-vLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
I believe 7 f3 gives White better chances to play for an advantage.

7...e7 8.0-0
8.g4?! White is better off playing positionally and trying for a timely d5, as this move
loosens White's king for nothing. Castling queenside for White isn't advised. 8...h6
9.h4 a5 10.a4 b4 White's king has no place to hide, 11.f3 e6 12.g5 hxg5
13.xg5 c8 14.d2 b6 threatening ...xc2, 15.d1 it's not a pretty picture.
15...c4 16.e3 c7 17.f3 d5 18.exd5 e4 19.d6 xd6 20.xe4 xe4 21.xe4
e7!-+ Galego,LBlalock,R/Loures POR 1999, White is getting hit from all sides.

8...0-0 9.h1
The king moves from the g1-a7 diagonal,

36

9.e3 a5 10.a4 b4 11.f4 e6 12.f3? (12.h1 is forced) 12...exf4 13.xf4 xc2 14.xc2
b6+ 15.f2 xf2+ 16.xf2 xb3 17.d2 fd8 18.b5 d5 19.c7 ac8 20.exd5
b4 21.ad1 xa4-+ Pinero Fernandez,XCampos Moreno,J/Paretana ESP 2000.
9.e1 a5 10.a4 e6 11.f1 b4 12.g5 xe4?? sometimes this trick works, but not with a
knight hanging on b4. (12...c8!? is at least equal) 13.xe7 xc3 14.bxc3 xe7
15.cxb4 Resika,NTian Tian/Budapest HUN 1999.
9.g5?! e6 (9...xe4! looks good, 10.xe4 (10.xe7 xc3 11.xd8 xd1 12.c7 xb2)
10...xg5 11.xg5 xg5 12.xd6 d8) 10.h1 (10.d2 a5 11.a4 When I was
playing Black in this variation I was happy to see this move. White should avoid it at
all costs. Black's ...b4 in combination with ...c8 gives black the better game,
11...b4 12.ad1 c8 Del Bosco,RChemin,V/Sao Paulo BRA 2003.) 10...a5 11.xf6
xf6 12.a4 White should always try to avoid this. Black's control of b4 is more
important than White's of b5. 12...c8 13.g4 b4 14.xe6 fxe6 15.g4 e8
16.e2 d5 17.ad1 d4 18.a1 a6 19.b5 c5 20.b3 e7 Arruda,IMilos,G/Sao
Paulo BRA 1999, White's a1 knight looks completely ridiculous.
9.f4 a5!? 10.a4 b4 11.h1 transposes.

9...a5 10.a4 b4

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwq-trk+0
9+p+-vlpzpp0
9-+-zp-sn-+0
9zp-+-zp-+-0
9Psn-+P+-+0
9+NsN-+-+-0
9-zPP+LzPPzP0
9tR-vLQ+R+K0
xiiiiiiiiy
Exploiting the newlycreated semioutpost on b4.
10...e6 11.f4 exf4 12.xf4 d5 is Ivanchuk,VVovk,Y/Amplico Life rapid, Warsaw 2009

11.f4 d7
11...e6 is more common, but 12.f5 d7 13.g5 c6 14.xf6 xf6 15.d5 might favour
White.

12.f3
12.e3 c6 13.f3 transposes.

12...c6 13.e3

37

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-wq-trk+0
9+p+-vlpzpp0
9-+lzp-sn-+0
9zp-+-zp-+-0
9Psn-+PzP-+0
9+NsN-vLL+-0
9-zPP+-+PzP0
9tR-+Q+R+K0
xiiiiiiiiy
13.d5? White loses a pawn for zero comp. 13...xd5 14.exd5 e4 15.e2 bxd5 16.d4
c7 17.f5 e8 18.xe7+ xe7 19.e3 fd5 20.d4 e6 Mateus,M
Abreu,A/Cali COL 1999.
13.e2 c7 is also common.

13...c7
13...e8 followed by Salov's regrouping plan: 14.f2 b8 15.d2 b6 and ...b7 is a decent
alternative.

14.d2 b6
Negi,PKempinski,R/German Bundesliga 2011.

38