No.

3, January 21, 2009

OPENINGS

whats hot and whats not?

Did Smeets repair the

Botvinnik Semi-Slav?
By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris

The chess festival in Wijk aan Zee is underway and

we expect the three GM tournaments to produce a
whole bunch of new opening ideas. The local heros
Jan Smeets, Daniel Stellwagen and Loek van Wely
seem to be well prepared and are holding themselves
fantastically so far.

whats hot?

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-wqkvl-tr0
9zpl+n+p+-0
9-+-+pzP-+0
9+pzpP+-vL-0
9-+p+-+-+0
9+-sN-+-zP-0
9PzP-+-zP-zP0
9tR-+QmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
Frequency

Score

A quarter of the games played so far have started with the classical
sequence 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 which shows how seriously chess is
taken in Wijk aan Zee. Most professionals prefer a healthy, classical approach with the black pieces. At this high level taking the
slightest risk can backfire, as was shown in the first round game
Karjakin-Morozevich, in which Black got checkmated in a sharp
Taimanov Sicilian. So White has to deal with the Open Game quite
frequently and most grandmasters do this by trying to install a
Spanish torture. While this approach still gives White decent results, Movsesian took a completely different course and surprised
Adams with an ancient gambit in the Italian.
As expected against 1.d4 mostly the Slav was employed. Like we
stated in issue 0, against the move order 3.f3 f6 4.e3, Blacks
most solid reply still seems to be 4...g4 which is confirmed by
the fact that players like Carlsen and Sasikiran didnt get any advantage with White. In the Semi-Slav after 5.g5, the Botwinnik
variation (5...dxc4) got back onto the scene with a bang thanks to
Smeets novelty 21...xg5! (see our Game of the Week).

Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only

As stated above we feel that the risky openings are not very hot this week. Concretely this means that openings like the Grnfeld and the
Kings Indian got under massive pressure. Radjabov is traditionally doing very well with the latter in Wijk aan Zee and admittedly did win
against Ivanchuk, but White was doing very well after the opening. In the Grnfeld, White
came up with several interesting ideas; for example Van Welys 17.h3!? made Dominguez
suffer for a long time.

whats Not?
1 of 3

ChessVibes OPENINGS whats hot and whats not?

No. 3, January 21, 2009

The Botvinnik alive and kicking!?

Our Game of the Week might well be very important for the current status of the sharp Botwinnik Semi-Slav. With Black, reigning Dutch Champion Jan Smeets introduced the novelty
21...xg5! which seems to give Black full equality.


game of the week

Van Wely,L (2625)-Smeets,J (2601)
Corus Chess Tournament, January 19, 2009
D44: Semi-Slav, Botvinnik, 13...b6
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.f3 f6 4.c3 e6 5.g5
dxc4
In recent years the Botwinnik variation has lost
its popularity to the Moscow variation (5...h6).
For more information on that subject please
check issue 0. Nevertheless, since both players are renowned experts of the Botwinnik, the
variation at hand is not a complete surprise.
6.e4
In the first round Ivanchuk didnt seem to be in
the right mood yet and decided to avoid the theoretical debate by 6.a4 b4 7.e4 xc3+ 8.bxc3
a5 9.e5 e4 10.d2, after which Smeets
found himself in trouble for most of the game,
although Ivanchuk couldnt convert his advantage and eventually lost on time.
6...b5 7.e5 h6 8.h4 g5 9.xg5 hxg5 10.xg5
bd7 11.exf6
First 11.g3 gives Black the additional possibility
of 11...g8.
11...b7 12.g3 c5 13.d5 b6
Both players have plenty of experience with
the other main continuations 13...c7 and
13...xf6. After the latter, 14.g2 e7 15.00
xd5 16.xe7 xe7 17.xb5 (17.e1 was
seen at the last Olympiad in Aronian-Van Wely,
but didnt pose Black any serious problems.)
17...b6 18.a3 h4!? reaches another important tabiya.
13...h6!? was quite popular halfway the 1990s
and achieved reasonable results.
14.g2 000 15.00 b4 16.b1
Invented by Uhlmann and later popularized by
Shirov. 16.a4 is the other highly complex main
line.
16...a6
16...bxc3? is obviously bad in view of 17.bxc3
a6 18.xb7 xb7 19.dxe6+-.
17.dxe6 xg2 18.e7 xf1
(diagram)

XIIIIIIIIY
9-+ktr-vl-tr0
9zp-+nzPp+-0
9q+-+-zP-+0
9+-zp-+-vL-0
9-zpp+-+-+0
9+-sN-+-zP-0
9PzP-+-zP-zP0
9+R+Q+lmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
19.xf1
Four years ago Van Wely introduced a shocking novelty against the same opponent which
seemed to close the whole line: 19.d5 h6?
20.xh6 d3 21.a8+ b8 22.exd8+ xd8
23.e1 bxc3 24.f4 b6 25.bxc3 f5 26.f3!!N
(taking away the e4 square from the bishop)
26...e6 27.g4 d5 28.xb8+ xb8 29.xb8
xb8 30.f2 c7 31.h4 and White won in
Van Wely-Smeets, Leeuwarden 2005. Better
is 19...xe7! 20.fxe7 d3 21.e4 (21.exd8+
xd8 22.xd8? bxc3) 21...xb1 22.d6+
c7 23.f4 b6 24.xc4+ (24.exd8+ xd8
25.xf7?! e8 26.d6+ a5 27.xd7 e1+
28.g2 e4+ 29.f3 c6 is good for Black.)
24...b5 25.d6+ b6 26.exd8+ xd8 27.a4
(27.c4+ b5 28.d6+ b6= Topalov-Kramnik, Dortmund 1996) 27...bxa3 28.c4+ xc4!
(28...b5?? 29.xa3+ b6 30.d6+) 29.xc4
a2 30.b3+ c6 31.f3+ b6 32.b3+=
Mikhalevski-Karim, Gibraltar 2008.
19...xe7 20.fxe7 dg8 21.e4

XIIIIIIIIY
9-+k+-+rtr0
9zp-+nzPp+-0
9q+-+-+-+0
9+-zp-+-vL-0
9-zpp+N+-+0
9+-+-+-zP-0
9PzP-+-zP-zP0
9+R+Q+K+-0
xiiiiiiiiy

21...xg5!N
Now it is Smeets turn to confrontate his opponent with a home-prepared novelty! Its a serious
improvement over 21...c6 where Black finds
himself in a quite annoying position because
of 22.d6+ (22.f3! is probably even stronger!)
22...b8 23.f4 xh2 (23...a8 24.e8+ xe8
25.xe8 xe8 26.g1 f6 27.c1 gave White
a stable advantage in Shulman-Kaidanov, San
Diego 2006) 24.e2 (24.e8+ xe8 25.xe8+
a8 26.e2 e4+ 27.e3 g4+ 28.d2 e4
29.c2 d5+ 30.e2 h5+ is a perpetual.)
24...a8 25.c2 b6 and although the position remains complicated, Whites chances are
to be prefered, Kamsky-Kramnik, Dos Hermanas 1996.
22.xg5 e8 23.e2
23.d5 xe7 24.e4 c3+ 25.g2 e5 is fine
for Black, because 26.xc5 fails to 26...xd5
27.xa6 b5 28.bxc3? bxc3! and the is
trapped; 23.xf7 c3+ 24.g1 (24.g2 xe7
25.d6+ c7 26.f5 e2!) 24...xe7 25.d6+
c7 26.f5 f7 seems to give Black enough
counterplay.
23...g6 24.e4
24.e4?! xe7! (24...xe4? 25.xe4 xe7
26.d6+ c7 27.xc4) 25.xe7? (25.xg6
fxg6=) 25...xb1+ 26.g2 c3 27.xf7 d3 and
Blacks c-pawn is too strong.
24...xe7 25.e1 d8!
Threatening 26...f5.
26.xc4
26.f3 f5 27.d2 xe1+ 28.xe1 b6 looks
fine for Black.
26...g4! 27.d5
After investing a lot of time, Van Wely decides
to take the draw. Playing on also gives Black his
fair share of chances after 27.e2 f3 28.e3
(28.g1? f5; 28.e1? b6) 28...h1+ 29.e2
b6.
27...f5 28.a8+ c7 29.xa7+ c6 30.a8+
c7
Great homework by Jan Smeets and his second
Jan Gustafsson! For the moment the ball is back
in Whites court in the Botwinnik!

van wely - smeets

2 of 3

ChessVibes OPENINGS whats hot and whats not?

No. 3, January 21, 2009

this weeks harvest

Sicilian, Taimanov

Italian, Lange Gambit

Ruy Lopez Deferred Exchange

Exchange Grnfeld

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+-trk+0
9+pwqpvlpzpp0
9p+n+psn-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-sNP+P+0
9+-sN-vLP+-0
9PzPPwQ-+-zP0
9+-mKR+L+R0
xiiiiiiiiy

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqk+-tr0
9zppzpp+pzpp0
9-+n+-sn-+0
9+-vl-zp-+-0
9-+LzPP+-+0
9+-+-+N+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tRNvLQ+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy

XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-+k+-tr0
9+pzpnwqpzpp0
9p+pvll+-+0
9+-+-zp-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+P+P+N+-0
9PvLPsN-zPPzP0
9tR-+Q+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy

XIIIIIIIIY
9rsnl+k+-tr0
9zpp+-zppvlp0
9-+-+-+p+0
9wq-zp-+-+-0
9-+-zPP+-+0
9+-zP-vL-+-0
9P+-sN-zPPzP0
9tR-+QmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy

1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4

c6 5.c3 c7 6.e3 a6 7.d2 f6
8.000 e7 9.f3 00 10.g4

1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.c4 c5

4.00 f6 5.d4

1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 a6 4.a4

f6 5.00 e7 6.xc6 dxc6 7.d3 d6
8.bd2 e6 9.b3 d7 10.b2 e7

1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 d5 4.f3 g7

5.cxd5 xd5 6.e4 xc3 7.bxc3 c5
8.e3 a5 9.d2

The English attack is the most critical system against the Taimanov
nowadays. Since the classical
8...b4 is a bit under pressure,
new ways are tried to be found.
Thanks to Morozevich' efforts,
8...e7 has become quite popular lately, but in this game Karjakin
employed a new plan with 13.b1
and 15.g2. White had the more
pleasant game, but after 24...d5?
the game was immediately over.

This gambit line was introduced

back in 1859 in the 2nd matchgame between Lange and Anderssen. Adams seemed to be taken
by surprise and when a player of
his calibre isnt able to overcome
Blacks problems over the board, it
is a clear sign that this line is underestimated. Movsesians choice
is a perfect surprise weapon for
anyone who is looking for something new against 1.e4 e5.

In facing yet another Anti-Open

Games line, in which White is usually solid and comfortable, Black
suddenly turns the tables with
10...e7!?, preparing queenside
castling. Now it is Black who is more
comfortable with a surprisingly safe
king. In the fourth round of the
Queenstown Classic, GM Gawain
Jones continued to outplay your
CVO editor (Van Delft) and went on
to win convincingly.

From Kasimdzhanov-Navara: an
interesting way to lessen the pressure on Whites pawn chain, similar to 8.b1 lines where White also
gives up his pawn on a2. Here Black
also had to spend some moves
to bring his back, but managed
to destroy the centre quite easily,
which resulted in an level game.
Further practical tests need to prove
the status of this slightly odd-looking manoeuvre.

opening expert
Who:
Born:
Nationality:
Rating:

Sergey Karjakin
January 12, 1990
Ukraine
2706

Expertise:
Why:

Opposite castling
He perfectly feels how to bring
his forces to the enemys king,
while taking the necessary
precautions.

The young Ukrainian GM, who just turned 19 last week, is not only one of the biggest Najdorf experts around. In
our opinion he is exceptionally strong in positions with opposite castling. Instead of going for the immediate kill,
Karjakin prefers to bring his forces in to the right direction, and when everything is ready for it, he will decide the
game with a forceful strike. His first round win in the Corus tournament over Morozevich is typical of Karjakins
universal chess style, as was his victory over Jakovenko at Foros 2008.

www.chessvibes.com/openings
ChessVibes Openings is a weekly PDF magazine that covers the latest news on chess openings. Which openings are hot in top level chess?
Which are not? Editors IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris keep you updated once a week! Singles issues cost 1. You can subscribe too:
18 for six months / 25 a year (thats less than 0.50 per issue!). More info can be found at www.chessvibes.com/openings.
2009 ChessVibes. Copyright exists in all original material published by ChessVibes. 1.Any copying or distribution (reproduction, via print, electronic format, or in any form whatsoever), as
well as posting on the web, is strictly prohibited without prior written permission.

3 of 3