The Jack Rabbit Chess Report (April 20): Yank takes Gausdal; three majors start this week

[Jack Rabbit]

Kaidanov wins Gausdal Classic



Greg Kaidanov, a native of Soviet Ukraine who has lived in Kentucky since 1991, won the annual Guasdal Chess Classic in Norway today by a full point over his nearest rival, Geetha Naraynan Gopal of India.

Mr. Kaidanov scored 7 points in nine rounds. winning four games without a loss.

Greek grandmaster Vasilios Kotronias finished third with 5½ points.

Kaidanov, 48, has been a grandmaster since 1988. He has played on several US Olympic teams. His greatest achievement came in 2002 when he won the Areoflot Open in Moscow.


Three major tournaments open this week

European Championships, Plovdiv



The ninth annual European Individual Championships begin tomorrow (Monday, April 21) in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

There are two competitions for the event, a general competition and a ladies' competition.

So far, 332 participants have signed up for the general section and 165 women for the ladies' event. The top seeds in the general competition are Sergei Movsesian of Slovakia, Spain's Paco Vallejo and Ukrainian GM Andrei Volokitin. The women are led by Sweden's Pia Cramling, former women's wolrd champion Antonaeta Stefanova of Bulgaria and Polish IM Monika Socko.

The event is scheduled for eleven rounds to conclude May 2 and any tie breaks necessary to be played on May 3.

FIDE Grand Prix, Baku



The first leg of the FIDE Grand Prix gets underway on the shores of the Caspian Sea in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan and birthplace of Garry Kasparov.

There are 14 participants in the event: Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), Peter Svidler (Russia), Sergey Karjakin (Ukraine), Michael Adams (England), Gata Kamsky (United States), Alexander Grischuk (Russia), Etienne Bacrot (France), Ivan Cheparinov (Bulgaria), Wang Yue (China), Ernesto Inarkiev (Russia), Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan) and David Navara (Czechia). This is the first time 17-year-old Magnus Carlsen enters an international competition as the top seed.

The event is a 13-game round robin and will conclude Monday, May 5. The Sofia Rules will be in effect, meaning that draw offers will have to be approved by an arbiter.

Sigeman & Company Tournament, Malmø



The 16th annual Sigeman & Company starts Tuesday in Malmø, Sweden.

This years participants are: Tiger Hillarp-Persson, Evgeny Agrest, Axel Smith and Ralf Akesson of Sweeden; Jan Timman and Daniel Stellwagen of Holland; and Lars Bo Hansen (Denmark), Kjetil Lie (Norway), Vasilios Kotronias (Greece) and, participating in the Sigeman for the first time, 71-year-young Lajos Portisch (Hungary).

The event is a nine-game round robin and will conclude Wednesday, April 30. The tournament is sponsored by the law firm of Sigeman & Company, Malmø.

[Jack Rabbit]

1. Games from recent events

Diagrams on the Jack Rabbit Chess Report are made with Chess Mérida, a true type font that can be downlaoded free here.
BLACK
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WHITE
White to move
(This position is a theoretical draw)

[Jack Rabbit]

2. Moskow - Kaidanov, Gausdal

Greg Kaidanov
Photo: ChessBase.com


Eric Moskow - Greg Kaidanov
Chess Classic, Round 7
Gausdal (Norway), 14 April 2008

English Queen's Gambit: Orthodox King's Fianchetto Defense (Agincourt Defense)

1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.0-0 Ne7

• This is not a particularly theoretical opening.
• If 5...Nf6 6.d4 0-0 7.Nc3 c6 8.Qb3 then:
• 8...Nbd7 9.Bf4 Nb6 10.c5 Nc4 11.Qc2 Nh5 12.b3 Nxf4 13.gxf4 Na3 14.Qd2 b5 15.Rfe1 Rb8 16.Kh1 is equal (Karpov-K. Georgiev, Corus A, Wijk aan Zee, 1988).
• 8...b6 9.Rd1 Bb7 10.e4 dxc4 11.Qxc4 b5 12.Qe2 b4 13.Na4 Nfd7 14.Bf4 Qa5 15.Qc2 Na6 16.Nd2 Nb6 17.Nc5 Nxc5 18.dxc5 e5 19.Nb3 Qa4 20.Be3 Nc8 21.a3 Black resigns (Ippolito-Hilton, Foxwoods Op, Mashantucket, 2008).

6.d4 0-0

• If 6...Nbc6 7.e3 0-0 8.Nbd2 b6 then:
• 9.b3 a5 10.Bb2 Ba6 11.Qb1 Qd7 12.Rd1 Rfd8 13.e4 Qe8 14.exd5 exd5 15.Re1 Qf8 16.Ne5 Rab8 17.cxd5 Nb4 18.Ne4 f6 19.Nc6 Nbxc6 20.dxc6 Bb5 21.Nc3 Bxc6 22.Bxc6 Nxc6 23.Nb5 draw (Shabalov-Georgadze, Podolsk, 1989).
• 9...Bb7 10.Bb2 Na5 11.Qc2 Rc8 12.Rfd1 dxc4 13.bxc4 Nf5 14.Nb3 Nc6 15.d5 exd5 16.cxd5 Nb4 17.Qb1 Bxb2 18.Qxb2 Nd6 19.Ne5 gives White the advantage in space (Wojtkiewicz-Maja, Katerini, 1993).

7.Nc3

• 7.Qc2 Nbc6 8.Rd1 a5 9.Na3 Nf5 10.e3 Nd6 11.b3 Nb4 12.Qe2 b6 13.Bb2 Ba6 14.Ne5 c6 15.Nc2 Nxc2 16.Qxc2 gives White the advantage in space (Zhumabaev-Roy, IT, New Delhi, 2006).

7...Nbc6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Bg5

• If 9.Bf4 then:
• 9...Be6 10.Qd2 Nf5 11.e3 h6 12.h4 f6 13.g4 Nd6 14.g5 fxg5 15.hxg5 Ne4 16.Nxe4 dxe4 17.Nh2 hxg5 18.Bg3 Bd5 19.Rac1 Qd7 gives Black an extra pawn which he was unable to convert to a win (R. Ibrahimov-aja, Euro ChT, León. 2001).
• 9...Bg4 10.Ne5 Nxe5 11.Bxe5 f6 12.Bf4 c6 13.b4 g5 14.Bc1 b5 15.a4 a6 16.axb5 axb5 17.Rxa8 Qxa8 18.Qb3 Rd8 19.e4 Be6 is equal (Rezan-Kovacevic, Op, Rijeka (Croatia), 2001).

9...f6!?

• The only move played in this position previously is 9...h6.
• If 9...h6 10.Bxe7 Nxe7 11.e3 c6 then:
• 12.b4 Be6 13.Ne1 a5 14.b5 c5 15.Nf3 Nf5 16.Ne2 Qb6 17.dxc5 Qxc5 18.Rb1 Rac8 19.Qd2 Qc2 20.Rfd1 Rfd8 21.Nfd4 Nxd4 22.Nxd4 Bxd4 23.Qxd4 Qxa2 24.Ra1 Qc4 25.Qb6 Bg4 26.Re1 Rd7 draw (M. Gurevich-Jussapow, Soviet Ch, Minsk, 1987).
• 12.Na4 Nf5 13.Nc5 Nd6 14.Rc1 Qe7 15.Re1 Bf5 16.Nd2 Rfe8 17.Nf3 Rad8 18.Nh4 Bc8 19.Qa4 b6 20.Nd3 b5 21.Qd1 is equal (Kharlov-Zayac, Rapid, Moscow, 1992).

10.Bd2

• 10.Bf4 g5 11.Bc1 g4 12.Ne1 Re8 13.Nc2 Bf5 14.Ne3 Be6 is equal.

10...Be6

• 10...Re8 11.Qa4 a6 12.Rac1 Bg4 13.Bf4 Qd7 is equal.

11.Na4

• White has a small advantage in space.
• 11.Rc1 a6 12.Na4 Bg4 13.Nc5 b6 14.Nb3 a5 15.Bf4 is equal.

11...b6 12.Rc1 Qd7

• 12...a6 13.Re1 g5 14.h3 h6 15.e3 f5 is equal.

13.Qb3 Rac8

• 13...Rae8 14.Rfe1 g5 15.Bc3 g4 16.Nd2 f5 17.e3 is equal.

14.Bb4?!

• On the board, White has the advantage in space. The exchange implied by this move is more likely to help Black.
• 14.e3 Rce8 15.Rfe1 g5 16.Nc3 g4 17.Nh4 Na5 18.Qc2 c6 is equal.

14...Nxb4 15.Qxb4 Nf5 16.Rfd1

• 16.Qb3 c6 17.e3 Nd6 18.Nc3 Nc4 19.Qc2 Bf5 20.Qe2 is equal.

16...Rfe8 17.Bf1?

• This allows White to win the exchange with an elementary tactical shot.
• 17.e3! Nd6 18.Nc3 c6 19.Ne2 Ne4 20.Nd2 f5 21.Nf4 remains equal.

BLACK: Greg Kaidanov
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WHITE: Eric Moskow
Position after 17.Bg2f1

17...Bh6!

• See previous note.

18.Rc2

• White cannot avoid the loss of material.
• 18.Rc3 Nd6 19.e3 Bg4 20.Bg2 Ne4 21.h3 Nxc3 22.Nxc3 Bxh3 also wins a pawn.
• 18.e3 Nxe3 19.fxe3 Bxe3+ gives Bkacj two pawns in addition to the exchange.

18...Nd6 19.Nd2

• If 19.Nh4 then 19...Bg5 20.Bg2 Nc4 21.e4 a5 22.Qb3 dxe4 23.Rxc4 b5 wins the exchange.

19...Bf5 20.Rcc1

• If 20.Rdc1 then 20...Bxc2 21.Rxc2 Qf5 22.e4 Bxd2 23.Qxd2 Nxe4 wins the exchange.

BLACK: Greg Kaidanov
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WHITE: Eric Moskow
Position after 20.Rc2c1

20...Nc4!

• This forces the issue..

21.Nxc4 Bxc1 22.Rxc1 dxc4

• Having won the exchange, White need only play sensible moves, not even exerting too much effort, to convert the material advantage to a full point.

23.Rd1 c5 24.Qxc4+

• White wins a pawn, but this allows for Black to force exchanges that accentuate his material advantage.

24...Kg7 25.Nc3 cxd4 26.Qxd4 Qxd4

• See previous note.

27.Rxd4 Rcd8 28.Rc4

• 28.Nb5 Rxd4 29.Nxd4 Rc8 30.e3 Rc1 31.Nxf5+ gxf5 allows the Rook to pick off paws from the back rank.

28...Re7 29.b4 Rd2 30.a4

• If 30.a3 g5 31.h3 Be6 then:
• If 32.Rc6 Rc2 33.e4 Rc1 34.g4 Ra1 35.b5 Rxa3 wins a pawn for Black.
• After 32.Re4 Kf7 33.Re3 Rc7 34.Bg2 f5 Black tightens his grip on the kingside.

30...Rc2 31.e4 Be6 32.Nd5 Rxc4 33.Bxc4 Bxd5 34.Bxd5

• Black has succeeded in bringing the game to a Rook against Bishop. Not even an extra pawn helps White.

34...Rc7 35.Kg2 Rc3 36.g4 g5 37.f3 Ra3

• Black is content to pick low-hanging fruit without having to think much about it.
• 37...Rd3 38.Bb7 Rd4 39.b5 Rxa4 wins a pawn faster.

38.Bc6 Rb3 39.b5 Ra3 40.Kg3 Rxa4

• The pawn falls. White could have resigned here.

41.h4 h6 42.hxg5 hxg5 43.Kf2 Ra3 44.Bb7 Rb3 45.Bc6 Rc3 46.Ke2 a5 0-1

• White must either deal with the passed pawn or lose the Bishop.
• Dr. Moskow resigns.

[Jack Rabbit]

3. Smeets - Stellwagen, Dutch National Championships, Hilversum

This is the deciding game played in the final round in Hilversum. Mh. Stellwagen entered the round leading the tournament, a half-point ahead of Mh. Smeets.



Jan Smeets
ChessBase.de (Germany)


Jan Smeets - Daniel Stellwagen
Dutch National Championships, Round 11
Hilversum, 13 April 2008

Open Sicilian Game: Taimanov Defense

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3

• (Maroczy Opening) If 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Nxc6 then:
• If 7...bxc6 8.Bd3 e5 9.0-0 0-0 then:
• If 10.Qc2 Bc5 then:
• 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bh4 d6 13.Kh1 g5 14.Bg3 Nh5 15.Be2 g4 16.Rad1 Qg5 17.Na4 Bd4 18.c5 d5 19.exd5 cxd5 20.Rxd4 Nxg3+ 21.hxg3 exd4 leaves Black an exchange to the good(Borgo-Hoffman, Bartto, 2007).
• 11.Rb1 a5 12.Na4 Bd4 13.c5 h6 14.Bd2 d5 15.Nb6 dxe4 16.Bxe4 Nxe4 17.Qxe4 Ba6 18.Nxa8 Bxf1 19.Rxf1 Qxa8 20.Qc2 Qa7 21.b4 axb4 22.Bxb4 Ra8 is equal(van Weersel-Muhren, Dutch Ch, Leeuwarden, 2005).
• 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 Bxc3 12.bxc3 g5 13.Bg3 Qa5 14.h4 Kg7 15.hxg5 hxg5 16.Qd2 Nh7 17.Be2 Qc5 18.Rfd1 Rb8 19.Bg4 f6 20.Bf5 gives Black more space, but his pieces are uncoordinated and his propects to adding to that advantage aren't good (Benjamin-Feygelson, Op, Philadelphia, 1995).
• 10.f4 d6 11.Na4 exf4 12.Bxf4 Ng4 13.Be2 Ne5 14.c5 Qa5 15.Rc1 Ba6 16.Bxa6 Qxa6 17.Bxe5 dxe5 18.Rf5 Rad8 19.Qb3 Qe2 20.Rf2 Qxe4 21.Rcf1 Rd2 gives Black a huge advantage in space (van Weersel-Dworakowska, Euro Ch, Kusadasi, 2006).
• If 7...dxc6 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 then:
• If 9.Bd2 e5 10.Bd3 Ke7 11.Ke2 Rd8 12.Rhd1 Be6 13.Nd5+ Nxd5 draw(Gretarsson-Teske, Euro ChT, Sanit Vincent, 2005).
• 9.e5 Ne4 10.a3 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 Kc7 12.h4 b6 13.Rh3 f5 14.exf6 gxf6 15.Bh6 Rg8 16.Re3 Nc5 17.Rf3 Nd7 18.g3 Ba6 19.0-0-0 Rad8 20.Bf4+ e5 21.Be3 gives White the advantage in space, but White's poor pawn structure may allow Black later counterplay(Benjamin-Chandler, Team M, Cannes, 1992).
• (Szen Opening)If 5.Nb5 d6 then:
• If 6.c4 Nf6 7.N1c3 a6 then:
• If 8.Na3 Be7 9.Be2 0-0 10.0-0 b6 11.Be3 then:
• If 11...Bb7 12.Qb3 Nd7 then:
• If 13.Rfd1 Nc5 14.Qc2 Qc7 15.Rac1 then:
• If 15...Rac8 then:
• If 16.Nab1 Nb4 17.Qd2 Qb8 18.f3 Rfd8 19.Bg5 Bxg5 20.Qxg5 Nc6 21.Rc2 e5 22.Nd5 Ne6 23.Qe3 Ncd4 is equal (Yudasin-Lautier, IT, Pamplona, 1992).
• 16.Qd2 Qb8 17.Nc2 Ne5 18.f3 Ncd7 19.b3 Ng6 20.Kh1 Rfe8 21.Bf1 h6 22.a3 Rc7 23.Nd4 Bf8 24.b4 Nge5 25.Na4 Rec8 gives White the advantage in space, but Black's position is rock solid (Schlosser-Delchev, French League, Port Barcares, 2005).
• 15...Bf6 16.Nab1 Rac8 17.a3 Qb8 18.f3 Rfe8 19.Bf1 Ne5 20.b4 Ncd7 21.Qb3 gives White the advantage in space (Ehlvest-Zubarev, Areoflot Op, Moscow, 2002).
• 13.Rad1 Nc5 14.Qc2 Qc7 15.f3 Rac8 16.Qb1 Bf6 17.Nc2 Rfd8 18.Nd4 Ne5 19.Kh1 Qb8 20.f4 Nc6 21.f5 Re8 22.b4 Nd7 23.fxe6 fxe6 24.Qb3 Kh8 25.Bg4 Nde5 26.Bh5 Nxd4 27.Bxd4 Rf8 28.Be2 Qc7 29.Na4 Qc6 30.Rxf6 Rxf6 31.Rc1 b5 32.Nb2 Nxc4 33.Qh3 White resigns under threat of greater material loss (Sanchez-Miles, Op, Las Palmas, 1996).
• 11...Ne5 12.f4 Ned7 13.Bf3 Bb7 14.Qe2 Qc7 15.Rac1 Rac8 16.g4 h6 17.h4 Nh7 18.Qh2 Qd8 19.Bf2 g5 20.hxg5 hxg5 21.Kg2 Kg7 22.Bd4+ e5 23.Rh1 Rh8 24.fxe5 dxe5 25.Bxe5+ Nxe5 26.Qxe5+ Bf6 27.Qg3 Qd4 is equal (Brodsky-Suetin, Berlin, 1995).
• If 8.Nd4 Be7 9.Be2 0-0 10.0-0 Bd7 then:
• 11.Be3 Qb8 12.Nb3 b6 13.Nd2 Ra7 14.a3 Rc8 15.Rc1 Rb7 16.b4 b5 17.Nb3 bxc4 18.Bxc4 Nxb4 19.Na5 Rbc7 20.Rb1 Rxc4 21.Nxc4 Rxc4 22.Rxb4 Rxb4 23.axb4 Qxb4 24.Qd4 Qa5 25.Rb1 is balanced (Meetei-Jansa, Calcutta, 1986).
• 11...Nxd4 12.Qxd4 Bc6 13.Rfd1 Qb8 14.a4 a5 15.Bg5 Re8 16.Bf3 h6 17.Bh4 Rd8 18.Rac1 Qa7 19.Qxa7 Rxa7 20.Bg3 Raa8 draw (Kuzmin-Tal, Soviet Ch, Leningrad, 1974).
• 6.Bf4 e5 7.Be3 Nf6 then:
• If 8.Bg5 Be6 9.Nd2 a6 then:
• If 10.Nc3 Be7 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.Nc4 then:
• If 12...Nd4 13.Ne3 Rc8 14.Bd3 Bg5 15.Ncd5 0-0 16.0-0 then:
• 16...Nc6 17.Be2 Ne7 18.c3 Bxe3 19.Nxe3 d5 20.exd5 Nxd5 21.Nxd5 Bxd5 22.Qd2 Bc6 23.Qxd8 Rfxd8 draw (Lahno-Javakhishvili, Euro ChT, Fügen, 2006).
• 17.c3 Ne7 18.Bc2 Kh8 19.Bb3 Bxe3 20.Nxe3 Qb6 21.Qc2 Nc6 22.Bxe6 fxe6 23.Rad1 Rfd8 24.Qb3 Qxb3 25.axb3 Na5 26.b4 Nc4 27.Nxc4 Rxc4 28.f3 Kg8 draw (Bruned-Chowdhury, Op, Andorra, 2006).
• 12...0-0 13.Qxd6 Bg5 14.Bd3 Bxc4 15.Qxd8 Raxd8 16.Bxc4 Rd2 17.h4 Bh6 18.Rd1 Rxc2 19.Bb3 Rc1 20.Rh3 Nd4 21.Nd5 Rd8 22.Rc3 Rxc3 23.bxc3 Ne6 24.Nb6 Rxd1+ 25.Kxd1 Nc5 is equal (Leko-Svidler, Sparkassen, Dortmund, 2004).
• If 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Nc3 f5 12.exf5 Bxf5 13.Nc4 then:
• 13...Nd4 14.Ne3 Be6 15.Bc4 Qg5 16.Ncd5 Rc8 17.Bb3 Nxb3 18.axb3 f5 is equal (Adams-Chandler, Op, Hastings, 1991).
• 13...Be6 14.Ne3 Bh6 15.Ned5 0-0 16.g3 f5 17.Bg2 Kh8 18.0-0 Rc8 is equal (Spraggett-Shulman, Op, New York, 1998).
• 8.N1c3 a6 9.Na3 b5 10.Nd5 leads to the Sveshnikov Defense.
• If 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.0-0 d5 then:
• If 8.Nc3 Be7 then:
• If 9.Qe2 0-0 10.b3 Nd7 11.Na4 Re8 12.Bb2 Bf6 13.e5 Be7 14.f4 Nf8 15.Rad1 f5 16.c4 d4 17.Kh1 a6 18.Bc1 c5 19.Rf3 Bb7 20.Rh3 Bc6 21.Nb2 Qb6 is equal (Mortimer-Maroczy, IT, Monte Carlo, 1902).
• If 9.Re1 0-0 then:
• If 10.Qf3 e5 11.h3 d4 12.Ne2 Nd7 13.Ng3 Bg5 14.Nf5 Bxc1 15.Raxc1 Nc5 16.Bc4 Bxf5 17.exf5 Qf6 is equal (Najdorf-Stahlberg, Buenos Aires, 1947).
• 10.Bg5 d4 11.Ne2 e5 12.Ng3 Ng4 13.Be2 Bxg5 14.Bxg4 g6 15.Bxc8 Rxc8 16.Qg4 c5 17.Rad1 h5 18.Qe2 Qa5 gives Black the advantage in space (Shrimbeck-Loidl, Salzburg, 2001).
• 8.Nd2 Be7 9.Qe2 0-0 10.c4 a5 11.b3 a4 12.Bb2 Bb7 13.e5 Nd7 14.Nf3 Ba6 15.Qc2 h6 16.Rfd1 Qb6 17.Rab1 axb3 18.axb3 Rab8 19.Bd4 Bc5 20.Bc3 Bb4 21.Bd4 Bc5 22.Bc3 Bb4 23.Bd4 Bc5 draw (Lakos-Navara, Op, Oberwart, 2003).
• If 5.Be3 Nf6 6.Nc3 d6 is the Scheveningen Defense.

5...Qc7 6.Be3

• If 6.Be2 a6 7.0-0 Nf6 then:
• If 8.Be3 Bb4 9.Na4 then:
• If 9...Be7 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Nb6 Rb8 12.Nxc8 Qxc8 13.Bd4 c5 14.Be5 Rb6 then:
• 15.Qd3 d6 16.Bc3 0-0 17.b3 d5 18.exd5 Nxd5 19.Be5 Rd8 20.Qg3 f6 21.Bb2 Bd6 22.Qg4 Qc7 23.g3 Be5 24.Bxe5 Qxe5 25.Bc4 f5 26.Qe2 Qxe2 27.Bxe2 Nc3 gives Black the advantage in space (Atoufi-Sarkar, Foxwoods Op, Mashantucket, 2007).
• 15.b3 Nxe4 16.Bxg7 Rg8 17.Be5 Bd6 18.Bg3 Nxg3 19.fxg3 Be5 20.Rb1 Ke7 21.Bd3 Rg5 22.Qf3 gives White a small advantage in space (Azarov-Banikas, Euro ChT, León, 2001).
• 9...0-0 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Nb6 Rb8 12.Nxc8 Rfxc8 13.Bxa6 Rf8 14.Bd3 Bd6 15.f4 e5 16.f5 Rxb2 17.g4 Qa5 18.g5 Ne8 19.Bc1 Rxa2 20.Bb2 Rxa1 21.Qxa1 Bb4 22.c3 Qxa1 23.Rxa1 Bd6 24.Ra6 h6 25.Bc1 hxg5 26.Bxg5 Nf6 27.Bxf6 draw (Ehlvest-Illescas, French League, France, 1989).
• If 8.Kh1 then:
• If 8...Nxd4 9.Qxd4 Bc5 10.Qd3 b5 11.f4 Bb7 12.Bf3 then:
• If 12...h5 13.e5 Ng4 14.Bxb7 Qxb7 15.Ne4 then:
• If 15...Rc8 16.Bd2 Be7 17.Rae1 Nh6 18.Qf3 Kf8 19.Qxh5 Rxc2 20.f5 exf5 21.Rxf5 Rxd2 22.Nxd2 g6 23.Qxg6 Qd5 24.Nf3 Nxf5 25.Qxf5 then:
• 25...Rh6 26.a3 gives White an extra pawn (Nataf-Wallace, Icelandic ChT, Reykjavik, 2004).
• 25...Qxa2 26.Qxd7 Qxb2 27.Qc8+ Kg7 28.Qxa6 Rh6 29.Qc8 also leaves White a pawn to the good.
• 15...Be7 16.Bd2 Rc8 17.Rae1 Qc6 18.Bc3 b4 19.Bd2 Nh6 20.c3 bxc3 21.Bxc3 Nf5 22.Qf3 h4 23.Rd1 Qb6 24.Rfe1 Rc4 gives Black a comfortable advantage in space (Movsesian-Lutz, Bundesliga, Germany, 2001).
• 12...0-0 13.e5 Ne8 14.Bxb7 Qxb7 15.f5 f6 16.Bf4 Be7 17.Rae1 b4 18.Nd1 exf5 19.Qxf5 fxe5 20.Qxe5 Bd6 21.Qd4 Bxf4 22.Rxf4 Rxf4 23.Qxf4 Nf6 24.Ne3 Re8 is equal (Lin Yi-Liang Jirong, China ChT, Suzhou, 2001).
• 8...Be7 9.f4 d6 10.Be3 0-0 11.a4 Re8 12.Bf3 Rb8 13.Qd2 Bd7 14.Nb3 b6 15.g4 Bc8 16.g5 Nd7 17.Bg2 Na5 18.Qf2 Nxb3 19.cxb3 Nc5 20.Qc2 b5 21.axb5 axb5 22.f5 b4 23.Na4 exf5 24.exf5 gives White a comfortable advantage in space (Palac-Ftacnik, Vinkovci, 1995).
• If 6.g3 a6 7.Bg2 Nf6 8.0-0 then:
• If 8...Be7 9.Re1 then:
• 9...d6 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.e5 dxe5 12.Rxe5 0-0 then:
• If 13.Bf4 Qb7 14.Na4 Nd5 15.Bd2 Bf6 then:
• If 16.Re4 e5 17.c4 Ne7 18.Bc3 Bf5 19.Re1 Rfd8 20.Qb3 Qc7 21.Qb6 Qxb6 22.Nxb6 Rab8 23.Na4 Ng6 24.c5 Bd7 25.Ba5 Re8 26.Nb6 Black resigns in the face of material loss (Movsesian-Suran, Op. Mlada Boleslav, 1993).
• 16.Re2 a5 17.Rb1 Rd8 18.Qe1 Qa7 19.c4 Nb6 20.Be3 Bd4 21.Nxb6 Qxb6 22.Rd1 Bb7 23.Red2 Bxe3 24.Qxe3 Rxd2 25.Rxd2 Qb4 26.c5 makes the Queen's escape difficult (A. Ivanov-Ashley, Op, Philadelphia, 1989).
• 13.Re1 Rd8 14.Qe2 Bb7 15.Bf4 Qb6 16.Na4 Qb5 17.b3 Qxe2 18.Rxe2 Nd5 19.Be5 f6 20.Bb2 Kf7 21.Rae1 Nc7 22.f4 gives White a small advantage in space and pawn structure (Suba-Granero, Op, La Roda, 2005).
• If 9...0-0 10.Nxc6 then:
• If 10...dxc6 11.e5 Rd8 12.Qf3 Nd5 13.h4 then:
• If 13...Nxc3 14.Qxc3 Bd7 15.Bg5 Be8 then:
• 16.Bxe7 Qxe7 17.Rad1 a5 18.Rxd8 Qxd8 19.a3 Qc7 20.Rd1 Rd8 21.Rxd8 Qxd8 22.Be4 gives White a considerable advantage in space, but Black's position is solid (Jansa-Paunovic, Namestovo, 1987).
• 10...bxc6 11.e5 Nd5 12.Na4 Rb8 13.c4 then:
• If 13...Nb6 14.Nxb6 Rxb6 15.b3 c5 then:
• If 16.Bb2 Rb8 17.Be4 Bb7 18.Bc3 f5 19.exf6 Bxf6 is equal (Nicevski-Matulovic, Zonal T, Athens, 1969).
• 16.Rad1 Rxd1 17.Rxd1 Bf8 18.Be4 c5 19.b3 Rc8 20.a4 draw (Hübner-Tal, Bundesliga, Germany, 1989-90).
• 13...h6 14.Qg4 Kh8 15.Qh5 Nxc3 16.bxc3 Bf8 17.Be4 b5 18.Bg5 Rd7 19.Rad1 Bb7 20.Rxd7 Qxd7 21.Rd1 Qc7 22.Qf3 gives White a substansial advantage in space (Stanojoski-Matulovic, Pancevo, 2003).
• If 8...Nxd4 9.Qxd4 Bc5 then:
• If 10.Bf4 d6 11.Qd2 h6 12.Rad1 e5 13.Be3 then:
• If 13...Be6 14.Bxc5 dxc5 15.f4 0-0 16.Nd5 Bxd5 17.exd5 Qd6 18.fxe5 Qxe5 19.d6 Qxb2 20.c4 Qxd2 21.Rxd2 Rab8 22.a4 Rfd8 23.Re1 Kf8 24.Re5 Nd7 25.Re4 f6 Black is a pawn to the good, but he can do little to the advantage (Carlsen-Pelletier, IT, Biel, 2006).
• If 13...Bg4 14.Bxc5 dxc5 then:
• If 15.Qd6 Rc8 16.Rd2 Qxd6 17.Rxd6 Nd7 18.f3 Ke7 19.Rfd1 Be6 20.f4 Bg4 21.Bf3 Bh3 gives White a substansial advantage in space (Matulovic-Mackic, Yugoslav Cup, Ulcinj, 1997).
• 15.f3 tranposes to Carlsen-Pelletier.
• 13...Ke7 14.Bxc5 Qxc5 15.Na4 Qc6 16.f4 a5 17.Qd3 b5 18.Nc3 Qc5+ 19.Kh1 Rb8 20.Nd5+ Nxd5 21.exd5 draw (Talla-Haba, Czech Ch, Lazne Bohdanec, 1999).
• If 10.Qd3 d6 11.Bf4 then:
• If 11...Nd7 12.Na4 e5 13.Bd2 b5 14.Nxc5 Nxc5 then:
• If 15.Qa3 Bb7 16.Ba5 Qc6 17.Rad1 0-0 18.Rd5 then:
• If 18...Qc8 19.Rxd6 Bxe4 20.f3 Nb7 21.fxe4 Nxa5 then:
• If 22.b3 Qxc2 (winning a pawn) then:
• If 23.Rd7 Qc6 then:
• If 24.Rfd1 Rad8 25.Rxd8 Qb6+ 26.Kh1 Rxd8 then:
• If 27.Rd5? h6 28.h4 Rc8 (activating the Rook for heavy duty) 29.Bh3 Rc2 then:
• If 30.Rd6 Nc6 31.Re6 (desperation) 31...fxe6 32.Bxe6+ Kh7 33.Bf5+ g6 34.Qf8
• Black forces mate: 34...Rc1+! 35.Kg2 Qg1+ 36.Kh3 Qf1+ 37.Kg4 Qe2+ 38.Kh3 Rh1# Black wins (Matulovic-Cvetkovic, Yugoslav Ch, Umag, 1972).
• 34...gxf5? 35.Qf7+ Kh8 36.Qf8+ Kh7 37.Qf7+ draws by perpetual check.
• After 30.Rd1 Nc6 31.Rf1 Qe3 32.Qxa6 Nd4 33.Qb7 Nf3 Black wins.
• 27.Rxd8+ Qxd8 28.h3 Qb6 29.Qe7 Qb8 30.Qa3 is the best defense and might hold the game.
• If 24.Rd5 Qb6+ 25.Qc5 Qxc5+ 26.Rxc5 f6 then:
• 27.Bh3 Nb7 28.Be6+ Kh8 29.Rd5 b4 30.Rc1 Rab8 Black has a pawn and a solid position; White has space.
• 27.Rfc1 Rfd8 28.Rc7 Rd2 29.Bh3 Rd6 Black continues to enjoy an extra pawn, but White has more than enough space to compensate.
• White gets the pawn back by 23.Rd5 Qc3 24.Qc1 Qxc1 25.Rxc1 Rac8 26.Rxc8 Rxc8 27.Rxe5 Rc1+ 28.Bf1 Kf8 but Black now has a Rook roaming the back rank.
• 22.Rd5 Nc4 23.Qc3 Qe6 holds the pawn for Black.
• 18...f5 19.Rfd1 Nxe4 20.Qb3 Kh8 21.Rxd6 Qc8 22.Rd7 Nc5 23.Bxb7 Nxb3 24.Bxc8 Nxa5 25.Bb7 Nxb7 26.Rxb7 Rad8 27.Rxd8 Rxd8 is a drawish Rook-and-pawn ending (Adorjan-Timman, IT, Wijk aan Zee, 1971).
• 15.Qc3 Bb7 16.a4 0-0 17.f3 Qc6 18.axb5 axb5 19.Be3 Rfe8 20.Bxc5 Qxc5+ 21.Qxc5 dxc5 22.Rxa8 Rxa8 is equal (Gunina-Sidorova, Russian Cup, Tomsk, 2001).
• 11...h6 12.Rad1 e5 13.Be3 Bg4 14.Bxc5 dxc5 15.f3 Be6 16.f4 0-0 17.Qd6 Qxd6 18.Rxd6 b5 19.b3 Ra7 20.Rfd1 gives White command of the d-file (Svidler-Bonin, Op, Philadelphia, 1995).

6...a6 7.f4 b5 8.Qf3

• If 8.Be2 Bb7 9.a3 then:
• If 9...Nf6 then:
• 10.0-0 Bc5 11.Qd3 Qb6 12.Rad1 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 d5 14.exd5 draw (Berczes-Puschmann, First Saturday, Budapest, 06.2001).
• 10...d6 11.g4 Nxd4 12.Qxd4 e5 13.Qd3 exf4 14.Bxf4 Nd7 15.Nd5 Bxd5 16.Qxd5 Qc5+ 17.Qxc5 Nxc5 18.c4 gives White a small advantage in space such that he will be better able to restrain Black's counterplay in the endgame (B. Socko-Macieja, IT, Warsaw, 2005).
• If 10.Bf3 d6 11.0-0 Be7 12.Nb3 0-0 13.Qe1 then:
• 13...b4 14.axb4 Nxb4 15.Qf2 d5 16.e5 Nd7 17.Na5 Rfb8 18.Rfc1 Nc6 19.Nxb7 Rxb7 is equal (Sherwin-Benko, Interz, Portoroz, 1958).
• 13...Kh8 14.Rd1 Rac8 15.g4 Nd7 16.Qf2 b4 17.axb4 Nxb4 18.Bg2 Nc6 19.Na4 g5 20.fxg5 Nce5 21.Nc3 Nxg4 22.Qe2 Nxe3 23.Qxe3 Ne5 24.Qf4 Rg8 25.h4 h6 gives White more space, but Black's centralized Knight holds the position (Tsirulnik-Nyzhnyk, Ukrainian ChU14, Odessa, 2007).
• 9...Na5 10.0-0 Nc4 11.Bxc4 Qxc4 12.f5 Nf6 draw (Shivkuma-Fedorowicz, Berkeley, 2005).



• If 8.Nxc6 Qxc6 9.Be2 then:
• 9...Bb7 10.Bf3 Rc8 11.a3 Qc4 12.Qd3 Nf6 13.0-0 Bc5 14.Bxc5 Qxd3 15.cxd3 Rxc5 16.Rac1 0-0 17.Nd5 d6 18.b4 Rxc1 19.Nxf6+ gxf6 20.Rxc1 Rc8 21.Rxc8+ Bxc8 gives White better pawn structure, but there's no win in this position (Dr. Nunn-Illescas, IT, Linares, 1988).
• If 9...Ba3 10.Bd4 Bxb2 11.Nxb5 then:
• 11...Bxa1 12.Bxa1 axb5 13.Bxg7 Qxe4 14.0-0 Rxa2 15.Bd3 Qe3+ 16.Kh1 Bb7 17.Bxh8 Nh6 18.Bxb5 Bd5 19.Rf3 Qc5 20.c4! Bc6 21.Bxc6 Qxc6 22.Qb1 Re2 23.Qb8+ Ke7 24.Bf6+ Kxf6 25.Qd8+ Black resigns as he is soon mated (Bogdanovic-Suetin, Budva, 1967).
• 11...axb5 12.Bxb2 Qxe4 13.Bxg7 Qxg2 14.Bf3 Qxg7 15.Bxa8 Qc3+ 16.Ke2 Ba6 17.Qd3 Qc8 18.Qd4 Qxa8 19.Qxh8 Qe4+ 20.Kd2 Qxf4+ 21.Kc3 Qc4+ 22.Kb2 Qb4+ 23.Kc1 Qf4+ 24.Kb1 Ke7 25.Qc3 Nf6 is unclear: White has a material advantage, but five units of it is immoble on a1 (Perenyi-Barczay, Hungarian Ch, Budapest, 1977).



• If 8.Nb3 d6 9.Bd3 Nf6 10.Qf3 Bb7 11.0-0 Be7 then:
• If 12.Qh3 Nb4 13.a3 Nxd3 14.cxd3 then:
• 14...Rc8 15.Rac1 Qd8 16.Nd4 0-0 17.g4 Nd7 18.b4 Bf6 19.Nce2 Rxc1 20.Rxc1 e5 21.Nf5 exf4 22.Nxf4 gives White a huge advantage in space (Negi-Mamedov, Op, Dubai, 2004).
• 14...0-0 15.Rac1 Qd8 16.Bd4 Nd7 17.Kh1 Rc8 18.Bg1 Nc5 19.Nd2 d5 20.Bxc5 Bxc5 21.e5 b4 22.axb4 Bxb4 23.d4 f5 24.exf6 Qxf6 gives White a small advantage in space (Movsesian-Stojanovic, Bosnian ChT, Neum, 2002).
• If 12.Rae1 then:
• If 12...0-0 13.Qh3 Nb4 14.a3 Nxd3 15.cxd3 Rac8 16.Qg3 e5 17.fxe5 dxe5 18.Bh6 Ne8 19.Nd5 Bxd5 20.exd5 Qb6+ 21.Be3 Qd6 22.Bd2 Nc7 23.d4 Nxd5 24.dxe5 Qe6 is equal (Gheorghiu-Stein, Moscow, 1971).
• 12...Nb4 13.Nd4 Rc8 14.a3 Nxd3 15.cxd3 Qd7 16.Re2 h5 17.h3 h4 18.Rc2 g6 19.Qf2 d5 20.e5 Nh5 21.Rfc1 0-0 22.Nce2 Rxc2 23.Rxc2 Rc8 24.Rxc8+ Qxc8 25.Bd2 is equal (Ivanovic-Gulko, Ol, Novi Sad, 1990).
• If 12.a3 0-0 13.Qh3 then:
• If 13...b4 14.axb4 Nxb4 15.e5 dxe5 16.fxe5 Qxe5 17.Ra5 Bd5 18.Nxd5 exd5 19.Bd4 Qh5 20.Qxh5 Nxh5 21.Be2 Nf6 22.c3 Nc6 23.Bxf6 Bxf6 24.Rxd5 Rfb8 25.Bd1 Rb6 26.Nc5 Rxb2 gives Black an extra pawn (Arapovic-Smejkal, IT, Sarajevo, 1982).
• 13...Rfe8 14.Rae1 g6 15.Nd4 Nxd4 16.Bxd4 d5 17.Re3 dxe4 18.Nxe4 Bxe4 19.Bxe4 Nxe4 20.Qxh7+!! Black resigns is view of20...Kxh7 21.Rh3+ Kg8 22.Rh8# being lights out (Emms-Roetteler, Op, Hamburg, 1992).
• 12.a4 b4 13.Ne2 0-0 14.Qh3 e5 15.Ng3 Bc8 16.Nf5 Bxf5 17.Qxf5 Qd7 18.Qxd7 Nxd7 19.g3 Nf6 20.Bc4 Rfc8 21.Nd2 Ng4 22.Bb6 a5 23.Bd5 Rab8 24.Nc4 Nf6 25.b3 Nxd5 26.exd5 Nd4 27.Bxd4 exd4 28.Rae1 Bf6 29.Re2 Rc5 is equal (Moen-Hersvikm Noewegian ChT, Langesund, 2001).

8...Bb7 9.Bd3 Nf6

• If 9...Rc8 10.Nb3 Nf6 then:
• If 11.Qh3?! Bb4! (an aggressive move which White probably would not have made had White castled) 12.0-0 Ne7 13.e5 Bxc3 14.bxc3 (Black has succeeded in weakening White's queenside) 14...Ne4 15.a4 Nxc3 16.axb5 axb5 17.f5 exf5 18.Ra7 then:
• If 18...Qb8!? 19.Bxf5 Nxf5 20.Qxf5 0-0 21.Qxd7 then:
• If 21...Rc7 22.Qd2 b4 although White leads in the space count, the advantage goes to Black because his advanced forces are more stable, especially the Knight at c3 (Negi-Stellwagen, World Jr Ch, Yerevan, 2007).
• Stronger is t21...Qxe5 22.Re1 Rcd8 23.Qxb7 Rd1 24.Rxd1 Qxe3+.
• 18...Ra8 19.Rxa8+ Bxa8 20.Bxf5 Bd5 leave Black up a pawn.
• 11.0-0 d5 12.a3 dxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 f5 15.Bxc6+ Qxc6 16.Qh5+ g6 17.Qh3 is equal.

10.g4 d6 11.0-0-0 Be7 12.Kb1 Nd7 13.g5 0-0 14.h4!?

• 14.Nxc6 Qxc6 15.Rhe1 Nc5 16.Qh3 Nxd3 17.cxd3 Rfe8 18.f5 exf5 19.exf5 Qf3 20.Qxf3 Bxf3 21.Rc1 b4 22.Ne4 d5 23.Ng3 Bd6 24.f6 gives White the advantage in space (Rogers-Mozny, IT, Biel, 1990).

14...Nc5 15.Nce2

• If 15.Nxc6 Bxc6 16.f5 Nxd3 then:
• After 17.Rxd3 b4 18.f6 bxc3 19.fxe7 Qxe7 20.Rxc3 Qb7 21.Rc4 Rab8 22.Bc1 d5 White's awkward Rook is the next worse thing to a liability.
• 17.cxd3 b4 18.Ne2 exf5 19.Qxf5 Bd8 20.Bd4 Bb5 21.Nf4 gives White the advantage in space; Black needs to seek exchanges.

15...Rac8 16.h5 Nxd4

• 16...Nb4 17.Rhg1 f5 18.gxf6 Bxf6 19.h6 g6 20.Qg4 Kh8 gives White the advantage in space, but Black has opportunities for counterplay.

17.Nxd4 f5 18.gxf6

• If 18.Qh3 fxe4 19.Nxe6 then:
• 19...Qd7 20.Bc4 bxc4 21.Bxc5 Rxf4 22.Nxf4 Qxh3 23.Rxh3 Rxc5 24.Rc3 is equal.
• 19...Qc6 20.Be2 Na4 21.Rd2 Rf7 22.g6 gives White an overwhelming position.

18...Bxf6 19.Qg4 e5

• 19...Rfe8 20.Rhg1 Kh8 21.Qg2 Nxd3 22.Rxd3 b4 is equal.

20.Ne6 Nxe6 21.Qxe6+ Kh8

• If 21...Qf7 22.Qg4 exf4 23.Bxf4 then:
• If 23...Rfe8 24.Bxd6 Qe6 25.Qg1 Red8 26.Ba3 Bxe4 27.Re1 is level.
• 23...Rcd8 24.Rhg1 Qe7 25.Qg3 Be5 26.Bxe5 Qxe5 is equal.

22.h6 g6 23.Rhf1 Qe7 24.Qb3 exf4 25.Bxf4 Be5

• The position is perfectly balanced.

BLACK: Daniel Stellwagen
!""""""""#
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WHITE: Jan Smeets
Position after 25...Bf6e5

26.Bxe5+

• 26.Be3 Rxf1 27.Rxf1 Rf8 28.Rxf8+ Qxf8 is equal.

26...dxe5 27.a4 b4

• 27...bxa4 28.Rxf8+ Rxf8 29.Qxa4 Rc8 30.Qa3 Qxa3 31.bxa3 is equal.

28.Rxf8+ Rxf8 29.c3

• 29.Rf1 Rxf1+ 30.Bxf1 g5 31.Qd3 Qf6 32.Be2 Qe7 gives White more mobility.

29...bxc3 30.Qxc3

• 30.bxc3 Rb8 31.Qb4 Qxb4+ 32.cxb4 Bc6 33.b5 axb5 34.a5 is equal.

30...g5 31.Bc4!?

• White offers a pawn with check. What he expects to get in return is not clear.
• After 31.Rc1 g4 32.Qc7 Qxc7 33.Rxc7 then:
• If 33...Ba8 then:
• 34.Bxa6 Bxe4+ 35.Kc1 g3 time appears to be on Black's side.
• 34.Rg7 Rg8 35.Rf7 g3 36.Rf1 g2 37.Rg1 Rg3 easily favors Black.
• 33...g3 then:
• If 34.Rxb7 g2 35.Rg7 Rg8 36.Rxg2 Rxg2 37.Bxa6 is equal.
• 34.Rg7 Rg8 35.Bf1 Bxe4+ 36.Kc1 Rxg7 37.hxg7+ Kxg7 wins for Black.

31...Bxe4+ 32.Ka2 Bf5 33.Bxa6

• White wins back the sacrificed pawn.
• After 33.Rf1 Qd6 34.Qg3 g4 35.b3 Qd2+ 36.Ka3 Qd4 Black's extra pawn, forward pawns and centrlaixed pieces give him the advantage.

33...Qe6+ 34.Bc4 Qxh6 35.Qxe5+

• The position is equal. Both sides have connected passed pawn on opposite wings.

BLACK: Daniel Stellwagen
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WHITE: Jan Smeets
Position after 35.Qc6e5:p+

35...Qg7 36.Qd6 g4!?

• Black would do better to push the h-pawn, since it would queen on a square supported by the Bishop.
• 36...h5 37.Rf1 h4 38.a5 Qf6 39.Qc5 Kg7 40.Bd3< is to White's advantage./li>

37.a5 g3?

• Black is too hasty. White can block the pawn with the Rook and support it with the Bishop.37...Bg6 38.a6 h5 39.Rh1 Rf5 40.Rf1 Rxf1 41.Bxf1 Qf7+ remains balanced.

38.Rg1 Ra8

• White tries blocking White's appoaching pawn, but White's Bishop or Queen need only move to d5 to fork a8 and g2.

39.a6 g2
BLACK: Daniel Stellwagen
!""""""""#
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WHITE: Jan Smeets
Position after 39...g3g2

40.Qd5!

• See previous note.

40...Re8

• 40...Rf8 protects the Bishop, but after 41.Rxg2 Bg6 42.b3 Rf6 43.Qd8+ Rf8 44.Qd6 White has a won position.

41.Qxf5 Qd4 42.Qf7 Rc8

• After 42...Qd8 43.a7 Rf8 44.Qxf8+ Qxf8 45.Rxg2 White wins by liquidating on g8.

43.Rxg2 Qxc4+ 44.Qxc4 Rxc4 45.Rg3 1-0

• The Rook is headed for a3 where it will support the pawn.
• Mh. Stellwagen resigns.

[Jack Rabbit]

4. Shirov - Andeikin, Russian Team Championships, Sochi

Alexei Shirov played second board for the tournaments champions, Ural Ekaterininburg.



Alexei Shirov
Photo: ChessBase.de (Germany)


Alexei Shirov (Ural Ekaterininburg) - Dmitry Andreikin (Economist-2 Saratov)
Russian Team Championship, Round 2
Sochi, 3 April 2008

Closed German Game: Dreev Defense (Caro-Kann Defense)

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nc3 Qb6 5.Nf3

• If 5.Bd3 Bxd3 6.Qxd3 e6 then:
• If 7.Nge2 Ne7 8.0-0 Nd7 9.a4 c5 10.a5 Qa6 then:
• 11.Qh3 Nc6 12.Be3 cxd4 13.Nxd4 Nxd4 14.Bxd4 Qc6 15.Qg3 gives White an early advantage in space (Berg-Sargissian, World Jr Ch, Athens, 2001).
• 11.dxc5 Nxc5 12.Qf3 Nc6 13.Bf4 Nd7 14.Ra4 Ndxe5 15.Qg3 Ng6 16.Rb1 Bb4 17.Bd6 Bxd6 18.Qxd6 Nce7 is unclear: Black has an extra pawn while White has a considerable advantage in space (Haroutjunian-Sargissian, Armenian Ch, Yerevan, 2001).
• If 7...c5 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.0-0 Ne7 10.Na4 Qc6 11.Nxc5 Qxc5 then:
• If 12.Be3 Qc7 13.f4 Nf5 14.c3 Nc6 15.Rad1 g6 is equal (Nimzovich-Capablanca, New York, 1927).
• 12.Qg3 Nd7 13.Qxg7 Rf8 14.Qxh7 Nxe5 15.Be3 Qc7 16.Nd4 N7g6 17.Qh3 a6 18.Rfe1 0-0-0 19.Bg5 gives White a small advantage in space (Kotronias-Gausel, Reykjavik, 2988).

5...e6 6.Be2 Nd7 7.0-0 Ne7 8.b3 Bg6!?

• If 8...Bg4 9.Na4 Qc7 10.c4 then:
• 10...Nb6 11.Nxb6 axb6 12.Ng5 Bf5 13.f4 h6 14.Nf3 Be4 15.cxd5 Bxd5 16.Be3 gives White a small advantage in space (Radic-Dizdarevic. Subasic Mem, Zenica (Bosnia), 2005).
• 10...Rd8 11.Nh4 Bxe2 12.Qxe2 Nb6 13.Nxb6 Qxb6 14.Be3 Ng6 15.Nf3 Ne7 16.c5 Qa6 17.Qxa6 bxa6 18.b4 Nf5 19.Rfb1 Nxe3 20.fxe3 gives White a comfortable advantage in space (Grischuk-Sargissian, Areoflot Op, Moscow, 2002).

9.Na4

• 9.a4 0-0-0 10.a5 Qc7 11.Bd3 Bh5 12.b4 gives White the advantage in space.

9...Qd8 10.c4 Nf5 11.g4!?

• This move is made in an effort to push Black back, although White has opportunies to be more aggressive.
• If 11.Nb2 Bb4 12.Bg5 Qc7 then:
• If 13.cxd5 exd5 14.Nd3 Be7 15.Bxe7 Nxe7 16.Re1 0-0 17.Rc1 gives White the advantage in space.
• 13.Nd3 Be7 14.Qd2 Rd8 15.Bxe7 Nxe7 16.c5 Be4 17.Rae1 0-0 18.h4 gives White a huge advantage in space.

11...Nh4!

• Black is down in space and thus seeks exchanges.
• White continues to enjoy the advantage in space after 11...Ne7 12.Bb2 h5 13.g5 Nf5 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Qd2 Be7 16.Bb5.

12.Nxh4 Qxh4 13.cxd5 cxd5

• Black has equalized.

14.Bf4?!

• 14.f4 h5 15.g5 Be7 16.Rf3 f6 17.Nc3 remains equal.

14...Qd8?!

• If 14...Ba3! 15.b4 Qe7 16.Nc5 Bxb4 17.Nxd7 then:
• 17...Kxd7 18.a3 Bc3 19.Qb3 Rhc8 20.Rac1 Bxd4 21.Qa4+ Kd8 22.Qxd4 Qxa3 gives Black a spatial advantage and three pawns for a piece.
• 17...Qxd7? 18.Qb3 Qe7 19.a3 Bxa3 20.Qa4+ Kf8 21.Rxa3 h5 22.g5 gives White the advantage in space and a piece for two pawns.

15.Bg3

• 15.Bb5 looks more aggressive, but after 15...b6 16.Bd2 h5 17.g5 Be7 18.f4 Rc8 the game is level.

15...Rc8 16.f4 Be4 17.f5 exf5

• If 17...Ba3 18.fxe6 fxe6 19.Bb5 Rc7 20.Bd3 then:
• If 20...Qg5 21.Rf4 Bxd3 22.Qxd3 Rf8 then:
• 23.h4 23...Qh6 24.Rxf8+ Bxf8 25.Rf1 Rc6 gives White more space.
• 23.Raf1 Rxf4 24.Rxf4 Bc1 25.h4 Qh6 26.Rf3 is equal.
• 20...Bxd3 21.Qxd3 Qg5 22.h3 a6 23.Rab1 Bb4 is equal.

18.gxf5 Qg5 19.Bf3 b5

• 19...g6 20.Bxe4 dxe4 21.f6 b5 22.Nb2 Ba3 23.Qe2 h5 is equal.

20.Bxe4!

• 20.Nc5? Nxc5 21.dxc5 Bxc5+ 22.Kg2 Qxf5 drops two pawns.

20...Qe3+?

• If 20...bxa4? 21.Bxd5 Bb4 22.Rb1 0-0 23.Rf4 then:
• 23...axb3 24.Bxb3 Rcd8 25.Qg4 Be7 26.f6 Qxg4 27.Rxg4 gives White more space, more material and Black's Bishop has nowhere to go.
• 23...Nb6 24.Bg2 f6 25.bxa4 fxe5 26.Rg4 Qe3+ 27.Bf2 Qa3 28.dxe5 gives White two extra pawns.
• 20...dxe4 21.Nb2 Ba3 22.Qe2 h5 23.Kh1 h4 24.Be1 Qh5 25.Rf2 Qxe2 26.Rxe2 is equal.

21.Rf2 Qxe4

• 21...dxe4 22.Nb2 Ba3 23.Qe2 transposes to the blue line of the last note.

BLACK: Dmitry Andreikin
!""""""""#
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WHITE: Alexei Shirov
Position after 21...Qe3e4:B

22.Rc1!!

• Fire on board! Shirov plays a profound sacrifice.
• 22.Nb2 Ba3 23.Qd3 Bxb2 24.Qxe4 dxe4 25.Rxb2 balances White's central pawns against Black's command of the c-file.

22...Rxc1 23.Qxc1 bxa4

• If 23...Qxd4 24.Qc6 then:
• After 24...Bb4 25.Qc8+ Ke7 26.Qxh8 it's lights out for Black.
• 24...Kd8 25.e6 Ne5 26.Bxe5 Qd1+ 27.Rf1 Qg4+ 28.Bg3 fxe6 29.fxe6 Black must either surrender the Queen or submit to checkmate.

24.Qc8+ Ke7

BLACK: Dmitry Andreikin
!""""""""#
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WHITE: Alexei Shirov
Position after 24...Ke8e7

25.f6+!

• The text is stronger than 25.Qc7 Qe1+ 26.Kg2 then:
• If 26...Ke8 27.Qc8+ Ke7 28.f6+ gxf6 29.exf6+ Nxf6 30.Qc7+ then:
• 30...Ke8 31.Qb8+ Ke7 32.Qxa7+ Nd7 33.Rxf7+ wins the Black Queen.
• If 30...Nd7 then 31.Rxf7+ wins the Queen.
• After 26...Qe4+ White plays 27.Kh3 Qxd4 28.e6! and wins.

25...gxf6 26.exf6+ Nxf6 27.Qc5+ Kd8 28.Qc7+ Ke8 29.Qb8+ Kd7

• If 29...Ke7 30.Qd6+ Ke8 31.Qxf6 Qe1+ 32.Kg2 Qe4+ 33.Rf3 Qe2+ then:
• 34.Kg1! Qe6 35.Qxh8 gives White an extra Rook.
• 34.Kh3? Qe6+ 35.Qxe6+ fxe6 36.Re3 Kd7 leaves Black a pawn to the good.

30.Qxa7+

• After 30.Qc7+? Black escapes with 30...Ke8 31.Qc8+ Ke7 32.Qc7+ Nd7.

30...Ke8 31.Qb8+ Kd7 32.Qb5+ Kd8

• 32...Kc8 33.Qc6+ Kd8 34.Bc7+ Kc8 35.Bd6+ Kd8 36.Qc7+ Ke8 37.Qc8#.

33.Qb6+ Kd7

• After 33...Ke8 34.Qxf6 if Black tries to save the Rook with 34...Rg8 then 35.Qxf7+ Kd8 36.Qxg8.

34.Rxf6 Qe3+ 35.Kg2 Qe2+ 36.Kh3 Qh5+ 37.Bh4

• Black is out of checks, unless he wants to surrender his Queen.

37...Be7

• Black can postpone mate by surrending the Queen; his best option is to resign.
• It would hurt to watch 37...Qxh4+ 38.Kxh4 Be7 39.Qc6+ Kd8 40.Qxd5+ Kc7 41.Qc6+ Kd8 42.Qa8+ Kd7 43.Qxh8.

38.Qc6+ Kd8 39.Rd6# 1-0

• A fine game by el señor Shirov.

[Jack Rabbit]

5. Adams - Caruana, Ruy López Festival, Mérida

English grandmaster Mickey Adams is the champion of this year's Ruy López Festival in Mérida.



Mickey Adams
ChessBase.de (Germany)


Mickey Adams - Fabiano Caruana
Ruy López Chess Festival, Round 6
Mérida, 10 April 2008

Open Sicilian Game: Kan Defense

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Bc5

• If 5...Nf6 6.0-0 then:
• If 6...Qc7 then:
• If 7.Qe2 d6 8.c4 g6 9.Nc3 Bg7 10.Rd1 0-0 11.Nf3 then:
• If 11...Nc6 then:
• If 12.h3 Nd7 13.Be3 then:
• 13...b6 14.Rac1 Nc5 15.Bb1 Bb7 16.Qd2 Rad8 17.Bh6 f5 18.exf5 gxf5 19.Bg5 Bf6 20.Bh6 Bg7 21.Bg5 Rd7 22.Qe3 Rdf7 23.Qd2 gives White the advantage in space.(Lintchevski-Shimanov, Russian ChU20, St. Petersburg, 2008).
• If 13...Nce5 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.Rac1 then:
• 15...Bd7 16.f4 Nxd3 17.Qxd3 Bxc3 18.Rxc3 Bc6 19.Qxd6 draw (Marczell-Stettler, Corres, 1999).
• If 15...Re8 16.b3 b6 17.Bb1 Bb7 18.Na4 Nd7 19.Qd2 Bf8 20.Nxb6 Nxb6 21.Qa5 Bxe4 22.Bxe4 Rab8 23.Qxa6 leaves White up by a pawn (Kotronias-Kovacevic, Op, Linares, 2003).
• 12.Bf4 e5 13.Be3 Bg4 14.h3 Nd4 15.Bxd4 exd4 16.Nd5 Bxf3 17.Nxf6+ Bxf6 18.Qxf3 Bg7 draw (Wilhelmi-Farago, Op, Bled, 1999).
• If 11...Nbd7 12.Bf4 then:
• 12...Ng4 13.Rac1 Nge5 14.b3 b6 15.Bb1 Nxf3+ 16.Qxf3 Ne5 17.Qe3 Rb8 18.h3 Re8 19.Rd2 Bf8 20.Qg3 Be7 21.Rcd1 Bb7 22.Ne2 Rbc8 23.a3 b5 24.cxb5 axb5 25.Nd4 Qa5 26.Bxe5 dxe5 27.Qxe5 gives White an extra pawn (Bensiek-J. Edwards, Corres, 1997).
• If 12...Nh5 13.Be3 b6 14.Qd2 Rd8 15.Be2 Bf8 16.Bh6 Bb7 17.Rac1 Nhf6 18.Bxf8 Nxf8 19.Qd4 Ne8 20.b4 Rac8 21.Qe3 gives White a huge advantange in space, but not a lot to do with it for the time being (Leko-T. Bauer, Hungarian ChT, Hungary, 1994).
• If 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.Be3 Ne5 9.h3 Bc5 10.Kh1 d6 11.f4 Ng6 12.Qe1 then:
• If 12...0-0 13.f5 Ne5 14.Qh4 then:
• 14...b5 15.Rf3 Nxf3 16.gxf3 Ne8 17.Rg1 g6 18.Rg4 Qb7 19.Qh6 e5 20.Nd5 Bxd4 21.Bxd4 Be6 22.Rh4 f6 23.fxe6 exd4 24.Rg4 Ng7 Black is up by an exchange (García-Vescovi, Inter-Am Contenental, Cali, 2001).
• 14...Bd7 15.Rf3 Nxf3 16.gxf3 Qd8 17.Rg1 Ne8 18.Rxg7+ Nxg7 19.f6 Kh8 20.Bg5 Bxd4 21.fxg7+ Bxg7 22.e5 h6 23.Qe4 f5 24.exf6 Black resigns as mate is certain (Haznedaroglu-Iotov, Euro Ch, Antalya, 2005).
• 12...Bd7 13.f5 Ne5 14.Qg3 0-0 15.Nce2 exf5 16.Bh6 Nh5 17.Qg5 fxe4 18.Bxe4 g6 19.Bxf8 Rxf8 20.c3 Bc6 21.Nxc6 bxc6 22.Ng3 Qd8 draw (Sprenger-Hernandez, Op, Capelle la Grande, 2003).
• 6...d6 7.c4 Be7 8.Nc3 0-0 9.Be3 Nbd7 10.Rc1 Qc7 11.f4 b6 12.b4 Re8 13.Kh1 Bb7 14.f5 Bf8 15.fxe6 fxe6 16.Bg5 Rac8 17.Qe2 Qb8 18.Bxf6 Nxf6 19.Rxf6 gxf6 20.Qg4+ Kh8 21.Nxe6 gives White the advantage in space (Ulucan-Bednarich, Op, Nova Gorica, 2001).
• If 5...Nc6 6.Nxc6 then:
• If 6...dxc6 7.Nd2 e5 8.0-0 then:
• If 8...Qc7 9.a4 Nf6 then:
• If 10.Nc4 10...Be6 then:
• 11.Qf3 h5 12.Be3 h4 13.h3 Nd7 14.a5 f6 15.Nb6 Nxb6 16.Bxb6 Qf7 17.Be2 Be7 18.Rfd1 g6 19.Qc3 0-0 20.Rd2 Rae8 21.Rad1 f5 22.exf5 gxf5 23.Qxe5 gives White an extra pawn (Sareen-Miezis, Op, Calcutta, 2001).
• 11.Qe2 Bc5 12.Bg5 Nd7 13.a5 0-0 14.c3 h6 15.Bh4 Rfe8 16.Rfd1 Nf8 17.Bg3 Ng6 18.Qh5 Bd7 19.Be2 Rad8 gives White a small advantage in space (Zapata-Arambel, IT Buenos Aires, 2003).
• 10.Qf3 Bc5 11.Nc4 0-0 12.Ne3 Re8 13.Bc4 Be6 14.Bxe6 Rxe6 15.Nf5 g6 16.Nh6+ Kg7 17.Rd1 Rd8 18.Rxd8 Qxd8 19.Bg5 Qd4 gives Black a fair advantage in space (Keres-Tal, Candidates' Trmt, Belgrade, 1959).
• 8...Nf6 9.Nc4 Qc7 10.Bd2 b5 11.Ba5 Qb8 12.Nb6 Ra7 13.Nxc8 Qxc8 14.a4 Rd7 15.axb5 axb5 16.Qf3 Bd6 17.Bc3 0-0 18.Ra2 Rb7 19.Rfa1 gives White solid command of the a-fiel (Cheoarinov-Salgado, Op, Linares, 2003).
• If 6...bxc6 7.0-0 then:
• If 7...d5 8.Nc3 Nf6 then:
• If 9.Re1 Be7 10.e5 Nd7 11.Qg4 g6 then:
• 12.Na4 Qa5 13.Bh6 Qb4 14.Qxb4 Bxb4 15.c3 Ba5 16.b4 Bc7 17.f4 a5 18.b5 Nb6 19.Nxb6 Bxb6+ 20.Kf1 cxb5 21.Bxb5+ Bd7 22.Rab1 Bxb5+ 23.Rxb5 Bc7 24.c4 dxc4 25.Rc5 0-0-0 26.Rxc4 gives White more activity (Ponomariov-Rublevsky, Karpov Trmt, Poikovsky, 2006).
• 12.Bh6 Rb8 13.Qh3 Rb4 14.Bg7 Rg8 15.Qxh7 Rxg7 16.Qxg7 Bf8 17.Qg8 Qg5 18.g3 Nxe5 19.f4 Nf3+ 20.Kf2 Qh5 21.Bxg6 fxg6 22.Rxe6+ Bxe6 23.Qxe6+ Be7 24.Qxc6+ Kf8 25.Qa8+ Kg7 26.Qxd5 Nxh2 27.Qxh5 gxh5 28.Rh1 gives Black a Bishop for three pawns and a more active Bishop (J. Polgar-Anand, IT, Sofia, 2005).
• 9.Qe2 Bb7 10.Na4 Qc7 11.exd5 cxd5 12.c4 Bc6 13.Nc3 Rd8 14.Ne4 Nxe4 15.Bxe4 Qb7 16.Qf3 f6 draw (Vachier Lagrave-Lautier, French Ch, Besancon, 2006).
• 7...Qc7 8.c4 Nf6 9.Nc3 Be7 10.Be3 d6 11.f4 0-0 12.Rc1 Rb8 13.b3 Rd8 14.Qf3 Qa5 15.Kh1 e5 16.f5 Bb7 17.Qh3 d5 18.cxd5 Bb4 19.Na4 Ba8 20.Bg5 cxd5 gives White a small advantage in space (Ali Frhat-Pozharsky, Op, Ikaros, 2001).
• If 5...g6 then:
• If 6.0-0 Bg7 7.Be3 Ne7 then:
• If 8.c4 0-0 9.Nc3 d6 then:
• 10.Rc1 Nd7 11.Bb1 d5 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Nb3 Nf6 14.exd5 Nexd5 15.Nxd5 Nxd5 16.Bc5 Re8 17.Qd2 Nf6 18.Qxd8 draw (R. Byrne-Hübner, IT, Bugojno, 1978).
• 10.Be2 f5 11.c5 fxe4 12.Nxe4 b6 13.Nd6 bxc5 14.Nxc5 Nd4 15.Bd3 Qc7 16.Nce4 Be5 17.Be3 Ndf5 18.Rc1 Nc6 19.Nxf5 exf5 20.f4 gives White the advantage in space (Ermenkov-Kostur, Op, Dubai, 2000).
• 10.Qd2 Qc7 11.Rac1 Bd7 12.Rfd1 Nbc6 13.Nxc6 Bxc6 14.Bf1 Rad8 15.Bf4 Nc8 16.c5 Be5 17.Bxe5 dxe5 18.Qg5 Kg7 19.b4 Rd4 20.Rxd4 exd4 21.Ne2 h6 22.Qg4 Qe5 23.Ng3 Qg5 24.Qd1 Rd8 is equal (Y. Gruenfeld-Fr. Lombardy, Op, Lone Pine, 1981).
• 8.Nc3 0-0 9.f4 Nbc6 10.Nxc6 Nxc6 11.Qe1 d5 12.Bc5 Re8 13.e5 b6 14.Bf2 Nb4 15.Bh4 Qc7 16.a3 Nxd3 17.cxd3 Bb7 18.d4 Qc4 19.Rd1 a5 20.Rf3 h5 is equal (Admas-Vaisman, Frankrig, 1989).
• If 6.c4 Bg7 then:
• If 7.Nb3 Ne7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Nc3 Nbc6 then:
• 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 g5 12.Bg3 Ne5 13.Re1 N7g6 14.Bf1 b6 15.a4 d6 draw (Kudrin-Oratovsky, Op, Capelle la Grande, 1996).
• 7.Be3 Ne7 8.Nc3 d5 9.exd5 exd5 10.0-0 dxc4 11.Bxc4 0-0 then:
• 12.Re1 Nf5 13.Nxf5 Bxf5 14.Bc5 Qxd1 15.Raxd1 Bxc3 16.bxc3 Rc8 17.Bd4 Nc6 18.Bf6 Re8 19.f3 Rxe1+ 20.Rxe1 Na5 21.Bd5 Be6 22.c4 Kf8 gives White command of an open file and his Bishops are better placed than Black's Bishop/Knight combination (Rytshagov-Kengis, Op, Jyvaskyla, 2001).
• 12.Nb3 Nd7 13.Be2 Nf5 14.Bf4 g5 15.Bd2 Ne5 16.Ne4 h6 17.f4 gxf4 18.Bxf4 Qb6+ 19.Kh1 Ng6 20.Bd2 Ne3 21.Bxe3 Qxe3 22.Nf6+ Kh8 23.Bc4 Be6 24.Bxe6 draw (Smyslov-Olafsson, Teeside, 1975).
• If 5...Qb6 6.Nb3 Qc7 7.0-0 Nf6 then:
• If 8.Nc3 Be7 9.f4 d6 then:
• If 10.Qf3 Nbd7 11.Bd2 b6 12.Qg3 g6 13.Rae1 Bb7 14.a4 h6 15.e5 Nh5 16.Qf2 dxe5 17.fxe5 Nxe5 18.Nb5 axb5 19.Bxb5+ Nd7 20.Qxf7+ Kd8 21.Qxe6 gives Black a piece for two pawns but White has more than enough space to compensate (Stojanovski-Chuchelov, Corres, 2001).
• If 10.a4 then:
• If 10...Nc6 11.a5 b5 12.axb6 Qxb6+ 13.Kh1 0-0 14.Qe2 Nb4 15.Na5 Nxd3 16.cxd3 Bd7 17.Qe3 Qb4 18.Bd2 Qb8 19.b4 Rc8 20.Nc4 d5 21.exd5 exd5 22.Qxe7 dxc4 23.Ne4 Nxe4 24.dxe4 c3 25.Bxc3 Rxc3 26.Qxd7 Qxb4 gives both sides endgame chances (Delchev-Galego, Op, Andorra, 2006).
• If 10...b6 11.e5 Nfd7 12.exd6 Bxd6 13.Ne4 Be7 14.f5 exf5 15.Bf4 Ne5 16.Ng3 g6 17.Re1 f6 then:
• If 18.Nxf5? Bxf5 19.Bxf5 gxf5 20.Qh5+ Kd8 21.Rad1+ Kc8 22.Qxf5+ Kb7 23.Rxe5 fxe5 24.Bxe5 Rf8 25.Qe4+ Qc6 26.Qg4 Rd8 27.Rf1 Qd7 28.Qe4+ Qd5 White resigns (van Eijk-Laursen, Politiken Cup, Helsignor, 2007).
• If 18.Nd4 Nbc6 19.c3 Bc5 20.Bf1 0-0 gives Black a good game.

6.Nb3 Be7

• If 6...Ba7 7.Qe2 Nc6 8.Be3 d6 9.0-0 Nf6 then:
• If 10.Nc3 b5 11.Bxa7 Rxa7 12.f4 b4 13.Nd1 e5 14.f5 a5 15.Ne3 0-0 16.a4 bxa3 17.bxa3 Qb6 18.Kh1 Nd4 19.Nxd4 Qxd4 20.Ng4 Nxg4 21.Qxg4 gives Black a slight advantage in space (Mendoza-Sunye, Inter-Am Continental, Cali, 2001).
• If 10.N1d2 then:
• 10...Bxe3 11.Qxe3 0-0 12.Rad1 Qc7 13.Qg3 e5 14.c3 Be6 15.Qh4 Ne7 16.Qg3 Ng6 17.Rfe1 Rac8 18.Nf1 a5 19.Nc1 Nf4 gives Black a small edge in space (Andrzej-Suetin, Leipzig, 1980).
• 10...0-0 11.Bxa7 Rxa7 12.Qe3 draw (Stojanovic-Predojevic, Sozina. 2005).
• 13.c4 b6 14.f4 Bb7 15.Qh3 Rad8 16.Qh4 e5 17.Rf3 exf4 18.e5 dxe5 19.Bxh7+ Nxh7 20.Rh3 f6 21.Qxh7+ Kf7 22.Qh5+ Ke7 23.Qg6 Rg8 24.Re1 Kf8 25.c5 Ne7 26.Qc2 bxc5 leaves Black up by a pawn (Zinser-Kozma, Reggio Emilia, 1966).
• If 10.c4 0-0 11.Nc3 Bxe3 12.Qxe3 then:
• 12...Ne5 13.Be2 Qc7 14.Qd4 Nc6 15.Qe3 Ne5 16.Qd4 b6 17.Rfd1 Rd8 18.Rd2 Bb7 19.Rad1 gives White the edge in space (Evelev-V. Ivanov, Muni Ch, Moscow, 1999).
• 12...b6 13.Rfd1 Rb8 14.Bf1 Qe7 15.Rd2 Rd8 16.Rad1 h6 17.h3 e5 18.Nd5 Nxd5 19.cxd5 Na5 20.Rc1 Nxb3 21.Qxb3 b5 22.Rdc2 gives White the advantage in space (Bolke-Vetter, Bundesliga, Germany, 1999).
• 12...e5 13.Rfd1 Be6 14.Be2 Rc8 15.Rd2 Na5 16.Nxa5 Qxa5 17.Rxd6 Bxc4 18.Bxc4 Rxc4 19.Rad1 Qc5 20.Qxc5 Rxc5 21.f3 gives White command of the open file, but Black is in position to defend (Khairullin-Stellwagen, World Jr Ch, Yerevan, 2006).

15.Qd2 Ne5 draw (Sinowjew-Razuvaev, Op, Dortmund, 2002).

7.0-0 d6 8.Qg4

• If 8.c4 Nf6 9.Nc3 Nbd7 10.f4 b6 then:
• 11.Be3 Bb7 12.Qf3 Qc7 13.Qh3 h5 14.Kh1 g5 15.fxg5 Ng4 16.Bf4 Nde5 17.Be2 0-0-0 18.Bxe5 Nxe5 19.Nd5 Bxd5 20.cxd5 Kb7 21.dxe6 fxe6 22.Nd4 Rdg8 23.Rac1 gives White a huge advantage in space focusing on Black's e-pawn (Sanikidze-Nestorovic. Euro ChU16, Urgup, 2004).
• 11.Qe2 Qc7 12.Bd2 Bb7 13.Rae1 Rd8 14.Bb1 0-0 15.Kh1 Rc8 16.e5 Ne8 17.Bd3 g6 18.exd6 Nxd6 19.f5 Nxf5 20.Bxf5 gxf5 21.Nd5 Bxd5 22.cxd5 Qc4 23.dxe6 fxe6 24.Qxe6+ draw (Goginenni-Vachier Lagrave, World Youth Ch, Belfort, 2005).

8...g6 9.Qg3

• If 9.Qe2 Nd7 then:
• 10.Nc3 10...Qc7 11.Bd2 b6 12.Rae1 Bb7 13.Kh1 h5 14.Nd4 Ngf6 15.h3 h4 16.Nf3 Ne5 17.a4 Kf8 18.Bg5 Nh5 19.Bxe7+ Kxe7 is equal (Korneev-Epishin, Op, ReykjaVIK, 2004).
• 10.c4 Qc7 11.Nc3 b6 12.Be3 Bb7 13.Rac1 Ngf6 14.Bh6 Ne5 15.h3 Nfd7 16.Nd2 g5 17.f4 gxf4 18.Bxf4 h5 19.Nf3 h4 20.Kh1 gives White a small advantage in space (Agopov-Kveinys, Op, Jyvaskyla (Finland), 2001).

9...Qc7!?

• If 9...Nd7 10.Nc3 Qc7 then:
• 11.Be3 b6 12.f4 Ngf6 13.Rae1 Bb7 14.Bd4 Rc8 15.e5 Nh5 16.Qe3 0-0 17.g4 Ng7 18.Be4 dxe5 19.fxe5 Bxe4 20.Qxe4 b5 21.Qf4 f5 22.exf6 Qxf4 23.Rxf4 Bxf6 24.Bxf6 Rxf6 25.Rd4 gives White the advantage in space (Klimov-Kuporosov. White Nights Op, St. Petersburg, 2002).
• 11.Bd2 Ngf6 12.Kh1 b6 13.f4 Bb7 14.Rae1 e5 15.fxe5 Nxe5 16.Bg5 Nh5 17.Qh4 h6 18.Bxe7 Qxe7 19.Qxe7+ Kxe7 20.Nd5+ Bxd5 21.exd5 gives White a small advantage in space (Matulovic-Pikula, Vrnjacka Banja, 1988).

10.a4

• If 10.Rd1 Nc6 11.a4 then:
• If 11...Ne5 12.Nc3 Bd7 13.Be2 Bc6 14.Nd4 Nf6 15.f4 gives White the advantage in space.
• 11...Nb4 12.Nc3 Nf6 13.a5 Bd7 14.Be3 Rc8 15.Bb6 gives White a huge advantage in space.

10...b6

• 10...Nc6 11.a5 Ne5 12.Nc3 Bd7 13.Be3 Nxd3 14.cxd3 Bc6 15.d4 gives White the advantage in space.

11.Na3!?

• 11.a5 bxa5 12.Nxa5 Bd7 13.Nc3 Nc6 14.Nxc6 Qxc6 15.Rd1 gives White a significant advantage in space.
• 11.Nc3 Nc6 12.Rd1 Bb7 13.a5 bxa5 14.Nc5 Bc8 15.Ra4 gives White a huge advantage in space.
• 11.Be3 Nc6 12.Nc3 Nf6 13.a5 bxa5 14.Rfd1 Rb8 15.Bg5 gives White a considerable advantage in space.

11...Bb7 12.Nc4

• If 12.a5 bxa5 13.Nc4 Nf6 14.Re1 then:
• If 14...Nbd7 15.Nbxa5 0-0 16.Bf4 e5 17.Bh6 gives White a substansial lead in space..
• 14...a4 15.Nba5 Bc6 16.Be3 0-0 17.Nxc6 Nxc6 18.Rxa4 gives White a huge advantage in space.

12...Nd7 13.Be3

• 13.Re1 Rb8 14.f3 Ngf6 15.Bf4 e5 16.Bh6 gives White a considerable advantage in space.

13...Ngf6 14.f3 Rb8

• If 14...Rc8 15.Qf2 Nc5 16.Nxc5 bxc5 17.Qd2 d5 18.Bf4 Qc6 19.exd5 Nxd5 20.Bh6 gives White a fair advantage in space.
• 15...Bd8 16.a5 b5 17.Nb6 Rb8 18.Rac1 Ne5 19.Qe2 gives White a small advantage in space.

15.Bh6 Nh5

• If 15...Rc8 16.Rfe1 Nh5 17.Qf2 d5 18.exd5 Bxd5 is equal.
• After 16...d5? White wins a piece by 17.Bf4 Nxe4 18.fxe4.

16.Qh3 d5

• If 16...Bf6 17.c3 Ne5 18.Nxe5 dxe5 then:
• 19.Rfd1 19...Nf4 20.Bxf4 exf4 is equal.
• 19.Bc2 Nf4 20.Bxf4 exf4 21.Qh6 e5 22.Rad1 is equal.

17.exd5 Bxd5 18.Ncd2 b5

• 18...Bb7 19.f4 Ndf6 20.g3 Nd5 21.f5 exf5 22.Rae1 Kd8 is equal.

19.axb5 axb5 20.f4 Bd6

• If 20...Ndf6 21.g4 Ng8 22.Bg5 Qb6+ 23.Rf2 then:
• 23...h6 24.Bxe7 Nxf4 25.Bxb5+ Qxb5 26.Rxf4 Nxe7 27.c4 Qb6+ is equal.
• 23...Ngf6 24.gxh5 gxh5 25.Kf1 h6 26.Bxf6 Bxf6 27.c3 leaves White a piece to the good.

21.f5 Ne5?

• If 21...Nhf6 22.Bg7 Rg8 23.Bxf6 then:
• 23...gxf5 24.Bd4 Rxg2+ 25.Qxg2 Bxg2 26.Kxg2 Bxh2 is unclear: Black has a slight theoretical material advantage; White has a slight advantage in space.
• 23...Nxf6 24.fxg6 Be5 25.gxf7+ Kxf7 gives White an extra pawn.

BLACK: Fabiano Carauna
!""""""""#
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/(((((((()
WHITE: Mickey Adams
Position after 21...Nd7e5

22.Rae1!

• Control of the e-file is White's route to a win.

22...Rg8

• 22...exf5 23.Nd4 Qc5 24.Be3 Qb4 25.Bxf5!! leaves the Bishop safe where he is because if 25...gxf5? then:
• 26.Qxh5 Kd7 27.Qxf5+ Be6 28.Qe4 Rhe8 29.Ra1 gives White an overwhelming position.
• 26.Qxf5? Ng7 27.Qg5 Ne6 28.Nxe6 fxe6 29.Qg7 Ng6 leaves Black a piece to the good.

23.Be4 Ng4

• If 23...Bc4 24.Nxc4 bxc4 25.Nd2 exf5 26.Bxf5 then:
• 26...Kd8 27.b3 cxb3 28.cxb3 gxf5 29.Qxh5 gives White the opportunity to pick off Black's weak kingside pawns.
• 26...gxf5 27.Qxh5 Qc6 28.Nf3 Rb5 29.Rf2 has White threatening 30.Nd4, winning a piece.

24.Qxg4 Bxh2+ 25.Kh1 Ng3+

• Black gets back his lost material, but it no longer matters.

26.Kxh2 Nxf1+ 27.Kg1 Nxd2 28.Nxd2 Qb6+

• 28...Rd8 29.fxe6 Bxe6 30.Qf3 g5 31.Bxh7 Qc5+ 32.Kf1 Rxd2 33.Bxg8 Qc4+ 34.Kg1 leaves White up a piece.

29.Be3 Qc6 30.Bxd5 Qxd5 31.Ne4 1-0

• 31...Qe5 32.Qh4 g5 33.Bxg5 Rxg5 34.Qxg5 gives White an extra piece.
• Il sengiore Carauna resigns.

[Jack Rabbit]

6. Koneru - Pérez, Ruy López Festival, Mérida

Koneru Humpy is the world's second ranked woman player after Judit Polgar. She finish tied for third in Mérida.



Koneru Humpy
Photo: ChessBase.com


Koneru Humpy - Manuel Pérez Candelario
Ruy López Chess Festival, Round 6
Mérida, 10 April 2008

Semi-Slav Queen's Gambit: Stoltz Opening

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e3 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3

• (Stoltz-Shabalov Opening) If 7.g4 then:
• If 7...dxc4 8.Bxc4 then:
• If 8...e5 9.g5 Nd5 10.Bd2 exd4 then:
• If 11.Nxd4 11...0-0 then:
• 12.Nxd5 cxd5 13.Bd3 g6 14.h4 Nc5 15.f4 Bg4 16.Bc3 Re8 17.Kf2 Qd7 18.h5 Nxd3+ 19.Qxd3 Re4 20.hxg6 fxg6 is equal (Radjobov-Shirov, Rapid m, León, 2004).
• 12.0-0-0 Ne5 13.Nxd5 cxd5 14.Bxd5 Bg4 15.Bc3 Bb4 16.Ne2 Bxc3 17.Nxc3 Bxd1 18.Rxd1 Qe7 19.Qe4 Rad8 20.h4 Ng6 21.Qa4 gives White a huge advantage in space, but Black has a Rook for a pawn and a minor piece (Adly-Pantela, Op, Reykjavik, 2006).
• 11.Qe4+ Qe7 12.Qxd4 Ne5 13.Nxe5 Bxe5 14.Nxd5 cxd5 15.Bb5+ Kf8 16.Qxd5 Bxb2 then:
• If 17.Qb3 Ba3 18.Bc4Bc5 19.Bd5 Be6 20.Bxe6 fxe6 21.Rc1 b6 22.Rg1 Rd8 23.Rg4 Qd6 24.Bc3 gives White a slight advantage in space (Perelshteyn-Lugo, US Ch, San Diego, 2006).
• 17.Rb1 Be6 18.Qe4 Ba3 19.Bc4 Bxc4 20.Qxc4 b6 21.Rg1 gives White the advantage in space (Vallejo-Bareev, Amber Rapid, Monte Carlo, 2005).
• 8...b6 9.e4 Bb7 10.e5 c5 11.exf6 Bxf3 12.fxg7 Rg8 13.Qxh7 Nf6 14.Bb5+ Ke7 15.Bg5 Bf4 16.Qh3 Bxh1 17.Bxf4 Qxd4 18.Qg3 Ne4 19.Qh4+ Qf6 20.g5 Qxg7 21.0-0-0 Rad8 22.g6+ f6 23.Rxh1 Rh8 24.Qg4 Nxf2 25.Qf3 Nxh1 26.Bd6+ Kxd6 27.Qc6+ Ke5 28.Qe4+ draws by perpetual check (Onischuk-Becerra, US Ch, San Diego, 2004).
• If 8...b5 then:
• If 9.Be2 Bb7 10.g5 Nd5 11.Ne4 Be7 12.Bd2 Rc8 13.Nc5 Nxc5 14.dxc5 Bxg5 15.0-0-0 Bh6 16.Ne5 Qe7 17.Ng4 Bg5 18.f4 Bh4 19.e4 Nf6 20.Nxf6+ Bxf6 21.Ba5 gives White a huge lead in space (Nestorovic-Milenkovic, Yugoslav ChT, Cetinje, 1993).
• 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.g5 Nd5 11.Ne4 Be7 12.Bd2 Qb6 13.Rc1 Nb4 14.Bxb4 Bxb4+ 15.Ke2 c5 16.a3 c4 17.axb4 Bd5 18.Nfd2 0-0 19.Rhg1 e5 20.dxe5 Rad8 21.Nf6+ Nxf6 22.Bf5 Nh5 is equal (Shirov-Akopian, IT, Biel, 1993).
• 8...Nd5 then:
• If 9.Ne4 Be7 10.Bd2 b6 11.0-0-0 Bb7 12.Ne5 a5 13.h4 f6 14.Nd3 b5 15.Bb3 a4 16.Bxd5 cxd5 17.Nec5 Nxc5 18.Nxc5 Bxc5 19.dxc5 d4 20.e4 draw (Sargissian-Korneev, Euro Ch, Warsaw, 2005).
• 9.Bd2 b5 10.Be2 Bb7 11.Ne4 Be7 12.Nc5 Nxc5 13.dxc5 Qc7 14.a4 0-0 15.h4 a5 16.Rc1 bxa4 17.Bd3 h6 18.Qxa4 Ba6 19.Bxa6 Rxa6 20.b4 gives White a small advantage in space (Nakamura-Beliavsky, Op, Minneapolis, 2005).
• 7...Bb4 8.Bd2 Qe7 then:
• If 9.Rg1 Bxc3 10.Bxc3 Ne4 11.0-0-0 Nxc3 12.Qxc3 0-0 then:
• 13.Bd3 dxc4 14.Bxc4 c5 15.Kb1 a6 16.Bd3 b5 17.Qc2 g6 18.Be4 Ra7 19.g5 Rc7 20.h4 Nb6 21.dxc5 Rxc5 22.Qd3 Bb7 23.Nh2 Bxe4 24.Qxe4 Rc4 25.Rd4 gives White a small advantage in space (Milanovic-Lazic, Bosnian ChT, Jahorina, 2001).
• 13.g5 dxc4 14.Bxc4 b5 15.Bd3 Bb7 16.Qc2 g6 17.Be4 Rab8 18.Kb1 c5 19.Bxb7 Rxb7 20.dxc5 Nxc5 21.Ne5 Rc7 22.h4 Rfc8 23.Ng4 Na4 24.Qe4 Rc2 25.Qe5 Qc7 26.Nf6+ Kf8 27.Nxh7+ Ke7 28.Qf6+ Ke8 29.Qh8+ Ke7 30.Qf6+ Ke8 31.Qh8+ draws by repetition (Sargissian-Sveshnikov, Petrosian Mem, Stepanakert, 2004).
• If 9.Bd3 then:
• 9...e5 10.cxd5 Bxc3 11.Bxc3 e4 12.dxc6 exd3 13.cxd7+ Qxd7 14.Qb3 Qxg4 15.Qd1 0-0 16.Rg1 Qe4 17.Nd2 Qd5 18.Qf3 Bf5 19.Qxd5 Nxd5 20.Nc4 Rfd8 is equal (Vorobiov-P. Smirnov, Russian Ch semif, Krasnoyarsk, 2003).
• 9...Bxc3 10.Bxc3 dxc4 11.Bxc4 b5 12.Bd3 Bb7 13.e4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 f5 15.Bd3 c5 16.Rg1 Bxf3 17.dxc5 fxg4 is equal (Moranda-Vitiugov, Belfort, 2005).
• 7...h6 8.Rg1 e5 9.cxd5 cxd5 then:
• If 10.Bd2 e4 11.Nb5 Bb8 then:
• If 12.Nh4 a6 13.Nf5 0-0 14.Nbd6 Bxd6 15.Nxd6 Nb8 is equal (Aronian-Topalov, Amber Rapid, Nice, 2008).
• 12.Rc1 0-0 13.g5 exf3 14.gxf6 Nxf6 15.Bb4 Re8 16.Nc7 Bxc7 17.Qxc7 Ne4 Black has an extra pawn, but White has more than enough space in compensation (Janssen-Smeets, Dutch Ch, Leeuwarden, 2005).
• 10.g5 hxg5 11.Nxg5 e4 12.Nb5 Nb6 13.Bd2 Bf5 14.h3 Bh2 15.Rg2 Rc8 16.Qb3 Bb8 17.Bb4 Nh7 18.Nxh7 Rxh7 19.Rg1 Rc6 gives Black a subtansial advantage in space (Zappa-Junior, World Computer Ch, Reykjavik, 2005).
• If 8.Bd2 then:
• If 8...dxc4 9.Bxc4 b5 10.Be2 Bb7 then:
• If 11.e4 Be7 then:
• If 12.g5 hxg5 13.Nxg5 Rc8 14.Rg1 Nf8 15.e5 b4 16.Na4 N6d7 17.Ne4 c5 18.Nexc5 Bxc5 19.Nxc5 Nxc5 20.dxc5 Qd4 21.Be3 Qxe5 22.Bb5+ Ke7 23.0-0-0 Bd5 24.Qe2 Ng6 25.Rg5 Qe4 26.f3 Black resigns in the face of material loss (Dronavalli-van der Bersselaar, Op, Gibraltar, 2008).


• If 12.e5 b4 13.exf6 bxc3 14.fxe7 cxd2+ 15.Nxd2 Qxe7 16.Bf3 Rb8 17.Nb3 0-0 18.0-0-0 c5 19.Bxb7 Rxb7 20.dxc5 Rc7 21.Kb1 Nxc5 22.Rc1 Rfc8 23.Nxc5 Rxc5 24.Qd2 Qf6 25.Rxc5 Rxc5 26.Rg1 Rd5 27.Qe2 Qf4 gives Black a small advantage in space (Dronavalli-Nakamura, Op, Gibraltar, 2008).
• If 11.g5 hxg5 12.Nxg5 Qe7 13.Nce4 Nxe4 14.Nxe4 0-0 15.Nxd6 Qxd6 16.Bf3 Rab8 17.0-0-0 Rfc8 18.Rhg1 gives White the advantage in space (Sargissian-Hillarp Person, Op. Reykjavik, 2006).
• If 11.Rg1 Rc8 12.g5 hxg5 13.Rxg5 Kf8 14.Ne5 Qe7 15.Bf3 Bxe5 16.dxe5 Nd5 17.Rh5 Rxh5 18.Bxh5 Kg8 19.0-0-0 Qh4 20.Be2 Qxf2 21.Rf1 Qg2 22.Qe4 Qxe4 23.Nxe4 Nxe5 24.Nc5 leaves Black up by two pawns (Radjobov-Anand, Rapid Ch, Mainz, 2006).
• 8...Qe7 9.Rg1 e5 10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.Ne4 Bb4 12.0-0-0 exd4 13.Nxd4 Bxd2+ 14.Rxd2 g6 15.Bc4 Nb4 16.Qb3 0-0 17.Nf5 gxf5 18.gxf5+ Kh7 19.Nd6 Nd5 20.Bxd5 cxd5 21.Qxd5 Nf6 gives Black a Bishop for two pawns (Kasimdzhanov-Bareev, Corus A, Wijk aan Zee, 2002).
• If 7.b3 0-0 8.Be2 then:
• If 8...b6 9.0-0 Bb7 10.Bb2 then:
• If 10...Qe7 then:
• If 11.Rad1 Rfe8 then:
• 12.e4 Nxe4 13.Nxe4 dxe4 14.Qxe4 Rad8 15.Rfe1 Bb4 16.Rf1 Bd6 17.Rfe1 Bb4 18.Rf1 Bd6 19.Rfe1 Bb4 20.Rf1 Bd6 draw (Carlsen-Leko, IT, Morelia-Linares, 2007).
• If 12.Rfe1 Rad8 13.Bd3 then:
• If 13...c5 14.cxd5 exd5 15.Bf5 Nf8 16.Bh3 Ng6 17.Nb5 Bb8 18.dxc5 bxc5 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.b4 a6 21.Nc3 Qc7 22.Na4 d4 23.Qxc5 Bxf3 24.Qxc7 Bxc7 25.gxf3 dxe3 26.fxe3 Rxd1 27.Rxd1 Rxe3 28.Bf1 Ra3 29.Nc5is equal (Gelfand-Kasidzhanov, Candidates' m, Elista, 2007).
• 13...e5 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.e4 dxe4 16.Nxe4 Nxe4 17.Bxe4 Bxe4 18.Qxe4 Nf6 19.Qf5 e4 20.d5 Bb4 21.Re2 Nxd5 leaves Black a pawn to the good (K. Georgiev-Kasimdzhanov, World Cup, Khanty-Mansiysk, 2007).
• 11.Rfd1 Rfe8 12.e4 Nxe4 13.Nxe4 dxe4 14.Qxe4 Rad8 15.h3 Nf6 16.Qe3 c5 17.Ne5 Qc7 18.Bd3 h6 19.Bc2 b5 20.Qe2 bxc4 21.Nxc4 Bh2+ 22.Kh1 Qc6 23.f3 Bc7 is equal (Karpov-Bareev, Rapid, Paris, 1992).
• 10...c5 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Rad1 Rc8 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.Qf5 Qe7 15.Rfe1 Rfd8 16.Bf1 Ne5 17.Nb5 Nxf3+ 18.gxf3 Bb8 19.Bxf6 Qxf6 20.Qxf6 gxf6 21.Bh3 Rc6 is equal (Gurevich-Kaidanov, Chicago, 1995).
• If 8...e5 9.cxd5 then:
• 9...cxd5 10.Nb5 Bb4+ 11.Bd2 Bxd2+ 12.Nxd2 a6 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Nd4 Bg4 15.Bxg4 Nfxg4 16.0-0 Rc8 17.Qf5 g6 18.Qf4 Qe7 19.N2f3 Nxf3+ 20.Qxf3 Nf6 21.Rac1 Ne4 22.Qe2 Qa3 23.Rc2 Nd6 24.f3 Rxc2 25.Qxc2 is equal (Gelfand-Morozevich, Tal Mem, Moscow, 2006).
• 9...Nxd5 10.Nxd5 cxd5 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.Bb2 Bb4+ 13.Kf1 Nxf3 14.Bxf3 Be6 15.Qd3 Be7 16.Ke2 Qa5 17.Rhc1 Rac8 18.a3 h6 19.Kf1 Qb6 20.Kg1 Qd6 21.Bd1 Rc6 22.Rxc6 bxc6 23.Bc2 f5 24.b4 c5 25.bxc5 Qxc5 26.Qd4 Qxd4 27.Bxd4 Kf7 is equal (Portisch-Hübner, Brussels, 1986).

7...0-0 8.0-0 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b5

• If 9...a6 10.Rd1 b5 11.Be2 Qc7 then:
• 12.Ne4 Nxe4 13.Qxe4 e5 14.Qh4 Re8 15.Bd3 h6 16.Bd2 Be7 17.Qg3 Bd6 18.Qh4 Be7 draw (Burmakin-Dreev, Op, Novgorod, 1999; several games since have ended here or after one or two more moves in an agreed draw).
• 12.e4 e5 13.g3 Re8 14.a3 exd4 15.Nxd4 Be5 16.Bf3 c5 17.Nde2 c4 18.Nd5 Nxd5 19.exd5 Bd6 20.Bf4 Ne5 21.Bxe5 Rxe5 22.Nd4 g6 is equal (Bologan-Karjakin, IT, Dortmund, 2001).

10.Be2 Bb7 11.Rd1 Qb8

• If 11...Qc7 then:
• If 12.e4 e5 then:
• If 13.g3 Rfe8 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Bg5 then:
• If 15...b4 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.Nxe5 Rxe5 18.Nb1 c5 19.Nd2 Bf8 20.Bg4 Rae8 21.f3 Rg5 22.Bf5 Bd6 23.Nf1 c4 gives Black the advantage in space (Szeberenyi-Pavasovic, Hungarian ChT, Hungary, 2003).
• 15...Nxf3+ 16.Bxf3 Qe7 17.Bg2 Be5 18.Ne2 Qb4 19.Rd2 Rad8 20.Rad1 Rxd2 21.Rxd2 Qa5 22.b3 c5 23.Rd1 h6 24.Bd2 Qa6 25.Bc3 Bxc3 26.Nxc3 b4 27.Nd5 Nxd5 28.exd5 Qd6 is equal (Ibragimov-Asrian, Op, Dubai, 2000).
• 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Nd4 Bc5 15.h3 Qb6 16.Be3 Rad8 17.Nf5 Bxe3 18.Nxe3 Ng6 19.Rxd8 Rxd8 draw (Parker-Thorhallsson, Euro ChT, Saint Vincent, 2005).
• If 12.Bd2 Rfe8 13.Rac1 a6 14.b4 e5 then:
• If 15.h3 h6 16.a3 exd4 17.exd4 Nb6 18.Re1 Nbd5 19.Nxd5 Nxd5 20.Bd3 a5 21.Bh7+ Kh8 22.Be4 gives White the advantage in space (Beliavsky-Pavasovic, Vidmar mem, Terme Zrece, 2003).
• 15.a3 h6 16.Bd3 exd4 17.exd4 Nb6 18.Re1 Rad8 19.Ne2 Nbd5 20.Ng3 Rxe1+ 21.Rxe1 Ng4 22.Bh7+ Kh8 23.Bf5 gives White the advantage in space (Soltau-Benejam, cyberspace, 2003).

12.e4 e5 13.dxe5

• 13.g3 Re8 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Bg5 Nxf3+ 16.Bxf3 Be5 17.Rd2 h6 draw (Morovic-Fridman, Ol, Calvia, 2004).

13...Nxe5 14.Nd4 Neg4!?

• If 14...Ng6 15.g3 Re8 16.Nf5 then:
• 16...Bf8 17.Bf3 b4 18.Nb1 c5 favors Black since White's queenside is cramped.(Evdokimov-Asrian, Euro Ch, Dresden, 2007).
• 16...Bc5 17.a3 a5 18.Bg5 Qe5 19.Bf3 Rac8 20.Bxf6 Qxf6 21.Na4 Bf8 22.Nc5 Ne5 23.Be2 Rc7 24.Nxb7 Rxb7 is equal (Alverez-Scheffner, cyberspace, 2000).

15.g3

• The position is equal.
• After 15.h3?! Bh2+ 16.Kf1 Ne5 17.Bg5 Ned7 18.a4 b4 19.Na2 c5 White is in retreat.

15...g6 16.Bf3 a6?!

• This presents White with the opportunity to disturb the balance.
16...Re8 17.Bg5 b4 18.Na4 c5 19.Nxc5 Rc8 20.Ndb3 Bxc5 21.Nxc5 Qe5 remains equal.

17.Nb3?!

• Better is 17.Bg2 c5 18.Nb3 Rd8 19.Na5 when:
After
• 19...Ra7 20.h3 b4 21.Na4 Ne5 22.Nxb7 Rxb7 23.f4 White is threatening to win material.
• After 19...Be5 20.Rxd8+ Qxd8 21.Nxb7 Qb6 22.h3 White is a piece to the good.

17...Bc8?

• This move leaves the c6 pawn at risk.
• 17...Rd8 18.h3 Ne5 19.Bg2 Nc4 20.Bg5 Be7 21.Rxd8+ Qxd8 22.Rd1 Qf8 gives White only a small advantage in space.

18.h3

• Best is 18.Bg2 Kg7 19.Na5! Ne5 20.Ne2 Qc7 21.Bf4 Bg4 22.Nxc6 winning the pawn at c6.

18...Ne5

• 18...b4 19.hxg4 bxc3 20.g5 cxb2 21.Bxb2 Nd7 22.Rab1 Qc7 23.Rbc1 gives White a comfortable advantage in space.

19.Bg2 Nh5

• If 19...Nc4 20.Nd4 Bb7 21.Bg5 then:
• 21...Be7 22.Bf4 Qc8 23.b3 Na3 24.Qb2 b4 25.Na4 gives White a comfortable advantage in space.
• 21...Nd7 22.b3 Ndb6 23.bxc4 Nxc4 24.e5gives White an extra piece.

BLACK: Manuel Pérez Candelario
!""""""""#
$tWv+ Tl+%
$+ + +o+o%
$o+oV +o+%
$+o+ M +m%
$ + +p+ +%
$+nN + Pp%
$pPq+ Pb+%
$R Br+ K %
/(((((((()
WHITE: Koneru Humpy
Position after 19...Nf6h5

20.f4!!

• White's plan is to aggressively advance, increasing her spatial advantage and pushing Black off the board.

20...Nc4 21.e5!

• The Bishop must evacuate, leaving White dominat in the center.

21...Bc7

• 21...Qb6+ 22.Qf2 Bc7 23.Nd4 Bb7 24.b3 c5 25.Nf3 gives White a considerable lead in space.

22.g4 Qa7+

• After 22...Bb6+ 23.Kh2 Ng7 24.Bxc6 Bb7 25.Bxb7 Qxb7 26.a4 bxa4 27.Rxa4 White has an extra pawn.

23.Kh1

• The text is better than 23.Kh2 Ne3 24.Bxe3 Qxe3 25.gxh5 Qxf4+ 26.Kh1 Bf5.

23...Ng3+ 24.Kh2 f6

• Black's Knight at g3 and pawn at c6 are hanging.
• 24...b4 25.Na4 Ne3 26.Bxe3 Qxe3 27.Qd2 forces the Black Queen to abandon the Knight.

BLACK: Manuel Pérez Candelario
!""""""""#
$t+v+ Tl+%
$W V + +o%
$o+o+ Oo+%
$+o+ P +m%
$ +m+ Pp+%
$+nN + Mp%
$pPq+ +bK%
$R Br+ + %
/(((((((()
WHITE: Koneru Humpy
Position after 24...f7f6

25.Nd4!

• The text is better than 25.Kxg3 fxe5 26.Bxc6 exf4+ 27.Kg2 Bb7 28.Bxb7 Qxb7+ 29.Qe4.

25...Nf1+

• Black could have resigned here; White wins material in any event.
• After 25...Bb7 26.Ne6 fxe5 27.Rd7 Bd6 28.Nxf8 Rxf8 White wins a piece with 29.b3 exf4 30.bxc4.

26.Bxf1 fxe5 27.Nxc6

• Black's pawn at c6 falls.

27...Qc5 28.Bg2 exf4 29.Bd5+ Be6 30.Bxe6+ Kh8 31.Nd5 1-0

• After 31...Qxc6 32.Nxc7 Qxc7 33.b3 Qe7 34.Qc3+ Rf6 35.g5 White has an easy win.
• El señor Pérez resigns.
• Ms. Koneru simply crushed her opponent under the dead weight of space.

[Jack Rabbit]

7. Official websites for tournaments starting this week

European Championships, Plovdiv
FIDE Grand Prix, Baku
Sigeman & Company Chess Tournament, Malmø