EDITORIAL

The best female chessplayer in the against the top players. Now Yifan Hou has
world is Chinese gained the decisive Elo points in Gibraltar (see
also p. 10) to overtake Judit Polgar’s place as the
At the Chess Olympiad 2014 Judit Polgar an-
best woman player in the world (2686 compared
nounced her retirement from professional
chess. Born in 1976, the youngest of the three
Polgar sisters, she was the first woman to sur-
pass the 2600 Elo barrier as a 17 year-old. In
2003 she was already rated over 2700 Elo and
was the only woman playing alongside the male
elite of super grandmasters. For a long time
there was no-one anywhere near Judit Polgar
in the women’s world ranking list. The best fe-
male player, seemingly forever, was playing in
her own world – in the male world. It did not
look like any woman would again reach such
heights. However, Yifan Hou seems to be tread- Yifan Hou: best female player in the world
ing in Polgar’s footsteps. Naturally, after having
to 2675). Gibraltar 2012 also witnessed the only
encounter between these two exceptional wom-
en players. In the diagram the Chinese player
first collected material with 24.¤xe6! and won
the game in convincing fashion.
Yifan Hou’s success has not come by chance,
but as the result of long-term planning and
work in China. The Chinese women now oc-
cupy first place in the FIDE ranking list for
countries, which is based on the average of
the best ten players; and the men have also
reached second place behind Russia. And yet
the Chinese have hardly any active tournament
players. Number 100 in the Chinese ranking
list has only just 2200 Elo (as a comparison: in
two children Judit Polgar was not as active or
Germany it is 2440). But China has six players
as successful as at her peak and so the Chinese
above 2700, Germany only one.
player, born in 1994, was able to come ever
nearer to her on the world ranking list. At the Chess Olympiad 2014 the Chinese wom-
en were only just beaten by the Russians. But in
Unlike Polgar, Yifan Hou also plays in women’s
the men’s event the Chinese team surprisingly
tournaments, which is not necessarily con-
won the gold medal – for the first time in the
ducive to a rapid gain in Elo points. But as
history of this tournament, but certainly not for
women’s world champion, she also receives
the last time.
invitations to top level men’s tournaments and
there she has proved that she can hold her own Your André Schulz

ChessBase Magazine #165 | 3

 Chessbase Magazine
Contents of the DVD
TOP TOURNAMENTS OPENINGS (See also booklet from p. 11)
Wijk an Zee: Magnus Carlsen started badly, but Sagar Shah: English 3.Bg2 h6
6 wins out of 6 in the middle of the tournament
were sufficient for the sole lead. Those in second
place Ding Liren, Wesley So and Maxime Vachier-
Lagrave have each annotated a game for Chess- Really 3...h6? But
Base Magazine. Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Mi- Sagar Shah gives good
hail Marin have analysed games in video format. reasons and in doing
In addition you will find on the DVD all 13 daily so can even point to
summaries by Daniel King. Other annotations a game Kramnik-Carl-
have been contributed by Ftacnik, Gormally, Ha- sen, Moscow 2011
vasi, Krasenkow, Mokal, Pavlovic, Postny Sumets,
Shah and Szabo. Souleidis: Double Fianchetto
Gibraltar: Hikaru Nakamura was the No. 1 seed Sumets: Old Indian 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3
in the major Open in Gibraltar and impressively
confirmed his position: first 6 out of 6, finishing Ris: Accelerated Dragon 8...d5
with 8.5 out of 10. The American has annotated Szabo: Sicilian English Attack
for us his game against the young GM Adhiban
Baskaran. For his part the Indian has provided Havasi: French Tarrasch 3...Nf6
comments on his two best games. On the DVD
you will find other annotated games by Romain Marin: French Tarrasch 3...c5
Edouard, Hou Yifan, Michael Roiz, Nikita Vi-
tiugov and Dennis Wagner.
Baden-Baden: Arkadij Naiditsch had an excel- In his article on the
lent tournament: a victory against the world Tarrasch Variation
champion and an undefeated 4.5 out of 7. But Mihail Marin goes into
Carlsen reached the same score at the end and what Korchnoi played
won through in the tiebreak. With annotations by against Karpov in 1981
Krasenkow, Mokal, Roiz, Shah and Szabo. and what he didn’t

Zürich: Even without the world champion there

was a select field of participants. Hikaru Nakamura Kuzmin: Slav 4.e3 Bg4
came in second in the classical tournament, nor Postny: Ragosin Defence 5.Bg5 h6
did he win in rapid chess. But in the overall classi-
fication he finished level first with Anand. Thanks Stohl: Semi-Slav/Catalan 5.g3
to his victory in the Armageddon game the Ameri-
can took overall first place. With annotations by
Krasenkow and Pavlovic.
Anish Giri was defeated
GP Tbilisi: This came as a real surprise. No. 10 in the Semi-Slav with
seed Evgeny Tomashevsky secured a majestic 5.g3 and thereupon
tournament victory with 8 out of 11 and with it changed sides; Igor
went into the lead in the overall classification for Stohl has investigated
the FIDE Grand Prix. On the DVD there are 23 the system in depth
annotated games (Krasenkow, Meulders, Mikhal-
chishin, Mokal, Pavlovic and Szabo). Krasenkow: Bogo-Indian 4.Nbd2 – Part 2

4 | ChessBase Magazine #165

April/May
Booklet
DVD COLUMNS Editorial 3
Williams: Move by Move Contents 4-5
In English grandmaster Simon Williams we have
found a worthy successor for the column. You can Top Tournaments 6-10
attempt once more to guess the correct moves in Zürich, GP Tbilisi, Wijk aan Zee
the tried and trusted manner. Baden-Baden, Gibraltar
Rogozenco: The Classic
In the Classic video Dorian Rogozenco shows us
the game Nimzowitsch-Salwe, Karlsbad 1911.
Reeh: Tactics – “Mating attacks with and with-
out queens”
Oliver Reeh’s article contains 27 games studded with
numerous training questions including an introduc-
tory text and two videos in interactive format.
Müller: Endgames – “King’s Indian Endgames”
Karsten Müller’s column contains two introduc-
tory texts, 24 annotated endgames, numerous Evgeny Tomashevsky decides the Grand Prix in Tiflis clear-
training questions and five classic video clips. In ly in his favour and now leads the overall classification
addition our endgames expert has recorded two
endgames in the interactive format. Openings
Presentation of the DVD articles 11-21
Rogozenco: Strategy – “Converting a positional
advantage” Masthead 14
Dorian Rogozenco deals this time with how to
convert a positional advantage. The grandmaster Tactics 22
explains the basics in a video. In addition: 15 Nine combinations to solve
games with training questions.
Master Class Vol. 4: Capablanca 23
Knaak: The Opening Trap
Rainer Knaak’s opening trap (including its Fritz-
trainer video) contains five recent traps.
Openings Videos (see also p.25)
Mikhalchishin: Anti-Dutch
Pert: Semi-Slav with Nbd2
Trent: Sicilian 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3
Service Was Capablanca perhaps
the greatest chess talent
New products with videos of the DVDs by Marin, of all time? Four renow-
Schweitzer, Kasimdzhanov, D’Costa/Murphy, Ris ned authors cast light
and Krasenkow on important aspects of
Capablanca’s play
Telechess: 10 000 new games
Complete booklet in PDF format Endgames 24
Overview of previous openings articles Nine endgame exercises to solve
Overview of previous video openings articles Openings videos presented 25

ChessBase Magazine #165 | 5

 Top Tournaments
ZÜRICH: NAKAMURA AGAIN!
The “Zürich Chess Challenge” first came into
being in 2012 as a match between Vladimir
Kramnik and Levon Aronian. The event has
since been extended to become a proper round
robin with some of the best players in the
world. The organisers are the Zürich Chess
Society, the oldest chess club in the world still
in existence and the sponsor is Oleg Skvortsov,
the owner of the IGC International Gemolo-
gical Laboratories, a firm which specialises in
the valuation of diamonds. Last year Magnus
An elegant playing hall in Zürich’s “Savoy Hotel
Carlsen took part in the tournament. The world Baur en Ville”
champion may not have been present this time,
but with Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, counted in the final calculations. The next tour-
Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Levon nament to be played was with classical thinking
Aronian and Sergey Karjakin there was never- time. In it Hikaru Nakamura carried on as in
theless a first class field gathered together in the his outstanding performance in Gibraltar and
forced himself into the lead with victories over
Caruana and Karjakin. But Viswanathan Anand
too was in good form and defeated the Ameri-
can in their direct encounter, which in the long
run brought him victory in the classical section
with 3.5 points. Hikaru Nakamura came in se-
cond half a point behind him. The conclusion
of this week long event was a rapid chess tour-
nament, with the points earned in the classical
tournament and those in the rapid chess being
added together, with those from the classical
chess counting double.
Now things became exciting, since Vladi-
mir Kramnik also had his word to say in the
Swiss metropolis and in the form of the “Savoy
struggle for overall victory. The decisive mo-
Hotel Baur en Ville” on the Paradeplatz in Zü-
ment came in round 4. This time Nakamura
rich, the tournament had found an equally first
beat Anand and Kramnik lost to Karjakin. At
class venue.
the end Anand and Nakamura were level on
The event took the form of three tournaments points. The decision would be reached in an
in three different disciplines. It started with a “Armageddon” game, which Nakamura won
blitz tournament the results of which decided with Black and a minute less thinking time.
the starting numbers. This was won by Levon That confirmed the American as the victor of
Aronian – but the results of the blitz were not the “Zürich Chess Challenge 2015”.

6 | ChessBase Magazine #165

 Top Tournaments

FIDE GRAND PRIX TbIlISi:

TOMASHEVSKY WITH A GOOD LEAD
In the first two events in the FIDE Grand Prix a
result of just over 50 % would have sufficed for
an excellent placing. This trend also continued
in Tbilisi. Only Evgeny Tomashevsky stood
out: with 8 out of 11 the Russian was in a class
of his own. The 27 year old got off to a picture-
book start: victories over Jobava, Grischuk and
Mamedyarov in the first four rounds. All in all

Evgeny Tomashevsky has good reason to smile:

leading in the Grand Prix

the tournament winner – he collected three of

his wins against that opening.
There was a curious material constellation in
the game against Vachier-Lagrave (see diagram,
position after 40.gxh4). Tomashevsky cleared
away all the pawns and led his three minor pi-
eces to victory against the poor rook.
In the fourth and final tournament of the
Tomashevsky was obliged (or allowed?) to meet Grand Prix series the top two places which
the King’s Indian five times – perhaps everyone guarantee an entry to the next candidates tour-
wanted to play for a win with Black against the nament will be disputed above all by Tomas-
outsider (No. 10 in the initial seedings)? But hevsky (now 252 points), Caruana (230) and
that turned out to be the wrong strategy against Nakamura (207).

ChessBase Magazine #165 | 7

Top Tournaments

(WORLD)MASTERLY:
CARLSEN VICTORIOUS IN WIJK ...
The classic Wijk aan Zee somehow remains a
special tournament. Perhaps because it is in
Wijk that the starting pistol is fired for the new
chess year. At the same time the Dutch organ-
isers regularly manage to bring together a field
of first rate players, who all play committed
and creative chess. And last but not least, the
unusual length of the tournament, 13 rounds
in all, allows unexpected twists and turns
throughout the days of the tournament. Take
for example the case of the world champion Magnus Carlsen: at one point 6 out of 6!, but still
who later subdivided his Wijk 2015 into three not content
phases: By the third round, after two draws
ier-Lagrave and Wesley So with wins. In the
and a defeat at the hands of Anand’s second
tiebreak system in use, had the world champion
Wojtaszek – an unsuccessful start. Next came
been defeated Vachier-Lagrave would have tak-
a run of six victories. But after that he was, just
en first place. But then in the endgame Carlsen
as at the start, not very successful – “pretty
avoided his second defeat at the hands of the
forgettable games” – remarked Carlsen in the
Croatian (after Tromsö 2014) and secured the
press conference.
required half point. There were also remark-
Before the final round the world champion was able performances from the youngest players in
in the lead, half a point ahead of Giri. And the the field: Giri and So once more distinguished
excitement grew even further. Against Saric, themselves and moved further into the Top-Ten
Carlsen was badly placed with White whilst at in the world rating list. On the DVD So, Ding
the same time Anish Giri had drawn level on Liren and Vachier-Lagrave have annotated their
points with Carlsen with a draw, as had Vach- best games for you.

8 | ChessBase Magazine #165

 Top Tournaments

... AND RIGHT AFTER THAT IN

BADEN-BADEN
In Wijk aan Zee Carlsen had managed to
reach his goal by a narrow margin. Only two
weeks later at the GRENKE Chess Classic in
Baden-Baden things were even tighter. The
world champion was in a neck-and-neck race
with Arkadij Naiditsch right to the end. The
starting point for this development was the
third round. In their face to face encounter the

The Kulturhaus LA8, a historic palace in the centre

of Baden-Baden, was a worthy venue

reached in the endgame when Carlsen over-

estimated the potential of his kingside pawn
roller and did no more to protect his a5-pawn.
In the position on the board on the left Naid-
itsch intrepidly played 50.¤c4, in order to clear
the way for his final trump, the a-pawn. And it
worked!
After the last round both players had notched
up 4.5 points and so a tiebreak was required.
German number 1 managed another victory First Carlsen took the lead in rapid chess with
over Carlsen (the last time they met in Tromsö White, but Naiditisch was able to equalise. This
2014 the world champion also lost out). This was followed by two blitz games, both drawn.
time Carlsen, with Black, offered a spectacular In the final deciding Armageddon game (White
sacrifice of a bishop for two pawns on move 10. must win, or else Black is declared victorious)
After a breath-taking game the decision was the world champion triumphed once more!

ChessBase Magazine #165 | 9

Top Tournaments

gibraltar: an american
Eröffnung
storms the fortress
to concede his first draw to his closest rival,
David Howell. In the absence of his compatriots
Short and Adams, who in previous years had
regularly battled it out for tournament victory
in Gibraltar, fellow Englishman Howell was
there and having a good tournament.
After 9 out of 10 rounds Howell lay only half a
point behind the American. However, in the
final round he could not achieve a winning ad-
vantage against Yifan Hou and in the end could
actually feel satisfied with his draw. This was
Almost a one-man-show: Hikaru Nakamura had a to the joy of Nakamura, for whom a draw with
majestic start to finish victory in Gibraltar White was then sufficient for outright first place
in the tournament.
The “Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival” has
become one of the regular greats in world class
chess. This year there were even eight grand-
masters with an Elo rating superior to 2700
present, as well as women’s world champion
Yifan Hou and title defender Cheparinov.

On the DVD Nakamura annotates his spec-

tacular win against Baskaran Adhiban. In the
Queen’s Gambit Accepted, he sacrificed an ex-
change with Black very early – possibly inspired
by Robert Ris’ openings article in CBMagazine
#164. However, in the position in the diagram
the American had the good fortune that his
opponent did not come up with 27.¦c1 ¢f6
28.¦cc8 ¢g7 29.f3 ¥g6 30.¦e8!. Because how
But right from round one it was someone would Black then have been able to disentangle
else who was setting the pace: after a break of his pieces on the kingside? Nakamura himself
several years Hikaru Nakamura had returned was unable to find in his analysis some trick to
to Gibraltar and there was no possible doubt get out of the pin. On the DVD you will find
about his ambition. After six wins in a row – games annotated by Yifan Hou, Nikita Vitiugov,
over Topalov amongst others – he was obliged Baskaran Adhiban and Romain Edouard.

10 | ChessBase Magazine #165

Openings
no beginners’ move
Sagar Shah on the trace of a mysterious rook pawn move

English A20: 1.c4 e5 2.g3 ¤f6 3.¥g2 h6 It does not achieve much for White to copy
this waiting strategy with, e.g., 4.a3. Black then
replies 4...c6 and in the Keres Variation (3...c6)
h6 reveals itself to be more useful than a3. Two
other developing moves are more logical.
A) After 4.¤c3 ¥b4 we can see a quirk of 3...h6
(instead of 3...¤c6) – 5.¤d5 ¤xd5 6.cxd5

With this move order White has intentionally

done without ¤c3 so as to avoid ...¥b4. But
what is there about this mysterious 3...h6? –
that is the question Sagar Shah first delves into
in his article on the DVD. What looks like a be-
ginners’ move should be seen more as a waiting
move which is in addition useful in that it de-
does not win a tempo for White. Of course
nies White’s pieces access to the g5-square (¥g5
there are solid alternatives such as 5.e4 or
or ¤f3 e4 ¤g5). A lot of strong grandmasters
5.¤f3, but by means of natural moves Black ob-
have played it, including Magnus Carlsen and
tains a pleasant game.
Viswanathan Anand.
B) A more critical try is 4.¤f3 e4 5.¤d4, after
which Black must decide between 5...¤c6 and
5...d5. Our author has himself played 5...¤c6
with success, but he is now pleading in favour
of the pawn move and with his analyses he ad-
vances far into unknown territory.
Conclusion: 3...h6 has in its favour first of all
the effect of surprise, but players like Carlsen,
Anand have played it and so it cannot be so
Analysis of Vladimir Kramnik against Magnus Carl- bad. The almost total lack of theory will be an
sen, Moscow 2011: really 3...h6? extra attraction for many.

ChessBase Magazine #165 | 11

Opening

mainly simplification
Georgios Souleidis presents a new opening weapon

Double Fianchetto A50: 1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 been played many times at an earlier moment
3.¤f3 ¥g7 4.g3 b6 5.¥g2 ¥b7 6.0-0 0-0 and the position after 7.¤c3 has arisen in a dif-
ferent way. But the number of games is no guar-
antee of quality in this case, since after 7...¤e4
8.¤xe4 ¥xe4 Black immediately simplifies the
position and equalises effortlessly, as, e.g., in the
game Radjabov-Kramnik, Istanbul 2012, where
9.¥e3 c5 followed (9...d6 is also very playable
according to Souleidis, though 9...d5 is risky).
The ambitious alternative 7...e6 is, on the other
hand, risky. After 8.d5 exd5 9.cxd5 ¦e8 10.¦e1
things do not look so good for Black.
B) 7.d5 is considered more critical by our au-
thor, but the move immediately offers Black two
good continuations:
a) 7...¤e4 8.£c2 f5! and e.g. 9.¤bd2 ¤d6!, but
The diagram can arise after various move or- Caruanas 9.¦d1 is largely unexplored and per-
ders, but in general Black should not play ...b6 haps slightly better for White.
till ¤f3 and g3 have been played but not yet
b) 7...¤a6 is preferred by Tiviakov, after 8.¤c3
¥g2. Sergei Tiviakov has been a pioneer of this
¤c5 White has a choice between
plan amongst the top players, but nowadays
you will also find games by Carlsen, Kramnik
and Grischuk. Georgios Souleidis has done a
lot of work on this opening weapon which has
so far received only miserly treatment. As well
as a few side lines with 7.b3, 7.¦e1 or 7.£c2 the
author analyses above all two continuations.
A) 7.¤c3 is not only the most frequently played
move in our starting position, but the number of
games is almost double because ¤c3 has already

9.¥e3 e6 (or even 9...c6) and 9.¤d4 e5 10.¤b3.

Conclusion: The variation (or should we say
opening) which is presented here is gaining
ground and not without good reason. Black can
usually simplify and thus achieve a comfort-
able game. According to Souleidis the setup is
suitable, for example, as a secondary weapon
Sergei Tiviakov: a pioneer of this plan against the Fianchetto King’s Indian.

12 | ChessBase Magazine #165

 Opening

Safe and good

Andrey Sumets shows a simple way to meet the Old Indian

Old Indian A54: 1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 d6 3.¤f3 ¤bd7

4.¤c3 e5 5.¥g5 ¥e7 6.e3 0-0

B) 7.¥e2 c6 8.0-0 is the really flexible move

order, since the positioning of the queen is left
open. Our author first examines setups with
In the Old Indian moving the e-pawn only as ...¦e8, ...£c7 and possibly ...a6.
far as the third rank has advantages and dis-
But the only critical one is 8...¤e8 9.¥xe7
advantages. Of course White is exerting less
£xe7, which White should meet with 10.b4:
pressure and Black has more space than usual.
On the other hand, White’s setup is much safer
– there is no need to fear any forced lines in
which Black takes on d4 and goes on to threat-
en the §e4. In general the second player will be
short of a plan. Andrey Sumets has divided his
article into two parts.
A) 7.£c2 appears to be flexible, because the
queen is very often posted on this square. After
7...c6 White once again has the choice.
a) 8.0-0-0 will please attacking players, but our
author points out the insecure position of the
white king. Black’s best way of attacking this is
with 8...exd4 or 8...£a5.
Now 10...f5 11.b5 is good for White and Black
b) 8.¥d3 sets Black problems, but if he solves
came up with the improvement 10...a6. But
them accurately there will at some point be the
then Sumets recommends a change of plan:
threat of e5-e4 and White must lose a tempo.
11.£c2 f5 12.dxe5! dxe5 13.c5 and the weak-
For example 8...h6 9.¥h4 ¦e8 10.0-0 ¤h5
ness of the b6-square should become noticeable.
- See diagram above right -
Conclusion: The extensive analyses on the
and here Sumets recommends 11.¥xe7. White DVD show that Black does not obtain a level
must soon play ¥d3-e2, but nevertheless he has game after 7.¥e2. White’s setup is not only safe
the more pleasant game. but also good.

ChessBase Magazine #165 | 13

Opening

only as a surprise
Robert Ris suggests an actually impossible move

Sicilian B35: 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.d4 cxd4 ¤a5 that White has to decide how things are to
4.¤xd4 g6 5.¤c3 ¥g7 6.¥e3 ¤f6 7.¥c4 0-0 continue. The games which have been played so
8.¥b3 d5!? far by consistently surprised players with White
do not supply much information.
A) 10.¤de2 hangs on to the pawn. Ris then
suggests 10...a6, Black develops with ...b5,
...¥b7, getting the pawn back quickly is not his
aim.
B) 10.0-0 is in the strictest sense similar, after
10...¤xb3 11.¤xb3 the knight has again disap-
peared from d4 and Black can easily continue
11...b6. The pressure against the §d5 and in the
two semi-open files gives sufficient compensa-
tion.
C) 10.£f3! seems to be the only real test for the
validity of 8...d5. Then 10...¥g4 11.£g3 should
Getting in the advance ...d5 in the Accelerated be followed by 11...¤xb3 12.axb3
Dragon is more of a pipe dream. Is it realistic
to think that this actually impossible move can
simply be played right from the basic position?
In his article Robert Ris also deals with alterna-
tives, but it is clear that it is not till after 9.exd5

ChessBase Magazine Nr. 165, April / May

ISSN: 1432-8992
Published by: © ChessBase GmbH, Osterbekstr. 90a,
22083 Hamburg
Tel: (+49)40 - 639060-0, Fax: (+49)40 - 6301282
E-Mail: magazine@chessbase.com
Editor in chief: Rainer Knaak
Editorial board: Dr. Steffen Giehring, André Schulz,
Pascal Simon, Thomas Stark, Rainer Woisin
Layout: Rainer Knaak
Translations: Ian Adams, Dean Hall, Oliver Reeh
Cover photo: Sophie Triay
More photos: internet press fotos (p. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, after which Black has to decide what he is going
16, 18), Joachim Schulze (p. 3, 12, 15, 20), ChessBase
archive (p. 17), Georgios Souleidis (p. 19) to do with the ¥g4: 12...¥h5 was alright in the
Printing: Druckhaus Leupelt GmbH, 24976 Handewitt
Exclusion of liability: The publishers of this magazine game Kulaots-Shirov, Jyvaskyla 2014, but in the
cannot be held liable for the accuracy or complete-
ness of the information and especially not for the long run there should inevitably be difficulties
chess analysis contained in it.
with the ¥h5. Ris also proposes 12...¥c8, which
Reproduction: No material contained in this issue of
ChessBase Magazine may be reproduced in whole or sets an interesting trap. But our author also
in part without written consent of the publisher. Re-
production, where allowed, must include the full name
and location of the publisher as the source. Subscrip-
demonstrates on the DVD how to refute it.
tions: ChessBase Magazine is published six times
per year on DVD. The price for an individual volume
is EUR 19.95, for the annual subscription EUR 99.70.
Conclusion: 8...d5 is well suited to springing
ChessBase Magazine Extra consists of six additional
CDs. Price: EUR 12.99 per issue. The annual subscrip-
a surprise, but after best play by White one
tion costs EUR 51.50. All prices include 19% European
VAT, which may be deducted for foreign orders.
should be prepared to accept a slight disadvan-
tage.

14 | ChessBase Magazine #165

 Opening

More than avoiding Theory

Krisztian Szabo on a new trend in the English Attack

Sicilian B90: 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4

4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 a6 6.¥e3 e5 7.¤b3 ¥e6 8.f3
¥e7 9.£d2 0-0 10.0-0-0 ¤bd7 11.g4 b5 12.¦g1

Saric-Vachier Lagrave, Wijk 2015: no problems for

Black with 18...Bd7

18.exd5 ¥d7, but Szabo draws attention to

19.c4, after which it should be slightly better
for White. Nevertheless, in his game against
Saric (Wijk 2015) the French player again chose
18...¥d7 and had no problems after 19.h4.
In CBM 159 we had an article by Gergö Ha-
vasi on 10...a5, but 10...¤bd7 11.g4 b5 has The principled alternative is 18...¥xd5 19.£xd5
remained the main variation. However, 12.¦g1 £xa5,
(instead of 12.g5 as played thousands of times)
is a subtlety which is being seen more and
more often. As Krisztian Szabo explains in his
article on the DVD, the quirk consists above
all of 12...b4 13.¤d5 and now 13...¤xd5 does
not work, because unlike in the 12.g5 b4 varia-
tion the f5-square is not available. The alterna-
tive 13....¥xd5 14.exd5, although not totally
clear, is hardly played any more. Instead of it
12...¤b6 13.¤a5! is indicated.
A) 13...£c7 has also lost popularity, because
the queen frequently takes on a5 – something
it can also do from d8. But perhaps that is only
a fashion, something like 14.g5 ¤fd7 15.¤d5
¥xd5 16.exd5 ¤xd5 17.£xd5 £xa5 seems after which a typical position has arisen, in
theoretically to be very playable. which according to the engine Black has equal-
ity, but demonstrating this at the board is not
B) 13...¦c8 14.g5 ¤h5 15.¢b1 is usual nowa-
likely to be very easy.
days and then it is still reckoned that 15...£c7
might lose a tempo, but 15...g6 is a sensible Conclusion: With 12.¦g1 White not only avoids
move. After that the latest trend is towards the powerful amount of theory around 12.g5, but
16.a3 – a useful waiting move on the other he also sets some problems and has a comfort-
wing. 17.¤d5 is only played after 16...£c7 able game in the type of position which is often
and then Vachier-Lagrave tried out 17...¤xd5 reached and can be seen in the diagram above.

ChessBase Magazine #165 | 15

Opening

disturbingly forced
Gergö Havasi gives insights into an important Tarrasch Variation

French C06: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.¤d2 ¤f6 4.e5

¤fd7 5.¥d3 c5 6.c3 ¤c6 7.¤e2 cxd4 8.cxd4
f6 9.exf6 ¤xf6 10.0-0 ¥d6 11.¤f3 0-0 12.¥f4
¥xf4 13.¤xf4 ¤e4

Sergey Volkov: French expert with 43 (!) games

after 13...Ne4 (Mega 2015)

typical 18...¤b8. It is true that 18...¦ae8 is also

playable, but Black prefers to retain his knight.
Volkov has demonstrated several times that the
knight move equalises.
b) 16.¥xh7+ ¢xh7 17.¤xe6 £f5 (the endgame
after 17...£xc1 is not an easy one for Black to
This is a very principled variation, since if White
play) 18.¤xf8+ £xf8
has played 7.¤e2 and later 9.exf6 (9.¤f4!? is an
alternative) Black can in any case still deviate
(for example with 7...£b6, 9...£xf6 or 11...£c7),
but White on the other hand has little room to
vary from the the main moves. Therefore the
evaluation of the position in the diagram is very
important for the whole 7.¤e2 variation and
also for 5.¥d3 – above all from White’s point of
view. Gergö Havasi examines the two most im-
portant moves in the position in the diagram.
A) 14.¤e2 allows 14...¦xf3 15.gxf3 ¤g5 and
then play becomes very concrete. Havasi shows
in the database on the DVD, that neither 16.f4
¤h3!+ nor 16.¢h1 e5! gives White chances of
an advantage.
Here after 19.¦e1 or 19.£g5 Black must still
B) 14.£c1 is clearly the preferred variation now- play extremely accurately, but he should then
adays; then comes 14...¤g5 15.¤xg5 £xg5 and equalise.
White is now faced with an important choice.
Conclusion: From White’s point of view there
a) 16.¤e2 allows Black an immediate transition not only little to be obtained, but the variations
to an endgame, but then he will be facing a long are also disturbingly forced. A few new games at
struggle for a draw. However, the experts, led by the top level would be helpful and would perhaps
Sergey Volkov, continue 16...£f6. This is mostly cast some light on the matter, but the stars are
followed by 17.£d2 ¥d7 18.¥b5 and then the almost completely avoiding the move 3...¤f6.

16 | ChessBase Magazine #165

 Opening

another queen check

Mihail Marin rounds off his repertoire against the Tarrasch

French C08: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.¤d2 c5 4.exd5 hand, there is nothing wrong with 5...¥d7,
exd5 5.¥b5+ ¤c6 6.£e2+ ¥e7 7.dxc5 ¤f6 even today it is still preferred by many top
8.¤b3 0-0 players. In the diagram above left White has
the choice.
A) 9.¥e3 is intending queenside castling, but
Marin does not like the delay in development.
After 9...a6 10.¥a4 (10.¥xc6?! bxc6 followed by
...a5) 10...¤e4 11.0-0-0 ¤b4 Black can quickly
stage an attack which should at least give him a
level game.
B) 9.¤f3 is played less often but is preferred
by Marin. After 9...¦e8 10.¥e3 (10.0-0 ¥xc5
makes it too easy for Black) 10...a6 White has a
decision to take:
a) 11.¥xc6 bxc6 12.0-0 a5 and then ...a4 tends
to be to Black’s advantage.
In the previous issue we saw that after 6.¤gf3 b) 11.¥a4 ¤e4 and then the capture on c5.
Black has no problem playing 6...£e7+ or 6... c) 11.¥d3 looks the most natural:
cxd4. This time White gives a check on the
e-file. Of course Black should not now play
6...£e7 again – White still has his knight on g1
and would recapture on e2 with it.
But previously Mihail Marin looked into the
somewhat speculative question, why in his
WCh match in Merano in 1981 Kortschnoj
did not go for 5...¤c6; since the position after
6.¤gf3 ¥d6 had served him well seven years
previously in his first match against Karpov
– all six games ended in draws. The only ob-
jective reason could be 6.£e2+. On the other

Now 11...¥g4 and 11...¤a5 are not bad, but

according to Marin 11...d4! is the clearest:
12.¤fxd4 ¤xd4 13.¤xd4 ¥xc5 14.c3 ¤g4
15.0-0 £h4 16.h3 ¤xe3 17.fxe3 ¥xh3 leads to
a draw by perpetual check.
Conclusion: 5...¤c6 of course allows 6.¤gf3
with a transposition to the variations dealt with
in CBM 164, but 6.£e2+ presents no danger
Karpov-Kortschnoj, Meran 1981: only games with for Black and has no fans among today’s top
5.Bb5+ Bd7 players.

ChessBase Magazine #165 | 17

Opening

only a small Detail

Alexey Kuzmin introduces you to the Riazantsev plan

Slav D11: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.¤f3 ¤f6 4.e3 ¥g4 plan, Russian grandmaster Alexander Riazant-
5.h3 ¥h5 6.g4 ¥g6 7.¤e5 sev has played in this way four times and has,
e.g., defeated Sergey Karjakin, though that was
in blitz chess.
The actual starting position only arises after 7...
e6 8.¤d2 ¤bd7 9.¤xg6 hxg6 10.¥g2. Now
there is no real need to fear 10...dxc4 11.¤xc4
¥b4+, both van Wely’s 12.¢e2 and also the
natural 12.¥d2 should according to Kuzmin
give slightly better play.
Since White would like to play g5, f4 taking
control of the black squares, 10...g5 is the usual
move; after 11.0-0 ¥d6 12.¦e1

First of all there is nothing really new about the

move order which leads to the diagram – Black
having to give up his light-squared bishop for
a knight is the normal tendency in this open-
ing system. The peculiarity does not come till
later: White wants to develop his ¤b1 to d2,
after which the §c4 is protected and there is no
problem about playing ¥g2. Alexey Kuzmin
points out in his article that the move order
should not be changed. 5.¤bd2 would allow
Black to totally prevent the variation with
5...¤bd7. According to the databases, which
so far contain only a few games with the new it is not quite clear how things should continue.
In the event of 12...0-0 or 12...¢f8 White’s re-
ply is the logical 13.e4; after the exchange on e4
White has also got rid of the ¤d2.
Kuzmin also analyses the as yet unplayed
12...¤f8 – a typical manoeuvre so as to obtain a
strong square for the knight on g6. In this spe-
cific case White should not play 13.e4, instead
of which the Russian author offers two alterna-
tives.
Conclusion: Just a small detail – ¤d2 instead
of ¤c3 – is the basis for a clear strategic plan.
There is no case for expecting miracles, but
Alexander Riazantsev: successful with a new setup Black has first to find a clear equalising con-
against the Slav tinuation.

18 | ChessBase Magazine #165

 Opening

Avoid exchanges
Evgeny Postny examines a topical Ragosin variation

Queen’s Gambit D38: 1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤f3 remains level. After 13...¤c6 14.¦fd1 we note
d5 4.¤c3 ¥b4 5.¥g5 h6 6.¥xf6 £xf6 7.e3 0-0 several games as White by the Hungarian GM
8.¦c1 dxc4 9.¥xc4 c5 10.0-0 cxd4

Robert Ruck: successful with isolani positions

Robert Ruck, who can point to some successes

with these isolani positions.
On the way to the position in the diagram
Black can of course deviate after 5.¥g5 – B) It is also possible not to weaken the struc-
5...¤bd7 is an acceptable move. After that ture: 11.¤e4 £e7 12.¤xd4 ¥d7 and now with
things become more difficult. 8...dxc4 comes 13.£h5 ¤c6 14.¤b3 White avoids an exchange
as somewhat of a surprise, because the ¥f1 of pieces,
is now developed in a single move, but it has
been shown that the alternatives are weaker.
Evgeny Postny writes about our starting posi-
tion: “Still, White can count on a long-term
initiative as long as there are a lot of pieces on
the board and Black’s queenside is undevel-
oped. If the play gets simplified, or the game
shifts to a slow positional style, then Black
should experience no troubles and sometimes
even takes over.”
Three continuations need serious considera-
tion, of which 11.¤xd4 ¥d7 has little inde-
pendent significance however, since 12.¤e4
£e7 leads to variation B). On the other hand
12.£b3 risks mass exchanges – 12...¤c6 re- but both 14...f5 (Aronian-Anand, Bilbao 2014)
moves any sharpness from the position. and14...¥e8 as in So-Hou Yifan, Wijk 2015,
should be completely fine for Black, as is proved
A) After 11.exd4 the trendy move is 11...¦d8
in each case by Postny’s analyses.
and in the event of 12.¤e4 £e7 there is a trans-
position of moves (11.¤e4 £e7 12.exd4 ¦d8). Conclusion: There may well be some new
White generally plays 13.£e2 and later fre- trends in this Ragosin variation, but Black does
quently a3, b4 as well as ¤c5, but the position not appear to be in any serious danger.

ChessBase Magazine #165 | 19

Opening

still many open questions

Igor Stohl has a hot opening system for you

Catalan (Semi-Slav) E04: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.¤f3 however it is used more rarely nowadays; Stohl
¤f6 4.¤c3 e6 5.g3 considers that after 8.e4 White has an advan-
tage. 7...a6 is the modern move. Things con-
tinue in gambit style with 8.0-0 ¥b7 9.b3! cxb3
10.axb3 as in Kramnik-Giri, Doha 2014 (see
CBM 164). The result of that game is known,
but it is certainly too soon to write off the black
side; Stohl suggests some improvements for it.
However, Anish Giri drew his own conclusions
from the defeat: in Wijk aan Zee he played the
variation with the white pieces.
B) 6...¤bd7 is more flexible and gives White
the opportunity to play 7.a4, after which the
§c4 is easier to win. However the move wastes
time and weakens the b4-square.
But 7.0-0 ¥e7 8.e4 0-0 9.¥f4 continues in the
The starting point for Igor Stohl’s article is the
true spirit of the variation:
Semi-Slav with 5.g3. But most lines lead to
lines of the Catalan. Just like in the latter’s origi-
nal version Black can take on c4 (immediately
or on the next move) or keep the game very
closed.
Here we shall skip the closed part – the author
explains quite convincingly that White obtains
(if not an advantage) at least a comfortable
game. After 5...dxc4 6.¥g2 a decision needs to
be taken.
A) 6...b5 is obvious and after 7.¤e5 Black again
has the choice: 7...¤d5 is the most played move,

Now 9...¦e8 is often played, after which we

finally get 10.a4, the sharpest variation are not
those with the winning of the §c4, but those
with the advance d4-d5.
But here is perhaps the moment for 9...b5 –
after 10.d5 £b6 things become really compli-
cated.
Conclusion: It is probably clear that Black
should take the §c4 and that this is really a hot
Anish Giri: first a defeat with Black, then a change opening system, but apart from that there are
of sides still quite a few open questions.

20 | ChessBase Magazine #165

 Opening

a Plea for 4.Nbd2 – part 2

Michal Krasenkow offers an insight into his repertoire

Bogo-Indian E11: 1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤f3 develop his ¥f1: after, for example, 9.¥d3 h6
¥b4+ 4.¤bd2 b6 5.a3 ¥xd2+ 6.¥xd2 ¥b7 10.¥h4 g5 11.¥g3 h5 12.h4 g4 Black wins the
7.¥g5 d6 8.e3 ¤bd7 §g2 and although White possesses compensa-
tion for it, and though this line has been played
by several strong players (Gelfand, Wojtaszek),
it is not the choice of our author.
Krasenkow continues with the solid 9.£c2.
If Black now completely refrains from a plan
with ...h6 and ...g5, he is probably simply
somewhat worse as White still has the bishop
pair. 9...h6 is therefore logical. But after
10.¥h4 Black may not push forward too soon
– 10...g5 11.¥g3 ¤e4 is met with 12.¥d3!, e.g.
12...f5 13.d5!
The correct way is first of all 10...£e7, which
is followed by 11.¦d1. Now the right time for
11...g5 12.¥g3 ¤e4 has arrived.
In the second part of his repertoire with
4.¤bd2 against the Bogo-Indian Michal
Krasenkow turns to the 4...b6 main variation.
In the diagram White has no good way to

Solutions to the combinations

 1.  17.Bxf6! Bxf6 18.Nxd5 Bd8 19.Nf6+ 1-0
2.  26...Bxc3! 27.h3 (27.Rxc3 Be6 -+) 27...Bf6 -+
3. 27.Rxf7! ²
4.  20...Nc6! -+
5.  23...Bxf2+! 24.Kf1 (24.Kxf2 Ng4+! 25.fxg4
 fxg4+ -+) 24...Rae8! 25.Rb2 Ng4? (25...Nd5! -+)
6.  16.Rxe8+ Qxe8 17.Bxd6 cxd6 18.Bxg6 hxg6
19.Qb5! +-
7.   39...e3!! 40.Bxc6 e2! -+
8.  49.d6! cxd6 50.Rc5!! dxc5 51.c7 1-0
9.  27...Qe2! 28.Rd1 (28.Rxe2 Ra1+ -+) 28...Ncd3 -+
Now Black has no problems with 13.¥d3 f5
Endgame solutions 14.d5; and in practice 13.d5 ¤df6 has also
 1.   108.Qa6+! Kd7 109.Qd6+ Ke8 110.Nc7+ 1-0 showed itself to be level.
2.   55...b3? (55...Kd3! 56.Nxb4+ Kc4 =) 56.Na3 +-
3.  63.c5! Be3 64.Kd6! Kf7 65.c6 +- But after 13.¤d2! our author spies “good prac-
4.  64...Kb3!! 65.f4 Kc4!! 66.f5 Kd5 -+ tical chances in the complicated positional
5.  59.Rf7! 1-0
6.  68.Rb7! Kb3 69.c5! 1-0 struggle.”
7.   86.Ra5+! Kf4 (86...Kf6 87.g8Q +-) 87.Ra4+!
Kf3 (87...Kf5 88.Rh4+-) 88.Ra3+ 1-0
Conclusion: The proposed repertoire is ex-
8.  56.Rb5+!! Kxa2 57.Kd5 d3 58.Kc4! +-; 56...Kc2 tremely solid. White almost always obtains a
57.Kd5 d3 58.Rc5+! +- mini-advantage, but if Black really knows what
9.  82.c4! Kg7 (82...dxc4 83.Rxa6 c3 84.Ra3 +-) he is doing in the positions which arise he
83.Rxa6 Bxc4 84.Re6 Kh7 85.Rxe2! 1-0
should be able to solve his problems.

ChessBase Magazine #165 | 21

 Tactics

1. Sandipan - Menna Barreto 2. Tari - Salgado Lopez 3. Iturrizaga Bonelli - Scharrer

Black has taken on d5 with the How can Black win material? Why was Black‘s 26...Ra8? a bad
pawn. What now? move?

4. Mikhalevski - Howell 5. Holm - Harika 6. Sutovsky - Hommerson

What should Black play? How can Black win? Find a way for White to win ma-
terial.

7. Matlakov - Muzychuk,M 8. Ganguly - Pichot 9. Christiansen - Felgaer

What can Black do here? White to play and win. Which move by Black exploits
White’s back rank weakness?

You will find the solutions on page 21 or in detail in the tactics column on the DVD

22 | ChessBase Magazine #165

New release
Masterclass Vol. 4:
Jose Raul Capablanca
He was a child prodigy and he is surrounded by Marin looks into Capablanca’s strategic perfor-
legends. In his best times he was considered to mances and finds astonishing parallels in the
be unbeatable and by many he was reckoned to games of Bobby Fischer. Our endgame expert
be the greatest chess talent of all time: Jose Raul Karsten Müller had a multiplicity of examples
Capablanca, born 1888 in Havana. At the age of from which to choose, since Capablanca liked
13 he became Cuban champion; in 1909 he sen- to liquidate into an endgame, being well aware
sationally defeated Marshall by 8:1 and was thus
catapulted into the world elite. It was only after
some time, since only sparse amounts of infor-
mation made it across the pond, that in 1911
Capablanca achieved well-deserved recognition
by leaving the elite of world chess trailing in his
wake in San Sebastian. It would however take
another 10 years before the Cuban defeated the
reigning world champion Emanuel Lasker in
their match and wore the crown himself.
Capablanca served his country in the diplo-
matic service, he was of elegant appearance, a
cultured gentleman. This was also reflected at
the chess board: light, rapid play, but no expe-
riments, no facile sacrifices, the nickname „the
chess machine“ was no accident. His trade-
mark: little combinations (petites combinai-
sons), brilliant endgame play, perfect technique.
And thus it was completely unexpected when
as early as 1927 the Cuban was obliged to sur- of his particular strength and creating nu-
render his title as world champion. However, merous masterpieces of the art of the endgame.
the return match with Alexander Alekhine, The DVD also contains all of Capablanca’s
which was so firmly expected by the chess pu- games, many of them annotated and is rounded
blic, never took place. off by a biographical section, tables and both a
tactics and an endgame database.
On this ChessBase-DVD a team of experts
gets to the bottom of Capablanca’s game. Ni-
klas Huschenbeth presents the openings of Master Class Vol. 4: Jose Raul Capablanca
the third world champion. Oliver Reeh has Price 29,90 €, ISBN 978-3-86681-467-7
assembled a select choice of little combinations Total running time: 6 hours (English)
including a database with all Capablanca games
(Capablanca’s famous “petite combinaison”) Tactics training with 103 games
and prepared them in interactive format. Mihail

ChessBase Magazine #165 | 23

 Endgame

1. Maghsoodloo - Janik 2. Laxman - Deshmukh 3. Mukkattu - Seabrook

Which check must White give in How could Black have saved the How does White win?
order to win? draw?

4. Goganov - Gordievsky 5. Fridman - Jugelt 6. Illingworth - Schon

How did Black cash in on his How did White force his opponent How did White play his trump
distant passed pawn? to resign immediately? card?

7. Naiditsch - Wang Jue 8. Kulaots - Sulskis 9. Ernst - Baskin

How did Naiditsch seize his How can White make his extra How can White win?
chance? rook count?

You will find the solutions on page 21 or in detail in the endgame column on the DVD

24 | ChessBase Magazine #165

Opening Videos
This time the column “Opening Videos” con- With his video Nicholas Pert offers you a reper-
tains four videos by three authors. toire against the Semi-Slav. The ¤b1 remains at
first on its starting square, and so lines like 5...
Adrian Mikhalchishin: dxc4 6.¥xc4 b5 are less dangerous – White can
Anti-Dutch attack with a4, and Black then never has b5-b4
with tempo. The precise order of moves is im-
1.¤f3 f5 2.d3 d6 3.e4 e5 4.¤c3
portant; Black would be able to meet 5.¤bd2
quite well with 5...c5. A little fly in the oint-
ment: 5.¥d3 dxc4 6.¥xc4 c5 would transpose
to the Queen’s Gambit Accepted – you need
to know this variation. An important position
arises after 7...0-0 8.e4 – now Black has to de-
cide between 8...e5 and 8...dxe4. The English
grandmaster acquaints you with the basic ideas
and subtleties of both lines.

Lawrence Trent: Sicilian

1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 e6 3.g3
Ukrainian grandmaster Adrian Mikhalchishin
believes that many players have problems with
the Dutch Defence, because this opening leads,
as a rule, to closed positions. In a game Vachier
Lagrave-Vaisser, Saint Quentin 2014, the top
French player offered a possible solution to this
problem. In this move order the white e-pawn
is exchanged for the black f-pawn and the posi-
tion takes on a more open character. Whether
this also brings White any advantage is another
question.

Nicholas Pert: Semi-Slav

In his two videos Lawrence Trent goes into
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.¤f3 c6 4.e3 ¤f6 5.¥d3 ¤bd7
some detail about the somewhat surprising
6.0-0 ¥d6 7.¤bd2
3.g3 – here White does not want to support
his e4-pawn with d3 (in the ideal case he will
later play d2-d4), but he will exchange on that
square after 3...d5 in order to develop quickly.
That is the subject of the first video. In the
second video the English grandmaster explains
all the important sub-variations: 3...b6, 3...¤c6
and 3...¤f6. On several occasions he refers to
the games of Michael Adams, who has played
the move 3.g3 with great success and made it
popular.

ChessBase Magazine #165 | 25