What's New- March '01
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The February voting results indicated that there are a lot of fans of 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Ba5!? out there. |
Winawer
            
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This variation doesn't have a fully accepted name, though sometimes it is called the 'Armenian' Variation in deference to Vaganian, Lputian and Akopian. In my recent book on the Winawer and on the website I call it the 'Winawer Declined'. However, as it seems very popular in Germany maybe it should be called the 'German Defence'.
There are already eight games and a lot of analysis on this Variation in the Winawer eBook, 5...Ba5 chapter, so I'll just concentrate here on some important conclusions reached in recent games.
White avoids 6 b4
Kasparov used the idea 6 Bd2 against Khalifman, but it hasn't caught on- players seem to agree that Black is OK in the variations analysed in Kasparov-Khalifman.
Much more contentious is the line with 6 Qg4 which has been discussed in some important games, notably at the 2000 Olympiad.
The critical position is reached after 6.Qg4 Ne7 7.dxc5 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3
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Now Black's various alternatives include the intensely analysed 8...Ng6 and the little known 8...0-0.
World class battles are continuing over 8...Ng6 with the mainline being 9.Bd3 Nd7 10.Nf3 Qc7 11.0-0. In Leko-Khalifman at Linares 2000 Black now captured on e5 and was soon in trouble- see NM110. The same players met again at the Olympiad and this time Khalifman took on c5, which certainly looks like the safer bet. Have a look at the analysis to this game given in Leko-Khalifman, which contains references to two other key games in this line.
A couple of months ago I recommended 8...0-0 here on the website, so I was pleased to see it has finally been played. However, now I'm not so sure that I like it!
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One thing to notice is that Black is a tempo down after 9.Bd3 Nbc6 10.Nf3 f5 11.exf6 Rxf6 12.Bg5 compared to the old line in the Mainline Winawer 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 0-0 8.Bd3 Nbc6 9.Nf3 f5 10.exf6 Rxf6 11.Bg5- he has spent a move playing Ba5 before playing Bxc3+. Therefore White has found time for the extra move dxc5. Normally the capture on c5 is nothing special and in the Mainline White stopped playing like this in the late 1980s; nevertheless in this particular version it seems to mean that Black can't avoid a draw. As Black was rated more than 150 points above his opponent perhaps it didn't make him very happy in Karrayanis-Halkias.
Mainline 6 b4.
After 6...cxd4 7 Nb5 everything seems clear: I'm sure that 7...Bc7 8 Nb5 Bd7! aiming for an immediate Bxb5 is Black's best response and gives him good play. This has already been examined in depth on the web page with Anand the villain as usual, for example in Anand-Lputian. However, this may have been good for Black in the early middlegame and besides there is also Van Delft-Barsov which illustrates a convincing way to avoid Anand's line altogether.
Much more contentious is the variation with 7 Qg4 after which the key sequence is 7...Ne7 8.bxa5 dxc3 9.Qxg7 Rg8 10.Qxh7 Nbc6
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Now White has a choice
After 11 Nf3 the key game is Galkin-Khalifman. but take a look at Polgar-Khalifman. Polgar is comprehensively beaten after she diverges from this sequence.
The other move is 11 f4, as used twice by Anand to beat Khalifman. You can find these games on the Winawer 5...Ba5 page. The analysis remains very controversial. Note that in the first of these games Shipov suggests an improvement for Black on move 22; in the second I suggest an improvement for Black on move 20. If you don't like playing down these long theoretical lines, I suggest you look at the little known 11...Qc7 rather than 11...Qxa5.
One advantage of this is that the queen attacks e5 so the Ng5 idea as in the second Anand-Khalifman game isn't so attractive for White- after the exchange sac Rxg5 fxg5 Qxe5+ is possible. This works well in Anderson-P.Short. Black gains a very quick and easy victory.
Finally, after 7 Qg4 Ne7 8 bxa5 seems necessary as the variations after 8 Nb5 just looks good for Black, who is able to establish a pawn centre. The latest disaster for White is Orlov-Kruppa.
So that concludes the survey on 5...Ba5. As you can see, it is looking very healthy for Black. His only losses tend to be when 2750+ players outwit 2650 players in tactical struggles. At all levels below that the energy in Black's set up should give him at least equal chances.
Tarrasch 3...Nf6: 5 f4
Despite the fact that it has been heavily analysed, the 5 f4 variation can still lead to some spectacularly quick wins for Black. And no wonder- White is leaving his centre loose and his king exposed for a couple of moves before he manages to coordinate everything. Therefore if he is careless then it can allow Black to strike a deadly blow.
Previously, after 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ndf3 Qb6 we have analysed 8 g3, so now I want to look at 8.h4. This is a direct attacking move which aims to rule out the g7-g5 counterstroke which occurs for example after 8 g3 cxd4 9 cxd4 Bb4+ 10 Kf2 g5. Howewer, White is lagging further behind in development and Black can try to exploit this by breaking up the centre. Have a look at Saltaev-Gurevich. which contains two great wins for Black.
Tarrasch 3...Be7
Thomas Rendle has sent me his win against Parsifal [GM James Plaskett] on the Internet Chess Club. As 3...Be7 enthusiasts will be aware, Plaskett has developed a system that avoids e4-e5 and tries to force Black into an IQP type position- see for example his fine win against Nigel Short. Thomas resisted taking on e4 and after 4.Ngf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6 White 'blinked' first with 7.e5 when Black had his favourite pawn structure and won in good style after 7...Nd7 8.0-0 cxd4 9.cxd4 a5 10.Re1 Qb6 11.a3 g5! 12.h3 h5 etc. The question is what happens if White carries on avoiding e5 with 7.0-0. If then 7...cxd4 8.cxd4 Qb6 9.e5 [only now] 9...Nd7 10.Nb3 looks a bit dull and slightly better for White, so maybe the immediate 7...Qb6!? is worth a try, even though with the centre unstable it might be slightly risky.
Advance
This month we give two brilliant attacking wins by GM Semen Dvoirys against inferior opening play by Black. The first game features the 6 a3 c4 7 Nbd2 variation. Now earlier we gave 7...Na5- see for example NM227- but instead of this safe move Black decided to open lines on the kingside and is severely punished. Have a look at Dvoirys-Vallin.
In the second game, NM235, Black leaves his queen on d8 and adopts a line considered on the Advance 'Black plays 6...f6' subpage. The key game here is NM105, which points out the way Black should handle the line. Instead he mixes up his systems and is crushed by Dvoirys' energetic attacking play.
These aren't games to damage our faith in the Advance Variation for Black, but they do remind us that chess can be a beautiful game .
Classical- a non theoretical repertoire
Here's an idea for a back-up repertoire against 3 Nc3 just in case you want to avoid the mainlines or feel like a day off from the Winawer.
Play 3...Nf6. Now in the 4 e5 variation I have long advocated a rapid queenside expansion by Black with a7-a6 and b7-b5. This line seemed invincible, but then it ran into problems in the game Skrzypnik-Hanley. However, this was only a temporary blip as White's pawn sacrifice has been neutralised in a game given this month. No, Black didn't play the interesting 12...d4 counterattack I recommended in the notes to the Hanley game: he found something that seems even better! Have a look at Tissir-Vysochin.
Instead White can play 4 Bg5. Black has many options here, but staying true to the idea of keeping it simple I suggest 4...dxe4 5 Nxe4 Nbd7 6 Nf3 h6. In this way he has transposed from the Classical into the Rubinstein whilst avoiding some of White's tricky lines, including 5 g3!? which Macieja used to beat Speelman in NM209. It isn't very exciting, but Black always looks very solid in Leko-Shirov.
Rubinstein
The Leko-Shirov game described above transposed to the Rubinstein from the Classical. I said it was good to have sidestepped 5 g3 with this move order. However, one of our subscribers Henry Garcia of the Miami International Chess Club has examined 5 g3 with the help of FRITZ and has sent me some very interesting analysis- see the Emailbag.
So it's time to say goodbye for another month. I hope you found something interesting here and good luck in your chess!
Best Wishes,
Neil