Download PGN of December '08 Open Sicilian games
The Sveshnikov: 9 Nd5
In response to 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e5 6 Ndb5 d6 7 Bg5 a6 8 Na3 b5 9 Nd5 Be7 10 Bxf6 Bxf6 11 c3 Bg5 12 Nc2 Black opts for the solid 12...Ne7 in Grischuk - Illescas. White responds with the critical 13 h4, but Illescas' concept of 21...Kh8 and 23...Qb6 is a direct, new idea and one which holds the balance:
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The Sveshnikov: 9 Bxf6
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e5 6 Ndb5 d6 7 Bg5 a6 8 Na3 b5 9 Bxf6 gxf6 10 Nd5 is becoming an ever more popular choice once again, due in no small part to developments in the line 10...f5 11 Bd3 Be6 12 c3 Bg7 13 Nxb5!? axb5 14 Bxb5:
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Kotronias has been to the fore of the white cause of late and has scored two fine wins, as we'll see in Kotronias - Papadopoulos. However, plenty of fertile territory remains here and I would be surprised if Black can't find a way to maintain a rough equilibrium.
The Grivas Sicilian
We gave this independent variation some coverage earlier this year, but didn't then look at the aggressive idea of 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Qb6 5 Nb3 Nf6 6 Nc3 e6 7 Qe2!?:
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This prepares a quick advance of the g-pawn and gives White sacrificial ideas of Nd5, while he might yet castle on either side, as we'll see in the brutal attacking game, Tukhaev - Oleksienko.
The English Attack: 6...e6
Following 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Be3, the Scheveningen choice of 6...e6 has never gone away, but has started regaining some ground of late at the expense of 6...e5. Following 7 f3 Be7 8 Qd2 Black opts for the straightforward and fairly sensible 8...Nc6 9 g4 0-0 10 0-0-0 Nxd4 11 Bxd4 b5 in Lavrik - Vorobiov:
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I'm not sure what White had to drink before this game, but he was certainly in a bloodthirsty move, beginning with 12 Kb1 Nd7 13 h4 Bb7 14 g5 Rc8 15 g6!? before a piece was jettisoned to open the h-file. However, White's primitive play was actually rather dangerous and the defensive task proved too much for the Russian grandmaster.
An important alternative is 8...Nbd7 9 g4 h6 10 0-0-0 and now Black has two main options. He develops with 10...Bb7 in De la Riva-Caruana before introducing a novelty in a very critical line with 19...a5!:
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De la Riva responds in kind by going after the black king, but in a fascinating and extremely double-edged position unfortunately cracks, allowing the Italian wunderkind to quickly prevail.
In Karjakin - Ivanchuk Black prefers to force the pace with 10...b4 and then opts for the fairly unexplored but quite sensible 11 Nce2 Qc7!?:
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The battle between the leading Ukrainian players quickly becomes rather sharp and I wouldn't be at all surprised if this sub-variation was to soon take off.
Scheveningen: Be3 and f4
Cracking Sergei Movsesian's Scheveningen repertoire isn't at all an easy task. After 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e6 Ivanchuk tries 6 Be3 e6 7 f4 in Ivanchuk - Movsesian. Black responds by remaining true to his pet variation, 7...a6 8 Qf3 Qa5!?:
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It's currently too early to pass a definite verdict, but Movsesian's idea definitely deserves further testing. Indeed, this is yet another line which might well be developed further in 2009!
The English Attack: 6...Ng4
A couple of subscribers have asked what's going on in the variation 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Be3 Ng4. The critical test remains 7 Bg5 h6 8 Bh4 g5 9 Bg3 Bg7 10 h3! when the jury remains out on 10...Nf6. It is too on 10...Ne5 11 Nf5 Bxf5 12 exf5, but only because all of 12...Nbd7, 12...Qa5 and 12...Nec6 remain fairly unexplored. That situation has largely arisen because 12...Nbc6 has dominated the debate, but in the critical line 13 Nd5 e6 14 fxe6 fxe6 15 Ne3 Qa5+ 16 c3 Nf3+ (a move which may well now deserve a question mark) 17 Qxf3 Bxc3+ 18 Kd1 Qa4+ 19 Nc2 Bxb2 Svidler's 20 Rc1! just looks good for White:
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Black does not come well prepared in Ragger - Adly, but in any case White appears to have the upper hand here and only Tony's suggestion of 20...0-0-0!? may enable Black to reach move 30!
That's all for this year. I'll see you in 2009! Richard
e-mails
Please feel free to share any of your thoughts with me, whatever they are, suggestions, criticisms (just the polite ones, please), etc. Drop me a line at the Open Sicilians Forum, or subscribers can write directly to richard@chesspublishing.com