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Grivas Sicilian
A variation which continues to slowly emerge from the shadows is the so-called Grivas Variation, 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Qb6, named after the Greek Grandmaster who pioneered it. After 5 Nb3 Nf6 6 Nc3 e6 White has quite a wide choice, but undoubtedly a critical test is the aggressive 7 Qe2 Bb4 8 Bd2:
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Following 8...0-0 White can plough straight ahead in the centre with 9 e5, as he did in two games from the recent rapid match between Ivanchuk and Judit Polgar in Mexico. Ivanchuk made 0/2, but was clearly better out of the opening both times and here, rather than the slightly tame 9...Ne8 of Ivanchuk - Polgar, I suspect that Black does better with the uncompromising 9...Bxc3!? 10 bxc3 Nd5.
Even more of a challenge is likely presented by 9 a3! when 9...Be7 10 0-0-0 d5 11 Be3 Qc7 12 exd5 Nxd5 13 Nxd5 exd5 brings about something of a tabiya:
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The d-pawn is too hot to touch immediately, but 14 g3 took aim at it and appeared to be a decent novelty in Robson - Yermolinsky. The American wunderkind quickly lost his way in drastic fashion, but it does seem that Black may not obtain enough compensation should he continue to offer the d-pawn.
The first of that Ivanchuk-Polgar duo of games actually began with the move order 4...Nf6 5 Nc3 Qb6?!, only reaching the Grivas after 6 Nb3?!. However, 6 Be3! just looks like something of a refutation of this particular move order:
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De la Villa has found some key resources for White after this aggressive move, which I've summarized while adding plenty of additional coverage in Lastin - Kononenko.
The Kan
Peter Svidler must be a tired man at the moment for the current Russian Championship coincided with the third Test between England and Australia. Few Russian Grandmasters would be distracted by such a contest (one which was not at all enjoyable from my perspective!), but as Svidler is a serious cricket aficionado I even wonder if he considered the position after 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 a6 5 Bd3 Bc5 6 Nb3 Be7 7 Qg4 g6 8 Qe2 d6 9 0-0 during one of the two earlier Ashes Tests:
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At this point Black usually prefaces a queenside fianchetto with 9...Nd7, but perhaps Svidler had a Eureka moment as he pondered why 9...Nc6!? has been seen much less often. In any case he sprung his knight to c6 in Kurnosov - Svidler and after 10 c4 Ne5 11 h3 Nf6 12 Bh6 Nh5! enjoyed decent-enough counterplay, going on to completely outplay his opponent in a most impressive game.
As well as 7 Qg4, 7 Be3!? is currently both in decent health and quite popular. Then 7...Nc6 8 N1d2 Nf6 9 f4 demonstrates White's main aims: he obtains an attacking set-up without a knight on c3, thereby making any advance of the black b-pawn much less effective:
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Following 9...d6 White introduced 10 a3!? to preserve his bishop in Nielsen - Van Wely. The Danish no.1 went on to win with a lovely attacking display, but matters would have been much less clear had Black countered with 10...e5!? 11 f5 d5, as we'll see.
The Najdorf
David Howell has made a major effort of late to move away from his once-standard choice of the c3 Sicilian to the pastures of the Open, but is yet to take up White's more critical and, of course, more theoretical options after 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6. In Howell - Palliser we'll see him opting for 6 a4, while in the notes we'll see his later preference for 6 h3 in the somewhat more important clash, Howell-Carlsen.
Howell triumphed in the British Rapidplay Championship with a most impressive 10.5/11, finishing a whole 2.5 points ahead of your scribe, Mark Hebden and Aaron Summerscale in joint second. I was a little lucky to finish there, as we'll see in Hart - Palliser where we round up some important recent developments after 6 Be3 Ng4 7 Bg5 h6 8 Bh4 g5 9 Bg3 Bg7:
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Finally, in response to a couple of requests from subscribers in Italy, I've taken a look at some recent developments in the slightly-neglected sideline, 6 Bg5 e6 7 Qf3:
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After 7...Nbd7 8 0-0-0 Qc7 9 Qg3 Black has usually been advised by theory to nudge his h-pawn forward. One can quite understand why he wouldn't wish to encourage a piece sacrifice on b5, but actually the b-pawn might move just one square and 9...b6!? will be our main focus in Lorenzo de la Riva-Zoler.
Now I must return to the equally-complex world of the Scotch, but I just hope that many subscribers are able to sample the fine drink of that name while having a relaxing time over the festive period!
Until the New Year, Richard
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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