Download PGN of April ’24 Open Sicilian games
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Taimanov 5...Qc7 6.Ncb5 Qb8 7.Bd3 [B47]
We start with Praggnanandhaa, R - Firouzja, A, where the players entered the relatively rare, but important theoretical position after 10.Nf3:
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Alireza managed to quickly deviate from his opponent's preparation with 10...Ne7!?. The surprise effect worked, since White chose a harmless plan, starting with 12.c3?! and let Alireza comfortably solve all his problems. Moreover, only Black could have tried to push for more in the final stages.
Despite such an effortless draw, I expect further practical tests of 10...Ne7!? - there are a few possible ways to improve over Pragg's play.
Taimanov 5...Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.g4 [B48]
The game Saric, I - Erigaisi, A saw Arjun play 11...Qc6 in one of the sharpest tabias of the Taimanov:
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This move was recently tested in correspondence games, but somehow I don't really trust it. In fact, even after the modest-looking 14.Kb1, as played by GM Saric, White retained interesting compensation for the pawn. Arjun's creative and accurate play was only sufficient to maintain the balance. It was a high-quality game, and it logically ended in a draw.
Classical Sicilian 5...e5 6.Bb5+ Nbd7 7.Nf5 a6 8.Ba4 [B56]
In Caruana, F - Nakamura, H Black surprisingly chose a very rare line to confuse his well-prepared opponent in the starting round of the Candidates. Fabiano followed a recommendation from Petrov - Spasov, and after natural play by both sides the position after 12...Bxf6 was reached:
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Caruana's move 13.0-0 allowed Black to initiate major simplifications with 13...e4, but full equality wasn't guaranteed. At some point Hikaru went for a creative, but risky rook sacrifice, that was calmly refuted by 24.Rbxd5! Luckily for GM Nakamura his opponent soon returned the favor with 28.Rf5? and let his advantage disappear.
I am pretty sure that we will see more practical tests of 5...e5 after the Candidates.
Classical Sozin 6.Bc4 Qb6 7.Nb3 e6 8.Bf4 [B57]
The next game, Vidit, S - Firouzja, A, is a sort of opening disaster, although Alireza's choice wasn't bad at all. The rare position after 8...Qd8 was previously covered in Ter-Sahakyan - Gelfand.
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GM Vidit came up with a decent new idea 9.Qd2! followed by 10.a3! Even so, had Alieza played 11...Be7 it would be a real test for this innovation - the position looks acceptable for Black. Instead of that, the routine 11...Bb7? turned out to be a serious mistake that put Black in a difficult situation. Curiously, instead of switching to accurate defence Black over-optimistically played 13...Qxf2? and quickly came under a crushing attack.
Najdorf 6.Rg1 h5 [B90]
The game Caruana, F - Firouzja, A saw White quickly deviate from well-known paths with the novelty 7.Bc4:
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It definitely doesn't pretend to claim any superiority, but the surprise effect did its job - Alireza quickly went astray with 9...Qa5?! White could have seized the initiative with energetic play, but Fabiano missed a few tactical opportunities, such as 14.Bxe6 fxe6 15.e5!!, and let Black liquidate into a roughly equal endgame. The rest of the game was full of mutual mistakes, but Fabino's win is well-deserved: he definitely played better.
Najdorf 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Be3 Be6 [B92]
The next game, Mishra, A - Wachinger, N, saw Abhimanyu deviate from the memorable encounter Eljanov - Nepomniatchi with 13.c4:
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This hardly came as a surprise for Nikolas as his opponent had already employed this idea a few months before. Black replied with an ambitious pawn sacrifice, 14...Ne5, and it looks like both players were familiar with its consequences. A critical position occurred on move 28 after high-quality play by both players - GM Mishra carelessly played 28.Qxh6? and this could have put him on the verge of a collapse. Luckily for Abhimanyu his lower-rated opponent immediately returned the favor by missing 28...Kf7!, and the gam soon e ended in a draw.
Najdorf 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Bc4 Qb6 8.Bb3 [B94]
In Albornoz Cabrera, C - Sokolovsky, Y the players entered one of the sharpest lines with 6...Nbd7. It looks like both players were well-prepared, and they followed a preceding correspondence game till move 23. Yahli's innovation 23...f6? was aimed at stabilizing the situation on the kingside, but after 24.g6 the checkmate net prevails. Even so, Yahli managed to withstand such strong pressure, and had he played the calm 36...Qh7! a draw would be practically unavoidable. Instead, the impulsive 36...Rxh2? led to a quick collapse.
In general, this was an important game from a theoretical point of view, and I expect further practical tests of 14.Kb1!?
Najdorf 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 h6 8.Bh4 Nbd7 [B96]
Another interesting theoretical discussion in 6.Bg5 took place in our last game, Ermitsch, M - Engel, L. The players entered the relatively uncommon theoretical position after 13.Nf3:
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Luis correctly deviated from Vallejo Pons - Piceu with 13...Qa5!+, provoking White to weaken his pawn chain with 14.b4. Even so, it looks like after either 18.Nb6!? or 19.Bb3 Magnus could have set Black some practical problems. Instead, the careless 19.Qb3? allowed Black to immediately take over the initiative and decide the game by a direct attack.
See you next month, Michael
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