Download PGN of March ’24 Anti-Sicilian games
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Closed Sicilian with 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nge2 Nc6 4.g3 d5 [B23]
Here is an Anti-Sicilian which perhaps derives some of its strength from the fact that people feel, for one or another reason, compelled to react with ...d5. White then goes 5.exd5 exd5 6.d4 and Black has to see how they feel about an IQP setup:
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I would argue 6...cxd4 is perhaps a tad better than the game continuation 6...Nf6 of Fernandez, D - Alexakis, D, but with pros and cons both ways and a lot of nuances in the coming moves too.
Rossolimo with 3...e5 4.0-0 Bd6 [B30]
Rightly or wrongly, I think most of the other Candidates would have seen White against Abasov to be a must-win game and so it’s interesting to see how the top seed handles the challenge in Caruana, F - Abasov, N. He heads for the slower, Italian-style line of 5.d3 (rather than 5.d4 or 5.c3) and the critical moment of the opening seems to come after White’s 9.Nh4!?:
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White’s last move expressed a desire to use this knight to fight for kingside light squares rather than queenside ones. At this point perhaps the creative 9...Ne8 would have equalised for Black. As it was, we were treated to a demonstration of patient accumulation of small advantages.
Rossolimo with 3...Nf6 4.Nc3 Nd4 5.e5 [B30]
Perhaps the least tumultuous of all the Candidates/Prague games featured here was Firouzja, A - Caruana, F, but it wasn’t without its moments. I would place the highlight firmly after White’s choice of 9.exd6:
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The pawn recapture left Black under some pressure in the game (which could have become annoying at a couple of points) while taking with the queen would probably have left Black both solid for now as well as equipped for a three-results game when it does become messy.
Rossolimo with 3...Nf6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d3 Bg4 [B30]
Perhaps one of the greatest achievements of preparation in the Candidates tournament was Vidit’s execution of the move 7.Bf4!?:
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It was nearly unknown to top-level practice, in spite of the fact that it develops a piece in an extremely logical way, fights for the centre, etc. I wonder if Caruana had checked this move much beyond the correct reply 7...c4, because the ease with which Vidit found himself in a winning position suggests a mismatch in readiness for the line. Either way, it is interesting to pick apart the details of how the centre and bishop-pair counteract each other, as Black’s c-pawns become undoubled. See Vidit, S - Caruana, F.
Rossolimo with 3...g6 4.0-0 Bg7 5.c3 Nf6 6.Re1 0-0 [B31]
Keeping with the theme of Vidit, here’s an effort from him in the Prague Masters, which for him may have been a warm-up but for the rest of the chess world was a super-tournament par excellence in its own right. The game Nguyen, T - Vidit, S saw the secondary line 7.h3 played:
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The next few moves gave the impression that perhaps Vidit wanted to create some imbalance with Black, but abrupt transformations then led to White having what looked like quite a good version of an IQP blockade. Black salvaged himself with some pointed practical play.
Moscow with 3...Nd7 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4 a6 6.Bxd7 Bxd7 [B51]
Changing tempo abruptly, our penultimate game is a much more humble effort from yours truly, in the shape of Fernandez, D - Ermitsch, M. For some reason I felt inspired to try and stick a crampon in Black’s queenside immediately with 7.a4!?:
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Black has a range of acceptable replies, but maybe the most critical is 7...Rc8 8.c4 Nf6 9.Bg5 (9. Nc3 is also possible) and now the Dragon-esque 9...g6. Black doesn’t need to be afraid of the doubled pawns, and can also perhaps start making White feel that the queen doesn’t feel welcome in the centre, at the cost of a pawn. In the notes, we see that White’s queen often would prefer to be on b4 (after pushing a4), a square that is now two moves away rather than one.
Zaitsev with 6.Qxd4 Bd7 7.Bxc6 Bxc6 8 5.Bg5 e6 9.0-0-0 [B53]
Via an odd move order (which I do comment on), the game Bartel, M - Praggnanandhaa, R got to the conventional position of the Qxd4 Sicilian after 10.Rhe1:
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Black chose the confrontational 10...Qa5, which I am starting to like better than short castling, even if there are risks that Black never gets to castle. White accepted the challenge with 11.Nd5 Bxd5 12.exd5 and here probably most accurate for Black was ...b6!?
All the best, Daniel
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