Download PGN of April '07 KID games
Classical: The Bayonet Attack
Our first game is the unsuccessful attempt of Van Wely to revive his favourite line with 12.f3 in the game Van Wely, L - Radjabov, T, Amber Blindfold 2007.
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In the Corus tournament Van Wely played 15.g3 here, but clashed with some serious Black preparation. Shirov's improvement then was interesting, but in the current game the Dutch GM decided to deviate first with 15.c5 and soon introduced an interesting novelty, but Black still seems to be able to hold the balance. The ball remains on White's side.
The game Gymesi, Z - Volokitin, A, Bundesliga 06/07, featured 13.c5, instead of Van Wely's 13.Ne6. The players followed the game Rechlis, G - Avrukh, B, Israel 2003 up to the next diagram:
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Here Gymesi introduced the interesting novelty 18.Qb3, which sets Black some problems, and by the 20th move Volokitin had already gone wrong. Fortunately for him White also stumbled and eventually the game ended as a draw. White's idea deserves further tests although I believe Black should be able to equalize.
Our next game in the Bayonet attack, Van Wely, L - Morozevich, A, Monaco Blindfold 2007, featured the line with 9...a5 instead of Radjabov's 9...Nh5. Soon the players reached the following position:
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Here Black should have played 17...Nxe4. Instead he grabbed a poisonous pawn on d5 by 17...Nexd5? and was duly punished. Probably Black should avoid 14...Rf7 altogether.
The Orthodox with 7...Na6.
The game Fressinet, L - McShane, L, Bundesliga 06/07, saw a very important idea in a well-known theoretical line, which for some reason was tested only once before.
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In the diagram position White played the strong intermediate move 12.Bg5. McShane was unaware of this idea and soon committed a mistake, although even with correct play his position is already worse. Probably 10...f5 is the reason for Black's problems.
Aronian, L - Svidler, P, Amber Rapid, featured a different line of the Orthodox system with 7...Na6. This time Black played 9...Qe8 instead of 9...f6. Aronian chose the rare line with 10.h3 and introduced an interesting novelty in the diagram position:
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Here he played 12.c5!? Looks familiar doesn't it? This idea was tested two moves earlier, but never in this actual position. However Svidler found a good reaction over the board and equalized. Probably 16.cxd6 is the only chance to improve upon Aronian's play in this line. A very interesting game, which doesn't however give us an answer to the question of whether Aronian's 12. c5 is enough for an advantage. Further tests are necessary.
The Gligoric system
Ivanchuk, V - Radjabov, T, Amber Rapid 2007, saw the first loss of the Azeri GM this year in the King's Indian.
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Here Ivanchuk came up with a new approach to the position, 16.Nb3!, which allows us to re-evaluate it. Earlier White played 16.cxd5, which led to favourable simplifications for Black. Nevertheless, after a complex battle and resourceful play Radjabov could have forced a draw with 37...Kxf6. Instead he committed a mistake and soon had to resign. Ivanchuk's idea is very interesting and leads to a very complex position with mutual chances.
The Makagonov System
In the game Radjabov, T - Morozevich, A, Amber Rapid 2007, the Russian GM played the early 5...Nbd7, deferred castling, and succeeded in obtaining a double-edged position:
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This was a tough game with mutual mistakes, which are unavoidable in such complex positions... Despite the loss in this game Morozevich proved that the early ...Nbd7 is a good way to avoid the main theoretical lines.
Fianchetto Variation
Our last game in this update is Alekseev, E - Bologan, V, 8th Karpov Pojkovsky 2007, which once again featured the poisonous 8.Qd3 line against the Panno system:
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This time Bologan decided to jump with the knight to a5 instead of e5 as in his game against Bu. Nevertheless, White obtained a better position from the opening and won the game in good style despite an inaccuracy at the end. A great game from the Russian Champion who once again proved that the line with 8.Qd3 is a serious weapon against the Panno variation with ...a6. Black has to look for better ideas in the very beginning as Bologan's plan doesn't allow him to hope for equality.
Enjoy the issue and see you in May.
Victor
Don't hesitate to share your thoughts and suggestions with me. Any queries or comments to the KID Forum, or to me directly at Victor@ChessPublishing.com (subscribers only) would be most welcome.