[Event "Ischia"]
[Site "Ischia"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Smirin, Ilia"]
[Black "Khenkin, Igor"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2615"]
[BlackElo "2575"]
[Annotator "Greenfeld,A"]
[PlyCount "110"]
[EventDate "1996.06.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ITA"]
[EventCategory "14"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 054"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1996.10.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1996.10.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 Nc6 5. Bb5 e6 6. Qg4 Qa5+ (6... Qc7 7. Nf3
Bd7 8. Bxc6 Qxc6 9. Be3 Nh6 10. Bxh6 gxh6 11. Nbd2 Qxc5 12. c4 O-O-O 13. O-O
Kb8 14. Rfd1 Qb6 15. Qh4 a5 16. Rac1 Rg8 17. Nb3 a4 18. c5 Qc7 19. Nbd4 $16 {
Tal,M-Botvinik,M (8)/Moscow Wch/1961}) (6... Nge7 7. Nf3 Qa5+ 8. Nc3 Bd7 9. Bd2
Qc7 10. O-O-O Ng6 11. Qg3 Rc8 12. h4 $1 $16 {Fedorov,A-Kutirov,R/Moscow olm/
1994}) (6... Bd7 $5 7. Bxc6 Bxc6 8. Nf3 h5 9. Qf4 Bxc5 10. O-O Nh6 11. Nbd2 Nf5
12. Nb3 Bb6 13. Nbd4 Bxd4 14. Nxd4 Nxd4 15. Qxd4 Qb6 16. Qh4 d4 17. Rd1 Qc5 18.
Qxd4 Qxc2 19. Bg5 O-O 20. Rd3 Rac8 21. h3 Bb5 22. Rd2 {Yudasin,L-Spraggett,K/
Calgary/1996/}) 7. Nc3 h5 8. Bxc6+ $1 {N/} (8. Qa4 $6 Qxa4 9. Nxa4 Bd7) (8. Qf4
Bxc5 9. Nf3 Nge7 10. O-O Ng6 11. Qg5 Bd7 12. Bd3 Be7 13. Qe3 d4 $1 14. Nxd4
Ncxe5 $15 {Tseitlin,MD-Khenkin,I/ISR/1996/}) 8... bxc6 9. Qa4 Qc7 (9... Qxc5
10. Be3 Qc4 11. Qxc4 dxc4 12. Ne4 $16) 10. Be3 Rb8 11. O-O-O Nh6 12. f4 (12.
Bxh6 $2 Rxh6 13. Qd4 Qa5) 12... Nf5 13. Bf2 a5 14. Nge2 (14. a3 $6 Ba6 {/\ Bb5}
) 14... Rb4 (14... Ba6 15. Nd4 $16) 15. Qa3 Qa7 16. Na4 (16. Nd4 $4 Rxd4 $19)
16... Ba6 17. Nd4 Bb5 18. Nb6 (18. Nc3 $2 Rxd4 $1 (18... Bxc5 $2 19. Ncxb5) (
18... Nxd4 19. Rxd4) 19. Rxd4 (19. Bxd4 $2 Nxd4 20. Rxd4 Bxc5 21. Nxb5 cxb5 22.
Qc3 b4 $19) 19... Bxc5 20. Nxb5 cxb5 21. Qc3 O-O (21... b4 $4 22. Rxb4 $18) 22.
Rhd1 $15) 18... Bxc5 19. Nc8 $6 (19. Nxb5 Qxb6 20. Bxc5 Qxc5 21. Nc7+ Kd7 (
21... Ke7 22. Na6 Qe3+ 23. Qxe3 Nxe3 24. Nxb4 Nxd1 25. Nxc6+) 22. Na6 Qb6 (
22... Qe3+ 23. Qxe3 Nxe3 24. Rd3 $18) 23. Nxb4 axb4 24. Qa4 Qb7 $16) 19... Qc7
(19... Rxd4 $2 20. Bxd4 $18) 20. Nxf5 Bxf2 21. Ncd6+ (21. Qf3 $5 Bc5 22. a3 Ra4
23. Nfd6+ $1 {/\ f5->}) 21... Kd7 $1 22. Nxb5 (22. Qf3 Qb6 23. c3 $2 Rxb2) (22.
c3 $2 Rxf4 23. Nxb5 cxb5 24. Qe7+ Kc6) 22... cxb5 23. Qf3 $1 Qb6 24. Kb1 $4 (
24. Rhf1 Bc5 (24... Bd4 25. Nxd4 (25. c3 Rc8 26. Nxd4 Rxd4 27. Qxh5 Rxf4 28.
Rxd5+ exd5 29. Qh3+ Qe6 $132) 25... Rxd4 26. f5 $40) 25. Nxg7 Rxf4 26. Qe2 Rf2
27. Rxf2 Bxf2 28. Kb1 $1 $16) 24... exf5 25. Qxd5+ Kc7 (25... Kc8 26. Qa8+ $10)
26. Qxf7+ Kb8 27. e6 (27. Qxf5 Rc8 $17) 27... Bd4 $1 (27... Re4 $6 28. Qxf5 (
28. e7 Rc8 29. Qf8 Qe6) 28... Rxe6 29. Rd5 Rhe8 30. Rc1) 28. b3 Qc6 $6 (28...
Qc5 $2 29. e7 Rc8 30. c4 Qxc4 31. Qxc4) (28... Bf6 $1 29. e7 Qc6 30. Rhe1 (30.
Qf8+ Qc8 31. Rd8 Rxf8) 30... Re4 $19) 29. Qxf5 Qc3 30. Rxd4 $8 (30. Kc1 Re8 $40
) 30... Rxd4 $1 (30... Qxd4 $2 31. e7 (31. a3 Qe4 (31... Qxf4 32. Qc5 Qd4 $10)
32. Qc5 Rxb3+ 33. Ka2 Rc8 34. Qb6+ $10) 31... Re8 (31... Qf6 32. Qd7 (32. Qxh5
$2 g6) 32... Re4 33. Qxb5+) 32. a3 Qe4 33. Qf7 Rxb3+ (33... Rxe7 34. Qf8+) 34.
Qxb3 Rxe7 $13) 31. e7 (31. Qxb5+ $2 Ka7 $1 (31... Kc7 32. Qe5+) 32. e7 Rc8 33.
Rc1 Rd1) (31. Qe5+ Ka8 $1) 31... Rd2 $8 (31... Qc6 $4 32. Qe5+) (31... Rc8 $2
32. e8=Q $18) (31... Ka7 $2 32. e8=Q $18) 32. Qxb5+ $2 (32. Re1 Re8 $1 $19) (
32. Rc1 $8 Qc6 33. Qf8+ Qe8 34. Qxg7 Re2 35. Qd4 $17) 32... Kc7 $1 33. Rc1 Qe3
$2 (33... Rd7 $1 34. Qa6 Qc5 $19) 34. Qxa5+ Kd7 35. Qg5 $1 Re8 (35... Qxe7 36.
Qb5+ Kc8 37. Qa5 $1) (35... Qd4 $5 $17) 36. Qxh5 Rxe7 37. g3 Qe2 38. Qa5 Rd1 (
38... Ke6 $5 {/\ Red7, Qe4}) 39. Rxd1+ Qxd1+ 40. Kb2 Qd6 $6 (40... Qd4+ $1 $17
{[+]/^ a1-h8}) 41. Qb5+ Ke6 $6 (41... Kc8 $142 $1) 42. Qc4+ Qd5 43. Qc8+ Kf7 {
>< Kf7,o^ a,b,c} 44. Qc3 {/^ a1-h8} Re4 $6 (44... Re6 {/\ Rc6}) 45. a4 $132 Qd4
$6 46. Qxd4 Rxd4 47. Kc3 {>< Kf7} Rd1 (47... Rd5 $5 {/\ Ke6-d6-c6}) 48. Kb4 Ke6
49. Kc5 $10 Rd5+ 50. Kb6 Rd2 51. a5 Kd7 52. b4 Rxc2 53. a6 Rc6+ 54. Kb5 Rc7 55.
Kb6 Rc6+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "Bad Homburg"]
[Site "Bad Homburg"]
[Date "1997.07.31"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Lutz, Christopher"]
[Black "Dautov, Rustem"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2590"]
[BlackElo "2595"]
[Annotator "Blatny,P"]
[PlyCount "20"]
[EventDate "1997.07.26"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "14"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 060"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1997.09.29"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1997.09.29"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. Be3 Nh6 $146 (5... Qc7 6. Qd4 Bd7 7.
Nc3 Ne7 8. Bd3 Ng6 9. Nf3 Nc6 10. Nb5 Qb8 11. Qc3 Ncxe5 12. Bxg6 Nxf3+ 13. gxf3
hxg6 14. Qa5 Bxb5 15. Qxb5+ {Treybal,K-Carls,C/DSB-18.Kongress Breslau 1912/
HCL 38/0-1 (38)}) (5... Nd7 6. Bb5 Qc7 7. Nf3 Bxc5 8. Bxc5 Qxc5 9. Nc3 Ne7 10.
O-O a6 (10... O-O 11. Re1 Ng6 12. Bd3 a6 13. Ng5 Qe7 14. Qh5 h6 15. Nh3 d4 16.
Nd1 Qc5 17. f4 Nf6 18. Qf3 Nd5 19. Ndf2 Bd7 20. Ne4 {Lutz,C-Campora,D/Biel
Credis 1996/CBM 55/1/2-1/2 (52)}) 11. Bd3 h6 12. Re1 Nc6 13. Qd2 g5 14. h3 Rg8
15. a3 {Kindermann,S-Kortschnoj,V/Ptuj zt 1995/CBM 47/1/2-1/2 (26)}) 6. Nf3 Nc6
7. c3 Nf5 8. Bf4 Bxc5 9. Bd3 Nh4 10. Nbd2 $4 {Ein schwer verständlicher Fehler.
Weiß hat seinen eigenen Läufer auf f4 nicht "gesehen".} (10. Nxh4 Qxh4 11. Bg3
Qg5 $11) (10. O-O Nxf3+ 11. Qxf3 g5 $5 (11... O-O {/\ f7-f6}) 12. Bg3 h5 13. h3
g4 14. hxg4 Qg5 $36 {Dautov}) (10. Bg3 Nxf3+ 11. Qxf3 O-O 12. Nd2 f6 $36) 10...
Nxg2+ (10... Nxg2+ 11. Kf1 Nxf4) 0-1

[Event "Corus"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2001.01.27"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Shirov, Alexei"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2718"]
[BlackElo "2772"]
[Annotator "Lukacs,P"]
[PlyCount "106"]
[EventDate "2001.01.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 081"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2001.03.20"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2001.03.20"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 {[%mdl 4]} c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. Bf4 (5. Be3 {
Sutovsky-Dautov, Julian Borowski Essen 2000 CBM 77}) (5. Nf3 {- Prasad-Prakash,
Chalapathi 2000 CBM 77}) 5... Bxc5 6. Bd3 (6. Qg4 $143 Ne7 7. Nd2 Ng6 8. Nb3
Qb6 9. Nh3 Nc6 10. Bd3 $2 (10. c3) 10... Qb4+ $1 {Now White's popsition
collapses.} 11. c3 Ncxe5 $1 {This is the winning move.} 12. Qg3 Nxd3+ 13. Qxd3
Nxf4 14. Nxf4 Bxf2+ 15. Kxf2 Qxf4+ 16. Ke2 {0:1 Hamdouchi-Khenkin, Anderlecht
rapid 1998}) 6... Nc6 7. Nf3 {We have reached a French type of position.} f6 $1
{Black wants to attack the [+] without hesitation.} (7... Nge7 8. O-O (8. c3
Ng6 9. Bg3 f6 {Soon or later Black has to eliminate White's stronghold on e5.}
10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Nb3 Bb6 12. exf6 {White couldn't hold >< e5 any longer.} gxf6
{The black [+] has a bright future.} 13. Nh4 f5 14. Qh5 Qf6 15. f4 e5 16. Nxg6
{1/2:1/2 Ibragimov-Urban, Groningen op 1997}) 8... Qc7 9. Bg3 Nb4 10. Nc3 a6
11. Re1 Bd7 12. Bf1 b5 13. a3 (13. a4 Rb8 14. axb5 axb5 15. h3 O-O 16. Qd2 Rfc8
$15 {Kavalek-Augustin, CSR-ch Jablonec 1962}) 13... Nbc6 14. Bd3) (7... Qb6 {
wins the P b2 P, but it is connected with the well-known risk.} 8. O-O Qxb2 9.
Nbd2 Qb6 10. Ng5 {is the other way of aggression.} (10. c4 {wants to open up
the position in order to make profit from the lead of development.} Nge7 11.
Rb1 Qc7 12. Bg3 Bd7 13. cxd5 Nxd5 14. Ne4 {>< d6} Be7 15. Nd6+ Bxd6 16. exd6
Qc8 17. Ne5 O-O (17... Nc3 $2 {is hunting for material instead of solving the
problem of his K.} 18. Qg4 $1 Nxe5 (18... Nxb1 19. Qxg7 Rf8 20. Bf4 $1 $18 {
/\ Bh6}) 19. Qxg7 Rf8 (19... Ng6 20. Rbc1 $18) 20. Rb3 Nxd3 21. Rxc3 $16) 18.
Qh5 $44 {and White has an -> for the P, Bliumberg-Poplavsky, Odessa-ch 2000.})
10... g6 11. c4 Nge7 12. Rb1 Qd8 13. Qf3 Nd4 14. Qh3 h5 15. Nb3 Nxb3 16. axb3
Nf5 17. Bxf5 exf5 {(De Vreugt-Oosterom, NED-chT 2000)} 18. cxd5 $1 Be7 (18...
Qxd5 19. Rbd1 Qc6 20. Rd8+ $1 $16) 19. Qe3 (19. Nxf7 $5 Kxf7 20. Rbd1 $44 {
and the phalanx of the central pawns is dangerous for Black.}) 19... Qxd5 20.
Rfd1 Qc6 (20... Qb5 21. e6 $1 $40) 21. Rd6 Qc7 (21... Qb5 22. e6 $1 f6 23. Nf7
$44) 22. Rc1 (22. e6 $5 Bxg5 (22... Bxd6 $2 23. exf7+ $18) 23. exf7+ Kxf7 24.
Qe5 Re8 25. Rf6+ Bxf6 26. Qxc7+ Re7 $11) 22... Qa5 23. e6 f6 24. Nf7 $44 {
with a wonderful compensation for the sacrificed material.}) 8. Nbd2 (8. O-O g5
$5 {is a brave, but risky decision.} 9. Bg3 (9. b4 gxf4 10. bxc5 fxe5 {with a
mighty P chain for Black.} 11. Bb5 Qf6 12. c4 e4 13. cxd5 exd5 14. Qxd5 exf3
15. Re1+ Nge7 16. Bxc6+ bxc6 17. Qh5+ Kf8 18. Nd2 Rg8 19. Qxf3 Bg4 20. Qb3 Rg7
$19 {Henris-Khenkin, CERA Bank op 1998}) (9. Nxg5 $143 {doesn't seem to be
correct:} fxg5 10. Qh5+ Kf8 11. Bxg5 Qc7) 9... g4 10. Nfd2 fxe5 11. Qxg4 Nf6
$13) 8... fxe5 (8... g5 $5) 9. Bxe5 (9. Nxe5 $2 Qf6 $17) 9... Nf6 10. Qe2 {
Black has to keep >< e5 at any rate.} (10. Bg3 Bd6 11. O-O O-O 12. Bxd6 Qxd6
13. Re1 Qf4 (13... e5 $2 {is punished by} 14. Nc4 $1) 14. c3 e5 $11 {and Black
was successful.}) 10... O-O 11. O-O-O $2 {Now the white K will be exposed to
many threats.} ({In a positional position, like that, where the main question
is the blockade of >< more natural is} 11. O-O Bd6 (11... Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Bd6 13.
c3 {- 11...Bd6 12.c3}) (11... Ng4 $5 12. Bg3 e5 13. h3 $1 {Now Black is losing
material.} Nh6 (13... e4 14. Nxe4 dxe4 15. Bxe4 $16) 14. Nxe5 $1 (14. Bxe5 Re8
15. Bb5 Nf7) 14... Qg5 15. Nxc6 Qxg3 16. Ne7+ Kh8 17. Nxc8 Raxc8 18. Nb3 Bb6
19. c3 $16 {and Black's -> is beaten back.}) 12. c3 $1 (12. Bxd6 Qxd6 13. Rfe1
{allows the freeing move} e5 $1 14. Nxe5 Re8 {The pin on the e <-> solves
Black's problem.} 15. f4 Ng4) 12... Nxe5 (12... Ng4 $2 13. Bxd6 Qxd6 14. Bxh7+
$16) (12... Nh5 $6 13. Ng5 $1 {Suddenly White changes the course, and exploits
the weaknesses of the >>.} (13. Bxd6 Qxd6 14. Ng5 g6 15. g3 {is again met by}
e5) (13. g3 $5 Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Nf6 15. Nb3 $14 {however keeps control over the
vital ><e5 and d4.}) 13... Qxg5 14. Bxd6 Nf4 15. Bxf4 Qxf4 (15... Rxf4 16. Nf3)
16. Bc2 $1 {defending against e5 by attacking d5.} (16. Rae1 e5) 16... Ne5 (
16... e5 $2 17. Qd3 $1 $18 {with double ->.}) 17. Rad1 Ng4 18. Nf3 $16 {
and White will take control over >< e5 again.}) 13. Nxe5 Qc7 (13... Nd7 14.
Ndf3 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Qh4 (15... Qg5 16. Rfe1 $14) 16. g3 $14) 14. Ndf3 (14. Rae1
Bxe5 15. Qxe5 Qxe5 16. Rxe5 $14) 14... Nh5 {/\ Nf4} 15. g3 $14 {and the
"French" B remains passive.}) 11... a5 $1 {Black immediately begins an -> on
the <<.} 12. Nb3 Bd6 13. Kb1 (13. Bxd6 Qxd6 14. Rhe1 e5 $1 {The same motif of
the pin on the e <-> again.} (14... a4 15. Nbd4 a3 16. b3 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Qxh2
18. g3 Qh5) 15. Nxe5 Re8 16. Nc4 (16. f4 Bg4) 16... Qb8 $1 17. Ne3 a4 $17 {
/\ a3}) 13... Bxe5 14. Nxe5 a4 15. Nc1 (15. Nxc6 bxc6 16. Nd4 Qb6 $17) 15... a3
16. b3 {Now Black has always serious mating threats on b2.} Qa5 $1 17. c4 $6 {
opening up the << helps only for Black.} (17. Qe3 Nxe5 18. Qxe5 Ng4 $1 19. Qh5
h6 $1 $17 (19... Nf6 20. Qe5)) (17. Nxc6 bxc6 18. Qe1 Qc7 $17 {and Black's
central pawns will move ahead.}) 17... dxc4 18. Nxc4 Qc7 $17 19. Rhe1 (19. Rd2
Nd5) 19... Nd5 20. Qd2 Ncb4 {The dark squares on the << are terribly weakened.}
21. Ne2 (21. f4 b5 $19) 21... Rxf2 (21... b5 {was also tempting.} 22. Ne3 Rxf2
23. Nxd5 Nxd5 $17) 22. Be4 b5 23. Qd4 (23. Ne3 Bb7 24. Nxd5 Nxd5 25. Bf3 (25.
Bxd5 Bxd5) 25... Rxe2 $1 26. Bxe2 Nc3+ 27. Ka1 Nxd1 $19) 23... Rxe2 $1 {
liquidating for a very good _|_.} 24. Rxe2 bxc4 25. Bxd5 (25. bxc4 Rb8 $19)
25... Nxd5 26. bxc4 Ba6 27. Rc1 Nf4 28. Rd2 e5 29. Qe3 Bxc4 30. Ka1 Qf7 $19 31.
g3 Nd3 $5 {Perhaps this was not so necessary.} (31... Ng6 $19) 32. Rxd3 (32.
Qe4 Re8 33. Qxc4 Nxc1 34. Qxc1 e4 $19) 32... Bxd3 33. Qxd3 h6 34. Qb3 Qxb3 35.
axb3 {The R _|_ is lost because of the bad K.} Kf7 36. Rc6 a2 37. h4 Ra3 38. b4
e4 39. Rc4 e3 40. Re4 Kf6 41. g4 h5 $1 {clearing the way for the K.} 42. gxh5
Kf5 43. Re7 Kf4 44. b5 Rb3 45. Rf7+ Ke4 46. Re7+ Kd3 47. Rd7+ Kc2 48. Rc7+ Kd2
({or} 48... Rc3 49. Rxg7 Kb3 $19) 49. Kxa2 Rxb5 50. Rxg7 e2 51. Rd7+ Kc2 52.
Rc7+ Kd3 53. Re7 Rxh5 0-1

[Event "North Sea Cup 16th"]
[Site "Esbjerg"]
[Date "2001.07.11"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Sutovsky, Emil"]
[Black "Speelman, Jonathan S"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2651"]
[BlackElo "2603"]
[Annotator "Lukacs,P"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2001.07.06"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "DEN"]
[EventCategory "14"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 085"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2001.11.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2001.11.13"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Nf3 (4. dxc5 $142 {is supposted to be the main
line these days.} e6 {Now White has plenty of choices, see previous CBM
editions:} 5. Nf3 (5. Qg4 $5 {- Nunn-Breder, Germany BL 2001 CBM 82}) (5. Bf4
Bxc5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Nf3 f6 $1 {- Shirov-Kramnik, Wijk aan Zee 2001 CBM81}) (5.
Be3 Nh6 (5... Nd7 {- Acs-Zjaginsev, EU-ch 2nd Ohrid 2001 CBM 84}) 6. Nf3 Nd7 7.
Bxh6 $1 {- Sutovsky-Dautov,Julian Borowski Essen 2000 CBM 77}) 5... Bxc5 6. Bd3
Nc6 (6... Ne7 7. O-O (7. Bf4 $6 Qb6 $1 {- Prasad-Prakash, Chalapathi GM 2000
CBM 77}) 7... Ng6 {- Mitkov-Zjaginsev, Polkovsky Karpov RUS 2001 CBM 84}) 7.
O-O (7. Qe2 $5 Nge7 {- Smirnov-Zvjaginsev, EU-ch 2nd Ohrid 2001}) 7... f6 $1 8.
Qe2 fxe5 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. Qxe5 Nf6 11. Nd2 {- Grischuk-C.Bauer, Cannes FRA
rapid 2001 CBM 82} (11. c4 {- Shirov-Agdestein, Bergen Radisson SAS m rapid
2001 CBM 82})) 4... Nc6 (4... Bg4 $143 5. Bb5+ Nc6 {- 4..Nc6}) 5. Bb5 cxd4 (
5... Bg4 $6 {This leaves the serious pin unattended.} 6. dxc5 (6. c3 Bxf3 7.
Qxf3 e6 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. b4 Bb6 10. Qg3 Nge7 11. Bg5 a6 12. Bxc6+ bxc6 13. O-O
$14 {Orlov-Polushkina, Porto San Giogio op 2000}) 6... e6 7. b4 {White is now
fighting for the c5 P.} a5 8. c3 Nge7 9. Nbd2 axb4 10. cxb4 Ng6 11. h3 Bxf3 12.
Nxf3 Qc7 13. O-O {^^} Ngxe5 14. Bb2 $16 {Klovans-Peelen, Gelsenkirchen op 2000}
) 6. Nxd4 Bd7 7. Nxc6 Bxc6 8. Bxc6+ bxc6 9. O-O e6 10. c4 $11 {The exchange of
the light-squared B was a relief for Black. His c P can be a target, but his
strong defended d5 P holds the position.} Ne7 11. Qa4 (11. Qe2 Ng6 $11) 11...
Qd7 12. Nd2 Rb8 13. b3 Nc8 $5 (13... Nf5 14. Rd1 Be7 15. Nf3 $14 (15. Ne4)) 14.
Rd1 (14. Ba3 {is a logical exchange from strategical point of view, but
simplifications help also for Black.} Nb6 15. Qa6 Bxa3 16. Qxa3 Qe7 $11) 14...
Nb6 15. Qa5 dxc4 16. Bb2 $1 {White sacrifices the P for positional gains. He
opens up the a <->, after which >< a7 becomes a target.} cxb3 17. axb3 Nd5 {
The N is excellent here in the [+].} (17... Rb7 18. Ne4 Nd5 19. Ba3 $14 {
weakening >< c5 and d6.}) 18. Ne4 {White wants to keep the tension.} (18. Qxa7
Qxa7 19. Rxa7 Bc5 20. Ra4 {with only a minimal advantage for White.}) 18... Be7
(18... Rxb3 19. Ba3 Bxa3 20. Rxa3 Rxa3 21. Qxa3 $44) 19. Rd3 Rb4 $2 {[%mdl
8192] [#] Provoking White to open up the long /^ ?!} (19... O-O $1 {was the
safe and logical continuation.} 20. Qxa7 Qxa7 21. Rxa7 Ra8 $11 {and Black can
equalize in the _|_.}) 20. Nd6+ $1 Bxd6 21. exd6 {>< g7, a7 and the o^ on d6
is taboo.} Re4 (21... Qxd6 $2 {loses to} 22. Ba3 $18) 22. Rg3 (22. Rdd1 $16)
22... e5 (22... f6 23. Kf1 $1 $16 {/\ Qa7 defending the back rank.}) 23. Rxg7
Kf8 (23... Re2 24. Ba3 Kf8 25. Rg3 $18) 24. Rg3 Re2 (24... Rg8 25. Ba3 $16 {
and the o^ on d6 paralyzes Black.}) 25. h3 Rg8 (25... Rxb2 26. Qxa7 $1 Qxa7 (
26... Rb1+ 27. Kh2 $18) 27. Rxa7 $18) 26. Qxa7 $18 Qxa7 27. Rxa7 Rxg3 28. Ra8+
Kg7 29. d7 Nf4 30. Rg8+ 1-0

[Event "ESP-ch final"]
[Site "Ayamonte"]
[Date "2002.10.11"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Shirov, Alexei"]
[Black "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2699"]
[BlackElo "2635"]
[Annotator "Lukacs,P"]
[PlyCount "157"]
[EventDate "2002.10.11"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "2"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 092"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2003.02.06"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2003.02.06"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. Qg4 h5 $1 {This is the most direct
approach, and probably the best.} (5... Qc7 6. Nf3 Nc6 {- 5..Nc6}) (5... Nc6 6.
Nf3 Qc7 7. Bb5 Bd7 (7... Nge7 8. O-O (8. b4) 8... Bd7 {(Conquest-Dyce, BCF-chT
1997)} 9. Qh5 $14 {shows that passive play leads nowhere for Black.}) 8. Bxc6
Qxc6 9. Be3 Nh6 10. Bxh6 gxh6 11. Nbd2 {Black's P structure is corrupted and
only one of his bishops can be active.} Qxc5 12. c4 O-O-O 13. O-O Kb8 14. Rfd1
Qb6 15. Qh4 $14 {Tal-Botvinnik, World Championship 24th Moscow 1961}) (5... Nd7
6. Nf3 (6. Bb5 Qc7 7. Nf3 {- 6.Nf3}) 6... Qc7 (6... Ne7 7. Bb5 $142 $14 {
is the usual reply here.} ({Pinning the other N by} 7. Bg5 {looks also logical,
although this may help Black's development.} h6 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Nbd2 (9. Nc3 $6
Qxc5 10. Bd3 Qb4 $11) 9... Qxc5 (9... Nxc5 10. Be2) 10. c3 $14 {overprotecting
the critical d4 square.})) 7. Bb5 $5 (7. Bf4 {The B is usually passive here.}
Nxc5 8. Nc3 a6 9. O-O-O Ne7 10. Kb1 Bd7 11. Bd3 Rc8 12. Rhe1 b5 13. Nd4 b4 14.
Nce2 Ng6 15. Bg3 Nxd3 16. cxd3 (16. Rxd3 Nxe5 $17) 16... h5 {This looks better
than taking >< e5 immediately.} (16... Nxe5 17. Qh5 Bd6 18. Nf4 O-O 19. Nxd5
exd5 20. Bxe5 Rfe8 $11) 17. Qg5 h4 (17... Be7 18. Qe3 h4 19. Rc1 Qb7) 18. Bf4
Be7 $1 (18... Bc5 19. Rc1 Qb8 $13 (19... Nxf4 $2 {solves only White's problems
activating dramatically his pieces.} 20. Nxf4 Kf8 (20... Qb6 21. Qxg7 Rf8 22.
Nb3 $16) 21. Nb3 Be7 22. Ng6+ $1 $18 {Grischuk-La Rota, New York op 2000})) 19.
Qg4 O-O 20. Rc1 Qb8 $15 {and >< e5 remains a vulnerable target.}) (7. Nc3 Nxe5
8. Bb5+ Nd7 (8... Bd7 9. Bxd7+ Nxd7 10. b4 Ngf6 11. Nb5 Qb8 $13) 9. b4 a5 $1 {
Black has to blow up White's impressive P chain on the << otherwise he can
consolidate it and gain a big space advantage.} (9... Ngf6 $6 10. Qd4 a5 11.
Bf4 Qd8 12. c6 axb4 13. cxd7+ Bxd7 14. Bxd7+ Qxd7 15. Ne2 $16 {
Fedorov-Shtancheev, RUS-Cup Ekaterinburg 1997}) 10. Bf4 Qd8 11. c6 bxc6 12.
Bxc6 Ngf6 13. Qg5 (13. Qh3 Bxb4 $17) (13. Qg3 Bxb4 $17) 13... h6 $15) 7... Qxc5
8. Nc3 Qb4 9. h3 h5 10. Qf4 Qxf4 11. Bxf4 Ne7 12. O-O-O Ng6 13. Bh2 Bc5 14.
Rhf1 a6 15. Bd3 $14 {Grigore-Giraud, Rohde op 2002}) 6. Qf4 (6. Bb5+ {Now this
check helps only for Black to get rid of his bad "French" B.} Bd7 7. Bxd7+ Nxd7
(7... Qxd7 {is not so logical.} 8. Qe2 Bxc5 9. Nf3 Nc6 10. O-O Nge7 11. Be3 (
11. Nbd2 Nf5) 11... Bxe3 (11... d4 12. Rd1 Nf5 13. Bg5) 12. Qxe3 Nf5 13. Qf4 {
and White will finish his development, although a real advantage cannot be
seen.}) 8. Qe2 Bxc5 9. Nf3 {(Kindermann-Dautov, Bad Homburg 1997)} Qa5+ 10.
Nbd2 (10. c3 Qa6 {In the _|_ >< e5 remains a target and White has the passive
B.} 11. Qxa6 bxa6 {The corruption of the P structure is not important, Black
will organize pressure on the b and c lines.} 12. Nbd2 Ne7 13. Nb3 Bb6 $17)
10... Rc8 11. O-O Qa6 12. Qd1 Ne7 13. Nb3 Bb6 $17 {Dautov}) (6. Qg3 h4 7. Qg4 (
7. Qf4 Bxc5 8. Bd3 Qb6 {fighting against the natural development Nf3 and Be3.}
9. Nh3 Qb4+ 10. Qxb4 Bxb4+ 11. c3 Be7 12. Nd2 b6 {/\ Ba6 activating the "bad"
B.} 13. f4 Ba6 14. Bxa6 Nxa6 15. Nf3 Nh6 16. Be3 Nf5 $11 {Khenkin-Iordachescu,
Germany BL2 1997}) 7... Nh6 8. Bxh6 Rxh6 9. Nf3 (9. Bd3 Nc6 10. Nf3 f5 11. exf6
(11. Qf4 Bxc5) 11... Qxf6 12. Nc3 Bxc5 {Black has a strong pressure on the
dark squares.} 13. O-O-O Bd7 14. Bb5 O-O-O 15. Rhe1 Rg6 16. Qxh4 Rxg2 $15 {
Carton-Renet, Tch-FRA Noyon 2001}) 9... Nd7 (9... Nc6 10. Bb5) 10. Bb5 Rg6 11.
Qh3 (11. Qxh4 Rxg2 $1 {Black can bravely take the P, the exchange of queens is
not bad at all.} (11... Qa5+ 12. Nc3 Rxg2 13. Bf1 Rg6 14. b4 $16 {and White
wins a couple of tempi.}) 12. Qxd8+ Kxd8 13. Kf1 Rg6 14. b4 a5 $44) 11... a6
12. Bd3 (12. Bxd7+ Bxd7 {^^} 13. b4 b6 {blowing up White's P chain.}) 12... Rh6
13. O-O Nxc5 14. Nbd2 Bd7 15. Nb3 Nxd3 16. cxd3 {Black's ^^ has a bright
future.} Ba4 17. Qg4 Bb5 18. Rad1 a5 19. h3 Rc8 $11 {Khalifman-Kachiani,
Gersinka Bayern-ch Bank Hofman 1997}) (6. Qh3 Bxc5) 6... Bxc5 7. Bd3 Qb6 (7...
Nc6 {allows the natural developing move} 8. Nf3 Qb6 (8... Nb4 9. Be3 (9. O-O
Nxd3 10. cxd3) 9... b6 10. O-O Nh6 11. Nbd2 O-O 12. Nb3 Bxe3 13. Qxe3 Nxd3 14.
Qxd3 a5 15. Rfe1 Ba6 16. Qd2 {/\ Nbd4 blockading >< d4 and with a good N
versus a bad B.} d4 $5 17. Nbxd4 Bb7 {Black sacrifices the d P in order to get
the long /^, which is a good idea from practical point of view, but cannot be
completely correct.} 18. Rad1 Qe7 19. c3 a4 20. Qg5 $14 {Mortensen-Speelman,
Politiken Cup Copenhagen 2001}) 9. O-O $14) 8. c3 (8. Nh3 {is a rather
sophysticated development, White has no chance to blockade the vital d4 square.
} Nc6 9. O-O Bd4 10. Ng5 Qc7 11. Nf3 Bxe5 12. Nxe5 Qxe5 13. Qd2 Nge7 14. Re1 {
^^} Qf6 15. Nc3 $44 {Nunn-Khenkin, Birmingham 2000}) 8... Bd7 {/\ Bb5
exchanging his passive B.} (8... Nc6 9. b4 Be7 10. Nf3 $14) (8... g5 $5 {
- Nunn-Breder, BL 2000 CBM 82}) 9. b4 {White wants to finish his development
quickly, but this creates serious weaknesses in his P structure.} (9. Qg3 $5 {
deserves attention, for example:} Ne7 10. Nh3 $14 (10. b4 $2 {loses to} Bxb4 $1
11. cxb4 Qd4 12. Qxg7 Rg8 $19)) 9... Be7 10. Be3 (10. Nf3 Bb5 $11) 10... g5 $5
{Black is fighting for activity at any cost.} (10... Qc7 {gives White precious
time for development.} 11. Nf3 (11. Qg3 $5) 11... Nc6 12. O-O Nh6 13. h3 $14)
11. Qg3 (11. Bxb6 gxf4 12. Bc7 Nc6 13. b5 Nd8 14. Nf3 Rc8 $13) 11... h4 12. Qh3
Qc7 13. f4 {The battle still focuses on >< e5.} (13. Nf3 Nc6 14. O-O Nh6 $1
$132 {and the white Q is pathetic.}) 13... Nc6 14. Nf3 (14. b5 Na5 15. fxg5 Nc4
$44) 14... gxf4 15. Bxf4 f5 (15... Bf6 $5 {is the direct way to grab the main
target >< e5.} 16. O-O Nxe5 17. Re1 Nxf3+ $1 (17... Qb6+ 18. Be3 Qd6 19. Bf4
Qb6+ (19... Nxf3+ 20. Qxf3 e5 21. Qe3 Ne7 22. Bxe5 Bxe5 23. Qxe5 Qxe5 24. Rxe5
Rc8 $11) 20. Be3 $11) 18. Qxf3 Qb6+ 19. Kh1 (19. Be3 d4 $17) 19... Rc8 $15 {
and White is not well-developed to exploit the K in the middle.}) 16. O-O Nh6
$1 17. b5 Bc5+ {There is no need to give up the strong h P.} (17... Na5 $1 18.
Nd4 Rc8 $15) 18. Kh1 Ne7 (18... Na5 $2 19. Qxh4 $16) 19. Qxh4 O-O-O {Black has
good attacking chances on the h and g lines.} (19... Nf7 $5 {was also exciting:
} 20. Qf6 Rg8 21. Nh4 (21. h3 Ng6 $1) 21... Rg4 22. Nxf5 $1 (22. Bxf5 Rxf4 23.
Rxf4 exf5 24. Nf3 Ng8 25. Qg7 Ngh6) 22... Nxf5 23. Bxf5 Rxf4 (23... Be7 24.
Bxg4 Bxf6 25. exf6 e5) 24. Rxf4 Be7 $15) 20. Bxh6 $1 Ng8 {[#]} 21. Bf4 $5 {
Shirov's regular choice is to sacrifice material for activity, here he gives
his Q for a R and piece, however Black still retains the |^.} (21. c4 d4 22.
Qf4 Nxh6 23. Nbd2 Ng4 $44) (21. Qf4 Nxh6 $44) 21... Rxh4 22. Nxh4 Ne7 23. Nd2
Rh8 24. Nxf5 (24. Ndf3 Be8 $15) 24... Nxf5 25. Bxf5 Qb6 26. Bg4 Be3 (26... Rg8
$5 27. Bh3 Qxb5 $15) 27. Rae1 Bxf4 {Black wants to eliminate White's ^^.} (
27... Bxd2 28. Bxd2 Qxb5 $15) 28. Rxf4 Qxb5 29. Nb3 (29. c4 Qb4) 29... Qd3 30.
Rf3 Qg6 31. Bh3 Rh5 $1 32. Kg1 Kb8 33. Nd4 {White has consolidated his
position, but still the position is far from easy.} (33. Nc5 Bc8) 33... a6 (
33... Qh6 $5 34. Rf6 Qd2) 34. Rg3 (34. Rf6 Qd3) 34... Qh6 35. Bg4 Rg5 (35...
Rxh2 $2 36. Bh3) 36. h3 {From now on Black cannot find a clear-cut plan.} Rg8
37. Rf3 Qd2 38. Re2 Qc1+ 39. Kh2 Rg6 40. Bh5 Rh6 41. Bg4 (41. Bf7 Qg5) 41...
Qg5 42. Rg3 Qf4 43. Ree3 Qf2 $2 {Now the situation will be changed.} (43... Bc8
44. Kg1 Qf8 45. Rgf3 Qa3 $15) 44. Ref3 $1 Qe1 (44... Qxa2 45. Rf6 $1 $14) 45.
Rf7 $2 (45. Rf6 $1 $14 {finding the real target >< f6.}) 45... Bc8 46. Be2 Rh8
47. a4 Ka8 48. a5 Qa1 49. Bg4 Qe1 $1 (49... Qxa5 50. Bxe6 $1 $14) 50. Be2 Qa1
51. Rf6 Qe1 (51... Qxa5 52. Bg4 Re8 53. Bxe6 Bxe6 54. Nxe6 $14) 52. Rf1 Qd2 53.
Rf7 Qe1 54. Rf6 (54. Rf1 Qd2 55. Rf7 Qe1 $11) 54... Re8 55. Rf1 Qd2 56. Bh5 $1
Rh8 57. Bf7 Rf8 (57... Rh6 58. Bxe6 $1 Rxe6 (58... Bxe6 59. Rf8+ Bc8 (59... Ka7
60. Nc6+) 60. Rxc8+ Ka7 61. e6 $18) 59. Nxe6 Bxe6 60. Rf6 Bd7 (60... Bc8 61.
Rf8) 61. e6 $18) 58. h4 $1 {Now already White's chances are clearly better.
Black cannot find an antidote against the advance of the o^ h4.} (58. Rff3 $14)
58... Qh6 $1 59. Kh3 Rh8 60. h5 Bd7 (60... Qh7 61. Rf6 Qe4 62. Nf3 {/\ Rg8})
61. Kh4 Qf8 62. Rf6 Qb8 63. Nf3 (63. Re3 $14) 63... Ka7 (63... Qc7 64. h6 $1
Qxa5 65. Rg8+ $1 Rxg8 66. Bxg8 $18) 64. h6 Qf8 65. Rgg6 Qc5 66. Rg8 $1 $18 Qf2+
67. Kh3 Rh7 (67... Rxg8 68. Bxg8 $18) 68. Rg7 (68. Ng5 Qe3+ 69. g3 $18) 68...
Rh8 69. Bxe6 Bc6 (69... Bxe6+ 70. Rxe6 $18) 70. Bf5 Bb5 71. Rb6 Ka8 72. h7 {
and the o^ will decide the battle.} Bf1 73. Rg8+ Ka7 74. Rxh8 $5 (74. Nd4 $18)
74... Qxf3+ (74... Bxg2+ 75. Kg4 Bxf3+ 76. Kg5 $18) 75. Kh4 {The K will run
away from the checks.} Qf4+ (75... Qxf5 76. Ra8+) 76. g4 Qxe5 77. Rg8 Qh2+ 78.
Kg5 Qd2+ 79. Kg6 1-0

[Event "Moscow Aeroflot op-A"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2004.02.24"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Rublevsky, Sergei"]
[Black "Asrian, Karen"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2655"]
[BlackElo "2599"]
[Annotator "Lukacs,P"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2004.02.17"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 100"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2004.06.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2004.06.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c4 {White wants to blow up the whole [+] in
order to open up the position.} (4. dxc5 {is the main line nowadays.}) 4...
cxd4 ({The natural developing move} 4... Nc6 $142 {is supposed to be the best.}
5. cxd5 Qxd5 6. Nc3 Qxd4 7. Be3 Qb4 {White has no adequate compensation for
the sacrificed P, his development is not that frightening.} 8. a3 (8. Nf3 Bg4 (
8... e6 9. a3 Qa5 10. Bb5 Bd7 {- 8.a3} (10... Bd7 11. O-O Qc7 {is the
caoutious reply.} (11... Nxe5 $2 {founders on} 12. Nxe5 Bxb5 13. Qf3 $18) (
11... a6 12. b4 $1 {White has to open up the position for his better developed
pieces.} cxb4 13. axb4 Qxb4 (13... Qd8 14. Qa4 Nge7 15. Rfd1 Rc8 16. Bxc6 Rxc6
17. Qb3 $44 {Zigura-Tkachenko, Independence Cup op 2002}) 14. Qd2 Rd8 15. Bd3
$44) 12. Qb3 a6 $15 {and White has to retreat.}))) 8... Qa5 9. Bb5 e6 {The
position is fairly closed, so the extra tempi are not that relevant.} 10. Bxc6+
{White corrupts Black's P structure, but gives up the ^^.} bxc6 11. Qa4 Qb6 12.
b4 Qa6 13. Qxa6 Bxa6 14. bxc5 Ne7 {White has got back the P, but the light
squares are extremely weak in his position. Black has a strong ^^ and can put
a N on d5.-Topalovic-Mikhalchishin, Varazdin 2003 CBM 99}) 5. Nf3 (5. Qxd4 e6 (
5... Nc6 $5 6. Qxd5 $14) 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Nc3 {and the isolated P on d5 remains
a target.} Be6 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. Bb5 Nge7 10. Bg5 h6 {(Topalovic-Petrov, CRO-Cup
Pula 2000)} 11. Bxe7 Bxe7 12. O-O $14) 5... Nc6 6. Nxd4 e6 (6... Nxe5 7. cxd5
Qxd5 8. Nc3 $44 {and White has a lead of development for the P.}) 7. Nc3 (7.
cxd5 Qxd5 (7... exd5 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Bd3 $14) 8. Nxc6 bxc6 (8... Qxc6 9. Nc3
$14) 9. Qe2 $5 Rb8 10. Nc3 Qa5 11. Qe4 (11. g3 Ne7 $13) 11... Ne7 12. Bd3 Ba6
$13 {with enough compensation on the light squares for the worse P structure.})
7... Bb4 (7... Bc5 $2 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Qg4 g6 10. Bd3 $16 {Svidler-Falkenstein,
Darmsadt 2000}) (7... Nxe5 8. cxd5 $14) 8. Nxc6 bxc6 (8... Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 bxc6
10. Qg4 $16) 9. Bd3 (9. Qa4 Qb6 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Bd3 Ne7 12. O-O $14) 9... d4
(9... Ne7 10. O-O O-O 11. Qg4 $16) (9... dxc4 10. Bxc4 Qxd1+ 11. Kxd1 $14) 10.
a3 Ba5 (10... Qa5 $2 11. axb4 Qxa1 12. Ne4 $16) (10... Be7 11. Ne4 Qa5+ 12. b4
Qxe5 13. O-O Nf6 14. Qf3 $36) 11. b4 Bc7 $2 {Now White grabs the |^} (11...
dxc3 12. bxa5 Qxa5 13. Bf4 $14 (13. Qe2 $14)) 12. Ne4 $1 {[%mdl 128]} Bxe5 13.
Qh5 $1 Qc7 {[#]} (13... Bc7 14. Bg5 Qd7 (14... Ne7 15. Bf6 $1 $18) 15. O-O $44
{with a big lead of development for the sacrificed P.}) 14. f4 $1 Bd6 $6 ({
It was already better to take the second P.} 14... Bxf4 15. O-O $1 (15. Qc5 Ne7
16. Bxf4 Qxf4 17. Qxd4 O-O {and Black will escape.}) (15. Bxf4 Qxf4 16. Rf1
Qe3+ (16... Qc7 17. Rxf7 $1 $18) 17. Be2 Nf6 (17... Qxe4 18. Qxf7+ Kd8 19. Qf8+
Kc7 20. Rf7+ Bd7 21. Qxa8 $18 {wins outright.}) 18. Nxf6+ gxf6 19. Rxf6 Rf8 (
19... Qc3+ 20. Kf2 Rf8 (20... Qe3+ $2 21. Kf1 Rf8 22. Rf3 Qd2 23. Rd1 $18) (
20... Qxa1 $2 21. Rxf7 $18) 21. Rd1 $44 d3 22. Rf3 Qd4+ 23. Re3 d2 24. Qe5 $16
{and even the _|_ can be better for White.}) 20. Rf3 Qg1+ (20... Qe4 21. Kf1
$16) 21. Bf1 $44) 15... Bxc1 (15... Be5 16. Rxf7 Bxh2+ 17. Kh1 Qxf7 18. Qxh2
$40) 16. Raxc1 Kf8 17. Qc5+ Ne7 18. Nd6 f6 19. Rce1 $18) 15. Bb2 $16 Ne7 (15...
Bxf4 16. Bxd4 e5 17. Bc5 $16) 16. O-O Bxf4 17. Bxd4 ({missing the devastating} 
17. Rxf4 $1 Qxf4 18. Bxd4 {/\ Rf1} Nf5 (18... e5 19. Rf1 $18) (18... O-O $4 {
leads to a mate after} 19. Nf6+ $18) 19. Rf1 Qc7 20. Bc5 $18) 17... Nf5 18. Bc5
{Certainly there is nothing wrong with White's position!} Ba6 (18... a5 19.
Rxf4 Qxf4 20. Rf1 $18 {and Black collapses.}) (18... Bd7 19. g4 $18) 19. Rxf4
$1 Qxf4 20. Rf1 $18 Qh6 (20... g6 21. Nf6+ Kd8 22. Qd1 Ne3 23. Qd2 $18) (20...
Qc7 21. Rxf5 $1 exf5 (21... g6 22. Qh4 gxf5 23. Nf6+ Kd8 24. Nd5+ $18) 22. Nd6+
Kd8 23. Bxf5 $18) (20... Qe5 21. Nd6+ Kd7 22. Bxf5 exf5 23. Rxf5 Qe1+ 24. Rf1
$18) 21. Rxf5 $1 {The second exchange sacrifice in a row wins quickly.} Qxh5 (
21... exf5 22. Nd6+ $18) 22. Nd6+ $1 Kd7 23. Rxh5 Raf8 24. b5 Bc8 25. Rh4 Kc7
26. Nxc8 Rxc8 27. Bxa7 Rhd8 28. Be4 Rd1+ 29. Kf2 Rcd8 30. Rxh7 R8d2+ 31. Kg3
Ra2 32. Bc5 Rc1 33. b6+ Kb7 34. Rxg7 1-0

[Event "Olympiad-36"]
[Site "Mallorca"]
[Date "2004.10.18"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Movsesian, Sergei"]
[Black "Svetushkin, Dmitry"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2629"]
[BlackElo "2568"]
[Annotator "Lukacs,P"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2004.10.15"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "14"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 104"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2005.01.27"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2005.01.27"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Slovakia"]
[BlackTeam "Moldova"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "SVK"]
[BlackTeamCountry "MDA"]

1. e4 {Movsesian} c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 Nc6 5. Bb5 e6 6. Be3 Nge7 7. c3
{White is desperately fighting for his extra P in this variation.} Bd7 8. Bxc6
Bxc6 (8... Nxc6 $5) 9. Nf3 Nf5 10. Bd4 Nxd4 (10... Qc7 $5 {Z.Almasi}) (10... a5
{against b4} 11. O-O (11. a4 Nxd4 12. Qxd4 Be7 13. b4 (13. O-O O-O 14. Nbd2 Qc7
15. Ra3 Bd7 $13 {and Black will get back the sacrificed P soon,
Skripchenko-Kononenko, Halle 2000.}) 13... O-O 14. O-O Qc7 15. Qe3 Bd7 16. Nbd2
axb4 17. cxb4 Bxa4 18. Rfc1 {White blockades the vital d4 square, but he
cannot advance easily his << P majority.} Rfc8 19. h4 Bd7 20. Nb3 Ra4 $13 {
Kotronias-Svetushkin, Halkidiki 2002}) 11... Nxd4 12. cxd4 {with a healthy P
up.} (12. Qxd4 a4 {/\ Ra5} 13. Nbd2 Ra5 (13... Qa5 14. b4 {1/2-1/2 Sax,
G-Zelcic,R/Ljubjana SLO 2004}) 14. b4 axb3 15. Nxb3 Ra4 {White still has his +
P, but his pawns are weakened.} 16. Qd2 Qc7 17. Nfd4 $5 (17. Rfe1 $13) 17...
Qxe5 18. f4 Qf6 19. Rae1 Be7 20. Qe2 $44 {Blehm-Svetushkin, Yerevan 2000})
12... b6 13. cxb6 Qxb6 14. Nc3 Qxb2 15. Rb1 Qxc3 16. Rc1 Qb2 17. Rxc6 {Black
has won back the P, but lost the ^^ and the |^.} Be7 18. Rc7 a4 19. Qc1 Qb5 20.
Qf4 Qb4 21. Rfc1 O-O 22. h4 $14 {Volkmann-Svetushkin, Bled 2002}) 11. Qxd4 (11.
cxd4 b6 $1 12. cxb6 (12. b4 a5 $132) 12... Qxb6 {and Black's lead of
development and active ^^ fully compensates the P.} 13. Qc1 (13. Qd2 $2 Rb8 $1
14. b3 Bb4 15. Nc3 Bb5 $17) 13... Bb5 $1 (13... Rb8 $2 14. O-O $1) 14. Nc3 Rc8
$44) 11... Qa5 $1 (11... a5 $6 12. b4 $1 $16 {Z.Almasi-De la Villa, Pamplona
1996/97}) 12. b4 Qa6 13. a4 (13. Qe3 b6 14. cxb6 axb6 15. Nd4 Bd7 (15... Bb5
16. f4 Be7 17. Kf2 O-O 18. Nd2 $14 {Kapnisis-Svetushkin, Ikaros 2003}) 16. Nd2
Be7 17. f4 O-O 18. Kf2 f6 {Black has to blow up White's [+] at any cost.} (
18... Ra7 19. g4 Qc8 20. Rhc1 f6 $1 21. exf6 Rxf6 22. g5 Rf8 23. N2f3 Qb8 24.
Nxe6 Bxe6 25. Qxe6+ Kh8 $44 {the white K has no real shelter, Brkic-Zelcic,
Bizovac 2003.}) 19. N2f3 Qa3 20. Rhb1 $14 {White can hold both d4 and e5,
Theoocharides-Zelcic, Plovdiv 2003.}) 13... b6 14. Qf4 $1 {Movsesian: 'This
move was played by young Croatian IM Brkic and brings the whole idea of
black's pawn sacrifice under question.'} (14. cxb6 axb6 $44) 14... d4 {
Movsesian: 'Probably the best practical try.'} (14... bxc5 $2 {founders on} 15.
Ng5 $1 Qb7 16. b5 $18) ({Movsesian: Bad is} 14... Rb8 15. cxb6 (15. Ng5 Rb7 16.
cxb6 axb6 $44) (15. Na3 $5 Qd3 $1 (15... bxc5 16. Ng5 $1 $16 (16. b5 $6 Qa5 $1
17. bxc6 Qxc3+ 18. Ke2 Rb2+ 19. Nd2 c4 $1 20. c7 Kd7 $44)) (15... Qxa4 16. Nd4
bxc5 17. Nac2 $16) 16. Qd4 Qg6 17. O-O $1 bxc5 (17... Bxa4 18. b5 Bb3 19. c6
$14) (17... Be7 18. Nb5 $1 $16) 18. bxc5 Rc8 $1 (18... Be7 19. Nb5 $1 $36) (
18... a6 19. Rfb1 Rc8) 19. Rfb1 (19. Nb5 $140 Bxb5 20. axb5 Bxc5 21. Qd2 O-O)
19... Be7 20. Nb5 Bxb5 21. Rxb5 a6 $44) 15... axb6 (15... Rxb6 16. Nd4) 16. Nd4
Bd7 17. b5 Qa5 (17... Qc8 18. O-O Be7 19. Qe3 O-O 20. Nd2 {'+/-' Movsesian.
Movsesian: 'Brkic-Armanda, Bizovac 2004'} Ra8 21. N4b3 Qb8 22. c4 $16 {
Brkic-Armanda, Bizovac 2004}) 18. O-O Rc8 19. Qe3 Be7 $44 20. Rc1 $145 O-O 21.
Nd2 $16) 15. Ng5 $2 {Movsesian: 'After 30 minutes of meditation I went for
this pseudo-attacking move.'} ({Why not simply} 15. b5 $1 {Movsesian: 'looked
too unclear to me'} Bxb5 16. Ng5 $16 {with tremendous threats?} O-O-O {
Movsesian} 17. Nxf7 Bxc5 {and the black pair of bishops is promising some
compensation.}) ({Much stronger is "Fritz-kind"} 15. cxb6 $1 {Movsesian} axb6 (
15... dxc3 16. b5 $1 Bxb5 17. Ng5 $18) 16. Qxd4 Rd8 17. Qe3 $16) 15... Qb7 $1
16. b5 (16. cxd4 bxc5 $1 17. dxc5 h6 18. Nf3 Bxf3 $1 19. Qxf3 $1 (19. gxf3 Bxc5
$1 20. bxc5 Qb2) 19... Qxb4+ 20. Nc3 Rc8 21. O-O Bxc5 22. Ne4 O-O $11) 16...
Bxg2 17. c6 (17. Rg1 Bd5 18. c6 Qc7 {- 17.c6}) 17... Qc7 18. Rg1 Bd5 $13 {
Now the position is extremely sharp again.} 19. cxd4 (19. c4 $5 Bb4+ (19...
Bxc4 20. Ne4 Bb4+ 21. Nbd2 {- 19...Bb4}) 20. Nd2 Bxc4 21. Nge4 O-O-O $1 {
The K is safer here than on the other flank!} (21... O-O $2 {runs into a
mating -> after} 22. Nf6+ Kh8 23. Qg5 $18) 22. Rxg7 Rhg8 $1 23. Nd6+ Kb8 $13)
19... f6 $5 {'!' Movsesian. Movsesian: 'White has a strong pawn on c6, but the
pair of bishops is currently more important.'} (19... Bb4+ 20. Nd2 a6 $132) 20.
Nh3 fxe5 {'?' Movsesian.} (20... Bb4+ 21. Nd2 Qe7 $13) ({Black could have a
perfect game after recovering from a shock in an opening} 20... O-O-O $1 {
Movsesian} 21. exf6 Bd6 $36) 21. Qxe5 (21. dxe5 a5 $1 {/\ Bb4}) 21... Bb4+ 22.
Nd2 {[#]} Qxe5+ $2 {liquidating to an _|_ solves White's problems only.} (22...
Bxd2+ $2 {giving up the ^^ deliberately cannot be recommended.} 23. Kxd2 Qe7
24. Ke3 $1 (24. Rxg7 $2 Qb4+ $132) 24... Qb4 (24... O-O 25. Rxg7+ Qxg7 26. Rg1
Bg2 27. Qxg7+ Kxg7 28. Rxg2+ $18) 25. Rad1 $18) (22... Qe7 $1 {was the correct
decision keeping the tension and the white K is vulnerable.} 23. Rb1 (23. Rxg7
$6 Bxd2+ 24. Kxd2 Qb4+ $132) (23. Qxg7 $6 Bxd2+ 24. Kxd2 Qb4+ 25. Ke3 Qc3+ 26.
Kf4 Rf8+ $13) (23. Ke2 Bxd2 $13) 23... Bxd2+ 24. Kxd2 O-O {White's K in the
middle is not very healthy.} 25. Nf4 (25. Rxg7+ $2 Qxg7 26. Rg1 Rxf2+ $1 $19)
25... Ba2 26. Rb2 Rf5 27. Qe3 Bc4 $13) 23. dxe5 Bc3 (23... O-O-O 24. O-O-O) 24.
Ra3 Bxe5 {Black has won back the P, will lose the strong ^^ soon.} 25. Re3 {
Movsesian: 'Now white's strong pawn on c6 starts to be an important "detail".'}
Bd4 (25... Bf6 26. Nf4 O-O-O 27. Kd1 $14) 26. Rd3 Bf6 27. Nf4 O-O-O 28. Kd1 $1
{/\ Kc2, Re1} Rhf8 29. Kc2 Rf7 30. Re1 {Movsesian: 'Black's bishops are just
stunts and white has a very easy plan-to change everything and use a better
pawn structure.'} Bg5 (30... Bh4 31. Nxe6 Bxe6 32. Rxe6 Rxf2 33. h3 $16) 31.
Nxd5 exd5 (31... Rxd5 32. Ne4 $1 $16) 32. f3 {White strong protected o^ is the
main trump.} Rf4 $2 (32... Bxd2 33. Kxd2 $16) 33. Re5 Bf6 34. Rexd5 Rxd5 35.
Rxd5 $18 Rxa4 36. Kb3 $1 {Movsesian: 'An important tempo, after which black's
position is lost.'} Rd4 (36... Rf4 37. Rd7 $18) (36... Ra1 37. Rd7 $18) 37.
Rxd4 Bxd4 38. Kc4 $18 {The N versus B _|_ is esy because of the c6 o^.} Bg1 (
38... Be5 39. h3 $18) 39. h3 Kc7 40. Kd5 a6 (40... Bh2 41. Nc4 $1 Bf4 42. Ke4
g5 (42... Bg3 43. Ne3 $18) 43. h4 $1 h6 44. hxg5 hxg5 45. Kd5 Bg3 46. Ne3 Bf4
47. Nf5 Bh2 48. Nd4 $18) 41. bxa6 b5 42. Nb3 b4 43. Nc5 1-0

[Event "Samba Cup 2nd"]
[Site "Skanderborg"]
[Date "2005.10.23"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Black "Hansen, Lars Bo"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2748"]
[BlackElo "2565"]
[Annotator "Lukacs,P"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2005.10.14"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "DEN"]
[EventCategory "16"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 110"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2006.01.31"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2006.01.31"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 Nc6 5. Nf3 (5. Bb5 e6 6. Be3 Nge7 {-
Movsesian-Svetushkin, Mallorca 2004 CBM 104}) 5... Bg4 6. Bb5 (6. Be2 $6 {
This is a bit passive.} e6 7. Bf4 (7. Be3 $2 {Now the e5 P remains undefended.}
Bxf3 $1 (7... Nge7 {allows the defending move} 8. Nbd2 {and the N can take
back on f3.} Nf5 $13) 8. Bxf3 Nge7 {- Vachier Lagrave-Fontaine, Val d'Isere
2004 CBM 103}) (7. Nbd2 Bxc5 8. c3 (8. a3 Nge7 9. c4 Bxf3 10. Nxf3 dxc4 11.
Qxd8+ Rxd8 12. Bxc4 a6 13. O-O Ng6 $15 {and White has problems with his
"stronghold" on e5, Couso-Engqvist, Stockholm 1999.}) 8... Nge7 $13) 7... Bxc5
8. O-O (8. Nbd2 Nge7 9. h3 Bxf3 10. Nxf3 Ng6 11. Bg3 O-O 12. Bd3 f5 13. exf6
Qxf6 $15 {and Black has an excellent French type of position, Casa-Gereben,
Monte Carlo 1968.}) 8... Nge7 9. Nbd2 Ng6 10. Bg3 O-O $15 ({There is no need
to hurry with} 10... Bxf3 11. Nxf3 O-O 12. Bd3 $13 {Zaghedoud-Pelletier,
Agneaux 2000})) 6... e6 (6... Qa5+ 7. Nc3 e6 8. Be3 a6 $5 (8... Nge7 {allows
White to keep his extra c P.} 9. a3 $1 {/\ b4 looks more to the point.} (9. O-O
{is not so important now!} a6 10. Be2 Nf5 11. Bd2 Qc7 12. Na4 Rd8 13. Re1 Be7
14. Bf4 Bxf3 15. Bxf3 g5 16. g4 Nh4 17. Bg3 Qa5 $1 18. Bxh4 (18. b3 $4 Qxe1+ {
0:1 Hennigs-Moehring, Leipzig 1984}) 18... gxh4 $1 (18... Qxa4 19. Bg3) 19. c3
Qc7 $13) 9... O-O-O $5 (9... a6 10. Ba4 Nf5 11. b4 Nxe3 12. fxe3 Qc7 13. O-O
Be7 14. e4 d4 15. Nd5 $1 {Pretty, isn't it?} exd5 16. exd5 $16 {
Klovans-Schroeder, Senden 1999}) (9... Nf5 10. b4 Nxe3 11. fxe3 {This exchange
is not bad for White, because the dark-squared B has no perspectives.} Qc7 12.
O-O Be7 13. e4 dxe4 (13... d4 {is again met by} 14. Nd5 $1) 14. Nxe4 O-O 15.
Bxc6 Qxc6 16. Nd6 f6 17. Nd4 $1 {liquidating for a much better _|_.} Bxd1 18.
Nxc6 Bxd6 19. exd6 Be2 20. Rfe1 $16 {Kalugin-Bets, Kharkov 2000}) 10. b4 Bxf3
$1 {Black wants to corrupt White's P structure.} (10... Qc7 11. Bf4 Bxf3 12.
Qxf3 Nxe5 13. Qe2 N7g6 14. Bg3 h5 15. h3 a6 16. Bd3 h4 {(Pytel-Donev, Biel
1995)} 17. Bxe5 Nxe5 18. Na4 $14 {and White's chances on the << are preferable
to Black's central potential.}) 11. gxf3 Qc7 12. Bxc6 Nxc6 13. Bd4 a6 14. f4 f6
$5 15. h4 (15. exf6 Nxd4 16. Qxd4 gxf6 17. Rg1 Bg7 18. Na4 Kb8 $44) 15... Be7
16. Qd3 fxe5 17. fxe5 Nxe5 18. Qh3 Kb8 19. O-O-O Rhe8 $13 {Galdunts-Zelcic,
Graz 2001}) 9. Bxc6+ bxc6 10. a3 (10. h3 {is too slow.} Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Bxc5 12.
Bxc5 Qxc5 13. O-O-O Ne7 14. Rhf1 Qa5 15. Qd3 c5 $132 {Vallejo Pons-Spraggett,
Andora 1996}) (10. O-O Bxc5 11. Bxc5 Qxc5 12. Qd4 Qxd4 13. Nxd4 {
(Smeets-Heltzel, Venlo 2000)} c5 14. Nb3 Rc8 $13) 10... Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Bxc5 12.
O-O Bxe3 13. Qxe3 Ne7 14. b4 Qc7 15. f4 (15. Na4 a5 16. Nc5 O-O $13 {N.
Kirov-Arkell, Leningrad 1989}) 15... O-O 16. Qc5 Rfb8 17. Ne2 Rb5 $11 {and
White cannot maintain his blockade on c5 and d4.}) 7. b4 (7. Be3 Nge7 (7...
Qa5+ 8. Nc3 {- 6...Qa5}) 8. c3 {- Beshukov-Turov, Moscow 2002 CBM 88} (8. O-O
$6 Nf5 9. Qe2 Nxe3 10. Qxe3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Bxc5 12. Nd2 O-O $11 {Orso-Csonka,
ch-HUN k.o. Budapest HUN 2000})) 7... Nge7 {Now Black has problems with
gaining back the sacrificed P.} (7... Bxf3 $2 8. Qxf3 a5 9. c3 axb4 10. cxb4
Qc7 11. Bb2 b6 12. Nd2 bxc5 13. bxc5 Rc8 14. O-O Qa5 15. Qd3 $18 {
Kurnosov-Bets, Alushta 2000}) (7... a5 8. c3 Nge7 (8... Qc7 9. Nbd2 Nge7 10.
O-O g6 11. Ba4 O-O-O 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Nxf3 Bg7 14. Bf4 $18 {Blees-Khenkin, Gent
1996}) 9. Nbd2 axb4 10. cxb4 Ng6 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Nxf3 Qc7 13. O-O Ngxe5 14. Bb2
$18 {Klovans-Peelen, Gelsenkirchen 2000}) (7... Qc7 $142 $1 {looks best.} 8.
Bb2 (8. O-O Bxf3 9. Qxf3 Qxe5) (8. Nbd2 b6 $44) 8... b6 $1 9. cxb6 Qxb6 10.
Bxc6+ Qxc6 $44 {and White's << is full of weaknesses.}) 8. Nbd2 (8. Bb2 Ng6 9.
O-O a5 10. a3 {and White has a healthy extra P.} Be7 (10... axb4 11. axb4 Rxa1
12. Bxa1 Qa8 13. Nbd2 Be7 {(Yoos-Sokourinski, Canadian op 1999)} 14. h3 $16)
11. Nbd2 O-O 12. h3 $16) 8... g6 $2 {The target is >< e5, but White's
advantage on the << becomes too big.} (8... Qc7 $5 {was still required.} 9. Bb2
O-O-O 10. a3 g5 $5 11. O-O Bg7 $14) 9. h3 Bxf3 10. Nxf3 Bg7 11. Rb1 a5 12. a3
axb4 13. axb4 O-O 14. Bf4 Qc7 15. O-O Nxe5 {Black has finally won back the P,
but falls into a nasty pin.} (15... b6 16. cxb6 Qxb6 17. Bxc6 Qxc6 18. b5 $16)
16. Kh1 $1 N7c6 17. c4 $1 {White opens up the position for his ^^.} dxc4 18.
Qe2 $18 f6 19. Bxc4 Qf7 {Finally leaving the pin, but it is already late.} 20.
b5 {and the strong white pawns on the << the fight.} Nxc4 21. bxc6 Na5 22. cxb7
Nxb7 23. c6 (23. Qb5) 23... Na5 {The N is very ugly on the edge of the board.}
24. Rfc1 {The c6 o^ is simply too strong.} (24. Bd6 Rfc8 25. c7 Bf8 26. Bxf8
Kxf8 27. Nd4 $18) 24... e5 25. Be3 Nb3 (25... Rfc8 26. Qb5 $18) 26. Rc3 Nd4 27.
Nxd4 exd4 28. Bxd4 $18 {White has a healthy extra P, the rest is easy.} Rfe8
29. Qf3 Rac8 30. Rbc1 f5 31. Bxg7 Kxg7 32. c7 Re4 33. Qd3 Qe7 34. Qd1 Re6 35.
Qd4+ Kf7 36. Rc6 Re4 37. Qd2 Kg7 38. Rd6 Re2 39. Qd4+ Kh6 40. Rd7 Re1+ 41. Kh2
Qe5+ 42. Qxe5 Rxe5 43. Rd8 1-0

[Event "Moscow Aeroflot op-A"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2006.02.11"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Movsesian, Sergei"]
[Black "Yevseev, Denis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2632"]
[BlackElo "2557"]
[Annotator "Lukacs,P"]
[PlyCount "134"]
[EventDate "2006.02.08"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 112"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2006.06.07"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2006.06.07"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. a3 $5 {/\ b4} (5. Qg4 {-
Shirov-Vallejo Pons, Ayamonte 2002 CBM 092}) (5. Nf3 {- Erenburg-Yevseev,
Alushta 2002 CBM 092}) (5. Be3 {- Acs-Zvjaginsev, Ohrid 2001 CBM 084}) 5... Nc6
6. Nf3 Bxc5 7. b4 Bb6 (7... Be7 $143 {is passive and takes the e7 square away
from the N.} 8. b5 $5 {This weakens the <<, but secures the total control of
the vital d4 square.} (8. Bd3 f6 9. Bb2 Nh6 10. O-O O-O 11. c4 $14 {with an
active play for White.}) 8... Na5 9. Bd3 Bd7 10. O-O Nc4 11. Bxc4 dxc4 12. Nc3
a6 13. Nd4 Nh6 14. Bxh6 gxh6 15. Qh5 {Black's >> is fairly demaged.} O-O 16.
Rad1 Qc7 17. Rfe1 Kh8 18. Ne4 {White's advantage in the [+] looks really
frightening.} Be8 19. Nd6 $16 {Sveshnikov-J.Petrov, Nova Gorica 1999}) 8. Bd3 (
8. Bb2 f6 9. Bd3 (9. Bb5 Bd7 10. exf6 Nxf6 11. O-O O-O 12. c4 a6 13. Bxc6 Bxc6
14. c5 Bc7 $13 {and White has problems with his development, Palekha-Dudukin,
Serpukhov 2004.}) 9... fxe5 10. Nxe5 Nf6 (10... Qf6 11. O-O Nxe5 12. Qh5+ Qf7
13. Qxe5 Nf6 14. Nd2 O-O 15. Nf3 $14 {with a total control over the vital e5
square, Vitiugov-Bystryakova, St Petersburg 2005.}) 11. O-O O-O 12. Nd2 $14 {
successfully fighting for >< e5.}) 8... Nge7 (8... f6 9. Bb2 {- 8.Bb2}) 9. O-O
(9. Bb2 Ng6 $5 (9... Bd7 10. O-O Ng6 11. g3 O-O 12. Nbd2 Re8 {If Black cannot
attack White's [+], his position becomes very passive.} 13. c4 a6 14. Qe2 $14 {
Solovjov-Schepetkova, Vladimir 2004}) 10. O-O {- 9.0-0} (10. g3 $2 O-O 11. h4
$6 {White forgets about developing his pieces.} (11. O-O f6 $1 $15) 11... d4
12. Qe2 Bc7 13. Qe4 Ncxe5 14. Nxe5 f5 15. Qxd4 Bxe5 $15 {Jurkovic-Fontaine,
Kastav 2002})) 9... Ng6 10. Re1 (10. Bb2 O-O (10... Nf4 11. c4 $14 Nxd3 12.
Qxd3 dxc4 13. Qxc4 O-O 14. Nbd2 $16 {and the stronghold on e5 secures White
the big space advantage.}) 11. c4 (11. Re1 {- 10.Re1}) 11... dxc4 (11... Bc7
12. Bxg6 hxg6 13. Nbd2 $14) 12. Bxc4 Qc7 (12... Bd7 13. Nbd2) 13. Qe2 (13. Re1
Ncxe5) 13... Rd8 14. Nbd2 $14) 10... f6 $5 (10... O-O 11. Bb2 Nf4 12. c4 Nxd3
13. Qxd3 dxc4 14. Qxc4 $14 {with an active piece play for White, Black still
has problems with the development of his c8 B.}) 11. Bxg6+ hxg6 12. Bb2 Rh5 $2
{This looks a bit sophysticated.} (12... fxe5 $1 13. b5 $1 (13. Nxe5 $2 Qh4 $1)
13... e4 $1 {would have led to a big tactical fight.} (13... Nd4 14. Nxd4 exd4
15. Nd2 (15. Bxd4 $2 Qh4 $1) 15... g5 16. Nf3 g4 17. Ne5 Qh4 18. Nxg4 d3 19.
cxd3 O-O 20. Be5 Bxf2+ 21. Nxf2 Qxf2+ 22. Kh1 Bd7 23. a4 Rf7 $14) 14. bxc6 exf3
$13 15. cxb7 Bxb7 16. Qxf3 Qe7 17. Qg4 O-O 18. Bd4 Bxd4 19. Qxd4 Qf6 $13) 13.
Qd3 Kf7 14. Nbd2 Bc7 15. exf6 gxf6 {[#]} 16. c4 (16. g4 $1 {is a brave
continuation!} Rh7 17. b5 Na5 18. g5 $14 {fighting for the strategical key
square e5!}) 16... dxc4 17. Qc3 $5 (17. Qxd8 Nxd8 18. Nxc4 e5 $13 {and White's
pieces are restricted by the e5 P.}) 17... Ne5 18. Rad1 Qe7 19. Nxc4 (19. Nxe5+
$6 {is not completely correct:} Bxe5 20. Rxe5 Rxe5 21. Nxc4 (21. Qxc4 Rd5 22.
Qh4 Kg7 $17) 21... Rd5 $17) 19... Nxf3+ 20. Qxf3 Bxh2+ 21. Kf1 Rf5 $1 {
otherwise Black loses material:} (21... Rh6 22. g3 Kg7 23. Ne5 $1 $16) (21...
Bc7 22. g4 Rg5 23. Bc1 Rb5 24. a4 $1 Rxb4 25. Ba3 a5 26. Ne3 $14) 22. Qh3 (22.
Qb3 $5 {- 22.Qh3}) 22... Rh5 23. Qf3 Rf5 24. Qe4 {White wants more than a
repetition of moves.} (24. Qh3 $11) (24. Qb3 $5 Bc7 (24... Qc7 25. Ne3 $44) 25.
Ne3 Rh5 26. Ng4 f5 27. Qc3 Kf8 28. Nf6 $44) 24... Bd7 {[#]} (24... Bb8 25. Ne3
Rf4 (25... Rh5 26. g4) 26. Qc2 Qc7 (26... Bd7 27. Nd5 Bb5+ 28. Kg1 Rc4 29. Qxc4
Bxc4 30. Nxe7 Kxe7 31. Bd4) 27. Qxc7+ Bxc7 28. g3 Re4 29. Ke2 Be5 (29... Bb6
30. Kd3 f5 31. Rh1 e5 32. Nc4 $40) 30. Bxe5 Rxe5 31. Rd8 b6 32. Kd2 Ke7 33. Rg8
Kf7 34. Rh8 Rh5 35. Rd8 Ke7 36. Rg8 Kf7 $11) 25. Qh4 $4 ({The fresh idea} 25.
g4 $1 {would have led to immense complications:} Bc6 26. Qe3 Rf4 $1 (26... Rd5
27. Qh6) (26... Rg5 27. Qh3) 27. Nd6+ $5 (27. Qh3 Rxc4 28. Qh7+ $11) 27... Kg7
28. Qxe6 Qxe6 29. Rxe6 Rxg4 30. Rxf6 Kg8 31. Ke2 $13) 25... Rh5 $19 {Now White
cannot avoid the material losses.} 26. Qxf6+ (26. Qd4 Bb5 $19) (26. Qg4 Bb5 $19
) 26... Qxf6 27. Rxd7+ Ke8 28. Bxf6 Kxd7 29. g4 Rd5 30. Kg2 Bf4 {White has no
compensation for the lost exchange.} 31. Rh1 Rf8 (31... e5 {activating the
pieces} 32. Rh7+ Ke6 33. g5 Rc8 $19 {was easier.}) 32. Rh7+ Kc8 33. Bb2 Rd7 34.
Rh1 Rc7 (34... Bc7 35. Rh8 {The exchange of rooks is hopeless for White.} Rxh8
36. Bxh8 Rd3 $19) 35. Ne5 Bxe5 36. Bxe5 Rc2 37. Bg3 Rc4 38. Rh7 e5 $1 39. Bxe5
(39. Re7 e4) 39... Rxg4+ 40. Bg3 Rc4 41. Rg7 Rc6 42. Be5 Rd8 (42... a6 43. a4
Rc4 44. b5 Rf5 $19) 43. b5 Rc5 44. Bf4 Re8 45. a4 (45. b6 {was the last
practical chance.} axb6 46. Rxg6 b5 $17) 45... Rc4 $19 46. Bg3 Re6 47. Kh3 a5
$1 48. Rg8+ (48. bxa6 Rxa6 $19) 48... Kd7 49. Bh4 (49. Rg7+ Re7 50. Rxg6 Rxa4
$19) 49... b6 50. Rg7+ Kd6 51. Rb7 Kd5 52. Bd8 Rxa4 53. Bxb6 Ra3+ 54. Kg2 a4
55. Be3 Rb3 56. b6 Re4 57. Ra7 Reb4 58. Ra5+ Ke6 59. Ra8 Rc4 60. Ra6 Kd5 61.
Ra8 Ke4 $1 62. Ra7 Kd3 63. b7 Kc2 64. Bh6 Rg4+ 65. Kf1 Kd3 $1 66. f4 Rb1+ 67.
Kf2 Rgg1 0-1

[Event "Bundesliga 0607"]
[Site "Germany"]
[Date "2006.10.29"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Areshchenko, Alexander"]
[Black "Khenkin, Igor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2640"]
[BlackElo "2620"]
[Annotator "Areshchenko/Meyer,CD"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2006.10.28"]
[EventType "team-tourn"]
[EventRounds "15"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 116"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2007.02.01"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2007.02.01"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Werder Bremen"]
[BlackTeam "Tegernsee"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "GER"]
[BlackTeamCountry "GER"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 Nc6 (4... e6 {[Danach hat Weiß ein
Mehrtempo gegenüber der (harmlosen) französischen Vorstoßvariante 1.e4 e6 2.d4
d5 3.e5 c5 4.dxc5.]} 5. a3 $5 (5. Be3 Nh6 (5... Qc7 6. Nf3 Bxc5 7. Bxc5 Qxc5 8.
c3 Ne7 9. Bd3) 6. Nf3 $13 (6. c3 Nf5 7. Bd4 Nxd4 8. cxd4 b6 $1)) (5. Nf3 Bxc5
6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O f6 $5 $13) 5... Nc6 (5... Bxc5 6. Qg4 $1) 6. Nf3 Bxc5 7. b4
Bb6 8. b5 (8. Bd3) (8. Bb2) 8... Nb8 (8... Nce7 9. Bd3 Ng6 10. O-O N8e7 $13) 9.
Bd3 Nd7 10. O-O Ne7 11. a4 $5 (11. Bf4 $2 Ng6 12. Bg3 Nc5 13. Nbd2 Nxd3 14.
cxd3 a6 $15) 11... Ng6 12. Qe1 $1 Qc7 13. a5 Bc5 14. Bb2 $14 {Dautov/CBM}) 5.
Bb5 e6 6. Be3 Nge7 7. c3 {Weiß möchte seinen Läufer auf d4 parken und den
Mehrbauern festhalten.} Nf5 ({Vielleicht ist diese schematische Fortsetzung zu
sorglos? Zweischneidiges und scharfes Spiel ergibt die Alternative} 7... Bd7 $5
{nach} 8. Bxc6 Nxc6 $5 (8... Bxc6 9. Nf3 Nf5 10. Bd4 {ist Zugumstellung zur
Hauptpartie}) 9. f4 g5 $1 {und nun:} 10. fxg5 (10. Nf3 gxf4 11. Bxf4 Bxc5 12.
Nbd2 Qb6 13. Nb3 Bf2+ 14. Ke2 Na5 15. Nxa5 Bb5+ 16. Kd2 d4 $1 $44 {0:1/23,
David,A - Khenkin,I, Genf 1996/ECO-B3}) 10... h6 $5 ({Eine interessante
Gambit-Idee des englischen Großmeisters Keith Arkell, um Druck auf der h- und
g-Linie zu erhalten. Schlechter ist dagegen} 10... Nxe5 $6 11. Nf3 $1 Nxf3+ 12.
Qxf3 Bg7 (12... Qc7 13. O-O O-O-O $14 {J. Bosch/ECO-B3}) 13. O-O O-O 14. Nd2
$14 {J. Gallagher}) 11. Nf3 (11. gxh6 $2 Bxh6 12. Qe2 Qh4+ 13. Kf1 $2 (13. Kd1)
13... Bxe3 14. Qxe3 Nxe5 $3 $19 15. Na3 Ng4 16. Qd2 Nxh2+ 17. Ke2 Qg4+ 18. Ke1
Nf3+ {0:1, Greet - Arkell, Brit. Meisterschaft 2000}) 11... Qc7 $5 {(meines
Erachtens stärker als das Schlagen auf g5)} ({Nach} 11... hxg5 $6 12. Bxg5 Be7
13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Qe2 Qxc5 15. Nbd2 {hat Schwarz keine ausreichende
Kompensation für den Bauern:} O-O-O (15... Rc8 16. Nb3 Qf8 17. O-O-O b5 18.
Qxb5 $2 (18. Kb1 $16) 18... Nxe5 19. Qe2 Nxf3 20. Qxf3 (20. gxf3) 20... Qh6+
21. Kb1 $6 (21. Rd2) 21... Qh5 22. g4 Qh3 $6 23. Rdf1 $2 (23. Qf4) 23... Qxf3
24. Rxf3 Ke7 $14 {Eynon,D - Arkell,K, Perth 1998}) 16. O-O-O Rdg8 17. Nb3 Qc4
$2 (17... Qf8 18. Rhf1 $16) 18. Qxc4 dxc4 19. Nc5 $18 Be8 20. Rd2 Rg4 {1:0,
Zezulkin,J - Kolosowski,P, Ustron 2003}) 12. Qe2 (12. g6 $5 fxg6 13. Bd4 {
mag etwas besser für Weiß sein.}) 12... Nxe5 $13 {Romanov,E - Lovkov,R, St.
Petersburg 2005}) 8. Bd4 Bd7 9. Bxc6 Bxc6 10. Nf3 Nxd4 ({Möglicherweise ist
Schwarz mit einer der folgenden Alternativen besser beraten: I} 10... a5 {
erschwert das Anschweißen b4:} 11. O-O (11. b4 $6 axb4 12. cxb4 b6 $1 13. O-O (
13. cxb6 $2 Bxb4+ 14. Nc3 Ra3 $17) 13... Nxd4 $5 (13... bxc5 14. Bxc5 Bxc5 15.
bxc5) 14. Nxd4 (14. Qxd4 bxc5 15. bxc5 Ra4) 14... Ba4 15. Qg4 bxc5 16. bxc5 h5
17. Qf4 (17. Qg3 Bxc5 18. Qxg7 Bxd4) 17... Bxc5) (11. a4 Nxd4 12. Qxd4 Be7 13.
b4 O-O 14. O-O Qc7 15. Qe3 Bd7 16. Nbd2 axb4 17. cxb4 Bxa4 18. Rfc1 Rfc8 19. h4
Bd7 20. Nb3 Ra4 $13 {Kotronias - Svetushkin, Chalkidike 2002}) 11... Nxd4 12.
cxd4 (12. Qxd4 a4 $1 13. Nbd2 Ra5 14. b4 axb3 15. Nxb3 Ra4 16. Qd2 Qc7 17. Nfd4
$5 (17. Rfe1 $13) 17... Qxe5 18. f4 Qf6 19. Rae1 Be7 20. Qe2 $13 {Blehm -
Svetushkin, Eriwan 2000}) 12... b6 13. cxb6 Qxb6 14. Nc3 Qxb2 15. Rb1 Qxc3 16.
Rc1 Qb2 17. Rxc6 Be7 18. Rc7 a4 19. Qc1 Qb5 20. Qf4 Qb4 21. Rfc1 $14 {Volkmann,
F - Svetushkin,D, Bled 2002. Zwar hat Schwarz den Bauern zurückerobert, aber
dafür die Initative an den Gegner abgetreten}) ({II} 10... Qc7 {(!?, Z. Almasi)
:} 11. O-O (11. b4 b6 $1 $132) (11. a4 b6 (11... Bd7 12. O-O (12. b4 b6 13.
cxb6 axb6 14. O-O Nxd4 15. Nxd4 Qxe5 16. Re1 $13) 12... Bxc5 13. Bxc5 Qxc5 14.
Nbd2 (14. Nd4 $2 Nxd4 15. cxd4 Qb4 {0:1/28, Plich,A - Cyborowski,L, Krynica
1998}) 14... O-O $140 15. Nb3 Qb6 16. a5 Qb5 17. Qc2 Qc4 18. Nbd4 Nxd4 19. Nxd4
$14) 12. cxb6 axb6 13. Nbd2 (13. O-O b5) 13... Nxd4 14. cxd4 b5 15. a5 Rxa5 16.
Rxa5 Qxa5 17. O-O {/\Nb3-c5 mit minimalem weißem Vorteil}) 11... Bb5 (11... Be7
12. Re1 (12. Qd3) 12... O-O 13. Qd3 Bd7 14. Nbd2 $14) 12. Re1 Bxc5 13. a4 $1 (
13. Bxc5 Qxc5 14. Nbd2 Bc4) 13... Bxd4 14. Nxd4 Nxd4 15. Qxd4 Ba6 16. Nd2 $14)
11. Qxd4 $1 ({Nach} 11. cxd4 $2 b6 $1 12. cxb6 (12. b4 a5) 12... Qxb6 $44 {
|^ bekäme Schwarz aufgrund seines Entwicklungsvorsprungs und Läuferpaars
prächtige Kompensation für den Bauern:} 13. Qc2 (13. Qc1 Bb5 $1 (13... Rb8 $2
14. O-O $1) 14. Nc3 Rc8 {'©' Lukacs/CBM}) (13. Qd2 $2 Rb8 $1 14. b3 $2 Bb4 15.
Nc3 Bb5 {'-/+' Lukacs/CBM}) (13. Qb3 Qa6) 13... Bb4+ 14. Nc3 Bb5 15. a3 (15.
Qb3 a5 16. a3 Bxc3+ 17. bxc3 Qc6 18. Rb1 Bd3 19. Rd1 Ba6) 15... Qa6 16. Rc1
Bxc3+ 17. Qxc3 O-O) 11... a5 $6 ({I} 11... Qa5 $6 12. b4 Qa6 13. a4 b6 14. Qf4
$1 Rb8 (14... d4 {(so weit Movsesian - Svetushkin,Calvio ol 2004) löst eine
Lawine von Komplikationen aus, z.B.} 15. cxb6 $5 (15. b5 Bxb5 16. Ng5 O-O-O 17.
Nxf7 Bxc5 18. Nxh8 Rxh8 19. cxd4 Bb4+ 20. Nd2 Kb8 $5 $132 {^^}) 15... axb6 (
15... dxc3 $2 16. b5 $1 Bxb5 17. Ng5 $18) 16. Nxd4 $1 (16. Qxd4 Be7 (16... Rd8
$6 17. Qe3) 17. Qe3 O-O 18. Nbd2 Rfc8 $13) 16... Qc4 (16... Bxg2 $2 17. Rg1 Bd5
18. Nb5 $3 Qb7 19. Rxg7 $18) 17. f3 $5 ({oder auch} 17. Nd2 $5 Qxc3 18. O-O g5
19. Ne4 $1 gxf4 20. Nxc3 Bb7 21. Ncb5 Rg8 22. g3 Rd8 23. a5 Bxb4 24. a6 Bd5 25.
Rfd1 fxg3 26. hxg3 $16 {/\} Ke7 27. Na7 $1) 17... Bxa4 (17... Rxa4 18. Rxa4
Bxa4 19. Qe4 $16) 18. Qe4 Ra6 19. Kf2 $16) (14... bxc5 $2 15. Ng5 $1 Qb7 16. b5
$18) 15. cxb6 (15. Ng5 Rb7) 15... axb6 16. Nd4 Bd7 17. b5 Qc8 (17... Qa5 18.
O-O Rc8 19. Rc1 (19. Qg3) 19... Be7 20. Qe3 O-O 21. Nd2 $16) 18. O-O Be7 19.
Qe3 O-O 20. Nd2 Ra8 21. N4b3 Qb8 22. c4 $16 {1:0/38, Brkic,A - Armanda,I,
Bizovac 2004, ist die Stammpartie mit 14.Qf4!.}) ({II} 11... Qc7 $5 {
Vielleicht die beste Chance. Einmal mehr ist dieser Damenzug zu prüfen, da
Schwarz hier dem Ausgleich nahe kommt. Allerdings sind die Erfahrungen in dem
blockierten, zählebigen Stellungstyp nicht ermutigend.} 12. b4 (12. Nbd2 Be7
13. b4 b6 14. cxb6 axb6 15. O-O O-O 16. Rfc1 (16. Rfe1 $6 Ra4 17. a3 Bb5 18.
Ra2 Bc4 $2 (18... Rfa8 $132) 19. Nxc4 dxc4 20. Qe4 Rd8 21. Nd4 $16 {1:0/45,
Holmsten,A - Maki Uuro,M, Helsinki 2001}) (16. a3 Rfc8 17. Rfc1 b5 18. Qe3 Be8
19. Nd4 Ra4 20. f4 Rca8 21. Nb1 $14) 16... Bb5 (16... Ra4 {/\Rfa8}) 17. Qe3
Rfc8 18. Nd4 Bd7 19. a3 b5 20. f4 Ra6 21. N2b3 Qa7 22. Qf2 Ra8 23. g3 Qc7 24.
Qb2 $13 {1:0/39, Ponomariov,R - Popov,R, Krasnodar 1997}) 12... b6 13. cxb6
axb6 14. O-O (14. Qe3 Bb5 15. Nd4 Bc4 16. Nd2 $14) 14... Be7 15. Rc1 O-O 16. a3
Ra4 $6 (16... b5 $5) 17. c4 Qa7 18. cxd5 Bxd5 19. Nc3 Rxa3 20. Nxd5 exd5 21.
Rab1 $14 {Moranda,W - Urban,K, Poznan 2005}) 12. b4 $1 $16 {Nun bekommt Weiß
die Position in den Griff und behauptet einen gesunden Mehrbauern.} axb4 ({
Oder: I} 12... Be7 13. O-O O-O 14. Nbd2 (14. a3) 14... Bb5 (14... Qc7 15. a3
Ra6 16. c4 $5 $16) 15. Rfc1 axb4 16. cxb4 Ra4 17. a3 Qa8 18. Qe3 $16) ({II} 
12... Bb5 13. Na3 $1 (13. a4 axb4 14. cxb4 Rxa4 15. Rxa4 Bxa4 16. Nc3 Bc6 17.
O-O $14) 13... Bd7 14. Nc2 axb4 15. cxb4 Bb5 16. Qc3 b6 17. a4 $1 Bxa4 (17...
Bc4 18. Nd2 bxc5 19. b5) 18. c6 Qc7 (18... Bxc2 $2 19. c7 $1 Rxa1+ 20. Kd2 $18)
19. Ncd4 $16) 13. cxb4 b6 ({Statt des eher konzessiven} 13... Be7 {und z.B.}
14. O-O O-O 15. a3 f6 16. Nc3 Qc7 17. Rfe1 $16 {(17.a4+/-) gießt Schwarz Öl
ins Feuer.}) 14. cxb6 Ra4 15. a3 Qa8 (15... Bb5 $2 16. Nfd2 $1 Qa8 17. Nc3 Rxb4
18. b7 $1 $18 {1:0, Almasi,Z - De la Villa, J, Pamplona 1996/97}) 16. O-O $1
Bxb4 17. axb4 $1 ({Des Pudels Kern! Durch ein Qualitätsopfer erhält der
Anziehende ein nachhaltiges Druckspiel über die dunklen Felder und hält den
gegnerischen Monarchen in der Mitte fest. Auch nicht von Pappe ist} 17. Nc3 $5
Bxc3 (17... Rxa3 18. Nb5 $1 (18. b7 $2 Qxb7 19. Rab1 Bxc3 20. Rxb7 Bxd4 21.
Rb8+ Ke7 22. Rxh8 $14) 18... Bxb5 19. b7 {1:0, Palac,M - Sulava,N, Kastel
Stari 1997} Qxb7 20. Qxb4 Rxa1 21. Rxa1 $18 Bc6 22. Qd6 Qd7 (22... Bd7 23. Nd4)
23. Qc5 Bb7 24. Ra7) 18. Qxc3 O-O 19. Rfc1 $16) 17... Rxa1 18. Qc5 $1 f6 $2 ({
I Beschleunigt den Untergang, aber Schwarz kämpft bereits für eine verlorene
Sache, wie die folgenden Varianten versuchen zu belegen:} 18... Bb7 $2 19. Rc1
$1 Qc8 (19... Qd8 20. Nd4 Qe7 21. Nb3 $1 Qxc5 22. Nxc5 Bc8 23. b7 Bxb7 24. Nxb7
Ke7 25. Nc5 $18) 20. Qxc8+ Bxc8 21. Rxc8+ Kd7 22. Rc7+ Kd8 23. Nfd2 $18) ({II} 
18... Bd7 $2 19. Nd4 Qc8 20. Qd6 Ra8 21. Nc3 (21. b5 $1 Qb8 (21... Rb8 22. Nc3
$1 Rb7 23. Na4 Qb8 24. Qc5 $18) 22. Qc5) 21... Qb8 (21... Qxc3 22. b7 Rd8 23.
b8=Q Rxb8 24. Qxb8+ Qc8 25. Qd6 $18) 22. b7 Qxb7 23. Nf5 $3 exf5 24. Nxd5 $18)
({III} 18... d4 $2 19. Nxd4 Bxg2 20. Rc1 Be4 (20... Bh1 21. Qc8+ Qxc8 22. Rxc8+
Kd7 23. Rc7+ Ke8 24. Kxh1 Rxb1+ 25. Kg2 $18) 21. Nb5 Qc6 22. Nd6+ Kd7 23. Nxe4
$18) ({IV} 18... Qb7 $5 {(am zähesten)} 19. b5 (19. Rc1 Bd7 20. b5 {siehe 19.b5
} (20. Qd6 $2 Qc6 $1) (20. Nd4 $5 f6 21. exf6 gxf6 22. Qd6 Kf7 23. Nb3 Rc8 24.
Re1)) 19... Bd7 20. Rc1 (20. Nd4 f6 21. exf6 gxf6 22. Qd6 Kf7 23. Nb3 $1 Bxb5
24. Re1 Qc6 25. Qxc6 Bxc6 26. Nxa1 Rb8 27. f4 Rxb6 28. Nc2 $16) 20... f6 (20...
Ra8 {/Ra4} 21. Nd4 $1) 21. Qd4 Ra8 22. Rc7 Rc8 23. Qc5 Rxc7 24. bxc7 Kf7 25.
Nc3 Ra8 26. h4 Ra7 27. b6 Ra6 28. Nb5 Rxb6 29. Nd6+ Rxd6 30. Qxd6 $18 {(} Qc8
31. Nd4 h5 32. exf6 gxf6 33. f4 Qe8 34. f5 exf5 35. Qxd5+ Kg6 36. Kf2 f4 37.
Ne2 {)}) 19. Nd4 $18 Bd7 20. exf6 gxf6 21. Qd6 Qc8 (21... Qb7 22. Nf5 $1 exf5 (
22... Bc8 23. Rc1) 23. Qxf6) 22. Nf5 $1 $18 {In jedem Fall der Fangschuß} exf5
(22... Kf7 23. Qe7+ Kg6 24. Nh4+) 23. Qxf6 1-0

[Event "EU-ch 9th"]
[Site "Plovdiv"]
[Date "2008.04.23"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Sutovsky, Emil"]
[Black "Miladinovic, Igor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2630"]
[BlackElo "2579"]
[Annotator "Stohl,I"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2008.04.21"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "BUL"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 124"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2008.05.28"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2008.05.28"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 {This line is Sutovsky's long-term favourite.} c5 $5 {
Black strives for immediate active <=> even at the cost of a P. The more usual}
(3... Bf5 {lead in recent examples mostly to a heavy positional struggle:} 4.
Nf3 (4. Nd2 e6 5. Nb3 Nd7 6. Nf3 Ne7 7. Be2 Nc8 $5 8. O-O Be7 9. a4 (9. Be3 O-O
10. Ne1 f6 11. f4 Ncb6 12. c3 Nc4 13. Bxc4 $6 dxc4 14. Nd2 b5 15. g4 Bg6 16.
Ndf3 fxe5 17. dxe5 Be4 18. Qe2 c5 19. Qf2 Qc7 20. Nd2 Bb7 $36 {Schuett,I (2547)
-Wunderlich,H (2547)/corr/2002/}) 9... O-O 10. a5 a6 11. Be3 Na7 12. Ne1 (12.
c4 dxc4 13. Bxc4 Nb5 $11) 12... c5 $1 13. Nxc5 Nxc5 14. dxc5 Nc6 15. Nf3 Bg4
16. Nd4 Bxe2 17. Nxc6 Bxd1 18. Nxd8 Be2 19. Rfe1 Rfxd8 20. Rxe2 d4 21. Bd2 Bxc5
$11 {/=/+, Galkin,A (2608)-Ivanchuk,V (2787)/WCup Khanty-Mansiysk/2007/}) 4...
e6 5. Be2 Nd7 ({Consistent, but also more risky is} 5... c5 $5 $13) 6. O-O {or}
h6 (6... Ne7 7. Nh4 $5 (7. Nbd2 c5 $11 (7... Nc8 $5 8. Nb3 {-4.Nd2})) 7... Be4
$6 (7... Bg6 {is more solid, but gives White a slight edge after} 8. Nd2 $14)
8. Nd2 Ng6 9. Nxe4 dxe4 10. Nxg6 hxg6 11. Bf4 f5 12. exf6 gxf6 13. f3 $1 $32 {
|^} Qb6 (13... e5 $5) 14. fxe4 e5 15. Bg3 exd4 $2 (15... Qxd4+ 16. Qxd4 exd4
17. Rad1 $14) 16. Bg4 O-O-O 17. Rxf6 Bg7 18. Rxg6 d3+ 19. Kh1 Qxb2 20. Rb1 dxc2
21. Rxc6+ $3 {1-0, Najer,E (2677)-Kornev,A (2568)/Tomsk/2006/} bxc6 22. Qxc2 $1
Qxc2 23. Rb8#) ({Black can retain his light-squared B with} 6... Bg6 $132) 7.
Nbd2 Ne7 8. Nb3 {Now} g5 $5 {is rather optimistic, but interesting:} (8... Nc8
{in combination with the weakening h6 is already not ideal, but}) (8... Bh7 {
, keeping the Ne7 on the >> has been more successful in practice.}) 9. Bd2 a5
$5 (9... Bg7 10. Na5 $5 Rb8 11. c4 b6 12. Nb3 O-O 13. Rc1 dxc4 14. Rxc4 Be4 15.
h4 g4 16. Ne1 Bd5 17. Rc3 c5 18. Bxg4 cxd4 19. Rg3 Nxe5 20. Bh3 N7g6 $2 (20...
Kh7 $13) 21. h5 f5 22. Nxd4 Bc4 23. Nec2 $1 Bxf1 24. Kxf1 $18 {Movsesian,S 
(2695)-Grigoriants,S (2573)/EU-ch Plovdiv/2008/}) 10. a4 Bg7 11. Ne1 c5 $1 12.
Bb5 Nc6 13. Nxc5 $6 Nxc5 14. dxc5 Bxe5 15. c3 Bg7 16. Nf3 O-O 17. Re1 Be4 18.
h3 Qe7 19. Be3 e5 20. c4 Rad8 21. cxd5 Bxd5 $17 {[%cal Ge5e4,Gf7f4] [+],
Satyapragyan,S (2395)-Pantsulaia,L (2612)/Calicut/2007/}) 4. Nf3 {White is not
interested in the P, moreover he wants to sacrifice material himself to
increase his slight lead in development.} (4. dxc5 {is more natural, but
currently here White has problems getting a tangible advantage:} {More
flexible is} Nc6 (4... e6 5. Be3 (5. Bf4 Bxc5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Nf3 f6 $1 8. Nbd2
fxe5 9. Bxe5 Nf6 10. Qe2 O-O 11. O-O-O $6 a5 $1 12. Nb3 Bd6 13. Kb1 Bxe5 14.
Nxe5 a4 15. Nc1 a3 16. b3 Qa5 17. c4 dxc4 18. Nxc4 Qc7 19. Rhe1 Nd5 20. Qd2
Ncb4 $40 {Shirov,A (2718)-Kramnik,V (2772)/Wijk aan Zee/2001/ This game
greatly increased the popularity of 3...c5!?, but now Black treats the line
somewhat differently.}) 5... Nh6 6. Nf3 $14 {ץc8}) 5. Bb5 ({After} 5. Nf3 {
Black, contrary to the previous line, can activate his Bc8 with} Bg4 6. Bb5
Qa5+ 7. Nc3 e6 8. Bd2 (8. Be3 Nge7 $44 {<=>}) 8... Qc7 9. b4 Nge7 10. O-O Ng6
11. h3 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 Be7 13. Rfe1 O-O 14. Bxc6 Qxc6 15. Rab1 a5 16. a3 axb4 17.
axb4 b6 $1 18. cxb6 Qxb6 19. Qd3 Rfc8 20. Nb5 Rc4 21. Na3 Rd4 22. Qe3 Bd8 23.
Ra1 Re4 24. Qxb6 Rxe1+ 25. Bxe1 Bxb6 26. Bc3 Bc7 $11 {Efimenko,Z (2620)-Zelcic,
R (2554)/EU-ch Dresden/2007/}) 5... e6 6. Be3 Nge7 7. c3 Bd7 8. Bxc6 Bxc6 9.
Nf3 Nf5 10. Bd4 a5 $1 (10... Nxd4 $143 11. Qxd4 a5 12. b4 $14 {/+/-}) 11. O-O (
11. a4 Nxd4 12. Qxd4 Be7 13. O-O O-O 14. Nbd2 (14. Qe3 Qd7 15. b3 Rfc8 16. Nbd2
Qe8 17. h3 Bd7 18. b4 Bxa4 19. Nd4 Bd7 20. Rfb1 Qd8 21. bxa5 Rxc5 22. Rxb7 Qc8
23. Rab1 Rcxa5 $15 {Movsesian,S (2628)-Zelcic,R (2514)/BIH-chT Neum/2005/})
14... Qc7 15. Rfe1 Rfb8 $5 $44 {[%cal Yb7b6,Yc6d7] /\Bd7,b6}) (11. b4 $6 axb4
12. cxb4 b6 $15) 11... Nxd4 12. cxd4 (12. Qxd4 $143 $6 a4 13. Nbd2 Ra5 $11 {
/=/+} (13... Qa5 $5)) 12... b6 13. cxb6 Qxb6 14. Qd2 Be7 15. Nc3 a4 16. Rfc1
O-O 17. Rc2 Rfb8 18. Rac1 h6 19. h4 Qd8 20. g3 Rb4 21. Nd1 Bd7 22. Rc3 Rab8 23.
R1c2 R4b7 $11 {/+/=, Karjakin,S (2732)-Asrian,K (2630)/RUS-chT Dagomys/2008/
Converting the extra P is a very difficult technical task and White only drew
in the end.}) (4. c4 {is similar to the text-move and in many cases transposes
to the same lines. The independent} cxd4 5. Nf3 dxc4 {is inferior after} 6.
Nxd4 e6 7. Bxc4 a6 8. O-O Ne7 9. Nc3 Nbc6 10. Nxc6 Qxd1 11. Rxd1 Nxc6 12. f4 b5
13. Be2 Bb7 14. Bf3 Bc5+ 15. Kf1 Na5 16. Ne4 Bxe4 17. Bxe4 Rd8 18. Rxd8+ Kxd8
19. b3 $36 {[%csl Gc1,Ge4] _|_^^,Nijboer,F (2582)-Slingerland,F (2309)/Haarlem/
2006/}) 4... Nc6 (4... cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. c4 $142 $5 {-4...Nc6} ({Harmless is
} 6. Bb5 Bd7 7. Nxc6 Bxc6 8. Bxc6+ bxc6 9. O-O e6 10. c4 Ne7 11. Qa4 Qd7 12.
Nd2 Rb8 13. b3 Nc8 14. Rd1 Nb6 15. Qa5 dxc4 16. Bb2 cxb3 17. axb3 Nd5 18. Ne4
Bb4 $1 (18... Be7 19. Rd3 Rb4 $2 20. Nd6+ $1 Bxd6 21. exd6 Re4 22. Rg3 e5 23.
Rxg7 Kf8 24. Rg3 Re2 25. h3 Rg8 26. Qxa7 Qxa7 27. Rxa7 Rxg3 28. Ra8+ Kg7 29. d7
Nf4 30. Rg8+ {1-0, Sutovsky,E (2651)-Speelman,J (2603)/Esbjerg/2001/}) 19. Qxa7
Qxa7 20. Rxa7 O-O 21. Rc1 Rfd8 22. Rxc6 Be7 23. g3 Rxb3 24. Bc1 h6 $11 {
1/2, Kosanovic,G (2399)-Szuhanek,R (2440)/CRO-chT/2002/})) (4... Bg4 {again
allows} 5. c4 $1 (5. dxc5 Nc6 $44 {-4.dc5}) (5. c3 {or}) (5. Be2 {are too slow
and not in the spirit of the position.}) 5... cxd4 (5... Nc6 {-4...Nc6}) 6.
cxd5 (6. Qa4+ Bd7 7. Qb3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 e6 9. Nxd4 Nc6 10. Nxc6 Bxc6 11. O-O Bc5
$1 (11... Ne7 12. Nc3 a6 13. Bf4 Ng6 14. Rad1 Qc7 15. Bg3 Be7 16. Ne2 $1 O-O
17. Nd4 Bh4 18. f4 Bxg3 19. hxg3 {Nisipeanu,L (2692)-Zelcic,R (2509)/BIH-chT
Neum/2004/}) 12. Be3 Bxe3 13. Qxe3 Ne7 14. Qe2 $6 (14. Nc3 $11) 14... O-O 15.
Bb5 Qb6 16. Na3 Rad8 17. Rfd1 Ng6 18. g3 Bd5 19. Bc4 Qc5 20. Bb5 Rc8 21. Re1 f6
$1 $40 {Feletar,D (2400)-Zelcic,R (2563)/CRO-chT Sibenik/2006/}) 6... Qxd5 7.
Nc3 Qa5 8. Bb5+ Nc6 9. Bxc6+ bxc6 10. Qxd4 Bxf3 11. gxf3 e6 12. O-O Ne7 13. Rd1
Rd8 14. Qxd8+ Qxd8 15. Rxd8+ Kxd8 16. Be3 Nc8 17. Rc1 Kd7 18. Ne2 Bb4 19. Rc4
$14 {[%csl Ra7,Rc6] _|_׫, Iordachescu,V (2606)-Zelcic,R (2543)/Dresden/2003/})
5. c4 $5 {[%mdl 512] No positional manoeuvring as in the 3...Bf5 lines - White
wants to open the position as soon as possible at any reasonable cost. The
point is Black has problems getting out his >> pieces.} Bg4 {Principled, but
risky. However, also other moves don't promise Black an easy life:} (5... e6 $6
{is too passive:} 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Bb5 Bd7 8. O-O cxd4 9. Nxd4 Bc5 10. Nb3 Bb6
11. Nc3 Be6 12. Na4 $1 Nge7 13. Nxb6 Qxb6 14. Bxc6+ Nxc6 15. Be3 Qc7 16. Bc5
$40 {[%csl Re8] עe8, Firman,N (2496)-Itkis,B (2470)/Lvov/2003/}) (5... cxd4 6.
Nxd4 e6 ({Too greedy is} 6... Nxe5 7. cxd5 Qxd5 $2 8. Nc3 Qd8 9. Bf4 $1 (9.
Bb5+ $32) 9... Ng6 10. Ndb5 Nxf4 11. Qa4 Bd7 12. Qxf4 Rc8 13. Nd5 f6 14. Ndc7+
Kf7 15. Bc4+ e6 16. Rd1 $18 {Firman}) (6... dxc4 7. Nxc6 Qxd1+ 8. Kxd1 bxc6 9.
Bxc4 Bf5 10. Nc3 e6 11. Be3 $14 {/+/-}) 7. Nc3 $5 ({White even has a choice,
also good is the simple} 7. cxd5 Qxd5 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Qe2 Bb4+ 10. Nc3 $14)
7... Bb4 (7... Bc5 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Bd3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Bxf2+ $6 (10... Qxd1+ $14)
11. Kxf2 Qh4+ 12. g3 Qxc4 13. Qd6 f6 14. Rd1 Kf7 15. Rd4 Qa6 16. Qc7+ Ne7 17.
exf6 gxf6 18. Ne4 $18 {->, Iordachescu,V (2606)-Arkell,K (2513)/Port Erin/2003/
}) 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Bd3 (9. Qa4 $5 $14) (9. Qg4 d4 10. a3 Bf8 $13) 9... d4 ({
More circumspect is} 9... Ne7 $5) 10. a3 Ba5 (10... Qa5 $2 11. axb4 Qxa1 12.
Ne4 $18) 11. b4 Bc7 $2 (11... dxc3 $8 12. bxa5 Qxa5 13. O-O Ne7 14. Re1 $44)
12. Ne4 Bxe5 13. Qh5 Qc7 14. f4 $1 Bd6 (14... Bxf4 15. O-O Be5 16. Rxf7 $1
Bxh2+ 17. Kh1 Qxf7 18. Qxh2 $40) 15. Bb2 Ne7 16. O-O Bxf4 17. Bxd4 Nf5 18. Bc5
Ba6 19. Rxf4 $1 Qxf4 20. Rf1 Qh6 21. Rxf5 $1 $18 {Rublevsky,S (2655)-Asrian,K 
(2599)/Moscow/2004/}) 6. cxd5 $1 {The most consistent follow-up.} (6. dxc5 $143
e6 $1 7. cxd5 exd5 $13 {/\} 8. Nc3 Bxc5 9. Qxd5 $2 Qxd5 10. Nxd5 O-O-O $32 {
-/+ already turns the tables, now White is seriously behind in development.})
6... Bxf3 {Modest, but rational.} (6... Qxd5 7. Nc3 $1 $36 Bxf3 8. Nxd5 Bxd1 9.
Nc7+ Kd8 10. Nxa8 Bh5 ({After the less usual} 10... Bg4 {the B is not so
offside, but White can sometimes gain an important tempo (with f3, or h3). All
in all this can hardly change the evaluation of the position after} 11. d5 $5
$36 (11. dxc5 $14)) 11. d5 $1 Nb4 12. Be3 $1 Nc2+ 13. Kd2 Nxe3 (13... Nxa1 14.
Bxc5 $16 {/\} f6 15. e6 f5 16. Bxa7 Nf6 17. Ba6 $1 bxa6 18. Rc1 $18 {->}) 14.
Kxe3 g5 15. h4 g4 16. f4 gxf3 17. gxf3 Bh6+ 18. Kf2 $1 (18. f4 f6 19. e6 f5
$132) 18... Bf4 19. Re1 f6 20. Bh3 fxe5 (20... Bxe5 21. Rxe5 fxe5 22. Rc1 {
-20...fxe5}) 21. Rc1 $1 Bxc1 22. Rxc1 Be8 23. Rxc5 Bd7 24. Bxd7 Kxd7 25. Rc7+
Kd6 26. Rc8 Kxd5 27. a4 Ke6 28. Rf8 $18 {Bologan,V (2661)-Doettling,F (2542)/
FRA-chT Gonfreville/2006/}) 7. Qxf3 Nxd4 8. Qd1 (8. Qe4 $2 f5 $1 $17) 8... Qxd5
{Now Black loses his castling rights, but he hardly could have left such a P
alive for long.} 9. Bb5+ Kd8 10. O-O e6 ({The Pe5 limits Black anyway, so the
immediate} 10... Qxe5 $5 {deserves attention. After} 11. Nc3 (11. Re1 Qd6 12.
Nc3 e6 {transposes to Sepp-Miladinovic below.}) 11... Nf6 12. Bc4 (12. b4 Nd5
$5 {/\} 13. Nxd5 Qxd5 14. bxc5 e5 $15) 12... e6 {White's has compensation, but
it is less distinct, than in the game.}) 11. Nc3 Qxe5 12. b4 $1 ({Less
energetic is} 12. Re1 Qd6 13. Be3 Nf6 (13... Nxb5 14. Nxb5 Qxd1 15. Rexd1+ Kc8
16. Bxc5 Bxc5 17. Rac1 b6 18. b4 $32 {|^}) 14. Bf1 Rc8 15. h3 h5 16. g3 Qd7 17.
Bg2 Be7 18. a3 Ke8 19. b4 cxb4 20. axb4 Bxb4 21. Bxd4 Bxc3 22. Bxc3 Qxd1 23.
Rexd1 Rxc3 24. Rxa7 Rc8 25. Rxb7 g5 26. Ra1 Kf8 27. Raa7 Rh7 $15 {Sepp,O (2457)
-Miladinovic,I (2603)/EU-chT Crete/2007/ However, Miladinovic probably knew
about the text-move, as it has been played earlier.}) 12... Nf6 (12... a6 $6
13. Re1 Qc7 14. bxc5 Bxc5 15. Be3 Qe5 (15... e5 $2 16. Bxd4 Bxd4 17. Qxd4+ $1
exd4 18. Re8#) 16. f4 Qd6 17. Ne4 Qd5 18. Nxc5 Nxb5 19. Nxb7+ $1 (19. Qg4 Nh6
$5 (19... Nf6 20. Qxg7 Ke7 21. Nxe6 Kxe6 22. f5+ Qxf5 23. Bg5+ Ne4 24. Rxe4+
Qxe4 25. Qf6+ Kd5 26. Rd1+ Nd4 27. Qxf7+ Kc5 28. Qc7+ Kd5 29. Qxb7+ {1-0,
Berescu,A (2445)-Svetushkin,D (2514)/Bucharest/2005/}) 20. Qxg7 Rg8 21. Qb2 Ke8
$16) 19... Kc8 20. Na5 Qxd1 21. Rexd1 Nf6 22. Rac1+ Kb8 23. a4 $18 {wins the
Nb5.}) (12... cxb4 $2 13. Re1 Qd6 14. Bf4 $1 Qb6 (14... Qxf4 15. Re4 $18) 15.
Re4 Bc5 16. Na4 Qxb5 17. Nxc5 Qxc5 18. Rc1 $32 {-> Black's K has to face all
White's pieces and can't survive for long.}) 13. Re1 $146 {[%mdl 8] This was
already recommended by Fogarasi and probably underestimated by Miladinovic.} (
13. f4 $6 Qc7 14. Be3 Kc8 $1 (14... Nd5 $2 15. Nxd5 exd5 {Fogarasi,T (2465)
-Nagle,S (2375)/Budapest/2004/} 16. Ba4 b5 17. Bb3 $16) 15. Bxd4 (15. Rc1 Nf5
$15) 15... cxd4 16. Qxd4 Qb6 $15) 13... Qh5 (13... Qc7 $143 14. Be3 e5 15. f4
$1 $36) 14. Be2 Qf5 15. Bd3 (15. bxc5 $6 Bxc5 $15 {only helps Black's
development.}) 15... Qh5 16. Be2 Qf5 17. Be3 $1 {[%csl Rd8] Sutovsky believes
in White's compensation and continues the fight. Black's problems with his K
have a long-term character.} e5 18. f4 h5 $6 ({A Q-swap would help the defence,
so} 18... Qc2 $142 $5 19. Rc1 (19. fxe5 Qxc3 20. Bg5 Kc7 21. exf6 Ne6 $13)
19... Qxd1 20. Rcxd1 $44 {although even here it's not easy to coordinate
Black's forces in time.} (20. Rexd1 $5)) 19. h3 $6 {Prevents the Ng4 sortie,
but this is rather soft.} (19. Rc1 {/\} Ng4 20. Bxg4 Qxg4 21. bxc5 $14 (21. Ne2
$5 $36)) ({Even more energetic is} 19. fxe5 $5 Qxe5 20. Bf2 Bd6 21. g3 $16 {
and Black's [+] is falling apart.}) (19. Bd3 Qd7 20. fxe5 Ng4 $13) 19... Nd7 $2
{Too passive, in the middlegame Black will have a hard time. This was the last
chance to play} (19... Qc2 20. Rc1 $5 $13 (20. fxe5 Qxc3 21. Bd2 (21. Bg5 $6
Qg3 $1 {forces} 22. Bg4 hxg4 23. Re3 Qxe3+ 24. Bxe3 Nd7 $15) 21... Nxe2+ 22.
Rxe2 Qd4+ 23. Be3 Qxd1+ 24. Rxd1+ Kc7 25. exf6 gxf6 26. Rc1 Rc8 $11 {and a
draw is the most likely result.})) 20. Bd3 Qe6 21. Ne4 $1 $40 {[%csl Rc5][%cal
Re4g5][%mdl 128] ><c5,/\Ng5} Qd5 (21... exf4 {invites the forcing} 22. Bxd4 $5
(22. Bxf4 $40 {je tiez dobre}) 22... cxd4 23. Nc5 Qb6 24. Nxd7 Kxd7 25. Qa4+
Kd6 26. Qb3 $16 {/+-}) (21... f6 22. fxe5 $16) (21... b6 22. Ng5 {[%cal Rd3e4]
/\Be4->}) 22. Ng5 f6 23. Be4 Qg8 {A terrible square for the Q, but even the
more active} (23... Qc4 {doesn't help due to} 24. Rc1 Qxa2 25. fxe5 $1 fxg5 (
25... fxe5 26. bxc5 Bxc5 27. Rxc5 Nxc5 28. Bxd4 $18) 26. bxc5 Nc6 27. Bd5 {
[%cal Re5e6] /\e6+-}) 24. Nf3 ({Even more forceful was} 24. fxe5 $1 fxg5 25.
bxc5 {/\} Ne6 26. c6 $18) 24... Rc8 25. fxe5 fxe5 26. Rc1 $1 (26. Qa4 $16) (26.
Nxe5 Nxe5 27. bxc5 $40 {was also good, but the activation of White's last
passive piece decides even faster.}) 26... Bd6 (26... b6 27. Nxe5 Nxe5 28. Bxd4
(28. Bf5 $5 $18) 28... cxd4 29. Qxd4+ Nd7 30. Bd5 Rxc1 (30... Qh7 31. Re8+ Kxe8
32. Rxc8+ Ke7 33. Qe3+ Kf6 34. Rc6+ $18) 31. Rxc1 Qh7 32. Be6 g6 33. Rd1 $5 $18
) 27. bxc5 Rxc5 (27... Bxc5 28. Nxe5 $18) 28. Nxd4 exd4 29. Qxd4 Qe6 (29... Kc7
30. Bf4 $1 (30. Qa4 $18) 30... Bxf4 31. Rxc5+ Nxc5 32. Qxc5+ Kb8 33. Rb1 Qf7 (
33... b6 34. Rxb6+ axb6 35. Qxb6+ Kc8 36. Bf5+ $18) 34. Rxb7+ Qxb7 35. Bxb7
Kxb7 36. Qb4+ $18) 30. Bxb7 $18 {-> The [+] is wide open and Black's K has
nowhere to hide.} Kc7 31. Bd5 Qe7 32. Qd2 Qf6 33. Qa5+ (33. Qa5+ Kb8 34. Rxc5
$18) 1-0

[Event "Dortmund SuperGM 41st"]
[Site "Dortmund"]
[Date "2013.07.30"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Andreikin, Dmitry"]
[Black "Khenkin, Igor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2727"]
[BlackElo "2605"]
[Annotator "Pavlovic,M"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2013.07.26"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 156"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.09.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.09.17"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 $5 {This move is a such an important idea against
the plan with the advanced e5; but it didn't make through to become a main
idea, but some recent developments may have thrown new light on the system.} 4.
Nf3 cxd4 {The alternative is also important, it was just tested in the World
Cup:} (4... Bg4 5. dxc5 Nc6 6. c3 e6 7. Be3 Nge7 8. Nbd2 g6 $5 9. Bf4 Nf5 10.
b4 g5 11. Bxg5 Qxg5 12. Nxg5 Bxd1 13. Rxd1 a5 14. Bd3 Nh4 15. g3 Ng6 16. f4
axb4 17. cxb4 Be7 $132 18. Bb5 Bxg5 19. fxg5 O-O 20. Bxc6 {1/2-1/2 (20)
Svidler,P (2746)-Andreikin,D (2716) Tromso NOR 2013. Black was fine in this
rather interesting struggle.}) 5. Qxd4 $5 {A relatively new idea, the main
idea is the alternative capture:} (5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. c4 e6 7. Nc3 Bc5 {again
something that I have used:} 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. b4 $5 (10. Bd3 Ne7
11. O-O Ng6 12. Na4 Be7 13. Bxg6 hxg6 14. Be3 Ba6 15. Re1 O-O 16. Nc5 Qc8 17.
Rc1 Bc4 18. Na4 Qa6 $13 {1/2-1/2 (23) Nisipeanu,L (2667)-Khenkin,I (2601)
Ortisei ITA 2013}) 10... Bb6 (10... Bf8 $5 11. Be3 Bd7 12. a3 Ne7 13. f4 Nf5
14. Bf2 a5 $132) 11. Nb5 Bc7 12. Bb2 Ne7 13. Bd3 a6 14. Nxc7+ Qxc7 15. O-O Bd7
16. Qg4 O-O 17. Rfc1 Qd8 18. a4 $14 {1-0 (37) Naiditsch,A (2710)-Khenkin,I 
(2605) Dortmund GER 2013}) 5... Nc6 6. Qf4 e6 (6... h6 7. h4 g5 (7... e6 8. a3
Nge7 9. Bd3 Qc7 10. Nc3 a6 11. Qg3 g6 12. Bf4 Bg7 13. O-O Bd7 14. Rfe1 O-O-O
15. b4 d4 16. Ne4 Nf5 17. Nd6+ Qxd6 18. Bxf5 Qc7 19. Bd3 $16 {1-0 (60)
Sharapov,E (2468)-Jakubiec,A (2547) Cracow POL 2011}) 8. hxg5 hxg5 9. Nxg5 Rxh1
10. Qxf7+ Kd7 11. e6+ Kc7 12. Bf4+ Kb6 13. Qxg8 Bh6 14. Qg6 Bxg5 15. Qxg5 Bxe6
16. Nc3 a6 17. Qg3 Ka7 $2 (17... Rc8 $1 18. Qe3+ d4 19. Qxe6 dxc3 20. Be3+ Kc7
21. Bf4+ $11) 18. Bc7 $1 Qxc7 19. Qxc7 d4 20. Na4 Rc8 21. Qb6+ Ka8 22. Nc5 {
1-0 (22) Zhigalko,S (2689)-Kovchan,A (2554) Konya TUR 2011}) 7. Bd3 Nb4 $1 (
7... Nge7 8. O-O Ng6 9. Qg3 Be7 10. Nc3 Bd7 11. Nb5 O-O (11... a6 12. Nd6+ Bxd6
13. exd6 {[%cal Gh2h4]} O-O 14. h4 $36) 12. c3 a6 13. Nbd4 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 Bh4
15. Qe3 Be7 16. Re1 (16. Qh3 $5) 16... Qc7 17. g3 Bc5 18. f4 Rae8 19. Qe2 f6
20. Kg2 fxe5 21. fxe5 $13 {1/2-1/2 (40) Tolstik,A (2369)-Fister,B (2347) ICCF
2012}) 8. O-O Nxd3 9. cxd3 Ne7 10. Nc3 Ng6 11. Qg3 Be7 12. Ne2 O-O 13. Nf4 Bd7
14. Be3 Rc8 {After the elimination of the light-squared bishop I don't see a
single problem for Black here.} 15. a3 a5 16. Rfc1 Rxc1+ 17. Rxc1 Qb8 18. h4
Nxe5 $4 (18... Nxf4 19. Bxf4 Rc8 $11 {Black is fine.}) 19. Nxe5 Qxe5 20. Ng6 $1
Qf6 21. Nxf8 Bxf8 22. Rc7 $18 Bc6 23. Rc8 Qe7 24. b4 axb4 25. axb4 Qxb4 26. Bh6
Kh8 27. Qxg7# 1-0

[Event "Dortmund SuperGM 41st"]
[Site "Dortmund"]
[Date "2013.08.04"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Naiditsch, Arkadij"]
[Black "Khenkin, Igor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2710"]
[BlackElo "2605"]
[Annotator "Postny,E"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2013.07.26"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 156"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.09.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.09.17"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 {Sumets,A} c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 {This line is Khenkin's speciality.} 4.
Nf3 cxd4 (4... Nc6 5. c4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 {is another possible order of moves to
reach the same position as in the current game.}) 5. Nxd4 {A few rounds ago
Igor achieved a satisfactory position against Andreikin, so he didn't mind
repeating.} ({Dmitry Andreikin preferred} 5. Qxd4 $5 {Sumets,A} Nc6 6. Qf4 e6 (
6... h6 7. h4 g5 $6 {Very risky} 8. hxg5 $1 hxg5 9. Nxg5 Rxh1 10. Qxf7+ Kd7 11.
e6+ Kc7 12. Bf4+ Kb6 13. Qxg8 Bh6 14. Qg6 Bxg5 15. Qxg5 Bxe6 16. Nc3 $16 a6 17.
Qg3 Ka7 18. Bc7 Qxc7 19. Qxc7 d4 20. Na4 Rc8 21. Qb6+ Ka8 22. Nc5 {1-0 (22)
Zhigalko,S (2689)-Kovchan,A (2554) Konya 2011}) 7. Bd3 Nb4 8. O-O Nxd3 9. cxd3
Ne7 10. Nc3 Ng6 11. Qg3 Be7 12. Ne2 O-O 13. Nf4 Bd7 14. Be3 Rc8 15. a3 a5 16.
Rfc1 Rxc1+ 17. Rxc1 Qb8 18. h4 Nxe5 $4 (18... Rc8 19. Rxc8+ Qxc8 {Black has
nothing to worry about}) 19. Nxe5 Qxe5 20. Ng6 $18 Qf6 21. Nxf8 Bxf8 22. Rc7
Bc6 23. Rc8 Qe7 24. b4 axb4 25. axb4 Qxb4 26. Bh6 Kh8 27. Qxg7# {1-0 (27)
Andreikin,D (2727) -Khenkin,I (2605) Dortmund GER 2013. The result of the game
has nothing to do with the opening.}) 5... Nc6 6. c4 e6 7. Nc3 Bc5 8. Nxc6 bxc6
9. cxd5 {Khenkin had already played this position twice this year, so
Naiditsch came well prepared.} (9. Bd3 Ne7 ({An immediate queen swap} 9... dxc4
{looks like an improvement for Black.} 10. Bxc4 Qxd1+ 11. Nxd1 Bd4 12. f4 Ne7
$11 {[%cal Gc6c5,Gc8b7]}) 10. O-O Ng6 11. Na4 Be7 12. f4 Ba6 13. Be3 dxc4 14.
Be4 O-O 15. Qxd8 Rfxd8 16. Rfd1 $14 {0-1 (40) Balogh,C (2664)-Khenkin,I (2655)
Germany 2013}) (9. Qg4 {Sumets,A According to theory the main line} Kf8 $6 (
9... Ne7 $5 10. Qxg7 Ng6 (10... Rg8 $6 11. Qxh7 Qb6 12. Qc2 Ng6 13. Na4 $16)
11. Be2 Bf8 12. Qf6 Be7 13. Qf3 Nxe5 14. Qg3 Ng6 15. O-O Bd6 $13) 10. Bd3 Ne7
11. O-O Ng6 12. Re1 Qh4 13. Qxh4 Nxh4 14. Bd2 Ng6 15. Na4 Be7 16. cxd5 cxd5 17.
Rac1 $16 f6 18. exf6 gxf6 19. Rc7 Ne5 20. Bb5 Rg8 21. Re3 Rb8 22. Rb3 Rg6 23.
Be2 Ra8 24. Bh5 Bd7 25. Bxg6 Bxa4 26. Bh6+ {1-0 (26) Najer,E (2653)-Yevseev,D 
(2580) Sochi 2006}) 9... cxd5 (9... exd5 10. Bd3 Ne7 11. O-O Bf5 12. Na4 Bd4
13. Bf4 O-O 14. Rc1 $14 {1/2-1/2 (30) Leupold,V (2547)-Solzbacher,K (2483)
ICCF email 2008}) 10. b4 $1 $146 {This novelty is, obviously, home preparation,
and poses a problem for the second player.} (10. Bd3 $6 Ne7 11. O-O Ng6 12. Na4
Be7 13. Bxg6 hxg6 14. Be3 Ba6 15. Re1 O-O $11 {1/2-1/2 (23) Nisipeanu,L (2667)
-Khenkin,I (2601) Ortisei 2013}) 10... Bb6 $6 ({In the event of} 10... Be7 {
Black won't have a good square to which to develop his knight.} 11. Rb1 $1 {
Sumets,A I don't see how Black can castle.} Bd7 (11... Nh6 12. Bxh6 gxh6 13.
Bb5+ Bd7 14. O-O $16) 12. Be2 $1 (12. Bd3 $2 Qc7) 12... Qc7 $6 13. Nb5 Qxe5 14.
Bb2 Qe4 15. O-O $16) 11. Nb5 Bc7 $6 {After this White's advantage is
undisputable. If Igor and his followers want to continue to play this line,
then the risky 11...Qh4 should be chosen. Another option is to look for an
improvement a few moves earlier.} (11... Qh4 $1 12. Qf3 (12. Nd6+ Ke7 (12...
Kf8 $2 13. Qf3 f6 14. Bf4 $18) 13. Qf3 $6 (13. Qd2 Qd4 $1 {The exchange of
queens favours Black.} 14. Bb2 Qxd2+ 15. Kxd2 Nh6 {with decent play for Black.}
) 13... f6 14. Bf4 $140 $2 fxe5 15. Bxe5 {Now we can see the difference
between 12...Ke7 and 12...Kf8 - White recaptures on e5 without check.} Qxb4+
$17) 12... f6 (12... Qxb4+ $6 13. Bd2 Qe4+ 14. Qxe4 dxe4 15. Nd6+ Kf8 16. Bb5
$36) 13. Ba3 $5 Nh6 14. Nd6+ Kf8 15. exf6 Qxf6 16. Qxf6+ gxf6 $13) 12. Bb2 Ne7
13. Bd3 a6 (13... O-O 14. Qc2 $16 {[%csl Rc7,Rh7]}) 14. Nxc7+ Qxc7 15. O-O {
White is clearly better. He has the bishop pair and a pawn majority on the
queenside.} Bd7 16. Qg4 ({I would prefer} 16. a4 $16) 16... O-O 17. Rfc1 (17.
Bxh7+ $6 {would win a pawn, but sell a big part of white's advantage.} {After}
Kxh7 18. Qh4+ Kg8 19. Qxe7 Qc2 {Black gets reasonable chances to hold thanks
to the opposite coloured bishops.}) 17... Qd8 $6 (17... Qb7 18. Bxh7+ Kxh7 19.
Qh4+ Kg8 20. Qxe7 {is a worse version of the position from the previous
commentary. Still here Black has more chances to escape than in the game.}) 18.
a4 {White's play is very smooth. Meanwhile, it's difficult to propose a
reasonable plan for Black, his pieces are very passive.} Ng6 19. Rc5 Qb8 20.
Qd4 Rc8 $6 (20... Ne7 {would be slightly more resistant.}) 21. Ra5 (21. Rxd5 $1
{was a nice, hidden piece of tactics that both players had overlooked.} Bxa4 (
21... exd5 22. e6 {[%cal Gd4g7]} f6 23. exd7 Rd8 24. Qxd5+ Kh8 25. Bxg6 hxg6
26. Ra3 $1 $18 {[%cal Ga3h3]}) 22. Rd6 Bb5 23. Be4 Ra7 24. Rb6 Qc7 25. Rxb5 $18
) 21... Qb7 22. g3 h6 23. b5 axb5 24. axb5 Rxa5 25. Rxa5 {White has an
overwhelming position.} Ra8 26. Ra6 Qc8 27. h4 $6 (27. Ra7 {[%cal Gb5b6] would
win practically on the spot.}) 27... Rb8 28. b6 Qc6 (28... Qd8 $1 {could
puzzle White for a moment. Suddenly his passed pawn is a target. Still, after}
29. Ra7 $1 Ne7 (29... Qxb6 $2 30. Qxb6 Rxb6 31. Bd4 Rb4 32. Bc5 $18 {[%csl Rd7]
}) 30. Rc7 Nc8 31. Ba3 Nxb6 32. Bd6 {White is dominating.}) 29. Ra7 Be8 30. Ra6
{Repeating moves to gain some time on the clock.} Bd7 31. h5 Nf8 32. Ba3 {
[%cal Ga3d6] This penetration is decisive.} Bc8 33. Ra7 Qxb6 {[%tqu "En","How
can White win on the spot?","","","a7f7","Finishing the game in style.",5]} 34.
Rxf7 $1 {Finishing the game in style.} Kxf7 (34... Qxd4 35. Rxf8# {is a neat
mate.}) 35. Qf4+ Ke8 36. Qxf8+ Kd7 37. Bb5+ $1 (37. Bb5+ Qxb5 (37... Kc7 38.
Qe7+ Bd7 39. Qxd7#) 38. Qd6+ Ke8 39. Qe7#) 1-0

[Event "RUS-ch 66th"]
[Site "Nizhnij Novgorod"]
[Date "2013.10.06"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Black "Andreikin, Dmitry"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2702"]
[BlackElo "2706"]
[Annotator "Friedel,J"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2013.10.05"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[EventCategory "18"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 157"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.12"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2013.11.12"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 {This line is more active than the more common 3...
Bf5, as it immediately puts pressure on White's center. It often leads to
French-like structures, which suits a player like Andreikin who has the French
as his main weapon.} 4. dxc5 (4. c3 {Attempting to treat this position like an
Advance French is not so threatening, since Black has the option of developing
his light-squared bishop.} Nc6 5. Nf3 Bg4 {and black has a comfortable game.})
4... Nc6 (4... e6 {is the other main line, and now} 5. a3 Nc6 6. Nf3 {would
transpose to the game.}) 5. a3 {This move is quite rare and a bit sneaky. 5.
Nf3 and Bb5 are the most common moves.} e6 {This is a safest option, and the
game transposes into well known territory.} (5... Nxe5 {is the most principled
move, which leads to unclear play.} 6. b4 g6 7. Bb5+ Bd7 8. Qe2 Bg7 9. Bb2 Bxb5
10. Qxb5+ Qd7 11. Qxd7+ Kxd7 12. Ke2 Bf6 13. Nd2 b6 14. Rd1 bxc5 15. Bxe5 Bxe5
16. Ngf3 Bg7 17. Ne4 e6 18. Nxc5+ Ke7 19. Nd4 Nf6 20. Nc6+ Kd6 21. Na5 Rhc8 22.
Rd3 Nd7 23. Rb1 Ne5 24. Rh3 h5 25. Rd1 Nc6 26. Nxc6 Kxc6 27. Rf3 Rc7 28. Na6
Re7 29. Rb3 Rc8 30. Kd3 Rd7 31. Nc5 Rdd8 32. Ke2 Bf8 33. Rc3 Kb5 34. Kd3 Bxc5
35. bxc5 Kc6 36. Kd4 Rb8 37. Rf3 Rb7 38. Rdd3 Rdd7 39. Rb3 Re7 40. Ke5 Red7 41.
Rxb7 Rxb7 42. h4 a5 43. Kd4 a4 44. c4 Rd7 45. Rf6 dxc4+ 46. Kxc4 Rb7 47. Rf4
Rd7 48. Rf6 Rb7 49. Rf4 Rd7 50. g3 Rb7 51. Rf3 Rd7 52. Rf6 Rb7 53. Rf4 Rd7 54.
Rf3 Rb7 55. Rf4 Rd7 56. Rf6 Rb7 57. f3 Rb3 58. Rxf7 Rxa3 59. Ra7 Rxf3 60. Rxa4
Rxg3 {1/2-1/2 (60) Najer,E (2637)-Landa,K (2639) Germany 2012}) 6. Nf3 Bxc5 7.
b4 Bb6 8. Bb2 {This is the main idea of playing an early a3. White grabs some
space on the queenside and defends the potentially weak pawn on e5.} Nge7 9.
Bd3 Ng6 10. O-O O-O 11. Re1 {This type of position is extremely common in
these lines, even if this exact position has only been reached in a handful of
games. Black has to put pressure on White's center quickly, or else he'll
simply get overrun.} a5 {Black decides to force White's hand on the queenside.}
12. b5 Nce7 {This is technically a novelty, though I find it is by far the
most logical place for the knight.} (12... Nb8 {was played previously, but
this loosens Black's grip on the center, which should allow White to get an
easy advantage with the typical break c4.} 13. c4 Nd7 14. Nbd2 (14. cxd5 exd5
15. Bxg6 hxg6 16. Nc3 {and White is nearly winning.}) 14... Nc5 15. Bf1 Bd7 16.
g3 Qc7 17. Bg2 Rfd8 18. Qe2 Be8 19. Nd4 Rac8 20. h4 Nd7 {1/2-1/2 (20) Fercec,N
(2492) -Bodiroga,P (2405) Sens 2008}) 13. a4 {Up until now, play has been
fairly normal. This is where I believe Black starts to go astray.} Bc5 $6 {
I don't like this idea at all.} (13... f6 {is the standard break in this kind
of position. It looks a bit loose, but I still think Black should give it a
try, as slower plans simply give White time to improve his position.} 14. exf6
gxf6 15. c4 Nf4 (15... e5 {looks nice, but after} 16. cxd5 Nxd5 17. Bc4 Be6 18.
Nc3 {Black has some issues, for example if} Ngf4 19. Nxd5 Bxd5 (19... Nxd5 20.
Qb3 Rc8 21. Rad1 $18) 20. Nxe5 $1 fxe5 21. Qg4+ Ng6 22. Red1 $18) 16. Bf1 e5 {
and Black is at least getting some play.}) 14. Nbd2 Qb6 15. Rf1 {Black has
forced White's rook to f1, but the queen and bishop look ridiculous now.} Qc7
16. Nb3 b6 17. Re1 {Now that the pressure is off, the rook simply moves back
and it is clear Black's position has only worsened.} Bb4 $2 {Black tries to
force a concession out of White, but this really just loses time.} (17... Bb7 {
I prefer this simple developing move, although Black's position is far from
pleasant.}) 18. c3 Bc5 {White's bishop is blocked, but the pawn on e5 is
difficult to attack anyway and the d4 square will make a nice home for White's
knight.} 19. Rc1 (19. h4 {already looked quite strong, but there is no huge
rush.}) 19... Bb7 20. Nbd4 {The computer doesn't like this approach, but White
simply wants to prevent any ideas of f6. If Black can't get this freeing move
in, an eventual kingside assault will be the end.} Rae8 21. Rc2 {White wants
to get his dark-squared bishop in the game by means of Bc1.} Nf4 22. Bf1 Nf5 {
Black's knights look active, but this is just an illusion, and they get chased
back in short order.} 23. Bc1 Ng6 24. Bd3 {Black's flurry of activity is over,
and now it is White's turn.} Bc8 25. g3 {White prepares the final assault.
Black is helpless..} h6 (25... f6 26. exf6 gxf6 27. Bxf5 exf5 28. Bh6 {does
not help Black's cause.}) (25... Bd7 {trying to play f6 was perhaps Black's
only try, but it looks grim.}) 26. h4 {Now Black has absolutely no defense.}
Qd8 27. h5 Nge7 28. Nb3 $1 {Nepomniatchi is precise to the last. He won't
allow Black to trade any pieces, and now g4 will simply win the knight.} Nxg3 {
Black is desperate, and there was nothing better.} 29. Nxc5 Nxh5 30. Nh2 bxc5
31. Qxh5 {Black has no compensation for the piece and is still getting
attacked. It is only a question of when Andreikin wants to end the suffering.}
c4 32. Bf1 Nf5 33. Ba3 d4 34. Bg2 d3 35. Rd2 Ne7 36. Qg4 {It isn't often you
see a player as strong as Andreikin lose without a fight. Black played too
slowly and once White improved his position enough it was basically over. An
impressive win!} 1-0

[Event "EU-ch 15th"]
[Site "Yerevan"]
[Date "2014.03.11"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Perunovic, Milos"]
[Black "Riazantsev, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2617"]
[BlackElo "2689"]
[Annotator "Marjanovic,S"]
[PlyCount "99"]
[EventDate "2014.03.03"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "ARM"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 160"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2014.05.15"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2014.05.15"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Ne2 {The strongest grandmasters have played 4.
dxc5 or 4.Nf3, while 4.c4 deserves attention} cxd4 ({A better move was} 4...
Nc6 $1 5. c3 {and Black has two ways to equalise:} cxd4 (5... Bf5 6. dxc5 Nxe5
(6... e6 7. b4 $14) 7. Nd4 (7. Ng3 Bc8 8. Bb5+ Nc6) 7... Bd7 8. Qh5 Qb8 9. Bf4
Nd3+ 10. Bxd3 Qxf4 11. O-O (11. Ne2 Qc7 12. Qxd5 e6 $15) 11... Nf6 12. Qe2 g6
$11) 6. cxd4 Bf5 (6... Bg4) 7. Nbc3 e6 8. Ng3 Bg6 $11 9. Be3 (9. Bb5 Nge7 10.
Bg5 h6 11. Bxe7 Bxe7 12. O-O {1/2-1/2 (12) Movsesian,S (2659)-Sakaev,K (2664)
Istanbul 2003}) 9... Nge7 10. h4 h6 11. h5 Bh7 12. Bd3 Bxd3 13. Qxd3 Qd7 (13...
Nc8) 14. Nce2 (14. O-O) 14... Rc8 15. O-O Nb4 16. Qb3 Nec6 17. Rac1 Be7 18. f4
O-O 19. f5 Na5 20. Qd1 Nc4 21. Bxh6 gxh6 22. f6 Bd8 (22... Kh7 23. fxe7 Qxe7
24. Rc3 $16 Qg5 25. Rf6 Nxb2 26. Qb1+ (26. Rxc8 Rxc8 27. Rxf7+ Kh8 28. Qf1 $18)
26... N4d3 27. Rxd3 Nxd3 28. Qxd3+ Kg7 29. Nf4 Rc1+ 30. Kh2 (30. Nf1 $1) 30...
Qh4+ 31. Nh3 Rfc8 32. Qe3 {1-0 (32) Vachier Lagrave,M (2711)-Jerez Perez,A 
(2411) Leon 2012}) 23. b3 Nxe5 24. dxe5 Bb6+ 25. Kh1 $11) 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. c4 e6
(6... Nxe5 7. cxd5 Nf6 (7... Qxd5 8. Nc3 Qd8 9. Bf4 Ng6 10. Qf3 $32) 8. Nc3 a6
9. Bf4 Ng6 10. Be3 $14) (6... dxc4 7. Nxc6 Qxd1+ 8. Kxd1 bxc6 9. Bxc4 Bf5 10.
Nc3 e6 11. Ke2 $14) 7. Nc3 Bc5 (7... Bb4 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Qa4 a5 (9... Qb6 10.
Be3 $14) 10. cxd5 Qxd5 11. Qxb4 axb4 12. Nxd5 cxd5 13. Bd2 $14) 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9.
cxd5 ({It was worth considering} 9. Qg4 $5 Ne7 10. Qxg7 Ng6 11. Be2 Bf8 12. Qf6
Be7 13. Qf3 d4 $5 (13... Nxe5 14. Qh5 (14. Qg3 Ng6 15. O-O Bd6 $13 {Postny, E})
14... Nxc4 (14... Ng6 15. O-O $14) 15. Bxc4 dxc4 16. O-O Qd3 17. Qg4 $14) (
13... Qc7 14. O-O Qxe5 15. cxd5 exd5 16. Re1 $14) 14. Nb5 $5 (14. Ne4 Qa5+ 15.
Kf1 Qxe5 $13) 14... Bb4+ (14... O-O 15. Bh6 $14) (14... Bb7 15. Nd6+ Bxd6 16.
exd6 Qxd6 17. O-O $14) 15. Bd2 Bxd2+ 16. Kxd2 $14) 9... cxd5 10. b4 $1 {
With the initiative.} Bb6 (10... Be7 $5 11. Be3 (11. Rb1 Bd7 12. Be2 f6 (12...
Qc7 13. Nb5 Qb8 $1 (13... Qxe5 14. Bb2 Qe4 15. O-O Kf8 16. Qd2 $14) 14. Nd6+
Bxd6 15. exd6 Nf6 16. Be3 Ne4 17. Bd4 $13) 13. Bf4 fxe5 14. Bxe5 Bf6 $11) 11...
Bd7 (11... Nh6 12. Bd3) 12. a3 Qb8 (12... Nh6 13. Bd3) 13. f4 Nh6 14. Bd3 $14)
(10... Bf8 11. a3 $14) 11. Nb5 f6 $6 $146 {A dubious novelty.} (11... Bc7 12.
Bb2 Ne7 13. Bd3 Bb8 $5 (13... a6 14. Nxc7+ Qxc7 15. O-O $14 {Naiditsch, A 2710
- Khenkin, Igor 2605, Dortmund 2013}) 14. O-O O-O 15. Qe2 $14) (11... Qh4 $1 {
recommended by GM Postny} 12. Qf3 f6 (12... Qxb4+ $6 13. Bd2 Qe4+ 14. Qxe4 dxe4
15. Nd6+ Kf8 16. Bb5 $36 {Postny, E}) 13. Qf4 (13. Ba3 $5 Nh6 14. Nd6+ Kf8 15.
Rc1 (15. exf6 Qxf6 16. Qxf6+ gxf6 $13 {Postny, E}) 15... Bd7 16. exf6 Qxf6 17.
Qxf6+ gxf6 18. Nb7 Kf7 $11) 13... Qxf4 14. Bxf4 $14) 12. Nd6+ (12. Bb2 fxe5 13.
Qh5+) 12... Ke7 (12... Kf8 13. Bb2 $16) 13. Bb2 Bc7 14. Qg4 Kf8 (14... g6) 15.
Nxc8 f5 (15... Qxc8) 16. Qd4 $16 {White has the better position. He has the
pair of bishops and a possibility of creating a passed pawn on the queenside.}
Rxc8 17. Ba6 Rb8 (17... Bb6 18. Qd3 $16) 18. Rc1 Ne7 19. O-O Kf7 20. a4 Rb6 (
20... Bb6 21. Qd2 $16) 21. b5 Rb8 22. Ba3 Bb6 23. Qd3 (23. Qd2 Ba5 24. Qd3 $16)
23... Ng6 24. Bd6 Qg5 25. Qf3 (25. g3) (25. Bxb8 Rxb8 26. Qa3) 25... Rhd8 $2 {
An unnecessary sacrifice.} ({It was better to play} 25... Rbd8 26. Bb7 f4 {
with an almost equal position.}) 26. Rc6 Ne7 (26... Rxd6 27. exd6 Rd8 28. Bc8
Ne5 29. Bxe6+ Kxe6 30. Re1 Bd4 31. d7+ Kxd7 32. Qxd5+ Ke8 33. Rxe5+ Bxe5 34.
Qxe5+ $18) 27. Rc2 ({There is an immediate win after} 27. Qc3 $1 Qf4 28. g3
Qxa4 29. Rc7 $18) 27... Ra8 28. Rfc1 (28. Qa3 $1 {also wins:} Ng6 (28... Nc8
29. Bb4 $18) 29. a5 (29. Bb7 $18) 29... Bd4 30. Bb7 $18) 28... Rd7 29. Qa3 Ng6
30. Bc8 (30. a5 Bd8 31. g3 $18) 30... Rd8 31. a5 {Missing another opportunity
to win:} (31. Bb7 $1 Rxd6 (31... Rab8 32. Bxb8 Rxb8 33. Bxd5 $18) 32. exd6 Rd8
33. a5 $18) 31... Raxc8 (31... Bxf2+ 32. Kf1 Be3 33. Rc7+ Kg8 34. Bxe6+ Kh8 35.
Bxd5 $18) 32. axb6 $2 {A mistake in a better position.} (32. Rxc8 Rxc8 33. Rxc8
Qd2 34. Qc1 Qxf2+ 35. Kh1 Bxa5 36. Qg1 $16) 32... Nf4 $6 ({A dubious move
because Black could equalise with} 32... Rxc2 33. Rxc2 (33. Qxa7+ Kg8 34. Rxc2
Nh4) 33... axb6 $11) 33. g3 Ne2+ $2 {One more mistake, and White again has a
decisive advantage.} (33... Rxc2 34. Rxc2 axb6 35. Kf1 $14) 34. Kg2 Nxc1 35.
Rxc8 Rxc8 36. b7 $18 {White has a decisive advantage.} Re8 37. Qxa7 Kg6 38.
b8=Q Rxb8 39. Qxb8 Nd3 (39... h6 40. Qg8) 40. Qe8+ Kh6 41. Qxe6+ Kh5 42. Qe7 (
42. Qf7+ Kh6 43. h3) 42... Ne1+ 43. Kf1 Qc1 44. Qf7+ Kh6 45. Qxf5 Qd1 46. e6
Nf3+ 47. Kg2 Ne1+ 48. Kh3 Nf3 49. Bf4+ g5 50. Qf6+ 1-0

[Event "EU-Cup 31st"]
[Site "Skopje"]
[Date "2015.10.20"]
[Round "3.3"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Jobava, Baadur"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2796"]
[BlackElo "2683"]
[Annotator "Roiz,M"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2015.10.18"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "MKD"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 169"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2015.11.10"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2015.11.10"]
[SourceQuality "1"]
[WhiteTeam "Socar"]
[BlackTeam "Belorechensk"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "AZE"]
[BlackTeamCountry "RUS"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 (3... Bf5 {is much more popular nowadays, but
Fabiano must be well prepared for Baadur's choice.}) 4. Nf3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 e6 6.
c4 {The most common continuation. White is trying to exploit some delay with
the development of Black's pieces and open up the position.} ({The more
consistent way of development is based on protecting the Pe5, which promises
White a definite space advantage:} 6. Nd2 Nc6 7. N2f3 Nge7 8. Bd3 Ng6 (8... Bd7
9. O-O Ng6 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. c4 Be7 12. Be3 Qb8 13. Bxg6 hxg6 14. Qc2 a5 15.
Rfc1 O-O 16. Qe2 Rc8 17. Rc3 Qc7 18. Rac1 $14 {1/2 Radjabov,T (2744)-Carlsen,M
(2775)/Bilbao 2008/CBM 126 (53)}) 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. O-O Be7 11. c4 O-O 12. Qc2
c5 13. h4 Bxh4 14. cxd5 Bb7 $6 (14... exd5 $142 15. Nxh4 Qxh4 16. Qxc5 d4 $132)
15. dxe6 Bxf3 16. exf7+ Rxf7 17. Bxg6 hxg6 18. gxf3 $14 {1-0 Bologan,V (2690)
-Khenkin,I (2614)/Sibenik 2010/CBM 138 Extra (48)}) ({Another possible plan is
connected with an exchange on c6:} 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. O-O Ne7 9. c4 Ng6
10. Qe2 (10. f4 Bc5+ 11. Kh1 O-O 12. Nd2 a5 $132 {1-0 Nisipeanu,L (2690)-Kiik,
K (2444)/Fuegen 2006/CBM 115 (34)}) 10... Be7 11. f4 O-O 12. Nd2 a5 13. Nf3 Ba6
14. Be3 a4 15. Rac1 $14 {1-0 Karjakin,S (2727)-Short,N (2655)/Kiev 2008/CBM
125 Extra (37)}) 6... Bb4+ {This move seems very logical - it definitely makes
sense to remove the bishop from f8 in order to put the knight on e7 later on.}
({Another logical continuation is:} 6... Bc5 $5 7. Nc3 Ne7 8. Be3 Bb6 (8...
Bxd4 9. Bxd4 O-O 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Bb5 Bd7 12. Be2 Nbc6 13. O-O Be6 14. Nb5 a6
15. Nd6 $14 {1-0 Karjakin,S (2727)-Short,N (2655)/Kiev 2008/CBM 125 Extra (59)}
) 9. Be2 (9. Qg4 $6 O-O 10. Rd1 Nbc6 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. c5 Bc7 $15 {0-1
Perunovic,M (2614)-Wang Hao (2712)/Baku AZE 2015 (49)}) 9... dxc4 10. Bxc4 O-O
11. O-O Qc7 12. Bd3 Qxe5 13. Re1 $44) ({On the other hand, the most natural
developing move} 6... Nc6 {seems somewhat premature:} 7. Nc3 Bb4 8. Nxc6 bxc6
9. Qa4 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Qc7 11. Be2 Bd7 12. O-O Ne7 13. Ba3 c5 14. Qa6 $14 {
1/2 Inarkiev,E (2597)-Kharitonov,A (2535)/Moscow 2006/CBM 111 ext (59)}) 7. Bd2
{In general, the exchange of dark-squared bishops would suit White, since
Black's other bishop remains passive. However, in this particular position
Black doesn't face any serious problems.} ({The alternative} 7. Nc3 {could
lead to a more complex battle:} Ne7 8. Be2 ({The over-aggressive} 8. h4 $6 {
only invites troubles:} Nbc6 9. a3 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Nxe5 $15 {1/2 Rogers,J (2277)
-Arkell,K (2497)/Hinckley Island ENG 2015}) 8... Nbc6 9. O-O O-O 10. Nf3 {
, but Black is doing reasonably well here.}) 7... Bxd2+ 8. Qxd2 Ne7 9. Nc3 Nbc6
{A natural novelty. It looks like some lead in development and pressure on the
Pe5 enables Black to solve all his problems.} ({The previously played} 9... O-O
10. O-O-O Nbc6 {also looks perfectly playable:} 11. f4 Nxd4 12. Qxd4 Qa5 13.
Kb1 Bd7 14. cxd5 exd5 $132 {1/2 Bologan,V (2682)-Okkes,M (2359)/Kallithea 2008}
) 10. cxd5 ({After} 10. O-O-O O-O {the game could have transposed to
Bologan-Okkes.}) 10... exd5 {Some vulnerablity of Black's isolated pawn is
fully compensated for by active piece play.} 11. f4 (11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bd3 O-O
13. O-O Bf5 14. Bxf5 Nxf5 15. Na4 f6 $11) 11... O-O 12. O-O-O {A risky
decision, since White's king is not safe on the q-side.} ({Objectively,
Fabiano should have opted for} 12. Rd1 Be6 13. Nf3 f6 14. exf6 Rxf6 {with an
approximately balanced position.}) 12... Nxd4 13. Qxd4 Nf5 $2 {Now White's
ambitious idea is fully justified - Black fails to get adequate compensation
for a pawn.} ({At the same time, after} 13... Be6 {Black would have a great
position. For instance,} 14. Bd3 Nc6 15. Qa4 (15. Qf2 d4 $36) 15... Qb6 ({
Possibly, Black even may claim more than equality after} 15... a5 $5) 16. f5 d4
17. fxe6 dxc3 18. exf7+ Rxf7 19. bxc3 Nxe5 20. Bc2 Kh8 $11) 14. Qxd5 Qb6 15.
Qe4 $1 {White's queen is on the perfect spot now.} Be6 16. Bd3 $2 {This
natural move turns out to be a serious mistake - Black gets a good chance to
exploit the lack of harmony in White's camp.} ({A much stronger move was:} 16.
g4 $1 Ne3 (16... Qe3+ 17. Rd2 Qxe4 18. Nxe4 Ne3 19. Nd6 $16) 17. Rd6 Qc5 18.
Bd3 g6 19. f5 gxf5 20. Qf4 $1 Nxg4 21. Bxf5 Qe3+ 22. Qxe3 Nxe3 23. Bxe6 fxe6
24. Ne4 $16) 16... h5 {Baadur reasonably prevents White from pushing g2-g4.} ({
However, even stronger was:} 16... g6 $1 {White has nothing better than giving
the extra pawn back and liquidating into an equal endgame:} 17. g4 ({Black's
initiative is too strong after} 17. Bc2 $6 Rac8 18. Rd2 Rc4 19. Qf3 Rfc8 $36)
17... Ne3 18. f5 gxf5 19. gxf5 Bxf5 20. Qf3 Bg6 21. Rde1 Bxd3 22. Qxe3 Qxe3+
23. Rxe3 Bg6 $11) 17. Kb1 g6 18. Bc2 (18. Na4 $5 {deserves some attention,} {
though after} Qa5 19. b3 Rac8 20. Qe1 Qc7 $44 {Black's counterplay shouldn't
be underestimated anyway.}) 18... Rad8 19. Nd5 {The most practical choice - It
definitely makes sense to reduce Black's attacking potential and change the
character of play.} (19. Qf3 Nd4 20. Qf2 Qb4 21. a3 Qc4 22. Bd3 Qb3 $44) 19...
Qf2 {That move is not that bad, but the queen has little it can achieve in
White's camp.} ({It was better to get a rid of the centralised knight:} 19...
Bxd5 20. Rxd5 Rxd5 21. Qxd5 {and now} Ne3 $1 {offers Black sufficient
counterplay:} 22. Qe4 (22. Qb3 Qxb3 23. Bxb3 Nxg2 24. f5 Nh4 25. Rg1 Kh7 26.
fxg6+ Nxg6 27. Rg5 h4 $11) 22... Rd8 23. Bb3 Rd4 24. Qf3 Rd2 25. Rc1 Qd4 26.
Rc3 Rxg2 27. Bxf7+ Kxf7 28. Qxb7+ Ke6 29. Qc8+ Qd7 30. Qxd7+ Kxd7 31. Rxe3 Rxh2
32. Rg3 Rf2 $11) 20. Bb3 {As a result, Fabiano manages to consolidate his
position.} Kg7 ({The following tactical trick leads only to simplifications:} 
20... Rxd5 21. Bxd5 Ng3 22. Qf3 Bf5+ 23. Ka1 Nxh1 24. Rxh1 $16) 21. Rhf1 Qc5
22. Rfe1 a5 (22... b5 $1 23. Nf6 Nd6 24. Qf3 Nc4 25. Ne4 Qb4 26. a3 Nxe5 $1 27.
fxe5 Rxd1+ 28. Qxd1 Qxb3 $11) 23. Rc1 (23. Nf6 Nd6 24. Qd4 Bf5+ 25. Ka1 Qxd4
26. Rxd4 Nb5 27. Rxd8 Rxd8 28. Rd1 Nd4 29. Ne8+ Rxe8 30. Rxd4 g5 {The
vulnerablity of his back rank doesn't leave White real chances for converting
his extra pawn into a full point.}) 23... Qf2 ({For the second time in this
game, GM Jobava fails to evaluate the consequences of exchanging queens.
Correct was:} 23... Bxd5 $1 24. Rxc5 Bxe4+ 25. Rxe4 Rd2 {and it looks like
White has no reason to claim an advantage:} 26. Rc2 (26. Rxa5 Rxg2 27. Ra7 Rxh2
28. Rxb7 h4 {looks dangerous for White.}) 26... Rd1+ 27. Rc1 Rd2 28. Rc7 Rxg2
29. e6 Rg1+ 30. Kc2 Rg2+ $11) 24. Re2 Qa7 $2 {According to his uncompromising
style, Baadur prefers to maintain the pressure, but White is able to exploit
the poor placement of Black's queen.} ({A much better move was:} 24... Qd4 25.
Nc7 Qxe4+ 26. Rxe4 Bxb3 27. axb3 Rd2 28. e6 Kf6 $1 $14 {and the activity of
Rd2 offers Black excellent drawing chances.}) 25. Nc7 $1 {Most probably, this
strong move was underestimated by GM Jobava. The knight is supporting the
e5-e6 advance, so Black's king is in danger.} Bxb3 26. axb3 Rd4 $2 {A decisive
mistake.} ({The only way to put up resistance was:} 26... Rd7 $1 27. e6 Re7 28.
Qe5+ Kh7 $16 {White is a pawn up, but the resulting position is rather
unbalanced, so Black should have definite counterplay.}) 27. Qf3 a4 {Black's
counterplay looks serious, but...} ({Now it was too late for:} 27... Rd7 28. e6
Re7 29. Re5 $1 $18 {and White is dominating over the board.}) 28. e6 $1 {
Just in time!} axb3 ({Baadur misses the last practical chance:} 28... Rc8 29.
exf7 Rxc7 30. Rxc7 Rd1+ {would force White to find a couple of precise moves:}
31. Rc1 Rxc1+ 32. Kxc1 Qg1+ 33. Kd2 Qd4+ 34. Kc2 Qc5+ 35. Kd1 (35. Qc3+ $4 Nd4+
36. Kd3 Qxc3+ 37. bxc3 Nxe2 38. Kxe2 a3 $19) 35... Qd4+ 36. Rd2 Qg1+ 37. Kc2
Nd4+ 38. Rxd4 Qxd4 39. Qc3 $18) 29. Qxb3 Ra4 30. Qc3+ {Covering the key
a1-spot with tempo.} Nd4 (30... Kh7 {was also hopeless:} 31. b3 Rxf4 32. Nd5
Rd4 33. e7 $18) 31. b3 Kh7 32. Rd2 ({Black resigns in view of:} 32. Rd2 Nxb3
33. Qxb3 Ra1+ 34. Kb2 Rxc1 35. Kxc1 $18) 1-0

[Event "London Classic 8th"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "2016.12.12"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2760"]
[BlackElo "2779"]
[Annotator "Roiz,M"]
[PlyCount "106"]
[EventDate "2016.12.09"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[EventCategory "22"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 176"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.01.17"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.01.17"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 {This aggressive approach is rarely seen on the top
level.} 4. dxc5 Nc6 5. Nf3 (5. a3 $5 {is another interesting continuation,
which has recently gained some popularity}) 5... Bg4 6. c3 e6 7. b4 ({Possibly,
} 7. Be3 $5 {as was played in most games, poses Black more problems. For
instance, in the following recent encounter Hikaru was unable to solve the
problems:} Qc7 (7... Bxf3 8. Qxf3 Nge7 9. Bb5 a6 10. Ba4 Qa5 11. Bc2 Nxe5 12.
Qg3 Nc4 13. b4 Qd8 14. O-O $36 {Zhigalko,S (2683)-Laznicka,V (2666) Rhodes 2013
}) 8. Nbd2 Nge7 9. Bd4 g6 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Nxf3 Bg7 12. Bb5 O-O 13. Bxc6 Nxc6
14. Qe2 $14 {Leko,P (2693)-Nakamura,H (2779) Doha QAT 2016}) 7... a6 {The
e5-pawn should fall soon, so Hikaru is making a useful prophylactic move.} ({
There are several solid alternatives:} 7... g6 $5 8. Bb5 Bxf3 9. Qxf3 Bg7 10.
Bxc6+ bxc6 11. Qe2 a5 12. a3 f6 13. Bf4 Nh6 $44 {Fedoseev,V (2670)-Fridman,D 
(2620) Liepaja LAT 2016. Black had full compensation for the pawn.}) (7... Bxf3
$5 8. Qxf3 Nxe5 9. Bb5+ Nc6 10. Bb2 Be7 11. c4 Nf6 $132 {Nepomniachtchi,I 
(2704)-Andreikin,D (2718) Moscow 2012}) 8. Nbd2 ({White doesn't get much after
} 8. Bf4 Bxf3 $1 9. Qxf3 g5 10. Bg3 Bg7 $132 {Doluhanova,E (2252)-Schepetkova,
M (2302) Sharjah UAE 2016}) 8... Nxe5 9. Qa4+ ({The other moves have been
tested at a high level, but Black's position looks fine both after} 9. h3 Nxf3+
10. Nxf3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 g6 12. Be2 Bg7 13. O-O Ne7 $132 {Fedorchuk,S (2660)
-Lupulescu,C (2634) Legnica 2013}) ({and} 9. Be2 Nc6 10. O-O Nf6 11. h3 Bh5 12.
Bb2 Be7 $132 {Frolyanov,D (2566)-Alekseev,E (2651) Kaliningrad RUS 2015}) 9...
Nd7 $146 {Hikaru chooses the most ambitious way, deviating from the
approximately equal endgame.} ({The previously played} 9... Qd7 {also looks
solid:} 10. Qxd7+ Nxd7 11. Bb2 Bxf3 ({But} 11... Ngf6 $6 {is inferior:} 12. Nd4
Be7 13. N2b3 e5 14. h3 $1 Be6 15. Nxe6 fxe6 16. Be2 $14 {Predojevic,B (2632)
-Zelcic,R (2539) Zadar 2010}) 12. Nxf3 Be7 13. Be2 Bf6 14. O-O Ne7 15. Rab1 O-O
16. c4 a5 $132 {Nevednichy,V (2554)-Zelcic,R (2548) Tromso 2014}) 10. Ne5 {
Veselin is trying to make use of pinning the Nd7, but most of his pieces are
undeveloped and do not bother Black.} Ngf6 11. c4 $6 {Veselin is pushing too
hard, exposing his pawn structure.} ({It was better to liquidate the bishop at
once in order to develop the Bf1 with tempo:} 11. Nxg4 $1 Nxg4 12. Be2 Nge5 (
12... Ngf6 13. O-O Be7 14. a3 O-O 15. Qc2 b6 16. cxb6 Nxb6 17. c4 dxc4 18. Nxc4
$14) 13. Bb2 {White's bishops can be potentially very strong, so Black has to
play precisely:} a5 $1 (13... Be7 14. Qb3 O-O 15. c4 dxc4 16. Nxc4 Nxc4 17.
Qxc4 $14) 14. Qb3 Be7 15. a3 b6 16. c4 $1 axb4 17. axb4 Rxa1+ 18. Bxa1 dxc4 19.
Nxc4 Nxc4 20. Bxc4 bxc5 21. O-O O-O 22. Rd1 Qc7 23. Bxe6 Nf6 $11) 11... a5 $1
12. Nb3 $6 {This inaccuracy invites further troubles.} ({More to the point was
} 12. Nxd7 Qxd7 13. Qxd7+ Nxd7 14. cxd5 exd5 15. bxa5 Be7 $1 ({After} 15...
Bxc5 16. Nb3 O-O 17. f3 {White should be able to slowly equalise.}) 16. Be2
Bxe2 17. Kxe2 Nxc5 18. Nb3 $15 {with a slightly worse, but defendable endgame.}
) 12... axb4 13. Qb5 Be7 $1 {Now Black's development advantage is getting
threatening.} 14. c6 (14. cxd5 {is strongly met by} O-O $1 15. Nxg4 Nxg4 16. h3
Nxf2 $1 17. Kxf2 Bf6 18. Rb1 Rxa2+ 19. Kg1 Bc3 20. Bf4 Qf6 $40 {with a
powerful attack.}) 14... bxc6 15. Nxc6 Qc7 16. f3 {The best chance.} (16. Nxe7
{loses on the spot:} Rb8 $1 17. Qa5 Qe5+ 18. Be3 Kxe7 $19) 16... Bf5 17. Nxe7
Rb8 18. Nxf5 $2 {Veselin is trying to change the unfavourable course of the
game, but White cannot afford to lose the queen in this situation.} ({He had
to play} 18. Qa5 Qe5+ 19. Kf2 Kxe7 20. c5 Rhc8 21. Be3 Qb2+ 22. Be2 Bd3 23.
Rhe1 $17) 18... Rxb5 19. Nxg7+ Ke7 (19... Kf8 $1 {was simpler:} 20. Bh6 Qe5+
21. Kf2 Qb2+ 22. Kg1 Ra5 $1 $19) 20. cxb5 Nc5 $6 {This inaccurate move makes
Black's task tougher.} ({Hikaru should have continued} 20... Qe5+ 21. Be2 Nc5
22. Rb1 Nd3+ 23. Kf1 Nxc1 24. Nxc1 Nd7 $1 $19) 21. Bb2 Nxb3 22. axb3 {
Developing the queenside pieces is Veselin's definite achievement, but the
position is still very dangerous.} Qf4 (22... Rg8 $5 23. Bd4 Qc2 24. g3 Rxg7 $1
(24... Ne4 25. Ra7+ Kd6 26. Ra6+ Kd7 27. Ra7+ Kc8 28. fxe4 Qxe4+ 29. Be2 Qxh1+
30. Kf2 Qxh2+ 31. Kf1 $11) 25. Ra7+ Nd7 26. Bxg7 Qxb3 27. Be2 Qe3 28. b6 Qxb6
29. Ra1 f6 $17) 23. Be2 $6 {This is too modest!} ({The correct move was} 23.
Rd1 $1 Qg5 24. Bd4 Qxg7 25. g3 Qh6 26. Bd3 $17 {, activating all the forces.})
23... Rc8 $1 24. Rd1 ({In the event of} 24. b6 Qe3 25. Bxf6+ Kxf6 26. Nh5+ Ke7
27. Rd1 Rc2 28. Ng3 Qxb6 $19 {the lack of harmony makes White's position
completely lost.}) 24... Qg5 $6 {There was no reason for hurrying! The poor
Ng7 would be lost anyway.} ({A much stronger try was} 24... Rc2 25. Bd4 Qg5 26.
Nf5+ Qxf5 27. Bd3 Qg5 28. g3 Rc3 $1 29. f4 Qg8 $19) 25. b6 $2 {Returning the
favour.} ({GM Topalov misses another chance to consolidate:} 25. O-O $1 Rc3 $1
26. Nxe6 fxe6 27. f4 Qg8 28. Rde1 $17 {and the vulnerablity of the king on e7
offers White definite drawing chances.}) 25... Rc2 {The rook penetrates
White's camp with great effect.} 26. Bxf6+ Qxf6 27. Nh5 (27. b7 Qc3+ 28. Kf1
Qc7 $19) 27... Qc3+ 28. Kf1 Qe3 29. Re1 Qxb6 {Collecting the most important
pawn. The b3-pawn should fall soon too.} 30. Nf4 Qe3 31. g3 Qxb3 {The b3-pawn
is worth a piece, but there is still some technical work to do.} 32. Kg2 Kf8 (
32... e5 33. Kh3 Rd2 34. Ng2 Qc3 35. Rc1 Rc2 $19) 33. Kh3 Qb2 34. Rb1 Qf6 35.
Rhe1 (35. Rxb4 Qh6+ 36. Kg2 e5 $19) 35... e5 36. Nxd5 (36. Nd3 e4 37. Nxb4 Rd2
38. Rbd1 Rxd1 39. Bxd1 Qh6+ 40. Kg2 Qd2+ 41. Kf1 e3 42. Be2 Qxb4 $19) 36...
Qe6+ 37. Kg2 Qxd5 38. Rxb4 {White was able to liquidate all the opponent's
pawn on the queenside, but it's still lost!} Qd2 39. Rb8+ Kg7 40. Kf1 Qh6 $2 {
The last move before crossing the time control turns out to be a serious
mistake.} ({The most convincing was} 40... e4 $1 41. fxe4 Qh6 42. Kg1 Qe3+ 43.
Kf1 Qxe4 44. Kf2 Qa4 $1 {, and White is paralysed:} 45. Kf1 (45. Rb7 Qd4+ 46.
Kf1 Qd5 $19) 45... h5 46. Rbb1 Qe4 47. Kf2 Rxe2+ 48. Rxe2 Qxb1 $19) 41. Kg2 $2
{Alas, Veselin is far from his best...} ({Otherwise, he would have played} 41.
Rb4 $1 Qh3+ (41... Qxh2 $2 42. Rh4 Qxg3 43. Rg4+ Qxg4 44. fxg4 {, and now it
is Black, who has to fight for a draw!}) 42. Kg1 Qd7 43. Kf1 $17 {, and the
limited material balance leaves White some hopes - it's not easy to make
progress here!}) 41... e4 $1 {Now White's position is collapsing.} 42. Rb3 (42.
fxe4 Qe3 $19) (42. f4 Qh5 $19) 42... Qe6 43. Re3 exf3+ 44. Kxf3 Qh3 {The rest
is easy.} 45. Rd1 (45. Rh1 Qf5+ 46. Kg2 Qd5+ $19) 45... Qh5+ 46. Kf2 Qxh2+ 47.
Kf3 Rc6 48. Rd4 Rg6 49. g4 Rf6+ 50. Ke4 Qh1+ 51. Kd3 Qb1+ 52. Kd2 Qb2+ 53. Kd3
Rc6 0-1

[Event "Gashimov Memorial 4th"]
[Site "Shamkir"]
[Date "2017.04.25"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Topalov, Veselin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2783"]
[BlackElo "2741"]
[Annotator "Marin,M"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2017.04.21"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "AZE"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 178"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2017.05.14"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2017.05.14"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 $5 {At this level this daring move is not very
common.} 4. dxc5 e6 5. a3 {Preparing to gain queenside space with b2-b4, Bb2
and finally c2-c4.} ({More popular alternatives are} 5. Be3 Nd7 6. Bb5 {
Postny,E (2497)-Erenburg,S (2494) Tel Aviv 2002 CBM 093 [Postny,E] (1-0, 55)})
({and} 5. Nf3 Bxc5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O f6 8. Qe2 (8. exf6 {helped Black's
development in Erenburg,S (2475)-Yevseev,D (2546) Alushta 2002 CBM 092 [Lukacs]
(0-1, 16)}) 8... fxe5 9. Nxe5 Nf6 {Smirnov,P (2539)-Kornev,A (2567) Krasnodar
2002 CBM 091 [Lukacs] (1-0, 66)}) 5... Bxc5 6. Nf3 ({Usually White plays} 6. b4
{but in most cases it transposes to the game.}) 6... Ne7 7. Bd3 Ng6 8. O-O Nc6
9. b4 Bb6 10. Bb2 {Black has developed his minor pieces apparently comfortably,
but his main problem remains the lack of space. Undermining e5 is not simple
at all.} Nf4 ({The main alternative is playing on the queenside with} 10... O-O
11. Re1 a5 {Nepomniachtchi,I (2702)-Andreikin,D (2706) Nizhnij Novgorod 2013
CBM 157 [Friedel,J] (1-0, 36)}) 11. c4 Nxd3 {Abstractly speaking this looks
like a concession as it does not cause White wasting time.} ({But if} 11... O-O
{the critical move is} 12. c5 {gaining even more space. In some games White
moved with his queen which obviously yielded Black an extra tempo after the
exchange on d3 with respect to our main game.} Bc7 (12... Nxd3 13. Qxd3 Bc7 {
allows} 14. b5 Ne7 15. a4 $16 {putting Black in a very passive position.}) 13.
Re1 ({With the knight on f4 still, the same plan does not work:} 13. b5 $2 Nxe5
14. Bxe5 Bxe5 15. Nxe5 Qg5 $17) ({But} 13. Bc2 $5 {may be an improvement.})
13... f6 14. exf6 {Ducarmon,Q (2487)-Mithil,A (2258) Pune 2014 (1-0, 53)} e5 $5
15. fxg7 Rf7 {with tremenduous initiative.}) 12. Qxd3 dxc4 13. Qxc4 Ne7 $146 {
Things will turn bad for Black very soon after this novelty. Hard to guess
what went wrong in Topalov's preparation.} (13... O-O 14. Nc3 Nd4 (14... Ne7 {
is more passive:} 15. Rad1 Nd5 16. Qg4 {with strong pressure in Istratescu,A 
(2654)-Grachev,B (2688) Basel 2013 (1/2-1/2, 69)}) 15. Nxd4 Qxd4 16. Qe2 Qh4
17. Rad1 Rd8 18. Rxd8+ {In Smirnov,I (2496)-Sharapov,E (2427) Evpatoria 2008 
(1-0, 23) Black should have played} Qxd8 {preparing to complete the queenside
development:} 19. Rd1 Bd7 {with chances to equalize.}) 14. Nc3 Bd7 (14... O-O {
would transpose to the less favourable game above.}) 15. Qg4 {[%cal Gc3e4,
Gg4g7] White has not done anything special and yet Black has some problems.}
Bc6 {This must have been the key move in Topalov's preparation, but then he
must have overlooked Karjakin's 17th move.} (15... O-O 16. Rad1 Qc7 17. Ne4 $16
) 16. Rad1 Qc7 17. Ng5 $1 {A typical pawn sacrifice. Due to the threat Nce4
Black needs accepting it but this will clear the long diagonal and the e-file.}
({Pawn grabbing would justify Black's idea:} 17. Qxg7 $2 Rg8 18. Qf6 Nf5 {
The king is under pressure and the queen isimmobile.}) 17... Qxe5 18. b5 {
Just that simple. The bishop does not have good squares.} h5 {A desperate
intermediate move failing to change the evaluation. of the position as joyless.
} (18... Bd5 19. Nxd5 Qxb2 20. Nxe6 $18) (18... Bd7 19. Rxd7 Kxd7 20. Nxf7 $18)
(18... h6 {may have been the lesser evil:} 19. Nxf7 Kxf7 20. bxc6 bxc6 21. Na4
h5 22. Qc4 Qf5 (22... Qb5 23. Qc3 Qg5 24. Rd3 $16) 23. Rde1 $16 {[%cal Ge1e5]
with strong attack in both cases. Black's extra pawn is not relevant and he is
poorly coordinated while the King is vulnerable.}) ({Finally, the pawn is
absolutely taboo:} 18... Bxb5 $2 19. Nxb5 Qxb2 20. Nd6+ Kf8 21. Ngxf7 Rg8 22.
Ng5 $18) 19. Qh4 Bxb5 $2 {Even now the pawn is not edible.} ({Black could have
hang on for a while with} 19... Ng6 20. Qg3 Bd7 21. Nxf7 Qxg3 22. hxg3 O-O 23.
Nd6 $16 {His structure is awful and White's knights are very strong, but at
least he will not get mated.}) 20. Rfe1 {Winning an important tempo for
preparing the decisive blow on e6.} Qf5 21. Nxb5 Qxb5 22. Bxg7 Nf5 (22... Rg8
23. Ne4 $18 {[%cal Ge4f6,Ge4d6]}) 23. Nxe6 $1 {Not the only winning move but
the most elegant.} fxe6 (23... Nxh4 24. Nc7#) 24. Rxe6+ Kf7 25. Qf6+ Kg8 26.
Bxh8 {White has a decisive material advantage and as if this was not enough, a
continuing attack.} Bxf2+ 27. Kh1 {The bishop was entirely edible, of course,
but why to expose the king. Somewhere around this move Topalov missed the
right moment to resign.} Qa4 28. Red6 Rf8 29. Qg6+ Kxh8 30. Rd7 1-0

[Event "Capablanca Memorial Elite 53rd"]
[Site "Havana"]
[Date "2018.05.13"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Shankland, Samuel L"]
[Black "Bacallao Alonso, Yusnel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2671"]
[BlackElo "2594"]
[Annotator "Golubev,M"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2018.05.09"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "CUB"]
[EventCategory "16"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 185"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.07.13"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.07.13"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. Nf3 ({The aggressive} 5. Qg4 $5 {
has been known since Tal vs Botvinnik 1961 Wch match games}) ({and} 5. Be3 {
the most common move.}) 5... Bxc5 6. a3 {This line was almost not developed in
the 20th century, but nowadays it can be seen at the professional level.} Ne7 (
6... Bb6 $5) (6... a6 $5) 7. b4 Bb6 8. Bd3 a5 $5 9. b5 (9. Bb2 axb4 10. axb4
Rxa1 11. Bxa1 Na6 12. Bc3 d4 (12... Nc7 {Kollars-Landa, Bundesliga 2017/18})
13. Bxd4 Nxb4 14. Bxb6 Qxb6 15. O-O Nxd3 16. Qxd3 O-O 17. Rd1 {1/2
Packroff-Tornow, ICCF cr 2017.}) (9. Nc3 $5 {Ozolin-Grishchenko, Tula 2009.})
9... Nd7 10. O-O {An interesting position, which needs more practical tests.}
Ng6 ({After} 10... O-O {does not seem to be advisable} 11. Bxh7+ $6 Kxh7 12.
Ng5+ Kg6 $1 13. Re1 (13. Qd3+ $2 Nf5 14. g4 Nxe5 15. gxf5+ exf5 16. Qg3 Ng4 $1
$17) {because} 13... f6 $5 14. Nxe6 Bxf2+ $1 15. Kh1 (15. Kxf2 $2 Qb6+) 15...
Qb6 16. exf6 Nxf6 $1 17. Nxf8+ Kf7 18. Rxe7+ Kxf8 $5 19. Qe2 (19. Re2 $6 Bg4)
19... Bg4 20. Be3 $8 Bxe2 21. Bxb6 Kxe7 22. Bxf2 {is slightly better for Black.
}) ({Another option is} 10... a4) 11. Bb2 (11. Bxg6 $5 hxg6 (11... fxg6 12. c4
$1) 12. c4 Rh5 $1 13. Bb2 dxc4 14. Nbd2 Bc5 15. Nxc4 b6 16. Bd4 Be7) (11. Qe2
$5 O-O 12. a4 {Devereaux-Elsness, TCh-NOR 2018.}) 11... Qc7 $2 {A mistake that
remained unpunished.} (11... a4 $5 12. Re1 (12. c4 $5) 12... Nc5 13. Bd4 Bd7
14. Nc3 Qc7 {Leko-Khenkin, Riyadh WCh rapid 2017}) 12. Re1 $2 ({It was a good
time for} 12. c4 $1 {(planning exd5, Nc3)} Ndxe5 (12... dxc4 13. Bxg6 hxg6 14.
Nbd2 $16) (12... Nf4 13. cxd5 $1 $16) 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 14. cxd5 Qd6 (14... O-O $2
15. d6 $1 $18) {and now, possibly,} 15. Be2 $5 O-O 16. Nc3 Rd8 17. Ne4 $1 Qxd5
18. Qa4 $5 f5 19. Ng3 $16) 12... a4 13. Nbd2 Nc5 $146 14. Bxg6 fxg6 $5 15. Qe2
O-O {Black is doing not badly now.} 16. Bd4 $5 Ba5 17. Rec1 b6 18. c4 $5 Qe7 (
18... Bb7 $1 19. cxd5 exd5 $1) 19. Qe3 (19. cxd5 $1 exd5 20. Qe3 $1) 19... Bb7
20. cxd5 Bxd5 $1 21. Bxc5 bxc5 22. Rab1 {In this tense but, perhaps,
approximately equal position Black goes astray.} Qb7 $2 23. Nc4 $1 Bxf3 $6 ({
Consistent. But instead} 23... h6 {was worth trying.}) 24. gxf3 Rxf3 25. Qxc5
Qe4 26. Nxa5 $1 {And it turns out that Black's counterplay on the kingside is
rather illusory.} Rf4 (26... Rxa5 27. Qb4 $18 (27. Rb4 $18)) (26... Qg4+ 27.
Kh1 Rxa5 28. Qb4 (28. Rb4 Qh3 $8 29. Qc8+ Rf8 30. Rf4 $1 Qf1+ 31. Rxf1 Rxc8 32.
Rb1 $16) 28... Qxb4 $8 29. Rxb4 Rxf2 30. Rc8+ Rf8 31. Rxf8+ Kxf8 32. b6 Ra8 33.
Rxa4 $1 Rb8 34. Ra6 $1 $18 {/\ a3-a4, a4-a5.}) 27. h3 $8 $18 Qf5 (27... Rf5 28.
Qe3 $1 $18) 28. Rb4 Qg5+ 29. Kh2 Rf3 30. Rc3 Rxc3 31. Qxc3 Rxa5 32. b6 1-0

[Event "Tata Steel-A 81st"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee"]
[Date "2019.01.20"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2773"]
[BlackElo "2817"]
[Annotator "Anand,V"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2019.01.12"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 188"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2018.12.21"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2018.12.21"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 {One of his favorite openings, so no surprise there.} 2. d4 d5 3. e5
c5 {This, however, is new from him, he has only played 3...Bf5 before.} 4. dxc5
e6 5. Nf3 Bxc5 6. a3 Ne7 7. Bd3 Ng6 8. O-O O-O 9. Nbd2 Nc6 10. b4 Bb6 11. Bxg6
(11. Bb2 Nf4 {transposes to my own game with Black against Vitiugov. I
remembered being quite comfortable in that game.}) (11. Re1 f6 {simpler to play
} (11... Ncxe5 12. Nxe5 Nxe5 13. Rxe5 Bd4 {Now White has several tries:} 14.
Rh5 (14. Nf3 Bxa1 {and now Bxh7+ doesnt work:} 15. c3 $1 (15. Bxh7+ Kxh7 16.
Ng5+ Kg6 $1 17. Qg4 f5) 15... Bxc3 16. Bxh7+ Kxh7 17. Ng5+ Kg6 18. Qd3+ {
The reason for c2-c3.} Kf6 19. Qxc3 Ke7 {and Black escapes, but this is all
inhuman.}) (14. Re3 Bxa1 15. Nb3 Bc3 (15... Bf6 16. Bxh7+ Kxh7 17. Qh5+ Kg8 18.
Rh3 Bh4 19. Rxh4 f6 20. Qh7+ Kf7 21. Rg4 Rg8 22. Bh6 $18 {wins.}) 16. Bxh7+
Kxh7 17. Qh5+ Kg8 18. Rxc3 e5 19. Rg3 Qf6 20. Bh6 g6 21. Bxf8 $11 {is about
equal.}) 14... g6 15. Rb1 gxh5 16. Bxh7+ (16. Qxh5 f5 17. Nf3 {and by clamping
down on e5, White should have enough compensation,} Bf6 18. Bf4 Rf7 19. Ne5 {
for instance} Rg7 {but White isn't better.}) 16... Kxh7 17. Qxh5+ Kg8 18. Nf3
$1 Bxf2+ {The best move, with the obvious stamp of the computer.} (18... Bf6 $2
19. Ng5 Bxg5 20. Bxg5 f6 21. Qg6+ Kh8 22. Rb3 e5 23. Qh5+ Kg8 24. Bh6 {wins,
due to Rg3+.}) 19. Kxf2 e5 {Now Black can go either ...Qf6 or ...Qb6+-g6 and
so defend,.} 20. Bb2 (20. Qxe5 Qb6+ 21. Be3 Qe6) 20... Qc7 (20... Qb6+ 21. Kf1
Qg6 22. Qxe5 f6 23. Qxd5+ Rf7 24. Re1 Bg4 {also works.}) 21. Qg5+ Kh7 22. Qh5+
Kg8 {is a draw.}) (11... Nf4 12. Nb3 {The point of Re1, White's bishop is well
placed on c1.}) 12. Bxg6 hxg6 13. Bb2 Nxe5 (13... fxe5 14. b5 e4 15. bxc6 exf3
16. Nxf3 bxc6 17. Be5 $1 c5 18. Bg3 {and Ne5 is good compensation.}) 14. Bxe5
fxe5 15. Rxe5 Qf6 16. Qe1) 11... fxg6 (11... hxg6 12. c4 (12. Nb3 a5) (12. Rb1
{A good suggestion by the engine.} g5 13. b5 Na5 14. Rb4 $1 {is a clever way
to exploit g5.}) (12. Bb2 g5 13. h3 f5) 12... Nxe5 13. Nxe5 Bd4 14. Nxg6 fxg6
15. Ra2) 12. Nb3 Bd7 {I was relieved to see this.} (12... a5 {Here this
bothered me a bit.} 13. b5 a4 $1 {The point.} 14. bxc6 axb3 15. c7 $1 {The
best way to return the pawn.} (15. cxb7 Bxb7 16. cxb3 d4) 15... Qxc7 16. cxb3
Bd7 17. Re1 $11 {White should be able to blockade on d4, but isn't really
better.}) 13. Re1 a5 $6 (13... Rf5 $1 14. c3 (14. b5 Na5 15. a4 (15. Nxa5 Bxa5
16. Bd2 Rc8 17. Bxa5 (17. a4 Rc4) 17... Qxa5 18. a4 Rf4) 15... Nc4) 14... g5
15. Nbd4 Bxd4 16. Nxd4) 14. b5 Ne7 (14... a4 {doesn't work now...} 15. bxc6
axb3 16. cxd7) 15. a4 {Here I started to like my position, since my pawns on
b5 and a4 restrict the Bd7 and I will be able to occupy d4.} Rc8 16. Be3 Bxe3
17. Rxe3 {My optimism notwithstanding, Black is extremely solid here.} Nf5 ({
Both} 17... g5 18. h3 b6 (18... h6) 19. Rd3 h6 {- it's hard for White to make
progress.}) ({and} 17... Rf4 18. Qd2 (18. Nfd4 {White isn't in time with this.}
Nf5 $1 19. Rd3 Nxd4 20. Nxd4 Re4) 18... Rb4 $1 {are fine for Black.} (18... b6
19. Nfd4)) 18. Rd3 g5 $2 {A natural move, but an error.} (18... Rf7 19. Nfd2 $5
Qc7 20. c4 dxc4 21. Rc3 Qxe5 22. Rxc4) (18... Nh4 $1 19. Nxh4 Qxh4 20. Qd2 b6)
19. h3 {[%cal Gd1d2,Gd2g5,Gd2a5] Threatening a fork with Qd2.} b6 (19... Qc7
20. c4 Qxc4 21. Nxa5 {is a good swap of pawns for White.}) 20. c4 $1 {The
point.} Rxc4 21. Rxd5 Rf7 22. Rd3 g4 23. Nfd2 {Now its over.} Rb4 24. hxg4 Ne7
25. Nf3 (25. Nc4 Ng6 26. Nbd2 {is even stronger.}) 25... Nd5 26. Nbd4 {Shak
blunders immediately, but the position is won anyway.} Rf4 $2 27. Nc2 $1 Rbe4 (
27... Rxa4 28. Rxa4 Rxa4 29. Rxd5 exd5 30. Qxd5+ Kf8 31. e6 $18) 28. Rxd5 exd5
29. Qxd5+ {Followed by Rd1 collecting the Bd7.} 1-0

[Event "Gibraltar Masters 17th"]
[Site "Caleta"]
[Date "2019.01.31"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Vitiugov, Nikita"]
[Black "Vaibhav, Suri"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2720"]
[BlackElo "2590"]
[Annotator "Krasenkow,M"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2019.01.22"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "10"]
[EventCountry "GGB"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 188 Extra"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2019.02.26"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.02.26"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

{[%evp 0,81,19,28,63,77,63,77,83,45,45,9,25,14,7,-1,32,-9,-9,-21,-23,-40,-6,
-22,-22,-21,-14,-17,-22,-15,-2,-13,6,-29,-17,-11,-7,-13,0,-6,-25,-25,-22,-18,
-25,-15,-14,-35,-4,-4,-47,-46,11,0,4,-14,15,-26,-17,-18,25,38,42,47,3,2,97,0,0,
0,24,34,-10,56,232,220,266,220,220,220,382,441,973,1328]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3.
e5 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. Nf3 Bxc5 6. Bd3 Ne7 7. a3 Ng6 8. O-O Nc6 9. b4 Bb6 10. Re1
(10. Bb2 {allows} Nf4 {although White can fight for initiative by means of} 11.
c4) 10... a5 {Black uses a tactical motif to undermine White's queenside pawns.
However, GM Nikita Vitiugov puts this concept under doubt.} (10... f5 $6 11.
Bb2 O-O 12. Nbd2 a5 13. b5 Nce7 14. c4 Bd7 15. Rc1 Rc8 16. a4 $16 {1/2 (44)
Potapov,P (2460)-Popov,I (2632) Khanty-Mansiysk 2013}) (10... f6 11. exf6 $5 (
11. Bxg6+ hxg6 12. Bb2 {0-1 (67) Movsesian,S (2632)-Yevseev,D (2557) Moscow
2006 CBM 112 [Lukacs,P]} fxe5 13. b5 e4 $17) 11... Qxf6 12. Bxg6+ Qxg6 13. Be3
$1 $14) (10... O-O 11. Bb2 {leads to a position usually arising when White
starts with 10.Bb2. White has a slight edge. An example from GM practice:} f6
12. exf6 gxf6 13. c4 Nf4 14. Bf1 e5 15. cxd5 Qxd5 16. Qxd5+ Nxd5 17. Nbd2 Bg4
18. g3 Rad8 19. Bg2 a6 20. Rac1 Nde7 21. Ne4 $14 {1-0 (66) Movsesian,S (2666)
-Paichadze,L (2573) Reykjavik 2015}) 11. Bxg6 (11. b5 $2 Ncxe5 $1 12. Nxe5 Nxe5
13. Rxe5 Bd4 $19 {V.Zviagintsev}) (11. bxa5 Rxa5 12. Nc3 O-O 13. Bb2 Bd7 14.
Rb1 d4 15. Nb5 Ncxe5 16. Nbxd4 Nxd3 17. Qxd3 Qc7 $17 {0-1 (33) Inarkiev,E 
(2683)-Shimanov,A (2599) St Petersburg 2012}) 11... fxg6 (11... hxg6 12. b5 Ne7
13. Bg5 Bd7 {(P.Lukacs)} 14. c4 $1 Rc8 (14... dxc4 15. Qd6 $1 $16) 15. Nbd2 O-O
16. a4 $14) 12. b5 Ne7 13. a4 $1 $146 {[%mdl 8]} (13. Bg5 h6 14. Bxe7 $5 Qxe7
15. Qd3 $6 (15. c4 dxc4 16. Nbd2 O-O 17. Nxc4 Bc5 $13) 15... g5 $1 16. Qg6+ Qf7
17. Qxf7+ Kxf7 18. c4 $1 {1/2 (44) Mitkov,N (2578)-Zvjaginsev,V (2627)
Poikovsky 2001 CBM 084 [Lukacs,P]} Bd7 19. cxd5 g4 20. Nfd2 Bd4 21. Ra2 exd5
$17) (13. Be3 O-O 14. Nbd2 (14. Bxb6 Qxb6 15. a4 Bd7 16. Qd3 g5 $5 17. h3 h5
$132) 14... Bxe3 15. Rxe3 Nf5 (15... Bd7 16. a4 Rc8 17. Rd3 Qb6 18. c4 $1 g5
19. cxd5 Nxd5 20. Ne4 h6 21. Nd6 Rc5 22. g3 $16 {1-0 (37) Belov,V (2608)
-Kharitonov,A (2535) Moscow 2006}) 16. Rd3 b6 $13) 13... O-O 14. Be3 {Not the
best course.} (14. c4 $1 Bc5 (14... dxc4 15. Ba3) 15. Ba3 Bxa3 16. Nxa3 b6 17.
Nd4 $16) 14... Bd7 (14... Bxe3 $5 15. Rxe3 (15. fxe3 b6) 15... b6 {[%cal Ya8a7,
Ya7c7]}) 15. Nbd2 (15. Qd3 $5 Rc8 16. Nbd2 $14 {[%cal Yc2c4]}) 15... Rc8 16.
Ra3 Bxe3 (16... h6 $5 {[%cal Yg6g5]}) 17. Raxe3 g5 18. h3 h6 (18... Rf4 $5) 19.
Rd3 Be8 $1 20. Nd4 Qb6 21. c3 Bg6 22. Rde3 Rc7 $11 {White's knight is nicely
placed on d4 but he can hardly make any progress.} (22... Rxc3 23. Rxc3 Qxd4
$44 {was possible here, too.}) 23. h4 $2 {This attack is hardly justified.}
Rxc3 $6 (23... gxh4 {was simpler:} 24. Qg4 Rfc8 $1 25. Qxh4 (25. Qxe6+ Qxe6 26.
Nxe6 Rxc3 $17) (25. Rc1 Nf5) 25... Nf5 26. Nxf5 Bxf5 27. Qg3 Bc2 $17 {[%cal
Rc2a4]} 28. Ra1 $2 d4) 24. Rxc3 Qxd4 25. Rf3 Nf5 (25... Rc8 $1 26. hxg5 Bh5 27.
gxh6 Bxf3 28. Nxf3 Qxd1 29. Rxd1 gxh6 $15) 26. hxg5 hxg5 (26... Bh5 {was
appropriate here, too:} 27. gxh6 gxh6 28. Qc2 Bxf3 29. Nxf3 $13) 27. Nb3 Qxa4
28. Qd2 g4 29. Qf4 Qxb5 30. Qxg4 Qe8 $2 {A very passive move.} (30... Bf7 {
still led to an unclear position.}) 31. Rh3 b6 (31... a4 32. Nc5 b5 33. Nd7 $1
Qxd7 34. Qxg6 $40) 32. Rc1 Qf7 33. Nd2 $6 (33. Nd4 $1 Nxd4 34. Qxd4 {[%cal
Rd4b6,Rd4h4]} Bf5 35. Rb3 $16) 33... b5 34. Nf3 Nh6 $2 (34... b4 {was quite
possible as White had no real threats:} 35. Ng5 Qd7 $13) 35. Qd4 {[%cal Rd4b6]
Black's queenside pawns get under attack.} Be4 (35... b4 36. Qb6 Ng4 {was
relatively better.}) 36. Qb6 Ng4 $2 (36... Qf5 $142 37. Qxb5 Nf7 $16) 37. Rc7
Qf5 38. Qa7 Qg6 39. Rg3 d4 40. Nh2 Rxf2 41. Nxg4 1-0

[Event "Dortmund 47th"]
[Site "Dortmund"]
[Date "2019.07.16"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Dominguez Perez, Leinier"]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2760"]
[BlackElo "2775"]
[Annotator "Meyer,CD"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2019.07.13"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[SourceTitle "CBM 191"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2019.08.31"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "2019.08.31"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. Bd3 $5 {Eine sehr seltene Fortsetzung
der Caro/Kann-Vorstoßvariante, viel häufiger anzutreffen sind 5.Be3/a3/Nf3/
Qg4.} Bxc5 {Hier gibt es mit 5...Nc6 und 5...Nd7 beachtliche Alternativen.} 6.
Qg4 {Diese Option des Damenausfalls hat sich Weiß mit seinem 5.Zug offen
gelassen.} Ne7 {[#] Die Einladung zu einem wilden Tanz wird von dem nun unter
US-Flagge agierenden kubanischen Spitzenmann abgelehnt.} 7. b4 ({Extrem
zweischneidiges und kompliziertes Spiel ergäbe der doppelte Bauernraub} 7.
Qxg7 Rg8 8. Qxh7 {wegen z.B.} Qb6 9. Nh3 Nbc6 $44 ({bloß nicht} 9... Rxg2 $2 {
wegen} 10. Kf1 Rg8 11. Rg1 Rxg1+ 12. Kxg1)) 7... h5 $146 {Ein verpflichtender
Bauernaufzug, um die feindliche Dame von g7 abzulenken.} ({Die Großmeister
bewegen sich auf unerforschtem Terrain, aus der Praxis lässt sich hierzu nur
noch eine Partie finden:} 7... Bb6 8. Nf3 a5 $6 (8... Ng6) 9. b5 (9. Qxg7 $5)
9... Ng6 10. h4 f5 $6 (10... Qc7 $142 11. Bb2 Qc5) 11. Qg3 O-O 12. h5 Nh8 13.
Bh6 Qe7 14. Bg5 Qb4+ $6 {Der Beginn eines verfehlten Plans, bei dem sich die
schwarze Dame im gegnerischen Lager verirrt.} (14... Qc7 $142) 15. Nbd2 (15.
Bd2 $142) 15... Qg4 $2 (15... Nd7 $142) 16. Qh2 $1 Nd7 $2 (16... Qb4 $142) 17.
Bf4 $1 Nc5 18. Be2 Ne4 19. Rf1 (19. Nd4 $142 $1 $18) 19... Nc3 20. Ng1 Nxe2 21.
Nxe2 g6 22. hxg6 Qxg6 23. a4 (23. Bh6) 23... Bd7 24. Ra3 Qf7 25. Rh1 Rfe8 26.
Rh3 Re7 27. Nf3 Qg7 28. Ng5 {- 1-0, Vitiugov,N (2726) - O'Donnell,C (2360),
Batumi 2018}) 8. Qf4 $1 ({Weiß findet ein geeignetes Feld für seine Dame,
zumal} 8. Qg3 $2 {an der taktischen Finesse} Bd4 $1 9. c3 Qc7 $1 {scheitern
würde.}) 8... Bb6 (8... g5 $4 {würde wegen} 9. Qf6 $1 (9. Qxg5 $143 Bxb4+ 10.
c3 Bc5) 9... Bxb4+ 10. c3 $18 {fehlschlagen.}) 9. Nf3 Nbc6 10. Nbd2 a5 $1 11.
b5 (11. bxa5 Bxa5 12. O-O Nf5 $13) 11... Nb4 12. Ba3 Nxd3+ 13. cxd3 Bd7 14. Qa4
$5 Nf5 15. Rc1 g5 16. h3 Rc8 17. Rxc8 Qxc8 18. Ke2 $1 {Die kritische
Partiestellung, in der der russische Turnierfavorit und Titelverteidiger mit
einem gekünstelten Damenmanöver völlig aus der Spur gerät.} Qb8 $2 ({
In dieser Phase hätte sich Nepomniachtchi, der seine Züge meist relativ
flott aufs Brett zauberte und zudem über einen beträchtlichen
Bedenkzeitvorsprung verfügte, wesentlich intensiver der Stellung widmen
sollen. Ein besserer Kandidatenzug war z.B.} 18... Qd8 $1 {mit der möglichen
Folge} 19. Nb3 Rg8 20. g4 (20. g3 f6) (20. Bc5 Bc7) 20... Nh4 21. Bc5 Bc7 22.
Nxh4 gxh4 $13 {/=}) 19. Nb3 $1 Qa7 ({Allem Anschein nach ist eine
befriedigende Verteidigung nicht mehr in Sicht. Alternativen, z.B.: I} 19...
Rg8 20. g4 Nh4 21. Bd6 Qd8 (21... Qa7 $2 22. Nxh4 gxh4 23. Rc1 Bxf2 (23... hxg4
24. Nc5 Bxc5 25. Rxc5 $18 Qb6 26. hxg4 h3 27. Qf4) 24. Rc8+ $1 Bxc8 25. b6+ Bd7
26. bxa7 $18) 22. Rc1 hxg4 (22... Nxf3 23. Kxf3 $16) 23. hxg4 $16 f6 24. Nc5) (
{II} 19... Bd8 20. Rc1 b6 21. g4 $16) ({III} 19... Nh4 20. Bd6 Qd8 21. Nxh4
gxh4 22. Nc5 Qg5 23. Nxb7 $16) 20. Rc1 $1 g4 ({I Nach} 20... Bxf2 $2 {zündet
wieder der Trick} 21. Rc8+ $1 Bxc8 22. b6+ Bd7 23. bxa7 $18) ({II} 20... Qb8
21. Nc5 h4 22. Kf1 Rg8 23. Rc2 Rg6 24. Nxd7 Kxd7 25. Bc5 $16 {/+-}) 21. hxg4
hxg4 22. Qxg4 Bxf2 {[#] Auf dieses Gegenspiel entlang der Diagonalen a7-g1
hatte Schwarz vergeblich seine Hoffungen gesetzt.} 23. Nc5 $1 $18 {Wonach
guter Rat bereits teuer ist.} Bg3 {[#]} ({Falls} 23... Be3 {, so kann} 24. Rh1
Nh6 25. Qg7 Rg8 26. Rxh6 Rxg7 27. Rh8+ Ke7 28. Nxb7+ Bc5 29. Bxc5+ Qxc5 30.
Nxc5 $18 {folgen. Aber auch nach dem Partiezug findet der schwarze Läufer
kein sicheres Plätzchen.}) 24. Rh1 $1 {Hebt die Verteidigung mit einer
hübschen taktischen Wendung aus den Angeln.} Rf8 (24... Rxh1 25. Qg8+ Ke7 26.
Nxb7+ Qc5 27. Qd8#) 25. Rh5 $1 {- Schwarz gab auf.} ({Nach} 25. Rh5 {könnte z.
B.} Bxb5 26. Rxf5 exf5 27. Qxg3 Qb6 (27... b6 28. Nb3 Rh8 29. Qg7 $18) (27...
f4 28. Qg7 $18 Qb6 29. Qxf8+ Kxf8 30. Nd7+ Ke8 31. Nxb6) 28. Nd4 $18 {folgen.})
1-0

