Arkadij Naiditsch
CHESS EVOLUTION Top analysis by Super GMs
May 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Key to symbols 5 Editorial Preface 7 Contributors 9
A11 B81 C135 D199 E281
Endgames 315 Puzzles 323 World Chess Championship 2012 331 EDITORIAL PREFACE
1 year has passed, a new one begins
With the CE May 2012 edition we are entering into the top games of the year 2012. Th e book includes major tournaments like Wijk ann Zee, Gibraltar, Aerofl ot Open, the European Individual Championship, etc. Besides, we did not want the chess fans to wait until September for the World Chess Champi- onship match games between Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand, so we included the WCC as well!
We have new additions to our team
GM Csaba Balogh — he is my good friend for many years (“Young Balogh Csaba” as I used to call him). You are going to hear more from GM Balogh, as we also started together the new project “Chess Evolution Weekly Newsletter” and who became the master of chess puzzles by writing his fi rst book Greatest 365 puzzles. From practical games of 2012. I hope You will enjoy his 20 puzzles in the current issue.
My second introduction goes to Piotr Pielach. Th is is the new Chess Evolu- tion “pdf hero”. Piotr Pielach, who is now responsible for all Chess Evolution editing, managing his very diffi cult part in a great style and makes the reading of huge trees of lines as easy as it can only be.
Content of CE May 2012
CE May 2012 keeps the usual structure: commented games, endgames, puzzles. But things have also changed, this year we are publishing only 3 editions (May 2012, September 2012, January 2013). 6 books a Year with about 350 pages of chess material is just too much.
We also keep the general principle of trying to bring You the best chess mate- rial, real life practical examples, and to create an easy readable, user friendly book. Sometimes this is a diffi cult task due to the very wide trees of lines, but one thing is sure, with Chess Evolution You stay ahead of current chess theory. Complementary products
Now there is also of “soft er” chess material from the Chess Evolution series. Th ere is the already mentioned “Chess Evolution Weekly Newsletter” in pdf and pgn formats, in July the GM Sakaev book “Complete Slav I” is coming to the market. At the same time GM Balogh and I made our fi rst DVD “Dirty Chess-classical time control” that shows 30 tricks that should be known dur- ing a practical game. Usually the saying goes “Th e fi rst pancake is always get- ting burned”, but we hope that ours will be tasty J.
In the middle of August we are planning our second DVD “Dirty Chess-rapid and blitz” which is going to be a lot of fun as well.
As usual I hope that our readers will fi nd a lot of new information from the CE May 2012 issue, and few easy wins according to the ideas inside the book!
Arkadij Naiditsch CONTRIBUTORS
Etienne Bacrot: France, 28 years old, GM 2714, number 29 in the world. Became GM at the age of 14, a record at the time. Six times French Champion starting from 1999. Winner of many international events including: 2005: 1st place in Poikovsky, 3rd in Dortmund and 3rd of the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk. 2009: 1st in Aerofl ot Open, second in Montreal and Antwerp. 2010: First equal in Gibraltar, 3rd in Nanjing and winner of Geneva Open. 2011: First equal in Basel, Geneva (rapid) and Rabat (blitz).
Csaba Balogh: Hungary, 25 years old, GM 2672. Grandmaster since 2004. Won the U-16 section of the 2003 European Youth Chess Championship. Member of the Hungarian national team since 2005. Best tournament result: winner of the Fischer memorial Super- tournament in 2008, Héviz.
Kamil Miton: Poland, 27 years old, GM 2622. World Junior U-12 Champion in 1996. Number 2 at the World Junior Champion (U-20).
Twice the winner (2002 and 2005) of one of the world’s biggest tournaments, the World Open in Philadelphia, USA.
Arkadij Naiditsch: Germany, 26 years old, GM 2712, number 31 in the world. Became Interna- tional Master at the age of 13, Grandmaster at 15. Winner of 2005 Super-tournament in Dortmund and since 2006 the top-rated German player. In 2007 was German Champion and won the Baku Open. In 2010 Arkadij won a match against Efi - menko in Mukachevo and was 1st equal in the European Rapid Championship in Warsaw. Borki Predojevic: Bosnia and Herzegovina, 24 years old, GM 2642. Gained the GM title at the Calvia Olympiad in 2004 when he was 17. Best Elo was 2654 in September 2009. Joined the top 100 in 2007; highest place so far was 68th on the October 2007 list. Winner of several international open tournaments in- cluding: Open Metalis in Bizovac, Croatia in 2006, Za- greb Open, Croatia in 2007, Hit Open in Nova Gorica, Slovenia in 2008, Acropolis Open in Greece 2009. in 2008, Acropolis Open in Greece 2009.
David Baramidze: Germany, 23 years old, GM 2607. Georgian and German Champion. 3 silver-medals at European and Worldchampionships in junior classes. Qualifi cation to the World-Cup 2007,kicked out Nigel Short in the fi rst round. Member of German National team in the Olympiad in Dres- den 2008. — A —
GAME 1 Malakhov — Movsesian [A09] 12 GAME 2 Nakamura — Navara [A22] 20 GAME 3 Nakamura — Topalov [A23] 29 GAME 4 Potkin — Nepomniachtchi [A30] 37 GAME 5 Korobov — Caruana [A58] 43 GAME 6 Navara — Ivanchuk [A70] 54 GAME 7 Aronian — Nakamura [A88] 61 GAME 8 Karjakin — Nakamura [A97] 72 — B —
GAME 1 Karjakin — Topalov [B23] 82 GAME 2 Topalov — Caruana [B42] 90 GAME 3 Smeets — Smirin [B42] 96 GAME 4 Sutovsky — Olszewski [B43] 102 GAME 5 Gashimov — Radjabov [B45] 109 GAME 6 Motylev — Potkin [B60] 116 GAME 7 Najer — Vachier-Lagrave [B90] 122 GAME 8 Giri — Gashimov [B94] 128 — C —
GAME 1 Kurnosov — Andreikin [C11] 136 GAME 2 Alekseev — Gupta [C19] 142 GAME 3 Adams — Mamedyarov [C41] 148 GAME 4 Vachier Lagrave — Giri [C42] 154 GAME 5 Sjugirov — Bacrot [C65] 160 GAME 6 Aronian — Kramnik [C65] 168 GAME 7 Karjakin — Aronian [C84] 175 GAME 8 Gashimov — Kamsky [C88] 186 GAME 9 Negi — Sasikiran [C95] 191 — D —
GAME 1 Le Quang Liem — Felgaer [D10] 200 GAME 2 Anand — Eljanov [D16] 208 GAME 3 Jobava — Hua Ni [D17] 216 GAME 4 Moiseenko — Rublevsky [D27] 222 GAME 5 Rapport — Gustafsson [D35] 229 GAME 6 Riazantsev — Macieja [D37] 237 GAME 7 Giri — Aronian [D37] 249 GAME 8 Aronian — Shirov [D45] 255 GAME 9 Miton — Mastrovasilis [D45] 262 GAME 10 Aronian — Kamsky [D99] 270 — E —
GAME 1 Ivanchuk — Van Wely [E04] 282 GAME 2 Dreev — Lupulescu [E32] 288 GAME 3 Le Quang Liem — Iordachescu [E39] 296 GAME 4 Caruana — Karjakin [E46] 301 GAME 5 Khenkin — Sebenik [E84] 309 ENDGAMES
GAME 1 Najer — Bacrot [C67] 316 GAME 2 Bacrot — Bellia [C92] 318 GAME 3 Bacrot — Rapport [D46] 320 WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2012
GAME 1 Anand — Gelfand [D85] 332 GAME 2 Gelfand — Anand [D85] 338 GAME 3 Anand — Gelfand [D70] 343 GAME 4 Gelfand — Anand [D45] 351 GAME 5 Anand — Gelfand [B33] 357 GAME 6 Gelfand — Anand [D45] 362 GAME 7 Gelfand — Anand [D45] 368 GAME 8 Anand — Gelfand [A40] 375 GAME 9 Gelfand — Anand [E54] 379 GAME 10 Anand — Gelfand [B30] 385 GAME 11 Gelfand — Anand [E54] 390 GAME 12 Anand — Gelfand [B30] 395 332 MAY, 2012
GAME 1
▷ V. Anand (2791) ▶ B. Gelfand (2727) WCC 2012, Moscow 11.05.2012, [D85] [Chess Evolution Team]
1.d4 As it was expected Anand starts the match with 1.d4 — just as he did in the previous two WCC matches against Kramnik and Topalov — no 8.b5+!? reason to change the winning move! We can see this move much more rarely, but still of course almost thou- 1...f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 d5 sand games in the database. Anand What a surprise! Gelfand goes for decides to avoid the mainlines in the the Gruenfeld, an opening, what fi rst game, to check how Gelfand is he never tried in his life before! For prepared against the less known ideas. a while probably Anand thought, that Gelfand is going to play Kings- 8...c6 Indian, in which Vishy lost his last 8...d7 and 8...d7 are alternatives, game against Nakamura from almost but theory considers the textmove to a winning position. be the best way to equality.
4.f3 g7 5.cxd5 xd5 6.e4 xc3 9.d5! 7.bxc3 c5 But this is almost a novelty, played we are in one of the basic positions, quickly by Anand. He wants to pre- where White can choose between tend, like Gelfand’s opening choice many setups. 8.b1 or 8.e3 is con- has not surprised him at all. Black sidered to be the main move. has two options to solve the problem of the pin. 9.0–0 is the standard 9...cxd4 10.cxd4 0–0 11.e3 g4 12.xc6 bxc6 leads to really drawish lines.
9...a5 9...a6!? is the other main move in this position, and it is not easy to see a clear plan for White of getting any- CHESS EVOLUTION 333 thinghere 10.e2!? the only chance (on 10.a4 b5 11.dxc6 bxa4 and only Black can be better.) 10...xc3+ 11.d2 xa1 12.xa1 d4 13.xd4 cxd4 14.xd4 so far everythi ng was more or less forced. It looks like White is just an exchange down, but in fact probably White can develope some initiative 14...0–0
10...a6 Strong move! Gelfand already spent some time, but probably only on re- calling his analysis.
10...xc3+ 11.d2 (11.e2?! looks 15.0–0 (15.h6 greedyness leads to spectacular, but it is a bad move 11... nowhere 15...a5+! 16.f1 f6! 17.xf8 a6 12.a4 b5 13.dxc6 e6! a great xf8 18.b2 d7! White’s rook is move by Black! Using the unfor- out of the game, while Black’s one is tunate situation of the White King coming dangerously to c8. Black is and Queen 14.b3 c4 15.c2 d8! better.) 15...f6 16.c4! b5 17.b3 g7 followed by xa2 with a winning 18.e5 with a very complicated posi- position for Black) 11...a6 12.xc6+ tion. Could it be Anand’s idea on 9... a6 ?! I guess we will never know. a) 12.e2 d4 13.xd4 cxd4 9...xc3+?? is not an alternative 14.xc3 dxc3 15.0–0 0–0 16.c2 10. d2 xa1 11.xa1 with dou- b5 (16...e6) 17. fc1 d7 18.xc3 bleattack. xc3 19.xc3 fc8=;
10. b1! b) 12.a4 xd2+ 13.xd2 b5 A good move! Protects the bishop 14.dxc6 bxa4 15.0–0 e6 16.c1 and leaves from the xc3 threat. 0–0 17.f3 a7 18.h6 f6;
12...bxc6 13.dxc6 and it seems, White can hope for an advantage. (13.0–0 xd2 14.xd2 cxd5 15.b3 b4 16.xd5 b7 17.e5 f6 18.xc5 xe4 19.f3 d5) 13...e6 14.c1 334 MAY, 2012
(14.c1 xd2+ 15.xd2 b4 16.0– Th is move is looking extremely dan- 0 xd2 17.xd2 0–0–0=; 14.xc3 gerous, but probably the only way to xc3+ 15.d2 c4 16.e3 0–0– stay in the game. Black wastes some 0 17.c7 d3 18.f4 d6 19.d2 tempi on collecting a pawn with the c3 20.0–0 xd2 21.b8+ xc7 hope, that White will be unable to use 22.xd2 xd2 23.xh8 xa2; the unsafe position of his king. 14.0–0 xd2 15.xd2 d8 16.b3 c7 17.c2 xb3 18.xb3 xc6=) 12...0–0 13.dxc6 is clearly better for 14...xd2+ 15.xd2 xa2 (15...a4 White 13...g4 16.0–0 0–0 17.e5 xe4 18.fe1 d4 19.h6) 16.xa2 xa2 17.c1 a) 13...e6 14.f4 xa2 (14... d8 18.xc5 c7 xc3 15.c7 c4 16.a4 xf1 17.xf1 b4 18.e5 xc7 19.xg6 d8 11.xc6+ 20.xf8 xd1+ 21.xd1 xf8 11.a4 is not working 11...xc3+ 22.e2) 15. a1 xc3 16.d2 12.d2 xd2+! and White can not fc8 17.c2 xa1 18.xa1 b5 take with the usual xd2, because 19. xa2 xc6 20.c4; the bishop on a4 is hanging 13.xd2 b5 14.dxc6 bxa4 and only Black can b) 13...c7 14.d5 a5 15.xc5 a6 be better. 15.0–0 e6 16.d4;
11...bxc6 12.0–0! 14.g5 (14.b7 ac8 15.g5 xc6 White king escaped from the dan- 16.xe7 fc8 17.d6 xa2 18.e5) gerzone, while the Black one is still 14...c7 15.d5 fc8 16.fc1 xf3 in the center. 17.gxf3 e6 18.xc5 xc6 19.xc6 xc6
13. b2 13. g5 cxd5 (13...h6 14.dxc6 hxg5
12...xa2! 15.b8+-) 14.a1 c4 (14...b2 15.xd5 b7 16.xc5 0–0 17.xe7 CHESS EVOLUTION 335
e8 18.d6 g4 19.e5 ac8 20.a5 e2 21.fe1 b5) 15. a4 xc3
(15...b5 16.exd5 0–0 (16...xc3 17.d6 0–0 18.xe7 e8 19.g5; 16...f6 17.c4 b6 18.e3 0–0 19.d2 d7 20.a5) 17. xe7 e8 18.d6)
16.xd5 b8 (16...a7 17.c4 a5 18.e5 xe5 19.xe5 0–0 20.xc5 d8 21.h6 f6 22.a1 e8 23.e5) 17. xe7 xe7 18.d1 d4 19.xd4 cxd4 20.e5+ e6 21.xa6 a8 14...a7! 22. xe6+ fxe6 23.g7+ d6 Th is cold-blooded move probably 24. xd4+ c6 25.d6+ xd6 solves all problems! 26.xc3 14...d8? looks logical, but it is bad 15. f4! White keeps the Black king 13...a5! in the center and organizes a very Not an easy move to make! dangerous attack! 15...xc3 16.b1! exd6 (16...0–0 17.dxe7 xe7 18.d6) On the obvious 13...c4 14.d6! e6 17. xd6
(14...a7 15. g5! f6 (15...exd6 15. g5 16.xd6 d7 17.xc6 and Black Th is was the fi rst moment, when does not have 17...c7 like in the Anand sank into a longer thought. game. 17...0–0 18.b8+-) 16. e3 But the move he made lead to easy d7 17.d2 xc3 18.c2 d3 equality... 19.dxe7 is really unpleasant.) Th e last try to play for advantage 15. d2! would give White a very could have been 15.f4! but aft er dangerous initiative 15...0–0? loses 15...d7! to (15...a7 16.a3!) 16.d7! (15...0–0 is a mistake, because of 14.d6 16.e5! Attacking the c6 pawn Only this way, White can try to forces Black to give up his „Gruen- squeeze out something from the feld bishop” (16.dxe7 xe7 17.d6 opening, but Gelfand reacts precisely! d7) 16...xe5 14.dxc6 0–0 would lead to an equal position. (16...exd6 17.xc6 xc3 18.b3 14.g5 a7 15.dxc6 0–0 (18.c2 f6 19.xd6 d7 20.e5 336 MAY, 2012
e6 21. xc5 b7) 18...f6 15...exd6 16.xd6 d7 19.xa7 xf4 20.xc8 xc8 White can not stop Black from cas- 21.d5 e5 22.g3 f6 23.g2) tling anymore, which means Black is fi ne! 17. xe5 e8 18.d2! Lacking of the g7 bishop gives good attacking 17.xc6 chances for White 18...exd6 19.f6! 17.b8 0–0 18.e5 b7 19.xb7 White controls the long diagonal.) xb7 20.d6 c4 21.f6 xf6 22.xf6 xc3 (22...d8 23.xd8 16. d2 (16.b8 0–0 17.dxe7 xe7 xd8 24.b1 c5 25.f3 c8=) 23.h4 18.d6 d7 19.e5 dd8 20.xf8 d4 24.h5 d8 xd1 21.xd1 a4 22.e1 xf8 23.xc8; 16.e5 xd6 17.c2 0–0 17...c7! 18.c4 xc3 19.xd6 exd6 20.xc3 Th is important defensive move was xc3 21.c2 b4 22.xd6 e6) the point of the 13...a5 retreat! 16...exd6 17.xd6 (17.xd6 d8! 18.xd7 xd7 19.d6 18.xc7 xc7 and we reached an endgame aft er only 18 moves. It is clear, that White got no real chances here. Blacks bish- op pair always guarantee him enough counterplay.
19. f4 b7 20.c2 White goes to passivity... 20.a2 was preferable, which leads to complete equality 20...0–0 21. xa6 f6! followed by e7 and 0–0 xc3= seems to hold, but anyway, this was what White should have tried.) 17... xc3 18.c2 (18.d3 c4! 19.e3 a1 20.e2 b2 21.xc4 xd6 22.xc3 0–0 23.e5 e6 24.h4 xc3 25.exd6 f6 26.e1 c4) 18...f6 (18...d8 19.e5 f5 20.e2) 19.e5 e7 fol- lowed by 0–0. 20.c1 0–0 21.xe7 (21.d2 xd6 22.c4 d8 23.xd6 f6=) 21...xe7 22.xc5 b4 23.c4 (23.xc6 b7=) 23...b7 24.h6 f6; 15. b8 just helps Black 15...0–0 CHESS EVOLUTION 337
20...0–0! 20...e7?! In endgames, generally it is good to keep the king in the cent- er, but here it moves into the conrete 21.g5+! f6 22.e3 and White is maybe slightly better.
21.d6 e8 Due to the strong bishop pair and the dangerous passed a-pawn, it is al- 24.fc1!? Very difficult move to ready White who has to be careful to fi nd, but the best chance! (24.xc5 secure the draw! c8 25.e3 xc3 26.fc1 bc7; 24.a1 b5! 25.xc5 d3 26.cc1 22.d2 f5 b2) 24...b5 25.xc5 d3 26. a2 22...d7!? would have been an in- c8 27.e3 xc3 28.exf5 gxf5 29.g3! teresting alternative 23.fc1 (23.xc5 to prevent the f4 threat. White should c8 24.e3 xc3 25.xc3 xc3) hold the draw. 23...a5 (23...c8 24.e5 White should Aft er 23...e6 a forced line is com- be able to hold.) 24.xc5 a4 Probably ing with 24.xc5 c6 25.e3 xc3 Gelfand would have played like this, 26.xc3 xc3 27.c1 c7 28.exf5 if he had to win at any cost. xf5 29.f2 with a minimal plus for Black, but of course, it should be 23.f3 draw. 23.xc5 maybe this would have been a bit more exact 23...c7 24.b4 24.xe4 f5 fxe4 25.e1 f5 26.a2 e6 27.a3 Gelfand went for simplifi cation and h5 28.f1! with an equal position. agreed to draw. 1/2 23...fxe4 It is a kind of draw off er. However 23...d7! could have cause some unpleasent moment for the World Champion right in the fi rst game.