A. Raetsky,M. Chetverik NO PASSION FOR CHESS FASHION Fierce Openings For Your New Repertoire © 2011 A. Raetsky, M. Chetverik English Translation© 2011 Mongoose Press All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any fo rm by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without written permissionfr om the Publisher. Publisher: Mongoose Press 1005 Boylston Street, Suite 324 Newton Highlands, MA 02461 [email protected] www.MongoosePress.com ISBN 978-1 -936277-26-1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2011925050 Distributed to the trade by National Book Network [email protected], 800-462-6420 For all other sales inquiries please contact the publisher. Translated by: Sarah Hurst Layout: Andrey Elkov Editor Sean Marsh Cover Design: Kaloyan N achev Printed in China First English edition 0987654321 CONTENTS From the authors ....... ......................................................................................... 4 1. A. Raetsky. THE KING'S GAMBIT .... ........................................................... 5 The variation 2 ...ef 3.ll:lf3d6 4.d4 g5 5.h4 g4 6.lllg1 f5 2. A. Raetsky. PETROV'S DEFENSE ............................................................... 15 The variation 3.d4 lllxe4 4.de �c5 3. M. Chetverik. THE RUY LOPEZ .................................................................. 24 The Alapin Defense 3 .. J[b4 4. A. Raetsky. THE SCANDINAVIAN DEFENSE ............................................. 44 The variation 2 ...lll f6 3.d4ll:lxd5 4.c4 Ci:lb4 5. M. Chetverik. ALEKHINE'S DEFENSE ...................................................... 57 The Cambridge Gambit 2.e5 Ci:ld5 3.d4 d6 4.c4ll:lb6 5.f4 g5 6. A. Raetsky. THE FRENCH DEFENSE ......................................................... 65 The variation 3.e5 c5 4.'i¥g4 7. M. Chetverik. THE St. GEORGE DEFENSE ............................................... 82 l.e4 a6 8. A. Raetsky. THE SICILIAN DEFENSE ....................................................... 130 The Cobra system 2.Ci:lf3 lllc6 3.d4 cd 4.li"xd4 lllf6 5.ll:lc3 e6 6.ll:ldb5 �c5 9. M. Chetverik. THE ALBIN COUNTERGAMBIT ........................................ 149 l.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 10. A. Raetsky THE CHIGORIN DEFENSE ................................................... 195 The variation l.d4 d5 2.lllf3c6 lll 3.g3 �g4 4 . .tg2'i¥d7 11. A. Raetsky. THE ENGLISH OPENING ....................................................221 The variation l.c4 e5 2.lllc3 �b4 3.llld5 �a5 3 From the Authors The theory ofthe most fashionable openings is now being updated to cover the first 30 moves, and even the first 40. The main purchasers of opening monographs are candidate masters and club players. Not many of them are looking to fill their heads with fa r too much information. So, understandably, they want to deviate from the main lines as soon as possible and prefer to choose half-forgotten variations. Con­ trary to the opinion of officialthe ory, these variations are sometimes no worse than the "sophisticated" ones. Not even the objective shortcomings of such rarities should frighten you away from trying them in practice - as besides the classical time control there's also Rapidplay and Blitz. Eleven opening systems are presented in this work. The authors play White more strictly than Black, and with the ten plans fo r Black there's just one fo r White (the French with �g4 in chapter 6). Seven chapters were created by Alexander Raetsky and four by Maxim Chetverik. We have frequently used games and analyses that haven't been published before. The authors are sticking with fo rms of exposition that are identical to those in our previous Russian-language works The Catalan and Th e Queen 's Gambit Accepted - games with notes and illustrative individual lines in the systems. If the duels don't go over the limit of 30 moves they're included in fu ll, othetwise they're "cut" at the point when the course of the battle no longer has any relation to the opening. Without disregarding the computer's prescriptions, we've tried not to go overboard with specific variations and have given preference to explanations. Explaining the configuration of forces and the plans fo r both players is like hiring a navigator in the unfamiliar waters of rare systems. Hopefully the reader, armed with the unusual openings we suggest, will enjoy set­ ting fashions rather than merely fo llowing them. Chapter 1 The King's Gambit The variation l.e4 e5 2.f4 ef 3.l2Jf3 d6 4.d4 g5 5.h4 g4 6.l2Jglf5 The glorious King's Gambit was consigned to history in the mid- l91h century. It may have seemed that the romantic opening was destined fo r oblivion, but fo rtunately the future Wo rld Champion, Boris Spassky, started using it regularly and success­ fu lly in the 1960s. Indeed, over the course of his career Spassky never lost a serious game with the King's Gambit and his victims included Bronstein, Fischer, Portisch, Karpov and Seirawan. David Bronstein himself was also a fan of 2 f4; he played it episodically over a period of 50 years. In more recent times, the King's Gambit has been occasionally adopted by Nigel Short, Alexei Fedorov and all three of the Polgar sisters. Theory books are rarely convinced about White's chances and it is still comparatively rare, but playing l...e5 nevertheless requires the second player to be prepared in the event of a "surprise". Meeting fire with fire, our recommendation is to remember that there are two f­ pawns which are permitted to move in the early stages of a game of chess. l.e4 eS in the American Chess Quarterly, Vo l. 1 2.f4 ef (1961), No. 1. The right move is 3 ...d6!" 3.R:'lf3 Although his analyses have been fo rgot­ In the very first Spassky - Fischer ten and the American never had a chance duel (Mar del Plata, 1960) 3 ...g5 4.h4 to test them in practice, 3 ...d6 began to g4 5.R'le5 LLlf6 6.d4 d6 7.LLld3 LLlxe4 be called the Fischer Defense. 8.�xf4 was encountered, with repeated 3... d6 confirmation in practice of the com­ 4.d4 gS pensation fo r the pawn. Fischer wrote S.h4 g4 in My 60 Memorable Games: "This loss 6.LLlgl spurred me to look fo r a "refutation"of In the Rapid game Morozevich the King's Gambit, which I published - Kasparov (Paris, 1995) White rejected Chapter I this main continuation in favor of the miere (we were outdone by Metz and theoretically unsound 6.<i'lg5?! After 6 ... Held, Vienna, 1980). But it was pub­ h6 (6 ...f6 !?) 7.<i'lxf7 cJJxfl 8"1bf4 Jig7 lished in Chess Info rmant and served as a 9.iic4+ cJJe8 10.0-0 <i'lc6 1l.SLe3'fi'xh4 stimulus for practical testing. Previously 12.MJ7 :cih7 there's no real compensa­ my choice of defense against the King's tion for the piece. What specific reply to Gambit had been chaotic, but after the 6.<i'lglthe 131h Wo rld Champion planned Tallinn duel I exclusively championed in the defense named afterthe 11th Wo rld my own idea 6 ...f5 . Champion remained a mystery. Play branches out: 7.ef (game 1), 7.'fi'e2 (game 2), 7.CfJc3 (games 3- 5). 7.SLxf4 <i'lf6 8.<i'lc3 overlaps with 7.<i'lc3. The continuation 7.Jid3 fe 8.Jixe4 doesn't deserve attention, as the bishop occupies the central square that was intended fo r the knight. After 8 ...<i'lf 6 9.'fi'e2 (9.SLd3 'fi'e7+ 10.'fi'e2 <i'lc6 1l.c3 <i'lh5) 9 ...<i'lxe4 IO.'fi'xe4+ 'fi'e7 ll.'fi'xe7+iix e7 12.iixf4 SLf5 the bishop pair determines Black's advan­ tage. 1. K. ZUSE - T. MIKHALCHAK The tabiya of the Fischer Defense. Here 6 ...iie 7, 6 ...f3, 6 ...<i'lf 6, 6 ...'fi'f6 Germany, 1997 and 6 ...iih6 have been played (from the l.e4 e5 least- to the most-used). Black is great­ 2.f4 ef ly hindered by his opponent's powerful 3.<i'lt3 d6 pawn center, and sometimes the weak 4.d4 g5 t7 pawn makes itself felt. In the game 5.h4 g4 Shevchenko - Raetsky (Tallin, 1992) 6.<i'lgl f5 the paradoxical idea of turning a neces­ 7.ef sity into an advantage dawned on Black right at the board - ramming the enemy center with the potential target. 6... f5 !? Manipulating pawns alone seems ridiculous, but then again White has no developed pieces! Black brings the ob­ ject of the attack out of his home front, tying a knot of tension in the vicinity of the demarcation line. According to the database the game Shevchenko - Raetsky wasn't the pre- 6 The King's Gambit The exchange only makes it easier fo r ll.�d2! Black to mobilize his army and doesn't Forces an exchange of queens by inflict any inconveniences on him. aggravating the fact that the g-pawn is 7... 'il'e7+ undefended. ll.l:tcl �f5 12.d5 tt'lf6 In the event of7 ...�x f5 8.J,xf41/i' e7 + 13.l:tdl c5 14.tt'lb5 �d7 is weaker, and (unlike 8 ...1/i'e7+ 9.Ci'le2 f3) White can the pawn advantage on the queenside is cover with his knight without worrying gradually making itself felt. about losing a piece. Then again, 9.tt'le2 11... 'il'xe2+ tt'lc6 10.tt'lbc3 tt'lb4 ll.l:tcl tt'lf6 12.a3 12.tt'lgxe2 J,g6 tt'lbd5 13.tt'lxd5 tt'lxd5 14.�g5 tt'lf6 is 13.l:tel �d7 more likely to benefit Black. t4.hs .fin 8.'i¥e2 15.tt'lg3 tt'la6 After 8 . .1ie2 iixf5 9 . .1ixf4 'il'e4 He should have continued 15... 10.'ii'd2 tt'lc6 ll.tt'lc3 it goes without �c7 and l6..