By Karel van der Weide

In his "How Life Imitates Chess," Gary Kasparov argues that leading players change their repertoire before opponents get the opportunity to reveal the deficiencies of it. This is contradictory to common plattitudes like "Never change a winning team" or "Never change a winning strategy." I think it shows true greatness to deviate from paths that brought one success. Therefore, on my level, I have decided to follow in Gary's foothsteps. Over the last years, I have done reasonably well in a certain line of the Svesnikov:

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5 11.Bd3 Be6 12.0-0 Bxd5 13.exd5 Ne7 14.Re1!?

A modest rook move, but not without venom. White intends to create a hideout for his light-squared bishop in case Black hits it with e4. This bishop supports the "standard procedure" a2-a4, demolishing the black queenside. Furthermore the bishop can be put on h3 in order to target the black f5-pawn. Until now, 14.Re1 gave me a 100% score (4/4), but, as time goes by, I learned Black has several ways to equality. So I better count my blessings, sell the analyses (as I did to New In Chess, where you can see a detailed version in Yearbook 82) and bail out! Let me bring you up to date:

14...Bg7

This looks forced, although some games started with 14...e4 15.Bf1 Bg7 16.c3 0-0. Here 17.Qh5 transposes to the main line, but White can do without the Queen sortie and start with the logical 17.Nc2.

15.c3 0-0

Kramnik-Leko, Monaco blind 2004, went 15...Qc8 16.Nc2 0-0 17.a4 e4 18.Bf1 bxa4 19.Ne3 with an edge for White.
15...e4?! on the other hand was clearly better for White after 16.Bf1 b4 17.cxb4 Bxb2 18.Rb1 Bxa3 19.Qa4+, Van der Weide-Bensan, Cappelle la Grande 2006.

16.Qh5

Of course, White would like to continue his queenside play with 16.Nc2/17.a4. Unfortunately, Black has the cunning 16...f4! and the three rolling pawns guarantee him dangerous counterplay. Only after 16.Qh5, Black will put the bishop in its cage:

16...e4 17.Bf1 Re8

Now Black threatens to play ...Nxd5 with ...Re5 as a follow-up.

18.Rad1

It is optional to play a sharp position like 18.Nc2 Nxd5 19.Qxf5 Re5 20.Qg4 f5 21.Qd1, etc.

After 18.Rad1 Black can choose between three different ideas:

A. Sacking the pawn on f5 (18...Ng6). Initially, Black was doing fine, but now it seems that White can neutralize the black initiative: 18...Ng6 19.Qxf5 Re5 20.Qh3 Nf4 21.Qg3 Qf6 (21...Nxd5 22.f4 exf3 e.p. 23.Rxe5 dxe5 24.Qxf3 Qb6+ 25.Kh1 Nc7 26.Rd7 taking over.) 22.c4 b4 (22...Kh8 23.cxb5 Rg8 24.Kh1 axb5 25.Nxb5 Qh6 26.Nxd6 Qxd6 27.Qxf4 +-, Mieles Palau-Echevarria, Buenos Aires 2005) 23.Nc2 a5 24.b3 and White is a pawn up.

B. Going for the pawn on d5 (18...Rc8) In my defence, I made a decent effort to see this idea off, beating among others Svesnikov expert Georgy Timoshenko: 18...Rc8 19.Re3 Rc5 20.c4 bxc4 21.Rh3 h6 22.Nxc4

Here, Black is at an important crossroad:

B.1. Timoshenko opted for 22...f4, which allows White to get a nice advantage after 23.b4 Rb5 (otherwise I will bring my Knight in with Na5/Nc6.) 24.Rb3 Ng6 (24...Qb8 25.a3 a5 26.Nxd6!) 25.Qf5!

B.2. 22...Rxd5 isn't the appropriate move either: 23.Rxd5 Nxd5 24.Qxf5 Ne7 (24...Nc7 25.Qf4 Re6 26.Ne3 Qg5 27.Qxg5 hxg5 28.Rg3 Re5 29.Nc4 wins a pawn.) 25.Qf4 d5 26.Ne5 f5 (The alternatives grant White a huge advantage: 26...Nf5 27.Nxf7 Qf6 28.Rh5 Qxf7 29.Rxf5 Qe6 30.b3 Rf8 31.Rxf8 or 26...Bxe5 27.Qxe5 Ng6 28.Qd4! Qd6 29.Rxh6.) 27.Rxh6 Qb8 (Accepting the Exchange with 27...Nc8 28.Nc6 Bxh6 29.Qxh6 Qd7 30.Qg6+ Kh8 31.Nd4 gives White the initiative.) 28.Re6 Bxe5 29.Rxe5 Qd6? 30.Rxe4 curtains! Van der Weide-White, Liverpool 2006.

B.3. 22...Nxd5! (For the moment the solution for Blacks problems.) 23.Qxf5 e3! Several ideas for White were analysed here, all insufficient to achieve an advantage. If I will ever have a go again at this position, I may try 24.Bd3 Nf6 (24...e2? 25.Re1) 25.Qf4 exf2+ 26.Kxf2!? (The “normal” 26.Qxf2 Qc7 is unclear.) 26...d5 27.Nd6 Qb6 28.Kf1. Who knows?

C. Playing the typical Svesnikov move 18...Qc8. Recent experience showed me this is acceptable for Black as well. Play continues

19.Nc2 Ng6 20.g3

In my opinion the only reasonable attempt. 20.Nd4, 20.Nb4 and 20.Qh3 were tried as well. In case you are interested, check my article in New In Chess Yearbook 82. Now Black has to make an important decision.

C.1. 20...Re5 allows white to pin the f-pawn: 21.Bh3 Ne7 22.Ne3 Qd7 23.Kh1 Re8 24.Rf1 h6 25.Rd2 followed by 26.f4 and the f5-pawn will perish. Therefore, the Queen has to make her escape, but that will lose almost by force: 21…Qc4 22.Ne3 Qxa2 23.Qe2 f4 24.Ra1 Qb3 25.Ra3 Qxa3 26.bxa3 fxe3 27.Qxe3 Ne7. A first glance might give the impression Black has sufficient compensation, however: 28.Qb6 Nxd5 29.Qc6 Rae8 30.Rd1 e3 31.f4 e2 32.Re1 Re3 33.Qxd5 Bxc3 34.Qg5+ Kh8 35.Bf5!! Bg7 (35...Bxe1 36.Qh6 Bf2+ 37.Kg2 +-) 36.Qh5 Kg8 37.Qxh7+ Kf8 38.Bg4 d5 39.Qh5, 1-0, Horvath-Vukic, Izmir 2004.

C.2. 20...f4! Gaining space for the black pieces. 21.Nd4 Re5! Stronger then Rogozenko's analysis which goes 21...Bxd4 22.Rxd4 Re5 23.Qh3 Qxh3 24.Bxh3 Rh5. I think that White can improve here by provoking f3: 25.Bg2 f3 26.Bf1 and the rolling pawns have been neutralized, with a decisive breaktrough at the other wing in progress (a2-a4). 25…f5 26.f3! on the other hand gives White a nice ending, for exemple 26...fxg3 27.hxg3 exf3 28.Bxf3 Rg5 29.Kf2 Ne5 30.Be2 etc. The white Bishop is stronger on two wings and the white Rook on d4 firmly controls the fourth rank. In case of 30...Ng4+ White can even advance his King to f4.

But after 21...Re5 it is not so easy.

The attack against the white King is much more dangerous with an extra piece on the board. Besides, there is no white Rook on d4 to support the a4-break. My game with Stefan Kuipers (Hilversum 2007) continued 22.Qh3 Qxh3 23.Bxh3 Rh5 24.Bg2 f3 (It was clear to me the guy would not transpose by including Bxd4.) 25.Bf1 f5! (Willingly surrendering the e6-square for my Knight, but he is just playing "around" it.) 26.Ne6 (What else?) 26...Be5! (26…Ne5 27.Nxg7 Kxg7 28.Rd4 would have given me the chance to play an aforementioned idea with a few tempi less.) 27.Rd2 (That’s the situation; I can only wait for a mistake, which comes right away.) 27...Kf7?! (This allows me to open the position) 28.a4 bxa4 29.Ra1 Rg8 (29...f4 now fails to 30.g4! Rh4 31.Ng5 check!, thanks to 27...Kf7. After 31.Ng5+ we get 31...Ke7 32.Nxe4 Rxg4+ 33.Kh1 Rg8 34.Bh3 Rh4 35.Be6 and I prefer White.) 30.Rxa4 and with a6 "nominated" White can at least play for a win, although the black attack should be respected.

To be honest, I feel a bit sad, abandoning this nice approach to the Svesnikov. Especially, because for the moment an alternative isn't at hand.