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By Manuel Gerardo Monasterio
I
will continue my last article (Click HERE for Part One) from the position that arises after 1.d4
d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4 dxc4 8.Bxc4 e5
9.g5 Nd5 (ECO CODE D45)
A POPULAR POSITION
Here White, besides 10.Bd2 (which was covered in PART ONE), also has
another possible move, 10.Ne4, which lately has had some high level
tests.
After 10.Ne4 Black must play 10...Bb4+ 11.Bd2
This position is generally assessed by theory as at least slightly
better for White, which may indeed be the fact, but in practice Black
can hold his own.
Now Black has two moves, the natural 11...Bxd2+ and the less common 11...Qe7.
My main choice is 11...Bxd2+ 12.Qxd2
Statistically -- something which one must use carefully -- Black has performed 50% from this position.
12...Qe7
Yugoslavian GM Ivan Ivanisevic has played 12...N7b6 once, in 2004
against the lower rated FM Podkriznik, which ended in a draw, but
I lack confidence in that move. Just for the record I give the
full score: 12...N7b6 13.Bb3?! (trusting too much in his GM
opponent, I am still wondering about how Black continues against the
natural 13.Nxe5, although I may be wrong) 13...exd4 14.Nxd4 Qe7 15.Ng3
Bh3 16.0-0-0 Qxg5 17.f4 Qh6 18.Ndf5 Bxf5 19.Nxf5 Qf6 20.e4 0-0-0 21.Qg2
Nxf4 22.Qxg7 Qxg7 23.Nxg7 Nd3+ 24.Kb1 Ne5 25.Nf5 Nbc4 26.Kc1 Kc7
27.Rxd8 Rxd8 28.Rg1 f6 29.h4 Nd6 30.Nxd6 Kxd6 31.h5 h6 32.Rg7 Rd7
33.Rg8 Nd3+ 34.Kc2 Ke5 35.Rh8 b5 36.Rxh6 a5 37.Rh8 Nb4+ 38.Kc1 a4
39.Re8+ Kd4 40.Bg8 Rg7 41.Rd8+ Ke3 42.a3 Rg1+ 43.Rd1 Nd3+ 44.Kc2 Rg2+
45.Kc3 Nxb2 46.Rd8 Nd1+ 47.Kb4 Nf2 48.h6 Rh2 49.h7 Nxe4 50.Rf8 Rh6
51.Ka5 Kf4 52.Bd5 cxd5 53.h8Q Rxh8 54.Rxh8 d4 55.Kxb5 d3 56.Rd8 d2
57.Kxa4 d1Q+ 58.Rxd1 Nc3+ 59.Kb4 Nxd1 60.a4 Ke5 61.Kc5 Nc3 62.a5 Nd5
63.a6 Nc7 64.a7 f5 65.Kc6 Na8 66.Kb7 Kd6 67.Kxa8 Kc7, 1/2-1/2,
Podkriznik (2360) - Ivanisevic (2540), Ljubjana SLO 2004.
THE JUMP POINT FOR MANY GAMES
In this position (after 12...Qe7) White has tried no less than five (!) moves: 13.a3; 13.dxe5; 13.Rg1; 13.O-O-O and 13.Bb3.
1.a.) 13.a3 is a rather pointless move tried by Aleksandrov against
Nakamura, although by the quality of the game I think it must have been
a blitz affair:
13.a3 N7b6 14.Ba2 Bh3 15.Rg1 exd4 16.Qxd4 0-0-0 17.Ng3 f5 18.gxf6 Nxf6
19.Qb4 Qd7 20.Ne5 Qc7 21.Nf7 Nbd5 22.Qh4 Bg4 23.Nxd8 Qa5+ 24.b4 Qxa3
25.Kf1 Qd3+ 26.Kg2 Nxe3+ 27.fxe3 Qc2+ 28.Kf1 Qd3+ 29.Kg2, 1/2-1/2,
Aleksandrov (2668) - Nakamura (2580), Fide Wch Ko Tripoli 2004. And
yes, as you may have noticed, White was completely lost at some point.
1.b.) 13.dxe5 is also without punch, as the IQP position that may arise
is OK for Black. The position may be assessed as rather balanced after 13...Nxe5 14.Nxe5 Qxe5 15.Bxd5 cxd5 16.Nc3 and now Black can play for an
outright draw as in Wagner (2357) - Fressinet (2636), France 2004
via 16...Qxg5 17.Qxd5 Qxd5 18.Nxd5 0-0 19.Ne7+ Kh8 20.Nxc8 Raxc8 21.Rd1
g6 22.Ke2 Kg7 23.Rd4 Rc2+ 24.Rd2 Rfc8 25.Rhd1 Kf6 26.Kf3 R8c6 27.b3 a5
28.Rxc2 Rxc2 29.Rd6+ Ke7, 1/2-1/2. Or he can try a more lengthy
approach which proved successful in Johannesson (2315) - Gormally
(2472), Gibraltar Masters 2005, 16...Be6 17.f4 Qf5 18.0-0-0 Rc8 19.Qd3
Qxd3 20.Rxd3 h6 21.Rg1 hxg5 22.Rxg5 g6 23.Rg2 Ke7 24.Kd1 Rh5 25.Ke1 Kf8
26.Ne2 d4 27.Rxd4 Bxa2 28.Nc3 Be6 29.e4 Ke7 30.Kf2 Rh4 31.e5 Rc5 32.Ke3
Rh3+ 33.Kd2 b5 34.Rd3 b4 35.Ne2 Rxd3+ 36.Kxd3 Bf5+ 37.Kd4 Rc2 38.b3 a5,
0-1. Even if I do not believe that White is obliged to lose in the
positions arising after 16...Be6, it is obvious that Black has no
problems at all.
1.c.) 13.Rg1 Now, this one is quite a different sort of animal, as it
is a move that fits with White's strategic aims. Black must be careful. 13...N7b6 14.Bb3 (14.Nxe5?! f6! [not of course 14...Nxc4 15.Nxc4 Qxe4??
16.Nd6+ and game over] 15.gxf6 gxf6 16.Bxd5 [16.Qe2 fxe5 17.Qh5+ Kd8
and White is in deep trouble] 16 cxd5 17.Nf6+ Qxf6 18.Qe2 with a better
game for Black) 14...exd4 15.Qxd4 Bf5 (even the seemingly risky 15...O-O
may be viable, and if Black can play that, then White must have little
in this position. For example 16.Nf6+ [16.O-O-O Be6 with counterplay]
16...Kh8 17.Nxd5 Nxd5 18.Bxd5 cxd5 19.Qxd5 Rd8 and I like Black) 16.Ng3
Be6! (16...Bg6? is inferior after 17.h4 as in Hellsten-Filippov, Gistrup
1996, 1-0 in 45) 17.Qxg7 O-O-O 18.O-O-O Bg4 19.Qe5 Rhe8 20.Qxe7 Rxe7
21.Nd4 Bxd1 22.Rxd1 and here White has compensation for the Exchange
because of Black's weak pawns at h7 and f7, but nothing more. The
concrete variations given are from Almasi at Chess Informant 84.
1.d.) 13.O-O-O this is the most usual try 13...N7b6 14.Bb3
(14.Nxe5?! seems insufficient 14...f6 15.gxf6 gxf6 16.Nxf6+?! [16.Qe2!?
may be better, but even so, Black is OK after 16...O-O!] 16 Nxf6 17.Bf7+
Kd8 and the position, although somewhat murky around here seems fine
for Black. In Johansson-Madl, Women Ol. 1998, the Hungarian Master won
after 18.Bb3 [18.Rhg1 seems better although Black still looks OK]
18...Be6, 0-1 in 33. Instead 14.Be2 is possible, and may be better, and
safer, than 14.Bb3] 14...exd4 15.Qxd4 Rg8 16.Ng3 [16.Nc5 Bh3! unclear]
16...Be6 17.e4 Nf4 18.Rhe1 with idea of Nf3 is unclear according to
Stripunsky and Bronznik) 14...Bg4 15.Nxe5?! Bxd1 16.Qxd1 O-O-O was
already better for Black Marin (2530) - Stripunsky (2510), Bucharest
1994. Here's the finish: 17.Qg4+ Kb8 18.h4 Ka8 19.Nc5 f6 20.Ned3 Rhe8
21.Rh3 Nd7 22.Rg3 Nxc5 23.Nxc5 g6 24.gxf6 Nxf6 25.Qg5 b6 26.Ne6 Rd6
27.Rf3 Ne4 28.Qxe7 Rxe7 29.Nf4 Rf6 30.Bc2 Kb7 31.Kd1 a5 32.Ke2 Nd6
33.Bd3 Nf5 34.Bxf5 Rxf5 35.Kd3 Ref7 36.b3 c5 37.dxc5 Rxc5 38.e4 h6, 0-1.
Instead of Marin's 15.Nxe5?!, 15.Qe2 seems better. Even so Black is Ok
as this game shows: 15...0-0-0! 16.dxe5 Bxf3 17.Qxf3 Qxe5 18.Rd4 f5
19.gxf6 Nxf6 20.Rxd8+ Rxd8 21.Nxf6 gxf6 22.Qh3+ f5 23.Qxh7 Nc4 24.Bxc4
Qe4 25.Rg1 Qxc4+ 26.Kb1 Qd3+ 27.Kc1 Qd2+ 28.Kb1 Qd3+, 1/2-1/2, L
Aronian (2684) - Gormally (2472), Gibraltar Masters 2005.
1.e.) 13.Bb3!? This seems the most testing, but lately the strongest
specialist in the Semi-Slav showed the way 13...0-0 14.0-0-0 exd4!
15.Qxd4 Re8! 16.Ng3 Qc5+ 17.Kb1 Qxd4 18.Nxd4 N7b6 19.h4 Bg4 20.Rc1 a5
21.a3 a4 22.Ba2 Rad8 23.h5 Kf8 24.Rh4 Bc8 25.Ka1 Ne7 26.Nf3 Ned5 27.Ne4
h6 28.gxh6 gxh6 29.Nc5 Rd6 30.Nd4 Nf6 31.Nd3 Re4 32.Rhh1 Re8 33.Rh4 Re4
34.Rhh1 Re8 35.Rh2 Nbd7 36.Rh4 Re4 37.Rhh1 Re8 38.Rh4 Re4, 1/2-1/2,
Sasikiran (2652) - Dreev (2698), Spain 2005.
After 10.Ne4 Bb4+ 11.Bd2 Black also has 11...Qe7, that (along with
11...Bxd2+, which we've just explored) seems quite tenable for Black:
12.O-O-O O-O (12...exd4 is somewhat more difficult to play as White has
13.exd4! [13.Nxd4 was less successful: 13...N7b6 14.Bd3 Bd7 15.Ng3 g6
16.Kb1 Bxd2 17.Qxd2 Qxg5 18.Rc1 Qe7 19.a3 0-0-0 20.Ne4 Nc7 21.Qa5 Kb8
22.Nc5 Ne6 23.Ncxe6 Bxe6 24.Rc5 Rd5 25.Rhc1 Rhd8 26.b4 Rxd4 27.exd4
Rxd4 28.Bc2 Nc4 29.Qa4 Nd2+ 30.Kb2 Qf6, 0-1, Kjeldsen Jonny Hector,
Aarhus Aarhus (1), 1993, although not so much because of the opening
but because Hector is a rather tricky customer] 13...N7b6 14.Bxd5 Bxd2+
15.Rxd2 cxd5 16.Nc5 0-0 17.Re2 Qd8 18.Rg1 Nc4 19.Ne5 Nd6 20.Qb3 Nf5
21.Nf3 b6 22.Nd3 Ba6 23.Rc2 Bc4 24.Qa3 Qb8 25.Rg4 Re8 26.Nde5 Bf1 27.h4
Bh3 28.Rf4 f6 29.gxf6 gxf6 30.Nd3 Re4 31.Rxe4 dxe4 32.Qb3+ Kg7 33.Nde5
fxe5 34.Ng5 Bg4 35.Qf7+, 1-0, Zhukova (2360) - Edzgveradze (2320), Wch
U20 Girls Halle 1995, which could not be consider the last word
in terms of Black's handling of the position, but shows that Black has
more problems than in the main variation with 12...O-O) 13.dxe5 Nxe5
14.Nxe5 Qxe5 15.Bxd5 Bxd2+ 16.Qxd2 cxd5 17.Qxd5 Qxd5 18.Rxd5 Be6, =.
It's rather obvious that Black is completely Ok in this position.
And now we can go on with the last part of this article.
As I wrote in PART ONE, there is another possibility instead of 8.....e5, which is 8...Nd5!?
HEY, BLACK'S KNIGHT WASN'T ATTACKED!
The purpose of this apparently strange move is to play b6 without fear
of e4 from White. Whether this is really necessary is hard to say, but
the move seems to be fully playable.
Now 9.Ne4 is the usual response. Also quite legal is 9.Bd2 when the
normal move has always been 9...b6, but in Nakamura-Beliavsky,
Minneapolis 2005, the strong Russian GM came up with the novelty 9...b5
10.Be2 Bb7 11.Ne4 Be7 12.Nc5 Nxc5 13.dxc5 Qc7 14.a4 0-0 15.h4 a5 16.Rc1
bxa4 17.Bd3 h6 18.Qxa4 Ba6 19.Bxa6 Rxa6 20.b4 Qa7 21.bxa5 Bd8 22.0-0
Bxa5 23.Bxa5 Rxa5 24.Qxc6 Ra6 25.Qb5 Rb8 26.Qe2 Ra2 27.Rc2 Nc3 28.Qd3
Rxc2 29.Qxc2 Qxc5 30.Rc1 Rc8 31.Kg2 Qc4 32.Nd4 e5 33.Nf5 Qxg4+ 34.Kh2
Kh8 35.Rg1 Qh5 36.Rxg7 e4, 0-1. This game appears in Informant 94 with
notes from Beliavsky.
After the usual 9...b6 10.e4 (anyway) the natural 10...Nxc3 has been
mandatory, as in the already classic Gelfand-Lautier encounter, Dos
Hermanas 1994, which may found in all databases, but lately Ramesh came
up with a novelty that smells like some kind of Fritz-made recipe,
10...Nb4! 11.Qb3 0-0 12.a3 Na6 13.e5 Be7 14.Bd3 Nac5 15.Bxh7+ Kxh7
16.Qc2+ Kg8 17.dxc5 Nxc5 18.0-0-0 Nd3+ 19.Kb1 c5 20.Bg5 c4 21.Ne4 Bb7
22.Bxe7 Qxe7 23.Nfg5 Bxe4 24.Nxe4 Nxe5 25.g5 Rfd8 26.Rhg1 Rxd1+ 27.Qxd1
Qd8 28.Nd6 Nd3 29.Qf3 Ne5 30.Qe4 Ng6 31.h4 Rb8 32.Nxc4 Qd5 33.Qxd5 exd5
34.h5 dxc4 35.hxg6 fxg6 36.Rd1 Rf8 37.Rd7 Rf7 38.Rd2 b5 39.Kc2 Rf3
40.Rd8+ Kh7 41.Rd7 Rxf2+ 42.Kc3 Rf3+ 43.Kc2 a5 44.Rd5 Rf5 45.Rd4 Rxg5
46.a4 bxa4 47.Rxc4 Rd5 48.Rh4+ Kg8 49.Rxa4 g5 50.b4 axb4 51.Rxb4 Kh7
52.Kc3 Kg6 53.Rb1 g4, 0-1, Sandeep,Y (2223) - Ramesh,R (2491) 1st ONGC
Cup Hyderabad IND 2006. Until White comes up with a big improvement, as
far as I am concerned 10 Nb4! is the new main line.
Now let us go to 8...Nd5!? 9.Ne4 again 9...Be7 10.Bd2
HOW FAR SHOULD BLACK PUSH HIS b-PAWN?
10...b5!?
The usual move is 10...b6 11.O-O-O (11.Ng3!? Nb4!? [an interesting new
possibility in this particular variation] 12.Qb3 a5 13.a3 a4 14.Qc3 Nd5
15.Qc2 Bb7 16.e4 b5 17.Be2 N5b6 18.Nh5 0-0 19.h4 c5 20.dxc5 Nxc5 21.Ng5
f6 22.f3 fxg5 23.Bc3 Nc4 24.Bxg7 Ne3 25.Qc3 Ng2+ 26.Kf1 Nxe4 27.Qe5
Qb6, 0-1, Baigorri Navarro,J-Uberos Fernandez,A/Spain email 2002)
11...Bb7 12.Kb1 (Not so good is 12.Ne5 a5 13.Kb1 f6 14.Nxd7 Qxd7 15.h4
0-0-0 16.a3 Kb8 17.Rhg1 Rhe8 18.Ka2 Bf8 19.h5 h6 20.Rc1 e5 21.dxe5 Rxe5
22.f3 Ree8 23.Bxd5 cxd5 24.Ng3 Rc8 25.Qf5 Qa4 26.Qf4+ Qxf4 27.exf4 Bc5
28.Rge1 Bf2 29.Rxe8 Rxe8 30.Nf5, 0-1, B Lalic - O Korneev, 14th
Monarch Assurance,2005) 12 Rc8 (interesting although less thematic was
12...Qc7!? 13.Rhg1 a5 14.Rc1 c5 15.dxc5 bxc5 16.Bb5 0-0 17.Bxd7 Qxd7
18.Nxc5 Bxc5 19.Qxc5 Nf6 20.g5 Bxf3 21.gxf6 Be4+ 22.Ka1 Qxd2 23.Rxg7+
Kh8 24.b3 a4 25.bxa4 Rfb8, 0-1, Degerman (2490) - Stefansson (2530),
Reykjavik zt 1995) 13.Ne5 0-0 14.h4 c5 15.Nxd7 Qxd7 16.dxc5 Qc6 17.Ng5
g6 18.Nxh7 Rfd8 19.Ng5 Qxc5 20.b3 Nb4 21.Bxb4 Qxb4 22.Nxf7 Rxd1+
23.Rxd1 Kxf7 24.h5 gxh5 25.Qh7+ Kf8 26.Qh6+ Ke8 27.Qxh5+ Kf8 28.Qh6+
Ke8 29.Qxe6 Rxc4 30.Qg8+ Bf8 31.Qg6+ Ke7 32.Qh7+ Kf6 33.g5+ Kxg5
34.Qxb7 Rc5 35.f4+ Kf6 36.e4 Be7 37.Rh1 Qc3 38.e5+ Ke6 39.f5+ Kxf5
40.Qd7+ Ke4 41.Qxe7 Qc2+ 42.Ka1 Qc3+ 43.Kb1 Qc2+ 44.Ka1, 1/2-1/2,
Krasenkow,Michal - Buturin,Vladimir Pardubice op 1994.
11.Bd3 Bb7 12.g5 Nb4 13.Bxb4 Bxb4+ 14.Ke2 Be7 15.Nc5 Nxc5 16.dxc5 Bxg5
17.Bxh7 Be7 18.Rhd1 Qa5 19.Ne5 b4 20.Rac1 Qxc5 21.Qxc5 Bxc5 22.Rxc5
Rxh7 23.Rd4 a5 24.Kf3 Rh5 25.Kg4 g6 26.f4 f6 27.Nd7 Ke7 28.Rxh5 gxh5+
29.Kh4 Rg8 30.Nc5 Bc8 31.Nb3 e5 32.fxe5 fxe5 33.Rc4 Kd6 34.Nxa5 c5
35.Rc2 Kd5 36.h3 Bf5 37.Rf2 Bd3 38.b3 Ke4 39.Nb7 Kxe3 40.Rf7 Rc8
41.Kxh5 e4 42.Re7 Kf4 43.Rf7+ Kg3 44.Re7 Kf3 45.Rd7 Bb1 46.Rf7+ Ke3
47.Nd6 Rh8+ 48.Kg4 Bxa2 49.Rc7 Bxb3 50.Rxc5 Bd1+ 51.Kg5? Rh5+, 0-1,
Mozetic (2550) - Kosic (2525), Belgrade 1994.
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