White players have to deal with a mountain of oft-changing theory. The last major second move to deal with is 2 Nc6. I'd like to consider a line that has been much explored on the grandmaster level in the last few years. The Sveshnikov Sicilian is popular on many levels due to the dynamic play it offers the second player. To sidestep this diabolical defense, White can employ the tricky move order 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3


Black can head for a Dragon or Classical Sicilian with 3...g6 or 3...d6. The plan would be to tackle those lines with 3.d4. But if he wants to play a Sveshnikov today, the task is more complicated. In the last installment I mentioned the back-door path of 3...e6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bf4 e5 8.Bg5 a6 etc. 3...e6 represents a direct transposition into the position we considered last time. 4.Bb5 is the "shortcut" move, but many masters fear (after 3...e6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6) 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.e5 Nd5 8.Ne4. It will take a bit of studying if you want to play that line.

Black could prefer a move order with e7-e5 in one go. To avoid this line, but still reach a Svesh, Black needs to play 3...Nf6. The problem with 3...Nf6 is 4.Bb5, leading to another Rossolimo that has a traditionally poor reputation for Black.


White is ready to annoy the Knight with 5.e5. The natural counter 4...d6 (which I've faced twice) is not recommended; after 5.e5 dxe5 6.Nxe5, Black will be forced to accept doubled isolated pawns. The most ambitious move, 4...Nd4, begs the continuation 5.e5 Nxb5 6.Nxb5 Nd5 7.Ng5!


Primitive to be sure, but Black is undeveloped and can't get pieces out with normal moves. For instance, 7...e6? 8.Ne4 means one side will not castle today. The obvious 7...h6? invites White to strike with 8.Nxf7! Kxf7 9.Qf3+ Nf6 10.exf6 and Black's position does not inspire confidence. Sure, Black can try to hold the piece with 9...Ke6


but I doubt the Sicilian Fried Liver will engender as much debate as it's kin from the Two Knight Defense! 10.c4 Nb6 (or 10...Nb4 11.a3 Nc2+ 12.Kd1 Nxa1 13.Qd5+ Kf5 14.Qf7+ Kg4 and White has a variety of mates, the most "Fritz-like" is 15.h4 and 16.Qf3 mate) 11.d4 d5 12.dxc5 and White delivers a deadly check on d4.

If White knows the line better, Black is in deep trouble. If Black knows what he is doing, he can play this position -- but it's only for the brave. The most common move for Black would be prohibited by most teachers throughout the U.S. -- 7...f6. Here we have a bit of a divide. Some sources recommend 8.exf6, which does quiet down the position. But I'm not convinced 8...Nxf6 9.Qe2 e6 10.d4 Qb6 offers White any advantage. Next up is 8.Qf3. The evaluation of this move depends largely on the forcing variation 8...Nc7 9.exf6 exf6 10.Qe4+ Ne6 (10...Be7?? 11.Nd6+ Kf8 12.Ngf7, 1-0) 11.Nxh7


The game Popescu-Babici Bucharest, 1995 saw 11...Qe7 12.Nxf8 d5 13.Ng6 dxe4 14.Nxe7 Kxe7 15.d3 Bd7 16.Nc3 exd3 17.cxd3 Bc6 18.0 0 Rad8 and Black had enough compensation to draw comfortably. But White missed 13.Nc7+! Kxf8 14.Nxd5 Qd6 and now White can give back one pawn to consolidate, e.g. 15.d3 Rxh2 16.g3 Rxh1+ 17.Qxh1 Nd4 18.Qh8+ Kf7 19.Qh5+ Kg8 20.Bf4 Qe6+ 21.Kd2 (Fritz didn't help too much with that variation!).

More recently Black has tried 11...d5 12.Qg6+ Kd7 13.Nxf8+ Qxf8 14.d3 (14.d4 Kc6 15.c4 dxc4 16.a4 [Benares-Madeira Comunic Masters 2004] is too optimistic -- 16...Nxd4 17.Qe4+ Kb6 18.Nxd4 cxd4 19.Qxd4+ Qc5 20.Qc3 Qa5, =) 14...Kc6 15.c4 a6 16.Nc3 dxc4 17.dxc4 Nd4 18.Qe4+ Kb6 19.Be3 Bf5 20.Nd5+ Ka7 21.Qf4 Re8 22.Kd2 Bg6 (Mitkov-Stokstad Bergen 2001) and now instead of 23.Rac1 Re5 24.f3 Qd6 25.Rc3 Rhe8 with good compensation for Black, White could have profitably simplified with 23.Qc7 Re6 24.Nf4 Rc6 25.Nxg6 Rxc7 26.Nxf8.

The cutting edge on this line is Van der Wiel Speelman, Hoogeveen 2005. Black entered even greater complications with 8...Nb4!? 9.exf6 exf6 10.Qh5+(N) 10 g6 11.Qe2+ Qe7 12.Nd6+ Kd8 13.Ngf7+ Kc7 14.Qxe7 Bxe7 15.Nxh8 Bxd6

15...Nxc2+ is stronger according to van der Wiel. He analyzes a complex line: 16.Kd1 Nxa1 17.Nb5+ Kc6 18.Re1 Bf8 19.Re8 Kxb5 20.Rxf8 d5 21.f3 Nc2 22.Nf7 Kc6 23.Nd8+ Kc7 24.d3 Nb4 25.Bf4+ Kd7 26.Kd2 Nxd3 27.Kxd3 Ke7 28.Rh8 Bf5+ 29.Kd2 Rxd8 30.Rxh7+ Ke6 31.Rxb7, =. This line is hardly forced from move 26 on -- Black could try 26...g5 27.Bg3 Nxd3 28.Kxd3 Ke7, for instance. But I found something an improvement along the way


24.Nxb7! Kxb7 25.Rf7+ Kc6 26.Rxf6+ Kb5 (perhaps 26...Kb7 is stronger) 27.Kxc2 Bf5+ 28.d3 c4 29.Be3 Re8 (29...cxd3+? 30.Kb3! with a winning mating net!) 30.Bxa7 Re2+ 31.Kc3 cxd3 32.Rd6, ± (Fritz). After 32...Rxg2 33.Kb3! and the mating net is back.

16.Kd1 b5 17.Nf7 Bb7 18.f3 Bf8 19.d3 g5?!

White is only slightly better after 19...Bd5 20.Nh6 f5 21.Re1 Be6 (Van der Wiel)

20.a3 Na6 21.c4 (±, van der Wiel) 21...bxc4 22.dxc4 Re8 23.Bd2 d5 24.Ba5+ Kd7 25.Re1 dxc4 26.Rxe8 Kxe8 27.Nd8 Ba8 28.Kc2 Be7 29.Ne6 Kf7 30.Re1 Bd5 31.Nd8+ Ke8 32.Rd1 Ba8 33.Ne6 Bc6 34.Re1 Bd5 35.Ng7+ Kf7 36.Nf5 Bf8 37.Kc3 Nb8 38.Bc7 Nc6 39.Bd6 Ne5 40.Bxf8 Kxf8 41.Rd1, 1-0.

Fancy stepping from the White knight!

Exciting stuff, but 8.Qh5+! looks even stronger: 8...g6 9.Qf3


a) 9...Nc7? loses to 10.exf6 exf6 11.Nxc7+ Qxc7 12.Qxf6.
b) 9...Nb4 10.exf6 exf6 11.Qe2+ transposes to the van der Wiel game, but Fritz's suggestion 11.c3!? looks quite strong for Black.
c) 9...fxg5 10.Qxd5 looks forced but Black's position isn't easy to play.

I have to conclude 7...f5 is a better try but Black's position still looks suspect. Black is clearly treading lightly in the above games, so it isn't surprising that 4...Qc7 has displaced 4...Nd4 as the most popular move.

Anand-Leko [B30]
Linares, 2003
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Qc7 5.0-0 Nd4 6.Nxd4

I think this is the most promising move, but 6.Re1 has been played so often it's useful to examine those possibilities: 6...a6 7.Bf1 (7.Bc4 d6 8.Nd5 Nxd5 9.exd5 g6 10.Nxd4 cxd4 11.d3 h6 12.b4!? Bg7 13.Qe2 Bf6 14.Qf3 Kf8 with equality, Kasparov-Leko Linares 2003 -- a few days after the Anand game) and now Black has two good moves: 7...Ng4 8.g3 (8.h3?? Nxf3+ 9.Qxf3 Qh2 mate) 8...Nxf3+ 9.Qxf3 Ne5 10.Qd1 e6 11.f4 Nc6 with a solid position, or 7...e5 8.Bc4 d6 9.Ng5 h6! 10.Nxf7 Rh7 is weird, and it got weirder in Dominguez-Radjabov, FIDE WC Tripoli 2004 after 11.Nd5 Nxd5 12.c3


White won, but it looks pretty bad after 12...Nb6. Fritz will fill you in on all the details.

Notwithstanding the Dominguez game, 7.Bf1 is less ambitious than 7.e5, which got a brief workout a few years ago. Now 7...Nxb5 8.exf6


8...gxf6 is awfully dangerous, but 8...Nxc3 9.fxg7 Bxg7 10.dxc3 d6 seems to equalize. Black had an easy time in Anand-Kramnik, Linares 2003 (two rounds before the Leko game) 11.Ng5 Bf5 12.a4 Qc6 13.Qe2 Bf6 14.Ne4 Bxe4 15.Qxe4 Qxe4 16.Rxe4 d5, 1/2-1/2.
Adams tried to improve two years later against Anand (!), but 11.Qd3 h6 12.Bf4 e5 13.Bg3 Be6 14.Nh4 c4 15.Qf3 Qd7 16.h3 0-0-0 favored Black.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

6...cxd4 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5 Qc5


Pawn grabbing leads to immense complications. White has an edge after 8...g6 9.Re1 a6 10.Ba4 b5 11.Bb3 d6 12.d3 h6 13.Qe2 Bg7 14.Bd2 Bf6 15.c4. Worse yet is 9...a6 9.Ba4 g6 10.d3 b5 11.Bb3 Bg7?? 12.d6! with a crushing position, Benjamin-Nakamura, NY Masters Blitz Playoff, 2004. I only cite this game because who knows if I'll get to beat that guy again?

9.c4 dxc3

Probably 9...a6 offers better chances. White can sacrifice a pawn or several. Check out Motylev-Parligras, Warsaw 2005: 10.b4 Qxb4 11.Ba4 b5 12.Bc2 bxc4 13.Rb1 Qd6 14.d3


The little fellers just get in the way.

It might not work against a computer, but Black has a lot of development to make up. 14...cxd3 15.Qxd3 Qxd5 16.Bd1 Qc6 17.Qxd4 e6 18.Bf4 Qc5 19.Qe4 Qa7 20.Be3 d5 21.Ba4+ Bd7 22.Qf4, 1-0.

10.Qb3 a6 11.Be2 c2 12.d4 Qd6


Leko is desperately trying to buy time to develop.

13.Bf3 g6 14.Bd2 Qf6 15.d6!?

More fuel for the fire!

15...Qxd6 16.Rfe1 a5 17.Qxc2 Bg7 18.Bxa5 0-0 19.Bc3

Anand has evened up the pawn count but Black's pieces still lag behind.

19...Re8 20.Qb3 Qc7 21.a4 d6 22.a5 Rb8 23.Rec1 Bf5 24.Bd2 Qd7 25.Be3 e5 26.dxe5 dxe5 27.Bd5 Be6 28.Bxe6 Qxe6 29.Qxe6 Rxe6 30.b4 e4 31.Ra2

Leko managed to get all his pieces out, but now Anand converts a traditional queenside majority advantage.

31...Be5 32.g3 Kf8 33.Rc4 f5 34.Rd2 Ke8 35.Rd5 Rd8 36.Rb5 Rd7 37.Rcc5 Bf6 38.Rc8+ Kf7 39.Kg2 Re8 40.Rc4 Be5 41.h4 Bf6 42.Rbc5 Bd8 43.Rc8 Re5 44.Rxd8 Rxd8 45.Rc7+ Ke6 46.Rxb7 Red5 47.Rxh7 Rb5 48.Bc5 Rd2 49.Kf1 Ra2 50.Rc7 f4 51.Re7+ Kf6 52.Rxe4 fxg3 53.fxg3 g5 54.h5 Kf5 55.Re2 Ra3 56.Kg2 Kg4 57.h6 Rxg3+ 58.Kf2 Rh3 59.Re6 Rb7 60.Ke2 Kf5 61.a6 Rh2+ 62.Ke3 Rd7 63.Rd6 Rxd6 64.Bxd6 Rxh6 65.a7 Rh3+ 66.Kd4 Ra3 67.Bc5 g4 68.Kd5 g3 69.Kc6 g2 70.Kb7 Ke6 71.Bg1 Kd5 72.b5, 1-0.

Next time I'll examine 3...e5, including the last game Garry Kasparov ever (?) played.