EDITORIAL

Analysis tool Lets Check

Working with engines is nowadays part of the

basic knowledge required for a chess player. But
how can one really squeeze out the maximum
for ones preparation for and post mortem of
a game? One of the tools is Lets Check, now
almost 4 years old and still slightly under-estimated by many. Here is how it works. Users all
over the world analyse positions, the results are
taken into the LiveBook, with deeper analyses
replacing those which were generated rapidly;
only the three best results are shown. This happens automatically and in the background.
During top games which are broadcast on playchess.com, one can have live access to the latest
Lets Check results; I no longer need to look at
my own engine. In the subsequent days most of
the positions are submitted to even longer analyses so that the quality of the analysis continues
to rise. Every user of Fritz 13/14 or any new
ChessBase engine has access to these results. So
they save time and also you are not obliged to
have the most up-to-date computer.
A special titbit is to be found in the game
Navara-Wojtaszek, Biel 2015 (annotated on
the DVD by Igor Stohl, Navaras second).
Navaras king march will go down in the history of chess. The evaluations lay around 0.0,
that means everything ok, a draw is the probable result. But 12 days later the evaluation
of 24...d3 suddenly cropped up as -1.64 in
Lets Check. The user calvinahobbs had set his
engine Deep Fritz 14 to analyse to a search
depth of 33 (see cover). Just two days previously the evaluation had been 0.0, because his
engine had only reached depth 29. A check
on the move, or delving into the variations,
rapidly proved that White is lost.
First and foremost Lets Check is an enormous
store of knowledge with evaluations of positions which have already been played. You can,

for example, look at any WCh game and you

will find for every move analyses going to enormous depths. Even less well known classical
games have been extremely well analysed.
But Lets Check is even more. In the field of
openings too, thousands of analyses of positions which have not yet been played are
stored.
On page 10 you will find the description of the
openings article by Milos Pavlovic. In it the following position crops up.

Pavlovic analyses the move exclusively played

in practice 7.xd4. In Lets Check, however, the
first move is 7.f4. The variation 7...e5 8.xe5
g5 is then defused with 9.e3 e6 10.xf7!.
Lets Check prefers 7...e7 8.xd4 cxd4 9.b5
e5 10.d6+ f8 11.b3! f5 12.xf5 gxf5
13.d2. Whether White really has a slight
plus here still requires to be proved. But for
the important moves a search depth of over
20 is standard, sometimes it is greater than 30.
Moves such as 7.f4 are well suited to being
used as a surprise for one game. In this way you
can check your own repertoire with Lets Check
and systematically search for innovations.
Your Rainer Knaak

ChessBase Magazine #168 | 3

Chessbase Magazine
Contents of the DVD
TOP TOURNAMENTS
Biel: The traditional tournament in Biel came
down to a battle between three players, Navara,
Wojtaszek and Vachier-Lagrave. The Czech began
with 3 out of 4, one of which was his own immortal game with a king march to h8. In the second
flight of games Wojtaszek took the lead at first, but
the best final sprint was that of Vachier-Lagrave.
Both the French and the Polish players have
each annotated a game for us. Other commentary has been provided by Ftacnik, Illingworth,
Krasenkow, Marin, Mokal, Pavlovic, Roiz, Shah,
Stohl, Szabo and Wagner. In addition you can also
find on the DVD ten Games of the day by Daniel King, Rustam Kasimdzhanov and even Maxime
Vachier-Lagrave himself.
Sinquefield-Cup: The second tournament in the
Grand Chess Tour was even stronger. Once again
Magnus Carlsen had a miserable start, with Veselin
Topalov again being the spoilsport. The latters
early lead did not last. Levon Aronian had started
with a magnificent win against Caruana and also
continued to play strongly. Undefeated and with
three victories he won the tournament with a lead
of one point. On the DVD you will find annotations by Illingworth, Krasenkow, Marin, Mokal,
Pavlovic, Roiz, Stohl, Szabo and Wagner. On top of
that all nine daily roundups by Daniel King have
been included in the report on the DVD.
Other tournaments: The Russian Championship was once more super-strong. For the first
time Evgeny Tomashevsky was able to write his
name into the list of winners. The new champion
has annotated for us his game against Bukavshin,
providing extensive notes. During this time period
three high-class matches were taking place. In his
home town of Szeged Peter Leko had to bow to
the Chinese player Li Chao (2:4). On the other
hand, Shahkriyar Mamedyarov lived up to his
role as favourite and defeated Markus Ragger in
Vienna by 3.5:2.5. Previously in Wenzhou Ding
Liren had won against Boris Gelfand by 3:1. Other
players have annotated their games from various events: including Adhiban, Edouard, Gupta,
Postny, Sutovsky, Tiviakov and Wagner.

4 | ChessBase Magazine #168

OPENINGS (seealso booklet, from p. 8)

Karolyi: Reti Opening
Stohl: English 1.c4 e5 2.g3
Pavlovic: English Symmetrical Variation
Marin: Owen Defence
Schipkov: 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Bg4 3.c4 Nd7
Schandorff: Caro-Kann Advance Variation

In Svidler-Jobava, Tbilisi 2015, the Georgian

played the surprise 6...
f6. Lars Schandorff
has investigated the
idea

Krasenkow: Sicilian Rossolimo 3...e6

Berg: French Winawer 4.Ne2
Ris: Scotch 5.Nxc6 bxc6
Illingworth: Ruy Lopez Anti-Berlin 4.d3 d6

Max Illingworth relies

on numerous games by
Aleksej Aleksandrov
(Photo) in his examination of 4...d6

Havasi: Queens Gambit ...Bf5

Postny: Queens Gambit Ragosin
Szabo: Kings Indian Fianchetto
Kuzmin: Kings Indian Classical 9.Qc2

Pavel Eljanov (Photo) has made known

the rare 9.Qc2 in the
Classical Kings Indian.
Alexey Kuzmin explains
the ideas

October/November
Booklet
DVD COLUMNS
Williams: Move by Move
This time Simon Williams has chosen the recent
game Aronian-Caruana (Saint Louis 2015) for
training. In our interactive video format you have
the opportunity to find the correct moves.

Editorial 3
Contents 4-5
Top-tournaments
Biel, Sinquefield Cup

6-7

Rogozenco: The Classic

In the Classic video the German federal trainer
Dorian Rogozenco shows us the unusual game
Paulsen-Morphy, New York 1857.
Marin: Strategy Against the minority attack
In his column Mihail Marin looks into minority
attacks, but does so from the viewpoint of Black.
The article begins with a video in interactive
format. He has also added a section in which the
student is tested with numerous classical training
questions.
Reeh: Tactics Capture but correctly!
Oliver Reehs article contains 27 games studded
with numerous training questions and an introductory text with links to all the games. In addition to that our tactics expert has recorded two of
his favourites as a video in interactive format.
Mller: Endgames Rook against pawn
Karsten Mllers column contains two introductory texts, 26 annotated endgames, many training
questions and five classical videos. In addition the
endgames expert from Hamburg has recorded two
endgames in interactive format.

Clap on the shoulder Rex Sinquefield

congratulates Aronian after his win over Nakamura

Openings
Introduction to the DVD articles

8-21

Impressum 12
Tactics 22
Nine combinations to solve
Nicholas Pert:
ChessBase author introduced

23

Knaak: The Opening Trap

Rainer Knaaks opening trap (including a Fritztrainer video) contains five topical traps.
Openings videos (see also p. 25)
Tiviakov: Queens Indian 4.g3 Bb4+
Mihail Marin: Classical Kings Indian
Ris: Reti Opening 2.g3 g6 3.c4 dxc4

Service

New products with videos of the DVDs by Breutigam, Gormally, Williams.

Complete booklet in PDF format

Nicholas Pert is still a

relatively new ChessBase
author, but has created
for himself a large fanbase with several DVDs

Overview of previous openings articles

Endgames 24
Nine endgame exercises to solve

Overview of previous video openings articles

Openings videos introduced

25

ChessBase Magazine #168 | 5

Top Tournaments
Biel: hat-trick for mvl
Good things come in threes! Maxime VachierLagrave (MVL) obviously feels good at the
Chess Festival in Biel. The French player has
taken part every year since 2009. This year he
was not the Elo favourite at the start, but never-

With three wins in the last three rounds VachierLagrave put the opposition in its place

ations of the Grnfeld Defence with the early

4.f4 followed by 7.c4-c5. His plan of forcing the French player into unusual structures
worked. Wojtaszek shows in the analysis of the
game on the DVD that in the transition to the
middlegame (14...h6) his opponent made
the decisive strategic mistake, So, thanks to
having free play on the queenside, the Polish
player decided the game in his favour and was
the first to lead the field. In the penultimate
round against Navara, MVL bet everything on
a single card with a pawn sacrifice and defeated
the Czech with an impressive attack. Before the
final round MVL and Wojtaszek were in front,
equal on points. The Pole first of all reached a
winning position against Navara, but then lost
the thread a draw and thus the way was open

theless he managed to win the GM tournament

for the third year in succession after 2013 and
2014.
In good Biel tradition the spectators were again
treated to a lot of hotly contested, sometimes
even sensational games (see the editorial) and

tension till the very last round. After six out of

ten rounds MVL, David Navara and Radoslav
Wojtaszek were leading the pack with +1 each
and struggled for victory in the return rounds.
Wojtaszek made a start with his victory over
MVL. Anands second avoided the main vari-

6 | ChessBase Magazine #168

for MVL! Against the indisposed Rapport he

required only a clean win on technique to take
victory in the tournament. The diagram above
shows the critical moment: in typical fashion
Rapport sacrificed a pawn with 15...d5 (followed by 16.exd5 xh3 17.xe5 xe5 18.xh3
a6 19.bc3), but Black does not get sufficient
compensation. MVL annotates the game on the
DVD and explains to you how he won it.

Top Tournaments

sinquefield cup:
aronian back on track
In the second stage of the Grand Chess Tour
in Saint Louis things started with a bang: all five
games in the first round had a decisive result.
For example, Levon Aronian defeated Fabiano
Caruana with hand-to-hand combat. The previous years winner opened up the position seen
in the diagram with 20...dxe4 at just the wrong
time. After 21.fxe4 a5 22.exf5 xf5 23.c4+
g7 24.d5 e8 25.e4!! d4 26.h5! Aronian
conducted a crashing attack with a rook sacriCongratulations from Rex Sinquefield to Aronian
after the latters win against Nakamura

fice and a quiet knock-out blow. A dream start,

which would lend the Armenian wings. Things
were quite different for Magnus Carlsen: the

world champions start to the tournament was

less dramatic than in Stavanger (CBM 167) but
just as unsuccessful. Once more he had to congratulate Topalov on a victory. But this time the
world champion found a better pace and after
6 rounds he was leading the tournament with
Aronian. The decision came in round 7: Carlsen
wanted to win the endgame against Grischuk and
overreached himself. Aronian, on the other hand,
took advantage of Nakamuras bold choice of
opening and outplayed the American positionally. An early conclusion after that, two draws
were enough for the Armenian to decide a top
tournament in his favour after a long drought.

ChessBase Magazine #168 | 7

Opening
actually a fight for equality
Tibor Karolyi introduces the Schmid Benoni Attack
Reti Opening A09: 1.f3 d5 2.g3 c6 3.c4 d4

In CBM 166 Tibor Karolyi had already looked

into 3.d4 f5; we now have his once more
thorough article on 3.c4 d4. In it the position
in the diagram arises much more frequently
via 2.c4 d4 3.g3 c6. In an overwhelming
number of cases the continuation is 4.g2 e5.
White is now faced with a difficult decision
should he allow e5-e4 or (after 5.d3) the check
on b4?

Radek Wojtaszek: strong pawn sacrifice

8 | ChessBase Magazine #168

A) After 5.0-0 e4 6.e1 our Hungarian author

also analyses 6...f6, but the pawn sacrifice
introduced in 2005 by Radek Wojtaszek with
6...h5!

immediately puts White under pressure. In

practice things have not looked good for White,
even the improvements suggested by Karolyi
result in no more than equality for him.
B) So 5.d3 is somewhat more popular, but
Black plays similarly to the Schmid Benoni
(1.d4 c5 2.d5 f6 3.c3 g6 4.e4 d6 5.f3 g7
6.b5+) 5...b4+. Then every reply has its
disadvantages. 6.bd2 may be played often,
but the knight does not belong here, since the
typical thrusts b4 and e3 are not supported. Nor
is 6.d2 optimal. Perhaps it is even the most
rarely played 6.fd2 which is the lesser evil;
with b1-a3-c2, b3, a3 and b1 White can get
in the thrust b4, but that does not mean that he
gets an advantage with it.
Conclusion: Black has no need to fear 3.c4, for
White it is actually a struggle for equality.

Opening

many open questions

Igor Stohl analyses new trends in the English Opening
English A22: 1.c4 e5 2.g3 f6 3.g2 d5 4.cxd5
xd5 5.c3 b6

In the Sicilian Dragon with reversed colours the

usual continuation is 6.f3 c6, but theory has
developed to an extraordinary extent without
really promising White anything. In his article Igor Stohl examines the still relatively new
trend of deviating from the main variation early
on either by delaying g1-f3 or by finding
another way of developing the g1-knight.

B) 6.e3 is not new, but the move was first introduced at GM-level in 2011 by Vadim Zvjaginsev. A critical position arises after 6...c6
7.ge2 e7 8.0-0 0-0 9.f4.

Now there are two principled lines. After 9...

exf4 10.xf4 White will go on to play d4 and
possibly e4. Whether that suffices for an advantage is another question. Most strong players
have preferred 9...f6 and after 10.f5 White will
try to follow up with d2-d4.

A) After 6.d3 e7 the Slovakian grandmaster considers 7.h3 a single-shot weapon,

which may have been successful in GrischukHammer, Stavanger 2015, but straightforward
development gives Black good counterplay
(Stohl).
7.e3 0-0 8.c1 is more valid, in order to see
which setup Black adopts. Often, White first
plays f3, if Black decides on a line which
would have sought to avoid this in the event of
the immediate 6.f3. However, this strategy
also comes to an end with 8...e8 9.a3 f8
10.c2!? h6 when 11.f3 c6 has to be
played anyway.
An important element in this variation is to
leave the diagonal for the g2 open. As soon as
Black plays ...c6, there follows xc6 ruining
Blacks pawn structure.

Jones-Edouard, London 2014: no advantage, but a

more pleasant game

In Jones-Edouard, London 2014 10...a5 11.b3

d7 12.d4 was played and although White did
not have a proper advantage, his position was
probably more pleasant to play.
Conclusion: After both 6.d3 and 6.e3 many
questions remain open.

ChessBase Magazine #168 | 9

Opening

very close to equality

Erffnung

Milos Pavlovic examines a sharp English variation

English A37: 1.c4 c5 2.g3 g6 3.g2 g7 4.c3
c6 5.f3 e6 6.d4

A) The clearly more popular 8...a5+ forces

White into a decision interpose with the
knight or with the queen. There is some evidence that 9.d2 constitutes the better choice.
Pavlovic also analyses one of his own games,
which he won in impressive fashion.
B) Probably 8...exd5 is safer, when White has
mostly continued with 9.bxd4 or first castled and then gone on to take on d4 with the
b-knight. Although Black almost always develops his knight to e7, in his article on the DVD
Pavlovic also looks into both 9...ge7 and also
9...f6.As things appear, Black can hold his
own in both cases.

The setup with ...e6 is popular, Milos Pavlovic

thinks: On account of its reputation as a flexible and rock-solid system it continues to be
considered as one of the best variations against
the English Opening. If White now plays solidly (for example, 6.0-0 or 6.d3), then sooner
or later Black will play ...d5 and have very good
chances of equality. But there is as an alternative the aggressive 6.d4 in most cases a temporary pawn sacrifice. Now 6...xd4 is hardly
played any more, though it is not clear that
White then really obtains an advantage. After
the usual 6...cxd4 7.b5 d5 8.cxd5 Black is
faced with a decision.

In Gelfand-Leko, Tashkent 2012, 9.fxd4!?

was, however, played White then has a knight
on b5 instead of standing passively on f3. Then
e3 was played and the b5 can, after ...a6,
occupy the c3-squarefrom where it directly attacks d5. But Leko replied 9...f6 (instead of
the usual move after 9.bxd4, namely 9...ge7)
and after 10.0-0 0-0

11.e3 he had 11...g4. Whether11.f4 represents an improvement needs to be tested.

Gelfand-Leko, Tashkent 2012: the rare 9.Nfxd4 did

not worry the Hungarian

10 | ChessBase Magazine #168

Conclusion: Black is very close to equality

(Pavlovic), but 6.d4 is probably nevertheless the
reason why 5...e6 has become less popular for
the moment.

Opening

In hypermodern spirit
Mihail Marin completes his repertoire with 2...Bb4+
Owen Defence A40: 1.d4 e6 2.c4 b4+ 3.c3
b6 4.e4 b7

C) The clearly most frequently played move is

5.d3 and after 5...f5 White has a choice.
a) 6.f3 h4+! 7.g3 h5 leads to a pawn structure which is unfavourable for him.
b) 6.d5 fxe4 7.xf3 f6 8.f3 xc3+ etc. also
gives White nothing.
c) The most popular is 6.e2 (6.h5+ g6 7.e2
is really the same, because g6 does not represent a weakness, on the contrary, it is sometimes useful) 6...f6 and then 7.g5 leads after
7...fxe4 to extensive exchanges and equality. A
more ambitious try is 7.f3,

Mihail Marins new article also deals with the

analysis of 3.d2 b6 4.e4 b7, but that is more
of a marginal issue, whereas the position in
the diagram occurs very frequently in practice.
Marins intention is to complete his repertoire
after 2...b4+ 3.c3 b6. In the original Owen
Defence after 1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 3.e4 b7 nowadays 4.c3 has been replaced by 4.d3! and after 4...b4+ White would have both 5.d2! and
5.f1! instead of 5.c3. Thus the position in
the diagram is important above all for Marins
2...b4+, and less for the Owen Defence itself. Starting from the position in the diagram
above, the Romanian grandmaster analyses five
continuations, of which the most important are
presented here in brief.
A) After 5.c2 Black should react energetically
in order to equalise: 5...h4 6.d3 f5 and then
7.f3 xc3+ 8.f1! (8.bxc3 g4!) 8...h5
(8...g4 9.h3 g6 10.exf5) 9.bxc3 fxe4 10.xe4
and now he has a nice game after 10...c6!
B) After 5.f3 too, Black has to attack the white
centre immediately: 5...f5 6.exf5 h6! 7.fxe6
f5! 8.f4 (otherwise 8...h4+) 8...dxe6
9.a4+ c6 and as the analyses on the DVD
show, Black can also hold his own against 10.d5
which has been successful in practice.

with which White is also setting an opening

trap. Because if Black now accepts the pawn
sacrifice with 7...fxe4 8.fxe4 xc3+ 9.bxc3
xe4, White simply replies 10.f3 and his attack becomes much too strong (and 10.h5+
g6 11.g4 f6 12.xg6+! also works). In
fact in practice most players cannot resist the
temptation. But in 7...c6! he has a far better
continuation at his disposal. After 8.e3 f4
9.f2 e5! Black obtains a typical Nimzo-Indian
blockading structure.
Conclusion: Mihail Marin does not see any
danger to his repertoire for Black and thinks
that the Owen variations with the pinned
queens knight offer him excellent counterplay
in the purest hypermodern spirit.

ChessBase Magazine #168 | 11

Opening

losing Popularity
Boris Schipkov introduces you to an unusual opening
Wade Defence A41: 1.d4 d6 2.f3 g4 3.c4
d7

4.b3 and 4.c3. But what he recommends

is the main move, that is 4.c3. Then 4...g6 is
a mistake, though it is only rarely exploited:
5.g5! shows exactly what the problem was,
e.g. 5...h6 6.xf7 xf7 7.h3 with very pleasant
play for White.
However, Black mostly plays 4...e5. Now 5.e3 is
an option, which leads after 5...gf6 6.e2 to
Old Indian positions in which Black has played
...g4. Our Russian author sees for White a
tiny advantage, but Black can obtain sufficient
counterplay, if he plays correctly.

In the previous issue we saw that 3...xf3

hardly sets White any problems, he can even
obtain an advantage in various ways. 3...d7
is somewhat more flexible, but above all Black
wants to be able to play ...e5 quickly. In his
contribution on the DVD Boris Schipkov
analyses four replies for White: 4.d5, 4.e4,

A more principled move is 5.g3, since there

is no need for White to worry about d4. After
5...xf3 (to which Schipkov attaches ?!, though
it is nevertheless the most played move) 6.exf3
exd4 7.xd4 the queen is well placed in the
centre.
A better move is 5...gf6 6.g2 c6 7.h3 xf3
(after 7...h5 8.h4 too, White obtains the
possession of the bishop pair) 8.xf3 e7

ChessBase Magazine Nr. 168, October / November

ISSN: 1432-8992
Published by: ChessBase Schachprogramme Schachdatenbank Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, represented by managing directors Rainer Woisin and Matthias Wllenweber, Osterbekstrasse
90a, 22083 Hamburg,
Tel: (+49)40 - 639060-0, Fax: (+49)40 - 6301282
E-Mail: magazine@chessbase.com
Editor in chief: Rainer Knaak
Advertising editor: Dr Steffen Giehring
Editorial board: Dr. Steffen Giehring, Andr Schulz, Pascal Simon, Thomas Stark, Rainer Woisin
Layout: Rainer Knaak
Translations: Ian Adams, Dean Hall, Oliver Reeh
Photos: internet press photos (pp. 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19),
Pascal Simon (pp. 8, 21), Amruta Mokal (p. 17)
Printing: Druckhaus Leupelt GmbH, 24976 Handewitt
Exclusion of liability: The publishers of this magazine cannot be
held liable for the accuracy or completeness of the information
and especially not for the chess analysis contained in it.
Reproduction: No material contained in this issue of ChessBase
Magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without written
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12 | ChessBase Magazine #168

and here Schipkov recommends 9.d5 or even

9.0-0 (but not 9.e4?!) with a slight but longlasting advantage.
Conclusion: The setup with ...d6 and ...g4 has
lost popularity for good reason. With simple
moves White can secure himself a secure advantage.

Opening

almost like the french

Lars Schandorff fancies another Jobava idea
Caro-Kann B12: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 f5
4.f3 e6 5.e2 d7 6.0-0 f6

Svidler-Jobava: an important game in which 7.c4!

was played

The advance ...f6 tends to be linked to the

French Defence, but why should it not also be
played in the Advance Variation of the CaroKann? Of course the liberation of the c8 does
not play any role here, pressure on the white
centre is the main idea. In addition, one gets
away from the closed type of positions, which
also fits in well in this opening.

while Black is still struggling with his development. After 7...fxe5 8.dxe5 c5 the development of the b1-knight to d2 also comes into
question, but in higher class games 9.c3 a6!
(not 9...e7 on account of 10.a4) was played:
10.cxd5 cxd5.

Lars Schandorff first deals with a few secondary

moves, of which above all 7.bd2 is quite interesting. After 7...c7 8.b3 e7 9.exf6 gxf6
10.h4 etc. Based on more than 100 computer
games.
7.exf6 has been seen relatively often in practice. After 7...gxf6 8.d3 d6 White can
play 9.e2, setting a trap (9...0-0? 10.xf5 exf5
11.e6+), but 9...e4 equalises.
Defending the e5-point is counter-productive.
After 7.f4 e7 8.e1 g6 9.g3 fxe5 Blacks
position is already preferable.

Here White has tried 11.e3 and 11.d4,

though without much success. Whether he
should look for improvements here or earlier is
the question.

But 7.c4! was played in the important game

Svidler-Jobava, Tiflis 2015 and appears to be
setting Black the greatest problems. Our author
thinks: White puts the black centre under attack. He already has his own king in a safe place
so it is natural to try to blow open the position

Conclusion: The opening system presented

here has not yet become really popular, but
Baadur Jobava is now even playing 5...f6! successfully and thereby demonstrating that the
advance of the f-pawn is a genuine theoretical
question.

ChessBase Magazine #168 | 13

Opening

3...e6 vs. the ROSSOLIMO part 2

Michal Krasenkow reveals secrets from his repertoire
Sicilian Defence B30: 1.e4 c5 2.f3 c6 3.b5
e6 4.0-0 ge7

White, e.g. Caruana-Gelfand, Paris 2013 (1-0),

and Caruana-Radjabov, Bazna 2013 (1-0), had
little to do with the opening.
Most of the space in grandmaster Krasenkows
investigations, however, is taken up with the
continuation 5.c3. After 5...a6 6.a4 b5 7.c2
b7

Here White has a wide choice of moves, Michal

Krasenkow analyses five continuations on the
DVD. Two of these 5.c3 and 5.e1 prepare d2-d4. So in both cases 5...d4 should be
played. The analyses of the Polish grandmaster
prove that Black can be satisfied with the positions he achieves.
However, the immediate 5.d4 cxd4 6.xd4 is
also relatively popular, above all with Fabiano
Caruana whose played it several times. Naturally b5 does not then fit well into the position,
so Black should immediately force the exchange
on c6 with 6...b6. The positive results for

There are several moves for White. Naturally

8.d4 is premature on account of 8...cxd4:
9.cxd4 b4! or 9.xd4 c7 with a nice Paulsen
position for Black. Two other lines are more
usual.
A) 8.e1 c8! with the point 9.d4?! cxd4
10.cxd4 and Black has 10...b4 11.b3 xc1!
12.xc1 d3=. So the most frequently played
move is 9.a4, whereupon Krasenkow gives two
replies: 9...b4 10.d4 cxd4 11.cxd4 d5 12.bd2
a5 with equality or even 9...g6 10.a3 b4
with the same evaluation.
B) 8.e2 is followed by the quite different
move 8...d5 9.e5 d4! 10.e4 d5! and 11.d3
is followed by 11...dxc3 with equality, whereas
11.cxd4 xd4 is really dangerous for White.

Caruana-Gelfand, Paris 2013: one of Caruanas

wins with 5.d4!?

14 | ChessBase Magazine #168

Conclusion: White has nothing to fear in

the Rossolimo with 3...e6, though he should
be prepared for a long positional struggle
(Krasenkow), which is not quite typical of the
Sicilian.

Opening

an ambitious continuation
Emanuel Berg offers a building block for your repertoire
French Defence C15: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.c3
b4 4.e2 c6

Nowadays one does not often meet 4.e2, but

if so then one is usually up against specialists
in this variation, who are well versed above all
in the 4...dxe4 5.a3 line, no matter whether one
plays the older 5...xc3+ or the more modern
5...e7. With 4...c6 it is possible to avoid the
majority of theory though the move can no
longer be considered a secret weapon. Several
times Emanuel Berg has had the position in
the diagram on the board with both colours.
In addition the Swedish grandmaster has also
dealt with the subject in detail in his book
Grandmaster Repertoire 14 The French Defence. He considers the moves 5.a3 a5 to be
automatic, since it does not make sense to delay
them. Then three sub-variations come into
question:
A) 6.b4 b6 7.b2 ge7 8.g3 brought White
surprising success after the over-aggressive
8...h5?! in the game Solodovnichenko-Giri,
Montpellier 2015. However, the improvement
8...e5! is obvious and easily allows Black to
equalise immediately.
B) 6.e3 sets Black the problem of where
to develop his g8-knight. Bergs answer is
6...ge7!, after which Whites e4-e5 can be met
with ...f6.

C) 6.e5 may not be the most played move, but it

is represented by three high class duels involving Hector vs. Berg. In each case it was followed
by 6...ge7 7.b4 b6 8.a4 0-0.

Here Jonny Hector first tried 9.b1 (9...f5)

and then 9.b5 (9...a5+!). In their third meeting
9.c3, which according to Berg is the best move,
was finally played. But the analyses by our author on the DVD prove that even then Black can
also keep things on a level keel with 9...f6!.

Hector-Berg: three high-class duels in the same

variation

Conclusion: In 4...c6 Black has at his disposition an ambitious continuation, which has the
additional advantage that there is not yet a lot
of theory around it. For Berg himself 4...c6
was the reason for giving up the variation with
4.e2 as White.

ChessBase Magazine #168 | 15

Opening

play the natural move

Robert Ris stands up for an unpopular variation
Scotch C45: 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.d4 exd4
4.xd4 c5 5.xc6 bxc6

In the Scotch with 5.xc6 the move 5...f6

was for a while played automatically (at least
by stronger players), but especially the positions after 6.d2 dxc6 are very particular ones.
The natural reply 5...bxc6 has been played in
numerous games, though few of the players had
elevated Elo ratings, and it can be supposed
that most of them did not even suspect that
instead of recapturing on c6 they could also
have played an intermediate move. In his article
Robert Ris mainly examines 6.d3, which is
the most frequently played move. It is met with
6...h4.
A) The popular 7.e2 was followed in CarlsenCaruana, Biel 2011 with 7...e7 and although
Black came out of the opening well, White was
able to win in the long run. However, Ris rec-

Carlsen-Caruana, Biel 2011: victory for White

16 | ChessBase Magazine #168

ommends 7...f6. After it White can have no

great hopes with 8.e3, since after the exchange
of the bishops Blacks position is quite comfortable. However, the alternative 8.h3 runs into
8...d5!

The main idea consists of 9.exd5+ d8! 10.0-0

xh3! with equality. But 9.g3 h5 10.xh5
xh5 brings White no advantage either.
B) But the first player can also put his queen on
f3. Not so much on move 6 or 7 (though nevertheless this is also investigated by Ris on the
DVD), but 7.0-0 f6 8.f3. As a result of his
analyses Ris comes to the conclusion that both
the natural 8...0-0 and also 8...d4!? are very
playable.
Finally the Dutch international master also
takes a look at 6.c3, which may be played
quite infrequently, it nevertheless enables interesting transpositions: both 6...f6 and 6...f6
lead to known variations. Our authors recommendation is 6...f6 7.f3 d6 and e.g. 8.g3
g6. In the game Radjabov-Carlsen, Moscow
2012, there was soon an endgame, which
Magnus Carlsen conducted in the style of Capablanca and won.
Conclusion: 5...bxc6 not only allows one to
avoid the heavily analysed lines, but to also
fight for more than equality.

Opening

still an ace up your sleeve

Max Illingworth gives deep insights into an ambitious variation
Ruy Lopez C65: 1.e4 e5 2.f3 c6 3.b5 f6
4.d3 d6

6.d4! d7 7.d5 e7 8.xd7+ xd7 9.c4 will

leave Black missing his light-squared bishop in
this Kings Indian type of position.
Therefore 5...d7 is the correct reply (to 5.0-0).
Then 6.c3 (as is usually played) 6...g6 is a major
subject in in Illingworths article on the DVD.
All in all, one can say that Black is okay.

In the games involving top players the move

4...c5 is totally dominant, but when Black has
more in mind than simply aiming for equality and a possible draw, then, according to
Max Illingworth, the other move 4...d6 comes
into question. It will come as no surprise that
Arkadij Naiditsch is well represented in the database on the DVD, with an even greater expert
being the Belarussian Aleksej Aleksandrov.

But White has a not very well known trick:

6.e1!? Then 6...g6 may be playable, but in
principle 7.d4! then works when followed by d5
and the exchange of the light-squared bishops.
Aleksandrov, who likes to meet 5.c3 with 5...g6,
always reacts to 6.e1 with 6...e7. The following standard moves lead to a tabiya of the variation: 7.c3 0-0 8.bd2 e8 9.f1 h6 10.g3
f8.

White should now play 11.h3 if he wants to

meet 11...e7 with 12.xd7. Or else he rescues
his bishop with 11.a4 e7 12.c2. In both
cases Black can be content.
Aleksej Aleksandrov: greatest expert of the variation

Our Australian author begins his article with a

classic game: 5.xc6?! in Anderssen-Steinitz,
London 1866. A little later he issues a warning
which one might call a rule: do not play ...g6
until White has played c3. For, e.g., 5.0-0 g6?!

But our author still has another ace up his

sleeve for White: 9.a4! f8 10.d4! and his
analyses of this almost unknown position do
not reveal any equality for Black.
Conclusion: According to Max Illingworth
Black can really obtain more exciting positions
with 4...d6, but White tends to get more of an
advantage than after 4...c5.

ChessBase Magazine #168 | 17

Opening

Theory revised
Gerg Havasi makes some surprising discoveries
Queens Gambit D06: 1.d4 d5 2.f3 f5 3.c4
e6 4.c3 f6

Alexander Morozevich: new development

reached the position after 7...c7, but, as is so

often the case, a new variation does not become popular until a top player take it up.
It is actually desirable to first develop the c8
and only then to play ...e6. According to old
theory, however, White gets an advantage, but
this judgement is based above all on 4...c6, after
which 5.b3 b6 6.c5 c7 7.f4! c8 leads
to a position which we know (with reversed
colours) from the London System. But there is a
major difference: in our position Black has not
yet played ...f6, so White is a tempo up and
that means that he is better placed.

Gerg Havasi also clears up another evaluation.

After 5.g5 c6 the line 6.xf6 xf6 7.b3 e7

After 4...f6! things are somewhat different.

Now 5.b3 c6! 6.cxd5 exd5 7.g5 leads to
a variation of the Exchange Variation of the
Queens Gambit Declined. It is considered to be
level.
But what is decisive is an important discovery
after the main move 5.g5. Next comes 5...c6
6.b3 b6 7.c5 c7 and now White actually
has no better use for his g5 than 8.f4 c8,
after which we reach the aforementioned London System, but this time without White having an extra tempo. The new development first
started with the game Landa-Morozevich, Eilat
2012; after Morozevich, Grischuk also included
the move 4...f6 in his repertoire. There had
previously been games by Chatalbashev, and
even Marshall-Torre Repetto, Moscow 1925,

18 | ChessBase Magazine #168

was considered advantageous to White in line

with the game Stangl-Dautov 1994. But this
evaluation appeared to be too optimistic.
So what hope is there left for White? Perhaps
5.h4, which brought Bacrot victory over
Chatalbashev (Baden-Baden 2013). But Havasi
suggests the as yet never played 5...b4 and
backs up his choice with analyses.
Conclusion: Perhaps the early development
of the bishop is more playable than has been
thought up till now.

Opening

the other Ragosin Plan

Evgeny Postny deals with recent developments
Queens Gambit D38: 1.d4 f6 2.c4 e6 3.f3
d5 4.c3 b4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.g5 h6 7.h4
bd7

Evgeny Postny writes in the introduction to his

article on the DVD: Compared to other lines
of the Ragosin Defence, here Black is usually
not counting on a standard c7-c5 advance, but
mainly on a g7-g5 push, followed by f6-e4,
eliminating the dark-squared bishop. The Israeli grandmaster presents a total of four replies
for White, but of those 8.a4 and 8.d2 are of
lesser importance.
A) The move 8.c2 is most frequently met with
8...c5?!, but in his article Postny shows that after
9.e3 a5 10.d3 c4 11.f5 gets into a variation in which the insertion of ...h6 h4 is unfavourable for him, because then he cannot easily
play ...g6 later.
After 8...g5 9.g3 e4 White can play 10.d2
xg3 11.hxg3, but Postny thinks that Black
equalises with 11...b6.
B) After 8.e3 once more 8...c5 is inexact, the
reason for this being the same as above. But
there is a good reason for the plan ...g5 (and not
...c5). So 8...g5 9.g3 e4 10.d2 xg3
- See diagram above right -

and now one of course expects the recapture

with the h-pawn. But in Carlsen-Aronian, Stavanger 2014, the world champion shocked his
opponent with 11.fxg3. The final result (1-0)
certainly had nothing to do with the opening
and also no one else has taken up the idea of
11.fxg3. However, White can probably not get
an advantage with 11.hxg3 either.

Carlsen-Aronian: shocked his opponent with 11.fxg3

So the trend now appears to be towards 10.c2,

whereupon 10...h5 has shown itself to be necessary. White has several promising replies, but
if Black defends precisely he can maintain the
balance.
Conclusion: The variation is very playable for
Black, but he must logically follow the plan
with ...g5 and ...e4. According to Postny thorough preparation is required.

ChessBase Magazine #168 | 19

Opening

only a4 works long term

Krisztian Szabo on the state of the Gallagher Variation Part 2
Kings Indian E68: 1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 g7
4.g2 0-0 5.c3 d6 6.f3 bd7 7.0-0 e5 8.e4
exd4 9.xd4 e8 10.h3 a6 11.e3!

In the second part Krisztian Szabo examines

the strongest white setup with 11.e3! b8
12.b3! The two moves for White are not exactly
obvious, as, e.g., they leave the c3 momentar-

Solutions to the combinations

1.22...Rxc1+! 23.Rxc1 Qb3 (24.axb4 Qa4+) 0-1
2. 38...Rxe3! 39.Rxe3 Bb6 40.Kf2 f4 0-1
3. 26.Ng6+! Kd7 27.Bb5+! Bc6 28.Ne5+ 1-0
4. 28.Qxd71-0 28...Qxd7 29.Bxe5+ Kh7 30.Rh1+ +5. 13...Ndc5! 14.dxc5 Nxc5 15.Qd2 Qxb5 -+
6. 32.Be4+! g6 33.Nxg6?? (33.Qf8! +-) 33...Nxe4!
7.
15...Nxf4! 16.exf4 Nxc4! 17.Bxc4 Qe8+! -+
8. 20...Nxc4! 21.Qb4 (21.Bxc4 Qf5! -+) 21...a5 -+
9. 19...Nxe5! 20.Bxe7 e3! 21.Qe2 Bb5! -+

Endgame solutions
1.77.Rxd4+! Kxd4 78.a7! +2. 59...Rf1+! 60.Ke5 Rg1 61.Kf5 Kd4 -+
3. 54...Kg5? (54...Kg4! 55.Ke5 f4! 56.gxf4 f5 -+)
55.Ke5! Kg4 (55...Kg6 56.Kd6!! =) 56.Kf6 =
4. 73...Rg1?! (73...Rg4! 74.Rh4 Rc4 -+; 74...Rd4 -+)
74.Rh1 Rf1? 75.Rxf1 Bxf1 76.Ka4 =
5. 52.b4!! axb4 53.Kxd3 Kxh4 54.c5!! bxc5
55.a5 +6. 79...Ke1? (79...Rf8! 80.Ra7 Kg2 81.Ra1 Rf4!! -+)
80.Rf7 =
7.103.Qc2+! Ka1 104.Qc3+ Ka2 105.Kh8 +8. 86.Be3! Bg2 87.Kg6 Bf1 88.Kf6 =
9. 67...Bc5! 68.Nc6 Kd5 69.Nd8 Bb6? (69...Bd4!
70.Nb7 Bb6 -+) 70.Nf7 =

20 | ChessBase Magazine #168

ily unprotected. The decisive advantage of this

move order lies in the fact that Blacks typical
plan when he played 10...a6, namely 12...c5
13.de2 b5?! is bad; after 14.xd6 b4 15.a4
xe4 16.xe4

neither 16...xa1 nor 16...xe4 is sufficient.

The second most frequently played move is
12...c5. But after 13.c2 d7 14.ad1 (or immediately 14.b4) it is not so easy for Black to
obtain his usual queenside counterplay.
For a main line Szabo analyses 12...e5, which
again intends ...c5 and ...b5.
A) 13.f4 is ambitious. After 13...ed7 White
has gained time and space, but there is no clear
promise of any advantage.
B) Many fianchetto players act quite typically:
the prudent 13.a4 stops any play by Black. Most
frequently seen has been 13...d7, but Szabo
proposes 13...fd7; in several correspondence games Black has had little trouble keeping
things on an even keel.
Conclusion: The white setup prevents for a
moment the typical ...c5 and ...b5, but in the
long run this can only be guaranteed by a2a4. But moving the rook pawn weakens the
b4-square and limits Whites options on the
queenside.

Opening

the Ukrainian Variation

Alexey Kuzmin presents a surprise weapon
Kings Indian E97: 1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 g7
4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.e2 e5 7.0-0 c6 8.d5
e7 9.c2

many ideas do not work, such as f8-f6-h6. Just

how useful d1 is remains to be seen. Instead of
e1 White also likes to follow a plan with b4.
The ideas around 9.c2 were developed in
Ukrainian chess circles, Pavel Eljanov has
played the move from time to time, but his
main weapon remains 9.b4. In the diagram on
the left Black has various knight moves.
A) 9...h5 10.d1. Now, according to Kuzmin,
10...h6 is even worse (than 10...f5), since White
plays 11.g3 f5 12.h4! f6 13.exf5! etc.
B) 9...d7 10.d1 h6 allows the unplayed
11.h4!?, after which Kuzmins analyses show
an advantage for White.

The move 9.c2 is still a rarity in the Classical

Kings Indian. Alexey Kuzmin explains in detail
his preferences in the introduction to his article
on the DVD. In brief, they are as follows. White
almost always plays 10.d1, then he hopes that
Black will play ...f5 without a preparatory ...h6.
This would give White the opportunity for g5
followed by e6, after which the setup with
c2/d1 develops its full potential. So Black

Pavel Eljanov: 9.Qc2 only as a surprise

should first play ...h6, and then advance the

f-pawn. ...h6 is followed, e.g., by. e1 and one
gets positions similar to those after 9.e1. It
then turns out that ...h6 is the waste of a tempo,

C) 9...e8 is the most precise. After 10.d1

h6 White does not have 11.h4 on account
of 11...xd5! (this time the c7 is protected).
After 11.b4 f5 Eljanov has played 12.c5, whereupon his opponent should have played 12...a5.
12...f6 13.d2

would result in a position similar to a 9.b4 e8

variation c2 and d1 fit in very well, less so
...h6.
Conclusion: For the moment 9.c2 still represents a good surprise weapon; this can also be
seen from the fact that the best move 9...e8 is
played relatively rarely.

ChessBase Magazine #168 | 21

Tactics

1. Roeder - Mozharov
How can Black mate in four
moves?

2. Feldtmann - Pechac
How would you continue with
Black?

3. Das - Burmakin
White to play and win.

4. Chabanon - Ekeberg
How can White win quickly?

5. Verstraeten - Shankland
How can Black win material?

6. Antonsen - Harvey
How would you continue here as
White?

7. Karas - Zwardon
Which combination with several
moves wins Black material?

8. Blahynka - Tsaknakis
Here too Black wins material.
How?

9. Stets - Lubbe
Start a nice assault for Black.

You will find the solutions on page 20 or in detail in the tactics column on the DVD

22 | ChessBase Magazine #168

ChessBase Author
Nicholas Pert grandmaster
because of a lack of snow
The English GM Nicholas Pert has already
gathered for himself a large community of fans
with his DVDs which have been published
by ChessBase. After the openings DVDs on
the French Defence, the Slav Defence to the
Queens Gambit and his repertoire for White
with fianchetto systems (Safe and Solid
against the wild Indians) his DVD Typical
mistakes by 1600-1900 players was particularly well received by chess players.
Nicholas Pert, born in 1981, grew up in Ipswich where, after he demonstrated his talent,
he was coached together with his twin brother
Richard by Kevin OConnell, who was active
in England in the chess in schools project and
who also lived in Ipswich.
Nicholas and Richard had learned to play
chess as five year olds. Their parents had taken
them to Sweden to go skiing, but there was no
snow so they taught their two sons the game
of chess.
Nicholas Pert turned out to be somewhat
keener than his twin brother, achieved good
results in international youth championships
and in 1998 became U18 world champion. He
won the British U20 national championship
three times.
In 2006 Pert represented England at the Chess
Olympiad in Turin. Between 2008 and 2010 he
remained undefeated in 52 successive games.
At the latest British championship Nick Pert,
as one of the four leading players in the final
round, just had to come up against his twin
brother Richard. A victory would have assured
him of at least a shared first place. Elsewhere

Nicholas Pert: chess instead of maths

that is how the game would have been decided

in pragmatic fashion, and that not only
between twin brothers. But in the homeland
of fair play, however, the game finished in a
draw. Our games always finish as draws. That
has already cost me so many Elo points, commented Nick Pert, shrugging his shoulders.
Thus Jonathan Hawkins, taking advantage of
mistakes by his opponent Keith Arkell, became
British champion. Pert was left sharing the
runner-up spot. Twins are used to sharing.
After leaving school Nick Pert studied mathematics and statistics and worked for a time in
a firm of actuaries. That, however, was not so
very exciting and so he decided he would prefer to earn his living as a chess trainer.
Pert lives with his wife and their two small
daughters near London, still takes part from
time to time in some attractive tournaments,
but spends most of his time giving chess lessons in a series of schools and to some private
pupils. In addition, as the youth trainer of the
British Chess Federation, he also teaches up
and coming English players.

ChessBase Magazine #168 | 23

Endgame

1. Saranya - Gomes
How did White cash in on his
passed pawn?

2. Bjorksten - Sarkar
Black to play and win.

3. Tari - Grandelius
How should the extra pawn be
exploited?

4. Dinev - Injac
Can the black rook escape the
perpetual pursuit?

5. Ros Alonso - Kunal

How did White continue?

6. Hasangatin - Goganov
Black to play and win.

7. Schachinger - Sermier
How did Schachinger win?

8. Navara - So
How did Navara stop the passed
pawns?

9. Liu Manli - Ni Shiqun

How did Ni Shiqun start the hunt
for the knight?

You will find the solutions on page 20 or in detail in the endgame column on the DVD

24 | ChessBase Magazine #168

Opening Videos
This time the Openings Videos column contains eight videos by three authors.
Sergei Tiviakov: Queens Indian
1.d4 f6 2.c4 e6 3.f3 b6 4.g3 b4+

grandmaster Mihail Marin analyses the game

extensively and suggests improvements for both
sides.
Sergei Tiviakov knows the Queens Indian well.
On his ChessBase DVD No fear of 1.d4! Vol. 1
Catalan and Queens Indian, he showed how
to get very playable positions on the board with
Black. Now with his latest video he goes into recent developments and in doing so leans heavily on his own games. The Dutch grandmaster
is convinced that 4...b4+ is the strongest move
against Whites 4.g3 in the Queens Indian. As
a bonus the database contains 35 games from
among his own.
Mihail Marin: Kings Indian
1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 g7 4.e4 d6 5.f3
0-0 6.e2 e5 7.0-0 c6 8.d5 e7 9.e1 d7
10.e3 f5 11.f3 f4 12.f2 g5 13.d3
In the game Lysyj-Wan Yunguo, China 2015,
both players followed for a long time a topical
line of the Mar del Plata Variation. Then White
surprised his opponent with an unusual plan.
In a position with his king on h1 he played
17.g1!? (see diagram above right), in order to
then go on and open up the kingside himself
with g3. Actually that is where Black is active.
But an advantage in space and the slightly better development make this possible. Romanian

Robert Ris: Reti Opening

1.f3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.c4 dxc4

Robert Ris has an interesting suggestion

against the Reti Opening: 2...g6. It is not new,
but thanks to two Carlsen-Anand games from
the WCh match of 2013 the move became really popular. The main idea is that the g8 has
not yet been developed, which allows ...g7
and ...e7-e5 naturally only if White takes
no steps against it. The most played moves
are 3.g2 g7, but 3.c4 dxc4 is more critical
and thus the topic of our Dutch author who
presents his investigations in a total of 6 video
clips.

ChessBase Magazine #168 | 25