TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page
Key to symbols
Preface

Part 1. Double fianchetto with White

Chapter 1. Double fianchetto against the King’s Indian and Grünfeld

Chapter 2. Double fianchetto structures against the Dutch
Chapter 3. Double fianchetto against the Queen’s Gambit and Tarrasch
Chapter 4. Different move orders to reach the Double Fianchetto
Chapter 5. Different resulting positions from the Double Fianchetto and theoretically-important nuances

Part 2. Double fianchetto with Black

Chapter 1. Double fianchetto in the Accelerated Dragon

Chapter 2. Double fianchetto in the Caro Kann
Chapter 3. Double fianchetto in the Modern
Chapter 4. Double fianchetto in the “Hippo”
Chapter 5. Double fianchetto against 1.d4
Chapter 6. Double fianchetto in the Fischer System
Chapter 7. Double fianchetto with both colours

Conclusion
Games Index
 DOUBLE-FIANCHETTO
THE MODERN CHESS LIFESTYLE

by
Daniel Hausrath

www.thinkerspublishing.com

Managing Editor
Romain Edouard

Assistant Editor
Daniel Vanheirzeele

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Philippe Tonnard

Cover design
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Typesetting
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First edition 2020 by Thinkers Publishing

Double-Fianchetto — the Modern Chess Lifestyle

Copyright © 2020 Daniel Hausrath

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written
permission from the publisher.

ISBN 978-94-9251-075-4
D/2020/13730/3

All sales or enquiries should be directed to Thinkers Publishing, 9850 Landegem, Belgium.

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website: www.thinkerspublishing.com
 PART 1.
DOUBLE FIANCHETTO WITH WHITE

CHAPTER 1.
DOUBLE FIANCHETTO AGAINST THE KING’S INDIAN AND
GRÜNFELD

The first game I would like to analyze is a brilliancy from Kramnik. It is always nice when such a genius plays your
own openings. I am always dreaming that he is analyzing my games and thinks that my openings are so good that he
himself has to play this. Unfortunately this won’t be the case, but the other way round also works and I really like to
get some input from very strong players.
A few years ago there existed almost no theory on the Double Fianchetto structures, but this definitely changed
when Avrukh published his monumental works covering 1.d4 in 2010. In chapter 20 he analyzed the resulting
structures against the Grünfeld in deep detail. After this, those positions were played very often and with good
results for White. Later on, Avrukh published a new and updated version of his masterpieces.
Nowadays we have a lot of books and videos which show the many lines for both sides. One of them is the work of
Adrian Demuth — his book “The Modernized Reti” — which I can recommend to readers who want to really
investigate the resulting positions in detail.
Let us now start with Kramnik’s brilliancy! The game against Vocaturo was played at the Baku Olympiad in 2016.

1
Vladimir Kramnik (2808)
Daniele Vocaturo (2583)
Baku 2016

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.0-0 d6 6.b3

Kramnik himself annotated this game for ChessBase and here he wrote that he was avoiding the mass of theory after
6.c4. It is interesting to read this, because I thought that I was the only one who had become older and thus wants to
avoid mainline theory.

6...e5

6...c5 is another principled move, which will be analysed in the next game between Kramnik and Caruana.

7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Ba3

Now a typical endgame in this opening emerges — one that usually favours White. You should not fear trading the
queens, because this still yields substantial winning chances.

8...Qxd1 9.Rxd1 Re8 10.c4

Also 10.Nc3 is an interesting alternative which was played by Kramnik in a blitz game against Vovk in Berlin 2015.

10...e4

The critical test.

Otherwise White is better developed and will use the d5-square for his knight.

10...Nc6 This is very logical. 11.Nc3 e4 12.Ne1 Bf5 13.Rac1 e3 14.f3 with a complicated game, but better chances
for White.

11.Nd4 c6?!

In such a position it is very important for Black to search for active counterplay. Now White gets enough time to
finish his development. It was necessary to start with 11...Ng4 ¹11...Ng4 …12.Nc3 e3 13.f4 c6 14.Ne4∞

12.Nc3 Na6

The major problem for Black is that he has no obvious squares for his pieces. The knight, as awkward as it might
look, is at least aiming for c5.

13.e3

Now White has everything under control and e4 is also something of a target.
13...Bg4 14.Rd2 Rad8 15.h3 Bc8 16.Rad1 h5

17.Be7!

A nice tactical trick.

Kramnik wrote that he couldn’t resist playing this one. Of course, b4 was also possible and very strong.
17.b4 Nc7 18.b5 cxb5 19.Ncxb5 Nxb5 20.Nxb5 Rxd2 21.Rxd2± with control of the d-file and access to the
important d6-square.

17...Rxd4™

a) 17...Rxe7 is just losing because of 18.Nxc6 Rxd2 19.Nxe7+ Kf8 20.Nxc8+–;

b) 17...Rd7± leaves Black without the e4-pawn after Bxf6 and Nxe4.
18.Rxd4 Rxe7 19.Rd8+

19...Ne8™

19...Re8 20.Rxe8+ Nxe8 21.Rd8 Kf8 22.Nxe4 Be6 23.Nd6 Ke7 24.Nxb7± taking on c6 next.

20.Nxe4 Be6

Kramnik admitted that in his calculations his main concern was that Black would take on h3, but then he saw, and
gave, the following variation:
20...Bxh3 21.Nd6 Bd7 (21...Bxg2 22.Nxe8 Bf3 23.Nf6#) 22.Nxb7 Bg4 23.f3 Bf5 24.e4 Be6 25.Na5 Kh7 26.Nxc6
Rc7 27.Nd4± with a technically winning position.

21.Ra8
The point of this combination: Black has problems defending his queenside pawns.

21...Be5 22.Rdd8 Kf8 23.Rxa7

Kramnik is well known for his deep calculations and before his sacrifice on move 17 he thought that he would have
a big advantage in this position. The computer shows that this is not quite so simple and with correct play Black
would reach equality. But the good thing is that we are all human, and make mistakes!

23...Bc7?

23...Bf5! Threatening to exchange on e4, followed by ...Bc7. 24.Ng5 Bc7! 25.Rda8 Bb6 26.Rxa6! bxa6 27.Rxa6
Bd8 28.Bxc6 Rc7 29.h4 Bc8 30.Rb6= and also here White would retain good winning chances, although the engine
gives equality.

24.Rda8! Bb6™ 25.Rxa6 bxa6 26.Nf6!

Here is the difference, and the reason why Black should have played ...Bf5 earlier. The knight doesn’t need to go to
g5 and the resulting pin is now very annoying for Black.

26...Bd7

Not nice, but the only move. Otherwise White gets the piece back directly:
26...c5 27.Bc6+–

27.b4!

Very strong!
Black is pinned by hand and feet, so White has the time and the composure to make progress.
27.Nxd7+ Rxd7 28.Bxc6 Rd8 29.Rxa6± is also very good.

27...c5

27...Bc7 28.c5! Be5 29.Nxd7+ Rxd7 30.Bxc6 Re7 31.a4+– and nothing can prevent White from queening his pawns.

28.Nd5! Bc6

28...Re6 loses because of 29.Rb8 Ba7 30.Rb7+–

29.Rxa6 Bxd5 30.Bxd5 Bd8 31.b5

Now White is winning as Black cannot stop him from pushing his pawns. All of Black’s pieces are badly placed.

31...Rd7

31...Nc7 32.Rd6 Re8 33.Bc6 Be7 34.Rd7 Ne6 35.a4+–

32.b6 Ke7 33.b7 Bc7 34.Ra8

34...Nf6

34...Rd8 35.a4 Nd6 36.a5 Nxb7 37.Ra7 Bxa5 38.Rxb7+ Rd7 39.Rxd7+ Kxd7 40.Bxf7 h4 41.gxh4 Bd8 42.Bxg6+–

35.Rc8 Bd6 36.Bc6 Rd8 37.a4 Nd7 38.a5 Nb8 39.Bb5

A very nice game!
Showing some of the tactical opportunities that are made possible by better development and more activity!

1–0

This next effort was one of my first double-fianchetto games. It was played in Budapest at one of the legendary First
Saturday tournaments, a closed round-robin event.
 Vladimir Kramnik, 13th January 2018. (Photo by Frans Peeters)
After finishing school I played a lot of tournaments and in Budapest I made my first IM norm with 11 out of 13.
Perhaps this game was the start of my love for the double-fianchetto structures.

2
Daniel Hausrath (2390)
Sandor Farago (2365)
Budapest 1996

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.b3 Bg7 4.Bb2 d6

Black adopts a King’s Indian setup.

5.d4 0-0 6.Bg2 e5 7.dxe5 Ng4

A common tactical trick to push through ...e5. Usually Black takes back on e5 with the knight to exchange a few
pieces in an attempt to equalize.

8.Qd2!?

Nowadays I prefer h3. It was often played by none other than Smyslov in the good old days.
8.h3 Nxe5 9.Nxe5 dxe5 10.Qxd8 Rxd8 11.Nd2 c6 12.0-0-0² White has a very nice positional advantage. The d6-
square is weak and also the pawn on e5 becomes a target. Sometimes the white knight will be well-placed on a5 and
attack the queenside. I have played this position three times in open tournaments and won all three games quite
easily.

8...Nc6 9.0-0 Ngxe5 10.c4

This was the idea behind the queen move to d2. Now the bishop on b2 is protected.

10...Bg4 11.Nc3 Bxf3?

Black sacrifices his bishop pair in an open position for doubtful play.

12.exf3
12...Nd4

My opponent was well-known as a good tactician, but here it is not so easy to put fire on the board. Normally King’s
Indian players want to create some unstable positions, but against the Double Fianchetto this is usually impossible.

13.Qd1 Re8?!

Black should first of all stabilize the knight on d4 with ...c5.

13...c5 14.f4 Nec6 15.Qd2² It is not easy to exploit the weakness on d6 in this position, but the weakened white
squares are a different story.

14.f4 Nec6 15.Qd2

15...Rb8
The main problem in such positions is to find useful moves as Black.
He wants to defend the b7-pawn, but of course this is not the most active way of playing. Maybe it was better to play
...Qd7 and connect the rooks.
15...Qd7 16.Rae1 Rxe1 17.Rxe1 Re8²

16.Rae1 Ne7

17.Nb5!

Exchanging some pieces and putting pressure on the queenside. It also gets rid of the outpost on d4.

17...Nxb5 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.cxb5

Although White has two doubled pawns, his advantage is not in question. He will control the e-file, and the bishop is
much stronger than the knight in such an open position. Also, all the black pawns on the queenside are targets and
not so easy to defend.

19...Kg8

Black wants to play ...Nf5 and exchange a pair of rooks.

19...Nf5? 20.Rxe8 Qxe8 21.Qc3+ winning the c7-pawn.

20.Qa5 c6 21.Qxa7 cxb5 22.Qd4 Ra8 23.Bxb7 Rxa2

24.Qe4?!

The pin looks nice, but now Black could have taken the chance to develop a bit.
Better was 24.Be4± controlling the f5-square.

24...Kf8?!

24...Qb6 25.Bc6 Rc8 26.Bd7 Rcc2 27.Re3²

25.Qd3 Qd7 26.Bf3 Rc8 27.Qd4 Kg8

28.Qf6 Ra7 29.h4 h5 30.Rd1 d5 31.Rfe1

Now White has everything under control. All his pieces are working together.

31...Rc6 32.Qd4 Rd6 33.Re2?!

It was much easier to go directly to the a-file. In time trouble both sides made mistakes. In those days we didn’t play
with an increment, and as I remember correctly my opponent had only one minute left. This often leads to the
problem that you only watch the clock and don’t try to find the best moves when the opponent is in deep time
trouble. The worst thing would be to blitz out your moves as well. It is much more annoying for him if he has to wait
for your moves for a while.

33...Nf5 34.Qe5?
34.Qd3 d4 35.Re5±

34...Ra8??

34...d4 35.Rc2 d3 36.Rc5 d2 Here the d-pawn saves Black.

35.Rxd5 Rxd5 36.Bxd5 Rd8 37.Rd2 Kh7 38.Rd3 Re8 39.Qf6

39...Qe7?

The final blunder in a difficult position!

39...Nh6 40.Be4 Qa7 41.Qd4±

40.Qxf7+ Qxf7 41.Bxf7 Re7 42.Bd5 Re2 43.Bc6 b4 44.Bd7 Rb2 45.Be6 Kg7 46.Rd7+ Kf6 47.Bc4
Definitely not a perfect game, but a nice and important one for getting a norm.

1–0

3
Vladimir Kramnik (2783)
Fabiano Caruana (2811)
Zürich 2015

This was a rapidplay game.

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.b3

Here Vladimir played the classical move order.

3...Bg7 4.Bb2 c5 5.Bg2 0-0 6.c4 d6 7.d4 Ne4!?

A very interesting try.

Black looks to profit directly from the pin on the d4-pawn.

8.0-0 Nc6 9.h3!?

Kramnik wants to prevent ...Bg4 ideas.

The old main line started with 9.Nbd2. I analysed the “ugly” looking move 9.a3 here which also leads to nice play
for White. The idea behind this move is to protect the b2-bishop with Ra2 or Qc2, without giving Black the chance
to attack those pieces with ...Nb4. My first experience with this line was also a very funny one. I played against GM
Glek in a blitz game at the German team competition on board one with 5 minutes each. After a3 he thought for
nearly 3 minutes and played ...Bg4, but with 5 versus 2 minutes there was no chance to hold the game.
a) 9.Nbd2 Nxd2 10.Qxd2 e5!?∞ this leads to complicated play;
b) 9.a3!?
9...Bg4
b1) 9...Bf5!? 10.Ra2 cxd4 11.Nxd4

11...Nxf2?! A spectacular sacrifice which I got in an online blitz game against Cheparinov. First of all I thought that
this sacrifice gives Black an edge, but then I found the following line:
[11...Bxd4!? A much better version for Black, but not yet seen in practice. 12.Bxd4 Nxg3 13.Bxc6
b11) 13.fxg3 Bxb1 14.Bxc6 Bxa2 15.Bd5 e6 Now Black has the main resource ...Qb6 with check after Bf6, because
the white rook is not on f2. 16.Bf6?? (16.Qd2! Here also White should have the better prospects. One possible line
is: 16...e5 17.Be3 Bxb3 18.Qb2 Ba4 19.Qxb7 Qd7 20.Rxf7 Rxf7 21.Qxa8+ Kg7 22.Bxf7 Kxf7 23.Bxa7²) 16...Qb6+;
b12) 13.hxg3 Bxb1 14.Bxc6 Bxa2 15.Bd5 Qa5 16.Qc2! Qxa3 17.Ra1 Qxb3 18.Qxa2 Qxa2 19.Rxa2 Rac8! I would
prefer this position as White, but objectively-speaking it should be equal.;
13...Nxf1 14.Bg2
Firstly, I thought that this would be the easiest solution for White — just winning an exchange — but then ...e5 was
found! 14...e5 (14...Nxh2? 15.Kxh2 e5 16.Be3 The main difference; with a knight on f1 this wouldn’t be possible.
16...Qh4+ 17.Kg1 Bh3 18.Qf1 Qg4 19.Nc3± with Rd2 and Nd5 coming. Also the g5-square would be protected.)
15.Bc3 Nxh2 16.Kxh2 Qh4+ 17.Kg1 Bh3 18.Qf1 Qg4=]
12.Rxf2 Bxd4 13.Bxd4 Bxb1 14.Bxc6! Bxa2 15.Bd5 This position seems to be nearly winning for White. It is not
easy, perhaps impossible, for Black to prevent Qd2/c1–h6. The bishop on a2 will be also lost soon. 15...Qa5
(15...e6?? 16.Bf6 Qb6 17.Qd2) 16.e4! e6 17.Qf3!+–

b2) 9...d5! Maybe the best choice for Black. 10.cxd5 Qxd5 11.Nfd2 f5 12.Nc3 Qxd4 13.Ndxe4 Qxd1 14.Rfxd1 fxe4
15.Bxe4 Be6= with equal chances;
10.Qc2 Bf5??
11.g4 Ng3 12.gxf5 Nxf1 13.d5! I got this once in an open tournament in a slightly different way and won easily.

9...Bf5 10.e3 Nf6?!

I don’t like to criticize the World Championship challenger, but ...Nf6 looks way too passive. Now White can
develop in the most active way. I guess Caruana was afraid of Nh4 getting the pair of bishops, but this wouldn’t be
too fearsome.
10...Rc8 11.Nh4?! (11.g4 Be6 12.Nbd2 d5 This move is very often important for Black, attacking the center.
13.Nxe4 dxe4 14.Ng5 cxd4 15.Bxe4 dxe3 16.Bxg7 exf2+ 17.Rxf2 Kxg7 18.Qf3∞
...with a complicated position.) 11...cxd4 12.Nxf5 gxf5 13.exd4 d5= With the weakness of d4, Black needn’t be
afraid of these exchanges.

11.Nc3

I often found myself in similar positions and preferred d5 here, gaining more space.
11.d5 Nb4 12.a3 Na6 13.Qe2² with Nbd2 and e4 coming

11...cxd4 12.Nxd4 Bd7 13.Qe2

Now we have a normal position and Black has lost a lot of time with ...Ne4–f6 and ...Bf5–d7

13...a6 14.Rfd1 Rc8 15.Rac1 Qa5 16.a3

White only makes normal moves but his advantage increases.

16...Rfe8 17.b4 Qc7 18.Nb3

Now ideas with Nd5 are in the air.

18...Qb8 19.c5 Be6

20.Nd4 Nxd4 21.exd4 Bb3 22.Re1 e5?

Now matters becomes worse, but Black was always under pressure. A very unpleasant situation, especially in a rapid
game.
22...d5² It was necessary instead to close the center.

23.dxe5 Rxe5?

Normally one mistake never comes alone!

23...dxc5 24.f4± This was better, but of course also not nice for Black. After the game move, however, it is lost.

24.Ne4

Winning the exchange.

24...Rxe4 25.Bxe4

The rest is easy.

25...Be6 26.Bg2 dxc5 27.Be5 Qa7 28.bxc5 Rxc5 29.Bd4 Nd7 30.Bxc5 Nxc5 31.Red1 h5 32.Bd5 b5 33.Qe3

This looked like an easy game for Kramnik!

1–0

The next game was played by me in the Dutch Team Championships.

The teams play over 10 boards, and up to 15 minutes before the match it is not clear which opponent will be yours.
Normally it makes no sense to prepare against all 10 possible opponents. This rule makes it easier for players like
me to play their normal repertoire and have some fun.

4
Daniel Hausrath (2507)
Lars Ootes (2340)
Netherlands 2012

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.b3 Bg7 4.Bb2 d6 5.d4

These double-fianchetto structures can also be called anti-Grünfeld, or as in this game anti-King’s Indian.
Both types of players want to get a dynamic battle with attacking chances, but this is nearly impossible.

5...c5 6.Bg2 cxd4 7.Nxd4

7...d5 8.0-0 0-0 9.c4 dxc4 10.bxc4

This ‘tabiya’ — or main starting position — was discussed in detail in the first volume of Avrukh’s masterpiece
covering 1.d4. Of course, his move order was a bit different and he came to this position via the Grünfeld. The book
was published nearly one year before this game was played and I had certainly taken a deep look at the resulting
positions. But as often in a chess career, it was also necessary to remember the details at the board. Sometimes you
analyze variations but get them only once in 10 years.
I encounter this problem very often in the German Bundesliga. My repertoire is definitely not bad, but it is small in
comparison to regular-playing professionals.
At times my opponents play a sideline which is not that dangerous, but I have to remember the details at the board
and need a lot of time. Sometimes I solve the problems and sometimes not.
Of course, it is very tough to lose and nobody likes this, but nowadays it is much easier to calm down after a game.
If you come home and see your smiling kids, everything is fine. Naturally, sometimes I miss my lost rating points.
This is the trend of modern times. The players try variations which have small nuances and force the opponent to
find a few accurate moves. Sometimes such games are disappointing for the fans, because both players only make
theoretical moves and then draw their game.
But the point is that none of the players know which variation will appear on the board and they have to remember
or refresh a lot of lines. Everybody who still tries to learn some theory understands this.

10...Qb6 11.Qb3 Nfd7 12.e3

In this game it was completely different, because I was sitting on the right side of the board.
My opponent was definitely out of book and taking his time. I only had to remember my own — and Avrukh’s —
analyses.
12...Nc6?!

The better choice is 12...e5!

13.Nb5 Nc5 14.Qa3 Be6 15.Nd2 Rd8 16.Bc3 Rd7 17.Rab1 Bf5 Here it is not easy to find something better than the
following perpetual: 18.Ba5 Qa6 19.Qxc5 Qxa5 20.Qc8+ Bf8 21.Ne4 Re7
22.Nf6+ Kg7 23.Nh5+=

13.Nc3!

Brilliantly heading directly into an endgame a pawn down, but White gets a lot of activity and strong play, as we
will soon see.

13...Nxd4 14.exd4 Qxb3

a) 14...Bxd4?? 15.Nd5 Qxb3 16.Nxe7++–;

b) 14...Qxd4? 15.Rad1 Qf6 16.Rfe1!± with many active possibilities.

15.axb3 Bxd4 16.Rfd1

Activating the last piece with tempo! The a1-rook was introduced to the game after the exchange on b3 and the
resulting opened a-file.

16...Bf6 17.Ra2!

A very nice multifunctional move, protecting the bishop on b2 to allow Nd5 and also preparing to double rooks later
on. It was discussed by Avrukh and I had to remember all the details at the board.
The good thing was that I had the possibility to do this on my opponent’s time. In an age when the time control is
getting faster and faster, it is good practical advice to think on your opponent’s time and save your own time for the
critical positions.

17...Kg7 18.Nd5 Bxb2 19.Rxb2 e6 20.Nc7 Rb8

Up to this point I had only taken just over 10 minutes, while my opponent was already down to 20 minutes. As so
often, the first move you make which is not ‘in the book’, is a wrong one. I just wanted to play quickly and made the
next move by following my intuition. But the main question was and should always be: “What is my opponent’s
threat?” I always tell this to my students, but why the hell am I not following this rule?
Of course, Black wants to play ...a5 and this would improve his structure.
His threat was to block b4 and get an outpost on c5 for his knight. Then develop the bishop via b7 and everything
would be fine.

21.Nb5?

21.b4!² followed by c5 with plenty of pressure on the queenside. It takes away Black’s development option and
forces him to be creative in searching for squares for his pieces.

21...a5!
Now the position is equal and Black should hold, but the clock becomes a factor and, of course, even an equal
position has potential. You can often see this in games from Carlsen, who sometimes squeezes something out of
nothing.

22.Nd6 Nc5 23.b4

This is the main difference: to make some progress I have to exchange one pair of pawns, which definitely helps
Black.

23...axb4 24.Rxb4 Kf6 25.Rb5 b6 26.Rdb1 Nd7 27.Bc6 Ke7 28.Ne4 Ba6?

After 28...Rd8 the game should end in a draw, but in time trouble my opponent gave me a second chance.

29.Bxd7 Bxb5

Sad necessity.
29...Kxd7 30.Nc5+ bxc5 31.Rxb8 Rxb8 32.Rxb8±

30.Bxb5 Rfd8 31.h4 Rd4 32.Ng5 f6 33.Nf3 Rd6 34.Ra1 Rb7 35.Kg2 Rc7 36.Ra2 Rd8

Black can only wait and hope that White doesn’t find the correct plan.

37.Nd2 Rd4 38.Nf1 Rd8 39.Ne3 Kf7 40.Ra6 Rb8?

The mistake comes at move forty. Black should instead defend actively with ...Rd6

41.Nc2 f5?

One mistake rarely comes alone. After this move, White is nearly winning. The e5-square becomes important. As
Boris Gelfand wrote in his really brilliant series about “decision making in chess”, most mistakes happen after the
time control at moves 41–42.

42.Nb4 Kf6 43.Nc6 Rbb7 44.Ra8 Rd7 45.Rf8+ Rf7 46.Re8

46...Rbc7 47.Kf3 Rfd7 48.Rb8 Rb7 49.Rf8+ Rf7 50.Ra8 Rfd7 51.Ke3 Rd1

52.Nd4?

Now Black gets back into the game. I don’t know why, but I didn’t want to play f4, which incidentally would have
been the correct choice some moves earlier as well.

52...e5 53.Ne2 e4 54.Nf4 Rb1 55.Bc6 Rf7 56.Bd5 Rd7 57.Rf8+ Ke5??
In time trouble, Black makes the final mistake!
57...Kg7 58.Rg8+ Kf6 59.h5²

58.Re8+ Kf6 59.Re6+ Kg7 60.h5 Rb3+ 61.Kd4 b5 62.c5 e3 63.Rxe3 Rb4+ 64.Ke5

Definitely not a brilliant game, but an interesting one from the theoretical point of view and hopefully containing
some interesting and practical advice for the reader.

1–0

5
Daniel Hausrath (2528)
Petar Popovic (2496)
Germany 2009

This game was a very important one for my German team. I was very happy to get another game with the Double
Fianchetto.

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.b3 Bg7 4.Bb2 b6

This is also played very often. Black wants a symmetrical structure, but as usual in these type of positions, the player
who goes first can get an edge.

5.Bg2 Bb7 6.0-0 c5 7.c4 0-0 8.Nc3 d6

In my praxis I have faced almost every possible move in this position.

a) 8...d5 9.Nxd5 Nxd5 10.Bxg7 Kxg7 11.cxd5 Qxd5 12.d4 cxd4 13.Qxd4+ Qxd4 14.Nxd4 Bxg2 15.Kxg2=

This endgame looks nearly equal, but it is no pleasure to play it with Black and the master of this type of position,
Ulf Andersson, would be very happy.
b) 8...Nc6 9.d4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 Bxg2 11.Kxg2 cxd4 12.Qxd4² White has more space and some easy moves to hand,
such as developing the rooks and Nd5;
c) 8...Na6 9.Rc1 e6 10.e3² followed by Qe2, Rfd1 and d4. Of course, White’s edge is not so big, but such structures
are easier to play and Black has to be careful.

9.d4 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Bxg2 11.Kxg2

Exchanging the white-squared bishops is not dangerous, because Black won’t be able to launch an attack, and the
light squares on the queenside are equally vulnerable.

11...Qc8
12.e3!?

The computer likes f3 here with the idea being to play e4, Nc2– e3 later. But to me, f3 looks a bit ugly and I like the
resulting queenless endgame a lot. Perhaps I have studied too many games of Smyslov and Andersson!

12...Qb7+ 13.Qf3 Qxf3+ 14.Kxf3 Rc8 15.Rac1 Nbd7 16.Ke2

The good thing in such endings is that your opponent can only wait and do nothing. Many players want to play
dynamic chess and this is not so easy against such an opening. White has a clear plan and can try to improve on the
kingside.

16...Kf8 17.f4 a6 18.h3 h5 19.Rg1?!

The most exact move order was to start with Kf3 and Rfd1. The rook should defend the square d3 and the king is the
one to support the pawns.
19...Nc5 20.g4

20...e5?!

The first active move, and a bad one. Black shouldn’t play in the center; he is merely weakening his structure.
20...hxg4 21.hxg4 Nfe4 22.g5 Nxc3+ 23.Bxc3 b5=

21.fxe5 dxe5 22.Nf3 hxg4 23.hxg4 e4 24.Ng5

This was the position Black was targeting with...e5, but now it becomes clear that e4 is a weakness and Nd3 is no
real threat, as seen by the further course of the game.

24...Nd3 25.Ba3+ Kg8 26.Rcf1±

Now Black is nearly lost. The pawns on e4 and f7 are much too weak and it is impossible to protect them.
26...Ne5 27.Ncxe4 Nxe4 28.Nxe4 Nxc4?!

Trying to confuse me. This very often works, but this position is easy enough even for me.

29.bxc4 Rxc4 30.Nf6+ Bxf6 31.Rxf6 Rc2+ 32.Kf3 Rxa2 33.Bd6

The king becomes the main problem. Otherwise it wouldn’t be so simple.

33...Re8 34.Bc7 b5 35.Bb6

The bishop comes to d4 and my opponent had seen enough.

1–0

6
Daniel Hausrath (2452)
 Maarten Solleveld (2484)
Almelo 2004

1.Nf3

It is not my intention to commentate only on my own games and offer the reader a ‘My best games’ collection, but
this variation is an important one and should be discussed also. It is definitely easier to annotate one’s own games
and normally you know many more details about the thinking process during the game.

1...Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.b3 Bg7 4.Bb2 d6 5.d4 c5 6.c4

6.Bg2 cxd4 7.Nxd4 d5= is the other main option, as seen in my game against Ootes.

6...Ne4 7.Bg2 Qa5+ 8.Nfd2 Nxd2 9.Bc3

9...Qb6!

I analysed this line in the late nineties together with GM Schebler, IM Sielecki and IM Kern. We analysed it the
classical way, without an engine, and each of us held a different opinion. The conclusion was that the resulting
positions are definitely quite unclear. Later I played this line as Black with good results as well. Moves other than
...Qb6 are definitely not that good.
9...Qc7 10.Qxd2 cxd4 11.Bxd4 Bxd4 12.Qxd4 Qa5+ 13.Nc3 0-0 14.Rc1²

10.dxc5 Nxb1 11.Bxg7

11.cxb6?? Bxc3+ 12.Kf1 Bxa1 13.Qxb1 Bg7 14.bxa7 Rxa7–+

11...Qb4+ 12.Kf1
12...Nd2+?

Black should start with ...Rg8 to prevent White from bringing the bishop to e3. I guess my opponent was afraid of
Bh6, but analysis shows that this would be a better way for Black.
12...Rg8 13.Bh6 (13.Bb2 Nd2+ 14.Kg1 Nxc4 15.Qd4 Na6! 16.bxc4 Nxc5³ With the knight on c5 everything seems
fine for Black. He is a pawn up and has the better structure. Of course, White has some compensation with the pair
of bishops, but is it enough?) 13...Na3 14.cxd6 (14.Qc1 Qxc5 15.Bd2 Nc6 16.b4 Qxc4 17.Qxa3 Nd4µ I had this
position once with Black in an open tournament in Gelsenkirchen 2001 against Nogly and won comfortably.)
14...Qxd6 15.Qxd6 exd6 16.Rd1

16...a5!³ with the idea of freeing the knight with ...a4. The computer gives Black a slight advantage here, but there is
a lot of space for your own analysis and it is definitely a very interesting position with chances for both sides.

13.Kg1 Rg8 14.Bd4!

This is the difference. The bishop will be much better placed on e3.

14...dxc5 15.Be3 Nxc4 16.bxc4 Nc6

Up to this point we had both played quickly.

I am not sure at all about the time control, but it was something like 1 hour 45 minutes for 40 moves and 15 minutes
for the rest. It was a weekend tournament with three rounds a day.

17.a3?!

I thought for a long time about this move and, as often happens, it was the first small mistake.
17.Rb1! Qxc4 18.Bd5 Qa6 19.Qb3² with a lot of pressure and good compensation for White. It is always a sign:
White is two pawns down and the engine gives him an edge.

17...Qxc4 18.Rc1 Qa6 19.Bxc5 Be6

Now Black consolidates and has better options.

20.Qd2 f6 21.Qh6 Kf7 22.Bf3 Rh8 23.Kg2 Rac8 24.Rhd1?

Now it is getting worse.

In such a complex position it is not easy to understand all the details. It was better to activate the rooks starting with
Rc3, but anyway, it was easier to play for Black.

24...b6 25.Be3?

One mistake normally never comes alone.

It was necessary to prevent ...Ne5.
25.Bd4 Nxd4 26.Rxd4 Rxc1 27.Qxc1³ Of course, here also White is fighting for the draw, but his chances would be
much better.
25...Ne5 26.Rxc8 Qxc8 27.Rc1 Qd7 28.Bf4 Nxf3 29.exf3 Qd3 30.Be3 Bd5

Black is winning, but time became a factor.

At the end it was business as usual and I was lucky to emerge with half a point.

31.Rc7 Bc4??

31...Qd1 32.Qf4 g5 33.Qf5 Be6 34.Qc2 Qxc2 35.Rxc2 Bd5–+

32.h4 Bd5 33.Rxe7+! Kxe7 34.Qg7+ Bf7 35.Qxh8 Qxa3?

Now white can push a bit.

35...h5=

36.Bh6 Qd3 37.Bg7 Bd5 38.Qf8+ Kd7 39.Qxf6 Qf5 40.Qc3 b5 41.Bh6 b4 42.Qe3 Kc6 43.Bf4 Qf7 44.Qd3 Qb7
45.Qc2+ Kd7 46.Qc5 b3 47.Qd6+ Ke8 48.Bg5 b2 49.Qd8+ Kf7 50.Qf6+ Ke8 51.Qd8+ Kf7 52.Qf6+ Ke8

Enough is enough.
At the end it was a game full of mistakes, but the opening discussion was very interesting.

½–½

The next game brilliantly depicts what happens if Black plays passively. It is also a typical Kramnik game from
modern days. He was playing lines outside the mainstream and developing new and fresh ideas. Sometimes he
overstepped the limit and played a bit too aggressively. As a fan I was suffering a lot at this point in his career.
When I first wrote these notes, he was losing against Anand in Wijk and playing such incredible moves like g4 and
Kf1 in the opening. Later it became clear that Kramnik would retire and just tried to play creative games in his last
tournament. For me it was sometimes a bit too much creativity.

7
Vladimir Kramnik (2803)
Anton Demchenko (2645)
Tbilisi 2017

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.b3 Bg7 4.Bb2 0-0 5.Bg2 d6 6.d4 Nbd7 7.0-0 Re8

Black is not playing very actively.

In many of my own games I was confronted with ...e5 directly.
7...e5 8.dxe5 Ng4 (8...Nxe5 9.Nxe5 dxe5 10.Bxe5²) 9.c4 Ngxe5 10.Nc3 Nxf3+ 11.exf3!² I remember that many
times in the past I had discussions with GM Schebler about taking on f3. I always liked to take with the pawn and
play f4 later. Normally Black has to play ...c6 to prevent Nd5, and the pawn on d6 becomes a weakness. Gerhard
was of the opinion that Black has to weaken his queenside anyway, and he didn’t want to create a doubled pawn. I
guess we were both quite successful with our attitude, but I am very proud that the computer gives exf3 a slightly
higher evaluation.

8.a4!?

A very interesting and surprising attempt, but Black has made a relatively passive move and so Kramnik tries to
exploit it by gaining some space on the queenside. I would prefer Nbd2, but maybe a4 is a bit more flexible.
8...Rb8?!

I understand that Black wanted to step away from the long diagonal and prevent against a5–a6 ideas, but ...Rb8
seems to be slightly artificial.
8...e5 9.dxe5 Ng4 10.a5 Ndxe5 11.Nxe5 Nxe5 12.Ra2²

9.c4

Usually I don’t like to play a4 and c4 together, because of the weakness on b4. Here it is a different story, since
Black has no real possibility of gaining access to this square.

9...e5 10.dxe5 Ng4

10...dxe5 11.Nxe5 Nc5! A very interesting idea: Black makes use of the weak b3-pawn. As I told you earlier, I
wouldn’t play a4 and c4 together. 12.Nd3 Nxd3 13.exd3 Bg4©

11.a5 dxe5 12.h3 Nh6

12...e4? 13.Bxg7 exf3 14.exf3 Nxf2 15.Qd4! Nd3 16.Bh6±

13.e4!

In chess you have to decide between advantages and disadvantages. Of course, White now has the weak square on
d4, but the misplaced knight on h6 carries the ‘higher weight’. Black has to play something like ...f6 or ...f5 to bring
the knight back into play and even then the weak square on d4 won’t be all that important.

13...f6 14.b4 Nf8 15.Nc3 Be6

15...c6 16.Qe2 Be6 17.Rfd1 Qc8 18.h4²

16.Qe2

When you have more space, in general you should avoid exchanges!
Soon Black is going to struggle to find good squares for his pieces.
16...Qc8 17.Kh2 Nf7 18.Rfd1 c6

19.Bc1!

The first question should always be: “What is the opponent threatening or doing?” If there isn’t anything, you can
have a look at finding better squares for your own pieces.
Vladimir brings his bishop to the more active e3-square and improves his position.

19...f5

Black wants to create some counterplay.

20.Be3 b6 21.axb6 axb6

22.Rac1!
At first sight it looks a bit strange to take the rook away from the open file, but on c1 he is protecting the knight and
also starts to threaten ideas with Nd5.

22...Qc7

23.Nd5! cxd5 24.cxd5 Qe7 25.dxe6 Nxe6

26.exf5!

When you have the bishop pair, you must open the position.

26...gxf5 27.Qb5!

It is important to play this position accurately and actively.

27...f4

27...e4? 28.Nh4 f4 29.Nf5 Qg5 30.gxf4 Nxf4 31.Bxe4! Rxe4 32.Rg1+–

28.gxf4 exf4 29.Rd7 Qf6 30.Bd2+–

The human way. Of course the computer takes on b6, but it is not necessary to give the opponent any counterplay.
White’s pieces are much better placed and Black’s position collapses automatically.

30...Rbc8 31.Rxc8 Rxc8 32.Qxb6

Winning a pawn. White’s pieces are perfectly posted and the exposed nature of Black’s king gives Kramnik a
winning advantage.

32...Rc2 33.Qb7 Bf8 34.Qe4 Qg6 35.Qd5 Qf6

36.h4!

All the pieces have to work together and now the bishop enters the game strongly. A very harmonious position.

36...Bg7 37.Bh3 Nf8 38.Rb7 h6 39.Bg4

39...Rb2 40.Bh5 Ng6 41.Bxg6 Qxg6 42.Rb8+ Bf8 43.Ne5 Rxd2

43...Qg7 44.Nd7+–

44.Rxf8+

The next day, Demchenko made a strange decision and offered a draw after just 10 moves and was therefore
knocked out of the World Cup.

1–0
 8
Daniel Hausrath (2502)
Chongsheng Zeng (2539)
Vlissingen 2018

This game was played last year in the final round of the tournament in Vlissingen. Vlissingen is a small city in the
Netherlands situated on the North Sea coast and I always connect this tournament to a holiday with my family.
The rounds normally start at 18.30 and it is possible to have a nice day with the family at the beach and play some
chess in the evening. For me it is very important to feel comfortable during a tournament and this is always the case
in Vlissingen.
I hadn’t lost a game during the first two tournaments I had played in Vlissingen, but last year I played a really
horrible game against the well-known Dutch IM and coach Herman Grooten. I played this game in the new
“Kranmik Style”, pushed the pawns with g4, g5 against a hedgehog, and then received the ‘feedback’ on the black
and weakened squares. But I fought back well, and in the last round I had a great chance to win the tournament with
a victory.

Daniel Hausrath with family, October 2019. (Photo by Ralf Lange)

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6

I was positively surprised to see this move, because my score with the Double Fianchetto is quite good. During the
tournament I also won a nice game against an Indian IM with this line.

3.b3 d6 4.d4 Bg7 5.Bb2 0-0 6.Bg2 c6

Before this move my opponent took his time, thinking for some 20 minutes.
This was also a bit surprising, because it shouldn’t have been a secret that I play this line. But naturally I was not
unhappy with this element of the game.

7.0-0 a5!?

A very interesting try.

Black wants to create a weakness on the queenside.

8.c4!

It is not necessary to stop Black with a3 or a4. A white pawn on a4 would only weaken the square b4, and after a3
the c4-square would become a target.
a) 8.a3 a4 9.b4 d5=;
b) 8.a4 d5 9.Nbd2 Bf5=

8...d5?!

In my opinion this is a small inaccuracy, because the resulting structure is more comfortable for White. Black wants
to get a structure from the Grünfeld opening.

9.cxd5! Nxd5

After ...cxd5 the question would be: what is the pawn on a5 doing? The answer is: only weakening the squares b5
and b6. In the game, White gets the center without problems, but for me it was a sign that my opponent wanted to
win also, because he was searching for complications.

10.Nc3 Nb6 11.Rc1

Maybe not the best move, but I wanted to play quickly and make normal developing moves. In a practical sense it
was more than okay.

11...Bf5

He wanted to provoke e4, but I was still waiting with this.

12.h3

Taking the g4-square from the bishop.

12...Na6 13.e4 Be6 14.Qe2 a4!?

A practical decision which shows Black’s ambitions.

15.Nxa4 Nxa4 16.bxa4 Bh6 17.Ra1 Qd6 18.Rfd1 Rfd8 19.d5!

I wanted to win and started concrete calculations. During a game you can make many moves intuitively, but at some
point you should start to calculate. It is very important to pick the right moment for calculations. I thought that the
time had come, and at first I was correct with this assessment.

19...cxd5 20.exd5 Bxd5 21.Ng5!

This was the point.

Black faces big problems with the pin on the d-file.

21...Nb4

After this move my Chinese opponent had only a few minutes on the clock and this was the reason I myself now
made a quick move, but this is a typical mistake. Take your time when your opponent is in time trouble. It is much
more annoying for him to wait for your next move instead of moving directly. You can make quick moves only
when they are forced. I sensed that I had good winning prospects, but after Ng5 I stopped playing concretely and
started to play obvious moves again.
22.a3?!

The first step in the wrong direction.

22.h4! with a nearly winning advantage! It is not easy to find good moves for Black. 22...Bxg5 23.hxg5 e6 24.Qd2±

22...Bxg5 23.axb4 e6 24.Qg4?!

I was much too optimistic here. I thought that White must be easily winning.
24.b5!± White has the time to improve his position on the queenside.

24...Be7 25.Bxd5 exd5 26.Qd4 f6 27.b5

Of course, here also White is better, but I had to win the game again. And also, my time advantage was getting
smaller and smaller.

27...Kf7?
27...Qd7 28.Kg2 Rac8 29.Rac1 Kf7± would have been the correct move order.

28.Qe3?

Repaying the compliment.

After 28.Re1! Qd7? 29.Re3+– everything works fine and Black doesn’t have time to consolidate.

28...Qd7 29.h4 Rac8 30.Bd4 Rc4 31.Qf3 Ra8 32.Bb2?

Now time trouble took control of the game.

32...Raxa4?

32...Rd8=

33.Rxa4 Rxa4 34.Rxd5 Qe6 35.Re5 Qc4 36.h5?

36.b6!!+–
I didn’t have the time to understand how good my position was again. Black cannot defend against the idea of taking
on e7 and b7.

36...Ra2?? 37.Bc3??

Here the tournament win disappeared. Sad news, but with only two and a half minutes on the clock I panicked a little
and failed to find the winning “zwischenzug”.
37.Re4!!

37...Qxb5 38.hxg6+ hxg6 39.Rxe7+ Kxe7 40.Qxf6+ Kd7 41.Qf7++– The point, a2 is hanging.

37...Rc2 38.hxg6+ hxg6 39.Rxe7+ Kxe7 40.Qxf6+

Now it is only good enough for a perpetual.

40...Kd7 41.Qg7+ Kc8 42.Qf8+ Kd7 43.Qg7+ Kc8 44.Qf8+ Kd7 ½–½
A very interesting and tough game. Both players wanted to win and in the end it was a fair draw, but of course I was
a bit frustrated because of the missed opportunities.

9
Vladislav Artemiev (2709)
David Navara (2738)
Caleta 2019

This is a game involving one of the upcoming rising stars, Vladislav Artemiev, a player of the new Russian
generation. This game was played one day after “big Vlad” had announced his retirement following the tournament
in Wijk aan Zee. It was not only a sad day for me, but for the whole chess world. Vladimir was and still is one of my
heroes and I will definitely miss his games. Now some of his later decisions at the board make a bit more sense,
because he made all those moves knowing that his career was coming to an end. He described that he only made the
losing move, Ba2 against Shankland, because he wanted to continue his last game a bit longer. Normally he would
have forced the draw.
Coming back to the game from Gibraltar, it was a very important one for the outcome of the tournament. With this
win Vladislav crowned his brilliant performance and with a victory in the final round against Yu, he scored a
fantastic 8,5 out of 10. I viewed this game with mixed feelings, because David has been a team mate of mine for
many years in Germany and he has also stayed over a lot of times in my flat. He is a very friendly and nice guy. Of
course, he is also a genius chess-wise and speaks many languages fluently. In this game he had the problem of
playing against one of the best openings...

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.b3

Artemiev has played this move order mostly in rapid games, but also scored an overwhelming 9,5 out of 11 with this
line.

3...d5 4.Bb2 c5 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.c4 d4 7.b4!

Otherwise Black will prevent this with ...Nc6.

7...0-0 8.bxc5 Ne4 9.0-0 Nxc5 10.d3

This structure always reminds me of the Volga/Benko gambit, but without sacrificing a pawn. It is quite interesting
that the computer still slightly prefers Black.

10...e5 11.Ba3 Nba6

11...Qa5 This is the move I faced very often in my own practice. 12.Nfd2! This is always an important move. I have
also tried Bxc5 with good results, but to exchange the bishop directly is not the best option. 12...Nba6 13.Nb3 Qc7
14.N1d2= with easier play for White.

12.Nfd2!

12...Re8 13.Ne4
I guess that the maneuver Nfd2– e4 needs some explanation: It is very important for White to exchange the knight
on f3 against his counterpart on c5, because otherwise it would be possible for Black to start a kingside attack, for
example with ...f5 and ...e4. White would face ‘space’ problems and problems with his knight on f3. Also, the g2-
bishop becomes a big one without the blockade by his own knight.

13...Bf8 14.Nxc5 Nxc5 15.Nd2 Rb8

15...Qa5?! 16.Bxc5 Qxc5 (16...Bxc5 17.Nb3 Qc7 18.Nxc5 Qxc5 19.Rb1²) 17.Rb1 Qc7 18.Bd5!² The bishop would
be a monster on d5, attacking b7 and f7. White would get good attacking chances with ideas such as e3 or f4, and
also the knight will come to the central square e4.

16.Rb1 b6 17.Bxc5 Bxc5 18.Qa4 Bg4 19.Bf3 Bh3

20.Qxa7!?
A very brave decision.
White handles this position in the most creative and active way. Sacrificing an exchange in such a closed position is
not the biggest risk and Black gets pressured as much as possible.
On 20.Rfe1 Qc7= Black has no problems and can improve his position.

20...Bxf1 21.Kxf1 Re7 22.Qa4 Qd7 23.Rb5

23...Qa7?!

Up to this point David had played a very strong game, but from now on he loses control. The queen will be
misplaced on a7.

24.Qb3 Kg7 25.a4 Ra8??

I am not sure what exactly went wrong here with David. He definitely has not blundered the exchange. Something
went wrong psychologically-speaking. I think he felt the pressure and saw only bad positions in the alternatives.
Maybe he also overestimated his counterplay on the a-file.
25...f5 26.Bd5 Ree8 27.Kg2= White definitely has enough compensation for the exchange, but more?
26.Bxa8 Qxa8 27.f3 Ra7 28.Ne4 Rxa4 29.Nxc5 bxc5 30.Rxc5 Ra3

31.Qb4! Ra4

Maybe David wanted to sacrifice on d3 in his calculations and thought the resulting position would be a draw by
perpetual, but it isn’t.
31...Rxd3 32.exd3 Qxf3+ 33.Ke1 Qh1+ 34.Kd2 Qxh2+ 35.Kd1 Qxg3 36.Kc2+–

32.Qb6 Ra1+ 33.Kf2 e4

34.Rd5!

Now everything is under control.

34...e3+ 35.Kg2 Qa7 36.Qxa7 Rxa7 37.f4

The last finesse.

37.Rxd4? Ra2 38.Kf1 Ra1+ 39.Kg2 Ra2 is also winning, but a much more difficult task!

1–0

10
Daniel Hausrath (2493)
Milos Stankovic (2451)
Germany 2019
This was a game played in the German Bundesliga. Again I was quite happy to get the classical move order of the
Double Fianchetto.

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.b3 Bg7 4.Bb2 0-0 5.Bg2 d6 6.d4 a5!?

A very interesting attempt.

Black wants to provoke a weakness on the queenside.

7.c4 a4 8.bxa4?!

I don’t know if the readers know that feeling when sometimes your fingers do different things than your head
expects. It is incredible, but I guess I just wanted to show the reader how you shouldn’t play in such positions!
8.0-0 axb3 9.axb3 Rxa1 10.Bxa1 c6 11.Nc3= would have been one possible line.
It is definitely not a good idea to take the pawn on a4 from the structural point of view. The other thing is that this
decision took me nearly 20 minutes. Some things in life and chess are not explainable. White had many candidate
moves, such as castling or Nbd2. A good friend of mine, GM Daniel Fridman, told me that he wouldn’t even think
about taking the pawn. Maybe that is the difference between me and a strong 2600 GM.

8...Nbd7 9.Nc3 Nb6 10.Nd2?!

10.Qb3 White should start with Qb3 and hope for the best. But before taking the pawn, I saw this line with Nd2 and
played it quickly.

10...Nfd7 11.e3 e5 12.0-0

In my calculations I thought that White is better here. Black needs a lot of time to regain the pawn and White is
better developed, but...

12...exd4 13.exd4 c5!

This was the move I had completely missed.

Black opens the position under his conditions; fighting for the initiative and getting access to the e5- and c5-squares.

14.a5!?

After thinking for some 20 minutes again, I came to the conclusion that giving away the pawn would be the best
choice. The idea is to gain a tempo with Nb3 in some positions, and also Black shouldn’t be allowed the opportunity
to take the pawn on a4 with tempo.
14.Rc1 may be the easiest solution, protecting c4 indirectly and freeing the a1-square for the bishop. 14...cxd4
15.Nb5 Nxa4 16.Bxd4=

14...Rxa5 15.Rb1?

My idea was to sacrifice a pawn for the initiative, but objectively speaking it was not the best option.

15...cxd4 16.Nb5

I thought that the weaknesses on b7, d6 and d4 would compensate for the lost pawn. Maybe it is a correct
assessment, but the only one who has to solve problems is White.

16...Nc5 17.Nb3 Rxa2 18.Bxd4 Bxd4 19.N3xd4 Ra4?

19...Ra6! Protecting the sixth rank. 20.Rb4 Nbd7 21.Nc3 Ne5³

20.Nb3 Rb4 21.Na5 Rxb1 22.Qxb1 Nba4?

22...Nbd7 The knight wouldn’t be pinned on the queenside and Black still has chances to make some progress.

23.Qb4

Now White has everything under control.

23...Qb6?!

Another incorrect move.

The queen will soon prove to be misplaced on b6.

24.Rd1 Rd8 25.h4!

If you analyze a lot of Kasparov games, you will discover that every time when there was no possibility to activate
some of his pieces, he pushed his h-pawn (Harry). But it definitely always made sense. Here also White is improving
his position on the kingside, gaining some space for the king and installing the possibility to push the h-pawn to h6.
The game has taken a positive trend for White.

25...Bf5?

The wrong square.

It was more important to attack the c-pawn.
25...Be6 26.Nxb7 Nxb7 27.Qxa4 Nc5=

26.Nxb7 Nxb7 27.Qxa4 Nc5 28.Qa3 Be4 29.Qe3

Normally White could play for a win without risk. However, it was the first time that I had a better position, and in
the match we were leading by one point and I thought that the draw would be good enough. But, of course, I should
try to win here, because the game has turned in my favour. I was a bit low on time and didn’t realise how good my
position was. In the end, the match ended 4–4.
The game might have continued as follows:

29...Bxg2 30.Kxg2 Qc6+ 31.Qf3 Qxf3+ 32.Kxf3 Nb7 33.Ke4

and with such a good and active king, White would have excellent winning chances, but...

½–½

The final game of this chapter is a game involving another hero of mine: Ulf Andersson.
The Swedish Grandmaster reached his highest level at the beginning of the eighties — a ranking of number 4 in the
world! He had — and definitely still has — a very clean, positional style and is a master of prophylaxis. I learned
and adopted a lot of his style.
I remember two rapid games against him a few years ago. I always thought during the games that the positions were
dry and completely equal, but with every following move I understood that this was not the case. He is a master of
squeezing something out of nothing. At the end of those rapid games I got the draws with Black, but had to resist
some pressure in endgames.
Peter Leko once described one of his defeats against Ulf with the following words: “I had to resign after 91 moves,
but only without understanding what I have done wrong”. He only had the feeling that his main problem was that he
had to defend his endgame against none other than Ulf Andersson.
For every reader who wants to learn something about Ulf, I recommend the book by IM Kern and FM Kaufeld.

11
Ulf Andersson (2635)
Krunoslav Hulak (2515)
Wijk aan Zee 1983

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.g3 g6 4.b3 Bg7 5.Bb2 Nc6 6.Bg2 0-0 7.0-0 d6 8.d4 cxd4

8...Ne4 This is the main alternative, which I analysed earlier in the game Kramnik-Caruana.

9.Nxd4 Bd7 10.Nc3 a6 11.Rc1 Qa5

12.e3

White protects the center and prevents ideas starting with ...Qh5.

12...Rfc8 13.a3 Rab8

14.Re1!

Such moves make the difference between a “normal” chess player and Ulf Andersson. He puts the rook on a
potentially open e-file, or we could also say that he is playing prophylactically against the exchange of knights on
d4.

14...Bg4 15.Qd2 Qh5 16.Nd5 Nxd5

17.cxd5

Sometimes it is better to take back on d5 with the bishop, but here Black would get some counterplay starting with
...Ne5.
17.Bxd5?! Ne5 18.f4 Nd7=

17...Nxd4

17...Ne5 18.f4 Nd7 19.e4² Now it is a different story. White can easily push his central pawns and has much more
space.

18.Bxd4 Bxd4 19.Qxd4 Bf3

20.Rc4!

White gets the c-file, and with it a slight advantage.

The engines give this position as equal, but everybody who has had to play such an endgame from the black side
knows that it is laden with suffering, especially against Ulf.

20...Bxg2 21.Kxg2
21...Qf5?

The first real mistake.

It was much better to exchange the rooks directly: 21...Rxc4 22.Qxc4 b5! 23.Qc6 Qe5 This is the point: Black gets
some counterplay against the white king, but from the human viewpoint it looks a bit strange to give White access to
the c6-square. 24.e4 (24.Rd1 Qe4+ 25.Kg1 b4=) 24...f5∞

22.Rec1 Qd7 23.e4 f6

23...Rxc4 24.Qxc4 Re8 25.a4 e6 26.dxe6 Qxe6 27.Qxe6 Rxe6 28.Rc7! b5 29.axb5 axb5 30.f3²

24.Qc3 Rxc4 25.Qxc4 Kf7 26.h3!

A typical “Ulfesque” move. I am very proud of this word creation, but what does it mean? It describes a typical
prophylactic move which prevents against an eventual ...Qg4 and gives White the option to play f4 one day. It is
always difficult to find moves which give yourself better possibilities and on the other hand stop the opponent’s
potential options. The mastery of prophylaxis. This you can learn by studying the games of Ulf Andersson and, of
course, also Anatoly Karpov, to name but two.

26...f5?
A typical ‘human’ mistake.
Instead of waiting passively, Black wants to get some active counterplay, but it is not the type of position where you
can play actively. This is exactly the style of Ulf Andersson: giving the opponent no real chance of activity. It
always looks so easy in his games, but everybody knows that this is definitely the art of positional chess.

27.Rc3!

Gaining the possibility of switching along the third rank and attacking the now-weakened black king.

27...fxe4 28.Qxe4 Rf8 29.a4 Kg7 30.g4

Preventing ...Rf5.

30...Rf6?
31.Qd4!

Now Black has big problems and two weaknesses.

He has to defend against g5, and also against Qb6 followed by Rc7.

31...g5 32.f4 h6 33.f5 Qd8 34.Qb4

The kingside is fixed and White wins on the queen’s wing.

34...Rf7 35.Rc4

No chance to get some activity.

35.Qxb7? e6 This is also good for White, but why should he give his opponent some counterplay?

35...Kh7 36.Qc3 Qg8 37.Rc7 b5 38.axb5 axb5

39.Qd3 Kh8 40.Qxb5 Qa8 41.Qc4 Qa2+ 42.Qc2 Qa6 43.b4 Kg8 44.Qe4 Qa2+ 45.Rc2 Qb3
46.b5! h5

46...Qxb5 47.Qe6 and the threat of Rc8 decides the day.

47.Qc4

“Ulfesque”
47.f6! with an inevitable mate.

47...Qb1 48.Qe4 Qb3

Second try!

49.gxh5 Kg7 50.f6+

A typical game in the style of Ulf Andersson. The Double Fianchetto perfectly suits his game. Hopefully I have
given you a good impression of the possibilities White gets by playing the Double Fianchetto against the King’s
Indian or Grünfeld openings. Of course, it would be possible to fill a whole book with games like this. But as I wrote
earlier, it is not my intention to reduce this book to just those lines. Instead, I would like to invite the reader to the
next chapter, which includes Double Fianchetto positions against the Dutch.

1–0

From the left: Ivan Sokolov, Jan Timman and Ulf Andersson. (Photo by Frans Peeters)
 CHAPTER 2.
DOUBLE FIANCHETTO STRUCTURES AGAINST THE DUTCH

In this chapter I will try to explain to readers some games and structures resulting from the Double Fianchetto
against the Dutch. I will recommend positions with an early b4. In my early years I played these structures very
often and successfully. I learned a lot from the games of the Polish GM Alexander Wojtkiewicz, who used this
opening frequently in open tournaments.
The main idea behind the structures arising from an early b4 is to avoid the normal Leningrad set-up. Black
normally wants to push ...e5 and attack with ...h6, ...g5 and ...Qe8–h5. This works well with White playing d5 and
closing the center, but here White will have the pawn on d4 and the bishop on b2, controlling the e5-square. The rule
says that you can start an attack on the wing with a closed center, but here it is the other way around. Players of the
black pieces have to find a different plan and this is usually not an easy task for a player who has his standard plans
and motifs.

12
Arkadij Rotstein (2502)
Thomas Huesmann (2223)
Paderborn 2011

1.Nf3

The first game in this chapter is for sure not a perfect game, but one which shows quite well how quickly Black can
experience a disaster.

1...f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.b4

The most accurate way to get the preferred positions.

4.0-0 Bg7 5.d4 0-0 6.b4 Nc6! 7.b5 Na5 8.Qd3 d5=

4...Bg7 5.Bb2 0-0 6.c4

6.0-0 Nc6 7.b5 Na5 8.d3!² This is the reason why White should only play d4 after Black has played ...d6 himself. He
would lose a tempo with ...d6–d5 in those positions with a knight on a5. Also, White has the option of playing d3
here after an early ...Nc6 and the knight will be misplaced on a5, without a good square on c4 for example.

6...d6 7.d4 Ne4 8.Nbd2 c5!?

A very interesting try. Black wants to attack the center directly and play this type of position in a very dynamic way.

9.bxc5 dxc5 10.0-0 Nxd2?

But now Black goes wrong as early as is possible. It was necessary to keep the tension, but with this exchange he
helps White a lot. Now White is much better developed and the bishop on b2 is protected, which means that White is
threatening d5 directly. White would be almost winning with a pawn on d5. A structure with pawns on c5 and f5 is
only playable for Black with a closed center, but here White always has the opportunity to open it with e4, and Black
cannot play ...e5 himself because of the resulting supported passed pawn on d5.

11.Qxd2 cxd4
12.Bxd4?

Oops. White also makes an immediate mistake, after which Black can equalize.
12.Nxd4 e5 Maybe he didn’t want Black to play ...e5, but now White would get an overwhelming position with a
possible kingside attack: 13.Bd5+ Kh8 14.Nf3 Nc6 15.Ba3 Re8 16.Ng5 Be6 17.Nxe6 Rxe6 18.Rab1±

12...e5??

Maybe Black missed the intermediate check on d5, but this move is definitely losing. It is kind of tragic, because
Black could have equalized with the simple ...Nc6.
12...Nc6 13.Bxg7 Qxd2 14.Nxd2 Kxg7 15.Rab1 Rd8=

13.Nxe5 Qe7

13...Bxe5 14.Bd5++–

14.Qb2 Bxe5 15.Bxe5 Nc6 16.Bc3 Be6 17.Rab1 Rf7

18.Qb5

With the deadly threat to take on c6 followed by Qe5.

18...a6 19.Qb6 h5 20.Rb2 Kh7 21.Rfb1 Qd6?

21...Bxc4 22.Qxb7 Qxb7 23.Rxb7 Rc8 24.a4+– would also be winning, but White would have to work a bit harder
for the full point.

22.Qe3!

A double attack on e6 and b7.

22...f4

22...Rb8 23.c5 Qd7 24.Bxc6 Qxc6 25.Rb6+–

23.gxf4 Re8 24.Rxb7 Nd8 25.Be5 Qf8 26.Rxf7+ Qxf7 27.Qd4 Bd7 28.Qd6 Bf5 29.Rb8 Qd7 30.c5 1–0

This looked like an easy game for White, but he also didn’t play without mistakes.

13
Joerg Hickl (2530)
Robert Kuczynski (2475)
Germany 2005

In this game we will learn a lot about the structures which can arise in the Dutch positions with b4. It was played by
GM Hickl who was — and still is — an expert in these structures, but these days he is no longer so active and plays
only a handful of games a year.

1.Nf3 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.b4

One of the basic ideas is that White is aiming for positions typical of the English Opening, where he can play b4
without the support of a rook on b1.

4...Bg7 5.Bb2 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.c4

Here I normally prefer d4 to prevent ...e5. I also like it a lot in the classical Double Fianchetto structures and have
adapted it for these b4–lines. But, of course, it is very principled to change over to the English structures.
7.d4 Nc6 8.b5 Na5 9.Nbd2 d5! 10.Ne5 c6= with interesting play.

7...h6?!

Kuczynski already had some experience with this line, but I think that Black should play ...e5 directly. He postpones
it and plays the position like a normal Dutch.
7...e5 8.d3 Now Black has to decide between a direct attack on the kingside and development of the queenside.
8...h6 (8...Nc6 9.b5 Ne7 10.Qb3² I have some experience with this type of position from both sides and I always
have the feeling that White is faster with his play on the queenside. Also, it seems to be easier to play such positions
with White. Without moving the rook on a1, White has saved a lot of time.) 9.Nc3 (9.Nbd2 is also interesting, with
the idea of playing c5 and Nc4.) 9...Nc6 10.Qb3 Be6 11.b5 Ne7 12.Nd2²
8.d3 g5

8...e5 would have transposed to the above-mentioned line.

9.Qb3 Qe8 10.Nc3 e5

Finally, Black plays this move anyway. Maybe it was more precise to maintain his original path.
a) 10...f4 11.Nd5²;
b) 10...c6 Here White has to make a decision and think about the position of the rooks or starting a direct attack.
11.Rab1 Na6 12.e3!² Prophylaxis against ...f4 ideas.

11.Nd5 Nxd5

It is always risky for Black to open the c-file and create a weakness on c7. The knight has to go to a6 and defend the
pawn, and he will be missed on the other wing.
a) 11...Qf7 12.b5 Nbd7 induces some tactical nuances: 13.Qa3!? (13.Nxc7? Nc5) 13...Ne8 (13...Nxd5? 14.Nxg5!+–)
14.Nd2± with f4 coming;
b) 11...Rf7² would have somehow disturbed the coordination of the black pieces with the queen wanting to go to h5.
12.a4 We can see that there is no one-sided solution available to Black.

12.cxd5 f4 13.Rac1 Na6 14.Nd2 Bg4 15.Rfe1²

With natural and easy moves, White has achieved a stable advantage.

15...Rc8 16.Ne4 Bd7 17.a3 g4

18.Bc3!

In such positions you shouldn’t be afraid of pawn storms on the kingside, because there exist no real threats and the
knight on e4 is a terrible monster, equally defending and attacking.

18...Qf7 19.Rf1 Kh8 20.Qc4

The engine likes 20.f3, but from the human point of view White just makes normal moves and improves his
position.
20.f3!? Qe7 21.gxf4 exf4 22.fxg4 Bxg4 23.Qb2±
20...b5 21.Qa2 f3 22.exf3 gxf3 23.Bh1 Bc6?

He wants to trick White, but hoodwinks himself.

23...Nb8 24.Rc2 Bh3 25.Re1 Nd7 26.Re3 Bg2 27.Bxg2 fxg2 28.Be1 Nb6 29.Nc3±

24.Bxe5! Bxd5 25.Bxg7+ Kxg7 26.Qb2+

Now White is winning. The pawn on f3 will be lost and the knight on a6 is completely out of play. White finishes
the technical part of the game without major problems.

26...Kh7 27.Rfe1 Qg7 28.Qd2 Nb8 29.Re3+– Nc6 30.Nc3 Qg5 31.d4?

A mistake in time trouble which leads to extra moves. It was possible to end the game directly.
31.Nxd5 Qxd5 32.Rxc6!! Qxc6 33.Re6!+– I guess this was the move Hickl missed. Now Blacks’ position collapses.

31...Kg7 32.Nxb5 a6 33.Nc3 Rf7 34.h4 Qf5 35.Rce1 Rcf8 36.Nxd5 Qxd5 37.Re4 Rf6 38.Qd3 h5 39.R1e3 Qb5
40.Qc3 Qd5 41.Qd3 Qf7 42.Re1 Qd5

43.Rd1!

But not 43.R1e3 with a threefold repetition. This is quite often the case: you repeat moves to get nearer to the time
control and without thinking it happens three times. This would have been very bad news for the White player here.

43...R8f7 44.Re3 Ne7 45.Qc3 Qa8 46.Qb3 Qf8 47.Rdd3 Nf5 48.Rxf3

48...Nxd4 49.Rxd4 Rxf3 50.Bxf3 Rxf3 51.Qc2 Qe7 52.Rd5 Qf7

53.Rg5+ Kh6 54.a4 Rb3 55.Rf5 Qg6 56.Qd2+ Kh7 57.Qd5 Rb1+ 58.Kg2 Kh6 59.Qd2+ Kh7 60.Qc2

A complex game, which shows the transition to the English structures. This is often the case if you don’t play d4 to
prevent ...e5. It is a matter of taste which lines you prefer.

1–0

14
Daniel Hausrath (2507)
Chiel van Oosterom (2389)
2012

This was my most recent achievement in this line.

The game is a nice example for the structures in which White prevents ...e5 with d4 and doesn’t play the English
opening structures.
1.Nf3 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.b4

If you like to play these types of positions, then the best option is to play b4 directly in this position, because
otherwise the black bishop will already be on g7 and White has to be afraid of knight moves such as ...Nd5.
For example, 4.0-0 Bg7 5.b4 Nd5!?

...leads to unclear play, so why shouldn’t White avoid this?

4...Bg7 5.Bb2 0-0 6.0-0 c6 7.c4 a5

Now White has two possibilities. He can play a3 as in the game, or directly start a queenside attack with b5. Both are
nearly equivalent options and it is a matter of taste. In this game I wanted to wait and see what Black planned to do.

8.a3

8.b5 Mainly transferring to the English structures. 8...a4!? This was the reason why I didn’t play b5 directly. I was a
bit afraid that b5 could become a target. 9.a3 cxb5 10.cxb5 Qb6 11.Nc3 d5² Maybe White is also better here, but I
didn’t like the structure that much. During chess games you always have to gauge between different prospects and
make decisions. Sometimes you can do this with sound principles, but most of the time you have to make decisions
intuitively.

8...d6 9.d4 axb4 10.axb4 Rxa1 11.Bxa1 Na6?!

A very logical developing move, but in my opinion Black should immediately start some action in the center.
11...Ne4 12.Nbd2 d5! Often it is a problem for Leningrad players that they are fixed in their structures and don’t
want to change to Stonewall structures, but sometimes this would be the best option. 13.c5 Na6=

12.Qb3 Kh8 13.b5 Nc7 14.bxc6 bxc6 15.Nbd2

From now on White definitely has the easier game and can make progress with simple and logical moves.

15...Ne6 16.e3
Protecting d4 and preventing ...f4 ideas.

16...Qe8 17.Bc3!

Freeing the a1-square for the rook and also activating the bishop.

17...g5 18.Ra1 Bd7 19.Ra7 g4 20.Nh4 Ng5 21.Qb7

21...Qf7?

The first real mistake. It was necessary for Black to play ...d5 himself.
21...d5 22.Bb4² But of course here also White has the better chances.

22.d5!
22...Nh3+??

The decisive mistake. But it was definitely no longer easy to find the only moves here.
22...Nfe4! 23.Bxg7+ Qxg7 24.Nxe4 fxe4 I am quite sure that neither of us even considered this variation,

because d7 is hanging, but we both missed the trick with ...Qb2! 25.Ra8± (25.Qxd7?? Qb2–+)

23.Bxh3 gxh3 24.dxc6

The rest is simple.

24...Ne4

24...Bc8 25.Qxe7+–

25.Bxg7+ Qxg7 26.cxd7

The easiest.

26...Nxd2 27.Qc8

This looked like an easy game and hopefully shows the problems Black has to solve in such positions. As usual,
Black has to find the most dynamic way, and here he only made a few mistakes, but missed the opportunity to for
central counterplay.

1–0

15
Ziaur Rahman (2542)
Marat Dzhumaev (2507)
Doha 2003

This game is a very nice one played between two GMs during the Asian Championship. This tournament also counts
as a qualifier for the World Cup.

1.Nf3 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.b4 c6

Before developing the bishop, Black starts some action on the queenside and uses a surprising move order, but why
not?

5.c4 d6 6.d4

As explained before, the other option would be to change the structure into an English opening without playing d4.

6...Na6 7.a3 Nc7 8.Bb2 Bg7 9.Nbd2 0-0 10.0-0 Kh8

The idea behind this move is to free the g8-square for the bishop which will develop via e6 and always have an eye
on the pawn c4. Also, Black defends against ideas with Qb3 and c5 later on. Maybe it would have been a bit more
precise to start with ...a5 — interfering with White’s planned expansion on the queenside starting with a4.

11.Qc2

11.a4!² The most precise move order to gain some space. This eventually happened in the game anyway, but it was
possible for Black to cross White’s plan by playing ...a5 himself.

11...Be6 12.Rfe1?!

I have to admit that I don’t understand this move. For me this seems to be a loss of time, because White normally
doesn’t want to play e4 in these structures, since the center would be attackable afterwards.

12...Qd7 13.e3!

But in such structures it is often a good idea to stabilize the center with e3. It helps against attacking ideas with ...f4,
as well as freeing the second rank.

13...Rae8 14.a4

Finally!

14...a6 15.Rac1 Bg8 16.Bh3

Threatening e4 tactically.

16...Qd8 17.Nb3?!

White wants to convey his knight to a5 and put pressure on the queenside, but now Black had the chance to grab
some activity himself.

17...h6?!

This is a normal and typical move in this type of position, but Black could have played ...b5 and freed himself a bit,
utilising the hanging knight on b3. It is characteristic that we often forget such a bishop on g8. He indirectly attacks
the knight and pins the c4-pawn.
17...b5!

18.cxb5? (18.Nfd2 bxc4 19.Nxc4 Ncd5 20.Ba3 Qb8 Control of the d5- and e4-squares should give Black enough
counterplay to balance the weakness on c6.) 18...Ncd5! 19.bxc6 Nxb4 20.Qd1 Qb6³ Control of the d5-square gives
Black an edge here.

18.Na5 Qa8 19.Bg2!

Preventing ...b6!

19...g5?

This is definitely a mistake. Black wants to become active, but it was necessary to wait and see what White will do.
The pieces are not well placed for activity, but we all know how difficult it is just to wait. This is a typical
phenomenon in the lines with b4: normally it is also a prophylactic opening against players who like to attack and
play in a very dynamic way. The activity on the queenside and in the center gives White the better cards. Just have a
look at the black queen. She is completely out of play in the corner and pinned to defending the weakness on b7.
19...b6?? 20.Nh4 with a nasty double attack!

20.d5!

A very well-timed advance!

20...cxd5
21.c5!?

I like this move a lot, but the programs are relentless and want to play Nd4 first.
21.Nd4! e6 22.c5±

21...Rc8?

21...Ne6! This could have been the difference. The knight protects the d4-square and is no longer under threat on c7.
22.Red1 Qb8 23.cxd6 exd6 24.Nd4² but here also I would prefer White a bit.

22.cxd6 exd6

22...Nb5!? would have been an interesting try. 23.dxe7!! Rxc2 24.exf8=Q Qxf8 25.Rxc2 Nd6 26.Rec1² White would
have the better prospects with his rooks on the opened c-file.

23.Nd4
Now everything is under control again.

23...Bh7 24.Nxf5 Ne6 25.Qb1 Rce8?

Black shouldn’t give away the c-file without a fight, but in bad positions it is easier to make bad moves.

26.e4!

It makes a lot of sense to open the position if the opponent has such bad pieces, like the queen on a8 for example.
26.g4!! A brilliant idea, but completely non-human! 26...Nxg4 27.Nxg7 Bxb1 28.Nxe6+ Kh7 29.Rc7+ Kg6
30.Nxf8+ Rxf8 31.Rxb1 (31.h3! Nxf2 32.Rxb1± I just wanted to show this variation to the readers to give an
impression of the possibilities, but I guess that maybe only world-class players would think about g4. For me it
wouldn’t be a candidate move!) 31...Rxf2 32.Bxd5 Qf8=

26...dxe4 27.Nxg7 Nxg7 28.Qa1

This pin on the long diagonal is very annoying for Black. In a practical game this position should be winning for
White.

28...Qd8 29.Nxb7 Qe7 30.Na5 Ng4

Searching for counterplay and trying to confuse the opponent.

31.Nc6 Qf7 32.Rf1

Now it becomes clear that 12.Rfe1 was a loss of time. Normally I would put a smiley behind this great sentence, but
I don’t think that smileys are a nice stylistic device for a book.

32...Kg8 33.h3 Nf6 34.Nd4 Ngh5

35.Rc6?!
35.Nc2± This would have been my choice, just preventing a possible ...e3 and opening the long diagonal for bishop
and queen.

35...e3 36.fxe3 Rxe3 37.Rxd6 Rxg3

In time-trouble I wouldn’t like the opponent’s pieces directly next to my king, but Rahman remains calm and blocks
all attacking ideas.

38.Ne2!

38.Nf5? Bxf5 39.Rxf5 Qb3!!=

...and the game would end in a disappointing perpetual!

38...Rxg2+ 39.Kxg2 Qe7 40.Qa2+ Rf7 41.Qe6 Bd3?

The final mistake and directly after the time control, but the position was lost anyway.

42.Bxf6 Qb7+ 43.Kg1 Nxf6 44.Rxf6 Qa7+ 45.Nd4

A nice game which includes all the finesses of this type of position; some positional achievements and also various
tactical resources from both sides.

1–0

16
Vladislav Tkachiev (2654)
Thomas Clarke (2128)
Rethymno 2003

The last game of this chapter is a very short one from a very tricky and strong GM from France.
This game was played during the European Club Cup, which could also be called the mini-Olympiad. I myself have
played 5 times in such an event and it is always nice to play in the same room with legends such as Carlsen and
Anand, to name just two.

1.Nf3 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.b4 Bg7 5.Bb2 a5 6.b5 a4 7.c4 c6

Black starts a direct attack on the advanced pawns.

8.Na3

Normally this is not the best square for a knight, but here he stops the a-pawn and defends b5. Later he can be
activated and come to the center.

8...0-0 9.0-0 d5?!

In my opinion it is not a good idea to open the center with White not having played d4 himself. Now Black always
has the weak square on e5, and the knight on f6 is “pinned”. This means that after moving the knight it will be
possible for White to exchange the dark-squared bishops. This exchange is mostly an advantage for White, because
the dark squares are weakened and the black king will be more vulnerable to attack. Black would only be happy if he
could move his f5-pawn backwards!

10.Rc1 Kh8 11.d3 Be6

12.Qc2!

White improves his position step-by-step.

12...dxc4 13.dxc4 Qc8 14.Qb1 c5 15.Qa1

A maneuver typical of the Reti opening. On the long diagonal, the bishop and queen place a lot of pressure on the
black kingside.
15...Nbd7 16.e4!

Opening the position directly and starting a kingside attack.

16...fxe4 17.Ng5 Bf5 18.Nxe4 Qc7 19.Rfe1 e5

20.Nc2

Now the final piece is activated and walks his way through the center.

20...Nxe4 21.Bxe4 Rae8 22.Bg2

Freeing the way for the knight.

22...Nb6 23.Ne3 Bd3 24.Nd5 Nxd5 25.Bxd5

Have a look at the contrasting strength of the bishops!

25...b6 26.f3!

Preventing ...e4 and planning to double the rooks.

26...g5 27.Re3 Bf5 28.Rce1

28...Bh3?

A mistake in a position which looks lost anyway.

28...e4 29.fxe4 Bh3±

29.Rxe5 Rxe5 30.Bxe5

It is completely understandable that Black had no desire at all to play on in this terrible position.
This game looked like a really easy one and could also be a good example of a game between an amateur and a
master, but for me the most important point was to illustrate the strength of the bishop on b2, if Black doesn’t block
it with ...d6 and ...e5. This was the main reason I selected this game out of the mass of alternatives.

1–0
 CHAPTER 3.
DOUBLE FIANCHETTO AGAINST THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT AND
TARRASCH

In this chapter we will analyze a few games with the Double Fianchetto against the Queen’s Gambit and Tarrasch
structures. Nowadays White often uses these fianchettoed positions with great success.
As I told you before I am a big fan of Vladimir Kramnik and learned a lot from his games. After the tournament in
Wijk aan Zee this year, Vladimir announced his retirement from tournament chess. It was a very sad day for me and
the chess community. A few years ago, he had already stated in an interview that he would retire one day, but it is a
different story when this happens in real life.
In the summer of 2018, I again played the open tournament in Dortmund which is held parallel to the GM-
tournament, which was called the “parlours” of Vladimir: he won this tournament 10 times! During the rounds I had
the opportunity to have a long conversation with Tigran Nalbandian, one of the Vladimir’s seconds. He told me that
after the Candidates tournament in Berlin, Valdimir was all the time thinking of retiring and that he had only
planned his tournaments until Wijk aan Zee. So, it was not such a big surprise for me, and after seeing his last games
I was still afraid that his retirement would come. The only good thing connected with this is that he hopefully will
write a book of his best games soon.
The following game is a nice example of the strength of the pair of bishops.

17
Vladimir Kramnik (2795)
Gawain Jones (2644)
London 2012

1.Nf3 c5 2.b3 d5 3.e3

3.Bb2? f6= and Black gets the center

3...Nf6 4.Bb2 e6 5.g3 Nc6 6.Bg2 Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.c4 b6

Also possible here are 8...d4 and 8...dxc4.

9.Nc3 Bb7 10.cxd5 exd5 11.d4 Ne4

12.dxc5 Nxc3 13.Bxc3 bxc5 14.Qe2 Re8 15.Rfd1

In such a Tarrasch-like structure, it would be much better for Black if his knight stood on d7 instead of c6.

15...Bf8?

To me this appears to be a mistake. First of all, Black should connect his rooks and play a bit more actively with
...Qd7 for example. However, Gawain was afraid of Qb2 and wanted to defend his g7-pawn.
15...Qd7 16.Qb2 Bf8² Now the white queen cannot come to the queenside as in the game, but of course here also
White has the easier game.

16.Qb5!

This is the difference.

16...Qb6 17.Qxb6 axb6

18.Rxd5!

A strong and correct evaluation!

The resulting endgame is much better for White, and also easier to play.

18...Nd4 19.Nxd4 Bxd5 20.Bxd5 cxd4 21.Bxd4

21...Ra5?!

21...Rad8 22.Bc4 (22.e4? Rxe4 23.Bxe4 Rxd4=) 22...Rd6 23.a4²

22.e4 Bc5 23.Bc3 Ra3 24.Bb2 Ra7 25.a4 Rc7 26.Ra2!

A very stylish move. Now the second rank is defended and White can slowly but surely make progress.

26...h6 27.Kg2 Kh7 28.f4 f6 29.Kf3

With such a “monster” on d5 it should be impossible to hold this endgame. The other argument is of course the
name of the White player, who feels like a fish in water in this position.

29...Rd7 30.a5 bxa5 31.Rxa5 Rc8 32.Rb5 Rd6

33.Rb7?!

33.b4! Bg1 34.e5 fxe5 35.Bxe5 Rb6 36.Be4+ Kg8 37.Rd5±

33...Rb6 34.Rf7 Rf8 35.Rc7 Bd6 36.Rd7 Ra6? 37.Bd4!

Now everything is under control!

37...Bb8 38.Bc5 Re8 39.Kg4 Ra2 40.h4 Rc8 41.b4 Ra3 42.h5 Rc3 43.Bd4 R3c7 44.Rxc7 Bxc7 45.Kf5 Bd6 46.b5
Rc1 47.b6 Bb8 48.Ke6 Rh1 49.Bc5

It isn’t possible to prevent b7 and Bd6, so the resignation didn’t come too early.

1–0

18
Pentala Harikrishna (2680)
Salem Saleh (2531)
Biel 2013

I will always hold the MTO in Biel from 2013 in good memory. After many tries, I received my final GM-norm and
became a Grandmaster. In the last round I had the honour to play on the top board against Harikrishna for the
tournament win. Unfortunately I lost that game, but after a very good tournament I received a good prize and the
title.
In this tournament Harikrishna played the following nice game against GM Salem, who was coached during this
event by none other than the Dutch GM Loek van Wely.

1.Nf3 c5 2.b3 d5 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bb2 e6 5.g3

A very special move order.

I guess that Harikrishna was inspired to play this because he wanted to avoid a theoretical clash with his young
opponent.

5...Nc6 6.Bg2 Bd6 7.d4

7.c4 this would be the alternative way of playing. 7...0-0 8.0-0 b6 9.Nc3=

7...cxd4 8.Nxd4 e5 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.0-0

It looks like White has played a Grünfeld structure with the slightly unusual moves e3 and b3.

10...Bg4 11.Qd3

A player like me, who is more concerned about safety, would prefer Qd2. I have the impression that Harikrishna was
inviting his opponent to launch an attack beginning with e4.

11...Nd7?!

The provocation worked. Black directly starts some action in the center, but it looks a bit too artificial.

12.c4!

A kingside attack should always be answered with a counterattack in the center. Now it becomes complicated, but in
such positions the Indian GM Harikrishna can play to his real strengths. I had the chance to analyze a bit with him
after the last round and he is very strong in calculation, and knows intuitively which squares are the right ones for
his pieces. I had no problems with Black out of the opening, but then he completely outplayed me, step-by-step.

12...e4 13.Qd2 Ne5?

This is definitely a mistake as Black oversteps the limit with his creativity. He doesn’t get enough compensation for
the pawn(s).

13...Be5 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Bxe5 Nxe5 16.Nc3 Nf3+ 17.Bxf3 Bxf3 This position would also be better for White, but
here Black definitely has some compensation for the pawn.

14.cxd5 Nf3+ 15.Bxf3 Bxf3 16.dxc6 Qe7 17.Qd4 f6

18.Qc4!

I think that Black missed this move. White easily prevents Black from castling and also from attacking with ...Qe6–
h3. From now on, White has a winning position. It takes some time to get the full point, but Harikrishna plays it very
patiently.

18...Qf7

Sad necessity!

19.Nd2 Qxc4 20.Nxc4 Bc7 21.Rfc1 Be2 22.Nd2 Bd3 23.f3!

Activating the king. Normally you cannot win such an endgame without the help of the king.

23...Bb6 24.Kf2 0-0-0 25.fxe4?!

Maybe this helps Black a bit.

It was better to start with b4, threatening a4–a5 and forcing Black to take on f3 himself.
25.b4! exf3 26.Nxf3 Rhe8 27.Bd4+–
25...Rhe8 26.b4 Bb5?

Here Black missed his last chance to stay in the game:

26...Bxe4 27.Nb3 Rd3 28.Bd4 Bd5±

It would not be so easy to convert the advantage here.

27.Nf3 Rxe4 28.Bd4 Ba4 29.Bxb6 axb6 30.Nd4

Now everything is under control and Harikrishna brings home the full point quite easily.

30...Kc7 31.Rab1 Re5 32.b5!

Winning an exchange.

32...Rdd5 33.Rb4 Bxb5 34.e4!

The final finesse.

34...Rxd4 35.Rxd4 Bxc6 36.Rdc4 Re6 37.g4 b5 38.Rd4 Kb6 39.Ke3 Kb7 40.Rb4 Ka6 41.h4 Ka5 42.Rd4 Kb6
43.Kf4 Kb7 44.Rb4 Ka6 45.g5 Ka5 46.Rd4 Kb6 47.Rc3 Re5 48.Rb4 h6 49.gxf6 gxf6 50.a4 Rh5 51.axb5 Bd7
52.Kg3 Re5 53.Rd4 Be6 54.Kf4 Kxb5 55.Rd6 h5 56.Rc7

...winning the f-pawn and with it also the game. A very interesting game from the psychological point of view. The
White player just wanted to play chess and fianchettoed both bishops. Black directly started to attack and tried to
refute the seemingly unambitious opening, but completely failed with his own ambitions. The Double Fianchetto is
definitely an opening which is playable against all kind of openings, and it is normally impossible to win against it
with a direct attack.

1–0

19
Daniel Hausrath (2493)
 Boris Margolin (2386)
Germany 2019

This game was played in the Bundesliga last season. My results last year were very bad. Of course, the German
league is one of the strongest of the world, but to not win a single game had a big influence on my self-confidence.
At the very beginning of the season I lost a completely winning position against the rising German star Vincent
Keymer. He was also in disbelief after winning such a horrible position, but it is very normal that sometimes things
work out quite well and sometimes the other way round. Before this game I wanted to win at any cost, but maybe
this caused problems in psychological terms. But anyway, let’s take a look....

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nc6

This came as a surprise and my main concern was the question: What can he know about my games and what should
I do? In my most recent games against the Chigorin I had played some King’s Indian stuff with d3, but here I just
played principled chess again.

3.d4 Bg4 4.Bg2 Qd7 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Bxf3?!

Of course, this is not a mistake, but the question mark is for a psychologically wrong decision. Normally I take with
the pawn in this position and have had good experiences with it, but I wanted to get my opponent out of book.

6.exf3 e6 7.f4 f5 8.c3 Nf6 9.Nd2 with complicated play.

6...0-0-0 7.Bg2?!

Again, not a mistake, but I thought for nearly 15 minutes about this terrific move!
In a practical game, we have to make decisions. We won’t find out the truth about the position and have to decide
between many nearly equal options. If the game becomes concrete, we need the time to calculate. Before this, we
still have to play intuitively. It is always a sign if you think too long about normal moves. Of course, many players
and also many of my students play much too fast and don’t have the feeling for the critical positions. But it
definitely makes no sense to take 15 minutes of your time for a normal move like 7.Bg2.

7...Kb8 8.Nc3 e6 9.a3

This may look a bit strange, but the idea was to develop with Qd3, and so it was necessary to prevent against ideas
with ...Nb4.
9...f5

10.b3!?

I really wanted to create a masterpiece and show the readers that it is possible to play the Double Fianchetto against
anything and everything. I am almost certain that nobody has played like this against the Chigorin before, and
maybe nobody will do so again, but that is a different story.

10...Nf6 11.Bb2 Be7 12.e3 g5!

Black plays strong and also normal moves.

It is much easier to play this position with Black, but I was not unhappy either and continued with my plan.

13.Ne2 h5 14.Qd3 h4!

This is a very interesting position. I was quite happy here and thought that White would have a long-term advantage
with his pair of bishops. My opponent was of the opinion that he was much better here, and also Komodo gives
Black an edge of 0.8. Stockfish, however, gives near equality. Who is right? I have to admit that now I also think
that Black should be better, because of the structure on the kingside, but as we will see it won’t be easy to improve
the position.

15.gxh4 Rxh4 16.0-0-0 Ne4 17.Rdf1

Again, I thought for some 10 minutes on the question of which rook I should use for defending f2.

17...a6!

A clever move that improves his position. It might be helpful for the king to gain some fresh air, and also the
knight(s) get access to the b5-square.

18.Kb1 Rdh8?!
This seems to be a loss of time. Black should first improve the position of his queen.
18...Qe8 19.f3 Nd6 20.Nc3 Qf8³

19.f3 Nd6 20.Nc3

White would obviously like to play c4, but this leads to concrete problems: 20.c4?? dxc4 21.bxc4 Na5 22.Rc1 Qa4
23.c5 Ndc4–+

20...Rd8?!

It becomes clear that Black is wasting some time.

Again, it was stronger to regroup the queen directly.

21.Rd1 Qe8 22.Rhe1 Qf8

The pawn on a3 becomes a target.

23.Ka2 Na7
24.e4!

Now everything is fine again and I was very happy with my position. My impression was that all the preparations
have gone well and by opening the position my bishops will become impressive pieces!

24...Ndb5 25.Nxb5 Nxb5

26.a4?!

26.exd5 exd5 27.a4=

26...Na7?!

We both missed the zwischenzug 26...dxe4 27.fxe4 Nxd4 28.Bxd4 e5 This seems to be equal, but it was not
necessary to give the opponent such an opportunity.
27.exd5 exd5 28.Re6 Nc6

We have reached one of the critical positions. Of course, it was a candidate move for me to give up the exchange on
c6, but I didn’t come to a conclusion and thought that I also have other good options, but perhaps this was the wrong
decision.

29.Qe2

29.Rxc6! bxc6 30.Qxa6 Rh6 31.Re1 c5? This was one of the lines I calculated and I failed to understand that here
White is nearly winning after: 32.Qe2! Rd7 33.Qb5+ Kc8

34.f4!! Now the bishops really come into the game. 34...gxf4? 35.dxc5 Bxc5 36.Bxd5+– It was really impossible for
me to calculate this line, and of course it wouldn’t be necessary for Black to blunder this way, but the variation
shows very nicely what would have been possible.
Before my 29th move I also had only some 10 minutes left, definitely not enough to calculate such variations, and
the reason why I was very unhappy after this game. My time management was really catastrophic, but also a sign of
being in bad shape.

29...Bd6! 30.c3 Rh8 31.Qc2?

I made this move very quickly and wanted to prevent the exchange of rooks, as the pawn will hang on f5.

31...Re8! 32.Rde1

32.Rxe8+ Qxe8 33.Qxf5?? Qe2–+

32...Rxe6 33.Rxe6 Qf7 34.Re2

34...f4!

Now I woke up again and realised that my position was getting worse and worse with every move.
The knight will come to f5 and with it a route to e3, g3 or even h4. My bishops can only watch and applaud this
magnificent knight!

35.Bf1 Ne7 36.Re1 Nf5 37.Qg2?

One mistake never arrives alone, but the position would have been bad anyway.

37...Ne3?!

Here Black missed the very nice option of exchanging queens and winning the f3-pawn.
37...Qh5! 38.Qf2 Qh4–+
38.Qxg5 Be7

In my calculations I had initially been planning Qe5 here, but now I realised that this would lose the queen
immediately.

39.Qg1

39.Qe5 Rh5µ

39...Bh4 40.Rc1 Rg8 41.Qh2

The time control was reached and I could have a look at the other positions in the match. Unfortunately, we had
missed good chances and the match was tied 3–3, but on the first board we had a completely lost position. This
meant that I had to win this “fantastic” position. I think I managed to make my opponent sweat a bit, but never
achieved real chances to win.

41...Qf5 42.Qd2 Rg3 43.Bd3 Qxh3 44.c4

44...Rxf3?!

Good enough, but much easier was ...Be7, preventing against Qb4 ideas.
44...Be7!–+

45.Qb4 Qd7 46.c5?

Now it is lost again. The last chance was to activate the rook.
46.Rh1 Be7 47.c5 Qc6 48.Rh7µ

46...Qc6 47.Rh1

47...Ng2!
This was the move I missed before playing c5. The rest is simple.

48.Bf5

48.Bf1 Be1 49.Qa3 Rxf1 50.Rxf1 Ne3 51.Rxe1 Nc2–+

48...Rf2 49.Qc3

49...Ka7

A nice prophylactic move.

50.Ka3 Qf6 51.Bd3 Rf3 52.Qd2 Ne1 53.Be2 Re3 54.Bg4 Nd3 55.Ba1 Be1 56.Qh2 Nxc5

You can imagine that driving home after such a horrible loss after nearly 6 hours of play was not the nicest of
achievements for a weekend. I was unsure whether or not I should include this game in the book, but I also want to
show the readers some instructive mistakes and some possible structures with the Double Fianchetto against
different openings. I have to admit that I wouldn’t advise the Double Fianchetto against the Chigorin! It is a bit too
artificial.

0–1

The next game could also have been part of the first chapter, but it was played after finishing it and so I took it for
the third chapter. It was played in the Dutch ‘Bekker’ competition. This is a cup competition for teams with 4
players and the time control is 1 hour 40 minutes plus 10 seconds a move for the whole game. The games start at
20.00 during the week.
Normally those games make a muddle of my daily plans. If I don’t want to fall asleep during the game, I drink a cup
of coffee. This is also useful for the return by car, but it is definitely not helpful for sleeping afterwards. Damned if
you do, damned if you don’t!

20
Daniel Hausrath (2470)
Stefan Colijn (2310)
Rosmalen 2019

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 4.c4

The Reti Gambit, if Black takes on c4. But this is not a topic for this book.

4...g6 5.b3

Here we go.

5...Bg7 6.Bb2 0-0 7.0-0 a5

Maybe he saw my game against Stankovic and thought that I would make the same mistakes again, but I always try
to advance my knowledge and don’t render the same stupid things more than once.

8.d3 Bf5

8...a4 9.Na3! In my opinion, this is the best move order after the direct attack with ...a4. In the game against
Stankovich the pawn was on d6 instead of d5, and this is a different story of course. The idea of 9.Na3 is to block the
pawn first of all, but also to play b4 and take on c4 with the knight if necessary. 9...Bf5 10.b4 Na6 11.Qd2²

9.Nbd2 a4 10.b4 Re8

10...a3 11.Bc3 Na6 12.Qb3² Here Black always has to be afraid of losing his a-pawn.

11.a3 b5?!

I wasn’t sure if I should give this move a full question mark, as a few programs also suggest this one. However, I
think that ...b5 is strategically a very bad move, because White gets the c-file and the target on b5. If the white pawn
is on d4, it is a different story, because Black would have a nice bishop on f5 and a beautiful square on c4 for one of
his knights.

12.cxb5 cxb5 13.Rc1 Ra6

14.Rc2!

A nice Reti idea: The queen wants to go to a1 and the rooks will be doubled on the c-file.

14...Nc6 15.Qc1?!

After such moves you sometimes have to ask yourself if everything is working correctly in your head. Why the hell
am I not executing my plan? Maybe I had no power at this moment and the queen fell out of my hand before
reaching the a1-square? I have no real explanation for this, because Qa1 would have been stronger and it was
definitely my plan after playing Rc2. I was thinking about some fantasy lines and came to the conclusion that Qc1 is
much trickier.
15.Qa1 Qd6? 16.Rc5 (16.e4! dxe4 17.dxe4 Nxe4 18.Bxg7+–) 16...e5 This was my line and I didn’t want to give
Black some counterplay. But I completely missed this e4 idea.

15...Qd7

15...Qd6?? 16.e4 dxe4 17.dxe4 Nxe4 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.g4+–

16.Ne5!

Now White has everything under control. The ...e5-ideas are out of the question and White can improve his position.

16...Nxe5 17.Bxe5 Qe6?!

17...Bh6 18.f4 Qa7+ 19.Kh1 Ng4 20.Nf3 Nxe5 21.Nxe5 Rd6²

18.Nf3 Bh3 19.Qb2

I played normal and good moves quickly and my opponent was heading towards time-trouble. But this position is
really uncomfortable for Black.

19...Bxg2 20.Kxg2 Qf5

Searching for counterplay.

21.Rc5 Rb6 22.Qd4

Centralization!

22...Rb7 23.Rfc1
A nice example of complete domination!

23...Bh6 24.R1c2 Rd8 25.e4 Qe6

26.Bxf6

Good enough, but maybe Bc7 was a bit easier.

26.Bc7 Rd7 27.Ne5+–

26...exf6 27.exd5

It was not necessary to double the pawns, but my opponent was also in big time trouble and I lost my concentration a
bit. This can always be dangerous, because it is often the case that you don’t get back the focus once you have lost it.
Fortunately, here, it was not important.
27...Qd7 28.Qxf6 Bf8

The final critical position. White is winning, but how to finish things off?

29.Ne5! Qe8 30.Ng4

I liked this solution, but of course Nc6 was also winning.

30.Nc6 Rd6 31.Qf4+–

30...h5

31.Qc6 Qe7

31...hxg4 32.Qxb7 Bxc5 33.bxc5+– A pair of quick pawns greet us.

32.Nf6+ Kg7
33.Ne4

33.d6!+– but I always tell my students that they can play a win if they see one! I was no longer searching for the
truth or the ‘nicest’ win.

33...Rdb8 34.d6 Qe6 35.Qd5 Qxd5 36.Rxd5 Rd8

37.Rc7!

The last finesse!

37...Rxd6 38.Nxd6 Rxc7 39.Ne8+

A nice game after a series of disappointments, but I guess that Black’s idea with ...b5 won’t find many imitators.

1–0
 CHAPTER 4.
DIFFERENT MOVE ORDERS TO REACH THE DOUBLE
FIANCHETTO

In this chapter I will present the reader with a few games with completely different move-orders which also resulted
in Double Fianchetto structures.

21
Liren Ding (2813)
Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (2695)
Wijk aan Zee 2019

1.c4

This game was played in the famous tournament in Wijk aan Zee. This tournament always marks the beginning of a
chess year, at a time when all other chess activities in the Netherlands take a break. It wouldn’t make sense to hold
team competitions during this time, because nearly every Dutch chess player is active at Wijk aan Zee. It is a big
chess festival and the GM tournaments are the most interesting, because many different players are invited and the
spectators have the opportunity to watch very interesting games.

1...c5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.b3

A very popular side-line of the Botvinnik system.

5...e6 6.Ba3!?N

At first glance this looks a bit strange, but the idea is to provoke the black queen to the sad square a5 later on.
Otherwise Black can’t play ...d5, a move that is very important for him in fighting for some control in the center.

6...d6 7.e3 Nge7 8.Nge2 0-0 9.0-0 Qa5

The move I mentioned before.

Otherwise White would be first to start action in the center with d4.
a) 9...b6?! 10.d4 Bb7 11.Qd2² with a pleasant position for White. He has an active position and more options in the
center. He will put the rooks on d1 and c1 and then start some action, with d5 for example.;
b) 9...Nf5 10.d3 Qd7 11.Rc1 Rd8 12.Qd2 b6 13.d4 cxd4 14.exd4 d5! 15.cxd5 Ncxd4 16.dxe6!? Nf3+ 17.Bxf3 Qxd2
18.exf7+ Kxf7 19.Bxa8∞ This was played between Anish Giri and Jorden van Foreest in the same tournament, in a
later round.

10.Bb2

Here we have the real Double Fianchetto!

10...d5 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Nf4 Rd8 13.Qc1

Now White is ready to attack the weak c5-pawn, starting with Na4.

13...d4! 14.Na4 c4!

Just in time with the counterplay. Now Black solves all his structural problems.

15.Re1!

Not an obvious move, but a strong one! The rook would be well-placed after an opening of the e-file, so Black is
forced to take on e3 himself and White gets more control over the center.

15...dxe3 16.dxe3 Ne5 17.Bc3 Qb5 18.Qa3 N7c6

With very precise play, Black has equalized and solved all possible problems.

19.bxc4 Nxc4 20.Qb3 Qxb3 21.axb3 Bxc3 22.Nxc3 Nd2

23.Ncd5

Ding tries to push a bit, but as we will see there is not much left to push for.

23...Nxb3 24.Ra3 Nba5 25.Rea1 Nc4 26.Rc3 N4e5 27.Nc7 Rb8 28.Nfd5 Kg7 29.f4 Ng4 30.e4

30...Nf6

The easiest!

31.Kf2 Ng4+ 32.Kg1 Nf6 33.Kf2 Ng4+

An interesting and well-played game from both sides, without real mistakes!
Draw!

½–½

22
Leinier Dominguez Perez (2739)
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2779)
Saint Louis 2018

This was a rapid game between the native-born Cuban, Leinier Dominguez, and the best French player, Maxime
Vachier-Lagrave (MVL).
Maxime was put in contact with my German club by his coach GM Tregubov in 2006. He was then 15-years old and
a very talented player. It has been wonderful to witness his development.
Nowadays he is a world class player and a regular guest in the top 10. Leinier Dominguez was the best Cuban player
for a long time, but then he took a break because he wanted to get US nationality. It is not allowed to play official
FIDE tournaments if you want to change your citizenship. During this break he had the opportunity to play a
friendly match against MVL in Saint Louis, the city of the great chess sponsor, Rex Sinquefield.

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.e3 Nf6 5.d4

Maybe you are wondering how this will become a Double Fianchetto?
5...e4 6.d5 exf3 7.dxc6 fxg2 8.cxd7+ Bxd7 9.Bxg2 g6 10.b3!

Here we go!
The exclamation mark is for the creation of a Double Fianchetto, but maybe it would have been possible to take on
b7.
10.Bxb7 Rb8 11.Bf3 Bg7² although here White has to solve some difficulties with his queenside development.

10...Bg7 11.Qd6 Qb6 12.Qe5+?!

It looks nice to prevent Black from castling, but over the next few moves he can easily do this ‘artificially’.
White could instead get a better endgame after exchanging queens: 12.Qxb6 axb6 13.Bb2 Bc6 14.Bxc6+ bxc6
15.Na4 Ra6 16.Rd1² and White is pressing a bit.

12...Kf8 13.Bb2 Nh5 14.Qd5 Bc6 15.Qd6+ Kg8 16.Bxc6 Rd8!

Gaining an important tempo.

17.Qe7 bxc6=

The structure is definitely better for White on the queenside but, as we will see, it is impossible to take advantage of
this.

18.Rd1 Rxd1+ 19.Kxd1 Bf6

20.Qe4 Kg7 21.Kc2 Qc7

Eyeing up the h-pawn.

22.h3 Rd8 23.Qf3 Kg8!

Freeing the g7-square for the knight on his way back to the center.

24.Rd1 Rxd1 25.Nxd1 Be7?!

I don’t like giving up the diagonal for the bishop.

25...Qd6 26.Bxf6 Nxf6 27.Nb2 Nd7=

26.Bc3 Ng7 27.Nb2 Nf5 28.Nd3 f6

This seems to be a concession and White should have an advantage now.

29.Nf4 Kf7 30.Qg4 Bd6

Now we can see one advantage of the doubled pawns; they cover important squares in the center. Otherwise the
white knight would come to d5 and Black would have bigger problems.

31.Nd3 Be7 32.Kd2 Qd6 33.Ke2 Qe6 34.Kd2 Qd6 35.Ke2 Qe6 36.Kd2
It was a rapid game, so neither player had much time at the end, and it was impossible for White to find a
constructive plan for making progress. Maybe no plan exists. I would be very happy to play such a game without
real mistakes in a normal tournament game, but these guys play it in a rapid game. Not a spectacular game, but a
very interesting one from the theoretical point of view. Hopefully the readers got an impression of the possible
varieties to reach a Double Fianchetto structure!

½–½

The next encounter is an interesting battle between one of the game’s rising stars, and the sensational winner of last
year’s Aeroflot Open! Vladislav Artemiev started the year 2019 very successfully; he won the big Gibraltar Open,
was the leader of the Russian team that won the World Team Championship, and he also won the European
Championship.
Nowadays he very often plays Double Fianchetto structures and I like watching his games a lot, but unfortunately he
also plays 1.e4. For a world-class player it is definitely necessary to play all kinds of stuff.
Kaido Kulaots sensationally won the Aeroflot Open last year, despite being one of the lowest-seeded players. He
was also born in 1976 and I played him once in a youth championship and remember his tactical skills. At the
central round of the Bundesliga in Berlin, four players of the same age were sitting directly next to each other:
Almasi, Nisipeanu, Kulaots and Fridman. A few weeks later, Daniel Fridman won the biggest open in Europe, the
“Grenke Open” in Karlsruhe.
Maybe this year will be the year of the 1976-ers and I can also hope to join the real big-time!
 Viswanathan Anand vs. Vladislav Artemiev, Tata Steel 2020

23
Vladislav Artemiev (2736)
Kaido Kulaots (2544)
Skopje 2019

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.b3 Bg7 4.Bb2 c5 5.g3 b6

The double-Double Fianchetto.

6.Bg2 Bb7 7.0-0 d6

More often played is the symmetrical castling.

7...0-0 8.Nc3 Now Black can choose between 8...Na6, 8...e6 or 8...d6. Also playable is 8...d5 , but Black always has
to suffer a bit in the resulting endgames: 8...d5 9.Nxd5 Nxd5 10.Bxg7 Kxg7 11.cxd5 Qxd5 12.d4 Na6! 13.Nh4 Qd7
14.dxc5 Qxd1 15.Rfxd1 Bxg2 16.Nxg2 Nxc5 17.Ne3=

8.e3 0-0 9.d4 cxd4 10.exd4 d5 11.Ne5 Nc6?!

In my opinion this is not the most accurate move, because Black will always have some problems on the long
diagonal from now on. It was better to protect the bishop on b7 with ...Qc8 and then to take on c4 and exchange this
bishop.

12.Nc3 e6 13.Rc1 Ne7 14.Ba3

The position has changed a lot and White boasts a nice and stable advantage. His bishops are very strong and control
long diagonals, which involves Black being pinned, and who therefore has to stay very passive.
It is definitely not easy to play such a position with Black.

14...a6?

Be careful with pawn moves: they cannot move backwards.

It is very normal that you make mistakes in passive positions. With ...a6, Black weakens the pawn on b6. I guess that
he was uncomfortable with the possibility of Nb5, but it was definitely better to protect and unpin the knight on e7
first of all.
14...Re8 15.Nb5?! (15.Re1²) 15...Nf5=

15.Na4 Re8 16.c5!

Now we see one of the problems caused by the move ...a6. With the pawn on a7, Black could simply play ...Rc8.
Now he has to take on c5 and activate the opponent’s knight.

16...bxc5

16...b5 17.c6 bxa4 18.cxb7 Rb8 19.Bxe7 Qxe7 20.Nc6 winning the exchange.

17.Nxc5 Bc8

18.g4?!

I guess Artemiev was fascinated by the following sequence of moves with the nice sacrifices, but I think that it was
much easier to increase the pressure by developing the rook.
18.Re1 Nf5 19.Rc2 Qb6 20.Qd2± White has much the better options here and can double the rooks on the c-file, for
example. The bishop on c8 is undeveloped and also the rooks are not connected. If a white rook comes to c7, the
position will be lost for Black.

18...Nd7 19.Nxf7!?

This was the idea behind the last move.

With g4 White prevented the possible activation with ...Nf5 and forced Black to play ...Nd7 instead. Now the pawn
on e6 is no longer defended and White tries to force the black king into the middle of the board.

19...Kxf7 20.Nxe6 Kxe6 21.Re1+ Ne5 22.dxe5

After a forced sequence of moves, we have reached an interesting position which should definitely be better for
White because of the exposed king. But if Black defends carefully, he will also get his chances. I always tell my
students that they should choose the risk-free way, if they have one. This does not mean that the players should
avoid any risks, but if they cannot calculate all the details, and have an option which leads to a better position with a
stable advantage, they should take this one. And here it was possible for White to play the simple 18.Re1. But of
course, this is not advice I would give to such a strong player as Artemiev.

22...Kf7?

It seems that Black directly wants to show that Artemiev’s approach was better than mine! He could have played
22...Bb7 instead, with an unclear position.
22...Bb7 23.Qd4 Rc8∞

23.Bxe7 Kxe7 24.Bxd5?

24.e6!! This would nearly win and Artemiev could have spared himself a lot of time and effort. Now he has to win
the game again, and work much harder for the full point. 24...Bb7 (24...Bxe6 25.Bxd5 Kf7 26.Qf3++–) 25.Qf3 Rf8
26.Qg3 Rc8 27.Qh4+±

24...Be6?

I am not sure if both players had enough time to calculate all the critical lines. Now White is nearly winning again.

24...Bxg4! 25.Qd4 Be6= Black gets the same position as in the game, but without the white g-pawn.

25.Bxa8 Qxa8 26.Qd6+ Kf7 27.h3 Bf8 28.Qc6 g5

29.Qb6?!

I would prefer to exchange queens and activate the rook with Rc6, or maybe Rc7.
29.Qxa8 Rxa8 30.Rc7+ Kg8 31.Rd1±

29...Rc8 30.Qe3 Be7 31.Rxc8 Qxc8 32.Rc1 Qb7

33.Rc3!

Defending the third rank and starting to introduce a kingside attack.

33...Kg7 34.Qd3 a5 35.Qd4 Kf7 36.Kh2 Bb4 37.Qd3 Kg7 38.Qf3 Qxf3 39.Rxf3 Bd2 40.Rf6 Bf4+ 41.Kg1+–

After the time-control, the position is completely winning for White. He has the material advantage with rook and 3
pawns versus two bishops, and can execute an easy plan: activating the king and pushing the pawns.
41...Bf7 42.Ra6 Bd2 43.Kf1 Bg6 44.Ke2 Bc3 45.Ra7+ Kf8 46.Ke3 Bb1 47.a3 Bg6 48.e6 h6 49.Rc7 Bf6 50.Rc5
Bd8 51.Rc8 Ke7

52.f4?!

52.Kd4! Bb6+ 53.Ke5+–

52...Bb6+ 53.Kf3 gxf4 54.Kxf4 Bd4 55.Rc6 Bb2 56.a4 Bd4 57.Rc4 Bf2 58.Ke5 Bg3+ 59.Kd5

The rest is simple technique and should be understandable without comments.

59...Be1 60.Rc7+ Ke8 61.Rc1 Bd2 62.Rc8+ Ke7 63.h4 Bd3 64.Rc7+ Ke8 65.Kd4 Bb1 66.Ke5 Be1 67.Rc1 Bg3+
68.Kd5 Bh7 69.Rc3 Bf4

69...Bxh4 70.Rc8+ Bd8 (70...Ke7 71.Rc7+) 71.Kd6+–

70.Rc5 Ke7 71.Rxa5 Bg8 72.Ra6 Bd2 73.a5 Kf6 74.g5+ hxg5 75.hxg5+ Bxg5 76.Rc6 Kf5 77.a6 Be3 78.b4

An exciting game, and one that was also very important for the following results and the championship victory.

1–0

24
Zahar Efimenko (2635)
Sebastien Maze (2602)
Germany 2019

This was a game played on the final weekend in the German Bundesliga between two strong GMs.

1.Nf3 e6 2.c4 d5 3.b3

In modern times, the Double Fianchetto is also very often played against such standard openings as the Queen’s
Gambit.

3...c5 4.g3 Nc6 5.Bg2 d4 6.0-0 g5!?

A very aggressive approach! Maze directly tries to create imbalances.

7.b4!?

Now both players start to play some interesting stuff.

I would prefer e3 with White, because this is a move White has to make in any event. In my childhood I learned that
a flank attack should be countered with an attack in the center!
7.e3 g4 8.Ne1 Nf6 9.exd4 cxd4 10.Nd3 h5 11.Qe2 with an unclear position, but I would prefer White a bit. He has
more options in the center, and also on the queenside. In addition, there are no direct threats on the kingside.

7...g4 8.Ne1 Nxb4 9.e3

Now he plays the same position, but without the b-pawn.

9...h5 10.exd4 Bg7 11.Bb2 cxd4 12.Na3 Ne7 13.c5!

Freeing the c4-square for the knight and creating an outpost on d6.

13...0-0 14.Nc4 Bd7 15.Qb3 Nbc6 16.Nd3

16.Qxb7? Rb8 17.Qa6 Nb4 18.Qa3 Qc7µ White would be tied in knots and the better coordination gives Black an
edge. It is often better to keep the initiative instead of gaining or regaining a pawn.

16...e5 17.Nd6

Now White definitely has enough compensation for the pawn. The knight on d6 is a monster, attacking b7 and f7.
Also the g2-bishop has the necessary opened diagonal , a fianchetto player dreams of. We can say that the position is
in dynamic balance.

17...Be6 18.Qa4

18.Qxb7 Rb8 19.Qa6= was also possible, but maybe Efimenko didn’t want to open the b-file.

18...Qa5 19.Qxa5 Nxa5

20.Nxb7?

20.f4! A brilliant resource, profiting from the knight on a5 which is out of play at the moment. 20...gxf3 21.Bxf3=
regaining the pawn under better circumstances.

20...Nac6?

Black missed a big chance here for an overwhelming advantage! But as I remember correctly both players were low
on time, because of the subtleties in the opening. The game was played in Mülheim and I was playing in the same
room with my team and sometimes I was watching this one.
20...Nxb7 21.Bxb7 Rab8 22.c6 Nxc6!! 23.Bxc6 Rfc8 24.Rac1 Bf5µ gaining back the sacrificed material with a very
good position.

21.Nd6 Bd5
22.Ba3

The trend of the game could have been positive for White if he had seen the idea with f4 again.
22.Bxd5 Nxd5 23.f4! undermining the center. 23...exf4 24.Nxf4 Nxf4 25.Rxf4² Here Black has to be careful because
of his weak kingside.

22...f5 23.Rab1

23...Bxg2

23...e4 24.Nf4 Bxa2 25.Ra1= and h5 is also hanging.

24.Kxg2 Rab8 25.Nb4 Nxb4 26.Rxb4 Rxb4 27.Bxb4 Nc6 28.Ba3 e4 29.Rb1 Bh6

Here the players agreed to a draw.

Of course, there exists enough air for some more play, but perhaps both players were happy with the draw after an
entertaining game in this team competition.
The funny thing is that my computer gives it as 0.00. Business as usual.

½–½

25
David Navara (2733)
Markus Ragger (2701)
Germany 2018

1.d4

This was one of those crazy and nearly brilliant games which David Navara played for my German team, Mülheim.

1...Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nbd2

Will this really end in a Double Fianchetto structure?

3...c5 4.dxc5 Qa5 5.a3 Qxc5 6.b4 Qc7 7.Bb2 Bg7 8.c4 0-0 9.g3

Yes, it will.

9...b6 10.Bg2 Bb7 11.0-0 d6 12.Rc1

After a very confusing move order we have reached a very normal positional position with four fianchettoed
bishops. Of course, the position is nearly equal, but I would prefer White a little because of his more active options.

12...Nbd7 13.Qb3 a5 14.Rfd1 Rfc8 15.Bh3 axb4 16.axb4 Qc6 17.Nf1!

The knight on d2 was the only piece which was not very well-placed. So now is the time to improve his position and
activate it via e3.

17...e6

Black has to make this move at some point, because he has to take away the d5-square from the knight and also the
bishop on h3 has to be stopped in his activity. But of course ...e6 weakens the pawn on d6, and the stability of the
knight on f6 is also undermined.

18.Bg2 Qa4 19.Qc3 d5

Austria’s best player starts very concrete and direct action.

20.Ne3 dxc4 21.Ng4?!

Now the game takes a completely different course, but objectively speaking it was better to take back the pawn
directly.
21.Nxc4 Bd5 22.Nfd2= But of course here White wouldn’t have an advantage and the most probable result would be
a draw. Maybe this was the reason why David took some risk.

21...Qb3??

I am not sure what Ragger missed, but it was definitely necessary to block the d-file with ...Bd5.
21...Bd5 22.e4 Ne8 23.Qd2 Bxb2 24.Qxb2 c3!µ It’s possible he missed this “zwischenzug”. Here only Black would
have winning chances.

22.Rxd7!
22...Qxc3 23.Nxf6+ Qxf6 24.Bxf6 Bc6 25.Ne5!

Maybe he missed this move, but also after 25.Bxg7 White would have a very good position. I have no idea what
went wrong in the calculations, but it is a crumb of comfort for me that such strong players also make mistakes.

25...Bxd7 26.Bxa8 Bxf6 27.Nxd7 Bg5 28.f4

Being a piece up, the rest is simple technique, especially for a player like David.
28...Be7 29.Be4 f5 30.Nxb6 Rb8 31.Nd7 Rxb4 32.Bf3 g5 33.Kg2 gxf4 34.gxf4 Bd6 35.Ne5 c3 36.Rxc3 Rxf4
37.Nc6 Rh4 38.h3 Rh6 39.Re3 Kf7 40.Rd3 Bc5 41.Ne5+ Ke7 42.Kg3 Bg1 43.h4 1–0

The rook on h6 is completely misplaced and Black would lose at minimum another pawn, so he resigned. An
interesting game with a confusing move order, and also full of mistakes, but that’s what gives it that extra
something.
 CHAPTER 5.
DIFFERENT RESULTING POSITIONS FROM THE DOUBLE
FIANCHETTO AND THEORETICALLY- IMPORTANT NUANCES

In this final chapter of the first part of the book I will show you a few games with different positions resulting from
the Double Fianchetto. It includes some interesting games and also a few theoretically-important things.
First of all, I would like to show you a game which was played at the end of last season in the Dutch league. It was a
very important match for my team, because we had the chance to avoid relegation with a win, but in the end my
team lost 8–2 and had to go down to the Second division. It was a very sad day, but after a loss by such a big margin,
we cannot say that we were unlucky. The team had a very bad day and lost deservedly. Hopefully we will bounce
back next season.
The only good thing on that day was that I had the chance to play an interesting game for the book. Funnily enough,
I had the opportunity to play a lot of Double Fianchetto games after starting to write this book. A few years ago,
nobody let me play these lines and many players started with ...d5 followed by ...g6.

Daniel Hausrath with family, October 2019. (Photo by Ralf Lange)

26
Daniel Hausrath (2468)
 Julian van Overdam (2392)
Dutch 2019

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 Nc6?!

This seems to be a bit too artificial. Sometimes I play the so called “Two Knights Tango” myself with Black, but I
only appreciate this if white has already played d4 and c4. Without c4 it is bit problematic for Black, as we will soon
see.

3.d4 e6 4.Bg2 d5 5.0-0

With a pawn on c4, Black could now take it and switch to some lines from the Catalan, but here for example the
knight on c6 is misplaced.

5...Bd6

Black wants to push ...e5 and give sense to the knight on c6.

6.Nbd2

Preventing ...e5 indirectly.

6...0-0

6...e5? 7.dxe5 Nxe5 8.Nxe5 Bxe5 9.c4± with a lot of problems for Black.

7.c4 b6

7...e5? This would be bad again here: 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.dxe5 Bxe5 (9...Nxe5?? 10.Nxe5 Bxe5 11.Nc4) 10.Nxe5 Nxe5
11.Nb3± With the pair of bishops, White has a very nice advantage.

8.b3

It transpired in flesh and blood that I have to play both fianchettos! Of course, here b2 is the best square for the
bishop — and also for preventing ideas involving ...e5.
8...a5 9.a3

To have the option of playing b4 after Black pushes ...a4.

9...Bb7 10.Bb2 a4?!

After a long think, my opponent makes an interesting attempt to solve his problems in a very dynamic way. I guess
he didn’t like the passive options.
10...Ne7 11.Qc2 c5 12.dxc5 Bxc5= Maybe this was the best solution.

11.b4 dxc4

12.Nxc4?!
This looked good to me, but in later analysis I found out that I had a better way.
12.Ne5! c3 13.Bxc3 Nd5 14.Bb2 f5 15.Rc1 Nce7 This was the reason why I didn’t play 12.Ne5, but I really
misjudged the resulting position and thought that Black is okay here. However, 16.e4! fxe4 17.Nxe4 Nf5 18.Re1±

12...Ne7 13.Rc1

13...Qb8!

A strong defensive resource.

Black protects the undefended bishop on b7 and frees the square d8 for his rook.

14.Re1

I was trying to force matters and push e4. It may have been slightly better to play the slower way, starting with e3.
14.e3 Rd8 15.Qe2²

14...Rd8
15.Ncd2!

I needed some time to understand that it is a good idea to exchange the white-squared bishops to stop a possible
Black blockade on the squares e4 and d5. Every kingside fianchetto player knows what pain is involved with this
exchange, but the main question is always which pieces remain on the board and it is not so important what will be
exchanged.

15...Ne4™

Otherwise White pushes e4 and is nearly winning.

16.Qc2 Nxd2 17.Nxd2 Bxg2 18.Kxg2²

First of all, the bishop on b2 looks quite ugly, but he has great potential. After pushing the pawns with e4 and d5 for
example, it will be a great attacking piece. Also, the option of playing e4 and e5 followed by Ne4 attracted me. The
other argument for a White advantage is that Black has a very passive position and his knight has no outpost in the
center after e4. In addition, the a4-pawn might become a weakness.

18...c5!

Up to this point my opponent has defended very well.

Now he uses the fact that my bishop on b2 will be hanging after some exchanges. The ...c5-thrust would be
impossible with a white pawn on e4 and so he uses the right moment for activity.

19.dxc5 bxc5 20.bxc5 Bxc5

21.Nf3?!

Definitely not the best choice, but a clever and fast move in a practical sense, because my opponent was still drifting
towards time trouble and I was searching for moves which were not the first line. Trying to create practical
problems.
21.Qxc5 Qxb2 22.Nc4 Qb7+ 23.e4² Objectively speaking this would have been the better choice, but I didn’t want to
exchange the bishops directly.

21...Nf5 22.Be5 Bd6 23.Rb1 Qc8 24.Qxc8 Rdxc8 25.e4 Bxe5 26.Nxe5

26.exf5? Bc3³

26...Nd6?

Over the last few moves Black has nearly equalized the position, but now he makes the first step in the wrong
direction again. With less time, it was not easy to evaluate everything correctly.
26...Nd4= preventing Rb4, because of the fork on c2.
27.Rb4!

Now it is becoming problematic again.

Black always has to defend his a-pawn and stay passive.

27...f6 28.Rd1 Ra6 29.Nd7 Nc4

30.Rd3

My opponent had less than a minute and kept trying to land some tricks.
30.Rc1?? Ne3+–+

30...Rc7 31.Nb8 Rb6?!

Sacrificing a pawn and defending actively again.

32.Rd8+ Kf7 33.Rxa4

33...Ne5!

My knight on b8 is out of play and Black uses this fact to organize counterplay on my second rank. He is threatening
to ‘double rooks on the 7th’ and White has to be very careful.

34.Rb4

Exchanging a possible attacker.

34...Rxb4 35.axb4 Rc4?!

a) Easier was 35...Rc2 with a possible attack on f2 and putting the rook behind the passed pawn. But it was
definitely not easy to evaluate the resulting positions while only playing on the increment.
b) 35...Rc2 36.h3 Rb2 37.Rd4 Ke7 with equality, because White can’t really make progress. His king is out of play
and also the knight on b8 needs some time to come back.

36.Na6 Rxe4 37.Rd2

Defending the second rank and trying to take up position behind the passed pawn.

37...Nc4?

37...Re1! 38.Rb2 g5!= Trying to build a mating net with ...g4 and ...Nf3.

38.Rd7+ Kg6 39.Nc5 Re2 40.Rd4 Nb6

We have reached the time-control and White has good winning prospects again. The big problem was that my team
was completely lost and at this point the score was 0–6. Very sad and frustrating, but of course I didn’t want to offer
a draw in such a position.

41.Rd6 Nc4 42.Rxe6

Botvinnik once said that knight endgames are the same as pawn endgames. This was the reason I could take the
pawn on e6 without being afraid of exchanging the rooks.

42...Rb2 43.Nd3 Rb3 44.Nf4+ Kh6 45.Nd5 Ne5

My opponent defends with great resistance and creativity.

46.Re7?

46.Rb6! Nd3 47.f4 Kg6 48.Kf3!± This was definitely not a candidate move for me, but after activating the king
White gets good winning chances.

46...Rb2 47.Ne3 Kg6 48.g4!?

A typical way of exchanging one advantage for another. Giving away the extra, passed pawn, but getting chances to
build an attack on the kingside. Of course, it should be a draw if Black defends correctly, but time was again
becoming a problem. With the time-control getting faster and faster, it is not so easy to play such endgames with the
necessary precision, and it is always good advice to search for good and active moves instead of searching for the
truth, something that you will never find with little time.

48...Rxb4 49.h3 Nc6 50.Rd7

50...Ra4!

A brilliant resource, found with less than a minute on the clock!

51.Nf5 Ra7= 52.Nh4+ Kg5 53.Rd5+ Kf4 54.Nf5 Ke4?

The position was still quite tricky and now he falls apart in time trouble. Instead 54...g6 55.Ng3 Ne7 56.Ne2+ Ke4
57.Nc3+ Kf4=

55.Rd6 Rc7

55...Ne5 56.Rd4# This was my dream!

56.Nxg7

Now it is winning!

56...Ke5 57.Ne8 Re7 58.Rxf6!

Here I definitely thought that my opponent should resign, but he was fighting for his life, because with a draw he
would attain an IM norm, which I didn’t know.
It is never a good idea to stop thinking too early and put the point in a box before the game has finished.

58...Nd4 59.Rf8?

The first step in the wrong direction.

59.f4+ Ke4 60.Nd6+ Kd3 61.Nf5 Re2+ 62.Kg3+–

59...Ra7 60.f4+ Ke4 61.Nd6+ Kd5 62.Nc8

62...Ra3!

Again the best defence and creating technical problems!

63.Re8?

For me it looked quite logical to prevent the black king from going to e4, but in doing so I blundered a pawn. My
opponent also didn’t see it; it is very human to make mistakes under time pressure. I always had a few minutes more
than him, but also not enough to calculate with deep precision.

63...Nc2?

63...Ra2+ 64.Kg3 Ne2+²

64.Nb6+ Kd4 65.f5 Ne3+ 66.Kf2

A move repetition to gain some time.

66...Nd1+ 67.Kg2 Ne3+

68.Kg1?

68.Kh2 Nf1+ 69.Kg1+–

68...Ra6?

68...h5!

69.Re6?

69.f6 would have won easily, but after nearly 6 hours of play I didn’t want to take any risks and thought that I had
time to protect the knight first.
69.f6 Rxb6 70.f7 Rb1+ 71.Kh2 Rb2+ 72.Kg3+–

69...h5! 70.f6
70.Nd7 Ra1+ 71.Kf2 hxg4 72.Rxe3 Ra2+ 73.Re2 Rxe2+ 74.Kxe2 gxh3 75.Kf3 Kd5=

...with a fantastic study-like draw.

70...hxg4 71.f7 Ra1+ 72.Kf2 Rf1+ 73.Ke2 g3!

Very precise!

74.Rd6+ Ke4 75.Re6+ Kd4 76.Rd6+ Ke4 77.Re6+ Kd4

What a game and a disappointing end for me after such a big fight. But my opponent really deserved his norm with
his defensive skills! Chapeau, well done!

½–½

The next game was played after finishing the first few chapters of this book, but it was so interesting that I decided
to include it anyway. Also, the readers can get an impression of which lines I prefer from the Black side. This game
was played during the open tournament in Herne last summer. I have played a lot of games against the same
opponent in the past. Normally he starts with 1.e4 and is a good tactician.

27
Soel Kartsev (2202)
Daniel Hausrath (2467)
Herne 2019

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.b3!?

I have to admit that I was a bit amused to see this move against me. My opponent surely didn’t know that I was
writing a book about this, but he should have known that I very often played this line myself. But maybe he wanted
to know what I would do against my own opening?

3...Bg7 4.Bb2 c5 5.c4 d6 6.Bg2

6.d4 After this principled move I would have played the line starting with ...Ne4. 6...Ne4 7.Bg2 Qa5+ 8.Nfd2 Nxd2
9.Bc3 Qb6!∞ This line is mentioned earlier in the book.

6...e5 7.d3 Nc6 8.0-0 0-0 9.Ne1?

The idea is correct. He wants to bring his knight first to the square e3, and then to d5, but he should definitely start
with 9.Nc3, because now Black can simply push ...d5 without problems.
9.Nc3 Rb8 10.Ne1 Be6 11.Nd5 Qd7 12.Nc2 Bh3=

9...d5 10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.Nd2 Be6 12.a3 a5?!

Up to this point I was playing quickly, and I was also happy with the result of the opening. Now I was wondering
whether 12...a5 was necessary or not. I now think that it is not required, because at the moment b4 is not threatened.
Maybe I should have started with 12...b6, because this move will be necessary soon.

13.Rc1 b6 14.Nc2 Rc8 15.e3

Here Black had a very interesting option with 15...e4.

15...Nde7?!

15...e4!? 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Nxe4? (17.Ne1 exd3 18.Nc4 with equality, but I guess that neither of us had seen this
idea with ...Nc3 and ...Qd3.) 17...f5 18.Nd2 Nc3 19.Qe1 Qxd3–+

16.Ne1™

Otherwise Black would win with the ...e4–idea.

16.Qe2?? e4µ A typical idea with the undefended bishop on b2.

16...Rc7!

Preparing to double on the d-file.

17.Qc2 Rd7 18.h3 h6

Just improving the position.

19.Qb1

Here my opponent offered a draw.

Of course, the position is slightly better for Black because of the misplaced knight on e1. Also, the tournament
situation was not clear at this moment, so for me it was not a realistic option to take the draw.

19...Bd5 20.Qa1 Bxg2 21.Kxg2 h5 22.Ne4 Nf5 23.Kg1

From now on he only made moves, without a concrete plan, and asked me indirectly to find a plan myself.
First of all I improved my position with normal and good moves.

23...Qe7 24.Nd2 Qe6 25.Kg2

25...Rb8?!

Maybe this was the moment where I started to hand over control. All my pieces occupied good squares and White
was only making “stupid” moves. I should have started to play more concretely and developed a kingside attack. But
this is often a psychological thing: If we have a good position without any problems, we often play a bit too
superficially.
25...h4! 26.g4 Nd6µ with ...f5 to follow. But I thought that I had all the time in the world and just played a bit too
prophylactically, defending a possible weakness on b6.
26.Nc4 f6 27.Nd2 Bh6 28.Kh2

Now another factor became important. I don’t know why, but my time seemed to run faster than my opponent’s! I
had some 10 minutes left and couldn’t find a concrete solution. This was the reason for the next two moves — a
move repetition to gain some time.

28...Nfd4 29.Rc4 Nf5 30.g4?

My opponent starts to get active in a position in which it was not a good idea. Most of his pieces are out of play and
his rook will become a target. He should sit on his fingers and wait for some action, but this is not in the nature of
Soel — he always wants to play aggressively. Here it would usually have been the wrong decision to get active, but
as I told you the clock was ticking as well.

30...Nd6 31.Ra4 b5 32.Re4

32...Nxe4?!

Strength lies in calmness!

Of course, it was not a mistake to take directly on e4, but neither was it necessary, and with the upcoming time
pressure it would have been easier to make some prophylactic moves first.
32...Rh7!!–+ Now White wouldn’t get so much counterplay.

33.Nxe4 Bf8?

33...Rh7! 34.g5 fxg5 35.Nxc5 Qd5–+

34.f4!

I completely underestimated this move.

Now it became quite unclear and I was down to less than 5 minutes.

34...Rf7?

The third mistake in a row!

34...f5! 35.gxf5 gxf5 36.Rg1+ Rg7 37.Ng5 Qxb3 38.Bxe5 Nxe5 39.Qxe5 Rd8³

35.gxh5 gxh5

36.Qd1?

36.fxe5 Nxe5 37.Rxf6! We both missed that one! 37...Rxf6 38.Bxe5 Rf1 39.Bxb8 Qg6= with a very complicated
position which would normally end in a perpetual, but who knows....

36...Be7 37.f5 Qd5 38.Rg1+ Rg7 39.Rg6

Have a look at this position and compare it with the one after move 25. My plan to give the opponent no counterplay
has completely failed.

39...Rxg6 40.fxg6 Kg7

We reached the time control and I was in disbelief at what had happened to my nice position. But the more I
calculated, the more I understood that I still had winning chances.

41.Nf3

My first intention was to play ...Rd8 and win, but..

41...Bd6!

After a ten-minute think, I understood that I had to exchange one knight.

a) 41...Rd8? 42.Nh4 Qxe4 43.Qxh5+–;
b) 41...f5 42.Nxe5! Nxe5 (42...fxe4 43.Qxh5 Bd6 44.Qh7+ Kf6 45.Qh4+=) 43.Qxh5+–

42.Nh4 Ne7 43.Qxh5 Rh8

44.Nf5+?

He would have better practical chances without exchanging the knight.

44.Qg4 Bc7³

44...Nxf5 45.Qxf5 Be7

46.Ng5!

46.Ng3? Qxb3 47.Nh5+ Kh6!–+ and Black wins the bishop on b2.

46...Qxb3

A brave decision, but I wanted to win of course.

47.Ne6+?

The wrong move order.

47.Bxe5 fxe5 48.Ne6+ Kh6 49.Qf7 Qb2+ 50.Kg3 e4 I had calculated up to this position and thought that I would
have good winning prospects, but... 51.d4! and Black has to give the perpetual. 51...Bd6+ 52.Kh4 Be7+ 53.Kg3
Bd6+=

47...Kg8 48.Bxe5 Qd5 49.d4 cxd4 50.exd4 Qa2+ 51.Kg1 Qa1+ 52.Kf2 Qb2+ 53.Kf1

53...Qxa3?

Again we had not much time left and I thought that it would be a good idea to take this pawn and then exchange
queens into a won endgame, but...
53...Qc3!! 54.Nf4 Qc4+ 55.Kg1 fxe5 56.Ne6 Qc1+ 57.Kh2 Qd2+ 58.Kg1 Qe3+ 59.Kg2 Qxh3+–+ This would have
been the correct solution! But I have to admit that it was not that easy to evaluate all the details with little time. The
difference is that the queen can defend the mate on f7 from the more active square c4.

54.Nf4!

Now it is equal and should end in a draw!

54...Qa1+ 55.Kg2 Qa2+ 56.Kg1 fxe5

This was my idea and I thought this should be winning.

57.Ne6 Qa1+ 58.Kg2 Qb2+

59.Kh1??

Now it is lost again, but it was still possible to hold the game wondrously.
59.Kf1!! Qc1+ 60.Ke2! The only way, running directly into the arms of the queen. Now it would be impossible to
escape the perpetual. (60.Kg2 Qd2+ 61.Kf1 Qd1+ 62.Kg2 Qe2+ 63.Kh1 Bf6–+ This was my planned win!
Unfortunately it was not forced.) 60...Qc4+ 61.Kd1=

59...Bf6!!

Now the rest was simple.

60.Kg1

60.Qxf6 Rxh3+ 61.Kg1 Rg3+ 62.Kf1 Qg2+ 63.Ke1 Re3+–+

60...Qc1+ 61.Kg2 Qd2+ 62.Kg1 Qe3+ 63.Kg2

63...Rxh3 64.Qxh3 Qxh3+ 65.Kxh3 exd4 66.Kg4 d3 67.Kf3 d2 68.Ke2 Bc3 69.Kd1 a4 70.Nc5 a3 71.Kc2 a2

A very important win for the overall tournament victory.

This game ended half an hour before the next round in which I had to play against the legendary German IM
Podzielny. I also won that game and with it the whole tournament for the third time in a row.

0–1

28
 Evgeny Shtembuliak (2487)
Alina Bivol (2403)
Saint Louis 2018

This game was played in one of the many GM tournaments that are organized by Rex Sinquefield in Saint Louis.
Nowadays many possibilities exist for young players in the USA to achieve norms.

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.b3 Bg7 4.Bb2 b6 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.0-0 c5 7.c4 0-0 8.Nc3 Nc6?!

I would prefer to wait with this move, because this is the starting point of some upcoming problems. Black could
instead play, for example, 8..d6 or 8....d5 as seen in earlier games.
8...d6 9.e3 Nbd7 10.d4 Ne4 with an equal, but interesting game.

9.d4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 Bxg2 11.Kxg2 cxd4 12.Qxd4 d5!?

A very interesting move and perhaps the best practical attempt in this position.
Otherwise Black would end up in a very passive position.

13.cxd5

13.Nxd5? Ne8 14.Qd2 e6 15.Ba3 exd5 16.Rad1 Nf6µ

13...e6 14.Rad1

14.d6 This leads to an equal position, as seen in one of the games of the rising Indian star Praggnanandhaa. 14...Nd5
15.Qd2 Nxc3 16.Bxc3 Bxc3 17.Qxc3 Qxd6 18.Rfd1 Qe7 19.Rac1 Rfd8= Praggnanandhaa- Liang, Sitges 2018

14...Nxd5

15.Qxg7+!!

I like this idea a lot! It will lead to a draw, if Black plays correctly, but we are humans and not machines. In practical
games we have to solve problems without outside help and here Black has to find some accurate moves.

15...Kxg7 16.Nxd5+ Kh6 17.Nf6

17...Qc8??

Here comes the mistake. It was necessary to play 17....Qc7, but it is definitely not easy to understand all the
subtleties.
17...Qc7!! 18.Ng4+ Kg5?!
[18...Kh5! This is the solution and White has to force the draw. 19.Nf6+ Kh6 It is good to know that Black can’t
avoid the perpetual. (19...Kg5?? 20.h4+ Kh6 21.Rd7 Qc2 22.Ng4+ Kh5

23.Bg7!! A well-known tactical motif, taking away the last square from the black king. 23...Kxg4 24.Rd4+ Kh5
25.g4+ Kxh4 26.Bf6+ g5 27.Rh1#)]
19.Bf6+??
[19.Be5! Qb7+ 20.f3 f5™ 21.Bf4+ Kh5 22.Ne5 Rad8?? This would lose sweetly. (22...g5 23.Rd7 Qxd7 24.Nxd7
gxf4 25.Nxf8 Rxf8 26.gxf4 Rd8 27.a4²) 23.h4!! Rxd1 24.Kh3+–]
19...Kxg4 20.Rd4+ Kf5 21.Rf4+ Qxf4–+ This is one of the main differences: the nice mate is impossible.

18.Ng4+ Kh5

19.Nf6+

19.Bf6!! This would have won, but maybe Shtembuliak was satisfied with a draw, because he won the tournament
with this result — or maybe he didn’t know all the subtleties himself. 19...Kxg4?? (19...Qc6+ 20.f3+–

Black would be completely overwhelmed defending against all the threats. It would still be impossible to prevent the
rook maneuver Rd4–e4–e5.) 20.Rd4+ leads to a direct mate.

19...Kh6 20.Ng4+ Kh5 21.Nf6+

A very interesting battle and also quite important from the theoretical point of view.
½–½

29
Parham Maghsoodloo (2671)
Gawain Jones (2702)
Malmö 2019

This game was played in the first round of the well-known Sigeman & Co tournament in Malmö last year. It was
also very important for the final outcome. As I read in New in Chess Magazine, Parham Maghsoodloo arrived a bit
late for the game, because he got lost trying to find the playing venue.

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.b3 g6 4.Bb2 Bg7 5.g3 0-0 6.Bg2 d6 7.d4

I have discussed this position earlier in the book and one of the main moves here is 7...Ne4, as in the game Kramnik-
Caruana.

7...d5!?

A very interesting move-order, which normally leads to positions I also discussed earlier, but in this game it
achieves some independence, because of White’s reply.

8.dxc5

8.0-0 dxc4 9.bxc4 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Qb6 as seen in my game against Ootes, for example.

8...dxc4 9.Nbd2 Na6 10.0-0 Nxc5 11.Nxc4 Be6

12.Qc1!

This seems to be the critical test. With other moves White can’t get any advantage.
12.Rc1 Bh6 13.Ne3 Rc8=

12...Rc8 13.Rd1 Qe8 14.Qf4 Nce4

a) 14...Nd5 15.Qh4 Bxb2 16.Nxb2 Nc3 17.Rd2 f6 18.Nd4²;

b) 14...Bxc4! 15.Qxc4 Nce4 16.Qd4 Rc2„;
c) 14...Na4 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Nd6 exd6 17.Qxf6 Nc3 18.Re1= This was the line Jones was considering, but he was
unhappy with the resulting structure.

15.Nfe5
15...b5!

Provoking some chaos and playing in style. Sometimes we make decisions which will be criticized by the computer,
but from a human point of view these decisions are very intelligent. His opponent was heading into a little time
trouble, so Jones complicated the game.

16.Na5 Rc2 17.Bd4 Bd5 18.Qe3 Qa8

19.Bh3?

Here it was possible to get an advantage starting with 19.f3, but of course 19.Bh3 also looks good. I guess White had
missed Black’s next move.
19.f3! Nd6 20.Bh3 e6 21.Qd3 Rc7 22.Rac1²

19...h6!

This is the difference; the knight gets an outpost on g5.

20.Rdc1 Ng5?

Jones admitted after the game that he wanted to keep the position as complicated as possible, because his opponent
was still in time trouble. Now it was possible to take the exchange, but without time it was a very human decision
not to do this, and maybe also with time on the clock?

21.Bf1?!

21.Rxc2 Nxh3+ 22.Kf1 Bxb3 23.Rc6 Bd5 This was the idea, but White can give back the exchange and get an
advantage. 24.Rac1! Bxc6 25.Naxc6±

21...Rfc8 22.Rxc2 Rxc2 23.Rc1 Qc8 24.Nac6?

Here Black could have won with a fabulous idea!

24...Rxc1?

24...Nh3+! 25.Bxh3 Qxh3 26.f3 (26.Nxe7+ Kh7 27.Nxd5 Nxd5 winning the queen.) 26...Ng4!! 27.Nxg4 Bxf3–+
The point, and definitely the move which Jones missed.

25.Qxc1 Kh7 26.f3?

A mistake after which Black gets the advantage.

It looks natural to protect the king, but it was necessary to play actively instead, starting with 26.Qc5.
26.Qc5 Ne6 27.Bh3!²

26...Nd7 27.Qc3 Ne6 28.Nxe7?

With no time, White blunders a piece, but the position was critical in any event.
28.Nb4 Qxc3 29.Bxc3 Bxb3!µ

28...Qb7!

Now there is no way to defend against both 29...Nxd4 and 29...Nxe5.

29.f4 Nxe5 30.Nxd5 Nxd4 31.e4

Now Black is completely winning, but Jones honestly admitted that his technique was not the best, although he also
said that maybe it was a mixture of the onset of time-trouble and first round nerves. I have also had many games in
which I thought afterwards that my technique was not the best, but luckily good enough to get the full point.

31...Nec6?

31...Ng4 32.Qd3 Qc6–+

32.Kh1 Ne7?! 33.Qc7 Qxc7 34.Nxc7 b4 35.Bc4 Kg8 36.Kg2 g5 37.Kf2 Ng6 38.Nd5 a5 39.e5 Kf8 40.Ke3 Nc6

A few moves earlier it was much easier to win the game, but after the time-control Jones managed to win the game a
second time.

41.Ke4 h5 42.Bb5 Nce7 43.Nb6 gxf4 44.Nd7+ Kg8 45.gxf4 Nf8 46.Nc5 Ne6 47.Nd3 Bh6 48.h4 Kg7

Now it is over again and Black doesn’t let the win slip away again.

49.Bc4 Kg6 50.Bxe6 fxe6 51.Nc5 Kf7 52.Nb7 Nd5 53.Nd6+ Ke7 54.f5 Nc3+ 55.Kd3 Bf4 56.f6+ Kd7 57.Kd4 Bg3
58.Nb7 Bf2+ 59.Kd3 Nxa2 60.Nxa5 Bxh4 61.Nb7
White resigned before Black could start taking the pawns beginning with 61...Kc6 followed by ...Kd5.
A very interesting game from a theoretical point of view, and it was also quite important for the overall standings. In
a tournament with only 7 rounds, the first round gains more importance and Jones won the tournament with 5 out of
7. Maghsoodloo shared fifth with only 3 out of 7.

0–1

30
Manuel Bosboom (2450)
Ivo Maris (1924)
Leeuwarden 2009

The final game of the first part of the book is a crazy game involving the famous Dutch IM Manuel Bosboom.
I found this game during my preparations for Ivo Maris, who nowadays is also rated over 2400.
Manuel Bosboom is well-known for his crazy openings and his brilliant intuition. This year he made 7 out of 9 in the
very strong Dutch international open tournament in Dieren and shared first place together with one of the rising
young hopes, IM Casper Schoppen. Manuel is now in his mid-50s and is also known for his win in a blitz
tournament against the legendary Garry Kasparov!

1.c4 e5 2.b3!?

If you want to avoid mainlines, you can always play like this.

2...Nc6 3.Bb2 g6 4.e3 Bg7 5.d3 f5 6.h4 h6

7.g4!?

Typical Bosboom! After a few moves the game has reached independent terrain.

7...d6 8.gxf5 Bxf5 9.Ne2 Bg4 10.Bg2

Now we have the Double Fianchetto. It is definitely not a typical position for those structures, but the strength of the
bishop on g2 becomes clear.

10...Nge7 11.Nbc3 Nf5

12.Kd2!

I like this move a lot! It brilliantly shows the creativity of Manuel. Of course, it also has its logic, because White
wants to activate the queen via g1 and attack on the kingside.

12...Nxh4 13.Qg1

13...e4?

The player of the black pieces is also known for his creativity, but here he oversteps the limit. Now White gets a big
advantage.
13...h5 14.Rf1 0-0! 15.Bd5+ Kh7 with an unclear position, but it is understandable that Black didn’t want to castle
into the attack.
14.Bxe4 Ne5 15.Kc2 Nhf3

Both players are following their style and playing as actively as possible, but White is faster — and indeed
completely winning — because of his much safer king.

16.Bxg6+! Kf8

16...Nxg6 17.Qxg4 Qf6 18.Qe4+ Kd8 19.Na4 Nge5

20.Nf4+– with the double threats of Qxb7 and d4, winning a piece.

17.Qg3 Nxg6 18.Qxg4 Qf6

19.Rh5!

A very nice (and efficient) way to activate the rook.

19...Ng5 20.f4 Nf7 21.Rg1 Ne7 22.Nd1

A funny game with a stylish end! This was the first part of the book with games and annotations from the White
side. Now I will present to you many games in which Black plays the Double Fianchetto.

1–0
 PART 2.
DOUBLE FIANCHETTO WITH BLACK

CHAPTER 1.
DOUBLE FIANCHETTO IN THE ACCELERATED DRAGON

In this second part of the book I will show and introduce some Double Fianchetto structures from the black side.
These include positions from the Accelerated Dragon, the Caro Kann, the Modern, the Hippopotamus — as well as
some different move orders from the so-called Fischer System and the nowadays very popular Double Fianchetto
starting with ...b6. This first game was played in the fourth round of the famous Biel tournament. Magnus Carlsen
was also playing, in the GM tournament, and my opponent was one of his friends — and maybe also one of his
seconds. But I guess that Magnus was not so happy with the achievement of his friend. But let’s see...

31
Joachim Thomassen (2357)
Daniel Hausrath (2491)
Biel 2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bg7 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Bb3

One of the main lines against the Accelerated Dragon. In my early years I either tried 8...a5 here, or switched to the
mainline Dragon with 8...d6. Nowadays I often use the modern 8...Re8, with the idea of getting counterplay in the
center with ...e6 and ...d5. But after some negative experiences in the lines with 8...a5 I switched to the interesting
positions starting with 8...b6.

8...b6!? 9.0-0

In my opinion the more critical test is 9.f3, as we will see in a later game.

9...Bb7 10.f3 Qc7!

A tricky move with a hidden idea.

11.Nd5?!

11...Nxd5 12.exd5??

My opponent falls directly into the trap! It was necessary to take back with the bishop, but here also Black would be
slightly better.
12.Bxd5 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 Bxd4+ 14.Qxd4 Bxd5 15.exd5 e5!³

12...Qe5!

Oops! Winning material.

The game is over after only 12 moves. Here you can see the real strength of the Double Fianchetto, although I have
to admit that it usually doesn’t work so easily.
13.dxc6 Qxe3+ 14.Kh1 dxc6

14...Ba6 15.Re1 Qxd4 16.cxd7 Qc5!–+

15.c3 Bxd4 16.cxd4 e6 17.Re1 Qf4 18.Qe2 Rad8 19.Rad1 Rxd4 20.Rxd4 Qxd4 21.Rd1 Qf4 22.Rd7 Qc1+
23.Rd1 Qg5 24.Rd7 Bc8 25.Rxa7 Rd8 26.Qe1 Rd2 27.g3 Rd8 28.Qc3 c5 29.Kg1 c4!

A good move — just in time after some inaccuracies.

30.Bxc4 Qc5+ 31.Kg2 b5 32.Qa5 Rd1 33.Bf1 Qc2+ 34.Kh3 Rxf1 35.Qd8+ Kg7
Definitely not one of my best games, but I wanted to show you a very interesting theoretical idea.

0–1

The following game was played in the nice Dutch city Vlissingen. As I told you in an earlier chapter, I always use
this tournament for a holiday with my family. Only in 2015 was I absent, because of the birth of my third son.

32
Thomas Beerdsen (2282)
Daniel Hausrath (2530)
Vlissingen 2014

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Bb3 b6 9.0-0 Bb7 10.f3 Qc7

11.Qd2!?
Unfortunately, Thomas seemed to know my trap!

11...Rad8 12.Rae1 Qb8!?

The idea is to play this structure as a hedgehog with ...Qa8 and then starting action in the center with ...d5, for
example.

13.Nxc6?!

After this exchange White can’t claim an opening advantage. This should be replaced by 13.Nde2 followed by Bh6
and the exchange of dark-squared bishops.

13...dxc6 14.Qc1 Ba6 15.Rf2

15...Nd7!
Black takes the initiative and plans to regroup the knight via e5 and c4. Also, the g7-bishop gains some activity.

16.Ne2 c5

Preventing Nd4 and threatening ...c4.

17.c3?

Now the square on d3 becomes a target. It isn’t pretty, but 17.a3 was necessary.
17.a3 c4 18.Ba2 Nc5³

17...Ne5 18.Bc2 e6

18...Rd7 Maybe it was easier to double rooks first and only play ...e6 if White is threatening to occupy the square d5
after Nf4. 19.Nf4 e6 20.Rd2 Rfd8³

19.Bf4 Bc4 20.Ng3

20...Bxa2!

Remembering the historic match between Fischer and Spassky and capturing a seemingly ‘poisoned’ pawn, but my
bishop will have a comeback. By the way, in the famous Fischer game the pawn on h2 was taken.

21.b3?

The final mistake. It was better to regroup the pieces starting with 21.Qe3.
21.Qe3 Bc4 22.Bxe5 Bxe5 23.f4 Bf6 24.b3 Bb5 25.e5³ Black would also be better here, but White could fight on.

21...c4 22.b4 Bb3 23.Bxb3 cxb3 24.Bxe5 Qxe5

25.Ne2 Qb5 26.f4 Qc4 27.e5 Rd3 28.Qa3 Rfd8 0–1

This game also looked annoyingly easy, but of course it normally doesn’t work so easily all the time. This is why I
will now show you another game, this time in which Black was the one who had to solve some problems.

33
Kostantinos Skaperdas (2222)
Vladimir Georgiev (2530)
Chalkida 2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Bb3 b6 9.f3!

I guess that this is the critical test. White wants to castle queenside and attack the black king as in the normal Dragon
variations.

9...Bb7 10.Qd2 Na5 11.0-0-0 d5!

It is undoubtedly the best choice to start concrete action in the center before White can start his kingside attack
beginning with h4.

12.e5 Nd7 13.f4 Nc5 14.h4 Qd7?!

Maybe the beginning of the resulting problems. First of all, Black should try to stop the attack:
14...Nc4! 15.Bxc4 dxc4 16.h5 Qc8 17.Qf2 Qg4²

15.h5

15...Naxb3+?

In these structures it is normally not a good idea to take on b3, because this helps White to defend his king. Black
should always exchange the bishop with ...Nc4 and open the center. But of course it would have been better without
the loss of time one move earlier.
15...Nc4 16.Bxc4 dxc4 17.hxg6 fxg6 (17...hxg6? 18.f5! and White would be nearly winning!) 18.Qe2 Qe8 19.Qxc4+
Qf7 20.Qxf7+ Rxf7 White is a pawn up, but Black has the bishop pair and can keep on fighting.

16.axb3 a5 17.g4 a4
18.b4?

Here White missed a big chance:

18.hxg6! axb3 19.gxh7+ Kh8 20.cxb3 Rfc8 21.Rh4! with very good chances for White, but I guess that he had a lot
of respect for his opponent and was afraid of the opened a-file.

18...a3!

Now Black should always be fast enough with his counterplay.

19.b3 Ne4?

After the gathering comes the scattering. But, of course, it was very easy to lose control in this complicated position.
19...Rfc8! 20.bxc5 bxc5 21.Qh2 cxd4 22.Bxd4 g5! with nearly equal chances, but a lot of room for mistakes.

20.Nxe4 dxe4 21.hxg6 fxg6

The alternatives are not really better:

a) 21...hxg6 22.Qh2 Rfd8 23.f5 a2 24.Kb2+–;
b) 21...a2 22.gxf7+ Kxf7 23.Kb2 Qxg4 24.Rdg1+–

22.Qh2 h6
23.Nf5!

Now White is winning, but some surprises are still to come.

Maybe it was time trouble.

23...Qxd1+ 24.Rxd1 gxf5 25.gxf5 Rxf5 26.Kb1 a2+ 27.Kb2 b5 28.Ra1 e6 29.Rxa2 Rxa2+ 30.Kxa2 h5 31.Qh4
Bd5 32.Qe7 Bf8 33.Qe8 Rf7

34.Qd8

34.Qxb5 h4 35.Qf1 Rh7 36.c4 Bb7 37.Qh3 and White would be completely winning.

34...Kh7 35.Qh4 Rf5 36.c3 Kg6 37.Kb2 Bh6 38.Qg3+ Kf7 39.Kc2 Bf8 40.Bd2 Be7 41.Be3
I am not completely sure what happened, but I guess that the player of the white pieces had no winning plan and
connected his last move with a draw offer. It is no longer so easy. White is still winning, but needs some ideas
connected to zugzwang. A lucky escape for Georgiev. Those lines with ...b6 in the Accelerated Dragon are good and
playable, but you have to be careful in these positions with long-castling from the white side, but this is also the case
in the normal Dragon variations. I myself had good experiences with these structures and won nearly all the games I
played with this line.

½–½
 CHAPTER 2.
DOUBLE FIANCHETTO IN THE CARO KANN

In this chapter I will present you with a few games featuring a Double Fianchetto structure resulting from the
pseudo-Panov/Botvinnik variation.
I would like to play this variation myself, but I somehow never got this variation in my Caro Kann games.
Surprisingly, I only got the Classical, the Advanced and the normal Panov variation. A few times I also faced the
Fantasy and double knight variations. As a child I also played the Caro Kann with good success, but in those years I
played a different line against the pseudo-Panov. That is the reason why I don’t have any experiences in this line in a
practical game, but as we will see, this leads to nice play.

34
Arghyadip Das (2392)
Daniel Fridman (2665)
Zürich 2009

1.e4 c6 2.c4 d5 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.exd5 Nf6 5.Qa4+

White wants to confuse the black pieces and defend the d5-pawn.

5...Nbd7 6.Nc3 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Bc4 0-0 9.d3 a6

The first important position in this line. You will find a lot of games in the database where White now castled and
directly lost a piece.

10.Qa3

10.0-0?? b5 11.Bxb5 Nb6–+

10...b6

Here comes the double.

11.0-0 Bb7 12.Re1 Re8

13.Ng5?!

This seems to be a bit too artificial and Black can easily equalize. A better try would have been the development of
the bishop on c1.
13.Be3 b5 14.Bb3 Nb6 15.d6 exd6 16.Ng5 d5 17.Bd4 with equal chances.

13...h6 14.Nge4 Ne5?!

Much better was the development of the rook:

14...Rc8 15.Be3 Nxe4 16.Nxe4 Ne5 and Black has the initiative.

15.Bf4 Nxd5 16.Bxd5 Bxd5 17.Nxd5 Qxd5 18.Nc3 Qd6

19.Qb3??

I guess that both players completely missed the possibility of 19.Qa4, which would give White an edge.
19.Qa4 Now the pin of the knight would be quite troublesome. 19...Rad8 20.Qe4 f6 Sad necessity! 21.Bxe5 fxe5
22.Qc4+ with good chances for White.

19...Nf3+!
With this simple tactic, Black gets the better structure and a big advantage.

20.gxf3 Qxf4 21.Qd5 Rad8 22.Qe4 Qd2 23.Re2 Qxd3

Now Black is winning.

24.Rd1 Qxe4 25.fxe4 Bxc3 26.Rxd8 Rxd8 27.bxc3 Rd1+ 28.Kg2 Rc1 29.Rb2 Rxc3 30.Rxb6 Ra3 31.Rb2 g5
32.f3 Kg7 33.Kg3 h5 34.h3 h4+ 35.Kg4 Kg6 36.Rb8 f6
Understandably enough White saw no fun in playing on. This looked like an easy game, but in the middle game both
sides committed a few mistakes.
The course of the opening, however, was for sure a success for Black.

0–1

The next game was played during the Russian Team Championships in Sochi.
Alexander Riazantsev is a real expert on the Caro Kann, but nowadays he doesn’t play that often because he is the
trainer of the Russian women’s team, together with Sergey Rublevski.
In this game Alexander shows us how to play this variation of the pseudo-Panov.

35
Mikhail Panarin (2523)
Alexander Riazantsev (2710)
Sochi 2012

1.e4 c6 2.c4 d5 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.exd5 Nf6 5.Qa4+ Nbd7 6.Nc3 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Bc4 0-0 9.d3 a6 10.Qa3 b6 11.0-0
Bb7 12.Re1 Re8

Until this point it is the same position as in the Fridman game, but here White deviates.
13.Be3 b5 14.Bb3 Nb6 15.d6

A typical idea in such structures. White gives back the pawn on his conditions and tries to destroy Black’s structure.

15...Bxf3!

An important “zwischenzug”!

16.gxf3

16.dxe7?! Rxe7 17.gxf3 Nbd7³ and Black has gained an important tempo to get his knight closer to the kingside,
which could prove very annoying for White.

16...exd6

White has the pair of bishops, but the doubled f-pawn is more than enough compensation for this. The position is
about equal, but it seems to be easier to play with Black.

17.Bf4 d5 18.Rxe8+ Qxe8

Within a few moves White will lose control completely. Maybe the best option would be to activate the queen via
d6.

19.Qc5?

The first step in the wrong direction: Black will later gain a tempo with ...Nfd7.
19.Qd6 Qe6 20.a4=

19...Qe6 20.Bc7 Nfd7 21.Qe3 Rc8!

Now Black has a big advantage. The white pieces don’t work together and are out of play. Black’s pieces are very
well coordinated and the game won’t last very long.
22.Qf4 b4!

After this move White is just lost and the rest is simple.

23.Ne4 Bxb2 24.Rb1 Be5

25.Bxe5 Qxe5 26.Qxe5 Nxe5 27.Nf6+ Kg7 28.Nxd5 Nxd5 29.Bxd5 Nxd3 30.Rd1

30...Rc1

The easiest way to bring home the full point, just transforming into a won minor piece endgame.

31.Rxc1 Nxc1 32.Kf1 a5 33.Ke1 a4 34.Bc6 a3

I was very surprised at the ease of this game. Mikhail Panarin, also a strong GM, was completely outplayed after the
opening. A nice and seemingly easy achievement by Riazantsev.

0–1

36
Slavko Cicak (2530)
Vladimir Burmakin (2552)
Salou 2005

1.e4

This game was played during the international chess tournament in Salou between two well-known Open
tournament specialists.

1...c6 2.c4 d5 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.exd5 Nf6 5.Qa4+ Nbd7 6.Nc3 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Bc4 0-0 9.d3 a6 10.Qa3
10...Qc7!?

An interesting alternative to the previously-discussed move 10...b6.

11.0-0 Ne5 12.Nxe5 Qxe5 13.h3 b5 14.Bb3

14.Bxb5? Bxh3 and White would immediately face some problems.

14...Bb7

15.Bd2?!

In my opinion this seems to be a small inaccuracy and Black can now equalize comfortably.
15.d4 Qc7 (of course not 15...Qxd4 16.Qxe7+–) 16.Re1 Rfe8 17.Bg5 Qd7²
15...Rfe8?!

Black returns the compliment. He could instead have solved his problems with a small tactical nuance: 15...Nxd5!
16.Rfe1 Qf5 17.Nxd5 Bxd5 18.Bxd5 Qxd5 19.Rxe7 a5 with easy equality, because White cannot defend the b2-
pawn.

16.Rfe1 Qc7 17.Re2 Qd7 18.Rae1 Bf8?!

A very passive way of defending, but here it was no longer so easy to find the right solution.
18...Nxd5!

Again! 19.Nxd5 Bxd5 20.Rxe7 Rxe7 21.Rxe7 Qc6 22.Bxd5 Qxd5 and Black would have enough counterplay for the
now sacrificed pawn.

19.Qc5 Rac8 20.Qd4 Bg7

21.Qh4?

White misses a very good chance to get an advantage! After his mistake the game takes a turn around and Black
becomes better move by move.
21.Bf4! Nxd5 22.Be5 Bxe5 23.Rxe5± Black is overloaded and will at minimum lose a pawn.

21...Bxd5 22.Nxd5 Nxd5=

Black has regained the pawn and, with this, solved his problems.

23.Qg5 Nf6 24.Bc3

24...Qd8!

Preparing ...e6, which would reduce the activity of the light-squared bishop.

25.a4 b4!?

Complicating things! I guess that White was in time-trouble and so Burmakin was trying to complicate matters, but
this was definitely not necessary — and also a bit risky. But normally you won’t win if you don’t take any risks!
25...e6! 26.axb5 h6 27.Qe5 Nh5 28.Qe3 axb5=

26.Bxb4
26...Qb6?

Now he actually oversteps the limit.

26...e6 Again this was necessary. 27.Bc4 Nd5 28.Qxd8 Rexd8 29.Ba5 Rd6 30.Rb1 Bf6²

27.Rxe7 Rf8 28.Bc3?

White returns the favor.

28.Qf4! a5 29.Bc3 Qxb3 (After 29...Rxc3 the game move would be impossible, because of the following
“zwischenzug” 30.Bxf7+ Rxf7 31.Rxf7 Kxf7 32.bxc3+– White would be completely winning with the rook and 3
pawns versus two minor pieces.) 30.Bxf6±

28...Rxc3! 29.Bxf7+ Rxf7 30.bxc3

Otherwise White would stand worse.

30.Rxf7? Rc2! This is the main difference!

30...Rxe7 31.Rxe7 Qb1+ 32.Kh2 Qxd3

Also here White should be better, but with only two pawns and the rook versus two minor pieces it is not that clear
at all.

33.Re3 Qc4 34.a5 Kf7 35.Rf3 Qc6 36.Qe5 Bf8 37.Kg1 Qd6 38.Qe4 Qd1+ 39.Kh2 Qd6+ 40.g3 Be7

After reaching the time-control, White outplays his opponent, only to blunder later on!

41.Qb7 h5 42.Kg2 Ke8 43.c4 h4 44.g4 Nd7 45.Qc8+?

The first step in the wrong direction.
After 45.Qa8+ Nb8 46.c5 Qc7 47.Qd5+– White would control the whole board.

45...Bd8 46.Re3+ Ne5 47.Qa8 g5?

47...Kf7± It was necessary to escape the pin.

48.c5! Qxc5 49.Qb8

Now it should be over, but the clock seems to take control!

49...Qc6+ 50.Kg1 Qc1+ 51.Kg2 Kd7 52.Rxe5 Qc7 53.Qb2 Bf6 54.f4 Bxe5 55.fxe5 Qxa5 56.Qd4+ Ke8
I am not sure if the last moves were correct in the database, and also maybe the result was not the correct one, but it
is possible that it was a complete blitz finish without increment and White lost on time, but this has definitely
nothing to do with the topic. If you would like to learn more about this variation, you should study the games of
Dreev and Dominguez, who are absolute experts in this type of position. In the databases you can also find some
annotated games which will help you, but I would like to introduce you now to a few different openings with
structures from the Double Fianchetto.

0–1
 CHAPTER 3.
DOUBLE FIANCHETTO IN THE MODERN

In the following chapter I present to you a very nice, but also very special, opening — the “Modern”.
Many strong players have used it with great success. To name just a few: Vladimir Malakhov, Etienne Bacrot and
...myself!
I mainly used and use it in open tournaments against weaker opponents, but I have also played it a few times in the
German Bundesliga, and many interesting and sometimes strange games resulted.
This opening is completely suitable if you like to create some imbalances directly from the word go. Also, it
illustrates quite nicely the strength of the two bishops. Of course, I can show you only a few games, but I hope that I
have selected very interesting and entertaining games for you.
We start with a game by a real expert, the Russian GM Vladimir Malakhov. His rating is always close to 2700,
which speaks for his class.

37
Stephane Hautot (2378)
Vladimir Malakhov (2711)
Rhodes 2013

1.d4

More often than not, games with the “Modern” start with 1.e4, but it is also a nice thing that you can start
‘everytime’ with 1....g6 and offer your opponent “your” opening.

1...g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3 a6 5.Qd2

If White prevents ...b5 with a4, you can — for example — go into the “Hippopotamus” defence, which will be
discussed in the next chapter.
5.a4 b6∞

5...b5 6.h4!?
A brave decision! White directly tries to attack the weakened kingside.

6...h6 7.h5 g5 8.Nce2?!

Of course, this is not a mistake, but to me it looks a bit too artificial and I learned in my youth that you shouldn’t
move the same piece in the opening more than once, unless it is attacked. But here also Black has not really
developed pieces. In my opinion, sometimes White players feel a bit provoked if you start an attack on the wing
directly from the get-go. Also, they are very often out of ‘book’ as soon as possible.

8...Nd7 9.Ng3 Nb6 10.b3 e6

One important rule in such structure is that you shouldn’t directly develop the bishop to b7, because sometimes it
will be better placed on the c8–h3 diagonal — protecting the f5-square as well. In addition, White will have the
option to push d5 sometimes, when the bishop on b7 would be ‘lost in space’.

11.Bd3 Ne7 12.N1e2

12...f5!

This wouldn’t be possible if Black had played the bishop to b7 earlier.

13.exf5 exf5 14.f4™ 14...g4

15.c4?

This is definitely a bit too early. First of all White should finish his development and castle.

15...bxc4 16.bxc4 d5!

Now Black gets the better structure, because White cannot play c5 and has to take on d5 himself.

17.cxd5

17.c5 Nc4 18.Qc1 Nxe3 19.Qxe3 0-0 20.0-0 Nc6³ The pawn on d4 becomes a target.

17...0-0 18.0-0 Nexd5

Nimzowitsch would have been very happy with this: the knight blocks the d4-pawn and attacks e3 and f4
simultaneously.

19.Bf2 Qd7 20.Rac1 Rf7 21.Qa5 Bb7³

Finally Black completes the Double Fianchetto. I have to admit that I have never seen a game in which it was
produced as late as here. But the funny thing is that, after completing the maneuver, Black is instantly better.
Business as usual!

22.Rc2 Bf8!

Regrouping the bishop to d6 is a nice achievement, because f4 is a big weakness and both bishops will keep an eye
on White’s kingside. Also, ...Bb4 is a direct threat, so White will have to lose a tempo to prevent this.

23.a3 Bd6 24.Rb1 Raf8!

Patiently improving the position! Now all his pieces are involved in the game and Black is asking his opponent:
‘What are you doing?’ It is also not completely clear what Black will do in the next few moves, but first of all White
has to move and this is incredible difficult. The programs start to sacrifice the pawn on a3 without any real
compensation, but after other moves Black seems to be winning.
25.Rc5!?

Desperation — searching for some compensation and active play.

25...Bxc5 26.dxc5 Ne3!

This opening often leads to tactical positions where you have to calculate concretely.
Now Black is winning and the counterplay backfires, because the white king will be attacked.

27.Qc3 Qc6 28.Be4 Ned5!

The motif of reversion is one of my favourite motifs.

Here it is the most precise way to bring home the full point.

29.cxb6 Qxc3 30.Nxc3 Nxc3 31.Bxb7 Nxb1 32.Bd5 cxb6

After the big exchanges Black is completely winning!

33.Nxf5 Kh7 34.Nd6

34.Bxf7 Rxf7–+

34...Rxf4 35.Bxb6 g3 36.Be4+ Kg8 37.Bd5+ Kg7 38.Bf3 Nd2

A very nice game with a delayed Double Fianchetto.

0–1

The following game is also from Vladimir Malakhov. It was played during the European Championships in
Yerevan.

38
Hovik Hayrapetyan (2458)
Vladimir Malakhov (2717)
Yerevan 2014

1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3 a6 5.Qd2 Nd7

Of course, Black could start with ...b5 directly.

6.f3 b5 7.0-0-0 Bb7 8.h4

8...h6!

A standard reaction. It wouldn’t be a good idea to play 8....h5 himself, because the g5-square would become very
weak and always a nice target for the knight. But naturally, Black has to stop White from attacking on the kingside
with h5. After an upcoming 9.h5 Black would react now with 9...g5 himself and keep the position closed.
8...h5 9.Nh3 e6 10.Ng5²

9.Nge2 e6

Black wants to develop the knight via e7 and in these structures it wouldn’t be a good idea to close the center with
9...e5. Both bishops would become bad pieces and Black wouldn’t have any counterplay. After 9...e6 he guards
against any central attack as it is now possible to react in an adequate way. I often compare these positions with the
“hedgehog”. In this opening Black also uses a waiting strategy, but can get active and pull out his spikes if
necessary. It is interesting as well that the programs always give White an edge, because of the space advantage. The
same always happens in the King’s Indian, but you shouldn’t be scared, because in a duel between humans this
doesn’t count for much.

10.d5 exd5!
The engines don’t like this move, but from a human point of view it is necessary and not bad. As I told you before,
Black doesn’t want to close the center with ...e5 and I wouldn’t like to have two weaknesses on e6 and g6 after the
exchange on e6.
10...Ne5 11.dxe6 fxe6 12.Nd4 Qf6 13.Kb1²

11.Nxd5 Ngf6 12.Nef4 0-0 13.Nxf6+ Qxf6 14.c3 Ne5

A position has emerged in which both sides have their chances and this is exactly what the player of the black pieces
wants: a complicated position with a dynamic battle and some imbalances.

15.Be2 Rfe8 16.Nh3 h5

Here Black had an interesting alternative with a direct attack on the queenside.
16...b4!? 17.cxb4 d5!
18.Bxh6 dxe4 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 with an interesting and nearly equal position. But 16...h5 is definitely the more human
move.

17.Rhe1 Qe6 18.Kb1 Rab8 19.Bd4 Qe7 20.g3 Ba8 21.Nf2?!

White should play more actively and return to the center via f4.
21.Nf4 c6 22.Be3=

21...c5!
Now Black’s position is improving move-by-move and his queenside play is much faster than White’s on the
opposite wing.

22.Bxe5 dxe5

22...Bxe5 23.f4 Bg7³

23.Qd7 Bf8 24.Qxe7 Bxe7

After the exchange of queens, Black easily has the better endgame with his pair of bishops. Now Malakhov feels like
a fish in water, because he is also a true endgame master and this position is definitely easier to play for Black.

25.c4 Bc6 26.Kc2 Kg7 27.Rd2 Red8 28.Rxd8 Rxd8 29.Rd1

29...Rb8?!

I don’t understand why Black didn’t play 29...Rd4. This looks much stronger to me.
29...Rd4!³ followed by the activation of the king and good winning chances.

30.Re1

In my youth I learned that rooks belong on open files and now both players leave the d-file for reasons I cannot
explain, but sometimes we make unexplainable decisions. In my opinion it was better to stay on the d-file.
30.Rd2³

30...f5!

Black opens the position for his pair of bishops.

31.exf5 gxf5 32.Nd3 Bd6 33.f4

33...Be4!

Otherwise White would obtain an outpost on e5 for his knight.

34.Kc3?!

Here the king can become a target.

34...exf4 35.gxf4 Kf6

36.Rg1

36.Rf1? Rg8µ

36...Bxd3 37.Bxd3 Bxf4

Black has won a pawn, but because of the opposite-coloured bishops, White still has survival chances.

38.cxb5 axb5 39.Rf1 Be5+ 40.Kc2 f4 41.Rg1 Ke6 42.Be2 Bf6 43.Bxh5 Bxh4 44.Rg4 Bg3 45.Rg5 Bf2 46.b4 c4
47.Bf3 Bd4 48.Bg4+ Kd6 49.Bf3 Bf6 50.Rd5+ Ke6 51.Rc5 Bd4

52.Rc8??

Up to this point White has defended very well and accurately, but here comes the final mistake!
If White just sits and waits it wouldn’t be an easy task for Black to exploit his advantage.

52...Rxc8!

The bishop endgame is easily won, because the pawns are three files apart.

53.Bg4+ Ke5 54.Bxc8 f3 55.Bd7 Kd5 56.Bg4 Ke4 57.Bd7 f2 58.Bh3 Ba1!
Freeing the d4-square for the king.

59.Bf1 Kd4 60.a3 Bc3 61.Be2?

This accelerates the end.

61...Bb2!! 62.a4

62.Kxb2 Ke3 63.Bf1 Kd2–+

62...bxa4 63.b5 Ba3 64.b6 Bd6 65.b7 a3 66.Bf1 Kc5 67.Be2 Kb4

The game started with a highly-complicated opening and resulted in a positional masterpiece from Black.

0–1
The following game was played by another expert of the Modern, and also a world-class player, the French GM
Etienne Bacrot.

39
Michael Massoni (2360)
Etienne Bacrot (2695)
Prugna 2015

1.e4 g6 2.d4 d6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Be3 a6 5.h3?!

In my opinion this is a slight inaccuracy. White takes away the opportunity to attack with the f-pawn, because if he
moves the f-pawn later on, he accepts a big weakness on the g3-square. The most promising move orders for White
begin with 5.Qd2 or 5.f3.

5...b5 6.a4 b4 7.Na2

The white setup looks a bit strange and I think that Black has already completely equalized — and from now on
starts to take the initiative.

7...Nf6 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.f3

Now we see the problem with the shining weakness on g3.

9...a5 10.c3 bxc3 11.Nxc3 Na6 12.h4?

I guess that Massoni realized his imprecision of a few moves earlier and wanted to correct it, but now he starts an
attack without development and Black soon stands better.
12.Nge2 Nb4 13.0-0 Nxd3 14.Qxd3=

12...Nb4 13.Bb5+?

One mistake never comes alone. This intermediate check only helps Black.

13...c6 14.Be2
14...Nh5!

He brings up the painful subject with perfect timing.

15.Kf2 e5 16.g4

16...Nf4?

Of course, this is good enough to get an advantage, but Bacrot missed a great opportunity to win the game in style.
16...exd4! 17.Bxd4 Nc2!!
18.Bxg7 Qb6+ 19.Bd4 (19.Kg2 Ne3+–+) 19...Nxd4 20.Kg2 Nf4+–+

17.Qd2 h5 18.g5 0-0 19.Bxf4 exf4 20.Nh3 c5

Black is still better, but the advantage is no longer so clear. This happens often in these kinds of games; sometimes
you have to play very concretely and directly. In this game Bacrot missed his opportunity on the 17th move and has
to win the game all over again. He has the bishop pair, but also has to handle the weakness on f4.

21.dxc5 dxc5 22.Rad1

22...Be5?!

22...Bd4+ 23.Kg2 Be3 24.Qxd8 Raxd8³

23.Bc4 Qc7 24.Nb5 Qb8 25.Kg2

Now the position is equal. White’s pieces are very actively placed and his king is safe now as well.

25...Bc6 26.Qf2 Qb6 27.Qd2 Qb8 28.Qf2

Maybe neither player had much time, which leads to the move repetition, but of course Etienne was not interested in
a draw.

28...Rc8 29.b3 Qb6 30.Qd2 Rd8 31.Qe2 Kg7 32.Na3?!

It is definitely not easy to find a clear plan, but this move looks ugly because White retreats from a centralized
square and gives Black the opportunity to occupy the d4–square.

32...Rd4 33.Bb5 Rad8

The control of the d-file gives Black an advantage again.

34.Bxc6?

The wrong exchange. Instead 34.Nf2 with near equality.

34...Nxc6 35.Nb5
35...Rxd1?

35...Rb4! 36.Rxd8 Qxd8 37.Rd1 Qb8 38.Qc2 Nd4³

36.Rxd1 Nd4 37.Qd2 Qe6 38.Nxd4 Rxd4 39.Qc2 Rxd1 40.Qxd1 c4!

After the time-control, the resulting endgame is better for Black again, because he is more active and has the better
minor piece.

41.bxc4 Qxc4 42.Nf2?

White had to stay passive with Ng1–e2. 42.Ng1 Qa2+ 43.Ne2³ It wouldn’t be all that easy for Black to make
progress here.

42...Bd4
Now Black is winning surprisingly easily.

43.Nd3 Qa2+ 44.Kh3 Be3 45.e5 Kh7 46.Nc1 Bxc1

White resigned because the resulting queen endgame is completely lost. An interesting game with some mistakes,
but errors are almost always the salt in the soup.

0–1

40
Thomas Beerdsen (2404)
Etienne Bacrot (2692)
Germany 2017

The next game was also played by Bacrot, this time against my teammate in Mülheim, the young Dutch IM Thomas
Beerdsen. It was played during the final stage of the Bundesliga in Berlin. This is always a nice event, because all 16
teams play together and most of the times the women’s competition with their 12 teams will also be played in the
same place. It gives the feeling of a mini-Olympiad and is a big spectacle for German chess fans. This was the last
match of the season and Baden Baden were again the champions. I had the opportunity to take a rest this day and
could watch all the games quite relaxed, because my team had also achieved the desired goal, avoiding relegation.

1.e4 g6 2.d4 d6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Be3 a6 5.a4

After the prevention of ...b5, we often reach structures belonging to the “Hippopotamus”, which will be the topic of
the next chapter. In this game we will see some kind of a ‘semi-Hippo’.

5...b6 6.Qd2 Bb7

From the legendary GM Vlastimil Hort I learned that it is often very useful to wait with the development of this
bishop, if you want to play the real “Hippo”. In this case Black should start with 6...e6, but we will see that this
variation was not Etienne’s intention.

7.f3 Nd7 8.Bc4 c6!?

Black opts for immediate activity on the queenside. Perhaps it would have been a cleverer move order for White to
wait with the development of the bishop and start with 8.Nh3, for example. Now Black will always gain a tempo
with the attack against the bishop.

9.h4 b5 10.Ba2 Ngf6 11.g4 h6 12.Nge2 Nb6

An interesting position has arisen from the opening. Neither side has castled yet and instead focus play on their
‘own’ wing. It looks like a struggle in which both sides just watch what the other is doing.

13.Nf4 h5!?

I like this move a lot, although my program wants to replace it with 13...b4. But I think it makes a lot of sense to
close the kingside before starting concrete action on the other wing.

14.Qg2?!

White should have reacted by closing the kingside.

14.g5 Nfd7 15.a5 Nc4 16.Bxc4 bxc4 17.Qe2 e5 18.dxe5 Nxe5 19.Bb6² The resulting position would be a bit better
for White, because the bishop on b7 would be completely out of play and White has the better structure.

14...hxg4 15.e5?

White opens the center at the completely wrong moment. He starts concrete action, but it is definitely not a good
idea to give Black the nice d5-square for his knights.. First of all it was necessary to take back on g4 before forcing
matters.
15.fxg4=

15...dxe5 16.dxe5 Nfd5 17.Ncxd5 Nxd5

18.Bxd5?

White exchanges one of his best pieces, maybe even his best one. Now was the right moment to castle queenside and
hope for some compensation.
18.0-0-0! Bxe5 19.fxg4 e6 20.Kb1³

18...cxd5 19.e6

This was White’s idea; he wants to damage the kingside structure but, with strong and concrete play, Black
neutralizes the attack.

19...Qd6 20.Qxg4 Bxb2 21.Rb1 Bc3+ 22.Kf1?

22.Bd2 Bxd2+ 23.Kxd2µ

22...Rf8!

Now Black is close to winning. He has neutralized the attack against him and can start to attack the white king
himself. The position is completely open and both bishops will become monsters.

23.h5 g5 24.Ne2 Bh8 25.axb5

25...fxe6!

This opens the f-file for the rook and gives Black an irresistible assault. He is a pawn up as well.

26.bxa6 Bxa6 27.Rb6 Qc7 28.Qa4+ Qd7 29.Qxd7+ Kxd7 30.Kf2 g4

31.Nf4?

The final mistake in a lost position.

31...Rxf4

The most human solution.

31...Be5!–+ Now nearly everything would be pinned.

32.Bxf4 Bd4+ 33.Be3 g3+

It is completely understandable that Thomas found no joy at the idea of playing on in this lost position.
A nice and tricky game in which White was systematically broken down. This happens quite often in this opening;
the White players try to attack the black structure directly and it backfires somewhere. We will see the same
phenomenon in the chapter about the “Hippopotamus” as well.
0–1

41
Patrick Zelbel (2450)
Hillarp Tiger Persson (2541)
Gothenburg 2015

This game was played by the inventor of this opening, the Swedish GM Tiger Hillarp Persson. He is also the author
of the book “Tiger’s Modern” in which he presents a lot of interesting stuff on these types of positions.

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3 a6 5.f4

One of the most principled and aggressive ways to handle this variation.

5...b5 6.Nf3 Bb7

Against variations with White playing f4 it is quite useful for Black to start with the fianchetto of the light-squared
bishop, because the pawn on e4 will be a target — attackable in many positions. As I told you before, it is a
completely different story in the “Hippopotamus” structures.

7.Bd3 Nf6

In my own practice I have often used 7...Nd7 here: 7...Nd7 8.0-0 c5² with an interesting and slightly better position
for White.

8.e5 Ng4 9.Bd2 c5!?

A very useful way to attack the white center directly, but it also definitely leads to complicated play with chances for
both sides.

10.dxc5 dxe5

10...dxc5? This would be a big mistake and give White excellent chances. 11.Be4! Bxe4 12.Nxe4 0-0 13.h3 Nh6
14.Be3±

11.h3 Nf6 12.fxe5 Nfd7

13.e6!?

White goes for the direct attack. It was also possible to play more positionally with 13.Be4.

13...fxe6 14.Ng5?
But this is clearly a mistake, because Black can simply take the pawn on c5 and start an attack himself. The knight
on c5 will also defend the weakness on e6.
14.Be4! Bxe4 15.Nxe4 Qc7 16.Nfg5 Qc6 17.Qe2²

14...Nxc5 15.Qe2 Nc6 16.Nxe6 Nxe6 17.Qxe6 Ne5?!

For me it looks more natural to attack the queen directly, and keep the initiative, with 17...Nd4. It would be
impossible for White to castle kingside.
17...Nd4 18.Qg4 0-0³

18.0-0

This is the main difference. Now the white king will be safe.

18...Qd7 19.Qxd7+ Kxd7 20.Be4

The complications are over and we have reached an almost equal endgame.

20...Bxe4 21.Nxe4 Nc4 22.c3 Rhf8

22...Nxb2 would be a bit risky, because of the seventh rank. 23.Rf7 Be5 24.Bg5 with practical chances for White.

23.Bg5?

23.Bf4 Nxb2 24.Nc5+ Kc6 25.Ne6 Rf7 26.Rf3 with enough compensation for the pawn and good counterplay.

23...Nxb2

Now the pawn is lost without any real counterplay.

24.Rfb1 Nc4 25.a4 h6 26.Bh4 g5 27.Bf2 Kc6

28.axb5+?!

Maybe White would have retained some hopes of survival by doubling rooks before the exchange.
28.Rb4 Rfd8 29.Rab1 Rd5 30.g4µ

28...axb5 29.Ba7 Kd5 30.Nf2 Nd6 31.Re1

31...Bxc3 32.Rad1+ Kc6 33.Rxe7 Rae8 34.Rh7

34...Re6?

34...Rh8! 35.Rxh8 Bxh8 36.Nd3 Re4µ

35.Rc1??

After this move it is lost, because the black king will be activated via b5. The last chance was 35.Nd3.
35.Nd3! Ne4 (35...b4? 36.Bc5=) 36.Rc1 Rc8µ

35...b4! 36.Nd3 Kb5 37.Bc5 Rc8 38.Bf2 Kc4 39.Nb2+ Kb3

Business as usual. The king becomes the most active piece and decides the game. The king is always the most
important piece in endgames and usually we cannot win a game without his help.

40.Nd1 Ne4 41.Be3 Nd6 42.Rd7 h5 43.Rb1+ Kc2 44.Rc1+ Kd3 45.Nxc3 Rxc3 46.Rd1+ Ke2 47.R7xd6 Rxd6
48.Rxd6 Rxe3 49.Rb6 b3 50.Rb5 g4

An interesting and intense battle with the better outcome for Black.

0–1

The final game of this chapter is one of my own achievements with the “Modern”. Sometimes I played and still play
this opening in open tournaments, if I need a win.
Many weaker players don’t know how to handle this opening and make strange structural decisions or other
mistakes. But also quite often it happened that I myself came up with strange things and cursed these positions.
I guess that also after this game I was sure that I would never play this stuff again, but I did! By the way, it is quite
funny to see that at the moment of writing these words I have exactly the same rating as during the time I played the
following game, more than 13 years later. But I am not sure if this is a good or a bad sign. Bad that I maybe haven’t
really improved, but good that I didn’t go down much more and instead managed to maintain this rating.

42
Stefan Arndt (2235)
Daniel Hausrath (2466)
Oberhausen 2006

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.f4 a6 5.Nf3 b5 6.Bd3 Bb7 7.e5

White directly tries to make use of his space and the e4-square.

7...e6?!

This is a bit too passive, but I just wanted to play chess on that day so avoided the main lines.
7...c5!? This is often the best reaction if you get attacked in the center. Try to get some counterplay on the wing, but
it definitely leads to complicated play. 8.dxc5 dxe5∞

8.a4!

White knows what to do and creates a weakness on the queenside.

8...b4 9.Ne4 Ne7 10.0-0 Nf5 11.Qe1!

I got the bill for avoiding main lines. I started to curse my position: it is passive and much easier to play for White.
11...Nc6 12.c3

12...Na5!

The best chance! Searching for some counterplay at the edge of the board. The weak square on b3 becomes
interesting for Black.

13.g4 Ne7 14.Nf6+ Bxf6 15.exf6 Nd5 16.f5?

Of course, I cannot remember all my emotions during a game I played some 13 years ago, but I am sure that I had
some bad and depressive feelings in this position. It is amazing that your opponent makes a mistake and you have
bad emotions, but the position looked very ugly at first glance. White would have retained an advantage by
protecting the f6-pawn.
16.g5! Nb3 17.Rb1 0-0 18.Be4²
16...gxf5 17.Bxf5

17.Ng5 Kd7 18.gxf5 e5 19.dxe5 dxe5 20.Qxe5 Qxf6 21.Qxf6 Nxf6 22.Rd1 Kc8 23.Bf4²

17...Kd7!

In the “Modern” you often have to play very creatively and in disregard of the ‘rules’. Normally it is best for the
king to castle, but in this position the king takes up the very important function of defending the potentially weak e6-
pawn.

18.Be4 Rg8 19.h3 Kc8?

Honestly speaking, I have no idea what my intention with this move was. The king was well-placed on d7 and I
could have started an attack with 19...h5 directly, but maybe in other ways 19...Kc8 was the winning move.
19...h5 20.g5 Nb3 21.Rb1²

20.Bg5?

The wrong piece for the square g5. 20.Ng5! Qd7 21.Bxh7±

20...h5

Just in time!

21.cxb4 hxg4!
22.bxa5??

A blunder in a complicated position.

22.hxg4 Nc4 23.Rc1 Nce3!³

22...gxf3 23.h4 Qxf6 24.Qd2?

The final mistake, but the position was now lost anyway.
24.Bxf3 Qxd4+ 25.Qf2 Ne3! 26.Bxb7+ Kxb7 27.Qf4 Qxf4 28.Rxf4 Raf8–+

24...Qh8!

A very nice way to finish the game. White can’t defend against the dual threats of 25...f6 and Qxh4.

It was a very complicated game with some uneasy moments for Black, but with a classical happy ending.
0–1
 CHAPTER 4.
DOUBLE FIANCHETTO IN THE “HIPPO”

In this chapter I present you with a few games involving the pure “Hippopotamus”, which can be reached from
different move-orders. I myself normally get these positions after 1.e4 g6. The first game is a brilliant attacking
game by the English GM Luke Mc Shane, who plays very strongly for a semi-professional. In his real life he is a
banker.

43
Robert Kempinski (2590)
McLuke Shane J (2614)
Warsaw 2006

1.d4 b6 2.e4 Bb7 3.Nc3 e6 4.Bd3 g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.0-0 Ne7 7.Bf4 d6 8.Qd2 h6 9.h3 Nd7 10.Rfe1 a6

Here it is, the real “Hippo”. Black has moved all his pawns to the sixth rank. Only the bishop-pawns are on their
starting squares. I compare this quite often with the “Hedgehog” — also an opening where Black waits for White to
create some action, a typical counter-opening. It is quite often the case that the White players lose their patience and
start some early activity which leads to bad structures or weak squares.

11.a4 g5!
Black starts a direct attack.
This is mainly possible because White has weakened his kingside a bit by playing h3.

12.Bg3 Ng6 13.Rad1?!

I don’t want to criticize such a developing move, but maybe it was time to start some concrete action in the center,
beginning with e5. As I mentioned several times previously, it is very often the best reaction to counter an attack on
the wing with central play.
13.e5!? dxe5 14.d5 exd5 15.Bxg6 fxg6 16.Nxd5²

13...0-0!?

It is not very often the case that you castle on the same side as your own attack is situated, but here it is not only
possible, but also good.
14.Bc4?!

This looks a bit strange and White doesn’t seem to have a plan. In my opinion it was again better to start some action
beginning with e5.
14.e5 Bxf3 15.gxf3 d5 16.a5 c6!² (16...c5 17.Nxd5! exd5 18.Bxg6 fxg6 19.e6 Rxf3 20.e7! Qe8 21.dxc5± But to find
and evaluate this is not so easy, especially in a rapid game.)

14...Kh8 15.Nh2 Nf6

16.Ng4?

It was necessary to prevent ...Nh5.

16.Qe2 Qe7 17.Qf3=

16...Nh5 17.Bh2 Nh4 18.Ne3 Nf4!

Now it becomes critical for White. It is not really possible to banish those great knights and tactics such as ...Nfxg2
are in the air.

19.Kh1

Evading the fork on f3.

19...f5! 20.d5 fxe4 21.dxe6

21...Nfxg2! 22.e7??

The losing move, but it is completely understandable that White was not happy with the alternative:
22.Nxg2 e3 23.Rxe3 Bxg2+ 24.Kg1 Nf3+ 25.Rxf3 Bxf3 26.Re1³ although White has some chances to hold the
game.
22...Qxe7 23.Nxg2 Nf3!!

Maybe White missed this shot. Now he gets mated.

24.Qe3 Qd7 25.Be2 Qxh3 26.Bxf3 exf3

A pretty and also short game in which White got outplayed after a few imprecisions.

0–1

The next game is also very instructive and again shows how quickly it may happen that Black wins with a kingside
attack.

44
Iver Poulsen (2100)
Jens Ove Fries Nielsen (2386)
Odense 2011

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 e6!?

A very tricky move order. Black wants to play something different against the lines with White playing f4. But, of
course, now he won’t have the opportunity to play the real “Modern” for example.

4.Nf3

4.f4 d5 5.e5 Ne7=

4...Ne7 5.Bf4 d6 6.Qd2 h6

7.h3?!

In my opinion it would be much more aggressive — and better — to handle this position with 7.h4. The pawn on h3
will very often become a target and a cynosure — the centre of attention — for the black pieces.

7...a6 8.a4 b6

9.Bc4

Here we see the main difference to the previous Kempinski game: White immediately places his bishop on the more-
active c4-square.

9...Nd7 10.0-0 Bb7 11.Rfe1

Black has put the pure “Hippo” on the board and White has built up the so-called “stierkopf”, or “bull’s head”. The
bishops go to c4 and f4, the knights to f3 and c3 and the rooks will come to the squares e1 and d1. This is one of the
first set-ups our children learned in chess about developing pieces to active and good squares. Against the “Hippo” it
is certainly possible, but Black can gain some tempi later on with pawn advances. If you analyze these positions
together with the computer, you will discover it always gives White an edge, because of the space advantage and the
seemingly safer king. But you should also be aware of the counter possibilities.

11...Nf6 12.Rad1 g5 13.Bg3?!

Losing a tempo, but maybe White was afraid of Black playing ...g4 after the direct retreat to h2.
13.Bh2 Nh5„ (13...g4?! 14.hxg4 Nxg4 15.Bg3± Black doesn’t have the possibility of putting a knight on the nice f4-
square.)

13...Nh5 14.Bh2 Ng6 15.Qe3

15...g4!?
This is often a nice tactical shot to seize the initiative, but I am not sure if it was the best idea to do so immediately.
Black could also improve his position with some development, for example with 15...Qe7. But the course of the
game proved Black right.

16.hxg4 Nf6 17.Bg3

17.g5 Ng4 18.Qc1 Nxh2 19.Nxh2 hxg5µ

17...Nxg4 18.Qe2 h5 19.Nh2 Nxh2 20.Bxh2 Bh6

21.g3??

A horrible move. White wants to prevent Nf4 and play f4 himself, but I have learned in my childhood that you
shouldn’t move pawns on the wing where the opponent has the initiative. You can do this only if it is forced, but that
usually means something has already gone wrong. The bishop on h2 becomes a really bad piece as well.

21...Qg5 22.Qe3 Qf6 23.f4 Rg8

Black has only made ‘normal’ moves and has a completely winning position.

24.e5?

Opening the long diagonal for the bishop on b7 is also not the best choice, but the alternatives were bad in any event.
24.Kf2 h4µ

24...Qg7 25.Kf2

25...Nxf4!

A nice finish! This looked like an easy game for Black, but White made a lot of mistakes.

0–1
The next game was played by the very strong Russian GM Vladimir Malakhov in the Chinese Team Championships.

45
Di Li (2172)
Vladimir Malakhov (2694)
China 2014

1.d4 g6 2.Nf3 Bg7 3.c4 e6!?

It is a bit unusual to play the “Hippo” against a set-up where White plays d4 and c4, but why not?

4.Nc3 Ne7 5.h4 h6 6.Bf4 d6 7.e4 a6 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.Rd1 b6 10.Be2 Bb7

One of the things I appreciate most about this opening is that you can make the first ten moves without thinking,
while White has to find a plan of attack or to improve his position. Also, many players of the white pieces
underestimate this opening or over-rate their position.
11.Qc2!?

It becomes clear that White has no real plan, but plays move-by-move. He wants to prevent ...e5 ideas.

11...Nc6

Black puts pressure on d4 and wants to create an outpost on d4 after playing ...e5.

12.d5 Nce5 13.Nd4 Qe7 14.Be3

14...Nf6!

Preventing ideas of f4 and threatening ...Ng4. An interesting alternative would have been 14...c5.
14...c5!? Creating a new structure. 15.dxc6 Nxc6 16.Nxc6 Bxc6 17.Qd2 Rc8 18.Bd4 Be5²

15.Qa4+ Kf8 16.f3 Nh5 17.Rh3 Nf6

After preventing White from castling, the knight returns.

18.Kf2 Kg8
This is a very typical manoeuvre.
The king walks from e8 to a safer spot on h7. Usually Black does this because the h6-pawn needs protection from
the rook, but here it was forced, because of the check on a4.

19.a3?!

I have to admit that I don’t understand this move, but it is definitely not so easy to find an attractive plan for White
and maybe he just wants to wait for Black to do something active.

19...Kh7 20.g4?!

This feels wrong and gives Black some attacking possibilities.

20...h5 21.g5 Nfd7 22.Qc2 Rae8

23.a4?

White makes a structural concession.

23.b4²

23...a5 24.Rg1 Nc5

25.f4?

The “Hippo” is a very special opening and you can learn a lot from it about structures and manoeuvring. Now White
starts to make real mistakes, losing patience. Black obtains a lot of targets and some tactical possibilities.

25...exd5! 26.exd5?

After this mistake the game will be quickly lost, but it was no longer easy to understand all the details.
26.fxe5 Qd7 27.Kg2 dxe5 28.Nb3 Nxb3 29.Qxb3 d4 30.Nd5 dxe3 31.Rd1µ

26...Ng4+ 27.Bxg4 hxg4 28.Rxg4

28...Bc8

That’s it.

29.Nc6 Ne4+ 30.Kg1 Qd7 31.Rgg3 Nxg3 32.Rxg3

32...Kg8!

A very nice finishing move from an aesthetic point of view. The last man standing on h8 comes into play with an
artificial ‘return’ motif. Now it is over.

33.Bd4 Bxd4+ 34.Nxd4 Qe7 35.Nf3 Qe3+ 36.Kg2 Qxf4 37.Nb5 Bf5
White had seen enough. A very difficult game which shows the main purposes and manoeuvres for both sides.
Normally the stronger player will have the better and deeper understanding of all nuances and tricks.

0–1

46
Stewart Haslinger (2310)
Joseph Gallagher G (2517)
Torquay 2002

This game is one from the British Championships. Stewart Haslinger, who had White, is nowadays also a strong
GM.

1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Bg5!?

A very interesting and active try. It may be good against all the Pirc set-ups, but against the “Hippo” it easily loses a
tempo.

4...Nd7 5.Nf3 h6 6.Be3 a6 7.a4 b6 8.Bd3 e6 9.Qd2 Ne7 10.0-0 Bb7

The first ten moves are made and we can have a look at what our opponent will do.

11.Rfe1 g5 12.h3?!

As I told you in earlier games, White creates a target for the black attack with this move. But you will find a lot of
games in the database with this position in which White uses the h3 move. It was and still is definitely better to push
directly in the center.
12.d5 Ng6 13.Nd4 Qe7 14.Bc4² trying to provoke a weakness.

12...Ng6 13.Ne2 Nf6 14.Ng3

White just tries to stop the black kingside attack with his set-up, but...

14...g4?!

In my opinion this is a bit too early and Black should have opened a second front in the center.
14...c5!? 15.c3 0-0² Don’t forget that it is also sometimes allowed to castle in the “Hippo”.

15.hxg4 Nxg4 16.Nh5 Bf8

At first glance the situation looks ugly for Black, and maybe it is, but White has to play concretely and directly. If
Black gets the time to breathe, he will gain enough counterplay and strike back, as in the game.

17.Bf4?!

The first step in the wrong direction. It looks very logical to save the dark-squared bishop, because now it wouldn’t
be an option for Black to take the bishop, as the white queen would come to f4 and attack the f6-square as well. But
once again White missed the chance to start direct action in the center.
17.a5! b5 18.d5 Qe7 19.c4± with a strong initiative.

17...Nf6 18.Nxf6+ Qxf6 19.Bg3 Qg7?

It was much better to press ahead with 19...h5, because now White gets another very good chance.
19...h5!= Here White has to be careful because of ...h4–h3 ideas. He wouldn’t have the time to play his own
attacking plan on the other wing.

20.Qc3?

20.a5! b5 21.c4± If you play the “Hippo” you should always be aware of this typical standard attacking plan,
because here the black queenside would be crushed with no real compensation.

20...Rc8?!

20...0-0-0!= A multifunctional move; defending c7, saving the king and bringing the rook into play.

21.Qb3 h5

22.Nh4?

White doesn’t have time to stop the attack, so he should instead attack on the other wing.
22.a5! h4 23.Bh2 h3 24.g3² Of course it looks ugly to build a fortress for your own bishop, but Black has to solve
some problems on the queenside.

22...Nxh4 23.Bxh4 Rg8 24.g3 Be7!

It is unbelievable how quickly Black gained the advantage after only one mistake. He exchanges his worst piece and
at the same time White’s only defender. The position falls apart easily, because the d4-pawn is hanging and Black
threatens to start an attack again with ...h4.

25.Bxe7 Kxe7 26.d5 h4 27.Re3 hxg3 28.Rxg3 Qd4!–+

White is completely overloaded. It is impossible to protect everything.

29.Bf1

Defending g3, but...

29...Qxe4

...the first pawn goes.

30.Bg2 Qe5 31.dxe6 Bxg2 32.Kxg2 fxe6

Black is a pawn up and the rest is simple technique.

33.Qd3 Rxg3+ 34.fxg3 Rf8 35.Qc4 d5 36.Qd3 Qxb2

The second pawn disappears.

37.Re1 Qf6 38.Qa3+ Kd7 39.Qe3 Qf5 40.Qe2 Rf6 41.Rh1 Kc6 42.Rh5 Qg6 43.Re5 Kd6 44.Re3 Rf4 45.Qxa6
Qxc2+ 46.Re2 Rxa4 47.Qxb6+ cxb6 48.Rxc2 Rc4 49.Rb2 Kc5 50.Re2 b5 51.Kf3 b4 52.g4 b3 53.g5 Rb4 54.g6
b2 55.Rc2+ Kd6 0–1

An interesting battle with some critical moments for Black as well.

47
Nico Vink (2335)
Teimour Radjabov (2483)
 Wijk aan Zee 2001

The final game of this chapter was played during the famous Dutch tournament at Wijk aan Zee. At this time
Teimour Radjabov was only 13 years old and already a very talented player with a rating close to 2500. Nowadays
he describes himself as a semi-professional player, though one who is in the top 10 and, at the time of writing, has
won the World Cup and qualified for the next Candidates tournament!

1.e4 g6 2.d4 d6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Nf3 a6 5.Be3

5...e6

A seemingly modest move, but Black wants to build his “Hippo”. It is an opening for players who like to play
patiently and wait for the opponent’s mistakes — not usually an opening you would expect from such a young
player.

6.Qd2 b6 7.Be2 Bb7 8.0-0 Nd7 9.Rfe1 h6

A necessary move for the real “Hippo”.
Otherwise White would exchange the dark-squared bishops with Bh6 after the development of Black’s knight.

10.h3 Ne7 11.Bf1 g5!?

This way of development is a very useful approach against the white position with an early h3, as seen in earlier
games as well.

12.a4 Ng6 13.d5

13...e5!?

I have to admit that I am not sure about the correct evaluation of this move. In my own practice I have very often
liked to use the e5-square for one of my knights, and also tried to make use of the open long diagonal, so I would
maybe prefer to castle.
But I can fully understand Teimur assessment, who wants to get a King’s Indian structure, with resulting attacking
chances. Although, of course, he also takes some risks, mainly because of the weak f5-square.
13...0-0 14.Nd4 Qf6 15.Rad1 Nde5 with dynamic equality.

14.Ne2

Naturally, White immediately starts to regroup his knight.

14...Nf6 15.Ng3 Bc8

16.Nh2?!

Maybe a small negligence.

Certainly Vink was afraid of the coming ...g4, but he should start his own attack on the other wing without delay. It
is often the case that the more often we prevent our opponents’ threats in a passive way, the more we forget that we
can also win some time by attacking the opponent himself.
16.a5! b5 17.c4 bxc4 18.Rec1²

16...Nf4 17.c4 0-0 18.a5

Better late than never.

18...bxa5 19.Rxa5 h5!

Now the attack starts and it won’t be an easy task to defend against it.

20.f3 g4 21.hxg4 hxg4 22.c5?!

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. A few moves earlier it would have been great to start the queenside attack,
but now Vink should have made some prophylactic moves on his kingside, although it is not a very human approach
to take the pawn on f4.
22.Bxf4 exf4 23.Qxf4 gxf3 24.Nxf3 c6! with an unclear position and compensation for the pawn.

22...gxf3 23.gxf3

23...Bh6!

With the simple idea of placing the major pieces on the open g-file.

24.cxd6 cxd6
25.Rea1?

The first real mistake! White should activate the rook via c1–c6. On the a-file it is doing nothing except losing
valuable time.

25...Kh7 26.Kh1 Rg8 27.Qe1 N6h5 28.Bf2?

Losing another tempo. He should exchange first on h5, but also then Black has the much-better position.

28...Nxg3+ 29.Bxg3 Qg5

Now it is completely lost as White cannot defend all the weak squares.

30.Bf2 Nh3

Threatening mate on g1!

31.Ng4 Bxg4 32.fxg4 Qxg4 33.R5a3 Nf4 34.Bg3 Qh5+ 35.Bh2 Rg4 36.Rg3 Rxg3 37.Qxg3 Rg8 38.Qf2 Bg5
39.Ra3

39...Qh6?

39...Bh4! 40.Qf3 Rg4 41.Bh3 Nxh3 42.Qxh3 Qg6–+ and the e4-pawn falls.

40.Bxa6 Bd8

In time-trouble Black has lost a lot of his advantage, but there is still enough left to win the game.

41.Bf1 Rg4 42.Ra8?

The final mistake in a lost position.

42...Bh4 43.Qa7 Qg6 44.Qe3 Bg3 45.Qf3 Rh4 0–1

In the database there are given a few more stupid moves, which would result in a won position for White, so I guess
that the game finished here. A nice and interesting game which was played by a 13–year old (young) boy! It’s also a
good game to round up the chapter about the “Hippo”.
Of course it would be possible to show you plenty more interesting and tough games on this topic, but the “Hippo”
is only one of the openings that I wanted to discuss and hopefully I have given you a small overview of the ideas and
possibilities in this opening variation.
It’s an opening you don’t only have to play against weaker opponents. You can simply play it if you are a player
who likes to wait for mistakes and loves to counter attack.
Of course you can avoid a lot of mainline theory, but the most important point for me is that you can play it against
nearly everything. But you have to be aware of the possible resulting structures and understand which structures you
should avoid. However it is surely a good opening when players like Spassky and Hort have used it. In fact, Spassky
even played it twice in his World Championship match against Petrosian!
Daniel Hausrath with family, October 2019. (Photo by Ralf Lange)
 CHAPTER 5.
DOUBLE FIANCHETTO AGAINST 1.D4

In this chapter I will discuss positions in which Black plays the Double Fianchetto against d4 openings. The
following game was my first achievement with this variation. Of course, I often had such structures in the past, but
had never played this move-order before. This game was played in the final round of the Dutch Open championship
in Dieren last summer.
In the past three years I always played this tournament and connected it with a holiday with my family. I used the
evenings to read some of my books and before this game I was inspired by the first book written by Alexander
Ipatov — an excellent book called “Unconventional Approaches to Modern Chess”. In Chapter 8 he discusses some
variations of the Double Fianchetto with Black.
Naturally, my own first game with this variation took a completely different path!

48
Henk Jan Evengroen (2176)
Daniel Hausrath (2468)
Dieren 2019

1.d4 Nf6

1...g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 f5 In my last encounter with the same opponent I used this ‘unclear
stuff’. It is not that easy to find creative openings every time, but to surprise the opponent is not the worst thing.

2.c4 b6!? 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.Nf3 g6 5.e3

This is definitely not the critical test of Black’s set up, but I guess that my opponent didn’t want to run into my
“deep preparation”.

5...Bg7 6.b4

An interesting try, but perhaps the more logical way is to develop with Bd3 and castle first of all.
6...c5 7.a3 0-0

Simple chess. The computer wants to take on f3 first and then attack the center directly. But honestly speaking this
was not an idea for me, and I castled almost without thinking.

8.Be2

8...d6?!

If anybody repeats this variaton against me in the future, I will definitely take on d4 first and then attack the center
with ...d5. Here I wanted to keep the tension and didn’t want to show my cards immediately.
8...cxd4 9.exd4 d5 10.c5 Ne4 11.Na4 Qe8! 12.cxb6 e5! with excellent and active play.

9.0-0 Nbd7 10.Rb1

10...e6!?

Looks a bit ugly and passive, but again I didn’t want to exchange in the center. I was searching for good squares for
my pieces too. The queen will be well-placed on e7 and the rooks will be connected. I just wanted to make normal
moves and force my opponent to find a useful plan.
This is often very good practical advice: Play normal moves quickly, but I am not sure why I don’t do this more
often. Normally I take my time and have a healthy sleep in the middlegame, but here I somehow played quickly.

11.Qc2 Qe7 12.Rd1 Rfc8 13.dxc5

13...bxc5!

Here exists no exception to the rule that it is mostly the better choice to take towards the center. Otherwise White
would be slightly better because of his extra space on the queenside, which is now compensated by my active
possibilities in the center.
13...dxc5? 14.e4!² with easier play for White.

14.e4 cxb4
I was only expecting the recapture 15.axb4 here, when I wanted to regroup my knights. I was quite happy with my
position, but he instead made a very surprising move.

15.Bf4?!

15.axb4 Nb6 16.Nd2 Nfd7 Maybe the position would be equal, but it is definitely easier to play for Black.

15...bxc3 16.Rxb7

16.Bxd6?? Bxe4 17.Qxe4 Nxe4 18.Bxe7 c2–+

16...e5 17.Be3

The position has completely changed, however it is in Black’s favour. Of course White has the pair of bishops, but
the light-squared bishop on e2 is not the best piece in the world: it can only defend the weak pawn on c4.
Furthermore, Black has the very nice c5-square for one of his knights and also e4 might become a target sooner or
later. The weakness on d6 is not an important one, because it won’t be an easy task for White to attack it.

17...Qf8!

Escaping the pin on the seventh rank and threatening ...Nc5. Also, the exchange of dark-squared bishops with ...Bh6
becomes an idea.

18.Bxa7?

The first real mistake! I guess my opponent didn’t see my answer.

18.Rdb1 Rab8 19.Bd3 Rxb7 20.Rxb7 Bh6³

18...Rc6!

19.Qxc3 Ra6 20.Be3 Nxe4µ

Within only a few moves Black has achieved an overwhelming and nearly winning advantage. All his pieces work
together and White still remains with his weaknesses on a3 and c4.

21.Qb4 Ndc5 22.Bxc5 Nxc5

23.Rb6 Rxb6 24.Qxb6 Ra6 25.Qc7 Ne6 26.Qd7 e4 27.Ng5

A nice trick, but unfortunately for my opponent I don’t need to take this one.

27...Nc5!

27...Nxg5 28.Qb5 Nh3+ 29.gxh3 Rxa3 This should also be winning, but my solution was much simpler.

28.Qc7 h6 29.Rb1 Ra8

Only move, but sometimes one is more than enough.

30.Nh3 Be5!
Complete control and domination!
The better structure and the much- better minor pieces give Black a winning advantage.

31.g3 Qc8

The most human solution, exchanging the final active white piece.

32.Qxc8+ Rxc8 33.Nf4

It would be easy to give this move a question mark, but what else should White do? The position speaks for itself.

33...Bxf4 34.gxf4 Ne6

All White’s pawns are weaknesses. The rest is simple.

35.f5 gxf5 36.Rb6 Ra8 37.Rxd6 Rxa3 38.Rc6 Ra1+ 39.Bf1 f4 40.c5 e3 41.Kg2
And before pushing the pawn to f3, my opponent resigned.
This was my first and hopefully not my last achievement with this line. It was an astonishingly easy game.

0–1

49
Estremera Sergio Panos (2360)
Iturrizaga Eduardo Bonelli (2626)
Abu Dhabi 2016

This game was played in the well-known — and one of the biggest in the world — Open in Abu Dhabi.
The Venezuelan GM Iturrizaga is an ‘Open’ specialist and plays a tournament game almost every day. He drives
from tournament to tournament and also plays nearly every possible opening.
In this game he showed his class in a delayed Double Fianchetto structure.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.Qc2 d5!?

The most critical and principled continuation!
4...d6 It seems to be a bit dubious to give the opponent the center for free. 5.Nf3 g6 6.e4 Bg7 7.Be2 0-0 8.0-0²

5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3

My first impression was that we have reached a reversed Grünfeld Indian. At first it was completely unclear to me
how Black would get the classical counterplay in the center, but then...

7...e5!?

A very dynamic continuation. Black is seeking direct attacking chances against the central pawns.

8.dxe5

8.Bc4 This is also played very often. 8...exd4 9.Nf3 Nc6 10.0-0 d3! 11.Bxd3 Qe7 12.Bf4 0-0-0„
8...Nd7 9.Nf3 Qe7 10.Bf4 0-0-0

Black has solved his opening problems and will regain the pawn on e5 next with equality.

11.Bc4 h6 12.0-0 g5 13.Bg3 Bg7

Finally we reach the Double Fianchetto position, which is a bit unusual for the line with 4.Qc2. Black definitely has
no problems here and starts to outplay his opponent over the next few moves.

14.Rfe1?

A clear mistake and now White faces problems.

It was necessary to occupy the weak f5-square immediately.
14.Nd4 Bxe5 15.Nf5 Qf6 16.Rad1=

14...h5! 15.h4 Bxe5 16.Bxe5 Nxe5 17.Nxe5 Qxe5 18.Bxf7 gxh4

While his own king is completely safe, the opened g-file will give Black good attacking chances and in a practical
game it is very tough to defend such a position.

19.Bg6 Rhg8 20.Bf5+ Kb8

21.Bh3?

It is completely understandable that White wants to defend his g2-pawn, but as so often in chess, he should start to
search for counterplay, because he will be helpless against the black attackers anyway.
21.Rad1! Rdf8 22.Qd3 Qg7 23.Bh3 Bc8 24.e5³

21...Bc8!

Black gains some time with this exchange, because White cannot defend the bishop and has to exchange it
immediately, which leads to the direct threat of ...h3.

22.Bxc8 Rxc8 23.Qd3

23...Rg4!

Now the position should be lost for White.

It is very easy to play for Black and I don’t see any defensive path for the defender.

24.Re2 Rcg8 25.f3 Rg3 26.Qd4 Qf4 27.Qd2 Qxf3

Now Black is a pawn up and the attack continues.

28.Rf1 Qg4 29.Rf4 Qg5 30.e5 h3 31.e6

31...Kb7?!

This seems to be a rather unnecessary prophylactic move. But, of course, it doesn’t give away the winning
advantage.
31...Rxg2+ 32.Rxg2 Qc5+ 33.Qd4 Rxg2+ 34.Kh1 (34.Kf1 Qb5+ 35.c4 Qb1+–+) 34...Qc6!–+ Maybe this was the
move that Eduardo missed.

32.Rff2 Qxd2 33.Rxd2 Re3 34.Rde2 Rxe2 35.Rxe2 hxg2 36.e7 Re8 37.Kxg2 Kc6 38.Re5 Kd6 39.Rxh5 Rxe7

Black is a pawn up and the white king is out of play. The rest is easy.

40.Kf2 Re4 41.Rh6+ Kc5 42.Rh7 Kc6 43.Rh1 Ra4

White resigned because he is losing a second pawn!
After the opening the game was in fact nearly over, because White didn’t seem to be familiar with this type of
position and immediately made a mistake with 14.Rfe1.

0–1

The following game was played in the Russian Championships, or maybe more exactly, in the qualifier for the
Russian Superfinal.
Of course, the Russian Championships is always one of the strongest national competitions.
Boris Grachev also spent a few years in my German team and he was always one of the most solid players, losing
very rarely. In this game he shows us how to play the Double Fianchetto with Black.

50
Evgeny Levin A (2512)
Boris Grachev (2683)
Ekaterinburg 2013

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.Nf3 Bb7 4.Nc3 g6

Here we get the desired structure as early as possible.

5.e3 Bg7 6.Bd3 d5

Again this typical Grünfeld Indian move.

7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Nxd5 Qxd5 9.0-0 0-0 10.Qe2 Nd7 11.e4 Qd6

We have reached a position in which White has the center, but Black can attack it later with ...e5 or ...c5. His bishops
are well-placed on the long diagonals and directly attack the central pawns.
The position is in dynamic equilibrium.

12.Rd1 c5

Maybe it is a matter of taste with which pawn you start the attack. 12...e5 would be a good alternative.
12...e5 13.d5 Nc5 14.Bc4 a5=
13.e5

13.d5 Ne5 14.Bf4 Nxf3+ 15.Qxf3 Be5=

13...Qc7 14.Be4 Bxe4 15.Qxe4 cxd4

Black has completely equalized and GM Grachev really likes these positions with reduced material.

16.Bf4 Nc5 17.Qxd4 Ne6 18.Qe4 Nxf4 19.Qxf4 Rfd8 20.Rdc1 Qd7 21.h4 h6 22.Rc4 Rac8

The position looks equal and drawish, but it is really illuminating how White will be outplayed soon.

23.Rac1 b5 24.Rxc8 Rxc8 25.Rxc8+ Qxc8 26.Qb4 Qd7

27.b3 e6 28.a4 a6 29.axb5 axb5 30.Qd4

30...Qc7!

Now it becomes clear that the e5-pawn is a weakness and that the knight on f3 is pinned to its protection. The bishop
can be activated via f8 later on and create pressure against the white pawns on the kingside, which are placed on
black squares.
It is a good example for the topic: bad knight against good bishop.

31.Qd3 Qc1+ 32.Kh2 Qc5 33.Qe3 Qd5

Within a few moves, Black has centralized his queen and can improve his position step-by-step. White can only
watch what Black is doing. Not an easy task and we have all had such horrible experiences, most of which end in
disaster, because one of the most difficult things is just to wait and do nothing. Usually we want to get some action
and counterplay, but here it is only possible for White to sit and wait.

34.Qc3 Bf8 35.Kg1 Kg7 36.Qc2 Be7 37.Qc3 Bc5

It is getting better and better for Black.

Significantly the programs give him an advantage of plus 1 in this position with equal material.

38.Qc2 Ba7?

The first step in the wrong direction, but it is definitely not easy to understand all the subtleties. Now White has a
chance to survive.
38...b4! It was necessary to prevent White from playing b4 himself, because here Black can attack both weaknesses
with the queen on d5. This would be impossible with a white pawn on b4. Some kind of “zugzwang” would emerge.
39.Kf1 Bb6 40.Ke2 Qa5 41.g3 Bc7µ

39.Kf1?

Returning the compliment.

39.b4! This would also be better for Black, but here the white queen would have the opportunity to defend both
weaknesses, via d4 or c3 for example.

39...Bb8 40.Qc3

40...Qe4?

On move 40, Black misses the chance to win a pawn, but this was not so trivial.
40...Qd1+ 41.Ne1 Ba7 with the threat Bd4. 42.b4 Bd4 43.Qf3 Qxf3 44.Nxf3 Bc3µ

41.Qe3?

41.g3 Ba7 42.Kg2³

41...Qb1+!

Grachev grabs the second chance.

42.Ke2 Qa2+ 43.Nd2 Qa1 44.Nf3 Ba7 45.Qf4 Bb6

Now it is lost, because White can’t prevent the loss of a pawn.

46.Qf6+ Kg8 47.Qf4 Qb2+ 48.Nd2 h5!

Zugzwang.
The queen is overloaded with the protection of e5 and f2.

49.Qg3

49.Qe4 Bxf2–+

49...Ba5 50.Qe3 Kg7 51.f4 Bc3 52.Qd3 b4 53.Qd8 Bxd2 54.Qf6+ Kg8 55.Qd8+ Kh7 56.Qxd2 Qxb3
The rest is easy to understand.

57.Qd7 Kg7 58.Qe7 Qc2+ 59.Ke3 Qc1+ 60.Kf3 Qd1+ 61.Kf2 b3

A nice strategic win for Grachev, who outplayed his opponent from almost nothing.

0–1

51
Ernesto Inarkiev (2693)
Richard Rapport (2735)
Danzhou 2019

The next game was played in the Chinese city of Danzhou. For a few years now, Danzhou has played host to 6 very
strong GMs who play each other twice over 10 rounds. The following game was played in round 5 between a very
experienced Russian GM and the Hungarian rising star Richard Rapport. He normally plays very entertaining chess,
but in this game he also shows his positional strength.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6

Here we reach the wished-for Double Fianchetto structure via the normal move order of the Queen’s Indian.

4.a3 Bb7 5.Nc3 Ne4 6.Nxe4 Bxe4 7.Nd2 Bb7 8.e4 g6 9.Bd3 Bg7

We have some kind of a “Hippo”, but one pair of knights has already been exchanged, which normally should
favour the side with less space, and here this is Black.

10.Nf3 0-0 11.0-0 d6 12.Bg5 Qd7 13.Qd2 Nc6 14.Bc2?!

The first imprecision. Now Black gets a good chance to become active and a player of Rapport’s class has the feel
for this, but for normal players like you and me it is often quite difficult to sense the important moments, and so we
frequently miss such chances.
14.d5 Ne5 15.Nxe5 Bxe5 16.Rac1 c5 with equal play.

14...Na5! 15.Qe2 f5!

This is the point: Black starts a direct attack against the center. Now White has to be careful and also must be aware
of ...f4 ideas which would take the bishop on g5 out of play.

16.Rac1 Rae8

16...f4?! The threat is often greater than the execution. This is also the case here. It is much more annoying for White
to keep the threat of ...f4 always in mind. As I told you earlier in the book, the first question should always be: What
is my opponent threatening? Here White has to ask himself after every move whether ...f4 is a menace or not. 17.b4
Nc6 18.Qd2 Qf7 19.d5 Ne5 20.Nxe5 Bxe5 21.Bh6=

17.Rfe1?
I guess that Inarkiev was fully aware of the ...f4 idea, but completely forgot that there still exists another idea for
Black which could also be very annoying. Now Black gets a big advantage.

17...fxe4 18.Bxe4 d5!

Now we see the problem. It is always dangerous if your own queen and one of your opponent’s rooks stand on the
same file. Here it leads to the loss of a pawn.

19.Bb1 Nxc4?!

It looks completely natural to take with the knight, but it was much more important to open the long diagonal for the
bishop and free the d5-square for the queen at the same time.
19...dxc4! 20.Be4 Bxe4 21.Qxe4 Qd5 22.Rcd1 Nb3µ

20.Bd3 e5 21.Bxc4 dxc4

22.Qxc4+?

Normally it shouldn’t be a bad move to take a pawn with check, but it was much better and indeed necessary to take
the pawn on e5. Now White will have big problems with his kingside.
22.Nxe5 Qxd4 23.Qxc4+ Qxc4 24.Nxc4 Rxe1+ 25.Rxe1 Bd5 26.Ne3³

22...Bd5 23.Qxc7 Qf5!

White cannot prevent the destruction of his kingside pawn structure.

24.Be3? Rf7?

24...exd4! 25.Nxd4 Qe4! 26.f3

26...Qxe3+!! Both players missed this very nice tactic. 27.Rxe3 Bxd4–+
25.Qc3 Bxf3 26.gxf3 Qxf3 27.dxe5 Qg4+

Repeating moves to gain some increment. Always an effective way in time-trouble, but beware of three-fold
repetition!

28.Kh1 Qf3+ 29.Kg1 Rxe5

Of course, Black wants to win this far superior position.

30.Qd2 Qg4+ 31.Kh1 Qf3+ 32.Kg1 Qg4+ 33.Kh1 h5 34.Qd8+ Kh7

35.Qc8??

White falls apart, but it was definitely not an easy task to defend this horrible position.
35.Qd1 Qe4+ 36.Kg1 Qh4 37.Kh1 Re6µ with ...Be5 to come.
35...Qf3+ 36.Kg1 Re4

36...Rxe3 37.fxe3 Rf4–+

37.Rc2 Rg4+ 38.Kf1

38...Qg2+?

38...Re7! 39.Qc6 Rge4 40.Kg1 Bh6–+

39.Ke2 Qxh2 40.Qe6 Rf8 41.Rd1 Qg2 42.Qd7 Re4

Now it is completely lost again!

43.Kd3 Qf3
43...Re5! would have been much easier and I guess that Inarkiev would have resigned directly, because the threat of
...Rd5 is deadly and wins material. 44.Ke2 (44.Kc4 Rxe3–+) 44...Rxf2+–+

44.Rdc1 Rd4+ 45.Qxd4 Bxd4 46.Kxd4 Rd8+

From the material point of view, this would be almost okay for White, but his king is a much bigger problem.

47.Kc4 Rc8+ 48.Kd3 Rd8+ 49.Kc4 Rc8+ 50.Kd3 Rxc2 51.Rxc2 g5 52.Kd2 h4 53.Rc7+ Kg6 54.Rc8 h3 55.Bd4
Qd5 56.Kc3 h2

The h-pawn costs the rook, so White resigned.

A very interesting game with nice ideas, especially in the middlegame. Not without mistakes, but this is easy to say
if you have a look at the games with a good chess engine. Everybody knows how difficult a game of chess can be
and we shouldn’t criticize any human for making mistakes. Always try to think for yourself first of all and only then
turn on the engine to check if your ideas were good or not, but don’t forget to think. Especially in chess, this is the
most important. But nor should you waste your time on dispensable moves as I quite often do!

0–1

The following game was played in the famous Aeroflot Open in Moscow. The winner of this tournament qualifies
for the super-tournament in Dortmund, and Fedoseev was the defending champion, but as we now know, couldn’t
retain the trophy. This year Kaido Kulaots won the title.

52
Mikhail Al Antipov (2589)
Vladimir Fedoseev (2715)
Moscow 2019

1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 b6 4.Be2 Bb7 5.b3 g6 6.Bb2 Bg7 7.0-0 0-0 8.d4 d5
We have reached the tabiya of the Double Fianchetto again via a different move-order.
As you see, you can play this type of position against nearly everything, which makes it easier to learn.

9.Nc3 Nbd7 10.cxd5 exd5 11.b4 a6 12.a4

12...c6!

It looks a bit strange to block your own bishop, but otherwise White would play b5 and the black c-pawn would be
fixed on c7 — and after a later move of this pawn, Black would get two isolated pawns, on b6 and d5 respectively.
12...Qe7 13.b5 axb5 14.axb5²

13.b5 axb5 14.axb5 c5

Here we see the difference. The c-pawn cannot be taken en passant and Black has the opportunity to take back with
the b-pawn if the pawn is whipped off.

15.Rxa8 Qxa8 16.Qb3 Re8 17.Ra1 Qb8

Black has comfortably equalized and now begins to outplay his opponent.

18.Bf1 c4 19.Qd1 Ng4 20.g3 f5

Of course, the position is nearly equal, but I think that Black has the better chances and an easy plan. He can
improve his position on the kingside, while his bishop on b7 is reliable, defending the potential weakness on d5. Bad
bishops can defend good pawns and the bishop gets good active possibilities after an exchange of knights on e4.

21.Bg2 Ngf6 22.Ba3 Ne4 23.Nxe4 fxe4 24.Nd2 Qc7

The structure has changed, in Black’s favour. He has some attacking chances on the f-file and a bit more space due
to his pawns on e4 and c4.

25.Bb4 h5 26.Nb1 Bf8 27.Bxf8 Rxf8 28.Nc3 Nf6 29.Qe2 Qe7

30.f3?

It is completely understandable that White wants to gain some activity, but the price will be too high. As I told you
previously, it is a very disappointing situation to only stay passive and wait for your opponent’s plans, but
sometimes it is inevitable. From the psychological point of view it is a very difficult task, and here White starts some
action which only plays into Black’s hands.

30...exf3 31.Bxf3 Re8 32.Ra7 Qxe3+ 33.Qxe3 Rxe3 34.Kf2 Rxc3 35.Rxb7

35...Rb3?

The next turning point of the game. Black missed a really good chance to win here. Instead he loses some tempi.
35...g5! 36.Rxb6 Kf7 37.Rc6 Rb3 38.b6 g4 39.Bg2 (39.Bd1 Ne4+µ) 39...Rb2+ 40.Kf1 Ke7µ Black would have
excellent chances, because of the very passively-placed white king and bishop.
36.Rxb6 Kf7

37.h3!

Just in time to play g4 himself.

37...Rd3

37...g5 38.g4³

38.Rc6 Rxd4 39.b6 Rd2+ 40.Ke3 Rd3+ 41.Ke2 Rb3

42.g4!

White is just in time to save the game, because of his now active bishop.
42...hxg4 43.Bxg4 Ne4 44.Bf3 Nc3+ 45.Ke1

The problem for Black is that he cannot push his pawns immediately and he also always has to keep in mind that his
opponent can sacrifice the bishop for the last pawns, as will soon happen in the game.

45...g5 46.Rh6 Rb2 47.h4 gxh4 48.b7 Kg7 49.Rxh4 Rxb7

50.Bxd5!

The rest is easy to understand. With rook and bishop against rook, Black would have some good winning chances,
but with a knight it is much too simple, although of course Fedoseev tries a bit.

50...Nxd5 51.Rxc4 Rb2 52.Rd4 Nc3 53.Rd3 Re2+ 54.Kf1 Rc2 55.Rd6 Kf7 56.Ra6 Ke7 57.Rg6 Nd5 58.Ra6 Nf4
59.Ke1 Ne6 60.Kd1 Rh2 61.Rc6 Nd4 62.Rc4 Nb3 63.Rc3 Rb2 64.Re3+ Kd6 65.Re2!
Even a fighter like Fedoseev has to admit that there are no winning chances left.

65...Rxe2 66.Kxe2

A very well-played fighting game in which Black created good winning chances and missed one golden opportunity.
The Double Fianchetto leads to non-theoretical positions in which usually the player with a deeper understanding
decides the game.

½–½

53
Florian Mostbauer (2338)
Valentin Buckels (2453)
Vienna 2019

The final game in this chapter that I would like to present you involves one of my best students, Valentin Buckels.
Valentin became an IM this year and played an excellent tournament in India a few days ago (at the time of writing,
that is). He achieved 4th place in the World Juniors under 18 and I guess that he hasn’t yet really realized what he
achieved.
Of course, the main honour goes to the first three places, but to come fourth in a world championship is definitely
something special, especially if the tournament is played on a completely different continent.
I don’t have the time to train with him every day and so my part in his success is only small, but I can help him
psychologically and show him the most important things for his own training. Hopefully I removed his anxiety to
train endings and of course we couldn’t avoid taking a look at Double Fianchetto structures. Naturally, his game is
not a text book example for those structures, but I definitely wanted to show you a game from him and this one suits
this chapter.

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3

The so-called “Colle-Zuckertort” opening is quite popular these days.

3...b6 4.Bd3 Bb7 5.0-0 c5 6.c4 g6 7.Nc3 Bg7

8.d5!? exd5 9.cxd5 0-0?!

After analyzing the game in detail, we came to the conclusion that Black should accept the offer on d5.
9...Nxd5 10.Nxd5 (10.Nb5 0-0 11.Nd6 Qc7 12.Nxb7 Nf6!
This is the point. Otherwise Black would stand badly. 13.Nxc5 bxc5 14.Qc2 d5 with equal chances.) 10...Bxd5
11.Bxg6 hxg6 12.Qxd5 Nc6=

10.e4 d6

The game has switched into a Benoni-structure which is advantageous for White, but still playable for Black.
The problem was that Valentin is not a big fan of those structures and this is one thing you should always have in
mind: Try to reach positions you like and understand. Of course, this is not always so easy, but it is possible to do it
in most cases.

11.Re1 Re8 12.Nd2 Ba6?

It looks logical to exchange the bad bishop, but here the more important factor is the time Black needs to do this.
12...a6 13.a4 Nbd7 14.Nc4 Ne5 15.Nxe5 Rxe5 16.Bf4 Re8 followed by ...Qe7, ...Nd7–e5 with equal chances.

13.Bxa6 Nxa6 14.Nc4

The position looks dangerous for Black, but here he has a very nice tactical opportunity — one that was not easy to
see and completely untypical.

14...Qd7?!

14...b5! 15.Nxb5 Nxe4 16.f3 Nf2!!

A very nice and rarely-seen intermediate move which solves all Black’s problems! 17.Rxe8+? (17.Qd2 Rxe1+
18.Qxe1 Nd3 19.Qe4 Nxc1 20.Rxc1 Nc7 21.Nbxd6 f5 22.Qd3 Bd4+ with equal play, but who finds this at the
board? Please inform me if you know somebody!) 17...Qxe8 18.Kxf2 Qxb5³

15.a4 Nc7?!

The next imprecise move, which shows Valentin’s insecurity in such positions.

16.Bf4 Bf8
The situation looks very ugly, but White has to continue precisely.

17.f3 Nh5 18.Be3 f5!

Black uses the first opportunity to gain some activity. Of course this doesn’t solve all the problems, but it becomes
much more unclear as White will also get chances to make mistakes.

19.exf5 gxf5 20.Qd2 Bg7 21.Bf2 h6 22.Be3 Kh7 23.Qd3 Kh8 24.Qd2?! Kh7 25.Qd3 Kh8 26.Qd2
The end came a bit surprisingly, but Valentin was happy with the draw, because his position is still not so nice.
Normally he is completely the opposite to me and fights until the end, but here he didn’t see any good winning
attempts and took the objective draw.
I don’t know the reason why White took the draw, but maybe he was no longer satisfied with his position, and also
the ‘turnaround’ was positive for Black.
This was most definitely not the finest achievement of my student, so I will show you another — and much better —
game from him in the final chapter.

½–½
 CHAPTER 6.
DOUBLE FIANCHETTO IN THE FISCHER SYSTEM

The last but one chapter deals with a Black set-up with the Double Fianchetto against 1.c4 and Closed Sicilian
structures. The following game could have been an absolute masterpiece from the Russian GM Ikonnikov, but the
end was a bit crazy.

54
Reiner Odendahl (2352)
Vyacheslav Ikonnikov (2499)
Dieren 2019

1.c4 c5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.0-0 d6 6.Nc3 e6 7.d3 Nge7 8.Rb1 0-0 9.Bd2 b6 10.a3 Bb7 11.b4 Qd7

The desired set-up from the black side is reached. One of the most famous players who often used this line was
Bobby Fischer. I myself played it in some games against the Closed Sicilian as we will see next, but I also had some
bad experiences from the white side in this type of position. It is not easy for White to prove some advantage here.

12.Qa4

The most aggressive approach.

12...h6 13.Rfc1 g5!

The beginning of a nasty kingside attack, which won’t be easy to defend for White.

14.e3 Rfd8 15.h4

15...g4?!

This looks more than natural, but the programs give Black an overwhelming advantage after taking on h4, because
of the now-weakened pawn on d3.
15...gxh4! 16.Nxh4? (16.gxh4 Sad necessity. After this Black can use the newly-opened g-file for his attack.
16...Kh7³) 16...Ne5 17.Qxd7 Rxd7 18.Bxb7 Rxb7µ winning a pawn.

16.Ne1 Ng6 17.Qd1 f5

This position also looks very promising for Black and it is not clear what White should do here. I don’t see any
constructive plan for him, whereas Black can improve easily.

18.Qe2 Rf8 19.Qf1?!

This looks first of all quite ugly, and is definitely much too passive. But honestly speaking, I don’t have any
especially good proposals for White here.

19...Rac8 20.Nb5 Ba8 21.Bc3 e5

Naturally Black doesn’t want to exchange the dark-squared bishops. The g7-bishop is usually the best defender of
his king and it is clear that at some point the kingside will be opened.

22.bxc5 dxc5

Normally it would be better to take towards the center with ...bxc5, but here Black gets some more options on the
half-opened d-file as well as possible access to the d4-square at some point.

23.Ba1 f4!

The action begins.

24.Bd5+

Otherwise the bishop would be completely out of play after Black plays ...f3.

24...Kh8 25.Qe2 f3 26.Qc2 Nge7 27.Be4 Nf5

The sacrifice on g3 is now in the air and it will play a magical role at the end of the game.

28.Bxf5 Rxf5 29.Nc3 Rf7

Freeing the f5-square again for a knight.

30.Ne4?

30.Nd5 This would have been the only move to prevent the black knight coming to f5. 30...Ne7 31.e4³ Of course
Black would be better here as well, but it wouldn’t be winning.

30...Ne7 31.Rd1 Nf5 32.Qb3 Rcf8?!

Not the worst move, but the other option was directly winning.
32...Nxe3! 33.fxe3 Bxe4 34.dxe4 f2+–+

33.Nc2 Nxh4

The miracles begin.

34.gxh4
34...g3?!

Not bad, but...

34...Bxe4 35.dxe4 Qe7 36.Kf1 Qxh4 37.Ke1 Qh1+ 38.Kd2 Rd7+–+ this line was not so difficult to calculate, but
34...g3 should also be good enough.

35.Nxg3 Qh3 36.Ne1 Qxg3+??

What is going on? I also played the tournament in Dieren and saw this position on the board. Otherwise I wouldn’t
believe the database, but this really happened. Unbelievable! Both players had a complete blackout, because White
resigned here instead of winning the game easily by simply taking the queen.
I can only say that on this day it was more than 40 degrees outside and it is reassuring that other players also have
such moments of madness. It really could have been a masterpiece from Black, because he had completely outplayed
his opponent and finished it with a nice sacrifice on h4, but the end was really annoying. I guess both players missed
that after...
36...Rg8 37.Rd2 Bf6 38.e4 Rxg3+ 39.fxg3 Rg7–+ This would have won without miracles.

37.fxg3 f2+ 38.Kf1 Bg2+

The knight can take on g2. In an interview after the game, the German FM Odendahl stated that he hadn’t deserved
to win this game anyway. This really honours him, but on the other hand he would perhaps have gained his final
International Master norm.
At the end of the tournament he only needed half a point more, but he will gain the title one day.
Sometimes really crazy things happen, e.g at the time of writing this...
At the fantastic open tournament on the Isle of Man, the eighth round is underway and on boards 7 and 8 the games
Shirov-Yu and Karjakin-Dreev are playing identical games, with a novelty and a very complicated position. It is a
pity that the Sicilian variation is not a topic for this book.

0–1

The following game was played in the seventh round of the biggest open in the USA.
Mikheil Kekelidze is a Georgian- born GM who lived for a long time in Germany and nowadays has his main place
of residence in the USA.
In this game he shows how quickly the black attack can grow.

55
Ian Thompson D (2243)
Mikheil Kekelidze (2494)
Washington 2012

1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.Nf3

5...d6!

The most precise way, if you want to play the “Fischer system”.
6.0-0 e6 7.d3 Nge7 8.Bd2 0-0 9.Rb1 b6 10.a3 Bb7

We have reached the tabiya of this chapter.

Black has a very solid position with a lot of options on the kingside. It is not that easy for White to find a
constructive plan. Of course he will first of all start to improve on the queenside, but what happens then? Black has
no weaknesses and offers no attacking ‘surface’.

11.b4 Qd7 12.e3 f5

The other way would have been to start with ...h6 and ...g5 as seen in the Ikonnikov game.

13.Qc2 h6 14.Rbd1?!

14...g5!?
I like this typical move for such structures, but it was also possible to take the pawn on b4.
14...cxb4 15.axb4 Nxb4 16.Qb1 a5 17.Nb5 Maybe Black didn’t want to give his opponent such a nice square for the
knight. 17...Na6³ but a pawn is a pawn.

15.Ne2 Ng6 16.Bc3 Bxc3 17.Qxc3

17...Nce5!

The hole on f3 becomes a problem for White.

18.Nxe5 Nxe5 19.e4

This is definitely a move which White doesn’t want to make, but it was necessary to prevent the ideas with ...Nf3.
Now Black gets an outpost on e5 and attacking chances starting with ...f4.

19...f4!
The computer gives near-equality, but in my opinion it is very tough for White to defend such a position. He doesn’t
have any active options and can only wait for Black to make mistakes.

20.gxf4 gxf4 21.f3

21...Qg7?

Black should first of all make some prophylaxis against the move d4, a push that would help White a lot.
21...Rac8! 22.Kh1 Kh7³

22.d4!

Just in time! Now the game could have turned on its head.

22...cxd4 23.Rxd4?
23.Nxd4 Rae8 24.Kh1 Kh8 25.Bh3² Black has to be careful because of his weak e6-pawn. In the game White made
the wrong decision and took with the rook. He wanted to target the weakness on d6, but this pawn is not particularly
important, as we will see.

23...Rac8

Now everything is fine again. Black doesn’t need to waste time defending a weakness. Instead he can attack a weak
pawn himself and activate his pieces.

24.Kh1 Kh8 25.Rxd6 Rxc4 26.Qd2

26...Bxe4!

This looks good, but shouldn’t win directly if White finds the correct moves.

27.fxe4 f3 28.Ng3?

It was necessary to keep the bishop on the board, because the king would be much safer.
28.Bh3! fxe2 29.Qxe2 Rxf1+ 30.Qxf1 with equality, but chances for both sides.

28...fxg2+ 29.Qxg2 Ng4

A tricky move, one which leads to direct success. I guess that White was low on time. The position is still unclear,
but...

30.Nh5??

A horrible blunder. White misses the mate in 5 and loses on the spot. The position would have been quite unclear if
White had instead taken on e6.
30.Rxe6 Rxf1+
[30...Ne3? 31.Qd2! I guess that this was the move White missed in his calculations. 31...Rxf1+ (31...Nxf1 32.Rxh6+
Kg8 33.Qd5++–) 32.Nxf1 Ng4±]
31.Qxf1 Ne3 32.Qe1=

30...Rxf1+ 31.Qxf1 Nf2+

A nice game which shows the attacking possibilities available to Black. The biggest advantage of this line is that it is
much easier to play as Black; he has a clear and straightforward plan to attack on the kingside. But of course, Black
has to be careful that White cannot open the position in the center, as in the game. Black definitely forgot to make a
few prophylactic moves, but in the end everything turned out well.

0–1

The following two games deal with the same set-up against the closed Sicilian. I very often used this variation in my
youth and also in the years after, but most of the games didn’t find their way into the database, because they were
played in open tournaments or local competitions. Nowadays I don’t get it that often, because I no longer use the
Sicilian as my main weapon and if I do play it, I mostly get the open Sicilian, or some Rossolimo and Alapin
variations.

56
Milko Popchev (2433)
Vasil Spasov (2565)
Varna 2013

1.Nc3

Don’t worry, it will soon become a Sicilian! White starts with a tricky move-order which can lead to many openings.
I remember a funny story from my youth. I played one of my first games in a team competition. I guess I was some
eight or nine years old and my opponent started with 1.Nc3. I had never seen this before and also in my youth I had
a very professional attitude and wanted to know everything about the possibilities. I have to admit that it is not that
easy to understand all the details after one move, so I needed some time. I thought for nearly 35 minutes and my
father, who was also playing in the team, grew more grey hair than he already had, because he thought that I was
sleeping with my eyes open! I played ...d5 and after 2.e4 I switched to a Caro Kann with ...c6. By the way I won the
game, but that is a completely different story.

1...c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.e4

Here we are.

4...Bg7 5.f4 b6

5...d6 6.Nf3 Qd7!? This was and still is my preferred move-order.

6.Nf3 Bb7 7.d3 d6 8.0-0 Qd7

We have reached the tabiya of this chapter. Black puts the queen on d7 to protect his bishop on b7 and opens the
way for castling queenside, although this wouldn’t necessarily be a good idea against every option. It depends
mainly on the white set-up. The development of the kingside knight will be deferred, because it is not that clear
where he belongs. Sometimes it is a good idea to bring him to the center via e7, and he can also find a good square
on f7, as used in the next game.

9.Be3 Nd4!

A very important move to prevent d4-ideas. Of course, Black could also start with 9....Nh6 for example, but it would
definitely be a bad idea to develop with 9...e6.
9...e6? 10.d4! and Black gets problems with his weakness on d6.

10.Bf2

White wants to have the option of taking on d4 with the knight.

10...e5!?

Black uses the most active set-up. In my games I usually preferred 10....e6 followed by ...Ne7.

11.Nd2?!

I don’t like this move, but this is of course not a real argument. It looks a bit passive and loses some time. I think
White should try to get rid of the black knight on d4 directly.

11.Nd5 Ne7 12.Nxe7 Qxe7 13.c3=

11...Nf6?

It looks very natural to develop the knight, but Black missed a good opportunity here to get a small advantage
immediately.
11...exf4! 12.gxf4 Nf6 13.Nc4 0-0³

12.Nc4 Ng4

12...exf4? 13.e5!± Because of this intermediate move, Black has no time to exchange on f4.

13.Ne3?!

13.Bh3! h5 14.Bxd4 cxd4 15.Bxg4 hxg4 16.Nb5! 0-0 17.Nbxd6∞ with a very complicated position. Black has lost a
pawn, but should have enough counterplay with his pair of bishops.

13...Nxf2?!
I would prefer to exchange the knights and take on f4 with an easy position, but GM Spasov had a completely
different and very dynamic idea.
13...Nxe3 14.Bxe3 exf4 15.Bxf4 0-0 16.Qd2 Rae8=

14.Rxf2 exf4 15.gxf4

15...g5?!

Objectively speaking this is not the best move, but I like the idea and the following moves prove Black right. But
there exist two very critical options for White.
15...0-0=; 15...0-0-0= It is not often the case that you get the option to castle in both directions with a completely
playable position.

16.Ncd5!
16.Qh5 gxf4 17.Bh3 Ne6 18.Ned5 0-0-0 19.Rxf4± This would also have been critical.

16...gxf4 17.Nxf4 Ne6 18.c3 0-0-0

This was surely Black’s idea. He wanted to create a complicated position with heterogenous castling, but he is
taking big risks, because objectively White is better. He has the very nice d5-square for one of his knights and also
his pawn structure is much better, but of course Black can also create some attacking chances on the kingside, as we
will see.

19.Nfd5 h5 20.a3?!

This seems to be too slow. It was much better to attack the pawn on b6 with a4–a5. White wants to play b4 next, but
he doesn’t create immediate threats and gives Black the time needed for his own attack.
20.a4! Be5 21.a5 b5 22.a6 Bc6 23.Qf1 Rh7 24.Nf5± and White will soon start some action in the center, beginning
with d4, which would lead to big problems for Black.

20...Kb8 21.b4?

White doesn’t achieve anything with this move. He only weakens his own pawn structure.

21...Nc7!
Now we see the main problem with b4. The c3-pawn becomes a target and Black has the time to exchange the
annoying knight on d5.

22.Nxc7 Qxc7 23.Rc1 Bh6 24.Qf3

24...f5!

Very bad news for White.

The game has taken a complete turnaround. Now Black has the initiative and also White will have the feeling that
something has gone wrong. Psychologically not an easy task and indeed White cracks altogether within just a few
moves.

25.Re1 fxe4 26.dxe4 Bg7 27.Nd5 Bxd5 28.exd5 cxb4 29.cxb4?

The final mistake, but also after the correct 29.axb4 Black would stand much better.
29.axb4 Rdf8 30.Qe3 Bxc3 31.Rxf8+ Rxf8 32.Rc1? Bd4–+

29...Bd4 30.Kh1 Bxf2 31.Qxf2 Qc3 32.Qg3 Qxg3 33.hxg3 Rde8

A very interesting and exciting battle.

At the end Black was rewarded for his overambitious idea ...g5. He could have played a much safer game simply by
castling.

0–1

In the following game we will see the standard plan from Black which leads to a surprisingly easy win for him. It
was played in the second round of a zonal tournament in Villa Martelli.

57
Juan Cruz Arias (2254)
 Rodrigo Rafael Vasquez Schroder (2554)
Villa Martelli 2017

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 g6 5.d3 Bg7 6.f4 b6 7.Nf3 Bb7 8.0-0 Qd7 9.Be3 Nh6

The other way of playing would be 9...Nd4 as seen in the previous game. I myslef mainly used 9...Nd4, but 9...Nh6
is also a very principled move.

10.h3

10.d4?? Ng4µ

10...f5 11.Qd2

11.d4? fxe4 12.Nxe4 d5! winning a pawn. 13.Neg5 Nf5µ

11...0-0 12.Rae1 Rae8 13.Ng5

13...e6!

Black takes away all of White’s ideas involving tactical motifs on the d5–g8 diagonal.

14.Nd1

This looks very passive, but it is not that easy to propose something better. It seems to me that the whole plan with
Ng5 is not the best. Black can easily exchange the knight and gets good options in the center by advancing ...d5 at
some point.

14...Nf7 15.Nxf7 Rxf7 16.g4?

This leads directly to a bad position, but again it is not so easy to find better moves.
16.c3 d5³
16...d5! 17.c4?

White panics and loses the game without a real fight. But it is completely understandable that he didn’t much like
the alternatives:
a) 17.exf5 exf5 18.g5 Nd8! 19.c3 Rfe7µ;
b) 17.gxf5 maybe the best option. 17...gxf5 18.exd5 exd5 19.Bf2³

17...fxe4

Simply winning a pawn.

18.dxe4

18.cxd5 exd5 19.dxe4 dxe4–+

18...dxc4 19.Qc1?

The final mistake in a difficult position. It was sad, but necessary, to exchange the queens.
19.Qxd7 Rxd7 20.e5µ Black would be much better, but White could still fight for the draw.

19...Nb4!
Now it is over. The activation of the knight finishes the game quickly.

20.Qxc4 Ba6 21.Qb3 Nd3 22.Re2 Nxf4 23.Rd2 Ne2+

Here White had seen enough and resigned. Black will win a lot of material and also retains his attacking chances.
This game looked rather easy and the set-up with ...Nh6 and ...f5 looks very promising for Black.

0–1
 CHAPTER 7.
DOUBLE FIANCHETTO WITH BOTH COLOURS

In this final chapter I will present some different games from both colours. When I planned the book, this chapter
was not in my mind, but over the months I always found extra, interesting games which could be appended in the
book. Also, I myself played a lot of Double Fianchetto games over the past several months. Sometimes I felt it my
duty to create nice games for annotating and what can I say: it worked out quite well! So I decided to write one more
chapter with Double Fianchetto games from both sides. These are hopefully interesting games which will help give
you a deeper understanding of these structures. Of course, all these games could have been in earlier chapters, but it
was easier to create a new and mixed chapter.
The first game of this chapter was played at the World Team Championships in the match between England and
Iran. We will see a fascinating game involving the young and rising Iranian star, Alireza Firouzja, who has the
potential to become the next world champion, but of course this will likely be a very long way off. His opponent was
the very experienced English GM Jon Speelman and, as an exception, the Double Fianchetto will be crushed, but in
such a very nice way that I couldn’t resist including this game as well.

58
Jonathan Speelman S (2516)
Alireza Firouzja (2657)
Astana 2019

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.b3 d5 4.Bb2 c5 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.0-0 0-0

7.e3!?

I would prefer ideas starting with c4.

7.c4 d4 (7...Nc6 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Bxg7 Kxg7 10.Qc1!?²) 8.b4 Re8 9.bxc5 Ne4 10.d3 Nxc5 11.Ba3 with complicated
play. I got this position very often in some rapid games, and with good results.

7...Re8 8.d4
8.c4!? This is an interesting alternative, which leads to complicated play. I don’t like the Double Fianchetto
structures in which White plays d4 himself, but this is a matter of taste of course. 8...dxc4 9.Ne5!?∞

8...cxd4 9.exd4

I think that Black has no real problems in such positions. He can develop all his pieces to active squares.

9...Bf5 10.c4 dxc4 11.bxc4 Nc6 12.Qb3?

Now it is becomes bad very quickly for White. I guess that Speelman missed the upcoming tactics.

12...Na5! 13.Qb4 Bd3 14.Rc1

14...Bxc4!!

That’s it! Black wins a pawn with a nice tactical trick.

15.Nbd2

15.Rxc4 Nd5 16.Qa4 b5! This will be the move White missed. 17.Qxb5 Rb8–+

15...Bd5µ

It is often the case that White sacrifices a pawn for the initiative in such structures, but here we unfortunately
completely miss the initiative. It is only Black who has the upper hand, and is also a pawn to the good.

16.Nb3 Nc6 17.Qb5 a6 18.Qe2 Bh6 19.Rd1 Qb6 20.Nc5

20...e5!

Well played! Black converts his material advantage with a long and concrete variation.

21.Qc2 exd4 22.Nxd4 Bxg2 23.Kxg2 Nxd4 24.Bxd4 Qc6+ 25.Kg1

25...Ne4!

I liked the finish a lot. This was the main reason I included this game in the book. Of course, the game was nearly
finished after Black won the pawn, but let us have a look at the following grand walking tour of the black king.

26.Nxe4 Qxc2 27.Nf6+ Kf8 28.Nd7+ Ke7 29.Bc5+ Ke6 30.Rd6+ Kf5 31.Rd5+ Kg4 32.Rad1 Kh3!!
The black king has reached his safe place on h3 and White will be mated soon, so he resigned! It looked like an easy
game for Black, and of course White helped him with his mistake 12.Qb3?, but to finish a game in such a
fashionable way is always a very pleasant thing. But the quintessence of this game from a theoretical point of view is
that White should avoid playing d4 himself, if Black has already played ...d5. I would prefer to play c4 on the fourth,
fifth or also the sixth move.

0–1

The following game was played in the fourth round of the Dutch Open Championships in Dieren last year.
In round three, I more than once missed the win against the Italian GM Alberto David.
The game also lasted more than 5 and a half hours and my opponent in this round would have been the same, but
with the difference that my score would have been half a point more. The good thing from a psychological viewpoint
during such a tournament is that you don’t have time to mourn missed opportunities.

59
Daniel Hausrath (2468)
Van Lucas Foreest (2521)
Dieren 2019

1.Nf3

I started the game with a very surprising move.

1...d5 2.b3

But this was definitely a surprise, because Lucas started thinking, whereas he usually blitzes out his moves in the
opening. I guess that he wanted to play something with ...Nc6, but here it wouldn’t be a very good move-order. A
few weeks before this game my opponent had won the Dutch Championship on tiebreak against his older brother
Jorden. A big achievement, and so Lucas started this tournament with a large dose of self-confidence.

2...Nf6

2...Nc6 3.Bb2 f6 (3...Bg4 4.e3 e5 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Qxf3²) 4.d4²

3.Bb2 Bf5 4.c4 e6 5.g3 h6 6.Bg2 Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.d3

Through a different move-order we have reached the tabiya of the normal Reti structure with double fianchettoed
bishops. It was a nice feeling, because I had returned to one of my often-played positions, whereas Lucas was out of
his preparation.

8...Nbd7 9.Nbd2 c6 10.a3 a5

11.Ra2!?

A very interesting attempt. White wants to play Qa1 followed by Rb1. The idea is to start direct action on the
queenside with b4 and generally pushing the pawns. Of course, it looks a bit strange to place all the major pieces at
the edge of the board, but it is not so easy for Black to find a good set-up against this plan. I have also tried the
normal 11.Rc1 with the idea Rc2 and Qa1. In one of my most recent games with this line I experimented also with
11.Qb1, which has been played by the Hungarian GM Rapport as well.
11...Bh7 12.Qa1 Ne8

12...Bd6 This move I got in three other games and I think it is the best set-up for Black. He immediately wants to
start action in the center. 13.Rb1 Re8 14.Ne5 Nxe5 15.Bxe5 Bxe5 16.Qxe5 Qb6 threatening ...Qxf2 followed by
...Ng4. 17.h3=

13.Rb1

13...g5?!

What the hell is Black doing? It is very sad that the moment of my facial expression upon seeing this move was not
captured on video. I was very confused, if Lucas was serious. This move looked so ugly to me, but it definitely has
its point. Black doesn’t want to defend the weakness on g7 forever and in the computer-era, the young boys often
play such “nasty” moves. Also, they have as their idol “Alpha Zero”. It is really funny that 13....g5 is not criticized
by the programs. It is definitely not their first choice, but it doesn’t seem to be that bad. I was calculating instead
13...Bf6.
13...Bf6 14.b4²

14.b4

I definitely needed some time to recover from the shock, but then I realized that Black has no direct threats and I
have no reason to search for another plan.

14...g4 15.Ne5 Bg5

16.Rd1!?

Undoubtedly a good move, but the question mark is for my time management before playing this move, because I
took some twenty minutes on this “terrific” move. I have no explanation why I myself, and maybe also many other
players, take such long breaks for completely normal moves. We have to make decisions in chess and normally we
should make them as quickly as possible. Time is needed for bigger problems and in this game I won’t have enough
time at the critical moments.

16...h5 17.Nxd7 Qxd7

18.bxa5

Normally it is not a good idea to take on a5 and open the a-file for the opponent, but here my idea was to get active
and gain some tempi.
18...Rxa5 19.Bc3 Ra8 20.cxd5?

It was much better to close the kingside first of all and only then start to open the center, but I had a plan and tried to
realize it.
20.h4! Be7 21.e4²

20...exd5 21.Bb4

This was my idea. I wanted to exchange the dark-squared bishops and start a direct attack against the black king.

21...Bf6

22.Qc1!

Of course I could have repeated moves with 22.Bc3, but I was in a fighting mood and liked my position. Normally I
am often satisfied with a draw, but maybe I was dominated by ambition after his provocative move ...g5.
22.Bc3 Bg5 23.Bb4=

22...Nd6 23.Nb3?

Here I missed a nice tactical option.

23.Nc4! dxc4 24.dxc4 Rfd8 25.Rad2² with good winning chances.

23...Rfd8 24.Qf4 Qe7

From the structural point of view, Black is slightly better here and I should have started with play on the queenside,
but I made a prophylactic move at the wrong moment.

25.h4?!

25.a4 b6 26.Qc1 Rdc8 27.a5=

25...b6 26.Rc1 c5 27.Bd2 Qe6?

In this complicated position Black is the first one who makes a big mistake, but I was incapable of making use of it.
But this often happens, because I still had a plan and was not thinking about other things. And my plan would have
been a good one, if there hadn’t been a nice tactical possibility.

28.a4?

28.Bxd5! I saw this idea, but after 28...Qxd5 29.Qxf6 Qxb3 30.Bc3 Kf8 stopped here with my calculations. I only
realized that my rook was hanging and thus completely overlooked an intermediate move. 31.Rb2!+– Of course
Black shouldn’t take on b3, but in this case White is a pawn up and has a very promising position.

28...Nf5 29.a5 Qxe2 30.Bc3

This was my idea. I hoped for the “brilliancy price” and played like Tal. I had the impression that the weakened dark
squares give White good attacking chances, which was indeed the case. Objectively speaking Black should have the
ability to defend this attack, but in a practical game it is not that easy — and it is always a sign if the programs give
near-equality in a position where one side is material down.

30...Qxa2 31.Bxf6 Rd7 32.Nd2

Now Lucas took his time, and his time management had been much better than mine.
This position is definitely a critical one and both sides should take their time, if possible, but I was already down to
under 10 minutes.
32...Qxa5! 33.Re1

My idea was to attack with Re5 followed by taking on f5. I was very optimistic here.

33...Qa6!

Very precise. The queen comes back via d3.

34.Re5 Qxd3 35.Bf1?!

The first inaccuracy. I thought that it would help me if Black has no options on my first rank. 35.Bf1 was not a
mistake, but Black would have to solve many more problems after the direct attack with 35.Ne4.
35.Ne4 dxe4 Here Black cannot sacrifice his queen. 36.Rxf5 Rd6! The only move which doesn’t lose. 37.Rxh5 Rxf6
38.Qxf6 Qd1+ 39.Bf1 Ra1 40.Rg5+ Bg6 41.Rxg6+ fxg6 42.Qxg6+ Kf8 43.Qf6+ Ke8 44.Qe6+ Kd8 45.Qxb6+= with
a perpetual, and perhaps the fairest result for this crazy game, but...

35...Qc2

36.Ne4 Qxe4!

This is the main difference, but also here White could get the slightly upper hand. Unfortunately, I was down to my
last minute.

37.Rxe4 dxe4 38.Qxe4?

Here comes the mistake. Of course it looks quite natural to take the pawn, but it was much more important for White
to activate his light-squared bishop. Now Black gets the time to consolidate and take control.
38.Bg2! Rd6 39.Bxe4 Rxf6 40.Bxa8= with equality, but enough play for both sides.

38...Rf8! 39.Qf4 Bg6 40.Bg2 Rd6!

After the time-control I had the chance to realize just how bad my position was. Not a nice situation and I fell apart
quite quickly.

41.Be5 Rd1+ 42.Kh2 Re8 43.Bc3??

Of course I felt that this move was bad and I also saw that Qa4 would put up more resistance, but I was also sure that
the position was lost in any event.
43.Qa4 Rxe5 44.Qxd1 Nd4–+ White can only wait for the execution in this position.

43...Nd4 44.Qf6 Re6 45.Qg5 Re2

Here I resigned and told my opponent that it was not my intention to get mated myself!
A very nice and interesting game in which both sides played with clarity.
In the end I lost this exciting game, but was not so unhappy with the achievement. Sometimes we lose chess games
and think this should be the end of our career, but this game was a completely different story, because both players
had seen a lot and also played interesting chess for the spectators. The only thing which made me sad was my time
management again and also the missed tactics. But the good news is that I tried to work on those things after this
loss.

0–1

60
Daniel Hausrath (2482)
Taylan Guelsen (2095)
Dortmund 2017

This game could have been in the first chapter, but this encounter is quite long and at first I didn’t want to include
the game at all, but after reading through all the other games again, I decided that this variation should also be in the
book. It is interesting, and maybe even important from the theoretical point of view.

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 b6 3.Bg2 Bb7 4.0-0 c5 5.c4 g6 6.b3 Bg7 7.Bb2 0-0

I had this position very often in my career. We have reached a completely symmetrical situation.

8.Nc3 d6?!

In my opinion it is easier for Black to play the resulting positions after 8...d5.
8...d5 9.Nxd5 Nxd5 10.Bxg7 Kxg7 11.cxd5 Qxd5 12.d4 Na6=

9.d4 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Bxg2 11.Kxg2 Qc7

12.e3!

I like the idea behind this move. White wants to exchange queens after Black gives a check on the diagonal.
Otherwise White will play f4 and Qf3 to put pressure on the center.

12...Qb7+

12...a6 13.f4 Nbd7 14.Qf3²

13.Qf3 Qxf3+ 14.Kxf3 Nbd7?

Definitely a positional mistake, after which Black has big problems.

14...Rc8 This was played by Popovich, see game 5 of the first chapter. Here 15.Ke2 Nc6² would have been the better
move-order.
15.Nc6!

Now black is forced to create a doubled pawn for himself.

15...Ne5+™

15...Rfe8 16.Nb5± with the deadly threat of Nc7.

16.Nxe5 dxe5 17.Rfd1 Rfd8 18.Ke2 e6 19.h3

My plan was to exchange the rooks on the d-file and walk with the king to the queenside. The pawn on h3 should
prevent ideas with ...Ng4, because the only weak pawn will be the one on f2.

19...Ne8 20.Rxd8 Rxd8 21.Rd1 Rxd1 22.Kxd1

The first step of the plan is executed.

22...e4

Black is searching for some counterplay.

It is not easy to offer him better proposals: the position after 15.Nc6 is just really bad for Black.

23.Kc2 f5

23...Bxc3 24.Kxc3 Nd6 25.Kb4 Kf8 26.Bd4 Ke8 27.c5+–

24.Nb5 a6 25.Bxg7 Kxg7 26.Nc3

My idea was to put the knight to a4 and then create a route for the king. The position seems to be winning.
26...Nf6 27.Na4 Nd7 28.Kc3 Kf6 29.Kb4 Ke7

30.c5!

The second step!

30...b5?

The final mistake, but it was very difficult to hold this ending and I guess that it was lost anyway.
30...bxc5+ 31.Nxc5 Ne5 32.a4! g5 33.Kc3!± Prevention against ...Nd3 threats.

31.Nb6 Nb8 32.Ka5 Kd8

33.Na8!!

A very stylish finish!

The knight frees the way for the king and Black is helpless against the white king’s walking tour.

33...Kd7 34.Kb6 b4

34...Nc6 35.Nc7 e5 36.Nxa6 win an easy win.

35.Kb7 Nc6 36.Nb6+

A very nice positional achievement, but the main problems for Black resulted from his mistake at move 14. After
that it was only a game of two possible results.

1–0
As I promised you earlier, I wanted to show you a better game of one of my students, IM Valentin Buckels. The
Double Fianchetto is not his main weapon, but it belongs in his repertoire nowadays.
The following game was played in the fourth round of the German Youth Championships under 18.
At the end Valentin came second behind the now-GM Louis Engel. Louis was unstoppable in this tournament, so
second place for Valentin was the best he could reach.

61
Valentin Buckels (2443)
Jonas Roseneck (2403)
Willingen 2019

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.b3 Bg7 4.Bb2 0-0 5.Bg2 d5 6.c4 c6

Black plays a Grünfeld set-up, which is quite a solid approach.

7.0-0 Bg4 8.d3 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 d4?!

I don’t like this move, because it opens the long diagonal for the light-squared bishop and gives White good
attacking chances on the queenside with b4–b5, for example.
9...e6² This would have been much more solid.

10.e4?!

I have to admit that I was quite shocked when I saw this move. I have just tried to explain you why 9...d4 was an
ugly move and now Valentin blocks this diagonal himself. A few days after the game we discussed this position and
I have to admit that it was one of the most lively discussions we ever had, because we both held a different opinion. I
tried to explain to him that he would have an easy plan of attack on the queenside starting with b4. Also, I told him
that it makes no sense to block his great white-squared bishop with his own pawn, closing the center while holding
the bishop pair. He expressed his own opinion that he would attain good attacking chances on both wings after
closing the center. His main idea was to push the pawns on the kingside starting with f4, later developing the bishop
on the h3–c8 diagonal. He definitely also has a point, but I guess that I am right!
10.b4 e5 11.Nd2 Re8 12.Rb1 Nbd7 13.b5²

10...e5 11.Ba3 Re8 12.Bg2

12...h5?!

I think this only weakens Black’s position. He should have started with 12...a5 followed by ...Na6, blocking White’s
queenside first of all.
12...a5 13.Nd2 Na6=

13.Bc1

Directly switching to the kingside and looking forward to the weakened g5-square. As I told you earlier, you should
always be careful with pawn moves, because they cannot step backwards and so it is very important to have a feeling
for weakened squares. Of course, here it is not that easy for White to make use of the g5-square, but White gets more
options and there could also arise an opportunity to attack the pawns with f4–f5 later on.

13...Nbd7 14.Bg5 Qc7 15.Bh3 Nh7 16.Bc1

16...h4?

This is definitely a step in the wrong direction. Black starts some action, but it would have been better to play
patiently and wait to see what his opponent does. Valentin didn’t want to repeat moves and make a draw, but it
would have been his turn to find and create a plan after Black returns with 16...Nhf6= or the more ambitious
16...Nc5=.

17.gxh4

Valentin is a very concrete player and calculates deeply. He also mostly grabs a pawn, if it’s at all possible.
But here taking the pawn is definitely the best choice, because Black will need a lot of time to win it back, and with
the bishop pair it makes a lot of sense for White to open the position.

17...Ndf6 18.f4!

Now White opens the position in his favour and it becomes clear that he has the advantage, but it was not forced and
I am quite sure that “my” plan with b4–b5 would have been much easier.

18...exf4 19.Bxf4 Qe7 20.Qf3 Nh5 21.Bg3 Bh6

22.a4!

Very strong, but also very logical. White wants to activate his knight via a3.

22...Nf8 23.Na3 Ne6 24.Bxe6!

It is never that easy for a ‘fianchetto’ player to give away the light-squared bishop, but here it was much more
important to prevent Black from activating his knight via f4 or c5.

24...Qxe6 25.Nc2?

But here he missed a very good chance to grab much more space and activate the knight in a much more dynamic
way.
25.c5! followed by Nc4. 25...Qxb3? 26.Nc4 Nxg3 27.hxg3 Re7 28.h5±
25...Rad8 26.a5 a6

27.b4

Better late than never.

27...Rd7 28.Rab1 Bg7 29.Na3

Now he has the idea of c5 and Nc4.

29...c5?!

Preventing c5.

30.b5

Good enough, but it was also possible to take on c5 and activate the rook immediately.
30.bxc5! Nxg3 31.hxg3 Rc8 32.Rb6 Qh3 33.Kf2! with the threat of Rh1 winning the queen and having good
chances after 33...Qh2+ 34.Qg2 Qxg2+ 35.Kxg2 Rxc5 36.Ra1! Rxa5 37.Nc2 Rxa1 38.Nxa1± The black queenside
would be very vulnerable, but it is very difficult to see such a variation from a human point of view, and so the
decision to close the position with 30.b5 is completely understandable.

30...Be5 31.Rb2?!
It is easy to criticize moves if you have a look at them with an engine, but it is always my advice to think for
yourself before looking at the judgement of the program. It is not easy to do this in modern times, but it helps a lot to
improve your chess. Of course, 31.Rb2 was not the best move, but it is quite logical to improve the position of the
rook and obtain the possibility of switching to the kingside if necessary, or doubling on the queenside as well.
31.Bxe5 Qxe5 32.bxa6 bxa6 33.Qg4!² This position would not be so easy to defend because White could start his
attack from both wings, with Rf5 and also with Rb6.

31...Kh7?

The first real mistake. Black missed the last moment to exchange on g3 himself.
31...Nxg3 32.hxg3 Qh3= with equal chances, but also complicated play.

32.Bxe5! Qxe5 33.Qg4 Rc7 34.Rg2 Re6

35.b6!

Well played! Fixing the b7-pawn for later endgames and understanding that this is a better option than opening the
b-file.
35.bxa6?! bxa6 36.Rgf2²

35...Rce7 36.Nb1

Of course, the knight has to be better placed.

36...Rf6 37.Rxf6 Qxf6

38.Nd2?

In time-trouble, White misses Black’s idea. It was necessary to prevent him from playing ...Qf4.
38.Rf2! Qc6 39.Nd2 Qa4 40.Qg5!±

38...Qf4!

Just in time!

39.Nf1 Re6 40.Qxf4 Nxf4 41.Rd2 Rf6

Here we see the difference: Black is just in time with his counterplay and it is not that easy for White to make
progress. Normally the game should end in a draw now.

42.Ng3 Nh3+ 43.Kg2 Nf4+ 44.Kh1 Nh3

45.e5!

Naturally Valentin did not want a draw, because he needed a win to retain chances of the title of German champion.

45...Rf2 46.Rd1
46...Ra2?

Now it becomes critical again, but it was not easy to understand all the subtleties of this interesting and complicated
endgame.
46...Rf4! was necessary to prevent Ne4. 47.Rd2 (47.Kg2 Nf2 48.Rd2 Ng4=; 47.Ne4?? Rxe4 48.dxe4 Nf2+–+)
47...Rf2=

47.Ne4 Nf2+ 48.Nxf2 Rxf2 49.Re1

49...Rd2?

Now it is lost, but it was difficult to handle this position anyway.

49...Ra2™ 50.e6 fxe6 51.Rxe6 Rxa5 52.Re7+ Kh6 53.Rxb7 Ra2 with chances to hold the game, because of the very
passive white king.
50.e6 fxe6 51.Rxe6 Rxd3

52.Re5

Preventing the black king from activating via h5.

I like this approach, but of course 52.Re7+ was also winning: 52...Kh6 53.Rxb7 Kh5 54.Kg2+–

52...Ra3

52...Rd1+ 53.Kg2 d3 54.Rxc5 d2 55.Rd5 Kg7 56.Kf2 Kf6 57.Ke3+–

53.Rxc5 d3 54.Rc7+ Kh6 55.Rxb7 Rxa5 56.Rd7

The rest is simple.

56...Ra1+ 57.Kg2 Rc1 58.b7 Rb1 59.c5 d2 60.c6

A very interesting game featuring two completely different approaches. In my opinion I am right with my approach
of not playing e4, but the result speaks for itself and so I don’t want to be too critical.

1–0

Finally, we have reached the last game of the book. It is my most recent achievement and played in the Belgian
league. It is quite funny that I very often got systems with the Double Fianchetto since I started writing this book.
Maybe I also felt obliged to play these openings more often again. But honestly speaking, the story behind this game
is a bit different. I have played a lot of games against IM Fiebig in the past and have tried nearly all possible
openings, and all the games ended in draws, blitz games as well. This time I chose the “Hippopotamus” and what
can I say, it was very successful.

62
Thomas Fiebig (2425)
Daniel Hausrath (2466)
Belgium 2019

1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Nf3

Thomas is a quite solid player with a very positional and strategic attitude.

4...a6 5.a4 b6 6.Bc4 e6

Against this strategic player I use the most dynamic opening. But without irony, it is feasible to ‘just play chess’ as
early as possible with the “Hippo”. Without much theory and knowledge you can play the first ten moves quickly. It
is interesting that some programs give White nearly plus 1 in this position, but this is of course absolute nonsense.
White has more space, but nothing more and the position is completely playable for Black.
7.0-0 Nd7 8.Be3

Some programs want to start with 8.Bg5 here...

8.Bg5 Ne7 9.Qd2 h6 10.Be3 Bb7² but why should White voluntarily lose a tempo?

8...Ne7 9.Qd2 h6

10.h3?!

As I told you earlier, I am not a big fan of this move, because it weakens White’s kingside and sometimes Black gets
the option of starting an attack beginning with ...g5. My opponent wanted to improve his position with Nh2 and f4 at
some point, but I guess White should first of all play normal developing moves, such as Rfe1.
10.Rfe1 Bb7 11.Rad1²
10...Bb7

The alternative would have been 10...g5² but I wanted to have a look at what White was planning to do before I
started concrete action myself.

11.Nh2

11...Nf6!

I needed some time to understand that this is the best set-up for Black. I was also thinking about moves like ...g5 or
...d5 immediately, but 11...Nf6 is the most principled move, one that forces a reaction.

12.d5

In our analysis after the game my opponent honestly admitted that he had seen the idea of ...Nxe4 only after moving
12.d5 quickly, and was lucky that it doesn’t work.

12...exd5

12...Nxe4? Here it doesn’t work, but it is always an idea you should be aware of. 13.Nxe4 exd5 14.Bd4! This is the
point! White wins material. 14...0-0 15.Nf6++–

13.exd5 Qd7 14.Rfe1 Kf8

A very typical maneuver for the “Hippo”. The king walks ‘artificially’ to his safe place on h7.

15.Nf3 Kg8 16.Re2 Kh7 17.Rae1

If you have a look at this position, your first impression will be that White should have an edge, because he has more
space and has already doubled rooks on the e-file.
But in reality the position is completely equal.
Black has connected his rooks and can also fight for control of the e-file. His king is safe and the knight on e7 has
very nice prospects on f5. The d5-pawn could become a target as well and I also had a dream of a structural change,
which will happen later in the game!

17...Rhe8 18.Bd4

This looks dangerous, but leads nowhere.

After the exchanges it will only be Black who can stand better.
18...Nf5

19.Bxf6 Rxe2 20.Rxe2 Bxf6 21.Ne4 Bg7 22.Qf4?!

Again this looks dangerous, but it was definitely better to make some prophylactic move such as Bb3.
22.Bb3 Re8 23.a5 b5 24.c4=

22...b5!

Of course, it wouldn’t be a good idea to take the pawn on a4. Don’t forget that the queen is not protected on a4.
22...Qxa4? 23.g4 Nd4 24.Nxd4 Qxc4 25.Ne6! Funnily enough the computer gives this position with 0.00, business
as usual, but I didn’t want to lose myself in these complications.

23.Bb3 Rf8
Defending the pawn on f7 and gaining the opportunity to return to e7 with the knight, if necessary.

24.g4

This seems to be too optimistic and from now on Black will gain an advantage.
24.c3=

24...Ne7 25.Nf6+ Bxf6 26.Qxf6

26...Ng8?

It was possible to grab the pawn on d5, but I missed something...

26...Nxd5! 27.Bxd5 Bxd5 28.Re7 Qc6 29.Nh4 I thought that White was winning here, because of the deadly threat
to take on g6, but I completely missed that I could take on c2 and defend g6 as well. So White can’t play Nh4, but
then Black would be a pawn up with an advantage. 29...Qxc2–+

27.Qf4 Re8 28.Rxe8 Qxe8 29.axb5 axb5

The position is equal again, but I thought that it was easier to play as Black and also I had a plan — very important
in such situations.

30.Kh2 Kg7!

My opponent thought that this was impossible because of the upcoming pin.

31.Qd4+ Nf6 32.Kg3?

a) 32.h4 c5! 33.dxc6 Qxc6 34.g5 Qxf3µ;

b) 32.Qc3! The best move to prevent against the nasty ...c5 idea, but also here Black could claim an advantage.
32...Qe4!³

32...c5!

This was completely overlooked by my opponent.

I had seen this idea many moves earlier, but of course I didn’t expect that it would work out quite so well.

33.dxc6™ 33...Qxc6 34.Nh4??

The losing move, but also after the better choice 34.Qc3, Black would get very good winning chances in the
resulting endgame.
34.Qc3 Qxc3 35.bxc3 Ne4+ 36.Kf4 Nxf2 37.h4 Ne4 38.c4 b4µ

34...Qh1?!

34...g5! Winning directly, but I saw that the other option was good enough. 35.Nf5+ Kh7–+ White can’t prevent the
mate without losing material.

35.f3 Qe1+ 36.Qf2 Qe5+ 37.Kg2 Qxb2 38.Qb6

38...Bd5!

Now White is lost in all variations.

39.Qxb5 Qe5 40.Kf2 Qd4+?

40...Qh2 would have won immediately, but I just wanted to make the time-control and calculate everything precisely
to the end. However, White could have offered more resistance now.

41.Kg3?

41.Kf1 Qd1+ 42.Kf2 Bxb3 43.Qxb3 Qd2+ 44.Kf1 Qh2µ Should also be winning, but with a bit more work to do.

41...Qe5+ 42.Kf2 Qh2+ 43.Ng2

43...Bxf3!

Finally! Here White resigned, because he will lose his entire kingside and Black will also retain his initiative after

44.Kxf3 Qxh3+ 45.Kf2 Nxg4+ 46.Ke1 Qxg2 0–1

This was not a position my opponent wanted to see on the board.

A very interesting game with a nice finish for Black.
 GAMES INDEX

1. Vladimir Kramnik (2808) – Daniele Vocaturo (2583) Baku 2016

2. Daniel Hausrath (2390) – Sandor Farago (2365) Budapest 1996

3. Vladimir Kramnik (2783) – Fabiano Caruana (2811) Zürich 2015

4. Daniel Hausrath (2507) – Lars Ootes (2340) Netherlands 2012

5. Daniel Hausrath (2528) – Petar Popovic (2496) Germany 2009

6. Daniel Hausrath (2452) – Maarten Solleveld (2484) Almelo 2004

7. Vladimir Kramnik (2803) – Anton Demchenko (2645) Tbilisi 2017

8. Daniel Hausrath (2502) – Chongsheng Zeng (2539) Vlissingen 2018

9. Vladislav Artemiev (2709) – David Navara (2738) Caleta 2019

10. Daniel Hausrath (2493) – Milos Stankovic (2451) Germany 2019

11. Ulf Andersson (2635) – Krunoslav Hulak (2515) Wijk aan Zee 1983

12. Arkadij Rotstein (2502) – Thomas Huesmann (2223) Paderborn 2011

13. Joerg Hickl (2530) – Robert Kuczynski (2475) Germany 2005

14. Daniel Hausrath (2507) – Chiel van Oosterom (2389) 2012

15. Ziaur Rahman (2542) – Marat Dzhumaev (2507) Doha 2003

16. Vladislav Tkachiev (2654) – Thomas Clarke (2128) Rethymno 2003

17. Vladimir Kramnik (2795) – Gawain Jones (2644) London 2012

18. Pentala Harikrishna (2680) – Salem Saleh (2531) Biel 2013

19. Daniel Hausrath (2493) – Boris Margolin (2386) Germany 2019

20. Daniel Hausrath (2470) – Stefan Colijn (2310) Rosmalen 2019

21. Liren Ding (2813) – Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (2695) Wijk aan Zee 2019

22. Leinier Dominguez Perez (2739) – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2779) Saint Louis 2018

23. Vladislav Artemiev (2736) – Kaido Kulaots (2544) Skopje 2019

24. Zahar Efimenko (2635) – Sebastien Maze (2602) Germany 2019

25. David Navara (2733) – Markus Ragger (2701) Germany 2018

26. Daniel Hausrath (2468) – Julian van Overdam (2392) Dutch 2019

27. Soel Kartsev (2202) – Daniel Hausrath (2467) Herne 2019

28. Evgeny Shtembuliak (2487) – Alina Bivol (2403) Saint Louis 2018

29. Parham Maghsoodloo (2671) – Gawain Jones (2702) Malmö 2019

30. Manuel Bosboom (2450) – Ivo Maris (1924) Leeuwarden 2009

31. Joachim Thomassen (2357) – Daniel Hausrath (2491) Biel 2008

32. Thomas Beerdsen (2282) – Daniel Hausrath (2530) Vlissingen 2014

33. Kostantinos Skaperdas (2222) – Vladimir Georgiev (2530) Chalkida 2009

34. Arghyadip Das (2392) – Daniel Fridman (2665) Zürich 2009

35. Mikhail Panarin (2523) – Alexander Riazantsev (2710) Sochi 2012

36. Slavko Cicak (2530) – Vladimir Burmakin (2552) Salou 2005

37. Stephane Hautot (2378) – Vladimir Malakhov (2711) Rhodes 2013

38. Hovik Hayrapetyan (2458) – Vladimir Malakhov (2717) Yerevan 2014

39. Michael Massoni (2360) – Etienne Bacrot (2695) Prugna 2015

40. Thomas Beerdsen (2404) – Etienne Bacrot (2692) Germany 2017

41. Patrick Zelbel (2450) – Hillarp Tiger Persson (2541) Gothenburg 2015

42. Stefan Arndt (2235) – Daniel Hausrath (2466) Oberhausen 2006

43. Robert Kempinski (2590) – McLuke Shane J (2614) Warsaw 2006

44. Iver Poulsen (2100) – Jens Ove Fries Nielsen (2386) Odense 2011

45. Di Li (2172) – Vladimir Malakhov (2694) China 2014

46. Stewart Haslinger (2310) – Joseph Gallagher G (2517) Torquay 2002

47. Nico Vink (2335) – Teimour Radjabov (2483) Wijk aan Zee 2001

48. Henk Jan Evengroen (2176) – Daniel Hausrath (2468) Dieren 2019

49. Estremera Sergio Panos (2360) – Iturrizaga Eduardo Bonelli (2626) Abu Dhabi 2016

50. Evgeny Levin A (2512) – Boris Grachev (2683) Ekaterinburg 2013

51. Ernesto Inarkiev (2693) – Richard Rapport (2735) Danzhou 2019

52. Mikhail Al Antipov (2589) – Vladimir Fedoseev (2715) Moscow 2019

53. Florian Mostbauer (2338) – Valentin Buckels (2453) Vienna 2019

54. Reiner Odendahl (2352) – Vyacheslav Ikonnikov (2499) Dieren 2019

55. Ian Thompson D (2243) – Mikheil Kekelidze (2494) Washington 2012

56. Milko Popchev (2433) – Vasil Spasov (2565) Varna 2013

57. Juan Cruz Arias (2254) – Rodrigo Rafael Vasquez Schroder (2554) Villa Martelli 2017

58. Jonathan Speelman S (2516) – Alireza Firouzja (2657) Astana 2019

59. Daniel Hausrath (2468) – Van Lucas Foreest (2521) Dieren 2019

60. Daniel Hausrath (2482) – Taylan Guelsen (2095) Dortmund 2017

61. Valentin Buckels (2443) – Jonas Roseneck (2403) Willingen 2019

62. Thomas Fiebig (2425) – Daniel Hausrath (2466) Belgium 2019