issn 0007-0440 9 770007 044000 01 - british chess magazine · 2020. 4. 14. · of the world's...

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ISSN 0007-0440

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 3

With 2016 already well underway, may we wish all our readers good health and happiness throughout the New Year and every success with your chess endeavours, whatever they may be! And sincere thanks for

your continued loyalty to British Chess Magazine.

As we embark on 2016 there are important changes at BCM. Firstly, James Pratt and John Upham both stepped down from BCM at the end of 2015. James has played a major role in BCM’s editorial team, whilst John has provided so many of our photos and also served as our IT manager, in particular helping BCM establish and expand its digital presence. So, let us take this opportunity to extend our sincere gratitude to both of these highly valued and able colleagues for their very considerable efforts in bringing out BCM month after month since 2011. We wish them both well in whatever new direction they take.

Secondly, we are delighted to announce an exciting new collaboration with one of the world's most respected and prestigious chess publishers, Chess Informant. Both our houses share a long tradition in publishing � BCM has been part of Britain's chess playing scene for over 130(!) years, while Informant was established exactly fifty years ago, in 1966, when it launched its revolutionary yearbook. Nowadays it comes out quarterly and about half of its content is made up of cutting edge articles, whilst retaining all the traditional elements of its original conception. We would like to record our sincere gratitude to the CEO of Chess Informant, Josip Asik, and the whole Informant team for making this collaboration a reality.

Working closely with Chess Informant, we decided to offer our readers a special issue dedicated to the London Chess Classic, held at London’s Olympia in December 2015. This was the 7th such event and the strongest so far, with the participation of world champion Magnus Carlsen helping to raise it to the level of Category 22 and an average players’ FIDE rating of 2784.

To mark the 7th Classic this issue of BCM has many great new writers and talented photographers, we have also added more pages and for good measure given BCM a totally new and fresher look.

So, we very much hope you enjoy this special issue, brought to you also with the enthusiasm and passion for chess � and in particular British chess � of our new colleagues, it’s a Classic BCM!

Shaun Taulbut Stephen LoweChairman Director

Edi

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P R E M I U M

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 5 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE4

Carsten MUELLER

THE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINEFounded 1881

www.britishchessmagazine.co.uk

In proud collaboration with CHESS INFORMANT

www.chessinformant.org

Chairman Shaun TaulbutDirector Stephen Lowe

CEO Josip Asik (Chess Informant)

Editors Jimmy Adams and Josip Asik

Assistant Editor Sabrina ChevannesArt Director Vladimir Vuksan

Photography David Llada, Harald Fietz, Ray Morris-Hill, John Upham, Anastasya

Karlovich and Andreas Kontokanis

NewsdeskShaun TaulbutJimmy AdamsAdvertising

Stephen Lowe

[email protected]

ISSN 0007-0440© The British Chess Magazine Limited

Company Limited by SharesRegistered in England No 00334968

Non-subscription correspondence:Albany House, 14 Shute End

Wokingham, Berkshire RG40 1BJ

BCM subscription department: Warners

West Street, Bourne, LincsEngland PE10 9PH

Tel: +44 (0)1778 [email protected]

12 monthly issues UK: £55 Europe: £70 RoW: £85

Printed in the UK: by Lavenham Press Ltd

Cover photograph: Magnus Carlsen (Photo by David Llada)

IMPRESSUM

Contents

How Magnus Won

The moral winner and the unlucky loser...GM Pentala Harikrishna

The Berlin Wall endgame or should we say middlegame?GM Karsten Müller

The Thirteen ProblemsGM Stuart Conquest

Topalov toppled!IM Andrew Martin

The Openings in OlympiaIM Yang-Fan Zhou

It´s a Knockout!GM David Howell

Wild West LondonGM Nicholas Pert

Big Ben strikes...GM David Smerdon

find the way to win

9 wins for Luke in London Rapidplay

Jon ludvig hammered!GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant

When Anum met Anand

THERE´S NO BIZ LIKE PRO–BIZ!FM Josip Asik

6

15

21

26

28

32

38

44

47

5253

54

5660

GM Luke McShane

Magnus made a remarkable confession recently. He stated publicly that his confidence had been “dented” by his “not so stellar performance in the six months prior to the London Classic.”

Indeed, he had lost more tournament games than any other previous classical chess reigning world champion in that same period of time.

The trouble began in the first round of the first leg of the Grand Tour, in Stavanger, Norway, where he was forfeited on time in a winning position against Veselin Topalov, principally because the specific rules of this competition had not been properly explained to him. This seemed to affect his play and he then suffered three more defeats, one of which was even against his trainer, Jon Hammer, a wild card entry by the host country.

Further individual defeats in the St Louis leg of the Grand Tour and the European Team Championships meant a significant drop in his all-time high FIDE rating and Magnus began play in the Classic at Olympia in a rather apprehensive state of mind, despite having won the World Rapidplay Championship in the meantime.

But Magnus likes London and, in turn, London has been kind to Magnus. It was here that he had been a three-time winner of the Classic and a qualifier for a World Championship match with Vishy Anand, after winning the Candidates tournament on tie-break.

Coincidently, in the most recent London Classic, he again benefited from a tie-break rule that declared him winner of the tournament. This rule also gave him the right to play a match against the winner of a gruelling playoff between Anish Giri and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, the other two players on the same final score as him, in order to decide the final overall placings in the Grand Tour.

However, Maxime, the winner of this match, was given very little time to recover before commencing the final decider with Magnus and was defeated in a two game rapidplay.

So Magnus took his chances and won not only the Classic but also the Grand Tour. He had played many long games in the tournament and his efforts were rewarded with a $150,000 paycheck. No wonder he chose London to make his comeback!

CARLSEN´S CLASSIC

COMEBACK


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xiiiiiiiiyYou know it must be drawn, but with your king passive and cut off from the d-pawn, there are still some adventures left before you shake hands. The immediate check on d2 looks like it chases White’s king to c5, supporting the pawn, which looks like where it wants to go anyway. And the d-pawn can’t advance immediately, so why not kick the rook?

HOW MAGNUS WON

Luke McSHANE

“Carlsen needed a win in the last round to catch the leaders! His determination in these situations has made for some epic final rounds in the past, but this time he was very close to the precipice.”

The line-up in London was formidably strong, but with very narrow differences in strength between the players. Often in an all-play-all, there are one

or two obvious targets, and the stronger players focus their energy on trying to beat them. In London, Michael Adams described himself, with a grin, as the tournament underdog, but his deep understanding and solid style command the respect of the top players. Indeed, his nine draws out of nine games was no great shock, but nonetheless extremely impressive.

by GM Luke McShane

Without any obvious targets, and perhaps on account of the imminent Candidates tournament in March, the play was initially conservative. The Berlin Ruy Lopez came in for some misplaced criticism, but that mixes up cause and effect. Just as any other opening, the position moulds itself to the mood of the players. It is enough to remember Anand’s brilliant 23...b5!! in the following position from the final game of the World Championship in Sochi 2014.

But first let’s ask you to imagine yourself in the shoes of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave after nine rounds at the London Chess Classic. A couple of rounds ago, you finished off a powerful game against Anand in exquisite tactical style. That, plus a solid early win against Topalov, put you on ‘plus 2’, tying for first place with Anish Giri and Magnus Carlsen. The three of you are pitted together in a playoff for Grand Chess Tour placings. The vagaries of the tiebreak system mean that you must first play a ‘semi-final’ match against Giri – the winner of which will then face Carlsen in the final. This is ‘fair’ only in the sense that it was according to the rules of the Tour, though of course it places the semi-finalists at a serious practical disadvantage.

You lose the first rapidplay playoff game with White against Giri (a Berlin endgame!), and then rally strongly to win the second game, and the

Armageddon blitz game. That puts you into the final against the Norwegian, where you’re back to playing rapid chess. The World Champion applies gentle pressure in the first game, but you’re buoyed by success against Giri and defend resourcefully, until you reach this position:

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Carlsen – AnandGame 11,

World Championship, Sochi 2014

Magnus CArlsen — Maxime VAChier-lAgrAVe

London 2015, Rapid Playoff, Game 2


Luke McSHANE

44...¢f7 44...¦d2+ was perhaps the simplest way, but it’s not simple! 45 ¢c5 h4 46 gxh4 gxh4 47 ¦e3 h3! is the subtle point. If White captures the pawn, then ....¢e8 gets the king to the crucial spot in front of the d-pawn. 48 ¢c6 h2 49 ¦h3 Now Black’s king is no longer needed in the defence. The h2 pawn stops White ever using his rook to shield his king. 49...¢g7 50 d7 ¦c2+! etc.

45 ¦e3 An excellent square, keeping Black’s king cut off, and preparing to shield White’s own king. It also keeps tabs on an advancing h-pawn.

45...h4 If instead 45...¦d2+ you have to figure out which way Magnus will advance his king. After 46 ¢c5 you might well see that 46...¢f6 47 ¢c6 ¢f5 48 d7 h4 is a draw, because you can give up the rook for the d-pawn. But 46 ¢e5, what about that? Black draws in many ways, but none of them are forcing and immediate.

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xiiiiiiiiy46 g4! Of course. Exchanging pawns would dumb down the exam. Now you think about leaving the pawn safely on h4. If White got his king all the way to d8, and the pawn to d7, does he have a way to win? You can’t see how, but you know that would be the Lucena position if there were no kingside pawns, a simple win starting with ¦e3–e4!.So it would only take one nuance and you’re dead and you still don’t know what to do if he moves the king to e5 instead and you’d like some counterplay and it’s about time to make your 222nd move of the day...

46...h3 47 ¢e5 A mechanism to remember. A rook can multitask, guarding a pawn from the side and shielding its own king at the same time. But they must stay on the same file. So, as Black, you wait:

47...¦h1 48 d7 ¢e7 49 ¢f5+ ¢xd7 50 ¢xg5

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xiiiiiiiiyYou’ve crossed the river to defuse the d-pawn, but the bridge has burned down and you urgently need to get the king back across. You know that will cost you

Luke McSHANE

the h-pawn, since 50...h2 51 ¦e2 achieves nothing. So instead, 50...¦f1 looks good? Then 51 ¦h3 ¢e7 and you’ll definitely make it to the f-file, and then you’re home and dry! If White advances the king, he runs into infinite rook checks on f6–f7–f8.The f-file is the key! Oh gosh, hang on a second: 50...¦f1 51 ¦h3 ¢e7 52 ¦h7+! ¢f8 53 ¢g6 ¢g8 � is that ok? 54 ¦g7+ ¢h8 55 ¦f7! forces the rooks off because of the mate on f8. That’s bad news. But you’re rated 2765, you can handle the pressure. You notice that if you wait with your king, and White moves his king to the h-file, there won’t be that devilish check on h7.

50...¢d6 51 ¢h5 ¦f1? 52 ¦xh3 ¢e7 At last, you’ve found a rickety bridge back across the river. But the World Champion has seen further. And he repeats moves just to tease you.

53 ¢g6 ¦f6+ 54 ¢g7 ¦f7+ 55 ¢g6 ¦f6+

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xiiiiiiiiy56 ¢g5! Very clever! With your king shackled to the rook, there’s no time for 56...¢f7, on account of 57 ¦h7+. Or else 56...¦f1 57 ¦h7+ is deja-vu, and game over. So...

56...¦a6 57 ¦f3! And again, game over. The f-file was the falsest of friends. The desire to get the king over obscured the other drawing idea: 51...¦a1! 52 ¦h3 ¦a8!, when the distant checks with ¦h8–g8+ secure the draw. Ironically, Black couldn’t achieve the same goal with 52...¦f8, because 53 ¦d3+! ¢e7 54 ¦e3+! ¢d7

55 g5 and the checks no longer work with White’s pawn on the fifth rank.1-0 McShane

After starting with six draws, some were surprised that Carlsen made it to the playoff at all. But he worked enormously hard in London, averaging more than 56 moves per game. He pushed relentlessly against both Anand and Adams without success. We join the game after Carlsen has won the exchange for a pawn.

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xiiiiiiiiy31 ¢g2 g6 32 ¥c6 ¤e8 What to exchange? I’m sure both players considered that if White swaps bishop for knight, and a pair of rooks disappear and the b-pawn drops off, then Black is busted in the rook vs bishop endgame. But now, if you exchange the bishop for the knight, are you confident that you will be able to force a pair of rooks off? And then, are you confident that the b-pawn makes no difference? Magnus reckoned that swapping rooks was more promising, but it’s a tough decision.

33 ¦d7 ¤f6 34 ¦a7 ¢g7 35 ¦a8 ¦xa8 36 ¥xa8 h5 37 ¦a4 ¤g8 38 ¥d5 ¤e7 39 ¥a2 ¤c6 40 ¦a8 ¤b4 41 ¥c4 Here 41 ¦a7 would force the exchange of knight for bishop. Adams clearly permitted it, and Carlsen chose not to play it, so they must have judged that the b6 pawn makes the

Magnus CArlsen — Michael AdAMs

London 2015, Round 4

Database version!Download BCM for

ChessBase or any PGN readerwww.britishchessmagazine.co.uk

NEW:


Luke McSHANE

resulting position into a draw. But if I were looking for an improvement for White, this is where I’d start.

41...¤c6 42 f4 ¤e7 43 ¢f3 ¤f5 44 ¦a7 ¤d6

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xiiiiiiiiyWith the knight on d6, Black’s position seems to be impregnable. Notice how the b6/c5/d6 trio stops White’s king from ever approaching.

45 ¥d5 ¥d4 46 ¦d7 ¥c5 47 ¥a2 ¢f6 48 g4 hxg4+ 49 hxg4 ¢g7 50 ¦d8¤b7 51 ¦d7 ¤d6 52 ¢e2 ¢f8 53 ¢d3 ¢g7 54 ¥d5 ¢f8 55 ¦d8+ ¢g7 56 ¥c6 ¢h7 57 g5 ¢g7 58 ¥d5 ¢h7 59 ¦d7 ¢g7 60 ¢e2 ¢f8 61 ¢f3 ¢e8 62 ¦c7 ¥d4 63 ¢g4 ¥e3

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Xiiiiiiiiy64 ¥xf7+!? The best practical try, but Mickey stays calm and steers the game towards a draw.

64...¤xf7 65 ¦c6 ¥d4 66 ¦xg6 b5 67 ¦g8+

¢d7 68 f5 ¥e3 69 ¦g7 ¢e8 70 ¦g8+ ¢d7 71 ¦g7 ¢e8 72 g6 ¤h6+ 73 ¢f3 ¤xf5 74 ¦f7 ¤h4+ 75 ¢xe3 ¤xg6 76 ¦b7b4 77 ¢e4 b3 78 ¦xb31/2-1/2 McShane

After much striving, Magnus got a break � against his regular customer Nakamura. We join the game after White has finally broken through with his king to g7, at the cost of exchanging another pair of pawns. We all know that the bishop pair confers an edge in an open endgame like this one. But even an unstable knight is a tricky piece, and I’m sure the players’ heads were spinning as they calculated the variations.

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xiiiiiiiiy62...f6 63 ¥e4 ¤f2 64 ¥b1 Magnus is happy to repeat the position just to ratchet up the pressure.

64...¤g4 65 ¥e4 ¤f2 66 ¥xb7 ¤d3 67 ¢xf6! 67 ¥d6 gives Black a straight-forward defence: 67...¤xf5+ 68 ¢xf6 ¤xd6 69 ¥c6+ ¢d8 70 cxd6 ¤b2! which seems enough to draw, e.g. 71 ¢e6 ¤c472 a4 a5 73 ¢d5 ¤e3+ 74 ¢c5 ¤f5 75 ¥b5¤h6 76 ¢b6 ¤f7 77 d7 ¤e5 etc.

67...¤xf4 68 ¢e5 ¤fe2! All credit to Nakamura for not making it easy. 68...¤xf5 69 ¢xf5 ¤d3 was very tempting, but White wins with some clever footwork. 70 c6 ¢d8

Magnus CArlsen — hikaru nAkAMurA


Hikaru Nakamura has yet to defeat Magnus at classical chess.

Photo byDavid Llada

71 ¥xa6 ¤c5 72 ¥b5 ¢c7 73 ¢e5 ¤b3 74 ¢d5 ¤a5 and now White has to lose a move with the king: 75 ¢c5 ¤b3+ 76 ¢c4 ¤a5+ 77 ¢d5 ¤b3 78 ¥a4!. It was crucial not to advance the a-pawn earlier: 78...¤d2 79 ¥c2 and soon the a-pawn can roll.

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xiiiiiiiiy69 f6? I think this is a mistake, but it’s very understandable. Advancing a pawn, away from the knights, to a square which complements the bishop doesn’t seem a bad idea. But an immediate 69 c6 was stronger. Now 69...¢d8 70 f6 wins, or 69...¤b5 70 ¥xa6 ¤ed4 71 ¥xb5 ¤xb5 72 a4 leaves more pawns than one knight can handle. So instead 69...¤xc6+ 70 ¥xc6+, whereupon I suspect Magnus couldn’t quite decide whether or not the position was winning. It certainly

isn’t easy � even with my engine running it took a while to figure out that White will eventually get his king to the queenside without the knight doing any damage.

69...a5 70 a4 With the pawn on a5, 70 c6 ¤b5 does not cause Black any problems.

70...¢f7 71 ¥d5+

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xiiiiiiiiy71...¢f8? The decisive error. 71...¢g6! is an unlikely square, but remaining next to the f-pawn ensures that White can’t approach the knights with his king. 72 c6 ¤xc6+ 73 ¥xc6 ¢f7! 74 ¥d5+ ¢f8 and we reach an endgame subtly different from that which could be reached after 69 c6!. This one is drawn, essentially


Luke McSHANE

bearing the scent of a Grand Prix Attack. But Grischuk handles it well � by patiently bolstering the pawn on e6 he prevents Carlsen’s activity from increasing.

21...¢h8 22 f5 a5 23 a4 £d8 24 h3 £e7 25 ¥a6 Exchanging the bishop before it can exert pressure from b7.

25...¥xa6 26 £xa6 ¤h5 27 ¦f3 ¦g8

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xiiiiiiiiy28 ¤b5 An extraordinary decision. With Grischuk’s counterplay gaining momentum, it looks reckless to fling an extra piece to the queenside, whist blocking the queen’s retreat. But although there was a solid alternative in 28 fxe6 fxe6 29 ¤e2 I can see that one might mistrust this as being too passive.

28...¥e5 29 ¤g4 £h4 30 fxe6? It seems safe to exchange the pawns first, but this capture allows Grischuk a big opportunity. Magnus must have considered 30 ¤xe5! dxe5 terrifying, as here 31 fxe6 ¤f4! is decisive. But miraculously, 31 ¤d6 returns to the fray just in time � Black has no more than a draw.

30...fxe6? A natural reflex in time-trouble, but after 30...¦xg4! 31 hxg4 £h2+ 32 ¢f2 ¤f4! White is in real danger, although you need great presence of mind to assess from afar the position after 33 ¦g3 ¤xe6 34 ¦f3 ¢g7!. Black’s minor pieces are superb, and White’s crippled kingside provides much more than enough compensation for the exchange.

31 ¤xe5 dxe5 31...£e1+ forces an immediate draw, since after 32 ¦f1 ¦xg2+ leads to perpetual. But it seems both players overlooked that 32 ¢h2 ¤g3 33 ¤g4 fails to halt the attack, since 33...¤e2 wins on the spot.

32 £xe6 £e1+? 32...£g5 keeps Black very much in the game, as after 33 g4!? ¤f4 34 £f5 £e7! White’s queen is rather awkwardly placed.

33 ¢h2 ¦xg2+ 34 ¢xg2

because Black will eventually meet ¢c5-b6 with the sacrifice ¤c3xa4 and ¢f8-f7xf6.

72 ¢e4! ¤c2 There is no other move, as White controls all the central light squares. Passing with 72...¢e8 is met by 73 ¢e3, which yokes the knights, soon to be followed by ¥c4 to pick one off.

73 c6 ¤c3+ 74 ¢e5

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xiiiiiiiiy74...¤xa4 74...¤xd5 75 ¢xd5 ¤b4+ 76 ¢d6 ¤xc6 77 ¢xc6 leaves Black a tempo short to save the pawn endgame.

75 ¥b3! Pretty, finally winning one of the hapless horses.

75...¤b6 76 ¥xc2 a4 77 c7 ¢f7 78 ¥xa4 1-0 McShane

In the eighth round, Carlsen tried for nearly a hundred moves to realise a wafer-thin advantage against Topalov, who by then was having a nightmare tournament � but the Bulgarian held his nerve. That left Carlsen needing a win in the last round to catch the leaders. His determination in these situations has made for some epic final rounds in the past, but this time he was very close to the precipice. It’s important to remember that Grischuk certainly had

ambitions in this game too, as a win would have put him into the playoff instead.

1 ¤f3 c5 2 e4 d6 3 ¥b5+ ¤d7 4 0–0 a6 5 ¥d3 ¤gf6 6 ¦e1 b5 7 c4 g5!?

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xiiiiiiiiyTopalov used this thrust to beat Carlsen at the Sinquefield Cup earlier in the year, so of course Grischuk anticipated an improvement.

8 ¤xg5 ¤e5 9 ¥e2 bxc4 10 ¤c3!? Carlsen put this piece on a3 in St Louis. Both sides had intriguing alternatives over the next few moves.

10...¦b8 11 ¦f1 h6 12 ¤f3 ¤d3 13 ¤e1 ¤xb2 14 ¥xb2 ¦xb2 15 ¥xc4 ¦b4 Before ¥c4-b3 imprisons the rook.

16 £e2 ¥g7 17 ¤c2 ¦b6 18 ¦ab1 0–0 19 ¦xb6 £xb6 20 ¤e3 e6 21 f4

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xiiiiiiiiyThe position is quite unbalanced, and White’s setup is optically pleasant, while

Magnus CArlsen — Alexander grisChuk


Alexander Grischuk made it a dramatic last round

Photo by David llada

Luke McSHANE

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34...£xd2+ This doesn’t work, but Grischuk must have judged 34...£e2+35 ¦f2 ¤f4+ 36 ¢g3 £xf2+ 37 ¢xf2 ¤xe6 38 ¤d6 to be a hopeless endgame. 35 ¢g1 £e1+ 36 ¦f1 £e3+ 37 ¦f2 £e1+ 38 ¢g2 38...£xe4 39 ¢h2 puts an end to the checks. 1-0 McShane

In the tough environment of the London Classic, I would also like to make special mention of Anish Giri’s play, which was admirably opportunistic. The first round highlight was his win against Topalov, who succumbed to a diabolical rook sacrifice while trying to nurture a positional advantage in time-trouble.

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33...¤xf2! 34 ¥xe2 ¤xh3+ 35 ¢f1 £d5 36 ¥h5?? White should play 36 ¢e1 when Black only has a perpetual check by 36...£h1+ 37.¥f1 £e4+ 38.¥e2 £h1+. 36...£h1+ 37 ¢e2 £g2+ 38 ¢e1 ¦e8+ 39.¢d1 ¤f2+ 40.¢c2 ¤e4+ and White resigned as 41 ¢d3 £d2+ 42 ¢c4 ¦c8+ 43 £c5 ¦xc5 is mate.

Then, in round 3, the resources he found in Grischuk’s time trouble saved his skin, and his second win came in the penultimate round, in which Nakamura,

wounded by a gruelling struggle against Carlsen the night before, badly lost his way in a comfortable position.

Anish Giri’s results in the Grand Chess Tour of 2015 were outstanding: 5½/9 in Norway, 5/9 at the Sinquefield Cup, and 5½/9 at the final stop, the London Chess Classic. That superb overall score of “plus 5” (undefeated!) has cemented Giri’s place in the world elite, though I’m sure you know by now that it wasn’t quite enough to win the Tour. McShane

Luke McSHANE by GM Pentala Harikrishna

The third and final event of the Grand Chess Tour was especially important as it determined the

absolute winner of this extremely strong series. Apart from the $300,000 prize fund for the London Classic, there was also a big bonus waiting for those grandmasters who finished in the top three places in the Grand Tour overall, so chess fans all over the world were expecting fireworks in each and every game!

However, things did not turn out quite like that and the Berlin Defence got a hefty share of the blame. In fact this dour opening has never before been subjected to such criticism as it was during the London Chess Classic! Ironically, last year Vishy Anand even suggested that it should be called the London Defence, because of the impact it had on the Kasparov – Kramnik world title match held there in 2000.

But, in my opinion, the problem was caused not by the big cash prizes, nor because of the London weather, nor even the Berlin Defence itself! It is simply due to the fact that the same players have to play repeatedly against each other within too

“Giri was the only player who hadn’t lost a single

classical game in the whole Grand Chess Tour!”

The moral

winner and the

unlucky loser...

short a period. When top grandmasters do not have enough time to rest or prepare at leisure they tend to turn to solid play, which was in contrast to that which we saw in the previous Grand Tour tournaments in Norway and St.Louis.

But when all is said and done, there were still plenty of interesting moments and here I have chosen to annotate two games which I found instructive.

Regarding the first game, I should mention that Giri was the only player who hadn’t lost a single classical game in the whole Grand Chess Tour! I consider that to be a phenomenal achievement à la Petrosian or Kramnik. He shared first prize in London and only a strange and indeed highly controversial scoring system prevented him from winning the overall series. But 2015 has been a fantastic year for Anish, since, apart from many other achievements, he has also qualified for the World Championship Candidates.

Anish giri — hikaru nAkAMurA


1 ¤f3 Anish often opens this way, not necessarily because he wants to play a Reti opening, but in order to meet 1...d5 with 2 d4, entering a Catalan � and 1...c5 with 2 e4, happily switching to a king’s pawn opening. Moreover, playing for a win in this game, he did not want to open directly with 1 e4 because the Berlin Defence was endemic in London!

Veselin TopAloV — Anish giri


Anish Giri scored the highest number of points over the three stages of the Grand Tour. But the winner was decided on placings not points...

Photo by Ray Morris-Hill


Pentala HARikRiSHNAPentala HARikRiSHNA

1...d5 2 g3 ¤f6 3 ¥g2 e6 4 0–0 ¥e7

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xiiiiiiiiy5 d3 But here Anish is in no mood to play a main line of the Catalan, despite having recently found some fresh ideas in this opening � including an innovation with which he surprised even the famously well-prepared Peter Leko at the World Cup in Baku last year. No doubt he feared that Nakamura would have planned an improvement in this line, the more so in view of his recent defeat against Eljanov in a game which went 5 d4 0–0 6 c4 dxc4 7 £c2 a6 8 a4 ¥d7 9 £xc4 ¥c6 10 ¥g5 ¥d5 11 £c2 ¥e4 12 £c1 (12 £d1 c5 13 dxc5 ¥xc5 14 ¤bd2 ¥c6 15 ¤e5 ¥xg2 16 ¢xg2 ¥e7 17 ¦c1 ¤bd7 18 ¤xd7 £xd7 19 ¤f3 £xd1 20 ¦fxd1, and White won in 46 moves, was the continuation of the Giri � Leko game) h6 13 ¥xf6 ¥xf6 14 ¦d1 a5 15 ¤bd2 ¥h7 16 ¤b3 c6 17 £c3 ¥e7 18 ¤c5 £c7 19 ¤e5 ¤a6 20 ¤xb7 £xb7 21 ¥xc6 £c7 22 ¥xa8 £xc3 23 bxc3 ¦xa8 24 ¤c6 ¥d8 25 ¤xd8 ¦xd8 26 f3 ¦c8 27 ¦a3 and White eventually won. Eljanov � Nakamura, Baku 2015. 5...0–0 6 ¤bd2 c5 Though at first sight 6...¤c6!? seems strange, Aronian and his second Sargissian have employed it several times. In fact, after taking a closer look, I found it to be quite interesting and a good way to avoid long theoretical battles. Nevertheless I still feel that White should maintain slight and enduring pressure. 7 e4 dxe4 8 dxe4 e5 9 ¤c4 £xd1 10 ¦xd1 ¤xe4 11 ¤fxe5 ¤xe5

12 ¤xe5 ¤f6 13 ¤c4 c6 ½-½ (40) was Giri � Aronian, Skopje 2015.7 e4 ¤c6 8 ¦e1 A tricky move order. Had White pushed e4-e5 first, Black would not have moved ...£c7. On the other hand, many games have been played from the position arising after 8 e5 ¤d7 9 ¦e1 b5 10 ¤f1 b4 which can best be described by the familiar chess term “unclear”.

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xiiiiiiiiy8...£c7 I think 8...b5!? is the right move order. As a kid I was taught not to develop my queen at c7 as White plays his bishop to f4 and then usually gets in the thrust ¤d5 at some point! Then might follow 9 exd5 (9 a4 b4 10 exd5 ¤xd5 11 ¤c4 ¥b7÷) ¤xd5 (9...exd5 10 a4 bxa4 11 ¦xa4²; otherwise, upon 10...b4, White has the nice move 11 d4!? giving him a pleasant position) 10 ¤e4 ¥b7 11 c3 a6 12 a4 b4 and, though Black lost this game, it was not due to the opening as he has a decent position here. Svidler � Karjakin, Baku 2015.9 £e2 b5 10 a4 With queens on c7 and e2, 10 e5 is interesting and I can only assume that Anish did not go for this as he might then have been forced into double-edged play, for example after 10...¤d7 11 ¤f1 a5 12 h4 b4 13 ¥f4 a4 14 a3 ¥a6 15 ¤e3. You see, Anish likes not only to obtain an advantage but also to keep firm control of the game! 10...b4 11 exd5 exd5 12 ¤b3 ¦e8 13 ¥f4 £b6 I prefer 13...£d8 since then the queen will not be under attack. 14 £d2 (14 ¤e5 ¤xe5 15 ¥xe5 ¥g4 16 £d2 ¥e6 17 d4

¤e4 18 £d1 c4 19 ¥xe4 dxe4 20 ¤c5 ¥d5³) ¥f5÷. 14 a5 £b5 15 £d2 ¥e6 15...a6!? 16 ¦e2 ¥d7 17 ¦ae1 ¥f8 18 ¤e5 ¥e6=. 16 a6! This move must have come as a surprise for Hikaru.

16...¥f8 Why not go for the a6-pawn? Well, if 16...¥c8?! then the showy move 17 ¦xe7! gives White chances (as indeed does the quiet 17 ¥g5! ¥xa6 18 ¤h4!). For example, 17...¦xe7 18 ¥d6 ¦e8 (18...¦e6 19 ¥xc5 ¥xa6 20 ¤bd4 ¤xd4 21 ¤xd4 £xc5 22 ¤xe6²) 19 ¥xc5 ¥xa6 20 ¤fd4 ¤xd4 21 ¥xd4 ¥c8². 17 ¤e5 ¤xe5 18 ¥xe5 ¤d7 19 ¥f4 £b6 An unclear position arises after 19...¦ac8!? 20 c4 dxc4 21 ¦xe6 fxe6 22 dxc4 £xc4 23 ¤a5 £d4 24 £e2 £f6÷.

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xiiiiiiiiy20 c3 Instead 20 c4 would have forced Black to take on c3, since 20...dxc4 21 ¥xa8c3 22 bxc3 ¦xa8 23 c4 favours White. Therefore, why should White play 20 c3 at all? 20...¦ac8 21 £c2 d4 Black has to play 21...h6 later on, so maybe he could have done it right away. 22 ¤d2 h6 23 h4 dxc3 24 bxc3

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xiiiiiiiiy24...bxc3?! Best is 24...¤f6! 25 ¥b7 (25 ¤c4 ¥xc4 26 ¦xe8 b3!! [26...¤xe8

Read GM Harikrishna’ssignature column

The neW roMAnTiCs

In every Chess inForMAnT

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1 e4 c5 Topalov sticks to his long-time favourite Sicilian. He also has the Berlin Defence in his repertoire! But, as we all know, Topalov is an uncompromising player and in this case, by adopting the Najdorf variation, he is clearly in the mood for a fight. 2 ¤f3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 ¤xd4 ¤f6 5 ¤c3 a6 6 h3 White has many choices here. Bobby Fischer’s 6 h3 is currently trendy and has been played in quite a few theoretically important games over the past couple of years. 6...e5 Alternatives are 6...¤c6, 6...e6 and 6...g6.

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xiiiiiiiiy7 ¤de2 7 ¤b3 ¥e6 8 f4 ¥e7 (8...¤bd7 9 f5¥xb3 10 axb3 d5 11 exd5 ¥b4 12 ¥d2 0–0÷) 9 f5 ¥d7 (9...¥c8 10 £f3 b5 11 a3 ¥b7 12 g4 d5 13 exd5 e4 14 £e2 ¤xd5 15 ¥g2 ¥h4+ 16 ¢f1 ¤xc3 17 bxc3 0–0 0-1 (67) was Sutovsky � Wojtaszek, Bilbao 2014) 10 ¥e3 b5 11 £f3 b4 12 ¤d5 ¤xd5 13 exd5 ¥g5 14 ¥xg5 £xg5 15 ¥d3 ¥b5 16 h4 £d8 17 g4 ¤d7 0–1 (40) was played in Grandelius � Giri, Doha 2015.7...h5 8 g3 8 ¥g5 ¥e6 9 ¥xf6 £xf6 10 ¤d5 £d8 11 £d3 g6 12 0–0–0 has also been played many times in top level games, but Black usually does quite well in this variation. 8...¤bd7 There is also 8...¥e6 9 ¥g2 ¤bd7 10 a4 ¥e7 11 0–0 ¦c8 12 ¥e3 ¤b6 13 b3 d5!? which paid off for Black in Caruana � Vachier-Lagrave, Wijk aan Zee 2015.

9 ¥g2 b5 10 ¤d5 ¤xd5 11 £xd5

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xiiiiiiiiy11...¦b8 There isn’t anything wrong with this move. However I quite like the idea of Montenegrian GM Nikola Djukic, who played 11...£c7 and successfully equalised against David Navara in the European Team Championship, Reykjavik 2015. I wonder if Veselin was aware of that game, which went 11...£c7!? 12 ¥e3 ¥b7 13 £d2 ¤f614 ¤c3 ¦c8 ½–½ (32). 12 ¥e3 ¥e7 13 £d2 ¤f6 14 0–0 0–0 15 ¢h2 ¥b7 I prefer 15...£c7 as I feel that Black’s bishop belongs on the h7-b1 diagonal rather than on a8-h1. White’s idea is to play ¤c3 and ¤d5, in which case Black would lose a tempo by playing ...¥b7 and then ...¥a6.16 ¤c3 ¦c8 17 a4 b4 18 ¤d5 ¤xd5 19 exd5 a5 20 £e2 ¥g5 21 ¥xg5 £xg5 22 h4 £f6? Black would be absolutely fine here if he had played 22...£e7!. 23 £b5 £e7 24 £xa5 ¦xc2 25 ¦ac1 ¦xb2 26 ¦b1 ¦a2 27 £xb4 ¥a6

Pentala HARikRiSHNA Pentala HARikRiSHNA

27 dxc4 b3 28 £b2²] 27 £b2 ¦xe8 28 dxc4 ¤h5³) b3 26 £b1 b2 27 ¦a3 ¤h5.25 £xc3 ¤f6 26 ¤c4 £d8 After 26...£b4 27 £c2 ¥xc4 28 ¦xe8 ¦xe8 29 £xc4 ¦e1+ 30 ¦xe1 £xe1+ 31 ¥f1 ¤g4 32 £a2 h5 my machine says the game is equal, but it seems to me that White is slightly better. 27 ¥b7 ¤d5 28 £d2 ¤xf4 29 £xf4 £xd3 30 ¤e5 £d6 31 ¦ad1 £c7 32 ¤c6 I think this is what Hikaru must have missed in his calculations. If it were not for this move, Black would have decent chances of survival. 32...£xc6 33 ¥xc6 ¦xc6 34 £a4 ¦ec8 35 ¦d8 c4 36 ¦xc8 ¦xc8

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xiiiiiiiiy37 ¦xe6! Now Black is totally lost, as his pieces lack coordination. 37...fxe6 38 £d7 ¦c5 39 £xe6+ ¢h7 40 £f7 ¥d6 41 h5 ¦g5 42 ¢g2 c3 43 f4 A neat game by Anish. White slowly increased the pressure and made good use of his bishops. For much of the time the engines claimed that Black was doing very well, however, over the board, most of the arising positions are hard to play for Black. 1-0 Harikrishna

Now on to my second choice from the London Classic. French grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave had a bad time in the first six months of 2015, but he then more than made up for that in the second half of the year! He entered the elusive top 10 and is now steadily marching towards the magical 2800 mark. In fact he was only a hair’s breadth away from winning the Grand Chess Tour.

If an extra day had been allocated for the tie-break games, he would have not have had to play the final match against Carlsen almost immediately after conducting three hard battles with Giri � which surely placed him at a disadvantage. To add to his misfortune, he does not qualify for the next Grand Tour because his Elo rating is too low.

Maxime VAChier-lAgrAVe — Veselin TopAloV


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ime

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Pentala HARikRiSHNA

The Berlin Wall endgame � or should we say middlegame?

It is hard to say when the term “Berlin Wall” first entered common chess parlance. Perhaps the BCM itself can claim this honour with its publication in August 1979 of a ten page theoretical article “Breaking down the Berlin Wall” – even if this title did refer generally to the Berlin Defence’s solidity and focused specifically on 1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 ¤f6 4 0-0 ¤xe4 5 ¦e1, whereas the so-called “Berlin Wall”, that is so popular with elite players today, arises after with 5 d4 ¤d6 6 ¥xc6 dxc6 7 dxe5 ¤f5 8 £xd8+ ¢xd8.

Of course, as is well-known, ten years after the publication of this prophetic(!) article, the real Berlin Wall was broken down...

Incidentally there is a further English connection. When Garry Kasparov played Vladimir Kramnik for the “Classical World Championship”, in London 2000, his defeat by a two point margin was attributed to his failure to penetrate his opponent’s chessic reconstruction of the infamous Berlin Wall.

Moreover, in the wake of the opening’s effectiveness, it rapidly gained new-found popularity and IM John Cox even wrote a book boldly entitled The Berlin Wall: the variation that brought down Kasparov. And with full justification, as in the title match Kasparov was unable to win a single game with the white pieces – which included four failed attempts to scale the Berlin Wall. In fact by Game 13 he was so frustrated and demoralised by the resilience of the opening that he assented to an uncharacteristically insipid draw in only 14 moves, when facing it for the last time in the match. Yet the normally so combative Kasparov claims 13 is his lucky number...Anyway, time passed and Kasparov changed what was an initially negative view of the Berlin Wall and, in 2002, actually played it himself, as Black, against Judit Polgar in the Russia versus the Rest of the World match. But the result was catastrophic for him and he suffered his first ever defeat against a woman player.

Nevertheless, not so long ago, while analysing a game in Chess Informant 118, Kasparov made an emphatic statement: “The Berlin is not an endgame at all. It’s a sharp middlegame without queens.”

However, this needs some qualification. In practical play, the Berlin requires a very high standard of accuracy in order to handle its subtle nuances and profound manoeuvres. And this applies even for well-prepared and world-class grandmasters. So...perhaps the safest advice the BCM can give to less proficient players is: “Don’t try this at home!”

But, back at the Chess Classic, where there was an elite field in contention for an awful lot of prize money, the competitors were not too keen on taking undue risks and therefore the Berlin seemed to fit the bill perfectly. And so it was, 15 years after

“The Berlin is not an

endgame at all. It’s a sharp

middlegame without

queens.” � Kasparov

28 £b3 White could have got a better version of what occurs in the game by continuing instead 28 ¦a1 ¥xf1 29 ¦xa2.28...¥xf1 Correct is 28...¦e2!. Black underestimates the dangers lurking in the position and decides to simplify. His bishop is much more active than White’s and so I fail to understand why he exchanged his rook and bishop for his opponent’s less active counterparts. 29 £xa2 ¥xg2 30 ¢xg2 ¦a8 30...e4! is necessary, in order to open up White’s kingside. Otherwise White’s pawn is unstoppable. After 31 a5 e3 32 ¦e1 £e4+ 33 ¢h2 comes 33...¦c8. Could it be that Topalov missed this move in his calculations? Then the further continuation might be 34 ¦xe3 ¦c2 35 ¦xe4 ¦xa2 36 ¦e8+¢h7 37 ¦a8 ¦xf2+ 38 ¢g1 ¦d2=.

31 a5 e4 32 ¦b3! A timely move that restricts Black’s counterplay. 32...f5 33 £d2 £c7 34 £b2

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xiiiiiiiiy34...¦xa5 34...£xa5!? 35 ¦b7 £a136 ¦xg7+ ¢f8 37 £xa1 ¦xa1 38 ¦g5 ¢f7 39 ¦xf5+ ¢g6 40 ¦g5+ ¢h641 ¦g8 ¦d1 42 ¦e8 ¦xd5 43 ¦xe4 should be enough for White to convert to a win. 35 ¦b7 ¦a2 36 £b5! ¦xf2+ 37 ¢xf2 £c2+ 38 £e2 and Black resigned as there is no perpetual check. 1-0 Harikrishna

by GM Karsten Müller


karsten MÜLLER

Alexander grisChuk — Anish giri


1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 ¤f6 4 0–0 ¤xe4 5 d4 ¤d6 6 ¥xc6 dxc6 7 dxe5 ¤f5 8 £xd8+ ¢xd8 9 h3 ¢e8 10 ¤c3 h511 ¤e2 b6 12 ¥g5 c5 13 ¤c3 ¥b7 14 ¦ad1¥xf3 15 gxf3 c6 16 ¤e4 ¥e7 17 f4 ¥xg5 18 fxg5 ¢e7 19 ¤d6 ¢e6 20 f4

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xiiiiiiiiyThough Giri has equalised, he should now act in a direct manner.20...¦ad8? In this endgame with rooks and knight against rooks and knight White’s slight initiative weighs very heavily. The direct 20...¤xd6! would have led to a drawn rook endgame, e.g. 21 ¦xd6+ ¢f5 22 ¦d7 ¦hf8 23 ¢g2 ¦ad8 24 ¦xa7 ¦d2+ 25 ¦f2 ¦xf2+ 26 ¢xf2 ¢xf4=.21 ¦fe1 g6 22 ¢f2

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xiiiiiiiiy22...¤d4? This plays into White’s hands. Better is 22...a5 23 ¦d3 c4 24 ¦d2 b5 25 ¦ed1 a4 with drawing chances as Black has gained space on the queenside.23 c3 ¤f5 24 ¢f3 ¤g7?! I don’t like this retreat, yet I cannot suggest anything better.25 ¦d2 ¢e7 26 ¦ed1 ¦hg8 27 a4 a6 28 ¤c4! ¦xd2 29 ¦xd2 b5 30 ¤a5 ¦c8 31 ¦d6 bxa4 32 ¦xc6 ¦d8 32...¦xc6 33 ¤xc6+ ¢d7 34 ¤a5 ¤f5 35 ¢e4 ¤g3+ 36 ¢d3 ¢e6 37 ¤c4 wins; Also 32...¦b8 33 ¦c7 ¢f8 34 ¤c4 wins.

33 ¤c4? This is too slow. Grischuk should seize the moment with 33 ¤b7! after which White should win in the long run, e.g. 33...¦d3+ 34 ¢e4 ¦xh3 (34...¦d2 35 ¦c7+ ¢f8 36 ¤d6 ¦xb2 37 ¦xf7+ ¢g8 38 ¦a7 a3 39 ¦a8+ ¢h7 40 ¦xa6 a2 41 ¢d5 ¦d2+ 42 ¢c6 wins) 35 ¦c7+ ¢f8 36 ¤d6 ¦h2 37 ¦xf7+ ¢g8 38 ¦b7 h4 39 ¦b8+ ¢h7 40 ¢f3 ¦h3+ 41 ¢g4 a3 42 bxa3 ¦g3+ 43 ¢xh4 ¦xc3 44 ¦b7 wins.33...a3 34 bxa3? 34 ¦c7+ ¢e6 35 ¢e4 ¦d1 (35...a2? 36 ¦c6+ ¢e7 37 ¦xa6 wins) 36 bxa3 was White’s last chance to fight for the full point.34...¦d3+ 35 ¢e4 ¦xc3 36 ¤d6 ¦xa3 37 ¦c7+ ¢e6 38 ¦xf7

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xiiiiiiiiy38...¤e8!? This simplification into a rook endgame leads to a clear draw.39 ¦f8 ¤xd6+ 40 exd6 ¦a4+ 41 ¢e3 ¢xd6 42 ¦f6+ ¢d5 43 f5 43 ¦xg6 ¦a3+ 44 ¢f2 ¢e4 45 ¦f6 h4 46 g6 ¦f3+ 47 ¢e2 ¦xh3=.43...¦a3+ 44 ¢f4 ¦a4+ 45 ¢e3 ¦a3+ 46 ¢f4 ¦a4+ 47 ¢e31/2-1/2 Müller

1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 ¤f6 4 0–0 ¤xe4 5 d4 ¤d6 6 ¥xc6 dxc6 7 dxe5 ¤f5 8 £xd8+ ¢xd8 9 ¤c3 ¢e8 10 h3 ¥e6 11 ¦d1

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xiiiiiiiiy11...¥c5 This is very provocative. 11...¥b4 12 ¤e2 ¥d5 13 ¤ed4 ¤xd4 14 ¤xd4 ¦d8 15 ¥d2 (15 ¥e3!? f6 16 a3 ¥f8 17 exf6 gxf6 18 f3 favours White slightly) ¥c5 16 ¤f5 ¥f8 17 ¥e3 b6 18 f3 ¥e6 19 g4 ¦d5= Vachier-Lagrave � Fressinet 2698, Caen 2011.

Kramnik confounded Kasparov with his devilish choice of opening in a Hammersmith theatre, the Berlin Wall remained intact just a stone’s throw away in all games played with it in the London Chess Classic at Olympia...

GM Karsten Müller now explains in moves and words just how difficult it is, even for the world’s very best players, to handle Berlin positions – no matter whether you call these a middlegame or an endgame!

Over to you grandmaster...

Vishy AnAnd� Magnus CArlsen


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Read GM karsten Müller’ssignature column

endgAMe sTrATegY

In every Chess inForMAnT

The London tournament saw a number of encounters with the Berlin endgame. I have selected two of these for this article.


karsten MÜLLERkarsten MÜLLER

12 g4 ¤e7 13 ¤g5 ¥d5?! But this is probably going too far.13...¤g6!? 14 ¢g2 h5 looks more natural.14 ¤ge4 Even the very sharp 14 ¤xd5!? cxd5 15 e6 f6 16 ¤f7 ¦f8 17 ¥f4 ¦c8 18 ¥g3 is a real option.14...¥b6 15 ¢g2 15 a4!? a5 16 ¤xd5 cxd5 17 ¤g3 favours White slightly.15...¦d8 16 ¥f4 16 ¤xd5!? cxd5 (16...¦xd5 17 ¥f4 ¤g6 18 ¥g3 ¤xe5? 19 ¦e1 wins; also 16...¤xd5? 17 c4 is fatal for Black) 17 ¤g3 retains a slight advantage.16...¤g6 17 ¥g3 h5 18 f4 hxg4 19 hxg4 ¢e7 20 ¦h1 ¥d4 21 ¤xd5+ cxd5

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xiiiiiiiiyWhite faces a critical decision.22 ¤c3 This is possible, but now any small mistake will be costly and this forces Carlsen to find the only solution. Alexei Shirov strongly favours the alternative 22 ¤g5!? to keep more dynamic potential, e.g. 22...¦xh1 23 ¦xh1 ¦h8 24 ¦d1 ¥e3! (24...¥xb2? 25 ¤f3 b6 26 f5 ¤f8 27 ¦xd5±) 25 ¢f3 d4 26 ¤e4 maintaining a slight advantage.22...¥xc3! Not 22...c6? 23 ¤e2 ¥xb2? 24 ¦ab1 ¦xh1 25 ¢xh1 ¥a3 26 ¦xb7+ ¦d7 27 ¦b3 ¥c5 28 f5 ¤f8 29 ¥h4+ f6 30 ¦c3 winning.23 bxc3 ¢d7 24 f5 ¤e7 25 ¦ae1 ¦de8 26 ¢f3? White does not have time for this at the moment. First 26 ¥f4! ¢c6 (26...g6? runs into 27 e6+ fxe6 28 f6±) 27 ¢g3 is very unpleasant for Black.26...¦xh1 27 ¦xh1 ¤c6 28 ¦e1 28 ¦h7 ¤xe5+ 29 ¢f4 ¤c6 30 ¦xg7 ¦e4+ 31 ¢f3 ¢e7 only leads to a drawn position.28...g5! This strong way of blockading

the kingside was probably underestimated by Anand.29 a4 a6 30 ¢g2 ¢c8 31 ¢f2 b6 32 ¢f3 ¢d7 33 ¢f2 ¢c8

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xiiiiiiiiy34 ¦e3? Rightly criticised by Anand at the press conference. He wants to transfer his king to the queenside, but this is just wishful thinking. 34 ¢f3 is called for.34...¤a5 35 ¦e1 ¤c4 36 ¢f3 ¢d7 37 ¢g2a5 38 ¢f2? White cannot wait any longer. The direct activation 38 ¦h1! draws according to the computer, but it looks very scary to the human eye: 38...¤xe5 39 ¦h7 ¢c6 40 ¥xe5 ¦xe5 41 ¦xf7 ¦e4 42 ¢g3 ¦xa4 43 ¦g7 ¦c4 44 ¦xg5 ...and White draws the resulting race, e.g. 44...¦xc3+ 45 ¢f4 ¦xc2 46 ¦g8 a4 47 g5 ¦c4+ 48 ¢g3 ¦c1 49 ¢f4=.38...c6 39 ¢g2 b5! 40 ¦b1

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xiiiiiiiiy40...¦h8? This move is too abstract and gives Anand time finally to improve his bishop. He had a deep and more or less forced win with the computer line.

40...¤xe5! 41 axb5 (41 ¥xe5 ¦xe5 42 axb5¦e2+ 43 ¢f3 ¦xc2�+) ¤xg4 (a) 42 ¢f3 ¤e5+ 43 ¥xe5 (43 ¢g2 ¤c4 44 b6 ¤e3+ 45 ¢h2 ¤xf5 46 b7 ¤xg3 47 b8£ ¦xb8 48 ¦xb8 ¤e4� +) ¦xe5 44 ¢g4 f6 45 b6 ¢c8� +; (b) 42 b6 ¤e3+ 43 ¢f2 (43 ¢f3 g4+ 44 ¢f4 f6 45 ¥f2 ¢c8 46 b7+ ¢b8 47 ¢g3 a4 � +) ¤xf5 44 b7 ¤xg3 45 b8£ ¤e4+ 46 ¢e3 ¦xb8 47 ¦xb8 ¤xc3 � +

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...and four pawns for the exchange are just too many. Finally 40...bxa4? 41 e6+ fxe6 42 ¦b7+ ¢d8 43 f6 a3 44 ¦b8+ ¢d7 45 ¦b7 with a perpetual check.41 ¥f2! ¤xe5 42 axb5 ¤xg4 If 42...¤c4

43 b6 ¦b8 44 ¥c5=.43 bxc6+ ¢xc6 44 ¥d4 ¦e8

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xiiiiiiiiy45 ¢g3! Anand exploits his activity in precise fashion and brings all his forces into active positions, since his rook will soon reach f6. 45...¤e5 45...¤e3 46 ¦b6+ ¢c7 47 ¦f6=.46 ¦b6+ ¢c7 47 ¦f6 ¢d7 47...a4 48 ¥xe5+ ¦xe5 49 ¦xf7+ ¢b6 50 ¢g4=.48 ¥xe5 ¦xe5 49 ¢g4 ¢e7 50 ¢xg5 ¦e1 51 ¦a6 f6+ 52 ¢g4 ¦g1+ 53 ¢f4 ¦f1+ 54 ¢g4 ¦g1+ 55 ¢f4 ¦f1+ 56 ¢g4 1/2-1/2 Müller

LONDON, XII 2015The 7th London Chess ClassicThe third and final event of the Grand Chess Tour 2015

CARLSEN 2834 • ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 5½ 12GIRI 2784 ½ • ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 5½ 10VACHIER-LAGRAVE 2773 ½ ½ • ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 5½ 8ARONIAN 2788 ½ ½ ½ • ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 5 7GRISCHUK 2747 0 ½ ½ ½ • ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 4½ 6CARUANA 2787 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ • ½ ½ ½ ½ 4½ 4½ADAMS 2737 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ • ½ ½ ½ 4½ 4½NAKAMURA 2793 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ • 1 ½ 4 3ANAND 2796 ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 • 1 3½ 2TOPALOV 2803 ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 • 2½ 1

VACHIER-LAGRAVE 2773 0 1 1 2

GIRI 2784 1 0 0 1

CARLSEN 2834 1 ½ 1 ½

VACHIER-LAGRAVE 2773 0 ½ ½


Stuart CONQUEST Stuart CONQUEST

Thirteen games in London began with 1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 ¤f6, but there was no French Defence, Caro-Kann, Alekhine’s,

Scandinavian, Philidor, Pirc / Modern, or Petroff. Yes, with a certain air of nostalgia even the Petroff is missed these days! Come back, all is forgiven!

If you belong to the world super-elite then you need the Berlin in your repertoire, perhaps even with both colours. In London, six out of ten players used the Berlin with Black, and two who didn’t (Anand and Vachier-Lagrave) had to face it twice each from the White side. Only Aronian and Adams had a Berlin-free event.

A draw with Black at the highest level is always a satisfactory result. In the Berlin, Black can also win of course. The middlegames can be sharp and complex. But however you look at it, exchanging queens a few minutes into the contest dramatically reduces the potential for middlegame chaos and confusion, at least for the spectators. Even among watching GMs in the VIP lounge, a game which began with this “tabiya” was generally ignored � a collective sigh would emit � and the game would be put aside like something in the oven that takes a while to cook. Now and again there would be a glance at it, to see if it was getting “interesting.” Depending on your taste, an interesting Berlin is almost an oxymoron.

In five games White tried 4 d3. This is doubtless the best move against a player you are expected to beat, and would be my choice if I were still an active player. The problem is, it’s inferior to 4 0-0. To me, 4 d3 is saying two things: “I want to play chess”, but also “I am happy to leave the refutation of the Berlin to others.” I suspect that if every top player consistently chose 4 d3 in super-tournaments, we would see even more Berlins than we do now. It’s not a scary move. There is a reason why Kasparov never played it.

Magnus went for 5 ¦e1 against Giri, which at least keeps the queens on. Unfortunately, on the adrenalin count it’s not a day out at Alton Towers. Like every other Berlin in London, the game was drawn. 1 e4 players did not venture down other paths either. No-one tried the Scotch, Four Knights, or Vienna � and there were no Evans or King’s Gambits!

Seven times we saw the main line “Berlin Wall”, with an early queen swap on d8. Black loses castling rights! White has a lead in development! The old textbooks warned us, but now we know we can safely play ...¤d6, ...¤f5, and even ...¤e7, and ...¤g6. Black is robust. He has the light-squared bishop. However he arranges his pieces, Black looks to have a sound position. Extensive computer preparation � and the lessons of thousands of top-flight games � means that when sharper positions do arise on the board, they are mostly already known to be ok for the second player.

It would be interesting to know how many Berlin endgames were played in the Open section. I suspect not that many. Neither side can pretend it drastically improves their winning chances (though I remember Tony Miles used to score well in Opens with it), besides which, don’t people play chess mostly for fun? Just think of all the off-beat systems in the Lopez that Black can dabble in, on moves three or four, if he wants to avoid main lines. I think other “absent” openings from London like the King’s Indian are more what Opens are about � which is not to overlook the strange opening move-order in Nakamura v Vachier-Lagrave (1 d4 ¤f6 2 ¤f3 g6 3 e3), which avoided the Grünfeld, and led to a Benoni.

First published in book form in 1932, the stories in Agatha Christie’sThe Thirteen Problems � almost all of which had already appeared in monthly magazines � are famous for heralding the earliest appearance of a certain Miss Marple. Perhaps we need the super-sleuth of St Mary Mead to make a return, and solve a new problem: in super-elite events and matches, what to do about the Berlin?

The Thirteen

Problemsby GM Stuart Conquest

Chess ProblemStuart Conquest 2015White to play and mate in two

moves. Solution in February BCM.

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Andrew MARTiN

1 e4 c5 2 ¤f3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 ¤xd4 ¤f6 5 ¤c3 a6 6 h3 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave beat Topalov earlier on with 6 h3, so Anand reminds him of this uncomfortable fact. 6...e5 7 ¤de2 h5!?

Basically, White’s idea is to play g2-g4 and gain ground on the kingside, so Black takes the radical decision to stop him. Black cedes the g5 square, but remains solid and so far nobody has even come close to refuting 7...h5. 8 ¥g5 ¥e6 It is possible to delay or even omit ...¥e6: For example: 8...¤bd7 9 ¤g3 g6 10 ¥c4 ¥e7 11 ¤d5 ¤xd5 12 £xd5 0–0 13 ¥xe7 £xe7 14 ¥b3 h4 15 ¤f1 ¤f6 16 £d3 ¥d7 17 0–0–0 ¦ad8 18 ¤e3 ¥b5 19 ¥c4 ¥c6 20 f3 b5 21 ¥b3 a5, as in Harikrishna � Sasikiran, Berlin 2015. 9 ¥xf6 £xf6 10 ¤d5 £d8 11 £d3 g6 A new move, when previously Black had played either 11...¤c6 or 11...¤d7, both of which also seem quite stable. Topalov simply gives his bishop a couple of extra

options, asking White what he is doing. Here is a recent example of 11...¤d7 � 12 0–0–0 ¦c813 ¢b1 ¥xd5 14 £xd5 b515 £d2 ¤b6 16 h4 ¥e7 17 g3 ¦c5= D.Mastrovasilis � Dziuba, Poland 2015.12 0–0–0 ¤d7 13 ¢b1 ¦c8 14 ¤ec3¦c5 14...¤f6 looks pretty equal. 15 ¥e2 b5 16 a3 ¤b6 17 g4 hxg4 18 ¤xb6 £xb6 19 hxg4 ¦xh120 ¦xh1 ¥g7 The commentators thought that White may be a fraction better here, but it very difficult to pin Black down to any great degree. If White plays g4-g5 then Black can redirect his dark-squared bishop to e7. If he plays b4, then...¦c6 and where does he go from there? Anand understands his edge is small and continues patiently. 21 £e3 £b7 22 ¦d1 £c7 23 g5 £c6 24 ¦g1

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xiiiiiiiiy24...£d7 24...a5 25 ¥g4 b4 looks a bit more active. Topalov seems reluctant to take any action and this is why Anand is able to get on top. Black can fight here: 26 ¥xe6 fxe6 27 axb4 axb4 28 ¤a2 £a4 29 £e2 (29 £d3 ¦a5 30 £b3 £xb3 31 cxb3 ¦b5 32 ¤c1 ¥f8 33 ¤d3 ¥e7=) ¦a5 30 £c4 d5= 31 exd5 exd5 32 £c8+ ¢e7 33 £c7+ ¢e8. 25 £g3 ¦c8 26 ¥g4!² The only real attempt to win is to exchange light-squared bishops and station the knight on d5.

26...¥xg4 27 £xg4 £xg4 28 ¦xg4 ¥f8 29 ¤d5 Black obviously thought that he could hold this position, but it is not going to be much fun. White’s attempt to win will begin with action on the queenside, in an attempt to force weaknesses and perhaps create a passed pawn. 29...¥e7 30 c3 ¦c6 31 ¢c2 ¢d7 32 ¢b3 ¥d8 33 a4 ¦c5 33...¦c4 seems a little more active. 34 axb5 ¦xb5+ 35 ¢a2 a5 36 b4 axb4 37 cxb4 It proved very easy to obtain a passed pawn. The challenge now is to advance this pawn, but additional piece coordination is needed before that can happen. 37...¦b7 38 ¢b3 ¦b8 39 ¦g1 ¦b7 40 ¦g3 ¦b8 41 ¦g1 ¦b7 42 ¦a1! Anand gives up a pawn, as he must, in order to make progress. This is an excellent decision, but one still feels that Black should be able to hold. 42...¥xg5 43 ¢c4 ¥d8 44 f3 f5 45 ¦h1 fxe4 46 fxe4 g5 47 b5

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xiiiiiiiiyThis was the position Anand must have seen long before. Black is very limited as to what he can do, despite the extra pawn. 47...¦b8 48 ¦h7+ ¢e6? I think he should go backwards and just stay put: 48...¢c8 49 ¢b4 ¦b7 50 ¦h8 ¢d7 51 ¦g8 ¦b8 52 ¦g7+ ¢c8 53 ¦g6 ¢d7 54 ¦g8 ¦b7 and how does White win from here?49 ¢b4 g4 He could not play ...¦b7 and this makes a big difference. 50 ¦g7 g3 51 ¦xg3 ¦b7 52 ¦g6+ ¢d7 53 ¦g7+ ¢c8 So the same idea has arisen, but Black no longer has a g-pawn! 54 ¦g8 ¢d7 55 ¢c4 ¦b8 56 ¦g7+

For most of the tournament there had been a lot of fighting chess but very few games that generated much

excitement. The audience had to put up with scraps of interesting play with, on average, only one decisive game per round and a staple diet of Berlin defences to the Lopez, which is not exactly to everyone’s taste. Topalov, who started the tournament leading the overall Grand Tour with 17 points, ahead of Nakamura 16, Aronian 15, Carlsen 15 etc., was the only player who tried hard to sharpen things up – but unfortunately this came at his own expense!

Vishy AnAnd — Veselin TopAloV


by IM Andrew Martin

Topalov toppled!

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Andrew MARTiNAndrew MARTiN

his forces. 11 ¤b5 ¤xb5 12 ¥xb5 £b6 13 ¥a4 ¥d7 14 ¥e3 e6 15 b4 ¤xb4 16 ¥xd7+ ¢xd7 17 ¤e5+ ¢e8 18 ¦b1 £a6 19 £h5 g6 20 £f3 f5 21 ¦xb4!? cxb4 22 exf5 ¥d6 23 ¤c4 ¥e7 24 fxg6 hxg6 25 £g4 (a) 25...¦g8 would have given White problems to solve: 26 h5 (26 ¢g1 ¦d8 27 £e4 £c6) ¦d8 27 ¥d4 £a4 with the idea of...¦xd4; (b) 25...£b5 26 £xe6 £c6 27 £e5 £f6 28 £b5+ £c6 29 £e5 £f6 30 £b5+ £c6 ½–½ Svidler � Nepomniachtchi, Kazan 2014. 9...cxb4 Topalov is in the mood for a fight. Black can actually decline the white pawn in favour of development and this may be more prudent:

9...g6 10 bxc5 ¥g7 11 ¥a3 ¤c6 12 ¦b1 0–0=. As long as Black controls d4, then this is a very respectable position for him. Jakovenko � Nepomniachtchi, Kazan 2014. 10 ¤d5 g6 11 d4 ¥g7 12 ¥e3 ¤c6

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xiiiiiiiiy13 ¦c1 A new move, perhaps improving on either 13 £d2 or 13 h4, which had gone before. White just activates his rook. The knight on e6 is Black’s problem piece, as it hampers his development. Moreover, if Black castles short, he may run into a quick attack with h2-h4. So whilst objectively this position is reasonable for Black, practically it remains difficult to handle. 13...¥d7 14 £d2 £a5 15 h4 Not only dissuading Black from castling short, but thinking about tidying up the white king position with g3 and then ¢g2-h2, or

some such idea. 15...¦c8 We have to check out 15...0–0 16 h5 ¦fe8. Is this so bad for Black? Risky, certainly, but the computer suggests it is playable: 17 hxg6 (17 ¥h6 b3!) hxg6 18 ¥h6 b3! 19 axb3 (19 £e3) £xd2 20 ¥xd2 ¤cxd4. 16 ¥b3 £b5+ 17 ¢g1 h6 18 ¢h2 g5! Topalov is not holding back and this pawn thrust makes for entertaining viewing. 19 ¦hd1 ¢f8 20 ¢g1 ¦d8 21 hxg5 hxg5 22 ¥xg5 ¤xg5? After the comments earlier, it’s a surprise that 22...¤xg5 is a mistake. Instead 22...¥e8! stabilises the position and prepares central counterplay: 23 ¥e3 ¦d6! Black is now well placed to repel any attack and, with the further ...f6 and ...¥f7, he will have plenty of play in a very complex situation. 23 £xg5 ¥h6 24 £h4± ¥g7 25 £f4 ¥h6

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xiiiiiiiiy26 ¤g5 26 £h2! was probably even stronger, when ideas for Black are hard to come by: 26...¥e8 (26...¦e8 27 ¤c7; 26...¥g4 27 ¦xc6! £xc6 28 £e5 ¦g8 29 £xe7+ ¢g7 30 ¤e5 £e6 31 ¤xg4+ � £xg4 32 ¤f6) 27 ¦c5 £e2 28 ¤f4 £b2 29 ¦f5 winning.26...¥xg5 27 £xg5 Demoralised, Topalov now gave up. White’s threats include ¦xc6 or ¥c4, followed by ¦d3-f3. Black never managed to get his act together, with the king on f8 being his prime liability. It was definitely not Veselin’s tournament and he was not only toppled from the No.1 spot in the Grand Tour standings, but also finished in last place in London without scoring a single win. 1-0 Martin

56...¢e6 56...¢c8 57 ¤e7+! ¥xe7 58 ¦xe7 ¢d8 59 ¦h7 ¦c8+ 60 ¢d5 is decisive.57 ¢b4 ¥a5+ A nice stalemate try. 58 ¢c4 He should take: 58 ¢xa5! ¦xb5+ 59 ¢a4 ¦a5+ 60 ¢b3 ¦a3+ 61 ¢c4 ¦a4+ 62 ¤b4 ¦a1 63 ¦g6+ wins.58...¥d8 59 ¦g8 Let’s try a different way. Of course, the players were tired by this point. 59...¦c8+ 59...¢d7 would not alter the result. 60 ¢d3 ¦b8 61 ¦h8 ¢d7 62 ¦h7+ ¢e6 63 ¢c4 ¦c8+ 64 ¢b4 ¦c1 65 b6 ¦b1+ 66 ¢a5 ¥xb6+ If 66...¦f1 67 ¢a6 ¦a1+ 68 ¢b7 ¦c1 69 ¢a8 ¦a1+ 70 ¦a7 decides.67 ¤xb6 ¦a1+ 68 ¢b5 ¦b1+ 69 ¢c6 ¦c1+ 70 ¢b7 ¦b1 71 ¢c7 ¦c1+ 72 ¢d8 ¦e1 73 ¦h4 ¢f6 74 ¦g4 1–0 Martin

A gruelling struggle from start to finish. Indeed, we had to make do with this type of play throughout the first six rounds of the London Classic.

However Round Seven brought the tournament to life in a sudden and unexpected way. The fact that there were no Berlins gave everyone hope!

1 c4 c5 2 ¤f3 ¤f6 3 ¤c3 d5 4 cxd5 ¤xd5 5 e4 ¤b4 6 ¥c4 ¤d3+ 7 ¢e2 ¤f4+ 8 ¢f1 ¤e6 Black spends a great deal

of time moving a single piece around in order to deny White castling rights. This is a controversial and sharp variation, which is almost certainly okay for Black, but which requires great precision by him.

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xiiiiiiiiy9 b4! Many moves have been tried here, but 9 b4 is clearly one of the most aggressive. White gambits a pawn, almost Evans Gambit-like, in order to dominate the centre. Topalov had not been displaying particularly good form in the Classic and so Aronian decides to try to take him out. 9 h4!? is another interesting idea, pre-empting ...g6: 9...¤c6 10 d3 ¤ed4! A good move, enabling Black to develop the rest of

levon AroniAn � Veselin TopAloV


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Match of the Day commentator Andrew MartinPhoto by John Upham


Yang-Fan ZHOU

The Openings in Olympia

The opening choices and battles of the world’s elite are always a hot topic. If Fischer crushes Najdorf with the h3 Najdorf, or Giri holds Anand and Vachier-Lagrave with ease using the Berlin Defence, the lines are most likely to be more than decent.

Entire opening trends are set by Grandmasters, and club players try to optimise their own opening choice by emulating the best of them. So what was most popular and successful at the London Classic? Below is a histogram for first moves from 45 games at the Classic. Playoff games weren’t included due to the faster time controls.

by IM Yang-Fan Zhou

With 24 of 45 games starting 1 e4, it was the most popular first move, but statistically the least successful for White. After 1 e4 e5, all 18 games proceeded to a Ruy Lopez and resulted in 18 draws! Most games revolved around the Berlin Defence.

RUY LOPEZ

1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 ¤f6 4 0–0 ¤xe4 5 d4 ¤d6 6 ¥xc6 dxc6 7 dxe5 ¤f5 8 £xd8+ ¢xd8 9 ¤c3 ¢e8 10 h3

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xiiiiiiiiy10...h5 10...b6 11 ¦d1 ¥b7 12 ¥f4 ¦c8 13

e6!? looks like quite a dangerous sacrifice, but Caruana neutralised it easily. 13...¥d6 14 ¥xd6 ¤xd6 15 exf7+ ¢xf7 1 6 ¤e5+ ¢f6 17 ¤g4+ ¢f7 ½-½ Vachier-Lagrave � Caruana. And after 10...¥e6

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xiiiiiiiiyGrischuk tried 11 g4 ¤e7 12 ¤d4 ¥d7

13 ¢h2, heading for g3, but this proved to be unsuccessful after 13...c5 14 ¤db5 ¢d8 15 ¥e3 a6 16 ¤a3 b6 17 ¤e4 h5 18 ¢g3 hxg4 19 hxg4 ¥c6 20 ¤g5 ¢e8 21 f4 f5 22 ¦ad1 g6 23 ¤e6 fxg4! and Black took over and in fact almost won the game. ½-½ (38) Grischuk � Nakamura.Anand’s choice was 11 ¦d1 which gave him an advantage after 11...¥c5 12 g4 ¤e7 13 ¤g5 ¥d5

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xiiiiiiiiy14 ¤ge4 (But 14 ¤xd5! is stronger, with the forcing idea of 14...cxd5 15 e6! f6 16 ¤f7 ¦g8 17 ¥f4) 14...¥b6 15 ¢g2 ¦d8 16 ¥f4 ¤g6 17 ¥g3 h5 18 f4 was ½-½ Anand � Carlsen.

11 ¥f4 11 ¤e2 b6 12 ¥g5 c5 13 ¤c3 ¥b7 14 ¦ad1 ¥xf3 15 gxf3 c6 16 ¤e4 ¥e7 17 f4 ¥xg5 18 fxg5 ¢e7 19 ¤d6 was all Grischuk’s analysis and Black can never enter a king and pawn ending. White wins by playing f4 and eventually bringing the king to e4 and exploiting the zugzwang motif.

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xiiiiiiiiy19...¢e6 20 f4 ¦ad8 (20...¤e3 21 f5+ ¢e7 22 f6+ gxf6 23 exf6+ ¢f8 24 ¤xf7! ¢xf7 25 ¦d7+ ¢f8 26 ¦f3) 21 ¦fe1 g6 22 ¢f2 ¤d4 23 c3 ¤f5 24 ¢f3 and though Grischuk had a huge advantage, Giri managed to escape! ½-½ (47) Grischuk � Giri.

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Yang-Fan ZHOU

11...¥e7 12 ¦ad1 ¥e6 13 ¤g5 ¦h6 14 g3 ¥c4 15 ¦fe1 ¦g6 16 ¤ce4 ¦d8 17 ¦xd8+ ¥xd8 18 b3 ¥d5 19 c4 ¤d4

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xiiiiiiiiyA novelty which seems to equalise without problems. 20 cxd5 cxd5 21 ¤d6+ cxd6 22 exd6+ ¤e6 23 ¤f3 ¥f6 24 ¥e3 ¢d7 25 ¥xa7 ¦h6 26 ¦d1 ¢xd6 27 ¥b8+ ¢c6 28 ¦c1+ ¢d7 29 ¦d1 ¢c6 30 ¦c1+ ¢d7 31 ¦d1 ½-½ (31) Vachier-Lagrave � Giri.

The notorious Berlin ending was often avoided by White. Many of these games fizzled out to equal positions rather quickly such as Adams’ 4 d3 against Nakamura, but some lines packed a stronger punch.

1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 ¥b5 ¤f6 4 d3 ¥c5 5 ¥xc6 dxc6 6 ¤bd2

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xiiiiiiiiy6...£e7 6...¥e6 7 0–0 ¥d6 8 d4 ¤d7 9 dxe5 ¤xe5 10 ¤xe5 ¥xe5 11 f4 ¥d4+ 12 ¢h1 f5 13 £h5+ g6 14 £e2 0–0 15 ¤f3

¥f6 16 e5 ¥e7 17 ¦d1 gave White a nice edge, and eventually a winning position, but both players missed the winning move later on. ½-½ (58) Caruana � Grischuk.

7 h3 0–0 8 ¤c4 ¤d7 9 £e2 b5 10 ¤e3 ¤b6 11 ¤f5 ¥xf5 12 exf5

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12...¤d7?! This takes away the d7 square away from Black’s own queen (12...f6 followed by ...£d7 or even 12...£d7 immediately was better). Nakamura said he had planned 12...e4?! but realised 13 £xe4 was strong since 13...£xe4+ 14 dxe4 ¦fe8 15 ¤d2 does not give Black enough compensation. 13 ¤d2! A strong manoeuvre, heading for e4. 13...¥b4 14 c3 ¥a5 15 ¤e4 with a very pleasant position, which Nakamura was lucky to hold. ½-½ (45) Caruana � Nakamura.

SICILIAN DEFENCE

After 1 e4, all the bloodshed occurred in the 7 Sicilian games. Other than Carlsen’s games (a Sveshnikov as Black, which held Vachier-Lagrave easily, and 3 ¥b5+ as White, which beat Grischuk), 5 out of 7 games were Sicilian Najdorfs.

1 e4 c5 2 ¤f3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 ¤xd4 ¤f6 5 ¤c3 a6

Yang-Fan ZHOU

6 h3 6 ¥g5 e6 7 f4 h6 8 ¥h4 £b6 9 a3 ¥e7 10 ¥f2 £c7 11 £f3 b5 12 g4 ¤c6 13 0–0–0 ¥b7 14 h4 d5! (Striking at the perfect moment, making use of the b7 bishop. Now Black is doing fine.) 15 e5 ¤e4 was an exciting Sicilian battle. ½-½ (43) Grischuk � Vachier-Lagrave.6...e5 7 ¤de2 h5 8 ¥g5 ¥e6 9 ¥xf6 £xf6 10 ¤d5 £d8 11 £d3!? After 11 ¤ec3 g6 12 ¥c4 ¥h6 and Black stands well.

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xiiiiiiiiyThe queen move is an improvement which Anand has used a number of times before. 1–0 (74) Anand � Topalov.

CLOSED OPENINGS

After 1 d4, the opening choices were more varied. Caruana surprised Giri with the Trompowsky, which quickly reached new, original territory, but certainly nothing critical as Giri was fine in the opening. 1 d4 ¤f6 2 ¥g5 d5 3 e3 c5 4 ¥xf6 gxf6

5 dxc5 ¤c6 6 c3 e6 7 b4 a5 8 £b3

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xiiiiiiiiy8...f5 8...axb4 9 cxb4 b6 hitting White’s queenside immediately was a good alternative. Then 10 ¥b5 £c7 11 ¤f3 bxc5 12 bxc5 ¥a6=. 9 ¤f3 ¥g7 10 b5 ¤b8 with a messy position in which Caruana put Giri under some pressure, but never obtained a real advantage: ½-½ (36) Caruana � Giri.Carlsen’s original play didn’t achieve anything against Nakamura’s Slav defence (but Carlsen eventually ground his way to victory with excellent technique!), whilst Nakamura prepared a novelty in the Catalan which bore fruit against Anand.

1 d4 ¤f6 2 ¤f3 e6 3 c4 d5 4 g3 ¥e7 5 ¥g2 0–0 6 £c2 c5 7 0–0 cxd4 8 ¤xd4 £b6 9 ¦d1 ¤c6 10 ¤xc6 £xc6 11 ¥g5!?

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xiiiiiiiiyA new plan � White is happy to trade the bishop for the knight. 11...h6 12 ¥xf6 ¥xf6 13 ¤a3 Now Black can’t play ...¥xa3 and White has significant pressure. 1–0 (41) Nakamura � Anand.

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Yang-Fan ZHOU

RETI SYSTEMS

Funnily enough, Carlsen’s win against Grischuk in the Sicilian started out with1 ¤f3.

1 ¤f3 c5 2 e4 d6 3 ¥b5+ ¤d7 4 0–0 a6 5 ¥d3 ¤gf6 6 ¦e1 b5 7 c4 g5!? The novelty Topalov used to beat Carlsen in August. No doubt Carlsen was better prepared this time. 8 ¤xg5 ¤e5 9 ¥e2 bxc4

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xiiiiiiiiy10 ¤c3! Carlsen’s improvement � there’s no hurry to recapture the c-pawn, so the knight is much better placed here. 10 ¤a3 ¦g8. 0–1 (40) was Carlsen � Topalov, Saint Louis 2015. 10...¦b8 11 ¦f1!? Prophylaxis against ¤d3. 11...h6 12 ¤f3 ¤d3 13 ¤e1 ¤xb2 14 ¥xb2 ¦xb2 15 ¥xc4² 1–0 (38) Carlsen � Grischuk.

Giri’s 1 ¤f3 against Nakamura transposed into a King’s Indian Attack. I used to play the KIA with the caveman approach of an all-out attack on the kingside, but, as Nigel Short said to me, “The problem with the King’s Indian Attack is that there’s just no attack” � against a strong player there’s just no way to break through. Giri’s more sophisticated play with which he scored a victory, is certainly a better approach, although objectively Black should be fine. 1 ¤f3 d5 2 g3 ¤f6 3 ¥g2 e6 4 0–0 ¥e7 5 d3 0–0 6 ¤bd2 c5 7 e4 ¤c6 8 ¦e1

Not rushing with e5, h4, ¤f1–h2-g4. 8...£c7 9 £e2 b5 10 a4 b4 11 exd5 exd5 12 ¤b3 ¦e8 13 ¥f4 £b6 14 a5 £b515 £d2 ¥e6 16 a6= The pawn on a6 looks nice but Black is solid and has more space. 1–0 (43) Giri � Nakamura.

ENGLISH OPENING

1 c4 was the least played but statistically most successful first move and full of creative ideas. Grischuk even played 1 c4 e5 2 d3!? against Anand with success. It looks like the lazy approach of a Sicilian player, trying to play a tempo up, but it seems quite reasonable, avoiding all the theory after the alternatives. Anand went for a Grand Prix Attack setup but was always on the back foot. Aronian was the only player to play 1 c4 twice (contributing 2 of the 5 games!)

1 c4 ¤f6 2 ¤c3 c5 3 ¤f3 d5 3...e6 4 e3 d5 5 cxd5 ¤xd5 6 d4 cxd4 7 exd4 ¤xc3 8 bxc3 £c7 9 ¥d2 ¤d7 10 ¥d3 b6

11 ¤g5!?N with aggressive intentions, but Carlsen showed White has no attack. 11...¤f6 12 £f3 ¦b8 13 0–0 ¥d614 £h3 h6 15 ¦fe1 0–0 (15...¥xh2+ was also possible 16 £xh2 £xh2+ 17 ¢xh2 hxg5+ 18 ¢g1 ¤d5! when White has compensation for the pawn but nothing more) 16 ¤f3 ¥f4 and the position liquidated. ½-½ (40) Aronian � Carlsen. 4 cxd5 ¤xd5 5 e4 ¤b4 6 ¥c4 ¤d3+

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xiiiiiiiiyThis seems very disruptive but Black loses a lot of time. 7 ¢e2 ¤f4+ 8 ¢f1 ¤e6 9 b4! Opening up the position to make the most of his lead in development. 9...cxb4 10 ¤d5 and Topalov could not cope with White’s huge initiative. 1–0 (27) Aronian � Topalov.

For comparison, here is the same graph for the 4th London Chess Classic in 2012, which was a 9 player all play all.

Interestingly, it turns out that the choice of the first move has hardly changed, with very similar proportions between the 4 moves in 2012 and 2015. There were notably more decisive results, most likely due to the scoring system used (3 points for a win, 1 for a draw) and the stronger field in 2015 (2791 average compared to 2752). 1 c4 was again the most successful � perhaps something to take note of, but it’s difficult to come to certain conclusions from such a small number of games.

For the reader’s interest, the graph below shows the first move choices of each player. The players are ranked in order of their final tournament standing (1st equal on the left to 10th on the right). Some players had 5 Whites as opposed to 4 since it was a nine round all play all. Giri played all four moves, whilst Vachier-Lagrave and Adams are clearly hardcore e4 enthusiasts!

Yang-Fan Zhou

Yang-Fan ZHOU

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David HOWELLDavid HOWELL

White from fixing the kingside structure by playing g3-g4 himself. However, this allows a different plan. 18 £d2 £e8

Black’s queen heads to g6, where it would pressurise the key e4-square. Amazingly enough, as mentioned above, Gawain faced this exact position the day before against Rowson. I had glanced over at their board at this exact moment and wondered why White was not simply better after castling queenside. It all seemed so logical; Black is struggling strategically � he lacks pawn breaks, his king has no real shelter, and his g7-bishop will struggle for a productive future. The only way Black could ever hope for counterplay was to get a kingside attack going with ...h6-h5-h4, but that would require White to put his king on the wrong side of the board...

Of course, before I could even finish the thought, Rowson castled kingside and I was forced to reconsider my understanding of chess... 19 0–0–0! A novelty. Having examined this move in light of the Rowson game, and having analysed it since, I can now conclude that my instincts were indeed correct � White is better. 19 0–0 £g6 20 ¦fe1 ¦f7 21 ¦ad1 (21 c5!) ¦af8 22 ¦e2 was the continuation of Rowson�Jones, British Knockout 2015, which ended in a Black win after many adventures and swings in evaluation. 19...b5!? Somehow, while preparing for this game, I was absolutely certain Gawain would play this move. It fits his style perfectly � dynamic, aggressive, tricky. Unfortunately it is just unsound. 19...£g6 would lead to a more normal game, but Gawain mentioned that he didn’t fancy his position after the simple 20 f3. Indeed, White still holds all the trumps (i.e. pawn breaks) and after getting his king to safety (¢b1–a1 was a recurring idea in my prep) it will only be a matter of time before c4-c5 or fxg4 will cause some discomfort. In the meantime Black simply struggles for useful moves. 20 cxb5 a6

1 d4 ¤f6 2 ¤f3 g6 3 c4 ¥g7 4 ¤c3 0–0 5 e4 d6 6 ¥e2 e5 7 d5 The Petrosian System against the King’s Indian. The former World Champion himself once even claimed that he made a living from winning with this variation! I had never used it before, but had studied it deeply earlier in the year. 7...¤a6 Gawain had shown a preference for this move in the past and, as fate would decree, it also featured in his game against Jonathan Rowson in the quarter-finals the day before! More on that later... 7...a5 is the main line. 8 ¥g5 This move signals the start of a long concrete variation, which had hitherto been contra-indicated for White by several sources. 8...h6 9 ¥h4 g5 10 ¥g3 ¤xe4 A clever temporary sacrifice. 11 ¤xe4 f5 12 ¤c3 An important positional idea. 12 ¤fd2 keeps the wrong minor piece. 12...fxe4 13 ¤xe4 ¥f5 and White’s bishop on g3 has no future.

12...f4 Black regains the piece, but White’s remaining minor pieces will exert influence over the important e4-square. If Black wants to keep this variation alive, the immediate 12...e4!? might be worth considering: 13 ¤d2 ¥xc3! (13...f4 14 ¤dxe4 fxg3 15 hxg3 ¥f5 16 0–0 leaves Black struggling for compensation, despite his strong g7-bishop.) 14 bxc3 f4 15 ¤xe4 ¥f5 compared to the game, Black has space and strongholds for his pieces. 16 ¥xf4 gxf4 (16...¥xe4? is inaccurate: 17 ¥e3 ¥xg2 18 ¦g1 ¥e4 19 h4) 17 ¤d2 £f6 18 0–0 £xc3 19 ¥g4 with roughly balanced chances, although I prefer White. 13 ¤d2 ¤c5 14 ¤de4 fxg3 15 hxg3 ¤xe4 16 ¤xe4 ¥f5 17 ¥d3 g4 Black prevents

It´s a KNOCKOUT!The British Knockout Championship fielded a select group of top British grandmasters and ended up in a clear overall win by David Howell who won his matches against Yang-Fan Zhou, Gawain Jones and Nick Pert.

Looking back on the tournament as a whole, this game was the catalyst for me. I had struggled badly in the Quarter-finals, having been on the brink of defeat in my first game with the White pieces. Making an early mark here in the Semi-finals was essential.

by GM David Howell

“While preparing for this game, I was absolutely certain Gawain would play this move. It fits his style perfectly � dynamic, aggressive, tricky. Unfortunately it is just unsound.”

HOWELL 2688 1 0 ½ ½ 1 3

JONES 2620 0 1 ½ ½ 0 2

david hoWell — gawain Jones

British knockout Championship, Semi-finals

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variation could be: 25...£a1+ 26 ¥b1 e4 27 £xg4 e3 28 fxe3 ¦xe3 29 £g6 and White’s attack arrives first.25...£a1+ The move I expected, but apparently we both missed a great save for Black. 25...¦b8! is so counter-intuitive, but suddenly playable! There is a small but crucial detail which allows Black to hang on in variations similar to the one above: 26 £xg4 £a1+ 27 ¥b1 ¦xf2 28 £c8+ ¥f8 29 £e6+ ¢h8 and here we see the big difference. White cannot play 30 ¦d2??, as above, since Black now has 30...¦f1+ Instead, White must settle for a draw with 30 ¦xh6. 26 ¥b1 26 ¢c2 £a4+ 27 ¢b1? fails to escape perpetual check after 27...¦xf2!. 26...£a5 27 ¦xg4 £c5+ 28 ¦c4 28 ¥c2! is stronger, but at the board this somehow felt risky. White again seems to be winning: 28...¦xf2 29 £e4 and the threat of £h7 picks up material. 28...£b6 28...£xf2? 29 £xf2 ¦xf2 30 ¦xc7 was the endgame I expected, but the b7-pawn seems too powerful. I actually wasted a lot of time on the clock calculating the following variation: 30...¦b8 (30...e4 31 ¥xe4) 31 ¥d3! e4 32 ¦f1 ¥xb2+ 33 ¢b1 and White wins. 29 ¦d2 £xb7 30 £e4

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xiiiiiiiiyWe finally see the fundamental reasons why White’s bishop is often stronger than its opposite number in these types of structures. The g7-bishop is blocked by its own pawns while the bishop on b1 combines attack and defence perfectly. Especially with major pieces on the board, having the initiative is key in opposite-coloured bishop positions,

so now I moved in for the kill. 30...¦f6 31 £h7+ ¢f8 32 ¥f5 ¦e7 32...c5 might have been worth a try, to rid himself of a backward pawn. The idea is 33 dxc6?! £f7! 34 ¥d3 d5 with counter-chances. 33 ¥e6 ¢e8 Giving up the exchange with 33...¦fxe6 fails to ease the pressure:34 dxe6 ¦xe6 35 £f5+ ¦f6 36 £d7. 34 ¦dc2 £b6?! The final mistake, though Black’s position was already highly unattractive. 35 ¦c6 £a7 35...£a5 was probably Gawain’s idea, but White’s king is safe and happy after 36 ¢b1!.

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xiiiiiiiiy36 ¦xd6! Now I was starting to enjoy myself. It is not often you can backrank-mate a king on e8 in the middlegame! 36...¦xf2 36...cxd6 37 ¦c8 mate. 37 £g6+ ¦ff7 38 ¢b1 £g1+ 39 ¢a2 £f1 40 ¦b6! A familiar motif helps to deliver the decisive blow. With checkmate inevitable, Gawain resigned. 1-0 Howell

In this final game of our match, I was faced with a dilemma � how to play with White when only needing a draw? I was very aware of the pitfalls of playing too passively. In the end I resorted to using an

21 b6! The key move, which I blitzed out confidently. However by this point my memory was starting to get a little hazy. I knew White was objectively doing well, but finding accurate moves over the board is a whole different matter. The idea is, of course, to keep lines closed while my king seeks shelter. The fact that d6 is undermined is just a bonus. 21...¥xe4 Positionally undesirable (White’s bishop will always be superior to Black’s piece of dead wood on g7) but this is tempting for concrete reasons. One alternative stands out: 21...£a4 22 ¤c3 £d7! It’s hard to retreat like this, but suddenly White’s grip over e4 is loosened: 23 £e2 e4 24 ¥xe4 and although the computer loves White, at least the g7-bishop looks threatening.22 ¥xe4 £a4

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xiiiiiiiiyThe idea behind Black’s last move. I was still in preparation here and remembered that White had two strong options, but by this point I decided that calculation was required to choose between them.

23 £e2 In hindsight, 23 ¦de1! might have been simpler. The threat of ¦xh6 may not be very sophisticated, but it is devastatingly strong: 23...£xa2 24 ¦xh6 and now all of Black’s options seem insufficient: (a) 24...cxb6 25 ¥h7+ ¢f7 26 ¦xd6 ¦ac8+ and now the cold-blooded 27 ¢d1! wins immediately (over the board I assessed 27 ¦c6 ¦fd8 as unclear); (b) 24...£a1+ 25 ¢c2 £a4+ 26 ¢b1 only helps White; (c) 24...¦f7 is the engine’s way of defending, but White looks in good shape after 25 ¦g6. 23...£xa2 24 b7

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xiiiiiiiiy24...¦ae8! Gawain, as ever, finds the most accurate defence, covering any potential checks on e6 Now I was finally on my own. The automatic 24...¦ab8? incredibly loses on the spot. White’s attack is surprisingly fast: 25 £xg4 £a1+ 26 ¥b1 and there is no way to save the game. For example:(a) 26...e4 27 ¦d2! (calm) ¦xb7 28 £e6+ ¦f7 (28...¢h8 29 £xe4) 29 £c8+ and White picks up the rook on b7 while covering b2; (b) 26...¦xf2 27 £c8+ and everything comes with check: 27...¥f8 28 £e6+ ¢h8 29 ¦d2! ¦xd2 30 £f6+ and my silicon friend declares checkmate in 23 for White after 30...¥g7 31 ¦xh6+!.25 ¦h4?! My first long think of the game, and...a mistake! This looked so natural over the board, but I couldn’t kick the feeling that there was something better. And indeed there was. 25 ¦d2! covers everything, leaving White’s queen free to cause some light-square damage. A sample

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PERT 2572 ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 2

HOWELL 2688 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 4

david hoWell — nicholas perT British knockout Championship, Final



22 ¦c3 a6 23 ¦c7 b5 Black should hold the draw, but it is slightly uncomfortable. 21 ¥c5+ ¢f7 22 ¦e7+ ¢g6

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xiiiiiiiiy23 ¥xb6?! I was finding it hard to focus around here. I knew that I was better, but should I play safe? Somehow it is always difficult to make decisions with so many tempting options on every move. My original intention was 23 b4! which looks stronger: 23...¥xc5 24 bxc5 ¦hc8 25 ¦c1 ¦ab8 26 ¦c3 and Black is tied up. The g7 or b7 pawns are likely to drop in the near future. 23...axb6 24 ¦ae1 ¦hd8 25 ¦xb7 ¦a2?! Nick correctly goes active, but chooses the wrong rook. 25...¦d3! was the key move, solving all Black’s problems. 26 h3 ¦xb3 27 ¦ee7 ¦g8 and the big difference from the game continuation is that b6 is protected. 26 h3 ¦xb2 27 ¦ee7 Now White wins a pawn. 27...¦xb3 27...¦g8 no longer works due to28 ¦xb6. 28 ¦xg7+ ¢f5

29 ¦xh7 29 g4+! is far more efficient than the text, but somehow given the match situation this felt vaguely more risky. 29...¦d1+ 30 ¢h2 ¦d2 Here Nick offered a draw, and it took all my powers of self-control not to accept immediately. After the initial rush of relief, I managed to calm myself down to the point where my hand even made a move before I could bail out. 31 f3 ¦bb2 31...¦xf3 feels like a better way of trying to save the game, reducing action to one side of the board. However, things still aren’t so easy while both pairs of rooks remain on the board. 32 ¦xb6 ¦ff2 33 ¦g7. 32 ¦hg7 ¢f4 33 ¦bf7

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xiiiiiiiiy33...¦d6 This is slow, and White’s h-pawn now begins its march. 33...f5 also fails: 34 ¦g4+ ¢e3 (34...¢e5 35 ¦g5 ¢e6 36 ¦fxf5 ¦xg2+ 37 ¦xg2 leads to a winning pawn endgame for White) 35 ¦xf5 and Black is simply too slow to create a mating net: 35...¢f2 36 h4 ¦d1 37 ¦gg5! ¦bb1 38 ¢h3 ¦h1+ 39 ¢g4 ¢xg2 40 ¦b5 with a trivial win. 34 h4 f5 35 h5 ¦b5 36 ¦g6 ¦d1 36...¦bd5 was the final chance, but after 37 ¢h3 it looks as though White should eventually make progress. 37 ¦gf6 ¦dd5 38 h6 ¢e3 39 h7 ¦d8 40 ¦f81-0 Howell

old favourite of mine, the 2 c3 Sicilian. 1 e4 c5 2 c3 ¤f6 3 e5 ¤d5 4 ¤f3 ¤c6 5 d4 cxd4 6 ¥c4 ¤b6 7 ¥b3 d5 8 exd6 £xd6 9 0–0 ¥e6

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xiiiiiiiiyNick had already faced this line a couple of times in 2015. There are reams of theory here, most of which leads to imbalanced play where Black is usually in good health. Luckily, having played this opening since childhood, I was aware of a rare and forcing variation which would kill any hopes he harboured of a prolonged, nervy battle. 10 ¤xd4! Cynical and unambitious, but perfect for the match situation. The move itself looks anti-positional, but White’s lead in development compensates for the temporarily bad pawn structure. 10 ¥xe6 is the old main line; while I have played 10 ¤a3 several times in the past. 10...¤xd4 10...¥xb3 is an inaccurate move

order: 11 axb3 ¤xd4 and now White has the beautiful 12 ¥e3! with advantage. 11 cxd4 ¥xb3 12 £xb3 e6 12...£xd4 is simply too greedy with Black’s king still stuck in no man’s land. For example: 13 ¥e3 £c4 14 ¥xb6 £xb3 15 axb3. 13 ¤c3 £b4 13...¥e7 also lets White simplify into a symmetrical position: 14 d5 exd5 (14...¤xd5 15 ¦d1 ¦d8 16 ¤xd5 exd5 17 £xb7) 15 ¥e3 0–0 16 ¥xb6 axb6 17 ¤xd5 and Black’s winning chances are next to nil. 14 d5 £xb3 15 axb3 ¤xd5 16 ¤xd5 exd5 17 ¦d1

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xiiiiiiiiyAt this stage I started to feel relaxed. I had a lead on the clock (a rare thing!), a risk-free position, and it appeared from Nick’s body language that he had come ready for a full-blooded battle, and was unready for the sudden shift in scenario. 17...¥c5 17...¥e7! looks too simple to be strong, but it is actually now White who must be slightly careful: 18 ¦xd5 0–0 19 ¥e3 ¦ad8 20 ¦xd8 ¦xd8 21 ¢f1 (not 21 ¥xa7? ¦a8 22 ¦a5 ¥d8 23 ¦a3 b6) a6 22 ¦c1. I had got this far in my preparation, and was confident of holding the endgame, despite the b2-pawn feeling slightly tender long-term. 18 ¦xd5 ¥b6 19 ¦e5+ Giving my opponent an unpleasant decision to make. 19...¢f8 Luckily for myself, Nick was virtually obliged to play this move, due to the match situation. 19...¢d7 is objectively much stronger, but leads to an immediate draw: 20 ¥f4 ¦ad8 21 ¦d1+ ¢c6 22 ¦c1+ ¢d7 23 ¦d1+. 20 ¥e3 f6 After 20...¥xe3 21 ¦xe3 g6

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PERT 2572 ½ ½ 1 1 3

McSHANE 2669 ½ ½ 0 0 1

JONES 2620 ½ 1 1½

ROWSON 2569 ½ 0 0

FERNANDEZ 2479 0 0 0

McSHANE 2669 1 1 2

HOWELL 2688 1 ½ 1½

YANG-FAN ZHOU 2459 0 ½ ½


Nicholas PERT Nicholas PERT

1 ¤f3 d5 2 c4 d4 3 g3 ¤c6 4 ¥g2 e5 5 0-0A risky variation instead of 5 d3 which Jonathan had chosen against me in the longplay game. However it was a strange choice as it gave me a chance to create a very double-edged position. Though there are more solid alternatives than 5...e4, such as 5...a5 or 5...¤f6, I wasn’t interested in any of them. Incidentally, our longplay game had continued 5 d3 ¥b4+ 6 ¥d2 a5 7 0–0 ¤ge7 8 ¤a3 ¥f5 9 ¤c2 ¥xd210 £xd2 h6 11 ¤h4 ¥e6 12 f4 exf413 £xf4 £d7 with an eventual draw. 5...e4 6 ¤e1 h5!

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xiiiiiiiiyI was vaguely aware that this move was playable, although I didn’t know anything else about the line. But, given the match situation, I didn’t need a second invitation to go on the attack!7 ¥xe4 ¥h3 All previous games had continued with 7...h4. 8 £b3! A nice intermediate move. £xb7 is a big threat. I would like to play ...£d7 and ...0–0–0 but there is not time to play both these moves. 8...£c8 Not 8...¥xf1? 9 £xb7 which favours White. 9 £b5 ¤ge7 9...¤f6!? 10 ¥xc6+ bxc6 11 £xc6+ ¥d7 is a tempting sacrifice as the light squares around White’s king are very weak. Black has good long-term compensation for his material deficit.

10 ¤g2 £d7 Raising the stakes! I have declared my intention to castle queenside. The only way for White to stop this is to capture another pawn, which allows me to increase my lead in development. 11 £xb7 ¦b8 12 £a6 f5 13 ¥f3 d3! Now things are starting to get crazy. I wanted to prevent d2-d3 as this would allow him to develop his queenside pieces, but it may come at the cost of another pawn. 14 ¦e1 Taking on e2 was another option but at this stage I really just wanted to keep advancing my pieces towards his king. 14...¤d4 15 ¤f4 ¥g4 16 £xa7 Capturing a third pawn, so now all bridges have been burned and the attack simply must work for me to have a chance of winning this game. 16...¦d8

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xiiiiiiiiy17 ¥xg4? Opening the h-file is perhaps the decisive mistake. White must find some accurate moves here, as in rapid chess it is much easier to attack than defend, which explains my whole approach to this phase of the match in which I raised my aggression level. Best for White is 17 ¥d5! ¤xd5 18 £xd4! ¤xf4 19 £xf4! (If 19 £xd7+ ¢xd7 20 gxf4 ¦h6 The attack is not over yet! 21 exd3 ¦g6 22 ¦e3 ¥d6µ) dxe2 20 ¤c3 h4 with unclear play. 17...hxg4 18 ¤xd3 And a fourth pawn! 18...£d6?! This is not the best way to get the queen to the h-file. 18...¤ec6! 19 £a4 g5 with ...£h7 to follow was the most accurate. 19 ¤c3 The computer’s choice is 19 £a4+, but then 19...c6 20 ¤b4 g5 21 d3 £h6 22 h4 f4 still looks dangerous. 19...£h6 ...g5! is a slightly more accurate

In the Quarter-finals, I was paired against the reigning British Champion, Jonathan Hawkins, against whom I played my most striking game of the Knockout Championship and the

one which most people have commented upon.

Prior to this, the first longplay game against Jonathan was a solid draw. In the second game he gained a small advantage, but I managed to equalise and hold the draw. But it was once we hit the rapidplay that the action really started. I tried hard to attack him in the first of these rapid games, but he countered well and in the end he was the one who launched a successful attack against my king. Therefore, trailing 2–1 in the match, I knew I had to win the next game and with hindsight I now realise that his choice of opening played right into my hands...

WILDWEST LONDON!

by GM Nicholas Pert

British Knockout Championship Finalist Nick Pert reports on the rough and tumble rapid chess he experienced in a game that is regarded unofficially as the most spectacular of the entire London Chess Classic festival! Read his full report on the British Knockout Championship in the February BCM.

Jonathan hAWkins — nicholas perT British knockout Championship, Quarter-Finals

“Capturing a third pawn, so now all bridges have been burned and the attack simply must work for me...”


Nicholas PERT

move order as ¢g2 can be met by ...£c6+, when ...£h6 is a big threat. 20 £a4+ c6 21 h4 g5 21...gxh3? 22 ¢h2 would be good for White, as my own h-pawn blocks my attack. 22 ¤b4? 22 ¢g2 is the best defensive attempt as ...gxh4 can be met by ¦h1, in an attempt to keep the h-file closed. I would still much rather be Black here though, e.g. 22...f4 23 ¤xf4 ¤ef5! 24 ¦h1 gxf4ƒ. 22...gxh4 23 d3 £h7 24 ¤cd5 Trying to create some threats and confusion before I break through on the h-file. 24...¢f7 This move prevents ¤f6+ and at the same time unpins my c6 pawn, thereby enabling me to capture the knight on d5. 25 ¥f4 hxg3 26 fxg3

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xiiiiiiiiy26...cxd5 I played this move more or less instantly, as both players were short on time, and I just decided to bag a piece. If I had longer to think I may have spotted the forced mate: 26...¤f3+!! 27 ¢f1 (27 exf3 £h1+ 28 ¢f2 £xf3+ 29 ¢g1 ¦h1 mate) £h1+ 28 ¢f2 £h2+ 29 ¢e3 (29 ¢f1 £g1 mate) ¤xd5+ 30 ¤xd5 ¦e8+ 31 ¥e5 ¦xe5+ 32 ¢f4 ¥h6 mate. 27 ¢f2! White runs for cover on the queenside, where he is strongest. 27...£h2+ 28 ¢e3 dxc4 29 £a6 ¦h6!? This is another move I played very quickly, as I had seen the idea a couple of moves earlier. White cannot capture the rook, and it will effectively reroute to e6 where it attacks White’s king and also offers some protection to my own. 30 £xc4+ Of course if 30 ¥xh6 ¥xh6+ wins. 30...¦e6+ 31 ¢d2 ¤f3+ 32 ¢c2 ¦c8 White is very tied down and desperately

trying to survive and reach a playable position in the time scramble. 33 ¥c7 ¤xe1+ Again I go for the safety-first move, bagging some more material in case the attack fails. 34 ¦xe1 £g2 Bringing the queen back into the game, now that it has done its job on the kingside. 35 ¢b3 35 ¢b1 £b7 36 ¦c1 ¥h6 37 ¦c3 ¥d2 38 ¦c2 £h1+ was a line that may have dissuaded Jonathan from the more natural king move. 35...¥g7 35...£b7 36 ¦c1 ¤d5 is crushing, but the players were very low on time at this stage. 36 d4 ¥xd4 37 £xd4 ¦xc7 38 £f4 ¦b739 a3 £e4 Here, a rook up, I thought I should just simplify the position and accept that it won’t be mate, but Jonathan tries to keep his chances alive by retaining the queens on the board. However the real impact of this is that his king becomes very vulnerable again. 40 £f1 £d5+ 41 ¢c2

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xiiiiiiiiy41...¦xb4! And Jonathan resigned. 42 axb4 ¦c6+ 43 ¢b1 £e4+ 44 ¢a2 £c4+ 45 ¢a1 ¦a6+ 46 ¢b1 £e4+ 47 ¢c1 ¦a1+ was the line I calculated, but if I had reached this position I would have probably found that instead 47...¦c6 48 ¢d2 £d4 is mate.0-1 PertNick Pert will be annotating more games from the Knockout Championship in the February BCM.

PERT 2572 ½ ½ 0 1 1 3

HAWKINS 2569 ½ ½ 1 0 0 2

I don’t know Bok personally, though naturally I have seen him around at tournaments and he is also active in both the Dutch and German leagues. I could be wrong, but I get the impression that he is a diligent and committed student of the game, which, having finished his studies, he now plays professionally. With only two spots secured in the Dutch team and three very much up

for grabs, he’ll need to nurture this attitude to further big results in order to upstage such names as Sokolov and Tiviakov from their slots. Two years ago, Bok was seen as one of the next big Dutch talents when he secured the GM title by his nineteenth birthday and rose as high as 2617 in the live ratings in mid 2014. However, the subsequent 12 months were disappointing, leading some pundits to wonder whether Bok would go the way of several promising young Dutch GMs and slowly disappear from the elite chess scene.

His recent rise back over 2600, coupled with this tremendously impressive tournament victory, suggest otherwise. Going into the last round, Bok held a slender half-point

lead over four hungry challengers. But he was paired against one of them, and with the black pieces. Given the tournament standings and Lenderman’s higher rating, the spectators knew they were in for a fighting spectacle.

1 ¤f3 ¤f6 2 c4 c5 3 d4 cxd4 4 ¤xd4 e6 5 ¤c3 ¥b4 6 g3

BIG BEN STRIKES…by GM David Smerdon

Dutch GM Benjamin Bok secured what he described as “the biggest success of my career” by winning the prestigious London Chess

Classic FIDE Open. This was a nice and timely finish for the young Dutchman’s 2015, the second half of which has seen him reinstate himself as a strong contender for the Netherlands 2016 Olympiad team.

it was Benjamin Bok’s time...Photo by Ray Morris-Hill

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Alex lenderMAn – Benjamin Bok London Open 2015


David SMERDON David SMERDON

After the text, the game transposes into a well-trodden line of the Nimzo that usually goes 1 d4 ¤f6 2 c4 e6 3 ¤c3 ¥b4 4 ¤f3 (or 4 g3) c5 5 g3. This was used by Kasparov around the turn of the century to good effect, but it has essentially been disarmed by modern theory and is more commonly seen these days at grandmaster level through the game’s move order. White’s “big idea” is that eventually Black will give in and play...¥xc3, after which White will have a semi-open b-file and excellent diagonals for his bishops.

At this point I’d like to take a moment to expound upon this notion of the mighty bishop pair. Once upon a time, long ago in a musty chess cafe somewhere, an excitable kibitzer looking on at a master game considered the position and exclaimed, “Two bishops are better than one!” Most likely he was commenting on the fact that one player was a piece up, but his unintentional outburst was seized upon, exhalted, expounded, twisted, and passed down the ages of chess mythology until the present day, whereby this accidental proverb has etched its place in the marbled laws of strategic wisdom. I jest, of course, but only a little.

Nowadays, you’d be hard pressed to read a chess periodical without at least half a dozen references to the holy Bishop Pair, a seemingly indisputable advantage in and of itself for the possessor. GM Larry Kaufman’s reams of computer analysis led him to conclude that the main goal of the opening for both players was to secure this trump, while GM David Howell, in an interview at the very same London Chess

Classic just passed, cheekily exclaimed with more than a hint of innuendo, “I’d do just about anything for the bishop pair.”

Indeed, you’d be hard pressed to find a grandmaster to dispute this golden rule, but at this point I guess I should sheepishly raise my hand from the back of the GM classroom and ask the unaskable: Why? Perhaps the unaskable is also unanswerable, or perhaps I just don’t possess the strategic knowhow to appreciate the double dioceses. Or

perhaps this segway has gone on for far too long. In any case, let us conclude one thing for certain: Benjamin is not afraid!

In amateur practice, White often becomes scared of the prospect of doubled isolated pawns (despite the compensation of the two bishops � but see below for a different take on this topic...) and plays the timid 6 ¥d2, after which Black equalises after basically any developing move. 6 ¤db5 is more ambitious than 6 ¥d2, but Black can look to

the future with confidence so long as he has courage (or a good memory) and plays6...d5!, as 7 ¥f4 0–0 8 ¤c7? (8 e3 a6 9 ¤c7 ¦a7³) ¤e4!! 9 ¤xa8 £f6 wins.

6...0–0 Black’s alternative is to start the knight dance immediately with 6...¤e4, e.g. 7 £d3 ¥xc3+ 8 bxc3 ¤c5 9 £e3 as played by my younger self many years ago, and here 9...d6 is comfortable enough for Black. C.Vernay � Smerdon, Budapest 2007. The immediate 6...d5 is surprisingly playable after 7 £a4+ ¤c6 8 ¤xc6 ¥xc3+ 9 bxc3 bxc6, but there’s no reason for Black to allow this option. 7 ¥g2 d5!

Aussie GM David Smerdon Photo by Harald Fietz

Opening the position against the bishops might seem a tad counter-intuitive at first. But on the other hand, Black is slightly ahead in development, controls the centre, and � well, why should we be scared of those bishops anyway? Don’t get me started again. 8 cxd5 8 ¤c2 ¥xc3+ 9 bxc3 £c7! is no problem for Black, and was even played by Lenderman on the other side of the table: 10 ¤e3 ¦d8= Kamsky � Lenderman, Philadelphia 2010. 8...¤xd5 9 £b3 9 ¥d2 is again too timid and allows Black to consider “saving” his bishop after 9...¤xc3 10 bxc5 ¥c5. But again, I don’t see the need: 9...¥xc3! 10 bxc3 e5 with excellent counter-chances.9...£a5! Slightly less accurate is 9...¤c6, which gives White an extra option that a certain Magnus took advantage of recently. However, “advantage” may be the wrong term given how the game turned out. I guess one of the few drawbacks of being World Champion is that your losses, no matter how theoretically irrelevant, will often get quoted by shameless annotators... 10 ¤xc6 bxc6 11 0–0 £a5 12 ¤e4!? ¥a6! 13 £c2 h6 14 a3 ¥e7 15 b4 £b5 16 ¦e1 (it must be said that White has a certain little something here) £c4 17 £b2 c5!? 18 ¤xc5 (18 £e5!±) ¥f6 19 £a2 ¦ac8?! 20 e4!± 0–1 (62) Carlsen � Naiditsch, Tromso 2014. 10 ¥d2 10 0–0 is interesting only in a fleeting sort of way, as Black can soon give back the pawn for equality: 10...¤xc3 11 bxc3 (11 a3 ¤xe2+ 12 ¤xe2 ¥c5 13 ¥xb7 ¥xb7 14 £xb7 £b6!=) ¥xc3 12 ¥b2 ¥xb2 13 £xb2 £b6!=. 10...¤c6 11 ¤xc6 bxc6 12 0–0 ¥xc3! It had

to happen sooner or later.13 bxc3 ¥a6

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xiiiiiiiiyAn important tabia for this variation, and for the general debate about the bishops. Black has a virtual space advantage due both to the powerful knight on d5 and the fact that ...c6-c5 is potentially playable (c3-c4, on the contrary, is more easily prevented � and we shall soon see the importance of this).

On the other hand, if White should manage to find a way to dislodge the central steed, the bishops could indeed make themselves felt, particularly against Black’s queenside pawns. A key element to the play therefore revolves around White’s dark-squared bishop; if Black can keep it restricted, he has good chances of seizing the advantage. If not, conventional wisdom about the bishop pair may have its day once more. 14 ¦fe1!? Interesting, but this doesn’t necessarily mean good! 14 ¦fd1 is far more popular, and definitely critical. The pawn contains a little poison, so Black should instead try to control c3-c4: 14...£c5 (14...¥xe2?! 15 c4! ¥xd1 16 ¦xd1 £b6 17 cxd5 £xb3 18 axb3 cxd5 19 b4±) 15 e4 (15 c4!? £xc4 16 e4 ¤b6 17 ¦dc1 £xb3 18 axb3 ¥b5© ½-½ (37) Bukavshin � Jakovenko, Chita 2015) and now there usually follows the sequence 15...¥c4 16 £a4 ¤b6 17 £b4£h5! 18 ¥e3 ¥e2 19 ¦d2 ¦ab8 20 ¥xb6 axb6 21 £d6 as was seen all the way back in Kasparov � Anand, Wijk aan Zee 2000, and here Black has gradually worked out that equality is assured after 21...¦fc8!.14...¦ab8 15 £c2 £c5 Having been given

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David SMERDON David SMERDON

the chance to push White’s queen back, I would have been tempted to squash allc3-c4 ideas in an instant with 15...¥c4!?, e.g. 16 e4 ¤b6 17 e5 ¤d5 18 ¦e4 £a6 19 ¦h4 ¥d3!=. 16 a3 Preventing any ...¤b4 ideas, although this allows Black to increase his lead in development even further. 16 e4 ¤b4! 17 £a4¤d3! is dangerous. White had better think about bailing out: 18 ¥e3 (18 £xa6?? £xf2+ 19 ¢h1 £xd2 � +) £xc3 19 ¦ed1 ¥b5! and now 20 £b3 is a sad necessity, because20 £xa7?! ¦a8 21 £d4 £xd4 22 ¥xd4 c5! 23 ¥e3 c4³ can only favour Black. 16...¦fd8 17 ¥f3 h6

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xiiiiiiiiyA waiting move that I must confess I don’t really understand, although of course this move can only be useful later on. However, given that White could have guaranteed equality on any of the next three moves with the push c3-c4, Black should have preferred 18...¥c4! if he wanted to play for a win. 18 h4?! White continues the game of chicken with the h-pawns. 18 c4! was a chance, and a chance that needed to be taken. 18...£xc4 (18...¤b6 19 ¥b4! gives White enough equality for a draw: 19...£xc4 20 ¦ec1 £xc2 21 ¦xc2 ¥b522 ¦ac1 ¥a4 23 ¦c5 ¥b5= 24 ¥xc6 ¥xe2) 19 £xc4 ¥xc4 20 ¦ec1 and White’s compensation is worth the pawn, but no more, and a draw is the likely outcome. Perhaps, given the tournament situation, Lenderman wanted to keep more pieces on the board to maintain the complexity � an understandable decision, but objectively also a risky one.

18...¦d7 19 ¦eb1 19 c4!=. 19...¦bd8 20 ¦b2 20 c4!=. 20...¥c4!³ Finally Black blinks, but it’s a favourable one. It is clear that White’s dark-squared bishop remains chained and is nothing more than a target for Black, and so Ben has his advantage. Converting it, however, is quite another matter. He finds a nice sequence to secure the advances ... c6-c5 and ...e6-e5. 21 a4 £a5! 22 £c1 £a6 23 ¥e1 ¤f6 24 £c2 c5 25 a5 e5 Black has definitely made progress, having completed the clever manoeuvre initiated on move twenty. White’s queen’s bishop makes for a sorry sight. 26 ¥g2 ¥d5?! 26...£e6! was more precise. 27 f3 e4! and White’s position is untenable. 28 fxe4 ¤g4! 29 ¥f2 £e5 and here, probably White is already lost, or at least close enough for practical purposes. For example (a) 30 ¥f3? ¤e3 31 ¥xe3 £xg3+ 32 ¢h1 (32 ¢f1 £xf3+) £xh4+ 33 ¢g2 ¦d6 � +; (b) 30 £c1 ¤xf231 ¢xf2 ¦d6µ. 27 ¥xd5 27 e4! ¥c4 28 f3 looks wimpy, but White should already have been thinking about grovel-mode. At least after a subsequent ¥f2 White can claim to be doing something with his problem child. 27...¦xd5 28 c4 ¦d4 29 ¦c1?! White again hesitates at a critical moment. He instead had two chances to sacrifice his c-pawn once again for much-needed counterplay, and it transpires that his chances would not have been worse after either shot. 29 ¦ab1!? ¦xc4 30 £f5!©; or 29 £f5!? £xc4 30 £xe5÷. 29...£e6! XIIIIIIIIY

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Covering the important f5 square and lining up towards h3. 30 f3? It’s hard to believe, but my computer keeps trying to tell me that after 30 £b1! White can survive. The white forces make such a depressing picture that a human could barely accept such an assessment, but the proof is in the silicon pudding, as they say. Or at least they should. 30...e4 (30...¦xc4 31 ¦b8=) 31 ¥c3 ¦xc432 ¥xf6 ¦xc1+ 33 £xc1 £xf6 34 ¦c2=. 30...e4!µ The culmination of Black’s central strategy. After this powerful stroke, there is no longer any escape for White. 31 ¦b3? Losing, but as trainers are prone to saying (despite its obvious logical inconsistency), “There are no good moves in a bad position”. 31 ¦cb1 was the best chance, once again giving up the c4 pawn for some much-needed counterplay. But to make this move by this point would be psychologically difficult, as it would definitively acknowledge that the last half-dozen moves by White had been nothing more than wasted time. 31...¦xc4 32 £b3!and the annoying pin requires a less aggressive response by Black to maintain an advantage, e.g. 32...¤d7!µ. 31...£h3!! Decisive.

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xiiiiiiiiy32 ¥f2 32 e3 ¦d2!! 33 ¥xd2 £xg3+ 34 ¢f1£xf3+ 35 ¢g1 (35 ¢e1 ¤g4 36 £c3 ¤h2 � +) £g3+ 36 ¢h1 £xh4+ 37 ¢g1 £g3+ 38 ¢h1 £f3+ 39 ¢g1 ¦d6!! and after the hovering of White’s kingside pawn structure, mate is inevitable. Also winning for Black are 32 fxe4 ¤g4; 32 ¦cb1 e3!! 33 ¦xe3 ¤h5!.

32...¦d2 33 ¦b8 ¦xc2 33...e3 also wins, and is faster, 34 ¦xd8+ ¦xd8 35 ¥xe3 £xg3+ 36 ¢f1 ¤g4 37 fxg4 £xe3. But Ben’s move is cleaner. 34 ¦xd8+ ¢h7 35 ¦xc2 e3! 36 ¥xe336 ¥e1 ¤h5! 37 ¦d3 ¤xg3 38 ¥xg3 £xg3+ 39 ¢h1 £xh4+ 40 ¢g2 £f2+41 ¢h1 h5 decides. 36...£xg3+ 37 ¢f1 £h3+ 38 ¢e1

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xiiiiiiiiy38...¤e4!! A beautiful finishing shot. How fitting that the knight delivers the knockout blow by the side of his rival minor piece! Or perhaps that’s just how I see it... 39 fxe4 £xh4+ 40 ¢f1 £xd8 41 ¦d2 £xa5 42 ¦d3 £b4 and White resigned. 0-1 Smerdon

LEADING SCORES IN FIDE OPEN:

Benjamin Bok 8 Evgeny Postny, Jumabayev, Eric Hansen, Jonathan Hawkins, Jahongir Vakhidov, Daniel Sadzikowski 7 Tigran Gharamian, Hrant Melkumyan, Alex Lenderman, Kamil Dragun, Tal Baron, Tiger Hillarp Persson, Prasanna Vishnu, Benjamin Gledura, Tamas Fodor Jr, Miklos Galyas, Peter Wells, Piotr Nguyen 6½ Romain Edouard, Sergey Grigoriants, Francesco Rambaldi, Erik Blomqvist, Mishra Swayams, Mads Andersen, Mark Hebden, John Bartholomew, Alexander Cherniaev, Joerg Wegerle, Thorben Koop, Kassa Korley, Kalle Kiik, David Martins, Sopiko Guramishvili, Martin Lokander, Tania Sachdev, Fabian Englert, Mindaugas Beinoras, Alexandre Vuilleumier, V.Ap.Karthik, Akshaya Kalaiyalahan 6


Test yourself

I had an unusually good run in the Super Rapidplay. My play on the first day left a lot to be desired, but I stumbled to 5/5. On Sunday I woke up in high spirits, and played much better. Everything seemed to go my way and I won my next four games and also the tournament.

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xiiiiiiiiyIn this middlegame, Eric Hansen has just advanced c2-c3, and I was mulling the

consequences of ...¤d4-e6, ¤xe5, when I noticed a lovely tactical opportunity. 23...¤b3! 24 ¤b2 As good a try as any. 24 £xb3 £xd3 recovers the knight, with an extra pawn and a positional advantage. 24...¤xa1 25 £xa1 White is lost, but if he could advance c3-c4 and route a knight to d5, he would have some real compensation. So I opened the queenside as quickly as possible.

25...c6 26 c4 a6 27 bxc6 £xc6 28 f4 h5 29 ¤h2 exf4 30 ¥xf4 b5 31 axb5 axb5 32 cxb5 £xb5 33 ¤f3 ¦a8 34 £c1 ¦a2 35 ¦f2 ¦ea8 36 ¢h2 ¦a1 37 £c2 ¦8a2 38 e5 £b3 39 £xb3 ¥xb3 40 exf6 gxf6 41 ¥e3 ¥d6+ White will soon shed more material after 42 g3 ¥d5. 0-1 McShane

SUPER RAPIDPLAY SCORES:

1 Luke McShane (ENG) 9½/10, 2 Hrant Melkumyan (ARM) 8½, 3-11 Alex Lenderman (USA), Eric Hansen (CAN), Nick Pert (ENG), Romain Edouard (FRA), Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR), Sergey Grigoriants (RUS), Rinat Jumabayev (KAZ), David Eggleston (ENG), Tamas Fodor jnr (HUN) 8, etc.

9 wins for Luke

in London Rapidplay

eric hAnsen – luke MCshAneSuper-Rapid London 2015

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1. E. Ronka – R. Edouard Black to move

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2. T. Rogers – A. Bukojemski

Black to moveXIIIIIIIIY

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3. M. Grigoryan – J. Barj Black to move

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4. S. Brozel – P. Roberson Black to move

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5. T. Hebbes – J. Hawkins Black to move

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6. P. Dukaczewski – A. Hagesaether

Black to move

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7. E. Kalerwa - E. Guo Black to move

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8. N. McDonald– F. Kugler White to move

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9. P. Papp – T. Hebbes White to move

...in these positions taken from the London Chess Classic FIDE Open 2015. Solutions are on page 59.

find the way to win

In the Super Rapidplay, Luke McShane carried his superb form into day two, as he rushed to a perfect 9/9, securing

tournament victory with a round to go. In the last round, he was held to a draw by Alex Lenderman, but he nevertheless left second-place finisher Hrant Melkumyan a whole point behind him.


ketevan ARAkHAMiA-GRANT ketevan ARAkHAMiA-GRANT

1 c4 ¤f6 2 ¤f3 c5 3 ¤c3 ¤c6 4 g3 g6 5 ¥g2 ¥g7 6 d4 cxd4 7 ¤xd4 0–0 8 0–0 The Maroczy system is a good choice for rapid chess. White has a small pull based on having more space: he avoids sharp theory and can just play from general understanding.8...£a5 The most popular continuation here is to exchange knights on d4 in order to play....d6 next. 8...¤xd4 9 £xd4 d610 £d3 but although close to equality this leads to a slow positional game which can be a little passive for Black. I could not quite recall all the ins and outs of the line involving the pawn sacrifice 8...d6, although I knew that it was supposed to be playable for Black. Then I remembered an obscure line that was shown to me by one of the Scottish juniors I was coaching at this year’s World Youth Championships

and decided to give it a go.9 e3 After this instant reply I started wondering whether what was obscure for me was well-known to my opponent. But what to do? I continued to improvise and, objectively speaking, not very well, but I somehow succeeded in confusing my opponent.9...a6 To my astonishment I discovered after the game that the move 8...£a5 was in favour with the elite over the last couple of years. You can check it for yourself, but it was played by Anand, Caruana, Grischuk and Aronian. Some of them employ it only in rapid and blitz. There is already a sizeable body of theory with the main move 9 ¤b3. The modest looking 9 e3 has been scoring well, it protects the d4 knight and prevents Black’s queen sortie on the kingside. After 9 e3 the best for Black is to offer the same pawn sacrifice with 9...d6 10 ¤b3 £h5 11 £xh5 ¤xh5 0–1 (22) Tomashevsky � Radjabov, Berlin 2015. 10 ¥d2 £c7 11 ¦c1 ¤e5 12 ¤d5 ¤xd5 13 cxd5 £b6 14 ¥c3

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xiiiiiiiiyWhite enjoys an advantage in development and space. Nevertheless there are no obvious pawn weaknesses in Black’s position. If I manage to complete my development, neutralise White’s pressure along the c-file and exchange a few minor pieces, Black should equalise.14...d6 15 f4 ¤g4 16 £d2 a5 The manoeuvre¥c3–a5 followed by invasion on the c-file had to be stopped.17 h3 ¤f6 18 g4 ¥d7 19 e4 White’s desire to increase his space advantage is understandable but this overextends. The drawback is the

misplaced dark squared bishop which White would have preferred on e3. 19...e5 I felt this was my only chance for counterplay before White himself plays e4–e5.20 dxe6 fxe6 21 ¢h1 e5 Again almost forced, otherwise White will consolidate his position and Black will be left with a vulnerable pawn centre.22 ¤e2

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xiiiiiiiiy22...¥c6 Before playing this move I tried to calculate the consequences of sacrificing the pawn on d6. Eventually without reaching a final conclusion I decided to play it as other options looked grim. Given time White would advance with f5, then ¤g3 and g5 crashing through on the kingside.23 £xd6? My opponent picks up the gun. I don’t know how much he calculated, I suspect he rejected the alternative of defending the e4–pawn with ¤g3 on account of Black’s capture on f4, followed by the pin along the h6–c1 diagonal. However this seems the best.23...¤xe4 24 £e6+ ¢h8 25 £b3 The main move I was expecting was the bishop capture on e5: 25 ¥xe5 and I’d calculated 25...¦ae8 (However this is all unnecessary because of the simple 25...¤g3+! 26 ¤xg3¥xg2+ winning the loose queen.) 26 ¥xg7+ ¢xg7 and I could not see any immediate dangers coming my way, for example the exchange sacrifice 27 ¦xc6bxc6 28 £d7+ ¢g8 should not succeed because the white queen seems a lonely warrior in the Black camp.25...£e3 At this point, I did not see the

JON LUDvIG HAMMERED!

by GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant

In the seven years since the London Classic established itself on the chess scene, 2015 was my first visit to this fascinating chess festival. This is all rather incredible considering that my home town of Edinburgh is just a train ride away whereas for most other

tournaments I have to fly!

This game was the final one played on the first of two days allocated for the Super-Rapid tournament. I’d just had a lucky escape with the white pieces against Rowson and was feeling pretty good on 4 out of 4. However I had not yet succeeded in following my pre-planned strategy of playing quickly and was constantly miles behind on the clock, relying a lot on the 10 second increments. My next opponent was a very strong young Norwegian player, who I first met when we both played in the 4NCL for Wood Green a few years ago. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, now he acts as a second to the most famous Norwegian player! Between the rounds there was no time for opening preparation but I reminded myself that the most important thing was to trust my instinct. Let’s see what came of it:

Jon ludvig hAMMer ‒ ketevan ArAkhAMiA-grAnTSuper-Rapid London 2015


ketevan ARAkHAMiA-GRANT Anum SHEikH

follow-up idea that occurred in the game but who can resist centralising the queen in such a fashion!26 ¦ce1 ¤c5

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xiiiiiiiiyThere were also other ideas I briefly considered and then I suddenly saw this backward move of the knight, after checking all the other squares where it could jump forward!27 ¤g1 There is no way to survive for White without conceding considerable material damage.27...£xe1 28 £c4 White should have accepted a position the exchange down in order to prolong the game and increase my nervousness over the little remaining time on my clock! Nevertheless after28 ¦xe1 ¥xg2+ 29 ¢xg2 ¤xb3 30 axb3 exf4 the outcome of the game would doubtless be a win for Black.28...¥xg2+ 29 ¢xg2 £e4+ But now I have an extra rook. The game is over and the rest was played through inertia.30 £xe4 ¤xe4 31 f5 ¤xc3 32 bxc3 gxf5 33 gxf5 e4 34 ¤e2 ¦ad8 35 ¦f4 ¦d2 36 ¦xe4 ¦xf5 37 ¦e8+ ¦f8 38 ¦e7 ¦xa2 39 ¢g3 b5 40 ¤f4 ¥f6 41 ¦e6 a4 42 ¤d5¥g7 43 h4 ¦d2 0-1 Arakhamia-Grant

Until Anum came along, it had been a very long time � perhaps almost a decade! � since England won any junior medals in official World or European Junior Championships. But, in the summer of last year, then 8 years of age, she ended the drought by scoring 7/9 and taking the bronze medal in the European Schools Girls U9 Championship, in Konya, Turkey, for which she was also awarded the FIDE Women’s Candidate Master title. In the photo you might also just notice she is wearing a FIDE badge in recognition of this achievement.

Anum then appeared on the front cover of the July/August 2015 edition of the English Chess Federation’s magazine Chess Moves.

As a representative example of the patient but purposeful way Anum builds up

her game, supported by suitable tactics, here is her win in the European Youth Under 10 Girls Championship held last year in Porec, Croatia, against a Russian opponent who had previously taken the gold medal in Konya.

1 e4 e5 2 ¤f3 ¤c6 3 d4 exd4 4 ¤xd4 ¤f65 ¤xc6 bxc6 6 e5 £e7 7 £e2 ¤d5 8 c4 ¥a6 9 b3 g6 10 g3 ¥g7 11 ¥b2 £e6 12 ¥g2At this point Anum analysed 12 cxd5 £xd5 13 £xa6 £xh1 but considered it too messy and preferred the simpler text move, after which she remains in complete control of the game. 12...¤b6 13 0–0 0–0 14 ¤d2 ¦fe8 15 f4 ¦ad8 16 ¤e4 £e7 17 ¦ad1 d5 Probably fearing 18 £f2 intending to launch a flank attack by f4-f5, Olga decides to react in the centre. 18 exd6 cxd6

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xiiiiiiiiy19 ¥xg7 Perhaps even stronger here is 19 f5 For example: 19...¥xb2 20 £xb2 £e5 21 £xe5 ¦xe5 22 ¤xd6 winning. 19...¢xg7 20 £b2+ White can also continue with 20 £f2 e.g. 20...f6 21 ¦fe1 £f8 22 c5 with a major positional advantage. 20...f6 Of course if 20...¢g8 then 21 ¤f6+ wins the exchange. 21 £a3

When Anum

met Anand

Read GM Arakhamia-Grant’ssignature column

inTuiTionIn every Chess inForMAnT

The young lady making the first move for Vishy Anand at the London Classic is

9 year old Anum Sheikh from Ilford, East London. And, unlike other juniors undertaking this traditional task, she did not forget to press the clock afterwards!

Anum sheikh � olga MelenChukEuropean Youth U10 Girls' Championship, Porec 2015


SolutionsAnum SHEikH

21...¥c8 Missing the defence 21...d5!22 £xe7+ ¦xe7 23 ¤c5 ¥c8 Or if instead 22 £xa6, then 22...dxe4 etc. Now Olga’s position falls apart. 22 ¤xd6 ¥g4 Though 22...¦f8 loses the queen to 23 ¤f5+ Black could have tried 22...£e3+ 23 ¢h1 ¦e7 but even then Anum had a choice of either 24 ¤f5+¥xf5 25 ¦xd8 ¤xc4 26 £b4 or, first, 24 £a5, threatening to win the black queen by 25 ¦de1, and only then playing ¤f5+, thereby avoiding the ....¤xc4 trick. 23 ¤xe8+ ¦xe8 24 £xe7+ ¦xe7 25 ¦de1¦xe1 26 ¦xe1 ¢f7 27 ¥xc6 ¥d7 28 ¥xd7 ¤xd7 29 b4 When it comes to winning a won endgame, no pre-teen does it better than Anum. 29...a6 30 b5 ¤c5 31 b6 a5 32 ¦b1 ¤b7 33 c5 ¤xc5 34 b7 ¤xb7 35 ¦xb7+ 1-0

Other of Anum’s successes in 2015 include joint British Girls’ U9 Champion, highest scoring Under 9 girl in the Delancey UK Chess Challenge, and the London Girls’ U10 title. She also plays for the all-girls team, Essex Dragons, in the Junior4NCL league.

Contrary to indications on the London Chess Classic website, Anum has never been associated with the Chess in Schools and Communities Charity. She doesn’t need to be, as her dad, Nas, a good strength player himself, clearly gives her all the chess tuition she needs!

Though actually born in Kashmir, Anum came to England at about the age of 7 months, and started playing chess competitively two and a half years ago.

So what was she doing at the London Chess Classic, apart from making a very strong move for Vishy? Well, in the Under 1800 Weekender, she scored an undefeated 3/5 � but this included a half point bye as she missed one playing session because of having to attend Saturday school.

We hope to hear of many more successes from the talented � and competitive! � Anum Sheikh in the near future.

Fierce attacking player, 13-year-old Federico Rocco, underrated at only 1855 and a Golders Green tournament regular, was very disappointed with his eventual tally of 3/9 after having scored 3 points from the first five rounds. He beat players rated 2132, 2162 and 2111 whilst his lowest rated opponent was 2023. However, Federico was especially pleased with his round 5 game.

Federico ROCCO – Daniel ABRAHAMSLondon Open 2015

1 e4 c5 2 ¤f3 e6 3 d3 b6 4 g3 ¥b7 5 ¥g2 d6 6 0–0 ¤d7 7 ¤bd2 £c7 8 b3 ¥e7 9 ¥b2 ¥f6 10 d4 cxd4 11 ¤xd4 a6 12 ¤c4 ¤e7

13 ¤xe6! fxe6 14 ¤xd6+ ¢f8 15 ¥xf6 ¤xf6 16 ¤xb7 e5 17 f4! ¢g8 18 fxe5 ¤e8 19 ¥h3 h6 20 £d7 £xe5 21 ¥e6+ ¢h7 22 £xe7 £d4+ 23 ¢g2 ¤f6 24 ¥f5+ ¢g8 25 £e6+ ¢f8 26 ¥g6 1-0In this game Federico demolished his far higher rated opponent with play reminiscent of Mikhail Tal!

Another youngster 12-year-old Sacha Brozel started with a bang, defeating experienced Mark Lyell (2228) in round one and then splitting the point against John Cox (2342) in the next round. However, he, too, fell away in the end scoring just 3. International tournament chess is tough!

1. E. Ronka � R. Edouard: Black had rook and two pawns for knight and bishop but White got greedy with his last move of 1 cxb5 and after 1...£xf1+! resigned, since 2 ¥xf1 ¦e1+ wins. 0-1

2. T. Rogers � A. Bukojemski: White’s last move 1 c2-c3?? was not a good idea since now 1...¥g5! traps White’s queen. 2 f4 Also2 cxb4 ¥xd2+ 3 ¦xd2 d4 is hopeless. 2...¥xf4 3 £xf4 exf4 4 cxb4 £h4+ 0-1 Clearly White does not have enough compensation for the loss of the queen after 5 ¢f1 dxe4.

3. M. Grigoryan � J. Barj: After enterprisingly sacrificing the exchange on e6 and then a bishop on g6 for a strong attack against the black king, White then faltered with 1 h3??, possibly having the line 1...£xh4 2 ¤df3 £f4 3 £h7+ ¢f8 4 ¤xe6+ in mind. Instead, 1 £h7+ ¢f8 2 h3 £e2 (2...£xh4 3 ¤df3 £f4 4 ¤xe6+) 3 £g6 ¢g8 4 ¤df3 would have given White a ferocious attack. 1...£xg2+! 0-1 White resigned as after 2 ¢xg2 ¤f4+ and 3...¤xg6 she is left a rook down.

4. S. Brozel � P. Roberson: White has just played 1 ¦d1-d2??, which limits the mobility of his queen along the c1-h6 diagonal. No doubt 1 ¦de1 was rejected because of 1...£xe1 2 ¦xe1 ¦xe1+ 3 ¥f1 ¥h3 mating, but instead the forced 1 f3! was good, whereas now Black plays 1...g5! 2 £e3 £d6 and White’s queen is lost. 0-1

5. T. Hebbes � J. Hawkins: White’s queen is defending a mate on d1, so Black plays 1...¦b6! 2 £c2 ¦b2 Also 2...¦b1+ 3 £xb1 £h1+ 4 ¢e2 £xb1 wins. 0-1

6. P. Dukaczewski � A. Hagesaether: White

has just played 1 £c1-h6 in this difficult position but should have instead controlled the g1-a7 diagonal with 1 £e3. This mistake allowed 1...¦xg2! 2 ¦f1 If 2 ¦xg2 £d1+ 3 ¦g1 £f3+ etc. 2...¦g1+! 0-1 White resigned because if 3 ¢xg1 (3 ¦xg1 £d5+) £d4+ 4 ¢h1 £e4+ finishes off the game.

7. E. Kalerwa � E. Guo: 1...¦a1! 2 ¥h2 To defend against the threatened 2...£g1 mate. 2...£f1+! 3 ¢g3 ¥e5+! 4 ¢h4 If 4 f4 £xf4+ 5 ¢h4 ¥f6 mate. 4...£e1+! 5 ¢g5 h6+ In fact 5...f6+ also does the same job. 0-1 White saw that 6 ¢xh6 £h4 is mate. The attack was carried out very precisely by 20-year-old Emma Guo.

8. N. McDonald � F. Kugler: 1 ¦xg6! hxg6 If 1...e5 2 ¦xf6+ ¢d8 3 ¦xf8+ ¦xf8 4 £xf8+ ¢c7 5 ¥xe5+ d6 6 £e7+ ¢b8 7 ¦xd6 wins. 2 ¥xg6+ ¢d8 If 1...¢e7 then 2 ¥xf6 mate. 3 ¥xf6+ ¥e7 4 ¥xe7+ ¢xe7 5 £g5+ 1-0 After 5...¢f8 6 £f6+ ¢g8 7 £f7 is mate.

9. P. Papp � T. Hebbes: 1 ¤g5! This threatens 2 ¤xh7 ¤xh7 3 £xh7+ ¢xh7 4 ¦h3 mate. 1...¥xe3 Black simply cannot cope with the many threats. If 1...¥xg2, then 2 ¦g1 ¦c8 3 ¦xg2 ¥xe3 4 ¥xe3 £b7 (4...£xe3 5 ¤xf7 mate or 4...£c7 5 ¥c5!) 5 ¦g3, heading for h3. 2 ¥xe3 £c7 3 ¥c5! A beautiful final blow. 3...£xc5 allows 4 ¤xf7 mate and on other queen moves White captures the knight on f8 and mates on h7. 1-0

Incidentally, female players are well represented in these puzzles: Featured are Petra Papp Hungary, Emma Guo Australia and Meri Grigoryan England. And A. Hagesaether is Jovanka Houska’s husband!

solutions to Find The WAY To Win (page 52)

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A BRILLIANCYFROM THE

FIDE OPEN


Josip ASik

Imagine you have just been presented with this trophy on a big stage, just moments before the World Champion joins you alongside other prize-winners of an international grand prix. And, by teaming up with you, World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura also has the opportunity to proclaim himself one of the winners of the London Classic! On top of all this, of course, what actually happened was precisely what you had previously dreamt would happen...

“Oh, c’mon, wake up, what a wildly far-fetched fantasy!”

I do admit that my primary concern before the event was that I wouldn’t embarrass myself by playing some idiotic moves in the full glare of the chess media. Anyway, in the first game, at least I played pretty well at the start...

1 e4 c6 2 ¤f3 d5 3 ¤c3 ¥g4 4 h3 ¥h5 5 g4 ¥g6 6 exd5 cxd5 7 ¤e5 a6 8 h4 h6 9 ¤xg6 fxg6 10 ¥d3 £d6 11 £f3 Now something’s got to give � d5 or g6.

11...¤c6 12 £xd5 0–0–0 13 £xd6 ¦xd6 14 ¥e4 ¤f6 15 ¥xc6 ¦xc6 16 f3Nakamura would certainly have regarded this as a winning position for White, that is unless he was aware that my weakest point is not knowing how to calmly nurture an advantage and if necessary play defensively. Really I just wanted to attack!

As it turned out, the pleasure of this game only came when we tried to blitz our opponents with furious endgame play. Naka had only asked me beforehand: “Do you play fast?” � “Oh, yes, I have prepared myself with one-minute games on the Internet!” So now here I was occupying a ringside seat and savouring

those magic moments when the pieces dance swiftly underneath the fingers of a genuine fast-playing attacker.

Nevertheless the game ended in a dead drawn endgame position � after 79 moves! However, we still got a ticket for the next round, because we each won our extra Armageddon game. Obviously I put my win against Lee Green down to my blitz training with Naka.

The next game was another tough challenge. Just before it started I got some friendly advice: “Watch out for Terry Chapman!” Of course there was no reason for me to waste time assessing the threat level posed by Mickey Adams...

Play then began with a sharp line of the English Opening � whereupon a brilliant win by a young Judit Polgar suddenly crossed my mind... I recalled it because it was played the same year as I won the Junior Championship of Belgrade.

1 d4 ¤f6 2 c4 c5 3 ¤f3 cxd4 4 ¤xd4 e55 ¤b5 d5 6 cxd5 ¥c5 7 ¤5c3 0–0 8 g3 ¤g4 9 e3 f5 10 ¥g2 f4 11 h3 XIIIIIIIIY

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11...¤xf2 12 ¢xf2 fxe3+ 13 ¢e1 ¦f2 14 ¦g1 £f8 15 £d3 ¤a6 16 a3 ¥f5 17 ¥e4 ¥xe4 18 £xe4 ¥d4 19 ¥xe3 ¤c5 20 ¥xd4 exd4 21 £xd4 ¦e8+ 22 ¢d1£f3+ 0�1

Now that’s my kind of chess... The only trouble was that I couldn’t remember all the moves or the order in which they were played! To make matters worse I then made a critical positional mistake � after which, I have to admit, I felt like hapless prey being closely watched by a determined snake, patiently lying in wait for the right moment to strike. Slowly but surely, doomsday was approaching. And by the time we reached the following position our only chance was to resort to desperate tactics.

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37...g5 38 £xh5 gxh4 39 £g4+ ¢f8 40 ¥a4 ¦ac7 41 ¦xc7 ¦xc7 42 f4 hxg3 43 e5 ¥xe5 44 fxe5 £h6 I was so happy to play such a move, which placed our opponents literally in a state of shock! After the game they analysed it for quite a long time, trying to answer that all too frequently asked question: “Where did I go wrong?” After all, the game had undoubtedly been winning for them many moves before. 45 £d4 £h2+ 46 ¢f3 ¦c3+ 47 £xc3 £h5+ 48 ¢xg3 bxc3 49 ¦d1 £e2 50 d6 c2 51 ¥xc2 £xc2 52 ¦h1 ¢e8 53 ¦h8+ ¢d7 54 ¦a8 £d3+ 55 ¢f4 £d4+ 56 ¢f5 £f2+ 57 ¢g5 £g2+ 0�1So we were in the final! I felt relieved, the worst was over.

The Pro-Biz Cup, held at the Hilton Hotel, Olympia, the day after the London Classic

FM Josip Asik (CEO of Chess Informant) � assisted(!) by Hikaru Nakamura � explains how he rocked the chess world by emerging as winner of the Pro-Biz Cup after defeating GMs Caruana, Aronian and Adams and their business associates…

THERE´S NO BIZ

LIKE PRO–BIZ!

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Josip ASIK and Hikaru NAKAMURA – Lee GREEN and Fabiano CARUANAPro-Biz Cup, London 2015, Rapid

Jean-Luc COStA – Judit POLGARBiel 1987

terry CHAPMAN and Michael ADAMS – Josip ASIK and Hikaru NAKAMURAPro-Biz Cup, London 2015, Rapid

| BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE62

Josip ASik

had finished, was actually a fun event in which chess players from the world of business were invited to team up with one of the London Chess Classic super-GMs and compete in a knockout tournament in which the partnering players make alternate moves. The grandmasters and the businessmen were also invited to get together before the game in order to exchange views, understand strengths and agree a strategy...

But why was it that I wanted to team up with Naka in the first place � and not someone else? Well, quite simply, I liked his style and indomitable fighting spirit. But now I had learned something else as well � he is a down-to-earth guy, really natural, really friendly. And he even knew a lot about the chess in my home country of Serbia � that did surprise me. And, one more thing, he had also used Chess Informant to help pave his way to the stars!

In the next game, as we agreed beforehand, Hikaru played my signature move against the Sicilian � 4 £xd4 � after which I thought it would have to be our best game in the series! But...

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14 b4 £c7 15 ¤d5 £b8 16 b5 axb5 17 cxb5 ¤ce5 18 ¤xe7+ ¢f8 We are a pawn up! It’ll be easy, you might think. However, crazy as it may sound, I wanted so much to

go back to d5 with the knight, but for some reason I headed toward “the safe way”...19 ¤xc8 ¦xc8 20 ¤xe5 ¤xe5 21 £xd6+ £xd6 22 ¦xd6 ¦xa2 and believe it or not, the game concluded with an opposite-coloured bishop draw in 39 moves.

Nevertheless, just as in the first round, we each won our Armageddon game, I against Justin Baptie and Hikaru versus Lev Aronian. And because I finished rather quickly I had the opportunity to watch my team-mate wrap up his game in style.

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31 h5 £e8 32 £h4 ¥xg4 33 £xg4 ¦xf4 34 ¤g5+ ¢h6 35 £xf4 £xh5+ 36 ¤h3+ ¢h7 37 ¦b7 ¦f7 38 £xf7 1�0

After shaking hands, Hikaru jumped up from his chair and came over to me. All he wanted to know was if I had won too, because that would mean we were the overall winners. You see, because of the rules, his win was irrelevant as only the amateur games counted when it came to determining whether we progressed further in the competition or indeed finished first.

I was almost shouting: “We did it man, we did it!” and then we were united in cherishing the moment. Probably none of the other contestants took the tournament anywhere near as seriously as we did.

Josip ASIK and Hikaru NAKAMURA – Justin BAPtI and Levon ARONIANPro-Biz Cup, London 2015, Rapid

Hikaru NAKAMURA – Levon ARONIANPro-Biz Cup, London 2015, Blitz

A Chess Opening Repertoire for Blitz & Rapid Sharp, Surprising and Forcing Lines for Black and WhiteEvgeny & Vladimir Sveshnikov 416 pages - £19.99Every day, countless numbers of rated blitz and rapid games are being played in online and over-the-board competi ti ons. In blitz, even more than in classical chess, it is important to make the right decisions quickly and almost insti ncti vely. World-famous opening expert GM Evgeny Sveshnikov and his son, IM Vladimir Sveshnikov, have created a repertoire that is forcing, both narrow and deep, and aggressive. The Sveshnikovs want you to end up in positi ons where it is relati vely easy to keep fi nding the moves with the greatest practi cal eff ect.

Bologan’s Ruy Lopez for BlackHow to Play for a Win against the Spanish OpeningVictor Bologan 544 pages - £22.99With his bestselling Bologan’s Black Weapon’s in the Open Games he shook up the world of repertoire books. Now Bologan is back with the much awaited companion volume on the Ruy Lopez, presenti ng a repertoire with hundreds of theoreti cal improvements, alternati ves and fresh weapons. At its heart are the Breyer Variati on and the Marshall Att ack. Featured again are ‘The Fast Lane’, the ‘The Very Fast Lane’ and the ‘Arsenal of Strategic Ideas’. He presents two opti ons against every line: a common sense approach and an aggressive weapon.

The Double Queen’s GambitA Surprise Weapon for BlackAlexey Bezgodov 272 pages - £18.99Former Russian Champion Alexey Bezgodov provides a complete repertoire for Black against 1.d4, starti ng with the surprising 2...c5! against both 2.c4 and 2.♘f3. There is comparati vely litt le to study and Black is able to solve most of his opening problems and get a positi on that is both solid and acti ve. “What more can one ask?”, says Alexey Bezgodov. He provides dozens of exercises to test your understanding of his system. Bezgodov promises: “It will bring many practi cal successes and much creati ve sati sfacti on!”

Mastering Chess MiddlegamesLectures from the All-Russian School of GrandmastersAlexander Panchenko 272 pages - £16.99The secret of GM Alexander Panchenko’s success was his dedicati on as a teacher combined with his outstanding training materials. Now, his classic Mastering Chess Middlegames is available in translati on. It presents almost 450 examples and tests on the most important topics of middlegame technique. Defence and counteratt ack are his main themes, and his concise training material on realising the advantage and two minor pieces against a rook may be the best ever seen. Panchenko’s didacti c brilliance shines through in this book and his aim is always to take practi cal decisions.

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