Kindermann

The Spanish Exchange Variation

ProgressinCliess

Volume 15

Editorial board
GM Victor Korchnoi
GM Helmut Pfleger
GM Nigel Short
GM Rudolf Teschner

2005
EDITION OLMS

Stefan Kindermann

The Spanish Exchange Variation

A Fischer favourite

WHITE REPERTOIRE

2005
EDITION OLMS

Also available:
Stefan Kindermann, Leningrad System
A complete Weapon against l d4

ISBN 3-283-00478-1

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Contents
.

Hi sto r i c a l Intro d u ct i o n

1 .1

The structure of t h i s book a n d how to use it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Typ i cal P o s i t i o n s

. . .. .

. .

..

. .

13

(1 ) The typ i c a l p aw n e n d i n g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
(2) The pawn e n d i n g i n p ract i c e

. . .

. .

15

(3) Wh ite's p l ay o n t h e k i n g s i d e : t h e p h a l a n x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
(4) W h ite's p l ay i n t h e centre

..

..

..

21

(5) Wh ite's p l ay o n t h e q u e e n s i d e a n d i n t h e centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

(6) Wh ite's p l ay o n the quee nside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Ill u strat i ve Games - The o ret i c a l se ct i o n

1 e4 e5 2 f 3 c 6 3 J. b 5 a6 4 J.xc6 5 0 -0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 6

3.1

T h e c l assical 5 . f 6 6 d 4 e x d 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 6
. .

3 . 1. 1 T h e trad itional 5 . . . f 6 6 d 4 e x d 4 7 tiJx d 4 c5 8 tiJb3 ( Wo m acka - G o l od) . . . . . . . . . 2 6

3 . 1 .2 T h e seco n d st r i n g 8 tiJe2 ! ? ( Vescovi - M i l os) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.2

The acti ve 5 . . . f6 6 d 4 Ag4 (Baklan - Ka l l i o) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

3.3

The a m b i tiou s 5 . . d 6 6 tiJa3 !

3.3 . 1 Roman i s h i n's 6 . . . e6 (Spec k - Cam pos M o re n o)

. . . . .

50

..

50

3 . 3 . 2 The p r i n c i p l e d 6 . . . b5 (Fressi n et - Stefansson) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

3 . 3.3 The flex i b l e 6 . . . Ae6 ( N i s i pean u - Sofro n i e)
3.4

The n at u ra l 5

. . .

58

Ad6 (Rozental is - Wed berg) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

My Recommenda tion for Black:

3.5

The ag g ressive 5

3.6

The u n convent i o n a l 5 . . . tiJe7 (van der We i d e - We l l s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

3.7

U n u s u a l cont i n u at i o n s {Zhang Zhong - d e Vre u gt)

I n d ex of Va r i a t i o n s with key p o s i t i o n s

Appe n d i ce s

5.1

Tra n s l ator's n ote

5.2

In d ex of p l ayers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 3

. . .

Ag4 (G l e k - Tkach iev) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

. .

88

. .

95

1 12

. .. .

. .

1 12

5.3

l n d ex of g a m es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

5.4

Key to sym bols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 23

5.5

B i b l i og raphy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

1 Historical Introduction
Glek System { basically an improved Vienna
Game 1 e4 e5 2 f3 c6 3 c3 f6 4 g3)
left me with the i m p ression that after the
main contin uation 4 . . . d5 5 exd5 xd5 6 Ag2
xc3 7 b x c3 Ad6 B l ac k has a very good
position, w h i lst the Spanish Four Knights
Game (4 Ab5) is made fai rly harmless by
4 . . . d4 .

aced with the contemporary g l ut of in

formation and the consequent rapid
d evelopment of fash ionable theoret
ical main l i nes, more and more in the l ast
few years I h ave been seeking paths that
avoid the beaten track . Apart from the fact
that playing main l i nes today req u i res a good
memory (wh i c h I d o n 't h ave) , I find it very
attractive to enter new, relatively unexplored
territory and make d i scoveries there. How
ever, choosing a p l ayable open i n g system
is actually n ot very easy. After the classical
moves 1 e4 e5 it seems to me that many of
the alternatives to the main l i nes of the Ruy
Lopez are rather u nsatisfactory.

A s for swatting u p t h e m a i n l i nes o f t h e Ruy

Lopez, from the Stei n itz Defence, t h ro u g h
u m pteen trendy A c 5 systems, the Open
Spanish and the M arshall Attack , a l l the
way t h ro u g h to the baffl i n g variety of the
Closed Spanish systems {the Ch igori n , Zait
sev, B reyer, Smyslov, Keres . . . variations) ! ?
Basically it's a very daunting prospect ; for
instance, each of the many su b -variations of
the Chigorin system is a subject in itself.

Then I stu m b l ed upon the Spanish Ex

change Variation . . .

6
5

2
::! iQJ

c e.___a
b d
g'--h_,

For a short time I fel l back o n my old

favourite, the romantic King's gambit. But
it seems to m e that after 1 e4 e5 2 f4 exf4
3 f3 g5 ! Black is s i m ply better (4 h4 g4
5 e5 f6 !). The Scotch Game leads to
very forced l i nes and positions w h i c h often
burn out quickly. Moreover these days even
the Scotch req u i res very precise knowledge
of the variations and d i l igent preparation .

What fi rst i n s p i red m e was the i m p ressive

game Womacka-Golod (Bad Wiessee 2002) ,
w hic h can be fou n d i n o u r section of Ill u s
trative Games (p. 26) . In this system , Wh ite
gets to d eterm i n e the structu re that arises
and can thus make the opponent fight on ter
rai n of W h ite's own choosi n g . F u rthermore,

The Italian Game with d3 and c3 (G i uoco

Piano, i . e. Quiet Game) is defi n itely playable,
but seems a bit l i m p . Experi m ents with the

the l i n e is positionally very soun d , since the

white structu re does n ot exh i bit any weak
nesses - q u ite the o pposite in fact ! I n d eed ,
Black is b u rdened with the prospect of a
defi n itely problematic endgame since, as we
shal l see, in many cases if all the pieces are
exchanged the resu lting pawn ending is eas
ily lost for B l ack.

The qu ite obvious idea of exchanging on c6,

which was already known i n the last decade
of the 1 9t h century, comes as no surprise. Af
ter 1 e4 e5 2 tllf3 ti:lc6 3 Ab5, the reply 3 . . . a6
by Blac k provokes the execution of the fi rst
di rect "th reat" posed . Naturally it was neces
sary to understand the potential of the white
positio n i . e . the problems in rel ation to the
black d o u b l ed pawns, since al ready at that
time the bishop pai r was regarded as being
of considerable i m portance.
Among the pioneers , we should fi rst name
Simon W i n awer and M i khail Chigori n , who
showed a p reference for the k n ight over
the bishop, and not just in their own open
ing system s (Wi n awer French , Ch igori n De
fence) . "Our" continuation 4 Axc6 d xc6 was
al ready known in the m i d - 1 860s (thus we find
a game van M i nckwitz-von Schmidt, Leipzig
1 866) . H owever, at that t i m e the n ext move
was nearly always 5 d4, 5 t:llc3 or even 5 d3,
i n stead of 5 0-0, wh ich was due, fi rst and
foremost, to fear of the pin 5 . . . Ag4 ! ? .

Natu ral ly this comes at a price. Wh ite h as

to part with h i s bishop pair and i n many
cases has to consent to an early exchange of
queens. However, if we consider the above
mentioned potential pawn-end i n g , Wh ite
should find the latter prospect q u ite encour
ag ing . . .
To be able to handle the Spanish Exchange
Variation successfu l ly, you m u st take a cer
tai n pleasu re i n playi ng endings, and in par
ticu lar i n g r i n d i n g away without taki n g any
risks i n a slightly su perior position.
The d i d actic worth of e m ploying this varia
t i o n s h o u l d not be undervalued either, since
it is n ot very often that Wh ite can emerge
directly fro m the open i n g with such a c lear
strateg ic plan : to mobil ise his own pawn ma
jority o n the kingside, at the same time as
deval u i n g the opposi n g paw n- mass o n the
other wing !

Emanuel Lasker started playing t h e Ex

change Variation towards the end of the
1 9t h cent u ry. The fi rst occasion seems to
h ave been in a s i m u ltaneous exh i b ition i n
Balt i more against W i l l iam Pollock i n 1 892 .
Later h e used this weapon i n both his
World Championship m atches agai nst W i l
h e l m Stei n itz i n 1 894 and 1 896, i n which he
alternated between playing 5 d4 and 5 ti:lc3 .
It is part i c u l arly notable that he chose the
Exchange Variation in especially i m portant
games. Even today his victory in the super
tournament of St. Petersburg 1 91 4 agai nst
the then p ractically u n beatable J ose Rao u l
Capablanca remains legendary. I n the end ,
Lasker succeeded in taking fi rst place i n one
of the stro n g est tournaments in chess his
tory, even tho u g h , w h i lst they both started
the game on the same score, owi n g to the
odd n u m ber of players his rival sti l l had four
games to play (agai nst Lasker, Tarrasch , Mar
shal l and Alekh i ne) , whereas Lasker had only

On the other hand, Black faces a fundamen

tal d i lemma i n his choice of variation : either
he accepts the above - mentioned s l i g htly
worse endgame without any real w i n n i n g
chances, or he takes some considerable risk
(freq uently in the shape of i nferior devel
opment) , which for a change g ives Wh ite
chances of a l ively attacking game.
I conducted a small private opinion poll and
did not find a s i n g l e 1 . . . e5 - p l ayer who rel
ishes fac i n g the S p a n i s h Exchange varia
tion . . .
Let us now take a g lance at the h i story of
the development of o u r variat i o n , on which
two World Champions, Emanuel Lasker and
Bobby Fischer left their m ark !

1 Historical I ntroduction

three left (agai nst Capablanca, Tarrasch and

Marshal l).

Perhaps Capablanca actually relaxed his vig

i l ance after the early q ueen exchange, but
I absol utely d o n ot bel ieve i n Lasker's oft
quoted and mythologised psychological war
fare. Rather it was question of playing one of
h i s pet l i n es , wh ich he knew how to handle
particularly wel l , whereas the official theo
retical opin ion (and not just at the time) was
that the variation was pretty harm less. 1

Em. L a s ke r - Ca p a b l a n c a
St. Petersburg 1 914, Finals
1 e4 e5 2 tilf3 tilc6 3 Ab5 a6 4 Ax c6 dxc6
5 d4 e xd4 6 @xd4 @xd4 7 ttlxd4 Ad6
8 tilc3 tile7 9 0-0 0-0 10 f4 Ele8 1 1 ttlb3 f6
12 f5!
a

Very notable is Lasker's o ri g inal strateg ic

concept of the early advance of the f-pawn
to f5 , which 56 years later was employed by
Bobby Fischer in his game against Wolfgang
Unzicker in the Chess Olym piad in Siegen ; at
the same time he demonstrated a good way
to handle the wh ite pawns i n this structure
(see a/so 2. Typical Positions!) .
Both these games share truly asto u n d i n g
paral l e l s : i n both cases White d ecided t h e
game w i t h a l ater and very powerful e4-e5
advance, and both games were of exactly
the same length (naturally by sheer coinci
dence !). More evidence, if any were needed ,
of how useful studyi ng the "classics" can be!

h
8

12 . . . b6 1 3 Af4 Ab7 14 Axd6 cxd6 1 5 tild4

Elad8 1 6 ttle6 Eld7 17 Elad1 ttlc8 18 m2
b5 1 9 Elfd2 Elde7 20 b4 f7 21 a3 Aas
22 f2 Ela7 23 g4 h6 24 Eld3 a5 25 h4
a x b4 26 a x b4 Elae7 27 <i!?f3 Elg8 28 <i!?f4
g6 29 Elg3 g5+ 30 f3 ttlb6 31 hxg5 hxg5
32 Elh3 Eld7 33 @g3 @ea 34 Eldh1 Ab7

XIX

Fis cher - Unzicke r

Chess Olym piad , Siegen 1 970

1 e4 e5 2 tilf3 tilc6 3 Ab5 a6 4 Axc6 dxc6

5 0 - 0 f6 6 d4 e xd4 7 ttlxd4 ttle7 8 Ae3
tilg6 9 ttld2 Ad6 10 ttlc4 0-0 11 @d3 ttle5
12 tilxe5 Axe5 13 f4 Ad6 14 f5 !

35 e5 ! dxe5 36 ttle4 ttld5 37.ttl6c5 Ac8

38 ttlxd7 Axd7 39 Eth7 ma 40 Ela1 <i!?d8
41 Ela8+ Ac8 42 ttlc5 1-0

also suffered some setbacks (among others

a crush ing defeat again st Rudolf Tesch ner i n
1 96 5 , w h i c h caused h i m t o say: " I 've lost
n ot j ust a game but a variation ! ") but he
succeeded i n arousing the i nterest of a fu
ture World Champion: i n 1 966 Bobby Fischer
demolished the strong Yugoslav Svetozar
G l igoric in a s pectacu lar game and , with
his c o m ments to this game in his classic
book "My Sixty Memorable Games ", he be
gan to be forge the system with 5 0-0 i nto a
form idable weapo n .

14 . .. e7 1 S Af4 Axf4 1 6 xf4 Ad7 17 e1

cs 1 8 c3 ae8 19 g4 d6 20 g3 l::I e7
21 tQf3 cs
a

h
8

3
2

XVIII

Fis cher - Glig o ric

Chess Olym piad , Havana 1 966

1 e4 es 2 tQf3 tQc6 3 Abs a6 4 Axc6 dxc6

S 0 - 0 f6 6 d4 Ag4 7 c3 e xd4 8 c xd4 d7
9 h3 Ae6 10 tQc3 0-0-0 11 Af4 tQe7 12 l::I c 1
tDg6 1 3 Ag3 Ad6 14 tDa4 Axg3 1S fxg3
b8 1 6 tQcS Wd6 17 Wa4 !

22 eS! fxes 23 me4 Ac6 24 Eixes mes

2S xe7 xe7 26 tQeS h6 27 h4 Ad7 28 f4
f6 29 e2 Ac8 30 c4+ h7 31 tQg6
I:ixe2 32 Wxe2 Ad7 33 e7 ! Wxe7 34 tQxe7
gS 3S hxgS hxgS 36 tDdS Ac6 37 tDxc7
At3 38 tQeB h6 39 tDf6 g7 40 f2 Ad1
41 tQd7 c4 42 g3 1-0
By the way, i n later encounters with Lasker,
Capablanca never again allowed the allowed
the Exchange Variation by playing the move
3 . . a6.
.

Lasker played the Exchange Variation for

the last time i n 1 924 against Fran k Marsha l l .
Among several other important g a m e s , h i s
victory i n t h e 1 908 d u e l for t h e World Cham
pionsh ip with his arch-rival Siegbert Tarrasch
stands out ; the e n d i n g of this can be fou n d
in the chapter "Typical Positions " [(3) White 's
play on the kingside} on page 1 6 .

1 1 . . . an 1 8 tDxa6 Axh3 1 9 es tDxes

20 dxeS fxeS 21 tQcS+ b8 22 g xh3 e4
23 tQxe4 We7 24 c3 bS 2S Wc2 1-0

Then the variation inexplicably van ished from

sight until the late 1 950s, when it was taken
up the Dutch m aster Johan Barendregt . He
played the neg lected 5 0-0, which until then
had been considered rather feeble, since he
bel ieved that h e had fou n d an antidote to
5 . . Ag4 (see a/so the Illustrative Game with
5 g4 on page 71) . To be sure, Barendregt

Fischer went o n to score further beautifu l

victories with 5 0-0 and proved h i s be
l i ef i n this variation by e m ployi n g it agai nst
Boris Spassky i n their legendary 1 972 World
Championsh i p m atch in Reykj av i k (161 h
game) . And twenty years l ater h i s faith i n it

. . .

1 Historical I ntrod uction

was as strong as ever when , in his scandal

rocked 1 992 " return-match" agai nst Spassky
in Sveti Stefan and Belgrade, " h is" variation
led to a last d ramatic victory.

19 ... Ac8 20 xa6 fxe5 21 b4+ 1 -0

Fischer's ideas are stil l rel evant today ; we
shall come across his creative legacy i n nu
merous variations of our I l lustrative Games.
Later, i nterest in the Spanish Exchange i n
exp l icably decli ned agai n , a n d today there
are only a few specialists who reg u l arly em
p l oy this system . Foremost among these
are the Latvian endgame -artist Eduardas
R ozenta l i s , Igor G l e k , Stellan B rynel l , M a
thias Womacka and from t h e you nger gener
ation the very talented French player Lau
rent Fressi n et , the you n g C h i n ese Zhang
Zhong , Vlad i m i r Baklan and Livi u-Dieter N isi
pean u . The g ro u p of occasional users i n
c l udes t h e "su perstars" Alexei S h i rov and
Jan Ti mman .

F i s cher (2785) - S p a s s ky (2560)

World Championsh i p retu rn-match
Sveti Stefan/Belg rade 1 992 , 9t h Game
1 e4 e5 2 f3 c6 3 Ab5 a6 4 Axc6 dxc6
5 0-0 f6 6 d4 exd4 7 xd4 c5 8 b3 '@xd1
9 Hxd1 Ag4 10 f3 Ae6 1 1 c3 Ad6 1 2 Ae3
b6 13 a4 0-0-0 14 a5 b7 1 5 e5!

8
7

O n the whole, the Spanish Exchange re

mains a rare g u est i n the tournament h al l .
T h u s you can also count on t h e element of
su rprise (at least in your fi rst few games with
it) and hope for a poorly prepared opponent !

3
2

Shortly after the dead l i n e for this book,

the controversial FIDE World Champion
s h i p i n Tri poli d rew the attention of the
c hess world once more to o u r variation.
The u nfancied 24 -year-old Uzbek R us
tam Kas i mdzhanov knocked out lvan c h u k ,
Grisch u k and Topalov, t h e n i n the final
d efeated the favou rite M ic h ael Adams.
Kas i mdzhanov e m p l oyed the Spanish Ex
change variation as a very effective weapon ;
after beat i n g G risc h u k with it, he i nflicted a
crush i n g d efeat on M ichael Adams with our
variat i o n . And i n the final t i e - b reak game,
with the title at stake, he p l aced h i s faith
once more i n this open ing variation and was
not disappoi nted ! (see the Illustrative Games
Vescovi- Milos (p. 36), G/ek- Tkachiev (p. 71)
and Nisipeanu - Sofronie (p. 58)) .

1 5. . . Ae7 1 6 !:txd8 Axd8 17 t!le4 c6?

18 a xb6 cxb6 1 9 bxc5!

8
7

5
4
3
2

10

1 . 1 The structure of this book and how to use it

1.1 The st r u ct u re of thi s b o o k a n d

how t o u s e i t

Berl i n Wal l (3 . . . f6) , are s u bj ects i n their

own right. I nc i d ental ly, many of the strate
gic problems that Wh ite has to contend with
in this fashionable endgame result from the
c i rc u m stance that Wh ite's e - Pawn has al
ready advanced to e5 , which has some dis
advantages. Thus Black has play on the light
squares , and the pawn itself can become a
weakness on e5. As we shall freq uently see
in "our" Spanish Exchange variation, the e
pawn shou l d general ly remain at e4 for some
considerabl e t i m e , w h i c h keeps the wh ite
pawn structu re essentially more flexible and
m i n i m ises Black's counterpl ay.

his is a repertoi re - book, desig ned for

tournament players i n search of an ef
fective, q u ickly l earnable and a p p l i
cable open i n g system . The wh ite p l ayer is
supplied with a complete repertoire after the
open ing moves 1 e4 e5 2 f3 c6 3 Ab5
a6 4 Axc6. Against each of Black's standard
set-ups I recommend the one white continu
ation that, in the present state of knowledge,
offers the best chances. In a few cases I
also provide a second string , m ostly when
it is not entirely clear to me which variation
deserves preference. Sometimes it is simply
because there is a second, eq ually attractive,
possibil ity.

A small suggestion : agai nst the sharp Schlie

mann Defence 3 . . . f5 the exchange idea
4 Ax c6 ! ? d x c6 5 c3, fol l owed by 6 e2 ,
appears to offer good chances and is well
worth considering !

Th is is n ot a "scientific" work that aims for

com plete coverage of all the possi b i l ities for
each side. The a i m is rather to enable the
wh ite p l ayer to use the Exchange Variation
with success as q u i ckly as possible!

Thus as White we can be sure that "our" ex

change variation w i l l appear on the board
more than 50% of the time.

The player of the black p ieces i n search of

a weapon against the Exchange Vari ation
will not g o e m pty- h an d ed either; there is a
section contai n i n g everyt h i n g B lack needs
to know to be able to play 5 . . . Ag4 ! ? , which
in my opinion is the l i n e that offers B lack
the best chances at the moment. Black can
gain good play agai nst Wh ite's usual reci pes
against 5 . . . Ag4 !? (although with a more pre
cise move order I bel ieve Wh ite can retai n a
mini mal advantage!) But also i n other l i nes
the m aterial suppl ied here can be the basis
for further researc h .

I recommend that you beg i n by studying the

typical themes and playing through the I l lus
trative Games, without devoting very much
attention at this stage to the related complex
of variations. Then it would be best to p l ay
some trai ning games (even bl itz or rapid-play
games) to d evelop a feel for the positional
patterns.
After that it would be a good idea to study
the respective variations thorough ly, since it
easier to learn the material empirical ly in the
context of your own games. However if, be
fore playing i n a tournament, you know that
an o p ponent h as a favou rite variation , this
should natural ly be taken fu lly i nto account.

Naturally the Exchange Variation can n ot

solve a l l your p roblems after 1 e4 e5. The
Petroff o r the various deviations for Black
on move t h ree, such as the fashionable

11

1 Historical I ntroduction

The theoretical material is i n corporated i nto

the respective I l lustrative Games. The I ndex
of Variations with Key Positions should allow
you q u ickly to find you r way aro u n d .

one or other of my suggestions, the u n der

standing that you w i l l have acqu i red w i l l en
able you to develop your own i nterpretation
of the Exchange Spanish !

A n d even i f , after some experience with t h i s

openi n g , you f i n d that y o u are unhappy with

Stefan Kindermann

Techn ical i nformation :

To enable the reader to find his way around an I l l ustrative Game without any hitch, different
printing styles are used in the notation :
- 1 e4 eS 2 thf3 thc6 3 Abs a6 4 Axc6 (actual moves of the I l l ustrative Game)

- 9 .b.d6?! 10 aS! bS 11 c4! (ital icised , bold - the main l i n e of a theoretically i m po rtant
sub -variation)
...

12

2 Typical Positions
(1 ) The typ i c a l p a w n en di n g
a

1 c5
1 . h5 would c reate a weakness at g5 and
the wh ite king would have a safe route : 2 f2
e7 3 g3 f6 4 h4 g6 5 g4 ! ("damaging"
the wh ite structu re, but enabling the su bse
q uent creation of an outside passed pawn
on the h -file) 5 .. . h xg4 6 xg4 c5 7 e5+ e6
8 g5 c4 9 h4 b5 10 f5+ ! g xf5 11 h5 +- .

...

. .

2 e2 b5
2 . . . c4 3 e3 c5 4 e5 d7 5 e4 c6 6 c3
b6 7 f5 b5 8 g4 +- .
a

3 e3 e7 4 g4 f6
4 . .. e6 5 g 5 ! (5 e5 - as in many other cases
that we shall come across , here too the
early advance of the wh ite e -pawn does
n ot rep resent the optimal wh ite strategy.
5...c;!;d5) 5 . . .a5 6 f3 ! c4 7 c3 c5 8 g4
b4 9 a4 g6 1 0 e5 (first the e - pawn advances,
then the wh ite king reaches e4 by m eans
of zugzwang) 10 . e7 (10...c;!;d5 11 c;!;t3 b3
12 h3 c;!;e6 13 c;!;e4) 11 f3 d7 1 2 e4 e6.
5 h4 h6

Next we shall h ave a look at Wh ite's d ream

and Black's n i g htmare i n the Exchange
Span ish , namely the pawn end i n g .
In nearly every variation o f this open i n g ,
sooner o r later Wh ite advances d2-d4, after
which there is an exchange of the black e
pawn for the wh ite d - pawn and the typical
structure in question appears. To begin with,
this fundamental d efect i n the black pawn
structure is compensated for by his pair of
bishops , but only too often B l ac k su bse
quently fi nds he h as to g ive u p the bishop
pai r on concrete g rounds. After that however
Black's basic problem becomes horri bly ap
parent : h e is unable (if W h ite p l ays it right!)
to create a passed pawn on the q u eenside,
whereas on the kingside Wh ite can d o pretty
wel l whatever he wants.

. .

Or 5 . . . a5 6 g 5 .

As we shal l see from some exa m p l e varia

tions, a pure pawn ending is, "under normal
circu mstances" a simple loss for Black. Then
we shal l exam ine some of the basic mecha
nisms i nvolved in the correct han d l i ng of the
white pawns.

Here we s e e t h e typical wh ite pawn

advance, which resem bles that of a G reek
phalanx (th e battl e formation of the ancient

13

2 Typical Positions

G reek army) . We shall come across many

examples of this.

..

h
8

6. . . c4
6 . . . e6 7 f3 c4 8 g xf6 gxf6
(8 . . . xf6 9 g4 b4 1 0 e5+ e6 1 1 c3
(1 1 'i!;g5 a4) 1 1 . . . a4

Also i n t h i s position we see an i m portant

wh ite motif in the pawn end i n g .
Contrary to the c l assical ru l e o f " cand idate
first " , here the f-pawn advances first, to
make roo m for the wh ite k i n g . In concrete
terms, this development depends on the
pawn sacrifice on move 8 .

With the d readfu l threat of the p i n cer- l ever

. . . a4-a3 . As h as already been m entioned ,
thou g h , as long as W h ite p l ays correctly,
B lack can n ot create a passed pawn on the
q u eenside. That is precisely the d i sadvan
tage of the d o u b led pawns ! 12 a3 ! (but
not 12 cxb4 ?? a3 -+), and Wh ite wins, e. g . :
1 2 . . . b3 13 g5 c6 14 h5 c5 1 5 g4 h6 1 6 f3
f5 17 e3 e6 1 8 e4)

6 e5 ? fxe5 7 f x e 5 ( 7 f5 <!Jf6 8 'i!l e 4 c4, and

now White is in zugzwang) 7 . . . g 5 8 h5 e6
9 e4 a5 and aga i n W h ite is in zugzwan g ,
since Black has many tem po-moves on the
queenside i n reserve.

9 g4 b4 10 c3 (10 <!Jh5 a4 1 1 <!Jh6 b3

12 cxb3 a3) 1 0 . . . a4 (10 . . . f5+ 1 1 exf5+ <!Jf6
12 'i!lf3 'i!lxf5 13 h5) 1 1 a3

6 . .. c4 7 4 d6 8 eS+ !
This pawn sacrifice m a kes the rest of the
w h ite i nfantry o n the kingside mobile and
leads to a w i n .

7 <!Jd4 @d6 8 e5+

Here the early advance of the wh ite e - pawn
makes sense, since the wh ite king can i m
med iately i nvade the black queenside.

8 . fxeS+
.

8 . . . e7 9 exf6+ g xf6 10 g5.

8. . . fxe5+ 9 fxe5+ r!ld7 (9. . . <!Je6 10 <!Jc5

'i!lxe5 1 1 <!lxb5) 10 r!lc5 c6 11 e6+ r!lxe6
12 r!lxc6.

9 e4 b4 1 0 c3 as 1 1 gS hxgS 1 2 hxgS c6
13 g6! cs
13 . . . e7 14 xe5 a4 1 5 a3 b3 1 6 e4 f6
1 7 f4 c5 1 8 e4.

6 fS!

1 4 f6, and a wh ite pawn q ueens.

(see next diagram)

14

(2) The pawn ending in practice

(2) The p a w n en di n g i n p ra ct i ce
pied black q ueenside and the m o b i l e wh ite
m ajority on the kingside!

Ni s i p e a n u (2606) S e b a g (2394)
7t h Neckar Open, Deizisau 2003
-

31 .. . xe6 32 gxe7+ xe7 33 e3 16

34 t4 15 35 13 h6 36 g4+ 16 37 e4 c6
38 c3

h
8

The zugzwang enables the Wh ite to advance

in comfort on the kingside.

38 . . . e6
38 . . . c4 39 d4

39 g5 c4 40 t5+ 17 41 g x h6 g x h6 42 e5
c5 43 t6
e

c
d -
-a
b-

h
-9-

43 d5 also w i n s : 43 . . . @f6 44 xc5 g5

(44 . . . r!?xf5 45 'i!?xb5 @g5 46 r!?xa4 r!?xh5
47 ri?b5) 45 f6 !

31 Elf7 ! +-

43 . . . ta 44 t4 gs 45 e4 ta 46 e5
e8 47 d5 t7 48 xc5 xt6 49 x b5
g5 50 xa4 1-0

Now Black is forced i nto the "nightmare end

i ng", the pure pawn endgame with the crip-

15

2 Typi cal Po sition s

(3) Whi te's p l ay o n the ki n g s i de:

the pha l a n x
Em. L a s ker - Ja n ow s k i
World Championsh i p , Paris 1 909
3 rd Game

Phalanx - to advance first. S u rprising ly, af

ter f4-f5 the res u lting weakness of the e5squares often plays no part ; more im portant,
in point of fact, is that B lack l acks an effec
tive pawn lever! (in this respect compare a/so
the classic games Lasker- Capablanca (p. 8)
and Fischer- Unzicker (p. 8) in the historical
section!)
However, i n many instances the optimal se
q uence consists i n advanc i n g g4 and h 4 ,
w h i lst the wh ite f- Pawn stays put a t f 3 i n a
supporting role, and advances further only at
a favourabl e moment (when e4 has enough
support ! ) .
20 e5 ? ! tt::lc 6 2 1 g4 (2 1 h4 h5) 2 1 . . . g 5 !

20...f6 2 1 g 4 Eie7 2 2 Af4 Eihe8 2 3 Eie3 c6

24 g5 a5?!

20 f5!

24 . . . fxg5 ! 25 Axg5 tt::\ e 5+ 26 i>t4 l"!.f7 would

i n this special case (because of the weak
ened wh ite queenside pawns) have sufficed
for equal ity but, even after Black's fau lty play,
the way Wh ite proceeds here is very instruc
tive !

I n this and the following exa m ples we see

one of the real keys to h a n d l i n g the Ex
change Variation : the correct way to acti
vate the kingside pawns ! It is almost always
wrong to advance the e - pawn too soon ,
since then Black has a start i n g point for h i s
counterplay : the l evers . . . f 6 a n d . . . g5 come
i nto consideration ; also the f5 square can
play an i m portant role.

2 5 h 4 tilc4 2 6 Eie2 Eif7 2 7 Ei g 1 d7 2 8 h5!

tild6
28 . . . fxgS makes the white e -pawn too pow
erful : 29 l3.xg5 l3.ee7 30 e5 i>c6 31 e6.

As was already mentioned i n the i ntroduc

tion , the only reaso n why the fashionable
and structurally closely-re l ated Berl i n De
fence has becom e so popular, i n spite of
Black's ren unciation of cast l i n g , is that the
wh ite pawn is bad ly placed on e5 ! To be sure,
this contrad icts the classical m otto of N i m
zowitsch : "candidate fi rst ! " , b u t i t h as been
proved to be su bstantially m o re effective
to allow the other pawns - as in the G reek

29 h6 !
The classic p i n cer-lever destroys the black
structure.

29...fxg5 30 Eixg5 g6?!

30 . . . g x h6 31 l3.h5 .

3 1 fxg6 h x g6 3 2 Eixg6 Eief8 3 3 Eig7 Eixg7

34 hxg7 Eig8 35 Eig2 tile8?! 36 Ae5 e6
37 14 17 38 f5 1-0

16

(3) Wh ite 's play on the kingsid e : the phalanx

E m . Las ker - Tarrasch

World Championsh i p
Dusseldorf/M unich 1 908, 1st Game

36 'f!.e3! 'f!. h 1 37 l0g3 'f!. h4+ 38 es 'f!.h3

39 f4
Lasker has created wonderful harmony be
tween his rem ai n i ng pieces. U nder the wing
of h i s m ig hty King , the f-Pawn sets off on
its way to q u ee n , w h i l st B l ack's extra pawn
remains completely useless.

3 9 . . . d 8 4 0 f S Eih4 4 1 f 6 g xf6+ 4 2 xf6

Ae8 43 lOfS Eif4 44 g6 h x g6 4S hxg6 'f!.g4
46 lhe8+ xe8 47 g7 d7 48 l0h4 Elxg7
49 xg7 e6 SO l0f3 ts S1 f7 e4
S2 e6 d3 S3 d6 c3 54 xc6 xb3
SS bS 1 - 0

27

R o m ero Ho l m es (2460)
va n d er Sterre n (2475)
Wij k aan Zee 1 991

hS!

A white

knight is often very effectively posted

at h5, from where it exerts unpleasant pres
sure on the pawn- base g7, f6 .

27 . . . 'f!.e7

28 g4

The wh ite m ajority sets in motio n ; we shal l

see lots of examples of this.
2 8 . . . c6

29 h4 c7 30 gs
31 ti)g3 fxe4 32 ti)xe4

I am not convinced that Lasker, in this match

game that was im portant for both players, al
ways chooses the best continuation, but the
whole cou rse of the game is very instructive
nonetheless.

33 hS 'f!.d7 34 'f!.c3 !?

brave, "cou nter- intu itive" move ! Lasker

cedes the open file to his o p ponent, s i n ce
there would be no real w i n n i ng chances if
the rooks came off: 34 xd7+ xd7 35 f4
'i!?e6 .
A

34 . . . 'f!.d1

h
8

N ow we shal l look at a modern and exem

plary case wh ich i l l ustrates Wh ite's proce
dure on the kingside. Romero begins by ad
van c i ng the g - pawn and post i ng the knight
b e h i n d it, only advanc i ng the f-pawn at the
right moment. Meanwh ile Black lacks effec
tive counterplay.

32 fxe4 !?
3 2 . . . AfS

30 tllg 3 !?
3 0 . . .fS

1 9 g4! b6 20 ti)g3 cs 21 c3
Scotch i ng Black's idea of . . . c4-c3 .

3S f4 Ad7?

Now Lasker's w i l l -to-w i n tri u m phs. I n stead ,

35 . xe4 ! 36 fxe4 (36 f!fxe4 flh 1) 36 . . . d6
wou ld save the game.

21 . . . l0c6 22 f4 Ae6 23 h3 g6 24 e2 Eld3

2S Eid1 'f!.xd1 26 xd1 d7 27 e2 e7
28 fS!

. .

17

2 Typical Po sition s

All i n accordance with Lasker's exa m p l e :

start b y push ing t h e f-pawn !

28... At7 29 At4 g5 30 Ac7 b5 31 t1 d7

32 Ag3 e5? 33 Axe5 fxe5 34 e3 d6
35 12 c6 36 h4!
Enables the b l ac k position to be breached ,
si nce the fol lowi n g weakness is practically
forced .

The decisive m istake ! N ow after e4-e5 the

square e4 becomes accessible to the wh ite
k i n g . B lack should have tried 35 . . . a4.

36 e5 fxe5 37 fxe5 l:if7+ 38 e4 Ele7 39 Eld6

Ele8 40 f5
The k n i g ht reaches its optimal advanced
post with decisive effect.

40... Ad7 41 xg7 ElgB 42 Elg6 1-0

36 . .. h6
36 . . . g x h4 37 g2 .

R ozent a l i s (2605) - Gret a r s s o n (2450)

Liechtenstei n Open 1 996

37 f6!
Taking advantage of the weakness that h as
arisen at h6.

37 . . . d7 38 f5 gx h4 39 xh6 Ag6 40 f3
e6 41 gs h3 42 ts Ah5+ 43 g3 h 2
4 4 xh2 At3 4 5 g 3 Ah1
45 . . . Axe4 46 f 7 .

4 6 12 1-0

R ozenta l i s (261 0) - Ha s a n ov (2265)

Toronto Open 1 998
a

27 h5!

8
7

A good reaction to the black kingside pawn

structure with h6. Wh ite fixes the black
pawns, before advan c i n g h i s own g -and f
pawns.

27. . . c6 28 g4 d6 29 d2!

Keeping the knig hts o n (since as a rule a

k n i g ht e n d i n g with "an extra half-paw n " of
fers g reater w i n n i n g chances than a roo k
endi ng) a n d a t t h e same t i m e controlling the
c4 square, which the black kn ight might oth
erwise be able to use for a cou nterattack at
some point.

{)-

30 f1 !

29 .. . d7 30 e3 l:if6 31 f4

Rozentalis redeploys the Knight to g3, i n or

der to bolster e4 and thus enable the f-pawn
to advance.

N ow Wh ite h as an optimal formation for his

kingside pawns.

30. . . c7 31 g3 AcB 32 f4 Ele7 33 13

Ad7 34 f1 Aca 35 e3 Ae6?!

31 ... c6 32 b3 ma 33 t3 f7 34 Ele3 d6?

35 c4+ 1-0

18

(3) White 's play on the king side : the phalanx

R ozent a l i s (2650) Wed b erg (2480)

N ew York Open 1 997
-

Cleari ng the f4 square for the knight.

47 . . . 17 48 f4 e5 49 c3 e7 50 xh5
d3 51 f4 e1 52 a4 1-0

e
8

4 4...h 5+ 45 f3 17 46 e3 e6 47 f5+ !

7
6

37

Mi l u (241 5) Vajda (2325)

Bucharest 1 995
-

'Lr

5
4

h4!

Prepares the advance of the g - pawn , and

presents Black with an awkward d i lemma.

3 7 . . . e6
.___c
e
h {}
a
b d
9

::..__

If 37 . . . h6 then 38 h 5 ! fol l owed by tDe2-g3f5! Now the square f5 becomes an advanced

post for the wh ite knight. From there it exerts
pressure on g7, whi lst the wh ite king invades
the q u eenside. An exchange of knig hts o n
f5 wou l d , however, i n most cases be an
swered by gxf5 ! with a winning pawn end ing
for Wh ite.
38

24 g4!
H ere too it is wel l worth noting the right way
for Wh ite to proceed : fi rst advance the h-,
g- and f-pawns i n a phalanx, meanwh ile for
tifying the e-pawn in its position.

24

b5 d7 39 g5!

If Black now exchanges on g 5 , after h x g 5 !

the wh ite e - pawn becomes a protected
passed pawn.
3 9 . . . e6

. . .

c5 25 bxc5 bxc5 26 Ae3 c4 27 b4!

Obvious but i m portant : now the black

q ueenside is crippled .

27... c6 28 f4 es
28 . . . tDxb4? 29 Ac5+ .

40 g xf6 g xf6

2 9 c 3 d7

Black has prevented the creation of a pro

tected passed paw n , but i n stead the black
f- and h-pawns now become targets for the
wh ite knight.

Better is 29 . . . a5 !

30 g3 d8 31 g5!
Wh ite has sent his pawns into the fray in typ
ical fashion ; despite the opposite -coloured
bishops, B lack is d rifting i nto great danger.

41 c3 d7 42 d5 17 43 13 g6
44 g4!

31 . . . b7 32 Ad4

The strong th reat of 45 h5+ fol l owed by

46 <;tits i n d uces Black to p l ay the fol l ow
ing pawn move, which, however, resu lts in a
decisive weakness at h 5 .

This i n d u ces B lack to exchange on g 5 , but

this increases the value of Wh ite's pawns.

32...fxg5 33 hx g5 g6 34 e3 d6 35 f5 !

19

2 Typical Positions

Once more the e - pawn stays " at h ome"; i n

many l i nes t h i s move creates a n excellent
square at f4 for the wh ite king. If 35 e5 , then
35 . . . tDf5 .

O n 39 c x d 6 would come 40 tDe4 then

41 tDf6.
. . .

40 e4+ <!>e7

35 . . . g xf5 36 exf5 Ad5 37 Ae5

After 40 . . . e7 41 e5 decides.

Or 37 f4 .

3 7 . . . Af7 3 8 <!> d 4 <!>c6 3 9 Axd6 <!>xd6

1-0

20

(4) Wh ite 's play in the centre

(4) White's p l ay i n the cen t re

G l e k (2565) l bra g i m ov (2590)
Vienna Open 1 998

Me ijers (2475) - l u l d a chev (251 6)

Dieren Open 2002

I.

3
2

1
a

\)'

Black strugg les with all h i s m i g ht to pre

vent the wh ite d-pawn from advanc i n g two
squares. N evertheless this rep resents the
right way to activate the wh ite game and
pun ish Black's l agging development.
12
15

\)'

Here too the open ing of the centre by d4, fol

lowed b y t h e exchange o f the black bishop,
makes it poss i b l e for W h ite to i nvade the
seventh ran k.

1 9 . . . exd4 20 cxd4 cxd4 21 xd6+ Elxd6

21 . . . cxd6 22 gxd4 tbe6 23 gd5 g5 24 gc6 .

Wh ite has excel lent com pensation for the

sacrificed pawn .

22 Elxc7+ c;!> g 8 2 3 El x d 4 El x d 4 2 4 Axd4

e6 25 Eld7 Elc8 26 Ae3 Elc2+ 27 Eld2 Elc6
28 f4 g6 29 b4 b5 30 Eld7 Elc2+ 31 <!>13 Elc3
32 Eld6 <!>17 33 Elxa6 d4+ 34 g2 c2
35 Ela7+ gs 36 Acs Elxa3 37 Elb7 [1-0 ]

16 c2 Eld8 17 '@'b3 @ca 18 e1 !

The knight is optimally placed on d3. (com

pare the analysis embedded in the Ill ustra
tive Game Nisipeanu- Sofronie (p. 58), Vari
ation [b] on page 59 )
.

1a . . . Ad6

9 d4!

d4! cxd4 13 c xd4 exd4 1 4 At4 @d7

lfac1

15 . . . c6

19 d3l55 [112-112]

21

2 Typical Po sition s

G l e k (2505) - W i n a nts (251 5)

Germany, 2 n d leag ue 1 998
a

L o b ro n (2575) - Kha l if m a n (2625)

SWI FT rapi d , Brussels 1 992

.!
.l .l

7
6

6
5
4

{}

In this position, the doubled f-pawns red uce

Wh ite's structural advantage. But even here
d3-d4, p l ayed at the right moment, g ives
Wh ite the s l i g htly better game. The bad ly
posted bishop o n d 6 is a target ; Wh ite can
exchange it at the right moment (on ly then !),
either creating a weak pawn on d6 or pene
trating on c7.

{}

1 1 c4 !
A typical method of play in this structure : the
unpleasant possibility of Wh ite's playing c4c5 induces Black to exchange on d4, which
activates Wh ite's kin g 's knight i n particul ar.

1 1 ... exd4 1 2 .!hxd4 cS 1 3 .!hfS ! 0-0

1 S d4! cxd4 1 6 cxd4 ghd8 17 gac1 Ae7

1 3 . . . Axf5 1 4 exf5 ttJe7 1 5 tLle4 tLlxf5

1 6 Axc5.

17 . . . exd4 18 tLlxd6+ cxd6 1 9 El.xd4 (19 !1c7+

r!le6 20 !1xd4 !1d7) 1 9 . . . 'it>e6 20 f4.

14 xd6 cxd6 1S f3 Ae6 16 @'b6 @'d7

17 gfd1

18 dS

The backward black d -Pawn prom ises Wh ite

a slight but permanent advantage.

Threatens the unpleasant 19 ttJa5 and makes

the black c -pawn weak.

17...gac8 1 8 b3 gc6 1 9 '@'as fS 20 e xfS

AxfS 21 f1 @'d8 22 @'xd8 gxd8 23 g3
Ae6 24 e4 b6 2S c3 h6 26 gd2 .!he7
27 gad1 ;!;; [1 -0 ]

18... as 19 gd2 a4 20 gdc2 bS?! 21 a3

b4 22 .!hbS gas 23 xc7 b3 24 a x b3 a x b3
2S gc3 [1 -0 ]

22

(4) Wh ite 's play in the centre

Gle k (2566) - va n d e n D o el (2547)

Wij k aan Zee 1 999

20 f4! ;!;;
After t h i s Black m ust take i nto account not
only a pawn exchange fol l owed by pressure
on g 5 and o perations o n the f-fi le, but also
f4-f5 . O n the other hand , a black exchange
on f4 would resu lt i n a pawn on f6 that would
need constant care.

20.. . 94 21 hx94 h x 94+ 22 Elh2 tfie6

23 Elx h8 Elx h8+ 24 92 b5

The rol e of the wh ite f-pawn(s) .

14 f4
Dissolving the doubled pawns and activating
Wh ite's game.
14 . . exf4 15 Axf4 0 -0 - 0 16 A93 tfi96
17 h1 Ac5 18 191 tfif8 1 9 192 g5
.

h
8
7

25 f5!
Isolates the blac k g - pawn and fixes the op
posing f-pawn on a dark square.

25.. . 95 26 a5 d7 27 Elh1 Elxh1

28 xh1 tfit3 29 92 tfid4?! 30 At2 Ab6
31 i.xd4 i.xd4 32 c3 [1 -0]

i}

23

2 Typical Po sition s

(5) White's p l ay o n the qu een s i de a n d i n

the cen t re
Rein d e r m a n (2542) - P i ket (2609)
Wij k aan Zee 1 999
a

.I.

C reating weaknesses i n the opposing

q ueenside, which will be of great im portance
after the game opens u p . (compare with the
corresponding Ill ustrative Game Fressinet
Stefansson (p. 52).)

1 0 d4 would be less effective i n this position :

1 0 . . . cxd4 1 1 cxd4 exd4 1 2 tl:lcxd4 c5 .
5

1 0 . . . 96 1 1 a x b5 a x b5 1 2 i:Ixa8+ .axa8
1 3 d4!

Only by opening the centre can Wh ite cash

i n his l ead i n development.

13 . .. exd4 1 4 cxd4 .ae1

b c

h
d
e-
g
a

-
-

14 . . . c x d 4 15 tl:lcx d 4 , and ihe weakness on

b5 is u n p l easant for Black.

I n this position Wh ite h as two i m portant

levers avai lable, both of which are employed
in the next few moves.
10 a4!

15 We2 .ac6 16 d x c5 Wxc5 17 cd4 0 -0

18 xc6 Wxc6 1 9 d4 b6 20 x b5 E:Ib8
21 c3 [Y2-Y2]

24

(6) White ' s play on the queen side

(6) White's p l ay o n the queen s i de

Wo m a cka (2484) - Golod (2523)
Bad Wiessee 2002

Gle k (2565) - Acs (2450)

Budapest 1 998
a

8
7

6
5

3
2

2
1

.s
a

10

'(!

10 . . . c4

Si nce the central advance d2-d4 h as been

stym ied , Wh ite d i rects his fu l l attention to the
queenside!
11

axb5 a x b5 12 Elxa8+ Axa8 13 a3! c6

b3!

Breaki ng up the black formation and activat

ing the wh ite q ueen .
14 . . . cxb3

1 5 Wx b3 96 1 6 c4!

A very strong move, the point of which fol

lows i m med i ately. . .
16 . . . b4

17 c5!

C lears c4 for the k n i g ht , after which Wh ite

has overwhel m i ng p ressu re in the centre.
Once again we see this : only by opening the
centre can the opponent's development lag
be pun ished !
17 . . . @x c5

18 tll c4 Ae7 1 9 Ab2 0-0

If 19 . . . f6 20 a1 Ab7 2 1 a5 .
20

'(!

An i m portant theoretical position in the vari

ation with 5 . . . f6 6 d4 e x d 4 . Here we can
see the correct way for Wh ite to expose the
d isadvantages of Black's position.
1 3 tll a 5!
13 tbd4 i s too feeble i n comparison : 13 . . . tLle7
1 4 d2 tiJg6 1 5 Ae3 Ad6 oo.
1 3 . . . Ac5+ 14 11 b5
14 . . . Ab4 ? 15 Axe? !
1 5 a4!?
This new move represents a plausible way to
attack the black q u eenside. The trad itional
m ove is 1 5 tbd5 , but this does not p rom ise
any particular advantage if Black reacts cor
rectl y : 1 5 . . . tbe7 ! 1 6 Axe? tbx d 5 1 7 xd5
xc7 18 xc5+ <i;>b6 19 b4 c x b3 2 0 tb x b3
Ae6cxs .
1 5 . . . tll e7 16 a x b5 a x b5?
Better i s 16 . . . Ax b5 ! t (see the Illustrative
Game Womacka - Golod! (p. 26)) .
17 Ag3 El he8 18 b3! Ab4 1 9 Ae1 cx b3
20 ttlx b3 b8 21 ttle2!
The exchange of the d ark-sq uared bishops
opens u p wonderfu l prospects for the white
knights on d4 and c5.
21 . . . Axe1 22 xe1 Ae6 23 ttled4 [1 -0]

a4!

Com pare with Rei nderman n - Pi ket (p. 24) !

14

tll f xe5 Wa7 2 1 El a 1 @ b7 22 d4 [0 -1 ]

25

3 Illustrative Games
Theoretical section
3. 1 The c l a s s i c a l 5 . . . f6 6 d4 exd4
3. 1 . 1 T h e tra d i t i o n a l 5 . . .f6 6 d4 exd4 7 xd4 c5 8 b 3
(2484) - Golod (2523)
Bad Wiessee 2002

Womacka

options open regarding the optimal post for

the queen's knight, which i n many cases can
be effectively developed via d2 or a3 .

1 e4 e5 2 f3 c6 3 Abs a6 4 Axc6

5 . . . f6

Actually this is a very logical move. Wh ite

accepts B l ack's invitation and carries out his
"threat " .

4 . . . d x c6 5 0-0!

.___ab
c d-

g
h_
-

___,

The classical and m ost common m ove i n

t h i s position . T h e w h ite response is p rac
tically forced , since oth erwise B l ac k could
reach a very good position by . . . c5, followed
by Cbe7-c6.

6 d4
Our repertoire move, which is generally rated
more h i g h l y these days than the older con
tinuations 5 d4 and 5 Cbc3 . Fi rst of al l Wh ite
com pletes the development of h i s kingside,
which is particularly i m po rtant i n the varia
tion with 5 . . . f6, so that after an exchange of
queens on d1 Wh ite will be able to recapture
with the rook. At the same time, Wh ite keeps

I n t h i s way W h ite h opes to c reate an ad

vantageous pawn structu re with an " extra
half-pawn up" advantage on the kingside.

6 . . . exd4
6 . . . Ag4 !? leads to complex play and is covered in the I l l u strative Game Baklan - Ka l l i o
(p. 42).

26

3 . 1 . 1 The trad itional 5 . f6 6 d4 exd4 7 tt:\xd4 c5 8 tt:\b3 ( Womacka - Golod)

. .

7 xd4 c5
Avoiding the exchange of q u eens is very
dangerous for B l ac k , consideri n g h i s lag i n
development a n d the weakness created by
. . . f6 :
a) 7 . . . lfDe7 8 Ae3 lfDg6 9 h5 Ad6 1 0 lfDf5
0-0 11 f4 e8 1 2 lfDd2 Axf5 1 3 xf5 l"&d8
14 l"&ad1 (14 lXae 1 ) 1 4 . . . l"&f7 [112-112] H art
ston - U nzicker, [chT] Vienna 1 972 ;

ttJ

a second stri n g (see the Illustrative Game

Vescovi- Milos (p. 36)) . From the white point
of view, it is very pleasant to be able to play
for a win with m i n i mal risk of losi n g . In most
cases, a pure pawn ending w i l l now be win
ning for Wh ite, si nce Black will not be able to
force the creation of a passed pawn on the
q ueenside. N aturally therefore this variation
is very appeal ing to "endgame-lovers" !

b) 7 . . Ad6 8 h5+ g6 9 f3 Axh2+ [9 . . . e7

10 Af4 Ad? (10 . . . e5!? 1 1 c3 Y/!d6 12 xe5
fxe5 13 CZJb3 CZJf6 14 CZJa3 0-0 15 lXad 1
!We7 16 Y!!e3 [112-112] Wittmann - Mokry, {ch T]
Austria 1996) 1 1 lfD d 2 0-0-0 1 2 l"&fd1 Axf4
1 3 'l:lxf4 g5 14 e3 ci;>b8 15 tl:\c4 lfDh6 16 lfDa5
b4 17 lfi)db3 lfDg4 18 c5 x e4 19 lfDx b7
xb7 20 a3 c,!;>a7 2 1 lfDc5 e2 22 l"&d2
b5 23 tl:\xd7 l"&he8 24 l"&ad1 l"&e2 25 h3 lfDe5
26 .!'!xe2 x e2 27 c5+ ci;> b7 28 b4+ ci;>c8
29 b8# 1-0 M aljuti n - Korneev, Wisla [op]
1992] 1 0 ci;> x h 2 xd4 11 l"&d1 c4 1 2 Af4
f7 13 b3 xb3 1 4 a x b3 Ae6 1 5 Ax e?
h6 16 lfDc3 0-0 17 lfDa4 l"&ae8 1 8 lfDc5 Ac8
19 f3 [1 -0] Hecht - G l igoric, Teeside 1 972 .

. . .

tl!fxd 1 9 Eixd1 Ag4

This s u btle bishop-move has replaced all

other contin uations here. Black wants to pro
voke the advance of the wh ite f- paw n , i n
order t o b e a b l e t o play c5-c4 and then d e
velop t h e bishop t o c 5 with check.

8 b3

[a] 9

Considered objectively, this offers W h ite

more chances of advantage than 8 lfDe2 .
However, the l ess theoretical m ove of the
knight to e2 is well worth consideri n g as

. . .

d6?! 10 a5! b5 11 c4!

As the fol l ow i n g classic game shows, the

weakness of c5 causes Black a lot of pro b
l e m s : 1 1 . . . lfDe7 1 2 Ae3 f 5 1 3 lfDc3 f 4 1 4 e5

27

3 I l l ustrative Games - Theoretical section

Axe5 15 Ax c5 Axc3 16 b x c3 tLlg6 17 CLic6

Ae6 18 c x b5 ax b5 19 CLia7 g b8 20 gdb1
f7 2 1 CLix b5 ghd8 2 2 E!.b4 Axa2 2 3 CLixc7
E!. bc8 24 h4 E!.d2 25 Ab6 f3 26 Ae3 E!.e2
27 b5 E!.a8 28 h5 e5 29 E!.f4+ e7 30 E!.d1
E!.c8 31 ge4 f6 32 E!.d6+ f5 33 E!.f4+ g5
34 E!.xf3+ 1-0 Fischer- Portisc h , [ol] H avana
1 966.

23 f3 E!.e8 24 E!.ad1 Ae6 2 5 E!.e1 E!.e7 26 E!.d6

1-0 Arizmendi M arti n ez - Frani c , Olomouc
1 999.
12 l1xd8+ @xdB 13 l1d1+
1 3 a4 ! ? Ad6 (13 . . . xb3 14 cxb3 .fle7
1 S J'J.d1+ f!?c8 1 6 .fldS .flxdS 17 J'J.xdS e7
18 e3 J'J.e8 19 f3 b6 20 d2 d6 2 1 c3
'i!?d7 Y2-Y2 Adorjan - Vogt, [wch-u20] Stock
holm 1969) 14 E!.d1 Axb3 15 c x b3 d7
1 6 tLld5 c6 1 7 b4 b6 1 8 bxc5 bxc5 1 9 E!.c1
Axf4 20 CLixf4 tLJe7 21 tLle6 E!.b8 22 CLixc5
d6 23 CLixa6 E!.x b2 24 CLixc7 1-0 Adorjan
N agy, [ch] H u ngary 1 968.
13. . . f!lcB 14 dS .l.xdS 15 l1xd5 b6
16 l1d2!?
16 E!.d1 CLie7 17 tLld2 tLlc6 (1 7. . . .flg6 18 g3
d6 19 'i!?f1 J'J.e8 20 f3 xg3 2 1 hxg3 .fleS
22 f!?e2 f!ib7 23 J'J.h 1 h6 24 J'J.hS t 'i!?c6
2S f!?e3 as 26 a4 J'J.d8 2 7 f4 .flf7 28 b3 J'J.e8
29 .flf3 'i!?d7 30 g4 gs 31 g3 J'J.g8 32 es
f!?e7 33 'i!?e4 gxf4 34 gxf4 'i!?e6 3S fS+ f!?e7
36 'i!?f4 fxeS+ 37 .flxe5 .flxeS 38 'i!?xeS J3xg4
39 J3xh6 J'J.g2 40 J'J.h 7+ 'i!?e8 4 1 J'J.xc7 J'J.xc2
42 J'J.c6 'i!?f7 43 J3xb6 c4 44 J'J.b7+ 'i!?g8 45 'i!?f6
f3b2 46 J'J.g7+ 'i!?h8 4 7 J3g4 cxb3 48 J3g3 'i!?h 7
49 'i!?f7 'i!?h6 50 f6 J3c2 S1 J'J.xb3 J'J.c7+ 52 'i!?e6
J'J.c6+ S3 'i!?e7 J'J.a6 S4 J'J.h3+ f!;>g6 SS J'J.g3+
f!ih 7 56 f7 J'J.a 7+ S 7 'i!?f6 J'J.a6+ S8 f!ifS J3c6
S9 f8J'J.! 1-0 Malisauskas - Donchenko, [ch]
Uzhgorod 1988. This game is a very rare
exam p l e in p ractical play of a (mean i ngfu l !)
under-promotion to a rook. (59 f8V/!?? J3f6+!))
1 8 CLic4 b5 1 9 tLle3 c4 20 tLld5 tLJe5 21 Axe5
fxe5 22 f1 Ad6 23 e2 [112-112) B rag i n
M e l ikhov, Li petsk 1 993.
16. . . e7 17 c1
I l i ke this piece -set- u p .
17. . . c6
17 . . . g5 1 8 Ae3 Ag? (18. . . .flg6 19 .fle2)
1 9 CLie2 .
18 e2 .l.e7 19 c3 t.

[b] 9. . . .l.d7
In this l i n e too Wh ite retains some advan
tage.

10 c3 0-0-0 11 .l.t4 .l.e6

The best and most solid move in this pos i
tion .

a) 1 1 . . . g5 1 2 Ag3 Ae6 1 3 E!.xd8+ xd8

14 E!.d 1 + c8 15 h4 h6 1 6 d5 Axd5 1 7 E!.xd5
b6 18 h5 tDe7 19 E!.d1 Ag? 2 0 c3 f5 2 1 exf5
tLlxf5 22 Ah2 E!.e8 23 g4 tLld6 24 tLld2 ge6
2 5 f1 b5 2 6 tLlb3 tLlb7 27 E!.d5 Af8 28 f4
Ad6 29 E!.f5 c4 30 tLld4 E!.e4 31 fxg5 Ax h 2
3 2 g x h 6 E!.e7 3 3 g 2 Ad6 3 4 g5 c 5 3 5 tLlc6
E!.e8 36 g6 1-0 M eijers - Hedke, O l d e n b u rg
2001 ;
b) 11 . . . E!.e8 ? ! is a very common error
that Wh ite can p u n ish with energetic p l ay :
1 2 tLld5 !

1 2 . . . E!.xe4 13 Axe? e7 14 tLlc3 ! E!.c4 (Black

plays this move only with the g reatest rel u c
tance , b u t c5 m u st be covered . . . ) 1 5 A b 6
tLJc6 1 6 E!. d 2 (the u nfortunate position of
the black roo k and B l ack's poor d evelop
ment give Wh ite a clear advantage) 1 6 . . . E!.b4
17 tLld5 c4 18 CLix b4 Ax b4 19 c3 c x b3
20 c x b4 b x a2 2 1 E!.xa2 CLix b4 22 E!.a1 tLlc6

[c] 9. . . .l.e6
This bishop move without the i nterpol a
tion . . . Ag4/f3 is l ess explored , but perhaps
eq ually playable :

28

3 . 1 . 1 The trad itional 5 . . f6 6 d4 exd4 7 tll x d4 c5 8 tll b 3 ( Womacka - Golod)

.

10 f4 c4 11 tlld4
11 Cba5 ! ? b6 1 2 Cbc6 Ad7 1 3 Cbd4 0-0-0
14 Cbd2 l'!e8 (14. . . g4 1S.CZJ4f3) 15 f3 b5
16 a4 Ac5 1 7 Ae3 Cbe7 1 8 a x b5 axb5 19 b3
[%-1/2] Petrush i n - Kharitonov, (ch] Aktjubi nsk
1985 (19 'i!?f2 ;t) .
11. . . 0-0-0 12 tllc3 fl 13 tlld5
13 Cbf5 .xd1 + 1 4 .xd1 Cbe7 1 5 Cbx e7+ Axe?
16 Cbd5 Ad8 1 7 Cbe3 l'!e8 1 8 f3 g6 1 9 f1
(19 'i!?f2) 19 . . . f5 2 0 exf5 g5 2 1 l'!xd8+ xd8
22 Ax g5+ 1/2-1/2 Vil lard - Neverov, Eger (op]
1999 .

13. . . cs 14 c3 l1e8 15 t't:Jf5 g6 16 tllg3 c6

18 tll xe3 t't:Jh6 19 l1d4 i (112-112]
Meijers - Kharitonov, Stockholm (op] 1 998.
17 e3 xe3

10 f3 Ad7
The most freq uently encou ntered move, en
abl ing q ueenside castl i n g . H owever, in o u r
main game B l a c k i s presented w i t h fresh
problems.
10. . . e6!?

This natu ral bishop m ove also comes

strongly i nto consideratio n .
11 f4!?

A direct conti n u atio n , which I t h i n k g ives

more winning chances than the classical al
ternative 1 1 Cbc3 . I n many variations we now
reach a position with bishops of o pposite
colour but, with a pair of rooks sti l l o n the
board , Wh ite can cont i n u e to create p ro b
lems for Black.

fb

best chance of g ai n i n g the i n itiative. How

ever, the pawn can later become a weakness
at a5. 13 . . . f7 ! The best place for the king.
(13. . . 0-0-0 The dangers of this obvious
m ove were demonstrated d rastically by
Fischer. The b l ac k kin g becomes a tar
g et here ! 14 as 'i!lb 7 1S es e7 16 !'1xd8
xd8 17 <fle4 <i!?c6 18 axb6 cxb6 19 tLJbxcS
c8 20 CZJxa6 fxeS 2 1 tLJb4+ 1-0 Fischer
Spassky, [m/9} Sveti Stefan/Belgrade 1992)
1 4 a5 c4 1 5 Cbd4 b 5 . H ere the black posi
tion seems to be com pletely OK, and so far
Wh ite has not been able to prove any advan
tage. In many e n d i n g s the wh ite a5-pawn
w i l l be a serious weakness, e . g . 16 Cbxe6
xe6 1 7 Cbd5 This simple plan leaves Wh ite
with the s l i g htly better c hances, although
the s i m p l ification m akes a d raw very l i kely:
1 7 . . . Cbe7 1 8 Cbxe7 xe7 19 f2 l'!hd8 2 0 f4
.d7 (20. . . b4! 2 1 !'1xd8 !'1xd8 22 c3 d6
23 'i!?f3 'i!?e6 24 !'1d1 e7. In the bishop end
ing Black would have few defensive prob
lems: 2S !'1xd8 xd8 26 cs c6 27 b6 e7
28 g4 gS 29 fS+ 'i!?d6) 21 f3 l'!e8 22 g4.
This is a good exam p l e of Wh ite's chances
against careless/passive p l ay by Black:
2 2 . . . d 8 2 3 Af2 c8 24 h4 l'!de7 25 l'!e1
b7 2 6 c3 l'!d7 27 l'!ad1 c6 28 g5 l'!f7
29 f5 El.ff8 30 Ad4 Ae7 31 g4 Ad6 32 gxf6
g xf6 33 f3 Ae7 34 l'!g1 l'!g8 35 h5 b7
36 h6 c5 37 Ae3 c6 38 l'!g7 .xg7 39 hxg7
l'!g8 40 l'!g1 d7 41 l'! d 1 + c6 42 l'!g1 d7
4 3 Af4 b4 44 e5 b3 45 e4 <!>c6 46 exf6
Axf6 47 Ae5 1 - 0 H okkanen - G u ner, (echT]
Chalkidi ki 2002 ;
b} 1 1 Ae3 b6 1 2 a4 Cbe7 ! 1 3 Af4 c4 14 Cbd4
0-0-0 15 Cbc3 .xd4 16 .xd4 Cbg6 17 Ae3
Ac5 = [1/2-1/2] Chandler- lvanchuk, [ol] Thes
saloniki 1 988.

11. . . c4 12 tll d4 0-0-0 13 tll c3 l1xd4

a} 13 . . . Ac5 14 Cbce2 Cbe7 1 5 Ae3 Axd4
(15 . . . Af7 ? ! 16 Cbf5 ! The exchange of the
dark-sq u ared bishops i s very p leasant for
White in such positions: 1 6 . . . Axe3+ 1 7 Cbxe3
c5 (or 1 1 . . bS 18 'i!Jf2 CZJc6 19 a3 CZJeS

a} 11 Cbc3 Ad6 12 Ae3 b6 1 3 a4 . The ad

vance of the a - pawn is considered White's

29

3 I l l ustrative Games - Theoretical section

20 Ixd8+ Ixd8 21 Id1 Ie8 22 cflc3 g6

23 g4 [112 -112} Reinderman - Onischuk, Wijk
aan Zee 2000) 1 8 f2 cl 1 9 .El.xd8 .El.xd8
20 .El.d1 .El.xd1 2 1 tt::l x d 1 f5 22 exf5 tt::l x f5
23 tt:Je3 tt:\el 24 f4 b5 25 f3 b4 2 6 c3
tt:Jc8 21 g4 a5 28 e4 c6 2 9 e5 tt::l b 6
30 f5 Cl:la4 31 Cl:ld1 Ad5 32 f4 d6 33 Cl:lg3
el 34 tt:Jf1 t [1-0] Rozenta l i s - Korzu bov,
[ch] Lvov 1 985.)
1 6 tt::l x d 4 Afl 11 <i!?f2 .El.dl 18 tt:Je2 .El.hd8
19 .El.xdl .El.xdl 2 0 g 4 t b6 2 1 tt::l g 3 c5 22 c3
tt:Jc6 23 f4 . Romero arranges his kingside
pawns i n the best way. H e delays an ex
change of rooks for as long as poss i b l e u n
til he h as m a d e prog ress o n the king side:
2 3 . . . Ae6 2 4 h3 g6 25 e2 .El.d3 26 .El.d1 .El.xd1
27 xd1 dl 28 e2 el 29 f5 Afl 30 Af4
g5 31 Acl b5 32 tt:Jf1 dl 33 Ag3 tt:Je5
34 Axe5 fxe5 35 tt:Je3 d6 36 <i!?f2 <i!?c6
31 h4 h6 38 f6 dl 39 tt::lf 5 g x h4 40 tt::l x h 6
Ag6 41 f3 e 6 42 g 5 h3 43 tt:Jf5 Ah5+
44 g3 h2 45 xh2 Af3 46 g3 Ah1 41 f2
1-0 Romero H o l m es - van der Sterre n , Wij k
aan Zee 1 991 . Very instructive !

( 1 4 tt:Jf5 ! ? also comes i nto consideration :

14 . . . .El.x d 1 + 1 5 .El.xd1 tt:\el (Or 15 . . . g6 16 tt:Je3
Ac5 1 1 <i!?f2 tt:\el 1 8 <i!?e2 tt:Jc6 (18 . . . EidB =
leads to equality according to Onischuk, al
though the position remains very playable
for White: 19 Ixd8+ f!?xd8 20 cflg4 cflgB
2 1 e3 el) 1 9 tt:Jcd5 tt:Jd4+ 20 f1 t [0-1 ]
Berkven s - Onischuk, Wij k aan Zee 2000.)
1 6 tt:\xel+ Axel 1 1 Cl:ld5 Ad8 18 f2 t [1/2-%]
Romero Holmes- Korneev, [chl] Salamanca
1 998.)
1 4 . . . tt:\el 1 5 Ae3 h 5 ! ? To cra m p the wh ite
kingside with . . . h4. 16 g3 ! ? Taking the wind
out of the sails of B l ack's advance, and at
the same time keep in g h i s pawn forma
tion flex i b l e . 1 6 . . . b6 ( 1 6. . . h4 1 7 g4) 1 1 f4 .
G a i n i n g space, but p resenting B l ac k with
a target at e4 . Hence in the n ext stage
of the game Wh ite aims to s u pport the e
paw n , with a view t o advanc i n g i t at the
fi rst favou rable opportu n ity. This wh ite op
tion is a constant source of worry for Black
however. . . 1 l . . . .El.e8 1 8 .El.d2 bl 1 9 a3 tt:Jc8
20 .El.e2 b5 21 Cl:lf3 Ad6 22 Ad2 .El.hf8 23 .El.ae1
.El.d8 24 Ac1

b) 13 . . . Afl

24 . . . tt:\el 25 g2 (25 e5!? fxe5 26 cflxe5 ;f;)

25 . . . tt:Jc6 26 h3 holding the e -pawn back i n
reserve, so as fi rst to gain some space o n
the kingside. 2 6 . . . A c 5 21 g4 tt::\ d 4 28 .El. d 2
tt::\ x f3 29 xf3 t A d 6 30 g 2 h x g4 31 h x g4
Ae6 32 f5 .

The m ost combative move, p l ayed by Kor

neev.
14 f2 ! ? Wh ite centralises h i s king and
keeps all his options open . Now we witness
a tense duel between two specialists : the
Latvian G ran d m aster Viestu rs M e ij ers is an
outstanding exponent of the wh ite side of the
Exchange Span ish, whilst Oleg Korneev has
often played the black side of this variation.

Aga i n and again we come across this, only

apparently "anti- positional " , method : Wh ite
lets B l ack h ave the e5 square, but cram ps

30

3 . 1 . 1 The trad itional 5

. . .

f6 6 d4 exd4 7 tt:\xd4 c5 8 tt:\b3 ( Womacka - Golod)

the black pieces and rel i es on the l ater ad

vance of the g-paw n . 32 . . . Ad? 33 E!dd1
Ac6 34 f3 E!h8 35 E!h1 a5 36 g 5 b4
37 ax b4 a x b4 38 tl:le2 E!he8 39 E! h 4 Ae5 ? !
(39. . . a4!? 40 [!.d2 fxg5 41 [!.g4 oo) 4 0 E!xd8
gxd8 41 g 6 c3 ? 42 bxc3 b x c3 43 E!h7.
Following the q u ite chaotic time -scram ble,
the wh ite concept tri u m p h s . A l l i n a l l , the
game p resents a good exam p l e of h ow,
even with red uced material , tense and hard
fou g ht games are poss i b l e , a s l o n g as t h e
opponents have t h e right attitu d e ! 4 3 . . . E!d1
(43. . . [!.g8 44 f4) 44 gxg7 m1+ 45 g2 1-0
Meijers - Korneev, (ech] Istanbul 2003 ;
14

ttJ

Prepari n g f3-f4 , to expose the weakness

at f6 . 21 . . . h5 (2 1. . . h6 22 f4) 22 e5 ! h xg4
(22. . . CLJxe5 23 xg5) 23 fxg4 f5 24 g xf5
Axf5 25 Axg5 E!e8 26 tDd5 b7 27 g3
tDxe5 2 8 Af6 c6 2 9 tl:lc3 E!g8+ 30 f4 1-0
Santo- Roman - M i ralles, (ch] France 1 991 .

l1xd4 c5 15 e3

Hard ly ever played to my knowledge, but

the idea is weli worth considerat i o n . I l i ke
Santo-Roman 's set-up.

1 1 Af4 0-0-0 1 2 c3 c4

15 E!ad1 provides o n l y s l i g ht w i n n i n g
chances : 1 5 . . . tl:le7 1 6 f1 Axd4 1 7 E!xd4
ttJc6 1 8 E!d2 E!d8 1 9 e2 b5 20 E!xd8+ xd8
21 e3 tLlb4 22 d2 d7 23 a3 tLic6 24 e3
ttJdB 2 5 tl:ld1 h5 2 6 h4 Af7 27 g4 h x g 4
28 fxg4 tDe6 29 Ag3 Ag6 = [112-1/2] Godena
Gyi mes i , Budapest 1 99 5 ;

The only way for Black to make use of his 9 t h

move ; other continuations would not be con
seq uent. 1 2 . . . Ae6 13 E!xd8+ xd8 14 Ae3
b6 15 a4 a5 16 tDb5 g5 17 f4 h6 18 f5 Axb3
19 E!d 1 + Ad6 2 0 c x b3 d7 2 1 Ad2 E!h7
22 Ac3 E!e7 23 E!e1 Ae5 24 g4 eB 25 tDa3
fB 26 tDc4 (1-0] l u ldachev -Alzai m , (chT]
Bei rut 2000.

15 tDe2 A x d 4 + ( 1 5. . . CLJ e l 1 6 c3!? CLJc6

13 aS !

17 'i!?f1 xd4 18 cxd4 CLJb4 19 g3 c6 oo

[1-0] Romero Holmes -Zak, Mesa [op] 1992)
16 tDxd4 Ad? 1 7 E!e1 tl:le7 1 8 f2 l'!d8
19 c3 c5 2 0 tDc2 Ae6 2 1 g 4 E!d3 22 tDe3
d7 23 e2 b5 24 E!d1 ;!; tDcB 2 5 a3 E!xd1
26 xd1 tiJb6 27 Ag3 g6 28 Ah4 g5 29 Af2
Af7 30 c2 [112-112] Rozentalis- Psakh is, [ch]
Sverd lovsk 1 98 4 . Black h as to face a long
period of torture - the game l asted for 90
moves !
15. . . xd4

16 xd4 el 17 l1e1 !?

It is clear from this that Wh ite i ntends to

abandon the d-file to h i s opponent and i n
stead seek play for himself o n the kingside
and i n the centre.
17. . . c6
21

O n ly t h i s active move sets Black any p ro b

lems.

18 e3 l1d8 19 g4 g5 20 f!lg2 b6

13 . . . Acs+ 1 4 f1

h3!?

31

3 I l l u strative Games - Theoretical section

Very natu ral and defi nitely best. Scarcely had

I made this m ove i n my B u ndesl iga game
against Jenni when suddenly my b lood ran
cold. What was wrong with 14 . . . Ab4? Could
it be that this tactical trick had been over
looked in the course of more than a decade?
H ad I got m ixed up? Anyway, after I had
cal m ed down a bit I realised what the s n ag
was with the cheeky bishop sortie to b4.
1 4 h1 . P roperly p repared , B l ac k n eed n ot
fear this tactically-oriented move: 1 4 . . . b5
1 5 tt::\ d 5 tt::\ e7 (15. . . c6 1 6 b4 .fla l 11 cl
b8 18 <fle6 xf4 19 <f)xc6 xe6 20 <f)xd8
dl 21 <flfl el 22 xh8 e6 23 a4 e5
24 axb5 xa 1 25 bxa6 e5 26 fld8+ 1-0
Ribli-Zuidema, Wijk aan Zee 1913) 1 6 Axe?
tt::lx d5 17 Axd8 tt::\e3 18 tt::l b7 tt::\ x d 1 1 9 tt::l x c5
tt::lf 2+ 20 g1 tt::l x e4 2 1 fxe4 E!.xd8 22 E!.d1
Ac6 = [1/2-1/2] Fressi n et - Vajd a , B u c harest
2001 .

14

. . .

b l ac k k i n g , which g ives more chances than

15 tt::\d 5, which was exclusively played previ
ously. Here Wh ite merely ach ieves a min imal
endgame edge.
The present game fro m Bad Wiessee was
the catalyst for me to put the Exchange Vari
ation under the microscope !
The obvious and usual 1 5 tt::\ d 5 can i n fact
be countered with 1 5 . . . tt::\ e7 ! The l atest ver
d ict on this positional pawn sacrifice is that
the weakness of the wh ite q ueenside pawns
provides enough com pensation :
(15 . . . c6 ?! in contrast, constitutes an instruc
tive error, since the white knight plays havoc
over the next few moves: 16 b4 al 11 <flcl!
b8 18 <f)e6 xf4 19 <flxc6!

bS

19. . . l3e8 20 <fla l+ 'i!?b8 21 <flxf4 l"Iel 22 <fld5

l3e8 23 <f}f4 flel 24 <f)d5 fle8 25 b6 .fle6
26 <flc6+ '>!?cl 21 <fld4 'i!?xb6 28 <flxe6 l3xe6
29 l3d8 h5 30 l3ad1 f5 31 exf5 l3eh6 32 l3b8+
'>!?cl 33 l3dd8 fld6 34 l3bc8+ '>!?bl 35 flxg8
flxg8 36 flxg8 1-0 Timman -Adams, Bel
grade 1995 .)
16 Axe? tt::l x d5 17 E!.xd5 xc7 18 E!.xc5+ b6
19 b4 c x b3 2 0 tt::\ x b3 Ae6 56

If 14 . . . Ab4 ? , then 15 Axc7 ! (15 <flxc4 xc3

16 bxc3 b5 11 flxd8+ 'i!?xd8 18 fld 1+ 'i!?c8
19 fld4 <flel +) .

1 5 a4!?
A very i nteresting idea of the Spanish player
Baron Rodriguez. Womacka, who gener
ally l i kes to fol l ow the exa m p l e of Fischer
i n the open i n g , obviously saw the po
tential of Wh ite's concept i n h i s own re
search. White wants to open l i nes against the

32

3 . 1 . 1 The traditional 5 . . f6 6 d4 exd4 7 ttixd4 c5 8 ttib3 ( Womacka - Golod)

.

21 Elc3 Eld6 (2 1. . . a5 22 a4 J''fc8 23 J"!.xc8 J"!.xc8

24 tLJd4 c4+ 25 f!?e 1 b4 26 'i!?d2 f7 27 h4
rtlc5 28 f!?e3 f!?c4 29 <8e2 l"!.d8 30 g4 V2-1h
Rogers - Slobodjan, [bl} Germany 1998) 22 a4
Ac4+ 23 f2 E!c8 24 ax b5 axb5 25 E!b1 b4
26 Ele3 Ax b3 27 E!exb3 E!xc2+

as favou rable as i n the main l i ne. With care

less play, the tt::l a5 can even find itself out of
play.

17 l1xd8+
1 7 Ad2 !? looks a bit passive, but it prepares
the open i n g of the q ueenside with b3. Here
are a cou ple of sam ple variations:

=.

Even though it does not lead to any o bjec

tive Wh ite advantage , it is n oteworthy that
Shirov opted for this endgame against h i s
strong opponent : 28 e 3 E!xg2 2 9 E!x b4+
c5 30 E! b7 E!a6 31 . El.1 b3 g 5 32 h4 h6
33 Eld3 g x h4 34 E!c7+ b4 35 E!d1 b3
3 6 Elh1 f5 37 exf5 E!g5 38 E!b7+ c2 39 E!h2+
c3 40 E!bb2 c4 41 .!'!xh4+ c5 42 E!c2+
b5 43 E!h1 E!a3+ 44 f4 E!a4+ 45 e5
Ela5 46 E!xh6 b4+ 47 'i!?e4 E!g xf5 48 E!b6+
a3 49 E!c3+ a2 50 f4 ms 51 E!cb3 E!c5
52 Elb2+ a3 53 E! b1 a2 54. E!6b2+ a3
55 Elb5 E!e8+ 56 d4 E!x b5 57 E!x b5 a4
58 Elb1 Elf8 59 e5 Ele8+ 60 d6 Elf8 61 m1
1-0 Shirov - Adams, Ti l b u rg 1 996.

15

. . .

ttJ

1 7 . . . f5 (17. . . J"!.he8 18 <8xb5 axb5 19 b3 d4

20 c3 e5 2 1 f!?e2 cxb3 22 <8xb3 t; 1 7. . . c6
18 <8xb5 cxb5 19 b3 t; 1 7. . . d4 18 <8xb5
axb5 19 c3 e5 20 f4 d6 21 b3 cxb3
22 <8xb3 '8c6 23 f!?e2 J"!.he8 24 f!?f3 t;
17. . . b6 18 <8xb5 axb5 19 b3 xa5 20 xa5
J"!.xd 1+ 2 1 J"!.xd 1 <8c6 22 e 1 cxb3 23 cxb3
J"!.d8 24 J"!.c 1 '8d4 25 g3 J"!.d7 26 b4) 18 exf5
tt::l x f5 1 9 tt::l x b5 a x b5 20 tt::l c 6 ;l; .

17. . . l1xd8 18 f!le2 b4

18 . . . Ad4 19 tl:\x b5 (19 d2) 19 . . . axb5 20 c3
Ab6 21 b3 ;l; .

19 xb5
1 9 Ad2 This interesting suggestion from
C h ristian Gabriel does not ach ieve anything
against p recise play: 1 9 . . . g5 (19 . . . xa5!?
20 J"!.xa5 <8c6 21 J"!.a 1 '8d4+ 22 f!ld 1 'i!?b7
23 J"!.c 1 c5 24 f!le 1 c6 25 <8e2 f5) 20 e1
tt::l g 6.

e7 16 a x b5 a x b5?

1 6. . . xb5!

19. . . axb5 20 c3 d6
20 . . . Ac5 21 b3 tt::l g 6 22 Ad2 (22 g3 cxb3
23 <8xb3 b6) 22 . . . c x b3 23 tt::l x b3 Ab6
24 Ae3 b7 25 tt::l d 4 ;l;.

21 xd6
In playi n g this I had underestimated Black's
23 r d move . . .
21 Ae3 !
Jen n i sign ificantly strengthens Black's game.
Scarcely had the position after 1 5 . . . tt::le7 ap
peared on the board when I began to won
der: why not 1 6 . . . Ax b5 ? N aturally I had not
considered this obvious move in my prepara
tion . . . here too Wh ite must be satisfied with
a very smal l edge, but all the same . . . In con
crete terms, Wh ite does not now succeed i n
opening t h e queenside under circumstances

33

3 I l l ustrative Games - Theoretical section

would sti l l have offered some chances of

advantage, e . g . after 21 . . . f5 (2 1. . . c6 22 b3
cxb3 (22. . . ile5 23 bxc4 ilxc3 24 f"fa2)
23 tElxb3 ilxh2 24 f"fh 1 ile5 25 f"fxh 7 ;!;)
22 b3 (22 exf5 f"feB) 22 . . . fxe4 23 fxe4 c x b3
24 CLixb3 d7 25 m1 .

2 1. . . f1xd6 22 b3 cxb3 23 xb3 f!?b7! =, and

with this B l ac k equalises - [1/2-%] Kinder
mann - Jenn i , [bl] Germany 2003 .

3
2

11 Ag3 !?
A subtle preparatory move, ai med at increas
ing the i m pact of Wh ite's c o m i n g b 3 . D e
spite t h e red uced materia l , Wh ite's i n itiative
has to be taken very seriously. The i m m e
d i ate 1 7 b 3 also comes i nto considerat i o n .
Following the p re m iere o f 1 5 a4 ! , obviously
we m u st g rant the authors h i p to Baro n Ro
driguez : 1 7 b3 cxb3 (17. .. ilb4 18 <f.1d5 <f.1xd5
19 exd5) 18 tLlxb3 Ab4 19 l"\a7 Ad6 20 f\xd6
tLlg6 21 f\da6 1-0 Baron Rodriguez - Po rtera
Garnica, [chT] Zaragoza 1 999.

..

The exchange of dark-sq uared bishops

would leave B l ack with an ugly hole on c5 .

21 . . . Axe1 22 xe1 Ae6 23 tQed4

Axb3 24 c x b3 fS !
The best chance l i es i n active cou nterplay.

25 tQx bS fxe4 26 fxe4 tQdS 27 a4

c6 28 ad4! c x bS 29 f2 xe4
30 xe4 f8+ 31 g3 tQc3 32 dd4
tQxe4+ 33 xe4

17 . . . he8
1 7 . . . Ab4 1 8 CLid5 CLixd5 1 9 e x d 5 does n ot
solve Black's problems, owi ng to the weak
ness at c6, e . g . 19 . . . f\he8 (19. . . c3 20 b3
l"fheB 21 <f.1c6 ilxc6 22 dxc6 f"fxd1+ 23 f"fxd1
l"fdB 24 l"fa 1 f!?bB 25 ilf2; 19. . . ilxa5 20 l"fxa5
f!?b7 2 1 f"fda 1 l"faB 22 ilxc7! f"fxa5 23 ilxa5
f"faB 24 f!?f2 ilf5 25 c3 ) 20 CLic6 Axc6
2 1 d x c6 f\x d 1 + 22 f\xd1 f\d8 23 f\a1 b8
24 Af2 Ad6 25 f\a5 .

18 b3 !
I n this way Wh ite d i ssolves the black d o u
bled paw n , but a l s o exposes weaknesses
in the black camp and activates h i s own
pieces .

The roo k endgame is very u n p l easant for

Black, owi ng to the weakness at b5, as wel l
as the sensitivity of the b l ac k kingside and
Wh ite's g reat activity.

18 . . . Ab4 1 9 Ae1 !
If 1 9 CLid5 B l ac k solves h i s p roblems with
1 9 . . . CLixd5 20 exd5 Ac3 ! 2 1 f\a2 Ae6 .

33 . . . c8
33 . . . m7 ! ? 34 f\e5 c7 35 f\xb5 d6
(Teske) .

19 . . . c x b3 20 tQx b3 b8 21 tQe2!
34

3 . 1 . 1 The traditional 5 . . . f6 6 d4 exd4 7 tt'lxd4 c5 8 tt'lb3 ( Womacka - Golod)

34 f4 Ik7
34 . l"lc2
. .

Ci'J

N atural ly it is i m po rtant that the cou nter

attack 43 . . . m2 d oes n ot work, owing to
B l ack's weak kingside: 44 l"le7+ !

35 l"le8+ b7 36 l"l.e7+ l"l.c7

37 l"lx c7+ xc7 38 e5, and W h ite w i n s ,

thanks t o his space advantage i n the pawn

ending.

44 g3 hS 4S e4 b6 46 d4 c6
47 e3 fS 48 e6+ bs 49 96
x b4

35 EteS b7 36 b4 a7 37 e4 b6
38 Ete6+ a7 39 @dS f7 40 c6
a6

49 . . l"l.f? 50 l"l.g5+ xb4 51 l"l.xh5 c4

52 e4, and the h orizontal barrier o n the
5t h ran k secures the w i n .

4 0 . . . l"lb?

SO xg7 c4 S1 e4 f2 S2 h4 f8
S3 gS h8 S4 ts h6 ss 98 a6
S6 gs dS S7 xhS a3 S8 g4
e6 S9 f8 1 -0

4 1 c5.

41 cs+ b7 42 x bS fS+ 43 c4
1::1 9 5

35

3 I l l u strative Games - Theoretical section

3. 1 .2 T h e s e co n d s t r i n g 8 e 2 ! ?

(2572) - M ilos (2608)

Zonal , Sao Pau lo 2001

Ve scov i

1 e4 es 2 f3 c6 3 Abs a6 4 Axc6
dxc6 S 0-0 f6 6 d4 exd4 7 xd4 cS
8 e2!?
..

,----,---,----,----.,,..--=---,,,,,
8

8 . . . '@!fxd 1 9 Eixd1
0-0-0

Ad7 1 0 bc3

1 0 . . . tbe7 1 1 Ae3 tbc6 12 l::l. d 2 tbe5 1 3 b3

0-0-0 1 4 l::l. a d1 Ad6 1 5 f3 l::l. h e8 1 6 tbd5
Af8 17 c4 Ae6 18 tbef4 Af7 19 tbd3 tbxd3
2 0 l::l. x d3 Ae6 2 1 g4 b6 2 2 f2 b7 2 3 Af4
l::l. d 7 24 tbe3 l::l. e d8 25 l::l. x d 7 l::l. x d 7 26 l::l. x d7
Axd7 27 h4 Ad6 28 Axd6 cxd6 29 f4. Once
again the "phalanx" of pawns, i n tandem with
the agi l e kn ight, gives White some endgame
advantage. Now Garry Kasparov's namesake
shows excel lent technique: 29 . . . h6 30 a4 b5
31 a5 b4 32 f3 Ae6 33 g 5 ! h x g 5 34 h x g 5
fxg5 35 f5 ! Af7 36 g4 c 6 3 7 x g 5
d7 38 tb d 5 c6 39 tbf4 d7 40 tbd3
e7 41 e5 Ae8 42 e6 Ac6 43 tbf4 Ae4
44 tbh5 d5 45 c x d 5 c4 46 tbxg7 c3 47 f6+
d6 48 f7 1-0 Sergey Kasparov -Azarov, [zt]
M i nsk 2000.

11 Ae3

Less aggressive, although positionally wel l

founded , t h i s k n i g ht move comes strongly
i nto consideration as a second string for the
player of the wh ite p ieces, and h as been
played by specialists such as the very strong
young C h i nese p l ayer Zhang Z h o n g , the
Russian Igor Glek, and the Brasi l ian Giovan n i
Vescovi . It leads t o considerably fewer forc
ing l i nes but sets Black long -term positional
problems which are far from trivial , as the
fol lowing material shows . . .

..

,--,--,--,---.-=,,.,..----,c-=-,---=.----;-o=->
8

8
7

From e2 the k n i g ht can l ater g o to f4 and

d5 (or h5) and , if the black bishop goes to
d6, the e2-knight enables Wh ite to p ropose
a positional ly desi rable exchange of bishops
by Af4 . H owever, since this l i n e is n ot part
of our recommended main repertoi re, I shall
g ive only the m ost i m portant variations and
basic ideas :

The m ost flex i b l e set-u p , keep in g the f4

square avai lable for the knight.

11 . . . EieS
[a] 11. . . d6?! 12 f4!

36

3 . 1 .2 The second stri ng 8 tDe2 !? ( Vescovi - M i los)

1 5 El.ad 1 tbc6 1 6 f3 f5 1 1 tbh5 El.fl

1 S tbg3 b6 1 9 tbxf5 Axf5 20 El.xdS+ tbxdS
2 1 exf5 El.xf5 2 2 f2 tbe6 23 El.d5 El.fl
24 tbe4 h6 25 h4 bl 26 El.e5 tbd4 2l c3
tbf5 2S h5 c6 29 g 4 tbd6 30 tbd2
dl 31 e3 El.f6 32 f4 c6 33 b3 ms
34 'C!?f3 tbfl 35 El.e3 'C!?d6 36 tbc4+ 1-0
Rozental i s - G retarsson , Liechtenstein [op]
1 996.
The

best reaction, since Black can n ot now

avoid the exchange of bishops, which w i l l

rob h i m

of his best weapon (the bishop pair) .

12 . . . e6

12 . . . Axf4 13 tbxf4 tbel 14 El.d2 El.hfS

13 l1d2 e7 14 l1ad1 xf4 1S l1xd8+

l1xd8 16 l1xd8+ 'i!lxd8 17 xf4 f7 18 'i!Jf1
'i!ld7 19 'i!le1 'i!ld6 20 d3 g6 21 'i!ld2
h4 22 e1 g6 23 a3 bS 24 d1 b4
2S e3 t [1 -0] G l e k - H ansen , Kopenhagen
1 995.

(14. . . !fJc6 - the following game by the Exchange Variation specialist Eduardas Rozen
talis is a fine illustration of White 's optimal
procedure on the kingside: 15 l'1ad1 b6 16 f3
f'l,hfB 1 7 t2Jcd5 l'1f7 18 t2Je3 l'1e8 19 g4 tLJd4
20 r!?t2 !fJe6 21 !fJxe6 xe6 22 a3 a5 23 !fJg2
f'l,d l 24 l'1xd 7 xd7 25 tLJf4 c6 26 h4 r!?c7
27 h5

[b] 11. . . b6 12 f4
1 2 a4 ! ? a5 (12. . . ffe8 13 a5 b5 14 t2Jf4 c4
15 b3; 15 f3 - Rowson) 13 El.d2 Ad6 14 El.ad1
Ac6 15 Af4 Ael 16 tbd5 Axd5 11 El.xd5
El.xd5 1 S El.xd5 AdS 1 9 tbc3 (19 f3!) 1 9 . . . tl:iel
20 El.d2 tbg6 21 Ag3 h5 22 h4 ms 23 El.d5 f5
24 El.xf5 El.xf5 25 exf5 tbel 26 f6 gxf6 2l tl:ie2
tbg6 2S tbf4 tbxf4 29 Axf4 dl 30 f3 e6
31 c4 f5 32 g3 c6 33 g2 b5 34 b3 bxc4 35
b x c4 Af6 36 Ad2 AdS 31 Ac3 Acl 3S h3
fl 39 Ad2 g6 40 Ae3 Ad6 41 Ag5 Ae5
42 Ael Ad4 43 AdS Ac3 44 Ab6 Ab4 45 g4
Ac3 46 Axc5 Ae1 41 Ad6 Ac3 4S Acl
fxg4+ 49 f x g 4 Ae1 50 AdS h 6 51 Ael
g6 52 Ag5 1 - 0 Rowso n - Gormal ly, H ast
ings 2 003/04.

12. . . e7 13 f3 c6 14 fdS e6 1S l1d2

d6 16 l1ad1 'i!lb7 17 f4 es 18 e3
l1de8 19 g3 hS 20 f2 f7 21 eds
bS 22 b3 h4 23 h3 es 24 'i!Jt1 g6
2S fS xfS 26 exfS e7 27 xe7 l1xe7
28 l1e1 l1xe 1+ 29 xe1 llhS 30 l1e2 llxfS
31 xh4 lleS 32 llxeS xeS 33 c4 [1 -0]
Dom inguez - M endoza, [zt] Guayaq u i l 2003.

27. . . h6 28 t2Jg2 l'1e5 29 t2Je3 e6 30 ffd2

t!?cB 3 1 t2Jf1 r!?c7 32 t2Jg3 c8 33 f4 l'1e7
34 r!?t3 d7 35 !fJf1 c8 36 !fJe3 e6 37 e5
fxe5 38 fxe5 fff7+ 39 'i!le4 ffe7 40 ffd6
f'l,eB 41 !fJf5 d7 42 t2Jxg7 l'1g8 43 l'1g6 1-0
Rozentalis - Hasanov, Toronto {op} 1998;
14. . . g4 15 l'1xd8+ l'1xd8 16 f3 d7 17 l'1d1
fll c6 18 r!?t2 f5 19 h4 l'ifB 20 !fJfd5 b6 21 !fJe3
fxe4 22 t2Jxe4 e6 23 a3 ;;!; [112- 112] Rozen
talis - Onischuk, {bl] Germany 1999)

12 r:td2 Ac6
12 . . . f5 . This active m ove fai l s to solve
B l ack's pro blems : 13 El.ad1 tbf6 .

37

3 I l l u strative Games - Theoretical section

.__....__.___-'-='-'-----'-"'"'"'-"'

14 Ag5 ! Ad6 1 5 Axf6 g xf6 1 6 tbg3 ! Ax g3

1 7 fxg3 Ae6 1 8 exf5 Axf5 19 tbd5 Ag4
20 tbxf6 ! resu lts i n a c l early su perior roo k
end i n g : 2 0 . . . Axd1 2 1 tbxe8 A x c 2 22 ..xc2
..xe8 23 ..xc5 ..e2 24 g4 ..xb2 25 ..h5 ..b6
(25. . . I'fxa2 26 I'fxh 7 I'fe2 27 g5 I'fe6 28 h4 b5
29 h5) 26 ..x h7 c5 27 .. h 5 ..c6 2 8 g 5 ..g6
29 f2 c4 30 e2 b5 31 h4 ..e6+ 32 d1
..d6+ 33 c1 ..d4 34 g6 1 - 0 Oral -Acs, Bu
dapest 1 998.

This m ove order is d i rected agai n st the d e

velopment o f t h e black k n i g ht a t h 6 . But
1 4 tbf4 also comes i nto consideration :
14 ti:Jf4 ti:Jh6 15 ti:Jfd5
1 5 f3 tbf7 1 6 tbfd5 tbe5 1 7 b3 h5 1 8 h3
h4 19 <i?f2 b7 20 tbe2 Ad6 2 1 c4 ..hf8
22 tbec3 1/2-1/2 H racek -Tkach iev, [ech] Is
tan bul 2003 .
15. . . tilg4 16 f4 tiles
Black threatens with 17 . . . tbc4 .
17 b3 <bb7 18 ti:Je3!?

An i nteresting manoeuvre ! The knight makes

the d5 square avai lable to his col leag ue and
plans to re -enter the fray at f5 .
1 8 f3 c4 ! ? 1 9 Axe5 .. x e5 20 b x c4 Ac5+
2 1 f1 .El.dB oo [1-0] Vysoc h i n - Yemel i n , [ch
u 1 8] J u rmala 1 992 .
18. . . d6
1 8 . . . tbg6 1 9 Ag3 Axe4 2 0 tbxe4 ..xe4
21 ..d7 tbe5 22 Axe5 fxe5 (22. . . I'fxe5
23 if)d5) 23 c3 oo .
19 ti:Jcd5 xd5 20 I1xd5 ti:Jf7 2 1 xd6
tilxd6t
(21 . . . c x d 6 22 f3 .El.dB 23 tbf5 ) 22 f3 <i?c6
23 f2 .El.e6 24 g4 h6 25 h4! b5 26 h5 !

8
7

1 3 ad1 b6
13 . . . Ad6 14 Af4 ! Axf4 (14 . . . xe4 15 xd6
cxd6 16 if)xe4 I'fxe4 17 if)g3 ) 15 tll xf4 tll h 6
16 ..e2 t f5 17 e5 tbf7 18 e6 tbd6 19 h4
..hf8 2 0 f3 tbb5 2 1 tbxb5 Axb5 2 2 ..e5 b6
23 f2 Ac6 24 h5 ..f6 25 g3 ..dB 26 ..xd8+
xd8 27 e7+ e8 2 8 tbe6 xe7 2 9 tbxg7+
d6 30 f4 1-0 Vescovi - M atsuura, [zt] Sao
Pau lo 2001 .

14 f3
38

3 . 1 .2 The second stri ng 8 tl:le2 !? ( Vescovi - M i los)

26 . . i:1b8 27 g3 a5 28 f4 i:1e7 29 tDf5 !

.

i:1d7 30 e5 fxe5+ 31 i:1xe5 a4 ? (3 1. . . b4

32 f!.dd5 %1b5 ) 32 i:1dd5 ! +- [1 -0] O ral
Slobodjan , Havana 2000.

14 tQe7 15 !Af4 !Ag6 16 !AhS

. . .

1 6 . . . !AeS
Threatening . . . tDc4 .

17 b3 c4
17 . . . f5 !? 18 Af4 fxe4 19 tDxe4 c4 2 0 i:1d4
c x b3 2 1 c x b3 tDg6 2 2 Ag3 Axe4 23 i:1xe4
Ac5+ 24 Af2 i:1 x e4 2 5 fxe4 Axf2+ 26 xf2
ms+ 27 e3 m7 28 i:1d5 !

A great square for the knight, fro m where it

can exert u n p l easant p ressu re on the b l ack
pawn base g7-f6 . I n return, Wh ite must allow
the undou b l i ng of Black's c - pawns.

I n spite of the considerable s i m p l ification ,

Wh ite retains some advantage thanks to his
clearly m o re active p ieces. 28 . . . b7 29 g3
tDe7 30 i:1d8 tDc6 31 i:1e8 g 6 32 tDf4 g5
33 tDd3 i:1f1 34 e5 (1-0] Zhang Zhong -van
der Wiel , Wij k aan Zee 2003.

1 6 ttlcdS!? ttleS 17 b3 c4 18 <tlf2 <tlb7 19 g4

aS 20 h4 a3 21 ttlhS lihg8 22 d4 xdS
23 exdS lie7 24 lie2 lige8 25 xeS cxb3
26 axb3 cS+ 27 <tlt1 fxe5 ?!

1 8 !AdS b7
1 8 . . . i:1g8 1 9 t2 Aa3 20 h3 b7 21 g4 i:1d8
22 Af4 Ac5+ 23 s!?g2 c x b3 24 c x b3 i:1de8
25 Ag3 a5 26 Af2 Axf2 27 xf2 tlJd? 28 g3
Axd5 29 i:1xd5 tDc5 30 h4 h6 31 tDf4 c8
32 tt:Jg6 ;!; [%-%] Rozentalis- Sokolov, Ti lburg
1 993.

27 . . . i:1xe5 2 8 i:1xe5 i:1xe5 2 9 tDxg7 i:1e3

l"\d3 l"\xd3 31 cxd3 b5 32 e2 a4 33 bxa4

bxa4 34 d2 c6 35 d x c6+ x c6 36 c3
'i!id5 37 tDf5 Af2 Vescovi .

30

28

ttlg3 lia8 29 ttle4 d6 30 lia 1 t

Fol lowing Kasi mdzhanov's momentous vic

tory i n Tri poli 2004 against the fancied , very
stro n g R ussian Alexander G risc h u k , it was
very i nteresting to read Kasi mdzhanov's own
thoug hts about choice of open i n g and crit
ical positions in Schach 8/2 004 : "I chose
the Spanish Exchange Variation for a q u i et
endgame. I wanted to play out a sim ple po
sition for as long as possible, since coming
straight from the tie -break agai nst Bel iavsky
G rischuk would have no desire to play a long
game. This tactic worked perfectly, si nce he

30 . . . h5

31 i:1g2 i:1h8 32 e2 i:1f7 33 i:1ag1 Ats

tt:Jg5 i:1d7 35 c4 c6 36 i:1d1 cxd5 37 i:1xd5
i:1xd5 38 c x d 5 Ae7 39 tDf7 i:1f8 40 tDxe5
Axh4? (40. . . %1e8 41 f!?d3 xh4 42 <flg6 f6
43 gxh5 f!.e 1 t, Vescovi) 41 gxh5 Af6 42 tt:Jd7
i:1e8+ 43 d3 Aa1 44 i:1g6 i:1h8 45 tDxb6
i:1xh5 46 e4 Af6 47 tDc4 (47 tt:Jd7 ! +- i:1h4+
(4 l . c3 4 8 f4; 4l . . l1h 1 48 f4 %1b 1 49 f5)
48 f4 i:1h3 49 tDc5+ b6 50 tDe6 (Vescovi)
47 . . . a6 4 8 i:1g3 s!? b5 49 tDd6+ b4 50 f4
g5 51 fxg5 i:1xg5 52 i:1d3 i:1g4+ 53 ts i:1d4
V2-1/2 Vescovi - On ischuk, Poi kovsky 2003 .
34

39

3 I l lustrative Games - Theoretical section

1 9 m2 as 20 g4 llg8

suffered a serious l apse of concentration . "

(Kasimdzhanov)
18 . . . a5 19 a4 (Th is move, which I played re
cently myself agai nst G u stafsson , does not
appeal to m e so m u c h n ow, since it cre
ates an u n pleasant weakness on b3 . Better
is probably 19 t2 , since the open ing of the
a -fi le is no g reat concer n . S . K.) 19 . . . b?
20 t2 c x b3 2 1 c x b3 tDd7 ! 22 g4 tDc5
23 Axc5 Axc5+ 24 g2 Af8 2 5 h 4 El.e5
26 El.d3 El.g8 27 tDg3 Ac5 2 8 h 5 El.f8 2 9 tDf4
Ae8 30 tDf5 g6 31 h x g 6 h xg 6 32 tDg3 At?
33 El.h1 El.e7 34 El.h6 i"lg8 35 El.h1 c6 36 El.hd1
c7 37 tDh3 El.f8 38 tDf4 i"lb8 39 tDh3 b5
40 g5 fxg5 41 tl'ixg5 Ag8 42 f4 bxa4 43 bxa4
El. b3 44 El.dB i"lb2+ 45 t3 Ab3 46 R 1 d3
(" N aturally it was c l ear to m e that B l ac k
ought t o stand wel l here with his bishop pair
and the active rook on b2 . But his other rook
on e7 is q u ite passive and can only with d if
ficu lty be b ro u g ht i nto p lay. And above all I
cou l d n 't see a move for h i m . 46 Axa4 does
not work, for the same reason as the text
move. On 46 . . . El.f2+ I go to g4 with my king
and plan e4-e5 fol lowed by tDg3-e4. Per
haps Wh ite's position is not so bad ? ! But
natural ly I didn't analyse anything. The move
he chose is a typical b l u nder at this type of
time l i m it. After the 401 h move you g et 1 5
minutes - naturally this is too l ittle. You can 't
real ly rel ax and a l ready you find yourself
i n the n ext endless time scra m b l e . T h i n g s
get o u t o f contro l . Hence the crudest b l u n
ders i n Tri poli occu rred w i t h particular fre
quency after the 401 h move. " (Kasi mdzhanov)
46 . . . Ac2 ?? (46 . . . El.f2+ 47 @g4 Aa4 : S . K.)
47 tDe6+ ! i"lxe6 48. R3d7+ b6 49 i"lb8+ a6
50 i"la8+ b6 51 El.b8+ a6 52 El. x b2 Axa4
53 e5 Ab5 54 i"ld8 Ab6 55 l"la8+ b7 56 El.f8
Ac4 57 g4 Ad5 58 tDe2 a4 59 tDc3 Ab3
60 tDe4 a6 61 tDd6 @a5 62 El.a8+ @b4
63 El.b8 c5 64 tDe4+ @d5 65 tDf6+ @c5
66 tDd7+ @d4 67 El.xb6 El.e? 68 tDf6 @c3
69 El.b1 i"lc? 70 El.c1 + Ac2 71 tDe4+ @d3
72 et:'ic5+ d2 73 l"lxc2+ 1-0 Kasi mdzhanov
G rischuk, Tri poli 2004.

h
8

8
7
6

'i}

21 llg1 !?
Vacates d 1 and th reatens g4-g5 at some
point. Wh ite must also be vigi lant concern ing
the cou nter . . . f5 ! 2 1 g2 Ab4 2 2 c3 Axd5
23 c x b4 Af7 24 bxa5 b5 [1 -0] Glek-Yemel i n ,
[ch] S t . Peters b u rg 1 99 8 (24 bxa5 2 5 J3b 1
cxb3 26 axb3 f5! 27 h3 oo, Glek) .
. . .

21 . . . lld8
2 1 . . . Ab4 22 i"ldd1 .

22 hf4 Ad6 23 h4 lld7 24 h5 c x b3

25 c x b3
2 5 a x b 3 ? ! would be su bstantially weaker,
since l ater B lack would be able to c reate a
passed pawn on the a-fi le.

25 . . f7 26 llgd1 lle8?!
.

40

3 . 1 .2 The second stri ng 8 tt:le2 !? ( Vescovi - M i los)

Perhaps B l ac k s h o u l d try 26 . . . h6 here, to

avoid the fol lowi ng unpleasant surprise :

Only at fi rst sight is the position drawish ; ac

tually Black h as serious pro b l ems with his
kingside, which ultimately decide the game.

27 h6!

31 . . . es 32 I!xeS Axes 33 e6 g6
34 fS d3+ 35 e2 b4 36 a3
c2 37 xh7 xa3 3S xf6 Af7
39 dS c2 40 d2 AxdS 41 exdS
b4 42 d6 dS 43 Ad4 c6 44 Aes
bS 45 f4 b6 46 fS g xfS 47 gS ds
4S Ad4 d7 49 g6 e6 so g7 11
51 e3 a4 52 b4 a3 53 14 a2
54 xfS b6 55 e4 gs 56 Aa1
f7 57 d4 1 - 0

A pretty tactical blow, which enables Wh ite

to break i nto the opponent's position.

27 xh6 2S x b6 c x b6 29 I!xd6
13xd6 30 I!xd6 f7 31 I!e6!
. . .

..

h
8

6
5
4
3
2

41

3 I l l u strative Games - Theoretical section

3.2 The a ct i ve 5 . . . f6 6 d4 A g 4
Baklan

(261 8) Kallio (2502)

Batumi 2002
-

1 e4 es 2 ihf3 Chc6 3 Abs a6 4 Axc6

dxc6 S 0-0 f6 6 d4 Ag4 !?
a

The most testing move. Wh ite keeps the ten

sion i n the centre and then wants to continue
development.

7 dxe5
This s i m p l e cont i n u ation is perhaps rightly
considered to be u n p roductive, o n the ev
idence of the fol l owing c lassic game. B ut
i n any case the adoption of the Exchange
Spanish i n a World Championsh i p m atch
testifies to Fischer's faith i n it ! As we can
see i n the section on 6 . . . exd4, 25 years later
Fischer had sti l l not lost this faith . . .

7. f!!xd1 8 f1xd1 fxe5 9 f1d3 .l.d6 10 ttlbd2

ttlf6 11 ttlc4 ttlxe4

4
3

11 . . . 0 - 0 ! ? 1 2 tbfx e5 Ae2 13 l"&e3 Axc4

1 4 tb x c4 Ac5 15 l"&f3 tb x e4 16 Ae3 l"&xf3
17 g xf3 tbd6 1/2-1/2 Kasparov -Tai , [ch] USSR
Tbil issi 1 978 .

12 ttlcxe5
This active move was recommended as best
by Fischer h i mself. These days Grischuk and
Bel iavsky are two hig hly-rated supporters of
6 . . . Ag4 . Black h as more w i n n i n g c hances
than i n the 6 . . . exd4 variation, but must also
ru n g reater risks . . .

( 1 2 tbfx e5 is considered rather stronger to

day)
1 2 . . . Axf3 13 xf3 0-0 14 Ae3 b5 15 c4 l"&ab8
16 l"&c1 b x c4 17 l"&d4 mes 18 tbd2 tbxd2
1 9 l"&xd2 l"&e4 20 g3 Ae5 21 gcc2 f7 22 g2
gx b2 23 f3 c3 24 x e4 c x d 2 25 gxd2
gb5 26 gc2 Ad6 27 gxc6 gas 28 Af4 ga4+
2 9 @f3 ga3+ 30 e4 g x a2 31 Ax d6 c x d 6
3 2 gxd6 gxf2 3 3 gxa6 g x h 2 3 4 f3 = [1/2-1/2]
Fischer - Spassky, [wch/1 6] Reykjavik 1 972 .

7 c3 !
a

. . .

Ad6

7. exd4 is very comm ittal and is hard ly ever

seen in modern p ractice. In two exam p les
we shall see the "master" at work :

..

5
4

8 cxd4 f!!d7
3

a) 8 . . . Axf3 ? ! The acceptance of the pawn

sacrifice is rightly considered to be very risky.
Wh ite gains a big lead in development and a
strong i n itiative. 9 xf3 xd4 1 0 gd1 c4

42

3.2 The active 5

. . .

f6 6 d4 Ag4 (Baklan - Kall io)

1 1 Af4 fl (1 1. . . d6 12 xd6 cxd6 13 ff?g3

'f!/fl 14 l1xd6 cf:lh6 15 cf:lc3 0-0 16 l1ad1 ff?c7
17 l1xf6 ff?xg3 18 lixfB+ tlxfB 19 hxg3 [1-0]
O 'Donnell- Day, [zt] Canada 1992)
1 2 tl:lc3 El.dB 1 3 E!.xd8+ xd8 1 4 E!.d1 + c8
1 5 e5 e6 16 d3 Ae7 17 e3 b6 18 exf6
xe3 1 9 fxg7 xf4 20 g x h8 f7 2 1 es
1 - 0 Nadanian - M n atsakanian, Yerevan [op]

1 99 6 .

b) 8 . . . cS 9 b3 ! (stronger than 9 d5 d6 =
indicated by Fischer and Gligoric) 9 . . . c x d 4
1 0 e5 !? Axf3 1 1 xf3 Packroff - Pich ler,
(corr] 1 977 .
9 h3

uses the black a6 -pawn as a target, to open

l i nes agai nst the black King.
18. . . e7
The paw n - g rab 18 . . . Axb4 looks extremely
risky, e. g . 19 E!.b1 (or 19 cf:Je6 l1d7 20 ff?e4!?)
1 9 . . . Af8 20 E!.fc1 .
19 b5 axb5 20 xb5 d5 21 'f!!a4 xe3
22 fxe3 'f!!e8 23 'f!!a8+ r!ld7 24 r!!!xb7 'f!!xe3+
25 r!lh 1 e5 26 xc7 'f!!g 3 27 'f!!c 6+ r!le7
28 'f!!e 6+ <!Jt8 29 f1xf6+ 1-0 Rozenta l i s
Sosn icki, [chT] Lubniewice 1 998.

8 Ae3 the7

e6

9 . . . Ah5 ? ! 1 0 tl:ieS ! Ax d 1 1 1 tl:ixd7 xd7

1 2 l"!xd1 E!.e8 1 3 f3 tl:ie7 14 tl:ic3 cs 15 Ae3

16 E!.ac1 fxe4 1 7 fxe4 g6 1 8 Af4 Ag7
19 d5 El.dB 20 tl:ia4 E!.hf8 21 g3 gS 22 AxgS
l"! f 7 2 3 g2 c x d S 24 exdS b8 2S E!.e1 Af8
26 E!.f1 E!.g7 27 Af6 E!.g8 2 8 E!.ce1 E!.e8 29 d6
cxd6 30 Ax e? Axel 31 E!.f7 1 - 0 Fischer
Jimenez Zerq uera, [ol] Havana 1 966.
f5

10 c3 0-0-0 11 e3
11 Af4 tl:ie7 1 2 E!.c1

tl:ig6 13 Ag3 Ad6

1 4 tl:la4 Axg3 1S fxg3 b8 16 tl:icS d6

After this Wh ite is once more confronted with

the problem : exchange or keep the tension ?
If Wh ite does not exchange, he must reckon
with B l ac k playing . . . exd4 and/or . . . ts . As
tournament practice h itherto testifies, Black
has q u ite good cou nterplay i n that case.
8. . . 'f!!e 7
This is the main alternative. Black prepares
i m med i ate q u eenside castl i n g , i ntending to
seek cou nterplay on the kingside.

1 7 a4 a7 18 tl:ixa6 Ax h3 19 es tl:ixeS
20 dxe5 fxeS 2 1 tl:icS+ b 8 22 g x h3 e4
23 tl:lxe4 e7 24 E!.c3 bS 2 S c2 1-0

Fischer - G l igoric, [ol] H avana 1 966.

11 ... g5 12 f1c1 h5 13 d5! cxd5 14 exd5

J.xd5 15 xd5 'f!!xd5 16 'f!!c2 'f!!f 7 17 d4
J.d6 18 b4!

This m arks the launch of a sharp attack

which is typical of this type of position. Wh ite

43

3 I l l u strative Games - Theoretical section

9 bd2 0-0-0
a) 9 . . . exd4 10 cxd4 0-0-0 11 '@c2 .El.e8 12 e5
Ab4 1 3 h3 Ae6 14 tDe4 '@fl 1 5 a3 Ab3
1 6 '@b1 Ael 1 1 tDfd2 !?

a) 1 0 . . . '@fl 1 1 b4 e x d 4 1 2 c x d 4 f5 1 3 e5
Axb4 14 tDg5 '@d5 15 h3 Ah5 16 '@xf5+ b8
1 1 '@e6 tDel 1 8 .El.ab1 Axd2 1 9 Axd2 .El.he8
20 Ab4 Ag6 2 1 .El.bd1 tLlf5 22 ''x d5 .El.xd5
23 Ac3 c5 24 dxc5 .El.xc5 25 Aa1 h6 26 tDf3 oo

This n ovelty by the H u ngarian Zoltan Al

masi , i n stead of the 11 tDed2 of Smyslov
Geller, [ch] U S S R 1 913 , m a kes a g ood i m
press i o n , since i n t h i s way W h ite sta b i l ises
his centre. 1 l . . . Ad5 18 f4 Ad8 19 b 4 ;!; f5
2 0 tDc3 tDel 2 1 a4 b6 22 '@d3 'i!> bl 2 3 b5
c x b5 24 axb5 a5 25 tDa4 'i!>b8 26 tLlc5 Aa8
27 tLla6+ 'i!>c8 28 .El.fc1 (1-0] Almasi - Mari n ,
[zt] Odorheiu Secuiesc 1 99 5 ;

This typical attacking move d issolves the

double pawns and exch an ges the "worse"
of Black's bishops, nevertheless Wh ite cre
ates excellent attacking chances against the
enemy m o narch : 13 . . . tLlf6 14 b x c5 Axc5
1 5 Axc5 ''x c5 16 tLlb3 ''c6 11 tDfd2 tbdl
18 c5 ! Ae2 19 .El.fc1 Ab5 2 0 '@b2 Aa4
21 .El.ab1

b ) 9 . . . tLl h 6 1 0 '@c2 tbfl

W h ite has completed the redeployment of

his forces that he probably plan ned with his
1 3t h move and, i n view of the th reat of tDa5 ,
the b l ac k position is on the poi nt of col
lapse: 2 1 . . . Axb3 22 tDxb3 '@xe4 23 tDa5
tLlb8 24 .El.e1 '@g6 2 5 ''x bl+ 'i!>dl 2 6 '@d5+
'i!> el 21 .El. x b8 .El.xb8 2 8 tDc6+ 1-0 M e ijers
Olarasu, Creon [op] 2003 .
c) 1 0 . . . exd4
1 1 tDxd4 '@fl (1 1. . . h5 12 CZJc4 CZJh6 13 h3
d7 14 !'Xfe 1 g5 15 !'Xad 1 !'XheB 1 6 f3 c5

11 c4 ! A noteworthy idea! 11 . . . exd4 1 2 tLlxd4

c5 13.tLl4b3 0-0 14 f3 Ah5 15 Af2 b6 16 tDc1
Af4 11 tDe2 Axd2 18 '@xd2 .El.fd8 1 9 ''c2 ;!;
[1 -0] Teufel - Ken nefick, Copenhagen 1 961 .

10 dxe5!?
J ust as in our main game, the early exchange
on e5 seems to offer good chances.
1 0 '@c2 Some recent material on this classi
cal move :

44

3.2 The active 5 .f6 6 d4 1l.g4 (Baklan - Kall io)

. .

17 t/Jf5 xf5 18 exf5 g3 19 J3xd8+ Vffxd8

20 J3e2 'f!fd5 21 f2 J3xe2 22 V!fxe2 !Jxf5
23 V!fe8+ 'f!fd8 24 Vffxd8+ 'i!>xd8 25 xc5
[1/2 -112} Shirov - Piket, Monte Carlo [rapid]
1997; 1 1. . . V!fe5 12 f4 V!fh5 13 !Jc4 !Jh6
14 tfJxd6+ cxd6 15 f5 J3he8 1 6 J3ae 1 c5
17 tfJb3 g5 18 h3 xh3 19 gxh3 Vffxh3 20 c 1
tLig4 21 Vffg2 Vffxg2+ 22 'i!>xg2 h5 23 c4 'i!>c7
24 tfJd2 ;t [712-112] Rozentalis - Marin, Belfort
1995; 1 1. . . c5 12 !Jf5 xf5 13 exf5 'f!fd7
14 tfJe4 tfJe7 15 xc5 xc5 1 6 !Jxc5 Vffxf5
1 7 'f#xf5+ !Jxf5 18 J3fd1 a5 19 'i!>f1 b6 20
tLie6 J3xd 1+ V2-V2 Nisipean u - Grischuk, [bl]
LObeck- Kreuzberg 2002) 1 2 f4 tbh6 1 3 b4
Ad? 14 h3 l"!.he8 15 a4 1/;l!'g6 1 6 l"!.f3 1/;l!'h5 1 7 f5
tllf7 18 b5 c x b5 1 9 a x b 5 Ax b5 20 tbx b5
axb5 21 1/;l!'b3 tbe5 22 1/;l!'x b5 c6 23 1/;l!'b3 Ab8
24 t.Dc4 tll x c4 25 1/;l!'xc4 1/;l!'h4 26 g4 h5 27 Af2
g5 28 Ae3 1/;l!'h4 29 Af2 1/;l!'g5 30 Ae3 1/2-%
Fressinet - G risch uk, [ol] Istan bul 2000.
=

1 0. . . fxe5

2002) 1 3 . . . c x b4 14 '?;lfc2 Axf3 15 gxf3

(15 !Jxf3! bxc3 (15. . . a5 1 6 cxb4 xb4
17 J3fc 1 'i!>b8 18 d2} 16 'f#xc3 tfJxe4 1 7
'f#b3 c 6 (1 7. . . b 6 1 8 'f#c4) 1 8 tfJg5 gives White
attacking chances according to lvanchuk.)
15 . . . g5 16 c x b4 g4 1 7 b5 g xf3 18 tll xf3 axb5
19 a x b 5 l"!.hg8+ 2 0 <ilh1 tbg4 2 1 l"!.a1 d7
2 2 1/;l!'e2 '?;lff6 2 3 l"!.g1 tbxe3 24 fxe3 l"!.df8 +
[%-1/2] lvanch u k - G risch u k , M oscow [rapid]
2002 .
12. . . r!!eB
1 2 . . . c5 13 l"!.ab1 with wh ite attack.
13 a4
Another very strong plan here is 13 l"!.fb1 fol
lowed by tbe1 and f3 .
13. . . r!!g 6 14 b5! xf3 15 tt:Jxf3 r!!xe4
16 r!!b3

11 b4

H ere too W h ite has a dangerous i n itia

tive, e . g . : 1 6 . . . a5 17 tbg5 '?;lfd5 1 8 c4 1/;l!'g8
1 9 bxc6.
White prepares a dangerous attack against
the black k i n g . Once W h ite g ets i n b4-b5
and the l i nes become open , things are often
very precarious for the black monarch .
11 . . . tt:Jf6

12 r!!c2!?

1 2 a4 ?! Too hasty ; W h ite should not b e

grudge a preparatory m o v e h ere : 1 2 . . . c5 !
13 l"!. b1 . Rather opti m isti c , but ad m ittedly
we are deal ing with a rapid-play game here !
(13 b 5 a 5 14 h 3 e6 15 !Jg5 g8 1 6 'f#e2
h6 1 7 !Jgf3 h7 18 !Je1 ! 'i!>b8 19 f3 tfJh5
20 'i!>h2 'f#e6 21 tfJc4 b6 22 J3b 1 'i!>b 7oo [0-1}
Alikhanov- Shomoev, [ch] Russia, Krasnodar

4
3

9 d xeS !?
45

{}-

3 I l l ustrative Games - Theoretical section

In con n ection with the n ext-but-one move

move, this is a very i nteresting new idea from
the Exchange Variation spec i a l i st Vlad i m i r
Baklan .

9 ti:lbd2
S i nce this i s an i m portant m a i n - l i n e pos i
t i o n , I shal l supply some further material , as
an alternative to the relatively u ntested main
reco m mendatio n . As long as Wh ite has n ot
exchanged on e5 , he has to keep consider
ing the conseq uences of Black playing . . . f5
(sometimes preceded by . . . exd4} .

9 . . . t!fd7
a) 9 . . . 0-0 10 c2 The most flexible continu
ation .

(Less conv i n c i n g is 1 0 b3+ @ h 8 1 1 h3

(with 1 1 V/!xb l White could still force a
draw against a superior opponent: 1 1. . . e6
12 c4 J'Xb8 V2-% Reinderman - Beliavsky,
[ech} Ohrid 200 1 .) 1 1 . . . Ah5 1 2 d xe5 fxe5

Here we can see the typical problem follow

ing the exchange on e5 : although Wh ite can

claim a considerable structural advantage in

view of the weakness o n e5 and the black
doubled pawns, carefu l attention has to paid
to Black's ki ngside counterplay. Specifical ly,
i n many l i n es Black th reatens an exchange
sacrifice on f3 .)
1 0 . . . e8 1 1 h3 Ad? 12 ttJc4 h5 ? 1 3 d x e5
fxe5 1 4 d1 ! (14 !iJfxe5 ? xe5 15 V!!d 1
V/!xd1 16 J'Xfxd1 d6 1 7 e 5 e6 1 8 .fla5 .flf5
19 exd6 .flxd6 20 c5 J'Xf5 2 1 xd6 J'Xxa5
22 xc7 %-% Fressinet- Rausis, Creon [op]
1999) 1 4 . . . ttJg6 1 5 ttJfxe5 x d 1 1 6 mxd1
ttJxe5 1 7 ttJxe5 Ae6 1 8 ttJd3 ;
1 0 . . . @h8 1 1 h3 ! (1 1 c4 ?! This ECO recom
mendation is one move too early and actually
rather weak at this point: 1 1. . . exd4 12 .flxd4
c5 13 !iJ4b3 b6! +) 11 . . . Ah5 1 2 c4 ! exd4
1 3 ttJxd4 ;
1 0 . . . b6 ! A fine prophylacti c move, d i rected
against Wh ite's i d ea of advan ci n g c4-c5 ,
lead i ng to a very tough positional strugg l e :
1 1 h3 Ah5 1 2 ttJh4 @ h 8 1 3 ttJ c 4 b5 1 4 ttJa5
e8 15 a3 gb8 16 b4 Af7 17 gad1 Ae6
18 e2 fl 1 9 @h1 g be8 20 ttJf3 h5
2 1 d x e5 f x e5 22 ttJd4 Af7 2 3 ttJf3 Ae6
24 ttJg1 f7 2 5 f3 ttJg6 26 f2 Ad? 27 Ac5
ge6 28 ttJb7 e7 29 d2 Axc5 30 ttJxc5
gd6 oo [1/2-1/2] Fressinet - G rischuk, Lausanne
2000.
b) 9 . . . ttJg6 1 0 b3 c8 1 1 c4
Once again this typical wh ite resource. The
th reat of c4-c5 disorganises the black camp
and m ore or less forces an exchange on
d4. (1 1 dxe5!? e6 12 c4 !iJxe5 13 .flxe5
xe5 14 f4 d6 15 e5 el 16 exf6 gxf6
1 7 .fle4 0-0 18 d4 f5 19 J'Xfe 1 J'Xfl 20 c5
e6 2 1 V/!g3+ rr!Jf8 22 V/!h4 V/!d8 23 J'Xad 1
d5 2 4 J'Xd3 r;!Jg8 2 5 J'Xg3+ rr!Jh8 26 .flxf6
xf6 2 7 J'Xe8+ J'Xf8 28 Vf!xf6+ 1-0 Rozen
talis - Pribyl, Liechtenstein [op] 1995) .
1 1 . . . exd4 1 2 ttJxd4 c5 1 3 ttJf5 0-0 1 4 ttJxd6
cxd6 1 5 f3 Ae6 16 b6 [1-0] Lobro n
Khal ifman , B russels [rapid] 1 992 ;
c) 9 . . . c8 1 0 ttJc4 0-0 1 1 d x e5 Axe5
12 ttJc x e5 fxe5 13 b3+ Ae6 1 4 b4 ttJg6
15 ttJg5 a5 1 6 a4 h6 1 7 ttJxe6 xe6 1 8 b3

46

3.2 The active 5 . . . f6 6 d4 1l.g4 (Baklan - Kall io)

xb3 19 a x b3 b6 2 0 g 3 f7 21 ..a4 c5
22 E!fa1 ..ac8 2 3 b4 a x b4 24 c x b4 c x b4
25 ..xb4 IIDe7 26 ..c4 e6 27 b4 b5 28 ..c5
c6 29 ..a6 ..a8 30 ..b6 ..fd8 31 ..c x b5 ..a1 +
32 g2 g5 33 h3 ..dd1 34 ..c5 ..a2 35 ..c3
i>f7 36 .. b7 e6 37 Ac5 IIDc8 38 ..c7 1-0
Mecki ng - U nzicker, [ol] Lugano 1 968.

15. . . 'f!!fe B 16 tZlg3 h6 17 tZlf3 e6 18 tZlf5

'f!!f f 77? 19 xd6 cxd6 20 f!!fxg6 'f!!fxg6
21 tZle7+ 'r!lc7 22 tZlxg6 +-.

9 . . . fxeS 1 0 h3 AhS 1 1 c4 ! c5
a

10 dxe5
1 0 h3 Ae6 1 1 c4 tDg6 1 2 ..e1 0-0 1 3 c5
fie? 1 4 c2 ..ad8 15 h 2 f5 16 d x e5 f4
17 Ad4 IIDh4 1 8 b4 e8 19 Ac3 h5 20 l3.h1
E!.xd2 2 1 tDxd2 f3 with a dangerous black
attack [0-1 ] Reinderman -Sokolov, [chT] The
Netherlands 2001 .

5
4

10. . . fxe5 11 h3 e6 12 tZlg5

1 2 e2 IIDg6 1 3 ..fd 1

0-0 1 4 tDg5 IIDf4

15 Axf4 ..xf4 16 b4 ..af8 17 f3 h8 18 tDxe6
xe6 1 9 IIDf1 c5 2 0 a3 c x b4 2 1 a x b4 Ae7
22 tll e3 Ag5 23 l3.d5 l3.4f7 24 IIDg4 Af4
25 ..ad1 ;!; [1-0] Baklan - Bezgodov, [ech]
Oh rid.
12. . . g8

'()'

1 2 b4!
The poi nt of Wh ite's move order: i n this way
White creates a further weakness in the black
structure .

13 'f!!fh5+ tZlg6 14 fd1

1 4 b4 !? 0-0-0 1 5 IIDb3 e7 1 6 IIDf3 l3.f8

17 tll c 5 b 8 1 8 g4 a8 1 9 IIDd2 oo [0-1 ]

Womacka - Kal l i o , Gausdal 2003 .

12 . . . b6
1 2 . . . IIDc6 13 b x c5 Ae7 14 1/Vxd8+ (14 CZ)bd2
gives Black more hope of counterplay.
14 . . . 0-0 1 5 !Wc2 \Wd7) 1 4 . . . l3.xd8 1 5 IIDc3
Axf3 16 g xf3 .

14. . . 0-0-0
14 . . . e? 15 b3 f6 1 6 IIDc4 h6 17 IIDf3 Af7
18 f5 Axc4 1 9 b x c4 c5 20 ..ab1 b6 21 a4
0-0 22 a5 b x a5 23 xf6 ..xf6 24 ..a1 IIDf8
25 ..xa5 [1-0] Rozental i s - B ronstei n , War
saw [op] 1 989 .

1 3 bxc5 b x c5 1 4 bd2
a

s i,

15 !iJf1
a) 15 tll b 3 !? b6 1 6 ..d2 b7 1 7 ..ad1 1/Ve8
18 e2 h6 1 9 IIDf3 Ae6 20 tDc1 f7 21 IIDd3
Axa2 22 ..a1 ..a8 23 b4 Ac4 24 1/Vd1 oo [1-0]
Mal isauskas - Kostyra, Warsaw [op] 1 989 ;

i, s
.t. .l
7

6
5

b) 15 c4 ! This new idea by Meijers makes a

very good i m pression ! Wh ite plays against
the bishop on d6: 15 . . . e? (15 . . . CZ)f4 16 xf4
exf4 17 CZ)df3) 1 6 ..ac1 IIDf4 1 7 Axf4 exf4
1 8 tll df3 h6 1 9 e5 ! [1-0] M eijers - H ector,
Gbteborg 2004 .

4
3
2

47

.J

3 I l l ustrative Games - Theoretical section

14 . . . 0-0
Structurally Wh ite can be very satisfied . I n
the next few m oves, h owever, W h ite has to
try to neutralise B l ac k 's cou nterpl ay o n the
kingside. Also the transfer of the black knight
to d4 should be taken i nto accou nt . Ideally
Wh ite would l i ke to transfer his knight from f3
to d3 and then fortify the ki ngside with f2-f3 .
If he can then play tl:lb3 (and/or a3) , the
pressu re on c5 will become overwhel m i n g .
1 4 . . . tl:lc6 ! ? 1 5 a4 d7 1 6 .!"l.f b 1 ! tLld4
(16. . . 0-0 1 7 .f!e1) 1 7 xd7+ Kxd7 1 8 tLie1 .

Even though the rest of the game is not

one - h u n d red - per-cent convi n c i n g , I con
sider Wh ite to h ave the advantage i n this
position . Black must keep defending against
th reats of a3 or /Db3, whilst Wh ite must be
at pains to prevent . . . tl:lc6-d4.

1 8 . . . fdS 1 9 b2
1 9 tLlg4 ! ? tLig6 20 tl:lf2 ; 1 9 ..fd1 !?

1 9 . . . At7 20 g4 96 21 g3!?
A double -edged decision .

1 5 '@a4!

21 . . . h5 22 f2 f4 !

A strong move, u n p i n n i ng the tLif3 and , for

the time bei ng, preventing tl:lc6, at the same
time eyeing the a3 square for future use.

B lack finds the o n l y way to create cou nter

p l ay : 22 . . . h4 23 g x h4 (23 g4 .f!f4 24 't!?h2)
23 . . . tl:lxh4 24 tLlg4 .

1 5 . . . '@cS

23 h4

15 . . . Axf3 ? ! 1 6 tl:lxf3 gxf3 ? (does n 't work

here, si nce Wh ite can play @h2 and gg1
i n time.) 17 g xf3 f8 (1 7. . . Yf!c8 18 't!?h2 <096
19 l!.g 1) 18 d1 .

23 h2 !?

23 . . . Aea

1 6 h2!

23 . . . g6 24 h2 /De2 ! leads to unclear play,

e . g . 2 5 Ag5 Ae7 2 6 tLlb3 (26 <0h3 e6
27 l!.e1 xh3 28 't!?xh3 xg5 29 l!.xe2 xd2
30 l!.exd2 l!.d4 oo) 26 . . . Axg5 27 gxe2 Ae7 oo .

I mportant prophylaxis against a threatened

exchange sacrifice on f3 !

1 6 . . . '@e6 17 ab1 h6

2 4 '@a3

17 . . . tl:lc8 18 f3 tLlb6 19 c2 Af7 2 0 gfc1 ;

17 . . . Ae8 1 8 a3 .

1 8 f3 ;;f;;

8
7
6

3
2

24 . . . Ad7?!
48

3.2 The active 5

From

. . .

f6 6 d4 Ag4 (Baklan - Kall io)

here Black loses the thread . 24 . . . CLie2+

25 h2 ttJd4 26 ttJh3 was d efi n itely prefer

able.

25 e1
25 gxf4 exf4 26 Axc5 g6+ 27 h1 g3 = .

25 . tilh3+ 26 xh3 @x h3 27 f1
J:U8 28 f2
. .

Now c5 w i l l fal l , whereas the black counter

p l ay on the kingside h as reached a dead
end .

28 . . . Jaf6 29 Axes af8 30 Axd6

xd6 31 @b3 h8 32 d 1 g6 33
@c3 Ae6 34 @xeS Axc4 3S @x hS+
lah6 36 @cs f4 37 h2 @e6 38 g xf4
g6+ 39 g2 1-0

49

3 I l l u strative Games - Theoretical section

3.3 The a m b i t i o u s 5 . . . Wd6 6 a 3 !

3.3. 1 R o m a n i s h i n 's 6 . . . 1'e6
S p eck (2381 )
Campos M o r e n o

can be q u ite poisonous, as in the following

exam ple: 6 . . . f6

(2498)
Sevi l le [op] 2004

(6. . . tiJe 7 7 e3 tiJg6 8 tiJbd2 c5 9 a4 b6

10 <flc4 e6 1 1 <flg5 f6 12 r/!Yh5 h6 13 <flh3
.flxh3 14 xh3 .fld6 15 r/!Yg4 l1d8 16 g3
h5 1 7 e2 r/!Ye6 18 f4 exf4 19 gxf4 g4+
20 xg4 hxg4 2 1 l"Iae 1 <tld7 22 e5 .fle7 23 f5
tiJh4 24 e6+ fxe6 25 tiJe5+ c;!;>c8 26 fxe6
l1df8 27 l1f7 ild6 28 .flg5 tiJf3+ 29 tiJxf3
gxf3 30 h4 l1xf7 3 1 exf7 <tld7 32 l"Ie8 l"Ixe8
33 fxe8Q+ <tlxe8 34 c;!;>f2 c;!;>f7 35 c;!;>xf3 g6
36 <tlg4 c;!;>e6 37 d2 .fle7 38 f4 c6 39 c4
b5 40 b3 ilf6 41 e3 e7 42 ilf4 f8
43 c;!;>g5 <tlf7 44 c;!;>g4 <tlf6 45 g3 ilh6
4 6 d6 e3 47 g3 c;!;>e6 48 .flc7 draw,
Kasimdzhanov-Adams, [wch] Tripoli 2004 and the drawn conclusion of this, the second
tie -break game, gave Kasimdzhanov the title
of FIDE World Champion!)

1 e4 es 2 f3 c6 3 Abs a6 4 Axc6
d xc6 S 0-0 Wd6

7
6
5

3
2

{r

7 Ae3 Ag4 8 tt::l b d2 tt::l e7 9 b4 tt::l g 6 1 0 Ac5

d7 11 e1 a5 1 2 a3 ax b4 13 a x b4 El.xa1
1 4 xa1 tt::l f4 1 5 tt::l x e5 tt::l e 2+ 16 h1 f x e5
1 7 xe5+ e6 1 8 g5 Axc5 1 9 b x c5
0-0 2 0 f3 a2 2 1 fxg4 El.xf1 + 22 tt::l x f1 h6
23 d2 [1-0] Rozental i s - Liss, [chT] Israel
1 99 9 .

An ambitious and com bative q u ee n m ove,

which is the second most popular move (af
ter 5 . . . f6) here . B l ac k wishes to avoi d the
slight weake n i n g of the l ig ht squares c re
ated by . . . f6 and i n some variations will con
tinue with rapid queenside cast l i n g . Usually
the tt::l g 8 will a i m for g 6 v i a e7 . H owever, if
the centre becomes open with d2-d4, the
black q u een can find herself in a very ex
posed position and with energetic play Wh ite
has good chances of transfo rm i n g h i s lead
in development i nto a concrete advantage .
This l i n e i s riskier for Black than 5 . . . f6, and it
leads to sharper positions i n which concrete
knowledge of variations is q u ite i m po rtant.

6 . . . We6

6 a3 !

The most active move. Wh ite wants to make

his lead i n development count by prepari ng
a qu ick d2-d4.
6 d3. This q u i et b u i l d - u p h as been played
by Eduardas Rozental is, in whose hands it

50

{r

3 . 3 . 1 Roman ish i n 's 6 . . . e6 (Spec k - Campos Moreno)

Th is u nusual q u ee n move, w h i c h flouts all

the classical princi ples of development, is a
special ity of Oleg Roman i sh i n .

7 d4 !?

A very i nteresting idea that h as n ot yet re

ceived many trials. W h ite accepts a weak
en i n g of his own pawn structu re, su bse
quently relying o n h i s powerful u n opposed
dark-squared bishop.
7 b3 tiJe7 8

4
3

tiJc4 tiJg6 9 d4

is the trad itional approach, which is also suf

ficient for a slight advantage. Ti mman 's play
in the fol lowing encounter is very instructive :
9. . . exd4

...

,---,,-----,,.--,----,-,--=---.,-,

The p ressu re on the a1-h8 d i agonal gives

W h ite good long -term attacking chances
against the b lack k i n g .

10 tiJxd4 t!fg4!?

(10. . . Yf#d7 1 1 e3 c5 12 t/Jf5 Yf#xd1 13 l1axd1

e6 14 c 1 l1d8 15 <flce3 f6 1 6 b2 t/Je7
17 l'l,xd8+ t!lxd8 18 g4 .flc6 19 h4 l1g8
20 t!lg2 t!lc8 2 1 f4

11 . . . h6
1 1 . . . .!"l.e8 12 .!"l.ad1 b6 1 3 d2 Ab? 1 4 tDg5
e? (14. . . Yf#xa2 ?! 15 Yf#c3 b5 16 l1d7) 15 e5 .

1 2 ge3 b6 1 3 gae1 cs
1 3 . . . xa2 14 c4 .

1 4 Wc3 gda?!
14 . . . .!"l.e8 15 h3 (15 '8h4 ?! Yf#g4 1 6 l1g3 7?
'f!fxh4 1 7 'f/fxf6 'f!fxg3 -+) 1 5 . . . Ab? 1 6 tDh4
tl:ih5 1 7 tDf5 f6 1 8 Ac1 ! (18 Yf#d2 t!lh 7 19 Yf#e2
g6) 1 8 . . . .E!.ad8 1 9 . ..3e2 fol lowed by 2 0 f3 ,
with clear advantage to Wh ite.

[1-0} Timman - Romanishin, Reykjavik [op]

2004)
11

15 h4! Wg4?

b2 f6 12 h3 t!fxd1 13 l1axd1 i.

A horri ble b l u nder that ensures a q u ick end.

1 5 . . . c6 1 6 ..g3 f8 1 7 f3 .

7 . . . Axa3
7 . . . exd4 8 xd4 tDf6 9 .!"l.e1 Ae7 (9. . . xa3
see the main line .) 10 Af4 .

8 bxa3 exd4 9 Wxd4 f6 1 0 Ab2

1 6 gg3 Wx h4 17 Wxf6 Wxf6

17 . . . xg37? 18 x d8+.

0-0

1 8 Axf6 gd2 19 gxg7+ 1-0

11 gfe1

51

3 I l l ustrative Games - Theoretical section

3.3.2 T h e p r i n ci p l e d 6
Fre s s i n e t (2440)
Stefa n s so n (2584)

Bischwi l ler 1 999

1 e4 es 2 f3 c6 3 Abs a6 4 Axc6
dxc6 S 0-0 d6 6 a3! bS

. . .

e7 9 a4 EibB

9 . . . A b7 1 0 a x b5 ax b5 1 1 .. x a8+ Ax a8
1 2 ..e1 [1 2 d 4 ! ? This sharp gam b it m ove
also comes i nto consideration : 1 2 . . . c x d 4
1 3 c x d 4 A x e 4 1 4 tl'ixe5 f 6 1 5 tl'i d 3 Ax d 3 ?
( 1 5. . . c 6 ! 1 6 <f)c5!? xc2 1 7 l;Wxc2 l;Wxd4
18 b3! ? oo) 1 6 W#xd3 c6 1 7 Ad2 tl'id5 1 8 ..a1
Ae7 19 E!.a8+ Ad8 2 0 W#b3 0-0 21 Ab4 W#f4
22 g3 W#c1 + 23 g2 Ae7 24 ..a1 +- [1 -0] Shi
rov - Short, G ro n ingen 1 996] 12 . . . tl'ig6 1 3 d4
leads by transposition i nto our m a i n game
with 8 . . . Ab7 .

J.b7

Rather passive for my taste, this set-up is

recom mended i n ECO (41 h ed ition) as the
path to eq ual ity. I n my view B l ack's task is
not so easy. . .

. . .

[a] 8

.i

b5

a-fi le. I n this position Black has several con

tin uations, although 8 . . . Ab7 and 8 . . . tl\e7 are
the most popular by far, and can lead to the
same thing by transpositio n .

. . .

11

" Rad ically" preventi ng tl'ic4 and enabl ing an

eventual fianchetto of the q u een 's bishop
( . . . c5 , Ab7) .

10 axb5 axb5 1 1 d4

7 c3 cs 8 c2

.I

7
6
5
4

11

. . .

cxd4

1 1 . . . tl'ig6 1 2 tl'ixe5 (12 !;We2!? g4 13 <f)e3

xf3 14 l;Wxt3 exd4 15 <f)f5 lWe5 16 cxd4
cxd4 17 l;Wd3 c5 18 b3 oo) 1 2 . . . cxd4 13 tl:lxg6
h x g 6 1 4 e5 W#b6 (14 . . . lWd5 1 5 <f)xd4 c5 ?
16 <f)xb5 '{/!xd1 17 !Xxd1 !Xxb5 18 !XaB+ -) 1 5
W#x d4 c 5 1 6 W#f4 Ae7

With this m ove Wh ite is prepari n g , n ot only

the thematic d4, but also a4, to create weak
nesses in Black's q u eenside and open the

(see next analysis diagram)

52

3 . 3 . 2 The principled 6

. . .

b5 (Fressinet - Stefansson)

I n this endgame Wh ite has at least a slight

advantag e ! Here also the theoretical verd ict
of (=) can be seriously questioned .
20 tbf7 .El.gB 2 1 .El.dB 'i!? b7 22 tbd6+ 'i!lc7
2 3 .El.a?+ 112-112 Relan g e - Geenen , [zt] Brus
sels 1 993.

20. . . .b.xd7 21 I1xd7 ;t tt:Jc6

21 . . . tbcB 22 .El.a6 Ae7 23 .El.e6 .
--==----'--'-=-<'-=-'--' o

In ECO this position is mysteriously as

sessed as eq ual , but it seems to me that
Wh ite is clearly better!
17 b4 cxb4 1B tbx b4 'if#e6 1 9 'if#g3 ! [19 tbd5 ?!
xd5 20 e6 E( b7 21 '/llVxf7+ 'i!?dB 22 Af4 Axe6
23 'if#xg7 [112-1/2] De la R iva Ag uado - Foisor,
Zaragoza [op] 1 99 6 ; (23 Vf#xg6 )] 1 9 . . . A b7
20 Ag5 Ax g5 21 'if#xg5 E(h5 22 'if#g3 E(xe5 ?
2 3 CDd3 .

22 I1a6.
[b] 8. . . c4!?
A very i nterest i n g idea from the Exchange
Variat i o n spec i a l i st M ichele Godena. Black
wants to prevent, o r rather h i n der, the ad
vance of the wh ite d - pawn .

9 b3 f6 10 bxc4 bxc4 11 a3 t!!fc6 12 xfB

The romantic sacrificial attack 1 2 tbxe5 leads
to a very unclear position : 12 . . . fxe5 13 'if#h5+
''g6 14 'if#xe5+ tbe7 15 .El.ab1 oo [1/2-1/2] Rei n
derman - Godena, [zt] Mondariz 2000.

12 cxd4 exd4 1 3 tt:Jcxd4 c5

Seems very plausi ble, but . . .

12. . . @xfB

13 . . . CDg6 ?! 14 'if#e2 Ad7 1 5 tbf5 'if#b4 1 6 E(d1

h5 17 .El.a? Ad6 1B tbxg7+ 'i!?f8 19 e5 'i!?xg7
20 exd6 Ae6 2 1 Ad2 Ac4 22 'if#e1 1-0
Ghinda-Olarasu, Olanesti [op] 1 997 .

14 t/:Jxb5!

13 d4
This " normal move" should suffice for a slight
advantage.
1 3 ''e2 tbe7 1 4 tbb4 (14 lfab 1 <096 15 <0b4
<0f4 16 Vf#e3 Vf#d6 17 g3 a5!) 14 . . . vgyd6 15 d4
cxd3 16 tt:Jxd3 Ag4 17 '/llVe 3 'i!?f7 1B .El.fd1
Axf3 1 9 'if#xf3 .El. h d B 2 0 tbb4 'if#e6 21 tbd5
tbxd5 22 exd5 'if#d6 .

The only try for advantage - Wh ite tries to

profit from h i s lead in development and the
black king sti l l i n the centre.

14 ... t!!fx d1 15 t/:Jc7+ @dB 16 I1xd1+ 'ilxc7

17 f4+ @b7 18 xbB @xbB 19 tt:Je5 f6

13. . . cxd3 14 t!!fxd3 ;t .b.e6 1 5 tt:Jb4;

19 . . . f5 2 0 .El.dB 'i!?c7 2 1 .El.eB fxe4 22 .El.al+

Ab7 23 tbf7 .El.gB 24 tbdB ; 1 9 . . . Ae6 20 tbd7.

[c] 8. . . f6 9 a4 .b.b7 10 axb5 .b.xe4

10 . . . axb5 11 .El.x aB+ Ax aB 1 2 d4 Axe4 13 E(e1
with wh ite attack accord i ng to Wed berg .

20 tt:Jd7+!

53

3 I l l u strative Games - Theoretical section

11 d4 cxd4 12 IIe1 b7 13 cxd4 axb5

14 IIxaB+ xaB 15 e2 e4 16 xb5+ c6
17 a5 e7 18 d2 f5 19 b3 d7 20 c4
g6 21.e3 b5 ( [1/2-1/2] Yusupov-Xie
J u n , Linares [op] 1 997) 22 e5! (Wedberg)
22. . . xe5 23 dxe5 c6 24 IId1 d3 25 a3
xa3 (25 . . . f? !?) 26 aB+ dB 27 xa3
IIfB 28 c5 (Wed berg) .

9 He1

Probably the critical l i n e : can White prove an

advantage here ?

13 b3 g6 14 xd6 xd6 1 5 e3 IIcB

16 IIfd1 f!le7 17 a4 b4 ?!
1 7 . . . .E!.hd8!? 1 8 ax b5 ax b5 1 9 tba3 Aa6.

18 g5+! f6 19 e3 f!le6 20 c4 e7
21 e3 e5 22 b6 IIc7 23 IIac 1 c4
24 a5 IIbB 25 bxc4 xc4 26 xc4 IIdB
27 IIxdB xdB 28 f!Jt2 [1/2-1/2] Socko
Krasen kow, [ech] Ohrid 2001 .

. . .

tQe7

[a] 9. . . IIdB
A precaution agai nst the thematic d4.

10 a4

9 d4!?
The i m mediate advance of the d - pawn
comes strongly i nto consideration .

9. . . cxd4 10 cxd4 exd4 11 fxd4 e7

11 . . . 0-0-0 12 b4 ! Axe4 13 g4+ f5 14 tll x f5
Axf5 15 xf5+ d7 1 6 f3 d5 1 7 h3+
d7 1 8 c3 tbf6 19 a4 b x a4 2 0 Ag5
(20 Vffa3!?) 2 0 . . . Ae7 2 1 f3 d5 2 2 h3+
d7 23 f3 d5 24 g3 [1-0] M arkovic
Petronic, [ch] Belgrade 1 998.

Wh ite opens the queenside front.

10. . . e7!?
Here Black has several alternatives avai lable:

a) 10 . . . tbf6 1 1 a x b5 a x b5 12 d4! tbxe4

13 tbxe5 Ae7 14 .El.a? ! (14 ff#e2 0-0 15 ff#xb5
.EtbB 16 ff#d3 cxd4 1 7 ff#xd4 ff#e6 18 ttJd7
.EtfdB 19 ttJxbB .Etxd4 20 t;Jxd4 [1-0] Prie
Sorin, [ol] Yerevan 1996) 1 4 . . . Ad5 1 5 tbe3
Ae6 16 d3 c x d 4 17 x b5+ f8 18 c x d 4
x d4 1 9 .E!.xc7 A d 6 20 tbf3 Prie;

12 f3 c5

b) 10 . . . c4 11 a x b5 axb5 12 tba3 ! tbf6

13 tbx b5 b6 (13 . . . ff#c5 14 ff#a4 .Etd7 1 5 d4
cxd3 16 e3) 14 tba3 Ac5 15 .E!.e2 tbxe4
1 6 tbxc4 Axf2+ 17 f1 b5 1 8 a4 Prie ;

.......

c) 1 0 . . . tbe7 1 1 a x b5 a x b5 1 2 d4 c x d 4
13 cxd4 exd4 14 x d4 c6 15 c3 ;!; Pri e ;

{I>

54

3.3.2 The princi pled 6 . . . b5 (Fressi net - Stefansson)

d) 1 0 . . . b4 ? !
Probably t h e stron g H u ngarian p l ayer had
not appreciated the strength of the fol lowing
queen move :
11 e2 ! tlJe7 ? !
[ 1 1 . . . tlJf6 constitutes t h e critical cont i n u a
tion : 1 2 d4 cxd4 1 3 cxd4 tlJxe4 1 4 tlJg5 ! (14
flxe5 Both Pinter and I wrongly assessed
this position as clearly better for White . The
following resource makes matters very un
clear: 14 . . . b3! 15 <fle3 V!fxd4 16 <fl3c4 b4
17 e3 'W'd5 18 f3 co) 1 4 . . . tlJxg5 (14. . . f5 is
too risky with Black 's king in the middle: 15
f3 h6 1 6 <flh3 <flf6 1 7 dxe5 Vffc 5+ 18 e3
\Wxe5 19 c4 ) 15 Axg5 Ae7 16 Axe? xe7
17 x e5 xe5 1 8 E!.xe5+ f8 1 9 E!.d1 ! b3
2 0 et::\ e3 ] .

(Of course I had seen 1 7 flxe5!, but I

thought the position was "an easy win",
which is always a questionable attitude to
have . 1 7. . . Vffx e5 18 V!fh5+ r!Jd7 19 JJ.ad1+
r!Jc8 20 Vffg4+ <flf5 2 1 g3+ - I didn 't really
consider this strong zwischenzug: 2 1. . . f6
22 JJ.xd8+ Vffx d8 23 Vffxf5+ 'W'd7; 1 7 JJ.ad 1 !
was even simpler: 1 7. . . V!fe6 18 flxe5 JJ.xd1
19 JJ.xd1 flg6 20 flxg6 Vffxg6 2 1 g3+ -)
1 7 . . . tlJg6 1 8 tiJe3 e6 1 9 tlJd5 ? (19 c4!
would still have won a good pawn, but
I didn 't want to exchange queens here . . .
19. . . Vffx c4 20 <flxc4 d6 2 1 <flfxe5 flxe5
22 xe5 xe5 23 flxe5 ) 1 9 . . . Ad6 ;\; [V2-1/2]
Kinderman n - Pi nter, [chT] Forstenfeld 2003.

11 axbS axbS 12 e2
1 2 d 4 ! ? c x d 4 1 3 c x d 4 e x d 4 1 4 x d4 c6
15 tlJb4 E!.xd4 1 6 tlJxc6 E!.a4 17 E!.xa4 b x a4
1 8 tlJxe7 tlJxe7 1 9 Af4 .

1 2 cxb4 c x b4 1 3 d4

12. . . c4 13 e3 h6 14 b3 0-0 1S bxc4

ilxe4 16 d4 exd4 17 xd4 g6 18 g4
1 8 c x b 5 ! ? Af6.

18. . . xg4 19 xe4 Jld6 20 xg6 txg6

21 Jlgs t [0-1 ] N a i d itsch - Acs, Budapest
1 998 ;
[b] 9. . A lt6 10 d4 cxd4 11 cxd4 xe4 12 a4
bxa4
1 3 . . . f6 ? A horri b l e m ove, after which the
game should h ave been practically over. . .
(13 . . . exd4 14 <flcxd4 c5 15 <flb3 <flg6
16 g5 ) .

1 2 . . . Ae7 13 a x b5 a x b5 14 E!.xa8+ Ax a8
15 d3 .

1 3 xeS il e 7 14 e3 0-0 1 S ts t6
16 g4 d6 17 h6+ 'i!Jh8 18 d7 g6
19 f1xe7 f1ae8 20 f1xe8 f1xe8 21 es gxh6
22 xg6+ hxg6 23 ilxh6 ts 24 ile3 1-0
B rynel l - Go l d berg , [bl] Germany 2000 ;

14 d x e5 fxe5 15 Ag5 h6 1 6 Ah4 g5.

At this point I was u nfort u n ately d i stracted

by the Austrian karate championsh i p that
was taking place simu ltaneously in the same
bui lding and had reached a real cl iffhanger of
a fight. Watch i ng it had a paradoxical effect
on me: instead of ending the game i m med i
ately with a crus h i n g karate - l i ke blow, I lost
the plot and contin ued feebly with :

[c] 9. . . 0-0-0 10 a4 b4 11 e3 e6 12 e2
e7 13 c4 c6 14 d3 as 1S ile3 ila6
16 f1ed1 ile7 17 td2 ts 18 extS xtS
19 b3 e4 20 dxe4 xe4 21 d6+ cxd6
22 xa6+ r!Jc7 23 xaS + - [1-0] Balog h
l brag imov, [ICC] 2003 .

17 Ag3 ??

55

3 I l l u strative Games - Theoretical section

1 0 a4
a

ftJrd7 23 f5 gxf5 24 e6 fxe6 25 ftJrh5+ <i!Jd8)

2 0 . . . 0-0 2 1 Axe5 'f#xe5 2 2 tl:\d4 l:'&e8 23 f3
Ab? (23. . . f5 24 exf5) 24 'f#f2 .

7
6
5

14 cxd4 e7 1 5 e2 c6 1 6 dxc5 xc5

17 cd4 0-0 18 xc6 xc6 19 d4 b6
20 xb5 IIb8 21 c3 c6 22 <i!Jh1 h4 23 g3
f6 24 f4 d4 25 c4 t [%-%] Reinder
man - Pi ket, Wij k aan Zee 1 999 ;

4
3

[b] 10. . . b4 11 e3

11 c x b4 !? c x b4 12 d4 exd4 13 e5 oo .
a

1 1. . . xe4 12 c4 dS 13 exes f6 14 c4
b7 15 e2 xf3 16 xf3 0-0-0 17 d3
c6 18 e3!?

1 0 . . . c4

1 8 b3 Ad6 1 9 'f#e6+ @ b8 20 Ab2 tl:\a5

21 l:'&ab1 tt:Jxb3 22 Axf6 g xf6 23 l:'&xb3 oo [1-0]
Bhat - M i khalevski , [ICC] 2000.

[a] 10. . A lg6 11 axb5 axb5 12 IIxa8+ xa8

13 d4!

18. . . d6 19 d2 ;t.

11 a x b5 a x b5
1 3 a3!
a

.i.

12

I:lxa8+

Axa8

Advanc i n g the d - pawn two squares is t i m e

a n d again t h e key move f o r White!

13. . . exd4

13 . . . 'f#d7 14 'f#e2 !?
[14 tl:\xe5 tl:\xe5 1 5 d x e5 'f#xd 1 1 6 l:'& x d 1
Axe4 1 7 tl:\ e 3 c4 1 8 tl:\d5 Axd 5 ! ( 1 8. . . c6
19 <f)c7+ r!?e7 20 .fle3 .fld3 2 1 J'J.a 1 f6 22 e6
[1-0] Naiditsch - Mainka, Dortmund 1998)
19 l:'&xd5 c6 20 l:'&d1 Ac5 21 Ag5 0-0 22 @f1
f6 23 exf6 [%-%] Bakre - Kuzm i n , Calcutta
Goodricke [op] 2 002]

I n connection with the n ext move, this con

stitutes a very typical and i m portant method
of putting pressu re on the black q ueenside.

14 . . . Ad6 15 d x e5 tl:\xe5 16 tl:\xe5 Axe5

17 'f#h5 'f#e6 18 Ae3 g 6 19 'f#e2 (19 ftJrh4)
1 9 . . . c4 20 Ad4 (20 f4 .fld6 2 1 es .fle7 22 <f)d4

13 . . . c6 1 4 b3 ! c x b3 15 Wx b3 96
56

3.3.2 The principled 6

. . .

b5 (Fressinet - Stefansson)

20 . . . a? 21 El.a1 b7 22 d 4 tDxe5 23 tDxe5

Ad6 24 tDc4 c7 25 h3 Ae7 26 tDe3 Ab?
27 tDf5 g6 28 g3 El.c8 29 d 5 [0-1 ] G lek
Acs, B u d apest 1 998 (29 JJ,a 7 f8 30 lWg5
[1,e8 3 1 JJ,xb7 lWxb 7 32 d5 e7 33 h6+
'i!?tB 34 lWe5 f6 35 lWe6 'i!?g7 36 lWf7+ 'i!?xh6
3 7 g4 + -, Glek) .

i.

7
6

21 Axes Wa7 22 a 1 Wd7 2 3 d4

Ab7 24 Wg3 g6 2s Ad6 !
a
g

{I'

..

e
8

16 c4!
This strong idea of Igor G lek's calls B lack's
concept i nto question !

1 6 . . . b4 17 cS !
Vacates c4 for the knight and opens the d i
agonal a2-g8.

17 . WxcS
.

17 . . . b8

18 tDc4 Axc5 19 Ab2 f6 2 0 d4

W h ite i s worki n g towards a scenario with a

s u perior wh ite k n i g ht agai n st an i n effective
b l ac k bishop.

exd4 2 1 e5 with attack, accord i n g to Glek.

18 tilc4 Ae7
18 . . . Ad6

2s . . . Axd6 26 tilxd6 Eld8 21 es cs

28 Wb3 cxd4 29 Wx b4 Ac6 30 Wxd4
a8 31 c1 We6 32 f3 a6 33 Wf4
g7 34 h4 hS 3S h2 gs 36 Elc3
We7 37 c4 !

19 Ab2 Ac? 20 d 4 .

1 9 Ab2 0-0 20 tilfxeS

20 . . tilxeS
.

57

i.

3 I l l u strative Games - Theoretical section

Prepari ng a decisive activation of the roo k

for a kingside attack.

37 . . . @g7

A tactical blow settles matters !

40 gxf7+

37 . . . ffte6 38 fftg5 @ h? 39 E!.f4 f5 40 xf5

g xf5 41 l"!xf5 +-.

If now 40 . . . Axt? , then 41 qjf5+, and Black's

q ueen is lost.

38 g3 .ld7 39 gf4 ! .le6

1-0

3.3.3 T h e f l ex i b l e 6 . . . .te6
1 1 d3 h6 1 2 h3 c6 1 3 Ae3 t [0-1 ] Ben
jami n - H ubner, M u nich 1 994.

(2605)
(2455)
Cappel l e - la-Grande Open 2002
N i s i p ea n u
Sof ron i e

8 gd1

1 e4 e5 2 f3 c6 3 .lb5 a6 4 .lxc6
d x c6 5 0-0 d6 6 a3! .le6
a

.i

7
6
5

4
3
a

W h ite makes c l ear h i s i ntention to push

thro u g h the thematic central advance d2d 4 . N ow B lack has to choose. He has
three acceptable cont i n uations: as wel l as
8 . . . 0-0-0, he can consider 8 . . . Ag4 and
8 . . . c5, all i ntended as prophylaxis against
Wh ite's i ntended d2-d4.

A very plaus ible move : B l ac k develops and

prepares q ueenside cast l i n g . On the down
side, the wh ite q u een 's knight w i l l h ave the
c4 square avai lable (after ffte2) and , i n ad
dition , the Ae6 can become a target i n var
ious ways (e. g . by a k n i g ht on d4 if Wh ite
achieves d2-d4, by f3-g5, by d4-d5 . . . )

8 . 0-0-0
.

[a] 8

7 e2 f6

...

g4 9 d4! exd4

9 . . . 0-0-0 ! ? 1 0 Ae3 transposes to o u r main

game.

Necessary, to preserve the queen's bishop :

8 qjc4 Ax c4 9 fftxc4 c5 10 g5 fftf6

7 . . _ qje?

10 c3!

58

3 . 3 . 3 The flexi ble 6 . . . Ae6 (Nisipeanu - Sofronie)

T h i s tactical shot forces Black i nto an i nfe

rior endgam e : 1 1 . . . Axe2 1 2 thx e6 l"!c8 (or
12 . . . xd1 13 CLJxc7+ c!Jf7 14 <0xa8 xa3
15 bxa3 <0e7 16 <0b6 lJ,d8 17 e3 c2 18 f3
f5 19 JJ,c 1 lJ,d1+ 20 JJ,xd1 xd1 2 1 CLJc4
c!?e6 22 CLJd2 fxe4 23 <0xe4 t [1-0} Volzhin
lbragimo v, Ekaterinburg 1997) 1 3 l"!e1 Ag4
14 etJxf8 xf8 15 f4 l"!e8 1 6 etJc2 Ac8 17 b3 g6
18 Ab2 h5 19 c4 [1-0] Ti mman -On ischuk,
Wij k aan Zee [op] 1 99 5 ;
10. . . 0-0-0

c) 10 . . . c5 11 h3 (1 1 CiJc2 d3 12 JJ,xd3 V!!fe6 t,

Timman) 11 . . . Axf3 (1 1. . . h5 ?! 12 cxd4 cxd4
13 CLJb5!) 1 2 xf3 .

This move seems to be the lesser of the evils

in the l i ne with 9 . . . exd4, although even here
the black position is hardly i nspiri n g .

11 f1xd4 f!!e 7 12 f1xd8+

a ) 10 . . . the? ? ! 1 1 h3 Axf3 1 2 xf3 th g 6

1 3 c x d4 Ae7 14 thc4 e6 1 5 d5 ! f7

<=:..!....--'===-:...--=---='----'

1 2 etJc4 ! I really l i ke this move. White refuses

to u ntan g l e the black pieces, and the game
becomes very sharp and concrete. Here are
some sam ple (but far from forced} variations :
1 2 . . . l"!xd4 . l"!e 8 ! ? 1 3 Af4 g5 1 4 Ag3 c5
1 5 l"!d3 h5 (15 . . . f5 16 e5 <0f6 1 7 exf5 xf5
18 ife3 ) 1 6 h3 Ae6 (16. . . xf3 1 7 JJ,xf3
18 JJ,d3 gxh3 19 ifad 1 with a strong at
tack: 19. . . hxg2 20 V!!ff3 <0h6 2 1 V!!ff4) 1 7 etJe3
g4 (1 7 . . CiJh6!? 18 JJ,ad 1 CiJf7) 1 8 thh4 f7
(18. . . V!!fh 7 19 <0d5 xd5 20 ifxd5) 1 9 h x g 4
(19 JJ,ad 1 gxh3 2 0 <0d5 xd5 2 1 lJ,xd5 hxg2
22 V!!fd3) 1 9 . . . h x g4 20 l"!ad1 etJe7 2 1 etJxg4
Ag? 22 f3 .

']}

seems to me to be on the edge of the

abyss here . Wh ite can gain at least a s l i g ht
advantage in several ways, yet here too ECO
considers that B l ac k h as equal chances.
1 6 Af4 !? ;!; (1 6 <0a5 cxd5 1 7 exd5 t; 16 Vl!!b 3!?
b5 17 CiJe3 cxd5 18 exd5 0-0 19 CLJf5
d6) 1 6 . . . thxf4 1 7 xf4 c x d 5 1 8 e x d 5 0-0
1 9 Wixc7 .!''!,a c 8 20 f4 md8 2 1 the3 ;
Black

12. . . f!!xd8 13 c4 f!!e8 14 f4 f!!e6

1 4 . . . g 5 ! ? 1 5 Ag3 Ac5 1 6 h3 (1 6 b4! seems
more precise: 16. . . a7 17 h3 xf3 18 V!!fxf3
V!!fe6 19 <0e3 <fle7 20 a4 t) 16 . . . Axf3 17 \Wxf3
e6 18 d3 etJh6 1 9 etJd2 , and here White's
game is too passive, and B l ac k gains the
advantage: 1 9 . . . l"!d8 20 \Wc4 \Wxc4 21 etJxc4
f5 22 b4 Aa7 23 exf5 etJxf5 24 h2 l"!d3 +
[0-1 ] Balog h - Gyi mesi , Nagykan izsa 2003 .

b) 10 . . . e6 ? ! 11 thxd4 !

15 f1d1 c5 16 h3 xf3 17 f!!x f3 t [112-112]

Fressinet - van den Doel , [zt] Mondariz 2000 ;
[b] 8. . . c5 In con nection with the next move,
this appears to be cu rrently the safest con-

59

3 I l l u strative Games - Theoretical section

tin uation for Black. He tries with all his m ight

to prevent d2-d4.

9 c3 .tg4

1 3 . . . a x b 5 1 4 x b5+ d7 1 5 x h5+ g6
1 6 h4 c5 1 7 e5 f5 1 8 Ag5 (18 e6!?) and
Wh ite has the i n itiative;

b) 13 g 4 Af7 1 4 i:Dxd4 l"&d8 15 Ae3 e5

1 6 c2 Axa3 1 7 b x a3 Cbe7 1 8 i:Df3 l"&xd1+
1 9 l"&xd1 a5 2 0 Ac5 l:D c6 2 1 i:Dd4 i:Dxd4
22 l"&xd4 Ae6 23 d3 c6 24 l"&d6 f7 25 d4
c7 26 f4 h5 27 f5 Ac8 28 e5 fxe5 29 xe5
l"&e8 30 m6+ 1 - 0 G l ek - N au m ki n , Asti [op]
1 997 .

The (rarely played) alternatives seem d efi

n itely weaker, since Wh ite is able to achieve
his objective without fu rther concessions.

a) 9 . . . 0-0-0 ? ! 1 0 d4 cxd4 1 1 cxd4 e x d 4

1 2 l"& x d 4 b 6 1 3 l"& x d 8 + xd8 1 4 Ae3 c6
15 l"&c1 d7 16 Af4 Ad6 17 Axd6 c x d 6
1 8 i:b d 4 Cbe7 1 9 l:D c 4 l:D c 8 2 0 l:D a 5 Af7
21 d2 e7 22 i:Df5+ f8 23 l"&xc8+ 1-0
Rausis - Pilgaard , D ianal und 2000 ;

11 xf3 e7
11 . . . e6 ? ! 1 2 d4 c x d 4 13 c x d 4 exd4
1 4 l"&xd4 i:De7 1 5 Af4 i:Dc6 1 6 l"&d5 Axa3
1 7 b x a3 l"&c8 1 8 h5+ f7 1 9 xf7+ xf7
2 0 l"&d7+ g6 2 1 Axe? l"&he8 22 f3 l:De5
23 Axe5 l"&xe5 24 l"&e1 l"&c3 25 l"& x b7 l"&xa3
26 l"&c1 l"&e8 27 l"&c2 [1-0] Ti m man - Godena,
[ol] Yerevan 1 996.

b) 9 . . . c6 1 0 d4 c x d 4 1 1 c x d 4 Axa3
1 2 bxa3 Ac4 13 e1 !? (13 W'e3 l!,d8 14 b2
W'b6 15 c3 <le7 1 6 l!,ab 1 ;t [1h-Y2} Rau
sis - Ravi, Calcutta Goodricke [op] 200 1)
13 . . . 0-0-0 14 d5 d7 15 l"&b1 Ab5 1 6 Ae3
Cbe7 17 b4 b6 18 a4 Axa4 1 9 l"&dc1 b5
2 0 a5 c6 21 d xc6 1-0 N is i pean u - Ravi ,
Du bai [op] 2002 ;

12 d4!
Nevertheless ! Th is is the only way for Wh ite
to bring his plans to fru itio n . Otherwise B lack
wi l l continue with . . . tt::lc 6 and 0-0-0 and can
be very satisfied .

c) 9 . . . l"&d8 1 0 d4 c x d 4 1 1 c x d 4 c5 1 2 d5 b5
13 Ae3 Ad? 14 l"&ac1 l"&c8 15 l"&c2 g6 1 6 l"&dc1
c4 17 l:Db1 Ah6 18 b3 [1-0] O ral - Petrov,
Pard u bice [op] 1 998.

12. . . cxd4 13 cxd4 exd4 14 .tf4

10 h3 .txf3
10 . . . Ah5 11 d4 cxd4 1 2 cxd4 exd4, and now
White has two attractive contin uations at his
disposal :

a) 13 i:Db5 !
This tactical jest m akes a good i m p ression .

60

3 . 3 . 3 The flexible 6 . . . il.e6 (Nisipean u - Sofronie)

k n i g ht w i l l find an i d eal post at d3. M ean

w h i l e Black h as to get i nto contortions to
bri ng his king to safety.

White has strong pressure for the sacrificed

pawn. Even if m atters are not entirely clear,
I wou ld m u c h rather have the w h ite p ieces.
Glek's plan m akes a part i c u l arly good i m
pression .
14. . . ff!d7

1 8 ''c4
This leads rapidly to equal ity. The fol l ow
ing variations actually stem from M ichal
Krasen kow : 1 8 . . . Ad6 1 9 Axd6 13.xd6 20 tbb4
(20 <flxd4 ?? '(f/d7) 20 . . . ''d7 (20. . . <flxb4
21 '(f/xb4 0-0 22 Y!?xd6 cxd6 23 l!.xc8 l!.xc8
24 llxd4 llc 1+ 2S @h2 llc2 =) 21 tbxc6
13.xc6 2 2 ''b4 13. b6 ? ! (22. . . llxc 1 23 llxc 1
c 6 2 4 l!.d1 d3 2 S Y!?c4 d2 2 6 Y!?b4
Y!?e7 ) 23 ''c4 ? ! [23 ''c5 13.c6 24 ''a?
13.xc1 2 5 13.xc1 ''c8 (2S. . . O-O ?! 26 Y!?xb 7 ;i)
26 ''xd4 0-0 27 13.d1 ;!; (27 Y!?c4+ llf7)]
23 . . . Elc6 %-% Godena- Krasen kow, Reggio
nel l ' Em i l ia 1 996.

15 l1ac1

15 b3 (th i s idea of Krasen kow's is not en

tirely convincing) 15 . . . 0-0-0 (1S. . . cs 16 <flc4
flc8 17 eS-) 1 6 13.ac1 CL\c6 1 7 Cbc4 Ac5 oo ,
and Wh ite must prove that h e has sufficient
compensation .
15. . A lc6

16 c2

16 b3 0-0-0 oo .
16. . . l1d8

16 . . . Ac5?? 1 7 ''h5+ ; 1 6 . . . 0-0-0? 1 7 tbxd4.

17 ff!b3

18. . . d6 19 d3 l1f8 20 xd6 l1xd6

21 b4

1 7 g3 ''e6 (1 7. . . Y!?f7 18 xc7 lld7 19 f4

!Wxa2 20 eS gS 2 1 d2 <fixes 22 <fle 1 <flc6
23 <fld3 d6 24 lle 1+ @fl 2S Y!?g4 lle7
26 Vf!fS l!.xe1+ 27 l!.xe1 <fle7 28 '(f/d7+ - [1-0}
Bhat-Kaidano v, [ICC] 2000) 1 8 Axe? 13.d?
19 Ab6 Ad6 oo .

21. . . dB 22 d5 c6 23 f4 l1f7 24 e5 l1e6

25 exf6 gxf6 26 l1d3

1 Z . ff!c8

26 tbb4 ! ?

17 . . . tba5 ? 1 8 ''g3 c5 1 9 Ac? A d 6 2 0 Axd6

xd6 21 ''xg7 ; 1 7 . . . b6 1 8 ''g3 ; 1 7 . . . b5
1 8 et:\e3 oo 1'.. Ad6 1 9 A xd6 d x e3 20 Ac5 .

26. . . 'i!JfB 27 b4 eB 28 xc6 l1xc6

29 l1xc6 xc6 30 l1xd4 c5 1/2-1/2 Glekl brag imov, Vienna [op] 1 998.

18

21 f4 ! ? ; 21 13.c5 ! ? I l i ke this plan best ! 21 . . . 13.f7

22 13.h5 h6 23 13.d5.

e1 !?
[c] 8. . . g5?!
This tempting act of aggression will be pun
ished .

9 d4 g4 10 e1 0-0-0
10 . . . exd4 11 c3 c5 12 tbec2 .

11 e3 h5 ?!
1 1 . . . ''e? ! is surely better.

12 d5! cxd5 13 exd5 f7 14 c4 d7 15 d6!

[1-0] Timman - Short, [ct/7] El Escorial 1 993,
and Wh ite has a strong i n itiative.

very i nteresting positional plan : instead of

regaining his pawn i mmediately, Wh ite s i m
p l y optim ises t h e position o f his pieces. The

1 5 13.ac1 !?

61

3 I l l ustrative Games - Theoretical section

h
8
7

.____
a
_
b__
c_
d__
e __...:
9_
::
h ____J {}
_

A favourite move of Zoltan Almasi's, who has

contested this variation against Jan Timman
and Stellan Brynel l .

9 d4
9 tDc4 . Th is quiet plan also comes i nto con
sideration , e. g . 9 . . . 'f!Je7 10 d3 'f!Jf7 1 1 Ad2 g5
12 b4 g4 13 tDh4 tDe7 14 a4 Axc4 15 d x c4
h5 1 6 Ae3 l"!.x d 1 + 1 7 l"!.xd1 tDg6 1 8 'f!fd3
Ad6 19 tDxg6 'f!Jx g 6 20 c5 [1-0) G lek
Cladouras, Bad Wiessee [op) 1 998.

10. . . exd4 1 1 f1xd4 f!!!e 7 12 f1xd8+

1 2 tDc4 l"!.xd4 1 3 Axd4 c5 (13. . . V!fe6
14 b3 c5 15 b2 ;f;, lflescas) 14 Ac3
'f!Je6 1 5 b3 tDe7 1 6 E!.e1 tDc6 1 7 tDe3
h 5 ! (1 7. . . 1Wxe4 ? 18 <Z!xg4 1Wxg4 19 V!fe8+
<Z!d8 20 l'1d1 1-0 Szabo - Chrobak, Debre
cen 1998) 1 8 h3 (18 V!fc4 1Wxc4 19 <Z!xc4
xf3 20 gxf3 =) 18 . . . Ad6 1 9 h x g 4 h x g4
20 g3?! (20 tLld5 gxf3 21 V!fxf3 h2+ 22 'if?f1
e5 23 xe5 1Wxe5 24 c3
Illescas; 20
<Z!d2 h2+ 2 1 t!lf1 e5 22 'l!fd3 xc3
23 1Wxc3 <Z!d4) 20 . . . g xf3 21 'f!Jxf3 Ae5
22 tDf5 ? g6 23 /\h4 'f!fh3 24 /\xg6 Axc3
2 5 /\ x h 8 Axe1 2 6 'f!Jxf6 tDd4 0-1 De l a
Vi l l a Garc i a - I l lescas Cordoba, [chT] Cor
doba 1 995.
12. . . f!!!xd8 13 f1d1 f!!Je8 14 t2Jc4! t2Je7
14 . . . 'f!Jxe4 ? 15 /\b6+ c x b6 16 l"!.d8+ xd8
17 Ax b6+ .
15 f4
I prefer this to De l a Vi l la's set-u p ; the wh ite
bishop is very well placed on the h2-b8 di
agonal .
15. . . t2Jd5 16 g3 h5 17 h3 h4 18 h2 h5
19 r!lf1 t2Je7 20 f!!Je3 c5 21 f!!Jf4 f!!Jc6 22 f!!Jd2
f!!Je 8 23 xc7 t2Jc6 24 h2 t2Je5 25 t2Jfxe5
fxe5 26 xe5 b6 27 t2Jd6+ xd6 28 f!!!xd6
r!lb7 29 f!!Jc 7+ r!la8 30 f1d7 1 - 0 E ren b u rg
Segovia, Budapest 2000.

9 . . . J.g4
9 . . . e x d 4 ? ! 1 0 l"!.xd4 'f!Je7 1 1 Af4 ! and the
following frag ment shows how q u ickly the
wh ite attack can d evelop against rather
loose Black play : 11 . . . g 5 12 Ag3 tDh6
(12. . . h5!?) 1 3 l"!.xd8+ 'f!fx d 8 1 4 l"!.d1 'f!fe7
(14 . . . V!fe8 15 <Z!c4 ) 1 5 tDd4 Ad? 1 6 'f!fd2
'f!fb4 ? (16. . . g7 17 V!fa5 e8 18 <Z!e6 )
1 7 'f!fd3 'f!Je7 (1 7. . . d6 18 c3 + -) 1 8 tDc4 c5

=,

1 9 Axe? ! +- [1-0) G reenfeld - M i khalevski ,

Beersheba 1 996.

10 J.e3 '@e6
62

3 . 3 . 3 The flexi ble 6 . . . Ae6 (Nisi peanu - Sofronie)

1 1 dxe5 !ixd 1 +
1 1 . . . .El.eS 1 2 tl:ic4 fxe5 (12 xf3!?) 1 3 .El.d3
tiJe7 ? ! 1 4 .El.ad1 tl:ig6 1 5 h3 Axf3 16 'f#xf3 !
Ae7 1 7 'f#f5 'f#xf5 1 8 exf5 tl:ih4 1 9 g4 e4
20 .El.d7 .El.dB 2 1 .El.xd8+ Axd8 22 tl:id2 .El.e8
23 't!>f1 ;t; (1-0] E ren b u rg - l n arkiev, [ech] Is
tanbul 2003.
. . .

The point; here too Wh ite is trying to reach

a favou rable endgame that p ro m ises some
w i n n i n g chances.

14 . . . Axd1 15 t!lxe6 Axc2 16 f3 i

N ow Black is u n able to d efend h i s g - pawn ,
after w h i c h t h e wh ite pawn -m ass on the
kingside proves clearly the more dangerous.

1 2 @xd1 !?

1 6 . . . b6
16 . . . g6 17 .El.c1 Aa4 18 tl:ic5 .

17 !ic1 Aa4 1 8 t!lxg7 t!le7?!

18 . . . tl:if6 19 g 4 c5 ( 1 9 . . . d7 2 0 .El.c4 Ab5
2 1 .El.c2 .El.g8 2 2 .El.d2+ Ke7 2 3 tl:if5+ Ke6
24 Kf2 planning h4, h5 with the better game
for Wh ite, since the black q ueenside pawns
are very slow.) 2 0 f2 tl:ie8 21 tl:if5 tl:id6
22 .El.g1 !? ;t; plan n i n g .El.g3-h3, N isipean u .

1 9 Ags t!lg6 2 0 h 4 h6
a
a

very n oteworthy n ew idea by Liv i u Dieter N i s i pean u , who c a n a l s o be cou nted

amongst the experts i n the Exchange Spanish. The point becomes apparent two moves
iater. 12 .El.xd1 Ax a3 13 bxa3 fxe5 = .

12 . . . Axa3 1 3 bxa3 fxe5

1 3 . . . e7 ! ?

3
2

14 exf6 g xf6 &> , N isi pean u .

14 t!lg5!

...

,----,---,----,--
-,..--.,,.---=---.--
-,..

'1:t

20 . . . h5 2 1 f2 c5 22 e3 .El.h7 23 tl:if5 tl:if8

24 Af6 tl:id7 25 Ag7 , Nisi pean u .

2 1 h 5 ! h xg5
6

2 1 . . . tl:ifS 22 Ae3 c5 23 g4 ; 21 . . . .El.h7

22 h x g 6 .El. x g7 2 3 Af6 .El.xg6 24 Axe5 c5
25 f2 .

5
4

22 h xg6 !1 9 8 2 3 ttlf5 2 3 . . . @b7?!

24 g7 cs 2s @12 Ad7 26 'i!>e3 as
27 !ih1 Axf5 28 e xf5 !ixg7 29 'i!>e4
'i!>c6 30 f6 1-0

63

3 I l l ustrative Games - Theoretical section

3.4 The n a t u ra l 5 . . A d6
.

(2650)
(2480)
New York 1 997

Roze n tali s
Wed b e rg

1 e4 es 2 f3 c6 3 Abs a6 4 Axc6
dxc6 S 0-0 Ad6
a

.I.

Now for Wh ite the road forks. The setup with

8 Ae3 and 9 1lbd2 seems to me to be the
m ost harm o n i o u s ; we are also fol lowing in
the footsteps of g reat (and very success
fu l !) Exchange Variation specialists such as
Eduardas Rozentalis and Stellan B rynel l .

8 Ae3

4
3

8 . . . e7

A very natural -fee l i n g move, w hic h has b e

come qu ite popular i n recent years, champi
oned successful ly by the Engl ish Grandmas
ter Mark Hebden . In this variation Black can
usually avoid the early exchange of q ueens.
However, o n the move after n ext B lack is
forced to play the weake n i n g m ove . . . f6,
with the resu lt that h e suffers from a dis
advantage i n d evelopment i n this variation
too. O n the p l u s side, B l ac k has the choice
between various possible piece set-ups and
can also choose between k i n g - and q ueen
side castling.

This obvious k n i g ht move is the almost ex

cl usive choice here . A rare alternative is:
8 . . . Ae6 9 1lbd2 W!Je7 10 1lc4 Ab4 11 b3
(1 1 Vf!d3 J3d8 12 Vf!e2 Vf!f7) 11 . . . c5 1 2 W!ib2
Axc4 13 bxc4 0-0-0 14 a3 (14 !'Ifd1 !? J3xd1+
15 J3xd 1 Vf!xe4 1 6 c3 a5 1 7 Vf!d2 t; or
14 c3 a5 15 Vf!a3 b6 (15 . . . b6 16 if:Jd2)
1 6 J3ab 1 t) 1 4 . . . Aa5 1 5 e5 b6 1 6 E!.fd1
.El x d 1 + 1 7 .Elxd1 W!ie6 1 8 W!ib3 1le7 1 9 exf6
g x f6 oo [0-1 ] Khach ian - H ebden , Cappel le
la-Grande [op] 1 99 6 .

9 bd2 Ae6
So far, so c lear. Also the basic wh ite plan is
q u ite obvio u s : b ri n g the q u een 's k n ight to
c4 and p l ace a roo k o n the d -file. I am not
s u re , however, about the most p recise way
to carry out this idea. I present here various
m ove o rders , w h i c h with the exception of

6 d4
Only with this move can Wh ite fight for an
advantage.

6 . . . exd4 7 '@xd4 f6
64

3 . 4 The natural 5 . . . Ad6 (Rozental i s - Wedberg)

10 c4 ? a l l come i nto consideratio n . I i n

stinctively prefer 1 0 l"!.fd1 , b u t 1 0 c3 offers
the m ost i n structive exa m p l e games. N at
urally, closely related and s i m i lar positions
arise, and transpositions are sometimes pos
sible.

1 9 e3 fxe4 20 x e4 Afl 21 g5 f8
22 l"!.e1 l"!. ae8 23 'i!?f2 Ad5 24 xd5 cxd5
2 5 l"!.xel l"!. x el 2 6 l"!.e1 f4 21 l"!.xel x el
2 8 e3 xe3+ 2 9 'i!? x e3 xg2+ 30 'i!?f2
tLlf4 31 'i!?e3 g2+ 32 'i!?f2 t2Jf4 33 'i!?e3 %-1/2
Volzh i n - Galdunts, Yerevan [op] 1 996.
12 xc4 el . W h i lst after 1 0 l"!.ad1 this is
the most popular and possibly the best black
plan , there is very l ittle material on its use af
ter 1 0 l"!.fd1 . Perhaps with the wh ite roo k on
a1 , the black players are concerned about a
possible attack with a4, b4 and b5 !? 13 l"!.d4
(13 a4 0-0-0 14 b4!? has not been tested
but looks very promising.

10 t'fc3
Th is e l i m i n ates the poss i b l e black tri c k of
Ax h2+ in the l ines with l"!.d1 and c4 . How
ever, if B l ac k plays Axc4 l ater, then Wh ite
will have l ost a tempo in com parison with
the l ines with l"!.ad1 or l"!.fd1 and t2Jc4 (without
''c3) . On the other hand , White now has the
benefit of the extra option of d4.

White now has attacking chances, e . g.

14 . . . xb4 (14 . . . !Xhe8 15 b5 Y$xe4 16 !Xd4
Y$e6 17 bxa6 Y$xc4 18 axb7+ f!?xb7 19 !Xxc4)
15 !Xdb 1 d6 1 6 Y$b3 (16 a5) 16 . . . b6)
13 . . . 0-0-0 14 l"!.ad1 Af4 15 Axf4 tLlxf4 16 g3
g6 11 l"!.xd8+ l"!.xd8 18 l"!.xd8+ xd8 19 'i!;>g2
e8 20 d2 e5 21 e2 dl 22 f4 ;!;; [1 -0]
Prie - Flear, Hyeres [op] 1 992 ;

[a] 10 lifd1
A freq uently

played and very plausible move.

I n contrast to 10 l"!.ad1 Wh ite can now an
swer 1 0 . . . 0-0 with 1 1 c4 , s i n ce here the
trick with 1 1 . . . Axh2+ doesn 't work.

b) 10 . . . c5 11 c3 b6 1 2 t2Jc4 0-0 13 l"!.d2 t2Jc8

14 e5 fxe5 15 t2Jg5 f6 16 t2Je4 96 (16. . . Y$f5
1 7 <fJexd6 cxd6 18 CL!xd6 CL!xd6 19 !Xxd6
!Xab8 20 !Xad 1 ;!;) 1 1 cxd6 c x d 6 18 xd6
f6 19 e4 f5 2 0 g3 f6 2 1 l"!.ad1 l"!.b8
22 e4 f5 23 g5 el 24 l"!.d6 Afl 25 h3
Ag6 26 l"!.1 d2 c8 21 xe5 tLlf5 28 l"!.dl c6
29 e6 1-0 B ryn el l - Koski n e n , Stockholm
[op] 1 99 6 ;

10. . . 0-0

The most popular black m ove in this posi

tion .
a) 10 . . . 96 1 1 c4 Axc4
11 . . . Ael 12 c3 c8 13 d4 Adl 14 b3
(interesting here are the moves 14 Y$b3!?
and 14 <fJa5!?) 14 . . . 0-0 15 Ac5 l"!.e8 1 6 Axe?
'fJ,xel 1 1 c5 (1 7 <fJe3!?) 1 l . . . Ae8 1 8 f3 f5

c ) 1 0 . . . dl 1 1 c4 El. d B 1 2 c3 0 - 0 1 3 Af4
Axc4 1 4 xc4+ 'i!? h 8 1 5 Ag3 g6 1 6 l"!.d3
el 17 l"!. b3 b5 1 8 xc6 Axg3 19 h xg3 l"!.d6

65

3 I llustrative Games - Theoretical section

20 '/elVb7 ..b6 21 '/elVd5 ..d8 22 '/elVf5 ..c6 23 ..d3

..xc2 24 ..ad 1 ..g8 2 5 ..d7 'lelVc5 2 6 ttJd4
'/elVxf5 27 exf5 1-0 B rynel l - Sc h neider, [chT]
Sweden 2001 .

12 a3 r!!Txd4 13 tilxd4 .txc4 14 axb4 t

11 tilc4
With this, Wh ite allows the exchange of
q ueens, in con nection with the following
black manoeuvre. However, it appears that
Wh ite can sti l l (as usual) count on a s l i g ht
advantage.
11 '/elVc3 represents a rarely played alternative
i n this position , e. g . 11 . . . '/elVe8 12 ttJc4 Axc4
1 3 '/elVxc4+ 'lelVf7 14 '/elVxf7+ xf7 1 5 ctJd2 ttJg6
(15. . . b5 16 tZJb3) 1 6 ttJc4 .

14. . . f1fd8
a) 1 4 . . . ..fe8 1 5 f3 ttJg6 1 6 f2 ..ad8 1 7 g4
..d7 18 ttJb3 ..xd1 19 ..xd1 Ae6 2 0 h3 Ac8
21 f4 ttJf8 22 f5 ttJd7 23 ttJd2 f7 24 Af4 c5
25 Axe? b5 2 6 Ad6 c x b4 27 Axb4 [%-%]
Volzh i n - Lukacs, Budapest 1 99 6 ;

1 1. . . .tb4
The most solid move, but it leads once again
to an endgame with a m i n i mal wh ite advan
tage and which i n practical play is q u ite u n
pleasant for Black.

b ) 1 4 . . . ttJ g 6 1 5 f 3 El. a d 8 1 6 f 2 ..d7 1 7 ..d2

..fd8 18 ..ad1 ttJe5 19 h4 Af7 2 0 b3 b6
2 1 tDe2 ..xd2 22 ..xd2 ..xd2 2 3 Axd2 f8
24 g4 c5 25 bxc5 b x c5 26 Ae3 c4 27 b4
ttJc6 28 f4

11 . . . Axh2+ ? ! Th is tactical try does not solve

Black's problems. With precise play Wh ite
secures some endgame advantage : 12 xh2
vgyxd4 13 ..xd4 c5

Here we see once aga i n the ideal wh ite

advance on the king -side. 28 . . . e8 29 c3
d7 30 ttJg3 ttJd8 31 g5 ttJb7 32 Ad4
fxg5 33 h x g 5 g6 34 e3 ttJd6 35 f5 g x f5
36 exf5 Ad5 37 Ae5 Af7 38 d4 c6
39 Axd6 x d 6 40 ttJe4+ e7 1-0 M i l u
Vajda, Bucharest 1 995.

14 ..d2 (14 f!.d5 ?! tLJxd5 1 5 exd5 xd5

and Black has a good game.) 1 4 . . . Axc4
1 5 Axc5 , and the poor coord i n ation
of his pieces causes Black consider
able problems. (15 f!.d7 f!.f7 16 f!.xc 7 b6
1 7 b4 t tZJg6 18 f!.c6) 1 5 . . . ..f7 16 El.ad 1
h6 (16. . . tLJc6 1 7 tZJd4 ! h6 18 tLJxc6 bxc6
19 b3 e6 20 f!.d8+ f!.xd8 21 f!.xd8+
f!lh 7 22 f!.e8 d7 23 f!.a8) 17 b3 Ab5
1 8 ..d8+ ..xd8 19 ..xd8+ h7 2 0 a4 Ac6
21 ttJd4.

15 .tf4 f1ac8 16 tilf3 f1xd1+ 17 f1xd1 .te6

18 tild4 .tc4 19 f3 @f8 20 @f2 tilg6 21 .tg3
tiles 22 f4 tilg4+ 23 @t3 tilh6 24 h3 ts
25 exf5 .tdS+ 26 @f2 .te4 27 c3 .txf5
28 .th2 <tlf7 29 tilf3 f1e8 30 g4 .tc8 31 f5

66

3 . 4 The natural 5 . . Ad6 (Rozental i s - Wedberg)

.

fxg6+ 'i!lxg6 33 xc7 (1 -0] Wah l s

N u n n , M u nich 1 991 ;

g6 32

[b] 10 f1ad1 tilg6

10 . . . 0-0 1 1 c3 (1 1 tiJc4 ? Unconvincing in
this position, since in the following sequence
the rook on f1 is hanging: 1 1. . . xh2+!
12 <i?xh2 f/flxd4 13 J'1xd4 c5) 11 . . . e8 12 !'lc4
t2Jc8 (12. . . J'1d8 13 tiJd4 c8 14 J'1fe 1 f/flf7
15 f/flb3 l!JeB 16 tiJxd6 cxd6 1 7 tiJe2 <flg6
18 f/flxf7+ 'i!lxf7 19 b6 J'J.d7 20 tiJc3 tiJe5
21 b3 'i!?gB 22 f3 tiJf7 23 'i!lf2 J'1de7 24 g4
.e6 25 J'1d2 J'1c8 26 J'J.ed 1 c5 27 a4 'i!?fB
28 a5 J'1ee8 29 <fie2 d7 30 c4 c6 3 1 tiJf4
l'Ie5 32 h4 t [112-112] Markovic - G/igoric, [ch1]
Novi Sad 2000) 1 3 !'ld4 At? 1 4 f3 Ae5
1 5 tll x e5 xe5 1 6 l'le2 xc3 1 7 !'lxc3 !'ld6
18 Af4 E&fd8 19 !'la4 t8 2 0 b3 e7 21 e5
t2Je8 22 exf6+ xf6 2 3 !'lc5 E&xd1 24 E&xd1
b6 25 !'le4+ el 2 6 t2 ;!; (1-0] B ryn el l
M artinovsky, Berl i n (op] 1 998.

This active plan is a favourite with Mark Heb

den, who has had good resu lts with it. With
the a1 rook at d1 , the white pawn-storm with
a4, b4 and b5 is less dangerous than after
E&fd1 . Black hopes to tie the wh ite pieces to
the d efence of the e4 paw n . Even so, I sti l l
rate Wh ite's chances a s rather better.

14 a4
1 4 . Ad4 Ab4 1 5 c3 Ad6 1 6 b4 E&de8 1 7 a4
e6 1 8 xe6+ f&xe6 1 9 !'ld2 !'le5 20 !'lb3
!'lc4 2 1 E&e2 h5 22 g3 h4 oo [0-1 ] M ar
ciano - Hebden , Tou l o use [op] 1 99 0 ; 1 4 g3
E&he8 15 !'ld4 ? xe4 + [0-1 ] Bed narska
Holoubkova, [ztW] Ti misoara 1 993.

11 tilc4
11 c3 !? This idea comes strongly i nto con
sideration i n several l i nes : Wh ite wants to
put his k i n g 's k n i g ht o n d4, fro m where
the advanced post on f5 beckons attrac
tively: 1 1 . . . el 1 2 !'ld4 Ab4 1 3 d3 E&d8
1 4 e2 Ac8 15 !'lf5 Axf5 16 e xf5 !'le5
1 7 tll c 4 !'lf7 1 8 f&xd8+ @xd8 19 g4 E&g8
2 0 d4+ e8 2 1 c3 Ad6 22 a? !'ld8
23 E&d1 d7 ([%-%] Markovic - G l igoric, [ch]
Belgrade 1 998) 24 Af4 +-.

14. . . f1he8
14 . . . h5 15 Ad4 h4 16 Ac3 c5 17 e5 !'lxe5
1 8 Axe5 fxe5 1 9 h3 E&df8 20 !'ld2 E&f4 21 tt:Je4
b8 22 E&d3 E&hf8 23 f3 e8 24 d5 xa4
25 !'lxd6 c x d 6 26 x d6+ a8 27 x c5
[%-112] Cobb - H ebden , London 2000.

15 d4 r!!!e6 16 r!!!xe6+ f1xe6 17 c3 f1de8

18 ttld2 ttlf4

1 1. . . xc4

1 8 . . . f5 1 9 Axg7 fxe4 20 Ad4 t .

11 . . . Ab4

1 2 !'lb6 ! c5 13 xd8+ E&xd8

1 4 E&xd8+ xd8 1 5 E&d 1 + e7 1 6 !'ld5+
Ax d5 1 7 E&xd5 [1-0] Pfan nkuche - J u rasi n ,
[bl] Germany 1 984 .
12

1 9 'i!lf1 g5 20 f3 ttlg6 21 g3 h5
21 . . . Ae5 !?

22 tilc4 e5 23 tilxe5 tilxe5 24 'i!lf2 g4

25 xe5 f1xe5

r!!rxc4 r!!!e 7 13 f1fe1

13 E&d4 0-0-0 14 E&fd1 leads to a transposi

tion t o t h e variation with 1 0 E&fd 1 !'lg6.

25 . . . fxe5 26 e3.

26 f1e3 b5 27 b3

13. . . 0-0-0

67

3 I l l u strative Games - Theoretical section

.J

10. . . xh2+
xc4 +.

11 @xh2 f!!!xd4 12 xd4

27. . . gxf3?
A mistake, since now the wh ite king can en
ter the fray. (27. fWe6 oo, Wedberg) .
. .

28 @xf3

The conti n u ation is very instructive. Rozental is demonstrates emphatically that his ac tive king s i m ply rep resents "an extra piece
i n play" .

1 0 . . . 0-0
10. . . g6!?

28. . . fS 29 f1de1 f1f8 30 @f4 f1xe4+ 31 f1xe4

fxe4+ 32 @gs f1e8 33 c4 bxc4 34 bxc4
f1eS+ 35 @f6

Although rarely played , t h i s alternative might

wel l be preferable.

11 d4
1 1 t:t:Jc4 appears l ess logical here, since in
com parison with the variations with 1 0 f!fd1
and 10 [{ad1 White is sim ply a tempo down :
1 1 . . . Axc4 1 2 'tl\'xc4 'tll'e7 1 3 f!fe1 0-0-0
1 4 Ad4 [{he8 15 Ac3 t:t:Je5 16 t:t:Jxe5 Axe5 =
[%-%] B rynel l - Ernst, [chT] Sweden 1 994.

35. . . fiaS

36 f1xe4 f1xa4 37 @g6 fiaS 38 h4

f1a3 39 g4 hxg4 40 f1xg4 aS 41 hS a4
42 cs f1a1 43 h6 a3 44 h7 f1h1 45 f1a4 @d7
46 f1xa3 f1g1+ 47 @f7 f1f1+ 48 @g7 f1g1+
49 @hB @e6 50 f1a8 figs S1 figB fixes
S2 @g7 fihS 53 hBf!!! f1xh8 54 f1xh8 cS
SS fihS c4 S6 ficS @d6 S7 f1xc4 cS 58 @f6
@dS S9 f1c1 c4 60 @fS @d4 61 @f4 @d3
62 @f3 c3 63 f1d1+ 1-0 Rozental is- Hebden ,
Hastings 1 996/97 ;

11. . . f!!!e 7 12 xe6 f!!!x e6 13 f!!!b 3 f!!!xb3

14 axb3
[%-1/2] Reinderman -Winants, [chT] Germany
1 99 8 , and here too Wh ite h as a very s l i g ht
edge, but with this pawn structure it should
be kept i n m i nd that i n the endgame B l ack
can eventually c reate a passed pawn with

[c] 10 c4 ?
A serious blunder, simply dropping a paw n .

68

3.4 The natural 5

. . .

Ad6 (Rozentalis - Wedberg)

. . . a5 and . . . b5 , w h i c h m eans that a p u re

pawn end ing is no longer attractive for White.

11 c4
11 /\d4 ! ?
a

cash in the tru m p-card of h i s better pawn

structure in a knight end i n g . Whether this
endgame is tenable with best play by Black
i s neither here nor there, the fact is that the
d efender's task i s a d ifficult and u n g ratefu l
one, whereas Wh ite runs l ittle risk of losing .

7
7
6
6
5

3
2

11

. . .

Axc4

20 . . . .adS 21 12 gs 22 f5 17
23 e3 b5 24 .xdS .xdS 25 .d1
.xd1 26 xd1 c5 27 e3 e6 2S f4
d7 29 b2

1 1 . . e8 1 2 CL'ixd6 c x d 6 1 3 b4 b8
14 ..ad1 c5 1 5 d2 ..d8 16 Af4 c7 1 7 Axd6
f#b6 18 b4 c x b4 19 x b4 x b4 20 Axb4
CL\c6 2 1 a3 ;!; [112-112] Fress i n et - Gald u nts,
Bischwi l ler 1 999.
.

1 2 Wxc4+ hS 13 .ad1 Wes 14 Acs

Axes
14 . . l"!.d8 1 5 Axd6 c x d 6 1 6 CL'id4 , and the
ugly hole at e6 will cause B lack some trou
ble.
.

15 WxcS ;!;; 96 16 .fe1 Wf7 17 b3

mes 1s d4 Wts 1 9 Wxts+ xfS
20 f3
Wh ite has reached h i s fi rst stag i n g post : a
simpl ified position with a "half-pawn up" ad
vantage on the kingside, whereas the black
queenside m ajority is crippled and i n the
long term B l ac k will n ot be able to c reate
a passed paw n . The contin uation is exem
plary: t h e great Latvian endgame-player ex
changes a l l the rooks, so as to be able to

Fi rst of all Rozentalis brings his knight to the

good square d3, from where it can only be
d riven away by the weaken ing move . . . c4.

29 . . . d6 30 g3 e6 31 d3 d6
32 g4 c4 33 b x c4 bxc4 34 b4 c6
69

3 I l l u strative Games - Theoretical section

35 a3 a5 36 tila2 tilb6 37 tilc3 c5

38 h4 e6 39 tilb5 d7 40 g5

...

8
7

4
3
2

45 . . . hS+ 46 f3 17 47 e3 e6
48 f5+ f7 49 tilf4
Once again the optimal wh ite pawn structure
on the kingside, which is considerably more
effective than the p re m at u re creation of a
passed e -paw n .

h
8

40 . . . e6 41 g xf6 g xf6 42 tilc3 tild7

4 2 . . . h5 4 3 tbe2 .

43 tild5 f7
43 . . . f5 44 f3 [44 tbc7+ d6 45 tbb5+
c6 (45. . . <i?e6 46 exf5+ <i?xf5 4 7 t;)d6+ <i?g4
48 if)xc4) 46 tbc3 fxe4 47 x e4] 44 . . . h5
45 tbc7+ d6 46 tbb5+ c6 (46. . . <i?e6
47 exf5+ <i?xf5 48 if)d6+) 47 tbc3 f x e4+
48 xe4 .

With this, the game is effectively decided .

4 9 . . . til e s 5 0 c3

44 13 g6 4 5 g4

50 tb x h 5 c3 would g ive B l ac k a g l i m mer of

hope . . .

The threat of 46 h5+ fol lowed by 47 f5 pro

vokes the fol lowi ng pawn move, after which
however the black h - pawn becom es a fatal
weakness.

50 . . . e7 51 tilxh5 tild3 52 tilf4 tile1

53 a4 1-0

70

3.5 The aggressive 5 . il.g4 (G lek- Tkachiev)

. .

My Re c o m m e n da tion fo r B la ck:

3.5 The a g g res s i ve 5 . . . A g 4

(2590) T kach i ev (2633)
[chT] Italy, Treviso 2002

Gle k

at the p resent state of our knowledge, the

m ove 5 . . . Ag4 represents Black's best con
tin uation and i s therefore my special recom
mendation for B l ac k aga i n st 5 0-0 ! N ever
theless, Wh ite need n ot despair and with a
g ood g rasp of the p roblems of the position
can hope for a m i n i mal advantage.

1 e4 es 2 f3 c6 3 Abs a6 4 Axc6
dxc6 S 0-0 Ag4 6 h3 hS!

The alternatives are rarely p l ayed and defi

n itely weaker :
a) 6 . . . Ah5 ? ! 7 g4 Ag6 8 ttJxe5 f6 (8 . lf!h4
9 lf!f3) 9 ttJxg6 h x g 6 1 0 f3 d6 1 1 ttJc3
0-0-0 1 2 d4 xd4 13 E!.d1 c4 14 E!.xd8+
xd8 1 5 Af4 ;
. .

b) 6 . . . Axf3 ? ! 7 xf3 d7 8 d 3 Ad6 9 ttJd2

ttJe7 10 ttJc4 0-0 11 Ae3 f5 12 exf5 E!.xf5
13 e2 ttJg6 14 ttJd2 E!.af8 15 ttJe4 Ae7
1 6 g4 e8 ? [1-0] N u n n - Korc h n o i , Wij k
aan Zee 1 985 ; 16 . . . Cl:lf4 ! 17 Axf4 exf4 18 f3
d5 , N u n n .

3
2

'11

Th is agg ressive and dangerous-feeling move

can be viewed h i storical ly as the reason why
the exchange variation with 5 0-0 took s o
l o n g to emerg e . Thus (accord i n g to Soltis
in h i s book on the Ruy Lopez Exchange)
Reuben Fine condem ned 5 0-0 as weak on
the basi s of the variation 5 . . . Ag4 ! 6 h3 h5
7 d3 f6 8 h x g 4 h x g4 9 ttJg5 h6 1 0 ttJh3
h4 1 1 ttJh2 g x h3 12 g3 h7 with advan
tage to B l ack. At the end of the 1 950s the
Dutch m aster Johan B arend regt took up
the variation and enjoyed some s u ccess
with it. In s p ite of h i s c ru s h i n g d efeat by
Teschner in 1 965, i m p rovem ents for W h ite
were fou n d , and when, at the end of the
1 960s, Bobby Fischer forged 5 0-0 i nto a
form idable weapo n , the move 5 . . . Ag4 was
a l most forgotten . It i s curious (but not u n
usual f o r the deve l o p m ent o f c h e s s theory)
that after a long study I have concluded that,

7 d3
Th i s is the o n l y way for Wh ite to fight for
advantage. 7 c3 d3 8 hxg4 h xg4 9 Cl:lxe5.

This sequence has featu red i n q u ite a

few d rawn games (mostly pre -arranged) .
9 . . . Ad6 ! 1 0 ttJxd3 ( 1 0 ttJxg4 ? ttJf6 11 ttJxf6+
g xf6 1 2 g4 ?? (12 e5 +) 1 2 . . . E!.h1 + 13 xh1
xf1 #] 1 0 . . . Ah2+ = .

71

3 I l l u strative Games - Theoretical section

. . .

!ff6

bishop will be drawn to the d6 square. In the

analysis of our I l l ustrative game we shal l see
that the bishop is in fact not optimally posted
here . . .
Wh ite can also try to make use of the special
advantages of this m ove o rder, leav i n g the
queen's knight on d2 for some considerable
t i m e and u n dertaking a sort of m i nority at
tack on the q ueenside. However, the knight
move to c4 (wh i c h takes p l ace in o u r main
game) is sensible and thematic.

8 bd2

S i nce most of the avai lable m aterial o n our

position-type arises fro m the move o rder
with 8 bd2 and 9 c4 , I am p resenting
the m aterial o n my main recommendation
8 Ae3 exceptionally as a variation .

8 hxg4? hxg4 9 g5 vg\lh6 10 h3 vg\lh4 + .

. . .

xf3 9 r!!!xf3 r!!fxf3 10 gxf3 d6

8 e3!?

B l ac k h as to prevent the advance f4 . As al

ready mentioned , the bishop is not particu
l arly wel l placed here. (10. . . tZJel 11 f4!) .

This solid m ove is well worth consideri n g ,

and i n fact I suggest that i t should b e Wh ite's
" main weapon " ! A very s i m i lar position
type arises from one of the variations of
our I l l u strative game, and it i s not u n usual
for transpositions to occ u r. White makes it
clear that he i s ag reeable to an i m m ed i ate
q ueen exchange on f3 , accepting d o u bled
f-pawns. This form of the Exchange Variation
endgame wi l l be exami ned again i n the note
to move 11 in the I l lustrative game.

11 t11l d2
a) 1 1 h 1 . I confess I d o n 't u n derstand the
deep point of the early k i n g - m ove to h1
or g2 , si nce the following p l ay o n the g
file seems less effective. More log i cal is the
king-march via f1 to e2 , which i n most cases
is the wh ite monarch's best post . But since
ad m itted ly the h1 (g2) idea has been
played by some strong p l ayers , I shall pro
vide here some relevant material on it.

A particular point of this crafty move or

der (wh ich perhaps even makes it preferable
to the mai n l i n e with 8 d2 and 9 c4) is
the consideration that Black's dark-sq uared

11 . . . f6 (1 1. . . f5!? 12 exf5 tZJel 13 !1g 1 0-0

14 ttJd2 !1xf5 oo) 12 l"&g1 f7 1 3 d2 e7
14 c4 l"&ad8 15 c3 [ 1 5 l"&g2 g5 (or 15 . . . c5

72

3 . 5 The aggressive 5 . il.g4 (G lek- Tkach iev)

.

16 l1ag 1 g6) 1 6 h4 ! g4 (16. . . gxh4 1 7 l1ag 1 !,

Piket) 1 7 fxg4 h xg4 1 8 .E\xg4 CZJg6 1 9 g2
x h4+ 20 g3 (stronger was 20 'i!?f1 !, Piket)
20 . . . CZJg6 2 1 .E\g1 CZJf8 22 f3 CZJe6 23 <;!?e2
!lh7 24 a3 c5 25 c3 [112-112] Timman - Pi ket,
Wijk aan Zee 1 998] 1 5 . . . c5 1 6 g2 CZJg6
17 'i!?f1 CZJf8 1 8 a4 b6 19 .E\ b1 CZJe6 2 0 b4
c x b4 21 c x b4 b5 22 axb5 axb5 23 ttJa5 Ae7
24 'i!?e2 Eid? 2 5 .Eigc1 .E\a8 26 .Eic2 112-1/2 l u l
dachev - van Geffen, Dieren [op] 2002 ;
b} 11 g2 CZJe7 1 2 .Eig1 f6 13 CZJd2 f7 14 h4
ttJg6 1 5 h3 CZJf8 16 d 4 exd4 17 Axd4 CZJe6
1 8 Ae3 .E\ad8 1 9 ttJc4 Af4 20 CZJa5 g5 21 .E\ad1
gxh4 22 Axf4 ttJxf4+ 23 xh4 ttJg6+ 24 h3
f4+ 25 h4 ttJg6+ 26 h3 ttJf4+ 112-112 Ma
cieja-Adams, [bl] Hamburg 2003.
11. . A lel

Schach two days after the World Champi

onsh i p . In h i s preparat i o n , Kasi mdzhanov
h ad noticed that , i n n i n e games as B lack
agai nst the Exchange Variation, Adams had
tried as many as five different defensive sys
tem s . F ro m this he concluded that Adams
had n ot yet fou n d his ideal set-u p . In ad
d ition, Kasi mdzhanov formed the i nterest
i n g o p i n ion that in q u i et positions Adams
o n ly felt comfo rtab l e when h e held at least
a s l i g ht i n itiative. I n contrast, he d i d n 't l i ke
it when condemned to a long d efence with
l ittle chance of the fu l l point.
12 . . . f5 (Kasi mdzhanov considers this to be
structurally u nsound and recom mends i n
stead a black set-up with f6) 13 b 4 a 5 (13 . . . f4
14 c5 b6 15 xd6 cd 16 'i!?f1 followed by
'i!?e2 and l1g1 is given by the newly-crowned
World Champion as slightly better for White)
1 4 a3 0-0 1 5 CZJc4 ax b4 1 6 a x b4 b5 (oth
erwise 1 7 c5 would be quite unpleasant)
1 7 ttJa5 .E\a6 1 8 c4 CZJg6 1 9 f1 .E\fa8 20 Ad2
f x e4 2 1 fxe4 Ae7 22 c5 Af6 23 .E\d1 f7
24 e2 e8 25 .E\a3 ttJf8 (al l it takes is . . . ttJe6
for everyt h i n g i n B lack's world to be OK . . . )
2 6 d4 ! (a strong pawn sacrifice that makes
the wh ite centre mobile) 26 . . . ttJe6 (26. . . exd4
27 f4 followed by e5) 27 d x e5 Axe5 28 Ae3
Ab2 ? 29 .Eiad3 Ae5 30 .E\g1 .E\xa5? (a pan ic
reaction i n a slightly worse position) 31 bxa5
.E\xa5 32 f4 Axf4 33 .E\g6 f7 34 .E\xe6 xe6 ?
(the last mistake, only explicable by the enor
mous tension; after the obvious 34 . . . xe3
35 l1xc6 li,f4 36 !Xf3 g5 37 !3xc 7+ 'i!le6
White would still have work to do) 35 Axf4
.E\a4 36 f3 .Eic4 37 Ae3 b4 38 .E\d4 .E\xd4
39 Ax d4 g5 40 e3 1-0 Kasi mdzhanov
Adams, [wch] Tri poli 2004 .

12 c4

A rarely- p l ayed m ove order, but well worth

consideration. N ow we h ave reached a po
sition from our main line, in which Black has
developed his bishop to d6 very early. As we
wi ll see, placing the bishop here gives Wh ite
real chances of advantage.
a} 1 2 .E\fb1 ! ?

This plan o f a q ueenside minority attack has

been tried by p l ayers such as S h i rov and
Rozentalis, al beit without any particu lar suc
cess. Only the very talented you n g C h i nese
Zhang Zhong and R u stam Kas i mdzhanov,
in his assault on the World Championsh i p ,
have succeeded with i t . T h u s it is exciting
to hear Kasi mdzhanov's own assessment, in
an i nterview for the Berl i n - based m ag az i n e

1 2 . . . CZJg6 (12 . . . c5 ?! 13 'i!?f1 lf)g6 14 <flc4 f6

15 'i!le2 e7 1 6 l1g 1 'i!?f7 1 7 a4 b6 18 l1g3!
The black knight must be dislodged from
g6, to enable the important advance f3-f4:
18 . . . /f)f8 19 f4 ;;f; exf4 20 xf4 <fle6 2 1 e3
b5 22 /f)a5 d6 23 !Xf3 'i!?e7 24 c3!

73

3 I l l ustrative Games - Theoretical section

it is certa i n ly i m portant to force through the

advance of the second f-pawn to f4 straight
away and n ot allow the o p ponent to set up
a blockade with . . . g5 and . . . !:\g6, i . e. break
i m med i ately with f4 .

Following the disappearance of the black e

pawn, with d3-d4 the next stage in White 's
conception becomes possible: 24 . . . r.!?d7
25 llf5 h4 26 d4 cxd4 2 7 cxd4 13ab8 28 d5
tiJd8 29 axb5 13xb5 30 tiJc4 13e8 3 1 f3
13b4 32 r.!?d3 tiJf7 33 d2 13b5 34 13xa6
[1-0] Zhang Zhong- luldachev, [ch T] Jodh
pur 2003) .

13. . . exf4 14 xd6+ cxd6 15 .l.xf4 t!Jd7

15 . . . d5 1 6 Ae3 .

16 t!lh 1

1 3 b4 f 6 1 4 a 4 ( 1 4 t!lf1 tiJf8 15 tiJc4 .fle6

16 a4 r.!?e7 17 .fla5 .fld8 18 c3 b6 19 <flc4 .fle6
20 d4 13hd8 21 r,!;e2 r.!?f7 22 13b2 13d7 23 13d1
13ad8 24 b5 axb5 25 axb5 cxb5 26 tiJxd6+
13xd6 27 d5 tLJf4+ 28 xf4 exf4 29 13xb5
13a8 30 c4 r.!?e7 31 13d2 13a 7 32 13c2 13d8
33 c5 bxc5 34 13bxc5 ;t [1/2- 1/2} Rozentalis
Relange, Belfort 1997)

1 6 Ae3 .

16. . . flaeB
1 6 . . . g5 1 7 Ae3 !:\g6 1 S f4 .

17 f1g1 g5 18 .l.h2 flegB

1S . . . !:\g6 1 9 f4 !:\xf4 20 Axf4 g xf4 21 gaf1 .

19 f4 g4

1 4 . . . t7 1 5 t1 !:\ts 1 6 e2 !:\e6 1 7 !:\c4 !

17 . . . g6 1 S !:\a5 gabs 1 9 c3 ;!; , Shirov ;

b) 1 2 h2 f6 1 3 !:\c4 t7 14 gad 1 ghdS

1 5 h4 a5 1 6 a4 !:\g6 1 7 h 3 !:\fS 1 S d4
exd4 19 gxd4 !:\e6 2 0 gd3 !:\f4+ 2 1 Axf4
Axf4 22 gxdS gxdS 23 !:\xa5 b6 24 !:\xc6
gd2 oo (%-1/2) Rozental i s - Pedzic h , Koszal i n
[op] 1 997 .
12. . . f6
20 f5! t

1 2 . . . !:\g6 see the main game.

A typical a n d i m portant operation, b y which

the remai n i ng pawns on the k i n g 's flan k are
broken u p , later to becom e conven ient tar
gets. At the same time Wh ite fixes the black
f-pawn on a dark square and takes away the
g6 square from the knight.

13 f4!
(see next analysis diagram)

This resu lts i n the d i ssolution of both sides'

doubled pawns, and pro m i ses White some
long -term advantage with bishop against
knight and better central isation . H owever,

20. . . gxh3 21 f1g3 d5 22 f1ag1 f1xg3

23 f1xg3 flgB 24 flxgB xg8 25 .l.t4 dxe4

74

3 . 5 The aggressive 5

. . .

il,g4 (G lek- Tkachiev)

dxe4 e7 27 <i?h2 c5 28 f!?xh3 c6

c3 f!?e7 30 <i?h4 <i?f7 31 f!?xh5 [1-0]
Formanek- M u lyar, Phi ladelphia [op] 2002 .

29 ife2 if2d3+ 30 ife3 ifd2 31 ife2 if2d3+

32 ife3 l12-V2 Prie - Geenen, [ch T] Clermont
Ferrand 2003) 1 2 . . . exd4 with a strong attack.
10. . . f4!

26
29

. . .

e7 9 c4!?

L...=.'--.=.:=:....=..o..='-'--'-='-'--

Th is sharp m ove sets Wh ite consider

ably m o re problems than the conventional
10 . . . Ad6 . This freq uently played move leads
to exactly the sort of endgame that Wh ite
wants in choos i n g 5 0-0 ! 11 h x g 4 h x g4
12 tbh2 l"!.xh2 1 3 l/'fx g4 ! (13 r!?xh2 ? Y!fxf2
14 l'fe2 exd4+ 15 e5 xe5+ 16 l'Ixe5+ CZJxe5
1 7 @h 1 0-0-0 0-1 Barendregt- Teschner,
[ech] Hamburg 1965 . This encounter is
now admittedly of historical interest only.)
1 3 . . . l"!.h4 (13. . . Y!fh4 14 Y!fxh4 l'fxh4 15 t2Jf3
ifh5 1 6 dxe5 tZJxe5 1 7 CZJxe5 xe5 18 c3 ;t)
1 4 '?;lVf5 ! ;!; (14 Y!fg3!?) .
11 dxe5
With this Wh ite can sti l l reach another bal
anced endgame !
1 1 h xg 4 g ives Black dangerous p ressure :
1 1 . . . h x g4 1 2 g3 (12 t2Jh2 ? ctJxg2 13 r!?xg2
ifxh2+ 14 @xh2 Y!fxf2+ 15 @h 1 g3 -+)
1 2 . . . g xf3 1 3 'tlYxf3 tbe6 14 d x e5 '?;lVh6 !
(14 . . . Y!fxe5 15 Y!ff5! Y!fc5 16 tZJf3 ;t) 1 5 tLlb3
g5 !

[a] 9 fie1
This is the trad itional antidote to the black
system with 5 . . . Ag4 . It leads to a very sharp
game. However, i n view of Pi ket's i m portant
new idea (see Kroeze - Pi ket (p. 76)) I can
recom mend it for Black only!
9. . A lg6

10 d4

1 0 h x g 4 sti l l fai l s : 1 0 . . . h x g4 1 1 g3 Ac5 !

(1 1. . . gxf3 suffices for equality.) 1 2 d4 (12 iff1
ctJf4 13 ctJh4 ifxh4 14 gxh4 Y!fxh4 -+; 12 c3
0-0-0 13 d4 exd4 14 cxd4 gxf3 15 t;Jxf3
xd4 16 t2Jxd4 tZJe5 1 7 f4 ifxd4 18 xe5
\Wxe5 19 Y!ff3 Y!fe6 20 ifad 1 c5 21 ifc 1 b6
22 a3 r!?b8 23 ifc3 ifc8 24 @g2 g5 25 ife2
J1cd8 26 Y!ff5 Vf?h6 27 r!?f3 ifd3+ 28 l'fe3 l'fd2

75

3 I l lustrative Games - Theoretical section

This idea of J eroen P i ket's m a kes a very

good i m pression and is superior to the q ueen
check on h2 played previously.
16 Ae3 h3 !
Accord i n g to Bartlomiej Macieja, this new
move of Michael Adams's is h owever dis
tinctly more precise than Pi ket's 1 6 . . . Ag7 , to
prevent Wh ite's desirable king-march to e2 .
1 6 . . . Ag7
a) 17 .El.ad1 (1 7 @f1 ! xe5 18 c3 ff#h3+ 19 !le2
g4 20 ff#h 1 , Macieja) 17 . . . Axe5 + 18 c3 h3
1 9 tDd4 Axd4 20 Axd4 .El.h6 21 g2 h5
22 Ae3 e7 23 g4 g6 24 f3 h7 25 f1
.El.f6 2 6 g2 .El.h8 [0-1 ) Kroeze - Pi ket, [chT)
B reda 2001 .

advance, the plan of a3 , b4 (after Black plays

. . . c5) . Occasionally the wh ite k n i g ht going
to a5 can be u n p l easant for Black, and the
half-open g -file can someti mes be i m portant
too . The trad itional plan for Black is to set up
the pawn formation of . . . f6 and . . . g 5 , post
i n g the k n i g ht o n e6 . Worth consideri n g for
Blac k is the h itherto rarely tried plan of tak
ing the i n itiative with 0-0 (or . . . .El.f8) and . . . f5.
Until now the position has been assessed as
defi n itely favourable to White, but I consider
the black position to be very sol i d . P ro b
ably B l ac k should absta i n from developing
the bishop to d 6 , since Wh ite can choose a
favou rable m oment to exchange h i s knight
for it.

b) 1 7 g2 h5 1 8 f3 (18 g4!?, Adams;

18 CZJd4 CZJxd4 19 xd4 0-0- 0 oo) 18 . . . Ag7
1 9 f2 Axe5 20 .El.h1 g6 21 .El.xh8+ Ax h 8
22 c3 0 - 0 - 0 23 h3 A g 7 24 f5 h5
25 .El.g1 b6 26 tll d 2 b7 27 .El.g2 h1 28 .El.g1
h2+ 29 .El.g2 h1 30 .El.g1 h2+ 112-112 M a
ciej a - Adams, [chT) Rethym non 2003 .

11. . . 'f!fg6 12 tll h 4! xd1 13 tll x g6 xg6

14 lixd1 0-0-0 15 lie1 tllxe5 16 tllf3 tll xf3+
17 gxf3 = c5 18 'i!?f1 'i!?d7 19 lid1+ 'i!?e6
20 lixd8 lixd8 21 'i!?e2 'i!?e5 [112-1/2) Sch nei
der- Svensso n , [chT) Sweden 2002 .
[b] 9 hxg4 hxg4 10 g3 gxf3 11 t!Txf3 t!Th6!?
12 Te1 c5 13 Sc4 Dh2+ 14 'i!?t1 Dh 1+ 15 f!le2
Dxf3+ 16 'i!?xf3 Sc6 = [112-112) Markov i c
Notki n , [chT) Yugoslavia 1 998.

. . .

H owever, all the wh ite plans that we have

mentioned sti l l requ i re some preparation and
s h o u l d only be carried out at a favourable
moment !

Axf3 1 0 '@xf3 '@xf3 11 g xf3 96

1 2 Ae3

(see next diagram)

12 lid1 0-0-0

I n com parison with other Exchange Varia

tion endgames, Black can be very satisfied
here, si nce here (exceptionally!) the wh ite
pawn structure is also d amaged ! N ow i n
m ost cases t h e pawn e n d i n g w i l l n o longer
be a w i n for Wh ite. H owever, I wou l d sti l l
rather be han d l i n g the wh ite p i eces here,
since i n the long -term Wh ite has m o re dy
namic ideas : the f3-f4 advance, the d2-d4

1 2 . . . c5 13 i>f1 f6 14 Ae3 f7 15 e2 .El.d8

16 a4 Ad6 17 c3 Ae7 18 tDa5 b6 19 tDc6
.El.d7 20 a5 .El.a8 21 b4 c x b4 22 c x b4 b5
2 3 .El.ac1 Ad6 24 d4 e x d 4 2 5 .El.xd4 e8 oo
[112-112) Balog h - Lu kacs , Budapest 2002 .

13 'i!?f1 e7!? 14 e3
14 e2 c5 15 .El.g1 Ad6 16 a4 b6 17 Ae3 b7
1 8 .El.ab1 a5 1 9 c3 .El.h7 20 .El.g5 c6 21 b3 d7

76

3.5 The aggressive 5

. . .

1l.g4 (Glek-Tkachiev)

21 c x d 4 c x d 4 22 tbxd6+ l3.xd6 23 l3.x c7+

g8 24 l3.xd4 l3.xd4 25 Ax d4 tbe6 26 l3.d7
l3.c8 27 Ae3 l3.c2+ 2 8 l3.d2 (1-0] Meijers
l u ldachev, Dieren [op] 2002 ;
b} 14 . . . tbh4 15 e2 g5 16 d4 exd4 17 tbxd6+
cxd6 18 l3.xd4 0-0-0 19 l3.ad1 c7 20 f4 g4
21 h x g 4 h x g4 22 l3.h1 l3.de8 23 l3.hd1 l3.d8
24 e5 !? tbf5 25 exd6+ l3.xd6 26 l3.xd6 tbxd6
27 Ab6+ ! x b6 28 l3.xd6 f5 29 l3.f6 l3.h2
30 f1 l3.h1+ 31 g2 l3.c1 32 c3 l3.c2 33 l3.xf5
l3.x b2 34 l3.e5 c7 35 g3 d6 36 l3.e3 l3.xa2
37 f5 l3.a5 38 xg4 l3.a2 39 g3 l3.a5 40 f4
l3.a2 41 f3 1 - 0 Meijers - Sol leveld , Amsterdam
(op] 2000. A very i nteresting endgame ! ;
c} 1 4 . . . tbf8 . The m ost solid black plan : the
knight is deployed to the good central square
e6 . 1 5 d4 (I very much like 15 b4. 15 . . . <0e6
16 c3 and subsequently can White choose
between the plans 17 a3 then d4 and 17 a4
followed by 18 l!ab 1 and b5.) 15 . . . tbe6
16 d x e5 (16 c3 0-0-0 17 r!?e2) 16 . . . Axe5
17 c3 (1 7 l!d3!?) 1 7 . . . b6 (1 7. gS 18 f!Je2 r!?e7
with a rather balanced position.) 18 e2 e7
(18 . . . gS 19 iflxe5 fxe5 20 l!g 1 13g8 2 1 h4 t)
1 9 tbxe5 fxe5 2 0 l3.g1 f7 2 1 Ag5 ! This
s u btle bishop m ove secu res an edge for
White: to enable the black rooks to have
access to the i m po rtant d -file, the bishop
m ust eventually be exchanged , but then i n
the d o u b l e - rook endgame the b l a c k pawn
weaknesses would be very bothersome . . .
21 . . . l3.af8 22 l3.ad1 e8 23 l3.d2 l3.h7 24 h4! ;!;
24 . . . g6 25 l3.gd1 !

22 b4 c x b4 23 tbxd6 xd6 24 c x b4 a x b4
25 l3.x b4 e6 26 l3.g1 oo (1 -0] l u ldachev
Babu, Calcutta Good ricke (op] 1 997 .
14

. . .

/J,f6 15 c3

15 a4 l3. h e8 1 6 c3 tbf8 1 7 b4 tbe6 1 8 e2

b6 19 l3.a2 b7 20 l3.ad2 l3.d7 21 d4 e x d4
22 cxd4 g6 23 a5 b5 24 tba3 l3.ed8 2 5 tbc2
Ag7 26 f4 f5 oo (0-1 ] Zapata - Otero , H avana
2001 .
15 l1d7 16 b4 l1hd8 17 'C!le2 b6 18 a4
f!Jb7 19 l1a3 /J,e7 20 l1b3 /J,f6 21 l1d2 /J,e7
22 l1b1 /J,f6 23 l1b3 /J,e7 24 d4 /J,f6 25 dxe5
J1xd2+ 26 /J,xd2 xe5 27 xe5 /J,xe5 28 f4
/J,f6 29 f5 oo (1-0] Zapata - Rose l l i M a i l h e ,
Cal i 2001 .
. . .

1 2 f6
. . .

[a] 12. . . /J,d6?!

As mentioned above, I consider this popular
move less recommendable.

. .

13 l1fd1 f6
1 3 . . b5 . This position arises from the above
mentioned and very noteworthy move order
with 8 Ae3 . 14 tbd2 d7 15 f1 tbf8 1 6 l1b3
6Lie6 1 7 d4 exd4 1 8 tbxd4 tbxd4 19 Axd4 f6
20 f4 l3.he8 2 1 f3 (2 1 e5!? c5 22 exd6 cxd4
23 l!xd4 c6) 21 . . . c8 22 e5 Ae7 23 l3.e1 l3.f8
24 l3.ad1 ;!; (%-%] Rausi s - Bacrot, E n g h i e n
les-Bai ns 1 999.
.

14 @f1 c5

A strong and dynam ic decision : considered

formal ly, Wh ite g rants the opponent a pro
tected passed paw n , but Zapata real ised

a) 14 . . . l3.d8 1 5 e2 f7 1 6 c3 c5 1 7 l3. ac1

E!he8 18 l3.c2 b6 19 a3 tbf8 2 0 d4 exd4

77

3 I l l u strative Games - Theoretical section

that su bseq uently h e would ach i eve f3-f4

and set up a mighty pawn centre : 25 . . . coxg5
26 h x g 5 '8e7 27 '8d8+ 'i!>f7 28 @e3 '8fe8
29 '8xe8 'i!>xe8 30 f4 exf4+ 31 'i!>xf4 '8f7+
32 'i!>e3 @el 33 f4 [1-0] Zapata- G arcia,
[zt] San Salvador 1 998;

d) 14 . . . 0-0-0 15 c3 (15 ff?e2 tiJf8 16 f4 ?! Here

this often worthwhile move is unfavourable,
since White does not succeed in advanc
ing the second f-pawn and the agile knight
proves superior to the bishop: 16 . . . exf4
1 7 tiJxd6+ cxd6 18 xf4 e6 19 e3 g5
20 c4 d5 ! + [0-1] Tischbierek- Delchev, Porto
San Giorgio [op] 2003 . The strategic proce
dure employed here is very instructive for
the black-player!) 1 5 . . . tLlf8 1 6 b4 tLle6 1 7 a3
(1 7 a4!? This follows the plan of preparing
the advance b5 by means of I1db 1 to get
to grips subsequently with the black king.
After each of these possible moves of the
a -pawn I rather prefer the white position;
compare with 14 . . . f8.) 1 7 . . . g5 1 8 d 4 , fol
lowed a t s o m e p o i n t by d o u b l i n g the rooks
on the d -fi le.

1 9 tLla5 e x d 4 2 0 '8xd4 '8xd4 2 1 Axd4 b6

22 tt:Jc6 Ad6 = .

19. . . a 5 20 fld2 a4 2 1 fldc2 b5

21 . . . '8d7 22 tLla3 Axa3 23 b x a3 c6.

22 a3 b4 23 b5 [1-0] Glek-Wi nants,

[chT] Germany 1 997/98.
[b] 12. . . e7!

I n my opinion the best black set-up against

9 t2:lc4 , and therefore at the same t i m e the
reason why I prefer 8 Ae3 ! (see the notes to
8 e3)

13 flfd1
13 'i!>h1 Af6 14 a4 0-0-0 1 5 a5 tLlh4 1 6 cod2
tLlg6 1 7 '8ad1 tLlf4 1 8 Axf4 exf4 1 9 t2:lc4 g5
20 @g2 '8h6 21 '8fe1 c5 22 c3 Ag? 23 '8g1
'8g6 24 'i!>f1 b5 25 a x b6 c x b6 26 @e2 oo
[112-112] Hort - Spassky, [ct/m] Reykjavik 1 977 .

15 c3 'i!lf7
This position can also arise from the recom
mended move order w i t h 8 Ae3 .

16 d4

13

Wh ite plays his tru m p-card rather too early,

al lowing Black to equal ise the game. I rec
o m mend 1 6 a3 ! Then Black would face a
d i l e m m a : either he allows Wh ite to p l ay the
desirable b4 or he goes into a conspicuously
i nferior version of the game cont i n u ation :
1 6 . . . a5 ? ! (16. . . I1hd8 1 7 b4 cxb4 18 axb4 t)
1 7 d4 cxd4 1 8 cxd4 exd4 1 9 t2:lxd6+ c x d 6
20 '8xd4 @el 21 '8d5 Here t h e weaknesses
on a5 , h5 and the b5-sq uare wou l d be hard
to cope with .

. . .

0-0-0

13 . . . 0 - 0 ! ? During the game I was a bit

scared of t h i s i nteresting and very agg res
sive idea . 14 'i!>f1 (14 d4 exd4 15 J'1xd4 f6)
1 4 . . . f5 1 5 'i!>e2 oo .

14 'i!lf1 f6! 15 r!le2 fB

Dorfman p roves to be excellently prepared
and reveals the ( i n my o p i n ion) best black
set - u p (an d move order) i n the entire Ex
change Spanish !

16 f4 exf4 17 xf4 e6 112-112 Ki nderman n

Dorfman, [chT] Jen bach 2003 .

16. . . cxd4 17 cxd4 fihdB?!

I now t h i n k that we could h ave d efi n itely

cont i n ued the struggle, but I m ust confess
that on a Sunday m o rn i n g my fighting spirit
sometimes wanes . . .

1 7 . . . exd4 ! 1 8 t2:lxd6+ c x d 6 1 9 '8xd4 = 112-112

Kinderman n - Sh i rov, [bl] Germany 2003.

18 flac1 e7 19 d5

78

3 . 5 The agg ressive 5 . . . Ag4 (G lek- Tkach iev)

17 . . . <'De6 18 Ae3 g5 19 c3 Here Wh ite should

proceed very carefu lly and prepare against
the poss i b l e black ideas of . . . f5 and . . . g4,
without creating any weaknesses of his own .

22 <0a5 b6 23 <0c6 e7 24 f4) 20 f4 oo (1 -0]

Kasparov - Kazhgaleyev, Koszal i n 1 999;
b) 13 . . . tl:ih4 14 f4 exf4 15 Axf4 0-0-0 1 6 Ag3
tl:ig6 1 7 i>h1 Ac5 1 8 l'!g1 tl:if8 1 9 l'!g2 g5

(19 d4 ? ! Probably p remat u re, since now

Black's . . . f5 w i l l be q u ite u n pleasant.
19 . . . l'!hf8 ! The best black plan , prepari n g
. . . f5 , without perm itt i n g the possi b l e ad
vance d5-d6. (19. . . l'ldgB ?! 20 d5 cxd5
21 exd5 ;;!;; 19 . . . f5 ?! 20 exf5 CZJg7 2 1 CZJe5 ;;!;;
19 . g4 ?! 20 hxg4 hxg4 21 c3 !1h2 22 !1h 1 g3
23 !1xh2 gxh2 24 l'1h 1 l'1h8 25 <i?f3 ) 2 0 f3
f5 21 c3 (2 1 e5 g4) 2 1 . . . fxe4 22 fxe4 tl:if4+
23 Axf4 l'!xf4 and Black has the i n itiative]
.

19 . . . l'!hf8 ( 1 9 . . . g4 20 h x g4 h x g4 21 l'!h1 )
20 f3 f5 2 1 l'!g1 oo fxe4 ? ! 22 fxe4 tl:if4+
23 Axf4 l'!xf4 24 tl:ie3 ! ;!:; .
[c] 12. . . c5 13 a4 d6 14 l1fb1 a5 15 <i?t1 f5
16 f!?e2 e7 17 I1g1 <i?t7 18 I1g5 g6 19 I1ag1
Ihg8 20 d2 c6 21 c3 e7 22 I15g2 ;f
(1-0] Hort - S l iwa, Polanica-Zdroj 1 967
a

i.

7
6

4
3

g h
i.
I..

2 0 f4 ! The d o u b l e -advance of the f-pawns

i s a very i m po rtant method of struggle
for Wh ite i n t h i s type of position : 2 0 . . . g4
21 h xg4 hxg4+ 22 l'!h2 <'De6 23 l'!x h8 l'!xh8+
24 i>g2 b5 25 f5 ;!:; tl:ig5 26 tl:ia5 i>d7 27 l'!h1
l'!xh1 28 i>xh1 <'Df3 29 i>g2 tl:id4? (29. . . b6)
30 Af2 Ab6 31 Axd4 Axd4 32 c3 [1 -0]
Glek-van den Doel, Wijk aan Zee 1 999.

1 4 @f1 cs
For deviations see variations a) to d) on
page 77.

15 c3 l:!d8

7
6

4
[j, 3
2

g h

{f

1 3 i!fd 1 Ad6?!
The bishop is less effective here and b e
comes an object o f attack, or rather ex
change !

Black h as p repared against the d i rect d3d4, but Glek demonstrates a typical method
bri n g i n g about another structu ral transfor
mation .

a) 13 . . . c5 14 i>f1 i>f7 15 c3 Ae7 16 d4 exd4

17 cxd4 cxd4 18 l'!xd4 l'!hd8 19 l'!ad1 tl:if8
(19 !1xd4 20 l'1xd4 !1d8 21 !1xd8 xd8
. . .

79

3 I llustrative Games - Theoretical section

15. . . bS!?

18 . . . c6?!

This position also arises fro m the recom

mended move order with 8 Ae3 ! ? .

1 8 . . . E!.d7 ;!;

16 d2

1 9 Ab6 Jad7 20 d4!

A bit feeble, but nevertheless Wh ite is never

in any danger against his far su perior oppo
nent.

However, both the following alternatives ap

pear to me to g ive Wh ite chances of some
advantage:

.I.

20 . . . Ac7 ?!
The fi rst step down a s l i p pery slope for
Black.

P l ayed at the right moment, this thematic

advance p rocu res Wh ite the i n itiative. M ost
of the fol lowi n g variations stem fro m G lek
himself, who analysed this game in l nforma
tor 85. I find the relatively weak play by both
sides asto u n d i n g , so I orig i n a l ly thought it
to be a rap i d - p l ay game but in fact it was
played in the Italian team cham pionsh i p .

16 a3! <c!?f7 17 b4
c

16... f4 17 xf4 exf4 1 8 a 4 @d7 19 I1a2

I1hf8 20 axbS axb5 21 I1da 1 I1xa2 22 f1xa2
't!lc6 23 't!le2 = [1/2-V2] B red e r - Adams, [bl]
Porz 2003.

b) 1 6 a5 ! ? would d efin itely be my choice,

e. g . 1 6 . . . f4 1 7 Axf4 exf4 1 8 d 4 ;

a) 16 tll x d6+ !? cxd6 1 7 d4, and i n many l i nes

the p ressure of the wh ite rooks against d6
causes Black p roblems. (1 7 b4!?) 1 7 . . . c4 ! ?
(1 l . . cxd4 18 cxd4 lk8 19 dxe5 dxe5
20 f1d6 ;k) 1 8 a4 ! ? (18 dxe5 dxe5 19 l1d6
r!Je7 20 c5 t;Jf4 oo) 18 . . . e7 1 9 e2 ;

2 0 . . . e6 (20. . . exd4 ? 21 f1xd4 + -) 2 1 d5+

(2 1 <fixd6 l1xd6 22 dxe5 was mysteriously
given by G/ek as "with decisive White ad
vantage ", but that seems a bit optimistic to
me . . . 22. . . fxe5 23 l1xd6+ <!lxd6 24 l1d1+
r!Je7 25 c5+ <!le8 oo) 2 1 . . . c x d 5 22 exd5+
f5 23 Ac5 .

Enables Black to shed the d o u bled paw n ,

but gives Wh ite possibilities of active play on
the queenside and i ncreases the pressure of
the com ing d4.

21 d x e5 Jahd8
2 1 . . . E!.xd 1 + 22 E!. x d 1 Ax b6 23 E!.d7+ e6
24 xb6 .

17 . . . c x b4 1 8 a x b4

2 2 laxd7+ Jaxd7 23 Axc7 Jaxc7

24 exf6 xf6 25 Jaa5!

18 cxb4!?

80

3 . 5 The agg ressive 5

. . .

Ag4 (G lek Tkachiev)

28 . . . g6 29 f4 f6 30 e5+ e6 31 d6
31 f5+ g xf5 32 f4 +- .

31 . . . b6 32 e3 as 33 bxa5
33 e4 a4 34 f5+ g xf5+ 35 gxf5 tt:Jh7 36 b5
a3 37 b x c6 +- .

3 3 . . . bxa5 3 4 e4
34 f5+ \!?xe5 35 fxg6+ f6 36 g7 gxg7
37 tt:Je4+ f7 3S gxh5 .

34 . . . a 4 3 5 f5+ g xfS+ 3 6 xf5 h7

37 c4 13d5 38 a3 13c5

25 . . . d7

3S . . . gd3 39 g x h 5 g x h 3 40 g x h 3 tt:Jg5+
41 d4 tt:Jxh3 42 f3 f5 = .

25 . . . b5 26 tt:Je3 ga7 27 tt:Jg2 .

2 6 fS+ e6 27 13g5

39 c4 h4 40 14

With this Wh ite really has ach i eved a deci

sive advantage , which h e certa i n ly lets s l i p
in the contin uation . For o u r purpose t h e rest
is less i nterest i n g , so that only a few short
variations follow.

40 f3 ga5 41 tDc2 gc5 42 ttJd4+ el 43 gh5

tt:JfS 44 gh6 gxc4 45 d3 gc1 46 tt:Jxc6+
\!?es 4 7 tt:Jd4 a3 4S ga6 tt:Jd7 49 d2 gh1
50 e6 tDc5 51 gas+ e7 52 ga7+ es 53 e?
a2 54 tt:Jf5 tt:Jb3+ 55 e3 ge1 + 56 f4 gxe7
57 gx e7+ fS 5S g a? a1 fl! 59 gxa1 tt:Jxa1
60 tt:Jd4 +- (60 tf)xh4) .

27 . . . f8
27 . . . tt:Jf4 2s ge5+ f6 29 gf5+ +- .

40 . . . aS 41 c2 13c5 42 a3 13a5
43 e4 13c5 44 t4

28 e2
28 gxh5 gd3 29 tt:Ja5 +- ;

44 f3 t .

2 8 f4 gd1 + 2 9 e2 gc1 30 gx g7 g x c3
31 tDe3 +-.

81

3 I l l u strative Games - Theoretical section

3.6 The u n c o n ven t i o n a l 5 . e7

.

van d e r We i d e (2400)
Wells (2489)

This is the only way for Wh ite to test Black's

concept. I n fact W hite m u st now get i nto
contortions to maintai n h i s extra m aterial,
but a pawn is a pawn.

M u nsterland Open 2002

7 tt::l f3 does n ot set Black any particu lar

problems : 7 . . . '11lV x e4 8 El.e1 '11lVg 6 9 CLie5 '11lV f6
1 0 d 4 Af5 1 1 CLic3 0-0-0 1 2 '11lV h 5 Ag6
1 3 '11lV h 3+ '11lV f5 1 4 CLixg6 fxg6 1 5 '11lVx f5+ g xf5
16 Ag5 El.d7 [1/2-1/2] Ree - Keres, Amsterdam
1 971 .

1 e4 es 2 lQf3 lQc6 3 Abs a6 4 Axc6

d x c6 S 0-0 lQe7
a

7 . . . g6 8 1!fgS

The main move. Wh ite is determ i ned to keep

h i s extra pawn .

8 <fJf3!?

2
1 Cb
a

A somewhat less demanding m ove for a

wh ite -player tired of theory.

. .

f!!Txe4 9 f!!Ta5!

This u nconventional m ove is attri b uted to

Pau l Keres and i n the critical variation i n
volves a thematic pawn sacrifice. Wh ite must
accept it, otherwise B l ac k reaches a com
fortable position with 6 . . . tt::l g 6.

6 lQxeS 1!fd4 7 1!fhS!

a

In each case a neat shift of the queen !

. . .

g4!

a) 9 . . . b 6 ? ! 1 0 '11lVc 3 El.g8 1 1 El.e1 '11lVd 5 1 2 d4

Ae6 1 3 CLig5 Ag? 1 4 '11lVg 3 0-0-0 1 5 '11lVa3 !
(The interpolation of 15 xe6 gives Black
pressure against f2: 15 . . . fxe6 16 !Wa3 xd4
1 7 !Wxe 7 !Wf5 18 !Wh4 I'IgfB 19 e3 xb2 oo
{1-0} Rausis - Nei, Cappelle -la -Grande [op]
1993) 15 . . . CLif5 1 6 tt::l x e6 fxe6 1 7 x a6+ '.!>b8
1 8 c3 (18 if)c3 ) 18 . . . es 19 Ag5 ;

82

3 . 6 The u nconventional 5 . . . ti:\e7 (van der Weide - Wells)

b) 9 . . . f4 ?! 10 d3 d6 11 tl:\bd2 tl:\d5 1 2 tl:le4

'i!#b4 13 x b4 tl:\x b4 14 Ad2 Ae7 (14. . . <f!xc2
15 l1ac 1 ifJb4 16 .flc3) 15 a3 tl:\d5 1 6 c4
tll b6 (112-1/2] Ti m m an - N i kolic, Brussels 1 988;
17 me1 ! Ae6 18 tl:\d4 0-0-0 19 tl:lxe6 fxe6
2 0 ge3 , Ti m man.
10
13

i.

7
6

d3 f5 11 xc7 xf3 12 gxf3 xf3

l1e1 g4+ 14 g3 xg3+

14 . . . d? !? 15 tl:\c3 ! and Wh ite has the i n itia

tive : 1 5 . . . Ag? (15. . . 0-0-0 1 6 ifJa4!) 16 tl:\a4
'i!#f5 1 7 Af4 .
15

hxg3 ;t

9 . . . f5!
O n ly this sharp counter-blow enables Black
to justify his idea.
9 . . . xe4 1 0 ge1 h6 1 1 g3 .

1 0 e5 !
a

Th is l i n e g ives W h ite, with h i s more active

pieces, a very sl ight edge and and m ight pro
vide a m ethod of frustrat i n g an agg ressive
opponent ! ?

1 5... 0-0-0

15 . . . f6 ! ? 1 6 tl:\c3 f7 1 7 tl:\e4 tl:\f5 18 c3 h5

1 9 Af4 Ae7 20 d4 gac8 (20. . . g5 2 1 c7 l1ac8

22 b6 h4 oo) 21 ge2 ghe8 22 gae1 Af8 23 f3

ged8? 24 g4 h x g4 25 fxg4 tl:\g7 26 m1 f5
27 Ae5 (1 -0] J e n n i - Sc h m i d , Zurich [op]

The e - pawn is i n d igestible for B l ac k and

cramps his game, at the same time prevent
i n g the centre from being opened up to the
benefit of the bishop pair.

1999.
1 6 g5

l1d7 1 7 f6 l1g8 18 c3 b 6 19 l1e2

f!lb7 20 g4 c8 21 @g2 h5 22 f3 ;t ( 1 -0]
Brunner-Yi l m az, (ol] Manila 1 992 .

1 0 . . . Wg4
N ow the exchange on g4 would g ive the
blac k pieces the use of the f5 -sq uare and
m ake f2-f4 unattractive for Wh ite.
10. . . cs
This m ay well be B l ack's o bj ectively best
conti n u at i o n . It t h reatens the u n p l easant
. . . c5-c4 .

a . . . Ag7 9 tild3 !
Indirectly defend ing the e - pawn , since the b4
square is now u n avai lable for the the black
queen . 9 tl:\f3 xe4 1 0 ge1 b4 ! oo .

83

3 I l lustrative Games - Theoretical section

10 . . . tt::l d 5 ! ? Keres ; 10 . . . Axe5 ? 11 tt::l x e5

xe5 1 2 d4 (12 <fic3 ) 1 2 . . . x d4 13 ge1 .

11 b3!

A very i m po rtant point, and the only way

for Wh ite to conti n u e . Wh ite u ses the c i r
cumstance that the black q u een would be
trapped on a1 to i m pede . . . c4 and enable
the development of the bishop at b2 .

not show to advantage, so that Wh ite has

the edge. In any case the position is d ifficult
to play for both sides and req u i res p recise
calculation .
1 6 . . . tt::l d 5 (1 6. . . <!JbB!? Belov; 16 . . . c6 t
is apparently lvano v 's recommendation.)
1 7 h3 'i!?b8 1 8 c4 tt::le7 (18 . . . <fib4 19 <fixb4
Ifxd2 20.Sd3 e4 21 <fiec 1 xd3+ 22 <fixd3
IfdB 23 e6 , Victor Ivanov; 23. . . I!Bxd3 ?
24 rti'xd3 Ifxd3 25 e l) 1 9 tt::l ef4 Ac8 [1 -0]
lvanov - Bezgodov, [ch] Russia, E l i sta 1 994
(19 . . . e4!? 20 <fie1 ! Ifxd2 2 1 c3 Ifxa2
22 e6 ilfB 23 rti'h4 + -) 20 a3 ! a5 21 Ac3
i ntending b4 with clear wh ite advantage ac
cording to Ivanov.

b} 11 . . . xa1 12 tt::l c 3 b6 13 Ab2 xf1+

1 4 @xf1 , and com pared to the main l i ne
Wh ite has an i m portant extra tem po.
12 e3

11. . . h6

Th reaten i n g to fortify the the e - pawn by

1 3 Ab2 and a later f4 .

a) 11 . . . b6 1 2 e3 Forces Black to a decision .

1 2 Ab2 ! ? d5 ? (better is 12 . . . rti'g4) 1 3 e6 !
Axb2 14 lL!xb2 xe6 15 lL!c3 h6 16 g3 d6
1 7 xd6 cxd6 1 8 tt::l c 4 0-0 1 9 tt::l x b6 [1-0]
Sarakauskas - Schneider, Budapest 2003.

12. . . f4!

12 . . . xa1 ! ? (12. . . rti'd5 13 c4 rti'c6 14 c3

ilb7 15 <fif4 ; 12. . . f4 13 rti'f3 IfbB 14 ilb2 ;
12. . . rt!xe3 13 dxe3 ilb7 14 ilb2 0-0-0
15 <fid2 g5 1 6 f4 ;J;) 1 3 tt::l c 3 A b7 1 4 Ab2
xf1+ 1 5 'i!?xf1 0-0-0 1 6 tt::l e 2

I nviting the endgame that fol l ows.

12 . . . tt::l c 6 13 Ab2 xe3 14 d x e3 . This ex
change helps W h ite, who can now s u pport
the e - pawn with f4 : 1 4 . . . c4 1 5 b x c4 Ae6
1 6 tt::l d 2 0-0-0 1 7 md1 g5 1 8 f4 Af8 1 9 'i!?f2
Ae7 2 0 c5 g hf8 2 1 tt::l b 3 [1-0] B ryne l l
Sanden, [chT] Sweden 1 996.

13 xd4
An ori g i nal position , in w h i c h Wh ite has
q ueen and e - pawn against two rooks. Con
sideri n g the closed character of the posi
tion , the strength of the black rooks does

1 3 f3 l eads to an u nclear game: 1 3 . . . Af5

14 x b7 ! ? Ae4 1 5 xc7 Axd3 16 cxd3 Axe5
1 7 b7 g b 8 1 8 xa6 f3 oo (0-1 ] Ti m m an
Short, [ct/9] E l Escorial 1 993.

84

3 . 6 The unconventional 5

. . .

tbe7 (van der Wei d e - Wel ls)

13. . . cxd4 14 tt:Jxf4 xe5 15 d3 t

6
5
4

After a sharp series of exchanges we reach

an endgame which is critical for the assess
ment of the whole variation . As so often i n
the Exchange Span i s h , this t i m e Wh ite can
claim some advantage o n accou nt of h i s
healthy extra pawn , but t h e opposing bishop
pair constitutes a considerable hurdle on the
way to victory . . .

e
d
.___a bc
g h
-

1 1 '@e3
11 f4!?

15. . . f!lfl
15 . . . 0-0 16 ge1 (16 a3 xf4 17 xe7 f"fe8
18 c5 e5 19 <f:Jd2 i) 16 . . . Ad6 17 tLle2 .

16 tt:Je2
16 ge1 Af6 (16. . . t2Jc6 1 7 a3 f"fe8 18 t2Je2
g5 19 <f:Jd2 'i!?g6 ? 20 f4! g7 21 fxg5 hxg5
22 t2Jf4+ 1-0 lvanov-Belotelov, Moscow
1994) 1 7 tl'ld2 tl'lc6 1 8 a3 Af5 19 tl'\d5 . Si nce
Wh ite can not capture on c7 , this excursion is
pointless : 19 . . . Ag7 20 Ab2 (20 t2Jxc7 f"fad8)
20 . . . gad8 21 tLlf4 Ae5 22 tLle2 ghe8 23 tl'lc4
Ag7 24 tl'lg3 ;!; (1/2-112] Fressi n et - Jen n i , Lau
san ne [rapid] 2000.

The alternative, wel l worth considering si nce

to a l l appearances it g i ves Wh ite the rather
better chances. White accepts a sl ight weak
ening of his pawn structure, in exchange for
space on the kingside.

11. . . r/!xg5 12 fxg5 h6

a) 12 . . . f4 13 tl'lxf4 Ax e5 1 4 d3 0-0 15 tl'lc3
Ad4+ 16 'i!>h1 tl'lf5 17 tl'lfe2 Ag7 18 tl'le4
Ad7 19 Ad2 c5 2 0 tl'lf4 Ac6 2 1 tl'le6 m7
22 tl'lxg7 Axe4 23 d x e4 tl'lxg7 24 gxf7 iixf7
25 m 1 + 'i!;>g8 26 Ac3 [0-1 ] Zavgo rod n i y
M i khalevski , M oscow [op] 2002 ;

16... tt:JdS 17 tt:Jd2 c5

17 . . . tl'lb4 1 8 Ab2 c5 (18. . . t2Jxc2 19 f"fac 1
tLib4 20 xd4 xd4 2 1 f"fxc7+ ) 1 9 a3 tl'\d5
20 tLle4 b6 .

b) 1 2 . . . b6 ! ? 1 3 ge1 c5 1 4 tl'lc3 (14 b3!? ;t

seems more flexible to me; White should
strive to to develop the queen 's knight to d2
- after b2, <f:Jf4 and d3) 14 . . . Ab7 (14 . . . e6
15 t2Jf4) 1 5 tl'lf4 ; 14 . . . Ae6 1 5 tl'le2 tl'lc6
16 b3 oo 112-112 Naid itsch - l b rag i m ov, Wai
schenfeld Pu lverm u h l e 2000.

18 tt:Je4 b 6 19 d2 g4 20 tt:J2g3
I t h i n k that ECO's assessment of c l ear
wh ite advantage is too opti m i stic. 2 0 . . . Ac7
21 gfe1 a5 22 a4 gad8 23 f3 Ac8 24 ge2
Elde8 25 g ae1 ;!; [1/2-112] N ielse n - Kru ppa,
M insk 1 993.

85

3 I l l u strative Games - Theoretical section

13 gxh6 l1xh6 14 l1e1

14 c3 . As later games have demonstrated ,
the k n i g ht should m ostly be b rought i nto
play via d2. 1 4 . . . g 5 1 5 .E!.e1 f7 16 f2 Ae6
17 d4 g6 1 8 e2 oo %-% I l lescas Cordoba
lvanch uk, Dos H ermanas 1 996.

ca 34 e6+ l1xe6 35 g6+ 1-0 Zavgorod niy

Varav i n , M oscow (op) 2002.

14. . . r.!lf7

a) 14 . . . b6 15 tbf2 .E!.h5 16 d4 g5 17 d2 f7
1 8 a4 Ae6 1 9 a5 b5 20 .E!.a3 @g6 21 .E!.h3
.E!.xh3 22 t2:1xh3 f4 23 tbe4 Ax h3 24 g x h3 tbf5
25 c3 Af8 26 f2 Ae7 27 .E!.g1 h 6 28 b4
E!.f8 29 Ad2 h5 30 e2 h4 31 Ae1 g2
32 f3 e3 33 Af2 f5

4
3

11

. . .

t'hdS 1 2 '@e1

Th reatening 1 3 f4.

12

. . .

'@d4?!

Both q u eens cont i n u e their curious dance.

The black q ueen must return to the centre.

12. . . b6!?
1 2 . . . f4 13 f3 h5 14 c3 0-0 15 b3 Af5
1 6 tbe4 g5 1 7 Ab2 .E!.ae8 18 e2 b6 1 9 tbdf2
(1-0) van der Wei d e - Ken n au g h , Saint Vin
cent 2000.

34 h4 ! By returning his worth less extra pawn,

Rausis blasts open the Black defensive ring .
34 . . . xh4+ 35 Ax h4 x h 4 36 .E!.g4+ h 5
3 7 h 4 ! This pretty "deja v u " decides t h e
struggle. 3 7 . . . g x h4 3 8 .E!.g7 .E!.e8 39 f2 Ad8
40 h3 h6 41 .E!.g4 E!.f8 42 .E!.xf4 .E!.xf4+
43 xf4 Ag5 44 e6 Ad2 45 x c7 Axc3
46 e6 Ax b4 47 xa6 Ad6 48 t2:lb4 1-0 Rau
sis- Gyimes i , D u bai [op) 1 999 ;

13 ttlc3
13 f4 Ab7 14 c4 el 1 5 c5 0-0-0 1 6 E!.f3
g5 1 7 .E!.g3 h4 1 8 f1 g4 1 9 e1 d5
2 0 d 4 e7 2 1 c4 h5 2 2 .E!. a3 a5 23 d3
Af8 24 Ad2 d7 2 5 c3 b4 2 6 e2 0-1
Mas - Nguyen Anh Dung, [chT] Kuala Lumpur
2001 .

b) 14 . . . g5 1 5 f2 c5 1 6 d 4 ! c x d 4 1 7 Axg5
.E!.e6 1 8 d3 g6 19 d2 x e5 2 0 f4
[1 -0) Fressi n et - M i khalevski , Saint Vi ncent
2000.

13. . . b7 14 f3 f!!!d4+ 1S f!!!f2 f!!!xf2+

16 r.!lxf2 cS 17 titJxdS xdS 18 ttlf4
1 8 b3 ! ? 0-0-0 (18 c4 19 CZJb2!) 1 9 Ab2
.E!.he8 (19 c4 20 ctJf4) 20 E!.fe1 c4 2 1 f4
Ah6 22 g3 .
. . .

. . .

1S ttlf2 gS 16 d3 lihS 17 ttld2 f4 18 g4

l1h8?! (18 ... fxg3! 19 hxg3 g4 ) 19 ttlf3 r.!Jg6
20 r.!lg2 e6 21 d2 cs 22 h3 b6 23 ttle4
h6 24 b3 l1ad8 2S l1h 1 ttlc6 26 c3 as
27 a4 l1he8 28 l1ae1 l1e7 29 r.!lf2 l1f8 30 h4
xg4 31 hxgS g7 32 ttlh4+ r.!Jf7 33 ttlf6

18. . . f7 19 ttlh3 0-0-0 20 f4 c4! 21 l1d1 h6

22 b3 gS oo [1/2-1/2) Zhang Zhong - Gan gu ly,
[chT] Jodhpur 2003.

1 3 thc3 f4 !?
86

3.6 The unconventional 5

i.

. . .

ti:\e7 (van der Wei d e - Wells)

1 8 . . . cs

B l ac k absol utely m ust break u p the wh ite

centre.

19 dS!
A good solution to the problems of the po
sition : Wh ite g ives a pawn back temporari ly
and seizes the i n itiative.

4
3

19 . . . c x d4 20 Aa3 l:ie8
2 0 . . _ gd8 2 1 tLif6+ h8 22 Ae7 .

21 l:ic1 !

Liberates the black q ueen 's bishop and pre

vents a later f2-f4 .

Van der Weide rem ai n s true to the dynam ic

styl e and h i g h l i g hts the d ark-sq uare weak
nesses in the opposing cam p.

14 e2 @c4 1 S b3 @xc2 1 6 exf4

An interesting and important move : because
of h i s active p ieces and the rather i nsec u re
wh ite knig hts Black has some com pensa
tion for the pawn, although here too Wh ite's
chances seem to be su perior.

21 . . . @xa2 22 xc7 Ats

22 . . _ gx e5 23 i&b4 gb8 24 i&c4+ h 8
2 5 Ad6 .

2 3 @b4 a s 2 4 @c4+ h8 2S . xe8

l:ixe8 26 @f7 1::1 9 8 27 Ad6 a4 28 e6
@x b3

16 . . . xf4
16 . . . 0-0 !? 1 7 t2Jxd5 c x d 5 1 8 i&e3 Af5
19 t2Jf4 ;!; _

1 7 xf4 0-0
17 . . . Af5 1 8 d4 [1/2-%] Wiersma- de Vreugt,
[chT] Netherlands 2000 (18. cS 19 e3!) .
. .

18 d4
a

6
5
4

29 @x g8+

A nice fin ish ; the e - pawn will ru n .

e

2 9 . . . xg8 3 0 l:ic8+ At8 3 1 e 7 1-0

87

3 I l lustrative Games - Theoretical section

3.7 U n u s u a l c o n t i n u a t i o n s
Z h a n g Z h o n g (2624)
Vre u g t (2504)

de

Wij k aan Zee 2003

1 e4 e5 2 f3 c6 3 Ab5 a6 4 Axc6
dxc6

5. . . f!!Tf6 aggressive b u t very risky !

5 . . . d6 6 d4 exd4 [6 . . . d6 leads to a variation
of the Stei n itz Deferred (4 a4 d6 5 xc6+
bxc6 6 d4 f6) with Wh ite h avi n g gained a
clear tem p o : 7 1'ic3 t] 7 1'ixd4 Ad? 8 1'ic3
1'if6 9 Af4 Ae7 1 0 e5 d x e5 11 Axe5 0-0
1 2 'M#f3

4. . . bxc6

1 2 . . . c5 13 1'ic6 Axc6 14 'M#xc6 'M#d7

1 5 1/f#x d7 1'ixd7 1 6 Axe? Af6 1 7 Aa5 E:ab8
18 b3 [1-0] I l l escas Cordoba - G ueneau,
[chT] France 1 991 .
6 d4 exd4 7 xd4 b7 8 c3 0-0-0 9 fib1 !

This way of recapturing has someth ing in its

favou r from the point of view of the pawn
structure , since it strengthens B lack's cen
tre, and meanwh i l e the b l ac k e -pawn is sti l l
taboo. And yet B lack fal l s considerably be
hind in development, so that Wh ite can count
on a clear advantage.

5 0-0
a) 5 d 4 . This natural and sen s i b l e move
is Soltis's recom mendat i o n , lead i n g to the
fol lowi n g variations : 5 . . . exd4 6 'M#xd 4 , and
now:
6 . . . d6 7 0-0 1'if6 8 1'ic3 Ae6 9 Ag5 Ae7
10 'M#a4 ;

A very strong plan : the German G M Thomas

Luther prepares the advance of the b - pawn ;
i n many cases B lack w i l l be faced w ith a4
and b5 open ing u p the l i nes; in add ition this
move is prophylaxis agai nst a later . . . c5.
9. . . e7
9 . . . c5 1 0 1'ib3 .
10 b4 d5?!

6 . . . 'M#f6 7 'M#d3 ! [7 e5 'M#g6 8 0-0 Ab 7 9 e6 ?

(9 !.d1 ! ;;!;) 9 . . . fxe6 1 0 1'ie5 'M#x g2+ 1 1 <;!;ixg2
c5+] ;
6 . . . c5 7 'M#d3 1'ie7 8 1'ic3 1'ig6 9 Ae3 Ae7
10 0-0-0 d6 11 1'id5 t .

b) 5 1'ixe5 ? ! would b e weak i n view o f 'M#g5 .

88

3 . 7 U nusual continuations (Zhang Zhong - d e Vreugt)

Now the weakness of the c5 square

g ives Wh ite a clear advantage. (o 10. . . CLig6;
10 . . . g5!?) .
11 e3U f!!Tg 6 12 e 5 tt:Jt5 1 3 tt:Jxf5 f!!Txf5
14 d4 h5 15 tt:Ja4

6 d4 exd4 7 g5

[1 -0] Luther- Krasen kow, Ti lburg 1 994.

s o-o Ae7
a

.i.

Herein l ies Black's problem ; the black queen

loses time, while the bishop exerts u n pleas
ant pressu re from g 5 .
7 e5 W i t h t h i s l ively m o v e we take a t r i p
b a c k i nto the romantic age, which proves
that the Exchange Variation with 5 0-0 is by
no means new. 5 . . . g6 8 tl:lxd4 Ah3 9 f3
Ag4 1 0 g3 0-0-0 1 1 c3 Ac5 1 2 Ae3 tl:le7
13 h3 Axd4 14 Axd4 h5 15 h x g4 h xg4 16 f3
d3 17 x g4+ tl:lf5 1 8 tl:la3 gxd4 1 9 cxd4
gh4 20 g5 x d4+ 21 gf2 xe5 22 f4 e4
23 tl:lc2 f6 24 g6 g h 6 25 f7 b6 26 ge1
tl:lg3 27 e8+ b7 28 me2 (28 l!.f3 was a bit
better.) 28 . . . gh1 + 0-1 Schal lopp - Harmonist,
Fran kfu rt 1887 .
7. . . f!!Tg6
7 . . . d6 8 tl:lxd4 (8 W#xd4 also comes into
consideration: 8. . . W#xd4 9 CLixd4 d7 1 0 CLic3
e7 1 1 .xe7 CLixe7 12 l!.ad 1 c5 13 CLide2
.c6 14 tiJf4 0-0 1 S l!.d2 l!.fd8 16 l!.fd1
l!.xd2 17 l!.xd2 'i!?f8 18 f3 l!.c8 19 <!Jf2
tiJg6 20 tiJxg6+ hxg6 2 1 h4 b6 22 'i!?e3 as
23 CLie2 <!Je7 24 tiJf4 .b7 25 es .c6 26 e6
fxe6 27 tiJxg6+ <!Jf6 28 CLif4 [1-0] van der
Weide - van Doe/and, Hoogeveen [op] 2001)

7
6
5

A rare but (at l east so far) u n refuted move.

B lack plans a set-up with . . . Af6 and . . . l!i)e7g6, d i rected agai nst Wh ite's d4.

[a] 5. . . f!!Tf6
A very old and qu ite playable move but, with
correct play by Wh ite, B l ac k ends up again
in the "typically u n p l easant" endgame with
the i nferior pawn structu re , i n which B lack
no longer holds the trump-card of the bishop
pai r.

89

3 I l l ustrative Games - Theoretical section

8 . . Ae7 9 Axe? tDxe7 10 tDc3 Ad? 11 tDb3

xd 1 12 l'fax d 1 0-0-0 13 /fLJd2 b6 14 tDc4
Ae6 15 tDe3 ;!;
.

[c] S. . . f!!!e 7
..---,--..,.....-...,...-,...-=--::--.--

L.::::::;:::J.=::=.:::....i:...--i.;=-o..=..:'---1

A strange - looking q u een m ove, played by

Smyslov a couple of times without success
and these d ays forgotten . I nteresting ly, this
cont i n u ation is n ot as bad as it looks, and
the path to a wh ite advantage is i n n o way
trivial !
6 d4
As i n many other l i nes, W h ite should defi
n itely open the game, to p u n ish the u nfor
tunate b l ac k set-up (otherwise B l ac k would
continue with . . . Ag4 and 0-0-0).
6. . . exd4 7 f!!!xd4
7 tDx d4 Ad? 8 tDc3 0-0-0 is q u ite playable
for Black: 9 f3 g 6 10 Ae3 Ag? 11 tDb3
tDh6 12 g3 tll g 4 13 Ac5 e6 14 Ad4 Axd4
15 tDxd4 d6 1 6 E!.ad1 xg3 1 7 h x g 3 =
[1/2-%] Zhang Zhong - Kakageldyev, [chT]
Jodhpur 2003.

[1/2-%] Fress i n et - Adams, Bordeaux [rapid]

2000.

8 f!!!xd4 d6 9 t;)bd2 cS 10 f!!!c3 g4

11 h4 t;Jh6 12 l1fe1 b6 13 es f8
14 e6 xe6 1S t;Jd4 d6 16 4lxe6 fxe6
17 f!!!f3 'i!Jd7 18 t;Jc4 l1ab8 19 l1ad1 t;Jf7
20 g3 f!!!f6 21 f!!!a 3 as 22 t;Jes+ 4lxeS
23 xeS f!!/g6 24 f!!!a4+ 'i!le7 2S f!!!c 6 libd8
26 xd6+ cxd6 27 l1d2 l1d7 28 f!!!x b6
[V2-V2] Wiers m a - Sokolov, Amsterdam [op]
2000.
[b] S. . . e6?

z . g4
7 . . . f6 !
Th is seems to be a relatively better black try
and is hardly investigated yet. It is notewor
thy that here the " usual" tries do not seem to
bri ng Wh ite any particular advantage. It was
Jeroen Bosch who fi rst drew attention to this
in New in Chess Magazine 3/2003 . It is en
tirely baffl ing to me that i n his "SOS-Article "
(Secrets of open i n g su rprises) Bosch also
recommends the obviously weaker m ove
5 . . . Ae6 ? .
After t h e open i n g o f t h e game Black now
wants to exchange queens thou g h , in com
parison with the M a i n Line 5 . . . f6, h e has
avoided this self-same weake n i n g pawn
.

is simply bad , since Black not only loses the

bishop pair, but must also accept an isolated
e -pawn i nto the bargai n .

6 t;JxeS f!!!d4 7 t2Jf3 f!!!xe4 8 4lgS f!!!fS

9 t;Jxe6 fxe6 10 d3 0-0-0 11 t2Jc3 t2Jf6
12 f!!!e2 cs 13 d2 [1-0] Estrada N ieto
Rad u lski , Dos Hermanas [op] 2002 .

90

3 . 7 Un usual continuations (Zhang Zhong - d e Vreugt)

move, as wel l as . . . c5 (a square for the wh ite

kn ight on d 5 !) . To take advantage of the vul
nerable position of the black q u een , here
Wh ite should avoid the exchange.

11 'll# b 3 .E! b8 1 2 e6 fxe6 13 .E!e1 with a dan

gerous attack.]
9 . . . Axf3 ! 10 'll# x b7 .E!d8 11 g xf3 'll# x f3
12 'll#x c6+ .E!d7 13 tt::l d 2 (13 '/f!fc3 '/f!fg4+ 14 '/f!fg3
'/f!fx e4 15 CLic3 '/f!fx c2 1 6 J3e 1+ tLJe7 oo 1 7 .ilg5
'/f!fg 6 18 J3ad 1 J3xd 1 19 J3xd1 f6 20 .ilf4 c6
2 1 .ilc7 <r!lf7) 1 3 . . . 'll#g 4+ 1 4 h1 'll#e 2 15 f4
tt::lf6 ;

8 'll#e3 !?
My new and so far u ntested suggestion !
I real ly l i ke h av i n g the wh ite q u een here,
since she h i nders Black's development, but
we keep the e - pawn o n e4 . The poss i b l e
queen sal ly to a7 makes l ater q u eenside
cast l i n g u n appetizing for Black, and mean
while the dark-sq uared bishop can not move
to either c5 or d6.

c) 8 e5. On p ri n c i p l e , the early advance of

the e - pawn is strateg ically very com pro
m i s i n g , since Black gets play o n the l i g ht
squares and the pawn itself is freq uently
p rone to become weak. Overa l l the entire
wh ite pawn-formation l oses flex i b i l ity. Here
h owever Wh ite d i sposes of rapid develop
m ent and the d -fi l e : 8 . . . 'll#g 6 9 Ag5 Ae6
10 .E!d1 Ae7 (10. . . t2Je7 1 1 ttJc3 h6 12 .ilh4
'/f!fx c2 13 J3d3 g5 14 CLie 1) 11 Axe? tt::l x e7 oo
1 2 'll# b 4 b6.

Since this is a l l very i nteresting new terri

tory that m i g ht attract many adventu rous
black- players, I shal l provide some analysis
material o n other cont i n u ations as a sti m u
lus:

8 . . . Ag4 (8. . . CLie7!?) 9 tl\bd2 tt::l e7 (9. . 0-0-0 ?

10 '/f!fa 7) 1 0 h3 Ah5 1 1 .E!b1 !? 'll#e6 1 2 b3 .

a) 8 'l/#xf6 et:Jxf6 9 Af4 ! ? should g ive Wh ite

some advantage accord i n g to Soltis and
Dvoretsky, but I am not convi nced : 9 . . . Ae6 !
Bosch 1 0 et:Jbd2 (10 xc7 t2Jxe4 1 1 J3e 1
f!?d7!? (1 1. . . d6 12 .ilxd6 tfJxd6 13 tfJg5 t
e.g. 13. . . 0-0-0 14 CLixe6 J3he8 15 tLJd2 J3xe6
16 J3xe6 fxe6 1 7 J3e 1 ttJf5 18 t2Je4 ttJd4
19 c3 CLie2+ 20 <r!lf1 tLlf4 21 g3 t) 12 .ilf4 tLlf6
13 CLic3 J3e8 14 J3ad 1+ c8 15 ttJg5 .ilb4 oo)
10 . . . Ad6 ! ? (10 . . . 0-0-0 1 1 CLig5 .ild6 =) 11 e5
(1 1 .Jlg5 tLJg4) 11 . . . tt::ld 5 oo ;

8 .l.f4!

b) 8 'll#a 4 Ag4 9 'll# b 3 ! ? was m y "fi rst fa

vorite" ; surprising ly, however, Black can take
on f3 :

This idea from Bed narski seems the best

way for Wh ite to prove an advantage Wh ite
cal m ly exped ites his d evelopment, without
worrying about the doubled pawn on f3 .

[9 e5 'll# f5 ! This l ively move g iven by Bosch

in New in Chess Magazine looks good :
10 tt::l b d2 (10 ttJd4 'lf!fg 6! oo 1 1 f3 .ilh3 12 J3f2
0-0-0 13 CLic3 CLie714 .ile3 ttJf5 15 t;Jxf5
.ilxf5; 10 . . . '/f!fx e5 1 1 t2Jxc6 .ild7 12 CLixe5
.xa4 13 J3e 1 CLie7 14 b3 t) 10 . . . 'll#g 6!? oo, and
now tt::lg 5 is no longer possible! Also playable
seems 10 . . . 0-0-0 11 h3 Axf3 1 2 et:Jxf3
Ac5 oo .

8 xf3
8 . . . .E!d8 9 'll#e 3 h6 1 0 tt::l c 3 g 5 ? ! 1 1 Ag3 tt::lf6
1 2 .E!ad1 .E!xd1 13 .E!xd1 Ag? 14 'll#a 7 Ac8
15 'll# b 8 [1-0) Schneider- Pachman, Reg
gio nel l ' Em i l i a 1 975/76 .
9 gxf3 t;)f6 10 ti)c3 ti)h5 11 .l.g3
. . .

I n com parison , the much q u oted 9 . . . 'll#g 6 ? !

seems weaker: 1 0 tt::l g 5 ! (G i psl is) 1 0 . . . Af5

This position has been reached repeated ly;

the resu lts are pretty catastrophic for Black.

91

3 I l l u strative Games - Theoretical section

Wh ite will gain control of the d -file and sub

seq uently after the sooner o r later u n avo i d
a b l e exchange o n g 3 , he w i l l expand i n the
centre by e5 , f4 and 11e4 , w hic h prom ises
some advantage.

8 El,e1 g6 9 1\e5 f5 10 d4 Ae6 11 1\c3

0-0-0 1 2 1\e4 h5 13 c3 h4 oo [0-1 ) van der
Weid e - So kolov, [ch] N etherlands, Rotter
dam 1 998.

6 . . . At6 7 We2

11. . . l1d8
1 1 . . . 1\xg3 1 2 h x g 3 c5 1 3 El,ad1 xd4
1 4 El,xd4 Ac5 1 5 El,d3 plan n i n g El,fd 1 , e5 ,
f4, 1\e4 . . .

12 @!re3 xg3 13 hxg3 r!fc5

13 . . . e6 14 El,ad1 El,xd1 1 5 El,xd1 [1-0]
Dvoretsky -Arencibia, Terrassa [op] 1 996.

14 l1ad1 r!fxe3 15 l1xd8+ f!lxd8 16 l1d1+

f!lc8
1 6 . . . e? 1 7 fxe3 g6 1 8 e5 e6 1 9 El,d8 !
xe5 2 0 El,e8+ @f6 2 1 El,b8 @e6 2 2 1\e4
b6 23 El,e8+ d7 24 1\f6+ d6 2 5 e4 c5
2 6 e5+ c6 27 f4 h5 28 g2 Ag7 2 9 El,e7
Axf6 30 exf6 El,d8 31 El,xf7 El,d7 32 El,g7 d6
33 f7 1-0 Brynel l - Hector, Gothenburg 1 996.

Now we enter uncharted territory. The imag

i native Chi nese tactician presents an attrac
tive concept - the rapid open ing of the centre
with d2-d4.

17 fxe3 g6 18 e5 g7 19 f4 f6 20 exf6 .l.xf6

21 e4 h5 22 f!lg2
Thus beg ins the tri u m phal entry of the wh ite
king !

. . .

Ae6

Now for a few suggestions, which i n the ab

sence of p ractical examples w i l l have to be
analysed from scratch . I n several variations
we shal l see the man ifold tactical resources
p rovided by the advance of the wh ite d
pawn t o d 4 :

22. . . xc3 23 bxc3 b5 24 e5 a5 25 @h3 b4

26 f!lh4 l1e8 27 @g5 l1e6 28 f!lh6

fa]

z . . g4

8 h3

8 1\d1 ! (Zhang Zhong) 8 . . . !\el 9 1\e3 Axf3

1 0 xf3 .

8. . . h5
8 . . . Axf3 9 xf3 !\el 10 d3 ;\; .

9 l1d1 e7? 10 g4 g6 11 d4!

1 1 g 5 ? ! Ah5 1 2 g xf6 tDg6 is less cl ear.

1-0 Dvoretsky - Smyslov, [ch] Odessa 1 974 .

11. . . exd4 12 e5.

6 tilc3 !?
[b]

6 1\xe5. This recommendation of Fischer

and Soltis does n ot seem to l ead to the
hoped -for advantag e : 6 . . . d4 7 1\f3 xe4

Z . . e7

8 d4! exd4 9 e5 h4 10 l1d1

10 1\xh4 d x c3 11 Ag5 d7 .

10. . . g4 11 r!re4

92

3 . 7 Unusual continuations (Zhang Zhong - d e Vreugt)

11 h3 Axf3 1 2 ''xf3 !lg6 13 ''e4 .

1 3 .!"l.fe1 .!"l.e8 1 4 ''e4 , and Wh ite steers for

the safe h aven of the d raw. [However, with
14 c4 W h ite could h ave m ad e a game of it :
14 c4 !? ''d7 (or 14 . . . tWc6 15 d4 cxd4 16 tWd3)
1 5 ''e3] 1 4 . . . ''xe4 1 5 .!"!.xe4 Axe5 1 6 .!"l.xe5
.!"l.xe5 17 tl:ixe5 tl:ih6 18 .!"l.e1 .!"l.d8 19 tl:if3 1/2-1/2
Babu l a - Adams, [echT] Rethymnon 2003.
10 a4! r!!fd6 11 a3 b6 12 d4!

11 . . . xf3 12 r!!fxf3 g6 13 r!!fe4 c5

13 . . . ''e7 14 .!"l.xd4 0-0 15 g3 .

14 r!!fxbl 0-0 15 f4 t.
[c] 7. c5!? 8 d5 e6 9 xf6+ xf6
..

9 . . ''xf6 1 0 h3! prevents the annoying . . . Ag4

and sets a n asty trap. : 1 0 . . . !le7 ? ! (10. . . h6
1 1 \We3 b6 12 \Wc3) 11 d4 ! exd4 (1 1. . . cxd4
12 g5 \Wg6 13 xe7 <t?xe 7 14 <fJxe5 \Wf6
15 f4 ) 1 2 e5 ''g6 1 3 !lh4 + - .
.

9 Aa3 !
a

..

8
7
6
5

4
3

A surprising trapping of the queen !

10 d3 r!!fd6

Playing with fire ; Zhang Zhong does not hes

itate n ow. 9 . . . 0-0 10 d 4 ! exd4 11 e5 Axe5
[11 . . . Ah4 !? 12 .!"l.ad1 (12 CZJxh4 dxc3 13 l1ad1
tWeB 14 f4) 12 . . . Ag4 13 h3 Axf3 14 ''xf3 .!"l.e8
15 Ac5] 1 2 ''xe5 d xc3 13 .!"l.ad1 ;
9 . . . !lg6 ! ? d efi n itely looks B l ack's best :
1 0 ''e3 !?

1 0 . . . !ld7 1 1 !lg5.

1 1 gs t plan n i ng f4.

8 b3!
8 .!"l.d1 is n o w l ess effective: 8 . . . c5 a n d t h e
kn ight sortie t o d5 doesn 't work now.

. . .

. . .

g5

1 0 d4!

e7

8 . c5
. .

A solid move, stopping any wh ite ideas of

d2-d4, and the choice of M ic h ael Adams
i n the only game i n which h e experi mented
with 5 . . . Ae7 .

9 b2 e7

4
3

a) 9 . . . b 6 ? ! 10 !ld5 ! Axd5 11 e x d 5 xd5

1 2 Ax e5 ;
b) 9 . . . ''d6!? 1 0 tl:id5 (10 CZJd1 !? CZJe7 1 1 CZJe3)
1 0 . . . Axd5 1 1 e x d 5 ''x d 5 1 2 Axe5 0-0-0

93

3 I l l ustrative Games - Theoretical section

The classic blow i n the centre i n reaction to

a (premature) flan k attack.

1 4 . . . g3 1 5 h x g 3 Axf2+ 1 6 xf2 cs
1 7 tl'ic5 .

10 . . . 94

1 s Wc2 h3+

10 . . . exd4 11 e5 Ag7 12 tl'ie4 g4 13 tl'ifg 5 ,

Zhang Zhong .

1 1 liad1 ! exd4

I.

1 1 . . . g xf3 1 2 xf3 Ag5 1 3 d x e5 cs

14 g3 .

1 2 xd4 .txd4 1 3 a4 !

A d esperate cou nter-attack, wh ich w i l l be

beaten off without any g reat d ifficu lty.

1 6 g x h3 g x h3 17 lid3! lig8+ 18 h1
Wh4 1 9 cxd4 Wxe4+ 20 f3 + - Wh4
20 . . . g6 2 1 E:d2.
a

21 cs 0-0-0 22 xe6 lig2

22 . . . fxe6 23 e2 .

The point of White's concept : the d4-bishop

will be lost, after which Black will be left with
a shattered position .

23 Wes !
As Zhang Zhong showed , at this point
there l ay a treacherous trap for the u nwary:
23 gd2 gdgS 24 gfd1 ?? gg1 + 25 gxg1 gxg1 +
26 'i!>xg1 e1 # .

1 3 . . . g6
13 . . . g3 !? a typical "computer-move" .
14 'i!>h1 !?

23 . . . lidg8

a) 14 hxg3?! ggs 1 5 c3 Ag4 ;

23 . . . fxe6 2 4 e7 .

b) 1 4 gxd4 ! xd4 15 Ab2 g x h2+ (15. . . gxf2+

16 l'Ixf2 V/fd6 17 .flxhB 0-0-0 18 .flf6) 1 6 'i!>h1
d6 17 Ax h S 0-0-0 1S Af6 gd7 oo , Zhang
Zhong .

24 Wes fxe6 2S .tc1 b8 26 lidd1

lif8 27 .te3 lixa2 28 Wxe6 WhS
29 dS lie8 30 d x c6 ! lie2 31 Wh6 WfS
32 Wgs We6 33 lid8+ 1-0

14 c3 f4

94

4 Index of Variations with

key positions
3. I l lustrative Games - Theoretical section
3 . 1 The classical 5 . .f 6 6 d4 exd4
.

3.1 . 1
1

The traditional 6 . . . exd4 7 xd4 cS 8 b3

e4 es 2 f3 c6 3 Abs a6 4 Axc6 d xc6

[ p. 2 6 ]
4 . . . b x c6 5 0 - 0 [ 5 d4] (see Unusual continuations p. 109)

5 0-0!
8

[ p. 26]

I.

7
6
5

3
2

f6 6 d4 exd4 7 xd4 cS
[ p. 2 7 ]
a) 7 . . . ffiJe7 ; b ) 7 . . . A d 6
[ p. 2 7 ]

. . .

8 b3

[ p. 27]

95

[ p. 2 5 1

4 I ndex of Variations with key positions

[ p. 27]

8 . . . xd1 9 Hxd1 Ag4

[ p. 27]

[a] 9 ... d6?! 10 a5!

[b] 9. d7 10 c3 0-0-0 11 f4
. .

a) 1 1 . . . g5

[ p. 2 8 ]

[ p. 2 8 ]

b ) 1 1 . . . Re8 ?!

[ p. 2 8 ]

[c] 9. . . e6 1 0 f4

[ p. 2 8 ]

[ p. 2 9 ]

10 t 3 Ad7

1 0... e6?! 11 f4!?

[ p. 2 9 ]

a) 1 1 C2Jc3 1 1 Ae3 b 6 1 3 a 4

[ p. 2 9 ]

b ) 1 1 . Ae3 b 6 1 2 a 4 C2Je7 ! 1 3 Af4 c 4

11 . . . c4 12 d4 0-0-0 13 c3 14 f1xd4
a) 1 3 . . . Ac5

[ p. 2 9 ]

b) 1 3 . . . C2Jf7

[ p. 3 0 ]

1 1 At4 0-0 -0 1 2 c3 c4
1 2 . . . Ae6

13 a5!

[ p. 32 ]

[ p. 32 ]
[ p. 32 ]

14 . . . Ab4?

15 C2Jd5

[ p. 31 ]

[ p. 31 ]

14 'i!?h1

15 a4!?

[ p. 2 9 ]

[ p. 31 ]

1 3 . . . Acs+ 14 f1

14 . . . bS

[ p. 2 9 ]

[ p. 32 ]

[ p. 32 ]
[ p. 32 ]

96

[ 3 . 1 The classical 5 . f6 6 d4 exd4 ]

. .

[ p. 36]

3. 1 .2 The second string 8 e2!?

8 . . . xd1 9 Hxd1 Ad7 1 0 bc3 0-0-0 11 Ae3 He8

[a] 11. . . iJ.d6?! 12 iJ.f4!

[ p. 37 ]

[b] 11. .. b6 12 f4
[ p. 37 ]

12 Hd2 Ac6
1 2 . . f5

[ p. 37 ]

[ p. 38 ]

13 Had1 b6 14 f3
a

[ p. 36]

..

7
6
5

14 f4 h6 15 fd5

[ p. 38]

14 . . . e7 1 5 f4 96 1 6 h5
1 6 tbcd 5 ! ?

16 . . . e5 17 b3

[ p. 39]

[ p. 39 ]
[ p. 39]

97

[ p. 36]

4 I ndex of Variations with key positions

3.2 The active 5 . f6 6 d4 Ag4

. .

[ p. 42 ]

7 c3 !

7 dxe5

[ p. 42 ]

7 . . . Ad6
[ p. 42 ]
7. . . exd4 8 cxd4 f!!!d7
[ p. 42 ]
a) 8 . . . Axf3 ? ! 9 xf3 x d4 1 0 gd1 c4 1 1 Af4
[ p . 42 ]
b) 8 . . . c5 9 b3 ! cxd4 1 0 e5 !? Axf3 1 1 xf3
[ p. 43]
8 Ae3 e7
[ p. 43 ]
8. . f!!!e 7 9 bd2 0-0-0
[ p. 43 ]
a) 9 . . . exd4 10 cxd4 0-0-0 1 1 c2 ge8 1 2 e5 Ab4 1 3 h3
b) 9 . . . tt:lh6 1 0 tt:lc2 tt:lf7 1 1 c4 ! exd4 12 tt:lxd4 c5 1 3 tt:lb3
10 dxe5!?
[ p. 44 ]
10 c2
[ p. 44 ]
a) 10 . . . f7
[ p. 44]
b) 1 0 . . . ge8 ? !
[ p. 44 ]
[ p. 44]
c) 1 0 . . . exd4
10... fxe5 11 b4 f6 12 f!!!c2
[ p. 45 ]
.

a ..
.l

1 2 a4 ? !

[ p. 45 ]

98

[ p. 44]
[ p. 44]

[ 3 .2 The active 5 . f6 6 d4 11.g4 ]

. .

[ p. 46 ]

dxe5!?

9 1'Jbd2 r!!d7

[ p. 46]

a) 9 . . . 0-0 1 0 '&b3+ h8 1 1 h3 (1 1 'f#xb 7) 1 1 . . . h5 1 2 d x e5 fxe5 1 3 tbg5

b) 9 . . . tbg6 1 0 '&b3 '&c8 1 1 c4 (1 1 dxe5) 1 1 . . . exd4 12 tbxd4 c5 1 3 Ltlf5
c) 9 . . '&c8 1 0 tbc4 0-0 1 1 d xe5 xe5 12 Cl'lcx e5 fxe5 1 3 '&b3+
.

10 dxe5 (10 h3 Le6 1 1 c4] 10. . . fxe5 11 h3 e6 12 1'Jg5 [1 2 '&e2]

9 . . . fxe5

10 h3 Lh5 11 c4 ! c5 1 2 b4! b6

1 2 . . . Cl'lc6

[ p. 47 ]

13 bxc5 bxc5 14 bd2 0-0

.I

[ p. 47 ]

[ p. 48 ]

99

[ p. 46]
[ p. 47 ]

[ p. 46]
[ p. 46]

4 I ndex of Variations with key positions

3.3 The ambitious 5 . . . Wd6

3.3.1 Romanishin's 6 . . . e6
5 . . . d6 6 clL)a3!

[ p. 50]

6 d3 f6 7 Ae3 Ag4 8 t2Jbd2

6 . . . e6 7 d4!?

[ p. 50]

[ p. 50]

7 b3 e7 8 c4 g6 9 d4

[ p . 51 ]

7 . . . Axa3 (7 . exd4) 8 bxa3 exd4 9 xd4 clL)f6 1 0 i.b2 0-0 1 1 E!fe1

. .

3.3.2 The principled 6

. . .

b5

6 . . . b5 7 c3 c5 8 clL)c2

i.

7
6
5
4
3

100

[ p. 51 ]

[ 3 . 3 The ambitious 5 . . d6 ]
.

...

[ p. 52 )

Ab7

[a] 8 . A le7 9 a4 IIbB (9 . . . Ab?)

[ p. 52 )
10 axbS axbS 11 d4 cxd4 ( 1 1 . . . g6) 12 cxd4 exd4 13 tiJcxd4 cS ( 1 3 . . . g6 ? !) 14
tiJxbS!
[ p. 53 )
.

[b] 8 . c4!? 9 b3 f6 10 bxc4 bxc4 11 a3 c6 12 xfB ( 1 2 e5) 12

(13 e2) 13. . . cxd3 14 xd3 t
[ p. 53)
. .

t!JxfB 13 d4

[ p. 53)

[c] 8 ... f6 9 a4 b7 10 axbS xe4

9

. .

[ p. 54)

He1

9 d4!? cxd4 10 cxd4 exd4 11 tiJfxd4 tiJe7 (11 . 0-0-0 1 2 b4 !) 12 f3 cS 13 tiJb3

.

9 . . . e7

[a] 9

[ p. 54)

...

IIdB 10 a4 e7!?

[ p. 54 ]
[ p. 54)

a) 1 0 . . . f6 1 1 ax b5 a x b5 1 2 d 4 ! xe4 xe5
b) 1 0 . . . c4 1 1 ax b4 axb4 1 2 a3 ! f6 13 xb5

[ p. 54 )

c) 1 0 . . . e7 1 1 axb5 a x b5 12 d4 cxd4 1 3 cxd4

[ p. 54 )

d) 1 0 . . . b4 ? ! 1 1 e2 !

[ p. 55)

11 axbS axbS 12 e2 [1 2 d4 !?]

[ p. 5 5 )

[b] 9

. . .

tiJf6 10 d4 cxd4 11 cxd4 tiJxe4 12 a4

[ p. 55)

[c] 9

...

0-0-0 10 a4 b4 11 tiJe3 e6 12 e2

[ p. 5 5 )

[ p. 5 6 )

10 a 4
a

.I.

4
3

3
2

10

. .

c4

[ p. 56)

[a] 10... tiJg6 11 axbS axbS 12 IIxaB+ xaB 13 d4!

[ p. 56)

[b] 10. . . b4 11 tiJe3 (11 c x b4 !?) 11 ... xe4 12 t1Jc4 dS 13 tiJcxeS

1 1 a x b5 a x b5 1 2 Hxa8+ Axa8 1 3 a3! c6 14 b3!

101

[ p. 56)

[ p. 56)

[ p. 54)

4 I ndex of Variations with key positions

3.3.3 The flexible 6 . . . .aes

[ p. 58]

7 e2 f6

7 . . . tDe7 8 tDc4

8 Etd1

. . .

[ p. 58]

[ p. 5 8 ]

0-0-0

[ p. 58]

[a] 8 ... g4 9 d4! exd4 10 c3! 0-0-0

[ p. 58]

a) 1 0 . . . ttJe7 ? ! 1 1 h3 Axf3 12 ''xf3 tDg6 1 3 cxd4 Ae7 1 4 ttJc4 ''e6 1 5 d 5 ! 'f7

16 Af4 !? ;t;
[ p. 59]
b) 1 0 . . . ''e6 ? ! 1 1 tDxd4 ! Ax e2 1 2 tDxe6

[ p. 59]

c) 1 0 . . . c5 1 1 h3 (11 tDc2) 1 1 . . . Axf3 (11 . . . Ah5 ?!) 1 2 'xf3 ;!;

11 f1xd4 r!!!e 7 12 f1xd8+ ( 1 2 tDc4 !)

[ p. 59 ]

1 02

[ p. 59]

[ 3 . 3 The ambitious 5

[b] 8. . . c5 9 c3 g4

. . .

'i:Wd6 )

[ p. 59 ]

a) 9 . . . 0-0-0 1 0 d4 cxd4 1 1 cxd4 exd4 1 2 .!3xd4

[ p. 60 ]

b) 9 . . . 'f/Jc6 1 0 d4 cxd4 1 1 cxd4 Axa3 1 2 b x a3 Ac4 1 3 'f/Je1 !? (13 'f/Je3)

c) 9 . . . .!'!dB 1 0 d4 cxd4 1 1 cxd4 c5 12 d5 b5 1 3 Ae3

10 h3 xf3

[ p. 60]

[ p. 60]

( p. 60 ]

1 0 . . . Ah5 11 d4 cxd4 1 2 cxd4 exd4

a) 1 3 tl:lb5 !
b} 1 3 g4

[ p. 60 ]
[ p. 60 ]

11. r!'!xf3 e7 (11 . . . 'f/Je6 ? !) 12 d4! cxd4 13 cxd4 exd4 14 f4

[c] 8. . . g5?! 9 d4 g4 10 e1 0-0-0 11 e3
9 d4

[ p. 61 ]

( p. 62 ]

9 tl:lc4 'f!Je7 1 0 d3 'f/Jf7 1 1 Ad2 g5 1 2 b4

9 . . . Ag4

[ p. 60]

[ p. 62 ]

[ p. 62 ]

9 . . . exd4 ?! 1 0 .!3xd4 'f!Je7 1 1 Af4 !

10 Ae3 1!!fe 6

[ p. 62 ]

[ p. 62 ]

10. . . exd4 11 f1xd4 r!'!e7 12 f1xd8+ ( 1 2 tl:lc4)

[ p. 62 ]

1 1 dxe5 llxd1+ (11 . . . .!'!eB) 1 2 1!!fx d1 !? ( 1 2 .!3xd1 } 1 2 . . . Axa3 1 3 bxa3 fxe5 (13 . . . tl:le?) 14 g5!
[ p. 63 ]

1 03

4 I ndex of Variations with key positions

3.4 The natural 5 . . . J,d6

6
5
4

if

[ p. 64 ]

6 d4 exd4 7 xd4 f6 8 Ae3 l!Ue7 (8 . . . Ae6) 9 l!ilbd2 Ae6

6
5
4
3

10 c3

if

[ p. 65 ]

[a] 10 lifd1 0-0

[ p. 65 ]

a) 10 . . . t2Jg6 1 1 t2Jc4 Axc4 (11 . . . Ae7) 1 2 xc4 e7 13 l'!d4 (13 a4 !?)

b) 1 0 . . . c5 1 1 c3 b6 1 2 t2Jc4 0-0 13 l'!d2
c) 10 . . . d7 11 t2Jc4 l'!d8 1 2 c3 0-0 13 Af4

[ p. 65 ]

[ p. 65 ]
[ p . 65 ]

11 4:lc4 ( 1 1 c3) 11 . . . b4 ( 1 1 . . . Ax h 2 + ? !) 12 a3 f!!Txd4 13 tll xd4 xc4 14 axb4 t

[ p. 66]
[b] 10 11ad1 tllg 6 (10 . . . 0-0) 11 tll c4 (11 c3 ! ?) 11. . . xc4 (11 . . . Ab4) 12 f!!Txc4 f!!Te 7
13 11fe1
[ p. 67 ]
[c] 10 tll c4 ? xh2+ 11 f!lxh2 f!!Txd4 12 tll xd4 xc4 +

104

[ p. 68]

[ 3 . 5 The agg ressive 5 . . . Ag4 ]

[ p. 68 ]

10 . . . 0 - 0

1 0 . . . t2Jg6 !? 1 1 tLld4 [11 tLlc4] "f!Je7 1 2 tDxe6 "f/Jxe6 1 3 "f/Jb3

[ p. 69 ]

1 1 c4 .txc4

[ p. 69 ]

1 1 . . . "f/Je8 1 2 tLlxd6 cxd6 13 "f/Jb4

12 Wxc4+ i!?h8 1 3 Elad1 Wea 14 .tc5 .txc5 1 5 Wxc5 ;!;

My recommendation for Black!

3.5 The aggressive 5 . . Ag4

.

6 h3 h5!
a

[ p. 71 ]
b

7
6
5
4

a) 6 . . . Ah5 ? ! ; b) 6 . . . Axf3 ? !

7 d3 Wt6 a bd2
8 e3!?

[ p. 68]

'Li'

[ p. 71 ]

[ p. 72 ]

[ p . 72 ]

A finesse to reach a favourable version of the main line!

1 05

[ p. 69 ]

4 I ndex of Variations with key positions

8. . xf3 9 r!fxf3 r!fxf3 10 gxf3 d6 11 d2

a) 11 'i!>h1
[ p. 72 ]
.

b) 11 'i!>g2

[ p. 72 ]

[ p. 73 ]
[ p. 73 ]

11. . . e7 12 c4

(compare with the main line deviation 12 . d6 ?!)

. .

a) 1 2 !'l.fb1

[ p. 73 ]

b) 1 2 'i!>h2

[ p. 74 ]

12. . . f6 13 f4!

[ p. 74 ]

. . .

[ p. 77 ]

[ p. 75 ]

e7 9 c4 !?

[a] 9 l1e1 g6 10 d4 (10 h x g 4 ?) 10. . . f4!

[ p. 75 ]

1 0 . . . Ad6 1 1 h xg4 h x g4 1 2 tbh2 El.x t l 2 13 '/;\llx g 4 !

[ p. 75 ]

11 dxe5
1 1 hxg4 h x g 4 1 2 g3 g xf3 1 3 '/;\llx f3 tbe6 14 d x e5 '/;\ll h 6 ! 1 5 tbb3 g 5 ! 1 6 Ae3 '/;\ll h 3 !
a) 1 7 El.ad1 ; b) 1 7 '/;\llg 2

[ p. 76 ]

11. . . r!fg6 12 h4! xd1 13 xg6 xg6 14 l1xd1

[b] 9 hxg4 hxg4 10 g3 gxf3 11 r!fxf3 r!fh6!?
9

. . .

Axf3 10 xf3 xf3 1 1 g xf3 96

a

106

[ p. 76 ]

[ p. 76 ]

[ 3 . 6 The unconventional 5 . . tll e7 ]

.

12 .te3

[ p. 76 ]

12 l1d1 0-0-0 (1 2 . . . c5) 13 'ilt1 ile7!? 14 ile3 (14 l!?e2) 14. . . ilf6 15 c3 (15 a4) 15. . . l1d7
16 b4
[ p. 76 ]
[ p. 77 ]

12 . . . f6

[a] 12. . . ild6?! 13 l1fd1 f6 (13 . . . b5) 14 'ilt1 c5

a) 14 . . _ gd8

[ p. 77 ]

b} 1 4 . . . tl:lh4

[ p. 77 ]

c) 14 . . . tl:lts

[ p. 77 ]

[ p. 77 ]

d} 14 . . 0-0-0

[ p. 78 ]

15 c3 'ilt7 16 d4 (16 a3 !)

[ p. 78 ]

[b] 12. . . ile7! 13 l1fd1 (13 l!?h1 }

[ p. 78 ]

[ p. 79 ]

[c] 12. . . c5
1 3 Elfd1 .td6?!
a) 13 . . . c5

[ p. 79 ]
[ p. 79 ]

b) 13 . . . tl:lh4

[ p. 79 ]

3.6 The unconventional 5 . e7

. .

5
4
3

{)-

6 xe5 @d4 7 @hS! g6 8 @g5

[ p. 82 ]

8 tt:Jf3!? r!xe4 9 (!a5! ilg4!

[ p. 82 ]

a) 9 . . . b6 ? ! 10 c3 gg8 1 1 ge1 d5 1 2 d4
b} 9 . . . f4 ?! 10 d3 d6 1 1 tl:lbd2 Sd5 1 2 tl:le4

1 07

[ p. 82 ]
[ p. 83 ]

4 I ndex of Variations with key positions

10 d3 f!!!f5 11 f!!!xc7 xf3 12 gxf3 f!!!xf3 13 f1e1 f!!!g4+ 14 f!!!g3 f!!!xg3+ (14 . . . ''d7 !?)
15 hxg3 ;f
[ p. 83 ]
[ p. 83 ]

8 . . . .tg7 9 d3 ! f5! 10 e5!

a

6
5
4

10 . . . '@'g4

[ p. 83 ]

10. . . c5 11 b3! h6
a) 11 . . . b6

[ p. 84 ]

[ p. 84 ]

b) 11 . . . ''xa1

[ p. 84]

12 f!!!e3 f4! ( 1 2 . . . CL:lc6) 13 f!!!xd4 (13 ''f3) 13. . . cxd4 14 tPlxf4 xe5 15 d3 ;f
1 1 We3

[ p. 85 ]
[ p. 85 ]

11 f4!? f!!!xg5 12 fxg5 h6

a) 1 2 . . . f4

[ p. 85 ]

b) 1 2 . . . b6 !?

[ p. 85]

13 gxh6 f1xh6 14 f1e1 [14 CL\c3] 14. . . f!lf7

a) 14 . . . b6

[ p. 86]

b) 14 . . . g5

[ p. 86 ]

1 1 . . . dS 12 '@'e1 '@'d4?!
12. . . b6!? ( 1 2 . . . f4)

[ p. 86]

[ p. 86]

[ p. 86 ]

1 3 c3 (13 f4) 1 3 . . . f4 14 e2

[ p. 87 ]

108

[ p. 85 ]

[ 3 . 7 U nusual contin u ations ]

3. 7 U nusual continuations
1 e4 es 2 f3 c6 3 Abs a6 4 Axc6 d x c6
4

. . .

bxc6

[ p. 88]

5 0-0 (5 d 4 ; 5 tt:Jxe5 ?!) 5

s o-o Ae7

[a] 5

. . .

...

f!!J'f6 (5 . . d6)
.

[ p. 88]

[ p. 89 ]

f!!J'f6 6 d4 exd4 7 gs (7 e5)

[ p. 89 ]

109

4 Index of Variations with key positions

(7 . . . 'f;Vd6)

[ p. 89 ]

[b] 5. . . e6? 6 xe5

[ p. 90]

z .. g6

[c] 5 ... e7 6 d4 exd4 7 xd4 [7 tt:Jxd4]

z . . g4

[ p. 9 0 ]

7 . . . 'f;Vt6 ! 8 'f;Ve3 !?
a) 8 'f;Vxf6
b) 8 vt;Va4

[ p. 91 ]

c) 8 e5

8 f4!

[ p. 91 ]
[ p . 91 ]

[ p. 91 ]

8. . . xf3 (8 . . . '8d8) 9 gxf3 f6 10 c3 h5 11 g3

6 c3!?

[ p. 92 ]

(6 tt:Jxe5)

[ p. 92 ]

6 . . . At6 7 'f1!fe2

7 . . . Ae6
[a]

[ p. 92 ]

[ p . 92 ]

z . . g4

B h3 (8 tt:Jd1 !)

( p. 92 ]

110

[ p. 91 ]

( 3 . 7 U n usual conti nuations ]

[b] 7. ti:Je7 8 d4!

[c] 7. c5!?
. .

8 b3! e7
8

...

[ p. 92 ]

[ p. 93 ]

[ p. 93]

c5 9 b2 ti:Je7

a) 9 . . . b6 ? ! 10 tbd5 !
b) 9 . . . d6 !? 1 0 tbd5

9 i.a3! g5

[ p. 93 ]

[ p. 9 3 ]

( 9 . 0-0 ; 9 . . . tbg6 !?)

. .

10 d4!

[ p . 93 ]

[ p. 93 ]

[ p. 93 ]

111

5 Appendices
5. 1 Tra n s l a t o r 's n ot e
I n the St. Petersburg 1 914 tournament book,
Tarrasch reports a conversation he had with
Lasker after this gam e : "Why did you p l ay
this d rawi n g variatio n ? " I asked h i m l ater.
" I had n ot h i n g else , " he rep l i ed . " N ot h i n g
c a n be done against you r d efence, w h i c h
y o u have employed against Bernstei n and
me. The second p l ayer always has a good
game. " Lasker was referri n g to the Open
Span i s h , Tarrasch's favou rite d efence, with
which h e (Tarrasch) had a l ifeti m e score as
B l ac k (accord i n g to M egabase) of won 1 0 ,
drawn 11 , lost 5 . The game Lasker-Tarrasch,
from the prel i m i n ary section at St. Peters
burg , had caused a g reat sti r. Tarrasch's i n
novation a t m o v e 1 2 w a s h i g h ly praised i n
t h e chess press o f the t i m e ; h e real l y had
Lasker on the ropes but fai led to del iver the
knock-out blow. But how m uc h credence
should we give to this explanation ? Some
doubts beg in to creep in. Was Lasker tel l i n g
t h e trut h , and the whole truth ? Some con
siderations:
1) Lasker and Tarrasch were hardly the best
of friends. Lasker wou l d probably n ot feel
obliged to be truthfu l , and was perhaps b e
ing iron ic.
2) Tarrasch was reputed ly qu ite vain and took
hi mself very seriously, and m ight therefore be

a) suscepti ble to flattery b} u n l i kely to detect

any i rony in Lasker's statement.
3) Capablanca expressed a l ow o p i n i o n of
the Open Spanish i n h i s books and n ever
played it with Black in tournament games. He
would therefore have been u n l i kely to employ
it agai nst Lasker. I n his serious games prior
to 1 914 Capa had generally used the Closed
(Chigorin) defence. Anyway, should Lasker's
choice of the Exchange Variation against
Capablanca h ave been such a surprise?
Lasker had previously used it several ti mes in
i m po rtant games, i n c l u d i n g World Champi
onsh i p matches with Stein itz, Tarrasc h , and
Janowski (though adm itted ly not in his most
recent m atch , against Schlechter - perhaps
Lasker had been put off by the ease with
which Schlechter defended the black side in
their d rawn game fro m London 1 899 : 1 e4
e5 2 tt::lf3 ttJc6 3 Ab5 a6 4 Axc6 dxc6 5 ttJc3
f6 6 d4 e x d 4 7 tt::l x d 4 c5 8 tt::l d e2 xd 1 +
9 tt::l x d1 Ad? 1 0 Af4 0-0-0 11 tt::l e3 Ac6 1 2 f3
tt::l e7 1 3 'i!?f2 g 6 1 4 l"l.ad 1 Ag? 1 5 b3 l"l.xd1
16 l"l.xd1 l"l.d8 17 l"l.xd8+ 'i!? x d 8 1 8 Ag3 Ae8
1 9 Ah4 g5 20 Ag3 Ag6 21 'i!?e1 f5 22 exf5
tt::l x f5 23 tt::l x f5 Axf5 24 'i!?d2 c4 25 b4 'i!?d7
26 Af2 'i!?e6 27 Ad4 Af8 28 c3 Ad6 29 Ae3
'i!?f6 30 Af2 Af4+ 1/2-%) . I g u ess we' l l never
know the truth.

112

5.2 I ndex of players

5.2 I n dex of p l ayer s

A
Acs, Peter
.
..
2 5 , 38, 55, 57
Adams, M ichael 1 0 , 32 , 33, 50, 73, 76, 80,
90, 93
Adorjan, Andras
.
.
. . . 28
Alekh ine, Alexander
. . ..
.
7
Ali khanov, Felix
.
... . . .
45
Almasi , Zoltan
.
. . . . 44, 62
Alzai m , Talal
.
.
. 31
Arencibia, Walter
.
.
. 92
Arizmendi M arti nez, J u len . . .
28
Azarov, Sergei . .
. ..
36
. . . . . . . . .

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. .

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. .

62 , 63
.
. . 68
. . . . . 90

. . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . .

. .

. .

Fine, Reuben . .
Fischer, Robert 7-1 0 , 1 6 , 2 8 ,
71 , 92
Flear, Christine .
Foisor, Cristi na-Adela
...
Formanek, Edward . . . . . . .
Fran ic, M i lan
.
.
Fressinet, Laurent 1 0 , 24, 32 ,
69, 85, 86, 90
.

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

.
..
71
29, 32, 42 , 43,
. . . . .

. . . . . . . .

65
. 53
.
. . . . 75
.
. . 28
45, 46, 52 , 59,

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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. .

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G
Gabri e l , Ch ristian
Galdunts, Sergey
Gangu ly, Surya Shekhar . .
G arcia, G i ldardo .
....
Geenen , M arc . . . .
Geffen, Ben van
..
Geller, Efim
G h i nda, M i hail .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . .

. . .

E
Eren b u rg , Sergey .
Ernst, Thomas
.
Estrada N i eto, J u l i an

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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. . . . . .

. . . . .

. .7
62
62
67

D
Day, Lawrence
. .
. . 43
De la Riva Ag uado, Oscar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
De la Vi l l a Garcia, Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Delchev, Aleksander
. .
.
78
Doel , Erik van den
. . . 23, 59, 79
Doelan d , J u l i us van . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Dom ing uez, Len ier .
.
. 37
Donchenko, Anatoly
. .
28
Dorfma n , Josif
.
... .
. 78
Dvoretsky, M ark . . . .
. 91 , 92

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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. . . .

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. .

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. .

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. . . . . . .

. .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. .

B
Bab u , N Sudhakar
. . .
. . 77
Babula, Vlast i m i l
. . . .
. 93
Bacrot, Etienne
..
77
Baklan, Vlad i m i r . .
. . 1 0 , 26, 42 , 46, 47
Bakre, Tejas .
.
56
Balogh , Csaba . . . . . . .
. 55, 59, 76
Barendregt, Johan
.
. . 9 , 71 , 75
Baron Rodriguez, Jesus . .
. .
32 , 34
Bednarska, Malgorzata
.
..
67
Bed narski, J acek
. .
.
.
.
91
Bel iavsky, Alexander
.
. 39, 42, 46
Belotelov, Den is . .
85
Belov, Vlad i m i r
. 84
Benjam i n , Joel
. .
. 58
Berkvens, J oost
.
. . . .
30
Bezgodov, Alexei
. 47, 84
Bhat, Vi nay
.
56, 61
Bosc h , Jeroen
. ...
90, 91
Brag in, Alexander .
.
... .
28
Breder, Dennis
. ..
.
. 80
Bronste i n , David
. .
47
Brun ner, Lucas . .
. .
83
Brynel l , Stellan . 1 0 , 55, 62 , 64-68, 84, 92
. . . . . . . . . . . . .

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. .

. . . . . . .

Chigori n , M i khail
... ..
C h robak, Gyu la
.
.
Cladouras, Panag iotis .
.
Cobb, Charles .
. . .

. . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . .

. .

. . . . . . . . .

c
Cam pos M oreno, J avier .
. . . 50
Capabl anca, Jose Raoul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9 , 1 6
Chandler, M u rray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. .

. .

. . .

. . . . 33
65, 69
86
.
78
53, 75
73
44
. 53
.

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113

. .

5 Appendices

G i pslis, Aivars
.
.
.
91
1 0 , 2 1 -23, 25, 36, 37 , 40, 57,
Glek, Igor
60-62 , 71 , 78-80
G l igoric, Svetozar
9, 27, 43, 67
Godena, M ichele .
31 , 53, 60, 61
Gold berg , Alexander
. .
. 55
Golod , Vitali
.
. 6 , 25, 26
Gormally, Dan iel
.
37
Greenfeld , Alon .
.
..
. 62
Gretarsson , Helgi
.
1 8 , 37
Grisch uk, Alexander 1 0 , 39, 40, 42 , 45, 46
Gueneau , Christophe
.
88
G u ner, B ulent .
. .
.
.
29
Gustafsson , Jan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Gyimes i , Zoltan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 , 59, 86
. . . . . . . . . . . . .

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. . . . . . . . . . . .

H
Hansen , Lars-Bo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Harmon ist, M ax .
.
.
. . . 89
Hartston , Will iam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Hasanov, M arat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 37
Hebden , Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64, 67 , 68
Hecht, Hans-Joac h i m
. ..
.
27
Hector, Jonny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 , 92
Hedke, Frank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Hokkanen, Petri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Holoubkova, Martina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Hort, Vlast i m i l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 , 79
H racek, Zbynek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Hubner, Robert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
. .

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. .

. . . . . .

K
Kaidanov, G regory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Kakageldyev, Aman m u rad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Kal l i o , Hei kki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 42 , 47
Kas i mdzhanov, Rustam . 1 0 , 39, 40, 50, 73
Kasparov, G arry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36, 42
Kasparov, Sergey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36, 79
Kazhgaleyev, M u rtas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Ken naug h , Charles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Kennefick, M au rice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Keres, Paul .
.
82 , 84
Khachian, M e l i kset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Khal ifman , Alexander
..
..
22, 46
Kharitonov, Andrei . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Kinderman n , Stefan . . . . . . . . . . . . 34, 40, 55, 78
Korch n o i , Victor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Korneev, Oleg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 30, 31
Korzubov, Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Koskinen, Henri . .
. .
. 65
Kostyra, Stanislaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Krasenkow, M ichal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54, 61 , 89
Kroeze, Fran k . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 , 76
Kru ppa, Yu ri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Kuzm i n , Alexey .
. 56
.

. . . . . . . . .

. .

. .

. .

. .

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. . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. .

L
Lasker, Emanuel
. .
. 7-9 , 1 6-1 8
Liss, Eran
50
Lobro n , Eric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 46
Lu kacs, Peter
.
. . 66, 76
Luther, Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88, 89
. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

M
M acieja, Bartlomiej . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 , 76
M a i n ka, Romuald . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Mal isauskas, Vidmantas
. . 28, 47
M aljut i n , Evgeni
. .
.
27
Marciano, David . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Mari n , M i hail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44, 45
M arkovic, M i roslav . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54, 67 , 76
M arshal l , Fran k . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9
Martinovsky, Eugene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
M as, H afizulhel m i . .
..
..
86
M atsu u ra, Everaldo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Mecki n g , Henrique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Meijers, Viesturs . . . . . . . 2 1 , 28-31 , 44, 47, 77
. . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. .

J
Janowski , Dawid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6
Jenni, Florian . . .
.
. 32-34, 83 , 85
J i menez Zerq uera, Eleazar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
J u rasi n , Mari n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . .

l brag i m ov, Al i bek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

l bragimov, l ldar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1 , 55, 61 , 85
I l lescas Cordoba, M i g uel . . . . . . . . . . . 62, 86, 88
l narkiev, Ernesto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
l u ldachev, Saidali . . . 2 1 , 31 , 73 , 74 , 77
lvanch uk, Vassily . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 , 29, 45, 86
Ivanov, Victor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84, 85
. .

. . . . . . .

114

. . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . .

. . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

5.2 I ndex of players

Meli khov, Evgeny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Mendoza, Rafael
..
37
M i khalevski , Alexander
. 86
M i khalevski, Victor .
. .
56, 62 , 85
M i los, G i l berto . .
. ..
1 0 , 27, 36
M i l u , Romeo Sorin
. .
19, 66
M i nckwitz, Johannes van . . .
. 7
M i ralles, G i l les
.
31
M n atsakan ian , Eduard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Mokry, Karel
...
.
27
M u lyar, M ichael
..
.
.
. . . 75
. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . .

. .

. . . . . . . . . .

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43
28
55, 56, 85
.
60
. .
82
.
. 29
. 86
.
. .
85
..
83
21 , 45, 58, 60,
.

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R
Rad u lski , J u l ian .
.
90
Rausis, lgors
.
. . 46, 60, 77, 82 , 86
Rav i , Thandalam Shanm ugam
60
Ree, H ans .
..
82
Reinderman , D i m itri . 24, 25, 30, 46, 47, 53,
56, 68
Relange, Eloi .
.
53, 74
R i b l i , Zoltan
. .
32
Rogers, Ian .
..
. 33
Roman i sh i n , O leg
.
. 51
Romero Holmes, Alfonso
. . 1 7 , 30, 31
Rose l l i Mailhe, Bernardo
.
77
Rowson , J onathan .
37
Rozentalis, Eduardas . 1 0 , 1 8 , 1 9 , 30, 31 , 37 ,
39, 43-47 , 50, 64, 68, 69, 73, 74
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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7
. . 34
28
.
46
54, 65, 75
. . . . . 31

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . .

N
N adan i an , Ashot .
Nagy, Erv i n
.
.
Naid itsch, Arkad ij .
Naumkin, Igor
.
N e i , l ivo
.
.
Neverov, Anatoly
Ng uyen Anh Dung
.
N ielsen , Peter Heine
..
N i kolic, Pred rag .
.
N isipean u , Livi u-Dieter 1 0 , 1 5 ,
63
Notki n , M aksi m
.
N u n n , John

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

Pollock, W i l l iam
Portera Garnica, M i g uel
Portisch , Lajos
..
Pri byl , Martin
.
.
Prie, Eric . . . .
..
.
Psakh is, Lev .
.. .

. . . . . . .

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. 76
67, 71

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Sanden , Stefan .
.
.
. 84
Santo- Roman , M arc . .
.
31
Sarakauskas, Ged i m i nas
84
Schal lopp, E m i l
.
89
Sch m i d , Martin
..
83
Schmidt, Eugen van
. .
.
.7
Schneider, D m itry
84
Schneider, Lars Ake
. .
66, 76, 91
Sebag , M arie
. .
15
Segovia, J avier
. .
. 62
S h i rov, Alexei
1 0 , 33, 45, 52, 73, 74, 78
Shomoev, Anton
.
...
45
Short, N igel . .
.
. 52, 61 , 84
Sl iwa, Bogdan . .
.
79
Slobodjan, Roman
.
. 33, 39
Smyslov, Vassily
...
. . 44 , 90, 92
Socko, Bartosz
.
.
.
54
Sofronie, J u l ian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 , 21 , 58
Sokolov, Ivan
39, 47, 90, 92
Solleveld , M aarten
.
77
Soltis, And rew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 , 88, 91 , 92
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O' Donnel l , Tom

.
.
Olaras u , Gabriela . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,
Onischuk, Alexander
30, 37 , 39,
Oral , Tomas .
. .
38, 39,
Otero, Diasmany
. .
. . .

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53
59
60
77

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Pachman , Ludek . .
. .
.
91
Packroff, Hermann
.
.
. 43
Pedzich, Dom i n i k .
.. .. .
.. .
74
Petronic, Jovan
. 54
Petrov, Anton
.
. .
60
Petrus h i n , Alexander .
..
29
Pfan nkuche, M ichael
. .
67
Pichler
43
Pi ket, Jeroen
24, 25, 45, 56, 73 , 75 , 76
Pilgaard , Kim .
60
Pi nter, J ozsef . . .
.
.
. . 55

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115

. . . . . . . . .

5 Appendices

Sori n , Ariel
. .
54
Sosn icki, M ichal
.
43
Spassky, Boris
9, 1 0 , 42, 78
Speck, Nick
.
..
50
Stefansson, H an nes
.
24, 52
Steinitz, Wilhelm
.
.
7
Sterren, Pau l van der
.
. 1 7 , 30
Svensson , Sven . . .
76
Szabo, Gergely
62
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. 42
7-9 , 1 7
. 9, 71 , 75
.
34
44
73 , 83, 84
. . 78
1 0 , 38, 71
.
. 10

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. . . . . .

Wah ls, M atth i as

.
.
Wed berg , Tom
19, 53,
Weide, Karel van der .
82 , 86,
Wells, Peter
Wiel , John van der
. .
.
Wiersma, Eelke
Winants, Luc
.
Winawer, Simon
Wittman n , Walter .
.
.
Womacka, M athias
6, 1 0 , 25,
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67
54, 64, 68
87 , 89 , 92
44, 82
39
87 , 90
22, 68, 78
.7
27
26, 32 , 47

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Xie J u n

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Yemel i n , Vassily
Yi l m az, Turham
Yusu pov, Artur .

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8, 1 6 , 27, 47

54

. . .

U nzicker, Wolfgang

. . .

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T
Tai , M i khail
..
Tarrasch , Sieg bert
Teschner, Rudolf
.
Teske, Henri k
Teufel, J u rgen
.
.
Tim man , Jan 1 0 , 32, 51 , 59-62 ,
Tischbierek, Raj
.
Tkachiev, Vlad islav
.
.
Topalov, Vesel i n
.
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59, 65, 66
. . 87 , 88
38

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Volzh i n , Alexander
Vreugt, Den nis de
Vysoch i n , Spartak

. .

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38, 40
83
54
. . . . .

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Vajda, Albert . .
.
.
1 9 , 66
Vajda, Levente .
. .
. 32
Varavin, Vi ktor
.
.
86
Vescovi , Giovan n i .
. 1 0 , 27, 36, 38, 39
Vil lard , Patrick
.
.
29
Vogt, Lothar
.
.
28
.

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Zak, Uriel
.
.
31
Zapata, Alonso
.
.
..
77 , 78
Zavgorodn iy, Sergiy
85 , 86
Zhang Zhong . 1 0 , 36, 39, 73 , 74 , 86, 88, 90,
92-94
Zuidema, Coenraad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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116

5 . 3 Index of games

5.3 I n dex of g a m es
A page number in bold indicates that the first-named player had the black pieces. Underl ining
i n d i cates an I l l u strative game. A page n u m ber i n b rackets m eans a particu lar game was
referred to on that page.

A
Acs, Peter- G lek 25, 57
- Naiditsch 55
-Oral 38
Adams, M ichael - Babula 93
- Breder 80
- Fressinet 90
- Kasimdzhanov 50, 73
- Macieja 73, 76
- S h i rov 33
-Timman 32
Adorjan, And ras - Nagy 28
- Vogt 28
Ali khanov, Fel ix - Shomoev 45
Almasi , Zoltan - Marin 44
Alzai m , Talal - l u ldachev 31
Arencibia, Walter- Dvoretsky 92
Arizmendi M arti nez, J u l e n - Fran ic 28
Azarov, Sergei - Kasparov 36
8

Bab u , N Sudhakar - l u ldachev 77

Babula, Vlast i m i l - Adams 93
Bacrot, Etien ne- Rausis 77
Baklan, Vlad i m i r - Bezgodov 47
- Kallio (26) , 42
Bakre, Tejas - Kuzm i n 56
Balog h , Csaba- Gyimesi 59
- l brag i mov 55
- Lu kacs 76
Barendregt, Johan -Teschner 75
Baron Rod rig uez, Jesus- Portera Garnica 34
Bed narska, Malgorzata- Holoubkova 67
Beliavsky, Alexander- Reinderman 46
Belotelov, Den i s - Ivanov 85
Benjam i n , Joel - H ubner 58
Berkvens, Joost - Onisc h u k 30
Bezgodov, Alexei - Baklan 47

- Ivanov 84
Bhat, Vinay - Kaidanov 61
- M i khalevski 56
B rag i n , Alexander- M e l i khov 28
B reder, Den n i s - Adams 80
Bronstei n , David - Rozental is 47
Bru n ner, Lucas - Yi l m az 83
Brynel l , Stel lan - Ernst 68
- Goldberg 55
- Hector 92
- Koskinen 65
- M artinovsky 67
- Sanden 84
- Schneider 66
c
Campos Moreno, J avier- Speck 50
Capablanca, Jose Raou l - Em . Lasker 8, (16)
Chandler, M u rray - lvan c h u k 29
Chrobak, Gyu la- Szabo 62
Cladouras, Panag iotis - G lek 62
Cobb, Charles - Hebden 67

D
Day, Lawrence - O ' Donnell 43
De la R iva Ag uado, Oscar- Foisor 53
De la Vi l l a G arcia, J esus - I l lescas Cordoba
62
Delchev, Aleksander-Tischbierek 78
Dael , Erik van den - G lek 23
- Fressi net 59
- G lek 79
Doelan d , J u l i us van - van der Weide 89
Dom i n g uez, Len ier - M endoza 37
Donchenko, Anatoly - M alisauskas 28
Dorfman , Josif- Ki ndermann 78
Dvoretsky, Mark-Arencibia 92
- S myslov 92

117

5 Append ices

E
Erenburg , Sergey- l narkiev 63
- Segovia 62
Ernst, Thomas - Brynell 68
Estrada N i eto, J u l ian - Rad u l ski 90
F

Fischer, Robert - G l igoric 9 , 43

- J i menez Zerq uera 43
. - Po rtisch 28
- Spassky 10, 42
- U nzicker 8 , (16)
Flear, Ch risti ne- Prie 65
Foisor, Cristina-Adel a - De la R iva Aguado
53
Formanek, Edward - M u lyar 75
Fran ic, M i lan -Arizmendi M arti nez 28
Fressinet, Laurent -Adams 90
- Galdunts 69
- G rischu k 45, 46
-Jenni 85
- M i khalevski 86
- Rausis 46
- Stefansson (24) , 52
-Vajda 32
- van den Dael 59

G
Galdunts, Sergey- Fressinet 69
-Volzh i n 65
Gangu ly, Surya Shekhar - Zhang Zhong 86
Garcia, G i ldard o - Zapata 78
Geenen , M arc - Prie 75
- Relange 53
Geffen , Ben van - l u ldachev 73
Geller, Efi m - Smyslov 44
G h i nda, M i h ai l - Olarasu 53
Glek, lgor-Acs 25, 57
- Cladouras 62
- Hansen 37
- l brag imov 2 1 , 61
- Naumkin 60
-Tkachiev (10) , 71
-van den Dael 23, 79
-Winants 2 2 , 78
-Yemel i n 40

G l igoric, Svetozar- Fischer 9, 43

- Hecht 27
- M arkovic 67
Godena, M ichele- Gyimesi 31
- Krasenkow 61
- Reinderman 53
-Ti m m an 60
Gold berg , Alexander- Brynell 55
Golod, Vital i - Womac ka (6) , (25} , 25, 26
Gormal ly, Dan iel - Rowson 37
G reenfeld , Alon - M i khalevski 62
G retarsson , Helg i - Rozentalis 18, 37
Grisch uk, Alexander- Fressinet 45, 46
- l vanch u k 45
- Kasi mdzhanov 40
- N isi pean u 45
Gueneau , Ch ristophe - I l l escas Cordoba 88
Guner, Bulent - Hokkanen 29
Gyimesi , Zoltan - Balogh 59
- Godena 31
- Rausis 86

H
Hansen, Lars- Bo - G lek 37
Harmonist, M ax - Schal lopp 89
Hartston , W i l l i am - U nzicker 27
Hasanov, M arat - Rozentalis 18, 37
Hebden , M ark- Cobb 67
- Khach ian 64
- M arciano 67
- Rozentalis 68
Hecht, H ans-Joac h i m - G l igoric 27
H ector, Jonny - Brynell 92
- Meijers 47
Hedke, Fran k - M eijers 28
H okkanen , Petri - G uner 29
Holoubkova, M arti na- Bed narska 67
Hort, Vlastim i l - S l iwa 79
- Spassky 78
H racek, Zbynek-Tkachiev 38
H u b ner, Robert - Benj am i n 58

l bragimov, Alibek-Volzhin 59
l brag i m ov, l ldar- Balogh 55
- G lek 21 , 61

118

5 . 3 I ndex of games

- N aiditsch 85
I l lescas Cordoba, M iguel - De la Vi l l a Garcia
62
- G ueneau 88
- lvanchuk 86
l narkiev, Ernesto - Erenburg 63
l u ldachev, Saidal i -Alzai m 31
- Babu 77
- Meijers 21 , 77
- van Geffen 73
-Zhang Zhong 74
lvanchuk, Vassily- Chandler 29
- G rischuk 45
- I l lescas Cordoba 86
Ivanov, Victor- Belotelov 85
- Bezgodov 84

- Sh i rov 78
Korch n o i , Victor- N u n n 71
Korneev, Oleg - Maljutin 27
- M eijers 31
- Romero Holmes 30
Korzu bov, Peter- Rozentalis 30
Koski nen, Henri - Brynell 65
Kostyra, Stan islaw - Mal isauskas 47
Krasen kow, M ichal - Godena 61
- Luther 89
- Socko 54
Kroeze , Fran k - P i ket (75) , 76
Kru ppa, Yuri - N ielsen 85
Kuzm i n , Alexey - Bakre 56

J
Janowski, Dawi d - E m . Lasker 1 6
J en n i , Florian - Fressi net 85
- Kindermann 34
- Schmid 83
J i menez Zerquera, Eleazar- Fischer 43
J u rasi n , M ari n - Pfann kuche 67

L
Lasker, Emanuel - Capablanca 8, (16)
- Janowski 1 6
-Tarrasch 1 7
Liss , Eran - Rozentalis 50
Lob ro n , Eric- Khal ifman 22, 46
Lu kacs, Peter- Balogh 76
-Volzhin 66
Luther, Thomas - Krasen kow 89

K
Kaidanov, G regory- Bhat 61
Kakageldyev, Aman murad -Zhang Zhong 90
Kal l i o , Hei kki - Baklan (26) , 42
- Womacka 47
Kasi mdzhanov, Rustam - Adams 50, 73
- Grisc h u k 40
Kasparov, Garry -Tai 42
Kasparov, Sergey- Azarov 36
- Kazhgaleyev 79
Kazhgaleyev, M u rtas - Kasparov 79
Ken nau g h , Charles - van der Weide 86
Kennefick, M aurice-Teufel 44
Keres, Pau l - Ree 82
Khach ian , M e l i kset - Hebden 64
Khalifman , Alexander- Lobron 22, 46
Kharitonov, Andrei - M eijers 29
- Petrush i n 29
Kinderman n , Stefan - Dorfman 78
-Jenni 34
- Pi nter 55

M
M acieja, Bartlomiej -Adams 73 , 76
M ai n ka, Romuald - Naid itsch 56
Malisauskas, Vidmantas - Donchenko 28
- Kostyra 47
M aljut i n , Evgen i - Korneev 27
Marciano, David - Hebden 67
Mari n , M i hai l - Al masi 44
- Rozental is 45
M arkovic, M i roslav - G l igoric 67
- Notki n 76
- Petronic 54
Martinovsky, Eugene- Brynell 67
M as, Hafizu l helm i - Ng uyen An h Dung 86
M atsu u ra, Everaldo-Vescovi 38
M ecki n g , Henrique- U nzicker 47
Meijers, Viesturs - H ector 47
- H edke 28
- l u ldachev 2 1 , 77
- Kharitonov 29
- Korneev 31

119

5 Appendices

-Olarasu 44
- Sol leveld 77
Meli khov, Evgeny - Brag i n 28
Mendoza, Rafae l - Dom i n g uez 37
M i khalevski, Alexander- Fressinet 86
M i khalevski , Victor- Bhat 56
- G reenfeld 62
- Zavgorod n iy 85
M i los, G i l berto - Vescovi (10), (27) , 36
,M i l u , Romeo Sori n - Vajda 1 9 , 66
M i nckwitz, Johannes von - von Schmidt 7
M i ralles, G i l les - Santo- Roman 31
Mnatsakan ian, Eduard - N adanian 43
Mokry, Kare l - Wittmann 27
M u lyar, M ichael - Formanek 75

N
Nadan ian, Ashot - M natsakan ian 43
Nagy, Erv i n - Adorjan 28
Naid itsch , Arkad ij - Acs 55
- l brag i mov 85
- Mai n ka 56
Nau m k i n , lgor - G lek 60
Nei, l ivo- Rausis 82
Neverov, Anatoly-Vil lard 29
Ng uyen Anh Dung - M as 86
N ielsen , Peter Heine- Kruppa 85
N i kolic, Predrag -Timman 83
N isi pean u , Livi u-Dieter - G risc h u k 45
- Ravi 60
- Sebag 1 5
- Sofronie (10) , (2 1 ) , 5 8
Notki n , M aksi m - M arkovic 76
N u n n , Joh n - Korchnoi 71
- Wahls 67
0

O ' Donnel l , Tom - Day 43

Olarasu, Gabriela - G h i nda 53
- M eijers 44
Onischuk, Alexander- Berkvens 30
- Reinderman 30
- Rozentalis 37
-Timman 59
-Vescovi 39
Oral , Tomas - Acs 38

- Petrov 60
- Slobodjan 39
Otero, Diasmany- Zapata 77
p

Pachman , Ludek - Schneider 91

Packroff, Herman n - Pichler 43
Pedzich , Dom i n i k - Rozentalis 74
Petronic, Jovan - M arkovic 54
Petrov, Anto n - Oral 60
Petrush i n , Alexander- Kharitonov 29
Pfann kuche, M ichael - J u rasi n 67
Pichler- Packroff 43
Pi ket, Jeroen - Kroeze (75) , 76
- Rei nderman 24, (25) , 56
- S h i rov 45
-Ti m m an 73
Pilgaard , Kim - Rausis 60
Pi nter, Jozsef- Kindermann 55
Portera Garnica, M iguel - Baron Rodrig uez
34
Portisch , Lajos- Fischer 28
Pri byl , M arti n - Rozentalis 46
Prie, Eri c - Flear 65
- Geenen 75
- Sorin 54
Psakh is, Lev - Rozentalis 31

R
Radulski, J u l ian - Estrada N i eto 90
Rausis, lgors - Bacrot 77
- Fressinet 46
- Gyimesi 86
- Nei 82
- Pilgaard 60
- Ravi 60
Rav i , Thandalam Shanm ugam - N isipean u
60
- Rausis 60
Ree, Hans- Keres 82
Reinderman , Dim itri - Bel iavsky 46
- Godena 53
- O n isch u k 30
- Pi ket 24, (25) , 56
- Sokolov 47
-Winants 68

120

5 . 3 I ndex of games

Relange, Eloi - Geenen 53

- Rozental is 74
R i b l i , Zoltan -Zuidema 32
Rogers, l an - Slobodjan 33
Romanish i n , Oleg -Timman 51
Romero Hol mes, Alfonso - Korneev 30
- van der Sterren 1 7 , 30
- Zak 31
Rose l l i Mailhe, Bernardo- Zapata 77
Rowson, Jonathan - Gormally 37
Rozentalis, Eduardas - Bronstein 47
- G retarsson 1 8 , 37
- Hasanov 1 8 , 37
- Hebden 68
- Korzubov 30
- Liss 50
- M ari n 45
- On isch u k 37
- Pedzich 74
- Pri byl 46
- Psakh is 31
- Relange 74
- Sokolov 39
- Sosn icki 43
-Wed berg 1 9 , 64
- Wells 44
s

Sanden, Stefan - Brynell 84

Santo-Roman , M arc - M i ralles 31
Sarakauskas, Ged i m i nas - Schneider 84
Schal lopp, Em i l - Harmon ist 89
Sch m i d , M art i n - J e n n i 83
Schmidt, Eugen von - von M i nckwitz 7
Schneider, Dm itry - Sarakauskas 84
Schneider, Lars Ake - Brynell 66
- Pachman 91
- Svensson 76
Sebag , M arie - N isipeanu 1 5
Segovia, Javier- Eren burg 62
Shirov, Alexe i - Adams 33
- Kindermann 78
- Pi ket 45
- Short 52
Shomoev, Anton -Ali khanov 45
Short, N igel - S h i rov 52

- Ti m m an 61 , 84
S l iwa, Bogdan - Hort 79
Slobodjan, Roman - Oral 39
- Rogers 33
Smyslov, Vassily- Dvoretsky 92
- Geller 44
Socko , Bartosz - Krasen kow 54
Sofronie, l u l i an - N isipeanu (10) , (21 ) , 58
Sokolov, lvan - Rei nderman 47
- Rozentalis 39
- van der Weide 92
-Wiersm a 90
Solleveld , M aarten - Meijers 77
Sori n , Ariel - Prie 54
Sosnicki , M ichal - Rozental is 43
Spassky, Boris- Fischer 10, 42
- Hort 78
Speck, N ic k - Cam pos Moreno 50
Stefansson , Hannes- Fressinet (24) , 52
Sterren, Paul van der- Romero Hol mes 17
- Romero Hol mes 30
Svensson , Sven - Schneider 76
Szabo, Gergely - Ch robak 62

T
Tai , M i khai l - Kasparov 42
Tarrasc h , Siegbert - Em . Lasker 17
Teschner, Rudolf- Baren d regt 75
Teufe l , J U rgen - Kennefick 44
Timman, J an -Adams 32
- Godena 60
- N i kolic 83
- On isch u k 59
- Pi ket 73
- Roman ishin 51
- Short 61 , 84
Tischbierek, Raj - Delchev 78
Tkachiev, Vladislav - G lek (10) , 71
- H racek 38

U nzicker, Wolfgan g - Fischer 8, (1 6)

- H artston 27
- Mecking 47

121

5 Appendices

Vajda, Albert - M i l u 1 9 , 66
Vajda, Levente - Fressinet 32
Varav i n , Viktor-Zavgorodniy 86
Vescovi , G i ovan n i - M atsu u ra 38
- M i los (10), (27) , 36
- O n isch u k 39
Vi l l ard , Patrick - Neverov 29
Vogt, Lothar-Adorjan 28
Volzhi n , Alexander- Galdunts 65
- l b rag imov 59
- Lu kacs 66
Vreugt, Dennis d e - Zhang Zhong 88
-Wiersma 87
Vysoc h i n , Spartak - Yemel i n 38

Winants, Luc - G lek 22, 78

- Reinderman 68
Wittman n , Walter- M o kry 27
Womacka, M ath ias - Golod (6) , 25, (25) , 26
- Kal l i o 47
x

Xie J u n - Yusupov 54
y

Yeme l i n , Vass i l y - G lek 40

- Vysoch i n 38
Yil m az, Turham - Brunner 83
Yusupov, Artur-Xie J u n 54
z

Wahls, M atthias - N u n n 67
Wed berg , Tom - Rozentalis 1 9 , 64
Weide, Karel van der-Wel ls 82
- Ken naugh 86
- Sokolov 92
- van Doeland 89
Wells, Peter- Rozental is 44
- van der Weide 82
Wiel, John van der-Zhang Zhong 39
Wiersma, Eel ke - d e Vreugt 87
- Sokolov 90

Zak, U riel - Romero Hol mes 31

Zapata, Alonso - Garcia 78
- Otero 77
- Rosel l i Mailhe 77
Zavgorodn iy, Sergiy- M i khalevski 85
- Varavin 86
Zhang Zhong - d e Vreugt 88
- Gang u ly 86
- l u ldachev 74
- Kakageldyev 90
- van der Wiel 39
Zuidema, Coenraad - Ri b l i 32

1 22

5.4 Key to symbols

5.4 Key t o sym b o l s

Symbol Mean ing

King
Queen
Rook
Bishop
Kn i g ht
Pawn
Check
Mate
captures
short castling
long castling
very strong move
strong move
i nteresting move
d u bious move
bad move
very bad move
Wh ite has a slight advantage
Black has a slight advantage
White has a clear advantage
B l ack has a clear advantage
unclear position
with com pensation
development advantage
better is

'\}

Wh ite to move

''
g

A
et)
[},
+

#
x

0-0
0-0-0
!!
!?
?!
?
??
;!;;
+

+
00
00

()

Sym bol Mean ing

1-0
0-1
%-1/2
[1-0)
[0-1 )
[1/2-1/2)
[m]
[m/1 ]
[ct/m]
[izt]
[zt]
[ztW]
[ch]
[chT)
[ech]
[wch]
[ol]
[bl)
[op)
[rapid]
[corr]
[I CC)

Wh ite has a decisive advantage

B l ack has a decisive advantage
equal
Wh ite wins
Black wins
Draw
final result of a game
i n which further
moves were played
M atch
1 st match game
Candidates match
l nterzonal tournament
Zonal tournament
Women's Zonal tournament
championsh i p
Team championsh i p
European championsh i p
World championship
Chess olym piad
Bundesl iga (German league)
Open tournament
Rapid-play tournament
Correspondence chess
I nternet Chess C l u b

Black to move

+-+

123

5 Append i ces

5.5 B i b l i o g ra p hy
Books
Soltis, Andrew : Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation, "Fischer's Weapon ",
Chess Digest, Dal las 1 995
Fischer, Bobby: "My sixty memorable games ",
Faber Editions, London 1 969
Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings (ECO) Volume C,
4t h ed ition , Sahovski l nformator, Belgrade 2000

Periodic publ ications

Chess Informant, Vols. 1 -87 [1 966-2004] , Sahovski l nformator, Belgrade
New in Chess Yearbook, Vols. 1 984-2004, l nterchess Al kmaar
Jaque Teoria , 38 (2003) - article by J u len Arizmendi on 5 . 'tlfd6 , Valencia
. .

Databases
Megabase 2003 , ChessBase G m b H , Hamburg 2002
Schach Plus, Vol . 1 9 99-2004 , Exzelsior Verlag G m b H Berl i n

Analysis engine
Fritz 8, ChessBase G m b H Hamburg

1 24

STE FA N

K I N D E RMA N N

g a i ned the chess Grand

m a ster title in

1 98 8 . He

h a s represe nted G e r m a n y
in

six

chess

Olym piads

a n d once q u a l i fied for the

World C h a m p i o n s h i p . He
h a s worked for many years
as

chess

w r i te r

and

tra i n er.

The S pa n i s h Exc h a n g e Va riation lets you play one of the

m a j o r chess open i n g s , the Ruy Lo pez, without the r i s k of
d rown i n g in the h u g e flow of i n formation now ava i l a b l e to
the modern c h ess-pl ayer. W h i te ' s play in th i s open i n g i s
ofte n very thematic, th u s a n u n d ersta n d i n g o f t h e typ i c a l
pos itions i s m o re i m porta n t tha n conc rete knowledge o f
va riati o n s . I t i s a so u n d a n d sol i d open i n g , yet g i ves g ood
wi n n i n g c h a nces fo r W h i te . In contrast, i t can be h a rd fo r
B l a c k to w i n without ta k i n g con s i d e ra b l e r i s k s . I f B l a c k
su rvives t h e m i d d l e g a m e , there i s ofte n a n u n p l ea s a n t
endga m e lyi ng i n wa it.
Th i s open i n g h a s been p l ayed by m a ny to p pl ayers ove r
the yea rs ( La s ke r, F i scher, Ti m m a n , S h i rov. . . ) . I n rece nt ti mes
i t h a s scored we l l fo r W h i te i n the hands of spec i a l i sts such
a s Roze nta l i s a n d Glek. I n 2 004 i t was u sed by the new
FIDE World C h a m p i o n R u sta m Ka s i m d z h a n ov to d efea t
s u pe r-g ra n d m a ste rs Ad a m s a n d G r i sc h u k o n h i s w a y t o t h e
titl e .
G ra n d m a ster Stefa n K i n d e rm a n n , w h o plays t h e S pa n i s h
Exc h a n g e Va riation h i m se l f, p rovides c l e a r exp l a n a t i o n s ,
a s we l l a s i n structive a n a lys i s of ca refu l ly sel ected exa m
ples, and he revea l s many new ideas and fre s h a s sess
ments . Althoug h th i s i s a reperto i re book fo r W h i te , the
a utho r ' s treatment i s objective, and a spec i a l c h a pte r is
eve n devoted to what h e co n s i ders to be B l ac k ' s best
c h o ice a g a i n st th i s fo r m i d a b l e wea pon . A key featu re of
the book is the c h a pte r on typi c a l pos itions, w h i c h s h o u l d
q u ickly p rovide y o u w i t h e n o u g h ba s i c strateg i c u n d e r
sta n d i ng of th i s open i n g to a l low you to sta rt p l ayi ng it with
confi d e n c e .

Progress iilClfRS

ED ITI O N O LM S

!SB

3-283-00479-X

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