Opening Survey

by Mihail Marin

[Note: In this openings survey for CBM Online only four of the game links are operational. You can only access all the analysis by clicking on the players' names in ChessBase Magazine 133 itself.

You will have easier access to the analysis, which is presented here simply in the form of an html-file, if you make use of the option "Download all games on this page here" at the bottom left of the page with the analysis. You can also download the free ChessBase Light from there.]

The Tal Memorial produced several interesting theoretical discussions and important novelties or changes of trend.

1.d4 was the most frequent way to start the game, chosen in 32 games (more than two thirds!). One more game, which started with 1.Nf3, transposed to 1.d4 systems.

One possible reason is that Black has been doing well with the Ruy Lopez Marshall Attack and against the Anti Marshall systems lately.

Gruenfeld Defence

This dynamic opening has been quite popular, at least in the first half of the tournament. Apart from renowned specialists Carlsen and Svidler, it has been employed by Aronian and Anand. The reigning World Champion had had some recent experience with it in 2009. Among others, he used it 3 times (+1, =2, -0) in his match against Leko, which at that moment may have  seemed as a psychological decision, since Leko had been a great Gruenfeld fan himself! For unknown reasons, the Gruenfeld was not employed after the fourth round, though.

The exchange variation (4.cxd5 Nxd5) has been White's most popular choice.

The 8.Rb1 line was played in Kramnik,V - Anand,V ½-½. In the diagram below

Anand introduced the strong novelty 18...Bxf3, causing the game to end in a draw 11 moves later.

Two rounds later, in Kramnik,V - Svidler,P 1-0, Kramnik switched to 7.Be3, which he had used in the match against Kasparov. Svidler's unusual 11...Na6 was punished with a move on the other edge of the board, 12.h4! which seems to be a strong novelty.

In Ponomariov,R - Aronian,L ½-½, White played the classical 7.Bc4. Black answered with the old Botvinnik setup (...Qc7 followed by ...Rd8).

White refrained from 12.Bf4, which has been popular for the past decades and preferred the old developing move 12.Qd2. Classic theory recommends 12...Qa5, but Aronian chose 12...b6, which is considered insufficient because of 13.Bh6. Yet, Aronian's strange looking novelty 13...Rb8 introduces new ideas. In certain cases, ...b5 is possible, while in the game the rook made use of the b7-square to be transferred to the slightly weakened kingside.

The cunning 5.Bd2 is not too aggressive, but is known to leave Black under long term pressure. In Anand,V - Svidler,P 1-0, he never got to equalize completely.

The 4.Bg5 System

Aronian and Svidler seem to have a thematic match in this line, with previous results favouring Svidler (+2, =0, -1). After 4...Ne4 5.Bh4 Nxc3 6.bxc3, Svidler grabbed the pawn with 6...dxc4 7.e3 Be6, which had yielded him success in the past. In the position below, 10.Ng5 is the most common continuation.

However, Aronian tried the almost never played 10.Be2. Svidler answered 10...c5 and later returned the pawn. In the endgame, his better structure proved an adequate compensation for White's pair of bishops.

In Gelfand,B - Carlsen,M ½-½, Black refrained from releasing the tension and preferred 5...c5 6.cxd5 Nxc3 7.bxc3 Qxd5. In recent years, this has been out of fashion, maybe because the queen seems so vulnerable in the centre. Carlsen's choice deserves attention, especially because it may have been a result of his work with Kasparov. The critical moment arose after 8.e3 Bg7 9.Nf3 cxd4 10.cxd4 Nc6 11.Be2 0-0 12.0-0 Bf5 13.Nd2 e5 14.Bf3.

The queen has played her part, sustaining ...e5, but her position is threatened now. The results at GM level after 14...e4 15.Be2 are depressing for Black, but Carlsen played the rare 14...Qd6. Gelfand's novelty 15.Nc4 led to almost complete simplifications and a rapid draw.

In a peaceful line of the fianchetto system, Anand employed a known trick to simplify the position and later introduced a novelty, which apparently leads to reliable equality in Ponomariov,R - Anand,V ½-½.

Ivanchuk,V - Anand,V ½-½ saw an old-fashioned approach by White (e3 and Bd2) which, surprisingly, offered White the better game.

The more popular move after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 has been 2...e6 though, leading to several different openings.

Ragozin Defence

This has been Black's preferred opening in the games where White avoided the Nimzo-Indian with 3.Nf3.

The position arising after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5 c5 has been submitted to thorough practical and theoretical examination over the past decades. In Moscow, two important early deviations from the main stream have been tried.

In Carlsen,M - Anand,V ½-½, White played 5.Bg5 Bb4 6.a3!? Bxc3+ 7.bxc3, a line that has enjoyed some popularity lately.

Anand chose the extremely rarely seen 7...h6 (8.Bxf6 Qxf6), a symmetrical reaction to 6.a3. White's initiative eventually proved enough for just a draw. Instead of 8.Bxf6, keeping the bishop with 8.Bh4 may be more consistent.

Equally surprising was Black's 6...h6 (7.Bxf6 Qxf6) after 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5 in Aronian,L - Kramnik,V ½-½.

After 8.Bxc4 c5 9.e5, Kramnik retreated with his queen to the initial square with 9...Qd8. This can be considered almost a novelty. Although it had once been played 25 years ago, players immediately agreed to a draw on that ocasion. The game from the Tal Memorial lasted longer, but Kramnik managed to hold his own anyway.

However, Kramnik's variation came under serious pressure during the last round of the event. In Ivanchuk,V - Kramnik,V ½-½ White advanced his e-pawn one move earlier with 8.e5 and after 8...Qd8 delivered the unpleasant check 9.Qa4+, somewhat spoiling Black's coordination. Despite the favourable result, allowing Kramnik to win the tournament, Black found himself under strong pressure.

Ponomariov twice employed the strategically more solid variation 4...Bb4 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.cxd5 exd5

In Ivanchuk,V - Ponomariov,R ½-½ he employed an unusual idea (...cxd4) in a relatively peaceful line and gradually equalized (being even on top for the final part of the game). In Kramnik,V - Ponomariov,R 1-0 he openly went for complications and his novelty 15...b5 eventually led to a promising ending, which he nevertheless misplayed.

Catalan Opening

This is a common solution if White intends to avoid the pin created by ...Bb4 in the Nimzo-Indian and in the Ragozin System.

The position arising after 4...dxc4 5.Nf3 a6 6.0-0 Nc6 has been thoroughly investigated over the past decades, but there seems to always be place for new ideas.

In Ponomariov,R - Morozevich,A 1-0 White played the rare 7.Bg5!?, which was first seen in a Romanian game 26 years ago. However, the modern treatment was introduced by Kamsky earlier this year, consisting of answering 7...Be7 with 8.e3. White has obtained a few successes since then and Morozevich' new move 8...0-0 did not offer him full equality.

Gelfand,B - Kramnik,V ½-½ featured a new white move (8.Bg5) in the line 4...dxc4 5.Nf3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 a5. Its merits cannot be evaluated fully, because Gelfand did not continue in optimal way and landed into some troubles rather soon.

The main line (6...dxc4, 10.Bd2) proved to be a solid choice for Black.

In Aronian,L - Ivanchuk,V ½-½ Black employed a rare move (13...Bxf4). Even though White maintained some pressure, the probability of a draw never was put under doubt.

Black reacted well in Ponomariov,R - Leko,P ½-½ to White's new move 17.Qd2. The apparently risky 21...f5 neutralized White's pressure and led to a rapid draw.

After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2, the check 4...Bb4+ is usually associated with a retreat to e7 after 5.Bd2. In Gelfand,B - Ponomariov,R ½-½ Black chose the less common 5...Bd6 and had little trouble equalizing, but I feel that White's play was not optimal.

Queen's Indian

Not so much time ago, this was a popular opening. In this tournament it was played only once, Kramnik,V - Leko,P ½-½. White played a long forced line, known to lead to a draw. The novelty on the 27th move did not change anything.

Nimzo-Indian Defence

Players with white were not too keen to allow this opening. It seems as if the two games mentioned below delivered a hard blow, causing 3.Nf3 to become a more reliable approach.

In Carlsen,M - Kramnik,V ½-½, Black met 4.Qc2 with a relatively "young" variation (4...0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 d5 7.cxd5 and now 7...Ne4!?), obtaining entirely adequate play. Two rounds later, in Morozevich,A - Kramnik,V 0-1, White deviated with 7.Nf3, but after 7...dxc4 8.Qxc4 b6 eventually was left behind in development.

Semi-Slav

This opening was played four times and caused Black nothing but headaches. White won three times and one game ended in a draw.

Leko twice lost in the Anti-Moscow variation.

Aronian,L - Leko,P 1-0 continued with 9.Ne5 and White produced the novelty 15.Qg5 which, according to Stohl's comments, led to complicated play.

In Anand,V - Leko,P 1-0 White preferred 9.Be2, which led to the following position:

Anand delivered the shocking novelty 22.Nxd4 (RR: This was already played in a correspondence game, the novelty of Leko was ...Bc8 insted of ...Rf6), returning the piece for just a pawn, for the sake of opening the e-file for attack. Leko did not find adequate defences and lost.

On two occasions, Aronian had the black pieces in the Meran variation.

In Carlsen,M - Aronian,L ½-½, after 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bd6, White played the almost never seen before 9.Nd2, but did not achieve anything.

In Gelfand,B - Aronian,L 1-0 Aronian preferred the more common 8...Bb7, produced a rather unconvincing novelty on move 24, lost a pawn and the game. Did he mix up variations?!

Slav Defence

Chebanenko System

Caissa repayed Aronian in the last round for the possible confusion mentioned above, when Anand delivered the suicidal novelty 12.b3?? in Anand,V - Aronian,L 0-1, probably another fruit of mixing up things.

The 4.e3-system was played in Ivanchuk,V - Gelfand,B 1-0. Ivanchuk's new move 13.Bd3 may induce some differences compared with the old 13.Bb3.

1.e4 was played in just 11 games. Black answered with either 1...e5 or 1...c5.

Sicilian Defence

The English Attack against the Najdorf has been played three times.

In Carlsen,M - Ponomariov,R 1-0, Black answered with 6...e6 and the game reached the following position:

White introduced a stunning novelty 11.Qe1, preparing an effective regrouping. It is early to give a final evaluation, but in the game Black did not find an adequate response.

With Black, Carlsen preferred 6...Ng4 in Leko,P - Carlsen,M 0-1. His (maybe Kasparov's) new move 15...g4 led to slightly unusual play.

Finally, 6...e5 was played in Leko,P - Ivanchuk,V ½-½.

In this position, Leko deviated from the known paths with 20.Rd3, but the game soon ended in a draw.

Ruy Lopez

Svidler,P - Ivanchuk,V ½-½ saw a variation rehearsed in the recent match Kamsky-Topalov (3...Nf6 4.0-0 Bc5 5.Nxe5). Svidler tried to deviate from well known paths, but obtained no advantage at all.

A typical exchange of subtleties, leading to approximate equality, occurred from the diagrammed position in Svidler,P - Ponomariov,R ½-½.

Petroff Defence

Over the past few years, Gelfand has been constantly defending Black's point of view in this opening. In this tournament, he did not mind repeating the variation that led him to a spectacular defeat against Leko earlier this year, see Svidler,P - Gelfand,B ½-½.

In Leko,P - Gelfand,B ½-½ he repeated a risky experiment introduced by Kramnik (19...Bxa3) and had little trouble holding a draw.

Scotch Opening

In Morozevich,A - Leko,P ½-½ White obtained good attacking chances despite the early exchange of queens (or maybe precisely because of ...Qxg3, which opened the h-file after hxg3). According to Postny, Morozevich missed an almost winning line at some point.