The Ultimate Closed Silican Lane

The Ultimate Closed Sicilian Gary Lane B T Bats ford Ltd, London First published in 2001 C> Gary Lane 200 I ISBN 7134 8687 British Library Catalogu ing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, by any means, without prior pennission of the publ isher Printed in Oreut Brita in by l'reutive Print nnd Design (Wales), Ebbw Vale for the publishers, B.T Botsturd Ltd, Blenheim Court, Hrcwery Road, London N7 9NT A mt'mbt'r of tht� Ch�lis Group pic For A dela ide Soltysik With thanks to Ashley Silson and Fram;ois Mertens for th eir help in providing materia/for th is book A BA TSFORD CHESS BOOK Contents Page Main Games Introduction C hapter ie3 e6 New Main L ine 10 Chapter ie3 ttJto 30 i e3 l:.b8 37 ie3 e5 43 e6 te3 53 Chapter 6 f4 e6 Main L i ne 58 Chapter f4 e5 Chapter f4 c!iJIO Kas p a ro v Chapter Systems w it h Chapter Chapter Chapter 73 System llJge2 98 08 Chapter I Systems with c!iJh3 129 Chapter I I Systems with c!iJf3 38 Chapter French Defence set-up 44 Chapter g3 60 Index of Variations 74 Main Games Ad a rn s - K a sparo v Adorns-Kramnik Adams-Sax Adams- Ward AI Mudiahki-Ponomariov Bachi n-Shovunov B e r g - De Fi rrn ian B l i z nyuk - C onqu est Bmfman-Valois Bush ill-Tozer Claesen-Chuchelov C l e m e n s-N auma nn Doncv-Zeller Dovramadjiev-Semkov F ed or o v- Kaspa rov Gershon-Shabalov Giogadze-Verduga A.Gurev ich-Duchov G.Hemandez-De Firrnian Hoen-Ciocaltea A I Ka rpov Kalla i An Karpo v Quinteros K i ng Miralles K l i n ge r-Sch umi Kn o ppert- Van Wely K o gan - A sh l ey Kos ten-C.Fiear K ost e n H e n n i gan - - - - Kovalevskaya-Arakhamia K p i v in -Mo rozov Lane-Bologan l.anc-Dautov 30 90 37 I0 04 56 78 34 Ill 27 151 66 70 58 69 154 50 82 94 125 43 68 08 40 13 42 17 19 23 73 46 20 Lane-Manet N unn Markowski-Smirin Martin-Britton M u rey U ng ure N a dyrh an o v -Odce v Orlov-Rago Roman ish in- Yudasin Sanduleac-Solcanean S ep p -Danilov S epp- Mal i s a uskas Short- Kaspa ro v Short- McShane Short- Movsesian Lan e - - Short-Nataf Short-Rechlis Sho rt-St o hl S mys lov-Denker Smy sl ov- K o t t na u er S mys l ov - Rom a n i s h i n Sofronie-Co vaci Spassky-Gel ler Spa ss ky - Hj a rtarso n Sp a s sky - Ka rpo v Spassky-Sax Spraggett-V i I alta Stjazhkina-Polovodi n S trijbos - Van der Wiel Sulskis-Efimenko Trapi-Pribyl Vander Weide-Weeks Ves el o v s ky Haba - 75 44 88 61 49 60 46 131 138 40 62 02 32 15 86,92 66 16 53 24 129 13 98 64 22 81 57 62 48 33 165 167 63 Introduction The Closed Sicil ian is a rel i able opening with opportunities for a kingside attack Unl ike Open Sicil­ ian lines, such as the Dragon where new moves are routinely introduced on move thirty, there is no need to Jearn a vast amount of theory Instead, White tends to follow an establ ished plan of development aga inst most set-ups after which the stage is set for a middlegame battle World champions Karpov, Smyslov nnd Spassky have favoured it and laid the foundations for others to follow In recent years the English duo Adams and Short have added new ideas and pl ayed it at the highest level with great success fianchetto on the kingside and fol­ low with d2-d3 to develop the queen 's bishop White tends to develop his king ' s knight to e2 or The currently fashionable g6 is the most popular reply because a ki ngside fianchetto will al low Black to exert his influence on the centre and along the a I -h8 diagona l i g i.g7 d d 6 i.e3 The ideas behind the Closed Sicilian I e4 c5 ltJc3 ltJc6 g3 This is the move that signals White's intention to play the Closed Sicilian Basically, the· idea is to This is the new main line and is the reason why the Closed Sicilian is being played at international level I have paid special attention to it because I think the simple development plan is easy to fol low and the ideas can be applied in a variety of positions It is an aggressive system that puts B lack under pressure at the earl iest oppor­ tunity The plan is to play d l -d2 and i.e3-h6, exchanging the key defensive bishop on g7, and perhaps following up with h2-h4-h5 to open the h-file and deliver a speedy mate It sounds too good to be true hut (, /11(/olo/1/o (/rill >lltl'l'sslul fonnula in Adams­ l(edhus, S ou t hend 2001 I hnt Jo(illlle went WIP• 11 WIInl, (t l•f• h4 'W'd2 lbge7 ih6 0-0 The attack looks rather obvious hut i is very e tTecti ve Adams is threatening 10 h4-h5, followed by tak ing on g7 and hxg6, which allows the queen to jump in on h6 with a tremendous attack txh6 'W'xh6 f6 Black takes measures to parry the offen sive Basically, the text stops I I hS? because then comes I l g5 , mtend in g 12 '�h8 and 13 tLlg8 tra pp i ng the queen However, it wmpromises Black's pawn struc­ ture, w hich encourages White to al lm:k II 'it'd2 e5 hS gS h6! i.e6 14 1"4 gxf4 15 gxf4 �h8 16 tLldS Jiud5 17 exd5 lll b4 a3 tiJbxdS? 19 ll x d5 tLlxdS 20 'Wg2 The open ing has been a complete success because the tw in threats of 'Wxd5 and 'Wg7 mate give White a winning advantage 20 'W'e7 21 'iWxdS exf4+ 22 'ir'e4 'iWxe4+ 23 dxe4 l:tae8 24 0-0-0 l:txe4 25 tt:Jf3 l:te6 26 l:th4 rs 27 l:tdh l l:.g6 28 l:txf4 llff6 29 l:tfh4 �g8 30 l:.h5 l:.g4 l:tSh2 t3;n 32 �d2 l:tfg6 33 l:tf2 l%g2 34 �e2 �f6 35 'iti>n l:txt1+ 36 �xf2 dS 37 c3 b6 38 t:.d �e6 39 l:te 1+ 'iPf6 40 :le5 lbh6 41 t:.xd5 lth l 42 �g3 ltb1 43 lld6+ �e7 44 l:.d2 h6 45 'it.>f4 ti>e6 46 l:th2 �dS 47 c4+ �c6 48 �xfS �b7 49 t>e4 1-0 A deeper ana l ysis of t h i s game can be found in Chapter I Black has tried various ways to counter this direct otTensive e5 is one of the best but Orlov-Rago, San Giorgio Porto 2000, demonst rated that knowledge of the standard attacking procedure is sometimes enough to ensure success at the board e4 c5 ltJc3 tLlc6 g3 d6 i.g2 g6 d3 i.g7 iLe3 e5 'iWd2 tLlge7 i.h6 0-0 h4 This attacking device w ill hardly come as a surprise to anyone who has seen the Adams-Ward game It might not be the m o st accurate way 1111/'0dllt'lltll/ to handle the position after e5 has gi ven Black an extra move on the new main line , but in p ractical play it can be very effective f6 10 i.xg7 �xg7 1 hS gS h6+ �h8 f4 exf4 gxf4 gxf4 IS 0-0-0 lDg6 lDge2 i.g4 C.dn 'iVaS lDxf4 lLld4 i.h3 i.f3 20 C.hg l lDxf4 21 1Vxf4 1Vxc3 22 C.g8+ 1-0 If Black fiddles with the move­ order then play usually transposes to une of t he main lines, thus al lowing Wh ite to pl ay his se t - up a ga inst just about every t h ing However , t here arc a few positional tricks to watch out for in the opening A good example is Smyslov-Denker, USSR-USA, Moscow 1946, which shows not only how an opening evolves over the years but also how the lessons of the old masters can somet imes be forgotten I e4 cS lLlc3 lLlc6 g3 g6 i.g2 i.g7 S d3 e6 i.e3 lLld4?! lbce2! ! to recaptu re on e2 with the king's knight, promoting his development after which wh ich the ca ptu re of the tempting b-pawn leads to ruin d lDxe2, t o win a couple of pawns, has caught out nume rous ('layers since li)xe2 i.xb2 C bI Wfa5+? (if the bishop retreats Wh ite takes bac k on c5 with a sl ight advantage) 10 i d 1Vxa2 runs into II C.xb2 ! 1Vxb2 i.c3 and White 1s wmnmg c3 lDc6 d4 nd4 I lt:\xd4 lbxd4 11 i.x d eS i.e3 lDe7 lbe2 0-0 0-0 i.e6 IS 'iVd2 1Vc7 16 C.fc l rs 17 c4 fxe4 18 lbc3 lDrs lbxe4 lbxeJ 20 •xe3 h6 :ld I C.fd8 22 C.ac l C.ac8 23 b3 b6 24 lDc3 1Ve7 25 i.dS c.th7 26 i.xe6 •xe6 27 C.d3 Ac7 28 C.cd l C.n 29 lbe4 trs 30 :ldS •g4 31 C d3 i.e7 32 lbxd6 i.xd6 33 :lxd6 C.df8 34 •xeS :lxf2 35 C.d7+ C.2fi 36 :xn+ C.xn 37 C.d8 C.g7 38 1Ve8 gs 39 'iVh8+ �g6 40 C.d6+ �n 41 Wfxh6 'iVrs 42 C.d l 'iVcS+ 43 �g2 1Ve7 44 1:0+ �g8 45 'iVf6 'iVe8 46 'iVrs g4 47 C.f2 1Ve7 48 •d3 C.gs 49 C.e2 1Vf8 SO 'iVe4 :lg7 Sl 'iVdS+ 'iVn 52 :le6 -0 The game is analysed in Chapte r It is also p ossi b l e to enter standard l ines that fea t u re f4 A move which tends to set Black th inki ng for a long time Usua lly in such positions Black exchanges knights on e2 or f3 and grabs the pawn on b2 But here White is in the pleasant position of being able ,'i lllflllcllld/IJ/1 IIus 1s the starting point of the 11111111 lme which has been the focus ulnllcntum for years White's Plan • A k ingside pawn advance in p1eJlUration for an attack, which is sometimes launched by f4-f5 to weaken Black 's defence • A transfer of pieces to the k i ngs ide, using his space advantage ltlr qu ick manoeuvres • A restriction of Black 's qu _ e en­ slde c o u nterp lay Black's Plan • The creation of counterplay on the queenside and/or in the centre queenside pawn advance to White from his kingside ambitions • A timely pawn thrust in the centre to open the pos ition and acti­ vate his pieces • A distract to exp loit the l ight-squares around the black king gxfS 10 exrs txrs IO �xf5?! is met by I I 'ii'h S , heralding a n attack that has a re­ putation for quick wins For in­ stance: l l �fd4 runs into t e4 fS idS+ �h8 �gS h6 'ii' g6 ! hxgS 'ii' h S mate 11 :xrs ll:l x rs te4 �h6 'ii' h S d S lLlxdS fS I S txh6 fxe4 t xg7 �xg7 17 li:lgS 'ii' x dS 'ii' x h7+ �f6 19 h �d4 :n + � 13+ �g2 l:lb8 22 ll:l xe4+ �e6 23 'ii' g6+ �e 24 :xo :hf8 25 'ii'g S+ �e6 26 c4 -0 This game is analysed in chapter The Main Line In my previous book Winning with the Closed Sicilian I dec ided to Pskov 998 e4 cS �c3 �c6 tg2 tg7 S dJ eS f4 d6 li)hJ � ge7 0-0 0-0? Castling looks a natural choice here but it is a common mistake ! pay a lot of attention to variations arising from 10 e5 In this complete­ ly new book I still look at the vari­ ous options but also try to guide White and Black through the com­ plications without excessive theory The main l ine arises after e4 cS �c3 li:lc6 g3 g6 tg2 tg7 S dJ d6 f4 e6 ll:lt3 ll:lge7 0-0 0-0 teJ lL!d4 and now eS l l e nt move that is the start 1111 1111press i v e attack The idea is The idea is to open the diagonals for White's bishops and make room on e4 for the queen 's knight It has A typical attacking idea is shown by the game Krapivin-Morozov, gJ g6 f5! An ul e x ce lfltruductiofl been the centre of attention since the 980s but, with the passage of time, the initial problems posed to Black lmve generally been sorted out A well prepared player should manage to avoid the numerous tricks and Imps and White should only retain a sl ight edge This has prompted some players to deviate early to try and lure White away from established upening knowledge Short-Rechlis, Ohrid 200 , saw the slightly u n u s u a i t d7 V l l li)efS t f2 tc6 I J c3 li):d3+ t x f3 dxeS I S fxeS t:u�4 dxe4 li)e7 17 txcs li)c6 The opening has been great for Short because his opponent has had to resort to an exchange sacrifice in the hope of creating compl ication s In t h e circumstances this is hardly surprising considering that lle8 leads to a poor ending after _.xd8 llaxd8 txa7 txe5 20 llfd when the extra material gives White a clear advantage Short eventually won after moves-a more complete analysis of the game is given in chapter co,dusion stunning response because it that Black is voluntarily con­ ceding a pawn on d4 l l lll e4 The obvious 1 li)xd4 cxd4 i.xd4 dxe5 i s an important position, where 13 txe5? fails to 'ii'b 6+ �h f6 winning a p iece Instead 13 fxe5 tc6 tt2 txg2 [...]... the initiative in the open ing Others: a) 9 l%b8 1 0 _d2 b5 1 1 f4 liJd4 1 2 g4 (the start of a standard king­ side pawn storm but the difference from the main game, Spassky­ Geller, in the 6 f4 li:Jf6 chapter is that the important e5 square is already occupied, m a king it worse The sta rt ing point of the system 6 i.e3 l:i:jf6 3 1 lor Black) 1 2 b4 1 3 tlJd l h5? (the text merely weakens the. .. Short prefers the quiet approach and prov ides added protection to the a2 pawn Accepting the offered pawn, 1 1 •g7 l:[f8 1 2 •xh7, is risky because then the queen is tem­ porarily locked out of the action The game Wanzek-Movsesian, Sala 1 99S, provides a good example of l i kely developments for Black: 12 lt:lec6 13 �b1 td7 (if 1 3 lbb4 then 1 4 :c l lObS 1 5 lbge2 keeps Black at bay for the moment)... development of the king ' s knight in order to thwart White 's standard kingside attack It is up to White to try and prove that the queen is badly placed on the edge of the boa rd 8 tt::l ge2 This old game demonstrates a sound way of handl ing the opening by adding support to the c3 knight and preparing to play f2-f4 Yet again, Smyslov gives a model example of how to conduct the Closed Sicilian The next... it encourages White to attack on the kingside in the knowl­ edge that counterplay on the queen­ side is limited After 16 dxe5 then 1 7 �xeS gives White the superior chances because he can try to ex­ change the key defensive piece on g7 1 7 ti) e 2 ti)xe2+ 1 8 J:txe2 J.d7 1 9 �h6 �c6 2 0 � xg7 �xg7 2 1 'ii' f4 The queen is ready to exploit the dark-squares around the king 2 1 d4? ! I think it... .• The king moves into the comer to oust the queen w ith lDg8 10 f6 would also force II _d2 because otherwise 1 1 h5? runs into 1 1 g5 when the white queen is trapped and cannot avoid 1 2 lDg8 11 h5 The text threatens mate with hxg6 and 'ir'xh7, which is the favoured direct approach In the game Samaritani-Aagaard, Copenhagen 1 990, White tried I I lD h3 to threaten ltJg5 and mate on h7 There... cxd4 1 6 i f2 (the idea of obtaining a decent attack by i.e3-h6 has had to be abandoned) 1 6 a5 1 7 Ac I i g7 1 8 h4 e5 1 9 0-0 •c s 2 0 i.e I i.h6 ! gave Black the better chances 9 h5 Otherwise White will eventually continue with g3-g4 to thwart the attack against h3 I O 'ii'd 2 I O I:tb8 This rook move, to support the advance of the b-pawn, is a feature of the other main games Other tries have... take advantage of the early sortie of the queen The Russian grandmaster now sank into deep thought l l d8 On I 1 cxb4 then 1 2 i.xd4 ixd4 1 3 ltJxd4 'i'xd4 1 4 ltJbS 'i'cS I S -.xb4 gives White the better game 12 bxcS dxcS 1 3 lLla4 'ii'c 7 The queen is obl iged to defend c5 beca u se 13 b6 fails to 14 lLlxcS w hen the b-pawn is p inned 1 4 c3 lL!xf3+ I S i.xf3 b6 1 6 d4 The pawn ce n t re... New Main Line I Adams-Ward Redbus Southend 200 1 I e4 cS 2 lLl c3 lLlc6 3 g3 g6 4 ig2 �g7 S d3 d6 6 i.e3 l'he starting point of the new main lml' At the time of the game Adams wa� ra t ed fourth in the world, which 1 s a n indication of the respect that thl· variation commands at the lu�hcst h:vel It is also a good d10ice aga inst Ward who is re­ uowned for playing the Dragon and would not rel ish a... weight to the attack ) 1 7 'ii' e 7 1 8 'ir'xg6 (the pawn drops ofT the board wntirming that the onslaught gener­ a t ed by the opening has been a clear Slll:CCSS) J 8 if5 1 9 h6 J:.f6 20 •d2 lDd7 2 1 0-0-0 ( Wh it e catches up in development and takes the op­ portunity to bring the queen 's rook into l he game) 2 1 l:taf8 22 lt'lc3 ig4 23 l:tdfl to 24 ixf3 llxf3 25 ti\c4 :lg8 26 _e2 (the immediate... li1xg6' ga ve White the better dwm:cs in Bienvenu-Riff, Montlu­ llln 1'>97 l.l f4 Sofnmic takes the opportunity to utlnl'k the g - p a wn although a lesson 1111�ht he learned from the Adams Wllllll' hy inserting 13 h6 before pluy111v, 14, thereby ruling out h6 White has co mpl eted his develop­ ment and can now concentrate on increasing the pressure on the black king By contrast, the black p ieces lack