Says Kavalek, “At first, it was looked upon with suspicion: giving white a strong pawn center that could only be tickled by black’s dark bishop and other pieces didn’t seem to be a fair deal. Those who played the Gruenfeld defense knew that it could turn into a nightmare in an instant. But the defense also brought them bright moments, tempted them again and again, and they could not live without it.”
Among its famous practitioners: Smyslov, Korchnoi, Stein, Fischer, Kasparov, Svidler, Leko, Kamsky and current world champ Anand.
Game of the week.
Annotated by Kavalek, our featured partie is from the last round of the European Club Cup held early this year in Slovenia. Danish grandmaster Pieter Heine Nielsen, Anand’s second, faced Ukraine’s Andrei Volokitin.
“The Ukrainian grandmaster,” says Kavalek, “played the Grunfeld reasonably well, followed Ivanchuk’s idea of exposing one weak spot in white’s camp — the square d3. Volokitin first controlled the weakness from a distance before occupying it with his knight. We all know what the black knight can do on the third rank and on the square d3 in particular. Remember Garry Kasparov’s knight from the 16th game of the 1985 world championship match? How it tied up Karpov’s pieces almost to the point of zugzwang? Volokitin aimed his knight at the same square, but didn’t react well to Nielsen’s novelty. When his horse leaped to d3, it was a losing blunder. Volokitin spent only 21 minutes on his 17 moves before he resigned.”
White: P.H. Nielsen
Black A.Volokitin (2686)
Gruenfeld Defense (2687)
Slovenia 2011
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 (This line against the Gruenfeld defense could be tricky and requires a precise reaction. White develops with speed.) 4…Bg7 5.e3 c5 6.dxc5 Qa5 7.Rc1 dxc4 8.Bxc4 0-0 9.Nf3 Qxc5 10.Bb3 Nc6 11.0-0 (White developed his pieces nicely and black has to play a catch-up game.) 11…Qa5 12.h3 (A quiet positional move, creating an escape on h2 for his dark bishop and limiting black’s light bishop.) 12…Qa6 (The queen controls the diagonal a6-f1 and black is ready to make the white queen uncomfortable with Rf8-d8. Avrukh recommends the natural 12…Bf5 only, which leads to complications after 13.Ng5 e5 14.Bh2 Rad8 15.Bxf7+ Rxf7 16.Qb3 Rdf8 with roughly equal chances. The swashbuckling exchange sacrifice 13.Qe2 Ne4 14.Nd5 [The currently fashionable 14.g4!? requires a careful study according to Avrukh.] 14…e5 15.Rxc6!? played in London’s Park Lane hotel in the 11th game of the 1986 match Karpov-Kasparov, lost its luster. After 15…bxc6!? [Kasparov didn’t challenge the sacrifice and played the weaker 15…exf4.] 16.Ne7+ Kh8 17.Nxc6 Qb6 18.Ncxe5 Be6 19.Bxe6 Qxe6 20.Qc2 f5 black has a good game and scored well from this position.) 13.e4 Rd8 14.Qe1 (Solid and reasonable. The aggressive 14.Nd5!? is Romanian grandmaster George Gabriel Grigore’s pet line. It could get hairy: 14…Nxd5 15.exd5 Bxb2?! 16.Qc2!? Bxc1 17.Qxc1 Nb4 18.Qc5 [18.d6! Is stronger] 18…Qb6? [An error, leading to a beautiful king’s hunt. After 18…Nd3! 19.Qxe7 Bf5 20.d6 Rd7 holds comfortably.] 19.Qxe7 Nxd5 20.Bxd5 Rxd5 21.Qe8+ Kg7 22.Bh6+! Flushing out the black king. 22…Kxh6 [or 22…Kf6 23.Qh8+ Ke6 24.Re1+ Kd6 25.Bf4+ Kc6 26.Qe8+ wins.] 23.Qf8+ Kh5 24.Qxf7 Kh6 25.Qf8+ Kh5 26.Qg7 h6 27.Qe7 Qd8 28.Qe2 (28.Qe4!) 28…g5 29.Ne5+ g4 30.hxg4+ Kh4 31.Kh2 Qc7 32.f4 1-0 Grigore,G (2542)-Sanikidze,T (2559)/Baia Sprie 2009) 14…Nb4 15.Ng5!? (A new attempt. Previously, the preferred choice was 15.Ne5 but black can utilize the Qa5-a6 move and play 15…Be6!, equalizing instantly.) 15…e6 (After 15…Nd3 16.Qd2 [16.Bxf7+?! Kf8 17.Qd2 h6 is weaker.] 16…e6 17.Rcd1 white is better.) 16.Rd1 Rxd1 (16…Rd3 or 16…Bd7 are better choices.) 17.Qxd1 17…Nd3? (Blundering a piece, but black is already under huge pressure. For example A. 17…Qa5 18.e5 Nfd5 19.Qf3 Nxc3 20.bxc3 Nc6 21.Rd1 Qc7 22.Ne4 with a clear advantage, e.g. 22…Nxe5 23.Qg3 Bd7 24.Qh4 with a winning attack, B. 17…Nd7 18.Qf3 Qd3 19.Qg4 Nc6 20.Rd1 Qa6 21.Qf3 Nd4 22.Rxd4! Bxd4 23.Nxf7 Kxf7 24.Be5+ Ke8 25.Bxd4 wins; C. 17…Bd7 18.e5 Nfd5 19.Nxd5 exd5 20.Nxf7! Kxf7 21.Bd2 Nd3 22.Qf3+ Ke8 23.Qxd5 with advantage.) 18.Bc2 (Simple. After18…Nxf4 19.Qd8+ Bf8 20.Qxf6 black is mated soon.) Black resigned.
Puzzler.
White: Ka5, Nb5, Qc1, Bd3, pawn on d4
Black: Kd5, Ne5, pawns on a6 and f3
White to play and mate in three moves.
Send your answers to “64” c/o Marianas Variety, P.O. Box 500231, Saipan MP 96950. Our fax no. is 670-234-9271. You can also e-mail [email protected].
