Sicilian Rossolimo: Anand shows the way !

In this entry, I will look at a blitz game from Anand versus Nakamura in the London 2014 event.

The Rossolimo variation starts after 1 e4 c5 2Nf3 Nc6 3Bb5

one of the key points is to accelerate white's development. White typically plays 0-0 and starts to occupy the center. Hikaru picked 3..d6 which is less common than 3..g6 or 3..e6. Maybe he wanted to avoid Anand's prep.

And here is the position they reached after 20 Qc3! attacking f6.

White has achieved a winning position in 20 moves. 

Knights cannot be captured.

If Black tries 20..exf5  21 ef5+ Kd7 22 Nf6+ Kc7 23 Qa5 Checkmate

If Black tries 20..exd5 21 exd5+ Kd7 22 dc6+ Rc6 23 Qd4! with checkmate threats.

If 20..e5 to stop Nf6+ then 21 Qa3! and c4-c5 will open up lines for White's attack.

Hikaru played 20..Rh6  but giving up the exchange did not work out.

Full game replay with annotations .

Great example where Anand quickly built pressure againt Nakamura using 3Bb5 against the sicilian

Opening Traps : Sicilian Defense

Here I want to cover 2 openings

1 e4 c5 2 d4 cd4 3c3 Morra-Smith Gambit . Morra was a french player from Nice,France (1900-1969) who studied the opening and played it in correspondence games. 

 1e4 c5 2Nf3 Nc6 3Bb5 is the Rossolimo (You could play Bb5 against d6 as well).

and here you could see 21 lines containing many traps and quick wins in the morra gambit as well as in the Rossolimo opening.

Tactics&traps in the Petroff Defense

This post is about tactical themes in the Petroff Defense :

1e4 e5 2Nf3 Nf6 3 Ne5 d6 4 Nf3 Ne4 5d4 d5 6 Bd3 Be7 70-0 Bg4 8 Re1 Nc6 9Nbd2 f5 10 c3 0-0 11 Qb3 variation.

11..Na5 12Qa4 12..Nc6 13 Bb5 Nd2 14 Nd2 Qd6 15 h3 Bh5 16 Nb3 Bh4 17 Nc5 Rae8

Here we reach the position after 18 Bd2

Black to play after 18 Bd2

Black can play 18..Bf3!?, which is a thematic and recurrent move in the Petroff Defense (Analysis position here-This may qualify as an opening novelty, although I don't have any recent database). The aim here is to show chess patterns and motifs , and not listing the existing games in a given opening.

Position after 18..Bf3!? White to play

Here's an hint (Read below after studying the diagram!)

Would you play

A) 19 gxf3

B) 19Nxb7

C)19Bf1

Tactics straight from the (Petroff) opening lab.

Good luck!