Carlsen-Nakamura Wijk Aan Zee 2011 Brilliancy explained

Black just played 28..Qxd5. White to move 29?

Follow game on the applet below ( press + for replay, or > for next move)

Sicilian Najdorf 7 Nde2 Part II 7..Nbd7

In the 2 previous posts, I covered the main answers for Black against the 7 Nde2 move -variations
a)7..Be6,
b)7..Ng4
c)7..Be7
in this repertoire against the Sicilian Najdorf with White.

As a reminder, the tabiya (key position) and the analysis we present arises after 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cd4 4 Nd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Be3 e5 7 Nde2 !?

Alternatives moves for Black:

Variation d) 7..Nbd7 8 Ng3 Qc7 - these are standard moves for Black in the Najdorf.
9 Nh5 Nh5

Position afer 9..Nxh5, White to play

White can play 10 Nd5! as a strong switchenzug (intermediary) move. 10..Qa5+ 11 b4 Qd8 12 Qh5 Nf6 13 Qh4.
Here Black played 13..Nd5 forcing an ending in Nisipeanu-Bologan 2006, Black lost in 25 moves

Black should play 13..Be7 14 Ne7 Qe7 15 Bd3 Be6 15 O-O (Analysis) with a += position.

Variation e) 7..Nbd7 8 Ng3 g6!? 9 a4 Qc7 as played in Nisipeanu-Topalov which final result is a draw.
Here rather than Nisipeanu's 10 Qd3 Nc5 11 Qc4 Be6 12 Nd5!? which ended in a equal ending,
I recommend 10 a5!? reaching the following:

Position after 10 a5!? in variation e)

Once again, White has interesting prospects. My chess engine is in agreement : += or slightly better for White. In a tournament game, I'd rather play wit the White pieces here.

Najdorf 7Nde2 Part I

See previous post for introduction to this Sicilan Najdorf Variation.
Tabiya ( key position ) is the following after

1 e4 c5 2Nf3 d6 3d4 cd4 4Nd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Be3 e5 7 Nde2

TABIYA

Variation a): 7..Be6 (Logical development move) 8 f4 Nbd7 -We reach the following diagram

White to play

Here White can play 9 f5!? Bc4 10 Nc1 Bc1 11 Rf1 and



-11..Rc8 12 Nb3 b5 13 a3 Be7 14 Qd3! (Nisipeanu-Aresenshko), White has a good grip on d5, which is the key objective of this variation
-11..d5 !? 12 Nd5 Ne4 13 Nb3 (Nisipeanu-Gelfand 2006)



Variation b): 7..Ng4 8 Nd5 Ne3 9 Ne3 ( 9fe3!?) Be7 10 Nc3 Be6 11 Bc4 !? (Analysis)

Position after 11 Bc4!?. The key here is to play for the control of d5. White has an easier game here in my opinion.

Variation c): 7..Be7 8 Ng3 Be6 9 Be2 0-0 10 0-0 Nbd7 11 a4 Rc8 12 Qd2 Analysis

Here both sides developed their pieces. The computer evaluates the position as +=, slightly better for White. This position is also easier to play with White over the board because Black has no easy plan to free himself.

For instance 12..Nc5 13 b4 or 12..Nb6 13 a5! Nc4 14 Bc4 Bc4 15 Rfe1 d5?! 16 Bb6!; In this last variation, 14..Rc4 is better 15 b3 Rc8 16 Nd5!? gives an interesting battle which is typical of the variation. I suggest you play this line c) (with White AND Black) against a computer to practice.

Once again, the idea here is to give a weapon for White to bring the game on familiar territory. Not every Najdorf player will be thrilled to play such positions, even if the position is either += or = according to your favorite chess engine.

Stay tuned for Part II of this repertoire against the Sicilian Najdorf !

Sicilian Najdorf Theory: A variation for White !

Key Position (Tabiya) after 7 Nde2!?

This is how we reach the diagram:

1e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cd4 4Nd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 Najdorf Defense

6Be3 e5 The most principled answer. On 6..e6, White can play 7 Be2,0-0,f4 or 7f3,8Qd2,90-0-0 followed by g4 which are both good plans for White.


7 Nde2!?

Which is GM Nisipeanu's move and we reach the diagram above. This is an interesting weapon against the Popular Najdorf for White.

In the next 2 days, we will look at how to build a repertoire for White in this variation.

Monaco Melody Amber Chess 2011

Monaco (click the picture to expand!)

http://www.amberchess20.com/

March 11 - March 25 2011

Participants

Viswanathan Anand (India),

Magnus Carlsen (Norway),

Levon Aronian (Armenia),

Vladimir Kramnik (Russia),

Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria),

Alexander Grischuk (Russia),

Vasily Ivanchuk (Ukraine),

Sergey Karjakin (Russia),

Boris Gelfand (Israel),

Hikaru Nakamura (United States),

Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan)

Anish Giri (The Netherlands)

Sadly, the 20th and last edition of an incredible chess tournament I had the privilege to attend in person several times.

You can review several games from previous tournaments on this blog, for instance:

http://www.top10chess.com/2009/03/amber-round-2-aronian-leko-rapid.html

http://www.top10chess.com/2009/03/carlsen-kramnik-blindfold-brilliancy-10.html