Carokann

CaroKann [B1019]
Written by GMs Gawain Jones, Jonathan Rowson, Nigel Davies, Neil

McDonald, IMs John Watson & Andrew Martin
Last updated Tuesday, July 19, 2011
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solid system, used by such players as Karpov, Leko, and of course Botvinnik to
win the World Championship against Tal. Black gains a foothold in the centre,
much as in the French Defence, whilst keeping the h3c8 diagonal open for his
lightsquared bishop.
Black often plays steadily, hoping first to equalise before taking the initiative, but
can also play dynamically as in the Larsen/Bronstein line.
All the game references highlighted in blue have been annotated and can be downloaded in
PGN form using the PGN Games Archive on www.chesspublishing.com.
Contents
1 e4 c6 2 d4
2 e2 CaroKannUnusual lines [B10]
2 c3 d5 3 f3 g4 CaroKann- Two Knights Variation [B11]
2...d5
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3 c3
3 f3 CaroKannFantasy Variation 3 f3 [B12]
3 e5 f5 (3...c5 CaroKannAdvance 3...c5 & 3...Na6 [B12]) 4 c3 CaroKann Advance
3...Bf5 4.Nc3 [B12]; 4 f3 CaroKann Advance Short Variation [B12]; 4 e3
CaroKann Advance 3...Bf5 various 4th [B12]
3 exd5 cxd5 4 c4 (4 d3 CaroKannExchange Variation [B13]) 4...f6 5 c3 c6 (5...g6
CaroKannPanov 5...g6, 5...e6 [B14]) 6 g5 CaroKannPanov Attack 5...Nc6
[B13]
3...dxe4 4 xe4
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4...f5
4...f6 5 xf6+ exf6 (5...gxf6 CaroKannLarsen/Bronstein, 5...gxf6 [B16]) 6 c3 Caro
Kann Nc3 Intro & Korchnoi's 5...exf6 [B15]
4...d7 CaroKannSmyslov 4...Nd7 [B17]
5 g3 g6 6 h4
6 c4 CaroKannClassical 4...Bf5 intro [B18]
6...h6 7 f3
CaroKannClassical 4...Bf5 mainline [B19]
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CaroKann Unusual lines [B10]

Last updated: 17/03/11 by Gawain Jones
1.e4 c6 2.e2
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Others:
2.c3 d5 3.f3 is covered in [B11].
2.c4! This is looking like a decent surprise weapon. 2...d5 is more like the Caro, (2...e5
3.f3 (3.c3 f6 4.d4 b4 5.f3 is Van der Elburg,FVan Beek,A/Hoogeveen NED
2006) 3...a5 (3...c7!? 4.d4 b4+ 5.d2 xd2+ 6.xd2 d6 7.g5!? strange, but not bad,
Lopez Martinez,JFluvia Poyatos,J/Barcelona ESP 2008) 4.c3 b4?! (Black
should probably abandon this move in favour of 4...f6, but even so I think his
position is far from pleasant after 5.e2! (or even 5.a3 ) 5...b4 6.c2 0-0 7.0-0 d5
(7...d6 Postny,EL'Ami,E/Hoogeveen NED 2006) 8.cxd5 cxd5 9.xd5 xd5 10.exd5
d7 11.c4 c7 12.d3 xc2 13.xc2 It is very difficult for Black to get his
pawn back without allowing the White pieces to dominate. He plays for pressure but
fails miserably, Pelletier,YSeger,R/Bundesliga 2002) 5.a4! A new move. The
idea of a3 followed by b4 sends Black's queen and bishop running for cover. 5...f6
6.a3 e7 7.b4 c7 8.d4 d6 9.b2 bd7 10.d3 White soon converts his space
advantage into a virulent initiative, Rahman,ZAbdulla,A/Dhaka BAN 2001.)
3.exd5 cxd5 4.cxd5 (4.d4 transposes to the Panov.) 4...f6 5.c3
a) 5.b5+! d7 (5...bd7) 6.c4 g6 7.c3 g7 8.f3 0-0 9.0-0 a6 10.d3 c7
11.a4 c8 12.b3 White's position is ideal, Black may yet regain his pawn but he
will have to suffer pressure against e7 and f7, Kotsur,PMahjoob,M/Tehran IRI
2004.
b) 5.a4+!? bd7 (5...d7 Serper,GHahn,A/San Diego 2004) 6.c3 g6 7.f3

(7.e2 g7 8.f3 0-0 9.d6! BladezIIRegnmanden/Free Internet Chess Server 2005)
7...g7 8.c4 0-0 9.d3!? This is the main idea behind this system for White. As a
result of the irregular move order, White can place the pawn on d3 instead of d4,
which has the benefit of protecting the bishop on c4, 9...a6 10.a3 b6! (10...b6
11.b3 g4 12.e3 fd7 Leon Hoyos,MBurmakin,V/Salou ESP 2008, 13.g5!,
intending 13...h6 14.ge4 f5 15.h3) 11.0-0 b7 12.e1 b5 13.b3 e8 14.g5 f8! to
exploit the position of the white queen on a3, (14...c8 see Fernandez Garcia,J
Gomez Esteban,J/Leon ESP 2006) 15.d6 e6 Taylor,PDearing,E/Coventry 2008.
5...xd5 (5...g6 6.c4 (6.b3) 6...g7 7.f3 0-0 8.0-0 bd7 9.d4 b6 10.b3 bxd5
11.e1 b6 12.e5 b7 13.f3 Damljanovic,BNadj Hedjesi,B/Kopaonik SCG
2005, a typical IQP position has arisen where White has the more active pieces and
Black the longterm promise of a better ending. In practice, we must prefer White's
chances but 13...c8 would have given Black a decent game.) 6.f3 xc3 (6...c6
7.b5 e6 8.0-0 e7 9.d4 0-0 Black is very solid, Cherniaev,ALalic,B/London League
2003, 6...e6 7.d4 e7 transposes to a Panov or SemiTarrasch) 7.bxc3 the best move,
7...g6 8.d4 (8.c4 Peptan,CDanielian,E/Olympiad w, Bled SLO 2002) 8...g7
9.d3 0-0 10.0-0 c6 11.e1 g4 12.e4 e5! An excellent improvement on either
12...c8 or 12...d7. Black liquidates the centre pawns, obtaining complete equality,
Aronian,LCarlsen,M/Tripoli 2004.
Several strong attacking players have consistently adopted a King's Indian Attack formation
against the Caro: 2.d3 d5 3.d2 e5
a) 3...g6 4.gf3 g7 5.g3 (5.e2 e5 6.0-0 e7 7.b4! 0-0 8.b2 d7 9.e1 a5 10.a3 c7
11.f1 with typical pressure against e5 in Ljubojevic,LPfleger,H/Manila 1975)
5...e5!? this gives White the centre pawns to attack, but it can't be too bad, (5...f6
6.g2 dxe4 7.dxe4 0-0 8.0-0 a6 9.e5 d5 10.b3 g4 11.e2 c8 12.e1 left Black
cramped in Stein,LPortisch,L/Moscow 1967) 6.g2 e7 7.0-0 0-0 8.e1 (8.b4!? a5
9.bxa5 xa5 10.b2 c7 11.e2 d4 12.c3 dxc3 13.xc3 was better for White in Stein,L
Haag,E/Tallinn 1969.) 8...d4 (8...c7 9.a4 h6 Smirin,IStellwagen,D/Chalons en
Champagne FRA 2009) 9.a4 c5 leads to a KIDtype position, Strikovic,A
Gagunashvili,M/Benidorm ESP 2007
b) 3...dxe4 4.dxe4 f6 5.gf3 g4 6.h3 h5 7.e5 d5 8.e6 f6 9.g4 g6 10.d4
c7 11.c3 d5 12.b3! Stein,LBirbrager,I/Moscow 1966.
c) 3...c7!? is a unique idea, waiting for 4 gf3, 4.gf3 g4 5.h3 h5 6.g3 e6
7.g2 d7 8.0-0 gf6 Black has equalised smoothly, Tiviakov,S
Mchedlishvili,M/Dresden GER 2007.
4.gf3 d6 5.e2
a) 5.g3 f6 6.g2 0-0 7.h3!? (7.0-0 bd7 8.e1 e8 Zygouris,HJones,G/Caleta ENG
2011) 7...e8 8.0-0 a5 9.e1 a6 10.d4! gave White the initiative in Sax,G
Martin,A/Hastings 1983
b) 5.e2 f6 6.d4 dxe4 7.xe5 f5 8.h3 h5 9.g1 h4 10.g4 hxg3 11.xg3
produced a chaotic game in Ljubojevic,LKarpov,A/Hastings 1992
5...f6 (5...e7! 6.d4 exd4 7.xd4 0-0 8.exd5 xd5 9.2f3 f4 Collutiis,DMiladinovic,I/Rome
ITA 2004 is pretty unattractive for White.) 6.d4 xe4 7.dxe5 xd2 8.xd2 c7 9.00 0-0 10.c4 g4 11.g5 led to equality in Ljubojevic,LDzindzihashvili,R/Tilburg
1978.
5
2.f3 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.e5!? is a new one on me. It looks like a 'cheapo' move but
White's threats based on b5 cannot be discounted. 4...d7 (4...c6 5.d4 f6 6.b5
Sebag,MXu Yuanyuan/Cannes FRA 2004) 5.d4 g6! A new move, wasting no time,
in contrast to White! 6.c3 g7 7.b5 gf6 8.f3 0-0 9.f4 xe5 10.dxe5 e4
11.0-0-0 xc3 12.xc3 f5 Perhaps Black has the better attacking chances,
Cernousek,LMista,A/Brno CZE 2004. We may deduce that White's tricky opening
idea can only lead to equality at best.
2...d5 3.e5 c5
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3...f5 The move that 2.e2 is designed against. White certainly seems to get something
but it's not necessarily so bad. 4.g3 (White has also played 4.d4, but this looks as
if it involves too much hopping around. Even the e5e6 tricks associated with this
idea look unconvincing and I think that Black can coldbloodedly play 4...g6!?)
4...e6 With White's knight on the more sensible g3 square it's probably wise to
prevent these e5e6 pawn sacs: 5.d4 g6 6.c3 The game now proceeds at a totally
different pace, with solid positional manoeuvres being the order of the day. White
has more space, but it's difficult to break through because of Black's control of f5.
6...h5 7.d3 c8 8.h4 Short,NSasikiran,K/Istanbul TUR 2000.
3...d4 is a critical try, 4.b4 f6!? 5.f4 fxe5 6.fxe5 d5 7.b2 c5 8.bxc5 c6 which soon
favoured Black in Abergel,TEdouard,R/Cappelle la Grande FRA 2010.
4.d4
The conventional move.
4.b4!? The idea is similar to a gambit line that I like against the French: 1.e4 e6 2.f3 d5
3.e5 c5 4.b4!? 4...cxb4 5.d4 White doesn't have to worry about the usual counterplay
against his d4 pawn but can just get on with his play on the kingside. The cost is a
pawn, but maybe it's not bad value. (5.b2 was tried in Sorensen Hellstrom,
Copenhagen 1998 but it doesn't make much sense to me. The bishop on b2 does
nothing more than bite on it's own e5 pawn and Black was a pawn up for very little
after 5...c6 6.d4 e6) 5...c6 6.a3 e6 7.axb4 xb4+ 8.c3 a5 (8...e7 Richmond,P
Lee,G/England 1999.) 9.g3 ge7 10.h5 0-0 11.g5! c7 12.xa5! followed by

xg7 with a strong attack, Surtees,MHouska,J/Liverpool ENG 2008.
4...c6 5.c3 cxd4

5...e6 Some of the books give this move, quoting an old Bronstein Petrosian game that
Black happened to win. 6.d2 cxd4 (The aforementioned Bronstein Petrosian
game (USSR Ch., Leningrad 1960) went 6...ge7 7.f3 cxd4 8.exd4 (The start of
a dubious plan. White should play 8.cxd4 after which 8...f5 transposes back into the
game) 8...g6) 7.cxd4 h6 8.f3 f5 9.a3 b6 10.g4 fe7 11.f4 It's starting to
look very good for White as the d4pawn is not a problem and he has lots of space
on the kingside. Black manages to generate some temporary piece activity but this
doesn't amount to anything real. 11...a5 12.b1 b3 13.e3 Kasparov,G
Kaiumov,D/Tbilisi (Georgia) 1976.
5...f5 6.dxc5 This is the move that got Black to start taking on d4 before playing ...Bf5.
(The old line was 6.g3 g6) 6...e6 7.b4 a5?! The fact that White can ignore this
move, makes it look like a loss of time. (7...xe5 is probably better, even though
Black's bishop is unable to come back to d7.) 8.d4 axb4 9.cxb4 c7 (And not
9...xb4 10.b5+) 10.b5 xb1 11.xb1 xe5+ 12.e3 c7 13.0-0 e7 14.xc6+
bxc6 15.b5 It's now quite clear that Black's opening has backfired. The action is
starting whilst Black's king is uncastled. 15...cxb5 16.xb5 Short,N
Gulko,B/Horgen (Switzerland) 1995.
An interesting alternative is 5...g4!? which argues that 6.f3 is a concession by White. In
Barendregt Botvinnik, Amsterdam 1966 Black went on to obtain an excellent
game after 6...d7 7.e6 xe6 8.dxc5 f6 9.b4 g6 10.f4 g7 11.d4 0-0 12.xc6
bxc6 13.e5 h6 14.d3 d7 15.d4 f6 16.0-0 f7 17.a4 e5 18.f2 f5 though
surprisingly the former World Champion lost this game.
5...h5?! was played in Pedersen Borbjerggaard, Aarhus 1996, but to me it looks far too
extravagant. The game reeled on with the moves 6.a3 (and 6.d2 ) 6...f5 7.dxc5 e6
8.b4 a5 9.d4 axb4 10.xc6 (10.b5!?) 10...bxc6 11.cxb4 e7 12.d3 b8 13.b2
and now Black's 13...g5?! was a desperatelooking move in what is probably a lost
position.
6.cxd4 f5 7.bc3
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I didn't know it at the time, but this is a new move.
The conventional treatment is with 7.g3 g6 8.c3 e6 but this does not seem to be very
effective.
7...e6 8.a3 a6 9.e3 f6 10.h3 h5

Speelman decides to stop g2g4 but in doing so has to accept permanent kingside
weakness.
Taking the pawn with 10...fxe5 11.dxe5 xe5 looks downright bad after 12.d4 intending
g2g4.
11.exf6 xf6 12.g3

Davies,NSpeelman,J/Southend ENG 1999.
CaroKann Two Knights Variation

[B11]
1.e4 c6 2.c3 d5 3.f3
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The Two Knights Variation had its heyday in the 1950s and 60s but may well deserve
reviving. This system is attractive for players who do not like to play deeply
analysed variations. Although theoretically it does not promise too much for White,
the positions that arise are complicated, and it's still not clear how Black can achieve
equality without any trouble.
3.f3 e6 A number of strong players have tried this move, though it seems to me that
White maintains excellent attacking chances. There is a quick tour of the alternatives
in ArapovicCampora. (3...dxe4 is the most solid and 'CaroKanny' move, 4.xe4 d7
5.d4 df6! Totsky,LBurmakin,V/Moscow (Russia) 1995) 4.d4 f6 5.g5!? This is
really in the spirit of 3 f3 and probably much stronger than the more popular 5 e5.
5...e7 6.e5 fd7 7.xe7 (7.h4!? is worth a thought, with similar play to the
AlekhineChatard Attack against the French.) 7...xe7 8.g3 Arapovic,V
Campora,D/Mendrisio (Switzerland) 1988.
3.f4!? Most irregular and a recommendation of veteran Dutch Master Van Geet. White
plans to grip e5 and commence an eventual Kingside attack. 3...dxe4 4.xe4 f6
(4...d7 is logical, 5.f3 gf6 6.f2 e6 Kokholm,DHansen,J/25th Politiken Cup,
Copenhagen DEN 2003) 5.f2 e6 (5...c7 6.g3 e6 Wall,GSpeelman,J/4NCL
Birmingham 2001) 6.f3 d6 7.g3 c7 Reefschlaeger,HKrajewski,W/Bad

Woerishofen 2001.
3.e2!? the immediate threat is to take on d5 and play b5+. 3...dxe4 (3...d4 must be the
critical test but Black might regret his early expansion.) 4.xe4 f5 (4...f6 has also
been tried which seems sensible enough.) 5.d3 e6 6.g4! Zvjaginsev,V
Lenic,L/Moscow RUS 2011.
3...g4
Black has tried a lot of moves here but this Bishop sortie is the main line.
3...a6!? 4.h3 (4.d4 Now White is deprived of Fischer's idea of playing d2d3 to maintain a
pawn spearhead on e4. As a result his centre becomes inflexible, whether he
exchanges on d5 or, as in the game, advances his pawn to e5. 4...g4 5.h3 xf3
(5...h5 6.g4 g6 7.e5 was dangerous for Black in Murey,JPostny,E/Netherlands
NED 2010) 6.xf3 e6 7.f4 f6! 8.e5 fd7 9.0-0-0 b5! Here we have a blocked
centre of the kind that sometimes arises in the Modern Defence. Formally speaking
Black is at least three tempi behind in development, but two of these developing
moves the bishop on f4 and the queen on f3 get in the way of White's natural plan
of an f4f5 breakthrough. 10.g4 b6 11.h4 8d7 with a doubleedged position that
seems to favour Black, Robson,RJobava,B/KhantyMansiysk RUS 2009) 4...e6
(Or 4...f6?! Black decides to maintain a small pawn centre with the result that he has
too many minor pieces and not enough squares for them. 5.e5 e4 6.b1!? White is
better after this unexpected retreat, see McShane,LShengelia,D/Novi Sad SRB
2009) 5.d4 d7 6.d3 dxe4 7.xe4 gf6 8.xf6+ xf6 9.g5 Vasiesiu,D
Vajda,A/chROM, Satu Mare ROM 2003.
3...h6 has been played by Matthew Sadler, the idea is to take on e4 and play ...f5
3...dxe4 4.xe4 d7 5.c4 e6 6.e2 h6 7.d4 gf6 8.g3 d6 9.d2 0-0 10.0-0 c7
11.fe1 b6 is a typical position where if White cannot sacrifice on e6 or f7, he will
find it tough to break Black down, Tate,EVescovi,G/Philadelphia USA 2006
3...f6!? 4.e5 e4 5.e2 b6 6.d4 c5 7.dxc5 xc5 8.ed4 c6 9.b5 with an edge to
White according to Wells, see Svetushkin,DLanda,K/Rijeka CRO 2010.
4.h3
4.d4!? dxe4 (4...f6 is the most sensible reaction, 5.e5 fd7 6.h3 xf3 7.xf3 e6 Jones,G
Long,P/KhantyMansiysk RUS 2010) 5.xe4 xf3 wins the d4 pawn but at the cost
of a lot of time, 6.xf3 xd4 7.e3! xb2 8.c4 f6 9.0-0 with dangerous
possibilities, Satyapragyan,SKhamrakulov,D/Kuala Lumpur MAS 2010.
4...xf3
The sharper 4...h5 is still fine, as the following snippet demonstrates: 5.exd5 cxd5 6.b5+
c6 7.g4 g6 8.e5 c8 9.d4 e6 10.e2 d6 11.xc6+ bxc6 12.f4 e7 13.0-0-0
f6 14.xg6 hxg6 Black has organised his counterplay well, Azarov,S
Akopian,V/Moscow RUS 2006.
10
5.xf3
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5.gxf3 has had a poor reputation since Tal got a bad game with the move in his 1960 match
against Botvinnik. But in his book on the match Tal commented that after 5...e6 6.d4
d7 it would have been much better to play 7.e3 followed by d2 and 0-0-0 rather
than his mistaken 7 f4. In any case this deserves further tests as White has the
bishop pair and a very strong centre.
5...e6
5...f6 6.e2 dxe4 7.xe4 xe4 8.xe4 Short,NL'Ami,E/London ENG 2009.
6.d4
White tries another interesting and dynamic continuation involving a pawn sac. The Two
Knights has been out of fashion for years but because of that has far more surprise
value than the currently popular Advance Variation.
6.d3 f6 would lead to one of the main lines. (6...d7 7.a3 c5 (7...g6 8.e2 e7 9.g3 g7
10.g2 0-0 11.h4 h5= Romanov,EPustov,P/Moscow RUS 2006 ) 8.g3 f6! with
equality, McShane,LHarikrishna,P/Toronto CAN 2010) 7.g3 (7.d2 is considered
to be the main line here.) 7...a6 (7...a6 8.e2 dxe4 9.dxe4 c5 10.f3 g6 11.g5
e7 12.d1 fd7 (12...b6? loses immediately due to 13.e5 cd7 14.xd7!) 13.e3
Black has problems, Tkachiev,VPodgaets,M/Vienna 1996.)
6.g3!? f6 7.g2 b4 8.0-0 xc3 9.xc3 dxe4 10.d3 exd3 11.d1 bd7 12.xd3 0-0
13.g5 Dvoirys,SGrischuk,A/56th chRUS, Krasnoyarsk RUS 2003.
6...f6
6...b6?! This continuation looks dubious. 7.d3! The pawn cannot be defended by natural
means so White just ignores the threat, especially as he is well ahead in
development. 7...f6 8.0-0 xd4 9.exd5!? (This position was familiar to Balashov.
In an earlier game vs. Lechtynsky, Trnava 1988 he preferred 9.e3 b4 10.exd5)
11
9...xd5 10.d1 f6 11.g3 d7 12.xd5 cxd5 13.g5 White's initiative grows

quickly, Balashov,YSmagin,S/Elista 1995.
6...dxe4 7.xe4 is more common as the text involves a pawn sacrifice. Nevertheless it
seems that White gets quite good compensation.
7.d3 dxe4
or 7...e7
8.xe4 xd4
Or 8...bd7 with a very solid position.
9.e3!
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Better than the passive 9.c3?! d8 10.0-0 bd7 11.f4 xe4 (White wanted to keep his
investment down to a single pawn but he might have regretted his decision after
11...c5, as after 12.ad1 cxe4 13.xe4 b6 White does not have f3 available as a
retreat square for his bishop.) 12.xe4 b6 13.g3 f6 14.f3 A nice post for the
bishop as it stops Black's knight coming to h5. 14...e7 15.e3 Nevednichy,V
Iordachescu,V/Bucharest ROM 2001.
9...d8
9...b4+ By throwing in the check Black hopes to gain time by developing his bishop and
force White's king to remain in the centre. The negative side of this plan is that a
White rook comes to the dfile more quickly. 10.e2 d8 11.hd1!? xe4
12.xe4 e7 13.f1 Boleslavsky,IMakogonov,V/Moscow (Russia) 1940.
9...xb2 is the book 'recommendation' which takes the view that White has inadequate
compensation for the pawns. But after 10.0-0 I would not want to touch Black's
position with a very long barge pole White has a massive lead in development and
plenty of open files.
12
10.0-0-0!
New moves aren't necessarily any better than the old ones. Boleslavsky's choice is certainly
stronger than 10.xf6+ which gave White very little for his pawn after 10...xf6
11.g3 d7 12.0-0 e5 in Belkhodja Ibragimov, Cappelle la Grande 2001.
10...bd7 11.c4
11.b1 also gives a very promising position: 11...xe4 12.xe4 c7 13.f4 c8 14.g4
e7 15.g5 e5 16.f5! exf4 17.xd7+ xd7 18.xd7 xd7 19.xf4+
Parligras,MSvetushkin,D/Bucharest 2003 In view of this type of continuation it
seems better for Black to decline White's kind offer with 8...bd7!
11...a5 12.d2 b6 13.he1 xe4 14.xe4 f6 15.xe6!!

with White going on to win brilliantly, Boleslavsky,IFlohr,S/Moscow (Russia) 1950.
13
CaroKann Fantasy Variation 3 f3

[B12]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5
2...a6
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqkvlntr0
9zpp+pzppzpp0
9n+p+-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-zPP+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tRNvLQmKLsNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
The knight heads for the newly vacated c7 square. Obviously this plan is not intended to rip
White limb from limb, but it has the benefit of avoiding theory whilst being both
solid and provocative. This eccentric defensive system, pioneered by the Belgian
player De Bruycker, keeps the position closed and puts the emphasis on heavy
middlegames in which White has more space. Besides Miles, Bent Larsen and Julian
Hodgson have given it a try and a few other good players seem to have adopted it to
the exclusion of everything else. At any rate it should be a good line to play against
computers no theory and stodgy positional manoeuvres. 3.c3 White chooses to
block his cpawn but keep the option of a later fpawn advance. (Tony Miles also
faced 3.f3 a couple of times, which keeps the option of advancing White's cpawn:
3...c7 4.c4 d6 5.c3 g6 6.h3 g7 7.e3 f5 8.d2 fxe4 9.xe4 f6 10.g3 0-0 11.e2 b5 12.b3
bxc4 13.bxc4 d7 1/2-1/2, Andersson U. (2623) Miles A. (2588), Biel 1996 It, 3.c4
This is the kind of move Botvinnik would have recommended. White sets up a broad
pawn chain and will have space however Black plays it. 3...d6 4.c3 g6 5.e3 g7
6.d2 e5 7.ge2 e7 8.0-0-0 f5 I can't help thinking that this might be asking a bit much
of the position. But Miles probably reasoned that he didn't mind taking a few risks
against the exSoviet veteran. 9.exf5 gxf5 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.f4 Suetin,AMiles,A/Cappelle
14
la Grande (France) 1997., Black profits from the fact that 3.xa6?! doesn't damage
the black pawn structure Black replies 3...a5+, and 4...xa6.) 3...c7 4.f3 In
such uncharted territory it's difficult to say what the best line is. White has tried
several other moves in this position. (4.d3 d5 (4...g6, 4...d6) 5.f3 g4 6.h3 xf3
7.xf3 dxe4 8.xe4 f6 9.xf6+ Manik,MHerbold,M/Litomysl CZE 2004
seems a very simple way to get the advantage.) 4...g6 5.e2 I'm not quite sure if this
is now becoming a Pirc. 5...g7 6.0-0 d6 7.h3 e5?! I'm slightly suspicious of this
move. Because of the need to protect his epawn, Black either put his king's knight
on the passive e7 square or first give up the centre with ...exd4. (7...f6 is quite
possible and would transpose into a Pirc) 8.e3 Hracek,ZMarkovic,M/Herceg Novi
YUG 2001.
3.f3
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9+-+p+-+-0
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9PzPP+-+PzP0
9tRNvLQmKLsNR0
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The Fantasy Variation has been rarely played but nowadays it is becoming more and more
popular, primarily due to the efforts of Michael Adams who is the main adherent of
this line at the top level. It often leads to very sharp positions especially if Black
chooses 3...dxe4 4 fxe4 e5.
3...dxe4!?
The sharpest, but there are solid alternatives:
3...e6 This is Black's most common reply and was recommended by Pete Wells in his
CaroKann book. 4.c3 (4.e3?! This line has a dubious reputation. 4...b6! Now
White is practically forced to sacrifice his b2pawn. 5.d2 xb2 6.d3 a3 This
position has occurred in 2 games and in both White failed to prove he has enough for
the pawn, Mitkov,NDreev,A/European Club Cup 2000.) 4...b4 Continuing play in
vein of the French Winawer variation. (Interesting is 4...b6!? By avoiding any early
pressure on c3, Black is cajoling White into the ambitious plan of castling
queenside. 5.f4 f6 6.h3 e7 7.d2 a6 8.0-0-0?! xf1 9.hxf1 b5! with active play on
the queenside, Gorovykh,EAkesson,R/Stockholm SWE 2010.) 5.f4
a) 5.d2 b6 6.d3 (6.ce2!? Zvjaginsev,VGrigoriants,S/Rijeka CRO 2010) 6...e7
7.ge2 0-0 8.0-0 c5 was Hector Danielsen, Reykjavik ISL 2001
15
b) 5.a3!? novel, 5...xc3+ 6.bxc3 dxe4 7.e2!? exf3 8.xf3 f6 9.e3! The star
concept bishop goes to d3, queen to g5, and Black struggles to hold his dark
squares, Zvjaginsev,VKharitonov,A/Solin CRO 2006
5...f6 (5...e7 6.d3 b6 7.ge2 a6 8.e3 0-0 9.0-0-0 c5 10.a3 xc3! 11.xc3 xe2! 12.xe2 c4!
13.h4 b5 Morozevitch,ABologan,V/Moscow RUS 2004, the blocked pawn position
suits the knights but obviously Black will have to be very careful to contain White's
bishops and his kingside chances.) 6.d3 b6 7.ge2 a6 8.e3 0-0 9.0-0-0 e7
(9...b5!? immediately is worthy of consideration, but sooner or later the Bishop will
have to retreat from the b4 square anyway.) 10.g4! b5! An interesting race is brewing
on opposite sides of the board. (It's very dangerous to grab the pawn: 10...dxe4 11.fxe4
xg4 12.f3 f6 13.g1 and White's attack grows rapidly,, but 10...c5 is also feasible,
McShane,LDreev,A/18th North Sea Cup, Esbjerg DEN 2003) 11.g3 Wall,T
Hodgson,J/Great Britain (ch) 1990.
3...g6 4.c3 (4.c3 (this is classified as B15 as it can also arise from 3 c3 g6 4 f3) 4...g7
A natural and good move. 5.e3 b6! The best move in this position as practice has
proved. The alternatives are clearly inferior. 6.d2 This temporary pawn sacrifice is
the mainline.
a) 6.a3!? dxe4 (6...e5 is met by 7.ge2 xb2 8.dxe5 xe5 9.f2! threatening 10 a2)
7.fxe4 e5 8.f3 exd4 9.xd4 Nabaty,TKhairullin,I/Rijeka CRO 2010.
b) 6.b1 e5
c) 6.a4 is also hardly promising: 6...a5+ 7.c3 d7 and White's pieces are
uncoordinated.
6...xb2 7.b1 a3 8.exd5 (8.d3!? e6 9.ge2 sacrifices the pawn, Bauer,CAlonso
Rosell,A/Cannes FRA 2011) 8...f6! Returning his extra pawn Black completes his
development. (8...a5!? 9.dxc6 Speelman,JHouska,J/London ENG 2004 when
9...xc6! would have been acceptable for Black.) 9.dxc6 bxc6! The correct decision.
In recapturing with the pawn Black gets additional control over the centre and
intends ...c8a6. 10.d3 Adams,MLeko,P/Tilburg 1996.) 4...g7 5.e3 White
has also tried other moves, but they are weaker: (5.f4 was rather popular, but after
the game MitkovHebert, Cannes 1995 it is completely out of fashion: 5...d7!
(intending 6...e7e5) 6.e5 (6.d3 e5) 6...f6! Undermining the pawn chain and White
can't strengthen the centre by his fpawn in view of the bad position of his dark
square bishop. 7.exf6 gxf6! 8.d3 0-0 9.e2 e5! Seizing the initiative.) 5...e5!? A
new and very interesting continuation. (5...f6?! is weak as the Frenchlike position
after 6.e5 fd7 7.f4 e6 8.f3 clearly favors White (Black's darksquared bishop is
misplaced on g7)., and 5...b6 which was good in AdamsLeko is now senseless in
view of 6.d2) 6.dxe5 xe5 7.d2 e7 8.c2 White prepares Qside castling. 8...00! A brave and correct decision. Now a very sharp position with opposite sides
castling arises where Black's chances are by no means worse. 9.0-0-0 Adams,M
Seirawan,Y/Bermuda 1999. In spite of his loss in this game Black had many good
possibilities and we can conclude that 3...g6 is a very solid and promising line for
Black.
3...b6!? Black's idea is to play ...e5 and ...c5, 4.a4 (4.a3!? e5 5.exd5 Ivanchuk,V
Jobava,B/KhantyMansiysk RUS 2010, when 5...cxd5 looks sensible.) 4...e5 (4...e6!?
5.c3 c5 worked well for Black in Nepomniachtchi,IIvanchuk,V/Havana CUB 2010)
16
5.dxe5 dxe4 6.a5 c7 7.f4! White already has the better chances,
Nepomniachtchi,IJobava,B/Rijeka CRO 2010.
4.fxe4 e5
This is the idea behind Black's previous move, otherwise White has an overwhelming
advantage in the centre. This line has quite a dubious reputation since Black has
suffered many quick losses. Nevertheless in my opinion it's perfectly playable for
Black (provided he knows the theory, of course!).
5.f3
Not 5.dxe5?? h4+
5...g4!
In my opinion this line is the best.
The pressure on Black's f7pawn could have been shielded by the theoretical
recommendation of 5...e6 intending 6.xe5? (or 6.dxe5 xd1+ 7.xd1 d7 with good
play, but White should prefer, 6.c3 f6 7.d3) 6...h4+
5...exd4?! This is an instructive mistake after which White's initiative grows rapidly. This
move has been considered insufficient since the end of the 19th century,
nevertheless in my database I have found hundreds of recent games where Black
committed this mistake! Black has two superior possibilities. 6.c4 Developing
pieces and creating concrete threats. The development advantage and open ffile
secures White a decisive attack. The f7square is the main target. 6...e7
a) 6...b4+? Another mistake which loses on the spot, but Black's defence was very
hard anyway: 7.c3! dxc3 8.xf7+! A typical blow. 8...xf7?! (8...e7 is more
stubborn although after 9.b3! cxb2+ 10.xb4+ xf7 11.xb2 at the cost of only one
pawn White has crushing attack.) 9.xd8 cxb2+ 10.e2 e7 (10...bxa1 11.g5+ g6
12.e8+ and in V.IvanovBataev, St Petersburg 1999 Black resigned in view of
quick mate after 12...h6 13.e6+) 11.e5+ f6 12.f1+ Maiorov,OGutov,A/Yalta
1995.
b) 6...e6 is also insufficient: 7.xe6 fxe6 8.0-0 c5 (8...e7 was played in an old
game TartakoverPsepurka,1929, where White obtained a decisive advantage after
9.xd4 d7 10.h5+ d8 11.e3 c5 12.d1 cxd4 13.xd4 d6 14.e5) 9.g5! d3+ (9...e7
10.f7 xf7 11.xf7 xf7 12.h5+, 9...f6 10.e5 d5 11.xe6 e7 12.g4 d7 13.xg7+
d8 14.e6) 10.h1 dxc2 11.xc2 and White wins, SkripchenkoTsiganova, Elista
1998
7.0-0 (Not 7.e5?? a5+) 7...f6 8.g5 0-0 9.e5 Although this is recommended in many
books in my opinion is not as strong as (9.xf7! xf7 10.xf7+ xf7 11.e5 winning an
exchange.) 9...d5 10.h5 xg5 11.xg5 Lindberg,BCelander,J/Stockholm,
Sweden 2000.
6.c4
17
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9rsn-wqkvlntr0
9zpp+-+pzpp0
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9+-+-zp-+-0
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9+-+-+N+-0
9PzPP+-+PzP0
9tRNvLQmK-+R0
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6...d7 7.0-0 gf6
Forced as 9 xf7+ was threatened.
8.c3
8.g5 xf3 9.xf3 b6 10.d2 with sharp play, Pruess,DFridman,D/Mesa USA 2010.
8...d6 9.b3
Before this game this line was considered as insufficient for Black since "Black can't
protect both the b7 and f7 pawns" (as I've read in a certain opening book). After this
game this evaluation should be reconsidered.
Volzhin played this line with Black, and in TrygstadVolzhin, Bergen 2000, White
preferred the quiet 9.e3 0-0 10.bd2 but Black obtained a very good game after
10...b5 11.d3 c7 12.e1 h5! Transferring the Bishop to the g6square where it
occupies an ideal position: here it defends the king and creates pressure against the
e4pawn.
9...0-0! 10.xb7
Otherwise White's previous move is senseless.
10...exd4 11.cxd4 b6
The critical position for the assessment of Black's idea.
12.b3
12.d3 is strongly met by the unexpected 12...xf3 13.xf3 f4! and Black wins the pawn
back obtaining the better chances: 14.xf4 (or 14.c3 xd4+ 15.h1 xc1 16.xc1 g4
and Black is better.) 14...xd4+ 15.h1 xd3 and White's position is horrible.
18
12...xe4
Peregudov,NSavon,V/St.Petersburg 1994.
19
CaroKann Advance 3...c5 & 3...Na6

[B12]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsnlwqkvlntr0
9zpp+-zppzpp0
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-zppzP-+-0
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9+-+-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tRNvLQmKLsNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
This line is not as well investigated as the main lines arising after 3...f5 and it's good way
to avoid such mountains of theory. This is actually a gambit line.
The move 3...a6 is something that I wouldn't recommend for Black unless he can see his
opponent foaming at the mouth. The best that Black can hope for is to create a
blocked position in which he's got less space, not the most attractive of prospects
unless your opponent then impales himself on the ramparts. 4.c3 Nunn's favourite
move, which certainly seems to give Black some problems. White wants to do some
clever tricks with his knights. (Kotronias suggested 4.d2, presumably trying to
save the tempo expended on 4 c3, but then 4...f5 threatens 5...b4. (he wanted to
meet 4...c7 with 5.d3, and 4...g6 could be answered by 5.e2) ) 4...c7 (4...f5 5.e2
e6 6.f4! The advantage of putting the knight on this square is that once Black's
bishop is on g6 he will find it difficult to move his hpawn. And with Black's pieces
so passively placed he cannot distract White from his coming g2g4 plan with any
kind of counterattack. 6...e7 7.d2 c7 8.g4! g6 9.h4 f6 An unfortunate necessity.
10.xg6 hxg6 11.f3 Nunn,JNikolac,J/Germany 1984., For 4...g6 see Nunn Arkell)
5.e2 Patent John Nunn. (5.d3 has been more popular, but there is no evidence that
it is any more effective.) 5...g6 6.g3 h6 7.d2 g4 8.f3 d7 9.f4 e6 (Black is
finding it difficult to stem the flow of White pawns 9...f5 is met by 10.xf5 xf5
20
11.g4) 10.f3 g7 11.h3 hf5 12.xf5 xf5 13.g4 Nunn,JArkell,K/London
(England) 1990.
4.dxc5
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9-+-+-+-+0
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9tRNvLQmKLsNR0
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4.c3 is harmless, for example: 4...c6 5.e3 cxd4 6.cxd4 f5 7.c3 e6 and the position is
similar to the French but Black has an active lightsquared Bishop.
4.c4!? trying to pressure the centre and exploit the fact that Black has taken two moves to
play ...c5, 4...e6
a) 4...c6 5.cxd5? (5.f3! see 4 f3 below) 5...xd5 6.c3 xd4 7.e3 b4 8.a3
a5 9.b5 e6 10.xc6+ bxc6 11.a4 b6 12.b4 a6 13.xa6 xa6
Topalovic,ZMikhalchishin,A/GM, Varazdin CRO 2003.
b) 4...cxd4 5.f3!? (5.xd4! is given by Wells and needs serious analysis.) 5...g4!
an enterprising move that appears to equalise, 6.cxd5 xd5 7.c3 xf3 8.xd5
xd1 9.c7+ (9.e6? g4! Trent,LHouska,J/Torquay ENG 2009) 9...d7 probably
an improvement over (9...d8 10.xa8 c2! Hector,JKhenkin,I/Tegernsee GER
2008) 10.xa8 c2 Robson,RKhairullin,I/Moscow RUS 2009.
I think that 5.cxd5! is correct: (5.dxc5!? c6 6.f3 xc5 this is beginning to resemble a French
Defence, Laznicka,VAkopian,V/Moscow RUS 2007.) 5...exd5 6.c3 c6 7.b5
a6 (7...cxd4 8.xd4 e6 9.f3 Wells,PMarusenko,P/Trefforst WLS 2008) 8.xc6+
bxc6 9.ge2 Haslinger,SMarusenko,P/Hastings ENG 2008
Or 4.f3 a modern favourite, 4...c6 (4...cxd4 5.xd4 e6 6.c4 (6.d3 c6 7.xc6 bxc6 8.0-0
looks very much like a Sicilian Taimanov with the early freeing move, Karjakin,S
Short,N/Kiev UKR 2008) 6...c5!? (6...c6 transposes to 4...c6) 7.c3 e7 8.e3
xd4!? Karjakin,SShort,N/Kiev UKR 2008.) 5.c4!? cxd4 (5...g4?! 6.dxc5
(6.cxd5! xd5 7.c3 xf3 8.xd5 (8.gxf3? Vysochin,SRozum,I/St Petersburg RUS
2009) 8...xd1 9.c7+ d7 10.xa8 h5 11.d5! Wells) 6...e6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.c3
xc5! a good response to White's unusual system, placing the emphasis on quick
development. 9.xd5 xd5 10.xd5 0-0-0 11.c3 b4 Carlsen,M
Doettling,F/ICC INT 2006.) 6.xd4 e6 (6...dxc4?! 7.xc6 xd1+ 8.xd1 bxc6 9.xc4
leaves White with good development and the better structure, Muzychuk,A
Ushenina,A/Ljubljana SLO 2007.) 7.xc6 (7.c3 is more critical) 7...bxc6 8.d3?! a
doubtful pawn sacrifice, Jones,GSpeelman,J/Wokefield Park ENG 2008.
21
4.e2 c6 5.c3 cxd4 (5...g4 6.b3!? Felgaer,RHouska,J/Catalan Bay ENG 2007) 6.cxd4
f5 (6...g4 7.bc3 e6 8.e3 Short,NMchedlishvili,M/Kolkata IND 2009) 7.bc3 e6
8.e3 b6 Jones,GHera,I/Porto San Giorgio ITA 2009.
4...c6
4...e6 The latest development. In my previous updates I told you that Black can begin with
either 4...c6 or 4...e6 since both moves lead to the same positions. But recently
Black has been trying to omit an early ...c6 completely. The main adherent of this
line at GM level is the German Rustem Dautov. 5.e3
a) 5.g4 The idea behind this move is to prevent normal development of Black's K
side. 5...h5!? A natural move but the weakening of the Kside is an obvious
drawback. 6.b5+ (White has also tried 6.f4 xc5 7.d3 b6 8.c3!? g5 9.d2
This involve s White in some interesting gambit play, but there was a greedy
alternative. (Simply 9.xg5 looks interesting after 9...xf2+ 10.f1 I don't see a
followup for Black and White is threatening Qg7.) 9...c6 10.e2 h6 11.f3
Nunn,JBreder,D/Hamburg GER 2001.) 6...d7 7.xd7+ xd7 (7...xd7 was also
possible, with level chances after 8.e2 xc5 9.f3 c6 10.0-0 ge7 11.bd2 f5) 8.e2
xc5 9.f3 e7 (After the game GM Dautov pointed out he could have obtained a
good position by playing 9...a5+!? for example: 10.c3 a6! 11.xa6 bxa6 12.bd2 e7
13.b3 b6 and it's not clear how White can hold the e5pawn. 14.f4 g6 15.g3 c7)
10.0-0 c7 11.c3 a6 12.e1 c8 13.g5 g6 14.bd2 0-0 Kindermann,S
Dautov,R/Bad Homburg 1997. Both sides have completed development and in my
opinion the position is equal. Of course the pawn on h5 looks ugly but I can't see
how White can exploit this.
b) 5.a3 is interesting, 5...a5 (5...xc5 6.g4 e7 is definitely critical) 6.e3 h6 7.f3
f5 Kryvoruchko,YBattaglini,G/Cappelle la Grande FRA 2010, when 8.g5!
strikes me as strongest.
5...h6!? 6.f3!? This move seems to be superior to (6.c3 f5 (6...d7 7.b5 f5 8.d4 a6
9.xd7+ xd7 10.f3 xd4 11.cxd4 b6 12.c6!? a logical positional move, Van der
Weide,KBitalzadeh,A/Haaksbergen NED 2009) 7.d4 d7! An important novelty.
(Previously Black had played 7...xd4 ) 8.f3 c6 9.d2!? (9.d3 is not good in
view of the typical 9...fxd4 10.cxd4 b6!) 9...f6! (White is well prepared for the typical
pawn sacrifice ...b6: 9...fxd4 10.cxd4 b6 11.b4!, or 9...cxd4 10.cxd4 b6 11.cxb6 xb6
12.c3 and in both cases Black hardly has enough for the pawn.) 10.exf6 gxf6
11.b5 e7! 12.0-0?! After this inaccuracy Black obtains a clear edge, Smirnov,P
Prizant,J/Russia 2000. (12.b4 should be played, and after 12...0-0-0 13.0-0 g8 a very
complicated position arises where both sides have chances, but personally I would
prefer to play Black.) ) 6...d7 Dautov's improvement. (Previously he had tried
6...f5 but failed to equalise, e.g. 7.g5! a5+! (7...f6? 8.exf6 gxf6 9.e5! is close to a
refutation, Luther,TDittmar,P/Triesen LIE 2007) 8.c3 xc5 9.d3 h6 10.c1)
7.xh6! An important novelty. 7...gxh6 8.c4! Now this break is much more to the
point. 8...dxc4 9.xc4 xc5 10.e2! (After a Queen swap Black has no problems at
all: 10.xd8+ xd8 11.c3 g7 12.0-0-0+ e7 with comfortable equality.) 10...a6
11.b4?! This move seems to be too ambitious. (The natural 11.0-0 is worth
considering, for example: 11...b5 12.d1 c7 13.d3 xd3 14.xd3 b7 15.c3 g7
22
16.e4 and White retains some pressure.) 11...d7 12.a3 a5! Immediately exploiting
the weakening of White's Qside. 13.c3! A brave and correct decision. White
fights for the initiative at any cost, Sutovsky,EDautov,R/Essen 2000. (After the
primitive 13.b5 Black has a comfortable blockade on the dark squares.)
4...h6!? deserves consideration.
5.b5
Practice proves this move is the only way to fight for opening advantage. The alternatives
are:
5.f3 g4! (5...e6 6.d3 (6.a3!? xc5 7.b4 b6 8.b5 a5 (8...xe5? 9.xe5 f6 10.f4 wins
for White) 9.d3 e7 10.0-0 d7 (10...0-0? allows the "Greek gift" sacrifice
11.xh7+! intending 11...xh7 12.g5+ g8 13.h5 with a winning attack for White)
11.e2 c8 12.bd2 c7 13.a4 g6 14.g3 c4? 15.xc4! dxc4 16.a3 Preventing
Black from legally castling, and leaving him with no proper answer to White's
threats of d6 or e4d6+, in a rapid encounter MotwaniBourne) 6...xc5 7.0-0 a
commonsense approach. White plays a French Defence variation a tempo up
(because of ...c6c5), Perunovic,NJovanovic,S/Kragujevac SRB 2009) 6.c3 has
caused some problems, 6...e6 7.b4 a6 8.bd2 Berkes,FZelcic,R/Zadar CRO 2010.
5.f4!? has a certain popularity, but recently Black found the correct way: 5...e6 6.d2
ge7! (6...xc5 is inferior since after 7.b3 b6 8.g4! White seizes the initiative.)
7.gf3 g6 8.g3 xc5 9.b3 (9.h4 attempts to disrupt the Black plan, but after the
next, accurate counter Black is fine, 9...f6! 10.b3 b6 11.b5 0-0 12.exf6 xf6 Black
has very active counterplay, Gubajdullin,AKornev,A/Vladimir RUS 2004 ) 9...b6
10.d3 0-0 Black has successfully completed his development and in this French
like position his chances are by no means bad.
5...e6
This is nowadays the main line.
5...a5+?! This old move was convincingly refuted in this game: 6.c3 e6 7.e3 ge7
8.f3 f5 9.a3! I think this move is the refutation of this line. At least I can't say
where Black could improve his play. 9...xe3 10.fxe3 c7 11.e4! Shabalov,A
Arkell,K/London 1991.
6.e3
This natural move is one of White's main weapons.
6.g4!? is also interesting
6...ge7 7.c3
23
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9r+lwqkvl-tr0
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9+-zP-vL-+-0
9PzP-+-zPPzP0
9tRN+QmK-sNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
The only attempt to fight for an opening advantage.
7.f3 is harmless: 7...f5! (7...d7 is also good: 8.0-0 xe5 9.xe5 xb5 10.h5 g6 11.c4 xc4
12.xc4 dxc4 13.a3 d5! Black is on top, Tagnon,NPert,R/12th Monarch
Assurance, Port Erin IOM 2003) 8.d4 fxd4 9.xd4 BlatnyHansen, Baguio City
1987, and now the simple 9...a5+! (instead of 9...a5 10.c3 e7 11.0-0 0-0 12.xc6 bxc6
13.b4 with a healthy extra pawn for White.) 10.c3 xb5! 11.xb5 xd4 12.fxd4
(12.bxd4 xc5 secured Black good chances.) 12...xc5 13.c7+? d7 14.xa8
xd4 is bad for White as the Knight on a8 is trapped.
7...d7
Threatening 8...xe5.
8.xc6
In Xie JunLalic, Erevan 1996 White ignored the above mentioned threat and played 8.f3
xe5 9.xe5 xb5 10.a3 but after 10...d7 11.b3 c6! 12.xd7 xd7 Black
had everything in order. The game continued: 13.0-0-0?! A very dubious decision.
(13.0-0 was more safe.) 13...e7 14.h4 0-0 15.h5 b6 16.h6 g6 17.cxb6 axb6 18.c2
c5 19.c4 d4 20.b1 e5! and Black was clearly better.
8...xc6
8...xc6 9.f3 f5 10.d4 a5 11.a4 xd4 12.xd4 e7 13.0-0 0-0 14.bd2 c7 15.fe1
d7 16.b3 fc8 17.e3 ab8 18.f4 h6 19.h4 d8 20.g3 b6! Black comes to the
thematic break, justifying his entire setup. The white knights are clumsy (a
common feature of this line) and b2 is weak, Mastrovasilis,DConquest,S/Asnieres
sur Seine FRA 2006.
9.f4!?
24
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-wqkvl-tr0
9zpp+l+pzpp0
9-+n+p+-+0
9+-zPpzP-+-0
9-+-+-zP-+0
9+-zP-vL-+-0
9PzP-+-+PzP0
9tRN+QmK-sNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
9.f3 c7 10.d4 White has firmly protected his extra pawn and that's why for decades
this position was thought to be insufficient for Black. But matters are not so clear as
this game proves. 10...xd4 11.cxd4 b6! 12.cxb6 xb6 13.b3 a6! The critical
position: Kaminski,MTimoshchenko,G/Yerevan (ol) 1996. Obviously Black has
tremendous compensation for the sacrificed pawn: he has a strong pair of bishops,
open files on the Qside and a considerable development advantage as White needs
many tempi to evacuate his king from the centre of the board.
The immediate 9.d4?! is weaker since after 9...xd4 10.cxd4 b6 11.cxb6 (11.b4? a5 is just
bad for White.) 11...xb6 in comparison with the game KaminskiTimoshchenko
Black just has an extra tempo. Now Black's initiative progresses without hindrance.
9...g5!
The only way to obtain counterplay.
10.f3
White completes his development hoping to exploit Black's weaknesses on the Kside.
This move was thought to be a refutation of the whole line, but the novelty
introduced by GM Igor Khenkin, the leading expert in this line, made White forget
this move once and for all.
After this game White switched to 10.fxg5!? h6!? deserves certain attention. In Schroeder
Arkell, Hastings 1999 Black obtained good prospects after (10...xe5 11.f3 xf3+
12.xf3 g7 13.0-0 0-0 14.d2 b5 The critical position for the evaluation of this line.
For the sacrificed pawn Black obtained a strong pawn centre and bishop pair. The
question is whether this is worth a pawn.) after 11.gxh6 (11.f3 hxg5 (11...c7!?)
12.xg5 e7 13.e3 h4+ 14.d2 c7 15.e2 xe5 16.xe5 xe5 17.a3 g5
18.xg5 xg5+ 19.c2 g6+ 20.d2 c8 This line needs further practical tests.)
11...xh6 In return for two sacrificed pawns, Black now has a very dangerous lead
in development and open lines for attacking on the kingside. 12.e2 h4+! 13.f1
(13.g3? e4 or, 13.f2? xe3 wins material for Black, and, 13.f2 g5 is also highly
unpleasant for White.) 13...xe3 14.xe3 xe5!! Greet,AArkell,K/British
Championship, Somerset 2000.
25
10...gxf4 11.xf4 xc5 12.bd2
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-wqk+-tr0
9zpp+l+p+p0
9-+n+p+-+0
9+-vlpzP-+-0
9-+-+-vL-+0
9+-zP-+N+-0
9PzP-sN-+PzP0
9tR-+QmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
12...b6 13.b3 f2+ 14.e2
Black has to win the pawn back but White is threatening to seize the initiative on the K
side (f1, g5 etc) so Black should try to create threats against White's King first.
14...a5!
David,AKhenkin,I/Geneva 1996.
26
CaroKann Advance 3...Bf5 various 4th

[B12]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 f5 4.e3
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsn-wqkvlntr0
9zpp+-zppzpp0
9-+p+-+-+0
9+-+pzPl+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+-+-vL-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tRN+QmKLsNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
This has suddenly become trendy, and was played a lot in the RussiaROW match
Alternatives:
4.d2!? Trying to dissuade ...c5, 4...e6 5.b3!? (5.g4 will likely transpose elsewhere)
5...d7
a) 5...e7 is not bad, but g7 is a target and the g8knight still has to get out,
Bezgodov,AGalkin,A/Sochi RUS 2007
b) 5...c5!? giving up the bishop pair to develop freely, 6.dxc5 xc5 7.xc5 a5+
8.c3 xc5 9.a4+ (9.e3 c7 10.f4 Kurnosov,IGalkin,A/Ulan Ude RUS 2009)
9...d7 10.b5 won quickly in Vachier Lagrave,MMchedlishvili,M/Muelheim
GER 2010.
6.f3 (6.e2!? Kamsky,GRagger,M/Moscow RUS 2011) 6...g6 (6...c7 7.d3
Rublevsky,SMorozevich,A/Sochi RUS 2007, when 7...xd3 8.xd3 e7 9.0-0 g6 is
best, White has a simple space advantage, but Black stands solidly., After 6...e7
7.e2 c8 my impression is that Black stands safely enough, with plenty of play for
both sides, Olszewski,MMacieja,B/Warsaw POL 2008) 7.e2 e7 8.0-0 f5 So
Black studiously refrains from...c5. 9.c3 (9.e1!? preparing to advance his kingside
pawns, Alekseev,EBerkes,F/Budapest HUN 2008.) 9...e7 (9...c8 10.f4 Polgar,J
Iordachescu,V/AixlesBains FRA 2011) 10.g4 h4 11.xh4 xh4 12.f4 f5
27
13.exf6 xf6 14.d3 xd3 15.xd3 g6 16.d2 e7 17.ae1 0-0 Delchev,A

Schlosser,P/National I, Besancon FRA 2003 White seems to be a little better but it is
not at all easy to open up the position without his own King becoming weak.
4.g4 is not trendy at all, a throwback to the heyday of Mikhail Tal. Morozevich
demonstrates that the idea is still playable, 4...d7 (4...e4! If the evidence of the
following snippet is to be believed, this is superior. 5.f3 g6 6.h4 h5 7.e2 e6 8.f4 hxg4
9.xg6 fxg6 10.d3 d7! 11.xg6 gxf3 12.h3 xh4+ 13.f1 xh3+ 14.xh3 xh3 Black
can play without these heroics but the Queen sacrifice put a lot of pressure on White
and he caved in after 27 moves, Hulshof,PL'Ami,E/Hoogeveen 2003) 5.c4 e6
(5...h5!? 6.gxh5 f5 7.c3 e6 8.f3 g4 9.b3 b6) 6.c3 c5! (6...h5 7.g5 e7 8.f3 dxc4
9.xc4 g6 10.d3 e7 11.xg6 fxg6 12.h4! Morozevich,AZontakh,A/Tallinn 2003.)
7.cxd5 exd5 8.dxc5 xc5 Black soon won in Shirov,AAnand,V/Leon ESP 2011.
4.h4!? h6 it is worth noting that Leko and Ivanchuk have both recently showed a preference
for this
a) 4...h5 is generally considered the most solid move, 5.c4 (5.g5!? is a very unusual
and interesting new try, 5...b6 6.d3 xd3 7.xd3 a6 (7...xb2 8.e6!? Firman,N
Makarov,V/Alushta UKR 2006) 8.f3 e6 9.e2 c5 Shirov,AAnand,V/Leon ESP
2011.) 5...e6 6.c3 e7 (6...d7 White can now create a small but definite edge,
7.cxd5 cxd5 8.d3 (8.g5 a5 (Black should consider both of 8...b6, 8...e7) 9.a3
a6 10.b4 Gelashvili,TSaleh,N/Dubai UAE 2005) 8...xd3 9.xd3 e7 10.f3
c6 (10...b8 11.g5 Alekseev,EIturrizaga,E/KhantyMansiysk RUS 2010) 11.0-0
e7 12.g5 Although Black looks quite solid, I think White is clearly better here,
due his extra space and the fact that Black can't easily castle, Short,N
Johannessen,L/Turin ITA 2006.) 7.ge2 g4!? an idea of Karpov's, (7...d7 8.g3
g6 9.a3 Alekseev,EKhairullin,I/Taganrog RUS 2011.) 8.g5 (8.f3 f5 9.g3 g6
Nepomniachtchi,INakamura,H/Wijk aan Zee NED 2011) 8...b6 9.d2 d7
10.g3 Alekseev,EShimanov,A/Taganrog RUS 2011.
b) 4...b6!? it's not certain that the queen is well placed on b6, 5.e2 h6 6.c4!?
Jones,GStokke,K/Caleta ENG 2011.
5.g4 d7
a) 5...h7!? 6.e6 Thought to be good for White. 6...d6 Black ignores the
displacement of his King, relying on ...e7e5 for counterplay. 7.exf7+ xf7 8.c3
e5 9.f3+ f6 10.g5 hxg5? He had to keep the Kingside closed and seek central
counterplay. (Black's position is tenable after both 10...e4 and, 10...exd4) 11.hxg5 e4
12.xe4 dxe4 13.b3+ d5 14.xh8+ Sveshnikov,EGagunashvili,M/Dubai
2003.
b) 5...e4 looks critical, 6.f3 (6.h3!? strikes me as interesting.) 6...h7 7.d3 (7.e6!?)
7...xd3 8.xd3 e6 Nepomniachtchi,IWells,P/AixlesBains FRA 2011.
6.d2 (6.h5 White grabs further space on the kingside, 6...e6 7.c3 c5 8.f4 c6 9.f3 b6 10.h2
Navara,DShimanov,A/Vilnius LTU 2010) 6...c5 7.dxc5 e6?! (Why not 7...c6! )
8.b3 xc5 (8...c7!) 9.xc5 a5+ 10.c3 xc5 11.f3 e7 12.d3 bc6 13.e3
a5 14.d2 g6 15.d4 xd4 16.cxd4 xd2+ 17.xd2 Kramnik,V
Leko,P/Brissago SUI 2004 The sort of edge which will not go away.
4.c4 This is an old variation that was never thought to achieve much until similar variations
involving c4 began to work for White. Now the move is receiving more attention at
28
the top levels. 4...e6 5.c3 e7 6.ge2 d7 7.f4 dxc4 8.xc4 Efimenko,Z
Gyimesi,Z/Eppingen GER 2009.
4.d3 is nothing special, 4...xd3 5.xd3 e6 6.c3 b6 7.ge2 c5 (Black can also delay
this, for example 7...a6 8.h3 d7 9.0-0 Sax,GArlandi,E/Mitropa Cup, Baden 1999,
or 7...e7 (!) 8.0-0 d7 9.f4 c5 Shabalov,AKacheishvili,G/Stratton Mountain,
Vermont US 1999) 8.dxc5 xc5 9.0-0 e7 10.a4 c6 11.xc5 xc5 12.e3 c7
13.f4 f5 14.c3 c6 15.ad1 Nimzowitsch,ACapablanca,J/New York 1927.
4.f4!? e6 5.f3 c5 6.e3 (6.c3 c6 7.e3 b6 8.c1 is pleasant for Black, Zvjaginsev,V
Khairullin,I/Moscow RUS 2010) 6...cxd4 7.xd4 e7 8.b5+ d7 9.0-0 a6 10.e2
g5! If White were allowed a few moves to quietly consolidate he might well get a
grip on the position 'a la Kramnik'. Ivanchuk makes sure that Morozevitch will have
a fullblooded battle on his hands, Morozevich,AIvanchuk,V/Calvia de Mallorca
ESP 2004.
4...e6
4...b6!? 5.c1 e6 (5...h6!? is surprisingly popular with highlevel players. Black
intends either ...g4 or ...f5 at some point. I am very doubtful whether Black can
even think about equalization. 6.f3 (6.h3 e6 7.f3 Smirin,IBareev,E/Moscow RUS
2002) 6...e6 7.c4 (7.bd2 c5 8.b3 d7 9.dxc5 xc5 10.fd4 is Svidler,P
Shirov,A/EuTCh, Plovdiv BUL 2003, where White kept his play strictly central,
emphasizing the poor position of the knight on h6. It cost Black time to get this
piece into the game.) 7...dxc4 8.bd2 d3 9.xd3 cxd3 10.xh6 gxh6 11.0-0 d7
12.d1 a6 13.e4 g8 14.e1 0-0-0 15.xd3 It's up to White to prove that his
small advantages of pawn structure and good centralised Knights vs dodgy Bishop
mean something, Anand,VKhenkin,I/Bundesliga 2002.) 6.c4 (6.d2 c5 7.b3!?
trying to release the pressure on the queenside, but it loses important tempi, (7.gf3
is the natural and normal course, shoring up the centre) 7...c4 8.d2 f6! played
before White can consolidate, Efimenko,ZRiazantsev,A/Moscow RUS 2007.)
Meanwhile 6...dxc4! (6...e7?! 7.c5! and Black was crushed in Kasparov,G
Shirov,A/Moscow RUS 2002, 6...xb1! 7.xb1 b4+ 8.d2 xd2+ 9.xd2 with a little
extra space to White, Gelfand,BDreev,A/Moscow RUS 2002.) 7.xc4 (7.d2!?
a5! (to stop xc4) 8.xc4 e7 9.e2 d7 10.0-0 d5 11.g3 g6 12.h4 the prelude to a
very complicated struggle, Grischuk,AAnand,V/Mainz GER 2005) 7...e7 8.e2
d8 9.0-0 d7 10.g3 g6 11.c3 f5 12.g5 b6 13.xf5 xf5 14.d1 h6=
Shirov,AAnand,V/Bar SCG 2005, seems very reasonable for Black
5.d2
29
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsn-wqkvlntr0
9zpp+-+pzpp0
9-+p+p+-+0
9+-+pzPl+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+-+-vL-+-0
9PzPPsN-zPPzP0
9tR-+QmKLsNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
5...d7
5...e7 6.b3 d7 7.e2 h6 8.f3 g5?! (Either of 8...e4, or 8...h7 planning ...f5, are
quite satisfactory.) 9.h4 g4 10.h2 h5 11.f3 Gormally,DWatson,P/Blackpool 2005
led to a superb attacking position for White
5...c5 6.dxc5 Sulskis,SDimitrov,R/Gibraltar ENG 2008, 6...d4! 7.f4 c6
6.e2
This reserves options with the cpawn.
6.gf3 e7 7.e2 (7.h4 c5! 8.c3 Degraeve,JLalic,B/Cannes (open) 2004 when 8...b6 is
certainly Black's best) 7...g6 intending ...f5, 8.h4 the critical test, 8...c5 9.c3
c6 10.xg6 hxg6 11.f3 this position has been reached a few times with great
results for White, see Carlsen,MWang Hao/Wijk aan Zee NED 2011.
6.c3 e7 (6...f6 Smirin,IDreev,A/Moscow RUS 2002, 6...b6 7.b4! a noteworthy approach,
7...f6 8.b3 e7 9.e2 Vachier Lagrave,MBologan,V/Wijk aan Zee NED 2007) 7.f4
h5 8.e2 h4 9.gf3 g4 Grischuk,AKarpov,A/Odessa UKR 2008.
6...b6
6...f6 7.gf3 c7 8.f4 fxe5 9.dxe5 typical provocation from Shirov, inviting Black to win
the e5 pawn at the cost of some time, 9...e7 10.h4 g6 11.h2 0-0-0 12.g5
dxe5 13.g4 h6 the position is very unclear, Shirov,ABologan,V/Foros UKR 2006.
6...c7 Sulskis,SPostny,E/Dresden GER 2008
7.b3 f6 8.f3 e7 9.0-0 g6 10.c4!

This is White's intention.
10...a5 11.c5 xc5 12.dxc5 xb2 13.d4

Shirov,AErenburg,S/Caleta ENG 2005 when
30
13...f7
but not 13...fxe5 14.xe6 c8 15.g4
14.g4 f5
would have been OK for Black.
31
CaroKann Advance Short Variation

[B12]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 f5 4.f3
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsn-wqkvlntr0
9zpp+-zppzpp0
9-+p+-+-+0
9+-+pzPl+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+-+-+N+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tRNvLQmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
The positional line, with e2 and 0-0 to follow. This line is a favourite of Nigel Short and
brought him many excellent victories (even in the candidates match against
Karpov!).
4...e6 5.e2
5.a3!? Not totally new but certainly totally surprising for Salem! 5...c5 6.c4 this is the idea,
Rausis,ISalem,A/Open, Sharjah UAE 2003. It is remarkable how many new ideas
are coming forward in the Advance Caro these days.
5...d7
The most popular, but there are plenty of alternatives:
5...c5 6.e3 (6.c3 c6 7.0-0 cxd4 8.xd4 Sjugirov,SCheparinov,I/Budva MNE 2009, 6.0-0 c6
7.e3 is generally considered harmless, Naiditsch,AAnand,V/Mainz GER 2009)
6...b6!? This has recently become all the rage at the top level and indeed must be
the critical response.
32
a) 6...d7 7.0-0 (7.bd2 c4!? worked well in Svidler,PTopalov,V/Nanjing CHN

2008) 7...e7 8.c4 dxc4 9.a3 Shirov,AEljanov,P/Moscow RUS 2010.
b) 6...cxd4 7.xd4 e7 8.c4
b1) 8.c3 is not very testing, 8...bc6 9.f4 g5!? Caruana,FMotylev,A/Moscow RUS
2008
b2) 8.d2!? bc6 9.2f3 e4 (9...g4 Volokitin,ARuck,R/Budva MNE 2009)
10.0-0 g6 Black develops and puts pressure on the e5pawn, 11.xc6 (11.b5 c7
Iordachescu,VKrivoborodov,E/Moscow RUS 2010.) 11...bxc6 12.g5 e7
13.xe4 dxe4 14.d4 d5 15.h5 (15.c3 0-0 Fier,ADucarmon,Q/Maastricht NED
2011.) 15...xe5 16.ad1 0-0 17.c3 Caruana,FLaznicka,V/New Delhi IND 2011.
8...bc6 9.a4 (9.c3!? xd4 10.xd4 dxc4 11.a4+ Amonatov,FShimanov,A/Moscow RUS
2010) 9...a6! 10.c3 (10.a3 a5+ see Svidler,PAnand,V/Moscow RUS 2002.)
10...dxc4 11.0-0-0 a5 12.xa5 xa5 13.xf5 xf5 14.b6 c6 15.f4 c8 16.f3
(16.g4 h4 17.xc4 g5 Caruana,FArutinian,D/Rijeka CRO 2010) 16...e7 17.d2 g5
18.g3 gxf4 19.gxf4 h4! (19...b4 Leko,PCheparinov,I/Elista RUS 2008) 20.e4
g8 Leko,PAnand,V/Miskolc HUN 2009.
7.c3 (7.c4 White is happy to sacrifice a pawn to open up the centre and try to exploit his
lead in development, 7...xb2 8.0-0!? (8.bd2 is likely to transpose.) 8...e7 (The
rook is poisoned: 8...xa1 9.b3 d7 10.c3) 9.bd2 bc6 10.b3 dxc4 11.xc4
d8! this appears very strong. The idea is to simply put the knight on d5 and
complete development, see Kosteniuk,AKacheishvili,G/Las Vegas USA 2010)
7...xb2!? (7...c6 8.0-0!? xb2 9.e1 (9.b5 Ni HuaIonov,S/Dagomys RUS
2010) 9...cxd4 (9...c4 might be better, as 10.b1 xc2 11.xb7 b4 12.xb4! xb4 13.a1
xa2! 14.xa2 a4! was fine for Black in Motylev,AAlsina Leal,D/Moscow RUS
2011.) 10.xd4 xd4 11.xd4 b4 12.b1 (12.db5!? Karjakin,S
Tukhaev,A/Wroclaw POL 2010.) 12...xc3 13.xb2 xe1 14.xe1 b6 15.b5+ gave
Black problems in Gashimov,VIvanchuk,V/Reggio Emilia ITA 2011.) 8.b1!
xb1+ (8...xc2? Christiansen,LSeirawan,Y/Saint Louis USA 2011) 9.xb1 c4
10.xb7 c6 11.b5 (11.d2 b4 Inarkiev,EEljanov,P/Astrakhan RUS 2010.)
11...d8 12.c7 b8 13.d6+ xd6 14.exd6 b1+ 15.d1 xc2 16.d2 xd1
17.xd1 this position is difficult for Black, see Karjakin,SEljanov,P/Khanty
Mansiysk RUS 2010.
5...e7 6.0-0 (6.bd2 c5 7.dxc5 ec6 8.b3 xc5!? an unimpressive novelty. Black
should prefer (8...d7) 9.xc5 a5+ 10.c3 xc5 11.b3 e7 12.g5 c7 13.d4!
xd4 14.cxd4 White can massage Black at length with the two Bishops and did!
Svidler,PAzmaiparashvili,Z/Beer Sheva ISR 2005) 6...c5 (6...g6 7.bd2 f5 8.g4!?
Shirov,AMchedlishvili,M/Emsdetten GER 2010) 7.c4 (7.a3!? ec6 8.c4
Inarkiev,ERiazantsev,A/Olginka RUS 2011) 7...bc6 8.dxc5 grabbing the pawn,
8...d4 9.d3 xd3 10.xd3 g6 11.e4 xc5 12.bd2 Motylev,A
Maletin,P/Olginka RUS 2011.
5...b4+!? the idea is to bring the bishop round to c7 to put pressure on White's centre, but
it loses a lot of time, 6.bd2 d7 7.0-0 a5 8.b3 White went on to cause a major
upset in Sjugirov,SCarlsen,M/KhantyMansiysk RUS 2010.
6.0-0
33
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-wqkvlntr0
9zpp+n+pzpp0
9-+p+p+-+0
9+-+pzPl+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+-+-+N+-0
9PzPP+LzPPzP0
9tRNvLQ+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
6...h6
6...g6!? Grooten's patent, a common finesse, clearing f5 for a knight and waiting for
White to commit. Sometimes Black may play ...f6, and then if attacked the bishop
can slip back to f7. 7.c3 (7.bd2 h6 8.c4 (8.b3 b4!? Firman,N
Eljanov,P/Katernberg GER 2010) 8...e7 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.b3 0-0 11.d2 f6
Helstroffer,AGrooten,H/Bad Zwesten GER 2006) 7...a6 a semiwaiting move,
(7...h6 8.f4 (8.xh6!? this simple approach didn't work well in Bologan,V
Dreev,A/Poikovsky RUS 2006) 8...e7 9.bd2 f5 10.b4! Adams,M
Monroy,C/Caleta ENG 2011.) 8.bd2 h6 9.b3 f5 10.g3!? Ni Hua
Minasian,A/Moscow RUS 2007
6...e7 Black is not concerned about h4, 7.bd2 (7.b3!? c5 8.c3 c6 9.e3 c8 10.a3!? very
much as in the French Defence, White expands on the side of the board on which his
opponent is theoretically strongest, see Socko,BWojtaszek,R/Opole POL 2007.)
7...c5!? 8.c4! Vachier Lagrave,MDittmar,P/Caleta ENG 2009.
7.bd2 e7 8.b3
Trying to clamp Black's position.
8.c3 c7 Svidler,PNakamura,H/Donostia ESP 2009.
8...h7
8...c8 9.d2! e4!? 10.b4 exchanging the darksquared bishop, Ni Hua
Iordachescu,V/Moscow RUS 2007.
8...c8?! looks a bit odd, 9.a4!? grabbing space on the queenside, 9...e7 10.a5 0-0 (10...a6
Motylev,ARodshtein,M/Moscow RUS 2008) 11.e3 a6!? Vallejo Pons,F
Anand,V/Leon ESP 2008.
8...g5!? Black grabs space but he has to be careful that it's not too weakening, 9.h4 g6!
Volokitin,ARodshtein,M/Moscow RUS 2010.
9.h3
34
9.c3 doesn't lead to much, Zhigalko,SMchedlishvili,M/Dresden GER 2007.

9.d2 g6 10.c4 This is the key break. 10...dxc4 11.a5!? (Simply 11.xc4! when White's
space advantage may give him a small edge. ) 11...b8 12.xc4 b6 (12...h4
Lastin,ATimman,J/Baku AZE 2008) 13.a5 Mamedov,NJobava,B/Baku AZE
2008, ( but 13.xb6 axb6 14.b3 retains some edge.)
9.a4 Smirin,IRodshtein,M/Haifa ISR 2008.
9...a6 10.c3
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-wqkvl-tr0
9+p+nsnpzpl0
9p+p+p+-zp0
9+-+pzP-+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+NzP-+N+P0
9PzP-+LzPP+0
9tR-vLQ+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
10...c8 11.a4 c5 12.xc5 xc5 13.dxc5 xc5 14.e3 c8 15.a5 c6
16.b6 d7 17.b4 b8 18.d2 e7 19.d1!
Zhigalko,SAndreikin,D/Kirishi RUS 2005 Whereas Black's bishop on h7 is out of play,
White can bring his own lightsquared bishop into play with strong effect.
35
CaroKann Advance 3...Bf5 4.Nc3

[B12]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 f5 4.c3
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsn-wqkvlntr0
9zpp+-zppzpp0
9-+p+-+-+0
9+-+pzPl+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+-sN-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmKLsNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
In the Advance Variation with 3...f5 White has a wide choice on the 4th move. But
currently only two lines are really popular. The first is the very sharp approach of the
text.
4...e6
4...b6 Karpov decides to avoid the dangers of 4...e6 5 g4, instead adopting a much quieter
treatment. He was probably hoping to outplay his young opponent in a quiet
middlegame rather than indulge in any kind of theoretical battle. 5.f3 (Black
snatched the pawn with 5.d3 xd4 6.f3 g4 in Holmsten,AMinasian,A/Ubeda
Open 2000) 5...e6 6.e2 e7 (6...d7 7.0-0 e7 8.b3 g6 9.a4 d8 10.c4! f5 11.g4!?
Space is the name of the game in this line! Shirov,AAndreikin,D/Dagomys RUS
2008) 7.0-0 g4 8.a4 c7 9.b3 b5!? 10.b2 d7 11.c4 bxc4 12.bxc4 dxc4
13.g5!? Enterprising, but not necessarily the best. (Simply 13.xc4 d5 14.d2
would maintain a nice edge for White.) 13...xe2 14.xe2 Grischuk,A
Karpov,A/Linares ESP 2001.
4...a6
36
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsn-wqkvlntr0
9+p+-zppzpp0
9p+p+-+-+0
9+-+pzPl+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+-sN-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmKLsNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
The ultimate deterrent? This is something like a high class waiting move with which Black
keeps open the option of retreating his bishop to c8 and removes one of the potential
dangers of a later ...c6c5 by protecting the b5 square. 5.ce2 With Black playing
so slowly White also feels he can indulge in longterm strategic manoeuvres.
a) 5.d3 xd3 6.xd3 e6 7.ge2 c5 8.dxc5 c6 9.g3 ge7 10.g5 f5 11.xd8
xg3 12.hxg3 xd8 13.f4 xc5 Black is very comfortable here. If this game had
been played under normal tournament conditions I suspect that Karpov would have
won, Llobel Cortell,EKarpov,A/Manises ESP 2001.
b) 5.e3 c5 Playing this straight away looks very interesting.
b1) 5...h5!?N 6.f3 e6 7.d3 e7 8.0-0 d7 9.e2 c5! 10.dxc5 g4 11.fd4 xe5
12.b4 xd3 13.cxd3 e5 14.b3 d4 15.d2 d5 16.f4 A very murky position has
arisen where Black needs to demonstrate lightsquared superiority. 16...f6?! (To that
end 16...e4! is correct: 17.dxe4 xe4) 17.fxe5 fxe5 18.a5 h4 19.h3 f5 Vlassov,N
Bologan,V/Edda Rapid, Reykjavic ISL 2003
b2) 5...e6 6.g4 CaroKann Advance VariationQuestion from Reader/2008
6.dxc5 e6 7.f3 d7 8.b4 Hanging on to his illgotten gains, but now Black develops
powerful counterplay against the weakened queenside. 8...g4 9.d4 xf3 10.gxf3
e7 11.f4 b6!? Wiersma,EGrooten,H/Leeuwarder NED 2001.
5...e6 6.g3 g6 7.h4 h6 8.1e2 e7 9.f4 c5 10.xg6 xg6 11.d3 cxd4 12.xg6 fxg6
13.g4 d7 14.xg6+ f7 15.xf7+ xf7 This endgame is better for Black, he
has the better bishop and White has yet to recover the pawn on d4, Shirov,A
Anand,V/ Leon ESP 2001.
4...a5!? a new move, utterly different to 4...a6, which completely floors Sebag. Black stakes
out a claim on queenside space and denies White an attacking target (i.e. the bishop
on f5) 5.e3 a4 6.a3 b6 7.b1 a5 8.g4 d7 9.g2 e6 10.ge2 c5! 11.0-0 c6
12.f4 h5 13.h3 hxg4 14.hxg4 cxd4 15.xd4 xd4 16.xd4 c5 Sebag,M
Chiburdanidze,M/Elista RUS 2004, fascinating play.
5.g4
This line has never been more popular and hundreds of games were played at the top level
during the last two years. White's play may seem somewhat antipositional but it fits
well into one of the main principles of modern chess: White should fight for the
37
initiative at any cost. Another explanation of the popularity of this variation is the
fact Black is currently doing well in the Caro main lines with 3.c3 (let's say, in
Smyslov's 4...d7 and the Classical 4...f5). The main experts in this line are
A.Shirov, E. Sutovsky, I.Nataf (to name only a few) and among adherents of Black's
position are GMs E.Bareev, A.Dreev, I.Khenkin and yours truly!
5...g6 6.ge2
The "tabia" of the line. Now it's Black turn to choose a defensive system. After the text 7.h4
is a real threat as 7...h5 will be strongly met by 8 f4.
The premature 6.h4 leads White nowhere after 6...h5
6...e7
We took a look at this line last year when this defence was at the height of its popularity.
Since then many interesting games have been played, and the line has proved its
viability.
6...f6!? This old move is out of fashion nowadays but it's by no means bad. It fits in with
the well known principle that a flank attack should be countered by action in the
centre of the board. 7.h4! In my opinion, the best move. (7.f4 fxe5!? Looks risky
but is by no means bad. (7...f7 8.e2 d7 9.exf6 xf6 10.g5 xd4 11.xe6 xe6
12.xe6+ e7 13.e3 e5 14.g4 c5 15.0-0-0 xe3+ 16.fxe3 e7? Galdunts,S
Schulz,J/7th BayEM, Bad Wiessee GER 2003 Taking on e3 would have been both
courageous and correct. (16...xe3+ 17.b1 0-0-0) ) 8.xg6 (8.xe6 leads to a wild
position, one which is acceptable to Black, 8...e7 9.xf8 exd4+ 10.e2 dxc3
11.xg6 hxg6 12.d3 f6 13.xc3 (13.xg6+ f8 14.bxc3 Wegerle,J
Yevseev,D/Cappelle la Grande FRA 2004) 13...bd7! 14.e3 e4! Macieja,B
Postny,E/MaalotTarshiha ISR 2008) 8...hxg6 9.dxe5 d7 10.f4 The critical
position for the evaluation of White's plan. Although Black's pawn structure on the
Kside is exposed, in my opinion Black's chances are by no means worse. First of
all, Black's Knights are not at all inferior to White's Bishop's pair since both Bishops
are restricted by pawn chains. Also White can't really exploit the weakness of g6
pawn since Black can firmly protect it by playing ...e7 and after completing his
development (...c7, ... 0-0-0 to follow) Black can hope to obtain a comfortable
blockade position. 10...b4 11.d3 e7 12.0-0 c7 13.e2 Sacrificing a pawn
White tries to seize the initiative, Antonsen,MKortschnoj,V/Copenhagen 1996.)
7...fxe5 8.h5 f7 (8...exd4? is a gross blunder in view of 9.hxg6 dxc3 10.xh7! and White
wins.) 9.dxe5 d7 10.f4 White has managed to obtain a flexible pawn phalanx in the
centre of the board and a considerable space advantage. However the position is not
at all clear, since White lags behind in development after his many pawn moves.
10...b6 11.d4! The only way to fight for an opening advantage, (11.d3?!
Szoen,DDziuba,M/Lublin POL 2008) 11...c5 (11...c5?! Sax,GLauber,A/Gyula
1997) 12.f3 e7 Mekhitarian,KMolina,R/Rio de Janeiro BRA 2007.
6...c5 This has been Black's main reply throughout the decades (6...Ne7 which is very
popular now, was discovered only a few years ago). The appreciation of this move
has changed many times brilliant wins and severe losses have alternated with each
38
other. But the line is alive, and only last year was enriched with many interesting
ideas. 7.h4! This straightforward move is the best in this position. Now Black has to
decide how to save the Bishop. (7.e3 is the alternative to the text but Black's task is
not so difficult, 7...cxd4 8.xd4 b4 9.d2 d7 10.a3 a5 11.b1!? xc3 12.bxc3 a6 13.xb7
xa3 Kotronias,VKidambi,S/British Championship 2003.) 7...h5 The main line.
a) 7...cxd4 This line, which leads to wild complications, was popular in the Eighties,
but I believe after this game it will struggle to find new adherents. 8.xd4 h5 Now
9.Nf4 is impossible. 9.f4! (9.b5+ d7 10.f4! transposes.) 9...hxg4 (Black has also
tried 9...d7 but has failed to equalize: 10.f5 exf5 11.gxf5 xf5 12.xf5 xf5
13.xd5 c6 14.b5! ge7 15.e4 e6 (Or 15...xe4+ 16.xe4 f5 17.g5 e7 18.00-0! and Black still has difficulties to solve) 16.g5 0-0-0 17.xc6 bxc6 18.0-0!? and
White is better, GrassoBehl, 1995.) 10.b5+ d7 11.f5! The most consistent and
dangerous continuation. (The humble 11.xg4 h6 12.g2 b6!? is OK for Black.)
11...xh4! (11...xf5 as was played in SaxVadasz, Hungary 1985 is weak: 12.xf5
exf5 13.xd5 c7 14.f4 e7 and now White should play 15.d2 0-0-0 16.e6! and Black
is in trouble.) 12.f1! Officially theory considers this position as unclear, but I
believe White is better here. It is of note that major CaroKann experts (including
Karpov and Anand) always avoid this position with Black. 12...exf5 13.e6! The most
precise move again. (After 13.f4 a6! Black is OK) 13...fxe6 14.xe6 e7 15.e2
The critical position of this line. White sacrifices 3 (!) pawns but obtains a
dangerous initiative. First of all Black needs to parry the threats of 16 c7 and 16
d5, see NagelCuno for the analysis.
b) 7...h6 8.f4! True to his style, Shirov chooses the most aggressive continuation.
(8.e3 is the old (but not bad!) main line.) 8...e7 (After 8...c6 9.g2! intending
10.f5 is strong, and it's very dangerous for Black to grab a pawn: 9...cxd4 (9...e7 or
10.0-0 cxd4 11.xd4 c5 12.e3 xd4 13.xd4 xc2 14.d2! xd4+ 15.xd4 xh4 16.b5!
and Black's position can hardly be defended) 10.xd4 xd4 11.xd4 xc2 12.f5!
and White's attack is very strong) 9.g2! The pawn sacrifice is a logical followup.
(9.h5? h4+ 10.d2 h7 is clearly in Black's favor.) 9...xh4+ 10.f1 For a sacrificed
pawn, White has obtained a huge development advantage (especially taking into
consideration the fact Black will need one more move to return the Bishop). Black
has to solve some extremely difficult tasks. 10...e7 11.f5! Shirov,A
Nisipeanu,L/FIDE WCh Las Vegas 1999, an exciting game!
8.f4 c6!? Black allows White to destroy his pawn structure on the Kside, but in return
creates pressure on White's centre. (8...h7!? Black keeps his strong Bishop and
sacrifices a pawn, hoping to obtain a development advantage and exploit the
weakness of White's centre. This is a very interesting idea and the previous
perception of this position was that White held the advantage ..... 9.xh5 c6!
(9...cxd4 10.b5! Only by playing this move can White hope for an opening
advantage. 10...c6 11.xd4 xd4?!
a) 11...xe5 deserves attention and although after 12.f4 c6 13.b5 c8 14.e2
White has a development advantage and good attacking chances, the position is not
clear at all.
b) 11...ge7! A very recent, sensible improvement by Dreev. Black holds fire with
his Queen, preferring to develop, 12.g5 (12.c3 xe5 13.g5 Vallejo Pons,F
39
Karpov,A/Donostia ESP 2009) 12...a5+ 13.c3 xd4 14.xd4 c6 Fedorov,A

Dreev,A/Moscow 2003
12.xd4 e7 13.a4+ c6 14.g5 a5+?! The Queen exchange here is equal to
resignation, Shirov,AYermolinsky,A/Wijk aan Zee 1999. (14...b6 was relatively
better although after 15.0-0-0 xf2 16.h3! c8 17.c3! White is doing well) ) 10.dxc5
xc5 is a more accurate order of moves, if White takes on g7 he cedes a strong
initiative to Black and if he doesn't take his pawn structure is fragmented, 11.g2
(11.b5 d4? Nakamura,HBareev,E/Bastia FRA 2007) 11...g6 12.g5 Fedorov,A
Gyimesi,Z/Rabac CRO 2004) 9.xg6 fxg6 10.e2! (Other moves are also
insufficient, for example: 10.gxh5? cxd4 11.b5 xh5, or 10.e3? cxd4 11.xd4 h6!
12.gxh5 f5 with a huge edge for Black.) 10...cxd4 This move has a bad reputation,
but Black has something in mind...
a) 10...b6!? An idea of German GM Igor Khehkin. Black steps up the pressure on
White's centre. 11.f4! Consistently played: White attacks Black's weaknesses
without delay. 11...cxd4 12.xg6!? True to his style Morozevich grabs the first
opportunity to mix things up. Now vast complications arise. 12...b4+ 13.e2 The
critical position for evaluating Morozevich's idea, Morozevich,ABareev,E/Sarajevo
2000.
b) 10...hxg4 11.f4 is very dangerous for Black
c) and 10...ge7 is also not too hot 11.f4 cxd4 12.h3! (12.xe6?! d7 13.xf8 xf8
is OK for Black.)
11.xd4 Now the e6pawn is hanging but Black finds a very unusual way to protect it!
11...d7!? An attempted improvement over (11...xd4 12.xd4 d7 13.d3 e7 14.g5
hxg4 15.0-0-0 f5 16.xg4 with a huge edge for White, MannionCampbell, Largs
1998.) 12.h3 b6 13.c3? After this humble move, Black's opening idea is justified.
(The position of Black's King is very unsafe, therefore the Knight sacrifice
13.xe6! suggests itself. I analyzed this line quite a while and I can't see a good way
for Black to defend.) 13...xd4 14.cxd4 hxg4 15.xg4 e7 16.0-0 f5 Black has a
comfortable blockade, and he is ready to exploit White's weaknesses on the Kside,
Grischuk,AEhlvest,J/New Delhi 2000.
6...e7 GM Tony Miles was the main adherent of this line at the top level. This move looks
strange because the Knight on g8 now has no good square, but Black has something
in mind. He plans to play 7...d7 and then to undermine White's pawn chain by
playing...h7h5. After ...h7h5 White's usual reply is f4 destroying Black's pawn
structure on the Kside, but then it's not so dangerous for Black since he can protect
his g6pawn by playing ...f8. But in my opinion, this plan looks pretentious and
White can obtain better chances (of course, that is, if he plays accurately!) 7.e3
The most logical continuation. White prepares to castle on the Qside, and then take
action on the Kside (f2f4f5). (7.f4 g5?! Della Morte,GLafuente,P/Argentina
ARG 2007) 7...d7 8.d2 h5 9.f4 hxg4 10.xg6 fxg6 The critical position of the
line. 11.e2! f8 12.0-0-0 Nataf,IAndersson,F/Stockholm 2000.
6...h5!? is very rare indeed and Black soon has what seems to be a disgusting position.
However, appearances are deceptive! 7.f4 h4 8.xg6 fxg6 9.d3 e7 Thought
provoking, Sprenger,WPranjal,P/41st WJun, Goa IND 2002.
6...b4 has been played only rarely and prepares ...e7, ...c6c5 with the Bishop 'outside'
the chain. Wild positions can be reached with White going for the Achilles Heel at
40
g7: 7.e3 e7 8.h4 h5 9.f4 c5 10.xg6 xg6 11.gxh5 xh4 12.g4 cxd4
13.xh4 xc3+ 14.bxc3 dxe3 15.xg7 exf2+ 16.e2 f8 Van der Weide,K
Meduna,E/Prague CZE 2005. If White doesn't go in for this caveman approach
against g7 I am convinced that Black will emerge well from the opening.
7.f4
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsn-wqkvl-tr0
9zpp+-snpzpp0
9-+p+p+l+0
9+-+pzP-+-0
9-+-zP-sNP+0
9+-sN-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zP-zP0
9tR-vLQmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
Here 7.h4 is premature again: 7...h5 8.f4 hxg4 The bishop on g6 is protected that's the
idea behind 6...e7 9.xg6 xg6 10.h5 c5 11.xg4 cxd4
7.f4!? Virtually wins a piece by force but Black gets a massive centre. 7...c5 (7...h5!? this is
out of favour due to the next move, first devised by French GM Nataf, 8.f5!? exf5 9.g5
White's compensation is based on the influential f4 square, the entombed bishop on
g6 and the prospect of attacking f5 or playing on the queenside, Arizmendi
Martinez,JGomez Esteban,J/Leon ESP 2006) 8.g3 cxd4 9.b5 ec6 10.f5 c5
11.d6+! xd6 12.exd6 xd6 13.g2 f6 14.fxg6 hxg6 15.0-0 Anand,V
Karpov,A/GMA, Wijk aan Zee NED 2003.
7...c5 8.h4
This move used to be played automatically but early in 2000 Shirov discovered that
8.dxc5!? is a very interesting alternative and it quickly became very fashionable. This
simple move contains more than a drop of poison, White doesn't give up on the idea
of Bishophunting (8.h4), he just delays it for a move. 8...d7 (This game may well
persuade Black to return to the more popular 8...ec6 9.h4 c7!? 10.g2 (The hasty
10.h5 is not good: 10...xe5+ 11.e3 (11.e2 e4 12.h3 h6!) 11...e4 and if 12.f3
then 12...xc2!) 10...xe5+ 11.ce2 a6! An important novelty. 12.h5 e4 13.f3
0-0-0! Shirov,ABareev,E/Montecatini Terme 2000.) 9.h4 xe5 10.g2 (10.b5+
7c6 11.e2 a6! and Black successfully solves all his opening problems.) 10...h5 A
fairly passive treatment by Karpov, could he do better? (Sergei Shipov subsequently
suggested the sharp 10...d4!? 11.ce2 (11.h5 dxc3) 11...7c6 after which 12.h5
(12.xc6+ xc6 13.h5 e4 is good for Black) 12...xc2 13.xc2 d3 with good
counterplay.) 11.e2 7c6 (11...xg4 12.b5 d7 13.d6+ d8 14.c4 with a growing
initiative.) 12.xg6 xg6 13.g5! Kasparov unleashes his home cooking, the text
41
improving Shirov Karpov, Monaco 2000. (In that game White had played 13.xd5
but had nothing special after 13...xc5 14.g5 ge7 and in complications Black
managed to maintain the balance.) 13...e7 14.gxh5 Kasparov,GKarpov,A/Linares
ESP 2001. And White won very convincingly over his long time archrival.
8...cxd4 9.b5 ec6 10.h5 e4 11.f3

The Bishop is trapped but Black takes all White's central pawns in return.
11...a6!?
Discussion of the merits of 11 ...a6!? continues. White still has not found anything special
after Anand's 13 ...g5!?.
11...xf3 12.xf3 xe5 13.g3 (13.f2!? xg4 14.e2 led to a quick White crush in
Agdestein,SOstenstad,B/chNOR, Roros NOR 2002) 13...bc6 The knight on b5
is in trouble now so White has to do something. 14.d3 f6 15.f4 This Knight
manoeuvre slightly loosens Black's position. 15...f7 16.c3 (16.g5!? deserved
attention, according to Alexey Fedorov.) 16...dxc3 17.bxc3 c8 An attempt to
improve on Black's previous play. (17...d4 Fedorov,AAsrian,K/Sankt Peterburg
1997.) 18.h3 Preparing g4g5. (The immediate 18.g5!? deserves attention as well.)
18...a5 Now Black' s idea is clear: to protect the weak e6square with a Knight on
d8, and then try to exploit White's weaknesses on the queenside. White needs to play
very energetically to refute this plan. 19.g5! Sutovsky,EPodgaets,M/Koszalin
(Poland) 1998.
12.d6+
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsn-wqkvl-tr0
9+p+-+pzpp0
9p+nsNp+-+0
9+-+pzP-+P0
9-+-zplsNP+0
9+-+-+P+-0
9PzPP+-+-+0
9tR-vLQmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
12.fxe4 Although White won this game, this novelty doesn't look very promising. By the
way, I would like to say the following thing. Many players during their opening
preparation study only games with a positive result, (for example, if somebody plays
the CaroKann with Black, he studies only Black's wins). In my opinion, this is a
serious mistake. Sometimes lost games contain very interesting opening ideas, and
the outcome of the game may depend on a later mistake. So my advice to you is:
42
NEVER ignore lost games. 12...axb5 13.exd5 exd5 Of course, Black's pawns look
ugly, but other factors are more important. White's pawns are weak as well, and his
King can't feel safe on the kingside (Pawns can't move backwards!) or on the
queenside due to the open afile. Besides one of Black's "ugly" pawns is an extra
pawn, and White needs some tempi to win it back. 14.g2
a) One of the main experts in this line, French GM Igor Nataf, introduced a very
interesting idea 14.h6!? NatafVolzhin, Stockholm 2000. I suffered a terrible
defeat after 14...g6?! 15.g2 b4+ 16.d2! xd2+ 17.xd2 0-0 18.xd5 d7 19.00 dxe5 20.g5! Black's position is very difficult in view of the poor position of his
King.
b) Of course if 14.xb5?? a5+
c) 14.e2 does not look very promising: 14...b4+ 15.f2 0-0 16.xb5 e8
(16...a5 17.e2 d7 18.e6 de5) 17.xd5 xe5 with unclear play, according to Emil
Sutovsky.
14...b4+ 15.f1 (15.c3? dxc3 16.0-0 was bad for White, for example: 16...c5+ 17.h2 0-0
18.bxc3 h4+ 19.h3 xe5 winning) 15...xe5 16.xd5 d6?! (It was better to
develop the Knight with 16...bc6 protecting both the Bishop and the pawn on d4 (by
the way, the Knight doesn't move till the very end of the game!). I definitely prefer
Black here, as he has very strong Knights in the centre and White's King is exposed.
It's important that White's attempt to win a piece by 17.e2 0-0 18.xb4 could be
strongly met by 18...f6+! 19.g1 xb4 with a big advantage.) 17.h6 g6 18.xd4 0-0
Still wellknown theory! 19.b6?! White's attempt to reach an endgame is very
logical not only because he has a pair of Bishops, but also because his King is too
exposed but this was probably not the best decision at this precise moment. (19.g5?!
A novelty but of rather dubious merits. 19...bd7! Salmensuu,O
Volzhin,A/Gausdal 2000. (19...bc6 20.b6 c8 21.f6+ h8 22.f2 and Black's
development advantage does not look too important, since he has to take care of his
King, for example: 22...b4 23.e4 c4+ 24.g2 g4 25.f3 e5 26.f1 with a clear
advantage.) ) 19...xb6 20.xb6 a6 21.e3 xg4 22.g1 Currently one can draw
the following conclusion: Black is doing well in this line. But when I asked GM
Emil Sutovsky if this line is dead for White, he just smiled and said: "We shall
see...". So there is no doubt that great battles in this line still lie ahead... Sutovsky,E
Christiansen,L/Essen 1999.
12...xd6 13.exd6 g5
This is Anand's improvement. In a previous game all Black's problems were based on the
fact that the White pieces could be comfortably and strongly placed on very good
central squares like e4 or f5. Now Black tries to retain and fortify his pawn mass in a
different way.
Black shouldn't spend time taking the pawn on d6: 13...xd6?! as after 14.g2!? f5 15.0-0
0-0 16.fxe4 dxe4 17.c3! White has excellent chances to demolish Black's strong
pawn centre: 17...d3 18.b3 d2 19.xd2 xd2 20.xe6!? (20.xe6+ followed by
f2 and gxf5 is also good enough.) 20...a5 21.d1 with a huge advantage.
13...e5 14.fxe4! (After 14.h3?! f5! 15.fxe4 fxe4 Black's central pawn mass looks very
attractive and solid the position is far from clear.) 14...dxe4 Taking the pawn, not
43
the Knight! (14...exf4?! seems to be in White's favour: 15.exd5 a5+ 16.f2 xd5 17.g2
xd6 18.e1+ f8 19.f3 followed by Bf4 and Black is in trouble: the pair of Bishops
are very strong plus the Black King has not castled so the Rook on h8 cannot be
developed.) 15.e2 Nataf,IAtalik,S/Capelle la Grande 1999.
14.h3
Of course not 14.hxg6? xg6 and the Bishop is alive.
14...h6 15.fxe4 dxe4
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsn-wqk+-tr0
9+p+-+p+-0
9p+nzPp+-zp0
9+-+-+-zpP0
9-+-zpp+P+0
9+-+-+-+N0
9PzPP+-+-+0
9tR-vLQmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
16.g2 f5 17.0-0 0-0
Probably the critical position for an assessment of Black's idea. It looks like White has only
one way to destroy Black's pawn centre by giving a piece back. The question is
whether White will be able to find the appropriate place and time.
18.gxf5!?
18.c3? Logical: White is trying to undermine Black's pawn centre, and he also gets the
possibility of a Queen sortie to b3, but it was not easy to foresee that this greatly
helps Black's development. 18...xd6 19.gxf5 (In case of 19.e3 d7 20.xd4 xd4
21.xd4 xd4+ 22.cxd4 b6 it is White who has problems in this endgame due to his
very bad minor pieces but nevertheless this was probably the best option.) 19...exf5
20.b3+ Topalov,VAnand,V/Linares 1999 A brilliant victory by Vishy Anand.
(20.e3 d7 21.cxd4 b6 22.b3+ d5 was fine for Black.)
18...exf5
44
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsn-wq-trk+0
9+p+-+-+-0
9p+nzP-+-zp0
9+-+-+pzpP0
9-+-zpp+-+0
9+-+-+-+N0
9PzPP+-+L+0
9tR-vLQ+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
19.xe4!?
A new try which does not bring any advantage.
The attempt to change the move order does not work: 19.xg5?! hxg5 20.xe4 xd6!
21.g2 g4 and 22.xf5 is bad: 22...gxh3 23.g4+ h8 24.xf8+ xf8 25.f1 g7
keeping a material advantage, according to Evgeny Solozhenkin.
19...fxe4 20.xg5
Nataf,ISolozhenkin,E/France 1999.
45
CaroKann Exchange Variation [B13]

1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 exd5 cxd5 4 d3
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsnlwqkvlntr0
9zpp+-zppzpp0
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+p+-+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+-+L+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tRNvLQmK-sNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
Larsen has tried delaying this move, evidently unconcerned that theory says he must
prevent ...c8f5:
4 c3 c6 (4...f5 5 b3!? seizes the initiative.) 5 f4!? f5 6 d3 (6 b3 d7 7 f3 e6 8 bd2
ge7 Black's deployment of his King's Knight implies that he is considering ...f7f6.
9 e2 f6 10 0-0 g5 Lalic tries to seize the initiative! 11 e3 g7 12 ac1 0-0 13 c4 g6 14
a4 fd8 An interesting struggle lies ahead, Seul,GLalic,B/Klub Koelner SF SF
Lohmar ( tt ) 2004) 6...g6 7 f3 e6 8 0-0 d6 9 xd6 xd6 10 xg6 hxg6 11
bd2 led to a tough struggle in Larsen,BSeirawan,Y/Las Palmas (Spain) 1981.
4 f3 c6 5 f4!? at first sight looks a little dry, but White delays c3 in order to play
5...b6 6 c3!, when the threat of b5 is awkward. 5...g4 6 c3 xf3 7 xf3 e6 8
d2 d6 9 g3 ge7 10 d3 0-0 11 0-0-0 b5 Sveshnikov,EDreev,A/Tallinn
EST 2004.
4...c6
4...g6 5 c3 g7 6 f4 In my opinion this move is inferior to Morozevich's 6.Nf3 (see later)
since it's premature to determine the position of White's darksquare Bishop.
6...c6 7 e2?! This move is the source of White's further troubles. (The natural 7
f3 should be undoubtedly preferred.) 7...f6 8 g3 I don't like White's setup as
the Knight has no prospects at all here. 8...0-0 9 0-0 d7! Black finds a very good
plan (e7e5). 10 d2 (10 d2 e5! 11 dxe5 dxe5 12 b3 d4 and in the open position
46
Black's pieces are more active, for example: 13 xd4 xd4 14 cxd4 xd4 and Black
wins the b2pawn.) 10...e5 11 h6 e4! 12 xg7 xg7 13 c2 f5 Black can be
perfectly satisfied with the results of the opening fight: he has a clear edge due to his
space advantage and the possibility of a Kside attack, Uritzky,M
Alterman,B/Israel 1999.
5 c3
This is the initial position of the Exchange Variation. The pawn structure arising in this line
dictates the plans for both sides. White prepares to occupy the outpost on e5
followed by a Kside attack, and Black, for his part, prepares a minority attack on
the Qside. By the way, a similar pawn structure (with reversed colors) and similar
plans often occurs in the Exchange Variation of the QGD.
5 c3 is an 'accidental gambit', see Eric Grubbs Variation/Analysis 2008.
5...f6
5...c7!? An interesting attempt to prevent f4. This move is played rather seldom but
certainly it deserves more attention. 6 g5
a) Another idea is to insist on developing the darksquared bishop to the f4square:
6 e2 but the obvious drawback of this move is that the Knight is misplaced here
and doesn't control the important e5square. In my opinion the following method is
good for Black: 6...g4! 7 f3 d7 8 f4 e5!? 9 dxe5 xe5
b) 6 h3!? f6 (6...g6 7 e2 h6!? didn't work out very well in Conquest,S
Houska,J/Canterbury ENG 2010) 7 f3 (7 e2 e5! 8 dxe5 xe5 with an excellent
isolated queen pawn position, Krivoborodov,EJobava,B/Moscow RUS 2008.)
7...g6 8 0-0 g7 9 e1 0-0 10 g5 e8 Ehlvest,JPopov,I/Moscow RUS 2009.
6...f6 7 d2 g4 8 gf3 e6 9 h4 d6 10 g3 h5! We have already seen this
manoeuvre before, here it's sound as well. 11 xd6 xd6 Illescas Cordoba,M
Anand,V/Linares 1994.
5...g6 This line leads to more complicated play. As we already know, the most likely White
plan is Kside activity, but after the flank development of Black's Bishop White's
chances for a Kside attack are minimal. Moreover, sometimes Black tries to seize
the initiative here by exchanging lightsquared bishops on the f5square hoping to
obtain pressure on the gfile. The drawback of this plan is that Black's bishop is
restricted by White's pawn chain (d4c3b2) and cannot support his minority attack
on the Qside. 6 f3 (6 f4 g7 7 f3 f6 8 bd2 0-0 9 0-0 h5 10 g5?! Planless play
by White but typical of weaker players who have no real plan. With a quick ...f7f6,
Black soon exploits the unfortunate position of this bishop: 10...c7 11 e1 h8 12
e2 f6 13 e3 e5! Mahboobi,SRajadharshini,M/Tehran IRI 2004, Black's overall
plan is working perfectly., 6 h3 h6 7 f3 f5 8 0-0 xd3 9 xd3 f5 10 f4 g7 11 bd2
0-0 12 fe1 a5 13 e5 c8 14 e2 a6 15 ae1 Easy chess by White who has almost
sauntered her pieces to good squares. 15...e8 16 g4 d6 17 g3 b5 18 xg6! BANG
here's the sting! Dolzhikova,KGutsko,A/ALushta UKR 2004) 6...g7 7 h3 (I
played this line once with Black, NeverovVolzhin, Cairo 1999. The game
continued: 7 0-0 f6 8 e1 0-0 9 f4 f5 10 xf5 gxf5 11 e5! e6 (11...e4 is
47
senseless in view of 12 f3) 12 g5! The correct plan: in this pawn structure the
Knights are better than the Bishop. 12...c7 13 xf6 xf6 14 d3 ab8 and here
draw was agreed although White is slightly better after 15 d2) 7...h6 8 0-0 0-0 9
e1 f5 10 f4 f6 11 bd2 e8 12 b3 e5! Black can't delay this move, otherwise
13.c3c4 is unpleasant, Morozevich,AAdianto,U/ Amsterdam 1996. (12...h8 13 c4
with a clear edge.)
6 f4
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqkvl-tr0
9zpp+-zppzpp0
9-+n+-sn-+0
9+-+p+-+-0
9-+-zP-vL-+0
9+-zPL+-+-0
9PzP-+-zPPzP0
9tRN+QmK-sNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
The main line.
Recently White has begun to deviate from this main line by playing 6 g5!? e4!? is a
very interesting alternative to the text. White can win a pawn: (6...g4 7 b3 d7! 8
d2 e6 9 gf3 Rausis,IBerg,K/Gausdal (Norway) 1993, 6...e6 7 f3 e7 8 0-0 c7 9
bd2 Rausis,IBruneel,I/Lyons 1993, 6...g6 7 xf6 exf6 8 f3 e6 9 e2 brought
pressure to bear on d5 in Bhend,ECiric,D/Zurich 1990) 7 h4 (7 xe4 dxe4 8 d5 e5 9
a4+, as in Weenink,HGudju,I/The Hague 1931, is a dangerous pawn snatch)
6 h3 is the old move. It prevents Bishop's sortie to g4 but allows 6...e5 and after 7 dxe5
xe5 Black has good play: development advantage and active position of his minor
pieces are ample compensation for the weakness of the isolated d5pawn.
6...g4 7 b3 d7
7...a5 was played in the famous game FischerPetrosian, Belgrade 1970. This game is a
model one for White: 8 a4+ d7 9 c2 e6 10 f3 b6 11 a4! A very strong move
which prevents 11...b5 exchanging the bad d7Bishop for its strong counterpart.
7...c8!? Another good possibility for Black. In comparison with 7...d7 this move has it's
merits and drawbacks. Now Black can't exchange darksquared Bishops by playing
...d6, on the other hand now Black is not forced to exchange his lightsquared
Bishop with White's Knight on f3 (e5 is no longer threatened). 8 d2 e6 9 gf3
e7 (9...h5 10 0-0 g6 Pilaj,HLendwai,R/AUT 2004, was a very direct and brief
reminder that Black cannot underestimate the White attacking plan.) 10 0-0 h5!
This manoeuvre (g4h5g6) is typical for this line, Black's Bishop has no better
48
role than to exchange off its counterpart. 11 e5 xe5 12 xe5 0-0 The critical
position of this line, Upton,THracek,Z/Pula 1997.
8 d2 e6 9 gf3 xf3! 10 xf3 d6 11 g3!?

This humble move is indeed a very interesting move which poses serious problems for
Black.
11 xd6 xd6 is the usual continuation but in numerous games Black successfully solved
his opening problems. 12 xb7 b8 13 a6 0-0 has long been thought to give Black
sufficient compensation for the pawn, and practice has more than confirmed that
suspicion.
11...0-0
Best.
11...xg3 I don't like this move since the opening of the hfile gives White additional
possibilities. 12 hxg3 a6 13 f1! The correct approach: White needn't castle since
his Rook on h1 is already developed! 13...c7 14 e1 Short,N
Ehlvest,J/Tallinn/Paernu 1998.
12 c2!
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-+-trk+0
9zpp+q+pzpp0
9-+nvlpsn-+0
9+-+p+-+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+-zPL+NvL-0
9PzPQ+-zPPzP0
9tR-+-mK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
12...ac8
12...g6 doesn't appear necessary, 13 0-0 h5 14 xd6 xd6 15 fe1 ac8 Mista,A
Dziuba,M/Chotowa POL 2009.
12...h6 seems better.
13 e2
Intending 14.Ne5, White has a small but steady advantage.
49
CaroKann Panov Attack 5...Nc6

[B13]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4

The PanovBotvinnik Attack is one of White's most threatening systems against Black's
CaroKann Defence.
4...f6 5.c3
In the socalled Gundaram Variation with 5.c5, Black's most challenging line is 5...b6 (both
5...e6 6.b4 e7 7.f3 0-0 8.d3 b6 9.b2 (Korman,USvensson,C/Swedish Corr. Team
Ch., 1976), and 5...g6 6.c3 g7 7.b5+ c6 8.ge2 (Mariotti,SMeduna,E/Biel 1982)
seem to leave White with pressure) 6.b4 a5 7.b5 bxc5 8.dxc5 e6!? (8...e5) 9.c6 e4
Frey,WHabermann,A/corr FRGch 1981.
5...c6
In recent years this has been adopted by two players who hardly ever lose, namely Kramnik
and Leko. So you are in good company if you want a solid, albeit slightly worse,
position.
5...e6 Will transpose to code B14, or a SemiTarrasch after 6.f3 e7 7.cxd5 xd5 8.d3
6.g5
50
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqkvl-tr0
9zpp+-zppzpp0
9-+n+-sn-+0
9+-+p+-vL-0
9-+PzP-+-+0
9+-sN-+-+-0
9PzP-+-zPPzP0
9tR-+QmKLsNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
This is more direct than 6 f3, White isn't interested in trying to grind out a win in the
endgame that usually occurs here. The bold text move usually leads to a hard fought
middlegame.
6.f3 g4 7.cxd5 xd5 8.b3 xf3 (8...xc3 9.bxc3 c7!? different, Glodeanu,I
Fuhrmann,M/Miercurea Ciuc ROM 2004) 9.gxf3 e6 (9...b6?! Black avoids the
difficulties of the endgame, but this just seems good for White. 10.d5 (10.e3 An
equally good alternative. 10...e6 11.0-0-0 e7 12.d5! This forces open lines in the centre
which favours White's two bishops. 12...exd5 13.xd5 xd5 14.xd5 Payen,A
Koskinen,V/Jyvaskyla FIN 2000.) 10...d4 11.b5+! d7 12.a4 xb5 the safest
path, (12...xf3+ 13.f1! This keeps the e2 square for the knight and is so best. 13...a6
14.e2 fe5 15.f4! Rudolf,HFuhrmann,D/Porz GER 1998.) 13.xb5 g6 14.0-0 g7
15.e1 0-0 16.g5 Potkin,VWang Hao/Ningbo CHN 2010) 10.xb7 xd4
11.b5+ xb5 12.c6+! (More accurate than the immediate 12.xb5+ d7 13.xd7+
xd7 as White wants to force an endgame in which the black king is on the worse
square e7.) 12...e7 13.xb5 d7 14.xd5+ xd5 (14...exd5!? might not be as bad
as its reputation, see Short,NNi Hua/Liverpool ENG 2007) 15.xd5 (The
zwischenzug 15.g5+!? is analysed in Bologan,VVelicka,P/Bern SUI 1999. A
good idea or not? Although in some scenarios leaving the black pawn on f7 can
make it a useful target for a white rook on the seventh rank, probably the answer is
yes, as in the future the fact that the e6 square is available for a rook check can prove
important. As you will see from the analysis of the Bologan game it was also
Karpov's choice against Kramnik. 15...f6 16.xd5 exd5 17.e3 e6 18.0-0-0 b4
19.b1 (White can also try for direct pressure on d5 with 19.d3 which was Karpov's
choice in his epic 99 (!) move battle against Kramnik at Linares in 1993.) 19...hd8
20.d3 d7 21.c1 a5! This fine move prevents Black being tied down to the a
pawn after White's projected c6 and a6.) 15...exd5 16.e3 controlling d4 and
attacking a7.
a) Another interesting example is 16.f4!? f6 (16...d7 Black decides his king will
be best placed on c6, though it is eventually driven back over to e6. 17.0-0-0 c6
18.d3 d6!) 17.0-0-0 see Onischuk,ADreev,A/Moscow RUS 2002.
b) 16.0-0 is also popular, 16...d8 preparing to push the dpawn, (16...e6 17.e1+
f5 18.d1 Adams,MDreev,A/Wijk aan Zee NED 2002.) 17.d1 d4! Guliev,L
Wang Yue/Nakhchivan AZE 2011.
51
16...e6 With his 16th move Black defends d5 and clears the way for his bishop to enter
the game. It is evident that in the long term the pawn on d5 is going to come under
attack. Therefore it is imperative for Black that he finds a way to maintain its
defence without putting one or more of his pieces in a dangerously passive situation.
In fact a good player of Black will always be looking for the best moment to jettison
the pawn in return for activity with his other pawns and pieces. This activity will
usually consist of an attack on White's weakened kingside. Thus the black king will
rarely finish the game on e6. Often he goes to the kingside to generate counterplay
with ...f5 etc, usually in combination with an advance of the kingside pawns, or
sometimes he goes to c6 via d7 to defend the d5 pawn in a different way if the
situation requires it which normally means the white rooks have driven him away
from the efile. Meanwhile, White's usual strategy is to attack the pawns on d5 and
a7 and, if he can't win them, then at least tie down Black's pieces to their defence.
17.0-0-0 b4 18.b1 hc8 Here, Black succeeds in holding the endgame with a
precise mixture of patient defence and threatened counterplay, David,P
Velicka,P/CZE 1998. However, in my opinion defending this endgame is a thankless
task for Black, his general record is an awful lot of draws, the occasional loss and
very rarely a win. Kramnik succeeded in getting an excellent position as Black
against Karpov but if you enjoy your chess I would recommend you choose a
different variation.
6.c5 isn't good here, 6...e5! 7.dxe5 g4! Barle,JFridman,D/Rijeka CRO 2010.
6...e6
The most popular response, but other ideas deserve to be mentioned:
6...a5 7.d2 (7.xf6 the most common move but I don't think this promises White any
advantage, 7...exf6 8.cxd5 b4! when 9.dxc6 just leads to a forced draw, Kovacevic,A
Ivanisevic,I/Vrsac SRB 2010) 7...dxc4 8.xc4 xd4? (Curiously, the Encyclopaedia
of Chess Openings only gives 8...e6 without even mentioning this obvious capture,
but that (and the fact that White has deliberately left it to be taken) should have 'told'
Black "Don't dare devour the d4pawn!".) 9.b5 b6 10.xd4 xd4 11.a4+ 1-0
Le Blancq,SEales,R/Folkestone 1984.
6...dxc4 7.xc4!? the gambit continuation, (7.d5 e5 (7...a5 8.xc4 xc4 9.a4+ d7
10.xc4 the white d5pawn has a cramping effect on Black's development, but 10...e6
seems an adequate reply.) 8.d4 h6 9.f4 Vajda,LRingoir,T/Szombathely HUN
2010.) 7...h6! this move has been scoring well for Black, (7...xd4 8.xd4 xd4 9.0-0-0
e5! is unclear, 7...e6 8.f3 e7 9.0-0 with transposition into a Queen's Gambit
Accepted, Grischuk,ADreev,A/Moscow RUS 2007) 8.h4 (8.xf6 exf6 9.f3 d6
10.0-0 0-0 with the bishop pair) 8...e6 9.f3 e7 10.0-0 0-0 with a fairly typical IQP
position in Naiditsch,AEljanov,P/Sibenik CRO 2010.
6...e6 often transposes to [B14], 7.f3 e7 8.c5 0-0 9.b5 e4 equalised in Klundt,K
Dautov,R/Bad Weissee 2001.
7.a3!?
52
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-wqkvl-tr0
9zpp+-zppzpp0
9-+n+lsn-+0
9+-+p+-vL-0
9-+PzP-+-+0
9zP-sN-+-+-0
9-zP-+-zPPzP0
9tR-+QmKLsNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
This is one of the main weapons against the system with 5 ...c6 and 6 ...e6, but why?
Basically there are scenarios in which Black plays ...a5 (+) and it's useful to have
the response b2b4 handy. Also, in the future White may well close the centre with
c4c5, and then want to begin an attack with b2b4, and 7.a3 will prove to have
been a useful preparatory move. Thirdly, in some cases to have prevented ...c6b4
will have been useful.
7.e2!? This is a quiet move but as the game shows it can be dangerous against inaccurate
play. 7...a5 The most active reply. 8.f3 (8.c5 is slightly unusual, White hopes to
play a3 and b4 with gain of tempo, which forces Black's hand, 8...e4 9.d2 d8 a
slight nuance, (9...c7 see Morozevich,AAnand,V/Moscow RUS 2002) 10.f3
xd2 11.xd2 g6 12.ge2 h5 13.f4 h6 the pin indirectly defends the d5pawn
and allows Black to develop normally, Robson,RBerkes,F/Paks HUN 2010)
8...d8 9.0-0 dxc4 10.e1!? Ignoring any threat to capture on d4. 10...h6? (10...b5
11.c1!?) 11.xf6 gxf6 12.f1! g7 13.xe6! This exchange sacrifice decides the
game, Kalod,RPalkovi,J/CZE 1998.
Worthy of attention is 7.f3 e4 8.e2!? xc3 9.bxc3 dxc4 10.b1 and White has
compensation for the pawn, McDonald,NLee,G/Hinckley Island ENG 2009.
7...d7
7...g6!? It is rather annoying for players of White if Black can get away with making this
natural move, despite all the pressure on the d5 and f6 squares. 8.xf6 exf6 9.c5 g7
10.b5 0-0 11.ge2 f5 12.d3 (12.0-0 f6 13.xc6 bxc6 14.f4 c8!) 12...f4! and Black
is very dynamic, Friedel,JWang Hao/KhantyMansiysk RUS 2009.
8.xf6
The direct approach.
8.b4 d8 9.xf6 exf6 10.c5 g6 11.b5! Of course the aim of this move is not to pin the
Black Knight. Firstly, it is the only square the Bishop could be developed on to let
the Knight on g1 go to e2 and secondly, as will be clear later the Bishop is not going
to stay there, it will move to b3, creating pressure on the d5 pawn (together with a2
53
and maybe f4) and at the same time free the way for a queenside pawn advance.
11...h6 12.ge2 0-0 13.0-0 f5 14.a4! Lanka,ZBauer,C/Cappelle 1994.
8...gxf6!
Typical for this line.
9.c5!
White stabilises the centre in order to develop his kingside. After that he has good attacking
possibilities on the queenside with b4b5 and so on.
9.e2!? A clever move to rule out 9...g4. 9...0-0-0 10.c5 f5? (Much more active was
10...g8! which by attacking g2 immediately would prevent White from carrying out
the strategy he employs in the game.) 11.f3 e5 12.b4 g8 13.0-0!! This prepares an
excellent exchange sacrifice, Hansen,CHector,J/Sigeman, Malmoe SWE 1998.
9.g3?! 0-0-0! 10.g2 The d5 square is creaking but Black does not care. 10...g4 Forcing
White to close the long diagonal. 11.f3 e6 12.c5 f5 Now it is not necessary to
retreat to e6, Topalov,VLeko,P/Vienna 1996.
9...g4 10.f3 f5 11.b5 e5
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-+kvl-tr0
9zpp+q+p+p0
9-+n+-zp-+0
9+LzPpzpl+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9zP-sN-+P+-0
9-zP-+-+PzP0
9tR-+QmK-sNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
According to Zigurds Lanka, better was 11...h6 with the idea of putting the Bishop on e3
and castling kingside.
12.ge2 0-0-0 13.0-0 e6 14.h1 h6 15.xc6!? bxc6 16.e1 e3 17.a4

Having a pair of Knights, White successfully keeps Black's bishop pair unemployed thanks
to his initiative on the queenside, Lanka,ZLeko,P/Budapest 1996.
54
CaroKann Panov 5...g6, 5...e6 [B14]

1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 exd5 cxd5 4 c4 f6 5 c3 g6
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsnlwqkvl-tr0
9zpp+-zpp+p0
9-+-+-snp+0
9+-+p+-+-0
9-+PzP-+-+0
9+-sN-+-+-0
9PzP-+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmKLsNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
The position now resembles the Grnfeld but without pawns on c7 and e2. At first glance
you might think this difference favoured Black after all, in the Grnfeld White is
able to build a big centre with e2e4. Perhaps in the long term there is some truth in
this, but in the Panov setup the fact that White's king's bishop isn't blocked in by a
pawn on e2 gives him the chance to act quickly to gain a lasting initiative.
5...e6 is a solid alternative, that often leads to IQP positions: 6 f3 (This may be a good
moment to play 6 c5!? like a delayed Gundaram 6...e7 7 f3 (7 c2!? 0-0 8 f3 b6 9
b4 bxc5 10 bxc5 Skorchenko,DTarlev,K/Voronezh RUS 2005) 7...0-0 8 b4!? b6
Black must neutralise the white pawns ASAP, Morozevich,ABareev,E/Dortmund
GER 2002) 6...b4 (6...e7 7 cxd5 exd5 (7...xd5 8 d3 transposes to the Semi
Tarrasch.) 8 d3 0-0 9 h3 c6 10 0-0 h6 11 f4 e6 12 e1 e8 13 a3 is a way to
handle the Panov which cannot be recommended to Black. White has a small, secure
edge with the more active Bishops, Milov,VKobalia,M/Ajaccio FRA 2004) 7 cxd5
xd5 (7...exd5 It is surely a question of taste, but I find this move passive. 8 d3 00 (8...e7+ is perhaps the most solid, although utterly colourless: 9 e5 c6 10 0-0 0-0
Potkin,VMeister,Y/Sochi RUS 2004, a full game which typifies the dreary play in
this line.) 9 0-0 c6 10 g5 e6 11 e1 with an edge, Korneev,ADolmatov,S/56th
chRUS, Krasnoyarsk RUS 2003) 8 c2 (8 d2 c6 9 d3 is also a good choice,
9...e7 10 0-0 0-0 (10...db4 Bareev,ELjubojevic,L/Monaco MNC 2002) 11
xd5!?
55
a) 11 a3 f6 12 e3 b6 13 e2 b7 14 ad1 c7 15 fe1 ad8= Black finds an

effective way to develop, Greet,AHouska,J/Port Erin IOM 2004
b) 11 e1 f6 (11...f6 12 e4 xd4!? risky, but possibly playable, 13 eg5 h6?!
(Although here 13...xb2 has to be played) 14 xd4 xd4 15 h7 e8 16 xh6 e5
17 h5 gxh6 18 xe5 xe5 19 xe5 c6 20 xd5 Shanava,K
Mchedlishvili,M/Kusadasi TUR 2006) 12 g5 h6 13 e3 b4 14 b1 b6 15 d2
e8 16 a3 bd5 17 xd5 exd5 18 xh6!? A sharp sacrifice which Black must
decline. The whole game is of interest as Black chooses a rational defensive
approach, Kryvoruchko,YRiazantsev,A/Cappelle la Grande FRA 2006
11...exd5 12 b3 f6 13 c3 a5 14 a3 g4!= Lputian,SBologan,V/4th Karpov It,
Poikovsky RUS 2003 Although Black got overambitious and went on to lose.)
8...c6 (8...c7!? Potkin,VAsrian,K/Moscow RUS 2002) 9 e2
a) avoiding the sharp pawn sac line: 9 d3 a5 (9...h6 Generally I don't like this
move in an IQP position because of batteries along the b1-h7 diagonal. Nevertheless,
Black seems to be able to render such threats meaningless, so perhaps the whole idea
is playable, 10 0-0 0-0 11 h7+ (11 a3 d6 12 h7+ h8 13 e4 is similar, Adams,M
Akopian,V/Yerevan ARM 2008) 11...h8 12 e4 ce7 13 b3 Adams,M
David,A/Liverpool ENG 2008.) 10 a3 xc3 11 bxc3 xd4 12 xd4 xd4 13 b5+
d7 14 0-0 see Nepomniachtchi,IRodshtein,M/Moscow RUS 2008.
b) or 9 a3!? e7 (9...a5 10 d2) 10 d3 h6 (10...f6 11 0-0 xc3 12 bxc3 h6 13 e2 d5
14 b1 a6 15 c4 Black's opening hasn't been successful. His king is vulnerable in the
centre and his queen is a target. 15...h5 16 e4 Fedorowicz,JEnhbat,T/Seattle
2003.) 11 0-0 0-0 12 e2 d6 13 c2 d7 14 d3 once ...h6 has been played,
Black's kingside is much more vulnerable as ...g6 is impossible, see Naiditsch,A
Nisipeanu,L/Wijk aan Zee NED 2010.
9...0-0 (9...ce7! 10 0-0 d7 11 a3 d6 12 e4 c6 13 xd6+ xd6 14 e5 0-0 15 d3 f6 was
quite equal in Nisipeanu,LJobava,B/Skanderborg DEN 2005) 10 0-0 e7 (an
interesting alternative is 10...e8!? to make way for the bishop, 11 d1 d7
Kharlov,AIzoria,Z/Batumi GEO 2002, 10...f6 11 d1 b6? runs into a strong
response: 12 d5! see Ehlvest,JPotter,J/Virginia Beach USA 2004) 11 d1 f6
a) 11...f6 is also common.
b) 11...b6 is an unusual move, 12 e4!? (Much more direct than 12 d3 ) 12...f6
13 d3 g6 14 c4 ce7?! (Black's position becomes very passive after this. 14...xc3
15 bxc3 a5 looks better.) 15 e5 Kharlov,APrakash,G/Calcutta IND 2001.
12 e4 (12 a3 xc3 13 bxc3 b6 14 d3 g6 15 h6 g7 16 xg7 xg7 17 c4 f6 is equal, Polgar,J
Karpov,A/Zurich SUI 2006) 12...ce7 13 h4 Sveshnikov uses the hpawn as a
battering ram against g6 but Malakhov defends comfortably and patiently. 13...d7
14 d3 g6 15 h5 c8 16 hxg6 hxg6 17 h6 xc3 18 bxc3 c6 19 f4 d5 20 g4
g7 21 xg7 xg7 22 e5 f6!= Sveshnikov,EMalakhov,V/Aeroflot Open,
Moscow RUS 2003
5...c6 6 g5! This move was introduced by Mikhail Botvinnik in the early thirties and
remains White's main weapon nowadays. (6 f3 is the main alternative, but it usually
leads to an approximately equal endgame see B13.) 6...e6 (other moves are also
considered in B13) 7 f3 e7 (7...dxc4 8 xc4 e7 9 0-0 0-0 is a way to get a reliable
position with slightly better chances for White.) 8 c5 h6 (8...0-0 9 b5 d7 10 0-0 b6 11
xc6 xc6 12 b4 e4 13 xe7 xe7 14 c1 fc8 15 a4 Martin,ACoates,K/Borders
56
League 2006 Black has an uncomfortable game) 9 f4 e4 10 b5!? (It is hard to

say whether 10 c1!? was better.) 10...xc3 11 bxc3 d7 12 0-0 0-0 The position
looks good for Black, he is going to undermine the queenside with ...b7b6.
Kasparov finds a strangelooking way to prevent this key idea. 13 c1! Other moves
allow Black to go b7b6 obtaining comfortable play Kasparov,G
Anand,V/Amsterdam 1996.
6 b3
Theory has focussed on this move, but the immediate
6 cxd5 also has quite a few followers. 6...xd5 (After 6...g7 White could if he wished
transpose to the 6 b3 line, but he has other options, e.g. 7 b5+!? bd7 8 d6! exd6
(The gambit 8...0-0!? has been used with success by David Bronstein and others.) 9
e2+ e7 10 f4 xe2+ 11 xe2 e7 12 f3) 7 c4 b6 8 b3 g7 9 f3 c6
Less effective is 10 e3 (10 d5 a5 11 0-0 0-0 12 e1 xb3 (More dynamic was
12...g4! ) 13 axb3! By opening the afile White rules out the manoeuvre ...c8c5
as it would leave a7 hanging, Glek,ISzabolcsi,J/ Paris FRA 2000.) 10...0-0 11 d5
a5 12 0-0 g4 13 h3 xf3 14 xf3 bc4 15 c1 xb3 16 axb3 d6 when Black
had a secure fortress in PavasovicBrendel, Vienna 1996. White is bound to play
d4d5 at some point so it seems worth reserving the option of c1-g5 or f4 rather
than committing the bishop straightaway to e3.
6...g7 7 cxd5 0-0

Now White has to make a critical decision should he try to defend d5 with the
straightforward fianchetto g2g3 and g2 (after ge2) or should he play the slightly
more subtle or 'artificial' depending on your point of view! plan of e2 and f3.
8 e2!
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsnlwq-trk+0
9zpp+-zppvlp0
9-+-+-snp+0
9+-+P+-+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+QsN-+-+-0
9PzP-+LzPPzP0
9tR-vL-mK-sNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
Aiming for 9 f3 may be the superior way to develop the bishop,
Instead, 8 ge2 a6 (8...bd7 is the alternative, 9 g3 b6 10 g2 f5 11 f4 g5?! (Black
has many effective moves now perhaps the best of which is 11...d7! planning ...g6
57
g5!, ...h7h6 and ...h3.) 12 fe2 d3? (12...h6) 13 xg5 Postny,E

Lagowski,P/Olomouc CZE 2004) 9 g3 b5!? or he could play in quiet style with (9...b6
intending to aim as many pieces as possible at the target on d5. However it doesn't
seem to give equality, or, The well established move is 9...b6 with a critical position
being reached after 10 xb6 axb6 11 g2 b4 12 0-0 d8 13 d6!) 10 xb5
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwq-trk+0
9zp-+-zppvlp0
9n+-+-snp+0
9+N+P+-+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+Q+-+-zP-0
9PzP-+NzP-zP0
9tR-vL-mKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
This is critical, but the tame (10 a3 leads to an instructive position after 10...b8 11 f4 b6 12
g2 b4 13 a4 b7 Black's rook is buffeted around, but White isn't able to exploit it.,
Meanwhile 10 xb5 b8 11 a4 b4 intending d3+ and f5 is too dangerous for
White.) 10...xd5 11 g2 e6 12 d1 a5+ 13 bc3 xc3 14 bxc3 Adams,M
Granda Zuniga,J/It, Madrid ESP 1998.
8...bd7
Aiming for b6 to attack d5.
8...a6!? goes via c7, 9 f4! (9 f3 b6 seemed OK for Black in Gelfand,B
Morozevich,A/Wijk aan Zee NED 2002) 9...c7?! 10 f3 fe8 11 e5! An
important move, securing darksquared central control as well as weakening the
black king, 11...d6 12 xg7 xg7 13 ge2 b6 14 0-0 a6 15 fe1 c4 16 d1
d7 17 b3 a6 18 d2 b7 19 f4 ae8 20 e5! Lyell,MArkell,K/Coventry
2004, White is in full control and a Kingside attack with h2h4 isn't far away.
8...a5 9 f3 a6 10 a3 b5!? with sharp play, Naiditsch,AVuckovic,B/Rijeka CRO 2010.
9 f3 b6
58
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwq-trk+0
9zpp+-zppvlp0
9-sn-+-snp+0
9+-+P+-+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+QsN-+L+-0
9PzP-+-zPPzP0
9tR-vL-mK-sNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
10 g5
Perhaps stronger was 10 ge2 e.g. 10...g4 11 xg4 xg4 12 f4 d7 13 a4 ad8 14 d6!
exd6 15 a5 c8 16 0-0 as in StoicaSuciu, Romania 1994. Black has relinquished
control of the d5 square and is content to have a rather passive but solid looking
position.
10...g4
Black decides to force clarity in the centre when it becomes a question of whether he can
regain his pawn without making any serious positional concession.
More dynamic was 10...a5!? which greatly complicates matters.
11 xf6 xf3 12 xf3 xf6
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-wq-trk+0
9zpp+-zpp+p0
9-sn-+-vlp+0
9+-+P+-+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+QsN-+N+-0
9PzP-+-zPPzP0
9tR-+-mK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
13 0-0 d6 14 e5!?
This is the best chance to prove an advantage, Hebden,MHansen,T/Hastings ENG 1999.
59
SUMMARY:
Maybe at the level of club chess 5...g6 might be effective, but studying the line has left me
with serious doubts about its validity in international chess.
60
CaroKann: 3 Nc3 Intro & Korchnoi's

5...exf6 [B15]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.c3 dxe4

3...g6 is a hybrid of the CaroKann and Modern, quite rare, which can lead to some very
murky play. 4.e5 has been played often enough, but is inflexible.
a) 4.f3 g7 5.h3 generally considered best, 5...h6
a1) Others: 5...dxe4 6.xe4 a6!? a speciality of American GM Renier Gonzalez,
(6...d7 is very quiet indeed, Lekic,DBurmakin,V/Christmas Open, Zurich SUI
2003, and after 7.c4!, White obtains an edge.) 7.c3 c7 8.d3 f6 Lenderman,A
Becerra Rivero,J/ICC INT 2010.
a2) 5...f6 6.e5 e4 7.d3 xc3 8.bxc3 c5 9.0-0 c4 10.e2 f6? Poor, Black opens
the position before castling, see Wells,PSpeelman,J/London/Crowthorne ENG
2006 (Instead 10...a5 gives him a reliable position.)
6.f4 (6.d3! with the idea of e2 and a quick c2c4 is most testing. 6...f6 7.0-0 0-0 8.e2
Neubauer,MLiiva,R/Beijing CHN 2008) 6...f6 7.d3 (7.exd5! cxd5 8.b5 a6 9.c4 is
more to the point) 7...f7 8.0-0 0-0 9.g3 e6 10.e1 d7 11.d2 a5 12.h4 a4
Nijboer,FBosboom,M/Leeuwarden NED 2004 and now I recommend 13.exd5 exd5
14.e2
b) 4.e3 g7 5.f3!? is interesting, 5...dxe4 (5...b6?! is passive, 6.d2 a6 7.xa6 xa6
8.ge2 e6 9.0-0-0 GangulyRahman/India 2005) 6.fxe4 e5 (6...f6!?) 7.dxe5 xd1+
8.xd1 g4 9.f3 with a plus, Miladinovic,IBellini,F/46th It, Reggio Emilia ITA
2003.
c) 4.f3!? dxe4 5.xe4 g7 (5...xd4 6.d2 d5 7.c3) 6.c4 f6 7.e2 bd7
8.h4 Jones,GMendelson,A/Bunratty IRL 2006 if you like playing in this
outright attacking style, then 4 f3 is for you!
d) 4.f3 is considered in the Fantasy section.
4...h5 (4...g7 5.f4 h5 leads to the Gurgenidze system proper, more common from a
Modern Defence move order, (5...h6!? is a plausible alternative, 6.f3 f6 (6...g4
7.h3 xf3 8.xf3 f6 9.g4! with advantage, Kraemer,MVitiugov,N/Emsdetten GER
2011) 7.d3 g4 8.h3 xf3 9.xf3 0-0 10.e6 f5 11.e3 c5 12.f3 c4 13.e2 c6
14.e3 xd4 15.xd5 Klenburg,MKantsler,B/1st Israel Int Op, Ashdod ISR 2003
when 15...xb2 should have been played, with a very messy position.) 6.f3 g4
7.e3 h6 8.h3 f5 9.f2 xf3 10.xf3 h4 11.d3 e6 12.e2 (12.0-0 f8 13.b3 a5
14.e2 is similar, Vocaturo,DAbbasov,F/Sautron FRA 2008) 12...d7 13.0-0 f8
61
14.b3 White had a useful space advantage in Yudasin,LMcCarthy,B/New York

(USA) 1991.) 5.h3
a) 5.e3 h6 6.d2 f5 7.f4 b5 8.f3 a5 is typically unclear, Hnydiuk,A
Jasnikowski,Z/Polanica Zdroj 2004
b) whilst 5.f4 h6 6.e3 b5 7.d2 d7 (Black should have preferred 7...f5 8.f2
a5) 8.e6! fxe6 9.d3 f5 10.f3 g7 Swan,IMartin,A/Edinburgh 1988 and now
best would have been 11.0-0! 0-0 12.ae1 when Black has problems shaking off the
White bind.
5...a5!? 6.f3 a6!? Furdzik,RBlatny,P/New York 2003, Blatny's style is very hard to
fathom for the average crusty punter. He completely bamboozles Furdzik here.
4.xe4
4.c4?! A very rare gambit line which has never occurred in the games on top level
according to my database. The ideas of this line are similar to BlackmarDiemer
Gambit (1 d4 d5 2 e4 dxe4 3 c3 f6). By playing f2f3 on the next move White
opens the ffile and tries to obtain an early attack (the f7square is usually the main
target). However Black has very solid defensive resources and I believe this line is
dubious for White. 4...f6 5.f3 b5!? (Accepting the sacrifice is possible as well
although Black must defend carefully. 5...exf3 6.xf3 f5! Transferring the Bishop
to the g6square where it is very well placed for defending the King. (6...e6?! is less
precise and White obtains good attacking chances.) 7.e5 e6 8.0-0 g6! Now the
f7square is firmly protected, and it's not easy for White to continue the attack.)
6.b3 e6 7.fxe4 b4 8.ce2 xe4 9.f3 a6 10.0-0 Short,NBareev,E/Sarajevo
2000.
4...f6 5.xf6+
5.g5!? looks poor but the idea is to dominate e5: 5...h6 6.5f3 f5 7.c4 e6 8.e5 d6
(8...bd7 and a quick exchange on e5 is a good response.) 9.e2 c7 10.f4 bd7
11.gf3 the plan in action, Mrdja,MDanieli,E/IV Open, Lido Estensi ITA 2003.
5...exf6
62
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsnlwqkvl-tr0
9zpp+-+pzpp0
9-+p+-zp-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmKLsNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
Unlike 5...gxf6 which aims at achieving active counterplay, Black has rather more modest
plans here. He has no problems with development or bad pieces, so he hopes to
equalize by accurate defence. However this line is completely out of fashion now. Of
course it's by no means bad, but in modern chess Black prefers systems where he can
hope for active counterplay. The following game is one of a very small number
which have been played in this line at the top level in the last decade.
6.c3
Tournament practice has shown that this is the most unpleasant plan for Black to have to
face. White defends the d4pawn and prepares a harmonious setup of his pieces:
d3, e2 and kingside castling.
6.f3 is also possible, 6...d6 7.e2 0-0 8.0-0 g4 9.h3 h5 10.h4! Kuba,G
Schoeppl,E/TChAUT 2003.
6.c4 likewise, 6...d6 7.e2 0-0 8.e3 e8 9.d2 d7 10.f4 b6 11.d3 g4 12.xd6
xd6 13.0-0 ad8 14.c3 c5!= Himdan,MMagerramov,E/Abu Dhabi UAE 2006.
Against spineless play like this from White, the system with 5...exf6 can be very
effective.
6...d6 7.d3 0-0

Black has also tried 7...e6 but without success. The game Volzhin Zangiev, Russia 1996
continued: 8.e2 d7 9.0-0 c7 10.g3! h5 11.f4! g6 This move makes kingside
castling impossible, because White will obtain a winning attack after f4f5. So
Black should castle queenside, but his King will hardly feel safe there. But it's
difficult to find a better move than the text anyway. 12.c4 0-0-0 13.e3 Now d4d5
opening files near Black's King, is a dangerous threat.
8.e2
8.f3 d7 9.e2 e8 10.0-0 g6! aggressive and the way to proceed, Black intends ...f5,
Danes,JLechtynsky,J/Teplice CZE 2008.
63
8...e8
8...c7 9.c2 h6!? is an idea favoured by Filipino GM Antonio, but if the following game
is anything to go by, Black is sadly lacking counterplay: 10.e3 e8 (10...d7 11.d2
e8 12.g3 f8! is an improvement on Nimzowitsch, see Teterev,V
Lomako,P/Minsk BLR 2008) 11.0-0-0 c5 12.b1 g4 13.h3 xe2 14.xe2 cxd4
15.cxd4 xc2+ 16.xc2 c6 17.f3 ac8 18.b1 b6 19.he1 Black has nothing
with which to offset the two bishops and central passed pawn, De Firmian,NLa
Rota,F/Minneapolis USA 2005.
9.0-0!
Simple and good.
9.c2 g6 (9...h8! with the idea that 10.xh7?! g6 11.xg6 fxg6 12.xg6 only leads to a draw)
10.h4 is another possibility, but it leads to doubleedged positions after 10...d7
11.h5 f5
9...c7
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsnl+r+k+0
9zppwq-+pzpp0
9-+pvl-zp-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+-zPL+-+-0
9PzP-+NzPPzP0
9tR-vLQ+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
There are two alternatives to the text: 9...g4 10.c2
9...d7 10.f4 both lead to a small but lasting advantage for White. Black's problem here
is that he has no counterplay and has to fight for a draw.
10.g3
10.h3 d7 11.c4 b6 12.e3 g6 13.d2 f5 14.g5 White plays as simply as can be and
keeps a small edge due to his better pawns, Turner,MVulevic,V/Davos SUI 2004.
10...e6
Other possibilities are hardly better: 10...c5 11.dxc5 xc5 12.e4
10...g6 11.e4 e7 12.f3 d8 13.f4 with a clear edge for White in both cases.
64
11.f4! c5 12.d5! d7
The pawn is taboo: 12...xd5? 13.h5! e6 14.xh7+ f8 15.h5! with a winning attack
13.c4!
Now White's advantage is obvious. An excellent game by Alexander Khalifman,
Khalifman,ASeirawan,Y/Wijk 1991.
65
CaroKann Larsen/Bronstein, 5...gxf6

[B16]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.c3 dxe4 4.xe4 f6 5.xf6+ gxf6
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsnlwqkvl-tr0
9zpp+-zpp+p0
9-+p+-zp-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmKLsNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
This line was introduced by Aron Nimzowitch at the beginning of the 20th century. It
always leads to a very sharp and complicated game. By voluntarily damaging his
pawn structure Black hopes to obtain active counterplay by exploiting the open g
file. Although nowadays this line has a rather dubious reputation and is rarely played
at the top level, it remains a useful weapon for the club player.
6.c3
6.e2 f5
a) The less precise 6...g4 was played in R. Maric Krziznik, Vukovar, 1966.
White managed to obtain a clear edge.
b) 6...h5!? 7.h4 (7.f4 This somewhat sophisticated move was tried in Baturinsky
Simagin, Moscow 1946. Soviet GM Vladimir Simagin contributed much to the
theory of this line and played a lot of excellent games with it. Black now outplays
his opponent very convincingly: 7...f5 8.g3 g6 9.h4 d7 10.e2 e5! Exploiting the
drawbacks of White's setup.) 7...g4 8.d3 e5!? 9.e3 a6 10.a3 This careless
move allows Black to seize the initiative. (10.c3 was obligatory, with mutual
chances.) 10...a5+! 11.d2 b6 12.dxe5 c5 13.e3 0-0-0! Now it's obvious that
66
Black has outplayed his opponent. All his forces are actively developed, while all
White's pieces are miserably placed, Mikhalchishin,ASpeelman,J/Frunze 1979.
7.g3 g6 8.h4 h5 9.e2 d7 10.c3 a5 11.a4! An important improvement. White simply
prepares a pawn advance on the Queenside, because sooner or later Black will
probably castle there. (It's not so good to win a pawn immediately: 11.b4 c7 12.xh5
xh5 13.xh5 a5! and Black has sufficient counterplay, as the game Boskovic
Rohde, USA 1979 showed.) 11...0-0-0 (Immediate counterplay in the centre without
castling looks premature: 11...e5 12.b4 d5 13.0-0! exd4 14.cxd4 White is threatening b4
b5 and grabbing the pawn is risky in view of 14...xb4 15.f3 with a growing
initiative.) 12.b4 c7 13.a5 e5 14.a6 b6 15.0-0 e4!? A very important novelty. This
move was recommended by A.Rodriguez in his notes in Informant 44, but hadn't
been tested in practice before now! Both of these games show that after the opening
of the cfile Black's position is indefensible. The text keeps it closed. (15...d6 was
played in Rodriguez,APieterse,G/Dieren 1987, and White got the upper hand after
16.d3!) 16.b5 e5 Espindola,CBlasberg,G/corr. 1996.
6.f3 is straightforward, 6...g4 7.e2 c7 8.h3 h5 9.h4! recognising that exchanges
improve White's chances, 9...xe2 10.xe2 e6 11.0-0 d7 12.c4 0-0-0 13.e3 c5
14.ac1 g8 15.f3 c6 16.d5 exd5 17.cxd5 xd5 18.fd1 c6? (18...e6 is less
clear) 19.b4! with advantage, Grigoriants,SRogers,I/Essent Open, Hoogeveen NED
2003.
6.e2 is rare and will probably transpose back into main lines involving f3: 6...f5 7.f3
e6 (7...c7 8.0-0 e6 9.c4 d7 10.d5 0-0-0 11.e3 c5 12.b4 g8 13.bxc5 xc5 14.d4 h3
Spassky,BLarsen,B/Buenos Aires 1979, and the game is starting to warm up!) 8.0-0
d6 9.c4 d7 10.d5! cxd5 11.cxd5 e5 12.h6! g6 13.b3 White has a strong
initiative, Kosteniuk,AChua,A/Fort Lauderdale USA 2004.
6...f5
6...h5!? 7.e3 h4 Alekseev,EShort,N/Havana CUB 2010.
7.f3
7.e2 h5!?
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsn-wqkvl-tr0
9zpp+-zpp+-0
9-+p+-zp-+0
9+-+-+l+p0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+-zP-+-+-0
9PzP-+NzPPzP0
9tR-vLQmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
67
A typical move for this line. 8.f4 h4 9.f3 (Either 9.c4 aiming at f7 and threatening Qb3,
or 9.d3 exchanging Black's only active piece should be preferred.) 9...d7 10.g4
hxg3 11.fxg3 (White rejected the natural 11.hxg3 in view of 11...g4 12.g2 e5!,
but it's not too bad after 13.e2 (even 13.xh8!? is not bad: 13...f3+ 14.xf3 xf3
15.e6! fxe6 16.h6 and White wins all his material back!) 13...xh1+ 14.xh1 xe2
15.xe2 with approximately equal chances.) 11...e5!? 12.g4 (12.e2 e6 and Black
is OK.) 12...h7 13.e2 exd4!? 14.cxd4 (14.xd4 e5 and Black' s Knight will
permanently occupy this excellent central square, while White's Knight can be
driven away by c6c5 at the right moment.) 14...b4+ 15.f2 e7 16.g2 Bilek,I
Bronstein,D/Hungary USSR 1955.
A quarter of a century after this game Bronstein had another interesting encounter in this
line. The game Ivanovic Bronstein, Tallinn, 1979 continued: 7.c4 e6 8.f3 d7
9.e2 h5 10.f4 h4 11.e3 c7 12.0-0-0 0-0-0 13.g4?! hxg3 14.hxg3 xh1
15.xh1 (Probably White had missed that the natural looking 15.xh1 fails to 15...c5!
and Black takes the upper hand as 16.dxc5 is bad: 16...e5 17.e2 c6 18.h8 e4 and
Black wins.) 15...a5! 16.d3 (16.f3 allows a brilliant mate: 16...e5!! 17.dxe5
xc3+!! 18.bxc3 a3#) 16...b6 17.b3 d5 18.e1 g4 19.d2 d6 20.b1 h8
21.d1 f5 22.e2? A blunder, but Black's position is already far superior.
22...xg3 Black wins a pawn for nothing and he soon won the game.
7...d7
7...e6 8.g3 h5!? 9.g2 This natural move looks more to the point than (9.e2 The idea
behind this is to prevent the emergence of Black's Bishop on the e4square. 9...g4!
10.h3 Forced, as (10.g2?! h4 is very good for Black.) 10...xf3 11.xf3 d5! After
the queen swap Black has little to worry about. So we can conclude that in this game
Black solved his opening problems very easily Valverde,ABlasberg,G/corr.
1997.) 9...e4 10.0-0 e7 11.e1 f5 12.f1 (12.h4!? d7 13.f1!? xf3 Black is forced
to give up the Bishop. 14.xf3 f6 15.g5 d5 16.e2 Bennett,GBlasberg,G/corr.
1996.) 12...c5! 13.e3 c6 14.b5 h4 15.d2 hxg3 16.fxg3 Riemersma,L
Pieterse,G/Netherlands 1987.
8.g3!
68
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9r+-wqkvl-tr0
9zpp+nzpp+p0
9-+p+-zp-+0
9+-+-+l+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+-zP-+NzP-0
9PzP-+-zP-zP0
9tR-vLQmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
This is one of the best plans in this line, and I believe it is the system which more than any
other is discouraging Black players from 5...gxf6. After developing his Bishop to g2
White can easily castle kingside, as now Black has no pressure on the gfile. Of
course the fianchetto should be combined with developing the Knight to f3 as in this
game, and not to e2 as Black will then play h5h4 with good chances.
8...b6
Black is planning quite an aggressive setup (...d7 with Queenside castling to follow).
However, the quiet 8...e4!? intending Kingside castling, deserves serious attention: 9.g2
e6 10.0-0 e7 11.e1 f5 and White's advantage is minimal.
8...a5!? 9.g2 (9.e2 is critical) 9...b5 stopping White from castling, 10.h4 g6
11.xg6 hxg6 12.b3 a6 Gopal,GShort,N/Caleta ENG 2011.
9.g2 d7 10.0-0 h5
10...h3 was the alternative to the text. 11.xh3 xh3 12.a4! d7 13.a5 c8 with the
better prospects for White.
11.a4! h3?!
11...a5 was forced, although it's much easier to recommend such a move than to make it in
a game. Now Queenside castling is hardly possible as White can easily open files
near Black's King. But in the game things are even worse for Black.
12.xh3 xh3
Black has very little initiative on the Kingside and after a few, crisp moves faces an almost
decisive queenside onslaught.
13.a5 c8
13...d5 14.b3 0-0-0 15.a6 was also good for White in Sherzer,AFilipovich,D/34th
NCC, Philadelphia USA 2003.
69
14.a6 b6 15.d5!
White exploits the advantages of his position very energetically, Campora,D
Morozevich,A/Moscow 1994.
70
CaroKann Smyslov 4...Nd7 [B17]

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.c3 dxe4 4.xe4 d7
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqkvlntr0
9zpp+nzppzpp0
9-+p+-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-zPN+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmKLsNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
Some important games have been played in the Smyslov Variation. This whole line looks
rock solid and that despite the best efforts of the World's elite to refute it.
5.g5
This move remains White's main weapon.
5.c4 is the old main line. 5...gf6 6.g5 e6 7.e2 This move develops the Queen and
contains the unpleasant threat of xf7 with a mating attack. Black's reply is forced.
(7.1f3) 7...b6 8.d3 (8.b3 is quite a different story. 8...h6 9.5f3 c5 (Two years
later Karpov came up with a very important improvement. His game versus
Kasparov in Linares 1994 continued: 9...a5! 10.c3 (10.a4 c5 Karpov proved in later
games that the interpolation of the moves a5 and a4 favours Black as it becomes
dangerous for White to castle Queenside.) 10...c5! 11.a3 c7!) 10.f4 d6 There
are two main alternatives to the text. 11.g3! e7 12.dxc5 xc5 13.e5 d7
14.gf3 h5 It looks natural to swap this Bishop off before castling queenside.
15.0-0-0 xg3 16.hxg3 Kasparov,GKarpov,A/Linares 1992.) 8...h6 (The pawn is
poisoned: 8...xd4? 9.1f3 Intending e5 after the queen's retreat, winning the f7
pawn, and if 9...b4+ then 10.c3! xc3+ 11.f1! and White wins a piece.) 9.5f3 c5
10.e3! I think that this is the most challenging move, preparing 0-0-0 in some lines
and trying to maintain some central superiority. It's invariably the choice of Sergey
Rublevsky against the CaroKann. (10.dxc5 is considered to be the main line.
71
10...xc5 11.e5 (11.d2 0-0 12.0-0-0 a4! This is a novelty. This lunge looks
dubious, but concrete analysis proves it to be strong. Intending ...b6 Black begins
immediate action on the queenside. Previously other moves had been played but all
of them are much weaker. 13.b5 d7 14.xd7 xd7 15.h3 ac8 16.b1 c6 17.c1
d5 Black's initiative grows quickly. The situation is already quite unpleasant for
White, in particular he has to spend another tempo parrying the threat of ...c3
Georgiev,KAdams,M/Groningen 1993.) 11...bd7 12.gf3 c7 (12...xe5 13.xe5
0-0 is another possibility. However after the text move Black's practical results are
better.) 13.f4 (13.0-0 xe5 14.xe5 0-0 15.e1 d6 16.h3 b6 17.d2 b7 18.g4= A
variation to play if one is happy with a draw or, in this case where you know the
opponent is breaking his back to win and might overpress. Eventually White won,
Webb,RWells,P/Portsmouth ENG 2004.) 13...b4+!? Trying to disorganize
White's forces a little. 14.f1 d6 15.d1!? Other continuations do not pose serious
problems for Black, Morovic Fernandez,IKarpov,A/Las Palmas 1994.) 10...c7
(10...bd5 11.e5 a6 12.gf3 c7 13.0-0 cxd4?! This novelty is of rather doubtful value.
14.xd4 c5 15.b5+!? An unpleasant check which forces the black King to forget
about castling, and instead castle by hand, Rublevsky,SKarpov,A/Polanica Zdroj
1998.) 11.e5 d6 12.gf3 bd5 13.b5+ e7 14.0-0 (14.c4 is also promising.)
14...d8 Al Modiahki,MSundararajan,K/Dubai UAE 2007 (14...a6?! is Karpov's
move, but I still don't see it working, 15.d3 b5 16.c4 Mista,AAkesson,R/Warsaw
POL 2007), and now 15.c4!? is more pointed.
5.e2!? df6 6.c3 xe4 7.xe4 f6 8.c2 e6 (8...g4!) 9.f3 c7 10.g3 b6 11.g2 b7
12.0-0 d6 13.e1 Rather surprisingly, White has a nagging edge, Melia,S
Gilbert,J/WYg16, Heraklio GRE 2002.
5.f3 gf6 6.xf6+
a) 6.eg5 h6 7.h3 (7.e6 fxe6 8.d3 is the only way if White wants any success in
this line.) 7...g5 8.hg1 g7 9.d3 c5 10.dxc5 xc5! Zwanzger,J
Conquest,S/Bundesliga 2002
b) 6.g3 g6?! dubious when the Bishop on c1 hasn't moved: 7.c4 e6 8.e2 c5 9.0-0
cxd4 10.xd4 a6 11.b3 c7 12.f3 g7 13.a3! Susilodinata,A
Karolyi,T/Queenstown NZL 2006
6...xf6 7.e5 (7.h3 is quiet, preventing ...g4, 7...f5 8.d3 xd3 9.xd3 e6 10.0-0 e7
11.c4 0-0 12.b3 c5 13.b2 cxd4 14.fd1 a5 15.xd4 fd8 16.e2 f5 17.d3
e4?! Far too meek, Spassky,BKarpov,A/Porto Vecchio FRA 2006 (17...h5 was
indicated and Black's chances are not worse.) ) 7...f5 (7...e6 8.e2 g6 9.0-0 g7
Kundin,ABykhovsky,A/Last Autumn GM, Tel Aviv ISR 2002.) 8.c3 e6 9.g4 g6
10.h4 d6 11.e2 c5 12.g2 cxd4 13.h5 d3! Haba,PBurmakin,V/Pardubice 2003,
this was a remarkable tactical display throughout by Burmakin. One could see the
entire game as opening theory!
5.c3 gf6 6.xf6+ xf6 7.c4 g6 8.f3 g7 9.0-0 0-0 10.e1 Korneev,O
Bologan,V/Barcelona ESP 2006.
5...gf6
5...a5+!? 6.d2 d5 seems underrated, see Varga,CKallai,G/Budapest HUN 2009.
72
6.d3
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9r+lwqkvl-tr0
9zpp+nzppzpp0
9-+p+-sn-+0
9+-+-+-sN-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+-+L+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmK-sNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
6.c4 e6 (6...d5!? 7.1f3 h6 8.e4 7b6 9.b3 f5 10.g3 g6? (10...h7 is a clear
improvement and has been played many times by Grandmaster Eduard Meduna. )
11.e5 d6 12.c4 b4 13.c5+ Dumitru,VAnuta,L/CUPA TC IND, Ploiesti
ROM 2002.) 7.e2 b6 8.d3 (8.b3 White's Bishop gives insurance on the
Queenside. 8...h6 9.5f3 c5 10.c3 c7 11.d2 a6 12.e5 d7 13.gf3 cxd4
14.xd4 d6 15.xd7 bxd7 16.f5 Doubts about the Black King position are
raised after this move 16...f4? Nielsen falters. (Black has to try 16...f8 17.xe6
(17.0-0-0 0-0-0) 17...fxe6 18.xe6+ d8 19.0-0-0 c6 20.he1 xe6 21.xe6 c8)
17.xf4 xf4 18.xg7+ f8 19.h5 xh5 20.xh5 Anand,VNielsen,P/SIS
MH Masters, Middelfart DEN 2003 White negotiated the immediate complications
and went on to win a fine game.) 8...h6 9.5f3 c5 10.dxc5 bd7! my favourite
move here, 11.f4 (Black envisages an interesting initiative after 11.b4 a5 12.c3 e7 to
be followed by ...0-0, ...axb4 and ...b7b6!) 11...d5 12.d2 xc5 Montes de
Oca,AEzat,M/Olympiad, Bled SLO 2002.
6...e6
6...g6!? Not a bad move to play against a timid soul, or a theory junkie, but probably not
wise against a skilful attacker. 7.1f3 g7 8.e2 (8.0-0 0-0 9.e5 xe5 10.dxe5 d5
Adams,MShort,N/London ENG 2010.) 8...0-0 9.h4! h6 10.h5! originally played by
William Watson against Maduna, Prague 1992, 10...gxh5 Mkrtchian,L
Dizdarevic,E/Solin CRO 2006, when 11.h3 is dangerous.
7.1f3 d6
7...h6?! What??? The World Champion makes a move which was refuted by force ten years
before this game! I can't believe that Kasparov didn't know this, probably he did not
expect that a computer would sacrifice a piece for a pawn without a clear way to win
back some material over the next couple of moves. 8.xe6!
73
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqkvl-tr0
9zpp+n+pzp-0
9-+p+Nsn-zp0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+-+L+N+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
8...e7?! Not the best reaction again. (8...fxe6 looks more to the point although after 9.g6+
e7 10.0-0 c7 11.e1 d8 12.c4 Black's position is rather difficult to play.) 9.0-0 fxe6
10.g6+ d8 11.f4 White has only one pawn for the sacrificed piece and has no
direct threats, but the lack of coordination of Black's forces and the bad position of
Black's King give White huge compensation. Deep BlueKasparov,G/New York
1997.
8.e2 h6 9.e4 xe4 10.xe4
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9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vL-mK-+R0
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Karpov defended this position three times in Linares 2001, and could easily have amassed
two and a half points.
10...c7
The modern "tabia" of the Smyslov Variation. Here White has 2 main possibilities:
10...f6 11.e2 This continuation is more popular than (11.h4 e7! A very unexpected
idea which was first introduced in this game. Black is threatening ...g7g5! 12.e5
White is practically forced to give up a pawn. 12...xe5 13.dxe5 a5+ 14.c3 xe5+
15.e3 The critical position for the whole line. White's compensation looks good
enough. Black's King is not safe and the Bishop on c8 is not very good, but the black
74
pawn shield is rather solid. The position is probably unclear and is playable for both
sides. 15...b6 16.0-0-0 g5 Now White comes up with a clear improvement. 17.h3!
(17.a4 c5 Removing the weakness on the dark squares, as well as improving his own
lightsquared Bishop, Kamsky,GKarpov,A/Dortmund 1993.) 17...c5 18.he1 b7
19.c4! Looking closely at the square e6, Morozevich,AIordachescu,V/Kishinev
(Moldova) 1998.) 11...c7 (11...b6 12.d2 b7 Until this moment both sides have
played natural developing moves. Now White has to choose a plan. 13.e5!
Choosing a good moment to occupy an important central square. 13...c7 14.f4!
Simple and powerful: now the Knight is very threatening for Black, Tiviakov,S
Adams,M/Wijk aan Zee 1996.) 12.d2 b6 13.0-0-0 b7 14.b1 Theory doesn't
consider this quiet positional line as dangerous for Black, but Dolmatov has
something in mind. (14.e5 0-0-0 15.f4 h5! A new move and a good idea. Often in this
line, Black has problems controlling White's activities on the kingside, and as a
result it often looks like a steam train rolling down. 15...h5!? is aimed at preventing
White from getting something started. Macieja,BMeduna,E/Budapest HUN 2000.)
14...0-0-0 15.c4 c5 16.c3 Dolmatov,SSvetushkin,D/Linares Open 2000.
Karpov's move 10...c5 is also possible: 11.0-0 f6 12.h4 cxd4 13.e1 d7 14.xd4
(14.xd4! would appear to be more difficult for Black to meet.) 14...c6 15.e5
xe5 16.xe5 d5 17.xd5 xd5 18.d2 a5! 19.c4 b4= Svidler,P
Bologan,V/Poikovsky RUS 2005.
11.g4
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9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vL-mK-+R0
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11.0-0! The critical move of the moment. 11...b6 (11...c5 12.e1 f6 13.h4 White's simple
play was effective in Kveinys,ASpeelman,J/Olympiad, Bled SLO 2002) 12.g4
f8 the standard move,
a) 12...g5?! A typical idea introduced by Karpov in his game vs. Sion (1993), but
now it looks doubtful. 13.h3 The only move. 13...g8 14.e1! a very good move, I
think, (14.d2 b7 15.a4!? An interesting novelty. Obviously Black intends Qside
castling, so White opens the afile without delay. 15...0-0-0 16.a5 Ponomariov,R
Galkin,A/Lausanne 2000.) 14...b7?! this should lose,
75
a1) the obvious 14...g4 is met by 15.xh6 gxf3 16.xe6+ fxe6 17.xe6+ e7
(17...f8? 18.h6+ g7 19.g6!! wins) 18.xg8+ f8 19.g6+ with a strong attack and
3 pawns for the piece
a2) 14...f8!? 15.f5 g7 16.h4 also looked good for White in Anand,V
Bologan,V, Dortmund 2003
15.xe6+! fxe6 16.xe6+ f8 Lo Presti,RPatriarca,L/Buenos Aires ARG 2005, when
17.xh6+ g7 18.c4 wins immediately.
b) Intriguing is 12...b7!? Shades of the Poison Pawn Variation in the French
Winawer. Black is willing to sacrifice his kingside pawns to open up lines of attack
for his rooks. If this is an OK attempt by Black then why hasn't it been played before
at top level? Perhaps the answer is that players who like crazy attacking games don't
usually play the CaroKann! Of course, another factor that discourages research is
that a computer program will tell you that Black is utterly lost here! 13.xg7 f8!
14.e1 0-0-0 with attacking chances for Black, but is it enough? Negi,P
Harikrishna,P/Wijk aan Zee NED 2010.
13.b3 logically placing the bishop on the long diagonal, aiming at Black's king, (13.h4
White keeps the option of e4 alive, and achieves c4 in one jump, 13...b7 14.e1
Leko,PBareev,E/Elista RUS 2007) 13...b7
a) 13...c5!? is a good solution: 14.dxc5 xc5 15.b2 e5 16.f5 h5 17.h3 e6
18.xe6 xe6 19.g3 f6 20.h4 xc2!? (20...g8! is better and Black has at least
equality.) 21.ad1 c5 22.xe5 Vescovi,GMiton,K/Moscow RUS 2004
b) 13...g5!? A crazy move in a well known theoretical line. Not many players would
rip open their kingside, especially as White has just played 13. b3 to clear the way
for b2. 14.h3 g7 15.b2 f6 with a tense position but objectively Black is in
deep trouble, Durarbeyli,VShreyansh,D/Antalya TUR 2009.
14.b2 f6 15.h4 (15.h3 d5 16.g3 c5 17.dxc5 aiming for a technical edge, Leko,P
Ivanchuk,V/Wijk aan Zee NED 2008) 15...d5! the idea is ...f4, but also ...g8
and ...g5, when White's queen finds itself in danger of being trapped, or at least
being attacked under uncomfortable circumstances. (15...c5 16.dxc5 xc5 17.d4! a5
18.xf6 gxf6 19.e4! Ganguly,SSpeelman,J/Gibralter 2004) 16.e5 (Alternatively
16.g3!? is the start of a sharp tactical sequence if Black takes the bait. At the time of
writing more examples are needed to come to a definite assessment of the
forthcoming sacrifice. 16...b4 17.e2 xc2 18.d5! with a dangerouslooking attack for
White in Bobras,PWojtaszek,R/Warsaw POL 2010.) 16...g5 17.g3!? (17.g4
might be stronger, 17...f4 18.fe1 g8 19.f3 So,WHarikrishna,P/Guangzhou CHN
2010) 17...f4 18.ae1 (18.e3 Bobras,PWojtaszek,R/Opole POL 2007) 18...d8
Amonatov,FMorozevich,A/Moscow RUS 2007.
11...f8
Currently this variation is very popular Black is doing well in this line.
11...g5 After this disastrous game Black players have switched away from this move.
12.h3! g8 Black is playing as Karpov did against Sion, but there is a small but
very important difference here. 13.d2! Here the moves d2 and ...b6 have been
omitted, and this makes this very strong knight manoeuvre possible Kasparov,G
Kamsky,G/Linares 1994.
76
12.0-0 c5
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9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vL-+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
13.h4
Others:
13.c3 b6 14.h4 b7 15.e4 xe4 16.xe4 e7 17.dxc5 bxc5! (The natural looking
17...xc5 is not so good because the Knight is now too far away from the Kside (the
best place for it is f6) and after 18.c2! it's not easy for Black to complete his
development and evacuate his King (with ...hd8 and ...f8) as White's Queen is
ready to penetrate to h7 at the right moment.) 18.e1 f6 Leko,PAnand,V/Linares
Super GM 2000.
13.b3!? Leko's preparation, 13...e5 (13...cxd4!? wins a pawn, but White has compensation,
14.xd4 e5! Leko,PKarpov,A/Linares ESP 2001.) 14.c3 b6 15.e1 cxd4! 16.cxd4
c5! with near equality, Shirov,AKarpov,A/Moscow RUS 2002.
13.e1!? The favorite move of young Armenian GM Karen Asrian. 13...b6 14.c3 (14.e5?!
cxd4! The only move. It looks extremely risky, but concrete variations show that
Black has made the right choice. 15.g6+ fxg6 16.f3+ f6 17.xa8 xh2+ Forster,R
Khalifman,A/Bad Woerishofen 1996., 14.dxc5!? xc5 15.d2! This is the idea behind
White's previous move. By giving up his strong Bishop White hopes for a
development advantage and to exploit the open cfile. Besides Bc3 is quite an
unpleasant threat, aiming for the g7square. 15...h5! Speelman finds the only way to
equality. The idea is to drive White's Queen away from her active position, and
thereby relieve the pressure on the g7square: Ponomariov,RSpeelman,J/Hastings
1998.) 14...b7 15.h3 this oddlooking move prepares e4 (15.h4!? A very clever
idea. White wants to play h4h5, blocking Black's kingside, after this it will be
difficult for Black to develop his Rook on h8. 15...e8 16.h5 d5 Topalov,V
Anand,V/Linares (Spain) 1998.) 15...c4 (15...d8!? 16.e4 xe4 17.xe4 f6 18.e1 g6!?
to escape with his king to g7, Leko,PBareev,E/Elista RUS 2007, 15...e7! 16.e4
xe4 17.xe4 f6 18.e1 ad8 is a tough nut to crack) 16.e4 xe4 17.xe4 c6
18.e1 e8 19.b3! The correct idea. White should try to open the game and exploit
Black's lagging development, Asrian,KSasikiran,K/World Junior Championship,
Erevan 2000.
77
13...b6 14.e4 b8!?

This move is now one of Black's main weapons. Lots of games have already been played
and this plan has confirmed it's viability.
15.d1
15.b3!? The latest development. 15...f6?! 16.dxc5 bxc5 17.b2! The point. White's
Bishop is very strong now and the pressure on the g7square is very annoying.
17...xe4 18.xe4 Timman,JKarpov,A/Sanur 2000.
15...c4 16.e5
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9-trl+-mk-tr0
9zp-wqn+pzp-0
9-zp-vlp+-zp0
9+-+-sN-+-0
9-+pzPL+-wQ0
9+-+-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLR+-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
16...f6! 17.f3 b7 18.xb7 xb7
Now it's clear that Black has successfully solved his opening problems, achieving a
comfortable blockade position and firm control over the d5square. It's not easy to
find a good plan for White Sadvakasov,DKarpov,A/Hoogeveen 1999.
78
CaroKann Classical 4...Bf5 intro [B18]

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.c3 dxe4 4.xe4 f5
XIIIIIIIIY
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4...h6!? Deviatkin's speciality (and to a lesser extent also Burmakin's, although Bellon
Lopez was the first GM to try it) and a move which seems effective at blitz chess.
Black's plan is to play a 4...f5 CaroKann but be able to play his bishop back to h7
immediately rather than having to stop off on g6. 5.f3 f5 6.g3 h7 7.d3 xd3
8.xd3 d7 Perez Ponsa,FDeviatkin,A/ICC INT 2010.
5.g3
Russian GM Rublevsky has won many games in another rare line 5.c5!? But in a recent
game against GM Alexey Dreev, one of the leading experts in this line, he got no
advantage after 5...d7! (5...b6 6.b3 e6 7.f3 d6 8.g3 e7 9.g2 h6 10.0-0 0-0 11.c4 d7
12.e2 c7 13.e3 c5= Becerra Rivero,JRiazantsev,A/ICC INT 2004 is comfortable
for Black, but no more. 5...b6 is therefore safe, reliable and ... a little unambitious.,
5...e5!? is Schandorff's recommendation) 6.d3 (6.xb7 c7! 7.c5 xc5 Here a draw
was agreed as the position after 8.dxc5 e6 doesn't promise White anything.) 6...xd3
7.xd3 e6 8.e2 gf6 9.f3 e7 10.0-0 0-0 11.c4 with more space, Savchenko,B
Svetushkin,D/St Petersburg RUS 2010.
5...g6 6.c4
79
In the Main line Black is solving his problems quite successfully. So White has been
looking for an advantage in old and rare continuations. Of these this line is definitely
the most popular.
6.h4 h6 7.f4!? Not very popular, but rather a dangerous continuation. By playing this way,
White secures a considerable space advantage and firm control over the e5square.
On the other hand, White's darksquared Bishop is now somewhat restricted.
a) 7.f3 is regarded as the main continuation, see B19.
b) 7.h3 Not especially effective. 7...e6 8.f4 h7 9.c4 f6 10.e2 d6 11.c3
bd7 12.gh5 If White cannot sacrifice on e6 at this point the whole variation is
ineffectual: (12.xe6 fxe6 13.xe6 e7 14.xg7+ f7 15.xe7+ xe7 16.7f5 xf5 17.xf5
ae8, 12.xe6? fxe6 13.xe6 e7) 12...0-0= Crouan,SRausis,I/National I, Sautron
FRA 2003
7...e6 8.f3 d7 9.h5 h7 10.d3 xd3 11.xd3 gf6! The move order is very important
in this position. 12.d2 c7 13.e2 c5! I believe that this is the best. The move is
aimed against e5. 14.0-0-0 Loskutov,OAsrian,K/ St.Petersburg 1999.
6.f3 f6 (6...d7 7.d3 is very quiet, Farago,SGroszpeter,A/Hungary HUN 2005) 7.h4 h6
8.e5 The possibility of this move worried Black players so much that 6...f6 was
out of fashion for decades. But due to the efforts of the Spanish GM Magem it has
become clear that Black has sufficient resources here. It's difficult to say whether
this move is better than 8.h5, but White preferred it in the elite tournaments in
Linares and Dos Hermanas this year. 8...h7 9.c4 e6 10.e2 Developing and
creating the threat of xf7. 10...d5 Absolutely the only move. (10...xd4? 11.xf7
with a quick mate.) 11.xd5?! Too optimistic. White wins a pawn, but Black obtains
fantastic compensation. Other moves should be preferred: 11...cxd5! But I definitely
prefer the text as it gives Black excellent compensation for the pawn. Why should
Black grab a pawn when it's possible to sacrifice one! (It's not easy to refute the
stupidlooking 11...xd5 12.h5 g8, for example 13.0-0 d7 14.c4 xd4 15.xd7 xd7
16.d1 c7 and it's not easy to develop White's attack, although his compensation is
obvious.) 12.b5+ d7 13.xb7 xe5 14.dxe5 b8 The critical position for an
assessment of White's plan. It doesn't look very promising for White, Miralles,G
Speelman,J/Escaldes (Andorra) 1998.
6.1e2 f6 7.f4 (7.h4 is more challenging) 7...e5 equalised for Black in Ferrari,N
Lalic,B/Italy 2001
6.h3!? White's plan is to stick his knight on f4 and then h4h5 will become a big threat as
...h6 isn't really feasible if White can exchange on g6. 6...e6 7.f4 d6 8.h4 xf4
9.xf4 with an edge, Radjabov,TEljanov,P/Moscow RUS 2010.
6...e6 7.1e2 d6
7...f6 not fearing f4, seems possible too: 8.0-0 d6 (8...bd7 9.f4 b6 Nataf,I
Hansen,T/33rd Rilton Cup, Stockholm SWE 2003) 9.f4
80
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This old line introduced by Paul Keres in the 1950s is now in fashion again. Black has to
avoid some tricks here. 9...f5!? A very interesting move. Black voluntarily spoils
his pawn structure, but as compensation he obtains firm control over the important
e4 square. Besides White's darksquared Bishop is restricted by the f4pawn and
now has few prospects.
a) 9...c7?! 10.f5! The idea behind Black's previous move was to prevent this
breakthrough but nevertheless it still works! 10...exf5 11.xf5 xh2+?! Another
careless move after which Black's position is hardly defensible. 12.h1 0-0 13.e1!
Belotti,BSolozhenkin,E/Montecatini Terme 1999. (13.g3! is not bad either. This
move was played in Keres Golombek, Moscow, 1956.)
b) 9...d7!? is also an interesting possibility. Unfortunately there are no recent
games here and the theory of this line is based on an old game Eolian Kasparov,
Riga 1977 (by the way, the future World Champion was only 14 years old at the
time!).
10.xf5 exf5 11.g3 g6 12.e1+ f8 13.f3 The critical position of this line. It had been
played several times previously, but now Black came up with a clear improvement.
13...bd7! This move was thought to be a blunder in view of 14. Qb3 attacking both
the b7 and f7 pawns. 14.b3 c7! 15.xf7 g7! After this cool move it is White
who has to think about equality, Khalifman,ARustemov,A/Germany 2000.
8.f4
8.0-0 is similar, if a little quieter: 8...c7 (8...d7 9.f4 b6 10.b3 d5 11.xd6 xd6 12.d2
gf6 13.c4 Fontaine,RBeikert,G/Belfort FRA 2004, which is perhaps a shade better
for White.) 9.f4!? The most aggressive interpretation of this position. 9...e7 10.d3
d7 11.c4 0-0-0!? A very interesting and unusual attempt. Black tries to complicate
the position as much as possible. Now one can expect a very sharp encounter which
is usual when Kings are castled on opposite sides of the board. (However I would
prefer simple moves like 11...c5, or 11...d8 in order to prepare kingside castling, with
good play for Black. The text is much more ambitious.) 12.h1 (12.c5?? doesn't win
a piece but blunders two pawns after 12...xc5 13.dxc5 xc5+) 12...f5 13.xf5 xf5
14.e3 Movsesian,SZelcic,R/Porec (Croatia) 1998.
81
8.h4! Playing h4 before f4 has merits, as the following game shows, 8...h6 9.f4 xf4
10.xf4 f6 11.h5 (11.d2 d5 12.e2 d7 13.0-0-0 b5 14.d3 xd3 15.xd3 xf4
16.xf4 c7 17.f3 Sadvakasov,DKorchnoi,V/Match, Astana KAZ 2003, Black has
a problem with his King. Korchnoi bites the bullet and castles short, but Sadvakasov
hits hard, low and fast.) 11...h7 12.0-0 bd7 13.b3 0-0 Black has to give up the
two bishops but his position remains very difficult to crack, Short,NSvidler,P/Los
Inmortales IV, Santo Domingo DOM 2002.
8...f6
8...h4!? 9.gh5 xh5 10.xh5 e7 11.e2 f6 12.d2 bd7 13.0-0-0 0-0 14.b1 d5
Svidler,PErenburg,S/playchess.com INT 2004, with equal chances. These positions
have been well understood since the days of Botvinnik and Tal. White's two Bishops
are successfully counterbalanced by the strong Knight on d5.
9.b3
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9tR-vLQmK-+R0
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9.h4?! After Black's reply it becomes clear that this aggressive move in reality is a waste of
time and merely weakens White's position. There were lots of better moves. 9...c7!
10.xg6 (After 10.f3 Black can just grab the pawn without compensation 10...xc2
But by playing the text White admits the drawbacks of his previous move.) 10...hxg6
11.f3 bd7 12.g5? After this natural move Black allows White no escape. It's
difficult to believe as White's position looks very solid, but it's true! (The less
ambitious 12.b3 should be preferred.) 12...c5! Surprisingly enough, after this move
(which is a novelty according to my database) it's not easy to find a reasonable
defence for White Tiviakov,SDreev,A/Ubeda 1999. (White hoped for 12...0-0-0
13.0-0-0 which has been played before, with reasonable chances.)
9...a5 10.a4 d5 11.xg6 hxg6

Black has a very solid centralised position, and White's Bishop pair is of no importance
here.
82
12.e4 e7 13.0-0 d7 14.f3 7f6 15.g5 c7 16.g3

Hracek,ZTukmakov,V/Koszalin 1999.
83
CaroKann Classical 4...Bf5 mainline

[B19]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.c3 dxe4 4.xe4 f5

Since the Tal Botvinnik World Title matches in the early 60s, the Classical line with
4...f5 has not been very popular. It had a reputation of being a solid but quite
passive opening, where Black had to fight for equality without gaining real winning
chances (see Geller Hort). This would hardly suit Black players on the modern
chess scene. But as time passed, Black's strategy became enriched with new ideas:
he began to castle on the kingside, and boldly tried to obtain counterplay in the
centre and on the queenside to compensate for White's kingside attack. Practice has
shown that this strategy is perfectly viable.
5.g3 g6 6.h4 h6 7.f3
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7...f6
Black sometimes chooses this move order rather than 7...d7 (which prevents White from
playing 8 e5). The reason is that in order to play for an edge, White more or less
has to play 8 e5, which gives Black a target to play against.
Nowadays Black generally prefers the old 7...d7 8.h5 h7 9.d3 xd3 10.xd3 gf6
84
a) 10...c7 11.d2 gf6 12.0-0-0 e6 13.e4 0-0-0 14.g3 Even nowadays this line,
which was introduced by Geller, is considered to be one of the most unpleasant for
Black. 14...xe4 15.xe4 Geller,EHort,V/Skopje 1968.
b) the move 10...e6 allows White to take the h2b8 diagonal with 11.f4 (11.d2
c7 12.0-0-0 0-0-0 13.e2 (13.b1 gf6 14.c4 b8 15.c3 a8 Vallejo Pons,F
Granda Zuniga,J/Donostia ESP 2009) 13...d6 14.e4 f4 15.g3 xd2+ 16.exd2!
Chuprov,DBurmakin,V/Voronezh RUS 2004) 11...gf6
b1) 11...b4+ 12.c3 e7 13.0-0-0 (13.e4 gf6 14.xf6+ xf6 15.e5 a5 and White
went on to win with powerful endgame play in Topalov,VVallejo Pons,F/Leon
ESP 2006) 13...gf6 14.b1 0-0 (14...a5 15.e5 d8 16.e4 d5 (16...xe4
17.xe4 f6 18.e2 0-0 is much more logical) 17.f3 b5 18.g4 a6 19.e2 c8 20.b4
b6 21.g5! Hermansson,EVajda,A/Bucharest ROM 2006) 15.e5 a5 Black
obtained counterplay in Lutz Dreev, World Team Championship 2001
b2) 11...a5+ is a third move which has worked well for Black recently: 12.d2
(12.d2!? is an unusual new move which cannot be that great, presumably played
only for surprise effect: 12...gf6 13.c4 e7 14.e2 0-0 15.0-0 fe8 16.fd1 b5 Hector,J
Iordachescu,V/Copenhagen/Malmoe DEN 2005) 12...b4!?
b21) But not here: 12...c7 13.0-0-0 0-0-0 14.e4 gf6 15.g3 xe4 16.xe4 d6
17.c4 c5 18.d5 f6 19.c2 exd5 20.cxd5 d7 21.c3 he8 22.xf6 gxf6 23.b1
Black must focus on d5 and central control if he wants to hold this uglylooking
position, Shaw,JJohannessen,L/Nottingham ENG 2005
b22) 12...a4!? is Seirawan's speciality, 13.0-0! (13.a3 Van den Doel,E
Seirawan,Y/Netherlands NED 2007) 13...gf6 14.fe1 e7 15.a3 0-0 16.f5!
White is close to winning, Bok,BSeirawan,Y/Amsterdam NED 2010
13.c3 (13.e4!? gf6 14.d6+ It seems that Black can allow this check. 14...e7 15.c4
(15.xb7 xd2+ 16.xd2 b4 is fine for Black, Chevelevitch,EFridman,D/Bad
Woerishofen GER 2008) 15...xd2+ 16.fxd2 c7 17.0-0-0 hd8!= Jakovenko,D
Khenkin,I/Moscow RUS 2004 After this steady equalizer Black went on to outplay
his opponent.) 13...e7 Jovanka Houska's mainline in her book 'Play the Caro
Kann'. 14.c4 c7 15.0-0-0 (15.d5 cxd5! A wellanalysed novelty which appears to
be good for Black. 16.cxd5 d6! The point! 17.c3 (17.b3 gf6 18.dxe6 xe6+
19.xe6 fxe6 20.d4!? Spence,DHouska,J/Hastings ENG 2009) 17...gf6 18.0-0-0
xd5 White can do no better than to exchange a central pawn for a wing pawn a
trade in Black's favour, see Rodriguez Guerrero,EKhenkin,I/Open Spain 2005)
15...gf6 16.de1!?
b21) 16.e4 b5! forcing his way onto the light squares (16...0-0 17.xf6+ (17.g4!?
Bacrot,ELeko,P/Elista RUS 2008) 17...xf6 18.g4 xg4 19.hg1 f5 20.de1 d7
21.e2 f6 22.b1 ad8 Pavlovic,MGyimesi,Z/Gibraltar 2006 was an
unsuccessful attempt from White.) 17.xf6+ (17.c5 0-0-0 a risky and unusual
decision, Zapata,AAndretta,C/Miami USA 2007, (I prefer 17...d8 ) ) 17...xf6
18.e5 bxc4 19.xc4 0-0 20.g4 Rasmussen,AKhenkin,I/Copenhagen DEN 2007,
and now 20...e4! both stops ...g5 and threatens ...xf2.
b22) 16.b1 0-0 (16...d8!? is risky: 17.he1 0-0 18.f5! Amonatov,F
Akesson,R/Vlissingen NED 2008) 17.he1 with the idea of f5, (17.de1 is slower,
Vescovi,GKarpov,A/Guarulhos BRA 2006, 17.c2 the point is to discourage ...c5
because of d5, as well as to stop ...b5 for the moment, and thus gain time to prepare
85
a kingside attack, 17...fd8 18.h4 Berg,ELopez Martinez,J/Salou ESP 2009)

17...fe8 (17...a5 18.c1 looks rather passive, 18...fd8 19.c2?! planless, Leko,P
Ivanchuk,V/Morelia/Linares MEX/ESP 2008) 18.e5 d6 19.f4 ad8 20.c3? b5!
Black wins the light squares, Stellwagen,DGrooten,H/Vlissingen NED 2007.
b23) 16.he1 b5! (Also worthy of note is 16...a5!? to use the apawn as a battering
ram or to support ...b4, 17.b1 0-0 18.e5 Svetushkin,DBerkes,F/Heidelberg GER
2009) 17.c5 (17.b1 Cheparinov,IIordachescu,V/Dresden GER 2007, when
Houska's 17...bxc4 18.xc4 c8 is best., 17.cxb5!? Akopian,VSolak,D/Dresden GER
2008) 17...0-0 18.b1 fd8 fairly equal, Amonatov,FBareev,E/Krasnoyarsk RUS
2007.
16...b5 17.c5! 0-0 18.e2 fe8 (18...g4!?) 19.g4! with an automatic attack, Anand,V
Macieja,B/Baden Baden GER 2006.
12.0-0-0 e7 13.b1 0-0 14.c4 (14.e4 White made his space advantage count in
Shirov,AKramnik,V/Moscow RUS 2002.) 14...a5 15.e5 ad8 16.e2 fe8=
State of the art! Black is very comfortable when his King doesn't come under fire,
Kasimdzhanov,RVallejo Pons,F/It, Pamplona ESP 2002.
11.f4 makes Black choose whether to play the position with kingside castling, where the
Bishop on f4 is much better placed than on d2 after 11...e6 (or to switch to the old
main line with queenside castling after 11...a5+ 12.d2 c7 13.0-0-0 e6 14.e4 xe4
15.xe4 f6 16.e2 0-0-0 17.g3 d6 18.c4 c5 19.c3 he8= which seems an effective
equalizer, KarpovVillares de Freitas/Sao Paulo Simul 2003) 12.0-0-0 e7 (12...d5
13.d2 b4!? is an interesting deviation attempting to distract White from his normal
attacking scheme, Hracek,ZRasmussen,K/Porz GER 2004. However, afterwards
White eked out an edge although he had to play jolly well to do it) 13.b1 (13.e4
xe4 (13...a5!? 14.xf6+ xf6 15.b1 g4 16.e2 0-0 17.h4!? xh5 18.f3 f6 19.g4
with a tremendous initiative for White as in Pritchett,CGrant,J/Oban 2005)
14.xe4 f6 15.d3 d5 (15...a5!? seems more combative, 16.b1 g4!
Karjakin,SAzmaiparashvili,Z/Dos Hermanas ESP 2005 state of the art!) 16.c4
e4 17.xe4 xe4 18.e3 It will take superlative technique to make something out
of almost nothing in this position. Kramnik is up to the task, Kramnik,V
Bareev,E/GMA, Wijk aan Zee NED 2003.) 13...0-0 14.e4 a5!? (14...xe4
15.xe4 f6 16.e2 d5 17.e5 e4 18.xe4 xe4 19.he1 f6 20.g4 (-
Gaponenko,IChiburdanidze,M/Ohrid MKD 2009!!) 20...fd8 21.e3 d6 22.f3
ac8 23.c4 a5?! Now Black will get ground down. It was imperative to drum up
counterplay on the light squares: (23...b5 24.b3 bxc4 25.bxc4 d7 26.d3 b8+ 27.c2
g3) 24.a4! Kasparov,GAnand,V/Linares 2003.) 15.xf6+ xf6 16.e5 ad8
solid as a rock, 17.g3 h8 18.c4 (18.d3! Direct and causes some confusion.
18...d5 19.d2 Apicella,MBauer,C/chFRA, Aix les Bains FRA 2003.) 18...d7
(18...c5 De Firmian,NDreev,A/TchSWE 2003) 19.d3 f6 20.a3 b6 Bareev
combines defence and counterattack superbly in the subsequent course of this game:
Akopian,VBareev,E/Enghien les Bains 2003.
8.e5
86
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Currently this line is White's main weapon.
8.h5 h7 9.d3 xd3 10.xd3 is the older line, 10...e6 11.d2 (11.f4 b4+ 12.c3 d6 is
Kaidanov,GIvanov,A/Stillwater United States 2007) 11...bd7 (11...e7 12.0-0-0
0-0 13.e2 (13.b1 Of course by playing such prophylactic moves White can hardly
fight for an opening advantage. 13...c5 Epishin's idea (c5 prior to developing the
Knight) works here as well. 14.e3 bd7 15.e4 c7 Now it's clear that White hasn't
managed to create any opening problems for Black. Moreover, White should play
very carefully in order to avoid problems himself, Luther,TRausis,I/Germany
1998.) 13...c5!? A new and very interesting idea. (Instead of the automatic 13...bd7
Black immediately opens the cfile, keeping different possibilities for developing
his knight.) 14.dxc5 c7! 15.e5 d8! 16.c3 c6! The correct strategy: Black
doesn't hurry to regain his pawn, but instead completes his development. I believe
that after the text move Black has successfully solved most of his opening problems,
Hracek,ZEpishin,V/Germany 1998.) 12.0-0-0 e7 The critical position in this line.
(12...d6 13.e4 xe4 14.xe4 f6 15.e2 e7!? A novel placement for the black
queen, making the kingside more secure and permitting ...d6c7 if needed, Ye
JiangchuanAzmaiparashvili,Z/Xiapu CHN 2005, ultrasolid by Black.) 13.e2
a) 13.b1!? is a small move with large consequences, Gwaze,R
Woodward,T/Edinburgh 2003
b) 13.e4 xe4 seems most promising for Black, as (13...0-0 14.b1 c5 15.dxc5 c7
16.g4! looks like an incisive moveorder, see the brilliant Carpentier,J
Janosi,E/ICCF Email 2002, 13...c5!? Chkhaidze,NHouska,J/Hastings ENG 2009)
14.xe4 f6 15.e2 d5 16.b1 (16.c4 e4 Corrales Jimenez,F
Stellwagen,D/KhantyMansiysk RUS 2010) 16...xh5 17.e5 f6 18.f3 b5 19.g4
d7 20.f4 xe5 21.dxe5 c4!= Oleksienko,MKovalev,D/Alushta UKR 2006. As
long as Black keeps completely focused on the light squares, he will be OK in this
line.
13...0-0 (13...c5 Black leaves his king in the centre so that the kingside attack lacks force,
14.he1 0-0 15.f5 this is dangerous for Black, 15...cxd4 (15...e8 is Schandorff's
suggestion) 16.xe7+ (16.3xd4 see Shyam,NOvetchkin,R/Mumbai IND 2010)
16...xe7 17.xd4 Wang HaoPonomariov,R/Wijk aan Zee NED 2011.) 14.f1!?
this move seems very dangerous for Black,
87
a) 14.e5 c5! Opening an extra file near White's king. Now the game is somewhat
similar to a Sicilian! 15.dxc5 Xie,JBrunner,L/Bern 1995.
b) 14.b1 c5 15.d5! is a new and dangerous pawn sacrifice 15...xd5 (15...exd5
16.xh6 gxh6 17.f5 Jobova ) 16.e4 c4 17.g4 b6 18.g5 hxg5 19.h6 Nijboer,F
Gagunashvili,M/Groningen NED 2004. Certainly White has a strong attack, but with
19...f6! Black can man an effective barricade.
14...c5 (14...h8 15.g1 c5 16.g4 cxd4 17.g5 Gopal,GNKharitonov,A/Cappelle la Grande FRA
2010.) 15.g4! this is extremely promising, 15...cxd4 16.g5 d5! (16...hxg5 is exactly
what White is aiming for, Robson,RMalakhatko,V/Tromso NOR 2009) 17.gxh6
b6 Black has a strong counterattack on the queenside, Balogh,C
Rodshtein,M/Wroclaw POL 2010.
8...h7 9.d3
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This move, introduced by Ivanchuk, has become very popular.
It looks more promising than 9.c4 e6 10.e2 d5 11.d2 White has a dozen or so
alternatives to this move, but recently this move has received a lot of attention.
11...d7 (11...xc2!? is the critical move, but so far most people have shied away
from it.) 12.d3 xd3 13.xd3 5f6 14.f4 c5 15.0-0-0 Smirin,IEpishin,V/Saint
Vincent ITA 2000.
9.f4!? e6 10.f5!? bd7 11.xf7!? with a dangerous attack, Lu YijieNguyen Van Huy/Ho
Chi Minh City VIE 2011.
9...xd3
The normal way for Black to play this line.
9...bd7!? 10.xh7 xe5 11.dxe5 a5+ 12.f1 xh7 13.e2 0-0-0 14.e6 d5 (14...f6
would lock the bishop down on f8, but, 14...f5!? intending ...g6, ... Bg7, ...h5 and
...Nf6 is worth consideration.) 15.exf7 xf7 16.e3 a6?! This is a very ugly move,
completely giving up control over the dark squares, Leko,PBareev,E/Dortmund
GER 2000.
9...xd4? is met by 10.xf7!
88
10.xd3 e6 11.d2
11.f4 bd7 12.0-0-0 e7 13.b1 0-0 14.c4 c5?! This move is brilliantly refuted. Black's
play was improved upon just a month later. 15.d5 xe5 16.xe5 g4 The logical
followup to 14...c5. However an unpleasant surprise awaits him! Ponomariov,R
Tukmakov,V/Donetsk (Ukraine) 1998.
11.0-0? this is simply poor with the pawn on h4 sticking out like a sore thumb, 11...d6
12.f4 0-0 13.b3 d5 with a clear advantage, Iotov,VGenov,P/Sofia 2003.
11...e7!?
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This move has become popular due to the efforts of GM Vladimir Epishin, who is a leading
expert in the CaroKann. Black delays the development of his Queen's Knight,
retaining the possibility of putting it either on d7 or c6 (after ... c6c5).
11...bd7 is the old main line. 12.f4 White gains space and also makes ultrasecure the
position of his proud centralised e5knight. 12...e7 13.0-0-0 0-0 (13...c5 14.he1
(14.c3!? 0-0 15.dxc5 xe5 16.fxe5 d5 17.d2 c7 18.c4 xc5 19.e4 c6 20.b1 b6
21.b3 ad8 22.f3 d4 Kasparov,GBareev,E/Moscow RUS 2004 is unimpressive for
White. Black's Rook steps into the hole the White pawns left behind. Nevertheless,
the game is still complex., 14.d5!? is critical) 14...0-0 15.xd7 xd7 16.f5
McDonald,NHermansson,E/Budapest 2003 Subsequently Black negotiated the
complications.) 14.f3 (14.e2 I doubt if this move is best here. 14...c5 15.dxc5 xc5!
This recapture is preferable. 16.c3 c7! This is best because White cannot now play
17 g4 as the f4pawn is hanging, Adams,MLeko,P/Linares 1999.) 14...c7
15.c4! White further increases his spatial advantage, and prepares to play c3
without allowing ...d5 by Black. 15...c5 16.d5! ae8 17.he1 Movsesian,S
Iordachescu,V/F.I.D.E. KO World Ch., New Del 2000.
12.0-0-0 0-0 13.f4
89
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsn-wq-trk+0
9zpp+-vlpzp-0
9-+p+psn-zp0
9+-+-sN-+-0
9-+-zP-zP-zP0
9+-+Q+-sN-0
9PzPPvL-+P+0
9+-mKR+-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
13.e2!? Quite an interesting idea. To exploit the omission of ...bd7 White intends a g
pawn thrust, launching a direct Kside attack. By the way, the position of the h
pawn (on h4 as opposed to h5) favours White, as it makes the gpawn advance more
powerful. 13...bd7 14.xd7 xd7 15.g4! The correct approach. At the cost of only
one pawn, White obtains a tremendous attack on the Black King, Luther,T
Doettling,F/Schwerin 1999.
13...c5 14.dxc5 c7
This position was tested in two of Mittelman's recent games, and in both he managed to
solve his opening problems.
15.he1
15.c3 could well be more testing Solozhenkin gets blown away! 15...d5 16.h5! see
Khalifman,ASolozhenkin,E/ECC, Rethymnon GRE 2003.
15...c6 16.xc6 xc6

David,AMittelman,G/Antwerp 1999.
90

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CaroKann [B1019]

Written by GMs Gawain Jones, Jonathan Rowson, Nigel Davies, Neil

All rights reserved Chess Publishing Ltd

CaroKann Unusual lines [B10]

b) 5.a4+!? bd7 (5...d7 Serper,GHahn,A/San Diego 2004) 6.c3 g6 7.f3

Lee,G/England 1999.) 9.g3 ge7 10.h5 0-0 11.g5! c7 12.xa5! followed by

4...c6 5.c3 cxd4

7...e6 8.a3 a6 9.e3 f6 10.h3 h5

11.exf6 xf6 12.g3

CaroKann Two Knights Variation

1.e4 c6 2.c3 d5 3.f3

Birmingham 2001) 6.f3 d6 7.g3 c7 Reefschlaeger,HKrajewski,W/Bad

9...xd5 10.d1 f6 11.g3 d7 12.xd5 cxd5 13.g5 White's initiative grows

11...a5 12.d2 b6 13.he1 xe4 14.xe4 f6 15.xe6!!

CaroKann Fantasy Variation 3 f3

CaroKann Advance 3...c5 & 3...Na6

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5

11.g4) 10.f3 g7 11.h3 hf5 12.xf5 xf5 13.g4 Nunn,JArkell,K/London

10...gxf4 11.xf4 xc5 12.bd2

CaroKann Advance 3...Bf5 various 4th

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 f5 4.e3

13.exf6 xf6 14.d3 xd3 15.xd3 g6 16.d2 e7 17.ae1 0-0 Delchev,A

7.b3 f6 8.f3 e7 9.0-0 g6 10.c4!

10...a5 11.c5 xc5 12.dxc5 xb2 13.d4

CaroKann Advance Short Variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 f5 4.f3

a) 6...d7 7.0-0 (7.bd2 c4!? worked well in Svidler,PTopalov,V/Nanjing CHN

9.c3 doesn't lead to much, Zhigalko,SMchedlishvili,M/Dresden GER 2007.

CaroKann Advance 3...Bf5 4.Nc3

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 f5 4.c3

Karpov,A/Donostia ESP 2009) 12...a5+ 13.c3 xd4 14.xd4 c6 Fedorov,A

8...cxd4 9.b5 ec6 10.h5 e4 11.f3

14...h6 15.fxe4 dxe4

CaroKann Exchange Variation [B13]

8 d2 e6 9 gf3 xf3! 10 xf3 d6 11 g3!?

CaroKann Panov Attack 5...Nc6

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4

9...g4 10.f3 f5 11.b5 e5

12.ge2 0-0-0 13.0-0 e6 14.h1 h6 15.xc6!? bxc6 16.e1 e3 17.a4

CaroKann Panov 5...g6, 5...e6 [B14]

a) 11 a3 f6 12 e3 b6 13 e2 b7 14 ad1 c7 15 fe1 ad8= Black finds an

League 2006 Black has an uncomfortable game) 9 f4 e4 10 b5!? (It is hard to

6...g7 7 cxd5 0-0

g5!, ...h7h6 and ...h3.) 12 fe2 d3? (12...h6) 13 xg5 Postny,E

11 xf6 xf3 12 xf3 xf6

CaroKann: 3 Nc3 Intro & Korchnoi's

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.c3 dxe4

14.b3 White had a useful space advantage in Yudasin,LMcCarthy,B/New York

6...d6 7.d3 0-0

CaroKann Larsen/Bronstein, 5...gxf6

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.c3 dxe4 4.xe4 f6 5.xf6+ gxf6

CaroKann Smyslov 4...Nd7 [B17]

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.c3 dxe4 4.xe4 d7

8.e2 h6 9.e4 xe4 10.xe4

13...b6 14.e4 b8!?

CaroKann Classical 4...Bf5 intro [B18]

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.c3 dxe4 4.xe4 f5

9...a5 10.a4 d5 11.xg6 hxg6

12.e4 e7 13.0-0 d7 14.f3 7f6 15.g5 c7 16.g3