Paulsentaimanov

Paulsen/Taimanov Variations
[B4049 & B54]

Written by GM John Fedorowicz, GM Tony Kosten & IM Richard Palliser
Last updated Sunday, 17 July 2011
Paulsen Defence
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Taimanov Defence
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his group includes the Taimanov variation, the PaulsenKan and some trendy
offbeat lines such as the 4...b6 variation. New developments in the Paulsen and
Taimanov themselves have been few and far between, but there were some games
worthy of attention.
The Taimanov and Paulsen Kan variations fall into the category of solid Sicilians.
These positions are different from other Open Sicilian variations. The situations that arise
are less open and the theory doesn't change as drastically.
My recommendation is for players who like to avoid craziness. I have resorted to the
Taimanov against players with a wideopen attacking style.
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 c5 2 f3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 xd4 c6
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4...a6
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5 d3 (5 c4 5 c4 Maroczy vs the Kan [B41]; 5 c3 Paulsen/Kan 5 Nc3 [B43]) 5 ..f6 (5
..c5 Paulsen/Kan 5 Bd3 Bc5 & Intro [B42]) 6 0-0 Paulsen/Kan 5 Bd3 Nf6 [B42]
4...f6 5 c3 c6 Four Knights' with ...e6 [B45], 5...b4 Paulsen/Kan Miscellaneous
[B40]
5 c3
5 b5 d6 6 c4 Taimanov with 5 Nb5 [B44]
5...c7
5...a6 Taimanov with ...a6 [B46]
5...d6 Keres AttackBlack doesn't play ...Nf6 [B54]
6 e3
6 e2 Taimanov6 Be2, 6 g3 [B47]
6 g3 Taimanov6 Be2, 6 g3 [B47]
6...a6 7 e2
7 d3 Taimanovwith 6 Be3 and 7 Bd3 [B48]
7 d2 f6 8 0-0-0 English Attack v Taimanov [B48]
7...f6 8 0-0 b4 9 a4
Taimanov Long Variation [B49]
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Paulsen/Kan Miscellaneous [B40]

Last updated: 12/11/08 by Richard Palliser
1 e4 c5 2 f3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 xd4
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4...f6
4...b6 The Kveinys variation, as this is known, is a nontheoretical variation. It's nice to
see some fresh ideas and this one deserves a look. 5 b3 (5 a3!? Attempting to take
advantage of the Qb6's exposed situation. 5...xa3 Not a bad reaction, but it leaves
the dark squares looking weird. On other moves White has chances for Nd6 dunk.. 6
bxa3 f6 7 d3 0-0 8 e2 c6 9 xc6 dxc6 10 f3 e5 11 c3 e8 12 e3 c7 13 0-0 e6=
Stellwagen,DTomashevsky,E/Oropesa del Mar ESP 1999 Black has put together a

solid game.) 5...c6 (5...c7 6 d3 f6 7 0-0 d6 8 c4 e7 9 c3 0-0 10 e3 b6 11 a4!
Nisipeanu,LIvanchuk,V/Foros 2008) 6 d3 f6 7 0-0 (7 c3 d6 8 0-0 e7 9 h1
0-0 10 g5 d7 11 e1 g4 12 d2?! (12 xe7 xe7 White can pile on d6.)
12...h4!? Hoping to provoke some weaknesses. White was hoping to send Black on
a full retreat. 13 g1 ae8 14 e2 ge5 15 d1 e7 16 e3 c7 17 f4 g6 18
d3 b4 19 e2 d8 20 a3 c6 Xie JunPortisch,L/Marbella ESP 1999 After a lot
of shuffling things look about equal.) 7...e7 8 c4!? The attacks that come out of
some of these ...b6, ...c5 deals look a bit hokey. Going positional with a Maroczy
Bind setup looks like a good alternative. 8...e5 9 c3 d6 10 e3 c7 11 c1 b6 12
e2 (12 d4 a6 13 e2 b7 14 f3 0-0 15 b3 is very tough for White to crack) 12...0-0 13
f4 g6 (13...ed7!? I hate N's on g6. They're easy targets.) 14 d4 a6 15 g4 This is
hard to believe. 15...h6 16 f5 e5 17 h4 h7 18 e1 d8 19 f2 d7 20 b3 h8

Galliamova,APortisch,L/Marbella ESP 1999 White's position is a tad stretched out.
4...c5!? A rare tricky variation played hoping to catch an unaware opponent. 5 b3 (5
e3 Menacing xe6 5...b6 6 c3 c6 (6...xb2?? 7 db5 xe3 8 b1+) 7 db5
xe3 8 fxe3 ge7 In the game Black gets nothing to compensate for his almost dead
bishops and rooks on the back rank. Not to mention White's huge forthcoming
attack! (8...xe3+ 9 e2 is also unpleasant) 9 d6+ f8 10 d2 e5 11 e2 7c6 12
0-0 a6 13 xf7+!! xf7 14 f1 ce5 15 h5! g6 16 xf7 xf7 17 f2 e7 18
xf7+ d6 19 f4+ c6 20 f3+ Motwani,PWortel,M/Dutch Interclubs,
Holland 2000 A very crisp attack.) 5...b6 6 c3 e7 7 f4 Logical play. Going for
the d6 clampdown. 7...0-0 8 d6 f5!? What else can Black do? 9 d2 bc6 10 e2
c7 11 0-0 xd6 12 xd6 fxe4 13 xe4 f5 14 d2 d5 15 g3 e5 16 ad1 fd4
17 xd4 xd4 18 c3 xe2+ 19 xe2 d6 20 fe1 e8 21 e4! Tiviakov,SVan
Beek,A/Groningen NED 1999, winning a pawn in an unusual manner.
5 c3 b4
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5...b6 This is the Gaw Paw (or Ga Pa) Variation, a Swedish speciality invented by
Swedish theoretician Rolf Martens. 6 e5 (6 b3!? b4! 7 d3 xc3+! 8 bxc3 d6 9 0-0
Ruiz Bravo,ALapshun,Y/Sants ESP 2006.) 6...c5! 7 e3 d5! 8 xd5 exd5 9
b5! this line comes close to refuting the entire variation, (9 f5?! xb2! is much less
clear, see Meier,GBraun,A/Hockenheim/Willingen GER 2006) 9...xe3 10 fxe3
Goh Wei MingSadorra,J/Beijing (rapid) 2008.
6 e5 d5
This is best, but I don't trust this stuff for Black.
6...e4?! 7 g4! a5 (7...xc3 8 xg7 f8 9 a3 a5 10 h6 e7 11 b3! pointed out by
Mcdonald.) 8 xg7 xc3+ 9 bxc3 xc3+ 10 e2 White's king doesn't look entirely
safe, but consider Black's position after 10...f8? 11 h6! 10...xd4 11 xh8+ e7
12 a3+ c5 13 f6+ e8 14 h8+ e7 15 d1! c3 16 f6+ e8 17 h8+ e7
18 c1! A deadly redeployment. 18...e4 19 h6! d5 (19...xc2+ 20 e3+) 20
exd6++ McDonald,NBaker,C/Four Nations Chess League, Eng 1996
6
6...a5? 7 exf6! xc3+ 8 bxc3 xc3+ 9 d2 xa1 10 c3 Black's queen is trapped!
7 d2 xc3 8 bxc3 e7 9 g4!

Forcing a weakness, a misplaced king or winning the exchange.
9...0-0 10 h6 g6 11 xf8 xf8 12 g3 a5 13 c4 c6 14 xc6 bxc6 15

0-0 g7 16 ae1
Black has no activity whatsoever.
16...f6
Trying something, but opening up the position.
17 exf6 xf6 18 e3 g5 19 b1+

Almasi,ZFedorov,A/Polanica Zdroj POL 2000 Black's rook on a8 and bishop on c8 tell a
sad tale.
5 c4 Maroczy vs the Kan [B41]

1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 a6 5.c4
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This setup isn't played very much, but deserves some attention. Black's best method is to
put fast pressure on the e4 point. Other tries could lead to a passive Hedgehog.
5.e2 is often used as a transpositional device, 5...b6!? 6.0-0 b7 7.c3 c7 8.f4 b4!? a
new approach, Shabalov,AKamsky,G/Foxwoods Open 2007.
5...f6 6.c3 b4!?

This is the mainline. Black hits e4 immediately.
6...d6?! This allows White the opportunity to switch into an English opening type
Hedgehog where Black is passive. 7.g3!? b6 8.g2 b7 9.0-0 c7 10.b3 b5 11.e1
bxc4 12.d5! exd5 13.exd5+ d8 14.bxc4 bd7 15.c6+ xc6 16.dxc6 c5
17.b1 b8 18.xb8+ xb8 19.a3 Spasov,VKhurtsidse,N/Korinthos Open,
Greece 2001.
6...c7 This by no means is a bad move, but Black has more challenging ideas, 7.a3! to
stop ...b4, 7...b6 8.e3 b7 9.f3 d6 with Hedgehog play, 10.c1 bd7 11.e2 e7
12.0-0 0-0 13.b4! ac8 14.d2 (14.b3!? b8 15.h1 fe8 16.a4 White forces Black
to address the issue of his bpawn, Radjabov,TKamsky,G/FIDE GrandPrix, Baku
2008.) 14...b8 15.h1 (15.c2!? Parligras,MVelikov,P/Sutomore SCG 2004)
15...h5!? Annageldyev,OKoneru,H/Hyderabad IND 2005.
7.d3
8
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The only sensible try to defend e4, as 7 f3 weakens a lot of kingside dark squares.
7.d2!? c7 (7...0-0!?, 7...xc3 8.xc3 xe4 9.g4 xc3 10.xg7 f8 11.bxc3 scores well for
White) 8.a3 e7 9.e3 d6 and play takes on Hedgehog characteristics, Dominguez
Perez,LAndreikin,D/Capablanca Memorial, Havana 2011.
7...c6
Once again challenging the center.
7...c7!? This move doesn't seem as good as 7...b4. 8.de2 c6 9.0-0 e5 10.h3 xc4
11.b3 e5 12.xb4 xd3 13.d4 e5 14.f4 d6 15.ac1 e7 16.fd1 b5 17.a4
d7 Ehlvest,JBologan,V/Goodricke Calcutta 1999.
8.xc6
If 8.e3 d5!?
8.de2 is possible, see the notes to ParligrasVelikov.
8.a3!? xc3+ 9.bxc3 d6 10.0-0 e5 11.f4!? xd3 12.xd3 e5 13.fxe5! dxe5 14.g5 won
quickly in Kramnik,VSvidler,P/Wijk aan Zee NED 2005, but Black missed a good
chance later.
8...dxc6 9.c2 e5 10.g5 h6 11.h4 0-0 12.0-0 e6 13.fd1 e7 14.g3

d7=
Riand,JTukmakov,V/Mendrisio SUI 1999.
Paulsen/Kan 5 Bd3 5...Bc5 & Intro

[B42]
1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 a6 5.d3 c5
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A logical move, bringing the bishop out before playing ...d6, but Black should take care as
he needs this piece to defend his dark squares.
Black has many alternatives:
5...c6 common, but perhaps not too good, 6.xc6 dxc6 (6...bxc6 7.0-0 d5 8.c4!? Attempting
to open the game. Black's development lags, Adams,MDao Thien Hai/New Delhi
IND 2000.) 7.0-0 e5 8.d2 White's knight heads toward the squares b6, d6, and e5.
(8.a4 also causes Black serious misery, Ulibin,MMeister,Y/Samara RUS 2000)
8...f6 9.c4 c7 10.a4 (10.d2!? a5 threats are very annoying, Leko,P
Khalifman,A/Budapest HUN 2000) 10...c5 11.g5 e6 12.xf6 gxf6 13.f3
Black's king becomes a concern for the duration, Polgar,JMiezis,N/Tallinn EST
2001.
5...d5!? 6.exd5 xd5 7.c3!? is Bacrot,EKamsky,G/Wijk aan Zee NED 2006.
5...e7!? Milov's favourite Taimanovlike approach and a good way to avoid too much
theory. 6.0-0 the main line, (6.c4!? is a decent, albeit somewhat less popular
alternative, 6...bc6 7.b3 d5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.0-0! this appears to suffice for an edge,
Vallejo Pons,FAndreikin,D/European Championship, Dresden 2007.) 6...bc6
(6...ec6 7.b3 Touloumis,APopchev,M/Chania GRE 1999) 7.xc6 xc6 8.e3
10
e7 9.d2 0-0 (9...d5!? Shirov,ACarlsen,M/Morelia 2008.) 10.c3 c7! Leko,P

Kramnik,V/Melody Amber (rapid), Nice 2009.
5...b5?! 6.0-0 b7 (6...c7?! 7.a4 b4 8.d2 is similar, de FirmianFeurerstein/Chicago 2000)
7.a4 b4 8.d2 with superior development and good squares for the pieces one could
see Black's problems, Leitao,RLoureiro,L/Sao Paulo BRA 1999.
5...g6!? This variation was very fashionable in the midseventies and appears to be making
something of a comeback. 6.c4
a) 6.0-0 g7 7.b3! this looks like White's most promising approach, (7.e3 f6
(7...e7 8.c4 Zontakh,APeev,P/Lazarevac YUG 1999) 8.c4 d6 9.c3 0-0 10.d2
c6 11.ad1 e5! Shirov,AChuchelov,V/German Bundesliga 2010) 7...e7 8.c4
0-0 9.c3 Karjakin,SDavies,N/Mainz (rapid) 2010
b) 6.c3 g7 7.e3 e7 8.0-0 bc6 9.e2 d5! Pogonina,NCramling,P/European
Women's Championship, Plovdiv 2008
6...g7 7.e2 (7.f3 e7 8.0-0 Varga,ZRogic,D/Pula CRO 1999) 7...d5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.exd5
xd5 10.0-0 d8 11.bc3 The pawn structure is basically the same, but look at
White's development, Dolmatov,SIordachescu,V/Linares ESP 2000.
5...b6!? 6.b3 c7 McShane,LKengis,E/Delmenhorst GER 2000.
5...d6!? this looks odd, 6.0-0 e7 Wagman,SEpishin,V/Arco ITA 1999.
6.b3 e7
Probably better than the alternative:
6...a7 7.c4
a) 7.0-0 c6 8.e2
a1) 8.g4!? With the bishop on a7 this becomes stronger. 8...f6 Black's
development looks very uncoordinated. 9.h1 (9.c3 d6!? Rublevsky,S
Zubov,A/European Club Cup, Ohrid 2009, 9.1d2) 9...h5 10.g3 h4 11.h3 b4
12.f4 xd3 13.cxd3 e7 14.c3 d5 15.f3 h3 16.g3 d7 17.e3 xe3 18.e5 g6
19.xe3 f5 20.b6 0-0 21.d4 Vuckovic,BBogdanov,E/Chania GRE 1999
White has control of this nice blockading square
a2) 8.c4 f6 9.c3 d6 10.h1 (10.e2 e5 11.e3 0-0 is solid for Black, Polgar,J
Smirin,I/KhantyMansiysk Olympiad 2010) 10...e5 11.e2 e6 12.f4 h6 13.d3
e7? walking into a shot (13...0-0 14.f5 c8 is very nice for White) 14.d5! xd5
15.cxd5 d4 16.fxe5 dxe5 17.xd4 xd4 18.g3 xe4? (18...g8 was forced, but I
don't know anyone who would play Black's game!) 19.xg7 0-0-0 20.g4++
Bellia,FHaldemann,P/Arco ITA 1999 I liked White's opening play.
8...ge7 9.e3 e5 10.1d2 (10.c3 0-0 11.d5 (11.a4!? securing c4 for the bishop looks
good) 11...d6 12.xa7 xa7 13.e3 e6 14.fd1 a8 15.d2? Doubling on the d
line is not effective here (15.b6 a7 16.c4 is favorable for White) 15...a5! Playing to
chase the Nb3 16.b6 a7 17.c4 a4 18.c1 d4 19.c3? Falling for a little trick
(19.xe6 fxe6 20.c4 keeps White in the game) 19...df5! 20.exf5 xf5 21.d3
xb6-+ ZagrebelnyBologan,V/Goodricke Calcutta 1999) 10...0-0 11.c4 d6 12.a4
e6 13.a5 d4 14.xd4 exd4 15.f4 Black must be concerned about his doubled d
pawns 15...c5 16.h5! d5 17.d2 g6 18.e5 d7 19.h3 Rogic,D
Delchev,A/Pula CRO 1999 Black's kside has problems
b) 7.e2 c6 8.e3 Kriventsov,SStripunsky,A/San Diego USA 2004.
11
c) 7.g4!? f6 this is critical, (7...g6?! Grischuk,AIstratescu,A/Khanty Mansyisk

RUS 2005) 8.g3 (8.xg7? g8 9.h6 xf2+!) 8...d6 9.c3 c6 10.0-0 Molner,M
Smirin,I/World Open, Philadelphia 2011.
7...c6 8.c3 ge7 (8...d6 9.0-0 ge7 10.e1 is similar, DEEP JUNIORKasparov,G/New
York USA 2003) 9.0-0 0-0 10.e2 d6 (10...e5 11.e3 (11.c5!?) 11...d4 12.xd4
exd4 13.d5 d6 14.ad1 c6 15.h1 e6 16.f4 e8 17.h5 (17.a3 or, 17.b1 keeps
Black under pressure) 17...g6 18.h6 xd5 19.exd5 b4 20.f5 e7 21.f6 Leko,P
Kramnik,V/Wijk aan Zee NED 2000, Black is ok, and maybe even a tad better)
11.e3 e5 12.xa7 xa7 13.fd1 White gets to play for free vs d6 13...e6 14.e3
Covering d4 just in case 14...a8 15.e2 b6 Black's only active play is the ...f5
break, but it loosens things 16.ac1 b8 17.d2 a7 18.d5 c8 19.c3
Galliamova,AKobalija,M/Samara RUS 2000 With space
7.0-0
7.c4 c6 (7...d6 8.c3 d7 9.0-0 gf6 10.f4 c7 11.f3 (11.e2 b6 12.d2 b7 13.ae1
Naiditsch,ASvidler,P/Dortmund GER 2004) 11...b6 12.e3 b7 13.ae1 h6
14.h3 0-0-0?! This looks really ridiculous. 15.f5 e5 16.d4 b8 17.fxe6 fxe6
18.d2 g5 19.a4 g4 20.e3+ Reefat,SEhlvest,J/Dhaka BAN 2001 Black's q
side is getting wiped out) 8.0-0 f6 9.c3 0-0 10.f4 d6 11.h1 b6 With White's
knight on b3 this is a decent hedgehog setup 12.e3 b7 13.d2 c8 14.ad1 c7
15.g1 fe8 16.e3 d7 17.h3 f8 18.d4 f6 19.f3 b4 20.e2 g6= De
Firmian,NSvidler,P/Internet 2000 White's has no chances for an attack.
7.g4 It makes sense to force ...g6. 7...g6 8.c4 (8.e2 I figure getting out of the way of
...f6 is reasonable, 8...d6 (8...b6 Lutz,CHorvath,C/Budapest HUN 2004) 9.a4 c6
10.a5 f6 11.c3 0-0 Black looks too cramped, 12.0-0 Svidler,P
Epishin,V/BadenBaden GER 2002.) 8...d6 9.c3 d7 10.e2 c7 11.0-0 b6 12.f4
White should delay this. It keeps Black from developing his g8. If gf6 then h6
12...b7 13.f5 gf6 14.fxe6 fxe6 15.d4 c5 16.e3 e5 This looks kinda ugly.
17.f3 h5 18.h3 c5 19.g5 White chickens out. Keeping Q's looks better.
19...xe2 20.xe2= Holzke,FKveinys,A/Wattenschied GER 2000
7.c3 d6 8.g4 g6 9.g3 f6?! Black must develop with ...d7, ...c7, ...b6 and ...b7.
Playing the waiting game. 10.h6! bd7 11.0-0 e5 12.e2 c6 13.ad1 g8 So
the g4 softening move pays dividends 14.f4 Now Black's king becomes the hunted
14...d7 15.h1 c7 16.h3 b5 17.g5 xg5 18.fxg5 f8 19.xb5 axb5
20.xb5+ Tran,PPrusikhin,M/Fuerth GER 1999
7.e3 quite a popular choice these days, 7...f6 (Epishin's 7...d5?! 8.exd5 xd5 was roughly
treated in Nakamura,HEpishin,V/Catalan Bay ENG 2007, 7...d6 should transpose,
7...c6 8.1d2 d5!? And why not? Bruzon Bautista,LAndreikin,D/Havana CUB
2011) 8.1d2 c6 9.f4 d6 (9...c7 10.e2! intending to castle long, Shirov,A
Manik,M/European Club Cup, Ohrid 2009.) 10.a3!? (10.c3 d7 11.e2 c7 see
Naiditsch,ASchmaltz,R/Deizisau GER 2004.) 10...b5 11.e2 0-0 12.0-0-0
Nielsen,PVan Wely,L/Wolvega 2010.
7...d6
12
7...c7 8.c4 f6 9.c3 d6 10.f4 c6 11.e3 d7 12.c1 going for d5 12...c5!? The
best way to stop it 13.xc5 dxc5 14.e5 b6 15.e4 b7 16.f5 xe5 17.fxe6 xe4
18.exf7+ xf7 19.xe4 0-0 20.f4 c6 21.c3 f6 22.d5 ae8= Shabalov,A
Polgar,J/Istanbul TUR 2000 Black has a solid game
7...c6 8.f4 d6 9.a4 (9.f5?! This rather early thrust makes little impact on Black, and indeed
grants him a superb outpost on e5. 9...f6 10.c3 0-0 11.g4 d7! The knight avoids
getting hit by g5 and heads to the strong e5 point 12.g5? A terrible looking pawn sac
12...xg5 13.fxe6 fxe6 14.g4 xf1+ 15.xf1 de5!-+ Rajlich,VFogarasi,T/FSGM Aug.
Budapest Tourn., Hun 2000) 9...f6 10.c3 0-0 11.e1 b4 12.a5? Now White is
worse. (12.h1 kept equality) 12...b5! 13.e3 (13.axb6?? xd3 14.cxd3 xb6+ wins)
13...b7 14.h1 c8 15.b6 d7 16.d2 e5 17.e2 xc3 18.xc3 xe4-+
Stripunsky,AGoldin,A/Philadelphia USA 1999
8.g4
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This is annoying for Black.
8.c4 f6 9.c3 0-0 (9...b6 10.f4 bd7 11.e2 b7 Panchanathan,MRowson,J/Scottish Ch.,
Edinburgh 2009) 10.f4 b6 11.f3 b7 12.h3 bd7 13.e3 b5?! Black goes nuts
(13...e5!? looking for a nice outpost on e5) 14.cxb5 axb5 15.a3 b8 16.ad1 e5
17.xb5 xe4 18.fxe5 xe5 19.d4 g6 20.f5 Hansen,SAkesson,R/Gentofte
DEN 1999 White picks up the bishop pair and has the better structure.
8...g6 9.e2
9.f4 I like to keep the h6 idea alive so retreating g4 to e2 looks best. 9...d7 10.c3
gf6 11.e2 c7 12.h1 b6 13.a4 b7 14.e3 h5 I don't know about this. Can't
Black play human moves? (14...0-0 looks normal) 15.d4 h4 16.g1 h3 17.g3 h5
18.g4 h4 19.g5 h5 20.e3 c5 21.xc5 dxc5 Zhigalko,A
Faibisovich,V/Pardubice CZE 2000 unclear fits the bill!
9.g3!? c7 10.a4! b6 11.a3 b7 12.c4 Adams,MCaruana,F/Ruy Lopez Masters,
Merida 2008.
9...d7
13
9...c6!? 10.c3 (10.c4 e5 transposes to the mainline., 10.a4! appears to be more to the
point) 10...b5 11.a4 b4 12.a2 f6 13.h6! Keeping Black in the middle for as long
as possible, Ginzburg,MGarcia,R/Buenos Aires ARG 2001.
10.c4 e5 11.c3
11.h3 f6 12.h6 h5! Kurnosov,ISvidler,P/Russian Championship, Moscow 2010.
11...f6 12.g5
12.h6 fg4! followed by ...0-0 takes advantage of White's waste of time.
12...h6 13.d2 b6 14.d4 c7 15.b3 b7 16.c2
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9r+-+k+-tr0
9+lwq-vlp+-0
9pzp-zppsnpzp0
9+-+-sn-+-0
9-+PsNP+-+0
9+PsN-+-+-0
9P+LvLQzPPzP0
9tR-+-+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
16...g5!?
Looks creepy, but it cements the knight on e5.
17.h1 g8 18.f3?!
White is better off without this.
18...h5 19.a4 h4 20.e3 g4 21.f4 ed7 22.g1 c5=

Lautier,JGelfand,B/Monaco MNC 2000, Black's king is in the middle while White's faces
the bishop on b7. Both sides must be careful.
14
Paulsen/Kan 5 Bd3 Nf6 [B42]

1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 a6
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsnlwqkvlntr0
9+p+p+pzpp0
9p+-+p+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-sNP+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tRNvLQmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
5.d3 f6 6.0-0 d6
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsnlwqkvl-tr0
9+p+-+pzpp0
9p+-zppsn-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-sNP+-+0
9+-+L+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tRNvLQ+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
6...c7 7.e2 the most accurate, threatening e5,
a) 7.c4 give Black some extra options he is not forced to go straight into a
Hedgehog formation, 7...c6 (7...d6!? 8.h3 c6 9.e2 e5! Vertkin,S
Stripunsky,A/Foxwoods USA 2007) 8.xc6 dxc6 9.f4 c5+ 10.h1 e5 11.f5
Jamming up Black's minor pieces. 11...h5! 12.g5 (12.d2!) 12...d7 (12...h4!?
intending ...h5 deserves a look) 13.e2 d4 14.h4 0-0-0 15.d2! Black
15
underestimated the strength of this simple move. 15...c5 (15...xb2 16.ab1 d4

17.c5!+) 16.f3 Now White can play around the d4bishop, 16...c6 17.ad1 d7
(17...g4! was the best chance) 18.h3! Might as well prevent Black's only active plan.
18...hd8 19.b1 b5 20.fe1 Fedorowicz,JSerper,G/Seattle USA 2000 White's
attack is about to start
b) 7.d2?! Black usually equalizes easily vs strange systems. 7...c5?! (7...e7 Will
transpose into a Scheveningen with the d2knight passively placed.) 8.c3 c6
9.xc6 dxc6 10.a4 a5 11.f3 0-0 12.c4 e5 13.g5 e8 14.e3 xe3 15.xe3
c5?! Now I like White (15...e6 just a regular move like this is fine) 16.g3 f6
17.fd1 (17.e3!? preparing to assault the light squares immediately makes sense)
17...e6 18.d2 d8 19.ad1 f7 20.e3 fd7 21.e2 d6= Asik,J
Solak,D/Chania GRE 1999
c) 7.b3!? is quite interesting, 7...d6 8.e3!? Leake,JEmms,J/London League 2007.
7...d6 (7...d5?! A very risky move. If this opening up of the position doesn't absolutely
equalize it could lead to dire consequences. 8.c3 c6 9.e3 dxe4 10.xe4 e7 11.xc6
xc6 12.d4 d7 13.e5 d5 14.f4 c6 15.c4 d8 16.h1 0-0 17.xf6+ xf6 18.ad1! Very
obvious and very strong. The best kind of chess move 18...a5 19.b4 xb4 20.xf6 gxf6
21.xh7+!+ Fercec,NHaldemann,P/Arco ITA 1999 its mate!) 8.c4 g6 The problem
for Black in the fianchetto line is that d6 gets pounded. (8...bd7!? 9.c3 g6
transposes) 9.c3 g7 10.d1 0-0 11.f3 (11.g5 b6 12.ac1 b7 13.b1 bd7
14.f3 fc8 15.b3 e8 Black's position is solid, but passive and with no active play.
16.d4 c5 17.e3 a5?! (17...c7 was safest) 18.d2 ab8 19.b2 a8 20.f3
h5 Ivanov,ASerper,G/Seattle USA 2000 (120) White has the typical spatial
advantage.) 11...bd7 (11...c6 12.c2!? (12.h3 d7 13.f4 de5 Doing his best
to cover up d6. (13...xc3!?) 14.ac1 b6 15.b1 b7? Falling for a typical trick.
(15...b8 was forced) 16.b5! axb5 17.cxb5 fd8 18.bxc6 xf3+ 19.xf3 xc6
20.g3 e5 21.g5 Black is under heavy pressure, De la Riva Aguado,O
Garcia,R/Andorra
AND
2001)
12...d7
(12...g4!?
Naiditsch,A
Nikolov,M/European Club Cup, Plovdiv 2010.) 13.e3 de5 14.b3! Shirov,A
Wang Hao/Shanghai Masters 2010.) 12.f4!? Eyeing the d6 pawn keeps Black
occupied 12...g4! 13.ac1 ge5 (13...b6 14.d2 de5 15.e2 d8 16.g5!? A nice
reconnaissance mission. 16...d7 The alternative was the weakening f6 17.d4 h6
18.h4 g5 19.g3 b7 20.h4! Black's kside is very loose, Lastin,A
Shaposhnikov,E/Moscow RUS 1999) 14.b3 b6 15.b1 xf3+! 16.xf3 e5
Grigoriants,SBocharov,D/Irkutsk 2010.
6...e5!? an idea of Romanishin's, 7.g5!? a critical piece sacrifice, see Vallejo Pons,F
Kunte,A/Thailand Open, Pattaya 2011.
7.c4
16
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9rsnlwqkvl-tr0
9+p+-+pzpp0
9p+-zppsn-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+PsNP+-+0
9+-+L+-+-0
9PzP-+-zPPzP0
9tRNvLQ+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
7...d7
There are many alternatives:
7...g6 8.c3 g7 9.f3 The best plan. White's gonna go after d6 right away 9...c7
10.e2 bd7 (10...0-0 11.h3 (11.f4 Ni HuaWang Hao/Danzhou 2010) 11...c6
12.e3 Adams,MD'Costa,L/British League (4NCL) 2009) 11.f4 g4 12.ac1
ge5 13.xe5 xe5 14.b3 d7 (14...xd3? 15.xd3 e5 16.d5) 15.b1 0-0 16.fd1
fd8 17.g5! A nice probing move. 17...e8 (17...f6 Weakens Black's position.)
18.d2 a5 19.h6 c6 20.xg7 xg7 Herrera,IMateo,R/Santa Clara CUB
2001 White has good pressure and Black remains passive.
7...e7 8.c3 d7 9.e3 c6 10.f4 0-0 11.h1 e8 12.f3 Avoiding swaps and
menacing e5 12...a5 The queen is very clumsy here 13.a3! c7 14.b4 b6 Black's
Bd7 is in the wrong place. 15.c1 b8 16.e2 d8 17.d2 c7 18.ce1 h6 19.e5
h7 20.exd6 xd6 21.e5! Kobalija,MMeyer,B/Biel SUI 2001 With a big attack
7...b6 keeps some flexibility, 8.c3 b7 9.e2 (9.f4! g6 10.f5! led to a brilliant win in Leon
Hoyos,MSpraggett,K/Cali 2007., 9.a4!? e7 10.a5 bxa5 11.a4+ bd7!? Topalov,V
Kamsky,G/Melody Amber (rapid), Nice 2009) 9...bd7 10.f4 c7 11.h1 e7
(11...g6?! Way too slow here, 12.f5! e5 13.e6 fxe6 14.fxe6 e7 15.exd7+ xd7 16.h6 g8
17.g5 h5 18.e3 d8 19.a4 c8 20.d5 xd5 21.cxd5+ Tissir,MKreiman,B/Internet
ICC 2000 Black's position is a horror show.) 12.b3 (12.d2 0-0 13.b4 is better for
White, but at least Black is still alive) 12...h5!? the knight gets the g4square and
there's the possibility of ...h4 and ...h5, Young,GWilliams,C/ICC INT 2007.
7...bd7 8.c3 (8.e2?! is less flexible, 8...g6 Very reasonable since White isn't
pressuring d6 9.b3 g7 10.b2 0-0 11.c3 c7 12.ae1 b6 13.h1 b7 14.f4 ad8
15.b1 c5 (15...e5! securing e5 for a horse is in the hedgehog spirit) 16.f3 h5
17.f5 de8 18.d2 exf5 19.exf5 xe1 20.xe1= Alava,MSeeman,T/Paide EST
1999 Black has decent play and Nd5 isn't very threatening.) 8...b6 9.b3 I think a
bigger danger to Black's setup is the pileup with e2, d2 and ae1 when the e5
push is a concern 9...b7 10.b2 e7 11.c1 0-0 12.b1 c8 13.f3?! I don't see
the point of this move. 13...c5 (13...c7 The rook is less exposed here) 14.e2 a8
15.fe1 e8 16.a3 f8 17.b4 cc8 (17...c7!? Giving Black the option of going after
17
c4) 18.a2 g6 19.cd1 b8 20.f3 cd8= Zapata,ACorradine,J/Fusagasuga COL

1999
8.c3 c6 9.xc6
9.c2 This gives Black a free hand in the center, 9...e7 10.b3 0-0 11.b2 a5?! Playing
for ...b5 is correct, but not like this (11...b8 12.e2 e5 13.fd1 a5 14.e3 b5 15.f4
xd3 16.xd3 c6 gave Black sufficient play on the qside in FilipowiczAdamski
Poland 1991, 11...e5!?) 12.h1 fd8?! Taking the safe retreat square from the Q
13.f4 e8 14.a3 ac8 15.b4 c7 16.f3 Look how passive Black is 16...b8
17.e3 b6 18.h3 c6 19.ae1 b7? Overlooking the threat (19...bd7 20.ed5! exd5
21.exd5 is no bargain either) 20.e5! dxe5 21.cd5+ Adianto,UTorre,E/Insel Bali tt
1999.
9...xc6 10.e2
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9+p+-+pzpp0
9p+lzppsn-+0
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9PzP-+QzPPzP0
9tR-vL-+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
10.b4 b6 11.b2 e7 12.e2 0-0 13.ad1 d7 14.f4 b7 Once again Black is too passive
15.f3 g6 16.h3 f6 17.e5 dxe5 18.e4 c7 19.xb7 xb7 20.e4 g7 21.fxe5
c7 22.f6+ Khalifman,ARublevsky,S/Kazan RUS 2001 I'd avoid this line like
the plague. Finding counterplay for Black is a real struggle.
10...e7 11.d1 a5?!

This looks like a faulty idea.
11...d7 12.f4 0-0 13.ac1 e5 14.b1 b8 15.a4 c8 16.g3 e8 17.a2 a7 18.h1
b6 19.f4 c6 20.f5! Lastin,ARublevsky,S/Moscow RUS 2001 White's a2
bishop is about to join the party.
12.f4
12.a3 0-0 13.e3 fc8 14.f3 ab8 Black's problem is that his only play is...b5 and that
gives White a target 15.b4 c7 16.ac1 d5 shots are looming, 16...e8 17.f4 a8
When you see a move like this we know something has gone wrong. 18.d4 g6?
18
Black was better off doing nothing 19.e5 Korneev,OKovacevic,S/Linares ESP

2000.
12...0-0 13.a3!
Why not bother the Q?
13...fe8 14.h3 h5 15.e3 d7 16.e2 c5 17.g3 b6

Black's queen has been all over the place!
18.b4 f6 19.xd6 xe4 20.e5! g6 21.c5

Dolmatov,SKovacevic,S/Ubeda ESP 2000, Black is very tied down.
19
Paulsen/Kan 5 Nc3 [B43]

1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 a6 5.c3
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsnlwqkvlntr0
9+p+p+pzpp0
9p+-+p+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-sNP+-+0
9+-sN-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
5...b5!?
The most ambitious option.
5...c7 6.d3 Others:
a) 6.e3 b5 Galiana,JLutz,C/Calvia ESP 2004.
b) 6.e2 b5 7.0-0 b7 (7...f6?! 8.f3 e5 (8...b7 9.e5) 9.f5 Panarin,M
Sergienko,S/Voronezh RUS 2010) 8.e1 (8.f3 d6 (8...c6! is much safer) 9.e1
White is preparing for the standard Sicilian positional piece sacrifice with d5,
Pein,MKing,D/Redbus KO Southend 1999) 8...f6?! 9.f3! d6 10.a4 bxa4
11.d5! this sacrifice is seen in many similar positions, and it's very strong here,
Jobava,BSteingrimsson,H/Crete 2007.
c) 6.g3 b4 (6...f6 is B47) 7.de2 (7.d2 is Shabalov,ASalov,S/Hamburg GER
1999) 7...f6 8.g2 e7 9.0-0 d6 10.h3 h5!? Mason,DRowson,J/British League
(4NCL) 2011.
d) 6.f3!? Korchnoi's idea is a dangerous sideline, 6...c6 7.xc6!? xc6 8.g3
Nepomniachtchi,IStellwagen,D/Wijk aan Zee B 2008.
6...f6
a) 6...g6!? is rather provocative, 7.0-0 (7.e3 g7 8.d2 Damaso,RSpraggett,K/Porto
POR 1999) 7...g7 8.e3 f6 9.f4 d6 10.f5!? a little antipositional, but also quite
dangerous, Sandu,MSikula,V/St Die des Vosges 2007.
20
b) 6...c6 7.xc6 dxc6 8.0-0 e5 9.f4 f6 10.h1! d6 (after 10...c5 White doesn't
have to push his fpawn, and 11.e1!? is trouble for Black, Christiansen,L
Kekelidze,M/New York USA 2000) 11.f5 h5 12.e3 e7 13.f3 Shirov,A
Miezis,N/Keres Memorial, Tallinn (rapid) 2011.
c) 6...c5 kicking the knight back to b3, 7.b3 e7 8.0-0 (8.g4 forces Black to
make a small concession on the kingside, 8...g6 9.e2 d6 10.0-0 d7 11.d2 Navara,D
Damljanovic,B/Crete 2007) 8...d6 (8...f6 9.f4 d6 is strongly met by 10.e5!
Nepomniachtchi,IKarttunen,M/European Club Cup, Plovdiv 2010) 9.f4 d7
10.e2 gf6 11.d2! White dispenses with moves such as a2a4 and h1 and
prepares the possibility of ae1 and e4e5, see Tiviakov,SCaruana,F/Crete 2007.
7.e2!? I thought this to be best, Black can't allow White to play e5, (7.0-0 c5 8.b3 a7?!
9.f3 Ponomariov,RNeverov,V/Ohrid MKD 2001, 7.f4!? aggressive, 7...b5 8.a3 d6
9.g4!? Bologan,VCaruana,F/European Championship, Plovdiv 2008) 7...d6 8.0-0 b6
9.f4 see Fedorowicz,JStripunsky,A/New York USA 2004.
6.d3
Definitely White's most aggressive setup.
6.g3 tries to counter the long diagonal, 6...b7 7.g2 f6 8.0-0!?
a) 8.g5?! e7 9.0-0 b4 10.a4 a5! favours Black, 11.xf6 xf6 12.b3 c7
simplest, Tseitlin,MKobalija,M/Bugojno BIH 1999 (12...xa4 13.c5 is less clear,
see Benjamin,JSerper,G/Salt Lake City USA 1999)
b) 8.e2
8...b4 (8...c7 9.e1 d6 10.a4 b4 11.d5! is very dangerous) 9.a4 xe4!? (9...d6 10.e1 e5!?
gives White a nice edge, Tseitlin,MKurajica,B/Bugojno BIH 1999) 10.xe4 xe4
11.e1 d5 12.xe6 fxe6 13.h5+ g6 14.e5 f6 15.xe4 xe5 16.xe5 f7 looks
fine for Black, Guliev,LPrasad,D/Abudhabi UAE 1999.
6.e2 is similar, 6...b7 7.f3 e7!? (7...c7 8.0-0) 8.0-0 g6 9.e5!? Guseinov,G
Kamsky,G/Baku (rapid) 2010.
6...b6!?
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsnl+kvlntr0
9+-+p+pzpp0
9pwq-+p+-+0
9+p+-+-+-0
9-+-sNP+-+0
9+-sNL+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmK-+R0
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This is the best of the Kan or Paulsen lines.
21
6...b7 7.0-0 c6 is a decent alternative,

a) 7...b6 8.e3 c5 9.ce2 f6?! (9...c7 looks a little safer) 10.b4! Picking up the
all important dark squared B. 10...xd4 11.xd4 c7 12.c4! Opening up the
position puts the pressure on Black's under developed forces. 12...e5 13.b2 c6
14.cxb5 axb5 15.c3 d4 16.xb5 0-0 17.d3 The qside pawns will get rolling
shortly, Svidler,PMilov,V/Biel SUI 2000.
b) 7...c5 8.b3 (8.e3 d6!? 9.g4 f6! led to a convincing Black win in Starostits,I
Bauer,C/Geneve SUI 2007) 8...b6?! This bishop is needed on the kside for
defensive purposes. 9.a4 b4 10.a5 a7 11.a4 d6 12.e1 c6 13.d2 f6 14.xb4
xb4 15.xb4 b8 16.b6 0-0 17.fd1 Black can blame his 8th move for this
misery in Katalymov,BFronczek,H/Gladenbach GER 1999.
8.xc6 xc6 was previously considered to give White a fairly safe edge, but recent games
have cast some doubt upon this assessment, 9.e1
a) 9.e2 c5!? 10.e5 (10.a4 b4 11.d5 e7 and White only had a small plus in
Golubev,MNisipeanu,L/Predeal 2006) 10...d4!? Felgaer,RKamsky,G/Khanty
Mansiysk Olympiad 2010
b) 9.f4 Adhiban,BVachier Lagrave,M/World Junior Ch., Puerto Madryn 2009,
should be met by 9...b4!
9...c5 (9...e7 10.h5 g6 11.a4 b4 12.d5 d6 13.e3 0-0 14.b6 b8 15.a5 f4 16.xf4 xf4
17.e5 g6 18.g4 g5 19.xg5 xg5 20.e4 White can get pressure on against d7. White
only needed a draw in this game to move on to the next round, Ponomariov,RDao
Thien Hai/New Delhi ITA 2000.) 10.e3 xe3 11.xe3 e7! Tiviakov,S
Balogh,C/Croatian Team Championship 2009.
6...c5 7.b3 e7 8.g4!? White's queen goes on a softening mission. 8...g6 (8...f6!? An
interesting try. 9.xg7 g8 10.h6 c6 (10...xg2? 11.e5!) 11.d2 (11.h3
Protecting g2 looks correct. White has the 0-0 option. 11...d5 (11...e5 12.d5!)
12.exd5 exd5 13.f3 g4 14.f4 looks better) 11...e5 12.f4 xd3+ 13.cxd3 b4
14.e2 xg2 White's king looks airy. 15.h3 g6 16.f5 exf5 17.exf5 g4 18.0-0-0
b7 19.he1 a5 20.b1 a4 Tiviakov,SBosboom,M/Hoogeveen NED 1999
Black's counterplay is very fast.) 9.e2 d6 10.0-0 b4? This gives White the chance
to open things up. (10...d7!? is best) 11.d1 b7 12.a3! c6 13.d2 bxa3 14.xa3
c8 a6 needs defending, but still it's an unfortunate move 15.e3 f6 16.c4 c7
17.ca5 e5 18.xb7 xd3 19.cxd3 xb7 20.a5 White's pieces will flood the
queenside while Black is castling, Ponomariov,RGallagher,J/ Biel SUI 2000.
6...d6 This move has been gaining in popularity over the last year, 7.a4! the most direct
attempt, (7.0-0 f6 8.e2 is the method advocated in 'Experts vs', see Jones,G
Markowski,T/European Championship, Dresden 2007) 7...b4 8.a2 f6 9.0-0 b7
10.e1 e7 11.xb4 this could spell the end of this line for Black, see the brilliant
Vallejo Pons,FVan Wely,L/Monte Carlo MNC 2006.
7.f3!
22
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsnl+kvlntr0
9+-+p+pzpp0
9pwq-+p+-+0
9+p+-+-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+-sNL+N+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
This slightly unstereotyped retreat has been causing Black problems for a number of years
now.
7.b3
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsnl+kvlntr0
9+-+p+pzpp0
9pwq-+p+-+0
9+p+-+-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+NsNL+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
7...c7 (7...b7? A major inaccuracy that gets Black into serious difficulties, 8.a4!
Absolutely the correct reaction. 8...b4 9.a5 c7 10.a4 Dropping into b6 would be
very disruptive. 10...d5?! Opening things up makes matters worse. (10...c6 Was the
lesser of the 2 evils.) 11.exd5 xd5 12.0-0 (12.b6?! xg2 13.xa8 xa8 14.g1 xh2 Is
very messy, but not bad for Black.) 12...d7 13.b6! White has a huge lead in
development so opening it up makes sense. 13...xb6 14.axb6 xb6 15.e3 Black
has to move a lot of stuff out of the way before he can castle, 15...b8 16.a5
White's queen eyes a4 with check, 16...d6 17.c4 bxc3 18.a4+ f8 19.bxc3 Now
White has too many threats. c4 trapping the bishop is the main one. 19...xh2+
20.h1 f6 21.c4+ Bennett,AChristiansen,L/Connecticut USA 2002.) 8.0-0
a) 8.f3 b7 9.f4?! The bishop is misplaced here 9...d6 10.0-0-0?! White is
playing with fire. 10...b4 11.e2 d7 12.b1 gf6 13.c3? This looks mighty ugly!
13...e5 14.xe5 dxe5 15.cxb4 xb4 16.e3 0-0 17.c1 d6 18.f3 a5 19.hd1 a4
20.c5 b6 21.g1 fb8 Enders,PGallagher,J/Godesberg GER 2000 White is
barely hanging on.
b) 8.e2 b7 9.d2 b4!? It seems when Black plays ...b4 prematurely White gets
the better of it. It makes opening things up with a3 or c3 easy. 10.d1 f6 11.c3
23
c6 12.c1 (12.cxb4 xb4) 12...a5 13.0-0 e7 14.f4 d6 15.cxb4 axb4 16.b5 0-0
Black walked the highwire, but came out of it fine. 17.f2 fc8 18.c2 b6
19.e3 d8 20.fc1 a5 Karklins,AGoldin,A/Philadelphia USA 2000
c) 8.f4 b4?! Black is better off developing with ...b7, 9.e2 b7 10.ed4
Shahade,GKriventsov,S/Seattle USA 2003.
8...b7 (8...f6 9.f4 b4 10.b1 (10.e2 b7 11.e5 This burns a lot of bridges. If White can't
get the quick kill he'll have problems. Black's minor pieces have good squares.
11...d5 12.bd4 c5 13.h1 c6 14.xc6 xc6 15.e4 c7 16.d3 f5 17.exf6 gxf6 18.c4
bxc3 19.xc3 xc3 20.bxc3 f5 Braylovsky,GSmirin,I/ Internet ICC 2000 Black can
torment White on the g file.) 10...b7 11.e2 e7 12.a3 (12.c4!? puts the question to
Black) 12...a5 13.axb4 axb4 14.xa8 xa8 15.1d2 c6 16.e5 d5 17.c4?!
(17.e4!? Had to be played) 17...f5 18.exf6 xf6 19.e3 0-0 20.d4 xd4 21.xd4
c5 22.xc5 xc5+ Sorensen,JGoldin,A/New York USA 2000 White has a8h1

diagonal difficulties.) 9.e2 (9.a3 f6 10.f4 d6 11.h1 bd7 The proper place for the N.
12.e2 e7 13.d4 0-0 14.d2 c5 15.ae1 fd7 16.e3 f6 17.g1 fe8 18.f3 g6 19.h3
g7 20.f3 f5!? Before White starts attacking. 21.g5 f8 22.exf5 exf5 23.g3 h6 24.f3
xd3 25.cxd3 f7 Barua,DKasparov,G/Internet 2000 Black's bishop pair gives great
counterplay.) 9...d6 10.f4 d7 11.d2 (11.a4 b4 12.d1 gf6 13.f2 e5 14.a5 It's not
easy to see a constructive plan here. 14...e7 15.a4 d5 16.fxe5 xe5 17.exd5 xd5
Arakhamia,KCiuksyte,D/Moscow RUS 2001, taking a look at the Black knights as

opposed to White's. The rook on a4 looks odd as well.) 11...gf6 12.ae1 e7
a) 12...c5? This ruins everything. 13.xc5 dxc5 14.e5 c4 15.exf6 cxd3 16.cxd3
c5+ 17.h1 gxf6 18.e4 f5 19.c1 fxe4 20.d4 c8? (20...e3!) 21.xc5 Antal,G
Toth,A/Budapest HUN 1999 White has the better chances in the bishop of opposite
colour middle game.
b) 12...b4 looks kinda normal.
13.h1 0-0 14.e5 d5 15.xd5 xd5 16.c3 White's bishops are very dangerous here. It's
close to double bishop sacrifice time, Dembo,YSharevich,A/Vladimir RUS 2004.
7.e3
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsnl+kvlntr0
9+-+p+pzpp0
9pwq-+p+-+0
9+p+-+-+-0
9-+-sNP+-+0
9+-sNLvL-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-+QmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
7...c5 8.e2 (8.ce2 f6 9.h3 b7 10.0-0 c7 Thanks to White's slow play Black is fine.
11.c3 d6 12.a3 bd7 13.h1 0-0 14.e1 ac8 15.b3 xe3 16.xe3 fd8 17.e2 e5 18.f1
d5 19.exd5 xd3 20.cxd3 xd5 21.xd5 xd5 Anderson,RGoldin,A/Las Vegas USA
2001) 8...c6 9.xc6 xe3 (9...dxc6 10.xc5 xc5 11.d3 This line looks far too
24
passive from Black's point of view. 11...f6 12.0-0-0 (12.f4 e5 13.f5 (13.0-0-0 e6
14.g3 exf4 15.xg7 e7 16.f3 h6 17.e5 xe5 18.he1 f5 19.e4 ag8 20.d6 g6
21.xg6 fxg6 22.b7 f7 23.d6+ e7 24.b7 f7 25.xc6 was MulyarStripunsky
from rd5 in the 2002 USA championship) 13...a7 14.0-0-0 d7 15.f3 e7?!
(15...0-0 16.xd7 xd7 17.g4 Might be a kind assessment, after all where is Black's
play?) 16.xd7+ xd7 17.d1 h5 18.d3 a5 this push looks useless, but I see no
decent moves. Black's forces are seriously uncoordinated. 19.f3 c8 20.d2 a6

21.g3 De Firmian,NStripunsky,A/Seattle USA 2002.) 12...0-0 (12...e7 13.f4 e5
14.g3) 13.f4 e5 14.f5 a7 15.g4 d7 16.f3 fd8 17.d3 (17.g5 xd1+ 18.xd1
White needs 1 rook on for the attack. 18...e8 19.f2 e7 20.g1 c5 21.e3 c4 22.c3 b7
23.f6 BalinovHoffmann,M/Budapest FS 1999 White continues without
interruption.) 17...e8 18.he1 d6 19.e2?! (19.g5!) 19...b7 20.b1 e7 21.e3
c5 22.g5 xd3 23.cxd3 b7 Jonsson,BLanda,K/Reykjavic ISL 1999) 10.fxe3
dxc6 11.d4 xd4 12.exd4 e5 13.dxe5 (13.d5?! This leads nowhere. 13...e7 14.dxc6
xc6 15.d5 0-0 16.c3 b8 17.b4 b7 18.0-0 a7= Plachetka,JGustafsson,J/Charleville
FRA 2000 Black gets pressure on c3 and his knight can redeploy to d6 in some
cases.) 13...e7 14.a4 b8 15.h5! While Black rounds up e5 White will be busy.
15...g6 16.axb5 axb5 17.xg6 hxg6 18.a7 h5 19.0-0 e6 20.c7 b4 21.e2
xe5 22.d4 d7 23.xf7! xf7 24.xc6+ Mitkov,NBruzon,L/Lisbon POR
1999.
7...c6
7...c7 8.e5 c6 9.0-0 b7 10.e1 b4 11.a4 d6 12.exd6 xd6 13.e3 f6 14.b6 d8
15.c4 d5 16.xd6+ xd6 17.g5 f6 18.d2 0-0 19.e2 e5 20.ad1
Nisipeanu,LKengis,E/Neukoelln GER 2000 The bishop pair gives White a slight
edge.
7...b7 8.0-0 c7 (8...f6 9.e5 d5 10.g5!? Gashimov,VSiebrecht,S/European Club Cup,
Ohrid 2009) 9.e1 d6 (9...c5 Zhang ZhongYe Jiangchuan/Taiyuan CHN 2004)
10.a4 This recipe has worked for him before: 10...bxa4 (10...b4 11.a2 a5 (11...c6
12.d2 a5 13.c3 looks like trouble for Black) 12.c3! c6 13.b5 White's last three
moves have left Black's game in shambles, Zhang ZhongBannink,B/Port Erin IOM
2004) 11.f4 d7 12.xa4 e7 13.a1 g6 14.e3 c8 15.a2 e7 16.a1
While Black is developing normally White is piling on. 16...f6 17.c4 b8 18.a4
e7 19.b3 c8 20.b4 Ponomariov,RHillarp Persson,T/Torshavn FAI 2000
How did White get such a huge lead in development?
7...d6 8.0-0 (8.a4!? la Ponomariov 8...b4 9.a5 looks pretty good) 8...f6 9.e3 c7
10.d2?! This looks too slow. (10.a4!?) 10...b7 11.a3 White's last 2 moves lose any
chance for an opening advantage. 11...e7 12.f4 bd7 13.e2 0-0 14.e1 c5
15.f3 fd8= Andersen,PMolvig,H/Copenhagen DEN 2000 Black has a
comfortable game.
8.0-0
25
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvlntr0
9+-+p+pzpp0
9pwqn+p+-+0
9+p+-+-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+-sNL+N+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQ+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
8.e5 b8 9.f4? This allows Black the chance to lock the kingside. (9.0-0 Offering e5,but
Black should refuse anyway.) 9...f5! Now ...ge7 to g6 will annoy e5 10.e2 ge7
11.h3 b4 12.0-0 b7 13.fd1 xd3 14.xd3 c7 15.a3 h6 16.d4 c4 17.g3
g5 18.b3 c5 19.c1 g7-+ Black has total control, Ashley,MSmirin,I/Los
Angeles USA 2000.
8...b8
8...d6 9.a4 b4 10.a5!? Sacrificing a pawn for a serious lead in development. 10...xa5
11.a4 c7 12.e3 b8 13.b6 xb6 14.xa5 b8 15.a1 f6 16.xa6 d7
(16...xa6 17.xa6 e7 18.a7 b7 19.a8+ Kuzmin,GRogovski,V/Ordzhonikidze
UKR 2000 Black is hanging by a thread) 17.d3 e7 18.a7 b7 19.a8+ b8
20.a7 xa7 21.xa7 with a pleasant edge, Gormally,DCiuksyte,D/Liverpool
Open 2007.
8...ge7 9.e3 c7? (9...b8 10.a4! b4 11.b1) 10.xb5! Sutovsky,EKamsky,G/Khanty
Mansiysk Olympiad 2010.
9.e1
9.e5 ge7 10.f4?! (10.e2!?) 10...f5! Same idea as AshleySmirin from above. 11.h4 b4
12.h2 b7 Already Black is much better! 13.e2 bd5 14.d4 xc3 15.bxc3
d5 16.d3 c7 17.f3 c8 Shabalov,ASmirin,I/Los Angeles USA 2000.
9...ge7
9...d6 10.e2 when e5 is a big threat, Polivanov,APixton,A/Halkidiki GRE 2003.
10.e3
White plays sensible developing moves and gets an edge.
10...d6 11.d2 g6 12.d4 xd4 13.xd4 e5

Black is having kside problems.
26
14.f4 c6 15.f2 e7 16.d5! exd5 17.exd5 e5 18.fxe5 dxe5 19.e2 0-0

20.d4 exd4 21.xe7
Black's forces are discombobulated, Grischuk,ASmirin,I/New Delhi IND 2000.
27
Taimanov with 5 Nb5 [B44]

1 e4 c5 2 f3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 xd4 c6 5 b5
White forces Black to play ...d6.
5 c4 first is less effective, 5...f6 (5...c5!? Valenti,GEpishin,V/Arco ITA 1999) 6 c3
b4 7 xc6 bxc6 8 d3 e5 9 0-0 0-0 10 d2 this is nothing much for White,
Naylor,JThurlow,K/Coulsden ENG 1999.
5...d6
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqkvlntr0
9zpp+-+pzpp0
9-+nzpp+-+0
9+N+-+-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tRNvLQmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
6 c4
6 f4 e5 7 e3 White tries to provoke a sort of Sveshnikov with a tempo less, the idea
being that the b5knight will be able to return directly to c3, rather than a3, where it
is awkwardly placed. I remember buying a pamphlet on this variation ('The Anti
Taimanov' by Matthias Wahls) when I was younger, and winning a few games with
it. 7...a6 (7...f6 8 g5 e6 9 xf6 gxf6 10 d2 a6 11 c3 f5 is promising for Black, see
Korneev,OLaznicka,V/Pamplona ESP 2006) 8 5c3 f6 9 g5 This looks best,
now it becomes similar to a Sveshnikov where Black hasn't played b5. (9 d5 xd5
10 exd5 e7 followed with ...f5 is fine for Black) 9...e7 10 d2?! This insipid
move allows Black to free his game.. (10 xf6 xf6 11 d5 should give White a slight
pull) 10...g4! 11 e2 xe2 12 xe2 d5 13 xf6 xf6 14 c3 d4 15 d5 0-0 16 00 g6 17 c4 b5 18 cb6 a7 19 a4 b4 20 a5 g7 Fernando,DDjuric,S/Lisbon
POR 1999 White's knights look nice, but accomplish little.
28
6...f6 7 1c3
7 5c3 e7 8 e2 0-0 9 0-0 a6 10 f4 The only visible point Black has is d6,but it's easily
defended. 10...b6 11 e1 b7 12 d2 e5 13 c1 c8 14 f1 c7 15 h3 b8 16 b3
a8 17 e2 fd7 18 e3 c6 19 a4 f5?! It's obvious White's playing for a draw,
but this might be over doing it. Fischer liked ...h8, ...g8, and then ...g5. Black can
probe around a bit before this kind of drastic action, though. 20 exf5 xf5 21 e2
Bojkovic,NIoseliani,N/Nova Gorica SLO 1999.
7...a6 8 a3 e7
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqk+-tr0
9+p+-vlpzpp0
9p+nzppsn-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+P+P+-+0
9sN-sN-+-+-0
9PzP-+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
8...d7!? Messing around with move orders to confuse the computer, 9 c2 e7 10 e2
b6 11 0-0 b7 DEEP JUNIORKasparov,G/New York USA 2003.
9 e2 0-0 10 0-0 b6 11 e3 b7
11...e5 12 f4 ed7 13 f3 b7 14 e2 (14 h1 h6!? anticipating White trying the g4
attack, Brueggemann,JLutz,C/Efurt GER 2004) 14...c7 15 ac1 ac8 16 g4!? The
best chance for action, but Black is in good defensive posture. 16...h6 17 g2 h7
18 ab1 g5!? Securing the e5 point. 19 d2 gxf4 20 xf4 g5! Schott,RLe
Bideau,A/Issy Les Moulineaux FRA 2000, with good darksquared play.
12 f3
12 c1 e8 13 b3 d7 14 fd1 c5 This is all well known. 15 c2 (15 xc5?! bxc5 16
xb7 a5-+ trapping the queen) 15...c7 16 b1 b4 17 c2 xc2 18 xc2 ac8
19 f1 f6 20 f3 b8 Mithrakanth,PThipsay,P/Calcutta IND 2000 Black's
position is more flexible.
12 f4 c7!? 13 f3 ac8 Diaz,CDiamant,A/Cochabamba 2009.
12...e5 13 d4
29
13 e1 e8 14 f2 ed7 15 fd1 c7 16 ac1 ac8 17 b4 b8 Black is better already.

White's b4 with the knight on a3 looks dubious. 18 ab1 d5!? Before White plays
a3 19 cxd5 exd5 20 xd5 xd5 21 xc8 xc8 22 exd5 xb4 Frhat,A
Surjadnji,A/Cairo EGY 2001 Black's forces are better placed.
13...ed7
Practice has shown that this Hedgehog is tough to deal with.
14 fd1 c7 15 ac1 ac8 16 h1 fe8 17 d2 b8 18 g1 h6 19 c2

e5 20 b3 ed7
Naiditsch,ALutz,C/Altenkirchen GER 2001. Down the road Black can break with ...d5 or
...b5. White on the other hand is very passive.
30
Four Knights with ...e6 [B45]

1 e4 c5 2 f3 c6 3 d4 cxd4 4 xd4 f6 5 c3 e6
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqkvl-tr0
9zpp+p+pzpp0
9-+n+psn-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-sNP+-+0
9+-sN-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
6 xc6!?
I prefer this sharp approach, but White has other important alternatives:
6 db5 b4 (6...d6 7 f4 e5 8 g5 a6 Transposes into a Sveshnikov variation., 6...b6?! 7 e3
Svidler,PKarasev,V/St Petersburg RUS 1999) 7 a3 White takes the bishop pair.
Others:
a) 7 f4!? the most direct, 7...xe4 8 c7+ (8 f3 d5 9 c7+ transposes) 8...f8 9
f3 (9 xa8? is a known blunder: 9...f6) 9...d5 10 0-0-0 (10 xa8 e5 11 b5!? this is
an interesting novelty. White wants to castle kingside to avoid the mating threats that
occur after 0-0-0, see Drenchev,PManolov,I/BULch Plovdiv 1999) 10...xc3 11
bxc3 g5!? heads for a drawish ending (11...b8 is also OK, see Yoos,JVan
Riemsdijk,H/Vancouver CAN 2003) 12 xe4 xc7 13 xc7 dxe4 White has two
bishops and some initiative in return for the pawn and weakened pawn structure,
Kennaugh,CPtacnikova,L/Olomouc CZE 2002.
b) 7 d6+ e7 8 xc8+ xc8 9 d3 is best met by 9...d5 (9...xc3+ led to sharp play
in Novak,PPriehoda,V/Litomysl CZE 2005) 10 exd5 xd5 11 0-0 h5 with an
equal endgame after 12 xh5 xh5
7...xc3+ 8 xc3 d5 9 exd5 (9 d3!? d4 10 e2 e5 11 0-0 0-0 12 h3 e8 13 g3 d7 14 f4 exf4 15
xf4 de5 16 h5 f6 17 b4 e6= Ponomariov,RKorchnoi,V/Donetsk UKR 2001, 9
31
d3 didn't give White any chances for an opening advantage.) 9...exd5 10 d3 0-0
11 0-0 d4! 12 e2! g4
a) 12...d5 13 b4 d8 This overprotection isn't bad, but 13...f5 is more to the
point. 14 b2 f5 15 e1 a6?! This allows White time for pawn snatching. (15...xd3
16 xd3 a6 17 ad1 Black still has problems with his d4 pawn.) 16 xf5 xf5 17
xd4 xd4 18 xd4 ac8 19 c3 Bezgodov,AHellegaard,C/Aars DEN 1999,
Black has some tricks, but it's a solid pawn plus.
b) 12...e8!? 13 g5 g4 will transpose below.
13 f3 (13 g5 d6 14 e1 (14 d2 xe2 15 f4 d5 16 xe2 fe8 17 fe1 ad8 18 d3 e5 Once
Black eliminates one bishop the position becomes equal. 19 xe5 xe5 20 xe5 xe5 21
e1 c7 22 h3 g6= Leko,PGrischuk,A/Linares 2001.) 14...fe8 15 d2 xe2!? 16
f4! see Korneev,OLenic,L/Nova Gorica SLO 2006 (16 xe2?! Ponomariov,R
Andreikin,D/Ukrainian Team Championship 2009) ) 13...h5 14 g5 (14 f4! White
goes after the bishop pair and this simple approach just looks like quite a good one
to me. 14...e8 15 xh5 xh5 16 f4! White prepares to expand on the kingside,
Topalov,VIvanchuk,V/Nanjing 2008) 14...d6 15 e1
a) 15 g3 g6 16 d2 Looks like Black is fine at this point. 16...d5?! This
inaccuracy allows white to get an edge. (16...xd3 17 xd3 d5 Is a better try. Black
knights can start hopping around.) 17 e4 xe4?! Underestimating the bishop pair
and threats against f7. 18 fxe4 de7 19 c4! Bojkovic,NSkripchenko,A/Belgrade
YUG 2000, Black is already in difficulties.
b) 15 c4!? This gives White a space advantage, but Black remains solid. 15...fe8
(15...e5!? Black should be on the lookout for these ideas.) 16 b4 g6 17 f4 e5 18
xg6 hxg6 19 c5 d5 20 xd4 xf3+ 21 xf3 xe2 22 xd5 xd5 23 d1
Rocha,WMaia,L/Sao Paulo BRA 1999, White's rooks have targets on f7 and b7.
15...g6 16 h4 fd8 17 g3 d5?! Black should not part with the other bishop so easily.
17...d7 keeps the position. 18 f4 g5 19 xg6 hxg6 20 c1 Ricardi,PVan
Riemsdijk,H/Mar del Plata ARG 2000, Black can only react to what White does.
6 e2!? In its pure form this move involves a pawn sacrifice that can be rather dangerous
for Black: 6...b4 7 0-0 xc3 8 bxc3 xe4 Black gets to double White's pawns, plus
win the important e4pawn! 9 d3 (9 d3!? less usual, but maybe best, 9...d5 10 a3
confining the black king in the centre, 10...a5 11 b5 with a strong initiative,
Gashimov,VBelikov,V/Cappelle la Grande FRA 2006) 9...c5!? (9...d5 is the older
move, 10 a3 xd4 11 cxd4 a5 12 c1) 10 g4 f8!? Polzin,RBokros,A/Kirchheim
GER 2006.
6 a3!? Nigel Short has had some success with this move, which spends a move to prevent
the ...b4 pin. 6...d6 7 e3 (7 e2 e7 8 0-0 0-0 9 e3 with a Scheveningen structure
where Black hopes to prove that 6.a3 is premature, Zagrebelny,S
Yagupov,I/Cappelle la Grande FRA 2006.) 7...e7 8 f4 0-0 9 b3!? a5 10 g4!? is
very sharp, Anand,VRadjabov,T/Baku (rapid) 2009.
6...bxc6 7 e5 d5 8 e4
32
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqkvl-tr0
9zp-+p+pzpp0
9-+p+p+-+0
9+-+nzP-+-0
9-+-+N+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
8...c7
8...b7!? This is relatively unexplored territory. Black wants to play on the long diagonal
without any sophisticated manoeuvers. The mainlines are 8...a6 and 8...a5. 9 e2 (9
c4 seems critical, 9...b4 10 c5 White concedes d5 but gains a stranglehold on d6,
10...a6 11 xa6 xa6 12 d4 with a big space plus, but Black has his chances,
Svidler,PMalakhov,V/Sochi RUS 2005) 9...c5 10 0-0 c7 11 d6+ xd6 12 exd6
the pawn is immune due to the option of c4 and White hopes that its presence on d6
will cramp Black and help him to construct a powerful bind, 12...c6 13 f3 13 f3
is also met by 13...c4. 13...c4 This is forced otherwise White plays c4. 14 d4 0-0
15 xc4 fc8!? critical, (15...xd6 16 b3 (16 d1 fc8 17 d3 b6 White has the
bishop pair and the queenside majority, but Black has enough counterplay in the
center. 18 xb6 xb6 19 a4 a5 20 e3 d5 21 d2 b6 22 b3 d5= SvidlerIllescas, Dos
Hermanas 1999., Topalov's 16 f2!? is also promising) 16...b6 Trading queens
diminishes White's tactical chances. 17 d1 fc8 18 xb6 xb6 19 a4 d5 20 a5
c4 21 a6 c6 22 xc4 dxc4 23 e3 d5 24 a5 Kasparov,GLeko,P/Linares
1999, Black is tied down to the defense of a7, but it's not easy for White's rooks to
penetrate.) 16 b3 xd6 17 b2 (17 d1!? didn't trouble Black in Anand,V
Carlsen,M/Monte Carlo Blindfold 2007) 17...b6!? Black heads into a slightly
worse ending, putting an end to any big attacks from White. (17...e5!? was later
preferred by Grischuk) 18 f2 xd4 19 xd4 b4 20 c3 c6 21 e3 d5 22 f1 a5
23 a4 Kasparov,GGrischuk,A/Cannes FRA 2001, White is playing for connected
passed pawns on the queenside.
8...f5 I think it's always good to throw 8...c7 9 f4 in. 9 exf6 xf6 10 d6+!? Obtaining
the bishop pair and darksquared control. 10...xd6 11 xd6 e7 12 f4 xd6 13
xd6 f7 14 e2 e8 15 f3 a5 16 0-0-0 a6 17 he1 xe2 18 xe2 a7 19 e3
b7 20 b3 b5 21 c4 xb3 22 axb3 Dubiel,JKlimaszewski,D/Suwalki POL
1999, Black's a5 pawn is a goner.
8...a5+!? 9 c3 this appears to be the most accurate despite self pinning the cpawn. (9 d2
White keeps the option of playing c4 in one go, but leaves his bpawn undefended,
9...b6! 10 c4 xb2!? with sharp play which may favour Black, Macieja,B
Halkias,S/Antalya TUR 2004) 9...f5 10 exf6 xf6 11 d6+ xd6 12 xd6 a6! a
33
very important move, Black exchanges his 'bad bishop', see Dembo,Y
Halkias,S/Ermioni Argolidas GRE 2005.
9 f4 b6
9...b8!? Karjakin,SRadjabov,T/European Club Cup, Plovdiv 2010.
10 c4 b4+
10...e3?! Later on Black will have to reckon with his dark squares. 11 d3 f5 (11...xf1
12 xf1 Black's bishop pair is bottled up.) 12 g4! d4 This knight looks well placed,
but is very vulnerable. 13 g2 b8 14 b3 a5?! Black doesn't have time for this, and
it's ugly anyway. 15 d2 b7 16 c3 c5 17 0-0 e7 18 d2 a4 19 ab1 axb3 20
axb3 xe4 21 xe4 d5 (21...f5 22 gxf5 xf5 (22...exf5 23 d5 Black's king is stuck
in the middle.) 23 fd1 c7 24 xf5 exf5 25 e6) 22 cxd5 exd5 23 xd5 0-0 24
c4+ Nakamura,HBokros,A/Budapest HUN 2002, White has f5f6 on the
agenda.
11 e2
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+k+-tr0
9zp-+p+pzpp0
9-wqp+p+-+0
9+-+nzP-+-0
9-vlP+NzP-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9PzP-+K+PzP0
9tR-vLQ+L+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
11...f5!? 12 f2
12 exf6?! This allows Black a little freedom. 12...xf6 13 e3 a5 14 xf6+ gxf6 15 f2
0-0 16 d3 f7= Wiersma,ETimoshenko,G/Groningen NED 1999, Black is solid
and has chances to roll in the center.
12...a6 13 f3 e7 14 a4!
American GM Nick De Firmian told me he had prepared this years ago. Black's bishops are
in danger.
14 e3?! This normal looking developing move leads to trouble. 14...c5 15 xc5 xc5
With 2 threats, ...xc4d5 and what happened in the game. 16 c1 g5!-+
34
Bianchi,AVan Riemsdijk,H/3lst Mar del Plata Open, Argen 2000, White's king has
had it.
14...c5 15 h4 0-0 16 e3 ab8 17 a3 d2!?

Best under the circumstances.
18 xd2 xb2 19 d3?!

After this Black gets serious counterplay.
19 d1! White is probably winning here.
19...xd2 20 xa6 c6
De Firmian,NShabalov,A/Seattle USA 2000.
35
Taimanov with ...a6 [B46]

1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 c6 5.c3 a6
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqkvlntr0
9+p+p+pzpp0
9p+n+p+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-sNP+-+0
9+-sN-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
6.xc6!
The best line, in my opinion.
There are many alternatives:
6.e2 is the standard move, 6...ge7 Black is ready to capture on d4 and then hit the
queen. (6...f6?! is wrong here: 7.xc6 bxc6 8.e5 d5 9.e4 c7 10.d6+ xd6 11.exd6
Shirov,ALjubojevic,L/Monaco MNC 2000.) 7.f4 White plays this now to have the
f2square available for the queen's later retreat. (7.0-0 xd4 8.xd4 c6 9.d3 e7
10.f4 Nijboer,FHoeksema,E/Amsterdam NED 2000.) 7...xd4 (7...b5 Black should
have traded on d4 when he had the chance, 8.f3 b6 9.a4 b4 10.a5!? Van den Doel,E
Reinderman,D/Hoogeveen NED 1999.) 8.xd4 b5 9.0-0 c6 10.f2 e7 11.e3 00 12.a4 (12.ad1 b7 13.a4 b4 14.b1 Black is bottled up and has no active play,
Aarthie,RTaimanov,M/Stockholm SWE 2001.) 12...b4 13.b6! Chasing the queen
to a very unSicilian like square, Palac,MBeliavsky,A/Bled SLO 2001.
6.g4!? ge7 7.e3 b5 8.b3?! a5 9.g5 ec6 10.g2?! c4 Already Black is better,
Hansen,SAndersson,U/Porz GER 2000.
6.g3 ge7 7.b3 By preventing a capture on d4 White guarantees himself a space
advantage, see Balenovic,ZBeil,Z/Olomouc CZE 1999.
6.e3 f6 7.f4!? this hybridtype system looks a little suspect with Black's dpawn still on
d7, but it was promoted by John Emms in Everyman's recent 'Dangerous Weapons:
36
The Sicilian'. (7.d2 b4 (7...g4!? Spoelman,WMovsesian,S/Wijk aan Zee B

2008) 8.f3 d5 9.0-0-0!? a5 10.b3 xc3 11.xa5 xd2+ 12.xd2 dxe4 Svidler,P
Grischuk,A/Russian Championship, Moscow 2010) 7...b4 (7...d5 8.e5 d7 takes play
into Frenchlike waters, see Radjabov,TIvanchuk,V/Morelia 2008) 8.d3 e5!? a
fairly radical attempt to break up White's centre and a move which is making a good
case for being established as the main line. (8...d6 9.xc6 bxc6 10.0-0 e5 Fier,A
Leitao,R/Brazilian Championship, Americana 2009) 9.fxe5 (9.xc6 dxc6 10.h3 exf4
11.xf4 d4! was roughly level in Motylev,APotkin,V/Sochi 2007.) 9...xe5 10.0-0
d6 11.h1 (11.h3!? Radjabov,TAnand,V/Bilbao 2008.) 11...xc3 12.bxc3 h6
13.f3 fg4! Almasi,ZLaznicka,V/Paks 2010.
6.f3!? White would like to play an English Attack setup, but his move order does look a
little suspect, 6...d5 7.exd5 exd5 8.e3 b4! active and best, Grischuk,A
Volokitin,A/Sochi 2007.
6...bxc6 7.d3
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqkvlntr0
9+-+p+pzpp0
9p+p+p+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+-sNL+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
7.e5!? an energetic thrust, 7...c7 8.f4 d6 (8...d5! 9.exd6 xd6 10.e4! Motwani,P
Fritz/Belgium 2000) 9.f3!? sacrificing a pawn for a strong initiative, Vallejo
Pons,FAndersson,U/Baden Baden GER 2004.
7...d5
7...c7 8.0-0 f6 Kasparov,GMovsesian,S/Prague CZE 2001.
8.0-0 f6
8...c7 9.e2 b7!? Kramnik,VSvidler,P/Monte Carlo MNC 2005.
9.e1
9.e2 e7 10.b3 (10.a4 0-0 11.c4 b7 12.f4!? Bologan,VRublevsky,S/Poikovsky 2010)
10...0-0 11.b2 is another dangerous system for Black, see Svidler,P
Volokitin,A/Turin ITA 2006.
37
9...e7
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqk+-tr0
9+-+-vlpzpp0
9p+p+psn-+0
9+-+p+-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+-sNL+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQtR-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
Alternatively, 9...b7!? tries to stop White attacking the g7pawn in one go, 10.f3 White
adds defence to the e4pawn, and brings the queen towards the kingside anyway,
10...e7 11.g3 Navara,DMacieja,B/Ermioni GRE 2006, when Black might be
advised to play 11...f8!? see the notes.
10.e5 d7 11.g4 g6 12.a4!

This is better than 12.h6 b8! 13.h3! b4 14.g7 g8!! sacrificing material to imprison
the white queen, Polgar,JAnand,V/Sofia BUL 2005.
12...a5
12...c5!? 13.c4! Bacrot,EMamedyarov,S/FIDE Grand Prix, Nalchik 2009.
13.h6 b4
I think Black should try 13...c5!, threatening ...c4. 14.b3 c4 15.f1 b7 16.g3!? White
overprotects e5 and so frees his rook for queenside operations, Naiditsch,A
Mamedyarov,S/Dortmund 2008.
14.xb4 xb4 15.c3 a5

15...f8?! led to suffering in Carlsen,MVescovi,G/Wijk aan Zee NED 2006.
16.b4 c7 17.f4 b6!?

17...a5 18.b5! with an edge, Ponomariov,RRublevsky,S/Poikovsky RUS 2006.
18.xb6 xb6+ 19.f1 a5!

with a quick draw, Ni HuaMovsesian,S/Russian Team Championship, Dagomys 2010.
38
Taimanov 6 Be2, 6 g3 [B47]

1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 c6 5.c3 c7
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvlntr0
9zppwqp+pzpp0
9-+n+p+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-sNP+-+0
9+-sN-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
6.e2
Classical play.
6.g3 is a popular and solid alternative, 6...a6 7.g2 f6 (7...d6 8.0-0 d7 delaying the
development of the king's knight, (8...e7 9.e1 d7 10.xc6 xc6 transposes.) 9.xc6
xc6 10.e1 e7 11.g4 h5 12.e2 h4 13.a4 hxg3 (13...f6 14.a5 f8 Navara,D
Movsesian,S/6th matchgame, Prague 2011.) 14.hxg3 f6 (Delchev and Semkov
preferred 14...f8 ) 15.a5 c8 Meier,GAkopian,V/European Championship, Budva
2009.) 8.0-0
39
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvl-tr0
9+pwqp+pzpp0
9p+n+psn-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-sNP+-+0
9+-sN-+-zP-0
9PzPP+-zPLzP0
9tR-vLQ+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
8...xd4
a) 8...e7 9.e1 xd4?! 10.e5! Motwani's powerful move, 10...b5 11.exf6 gxf6
12.d5! with a powerful attack, De la Riva,OPlaskett,J/Mondariz Zonal, Spain
2000
b) 8...c5 9.xc6 (9.b3 a7?! Shabalov,AShapiro,D/Philadelphia USA 1999)
9...dxc6 10.a4 a7 11.c4 planning c5, Gruenfeld,YKatzir,M/Ramat Aviv ISR
2000
c) 8...d6 transposes to [B80].
9.xd4 c5 10.f4 A wellknown trick, if the queen retreats play is equal, 10...d6 11.d2
(11.d3 d7!? Black is thinking about covering d6 with ...e5 Schneider,D
Flumbort,A/Heraklio GRE 2002) 11...h6 12.ad1 e5 13.e3 e6 14.xc5 dxc5
15.f4 0-0 16.d6 a5!? a nice resource that gives good play, Adams,M
Polgar,J/Wijk aan Zee NED 2000.
The main move 6.e3 is considered in B48/9.
6.f4 was quite fashionable back in the Eighties, 6...a6 7.xc6 xc6 8.d3 b5 9.e2 b7
10.d2! both sides have developed logically so far, 10...c5! (10...c8 see Luther,T
Sokolov,A/German Bundesliga 2009.) 11.0-0-0 e7 12.a3!? Naiditsch,AVachier
Lagrave,M/French League 2011.
6...a6 7.0-0 f6 8.h1
40
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvl-tr0
9+pwqp+pzpp0
9p+n+psn-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-sNP+-+0
9+-sN-+-+-0
9PzPP+LzPPzP0
9tR-vLQ+R+K0
xiiiiiiiiy
Necessary, to play f4.
8...xd4
8...b4 is the other main possibility, 9.g5 (9.xc6 bxc6 10.f4 d5 11.e5 d7 12.a4 is the main
alternative) When Fed was Gata Kamsky's second they looked at this line, but were
dismayed to find that 9...d6! played by Karpov in the early '70s, was equalizing,
(9...xc3 10.xf6 gxf6 11.bxc3 Fed feels that White has some advantage here,
11...e7 (11...d6!? 12.d2 d7 13.ad1 e7 14.f4 Black has some problems with his
king, Milos,GMurshed,N/Groningen 1997) 12.d2 h5 forced, otherwise h6,
Volokitin,ANeverov,V/Ordzhonikidze UKR 2001.) 10.xc6 xd1 11.xd1
(11.axd1 bxc6 is also fine for Black) 11...bxc6 Van den Doel,EVan der
Werf,M/NED 2001.
8...c5!? 9.xc6 bxc6 10.f4 Threatening a bind with e5 and e4, Van der Wiel,J
Fominyh,A/Bugojno BIH 1999.
9.xd4 c5 10.d3
10.d2? Why? Vukovic,ZIonescu,C/Bucharest ROM 2000.
10...b5 11.f4 b7
11...h5 12.e5 g4 13.h3! f2+ (13...h6 is better) 14.xf2 xf2 15.f3 a7 16.e4
favours White.
12.f3
12.a4 b4 13.e5 d5 is fairly equal, Stefansson,HVescovi,G/Paget Parish BER 2001.
12...h5
41
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-+k+-tr0
9+lwqp+pzp-0
9p+-+psn-+0
9+pvl-+-+p0
9-+-+PzP-+0
9+-sNQ+L+-0
9PzPP+-+PzP0
9tR-vL-+R+K0
xiiiiiiiiy
Black needs the outpost on g4 for his knight.
12...0-0?! this hands White a nice edge, 13.e5 e8 14.xb7 xb7 15.a4 b4 16.e4 e7
17.f5!? Black is already in difficulties, (17.e3 is less aggressive, but may be
stronger, Ni HuaShaposhnikov,E/Shanghai CHN 2001) 17...f6 (17...exf5 18.xf5 c7?
19.f6+!) 18.fxe6 dxe6 Zapata,AMosquera,M/Fusagasuga COL 1999, when 19.f4
looks best.
13.e5 g4 14.xb7 xb7 15.e4 c8

15...e7 16.b3 h6 17.e3 gave White a plus in Nisipeanu,LLautier,J/Batumi GEO 1999.
16.d2 e7 17.ae1
Wang PinStepovaia Dianchenko,T/Shanghai CHN 2001.
42
Taimanov with 6 Be3 and 7 Bd3 [B48]

1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 c6 5.c3 c7 6.e3 a6 7.d3
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvlntr0
9+pwqp+pzpp0
9p+n+p+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-sNP+-+0
9+-sNLvL-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-+QmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
This is the traditional mainline.
7.a3 xd4 (7...f6 8.e2 d6?! Haslinger,SSpoelman,W/Hilversum Open 2009) 8.xd4
e7 9.d2 g6?! I'd say that 90 percent of the time the knight on g6 is misplaced.
(9...c6 10.f4 b5 Was a better chance.) 10.f4 b5 11.d3 b7 12.0-0 e7 13.a4 b4
14.a2 a5 15.c3 Now White takes control of Black's weakened queenside. 15...bxc3
16.xc3 0-0 17.b5 b8 18.h1 c6 19.d4 b7 20.b5 Socko,B
Taimanov,M/Stockholm SWE 2000, Black pieces are uncoordinated and the central
breaks are ineffective.
7...f6
7...b5 8.xc6 xc6 9.0-0 (9.e5! looks stronger, Adams,MPolgar,J, San Luis ARG 2005)
9...b7 this pins the epawn 10.a3 I hate when White plays this. I suppose it defends
e4, but a more aggressive approach is indicated. (10.e1 f6 11.d4 (11.g5!? e7
12.f3 h6 Pruess,DFedorowicz,J/Seattle USA 2003) 11...e7 12.f3 b4 13.e2
xe4! White is already in trouble. 14.xg7 g8 15.d4 c5! Causing problems
against the g2 point. 16.xc6 xc6 17.g3 xd3 18.cxd3 f5-+ Vazquez,R
Bruzon,L/Las Tunas CUB 2001, White's position is a mess. He had to deal with
Black's queen+bishop battery in a better fashion.) 10...f6 11.e2 h5 (11...e7 12.f4
0-0 13.d4!? Golubev,MTregubov,P/Arcapita Open, Manama 2009) 12.f4 g4
13.d2 c5+ 14.h1 d4 15.ae1?! A costly loss of time. (15.d1!? With c3 ideas
43
or maybe c4 if Black castles queenside. At any rate it's more flexible.) 15...0-0-0
16.d1 f5! Black's bishops are strafing White's king on the diagonals. 17.a5 df8
18.c3 a7 19.e5 g5!-+ Hracek,ZPolgar,J/Istanbul TUR 2000 It's clear that
Black's attack is out of control.
8.0-0
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvl-tr0
9+pwqp+pzpp0
9p+n+psn-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-sNP+-+0
9+-sNLvL-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-+Q+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
8.xc6 bxc6 9.0-0 e7 (9...e5 10.a4 (10.f4!?) 10...b8 11.c4 d6 12.b3 e7 13.c3 0-0
Gives Black more play than this game.) 10.a4 c5 This is the structure Black should
avoid at all costs. 11.c4 0-0 12.f4 d6 13.f3 b7 14.c3 It's very difficult for Black
to get any counterplay. The only break is ...d5 and that isn't happening anytime soon.
14...d7 15.h3 fe8 16.ad1 (16.e5?! Would relieve the tension making Black a
little happier. 16...f8 17.exd6 xd6 18.e4 e7) 16...g6 17.f5!? Rook sacrifices are
looming on f7. 17...f6 (17...f8 18.fxg6 fxg6 19.f7! xf7 (19...g7 20.df1
Things are very uncomfortable for Black.) 20.xh7+ g7 21.f1+ e7 22.g5++)
18.fxg6 hxg6 19.e5! Well played! This allows other pieces to join the attack.
19...dxe5 20.e4 xe4 21.xe4+ Ivanov,AZubarev,A/Kharkov UKR 2002,
Black can't cope with White's plethora of threats.
8...e5
44
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvl-tr0
9+pwqp+pzpp0
9p+-+psn-+0
9+-+-sn-+-0
9-+-sNP+-+0
9+-sNLvL-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-+Q+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
The knight threatens to hop to g4.
Alternatives:
8...h5!? 9.h3 b5 (9...d6?! 10.e1! Dgebuadze,AMovsesian,S/German Bundesliga 2009)
10.xc6 xc6 11.e2!? This move makes good sense. Black is going to load up
with a queen and bishop, so White plans f3, negating the pressure. 11...c7 12.f3
b8 13.d4 b4 14.e5! A typical reaction, giving White attacking chances. 14...bxc3
(14...g8? is obviously disgusting.) 15.exf6 cxb2 16.fxg7 xg7 17.xg7 g8
18.xb2 xb2 Kotronias,VMiladinovic,I/Patras GRE 2001, White's safer king
gives him the better chances.
8...d6 is examined in the notes to the Fressinet game 9.f4!? (9.xc6 bxc6 (9...xh2+?!
10.h1 dxc6 11.g3 traps the bishop) 10.f4 e5 is the older line) 9...xd4 10.e5 with
complications.
8...b5!? 9.xc6 xc6 10.a3 will transpose to 7...b5.
8...xd4 9.xd4 c5 10.xc5 xc5 is a solid line.
9.h3 c5 10.h1
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+k+-tr0
9+pwqp+pzpp0
9p+-+psn-+0
9+-vl-sn-+-0
9-+-sNP+-+0
9+-sNLvL-+P0
9PzPP+-zPP+0
9tR-+Q+R+K0
xiiiiiiiiy
This remains White's main try against one of the cornerstones of the Delchev and Semkov
'Safest Sicilian' repertoire.
45
10.e2 d6 11.f4 g6 12.b3 xe3+ 13.xe3 0-0 (13...b5 14.ad1! appears to call into
question one of Delchev's main recommendations in 'The Safest Sicilian',
Eggleston,DVehi Bach,V/Benidorm Open 2007.) 14.ad1 b5 15.e5 Goh Wei
MingMihok,O/Kecskemet 2011.
10.f4!? c6 11.f5 is Goh Wei MingAhmed,A/Beijing (rapid) 2008.
10...d6 11.f4 g6 12.e1 0-0!?

12...d7 13.f5 e5 14.ce2 b6 15.g3 Fressinet,LRublevsky,S/Turin ITA 2006.
13.f5 e5 14.h4
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+-trk+0
9+pwq-+pzpp0
9p+-zppsn-+0
9+-vl-snP+-0
9-+-sNP+-wQ0
9+-sNLvL-+P0
9PzPP+-+P+0
9tR-+-+R+K0
xiiiiiiiiy
White intends a sacrificial 15 f3 followed by a brutal assault on g7.
14...d7!?
This looks like Black's best try.
14...b5 was advocated in 'The Safest Sicilian', but has been coming under some pressure of
late, see Carlsen,MVachier Lagrave,M/Cap d'Agde FRA 2006.
15.f3 xd3!?
Play is now extremely complex, Antal,GVegh,E/Hungarian League 2005.
46
English Attack v Taimanov [B48]

1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 c6 5.c3 c7 6.e3
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvlntr0
9zppwqp+pzpp0
9-+n+p+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-sNP+-+0
9+-sN-vL-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-+QmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
6...a6
6...f6 7.f4 (7.f3 b4!? This could work well for Black with the proper plan. 8.db5
Looks like the correct reaction. 8...b8 9.a3 e7 Black did well to provoke a3.
10.g4 a6 11.d4 b5 (11...d6!? Looks best, freeing d7 for the f6knight. 12.d2 0-0
13.0-0-0 xd4 14.xd4 b5 15.g5 d7 When Black will get counterplay with ...b4.)
12.d2 0-0 13.ce2 (13.g5!? Looks pretty good as well.) 13...d8 14.g5! e8
Usually this knight is misplaced on e8. The desired retreat square is d7. 15.h4 b7
16.0-0-0 d5 17.xc6 xc6 18.e5 (18.d4!? Looks pretty good as well.) 18...d4!?
Before White puts the clamp on d4. 19.xd4 xf3 20.h3 g4 21.g3 f5 22.h3
McshanePotkin 41st World junior 2002 Goa India.) 7...b4!? critical as Black
continues not to fear db5, (7...xd4 is the solid choice, 8.xd4 b6!? Zhigalko,A
Mamedyarov,S/European Club Cup, Plovdiv 2010.) 8.db5 a5 9.e5 with sharp
complications 9...d5 Grachev's usual preference (9...a6 10.d6+ xd6 11.xd6 e4
12.d3 xc3 13.d2! gave
White the upper hand in Izoria,Z
Gagunashvili,M/Kusadasi TUR 2006) 10.d2 xc3 11.xc3 (Radjabov's 11.bxc3!?
may be more critical 11...c5!? Jakovenko,DAlekseev,E/Russian Championship
Playoff (rapid), M 2008) 11...d5 and Black appeared to have obtained a reasonable
game, Volokitin,AGrachev,B/Russian Team Championship, Dagomys 2008.
47
7.d2!?
For players searching for something different against the Taimanov variation this may be it.
Can the English attack be played against anything?
7...f6
7...b5?! Too soon. This gives White a nice option. 8.xc6 xc6 9.f3 b7 10.0-0-0
Arizmendi Martinez,JTeran Alvarez,I/Lanzarote ESP 2003.
8.0-0-0
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvl-tr0
9+pwqp+pzpp0
9p+n+psn-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-sNP+-+0
9+-sN-vL-+-0
9PzPPwQ-zPPzP0
9+-mKR+L+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
8.f3 e5!?
a) 8...d6 This transposes into a straight English Attack. For more on this position see
B80. 9.0-0-0 e7 10.g4 0-0 11.g5 d7 12.h4 xd4 13.xd4 b5 14.b1 b4 15.e2
e5 16.f4 c4 (16...f3?! 17.xb4 A pawn is a pawn.) 17.d3 a5 This looks slow,
but White's demonstration is lagging. (17...e5!? Looks thematic to me. Black gets the
strong point e5 with good play.) 18.c1 a6 19.f3 e5 20.g1 exf4 21.xf4 a4?!
(21...e5!? Is fine for black.) 22.d4 fe8 23.h5 Dominguez,L
Mortensen,E/Copenhagen DEN 2002 Black's sense of danger failed him miserably.
The a5a4 push took up valuable time with little effect.
b) 8...b4!? 9.a3 e7 Later on Black's ...b4 will pack more of a punch with White's
queenside slightly weakened. 10.g4 h6 Campora,DVallejo Pons,F/Dos Hermanas
ESP 2003.
c) 8...b5 9.0-0-0 e7 10.g4 0-0 (10...b4!? 11.a4!? b8 12.g5 h5 Caruana,F
Kogan,A/Italian Team Championship, Spoleto 2011) 11.g5 e8!? (11...h5! 12.ce2
d8 to support the ...d5 break, Salgado Lopez,IMovsesian,S/Aeroflot Open,
Moscow 2011) 12.h4 (12.f4!? Motylev,AMorozevich,A/Spanish Team
Championship 2007, 12.xc6 dxc6!? 13.f4 d6 14.d4 b7 15.b6 xb6 16.xb6 e5!
hitting back in the centre and giving Black a perfectly reasonable position,
Gashimov,VMorozevich,A/Russian Team Championship, Dagomys 2008.)
12...b7 (12...e5 13.b1 b7 14.h5 c8 15.g2! Karjakin,SMorozevich,A/Wijk aan
48
Zee 2009) 13.h5 White is ahead in the race situation, Motylev,A

Korneev,O/European Championship, Dresden 2007.
d) 8...e7 9.0-0-0 h5!? I'm quite a fan of this prophylactic approach, (9...0-0 10.g4 b5
transposes to 8...b5) 10.f2!? (10.g5 b5!? Movsesian,SHorvath,A/European Club
Cup, Ohrid 2009, 10.xc6 is Cheparinov's choice, aiming to force a central
concession from Black, 10...bxc6 11.f4 e5 12.g5 Negi,PVachier Lagrave,M/Biel
2010) 10...d6 11.h3 Vachier Lagrave,MMacieja,B/German Bundesliga 2008.
9.0-0-0 b5 10.g4 (10.b1 b7 11.g4 h6 12.h4 b4 13.a4 d5!? 14.f4!? this and the next few
moves are crucial points in the variation, see Shabalov,AFedorowicz,J/New York
USA 2003.) 10...h6 11.h4 b4 12.a4 d5!? This well timed break gives Black good
counterplay. 13.e2 b7 14.g5 hxg5 15.hxg5 xh1 16.xh1 fd7 17.b3? (17.exd5
xd5 18.b3 Looks to be equal.) 17...dxe4 18.f4 f3 19.xf3 exf3 20.c4 0-0-0
Shytaj,LLazarev,V/Porto San Giorgio ITA 2002 Black's f3 pawn is gonna cause
serious distractions. In my opinion Black should avoid playing ...b4. (Unless it
persuades White to play a3.)
8.d3 this old favourite of Lutikov is very unusual, 8...b5 9.0-0-0 b7 10.f3 now the
position resembles an English Attack, Cao,SHorvath,A/Szekesfehervar HUN 2006.
8...b4
Alternatives:
8...b5!? 9.f4 (9.xc6 dxc6 10.f4 is also good, Gashimov,VMastrovasilis,D/Nakhchivan
AZE 2003) 9...e5!? others:
a) 9...b6?! This gets Black into early difficulties. 10.e5 xd4 11.exf6 c6 12.e4!
d5 13.d6+ d7 (13...xd6 14.fxg7 g8 15.xd6 xg7 16.h6+) 14.xf7
Kasimdzhanov,RPolgar,J/Moscow RUS 2002.
b) 9...b7?! 10.e5 and Black was blown away, Sutovsky,EArakhamia,K/Caleta
ENG 2005
c) 9...e5 is critical, 10.xc6! exf4 11.e5!? (Recommended in a certain 'Starting Out:
1 e4', but the much rarer 11.d4! may well be stronger:) 11...dxc6 12.exf6
McDonald,NPlaskett,J/Jack Speigel Memorial, Southend 2008, when 12...e6!
looks like a significant improvement:
10.f3 (10.xe5 xe5 11.f4 c7 12.e5 b4 Black is getting enough play.) 10...xf3 11.gxf3 c6
was OK for Black in Korneev,OParfjonov,P, Campillos ESP 2004.
8...g4!? 9.f4 (9.g5!? xd4 10.xd4 f6 11.h4 c5 12.d2 b5 is very unclear.) 9...b6 10.h3
ge5 11.xc6 xc6 12.e3 c7 13.f4 d6 looks reasonable for Black.
8...e7 9.f4!? Gashimov,VMovsesian,S/Reggio Emilia 2010. (9.f3 transposes to 8. f3 e7
9.0-0-0)
9.f3 e5
49
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+k+-tr0
9+pwqp+pzpp0
9p+-+psn-+0
9+-+-sn-+-0
9-vl-sNP+-+0
9+-sN-vLP+-0
9PzPPwQ-+PzP0
9+-mKR+L+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
9...e7!? threatening xc3 almost forces White's reply, 10.de2 Saving the pawn
structure, but losing time, 10...b5 a favourite of Judit Polgar (10...d5 11.a3 a5 was
analysed in Shirov,ALutz,C/Dortmund 2002.) 11.f4 one of several tries: (11.e1!?
aiming for f2 and darksquared play, Karjakin,SZhang Pengxiang/Tiayuan CHN
2005, 11.g4 h6 12.g1!? protecting the gpawn to play f4, Leko,PPolgar,J, San Luis
ARG 2005) 11...e5 12.g5 h5! Black not so much wants to hold up g4 as to prevent
h6 after an exchange on f6, (12...b7 13.b1 a5 14.xf6 gxf6 15.h6 see Anand,V
Polgar,J/San Luis ARG 2005.) 13.b1 a5 14.c1 (14.d6 Motylev,A
Maiwald,J/European Championship, Rijeka 2010) 14...b4 15.a4 Karjakin,S
Nisipeanu,L/Foros 2008.
9...d5?! is one experiment that should not be repeated. 10.a3 xc3 (10...a5 11.b3 b6
12.xb6 xb6 13.exd5 White is positionally better.) 11.xc3 dxe4? An illfated
material snatch, 12.fxe4 xe4 13.d3 f5 14.c4 e5 (14...e7?! is this ugliness worth
a pawn? Arizmendi Martinez,JValensi,B/Istanbul TUR 2003) 15.xc6 xc6
16.d5! e6 17.a5+ Polgar,JHorvath,J/Halkidiki GRE 2002
9...a5 10.b3!? this looks like a good way to fight for an advantage, 10...xb3+ 11.axb3
d5 12.exd5 xd5 13.d4 a5 14.b1 0-0 15.c4 Akopian,VAnand,V/Moscow
RUS 2004.
9...0-0!? is rare, 10.g4 b5 11.g5 h5 12.b1 xd4 13.xd4 (13.xd4!) 13...xc3! 14.xc3
xc3 15.bxc3 d5 breaking up White's centre, Anand,VPolgar,J/Canada de
Calatrava Rapid 2007.
10.b3 b5
The mixture of ...b4 and ...b5 seems odd.
11.d4!?
50
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+k+-tr0
9+-wqp+pzpp0
9p+-+psn-+0
9+p+-sn-+-0
9-vl-vLP+-+0
9+NsN-+P+-0
9PzPPwQ-+PzP0
9+-mKR+L+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
We should pay attention to this as Leko is known for his thorough preparation.
11.b1 e7 (11...c4 12.xc4 bxc4 I find that more often than not this recapture clogs black's
counterplay. Normally in the Sicilian Black plays for ...b4 and ends up with both the
C and B lines open. 13.c1 b7 14.1e2 b8 15.b3 Defending mate on b2 is a simple
task. 15...0-0 16.f4! Chasing the rook to a passive post ends any hope of active play.
16...a8 17.d6 xd6 18.xd6 cxb3 19.axb3 a5 20.d4 Topalov,VLutz,C/Dortmund
GER 2002 White has all the chances.) 12.f2 d6 (12...b8 I believe Black can omit
this move, 13.g4 h6?! Black should only play ...h6 when it stalls White's g5 push, see
Bauer,CSkripchenko,A/Aix les Bains FRA 2003.) 13.g4 h6 14.h4 fd7
Kovchan,ABellaiche,A/Cappelle la Grande FRA 2003.
11.e1!? White forces the issue on the queenside by threatening xb5, 11...e7 (11...c4!?
12.d4 0-0 13.e5 xc3 14.xc3 d5 Black's knights have taken up some formidable
posts in the center, Motylev,AMovsesian,S/Izmir TUR 2004.) 12.f4 g6!
advocated in 'The Safest Sicilian' (12...c4?! Sutovsky,EPolgar,J/Natanya (rapid)
2009) 13.e5 continuing to kick Black's pieces around, 13...g4 14.e4 xe3! (14...00 Vachier Lagrave,MVitiugov,N/European Championship, Plovdiv 2008.) 15.xe3
0-0 Ter Sahakyan,SPotkin,V/European Championship, AixlesBains 2011.
11...e7
11...b7 12.b1 (12.g5!? forcing the knight back to g6 can't be bad, Lindberg,B
Hansen,C/Copenhagen DEN 2004) 12...e7 13.f2 c8 14.a3?! this weakens
White's queenside making Black's eventual ...b4 much stronger. Marjanovic,S
Perunovic,M/Budva SCG 2003.
11...0-0 12.g5 d6 13.b1 b7 14.xb5!? White snatches a pawn at the expense of his
king safety, Short,NMovsesian,S/Sarajevo BIH 2004.
12.g5 g6 13.g3
51
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+k+-tr0
9+-wqpvlpzpp0
9p+-+psnn+0
9+p+-+-+-0
9-+-vLP+-+0
9+NsN-+PwQ-0
9PzPP+-+PzP0
9+-mKR+L+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
13...d6
13...xg3!? This looks like a better place to trade queens. 14.hxg3 d6
14.f2 b8
14...xh2!? is a risky pawn snatch, Fressinet,LHeissler,J/Rethymnon GRE 2003.
15.b1 0-0 16.c5! xc5 17.xc5

White started pounding a6 and Black suffered, Leko,PVallejo Pons,F/Linares ESP 2003.
52
Taimanov Long Variation [B49]

1 e4 c5 2 f3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 xd4 c6 5 c3 c7 6 e2 a6 7 0-0

With 7 f4 White defers castling to get his bishop to f3 as quickly as possible, which will
negate Black's intended ...b5 and ...b7. 7...b5 8 xc6 xc6 9 f3 b7 10 e3 b4!?
White is well placed to counter this, 11 e5 c7 12 e4 Moldovan,D
Plischki,S/Litomysl CZE 2005, when I think 12...c8 is best.
7...f6 8 e3 b4 9 a4
This is basic Taimanov theory. White runs down the bishop pair, but Black is ok.
9...0-0
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+-trk+0
9+pwqp+pzpp0
9p+n+psn-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9Nvl-sNP+-+0
9+-+-vL-+-0
9PzPP+LzPPzP0
9tR-+Q+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
9...e7 This variation is quite solid for Black. White might get a miniscule edge, but overall
this is worthwhile from Black's point of view. 10 xc6 bxc6 11 b6 b8 12 xc8
xc8 Delchev and Semkov suggest that Black's extra central pawn balances White's
bishop pair in 'The Safest Sicilian'. 13 d4 (13 e5 d5 14 c1 c5 15 c4 e7 16 b3 c7
17 b2 d6 18 exd6 xd6 19 g3 e5 20 xe5 xe5 Milos,GLeitao,R/Sao Paulo BRA
1999 White has better pawns.) 13...c5 (13...0-0 14 e5 d5 15 b3 f4 16 c4 White's
structure gives a slight pull. 16...c5 17 e3 g6 18 f4 b6 19 e2 Ivanchuk,V
Lautier,J/Monaco MNC 2000) 14 e5 b6 (14...d6? 15 xd6 xb2 16 xe7 xe7 17 e5
d5 18 c1) 15 b3 opening up b2 as a retreat square for the e5bishop (15 d3 d6
16 c3 0-0 17 b3 d5 18 e5 d7 19 f4 f5 I don't like the looks of this. (19...c4!?
clearing c5 for the d7knight and opening the c file is a better try) 20 exf6 xf6 21
53
xf6 xf6 22 f3 Kasparov,GLautier,J/Cannes FRA 2001 Preparing to pound

e6.) 15...0-0 (15...xe4!? 16 xg7 g8 17 e5 d6 18 g3 c4!? This trades c5 for
g3 weakening the White K. (18...xg3 19 fxg3!? With ideas of h5. White has the safer
king 19...e7 20 d3 Shabalov,AMacieja,B/Paget Parish BER 2001) 19 xc4 xg3
20 hxg3 c5 21 d3 xg3 22 f3 Shabalov,ALutz,C/Istanbul TUR 2000 White
might be able to go pawn hunting.) 16 d3 (16 d3 d6 17 b2 d7 18 f4 f6 19 xf6
xf6 Black has succeeded in exchanging dark squared B's, but cannot blockade the
dark squares as in other lines. 20 e2 Dolmatov,STunik,G/St Petersburg RUS Ch.
1998 White can load up for e5 creating attacking chances while weakening Black's
structure.) 16...d6 (16...d5?! Too loosening. 17 exd5 exd5 18 f3 c4 19 d2 f5 20 ae1
White has the bishop pair and Black's d5 and a6 pawns are targets. 20...cxb3 21 axb3
b4 22 c3 d6 23 d4 Svidler,PTissir,M/Istanbul TUR 2000) 17 b2 d7! Black
hurries to exchange the darksquared bishops, Bacrot,EKozakov,M/French League
2009. (17...d5!? Vachier Lagrave,MNisipeanu,L/Coupe de France Finale 2009)
9...d6!? an old favourite of Anand's, 10 g3! (10 xc6 bxc6 11 f4!? xe4 is nothing for White,
Rietze,CRoss,C/Berlin 2010.) 10...b5! 11 b6 b8 12 xc8 xc8 13 a4 xd4 14
xd4 e5 15 e3 c5 16 d3!? A slight improvement over ShirovAnand, but
nothing major. (16 axb5 xe3 17 fxe3 axb5 18 xb5 0-0 19 xf6 Good enough to draw, but
not more. 19...gxf6 20 xd7? a8! Shirov,AAnand,V/Tehran IRI 2000, 16 xc5! xc5
17 d3) 16...xe3 17 xe3 0-0 18 c3 c6 19 axb5 axb5 20 a5 b8= Shirov,ADe
la Riva Aguado,O/Andorra AND 2001, looks pretty equal as b5 is easily defended.
10 c4
10 xc6 bxc6 11 b6!? I believe this is most to the point. (11 d3 doesn't lead to much
after 11...b8 Marjanovic,SZivanic,M/Budva SCG 2004) 11...b8 12 xc8 fxc8
13 xa6 d8!? was the wellknown game Smejkal,JKarpov,A at Leningrad 1973.
10...e7 11 c5
11 c3 d6 12 c1 xd4 Before the d5 trick occurs, 13 xd4 b6 14 f3 b7 15 e1 d7
16 g3 f6 17 fd1 fd8 18 e3 e5 19 f2 ac8 20 g4?! Kosteniuk,A
Landenbergue,C/Geneva SUI 2001 It was equal before this nonsense.
11...xe4
54
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+-trk+0
9+pwqpvlpzpp0
9p+n+p+-+0
9+-zP-+-+-0
9N+-sNn+-+0
9+-+-vL-+-0
9PzP-+LzPPzP0
9tR-+Q+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
Black grabs the pawn.
12 c1 b8
12...d8 13 f4!? This an interesting idea. Preventing the ...g5 retreat while taking space.
13...d5 14 cxd6 xd6 15 e1 d7?! (15...f6 16 f3 with pressure) 16 f3 f6 17
b6! d8 18 xc6 xc6 19 c4 d5 20 xd6 Vishveswaran
Sorokin,M/Goodricke Calcutta 1999 Black has a pawn for the exchange and control
of d5.
13 g3 f6
This seems a bit passive, but things are far from clear.
13...h8 14 f3 f5 15 xe4 fxe4 16 g4 according to Agnos.
13...f5 14 f3 g5 15 g2 e5 16 f3 xf3+ 17 xf3 f4 18 d5+ (18 e4 fxe3 19 h5 g6 20
xg6 hxg6 21 xg6+ with perpetual check AnandLautier Monaco rapid 1998)
18...h8 19 e4 d5! 20 cxd6 xd6 21 xd6 xd6 22 c5 is around equal
JiangchuanHernandez Moscow OL 1994.
14 f3 g6 15 b6 d8 16 a4 e5 17 b3 d5 18 cxd6 xd6 19 a5 e4!?

Black gives back the pawn.
19...h3 20 fe1 e6 21 xc6 bxc6 22 xc6 xc6 23 xc6
20 xe4 xe4 21 xe4 h3 22 fe1 e6 23 f4 xf4 24 xf4

Shirov,AKasimdzhanov,R/Wijk aan Zee 1999 A draw was agreed here in view of
24...d4 25 xe6 xe6 26 xb8 e2+ 27 g2 xc1 28 xb7 xa2

and only Black can be better.
55
Keres Attack Black doesn't play ...Nf6

[B54]
1 e4 c5 2 f3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 xd4 c6
A similar idea is seen in:
4...a6 5 c3 d6 6 g4!?
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsnlwqkvlntr0
9+p+-+pzpp0
9p+-zpp+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-sNP+P+0
9+-sN-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zP-zP0
9tR-vLQmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
This is a hybrid Keres attack. (6 g3 d7!? Olsson,AAgrest,E/Stockholm SWE 1999, 6 e3
b5 Barua,DMariano,N/Calcutta IND 2001) 6...e7 (6...b5 7 g2 b7 8 0-0 d7
(8...f6!? White's setup after 0-0 isn't as dangerous as 0-0-0.) 9 g5 e7 10 f4 e5 11
f5 xf5 12 exf5 b6+ 13 f2 xg2 14 xg2 b7+ 15 d5 0-0-0 16 a4 b4 17
xb7+ xb7 18 d5 a5 19 e3 Ponomariov,RMilov,V/Torshavn FAI 2000,
Black is completely bottledup.) 7 g5 ec6 8 e3 b5 9 a3 b7 10 h4 xd4 11
xd4 c6 12 d2 c8 13 f4 a5 (13...b4!? Must be played. ) 14 h5 e7 15 g1 c4
16 xc4 xc4 17 f5 c8 18 d3 b4 19 axb4 xb4 20 b3 Black's counterchances
ground to a halt, Ponomariov,RMilov,V/Istanbul TUR 2000.
5 c3 d6
Black can employ these moveorder tricks to avoid the main body of theory. Black delays
...f6, hoping to take the steam out of the g4g5 push.
6 g4 a6
56
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqkvlntr0
9+p+-+pzpp0
9p+nzpp+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-sNP+P+0
9+-sN-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zP-zP0
9tR-vLQmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
6...h6 7 e3 a6 8 f4 g5?! Fighting for control of e5 at the cost of weakening the Kside. 9
f3! f6 10 h3 a5 11 d2 gxf4 12 xf4 e5 13 g2 fd7 14 xe5 xe5 15 0-0
c5+ 16 f2 d7 17 e2 h5 18 e3 c7 19 g5 c8 20 f4 h4 21 d4!
Motwani,PMorrison,G/Edinburgh SCO 1999. Taking the air out of c4 and
keeping Black's forces uncoordinated.
6...e7?! 6...Nge7 makes more sense 7 e3 a6 8 g5!? xd4 9 xd4 xg5 Black is forced
to play this. Otherwise what becomes of the knight on g8? 10 0-0-0 f6 11 b4!
White has a huge lead in development. 11...e7 12 xd6 c7 13 b6 c6 14 c5
b8 15 f4! 0-0 (15...e7 16 e5 With a stranglehold on the position.) 16 g1 e7 17 e5
Yemelin,VReizniece,A/Tallinn, Estonia 2001.
7 e3 ge7
Alternative developments:
7...d7 8 d2 b5 9 g5 ge7 10 0-0-0 xd4 11 xd4 c6 12 d2 e7 13 f4 0-0 14 b1
a5 15 f2 b8 16 h4 b4 17 e2 c4 18 d4 xe3 19 xe3 b6 20 d2 a5 21
f5 e5 22 f3 fc8 23 f6?! This keeps Black in the game. (23 g6!) 23...f8 24 fxg7
xg7 25 h3= Topalov,VZvjaginsev,V/Tilburg 1998. Both sides are pawn
storming.
7...e7!? 8 e2 xd4 9 xd4 e5 10 e3 f6 11 g1 e6 12 g5 d7 13 0-0-0 a5 Was
fine for Black in LutherStoica, EforieNord 1989.
7...h6 8 h3 f6 Black has returned to a Keres Attack, but one where White has been lured
into an h3based plan.
8 f4 b5 9 f3
Preventing exchanges on d4, and keeping Black cramped.
9 de2 is an alternative, 9...b7 10 d2 a5 11 g3 Goh WeimingZhou Weiqi/Asian
Championship, Cebu City 2007.
9 d2 b7 10 0-0-0 xd4! 11 xd4 c6 Bacrot,ENavara,D/European Team Ch., Novi
Sad 2009.
9...b4 10 a4 b8 11 d2 d7 12 b3 h5 13 g5 d5!?
57
Attempting to secure f5 for his e7knight.
14 d3
XIIIIIIIIY
9-tr-wqkvl-tr0
9+-+lsnpzp-0
9p+n+p+-+0
9+-+p+-zPp0
9Nzp-+PzP-+0
9+P+LvLN+-0
9P+PwQ-+-zP0
9tR-+-mK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
14...dxe4 15 xe4 b5 16 c4 bxc3 17 xc3 b8 18 d1 f5 19 xf5 exf5 20
g6 fxg6 21 g2 b4 22 xg6+ f8 23 d3 e8=
Kasparov,GSvidler,P/Cannes FRA 2001, swapping queens puts the kaibosh on White's
attack.
58

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Paulsen/Taimanov Variations

[B4049 & B54]

All rights reserved Chess Publishing Ltd

Paulsen/Kan Miscellaneous [B40]

Stellwagen,DTomashevsky,E/Oropesa del Mar ESP 1999 Black has put together a

hard to believe. 15...h6 16 f5 e5 17 h4 h7 18 e1 d8 19 f2 d7 20 b3 h8

6...a5? 7 exf6! xc3+ 8 bxc3 xc3+ 9 d2 xa1 10 c3 Black's queen is trapped!

7 d2 xc3 8 bxc3 e7 9 g4!

9...0-0 10 h6 g6 11 xf8 xf8 12 g3 a5 13 c4 c6 14 xc6 bxc6 15

17 exf6 xf6 18 e3 g5 19 b1+

5 c4 Maroczy vs the Kan [B41]

1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 a6 5.c4

5...f6 6.c3 b4!?

8...dxc6 9.c2 e5 10.g5 h6 11.h4 0-0 12.0-0 e6 13.fd1 e7 14.g3

Paulsen/Kan 5 Bd3 5...Bc5 & Intro

1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 a6 5.d3 c5

e7 9.d2 0-0 (9...d5!? Shirov,ACarlsen,M/Morelia 2008.) 10.c3 c7! Leko,P

c) 7.g4!? f6 this is critical, (7...g6?! Grischuk,AIstratescu,A/Khanty Mansyisk

12...h6 13.d2 b6 14.d4 c7 15.b3 b7 16.c2

18...h5 19.a4 h4 20.e3 g4 21.f4 ed7 22.g1 c5=

Paulsen/Kan 5 Bd3 Nf6 [B42]

1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 a6

underestimated the strength of this simple move. 15...c5 (15...xb2 16.ab1 d4

c4) 18.a2 g6 19.cd1 b8 20.f3 cd8= Zapata,ACorradine,J/Fusagasuga COL

10...e7 11.d1 a5?!

Black was better off doing nothing 19.e5 Korneev,OKovacevic,S/Linares ESP

13...fe8 14.h3 h5 15.e3 d7 16.e2 c5 17.g3 b6

18.b4 f6 19.xd6 xe4 20.e5! g6 21.c5

Paulsen/Kan 5 Nc3 [B43]

1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 a6 5.c3

6...b7 7.0-0 c6 is a decent alternative,

c5 22.xc5 xc5+ Sorensen,JGoldin,A/New York USA 2000 White has a8h1

Arakhamia,KCiuksyte,D/Moscow RUS 2001, taking a look at the Black knights as

decent moves. Black's forces are seriously uncoordinated. 19.f3 c8 20.d2 a6

10...d6 11.d2 g6 12.d4 xd4 13.xd4 e5

14.f4 c6 15.f2 e7 16.d5! exd5 17.exd5 e5 18.fxe5 dxe5 19.e2 0-0

Taimanov with 5 Nb5 [B44]

13 e1 e8 14 f2 ed7 15 fd1 c7 16 ac1 ac8 17 b4 b8 Black is better already.

14 fd1 c7 15 ac1 ac8 16 h1 fe8 17 d2 b8 18 g1 h6 19 c2

Four Knights with ...e6 [B45]

14...c5 15 h4 0-0 16 e3 ab8 17 a3 d2!?

18 xd2 xb2 19 d3?!

Taimanov with ...a6 [B46]

1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 c6 5.c3 a6

The Sicilian'. (7.d2 b4 (7...g4!? Spoelman,WMovsesian,S/Wijk aan Zee B

10.e5 d7 11.g4 g6 12.a4!

14.xb4 xb4 15.c3 a5

16.b4 c7 17.f4 b6!?

18.xb6 xb6+ 19.f1 a5!

Taimanov 6 Be2, 6 g3 [B47]

1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 c6 5.c3 c7

6...a6 7.0-0 f6 8.h1

13.e5 g4 14.xb7 xb7 15.e4 c8

Taimanov with 6 Be3 and 7 Bd3 [B48]

1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 c6 5.c3 c7 6.e3 a6 7.d3

10...d6 11.f4 g6 12.e1 0-0!?

English Attack v Taimanov [B48]

1.e4 c5 2.f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 c6 5.c3 c7 6.e3

Zee 2009) 13.h5 White is ahead in the race situation, Motylev,A

15.b1 0-0 16.c5! xc5 17.xc5

Taimanov Long Variation [B49]

1 e4 c5 2 f3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 xd4 c6 5 c3 c7 6 e2 a6 7 0-0

xf6 xf6 22 f3 Kasparov,GLautier,J/Cannes FRA 2001 Preparing to pound