The Open Sicilian: Richter-Rauzer

The Open Sicilian: Richter-Rauzer

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 – Entering the Richter-Rauzer (also possible after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5) 6 … e6 7. Qd2 and already Black has two major continuations, with possible transpositions between, 1) 7 … Be7 and 2) 7 … a6.

1) 7 … Be7 8. O-O-O O-O (8 … Nxd4 9. Qxd4 a6 10. f4 Kasparov-Kramnik 1996) 9. f4 – 9. Nb3 may allow more flexibility for White but I have rarely been satisfied with many of the resulting games. In any case, I will systematically go through the major replies you will probably see to the relatively novel 9. f4: A) 9 … d5, B) 9 … Nxd4, and C) 9 … a6.

A) 9 … d5 10. e5 Nd7 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Bb5 Nxd4 13. Qxd4 and Black has 3 real replies A1) … Nb8, A2) … Nb6, and A3) … a6.

A1) 13 … Nb8 14. g4!? Nc6 (… Bd7 15. f5!? Bxb5 16. Nxb5 Qd7 [... Nc6? 17. f6! Qb4 18. Qxb4 Nxb4 19. c3 Nc6 {on ... Nxa2 20. Kb1 gxf6 21. exf6 Nxc3+ 22. bxc3 and the win is easy} 20. Rhe1 Rfd8 21. g5! and White just forces a win against almost any of Black's continuations, e.g. 21 ... a6 22. Nd4 Nxd4 23. Rxd4 b5 24. h4 gxf6 25. gxf6 Kh8 26. Rg1 Rg8 27. Rdg4 and every move ends the same for Black, with an easy endgame for White] 15. Qf2 a6 16. Bd3 b5 17. g5 Rd8 18. Rhg1 b4 19. Na4 Rb8 20. Rg3!! g6 21. Rh3 Qf8 22. Nc5-And White’s moves can almost ignore Black. 22 … a5 23. Rh6 Bb7 24. h4 Qe7 25. h5 Nxe5 26. fxe5 Qxg5+ 27. Qd2!! Qxd2 28. Kxd2 and White wins by a landslide even after the sharp 28 … Kg7 29. hxg6 Kxh6 30. Rh1+ Kg5 31. gxf7 where a little technique is needed.

A2) … Nb6 14. Bd3 Bd7 15. h4 Rfc8 (15 … f6 16. h5 fxe5 [... f5 17. h6 g6 18. g4 fxg4 19. Rdg1 Rac8 20. Rxg4 +=] 17. Qxe5 Qf6 18. Qxf6 gxf6 19. f5 Rae8 20. fxe6 Bxe6 21. Rh4 Kh8 22. Nb5 Rg8 23. Nxa7 +=) 16. h5 Rc5 17. h6 g6 18. g4 Rac8 19. Rhf1 Qf8 20. g5 Qe7 21. Rf3 Rxc3 22. bxc3 Qa3+ 23. Kd2 Nc4+ 24. Ke1 Be8 25. Rff1 Qxa2 26. Ke2! and White has a monster lead after 26 … Qa3, … Qa5, … Qa6 27. Ra1! where any other move by Black drops the Queen after 28. Rb1 . The key move in this variation is the eventual f5 which breaks Black’s protection of his King wide open e.g. 26 … Qa5 27. Ra1! Ba4 28. f5 gxf5 29. Bxf5 exf5 30. e6 f6 31. gxf5 and White wins.

A3) … a6 14. Bd3 Rb8 (… b4/b5 15. Ne4 f6 16. Rhf1 fxe5 17. fxe5 Rxf1 18. Rxf1 where if Black played … b5 White has a decisive advantage Nd6 and the game is just advantage White when … b4 was played [18 ... Bb7 19. Nd6 Qg5+ 20. Kb1 Bc6 21. Qc3 Nc5! which is not possible after ... b5]) 15. f5 Qg5+ 16. Rd2 b5 17. h4 Qd8 18. fxe6 fxe6 19. Nxd5! exd5 20. Qd5+ Kh8 21. Qe4 g6 22. e6 Rfe8 23. Bxb5!! and White is up 2 pawns after 23 … Rxe6 24. Qd4+ Kg8 25. Bxd7 Bxd7 26. Qxd7 Qf6 27. Qd4 Qf7 28. Qc4 with a great advantage.

B) 9 … Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Qa5 11. e5! dxe5 12. Qxe5 Qb4 13. a3 Qc5 14. Be2 and White had a nice lead in the game. 14 … Qxe5 15. fxe5 Nd5 16. Bxe7 Nxe7 17. Bf3- And Black’s position cannot easily extricate itself! 17 … Rb8 18. Nb5 a6 19. Nd6- White’s advantage is solidified and Black will typically lose material to dislodge the Knight. Perhaps Black’s best try is the immediate 19 … f6 20. exf6 gxf6 21. Rd3 b5 22. Rhd1- Black has little concrete to improve his position.  He cannot dislodge White’s Bishop, doubled Rooks, or Knight without sacrificing what few positional pluses he has.

C) 9 … a6 10. Be2 Ne8 (best) 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. h4 Nxd4 13. Qxd4 b5 14. h5 h6 (… Bb7 15. h6 g6 16. g4 Rc8 17. Rfh1 Rc5 18. Kb1 +=) 15. g4 Bb7 16. f5 d5 17. e5 b5 18. Na4 Rc8 19. Bd3 Rc6 20. Rde1!

2) 7 … a6 8. O-O-O and Black has 2 main continuations, A) … Bd7 and B) … h6.

A) 8 … Bd7 9. f4 and A1) … b5, A2) … Be7, and A3) … h6

A1) 9 … b5 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. f5!? – To play as sharp as possible.  Continuations are typically either A1a)11 … Nxd4 or A1b) … Qb6.  On 11 … h5 12. Kb1 Qb6 13. Nxc6 Bxc6  14. Qf4 Tiviakov – Galliamova-Ivanuchuk 1998.

A1a) 11 … Nxd4 12. Qxd4 Bh6+ 13. Kb1 Bf4 14. fxe6 fxe6 15. Ne2 Be5 16. Qd2 Qb6 (16 … 0-0 17. g3 Qb6 18. Bh3 Mecking-Panno 1978) 17. Nf4 Ke7 (17 … a5 18. g3 0-0 19. Bh3 Hjartarson-Kozul 1993) 18. g3 a5 19. Bh3 Hilario Ta Fier-Milos 2005.

A1b) … Qb6 12. Nc6 Bxc6 (12 … Qxc6 13. Bd3 0-0-0 14. Rhf1 Jansa-Commons 1974) 13. Kb1 Qc5 14. Bd3 0-0-0 15. a4 Lagrave-Timofeev 2006.

A2) 9 … Be7 10. Nf3 b5 11. Bxf6 gxf6 (11 … Bxf6 12. Qxd6 Be7 [12 ... Ra7 13. Kb1 b4 14. Ne2 Van der Wiel-Spassov 1972] 13. Qd3!? b4 14. Na3 Tseshkovsky-Gurevich 1989) 12. f5 Qb6 (12 … Qa5 13. Kb1 0-0-0 14. g3 Kb8 15. Bh3 Tal-Byrne 1966) 13. Kb1 0-0-0 14. g3 Kb8 15. fxe6 fxe6 16. Bh3 Bc8 17. Qe1 Swathi-Madl 2008

A3) 9 … h6 10. Bh4 Nxe4 11. Qe1 Nf6 12. Nf5 Qa5 13. Nxd6 Bxd6 14. Rxd6 O-O-O 15. Rd2 Ne7 (… e5 16. Bc4 exf4 17. Bxf6 gxf6 18. Bxf7 Gipslis-Tal 1958) 16. Bd3 g5 17. fxg5 hxg5 18. Bg3 Nh5 19. Bd6 Nd5 20. Qe5! f6 (… Rde8 21. Ne4 Qxa2 22. c4! Nhf4 [... Qa1+ 23. Bb1 f6 24. Qd4 Bc6 25. cxd5 exd5 26. Qb6! and the win is easy] 23. cxd5 Nxd3+ 24. Rxd3 Qa1+ 25. Kd2 Qxh1 26. Bb8 and White wins) 21. Nxd5 Qxd5 22. Qxd5 exd5 23. c4 Be6 24. cxd5 Rxd6 25. dxe6 Nf4 26. Bf5 Rxd2 27. Kxd2 Nxg2 28. e7+ Kc7 29. Bg6 Kd7 30. e8Q+ Rxe8 31. Bxe8+ Kxe8 32. Rf1 Nf4 33. h4 and the endgame is an easy win.

B) 8 … h6 9. Be3 Bd7 10. f3 b5 (10 … Qc7 11. g4 Ne5 12. h4 Karpov-Van der Wiel 1980) 11. g4  Ne5 (On11 … Qa5 11. Nxc6 Bxc6 12. Kb1 Tal-Calvo 1981. On 11 … b4 12. Nxc6 Bxc6 13. Ne2 Larsen-Gligoric 1974) 12. Bd3 b4 13. Nce2 d5 14. Ng3 Nxd3 15. Qxd3 Kupreichik-Peshina 1980.

The Open Sicilian: Dragon

The Open Sicilian: Dragon system (as White) Yugoslav Attack variations

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3.  d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6. -The same position can be achieved by transposition in the Accelerated and Hyper-accelerated Dragons, e.g. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 where … Bg7 is met by Be3 and … Nf6 is met by f3.  In combating the Accelerated and Hyper-accelerated Dragons, White is offered the chance to play c4 with the Maroczy bind, but in my experience, the positional advantage provided by this move is undermined to a noticeable extent by the greater knowledge of variations necessary to take full advantage of the plus.

6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 – And now Black has the option to either immediately to play … O-O or … Nc6, though typically the … Nc6 lines transpose right into the … O-O lines.

7. … O-O (7 … Nc6 8. Qd2 O-O [... Bd7 9. Bc4 O-O 10. O-O-O transposes to familiar lines] 9. Bc4 transposes to 7 … O-O lines) 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4 -Also playable is 9. O-O-O with great results for White but less dynamic games.  For Black’s 9th move replies, he is offered a wide variety of continuations.  The primary one is 9 … Bd7, but many others are almost as viable.

On 9 … Nd7 10. O-O-O Nb6 11. Bb3 Na5 12. Qe3 (Fischer-Purevhav 1962).  On 9 … Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Be6 11. Bb3 (Fischer-Larsen 1958) On 9 … Qa5.  On 9 … a5 10. h4 Ne5 11. Be2  (Fischer-D Byrne 1963).  On 9 … a6 10. O-O-O Qc7 (10 … Ne5 11. Bb3) 11. Bb3 (Fischer-Stephans 1957).  On 9 …Na5 10. Be2.  On 9 … Ne5 10.  Bb3.

9 … Bd7 10. h4 -10. O-O-O and 10. Bb3 are both very playable but 10. h4 puts the test to Black’s resolve fastest. There are 4 primary responses of Black to White’s challenge.  on 10 … Ne5 11. Bb3 Rc8 12. O-O-O Nc4 13. Bxc4 Rxc4 14. h5 (Kasparov-Piket 1989).  On 10 … h5 11. O-O-O Ne5 12. Bb3 Rc8 13. Bg5 Rc5 14. Rhe1 (Karpov-Sosonko 1979).  On 10 … Qa5 11. O-O-O.

Best is 10 … Rc8 11. Bb3 Ne5 (11 … Qa5 12. h5! Nxh5 13. g4 Nf6 14. O-O-O [Tal-Wade 1966]) 12. O-O-O Nc4 13. Bxc4 Rxc4 14. h5 Nxh5 15. g4 Nf6 16. Nde2 Re8 (16 … Qa5 17. Bh6 Bxh6 18. Qxh6 Rfc8 19. Rd3!! and White went on to win [Karpov-Korchnoi 1974]) 17. Bh6 Bh8 18. e5 Nxg4 19. exd6!  with a powerful attack for White (Ostojic-Tarjan 1974).

White’s plan in Dragon games is typically to pry open the h-file with a Pawn sacrifice and then often a Rook sacrifice and end with a mate along that open file.  The key principle of winning games for White is landing the first shot against the Black King.  With every extra piece or point of pressure along White’s Queenside, Black is stealing the advantage, so White’s Kingside thrust must be accurate and strong to garner the full point.  By playing the standard Yugoslav lines as opposed to many of the other ones where more positional games result, games often end directly in mate than resignation due to a lost Rook-Pawn endgame.  Effectively, by choosing to play these lines, White trades in a possible small positional plus gained in 9. O-O-O lines where play against an isolated  d-pawn can occur for better pressure along the Kingside with 9. Bc4, pre-empting the possible … d5 push.

The Open Sicilian: Najdorf

The Open Sicilian: Najdorf system (as White) 6. Bg5

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6. 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6. 5. Nx3 a6 -The most common of the Open Sicilians, the Najdorf is characterized by the waiting move 5 … a6, where Black waits to see White’s continuation before committing his e-pawn or Bishops.

6. Bg5 -I chose to play this variation for a few reasons. For one, Bg5 is considered probably the sharpest continuation of this line and ends up leading to complex positions with any number of sacrifice opportunities and tactical combinations. I occasionally mix in 6. Bc4 with this move for flavor, to be outlined later. There are two major continuations for Black here (… e6, … Nbd7) and 1 minor ones (… Nc6).

If 6 … Nc6 7. Qd2 where you retain the most flexibility and invite 7 … Nxd4 8. Qxd4 Qa5 9. Bd2 Qc7 10. Bd3 e5 11. Qe3 Be7 12. O-O O-O 13. Qg3 (+/=) meeting … b5 with a3 and using the Rooks along the c- and e-files typically. On 6 … Nbd7 7. Bc4! Qa5 8. Qd2 e6 9. O-O-O b5 10. Bd5! (Nxd5 11. exd5 e5 12. Qe1 Qc7 with a significant advantage for White) exd5 11. Nc6! Qc7 12. exd5 where White has an incredible attack on the Black king.

Best is 6 … e6 7. f4 with another key juncture of Black’s relatively equally strong options. 7 … A) Qb6!, B) Be7, C) Nbd7, D) Qc7.

A) 7 … Qb6! 8. Qd2- Sacrificing the pawn. In defending the pawn, White cedes much of the sting of his current system, though it is very playable. The misplacement of the Black Queen is well worth the pawn. 8 … Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. e5!-The sharpest system White can use. A1) … dxe5 and A2) … h6.

A1) 10 … dxe5 11. fxe5 Nfd7 12. Ne4! Qxa2 (… h6 13. Bh4 Qxa2 14. Rd1+! with a very strong attack for the pawns. See [A2]) 13. Rb3 where on Qa1+ 14. Kf2 (Tal-Tolush 1956), on … Nc6 14. Nxc6! (Siciliaans-Giustolisi 1958).  The new trend is the difficult 13 … Qa4! which needs to be met with diligence.  14. Be2 Nc6 15. Nxe6! fxe6 16. Nf6+ gxf6 17. exf6 Kd8 18. 0-0- A friend’s addition to the line.  From where, play can continue a huge number of ways.  Following is a game illustrating possible play.  18 … Kc7?! 19. Bf4+ e5 20. Bg3 Bc5+ 21. Kh1 b5 22. Qd5 Bb7 23. Rc3 Bd4 24. Rd3 Nb4 25. Qxd4 Nxd3 26. Qxd3 Be4 27. Qc3+ Kb7 28. Rd1 Nxf6 29. Qxe5 Qxc2 30. Qe7+ -All lines are forced mate.30 …  Kb6 31. Bf2+ Ka5 32. Ra1+ Qa3 33. Qc7+ Kb4 34. Be1+ Kb3 35. Bd1+ Kb2 36. Qc3#.  On 30 … Kc8 31. Bg4+ Bf532. Bxf5+ Qxf5 33. Qc7#.

A2) 10 … h6. 11. Bh4 dxe5 12. fxe5 Nd7 13. Ne4 Qxa2 (… Qa4 14. Be2 Nc6 15. Ne6!! fxe6 16. Bh5#) 14. Rd1 Qd5  On 14 … Nc6 15. Nxc6 bxc6 16. Qc3 Qa4 17. Rd4 Qa2 18. Qxc6 +=/and on 14 … c5 15. Bc4 Qa4 16. O-O += with an attack. Important is 14 … Qb2 15. Qe3 Bc5 16. Be2 Nc6 17. b3 Qa4 18. 15. O-O O-O 16. Nf6+!! Nxf6 17. Bxf6 Nxd4 18. Rxd4 Bxd4 19. Qxd4 gxf6 20. exf6 Qa5 21. h4!! and White is winning. So after 14 … Qd5 15. Qe3 Qxe5 16. Be2 Bc5 17. Bg3 Bxd4 18. Rxd4 Qa5+ 19. Rd2 O-O 20. Be6 Rd8 21. Qg3 Qf5 22. Be5 Qg6 23. Qh4 Nc6 24. Bh5 Qf5 25. Bxg7! Nc5 ( … Kxg7 26. Rf1 Qe5 27. Rf7+ Kh8 28. Bg6  On 20 … Re8 21. O-O b6 22. Ba3! threatening 23. Nd6.  On 20 … Nc6 21. Bxf8 Nxf8 (… Kxf8 22. O-O Qb6?? 23. Rxf7+! Kxf7 24. Rxe7+ Bxe7 25. Qxb5 winning) 22. O-O Be7 23. Ne6 Ne5 (… Nd8 24. Nc4 Qc7 25. Qb6 Rc8 26. Qxc7 Rxc7 27. Ne5 Nc6 28. Nxf7 +=) 24. Nxb7 Qc7 25. Nd6 f6 26. c4 Bc6 27. Ra1 Nfd7 28. Qd4 a5 29. Nb5 Qb7 (29 … Qb6 30. Qxb6 Nxb6 31. Rc6 wins 31 … Nd7 32. Nd4 Be4 33. Ne6 a4 34. Nc7 Rb8 35. Rxa4 Rb2 36. Bf1 Ne6 37. Ra7 Nxc4 38. Rd8 Kh7 39. Ne8 and White wins.) 30. Nd6 Qc7 and draw by repetition.

B) 7 … Be7 8. Qf3 Qc7 (… h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. fxg5 Nfd7 11. Nxe6 fxe6 12. Qh5+ Kf8 13. Bb5 then … Kg7 leads to Keres-Najdorf 1955, … Ne5 leads to Panno-Geller 1955) 9. O-O-O Nbd7 10. g4 b5 (… h6 11. Bxf6) 11. Bxf6 Nxf6 (… gxf6 12. f5) 12. g5 Nd7 13. a3 – Also viable is the immediate 13. f5 Nc5 14. h4 (Timman-Ree 1983). 13 … Rb1 (… Bb7 14. Bh3 O-O-O 15. Bxe6 [Tal-Gligoric 1963]) 14. Bh3 Nc5 15. f5 (Hindle-Gligoric 1964). This line typically results in favorable complications for White because Black has less room to misstep due to White’s ever-present Kingside pressure.

C) 7 … Nbd7 8. Qf3 Qc7 9. O-O-O b5- White is offered two paths. Either the simple 10. g4 where … Be7 transposes into line B or better is 10. Bxb5! axb5 11. Ndxb5 Qb8 12. e5 Ra5 13. exf6 gxf6 14. Bh6 Bxh6 15. Nxd6+ Kd7 16. Kb1 and on … Rd8 17. Rhe1 (Timman-Gelfand 2002) and on Nb6 17. Nce4! (Psakhis-Anikaev 1979).

D) 7 … Qc7 8. Qe2 Nbd7 9. O-O-O b5 10. f5 Nc5 11. fxe6 fxe6 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. a3 Bd7 14. Qh5+ Kd8 15. Be2 Be7 16. Kb1 Rb8 17. b4!! Nb3 18. cxb3 Qxc3 19. Rd3 Qc7 20. Bg4 e5 21. Rc1 Qb7 22. Ne6+ Bxe6 23. Bxe6 and White has a clearly won position after move 17.

So that concludes the basics of the 6. Bg5 Najdorf. The key in these lines is a dedication to the attack and willingness to sacrifice material for the initiative. Tactical blows are going to land and even if you aren’t a particularly strong player in this regard, like myself, you are forced to improve these skills by the lines themselves. Both dangerous and instructive, the 6. Bg5 Najdorf is a complex line with many subtleties that can only be mastered through repetition.

Go out and get sacrificing those pieces!

Playing Sharp Chess: 1.e4!

You have 20 possible first turn moves. Now discounting anything Pawn moves to the third row straight off and any Knight moves to the board edge, there are 10 possible moves. Let’s toss out the 2 pawns closest to each edge as well. Down to 6. The move 1. f4 sticks out Kingisde in some jeopardy and the move 1. Nc3 doesn’t help us towards development as much as 1. Nf3, so they can go just the same. What’s left? 1. c4, 1. d4, 1. e4, and 1. Nf3.

My issue with 1. Nf3 is that it really allows your opponent to choose the course of the game. While Hypermodern openings can be sharp, I find that it more often than not leads to less exciting games. The last simplification that must be made is that the move 1. c4 often transposes into typical 1.d4 openings. So what to play? 1. d4 or 1. e4? 1. e4 is characterized by tactics, exchanges, and complex opening theory. 1. d4 is traditionally a more forgiving opening, where development leads to more positional play than the 1. e4 slugfests.

We all fall in love with chess for the flying piece moves we see our fathers use and the beauty of a checkmate materializing out of nowhere. Zugzwang, prophylaxis, Rook-Pawn endings, they are acquired tastes. They are things that one should implement in their repetoire with time, like a fine wine not to be over-indulged in. Getting trapped in a long series of games with King-Pawn endings can leave the game stale, but that doesn’t mean they should be ignored by any meanings. I would just rather see move counts under 30 than over 30.

So what to play?

1. e4!

If it’s good enough for Fischer, it’s good enough for me. Opening theory is a pain and difficult to sift through. So I’m going to outline my chosen systems for your own benefit. Do with it what you will.

First up: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3. The dreaded Open Sicilian!?