Openings / Wijk aan Zee
New Tricks
We take a look at the openings used at Wijk aan Zee, 2014. By GM IAN ROGERS
The premier grandmaster group at Tata Steel, left to right: Sergey Karjakin, Arkadij Naiditsch, Fabiano Caruana, Pentala Harikrishna, Anish Giri, Levon Aronian (the tournament winner), Richard Rapport, Wesley So, Hikaru Nakamura, Leinier Dominguez.
THE OPENINGS AT A HIGH-LEVEL tournament used to be very predictable— main lines in the Spanish and Sicilian with a slightly greater variety of choices against 1. d4. However the use of computers for
preparation has changed a lot. Certain sharp variations have now been analyzed out to dead equality or a clear disadvan - tage. This is shared knowledge—all top players have access to similar software and hardware and can reach the same conclusions. Playing black, life is much easier in a
top tournament—you can choose one of the computer-checked solid lines and leave it to your opponent to try to create chances. As a consequence, with white, elite players are no longer trying to blow their oppo - nents away in the opening—they are usually happy just to reach a non-sterile position. One of the best ways to improve your
repertoire is to play through grandmaster games in your preferred lines. The elite
players have done the hard work already and their games show you the moves currently considered best. January’s Tata Steel tournament in Wijk
aan Zee, the Netherlands, provides a case study. The event, which featured a mix of top 10 and top teenage players, saw two distinct methods used by the all- grand master field in choosing an opening. The tournament winner, world number
two GM Levon Aronian, stayed within tradi - tion al opening paths, but sought to create positions where the computer assessments might be wrong, or at least misleading. Others, most notably Hungarian 17-
year-old Richard Rapport, tried to reach original positions as fast as possible and then outplay his opponent.
Hitting Your Opponent's Strength: Ruy Lopez (aka the Spanish Opening) For average players, unable to spend
hours preparing their openings, some lines chosen by the elite are just too sophis-
ticated to be of use. In the game below, Aronian’s best opening achievement in Wijk aan Zee, it is easier to admire than follow Aronian since the variation chosen is used by very few mere mortals.
Closed Ruy Lopez (C84) GM Leinier Dominguez (FIDE 2754, CUB) GM Levon Aronian (FIDE 2812, ARM) Wijk aan Zee GMA (10), 01.25.2014
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0- 0 Be7 6. d3
A trendy way to avoid the Marshall Gambit (6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 0-0 8. c3 d5!?) with which Aronian had never lost a classical game. (That perfect record was shattered a fortnight later in Zurich when Caruana ground Aronian down in one of the stodgiest of the Marshall main lines.)
6. ... b5 7. Bb3 0-0 8. Nc3 d6 9. a3 (see diagram top of next page)
www.uschess.org 31
PHOTO CATHY ROGERS
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