Openings / Wijk aan Zee
11. ... Nc6 keeps White’s advantage within bounds.
12. Qh5! Nd7 13. Bc4 Rf8 14. e5! Nb6 15. Bb3 c5 16. exd6 cxd4?! 17. dxe7 Qxe7 18. Rae1 Qd8
played later in the game. 8. ... Nxe5 9. 0-0 a5!? This is often prefaced by 9. ... Re8, hoping
for 10. a3?! a5 11. b3 Ra6! headed for h6.
after 6. Nf3 and 7. Bd3, threatening 8. Bg5.
6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Bf4 e5?! Superficially attractive—if 8. dxe5 Qe7!,
19. Ne4! dxc3 20. f5! ... and White had a huge attack which
he later misplayed and allowed Giri to escape with a draw.
Home Town Hero: The Budapest Gambit The Budapest Gambit has a poor repu -
ta tion at the highest level but proved to be an inspired choice by the 17-year-old from Hungary against the 2012 world title challenger. Both 1. d4 players and Budapest enthusiasts have something to take away from this game. Gelfand’s attacking plan of Kh1 and f2-f4 may be worthy of emula - tion, but not against Rapport’s particular move order.
Budapest Gambit (A52) GM Boris Gelfand (FIDE 2777, ISR) GM Richard Rapport (FIDE 2691, HUN) Wijk aan Zee GMA (2), 01.12.2014
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5!? 3. dxe5 Ng4 10. Kh1
Attempting to replicate an old Spassky plan, here not so appropriate.
10. ... d6 11. f4 Nc6 12. b3 The alternative line 12. Bd3 Re8 13.
Qh5 h6 14. Rf3 would transpose to a famous Boris Spassky- Miguel Illescas Cordoba game from 1990, won convinc - ingly by Spassky, but Rapport would have reacted with 12. ... Qh4!
12. ... Re8 13. Rf3 Bf5 14. Rg3 Re6! Neutralizing White’s attack. ...
15. Bd3 Bxd3 16. Qxd3 Nb4 17. Qd2 Qe7 18. e4 Qh4
... and now creating his own threats— 19. ... Qxg3!.
219. Rf3 Nc2!? 20. Rb1 Qe1+ 21. Qxe1 Nxe1 22. Rg3 Rg6
... and Rapport stood well in the end -
game and, after some ups and downs, went on to win.
If You Play Strange Lines, Know Them Well: French Defense Rapport's experimentation in Wijk aan
Zee didn’t always go to plan. Here he finds a little-used sideline in the Rubinstein French but does not know it well enough to find the right plan on move seven.
4. Nf3 The last time the Budapest Gambit ap -
peared in a top level game was at the 2013 Candidates tournament, when GM Vassily Ivanchuk tried it and fell to Aronian who played a Bf4 system.
4. ... Bc5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Nc3 0-0 7. Be2 Ngxe5 8. Nxe5
An exchange which is probably best 34 June 2014 | Chess Life
French Defense (C10) GM Fabiano Caruana (FIDE 2782, ITA) GM Richard Rapport (FIDE 2691, HUN) Wijk aan Zee GMA (8), 01.21.2014
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6!? 5. Nxf6+ gxf6!?
(see diagram top of next column) The Cartagena French, more sophis-
ticated than the more common 5. ... Qxf6 which leaves the black queen exposed
Random g2-g4 moves have been turning
up more and more frequently but this one is highly unexpected. The nearest relation would appear to
be Vlastimil Hort’s 3. g4 in the Closed Sicilian—1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g4, which aims to gain a tempo on the traditional
eyeing b4, works out fine for Black—but after Caruana’s response Black cannot avoid an unhealthy pawn structure. The game continued ...
8. Be3! Bg4 9. Bb5 Qd6 10. c3 e4 11. h3 exf3 12. hxg4 fxg2 13. Rg1 a6 14. Bd3
... when White was clearly better and Caruana went on to win. Rapport should not have been tempted
by 7. ... e5 and returned to traditional Cartagena strategy—... Ne7, ... Bd7-c6, ... Qd7 and ... 0-0-0, with unclear play.
It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time: Crazy English Top games can also be cautionary tales.
Rapport’s burst of inspiration on move three looked like fun but his attack went no where so the idea is unlikely to be worth repeating.
Symmetrical English (A34) GM Richard Rapport (FIDE 2691, HUN) GM Leinier Dominguez (FIDE 2754, CUB) Wijk aan Zee GMA (5), 01.17.2014
1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 g6 3. g4!!?
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