Openings / Kislik Variation
getting this bishop on the long diagonal right away, assuming the idea is not refuted. The initial idea of the variation was simple:
by putting direct pressure on d4 and e4, White would be forced to find accurate moves very early on in the game, which puts some psycho- logical pressure on him/her and increases the probability of a mistake compared to the Breyer and other main lines. Players who play white who like to play Nd2-f1-g3 on auto-pilot would be in for an unpleasant surprise when Black strikes back with direct counterplay in the center with … Rc8 and … c7-c5, when all of Black’s pieces would be in play. When the Kislik Variation works out well for Black, in many cases Black’s rooks are both well-trained on the center, his bishops are targeting key central squares, and the knights are ready to hop in to whatever newly-weakened square crops up. Some have described the Kislik Variation as an interesting mix between the Zaitsev (due to … Bb7 and pressure on e4), the Chigorin (due to the knight on a5 that often comes to c4), the Graf (due to … exd4 early on, giving up the e5 central stronghold, which is normally discour - aged in the Ruy Lopez) and even the Marshall (due to the direct pressure on the center). I do not pretend the Kislik Variation is the “best” variation in the Ruy Lopez. The term best is too vague in this case and differs based on the circumstances a player is in. Nevertheless, it is certainly a very solid variation that I expect to stand the test of time as neutralizing 1. e4 in the absolute main lines. If you are looking for a solid defense to 1. e4, at the very least this is an option to seriously consider. It was good enough to convince Svidler! The main tabiya of the Kislik Variation starts
after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 0-0 9. h3 Bb7 10. d4 Re8 11. Nbd2 exd4 12. cxd4 Nd7 13. Nf1 Na5 14. Bc2 Bf6, when Black intends 15. ... c5 16. d5 Nc4 with excellent counterplay.
can play 16. ... Ne6 followed by ... c7-c5 to equalize, making nice use of his control of the d4-square. The move 15. N1h2 intends to play Ng4 and harass the f6-bishop. By playing 15. ... c5 and taking on d4 immediately Black is able to neutralize White’s play concretely. 15. Ng3 intends to play 16. Nh5 and forces 15. ... g6. Then after the natural 16. Bh6, Black is able to play 16. ... Rc8 and ... c7-c5 with good counterplay. The try 15. Ne3 intends to play for Nf5 or Ng4 and forces Black to react quickly. Fortunately 15. ... Bxe4 is a sound choice and Black has no objective problems at all by accepting the pawn sacrifice. 15. Qd3 threatens 16. e5 and is arguably the most dangerous move. I will propose a few ways to play against this at the end of the article. Let’s jump into 15. Rb1!? played in the critical game Giri-Svidler, played in game one of the semi-final of the recent Baku World Cup:
CLOSED RUY LOPEZ (C92) GM Anish Giri (FIDE 2793, NED) GM Peter Svidler (FIDE 2727, RUS) FIDE World Cup 2015, Baku, Azerbaijan, 10.06.2015
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1
One of White’s few serious alterna tives to
the main lines of the Ruy Lopez is 6. d3, as played by strong grandmasters like Csaba Balogh exclusively.
6. ... b5 7. Bb3 0-0 8. c3 d6 9. h3 Bb7 10. d4 Re8
The move 10. ... Nd7 is also an acceptable
move order for Black. White can try to deviate from the main line by 11. Bc2 (11. Nbd2 Bf6 12. Nf1 Na5 13. Bc2 exd4 14. cxd4 Re8 leads us right back to the main line!) 11. ... exd4 12. cxd4 Nb4 13. Bb3 c5 14. a3 Nc6 15. Nc3 Re8 16. Nd5 Bf6! 17. Nxf6+ Qxf6 18. Be3 but Black equalizes with the double attack on e4 and the b3-bishop, not allowing White to retain the bishop pair: 18. ... cxd4 19. Nxd4 Na5! with equality.
11. Nbd2 exd4 12. cxd4 Nd7! White intends Ne3 or Ng3 and toys with
ideas of playing f2-f4. 18. ... Ng6
The move 18. ... c4?! was an amusing idea Here White has six(!) different sensible
moves. 15. Bf4 is a sensible move with many ideas: it prevents ... c7-c5 and prepares e4-e5, Rc1, or even simply b2-b3. Black’s best counter to this is 15. ... Nf8!, intending to play either ... c7-c5 or ... Nc4. After the tricky 16. Ng3, Black
Black intends ... Bf6 followed by ... Na5 and
proposed by one international master observing the game on the Internet Chess Club, with the intention of sacrificing a pawn on d3 for the bishop pair. Amusingly, White is able to refute the idea with extreme precision: 19. Ne3 Nd3 20. Bxd3 cxd3 21. f3! (21. Qxd3? Nc5 is Black’s idea.) 21. ... Ne5 22. Nhg4 Nxg4 23. hxg4 Bh4 24. Rf1 Bc8 prevents Nf5 and threatens ... Bg3, but White is just in time: 25. Kh2 h5 26. g3! and Black is forced to sacrifice a piece for insufficient compensation, obtaining a worse position. The move I liked the best is 18. ... Nb6 when Black intends to advance his queenside majority by ... a5-a4 (or ... b5-b4 before ... a4), getting active play for the currently dormant a8-rook and swinging the pawns in motion. 19. f4 is immediately provoked and seems sensible, but may also result in weak -
www.uschess.org 27
... c7-c5. ... Nb6 can also be an idea in some variations.
13. Nf1!
White threatens Ne3-g4 and sometimes even the simple Qd2. 13. ... Na5 14. Bc2 Bf6 15. Rb1!?
White ideally would like to play b2-b3 followed by d4-d5 (after Black goes ... c7-c5), and play against the a5-knight after making it awkward.
15. ... c5
Black intends ... Nc6 or ... cxd4, so White really must push. 16. d5 Nc4!
This move is necessary to bring the knight into play. Black’s intention is to play ... Nce5.
17. b3 Nce5 Black is even threatening to win a pawn by
18. ... Nxf3+ 19. Qxf3 Bxd5, so White retreats and tries to play against Black’s seemingly redundant knights.
18. N3h2!
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