CHESS: CHEEKY OPENING PLAY
Ronan Bennett and Daniel King

guardian.co.uk
Monday 28 November

The bold Armenian Levon Aronian is one to watch out for at the London
Chess Classic, as this unusual game shows

Aronian-Harikrishna, World Team Championship 2011. Black to play.

The third London Chess Classic begins this weekend at Kensington
Olympia. The world no 1 Magnus Carlsen is the favourite, but in such
a short tournament, and with the soccer scoring system, there could
be an upset. Watch out for the Armenian Levon Aronian. Off the board
he’s laid back, on the board he is often bold and original. Here, in
a standard Queen’s Gambit position, instead of developing his king’s
bishop and castling, Aronian has advanced his kingside pawns. How
would you respond with Black?

RB Outrageous! To advance the kingside pawns so early in the game
can’t be right. At the same time I always get unnerved by cheeky
opening play like this. How to avoid the humiliation of being blown
out of the water before I’ve even completed my development?

I don’t much like the look of 1…Ndf6, as 2 g5 opens a file for
White’s king’s rook. So, remembering the dictum that premature flank
attacks should be punished by a strike in the centre, I’m going to
opt for 1…Nxc3 2 Rxc3 e5 when any opening up of the centre – either
by 3 cxd5 or 3 dxe5 – should be to Black’s advantage given that the
white king has not yet castled. If, say, 3 dxe5 Nxe5 4 Nxe5 Qxe5,
the threatened early pawn storm comes to nought and Black survives
into the middlegame with what looks like decent prospects.

DK Breaking in the centre looks logical and Black played 1…e5
immediately, transposing to Ronan’s line after 2 cxd5 Nxc3 3 Rxc3
cxd5. Aronian kept pushing his kingside pawns, and Black closed:
4 g5 h5. White’s kingside ambitions have been thwarted, but 5 Bb5
secured a positional advantage. After 5…exd4 6 Qxd4 the pawn on g5
cramps Black and White’s pieces dominate. Black’s central pawn break
lacked punch as the queen’s rook and bishop were unable to take part.

Returning to the starting position, a recent game continued 1…Nd6
2 c5 Ne8. It looks odd to retreat, but with the pressure removed from
d5, the …e5 break is more effective. chess@guardian.co.uk

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress