In the recent super-tournament in Biel, Black scored 45% in the overall statistics, which is relatively normal, but in the Open Sicilian the second player only managed a depressing 36% out of 11 games. Now, this might have more than a little to do with who was on which side of the board - some of you may remember last year's tournament in Sarajevo, where world number one Garry Kasparov made the Najdorf look as though it won by force!

And true enough, tournament winner Peter Svidler, who was absolutely on fire in Biel, was on the White side in four out of five games won by White, while he was responsible for one out of two wins by Black.

All the same, one variation certainly seems to be in trouble after this event, namely the one starting with 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.g4 e5. White has two ways of giving up a piece for the attack in the main line, and they're both looking as deadly as ever.

The Kann/Paulsen (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6) was also subjected to a severe hammering. In the two games where this variation was tested, White was able to develop an early initiative on the queenside. In the first game we're going to examine, Svidler-Milov from round one, the second player's early innovation was convincingly punished.

View annotated game: Svidler - Milov

Svidler (2689) - Milov (2626)

Biel (1), 2000

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 b5 6.Bd3 Bb7 7.0-0 Qb6 8.Be3 Bc5 9.Nce2

9...Nf6?!

The normal continuation is 9...Nc6.

10.b4! Bxd4

Maybe Black should try 10...Bxb4 11.Nf5 Bc5 12.Nxg7+ Ke7 13.Bg5 d6 14.Nh5 Nbd7. His king is slightly exposed, but his sound structure should count for something.

11.Bxd4 Qc7 12.c4! e5 13.Bb2 Nc6

13...bxc4 14.Rc1 d5 15.exd5 Bxd5 16.Bxc4 Bxc4 17.Qc2 Nbd7 18.Qxc4 Qxc4 19.Rxc4 and White has an obvious endgame advantage.

14.cxb5 axb5 15.Nc3 Nd4

A possible improvement was 15...Nxb4 16.Nxb5 Qb8.

16.Bxb5 0-0

16...Nxe4 17.Nxe4 Nxb5 (17...Bxe4 18.Bxd4 exd4 19.Qxd4 and g7 drops.) 18.Qg4 0-0 19.Nf6+ Kh8 20.Qf5! g6 (20...gxf6? 21.Qxf6+ Kg8 22.Bxe5) 21.Qxd7 and White should be winning.

17.Bd3 Rfd8 18.Re1

18...d5

At first glance it may look as though Black has obtained some play for the pawn, but this turns out to be an optical illusion.

19.exd5 Bxd5 20.Nxd5 Rxd5 21.Rc1 Qb7 22.Bc4 Rd7 23.a3 Rad8 24.Qd3 e4 25.Qe3 h6 26.h3 Rd6 27.Bf1

Svidler has spent the last couple of moves consolidating his position. White is now ready to start playing actively on the c-file.

27...Rd5 28.Rc4 Nf5 29.Qc1 R8d6?!

29...Nd4 was probably a better try.

30.Bxf6 Rxf6 31.Rcxe4

With two pawns safely in the bank, the rest should only be a matter of technique - something Svidler has in abundance.

31...Qb6 32.Re5

32...Ng3?

Black desperately tries to create some confusion.

33.Qc8+

33.Rxd5 Qxf2+ 34.Kh2 Nxf1+ 35.Rxf1 Qxf1 36.Qxf1 Rxf1 37.b5 was also winning, of course, but the text bags even more wood.

33...Rd8

Or 33...Kh7 34.Qc2+ g6 35.Rxd5 and White is a rook up.

34.Qxd8+! resigns. 34.Qxd8+ Qxd8 35.Re8+ Qxe8 36.Rxe8+ Kh7 37.fxg3 and White is a bishop and two pawns up. 1-0

Tournament whipping-boy Joe Gallagher also employed this variation, in his last round encounter with 16-year-old Ukrainian wunderkind Ruslan Ponomariov, but his early queenside aggression with 10...b4 brought him no joy whatsoever. This game is perhaps the most instructive of the lot:
Ponomariov - Gallagher