Soltis Variation of the Sicilian Dragon
Over the weekend the following game from the European Individual
Championships caught my eye. It was a well played attack by the
former Russian champion
but what surprised me was Blackīs choice of opening; the Sicilian Dragon. Soltis Variation, analysed by Tony Miles and Erik Moscow and used with success by Miles, Jonathan Mestel and others.
Both Miles and Jonathan Mestel enjoyed great
success with
it.
The line is thought to be discredited nowadays although I have always
wondered whether it might still be playable as Kasparov employed it
against Anand
at their world title match at the top of the World Trade Centre in
1995. This
makes me suspect their may be undiscovered resources for Black. If
Kasparovīs
played it, itīs probably good.
Motylev,A (2666) - Carlsson,P (2514) [B78]
IX EICC Plovdiv BUL (2), 22.04.2008
[IM Malcolm Pein]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Bc4 Nc6 9.Bb3 Bd7 10.h4 h5 [This is the key idea, previously 10...Rc8 had been automatic] 11.Qd2 Rc8 12.0-0-0 Ne5 13.Bg5 [This intends 13.f4 and if 13...Nc4 14.Qe2 followed by e4-e5 hence Black's next if 14...Bh6 Qxh6 Rxc3 bxc3 Qa5] 13...Rc5 14.Kb1 Re8 15.g4 [Anand played 15.Rhe1 ] 15...hxg4 16.f4 Nc4 [16...Nc6!?] 17.Qe2 Qc8 [17...b5!? to keep the bishop on b3 under wraps] 18.f5N 
[18.Bxf6 Bxf6 19.h5 gxh5 20.f5 Ne5 21.Nd5 Rxd5 22.Bxd5 h4 23.Rdg1 e6 24.fxe6 fxe6 25.Bb3 Kg7 26.Nf3 Nxf3 27.Qxf3 e5 28.Rxg4+ Bxg4 29.Rg1 Bg5 30.Rxg4 Kh6 31.Bf7 Rh8 32.Qg2 Qd8 33.Rxh4+ Kg7 34.Rxh8 Kxh8 35.Qf3 Qf6 1/2-1/2 Fernandez,L (2099)-Hua,L (2267)/Montreal CAN 2003/The Week in Chess 455] 18...Na3+?! [but 18...gxf5 19.exf5 Nxb2 20.Kxb2 Rxc3 21.Bxf6 Bxf6 22.Qxg4+ Kf8 23.Rhg1 is also good for White] 19.bxa3 Rxc3 20.fxg6 Rxb3+ 21.axb3 fxg6 22.Qd3 Nh5 23.Rhf1 Be5 24.Ne2 g3 25.Nf4 Bg4 26.Nxg6 Bxd1 27.Qxd1 g2 28.Rg1 Bg7 29.Qxh5 Qc3 30.e5! dxe5 31.Bh6 Bxh6 32.Rxg2 1-0
Five days later at Baku, my suspicions may have been confirmed
because
Magnus Carlsen used the line.
Radjabov,T (2751) - Carlsen,M (2765) [B77]
FIDE GP Baku AZE (7), 28.04.2008
[IM Malcolm Pein]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.Bb3 Rc8 11.h4 h5 12.0-0-0 Ne5 13.Bg5 Rc5 14.Kb1 Re8 15.g4 hxg4 16.h5 Nxh5 17.Rxh5 gxh5 18.Qh2 Ng6 19.Qxh5 [19.Nd5 Rxd5 20.Bxd5 Qb6 21.c3 e6 22.Bb3 a5 23.fxg4 h4 24.Be3 a4 25.Bc2 a3 26.Bb3 Bc6 27.Qc2 Qc7 28.bxa3 d5 29.exd5 Bxd5 30.Bc1 Qe5 31.Ka1 Be4 32.Qf2 Rd8 33.Qe3 Bg2 34.Qg1 h3 35.Rd2 Nh4 36.Qf2 Nf3 37.Kb1 Nxd2+ 38.Bxd2 Be4+ 39.Kb2 Rxd4 40.Bf4 Qc5 41.Be3 Rd2+ 0-1 Enders,P (2470)-Cao,S (2420)/Budapest 1995] 19...Qa5 20.f4 Rxg5! 21.fxg5 e6 22.Nf5?! exf5 23.Qxg6 Be6 24.Qh5 fxe4 25.Rf1 Qe5 26.Rxf7 Bxb3 27.axb3 g3 28.Ka2 Rf8 29.Rxf8+ Kxf8 30.Qg4 e3 31.g6 
31...e2! 32.Qf3+ [32.Nxe2 Qxb2#; 32.Qxe2 Qxe2 33.Nxe2 g2] 32...Ke8 33.Qf7+ Kd8 34.Qg8+ Kd7 35.Qf7+ Qe7 36.Qf5+ Kd8 37.Qa5+ b6 38.Qd5 e1Q 39.Qa8+ Kd7 40.Qb7+ Ke8 0-1
|
