Various openings [D06D07]

Written by GM Ruslan Scherbakov

Last updated Monday, January 25, 2010
Chigorin Defence

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his unusual system is a rare guest in tournament practice and has never had a good
reputation. Black is striving for the quickest development and piece activity but to

realize this he makes some concessions.

Usually Black swaps his bishops for white's knights as well as affording White an
opportunity to get a pawn superiority in center. The situation becomes strategically
complicated and despite of the fact theory promises an advantage for White, Black has
chances to obtain reasonable counterplay.
Mikhail Chigorin introduced this system to tournament practice at the end of the
19th century and scored a number of beautiful victories against the best players of that era.
He was a very interesting and creative player and the system very much followed the spirit
of his play.

In modern practice the main adherents of the system are GMs Alexander
Morozevich and Igor Miladinovich but, to be true, they have not play it very often recently
and use more reliable openings.
Tough times for the Chigorin
Nowadays the future of Chigorin's Defence is under the clouds. Thanks to the great
efforts of some players, mainly GM Suat Atalik, who played it with Black a couple of
times, White has recognized a very promising line which looks almost like a refutation of
the Chigorin proper ... fortunately for Black not the whole system but only of the move
order 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6.
But for those who usually starts from 1. Nf3 d5 2 d4 or 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Chigorin's
Defence should still be an interesting option.
All the game references highlighted in blue have been annotated and can be downloaded in
PGN form using the PGN Games Archive on www.chesspublishing.com.

Contents

1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6

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2...f5 D06 Strange Defences

3 f3
3 cxd5 xd5 4 e3 D07 Chigorin Defencedirect approach 4. e3

3...g4 4 cxd5 xf3

D07 Chigorin Defenceclassic lines with g1-f3

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Unusual Defences [D06]

Last updated: 25/01/10 by R.Scherbakov

1 d4 d5 2 c4 f5

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This is the socalled Baltic Defence. Black does not care about White's pawn superiority in
the center instead he is hoping to pressurize it with active play from the very first
moves. His approach is slightly reminiscent of the Chigorin Defence Black is
ready to exchange his bishop for the knight, hoping that the power of the centralized
queen will help him secure comfortable development for the other pieces.
Sometimes he can also think about Qside castling, quickly getting the rook into
play. However, in order to succeed with his approach, Black has to make some
concessions, which really help him get an advantage in the center... but only
temporarily as soon as White gets more pieces into play the Black queen may feel
in trouble and the lack of the bishops, especially the lightsquared one, would
obviously tell in the long run. The Baltic Defence is rare guest in tournament
practice. The main hero is certainly GM Igor Rausis of Latvia I have found 71 of
his games in the big database and his score is 45,5 points! However, most of these
games were played in 1988-1996, then he almost stopped using it, most probably
because computers were already widely used and the Baltic Defence was not a
surprise for his opponents anymore.

3 cxd5
A principled continuation.

3 c3 e6 4 f3 is a possible alternative. (4 b3?! can be strongly met by 4...c6 5 f3 (5

xb7 xd4 is bad for White) 5...b4 and White has got real problems as early as on
the move 5 see the fantastic battle I.Ivanov Mezentsev/Koltanowski Memorial
2000) Then after 4...c6 (after Chigorin's 4...c6 White does not have problems to
get a comfortable edge: 5 f4 f6 6 e3 e7 7 cxd5 (or 7 a3 0-0 8 c1 a6 9 cxd5 exd5 10
d3) 7...xd5 8 g3 0-0 9 e2 with a certain advantage thanks to the awkwardly
placed knight on c6) 5 b3 White gets small but stable advantage, according to the
tournament practice.
White can also begin with 3 f3 (this position is more often reached via different order of
moves: 1. d4 d5 2. f3 f5 3. c4 e6) 3...e6 but here an ambitious 4 b3 would be
also met with 4...c6!? although White might still be able to maintain the edge by 5
d2! (5 xb7?! can be well met by 5...b4 6 a3 b8 7 xa7 a8 and Black has already
got at least a draw., the game Sorokin Shirov/Borzhomi 1988 continued 5 g5
xd4! 6 xd4 xg5 7 a4+ c6 8 c3 e7 9 d1 and White has got reasonable
compensation for the pawn but Black seems to fine) 5...b8 (the sharp 5...dxc4 is
interesting but this capture has to be well thought out as otherwise Black's damaged
pawn structure would lead to problems. The game Gareev Stripunsky/Philadelphia
2009, continued 6 xb7 ge7 7 a6 b8 8 a3! and Black eventually failed to find any
way to compensate the drawbacks of his position, other options, such as 5...d7 6 e3,
5...ge7 6 e3 give a small advantage to White) 6 cxd5!? (6 e3!?) 6...exd5 (after
6...xd5!? 7 xd5 exd5 8 c3 f6 Black gets slightly worse but playable endgame) 7
c3 f6 8 g5 with somewhat better chances according to the tournament
practice.

3...xb1 4 a4+
This is known to be the most precise continuation.
4 xb1 gives Black extra possibility on the move 5: 4...xd5 5 a4+ c6!? (5...b5?!
seriously weakens Black's Qside he should not forget he does not have light
squared bishop anymore: 6 b3 f5 7 a1 e6 8 e3 c6 9 f3 d6 10 d3 g4 11 0-0 e7 12
a4 b4 13 a5 d7 14 d2 b8 15 e4 with a huge advantage, 5...c6 leads to the main line) 6
e3 e5 7 b4 This typical pawn advance prevents ...Bb4check and the pawn would be
useful in the future actions. However, after 7...0-0-0 8 f3 exd4 White is getting
late in development and so Black's counter chances look promising.

4...c6 5 xb1 xd5 6 f3 d7 7 b4!

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With this move White not so only begins Qside actions as secures the queen's retreat to c2
(a2pawn is not hanging!), after which he can think about the epawn advance. It is
also useful, of course, to prevent possible ...Bb4check.

7...e5

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7...e6 is maybe safer but White is also happy to get time for comfortable development. 8
c2 Trying to play e2e4 in one step. 8...gf6 9 e3 a5 A tempting but risky idea.
(yet, a solid 9...d6 cannot solve the problems: 10 d3 h5 11 h3!? (after 11 e4 e5 12
b5 c8 13 bxc6 xc6 14 e2 0-0 15 d2 Black's position is quite playable) 11...0-0
(11...e5 12 b5 c8 13 f5, 11...g5 is dubious: 12 e4 g4 13 d2 e5 14 b5! with a big
advantage) 12 d2 with a certain advantage) 10 c4! (10 b5?! was obviously met by
10...b4+) 10...e4 11 d3 g4 The point of Black's idea two pawns are under
attack. However, Black is getting too late in development. The game R.Scherbakov
Sychev/Chelyabinsk chT 2000 continued 12 0-0 axb4 13 a3! d5 (in case of
13...bxa3 14 xb7 a2 15 b2 White would hardly have problems to collect Black's Q
side pawns, 13...d6 was safer but it just meant that the whole Black's setup was
wrong. After 14 axb4 followed by b4b5 White had a big advantage) 14 h3 h5 15
e4 c3 16 b3 c5 17 dxc5! xc5 18 axb4! and White has got decisive initiative.

8 e3

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The immediate 8 b5!? is also interesting: 8...b6 9 b3 e4 10 d2 f6 11 bxc6 bxc6 12
e3 d6 13 c4 xc4 14 xc4 h5 15 a3! b8 (15...a5+ 16 b4 xb4+ 17 xb4
xb4+ 18 xb4 Kd2, Rhb1) 16 xf7+! xf7 17 xb8+ xb8 18 xb8+ d7 19
b7+ e6 20 xf7 xf7 21 d2 b8 22 c1 b6 23 c2 with extra pawn in the
endgame.
8 dxe5!? also deserves attention: 8...xe5 9 b5 with better chances for White.

8...e4
8...exd4!? is the worthy alternative: 9 xd4 gf6 10 b3!? (10 b5 c5 11 f3 b6 12 c2
d8, 10 c2 a5 11 bxa5 xa5+ 12 d2 xa2 13 xb7 xc2 14 xc2 e4 seems
acceptable for Black) 10...xb3 11 xb3 d5 12 d2 with small advantage in the
endgame.

9 d2 gf6 10 c2 b6 11 g3 c8

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This position arose in the game Shulman Vouldis/EUch U18 Duisburg 1992. It seems
that White could have secured the advantage by playing
8

12 b5!, breaking Black's Qside.

Chigorin Defence direct approach 4. e3

[D07]
Last updated: 08/04/05 by R.Scherbakov

1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 cxd5 xd5 4 e3

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The modern and most dangerous approach for Black. White obtains a pair of bishops
without the doubling of any pawns.
The theory doesn't promise too much for White after 4 f3 e5 5 c3 b4 6 d2 xc3 then
7 ...e4 with reasonable play.

4...e5
This move and further play is almost forced, otherwise White gains some tempi attacking
the Black queen.

5 c3 b4 6 d2 xc3

10

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7 xc3
The alternative 7 bxc3 is also quite natural White strengthens the pawn centre and, thanks
to the flexible pawn structure, has reasonable chances to activate his bishops and
secure a small but stable advantage: 7...f6 (an alternative 7...d6 was played in
Beliavsky Miladinovic/Belgrade 1995) 8 f3 0-0 9 e4 d6 10 d5 e7 11 c4 h5 12
b3 c5 13 e2 f5 14 c3 b6 15 d3 Later White outplayed his opponent but lost
control in timetrouble, Piket Morozevich/Wijk aan Zee 2001

7...exd4 8 e2

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8...f6
The sharp line, which originates from 8...g4, is recently supposed to be problematic for
Black: 9 f3 xf3 (one of the main adherents of the Chigorin in the midnineties,
Alexander Morozevich, has introduced a slightly shocking idea leaving the Bishop
en prise for the fastest possible development: 9...0-0-0!? 10 xd4 f6 but it looks too
beautiful to be true see Topalov Morozevich/Frankfurt 1999) 10 gxf3 xf3 11
11

xd4! White wins a piece for a couple of pawns by force. (11 xd4 may also promise
better chances for White: 11...xh1 12 xc6 f6 13 a5 xh2 14 a4+ c6 15 0-0-0! 0-0 16
xf6 gxf6 17 xb7 ab8 18 a6 San Segundo Gallego/Linares 1997) 11...xd4 12
xd4 xh1 13 xg7 0-0-0 14 xh8 xh2 15 g7 h4+ 16 g3 b4+ 17 f2
f6 18 h3+ b8 19 f4! Black's only hope is to make a draw but it does not
seem to be an easy task, Khenkin Czebe/Schaan 1998. Perhaps Black would
improve his play at some point but generally the line does not look much fun to play
for him.

9 xd4 0-0

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9...xd4 10 xd4 0-0 11 e2 xd4 12 xd4 e6 13 0-0 e4 14 fc1 c6 15 b4 is not the
kind of position Black is aiming to get in the Chigorin.

10 b5
A principled continuation.
An interesting 10 e2!? does not promise much according to recent practice: 10...e4!?
This looks more reliable. (10...xg2?! is too risky. After 11 f3 g6 12 xc6 bxc6 13
d4 White seized a strong initiative in the game Kishnev Rabiega/Germany BL
2001) 11 0-0
a) 11 f3 e5 is just fine for Black
b) while 11 xc6 xc6 12 e5 promises nothing special: 12...c5 (12...e8 13 c1
g6 is also not bad) 13 d4 xd4 14 xd4 c5 15 e5 e8 16 f4 g5 17 c7 e7 18
g3 e6 19 d3 d5 with excellent play for Black
11...xc3 (11...xd4 is not completely equalising: 12 xd4 xc3 (after 12...xd4!? 13 xd4
c5 14 e5 e8 15 f4 g5 16 c7 e6 17 fd1 ac8 18 a5 b6 19 e1 f5 20 f3 f6 Black is not
so bad but White can still hope for some edge thanks to his pair of bishops) 13 xc3
d6 14 fd1 e7 15 b4 with a small but stable advantage) 12 bxc3 e5 It is better
to prevent the eventual Be2f3. 13 b3 d6 (13...e4!? is also worthy of
consideration) 14 fd1 e7 15 f3!? (15 ab1 d8 is okay for Black) 15...d7!? 16
b4!? c5 17 d4 and White can still claim some edge but Black should hold
such positions without much difficulties.
12

10...g5

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Many players believe this position should be better for White but a clear way to advantage
is still not discovered.

11 xc7!?
Perhaps the strongest continuation.
The benefit of the move 11 h4 is disputable this advance may also be a weakening move:
11...h6! (11...g6 is less precise due to 12 xc7! (12 h5 g5 13 h6 d8!? 14 a4 g4!
gave Black too much activity in the game Baburin Rebel Century/Monthly GM
Challenge, Internet Chess Club 1999) 12...g4 13 d3! h6 14 a4 (14 f3 ac8! is
rather unclear) 14...ad8 15 c2 with a clear advantage to White) 12 xc7 White
can hardly put real problems for Black without capturing the pawn.
a) 12 e2 d8 is already better for Black: 13 c2 (or 13 a4 d5 14 d1 e6)
13...d5 14 d1 e6 with a small advantage
b) 12 f3 g4 13 g3 ad8 is acceptable for Black: 14 xc7 (14 c4 can be met
by 14...e6! 15 xe6 fxe6 16 g5!? (16 0-0 e4 is at least not worse for Black)
16...xg5 17 hxg5 d5 18 d4 xd4 19 xd4 and here Black can already put
some problems for White by playing 19...f4! (19...b4 20 e2 c2 21 ac1 xd4+ 22
exd4 xd4 23 xc7=) 20 d1 e5 21 exf4 exd4 22 g3 c5 23 d2 c4) 14...e4! (14...f5?
15 g5) 15 xg4 xc3 16 c4! (16 bxc3? d6) 16...xa2! 17 xa2 d6 18 e2 (or
18 d5 xd5 19 xd5 xd5=) 18...xc7= with almost equal play.
12...g4 13 b3 (13 a4?! can be well met by 13...ac8! 14 d5!? (14 b5 fe8)
14...xd5 15 xg4 xc3 16 bxc3 f6 17 c1 fd8 and White will probably lose
one of his Qside pawns) 13...ad8 14 xb7 d6 (14...e4!? is an important
alternative: 15 b5 d7 16 e2! xc3 17 bxc3 with chances to complete the
development being one pawn up) 15 c4 It remains rather unclear why Black
rejected the approved 15...b8! (15...fd8?! 16 0-0 was certainly better for White in the
game Van Wely Brynell/GERchT Neukoelln 2005) 16 a6 bd8 In this
position Black has a good compensation for the pawn.

11...g4 12 b3 ad8
13

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13 xb7!?
13 c4 e4 is okay for Black.
13 h3!? deserves attention: 13...c8 14 b5 g6 15 xf6 gxf6 16 c1 and White's position
looks promising.

13...c5 14 h3!?

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14 b5 d6 15 a6 d5 16 0-0 c8! 17 c7 xb5 18 xd6 e4! 19 f4 xc3 20 bxc3
xa6 is good for Black.

14...e4
14...c8!? deserves serious attention.

15 b5 d6 16 d5! xd5 17 xd5 xd5 18 hxg4 xc3 19 bxc3 c5 20

c1 g6

14

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White has got two extra pawns but he is a bit late in development to stop Black's
counterplay. Yet, perhaps he can still maintain winning chances...

15

Chigorin Defence classic lines with

Ng1-f3 [D07]
Last updated: 25/01/10 by R.Scherbakov

1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 f3

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The position after the possible 3 c3 dxc4 4 f3 f6 5 e4 g4 can also be reached from
the QGA after 1. d4 d5 2. d4 dc4 3. e4 Nc6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bg4 or 1. d4 d5 2. c4
dc4 3. f3 f6 4. c3 c6 5. e4 Bg4. After 6 e3 (the position after 6 d5 e5 7 f4
g6 8 e3 e5 9 xc4 is considered in the D20 QGA 3. e4 Nc6.) 6...xf3 7 gxf3 e5 8
d5 b8 (the main alternative 8...e7 is possibly more reliable.) 9 xc4 bd7 10 b3
White has got the better chances in the game Anand Morozevich/Wijk aan Zee
2001.

3...g4

16

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In the Chigorin Defence Black often parts with one or both bishops. This is a first step on
this way.
An attempt to transpose to the Albin Counter Gambit by 3...e5 does not seem working well
due to 4 xe5!? xe5 5 dxe5 dxc4 (Without a pair of knights the Albinlike
advance 5...d4 can be met with 6 e3 (other continuations, such as 6 e4, 6 g3, or even 6
d2 followed by Nd2f3 are worth considering) 6...b4+ 7 d2 since 7...dxe3? fails
to 8 a4+! d7 9 xb4 exd2+ 10 xd2 with extra pawn for White) 6 xd8+ xd8
7 e4 The endgame is better for White his central pawns are strong enough and he
can develop his pieces more actively and comfortably while Black is also not quite
satisfied with position of his king, Roussel Roozmon Miladinovic/Nancy 2008.

4 cxd5
4 e3 is rather passive. This line was popular a hundred years ago, now it's almost
disappeared from practice. After 4...e6 (4...e5 is a good alternative) 5 c3 b4 6 b3
xf3 7 gxf3 ge7 8 d2 0-0 9 d3 b8 10 cxd5 xd5 11 0-0-0 xc3 12 xc3 b5
13 d2 b6 14 dg1 a5 15 f4 f5! two powerful knights totally dominated over the
pair of miserable bishops, Pillsbury Chigorin/London 1899.
4 c3 e6 5 f4 doesn't bother Black very much. After 5...b4 6 e3 f6 7 c1 0-0 8 h3
xf3 9 xf3 xc3+! 10 xc3 (10 bxc3!? looks better) 10...e4 11 c1 e5! 12 dxe5
e7 Black took the initiative, Nenashev Rabiega/chGER Heringsdorf 2000.
Another possibility is 4 a4 xf3 5 gxf3 e6 6 c3 b4 7 cxd5 exd5 8 a3 xc3+ 9 bxc3
ge7 10 b1 b8 and it is rather difficult for White to open the position for his
bishops without risk, Malaniuk Morozevich/Alusta 1994.
4 g5!? is a rather unexpected but interesting move, which indirectly increases White's
influence in the center: 4...h6
a) In case of 4...f6 5 c3 Black's task is also not easy.
b) but 4...f6!? deserves serious attention: 5 f4 (5 cxd5!?) 5...e5!? (5...e6 is worse: 6
c3 b4 7 e3 ge7 8 e2 dxc4 9 xc4 d5 10 0-0 xf4 11 exf4 d6 12 h3 xf3 13 xf3 with a
stable advantage) 6 dxe5 b4+
5 h4 The game Polak Markos/Prievidza 2009 continued 5...g5 6 g3 g7 7 cxd5
(Perhaps the restrained 7 e3!? f6 8 c3 was the more reliable way to secure the
advantage. Black would face certain difficulties due to a lack of pawns in the center
17

and thus poor control over important central squares. Sometimes it is possible to get
counter chances thanks only to active play with the pieces but even in the Grunfeld
Defence he usually needs the pawn push ...c7c5!) 7...xf3 8 gxf3 xd5 9 e3 0-0-0
10 c3 and here Black should have played 10...e6! 11 e2 (11 e2!?) 11...f5!
and things would still be far from clear.

4...xf3 5 gxf3
5 dxc6 xc6 6 c3 f6 is quite acceptable for Black.

5...xd5 6 e3

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6...e6
A more active approach 6...e5 gives better chances for White according to tournament
practice: 7 c3 b4 8 d2 xc3 9 bxc3 d6 10 b1 b6 11 f4!? exf4 12 e4 ge7 13
f3 0-0 14 xf4 a3 15 e2 with a certain advantage. White has a strong pair of
bishops and a powerful pawn centre while Black cannot keep the position closed,
Kasparov Smyslov/Vilnius (m) 1984.

7 c3

18

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7...h5
Nowadays Black plays this move more often, keeping darksquared bishop on the board.
The game transposes into an ending quite often.
Mikhail Chigorin was more consistent in exchanging his bishops for the knights: 7...b4 8
d2 d7 9 a4 ge7 Steinitz Chigorin/London 1899.

8 g2 0-0-0 9 f4 xd1+ 10 xd1 ce7 11 e2 f6 12 d2

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9-+-+psn-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-zP-zP-+0
9+-sN-zP-+-0
9PzP-vLKzPLzP0
9tR-+-+-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
Thanks to the pair of bishops White keeps a small advantage, Filippov Miles/Merida
2000.

19