28 Feb 2018

B32 Sicilian: Löwenthal and Kalashnikov Variations (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 a6 7.N5a3 Nf6 8.Nc3 Be7 9.Be2)

B32 Sicilian: Löwenthal and Kalashnikov Variations (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 a6 7.N5a3 Nf6 8.Nc3 Be7 9.Be2)

For the game I am sharing today I changed the way the analysis is done for the notation. For this game and the ones that are coming in the future I will be using Fritz 16's Full Analysis function, which will do a tactical analysis for the full game. There will still be reference games in the notation, but there will also be engine evaluations and at what depth it was taken from. For instance, after the move 10...Nd4 it says in the notation 0.57/24, which means that the position in White's favor for 0.57 pawns and the engine came to that conclusion at depth 24. At least I think the number after the forward slash is the depth, I could not confirm that when I was looking into it. If someone reading this has better knowledge of it and disagrees with this, do let me know in the comments. There will be also some diagrams in the notation and at the end of the notation there is a comment where it says how precisely both players played the game, which in my opinion is a good addition to the analysis. The precision was not good for either player in this game, but then again this was a blitz game and neither player is that high rated, so inaccurate play is expected.

Both 1.e4 and the reply c5 (1174330 games, score 50.6%) are the most played moves. While I have tried to play the Sicilian a few times, it has never been something that I would like to play with either color. 2.Nf3 (1028045 games, score 51%) followed the path of most often played moves. The next move, 2...Nc6 (317478 games, score 51.8%), was the 2nd most played move. The most played move being 2...d6 (418805 games, score 51.4%). Next I followed the path that most players had taken with the move 3.d4 (212068 games, score 51.8%). While it is not the only move played in the position, the reply 3...cxd4 (211026 games, score 50.9%), is by far the most popular move. The second most played move is 3...e6 (572 games, score 74.9%). The same pattern of most played moves continued when I played 4.Nxd4 (209948 games, score 50.8%). Then Kojjootti played 4...e5 (25575 games, score 52%), which is the 3rd most commonly played move in my reference database. More often seen are the moves 4...Nf6 (103994 games, score 50.4%) and 4...g6 (46572 games, score 50.5%).

Clearly the most played move was played by me next, as I moved my knight to b5, which has appeared in 20830 games with a score of 54.4%. The next move, 5...d6 (14450 games, score 51.8%), is the most played move and it is a move that has been played by strong Grand Masters like Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, Garry Kasparov and Teimour Radjabov. The game continued to follow the game between Magnus Carlsen (2862) and Yifan Hou (2673), played at the 77th Tata Steel Masters on January 17th, 2015, up to my next move 6.c4 (4858 games, score 52.8%). 6.c4 is the second most popular move in the position, only behind the move 6.Nc3 (7888 games, score 50.8%). Kojjootti was the first one to deviate from that game with the move 6...a6 (596 games, score 62.4%), which is the 3rd most often occurred move. The choice of the strongest players and most players reaching the position has been 6...Be7 (3385 games, score 50.6%). It was also the move that Yifan Hou played in the game against Magnus Carlsen. The second most often played move is 6...Be6 (615 games, score 52.3%).

The next move, 7.N5a3 (213 games, score 58.7%), I have played pretty much automatically in this same position, but with this analysis I have seen that highest rated players prefer to play 7.N5c3 (381 games, score 64.3%) instead, so I probably should change to it as well, especially since it scores better than the move I have previously chosen. I have played 7.N5a3 for the reason that I have wanted to develop my other knight to c3. We then followed the game between Paolo Capitelli (2161) and Rolly Martinez (2360), played at Verona on January 2nd, 2005, up to the move 9...O-O. The move 7...Nf6 is the most often played move and it has appeared in 106 games with a score of 58.1, according to my database that is. The next move 8.Nc3 (102 games, score 58.9%) is also the most popular option in the position. The same goes for the reply 8...Be7 (195 games, score 61.9%). The strongest players that have chosen the move 8...Be7 are Arkadij Naiditsch (2705) and Rauf Mamedov (2650), to name only the two strongest players. The game continued with the main move 9.Be2 (214 games, score 54.2%).

Then Kojjootti played 9...O-O, a move that was also played by GM John D M Nunn against Comp Mephisto 68020 in 1992, for instance. Next I also decided to castle and by so doing followed the blitz game between Thomas Luther (2577) and Eugeny Atarov, played on April 14th, 2004. The move my opponent chose next, 10...Nd4 (26 games, score 50%), which is the 2nd most common move in the position, has not been played by any Grand Master, at least according to my reference database. Most popular move has been 10...Be6 (53 games, score 56.6%). I then decided to save my bishop pair by playing 11.Bd3 (2 games, score 25%, 3rd most popular move), but it was too passive and I should have played 11.Nc2 (31 games, score 45.2%) instead, which is also the main move in the position. The 2nd most often played move is 11.Be3 (15 games, score 53.3%). It was then replied with the move 11...Bg4 (2 games, score 50%), which is barely the most often played move. In both games it was answered by 12.f3, like in my game. In both of those games the next move was 12...Be6, so the move 12...Bh5 that my opponent played in this game is a novelty.

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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 a6 7.N5a3 Nf6 8.Nc3 Be7 9.Be2 B32 Sicilian: Löwenthal and Kalashnikov Variations 0-0 10.0-0 Nd4 LiveBook: 8 Games 10...Be6= 11.Bd3 11.Nc2 Nxe2+ 12.Qxe2 Be6 13.a4 Qd7 14.Ne3 Bd8 15.Rd1 Bb6 16.Ncd5 Bxd5 17.Nxd5 Nxd5 18.Rxd5 Qc6 19.b3 Bc5 20.Rb1 f5 21.exf5 Rxf5 22.Be3 Raf8 23.Bxc5 dxc5 24.Rf1 b5 25.axb5 axb5 Kasimdzhanov,R (2704)-Piorun,K (2609) Berlin 2015 1-0 (38) 11...Bg4 The position is equal. 12.f3 Bh5N 12...Bd7= keeps the balance. 12...Be6 13.Be3 13.Nc2 Nxc2 14.Qxc2 Rc8 15.Qe2 Nd7 16.Nd5 Bg5 17.b3 Bxc1 18.Raxc1 Nc5 19.Bb1 Qg5 20.Rcd1 Kh8 21.Kh1 g6 22.Qb2 Kg8 1/2-1/2 (22) Grass,E-Fink,P (1755) Oberbernhards 2004 13...Rc8 14.Qd2 Nc6 15.Nc2 Na5 16.b3 Qc7 17.Rac1 Nc6 18.Rfd1 Ne8 19.Bf2 g6 20.Ne3 Qd8 21.Ned5 Bg5 22.Be3 Bxe3+ 23.Qxe3 f5 24.f4 fxe4 25.Bxe4 exf4 26.Nxf4 Bg4 27.Re1 Koszela,S (1872)-Anfinogenov,A (2100) Piestany 2011 1/2-1/2 (74) 13.Kh1 13.Nc2± 13...Bg6 14.Nc2 14.Be3± 14...Nc6 14...Ne6 15.Ne3 15.Be3± 15...Nh5 15...Rc8 16.Ncd5 16.Ned5 16...Bg5 16...Nf6 17.Qb3 17.g3!± 17...Rb8 18.Qb6 White should play 18.g3± 18...Qd7 18...Nf4= 19.Qxd8 Rfxd8 20.Nxf4 Bxf4 19.b3?
19.Bd2± 19...Nf4? 19...Bd8!-+ 20.Ba3 Re8 20.Nxf4? 20.Ng4= 20...Bxf4? 20...Bd8!-+ 21.Nfd5 Bxb6 22.Nxb6 Qd8 21.Nd5 21.Ba3 21...Bxc1= 22.Raxc1 22.Rfxc1 Nd4 23.Rd1 22...Nd4 23.Qb4 23.Qc7 Qxc7 24.Nxc7 23...f5 Better is 23...Rfd8= 24.Qe1 f4 25.c5 Bh5 25...dxc5= is more appropriate. 26.Rxc5 Qd6 26.cxd6 Qxd6 27.Bc4 Kh8 28.Bd3 g5 29.h3 Qh6 30.Kg1 30.Be2= should be considered. 30...Qd6 30...Bxf3! Strongly threatening ...g4. 31.Rxf3 31.gxf3 Qxh3 32.Qf2 g4 31...Nxf3+ 32.gxf3 Qxh3 31.Rc7 31.Qa5= 31...Nc6 Black should try 31...Rfc8 32.Rc4 b5 32.Qc3 32.Qf2= remains equal. 32...Be8 32...Bf7 33.Rc1 Bxd5 34.Rxh7+ Kxh7 35.exd5+ Kg7 36.dxc6 Rbc8 33.Rc1 h5 33...Rg8 34.Bxa6 34.Qc5± Qxc5+ 35.Rxc5 34...bxa6= 35.Rxc6 Bxc6 36.Qxc6 Qxc6 37.Rxc6± Endgame KRR-KRN Kg7 37...Rbc8! 38.Re6 Rc1+ 39.Kh2 g4 40.hxg4 40.fxg4 hxg4 41.hxg4 f3= 40...hxg4 41.Rxe5 41.fxg4 f3 41...gxf3 42.gxf3 Rf7 43.Rh5+ Kg7 38.Rxa6 Rbc8 39.Re6! Rc1+! 40.Kh2? 40.Kf2! 40...g4!-+ 41.hxg4 41.Re7+ Rf7 42.hxg4 Rxe7 43.Nxe7 hxg4 44.fxg4 41...hxg4
( -> ...Rh8+) 42.fxg4 Rh8+ 43.Rh6 Rxh6# Precision: White = 16%, Black = 18%.
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBRes
Vierjoki,T1756Kojjootti17330–1
Vierjoki,T1814Kojjootti17021–0

Here are some of the latest and highest rated games that reached the position after 9.Be2.

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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 Be7 7.N1c3 a6 8.Na3 Nf6 9.Be2 Nd4 10.Nc2 Nxe2 11.Qxe2 Be6 12.b3 0-0 13.0-0 Qd7 14.Bb2 b5 15.cxb5 axb5 16.Nb4 Rfc8 17.Rfd1 Qb7 18.f3 Rc5 19.Rac1 Rac8 20.Nd3 R5c7 21.Nb4 Rc5 22.Ncd5 Nxd5 23.exd5 Bd7 24.f4 Rxc1 25.Bxc1 Bf6 26.Bb2 Re8 27.Qc2 Bg4 28.Rf1 g6 29.Nc6 Bg7 30.fxe5 dxe5 31.Qc5 f6 32.d6 Bd7 33.Ne7+ Kh8 34.Rxf6 Rxe7 35.dxe7 Bxf6 36.e8Q+ 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBRes
Ganguly,S2652Piorun,K26091–0
Kasimdzhanov,R2704Piorun,K26091–0
Nguyen,D2500Mozharov,M25730–1
Salgado Lopez,I2651Antipov,M25841–0

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