SOME THOUGHTS ON THE GRICHUCK-PONOMARIOV GAME AND THE IG 
IMPROVEMENT  18.... Qxd1.  
                                                                            
1. e4 Nf6  2. e5 Nd4  3.d4 d6  4. Nf3 g6  5. Bc4 Nb6  6. Bb3 Bg7  7. a4 a5

8. Ng5 e6  9. f4 dxe5  10. fxe5 c5  11. c3 cxd4  12. O-O O-O  13. cxd4 Nc6
14. Nf3 f6  15. Nc3 (15. exf6! is explored by Watson in his April update)  fxe5  

16. Bg5 Qd7  17. dxe5 Nxe5  18. Nxe5 Qxd1 (proposed by Ig.)

Black played  18....Rxf1  in the actual game.)  19. Raxd1 Rxf1+   20. Kxf1 Bxe5  21. Be3

IG VARIATION A:  Ig mentions the continuation  21....Nd5, which seems to draw.

21..... Nd5  22. Nxd5  exd5  23. Bxd5+ Kh8 (End of Ig Analysis) 24. Bd4 Bxd4  25. Rxd4 

Rb8  26. Bc4  (26. b4 b6  27. b5 Bf5  28. g4 Bc2  29. Be4 Bb3  30. g5 Re8  31. h4 Re5  

32. Kf2 h6!  33. gxh6 Kh7  34. Kf3 Kxh6  35. Kf4 Re6  36. Bf3 Rf6+  37. Kg4 Re6  

38. Kg3 Re5  39. Kf4 Rf5+  40. Kg4  The position looks drawn, but white may want to play on 

for another  20 moves in order to be fully convinced!.)



26. ... Bf5  27. g4 Bb1  (27…. Bc2 was mentioned in Watson’s April Update, but the black bishop may 
just be too close to the white king.  White is able to grab a tempo at a critical moment.  28. b3 h6 
(28… Re8  29. Rd7 Be4  30.g5 Bc6  31 Rf7
and black does have some difficult decisions to make) 29. Ke2! g5  30. Kd2 Bg6  31. Kc3 b6  32. Rd6 Kg7 
33. Rd6 Kg7  34. b4 axb4  35. Kxb4 h5  36. h3. Things are looking ominous for black.)

28. Rd7  (White's most forceful try.  Menacing is  28. g5, but black 

can hold on with  28....   h6  29. Rh4 h5 30. Rd4 Rf8+  31. Ke1 Re8+  32. Kd2 Bf5 33. Bd3 Re5  

34. h4 Kg7  35. b4 b6  36. b5 Kf7  37. Bxf5 Rxf5  38. Ke3 Re5+  39. Kf3 Rf5+ Black has forced 

a drawn position.)



28.... Rf8+  29. Ke2 Rf4  30. b3 Rxg4  31. Rxb7 Rg2+  32. Kf3 Rxh2 33. Rb5 Rh5  


34. Bd5 Bc2  35. Kg4 Kg7  36. Rxa5

( Both sides have a pair of passed pawns,

but white's pawns are slightly more advanced, by two moves. Black must make some 

important calculations. Some end game literature may have already been published about 

this fairly general position, which more or less can be forced by white and it may or may not 

be a theroretical draw. An exhaustive analysis of this position may be a case of reinventing 

the wheel!)



36.... Kf6  37. Rb5 Bf5+  38. Kg3 Rh3+  39. Kg2 Rd3  40. Bc4 Be4+  41. Kg1 Rc3  

42. a5 g5 43. a6 h5   44. a7 h4   45. Rb4 Rc1+  46. Bf1 Bd5  47. Rb6+ Kf7  48. Rd6 Bf3  

49. Kf2 g4  50. Rh6! Rc2+  51. Ke3 Ra2  52. Rxh4 Ke7  53. Rh6 Kd7  54. b4 Kc7  

55. Ba6  ( 55. b5 Kb7  56. b6 Bc6  57. Bd3 g3  58. Be4 Bxe4  59. Kxe4 g2  60. Rg6 Ra1

61. Rxg2 Kxb6 =)


55. ... Ra3+  56. Kd4 g3  57. Rg6 g2  58. Bd3 Rxa7  59. Be4 Bxe4  60. Kxe4 Ra2  

61. b5 Rb2  62. Kd4 Rxb5  63. Rxg2 =

White skilfully won a pawn, but black's active king was able to restore the material

balance and save the day.




IG VARIATION B: 21..... Bxc3  This alternative was proposed by Ig, but it seems insufficient 
to save the game.

21..... Bxc3  22. Rd8+ Kf7  23. bxc3 Nd7  (23.... Nd5 (End of Ig analyisis)  24. Bd4 h5  

25. Rh8 Nf6  26. Bc4 Kg7  27. Rd8 Kf7  28. Bb5 (In order to free the rook, black must

lose material.)  28.... Ng4 29. h3 Nf6  30. c4 g5  31. c5 h4  32. Ke1 Nd5  33. Kd2 Nf6  

34. Bd3 Nd7  35. Rh8 Nf6  36. Rh6+-)


24. g4! b6  25. Bc4 Nc5  26. Bxc5 bxc5  27. g5!  Black is in a terrible bind. 

The black bishop cannot  move to b7 due to Rd7+ and the rook can only oscillate between 

b8 and a8. If the black king forces  the rook off the d7 square, the h7 pawn is lost and white's 

connected king side pawns will win the day. 27.... Ke7  28. Rh8 Kd6  29. Ke2 e5 (Black's 

best try.


( 29..... Bb7  30. Rxh7 Bc6  31. Rh6 Rg8  32. Bd3 Bxa4  33. Rxg6 Rxg6 34. Bxg6 Bb3

35. h4 a4  36. Kd2 a3  37. Kc1 Bd5  38. h5 Ke7  39. h6 Kf8  40. Bh7 +-)


30. Ke3 Bb7  31. Rxh7 Bd5  32.Be2 Bb3  33. Rh6 Ke7  34. Rxg6 Bxe4  35. h4 Bc2

36. Rg7+ Kd6  37. Bg4 Kc6  38. Rf7 Rd8  39. Bf3+ Kd6  40. h5 a4  41. g6 Rg8  

42. g7 Ke6 43. Ra7 Kf6  44. h6 Kg5 45. Bd5 +-



Conclusions:

Black was able to save the game via 18. .... Qxd1, which was proposed by Ig 

Active counterplay was attempted, but it did not really eventuate. The variation involving

21. ... Nd5 seems to save black, but the down side is that about 40 moves of intensive defensive 

technique must be endured. The variation involving 21.... Bxc3 seems inadequate.


I am not so sure that this improvement will result in a surge in popularity of the 4... g6 line.

Personally I believe that black has better chances of dynamic play and winning chances with 

the 4. ... dxe5  5. Nxe5 c6 line. 



The Alburt line involving 1. e4 Nf6  2. e5 Nd5  3. d4 d6  4. Nf3 g6  5. c4 Nb6

will always have to be part of my repertoire, because this position can be reached via transposition

from the move order  1. e4 Nf6  2. e5 Nd5  3. d4 d6  4. c4  Nb6  5. Nf3 g6. However such a

game is most likely to transpose to the exchange variation.

The game Grischuk Ponomariov appears to be a gane that 
"killed" one variation of the Alburt line.

Interested readres should refer to J. Cox's  book or to chesspublishing.com, one of the latest pots by Volzhin which has analysed this game.

After 21. Bd8 !

The previous ... 21 ... Ra6 is considered bad (It might be!) due
to Volzhin's recommendation of 22 Rd1 !. he gave some lines.
And one of them (see also Cox's book) is
22 .... h6 (giving a luft for the King)
23 Bc2 and the Blalk's king side becomes weak.

However, what happens if Black plays 23 ... Nd5 (note that moving
the bishop from b3 to c2 has allowed this move) 24 Bxg6 Qf4.

I dont see any clear win for White.

Perhaps improvements for White can be obtained in the move 23.

And I dont think that 22.... Qd6 is the only way to prevent imediat loss.
I think this move is as bad as the worst given

any comments?, lg