XChess1971 wrote on 11/09/10 at 15:32:21:


It's not clear to me that the argument "Carlsen played it" or "Radjabov played it" holds any ground. In modern times, GM's play all kinds of things as both colors because opening theory has advanced so far way up there. If you play the same thing every time, you're busted, so GM's mix it up and play things as surprise weapons all the time. It doesn't have to be totally sound, just sound enough to work for a game or two while people struggle OTB to find the best lines. 

It's also possible that he just missed something that someone with a strong computer and lots of time on his hands finds later after 60 cups of coffee and 3 nights of missed sleep. Not saying that's what happened here, just that it's possible.

[quote author=74585041545B5A5C415A46350 link=1284001550/16#16 date=1289170824]I was talking about 12...exf6 and 10...Rb8 11.h4 variation [/quote]

As far as the 12...exf6 variation goes I've just been following the threads here on the forum which is still fairly unclear but looking like it's favoring White.   

[b]10.Kb1 Rb8 11.h4 e5[/b] (I've also looked at 11...Re8; 11...dxe4: 11...Nxd4; 11...e6; and 11...h5) [b]12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.exd5 cxd5[/b] (13...Nxd5 14.Nxd5 cxd5 15.Qxd5 Qxd5, transposes to 13...cxd5; 13...Qa5 14.dxc6 Be6 15.b3 Rfd8 16.Bd3 with the idea of Ne4 and if 16...Qc7 then 17.h5 seems strong for White.) [b]14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.Qxd5 Qxd5 16.Rxd5 e4 17.Rb5[/b], is my main line which favors White after [b]17...Bd7 18.Rb3 or 18.Rxb8.[/b]

I'd love to be proven wrong on any of this.  I've also wondered about Korchnoi's suggestion that after 10.Kb1 Nxd4 11.e5 Nxf3 12.gxf3 Nh5 13.Nxd5 e6 14.Nxf6+ Bxf6 15.exf6 Qxd2 16.Rxd2 b6 17.Bh6 Bb7 18.Bxf8 Kxf8 19.Be2 Nxf6 20.Rhd1 Ke7.  Korchnoi suggested that Black had compensation for the exchange while Dearing thought it wasn't an endgame he'd want to play as Black (if memory serves correctly).

Quote:


For the record, I don't really know either.  However, for what it's worth, I think this is a depressing position to have to play from the Black viewpoint against a prepared White player.  I've seen some of the Dzindi analysis and for the most part it looks good to me (One variation he offers the Ka2 improvement which completely busts that line.  I'm sure a lot of you know what I'm talking about.  In the instances I disagree, I've found what I think are improvements for White.  Ametanoitos, which variations did you want more analysis on?  I wasn't sure if you were talking about g4 and h4 against ...Rb8 or this Bb5 line.

I'd be gratefull if you'd be more specific about these two lines. Cannot you give some sample variation?

TN wrote on 09/09/10 at 13:42:02:

 
in fact, in his dvd (roman's lab 75) dzindzichashvilli suggest something strong against 10... Rb8: 11. g4! (you can watch the analysis on the dvd)

Sacapawn wrote on 09/09/10 at 21:45:35:


I had the impression that 12...ef6 13.Nd5 is better for White, but if someone has a major improvement over the analysis in the Yearbook then I'd be interested to know.

After 10...Rb8, I'd recommend 11.g4 which has only been played once but deserves further practical tests. If 11...e5, Black's compensation for the pawn is insufficient following 12.Nc6 bc6 13.Ba7 Rb7 14.Bc5 Re8 15.ed5 Nd5 16.Ne4.

I looked at the discussions going on at the Saint Louis chess forum, are they sloppy with their database updates?

Ron Luther wrote this Wed Sep 08, 2010

"...So far no one has shown any answers for black. Perhaps Carlsen has an answer, however he seems to be keeping it to himself for now. Perhaps Joey or Ray should give him a call and see if he will devulge it?"

The answer was provided 10 months ago: Carlsen played 12...exf6 vs Short (½-½) in London December 2009. 

Radjabov has also played 12...exf6 in two games (draws).