Wesley and the Winawer

* * *

Almasi, Zoltan (2693) — So, Wesley (2731) [C18]
49th Capablanca Elite 2014 Havana CUB (5.3), 12.05.2014

1.e4 e6

Surprised by the French? Well, you shouldn’t be. After 1.e4 Wesley usually replies 1…c5 but the French is also in his usual repertoire. Don’t forget that is what he used to defeat Ivanchuk in the 2009 World Cup.

2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5

Still no surprises. Almasi is strictly an 1.e4 player and against the French always uses 3.Nc3.

4…c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4

Almasi plays all of the three main lines here: the text (also called the Winawer Poisoned Pawn), 7.Nf3 and 7.h4.

7…Qc7 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 cxd4 10.Ne2 Nbc6 11.f4

[11.cxd4? allows 11…Nxd4]

11…dxc3 12.Qd3

In his annotations to the game Korchnoi vs Nogueiras from the Brussels SWIFT World Cup in 1988 Seirawan wrote here: “The opening confuses me: what is Black’s compensation for White’s passed h-pawn and two Bishops?” He also recommends to Nogueiras to find another defense to 1.e4. At the end of the game (which Korchnoi won), he closes with the remark: “A scorching victory that really puts this variation of the Winawer under the spotlight. It simply doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.”

This was too much for IM John Watson, a well-known expert and chess book author on the French. He wrote a long letter saying that “there’s no denying that if White can get to a certain kind of endgame (usually a pawn up) with his Bishops intact and his pawns marching up the Kingside, Black can be in a lot of trouble. A glance at the historical record, however, reveals how seldom those favorable circumstances convene for White. Instead, there is a long string of tragedies, often marked by the decimation of the White center and monarch in the middlegame, or exchange of one or both of White’s Bishops followed by Killing Black pressure on White’s weaknesses in endgame.

“Furthermore, one might mention Black’s superior development, pressure down the c- and g-files, White’s weak c- and a-pawns, his lack of a haven for his King, the squares f5 and c4 for Black’s Knights, possible breaks with …d4 and/or …f6/ …e5, and the notorious difficulty of advancing a rook pawn when one’s opponent has the open g- and h-files. That these factors, which have traditionally compensated for White’s extra pawn and bishop pair, would suddenly be discovered to be quite insufficient, strikes me as highly unlikely.”

Well, dear BWorld reader, what do you think? Maybe the best argument is that up to current day the Winawer is still being played by a lot of GMs — Wesley So among them. The Winawer still has a long life ahead of it.

12…d4!?
The main line is 12…Bd7 after which White can take on c3 both ways or go 13.Rb1, 13.h4, 13.h3. In all cases he has a good score, which somewhat bolsters Yasser’s position. The text move is not new, but it was brought back to the limelight by Gata Kamsky. Black sacrifices two pawns to find active places for all his pieces. The jury is still out on this one.

13.Ng3

What happens if White accepts the pawn? Well, let us see: 13.Nxd4 Nxd4 14.Qxd4 Bd7 (14…Nf5? is refuted by 15.Bb5+ Bd7 (15…Kf8 16.Qb4+ Kg7 is even worse) 16.Qxd7+ Qxd7 17.Bxd7+ Kxd7 18.Kf2 White should be winning here with the extra passed pawn on the h-file.) 15.Rg1 Nf5 (15…0-0-0? 16.Qxa7 Bc6 17.Be3 White has a big advantage) 16.Qf2 Qc6 17.Bd3 Qd5 18.Rb1 (The best move, preventing …Bb5 while preparing to attack the c3-pawn. The alternative 18.Bxf5 weakens the light squares too much) 18…Bc6 19.Rb3 0-0-0 20.Rxc3 Kb8 Since the spectacular game Karjakin vs Kamsky (we will see the game later) this position has been tested in many games without reaching a clear verdict. To go further is already beyond the scope of this article, so let us content ourselves with the comment that after 21.Qc5 or 21.g3 or even 21.g4 there are “chances for both sides”.

13…Bd7 14.Be2 0-0-0

In GM Emmanuel Berg’s new book on the French he recommends that Black should continue 14…Qb6 as it prevents Rb1 and, with White getting ready to castle, tactical threats on the a7-g1 diagonal may also come into play. Makes sense. There could continue 15.0-0 0-0-0 16.Ne4 Nd5 17.Qb5 Qxb5 18.Bxb5 Nce7 19.Nd6+ Kb8 20.Bxd7 Rxd7 21.Nxf7 Nf5 22.Ng5 Nde3 Berg: “Black has full compensation for the pawn.”

15.0-0

I don’t know why White doesn’t play 15.Rb1.

15…Nf5

In the Karjakin vs Kamsky game mentioned earlier Black played 15…Qb6! 16.Ne4 Nd5! 17.Nd6+ Kb8 18.Nxf7 Rdf8 19.Nd6 Nce7 20.Bf3 Bc6 A very interesting position with Black having the better chances. Sadly, at this point both players had only two minutes left until move 40, so the rest of the game was an up and down struggle. Kamsky was winning most of the way but Karjakin was luckier. I give the remaining moves just as a matter of record. 21.a4?! Nb4 22.a5 Qc5 23.Qh7 d3+ 24.Kh1 d2 25.Bxd2 cxd2 26.Qxe7 Rxf4 27.Rab1 Rgf8 28.c4 a6 29.h3 Ka8 30.Qg7 Qe3 31.Kh2 d1Q 32.Rbxd1 and here Kamsky lost on time. 1-0 (32) Karjakin, S (2721) -Kamsky, G (2720) Nalchik RUS 2009.

16.Ne4

Wesley’s idea is to follow this up …Nf5 with …Nce7 and …Bc6, so Almasi hastens to destroy the bishop.

16…Nce7 17.Nf6 Rg6 18.Nxd7 Rxd7 19.Bf3 Nd5 20.Rb1 Kb8 21.Be4 Rg8 22.a4

If 22.Bxf5 exf5 23.Qxf5 Ne3 24.Bxe3 Qc6! (taking control of the long diagonal first, otherwise White will play Qe4 and the advantage swings to him) 25.g3 dxe3 26.Qf6 Qe4 White is in a dangerous position.

22…Qc6 23.a5 Qa4 24.a6 b6 25.Rb3 Nde3!

Tactically alert. Now 26.Rf2 is met by 26…Qa1.

26.Ra3 Qb4 27.Rb3 Qa4 28.Ra3 Qb4 29.Rb3 Qe7 30.Bxe3
[30.Re1 Qh4! attacking e1 and f4]

30…dxe3!

Gives up one pawn to force the other one to e2.