FIDE Survey – Alexander Beliavsky

1

Alexander Beliavsky:

Reti - from black perspective

Last year we discussed Reti opening from
the White perspective to avoid eventual
computerized

preparation

e.g.

against

Grunfeld devoters. Now we will change the
angle and will discuss it from the black
perspective. We will make one assumption
first: you have to be comfortable not just
with Grunfeld as black, but also either Slav-
Meran or QG-Vienna-Ragozin. Because, if
you play only Grunfeld, then 1.Nf3 d5 will
pose problems for you after 2.d4.
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6
L. Aronian prefers other setup and succeds
to hold position. Still I prefers 2..g6 3..Bg7,
preparing e5.
2...Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.0–0 Be7 5.d3 0–0 6.Nbd2
Nc6 7.d4 (Kramnik deviate from A. Giri : L.
Aronian game. Still I think Giri had a more
pleasant endgame: 7.e4 de4 8.de4 e5 9.Nc4
Qd1 10.Rd1 Ne4 11.Nfe5 Ne5 12.Ne5 Nf6
13.Nc4 c6 14.c3 Nd5?! (14...Re8 15.Bf4
Bg4 16.Nd6 Bd1 17.Ne8 Bh5 18.Nd6 Bd6
19.Bd6 Re8 20.h3 a5 21.a4 Rd8 22.Bc5 Rd1
23.Rd1 Bd1 24.Bb6 Nd7 25.Ba5 Ba4 26.Bc7
Bb3 27.Bf1 f6 28.Kg2 Nc5 29.Bf4 b5=)
15.Bd5 cd5 16.Ne3 Bc5 17.Nd5 Bg4 18.Re1
Rfd8 19.c4 Bf3 20.Bg5 Rd7 21.Be3 Bf8
22.a4 h6 23.Rac1 b6 24.Bd2 Bd5 25.cd5
Rd5 26.Be3 b5 27.ab5 Rb5 28.Bd4 Rd8
29.Ba7 Rb2 30.Red1 Rd1 31.Rd1 Be7
32.Re1 Bf6 33.Rd1 Ra2 34.Bd4 Ra6 35.Bf6
Rf6 36.Rc1 g6 37.h4 h5 38.Kg2 Rf5 39.Rd1
Kh7 40.Rd6 Kg7, ½, Giri A. : Aronian L.,
Skopje 2015) 7...Ne4 (7...b6 8.Re1 Bb7 9.e4
de4 10.Ne4 Ne4 11.Re4 Bf6 12.c3 Ne7
13.Re1 Rc8 14.Nd2 Bg2 15.Kg2 Nd5
16.Ne4 Be7 17.c4 Nf6 18.b3 Qd7 19.Bb2
Ne4 20.Re4 Bf6 21.Qe2 c6 22.Rd1 Qb7,
with about equal position) 8.c3 f5 9.Ne1 e5
10.de5 Ne5 11.Nd3 Ng6. So did Aronian,
Possible is:

a) 11...Nc4 12.Nc4 dc4 13.Nf4 Qd1 14.Rd1
Bc5 15.e3 g5 16.Ne2 Kg7 17.Nd4 Be7 18.g4
Nd6 19.Nf5 Nf5 20.gf5 Rf5 21.Rd4 c6
22.Rc4 Rf8 23.Bd2 Bf5 24.Rd4 Bc5 25.e4
Bd4 26.cd4 Bg4 27.Bg5 Rae8 28.Bd2 Bf3
29.Re1 h5 30.Re3 Bg2 31.Kg2 Re6 32.Rg3
Kh7 33.f3 Rg8, with about equal position;
b) 11...Nd2 12.Qd2 (12.Bd2 Nc4 13.Bc1 c6
14.Nf4 Nd6 15.Be3 Re8 16.Qc2 Bf6 17.Bc5
Be5 18.Nd3 Bf6=) 12...Nd3 13.Qd3 (13.ed3
f4=) 13...c6 14.Rd1 Be6 15.Be3 a5 16.a4
Re8 17.Qc2 Qc7 18.Bf4 Bd6 19.Bd6 Qd6
20.e3 (20.c4 Qc5) 20...Qe7 21.Rd4 Red8
22.Rad1 Rd7 23.b4,˛ Black position is a bit
passive.
12.c4 Be6 13.cd5 Nd2 14.de6 (It is gives
white some chances for advantage. Also
14.Bd2 was favorable for white: 14…Bd5
15.Nf4 Bg2 16.Kg2 Nf4 17.Bf4 Bf6 18.Qb3
Rf7 19.Rad1 Qc8 20.Rd5±) 14...Nf1 15.Kf1
c6 16.Qb3 Qb6 17.Qc4 Kh8 18.Be3 Qc7
19.f4 (19.Rc1 Ne5 20.Ne5 Qe5 21.Qb3 Qc7
22.a4 Bd6 23.Bf3 Qe7=) 19...Rad8 20.Rc1
Bf6 21.Qb4 Rfe8 22.Ba7 Ra8 23.Bb6 Qc8
24.Bd5 Nf8 25.Bb3 Ne6 26.a4 Nf8 27.Nc5
Nd7 28.Nd7 Qd7 29.Rd1 Qe7 30.Qe7 Re7
31.Bc2 g6 32.b4 Rae8 33.Bd8 Rf7 34.Bb6
Rfe7 35.Bd8 Rf7 36.Bb3 Rd8 37.Rd8 Bd8
38.Bf7 Be7 39.b5 cb5 40.ab5 Kg7 41.Bd5
b6 42.Kg2 g5 43.Kf3 gf4 44.Kf4 Kf6 45.Bc4
Bd6 46.Kf3 h6 47.Bd3 Ke5 48.h3 Kf6
49.Bc2 Bc7, ½, Kramnik V. : Aronian L.,
Zürich 2016.
3.Bg2 Bg7

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9PzPPzPPzPLzP0
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FIDE Survey – Alexander Beliavsky

2

First critical position. White should decide
whether she/he is going to allow 4..e5 after
4.0–0 or try to prevent it with 4.d4 or 4.c4.
Highest rank players Kramnik and Vachier-
Lagrave have different opinions on the
subject, but both avoid 4.c4. We will start
with 4.c4 to explain good reason behind
leading GM's opinion.
4.d4
4.0–0 (Vachier-Lagrave won a lot of games
here, because he spent more time analyzing
it then his opponents did. Recently, however,
he switched to 4.d4.) 4...e5 5.d3 Ne7 6.e4 0–
0 7.ed5 Nd5 8.Nc3 Nc6 (8...Nb6 9.a4 a5
10.Bg5 f6 11.Be3 Nc6 12.d4 Nc4 13.de5
Qd1 14.Rad1 Nb2 15.Rb1 Nc4 16.Bc5 Rf7
17.ef6 Bf6 18.Nd5 Bd8 19.Rfe1 b6 20.Re8
Kg7 21.Nd4 (21.Bd4 Nd4 22.Nd4 Bd7
23.Nc7 Be8 24.Ne8 Kf8 25.Ba8 Ke8 26.Re1
Be7 27.Bd5+–) 21...Bd7 22.Ne6 Kh6
23.Nd8 (23.Bf8 Rf8 24.Rf8 Be6 25.Nc7 Bc7
26.Ra8 Nd4 27.Rd1 Ne2 28.Kh1 Nc3
29.Rd4 Be5 30.Rh4 Kg7 31.Re8 g5 32.Rc4
Bc4 33.Re5±) 23...Rd8 24.Rd8 Nd8 25.Bd4
Ne6 26.Bc3 Ba4 27.Re1 Nc5 28.h4 (28.Ne7
Rf8 29.Bd5 Nd6 30.Ng8 Kh5 31.Re7 h6
32.Nf6) 28...Bc2+– 29.Ne7? (29.Nf6 g5
(29...Kg7 30.Re8 Rf6 31.Re7 Kf8 32.Bf6)
30.Bd5 Nd6 31.Bf7 Nf7 32.Re7 Bb3 33.h5
g4 34.Rc7 Kg5 35.Rc6 Bc4 36.Ba5 ba5
37.Rc5 Kf6 38.Rc4 Kg5 39.Rc7 Kf6
40.Ra7+–) 29...Nd3?! (29...Rf8 30.Bd5 Nd6
31.Ng8 Rg8 32.Bg8 Be4 33.Bf6 Nd7 34.Bd8
Ne5 35.Re3±) 30.Ng8 Kh5 31.Re7 Rf2
(31...Re7 32.Bf3#) 32.Bh3 h6 33.Rh7 and
mate attack succeds, 1:0, Vachier Lagrave
M. : Hammer J., Stavanger 2015) 9.Re1
(9.Ne5 Nc3 10.Nc6 Nd1 11.Nd8 Nb2
12.Bb2 Bb2 13.Rab1 Rd8 14.Rb2 Rb8=)
9...Nde7 10.a4 h6 (I do not think it is the
best option for black. 10...a5!? 11.Nb5 Bf5
12.Nd2 Qd7 13.Nc4 Rad8 14.Rb1 Be6 15.b3
Bd5 gives black about equal chances.) 11.a5
a6 12.Be3 Re8 13.Qd2 Nf5 14.Bc5 Rb8
15.Ne4 b6 16.ab6 cb6 17.Ba3 Ncd4= ( Black
is quite comfortable here.) 18.Nd4 Nd4
19.Qd1 Bb7 20.c3 Nb5 21.Qb3 Qd7 22.Re3

Kh7 23.Rae1 f5 24.Nd2 Bg2 25.Kg2 Re6
26.Nf3 Rbe8 27.Kg1 e4 28.de4 Re4 29.Re4
Re4 30.Rd1 Qe8 31.Qd5 Na3 32.ba3 Qe7
33.h4 Qc5 34.h5 Qd5 35.hg6 Kg6 36.Rd5
Bc3 37.Rd6 Kf7 38.Rb6 Ra4 39.Rh6 Ra3
40.Nh4 Ra5 41.Rc6, ½, Vachier-Lagrave M.
: Topalov V., Saint Louis 2014.
4.c4 dc4 5.Qa4 Nc6 6.0–0 Nh6 (I suggest
Nh6 rather then 6...e5, because it is easier to
evaluate, though e5 is also acceptable for
black: 6...e5 7.Ne5 Be5 8.Bc6 bc6 9.Qc6
Bd7 10.Qe4 f6 11.f4 Bh3 (11...Bf5 12.Qc6
(12.Qe3 Bh3 13.Rf3 Nh6 14.fe5 Ng4 15.Qc5
Ne5 16.Rf2 Qe7 17.Qe7 Ke7=) 12...Bd7
13.Qe4 Bf5 draw by repetition) 12.fe5
(12.Rf2 Bf5 13.Qc6 Bd7 14.Qe4=) 12...Bf1
13.ef6 Kf8 14.Kf1 Nf6 15.Qc4 Qd5 16.Qd5
Nd5 17.b3 Ke8 18.Bb2 Rf8 19.Kg1 Kd7
20.Nc3 Nc3 21.Bc3 h5 22.Bd4 a6 23.Rc1
Rae8 24.Be3 Re6, ½, Erdos V. : Adams M.,
Münich 2016) 7.Qc4 Nf5 8.Nc3 0–0 9.d3
Be6 10.Qa4 Ncd4! (Pawn b7 is poisonous.)
11.Nd4 Qd4 12.Bb7 (12.Qd4 Nd4 13.Bb7
Rab8 14.Bd5 Nc2 15.Be6 fe6 16.Rb1
(16.Nb1) 16...Bc3–+) 12...Qa4 13.Na4 Rab8
14.Bf3 (14.Bg2 Nd4 15.Be3 (15.e3 Nc2
16.Rb1 Ba2) 15...Ne2 16.Kh1 Rb4 17.Nc5
Rb2 18.Ne6 fe6 19.Ba7 Rc2 20.Rae1 Ra2
21.Bh3 Ng3 22.fg3 Rf1 23.Rf1 Ra7 24.Be6
Kh8) 14...Nd4 15.Nc5 Bh3 16.Rd1 Nf3
17.ef3 Bb2 18.Rb1 Be5 and black is not
worse.
4...c6 5.0–0 Nf6 6.b3 0–0 7.Bb2 Bf5 8.c4 a5
8...Nbd7 9.cd5 cd5 10.Nc3 Qa5 11.Qd2
Rfd8 and now:
a) 12.Rfc1 Qa6 13.e3 Ne4 14.Qe1 Nc3
15.Bc3 Be4 16.Bf1 Qf6 17.Nd2 Bf5 18.Bg2
Nb8 19.e4 Be6 20.Ba5 Nc6 21.Bd8 Rd8
22.e5 Qg5 23.Qe3 Qg4 24.f4 g5 25.Rf1 gf4
26.gf4 Bh6 27.Rf3 Kh8 28.Raf1 Qh4 29.Kh1
Bf5 30.Rg3 e6 31.a3 Rf8 32.b4 f6 33.b5 Ne7
34.ef6 Qf6 35.Bh3 Bg7 36.Re1 Qh6 37.Bg4
Bf6 38.Reg1 Bh4 39.Rh3 Qf6 40.Nf3 Be4
41.Rg2 Ng6 42.Kg1 Nf4 43.Rd2 Nh3, 0:1,
Giri A. : Nakamura H., Zürich 2016;
b) 12.Nh4 Be6 13.f4 Rac8 14.f5 Bf5 15.Nf5
gf5 16.Rf5 e6 17.Rff1 Ng4 18.h3 Bh6

FIDE Survey – Alexander Beliavsky

3

19.Qd3 Ne3 20.Rf3 Ng2 21.Kg2 Nf8 22.Bc1
Bg7 23.Bg5 Rd7=;
c) 12.h3 Rac8 13.g4 Be6 14.Ng5 Nf8
(14...Bh6 15.f4 Bg5 16.fg5 Ne8 17.Rac1
Nb6 (17...Nc7 18.e4±) 18.Ne4 Qd2 19.Nd2
with beterr chances for white.) 15.Rfd1 h6
16.Ne6 Ne6 17.e3.
9.Nc3 Ne4 10.cd5 Nc3 11.Bc3 cd5 12.Ne5
Nc6 13.Qd2 a4 14.Nc6 bc6 15.b4

XIIIIIIIIY
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Until now Giri played very good.But now he
had to play 15..a3, with an idea make b4
pawn a target for a counterplay by eventual
Bf8, e6 and both rooks on b file.
15...a3
15...Bc8 may lead to position without clear
targets for counterplay: 16.e4 Ba6 17.Rfe1
de4 18.Be4 Bb5 19.Rac1 e6 20.a3 Qd6
21.Bb2 Rfd8 22.Red1 Rac8 23.Rc5 (Black
have not active counterplay and should wait
and see.) 23...Qb8 24.Rdc1 Qb7 25.Qg5 h6
26.Qf4 Qd7 27.Bf3 g5 28.Qe3 Rc7 29.Qc3
Rdc8 30.Be4 Qd6 31.Bb1 Kf8 32.Qc2 (Now
black king becaming vulnerable.) 32...Ke7
33.Re1± Kf8 34.d5 e5 35.Rc1 Bf6 36.Qf5
Bg7 37.dc6 Bc6 38.Qc2 Qe6 39.Qf5 Qd6
40.Ba2 Be8 41.Qc8 Rc8 42.Rc8 Qd2
43.R1c7 Qb2 44.Rf7 Kg8 45.Re8 Kh7
46.Bd5, 1:0, Kramnik V. : Giri A., Zürich
2016.
16.Rac1 Rb8 17.Rfe1 Qd7 18.e3 h5 19.f3
Rfd8 20.Bf1 Rb7 21.Bd3 Rdb8 22.Kg2

Bd3 23.Qd3 e6 24.Rb1 Bf8 25.Qd2 Bd6
26.Rb3 Qe7 27.Reb1 Rb5 28.Qe1
28.e4 de4 29.fe4 e5.
28...h4 29.f4
(29.e4 de4 30.Qe4 hg3 31.hg3 Rh5
(31...Bb4? 32.Qc6+–) 32.f4 (32.Qc6?? Bg3
33.Kg3 Qg5 34.Kf2 Rh2 35.Kf1 Qg2 36.Ke1
Rh1#; 32.Ra3 f5 33.Qe1 Bg3 34.Qg3 Rg5–
+) 32...Qf8.)

XIIIIIIIIY
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Position is about equal: pawn b4 needs as
much care as pawn a3. We discussed 4.c4
dc, 4.0-0 e5 and 4.d4 and in any of lines
black has a comfortable plan. So the ball is
on the white side for a while.