Spanton (1951/168) - Theo Khoury (1415/110)
Sicilian Closed
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nge2 Nf6 4.g3!?
Grandmaster Andrew Soltis wrote the Chess Digest books The Chameleon Sicilian (1982) and Beating The Sicilian Defence: Chameleon Variation (1990), so he had a vested interest in making this move work.
(The idea of the Chameleon Sicilian is that White hedges his bets over whether to play an Open or Closed Sicilian. The hope is that White can choose an Open Sicilian if Black starts playing moves more suitable for a Closed Sicilian, and a Closed Sicilian if Black starts playing moves more suitable for an Open Sicilian.)
After 3...Nf6, Soltis writes (1990 edition): "Black would get his transpositional wish [of an Open Sicilian] after 4.d4. White can, if he wishes, avoid [this] with 4.g3 but it is somewhat risky and the only player of international stature who has taken the risk in recent years is Vlastimil Hort of Czechoslovakia."
In ChessBase's 2020 Mega database, 4.d4 is the most-popular and best-percentage-scoring move, but 4.g3 has been tried by modern strong players including Francisco Vallejo Pons and Baadur Jobava.
4...d6
The most-popular reply is 4...d5, which Soltis calls "by far the most ambitious and most aggressive of the moves available to Black." After 5.exd5 (5.d3 dxe4 "is not fun to play," according to Soltis), the main line runs 5...Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nxc3 7.bxc3! (Soltis's punctuation). However, Soltis concentrates on 5...Nc7, with the idea of setting up a Maroczy Bind, although the analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo10 reckon this is too slow.
5.Bg2 e6 6.0-0 Be7 7.d3 0-0
 |
| Position after 7...0-0 |
*****
*****
*****
*****
By several transpositions, we have reached a position discussed by Soltis on page 42 of his 1990 book, where he suggests White is likely to achieve "the kind of kingside attacking position that White usually got in the last century [ie the 19th century] when Black answered 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 with something other than 3...g6."
8.f4 Qc7!?
This has been played by a 2415. However, developing the queen to c7 is often thought of as being an Open Sicilian move rather than one that is useful in a Closed Sicilian. Having said that, the move comes to be Komodo10's top choice.
9.h3 a6 10.g4 Nd7 11.Be3 b5 12.g5 Nb6!?
This seems to be new. 12...b4 was played in Jacek Gdanski (2569) - Christer Niklasson (2413), Swedish team championship 2004, which continued 13.Na4 Rfe8 14.c4!? bxc3!? 15.Naxc3 with an unclear position (1-0, 39 moves).
13.f5 exf5?!
This is not liked by the engines. They suggest 13...Qd8!?, but Stockfish10 reckons 14.Qd2 gives White an edge. There is also the tempting combination 14.f6!? gxf6 15.gxf6 Bxf6 16.e5 Nxe5 17.Bxa8 with a sharp position that is hard to assess.
14.exf5 Rd8?!
14...Re8, which also allows the defensive ...Bf8, looks more natural.
15.f6 Bf8 16.Nf4 Bb7
The engines suggest 16...g6, but White is clearly better.
17.fxg7 Bxg7 18.Nh5 d5 19.Nf6+ Bxf6 20.gxf6 Kh8 21.Bh6 Ne5 22.Bf4?
Overthinking. The simple 22.Qh5 Rg8 23.Bg7+ leaves White well on top.
22...Re8?
Better is 22...Rg8, which defends and attacks along the mutually dangerous g file. If White continues, as in the game, with 23.Qh5, Black has the strong 23...d4.
23.Qh5 b4
Now 23...d4? is powerfully met by 24.Ne4 since 24...Bxe4 can be met by 25.Bxe4, which would not be possible in the line in the previous note as the g2 bishop would be pinned by a rook on g8.
24.Ne2 Nbd7 25.Bh2?
Good are 25.Bh6 (Stockfish10) and 25.Rae1 (Komodo10).
25...Qd6?
Strong is 25...d4, not least because an exchange of light-square bishops can only favour Black.
26.Rf5 Nxf6
There is no defence, eg 26...Re6 27.Raf1 Rg8 28.Qxh7+! Kxh7 29.Rh5+ Kg6 30.Rff5, and the threat of Nf4# cannot be stopped without ruinous loss of material.
27.Qh6 Re6 28.Bxe5 Rxe5 29.Rxf6 (1-0, 39 moves)
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