Opening Lessons From Wrocław VI

IN round six I had Black against Mikołaj Grobelny (1461).

Sicilian Hyper-Accelerated Dragon

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4

For what it is worth, this scores 56% in ChessBase's 2021 Mega database, while 4.Nxd4 scores a disappointing 51%.

4...Nf6 5.Nc3

Naturally 5.e5 is the most-popular move in Mega21; grandmasters have also played 5.Bb5!?

5...Nc6 6.Qa4 Bg7?!

Almost certainly too provocative. The main line runs 6...d6 7.e5!? dxe5 8.Nxe5 Bd7 9.Nxd7 Qxd7 10.Be3, which scores 63% for White in Mega21. The analysis engines Stockfish14 and Komodo12.1.1 reckon White's bishop-pair outweighs Black having the only pawn on the central-two files.

7.e5 Ng8

Forced.

8.Bf4 f6!?

Slightly more popular in Mega21 is 8...Nh6, but the text is preferred by the engines and has been played by Ruslan Ponomariov and other grandmasters.

9.exf6 Nxf6 10.0-0-0!?

There are 21 examples of this move in Mega21, which is preferred by the engines over 10.Bc4, which occurs 22 times in Mega21. Sergei Rublevsky (2667) - Ponomariov (2721), Izmailov Memorial Rapid (Tomsk, Russia) 2006, saw 10.Bc4 Qa5 11.Qb3 d5 12.Bb5 0-0 with an unclear position (0-1, 63 moves).

10...a6?

A poor novelty, which does not even prevent 11.Nb5 as the a pawn is pinned against the queen's rook. Normal, but also not very nice for Black, is 10...0-0 11.Bc4+.

11.Ng5

This is even stronger than 11.Nb5, according to the engines.

11...Qa5

Not 11...0-0? 12.Bc4+ Kh8 13.Ne6.

12.Qb3

Keeping queens on looks natural, considering the state of the black king, but after 12.Qxa5! Nxa5 the engines point out 13.Na4!? is very hard to meet. Their main line continues 13...h6 14.Nf3 d6 15.Nb6 with what they reckon is large advantage.

12...e6 13.Nge4

The engines prefer activating the king's rook with 13.h4!?

13...0-0 14.Bd6 Nxe4 15.Nxe4

15.Bxf8?? loses material, eg 15...Nxc3 16.bxc3 Bxf8.

15...Nd4 16.Qb4!

The dark-square bishop is slightly sidelined after 16.Qa3 Qxa3 17.Bxa3.

16...Qxb4 17.Bxb4 Rf4 18.f3 d5 19.Bd6 Rf7 20.Nf2?!

Almost certainly too passive; probably best is 20.Ng5.

20...Nf5 21.Bc5?!

The bishop is vulnerable here to pressure down the c file. Probably better is 21.Bb4 or 21.Bf4.

21...Bh6+

The engines much prefer 21...Rc7, keeping the bishop on g7 to support ...d4, which creates a knight outpost at e3.

21.Kb1 Rc7 22.Nd3 Bd7

Position after Black gets his last minor piece off the back rank

White has fewer pawn-islands but Black's pieces are more active. The engines reckon the position is dead-equal. The full game can be seen at https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2021/08/wrocaw-round-six.html