Subscribe

Sicilian Defence: Najdorf, 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Nbd7 (Gelfand)

Shirov–Anand, Morelia/Linares 2008 · Kramnik–Gelfand, Tal Memorial 2016 · 6:54 · ECO B96

Open on YouTube ↗

In this video

Game 1: Alexei Shirov (2755) vs Viswanathan Anand (2799)

Morelia/Linares 2008, 15 February 2008 · Black won (0-1) · 30 moves

Click a move to jump the video to it. Dotted moves are the opening line the video is about.

  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
  9. 9.
  10. 10.
  11. 11.
  12. 12.
  13. 13.
  14. 14.
  15. 15.
  16. 16.
  17. 17.
  18. 18.
  19. 19.
  20. 20.
  21. 21.
  22. 22.
  23. 23.
  24. 24.
  25. 25.
  26. 26.
  27. 27.
  28. 28.
  29. 29.
  30. 30.

Key moments

  1. 8.Qf3The first move after the opening line0:35
  2. 23.Qg4The evaluation moves from −0.35 to −1.941:44
  3. 25.Re3Black stays more than two pawns ahead from here1:54
  4. 29.Rb2The evaluation moves from −5.48 to mate in 12 for Black2:14
  5. 30...Qc5Black wins after 30 moves2:22

Evaluation

Above the line, White is better; below it, Black. Scores are in pawns, capped at five either way.

Game 2: Vladimir Kramnik (2808) vs Boris Gelfand (2743)

Tal Memorial 2016, 2 October 2016 · White won (1-0) · 54 moves

Click a move to jump the video to it. Dotted moves are the opening line the video is about.

  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
  9. 9.
  10. 10.
  11. 11.
  12. 12.
  13. 13.
  14. 14.
  15. 15.
  16. 16.
  17. 17.
  18. 18.
  19. 19.
  20. 20.
  21. 21.
  22. 22.
  23. 23.
  24. 24.
  25. 25.
  26. 26.
  27. 27.
  28. 28.
  29. 29.
  30. 30.
  31. 31.
  32. 32.
  33. 33.
  34. 34.
  35. 35.
  36. 36.
  37. 37.
  38. 38.
  39. 39.
  40. 40.
  41. 41.
  42. 42.
  43. 43.
  44. 44.
  45. 45.
  46. 46.
  47. 47.
  48. 48.
  49. 49.
  50. 50.
  51. 51.
  52. 52.
  53. 53.
  54. 54.

Key moments

  1. 8.Qe2The first move after the opening line2:56
  2. 21...Rc6The evaluation moves from +1.15 to +2.45, and White stays more than two pawns ahead from here3:58
  3. 30.Nxb6The queens come off4:40
  4. 50...Kh6The evaluation moves from +5.41 to +6.146:22
  5. 52...Kf8The evaluation moves from +5.16 to +6.776:32
  6. 54.Kc7White wins after 54 moves6:40

Evaluation

Above the line, White is better; below it, Black. Scores are in pawns, capped at five either way.

About these games

After 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4, Black develops the queen's knight with 7...Nbd7 instead of the usual ...Be7 or ...Qb6. The knight on d7 guards f6 and the e5 square, so Black can meet the e5 and f5 breaks without losing control of the centre. Black's play comes on the queenside with ...Qc7, ...b5 and ...Bb7, often aimed at c3 by a rook on c8. White usually castles long and attacks in the centre or on the kingside.

Shirov–Anand began 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.O-O-O b5, the main line. After 12...Rc8 (+0.16), Black played the typical exchange sacrifice 13...Rxc3, and 14.bxc3 left White's queenside pawns broken. White answered with the central breaks 16.e5 and 17.f5. Black replied 17...Nd5, and after the trade on e7 and f5xe6 the score was −0.34. The turning point was 23.Qg4, which moved the score from −0.35 to −1.94 as 23...Nxc3+ hit the weak king. From 25.Re3 Black stayed more than two pawns ahead, and 27...Bxb3 made it −2.77. 29.Rb2 allowed mate in 12, and Black won after 30...Qc5.

Kramnik–Gelfand, against the player the line is named after, went 8.Qe2 with 10.a3 and 11.g4. Unlike Game 1, White did not break with e5. Instead 12.Bxf6 gxf6 damaged Black's pawns (+1.33), and 15.f5 drew 15...e5, which left Black with a fixed pawn on e5 and a weak d5 square. From 21...Rc6 White stayed more than two pawns ahead. Trades followed, and the queens were off by 30.Nxb6. 39.Bxa6 won a pawn, the rooks came off with 47...Rxa2, and White's king marched up the board. White won after 54.Kc7 (+6.77 at 52...Kf8).

Chapters

  1. 0:00Introduction and the opening line
  2. 0:10Game 1: Shirov vs Anand, Morelia/Linares 2008
  3. 2:30Game 2: Kramnik vs Gelfand, Tal Memorial 2016

The opening line

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Nbd7

See every video from this position →