Subscribe

Sicilian Defence: Sveshnikov, Main Line 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5 — Part 1 of 2

Shirov–Kasparov, Linares SuperGM 2002 · Inarkiev–Gelfand, Tower of Concord Match 2017 · 5:14 · ECO B33

Open on YouTube ↗

In this video

Game 1: Alexei Shirov (2715) vs Garry Kasparov (2838)

Linares SuperGM 2002, 10 March 2002 · Black won (0-1) · 28 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.

Key moments

  1. 11.Bxb5The first move after the opening line0:44
  2. 18.f5The evaluation moves from −0.66 to −3.34, and Black stays more than two pawns ahead from here1:19
  3. 21...Nxb4The evaluation moves from −2.32 to −4.831:36
  4. 25...Qxb4The evaluation moves from −7.22 to −4.821:56
  5. 28...Qd5Black wins after 28 moves2:12

Evaluation

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

Game 2: Ernesto Inarkiev (2702) vs Boris Gelfand (2729)

Tower of Concord Match 2017, 8 August 2017 · White won (1-0) · 36 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.

Key moments

  1. 11.Bd3The first move after the opening line2:55
  2. 31.b4White stays more than two pawns ahead from here4:35
  3. 31...Qg5The evaluation moves from +2.51 to +3.224:38
  4. 33...Qh5The evaluation moves from +3.84 to +4.894:48
  5. 36.Bc4White wins after 36 moves5:00

Evaluation

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

About these games

After 9.Bxf6 gxf6 Black accepts doubled f-pawns and a weakened king in return for the bishop pair and a mobile central mass. 10.Nd5 plants a knight on the hole at d5, and 10...f5 at once attacks the e4 pawn and prepares to open lines for Black's pieces. White usually aims to exploit d5 and the loose pawns on b5 and f5, while Black wants activity and central pawn breaks.

Shirov–Kasparov, Linares 2002, left theory with 11.Bxb5, giving a piece for two pawns and passed queenside pawns. Kasparov answered with 12...Ra4, 13...Qh4 and 15...Kd8, bringing every piece into play and leaving the king in the centre. The score was +0.18 after 15...Kd8, but 18.f5 let Black's pawns advance: the evaluation dropped from −0.66 to −3.34, and after 20...Qe4 it stood at −3.57. 21...Nxb4 returned material to open the position (−2.32 to −4.83), and after 28...Qd5 Black won.

Inarkiev–Gelfand, 2017, followed the main line 11.Bd3 Be6 12.O-O Bxd5 13.exd5, keeping all the pieces. Black castled with 15...O-O at 0.00, but White hit the queenside with 21.a4 and the f5 pawn with the queen. Slow pressure took the score to +1.97 after 30...dxe5; from 31.b4 White stayed more than two pawns ahead, 33...Qh5 raised it to +4.89, and White won after 36.Bc4. Unlike the piece sacrifice in Game 1, this was a positional squeeze.

Chapters

  1. 0:00Introduction and the opening line
  2. 0:10Game 1: Shirov vs Kasparov, Linares SuperGM 2002
  3. 2:20Game 2: Inarkiev vs Gelfand, Tower of Concord Match 2017

The opening line

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 f5

See every video from this position →