Winning with the Slow (but Venomous!) Italian: An Easy-to-Grasp Chess Opening for White by Georgios Souleidis

Author:Georgios Souleidis [Souleidis, Georgios]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: New in Chess
Published: 2017-01-30T05:00:00+00:00

analysis diagram

A) 17…♕e6 18.♘f5 h5 19.d4 ♘xg4 20.♗g5 g6 21.♘h6+ 21.♕f3!?. 21…♘xh6 22.♗xh6 ♕f6 22…♖fe8 23.♕f3 ♖d6 24.♗f4 ♕f6 25.♖e4. 23.♗xf8 ♔xf8 24.♗e4 exd4 25.♕f3 ♕xf3 25…♖d6 26.♕xf6 ♖xf6 27.♖e2. 26.♗xf3 dxc3 27.bxc3 ♖d2 28.♖e2;

B) 17…♕d7 18.g5 ♘g4 19.♖f1 h5 19…hxg5 20.♗xg5 f6 21.♗b3+ ♔h7 22.d4. 20.♕e2 g6 21.♕e4 21.♔h1!?. 21…♕d6 21…♕d5 22.♕xd5 ♖xd5 23.♗d2 ♘d8 24.♘f3 ♘e6 25.♖ae1 ♖fd8 26.♗c1 ♔g7 27.g3 ♘c5 28.d4 exd4 29.♘xd4. 22.♗d2 ♕c5 23.♘xg6 ♘xf2 24.♕f5 e4 25.♕xc5 ♗xc5 26.d4 ♘xd4 27.cxd4 fxg6 28.♗b3+ ♔h7 29.♗e3 ♘g4 30.dxc5 ♘xe3 31.♖xf8 ♖xf8 32.♖e1 ♘f5 33.♖xe4 a5 34.c6 bxc6 35.♖e6 ♖b8 36.♖xc6 ♖b7 37.♖c5;

C) 17…♖fe8 18.g5 hxg5 19.♗xg5 e4 20.d4 ♘xd4 21.cxd4 ♗xd4 22.♕e2 22.♗e3!?. 22…♕e5 23.♗xf6 ♕xf6 24.g3 e3 25.f4 ♗xb2 26.♖ab1 ♗c3 27.♖ed1

17…♘h7

17…exd4N 18.♘f5 ♕c5 18…♕d7 19.♗xh6 dxc3 (19…gxh6 20.♕c1 ♘xg4 21.♕f4) 20.♕xd7 ♖xd7 21.♗xg7 cxb2 22.♖ab1 ♘xg4 23.♖e4 ♘ce5 (23…♘xf2? 24.♖h4+–) 24.♗xe5 ♘xe5 25.♖xe5. 19.♕f3 dxc3 20.♗e3 ♘d4 21.♗xd4 ♖xd4 22.♘xd4 cxb2 23.♖ad1 b1♕ 24.♖xb1 ♕xd4 25.♖bd1

18.♘f5 ♕f6 19.d5 ♘e7 20.♘xe7+ ♕xe7 21.♕f3 ♖fe8 22.♗f4 e4

22…♘g5 (Janos-Birkbeck, ICCF email 2011 23.♕e2N ♕f6 24.♗e3).

23.♕g3 ♖d7

23…♘f6N 24.♗xc7 e3 25.fxe3 ♖d7 26.d6 ♕e4 27.♕f3 ♘xg4 (27…♕e5 28.g3) 28.♕xe4 ♖xe4 29.♗d5 ♖xe3 30.♖xe3 ♘xe3 31.♗xb7 ♘f5+ 32.♔f1 ♘xd6 33.♗xd6 ♖xb7 34.b4.

24.c4 c6 25.♖ad1 ♘f6 26.♗d2 ♗b8 27.♕h4 ♗a7 28.♕g3 ♗b8 29.♕h3 ♗a7 30.♕g3 ♗b8

½-½

Achilles-Nordal, ICCF email 2013.

The line with 13.♘1h2 is interesting, but White needs to try something new like 17.♗c2!?, otherwise it seems like a direct way to draw the game.

Very interesting is 13.♘xe5 against this move order. White seems to have the better chances. Of course you can limit your repertoire and choose 13.♘g3, which should lead to the next chapter.

8.2.2.2.2 – 12…d5 13.exd5 ♘xd5

The advance 12…d5 is considered the main line of the Slow Italian. White can meet it basically in two different ways, and we suggest taking on d5. Then it depends on how Black takes back, and we have divided the chapter accordingly.

1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗c4 ♗c5 4.c3 ♘f6 5.d3 a6 6.0-0 d6 7.♗b3 ♗a7 8.♘bd2 h6 9.♖e1 0-0 10.♘f1 ♗e6 11.♘g3 ♖e8

11…d5 12.exd5 ♘xd5 13.h3 transposes.

12.h3

A) 12.♗xe6!? is an alternative that was even chosen by Magnus Carlsen in a rapid game, and it does not score badly, e.g. 12…♖xe6:

A1) 13.h3 d5 14.♕e2 ♕d7 15.♘h4 ♖d8 16.♘hf5 dxe4 17.dxe4 ♕d3 18.♔f1 ♖ee8 19.♕xd3 ♖xd3 20.♔e2 ♖ed8 21.f3 a5 22.a4 ♖3d7 23.♘e3 ♘e8 24.♘gf5 ♘d6 25.♘xd6 ♖xd6 26.♘c4 ♖d3 27.♗d2 Anand-Hammer, Kristiansund 2010. A typical scenario here is for White to exchange the rooks and play with the slightly better minor pieces;

A2) 13.d4 d5 14.♘xe5 ♘xe5 15.dxe5 ♘xe4 15…♖xe5?! 16.♗f4 ♖e6 17.e5 ♘h7 18.♘f5 ♘f8 (Kudrin-Gustafsson, New York 2011) 19.♕f3!?N c6 (19…♕d7 20.♖ad1 c6 21.c4 d4 22.♖e4 c5 23.h4 ♘g6 24.♕g4) 20.h4 ♘g6 21.♗g3. 16.♘xe4 dxe4 17.♗f4 ♕d3 was level in Radjabov-Karjakin, Shamkir 2014;

B) 12.♗c2 is also possible as 12…♘g4?!N can be met by 13.d4.

12…d5

Finally, the advance of the d-pawn is the main move in the position. We suggest the following for White:

13.exd5

For 13.♕e2 ♕d7 14.♗c2 14.♗d2 ♖ad8 15.♖ad1 is another option: 15…dxe4 (15…♗xh3? (Socko-Azarov, Katowice tt rapid 2016) 16.gxh3 ♕xh3 17.♗e3 ♗xe3 18.

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