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The Most Important Novelty of Chess Informant 111

by Josip Asik

Our new book, 1000TN!!, presents the 1,000 best theoretical novelties from Informant 11 to Informant 110, as voted by the Chess Informant jury. In the forty-year period from 1971 to 2011, there were sixty winners in total. Current world champion Viswanathan Anand is the highest awarded player with nine novelties, followed by former world champions Karpov, Kasparov, Kramnik, and Topalov. In addition, Anand also scored the winning novelty from Informant 111, making it is his tenth TN prize in the history of modern chess!

Here is the list of his award-winning games:

• Anand-Kamsky, Sanghi Nagar (m/1) 1994, Informant 61/345
• Anand-Tkachiev, Moscow (m/1) 2001, Informant 83/326
• Anand-Kasimdzhanov, Hyderabad 2002,- Informant 86/137
• Anand-Bologan, Dortmund 2003, Informant 88/77
• Anand-Adams, San Luis 2005, Informant 94/267
• Anand-Kramnik, Bonn (m/6) 2008, Informant 104/146
• Anand-Leko, Moscow 2009, Informant 107/132
• Anand-Topalov, Sofia (m/4) 2010, Informant 108/134
• Topalov-Anand, Nanjing 2010, Informant 110/243
• Anand-Wang Hao, Wijk aan Zee 2011, Informant 111/268

The complete list of sixty TN winners for Informants 11-111 is as follows:

Anand (10), Karpov (8), Kasparov, Kramnik (5), Topalov, Velimirovic (4), Shirov (3), Ljubojevic, Beliavsky, Timman, M.Gurevich, Adorjan, Korchnoi, Oll, Svidler, Morozevich (2), Petrosian, Spassky, Gligoric, Tseshkovsky, R.Byrne, Sibarevic, Perenyi, Vitolins, Portisch, Averbakh, Chiburdanidze, Polugaevsky, Geller, Browne, McCambridge, Tal, Miles, Seirawan, Alburt, Van der Sterren, Murey, A.Sokolov, Adams, Gelfand, Illescas, Khalifman, Atalik, Sakaev, Zvjaginsev, Grischuk, Milov, Gallagher, Rogozenco, Ponomariov, Leko, Nielsen, Shariyazdanov, Johannessen, Van Wely, Volokitin, Karjakin, Naiditsch, Dominguez, Riazantsev (1)

Anand has also been a member of the voting panel on many occasions. He had this to say, "Chess Informant has been the definitive source of chess information since its inception. Due to the high quality analysis by the best players, it is essential to opening preparation. The jury lists help the reader measure the pulse of the development of the game and the most important trends."

What is most important about the contest is the fact that the jury members are players themselves. There is no higher praise than that of ones colleagues. We are happy to announce that our newest jury member, beginning with Informant 112, is the well-known grandmaster Sergey Tiviakov.

The complete list of all seventy jurists for Informants 11-111 is as follows:

Timman (75), Salov (55), Anand, Benjamin (53), Lutz (51), Jussupow (49), Larsen (35), Bareev (26), Ftacnik (25), Hjartarson (24), Mikhalchisin (23), Uhlmann (21), Botvinnik, Parma (18), Keene (15), R.Byrne (13), Browne, Illescas, Matanovic (12), Florian, Krogius, Beliavsky (11), Polugaevsky, Razuvaev, Ki.Georgiev (10), Ivkov, Gligoric (9), Geller, Kavalek (8), Suetin, Miles, Marjanovic (6), Tal, Adorjan, Chandler, Hort, Ubilava, Wolff (5), Taimanov, Vasiukov, Sosonko, Gheorghiu, Vaganian (4), Shamkovich, Petrosian, Matulovic, Ribli, Chernin, Lautier (3), Averbakh, Gufeld, M.Gurevich, Dolmatov (2), Keres, Korchnoi, Stein, Balashov, Lilienthal, Gulko, Gipslis, Sveshnikov, Kotov, Tukmakov, Ciocaltea, Filip, Padevsky, Christiansen, Psakhis, Portisch (1).

As can be seen, grandmaster Jan Timman from The Nederlands is the longest serving member with seventy-five volumes. He had this to say, "Chess Informant has been a leading source of information for decades. In the past the emphasis has been mainly on openings, resulting in a tradition that a jury judges the most important novelties of each volume. I have been part of this tradition for decades. It is important to establish which are the most important novelties, since it shows the development in various openings. I have always taken great pleasure in this work."

This month we are pleased to present Anand's winning TN from volume 111, accompanied by the ECO line, as published in Chess Informant 112.

V. Anand (2810) – Wang Hao (2731)
Wijk aan Zee 2011 – 111/268 [E25]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 d5 5.a3 Bc3 6.bc3 c5 7.cd5 Nd5 8.dc5 Qa5 9.e4 Ne7 10.Be3 0-0 11.Qb3 Qc7 12.Bb5 Nec6 13.Ne2 [13.Rd1 see 51/540] Na5 14.Qb4 e5 15.0-0 Be6?

[FEN "rn3rk1/ppq2ppp/4b3/nBP1p3/1Q2P3/
P1P1BP2/4N1PP/R4RK1 w - - 0 16"]

16.Nd4! [a novelty; 16.Rfd1; 16.Rfb1] ed4 [16...Bc8 17.Nf5 Nbc6 18.Qa4 Bf5 19.ef5 Ne7 20.Rad1 (20.f6 Nd5 21.fg7 Rfc8 22.Bf2 Nc3 23.Qb4 Nb5 24.Qb5) Rfd8 21.Qe4 Nac6 22.Bc4] 17.cd4 Nbc6 [17...a6 18.Be2 Re8 19.Qc3 (19.Bf2 Nbc6 20.Qc3 Qf4! 21.Rab1 Qf6 and White is slightly better) a) 19...Nbc6 20.d5 Bd5 21.ed5 Qe5 (21...Qe7 22.Bd2! Qe2 23.dc6 Nc6 24.Rfe1 Qb5 25.Re8 Re8 26.a4 and White is winning) 22.Qe5 Re5 23.dc6 Nc6 24.Kf2 Rae8 25.Ba6 ba6 26.Rfe1 and White is superior; b) 19...Nd7 20.Rab1 b5 (20...Nf6 21.Rb6 Nc6 22.Rfb1 Nd8 23.Bg5 and White is superior) 21.d5 Bd5 22.ed5 Qe5 23.Qe5 Re5 24.Bd2! Re2 25.Ba5 Nc5 26.Rfc1! with the idea 26...Nd3 27.Rc7, with the idea 26...Nb7 27.Bb4 a5 28.Be1 Nd6 29.Bg3 Nf5 30.Bf4! Nh4 (30...Ree8 31.Bc7) 31.Kf1! and White is superior] 18.Qc3 Ne7 19.Rfd1 Rad8? [19...Rfd8 20.Bf2 Nac6 21.Rab1 (21.d5 Nd5 22.ed5 Rd5 23.Rd5 Bd5 24.Rd1 and White is slightly better; 21.Bg3 Qa5 22.Qa5 Na5 23.Rab1 Ba2!) Qf4! (21...Rd7 22.Bh4!) 22.d5 and White is slightly better (22.Bg3 Qf6 23.Bd6 Nc8) Nd5 23.ed5 Rd5 24.Rd5 Bd5 25.Bf1] 20.Bf2 a6 [20...Nac6 21.Bg3 Qa5 22.Qa5 Na5 23.Bd6 and White is winning] 21.Bg3 Qc8 22.Bf1 b6 [22...Nac6 23.Bd6 and White is winning] 23.Rab1 Nb3 24.Rb3 Bb3 25.Qb3 bc5 26.d5 (and White is winning) Ng6 27.Qb6 f5 28.Ba6 Qd7 29.Bb5 Qf7 30.ef5 Qf5 31.Qc5 Rc8 32.Qd4 Rfd8 33.a4 1-0 [V.Anand]

E25

1

[FEN "rnb2rk1/ppq2ppp/2n1p3/1BP5/4P3/
PQP1BP2/6PP/R3K1NR w KQ - 0 13"]

13.f4 Na5 [13...e5 14.f5 and White is superior; Lin Ta] 

a) 14.Qb4 Na6 (only move) 15.Ba6 ba6 16.Rd1 e5 17.Nf3! [17.fe5 Be6; 17.Ne2 Bg4; 17.f5 Rb8 with initiative] Rb8 18.Qa4 ef4 19.Bf2 Be6 20.0-0 Rfc8 21.Rd5! [21.Rd6 Nb7!] Nb7! 22.Re5 Qa5 23.Qb4 Qc7 24.Qa4 Qa5 1/2 : 1/2 Lin Ta - V.Smyslov, Manila (izt) 1990 see 49/(640); 

b) 14.Qc2 Nd7 15.Nf3 Nc5 16.e5 b6 17.Ng5 f5 unclear; V.Moskalenko - A.Kosten, La Pobla de Lillet 2005 

2

13...e5

[FEN "rnb2rk1/ppq2ppp/2n5/1BP1p3/4P3/
PQP1BP2/6PP/3RK1NR w K - 0 14"]

a) 14.Qa2 Na5 [14...Be6 15.Bc4 and White is slightly better] 15.Qd5 Bd7!? [15...Nbc6 16.Qd3 unclear; 15...Be6!? 16.Qd6 Qd6 17.cd6 Bc4 unclear] 16.Bd7 Rd8 17.Qd6 Qd6 18.Rd6 Rd7 [18...Nd7?! 19.Kf2 Nc4 20.Rd5 and White is slightly better; J.Timman - An.Karpov, Linares 1991 see 51/540] 19.Kf2 Nc4 20.Rd5 Rd5 21.ed5 Na6 equal; 

b) 14.Ne2 Be6 15.Qa4 Na5 16.Nc1 [16.Rd5 see 13...Na5] a6 17.Be2 Nd7 18.Qb4 Rac8 19.Rd6 [19.Nd3 Nb3 20.0-0 Ndc5 21.Nc5 Nc5 22.Rb1 Rfd8 23.c4 Rd7 1/2 : 1/2 G.Soppe - Zarnicki, Villa Gesell 1996] Nc5 20.Rb6 Nc4 21.Bc5 Qc5 22.Qc5 Rc5 23.Rb7 Na3 24.Ba6 Rc3 equal; J.Ragnarsson - G.Kjartansson, Reykjavik 2008; 

c) 14.Rd6! Be6 15.Re6 fe6 16.Qe6 Kh8 17.Nh3 

c1) 17...Na5 18.Ng5 h6 19.h4 Nbc6 20.Qg6 hg5 21.hg5 Kg8 22.Qh5 [22.Qh7 Kf7 23.g6 Ke8 24.Bh6 and White is winning] Ne7 23.Qh7 Kf7 24.Rh6 Nac6 25.Rf6 Ke8 26.Qg7 and White is winning; D.Wiedermann - Genser, Oesterreich 2008; 

c2) 17...Nd7 18.Ng5 Nf6 19.0-0 h6 20.Qh3 Qc8 21.Qh4 Nh7 22.Nh7 [22.Nh3 Qd8 23.Qg3 and White is slightly better; A.-O.Stanciu - Bida, Romania (ch) 2011] Kh7 23.Bc4 Qd8 24.Qf2 Rc8 25.Bd5 and White is superior 

3

14.Qa4 e5 15.Ne2 Be6 16.Rd5 a6 17.Bd3 Nd7 18.Qb4 Rac8 19.0-0 g6 20.Rd7?! [20.Bc2 Nc6 21.Qb2 Na5 equal] Qd7 21.Rd1 (T.Hughes - Dar.Yang, Richardson 2010) Nc4 and Black is winning 

4

14...e5 15.Ne2 Be6 

a) 16.c4?! a6 17.Ba4 Nc4 18.Bf2 Nc6 19.Qc3 [19.Bc6 bc6 20.0-0 Rab8 21.Qc3 Qa5 22.Qa5 Na5 and Black is slightly better; see 19.Qc3] Qa5 20.Bc6 bc6 21.Qa5 Na5 22.0-0 Rab8 and Black is slightly better; J.Timman - An.Karpov, Kuala Lumpur (m/3) 1990 see 49/640; 

b) 16.Qb1 with compensation; 

c) 16.0-0 with compensation 

5

15.Bc6 bc6 [15...Nc6 with compensation] 16.Ne2 

a) 16...Rb8?! 17.Bf4 Rb4 [17...e5 18.Be5 Qe5 19.Qa5 and White is slightly better] 18.Bc7 Ra4 19.Kf2 equal; I.Zaitsev; 

b) 16...e5 with compensation 

6

16.Rd6 Be6 17.Re6 fe6 18.Nh3 h6 19.0-0 Rad8 20.Nf2 Ne7 21.Be2 Ng6 22.g3 Rf7 unclear; T.Hughes - Panchanathan, Richardson 2010 

7

22.Kf2 g5 23.Qb5 Qd7 24.Nd3 Nc4 25.Nb4 Na3 26.Qa4 Nb4 27.Qd7 Bd7 28.cb4 Nb5 29.c6 Bc6 30.Bb5 Bb5 31.Ba7 Kf7 32.g3 Ke6 1/2 : 1/2 J.-W.De Jong - Del Rio De Angelis, Badalona 2006 

8

13...e5 14.0-0 Be6 15.Qa4 [15.Qc2 Na5 16.f4 Bc4 17.Bc4 Nc4 18.Qd3 Ne3 19.Qe3 Nd7 20.fe5 Qc5 21.Qd4 Rfd8 22.Rf5 g6 23.Rf2 Rac8 unclear; Gallego Jimenez - Franco Ocampos, Espana 1990]

[FEN "rn3rk1/ppq2ppp/2n1b3/1BP1p3/
Q3P3/P1P1BP2/4N1PP/R4RK1 b - - 0 15"]

a) 15...Na5 

a1) 16.Rab1 Nd7 17.c6 Nc6 18.Bc6 bc6 19.Qa6 Rfb8 20.Rb8?! Rb8 21.a4 c5 22.Rd1 Rb6 and Black is slightly better; B.Kis - Al.Bodnar, Magyarorszag 1999; 20.Rfc1 equal; 

a2) 16.Nd4! ed4 17.cd4 Bd7 18.d5 a6 19.Bd7 Nd7 20.Rac1 Rac8 21.Bd2 and White is superior; Leon Varela - Santana Montero, Telde 2009; 

b) 15...a6 16.Bc4 Bc4 17.Qc4 Na5 18.Qa4 Nd7 19.Rfd1 Nc5 20.Qb4 Rac8 21.Rd5 

b1) 21...Ncb3 (Hernandez Carmenates - L.Guliev, Santa Cruz de la Palma 2007) 22.Rad1! b5 [22...Nc4 23.Bf2 Nba5 24.Rc5 Rfd8 25.Re1 and White is superior] 23.Rd7 Qc4 24.Kf2 and White is superior; 

b2) 21...b6 22.Bc5 bc5 23.Qa4 and White is slightly better 

9

[FEN "rn3rk1/ppq2ppp/4b3/nBP1p3/1Q2P3/
P1P1BP2/4N1PP/R4RK1 w - - 0 16"]

16.Rfd1 Bb3 [16...Na6!?] 17.Rd6 Nbc6 18.Bc6 bc6 19.c4 Rab8 20.Qc3 

a) 20...Nc4 21.Nc1 [21.Rb1 Ba2 22.Rb8 Rb8 23.Nc1?! Nd6 24.cd6 Qd6 25.Na2 Qd1 26.Kf2 Qb3 and Black is slightly better; Cebalo - Sl.Marinkovic, Budva 2009] Qa5 22.Qa5 Na5 23.Nb3 Rb3 24.Bf2 and White is slightly better; 

b) 20...f6 21.Nc1 Bc4 equal; 

16.Rfb1 Rd8 17.Bf2 Nbc6 18.Qa4 Rac8 19.Bc6 Nc6 20.Rb2 Qd7 21.Ng3 Rc7 22.Nf1 Qe7 23.Rd1 Rd1 24.Qd1 Rd7 equal; A.Chigishev - H.Knoll, corr.2002 

10

16...Bc8 17.Nf5 Nbc6 18.Qa4 Bf5 19.ef5 Ne7 20.Rad1 [20.f6 Nd5 21.fg7 Rfc8 22.Bf2 Nc3 23.Qb4 Nb5 24.Qb5] Rfd8 21.Qe4 Nac6 22.Bc4 

11

17...a6 18.Be2 Re8 19.Qc3 [19.Bf2 Nbc6 20.Qc3 Qf4! 21.Rab1 Qf6 and White is slightly better]

[FEN "rn2r1k1/1pq2ppp/p3b3/n1P5/3PP3/
P1Q1BP2/4B1PP/R4RK1 b - - 0 19"]

a) 19...Nbc6 20.d5 Bd5 21.ed5 Qe5 [21...Qe7 22.Bd2! Qe2 23.dc6 Nc6 24.Rfe1 Qb5 25.Re8 Re8 26.a4 and White is winning] 22.Qe5 Re5 23.dc6 Nc6 24.Kf2 Rae8 25.Ba6 ba6 26.Rfe1 and White is superior; 

b) 19...Nd7 20.Rab1 b5 [20...Nf6 21.Rb6 Nc6 22.Rfb1 Nd8 23.Bg5 and White is superior] 21.d5 Bd5 22.ed5 Qe5 23.Qe5 Re5 24.Bd2! Re2 25.Ba5 Nc5 26.Rfc1! with the idea 26...Nd3 27.Rc7, with the idea 26...Nb7 27.Bb4 a5 28.Be1 Nd6 29.Bg3 Nf5 30.Bf4! Nh4 [30...Ree8 31.Bc7] 31.Kf1! and White is superior 

12

19...Rad8? 20.Bf2 a6 [20...Nac6 21.Bg3 Qa5 22.Qa5 Na5 23.Bd6 and White is winning] 21.Bg3 Qc8 22.Bf1 b6 [22...Nac6 23.Bd6 and White is winning; V.Anand] 23.Rab1 Nb3 24.Rb3 Bb3 25.Qb3 bc5 26.d5 and White is winning; V.Anand - Wang Hao, Wijk aan Zee 2011 see 111/268 

13

20...b6 21.Bg3 Qb7 22.Rab1 Rac8 23.Bf1 Ba2 24.Rb5 [24.Rb2 and White is winning] Qd7 25.d5 Nb7 26.Qb2 and White is superior; I.Yudin - L.Draskovic, Albena 2011 

14

21.d5 Nd5 22.ed5 Rd5 23.Rd5 Bd5 24.Rd1 and White is slightly better; 

21.Bg3 Qa5 22.Qa5 Na5 23.Rab1 Ba2! V.Anand 

15

21...Rd7 22.Bh4!; 

21...Qf4 22.d5 [22.Bg3 Qf6 23.Bd6 Nc8] Nd5 23.ed5 Rd5 24.Rd5 Bd5 25.Bf1 and White is slightly better; V.Anand 

16

[FEN "r1b2rk1/p1q2ppp/p7/n1P1p3/1Q2P3/
P1P1BP2/4N1PP/R4RK1 w - - 0 17"]

17.Rfb1 Be6 18.c4 [18.Qa4 Rad8 19.c6 Rd3 20.Bc5 Rc8 21.Rb2 Bc4 22.Bf2 Bb5 and Black is slightly better; M.Morss - H.Stieger, corr.2008] Rab8 19.Qc3 Nb7 20.Qc2 Nc5 21.Nc3 Bc4 22.Nd5 Bd5 23.ed5 Ne6! 24.Qc7 Nc7 25.Bc5 Rb1 26.Rb1 Ra8 27.d6 Ne6 28.Bb4 f6 29.Rc1 Rd8 30.Rc6 Kf7 31.Ra6 Rd7 equal; Simantsev - Sr.Narayanan, Dubai 2011; 

17.Rfd1 Be6 18.c6 Rab8 19.Qd6 Qd6 20.Rd6 Nc4 21.Bc5 Rfc8 22.Rdd1 Rc6 23.Ba7 Rbc8 24.a4 R6c7 25.Bf2 Rb7 26.Nc1 Nb2 27.Rd6 Rd7 equal; C.R.G.Krishna - Ba.Prince, Chennai 2011 

17

22.Nc3 Bc4 23.Rfc1 Be6 24.c6 h6 25.Nd5 Bd5 26.ed5 R2d5 27.Be1 Rc8 28.Ba5 Ra5 29.Qc4 Rb5 30.Rb5 ab5 31.Qb5 Qb6 32.Qb6 ½-½, B.Gelfand - D.Jakovenko, Russia 2011.

G. Arsovic

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