Shocking the Sveshnikov
by Lars Schandorff
Getting an advantage against a heavily analysed opening like the Sicilian Sveshnikov is almost impossible these days, but the practical player can always try to surprise the opponent with a sharp sideline. Then the question is who is the better prepared, and who will remember the complicated lines.
Such a line exists in the modern Sveshnikov with 7.Nd5: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Nd5. Of course, 7.Bg5 is still the mainline, but 7.Nd5 has been very popular since the Caruana-Carlsen World Ch match. 7...Nxd5 8.exd5 Nb8. Probably best, anyway my personal preference. 8...Ne7 is the alternative. After 8...Nb8 usually White plays positionally on the queenside. 9.a4 was Caruana's choice in the match. However, White also has a tricky move: 9.Qf3!?.
At first it looks almost like a beginner's move, but there is a devious idea. 9...a6. Kicking the knight away? 10.Qa3!. No! By pinning the a-pawn, White can maintain the annoying knight on b5.
It turns out that the d6-pawn is the surprising target. White plans Bc1-d2-b4, and it is difficult to offer the pawn extra protection. Play now becomes rather forced.
A) 10...b6
Intending ..Bb7 that breaks the pin on the a-file and kicks the white knight back. 11.Bg5!.
A tactical strike we will meet several times in this survey. The bishop can't be taken because of Nc7+. 11...Be7 12.Bxe7 Kxe7 This ended bad for Black in So,W - Carlsen,M 1-0. Better is probably 11...f6, but after 12.Bd2 Bb7 13.Nc3 followed by long castling White keeps the initiative, as can be seen in the analysis of the mentioned game.
B) 10...Be7
The main move.
B1) 11.Bd2. This turns out to be a serious inaccuracy. 11...0-0 12.Bb4.
12...axb5!. Black sacs the exchange. 13.Qxa8 Na6 14.Bd2 Bg5!. The initiative matters more than the material. Black was much better in the top game Firouzja,A - Caruana,F 0-1. Strangely, everything was well-known.
B2) 11.Bg5!
Again this surprising move. This time the bishop can't be taken because of Nxd6+. 11...f6 12.Bd2 0-0 13.Bb4 axb5 (here 13...Qd7!? could be tried) 14.Qxa8 Na6 15.Bd2.
Now there is no ...Bg5! Of course, the position is complicated and Black has some compensation. Still, White won in the top game Erigaisi,A - Vachier Lagrave,M 1-0.
After 11.Bg5! I think Black should go for 11...Bf5! After 12.Bxe7 Kxe7 Black has the bishop on f5 compared to the So-Carlsen game from above. This is a huge difference. The bishop attacks c2, and in the game Martinez Pla,X - Zhukov,D ½-½ Black quickly got a good position. Instead White could go for the tricky 12.Be2! which has been tested in some email games. After the (more or less) forced 12...axb5 13.Bxe7 Rxa3 14.Bxd8 Ra8 a balanced, but quite interesting ending arises, see Volodarsky,Y - Piacenti,L ½-½.
Conclusion: The tricky 9.Qf3!? line in the Sveshnikov is definitely worth a try. It is fun to see that several of the World's best players have been involved in dramatic games. Theoretically, Black is doing fine, but it is not so easy over the board if you haven't analysed the line very deep. An email game shows what seems to be the safest path for Black, but still the position is balanced, so White is not risking anything - that is if you can remember everything!