*** <Analysis of 6…<e6> 7. <Qd2>> User: ajile

*** <Analysis of 6…<e6> 7. <Bb5>> User: dalbertz

*** <Analysis of 6…<e6> 7. <Qd3>> User: achieve

*** <Analysis of 6…<Bd7>> User: tweet77

*** <Analysis of 6…<Qb6>> User: mckmck

*** <Analysis of 6…<a6>> User: Red October

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 d6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.Bg5

B60, 6.Bg5
20372 Games in 'Big Database 2008'

1. History

Earliest game: Mueller,N - Gregory,B 1-0
Latest grandmaster game: Savchenko,B - Ivanchuk,V 0-1 Latest game: Henrichs,T - Decoster,F 1-0

2. Players

a) Strong grandmasters who used this line as White:
Viswanathan Anand Result=25.5/35 1984-2007 Elo-Ø: 2655 Games: 35 Vassily Ivanchuk Result=16.5/29 1985-2007 Elo-Ø: 2703 Games: 29 Alexei Shirov Result=16.5/26 1992-2007 Elo-Ø: 2707 Games: 26 Anatoly Karpov Result=15/23 1971-1994 Elo-Ø: 2695 Games: 23 Garry Kasparov Result=9.5/13 1975-2002 Elo-Ø: 2716 Games: 13 Alexander Motylev Result=7.5/12 2002-2007 Elo-Ø: 2648 Games: 12 Ruslan Ponomariov Result=6.5/8 1998-2006 Elo-Ø: 2669 Games: 8 Gata Kamsky Result=5/11 1993-2007 Elo-Ø: 2681 Games: 11 Robert James Fischer Result=3.5/6 1957-1972 Elo-Ø: 2785 Games: 6 Teimour Radjabov Result=2.5/3 2005-2006 Elo-Ø: 2685 Games: 3

b) Other notable players:
Oleg Korneev Result=48.5/63 1992-2007 Elo-Ø: 2585 Games: 63 Semen I Dvoirys Result=44.5/62 1980-2006 Elo-Ø: 2532 Games: 62 Vlastimil Jansa Result=43/77 1961-2007 Elo-Ø: 2480 Games: 77 Thomas Luther Result=40.5/64 1990-2007 Elo-Ø: 2516 Games: 64 John TH Van der Wiel Result=38.5/55 1978-2007 Elo-Ø: 2516 Games: 55 Janis Klovans Result=38/67 1968-2007 Elo-Ø: 2456 Games: 67 Mihail Tal Result=35/46 1953-1991 Elo-Ø: 2611 Games: 47 Viesturs Meijers Result=33.5/47 1989-2007 Elo-Ø: 2450 Games: 47

3. Statistics
White scores averagely (54%).
White performs Elo 2396 against an opposition of Elo 2368 (+28). Black performs Elo 2331 against an opposition of Elo 2359 (-28). White wins: 7591 (=37%), Draws: 6597 (=32%), Black wins: 6166 (=30%) The drawing quote is lower than average. (6% quick draws, < 20 Moves)

White wins are of average length (40).
Black wins are of average length (41).
Draws are shorter than average (36).

4. Moves and Plans

a) 6...e6

16230 Games, 1925-2007, Ø=1993
Black scores above average (47%).
Elo-Ø: 2374, 12869 Games. Performance = Elo 2338
played by: Kasparov, 2763, 6/8; Karpov, 2761, 1.5/3; Kramnik, 2732, 30.5/54; Ponomariov, 2719, 1.5/3; Ivanchuk, 2705, 7/16;

You should play: 7.Qd2 Click for games

Kasparov,G - Ivanchuk,V 1-0; Kasparov,G - Kramnik,V 1-0; Kasparov,G - Kramnik,V 1-0; Ivanchuk,V - Kramnik,V 1-0; Leko,P - Morozevich,A 1-0; Shirov,A - Kramnik,V 1-0

Main line:

7...a6 8.0-0-0 Bd7 9.f4 52%, 2403 3044 Games Opening report 7...a6 8.0-0-0 h6 9.Be3 56%, 2447 2269 Games Opening report 7...Be7 8.0-0-0 0-0 56%, 2421 2958 Games Opening report

Critical line:
7...Be7 8.f4 a6 9.Be2 Bd7 32 % White. Click for games

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b) 6...Bd7

2305 Games, 1905-2007, Ø=1993
Black scores above average (47%).
Elo-Ø: 2361, 1782 Games. Performance = Elo 2321
played by: Ivanchuk, 2735, 0/1; Grischuk, 2717, 0.5/2; Malakhov, 2678, 2/4; Dreev, 2671, 10.5/21; Salov, 2651, 1.5/3;

You should play: 7.Qd2 Click for games

Svidler,P - Dreev,A 1-0; Shirov,A - Ivanchuk,V 1-0; Ivanchuk,V - Salov,V 1-0; Grischuk,A - Malakhov,V 1-0; Nakamura,H - Grischuk,A 1-0; Svidler,P - Sherbakov,R 1-0

Main line:

7...Rc8 8.0-0-0 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 Qa5 10.f4 49%, 2342 211 Games Opening report 7...Rc8 8.0-0-0 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 Qa5 10.Bd2 57%, 2448 209 Games Opening report 7...Rc8 8.f4 61%, 2476 227 Games Opening report
7...Nxd4 8.Qxd4 Qa5 53%, 2371 213 Games Opening report

Critical line:
7...Nxd4 8.Qxd4 e6 9.Nb5 33 % White. Click for games

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c) 6...Qb6

783 Games, 1933-2007, Ø=1996
Black scores above average (50%).
Elo-Ø: 2387, 642 Games. Performance = Elo 2347
played by: Svidler, 2690, 1/1; Miton, 2638, 1/1; Kortschnoj, 2635, 0.5/1; Ehlvest, 2635, 0.5/1; Motylev, 2634, 1/2;

You should play: 7.Nb3 Click for games

Ivanchuk,V - Delgado Ramirez,N 1-0; Hamdouchi,H - Xu Jun 1-0; Speelman,J - Gulko,B 1-0; Jobava,B - Motylev,A 1-0; Smirnov,P - Nijboer,F 1-0; Karjakin,S - Nijboer,F 1-0

Main line:

7...e6 8.Qd2 a6 9.0-0-0 Be7 10.f3 0-0 46%, 2397 180 Games Opening report 7...e6 8.Qd2 a6 9.0-0-0 Qc7 51%, 2449 97 Games Opening report 7...e6 8.Qd2 Be7 9.0-0-0 0-0 10.f3 Rd8 56%, 2446 389 Games Opening report 7...e6 8.Bd3 54%, 2450 85 Games Opening report

6...e6 4,045 37% 36.8% 26.2%

6...Bd7 503 39.6% 34.8% 25.6%

6...Qb6 223 29.6% 33.2% 37.2%

6...a6 155 38.1% 31.6% 30.3%

6...Qa5 28 50% 39.3%

6...g6 24 79.2% 16.7

6...e5 8 75% 12.5%

6...h6 7 42.9% 28.6% 28.6%

6...Nd7 Rohde vs T Dorsch, 1990 1-0

6...Nxd4 Short vs J Zylberman, 2001 1-0

28
6...g6
24
6...e5
8 6...h6
7 6...Nd7
Rohde vs T Dorsch, 1990 1-0

6...Nxd4
Short vs J Zylberman, 2001 1-0

I think it's OK. Here's a recent black correspondence win with 6...Bd7.

[Event "WCCC26CT05(WS)"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2007.2.10"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Grabner, Dr. Helmut"]
[Black "Pauwels, Christophe"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2405"]
[BlackElo "2538"]

What a surprise! I expected f3 from him - definitely not Bg5.

Do we have mate in 33 moves?

The Richter-Rauzer variation of the Sicilian Defense (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5, with other ways to reach this key position) is a key battleground in super-grandmaster play. You'll find Anand, Kramnik, Ivanchuck, and Shirov among its proponents. For the average player, however, the Richter-Rauzer is also a reasonable choice. For one thing, black's development is a little quicker than in the Najdorf, which takes a bit of the razor's edge out of the position. Black can, if he chooses, get developed pretty quickly and play for fairly solid positions. On the other hand, he can also choose to mix it up quickly. This creates a defense with a fair amount of flexibility for the black player.

Let's get busy with this Richter-Rauzer!!!

< classF: Is there something wrong with 6... Bd7?

Well, we may reach better positions with 6...e6 than Bd7. Just look at the positions below reachable for white with f4 etc or do we have better lines?

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 Bd7 7. Qd2 Rc8 8. f4 h6

(8... Qb6 9. Nb3 e6 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. O-O-O)

click for larger view

9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. O-O-O Nxd4 11. Qxd4 Qa5 12. Kb1 Qc5 13. Qd3 Bg7 14. Nd5 a5 15. c3 a4 16. a3 h5 17. Qg3

click for larger view

Of the alternatives to 7...e6, only Be6 shows some promise. But there's only 2 games with this in the Rybka II book where black scored 1.5 and one game in the OE which black won. Interesting but not enough to sway the vote. One would have to write a complete theory around Be6 in one day and hawk it to the Team. That isn't going to happen.

karpov , kasparov , kramnik , ivanchuck usually play ...e6 !

no way they can all be wrong !

6. ... e6 has by far the most analysis. Looking at the votes it has received so far, it looks the clear favourite for the vote.

6. ... Qb6 also looks interesting, but considering how quickly people are voting for 6. ... e6 it seems to have no chance.

The other lines also look playable.