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Learn Swapnil's favourite line from GM Williams!

by Sagar Shah - 24/04/2016

One of the secrets of Karjkain's success at the Candidates 2016 in Moscow was his solid preparation in the Queen's Indian with the black pieces. Caruana, Topalov, Nakamura, Giri everyone tried but they couldn't break it. In this DVD GM Simon Williams shows us a way in which we can unsettle the Queen's Indian player by going for sharp and aggressive chess with the white pieces. He suggests a line which is a favourite of GM Swapnil Dhopade. We caught up with Swapnil to know what he thinks about this opening and also give you an idea of what can be expected from the DVD.

ChessBase has come out with a new DVD on Beating the Queen's Indian with the Fianchetto Variation by GM Simon Williams. The line that Simon covers arises after:

1. d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2!?

The reason why this move is exciting is because after 5...Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 White goes ahead boldly and sacrifices this pawn with 7.d5!

This pawn sacrifice is a long term one. White doesn't recover the material immediately but has long term pressure on Black's position. A few years ago this line didn't even exist and now we have 463 games on it. This is really a modern line. 

GM Swapnil Dhopade from Amravati is one of the biggest exponents of this line with white. While Swapnil was packing his bags and getting ready for his SYNA Open tournament which begins from tomorrow, we called him up and asked his expert opinion on this variation of the Queen's Indian.

In Indian chess circles, GM Swapnil Dhopade is known as a player who works quite seriously on his openings 

A short chat with GM Swapnil Dhopade:

SS: How did you start playing this line?

SD: I first saw this line played between Topalov vs Anand in Bilbao 2008. Anand was crushed in that game by Veselin. I really liked the positions in which White sacrificed his d5 pawn for compensation. Also during that time I didn't have anything special prepared against Queen's Indian. I searched games from the Mega Database, analyzed them and came to my own conclusions. The opening was quite complicated and it was difficult to understand all the intricacies, but GM R.B. Ramesh helped me with it. In 2012, I went to Chennai and worked with him on this line and he suggested me some novelties. This gave me some confidence to play this 5.Qc2 line against strong opponents.

 

SS: What is so special about this line in the Queen's Indian starting with 5.Qc2?

SD: The pawn sacrifice in the opening attracted me. Besides this, you always get a fighting position and it is a good change from the positional chess that I like to play. It is a dynamic line which requires good amount of analysis and once you are well prepared, you can expect good results. Of course there are other lines apart from the pawn sacrifice one but those aren't so critical.

 

SS: Objectively, do you think White can fight for an opening advantage in this line?

SD: Yes, of course. White definitely can fight for an advantage. Although there are huge amounts of analysis already done, there is a lot that is left unexplored. Computers are useful for giving you a direction but they can be confusing. Because in many positions it will suggest two or three moves with similar evaluations. At this point it would be very useful if you have an experienced GM or a trainer who has worked on these lines before, and gives you a recommendation. In this respect I would say Simon William's DVD would be quite useful.

 

SS: Which is the most critical line for Black?

SD: I would say that the line which is currently the most critical one for Black is the one that is being played by top players recently. For eg. Nakamura played it against Aronian in the Candidates and Benjamin Bok played it against me recently. This is how the position is reached:

[Date "2016.04.23"]
[White "Most critical line"]
[ECO "E15"]
[PlyCount "20"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qc2 Bb7 6. Bg2 c5 7. d5 exd5 8. cxd5
Nxd5 9. O-O Nc6 10. Rd1 Be7 *

 

 


 

Back in 2012 this was just a side line. But R.B. Ramesh asked me to look at it deeply as it could become the main line in the time to come. And his words have turned out to be true!

[Note: Williams covers this critical line deeply dedicating three clips of 20 minutes each on it]

 

SS: What are your impressions about the author of this DVD Simon Williams?

SD: In 2013 when I played against Rahul Sangma in the Bhubaneshwar Open, I had prepared a side line using Simon William's novelty on the 13th move.

13.Rxd6 was what Simon played in his game against Hunt. I analyzed this and won a nice game against Rahul Sangma. This is one of my favourite games in this opening, and you cannot find it in the databases as it wasn't published before:

[Event "Bhubaneshwar KIIT Cup"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.05.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Swapnil, Dhopade"]
[Black "Sangma, Rahul"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2469"]
[BlackElo "2382"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[SourceDate "2016.04.23"]
1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qc2 Bb7 6. Bg2 c5 7. d5 exd5 8. cxd5
Bxd5 9. Nc3 Bc6 10. e4 d6 11. Bf4 Nbd7 12. O-O-O Be7 13. Rxd6 Qc8 ({This is
how the Simon Williams' game proceeded.} 13... Bxd6 14. Bxd6 Nf8 15. Rd1 N6d7
16. Nd5 Ne6 17. Nh4 g6 18. Qc3 Rg8 19. Ne7 Qxe7 20. Bxe7 Kxe7 21. Qd2 Nd4 22.
Nf3 Rac8 23. Nxd4 cxd4 24. Kb1 Rgd8 25. Qxd4 Nc5 26. Qe5+ Ne6 27. Rxd8 Rxd8 28.
Bh3 Rd6 29. Bxe6 f6 30. Qf4 Kxe6 31. f3 Bb5 32. b3 a5 33. a4 Be2 34. Qe3 Bd3+
35. Kb2 Ba6 36. f4 Rc6 37. e5 f5 38. Qd2 h5 39. Qd8 Be2 40. Qe8+ Kd5 41. Qd7+
Kc5 42. Kc3 {1-0 Williams,S (2511)-Hunt,H (2450)/ Hinckley ENG 2013/The Week
in Chess 959}) 14. Rxc6 Qxc6 15. e5 Nh5 16. Nh4 Qc8 17. Nf5 Nxf4 18. gxf4 g6
19. Nxe7 Kxe7 20. Qd2 Nxe5 21. fxe5 Rd8 22. Qg5+ Kf8 23. Qh6+ 1-0

 

SS: Thanks Swapnil for sharing invaluable information with our readers and all the best for the SYNA Open in Katni.

What does the DVD contain?

This DVD by Simon Williams contains a complete repertoire for White against the Queen's Indian.

After the move 4.g3, the main focus of the DVD is surely on the move 4...Ba6. This line had been played by Sergey Karjakin in four games in the Candidates and it is natural to put maximum attention here. But apart from that there is also good enough coverage of the moves 4...Bb7 and also 4...Bb4+ lines.

"Black wants to play solidly with the Queen's Indian but we are going to blow them off the board with aggressive chess," says Simon Williams in his typical entertaining style of chess!
Have a look at this video to get a feel of Simon Williams' style of instruction
This DVD contains more than seven hours of video running time. It has 12 interactive test positions at the end to test your newly acquired knowledge and last but not the least it comes with a database of 19 deeply annotated games by Simon Williams.
If you are an Indian resident, this DVD will cost you just Rs. 999/-
Beat the Queen's Indian DVD costs € 29.90 on the international website, which comes to Rs.2270/-.However for Indian residents ChessBase India offers this DVD for just Rs.999/-. All you have to do is write to us on chessbaseindia@gmail.com and we will let you know the procedure. You can only avail this offer if you are an Indian resident.
How the offline shop works: Until the online shop begins, you have to write to us at chessbaseindia@gmail.com and let us know that you are interested in the DVD. We will send you the bank details (which can also be found here). Once you deposit the amount, we will send you the download link as well as the serial key to activate your product.
For those who are interested in the detailed contents on the DVD:
  1. 01: Introduction [14:28]
  2. 02: Game 1 - 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.d5 exd5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.0-0 Be7 10.Qe4 Na6 Riazantsev,A - Karjakin,S [37:09]
  3. 03: Game 2 Blacks best answer to Qe4 Bc6 [13:39]
  4. 04: Game 3 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.d5 exd5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.0-0 Be7 10.Rd1 Nc6 11.a3 Nc7 Cheparinov,I - Almasi,Z [20:36]
  5. 05: Game 4 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.d5 exd5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.0-0 Be7 10.Rd1 Nc6 11.Qa4 Nf6 12.e4 0-0 Cheparinov,I - Drenchev,P [22:11]
  6. 06: Game 5 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.d5 exd5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.0-0 Be7 10.Rd1 Nc6 11.Qa4 Nf6 12.Nh4 0-0 Nakamura,H - Harikrishna,P [20:32]
  7. 07: Game 6 Alternatives 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 c51.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Bg51.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.d5 exd5 8.Nh4/0-0 and 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.d5 exd5 8.cxd5 Bxd5 Williams,S - Hunt,H [41:00]
  8. 08: Game 7 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 c5 6.d5 exd5 7.0-0 dxc4 8.e4 Bxe4/Nxe4/Be7 Fridman,D - Fedorchuk,S [14:00]
  9. 09: Game 8 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 c5 (5...Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.d5 exd5 8.0-0) 6.d5 exd5 7.cxd5 Bb7 8.e4 Qe7 9.Bd3 c4/Nxd5 Williams,S - Geirnaert,S [25:23]
  10. 10: Game 9 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 c5 6.Lg2 c5 7.dxc5 Bxd5/bxc5 Bachmann,A - Sanchez L,S [13:11]
  11. 11: Game 10 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Nbd2 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.e4 cxd4/Nxe4 Adorjan,A - Kudrin,S [25:00]
  12. 12: Game 11 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb4 6.Bd2 Be7 7.e4 d5 Potkin,V - Zakhartsov,V [30:01]
  13. 13: Game 12 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb4 6.Bd2 Be7 7.e4 d5 Iotov,V - Georgiev,K [10:41]
  14. 14: Game 13 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb4 6.Bd2 Bxd2 7.Nbxd2 d5 8.cxd5 exd5 Roiz,M - Golod,V [07:08]
  15. 15: Game 14 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 b6 5.g3 Ba6 6.Qc2 Bb7 7.Bg2 Be4 Karpov,A - Andersson,U [22:41]
  16. 16: Game 15 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Re1 Na6 Williams,S - Wells,P [19:22]
  17. 17: Game 16 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Re1 Qc8 Williams,S - Lerch,P [09:54]
  18. 18: Game 17 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 b6 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Nxd2 Bb7 7.e3 O-O Sahl,B - Pedersen,N [16:07]
  19. 19: Game 18 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 b6 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Nxd2 Bb7 7.e3 d6 Williams,S - Savage,B [10:49]
  20. 20: Game 19 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 d6 5.Qc2 c5 6.a3 Ba5/Bxd2 Williams,S - Hanley,C [05:25]
  21. 21: Game 20 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4.d5 exd5/b5 Naroditsky,D - Buckley,G [08:03]
  22. 22: Conclusion [06:00]
  23. Test positions
  24. 23: Position 1 [06:04]
  25. 24: Position 2 [01:55]
  26. 25: Position 3 [03:34]
  27. 26: Position 4 [04:23]
  28. 27: Position 5 [01:59]
  29. 28: Position 6 [01:17]
  30. 29: Position 7 [01:34]
  31. 30: Position 8 [02:36]
  32. 31: Position 9 [01:54]
  33. 32: Position 10 [01:30]
  34. 33: Position 11 [02:36]
  35. 34: Position 12 [01:56]
*** Note: This special offer of Rs.999/- is available only to Indian residents. Others can order this DVD for € 29.90 from the ChessBase Shop. ChessBase India has tied up with ChessBase headquarters in Hamburg to make the world class CB products available to Indians at an affordable price.