THE OPENING FOR WHITE ACCORDING TO ANAND, 1.e4 (11th Volume)
Author: Alexander Khalifman
Chess Stars (2009)
444 pages
$27.95

Reviewed by John Donaldson

The 11th Volume of the OPENING FOR WHITE ACCORDING TO ANAND, 1.e4 series by GM Alexander Khalifman is dedicated to the Accelerated Dragon and Dragon Variations of the Sicilian. The winner of the 1999 FIDE World Championship, Khalifman has played the Dragon off and on throughout his career, and is well qualified to write this book, which advocates Bc4 systems against both variations.
 
Khalifman starts off with the Accelerated Dragon and the first key juncture is reached after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4. Now Black can force White to castle kingside with 7…Qa5 when Khalifman recommends the system 8.0-0 0-0 9.Nb3 Qc7 10.Bg5, which has been around for a long time but only caught on after Anand -Van Wely, Wijk aan Zee 1999. There after 10…a6 11.Be2! e6 12.Qd2 b5 13.a3 Rb8 14. Rfd1 b4 15.axb4 Nxb4 16.Bf4! the future World Champion was in control and duly brought the point home. I had thought that Black’s problems were solved in Karjakin - Ivanchuk, Warsaw 2005, where Black varied with 11…d6 and achieved comfortable equality after 12.Bxf6 exf6 13.Qd2 Ne7 14.Rad1 f5, but Khalifman feels 13.Nd5 is more precise and after 13…Qd8 14.c3 Re8 15.Nd2 f5 16.exf5 Bxf5 17.Nc4 b5 18.Nce3 Be6 19.Re1 Rb8 20.Qd2 that White has a small advantage which he explains is based “on his reliable control over the d5-square and the vulnerability of Black’s queenside pawns”.
 
A key position for the Accelerated Dragon is reached after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Bb3. This position occurs in Grandmaster chess much more often via the sequence 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 than the regular Accelerated move order as Black avoids the Maroczy Bind (and White the Sveshnikov). Black has many ways to try to exploit the fact that White must spend two tempi with his King Bishop to secure it on b3 (8.f3?! Qb6 allows Black to instantly equalize) and Khalifman deals with them all.
 
The Uogele variation with 8…a5, named after the Lithuanian correspondence GM Anicetas Uogele,  can create lively play for Black after 9.f3 d5 but matters are considerably duller after White plays 9.0-0, ignoring the threat of …a4. I had always thought 9.0-0 a4 10.Nxa4 Nxe4 11.Nb5 was the critical line but Khalifman shows that Black is fine after 11…d5. Unfortunately for fans of the Uogele, Black is not off the hook as the St. Petersburg GM shows that by varying his move order, starting with 11.c4, White can obtain the same favorable setup with Qe2, Nb5 and Rad1.
 
Black had some fun when 8…Na5?! was briefly revived a few years ago but Khalifman takes it to task with 9.e5 Nxb3 ( 9…Ne8 10.Bxf7+ has been known for over 50 years) 10.exf6 Nxa1 12.fxg7 Nxc2+ 13.12.Qxc2 Kxg7 13.Qd2 or 11…Re8 12.0-0!
 
As is typical of the entire series, THE OPENING FOR WHITE ACCORDING TO ANAND, 1.e4 (11th Volume) is incredibly thorough. The one position I found where he failed to consider a Black response is hardly earth shattering but is an interesting attempt to revive a rather depressing variation – 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Bb3 Qa5 9.f3 d5 10.exd5 Nb4 11.Qd2 Nbxd5 12.Nxd5 Qxd2+ 13.Kxd2 Nxd5 14.Bxd5 Rd8 15.c4 e6 16.Be4 f5 17.Bd3 and now not 17…Bxd4 which is the only move considered, but  17…e5 which gave Black reasonable play in Romain-Zubarev, Cappelle la Grande 2006 and Ashwin-Iturrizaga, Gaziantep 2008.
 
The author goes beyond the call of duty in analyzing 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Bb3 Qa5 9.f3 Rb8!? – an almost completely unknown variation that bears some affinity with the Chinese Dragon.
 
Khalifman favors an interesting setup against the solid 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Bb3 e6 with 9.f4 d6 10.Qf3 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 Bd7 12.0-0-0. He feels that the positions where White castles short are too technical to offer much chance for an advantage.
 
This reviewer is much more conversant with Accelerated Dragon theory than its bigger brother the Dragon but the lines where the two meet are quite interesting. While the sequence 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Bb3 d6 9.f3 Bd7 10.Qd2 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 b5 is technically a Dragon, it is far likelier to come about from an Accelerated move order as White does not usually volunteer to put his Bishop on b3 so early. Using the repertoire advocated by Khalifman, ones does face this variation and 12.a4 is given as the antidote. More important is the Topalov variation reached after 10…Rc8 11.0-0-0 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 b5. El Khalif goes straight down the pipe – 13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.exd5 a5 16.a3 b4!? 17.axb4 axb4 18.Qxb4 and now Black must choose between 18…Kg8 and 18…Rc5. The author gives a lengthy explanation about why 19.Rhe1 Re8 20.Rd4! is the right move against the former and 19.Rhe1 Kg8 20.Rd3! against the latter! Yes, this is a very comprehensive book!
 
THE OPENING FOR WHITE ACCORDING TO ANAND, 1.e4 (11th Volume) is must reading for players over 2000 (particularly over 2200) who either play or face the Accelerated Dragon and Dragon variations. This book, which is heavy on concrete theory and shorter on explanatory text, is not for players below 2000.

Click to buy (or get more information about) OPENING FOR WHITE ACCORDING TO ANAND 1.e4: Vol 11

Other books in the series:

OPENING FOR WHITE ACCORDING TO ANAND 1.e4: Vol 1

OPENING FOR WHITE ACCORDING TO ANAND 1.e4: Vol 2

OPENING FOR WHITE ACCORDING TO ANAND 1.e4: Vol 3

OPENING FOR WHITE ACCORDING TO ANAND 1.e4: Vol 4

OPENING FOR WHITE ACCORDING TO ANAND 1.e4: Vol 5

OPENING FOR WHITE ACCORDING TO ANAND 1.e4: Vol 6

OPENING FOR WHITE ACCORDING TO ANAND 1.e4: Vol 7

OPENING FOR WHITE ACCORDING TO ANAND 1.e4: Vol 8

OPENING FOR WHITE ACCORDING TO ANAND 1.e4: Vol 9

OPENING FOR WHITE ACCORDING TO ANAND 1.e4: Vol 10