Sharing first place in the just concluded grandmaster tournament in Biel, Switzerland is one of the greatest successes thus far in the career of Alexander Onischuk. The 2006 U.S. champion showed himself to be especially lethal with the white pieces, capable of turning a minuscule initiative into a decisive attack. In his game with Loek Van Wely of the Netherlands, Onischuk chose the Botvinnik variation of the Slav, which leads to some truly paradoxical positions. In recent decades, theoreticians, practitioners, and computers have found advantages for white in many of the main lines. Van Wely chose a rare continuation, but it did not bring him success.

ONISCHUK VS. VAN WELY

( w h i t e ) ( b l a c k )

Slav Defense

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Nxg5 hxg5 10. Bxg5 Nbd7 11. exf6 Bb7 12.g3 c5 13.d5 Nxf6!? 14. Bg2!

The strongest move. Now the game will follow Kasparov – Ivanchuk, 1994. Lobron-Kramnik, 1993, continued 14. dxe6?! Bg7!

15. Rg1 Qb6 16. Qe2 Qxe6 17. Nxb5

Qxe2+ 18. Bxe2 Ne4! and the initiative belongs to black. 14… Bh6!?

A rare move, played instead of 14… Be7, which in Onischuk-Sweets, 2005, after 15.0-0 Nxd5 16. Bxe7 Kxe7! 17. Qe1 Nxc3! 18. Bxb7 Rb8 permitted black to equalize. Van Wely had good reason to anticipate that Onischuk would unveil an improvement in that line and avoided it. 15. Bxf6! The best way. Van Wely himself tried 15. Bxh6 Rxh6 16. Nxb5 Bxd5 17.0-0 Qb6 18. Nc3 Bxg2 19. Kxg2 Qc6+ 20. Kg1 Ke7! against D’Amy and black created the threat 21… Rxh2 and had a comfortable position. 15… Qxf6 16.0-0 0-0-0 17. Nxb5 a6! A recommendation of Kasparov that has almost never been tried in practice. The aforementioned game, Kasparov-Ivanchuk, continued 17…exd5?! 18. Nxa7+ Kb8 19. Nb5 Bg7 20.a4 Qh6 21.h4 Bf6 22. Qe1 Bxh4 23. Qa5 Be7 24. Qc7+ Ka8 25. Qa5+ Kb8 26. Qc7+ Ka8 27. Rfe1 Bd6 28. Qb6 Bb8 29.a5 Rd7 30. Re8!! and white won brilliantly. 18. Nc3 exd5 19. Re1! In 2001 Beliavsky played here: 19. Qa4 Bg7 20. Qa5 Qd6 21. Rad1 Bd4! but black didn’t have here any reasons to complain about his position. Onischuk reserves the a4 square for the knight. 19… Kb8 20. Na4 Bf8?!

After this, the black pieces lose coordination. Not much better was 20…Qd6 21.b3! and white opens the b-file because black has lost control of the c3 square and doesn’t have 22…c3. Better was 20…Rc8! with an unclear position. 21. Rc1 Bc6 22.b3! Bh6

In case of 22…Bxa4 23. bxa4 black can not extinguish white’s initiative along the b file. For example, 23…Ka7 24. Rb1 Qf5 25. Qd2 Rh6 26. Qb2 Qd7 27. Red1 Rd6 28. Rxd5 and black is defenseless. 23. Rc2 Qd4

A very unpleasant position for black would arise after 23…Bxa4 24. bxa4 Ka7 25. Rce2 Rd7 26. Re5. 24. Qb1 Ka7

(See diagram)

Not much better for black was giving up a pawn to keep the b-file closed via 24…c3 25. Rxc3 Bf8 26. Rec1 with a big advantage for white. Now black almost succeeds in creating defensible position but a sudden piece sacrifice breaks through. 25. bxc4! Bxa4 26. Rb2 Rd6

Other attempts also do not fare better: 26…Ka8 27. Rb6 Qxc4 28. Bf1; or 26…Rd7 27. Bxd5 Bb5 28. Rxb5! axb5 29. Qxb5 Rxd5 30. Re7+ 27. Bxd5 Rxd5

Mate follows other defensive moves, too: 27…Bc6 28. Rb7+! Ka8 29. Ra7+ Kxa7 30. Re7+ Ka8 31. Bxc6+ Rxc6 32. Qb7# 28. Rb7+ Ka8 29. Qb6! 1-0