The rot possibly started with Nakamura playing some very early Qh5's. This caught a fellow coach off guard as he had been telling his students that 'only beginners play this move'. The the Quiet Italian came back into vogue at the top level, meaning it could no longer be dismissed as a 'school chess opening'.
Now Aronian is the one causing problems for me, as the following game shows. The early h4 is surprising enough, but bringing the rook to h4 is an even bigger shock. The tactical point is to 'protect' the bishop on a3, but it takes real imagination to play this move. The rook then hangs about on the h file for most of the game, until Aronian uses it to finish Nepo off.
So it looks like I'll have to amend my advice again, to "proper chess players normally don't do this" or something similar.
Aronian,Levon (2809) - Nepomniachtchi,Ian (2742) [A34]
5th Sinquefield Cup 2017 Saint Louis USA (1.3), 02.08.2017
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e3 Nxc3 6. bxc3 g6 7. h4 Bg7 8. h5 Nc6 9. Ba3 Qa5 10. Rh4 Bd7 11. Qb3 O-O 12. hxg6 hxg6 13. Qxb7 Rfd8 14. Qa6 Bxc3 15. Qxa5 Bxa5 16. Bxc5 Be6 17. Bb5 Ne5 18. Nd4 Rd5 19. Bxe7 Kg7 20. f4 Nd7 21. f5 Bxf5 22. Bc6 Re5 23. Nxf5+ gxf5 24. Bg5 Kg6 25. Bf4 Rd8 26. Bxd7 Rc5 27. Rh6+ Kg7 28. Rd6 Bc7 29. Rc6 1-0
1 comment:
The great Danish GM Bent Larsen in the 60's used to be fond of developing rooks via h3 or a3 or even a4 or h4 - I was in my teens then but I always think of him when pondering rook development on the flanks.
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