A couple earlier articles, about Tiviakov’s games in the Ruy Lopez, reached the following position.
There, his opponents elected to kingside castle, allowing him to execute his favorite pin: 8…0-0 9.Bg5. Black’s problems extracting himself from the pin became the basis for kingside attacks in both Tiviakov-Almasi and Tiviakov-Senlle Caride.
However, another important continuation is 8…h6, as Josh Friedel played against him. In that game, Tiviakov went for a positional plan based on short castles and Be3. However, the position also offers White a more direct approach, based on delaying castling. The 15 year old Iranian Grandmaster Sina Movahed has been using it effectively in rapid and blitz games.
White plays 9.h3!?
In addition to being a generally useful move in the Ruy Lopez, White is retaining flexibility with his king and preparing g2-g4. The idea is to use the ‘hook’ created by the pawn on h6 to break with g4-g5, forcing open lines in front of the Black king.
Play continued 9…Be6 10.Nbd2. This is Movahed’s favored approach, continuing to wait for Black to castle. After 10…0-0 he goes for it with 11.g4!?
Of course this approach is not without risk – if you try it in an engine correspondence game, your opponent will not have problems defending! But in games between humans, particularly at faster time controls, it’s always easier to attack than defend. Movahed’s opponent in this blitz game, the very strong and young FM Tyhran Ambartsumian, quickly finds trouble.
11…d5?! shows an impulse I often saw in Tiviakov’s games as well: Black wants to respond to White’s kingside attack with action in the center. The problem is that concretely, it often doesn’t work! As explained by IM Wily Hendriks in his classic “Move First, Think Later”, the general principle of responding to a flank attack with action in the center might require some skepticism. I delved into this more in analysis of Tiviakov-Senille Caride.
11…a5!? is an idea the engine frequently recommends in these positions. Black prepares …a4 or …b4 with queenside counterplay, and is objectively doing totally fine.
How would you continue for White? Check back in two days for the next phase of the game!