Slav Defense - rook sac in middlegame

The Manhattan Chess Club, located at 353 W. 46th Street ("Restaurant Row") in New York City, has a long and distinguished history. It is America's oldest Club, having continuously served New York chessplayers since 1877! The Manhattan Chess Club has always been a beacon for me - when I was a "promising junior", the Club held many Internationals at its East 53rd Street location; then the Club experienced its glory days in the Carnegie Hall building, and now the Club occupies the ground floor of the Chess-in-the-Schools Foundation building on West 46th. In this column, I look back on my game against Walter Shipman, one of New York City's strongest players for many years, from the Club's 1989 Championship. In those days, I often battled against Shipman, and became quite familiar with his resilient style and repertoire. In this game, I managed to crash through with a series of sacrifices, which seemed forced, as otherwise the initiative might have slipped away. The logic of the game seemed to have a rhythm of its own, much like life in Manhattan, where time can be the most precious commodity.

Michael Rohde - Walter Shipman 1989 Manhattan Chess Club Championship, April, 1989 1 c4 In those days (and even now) I did not often play the English, but I was trying to get away from Shipman's Cozio Defense to the Ruy (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nge7) or Slav Defense to 1 d4. e6 Shipman uses this to head towards a Slav. My plan on 1 ... c6 was to switch to a Caro-Kann (the Panov lines) with 2 e4! 2 Nf3 d5 3 d4 Nf6 4 Nc3 c6 Getting back into the Slav from what had been a regular Queen's Gambit Declined position. 5 Bg5 The Anti-Meran Variation. But move-order was very important in this opening. In the straight-up Slav Defense, after 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3, Black can play, and Shipman's standard line was, 4 ... dxc4, the Czech Variation, which usually follows with 5 a4 Bf5, etc. But in the game move order, where Black had played ... e7-e6 rather than ... c7-c6, 4 ... dxc4 would just be a Queen's Gambit Accepted after 5 e3 or a Vienna Variation after 5 e4 Bb4 6 Bg5. So the point of my move order starting with 1 c4 was to get away from the Czech, and also avoid the Meran (for example, 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 e3 e6 5 Nc3 Nbd7), where Shipman has specialized in the line 6 Bd3 Bd6. Nbd7 More standard is 5 ... dxc4, leading to the main lines of the Anti-Meran after 6 e4 b5, with wild complications. With the text, Shipman allows direct transposition to the Queen's Gambit Declined - after White's next, no longer is it a Slav where White has developed his dark-squared bishop early and agressively; rather it is a QGD where Black has played ... c7-c6 instead of looking for the chance to play ... c7-c5! 6 e3 Be7 The move 6 ... Qa5 is the out-of-fashion Cambridge Springs Variation; then 7 Nd2 is the usual antidote to Black activating with ... Nf6-e4. 7 Qc2 O-O 8 Rd1 This maneuver which I learned from a Polugaevsky game a long time ago has stuck with me - first the idea is to keep Black from getting in ... c5 comfortably. Now the players engage in a tempo battle to see if Black will play ... dxc4 before White plays Bf1-d3. Re8 A more modern approach is 9 ... b6, followed by ... Bc8-b7 and an eventual ... c6-c5 no matter what. 9 h3 dxc4 On 9 ... a6 I imagine I was planning 10 a3. 10 Bxc4 Nd5 A well-known idea from the Orthodox QGD. Black forces an exchange of bishops. 11 Bxe7 Qxe7 12 O-O Nxc3 13 Qxc3 b6 14 e4 White has gotten something tangible out of the opening, but he has to act quickly, as a well-timed ... c6-c5 will neutralize everything. Bb7 15 Rfe1 Qf6 Trying to find a comfortable spot for the queen, but this is very provocative. 16 e5 Qe7 The queen must retreat as 16 ... Qh6 17 Re4 is very bad. 17 Qe3 Red8 Thematic, but Black should break out now with 17 ... c5, even though White clearly maintains the edge with 18 d5. 18 Ng5 Positionally very strong as now 18 ... c5 19 d5 exd5 20 Rxd5! works, keeping the powerful light-squared bishop. h6 19 Ne4 c5 The move which Shipman has held in reserve; playing it now is the only chance. 20 Nd6 Bc6 21 Qf4 Making room for the rook to come to e3, and stopping ... Qe7-g5. cxd4 22 Rxd4 Nc5 On the passive 22 ... Nf8, 23 Qg3 is crushing. So Shipman rushes to challenge White's knight on d6. 23 Re3 Nb7 24 Rg3 Kf8 This move is forced. 25 Qg4! I considered 25 Rxg7 Kxg7 26 Qg3+ but it is not clear after 26 ... Kf8 27 Rg4 Qc7. The text move gains time for the lining up of White's rooks. Qg5 26 Qe2 The point. I was not about to settle for a one-pawn-up endgame after the trade of queens.

The Black queen is driven back as she runs out of room after 26 ... Qc1+ 27 Rd1 Qf4 28 Rg4. Qe7 27 Rdg4 g5 The try 27 ... g6 gets wrecked by 28 Nxf7. But now Black is hoping for 28 Nxb7 Bxb7 29 h4 Qd7. 28 Rxg5!! The motivation for the rook sacrifice is clear, but it had to be based on exact calculation. hxg5 29 Qh5 Qc7 The only move to get out of the way. 30 Qh6+ Ke7 31 Qxg5+ Kd7 32 Bxe6+!! The point. If 32 ... fxe6 33 Qg7 mate! Kxe6 33 Qf5+ Kd5 34 Rd3+ Kc5 35 e6+ Kb4 36 Rd4 mate

1 - 0