1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0-0-0 h6

A very popular line nowadays. For many years, Maxim Dlugy championed this line. 9.Be3 The main alternative is 9 Bf4, putting immediate pressure on d6, which forces 9 ... Bd7 (not 9 ... Nxd4? 10 Qxd4 e5? 11 Bxe5) 10 Nxc6 Bxc6 and then White usually selects 11 Qe1 or 11 f3. 9...Be7 10.f4 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 b5 12.Qe3 In Short - Salov, Madrid 1995, play continued 12 Bd3 (White would not keep any advantage after 12 Bxf6 Bxf6 13 Qxd6 Qxd6 14 Rxd6 Bxc3 15 bxc3 Bb7) b4

(the less forthright 12 ... Bb7 13 Rhe1 O-O 14 Kb1 was seen in Santo-Roman - Van der Wiel, Moscow, 1994) 13 Ne2 Qa5 14 Bxf6?! (better is the normal 14 Kb1) Bxf6 15 Bc4 O-O! 16 Qxd6 Bb7 with great compensation for the pawn.
12...Bb7

13.Bxf6 An interesting idea. Perhaps the most logical follow-up to 12 Qe3 is 13 Be2 followed by settling the bishop on f3. 13...Bxf6 14.e5 Be7 15.exd6 Bxd6 16.Qd4 An imposing-looking move, hitting both the bishop on d6 and the pawn on g7. 16...b4 17.Na4 White does not get anything on 17 Qxd6 Qxd6 18 Rxd6 bxc3 as Black has good activity in the endgame. 17...Bc7

18.Bb5+ The idea of this move is to connect the White rooks with tempo, as right now 18 Qxg7?? loses to 18 ... Bxf4+. However, Yermo deals efficiently with the unsound bishop sacrifice. Perhaps best was 18 Qxb4, although 18 ... Qe7!, protecting the b7 bishop indirectly and offering the trade of queens, still seems to leave Black better off due to the extreme weakness of the pawn on f4. For example, 19 Qxe7+ Kxe7 20 Rd4 g5! gives Black a nice initiative to work with. 18...axb5 19.Qxg7 Bxf4+ 20.Kb1 Qc7 That's all!

Black is up a piece but calmly gives back his h8 rook, as White's knight on a4 is also finished. 21.Qxh8+ Ke7 22.Qd4 Rxa4 23.b3 Be5 24.Qh4+ Bf6 25.Qg3 Qxg3 26.hxg3 Ra8