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As he proved last year in New York, Julio Granda-Zuniga is one of the best at creating ferocious attacks from quiet openings. Likewise, Yasser Seirawan, a fearsome positional player, has sharpened his style
considerably. When the two met in Buenos Aires, both shed their camouflage early. Granda's incisive opening play led to an opportunity to start an explosive attack which might have run most players off the board.
Instead, Seirawan refused to give ground, and found a brilliant way to hold onto his extra material. The question became, whether Seirawan could reorganize his position before the second wave of the attack arrived.
Granda-Zuniga - Seirawan, Buenos Aires
1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 Nc3 e6 [This method of entering the hedgehog system avoids aggressive White systems such as 3 ... b6 4 e4 d6 5 d4 cxd4 6 Nxd4 Bb7 7
Bd3, when a quick f2-f4-f5 is possible, or 3 ... b6 4 e3 Bb7 5 d4 cxd4 6 exd4 e6 7 a3 threatening d4-d5, and preparing 7 ... d5 8 cxd5 Nxd5 9 Ne5! On the other hand, with 3 ... e6 Black has lost the opportunity for the
double fianchetto which could develop after 3 ... b6 4 g3 Bb7 5 Bg2 g6, etc.] 4 g3 b6 5 Bg2 Bb7 6 O-O Nc6 [Much less common than 6 ... Be7 or 6 ... a6, the text has been popularized by Nick DeFirmian. The main
idea is that Black achieves the typical Hedhehog goal of exchanging light-squared bishops after 7 d4 Nxd4! 8 Nxd4 Bxg2 9 Kxg2 (R.K. Delaune once essayed the solid 9 Nxe6 against DeFirmian) cxd4 10 Qxd4 Qc7 with
equality.] 7 e4! [An important innovation. White prepares to play d4 without allowing the exchange of bishops, and Black loses time if he locks the position up with 7 ... e5. In Salov - Seirawan, Rotterdam 1989, Yasser
awarded White an exclam for 7 b3 in Inf. 47, game 46, claiming that the immediate 7 e3 is met by 7 ... Be7 8 d4 cxd4 9 exd4 Na5 10 b3 d5, although White looks quite happy after 11 Ne5 (threatening 10 b4!) O-O 12 Bg5 Rc8
13 Rc1. In any case, Granda's method is more incisive - if now 7 ... d6 8 d4 cxd4 9 Nxd4, Black's position lacks the dynamism generally associated with the hedgehog. ] e5 8 d3 g6 [This logical attempt to economize
on the move 8 ... d6 meets a shocking reply. The game Illescas - Ulybin, Chalkidiki 1992, which deviated on the 6th move but reached a similar formation, illustrates Black's difficulties: 6 ... d6 7 Re1 Be7 8 e4 e5 9 d3
O-O 10 Nh4 Nc6 11 Nf5 Nd4 12 f4 with the initiative.] 9 Nxe5!! Nxe5 10 f4 Nc6 [It is hard to give the piece back sensibly. Black just loses on 10 ... d6?? 11 fxe5 dxe5 12 Bg5 Be7 13 Qf3. And 10 ... Bd6 11 fxe5
Bxe5 12 Bh6 is uncomfortable. Likewise, 10 ... Neg4 11 e5 Bxg2 12 Kxg2 Be7 13 exf6 Nxf6 14 f5 O-O 15 Qf3 fails to solve Black's problems. Given this aggravation, Black holds onto the extra material.] 11 e5 Ng8 12
f5 [In this drastic situation, it is not easy to come up with workable defenses. Possible is 12 ... Rb8, freeing the c6 knight for duty on d4 or e5. Seirawan comes up with a fearless and cold-blooded idea.] Nh6!!
13 Ne4 Nxf5 [If 13 ... Nxe5 14 Bg5 is too strong.] 14 Nf6+ Ke7 15 Nd5+ Ke8 16 Nf6+ Ke7 DIAGRAM 17 g4 [Amazingly, there is no clear follow-up to 17 Bg5 Qb8.] Nfd4 18 Qe1! [The queen is headed to
f2, to put inolerable pressure on f7 and f6. Again, 18 Bg5 Qb8 is inconclusive.] Qb8 19 Nd5+ Kd8 20 Bg5+ Kc8 21 Rxf7 Ne6! [A solid move, shoring up the f8 bishop. The tempting 21 ... Qxe5? runs right into 22 Bf6!,
and 21 ... Nxe5? loses to 22 Rxf8+! Rxf8 23 Ne7+ Kc7 24 Qxe5+ d6 25 Qg7.] 22 Bf6 Ncd8? [It turns out that this move allows White inroads into Black's position through well-timed exchanges. Better was 22 ... Rg8,
and Black can wriggle forward with ... Ncd4, ... Bc6, etc. while White is stymied. An excellent example of this kind of defensive maneuvering is Granda's effort against Patrick Wolff from the '92 Reshevsky Memorial.] 23
Re7 Rg8 24 Re8 Bc6 25 Bxd8! [Much better than 25 Ne7+ which recovers the exchange but brings Black's pieces to life. Granda foresees that the e-pawn will become a monster. Another possibility was 25 Qh4, but Black can
muddle with 25 ... g5 26 Qxh7 Rg7.] Nxd8 26 Nf6 Rh8 27 Bxc6 dxc6 28 Qe4 Qc7 29 e6 Bg7 [A humorous variation is 29 ... Rb8 30 e7 Bxe7 31 Rxe7 Qd6 32 Ne8.] 30 e7 Rxe8 31 Nxe8 Bd4+ 32 Kh1 Qd7 33 Nd6+ Qxd6 34
e8(Q) [Granda has an extra queen in return for a bishop and knight. Seirawan puts up a remarkable resistance, but there is no denying the outcome.] a5 35 Rf1 Ra7 36 Rf8 Rd7 37 Q4e6 Qxe6 38 Qxe6 Kc7 39 Qe2
Bg7 40 Rf2 Bd4 41 Rf3 Nf7 42 Rf4 Nd6 43 Kg2 Nc8 44 b3 Re7 45 Re4 Rf7 46 Qe1 Rd7 47 Qg3+ Kb7 48 h3 Rf7 49 h4 Rd7 50 Re6 Bc3 51 Qf3 Nd6 52 Qf8 Nc8 53 Re8 Rc7 54 Rd8 Bg7 55 Qe8 Bf6 56 Rxc8
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