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(8) Joel Benjamin - Michael Rohde
NY State Championship Saratoga Springs, 0199
[Rohde, M.: Ruy Lopez]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7 This could not have been a complete surprise to Joel as he had seen me play it against Wolff at the Reshevsky Memorial and against Zapata at the 1993 World Open. 4.c3 Another sharp choice is 4 Nc3 - then after 4 ... g6 5 d4 cxd4 6 Nd5 Nxd5? 7 exd5 Qe7+ 8 Be2 Ne5 9 Nxd4 was bad for Black in a Rohde - W. Shipman game, but many Rohde - Hoffman blitz games instead have proceeded 6 ... Bg7 7 Bg5 h6 (box) 8 Bf6 Bxf6 9 Nxf6+ Kf8. The knight cannot be maintained on f6 and the critical line may be 10 Nxd4 Kg7 11 Nd5 Nxd5 12 exd5 Nxd4 13 Qxd4+ Qf6 14 Qxf6+ Kxf6 15 d6! Both Wolff and Zapata played 4 O-O against me. In Zapata - Rohde after 4 ... Ng6 5 d4 cxd4 6 Nxd4 Bc5 7 Be3? (better is 7 Nb3) Nxd4 8 Bxd4 Bxd4 9 Qxd4 Qg5! Black has already equalized. 10 Qd5 was forced (not 10 Nc3?? Nh4 and wins) and I tried 10 ... h6. Wolff also was unfamiliar with the opening. After 4 O-O Ng6 he played 5 Nc3 Bc5 (now it is not easy for White to get d2-d4 in) 6 Ne2?! O-O 7 d4 exd4 8 Nexd4 Nxd4 9 Nxd4 and 9 ... Qh4 was probably correct, though I feared 10 Nf5 Qxe4 11 Bd3 (Wolff intended the lame 10 Nb3 Bb6 11 Bd3 d6 with a great position for Black) but instead I chose 9 ... d5!? 10 Nb3 Bd6 11 exd5 Qh4. 4...d6 5.d4 Bd7 6.Bc4 The immediate pressure on f7 is inconvenient for Black. Westerinen once essayed 6 O-O Ng6 7 d5 Nb8 8 Qb3 Qc8 9 Na3. On the direct 6 dxe5 Nxe5! 7 Nxe5 dxe5 is good enough - not 7 ... Bxb5? 8 Nxf7! 6...Na5 7.Be2 Ng6 W. Shipman had played 7 ... Nc6 here against Benjamin, but 8 dxe5 followed by Qd1-b3 would have been strong. Note: Joe Shipman has written extensively on the Cozio, inspired by his father's games, but I am not familiar with Joe's work. In any case, the text solidifies Black's game on the kingside, but leaves the queen's knight out on a limb (rim). 8.d5 b6 9.h4 Taking a potshot at the other knight. On 9 Ba6 I would have played 9 ... Rb8. 9...Be7 10.h5 Nf8 On 10 ... Nh4 11 Nxh4 Bxh4 12 Bg4 White will always be slightly better. From f8 the knight can hop to h7 (after ... h7-h6) and then Black is ready for some kingside counterplay. 11.h6 g6 12.b4 Nb7 13.Ba6 Bc8 14.c4 Nd7 15.Bb2 I did not really understand this move. It has turned out that despite Black's laborious maneuvering, his position is rock solid - there are no targets. 15...0-0 16.Nbd2 An oversight. 16...Nbc5 bc Ba6 c6 Nc5 DIAGRAM Black has dissolved his one poorly placed piece, and despite White's advanced pawn phalanx, Black is doing well because of the initiative brewing with f7-f5. 17.Ba3 The exclamation marks are for the draw offer that accompanied this move. Benjamin could have played the normal 19 ... Qc2 and offered a draw, although Black would be better after 19 ... Bc8 or 19 ... f5. Instead, the draw offer came with a move that allows Black to start an attack - hoping that if I did go for the attack I would overpress and be miserable about not having taken the draw. Moreover, now I had to calculate exactly how strong the attack really is. I decided that since Bonin, my certain next round opponent, is no pushover, I had better pursue the position I had now. 17...Nd3+ 18.Ke2 Nf4+ 19.Kf1 f5 20.exf5 gxf5 21.g3 I had overlooked that this move was perfectly playable, because if 23 ... Nxd5 24 Qa4 Qc8 25 Nxe5. 21...Ng6 22.Qc2 Bc8 Kg2 22...Bf6 23.Bb2 e4 24.Nd4 Be5 I returned the draw offer and was relieved when it was accepted, even though Black is still a little better. 1/2-1/2
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