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Queen's Pawn Openings Analysis Center. A Heritage Event This year's Lloyd's Bank tournament was probably the strongest ever, as many of England's best
players came home to roost in the wake of the London Times World Championship and the current chess fever. At Lloyd's Bank, Jonathan Speelman took top honors. Games between Anthony Miles and Dr. John Nunn are always
classic because of their radically different styles. This time, Miles used the quiet but pervasive Torre Attack to put a bear hug around the famous tactician and squeezed until Nunn surrendered a pawn. This, however,
was a sufficient margin. Miles - Nunn, Lloyd's Bank 1993 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 c3 [Sometimes this is played on move 2, on the theory that White will eventually play the move whether Black plays 2 ... e6 or 2 ... g6.
This worked to good effect in a US Championship game between Kavalek and Browne in which Walter took about 40 minutes to play 2 ... g6.] Bg7 4 Bg5 O-O [An unpopular but not bad move here is 4 ... Ne4; play could
continue 5 Bh4 O-O 6 e3 d5 7 Nbd2 with a slight edge.] 5 Nbd2 d5 [On the Pirc-like 5 ... d6, White usually occupies the center with 6 e4 Nc6 7 Bd3 e5 8 O-O. Then Black's sharpest is 8 ... h6 9 Bh4 Qe8! enabling
... Nh5.] 6 e3 Nbd7 7 Be2 [Putting the bishop on e2 instead of d3 keeps it out of trouble and leaves White some chance of d-file pressure if central paws are exchanged.] Re8 8 O-O [In Rohde - Olafsson, World
Open 1993, I played the extravagant 9 Bf4 here to prevent Black's next, which up until now was considered to be an equalizer.] e5 DIAGRAM 9 Nb3! [Typically, Miles has found a way to put some dynamism into a staid
position. It becomes clear that he has no intention of doing anything in the center and gives Black an opportunity to play ... e4, in which case White's queenside play with c3-c4 will be strong, or to play ... exd4,
after which White will have a small but permanent advantage after cxd4, thanks to the c-file.] c6 10 Rc1 a5 [A sensible decision to gain space. The extreme method 10 ... e4 11 Nfd2 b5 might be met by 12 a4
a6 13 Na1! with the idea of b2-b3 and c3-c4.] 11 c4 a4 [Weak would be the immediate 11 ... dxc4 12 Bxc4 a4? 13 dxe5 or, in this line, 12 ... exd4 13 Nbxd4.] 12 Nbd2 ed [Nunn may have been worried about his
pawn chain after 12 ... e4 13 Ne1 Nf8 14 cxd5 cxd5 15 Nc2. But Black can improve with 13 ... Nb6 14 Nc2 dxc4 15 Nxc4 Nxc4 16 Bxc4 Be6.] 13 Nd4 Qa5? [A false sense of activity is generated by this pin-breaker. The
exchange-seeking 13 ... Nb6 was indicated.] 14 cd Qd5 15 Bf4 Ne5 16 Qc2 Bg4 DIAGRAM 17 Bc4! [Refusing to allow a comforting exchange of minors as 17 ... Nxc4 18 Nxc4 leads to the loss of the a-pawn after 18
... Rad8 19 Nb6, or tremendous pressure after 18 ... Qd8 19 h3 followed by 20 Rfd1.] Qa5 18 h3 Bd7 19 Be2 Rac8 [Black wants to take some squares under his control with either b7-b5 or c6-c5.] 20 Rfd1 b5
[Unfortunately, 20 ... c5 is met by 21 N4f3 Nxf3+ 22 Bxf3 b5 23 Bb7 winning the c-pawn.] 21 N2f3! [Seems to relieve the tension, but actually planning a stunning combination.] Nxf3+ 22 Bxf3 DIAGRAM Nd5
[On the intended 22 ... c5, Miles had prepared 23 Bb7!! cxd4 24 Bxc8 Bxc8 25 Qxc8! Rxc8 26 Rxc8+ Bf8 27 Bh6 Nd7 28 Rxd4 and wins, e.g. 28 ... Qa6 29 Rxf8+ Nxf8 30 Rd8.] 23 Bd6 Qb6 [Tricky was 23 ... Nb6 with ideas
such as 24 Nxc6 Bxc6 25 Bxc6 Re6 26 b3 Bf8! But the cautious 24 b3 followed by Qc2-e2 would be effective.] 24 Qc5 Qxc5 25 Bxc5 [White has established an iron grip on the dark squares and the c6 pawn is weak, but
stubborn resistance may have been afforded with 25 ... Red8 26 b3 axb3 27 axb3 Be8 and if 28 Nxb5 Nxe3. The defense Nunn selects aims to control e4, but has the serious drawback of releasing counterspiel against b2.]
Nf6 DIAGRAM 26 Ba3! [Accurate. b2 is defended so that 26 ... Ne4 is defeated by 27 Nxb5.] Rb8 27 Bd6 Rb6 28 Nxc6 Bxc6 29 Bxc6 Rc8 30 Bb4 [The back rank threat provides for a necessary disentangement.]
Bf8 31 Bxf8 Kxf8 32 Bf3 Rc4 33 Kf1 [Black's advanced queenside would pose technical problems for many players, but Miles makes the extra pawn count quite quickly.] Ke7 34 Ke1 Nd7 35 Bd5 Rxc1 36 Rxc1 b4 37
Rc7 Kd6 38 Ra7 Ne5 39 Bxf7 Nd3+ 40 Kd2 Nxf2 41 Rxa4 Ne4+ 42 Ke2 Rb7 43 Ra6+ Kc5 44 Bb3 Rd7 45 Ra5+ 1 - 0 Timman - Kasparov, VSB rd. 3 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 Bg5 [Even at the world-class level, this move
is often a sign that one just does not feel like the battling the King's Indian right now.] Bg7 4 c3 [This move order is designed to discourage Black from playing an early ... c7-c5. Now if 4 ... c5 5 dxc5 Na6 (5
... Ne4 6 Be3 Na6 7 Bd4, or 6 ... Qc7 7 Qd5), then 6 e4!? is interesting: 6 ... Nxc5 (not 6 ... Ne4?? 7 Bxa6 Nxg5 8 Nxg5 bxa6 9 Qd5) 7 e5 Ng4 8 Bf4 and suddenly WHite is messed up by 8 ... Ne4!] b6 [Most usual is
4 ... O-O 5 Nbd2 d5.] 5 Bxf6 Bxf6 6 e4 Bb7 7 Bd3 c5 8 d5?! [Very committal; it was not necessary and it does not gain time. Moreover, White's bishop will be forced to an awkward post.] e6 9 Bc4 O-O 10 O-O Na6 11
Qd3 Nc7 12 d6 Ne8 13 Nbd2 Bg7 14 h4 [It seems the overprotecting 14 Rad1 was in order here.] a6 15 a4 Qb8 16 e5 f6 17 h5 fxe5 18 hxg6 h6 19 Rfe1 Qxd6 20 Qxd6 Nxd6 21 Nxe5 Bxe5 22 Rxe5 Rf4 23 Bd3 Raf8 24 f3 a5 25
Kf2 Kg7 26 Rh5 Ne8 27 Kg3 Nf6 28 Re5 Nd5 29 Be4 R4f6 30 Nc4 DIAGRAM Nf4!! A brilliant combination, Kasparov finds a way to make his central superiority count. 31 Bxb7 Rxg6+ 32 Kh2 Rxg2+ 33 Kh1 d5 [Now
Black gets the piece back somehow.] 34 Nxb6 Rb8 35 Rxe6 Rxb7 36 Rd6 Rg5 37 Rd1 d4 38 Nc4 Kh7 39 Re1 Rh5+ 40 Kg1 Rg7+ 0 - 1 Kreiman - Rohde 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 Bg5 I felt Kreiman might play the Torre, as
Kreiman mainly plays 1 e4, and the Torre is regarded as a safety valve for 1 e4 players playing 1 d4. 3 ... c5 4 c3 More common is 4 e3. 4 ... cxd4 On 4 ... Qb6, I thought White can play 5 Bxf6!? with the idea 5
... Qxb2 6 Bg5 Qxa1 7 Qc2 menacing Mf3-d2-b3. With the c-pawns gone, this will not work for White. 5 cxd4 Qb6 6 Qc1 Nc6 7 Bxf6 gxf6 8 e3 d5 9 Be2 Bd7 10 Nc3 Rc8 Black has a static pawn formation but he also has
the two bishops and good control of the center. 11 O-O f5? Weak because e5 will be available to the White knight in many lines. Much better was the quiet 11 ... Be7 with a satisfactory position. 12 Qd2 Be7
13 Rfc1 O-O 14 Na4! Now I had to play very carefully to equalize. 14 ... Qa5! 15 Qxa5 Nxa5 16 Nc5 Bc6! The plan is to kick White out with ... b7-b6. Meanwhile, if 17 b4 Nc4 White cannot win a pawn with 18 Bxc4
dxc4 19 Rxc4 due to 19 ... Bxf3 20 gxf3 b6 snaring the knight. 17 Ne5 b6 18 Nb3! A strong move giving White the potential for a pull. Black's next is forced. 18 ... Bb7 19 Nxa5 bxa5 20 Nd7 Rxc1+ 21 Rxc1 Rc8 22 Nc5
White has a small edge. After further vicissitudes, the game ended in a draw. |
