Item 1 – Game (E81)

This is Game 3 from the Semi-Final match between Yasser Seirawan and

Larry Christiansen in the U.S. Championship. (Christiansen eventually

won the match to move on to play Joel Benjamin in the Final match of

the 1997 U.S. Championship.)

[Event "US Championship (Semi-Final)"]

[Site "Chandler"]

[Date "1997.09.05"]

[Round "3"]

[White "Seirawan, Yasser"]

[Black "Christiansen, Larry"]

[Result "0-1"]

[ECO "E81"]

[WhiteElo "2630"]

[BlackElo "2550"]

[PlyCount "70"]

[EventDate "1997.09.03"]

1. d4 d6

In round 1 of their match, Christiansen played the Bogo-Indian

against Seirawan and got a bad game. Here he varies with 1 ... d6,

leading to a sharper game, better suited to Christiansen's style.

2. e4

On 2 Nf3 Black has the irregular 2 ... Bg4, or he can revert to a

King's Indian with 2 ... Nf6. On 2 c4, Black has the extra option of

the Old Indian move 2 ... e5, which is not bad.

Nf6

This is a Pirc Defence right now.

3. f3

A means of transposing into the Saemisch Variation of the King's

Indian. If White had played 3 Nc3 (the normal Pirc move), White's

c-pawn is blocked, and the opening cannot be classified as a King's

Indian Defence.

g6

Also possible is 3 ... e5?! or even 3 ... d5, which would most

likely transpose to a Classical Frenceh after 4 e5 Nfd7.

4. c4 Bg7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Be3

The players have arrived at the main "tabia" for the Saemisch

King's Indian.

a6

Black has many moves at this juncture, including 6 ... e5 (the main

line), 6 ... Nbd7, 6 ... Nc6, 6 ... c6 and 6 ... c5 (a pawn

sacrifice). The text prepares to meet 7 Qd2 with 7 ... Nc6, and Black

is ready for ... Ra8-b8 and ... b7-b5 if White castles queenside.

7. Bd3 c5

A typical positional pawn sacrifice. If now 8 dxc5 dxc5 9 Bxc5 Nc6

and Black's counterplay on the central dark squares is worth a pawn.

8. d5 e6

The position has evolved into a type of Modern Benoni formation.

9. Nge2 exd5 10. cxd5 b5 11. a3

With the square e4 heavily fortified, the prospect of Black playing

... b5-b4 is not a real threat. But Seirawan's plan is to "fix" the

Black queenside and render it immobile. If White succeeds in this, he

can then turn his attention to the kingside unfettered by any

counterplay on the other wing.

Nbd7 12. b4 Qe7 13. O-O Bb7

This move looks inaccurate as the bishop "bites on granite" (i.e.,

White's light-squared pawn chain) from this post. More natural seems

13 ... Ne5 with a view towards developing the bishop on d7 instead.

14. Qd2 Rac8 15. Rab1

White has been enouraged to make this move, as the bishop on b7 is

potentially a sitting duck.

Rfe8 16. Bf2 Ne5

Christiansen was cautious in placing his knight here, as the

exchange ... Ne5xd3 has little intrinsic value - White may be able to

expand in the center more easily as Black would have less control over

the e5 square. Of course, White will not retreat the d3 bishop, as

Black's knight would then cruise into c4.

17. a4

Another step in the thus far successful queenside plan. The pawn on

b5 is softened up, while pawn exchanges are likely to lead to an

isolated pawn for Black. White does not worry about 17 ... c4, as then

on 18 Bc2, the queenside is completely blockaded, and White can go

about the business of preparing f3-f4.

cxb4 18. Rxb4

Black appears to have problems with his b-pawn here.

Bh6!

Now if 19 Qd1 the bishop on h6 is very active, although this may be

the line that White should play; meanwhile if 19 Be3 Bxe3+ 20 Qxe3,

much of the pressure against Black's queenside, emanating from White's

"good" dark-squared bishop, is gone.

19. Qxh6 Nxd3 20. Rd4 Nxf2

There was no question that the dangerous bishop had to be

eliminated.

21. Rxf2 Rc5 22. Qd2 Rec8

Christiansen, a very dangerous tactician, has found a way to obtain

some counterpressure, along the c-file.

23. Rf1 bxa4!

A positional surprise, but Christiansen has calculated ahead.

24. Nxa4 Rc2

Threats against the White knight on e2 will allow Black to start

breaking down White's proud center.

25. Qd3 Nxd5 26. Rb1

Trying to convince Black's knight on d5 to go away, by means of the

threat Rb1xb7 followed by capturing on d5.

Qe5!!

Now if 27 Rxb7 Rxe2 and Rc1+ is threatened.

27. exd5 Rxe2 28. Re4

A way of both exchanging off Black's very dangerous rook, and

shoring up the d5 point through the forced exchange.

Rxe4 29. fxe4 Rc7

Now Black is a clean pawn up, and although his bishop on b7 is a

little awkward, so is the knight on a4, which must remain there to

guard against an invasion with ... Rc7-c3.

30. Rd1 Bc8 31. Nb6

Trying to embarrass the bishop.

Rc3 32. Qd4

White had to play 33 Qe2 here.

Rc1! 33. Qd2

Forced, to avoid loss of material.

Rxd1+ 34. Qxd1 Bb7

A very subtle trap. Also good was 34 ... Bg4 as 35 Qxg4 Qd4+ is

super for Black.

35. Qa4?

A natural move, holding both d4 and e4. However, the only move was

35 Qb1!, physically defending both e4 and the errant knight on b6.

Qc3!

Suddenly, there is no defence to the twin threats of 36 ... Qe1

mate and 36 ... Qc5+ picking off the knight. If 36 Kf1 Qc1+ 37 Kf2

Qb2+ wins.

0-1

One of Akiba Rubinstein's greatest legacies is the family of

super-stodgy defenses descending from the French 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3

dxe4. And while, after 4 Nxe4, 4 ... Nd7, 4 ... Be7 and 4 ... Nf6 are

equally annoying, the crown prince of this system is 4 ... Bd7, which

envisions multiple exchanges to dampen White's initiative.

This system was used quite effectively against me at the June

Action Championship at the Marshall Chess Club by IM Danny Shapiro. I

tried an attacking system, but forgot the analysis, and Shapiro got a

solid game while I was floundering in time pressure.

At the 1993 Geneva Open, then-22-year-old IM Mikhail Golubev faced

the 4 ... Bd7 system in the French Defence twice. Golubev borrowed an

idea that has proved dangerous in the Caro-Kann, and used it to

brilliant effect, hammering 2 peacefully-inclined opponents, and

deterring others from believing that a fortress can be created right

out of the opening.

Danny Shapiro played a little differently than Golubev's opponents!

Rohde - Shapiro, NY June Action Championship

1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Bd7

[Among American players, IMs Jay Bonin and Walter Shipman are known

to trot this out on occasion.]

5 Nf3 Bc6 6 Bd3 Nd7

[Necessary to cover the e5 square.]

7 O-O

[Interesting is 7 c4 to plan a knight retreat to c3. Then 7 ...

Ngf6 8 Nc3 Be7 9 O-O Bxf3! (else 9 d5!) 10 Qxf3 c6 was reasonably

solid for Black in Klovan - Noguieras, Jurmala 1978.]

Ngf6 8 Neg5!

[Reminiscent of the Caro variation 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 dxe4 4

Nxe4 Nd7 5 Bd3 Ngf6 6 Ng5 which has caused Black so many headaches

recently. Sacs on e6 crop up because of the absence of the

white-squared bishop. Previously 8 Ng3 was considered the main move to

"preserve" chances, as 8 Qe2 is too tame after 8 ... Nxe4 9 Bxe4 Bxe4

10 Qxe4 c6. A good example of 8 Ng3 is Cholmov - Dymerski, Poland

1992, which continued 8 ... Be7 9 c4 O-O (Some players would snap 9

... Bxf3 at the first sign of trouble.) 10 Ne5 Nxe5 11 dxe5 Nd7 12

Qh5!? g6 13 Qe2 and Black should have joined the battle with 13 ...

Nxe5! (14 Qxe5 Qxd3 15 Bh6 f6 16 Qxe6+ Rf7) instead of accepting

permanent passivity after 13 ... Nc5 14 Bc2.]

Bd6!

[In Golubev - Scher, Geneva 1993, Scher, obviously on "show-me" mode,

played 8 ... h6, and after 9 Nxe6 fxe6 10 Bg6+ Ke7 11 c4 was facing

destruction by 12 d5, and 11 ... Be4 12 Nh4 does not help. So Black tried

11 ... Bxf3 12 Qxf3 Nb6 13 Re1 Now 13 ... Qxd4 is unappetizing due to 14

Qxb7 Rd8 15 Be3 and the solid-looking 13 ... c6 14 Bf5 Qd7 can be met

simply by 15 Qh3. Scher played 13 ... Nxc4, trying to clear the d5 square

for his queen, but he was rudely awakened by 14 Rxe6+! Kxe6 15 Qe2+. In

the face of paralyzing bishop checks coming on f5 and f4, Black essayed

the confusing 15 ... Ne3, but Golubev finished him off artfully: 16 Qe3+

Kd6 17 Qg3+ Kc6 18 Qc3+ Kb6 19 Qb3+ Kc6 20 Bf4 b5 21 Rc1+ Kb6 22 a4 Qd5

23 Bxc7+ Kb7 24 Be4! 1 - 0 Instead of 8 ... Bd6, 8 ... Be7 would not

be good because 9 Qe2 renews the possibility of 9 ... h6 10 Nxe6, and

after 9 ... O-O 10 Ne5 Black just has a bad position.]

9 Re1 h6 10 Nh3

[It looks like Black is doing well because of the awkward position

of White's knights, but White still has the nucleus of a strong

kingside attack - he will play Nf3-e5, and if the Black knight is

driven off f6 White will have Qd1-g4. To prevent this Epishin burrows

a hole for his queen bishop. but it may have been better to ditch it

with 10 ... Bxf3! 11 Qxf3 c6, and Black, after castling on either

side, can play for the equalizing break ... e6-e5. Note that 10 ...

g5? works out badly after 11 Ne5 Bxe5 12 dxe5 Nd5 13 Qh5.]

Bxf3!

[Golubev - Epishin, Geneva 1993 instead continued 10 ... b6?! 11

Ne5 Bb7 12 Bb5! (Although the bishop does not want to leave its juicy

post on d3, this move snuffs out the long diagonal and creates play

against the resulting weak white squares. Black cannot afford 12 ...

Bxe5 13 dxe5 Nd5 14 Qg4.) O-O 13 Bc6 Rb8 (Taking on e5 loses

material.) 14 Bxb7 Rxb7 15 Qf3 Qc8 16 Qg3 Kh7 17 Qh4 c5 18 Bxh6!! gxh6

19 Ng5+ Kg7 20 Re3 cxd4? (Also weak was 20 ... hxg5?? 21 Qxg5+ Kh8 22

Rh3+ Nh7 23 Qh6 and it's over. A better defense was 20 ... Bxe5! 21

dxe5 - There is no point to 21 Rh3 Ng8 - Ng8. After 22 Rg3? Kh8, both

23 Re1 and 23 Qf4 can be met by 23 ... Nxe5! followed by 24 ... f6. Or

23 Ne4 Nxe5 24 Rxg8+ Kxg8 25 Nf6+ Kg7 26 Nh5+ Kh7 27 Qf6 Rg8 28 Qxe5

Rg5. And on 23 f4 Black has 23 ... Qc6, stopping 24 Ne4 and preparing

24 ... f6. After 23 ... Qc6 24 Qh5 Nb8 hangs tough. But White has

better on his 22nd. The direction-switching 22 Ne4! menaces 23 Rg3+

Kh8 24 Qg4, and 22 ... Nxe5 is bested by 23 Nd6 Ng6 24 Qe4. Therefore,

22 ... Kh8 is forced. Then after 23 Nd6 Qc6 24 Qh5 White is doing

well. Extremely tricky is 20 ... Ng8!! which could transpose into a

previous line after 21 Rg3 Bxe5! 22 dxe5 Kh8. After 20 ... Ng8 21

Nxe6+? fxe6 22 Rg3+ Kh8! (not 22 ... Kh7? 23 Qe4+) holds. And on 21

Ngxf7 Bxe5! is again sufficient! White's best would be 21 Ne4! Then 21

... Bxe5 22 dxe5 is good for White, as noted above. But Black has 21

... Nxe5!! 22 Nxd6 Ng6, with continuing complications and an unclear

position after 23 Qe4 Qc7 24 Nxb7 Rb8.) 21 Rg3! and Black could not

recover.]

11 Qxf3 c6 12 Bf4?

[Correct was 12 Nf4 and if 12 ... O-O (Korchnoi gives 12 ... Qa5

followed by castling long) 13 Nh5 Re8 14 Bd2, and Korchnoi - Dreev,

Brno 1992 continued 14 ... e5? (better is, for example, 14 ... a5) 15

Nxg7! e4 16 Qh3 Kxg7 17 Qxh6+ Kg8 18 Bc4 Re7 19 Qg6+ and the game was

drawn, but 19 Bb4!! Bxb4 20 Re3 would have won.]

Qc7

[Now White has absolutely nothing!]

13 c3 g5 14 Bxd6 Qxd6 15 Qg3

[Ignominious scrambling is necessary, to deal with the plight of

the knight on h3.]

Qxg3 16 hxg3 O-O-O 17 Rad1 c5 18 Bc2 cxd4 19 Rxd4 e5 20 Rc4+

[Another awkward move by a heavy piece, to avoid the sting of ...

g5-g4.]

Kb8 21 Kf1

[White has worked hard to obtain equality!]

Nb6 22 Rb4 Rd2 23 Bb3 Nfd5 24 Rbe4

In the ensuing time scramble, I managed to come out on top and win

In the Chicago Open (held Memorial Day Weekend 1997), many top players

chose to battle it out in sharp variations of the Sicilian Defence.

The first 3 games below concern the Najdorf; the last game is a

Richter-Rauzer.

For another sharp Najdorf, fully analyzed, see issue 1.9: Shabalov -

Browne, also from the Chicago Open.

***

In round 2 of the 3-day, Ziatdinov's tried his pet 7 Qe2!? , but

Najdorf Variation maven Wojtkiewicz brushed it off without too much

trouble.

[Event "Chicago Open 3-day G/75"]

[Site "?"]

[Date "1997.??.??"]

[Round "2"]

[White "Ziatdinov, R."]

[Black "Wojtkiewicz, A."]

[Result "0-1"]

[ECO "B95"]

[WhiteElo "2522"]

[BlackElo "2686"]

[PlyCount "49"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qe2

Be7 8. h4 Bd7 9. O-O-O b5 10. a3 Nc6 11. Nxc6 Bxc6 12. Rh3 h6 13. Bxf6

Bxf6 14. f4 Qe7 15. Qe1 g5 16. e5 dxe5 17. fxe5 Bg7 18. Rd6 Rc8 19.

Rg3 Bb7 20. b4 Rd8 21. Nxb5 axb5 22. Bxb5+ Kf8 23. Rgd3 Rxd6 24. exd6

Qf6 25. Qe3 0-1

In Round 4, however, this battle of Najdorf-heads went in deFirmian's

favor,

as he was able to prepare and push through the space-gaining 19 e5!,

subjecting Black's kingside to severe pressure.

[Event "Chicago Open"]

[Site "?"]

[Date "1997.??.??"]

[Round "4"]

[White "de Firmian, N."]

[Black "Wojtkiewicz, A."]

[Result "1-0"]

[ECO "B85"]

[WhiteElo "2636"]

[BlackElo "2686"]

[PlyCount "77"]

[EventDate "1997.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. a4

Nc6 8. Be3 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. f4 Re8 11. Kh1 Qc7 12. Bf3 Na5 13. Bg1

Bf8 14. Qe1 Rb8 15. Rd1 b6 16. b4 Nc4 17. b5 Bb7 18. bxa6 Bxa6 19. e5

dxe5 20. Ncb5 Bxb5 21. Nxb5 Qc8 22. fxe5 Nd5 23. Rd4 Rd8 24. Qe2 Na5

25. Be4 g6 26. Qf3 Rd7 27. Bxd5 exd5 28. Rxd5 Qc6 29. Rxd7 Qxd7

30. Nd6 Bg7 31. Qxf7+ Qxf7 32. Nxf7 Nc4 33. e6 Re8 34. Re1 Bf8 35. g4

Nb2 36. Bxb6 Nxa4 37. Bd4 Rc8 38. g5 Be7 39. Rf1 1-0

The main attraction in Round 5, after all the schedules had merged,

was Shabalov - deFirmian. No one was disappointed as the players

quickly headed for the treacherous waters of the Poisoned Pawn

Variation.

[Event "Chicago Open"]

[Site "?"]

[Date "1997.??.??"]

[Round "5"]

[White "Shabalov, A."]

[Black "de Firmian, N."]

[Result "1/2-1/2"]

[ECO "B97"]

[WhiteElo "2624"]

[BlackElo "2636"]

[PlyCount "94"]

[EventDate "1997.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4

Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Nb3 Nc6 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Na4 Qa3 12. Nb6 Rb8 13.

Nc4 Qa4 14. a3 b5 15. Nxd6+ Bxd6 16. Qxd6 Qxe4+ 17. Be2

17... Bb7?

Las Vegas master Danny Olim gives 17 ... Qd5 as only slightly better

for White.

18. O-O-O! Rd8 19. Qc7 Qe3+ 20. Kb2 Qxe2 21. Rhe1 Qh5 22. g4 Qxg4 23.

Qxb7 Rxd1 24. Qxc6+ Ke7 25. Qc5+ Ke8 26. h3 Qf3 27. Nd4 Rxd4 28. Qxd4

Rg8 29. Rd1?

Olim points out that 29 Re3 would have been very strong. Now Nick

salvages a draw.

29... Qd5 30. Qxd5 exd5 31. Rxd5 Ke7 32. Rh5 Rg3 33. Rxh7

Rf3 34. Rh4 Ke6 35. a4 bxa4 36. f5+ Kxf5 37. Rxa4 Rxh3 38. Rxa6 Kg5

39. Ra7 Kg6 40. Kc1 f5 41. Kd2 f4 42. Ke2 f6 43. c4 Kf5 44. Kf2 Rc3

45. c5 Rxc5 46. Ra8 Rc2+ 47. Kf3 Rc3+ 1/2-1/2

In Round 7, Ziatdinov showed his theoretical knowledge by using

an oft-overlooked forcing line involving a pawn sacrifice, starting

with 9 Bh4, in the Richter-Rauzer against Serper.

[Event "Chicago Open"]

[Site "?"]

[Date "1997.??.??"]

[Round "7"]

[White "Ziatdinov, R."]

[Black "Serper, G."]

[Result "1-0"]

[ECO "B66"]

[WhiteElo "2522"]

[BlackElo "2656"]

[PlyCount "67"]

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

a6 8. O-O-O h6 9. Bh4 Nxe4 10. Qf4 Ng5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Qa4 Qb6 13.

f4 Nh7 14. f5 Rb8 15. Bc4 Be7 16. Bxe7 Kxe7 17. fxe6 Bxe6 18. Bxe6

fxe6 19. Qg4 Qe3+ 20. Rd2 Rhg8 21. Nd1 Qe5 22. Qc4 Rb6 23. Qd3 Nf6

24. Re1 Qc5 25. Qh3 e5 26. Ne3 Nd5 27. Qh4+ Kd7 28. Qg4+ Kc7 29. Qe6

Rc8 30. Rd3 Kb8 31. Nxd5 Qf2 32. Qxd6+ Kb7 33. Qe7+ Kb8 34. Qxe5+ 1-0

Item 4 – a Najdorf game with good notes.

Shabalov - Browne, Chicago Open 1996, Rd. 3 [B96]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5

[The reason this variation has lost some popularity for White is

not that it isn't strong, but that Black has an incredible number of

choices, and White must be heavily prepared for all of them. Now,

aside from 6 ... e6, Black can steer the game into the

Richter-Rauzer with 6 ... Nc6 7 Qd2 (White can vary with 7 Bxf6) e6,

or play 6 ... Nbd7, but then 7 Bc4 has a good repuration.]

e6 7. f4

[Now the big choices for Black are 7... Be7 (the Main Line), 7 ...

b5 (the Polugaevsky), 7 ... Qb6 (the Poisoned Pawn), 7 ... Qc7 (a

Kasparov favorite which prepares ... b7-b5) and 7 ... Nbd7

(generally transposes to the Main Line). Lesser known are 7 ... Nc6

(as in this game), 7 ... h6 (which can transpose to the game or to

the Goteborg Variation after 8 Bh4 Be7 9 Qf3 g5!?) and the highly

unusual 7 ... Bd7.

Nc6 8. e5

[Along with 8 Nxc6, the critical move. Generally White can insert

Nd4xc6 at any point in this series of moves; Black is not about to

help White develop by playing ... Nc6 xd4 himself. Other 8th move

alternatives for White are 8 Qd2, transposing to the Richter-Rauzer,

and the excessively quiet 8 Be2 h6 9 Bh4 Qb6 10 Nb3 Qe3 11 Bxf6 gxf6

12 g3 (better is 12 Rf1) Be7 13 Qd3 with equality in Ljubojevic -

Andersson, Stockholm 1980.]

h6 9. Bh4 g5

[In Ljubojevic - Ivanchuk, Tilburg 1989, Ivanchuk played the

different idea 9 ... dxe5 10 Nxc6 Qxd1 11 Rxd1 bxc6 12 fxe5 Nd5

(Weak is 12 ... Nd7 13 Ne4) 13 Ne4 and White stood better after 13

... Be7 14 Bf2!? (steadier are 14 Bxe7 or 14 Nd6+) Rb8 15 Bd4. In

Brodskij - Rechel, Groningen Open 1993, Rechel tried Ivanchuk's

recommendation 13 ... Rb8; after 14 b3! (not 14 c4? Rxb2! with

advantage) he followed it up with the wild 14 ... g5 - this enables

Black to play Bf8-b4+ without allowing c2-c3 - 15 Bg3 Bb4+ 16 Ke2

f5?! 17 ef e5 18 Kf3! g4+ (18 ... Bg4+ 19 Kxg4 Ne3+ 20 Kf3 Nxd1 21

Bxe5 and White wins) 19 Kf2 Bf5 20 Bxe5 and White later consolidated

and won.]

10. fxg5 Nd5 11. Nxd5!

Shabalov makes sure that he is the first to vary from their game from

the 1994 U.S. Championship. That game continued 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Ne4

(12 Nxd5?! cxd5 13 Qg4 and 13 ... dxe5 14 g6 f5 15 Bd8! fxg4 Bf6 was

good for White in Panajotov - Sandler, Albena 1989, but Black could

have played 13 ... Be7) Qb6 13. Bd3 hxg5 (not 13 ... Qe3+ as in

Vitolins - Sandler, USSR 1989, which continued 14 Qe2 Qxe2+ 15 Bxe2

dxe5 16 g6! with a serious advantage. Also weak is 13 ... Qxb2 which

lets White castle without first blocking the f-file with Bh4-f2: 14

O-O Qxe5 15 Qf3 is good), and then White can try either 14 Bxg5 or 14

Bf2. In Shabalov - Bronwe, US Champ. 1994, Shabalov selected 14. Bf2

Qxb2 15. 0-0 Qxe5 16. Bg3 Qd4+ 17. Kh1 Now the game Vitolins -

Shabalov(!), USSR 1990, continued 17 ... Ne3 18 Qf3 Nxf1 19 Rxf1 f5

20 c3! g4 21 Qe2 Qg7 22 Rxf5! with advantage. But Browne found 17 ...

f5!! 18. c3 Nxc3 19. Nxc3 Qxc3 20. Rc1 Qa5 with an unclear position,

as although Black is 3 pawns up, he is still completely undeveloped!

Nevertheless, Browne later consolidated and won. But a less radical

alternative on White's fourteenth is 14 Bxg5. Then, in Castaneda -

Browne, World Open 1997, Walter immediately blundered with 14 ...

Rxh2?? After 15 Rxh2 Qg1+ 16 Bf1 Qxh2, Black was hammered with 17

Qxd5!!, and White will recover the queen with a winning advantage -

after 17 ... exd5 White mopped up with 18 Nf6+ Ke7 19. Ng4+ Ke6 20.

Nxh2 dxe5 21. Be2 f6 22. Bd2 Bd6 23. O-O-O e4 24. Rh1 d4 25. Ng4 e3

26. Ba5 Bf4 27. Nxf6. The right way, after 14 Bxg5, is 14 ... Qxb2.

Then Luther - Leyva, Havana 1992 continued sharply with 15. Nf6+ Nxf6

16. Bxf6 Qc3+ 17. Kf1 Rh6 18. Rb1 d5 (better than 18 ... dxe5? 19 Bg5

and White's threats, including Bf3-e4, are too strong) 19. Qf3 a5 20.

h4 Be7 21. Qf4 Rh5 22. g4 and White seems to have the better chances.

11... exd5 12. exd6 Bxd6 13. Qe2+

Shabalov's idea is calm development, hoping to take advantage of

Black's structural weaknesses later. For his part, Browne has decent

control of space, and tactical chances based on White's relative lack

of development. One wonders, however, whether Black's king will ever

find a comfortable home.

Kf8 14. O-O-O Nxd4

Better than 14 ... hxg5 15 Bf2 when the White bishop is ready to come to

d4.

15. Rxd4 hxg5 16. Bf2 Be6 17. Qd2 Qf6 18.Bd3!

Very methodical. Once White gets his pieces out, Black's loose king

position could begin to tell. Thus, Shabalov does not concern

himself with defending the h-pawn.

Rxh2

Rejecting 18 ... Bc5 19 c3 Rh6 (preparing to win the Exchange) as

White is in control after 20 Rf1! Bxd4 21 Bxd4 Qe7 22 Qe3 and Qe3-e5

is in the air.

19. Rxh2 Bxh2 20. Be3 Rc8 21. Rb4 Rc7 22. Bxg5 Qe5 23. Rh4 Bg3 24.

Rh1

White has recovered his pawn and consolidated the initiative.

d4 25. b3!

It will be very difficult for Black's dark-squared bishop to reach

this side of the board.

Ke8 26. Kb2 Rc5 27. Bh4 Bf4 28. Qb4

Finally, Shabalov makes an exploratory probe.

b5 29. Bf6

Virtually forcing Browne to sacrifice the Exchange.

Rxc2+ 30. Kxc2 Qxf6 31. Qc5 Be3 32. Kb1 Qg7 33. Be4 Kd7 34. Qa7+

Kd6 35. Qb8+

Sending the king on a trip.

Kc5 36. Qc7+ Kb4 37. a3+ Kxa3 38. Qc5+ 1-0

If 38 ... Kxb3 39 Bc2 mate or 38 ... b4 39 Qa5+ Kxb3 40 Qa2+ Kc3 41

Qc2 mate.

Item 5 – 6 annotated games

[Event "1997 New York Open"]

[Site "Manhattan, New York City"]

[Date "1997.04.02"]

[Round "1"]

[White "Morozevich, Alexander"]

[Black "Ippolito, Dean"]

[Result "0-1"]

[ECO "C42"]

[WhiteElo "2595"]

[BlackElo "2280"]

[PlyCount "158"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6

This move, once considered a speculative alternative to 6 ... Be7 or 6

... Nc6, is now a mainstream option.

7. O-O O-O 8. c4 c6 9. Nc3

An important juncture. On 9 Qc2 Na6! is a sound pawn sacrifice.

Also to be considered is 9 cxd5 cxd5 10 Nc3, to give Black an isolated

queen's pawn. Then Tkachiev - Ye Rongguang, Jakarta 1994 saw 10 ...

Nxc3 11 bxc3 Bg4 12 Rb1 b6 13 Rb5 (the prelude to an Exchange

sacrifice introduced by Nigel Short) [ANALYSIS DIAGRAM] Bc7 (not 13

... a6? 14 Rxd5! Bxh2+ 15 Nxh2! winning two bishops for a rook) 14 h3

a6 (if 14 ... Bh5? 15 c4) 15 hxg4 axb5 16 Qc2 with an unclear

position.

Nxc3 10. bxc3 dxc4 11. Bxc4 Bg4 12. Qd3

The most aggressive approach. Another possibility is 12 h3 Bh5 13 Re1

Nd7 14 Bf1 Qc7 14 c4 as in Kuczynski - Barua, Manila 1992.

Nd7

If Black wants to avoid the forthcoming complications, he can drop his

bishop back with 12 ... Bh5, after which White's most accurate seems

to be 13 Bg5 Qc7 14 Rae1 Nd7 15 Be7, Chandler - Barua, Thessaloniki

1988.

13. Ng5

Now the play is virtually forced.

Nf6 14. h3 Bh5

Way too passive is 14 ... Bd7 15 Re1 h6?! 16 Nxf7 Rxf7 17 Qg6 Qf8 18

Bxh6.

15. f4 h6 16. g4 hxg5 17. fxg5

The critical position. White is recovering the piece he has invested,

and his attack still looks to be brewing.

Nxg4

In Nunn - Salov, Brussels 1988, 17 ... b5 18 Bb3 was thrown in.

18. hxg4 Qd7

Black cannot play 18 ... Bxg4 19 g6 Be6 (or 19 ... Qh4 20 Bxf7+ Kh8 21

Bf4 and Black is in big trouble) 20 Rxf7! Bxf7 21 Qh3!

19. Qh3?!

In the Nunn - Salov game, 20 Qf5 was played in the analogous position

(with ... b7-b5 and Bc4-b3 thrown in). After 20 ... Bxg4 21.Qxd7 Bxd7

22.Rxf7 Rxf7 23.g6 Be8 24.Be3 a5 Black was ok. Back to our game, 19

Qf5 would be better than Morozevich's 19 Qh3. The big question is

whether Ippolito had an improvement in store if White

captured the bishop with 19 gxh5. Theory gives 19 ... Qd7 19.gxh5 Qg4+

20.Kf2 Rae8 21.Rg1 Qh4+ 22.Kg2 b5 23.Bb3 and then in Short - Huebner,

Tilburg 1988, Black blundered with 23 ... c5? 24 Rh1, while in Psakhis

- Mikhalcisin, Klaipeda 1988, White also won after 23 ... Re4 24.Qf3

Bh2 25.Rh1 Rg4+ 26.Kf1 Rg3 27.Qxc6 Qh3+ 28.Kf2 Qf5+ 29.Ke1 Rc8 30.Be6.

Bxg4 20. Qh4 Bf5

Now Black, with his extra pawn and more compact king position, has

a clear advantage. Still, Morozevich tries to get something going on

the h-file.

21. Bf4 Bxf4 22. Rxf4 b5 23. Bb3 Rae8 24. Raf1 Bg6 25. Qh1 Re3 26. Rh4

Bh5

Neatly thwarting all of the threats. Now White has to scramble to

avoid a mating attack.

27. Qh2 Re2 28. Rf2 Re1+ 29. Kg2 Qe7 30. Qg3 Bg6 31. Kh2 Be4 32. Qf4

g6 33. Qf6 Qxf6 34. Rxf6 Re2+

Ippolito went on to convert his extra pawn in the endgame.

35. Kg3 Bd5 36. Bxd5 cxd5 37. Rf2 Re3+ 38. Rf3 Rxf3+ 39. Kxf3 Rc8 40.

Kf4 Rxc3 41. Ke5 Rc2 42. Kxd5 b4 43. a3 bxa3 44. Rh3 Ra2 45. Kd6

Ra1 46. d5 f6 47. Re3 fxg5 48. Ke7 Rd1 49. Rxa3 Rxd5 50. Rxa7 Rf5 51.

Ke6 Rf4 52. Ke5 Rf7 53. Ra1 Kg7 54. Rg1 Rf5+ 55. Ke6 Ra5 56. Rg2 Ra1

57. Ke5 Re1+ 58. Kd4 g4 59. Kd3 Kf6 60. Kd2 Re4 61. Kd3 Kf5 62. Rg1

Rf4 63. Ke2 Rf3 64. Rb1 Kf4 65. Rb6 Kg3 66. Rxg6 Rf8 67. Rg7 Kh3 68.

Rh7+ Kg2 69. Rg7 g3 70. Rg6 Kh2 71. Rh6+ Kg1 72. Rg6 g2 73. Rg7 Rf5

74. Rg8 Re5+ 75. Kf3 Rf5+ 76. Ke2 Rh5 77. Kf3 Rh3+ 78. Ke2 Kh1 79. Kf2

Rh2 0-1

[Site "1997 New York Open (Weekend)"] [Site "Manhattan, New York

City"]

[Date "1997.03.29"]

[Round "3"]

[White "Shabalov, Alexander "]

[Black "Ashley, Maurice"]

[Result "*"]

[ECO "B66"]

[WhiteElo "2555"]

[BlackElo "2465"]

[PlyCount "82"]

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

a6 8. O-O-O h6 9. Be3 Bd7

In Smirin - Yermolinsky from round 4 of this event, 9 ... Be7 was

played.

10. f3

This setup envisions an "English Attack" with g2-g4-g5 using a lever

against the h6 pawn should Black castle on the kingside.

b5 11. Kb1 Ne5

A provocative move which Ashley has experimented with several times,

figuring that White has already committed his f-pawn to f3.

However, White's powerful knight on d4 is no longer marked, and White

can try to push through in the center.

12. Bd3

It is true that 12 f4 b4! is not that impressive for White, but

preparing with 12 a3! instead gives White good possibilities after 12

... Rc8 13 f4.

b4 13. Nce2 d5!?

An "efficient" defense of the pawn on b4, although the opening of the

center can be harrowing. Also possible was 13 ... a5.

14. exd5 Nxd5 15. Nf4

Shabalov is looking to exploit his superior development by ridding the

board of Black's centralized knights. 15 Be4 would not have been

threatening due to loss of control of the c4 square.

Nxe3 16. Qxe3 Bd6 17. Ndxe6!

White has to strike before Black's positional trumps (strong

dark-squared bishop, good central control, possible queenside

counterattack) become the dominant factors.

Bxe6

Not 17 ... fxe6 18 Ng6 recovering the material as 18 ... Nxg6 19 Bxg6+

Ke7 20 Qd4 is crushing.

18. Nxe6 fxe6 19. f4 Nxd3

Best. By huddling his pieces together, Black will just barely be able

to preserve his extra piece.

20. Rxd3 Qe7 21. Qb6 Rd8 22. Rhd1 Qc7 23. Qxa6 Ke7

White has picked up a couple of pawns for the bishop, and Black

has lost the right to castle. Black has the better practical chances,

as he may be able to untangle.

24. Re3 Rhe8 25. f5

It is a very good idea to both open the position, and reduce the

number of pawns on the board.

Kf7 26. fxe6+ Rxe6 27. Rxe6 Kxe6 28. Qd3 Be7 29. Qg6+ Bf6 30. Re1+ Kd6

31. a3 Qc5 32. Qf7 Kc6 33. Re6+ Rd6 34.

Rxd6+ Qxd6 35. Qc4+ Qc5 36. Qxb4 Qg1+ 37. Ka2 Qxg2 38. Qc4+ Kd6 39.

Qb4+ Kc6 40. Qc4+ Kd6 41. Qb4+ Kc6 1/2 - 1/2

Yee (2325) - Dorobanov (2365) [A04]

NY Open, Manhattan (4), 1997

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 Nf6 4.g3

Black is not yet threatening the e-pawn, as 4 ... Nxe4?? runs into 5

Qa4+. However, 4 g3 is not particularly congruous with 3 c3, as the

idea of building a big pawn center is immediately scuttled. More

common are 4 Be2, and 4 h3 followed by 5 Bd3 (the Kopec System).

Nc6 5.d3 g6 6.Bg2 Bg7 7.0-0 0-0 8.h3

I would prefer 8 Re1 to prevent Black's next.

c4! 9.Na3 cxd3 10.Qxd3 Nd7

An active move which is better than the routine 10...Bd7 11.Rd1 Qc8

12.Kh2.

11.Rd1 Nc5 12.Qe2

12 Qc2 can also be played - on 12 ... f5 13 Ng5 is a good answer, as

13 ... h6 can be met by 14 Be3!

12...b6!

An enterprising move which should turn out ok. Again, 12 ... f5 seems

to merely weaken Black's position.

13.Bg5

Nick Dorobanov gives the following variations after the challenging

move 13 e5 - "13.e5?! Ba6 A) 14.Nb5 Bxe5 (14...d5÷) 15.Nxe5 Nxe5

16.Bh6 Re8 (16...Bxb5 17.Qxb5 Re8 18.Bf4 Qd7 19.Qxd7

Nexd7 20.Bxa8 Rxa8) 17.Bxa8 Qxa8 18.f4 Nf3+! (18...Qf3 19.Qxf3 Nxf3+

20.Kf2 Bxb5 21.Kxf3 Bc6+ 22.Ke3=) 19.Kf1 (19.Kf2 Ne4+! 20.Ke3 Nxg3

21.Qxf3 Nf5+ 22.Kf2 Qxf3+ 23.Kxf3 Bxb5 24.Bg5 h6-+) 19...Ne4 20.Qd3

Nxg3+ 21.Kf2 Nf5; B) 14.Qc2 Bxe5! 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.Bxa8 Qxa8;" Nick

also mentions 13 c4 as possibly White's best.

13...Ba6?!

13 ... h6 was indicated here, while Black had the chance. Also the

simple 13 ... Bb7 should be considered.

14.Qe3 f6!?

A move motivated by the sudden twin menaces of 15 b4 and 15 e5.

15.b4

Better was 15.Bh6 Bxh6 16.Qxh6 Ne5 17.Nd4 with a slight edge. Yee

decides to use his threat of b2-b4, rather than holding it in

abeyance, becuase of the resulting tactical possibilities.

fxg5 16.bxc5 bxc5 17.Nxg5 Qa5 18.Nb1

Probably White should play the main idea with 18.e5 Nxe5

19.Bxa8 Rxa8 although Black clearly has good compensation for the

Exchange.

18...Qa4

Beginning the process of shoring up Black's light-square weaknesses.

19.Nd2 Nd4?!

Dorobanov later criticized this move, which gives up two pieces for a

rook and pawn, and gets Black to an endgame, preferring instead 19 ...

Bc8, slowly but surely consolidating his middlegame edge.

20.cxd4 Bxd4 21.Qb3+ Qxb3 22.Nxb3

Not 22.axb3 Rxf2

Bxa1 23.Rxa1 c4 24.Nd4 Rab8 25.Nc6

Black still seems to have good chances in the endgame, because of the

monster c-pawn. Possibly defensive measures with 25 Nge6! Rfc8 26 Bf1

Rb6 27 Rc1 would have been better.

Rb2 26.f4 c3 27.e5 Bd3!

Driving home the point about the c-pawn. Ineffective would be

27...Rxg2+?! 28.Kxg2 Bb7 29.Rc1 Bxc6+ 30.Kh2, and 27...c2 is met by

28.Be4.

28.Bd5+ Kh8 29.Nd4 c2 30.Nxc2 Bxc2

Finally Black is up a clean Exchange.

31.exd6 exd6 32.Re1 Rb1 33.Rxb1 Bxb1 34.Kf2 Rb8 35.Bb3 Bxa2 36.Bxa2

Rb2+ 37.Ke3 Rxa2 38.Nf7+ Kg7 39.Nxd6 Ra3+ 40.Kf2 a5 0-1

Gulko,Boris (2595) - Zviaginsev,Vadim (2610) [A40] NY Open (6), 1997

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 b6

This move signals Black's intention to play a Queen's Fianchetto

Defence rather than any old Indian Defence, as White is allowed to

establish pawns on c4, c4 and e4.

3.d4 Bb4 4.Bd2

Avoiding discussion of 4 e4 Bb7 5 Bd3 f5! with significant pressure on

the long diagonal.

Nf6 5.e4

A strange twist: now Gulko welcomes 5 ... Bxc3 6 Bxc3 Nxe4 7 Qg4,

meanwhile staking his claim to e4 when the lever ... f7-f5 has become

unavailable.

Bb7 6.f3

Good only for Black was 6 e5 Bxc3 7 Bxc3 Ne4.

Nh5!

For Black to make headway in chipping away at the center, he must get

... f7-f5 in. Instead, 6 ... d5 7 cxd5 exd5 8 e5 would be positional

hari-kari.

7.Nh3

7 Nge2 may be stronger. Then 7 ... f5 can be met by either 8 Qc2 or 8

exf5 exf5 9 Qc2.

f5 8.a3?!

Very provocative. After 8 exf5 exf5 9 Ne2! is one interesting

possibility, as White endeavors to castle queenside. And if Black

tries 8 ... Qh4+ (instead of 8 ... exf5) then 9 Nf2 Qxd4 10 fxe6 is

not bad.

Bxc3 9.Bxc3 fxe4 10.fxe4 Qh4+ 11.Nf2 0-0 12.g3 Qf6 13.Qe2 Nc6

Trouble is coming from a new direction. Now there is nothing to be

gained by 14 Qe3 e5.

14.0-0-0 Qxf2 15.Qxh5 Qe3+ 16.Kb1 Nb4!

Not 16 ... Qxe4+?? 17 Bd3, but the text brings ominous threats. Gulko

tries to shut off the long diagonal.

17.d5 Qxe4+ 18.Ka1 Rf5

Zviaginsev steers clear of 18 ... Qxh1 19 axb4! and White's bishops

begin to menace the Black kingside.

19.Qe2 Nc2+

Now if 19 ... Qxh1 20 Bh3.

20.Ka2 Qxe2 21.Bxe2 Ne3 22.Rd2 exd5 23.Re1 Rf2

Simplifying to a clear one-pawn-up position.

24.Bd3 Rxd2 25.Bxd2 d4 26.Bxe3 dxe3 27.Rxe3 Kf7 28.h4 g6 29.Be4 Bxe4

30.Rxe4 Re8 31.Rf4+ Kg7 32.g4 h6 33.c5 bxc5 34.Ra4 Ra8 35.Ra6 c4

36.Kb1 c6 37.Ra4 Kf6 38.Rxc4 Ke5 39.Kc2 Rc8 40.Ra4 Rc7 41.Kd3 d5

42.Ke3 g5 43.h5 Rf7 44.b4 d4+ 45.Kd3 Kf4 46.b5 c5 47.Ra6 Rb7 48.Kc4

Rb6 49.Rxa7 Rd6 50.Kxc5 Rd8 51.Rf7+ Kxg4 0-1

Christiansen,Larry (2560) - Tate,Emory (2395) [E80] NY Open (7), 1997

1.c4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.d4 d6 4.Nc3 Nf6

After a little jockeying, we have arrived at the King's Indian.

5.f3 Na6 6.Bg5

When Black does not pressure the d4 square, it can be good to place

the bishop on g5 rather than e3. In this case, Christiansen will earn

a free hit against the Black pawn that ends up on h6.

c5 7.d5 h6 8.Be3 e6 9.Nge2 exd5 10.cxd5 Bd7 11.Nc1

c1 is a very unusual spot for a knight, but in this line the knight

just wants to stay out of trouble. 11 Ng3 would definitely invite

Tate to march his h-pawn up the board!

Nc7 12.Be2 b5 13.Qd2 b4 14.Nd1 0-0 15.0-0

Not 15 Bxh6 Nxe4! 16 fxe4 Qh4+ with a great position for Black.

This is why 13 ... b4 was played: White is stopped from capturing on

e4 with his knight.

Kh7 16.Nf2 a5 17.a4!

Blunting the effectiveness of Black's queenside pieces and building a

cozy home for the light-squared bishop on c4.

Qe7 18.Bc4 Rae8 19.Re1

Preparations are being made for the big push with f3-f4. For now, at

least, Black's queenside majority is going nowhere.

Na8 20.Ncd3 Nb6 21.Qc2 Rc8

Correct was 21 ... Nxc4 followed by trying to circle Black's

light-squared bishop around to a6.

22.b3!

If this move works tactically, then White has solidified a tremendous

positional advantage, as the bishop on c4 cannot be disposed of

without giving White a tremendous center.

Nxc4 23.bxc4 Nxd5 24.exd5 Bxa1 25.Bxh6 Qf6

26.Ne4!

Christiansen's intent was not to recover the Exchange and let Black's

dark-squared bishop rule, but to harass the Black queen and destroy

his queenside.

Qd4+ 27.Be3 Qg7 28.Nxd6 Rb8 29.Nxc5 Rfd8 30.Qf2 Bc3 31.Nce4!!

From their advanced posts, the knights suddenly turn their attention

to the kingside. On this second Exchange sacrifice 31 ... Bxe1 32

Qxe1, there is no stopping moves like Qe1-h4+ and Ne4-f6+.

Ba1 32.Nxf7 g5 33.Nexg5+ Kg8 34.Qh4 Rdc8 35.Nh6+ Kf8 36.Qf4+ 1-0

Krasenkov,Michal (2615) - Miles,Tony (2550) [D15] NY Open (3), 1997

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 a6

A move which has turned out theoretically to be surprisingly

effective. Black aims to play ... b7-b5 to either force White to break

the tension with his c-pawn, or defend it passively with b2-b3.

5.a4

Evidence of the respect given to 4 ... a6.

g6 6.Bg5 Bg7 7.e3 0-0 8.Qb3! Ne4

Miles is not satisfied with the passive alternatives 8 ... e6 and 8

... dxc4, and instead uses his center to foster a quick knight tour.

9.Bh4

Missing the point is 9 cxd5 Nxg5 10 Nxg5 e6 and Black re-establishes

his center with a nice game.

dxc4 10.Bxc4 Nd6 11.a5

Previously, White would have answered ... a6-a5 with c4xd5,

clearing the b5 square for himself. That option no longer exists, and

therefore, Krasenkov tries to make something of his potential

queenside bind.

Nd7 12.0-0 Nf5 13.Bg3 Nxg3 14.fxg3

White is serious about rustling up some threats along the f-file.

e6 15.Qa3 b5 16.axb6 Nxb6 17.Ba2 Nd5 18.Ne4!

White has had the more comfortable position for a while, but now a

concrete plan is taking shape: to build a home for this knight on d6.

Rb8 19.Ne5 Qb6 20.Bxd5 cxd5 21.Nd6 Bxe5 22.dxe5 Qxb2 23.Qxb2 Rxb2

24.Rfc1 Bd7 25.Rxa6

Black's highly constricted bishop and weak point on f7 spell trouble

in the endgame.

Rfb8 26.Ra7 Rb1 27.Rxb1 Rxb1+ 28.Kf2 Bb5

Getting in a threat of mate in one.

29.g4 Rf1+ 30.Kg3 Bc6 31.Rc7 Ba4 32.g5

Adding a new dimension to the pressure - the march of the h-pawn

will control even more dark squares. Meanwhile, Black is too tied down

to the defense of f7 to target any of White's pawns.

Kg7 33.h4 Kf8 34.Kh2 Kg7 35.g4 Rf3 36.h5 gxh5 37.gxh5 Kf8 38.h6 Bd1

39.Kg2 Be2 40.Rc8+ Ke7 41.Rc7+ Kf8 42.g6

Krasenkov made it all look very easy.

fxg6 43.Rxh7 Rxe3 44.Rh8+ Ke7 45.Re8+ Kd7 46.h7 1-0

This contains the Richter-Rauzer game Smirin - Yermolinsky alluded to

in Ezine 1.8(a)

For good measure, there is a Caro 4 ... Bf5 game in this message also.

*****

Smirin,Ilya (2575) - Yermolinsky,Alex (2630) [B66] NY Open (4), 1997

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.

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.

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.

Bxf6 14.e5 Be7 15.exd6 Bxd6 16.Qd4

An imposing-looking move, hitting both the bishop on d6 and the

pawn on g7.

b4!! 17.Na4

White does not get anything on 17 Qxd6 Qxd6 18 Rxd6 bxc3 as Black

has good activity in the endgame.

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.

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

0-1

Perdomo,Carlos (2330) - Lobron,Eric (2570) [B18] NY Open (3), 1997

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.h5 Bh7 8.Nf3

e6 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nf6 11.Bd2 Nbd7 12.0-0-0 Be7

Much more common at this point is 12 ... Qc7, and White usually

chooses from 13 c4 or 13 Ne4. The text envisions castling kingside for

Black, a much sharper idea.

13.Ne4

Really the only continuation which has any teeth is 13 Qe2, as

Lobron himself played against Douven at Amsterdam 1987. That game

continued 13 ... a5 14 Ne5 a4 15 a3 O-O 16 Rh3 Rc8 17 Kb1 c5 18 Bc1

and it seems that White has held on to the initiative. Perhaps,

however, Lobron is not that convinced, and this is why he is playing

the other side. (In the 12 ... Qc7 line, 13 Ne4 is played to enable

g2-g3 and Bd2-f4.)

Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Nf6 15.Qd3

More natural is 15 Qe2, getting the queen off the half-open d-file.

Qd5 16.Kb1 0-0 17.Rde1 Ng4 18.Re2 b5

Black has at least equalized.

19.Rh3 Rfd8 20.Ba5 Rdc8 21.Rg3!

A worthwhile pawn sacrifice; otherwise White is in danger of

falling behind.

Qxh5 22.Ne5 b4

Cutting off the bishop from e1, Lobron threatens mate starting with

Qh1+. A draw could have been had with 22 ... Nxe5 23 Rxe5 Qh1+ 24 Re1

Qh5 25 Re5, etc.

23.Qd2 Nxe5 24.Rxe5 Qh1+ 25.Re1 Qh4 26.Rh3

Not 26 Bxb4 Bxb4 27 Qxb4 c5.

Qf6 27.Rf3 Qg5

In this manner, Black has found a way to maintain his one-pawn

advantage.

28.Bxb4 Bxb4 29.Qxb4 Qxg2 30.Qc3 g6

A problem is that additional lines have opened up on the kingside

in return for the extra pawn; this turns out to be not insignificant.

31.b3 Rab8

Better was the distracting blow 31 ... c5! Then if 32 dxc5 Rxc5! is

satisfactory.

32.Rh3 h5 33.Qe3 Rb5??

Again, 33 ... c5! needed to be played; if 34 dxc5 Qd5.

34.Rg3 Qd5 35.Qh6

Ouch! An accident will happen on g6.

Qf5

If 35 ... Qxd4 36 Rxg6+ fxg6 37 Qxg6+ leads to a ferocious attack.

36.Reg1 Rc7 37.Rxg6+ fxg6 38.Rxg6+ Qxg6 39.Qxg6+ Rg7 40.Qxe6+ Kh7

41.Qe4+ Rg6 42.f4

White has obtained a technically winning position.

Kh6 43.f5 Rf6 44.Qe3+ Kg7 45.Qe7+ Rf7 46.Qg5+ Kf8 47.Qxh5 Ke7 48.Qe2+

Kf8 49.Qe6 Rbxf5 50.Qxc6 R5f6 51.Qc5+ Ke8 52.Qc8+ Ke7 53.Kb2 Rd6

54.Qc5 Ke6 55.b4 a6 56.Kb3 Kd7 57.c3 Rf3 58.Qa7+ Ke6 59.Qa8 Rf2

60.Qc8+ Ke7 61.a4 Kf6 62.b5 axb5 63.axb5 Ke7 64.Kb4 Rf1 65.Qb7+ Kd8

66.Qg2 Rf5 67.Qg8+ Ke7 68.Qh7+ Kf6 69.c4 Re6 70.Qh4+ Kf7 71.d5 Re7

72.b6 Ke8 73.Qh8+ Rf8 74.Qh6 Rf1 75.Qh5+ Kd8 76.Qh8+ Re8 77.Qh4+ 1-0

Bologan,Victor (2575) - Krazenkov,Michal (2615) [B30]

NY Open (4), 1997

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6

The generally accepted treatment these days is 4 O-O and then if

Black doubles his knights with 4 ... Nge7 then 5 c3 trying to build a

big center. Bologan's immediate exchange 4 Bxc6 is thought to give

Black too early a heads up as to how to plan his development.

bxc6 5.d3 Ne7 6.Nh4

A radical means of stopping the Black knight from arriving at g6.

More intuitive is the plain vanilla development 6 Nc3 Ng6 7 O-O (in

this line 7 h4 h5 does not seem to benefit White).

Ng6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Be3 d5

With doubled c-pawns, Black has to be careful about making this

advance, as the pawn on c5 can become weak. Here, however, White's

relative lack of space prevents him from targeting that pawn

effectively.

9.Nd2 Bd6

Threatening to trap the White bishop with 10 ... d4, so White is

unable to "fix" the Black c5 pawn as a weakness with a move like 10

c4.

10.c3 Ba6 11.Qc2 f5 12.e5!

Finally initiating play on the dark squares. Now 12 ... Bxe5 13

Bxc5 Bd6 14 Nb3 will establish a secure grip on c5.

Be7 13.0-0-0 Kf7

Continuing his dynamic play, this move has the virtues of

connecting the rooks and defending e6 with his king. This would be

important if White starts to make inroads with this knight, perhaps

after 14 Nb3 c4 15 dxc4 Bxc4 16 Nc5.

14.Nf3 g5

Black needs to get this in before the kingside is fixed with h2-h4

and Be3-g5.

15.h3 c4 16.dxc4 Bxc4 17.Nd2

Putting the knight back to this defensive work is an admission that

he has been strategically outplayed.

Be2 18.Rde1 Bb5 19.f4 Qa5 20.Kb1 Qa6

The involvement of Black's heavy wood in the queenside press is

quite ominous.

21.c4 dxc4 22.Rc1 Rhd8 23.Nxc4

Not 23 fxg5 c3! 24 Qxc3 Rd3 and Black wins.

gxf4 24.Bf2

Because 24 Bxf4?? Rd4 would spear a piece.

Rab8 25.Qc3 Bxc4 26.Qxc4 Qa5 27.Bd4 Qd2

Now White loses more pawns.

28.Bc3 Qxg2 29.Qxf4 Bg5 30.Qa4 Bxc1 31.Qxa7+ Kg8 32.Rxc1 Qe4+ 33.Ka1

Ra8 34.Qc5 Qc2! 35.Bb4 Qa4 36.a3 Rd1 37.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 38.Ka2 Qd5+ 39.Qxd5

exd5 40.e6 f4 41.Bd6 f3 42.b4 Re8 0-1

Bologan,Victor (2575) - Yermolinsky,Alex (2630) [B81]

NY Open (6), 1997

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6

The Scheveningen Variation. Because of the strength of 6 g4 (the

Keres Attack), many GMs prefer to arrive at the Scheveningen by an

alternative move order. For example, Kasparov plays the Najdorf 5 ...

a6 (instead of 5 ... e6), and will reply to quiet moves such as 6 Be2

with a transposition into the Scheveningen with 6 ... e6. Another

popular method of "backing into" a Scheveningen is to play a Taimanov

setup (e.g., 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 e6 5 Nc3) with a later

... d7-d6.

6.g4 h6 7.h3

Again Bologan deviates early from usual practice. The main line is

7 h4 Nc6 8 Rg1 (preparing g4-g5) h5 9 gxh5 (if 9 g5 Ng4) Nxh5 10 Bg5.

Instead, White has renounced all intentions to play g4-g5, and shores

up the g4 pawn, looking to quietly fianchetto.

Nc6 8.Be3 Be7 9.Bg2 a6 10.Qe2 Nxd4

In conjunction with his next move, this may be an overly optimistic

approach by Yermolinsky. I think the non-committal 10 ... Qc7 was

best, as then if 11 O-O-O Bd7 followed by ... b7-b5 with a good game

for Black.

11.Bxd4 e5 12.Be3 Be6 13.0-0-0

Now because White can jam up the d5 square and establish a space

advantage, there is no danger in his king living on the queenside.

Rc8 14.Nd5 Bxd5 15.exd5 Nd7 16.Kb1 0-0 17.Be4

White has a nice edge here; although Black can trade off his "bad"

bishop and his knight has a square on c5, there are no levers against

the White king, whereas White can strive to open some lines against

Black's king with g4-g5.

Bg5 18.h4 Bxe3 19.fxe3 Nc5 20.Bf5 Rc7 21.c3 e4

If 21 ... g6 22 Bc2, then Black will have to make some concessions

after White plays h4-h5.

22.g5 g6 23.gxh6 Qf6

Yermo is looking to repel the White bishop, and after 24 Bh3 Kh7 25

Rdf1 Qe5, Black can try for a counterattack on the queenside.

24.Rdf1!!

Now the threats are 25 Bxe4 or 25 Bxg6; if 24 ... Qe5 25 h5! gxf5

26 Rxf5! is very strong (26 ... Qxf5? 27 Qg2+). Therefore, Black

accepts the piece sacrifice.

gxf5 25.Qh5 Kh8

A key point of the sacrifice is that Black cannot establish his

queen on g6.

26.Rxf5 Qd8 27.Rg5!

This is much stronger than 27 Rg1 f6!

Nd3

The alternative here was 27 ... Rg8 (27 ... f6 28 Rg7! does not

help) but after 28 Rg7!! Rxg7 29 hxg7+ Kxg7 30 Rg1+ Kf8 31 Qh8+ Ke7 32

Rg8 Qd7 33 Rb8!! White is winning, as the Black queen cannot venture

out due to 34 Qd8 mate, and meanwhile there is no defence to the

threat of 34 Qf8+ Kf6 35 Rd8.

28.Rhg1 Ne5 29.h7 Ng6 30.Qh6

All White needs to do is dislodge the knight from g6 to unleash a

hurricane on the g-file.

Rxc3 31.h5 Rc7 32.hxg6 fxg6 33.Qxg6 Rxh7

1-0

34 Qxh7+ would bring it to a close.

Here is an interesting game in which Black finally accepts White's

offer to transpose from a Modern to a Sicilian, but Black's pieces

turn out to be poorly posted in the resulting more open position.

Short,Nigel - Chernin,Alexander [B07] Pula, Croatia

1997

1.e4 d6

Alexander Chernin is the type of player who likes to know

"everything" about the defenses that he plays. In recent years, he has

switched over from the French to the Pirc/Modern.

2.Nc3 g6 3.Bc4

In Semi-Open games (1 e4 openings where Black has not replied with

1 ... e5), White often has to be careful about placing the bishop on

c4 lest it be shut out by ... e7-e6. This is not a problem where Black

has already committed himself with ... g7-g6.

Bg7 4.f4

Inviting Black to transpose into the Grand Prix Attack against the

Sicilian after 4 ... c5, a variation in which Short crushed Gelfand in

their 1993 Candidates Match.

e6

A less radical reaction for Black was 4 ... c6 followed by 5 ...

Nf6; then the knight would have a home on d5 if White ever tries

e4-e5.

5.Nf3 Ne7 6.Bb3

This retreat enables White to avoid an exchange of pawns if Black

advances with 6 ... d5 and instead gain space with 7 e5.

c5

Finally Chernin accedes to a transposition to the Sicilian, which

Short has been offering since move 2! Otherwise, Black has been

hoodwinked into adopting a hedgehog formation for no benefit.

7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 0-0 9.0-0 a6 10.Kh1 Nbc6 11.Be3 Na5

The aggressive 11 ... b5 would have invited problems on the d-file

after 12 Nxc6 Nxc6 13 Qd2; then on 13 ... Qe7 14 Rad1 Rd8 15 f5 is

strong.

12.a4 Qc7

White is also better if Black tries to clear the air with 12 ... e5

13 Nf3 Nxb3 14 axb3 Bg4 15 h3.

13.Qd3 Nec6

A problematic maneuver. But simple development with 13 ... b6 14

Rad1 Bb7 would again lead to the spike 14 f5.

14.Rad1 Rd8 15.f5 Ne5

Black cannot pursue a pawn grab with 15 ... Nxd4? 16 Bxd4 Nxb3 17

axb3 exf5 18 Bxg7 Kxg7 19 Nd5 with a monstrous attack.

16.Qe2 Nac4 17.Bc1

White has definitely won the opening battle. While Black has posted

his knights impressively, the kingside wedge White has established

with his pawn on f5 is not going away.

Bd7 18.Qe1

Moving towards the elimination of Black's dark-squared bishop.

Rdc8 19.Qh4 Qd8 20.Bg5 Qe8 21.f6 Bh8?!

Chosen over 21 ... Bf8, because on h8 the bishop is not subject to

exchange. However, 21 ... Bf8 was certainly more resilient tactically.

For example, 22 Bh6 Bxh6 23 Qxh6 Qf8 does not accomplish anything for

White. Probably best for White after 21 ... Bf8 is the quiet 22 Bxc4

Rxc4 23 Nf3, still with a sizable edge.

22.Nf3! Nxb2 23.Rxd6 Nbc4 24.Rd4

Artfully and without wasting time, Short is subjecting Black's

principal defenders, his knights, to liquidation.

Nxf3 25.Rxf3 Ne5 26.Rh3 h5 27.Ne2

There is very little that can be done about the knight's trip to h5

to destroy the Black kingside.

Rc5

On 27 ... Ng4 28 Nf4! e5 29 Nxg6 will win - one route is 29 ...

exd4 30 Ne7+ Kf8 31 Qxh5 (clearer than 31 Qxg4!? Bxf6!) Nf2+ 32 Kg1

Nxh3+ 33 gxh3 and Black is finished. And Black cannot get out of the

box with 27 ... Qf8 (intending 28 Nf4 Qc5), as suddenly White can pick

off one of the undefended pieces with 28 Bf4!

28.Nf4 Ng4 29.Nxh5 Rxg5

If 29 ... Nf2+ first, then 30 Qxf2 Rxg5 31 Qd2 Rxh5 32 Rxh5 gxh5 33

Qg5+ Kf8 34 Qh6+ Kg8 35 Rd3 h4 36 Qxh4 and White wins.

30.Qxg5 Nf2+ 31.Kg1 Nxh3+ 32.gxh3 Bc6 33.Nf4 Kh7

33 ... Rd8 would lose to 34 Nxg6! fxg6 (or 34 ... Rxd4 35 Ne7+

followed by mate) 35 Rxd8 Qxd8 36 Bxe6+ Kf8 37 Qh6+.

34.e5

Now the threat is 35 Nxg6 fxg6 36 Rh4+ Kg8 37 Rxh8+ Kxh8 38 Qh6+.

Bf3 35.Kf2 Qc6 36.Rc4

1-0

This is an exciting game from the New York Open featuring the Modern

Benoni. Notice that in the Benoni, one of the main questions is

whether White will get in e4-e5 before Black gets in ... b5-b4, and

whose lever will be more effective.

Ehlvest,Jaan (2635) - de Firmian,Nick (2575) [A75]

NY Open (6), 1997

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5

deFirmian is one of many GMs who play the Benoni only in response

to White's Ng1-f3 so that the Four Pawns Attack will not have to be

faced. For example, had White played 3 Nc3, then on 3 ... c5 White

can play 4 d5 exd5 5 cxd5 d6 6 e4 g6 7 f4. Thus, a good repertoire

is to combine the Nimzo-Indian (if 3 Nc3 Bb4) with the Benoni (if 3

Nf3 c5).

4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nc3 g6 7.e4 a6 8.a4 Bg4 9.Be2 Bxf3

Preferring to avoid the variation where White preserves his

knight with the maneuver Nf3-d2, after, for example, 9 ... Bg7 10 Bf4

O-O 11 O-O Qe7 12 Nd2 Bxe2 12 Qxe2 and the d2 knight is headed to c4.

10.Bxf3 Nbd7 11.0-0 Bg7 12.Bf4

An interesting approach to the position was taken in Grivas -

Minasian, Debrecen 1992, where White anticipated the arrival of a Black

knight on e5 by playing 12 Be2!? O-O 13 Re1 Re8 14 Bf1. Because White

has never posted his dark-squared bishop on f4, he is ready to meet ...

Nd7-e5 with an immediate f2-f4.

Qe7 13.Re1 0-0 14.Qd2

Ehlvest diverges from 14 a5, which he used to defeat Minasian at

the 1993 New York Open. Although 14 a5 allows Black to open the b-file

quicker (as White could prevent the file-opening by leaving the pawn

on a4 and controlling the b5 square), it also threatens to create

favorable queenside activity with Nc3-a4, forcing the issue. Minasian

tried 14 ... Ne8?! 15.Na4 Nc7 16.Bg4 Ne5 17.Nb6 Rad8 18.Bh3 Na8

19.Bxe5 Bxe5 20.Nc4 and White had an edge. Spurred on by that success,

Ehlvest again essayed 14 a5 against Kovacevic at the 1994 Linares

Open. There Black obtained sufficient b-file counterplay with 14 ...

Rab8 15.Qc2 b5 16.axb6 Rxb6 17.Na4 Rb4 18.Bd2 Rb7 19.Nc3 Rfb8. And in

Barlov - deFirmian, Novi Sad (Ol.) 1990, deFirmian succeeded using

kingside activity after 14 ... Ne5 15.Be2 Rfe8 16.Bg3 g5! 17.Ra4 Nfd7

18.Bf1 Ng6 19.Re3 Rac8 20.h3 Nde5 with a very sharp position. It is

likely that Ehlvest was familiar with the Barlov game, as his 14 Qd2

acts to prevent Black from establishing the formation with ... g6-g5.

Rfe8 15.h3 Ne5 16.Be2 Qc7 17.Bh2

Committing to a breakthrough with f2-f4 and e4-e5. A very different

idea was 17 b3!?, in order to meet 17 ... c4?! with 18 b4!,

effectively closing down Black's queenside play. Instead, Black should

play 17 ... Qa5 with an unclear situation.

c4 18.Kh1 Rab8 19.f4

Consistent. White's b-pawn would be too weak after 19 a5 b5 20 axb6

Rxb6! (better than 20 ... Qxb6 21 f4 Ned7 22 Bxc4).

Ned7 20.Bf3 b5 21.axb5 axb5 22.Ra6

The main object of this incursion is to create enough of a

distraction to Black's pieces to get e4-e5 in.

Nc5!

Also possible was 22 ... b4 giving White the opportunity of 23 Na4,

trying to restrict the Black knight on d7. Then 23 ... Qb7! 24 Rxd6

Qb5 leads to frightful complications after, for example, 25 b3 cxb3 26

Nb2 Rac8 27 e5.

23.Rc6 Qa5 24.e5

White has to get on with the program. There is no stopping Black

from creating havoc on the queenside.

Nd3 25.Re2 b4!

A critical, and typical move. Often, in Benoni, King's Indian and

Pirc positions, e4-e5 by White must be answered by ... b5-b4 by

Black; otherwise, White's c3 knight becomes too strong in the center.

In this case, if 25 ... dxe5 26 fxe5 Nd7 27 e6 N7e5 28 exf7+ Kxf7 29

Re6 would be strong for White, as the c3 knight will come into play

via e4.

26.Nd1

White's center would be dissipated, and his position disorganized,

after 26 exf6 bxc3 27 bxc3 Bxf6.

dxe5 27.fxe5 Nd7 28.e6

A defensive-minded player might try 28 Rxc4 N3xe5 29 Re4,

minimizing the damage to the edge which Black's strong knight on e5

confers, but it is extremely difficult to switch to such a mode.

N7e5 29.Rxc4

A reasonable-looking exchange sacrifice, to try to do away with

the twin threats of ... Ne5xc6 and ... Ne5xf3 followed by ... Qa5xd5.

Ehlvest avoids the immediate 29 exf7+ as this may only strengthen the

position of the Black knight on e5 after 29 ... Kxf7.

fxe6!

An important interpolation. White would be happy enough after 29

... Nxc4 30 Qxd3. But now if White runs with his rook, then the

center is completely demolished after exd5.

30.dxe6 Nxc4 31.Qxd3 Rbd8

The suddenly open d-file allows Black to assume the initiative.

32.Qxc4 Rxd1+ 33.Bg1 Qa7

The Exchange up, deFirmian pursues a policy of ruthless

simplification.

34.e7+ Kh8 35.Rf2 Rxg1+ 36.Kxg1 Bd4 37.Qf7 Qxe7 38.Qxe7 Rxe7 39.Kf1

Bxf2 40.Kxf2 g5

0-1

Traditionally, after the New York Open, the Marshall Chess Club

holds a very strong blitz tournament. This year, I faced the tough GM

Vadim Milov in the Marshall Blitz. Milov turned a hedgehog / Queen's

Indian type of position into a King's Indian and then embarked on a

typical King's Indian attack.

Rohde - Milov

Marshall Blitz April 1997, 1997

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 b6 4.e3

A pet line against the Hedgehog. One possibility is 4 ... Bb7 5 d4

cxd4 6 exd4 e6 7 a3 (preventing ... Bb4 and thus preparing to shut off

the Black bishop by d4-d5). Then after 7 ... d5, great complications

can arise after 8 cxd5 Nxd5 9 Ne5 a6 10 Qf3.

4...g6!

A good reaction. Black suddenly treats the position like a King's

Indian, where the move e2-e3 is not very effective.

5.d4 Bg7 6.Be2 0-0 7.0-0 d6

Still avoiding the placement of his bishop on b7, which would only

be greeted by d4-d5.

8.a3 Na6 9.Re1 Bb7

Finally drawing forward the White d-pawn. The alternative was 9 ...

Bf5.

10.d5 Nc7 11.e4 e5

Achieving a position with potential counterplay. If 12 dxe6 Nxe6 is

satisfactory, and otherwise Black now plays it like a King's Indian,

ignoring the fact that he has wasted time with his queen's bishop.

12.b4 Bc8 13.Rb1?!

Correct was 13 Nd2, stopping the Black knight from traveling to h5.

13...Nh5 14.g3 f5 15.exf5 gxf5 16.Qc2

Covering the c3 knight so that now White has the possibility of

Nf3xe5.

16...Nf6

Allowing White to dictate the tempo. Better was 16 ... Qe8.

17.Nh4 Qe8! 18.bxc5 bxc5 19.Nxf5

I thought that the resulting position, in which I have the two

bishops, would favor me. Possibly the preparatory 19 Bf1 was better.

19...Bxf5 20.Qxf5 Nfxd5 21.Qc2 Nxc3 22.Qxc3 e4

Now Black gets to use the d4 outpost.

23.Qe3 Bd4 24.Qg5+ Kh8 25.Be3 Ne6 26.Qd5

The position is unclear.

26...Qg6 27.Bh5 Qf6 28.Qxe4 Ng5 29.Qg2 Bxe3 30.Rxe3

Looks logical, but this is a blunder. After 30 fxe3! Qf5 31 Kh1 Nh3

32 g4, Black's activity just balances White's pawn up.

30...Nh3+ 31.Kh1 Nxf2+ 32.Kg1 Qd4 33.Rbe1 Nd3

If 34 Re2 Qa1+ mops up.

0 - 1

This issue concerns a very exciting game in the Dragon Variation.

Rowson,Jonathan - Hodgson,Julian [B76]

Match, Rotherham ENG (03), 1997

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6

The Dragon Variation. Kasparov used this risky defence to great effect

in his 1995 World Championship Match against Anand. Hodgson is known for his

dynamic opening repertoire, so this choice is not surprising.

6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3

The signal move of the Yugoslav Attack, in which White castles

queenside, and throws his kingside pawns forward.

0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0-0-0 Bd7

More popular is the gambit 9 ... d5 (allowing 10 exd5 Nxd5 11 Nxc6 bxc6

12 Nxd5 cxd5 13 Qxd5), and also possible is 9 ... Nxd4 (or the immediate 9 ...

Be6) 10 Bxd4 Be6. The reason 9 ... Bd7, which is the normal move against 9 Bc4,

is not favored against 9 O-O-O, is that if Black follows up with the maneuver

... Nc6-e5, ... Ra8-c8 and ... Ne5-c4, then White gets to save 2 tempi by

playing Bf1xc4, as the White bishop has not bothered with the moves Bf1-c4 and

Bc4-b3.

10.Kb1

In Huebner - Hort, Hamburg 1979, White was able to get an advantage with

10 g4 Rc8 11 h4 Qa5 12 Kb1 Rfd8? (better was 12 ... Nxd4 13 Bxd4 Rfd8) 13 Nb3

Qc7 14 h5.

Rc8 11.h4 Ne5

A dangerous concept, as White's d4 knight is left unchecked, and as

alluded to above, the trip to c4 is unproductive.

12.Nd5?

Also bad is the direct 12 h5 Nxh5 13 g4 Ng3 14 Rh3 Nxf1 15 Rxf1 Nc4.

However, 12 g4, eliminating the ... Nf6-h5-g3 idea, seems strong.

Nh5! 13.Qe1 e6 14.Nc3 f5!

This safeguards the position of the knight on h5.

15.Ka1?

With no kingside attack, Rowson has run out of ideas. I would have tried

to introduce an element of confusion into the situation with 15 exf5! gxf5 16

Be2, and if Black then tries to gain space with 16 ... f4 17 Bf2 d5, then 18 g4!

is not bad for White.

f4 16.Bf2 a6

Now Black has a dominating position.

17.Nb1 b5 18.Qb4

A useful sortie, hassling the one weak spot in Black's position - d6.

Rc5 19.Qb3

If 19 c3 with the idea of Nd4-b3, then 19 ... Qb8! 20 Nb3 Nc6 21 Qa3 b4

is very strong for Black.

Qf6 20.Nd2 Ng3 21.Bxg3 fxg3 22.c3

Rowson is playing carefully to neutralize Hodgson's pressure on the long

diagonal.

Rfc8 23.Be2 Nc6

It turns out that White's knight on d4 is as well-placed as Black's was

on e5.

24.Nxc6 R8xc6 25.Nb1 Rh5

The h4 pawn is the first concrete target that Hodgson has been able to

find. However, a more consistent approach was 25 ... a5 looking to break down

the long diagonal with ... b5-b4.

26.Na3 Qf4

Unfortunately, the immediate 26 ... Rxh4 is met by 27 e5! wrecking

Black's structure.

27.Nc2 Rhc5?!

A change of heart. But here I think Black may as well have grabbed the

h-pawn - after 27 ... Rxh4 28 Rxh4 Qxh4 29 Nb4 Rb6 White has no clear followup.

28.Nd4 Bxd4 29.Rxd4 Rh5

It may have been better to completely dispense with this and cover the

center with 29 ... Kf8.

30.Qd1 Kf8?

It seems that Black could have held equality with 30 ... Rxh4 31 Rxh4

Qxh4 after 32 Rxd6 Rxd6 33 Qxd6 Qh1+, or 32 e5 Qh2.

31.e5!

This shot works because after 31 ... Qxe5 32 f4 wins as the bishop on

e2 is defended now.

Qe3 32.f4 Rf5 33.Rxd6

Black's position is wrecked.

Rc7 34.Bg4 Rf7 35.Rd4!

Closing the door on Black's queen.

h5 36.Re1 Qf2 37.Re2

Wins the queen, but stronger was 37 Bf3! and the game is over after 37

... Bc6 38 Bxc6 Rxc6 39 Re2.

hxg4 38.Rxf2 gxf2 39.g3 g5!!

A brilliant shot. Now if 40 hxg5 Bc6!! and then 41 Qf1 Rh7, or 41 Rd2

Rfd7! winning for Black!

40.Qf1 gxh4 41.Qxf2 h3

Hodgson has forged a different, and protected, passed pawn.

42.f5

To get some central play. 42 Qe2 Rg7 does not get anywhere.

Rxf5 43.Rf4 Rc4 44.Rxf5+ exf5 45.Qb6

Rowson hopes that his roaming queen can do some damage, but one eye

must always be kept on the pawn on h3. Meanwhile, Hodgson sets up a defensive

wall along the third rank.

Rc6 46.Qd8+ Be8 47.Qg5 Bg6

Not 47 ... h2? 48 Qh4. Black needs to try to create a bridge for his

rook to get to h6.

48.b3 Re6 49.Qh6+ Kg8 50.Kb2 Bf7 51.Qg5+ Bg6 52.Qh6 Bf7 53.Qg5+ Bg6 54.Qh6

½-½

Shirov - Kasparov

Linares, 1997

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4

Lately, Kasparov has made this his standard weapon against 6 Be3 in

the Najdorf. Alternatives are 6 ... e5 after which the modern 7 Nf3

(rather than 7 Nb3) has been giving White good results, and 6 ... e6,

after which White can choose between the Classical Scheveningen with 7

Be2, the "English Attack" with 7 f3, intending a later g2-g4, the wild

7 g4 trying to transpose to a Keres Attack but allowing 7 ... e5 8 Nf5

g6 9 g5 gxf5, when White's best is the piece sacrifice 10 exf5!, and

the system 7 f4 Nc6 8 Qf3.

7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3

9 Be2 does not cause an interruption of Black's plans because of

the reply 9 ... Bg7 and then if 10 Bxg4 Bxg4. Instead, White would

transpose back to the game variation with 10 Bg3 h5. Note, however,

that 9 Be2 does tempt Black into 9 ... Ne3?! but then 10 fxe3 gxh4 11

Bh5 leads to severe pressure against f7. Another strange 9th move for

White is 9 Nf5?!, a dubious piece sacrifice tried in Nunn - Sadler,

Hastings 1992. Black played 9 ... e6! 10 Qxg4 exf5 11 exf5 gxh4, and

Nunn was able to scramble back to equality with 12 Qd4 Rg8 13 Ne4 Be7

14 f6 Qa5+ 15 b4 Qe5 16 Qxe5 dxe5 17 fxe7.

Bg7 10.Be2

A major alternative here is 10 Qd2 Nc6 11 Nb3 preparing to castle

long. Then Xie Jun - Ioseliani, Monaco 1993 continued with the sharp

11 ... f5 12 exf5 Bxf5 and Black was doing well after 13 Bd3 Qd7 14

O-O O-O 15 Nd5 Bd3 16 Qd3 Qf5; 13 Bc4 would not have worked after 13

... Nge5 14 Bd5 e6, but White should have considered 13 h3 Nge5 14 f4

gxf4 15 Bxf4 raising questions as to where Black's king will be

living. The more common line 11 ... Be6 (instead of 11 ... f5) was

seen in one of the stem games in this line, Shirov - Oll, Wijk aan Zee

1993. Play continued 12 h4 gxh4 [12 ... Rg8 13 hxg5 hxg5 14 f3 Nge5 15

Bf2 is good for White] 13 Bxh4 Rc8 and now Shirov chose to castle into

in with 14 O-O-O Nb4 15 Kb1, although the cautious 14 f3 Nge5 15 Bf2

Bc4 16 Be2! also seemed good for White in Am. Rodriguez - Leitao,

Merida 1993.

h5 11.Bxg4

The new positional way of playing this variation. 11 h4 has not had

good results here. For exmple, after 11 ... Nc6 12 Nf3 (12 Nxc6 bxc6

13 hxg5 Rb8 is too much trouble on the long diagonal) gxh4 13 Bxh4, in

Lanka - Oll, Vilnius 1993, Black played the enterprising 13 ... Qa5 14

O-O Bxc3 15 bxc3 Qxc3 16 Rb1 Rg8! 17 Rb3 Qg7 18 g3 Rh8!! (18 ... Nge5

19 Nxe5 Nxe5 20 Bh5 Ng6 21 Bg5! and if 21 ... f6, then 22 f4) 19 Qd2

Nge5 20 Rd1 f6, obtaining the advantage. And in J. Polgar -

Polugaevsky, Hastings 1992, after 11 h4 Nc6 12 Nb3, Black again

obtained active play after 12 ... gxh4 13 Bxh4 Be6 14 Qd2 Qb6 15 Nd5

Bxd5 16 exd5 Nce5. Finally, a disastrous idea was 11 h3? in Shirov -

Sadler, Oviedo 1992, as White's position was miserable after 11 ... h4

12 hxg4 hxg3 13 Rxh8+ Bxh8 14 fxg3 Nc6.

Bxg4 12.f3 Bd7 13.0-0

Anand had White in this position twice against Kasparov in the 1996

PCA quickplay tournament in Geneva. The games continued 13 Bf2 Nc6 14

Qd2 (in Smirin - Kasparov, Yerevan Ol. 1996, the extravagant 14.Nd5

was tried, but White was easily pushed back with Rb8 15.0-0 e6 16.Nxc6

bxc6 17.Ne3 d5 18.Rb1 0-0 19.c4 d4 20.Nc2 e5 21.Ne1 f5 and Kasparov

converted his crushing space advantage with no problems) Ne5 15.0-0

(not 15 Qxg5?? Bh6 16 Qh4 Ng6 winning the queen after 17 Qg3 Bf4 or 17

Qxh5 Bd2+).

In the first game Kasparov tried 15 ... e6 and mounted a huge

light-squared pawn chain after 16.b3 Ng6 17.Rad1 g4 18.f4 h4 19.Nde2

h3 20.g3 Rc8 21.e5 d5 22.Nd4 0-0 23.Qd3 f5! 24.Nce2 Rf7. Anand

comments that he thought he was better during the game, but his plan

to open the position is faulty. After 25.Rc1 Bf8 26.c3 Ne7 27.Rfd1 Nc6

28.c4? dxc4 29.Rxc4 Qe8 30.Qd2 b5 31.Rcc1 Nb4 32.Nc3 Rc7 33.a3 Qa8

Black assumed the initiative. The second time in the four-game

quickplay match that this position was reached, Kasparov chose 15 ...

g4! 16.f4 Nc4 17.Qe2 Rc8! 18.b3 Na3 19.Nd5 e6 20.Nb4 Qa5 21.Qe1 h4!

Here, Anand says, "A very nice demonstration of power play - Black

could probably already try to win something on the kingside, but tries

to squeeze the maximum out of the position." 22.Be3 h3 23.g3 Nb5

24.Rd1 Nc3 25.Nd3 Qc7 26.Rc1 Nxe4. Black now has a winning position.

Anand plugged on with 27.f5 e5 28.f6 Nxf6 29.Nf5 Bxf5 30.Rxf5 Qc6

31.Qe2 Qe4 32.Rf2 Nd5 33.Re1, and Garry fell into the trap with

33...Qxe3?? 34.Qxg4! and suddenly everything has fallen apart! 33 ...

Nxe3 would have ended the game in Black's favor. But now Black is on

the ropes, and lost after 34...0-0 35.Rxe3 Nxe3 36.Qxh3 Nxc2 37.Qd7

Nd4 38.Qxb7 a5 39.Kg2 Rc3 40.Nb2 Nc2 41.Nc4 d5 42.Nd6 Ne3+ 43.Kh3 f5

44.Qd7 f4 45.Qe6+ Kh7 46.Nf7 Rxf7 47.Qxf7 Rc6 48.gxf4 Rf6 49.Qc7 e4

50.f5 d4 51.Qe7 Rh6+ 52.Kg3 Nd1 53.Rf4 e3 54.Rg4 1-0.

Nc6 14.Bf2

Shirov has reached the same position as Anand, except that he has

castled instead of placing the queen on d2. This appears to be the

germ of a good idea, as now 14 ... Ne5 might be met by 15 Nf5 as Black

will not have the later ... Ne5-c4 with tempo.

e6 15.Nce2

I am not convinced of the effectiveness of this central huddling of

the minor pieces, although the idea is laudable - to blunt any

potential Black counterplay. I would suggest, for the next person who

dares to get this position against Kasparov, the move 15 a4!, looking

to build some queenside activity with the idea a4-a5 and Nc3-a4.

Ne5 16.b3 g4! 17.f4 h4!

Establishing exactly the menacing pawn duo which Shirov has been

laboring to prevent! Now Shirov refrains from 17 fxe5 as Black keeps

material parity after 17 ... dxe5 while gaining more scope for his two

bishops.

18.Be3

This move is designed to avoid the forced line-opening which would

otherwise ensue after the sweeping move 18 ... g3! Now that can be

answered by 19 h3, which would both keep the h-file closed and deny

the Black knight the use of the square g4.

h3

Just as in the games against Anand, Kasparov applies the

light-square hammerlock, confident that any opening of the position in

the center or the queenside will ultimately favor him because White's

king will not have a hiding space.

19.g3 Nc6 20.Qd3

Shirov resumes his central buildup, hoping to make an issue out of

the weakness of the pawn on d6.

0-0 21.Rad1 f5!

Fixing White's e-pawn as a target, as 22 exf5 exf5 leaves White's

minor pieces in a tangle on the newly opened e-file. And 22 Nxc6 Bxc6

23 Qxd6 Qxd6 24 Rxd6 Bxe4 lets Black's bishops buzz all over the

place.

22.c4

Shirov plays for a grip on d5, as well as eliminating the pawn on

c2 as a potential target.

Qa5 23.Nc3 Rae8 24.Rfe1 e5!

A picture of demolition. White's knight on c3 is the target in such

lines as 25 Nxc6 Bxc6 26 exf5?! exf4.

25.Nxc6 Bxc6 26.b4 Qa3!

Not giving White time to refresh after 26 ... Qxb4 27 Nd5, after

which White would be able to concentrate on the central meltdown.

27.b5

Unfortunately, both 27 Rb1 and 27 Rc1 are impossible because of 27

... Bxe4, and both 27 fxe5 fxe4 and 27 exf5 exf4 are dismal.

exf4 28.Bxf4 axb5 29.cxb5 Qc5+ 30.Be3 Qxc3 31.bxc6 Qxc6

Black is a pawn up with terrible pressure on the king-file.

Meanwhile, White has to scramble to exchange queens due to the

possibility of mating threats.

32.Qxd6 Qxe4 33.Qd5+ Qxd5 34.Rxd5 Bc3 35.Re2 Re4 36.Kf2 Rfe8 37.Rd3

Bf6 38.Red2 Rxe3

0 - 1

This issue includes segments on these variations:

Fianchetto (by White)

Classical with 7 ... Na6!?

Classical Main Line 9 Nd2

5 Bd3 Variation

LeSeige - Sokolin, Marshall-Manhattan International Title Challenge

1996

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 0-0 5.Bg2 d6 6.0-0 Nbd7 7.Nc3 e5 8.e4

a6

[This move is a close cousin of 8 ... exd4 9 Nxd4 Re8, with which

it often transposes.]

9.h3

[A reasonable idea of Ribli's is to shut down the immediate

counterplay with 9 d5. Then Black's best is the thematic 9 ... Kh8

followed by Nf6-g8. This leads to a more flexible placing of the

knights then 9 ... Ne8; in any case Black would rather have his king

on h8 when ... f7-f5 is met by Nf3-g5. On the other hand, nothing is

achieved with the stubborn 9 ... Rb8 10 Ne1! (not 10 a4 a5 gaining the

c5 square) b5 11 cxb5 axb5 12 a3 with the upper hand on the queenside.

A less well-motivated concept is 9 Rb1!? Then Chiburdanicze - Zsu.

Polgar, St. Petersburg 1995 m/6 continued 9 ... b5 10 cxb5 axb5 11 b4

Bb7 with no problems. Polgar wrested the initiative even more quickly

in the fourth game of the match, where Chiburdanidze tried 9 Re1 exd4

10 Nxd4 Ng4! 11 Rf1 (wild is 11 h3 Qf6 12 Nf5 Nxf2 13 Kxf2 Nb6!,

Obuhov - Pugacev, USSR 1990) Nge5 12 b3 Nc5 13 h3 b5!]

exd4 10.Nxd4 Re8 11.Be3

[In Nikolic - Van Wely, Wijk zzn Zee, 1993, White played for

consolidation rather than development with 11 Rb1 Rb8

12 Re1 h6 (planning the strange maneuver ... Nd7-c5-e6-g5!?) 13 Be3 c5

14 Nf3! holding Black's knight at bay. In this line, a more active try

for Black was Ne5 13.b3 c5 14.Nc2 b5?! 15.cxb5! [15.f4 Ned7 16.cxb5

Nh5 17.Re3 axb5 18.Qxd6 g5 is unclear) 15...axb5 16.f4 Ned7 17.Qxd6

Nh5, but White stood better after 18.Qd3! in Timoshenko - Golubev,

Alusta 1994. Not so effective for White was 11 Nb3 Ne5 12.Qe2 Be6

13.Nd2 Nfd7 14.f4 Nc6 in Zsu. Polgar - Chiburdanidze, Shanghai 1992,

the stem game in these two players' discussion of this line.]

Ne5 12.b3 c5 13.Nde2!

[It is difficult to choose between this and 13 Nc2 which avoids the

jumble on the e-file and lends tactical support to the bishop on e3

rather than the knight on c3, but leaves the c2 knight without any

active prospects. Both alternatives put the onus on Black to justify

the early arrival of his knight on e5. One possibility is 13 Nc2 Rb8

14 f4 Nc6 15 Qd2 Nh5 16 Kh2 b5 17 cxb5 axb5 18 Rad1 with an unclear

position.]

Rb8 14.f4 Nc6 15.Qd2 Qe7!

[Just in time. Black cannot play 15 ... b5? because of 16 e5, and

it would be awkward to try to arrange this. Sokolin finds a different

source of counterplay.]

16.g4

[On the direct 16.Rad1, 16 ... Bf5! 17.exf5 Qxe3+ 18.Qxe3 Rxe3

19.fxg6 hxg6 20.Kf2 (or 20.Rxd6 Nh5) 20...Rbe8 is good for Black. A

good way to head off these problems was the modernistic 16 Bf2! Then

things could open up after 16 ... Na5! (the most convenient way to

enable ... b7-b5) 17 Rad1 b5 18 cxb5 axb5 19 Qxd6 Qxd6 20 Rxd6 b4.

Instead, Leseige selects a multi-purpose move which stops 16 ... Bf5

and prepares to strengthen e4 with 17 Ng3.]

16...h5?! 17.gxh5?

[Trusting Black to recapture 17 ... Nxh5 18 Rad1 with a good game.

Better was 17.g5! Then 17 ... Nxe4? is no good because of 18.Nxe4!

(not 18 Bxe4 Bf5 19.Bxf5 Qxe3+ 20.Qxe3 Rxe3 21.Kf2 Rxc3) Bf5 19.N2g3

h4 20.Nxf5 gxf5 21.Rae1! fxe4 22.f5 with a very strong attack. Black

would be reduced to 17 ... Nh7 18 Rad1 and White is much better. This

shows that Sokolin's 17th move was overambitious. It was necessary at

all costs to get ... b5 in; therefore, 17 ... Na5 was indicated. In

reply 18 g5 Nh5 19 Nd5 Qd8 would be inconclusive.]

17...Bxh3!!

[Aside from its tactical justification, the opening of the king

file and the long diagonal must be worth the price.]

18.Bxh3 Nxe4 19.Nxe4 Qxe4 20.Kf2 Nb4!

[Black is not interested in rook-and-pawn vs. 2-minor-pieces

variation with 20 ... Bxa1. The text carries with it two very mean

points: if 21 Rad1 Nc2 wins, and if 21 Ng3 Nd3+ 22 Ke2 Nxf4+ 23 Rxf4

Qxf4 is crushing.]

21.Nc3 Nd3+ 22.Ke2 Bxc3 23.Qxd3 Bd4

[Winning neatly.]

24.Rf3

[Amazingly, there is no way to give back only a bishop. If 24 Qxe4

Rxe4 25 Bg4, then 25 ... Bxa1! 26 Rxa1 Rbe8 ends matters.]

Bxa1 25.Qxe4 Rxe4 26.Kd3 Rbe8 27.Rg3 Bd4 28.Bd2 Bf2 29.Rf3

[White lost on time here. Black is winning very easily after 29 ...

Rd4+ 30 Kc3 (30 Kc2 Re2 31 Rd3 Be3) Re2 31 Rd3 gxh5]

0 - 1

Dlugy - Rohde, ICC GM Knockout, October, 1996

1.d4 d6 2.Nf3

Max and I have had many games in the line 2 c4 e5 3 Nf3 e4 4 Ng5

f5. Then after 5 Nc3 Black should play 5 ... c6 6 g3 Na6! heading for

c7. By playing 2 Nf3 all this is avoided, and yet Max is now unable to

play his favorite Saemisch or Four Pawns Attack lines against the

King's Indian.

Nf6 3.c4 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e4 0-0 6.Be2 Na6

An idea which has gained a lot of credence as of late. The usual

move is 6 ... e5.

7.0-0 e5 8.dxe5

This is not accurate here. A better reaction was 8 Be3 or 8 Re1.

The exchange does not accomplish anything, and Black is left with the

better central formation, as White's pawn on c4 is left without a real

purpose for being there.

dxe5 9.Qxd8 Rxd8 10.Bg5

A consistent followup to 8 dxe5 would have been 10 Nxe5, but after

10 ... Nc5, Black is at least equal after 11 f3 Nfxe4.

h6

This is possible because the a6 knight defends c7 in variations

such as 11 Bxf6 Bxf6 12 Nd5.

11.Bh4 Re8 12.Nd2 c6 13.Rfd1 Nh7

Black has a slight advantage due to White's dark-square weaknesses

in the center.

14.Na4 Bf8 15.Rac1 Ng5 16.c5 Ne6 17.Nb3 Nf4 18.Bxa6 bxa6

Now Black's 2 bishops are very strong.

19.Rd2 f5 20.f3 fxe4 21.fxe4 Bg4 22.Rcc2 g5 23.Bf2 Rad8 24.Na5 Bd1

Decisively winning material, although my technique for the rest of

the game leaves an awful lot to be desired.

25.Nxc6 Rxd2 26.Rxd2 Bxa4 27.Nxa7 Re6 28.Be3 Kf7 29.b3 Bc6 30.Nxc6

Rxc6 31.b4 Ne6 32.Rd5 Kf6 33.Kf2 Be7 34.g3 Nc7 35.Rd3 a5 36.a3 Ke6

37.Rb3 axb4 38.axb4 Nb5 39.Ke2 Ra6 40.Kd3 Kd7 41.Kc4 Kc6 42.Bc1 Ra1

43.Bb2 Re1 44.Kd3 Bf6 45.Kd2 Rxe4 46.Rf3 Be7 47.Rf7 Kd7 48.c6+ Ke6

49.Rh7 Rxb4 50.Bxe5 Rc4 51.Bb2 Bf8 52.Rh8 Kf7 53.Rh7+ Kg6 54.Rb7 Nd6

55.Rb6 Kf5 56.Kd3 Ke6 57.Rb8 Kf7 58.Rb6 Rc5 59.Bd4 Rb5 60.Ra6 Ne8

61.Ra7+ Ke6 62.Ra8 Kf7 63.Ra7+ Be7 64.c7 Nd6 65.Ra6 Rb3+ 66.Kc2 Rb7

67.Rc6 Nc8 68.Rxh6 Rxc7+ 69.Kd3 Rb7 70.Rh7+ Kg6 71.Rg7+ Kf5 72.h4 g4

73.Rf7+ Ke6 74.Rf4 Rb3+ 75.Bc3 Nd6 76.Kc2 Rb8 77.Rxg4 Kd5 78.Bb4 Nc4

79.Rxc4 Bxb4 80.Rg4 Bc5 81.Kd3 Rb3+ 82.Ke2 Bd6 83.Kf2 Be5 84.Kg2 Ke6

85.Rg5 Kd5 86.Rg4 Rb1 87.Rg5 Ke4 88.Rg4+ Ke3 89.h5 Rb8 90.Ra4 Bd6

91.Kh3 Rg8 92.g4 Kf3 93.Ra1 Bc5 94.Rf1+ Bf2

0 - 1

Here are some theoretical games to study:

At the San Francisco Pan-Pacific International 1995, Walter Browne

used the Classical system against both John Nunn and Xie Jun. Note

that on Black's 10th move, Nunn played 10 ... Bd7, while Xie Jun got

in the break ... f7-f5 quicker by playing 10 ... Nd7, but her minor

pieces were passively placed, and Browne was able to establish the

initiative.

Browne - Nunn

San Francisco (Pan Pacific), 1995

King's Indian: Classical

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5

Ne7 9.Nd2 a5 10.a3 Bd7 11.b3 Ne8 12.Rb1 f5 13.b4 axb4 14.axb4 Nf6

15.c5 fxe4 16.Ndxe4 Nf5 17.Bg5 h6 18.Bxf6 Bxf6 19.Bd3 Bg5 20.Nxg5 Qxg5

21.Ne4 Qh4 22.cxd6 cxd6 23.Rc1 Ra3 24.Rc7 Bb5 25.g3 Qd8 26.Rc3 Rxc3

27.Nxc3 Bd7 28.Be4 Nd4 29.Qd3 Qb6 30.Kg2 Kg7 31.h4 Bc8 32.Ne2 Nxe2

33.Qxe2 Qxb4 34.h5 gxh5 35.Rc1 Bf5 36.Rc7+ Kg6 37.Bxf5+ Rxf5 38.Rd7

Qc5 39.Qd2 e4 40.Re7 Qxd5 41.Qxd5 Rxd5 42.Rxb7 Rd2 43.Kf1 d5 44.Rb6+

Kg5 45.Ke1 Rd3 46.Rd6 h4 47.gxh4+ Kxh4 48.Rxh6+ Kg5 49.Re6 Kf4 50.Ke2

Ra3 51.Re8 Ra2+ 52.Ke1 d4 53.Re7 Ra1+ 54.Kd2 d3 55.Rf7+ Kg4 56.Rf8

Ra2+ 57.Ke1 Ra5 58.Rg8+ Kf4 59.Rf8+ 0-1

Browne - Xie

San Francisco (Pan Pacific), 1995

King's Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5

Ne7 9.Nd2 a5 10.a3 Nd7 11.Rb1 f5 12.b4 Kh8 13.f3 Ng8 14.Qc2 Nh6 15.c5

dxc5 16.bxc5 Nxc5 17.Nb5 Na6 18.Nc4 Nf7 19.Be3 Nd6 20.Nbxd6 cxd6

21.Rb6 fxe4 22.fxe4 Rxf1+ 23.Bxf1 Bf8 24.Qf2 Kg8 25.Nxa5 Nc5 26.Bxc5

Rxa5 27.Bb4 Ra8 28.Bb5 Be7 29.a4 Qc7 30.a5 Bg4 31.Qd2 Rf8 32.Qc3 Qd8

33.h3 Bc8 34.Kh2 Rf2 35.Bxd6 Bxd6 36.Rxd6 Qxd6 37.Qxc8+ Rf8 38.Qe6+

Qxe6 39.dxe6 Ra8 40.e7 Kf7 41.e8Q+ Rxe8 42.Bxe8+ Kxe8 43.Kg3 Kd7

44.Kg4 h6 45.h4 Ke6 46.h5 g5 47.g3 Kf6 48.Kf3 Ke7 49.Kg4 Ke6 50.Kf3

Kd6 51.Kg4 Ke6 Draw

Larry Christiansen played the 5 Bd3 system against both Nunn and Xie

Jun. Note that Nunn played 7 ... e5, whereas Xie Jun prepared this

with 7 ... Nd7. Against Nunn, Christiansen forced the immediate

exchange of the Black knight which arrived on d4, whereas against Xie

Jun, Christiansen allowed the knight to remain on d4 and tried to play

around it.

Christiansen - Nunn

San Francisco (Pan Pacific), 1995

King's Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nge2 0-0 7.0-0 e5 8.d5

Nd4 9.Bc2 Nxc2 10.Qxc2 Nh5 11.Be3 f5 12.exf5 gxf5 13.f4 Bd7 14.Rae1

exf4 15.Nxf4 Nxf4 16.Bxf4 Qf6 17.Kh1 Rae8 18.Rd1 Rf7 19.Rd3 Kh8 20.Qd2

a6 21.a4 b6 22.b3 Qh4 23.Ne2 Qg4 24.Rdf3 Rfe7 25.Ng3 Qg6 26.Bg5 Re5

27.Be3 c5 28.Bf4 R5e7 29.b4 Bxa4 30.bxc5 dxc5 31.Bg5 Re5 32.Nxf5 Re2

33.Qf4 Rf8 34.Nh4 Qh5 35.Qxf8+ Bxf8 36.Rxf8+ Kg7 37.Bh6+ Kxh6 38.R1f6+

Qg6 39.Nxg6 hxg6 40.h4 Re4 41.Rh8+ Kg7 42.Rff8 Rxc4 43.Rfg8+ Kf6

44.Rb8 b5 45.Rb6+ Kg7 46.Rc8 Rxh4+ 47.Kg1 b4 48.Rc7+ Kh6 49.Rxa6 b3

50.Rb6 c4 51.Rb4 Rd4 52.Rcxc4 Rxd5 53.Rc1 Bd7 54.Rxb3 Rd4 55.Rcb1 Bf5

56.R1b2 Kg5 57.Rb4 Rd3 58.Kf2 Rd1 59.Rb5 Rc1 60.R2b3 Rc4 eventually

drawn.

Christiansen - Xie Jun

San Francisco (Pan Pacific), 1995

King's Indian Defense

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.d4 Bg7 5.Bd3 0-0 6.Nge2 Nc6 7.0-0 Nd7

8.Be3 e5 9.d5 Nd4 10.Kh1 c5 11.Qd2 a6 12.Rab1 b5 13.cxb5 axb5 14.Nxb5

Nxb5 15.Bxb5 Rxa2 16.Nc3 Ra8 17.b4 cxb4 18.Rxb4 f5 19.f3 Nf6 20.Bc6

Ra6 21.exf5 gxf5 22.Bg5 Qe7 23.Rb8 Qa7 24.Rbb1 f4 25.Nb5 Qe7 26.Rfe1

Bf5 27.Rbc1 h6 28.Bxf4 Kh7 29.Nd4 Bg6 30.Ne6 Rb8 31.Be3 Ra3 32.Nxg7

Qxg7 33.Ra1 Rd3 34.Qf2 Rf8 35.Ra7 Rf7 36.Rxf7 Bxf7 37.Bb5 Rxd5 38.Bc4

Ra5 39.Qd2 Ra8 40.Bxf7 Qxf7 41.Qxd6 Re8 42.Bd2 Re6 43.Qd3+ Qg6 44.Qc4

Re7 45.Qh4 Rg7 46.Qf2 Rf7 47.Qe2 e4 48.Rf1 Rd7 49.Bc3 exf3 50.Qxf3 Ne4

51.Ba1 Rd2 52.Re1 Rd7 53.Qf8 Qe6 54.Rf1 Ra7 55.Bd4 Rd7 56.Qh8+ Kg6

57.Kg1 Kh5 58.Re1 Re7 59.h3 Kg6 60.Qf8 Qf7 61.Qc8 Qd5 62.Qa6+ Kh7

63.Qd3 Qf5 64.Rf1 Qg6 65.Rf8 Re8 66.Rf4 Ng5 67.Qb3 Re1+ 68.Kf2 Rb1

69.Qc4 Nxh3+ 70.gxh3 Qg1+ 71.Kf3 Rf1+ 72.Ke2 Re1+ 73.Kd2 Rd1+ 74.Ke2

Re1+ 75.Kd3 Rd1+ 76.Ke2 Draw

two professional games in the English Opening -

Yusupov-Lautier and Gulko-Korchnoi from Credit Suisse 1995.

[Event "CS Masters"]

[Site "Horgen SUI"]

[Date "1995.10.21"]

[Round "1"]

[White "Yusupov, A"]

[Black "Lautier, J"]

[Result "1/2-1/2"]

[WhiteElo "2660"]

[BlackElo "2655"]

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. Nc3 Nc7 7. b3

[The normal recipe here is 7 d3 e5 8 O-O Be7 9 Nd2 Bd7 10 Nc4

giving Black a choice between the pawn sacrifice 10 ... O-O 11 Bxc6

Bxc6 12 Nxe5 Be8, or 10 ... f6 11 f4 with central play for White. Many

have found these lines unappetizing for White; the choice method of

avoiding them is by delaying Ng1-f3 - if the knights at f3 and c6 were

now on their home squares, White would have the moves 6 Qb3 and 6 Qa4+

to steer play off the beaten track. However, Yusupov always has fresh

opening ideas.]

e5 8. Ba3 Be7 9. O-O Bg4?! 10. Ne1!

[Now White's play is quite forcing; Black would have been better

off with the less ambitious 9 ... O-O with nothing to fear after 10

Na4 b6 or 10 Ne1 Bd7.]

Qd7 11. Nd3 Qxd3

[Forced. Not 11 ... c4?? 12 Bxc6 followed by 13 Nxe5, winning.]

12. exd3 Bxd1 13. Rfxd1 O-O-O 14. Rac1

[On the immediate 14 Na4 Black has 14 ... Nb4!

Rxd3 15. Na4

[Because of the unopposed light-squared bishop and the c-file

pressure, Lautier is on very thin ice. He must hope that Yusupov's

initiative will dissipate in the process of recovering the pawn.]

Rhd8

[A tough choice between this and 15 ... Ne6 16 Nxc5 (Black holds on

16 Bxc5 Nxc5 17 Nxc5 Rd6!) Bxc5! 17 Bxc5 Kb8 with a passive defensive

setup.]

16. Bxc5 Bxc5 17. Nxc5 Rxd2

[Now 17 ... Rd6 is quite uncomfortable after 18 Ne4 Rh6 19 Ng5.]

18. Bh3+

[White does not achieve enough with 18 Rxd2 Rxd2 19 Nxb7 Nd4!]

Ne6 19. Re1 Kb8 20. Bxe6 fxe6 21. Na6+

[Not 21 Nxe6 R8d6! 22 Nxg7? Rf6 and Black is extremely active.]

Ka8 22. Nc7+ Kb8 23. Na6+ Kc8 24. Nb4

[It is a draw any way you slice it.]

R8d6 25. a4 Rb2 26. Rc3 Rdd2 27. Nxc6 bxc6 28. Rxe5 Rxf2 29. Rxc6+ Kd7

30. Rcxe6 Rg2+ 31. Kf1 Rxh2 32. Re7+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "CS Masters"]

[Site "Horgen SUI"]

[Date "1995.10.21"]

[Round "1"]

[White "Gulko, B"]

[Black "Korchnoi, V"]

[Result "1-0"]

[WhiteElo "2595"]

[BlackElo "2635"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bb4 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Re8

[The immediate 6 ... e4 is the main line. Then White can try 7 Ng5

Bxc3 8 bxc3 Re8 9 f3 or 9 d3, or the much quieter 7 Ne1 with visions

of Ne1-c2-e3.]

7. d3 Bxc3 8. bxc3 e4

[Else White will play 9 e4 and Nf3-h4, and the e8 rook will be

misplaced.]

9. Nd4

[Christiansen - Kaidanov, US Champ. 1994 featured 9 Ng5 exd3 10

exd3 b6!? 11 Bd5!? with a quick crisis.]

d6 10. Bg5

[This forces liquidation of the strongpoint at e4 - Black cannot

try 10 ... Nxd4 11 cxd4 Bf5 12 dxe4 Bxe4 13 f3.]

exd3 11. exd3 Nxd4 12. cxd4 h6 13. Be3 Bg4 14.

Qb3 Rb8 15. h3 Bf5 16. Rae1 b5??

[Korchnoi intended the idea 16 ... Qd7 17 Kh2 b5 with a perfectly

fine position, but he decided to "refine" it with 16 ... b5 first,

figuring the queen did not need to be on d7 in certain variations ...]

17. cxb5 Bd7

[A sad admission. Now it becomes clear that on 17 ... Qd7 18 g4!

Rxb5? 19 Qc2 and the threat of 20 Bc6 wins. Therefore, Black goes

about recovering the pawn, but White will gain a tremendous positional

advantage. Also possible was 17 ... a6, although White is still much

better after 18 a4 axb5 19 a5!]

18. a4 a6 19. d5 axb5 20. a5

[Now the bishops rake the board, and the a-pawn is very hard to

deal with.]

Qc8 21. Kh2 Qa6 22. Ra1 b4 23. Rfc1 Rec8 24. Rc4!

[A combination allowing Black to win the exchange, but White gets

more passers.]

c5

[Not good at all was 24 ... Qb5 25 a6.]

25. dxc6 Be6 26. Bb6 Bxc4 27. dxc4 Rxb6 28. axb6 Qxb6 29. Qe3!

[Pushing the Black queen out of the way makes it easy for White to

snag the b-pawn.]

Qxe3 30. fxe3 Rb8??

[A blunder but the ending was lost.]

31. c7 1-0

The King's Indian Defence arises after 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7

Now White has a tremendous number of choices. The most important are the

following:

4 e4 d6 5 Nf3 (the Classical)

4 e4 d6 5 f4 (the Four Pawns Attack)

4 e4 d6 5 f3 (the Saemisch)

4 e4 d6 5 Be2 O-O 6 Bg5 (the Averbach)

4 g3 (the Fianchetto)

A great feature of the King's Indian is that Black can play the above

moves in response to almost any move order, such as 1 Nf3, 1 c4, 1 d4

followed by 2 Nf3, etc., that White chooses, other than 1 e4. Thus,

the King's Indian Defence forms a complete repertoire against all

queenside-type openings by White.

*****************************************

In this issue, we cover these variations:

Averbach

Four Pawns Attack

Saemisch

5 Bd3 system

Classical

(1) Averbach System

Ivanov, Se. - Groszpeter, Budapest 1996

ECO code E73

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5

The Averbach Variation.

Na6

A popular and comfortable reply for Black, although White can declare

attacking intentions on the next move (see the next note). Not 6 ... e5?

7 dxe5 dxe5 8 Qxd8 Rxd8 9 Nd5. The main line is 6 ... c5 as in Forintos

- Schneider below, and another alternative is 6 ... h6.

7.Qd2

7 Nf3 does not go with the Averbach so well here because Black will

play 7 ... h6, and then 8 Be3 Ng4, or 8 Bf4 Nh5 are fine for Black,

while 8 Bh4 could leave the bishop out of play after 8 ... Qe8!

intending 9 ... e5. A very interesting 7th move alternative for White,

however, is the stark 7 h4 as in Bareev - J. Polgar, Hastings 1992.

White can also try the wildly aggressive 7 f4 as in Jakovic - Smirin,

Nunich 1992.

e5

Now this is ok as 8 dxe5 dxe5 9 Qxd8 Rxd8 10 Nd5 can be met by 10 ...

Rd6, and White has only suceeded in giving himself a weak central

position.

8.d5 c6

I believe this is Black's best, striving for counterplay on the

queenside. One point about the Averbach is that White's pieces are

poised to support an advance of the kingside pawns against Black's

castled king, while White's king remains uncommitted in the center. 8

... Qe8 9 O-O-O [why not? Black can not play ... c7-c6 now, as his

d-pawn would be undefended] Nh5?! 10 Bxh5, did not work out very well in

Se. Ivanov - Kovalev, Minsk 1995.

9.f3

This move prevents the activation of the knight on a6, as now ...

Na6-c5 will meet the immediate b2-b4.

cxd5 10.cxd5

It is almost always better for White to recapture this way. Taking

with the e-pawn unnecessarily gives Black a spearhead in the center with

his unobstructed e5 pawn; capturing with the c3 knight will lead to

trades that will relieve Black's relatively cramped position.

Bd7 11.h4 Qb6 12.g4 h5 13.Be3 Nc5 14.g5 Nh7

The results of the kingside skirmish are that White has relinquished

hopes for an attack, yet he has gained some space and pushed the f6

knight back; Black, however, can fight back with ... f7-f6 at the right

moment, gaining f-file counterplay. Meanwhile, Black has sufficient

queenside activity to ensure a dynamic equality. The game continued:

15.Nh3 a5 16.Rc1 Rac8 17.b3 Qb4 18.Nf2 f6 19.Nb1 fxg5 20.hxg5 Na6

21.Rxc8 Rxc8 22.Nd3 Qxd2+ 23.Kxd2 Nb4 24.Nc3 Bf8 25.Nb2 Be7 26.Nc4 Nxg5

27.Rg1 Nf7 28.Nb6 Rd8 29.Nxd7 Rxd7 30.Rxg6+ Kh7 31.Rg1 Rd8 32.f4 exf4

33.Bxf4 Rg8 34.Rxg8 Kxg8 35.Bxh5 and White later won a long struggle.

Perk - Uhlmann, Bad Liebenzell (World Senior Ch) 1996 ECO code E73

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5 Na6 7.Qd2 Qe8!

An accurate move by the great King's Indian exponent Uhlmann, in

contrast to 8 ... e5 in the above game. Now if White plays 9 O-O-O,

then Black has reserved the option of 9 ... c5 10 d5 Nc7, with quick

play brewing on the queenside.

8.Bh6

This may be a case where the trade of bishops is not that great for

White, as it allows Black to accept the dark-square chain without fear

of later obtaining the bad bishop, and meanwhile the cramping effect of

the active White dark-squared bishop disappears. I would have prefered

8 f4, 8 f3 or 8 h4.

e5 9.Bxg7 Kxg7 10.Nf3 Bg4

Consistent emphasis on winning control of the dark squares.

11.d5 Nc5 12.Qe3 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 a5 14.h4 h5 15.0-0-0 Rh8

Trying to head off a kingside advance by White. The game is about

even, as Black has more strategical ideas available (control of the

dark squares, meaningful potential counterplay against White's king)

and yet White is operating with a significant edge in space. The game

continued:

16.Rdg1 Qd7 17.Be2 Rh7 18.f3 c6 19.g4 Qe7 20.Rg2 Rah8 21.g5 Nfd7

22.Bd1 Nb6 23.Be2 a4 24.Rf1 Rc8 25.Kb1 Rhh8 26.f4 exf4 27.Qxf4 Nbd7

28.Rgf2 Rhf8 29.dxc6 bxc6 30.Rd1 f6 31.Qxd6 Qxd6 32.Rxd6 fxg5 33.Rxf8

Nxf8 34.hxg5 Nfe6 35.Nxa4 Nxa4 36.Rxe6 Rb8 37.Kc1 Rxb2 38.Bd1 Rxa2

39.Bc2 Nc3 40.Kd2 Nb1+ 41.Kd1 Na3 42.Bd3 Rg2 43.Rxc6 Rxg5 44.Ra6 h4

45.Rxa3 h3 46.e5 h2 47.Be4 Rxe5 48.Bb7 Rc5 49.Rc3 Kf6 50.Rh3

1/2 - 1/2

Forintos - Schneider, Bad Liebenzell, 1996

ECO code E74

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5 c5 7.d5 Na6

The usual follow-up to the 6 ... c5 variation is 7 ... h6 8 Bf4

(also possible is 8 Be3 followed by f2-f3 with a Saemisch type of

setup) e5, offering the pawn sacrifice 9 dxe6 Bxe6 10 Bxd6 Re8 with

decent activity / compensation. Usually White declines the sacrifice,

for example by playing 10 Nf3.

8.Qd2 Nc7

Probably better is the immediate 8 ... e6, heading for a Benoni

type of position.

9.Nf3 a6

Forintos demonstrates that this early move towards queenside

expansion merely results in a prospectless position. I would prefer 9

... e6.

10.a4 Bd7

To be considered was the cautionary 10 ... b6, although it does

seem kind of slow.

11.a5!

This robs Black of the move ... b7-b5, and instead gives him the

opportunity to open the b-file, but without any disturbance of White's

center. The Averbach is a very flexible variation, and White intends

to castle kingside, and Black will not have convincing counterplay.

Rb8 12.0-0 b5 13.axb6 Rxb6 14.Ra2 Qb8 15.e5

A strong breakthrough, showing the problems in Black's disorganized

position.

dxe5 16.Nxe5 Be8 17.Nd3 e6 18.Be3 exd5 19.Bxc5 Rb3 20.Bxf8 Kxf8 21.Nc5

Rb6 22.cxd5 Rd6 23.Nxa6 Nxa6 24.Rxa6

1 - 0

(2) Four Pawns Attack

Ivanov, I - Shaked, US Champ. 1996

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f4 O-O 6. Nf3 c5 7. d5 e6 8.

Be2 exd5 9. exd5

On White's 9th, he can choose 9 cxd5, heading for the Benoni

permutation of the Four Pawns Attack, after which Black has a safe line

in 9 ... Bg4! The sharpest try for White is 9 e5 dxe5 10 fxe5 Ng4 11

cxd5, sacrificing a pawn to open the f-file and get a strong d-pawn.

Bf5

In this pawn formation, it is sound practice to blockade the f4

pawn, to label it as a weakness, and to stop it from advancing

in a line-opening sacrifice.

10. O-O Na6 11. Bd3 Qd7 12. h3 Nb4!

A strong move forcing favorable simplification.

13. Bxf5 Qxf5 14. a3 Nc2 15. Nh4 Qh5 16. Qxc2 Qxh4

Black has attacking chances, but 1-0 in 41.

(3) Saemisch

Gulko - Shaked, US Champ. 1996

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 c5

Other moves here are 6 ... e5 (the main line - see the next game), 6

... Nbd7, 6 ... Nc6, and 6 ... c6

7. Nge2

This declines the pawn sacrifice offered by Black, which is

considered to reasonable for Black after 7 dxc5 dxc5 8 Bxc5 Nc6.

Black's compensation is based on White's lack of development, and

relative weakness on the central dark squares.

Nc6 8. d5 Ne5

It will take some work for White to remove this knight from its

temporary outpost, as c4 needs to be defended, and f3-f4 can meet with

the retort ... Ne5-g4.

9. Ng3 e6 10. Be2 exd5 11. cxd5 a6 12. a4 h5

I disagree with chasing the knight off its lousy post. Black would

have nothing to complain about if he continued 12 ... Rb8, with

normal queenside operations in store.

13. O-O Nh7 14. Qd2 h4 15. Nh1f5 16. Nf2 b6 17. exf5 gxf5 18. Nh3

White has the more harmonious position; 1-0 in 52.

Marques - Toth, Sao Paulo (ch-Brazil) 1996 ECO code E87

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.Be3 e5 7.d5 Nh5 8.Qd2

Qh4+

A controversial line; the alternative is 8 ... f5, where Black

established a kingside beachhead, although White has many options, and

it is unclear where his king will be living.

9.g3

On 9 Bf2, the theoretical view is that Black can profitably offer

to repeat moves with 9 ... Qf4 10 Be3 Qh4+.

Nxg3

A tactical move leading by force to a queen sacrifice by Black, for

two minor pieces and a pawn. There is another line - 9 ... Qe7, where

Black figures that White's position has not improved by the placing of

the pawn on g3.

10.Qf2 Nxf1 11.Qxh4 Nxe3 12.Ke2

Agreed to be the most efficacious way for White to rid himself of

the multiple threats posed by the knight.

Nxc4 13.Rc1 Bd7

Better is 13 ... Na6, as then 14 Nb5 is ineffective due to 14 ...

Bd7.

14.b3 Na3

The knight is actually offsides here. Better was 14 ... Nb6,

allowing Black to chip away at the White center with a later ...

c7-c6.

15.Nh3 a5 16.Rhg1 Na6 17.Ng5 h5 18.Ne6 fxe6 19.Rxg6 Be8 20.Rg5 Kh7

21.Rcg1 Bh6 22.Qg3 Bf7 23.Rg7+ Kh8 24.Rxf7 Rxf7 25.Qg6 Rh7 26.dxe6 c6

27.e7 Nc7 28.Qxd6 Re8 29.Qxc7 Nc2 30.Qxe5+ Bg7 31.Rxg7

1 - 0

(4) Bd3 System

Loeffler - Armas, Wijk ann Zee Open, 1996 ECO code E90

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 g6 4.e4 Bg7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.h3

The idea of this is to feign or actually play the restricting

g2-g4; meanwhile White waits to see whether Black will strike back

with ... e7-e5 or ... c7-c5.

Re8

This is a major misplacement of the rook, which may be needed on

the f-file to support a later ... f7-f5.

7.Bd3

Most commonly the "Bd3 system" involves an early Bd3 followed by

Nge2. That would be classified as E70. Here White has already

prevented the pin ... Bc8-g4, and therefore places his bishop on the

more active d3 square.

Nc6 8.Be3 Nd7 9.Be2

Unnecessary. White could have played 9 O-O e5 10 d5 and if 10 ...

Nd4 11 Bxd4 exd4 12 Ne2 is good.

e5 10.d5 Ne7 11.g4 f5

Black is not ready for this here. Better was 11 ... Rf8.

12.Ng5 Nf8 13.gxf5 gxf5 14.Bh5

White has the advantage. The game continued:

Neg6 15.exf5 Bxf5 16.Bg4 Nf4 17.Bxf5 Qxg5 18.Qg4 Ng2+ 19.Ke2 Qxg4+

20.hxg4 Nxe3 21.fxe3 and White later won.

Christiansen - Yermolinsky, U.S. Championship 1996

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. e4 d6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. Nge2 e5 7. d5

Nd4

A direct equalizing method. Yermo gets the knight in to d4 before

bothering to castle.

8. Bg5

Seirawan has experimented with 8 Bc2!? here, getting rid of the

knight on d4 posthaste.

h6 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. Nxd4 exd4 11. Ne2 h5 12. O-O O-O 13. Qb3 c6

Black has equalized comfortably; 1/2-1/2 in 45 moves.

Christiansen - Shaked, U.S. Championship 1996

1. c4 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. d4 d6 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bd3 0-0 6. Nge2 Nbd7 7.

0-0 c5

This is probably best here. 7 ... e5 8 d5 Nc5 9 Bc2 would leave

White with good opportunities to build up a kingside pawn storm

later.

8. d5 Ne5 9. f4 Nxd3 10. Qxd3

In this type of position, Black's two bishops are nullified by his

difficulty in getting some elbow room with ... e6 without allowing

White a quick f4-f5, or pressure on Black's center.

a6 11. a4 b6 12. Be3 Ng4 13. Bd2 e6 14. h3 Nf6 15. dxe6 fxe6 16. Rad1

White has a slight advantage. 1/2-1/2 in 97.

(5) Classical

Shaked - D. Gurevich, U.S. Championship 1996

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6

8. d5 Ne7 9 b4 a5

A much more popular way of meeting the Bayonet Attack is 9 ... Nh5.

10. Ba3 axb4 11. Bxb4 b6 12. a4 Ne8 13. Nb5

Starting to lose his grip on the center. This was motivated by the

realization that 13 a5 would be met by 13 ... c5! However, I would

prefer White for sure on 13 Ne1 f5 14 Nd3 Nf6 15 f3 f4 16 a5.

f5 14. Ng5

It looks like 14 Nd2 was better.

Bh6

With an edge for Black. 0-1 in 32.

Yermolinsky - Dzindzihashvili, U.S. Championship 1996

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Nf3 Na6

This move has become very popular, especially as a good branch for Black

away from the long lines of the Classical starting with 6 ... e5 7 O-O Nc6,

if he feels he is up against a real theoretician.

7. Nd2

Executing this maneuver a little early for my tastes.

c5 8. d5 e6 9. O-O Nc7 10. Re1 Re8 11. a4 a6 12. a5 exd5 13. exd5

A good idea: this way of recapturing deadens the position, which is fine

for White, as his development needs to be completed.

Rb8 14. Nf1 1/2-1/2 in 25.

Gulko - Christiansen, U.S. Championship 1996

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. d4 O-O 6. Be2 Na6

In the related system 6 ... e5 7 O-O Qe8, a new and impressive treatment

for White is 8 dxe5 dxe5 9 b4!

7. Be3 e5 8. O-O Qe8 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Nd2 b6 11. a4 Rb8 12. a5 c6 13.

axb6 axb6 14. Na4 c5

Careful play has netted Christiansen an even game; 1/2-1/2 in 25.

two important theoretical games between GMs Jan

Timman and Nigel Short.

In the 1920s, the Four Knights was put out of commission by the

Rubinstein Defence, in which Black sacrifices a pawn after 1 e4 e5 2

Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bb5 Nd4 5 Ba4 Bc5 6 Nxe5. The driving engine

behind the return of the Four Knights was the discovery of a bizarre

defensive maneuver by White. The game between Short and Timman

illustrates this critical line.

Short - Timman, Linares 1992 C48 Four Knights Game

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bb5 Nd4

[3 games from the 1991 English Champ. featured the exciting

variation 4 ... Bc5 5 O-O O-O 6 Nxe5 Nxe5 7 d4 Bd6 8 f4! Nc6 9 e5 in

which White re-establishes the fork or double attack in many different

permutations. Nunn - Hodgson continued dramatically 9 ... Be7 10 d5

Nb4 11 exf6 Bxf6 12 a3 Bxc3 13 bxc3 Nxd5! 14 Qxd5 c6 15 Qd3 cxb5 16 f5

f6 (A possible improvement on 16 ... "Re8! 17 f6 d5!" as given in ECO.

Now Nunn should play quietly with 17 Be3 or 17 Qd6, but he tried for a

kingside attack and got blown away.) 17 a4 bxa4 18 Rxa4 d5 19 Rh4 Re8

20 Qd1 Re5 21 Qh5 Qb6+ 22 Kh1 Bxf5 23 Bf4 Qf2! 24 Qd1 Qh4 25 Bxe5 fxe5

26 Rxf5 Qe4. Two Short - Adams playoff games for the championship

instead saw 9 ... a6 10 Be2. In both cases Adams had a difficult

position, first with 10 ... Bb4 11 d5 Bc5+ 11 Kh1 Nd5 12 Nd5 d6 13

Bd3 de 14 fe Ne5 15 Bh7+ Kh7 16 Qh5+, and then with 10 ... Be7 11 d5

Nd5 12 Nd5 d6 13 Ne7+ Qe7 14 ed cd 15 f5 f6 16 Bc4+]

5 Ba4 Bc5

[Short - Beliavsky from Linares proceeded calmly 5 ... Nf3+ 6 Qf3

(ECO recommends the surprising 6 gxf3! planning f4. After the text

White's pieces are actually not well placed to grab the initiative.)

Bc5 7 d3 c6 8 Bb3 d6 9 O-O h6 10 Be3 Bb6 11 h3 O-O 12 Rfd1 Be3 13 Qe3

b5 and Black stood well, 0 - 1 in 58.]

6 Nxe5 O-O 7 Nd3 Bb6 8 e5 Ne8

[A well-known position. White is a pawn up but his knight on d3,

which went there to gain time by attacking the Black bishop, is

miserably placed.]

9 Nd5!? d6 10 Ne3!!

[The critical move. 9 Nd5 had historically been considered a

mistake because of 10 c3 Qh4! which is good for Black after 11 Ne3 Qe4

12 Nb4 dxe5 13 cxd4 exd4. But with 10 Ne3!! White completes a strategy

which posts the knights on very unusual squares. White hopes to hold

the extra pawn, have his knight on d3 reposition itself through e5,

and use his knight on e3 as a defensive bulwark. In the important game

Nunn - Christiansen, Bundesliga 1991 Christiansen selected 10 ... Qh4

11 O-O Be6 but Nunn forced favorable exchanges with 12 c3 Ne2+ 13 Kh1

Bxe3 14 dxe3 Nxc1 15 Rxc1 Rd8 16 Bb3! dxe5 17 Bxe6 fxe6 18 Qc2, giving

back the pawn for a positional superiority which he managed to convert

later into a win. Two Short-Speelman games from their Candidates Match

featured 10 ... c6, which attempts to put enough pressure, through ...

Bc7, to force White to make the exchange exd6. The downside to this

plan is that Black voluntarily withdraws his Bb6 from its important

diagonal and that White will play f2-f4 to shore up e5, hoping to

retake there with his Nd3, getting the steed off that horrible square.

First Short tried 11 O-O Bc7 12 c3 Ne6! 13 f4 dxe5 14 Nxe5 Nxf4 with

equality, but then he improved with 11 c3! Nf5 - if 11 ... Ne6 12 Bc2!

Bc7 13 exd6 Qxd6 14 Nf5! and White unravels - 12 O-O Bc7 13 f4 dxe5 14

Nxe5 Nxe3 15 dxe3 and White stands better.]

10 ... Qg5 11 f4?!

[This move attempts to improve on Nunn - Hubner, Munich 1991 which

saw 11 exd6 Nxd6 12 O-O and now Hubner recommends 12 ... N4f5 13 Ne1

Nxe3 14 fxe3 Bg4 15 Nf3 Qh5 16 Qe1 c6 followed by 17 ... Rae8 with

compensation. Clearly, this line will be investigated. The text move

looks logical, but Short must have

underestimated Timman's 12th move.]

11 ... Qg6 12 O-O f6!

[This clumsy-looking move is actually quite annoying, as it tempts

White to liquidate the e5-point and denies that square to the knight

on d3.]

13 exd6?

[Trying to ensure that he remains a pawn up, Short

uncharacteristically misjudges his opponent's chances. It was

imperative that White maintain the tension on e5 so as to avoid

helping Black develop his knight on e8, and in the hope of someday

recapturing on e5 with his own knight. Best was 13 Kh1! leaving the

dangerous diagonal. Then the position is quite unclear after, for

example, 13 ... Kh8 14 b4 (to develop with Bc1-b2) a5.]

Nxd6 14 Nf2

[Probably necessary under the new circumstances. 14 Kh1 N4f5 was

hardly appealing.]

14 ... N4f5 15 Nd5?

[This was too optimistic. White had to retain the defensive bulwark

at e3. Peter Irwin and the guys at the Morristown, NJ Chess Club

suggest 15 c3, attempting to reactivate the bishop via c2. Then 15 ...

Nxe3 16 de Bf5 would lead to an exciting struggle.]

Kh8! 16 Nb6

[Black's last move prepared the threat 16 ... Nh4 17 g3 Qe4! 18

gxh4 Bh3 and wins. On 16 Qf3 Nd4 is strong. And 16 d3 loses to 16 ...

Nh4 17 g3 Bg4. The desperate 16 d4 can be met by 16 ... Bxd4 17 Qd3

b5! 18 Bb3 c5, or even 16 ... Nh4 17 g3 Bxd4 18 Be3 Ndf5! 19 Bxd4

Nxg3!]

16 ... axb6 17 c3

[Or 17 Bb3 Nh4 18 g3 Ndf5, and White has big probems. But now Black

eliminates the possibility of Ba4-c2.]

17 ... Ra4! 18 Qa4 Nh4 19 g3 Nf3+ 20 Kg2

[Not 20 Kh1 Qh5 21 h4 Nf5 22 Kg2 N5xh4+, etc. With 20 Kg2 White

hopes for a respite after 20 ... Qh5 21 h3, but of course no such luck

is forthcoming.]

20 ... Nh4+ 21 Kg1

[After 21 Kh1 Be6 is deadly.]

21 ... Nf3+ 22 Kg2 22 ... Be6!

[The bishop's arrival on d5 will be decisive. If 23 Kxf3 Bd5+ 24

Ke2 Re8+, 25 Kd1 Bf3 is mate, and 25 Qxe8+ also loses.]

23 Nh1 Bd5 24 Rf3 Nf5! 25 Nf2

[White's position is a tragi-comedy after 25 Kf2 Qh5.]

25 ... Nh4+ 26 Kf1 Nf3 27 d3 Nh2+ 28 Ke2 Bc6

[29 Qd4 Qh5+ 30 g4 Nxg4 31 Nxg4 Qg4+ was too grisly. 0 - 1

Timman - Short, El Escorial 1992 C68

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Bxc6 dxc6 5 O-O Qd6

[Before this game, this move was regarded as a sound and active

defence. Faced with this position in Game 9 of this match, Short

selected 5 ... Ne7, which invited immediate complications: 6 Nxe5

(else Black is very comfortable after 6 ... Ng6) Qd4 7 Qh5 (White gets

nowhere with 7 Nf3 Qxe4 8 Re1 Qg6 9 Ne5 Qf5, Ligterink - Velimirovic,

Amsterdam 1976) g6. From this position, a game Timman - Nikolic

continued 8 Nf3 Qxe4 9 Qa5 Qf4 10 d3 with good prospects for White,

but Timman was evidently afraid of Geller's untested ECO suggestion 9

... Bg4!, although WHite may stand better after 10 Re1 Qf5 11 Qxc7. So

Timman played the "main line" 8 Qg5 Bg7 9 Nd3 (This strange knight

placement controls the b4 square in anticipation of 9 ... Qxe4? 10

Re1, but allows Black counterplay against White's stunted

development.) f5 10 e5 c5 (Not 10 ... Bxe5? 11 Nxe5 Qxe5 12 d4 with a

very strong attack.) 11 b3 h6 (Snapping upr the rook is rarely a good

option in this line - after 11 Qxa1 12 Nc3 b6 13 Bb2 Qxf1+ 14 Kxf1 h6

15 Qg3 Bb7 16 e6 White was doing very well in Dieks - Van Scheltinga,

Wijk an Zee II 1974.) 12 Qg3 (The sharpest line. Black has sufficient

compensation after 12 Qe3 f4 13 Qxd4 cxd4.) f4 13 Qf3 Bf5 14 Qxb7

(Black was also fine after 14 Bb2 Qd5 15 Nxf4 Qxf3 in Vladimirov -

Ivanov, USSR 1975) Be4 and Short went on to win a nice attacking game

- 15 Qxc7 Bxd3 16 cxd3 Bxe5 17 Qb7 Rb8 18 Qxa6 f3 19 Nc3 fxg2 20 Re1

O-O 21 Qe6+ Rf7 22 Nd1 Qxa1 23 Qxe5 Qxe5 24 Rxe5 Nc6 25 Rxc5 Nb4 26

Ba3 Nxd3 27 Rc6 Ra8 28 Rd6 Rxa3 29 Rxd3 Rxa2 30 Ne3 Kg7 31 Kxg2 Ra5 32

Rd4 Rb5 33 b4 Rbb7 34 Rc4 Rfc7 35 Rg4 Rd7 36 h4 h5 37 Rg5 Rxb4 38 d4

Rf7 39 Rd5 Rb2 0 - 1]

6 Na3

[The decisive game of the 1991 U.S. Championship, the 3rd match

game between Joel Benjamin and Gata Kamsky, continued 6 d3 Ne7 7 Be3

Ng6 8 Nbd2 c5 (More cautious is 8 ... Be7.) 9 Nc4 Qe6 10 Ng5, and

Kamsky missed the necessary 10 ... Qg4! Instead, after 10 ... Qf6 11

Qh5, Benjamin obtained a strong attack which he later misplayed.]

Be6

[A long time ago a game between John Fedorowicz and myself

continued 6 ... b5 7 c4 (Fine for Black is 7 d4 exd4 8 Qxd4 Qxd4 9

Nxd4 c5; perhaps the best try for an advantage is 7 d3 Ne7 8 Be3 Ng6 9

c4, etc.) Bg4 8 d4!? (The position is equal after 8 h3 Bxf3 9 Qxf3

Nf6, Pinter - Portisch, Budapest 1975.) O-O-O 9 d5 f5! 10 h3 h5! 11

exf5 e4 12 cxb5 cxd5 with a complete mess - a good example of the

so-called New Jersey School of Chess.]

7 Qe2!

[This principled move completely revamps the 6 Na3 system. White

prepares both Na3-c4 and to embarass the Black queen with Rf1-d1 and

d2-d4. Instead, 7 Ng5 Bd7 8 Nc4 Qg6 9 d3 f6 accomplishes nothing, as

does 7 d4 exd4 8 Qxd4 O-O-O.]

f6?!

[It was better to give back the prized bishop pair with 7 ... O-O-O

8 Nc4 Bxc4 9 Qxc4 f6, obtaining a position where Black's control of

space compensates for the passivity of his minor pieces.]

8 Rd1

[The threat of 9 d4 is highly unpleasant, and 8 ... c5 9 c3 does

not improve matters. Short resorts to a strategem from his

Sicilian-bashing systems.]

g5 9 d4 g4 10 Ne1 O-O-O

[Nothing was to be gained by 10 ... exd4 11 c3 c5 12 Nec2.]

11 Be3 h5

[Seemingly cavalier, but Black was already in deep water. On 11 ...

Ne7, White keeps on rolling with 12 c4. And 11 ... Bh6 tends to lead

the White queen on a direct path to a7 via e3.]

12 d5!

[A pawn juggernaut is more convincing than piece play with 12

dxe5.]

cxd5 13 exd5 Bf7 14 c4 Qd7 15 d6!

[Giving Black no time to mobilize. However, Black's best practical

chance is to grab the pawn and see which method White chooses. After

15 ... cxd6 16 Bb6 Re8 17 c5 d5 18 c6 bxc6 or 18 Rac1 Kb8 the game is

not over. But 18 b4 is pretty strong. Short attempts to sidestep the

roller and gets hammered. Note that 15 ... Qa4 is simply met by 16

dxc7, so the queen stays close.]

Qc6 16 c5 Nh6

[White would not be distracted from the task at hand by 16 ... Bh6

17 b4 Bxe3 18 fxe3.]

17 b4 Qa4 18 Nc4 Rd7

[This move is designed to stop 19 dxc7, which now loses to 19 ...

Bxc4. 18 ... Qb5 or 18 ... Qxb4 both fail to 19 dxc7 Rxd1 Qxd1.]

19 Na5!

[By threatening 20 c6, White forces Black to incarcerate his own

queen. 19 ... Qb5 20 Qb2 is no defense.]

c6 20 Nd3 Nf5 21 a3 Kb8 22 Nb2 Qb5 23 Qe1

[All of the preparations are complete.]

Nxe3 24 fxe3 Bh6 25 Kh1

[Why permit the minor irritation of 25 a4 Bxe3+?]

h4 26 a4 Qxa5 27 bxa5 g3 28 h3 Bg5 29 Nd3 Ka8 30 Rab1 Re8 31

Rb6 Bd5 32 e4 1 - 0

Najdorf Variation

Shabalov, Alexander - Browne, Walter, US Ch. 1994 {B96]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5

[The reason this variation has lost some popularity for White is

not that it isn't strong, but that Black has an incredible number of

choices, and White must be heavily prepared for all of them. Now,

aside from 6 ... e6, Black can steer the game into the Richter-Rauzer

with 6 ... Nc6 7 Qd2 (White can vary with 7 Bxf6) e6, or play 6 ...

Nbd7, but then 7 Bc4 has a good repuration.]

e6 7. f4

[Now the big choices for Black are 7... Be7 (the Main Line), 7 ...

b5 (the Polugaevsky), 7 ... Qb6 (the Poisoned Pawn), 7 ... Qc7 (a

Kasparov favorite which prepares ... b7-b5) and 7 ... Nbd7 (generally

transposes to the Main Line). Lesser known are 7 ... Nc6 (as in this

game), 7 ... h6 (which can transpose to the game or to the Goteborg

Variation after 8 Bh4 Be7 9 Qf3 g5!?) and the highly unusual 7 ...

Bd7.

Nc6 8. e5

[Along with 8 Nxc6, the critical move. Generall