Openings Survey (a supercourse)

Hi, This is GM Mike Rohde, and welcome to the Supercourse "Openings You Should Know". Everyone, from beginner to Grandmaster, is concerned about the openings. The main questions are "What openings should I play", "Do I know my openings well enough", and "How do I build a repertoire". In this course we are going to learn something about the openings and, just as important, how to attack the strategic planning questions in building an effective opening repertoire.

When I was about 12-13 years old, I studied Modern Chess Openings, 10^th edition and developed a great understanding of most openings. While I am not suggesting that you go out and get comparable volumes (especially as we are going to give you all of the information right here), I am going to give you this secret of top players - -

The best way to become a good openings player is to learn a little bit about a lot of openings!

Then, later you develop your opening repertoire from a position of strength, confident that you can specialize to pursue enhanced results. Most learning players make a huge mistake – learning one or two openings, and then they are lost when they are out of their limited repertoires!

Let’s start with the Double King-Pawn openings. As you may have learned from the Italian Game Tutorial here at Chesswise, you really must learn the Giuoco Piano and the Two Knights Defense. By learning, in the context of this supercourse, I really mean being able to play with relative confidence the first 8-10 moves of the opening. Now, even if you decide that you will not play the Ruy Lopez, because you are always going to play the Giuoco with White, and you play, for example, the Sicilian with Black, I think you will do yourself a tremendous favor by learning a few moves of the Ruy Lopez anyway! This is what I mean by having a good openings education – because different openings have some similar ideas and some contrasting ideas, and you can increase your chess strength geometrically by becoming familiar with them.

After 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 is the Italian Game, comprising the Giuoco Piano and the Two Knights Defense. There is no question that this is one of the most important positions in chess. If Black plays 3 … Nf6 (which is the Two Knights Defense), then 4 Ng5 already attacks the weak square f7. Particularly for children and other beginning players, this creates all sorts of problems. White is threatening to capture on f7 with his knight, with a double attack against Black's queen and rook. Therefore, Black virtually has to play the move 4 … d5, blocking off the White bishop from attacking f7. Then White plays 5 exd5 and unless Black already has some special knowledge about this position, he is likely to get into some trouble. This is because the natural move 5 … Nxd5 allows too strong lines for White. Probably the strongest move for White here is 6 d4, as then 6 … Nxd4 is a mistake because of 7 c3, spearing the knights along the d-file. Going back to the position after 6 d4, if Black plays 6 … exd4, then 7 O-O is strong, as Black is coming under a direct attack. White has an even more tempting move after Black's 5 … Nxd5. This is 6 Nxf7, a really fun move to play because of its name: the Fried Liver Attack. After 6 … Kxf7 7 Qf3+, then Black has to play 7 … Ke6 if he wants to avoid losing back his knight on d5 for nothing. After 8 Nc3, the position is a little unclear but certainly full of danger for Black.

Thus, in this short little segment, we have learned a little bit about the Fried Liver. But there is a better way for Black to play the Two Knights Defense, and let's start that from the beginning. This is, after the opening moves 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 Ng5 d5 5 exd5, Black should play the move 5 … Na5 (by the way, 5 … Nd4 is an even more complicated alternative). Black's trip to the edge of the board with 5 … Na5 is a pawn sacrifice after 6 Bb5+ c6 7 dxc6 bxc6, but the line makes sense for this reason: White started an early attack with 4 Ng5 which, although it caused a problem on f7, also decentralized the White knight and committed time to the attack (at the cost of regular development). If Black can derail the White initiative, it may be worth a pawn to do so, as then Black will have neutralized White's threats and taken advantage of the lack of development of White's other forces. For this reason, the Two Knights Defense is a perfectly good defense to play (although Fischer and Steinitz, for example, preferred the White side of it), only if you know about 7 or 8 moves of theory. I still advise all of my young students, for whom memorizing theory can be difficult, to avoid the Two Knights Defense signature move 3 … Nf6, and play 3 … Bc5, which is the Giuoco Piano.

Let's move to the basic position of the Giuoco Piano. This comes about after the moves 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5. Giuoco Piano, paradoxically, is Italian for "Quiet Game". The important point about 3 ... Bc5 is that Black obtains classical development with counterattacking chances, and also, White cannot start the attack against f7 with the move 4 Ng5? as Black's queen still controls that square. After the move 4 d3, we arrive at the Giuoco Pianissimo ("Very Quiet Game"). Nevertheless, this is how many games develop, and quite logically. With 4 d3 White envisions the move Nf3-g5 as his queen bishop now defends that square. However, the important point about playing the Giuoco Piano for Black is that now he plays 4 ... Nf6. Then the move 5 Ng5 is not very strong as Black will play 5 ... O-O, castling and defending the f7 point with his rook. Therefore, White should refrain from 5 Ng5 and instead play developing moves like Bc1-g5, Nb1-c3 and castling, and Black will often do the same. The symmetrical nature of the position is what gives it the name "Quiet Game", but things can get pretty wild, depending on who can get their attack going first, using the queen bishop on g5 (or, for Black, g4), and then moving the queen knight into the center (d5 or d4) to increase the pressure on the pinned piece.

Let's examine the position in detail from the Giuoco Pianissimo after moves 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 d3 Nf6. Then play often continues 5 Nc3 d6 with a symmetrical position. Notice that if Black now starts copying, he will get in trouble, as is almost always the case. For example, we can continue with 6 O-O O-O 7 Bg5 Bg4?! 8 Nd5 Nd4?! Black now is in bad shape after 9 Bxf6 gxf6 (notice that the copying 9 … Bxf3 loses to 10 Qd2! Qd7 11 Qg5) 10 Qd2! and 10 … Bxf3 will lose to 11 Qh6. Going back to the position after 6 O-O, 6 … Bg4 is an interesting move for Black. Then 7 Bg5 is actually not strong for White, because Black plays 7 … h6, and then 8 Bh4 g5 is good for Black. White's extra tempo has worked against him in this instance because he used it to castle while Black remained uncastled. This allows Black to throw his kingside pawns forward with impunity against White's castled king. Therefore, after 6 … Bg4, let's play a more circumspect move for White – 7 h3. Then Black can consider the wild 7 … h5, hoping again to use the fact that White has castled and he has not. 7 … h5 is not really a strong move because White can play quiet moves such as 8 Be3 or 8 Bg5 here, but if White is either too curious or too greedy, and plays 8 hxg4, an amazing scenario can follow. Naturally, Black plays 8 … hxg4, and then on 9 Ng5, 9 … g3 is strong. If White then continues on the path of self-destruction with 10 Nxf7, then the punishment is 10 … Nxe4!! This move threatens to play … Rh8-h1+ followed by … Qd8-h4+ and mate, or to play simply … Qd8-h4 at once. After 11 Nxd8, White gets mated by 11 ... gxf2+ 12 Rxf2 Bxf2+ 13 Kf1 Rh1+ 14 Ke2 Nd4 mate.

To recap, we can now state with authority that in the Two Knights Defense, the main issue is White's early attack on f7, and in the Giuoco Pianissimo, the battle revolves around who can institute an effective pin on the opposing king's knight. Instead of attempting to learn every move of these openings (at this state in any event an impossible task), let's see what the Ruy Lopez has to offer in terms of strategic insight. After the opening moves 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6, White plays 3 Bb5 to reach the Ruy Lopez, also known as the Spanish, and universally regarded as one of the cornerstones of chess opening theory. With 3 Bb5, White is not thinking about directly attacking the opponent's king (recognizing, that is, that Black will probably castle kingside); rather, he is interested in "pressurizing" the pawn at e5. In this regard, White would like to force Black into one of the following: give up central space with the exchange … e5xd4 (where a White pawn on d4 may be backed up by a pawn on c3), or maintain the pawn at e5 at the cost of passive or tactically unfavorable piece placement.

The immediate question in the Ruy Lopez is whether White is really threatening to win a pawn right now. The Morphy Defense, which arises after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6, openly challenges this aspect of the Ruy. If then White plays 4 Bxc6 (the Exchange Variation), Black should play 4 … dxc6 and then if 5 Nxe5, then 5 … Qd4, with a double attack on the knight and the e-pawn, is good for Black (and also, by the way, 5 … Qg5 and 5 … Qe7 would also recover the pawn). So White is not menacing the e-pawn right now. But in this Exchange Variation, White should play not the hasty 5 Nxe5, but rather, 5 O-O, a line popularized by Bobby Fischer. Then the threat to e5 becomes real, and on, for example, 5 … f6, then 6 d4 illustrates some of the themes we discussed – pressure on e5 designed to win better control of the center. After 6 … exd4 7 Qxd4, White has the better pawn structure, but here Black's two bishops serve to minimize his disadvantage.

Therefore, instead of the Exchange Variation, White more often simply retreats his bishop to a4. After the moves 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 the pressure on e5 still exists, but in more muted form, as Black can now break the pseudo-pin with the move … b7-b5. To understand the dynamics of this opening, let's follow the main line of the Closed Ruy Lopez. After 4 Ba4, Black plays 4 … Nf6, instituting a counter-attack against White's e-pawn on e4. Then 5 O-O prepares play on the e-file, ready to meet 5 … Nxe4, which would be the Open Defense to the Ruy with 6 d4, effectively winning back Black's e-pawn as 6 … exd4 7 Re1 would be dangerous. Going back to 5 O-O, Black can play 5 … Be7. This move blocks the e-file and threatens to capture White's e-pawn with impunity. Now White plays 6 Re1, defending his own e-pawn, and for the first time White is actually threatening the pawn on e5! Specifically, the threat is 6 Bxc6 dxc6 7 Nxe5. Therefore, Black now plays 6 … b5, shielding the c6-knight from the eyes of White's bishop. After 7 Bb3 both sides will generally proceed with their development, but we should note that White's main plan is still to play c2-c3 and then d2-d4 to box Black into a passive position.

Now let's revisit the Giuoco Piano for a moment. After 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5, the move 4 c3, known as the Moeller Variation, poses problems for Black. Here White aims to play the move d2-d4, not only to push back the Black bishop, but also to run over the square e5, and hand-to-hand combat can arise very quickly. The main line is 4 ... Nf6 5 d4 exd4 6 cxd4, and now if Black plays a bishop retreat, the advance of White's center pawns can be overwhelming. Therefore, Black must gain time with 6 … Bb4+ with continuing complications.

In my view, this is a good example of the need to learn a little bit about a lot of different openings. Familiarity with the Ruy Lopez strategy of obtaining central pressure can make a player much stronger in, say, the Giuoco Piano.

The 2 Knights Defence

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3 Bc4 - The Giuoco Piano / 2 Knights Defense

The most important chess opening to learn, especially for young players, is the Italian Game, comprising mainly the Giuoco Piano and the Two Knights Defense. This is because this opening focuses on the early assault on the square f7 (or f2), which is a weak square in the opening as it is only defended by the king.

The opening moves of the Italian Game are 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4. Then Black's main choices are 3 ... Bc5 (the Giuoco Piano), and 3 ... Nf6 (the Two Knights Defense).

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1 e4 e5

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Above is the position after the moves 1 e4 e5. These moves introduce the so-called "Double King-Pawn Openings" or "Open Games". Moving the king-pawn two squares forward is the most classical move, because is occupies and controls the center, and allows for quick development of the king bishop and queen, which facilitates early castling.

White's choices in this position are 2 Nf3 (the classical move), 2 Nc3 (the Vienna Game), 2 f4 (the King's Gambit - which we would not recommend for beginning players!), 2 Bc4 (the Bishop's Opening) and 2 d4 (the Center Game). With 2 Nf3, White develops his king knight to its best square, and attacks the Black e-pawn. This is more popular than 2 Bc4, because against 2 Bc4 Black can play 2 ... Nf6, which attacks the White e-pawn (as well as keeping the White queen from causing any trouble by coming out to h5).

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This is the position after 2 Nf3 Nc6. 2 ... Nc6 by Black is the most common response. Other tries are 2 ... Nf6 (Petroff's Defence), 2 ... d6 (Philidor's Defence) and 2 ... f5?! (the Latvian Counter-Gambit, but we would prefer to avoid any move with our f-pawns). After 2 ... Nc6, White could respond with 3 Nc3 (the 3 Knights Game, which would probably turn into a 4 Knights Game after the reply 3 ... Nf6), 3 d4 (the Scotch) or 3 Bb5 (the Ruy Lopez - also called the Spanish).

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White has played the most direct attacking move, 3 Bc4. Now, aside from the fairly passive 3 ... Be7 (the Hungarian Defense), Black has two main replies, 3 ... Bc5 and 3 ... Nf6.

The Giuoco Piano

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This is the Giuoco Piano, which, paradoxically, is Italian for "Quiet Game". The important point about 3 ... Bc5 is that Black obtains classical development with counterattacking chances, and also, White cannot start the attack against f7 with the move 4 Ng5? as Black's queen still controls that square.

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This is the position after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 d3, the Giuoco Pianissimo ("Very Quiet Game"). With 4 d3 White envisions the move Nf3-g5 as his queen bishop now defends that square. However, if Black now plays 4 ... Nf6, then 5 Ng5 is not very strong as Black will play 5 ... O-O, castling and defending the f7 point with his rook. Therefore, White should refrain from 5 Ng5 and instead play developing moves like Bc1-g5, Nb1-c3 and castling, and Black will often do the same. The symmetrical nature of the position is what gives it the name "Quiet Game", but things can get pretty wild, depending on who can get their attack going first, using the queen bishop on g5 (or, for Black, g4), and then moving the queen knight into the center (d5 or d4) to increase the pressure on the pinned piece.

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This is the position after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 c3, the Moeller Variation of the Giuoco Piano. Here White aims to play the move d2-d4 to push back the Black bishop, and hand-to-hand combat can arise very quickly. The main line is 4 ... Nf6 5 d4 exd4 6 cxd4 Bb4+ with continuing complications.

The 2 Knights Defence

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This is the position after 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6. Black counterattacks the White e-pawn, but White is allowed to play the fierce move 4 Ng5, which threatens to play 5 Nxf7, with a double attack against Black's queen and rook!

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After 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 Ng5 Black just about has to play the move 4 ... d5, shutting off the pressure on the bishop's diagonal. Then after 5 exd5, Black can play 5 ... Nxd5, but this allows the dangerous sacrifice 6 Nxf7, known as the "Fried Liver Attack". If White does not want to make the knight, he can play 6 d4 instead. In the diagram position, after 4 ... d5 5 exd5, a good idea for Black is to play the move 5 ... Na5, pushing the dangerous bishop off that diagonal (and responding to 6 Bb5+ with 6 ... c6). In this way, Black hopes to prove that White has misplaced his pieces on an early raid, although White is up a pawn at the moment.

A highly recommended first step is to explore our "Italian Game" Tutorial. The Tutorial, which includes diagrams for each move, illustrates the Most Important Chess Opening, arising from the moves 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4. Enter the Tutorial Now!

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•Center Game [1 e4 e5 2 d4] - an antiquated but surprising opening where White can get a strong attack against even the most careful defenders. Center Game •Vienna Game or Bishop's Opening [1 e4 e5 2 Nc3 or 2 Bc4] - White keeps open the possibility of playing the move f2-f4 a la the King's Gambit. Vienna Game and Bishop's Opening •King's Gambit [1 e4 e5 2 f4] - the ultimate "romantic" opening: White sacrifices a pawn for the attack. King's Gambit •Philidor's Defence [1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6] - the ultimate "strongpoint" defence: Black fortifies the e5 square. Philidor's Defence •Petroff's Defence [1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6] - symmetry is the theme here, but this can be dangerous! Petroff's Defence •Scotch Opening [1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4] - a favorite of World Champion Garry Kasparov. Scotch Opening •4 Knights Game [1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nc6] - a Classical Opening which also appeals to very young players. 4 Knights Game •Evans Gambit [1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 b4] - a daring Gambit with many unresolved questions. Evans Gambit •Giuoco Piano [1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5] - Italian for "Quiet Game" but really pretty wild - see the Tutorial. Giuoco Piano •2 Knights Defence [1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6] - leading to the "Fried Liver Attack", this one must be mastered by young players - see the Tutorial. 2 Knights Defence •Ruy Lopez [1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5] - also known as the Spanish Game. Ruy Lopez (w/o 3 ... a6) •Ruy Lopez [1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6] - 19th century Louisianian Paul Morphy's defence to the Ruy. Ruy Lopez (Morphy Defence) •Ruy Lopez [1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 O-O Be7] - the cornerstone of modern chess theory. Ruy Lopez (Closed)

Gateway to GM Mike Rohde's "Megaplan" Chess Openings

Here we provide sample opening analysis in many different openings. This is a sample Analysis Center: Najdorf Variation

ECO Classification "A"

Reti Opening A quiet opening with many positional traps. White plays 1 Nf3 and, in the ensuing play, fianchettoes his king bishop, but avoids both d2-d4 (Queen Pawn Openings) and c2-c4 (the English).

English Opening Characterized by 1 c4, with distinctive features after 1 ... e5 or 1 ... c5 by Black. White also often uses the English to sidestep certain Black defences against 1 d4.

Queen Pawn Openings This includes the Torre (1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 followed by 3 Bg5), the Trompovsky (1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5) and other tricky systems where White plays 1 d4 but does not afterward push his c-pawn 2 squares.

Benko Gambit The incredible countergambit 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 b5 where Black sacrifices his b-pawn for long-term play on the queenside.

Benoni Defense The unbalanced central pawn formation after 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 e6 leads to very sharp play.

Dutch Defence The uncompormising 1 d4 f5 where Black stakes a claim on the square e4 and hopes for kingside expansion later.

ECO Classification "B"

Center Counter 1 e4 d5; a stodgy defence which has gained a lot of respect since Anand surprised Kasparov with it.

Alekhine's Defence The hypermodern 1 e4 Nf6 entices White to overextend in the center.

Pirc / Modern Defence 1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 (or 2 ... g6). Black looks for counterplay with his fianchettoed king bishop.

Caro-Kann Defence With 1 e4 c6 Black concedes the "little center" but obtains full development in a weakness-free position. Used by Anatoly Karpov to propel himself back to the top.

Sicilian Defence 1 e4 c5 - The defence to play when you have to win. The c-pawn's job is to cut down a White pawn arriving on d4. White gets quick development, but Black counterpunches with his central pawn mass.

ECO Classification "C"

French Defence 1 e4 e6 - a fighting defence rich in tactical and strategical complexities.

King's Gambit The romantic gambit 1 e4 e5 2 f4. Fischer thought he busted this one. We are not so sure.

Vienna Game and Bishop's Opening 1 e4 e5 2 Nc3 or 2 Bc4; 19th century openings still breathing fire in the hands of Larsen, Shabalov and others.

Petroff's Defence After 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6 the question is whether Black can equalize by force; a post-modern battleground.

Four Knights 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nf6: A turn of the century staple sees a modern renaissance.

Italian 3 Bc4 The Giuoco, the 2 knights, and other long-time favorites. The most important opening for young players to learn.

Ruy Lopez 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Exerting immediate pressure against e5, this is the bread and butter of chess theory.

ECO Classification "D"

Slav Defence 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 - a very popular solid defence to 1 d4.

Queen's Gambit Accepted 1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4: Another tough line, this defence often leads to isolated-queen-pawn positions.

Queen's Gambit Declined 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 - This completes the trio of Classical defences to 1 d4. In most lines, White must choose between a queenside "minority attack" and central maneuvers.

Grunfeld Defence 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5, a sharp defence where White has many forcing lines, this was used by Kasparov in his ascent to the throne.

ECO Classification "E"

Catalan Opening 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 g3 d5 4 Nf3 - Like a Queen's Gambit but White fianchettoes the king bishop, giving rise to great complications if Black snaps on c4.

Bogo-Indian Defence 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 Bb4+ - Black is prepared to trade his king bishop and then build a dark-squared pawn chain or obtain play a la the Queen's Indian.

Queen's Indian Defence 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6: New discoveries in the Kasparov 4 a3 line, the classical 4 g3 line and the hybrid 4 Nc3 line made this the premier battleground of the 80s.

Nimzo-Indian Defence 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4. Nimzovich's most important contribution, a cornerstone of modern chess.

Twice Kaidanov found himself on the Black side of a Reti. In his last round game, where a win would have tied for first, Kaidanov attempted to play a Queen's Gambit Accepted, but Alburt refused to push his d-pawn two squares: 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 e6 4. Bxc4 c5 5. O-O Nf6 6. Qe2 a6 7. a3 b5 8. Ba2Bb7 9. a4 Nbd7 10. Na3 bxa4 11. Nc4 Be7 12. d3 Nd5 Clearly, Black has a fine game here, but after 13. Bb1 Bc6 14. Bc2 O-O 15.Bd2 N5b6 16. e4 Nxc4 17. dxc4 Bf6 18. Bc1, Kaidanov played 18 ... Qa5? overlooking the trick 19. e5! with the point 19 ... Bxf3 20 Qd3! g6 21 exf6; after 19 ... Be7 20. Bd2 Qc7 21. Bc3, Alburt had a large advantage and went on to win in 48 moves. Earlier in the event, Kaidanov fared better against Igor Ivanov, with this system - 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 d4 Now Suba's 3 a3!, meant to be an improvement on 3 b4 f6, is very interesting. 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 e5 5. d3 Nf6 6. 0-0 Nd7 7. Na3 Be7 Played like a Classical Benoni with colors reversed; the chances are even. 0 - 1 in 38.

Rohde - Polgar, Z., NY INt. 1992, A26 1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 Nf3 f5 4 d4 e4 5 Ng5 h6 [I believe that 5 ... Bb4 is Black's best here. I had just faced the continuation that Polgar chooses in Rohde - Browne, Philadelphia International 1992, so I was able to play the opening quickly.] 6 Nh3 g5 7 Ng1! [Black's kingside space advantage will be nullified by h2-h4.] Bg7 8 e3 Nf6 9 h4 Kf7?! [In Steinitzian fashion, using the king (the only available piece) to shore up the defence of g5. Instead Rohde-Browne featured a battle over the f4 square - 9 ... g4 10 Nge2 Nh5 11 Nd5 Ne7 12 Nef4 Nxf4 13 Nxf4 h5! followed by ... Rh6! and ... Ng6.] 10 Nh3 Kg6 11 f3 Qe7 12 fxe4 Nxe4 DIAGRAM [If Black had played 12 ... fxe4, then 13 Nf2 would threaten 14 Nfxe4 too strongly. After the text, 13 Nd5 is tempting, because if 13 ... Qf7?, then 14 Qh5+!! Kxh5 15 Nhf4+ gxf4 16 Nxf4+ Kg4 17 Be2+ Kg3 18 Rh3 mate! But 13 ... Qd6! would stop all this.] 13 Nxe4 Qxe4 14 Bd3! Qxg2 15 Bxf5+!! [The start of an incredible king-hunt.] Kxf5 16 Rf1+ [A critical move. Not 16 Qd3+ Kf6! 17 Rf1+ Ke7 18 Qg6 Qg3+ 19 Kd1 gxh4! 20 Rf7+ Kd8 and Black is better. The text 16 Rf1+ disallows 16 ... Kg6 17 Qd3+ Kh5 18 Nf4+! gxf4 19 Qf5+ Kxh4 20 Rxf4+, etc.] Ke6 17 Qh5 DIAGRAM Ne5 [A tough choice. 17 ... Rf8 loses to 18 Qg6+ Bf6 (18 ... Rf6? 19 d5+) 19 hxg5 hxg5 20 Rxf6+! Rxf6 21 Nxg5+. Not as clear is the groveling 17 ... Ke7?! (J. Polgar) 18 Qf7+ Kd8 19 Qxg7 Re8. The desperate 17 ... Bxd4 fails to 18 exd4 Qg3+ 19 Rf2!, but the bizarre 17 ... Qg3+ 18 Kd1 Bxd4!? may be tried.] 18 dxe5 Bxe5 19 Qf7+ Kd6 20 Rf6+ Kc5 [20 ... Bxf6 loses quickly to 21 Qxf6+ Kc5 22 Qxh8, because Black still cannot take the knight on h3, due to 23 Qd4+.] 21 b4+! Kxb4 22 Bd2+ Ka3 [If the king went back to c5, then 23 Rf5! wins - 23 ... d6 (or 23 ... Qg3+ 24 Nf2 and Black's situation has not improved) 24 Qxc7+ Qc6 25 Bb4+ Kxc4 26 Rc1+.] DIAGRAM 23 c5 [Ultimately, the WHite queen will cross over to the queenside to deliver checkmate, even though Black gets to have fun for a few moves.] d5 24 cxd6 Bg3+ 25 Rf2 Qh1+ 26 Ke2 Bg4+ 27 Kd3 Bd1 28 Bc1+ Ka4 29 Qc4+ Ka5 30 Bd2+ 1 - 0 CHAMELEONS As he proved last year in New York, Julio Granda-Zuniga is one of the best at creating ferocious attacks from quiet openings. Likewise, Yasser Seirawan, a fearsome positional player, has sharpened his style considerably. When the two met in Buenos Aires, both shed their camouflage early. Granda's incisive opening play led to an opportunity to start an explosive attack which might have run most players off the board. Instead, Seirawan refused to give ground, and found a brilliant way to hold onto his extra material. The question became, whether Seirawan could reorganize his position before the second wave of the attack arrived. Granda-Zuniga - Seirawan, Buenos Aires 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 Nc3 e6 [This method of entering the hedgehog system avoids aggressive White systems such as 3 ... b6 4 e4 d6 5 d4 cxd4 6 Nxd4 Bb7 7 Bd3, when a quick f2-f4-f5 is possible, or 3 ... b6 4 e3 Bb7 5 d4 cxd4 6 exd4 e6 7 a3 threatening d4-d5, and preparing 7 ... d5 8 cxd5 Nxd5 9 Ne5! On the other hand, with 3 ... e6 Black has lost the opportunity for the double fianchetto which could develop after 3 ... b6 4 g3 Bb7 5 Bg2 g6, etc.] 4 g3 b6 5 Bg2 Bb7 6 O-O Nc6 [Much less common than 6 ... Be7 or 6 ... a6, the text has been popularized by Nick DeFirmian. The main idea is that Black achieves the typical Hedhehog goal of exchanging light-squared bishops after 7 d4 Nxd4! 8 Nxd4 Bxg2 9 Kxg2 (R.K. Delaune once essayed the solid 9 Nxe6 against DeFirmian) cxd4 10 Qxd4 Qc7 with equality.] 7 e4! [An important innovation. White prepares to play d4 without allowing the exchange of bishops, and Black loses time if he locks the position up with 7 ... e5. In Salov - Seirawan, Rotterdam 1989, Yasser awarded White an exclam for 7 b3 in Inf. 47, game 46, claiming that the immediate 7 e3 is met by 7 ... Be7 8 d4 cxd4 9 exd4 Na5 10 b3 d5, although White looks quite happy after 11 Ne5 (threatening 10 b4!) O-O 12 Bg5 Rc8 13 Rc1. In any case, Granda's method is more incisive - if now 7 ... d6 8 d4 cxd4 9 Nxd4, Black's position lacks the dynamism generally associated with the hedgehog. ] e5 8 d3 g6 [This logical attempt to economize on the move 8 ... d6 meets a shocking reply. The game Illescas - Ulybin, Chalkidiki 1992, which deviated on the 6th move but reached a similar formation, illustrates Black's difficulties: 6 ... d6 7 Re1 Be7 8 e4 e5 9 d3 O-O 10 Nh4 Nc6 11 Nf5 Nd4 12 f4 with the initiative.] DIAGRAM 9 Nxe5!! Nxe5 10 f4 Nc6 [It is hard to give the piece back sensibly. Black just loses on 10 ... d6?? 11 fxe5 dxe5 12 Bg5 Be7 13 Qf3. And 10 ... Bd6 11 fxe5 Bxe5 12 Bh6 is uncomfortable. Likewise, 10 ... Neg4 11 e5 Bxg2 12 Kxg2 Be7 13 exf6 Nxf6 14 f5 O-O 15 Qf3 fails to solve Black's problems. Given this aggravation, Black holds onto the extra material.] 11 e5 Ng8 12 f5 [In this drastic situation, it is not easy to come up with workable defenses. Possible is 12 ... Rb8, freeing the c6 knight for duty on d4 or e5. Seirawan comes up with a fearless and cold-blooded idea.] Nh6!! 13 Ne4 Nxf5 [If 13 ... Nxe5 14 Bg5 is too strong.] 14 Nf6+ Ke7 15 Nd5+ Ke8 16 Nf6+ Ke7 DIAGRAM 17 g4 [Amazingly, there is no clear follow-up to 17 Bg5 Qb8.] Nfd4 18 Qe1! [The queen is headed to f2, to put inolerable pressure on f7 and f6. Again, 18 Bg5 Qb8 is inconclusive.] Qb8 19 Nd5+ Kd8 20 Bg5+ Kc8 21 Rxf7 DIAGRAM Ne6! [A solid move, shoring up the f8 bishop. The tempting 21 ... Qxe5? runs right into 22 Bf6!, and 21 ... Nxe5? loses to 22 Rxf8+! Rxf8 23 Ne7+ Kc7 24 Qxe5+ d6 25 Qg7.] 22 Bf6 Ncd8? [It turns out that this move allows White inroads into Black's position through well-timed exchanges. Better was 22 ... Rg8, and Black can wriggle forward with ... Ncd4, ... Bc6, etc. while White is stymied. An excellent example of this kind of defensive maneuvering is Granda's effort against Patrick Wolff from the '92 Reshevsky Memorial.] 23 Re7 Rg8 24 Re8 Bc6 25 Bxd8! [Much better than 25 Ne7+ which recovers the exchange but brings Black's pieces to life. Granda foresees that the e-pawn will become a monster. Another possibility was 25 Qh4, but Black can muddle with 25 ... g5 26 Qxh7 Rg7.] Nxd8 26 Nf6 Rh8 27 Bxc6 dxc6 28 Qe4 Qc7 29 e6 DIAGRAM Bg7 [A humorous variation is 29 ... Rb8 30 e7 Bxe7 31 Rxe7 Qd6 32 Ne8.] 30 e7 Rxe8 31 Nxe8 Bd4+ 32 Kh1 Qd7 33 Nd6+ Qxd6 34 e8(Q) [Granda has an extra queen in return for a bishop and knight. Seirawan puts up a remarkable resistance, but there is no denying the outcome.] a5 35 Rf1 Ra7 36 Rf8 Rd7 37 Q4e6 Qxe6 38 Qxe6 Kc7 39 Qe2 Bg7 40 Rf2 Bd4 41 Rf3 Nf7 42 Rf4 Nd6 43 Kg2 Nc8 44 b3 Re7 45 Re4 Rf7 46 Qe1 Rd7 47 Qg3+ Kb7 48 h3 Rf7 49 h4 Rd7 50 Re6 Bc3 51 Qf3 Nd6 52 Qf8 Nc8 53 Re8 Rc7 54 Rd8 Bg7 55 Qe8 Bf6 56 Rxc8 1 - 0 A34 Dzindzihasvili - Browne, North American Open, Rd. 6 1 Nf3 c5 2 g3 [Move order considerations in the Reti/English complex are very important. It is well known that after 2 c4 Nf6 Browne would head towards the Hedgehog: 3 Nc3 b6, or 3 g3 b6. But 2 g3 disallows the Hedgehog unless Black is willing to risk transposition to the King's Indian attack - 2 ... b6 3 e4. 2 g3 invites Black to occuply the center with 2 ... d5 with a Reversed King's Indian in store. Browne's usual reply to 2 g3 is 2 ... g6, which can lead to an English if White plays c4, a King's Indian if White plays c4 and d4, or a Gruenfeld after 3 c3 Bg7 4 d4 cxd4 5 cxd4 d5. Browne explained that he had not fared well with 2 ... g6 against Dzindzi in the past.] Nf6 3 Bg2 Nc6 4 O-O e6 [Deciding against the King's Indian 4 ... g6 5 c4 Bg7 6 d4 cxd4 7 Nxd4 O-O 8 Nc3 Nxd4 9 Qxd4 d6.] 5 c4 Be7 6 d4 cd [Opting for a Hedgehog-type formation without the fianchetto of the Queen's Bishop. 6 ... d5 would enter the Tarrasch or the Semi-Tarrasch.] 7 Nd4 O-O 8 Nc3 a6 9 Bf4 Nd4 10 Qd4 d6 11 Qd3 Qc7 [The pressure against d6 is very uncomfortable, but if first 11 ... Nh5 12 Be3, and 12 ... Rb8 13 Ba7! Ra8 14 Qe3, or 12 ... Qc7 13 Na4 take advantage of the weak b6 square.] 12 Rfd1 Rd8 13 Ne4!! [If 13 Rac1 (threatening 14 c5) Nh5! 14 Be3 Bd7 and Black completes his development.] Ne4 14 Be4 h6 [Better than the panicky 14 ... f5 15 Bg2 Rb8 16 e4.] 15 Rac1 g5 [A critical moment. The threat was 16 c5, and the dark-squared bishop had to be driven away. Browne prefers weakening his kingside in the hope of later creating dynamic play to the immobilization of his center that would result from 15 ... e5. The tournament situation mandated this risky decision.] 16 Be3 Bd7 17 Qb3! [More headaches! White threatens 18 Bb6 and 18 Qxb7.] Rdb8 [The more active 17 ... Re8 fails to 18 Qxb7 Qxb7 19 Bxb7 Rab8 20 Bxa6 Rxb2 21 c5! d5 22 Rd2. With the text Black hopes to eventually expand on the queenside, but White's 20th move will hinder those plans.] 18 Bb6 Qc8 19 Qd3 Bc6 20 b3!! [Stopping the planned freeing maneuver 20 ... Bxe4 21 Qxe4 Qc6 which now fails to 22 Qxc6 bxc6 23 Bc7 as the b-pawn is protected. Meanwhile, the move envisions the reorganization Bb6-d4-b2 and Qc3.] a5 21 Bh7+ Kg7 [On 21 ... Kf8 22 Qc3 e5 23 c5 things start to unravel.] 22 Bd4+ Kf8! [Again refusing, for positional reasons, the invitation to play 22 ... e5. Black's position would not be pretty after 23 Bb2 b6, although he would still be kicking.] 23 Be4 [Trying to clear a path to h7 for the queen.] f5 24 Bc6 Qc6 25 Bb2 a4?? [Hastening to create counterplay, Black only encourages White's b-pawn to join the fray. Passive defense with 25 ... Kf7 26 Qc3 Rg8 was best. The ironic aspect of 25 ... a4 is that Black had better chances of opening the a-file by leaving the a-pawn where it was as White may have needed to open a second front with a2-a3 and b3-b4. As so often happens when one is conducting a long and arduous defence, time pressure rears its ugly head.] 26 b4 Kf7 27 b5 Qe4 [Losing, but 27 ... Qc7 28 e4 was not much of an alternative.] 28 Qc3 f4 [On 28 ... Rg8 or 28 ... e5, 29 f3 is curtains because of 29 ... Qxe2 30 Re1.] 29 Qg7+ Ke8 30 c5! [The inevitable break. Since 30 ... d5 31 c6 is grisly, Black wants to be shown.] Bf8 31 Qg8 dc 32 Bg7 Ke7 [32 ... Qf5 loses to 33 Rd6 Rd8 (33 ... Ke7 34 Rcd1) 34 Rxe6+ Kd7 35 Rd1+ Kc7 36 Be5+ Kc8 37 Rxd8+ Kxd8 38 Rf6.] 33 Bf8+ Rf8 34 Qg7+ Rf7 35 Rd7+ Kd7 36 Qf7+ Kd6 [An unfortunate stroll, but if the king goes back Black will lose the rook.] 37 Rd1+ Ke5 38 Qg7+ Kf5 39 g4+ 1 - 0

Rohde - Ashley 1 Nf3 c5 2 c4 Nf6 3 Nc3 e6 4 g3 b6 Entering the Hedgehog. The major alternative here was 4 ... d5, the Tarrasch. 5 Bg2 Bb7 6 O-O d6 7 d4 cxd4 8 Qxd4 a6 Black's wall of central pawns may grow in strength later; his immediate concern is not to let d6 come under attack from a knight on b5. 9 Ng5 A well-known variation was 9 b3 Nbd7! 10 Ba3 Nc5 (shielding the d-pawn) 11 e4 Qc7 12 e5 dxe5 13 Qxe5 Rc8! and White does not have too much. The object of the text is to realight on e4, putting pressure on d6. 9 ... Bxg2 10 Kxg2 Be7 11 Rd1 Qc7 With this move Ashley begins to go down the wrong path. Correct was 11 ... O-O because 12 Nge4 can be met comfortably with 12 ... Ne8! securely rooting the d6-pawn, and preparing to push White back with ... f7-f5. 12 Nge4 O-O 13 Nxf6+ This leads to a strong position. 13 ... Bxf6 14 Qxd6 Qxc4 15 Qxb6 Nc6 Played quickly, looking for compensation for the pawn. Not good would be 15 ... Bxc3 16 bxc3 because of White's very strong bishop in variations like 16 ... Qxe2 17 Ba3 Re8 18 Qb7. 16 Qb3 Qxb3 17 axb3 Nd4 18 Ra3 Tempting was 18 Be3 as 18 ... Nxb3 19 Ra3 Rfb8 20 Na4 is juicy, but Black can instead play 18 ... Nc2! wrecking White's pawn structure, which would generate real counterplay. 18 ... Rb8 19 Ne4 Nc2 On 19 ... Nxb3 20 Bf4 is very strong. 20 Nf6+ gxf6 21 Ra4 Rxb3 22 Bh6! Nb4 Or 22 ... f5 23 Rxa6! 23 Rd4! With a big advantage

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

Kreiman - Rohde 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 Bg5 I felt Kreiman might play the Torre, as Kreiman mainly plays 1 e4, and the Torre is regarded as a safety valve for 1 e4 players playing 1 d4. 3 ... c5 4 c3 More common is 4 e3. 4 ... cxd4 On 4 ... Qb6, I thought White can play 5 Bxf6!? with the idea 5 ... Qxb2 6 Bg5 Qxa1 7 Qc2 menacing Mf3-d2-b3. With the c-pawns gone, this will not work for White. 5 cxd4 Qb6 6 Qc1 Nc6 7 Bxf6 gxf6 8 e3 d5 9 Be2 Bd7 10 Nc3 Rc8 Black has a static pawn formation but he also has the two bishops and good control of the center. 11 O-O f5? Weak because e5 will be available to the White knight in many lines. Much better was the quiet 11 ... Be7 with a satisfactory position. 12 Qd2 Be7 13 Rfc1 O-O 14 Na4! Now I had to play very carefully to equalize. 14 ... Qa5! 15 Qxa5 Nxa5 16 Nc5 Bc6! The plan is to kick White out with ... b7-b6. Meanwhile, if 17 b4 Nc4 White cannot win a pawn with 18 Bxc4 dxc4 19 Rxc4 due to 19 ... Bxf3 20 gxf3 b6 snaring the knight. 17 Ne5 b6 18 Nb3! A strong move giving White the potential for a pull. Black's next is forced. 18 ... Bb7 19 Nxa5 bxa5 20 Nd7 Rxc1+ 21 Rxc1 Rc8 22 Nc5 White has a small edge. After further vicissitudes, the game ended in a draw.

The Benko Gambit is an amazing countergambit first fully worked out and put into practice by the great Hungarian-American positional player Pal Benko. After 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 b5 the ideas are as follows: After 4 cxb5 a6 5 bxa6 Black will ultimately obtain strong pressure on the half-open b- and a-files in conjunction with a powerful fianchettoed bishop on g7. This pressure can be worth a pawn minus even going into the endgame. These ideas are justified by the pawn chain, wherein White's d4-d5 accedes to a fundamental Black initiative on the queenside in return for a gain of central space. The Benko Gambit attempts to put these pawn structure theories to work immediately. Also, Black aims to obtain strong pressure on the a6-f1 diagonal. Necessary for the success of the Benko, after 5 ... g6 6 Nc3 Bxa6, if White wants to support the d5 pawn with the move 7 e4, then he will lose the right to castle after 7 ... Bxf1 Kxf1.

3 critical variations which avoid the dreaded Benko structure:•1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 b5 4 Nf3•1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 b5 4 cxb5 a6 5 f3•1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 b5 4 cxb5 a6 5 e3

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.e3 g6 The modern lines against White's 5 e3 system involve a quick counterattack against the d-pawn with 5 ... Bb7 or 5 ... axb5 6 Bxb5 Bb7 7 Nc3 Qa5, etc. 5 ... g6, ignoring White's 5 e3 system which both defends the b5 pawn and keeps the White bishop on the f1-b5 diagonal, is an older line which is not very impressive. 6.Nc3 d6 The main line here runs 6 ... Bg7 7 a4 O-O 8 Nf3 e6 9 dxe6 fxe6 10 Qd6. With the text, Black abandons the idea of counterattacking the d5 pawn. 7.a4 Bg7 8.Bc4 0-0 9.Nge2 e6 10.e4 An interesting and unclear question which runs throughout this game is whether White should (a) take on e6, so as to expose pawn weaknesses in Black's camp, at the risk that Black will later expand in the center with ... d6-d5, or (b) defend his outpost on d5, risking that Black will get counterplay as White's pieces will be passively placed. 10...axb5 11.Bxb5 Bb7 12.0-0 Na6 13.Nf4 Qe7 14.Re1 This was a good moment for 14 dxe6 fxe6 15 Re1 with a tremendous position for White; ... d6-d5 will be very hard for White to get in given the opposition on the king file. 14...Nc7 15.Bc4 Again, 15 dxe6 was reasonable, though not as strong as before; now Black should respond with 15 ... Nxe6 16 Nxe6 Qxe6; I still prefer this line to White's retreat 15 Bc4. 15...Ba6 16.Qd3 Rfb8 17.Ra3 The b-file pressure is beginning to provide full compensation for the pawn now; it was therefore better to open up a new front with 17 Bxa6 followed by 18 dxe6, so as to give Black a weak d-pawn. 17...Bxc4 18.Qxc4 Rb4 19.Qa2 exd5 This recovers the pawn. 20.Nfxd5 Nfxd5 21.Nxd5 Nxd5 22.Qxd5 Raxa4 23.Bg5! Qe5 Not 23...Rxe4?? 24.Rxe4 Rxe4 (or 24...Qxe4 25.Qxe4 Rxe4 26.Ra8+ Bf8 27.f3 with the threat of Bg5-h6, winning.) 25.Ra8+ Bf8 26.Rxf8+! and White wins. 24.Qa8+ Best. This simplifying maneuver at least gets rid of the terribly stong Black bishop on g7. 24...Rxa8 25.Rxa8+ Bf8 26.Bh6 Qe7 27.Rxf8+ Qxf8 28.Bxf8 Kxf8 29.Re2 1/2 - 1/2 Black should play on - the plan is to move the king up and then play ... f7-f5. If White exchanges off his e-pawn, Black's d-pawn is passed. If White plays f2-f3, then an exchange on e4 will leave the resulting White e4 pawn very weak.

Kaidanov - deFirmian, rd. 3. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nf3 g6 7. g3 Bg7 8. Bg20-0 9. 0-0 Nbd7 10. h3 A useful comparison can be made between this game and D. Gurevich - deFirmian, U.S. Champ. 1994, which featured 10 Bf4 Qe7 11 h3 h6 (also reasonable is 11 ... Nh5 with the distinction that after 12 Bg5, 12 ... f6 is good because after 13 Bd2 f5 can be played as in Stohl - Enders, Erfurt 1994, as White has not gotten e2-e4 in yet) 12 e4 g5 13 Bd2 Rb8 and Black has dispensed with the preparatory move ... a7-a6. a6 11. Bf4 Qe7 12. e4 h6 deFirmian varies from Vaganian - Sax, Rotterdam 1989, which featured 12 ... Nh5 13 Bg5 Bf6 14 Bh6 Ng7 15 Re1 b5 16 Kh2 b4 with chances for both sides. 13. Re1 Ne8 14. h4 Rb8 15. Qd2 Both sides have chances; 1/2-1/2 in 44. Kaidanov - Shabalov, rd. 5. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Bg2 Bg7 8. Nf3O-O 9. O-O Na6 10. Nd2 Nc7 11. Nc4 Nfe8 12. Bf4 f5 At this year's Chicago Open, D. Gurevich tried 12 ... b5 here, but had real problems after 13 Na5. 13. a4 b6 14. Rc1 Ba6 15. b3b5 16. axb5 Nxb5 17. Nxb5 Bxb5 18. e4 fxe4 19. Bxe4 a5 20. Re1 a4 Shabalov's methodical play has worked out very well, but 1-0 in 47.

The basic Benoni pawn structure arises after 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 e6 4 Nc3 exd5 5 exd5. Then after 5 ... d6 White has many choices -

•6 e4 g6 7 f4 Bg7 8 Bb5+ or 8 e5 (8Bb5+ gets two thumbs up!)•6 Nf3 g6 7 Bf4•6 Nf3 g6 7 e4 Bg7 8 Be2•6 Nf3 g6 7 e4 Bg7 8 h3 O-O 9 Bd3•6 Nf3 g6 7 g3•6 Nf3 g6 7 Nd2•6 Nf3 g6 7 Bg5

Many Benoni players, for example American GM Nick deFirmian, use this move order: 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6; then if 3 Nc3 Bb4 (the Nimzo-Indian, not the Benoni!) or if 3 Nf3 c5 (the Benoni). This is because of great respect for the power of the White system listed above with f2-f4 and Bf1-b5+. Using this move order, Black only enters the Benoni if White is precluded from playing this line because his knight is already on f3!

Kaidanov - gurevich 1996 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Bg2 0-0 9.0-0 Na6 10.Nd2 Not very effective here is 10 e4 Bg4 11 h3 Bxf3 12 Qxf3 Nd7 as in Rashkovsky - Kotsur, Kurgan, 1993, because of Black's easy counterplay and well-placed minor pieces. Nc7 Strange things happened in Sherbakov - Nun, after 10 ... b6!? 11 Nxd6 Ba6?! (probably better is 11 ... Qxd6 12 Bf4 Qd7 13 d6 Ne6 14 Bxa8 Nxf4 15 gxf4 Qg4+ 16 Bg2 Qxf4, and nothing is clear) 12 Qa4!? Qxd6 13 Bf4 Qd7 14 Qxd7 Nxd7 15 Bxc7 with better chances for White. 11.Nc4 Nfe8 12.e4! If White can do this, then the whole line with 9 ... Na6 is ready for the trash heap. In Todorov - Solozhenkin, Cappelle Open, 1994, 12 a4 b6 13 Qd2 (or 13 Qc2 f5, Sherbakov - Emms, Hastings 1993) Ba6 14 b3 transpired. b5 13.Na5 b4 After this move, c5 becomes a target in lines where White breaks with e4-e5. A big improvement here might be 13 ... Qd7!! which prepares to meet 14 Nc6 with 14 ... Bb7. Or if 14 a3, then Black can just go about his business with 14 ... Ba6 15 Re1 Bd4 followed by ... Ne8-g7. 14.Nc6 Qd7 15.Na4 Ba6 16.Re1 Bb5 Losing time with the bishop, but Gurevich's idea is that the pressure against a4 will forestall the break e4-e5. 17.a3! A nice shot, which necessitates the following exchange if Black wants to keep his pawn structure intact. Bxa4 18.Qxa4 a5 19.Qb3 Nf6 20.e5 Rae8 21.axb4 axb4 22.Be3! Now things are really starting to fall apart for Black. Ng4 23.Bh3 c4 24.Qxb4 dxe5 25.Ra7 Nxd5 1 - 0

Alekhine's Defence is a sharp and forcing defence characterized by 1 e4 Nf6. The Defence is named after Alexander Alekhine, who wrested the World Championship away from Jose Capablanca in 1927. Alekhine is known as a great attacking player, but this defence bears the influence of his contemporary Aron Nimzovich, as it is ultra-hypermodern: Black entices the White center forward in hopes of destroying it later.

After 1 e4 Nf6 2 e5 (2 Nc3 offers a transposition to the Vienna Game after 2 ... e5; the true Alekhine's continuation is 2 ... d5, after which 3 exd5 Nxd5 gives Black easy equality; much trickier is 3 e5! and Black has 3 ... Nd7, 3 ... Ne4 or 3 ... d4.) Nd5 3 d4 is the main line. Then 3 ... d6 and

The Main Lines•4 Nf3 [the Modern Variation]•4 c4 Nb6 5 f4 [the Four Pawns Attack]•4 c4 Nb6 5 exd6 [the Exchange Variation]

[White "R. Dzindzichashvili"][Black "I. Khmelnitsky"]1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. exd6 exd6 6. Nc3 Be7 7. Bd3 Nc6 8.Nge2 Bg4 9. f3 Bh5 10. 0-0 Bg6 11. b3 Bf6 12. Be3 d5 13. c5 Nc8 14. a3 N8e7 15.b4 Qd7 16. Qd2 Bxd3 17. Qxd3 h5 1/2-1/2 [White "I. Khmelnitsky"][Black "L. Alburt"]1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e5 Nfd7 4. f4 c5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 e6 7. Bg2 Be7 8. 0-00-0 9. Kh1 f6 10. exf6 Bxf6 11. Qe2 Kh8 12. d3 Nd4 13. Nxd4 cxd4 14. Nd1 Re8 15.Nf2 e5 16. Qf3 Qc7 17. Qxd5 Qxc2 18. Ne4 Nb6 19. Qc5 Qxd3 20. Nxf6 gxf6 21. fxe5Bf5 22. exf6 Be4 23. Bh6 Nd7 24. Bg7+ Kg8 25. Qd5+ 1-0 [White "R. Dzindzichashvili"][Black "L. Alburt"]1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. exd6 cxd6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Be3 Bg7 8. Rc1O-O 9. b3 e5 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Qxd8 Rxd8 12. c5 N6d7 13. Bc4 Nc6 14. Nf3 Nd4 15.Ng5 Rf8 16. Nce4 Nf5 17. O-O Nf6 18. Nd6 Nxd6 19. cxd6 Bd7 20. a4 Bc6 21. Rfd1a6 22. f3 Rad8 23. Bxa6 Nd5 24. Bf2 Bh6 25. h4 Rfe8 26. Bc4 Rxd6 27. Rd3 Rd7 28.Rcd1 Red8 29. Ne4 Kg7 30. Nc5 Rd6 31. a5 Kf8 32. b4 Ke7 33. Ne4 Ne3 34. Nxd6 1-0

The Race In opposite-side-castling situations there is only one golden rule: get your own attack moving. This is because no defense can hold out against an opponent who is free to throw everything at you. In the game between Evgeny Sveshnikov and Loek Van Wely from the Biel Interzonal, the players steered their kings in opposite directions, and mating attacks began as early as move 9! Sveshnikov is an expert in certain hyper-aggressive White systems, and he forced Van Wely, Holland's new star, to take desperate counter-measures.} Sveshnikov - Van Wely, Biel (IZ) 1993 1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 g6 4 Be3 Bg7 [Since part of White's plan is Qd2 and Bh6, often Black delays the development of this bishop in order to snap on h6 from f8, saving time. Also, since White's 4th evinces a possible intention to castle queenside, Black often starts a queenside storm with 4 ... c6 or 4 ... a6 followed by ... b5. For example, in A. Ivanov - Ehlvest, NY Open 1990, play continued 4 ... c6 5 Qd2 (in Sveshnikov - Rukavina, Pula 1990, Sveshnikov switched gears with 5 h3 Nbd7 6 f4 Bg7 7 Qf3) b5 6 Bd3 (in Judasin - Wolff, NY Open 1990, White played 6 f3 Qc7 7 O-O-O, in this line 6 ... Bg7 7 Bh6 Bh6 8 Qh6 was double-edged, Kamsky - M. Gurevic, Reggio Emilia 1991) Nbd7 7 Nf3 - White has abandoned the plan of castling queenside - Bg7 (alternatives were 7 ... Bb7 or 7 ... e5) 8 Bh6 O-O 9 Bg7 Kg7 10 e5 and White stood better. Later in the same event Seirawan played even more provocatively against Ivanov: - with Black having already played ... Bg7 instead of ... Nf6 - 4 ... a6 5 h4 h5 6 Qd2 Nf6 7 f3 b5 8 Nh3, and Yasser overvalued his bishop with 8 ... Bb7 instead of the prudent 8 ... Bh3 9 Rh3 e6, etc.] 5 Qd2 c6 [Nothing is to be gained by 5 ... Ng4 6 Bg5.] 6 f3 [White's setup is reminiscent of the Yugoslav Attack against the Dragon.] Nbd7 [In games 3 and 5 of the Gelfand - Nikolic Candidates Match in Sarajevo 1991, Nikolic tried 6 ... Qa5 here. Game 3 continued 7 g4 h5 8 g5 Nh7 9 f4 O-O 10 Nf3 e5, and Black was cramped but his king was safe and he had some counterchances. Game 5 deviated slightly: 7 g4 b5 8 Nge2 h5 9 g5 Nfd7 10 f4 and White maintained the edge.] 7 g4 e5 8 O-O-O O-O DIAGRAM [Neither player has decided to hedge their bets; both declare where they live and set their respective attacks in motion. {But the raw strength of White's h-file attack has led Pirc players to seek other approaches to the Be3 system.}] 9 h4 b5 {[ 9 ... h5 gives White a choice between the positional 10 g5 Nh7 11 f4 or the uncompromising 10 Nh3.]} 10 h5 ed 11 Bd4 b4 12 Nb1 {[ Sveshnikov does not mind consigning this knight to a passive role, banking on the kingside attack to decide matters. 12 Na4? Nb6 is good for Black, and putting the knight on e2 would clog the Q's route to h2 and the B's route to c4.]} Qa5 [It was possible to drive the bishop off the diagonal with 12 ... c5, but this would not have been desirable: 13 Be3 Qa5 14 hg followed by Bh6 is amazingly efficient. After all, Van Wely played 10 ... ed to distract the bishop from getting to h6.] 13 hg hg 14 a3 [White cannot afford to only play offense, as after 14 Qh2 Qa2 15 Ne2 c5, Black established long diagonal threats before White can get in Ng3 and g5.] c5 15 ab DIAGRAM Qa2 [The queen takes up a most annoying post. Instead, 15 ... cb would leave Black without a method for dislodging the bishop from d4, although Black gets the c-file open quicker. But Van Wely was afraid of 16 Bc4! Ne5 17 g5!! Nxc4 18 gf! Nxd2 19 fg f6 20 gf(Q)+ Kf8 21 Rd2 and wins. If Black sidesteps this with 17 ... Nh5, then 18 Bd5 Rb8 19 f4 is strong.] 16 bc Rb8 [Threatening 17 ... Ne4! 18 fe Qb2+!] 17 Qh2 Rd8 [By giving the Black king more breathing room, it is now possible for a potential Bxf6 to be answered by recapturing with the bishop. 17 ... dc? would have lost to 18 Bxf6 Nxf6 19 Qxb8. Very complicated is the attempt to open the long diagonal immediately with 17 ... Nh5!?, temporarily closing the h-file and hitting b2. Then 18 gh Bd4 would be no good for White, and 18 Bg7 Kg7 19 b3 Nc5 20 gh Rb3 is a mess. But in this line it seems that White can take everything with impunity: 19 gh! Rb2 20 Nc3 Qa3 21 hg!] 18 c6 [Suddenly Sveshnikov tries to steal some major material.] Nh5 19 Bg7 Kg7 20 b3 {[ It seems 20 gh was still possible, but since Black cannot save his material, Sveshnikov consolidates.]} Nc5 21 Bc4! [Overhasty would have been 21 c7 Rb3 {22 cd(Q) Rb1+ 23 Kd2 Nb3+}. Now Black has too much stuff hanging to attempt to retract his plans.] Be6 22 c7 Bc4 23 cd(Q) Rb3 {DIAGRAM} 24 Qhd6 {[Setting up his own mate threats.]} Qb2+ 25 Kd2 Rd3+ 26 Ke1 Qc2 27 Q6f8+ [More picturesque would have been 27 Q6f6+ Nf6 28 Qh8 mate.]

Some people find the Caro-Kann Defence to be yet another reason not to play 1 e4 as White! In the hands of a player who knows a little theory, the Caro-Kann can be a very solid defence. After 1 e4 c6 White can choose to mix it up with 2 c4 with the idea 2 ... d5 3 cxd5 cxd5 4 exd5 Nf6 (4 ... Qxd5 5 Nc3 Qd6 is okay but does not appeal to everybody) 5 Bb5+ with immediate complications revolving around how, and whether, Black will recover his pawn.

The main lines are 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 (the Advance Variation 3 e5 has gained a lot of ground in the last few years) dxe4 4 Nxe4 and now:

•4 ... Bf5, the Classical line, about which a young Kasparov wrote a book•4 ... Nf6 is a tricky line accepting doubled pawns•4 ... Nd7 adopted by Karpov in a big way

Dzindzi - Khmelnitsky, Eastern Masters May 1992, B10 1 c4 c6 2 e4 d5 3 exd5 cxd5 [Black has the option here of 3 ... Nf6!?, gambitting a pawn after 4 dxc6 Nxc6, or transposing to the Panov-Botvinnik after 4 d4 cxd5. Therefore, if White wants to make sure that he can get in 5 Bb5+ as in the game, then he should play on the third move 3 cxd5.] 4 cxd5 Nf6 5 Bb5+ Bd7 [The main variation is 5 ... Nbd7 6 Nc3 g6, etc.] 6 Bc4 Bf5 [Borrowing an idea from the Center Counter (1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Nf6 3 Bb5+ Bd7 4 Bc4 Bf5). But in that opening, with the c-pawns still on the board, Black does not have so many worries about the a4-e8 diagonal. An interesting alternative is 6 ... b5 7 Bb3 Na6. Not to be recommended is 6 ... Qc7 (with the idea 7 Bb3 Nxd5) 7 d3!, etc.] 7 Nc3 Nbd7 8 d3! [This extra support for the bishop allows White to hold the extra pawn longer.] Nb6 9 Nge2 Rc8 10 Ng3 Bd7 [Not 10 ... Bg6? 11 Qb3 threatening a2-a4-a5 and Bc1-e3.] 11 O-O g6 [Khmelnitsky cannot recover the pawn with 11 ... Nxc4 12 bxc4 Rxc4 13 Qb3.] 12 Nge4 Nxe4 13 Nxe4 Bg7 14 Bg5 [Dzindzi, after having obtained an overwhelming position, tries to land a knock-out punch. A mundane but strong continuation was 14 Qb3 O-O 15 Be3.] f6 15 Bf4 f5! [Suddenly, Black is in the game again, as he will finally recover the pawn, but Dzindzi maintains a strong positional advantage.] 16 Nc3 Nxc4 17 dxc4 Rxc4 18 Qd2 O-O 19 Rfe1 Be8 20 Be5 b5 21 b3 Rc8 22 Bxg7 Kxg7 23 Qd4+ Kg8 24 d6 [Trying to decide the issue by brute force. On the slower 24 Rac1 a6, there is no concrete continuation.] Qxd6 25 Nd5 DIAGRAM [Threatening total destruction, but Khmelnitsky keeps finding defences!] Rd8 26 Rad1 Rf7 27 Qxa7 Kf8 28 Nc3 [Unable to crash through, Dzindzi trades a pair of rooks and reorganizes the assault.] Qb8 29 Qc5 Rxd1 30 Rxd1 Rf6! [Another good defensive repositioning.] 31 Nd5 Re6 32 h4 Kf7 33 Qc1 Qe5 34 Qh6 [Testing the waters on the kingside.] Kg8 35 Ne3 Rd6 36 Rc1 Bc6 37 Qg5 Qf6 38 Qf4 h5! [Solid. The White knight can never get to g5.] 39 a4! [Playing his last trump: the a-pawn makes a run for it.] bxa4 40 bxa4 Kg7 41 a5 e5 42 Qb4 f4 43 Nc4 Re6 44 a6 Bxg2! 45 Kxg2 Qxh4 [The threat is 46 ... f3+.] 46 Rc3 Qg4+ [On 46 ... e4 White has 47 Qb2! Kh6 48 Rh3.] 47 Kh2 Qh4+ 1/2 - 1/2 Wolff - Granda, rd 4, NY Int. 1992, B17 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nd2 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Nd7 5 Ng5 [This agressive move has replaced 5 Bc4 as the main line. Of course Black cannot reply 5 ... h6? 6 Ne6.] Ngf6 6 Bd3 e6 7 N1f3 h6 [The accepted continuation is 7 ... Bd6, but Granda does not believe in White's coming piece sacrifice.] 8 Nxe6 fxe6 9 Bg6+ Ke7 10 O-O DIAGRAM Qc7 [The beginning of a 14-move process of disentanglement!] 11 Re1 Kd8 12 c4 [Not 12 Rxe6 Bd6 followed by ... Nf8 and ... Bg4.] Bb4 13 Re2 Nf8 14 Ne5? [Looks strong but better was the calm 14 Bc2! with ideas of Ne5 and Bf4 and Black would not be up enough material to compensate for the misery that he would be about to experience.] Nxg6 15 Nxg6 Re8 16 c5 Ba5 17 Qa4 [Insufficient is 17 a3 Qf7.] Nd5 18 Ne5 Bd7 19 a3 b5 20 Qc2 Qb8 [While Black completes his development, White will gobble up the kingside pawns. But Black's extra piece will tell in the long run.] 21 Qh7 Bc7 22 Qxg7 Bxe5 23 Rxe5 Kc8 24 Bxh6 Qc7 25 Bd2 Kb7 26 a4 a5 27 Qg3 Rg8 28 Qd3 b4 29 Rae1 Rh8 30 Bg5 Rag8 31 h4 Qc8 32 g3 Qf8 33 f4 Qf7 34 Kf2 Ne7 35 Bxe7 Qxe7 36 Qf3 Qf6 37 R1e3 Rg7 38 Rd3 Be8 39 Rde3 Bf7 40 f5 Bh5 41 Rxe6 Qxe6 42 Re6 Bxf3 43 Kxf3 Rhg8 44 f6 Rxg3+ 45 Kf4 R8g4+ Ke5 Rxh4 47 Re7+ Ka6 48 f7 Rf3 49 Re6 Rxf7 50 Rxc6+ Ka7 51 d5 Re7+ 52 Kd6 Reh7 0 - 1

EXCITING FINISH Going into the 10th and final game of the Candidates Match between Nigel Short and Anatoly Karpov, Karpov needed to win as Black to avoid losing the match. Since the Sicilian may be the only defense against e4 that prevents White from obtaining a risk-free position, Karpov had to venture it. Some players in Short's position, needing only a draw to win the match, might have essayed a quiet or drawish system. Indeed, how to draw as White against the Sicilian is a subject that I have been wrestling with for some time. But Short made no attempt to duck out, and instead engaged Karpov in an opposite-sides-castling battle. The line of the Richter-Rauzer which Karpov selected concedes doubled pawns on the kingside but ensures a complex middlegame. The only problem was that Short obtained a great position. He threw his kingside pawns forward menacingly, and stymied Karpov's queenside play. When Karpov tried to break in the center, Short sacked a pawn to disorganize Karpov's forces. When Karpov rushed to defend the kingside, Short invaded the queenside, winning material. Suddenly, Karpov freed his game with a desperate and brilliant combination. At the critical moment, however, he misfired, and Short was home free. B63 Short - Karpov, Candidates, B63 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 [Resisting the temptation to play the "safe" 3 Bb5 which , for example, I used to secure a draw as White against Benjamin to make a GM norm in the 1987 New York Open.] cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 d6 6 Bg5 [The signal move of the Richter-Rauzer, essentially committing White to an opposite sides castling situation. 6 Be2 would have led, after 6 ... g6 to the Classical Dragon, after 6 ... e6 to the Scheveningen, or 6 ... e5 to the Boleslavsky.] e6 7 Qd2 Be7 [The leading American exponent of this system is D. Gurevich. The other main lines are 7 ... a6 8 O-O-O h6 (popularized by Dlugy), and 7 ... a6 8 O-O-O Bd7 (as played the Zaltzman variation).] 8 O-O-O O-O DIAGRAM 9 Nb3 [The main line is 9 f4 h6 10 Bh4 (Not 10 Bxf6 Bxf6 11 Nxc6 bxc6 12 Qxd6 Qb6 with good play) e5 with tremendous complications. The text 9 Nb3 is recommended by Nunn in his classic Beating the Sicilian, and was once played by Karpov against Kasparov! That game, from the ____ World Championship, continued with Kasparov innovating 9 ... a5 10 a4 d5, and after 11 exd5 Nxd5 Black soon equalized. Later, however, Vitolinsh and Tal discovered 11 Bb5! which has scored well for White. Note that after 9 ... a5, in contrast to the game, 10 Bxf6 would not be good because of 10 ... Bxf6! 11 Qxd6 Qxd6 12 Rxd6 a4.] a6 10 Bxf6 gxf6 [Karpov has obtained a very double-edged position, where White can not play to keep the draw in hand for fear of simply losing the initiative. With his next move, Short commences a general and fearless kingside advance. A good alternative plan was demonstrated in Adams - Frias, London 1990: 11 Qh6 Kh8 12 Qh5! (to inhibit ... Rg8) Qe8 13 f4 Rg8 14 Bd3 Rg7 15 g4 b5 16 h4 b4 17 Ne2 e5 18 f5 and White has slightly better chances. And in Vitolinsh - Smirin, USSR championship 1989, wild complications ensued after 11 f4 b5 12 Bd3 Kh8 13 Rhe1 Rg8 14 Nd5!? exd5 15 exd5 Ne5!? 16 fxe5 fxe5 17 Kb1 Bg4 18 Be2, and though Black's position has some nice features, again White is more comfortable.] 11 h4 Kh8 [Black can also try dispensing with this standard precautionary move. In Jansa - Sax, Biel Interzonal 1985 play continued 11 ... b5 12 g4 b4 13 Ne2 a5 14 Nbd4 Ne5 15 g5 (a pawn sacrifice which Black ignores) a4 16 Ng3 b3. Black seems to have gotten there first but White took twice on b3 (17 axb3 axb3 18 Nxb3) and later prevailed. Sax was so impressed that he then tried the White side of this line, against Van der Wiel, in Brussels 1985. Van der Wiel diverged with 14 ... Nxd4 15 Nxd4 Bb7 16 g5 f5. After 17 Rg1 White was planning a vicious attack: for example 17 ... Bxe4 18 h5, etc. But Black found 17 ... f4! shutting off White's queen's access, and after 18 h5 e5 the players agreed to a draw, in view of 19 Nf5 Bxe4 20 Nxe7+ Qxe7 21 Qxd6, etc.] 12 g4 b5 [In several games Black has tried first 12 ... Rg8 here. Campora - Zueger, Dubai Olympiad 1986 continuted 13 g5 (White is always willing to sac a pawn to open the h-file) fxg5 14 hxg5 e5 15 f4 Rg7 (Not 15 ... exf4? 16 Rxh7+!) 16 Kb1 exf4 17 Qxf4 Ne5 18 Bh3 Bxg5 with an unclear position. In Judasin - Aseev, USSR 1987, after 12 ... Rg8 13 g5, Black played 13 ... b5 14 f4 Bb7 15 Kb1 b4 16 Ne2 a5 17 Bg2 a4 18 Nbd4 Na5, and White started munching with 19 Qxb4 d5 20 Qxa4 and somehow survived.] 13 g5 b4 DIAGRAM 14 Na4! [Although the knight is a potential target here, it is also quite annoying. Moreover, it stops the advance of the a-pawn. Karpov may have been surprised by this placement.] Rg8 15 f4 [Only Black would be helped by 15 gxf6 Bf8! and if 16 Qf4 Rg6.] Rb8 16 Kb1 [Now 16 gxf6 would lead to an unclear situation after 16 ... Bxf6 17 Qxd6 Qe8, as White's pieces seem disorganized.] Bf8 17 Be2 e5 [It is easy to be suspicious about this move in light of what later transpired, but Black's position was already difficult. On 17 ... Bd7 18 Nac5 Be8! 19 Nxa6 Rb6 gives compensation, but instead White plays 18 gxf6! Qxf6 19 e5, or 18 ... Na5 19 Nac5. And 17 ... f5 18 exf5 exf5 19 h5 is dangerous.] 18 f5! [Short is willing to sacrifice a pawn to deny Karpov the use of the e5 square, open the h-file, and cut the board in half, so as to concentrate threats on one side or the other.] fxg5 19 hxg5 Rxg5 [Black is too passive after 19 ... Qxg5 20 Qd5 Nd8 21 Na5! and 22 Nc4.] DIAGRAM 20 Qe3! [Preparing the re-entry of the knight via b6. Since Be2-c4-d5 is in the air, Karpov allows Na4-b6 and hurries to prepare counterplay.] Qf6 21 Nb6 Ne7 [Of course, Nb6-d5 had to be stopped also.] 22 Nxc8 Rxc8 23 Bxa6 Rd8 24 Qb6 Ng8 [Karpov must have had this position in mind when he played 20 ... Qf6. 25 ... d6-d5 is in the air.] 25 Na5!? [Stalking the rook on d8 ... Simpler was 25 Qxb4.] d5 26 Nc6 Rd6 27 exd5 Ne7 28 Qxb4? DIAGRAM [Correct was 28 Qc5 untangling and keeping an eye on g1. Then 28 ... Nxf5 29 Bd3 and Black is in bad shape. But after the text Karpov embarks on a very unusual combination in which he sacs a piece and then converts his pinned rook into a battery:] Nxd5 29 Rxd5 [Probably better, although very unclear, was 29 Qh4 h6 30 Bb5.] Qg7? [Threatening 30 ... Rg1+ and 30 ... Rxd5. A pretty move, but as Seirawan points out, he should have played 29 ... Rxd5! Then after 30 Qxf8+ Rg8 31 Qe7 (to answer 31 ... Qxc6 with 32 Qxf7; if 31 Qb4 Qxc6 32 Qh4 h6 33 f6 Rg6 34 Bd3 Qxf6!) Black has the stunning 31 ... Qh6!! 32 Re1 Qxc6.] 30 Rxd6 Rg1+ 31 Rd1 Rxd1+ 32 Rxd1 Bxb4 33 Nxb4 Qg4 [The sting at the tail end of the combination, which, however, works only to the extent of picking up the pawn on f5, as Short scrambles away from the double attack on his rook and knight, and simultaneously makes luft, preserving his 3 pieces vs. the queen material edge.] 34 Rd8+ Kg7 35 a3 Qxf5 36 Rd1 h5 37 Re1 Qe6? [Time trouble becomes a factor. Short's last move was designed to control the e4 square next with 38 Bb7, and Karpov reacts to that. Although White was probably winning in any event, there was no excuse not to play 37 ... h4, just to see if the h-pawn can do any damage.] 38 Bb7 f5 39 Bd5 Qf6 [Better was 39 ... Qd6.] 40 c4 e4 41 c5 [Time pressure is over, and the c-pawn will score a touchdown after 41 ... h4 42 c6 Qd8 43 Be6 or 42 ... Qe7 43 Na6. 1 - 0 Tate - Ashley, NY Open Rd. 9 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 [The popular "Dlugy Variation" of the Richter-Rauzer.] 9 Be3 Qc7 [Another line is the immediate 9 ... Nxd4 followed by 10 ... b5.] 10 f3 Rb8 [This unusual move reserves options, lends strength to ... b5-b4, and avoids problems concerning the sensitive b6 square.] 11 g4 Ne5 DIAGRAM [A very provocative move. The centralized White knight on d4 is no longer "marked", and White is tempted by ideas of f3-f4 and e4-e5. On the other hand, the knight pressurizes the White pawns, and aims for c4. If White stops to defend the h-pawn with 12 h3, then 12 ... b5 13 f4 Nc4 14 Bxc4 bxc4 brings the rook on b8 to life.] 12 f4! [Sidetracking the Black knight and getting his own attack started.] Nexg4 13 Bg1 [It seems that 13 e5 Nxe3 14 Qxe3 dxe5 15 fxe5 Nd7 is not good enough. Now 14 h3 is threatened.] e5 [Of course not the passive 13 ... h5? 14 h3 Nh6 15 e5, etc. Very interesting was I. Gurevich's suggestion 13 ... b5! Then 14 h3 b4 is good for Black, so White probably has to stop for 14 a3.] DIAGRAM 14 Bb5+!!? [Another wild line is 14 Nf3! exf4 15 e5 dxe5 16 Bb5+ with 16 ... Bd7 17 Bb6, or 16 ... axb5 17 Nxb5 Qd7 (not 17 ... Qe7 18 Bc5) Qa5 and continuing complications.] axb5 15 Ndxb5 Qd8 [Better was 15 ... Qc6, but Ashley wanted to avoid the irritant 16 Na7.] 16 Bc5 [Not good enough was 16 h3 exf4 17 hxg4 Bxg4.] d5! [This defuses the pressure on d6.] 17 Ba7 Ra8 DIAGRAM 18 Nxd5? [Tate finally overcombines. Later he recommended 18 Rhe1 to stop ... Rxa7 followed by ... Bc5, but Black can reply 18 ... Bb4! 19 h3 O-O! Instead, now was a good moment for 18 h3! Rxa7 19 Nxa7 Bc5 20 hxg4 Bxa7 21 g5 Ng4 22 Nxd5 and Black is in trouble.] Nxd5 19 Qxd5 Qxd5 20 Nc7+ Kd7 21 Nxa8 Qd6! [Cleaner than the also possible 21 ... Qxd1+ 22 Rxd1+ Kc6 23 Rd8 b5! 24 Rxc8+ Kb7.] 22 Bb8 Kc6 23 Bxd6 Bxd6 24 Rd3! [A good way to create chances in this lost ending.] b5 Rhd1 Bc5 26 Rd8 Rxd8 27 Rxd8 Bb7 28 h3 Nf2? [The crusher was 28 ... exf4! 29 hxg4 f3 30 Kd2 f2 31 Ke2 b4.] 29 fxe5 Nxh3 30 c3 Nf2 31 b4 Be7 32 Rb8 Bg5+ 33 Kc2 h5? [Overlooking White's threat. 33 ... Bxa8 was still convincing. After White's next, he is back in it, and we need Pal Benko to figure out what is going on.] 34 a4! Bxa8 35 axb5+ Kd7 36 Rxa8 Bf4 37 Rf8 Ke7 38 Rh8 h4 39 Rxh4 g5 40 Rh8 Bxe5 41 Rg8 f6 42 b6 Kf7 43 Ra8 g4 44 Ra1 g3 45 Rg1 Nxe4 46 c4 Ke6 47 Kd3 f5 48 Ke3 Ng5 49 c5 f4+ 50 Kd3 f3 51 Re1 f2 52 Rxe5+ Kxe5 53 Ke2 Nf3 54 b7 Nd4+ 55 Kf1 Nc6 56 b5 Nb8 57 c6 Kd6 1/2 - 1/2

tate - fishbein 1996 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Be3 a6 8.Qe2 Qc7 9.0-0-0 Be7 10.Bb3 Na5 11.g4 b5 12.g5 Nxb3+ DIAGRAM 13.Nxb3?! A novelty not likely to be repeated soon. It turns out that White's knights become targets for Black's racing queenside pawns. After 13 axb3 Nd7, Velimirovic's line 14 Nf5 exf5 (check out the wild 14 ... b4 15 Nxg7+ Kf8 16 Qh5 as in Wahls - Rechlis, Bern 1990) 15 Nd5 Qd8 16 exf5 is usually given as equal after 16 ... Bb7!!; therefore, it has been supplanted by 14 h4 b4 15 Na4 (against Hellers at Reykjavik 1990, Defirmian experimented with 15 Na2 a5 16 Nb5). Nd7 14.f4 b4 In this position the knight has no good retreat square, as the queen is using e2, and 15 Na4?? Qc6 cannot be done. 15.Nb1 a5 16.N1d2 Ba6 17.Qg2 Rc8 18.Nf1 a4 19.Nd4 Nc5 Every Black move gains time and hammers away at the sensitive light squares. 20.Ng3 b3 21.Kb1 bxc2+ 22.Nxc2 Nd3 23.Bc1 0-0 24.f5 Nxc1 25.Rxc1 Bxg5 26.Rcd1 Rb8 27.a3 Rxb2+ 28.Kxb2 Rb8+ 29.Nb4 Bf6+ 30.Kb1 Qc3 31.Qa2 Bc4 A very efficient performance by Fishbein. 0 - 1

SIC. 4 KNIGHTS Twice Igor Khmelnitsky ventured the Sicilian Four Knights, and to good effect, as both deFirmian and Shabalov avoided the main line, and achieved nothing. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Ndb5 In rd. 8, Shabalov tried 6. a3!? stopping the prototypical ... Bb4 and figuring that the move would not be wasted in a Scheveningen-type formation after, e.g., 6 ... d6 7 Be3. But Black easily obtained equality after 6 ... d5 7. Bb5 Bd7 8. exd5Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. 0-0 Be7 11. Nb3 a6 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Be3 0-0 14. Bc5 Re8; after 15. Bxe7 Qxe7 16. Qd4 Qg5 17. Qc3 Re4 18. Nd2 Bh3! Khmelnitsky took over the initiative, converting it in 37 moves. Bb4 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8.Nxc3 d5 9. Bd3 The well-known line is 9 exd5, giving Black an isolated queen's pawn, and opening up the game for White's two bishops, although Black gets easy development with 9 ... exd5 10 Bd3 d4. Ne5 10. Bb5+ Bd7 11. Bxd7+ An equal endgame arose from 11 Qd4, tried in rd. 10 in Christiansen - Alburt, after 11 ... Nc6 12. Bxc6 Bxc6 13. exd5 Bxd5 14.Nxd5 Qxd5 15. Qxd5 Nxd5 16. c4 Ne7 17. Be3 Nf5, 1/2-1/2 in 49. Qxd7 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Nxd5 exd5 14.Bf4 Qf5 15. Qd4 Nc6 16. Qe3+ Qe6 17. O-O-O O-O With equality. 1/2-1/2 in 31. SICILIAN FIANCHETTO SYSTEMS 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. g3 Essayed by Kaidanov in his critical rd. 7 game against Yermolinsky. Nxd4 7. Qxd4 g6 8.e5 Taking advantage of the move order (Black played the Classical Sicilian 5 ... Nc6, not the Dragon 5 ... g6) to get this in. Nevertheless, theory is not excited by the move. Standard is 8 Bg2 Bg7 9 O-O O-O and then 10 Qb4 is popular, as in Popovic - Sax, Sarajevo 1982, which continued 10 ... Rb8 11 a4 Ng4 12 Nd5 Ne5. dxe5 9. Qxe5 Bg7 10. Bg2 O-O 11. O-O Bf5 12. Qe2 e6 Yermo lets the b-pawn go, for active play. Also to be considered was 12 ... Qc8 arranging for ... Bf5-h3 with a fine position. 13. Bxb7 Rb8 14. Bf3 h515. Rb1 Ng4 16. Ne4 Ne5 17. Bg2 Bg4 18. f3 Bf5 19. Rd1 Qa5 20. a3 Slowly but surely Kaidanov secures and mobilizes his extra queenside pawn. 1-0 in 47. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. g3 Played in Shabalov - Christiansen from rd. 2. Christiansen tried an inverse form of this system as White against Kaidanov in rd. 6: 1. c4 e5 2. Nf3 e4 3. Nd4 (Larry is "a tempo up" as compared to the Shabalov game) Nc6 4. Nxc6 (This is a provocative move allowing Black quick development, but banking on the ong-term weakness of Black's e-pawn.) dxc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. e3 Bf5 7. Qc2 Qd7 8.b3 O-O-O 9. h3 Qe6 10. Bb2 Nd7 11. Ne2 with a double-edged position. 1-0 in 41. Thus, we have some inkling of the system Christiansen might have used had Shabalov played the main line 4 Nc3, although the main line in that position would be 4 ... e6, not 4 ... Nxc3. Nc6 5. Bg2 d6 6. exd6 Qxd6 7. 0-0 Bg4 8. h3Bh5 9. Nc3 Nxc3 I think this move caused most of Black's troubles. Possible was 9 ... e6. 10. bxc3 e6 11. Rb1 Qc7 12. d4 Rd8 13. Qe2! cxd4 14. g4 The weakness of the Black queenside is serious. 1-0 in 44. NAJDORF In the game Shabalov - deFirmian, cutting-edge Poisoned Pawn theory was explored, which ended peacefully only because neither side could avoid the repetition: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Nb3Be7 9. Qf3 Nbd7 10. O-O-O Qc7 11. Qg3 A strong idea which I think was introduced by Kamsky against Ilya Gurevich, but deFirmian shows that Black can play into the main line of the sacrifice that White is preparing. b5 12. Bxf6 Nxf6 13. e5 dxe5 14. fxe5 Nd715. Bxb5 axb5 16. Nxb5 Qb6 17. Qxg7 Rf8 18. Nd6+ Bxd6 19. exd6 Rxa2 20. Kb1 Ra721. Rhe1 Nb8 22. Qxh7 Nc6 23. Qg7 Bd7 24. h4 Na5 25. Nd4 Nc6 26. Nb3 Na5 27.Nd4 Nc6 1/2-1/2 RICHTER - RAUZER Alex Ivanov played the White side of the Richter-Rauzer three times. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 (a) Be7 Played by Gurevich, rd. 7 8.O-O-O Nxd4 A sharp line. More common is 8 ... O-O after which White chooses between 9 f4 and 9 Nb3. 9. Qxd4 a6 10. Bc4 Ivanov plays to develop pressure against the f7/e6 chain. In round 13, A. Ivanov - Gulko reached this position by the roundabout route 7 ... a6 8 O-O-O Nxd4 9. Qxd4 Be7; in that game, Ivanov chose to economize with 10. f4 b5 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. Kb1, with the same strategic motifs, except that White's light-squared bishop does not hassled. After 12 ... Qc7 13. Qe3 Qc5 the players agreed to split the point. b5 11. Bb3 Qc7 12. Bxf6 Probably it is not a good idea to combine this with White's 10th move, as White is unable to generate any quick threats. Better was 12 f4 which keeps the concept of e4-e5 alive. gxf6 13. f4 Qc5 14. Qd3Bd7 15. f5 a5 16. a4 bxa4 17. Bxa4 Bxa4 18. Nxa4 Qb4 Black has the initiative; 0-1 in 29. (b) a6 8.O-O-O h6 9. Bf4 Bd7 10. Nxc6 Bxc6 11. f3 The old main line of this variation, played in the Battle of the Ivanovs, rd. 11. Recognizing that Alex (White) is a great expert in this variation, Igor chose a relatively untested line: e5 12. Be3 b5 13. Kb1 Be7 14. h4 b415. Nd5 Bxd5 16. exd5 Qb8 17. Bc4 Bd8 18. Rde1 White has the more realistic attacking chances, as the lever g2-g4-g5 will always be very strong. 1/2-1/2 in 41. TAIMANOV Burnett (IM) - Benjamin (GM) NYS Championship, 1996 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 The Taimanov Variation. 5.Nc3 [This shows White's preference for the main lines of the Open Sicilian. 5.c4 is not considered the most accurate here because of 5 ... Nf6 6.Nc3 Bb4; the Major alternative is Karpov's favorite 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 Nf6 7.N1c3 a6 8 Na3, as in this manner White does achieve the Maroczy Bind formation, without exchanging any pieces, although White does lose a little time with his knights.] 5...Qc7 [Benjamin uses my preferred move order. 5...a6 is the move order most typical of the Taimanov, but this allows White to play the fairly strong line 6.Nxc6 (a move that makes ... a7-a6 pointless) bxc6 7.Bd3 and White will castle and get quick kingside pressure; 5...Nf6 commits Black, after 6.Ndb5, to the Four Knights Sicilian after 6 ... Bb4, or the Sveshnikov Sicilian after 6...d6 7.Bf4 e5 8.Bg5] 6.g3 [6.Be3 is popular here; then after 6 ... a6 (which has to be played sometime), White has an important choice - 7.Bd3, 7.f4 or 7 Be2] 6...a6 [6...Nf6? 7.Ndb5 is a mess that Tal once fell into against Fischer! The problem for Black is that after 7 ... Qb8 (to keep an eye on the sensitive d6 square), White has the immediate 8 Bf4.] 7.Bg2 Nf6 8.0-0 Bc5 [An unusual move. The main line is 8...d6, and then after 9.Re1, 9 ... Rb8! is a new move by Portisch, and an improvement on 9...Be7 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.e5 dxe5 12.Rxe5 with the better game for White, or the cramped 9...Bd7 10.a4; the idea is, after 9 ... Rb8, 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.e5 dxe5 12.Rxe5, Black plays 12 ... Bd6. A move I have toyed around with is 8...h6?! - a kind of waiting move - 9.Re1 (another line is 9.Nb3 d6 10.f4 and White looks to play g3-g4-g5) 9...Nxd4 10.Qxd4 (but 10.e5! is strong, and Black must defend with 10 ... Nb5!) 10...Bc5 11.Bf4 d6, and the point is that Black can afford to play a later ... e6-e5 because White will not have Bf4-g5 to soften up the d5 square.] 9.Nb3 [This appears to be better than 9.Be3 d6 and the opposition on the diagonal only paralyzes White's pieces.]] 9...Ba7 10.Qe2 Ne5 [Burnett takes brilliant advantage of this move. Black should just have played 10 ... d6.] 11.Kh1 d6 12.f4 Nc4 13.e5!! [Sacrificing a center pawn as well as the Exchange, figuring that Black's off-side bishop will not be able to help defend the dark squares which will come under siege.] dxe5 14.fxe5 Nxe5 15.Rxf6! gxf6 16.Ne4 Qe7 [I think this is a better defence than 16 ... Nd7 17 Bf4 e5 18 Rd1! with a very strong attack. The remainder of the game, I am leaving unannotated for now. Send in comments or questions.] 17.Bh6 Rg8 18.Rd1 Ng4 19.Nd6+ Qxd6 20.Rxd6 Nxh6 21.Qd2 Ke7 22.Qb4 Kf8 23.Rd8+ Kg7 24.Rxg8+ Kxg8 25.Na5 e5 26.Qe7 Be6 27.Bxb7 Rb8 28.c4 Kg7 29.Nc6 Bc5 30.Qc7 Re8 31.b3 Ng4 32.Nd8 Rxd8 33.Qxd8 Nf2+ 34.Kg1 Bh3 35.b4 Be3 36.Bg2 Be6 37.Bd5 Bh3 38.Bg2 Be6 39.Qc7 Ne4+ 40.Kf1 Bxc4+ 41.Ke1 Bd3 42.Bxe4 Bxe4 43.a4 Bd3 44.Qd7 e4 45.b5 axb5 46.axb5 Bb6 47.Qd6 Bg1 48.b6 Ba6 49.Qa3 Bc8 50.Qa8 1 - 0 Nick deFirmian found himself playing both sides of the Taimanov during the event - as Black against Yermolinsky, rd. 1, play proceeded: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nb5 d6 6. c4 A Maroczy Bind treatment popularized by Karpov. Players of the Black pieces also have to be prepared for 6 Bf4 e5 7 Be3, and now Kengis - Rohde, Tilburg 1992 continued 7 ... Nf6 8 Bg5 Be6 9 Nd2!? Nf6 7. N1c3 a6 8. Na3Be7 9. Be2 0-0 10. 0-0 b6 11. Be3 Bb7 12. Qb3 Nd7 13. Rfd1 Well-known stuff. Rb8 14. f3 Kh8 15.Rd2 g5! 16. Qd1 Rg8 Black has gained a little elbow room on the kingside; the chances are equal. 1-0 in 66. In the rd. 13 game deFirmian - Christiansen, after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 6. Be2 Qc7 7. O-O Nf6 8.Be3 Bb4 the quiet line 9. f3 (the "theoretical" move is 9 Na4) O-O 10. Kh1 was played, leading to a draw after 10 ... d5 11. exd5 exd5 12. Qd2 Re8 13. Rfe1 h6 14. Bf1 Be7 15. Rad1. 2 c3 SICILIAN Many games opened 1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3. Then - (a) 5 ... g6 Unusual. Now Shaked - Yermolinsky (rd. 9), a nice theoretical nugget, continued: 6. Na3 The alternative here is 6 Be3 forcing 6 ... cxd4 7 cxd4 and White has cleared c3 for his knight; Black's hopes would be based on his play against the isolated queen's pawn. Bg7 7. Nb5 Na6 8. Be2 Very quiet. I would prefer 8 Be3 envisioning 8 ... cxd4 9 Qxd4 Qxd4 10 Bxd4 with well-posted pieces. cxd4 9. Qxd4 Qxd4 10. Nfxd4 0-0 11. 0-0 Bd7 12. Nb3 Rfc8 13. Rd1 Nc5 Black has liberated his a6 knight and stands well, as White lacks a central foothold. 0-1 in 43. (b) 5 ... Bg4 (b)(1) 6 Nbd2 A new attempt to generate complications. The standard plan is 6 Be2 with potential for h2-h3 and g2-g4. Now Shabalov - Dzindzihashvili (rd. 1) saw: 6 ... cxd4 In Shaked - deFirmian (rd. 5) the more accurate 6 ... Nc6! was played, leading to a pawn sacrifice. Black was better after 7. Bc4 Bxf3 8.gxf3 Qf5 9. Qb3 O-O-O 10. Bxf7 Nd5 11. Bxd5 Rxd5 12. Rg1 e6 13. Rg3 cxd4, 1/2-1/2 in 47. 7. Bc4 Qd7 Of course not 7 ... Bxf3? 8 Bxd5 Bxd1 9 Bxb7. 8.Qb3 e6 9. Ne5 Qc7 10. Bb5+ Nc6 11. Ndc4 White has the makings of a very dangerous initiative. However, the Dzin escaped with 11 ... Bc5 12. Bf4 0-0 13. Bxc6 bxc6 14. h3 Bf515. Ng6 e5 16. Bxe5 Rfe8 17. 0-0 Qd7 18. cxd4 Bxd4 19. Rad1 c5 1/2-1/2, but don't try this at home! (b)(2) 6. dxc5 A specialty of Khmelnitsky's which he tried against Christiansen in rd. 5. A fascinating and unclear endgame ensued after 6 ... Qxd1+ 7. Kxd1 e5 8.b4 Nc6 9. Kc2 Nd5 10. Bb5 f6 11. Kb2 Be7 12. Be3 Bxf3 13. gxf3 a5 14. a3 0-0-0, 1/2-1/2 in 54. (c) 5 ... e6 A solid move, essayed by Yermolinsky against Benjamin, rd. 2. 6. Be2 Chandler champions the maneuver 6 Na3 Qd8 [rendering an excursion to b5 with the knight pointless] 7 Nc2 shoring up the center and planning Bf1-d3 and Qd1-e2, but Kudrin has shown that 7 ... Qc7! (stopping Bc1-f4) 8 Bd3 Nd7 9 O-O b6 with a hedgehog setup is very comfortable. Nc6 7. 0-0 Be7 8. Be3 cxd4 9. cxd4 0-0 10. Nc3 Qd6 11. Rc1 Rd8 12. Qd2 Nd5 13. Ne4 Qb4 14. Qc2 Nxe3 15. fxe3 Qa5 The chances are balanced: Black's two bishops make up for White's greater freedom of movement; 0-1 in 41 in another sterling performance by the Yerminator. Interesting move-order questions arose in two Khmelnitsky games - 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 exd5 5. d4 In this roundabout move order, Khmelnitsky - I. Ivanov (rd. 11) has transposed to the solid 2 ... e6 variation of the 2 c3 Sicilian. By exchanging on d5, the position becomes very similar to a Tarrasch French. Nf6 Most common is the development scheme from the Tarrasch: Nb8-c6, Bf8-d6 and Ng8-e7 so as not to get hit with the following pin which softens the defence of d5. 6. Bg5 c4 7. b3 cxb3 8. axb3Nc6 9. Bb5 Be7 10. Ne5 Bd7 11. Nxd7 Qxd7 12. O-O O-O 13. Re1 Advantage for White; Black's minors are too passively placed for this pawn structure. 1/2-1/2 in 61. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 Nf6 In rd. 7, Benjamin engineered this transposition to the 2 ... Nf6 variation of the 2 c3 Sicilian against Khmelnitsky. 4. e5 Nd5 5. d4 cxd4 6. cxd4 d6 7. a3 Reaching a position once thought to be quite favorable for White because of the easy attack with Bf1-d3 and Qd1-e2, but Black's following maneuver generates light-square counterplay. Bd7 8. Bd3 Bc6 9. O-O Nd7 10. Re1 dxe5 11. dxe5 g6 12. b4 Ne7 13. Nbd2 Bg7 The pressure on e5 gives Black the better game. I am not quite sure where White's improvement is. 1/2-1/2 in 34. The game I. Ivanov - Gurevich (rd 1) illustrates the old main line of the 2 c3 Nf6 variation, an appropriate subject of discussion when the tournament is just warming up. 1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. cxd4 d6 7. Bc4 Nb6 8. Bb5dxe5 9. Nxe5 Bd7 10. Bxc6 Bxc6 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. 0-0 e6 13. Be3 Be7 14. Nd2 0-015. Nf3 Nd5 The position is equal. 1/2-1/2 in 35. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c3 Nf6 4. Be2 g6 Our final permutation is Benjamin - Kaidanov (rd. 4). Technically, this is not a 2 c3 Sicilian at all, because White cannot force the move d2-d4. Note that had White played 4 Bd3, we would be in the Kopec System. After 4 Be2, I think Black's most accurate is 4 ... Nbd7!! as White then has to stop and defend the e-pawn (of course not 4 ... Nxe4?? 5 Qa4+). On the other hand, not very good is 4 ... Nc6, as White has good tactical possibilities after 5 d4! cxd4 6 cxd4 Nxe4 7 d5 Qa5+ (otherwise White plays 8 Qa4+) 8 Nc3. 5. O-O Bg7 6. Bb5+ Nc6 7. d4 O-O 8. d5 Na5 In many King's Indian positions, this is a satisfactory posting, but here, White's c-pawn is on c3, and the knight is just out of the game. 9. Re1 e6 10. dxe6 Bxe6 11. Ba4 d5 12. e5 Ne4 13. Nbd2 Bf5 14. Nxe4 dxe4 15.Qxd8 Raxd8 16. Ng5 Rd5 17. e6 fxe6 18. Nxe4 Benjamin has a significant advantage which he converted; 1-0 in 42. Overall, the 2 c3 Sicilian performed miserably in this event, and is no longer the automatic bailout that it used to be. Bb5 SYSTEMS Let us now check out the Championship games which employed that other popular open-Sicilian-dodge, the Bb5 family. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. c4 e5 6. Nc3 g6 This is Shaked - Kaidanov (rd. 11). In this position, White has the better remaining bishop; Black has chances for a kingside expansion because his f-pawn is unblocked. Kaidanov employs the most agressive system. 7. O-O Bg7 8.Rb1 Nc6 9. d3 Nge7 10. Bd2 O-O 11. Nd5 Nxd5 12. cxd5 Nd4 13. b4 f5 14. bxc5dxc5 15. Nxd4 exd4 16. Qb3 b6 17. f4 Shaked has played thematically, and has a large advantage based on his more mobile and more threatening pawn majority. However, he blundered; 0-1 in 29. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. Bxc6 As played in Khmelnitsky - Gurevich. Theory concerns itself most with 5 c3 Nf6 6 Re1 or 6 e5, and 5 Re1, as in a 1992 Fischer- Spassky match game which saw the introduction of 5 ... e5 6 Bxc6 bxc6 7 b4! dxc6 6. h3 Nf6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. d3 b6 9. Be3 e5 10. Qd2 Qd6 11. Bh6 Be6 12. b3 Nh5 13. Ne2 f6 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. Qc3 g5 Black's space-grabbing policy has blunted White's initiative. 1/2-1/2 in 49. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. b3 A move with unique application against 2 ... e6, because on, for example, 3 ... Nf6 4 e5 Nd5 5 Bb2, Black may have some dark-square problems after a later ... d7-d6 is met by e5xd6. Nc6 4. Bb2 d5 We are following A. Ivanov - Khmelnitsky from rd. 4. More circumspect was 4 ... d6 5 Bb5 Bd7. 5. Bb5 dxe4 6. Ne5 Qg5 Conceptualizing 7 Nxc6 a6, but White is not forced into this, and the queen is badly needed on the queenside. 7. O-O Bd7 8. Nxd7 Kxd7 9. d3 With a winning position. 1-0 in 19. The Najdorf is very much like the Scheveningen if Black plays ... e7-e6 instead of ... e7-e5. White has a tremendous number of 6th move alternatives in the Najdorf. But if Black plays the straight Scheveningen 5 ... e6 instead of 5 ... a6, then White can play the Keres Attack 6 g4. In the Najdorf: 6 Be2 e6 [Kasparov's favored transposition into the Scheveningen from the Najdorf] or 6 Be2 e5 [Considered to be a Najdorf] 6 Bc4 virtually forces ... e7-e6 now or later to block the diagonal; however, this is not considered a transposition to the Scheven. 6 Bg5 e6 (6 ... Nc6 is a Richter-Rauzer) 7 f4 [main line] and now 7 ... Qb6 (poisoned pawn), 7 ... b5 (Polugaevsky), 7 ... Qc7 (nameless and very sharp), 7 ... Be7 (main line), 7 ... Nbd7 (will probably transpose to main line). 6 a4 e6 - Schev. Here 6 ... e5 is not very good because White's bishops are still ready to go to both c4 and g5, controlling the d5 square. 6 f4 e6 - Schev. Also played is 6 ... e5 7 Nf3 Qc7, or 6 ... Qc7. 6 Be3 e5 [ok here] 7 Nf3 or 7 Nb3; 6 ... e6 is like a Schev but White can try 7 g4 e5 8 Nf5 g6 9 g5. Also after 6 ... e6 is the English Attack 7 f3 with g4 in mind later.

Of my 8 games against GM-strength opposition in the US Open, 4 were French Defenses and 4 were Bogo-Indians! This bizarre circumstance allows me to conveniently annotate these games in the form of theoreticals on these openings. This month's theoretical covers the French, with a small digression into the c3 Sicilian. The murkier side of my play at the summer chess festival is featured, including my match against Wolff from the Championship, and my games against Zapata, Lputian, Akopian and Dzindzi from the Open. Next month's theoretical discusses the Bogo as expressed in my games from the Open against I. Ivanov, Ftacnik, Alburt and Yermolinsky Rohde - Lputian, US Open 1991, Rd 7 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nd2 [I don't play the Tarrasch that often, but I was prepared for Lputian's specialty here, 3 ... Be7, because I played that myself against Wolff in the first round of the concurrent US Championship! I had also played it against Patrick in January '91 in the Liberty Bell Open. The point of 3 ... Be7 is that on 4 Ngf3 Nf6 5 e5 Nd7, White's knights are stuck on f3 and d2, whereas he would prefer, after playing Bd3, to put his knights on e2 and f3. If in this line 5 Bd3 then 5 ... c5 6 dc de with equality. And on 4 Bd3 Black has 4 ... c5 5 dc Nd7, effectively regaining the pawn with no time loss. In the January game Wolff tried 4 c3 c5 5 dc Bc5 6 Nb3 (if he wanted to give me an isolated pawn, why not 6 ed, as 6 ... Qb6 is refuted by 7 Ne4, and 6 ... Qd5 7 Ngf3 and 8 Bc4 is nice for White) Bb6 7 ed Nf6! and Black equalizes as he avoids the isolated pawn: 8 Bb5+ Bd7 9 Bd7+ Qd7 10 Nf3 (better than 10 de Bf2+ 11 Ke2 Qd1+ 12 Kd1 fe) Qd5. I had not prepared any new defenses by the time the US Championship rolled around, and this time Wolff was ready, after 3 ... Be7, with 4 Bd3 c5 5 dc Nd7 6 b4! a5 7 Bb2 Bf6 8 Bf6 Qf6 9 Ngf3 ab 10 ed ed 11 0-0 with advantage after 11 ... Ne7 12 Nb3, or the game continuation, 11 ... Nc5 12 Bb5+ Kf8 (1/2 - 1/2 in 39). But Lputian smelled a rat. Or maybe he read the bulletins.] c5 4 Nf3 Nf6 [An unsual line. After 4 ... Nc6 White can transpose back to normality with 5 ed or experiment with 5 Bb5 a6! 6 Bc6+ bc 7 c3!? as in Rohde - Gulko, US Champ. 1989.] 5 ed Nd5 6 Nb3 Nd7 7 Be2 Be7 [Black's position is passive but resilient. He refuses to take on d4 which would activate the Nb3.] 8 c4 N5f6 9 dc [Not 9 d5? Nb6!] 0-0 10 0-0 Qc7 [10 ... Nc5 11 Qd8 Rd8 12 Be3 is comfortable for White.] 11 Nfd4 Nc5 [11 ... a6? 12 c6 bc 13 Nc6 wins.] 12 Nb5 Qb6 [Better was the active 12 ... Qe5! Then 13 f4 Qe4 or 13 Be3 Rd8 are OK. With the text Black hopes for 13 Be3 a6 14 Nc3 Qc7 with a fine position.] 13 Bf4 Bd7 14 Bc7 Qa6 15 Bd6 [15 Be5 Bb5 16 Nc5 Bc5 17 cb Qb6 18 Bf6 gf or 16 cb Qa4 are not convincing.] Bd6 16 Nd6 Nb3 17 ab Qb6 [A new phase has arrived. White would like to shore up the Nd6 and combine that with a kingside attack or a queenside pawn roller. But if 18 Qd2, which sets the trap 18 ... Qb3 19 Ra3 with Rg3 or b4 to follow, Black plays 18 ... a5! fixing the queenside pawns.] 18 Rc1 a5 19 Rc3 Rfd8? [19 ... a4 was necessary to maintain an active queen. I was planning 20 Rg3 with great complications.] 20 c5 Qc7 21 Qd4 Bc6 22 Rg3 Qe7 [Black still hopes to undermine the Nd6 with ... b6.] 23 Qe5 [Threatening 24 Nf5 or 24 Rg7+] Rd7 24 f4! g6 [24 ... b6 fails to 25 f5 bc 26 Nf7! Kf7 27 fe+ Kf8 28 Qf5 followed by 29 Qh7.] 25 Bc4! [25 f5 ef is now nothing.] b5 26 f5 ef [Not 26 ... bc 27 fg fg 28 Rf6, with the crushing at of 29 Rg6+.] 27 Bf7+ Kf8 28 Qc3 [Stronger than 28 Be6 Bd5. Now Black must deal with the threat of 29 Re3.] b4 29 Qc1 Rd6 30 cd Qa7+ 31 Kh1 Bg2+ 32 Rg2 Qf7 33 Qh6+ Qg7 34 Qg7+ Kg7 35 Rf5 and 1 - 0 in 73. [The next round Akopian also played the French against me. I switched gears totally and played 2 d3 - the King's Indian Attack! Akopian played the modern antidote 2 ... d5 3 Nd2 Nf6 4 Ngf3 de 5 de Bc5 6 Bd3 e5. Black's last move was necessary to prevent White from playing 7 e5 with an eventual Ne4. But after 7 Nc4! Nc6 8 c3 I was strongly threatening 9 b4. Akopian's reaction - 8 ... Ng4 9 0-0 b5 was too violent. After 10 Ne3 Be3 11 Be3 Ne3 12 fe I had a great position, later losing inexplicably. 0 - 1 in 64.] Rohde - Zapata, US Open 1991, Rd 5 The day before I flew out to the US Championship/Open, the talented young master Boaz Weinstein advised me to try the c3 Sicilian. Inasmuch as I had done virtually no preparation and I was sick of playing d4 and losing to things like the Semi-Slav, I took his advice. 1 e4 c5 2 c3 e6 [The second game of my match against Wolff followed Weinstein's preparation exactly: 2 ... Nf6 3 e5 Nd5 4 d4 cd 5 Nf3 Nc6 6 Bc4 Nb6 6 Bb3 d6 7 ed Qd6 8 0-0 Be6 9 Na3 (the old line is 9 Be6) Bb3 10 ab!? a6 11 cd Rd8 12 Nc4! Smagin successfully bluffed Abramovic with this move in ___________. Their game continued 12 ... Nc4 13 bc e6 14 Be3 with a White edge. But Wolff snatched the pawn: 12 ... Nc4 13 bc Nd4 14 Nd4 Qd4 and after 15 Qf3 Rd7 16 Bf4 Qd3 the position was equal.] 3 d4 d5 4 e5 Qb6 5 Nf3 Bd7 [In round 11 of the Open, Dzindzi played 5 ... Nc6 against me. Suddenly I realized that I was not looking forward to the protracted positional battle against Roman that would ensue after 6 a3 c4, so I tried 6 Be2. After 6 ... cd 7 cd Nh6 Dzindzi offered a draw, which I accepted since I had no idea what I was doing!] 6 a3 [Edelman - Gulko, World Open 1991 featured 6 Be2 Bb5 7 c4 Bc4 8 Bc4 Qb4+ 9 Nbd2 dc and White had attacking chances for the pawn.] Bb5 7 c4 Bc4 8 Bc4 dc 9 d5 Ne7! [Instead of accepting a disadvantage after 9 ... ed 10 Qd5 Black dares White to keep pressing and tries to prove that White's pawns are weak.] 10 d6 Nec6 11 0-0 Nd7 12 Re1 g6 13 a4?! [I wasn't impressed with 13 Nbd2 Bg7 14 Nc4 Qa6.] Bg7 14 Na3 Qb3! 15 Bf4 Nb4? [Much better was 15 ... Nb6!] 16 Re4! and White has recovered, 1-0 in 70. 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. But in ____________, ______ 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. Golubev - Epishin, Geneva Open 1993, rd. 6 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 DIAGRAM 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 [The previous round, Epishin had watched his compatriot Scher go down in a blaze of glory: 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 (DIAGRAM) 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 (DIAGRAM) 24 Be4! 1 - 0 Instead of Epishin's move, 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.] 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 [Abandoning positional play, the Queen sidles over to the kingside to start a direct attack.] Kh7 17 Qh4 c5 DIAGRAM 18 Bxh6!! [Time to cash in, before Black successfully unravels.] gxh6 19 Ng5+ Kg7 20 Re3 DIAGRAM 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! [Now there is no time to set up a coherent defence.] Bxe5 22 Nxe6+ Kh8 [Of course not 22 ... Kh7 23 Rg7+.] 23 Qxh6+ Nh7 24 Rh3 [Black's pieces interfere with each other uniquely. 24 ... Nf6 allows 25 Qg7 mate.] Qxc2 25 Nxf8 Kg8 26 Nxh7 [Black has no compensation for the lost material.] 1-0 Benjamin - Psakhis, rd 5, NY INt 1992 C11 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 dxe4 [Benjamin has been playing the Alekhine-Chatard (4 ... Be7 5 e5 Nfd7 6 h4) lately. Unfortunately, Psakhis opts for a boring continuation.] 5 Nxe4 Nbd7 6 Nxf6+ [If White delays this exchange by playing 6 Nf3, then after 6 ... Be7 7 Nxf6+ Black would have 7 ... Bxf6 offering more exchanges. Note that if Black had played 5 ... Be7 instead of 5 ... Nbd7, White's most agressive continuation would be 6 Bxf6.] Nxf6 7 Nf3 h6 8 Bh4 c5 9 Bb5+ [To make room for the queen on e2.] Bd7 10 Bxd7+ Qxd7 11 Qe2 Be7 12 O-O-O O-O 13 dxc5 Qa4 14 Kb1 Rfd8 15 a3 Bxc5 DIAGRAM 16 Bxf6 [The threat of a kingside attack is not too serious because of Black's active pieces. Benjamin is playing for an endgame with the more mobile pawn majority.] gxf6 17 Nd2 Be7 18 Nb3 f5 19 f3 Rxd1+ 20 Rxd1 Rd8 21 Rxd8+ Bxd8 22 Qd2 Bg5 23 Qd4 Qxd4 24 Nxd4 Bf4 25 h3 Be3 26 Nb5 Kg7 27 nd6 b6 28 c3 Kf6 29 Kc2 Bf4 30 Nb5 a6 31 Nd4 Bd6 32 Kd3 e5 33 Ne2 Ke6 34 c4 [Even though there are pawns on both sides of the board, the Black bishop is unable to accomplish anything, and WHite's pawns are finally starting to move.] f4 35 Nc3 Bc5 36 b4 Bg1 37 Nd5 a5 38 Ke4 f5+ 39 Kd3 axb4 40 axb4 Kd6 41 Kc3 Bf2 42 Kb3 b5? [Facilitating White' plan. Better was 42 ... Be3! and if 43 Ka4 e4 44 Kb5 Bd2.] 43 Nc3 Bxc4+ 44 Kxc4 Bh4 45 b5 Bd8 46 Nd5 Bg5 47 b6 Kc6 48 Nb4+ [Now the WHite king will chew up the remaining Black pawns.] Kxb6 49 Kd5 e4 50 fxe4 fxe4 51 Kxe4 Kc7 52 Kf5 Kd7 53 Nd3 Ke8 54 Kg6 Ke7 55 Ne5 Ke6 56 Nf7 Be7 57 Nxh6 f3 58 gxf3 Ke5 59 Nf5 Bf8 60 h4 Kf4 61 h5 Kxf3 62 Ng7 1 - 0

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ngf3 Played in the rd. 6 encounter between Benjamin and Shaked, a little-understood sideline of the Tarrasch. Usually White plays his d2 knight to f3 and the g1 knight to e2, to ensure adequate defence of d4. With this move, Benjamin in effect announces his willingness to sacrifice the d4 pawn. g6 As this does not generate any pressure against d4, it will leave Black with no choice but to attack the head of the pawn chain on e5. On the other hand, extra protection will be given to the Black kingside. The critical line is 7 ... Qb6 8 O-O and then Black can try 8 ... cxd4 9 cxd4 Nxd4 10 Nxd4 Qxd4 11 Nf3 Qb6, or he can try the devilish 8 ... Be7, which prepares 9 Re1 g5!? 8. O-O Bg7 9. Re1 O-O 10. Nf1 cxd4 11. cxd4 Qb6 12. Bc2 f6 13. exf6 Nxf6 14. Ba4 Ne4 White has the sounder position; 1/2-1/2 in 40. I have discovered a near-universal fear among strong amateur players of the King's Indian Attack. In the following rd. 10 game against Kaidanov, Gulko discloses an effective neutralizing treatment: 1. e4 e6 2. d3 c5 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 g6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. O-O Nge7 7. c3 d5 8. Qe2 b69. Na3 Ba6 10. exd5 exd5 11. Bf4 O-O 12. Rfe1 h6 13. h4 Qd7 14. Ne5 1/2-1/2 in 32.

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Ne7 5.Qg4 c5 6.a3 This seems to be the weak move, because Black's response deals with White's threat and sets up another of his own. Better was 6 Bb5+ Nc6 7 Nf3, looking for quick development. 6...Qa5 7.Bb5+ Bd7 As suggested, 7 ... Kf8 was also strong, leaving the b5 bishop hanging and protecting the g-pawn. Then White sould be in serious trouble, as 8 Ne2 fails to 8 ... a6! A possible line then is 9 axb4 Qxa1 10 Ba4 cxb4 11 O-O bxc3 12 Bh6 Qxf1+ and Black is doing very well. But 7 ... Bd7 is very good also, as it brings the Black queen knight powerfully into play. 8.Bxd7+ Nxd7 9.Nge2 White has very serious difficulties here. The problem with 9 Bd2 is 9 ... cxd4 10 Qxd4 Nc6 11 Qf4 d4! [9.Bd2 cxd4 10.Qxd4 Nc6 11.Qf4; 9.Rb1] 9...cxd4 10.axb4 Reasonable under the circumstances. 10...Qxa1 11.Nb5 0-0 12.0-0 White should have tried holding the center with 12 f4. 12...Nxe5 13.Qxd4 N7c6 14.Qh4 Qa4 15.Nbd4 Qxb4 16.c3 Qe7 It should be over here. 17.Qg3 Nxd4 18.Nxd4 Ng6 19.Re1 Rac8 20.Bg5 Qc7 21.Qg4 Qc4 22.Qh5 b5 23.Re3 Qa2 24.g4 Give credit to White for not giving up and creating the idea Re3-h3 24...Qb1+ 25.Kg2 b4 As suggested, 25 ... Re8 26 Rh3 Nf8 was safe, solid and winning. 26.Rh3 Ne5 As suggested, 26 ... h6 was possible, because after 27 Bxh6 gxh6 28 Qxh6 Rfe8, White cannot create additional threats. 27.Be7 On 27.Nf5, 27...Qe4+ 28.Kf1 28...Qc4+ 29.Ke1 Nd3+ wins. 27...Nd7 Correct was 27 ... Rfe8 and if 28 Nf5, then 28 ... Qe4+ 29 Kf1 Qc4+ 30 Ke1 Nd3+ still wins. 28.Nf5 Qe4+ 29.Kg1 Qb1+ 30 Kg2 Qe4+ 31 Kg1 Qb1+ Now it is correct to take the draw.

1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 exd5 I have never played this before. However, I know that the solid Todd Lunna is partial to such stodgy variations as 3 Nc3 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Nd7, and I figured that this was an offbeat way to throw him off. 3 ... exd5 4 c4 Kind of a nothing variation, but one that Ashley and Waitzkin swear by. 4 ... Bb4+ 5 Nc3 Qe7+ Played quickly by Lunna, but I was not impressed. Later, Todd told me that Steve Stoyko had recommended this as an easy antidote to the Ashley/Waitzkin recipe. 6 Be2! A pawn sacrifice, but quick development is key. On 6 Be3 Nf6, Black's potential to get in ... Nf6-g4 or ... Nf6-e4 is very distracting. 6 ... dxc4 7 Nf3 Nf6 8 O-O Nbd7? After this Black is practically lost! Also unappetizing were 8 ... Be6 9 d5! or 8 ... O-O 9 Bxc4. And 8 ... Bxc3 9 bxc3 Be6 holds the pawn for now, but leads to a lot of trouble. I think the whole line with 5 ... Qe7+ is not very good. 9 Bxc4 O-O 10 Re1 Qd8 11 Qb3 The same move would have answered 10 ... Qd6. Black has insoluble problems.

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ngf3 Played in the rd. 6 encounter between Benjamin and Shaked, a little-understood sideline of the Tarrasch. Usually White plays his d2 knight to f3 and the g1 knight to e2, to ensure adequate defence of d4. With this move, Benjamin in effect announces his willingness to sacrifice the d4 pawn. g6 As this does not generate any pressure against d4, it will leave Black with no choice but to attack the head of the pawn chain on e5. On the other hand, extra protection will be given to the Black kingside. The critical line is 7 ... Qb6 8 O-O and then Black can try 8 ... cxd4 9 cxd4 Nxd4 10 Nxd4 Qxd4 11 Nf3 Qb6, or he can try the devilish 8 ... Be7, which prepares 9 Re1 g5!? 8. O-O Bg7 9. Re1 O-O 10. Nf1 cxd4 11. cxd4 Qb6 12. Bc2 f6 13. exf6 Nxf6 14. Ba4 Ne4 White has the sounder position; 1/2-1/2 in 40. I have discovered a near-universal fear among strong amateur players of the King's Indian Attack. In the following rd. 10 game against Kaidanov, Gulko discloses an effective neutralizing treatment: 1. e4 e6 2. d3 c5 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 g6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. O-O Nge7 7. c3 d5 8. Qe2 b69. Na3 Ba6 10. exd5 exd5 11. Bf4 O-O 12. Rfe1 h6 13. h4 Qd7 14. Ne5 1/2-1/2 in 32.

Kudrin - Kaidanov Chicago, 1996 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 [Kudrin has been a great exponent of the White side of the Tarrasch French for many years.] Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 [The other main line, 5 f4, is a radically different treatment in which White delays development to hold the big pawn center intact.] c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ne2 cxd4 8.cxd4 Nb6 [A line once favored by Nigel Short. Kaidanov simply completes his queenside development, allowing White to retain the kingside space advantage conferred by the e5 pawn. A much more popular idea is ... f7-f6, forcing White to exchange on f6, after which Black hopes that his normal development plus play on the half-open f-file will fully compensate for the weakness of the backward e-pawn. Most usual is 8 ... f6 9 exf6 Nxf6, but if Black is afraid of 9 Nf4 fxe5 10 Qh5+, then he can employ the line 8 ... Qb6 9 Nf3 f6, eliminating that possibility.] 9.Nf3 h6 10.Nf4 Bd7 DIAGRAM 11.a3 [Kudrin wants to avoid the possibility 11 ... Nb4 12 Bb1 (or 12 Be2 Rc8) Bb5, especially because his heart is set on lifting his king's rook into the attack with h2-h4 and Rh1-h3, so his king will have to survive in the center. Most cleancut was to avoid trying to repair the queenside, and sticking to piece development with 11 O-O! - even without the rook coming to the third rank, it will be dangerous for Black to castle kingside.] a5 [Now Black wants to secure squares with ... a5-a4 and ... Nc6-a5.] 12.b3 a4 13.b4 Rc8 14.Nh5 Nc4 15.h4 Qb6 16.Bc2 Qa6 17.Rh3 DIAGRAM [White has dutifully defended himself, and now it is his turn, as 18 Rg3 is coming.] Ne7!! [A brilliant two-pawn sacrifice which diverts the White bishops from their defensive posts.] 18.Rg3 Nf5 19.Bxf5 exf5 20.Nxg7+ [Else Black is just better after 20 ... Rh7.] Bxg7 21.Rxg7 Kf8! 22.Rg3 f4! 23.Bxf4 Nb2 [The point of 17 ... Ne7!!] 24.Qd2 Nd3+ 25.Kd1 Qc4 DIAGRAM [Menacing both 26 ... Qb3+ and 26 ... Nxf4 followed by 27 ... Qc2+. 26.Bxh6+ Ke8 27.Ne1 [On 27 Rb1, I think 27 ... Bf5 is most effective.] Qxd4 28.Nxd3 Qxa1+ 29.Nc1 Bb5 30.Qf4 Qb2 31.Qe3 0 - 1

Slip-sliding away At the traditional CCA Thanksgiving tournament in Philadelphia, [**TITLE?] Orest Popovych built up a dream attacking position against the tough defender [**TITLE?] Gennadi [** CHECK SPELLING] Sagalchik. In preparation for the feast, Popovych had sacrificed two pawns but had plenty of open lines. Amazingly, Sagalchik allowed multiple dsicovered and double checks, and dicovered attacks on his queen, but was able to dance away to safety. When Sagalchik further perfomed a Houdini act in untangling his pinned and overloaded knights, the game was decided. In the tournament, Carlomagno Oblitas of Peru obliterated the field, defeating myself, Fishbein and Shabalov. Popovych - Sagalchik Philadelphia 1993 1 e4 e5 2 f4 ef 3 Nf3 h6 DIAGRAM [A little-known move with a subtle point. The so-called "Fischer Defence", which Bobby pronounced to be a "bust" to the King's Gambit, arises after 3 ... d6 4 Bc4 h6 5 d4 g5. White can and should avoid this line after 3 ... d6 by playing 4 d4 g5 5 h4. By getting in 3 ... h6 first, Black ensures that he can meet 4 d4 g5 5 h4 with 5 ... Bg7.] 4 b3! [A completely different way of inhibiting ... g7-g5. Since White's plan is now to castle queenside and control the center rather than to attack on the f-file, ... h7-h6 is rendered meaningless.] Ne7 [Also possible was the straightforward 4 ... Nf6, and if 5 e5 Nh5 6 Bb2 d5, but instead White would maintain the tension with 5 Nc3.] 5 Bb2 Ng6 6 Nc3 d6 7 Qe2 c6 [Sagalchik was dissatisfied with plain vanilla development with 7 ... Be7 8 O-O-O (less convincing is 8 Nd5 O-O 9 O-O-O c6) O-O 9 h4 and Black has to face the music, e.g. 9 ... Nxh4 10 Nd5 or 9 ... Bg4 10 h5 Ne5 11 d4.] 8 O-O-O Bg4 9 d4 Nd7?! [More circumspect was 9 ... Be7 to prepare to castle in response to the eventual e4-e5.] 10 h3 Bh5? [Optimistically hoping to avoid ceding to White permanent compensation based on the g-file and the light squares after 10 ... Bf3 11 gf.] DIAGRAM 11 e5! de 12 de Bf3 [Necessary to avoid the possibility of White playing g2-g4, which would undermine the arrival of the other bishop on e3.] 13 gf Bc5 14 e6! [Popovych sacrifices a second pawn to soften up the knight on g6. It seems that 14 Ne4 is a mere transposition after 14 ... Be3+ 15 Kb1 O-O 16 e6.] Be3+ 15 Kb1 [Of course 15 Qxe3? fxe3 16 Rxd7 Qg5 would be absurd.] fe 16 Ne4 O-O [He must castle into it to avoid the check on d6.] 17 Qg2 [White's pieces are so beautifully placed that the optimum course is to keep piling up the pressure. A frustrating alternative was 17 Nc5, attempting to cash in. Then 17 ... Bc5? 18 Qe6+ Rf7 19 Qg6 is hopeless. Not so clear is 17 ... Rf7 18 Ne6 Qe7 19 Qg2 and Black may be holding on after 19 ... Qe6 20 Bc4 Qf5 21 Rd7 Qd7 22 Qg6 Kf8 23 Qh7 Re8 or 19 ... Kh7 (better than 19 ... Nh4 20 Qg4) 20 Bc4 b5. Popovych also had to consider that Black might try to wrest the initiative with 17 ... Nc5!? 18 Rd8 Rad8, as White's remaining forces cannot resume the attack very quickly.] Kh7 18 Bd3 DIAGRAM [The dream position has arrived, and the spectators await the final flurry involving discoveries, double checks, etc.] Nde5!! [Calmly inviting White to do his worst. 18 ... Rf5 would have been methodically beaten back by 19 h4 Qe7 20 Nd6.] 19 Rhg1? [On 19 Be5 Ne5 there is no mate. White can then win the exchange with 20 Ng5+ Kh8 21 Ne6, but the position is not completely clear after 21 ... Qe7 22 Nf8 Rf8 thanks to the strong Black bishop. Similarly insufficient is 19 Nf6+ Qf6 20 Be5 Qe5 21 Qg6+ Kg8. More dangerous is the thematic 19 h4 to exploit the overloaded knights. Then Black must reply 19 ... Nxd3! 20 h5 Nge5! with the idea 21 Be5 Ne5 22 Rd8 Rad8, and Black would have even material for the queen and securely posted pieces. And Black holds on 21 Rd3 Qc7. But what Popovych overlooked was that after 19 h4 Nd3, 20 Rd3 is very strong. For example, 20 ... Qc7 21 Ng5+ hg 22 hg+ Kg8 23 Qh3 Kf7 (23 ... e5 24 Rd7) 24 Bg7 Rh8 25 Bh8 Rh8 26 Qh8 Nh8 Rh7+, or 20 ... Qe7 21 h5 Nh8 22 Rhd1 Rf7 23 Rd7!! Qd7 24 Rd7 Rd7 25 Qg7+! Rg7 Nf6 mate DIAGRAM] Bg1 20 Rg1 Qe7 21 Nf2!! [Recovering to make the best move in a completely new situation. After 21 Be5 Ne5 the discoveries do not accomplish anything. More interestingly, on 21 Nf6+, intending to capture on e5 after Black takes the intruder, Sagalchik has 21 ... Kh8! with the variations 22 Be5 Ne5, 22 Bg6 Qf6, or 22 Nh5 Qg5! 23 Qg5 hg 24 Rg5 Nd3 25 cd Kh7 with advantage to Black. If White had instead tried 21 Nd6, then 21 ... Rf6 defends. The point of the text was to meet 21 ... Rf6 with 22 Ng4. Finally, 21 h4 is now comfortably met by 21 ... Rf5.] Rf5 22 Bf5 ef 23 Nd3 Re8 [Black is still trying to disengage his knights, but it seems things are beginning to click together for him.] 24 Re1! [If 24 Bc3 to prepare this, then Black unhooks with 24 ... Qf7. If 24 h4, Black can reorganize with 24 ... Nh4 25 Qh3 Neg6, meeting 26 Nf4 (idea: 26 ... Nf4 27 Qh4!) with 26 ... Qe3. Now White looks forward to 24 ... Qd6 25 h4 with a revived attack.] Qh4! DIAGRAM [Now if White takes a few times on e5, Black will have a check on e1. 25 Qf1 loses to 25 ... Nf3! and 25 Qe2 loses to 25 ... Nd3. The only way to immediately renew the threat to take on e5 is the problem-like 25 Qh1!!, leading to a very unclear situation, although Black may be able to untangle with 25 ... Qf6 26 Qf1 Qd6.] 25 Bc3? Re7 [Now it's over.] 26 Rg1 Qg3 27 Qg3 fg 28 Ne5 Ne5 29 Rg3 f4 30 Rg2 Nf3 0 - 1

POUNDING THE PETROFF By any account, Russia's Artur Jusupov is one of the strongest players in the world. Lately, one of his favorite defenses, Petroff's Defense, has absorbed some heavy hits. In his Candidates Semi-Final Match against Timman, the Petroff scored 1/2 - 3 1/2. Additionally, Kamsky handed Jusupov's Petroff two defeats, in Tilburg 1992 (see Game of the Month, ___ 1992) and Moscow 1992. In Munich, Jusupov wheeled out the unlucky Defense against England's Michael Adams, who is having a great year. Adams set Jusupov some annoying problems right out of the opening, and delivered a brilliantly calculated attack. Adams - Jusupov, Munich 1993 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Nxe5 d6 4 Nf3 Nxe4 5 d4 d5 6 Bd3 Nc6 7 O-O Be7 [A tricky line once employed by Karpov against Kasparov in a World Championship game is 7 ... Bg4 with the following ideas: (1) if 8 Re1 Be7, and Black has transposed into the 7 ... Be7 8 Re1 Bg4 line, avoiding 7 ... Be7 8 c4, and (2) if 8 c4 Nf6 (not 8 ... Nxd4? 9 Bxe4 dxe4 10 Qxd4) and Black has accelerated his pressure against the d-pawn; here Kasparov gambited the pawn with 9 Nc3 Bxf3 (9 ... Nxd4 10 Qe1+ Ne6 11 Ne5 is too dangerous) 10 Qxf3 Nxd4 11 Qe3+ Ne6 12 cxd5 with great complications.] 8 c4 Nb4 DIAGRAM 9 Be2 [The modern move. In the line 9 cxd5 Nxd3 10 Qxd3 Qxd5 11 Re1 Bf5 12 Nc3 Nxc3 13 Qxc3 c6 14 Re5 Qd7 15 Bh6!! (discovered by Walter Browne), a major improvement, which led to the resuscitation of 8 ... Nb4, is 13 ... Be6! 14 Qxc7 Bd6 with equality. However, in Wahls - Jusupov, Germany 1992, White tried, instead of 12 Nc3, 12 Ne5! Jusupov played 12 ... O-O-O! (better than 12 ... f6 13 Qf3 g6 14 g4) and the game continued 13 Qf3 g6 14 g4 Bh4 15 Nc3 Nxc3 16 bxc3 Be6 17 g5! and Jusupov had to fight to secure a draw in 33 moves.] Be6 [In Moscow 1992, Jusupov selected the more conservative 9 ... O-O 10 Nc3 Bf5 against Kamsky, but White was able to develop a central initiative after 11 a3 Nxc3 12 bxc3 Nc6 13 cxd5 Qxd5 14 Bf4 Bd6 15 c4.] 10 Nc3 O-O 11 Be3 f5 [A sharp variation introduced by Seirawan against Karpov. A popular alternative is 11 ... Bf5, now that the White bishop is on e3, and an eventual ... Nc2 will have bite. In Short - Timman, Hilversum 1989, Nigel tried 12 Rc1! (other moves are 12 a3 and 12 Qb3), with slightly better chances after 12 ... Nxc3 13 bxc3 Nxa2 14 Rc2.] 12 a3 [Relatively harmless is 12 cxd5 Nxd5 13 Nxd5 Bxd5 14 Bf4 c6 15 Be5, although White made something out of this in Dvoiris - Sorokin, Chelyabinsk 1990] Nxc3 13 bxc3 Nc6 DIAGRAM [The critical position in this line. In the stem game Karpov - Seirawan, ____ , Karpov played 14 Qa4 f4 15 Bd2 (in his book on the Petroff, Karpov recommends 15 Bc1, so that after 15 ... Kh8 16 Rb1 Rb8 17 Re1 dxc4 18 Bc4 Bg4, 19 d5 would win as the bishop does not hang on d2, but Black is under no particular obligation to play this way) Kh8 16 Rab1 Rb8 17 Rfe1 dc 18 Bc4 Bg4 19 Be2. Then after 19 ... Bd6 20 h3 Bh5 21 Rb5 Karpov went on to win a nice game. Thus, in the 1986 U.S. Championship, I decided to imitate Karpov's 14 Qa4, even though I felt suspicious. Sure enough, Yasser improved with 19 ... a6! denying White's rook the use of the b5 square, and after 20 h3 Bh5 21 Ng5? Bxe2!, Black won convincingly. Later in the tournament, Fedorowicz was prepared to play 14 c5 against Seirawan, with the idea of shutting off Black's counterplay, and using the e-file and the e5 square, but Seirawan played a different defense against Fed. (In a recent, cursory analysis session with NM Larry Tamarkin, I was unable to prove a serious White advantage after 14 c5.) Meanwhile, the direct approach with 14 cxd5 Bxd5 15 c4 (Makarichev suggests 15 Rb1, and Belyavsky played 15 Qc2 against Jusupov in Barcelona 1989) Bf3 16 Bf3 f4 17 Bd5+ Kh8 18 Bc1 Nxd4! led nowhere in Hubner - Jusupov Rotterdam 1988. Adams decides to avoid these subtleties, and develops his pieces.] 14 Rb1 f4 15 Bc1 Rb8 16 cxd5 [Zapata played the less forceful 16 Re1 dxc4 17 Qa4 against Garcia Gonzales in Santa Clara 1990, obtaining little.] Bxd5 17 Re1 Kh8 18 Bd3 Qd7 [Black's setup is designed to prevent White's expansion with c3-c4, but the bishop on e7 is in a fragile position on the e-file, and Black's major pieces have been relegated to the defense of small units. Jusupov's choice is logical, but more radical measures were needed. A better defense was the Nimzovichian 18 ... Bg8!! getting out of the way of White's coming central advance and securing the kingside. Then on 19 c4 Bf6 20 d5 Nd4 is satisfactory - if 21 Bxf4? Nxf3+ 22 Qxf3 Bc3! threatens 23 ... g5. 19 c4! [Adams sacs the d-pawn to combine pressure against h7 with attacks against Black's minor pieces.] Bxf3 20 Qxf3 Nxd4 21 Qe4 Nf5 [The only way to simultaneously defend h7 and e7, but Black is preparing to strike back with ... Rbe8.] DIAGRAM 22 Rb5!! [Though this move seems to displace the White rook in the face of the coming counterplay, by forcing Black to play 22 ... c5, White gains critical time. The immediate 22 Bxf4 Rbe8 would have left open many questions. c5 23 Bxf4 Rbd8 [There is no time for 23 ... Rbe8 24 Rxb7.] 24 Bc2 b6 25 g4! [Since Adams has earned the tempo to get his king's bishop off the d-file, he can afford this.] Rde8 26 Rd1 [White removes himself from the e-file battery and sets up his own threats on the d-file.] Bd6 27 Qd3 g5! [A nice resource which defends h7 and counterattacks the White bishop.] DIAGRAM 28 Qc3+! [A nasty surprise would follow 28 Bxd6? Nxd6 29 Qxd6 Re1+ 30 Kg2 Qxg4+ 31 Qg3 Rxf2+! 32 Kxf2 Qe2 mate! And 28 gxf5? gxf4 29 Qxd6 allows 29 ... Rg8+ 30 Kf1 (or 30 Kh1 Re1+) Qg7.] Nd4 29 Rxd4 Qxg4+ [Of course, 29 ... cxd4 30 Qxd4+ Kg8 31 Rxg5+ is hopeless.] 30 Kh1 Re1+ [Better than 30 ... Kg8 31 Bxd6! cxd4 32 Qg3.] 31 Qxe1 Qf3+ 32 Kg1 gxf4 33 Re4 [White preserves his extra rook.] Rg8+ 34 Kf1 Qh1+ 35 Ke2 Rg1 36 Qc3+ Kg8 37 Re8+ Kf7 38 Be4 Qxh2 39 Ra8 Rg3 40 Rxa7+ Ke6 41 Bd5+ Colding - Mengarini, Eastern Masters, May 1992, C41 1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 c6 [The newly fashionable Prible Defence.] 4 Bg5 Nbd7 5 Nf3 [More aggressive is 5 f4 a la the Byrne variation against the Pirc. As Colding plays it, the opening develops into a Philidor's Defence, where White's bishop on g5 is subject to an early exchange.] e5 6 Qd2 Be7 7 h3 [To be considered was 7 Be2 h6 8 Bh4, as 8 ... Nh5 fails to 9 Bxe7 Qxe7 10 Nxe5.] O-O 8 Be2 Re8 9 O-O h6 10 Be3 [Probably White should retain the pressure with 10 Bh4. Then 10 ... Nxe4? 11 Nxe4 Bxh4 12 Nxd6 is good, or 10 ... Nh7 11 Bg3! Bf6 12 Rad1. Most logical after 10 Bh4 would be 10 ... Qc7 with the idea Nd7-f8-g6. If then 11 Bg3 b5 12 a3 Bb7 13 Nh4 leads to wild complications.] Bf8 11 Bd3 b5 [Black assumes the initiative.] 12 a3 Qc7 13 dxe5 Nxe5 [Active-looking, but better was 13 ... dxe5, because Black's Nd7 had a rosy future ahead on c5, whereas White's Nf3 was prospectless. Moreover, the text move frees White's f-pawn. But Mengarini never shies away from complications.] 14 Nxe5 dxe5 15 f4 Bb7 16 fxe5 Rxe5 [Unable to resist the temptation of a rooklift. 16 ... Qxe5 was more rational. DIAGRAM [A good "What's the Best Move?" position. The choices are a) 17 Bxh6, b) 17 Rxf6, and c) 17 Bf4.] 17 Rxf6!? [Wrecking Black's kingside pawn structure, but it is not that easy for White to get his pieces into the attack. Best was 17 Bxh6! Black would have no compensation after 17 ... Bc5+ 18 Be3, or 17 ... Rh5 18 Bf4. Black could get the pawn back, at the cost of a precarious position, with 17 ... Nxe4 18 Nxe4 gxh6 19 Nf6+, etc. Perhaps Black's best chance would be the positional 17 ... gxh6 18 Rxf6 Bg7. The alternative 17 Bf4 wins nothing, but also costs nothing, and leads to a strong position after 17 ... Qb6+ 18 Kh1 Re6 19 e5.] gxf6 18 Rf1 Rh5! [Completing the rooklift. The rook is surprisingly hard to budge. White could try 19 Ne2.] 19 Be2 Rxh3! DIAGRAM [The combination is good enough for a draw after 20 gxh3 Qg3+, etc. But White tries for more.] 20 Rf4? Qxf4! [Because 21 Bxf4 Bc5+ wins.] 21 gxh3 Qg3+ 22 Kf1 Qxh3+ 23 Ke1 Qh4+ 24 Bf2 Qh1+ 25 Bf1 Bc8 26 Qf4 Be6 27 Ne2 Qh5 and Black soon won

FOUR KNIGHTS REVIVAL CLOSES IN LINARES Emerging from over 60 years of virtual hibernation, the Four Knights Game returned to top-flight international chess in 1991 with a vengeance. Nigel Short and John Nunn led the brigade, fashioning this ancient opening into a modern juggernaut. But in Linares, Spain, in a category ___ tournament held from [date], Short's adversaries were less than receptive, as he lost as White against Al Beliavsky, and against fellow Candidate Jan Timman. 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. C48 Short - Timman, Linares 1992 (11) 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 [DIAGRAM A] 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 [DIAGRAM B] Qf2! 24 Qd1 Qh4 25 Bxe5 fxe5 26 Rxf5 Qe4. From DIAGRAM A two Short - Adams playoff games for the championship continued 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 [DIAGRAM C] 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.] [DIAGRAM D] 13 exd6? [Slavishly 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.] [DIAGRAM D] 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 [DIAGRAM E] 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

RUY LOPEZ deFirmian found himself in two closed Lopezes against the Ivanov tag-team. In rd. 2 Igor played an old Keres strongpointing line: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c30-0 9. h3 Nd7 10. d4 Nb6 11. Nbd2 Bf6 12. Nf1 Re8 13. Ng3 g6 The knight cannot be allowed to go to f5 or h5, so Black must cede a decent post to White's dark-squared bishop. 14. Bh6 Na5 Probably the only good way to play this position is 14 ... a5!, preparing to use the b6 knight for a venture to c4. Ivanov's move leads to serious knight entanglement, far from the kingside where help will be needed. 15. Bc2c5 16. d5 c4 17. Qd2 Nb7 18. Rf1 Nc5 19. Ng5 With a strong attack; 1-0 in 43. In rd. 8 Alex Ivanov resumed his longstanding debate with deFirmian over the Zaitsev Variation. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c30-0 9. h3 Bb7 10. d4 Re8 11. a4 h6 12. Nbd2 Bf8 13. Bc2 exd4 14. cxd4 Nb4 15.Bb1 c5 Kamsky tried 15 ... g6 against Anand in the first game of their PCA match, Las Palmas 1995, but Anand got a strong position with 16 Ra3 Bg7 17 e5! (previously 17 Re3 had been played) dxe5 18 dxe5 Nh5 19 axb5 axb5 20 Qb3 c5 21 Ne4. In game 9 Kamsky played 15 ... Qd7; Anand again reacted strongly with 16 b3 g6 17 Bb2 Bg7 18 Qc1. 16. d5 Nd7 17. Ra3 c4 18. axb5 axb5 19. Nd4 Ne5 Following game 7 of the Anand-Kamsky Las Palmas match. In World Championship encounters, Karpov had tried both 19 ... Qb6 and 19 ... Ra3 here. 20. Rxa8 Qxa8 21. Nxb5 Rc8! The novelty. Game 7 had continued 21 ... Qa5 22 Na3 Ba6 23 Re3. 22. Na3 Ba6 23. Re3 Nbd3 24. Bxd3 cxd3 25. b3 Be7 26. Ndc4 Bg5 With a very unclear position; 1/2-1/2 in 44. In rd. 11, Christiansen employed an unusual permutation of the Closed Defence against A. Ivanov: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 d6 7. c3 Bg4 Christiansen's vast experience with slightly off-beat defences makes him unpredictable. The text is generally shied away from because, although it stops d2-d4, White can gain time for his standard knight maneuvers by kicking the bishop around. 8. d3 Nd7 An original idea. ECO gives only lines involving ... Nc6-a5. 9. Nbd2 Nc5 10. Bc2 Ne6 11. h3 Bh5 12. Nf1 Ng5 He needed to get this in before Nf1-g3 happened. 13. N1h2 Nxf3+ 14. Nxf3 O-O 15. g4 Bg6 16. d4 White has a slight advantage; 1-0 in 48.

A variety of interesting ideas were introduced in the Slav. The rd. 8 encounter Benjamin - Alburt developed: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 a6 A move which has gained a lot of popularity in the position which would have arisen had White played 4 Nc3. The idea is to play a quick ... b7-b5 forcing White to make a decision regarding his c-pawn. Meanwhile, the a6/b5 structure can limit or harass the knight on c3. Logically, Benjamin avoids this placement. 5. Nbd2 Bf5 A neat switch to an early ... Bf5 system where White no longer has the option of Bf1-d3. 6. Be2 e6 7. Ne5 Nbd7 8. g4 A well-thought-out concept which results in White obtaining a superior central foothold. Bg6 9. h4 dxc4 10. Ndxc4 Be4 11. f3 Bd5 12. e4 Bxc4 13. Nxc4 b5 14. Ne3 Qb6 Black has dynamic near-equality, with hypermodern pressure against White's center. 1/2-1/2 in 49. The next round Alburt as White played his pet 4 Qc2 against Shabalov: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Qc2 g6 5. Bf4 Na6 A very sharp move which the creative GM Kupreichik played against Epishin at Daugavpils, 1989. 6. e3 Bf5 7. Qb3 Nb4! 8. Qxb4 e5 9. Qxb7 In the stem game Epishin played the sounder 9 c5 and after 9 ... exf4 10 exf4 b6 Black had decent compensation for the pawn. Rb8 10. Qxc6+ Bd7 11 Qxf6!? White finds himself in difficulties after 11 Qa6 Rxb2!? 12 Bxe5 Bb4+ 13 Nbd2 Ne4. Qxf6 12. Bxe5 Qb6 As played in Alterman - Rublevski, USSR 1990, which should have been the last word in this line. 13. b3 Bb4+ 14. Nbd2 0-015. Bxb8 Rxb8 16. cxd5 Alburt has a knight, rook and a few pawns for the queen, which is great, but to get castled, he will have to pitch the knight back. Qa5 17. Bc4 Bg4 18. 0-0 Bxd2 0-1 in 43. Both players showed new ideas in a main line Slav from the rd. 10 game Yermolinsky - Khmelnitsky - 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Nbd7 8. O-OBb4 9. Qe2 Bg6 10. e4 O-O 11. Bd3 Bh5 12. e5 Nd5 13. Ne4 Be7 14. Ng3 Hot theory from Xie Jun - V. Akopian, Moscow 1994. Bg6 15.Bxg6 fxg6 A good novelty. Black's pawns are weakened very slightly, but he gets the f-file and the possibility of building up with ... h7-h6 and ... g6-g5. 16. Ne4 Rf5 17. a5 g5 18. Bd2 a6 19. b4 Sealing off any later counterplay from the lever ... c6-c5. Nf8 20. Rab1 Ng6 21. g3 Nc7 22. Be3 Black's passive play has left White with a small but solid edge. 1-0 in 73.

dlugy - basescu 1996 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bf4? This is almost never played! It is a bad combination with the move Nb1-c3, as Black gets the ... b5-b4 tempo. Dlugy told me that he had not played chess for over a year before this event! However, Gulko has played 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Bf4, a much more respectable line! 4...dxc4! 5.e3 On 5 e4? b5, e4 is a potential target; 6 e5 Nd5 and White does not have any compensation. 5...b5 White gets compensation from Black's backward development on 5 ... Be6; therefore, your move is clearly best. 6.a4 b4!? [6...Bd7! This refutes White's opening. 7.Nf3! (7.axb5 cxb5 8.Qf3? Bc6) 7...e6 8.Ne5 Bb4] 7.Nb1 Ba6 8.Qc1 Nd5 [8...Qd5 9.Nd2 c3 10.bxc3 bxc3 11.Qxc3 Bxf1 12.Kxf1 and White is slightly better due to the weakness of the c-file.; 8...c3! 9.bxc3 (9.Bxa6? cxb2 10.Qxb2 Nxa6 and White has no compensation for the pawn.) 9...Bxf1 10.Kxf1 Na6 This is clearly satisfactory for Black.] 9.Bxb8 Rxb8 10.Bxc4 White has escaped his disastrous opening, and has the edge now. 10...Qb6 11.Nd2 e6 12.Nb3 Be7 [12...Rc8 13.Nf3 c5 14.dxc5 Bxc5 15.Bxa6 Qxa6 16.Nxc5 Qa5 This was the route to a rough type of equality. Your suggestion of ... Nd5-f6-d7 is definitely too time consuming.] 13.Nf3 0-0 14.Ne5 Bxc4 15.Qxc4 Rfd8 16.Nxc6 Rbc8 17.Nxe7+ Nxe7 18.Qe2 Qc6 19.0-0 Qc2 20.Qxc2 Rxc2 21.Rab1 Nd5 22.Rfc1 Rdc8 23.Rxc2 Rxc2 24.Rc1 Rxc1+ 25.Nxc1 Nb6 26.b3 Nd5 27.Nd3 f5 28.f3 Nxe3 29.Nxb4 f4 30.Nc6 Nc2 31.Nxa7 Nxd4 32.b4 Kf7 33.Nc8 Ke8 34.Nd6+ Kd7 35.Ne4 Kc6 36.Nc3 Nc2 37.b5+ Kb6 38.Kf2 g5 39.Ne4 h6 40.Nf6 Nd4 41.Ng8 Nf5 42.g4 fxg3+ 43.hxg3 Ka5 44.g4 Nd6 45.Nxh6 Kxa4 46.b6 Kb5 47.Nf7

When a "technically won position" develops into a nightmare as the opponent first resists crumbling and then takes the controls, players are bound to wonder whether the position was so great in the first place. Grandmasters usually trust their instincts, and conclude that they were really winning, but must have blundered somewhere along the way. In the game between Alexander Beliavsky and Loek Van Wely from Groningen, Beliavsky fails to finish off his tactical spree, although he does force an Exchange-up ending. A couple more inaccuracies and he suddenly finds himself in a race between passed pawns where nothing works out right. Beliavsky - Van Wely, Groningen 1994 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Qc2 g6 { A near-universal reaction, making the opening akin to a Gruenfeld. If Black plays the Semi-Slav-like ... e7-e6, because White has not yet committed the queen's knight, after Nb1-d2, whether White plays g3 or e3, Black's only source for later counterplay will be with ... c6-c5.} g6 5 Bf4 Bf5 { In Bareev - Kamsky, Dortmund 1992, play continued with the stodgier 5 ... dxc4 6 Qxc4 Bg7 7 Nbd2 (or 7 e3 O-O 8 Be2 and in Goldin - Jusupov, Black introduced complications with 8 ... Be6 9 Qc1 Nbd7 10 O-O c5, but according to Goldin a simple route to equality is 8 ... Qb6 9 Qc1 c5! 10 dxc5 Qb4+ 11 Nbd2 Ne4 12 Be5 Bxe5 13 Nxe5 Nxd2.) but Kamsky had no problems after 7 ... Bf5 8 e3 O-O 9 Be2 Nbd7 10 h3 c5 11 O-O Rc8. Clearly White's best on his 7th move is to play 7 Nc3, transposing directly to the Gruenfeld (ECO code D96). But Black has plenty of 5th move alternatives. An unfortunate one was seen in Cifuentes Parada - Gomez Baillo, Honduras 1987, where 5 ... Qa5+ 6 Nbd2 (nothing was proved by the quiet 6 Qd2 in Dorfman - Nikolic, Moscow 1990) dxc4?! (the radical 6 ... c5 is better) was tried. After 7 e4! b5 8 Be2 Bg7 9 O-O White had a looming initiative. More interesting was the inventive Viktor Kupreichik's 5 ... Na6!? which he played against Epishin at Daugavpils 1989. The idea was 6 e3 Bf5 7 Qb3 Nb4! [DIAGRAM] After 8 Qxb4 e5 9 c5 (Epishin was not ready for 9 Qxb7 Rb8 [9 ... exf4 is OK too] 10 Qxc6+ Bd7 11 Qa6 [In Alterman - Rublevski, USSR 1990, White came armed with the innovation 11 Qxf6?! but after 11 ... Qxf6 12 Bxe5 Qb6! he was having some trouble - a case of too much preparation] Rxb2!? 12 Bxe5 Bb4+ 13 Nbd2 Ne4) exf4 10 exf4 b6 Black had enough compensation for the pawn.} 6 Qb3 Qb6 7 c5 DIAGRAM {Beliavsky's idea is to get this in as early as possible. Skembris - Titov, Debrecen 1992 featured 7 e3 Na6 8 Nc3 and Black's experimental 8 ... Nb4 did not work out that great after 9 c5! Nd3+ (forced: 9 ... Nc2+? 10 Qxc2; 9 ... Bc2? 10 Qa3; 9 ... Qa5 10 Rc1) 10 Bxd3 Qxb3 11 axb3 Bxd3 12 Ne5. Black's eighth was an attempt to avoid positions such as 8 ... Qxb3 9 axb3 Nb4 10 Ra4!} Qxb3 8 axb3 Na6?! { Natural looking, but now Black is committed to great complications. Solid and satisfactory is 8 ... Nbd7 9 b4 Bg7 10 h3 Bxb1 11 Rxb1 O-O 12 e3 a6 13 Bd3 Ne8 in Lein - Smyslov, Hastings 1981.} 9 Nc3 { Not 9 e3 Nb4 and White's loose knight on b1 is a cause for concern.} Nh5 { Consistent but risky is 9 ... Nb4 10 Ra4 a5; then on 11 Bc7 Ne4! generates counterplay, but the quiet 11 e3 seems good for White because of the weakness of the a5-pawn. Van Wely opts to drive the annoying bishop away, but his knight remains poorly placed on h5.} 10 Bd2 Bg7 11 h3! { Beliavsky wants to drive the bishop to c2, so the knight on a6 will not later threaten to go there. On the immediate 11 e3 Nb4 12 Ra4 Nd3+ Black would be doing great. Bc2 12 e3 Nb4 DIAGRAM 13 Nb5!! { The point of 11 h3. White looks forward to 13 ... cxb5 14 Bxb4 O-O 15 Bxb5 and Black has big problems.} Bd3!! 14 Nc7+ { Of course not 14 Bxb4 Bxb5! and Black has no problems.} Kd7 15 Nxa8! { Another way is 15 Bxb4 Bxf1 16 Nxa8 Bxg2; the only difference between this and the ultimate game continuation is the position of White's bishop and king. However, the text is more accurate, because it allows White a special opportunity.} Nc2+ 16 Kd1 Bxf1! { The point. Black threatens g2 while trying to exchange off his otherwise hanging Bd3. Simply losing is 16 ... Nxa1?? 17 Bxd3 and White will emerge a piece up after 17 ... Nxb3 18 Bc3 Rxa8 19 Kc2. DIAGRAM A critical moment. With hindsight it is possible to see that the right way now is 17 Rxa7!! Check the note to White's 20th move. 17 Kxc2 Bxg2 18 Rhg1 Bxf3 19 Rxa7 Rb8 20 Nb6+ Beliavsky has won the Exchange. But now Van Wely's king heads for the hills (deserting the b-pawn), and he develops serious kingside counterchances. Compare the diagram. If White had played 17 Rxa7!! then after 17 ... Bxg2 18 Nb6+, 18 ... Ke6 would be impossible because of 19 Ng5+ followed by 20 Rg1. Black would have to try 18 ... Kc7. Then after 19 Rg1 Nxe3+! 20 fxe3 (simplest) Bxf3+ 21 Ke1, Black's king is very uncomfortable in the face of Bd2-a5. If 21 ... Kb8 22 Ra8+ Kc7 23 Rxh8 Bxh8 24 Kf2 followed by 25 Ra1 is winning. Ke6! 21 Rga1 { It seems reasonable for Beliavsky to desert the h-pawn, as otherwise it is hard to make queenside progress, and Black's kingside forces might start to jell anyway. Although White might expect going into this endgame that he would merely have to overcome routine technical problems, Black's firm grip on the light squares allows for real resistance. But a cautious approach such as 21 Ba5 (the bishop was not doing anything on d2 anyway) with ideas such as b3-b4-b5 followed Nb6-a8 was also possible, leaving the g1 rook on guard duty for now. Bg2 22 Ra8 { 22 h4! Bf6 was something so think about; although it brings Black's bishop into defense of e7, the Black knight finds itself without any decent squares.} Rxa8 23 Rxa8 Bxh3 24 Rb8 Nf6 25 Rxb7 h5 DIAGRAM 26 Nc8?? { Lulled by the tempo gain against e7, White engages in an amazingly time-consuming maneuver. The direct 26 b4 was much better. Then after 26 ... h4 27 b5 cxb5 28 c6 Bf5+ 29 Kb3 Ne8 (or 29 ... Ne4 30 Bb4) 30 c7 wins.} Bf8 27 Na7 h4 28 Nxc6 Bg2!! { Although the bishop will later retreat to f5, Black has a problem due to lack of space for his king, e.g., 28 ... Bf5+ 29 Kc1 h3?? 30 Nd8 mate! Meanwhile, Van Wely wants to get the h-pawn rolling, and by getting a bishop check in, he is preparing a later knight check on e4.} 29 Ne5 h3 30 c6 Be4+ DIAGRAM 31 Kc3? { White wanted to keep the first rank clear for defence, or to avoid Black queening with check. But it is very unfortunate that he had to block the path for his bishop to b4. A spectacular finish would have been 31 Kd1!! h2 (not 31 ... Kd6?? 32 c7 Bf5 33 Bb4+ and wins) 32 c7 h1(Q)+ 33 Ke2 Qh5+! (not 33 ... Bf3+? 34 Nxf3 Kd7 35 Ba5 and White wins) 34 Ke1 Qh1+ with a perpetual.} Kd6 32 c7 Bf5 { Note that Black's king and bishop have disentangled, while White's king and bishop are boxing each other in.} 33 Ra7 { White does not sustain anything with 33 Nxf7+ Kc6! 34 Nd8+ Kd7.} h2 34 Nxf7+ Kc6 35 Ne5+ Kb6 36 Ra1 Ne4+ 37 Kd3 DIAGRAM Ng3+ 38 e4 { Very discouraging is 38 Kc3 Ne2+ 39 Kb4 Ng1.} Bxe4+ 39 Ke3 Bh6+ 40 f4 Kxc7 41 Nf3 h1(Q) 42 Rxh1 Nxh1 43 Be1 Kd7 44 Ng5 Bg2 45 Bh4 Bg7 46 b4 Bf6 47 Be1 Kc6 48 b3 Bf1 49 Bh4 Kb6 50 Be1 Kb5 51 Nh7 Nh3 0 - 1

After 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 d5 4 Nc3 Be7 5 Bg5 h6 6 Bxf6 Bxf6 7 e3 O-O 8 Rc1 c6 I was White in this position against Vatnikov (2300) in the Bradley Open, and I was trying to remember your comment - I rejected your move 9 cxd5 because Black can play 9 ... cxd5! and after he develops his knight on c6, he quite simply has total equality! His queen bishop is bad, but then again he has the two bishops, and what is White going to do for an advantage? So I played 9 Bd3 - of course this allows 9 ... dxc4(!) 10 Bxc4 Nd7 leading, not to the QGA, but to a much-discussed line after 11 O-O e5 12 h3 exd4 13 exd4 Nb6. Vatnikov played 9 ... Nd7, and now I played 10 cxd5!, getting a good minority attack after 10 ... exd5 11 b4 a6 12 O-O Qe7 13 Qb3 g6?! and now 14 e4! with a great position. Therefore, after 9 Bd3 Nd7 10 cxd5, Black should probably play 10 ... cxd5, although his passively placed knight on d7 probably allows White to get some advantage.

CHIGORIN DEFENCE 1. d4 Nc6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Bg4 4. Bg2 Qd7 5. h3 Bf5 6. c4 From Kaidanov - Khmelnitsky, rd. 12. I am impressed by Kaidanov's timing of this move - not so early as to give Black the usual Chigorin counterplay, but early enough to threaten central domination, given that Black's c-pawn is blocked. Could this move order be a reason that ... Nb8-c6 is only good after White commits himself to the Queen's Gambit? dxc4 7. Nc3 e6 8. e4Bg6 9. O-O Bd6 Clearly a source of some later problems, this move blocks the d-file, giving White more of a free hand in organizing the attack. 10. Qe2 Na5 11. Be3 b5 12. a3 c6 13. Nh4 Be7 14. Nxg6 hxg6 15.d5 This was the break Kaidanov had in mind when he decided to eliminate Black's light-squared bishop. White has a big edge. 1-0 in 31.

Bonin - Dolgitser, Nassau CC Champ. 1994 1 d4 d5 2 c4 Bf5 3 cxd5 [This gains the two bishops for White, but Black will have a solid position. Leading to sharper play is 3 Nc3.] Bxb1 4 Rxb1!? [The main line is 4 Qa4+ c6 (forced) 5 Rxb1! (better than 5 dxc6 Nxc6 6 Rxb1 e5!) Qxd5 6 e3 with a small but durable advantage.] Qxd5 5 a3 Nc6 6 e3 e5 DIAGRAM 7 dxe5 [Both sides were playing quickly here. White does not have enough on 7 Ne2?! exd4 8 Nc3 Qd7 9 exd4 Qxd4.] Qxd1+ 8 Kxd1 Nxe5 9 f3! [Taking central squares away from Black's knights.] Rd8+ [Dolgitser wants to use his queenside majority later. I would prefer quicker development with 9 ... O-O-O+.] 10 Kc2 Ne7 [Shunning 10 ... Nf6 11 e4 and activity is hard to come by, e.g., 11 ... Nc6 12 Bb5 or 11 ... Bc5 12 Bf4.] 11 Nh3 Nf5 12 Nf2 Be7? [Restrained, but not admirably so. The free hit on e3 with 12 ... Bc5 forces 13 Nd1. Then 13 ... O-O 14 Be2 Rfe8 15 g4 is unclear. The passive text allows Bonin to roll the kingside all the way home.] DIAGRAM 13 f4! Nd7 14 g4 Nd6 15 h4! [Confident that the power of his bishops will justify the roller. Even though White is barely developed, Black's jumbled pieces have no targets. Now Black should go into a "crouch" with 15 ... O-O followed by ... Rf8-e8 and ... Be7-f8. Instead, he decides to gain some space too.] f5 16 g5 c5 17 b3 b5 18 Bb2 Kf7 19 Bg2 Nb6 20 Nd3 [Inevitably headed for e5. At the Manhattan CC, such monster knights are referred to as "Boninesque".] Rhe8 21 Bc6 Rf8 22 h5 Rc8 DIAGRAM 23 g6+! Kg8 24 h6! [The "denouement".] hxg6 25 hxg7 Rfd8 26 Rh8+ Kf7 27 Ne5+ Kxg7 28 Nd7+ Kf7 29 Rh7+ Ke8 30 Ne5+ Rxc6 31 Nxc6 Rd7 32 Ne5 Rc7 33 Rh8+ Bf8 34 Nxg6 Rf7 35 Rd1 Ne4 36 Bg7 Nd7 37 Bxf8 Nxf8 38 Rd5 Rf6 39 Re5+ Kf7 40 Nxf8 Kg7 41 Nd7 Rd6 42 Rd8 Rd2+ 43 Kc1 Re2 44 Re7+ Kg6 45 Rg8+ Kh6 46 Rxe4 [Of course not 46 Nf8?? Re1+ drawing!] 1 - 0

Few people doubt that a new wave of superstars has arrived in international chess. Two of the most intense, Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, and Alexander Morozevich of Russia, fought out an epic battle in the recent tournament in Madrid. Morozevich is known for his penchant for slightly unusual, Nimzovichian-type defenses. In this game, he castled right into the fire of his opponent's unopposed fianchettoed bishop, relying on hard-to-fathom tactical tricks to reject the attack. Topalov is not afraid of hand-to-hand combat with anybody, but gingerly stepped over his opponent's enticements, emerging the exchange up for a pawn in a wild endgame, featuring a race between rolling connectors. Topalov - Morozevich Spain, 1996 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 [A popular alternative here is 3 Nc3, which prevents the Hedgehog / Queen's Indian 3 ... b6? because of 4 e4, and instead forces Black into the following repertoire: 3 ... c5 4 e4 leads to the pawn sac after 4 ... Nc6 5 e5 Ng8 6 d4 cxd4 7 Nxd4 Nxe5, 3 ... d5 is a Queen's Gambit Declined after 4 d4, and 3 ... Bb4 allows the hybrid 4 Qc2 or 4 g3, not allowing Black to get into a regular Nimzo-Indian.] d5 [I have had good success here with 3 ... a6, after which White's best is the quiet 4 Bg2 b5 5 b3! Not as good is 4 Nc3 because after 4 ... d5 5 cxd5 (5 Bg2 dxc4 is an unclear pawn sacrifice) exd5 is a strategical boon for Black - the fianchettoed bishop will "bite on granite" while its counterpart will soon develop comfortably to f5.] 4.d4 dxc4 5.Bg2 c5 [An active move seeking to force equality. The main line is to sit back with 5 ... Be7 6 O-O O-O 7 Qc2 a6 8 Qxc4 (8 a4 has gained many adherents recently) b5 followed by 9 ... Bb7. Less favored is 5 ... a6, postponing development and seeking to hold the c4 pawn, for example after 6 O-O b5 7 Ne5 Nd5.] 6.0-0 [Also played is 6 Qa4+, but it allows the maneuver 6 ... Bd7 7 Qxc4 Bc6.] Nc6 7.Ne5 DIAGRAM [A modern approach. Many players of the White pieces do not like 7 Qa4 because of the unclear queen sacrifice 7 ... cxd4 8 Nxd4 Qxd4 9 Bxc6+ Bd7 10 Rd1 Qxd1+ 11 Qxd1 Bxc6.] Bd7 [Permanently out of favor is 7 ... Nxe5 8 dxe5 Nd5 (or Black can trade Queens first) 9 Na3 with a budding White initiative. Of course, Black cannot play 7 ... Nxd4?? 8 e3.] 8.Na3 [The new deal, introduced in the training match Kasparov - Andersson, Belgrade 1985. 2 games by Razuvaev illustrate other approaches. Against Smagin at Moscow 1988 he bailed out with 8 Nxc6 Bxc6 9 Bxc6+ bxc6 10 Qa4 cxd4 11 Qxc6+ Nd7 12 Qxc4 with an early draw. Against Unzicker at Biel 1991 he played the old main line 8 Nxc4 cxd4 (better than 8 ... b5 9 Ne5 Rc8 10 Nxd7 and the power of the two bishops can be felt) 9 Bf4 Nd5! 10 Nd6+ Bxd6 11 Bxd6 Nde7, with an interesting position where White is about as likely to recover the pawn with the initiative intact as Black is to give back the pawn while obtaining complete equality.] cxd4 9.Naxc4 DIAGRAM Nxe5 [This appears to be a new move. Andersson's early defences against Kasparov did not fare very well. First he tried 9 ... Rc8 10 Qb3 Nxe5 11 Nxe5 Bc6 12 Nxc6 bxc6, getting a lousy position after 13 Rd1. In the next case he ventured 9 ... Nd5 10 Nxc6 Bxc6 11 Qd4 Nb4 12 Bxc6+ Nxc6 13 Qc3, again with a strong White initiative. The accepted move is the logical 9 ... Bc5 holding the d4 pawn. This gave rise to a spectacular combination in Tal - A. Sokolov, Brussels 1988, after 10.Qb3 0-0!? (usual is 10 ... Qc8, but Tal spurns the offer of the b-pawn) 11.Bf4 Qc8 12.Rfd1 Rd8 13.Rac1 Nd5 14.Nxf7!! Kxf7 15.Ne5+ Nxe5 16.Bxe5 b6 17.Qf3+ Kg8 18.Qg4 g6 19.Be4 Be8 20.b4 Nxb4 21.Bxa8 Qxa8 22.Qxe6+ and the attack raged on. In Sulava - Dizdarevic, Cattolica 1993, White munched with 11.Qxb7, and emerged satisfactorily after 11 ... Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Rb8 13.Qf3 Nd5 (better is 13 ... Bd6 14 Nxd7 Qxd7 15 Bg5 Be5 with good central control for Black in Vaganian - Serper, Lucerne 1993) 14.Bg5 f6 15.Qg4 h5 16.Qh3 fxg5 17.Bxd5 g4 18.Qg2 Rxb2 19.Qe4 Rb6 20.Bc4 with clear compensation for his one pawn minus. A more staid example of this line was Tukmakov - Sokolov, Biel 1992, where the normative Qc8 was played, although Black had no prospects for anything other than equalization, and in fact lost a pawn and the game after 11.Bf4 0-0 12.Rac1 Nd5 13.Nxd7 Qxd7 14.Ne5 Nxe5 15.Bxe5 Bb6 16.Rfd1 Rac8 17.Rxc8 Rxc8 18.Bxd5 Qxd5 19.Qxd5 exd5 20.Bxd4 Bxd4 21.Rxd4 Rd8 22.e4, although, incredibly, Sokolov decided to repeat all of this against Kharlov at St. Petersburg 1993, where, after 22 ... Kf8 23 exd5 Ke7 24 Kg2 Kd6 25 Kf3 Rc8 26 Rd2, he essayed the improvement 26 ... Re8! (instead of 26 ... Rc5 in the Tukmakov game) 27 Kf4 Re5, later achieving a draw. Personally, I do not see the point of learning a lot of theory just to get a draw in a pawn-down rook ending.] 10.Nxe5 Qb6 [The exchange of knights made this development possible, although the power of the bishop on the unchecked long diagonal is absolutely frightening.] 11.Nxd7 Nxd7 12.Qa4 0-0-0 DIAGRAM [Evidently the critical position for Morozevich's line.] 13. Rd1 [Very perplexing is 13 Bd2 where it seems 13 ... Kb8 is best - if 13 ... Nc5 14 Qc2 Kb8 15 b4 and the advance of the queenside pawns spells trouble - and then 14 Ba5 Qa6 15 b4 Nb6 is very unclear. On second consideration, maybe White can improve all of this with 13 Bf4!! e5 14 Bd2 - the difference is that Black is weak now on the b3-f7 and h3-c8 diagonals.] Be7 [A subtle skip-step with the bishop. Not 13 ... Kb8? because then 14 Rxd4 would attack the knight. And 13 ... Nc5 is dangerous because of 14 Qc2 Kb8 15 Bf4+ with ideas about the shot b2-b4. 13 ... Bc5 runs straight into 14 b4 Qxb4 15 Qxb4 Bxb4 16 Rb1. And 13 ... e5? 14 Bh3 is miserable. With the text, Morozevich prepares to play either 14 ... Kb8 or 14 ... Bf6.] 14.Rxd4 Bc5 [The point. White's pieces become at least momentarily disorganized. Black would just have a very bad position on the routine 14 ... Nc5? 15 Rxd8+ Rxd8 16 Qc2.] 15.Rc4 Kb8 DIAGRAM 16.Kf1! [Topalov is very confident of himself in such tricky positions. But if I were White here, I would be hard-pressed to resist 16 Be3!? with these points: 16 ... Bxe3! 17 Rb4 Bxf2+ 18 Kf1, although now Black can play 18 ... Nf6!! taking the e4 square from White's queen, getting some counterplay after 19 Rxb6 Bxb6 thanks to the ideas of ... Rd8-d4 and ... Nf6-g4; other 16th moves for Black turn out poorly - 16 ... Qxb2 17 Rcc1 (on other moves Black has 17 ... Nb6) leaves Black with major problems because 17 ... Qa3 is hammered by 18 Qe4, while 17 ... Qb4 18 Qxb4 Bxb4 Rab1 is grisly, and the defensive try 16 ... a5 is routinely met by 17 Bxc5 Nxc5 18 Qc2 with a very strong position.] e5! 17.Bg5!! [Now it looks like 17 Be3 can be met by 17 ... Bxe3! 18 Rb4 Qf6! 19 Rxb7+ Kc8 with a position way too messy to evaluate. Chess is rough!] Qxb2 [Morozevich is skating on very thin ice here. But 17 ... f6 18 Be3! would have been good for White.] 18.Rcc1 Nb6 19.Qe4 Rd7 20.Rab1 DIAGRAM Black has finally engineered a defense of b7. Now the only problem is to extricate all of his loose pieces.] Qd4 [Better than 20 ... Qa3 21 Qxe5+.] 21.Qxd4 Bxd4 22.e3 h6!! [He did not like 22 ... f6 23 exd4 fxg5 24 dxe5 with advantage for White.] 23.Bh3!! [A vicious retort. Now on 23 ... Rc7 24 Rxc7 Kxc7 25 Be7! the Black bishop cannot escape its troubles; one nice line is 25 ... Nd5 26 Rc1+ Kb6 27 Ba3 Bc3 28 Bg2 Bb4 29 Bb2 with an overwhelming position.. Therefore, Morozevich gives up the exchange for a pawn and a solid pawn formation.] hxg5 24.Bxd7 Bxe3 25.fxe3 Nxd7 26.Kg2 b6 27.Rb5 f6 28.Rc6 [Topalov decides routine play is not enough, and muscles his rooks into Black's position, even though Black has potential counterplay on both wings.] Re8 29.Rd5 Nc5 30.Kf3 Kb7 31.Rcd6 Kc7 32.Kg4 Rh8 33.h3 a5 DIAGRAM [Until now, the queenside majority has been dormant, but it awakens, either in its own right, or as a diversion, prelude to a kingside attack!] 34.Rd1 a4 35.a3 Ne4 36.Rd7+ Kc6 37.Kf3 f5 38.Kg2 Rc8 [Deserting the defence of his kingside pawns, Morozevich is intent on landing the knight on c3 to shepherd the b-pawn forward.] 39.Rf7 Nc3 40.Rc1 Kd5 41.Rxf5 Kc4 42.Rxg5 Kb3 43.Rxg7 Kxa3 [Not the kind of race that I would like to make any prognosis about.] 44.h4 Kb2 45.Rf1 Rh8 46.Kh3 a3 47.Ra7 b5 48.g4 b4 49.g5 Rg8 [Note that the rook observes White's most advanced pawn, this way stopping both of them until a White piece comes to their aid.] 50.Rg1! [More effective than 50 Kg4 after which 50 ... Ne4! halts White's pawns temporarily, and stops the uncomfortable rook check along the second rank.] a2 51.Rg2+ Kb1 52.g6 b3 53.h5 b2 DIAGRAM [The moment of truth.] 54.Ra3!! Rd8 [If Black queens 54 ... a1Q, then White's rook plus advanced pawns will defeat Black's rook plus knight in the variation 55 Rg1+ Kc2 56 Raxa1 bxa1Q 57 Rxa1. And on the deft 54...Nd1, White's task will be to eliminate everything, and he can do this with 55.Rd3!! Kc1 56.Rg1 b1Q 57.Rdxd1+ Kc2 58.Rxb1 axb1Q 59.Rxb1 Kxb1, winning with 60.Kg4 Kc2 61.Kg5 Kd3 62.h6.] 55.Rxc3!! a1Q 56.Rb3 [Topalov's plan becomes clear. He still wants to trade off both his rooks, this time for Black's b-pawn and the new queen. Failing that, he will fashion a mating net which will force the exchanges leaving him with the two passed pawns against Morozevich's remaining rook.] Qa6 57.Rbxb2+ Kc1 58.Ra2 DIAGRAM [Black is busy with the threats, while White's king will be safe from checks.] Qe6+ 59.Kh2 Kb1 60.Rab2+ Kc1 61.Ra2 Kb1 62.Raf2 Kc1 63.g7! Qg8 64.Rf1+ Rd1 65.Rxd1+ Kxd1 66.h6 Ke1 67.Kg1 Qb3 68.g8Q Qxe3+ 69.Kh1 Qxh6+ 70.Rh2 1 - 0

Ftacnik - Rohde, US Open 1991, Rd 9

1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 c4 Bb4+ 4 Nd2 d5 [More popular are 4 ... b6 and 4 ... 0-0. With the text Black attempts to obtain a Queen's Gambit formation in which White's knight is misplaced on d2.] 5 Qa4+ [To cross up Black's plans by forcing him to block his c-pawn with his knight. In round 5 of this event Igor Ivanov played instead 5 a3. After 5 ... Be7 6 g3 0-0 7 Bg2 Nbd7 8 0-0 c5 Black had few problems. Igor tried 9 cd ed 10 Re1!? Now, most logical would be 10 ... Re8 11 Ne5 cd 12 Nd7, etc., but I tempted him with 10 ... b6?! Black threatens to get a very good game with 11 ... Bb7, so White must take action: 11 dc! bc 12 e4 Ne4 13 Ne4 de 14 Nd2 Nf6. Now 15 Ne4 would just be a draw, so Ivanov played 15 Qc2. I confused him with 15 ... Qa5!? pinning the Nd2. He responded quickly with 16 Re3! and offered a draw. Since Black cannot stop Ne4 I accepted (not 16 ... Nd5? 17 Re4 Bf5 18 Qa4).] Nc6 6 a3 Bd2+ 7 Bd2 Ne4 8 Rd1 [Best for White here is the simple retreat 8 Qc2! with which Timman defeated Salov in the decisive game of their 1988 Candidates Match. In Browne - Rohde, 1988 American Open the continuation was 8 Be3!? 0-0 9 g3 Qe8?!.] 0-0 9 g3 [New to me. Lputian - Rohde, St. John 1988 featured 9 e3 Bd7 10 Qc2 f5! and thanks to the unfortunate position of the Rd1, Black is assured that his bishop maneuver to h5 will be meaningful.] Nd6! [Immediately taking advantage of the White bishop's apparent desertion of c4.] 10 c5 Nc4 11 Bc3 [if 11 Bc3 b6!!.] Bd7 [Not 11 ... b5? 12 Qb5 Rb8 13 Qa4 and wins.] 12 Qc2 b5 13 cb! [Trying to take the sting out of the threatened ... a5, ... b4, etc.] ab [A difficult decision. 13 ... cb renews the idea of ... b5, ... a5, but 14 e4 b5 15 Bd3 or 14 e4 de 15 Qe4 Nd6 16 Qf4 is unclear.] 14 e3 [Not necessarily admitting that 9 g3 was wrong - if Black can invest so much time in the Nc4, then White is justified in switching plans to deal with it.] Ne7 15 Bb4 c5! 16 Bc4! [Weak was 16 dc bc 17 Bc5 Rc8 18 Be7 Qe7 19 Bc4 Rc4 20 Qd2 Qf6.] dc [Thematic. 16 ... cb 17 Bd3 ba 18 Bh7+ Kh8 19 Bd3 gets Black nowhere.] 17 dc Qc8!! [17 ... Nd5 18 c6! Bc6 19 Bf8 Ba4 20 Qc1 Bd1 21 Qd1 is OK for White, and if 17 ... Qc7 18 Qc4! Qb7 19 Rd7! Qd7 20 c6 and White is winning.] 18 Qc4 bc! [18 ... Qb7 19 Rd7! loses, and 18 ... Bc6 19 e4 is unclear.] 19 Qc5 [Not 19 Bc5 Qb7 and wins.] Bc6 20 Ne5?! [20 Qe7 Re8 21 Qc5 Bf3 22 Qc8 Rec8 23 0-0 Bd1 24 Rd1 Rcd8 and Black is slightly better.] Bh1 21 Qe7 Qa6 22 Nd7? [Clearly better was 22 Qd7 but after 22 ... Bg2! Black is doing very well.] Bf3 23 Rd2 Rfc8 24 Bc3 Bg2 25 Kd1 Qf1+ 26 Kc2 Be4+ 27 Kb3 Qc4#

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Aseyev - Stangl, Berlin 1992 Finally somebody copied the idea from Lputian - Rohde, St. John (above): 10 Qc2 Be8 11 Be2 f5 12 O-O Bh5 13 Be1 Kh8 14 Kh1 Rf6 15 Ne5 Bxe2 16 Qxe2 Qe8 17 f3 Nd6 18 Bg3 Na5 19 b3?! Nxb3 20 cxd5 exd5 21 Qa2 Na5 22 Qxd5 Qb5 23 Qa2 Nac4 24 Rfe1 c6 25 Rb1 Qa6 26 Nd7 Rg6 27 Bxd6 Nxd6 28 e4 fxe4 29 fxe4 b6 30 e5 Qc4 31 Qf2 Nb5 32 Rf1 h6, ... Schachwoche 1992/34 p 5

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Lputian - Rohde , St. John 1988 10 Qc2 Be8 11 b4 a6 12 Bc1 f5 13 Be2 Bh5 14 O-O Rf6 15 g3 Bg4 16 Kg2 1 / 2 - 1/2

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Alburt - Rohde, US Open 1991, Rd 10 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 g3 Bb4+ 4 Nd2 [I thought Alburt would play 4 Bd2 here, as in his famous loss to Wilder in the 1989 US Championship. Instead, Alburt has repeated the Nd2 of Ivanov and Ftacnik but with his pawn on g3 instead of with the knight on f3. This difference allows Black a more agressive continuation.] c5! 5 Nf3 [Weak is 5 a3 Bd2+ 6 Qd2 Nc6! with the idea 7 Nf3 Ne4 or 7 dc Ne4 as in D. Gurevich - A. Ivanov, Washington, D.C. 1990.*] Nc6! [On 5 ... cd 6 a3! is good - 6 ... Bd2+ 7 Qd2 Nc6 8 Nd4 Ne4 9 Nc6.] 6 dc Bc5 7 Bg2 d5 8 0-0 0-0 9 a3! [Asking Black to weaken himself with ... a5 before White plays 10 cd ed which would make other good moves available to Black. I thought for a long time here about playing 9 ... Ne4, with such variations as 10 b4 Nc3, and 10 Qc2 Nf2, etc. But I could not find an answer to 10 e3! followed by 11 Qc2, etc.] a5 10 cd ed 12 Nb3 Bb6 13 Nbd4 Re8 14 Be3 Bg4 [Black stands well as White is not exerting any pressure on d5.] 15 Nc2 Rc8 16 Qd3! [White wants to play Qb5 to force Black to exchange dark-squared bishops.] Bf3 17 Bf3! [Not 17 ef Ne5 18 Bb6 Nd3. With the text, White looks forward to 17 ... Ne5 18 Bb6 Qb6 19 Qd4.] d4!! 18 Bf4 [Backing down from the critical line 18 Bf3 de 19 Be8 ef+ 20 Kh1 Qe8 21 Rac1.] Nd5 19 Qd2 [Black stands well after 19 Bd5 Qd5 20 Ne3 Qe6.] Nf4 20 Qf4 d3 [At this point I had about 9 minutes left for 30 moves.] 21 Rad1?! [Playing for the win. White could hold steady with 21 ed Qd3 22 Rac1.] dc?! [Much better was 21 ... Ne5 22 Ne3 Be3 23 Qe3 Nf3+ 24 Qf3 d2.] 22 Rd8 Red8 23 Bg4? [Extremely unclear was 23 e3! Rd2!] Nd4! [The knight hits e2 and b3.] 24 Kg2 Rc6! [I wanted my pieces to defend each other, like a chain. I now had about 3 and a half minutes left to get to move 50.] 25 Qe3 Ne6 26 Qe5 [Or 26 Qb3 a4!] Rd1! 27 Be6 [Setting the trap 27 ... c1(Q)? 28 Bb3!] Re6! [Cleanest.] 28 Qb8+ Bd8 29 Qc8 c1(Q) 30 Qc1 Rc1 31 Rc1 Re2 32 Rc8 Rd2 33 Rb8 Rd7 34 Kf3 Kf8 35 Ke2 Ke7 36 Ra8 Bb6 37 g4 Rd8 0 - 1

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Rohde - Yermolinsky, US Open 1991, Rd 12 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 c4 Bb4+ [My initial delight at facing this defense in this game for all the marbles wore off as I realized that I did not know all of the lines. For example, what if I played 4 Nd2 and he answered 4 ... 0-0?] 4 Bd2 Qe7 5 g3 Nc6 [On the adjacent board, Browne was playing Goldin in the identical position! Goldin played the simple, and weak, 5 ... Bd2+ 6 Qd2 d6. Gold tied for third place. Yermolinsky's move is more critical as on 6 Bg2 Bd2+ White must play 7 Nbd2 - not 7 Qd2 Ne4.] I crossed him up with a variation which I thought might be unexpected.] 6 Nc3 d6 7 Bg2 0-0 8 0-0 Bc3 [Not 8 ... e5? 9 Nd5.] 9 Bc3 e5 [Better was 9 ... Ne4 and White could choose between 10 Qc2, 10 Rc1 and 10 Be1 with a small advantage in each case.] 10 d5 Nb8 11 Qc2! [Eyeing the f5 square. On the immediate 11 Nh4, Black might recover with 11 ... g5! 12 Nf3 Ne4, etc.] c6 [A completely different situation arises if Black fights to get in ... f5. 11 ... Ne8 12 Nh4 f5 13 Bh3 e4! leads to massive complications.] 12 Nh4 cd 13 cd Na6 14 e4 Bd7 15 f4! [An obvious move, but it had to be accurately calculated. On 15 ... ef I planned, not 16 Rf4 Ng4, or 16 gf Ne4, but 16 Rae1! Then 16 ... fg 17 Rf6 gf 18 Qd3! wins, or 16 ... Nh5 17 Nf5 is good, or 16 ... Ng4 Nf5 transposes back to the game.] Ng4 16 Rae1 ef [Worth considering was going into a crouch with 16 ... f6.] 17 Nf5 Bf5? [Best was the surprising 17 ... Qd8] 18 ef Qc7 [Or 18 ... Qg5 19 gf! Qh4 20 Bf3 Rae8 21 Qg2.] 19 Rf4 Qc5+ 20 Kh1 Ne3 [On 20 ... Rae8 21 Re8 Re8 22 Rg4!!, e.g. 22 ... Re1+ 23 Bf1 Qd5+ 24 Kg1 Rf1+ 25 Kf1 Qh1+ 26 Ke2, or 22 ... Re1+ 23 Bf1 Rf1+ 24 Kg2 Rg1+ 25 Kh3.] 21 Qd2 [Now Black realized that his intended 21 ... Ng2 would be met by 22 Rg4!! f6 23 Rg7+! Kg7 24 Qg5+ Kf7 25 Qh5+ Kg8 26 Re7. And 21 ... Nc4 runs into 22 Rc4! Qc4 23 Re4 followed by 24 Bg7.] Rae8 22 Bd4 Nc4 23 Bc5! Nd2 24 Be3 Nb1 25 Rf3 1 - 0

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GAME OF THE MONTH BOUNCING BACK In the penultimate round of the 1992 Philadelphia International, held June 25 - 29 as a type of warm-up for the World Open, I found myself playing former New York Open Champion Alexander Goldin. I had just lost an easily won game against Ibragimov, who went on to win the event. (Dzindzi took second; Browne, Fedorov, Kudrin and I tied for third.) Players have differing reactions to such tough losses. In round robin events one may have the luxury of drawing his way back into form, but in today's big Swisses, there is generally no time for that. Many competitors switch openings - for practical and psychological reasons. Inevitably, a certain carelessness slips in. Against Goldin, I quickly obtained a dubious opening, which promised to ruin my tournament for good. While he crashed through the center, I sought refuge in bizarre kingside counterplay, putting some distance between myself and the previous round's disaster. As Goldin endeavored to exchange off some of the attackers, the position just kept on getting more complicated, finally erupting into a wild tactical melee.

Goldin - Rohde, Rd. 7, Phila. International 1992, E11

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 Bb4+ 4 Bd2 a5 [Earlier in the tournament I had seen Goldin as Black play the 4 ... Qe7 variation, and I knew he was a Bogo- player from last year's U.S. Open. But as a general matter, it is a good idea to play the same defence as your opponenet plays, as long as you play a different subvariation, because players tend to be less well prepared against alternative subvariations of their own defences.] 5 g3 d6 6 Bg2 Nbd7 7 O-O e5 [Black is ready to exchange pawns, freeing c5 as a retreat square for the bishop.] 8 Nc3 [One of the best of White's many choices here. 8 Bg5 proved fruitless after 8 ... exd4 9 Nxd4 h6 in Alburt - Wilder, U.S. Champ. 1988, the game responsible for popularizing this variation. Interesting are 8 Be3 and 8 Bc3, but Black has no particular problems after 8 Be3 O-O 9 a3 exd4, or 8 Bc3 O-O 9 a3 Bxc3. Henley once tried 8 e3 against me, which, be defending d4, threatens 9 Bc1! After 8 ... Bxd2 9 Qxd2 O-O 10 Nc3 White had a slight advantage.] 8 ... O-O {A superficial move, ignoring White's positional threat of 9 a3. The theoretical continuation is 8 ... exd4 9 Nxd4 O-O, which can lead to a sharp game after 10 a3 Bc5 11 Nb3 a4!?. Note that if Black tries 8 ... Qe7?, envisioning 9 a3 Bxc3 10 Bxc3 e4 11 Nd2 e3, he runs into big problems after 9 Nb5.] 9 a3 Bxc3 [Impossible is 9 ... exd4? 10 axb4 dxc3 11 Bxc3 with too much pressure on the a-pawn.] 10 Bxc3 e4 [A more conservative continuation is 10 ... Qe7, "strongpointing" on e5, but in the long run the bishop on c3 could turn into a monster. And 10 ... Ne4? is unstable after 11 Be1 f5 12 Nh4!] 11 Nd2 Re8 [The immediate 11 ... e3? 12 fxe3 Ng4 13 Rf3 is unsound.] 12 e3 d5 DIAGRAM [I have worked hard to contain White's bishops, and was looking forward to 13 cxd5 Nb6, etc.] 13 f3! [This shot exposes the poverty of Black's opening stategy and creates the real probability of sending him spiraling downward in the crosstable. Borrowing an idea common to the Nimzo-Indian and (with colors reversed) the French, Goldin attacks the head, not the base, of the pawn chain. He is williing to accept a backward e-pawn for f-file pressure.] 13 ... exf3 [If Black simply develops with 13 ... Nb6 14 fxe4 Nxe4 15 Nxe4 dxe4, with the idea of 16 b3 a4, then White would have a big advantage after 16 Qe2 c6 (else 17 d5) 17 a4! thanks to having preserved the mobility of his center pawns.] 14 Qxf3 c6 [Building a fortress, awaiting 15 Rae1 Nb6 16 e4 Be6! 17 e5 Nfd7 18 c5 Na4, and while White has a big space advantage, there are no clear targets, and Black may have queenside counterplay. In this line, Black hunts down and exchanges White's c3 bishop to prevent it from being recycled over to the kingside.] 15 g4! [Giving Black no time to set up a cohesive defense involving ... Be6. Now Black avoids 15 ... Qe7 16 g5 Ne4 17 Nxe4 dxe4 18 Qg3, as 19 Rf4 will be devastating.] 15 ... h6 16 h4 Qe7 17 g5 hxg5 18 hxg5 Nh7 19 g6! fxg6 20 cxd5 DIAGRAM [Black's pawn structure has been shattered, and White dominates the center. Any hope for counterplay must be based on White's lack of pawn protection for his king.] 20 ... Ndf6! [At least regaining control of the d5 square.] 21 dxc6 bxc6 22 Rae1 Bd7 [Only an illusion of activity is provided by 22 ... Ba6 23 Rf2 Ng5 24 Qxc6 Rec8. After 25 Qb6 Nfe4 26 Rf4 White is winning.] 23 Qg3 [Trying to disorganize Black. On 23 Nc4 Ng5 and a knight lands on e4, or 23 e4 Ng5 24 Qg3 Nh5 with weird counterplay.] 23 ... g5 24 e4 [An oversight, allowing a Black knight to hop in to f4. But the position was agonizingly unclear after 24 Nc4 g4 25 Ne5 Ng5, or 25 Nd6 Rf8 26 Nf5 Qf7.] 24 ... Nh5 25 Qh2 Nf4 26 Nf3 Rf8 27 Ne5 Rf6 [A bizarre position. While White still dominates the center, Black's kingside threats take on real proportions.] 28 Qg3 Rh6 29 Rf2 DIAGRAM 29 ... Bh3 [Tempting was 29 ... Nh3+ 30 Bxh3 Rxh3 31 Qg2 g4, with threats of 32 ... Qh4 and 32 ... Ng5. But White has 32 Nxd7!!, so that if 32 ... Qh4 33 Kf1, or 32 ... Qxd7 33 Rf5! and the attack fizzles. I played the text intending 30 Bh1 Bc8!! 31 Bg2 Nh3+, etc., preserving the light-squared bishop. But Goldin finds a different way to liquidate.] 30 Ng6! Rxg6 31 Bxh3 Nxh3+ 32 Qxh3 g4 [Now the question is whether Black can get his knight to g5 meaningfully. If White can stop that, or get to an ending, he will have good prospects.] 33 Qh5! [The queen makes herself a pain in the neck. If now 33 ... Rg5 34 Qh4, the annoying pin enables White to control g5 with moves like Bd2 or Rf5.] 33 ... Rh6! [Jettisoning the g-pawn to ensure the knight's arrival on g5.] 34 Qxg4 Rh4 35 Qg2 DIAGRAM [White has stolen a pawn and is running for cover. Black, who can combine threats against White's king with threats against the e-pawn, risks not recovering the pawn, or recovering it but losing the initiative. The tactics starting from this position are truly unbeleivable. If 35 ... Nf6, threatening 36 ... Rg4 and 36 ... Rxe4, White has 36 e5!! Then 36 ... Rg4 37 exf6 Rxg2+ comes out great after the obvious 38 Kxg2 Qf7. But White has the vicious 38 Rxg2! Qxf6 39 d5 and wins!] 35 ... Ng5 36 Re3 Qd7!! [Strong and necessary! White's rooklift is decisive on 36 ... Rxe4? 37 Rg3. And on the expected 36 ... Nxe4? White does not play the routine 37 Rfe2? Re8 after which Black is better, but instead White "hits the cutoff man" (i.e. the e5 square) with 37 Rf5!! containing the paralyzing twin threats of 38 Re5 and 38 Be1. But with the text Black threatens 37 ... Rg4, and White cannot play 37 Rg3 Nxe4, or 37 Kf1 Rg4 38 Qh1 Qe6.] 37 Rf5! Rxe4 [A neat geometrical pattern. 37 ... Nxe4 would lose to 38 Rxe4 as the rook on h4 would hang, but now both White rooks are hanging, and 38 Qxg5 Rxe3 does not help, while 38 Rxe4 Qxf5 leaves the knight finally ready to move in. 38 Rxg5 Rxe3 39 d5 [White has lost the Exchange, but is attacking g7 and c6. 39 ... Rxe3 40 bxc3 cxd5 would be a draw.] 39 ... Re7! DIAGRAM 40 dxc6!! [Goldin allows me to pin his queen, but if 40 d6? Rf7 my only target on g7 is well defended and my material advantage would be telling.] 40 ... Qd1+ 41 Kh2 Re2 42 Rxg7+ Kf8 43 Rg8+ Kf7 44 Rg7+! [On 44 Rxa8? White loses instructively: after Black wins the queen he can only win if he can pick up the rook on a8. To do that he must take the pawn on c6 with check. The line is 44 Rxa8? Qd6+ 45 Kh1 Qh6+! (not 45 ... Rxg2? 46 Ra7+) 46 Kg1 Rxg2+ 47 Kxg2 Qxc6+. But White's real idea is to give perpetual check - if the Black king crosses the d-file White will have Rd7+.] 44 ... Ke6 45 Rg6+ Ke7 [Of course not 45 ... Kf5?? 46 Rf6 mate!] 46 Rg7+ Kd8 47 Rd7+! [White could still lose with 47 Bf6+? Kc8! (47 ... Ke8?? 48 Re7+! Rxe7 49 Qg8 mate) as Black has crossed the d-file. Then 48 Rg8+ Kc7 49 Be5+ Kb6 50 Bd4+ Qxd4 51 Qxe2 Rxg8, or 49 Rg7+ Kb6 50 Bd4+ Ka6 ends matters.] 47 ... Qxd7 48 cxd7 [White may be losing after 48 Qxe2? Qxc6.] 48 ... Rxg2+ 49 Kxg2 a4 50 Kf3 Kxd7 [The position is a theoretical dead draw.] 51 Ke4 Kc6 52 Kd3 Kb5 53 Bg7 Kc5 54 Bc3 Rg8 55 Kc2 Kc4 56 Bf6 Ra2+ 57 Kc1 Kb3 58 Bc3 1/2 - 1/2

Rohde - Shliperman, Bradley (Connecticut) Open 1996 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 b6 White's move order allows 3 ... b5 to be played here as a very respectable alternative, but Shliperman is content with the regular Queen's Indian Defence. But because the move c2-c4 has not yet been played, the variations based on ... Bc8-a6 will not be possible. 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.c4 Be7 The move 5 ... c5, which would have gotten Black into a Hedgehog had White not played 5 c4, is probably not adivsable not because of 6 d5 exd5 7 Nh4. 6.0-0 0-0 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Bd2 The point of this modern treatment is to both avoid double pawns on c3, and to retain chances of shutting out Black's bishop on b7 with the advance d4-d5 (which would have been forfeited by 8 Qc2). 8...f5 A much quieter method is 8 ... Bf6 9 Rc1 d6 10 d5 Nxd2 followed by ... e6-e5: White gets a space advantage, but Black has a solid position and the two bishops. 9.d5 Bf6 10.Rc1 Na6 11.Ne1 Nd6 A strong move, empahsizing Black's active play in the center. On the knight exchange 11 ... Nxd2 12 Qxd2, Black would have little compensation for White'c central wedge, as 12 ... e5 13 e4 is very good for White, for example, 13 ... f4 14 gxf4! exf4 15 Nf3. 12.b3 Qe7 13.Nd3 [DIAGRAM] 13...c6 It is admirable to fight for the center, but the continuation shows that this move is positionally very dangerous. Much better was 13 ... Rae8! threatening ... Bf6xc3. After 14 e3, White stands a little better. 14.dxe6 dxe6 15.c5 Strong, but also forced. Otherwise Black plays 15 ... c5 with a great position. 15...bxc5 16.Na4 c4 17.Ndc5 The thematic move, stopping ... c6-c5. I barely considered 17 bxc4, but that might have been better - if then 17 ... c5 18 Bxb7! (Black is fine on 18 Naxc5 Nxc5 19 Nxc5 Bxg2 20 Kxg2 Rac8 21 Be3 Bb2! 22 Rc2 Ba3) Nxb7 (on 18 ... Qxb7? 19 Naxc5 is good) and now 19 Rb1 with a significant pull. 17...Nxc5 18.Nxc5 Bb2 Eliminating White's control of c5. Black would be in all kinds of trouble after 18 ... cxb3? 19 Qxb3. 19.Rc2 Ba3 20.Nxb7 Qxb7 21.bxc4 Bc5 [DIAGRAM] Shliperman has covered the weakling on c6 and coordinated his minor pieces. What now? 22.Qa1! Rae8 Best. My threat was the double attack 23 Qe5. No remedy was 22 ... Nf7 due to the powerful 23 Bc3. 23.Rb1 This was a tough decision. On the alternative 23 Qe5, 23 ... Ba3? loses to 24 Qa5, so the precarious-looking 23 ... Qb6 must be played. Then 24 Rb2 is met by the rude 24 ... Nxc4. I could have prepared this with 24 Bc3 Rf7 25 Rb2 Nxc4 26 Rxb6 Nxe5 27 Ra6, but I wanted "more" out of the position. 23...Qe7! Good judgment. Shliperman simply ditches the pawn on c6, so that 24 Qe5? can now be rejected with 24 ... Nf7, and the strong position of the bishop on c5 is maintained. I have nothing better than taking the pawn. 24.Bxc6 Rc8 25.Bg2 Not an inspired decision. Of course I saw that 25 Bf3 would better dissuade the advance ... f4, but I thought that 25 ... f4 would be no good anyway, and in the variation 25 ... Ne4 26 Be1 (or 26 e3), I did not want the bishop to get hit by the move ... Ne4-g5. 25...f4 26.Bxf4 Suddenly it became clear that 26 gxf4 Qh4 27 e3 Rf6 was way too dangerous.. 26...Bxf2+ DIAGRAM 27.Kh1 I was very uncomfortable with the concept of 27 Kxf2 e5 28 e3 exf4 29 exf4 Nf5 and the queen threatens to visit both c5 and e3. After the text, I am still a pawn up, as 27 ... Nxc4? runs into 28 Rbc1 Nb6 29 e3, yet Black has real dark-square counterplay. 27...Bb6 28.Rbc1 Nf5 Shliperman consistently moves forward to attack, yet this move lets White activate also. Perplexing would have been the simple 28 ... Bc5 and White has to think about ... Bc5-a3, trying to pick off the c-pawn. 29.Qe5 Bc5 30.Qe4 Finally the queen settles on a nice post in the center. 30...Rcd8 31.Rc3 Rd4 32.Qc6 Rfd8 DIAGRAM 33.Rd3 In serious time pressure here, I decided to throw the pawn back, as I thought, with only one pair of rooks on the board, I would wrest the intiative. One normal defence was 33 e4! Rd1+ 34 Bf1 Nd4 35 Qa4. 33...Rxd3 34.exd3 Rxd3 35.Re1 Bb4 The threat was 36 Be4. No good was 35 ... Nd4 36 Qe4 Ra3 37 Be5 with an overwhelming position. 36.Rb1 h6 Overlooking my idea, but White has a lot of pressure on 36 ... Rd8 37 Be4 Nd4 38 Qc7. 37.Be4 Clearing the first rank with tempo. 37...Rd8 38.Rxb4 Qxb4 More problems would be posed by 38 ... Nxg3+! By comparison to the game, the move wins a pawn, but loses the tempo that White spends capturing the knight on f5. But since the White queen may be headed to f5 anyway, the despreado move was clearly the only chance. 39.Qxe6+ Kh8 40.Qxf5 Qe1+ On 40 ... Rd1+ 41 Kg2 Qb2+ 42 Kh3 there are no more checks. 41.Kg2 Qe2+ 42.Kh3 Qf1+ 43.Kh4 g5+ 44.Kh5 Qe2+ 45.g4 1 - 0

oung - shabalov 1996 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 The other main lines for Black here are 4 ... c5 giving White a choice between 5 Bd3, 5 Ne2 and 5 Nf3, and 4 ... b6, which gives White pretty much the same options. 5.Nge2 c5 Not very popular now, because White obtains the bishop pair under favorable conditions. Contrast this with ... c7-c5 on Black's fourth, when 5 Ne2 is met by 5 ... cxd4 preparing a potential bishop retreat. Instead of the text, Black usually relies on 5 ... d5 here, but I have had good results with 5 ... Re8!? 6 a3 Bf8, when it looks like Black is ready for a game of shuffle-chess. 6.a3 cxd4 7.axb4! Not allowing a transposition with 7 exd4 Be7. dxc3 8.Nxc3 d5 9.b3 In Schweber - Inkiov, Thessaloniki 1984, play featured 9 b5 b6 10 Be2 Bb7 11 O-O Nbd7 with reasonable play for Black. Four years later, Beliavsky tried 9 cxd5 against Inkiov. The game continued 9 ... exd5 10 Be2 (more agressive was 10 b5!? Be6 11 Qd4 a5 12 Bd3 Nbd7 13 f4 as in Gulko - Gamboa, St. Martin 1992) Nc6 11 b5 Ne7 12 O-O with a slight but persistent edge for White. Qe7 10.Ba3 Rd8 11.Qb1 DIAGRAM b6 A very strange situation arises after 11 ... Nc6?! 12 b5 Nb4 13 Na2! Nc2+ 14 Qxc2 Qxa3 15 b4 and the Black queen is locked in. 12.Be2 Bb7 13.0-0 Nbd7 14.Rd1 Ne5 15.h3 He wants to eliminate ideas based on ... Qe7-c7 followed by a knight leap to g4. Ng6 16.c5 Finally resolving the tension on the a3-f8 diagonal, and ceding the center in return for a menacing queenside majority. Qd7 17.Bf1 e5 18.Bb2 Qe7 19.Ba3 Qe6 20.Nb5 Ne8 21.Nc3 Nh4 22.Ne2 Young's new careful style of play has earned him great results recently. Here he has established his queenside initiative, and it will not be at all easy for the Grandmaster to crash through on the other wing. f5 23.b5 bxc5 24.Bxc5 Nf6 25.b4 Kh8 26.Ra3 g5 27.f4! A deadly positional blow, puncturing all of the dark squares in the center. Because of Black's weakness on the long diagonal, he cannot get a g-file attack off the ground. gxf4 28.exf4 d4 29.fxe5 Nh5 30.Nxd4 Qd5 31.Qb2 Rg8 32.Rd2 Qxe5 33.Ne6 Qxb2 34.Rxb2 Rg6 35.Bd4+ Kg8 36.Bc4 Rc8 37.Nc5+ Kf8 38.Re2 Rd8 39.Ne6+ Rxe6 40.Bc5+ Red6 41.Re6 1 - 0

The King's Indian Defence arises after 1 d4 Nf6 [the introduction to the so-called "Indian" Defences, in which Black restricts White's central buildup with pieces, rather than with the symmetrical 1 ... d5.] 2 c4 [In Queenside openings, the c-pawn is used by White to undermine or forestall Black from gaining a solid central foothold with a later ... d7-d5.] g6 [The name "King's Indian" refers to Black fianchettoing his bishop on his Kingside.] 3 Nc3 Bg7 [Black allows White to get in the move e2-e4. Black's counterplay will come from either ... e7-e5 or ... c7-c5, striking at the central dark squares, supported by the strong bishop on g7. If White then responds with the advance d4-d5, an unbalanced pawn structure creates attacking chances on opposite sides of the board.] 4 e4 O-O [Now White has a tremendous number of choices. The most important are the Classical 5 Nf3, the Four Pawns Attack 5 f4, the Saemisch 5 f3, and the King's Fianchetto 5 g3.

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.

Here is an example of the Classical King's Indian, but with the offshoot 6 h3. For some time, GM Boris Gulko has been exploring h2-h3 systems, creating various hybrids of this move with the Averbach, Classical, or Bd3 systems. But when Gulko essayed the King's Indian against the creative IM John Watson in the 5th round of the 1993 World Open, Watson decided to give Gulko a taste of his own medicine, playing the very line that Gulko had used against Larry Remlinger the round before. Gulko was impressed with Remlinger's treatment and imitated it against Watson, getting a good game, but a careless slip allowed Watson to create dangerous complications, sacrificing the Exchange for a strong initiative. It turned out that Watson has also been playing the h3 systems for many years, but he plays it as a prelude to a kingside attack.

Watson - Gulko, 1993 World Open 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 [Lately, it seems everybody is wheeling out the King's Indian. Kamsky and Yermolinsky have recently made it mainstays of their repertoires.] 4 Nf3 O-O 5 e4 d6 6 h3 [A general principle of the h3 systems is that whenever White normally plays Be2, he also could play h3. The move h2-h3 keeps Black pieces off g4, prepares to expand if desired with g2-g4, and allows for later deployment of the White bishop on d3, since Black can no longer pressurize the center with ... Bg4. A well-known version of this occurs without the knight on f3, i.e. 4 e4 d6 5 h3 e5 6 d5 Nh5 7 Be2 Nf4 8 Bf3, etc. In the 1992 U.S. Championship, after 4 e4 d6 5 h3, Fedorowicz and Sherzer each played 5 ... 0-0 against Gulko, and Boris responded with 6 Bg5, analogous to the Averbach Variation, but with h3, not Be2.] Na6 [In Gulko - Shirov, Groningen 1990, black tried the immediate 6 ... e5 7 d5 (possible is 7 dxe5 dxe5 8 Qxd8 Rxd8 9 Bg5, with an Exchange Variation where h3 has been substituted for Be2) a5, reminiscent of the Petrosian Variation, although having h3 in instead of Be2, White is more aggressively placed on the kingside; after 8 Bg5 Na6 9 Bd3 h6 10 Be3 Nh5 11 Qd2 Nc5 12 Bc2 Nf4 Gulko rejected the pawn sac with 13 Rh2! and stood well. In this line Black could have dispensed with 7 ... a5 and played 7 ... Na6.] 7 Bg5 DIAGRAM [Previously 7 Be3 was the main move here. Black was able to find active play in Grunberg - Dydysko, Bratislava 1992 after 7 ... e5 8 d5 Kh8 9 9 g4 Ng8 10 Bd3 Nb4. In the previous round of the World Open, Gulko had tried the text against Remlinger. One of the points is that 7 ... e5? is unplayable because of 8 dxe5 dxe5 9 Qxd8 Rxd8 10 Nd5. Also, Black should be hesitant to weaken his kingside with 7 ... h6 8 Be3, as White can play g2-g4 at any time.] Qe8! 8 g4?! [By radically gaining kingside space, Watson prevents Gulko from activating with 8 ... e5 9 d5 Nh5. In Gulko - Remlinger, rd 4, White also forestalled this plan, by menas of 8 e5 dxe5 9 dxe5 Nd7 10 Bf4, but Black equalized easily: 10 ... Ndc5 11 Nd4 Ne6 12 Bh2 f6 13 Nf3 b6 14 Exf6 exf6 15 Be2 Bb7 16 O-O Rd8 17 Qa4 Qxa4 18 Nxa4 f5 20 Rad1 1/2 - 1/2] c5! [Usually one does not associate this move with the queen's position on e8, but given White's kingside stance, it is best to keep the center fluid.] 9 d5 e6 10 Qe2 Nc7? [Inviting the following complications. Much better was 10 ... exd5. Then after 11 cxd5, (not 11 exd5 h6, and only Black can obtain the advantage) Black stands well in the unbalanced pawn majority position.] 11 e5! dxe5 12 d6 e4 [Black would stand badly after 12 ... Na6 13 Nxe5. The text is justified by Black's fifteenth.] 13 Bxf6! [White would lose his grip on the center after 13 dxc7 exf3 14 Qxf3 Nd7, and 13 Nxe4 Nxe4 14 Qxe4 Bxb2 is just bad.] exf3 14 Qxf3 Bxf6 15 Qxf6 Qc6 16 dxc7 Qxh1 17 Rd1 [White has sacrificed the exchange to stunt Black's development and weaken the dark squares around his king. The major question was whether to castle or just play 17 Rd1. Castling would have allowed potential queen-exchanging checks on the c1-h6 diagonal, so Watson correctly leaves his king in the center. Also, the king needs to defend the bishop in case the rook leaves the back rank.] Qc6 [Too slow is 17 ... b6 18 Rd8 Ba6 19 Qe7.] 18 h4! [Watson picks the most ambitious choice, trying to win in the middlegame. Also very scary is 18 Qe7 (threatening 19 Rd8). On 18 ... Qe8 19 Qd8 Black just palys 19 ... Qc6! with the idea of 20 ... b6. Also not convincing are 19 Qh4 Qc6, or 19 Qxc5 b6. Best is 19 Qd6! Qc6 (what else?) 20 Qxc6 bxc6 21 Ne4 and Black, still the Exchange up, is in bad shape.] Qxc7 19 h5 Qh2 [Forced, to stop 20 h6. 19 ... h6 would have gotten blown out by 20 g5!] 20 Rd3 b5 [Since he cannot eject the White queen from f6, Black faces horrible threats of h5-h6 after White cuts off the Black queen by putting a piece on h3. However, Black can survive the immediate blocking of the h-file, e.g. 21 Rh3 Qd6 22 h6 Qd4, or 21 Bh3 h6, allowing 22 hxg6, but at least 22 g5 is refuted by 22 ... Qg1+. Meanwhile, it is impossible to improve the Black position. If 20 ... e5 21 Nd5 wins. Therefore, Black attempts to create a diversion.] 21 Bh3? [It seemed that 20 ... b5 was just a throwaway to distract White from the main arena. However, 21 Nxb5! was the right move (whether the b-pawn was there or not). The knight on b5 controls d6 and d4; therefore White threatens 22 Rh3. If after 21 Nxb5! e5, preparing ... Qf4 (this would have been a sufficient defense to 21 Ne4), then 22 Nc7! with the following variations: a) 22 ... Rb8 23 Nd5 Re8 24 Rh3; b) 22 ... e4 23 Rh3 Qxc7 24 h6, or c) 22 ... Bxg4 23 Nd5! Rfe8 24 Rh3! Bxh3 25 h6. Is it possible that Gulko used reverse psychology when he played 20 ... b5, in order to get Watson not to hop to that square?] h6 22 hxg6 fxg6 23 Qxg6+ [Of course White is doing fine here, but the queen has been pushed off f6, and the Black queen is just barely able to come back to the defense.] Kh8 24 Qxh6+ Kg8 25 Qg6+ Kh8 26 Ne4! [If White did not need to protect f2, 26 Bf1 would decide matters. The text is better than settling for the perpetual.] Qe5 [Of course not 26 ... Bb7? 27 Rd7.] 27 Bg2 Qg7 28 Rh3+ Kg8 29 Nf6+ Rxf6 30 Qxg7+ Kxg7 31 Bxa8 bxc4 32 Be4 1/2 - 1/2 ?! [A generous draw offer, as White's pieces are well placed and the g-pawn is dangerous, but Watson was in serious time pressure and felt unable to switch into endgame mode. At the inaugural event of the Intel World Speed Chess Grand Prix in the Kremlin, Vladimir Kramnik gave new breadth to Garry Kasparov's prophecy that Kramnik would someday replace him as World Champion. In the quarter-final round of the Game/25 knockout tournament, Kramnik eliminated Kasparov, with the same variation that he used to defeat Kasparov in Linares, the Petrosian Variation of the King's Indian Defence. As a quarterback would, several times during the action, Kramnik spread his arms to keep the 4,000 fans down to a simmer while he set the attack in motion. Kasparov fought back hard from a lousy position by forcing Kramnik to sacrifice. But a careless move allowed Kramnik to drive home his idea, and Kasparov's counterplay was not enough. Kramnik - Kasparov, Intel World Speed Chess Grand Prix Quarterfinals M/2 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 [In contrast to 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3, the move order chosen by White is designed to avoid the Grunfeld Defence and the Queen's Indian Defence.] g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 [Lputian has experimented with 4 ... e5 here. If White had sidestepped this possibility by playing 4 d4, then 4 ... d5 is the Grunfeld, and White's move order tricks have not accomplished anything.] 5 d4 O-O 6 Be2 e5 7 d5 [The Petrosian System. White plays d4-d5 "unprovoked", but keeps the Black queen knight off the active square e7 after the alternative 7 O-O Nc6 8 d5 Ne7.] Nbd7 [The modern main line is 7 ... a5 8 Bg5 h6 9 Bh4 Na6 10 O-O Qe8 11 Nd2 Nh7 12 a3 Bd7, as in Illescas - Frolov, Biel 1993, where 13 Kh1! (Kramnik) was introduced; White prepares for the opening of the kingside by both players. Previously played was 13 b3 h5 14 f3 Bh6 15 Kh1 Be3 16 Rb1 f5 17 ef gf 18 f4 ef 19 Bh5 Qe5 20 Ne2 Nc5 21 Nf3 Qg7 22 g3 fg 23 Ng3 f4 24 Re1 Nf6 with great complications, Naumkin - D. Wood, Londond 1993. In Kramnik - Kamsky, Melody Amber 1994, Kamsky tried 7 ... Na6 8 Nd2 (a completely different concept is 8 Bg5 h6 9 Bh4 g5 10 Bg3 Nh5 11 h4 Ng3 12 fg gh 13 Nh4 Qg5 14 g4 Bf6 15 Qd2, Fishbein - Dlomatov Philadelphia 1993) Kh8?! (instead Aleksandrov - Dydysko, Minsk 1992 continued 8 ... Bh6 9 h4 (better is 9 Nb3) Nc5 10 Qc2 Bg4! and Black was doing well) 9 a3 c5 10 h4 h5 11 Nf3 Ng4 12 Ng5 Nh6 13 Be3 f5 14 exf5 Bxf5 15 Qd2 and White had a significant advantage.] 8 Be3! [The exclamation is for varying from the Linares game, which Kramnik won brilliantly with 8 Bg5 h6 9 Bh4 g5 10 Bg3 Nh5 11 h4 g4 12 Nh2 Ng3 13 fg h5 14 O-O. Then Kasparov innovated with 14 ... f5 (Seirawan gives 14 ... Bh6 15 Bd3 Nc5 16 Bc2 a5 17 Qe2 as slightly better for White). The game continued 15 ef Nc5 16 b4 e4 17 Rc1 Nd3 18 Bd3 ed 19 f6!! preventing the bishop from getting to f5 and White won in 40 moves.] Ng4 9 Bg5 f6 10 Bh4 h5 [This was also played in Speelman - Je. Piket, Tilburg 1992 except that Black had played 7 ... a5 instead of 7 ... Nbd7. Kasparov probably remembered that Piket obtained a good position. But with the queen knight on d7, the g4 knight will have to retreat anyway after White's next. Even so, the gain of space may compensate for the potential weaknesses.] 11 Nd2 Nh6 [Suddenly Black is threatening to win with 11 ... g5.] 12 f3 Nf7 13 Qc2 Bh6 14 O-O-O [It was also possible to play less sharply by castling kingside, but Kramnik is banking on the long-term weakness created by Black's advanced pawns.] c5 15 dxc6 [Since White is better developed, he opens the center. Otherwise, Black could roll on the queenside with no worries.] bxc6 16 Kb1 a5?! [Another idea was 16 ... Nc5 17 Nb3 Qe7! accepting doubled pawns, but preparing ... Nf7-d8-e6.] 17 Na4 c5? [Kasparov does not relish the figth for c5 after 17 ... Rb8 18 c5! A decent way to hold up White's plans was 17 ... Ba6! 18 Rhe1 Qe7, as then 19 c5 could be met thematically with 19 ... d5, as there is no sting in 20 exd5 cxd5 21 c6 Rfc8. The text cedes White a permanent positional advantage.] 18 Nc3 Be3 19 Nd5 Bd4 20 Nb3 Bb7 [Black needs to be able to eliminate the pressure against f6. For this purpose, ... g6-g5 will never be satisfactory, as it will just lead to a bigger kingside expolsion later. However, all kinds of light-square problems are associated with the inevitable trade on d5.] 21 Nxd4 cxd4 22 f4 [Kramnik begins to pull apart Black's position using the various "levers".] Rb8 23 Rhf1 [Natural, but an important inaccuracy. 23 g4! opens the g-file making Black's game very unpleasant.] Nh6!! [Lending additional support to f6, but the move contains a bonus, as suddenly this knight becomes quite functional. It controls g4 and will hop to f5 if the e-pawn is diverted.] 24 c5?! [A spectacular move breaking down Black's chain. If White does not take quick action, Black will take his chances with the 2 knights after ... Bb7xd5 and ... Nd7-c5. 24 h3 was a reasonable possibility.] Bxd5 25 exd5 Nf5 26 fxe5 [White can no longer withdraw from this course.] Nxh4 27 exd6 Ne5 28 Rxd4 Nf5 [The 2 knights are policing the whole board, and this cannot be tolerated.] 29 Rxf5!? gxf5 30 Qxf5 Kg7 31 Bxh5 [Kasparov has led his opponent totally astray, and it was high time to activate with 31 ... Rb4, which would have also been good on any of the last several moves. He decides instead to make one more consolidating move ...] Rh8?? 32 Rg4+!! Kf8 [Mate in two follows capture of the rook.] 33 Qe6 Rb7 [It was impossible to move any of the other pieces.] 34 c6! Rxb2+ [On other moves, 35 c7 would be decisive.] 35 Kxb2 Qb6+ 36 Ka3 Qc5+ 37 Ka4 [The rook on g4 is a sentry allowing safe passage for the king.] Qc2+ 38 Kb5 Qb2+ 39 Ka6 Qe2+ 40 Kb7 Rh7+ 41 d7 [After 41 ... Qb5+ 42 Kc7 Rxd7+ 43 cxd7 Qc5+ 44 Kb7 Qb5+ 45 Ka7 there is nothing left to do.] 1 - 0 BAD BISHOP BLUES Bill Goichberg's Chicago International, held April 4 - 12, promised GM norm opportunities, and delivered, as I. Gurevich and I. Ivanov each made norms. In such tournaments one must do well in the early rounds to play sufficiently strong opposition, in order to have norm chances. When norm hopefuls Jay Bonin and Alex Sherzer met in the first round of the event, a classic King's Indian confrontation of competing flank attacks developed. Both players must have been happy with the results of the opening. Bonin, whose penchant for knights over bishops is legion, exchanged off his light-squared bishop and constructed a light-squared pawn chain, while Sherzer, a much-feared attacking player, established his kingside pawn roller and wasted no time trying to hammer it home. As Bonin's pawn chain came under attack, he must have missed the "bad" bishop which was needed for defence. The critical question became whether his queenside counterplay could stop Sherzer from bringing up decisive reinforcements. Bonin - Sherzer, Chicago 1992, Round 1 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 DIAGRAM 9 Bg5 [A mysterious move championed by Eingorn, and played occasionally by Ftacnik. The variations are similar to those arising from 9 b4, a system in which Bonin is a well-known expert, in that both moves allow Black to play 9 ... Nh5, whereas the main lines, 9 Ne1 and 9 Nd2, prevent that maneuver. But while 9 b4 helps prepare the thematic break c4-c5, the text does not, which is one reason W. Watson felt confident enough recently to award 9 Bg5 with a "?!".] Nh5 10 Ne1 [The usual reaction here has been 10 g3, as in Eingorn - A. Kuzmin, USSR championship 1991, which continued 10 ... f6 11 Bd2 f5 12 exf5 Nxf5 13 Bd3 (Not 13 g4? Nd4) Nf6 14 Ng5 Nd4 with equality. In Bern - Watson, Gausdal 1991 Black played more actively: 10 g3 h6 11 Bd2 Bh3 12 Re1 f5 13 Nh4 Nf6 14 exf5 g5! (an improvement over the 14 ... gxf5 given in the new E Encyclopedia) 15 Ng6 Nxg6 16 fxg6 Bf5. The text effectively redeploys White's knight, at the cost of ceding the two bishops.] Nf4 11 Nd3 Nxe2+ 12 Qxe2 h6 13 Be3 [Deciding to engage in a battle of pawn chains and competing flank attacks. Probably better was 13 Bd2 with a view towards opening instead of closing the center. DIAGRAM Then 13 ... f5 can be met by 14 f4! which either saddles Black with a weak pawn on e5 or forces him to exchange pawns and mobilize White's pieces after 14 ... exf4 15 Nxf4 fxe4 16 Nxe4. If Black snatches a pawn with 16 ... Bxb2, 17 Bc3! gives White strong compensation. But a more subtle method for Black is, from the Diagram, 13 ... g5!! which stops f2-f4 first, and looks forward to the usual kingside attack after f7-f5-f4. White could stop this radically by 14 g4?! but Black surely stands better after 14 ... Ng6. Or if 14 h4?! g4! (Not 14 ... gxh4? 15 f4) 15 f4 gxf3 followed by 16 ... f5 is strong. White could play modestly with 14 f3 f5 15 exf5 Nxf5 16 Nf2 with even chances, or aggresively with the paradoxical 14 g3!?, envisionsing the wild 14 ... f5 15 f4, or 14 ... Bh3 15 Re1 with the bizarre variations 15 ... f5 16 f3 g4 (the threat was 17 Nf2) 17 f4, or 15 ... g4!.] f5 [Now this move is stronger than 13 ... g5 14 f3 f5 15 exf5 Nxf5 16 Nf2.] 14 f3 [I still prefer 14 f4, although now Black has 14 ... fxe4 15 Nxe4 Bf5 16 Ng3 e4! 17 Nf2 Qd7, so that on 18 Nfxe4 Rae8 Black has plenty of activity for the pawn.] f4 15 Bf2 g5 [The classic King's Indian pawn roller. Although the competing pawn breaks, on g4 and c5, are quite familiar, White misses his light-squared bishop, which from e2 would slow down Black's "lever" g5-g4.] 16 c5 Ng6 17 Rac1 g4! [Sherzer takes advantage of tactical opportunities to get the pawns moving: if now 18 fxg4 Qg5 19 h3 h5 20 gxh5? Bxh3.] 18 Kh1 Rf7 19 Nb5 [The g-pawn was again defended indirectly: 19 fxg4 Qg5 20 h3 h5! 21 gxh5 f3! 22 gxf3 Qxh5 and wins. But White could have tried 19 fxg4! anyway. After 19 ... Qg5 the solid 20 Ne1! recycles the knight back as a defensive bulwark, and after 20 ... Bxg4 21 Nf3 White will get serious queenside counterplay.] Bd7! [By drawing the c-pawn up to c6 Black gives up space but retains the solidity of his pawn chain.] 20 c6 bxc6 21 dxc6 Be6 DIAGRAM 22 Nb4? [Heading in the wrong direction. 22 fxg4! Qg5 23 Ne1 was still a tough nut to crack.] g3! 23 Bg1 [On 23 hxg3 Qg5 is too strong, e.g. 24 g4 h5 25 gxh5 Qxh5+ 26 Kg1 Bf6.] Nh4 [Starting a new phase - the bombardment of g2.] 24 Rc2 a6 25 Nc3 Bh3 26 Qc4 Qg5 27 Nbd5 [If White attempts to fish in troubled waters with 27 Nxa6, then 27 ... gxh2 28 gxh3 hxg1(q)+ 29 Rxg1 Qh5 wins, for example 30 Nxc7 Nxf3 31 Qe6 Nd4, or 30 Nd5 Kh8 followed by 31 ... Nxf3. The text move stops this variation - 27 Nbd5 gxh2? 28 gxh3 hxg1(q)+ 29 Rxg1 Qh5?? 30 Nf6+ - but it has the disadvantage of unpinning the Black rook on f7.] Nxg2 [The patient 27 ... Kh8! may be even better, as 28 Ne3 Raf8 does not help White, and 28 hxg3 fxg3 29 Be3 Qh5 30 gxh3 Nxf3 wins.] 28 Rxg2 Bxg2+ 29 Kxg2 gxh2+ 30 Kxh2 Kh8 31 Qe2? [31 Kh1! saves an important tempo, and the position is unclear after 31 ... Qh5+ 32 Bh2 Rg8 33 Qe2 Bf6 34 Nxf6! Rxf6 35 Rg1.] Qh5+ 32 Kg2 Rg8 33 Bh2 Bf6+ 34 Kh1 Bh4 35 Nb1 [It's too late for 35 Rg1 Rxg1+ 36 Kg1 Rg7+ 37 Kh1 Bg3, or 37 Kf1 Bd8.] Rfg7 36 Nd2 Bd8 [Now ... Qh3 and ... Rg2 cannot be prevented.] 37 Nc4 Qh3 38 Nce3 fxe3 39 Nxe3 h5 40 b4 Bh4 41 a4 Bg3 42 b5 axb5 43 axb5 Bf4 0 - 1 HOMEWORK Two young stars from the Baltics, Lembit Oll of Estonia, and Alexey Shirov of Latvia, faced off in a second-round match in the Tilburg, Netherlands knockout tournament. Of course, Shirov has already broken into the top elite of the chess world, while Oll is known as a fierce theoretician and tactician. The first game of their match followed a line I had suggested in the notes to Bonin - Sherzer, Game of the Month, July 1992. Oll forces us to recharacterize a variation that had seemed to be antipositional as, in reality, providing a dangerous attack. Even though Shirov creates an impressive-looking pawn chain, he is on the precipice. This game reminds us that bizarre ideas have to be treated with respect, because they are probably the product of rigorous home preparation. But like a term paper that takes forever to finish, Oll has trouble delivering the winning sacrifice. Although he does get the sacrifice in just before the "deadline", i.e. the completion of Black's development, Shirov is a harsh grader. Lembit Oll - Alexey Shirov, Tilburg 1992, knockout round 2 [E96] 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 Bg5 [For background information on this variation see my column in the July 1992 issue of CL.] Nh5 10 Ne1 Nf4 11 Nd3 Nxe2+ 12 Qxe2 h6 13 Bd2 [Deviating from Bonin - Sherzer, Chicago 1992, which continued 13 Be3 f5 14 f3 f4, with a good game for Black. The idea of 13 Bd2 is to meet 13 ... f5 with 14 f4!] g5 14 h4! [I had considered and rejected this continuation in my notes to Bonin - Sherzer: "13 ... g5!! stops f2-f4 first, and looks forward to the usual kingside attack after f7-f5-f4. If 14 h4?! g4! (Not 14 ... gxh4? 15 f4) 15 f4 gxf3 followed by 16 ... f5 is strong. White could play modestly with 14 f3 f5 15 exf5 Nxf5 16 Nf2 with even chances, or aggresively with the paradoxical 14 g3!?, envisionsing the wild 14 ... f5 15 f4, or 14 ... Bh3 15 Re1 with the bizarre variations 15 ... f5 16 f3 g4 (the threat was 17 Nf2) 17 f4, or 15 ... g4!". But Oll investigated the situation more diligently and discovered that it is White who has the attacking chances in the first line above.] 15 f4 gxf3 16 Qxf3 f5 17 Qh5 [Black has the two bishops and the generally smoother pawn structure, but White's temporary lead in development and immediate attack on h6 is annoying. If now 17 ... Kh7, then 18 Bg5! (threatening the pawn on f5) f4 19 g3! is serious: 19 ... fxg3 fails to 20 Rxf8 followed by 21 Rf1, and 19 ... Bh3 20 Rg3 Qd7 21 Nf2 is no help.] Rf6 18 g4! [Giving Black no time to organize with ... Bd7 and ... Qe8, etc.] f4 19 g5 hxg5!! [Safer seems 19 ... Rg6, avoiding the opening of the h-file. But Shirov was afraid of 20 Bxf4! exf4 21 Nxf4 Qe8 22 Nb5! Then the defense of 22 ... Rb8 (what else?) 23 Nxc7 Qd8 24 Nxg6 Nxg6 25 Qxg6 Qxc7 would not be available because of 26 gxh6. Thus Shirov eliminates the h-pawns first.] 20 hxg5 Rg6 21 Kf2 [White prepares combined play on the h- and f-files by getting his king out of the way first. If he plays as in the above note -21 Bxf4 exf4 22 Nxf4 Qe8 23 Nb5 Rb8 24 Nxc7 Qd8 25 Nxg6 Nxg6 26 Qxg6 Qxc7, then after 27 Qe8+ Kh7, 28 Rf4 is met by 28 ... Bg4!, and various other attempts to land a rook on the h-file may be frustrated by diagonal checks. And on 21 Bxf4 exf4 22 Nxf4 Qe8 23 Kg2, then 23 ... Be5 24 Rh1 Qf7 25 Raf1 Qg7 is a sufficient defense.] c6 22 Rh1 cxd5 23 cxd5 [Not 23 Nxd5 Kf7, and Black's cramped position is relieved.] Qb6+ [If I were Black here, I might have played for maximum confusion with 23 ... b5 aiming for ... b4 and ... Ba6. 24 b4 or 24 a3 could be met by the consistent 24 ... a5. One goal of this diversion might be to exchange a pair of rooks, to lessen the chance of getting mated on the kingside. But Shirov stays cool.] 24 Ke2 Bd7 25 Raf1 Kf7! [The threat of Bd2xf4 has become intolerable, so he heads for the hills.] 26 Bxf4 exf4 27 Rxf4+ Ke8 28 Rhf1 Kd8 [The threat was 29 Qh8+! On 28 ... Bb5 29 Nxb5 Qxb5 30 Rf7 too strongly menaces both 31 Rxe7+ and 31 Rxg7.] 29 Rf8+ Be8! [The rook is not going anywhere, so Black does not allow White the extra possibility of 29 ... Bxf8 30 Rxf8+ Be8 31 Qh8 Kd7 32 e5 and White, a rook down, has plenty of chances.] 30 e5 Rc8! [The tempting 30 ... Bxf8 31 Rxf8 does not lead to clarity after 31 ... Qg1 32 Qh8 or 31 ... Kc7? 32 Qh7.] 31 Rxe8+ [Trying to draw the king back to the more dangerous side.] Kxe8 32 Ne4 dxe5 [The king's bishop has done such a good job that Shirov, in time pressure, was reluctant to part with it. But 32 ... Bxe5 was winning, e.g., 33 Nf6+ Kd8 34 Nxe5 (or 34 Qh8+ Rg8) Qxb2+, etc.] 33 d6 [Now, if Oll can win the knight on e7, he will be only the Exchange down, with active pieces.] Rc4?? [Correct was 33 ... Qd4, which sets up ... Rc2+, undermining the knight on d3, forcing 34 Qf3. Then White can fight on after 34 ... Rxd6 35 Nxd6+ Qxd6 36 Qf7+ Kd8 37 Rd1! But 34 ... Rc2+ 35 Kd1 Nf5! wins - 36 Kxc2 Ne3+ 37 Kc1 Nxf1, or 36 Re1 Rxb2.] 34 Nf6+ Bxf6 35 gxf6 [The new f-pawn has turned into a monster, while the knight on d3 holds Black's major pieces at bay, leading to a problem-like conclusion.] Re4+ 36 Kd1 Qe3! [The best way to counterattack, as White is forced into offering the exchange of queens.] 37 f7+ Kd7 38 Qf3 Qxf3+ 39 Rxf3 Rg1+ 40 Kd2 Rg2+ 41 Kd1 Ng6 42 Nc5+ [Amazingly, White finally is able to equalize material. In view of 42 ... Kxd6 43 Nxe4+ Ke7 44 Rc3 Kxf7 45 Rc7+, the players agreed to a draw.] 1/2 - 1/2

Tate - A. Ivanov chicago, 1996 1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.d4 c5 4.d5 d6 Ivanov declines the invitation to play the controversial 4 ... Bxc3+ 5 bxc3 f5, subject of extensive analysis by Dzindzihashvili in one of his "Roman Forum" videotapes. 5.e4 e6 6.dxe6 A sharp treatment, looking to get in an early Bc1-f4 if 6 ... Bxe6. 6...Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 fxe6 8.h4!? Tate has no problem playing this type of move. 8...Nf6 9.h5 Nxh5 10.Nf3 Nc6?! [No good is 10...Qf6 11.e5 dxe5 12.Bg5, but one decent defence is 10...e5! 11.Bg5 Qc7! 12.Be2 Bg4! - in this manner Black makes sure that White does not get to hit the h5 knight with his bishop on e2 - in this line 11 ... Nf6 is weak because of 12.Nxe5 Qe7 13.Nxg6 Qxe4+ 14.Qe2] 11.Bg5 Qc7 12.Be2 e5?? [Things were already getting wobbly, but 12...Qg7 to shore up the kingside and induce White to castle (because of the threat to c3) would have been interesting. Then a strange possibility is 13 O-O Kd7!? 14 Qd2 Kc7 15 Rfd1 Qf8 and White is for choice.] 13.Nh4 Now if the h5 knight retreats, g6 falls. Rf8 14.Bxh5 gxh5 15.Qxh5+ Rf7 16.Nf3 Be6 17.Bh4 Crisply dealing with the situation. Bxc4 18.Ng5 Qa5 19.Rh3 Nd4 20.Nxf7 Bxf7 21.Qg5 Kd7 22.Qe7+ Kc6 23.Rb1 Nc2+ 24.Kd2 1 - 0

King's Gambit

Bishop's Opening

Vienna Game

Center Game

Petroff's Defense

Philidor's Defense

Giuoco Piano

Two Knights Defense

Hungarian Defense

Scotch Game

Three Knights Game

Four Knights Game

Ruy Lopez

Pirc Defense

Modern Defense

Caro-Kann Defense

French Defense

Center Counter

Alekhine's Defense

Nimzovich Defense

Queen's Gambit Accepted

Slav Defense

Queen's Gambit Declined

Catalan

Queen's Pawn Game

King's Indian Defense

Gruenfeld Defense

Benoni

Nimzo-Indian

Queen's Indian

Reti

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