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

[Site "Chandler"]

[Date "1997.09.04"]

[Round "2"]

[White "Christiansen, Larry"]

[Black "Seirawan, Yasser"]

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

[ECO "C10"]

[WhiteElo "2550"]

[BlackElo "2630"]

[PlyCount "87"]

[EventDate "1997.09.03"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Be7

4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bd3

A good reaction by Christiansen. 5 e5 Ne4 would be satisfactory for Black. By refusing to break the central tension, White puts the onus on Black to justify the placement of his pieces.

c5

As in the Tarrasch Variation of the French (1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nd2 c5), Black needs to force action by the central pawns or be left with a cramped position. The move 5 ... c5 commits Black to an Isolated Queen Pawn position.

6. exd5

Initiating the series of exchanges which will give Black an isolated pawn.

cxd4 7. Bb5+

Christiansen does not want to miss the chance of giving Seirawan an isolated pawn. Yesterday Christiansen suffered from pawn structure defects, and he is hoping to give back some of the same medicine to Seirawan today.

Bd7 8. Bxd7+ Nbxd7

Not 8 ... Qxd7 9 dxe6 Qxe6+ 10 Ne2 and the Black d-pawn is too weak.

9. Nxd4 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 exd5 11. O-O O-O 12. Nf5

A tremendous opening for Christiansen. Not only does he have positional trumps to play with (weak Black d-pawn, potential bishop against knight situation) but also Larry has a fierce knight on f5 poised for an attack on the Black king!

Nb6

It seems risky for the knight to travel away from the kingside, but Seirawan is hoping to use the square f6 for his bishop. Besides, 12 ... Nf6 would invite the highly unpleasant 13 Bg5.

13. Qg4 g6

This move is forced. Not 13 ... Bf6 14 Bh6 and Black would lose material.

14. Nh6+

White would have a clear edge with 14 Nxe7+ Qxe7 15 Be3, but there is no reason to settle for that. The knight on h6 will be super-annoying and very hard to remove. (Seirawan has expressed a wildly different opinion, giving 14 Nh6+ a "??", commenting that the knight will be severely misplaced. But I would be willing to misplace a knight in the vicinity of the opponent’s king any time.) Strangely, not much would have been accomplished by 14 Bh6 Re8 15 Ng7 Rf8.

Kh8 15. Re1 f5

A double-edged defence by Seirawan. Black seeks to push White's pieces away, yet the long diagonal leading to Black's king is potentially even more vulnerable. However, the retreat for the White knight is cut off.

16. Qg3 Bf6 17. Re6

Christiansen boldly cruises into enemy territory with his rook! 17 ... Qd7 is the natural response, and then Christiansen might either play 18 Rd6 or possibly even 18 Rxf6 followed by 19 Bf4 or 19 Bg5.

Qd7 18. Rxf6 Rxf6

Few spectators doubted that Christiansen would go in for this sac. It seems that White is assured that he will recover the material on the long diagonal, but how big will his advantage be afterwards?

19. Be3?

A mistake, as Black can play 19 … d4, helping to close up the vulnerable long diagonal. Best was 19 Bf4.

d4 20. Bg5

The problem was 20 Rd1 Re8! And if 21 h3? Then 21 … dxe3 22 Rxd7 e2 wins.

Re6 21. h3

Admitting that there is no concrete continuation. The incredible 21 Qe5+ Rxe5 22 Bf6+ Qg7 23 Bxe5! fails to 23 ... Rf8! 24 Bxg7+ Kxg7 and the h6 knight falls.

Rae8 22. Rd1

White now has some positional compensation, but no direct attack. To recap, 19 Bf4 was probably the correct way to prosecute the attack. But White's problems show Seirawn's genius in defending with ... f7-f5 to "trap" the White knight on h6.

Qg7

Seirawan is anxious to get out of the pin. However, another idea was to activate the knight on b6 which has been a spectator for a long time. 22 ... Nc4 was possible, hoping to bring the knight back to e5 and then f7 to break the bind on the Black king.

23. Qb3

Stopping Black from moving the knight to c4 or d5.

Qc7 24. f4 Qc4

This appears to be a mistake. After all, the ending is not a dead win for Black with his king still in potential danger. Better was 24 ... Qc5, shoring up the d-pawn, and 24 ... Qc6, eyeing White's vulnerable g2 square, was worth a look.

25. Qxc4 Nxc4 26. Rxd4 Nb6 27. c4 Kg7 28. c5 Re1+ 29. Kh2 R1e4

The idea of continually offering to trade rooks should lead to a draw.

30. Rd1 Re1 31. Rxe1

A strange decision, as White should not have any winning chances in the resulting ending because of the vulnerability of his far-away queenside pawns.

Rxe1 32. cxb6 axb6 33. g4 fxg4 34. Nxg4 h5 35. Ne5 Re2+ 36. Kg3 Rxb2 37. Kf3

There is no saving the a-pawn. However, Black's king cannot assist on the queenside, and therefore it appears that White will be able to secure a draw by strolling to the queenside with his king.

Rxa2 38. Ke4 Rd2 39. h4 b5 40. Nd3 Kf7 41. Ke3 Rg2 42. Ke4 Ke6 43. Nc5+ Kf7 44. Nd3 1/2-1/2

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

[Site "Chandler"]

[Date "1997.09.05"]

[Round "3"]

[White "Seirawan, Yasser"]

[Black "Christiansen, Larry"]

[Result "0-1"]

[ECO "E81"]

[WhiteElo "2630"]

[BlackElo "2550"]

[PlyCount "70"]

[EventDate "1997.09.03"]

1. d4 d6

Christiansen makes sure that today he does not get a deadly dull game with Black.

2. e4 Nf6

This is the Pirc Defence.

3. f3

g6 4. c4 Bg7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Be3

Both players are happy to arrive at the starting "tabia" for the Saemisch Variation of the King’s Indian – Christiansen because he needs to climb back into this match, and Seirawan because he is very fond of the space advantage that White gets in this line.

a6 7. Bd3 c5 8. d5 e6

Christiansen heads into a type of Modern Benoni formation.

9. Nge2 exd5 10. cxd5 b5 11. a3 Nbd7 12. b4

A maneuver designed to contain and manage Black’s queenside majority. An exchange on b4 is likely to favor White (unless he is too weak on the c-file), as he then gets to use the d4 square, while if … c5-c4, then the White knight on c3 is a secure blockader.

Qe7 13. O-O Bb7 14. Qd2 Rac8 15. Rab1

Now that White is fully developed, a3-a4 becomes an idea, trying to rip apart Black’s queenside pawns, and expose the bishop on b7 as a lame piece.

Rfe8

Creating a distraction along the e-file. Now 16 a4 Nxd5 17 Nxd5 Bxd5 18 axb5 axb5 19 Bxb5 is nothing too special for White.

16. Bf2 Ne5 17. a4!

A crisis has arrived as Black’s proud queenside formation must give way. Although Black’s pieces are active, it is hard to find sound tactical operations.

cxb4 18. Rxb4 Bh6

Unclear was 18 … a5 19 Rxa5! Ba6 20 Nd4 giving up the Exchange in return for a serious grip on the queenside.

19. Qxh6

Seirawan decides not to continue to offer the Exchange sacrifice, but Black gets a little bit of elbow room after this.

Nxd3 20. Rd4 Nxf2 21. Rxf2 Rc5

Play on the c-file finally comes into the picture, although one wonders about the health of the bishop on b7.

22. Qd2 Rec8 23. Rf1 bxa4

For Christiansen, activity is king. He wants to land a rook on the seventh rank.

24. Nxa4 Rc2 25. Qd3

White is threatening 26 Nec3, trapping the c2 rook.

Nxd5?

A sudden blow, but better was 25 … Qe5! instead. Then 26 Nec3 can be met by 26 … Nh5!! With the threats of … Rc2xg2+ or … Nh5-f4. The position would then be quite unclear after 27 Qxc2 Qxd4+ 28 Qf2 Qe5.

26. Rb1?

Too subtle a retort. Is the idea to menace Rb1xb7 followed by capturing on d5? Or is White trying just to burden the Black queen with defending the bishop so that the queen cannot hit White’s jumbled center pieces. The straight defence 26 Re1 is strong, as then 26 … Nf6 27 Nec3 Qe5 28 Rd1 is good for White.

Qe5!!

Very conceptual. The queen just deserts the bishop, but now … Rc2xe2 is enabled, as the White rook on d4 becomes devoid of supporters.

27. exd5 Rxe2 28. Re4 Rxe4 29. fxe4

Black has stolen a pawn.

Rc7 30. Rd1 Bc8 31. Nb6 Rc3

Black’s major pieces are drumming up fearful activity.

32. Qd4 Rc1

Ouch! All of White’s pieces are now being threatened.

33. Qd2 Rxd1+ 34. Qxd1 Bb7

Christiansen is now working on the vulnerable position of the White knight.

35. Qa4

White's only move was 35 Qb1!! to defend both the knight and the e-pawn.

Qc3

Now he is threatening both ... Qe1 mate, and ... Qe3+ picking off the knight. There is no defence.

0-1

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

[Site "Chandler"]

[Date "1997.09.06"]

[Round "4"]

[White "Christiansen, Larry"]

[Black "Seirawan, Yasser"]

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

[ECO "C10"]

[WhiteElo "2550"]

[BlackElo "2630"]

[PlyCount "110"]

[EventDate "1997.09.03"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Bd3

A variance from 4 Nf3 which was played in the second game of this match.

dxe4 5. Nxe4 Nd7

The stodgy Rubinstein Variation of the French. After last round’s shocking conclusion, Seirawan would like to close out the "regulation" portion of this match with a draw and a tied match, letting quickplay playoffs decide.

6. Nf3 Ngf6 7. Nxf6+ Bxf6 8. Qe2 c5

Modern chess theory mandates that in such formations Black hit at the center as early as possible.

9. d5

A good means of introducing real imbalance into the position.

Nb6 10. dxe6 Bxe6 11. Bb5+ Kf8

The price Black pays in this line for the good squares his minor pieces have developed on is the walk he has to take with his king. The question is whether this is more than a minor inconvenience.

12. O-O h6 13. Bf4

Even in this pressure-filled game, Christiansen does not hesitate to sacrifice a pawn, just to get some nice possibilities for his pieces, much in the style of Mikhail Tal.

Bxb2 14. Rad1 Qf6 15. Be5

White gets an impressive knight outpost in this fashion. 15 Bd6+ Kg8 16 Bxc5 was possible, although Black is allowed to consolidate.

Bxe5 16. Nxe5 Kg8

16 … Rd8 was also food for thought here, although it is a little dangerous to exchange off one rook when the other is still asleep. Part of the problem here is there are many other candidate moves, such as 16 … Nd5, or even 16 … c4, throwing back the pawn to exchange off both sets of minors.

17. f4 h5 18. Qe4 g6

Looking forward to getting his king off the first rank. The b-pawn itself is relatively unimportant.

19. a4

Taunting the knight on b6 which has no place good to go to.

Rb8

A necessary precursor to the move … a7-a6.

20. a5 a6

It is always dangerous to be the second player to attack the opponent’s pieces. However, in this case, the White bishop does not have any menacing place to go to, so no double attack can be created.

21. Be2 Bf5 22. Qe3 Na4

An extremely precarious situation for the knight.

23. Qb3

Nice, but it is hard to believe that 23 Bc4 isn’t very strong here.

b5 24. axb6 Nxb6 25. Rd6 Bxc2

An amazing resource. Otherwise, Black would be finished.

26. Qa2 Qe7 27. Rxb6

Winning two pieces for a rook, but White has no queenside pawns to work with. Any win by White will have to be in the middle game.

Rxb6 28. Qxc2 Kg7 29. Bc4 Rf8 30. Qf2 Qd6 31. h3 a5 32. Kh2 a4

It has become clear that the bishop and knight do not have the advantage against the rook and the advancing queenside passers.

33. Qg3 Qd4 34. Rf3 Rf6 35. Qg5 a3

Pitching the a-pawn for White’s f-pawn and to rid the board of the queens.

36. Rxa3 Qxf4+ 37. Qxf4 Rxf4 38. Ra7 Rf5 39. Nf3 Rf4 40. Ne5

Rf5 41. Nxg6

Prolonging the mutual agony of this drawn position.

Kxg6 42. Bd3 Rd8 43. Bxf5+ Kxf5 44. Rxf7+ Ke4 45. Rc7 Kd4 46. h4

c4 47. g4 Rd5 48. g5 Kd3 49. g6 Rd4 50. Kh3 c3 51. g7 Rg4 52. Rd7+ Ke3 53.

Re7+ Kd2 54. Rd7+ Ke2 55. Rc7 Kd2 1/2-1/2