Timman - Short, El Escorial 1992 C68

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Bxc6 dxc6 5 O-O Qd6

[Before this game, this move was regarded as a sound and active

defence. Faced with this position in Game 9 of this match, Short

selected 5 ... Ne7, which invited immediate complications: 6 Nxe5

(else Black is very comfortable after 6 ... Ng6) Qd4 7 Qh5 (White gets

nowhere with 7 Nf3 Qxe4 8 Re1 Qg6 9 Ne5 Qf5, Ligterink - Velimirovic,

Amsterdam 1976) g6. From this position, a game Timman - Nikolic

continued 8 Nf3 Qxe4 9 Qa5 Qf4 10 d3 with good prospects for White,

but Timman was evidently afraid of Geller's untested ECO suggestion 9

... Bg4!, although WHite may stand better after 10 Re1 Qf5 11 Qxc7. So

Timman played the "main line" 8 Qg5 Bg7 9 Nd3 (This strange knight

placement controls the b4 square in anticipation of 9 ... Qxe4? 10

Re1, but allows Black counterplay against White's stunted

development.) f5 10 e5 c5 (Not 10 ... Bxe5? 11 Nxe5 Qxe5 12 d4 with a

very strong attack.) 11 b3 h6 (Snapping upr the rook is rarely a good

option in this line - after 11 Qxa1 12 Nc3 b6 13 Bb2 Qxf1+ 14 Kxf1 h6

15 Qg3 Bb7 16 e6 White was doing very well in Dieks - Van Scheltinga,

Wijk an Zee II 1974.) 12 Qg3 (The sharpest line. Black has sufficient

compensation after 12 Qe3 f4 13 Qxd4 cxd4.) f4 13 Qf3 Bf5 14 Qxb7

(Black was also fine after 14 Bb2 Qd5 15 Nxf4 Qxf3 in Vladimirov -

Ivanov, USSR 1975) Be4 and Short went on to win a nice attacking game

- 15 Qxc7 Bxd3 16 cxd3 Bxe5 17 Qb7 Rb8 18 Qxa6 f3 19 Nc3 fxg2 20 Re1

O-O 21 Qe6+ Rf7 22 Nd1 Qxa1 23 Qxe5 Qxe5 24 Rxe5 Nc6 25 Rxc5 Nb4 26

Ba3 Nxd3 27 Rc6 Ra8 28 Rd6 Rxa3 29 Rxd3 Rxa2 30 Ne3 Kg7 31 Kxg2 Ra5 32

Rd4 Rb5 33 b4 Rbb7 34 Rc4 Rfc7 35 Rg4 Rd7 36 h4 h5 37 Rg5 Rxb4 38 d4

Rf7 39 Rd5 Rb2 0 - 1]

6 Na3

[The decisive game of the 1991 U.S. Championship, the 3rd match

game between Joel Benjamin and Gata Kamsky, continued 6 d3 Ne7 7 Be3

Ng6 8 Nbd2 c5 (More cautious is 8 ... Be7.) 9 Nc4 Qe6 10 Ng5, and

Kamsky missed the necessary 10 ... Qg4! Instead, after 10 ... Qf6 11

Qh5, Benjamin obtained a strong attack which he later misplayed.]

Be6

[A long time ago a game between John Fedorowicz and myself

continued 6 ... b5 7 c4 (Fine for Black is 7 d4 exd4 8 Qxd4 Qxd4 9

Nxd4 c5; perhaps the best try for an advantage is 7 d3 Ne7 8 Be3 Ng6 9

c4, etc.) Bg4 8 d4!? (The position is equal after 8 h3 Bxf3 9 Qxf3

Nf6, Pinter - Portisch, Budapest 1975.) O-O-O 9 d5 f5! 10 h3 h5! 11

exf5 e4 12 cxb5 cxd5 with a complete mess - a good example of the

so-called New Jersey School of Chess.]

7 Qe2!

[This principled move completely revamps the 6 Na3 system. White

prepares both Na3-c4 and to embarass the Black queen with Rf1-d1 and

d2-d4. Instead, 7 Ng5 Bd7 8 Nc4 Qg6 9 d3 f6 accomplishes nothing, as

does 7 d4 exd4 8 Qxd4 O-O-O.]

f6?!

[It was better to give back the prized bishop pair with 7 ... O-O-O

8 Nc4 Bxc4 9 Qxc4 f6, obtaining a position where Black's control of

space compensates for the passivity of his minor pieces.]

8 Rd1

[The threat of 9 d4 is highly unpleasant, and 8 ... c5 9 c3 does

not improve matters. Short resorts to a strategem from his

Sicilian-bashing systems.]

g5 9 d4 g4 10 Ne1 O-O-O

[Nothing was to be gained by 10 ... exd4 11 c3 c5 12 Nec2.]

11 Be3 h5

[Seemingly cavalier, but Black was already in deep water. On 11 ...

Ne7, White keeps on rolling with 12 c4. And 11 ... Bh6 tends to lead

the White queen on a direct path to a7 via e3.]

12 d5!

[A pawn juggernaut is more convincing than piece play with 12

dxe5.]

cxd5 13 exd5 Bf7 14 c4 Qd7 15 d6!

[Giving Black no time to mobilize. However, Black's best practical

chance is to grab the pawn and see which method White chooses. After

15 ... cxd6 16 Bb6 Re8 17 c5 d5 18 c6 bxc6 or 18 Rac1 Kb8 the game is

not over. But 18 b4 is pretty strong. Short attempts to sidestep the

roller and gets hammered. Note that 15 ... Qa4 is simply met by 16

dxc7, so the queen stays close.]

Qc6 16 c5 Nh6

[White would not be distracted from the task at hand by 16 ... Bh6

17 b4 Bxe3 18 fxe3.]

17 b4 Qa4 18 Nc4 Rd7

[This move is designed to stop 19 dxc7, which now loses to 19 ...

Bxc4. 18 ... Qb5 or 18 ... Qxb4 both fail to 19 dxc7 Rxd1 Qxd1.]

19 Na5!

[By threatening 20 c6, White forces Black to incarcerate his own

queen. 19 ... Qb5 20 Qb2 is no defense.]

c6 20 Nd3 Nf5 21 a3 Kb8 22 Nb2 Qb5 23 Qe1

[All of the preparations are complete.]

Nxe3 24 fxe3 Bh6 25 Kh1

[Why permit the minor irritation of 25 a4 Bxe3+?]

h4 26 a4 Qxa5 27 bxa5 g3 28 h3 Bg5 29 Nd3 Ka8 30 Rab1 Re8 31

Rb6 Bd5 32 e4 1 - 0

[Event "US Championship (Gp 1)"]

[Site "Chandler"]

[Date "1997.08.24"]

[Round "2"]

[White "Benjamin, Joel"]

[Black "Ivanov, Alexander"]

[Result "1-0"]

[ECO "C92"]

[WhiteElo "2555"]

[BlackElo "2600"]

[PlyCount "85"]

[EventDate "1997.08.23"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6

8.

c3 O-O 9. h3 Bb7

Ivanov is known as a great expert on this Zaitsev Variation of

the Ruy Lopez.

10. d4 Re8 11. Nbd2 Bf8 12. d5

The very complicated line of the Zaitsev discussed by Kasparov

and Karpov in their

World

Championship matches runs 12 a4 h6 13 Bc2 exd4 14 cxd4 Nb4 15 Bb1 c5.

Benjamin makes a

point of

staying away from this line.

Nb8 13. Nf1 Nbd7 14. N3h2

Planning piece play on the kingside. Benjamin is not thinking of

f2-f4 as then after ...

e5xf4 the

White e-pawn would be weak and Black would control the square e5.

Nc5 15. Bc2 c6 16. dxc6 Bxc6 17. Bg5

White is playing for control of d5.

Be7 18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. Ng4 Bg5 20. b4 Ne6 21. Qf3

Now ... d6-d5 is inhibited by the need to protect the e5 square.

Benjamin has maintained

his

slight advantage.

a5 22. a3 Qc7 23. Nge3 g6 24. Bb3 axb4 25. axb4 Bxe3 26. Qxe3

Because 26 Nxe3 fails to 26 ... Ng5.

Nf4 27. g3!

DIAGRAM

Nh5

Black’s problem is that 27 ... Nxh3+ 28 Kg2 Bd7 29 Nd2 is good

for White, with Rh1 in

the

offing.

28. Nh2 Nf6 29. Ng4 Nxg4 30. hxg4 Rxa1 31. Rxa1 Ra8 32. Rxa8+ Bxa8 33.

Qd3

White has a clear advantage due to the potential passed b-pawn,

and his strong bishop.

Bc6 34. g5 Qe7 35. Qf3 Kg7 36. c4 Qxg5 37. cxb5 Qc1+ 38. Kg2 Be8 39.

Qd3 Qb2

40. b6 Bc6 41. Qc4 d5 42. Qxc6 Qxb3 43. Qd6 1-0