2. c3
 

I had just lost to Kudrin in the penultimate round and it seemed that I had nothing left to play for but to get my entry fee back upon completing my schedule. But my opponenet in the last round, a recent arrival to the Philadelphia chess scene, had a half-point more than me and could win a major prize if he defeated me. Meanwhile, Fedorowicz, who had the same score as me, asked me if we could win anything by winning. I advised him that we couldn't, and he drew instantly with Valvo. I knew I had a long game in store, and was unable to console myself for my loss against Kudrin by going home early ...

1.e4 c5 2.c3 e6 I have been playing the 2 c3 Sicilian myself lately and I am convinced that this is the best reply. 3.d4 d5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Be3 Although this is the standard move here, it only forces Black to play a clearly good system. White's best is to play 5 Nf3 and try to steer the game into Tarrasch French channels. 5...c4 6.b3 cxb3 7.axb3 White has achieved the exchange of his a-pawn for Black's c-pawn, but Black has no problems because a) his development is easy, and b) White's center is immobile - if White plays c4 then the b4 square is weakened. 7...Bd6 8.Bd3 Ne7 9.Qc2 Nbc6 10.Ne2 So far it has all been very amusing, and now I should have ended the games by playing 10 ... h6, followed by castling. But I could hardly resist playing the same "joke" on my opponent. 10...Qc7 11.Na3 Threatening the embarassing 12 Nb5, which 11 ... a6 will not prevent! 11...Qd8 I know I just wasted two tempi, but I had to save the dark-squared bishop. 12.Nb5 Bb8 How strong is his knight on b5 anyway? It can only go back to a3, unless he weakens b4 by playing c3-c4. And after I play a7-a6, my rook on a8, the "pinnee", will be no more useless than his rook on a1, the "pinner". 13.h4 Much better was 13 Ng3 threatening 14 Nh5 and if 13 ... Ng6 14 0-0 with the idea f2-f4-f5. 13...a6 14.Nf4 Ng6 Effectively bullying the knight off f4. 15.Nh5 0-0 16.f3µ

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