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(875526) Leko,P (2725) - Timman,J (2655) [C00]
Corus 2000 Wijk aan Zee (5), 20.01.2000
[Rohde]
1.e4 Leko's usual opening move. 1...c5 Timman has a very wide repertoire. 2.Nf3 e6 Heading for some kind of Scheveningen, Taimanov or Kan variation. 3.d3 A closed Sicilian, which some players find effective against the early ... e6. 3...Nc6 4.g3 This can become akin to the King's Indian Attack. 4...d5 Because of White's move order, playing the Closed Sicilian but without Nb1-c3, Black can get this in, basically transposing to a King's Indian Attack. 5.Qe2 More typical is 5 Nbd2, but this move stops the setup with ... Bd6 due to e4xd5. 5...Nge7 White gets a fairly comfortable game in this line. The main line was 5 ... Nf6 and 6 ... Be7. 6.Bg2 g6 7.0-0 Bg7 Generally White will try to build up with c2-c3 looking for e4-e5 and d3-d4 to stifle the Black bishop. 8.e5 Leko decides to grab space imediately. 8...h6 Timman tries to inhibit the White bishop from coming to f4. 9.h4 b6 Black is clearly taking his time deciding where to castle as the center is closed and the kingside could be a dangerous place to live. 10.Re1 Bb7 11.c3 White has to be sure that his e-pawn will have enough support. 11...Nf5 12.Na3 White has a nice position. If ... a6 stops the knight's egress via b5 to d6 then Na3-c2-e3 is still a useful route. 12...Qd7 13.Nc2 From here the knight supports initiatives like d3-d4 or b2-b4. Timman will probably continue to delay committing his king. 13...d4 I like this decision by Timman. It is somewhat risky, but if he allows White to play d3-d4 then he will have no play. 14.c4 Leko does not try to play against the d4 pawn and instead closes the center. White's plan now has to be Bc1-f4 followed by a2-a3 and b2-b4. 14...0-0-0 Very direct. But now White has a clear target and will play for b2-b4 while Black may not be able to generate similar play on the other side. 15.Rb1 Bf8 16.Bd2 Black will have to look for counterplay with ... Be7 and ... g5. 16...Kb8 17.a3 It is hard to say whether this is necessary as 17 b4 is also good, but Leko figured the tempo saved by 17 b4 was less important than making sure that Black will not have a ... cxb4 option. 17...Be7 18.b4 Rdg8 Both sides are attacking although neither attack is very strong. 19.bxc5 Bxc5 Of course he has to keep the b-file closed. 20.Bb4 Making progress against the c5 blockade. 20...Bxb4 21.Nxb4 Leko has clearly preserved his advantage. White has the better pawn structure in the center and better attacking chances. 21...g5 22.h5 A good move, keeping the h-file closed. 22...g4 23.Nd2 This knight is heading strongly to e4. 23...Nxb4 A serious problem for Black is White's looming threat of c4-c5. 24.Rxb4 Bxg2 To draw the White king on to the long diagonal. 25.Kxg2 Ne7 26.Ne4 This knight takes up a huge position. Black is getting crushed here as he really has no counterplay. 26...Qc7 27.Nf6 Rg5 28.c5 Finally Leko delivers the crushing positional blow as Black's castled position becomes compromised. 28...Qb7+ 29.Ne4 A tough decision, using the knight to jam up the long diagonal. The safest move was 29 Qe4 with a clear advantage. Less clear was 29 Kg1 Nd5 and Black is angling to get in ... Rxh5. 29...Nd5 Better than 29 ... Rxe5 30 Qb2! 30.Rxd4 Rxe5 A crisis point. 31 Qb2 seems to deal effectively with Black's threat of ... f7-f5. 31.Qb2 Using the other long diagonal to his advantage. 31...Rc8 Timman is fighting back with great energy. 32.cxb6 As 32 ... f5 cannot now be played due to 33 bxa7+ followed by Qxb7+ and Nd6+. 32...Nxb6 Now Black looks fine. I think 29 Ne4 was a mistake. 33.Rd8 Chasing the Black rook from e5 and opening up the position to get more wide-ranging tactical possibilities. 33...Rxh5 If he does not grab this pawn White may later get a chance for Qb2-h8-h6. 34.Rxc8+ A wide-open position with mutual tactical chances. In this unclear situation, Leko offered a draw which Timman accepted. A nice escape by Timman. 1/2-1/2
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