|
(875531) Leko,P (2725) - Van Wely,L (2646) [B80]
Corus 2000 Wijk aan Zee (12), 29.01.2000
[Rohde]
1.e4 Leko's usual first move. 1...c5 Van Wely is a dedicated Najdorf Sicilian advocate. 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Leko plays the Open Sicilian. Earlier in this event, Leko responded to Timman's 2 ... e6 in the Sicilian with the King's Indian Attack 3 d3. 3...cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 Van Wely never shies away from a theoretical confrontation. 6.f3 The English Attack, named after the efforts of Nigel Short and John Nunn. White builds the spike g2-g4-g5 as if this was a Scheveningen. 6...e6 An interesting alternative is 6 ... e5. But Van Wely sticks to the most controversial line, which he also played against Kasparov earlier in this event. 7.Be3 White's piece setup is the same as in the Yugoslav Attack against the Dragon. 7...b5 8.g4 In the Sicilian, there is often some kind of race to see which pawn can push the opponent's knight away from the center first. But players also have to be careful that they don't send the knight to a better position. 8...h6 Stopping the cramping g4-g5 so the other knight can develop to d7. It was too early for 8 ... b4 9 Nce2 h6 10 Ng3 and White has a dangerous mass on the kingside. 9.Qd2 Nbd7 10.0-0-0 Leko looks forward to an opposite-side-castling situation as he has the better development. 10...Bb7 11.a3 Much more common is the direct 11 h4 as in Kasparov - Van Wely earlier in this event. The text move adds a different flavor by stopping the mad rush to attack. 11...Ne5 Van Wely aims to use the c4 square with ... Ra8- c8 on the way. 12.Rg1 g5 Van Wely is quite fond of the idea ... g7-g5, radically stopping White's advance, and here it works well as White is not controlling h4. In Kasparov - Van Wely, White had played 11 h4 Rc8 12 Bh3 and then Van Wely tried 12 ... b4 13 Na4 g5!? and got blown away. 13.Kb1 Leko's quiet treatment of this position does not seem all that impressive. 13...Rc8 Naturally, Van Wely puts pressure on the c-file and enable the positional continuation ... Ne5-c4. 14.Qe1 Ready to meet 14 ... Nc4 with 15 Bc1 and also the move assists the idea h2-h4. However, Black is fine here. 14...Be7 This is the most sensible now. If 14 ... Nc4 15 Bc1 Be7 16 b3 and the knight maneuver has only helped White reorganize. 15.Bc1 Leko retreats anyway! His plan is to first make sure his own king stays safe, and then hope Black's long-term problem as to where to place his king becomes the important factor. 15...Qb6 Taking what is being given. The White bishop just deserted this diagonal. 16.Rg2 This makes the move Rg2-d2 possible, doubling on the d-file. Still, Leko's counterplay here is really stalling. 16...Nfd7 A good move to activate more pieces, for example with ... Be7-f6 or ... Nd7-c5. After that Black can play ... b5-b4, but now 16 ... b4? would just lose a pawn to 17 Na4 followed by Qe1xb4. 17.b3 This move is primarily for defense with the bishop going to b2. 17...Ng6 With White having spent so much time fortifying his king, Black shifts to control of squares on the other side as this knight heads to f4 while space for the other knight is made on e5. 18.Bb2 Nde5 Black is better here because of his firm grip on the dark squares, but not by that much as both kings are safe and it will be difficult to open up the position. 19.Rgd2 h5 An important decision. Van Wely knows he has to try to squeeze the max out of this position. While he is willing to risk the opening of the kingside on 20 gxh5, because of his good square control, the ultimate objective for Black may be, on 20 h3, just to close things up with 20 ... h4!? and then castle! 20.h3 Leko plays the normal but passive move, as 20 gxh5 Rxh5 would leave his pawns potentially weak. Now Van Wely might open the h-file and then move his king from e8 ultimately to g7. 20...Kf8 Uncompromising. The king walks over to g7 but Van Wely is determined to keep his options open. 21.Qf2 To drive Black's queen away by threatening Nd4xe6+. 21...Qc5 22.Nce2 The White knight on d4 is a tower of strength, and this is what is making it difficult for Black to make any real progress. 22...Kg8 Van Wely may still be looking to close things up with ... h5-h4 and then hide his king permanently on h7. 23.Ng3 So that on 23 ... h4 24 Nh5 the knight constitutes a permanent annoyance. 23...hxg4 Exchanging to gain time to place his own knight on f4 first. 24.hxg4 Nf4 It is not clear whether White has time for maneuvers such as Qf2-g1 and then Rd2-h2. 25.Nge2 Ng6 Better than exchanging knights, which would only encourage White to look for ways to break the kingside hammerlock. Ng3 This move is an invitation to a repetition. Nf4 On other moves the White knight just cruises in to h5. Nge2 Repeating the position again. Leko is obviously satisfied with a draw here. 25...Nfg6 Now Leko can make it a three-time repetition with 28 Ng3. 26.Ng3 Nf4 A justified and logical repetition. Neither side could afford to let the other get their knight set. 1/2-1/2
|
