Magazines Games 2008-2018 2008

Notes by Murray Chandler  1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3!?

These days 3 Bb5 is popular - as I played against Dan Dolejs in round one of Kaikoura - and I believe there are even DVDs recommending the move. And I still play Open Sicilians with 3 d4 from time to time. However 3 Nc3 can be a nice finesse en route to an Open Sicilian, if your opponent has the Sveshnikov variation in his repertoire  3...d6 Played after some thought. To keep trying for a Sveshnikov Black needs to play 3...Nf6, i.e. 4 d4 cxd4 5 Nxd4 e5. However White's alternative possibility of 4 Bb5!? needs to be taken into account.  4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.Bg5 The shadow boxing over, I was happy to be in a Rauzer variation which I have played frequently with both colours  6...e6 7.Qd2 Be7 8.O-O-O O-O 9.Nb3 a5 10.a4 d5 11.Bb5! Mikhail Tal's old remedy is the reason this particular line is not too popular for Black. If 11...Nxe4 now, White keeps an endgame initiative with 12 Nxe4 dxe4 13 Qxd8 Bxd8 14 Bxd8 Nxd8 15 Nc5 as in Tal-Sisniega, Taxco Interzonal 1985  11...Nb4 12.Rhe1 Bd7!? 13.exd5 Bxb5 14.d6! Bc6

(Roger makes a spirited attempt to improve on 14...Bxd6 15.Qxd6 Qxd6 16.Rxd6 Bc6 when my assessment was that White must be better in the endgame, e.g.  17.Bxf6 gxf6 18.Red1 claiming the d-file ) 15.Qf4! As far as I know this is a new idea. By unexpectedly deferring the recapture on e7 for a move, White disrupts Black's coordination just long enough to cause real problems.  15...Re8 16.dxe7 Qxe7 17.Nd4 Suddenly the threat Nf5 looms. Perhaps 17...Rad8 is best here, as 18 Nf5? would be a mistake due to 18...Rxd1+ and White has no good recapture. But, as in the game, Black is going to get an inferior ending if White starts exchanging on f6 and c6  17...e5 18.Bxf6 Qxf6 19.Qxf6 gxf6 20.Nxc6 bxc6 21.Ne4 Re6 22.Nc5 Re7 23.Rd6 I played this quickly, confident White had a clearly decisive advantage in the endgame, due to Black's damaged pawn structure. But after the game the annoying computer (Fritz) pointed out Black's most stubborn defensive resource here - 23...Nd5. The counter-intuitive idea is 24 Rxc6? Nb4! 25 Rxf6 Rac8.  23...f5? 24.Rf6 Back on track - now Black really is losing a pawn. If 24...f4 25 Rxf4 exploits the pin on the e-file.  24...Rd8 25.c3 Nd3+ 26.Nxd3 Rxd3 27.Rxf5 Rd5 28.Rf6 Rc5 29.Re4 Kg7 30.Rf5 Kg6 31.g4 Rd5 #  32.c4 I was reluctant to play such an anti-positional pawn advance, but eventually persuaded myself that the tactics favoured white.  32...Rc5 ( After this Black's rook is immobilised on c5, and White can win at leisure. Most of my time had been spent calculating Black's active defense with 32...Rd3 33.Rfxe5 Rxe5 34.Rxe5 Rd4! 35.b3 Rxg4 36.Rxa5 Rg2 However I satisfied myself that after  37.Rc5 Rxf2 38.a5 Rxh2 39.a6 Ra2 40.Rxc6+ Kg5 41.Kb1 Ra5 42.Kb2 f5 43.b4 Ra4 44.Kb3 Ra1 45.b5 the White queenside pawns are too many and too quick. ) 33.Kc2 f6 34.Kc3 # with the threat of snaring a whole rook with 35 b4 axb4 36 Kxb4. To defend against this Black has to go passive, and await White'sbreakthrough  34...Rb7 35.b3 h6 36.Rh5 Rb8 37.f4 Ra8 38.fxe5 Re8 39.Kd4 Rcxe5 40.Rhxe5 fxe5+ 41.Rxe5 Rf8 42.Rxa5 Rf4+ 43.Kc5 Rxg4 44.Kxc6 Rh4 45.Ra8 Rxh2 46.a5 Rb2 47.a6 as after 47...Rxb3 48 a7 Ra3 White has 49 Rg8+ followed by queens with 50 a8=Q.  1-0

Three rounds into the tournament, and I found myself on the dubious score of 0.5 out of 3. Still, my first points of the tournament had come the game before, after consecutive losses in the first 2 rounds. With some new confidence, my priority for this game was to lift myself out of last place.  1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c6 3.c4 e6 4.e3 One of white's more secure lines, where his pawn on c4 is now defended by the bishop. More popular is 4.Nc3, but 4... dxc4 5.e3 b5 makes the recapture of white's pawn problematic.  4...Nf6 5.Nc3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 Introducing the Meran variation of the Semi-Slav  8.Bd3 a6 8... b4 is another option, which saw some play in the Kramnik-Topalov World Championship match of 2006. (Tech Ed: Just before publication this line featured again at the highest level. Vishy Anand sensationally scored the first two wins of the World Championship match with Kramnik with black. The games (game 3 and 5) both featured the 8...a6 variation.) (8...b4 9.Ne4 Nxe4 10.Bxe4 Bb7 11.a3 bxa3 Topalov-Kramnik Elista 2006 ) 9.e4 c5 10.e5 (10.d5!? c4 11.dxe6 fxe6 12.Bc2 += ) 10...cxd4 11.Nxb5 (11.exf6 dxc3 12.Be4 Rb8 13.bxc3 Qc7 =+ ) 11...Nxe5 (11...axb5 (Tech Ed: Anand chose 11... axb5 leading to a dynamic and unbalanced middlegame and won brilliantly both times) ) 12.Nxe5 axb5 13.Bxb5+ ( White can also try the pawn sacrifice 13.O-O Qd5 14.Qe2 Ba6 15.Bg5 Be7 16.f4 O-O 17.Rf3 Tkachiev-Bacrot Enghien Les Bains 2001 ) 13...Bd7 14.Nxd7 Qa5+ (14...Nxd7 15.O-O Bc5 16.b4 Bb6 17.a4 O-O 18.a5 +/- ) 15.Bd2 Qxb5 16.Nxf8 Kxf8 Summarising the opening exchanges, white has gained connected passed pawns on the Queenside at the expense of his King remaining in the center. However in a middle game with the Queens on the board white will be unable to claim an advantage while his King is cut off in the middle of the board.  17.a4!? Sacrificing his b2 pawn, white creates the opportunity to castle. (17.b3 Nd5 18.a4 Qd3 = Bareev-Jussupov Linares 1993 ) 17...Qe5+?! An interesti ng move, but not too troublesome for White, who has solved his problems without having to sacrifice a pawn.  18.Qe2 Qxe2+ 19.Kxe2 Nd5 20.b4 +/-

Unfortunately for Black, White's passed pawns on the Queenside are strong enough to give White a winning advantage in this position. It was necessary for Black to capture one of the pawns, or at least keep the queens on the board.  20...Ke7 21.Rhc1 (21.Rhb1 was an alternative, but taking control of the only open file is more urgent here. ) 21...Rhc8 22.Rxc8 Rxc8 23.Kd3 White improves his King's position, stopping the Rook from entering c4 or c2, while also blockading and attacking the passed d4 pawn. Black's rook now has little use on the c file.  23...e5 24.b5 Rb8 otherwise White would play a5, and cramp black further with his advancing pawns.  25.Rc1 White again has control of the open file, cutting of black's king from the queenside pawns.  25...f5? Counterattack is usually the best form of defence in a worse endgame, but this ambitious move weakens black's pawn structure, allowing white to undermine the central pawns and break through the centre. A better try might have been (25...Kd6 26.Rc6+ Kd7 27.f4 f6 but this is also close to hopeless for Black in the long run, though not immediately losing. ) 26.f4! now black is no longer able to play f6 to support his e5 pawns, and his pawn chain is destroyed.  26...exf4 27.Kxd4 Rd8 28.Ke5 Kf7 29.Ba5 (29.Bxf4 was also winning. ) 29...Rd7

30.b6?! this makes white's path to victory more complicated than it should have been. (30.Rd1! won immediately  30...Re7+ 31.Kxd5 Rd7+ 32.Kc6 Rxd1 33.b6 Rc1+ 34.Kb5 Rb1+ 35.Bb4 +- ) 30...Ne7! the only move, but a good one. Eg (30...Nf6 31.Rc7 +- ) 31.Kxf4 avoiding the check on d5. (31.Rc7?? Rd5+ 32.Kxf4 Rxa5 -/+ ) 31...Rd3

Now black is planning to stop the progress of the b pawn by placing his rook on b3. How is white to stop this?  32.Rc3!! This seeming rook blunder secures the win for white. (Tech Ed: This move in particular along with Daniel's handling of the game in general earnedextraordin arily high praise from his very strong opponent on Australian website chesschat.org)  32...Nd5+ losing, but Black has no salvation. (32...Rd7 33.Rc4 +- ) (32...Ng6+ 33.Kxf5 Rd5+ 34.Ke4 Rxa5 35.Rc4 Ra8 36.b7 Rb8 37.Rc7+ Ke6 38.a5 Kd6 39.Rxg7 Kc6 40.a6 Kb6 41.Rxh7 +- ) (32...Rxc3 33.Bxc3 Nd5+ 34.Kxf5 Nxb6 35.a5 +- ) 33.Kxf5! white cannot allow black to check his way into a positon where the b pawn can be stopped from promoting. (33.Ke5? Nxc3 34.b7 Re3+ 35.Kxf5 Re8 36.Bc7 Nxa4 37.b8=Q Rxb8 38.Bxb8 = ) 33...Nxc3 34.b7 and black' s poorly positioned knight on c3 prevents his own rook from stopping the b7 pawn.  34...g6+ 35.Kg4 h5+ 36.Kh4 Rd4+ 37.Kh3 Rd3+ 38.g3 no more checks.  38...Nd5 39.b8=Q g5 black has set up a mating net with Nf4, but White is more than capable of dealing with this threat.  40.Qb7+ Kg8 41.Qc8+ Kg7 42.Qd7+ Kg6 43.Qe6+ Kg7 44.Qe5+ Kh6 45.Qe6+ Kg7 46.Kg2 h4 47.Qe4 hxg3 48.hxg3 (48.Qxd3? Nf4+ 49.Kxg3 Nxd3 ) 48...Rd1 49.Bc3+! now white forces the win.  49...Kh6 (49...Nxc3 50.Qe5+ Kh6 51.Qxc3 +- ) 50.Qe6+ Kh5 51.g4+ Kh4 52.Be1+ even quicker was (52.Qh6+ Kxg4 53.Qh3+ Kf4 54.Qf3# ) 52...Rxe1 53.Qxe1+ Kxg4 54.Qd1+ black loses the Knight. 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nge2 d6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.O-O-O Bd7 9.f3 Qc7 10.Kb1 Be7 11.h4 Nxd4 12.Qxd4 b5 13.g4 O-O 14.Qd2 b4 15.Ne2 Rfc8 16.Be3 d5 17.e5 Ne8 18.Nd4 Bc5 19.f4 a5 20.g5 a4 21.h5 b3 22.c3 a3

23.Nxb3 Bxe3 24.Qxe3 Ba4 25.Bd3 axb2 26.Qd4 Bxb3 27.axb3 Ra3 28.Kxb2 Qa5 29.Bb1 Rb8 30.b4 Qa4 31.Kc1 Rc8 32.Kd2 Rc4 33.Qd3 Qc6 34.Rh3 d4 35.Qf3 dxc3+ 36.Ke2 Qa4 37.Bxh7+ Kh8 38.Rc1 Ra2+ 39.Ke1 Rxb4 40.Bb1 Ra1 41.Qd3 Rbxb1 42.Rxb1 c2 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 Also possible is 6...e6  7.Nb3 Be6 8.f3 Nbd7 9.Qd2 9.g4 seems more accurate, not giving black time to co-ordinate his knights.  9...b5 10.g4 Nb6 11.g5 Nfd7 12.Nd5 Rc8 13.h4 Nxd5 14.exd5 Bf5 15.Bd3 Bxd3 16.Qxd3 Qc7 17.Rh2 I was expecting this, but IM Toth thought simply 17.0-0-0 was better. White didn't like ...a5, but maybe it's no big deal.  17...Be7 18.a4 Probably over-optimistic. Better is 0-0-0.  18...Qc4! 19.Qxc4 bxc4 20.Na5 Heading for the big square at c6 but the knight can't do much by itself.  20...Bd8 To activate or trade off the bad bishop  21.Nc6 Bb6 22.Bd2 Better was 22.Bxb6 Nxb6 23.Rd2 Nxd5 24.Nxe5! unclear  22...Nb8 23.Nxb8 Rxb8 24.Re2

(=)  24...f5 Black rightly rejects the draw offer, as white's pawns will come under pressure   25.Bc3 Kf7 26.a5 Ba7 27.Ra4 Rhc8 28.Bb4 Bc5 29.Bc3 Rb5 30.Kf1 Not Rxc4?? Bf2+  30...Ba7 31.Rb4 Rxb4 Simple chess; white's weaknesses are not going away.  32.Bxb4 Bc5 33.Bc3 Rb8 34.Re1 Bb4 35.Ra1 Bxc3 36.bxc3 Rb5 37.Ra4 Rxd5 38.Rxc4 Rxa5 39.h5 Trying for counterplay against the black king  39...Rc5 40.Rb4 Rc7 41.Rb6

41...Ke6 Black gives up the a-pawn to reach an easily winning ending  42.Rxa6 f4 43.Ke1 Rxc3 44.Ra7 Rxf3 45.Rxg7 Rg3 46.c4 Kf5 47.Rxh7 Kxg5 48.Rd7 Rd3 49.c5 Re3+ 50.Kf2 dxc5 51.Rc7 Kxh5 52.Rxc5 Kg4 53.Rc8 Ra3 White resigns 0-1

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bf4 c6 IM Toth criticised this move as being passive, however IM Russell Dive's advice from the Wellington Easter Open rang in my ears - "It's crazy to play into sharp lines against higher rated players without knowing what you are doing" So I decided to play solid moves and avoid blunders  6.e3 O-O 7.Qc2 Nbd7 8.h3 Qa5 9.Bd3?! IM Toth himself called this move a mistake. Keep a close eye on Black's worst placed minor piece - his lightsquaredbishop  9...dxc4 10.Bxc4 b5 11.Bd3 b4 12.Ne2 Ba6! See previous comment - black's worst minor piece is exchanged for white's best, the position is now equal  13.O-O c5 14.a3 Bxd3 15.Qxd3 cxd4?! Maybe 15...Rfc8 was better. However IM Toth's opinion was that the course of the game justified the move played  16.axb4 Qxb4 17.Nexd4 Nc5 Again 17...Rfc8 was likely better.  18.Qe2 Rfc8 19.Ne5 Bf8 IM Toth liked this move, preserving the important black squared bishop. White's knight looks very dangerous here, but black has a little trick coming  20.Nec6 Qb7 21.b4

21...Nb3! A good move equalising (again!) the position  22.Nxb3 Qxc6 23.Nd4 Qd5 A nice centralising move - White has a serious concern with his weak b-pawn  24.Ra5 Qd8! The idea is if white plays 25 Rb1 then Bxb4 leaves the a5 rook hanging to the queen. Whites b-pawn's future looks in doubt.  25.Rb5 Nd5 Black takes his time and ensures he keeps his position solid, limits white counter play and continues to eyeWhite'sb-pawn  26.Qg4 Threatening 27 Nxe6 fxe6 28 Qxe6+ winning the knight on d5 and recovering the sac'ed piece.  26...Qd7 Defending the weak e6 point and eyeing the rook on b5.  27.Be5

= Here Andras offered me a draw. I couldn't resist the temptation to accept, due to the nearly 500 FIDE point gulf between us. Although Black is winning White's b-pawn here, I was unsure how much better I was. IM Toth said after the game 27...Rc4 looked winning for black. Even checking with a computer I am still not so sure. So I am happy enough with the result! 1/2-1/2

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 4.b3 Bg4 5.Bb2 Nbd7 6.d3 e6 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Bxf3 Bd6 9.Nd2 Qe7 10.O-O h5 11.e3 O-O-O 12.Bg2 Kb8 13.c4 h4 14.g4 Nc5 15.Qe2 dxc4 16.dxc4 e5 17.Rab1 a5 18.a3 Na6 19.c5 Bxc5 20.Nc4 e4 21.Nxa5 Nc7 22.b4 Bb6 23.Nc4 Ba7 24.Be5 Rd5 25.Bh2 Rhd8 26.a4

26...Kc8 27.Rfc1 Kd7 28.b5 cxb5 29.axb5 Ne6 30.Nd6 Bb8 31.Nxe4 Bxh2+ 32.Kxh2 Nxe4 33.Bxe4 Qd6+ 34.Kg1 Rd2 35.Qf3 Ke7 36.Bxb7 Ng5 37.Qg2 Qf6 38.Rf1 Rc2 39.Be4 Rc4 40.Bd5 Nxh3+ 41.Kh1 Rc5 42.Bc6 Ng5 43.f4 h3 44.Qg3 Qd6 45.e4 Ne6 46.e5 Qd2 47.f5 Rd3 48.Qh4+ Qg5

49.Qh8 Rd8 50.f6+ gxf6 51.exf6+ Kd6 52.Qxh3 Nf4 53.Qg3 Rh8+ 54.Kg1 Rc4 55.Qa3+ Qc5+ 56.Qxc5+ Kxc5 57.Bf3 Rc2 58.Rfc1 Rxc1+ 59.Rxc1+ Kxb5 60.Rc7 Nh3+ 61.Kg2 Ng5 62.Re7 Kb6 63.Re5 Rg8 64.Bd5 Nh7 65.Kg3 Nxf6 66.Bxf7 Rxg4+ 67.Kf3 Rg1 68.Re6+ Kc7 69.Kf2 Rg8 70.Bxg8 Nxg8 71.Ke3 Kd7 72.Ra6 Ne7 73.Ke4 Nc6 74.Ra1 Kd6 75.Rc1 Ne7 1/2-1/2

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 b5 5.Bb3 Bc5 6.O-O Nf6 7.c3 Nxe4 8.d4 exd4 9.Re1 d5 10.cxd4 Bb4 11.Nc3 Bxc3 12.bxc3 O-O 13.Qd3 Re8 14.Nd2 Nxc3 15.Rxe8+ Qxe8 16.Qxc3?? Whoops  16...Qe1+ 17.Nf1 Qxc3 18.Rb1 Qxd4 19.Bb2 Qd3 20.Rd1 Qe2 21.Rd2 Qg4 22.Bxd5 Bb7 23.Rd3 Na5 24.Rg3

24...Qd7?? Crazy greed. The obvious move was (24...Qxg3! liquidating to an ending with still a huge material plus ) 25.Bxg7 Qxd5?? (25...h5 is still available, winning ) 26.Bh6+ with perpetual check 1/2-1/2

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Nc3 c5 7.e4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 d6 9.Be2 a6 10.Be3 Qc7 11.O-O Be7 12.Rad1 Nbd7 13.f4 O-O 14.g4 Nc5 15.Bf3 e5 16.Nf5 exf4 17.Bxf4 Rfd8 18.g5 Ne8 19.Nd5 Bxd5 20.exd5 Bf8 21.Rde1 a5 22.Bg4 g6 23.Nd4 Ng7 24.Nb5 Qb8 25.Re3 Re8 26.b4 axb4 27.axb4 Na6 28.Ref3 Nxb4 29.Qd2 Na6 30.Bg3 Nc5 31.Rxf7 Nf5 32.Bxf5 gxf5 33.R7xf5 Ne4 34.Qf4 Nxg3 35.hxg3 Qc8 36.Rf7 Bg7 37.g6 Qc5+ 38.Kh1 hxg6 39.Nc7 Rf8

40.Rxg7+ Kxg7 41.Ne6+ Kg8 42.Qxf8+ Rxf8 43.Rxf8+ Black resigns 1-0