# games

white: Schiller, Eric
black: Yakovich, Yuri
date: 1998.??.??
event: NY Open
site: New York City NY
result: 1-0
round: 1
annotation:
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4 3.g3 g6 4.b4 Bg7 5.Bb2 e5 6.d3 a5 7.b5 Ne7 8.Bg2
O-O 9.O-O c5 10.bxc6 Nexc6 11.Nbd2 Na6 12.Ne1 Be6 13.Nc2 Qd7
14.Ba3 Rfd8 15.Rb1 Rab8 16.Ne4 h6 17.Nc5 Nxc5 18.Bxc5 Bh3 19.Rb5
Bxg2 20.Kxg2 Re8 21.Qb1 e4 22.Bb6 exd3 23.exd3 Re5 24.Re1 Rbe8
25.Rbxe5 Rxe5 26.Rxe5 Nxe5 27.Qb5 Qg4 28.Nxd4 Nxd3 29.Qe8+ Bf8
30.Qe3 Bc5 {??} 31.Bxc5 Nxc5 32.Qe8+ Kg7 33.Qe5+ {
Black resigned. A time-pressure blunder by Yakovich, but I stayed in the game
long enough to let it happen, and played well throughout.} {%30^000} 1-0


white: Atienza, Hilario
black: Enev, Zlatko
date: 1997.??.??
event: English Thematic
site: ?
result: 0-1
round: ?
annotation:
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e3 Bb4 5. Qc2 O-O 6. Nd5 a5 7. a3 Bc5 8. Ng5
{This attempt to refute the black opening strategy at once does not look
particularly convincing. Much better is further quiet development, e.g.:} (8.
b3 d6 9. Bb2 Re8 10. Be2 Ba7 11. Nxf6+ Qxf6 12. O-O Bf5 13. Bd3 Bxd3 14. Qxd3
Rad8 15. b4 Bb6 16. Bc3 axb4 17. axb4 Ne7 18. Qb1 c6 19. b5 Rb8 20. Rd1 Nf5 21.
bxc6 bxc6 22. Qe4 Ne7 23. Rdb1 {
+/= Robatsch,Karl-Lieb,Harald/Munich (1) 1979 (1-0 )}) 8... g6 9. Nxf6+ Qxf6
10. Ne4 Qe7 11. b3 11... Ba7 {Not letting the bishop be exchanged. Although it
did not do much of anything in the actual game, some variations later proved
this decision has been right.} (11... b6 12. Nxc5 Qxc5 13. Bb2 d5 14. Bd3 d4
15. Be4 Be6 (15... f5 {?} 16. Bd5+ Kg7 17. O-O {+/=}) 16. O-O Rad8 17. Rae1 f5
18. Bxc6 Qxc6 19. exd4 exd4 20. d3 {
with a slight advantage to black due to better space control}) (11... f5 {
is prematured here} 12. Nxc5 Qxc5 13. Bb2 d5 14. f4 exf4 15. Qc3 d4 16. exd4
Re8+ 17. Be2 Qe7 18. O-O Qxe2 19. d5 Ne5 20. Rae1 {with better game for white})
12. Bb2 {still keeping the position equal} (12. Nc3 d6 13. Nd5 Qd8 14. Bb2 Ne7
15. Bc3 Nxd5 16. cxd5 Bb6 (16... c6 17. dxc6 bxc6 18. Be2 Be6 19. O-O {-/+})
17. Bd3 Qg5 18. O-O Bh3 19. Be4 f5 20. Kh1 fxe4 21. gxh3 Qh4 22. d4 Rf3 23.
dxe5 Rxh3 24. f4 exf3 25. Rae1 {? A dubious decision and the germ of later
difficulties for white. That knight has no future on the king side. 13.Nc3
with idea Nd5 was preferable here.}) 12... d6 13. Ng3 {A pure waiting move.
Black does not want to make any decisive moves before white has castled. Early
pawn moves on the king side could prove verydangerous indeed, should white
later decide to castle long.} 13... f5 14. Be2 14... Be6 {
?! Is risky and prematured, although white has to play precisely.} (14... h5 {
with unclear game for black} 15. O-O h4 16. Nh1 g5 17. Rfe1 g4 18. Qd1 h3 19.
g3 {! The decisive moment in the game. At first glance the move looks bad
since it lets the knight out of its cage. In this concrete case it is much
more important, however, that the move prepares a dangerous black initiative
on the king side. The knight will soon have to go back anyway. Incidentally,
many continuations offer themselves here but, as often is the case, only one
leads to clear advantage. Let us look at a few alternatives:}) 15. O-O 15... f4
{white stays a little bit better, I think} (15... Rad8 16. Rae1 d5 17. cxd5
Rxd5 18. Bc4 Rd6 19. d3 Qf7 20. e4 20... Bd4 {
and the weak central pawns will make the endgame difficult for both sides}) (
15... d5 16. cxd5 Bxd5 17. e4 Be6 18. exf5 gxf5 19. Bc4 Bxc4 20. Qxc4+ 20...
Qf7 {What a glorious place for a proud knight!}) (15... h5 16. Bf3 e4 17. Be2
h4 18. Nh1 {With advantage for black but a long struggle will follow before
the game gets open.} 18... Ne5 19. b4 Qf7 20. Bxe5 dxe5 21. bxa5 Bc5 22. Qc3
Rfd8 23. Rab1 23... c6 {
with good perspectives but the position is far from clear}) (15... Bc5 16. Qd1
Qh4 17. d3 d5 18. Bf3 Rad8 19. Qc2 d4 20. Bxc6 bxc6 21. e4 21... f4 {This move 
is no good but the white position is far from easy already, as shown by the
following variants:}) 16. Ne4 Bf5 17. Bd3 {with mating atack} (17. Bf3 g5 18.
Rae1 g4 19. Be2 Qf7 20. Bd3 (20. exf4 Qg6 21. Bd1 exf4 22. Qd3 f3 23. g3 Be6
24. Bc2 Ne5 25. Qc3 Qh5 26. Kh1 Qh3 27. Rg1 27... Rf5 {and black wins}) 20...
f3 21. g3 Qh5 22. Kh1 Qh3 23. Rg1 Bxe4 24. Bxe4 Rf6 25. Bxf3 gxf3 26. Qe4 26...
Rh6 {! Of course!}) 17... f3 {is no better either} 18. gxf3 (18. g3 {
and the black atack rolls on} 18... g5 19. Nc3 Bxd3 20. Qxd3 Qg7 (20... g4 21.
Qd5+ Kh8 22. d4 22... Rae8 {with the same mating atack as in the lines shown})
21. Qd5+ Kh8 22. d4 Qh6 23. Kh1 Qh3 24. Rg1 24... Rf6 {
? Is not correct. White gets the upper hand fast.}) 18... Bh3 19. Rfe1 Rxf3 20.
Be2 Rf7 (20... Bg4 {!} 21. h3 {+/=} 21... Bh5 22. Bxf3 Bxf3 23. d3 Qh4 24. Kh2
Bg4 25. Nf6+ Qxf6 26. hxg4 Qh4+ 27. Kg1 Qxg4+ 28. Kf1 28... Rf8 {?}) (20... Rf5
{and the atack is bounced back} 21. Ng3 (21. Kh1 Raf8 22. d3 (22. Rg1 Qh4 23.
Rg3 Rxf2) 22... Rxf2 23. Nxf2 Rxf2 24. Rf1 Qh4 25. Rxf2 25... Qxf2 {
and black has gained an important tempo in comparison to the game}) 21... Rf7 {
-/+}) 21. Bf1 (21. d3 Raf8 22. Qd2 Qh4 23. f3 Rf5 24. Kh1 Rh5 25. Rg1 Bg4 26.
Rg2 Bxf3 27. Bxf3 27... Rxf3 {!}) 21... Bg4 {?} (21... Qh4 {? is incorrect} 22.
Bxh3 (22. Ng3 Raf8 23. Qe4 Qh6 (23... Rf4 {+/-} 24. exf4 Rxf4 25. Qd5+ Kg7 26.
Bxh3 Bxf2+ 27. Kg2 {and white can still hold it}) 24. Bxh3 Qxh3 25. Rf1) 22...
Qxh3 23. d3 Qg4+ 24. Ng3 Raf8 25. Qe2 Qh3 26. Qf1 Qh4 27. Re2 Rf3 28. Qg2 {
? loses fast}) 22. Ng3 {
and black should go down on the many weaknesses (e3 especially is very weak)} (
22. h3 Bf5 23. f3 Qh4 24. Bg2 Bxh3 25. d3 Bxg2 26. Qxg2 {is unclear}) (22. d3
Qh4 23. Bg2 Raf8 24. Rf1 Bf3 25. Bxf3 Rxf3 26. Ng3 Ne7 (26... Kh8 27. Bc3 R8f5
28. Nxf5 gxf5 29. Kh1 f4 30. exf4 Qxf4 31. Rad1 {
at last some work for the dark squared bishop!}) 27. b4 Nf5 28. Qb3 (28. Qe2
Nxe3 29. fxe3 29... Bxe3+ {-/+} 30. Kg2 {-/+}) 28... a4 {
The end could have looked like:}) 22... Raf8 23. Nh1 23... Qg5 {- +} (23... Qg5
24. h4 Qxh4 25. Bg2 Rxf2 26. Nxf2 Qxf2+ 27. Kh1 Rf5) 0-1


white: Enev, Zlatko
black: Miraglia, Jorge
date: 1997.??.??
event: English Thematic
site: ?
result: 1-0
round: ?
annotation:
1. c4 {This game was the most difficult but also the most noteworthy one for
me in the first part of the SEMI English thematic tournament. After having
lost without a fight to the same oponent my black game I felt like winning
here for a long time - before I truly recognized the strength of the endgame
technique of Jorje Miraglia. The game is a very good example of what can be
called "the turning points" in a chess game. There are three turning points
here which I try to point out and comment thoroughly. The ability to recognize
such points and change one's plans accordingly is, no doubt, one of the finest
chess skills. I hope my annotations will make this difficult task a little bit
more comprehensive - for me and for anyone who is curious enough to have a
look at them.} 1... Nf6 2. Nc3 c5 3. Nf3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb4 6. Bb5+ N8c6
7. d4 cxd4 8. a3 dxc3 9. Qxd8+ Kxd8 10. axb4 10... Nxb4 {? This natural move
is a serious mistake, as the sequel shows. A little better is the acceptance
of the pawn sacrifice (10...cxb2) which, however, is also considered very
promising for white. In any event black does have chances in that variant
whereas here he is doomed to a difficult defence for the rest of the game.} (
10... cxb2 11. Bxb2 e6 (11... f6 12. e5 Bg4 13. Bxc6 bxc6 14. Nd4 fxe5 15.
Nxc6+ Ke8 16. O-O e6 17. Rfc1 Bd6 18. b5 Bc7 19. Nxe5 Bxe5 20. Bxe5 Kf7 21.
Rc7+ Kg6 22. Rxg7+ Kf5 23. f4 Rhg8 24. Rxg8 Rxg8 25. Kf2 Rc8 26. Rxa7 Rc2+ 27.
Kg3 h5 28. b6 h4+ 29. Kxh4 Rxg2 30. Rf7+ 30... Ke4 {
1-0 Uhlmann,Wolfgang-Szymczak,Zbigniew/Warsaw (1) 1983}) 12. O-O f6 13. e5 f5
14. Ng5 Ke7 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Bd4 Ke8 17. Bc5 Bxc5 18. bxc5 Ke7 19. Rfd1 a5 20.
h4 Bd7 21. Ra3 a4 22. Rd4 Ra5 23. Rc4 h6 24. Nf3 Rha8 25. Nd4 g5 26. hxg5 hxg5
27. f3 Kd8 28. Ne2 Rb5 29. Nc3 Raa5 30. Nxa4 Kc7 31. Rd3 Bc8 32. Rd6 Rb1+ 33.
Kh2 Re1 34. f4 gxf4 35. Nb6 Rxe5 36. Nxc8 Raxc5 37. Rxe6 Rxc4 38. Rxe5 Kxc8 39.
Rxf5 {Hubner,Robert - Timman,Jan/Koln 1985/0-1 (57)}) 11. Ke2 {! An idea of
Garri Kasparov which I found in a book collection of his games. Other replies
are much weaker, e. g.:} (11. bxc3 {?} 11... Nc2+ 12. Ke2 Nxa1 13. Rd1+ Kc7 14.
Bf4+ e5 15. Bxe5+ Kb6 16. Rb1 Nc2 17. Ba4+ Nb4 18. Nd2 Be6 19. cxb4 Rd8 20. Ke3
f6 21. Bd4+ Kc7 22. f4 Be7 23. f5 Bf7 24. Nf3 Kb8 25. e5 Bd5 26. Bc2 Rc8 27.
Bd3 Rhd8 28. h4 Bxf3 29. gxf3 Rxd4 30. Kxd4 Rd8+ 31. Ke3 fxe5 32. Rg1 Bf6 33.
h5 Rd4 34. h6 gxh6 35. Rg8+ 35... Kc7 {
Hergott,Deen-London,Dimitri/New York (2) 1994/0-1 (52)}) (11. Ra4 {?} 11...
cxb2 12. Bxb2 Nc6 13. O-O f6 14. e5 Bd7 15. Rd1 Ke8 16. exf6 gxf6 17. Bxf6 exf6
18. Re4+ Be7 19. Rde1 Ne5 20. Nxe5 fxe5 21. Rxe5 Bxb5 22. Rxe7+ Kf8 23. Rxb7
Be8 24. Ree7 a5 25. Re3 Ra6 26. Rxe8+ Kxe8 27. Rb8+ Kf7 28. Rxh8 a4 29. Rxh7+
Kg6 30. Rh3 a3 31. Rg3+ Kf5 32. Rf3+ Ke4 33. Re3+ Kd4 34. Rxa3 Rxa3 35. g3 Ke4
36. Kg2 Rb3 37. h4 Ra3 38. h5 Kf5 39. f3 Kg5 40. g4 Kf4 41. h6 Ra2+ 42. Kh3
42... Ra6 {0-1 Borst,Johan-Barendse,Ted/Dieren (8) 1991}) 11... c2 {
forced, as 11...cxb2 gives white a very strong atack:} (11... cxb2 {?} 12. Rd1+
Kc7 13. Bxb2 f6 14. Rac1+ (14. e5 {?} 14... a6 15. Nd4 Kb8) 14... Nc6 15. Ne5
fxe5 16. Bxe5+ Kb6 17. Bxc6 bxc6 18. Rb1+ Ka5 19. Bc3+ Ka6 20. Rb2 {with mate})
12. Ra4 {Now, the first turning point of the game has been achieved. White
came out of the opening with a serious advantage being two pawns down he is
nevertheless solidly on top due to the insecure position of the black king and
his lack of development (the only active black piece right now is the knight
at b4). The best strategy for the weak side in such cases is to give back some
or all material and try for fast development. Obviously my partner did not
recognize the seriousness of his position since his next few moves show little
concern. This allowed me to rapidly achieve a technically won game.} (12. Ne5 {
I studied this continuation rather toroughly but was unable to find a winning
plan} 12... Be6 13. Ra4 f6 14. Rxb4 fxe5 15. Bd3 Kc7 16. Be3 g6 17. Rc1 Bg7 18.
Rxc2+ Kb8 19. Ba6 (19. Bc5 Bf6 20. Ba6 b6 21. Be3 Rd8 22. Bb5 Bd7 23. Ba6 {=})
19... b6 20. Bxb6 Bg4+ 21. f3 axb6 22. Rxb6+ Ka7 23. Rcc6 Bc8 24. Bxc8 Raxc8
25. Ra6+ 25... Kb7 {=}) (12. Bd2 12... e5 {!} 13. Nxe5 Be6 14. Rhc1 Rc8 15.
Rxa7 Na2 16. Rxb7 Nxc1+ 17. Bxc1 Rc5 18. Nd3 Rc7 19. Rxc7 Kxc7 20. Ba4 20...
Bc4 {looks also very unklear, so I chose the game continuation}) 12... a5 {
? Black still does not see how dangerous his position is. Here 12...e5 was
already obligatory. In that case white would have still kept his advantage but
black's chances would have been much better.} (12... e5 13. Bd2 a6 (13... a5
14. Nxe5 Be6 15. Bc4 (15. Nc4 Bxc4+ (15... Bc5 16. Rc1 Kc7 17. Bf4+ 17... Kc8 {
+/=}) 16. Bxc4 f6 17. Rc1 Rc8 18. Be6 Rc6 19. Bd5 Rc7 20. Rxa5 20... Kd7 {
+/= white is still a bit better since the c2 pawn is probably going to be lost}
) 15... Bxc4+ 16. Nxc4 Rc8 17. Nxa5 b5 18. Ra3 Kd7 19. Rf3 f6 20. Rf5 Re8 21.
Rxb5 Rxe4+ 22. Kf3 {with a complicated struggle ahead}) 14. Bxb4 Bxb4 15. Nxe5
Ke7 16. Rxb4 axb5 17. Rc1 Ra4 18. Nd3 Bd7 19. f3 Rc8 20. Kd2 Rc4 21. Rb3 Ra6
22. Ne5 Rd6+ 23. Rd3 Rcd4 24. Rxd4 Rxd4+ 25. Ke3 Rd1 26. Rxc2 26... Be6 {
with a small advantage for white which, however, is hardly sufficient for a
victory}) 13. Ne5 Be6 14. Bd2 Rc8 15. Rxa5 f6 (15... b6 16. Ra4 Rc5 17. Rxb4
Rxe5 18. Rd4+ Kc8 19. Ba6+ Kb8 20. Bf4 {+/ -}) (15... Na2 16. Nd3 Kc7 17. Be3
Rd8 18. f3 Rd6 19. Ra4 g6 20. Ra1 {+/ -}) 16. Rc1 (16. Bxb4 {?} 16... c1=R 17.
Rxc1 Rxc1 18. Ra8+ Kc7 19. Nd3 Rc2+ 20. Ke3 Bc8 (20... g6 21. Ba5+ b6 22. Ra7+
Kb8 23. Bxb6 Bh6+ 24. Kf3 Bd2 25. Nc5 {+ -}) 21. Ba4 (21. Nf4 b6 22. Nd5+ Kb7
23. Ra2 {unkclear, but black is probably a bit better}) 21... Rc4 22. Bb5 Rc2
23. Ba4 Rc4 24. Bb5 24... Rc2 {=}) 16... fxe5 17. Bxb4 17... Bb3 {?!} (17...
Bc4+ {! looks like the best continuation here:} 18. Kd2 b6 19. Bxc4 (19. Rxc2
e6 (19... g6 {!?}) 20. Ra4 Bxb5 21. Rxc8+ Kxc8 22. Ra8+ Kc7 23. Rxf8 Rxf8 24.
Bxf8 24... g6 {looks very drawish}) 19... bxa5 (19... Rxc4 {?!} 20. Ra8+ Kd7
21. Bc3 Rxe4 22. f3 Rc4 23. Bxe5 Rc5 24. f4 e6 25. Rxc2 Rxc2+ 26. Kxc2 26...
Rg8 {+/=}) 20. Bxa5+ Ke8 21. Kd3 g6 22. b4 Bh6 23. Rxc2 Rf8 24. b5 Rf6 25. b6
Rd6+ 26. Ke2 Rb8 27. Bd5 Rbxb6 28. Bxb6 28... Rxb6 {is probably also drawn}) (
17... b6 {?!} 18. Kd2 g6 19. Ra7 Bh6+ 20. Kd3 Rc7 21. Rxc7 Bxc1 22. Rxc2 Bf4
23. Rc6 {+/ -}) 18. Bc3 e6 (18... b6 19. Ra3 Bc4+ 20. Bxc4 Rxc4 21. Kd3 Rc5 22.
b4 Rc8 23. Rxc2 23... e6 {+/ -}) 19. Bd3 b6 (19... g6 20. Bxe5 Rg8 21. Rb5 Bh6
22. f4 {+/ -}) (19... Be7 20. Bxc2 Bc4+ 21. Bd3 Bxd3+ 22. Kxd3 Rf8 23. Rb5 Rxf2
(23... Ke8 24. f3 Rd8+ 25. Ke2 Rd7 26. Rd1 26... Rc7 {+/=}) 24. Ba5+ b6 25.
Bxb6+ Kd7 26. Rxc8 {+/=}) (19... Bd6 20. Rb5 Rxc3 21. bxc3 Ba3 22. Rxb3 Bxc1
23. Bxc2 Kc7 24. Rb5 Rd8 25. Bd3 Rd6 26. Rxe5 Bf4 27. Rh5 {+/ -}) 20. Rb5 20...
Rxc3 {!} 21. bxc3 Ba3 22. Kd2 Ba4 23. Rxb6 23... Kc7 {! Here a new turning
point is achieved and this time it was me who failed to reach a proper
evaluation of the position. The last move of Black introduces a beautiful
defencive plan which almost saved the game. He sacrifices a second pawn for
maximum activity of his pieces and a different coloured bishops ending. It
lasted another ten or fifteen moves before I understood what is going on.} 24.
Rxe6 Rd8 25. Rxc2 25... Bb3 {!} (25... Bxc2 26. Kxc2 Rf8 27. f3 Rb8 28. Ra6
Rb2+ 29. Kc1 Rb3+ 30. Kd2 Bd6 31. Ra7+ Rb7 32. Ra5 {
would have been less convincing}) 26. Ra6 {?! White should have probably taken
on e5. Now, after the game, the following variant looks to me better than what
actually hapened:} (26. Rxe5 Bc4 27. Rd5 Bxd5 28. exd5 Rxd5 29. c4 Rh5 30. h3
Bc5 31. f4 Rh4 32. f5 32... Rf4 {+/ -}) 26... Bc5 27. Ke2 Bxc2 28. Bxc2 28...
Rd6 {but, of course, not:} (28... Bxf2 {??, giving up Black's strongest trumpf:
the different colored bishops. A rook ending is elementary won for White.} 29.
Kxf2 Rd2+ 30. Kf1 Rxc2 31. Ra7+ Kd6 32. Rxg7 Rxc3 33. Rxh7 Re3 34. Rh4 Kc5 35.
Rg4 Kd4) 29. Ra5 {I strongly considered exchanging the rooks but I am still
unable to say if this would have given me a better game. Here is a winning
continuation for white but, of course, it is far from obligatory for Black to
follow those lines.} (29. Rxd6 Kxd6 30. Bb3 g5 31. Bd5 h5 32. Kf3 Ke7 33. g3
Kf6 34. h4 g4+ 35. Ke2 Kg6 36. f3 gxf3+ 37. Kxf3 Be7 38. c4 Kh6 39. Bf7 Bd6 40.
g4 hxg4+ 41. Kxg4 Kg7 42. Be8 Bc5 43. h5 Kh6 44. Kf5 Bd4 45. Ke6 Kg7 46. Kd5
Kf8 47. Bg6 Kg7 48. c5 Kf6 49. c6 Bb6 50. Kd6 {+ -}) 29... Kb6 30. Ra2 Rh6 (
30... g5 {? would have not allowed the atack at the white pawns that followed
in the game and consequently would have considerably worsened black's chances}
31. Bd3 h5 32. Bc4 Kc7 33. Ra5 Kb6 34. Ra8) 31. h3 Rg6 (31... Rf6 32. f3 Rg6
33. Kf1 Rd6 34. Bb3 Rd3 35. Rc2 Rd1+ 36. Ke2 Rb1 37. Bg8 h5 38. Rd2 {
would have lead to lines similar to the actual game}) 32. Kf1 Rd6 33. Bb3 Rd3
34. Rc2 Rd1+ 35. Ke2 Rg1 36. Kf3 g5 37. Bd5 {? White already switched to "auto
pilot" and went sleeping. White should have done something against the
advancement of the black pawns on the king side. I have to admit I considered
this position won "on itself" and did not put any serious work in it. Black,
instead, played further according to plan (it will become clear in a few moves)
and silently improved his position.} 37... Kc7 (37... h5 38. Bf7 h4 39. Bd5 (
39. Rd2 39... Rc1 {?} 40. Kg4 Rg1 41. g3 Rg2 42. Kf3 Rg1 43. Be6) 39... Kc7 40.
Rd2 Rc1 41. c4 41... Bb4 {?} 42. Rb2 Ba3 43. Rb7+ Kd6 44. Rg7 Rc3+ 45. Kg4 Bc1
46. Kf5 Bf4 47. Rxg5 Bxg5 48. Kxg5 {+/- This is just to show what I expected
and how "easy" everything looked to me. Unfortunately I was soon to be crudely
awakened and brought down to reality.}) (37... h6 38. g3 Kc7 39. Kg4 Rg2 40.
Kh5 Rxf2 41. Rxf2 Bxf2 42. Kxh6 Bxg3 43. Kxg5 Kd6 44. h4 Bf4+ 45. Kf6 {
+/- another beautiful line from the dreamland}) 38. Bg8 {?} (38. g3 {
was already necessary} 38... Rh1 39. Kg4 h5+ 40. Kxh5 Rxh3+ 41. Kxg5 Rh2) 38...
h5 39. Bf7 {again g3 was better} 39... h4 40. Rd2 {? A natural move and a
further mistake. Bc4 when black's rook does not have the f1 square would have
been a move with an idea. White keeps moving sand and this soon is to be felt.}
40... Kb6 (40... Rc1 {Here a few more variant to show how difficult the task
of black could have been.} 41. Be6 (41. c4 Rf1 42. Be6 Kb6 (42... Kc6 43. g3
hxg3 44. Kxg3 Rg1+ 45. Kf3 45... Rf1 {?} 46. Kg4 Rxf2 47. Rxf2 Bxf2 48. Kxg5 {
+ -}) 43. g3 hxg3 44. Kxg3 Rg1+ 45. Kf3 Rf1 46. Bd5 Rg1) 41... Rxc3+ 42. Kg4
Rc1 43. Kxg5 Rg1 44. f4 Be3 45. Rd7+ (45. Rc2+ Kd6 46. Bd5 exf4 (46... Bxf4+
47. Kxh4 Kd7 48. Rb2 Kd6 49. g4 Rg3 50. Rb7 Kc5 51. Rg7) 47. Kxh4 Ke5 48. Kg4
Rc1 (48... Rb1 49. h4 Rh1 50. h5 Rh2 51. Ra2 Bc5 52. Kg5 Be7+ 53. Kg6 Bf8 54.
Ba8 Bb4 55. Rb2 Bc5 56. Rd2 Be3) 49. Rxc1 Bxc1 50. h4 (50. g3 {??} 50... fxg3
51. Kxg3 Bf4+ 52. Kg4 Bd2 53. h4 Bf4 54. Kh5 54... Kf6 {=}) 50... Ba3 51. h5
Bf8 52. Kg5 Be7+ 53. Kg6 Bh4) 45... Kc6 46. Kxh4 exf4) (40... Rf1 41. Bd5 Rc1
42. Be6 Rxc3+ 43. Kg4) 41. Be6 Rf1 42. g3 (42. Kg4 Rxf2 43. Rxf2 Bxf2 44. Kxg5
Be1 45. c4 Kc5 46. Kg4 Kd4 47. Kf3 Bg3 48. Bd5 {
and I cannot see how white can strengthen his position}) 42... Rc1 {!! Bang! Th
is was the awaikening strike. I was only expecting lines that would have given
me easy wins and the pain of realizing I was going head down into a drawn
position was almost physical. This lasted for almost 24 hours till I succeeded
in finding a new plan. Shortly: this is the third and last turning point of
the game.} (42... hxg3 43. Kxg3 Rg1+ 44. Kf3 Rf1 (44... Rc1 45. Kg4 Rg1+ 46.
Kf5 {+/ -}) 45. Kg4 Rxf2 46. Rxf2 Bxf2 47. Kxg5 Kc5 48. h4 {+ -}) 43. gxh4 {
!! A bit too many exclamation marks, no doubt, but this is really the only
winning line I could discover. Everything else I tried draws:} (43. Kg4 hxg3
44. fxg3 Rxc3 45. Rd5 (45. Ra2 Kc6 46. h4) 45... Bf2 46. Kxg5 Bxg3 47. h4 Rc4
48. Kg4 Bf4 49. Kf5 Rc7 50. h5 Rh7 51. Kg4 Rg7+ 52. Kh4 52... Rg2 {=}) (43. c4
{is the main line I analysed:} 43... Rf1 {!} 44. gxh4 (44. Kg2 Rc1 45. Rd7 Rc2
46. Rf7 Kc6 47. Bd5+ Kd6 48. Rf6+ Kd7 49. Rf5 Rb2 (49... Rd2) 50. gxh4 50...
gxh4 {=}) (44. Rc2 Kc6 45. Bg4 Kd6 46. Kg2 Rb1 47. Rd2+ 47... Bd4 {=}) 44...
gxh4 45. Bd5 Kc7 46. Kg4 Rxf2 47. Rxf2 Bxf2 48. c5 Bxc5 49. Kxh4 {is a draw eve
n without the e5 pawn black only needs to go near enough the h8 square with
his king after which he can simply sacrifice his bishop for the white e-pawn.})
43... Rxc3+ 44. Kg4 gxh4 45. Kxh4 45... Rf3 {What now? Black loses a pawn.} 46.
Kg5 {! Not loses, sacrifices. The white king is now much more active than his
black counterpart and this is decisive on the long run.} 46... Bxf2 47. Rd6+
Kc7 48. Rd7+ Kc6 49. Rh7 (49. Rf7 {?} 49... Rxf7 {! draws immediately} (49...
Rg3+ {?} 50. Kf6 Rf3+ 51. Bf5 Bg3 52. Rh7 Rf4 53. Rg7 Rf3 54. Rg4 (54. Rxg3 {?}
54... Rxg3 55. Kxe5 Rg8 56. Kf6 Kc5 57. e5 Rf8+ 58. Kg6 Kd5 59. e6 Ke5 60. Bg4
Rb8 61. e7 Kd6 62. Kf6 Re8 63. h4) 54... Bf4 55. h4 Rg3 56. Rxg3 Bxg3 57. h5
Bh4+ 58. Kg7 {+/ -}) (49... Be3+ 50. Kg6 Rf2 51. Bf5 51... Rh2 {
is similar to the actual game}) 50. Bxf7 Kd6 51. h4 Ke7 52. Bg6 52... Kf8 {=})
49... Be3+ 50. Kg6 (50. Kh5 {?} 50... Rf8 51. h4 Kd6 52. Bf7 Rb8 53. Kg4 Rb1
54. Bc4 Rc1 55. Bd5 Rg1+ 56. Kh5 Rf1 57. Rh8 Rh1 58. Rf8 Kc5 59. Be6 Kd6 60.
Bb3 Kc5 61. Bd5) 50... Rf4 (50... Bd4 51. h4 Rf2) (50... Kd6 51. Bf5 Rg3+ 52.
Bg4 Bd4 53. Rd7+ Kc6 54. Rd5 Rg1 55. Kf5 Rf1+ 56. Kg5 Rf8) 51. Bf5 Bf2 52. Kg5
52... Bg3 {other continuations do not change much, e. g.:} (52... Be3 53. Kf6
Kd6 54. h4 Rf2 55. h5 Rh2 56. Kg7 Rc2 57. h6 Rc7+ (57... Rc6 58. Rh8 Ke7 59.
Bg6 Rc7 60. Bf7 Rc6 61. Re8+ Kd7 62. h7) 58. Kg6 Rxh7 59. Kxh7 Bf4 60. Kg7 {+ -
}) (52... Bb6 53. Rh8 (53. Kf6 Rh4 54. Rf7 (54. Rxh4 Bd8+) 54... Bd4 55. Kg5 {
+/ -}) (53. h4 {??} 53... Bd8+) 53... Be3 54. Kf6 Kd6 (54... Bd4 55. h4 Kd6 56.
h5 Rh4) 55. h4 Bf2 56. h5 Bh4+ 57. Kf7) (52... Be1 53. h4 Bd2 54. Kf6 Bc3 55.
h5 Rh4) 53. h4 Rf1 54. h5 Bf4+ (54... Rg1 55. h6 Bf4+ 56. Kf6 Rh1 57. Kg7 Rg1+
58. Bg6 58... Rd1 {+/ -}) (54... Rd1 55. h6 Rd6 56. Bd7+ Kc5 57. Rf7 Bf4+ 58.
Rxf4 Rxd7 59. Rf1 59... Rd8 {+/ -}) 55. Kf6 Rh1 (55... Rd1 56. h6 Rd6+ 57. Be6
Rd8 58. Kg6 Rd6 59. Re7 {+/ -}) 56. Kg7 Rg1+ 57. Bg6 Rd1 58. Rh8 58... Bg5 {
! Again he finds a resource in an otherwise lost position.} (58... Rd7+ 59. Kf6
Rd6+ 60. Kf5 {+ -}) 59. Rc8+ {
! A small finesse which is important in some variants later} (59. Re8 {
Is not so convincing since the black king remains too near to the corner and
succeeds in helping the otherblackpieces} 59... Rd6 60. Bf5 Rh6 61. Bg6 61...
Kd6 {and here white cannot play Rh8 since the black king is too near, e. g.:}
62. Kf7 (62. Rh8 {??} 62... Rxh8 63. Kxh8 Ke7 64. Kh7 Kf6) 62... Bf4 {
and it is not clear at all what white should do now}) (59. h6 {??} 59... Rd7+
60. Bf7 Rd6 61. Bd5+ Kc7 62. Rh7 {=}) 59... Kb6 (59... Kd7 60. Bf5+ Ke7 61.
Rc7+ Kd8 62. Rc6 {+ / -}) 60. Re8 Rd7+ (60... Rd6 61. Bf5 Kc7 (61... Rh6 62.
Bg6 Bf4 63. Rh8 {here the finesse of 59.Rc8+ shows} 63... Rxh8 64. Kxh8 Bh6 65.
Kh7 Bf8 66. h6 Kc5 67. Bf5 Kd4 68. Kg6 {+}) 62. Re6 Rd7+ 63. Kg6 {+/ -}) 61.
Bf7 Bf4 (61... Rd6 62. Re6 Rxe6 63. Bxe6 Kc5 64. h6 {+ -}) 62. Re6+ (62. Re6+
Kc5 63. h6 {+ -}) 1-0


white: Enev, Zlatko
black: Lupini, S..
date: 1997.??.??
event: English Thematic
site: ?
result: 1-0
round: ?
annotation:
1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 dxc4 7. Nxc6 Qxd1+
8. Nxd1 {Straight out of the opening the game is heading into an endgame. A
fashionable variation of the four knights symmetrical english is been played.}
8... bxc6 9. Bg2 Nd5 10. Ne3 e6 (10... Ba6 {Is the other main line here. The
difficulties, however, remian the same: black has the unpleasant task of
playing an endgame with an isolani on the c-line. An example follows:} 11. Nxd5
cxd5 12. Bxd5 Rc8 13. Bd2 e6 14. Bf3 Bc5 15. Bc3 O-O 16. O-O Bb5 17. Rfd1 Rfd8
18. Rxd8+ Rxd8 19. e3 f6 20. Be2 Rb8 21. a4 Ba6 22. Rd1 Bb4 23. Bf3 Bb7 24.
Bxb7 Rxb7 25. Rd8+ Kf7 26. Rc8 Bxc3 27. bxc3 Ke7 28. Rxc4 Kd6 29. Kf1 Rc7 30.
Rd4+ Ke7 31. Rb4 Kd6 32. Rb3 Kd5 33. Ke2 Kc4 34. Rb1 Rd7 35. h4 Kxc3 36. Rb5
Kc4 37. h5 h6 38. g4 38... Kc3 {
Xu Jun-Alterman,B/32nd ol, Yerevan ARM (11) 1996/1-0 (72)}) 11. Nxc4 Ba6 12. b3
Bb4+ 13. Bd2 Bxd2+ 14. Nxd2 (14. Kxd2 O-O-O 15. Kc2 15... Kc7 {
is also often played}) 14... Nb4 15. Kd1 (15. Be4 {
seemed to me less convincing because of the following game:} 15... Ke7 16. a3
Nd5 17. Rc1 Rhc8 18. f4 c5 19. Kf2 Rab8 20. Rc2 Nf6 21. Bf3 Rd8 22. Rhc1 Bb7
23. Ke3 Bxf3 24. exf3 Nd7 25. Rc3 Rb5 26. Ke2 h5 27. a4 Rb4 28. Nc4 h4 29. Na5
Rc8 30. Rc4 Rxc4 31. Rxc4 hxg3 32. hxg3 a6 33. Rc1 33... Rh8 {
- Gulko,B-Topalov,V/Novgorod (07) ;TUR95 1995}) 15... Ke7 {The first original
move played in this game. Very typical for modern correspondence play:
everybody has a big collection of games and it is nothing unusual to replay
known games till late in the endgame.} (15... Rb8 {the following game shows a
convincing plan for realizing the white advantage. I followed a similar plan
for the next several moves.} 16. a3 Nd5 17. Rc1 Rb6 18. Bf3 Ke7 19. Rc5 Rc8 20.
Kc1 Rb5 21. Rc2 c5 22. Kb2 Rb7 23. Rhc1 Rbc7 24. Ne4 c4 25. b4 Bb5 26. Nc3 Bc6
27. Bxd5 exd5 28. Rd2 Rd7 29. Rcd1 Ke6 30. e4 dxe4 31. Rxd7 Bxd7 32. Nxe4 Bc6
33. Nc5+ Ke5 34. Kc3 Bd5 35. f4+ Kd6 36. Ne4+ Ke6 37. Ng5+ Kd6 38. Nxf7+ Kc6
39. Ne5+ Kd6 40. Rd4 {1-0 Gulko,B-Jelen,Ig/2nd op, Nova Gorica SLO (07) 1997})
16. a3 {The plan looks like follows: White sequres his weak e2-pawn, then
moves the king on the queen side where he is sure from enemy atacks. Next
thing rooks are being doubled on the c-line and the pawns on the king side are
being pushed in order to restrain the mobility of the black pieces. All of
this time black is forced to think about defending the c-pawn and has little
or no counterchances. I do not know if this variation is to be improved for
black but I pretty sure would not like to try it.} 16... Nd5 17. Rc1 Rac8 18.
Rc5 (18. Ne4 {And this game shows what white can make wrong here. In fact B.
Gelfand could not find a winning plan against P. Leko.} 18... c5 19. Nxc5 Rhd8
20. Ke1 Nb6 21. f4 Nd7 22. b4 Nxc5 23. bxc5 Rc7 24. c6 Bb5 25. Rc5 a6 26. Kf2
Rdc8 27. Rb1 Bxc6 28. Bxc6 Rxc6 29. Rb7+ Kf8 30. Ra5 Rd6 31. Ra7 Rcc6 32. h4 h6
33. Ra8+ Ke7 34. Ra7+ Kf8 35. a4 g6 36. h5 Kg7 37. hxg6 Kxg6 38. g4 Rb6 39. Ra8
Kg7 40. Ra7 Kg6 41. e3 Rdc6 42. Kf3 Kg7 43. Ra8 Rd6 44. Rc5 Rbc6 45. Rxc6 Rxc6
46. a5 Kg6 47. Ra7 Kf6 48. Ke2 Rd6 49. Ra8 Kg6 50. e4 h5 51. gxh5+ Kxh5 52. Ke3
Rc6 53. Ra7 f5 54. e5 Rc3+ 55. Kd4 Ra3 56. Rxa6 Kg4 57. Kc5 Kxf4 58. Kd6 Rd3+
59. Kxe6 59... Re3 {- Gelfand,B-Leko,P/It Vienna AUT (1) 1996}) 18... Rhd8 19.
Bf3 {to defend the e2-pawn} 19... Bb5 20. Kc1 Rc7 21. Kb2 Nf6 (21... Ne3 {
is very interesting but insufficient by correct play from white, e. g.:} 22.
Ne4 (22. fxe3 Rxd2+) 22... Nd1+ 23. Kc1 Rcd7 24. a4 f5 25. e3 (25. axb5 {?}
25... fxe4 26. Bxe4 Nxf2 27. bxc6 (27. Bxc6 27... Nxh1 {- +}) 27... Nxe4 28.
Rc4 Rd4 29. Rxd4 Rxd4 30. Kb1 {- +}) 25... Bd3 (25... fxe4 26. Bxd1) 26. Rxd1
fxe4 27. Bg4 {and white keeps his advantage}) 22. Rc2 c5 23. Rhc1 (23. a4 {
I think white should not hurry to move the pawns on the kingside since this
only gives black counterchances. White's plan is to fix the kingside pawns
first.} 23... Bc6 24. Bxc6 Rxc6 25. b4 25... Rb8 {
and black suddenly has gotten chances on the b-line}) (23. Ne4 {I cannot say
exactly why but I did not like the idea of exchanging knights. Somehow I felt
all of the time I should try to exchange bishops but keep the knights on the
board. A better player could explain it; I remain by my intuition.} 23... Nxe4
24. Bxe4 h6 (24... f5 25. Bf3 c4 26. Rhc1 Rdc8 27. e4 Kf6 28. exf5 Kxf5 29. Rc3
29... Kg6 {+/=}) 25. a4 Rd4 26. Bf3 Ba6 27. Rhc1 27... Kd6 {
and it still looks like thousand miles away from victory}) 23... Bc6 (23...
Rcc8 24. Ne4 Nxe4 25. Bxe4 25... f5 {looks unklear}) 24. Bxc6 (24. Nc4 {?}
24... Bxf3 25. exf3 Rd3 26. Ne5 Rd5 27. f4 Nd7 28. Nxd7 Kxd7 29. f3 {
with at least equality for black}) 24... Rxc6 25. Nc4 {Now the plan starts
looking more clear: white will try to push his e-pawn till e5, then establish
the knight on that square from where he threatens pawns on both sides. Of
course I did not see the complete way to victory but I liked the idea of
having a strong point at d6.} 25... Rd5 (25... Rcc8 26. Ne5 Rd5 27. f4 Ne4 28.
Rc4 Rd2+ 29. R1c2 Rxc2+ 30. Kxc2 Nd6 31. Ra4 31... Nb5 {+/-}) 26. f3 Nd7 27. e4
27... Rd3 {Now for the rest of the white plan: another important goal is to
exchange a pair of rooks (but only one since a knight endgame gives black
additional changes). This means one of the white rooks has to be moved to the
d-line when possible. Here a few variants:} (27... Rd4 28. Rd2 (28. e5 {
looks prematured here; first a pair of rooks has to be exchanged} 28... Rc8 29.
f4 h5 30. Ka2 30... Rb8 {with chances along the b-line}) 28... Rxd2+ (28... Nb6
29. Rxd4 {! Looks stupid, doesn't it: white removes himself the main black
weakness. Nevertheless the move is very strong:} 29... cxd4 30. Ne5 {!} 30...
Rxc1 31. Kxc1 Kf6 32. Nc6 e5 33. Nxa7 (33. f4 {!} 33... Nd7 34. b4 {And with tw
o weaknesses - at a7 and e5 - black has a lot of difficulties, e. g.:} 34... a6
(34... exf4 35. gxf4 {and d4 is lost}) 35. Kc2 g5 36. fxe5+ Nxe5 37. Nxd4 {+/-}
) 33... Nd7 34. Kd2 Ke6 35. b4 35... Nb6 {is also winning}) 29. Nxd2 Rd6 30.
Nc4 Rd3 31. Rc3 Rd4 32. Rc2 Rd3 33. Rf2 {is probably a better solution} (33.
Rd2 {? the second pair of rooks must be kept on the board. In this version of
the endgame it looks very difficult to win:} 33... Rxd2+ (33... Rxf3 {??} 34.
Rxd7+) 34. Nxd2 g6 (34... Ne5 {?!} 35. f4 35... Ng4 {?} 36. Nf3 Nf2 37. e5 Ne4
38. Kc2 Nf2 39. Kc3 h6 40. Nd2 f5 41. Kc4 g5 42. fxg5 hxg5 43. Kxc5 Nd3+ 44.
Kd4 {+/-}) 35. Nc4 f6 36. Kc3 e5 37. f4 exf4 38. gxf4 Nb6 39. Kd3 39... Ke6 {
and I do not see a winning plan for white}) 33... Kf6 34. f4 Ke7 35. e5 35...
h6 {+/=}) 28. Rc3 Rd4 (28... Rxc3 {was completely possible here} 29. Kxc3 e5
30. Rd1 30... f6 {I do not see much of an advantage for white}) 29. e5 Rc8 30.
f4 f6 31. exf6+ gxf6 32. R3c2 h6 33. Rd2 33... Nb6 {? The decisive mistake.
White now has a straightforward win. Of course, it is not very obvious but,
hey, this is correspondence chess.} (33... Rxd2+ 34. Nxd2 Nb6 35. Kc3 e5 36.
Re1 Kd6 37. fxe5+ 37... fxe5 {+/-}) (33... e5 34. Re2 (34. Rxd4 {
? this time it loses} 34... cxd4 35. fxe5 fxe5 36. Na5 Rxc1 37. Kxc1 Kd6 38.
Kd2 38... e4 {-/+}) 34... Ke6 35. fxe5 fxe5 36. Rce1 Rd5 37. g4 {
still with advantage but far from winning}) 34. Rxd4 cxd4 35. Nxb6 Rxc1 36.
Kxc1 36... axb6 {it is easy to see that all this is absolutely forced} 37. Kd2
37... Kd6 {Now, why is this position won for white? The answer is that the two
pairs of pawns at the sides of the board are much stronger than the connected
central pawns of black. This is the case because the white king is very well
posted and the black pawns cannot queen without support from their king
whereas the white ones can move on their own: one of the pairs is going to
queen and there is no way to stop it. Let's look at the variants now:} (37...
e5 38. fxe5 fxe5 39. Kd3 Ke6 40. Ke4 {+ -}) 38. g4 {!} (38. a4 {
? would have been a mistake} 38... e5 39. fxe5+ fxe5 40. g4 e4 41. h4 Ke5 42.
b4 e3+ 43. Ke1 d3 44. a5 bxa5 45. bxa5 Kf4 46. a6 Kf3 47. a7 d2+ 48. Kd1 e2+
49. Kxd2 Kf2 50. a8=Q e1=Q+ 51. Kc2 51... Kg3 {
it is very questionable if that endgame is to be won}) 38... e5 (38... Kd5 39.
a4 (39. h4 Ke4 40. g5 fxg5 41. hxg5 hxg5 42. fxg5 Kf5 43. a4 e5 44. b4 44... e4
{with a position similar to the actual game}) 39... Ke4 40. b4 {
and the king has already to hurry back in order to stop the a-pawn} 40... Kd5)
39. fxe5+ fxe5 (39... Kxe5 40. a4 Kd5 41. b4 Kc4 42. a5 bxa5 43. bxa5 Kb5 44.
Kd3 {+ -}) 40. h4 {It is surprising how much precision this position requires.
For example, 40. a4 would again have been wrong here:} (40. a4 {?} 40... e4 41.
b4 Ke5 42. h4 Kf4 43. a5 e3+ 44. Ke2 bxa5 45. bxa5 d3+ 46. Kxd3 Kf3 47. a6 e2
48. a7 e1=Q 49. a8=Q+ 49... Kxg4 {=}) 40... e4 (40... Kd5 41. a4 Ke4 42. g5
hxg5 43. hxg5 Kf5 44. b4 Kxg5 45. a5) 41. g5 {
! the fastest way to victory; other continuations are less precise:} (41. a4
41... Ke5 {!} (41... e3+ {?} 42. Ke2 {! White must at any rate prevent the
penetration of the black king on the seventh rank} (42. Kd3 {?} 42... Ke5 43.
g5 hxg5 44. hxg5 Kf4 45. g6 Kf3 46. g7 e2 47. g8=Q e1=Q 48. Qd5+ Kg3 49. Qxd4
49... Qa5 {+/ - White is still probably winning but the endgame requires a lot
of further precision}) 42... Ke5 43. Kf3 Kd5 44. g5 hxg5 45. hxg5 45... Ke6 {
+ -}) 42. b4 e3+ 43. Ke1 d3 44. g5 Kf4 45. gxh6 Kf3 46. h7 d2+ 47. Kd1 Kf2 48.
h8=Q e2+ 49. Kxd2 e1=Q+ 50. Kd3 Qd1+ 51. Ke4 51... Qxa4 {
with a difficult queen endgame ahead}) 41... hxg5 (41... e3+ 42. Kd3 (42. Ke1
hxg5 43. hxg5 d3 44. a4 e2 45. b4 Ke5 46. g6 Kf6 47. a5 bxa5 48. bxa5 48...
Kxg6 {+}) 42... hxg5 43. hxg5 Ke5 44. g6 Kf6 (44... Kf4 45. g7 Kf3 46. g8=Q {+}
) 45. a4 Kxg6 46. b4 46... Kf5 {+ -}) 42. hxg5 (42. hxg5 e3+ (42... Ke5 43. a4
d3 44. g6 44... Kf6 {+ -}) 43. Ke1 Ke5 44. a4 d3 45. g6 Kf6 46. b4 Kxg6 47. a5
bxa5 48. bxa5 {+ -}) 1-0


white: Enev, Zlatko
black: Atienza, Hilario
date: 1997.??.??
event: English Thematic
site: ?
result: 1-0
round: ?
annotation:
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bc5 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. d3 h6 8. Na4
Bb6 9. b3 9... Re8 {This position has been reached often in games at different
levels and it is not easy for white to find a good plan. After studying a few
examples I decided to stick to the following plan: 1. Secure the king side
against atack. This is achieved by not allowing the exchange of the white
squared bishop (pawn at h3 and King at h2). 2. Fiancheto the black squared
bishop, push the a-pawn once so it is protected and the queens rook is free to
move (the a-line will sooner or later be opened after the exchange of the
b6-bishop). 3. Start active manoevers in the center (by preparing one of the
pawn pushes - d2-d4 or f2-f4). Open at least one line in the center, try to
take control over it and then prepare atack on either queens or kings side -
acording to the circumstances. It is difficult to say in how far this plan
would have been successful against a stronger oponent. In this game black
played without a clear plan and soon got in trouble.} 10. Bb2 Bd7 (10... Bf5
11. Nxb6 axb6 12. Nh4 Bh7 13. e4 Nd7 14. a3 Nc5 15. Nf5 Bxf5 16. exf5 Qg5 17.
Be4 Nd4 18. b4 Nxe4 19. dxe4 c5 20. Kg2 Rac8 21. b5 Qe7 22. a4 Ra8 23. h4 Ra7
24. Re1 f6 25. Re3 Qf7 26. Rc1 Rea8 27. Ra3 Kf8 28. h5 Ke8 29. g4 {
- Speelman,Jonathan-Sadler,Matthew/London LB 1990}) 11. e3 11... Bg4 {
? This only allows white to move the h-pawn with tempo. The purpose of the
move is rather unclear.} 12. h3 Bd7 13. a3 Ne7 14. Nxb6 axb6 15. Kh2 15... Ra7
{? This rook remains at a7 - just watching - till the end of the game. I can
only imagine black wanted to double his rooks at the a-line but this is a
rather time consuming and - even if successfully finished - a rather dubious
idea. There are no good prospects for a play on the a-line for black.} 16. b4 {
a waiting move which can be useful in certain circumstances (if one pair of
knights are being exchanged and it becomes difficult for him to put a knight
at c5 it might be good to push b5 in order to control the white squares at the
queen side)} (16. d4 {would have been prematured here} 16... e4 17. Nd2 d5 18.
b4 b5 19. cxd5 19... Nexd5 {and the center is well blocaded}) 16... Nf5 17. d4
(17. g4 {?} 17... Ne7 18. b5 Ng6 19. a4 Qe7 20. Nd2 Nh4 21. Bh1 21... Rea8 {
would have given black a much better game. He has good prospects on the queen
side (after c7-c6) and the center is still closed.}) 17... exd4 {? Of all answe
rs possible this one seems to me to be the worst. Black should have avoided
the opening of the center with all forces. Instead, he jumps into an open game
where the white pair of bishops soon brings him into serious trouble.} (17...
Ba4 {
is rather unpleasant for white although he still can keep an advantage, e. g.:}
18. Qc1 (18. Qe2 {?!} 18... e4 19. Nd2 Bc2 20. Rfc1 Bd3 21. Qd1 b5 22. cxb5
Bxb5 23. Qc2 (23. d5 {?} 23... Bd3 24. Bxf6 Qxf6 25. Rxc7 Ne7 26. Nxe4 Bxe4 27.
Bxe4 Qxf2+ 28. Bg2 Nf5 29. Qf3 Qxf3 30. Bxf3 Rxe3 31. Kg2 {
and white is in trouble}) 23... Bc6 {=}) 18... e4 19. Nd2 c6 (19... d5 {?} 20.
cxd5 Bb5 21. Re1 Bd3 22. Nc4 Qxd5 23. Ne5 Qb3 24. Qc3 Qxc3 25. Bxc3 Nd6 26.
Nxd3 exd3 27. Red1 {+/-}) 20. d5 cxd5 21. cxd5 Bb5 22. Bxf6 gxf6 (22... Qxf6 {?
} 23. Nxe4) 23. Re1 Bd3 24. Qd1 Ng7 25. Qg4 {+/-}) (17... e4 18. Nd2 b5 19. Qc2
bxc4 20. Nxe4 (20. Nxc4 {?!} 20... Ba4 21. Qd2 (21. Qe2 {?} 21... Bb5 {
(threatens 22. ... d5)} 22. d5 22... Nxd5 {-/+}) 21... Nd5 {=/+}) 20... Nxe4 (
20... b5 {?} 21. Nxf6+ Qxf6 22. a4 bxa4 23. d5 Qg6 24. e4 Ne7 25. Qxc4 Nc8 26.
f4 {+/-}) 21. Bxe4 Qg5 22. b5 {+/=}) 18. Nxd4 (18. exd4 {?} 18... d5 19. c5
bxc5 20. bxc5 Ne4 21. Qc2 Ba4 22. Qd3 22... Ra5 {=/+}) 18... Qe7 {?} (18...
Nxd4 {was much stronger here, e. g.:} 19. Bxd4 Qe7 (19... c5 {?} 20. Bb2 Bc6
21. Qd3 Be4 22. Bxe4 Nxe4 23. f3 Ng5 24. h4 Nh7 25. Rfd1 Re6 26. e4 Qc7 27. Kg2
{+/=}) 20. Qd3 (20. Qf3 {?} 20... Ne4 {and it seems that white has nothing
better than exchanging the queens and going into an equal endgame:} (20... Qe4
{?} 21. Qxf6 {!}) 21. Qxe4 Qxe4 22. Bxe4 Rxe4 23. f3 23... Re8 {=}) 20... Bc6
21. f3 Raa8 22. Rac1 {+/=}) 19. Re1 Ne4 20. Nxf5 (20. Qf3 {
looked less clear to me:} 20... Ng5 21. Qf4 Nxd4 22. Qxd4 Ne6 23. Qd3 Bc6 24.
f3 (24. f4 {?} 24... Bxg2 25. Kxg2 {and white loses most of his advantage})
24... Rea8 {would only prove the emptiness of the plan started with 15. ... Ra7
} (24... Ng5 25. e4 Raa8 26. f4 {!} 26... Ne6 (26... Nxe4 {?} 27. b5 {+/-}))
25. e4 {and I do not see any good continuation for black}) 20... Bxf5 21. f3
21... Ng5 {? Another serious mistake which brings the end nearer. White can
now move his central pawns with tempos and soon get a complete control over
the center. Obligatory was 21. ... Nf6, e. g.:} (21... Nf6 22. Qd4 Qe6 23. e4
Bg6 24. Rad1 Qe5 25. Qxe5 dxe5 26. Rd2 Ra4 27. Red1 Kf8 28. h4 c5 29. g4 Re7
30. Rd8+ Ne8 31. R1d5 cxb4 32. axb4 f6 33. Rb5 {
With a better endgame for white but the end is far from near.}) 22. e4 Bd7 23.
f4 Nh7 (23... Ne6 {does not help much:} 24. e5 dxe5 25. f5 Ng5 26. Rxe5 Qd8 27.
Rd5 Re7 28. Qd4 f6 29. Rd1 {+/-}) 24. e5 dxe5 25. Rxe5 Qd8 26. Qd4 {! This far
from obvious move is much stronger than the "natural" 26.Rd5, as is to be seen
from the following possible continuations:} (26. Rd5 Nf8 27. Qd4 f6 28. Rd1 Re2
29. Rd2 (29. Bc1 {?} 29... Rxg2+ 30. Kxg2 30... Bc6 {=/+}) 29... Rxd2 30. Qxd2
Qe7 31. Rd3 31... Be6 {and white has lost most of the advantage}) 26... Rxe5 {
? this lose s per force but there are already no good continuations for black,
e. g.:} (26... Nf6 27. Rae1 Be6 (27... Rxe5 28. fxe5 c5 29. Qd3 Nh7 30. e6 fxe6
31. Rxe6 {+/-}) 28. f5 Qxd4 29. Bxd4 Bd7 30. Rxe8+ Nxe8 31. Re7 {+ -}) 27. Qxe5
Nf6 (27... Qf6 28. Rd1 Qxe5 29. Bxe5 Bc6 30. Bxc7 Bxg2 31. Rd8+ Nf8 32. Kxg2
Rxa3 33. Bd6 {+ -}) 28. Rd1 Qc8 (28... Kf8 29. c5 Ne8 30. Qd4 Ke7 31. c6 bxc6
32. Bxc6 Nf6 33. Qe5+ Kf8 34. Bxd7 {+ -}) 29. Qe7 (29. Qe7 Qe8 30. Bxf6 Qxe7
31. Bxe7 {+ -}) 1-0


white: Lupini, S..
black: Enev, Zlatko
date: 1997.??.??
event: English Thematic
site: ?
result: 0-1
round: ?
annotation:
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 4... d5 {
One of the main continuations of the four knights variation.} 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6.
Bg2 Nb6 7. O-O Be7 8. a3 O-O 9. b4 Be6 10. Rb1 f6 11. d3 11... Qd7 {So far both
players have followed strictly the main line of the variation. Black is the
first to deviate in a less practised continuation. Here usually 11. ... Nd4 is
played. I found the variants there too sharp and insecure to my taste so I
chose the move in the game which seemed a bit "calmer".} (11... Nd4 12. Nxd4
exd4 13. Ne4 Bd5 14. Bb2 f5 15. Nd2 Bf6 16. Bxd5+ Qxd5 17. Rc1 Rf7 18. Rc5 Qe6
19. Re1 c6 20. Nf3 Nd7 21. Rc2 Qd5 22. Qa1 a5 23. Bxd4 axb4 24. Bxf6 Rxf6 25.
Qb2 Rxa3 26. Qxb4 Rb3 27. Qf4 h6 28. Ra1 Kh7 29. Rca2 Nf8 30. Ra5 c5 31. Qe5
Qxe5 32. Nxe5 b6 33. Ra7 Re6 34. f4 Ng6 35. Nd7 Rd6 36. Rb7 c4 37. dxc4 Re3 38.
Kf2 Re7 39. Raa7 {1-0 Timman,J-Bareev,E/Tilburg (5) 1991}) 12. Ne4 Nd5 13. Qc2
{threatening 14.Nc5} 13... b6 14. Bb2 14... a5 {! The strongest answer. Other
responses have been tried here also but with less success:} (14... Rac8 15.
Rbc1 Nd4 16. Bxd4 exd4 17. Qc6 Qxc6 18. Rxc6 Bd7 19. Nxd4 {!} 19... Bxc6 20.
Nxc6 Rce8 21. Rc1 f5 22. Nd2 Nf6 23. Nxa7 Bd6 24. e3 c5 25. Nc4 Bb8 26. Nc6 b5
27. N4a5 cxb4 28. axb4 Nd7 29. d4 g5 30. Nxb8 Rxb8 31. Rc7 Nf6 32. Nc6 Rb6 33.
Ne7+ Kh8 34. Nxf5 Ra6 35. Rc1 Ra2 36. h3 Rb2 37. e4 Rxb4 38. g4 h5 39. e5 hxg4
40. exf6 gxh3 41. Bxh3 Rxf6 42. Rc8+ Kh7 43. Rc7+ Kg6 44. Rg7+ Kh5 45. f3 {
1-0 Karpov,Anatoly-Hjartarson,Johann/Seattle (2) 1989}) 15. b5 Na7 16. a4 {
? The first move deviating from known examples and ... a serious mistake.
White is obliged here to sharpen the game by means of 16.d4, although this is
pretty risky too, e. g.:} (16. d4 Nxb5 17. dxe5 Bxa3 18. Rfd1 Be7 19. exf6 gxf6
20. Bc1 c6 21. Qb2 a4 22. Bh6 Rf7 23. Qd2 a3 24. g4 Ra4 25. Qc2 Rxe4 26. Qxe4
Nbc3 27. Qc2 Nxb1 28. Qxb1 Nc3 29. Rxd7 Nxb1 30. Ra7 a2 31. Nd4 Na3 32. Nxe6
a1=Q+ 33. Bf1 Qe5 34. Ra8+ Rf8 35. Bxf8 Kf7 36. Ra7 Qxe6 37. Rxe7+ Qxe7 38.
Bxe7 Kxe7 39. Bg2 c5 40. Kf1 b5 41. Ke1 c4 42. Kd2 {
Birmingham,Eric-Miralles,Gilles/Epinal ch-FR 1989/0-1 (53)} (42. Kd2 b4 43. Bd5
Kd6 44. Bg8 Kc5 45. Bxh7 b3 46. Kc3 Nb5+ 47. Kb2 Kb4 48. h4 c3+ 49. Kb1 Na3+
50. Ka1 c2 51. Bxc2 Nxc2+ 52. Kb2 Na3 53. g5 53... Nc4+ {
0-1 Chabanon,J-Huber,E/FRA-chJ ;TD 89\10 1989})) 16... c6 17. bxc6 Nxc6 18.
Rbc1 (18. Ba1 Ncb4 19. Qd1 Rac8 20. d4 20... exd4 {=/+}) 18... Ndb4 {The plan s
tarted with this move wasn't all clear to me at that very moment. I somehow
felt I must be pushing on the queen side and in the center but did not yet see
any exact goals. I was lucky to find a relatively straightforward way to win
anyway. Now for the plan: black tries to occupy d4 with a piece (preferably
knight) and to take the control over the opened c-file. At the same time the
weak a4-pawn is constantly being threatened so white is kept busy. Black does
not avoid exchanges since even with relatively few peaces the control of the
opened line and the penetration with the rook on the seventh rank bring easily
serious advantages.} 19. Qd2 Rfd8 20. Ba1 (20. Nc3 Rac8 21. Nb5 Bb3 22. Nc3 Nd4
23. Qe3 Nbc2 24. Qe4 f5 25. Qxe5 Bf6 26. Qf4 Nxf3+ 27. Bxf3 27... Bxc3 {-/+})
20... Rac8 21. Nc3 Bc5 22. Qd1 (22. Ne4 Ne7 23. Nxc5 bxc5 24. Qd1 Ned5 25. Rb1
25... Nb6 {and white loses the a-pawn}) 22... Nd4 23. Nxd4 Bxd4 24. Nb5 {
Now black seizes the control over the opened line though a series of forced
changes. It is difficult, however, to see some better move for white at this
point.} 24... Rxc1 25. Qxc1 Rc8 26. Qd1 Bxa1 27. Qxa1 Rc2 28. Bf3 g5 (28... Bd5
{This move produces a rather drawish variation:} 29. Bxd5+ Qxd5 30. Rc1 Qb3 31.
Rxc2 Qxc2 32. Kf1 Na2 33. Na3 Qb3 34. Nc4 Qxa4 35. Nxb6 Qc2 36. Nd5 a4 37. d4
Nc1 38. Nc3 h6 39. dxe5 Nb3 40. Qxa4 Qxc3 41. exf6 Nd2+ 42. Kg2 gxf6 43. Qe8+
Kg7 44. Qe7+ Kg6 45. Qe8+ 45... Kg7 {=}) 29. Nc3 g4 30. Bg2 30... Qd4 {
! Now white is lost. Less convincing was the attempt to push further on the
queen side:} (30... Na2 31. Ne4 Kg7 32. f4 Qd4+ 33. Qxd4 exd4 34. f5 Bb3 35.
Rf4 h5 36. Nd6 Nc3 37. Bf1 Rc1 38. Kf2 Nd1+ 39. Kg1 39... Ne3 {
black is much better off but a lot of struggle is to be expected}) 31. Ne4 (31.
Nb5 Qxa1 32. Rxa1 32... Rxe2 {-/+}) (31. Rc1 {? meets a tactical refutaion:}
31... Nxd3 {!} 32. Rxc2 Qxf2+ 33. Kh1 33... Ne1 {in order to prevent being
mated white has to give his extra rook and remains two pawns down in the
endgame - +}) 31... Qxa1 32. Rxa1 f5 33. Nf6+ {Now the white knight is being
shut out of the game but 33.Nd6+ was no good either:} (33. Nd6 Rxe2 34. Nc4
Bxc4 35. dxc4 Rc2 36. h3 36... h5 {-/+}) 33... Kg7 34. Ne8+ Kf8 (34... Kf7 {?}
35. Nd6+ Ke7 36. Nb5 Rxe2 37. d4 Bc4 38. Na3 38... Bb3 {
is a much less convincing line since the knight remains in the game}) 35. Nf6
Ke7 (35... Kf7 36. Nxh7 Rxe2 37. Bf1 Rd2) 36. Nxh7 Rxe2 37. Bf1 Rd2 (37... Rd2
38. Re1 Nxd3 39. Bxd3 Rxd3 40. f3 (40. h4 gxh3 41. Rxe5 Rd1+ 42. Kh2 Kd6 43.
Re3 43... Bd7 {-/+}) (40. Rxe5 Rd1+ (40... Kd6 {is also posiible} 41. f4 gxf3
42. Rb5 Rb3 43. Rxb3 43... Bxb3 {-/+}) 41. Kg2 Kd6 42. Rb5 {?} 42... Bc4 {- +})
40... Rd5 41. fxg4 fxg4 42. Ng5 b5 43. axb5 Rxb5 44. Nxe6 44... Kxe6 {- +}) 0-1


white: Miraglia, Jorge
black: Enev, Zlatko
date: 1997.??.??
event: English Thematic
site: ?
result: 1-0
round: ?
annotation:
1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. e3 e6 5. Be2 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. d4 a6 8. O-O
Bd6 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. a3 O-O 11. b4 Ba7 12. Bb2 (12. b5 {
An attempt for early activity would be punished fast here, e. g.:} 12... d4 13.
bxc6 dxc3 14. Qb3 14... Qc7 {-/+}) 12... Bg4 13. Rc1 Re8 14. b5 axb5 15. Nxb5
15... Bb8 {?!} 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 (16... gxf6 17. Qb3 Be5 18. Rfd1 Qb8 19. g3 (19.
Rxd5 {??} 19... Be6) 19... Be6 20. Nfd4 Nxd4 21. Nxd4 {
looks now much more promising than the pawn sacrifice but it is too late}) 17.
Qxd5 17... Ra6 {? Instead of thinking about starting some serious defensive
plan black plays on cheap catches. The punishment is, of course, not delayed
too much.} (17... Ra5 18. Rfd1 Na7 (18... Rc8 19. Bc4 Bc7 20. Qe4 Bf5 21. Qh4
Qxh4 22. Nxh4 Bg4 23. f3 {+/-}) 19. Rb1 Nxb5 20. Rxb5 Rxa3 21. Rxb7 {
would probably have given black the best chances}) (17... Ne5 18. Qxb7 Nxf3+
19. Bxf3 Bxh2+ 20. Kxh2 Qe5+ 21. Kg1 Bxf3 22. Qxf3 (22. gxf3 {??} 22... Qg5+
23. Kh2 23... Qh4+ {=}) 22... Qxb5 23. Rc3 {+/}) (17... Rd8 18. Qe4 Bf5 19. Qc4
Be6 20. Qc2 {+/=}) 18. Rfd1 {!} (18. Nfd4 Rd8 19. Qe4 Bxe2 20. Nxe2 Ra5 21. Rb1
{with unclear play}) (18. Nd6 {??} 18... Bxf3 19. gxf3 Ra5 20. Nb5 Bxh2+ 21.
Kg2 Re5 22. Qd7 Rg5+ 23. Kh1 Bd6 24. Qc8+ Bf8 25. Qh3 25... Rg6 {
and black wins that was the catch I put my hopes into}) 18... Ra5 (18... Rd8
19. Qe4 Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1 Be6 21. Nbd4 Rxa3 22. Nxe6 fxe6 23. Ng5 Qf5 24. Qxe6+
Qxe6 25. Nxe6 Ra7 26. Bc4 {would have been preferable black could find some
saving chances due to the different color bishops}) 19. h3 Be6 20. Qc5 {?!}
20... Ba7 {?} (20... h6 {was necessary here}) 21. Qg5 h6 (21... Qxg5 22. Nxg5
Bb3 (22... h6 23. Nd6 Re7 24. Nxe6 Rxe6 25. Bc4 Re7 26. Nxf7 Rxf7 27. Rd7 {+})
23. Rd7 Rb8 24. Nxa7 Nxa7 25. Rcc7 {with decisive advantage for white}) 22.
Qxf6 gxf6 23. Nxa7 Rxa7 (23... Nxa7 24. Rc7 Rc8 25. Rxb7 Rxa3 26. Nd4 Nc6 27.
Nxe6 fxe6 28. Rdd7 Ra1+ 29. Kh2 Nd8 30. Rg7+ Kf8 31. Rbd7 Ra2 32. Rh7 {+}) 24.
Rc3 {?!} (24. Bb5 {!} 24... Rc8 25. Nd4 Nxd4 26. Rxc8+ Bxc8 27. Rxd4 27... Be6
{+/}) 24... Rea8 25. Ra1 Bd5 26. Nd2 Ne5 27. f4 Ng6 28. Bd3 Ra5 29. Ne4 Kg7 30.
Ng3 b5 31. Rd1 (31. Nh5+ {?} 31... Kf8 32. Nxf6 b4 33. Rcc1 33... bxa3 {
and black suddenly becomes chances}) 31... Bc4 32. Bxc4 (32. Nh5+ {?} 32... Kf8
33. Be4 33... Rxa3 {would again have given black chances}) 32... bxc4 33. Rxc4
Rxa3 34. Nf5+ (34. Nh5+ {?} 34... Kf8 35. Nxf6 Rxe3 36. Rdc1 (36. Ng4 Re2 (
36... Re2 37. f5 Nh4 38. Kf1 {=/+})) 36... Re2 37. Rc8+ Rxc8 38. Rxc8+ Kg7 39.
Nh5+ Kh7 40. Rc7 Re7 41. Rxe7 Nxe7 42. g4 {+/= is probably winning but not easy
}) 34... Kf8 35. Rd7 (35. Rc7 h5 36. Rd6 Nh8 37. Rxf6 R3a7 38. Rh6 {+/}) (35.
Nxh6 {?} 35... Rxe3 36. Nf5 Re2 37. h4 Ne7 (37... Kg8 38. h5 Raa2 39. Rc8+ Nf8
40. Kh1 Rac2 41. Rxc2 Rxc2) 38. Kf1 Rb2 39. Nxe7 Kxe7 40. Re1+ Kf8 41. Re2 Rb1+
42. Kf2 Kg7 43. Rce4 f5 44. Re8 Ra3) 35... h5 36. Rc6 Ke8 37. Rcc7 Nh8 38. Nd6+
(38. Ng7+ Kf8 39. Nxh5 Rxe3 40. Nxf6 40... Kg7 {is also hopeless}) 38... Kf8
39. Nxf7 1-0


white: Farina, Manuel
black: Malmstrom, Jan
date: 1997.??.??
event: King's Gambit Thematic (A)
site: ?
result: 0-1
round: ?
annotation:
1. e4 1... e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 e4 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nd2 exd3 6. Bxd3 Nxd5 7. Ne2 $4
(7. Qf3 Nc6 8. a3 Nd4 9. Qe4+ Qe7 10. Ngf3 Nxf3+ 11. Nxf3 Qxe4+ 12. Bxe4 Nf6
13. Bd3 Bd6 14. Bd2 O-O 15. O-O-O Be6 16. h3 Rad8 17. Rhe1 Bd5 18. Re2 Nh5 19.
f5 Rfe8 20. Rde1 Rxe2 21. Rxe2 Kf8 22. Bg5 Bf4+ 23. Kb1 f6 24. Bh4 Bd6 25. Ne1
Nf4 26. Rd2 Nxd3 27. Nxd3 Re8 28. Kc1 Be4 29. g4 h5 30. Re2 Bf3 31. Rxe8+ Kxe8
32. gxh5 Ke7 33. Kd2 Be4 34. Bf2 Bxf5 35. Bxa7 b6 36. c4 Kd7 37. c5 Bxd3 38.
cxb6 cxb6 39. Kxd3 Kc7 40. Ke4 Kb7 41. Bxb6 Kxb6 42. a4 Kc5 43. a5 43... Kb5 {
-  Naftalin-Morozov,I/corr 1985}) (7. Qe2+ Be7 (7... Qe7 8. Ne4 Nb4 9. Bb5+ c6
10. Ba4 Be6 11. Bd2 g6 12. Bc3 f5 13. Bf6 Qd7 14. Ng5 Bg7 15. Bxg7 Qxg7 16.
Qxe6+ {1-0 Baroin,B-Zupe,M/CS-ch 1990}) 8. Ne4 Nc6 (8... O-O 9. Nf3 Nc6 10. O-O
Re8 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. fxe5 f5 13. exf6 Nxf6 14. Nxf6+ Bxf6 15. Qh5 g6 16. Bxg6
hxg6 17. Qxg6+ Bg7 18. Qf7+ Kh7 19. Qh5+ Kg8 20. Qf7+ Kh7 21. Qh5+ Kg8 22. Qf7+
{ -  Kowalewski,K-Broeder,I/DDR-chW Nordhausen (9) 1986}) 9. Bd2 Ncb4 10. Bb5+
c6 11. Ba4 Qc7 12. g3 O-O 13. a3 Na6 14. O-O-O Bf5 15. c4 Nf6 16. Nxf6+ Bxf6
17. Bc2 Qb6 18. Bc3 Rfe8 19. Qg2 Bxc3 20. Bxf5 Bf6 21. Qc2 g6 22. Bg4 Qe3+ 23.
Kb1 h5 24. Be2 Rad8 25. Rxd8 Rxd8 26. Nf3 Nc5 27. Rd1 Rxd1+ 28. Bxd1 Nd3 29. b3
Nf2 30. Be2 Ne4 31. Bd3 Nc3+ 32. Kb2 Qxf3 33. Bxg6 Ne4+ 34. Ka2 34... fxg6 {
0-1 Starck,I-Westland,A/DDR-chW Nordhausen (3) 1986}) 7... Ne3 8. Ne4 Nxd1 9.
Kxd1 Na6 10. h3 Nb4 11. Bd2 Nxd3 0-1


white: Enev, Zlatko
black: Albrecht, F..
date: 1997.??.??
event: King's Gambit Thematic (D)
site: ?
result: 1-0
round: ?
annotation:
1. e4 e5 2. f4 2... Bc5 {Let's cite Savely Tartakover here: "old nad bad" is
his short comment in the classic "Die hypermoderne Schachpartie" (1925)} 3. Nf3
d6 4. c3 4... f5 {A rare continuation. The usual moves order here is:} (4...
Nf6 5. fxe5 dxe5 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 Bb6 8. Nc3 Bg4 9. Be3 9... O-O {=}) 5. fxe5
dxe5 6. d4 exd4 7. Bc4 7... fxe4 {7... Nc6 is the more usual continuation here
but it does not equalize the black game at all as the following gem of a game
demonstrates:} (7... Nc6 8. b4 Bb6 9. Qb3 Nh6 10. Bg5 Qd6 11. e5 {!!} 11...
Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Qxe5+ 13. Kd2 Ng4 14. Re1 Ne3 15. Bg8 Kd7 16. cxd4 {!} 16...
Qxd4+ 17. Kc1 Rxg8 18. Bxe3 Qe5 19. Rd1+ {
1-0 Grabics,Monika-Forgo,Eva/Hungary 1993}) 8. Ne5 {The critical point of the
game. White has two continuations here: 8.Ng5 or 8. Ne5. Ng5 looks stronger at
first glance since in it the knight covers the important h4-d8 diagonal but
black can get acceptable play in it, e.g.:} (8. Ng5 Nf6 9. Nf7 Qe7 10. Nxh8 Nc6
11. Bg5 Ne5 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Qh5+ Kf8 14. Qh6+ Qg7 15. Qxg7+ Kxg7 16. Bd5 e3
17. cxd4 Bxd4 18. Nc3 Bxc3+ 19. bxc3 Nd3+ 20. Ke2 Nf4+ 21. Kxe3 Nxd5+ 22. Kd4
Ne7 23. Rae1 Nc6+ 24. Kd5 Bd7 25. Rhf1 Rxh8 26. Rf2 Rd8 27. Re3 Be8+ 28. Kc5
Ne5 29. Rg3+ {0-1 Zoister,Stefan-Costa,Jean/Suhr 1992 On the other hand, the
move in text is connected with a hidden positional catch: the queen check at
h4, looking so tempting, is actually a heavy positional mistake. The black
queen gets out of place, loses a tempo and its bad psoitioning finally allows
white to get a strong atack by means of quite simple developing moves.}) 8...
Qh4+ {?} 9. g3 Qf6 (9... Qh3 {
This queen retreat is no better, as shown by the following development:} 10.
cxd4 Bd6 11. Qb3 Bxe5 12. dxe5 Ne7 13. Bf7+ Kd8 14. e6 Qf5 15. Nc3 Nbc6 16.
Qd1+ {1-0 Jacobson,Ernst-Olland,Adolf/Goteborg (4) 1920}) 10. cxd4 (10. Qh5+ {
looks strong here but I did not choose it because of the following:} 10... g6
11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. Qxc5 d3 13. Qxc7 Nd7 14. Rf1 Qe5 15. Bf4 Qxc7 16. Bxc7 {
with equality}) 10... Bb4+ 11. Nc3 (11. Bd2 {
would have allowed black to equalize} 11... Bxd2+ 12. Nxd2 e3 13. Ne4 Qf5 14.
Qd3 Nf6 15. Bb5+ Nc6 16. Nxf6+ gxf6 17. Qxf5 Bxf5 18. Nxc6 18... Be4 {=}) 11...
Ne7 12. Rf1 {
The moves order has to be precise or else black can get counterchances:} (12.
Qb3 {?!} 12... Qb6 {!} 13. Bf4 Bf5 14. O-O-O Bxc3 15. bxc3 Qxb3 16. axb3 Rf8
17. d5 Nd7 18. d6 cxd6 19. Rxd6 Bh3 20. Rhd1 Nxe5 21. Bxe5 Rf2 22. Bxg7 Rxh2
23. Bb5+ Kf7 24. Be5 Ng6 25. Bc4+ 25... Kf8 {with a very double edged endgame})
(12. Bd2 Bxc3 13. bxc3 Bf5 14. Qb3 b6 15. Bf7+ Kf8 16. O-O {
and black's position looks much more solid than in the game}) 12... Bf5 13. Qb3
13... Nec6 {to make place at e7 for a king retreat} 14. Bf7+ 14... Ke7 {
all other king retreats lose immediately:} (14... Kd8 {?} 15. Qd5+ 15... Qd6 {
+/-}) (14... Kf8 15. Bh5 g6 16. Bg5 {! + -}) 15. Bd5 {
! now black's game is lost} 15... a5 16. Be3 a4 (16... Nxe5 17. dxe5 Qxe5 18.
Bxb7 Be6 19. Qc2 Bxc3+ 20. bxc3 Bd5 21. Bf4 21... Qh5 {+/-}) 17. Qc4 17... g6 {
? This loses per force. Better chances offered 17...Bxc3:} (17... Bxc3+ 18.
Qxc3 Ke8 19. Bxe4 g6 20. O-O-O Qe6 21. Bxf5 gxf5 22. Nxc6 Qxc6 23. Rxf5 {
where white still has a long way to victory}) (17... Rf8 18. Bxe4 g6 19. O-O-O
Bxc3 20. Qxc3 {looks also better than the continuation chosen}) 18. O-O-O {
! Probably it was this move that black did not expect. The pawn win at e4 is
weaker:} (18. Bxe4 Bxc3+ (18... a3 19. Ke2 Bxc3 (19... Be6 20. Nd5+ Bxd5 21.
Qxd5) 20. bxc3 Nxe5 21. dxe5 Qxe5 22. Bxb7 Ra5 23. Kf2 Rf8 24. Qb4+ Kf7 25. Bd4
Qb5 26. Kg1 {and the struggle goes on}) 19. bxc3 Rf8 20. Nxc6+ bxc6 21. Bxf5
21... gxf5 {which is also much less clear than the actual game}) 18... Bxc3 19.
Qxc3 19... Qd6 {
? the best chance here was 19...a3, as shown by the following continuation:} (
19... a3 20. Nf7 Kd7 21. Bg5 Qg7 22. Nxh8 22... Qxh8 {with a lot of struggle})
20. Bg5+ Ke8 21. Bf7+ Kf8 22. g4 22... Nd7 {? I do not understand that move.
Black had much better continuations here, e.g.:} (22... h6 {looks best} 23.
gxf5 hxg5 24. Nxg6+ Kxf7 25. Nxh8+ Kg8) (22... Nxe5 23. dxe5 Qc6 24. Bc4) 23.
gxf5 Ndxe5 24. dxe5 Qxe5 25. Qxe5 25... Nxe5 {
after the queens are exchanged there is even not a vague hope for black} 26.
fxg6 Nf3 27. Rd7 {!} (27. Bh6+ {
is also sufficient but the move in text is more elegant and fast} 27... Ke7 28.
g7 Kxf7 29. gxh8=Q Rxh8 30. Rd7+) 27... Nxg5 (27... hxg6 28. Bxg6 Kg8 29. Bxe4
Nxg5 30. Bd5+ {with mate}) 28. Be6+ Ke8 29. g7 Rg8 30. Bxg8 Kxd7 31. Rf8 1-0


white: Enev, Zlatko
black: Goudreau, Alec
date: 1997.??.??
event: King's Gambit Thematic (D)
site: ?
result: 1-0
round: ?
annotation:
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 d5 4. exd5 Nf6 5. Bc4 Bd6 6. Qe2+ 6... Kf8 {
A strange loo king move which I was not able to find in any of the games in my
database. It is not clear at all what black intends to do with his h8 rook.
Perhaps an atack on the king side? He should better have thought ofdevelopment
first. In any event black already has difficulties as is to be seen from the
follwing variants:} (6... Be7 7. d4 Nxd5 8. Bxd5 Qxd5 9. Bxf4 c6 10. O-O Be6
11. Nc3 Qa5 12. Ne4 O-O 13. Neg5 Bxg5 14. Nxg5 Re8 15. Qd3 Bf5 16. Qb3 Re7 17.
Bd6 Be6 18. Nxe6 Rxe6 19. Qxe6 {
1-0 Gallagher,Joseph-Chud inovskih,Alexander/Lenk (2) 1991}) (6... Qe7 7. Qxe7+
(7. Nc3 a6 8. Qxe7+ Kxe7 9. O-O Re8 10. d4 b5 11. Bb3 Nbd7 12. a4 b4 13. Ne2
Nh5 14. Bd2 Kf8 15. Rae1 a5 16. c4 bxc3 17. Nxc3 Ba6 18. Rxe8+ Rxe8 19. Nb5
Bxb5 20. axb5 Rb8 21. Ra1 Nhf6 22. Rxa5 h6 23. Bc3 Nb6 24. Ne5 Re8 25. Ra7
Nfxd5 26. Nd7+ Ke7 27. Nxb6 {- Hebden,Mark-Lein,Anatoly/New York 1983}) 7...
Kxe7 8. d4 Re8 9. O-O h6 10. Nc3 a6 11. Bd2 Bf5 12. Bb3 g5 13. Rae1+ Kf8 14.
Rxe8+ Kxe8 15. h4 Nh7 16. hxg5 hxg5 17. g3 Bh3 18. Re1+ Kf8 19. Ne4 g4 20. Nxd6
gxf3 21. Bxf4 Nd7 22. Nxb7 Nhf6 23. Nc5 Nb6 24. d6 Ng4 25. Nd3 cxd6 26. Bxd6+
Kg7 27. Nf2 f5 28. Nxh3 {1-0 Gallagher,Joseph-Glueck,Michael/Oberwart (1) 1993}
) 7. O-O Nbd7 8. d4 Nb6 9. Bb3 {? Of course this sounds stupid but I cannot
say exactly why I have played this move. I was not able to find any serious
refutation of the simple 9.Nc3. I must have been trying to keep the bisho pair
at any rate - but the price is too high and it is only the weak play of the
oponent that allowed me to come out as a winner. I think the black position is
rather acceptable after he gets rid of the d5 pawn.} (9. Ne5 {
?! atacking the f4 pawn} 9... g5 10. Bd3 Nfxd5 11. Qh5 Be6 12. Qh6+ Kg8 13. Nf3
Be7 14. Bd2 {and it seems to me that despite the unfortunate h8 rook black has
a very stable position, e. g.:} 14... Ne3 15. Bxe3 {
otherwise the knight goes with tempo to f5} 15... fxe3 16. h3 Qf8 17. Qh5 17...
Qg7 {and black stays splendidly}) (9. Nc3 {
is the line I consider best for white - now, after the game} 9... Bb4 (9...
Nxc4 10. Qxc4 Bf5 11. Ne2 {+/=}) 10. Bxf4 Bxc3 11. bxc3 11... Nxc4 {?!} (11...
Nfxd5 {is better} 12. Bxd5 Nxd5 13. Bd2 13... Qe7 {+/=}) 12. Qxc4 Nxd5 13. Bxc7
{!} 13... Qxc7 (13... Nxc7 {?} 14. Ne5 {! +/-}) 14. Qxc7 Nxc7) 9... Nbxd5 10.
c4 Ne3 11. Bxe3 fxe3 12. Qxe3 12... c5 {!? of course this looks very good but
it might have been even better to prepare the move by first playing 12...Ng4,
e. g.:} (12... Ng4 13. Qd2 13... c5 {! and suddenly white has serious trouble:}
(13... Bd7 {? allows white to stay on top:} 14. c5 {!} 14... Be7 15. Qf4 {+/=})
14. Nc3 cxd4 15. Nd5 (15. Qxd4 {??} 15... Bxh2+ {-/+}) 15... Bc5 16. Qd3 (16.
h3 {?} 16... d3+ 17. Kh1 17... h5 {with a promising atack}) 16... Be6 17. Rfe1
(17. Rad1 {?} 17... Bxd5 18. cxd5 18... Ne3 {=/+}) 17... Qd6 18. Rad1 18... b5
{with strong pressure on d5 (=/+)}) 13. Nc3 {
I did not like 13.d5 because of the following line:} (13. d5 Ng4 14. Qe2 Bf5
15. Nc3 Qc7 16. g3 Re8 17. Qd2 Bxg3 18. hxg3 18... Qxg3+ {Although it seems
that after 19.Kh1 white is out of danger. In any event I was not sure if I had
seen everything, so I played the other line.} 19. Kh1 Ne3 20. Rf2 Ng4 21. Rff1
Ne3 22. Rf2 {=}) 13... Ng4 14. Qd2 14... Bf5 {? Black loses the thread here.
He could still have fought for advantage in the following line:} (14... cxd4
15. Nd5 d3 16. g3 Bc5+ 17. Kg2 Bf5 18. Rae1 {But I cannot see any clear plan
for him after this developmennt. White should have come atop after 19.Nh4}) 15.
g3 {!} 15... Nf6 16. Ng5 g6 (16... Qd7 17. Ba4 Qc8 18. Nb5 {+/=}) (16... cxd4
17. Qxd4 Bg6 18. Rad1 Be7 19. Nd5 {+/=}) 17. Rae1 (17. d5 h6 18. Nf3 Kg7 19.
Bc2 19... Bg4 {Line Riley,Scott-Enev,Zlatko/Match (1) 1997}) 17... Be7 {
? Black continues with purely defensive, passive play which in this position
equals slow death. He should have in any event tried something more activelike:
} (17... cxd4 18. Qxd4 Bb4 19. Qe3 (19. Qe5 {?} 19... Qb6+ 20. Kg2 Re8 21. Qb5
21... Bxc3 {=/+}) 19... h6 20. Nf3 Ng4 21. Qd4 Qxd4+ 22. Nxd4 {with equality})
18. d5 h6 (18... Nxd5 {?} 19. Nxf7 Kxf7 20. Qxd5+ Qxd5 21. Nxd5 {
and black loses one of the bishops}) 19. Nf3 Bh3 (19... Kg7 20. Bc2 Bh3 21. Rf2
Bd6 22. Nb5 Bg4 23. Nxd6 Qxd6 24. Ne5 {+/=}) 20. Rf2 20... Kg8 {?? This move
is so incomprehesible to me that I consider it the weakest in the whole game.
Why does he not play the natural Kg7 here? That could have allowed him to keep
the position since the rook finally comes into play, e. g.:} (20... Kg7 21. Ne4
(21. Ne5 Bd6 22. Rfe2 Qb6 23. Nb5 Bxe5 24. Rxe5 {+/=}) 21... Nxe4 22. Rxe4 Bf5
23. Rf4 23... Bd6 {with a very good position for black}) 21. Rfe2 (21. Ne5 Kg7
22. Bc2 Bd6 23. Rfe2 Nd7 24. Nxd7 24... Qxd7 {+/= I still would prefer the
white position because of the control over the e-line but it is questionable
if thet small advantage can be kept long}) (21. Nb5 {? is bad:} 21... a6 22. d6
Bf8 23. Nc7 Rb8 24. Ne5 Bxd6 25. Nd5 Bxe5 26. Rxe5 {=/+}) 21... Bf8 {? Holding 
on to that passive style. He might have been afraid of the lines following 21..
.Bd6 22.Nb5 but that row of pieces on the eight rank does not look good at all}
22. Ne5 h5 (22... Bg7 23. Qf4 Qf8 24. g4 h5 25. g5 Nd7 26. Qf3 Bf5 27. Nxd7
Bd4+ 28. Kg2 Bxd7 29. Re7 {+/-}) 23. Qf4 Rh7 (23... Bf5 24. Bc2 Bxc2 25. Rxc2
Bh6 26. Qf2 b6 27. Rce2 {+/-}) (23... Bh6 24. Qf2 h4 (24... b6 {??} 25. Nc6 Qd6
26. Nb5 Ng4 27. Nxd6 Nxf2 28. Rxf2) 25. Qxc5 {+/-}) 24. Bc2 (24. Rf2 {?} 24...
Bf5 25. Bc2 Bh6 26. Qf3 Ng4 27. Bxf5 Nxf2 28. Qxf2 gxf5 29. Qxf5 Qg5 30. Qf2 f5
31. Qxc5 h4 32. Qf2 Rg7 33. Kg2 33... f4 {and black suddenly emerges on top}) (
24. Qh4 {is another weak line} 24... Bg4 25. Nxg4 hxg4 26. Qg5 Rh5 27. Qd2 Bd6
28. Bc2 Qb6 29. b3 29... Rd8 {=/+}) 24... Nd7 {
? This loses per force. Black had here the good move 24...Bh6, e. g.:} (24...
Bh6 25. Qf2 (25. Qh4 {? Risky and finally weak. White should lose, I think.}
25... Bg4 26. Rf2 g5 27. Bxh7+ Kg7 28. Qxg4 hxg4 29. Bf5 (29. Nxf7 Kxf7 30. Ne4
Qa5 31. Nd6+ (31. Rxf6+ {?} 31... Kg7) 31... Kg7 32. Re7+ Kh8 33. Rxf6 Bf8 34.
Nxb7 (34. Rxb7 Bxd6 35. Rxd6 Qe1+ 36. Kg2 Qe2+ 37. Kg1 Qd1+ 38. Kg2 38... Rf8 {
- +}) 34... Qxa2 35. Rd7 Bg7 36. Rff7 36... Bd4+ {and white gets mated}) 29...
Kg8 30. Nxg4 Nxg4 31. Bxg4 Bg7 32. Kg2 Bd4 33. Rf5 {
with a very unclear position}) 25... Rc8 26. Ne4 Nxe4 27. Rxe4 Bg5 28. Nd3 Bf5
29. Re5 Bf6 30. Re8+ Qxe8 31. Rxe8+ Rxe8 32. Nxc5 32... Bg5 {
with at least equality for black}) (24... Bd6 25. Qg5 Bg4 26. Rf2 Ne8 27. Ne4
Be7 28. Qe3 {+/=}) 25. Ne4 {Here black resigned. I think this was a prematured
decision given the following lines:} (25. Ne4 25... Bh6 {
! is still rather strong:} (25... Be7 {?} 26. Nxd7 Qxd7 27. d6 Bd8 28. Nf6+ (
28. Nxc5 {is not so convincing} 28... Bb6 29. b4 Qc6 30. Qd4 Rc8 31. Rd2 Bxc5
32. Qxc5 Qxc5+ 33. bxc5 Bd7 34. Rd5 {+/-}) 28... Bxf6 29. Qxf6 Rf8 30. Re7 {+ -
}) 26. Nxf7 Bxf4 27. Nxd8 Rxd8 28. gxf4 Bg4 29. Re3 {
and he could have still struggled}) 1-0


white: Trani, Francesco
black: Quigley, D.J..
date: 1997.??.??
event: WCH1/A3 SEMI
site: ?
result: 1/2-1/2
round: ?
annotation:
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 {This is called the Modern Variation.} 4...
dxe5 {4...Bg4, 4...g6, and 4...Nc6 are all more coomonly chosen, but this lane
leads to an interesting sacrifice of White's material I wished to examine.
This move was introduced into GM play by Larsen against Tal in the Candidates'
Semi-final, 4th game, 1965.} 5. Nxe5 5... Nd7 {Larsen chose 5...e6 for the
sixth match game because after the fourth, he was of the opinion that Black
should not allow White the following sacrifice. Another common option is 5...
g6.} 6. Nxf7 {Many American GM's, including Joel Benjamin and Patrick Wolff,
have examined this line in quite some detail.} 6... Kxf7 7. Qh5+ Ke6 8. g3 {
ECO considers 8 c4 to be the stronger main line. I think they are mistaken and
was hoping to get the opportunity to show why.} (8. c4 $145 8... N5f6 9. d5+
Kd6 10. Qf7 (10. c5+ Nxc5 11. Bf4+ Kd7 12. Bb5+ c6 13. dxc6+ bxc6 14. Qxc5 Qb6
15. Qxb6 axb6 16. Bc4 Nd5 (16... e6 17. O-O Bd6 18. Bxd6 Kxd6 19. Re1 Bd7 20.
Nc3 20... Rhf8 {- Plomp-Etmans/cr ch-NL 1992}) 17. Be5 e6 18. O-O Rg8 19. Nc3
Bd6 20. Rfe1 Bxe5 21. Rxe5 Kd6 22. Rh5 h6 23. Ne4+ Kc7 24. Rh3 Rf8 25. Rg3 {
- Maliangkay-Etmans/cr ch-NL 1991}) 10... Ne5 11. Bf4 c5 12. Nc3 (12. Nd2 g5
13. Bg3 g4 14. O-O-O Bh6 15. Re1 Rf8 16. Bxe5+ Kd7 17. Qe6+ Ke8 18. Qd6 exd6
19. Bxf6+ Kd7 20. Bxd8 Kxd8 21. Bd3 Rxf2 22. Re2 Rxe2 23. Bxe2 Bd7 24. Bd3 {
- Kallai,G-Horvath,C/Budapest Noviki-A 1990}) 12... a6 13. O-O-O (13. b4 Qb6
14. bxc5+ Qxc5 15. Rd1 Qa3 16. Rd3 Qc1+ 17. Bxc1 Nxf7 18. c5+ Kc7 19. Bf4+ Kd8
20. Na4 Bf5 21. Rd4 Ke8 22. Bc4 Rd8 23. O-O Bc2 24. Nb6 e5 25. d6 25... Bxd6 {
0-1 Wydrowski,L-Krzyzanowski,A/4th Poznan Open CC Championship 1993}) 13... g6
14. Bxe5+ Kxe5 15. d6 Bh6+ 16. Kc2 Qe8 17. Rd5+ Nxd5 18. Qxd5+ Kf6 19. Ne4+ (
19. Bd3 exd6 20. Qxd6+ Kf7 21. Ne4 Qc6 22. Qe5 22... Rd8 {
0-1 Rozentalis,E-Sokolov,A/Bern op 1992}) 19... Kg7 20. Qe5+ Kf7 21. Bd3 Bf5 (
21... Bg7 22. Qf4+ Kg8 23. Re1 Qf8 24. Qg5 exd6 25. Qd5+ Qf7 26. Nxd6 Qxd5 27.
Re8+ Bf8 28. cxd5 c4 29. Bxc4 b5 30. Bb3 Kg7 31. Nxc8 Bc5 32. Re7+ 32... Kh6 {
0-1 Rublevsky,S-Hauchard,A/Oakham 1992}) 22. g4 Bxe4 23. Bxe4 e6 24. Re1 Qa4+
25. Kd3 Rhe8 26. h4 {0-1 De Firmian,N-Rohde,M/USA-ch 1989}) (8. Qg4+ $145 8...
Kf7 9. Qh5+ 9... Ke6 {- Golubev,M-Savchenko,S/Nikolaev zt 1993}) 8... b5 {
With the same idea Kasparov attempted in his famous debacle against Deep Blue,
making an escape hatch for Black's King. Other moves gives White an advantage.}
(8... g6 9. Bh3+ Kd6 10. Qe2 e5 11. c4 $14) (8... N7f6 9. Bh3+ Kd6 10. Qe5+ Kc6
11. Bg2 b5 (11... e6 $145 12. c4 Bd6 13. Qe2 13... Re8 $1 14. Nc3 Kd7 15. cxd5
exd5 16. Be3 c6 17. O-O 17... Ke7 $1 $11) 12. a4 b4 13. c4 bxc3 14. bxc3 $14)
9. a4 9... b4 {N A new move as far as I know. Todorovic-Bodiroga Palic Junior
1988 continued 9...c6 when White oplayed 10 Bh3+ and Black was okay, but White
could have played 10 axb5 which is evaluated unclear, but the opening of the
position looks very dangerous for Black im my opinion. I selected 9...b4 to
try to keep the lines closed around my King's upcoming home on the Queenside.}
(9... c6 $145 10. Bh3+ (10. axb5 g6 11. Qe2+ Kf7 12. bxc6 N7b6 13. Bg2 (13. c4
$14) 13... Nf6 14. c3 Bg7 15. Nd2 Re8 16. Nf3 Kg8 17. O-O Bg4 18. h3 Bxf3 19.
Qxf3 e6 20. Bg5 Qd5 21. Qf4 Qf5 22. Qxf5 gxf5 23. c7 Nfd5 24. Bd8 a5 25. Rfe1
Rc8 26. Rxa5 Nxc7 27. Bxc7 Rxc7 28. Rxf5 exf5 29. Rxe8+ Kf7 30. Rb8 Nc8 31. Kf1
Nd6 32. Bd5+ Ke7 33. Ke2 Ra7 34. Ra8 Rxa8 35. Bxa8 Nc4 36. b3 Nb6 37. Bb7 Kd6
38. Kd3 Kc7 39. Bf3 Nd7 40. b4 Nf8 41. Bd5 Ng6 42. Bg8 h6 43. Bf7 Ne7 44. b5
Nc8 45. c4 Nd6 46. Bd5 f4 47. g4 Bf6 48. b6+ Kxb6 49. c5+ Kc7 50. cxd6+ Kxd6
51. Ke4 Bd8 52. Bb3 Bb6 53. f3 Ke7 54. d5 Kf6 55. d6 Kg5 56. h4+ Kxh4 57. Kxf4
Bd8 58. d7 h5 59. Kf5 hxg4 60. fxg4 60... Be7 {
1-0 Ernst,T-Komarov,D/Dortmund op-A 1992}) 10... Kd6 11. axb5 cxb5 12. b3 (12.
Nd2 N7f6 13. Qe5+ Kc6 14. Bg2 e6 15. O-O Bd6 16. Qe2 a6 17. c4 $5 17... bxc4
18. Nxc4 Kd7 19. Ne5+ Bxe5 (19... Ke8 $1) 20. dxe5 Ne8 21. Qg4 $44 {
Todorovic-Bodiroga, Yugoslavia 1988}) 12... b4 13. Nd2 e6 14. Nc4+ Ke7 15. Bg5+
N7f6 16. Ne5 Qe8 17. Qf3 Kd8 18. O-O Be7 19. Ra5 h6 20. Bxf6 gxf6 21. c4 bxc3
22. Rxd5+ exd5 23. Qxd5+ Kc7 24. Qxa8 Bxh3 25. Qxa7+ Kd6 26. Qb6+ Kd5 27. Re1
Bc8 28. Qa5+ {1-0 Polee-Etmans/cr ch-NL 1992}) 10. Nd2 $1 {A nasty surprise.
White alertly notices that c4 is now available for this Knight.} 10... N7f6 {
Forced. Any other move loses the Knight on d5 for nothing, or worse. For
example, 10 Ncf6 allows White mate in three.} 11. Bh3+ Kd6 12. Nc4+ Kc6 13.
Na5+ {Clearly, Black has no choice but to repeat moves. It's in White's best
interest to take the perpetual check as well because Black is very close to
finding safe haven for his King, after which he should be able to consolidate
his piece up. Conclusion: if White intends to play for a win with the Modern
Variation, 4 Nf3, this game poses an important challange. White must then
continue with 8 c4 instead, when I believe Black can triumph. 8 g3 in turn
poses a challange for Black to avoid a draw if he wishes to. Then, Black must
play the dangerus looking 9...c6 since 9...b4 results in a draw.} 1/2-1/2


