USA-Austria friendly match bd. 23, 1999
Volker Jeschonnek
|
B85.
1.e4 c5
2.Nf3 d6
3.d4 cxd4
4.Nxd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 a6
6.Be2 e6
7. | ||
| [10.g4!? championed by Israeli GM Emil Sutovsky but it is certainly not the equivalent of the Spanish torture.] | ||
| 10...Nc6 # 11.g4?! Usually | ||
| [11.Kh1 11.Qe1 are played at this point and, I think, for a good reason. Other moves like 11.Nb3 and 11.Bf3 are reasonable but since Black hasn't declared his intentions yet they might be premature. According to Pedersen one critical game from Black's point of view is Ioseliani, N - Portisch, L, Ladies vs. Veterans Copenhagen 1997 that went: Re8 12.Bf3 Rb8 13.g4 Nd7 because of the position of the black queen rook the relief maneuver | ||
| (13...Nxd4 14.Bxd4 e5 is not effective. After 15.Ba7 Ra8 16.fxe5 dxe5 17.g5 White has a promising position.) | ||
| 14.g5 Bf8 15.Bg2 g6 16.Qf3 b6 17.Qh3 Nb4 18.f5 Nc5 19.Rf4 exf5 20.exf5 Bb7 and now instead of 21.fxg6 Pedersen likes 21.Rh4! for White.] | ||
| 11...Nxd4 12.Qxd4 | ||
| [12.Bxd4 e5 13.Be3 exf4 14.Rxf4 transposes to the game.] | ||
| 12...e5 13.Qd1 exf4 14.Rxf4 Be6 # 15.Nd5 This was probably a difficult choice for my opponent. After | ||
| [15.g5 Nd7 16.h4 Ne5 I am not sure that White's attack is worth the weakening of the kingside but he has a little bit to show for it.] | ||
| 15...Bxd5! 16.exd5 Qa5 Maybe the text move is not necessary and Black could play | ||
| [16...Rae8 right away. On the other hand I liked the idea of provoking c2-c4 since White's dark squares on the queenside become weak and the White'slight-squared becomes even more restricted.] | ||
| 17.c4 In the game Erwich, M - Van Kooten, L, VAM Hoogeveen NED (1) 1999, White avoided weakening the queenside by playing the interesting but somewhat artificial | ||
| [17.Rd4 . The game continued Nd7 18.c3 Rfe8 19.Rb4 Qc7 20.a5 Bf6 21.Qd2 g6 22.Rf1 Bg7 23.Bd1 Nc5 24.Bxc5 Qxc5+ 25.Qf2 Qxf2+ 26.Kxf2 Re7 27.Ba4 Rc8 28.Ra1 Be5 29.h3 Kg7 30.Kf3 Rh8 31.Ra3 h5 32.g5 Rc8 33.Re4 f6 34.gxf6+ Kxf6 35.h4 g5 36.hxg5+ Kxg5 37.Ra1 Rf8+ 38.Kg2 Ref7 39.Re2 Rf3 40.Rg1 Rg3+ 41.Kh1 h4 42.Rxg3+ hxg3 43.Kg2 Rc8 44.Re4 Rc5 45.Bb3 Rxa5 46.Rb4 Rb5 47.Rxb5 axb5 48.Bc2 Kf4 49.Bd3 b4 50.cxb4 Bxb2 51.b5 Bd4 52.Bg6 Bf2 53.Bh5 Ke5 54.Kf1 b6 55.Bf3 Kd4 56.Kg2 Kc5 57.Be2 Kxd5 58.Kf3 Kd4 59.Bf1 d5 60.Ke2 Kc3 61.Bg2 Kc4 62.Kd2 Kxb5 63.Bxd5 Kc5 64.Bg2 Kb4 65.Kc2 b5 and 0-1. It looks as if time trouble played a role here.] | ||
| 17...Rae8 Black's strategy is simple: the first priority is to exchange the dark-square bishops. After that the knight will find an excellent outpost on e5 while White's bishop is bad. If possible Black wants to control the e-file also. What can Whitedo? 18.Rb1!? Nd7 19.b4 It is true that the c-pawn can become a target but it is probably more important to close the holes on the queenside. In an endgame it might also be possible to free the bishop and generate some counterplay by c4-c5. Qd8 20.Rf1 Bg5 21.Bf2 Be3 22.Qc2 Qg5 23.Rb3 Re5! 24.Bxe3 Rxe3 25.Rxe3 Qxe3+ 26.Kh1 Re8 # Black has obtained a very pleasant game. It appears that White has no realistic chance for activity except for a breakthrough on the queenside. However, since there is not much material left on the board this resource must be taken seriously. 27.Bf3 If White has nothing better than a wait and see approach then he might be in serious trouble here. I am not sure whether the tactics work out for White after | ||
| [27.Bd3!? but even if they they did g6 can lead to similar positions than in the game.] | ||
| 27...Ne5 28.Be2 The endgame after | ||
| [28.Be4 Qh3 29.Qg2 Qxg2+ 30.Bxg2 Nxc4 31.b5! a5! looks won for Black.] | ||
| 28...Ng6 29.Bf3 Ne5 I couldn't find any benefits in bringing the knight to f4 or h4. 30.Be2 g6!? In my notes I wrote, "I hope that White will run out of good moves." The idea of 30... g6 was to eliminate shots against h7 or tricks based on the weak back rank. But actually it was safer to take precautions on the other side of the board first with | ||
| [30...Rc8! since White could have tried 31.c5 on the following move.] | ||
| 31.a5 | ||
| [31.c5 is very complicated. It appears that the tactics work in Black's favor and that he can keep a big plus. I wouldn't be surprised, however, if new ideas were found for White: Rc8 | ||
(31...Qd4 32.Rd1
Qxb4 33.cxd6
Qxd6 ) | ||
| 32.c6! Qd4! 33.Rd1! | ||
(33.cxb7 surprisingly doesn't
work Rxc2 34.b8=Q+
Kg7 35.Qxd6
Qe4+ 36.Kg1
h6! ) | ||
|
(33.Qd1 Qe4+! (33...Qxb4
34.Qb1! Qxb1
35.Rxb1 bxc6
36.Bxa6) 34.Bf3 (34.Kg1
Qxb4 35.cxb7 (35.Qb1
Qd4+!) 35...Qxb7) 34...Qxb4 also
pockets a pawn for very little) | ||
| 33...Qxb4 34.Qb1! | ||
| (34.Rb1 Qa5!) | ||
| 34...Qxa4! | ||
|
(34...Qxb1 35.Rxb1
bxc6 36.Bxa6) | ||
| 35.cxb7 | ||
|
(35.Qxb7? Qe4+
36.Kg1 Qe3+
37.Kf1 (37.Kh1
Qxe2) 37...Re8
38.Qxa6 (38.Qb2
Nf3) 38...Qf4+
39.Kg2 Nxg4) | ||
| 35...Rb8 36.Rf1! | ||
| (36.Rc1 Rxb7!!) | ||
|
36...Qd4] | ||
| 31...Rc8!? This puts an end to tricks but although Black has reduced White to passivity it is not yet clear how to break through. 32.Kg2 Not | ||
| [32.Rc1? Nf3 33.Qd1 | ||
| (33.Bxf3 Qxf3+ 34.Qg2 Qf4 and White loses a pawn) | ||
| 33...Ng5 34.Kg2 Nh3 35.Rc2 Nf4+ 36.Kh1 Nxe2 37.Qxe2 Qxe2 38.Rxe2 Rxc4 and the endgame is lost.] | ||
| 32...Kh8!? According to my analysis White's situation is very close to zugzwang here and I wanted to see if White would move the h-pawn. 33.Kh1! | ||
| [33.h3 h5! is very good for Black and after 34.gxh5? gxh5 White is lost.] | ||
| 33...Kg8 34.Kg2 Qa3 After looking at several positional options it appeared best to me to force the issue. 35.Rb1 Rxc4!? 36.Bxc4 Giving up the queen doesn't work since after | ||
| [36.Qxc4? Nxc4 37.Bxc4 Qe3! White loses a piece.] | ||
| 36...Qf3+ 37.Kg1 Qxg4+ 38.Kh1 | ||
| [38.Qg2!? Qd4+ 39.Qf2 Qxc4] | ||
| 38...Nxc4 # The position offers Black some chances but again the situation is not completely clear. At the moment Black cannot trade queens because the resulting endgame is completely lost. The important question is whether Black will be able to increase the activity of the pieces. White, again, can only sit and wait. 39.Re1 Qf3+!? 40.Qg2 Qc3 41.Re8+ Kg7 42.Re4 The active approach | ||
| [42.Qg5 Qxb4 43.Qe7 Ne5 44.Qf8+ Kf6 45.Re6+ Kf5 leads nowhere for White.] | ||
| 42...Nd2! 43.Rf4 f5! # The idea behind Black's moves becomes clear now. The knight will be ideally placed on e4. After that White will it find very hard to defend the weak pawns on b4 and d5. 44.Qe2 Note that | ||
| [44.Rxf5?? fails because of Qc1+] | ||
| 44...Ne4 45.Rxe4 It is hard to criticize this move since the knight was a monster and White will get a pawn also. But the queen ending is actually very good for Black. fxe4 46.Qxe4 Qc1+!? Black could play | ||
| [46...Qe5 right away.] | ||
|
47.Kg2 Qg5+
48.Kh1 # Sadly for White
this is the only reasonable move since the alternatives allow Black to trade down into a trivially won
pawn ending. Together with his move my opponent resigned. Indeed after 48... Qe5 49. Qc4 Kf6 White must
decide whether to remain passive or to sacrifice a (second) pawn for counterplay. He decided that it
was not worth it. Actually I can understand that. Although I am very satisfied with the game I found
it very exhausting, too.
0-1 | ||