Dautov, Rustem - Schoen, Wolfram
German team ch 95/96, 2nd league, 1996
Notes by Wolfram Schoen

D77. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.g3 O-O 5.Bg2 d5 6.O-O Nc6 #A side line with some nasty tricks!

[6...c6 or]

[6...dxc4 7.Na3 are of course well known alternatives]

7.Ne5?! This move looks active, but Black can counter this.

[7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Nc3 Nb6 transposes to one of the sharp mainlines of the g3-Gruenfeld. But White has avoided this line in his recent moves. Why he should adopt thisnow?]

[7.Nbd2 is a more quiet continuation, for example: a5 8.b3 Ne4 9.Bb2 Be6 10.e3 f5 11.a3 h6 12.Rc1 Bf7 Sutkus,R - Schoen,W, CC ct 95, with nearly equal play. That was the "source" of my preparation for this line.]

7...dxc4 Now we have some similarities with a sharp line of the Catalan. 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Bxc6 # Bh3 10.Re1 Rb8 11.Nc3? #Dautov himself was the first to blame this move in the post-mortem. But as far as I can remember, we came to the conclusion that White has to go for equality and not Black. In comparison with that line in the Catalan, Black has many more possibilities for activity, especially the Bh3 doing his job.

[11.Na3 putting pressure on c4 is better]

11...Ng4 12.d5

[12.e3 e5 13.Bf3

(13.d5 e4 14.Nxe4 Ne5 15.f3 Qc8 does not solve White's problems.)

13...exd4 14.exd4 Nxf2 15.Kxf2 Bxd4+ 16.Re3 Re8 17.Nd5 Bc5 18.b4 cxb3 19.Ba3 Bxe3+ 20.Nxe3 b2 Quinteros,M - Portisch,L, Manila 74]

12...Qc8 #On d8, the Black Queen is out of action, so by playing her to c8, she can take part in the attack with just one jump to f5 13.Bf4?!

[13.Qc2 to control b2 and f5 is a safer choice. Bd4 14.Nd1 Ne5 15.Be3 Qg4 16.f3 Bxe3+ 17.Nxe3 Qd4 18.Qc3 Nxc6 19.dxc6 Qxc3 20.bxc3 Be6 21.Nc2 Rb6

(21...Rb2)

22.Nd4 Bd5 23.Red1 e5 24.Nf5 Bxc6 25.Ne7+ Kg7 26.Nxc6 Rxc6 Karpov managed to win this endgame! Karpov-Zezulkin, 6th Corsican Masters 2002, 1-0 (70).]

13...g5! After

[13...Rxb2 14.Qc1 Rb6 White can recover a bit. I didn't want to give him a break.]

14.Bxg5 Well, I don't think a (human) GM would play

[14.Bc1 instead.]

14...Qf5 15.Bf4 Rxb2 16.Rc1 Now

[16.Qc1? Rc2 simply loses. That was the idea of 13 .. g5.]

16...Be5 17.f3

[17.e4 Rxf2 is quite nice, I think: 18.Re2 Rxe2 19.Qxe2 Bd4+ 20.Kh1 Qh5]

17...Bxf4 18.gxf4

[18.fxg4 Be3+ 19.Kh1 Qf3+ is a nice moment, when you see that line in your calculation]

18...Ne3 19.Qa4

[19.Qd4 Qg6+ 20.Kf2 Nf5 wins immediately because of the mate on g2 and the attack to the Queen on d4.]

19...Kh8 #Just to bring the last piece into action, the Rf8. Well, that was not the idea when I played 13. .. g5, but sometimes all fits together. And what do you know... you can be the hero of the day! 20.Kf2 Qxf4 21.Bd7 e6 #OK, the "boxes" showed that here I missed some faster ways to win, but if you see a clear win with 5 or 10 minutes to go, you just play it. 22.Rg1 Nf5 23.Qxa7 Rb6 24.Rg3 #White exceeded the time limit. But that just rescued him from getting slaughtered.

[24.Rg3 Qe3+ 25.Ke1 Qxc1+]

0-1

D77. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.g3 O-O 5.Bg2 d5 6.O-O Nc6 #A side line with some nasty tricks!
	[6...c6 or]

	[6...dxc4 7.Na3 are of course well known alternatives]
7.Ne5?! This move looks active, but Black can counter this.
	[7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Nc3 Nb6 transposes to one of the sharp mainlines of the g3-Gruenfeld. But White has avoided this line in his recent moves. Why he should adopt thisnow?]

	[7.Nbd2 is a more quiet continuation, for example: a5 8.b3 Ne4 9.Bb2 Be6 10.e3 f5 11.a3 h6 12.Rc1 Bf7 Sutkus,R - Schoen,W, CC ct 95, with nearly equal play. That was the "source" of my preparation for this line.]
7...dxc4 Now we have some similarities with a sharp line of the Catalan. 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Bxc6 # Bh3 10.Re1 Rb8 11.Nc3? #Dautov himself was the first to blame this move in the post-mortem. But as far as I can remember, we came to the conclusion that White has to go for equality and not Black. In comparison with that line in the Catalan, Black has many more possibilities for activity, especially the Bh3 doing his job.
	[11.Na3 putting pressure on c4 is better]
11...Ng4 12.d5
	[12.e3 e5 13.Bf3
		(13.d5 e4 14.Nxe4 Ne5 15.f3 Qc8 does not solve White's problems.)
	13...exd4 14.exd4 Nxf2 15.Kxf2 Bxd4+ 16.Re3 Re8 17.Nd5 Bc5 18.b4 cxb3 19.Ba3 Bxe3+ 20.Nxe3 b2 Quinteros,M - Portisch,L, Manila 74]
12...Qc8 #On d8, the Black Queen is out of action, so by playing her to c8, she can take part in the attack with just one jump to f5 13.Bf4?!
	[13.Qc2 to control b2 and f5 is a safer choice. Bd4 14.Nd1 Ne5 15.Be3 Qg4 16.f3 Bxe3+ 17.Nxe3 Qd4 18.Qc3 Nxc6 19.dxc6 Qxc3 20.bxc3 Be6 21.Nc2 Rb6
		(21...Rb2)
	22.Nd4 Bd5 23.Red1 e5 24.Nf5 Bxc6 25.Ne7+ Kg7 26.Nxc6 Rxc6 Karpov managed to win this endgame! Karpov-Zezulkin, 6th Corsican Masters 2002, 1-0 (70).]
13...g5! After
	[13...Rxb2 14.Qc1 Rb6 White can recover a bit. I didn't want to give him a break.]
14.Bxg5 Well, I don't think a (human) GM would play
	[14.Bc1 instead.]
14...Qf5 15.Bf4 Rxb2 16.Rc1 Now
	[16.Qc1? Rc2 simply loses. That was the idea of 13 .. g5.]
16...Be5 17.f3
	[17.e4 Rxf2 is quite nice, I think: 18.Re2 Rxe2 19.Qxe2 Bd4+ 20.Kh1 Qh5]
17...Bxf4 18.gxf4
	[18.fxg4 Be3+ 19.Kh1 Qf3+ is a nice moment, when you see that line in your calculation]
18...Ne3 19.Qa4
	[19.Qd4 Qg6+ 20.Kf2 Nf5 wins immediately because of the mate on g2 and the attack to the Queen on d4.]
19...Kh8 #Just to bring the last piece into action, the Rf8. Well, that was not the idea when I played 13. .. g5, but sometimes all fits together. And what do you know... you can be the hero of the day! 20.Kf2 Qxf4 21.Bd7 e6 #OK, the "boxes" showed that here I missed some faster ways to win, but if you see a clear win with 5 or 10 minutes to go, you just play it. 22.Rg1 Nf5 23.Qxa7 Rb6 24.Rg3 #White exceeded the time limit. But that just rescued him from getting slaughtered.
	[24.Rg3 Qe3+ 25.Ke1 Qxc1+]
0-1