e

aevsky
Sicilian Love
Lev Polugaevsky
Chess Tournament
Buenos Aires 1 994

Lev Polugaevsky
Jeroen Piket
Christophe Gueneau

a NEW IN CH publication
 Jan Plooij
DagobertKohlmeyer
Harold Steiner
Joris van Velzen
Rosa de las Nievas
Nigel Eddis
Bas Beekhuizen
Drawings: Rupert van der Linden
Translations from Russian: Ken Neat
Translations from French: Glenn Flear
Proof reading: Ken Neat
Geurt Gijssen

Production: H.A. Roest

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ISBN 90-71689-99-9

INTERCHESS BV 1995

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Preface

Without any doubt chess is one of the most fascinating games. Already at a tender
age I came under its spell. I was reasonably successful in youth competitions and
still cherish pleasant memories of my participation in theJ uniorWorldChampionship
in 1955. O ccupied by professional dutiesI was unable to invest much energy in chess
later on. N ow, more than thirty years on, I again have the possibility to dedicate more
time to chess.
For me the most attractive part of chess is the active middle-game. I prefer sharp
positions, in which both players go to the brink of the abyss. Ex actly for that reason
Lev Polugaevsky has always been one of my favourite players.
A couple of years ago I met Lev in person. I t was he who opened my eyes again for
the rich variety of possibilities that chess offers us. Partly through him I learned to
enj oy chess even more. I am very grateful to Lev for this and wanted to show my
gratitude by offering him something on the occasion of his six tieth birthday that
would not only be a treat to the entire chess world, but also to Lev in particular: a
chess tournament.
It was completely clear to me that it should be a tournament centered around the most
beautiful of chess openings, the Sicilian, an opening to whose development Lev has
contributed a lot.
In B uenos Aires we witnessed a historic tournament, a tournament worthy of my
good friend Lev Polugaevsk y. Unfortunately Lev could not participate himself due
to illness, but much to my j oy I could see that he intensely followed and enj oyed all
the games.
I t will be clear that this Sicilian tournament deserves to be recorded in a book . It is
eq ually obvious that the history of the Sicilian opening deserves a place in this book,
as does an introduction to the person of Lev Polugaevsky.
All these ingredients are contained in this document. I am most happy that I nterchess,
one of the most prominent institutes in the fi eld of chess reporting is publishing this
book.
I hope that this book will give you, the reader, a lot of Sicilian pleasure.

J.J. van Oosterom.

Speech by Lev Polugaevsky
during the closing ceremony

D ear M uriel andJ oop!

I want to thank you very much on my part and in the name of all the other participants
for this wonderful tournament. We will never forget this fantastic event. Your love of
chess combines perfectly with the Argentinian chess temperament. M aybe this is
why the tournament was such a success.
I would lik e to thank all my colleagues for the wonderful games played here that
brought all chess lovers so many happy moments.
I want to say words of thank s to the organiz ers, both from H olland and Argentina,
and to the chief arbiter, who contributed a lot to the tournament.
I am very glad that every day we had the opportunity to see living legend M iguel
N aj dorf, ever- creative grandmaster B ent Larsen, who gave ex cellent comments on
all games, Argentinian grandmasters Panno, Guimard andQuinteros, and many other
players.
F inally I would lik e to say that maybe it' s a pity that nobody in the tournament took
the risk of using the Polugaevsky variation. B ut on the other hand this also means
that nobody could destroy the variation. The Polugaevsk y variation is still alive!
To its health, my friends.
Contents

My Sicilian Love 11
Ten memorable Sicilians
by Lev Polugaevsky
'I am almost a decathlete of the Sicilian'
An interview with Lev Polugaevsky
by Christophe Gueneau
A Certain History of the Sicilian Defence 49
by Christophe Gueneau

Lev Polugaevsky Chess Tournament Buenos Aires 1994 87

Tournament report
by Christophe Gueneau
Round 1 10 1
Round 2 111
Round3 12 1
Round4 129
Round5 137
Round 6 145
Round 7 155
Round 8 163
Round9 173
Round 10 183
Round 1 1 191
Roo 12 1
Round 13 207
Round 14 2 17
Tournament Crosstable 229

Games index 229

Index of variations 230

Association Max Euwe 233

Fundacion Banco Patricios 234

List of illustrations 235

Solution to the chess problem from page 100 236

My Sicilian Love
Ten memorable Sicilians

Lev Polugaevsky

Throughout my lengthy career I have

tried out numerous opening ideas in a
great variety of systems. But it has so
happened, that I have become firmly
established as a 'champion' of the Sicilian.
It is to the Sicilian Defence that I have
devoted the best 'pages' of my life, my
'eternal love' for this opening being
determined by its uncompromising nature
and the depth of its plans.
I give here my ten most memorable
'Sicilians'. The majority of them are
being published for the first time with
detailed comments, and I hope
that readers will enjoy
analysing them.

11
 51 47.2 1 0...e6 1 1 .tLlc3 i..e7 1 2.d5
D Yu khtman White is obliged to simplify the position, other
Polugaevsky wise after 12... l0b4 or 12..J%.d8 he himself would
Soviet Championship, Tbilisi 1 959 have to seek a way to equalise.

1 2...edS 1 3. tLldS tLldS 1 4. 'tli'dS

In the 1950s the name ofYakov Yukhtman was
well known among us young players. He un On 14.i.d5 there would, of course, have fol
doubted!y possessed a natural and rare talent, one lowed 14 ... 0-0-0.
that particularly manifested itself in sharp posi
1 4.. .'ifd5 1 5.d5 0-0 1 6..ic6 beG
tions, in which he was very resourceful and strong.
1 7 .tLld4 i..d7 1 8.Lf4
But in simple, classical positions his ingenuity
markedly waned, and his play was less strong. White assumes that he needs to occupy the h2-b8
diagonal to prevent the black rook from using the
1 .e4 cs 2.c3
b-file. But in doing so, he loses control over another
Yukhtman had a poor knowledge of chess theory diagonal, a1-h8, along which the black bishop gains
and he would often endeavour to avoid topical good prospects. The sound 18.e3 followed by
variations. But the narrow repertoire that he did 19Jbcl would have ensured him a quiet life.
play, he had studied well.

2 ... tLlf6 3.e5 tLldS 4.d4 cd4 S ..ic4

tLlb6 6 ..ib3 tLlc6 7.tLlf3 dS
Understandably, I did not want to tempt fate in
the continuation 7 ...dc3 8.tLlc3, and I chose in
stead a reliable course.

8.ed6
After 8.cd4 f5 or 8.....ig4 Black has no prob
lems: all his pieces are ideally placed.

8 ... 'tli'd6 9.0-0 ilfS

1 8....if6 1 9..U.ad1 cS 20.tLlf3

Another inaccuracy. White's queenside is left
without any defenders, unexpectedly his a- and
b-pawns are left to the mercy of fate, and although
he manages to exchange one of them, he is unable
completely to rid himself of problems on this part
of the board. The advantage of the two bishops
is becoming a real factor, and already here the
'alarm' should have sounded for White.
I think that the best solution was 20.l0b3 a4
2U:f.d5, when gradually Black would have had
to reconcile himself to an inevitable draw.

1 0.cd4 20...i.e6 21 .b3 c4 22.tLld2 cb3

23.ab3
An inaccuracy, after which the position is equal.
The only way to try for an advantage was by White is afraid that after 23.l0b3 a5 24.1.1d2 .l::l.fc8
10.l0d4 l0d4 l l .cd4. Black will tie him to the defence of the a-pawn.

12
 My Sicilian Love

23 .. J:tfc8 24.h3 h6 25.lue4 ii.e7 51 7.2

26Jld3 D Nezhmetdinov
White was evidently intending to play 26. d6, Polugaevsky
but at the last moment he noticed that after Soviet Championship, Baku 1 961
26 ... d6 27. tDd6l:!.cb8! he would lose a pawn.
There is nothing to be done - he has to live with Rashid Nezhmetdinov, a representative of Tatar
the two enemy bishops. (Russia), was rightly called an attacking genius.
When it was a matter of going for the king, he
26 ... l:!.c6 27.l:!.a1 a6 28.g4?
had no equals, and in combinational skirmishes
Black has regrouped his forces, and in many he was totally in his element.
cases is preparing 28 . ..l:!.b6, or 28 ...g5 followed The pairings gave him the white pieces against
by 29 . ..f5 . White loses patience, and commits a me. In rapid tempo the following initial moves
serious mistake. were made:
28 ... f5! gf5 f5 30.l:!.e3 1 .e4 c5 2.tbf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tbd4
tbf6 5.tbc3 a6 6.g5 e6 7.f4 bS
30J:!.e 1 was bad on account of 30... l:1e6 3 1 l:!.
. de3
.ib4 32.l:!. le2l:!.ae8 33.tt:Jd6l:!.g6! 8.e5 deS 9.fe5 'f/c7 1 0.ef6 'f/e5
1 1 .tbe4!?
30 .. Jle6 31 J:la4 .:us 32...ih2 dB!
An unusual idea, which belonged to Nezhrnetdi
33.tbd2 .tl.g6
nov himself. He had tested it at a training session
Black could of course have played 33 ...J:le3, but for Russian players at Solnechny, near Lenin
he is dissatisfied with such a small gain, and he grad, in a consultation game. The point of it is to
continues his combined attack. retain the dark-squared bishop.
34.l:!.g3 .l:I.c6 35.tbc4 d7! 1 1 ... 'f/e4 1 2.tbe2 tbc6 1 3.'f/d2

It was in this position, for which both players had

aimed, that the 'mine' was detonated
1 3 ... h6!

The threats rain in on White from all sides. He is

unable to parry them all, and he quickly loses.
36. .tl.a1 h4 37.l:!.d3 f2 38.<;tg2
.ifS 39 .tl.f3 e4 40.tbe5 ..if3

Here I should digress for a moment from specific

41 .tbf3 l:!.c2 42.d6 .tl.f6 43.e5
analysis, and recall once again what it was that
h4 44.<i.t>h1 llf3
caused me to search for a new continuation in this
White resigned. particular position.
A subtle game! Black made splendid use of his First of all - common sense. However risky The
'slight' advantage. Variation was, I thought, it was just not possible

13
that White should refute it by removing from the
centre his excellently-placed knight from d4 to e2,
thereby losing time and hindering the develop
ment of his own pieces. Of course, surprises,
normally unpleasant ones, have frequently
awaited Black in The Variation, and will con
tinue to do so, but so-called intuition strongly
suggested to me that on this occasion White
was seeking a refutation of The Variation in a
blank space, and that the golden truth lay else
where. It was a general understanding of what
had long since become familiar problems,
which caused me to seek a defence here, rather
than by further move-by-move analysis. After
1 7. St.d3 tbb4!
all, at this particular moment White himself
has withdrawn his actively-placed pieces, and The time lost by White on his knight manoeuvres
for a certain time the only piece which is still begins to tell: in evacuating his king, he is forced
available for sharp attacking possibilities is the to part with one of his bishops.
bishop at g5 . This means that Black should not
1 8.o-O tbd3 19.'it'd3 l:!.d8 20.'fie2 h5!
bother with prophylaxis such as 1 3 .. J:ta7, as
played earlier, but should utilise this favour Leaving his king in the centre, Black begins an
able opportunity to drive the bishop from its attack.
active position.
21 Jlae1 ?
I have to admit that, when I found the move
1 3 ... h6, for a certain time, I was unable, due to A serious mistake, after which White's position
excitement, to continue the analysis. It became is barely defensible. 2 1 .'it'f2 is correct, although
clear to me that Nezhmetdinov's idea of 1 1 . t2Je4, even then 2 l .. .'it'e3 22.'it'e3 i.d4 23. 1i'd4 J:!.d4
which appeared so menacing, would be cut off at gives Black the better chances in the ending.
the root by this modest pawn advance, and that
21 ... h4 22.'fif2 l:!.d7 23.tbe2 h3
the triumph of The Variation in this line would be
24.gh3
complete. During the game I was particularly glad
that the innovation was being employed against On 24.i.d4 Black has the very strong reply
the actual inventor of this system of attack. 24. .. J:Id4. But now the devastated residence of the
white king creates a painful impression.
1 4.e3 b7 1 5.tbg3
24.. Jlh3 25.tbg3 'fid5 26. St.b6
The first fruits of the innovation: at the board White
St.e5
fails to choose the strongest route for his knight.
However, 1 5 .lbc3 would have been met by the
simple 15 .. .'fih4 and 1 6.. .'*i'f6, while in the event of
15.fg7 g7 1 6.0-0-0IZ.d8 1 7 .lbc3 Black has both
17 .. ..l':td2, with a reasonable ending, and 1 7...'ifg5.
His opening difficulties are behind him.
1 5 ... 'fie5 1 6.fg7 St.g7

Here we can sum up: the strategic plan of The

Variation has been implemented one hundred per
cent. Black is excellently developed, and the
placing of his bishops is particularly good. This
allows his position to be considered the more
promising.

14
 My Sicilian Love

The threat of 27. . J:tg3 forces White to part with game, since there was no time to study for White
the exchange. But his misfortunes do not end the subtleties of the possible Sicilian, Ruy Lopez,
there: the second 'storm column' - the f-pawn or Pirc Defence. But I did not even set myself
-is sent forward. such a task. Just the opposite: in order to enliven
my play and force my brain to work, I intended
27.I:te5 e5 28.I:te1 g5 29.e3
to solve all resulting problems at the board.
g4 30.I:tf1 f5 31 .f4 I:td1 32.c3
And that is what happened. Osnos employed a
I:th4 33.c7 f4 34.f4 f4
system that I had never analysed (after all, I don't
White resigns. After 35. f4 .l:tfl 36.ttJfl .l:l.f4 he play l .e4 !). This could have unsettled me, had I
comes out a rook down. not planned such a situation beforehand. As a
The impression made by this game was so great, result , at the board I managed to find a plan for
and the virtues of the move 1 3 ...h6 were so obtaining an advantage, and, more important,
obvious, that the Nezhmetdinov system immedi convert it into a win.
ately lost its topicality, and subsequently there It is for this reason that I consider this game to
were essentially no more serious games played be a decisive one. It indeed changed the course
on this theme. of a tournament for me. My play became more
lively, and point after point appeared for me in
the tournament table. And in the end - a share of
first place, a match with Alexander Zaitsev, and
the title for USSR Champion.
51 28.3 1 .e4 c5 2.lL'lf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.lL'ld4
D Polugaevsky ttJf6 5.lL'lc3 lL'lc6 6.g5 e6 7.d2
e7 8.0-0-0 lL'ld4
Osnos
Soviet Championship, A i ma Ala 1 968 This early exchange of knights in the Rauzer
Variation enjoys a dubious reputation, and not
I know from my own experience that sometimes without reason. Evidently my opponent never
one follows all the rules in preparing for a tour theless ventured upon it, because he did not wish
nament, but ones's play, as they say, won't 'get after 8 ...0-0 to allow White to play 9.ttJb3, which
going' . Whether it is psychology or something markedly reduces Black's chances of an attack
else that is the cause of this, I do not know. But on the white king.
I have seen very many players in this state, and
9.d4 0-0
each has tried to escape from it in his own way.
It was this that happened to me in the 1 969 USSR
Championship at Alma Ata. Game after game I
played somehow very leisurely, my thinking was
sluggish, and uninteresting even to me myself.
The result appeared natural enough: in the first
half of the tournament - one draw after another,
a fifty per cent score, and a place far away from
the leading group. It was absolutely essential to
master myself. 'Better to lose than to play such
depressing draws,' I decided, and before the next
round, the l Oth, in which I was to meet
Vyacheslav Osnos, I decided on a course of play
that was completely unusual for me. And for this
purpose I played l .e4 - a move that I practically
never employ.
1 0.i.c4
It was obvious that by this the opponent was af
forded a mayor trump in the opening stage of the The most rapid wins for White have occurred

15
when he has played IO.e5 ! , for example IO...de5 rists bring in their verdicts (which, incidentally,
l l . 'il'e5 d7 1 2.h4! l:.c8 1 3 .Uh3 l:tc5 14. 'iie3 are not always final) only on the basis of our
'iic8 1 5.Ug3 ! t;t>h8 (or 1 5 ... l:td8 16.h5 e8 general experience and practice...
1 7 ..id3 g6 1 8. ti:Je4 Ud3 1 9. 'iid3 b5 20.ti:Jf6
6 2 l . f6 d3 22.Ugd3 l:tc2 23. 'bl and in 1 2....-tcs

the game Zavernyaev-Kalinin, Soviet Union It is clear that 1 2. ..b5 is refuted by 1 3.e5 !, but the
1 960, Black resigned) 16. t;t>b l 'iic6 1 7 .h5 l:tg8 move played also deserves censure. The bishop
1 8 .h6 gh6 1 9. 6 .if6 20.l:tg8 t;t>g8 2l. ti:Je41U5 moves away from the defence of e6, which may
22.ti:Jf6 l:tf6 23. 'iid 3, and White won quickly be attacked by the white f-pawn. Therefore
(Zhilin-Furman, Soviet Union 1 958). 1 2. . JHd8 1 3.l:thfl Uac8 1 4.f5 'iic5 is more logi
Why then, if I knew these games, did I not play cal, although here too White retains a promising
IO.e5? In the first instance because most prob position.
ably Osnos also knew them. What's more, not
1 3J:thf1
only knew them, but since the variation was part
of his arsenal, he may have had some subtleties White consistently carries through his plan of
prepared. To refute these at the board would playing f4-f5, provoking ...e6-e5, and seizing the
probably have required considerable effort, and d5 square. Possibly here too Black should have
I was not wanting to force matters. The more so, resorted to the manoeuvre 13 . . .h6 14 ..ih4 'ifh5,
since after IO... de5 1 1 . 'iie5 .id7 1 2.h4 Uc8 1 3.Uh3 but my opponent very quickly made what
Black has the quiet reply 1 3 . .. 'ifc7. Now after seemed to be a highly energetic move.
14. 'iic7 l:tc7 15. ti:Jb5 b5 1 6. .ib5 l:tfc8 it is not
1 3... b5
at all easy to utilise the advantage of the two
bishops, while 14.'ife3 .ic6 1 5.Ug3 l:.fd8 does
not cause Black any particular difficulties.
1 0 .. .'tti' a5 1 1 .f4 d7
The position after 1 1 ...h6 1 2.h4 e5 is well
known to theory. Black's move in the game was
the 'latest word' at that time. Leaving the white
bishop at g5, Black parries the possible 1 2.e5 de5
1 3 .fe5 by 1 3 ...c6, when his light-squared
bishop occupies an excellent post.
1 2.i.b3!?

This was found at the board. I did not care for

either 1 2. t;t>b l .ic6 1 3.Uhfl Uad8 14 ..ib3 h6
15.h4 'ifh5 !, when the queen becomes an ac I sensed that it was on the solution to this particu
tive defender of her king, or 1 2.Uhfl b5 ! 1 3 ..ib3 lar problem that if not everything, then a great
b4, when Black seizes the initiative. The game deal, depended. I thought for almost an hour, and
Keres-Geller, Curacao Candidates 1 962, went found a refutation . . .
1 2.Uhel l:tfd8 13. b3, and instead of the erro
1 4.-tfG! ..tf6
neous 1 3 ... b5?! as played, Black, by the same
manoeuvre 1 3 . ..h6 ! 1 4. 4 'ifh5 !, could have No better is 14 ... gf6 1 5.f5 ! b4 16. t2Je2, when
obtained a perfectly satisfactory game. Later, Black cannot maintain his pawn at e6.
theory pronounced the strongest in this position
1 5.'iid6 c3
to be 1 2.e5 de5 13.fe5 c6 14..id2! ti:Jd7 15. tt:Jd5
'iid8 1 6.ti:Je7 'iie7 1 7J:thel l:tfc8 18. 'iif4, as If Black had attempted to repair the basic defect of
occurred in the games Tseshkovsky-Korensky, his position, and had defended his light-squared
Soviet Union 1 973, and Karpov-Ungureanu at bishop by 15 ... l:tac8, then White had prepared
the 1 972 Olympiad in Skopje. But after all, theo- 16.e5! .!';lfd8 17. 'iic 5!, andif 17 ....ig2, then 18. 'iig l !

16
 My Sicilian Love

il l 1 9.ef6, which concludes the game instantly. On 2 l ....l:.f8 White can play 22.a3, or 22 ..ie6 fe6
If 1 5 ... b6 16.f5, and now after 1 6. . .J:Hd8 the 23.g3; 22.c3 ..ie5 23Jlt7, winning quickly.
queen retreats to g3, while on 1 6.....ic3 the piece
22.a3 .rl.f8
sacrifice 1 7.fe6 ! is decisive, e.g. 1 7 .... .if6 1 8 .et7
c;t.>h8 1 9JH6! .l:.ad8 20. d8, winning. It was on
these and numerous other similar variation that I
spent an hour in thought on my 14th move.
1 6.'ifc6 llac8 1 7.'it'd7

23 ..ie6!
Also possible was the more spectacular 23.g3
.ig5 (mate follows after 23 ... .ie5 24.l:l.t7 l:l.t7
25. e8) 24. e6! fe6 25 ..ie6 .l:.t7 26..1:.t7 d8
(if 26... el 27.a2 e5, then 28 ..1:.f6 !) 27 . .1:.d7
1 7... .rl.fd8? f8 28.l:l.d8 ..id8. But firstly, I did not want to
This move has to be condemned. As is .soon play an ending (even though it was won) with
apparent, this rook should have stayed where it opposite-colour bishops, and secondly, I am not
was to defend t7. The lesser evil was 1 7 ....1:.cd8 an advocate of brilliance for brilliance's sake, if
1 8 . b7 ! , with advantage to White after 1 8 . . Jlb8 there exists a more rational possibility.
1 9. e7, or 18 .....id2 1 9.b l i.f4 20..1:.d8 d8
23 ... g5 24.g3 fe6
(or 20. .Jld8 2l .g3 c7 22. b5 .ie5, and White
is a pawn up) 21 . b5. And although White White also has a pretty win after 24 ... e2 25 ..l:.f4
should probably be able gradually to realise his gf4 26.'ii'g5 'it>h8 27. h6 ! l:l.g8 (if27. .. g8, then
advantage, Osnos should have reconciled him 28 ..if5) 28. f6 l:l.g7 29. 7. when Black can
self to this continuation. But he failed to foresee not halt the advance of the e-pawn, e.g. 29 ... d l
that which occurred in the game ... 30.a2 d7 (or 30... d4 3 1 ..ib3 !) 3 l .e6 d5
32.b3 d6 33.e7 !, and wins.
1 8.'it'e7 d2 1 9.'itb1 ..if4 20.l:ld8
.rl.d8 25.'it'e6 g7 26.gf4 'ifg2

There is little pleasure in playing on a pawn down Black merely prolongs the resistance by 26 ... .l:.f4
after 20 ...'it'd8 2 l . a7, since 2 l . ... ih2 fails due 27JH4 f4 28. d7 'it>g6 29. b5 'ii'h2 30. c6
to the weakness of t7. 'it>h5 3 l . e4.

21 .e5! 27.l:ld1 gf4 28.'it'd7 .l:l.f7

It was this move that escaped Black's attention. Nothing is changed by 28 ... 'it>g8 29.e6 g6
The immediate 21 .g3 is parried by 2l ... c7, but 30.e7 l:l.e8 3 1 . e8 e8 32 . .1:.d8 'it>t7 33 . .1:.e8 'it>e8
now his forces are disunited, and he loses due to 34.r&t>cl, when White has a won pawn ending.
the weakness of t7 and the back rank.
29.e6
21 ... 'it'd2
Black resigned.

17
 51 23. 1
D Beliavsky
Po lugaevsky
Soviet Championship, Moscow 1973

Alexander Beliavsky is perhaps one of the most

'obstinate' players in the world. This trait of his
character is especially clearly apparent in the
opening. Beliavsky has always attached enor
mous importance to the initial stage of the game,
and this has often caused difficulties for his op
ponents.
Understandably, the Sicilian Defence has been
1 8.'ifd2 i.b4 1 9.d4 t2Je4 20.'ife3
the topic of sharp disputes between us in various
Ilfe8 21 .lbe4
tournaments.
White is unable to endure the opposition of queen
1 .e4 cS 2.tLlf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tLld4
and rook, and is forced to make this exchange,
tLlf6 5.tLlc3 a6 6.a4 e6 7.e2 t2Jc6
after which Black gains a powerful outpost in the
8.e3 e7 9.0-0 d7
centre. Although the black pawn is blockaded,
A little bit of cunning - the idea is to carry out the white queen, tied to it, becomes its 'prisoner'.
the typical knight-exchanging operation before
21 ... de4 22.g4 J:tcd8
castling.
This reply is very unpleasant for White: on the
1 O.t2Jb3 tLlaS 1 1 .f4
planned 23...ib6 comes the deadly 23 .....id2!!
An unfortunate idea. White hopes to gain posses 24.'iff2 e3.
sion of the c-file, but something else is much
23.h1 J:tdS!
more important: he presents Black with a pawn
majority in the centre, and for the white rooks Once again Black rises to the occasion: against
there is no real scope on the c-file. Therefore 24.b6 he had planned the same stroke
ll.tt:Ja5 'ifa5 12.1\Vd2 was more in the spirit of 24.....id2! 25.1\Vgl 'ifb4.
the position. Now White should have displayed prudence and
gone onto the defensive with 24...ie2. But he
1 1 ... tLlb3 1 2.cb3 c6 1 3.'i!Wc2
continues playing 'actively', and this finally ruins
Another inaccuracy: it is totally unclear whether his position.
White will need this move in the future. The
24.f5? ..icS 25. ..ic5 cs 26.'i!Vc5
natural l3...if3 would have maintained the posi
.l:tcS
tional balance.
The exchange of queens has not eased the situ
1 3 .. Jlc8 1 4.f3 'ifaS!
ation for White, since his pawn structure still
Emphasising the lack of mobility of White's contains irreparable weaknesses.
pawn structure, and ensuring favourable condi
27.Ilac1 l:tc1 28.l:tc1 l::l.e S!
tions for a break in the centre.
Putting the final touch to Black's overall strategy.
1 5..:tfd1 o-o 1 6.'iff2 d5 1 7.ed5 edS!
It only remains for him to bring up his king.
At first sight it appears that Black has given
29.g1 f8 30.f2 e3 31 .g3
himself an isolated pawn in the centre, and that
e7 32Jle1 f6 33.f4 hS!
White will establish control over d4. But in fact
such a pawn, which attacks the very important e4 The concluding stroke. The white bishop has to
square, requires constant surveillance by White. reconcile itself to the pitiful role of an 'observer',

18
 My Sicilian Love

since 34.d1 g2 35.I:te3 I:tf5 leads to loss of In this apparently risky line, to which theory has
material. given the name of the 'Polugaevsky Variation',
how many times has Black succeeded in finding
additional resources. Opening guides, including
the fundamental Encyclopaedia of Chess Open
ings, give only two lines here:
A) 1 3 ... i.. b4 1 4 .i..e 2 I:tb8 15.t2Je4 0-0 1 6.t2Jf6!
t2Jf6 17 .i..f6 i..b7 18. 'it'h3 ! with a winning attack
for White (Kelecevic-Bucan, Portoroz Yugoslav
Championship 197 1 ).
B) 1 3...i..c5 14.i..e2 'it'c7 1 5.t2Je4 0-0 (15...'f/e5
is bad because of 16.I:thfl with the threat of 17 .i..f4)
16.'it'g3 h8 17 .f4 and White has an obvious
advantage (Tomson-Kovacevic, Soviet Union
versus Yugoslavia 1961).
In GrandmasterAchievement (Cadogan, 1994) I show
that 13 .. .i..b7 14.i..e2 again gives White the advan
34.h3 l:te4 35.cJilf3 l:tb4
tage. The idea ofBlack's move in the present game
And White resigned, to save himself further tor is that in some cases he has counterplay with ...g5.
ment. I hit upon this idea a long time ago, but the subtleties
and certain details were only polished up before the
tournament and ... during my night-time prepara
tions for this game with my trainer Oleg Averkin.
1 4.h4 b7 1 5.e2 'f/c7 1 6.l:the1

51 7.5 White indirectly defends his e-pawn. The alter

native was to try an immediate attack on f7 by
D Gruenfeld 16.I:thfl or 1 6.i.h5.
Polugaevsky
1 6 t2Jc5
.

lnterzonol Tou rnament, Riga 1 9 79

1 6 ... t2Je5 is bad: 1 7 .'it'g3 g5 1 8.i..b5 ab5 1 9.t2Jb5
followed by capturing on e5.
1 .e4 c5 2.t2Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.lLld4
lLlf6 5.tLlc3 a6 6.g5 e6 7.f4 b5 1 7.'f/h3
8.e5 deS 9.fe5 'f/c7 1 0.'fie2 lLlfd7
1 1 .0-0-0 t2Jc6 1 2.tLlc6 'fic6
1 3.'fid3 h6!

1 7... b4!?

19
Perhaps it would have been more prudent to
21 .wb1 ?
choose the less risky 1 7 .. Jlc8, but I felt an incli
nation to go in for complications. Especially This loses and .. .leaves behind the scenes a mass
since at the board I had found a totally unex of interesting variations, which I had been con
pected move, which would set White incredibly sidering for roughly an hour. It stands to reason
difficult problems. No, of course, my opponent's that neither 2l .'it'b3? i.b5, nor 2 l .cb3 .ib5 is
position cannot be considered bad or even infe playable. Therefore, by the method of elimina
rior: after all, White has not done anything ' un tion, White was bound to choose 2 l .ab3 ! , when
lawful' . It was simply that the resulting situation my calculation continued 2L.l::tal 22.Wd2 'ir'd7
gave great scope to fantasy, demanded deep, 23.'lt>e3 ! (not 23.We2 i.b5) 23 ....ic5 24.'lt>f4 g5
exact and lengthy calculation, and I was hoping 25. Wg3 ! l:tdl! (if 25 . .. gh4? then 26. Wh3 ! tl.dl
for success. 27.i.c6 ! l::te l 28 .i.d7, and White has the advan
tage wherever the king moves: 28 ... Wd7 29.'it'b7
1 8.lt.Jb5!
and 30.'it'b8, or 28...We7 29.'it'f6, or 28 ... Wf8
White accepts the challenge, which, moreover, 29.'it'f6 J:!.h7 30.e6), and since after 26.l::tdl? !
he is unable to decline. After 1 8.ttJbl the initia gh4 27.Wh3 i.f3 28.l::td7 i.e2! 29.J:!.b7 b5
tive is with Black, while the ' attacking' 1 8.ttJa4 30.l::tb8 We7 3 1 .l::th8 i.d4 things are bad for
simply loses to 1 8 ... ttJa4 1 9.1i'e6 fe6 20..ih5 White, he has to choose between capturing on c6
'*i'fl 2l ..if7 Wf7 22.l::td7 Wg6 23.l::tb7 i.c5, with queen or bishop:
when for the piece White has no compensation.
But now it appears that things are bad for Black,
and that he must reconcile himself to an obvi
ously inferior position after 1 8 ...1i'a5 19.ttJd6
i.d6 20.ed6, since 1 8 ... ab5 19.b5 c6 20.'it'f3 !
leads to mate after 20 ...i.b5 2 l .'it'a8, or 20. ..J:!.c8
2l .c6 'it'c6 22.'it'c6 l::tc6 23J:ld8 mate. But after
checking the variations once again, Black never
theless followed the second 'ruinous' path.
1 8 ... ab5! 1 9.b5 i.c6 20.'it'f3
lt.Jb3 ! !

A) 26.'it'c6 l::td3 ! 27.cd3 gh4 28 .'lt>h4 'it'c6

29..ic6 We7 and White is two pawns up, but his
pawn formation is irreparably spoiled, and the
opposite-coloured bishops guarantee Black a
draw.
B) 26 . .ic6 J:[el 27.d7 'lt>f8 (with the threat
of28 ...l::te3) 28.'it'f6 l::te3 29.Wg4 (29.'lt>f2? loses
to 29. ..l::te5 30.Wg3 l::te3 3l .Wf2 J:!.e4 32.'lt>g3
i.d6 33 .'lt>h3 l:th4 mate) 29 .. J:te4 30.Wh3 l::th4
3 1 . Wg3 l::lh7, and both players must be satisfied
with a draw. It is dangerous for White to con
tinue, e.g. 32.i.e6, in view of 32 .. JH4 33.'it'd8
This fine intermediate move into a triple attack Wg7 34.i.g4 (the only way of parrying simulta
was planned by Black when he made his 1 7th neously the two threats 34 . ..fe6 and 34 ...i.f2
move. lt came as a complete surprise to Gri.infeld, 35.Wh3 l::th4 mate) 34 ...l::th 8 ! 35 .'it'd7 (or to
who, in spite of prolonged thought, promptly square d5, d3, d2, dl , c7, a5) 35 ...f2 36.Wh3
committed the decisive mistake. h5, and Black wins. For Black in turn, after

20
 My Sicilian Love

32.1i'd8 g7 33.'ti'f6 g8 34.'iWd8 the attempt A trap in Black's time trouble. If now 29. . .t2Ja3
by 34 ... 8 to avoid perpetual check is risky. 30.b2 t2Jc2 (30 ... 'iWc2 3 l .a3), then 3 1 .llc4.
Thus the complications provoked by Black, with However, it is unlikely that White could have
'correct play', could have led only to a draw. But kept his e-pawn.
what a mockery was made of this term many
29 ... tt::le5 30.'ie2 'ic3 31 .1:i.e4 tt::lc6
years ago by Mikhail Chigorin ! The resulting
position was full oflife - and for this reason alone In time trouble I overlooked the elegant
it had every right to exist. I need hardly remind 3 1 .. JUd8 ! , which after 32 . .l:i.d8 .l:i.d8 33 . .l:i.e5 .l:i.d2
the reader how difficult it was at the board to 34 . .l:i.c5 ! 'iWd4 ! wins immediately by the threat of
calculate all these - and many other - variations, 35 ... J::i.d l and if 35.c3 'i!fgl .
and correctly weigh up the chances of the two sides.
32.1:i.d3 'iYaS 33.1:i.h3 tLlb4 34.c4
21 ... tt::la5 J::[fdB 35.a4

Now Black keeps his extra piece, although the Forced, in view of the threat of 35 ....l:!.dl .
battle is not yet over.
35... 'it'fS 36.1:i.f3 'ig6 37.b2 'ifg7
22J1d4! 38.b1 l:i.c6?!
The best chance, threatening both .l:!.c4, and the With his flag about to fall, Black carries out
doubling of rooks on the d-file. inexactly a correct plan. Immediately decisive was
38 ... .l:i.c7 and 39 ... llcd7, when the rooks invade.
22 ... .l:!.c8! 23.1:i.ed1 ! gS!
39.c5!
Both sides are accurate in exploiting their
chances, simply Black has more of them. . . Now d6 is inaccessible to the rook, and the knight
is attacked...
24.i.c6
39... ti:ld5 40Jlc4 tt::lf4 41.'ib2 l:i.d1
After 24. .l:!.d7 'iWd7 25 . .l:!.d7 Black wins both by
25 . .d7 26.'iWf7 i.e7 27.fi.c6 t2Jc6, with the
.

threats of 28 ... gh4 and 28 ... .l:!.f8, and by 25 ... .if3 4 L 'i!i'b2 42. b2 t2Jd3 and 43. .. t2Je5 would have
26. .l:!.c7 i.c6 27 ..l:!.c8 d7 28 ..l:!.a8 i.b5 . won easily, but I was vexed, and wanted without
fail to conclude the game with an attack on the king.
24 ... 'iYc6 25.'id3 e7 26.e1 0-0
27 .b4 b4 28.1:i.b4 tt::lc4 42.a2 'iYfB 43.1:i.fc3 'iYdB 44.1:i.c2
tt:ld3 45.'ic3 'iYdS 46.a3 tt::leS

The black pieces have achieved maximum activ

ity, and there is no longer any defence against the
numerous threats.
47.1:i.b4 l:i.d3 48.1:i.b8 g7 49.'ib4
l:i.d1 50.a2 1:i.a6!

Threatening 5 l ... .l:!.d4 and 52 .. J:tda4.

51 .1:i.b6
5 1 .c6, opening the way for the white queen to f8,
would not have achieved anything, since the
black king would have hidden from the checks at
h5 or h4, while White's would have remained
Here we can stock, and it is depressing for White. undefended. The game could have been pro
In the rniddlegame his passed pawns will not go far. longed slightly by 5 l .a5, but even then Black
wins by 5L.t2Jc6 52.'ti'c3 e5 53 . .l:!.b5 t2Jd4
29.b3
54 ..l:i.b6 l:tb6 55.cb6 t2Jc2.

21
 White did not need to be in a hurry to occupy this
square, but could have intensified the pressure
with 1 7 .l::.afl, retaining all the advantages of his
position.
1 7 ... ..id5 1 8.ed5 tLld7

51 ..J1d4! 52.'t\t'd4 'tlt'd4 53.l::.a6 'tlt'd3

White resigned.

51 24. 8 Now the worst for Black is over - the availabil

ity of the e-file and the e5 square assure him of
D Morovic counterplay.
Polugaevsky 1 9...id4 tbe5
Luzern Olympiad 1 982
Avoiding the trap 19 . .. i.g5? 20JH7! i.d2
2 1 .l::.g7.
1 .e4 cS 2.tbf3 tbc6 3.d4 cd4
4.t2Jd4 e6 5.tbc3 a6 6 ...ie2 d6 20JU5? !
7.0-0 tbf6 8...ie3 .i.e7 9.f4 0-0
B y continuing to play actively, White loses time
1 0.a4 l::.e8 1 1 .h1 't\t'c7 1 2..i.d3
and helps Black to coordinate his pieces. The
When this game was played, this move was new correct 20JU2 would have maintained the bal
to me. At the board I played routinely and ended ance.
up in an inferior position.
20 ... g6 21 . ld.f2 .i.fB 22. ld.af1 f5
Later the correct 'prescription' was found for
23. ..ie2 ..ig7
Black: 1 2. .. ..id7 1Hi'f3 tLlb4 ! and 14 .....ic6!
Black's pieces are harmoniously placed, and he
1 2... t2Jd4 1 3...id4 eS 1 4...ie3 ..ig4!
is ready to double rooks on the e-file. White
The only move to avoid ending up in a critical should have curbed his ambitions and played
situation. Black deprives White of the d l -h5 24.h3, but he is thinking only about attack, and
diagonal, along which disaster could have struck: his recklessness rebounds in sorry fashion.
14 . . .ef4? 15J:I.f4! ..ie6 1 6.tLld5 ..id5 1 7.ed5 g6
24.g4?! tbg4 25..ig4 ..id4 26.'t\t'd4
1 8 .'tlt'f3 tLld7 19.i.d4 f6 20.l::.h4!
l:Z.e4!
1 5.'tlt'd2
An unpleasant pill for White to swallow ! His
This eases Black's problems. 1 5.'it'e l ! ef4 position is wrecked, and all he can hope for are
16.i..f4 i..e6 1 7 .e5 would have caused him the tactical chances.
greatest difficulty.
27.'tlt'f6 l::.g4
1 5... ef4 1 6.l::.f4 ..ie6 1 7.tbd5
Black does not risk the alternative 27 .. JU8

22
 My Sicilian Love

28.1i'g5 .l:tg4 29.'it'g4 fg4 30..l:tf8 r:bg7, although

35..l::!.d6 e7 36 ..t:l.e6
White can hardly hope to save the game in view
of the powerful phalanx of black pawns. Alas, the trap has already shut: 36.l:Ib6 J:f.b5
37 . .l:lb5 ab5 38.b3 d6 39.c4 g5! 40.r:bg2 h5
28.h3 l:r.a4
4l.f3 e5 42.e3 b4! ! and then the decisive
Black has precisely worked out this and the 43 ... b5 ! An unusually pretty finish !
following events. The subsequent play is unusu
36 d7 37.l:r.e5 d6 38.l:r.e6 d5
.

al ly absorbing.
39 .l:te7 b5!

29 .:tf5 l:r.e4!

Leaving White no hopes of saving the game.

The secret of Black's plan lies in this subtle What tells is the decisive superiority of the black
move. Otherwise after 29 ... .l:te8 30.J:f.g5 .l:tae4 king over its opposite number.
3 1 .J:f.fg l the outcome would have been unclear.
40.l:th7 c4 41 .l:th6 b3 42.l:tg6

30....f7 b2 43.l:r.a6 l:r.c3!

On 30. .l:f.g5 B lack had prepared 30 .. J1e3 ! , when The final finesse: the white king is cut off along
the sacrifice on g6 does not work. As a result he the third rank. After 44.g2 b4 45.h4 b3 46.h5
succeeds in bringing his forces together. White r:bcl 47.h6 b2 48.h7 b 1 'it' 49 .h8'i 'it'c2 it is all
pins his hopes on the rook ending, which appears over, and so White resigned, without waiting for
to promise him good drawing chances ... this finish.
30 'iff7 31 .Uf7 l:r.c8! 32.c3
..

Otherwise after 32 ..l:tb7 l:l.c2 the black rooks are

much more 'terrible' than the white duo.
32 .. l:r.e1 33.l:r.e1 f7 34.l:r.e6

Both sides happily went in for this position. But

the following strong manoeuvre by Black dem 51 20.1 0
onstrates that his calculations have been far
sighted and accurate. O S ax
Polugaevsky
34 .l::!.c5! !
..

Honinge 1 989

1 .e4 c5 2.tt:lf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.ti:ld4

l2Jf6 5.tt:lc3 e6 6.g4 tt:lc6 7.g5 ti:ld7
8..ie3 .ie7 9.h4 0-0 1 0.'ifh5!?

Only now i s the full depth of Black's plan re

vealed: he achieves the exchange of his weak
d-pawn and penetrates decisively into the enemy
rear.

23
In the Keres Attack the storm begins from the ing 19 ... ed5, he securely defends the b6 square,
very first moves. Here White has other ways of and he is ready to use the transit square b5 for his
preparing queenside castling - 10.'it'd2 or rook, where with gain of tempo, by attacking the
10.'it'e2. The moveplayed is the most aggressive. queen, it will come into play in the quickest way.
White's entire appearance declares: I am playing
1 9..l:!.hf1
only for mate! But the queen move also has a
significant drawback: it blocks the path of the White throws down the gauntlet, hoping to in
h-pawn. The Hungarian grandmaster, however, vade on the f-file, but Black accepts the chal
is pinning his hopes on his f-pawn. lenge, having accurately worked out the concrete
complications. However, retreating the knight
1 0..J:J.e8
was unpromising for White: 19.ltle3 e5, or
A familiar motif. Before setting his sights on the 19.ltlf4 e5 ! 20.ltle6 ltlf6! 21 .ltld8 ltlh5 22.lt:lc6
queenside, Black takes prophylactic measures in i..h 3, winning a piece.
anticipation of the coming storm. And yet the
1 9 ed5 20.'it'd5 ..t>h8 21 J:J.f7!
..

rook manoeuvre should have been put off until

later, and 10 ... a6 1 1 .0-0-0 ltld4 12.i..d4 b5 in The tempting 21 .'it'h5 would have been refuted
tending 1 3 ...b4, should have been played first. by 21 ...ltlf6! ! (the only move; not 2 1 . ..ltle5 in
view of 22..l:!.f8 ! .l:lf8 23.i.e5). In the event of
1 1 .0-0-o a6 1 2.f4 tt:Jd4 1 3.d4 bS
22. .l:lf6 gf6 Black continues 23 ...i.g7, firmly 'ce
1 4.f5 f8!
menting' his position.
The only move. Black reinforces his e6 pawn and
his kingside. 14 ...b4? would have been wrong on
account of 1 5.fe6 fe6 16.i..c 4! bc3 1 7.i..e6 ..t>h8
1 8 .i.g7! ..t>g7 19.'it'h6 \t>h8 20.g6 with decisive
threats.
1 5.h3 b4

Now the white bishop can no longer go to c4.

1 6.fe6 fe6 1 7.g6?
This direct play does not succeed, since Black's
kingside is securely defended, and he acquires
the additional square f6. The strongest move was
the unhurried 17.ltle2!, aiming for f4, when
White would have retained active possibilities.
21 ... lLle5!
But Sax can be excused, since the continuation
chosen looks very threatening: Again Black finds the only move, but a sufficient
one; such is the strict logic of chess ! In this very
1 7 ... h6 1 8.tt:Jd5!?
sharp struggle Black has nowhere disturbed the
White's pieces are indeed menacingly placed, sensible course of events. White was very much
and it only remains for him to add 19J:I.hfl. But hoping for 21 ....l:lb5?, which would have been
Black's reply came as a complete surprise to the met by the stunning 22. .l:lg7 ! ! i..g7 (or 22 ... .l:ld5
Hungarian grandmaster. After the game he ad 23 ..l:lh7 ..t>g8 24.J:Ih8 mate) 23 .g7 \t>g7 24.'it'f7
mitted that he had totally overlooked my modest \t>h8 25 .'ifh7 mate!
rejoinder.
22.e5 :es 23.'Wes ..ih3 24.'Wd5
1 8... .l:!.b8! 'WeB!

Cool prophylaxis at such a critical moment! At Again Black is equal to the occasion. Exploiting
one stroke Black solves three problems: he the fact that f1 is covered by his bishop, he
moves his rook to a safe place, thereby threaten- succeeds in blocking the a2-g8 diagonal.

24
 My Sicilian Love

25 .l:!.d2 'ife6
46 .l:tb7 l:l.a6! 47..l:!.f7 l:l.a3 48.Wc4

Wg6 49.ti.f8 l:l.g3!

Only not 25 ...e6? 26JU8.
The final finesse, before advancing his pawns.
26 ..l:!.df2 'ii'd5 27.ed5 Wg8
50..l:!.f2 .l:!.g4 51 .Wd3
At last Black can stop to draw breath. He has the
advantage, with two bishops for rook and pawn, After 5 1 .l:l2f6 gf6 52. .l:!.g8 <;f;>f5 53 . .l:!.g4 Wg4
but is still faced with considerable technical dif 54.<;l;>d4<;f;>f5 ! 55.<;!;>d5 h5 the pawn ending is won
ficulties. for Black.
28.l:ta7 g4 51 h5 52.We2 h4 53.Wf3 wgs
.

54 .l:!.g2 .l:!.g2 55.Wg2 Wg4!

Intending to follow up with 29 ...h5. White

should have immediately taken the pawn by White is in zugzwang: on 56 . .l:!.f7 Black has the
29 .l:la6. His next move is a poor one, which decisive 56. . .<;f;>f5 !, while 56.Wh2 loses to
makes things significantly easier for Black. 56 ... e5 57.<;!;>g2 g5. The remainder is clear.
29.Wd2? h5 30 .l::i.g2 .l::i.b5 31 .l:!.a6
56. .l:!.e8 g5 57.l:t.g8 h3 58.Wg1 Wf5
.l:!.d5 32. We3 .l:!.e5 33. Wd4 .l:!.f5 59J:tf8 g4 60.Wf2 Wg5 61 . .l:!.g8
34..l:!.b6 Wf4 62 ..l:!.f8 g3 63.Wg1 Wg5
64 .l:!.e8 Wg4 65J:tg8 g5

34.a4 would have offered more chances.
White resigns.
34... d5 35Jlb8 .l:!.f6 36.a4 ba3
37.ba3 g6 38.a4 .l:!.a6?!
Many researchers immediately began analyzing
The only time in the game that Black should be the position after Black's 16th move, the most
criticized; he allows White to gain counter active being Sax himself. He suggested an inno
chances. The simple 38 ...t7! 39.a5 J:!.f4 40. <;l;>c3 vation of fearful strength: 1 7.li:Jd5 ! ! (inciden
l:!.a4 4 1 ..l:!.b5 d4 would have concluded the tally, this move has already been tried in practice)
struggle.
39.a5 f7 40..l:!.b5 e7 41 .l:te2
h4 42.Wc5 f6 43.l:tb8 Wh7
44.Wb5 .l:!.a7 45.a6 d4!

Indeed, after 17 ... ed5? 1 8.g6! or 1 7 ... g6 1 8 .'iff3 !

ed5 19.e5! de5 (19 ...b7 20.e6 tt:le5 21 .e5 de5
22:iff7 <;!;>h8 23.'ifb7 d4 24.'ife4) 20.'ifd5 Wh8
2l..e3 ! Black stands badly, while 17 ... .l:!.b8 is
met by another strong blow: 1 8 .tt:lc7 ! g6
Black again begins playing accurately. He gets 19.tt:Je6 ! .
rid of White's annoying passed pawn, and takes I t seemed that the fate of Black's experiment was
play across to the other wing, where he has an sealed, and yet I would ask for just a little delay
obvious advantage. in drawing conclusions.

25
In the variation 1 7 ...g6 1 8."it'f3 ed5 1 9.e5 Black
has another possibility, which may save him:
19 ...ttJc5 ! . Now on 20."ifd5 there follows
20...i.e6 2 l .i.e6 ttJe6 22.ed6 "ifd6, while by
20..ic8 c8 2 l ."ifd5 ttJe6 White also does not
achieve anything. 20Jihfl seems to be tbe most
dangerous, but after 20...de5 2 l ."ift7 (2 1 ..ic5
i .c5 2U:td5 "ife7 23 .c5 i.h3) 2l ...'lt>h8 22. .ie5
.!:r.e5 23. "iff8 "iff8 24JU8 rJ;;g7 25 . .!:r.c8 (25 . .!:r.dfl ?
el !) 25 .. Jk8 26.i.c8 h6 ! the ending does not
cause Black any anxiety.
So let us wait for new analyses !

One surprise after another! I, of course, was

considering 1 2 ..ie3 .id7 1 3 ."ifd2 "ifc7 1 4.a5.
However, White's move looks quite menacing and
worthy of serious consideration. I can assume that
it was prepared beforehand at home. Bravo, Gata!
1 2 tt::ld7
..

51 1 9.3 All the same the knight will have to retreat, so it

is best to do this immediately.
D Kamsky
1 3.il.. d2 W/c7 1 4.'1th1
Polugaevsky
Reggio Emilia 1 99 1 Many players like this prophylactic move in the
Sicilian Defence. But would not 14.f4 have been
I find it difficult to explain why the Gata + papa better? After all, 14 ..."ifb6 was hardly possible,
family 'council' decided against me in particular on account of 1 5 .'lt>h l "ifb2 1 6.a5.
to go in for the Sicilian Defence. Up till then
1 4 l:tb8
.
Kamsky's repertoire had mainly featured the
'cautious' l .d4, and the decision of young Gata The slight loss of time by White suggested to me
to begin a 'reckless' life was a welcome one. In the idea of rejecting 14 ...b6 in favour of the more
the opening a slight surprise awaited me: aggressive plan with ...b7-b5. Black does not fear
1 5.a5, in view of 1 5 ... ttJe5 (15 ... b5 1 6.ab6 ttJb6
1 .e41 cS 2.tt::lf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt::ld4
is also good) 1 6.b3 ttJc6.
tt::lf6 5.tt::lc3 a6 6.g3
1 5.f4 bS 1 6.ab5 abS 1 7.g5 l:te81
Of course! Not the Polugaevsky Variation! How
ever, sharp set-ups in the Sicilian Defence are This typical set-up, J:te8 + .if8, is essential in the
inevitable, if both players want this. event of a pawn offensive by White on the king
side.
6 e6 7.g2 il..e7 8.0-0 0-0 9.a4
..

t2Jc6 1 O.t2Jb3 1 8.tt::le2 i.b7 1 9.tt::lg3 ..tf8 20.-tas

W/c8 21 .il..c3
To be honest, I expected the variation with
1 0..ie3. The obvious move is not always the correct one.
The bishop at c3 appears to stand well, but it will
10 . tt::la5
constantly be threatened by ...b5-b4.
The natural reaction - so as not to allow the Only the blockading 2 l .i.b4 ttJc5 22."ifd2 or
cramping 1 1 a5. even the immediate 22.f5 was correct.
1 1 .tt::la5 'it'a5 1 2.g41? 21 ...tt::lc5 22.il..d4

26
 My Sicilian Love

Now on 22.f5 White would have had to reckon

with 22 ...l2J a4 23 ...id4 e5, but 22.b4 was still
the correct reaction.
22...e5 23.1i.e3?!

This places White's position on the verge of

disaster. The only way to hold on was by 23.i.c5
1fc5 24.f5, when Black would probably have
continued 24 .. J:ta8, with a slight advantage.
23...ef4 24JU4

Otherwise the e-pawn would have been lost, and

with it the solidity of the white king's defences.
Not allowing White a moment's respite. Now he
24.. .l::t e5!
loses after 35.l:!.f2 h4, or 35.J:lffl i.h3, while if
35.J::!.a6 Black had planned 35 ...i.f4 ! 36J:te6 fe6
37.'irf3 J::Lc l 38.'it>f2 h2, when there is no de
fence against the numerous threats. White de
cides to return the exchange, but he remains two
pawns down with a broken position.
35.'iff3 ..ie4 36.'ifg4 ..if4 37.'iff4
h6 38.gh6 'i!Vg6 39.'ifg3 'ifh6
40. .te3 f6 41 . 'iff2 f2

The simplest. Here White could have resigned

with an easy conscience, but he prolonged his
pointless resistance for nearly another 40 moves !
42.1i.f2 J:tc2 43.b4 J:tb2 44. .l:!.a8
<itJh7 45..tc5 J::l. g2 46.Wf1 ti.h2
A 'painful ' manoeuvre for White - he cannot
47.J::I. b8 1i.d3 48.Wg1 l:te2 49.l:tb6
play either 25.l:U5 l2Je4, or 25 .h4 l2Je4 26.tl:Je4
.tc4 50..1:ld6 f6 51 .J::I.d7 l:te4
i.e4 27.J::!.e4 J::!.e4 28.i.e4 'irh3. He should have
52.Wf2 .l:Ie8 53.1i.d4 Wg6 54.Wg3
chosen the lesser of two evils: 25 .J::!.h4 'ire6
l:te4 55.1i.c5 f5 56.1i.f8 l:tg4 57.Wf3
26.'tWh5 'ir g6!, although Black remains with a
Wh7 58.1i.c5 <itJh6 59.1i.f8 d4
clear advantage. After the move played, events
60.1i.c5 d3 61 ..te3 Wh7 62.1i.d2
take on a forcing aspect.
wga 63.1i.c3 Wf8 64. Wf2 g5
25Jlg4 'ii'e6 26.1i.d4 l2Je4! 27.l2Je4 65.1i.f6 wea 66. .1:ld6 Wf7 67.1i.c3
J::!.e4 28.i.e4 ..ie4 29.'g1 1i.c2 f4 68.l:td8 l:th4 69J:td6 .l:lh2
70.Wf3 l:tc2 71 .1i.e1 lle2 72.1i.c3
All this was accurately calculated by Black. He
J::l.e6 73.l:td8 we7 74.lld4 .tf.d6
has consolidated his grip on the central squares,
75.lle4 Wd7 76.l:te5 d2 77...id2
and his two rampant bishops are ready literally
l:td2 78.l:tg5 l:td4
to tear White's position apart.
White resigned. At last!
30.'iff3 d5 31 .llh4 ..ie4 32.'i!Vg4
f5 33.'i!Vg2 J::l.c8
Decisively seizing the c-file; 34. .. J::!.c 2 is threat
ened, and so White hastens to bring his rook back.
34.J::I.f4 d6!

27
 51 2 1 .2 the useless move 16 g5. Thus one gains the impres
sion that White has won an important tempo, but
0 Polgar, Judit in fact this proves to be a false conclusion.
Polugaevsky 1 5...i.g7 1 6.h6
7th Match Game, Arubo 1 991
The simplifying 1 6.hg6 hg6 1 7 ..l::.h 8 i.h8 1 8 . .l::.h 1
My match with the 14-year-old Judit Polgar 0-0-0 i s not dangerous for Black, but this is what
caused a sensation at the time. The amazing White should have played.
talent of this remarkable girl astounded even the
1 6 ... i.f6 1 7.g5 i.e7 1 8.lt:lg3 0-0!
greatest sceptics, who did not believe that Judit
could fight on equal terms with men of 'high
calibre' .
The Hungarian star required only three more
years to become one of the strongest (male!)
grandmasters in the world, but then, in 1 99 1 , it
was difficult to believe in a miracle.
But when I lost the first game of the match, to my
horror I realised that 'jokes' would have to be put
aside and that I would really have to 'roll up my
sleeves' . The girl possessed a fantastic positional
sense, especially in combinational situations,
and I could expect to be crushed - the retribu
tion for not taking things too seriously - if I did
not 'come to my senses' in time.
In sharp situations Judit was unusually danger White has carried out the whole operation with
ous, and I urgently had to think up ways of gain of tempi, but has overlooked that she has
limiting her tactical 'madness' . blocked her own line of attack. As a result
Black's hands are freed, and he can calmly begin
1 .e4 c5 2.lt:lf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.lt:ld4
an attack on the queenside, since now his king
lt:lf6 5.lt:lc3 a6 6.f4 e6 7.i.d3 b5
will be completely safe on the kingside, under
8. 'iff3 i.b7 9.g4
the cover of the white pawns.
This position occurred three times in our match,
1 9.l:.he1 ?!
and in the end the argument concluded success
fully for Black, although he had to be accurate in Unsettled by the unexpected turn of events,
the implementation of his plans. White does not act in the best way. The only
correct continuation was 19 ..l::.h fl.
9 ... lt:lfd7! 1 O.i.e3 lt:lc5 1 1 .0-0-0
lt:lbd7 1 2.h4 1 9...a5 20.i.b5

In the fifth game of the match the two sides 20."f/g4 would have been answered by 20 ...lt:ld3
followed the main line (with a transposition of 2 1 .cd3 tt:lc5 and then 22....ia6, with an over
moves): 1 2.g5 b4 13.tt:lce2 "ffc7 14.'it>b 1 g6! whelming position. Therefore White tries to re
1 5 .h4 i.g7 1 6.h5, but the cool 16 .. J:tg8 ! enabled tain the light-square bishop.
Black to keep his bishop on the important al-h8
20.. J:tac8 21 .l:t.c1
diagonal, whereas on the h-file there was nothing
for the white rook to do. Again not the best move. The queen should have
Therefore White tries something different. been moved out of the line of the black bishop by
21."ffg4, and if 2l ...d5 22.e5. Of course, Black could
1 2... b4 1 3.lt:lce2 Vl!ic7 1 4.'it>b1 g6
have simply played 21 ...a4, building up his initiative.
1 5.h5
21 ...d5! 22.ed5
Now after 15 ....:i.g8 White has no need at all to make

28
 My Sicilian Love

After 22.e5 tt:Jb6 23 .b3 tt:Je4 24. tt:Je4 de4 and then
33.lbc2 .l::!.c 2 34.d4
25 ... tbd5 White's position is unenviable.
Or 34.l:.bl .ta3 ! 35 .ba3 .:!.a2.
22... d5 23.'ifg4?
34...a3 35..I:I.b1 'ii' b3
White's last chance was to keep her pieces as
close to one another as possible, and therefore
only 23. 'ti'e2 offered some hopes. But now things
become very difficult for her.
23 ... .l::!.fd8 24.e2 lbb6 25.c4

In desperation, Judit tries at any price to compli

cate matters; of course she could not be satisfied
with 25.f3 tt:Jc4.
25 ... bc3 26J:tc3

No better was 26.tt:Jb5 'ti'b7 27 .tt:Jc3 tt:Jba4, when

White is unable to protect b2.
26... 'ti'b7!

White resigned.

51 2 1 .3
D A nand
Polugaevsky
France 1 993

When preparing for this game with one of the most

brilliant talents in the world, Viswanathan Anand,
I was largely expecting to encounter one of the
27..l::!.c2
topical variations of the Scheveningen. But some
Or 27 ..:!.ec l tt:Jba4 28 ..:!.3c2 tt:J e4 29.b3, and now thing slightly unexpected awaited me. Anand de
the simplest is 29 ... .:!.c2 30. .:!.c2 tt:J g3 3 l . 'ifg3 cided to sutprise me with an unusual move order and,
e4, putting the finishing touch. to be honest, I was not psychologically prepared for
this. I was obliged to take a decision at the board
27 ... lbe4! 28 ..l::!.c8 .l::!.c8 29.lbe4
1 .e4 c5 2.lbf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.lbd4
Or 29..U.c l tbc3! 30.l:Z.c3 l:Z.c3 3l .bc3 lbc4 32.tt:Jb3
lbe3, and with an easy conscience White can resign. lbf6 5.lbc3 a6 6.f4 e6 7.'f!Vf3 'ti'b6

It is for this reason that the entire variation with the

29 ... e4 30.<t>a1 lbd5 31 .f2
early development of White's queen rarely occurs.
Equally hopeless is 3 l .d2 tt:Jb4 32.a3 'ifd5 ! He either has to retreat his knight with 8.lLJb3, or...
33.ab4 ab4.
8.a3! ?
31 ... lbb4 32.a3 lbc2
I n this way White succeeds for a short time in
Also good was 32...'ifd5 ! 33.ab4 ab4 34.b3 'ifa5 keeping his knight in the centre, although it
35:;.t;b2 'ifa3 mate. involves a loss of time.

29
 14 . . .<.t>b8, and had prepared 15 . .l:the 1 ! d5 1 6.ed5
a .. .lbc6 9.tt:Jc6
ed5 17.lt:id5 ! lt:id5 1 8 . .l:te5, with catastrophic con
9. lt:ib3 would have been totally illogical. sequences for Black.
9 ... bc6 1 5.e5

In accordance with the laws of strategy, this White hurries to make this break in the centre,
appears quite natural, but in the given instance since Black was ready to play ...d6-d5, for exam
9 . . .'it'c6! ? 10.d3 b5 1 1 .0-0 b7 (D. Gurevich ple in the event of 1 5 .f5. With the rooks in
Xu Jun, Biel 1 993) seems a more appropriate opposition on the d-file, the fact that Black's rook
reply, since then Black succeeds in completing is defended by his king is a decisive factor.
his development.
1 5 tt:Jd7!

1 0.b3
Securing the defence of d6. In view of 16 ...d5
This subtle bishop fianchetto constitutes the White cannot play 1 6 f5, and he himself is
main point of White's opening. Of course, it is obliged to clarify the situation.
dangerous to 'joke' with his dark-square bishop,
1 6.ed6 d6 1 7.f5
and so at the board I had to accurately weigh up
the future consequences. White was very much relying on this move,
assuming that he would gain control of the light
1 o...b7 1 1 .b2 cs
squares, but he failed to take account of the
The alternative 1 l . ..d5 and 12 ...e7 seemed too activity and coordination of the black pieces.
slow, and I preferred a more critical continuation.
1 7 ... tt:Jb6! 1 8.fe6 f4!
1 2.0-0-0 0-0-0!
With this series of best moves Black saves the
Had Black stopped half-way, after 12...i.e7 13.c4 situation, whereas after 1 8 ...lt:ic4 19.lt:i d5 ! he
and then 14 .l:tge1 he might have 'missed the boat' . would have faced very unpleasant threats.
1 3.i.c4 'it'c6! 1 4. 'it'h3 1 9.<;;>b1 tt:Jc4

White does everything possible to hinder the Now after 20.bc4 'it'e6 passions would have died
advance of Black's central pawn phalanx, but in down, and Black could have counted on a favour
this he is unsuccessful. During the game I was able outcome. Not wishing to agree to such a turn
more afraid of 14.f5. of events, the Indian grandmaster finds a brilliant
way of thoroughly confusing matters. He sacri
1 4.. .'C7!
fices a piece, and to evaluate the consequences of
this operation was practically impossible.
20.'it'f5!!?

I think that this 'modest' move was underesti

mated by my opponent. He was counting only on

30
 My Sicilian Love

I discovered 28.a4 li'd7 29.lt:J c5 and decided

20 ... tt:Jd2 21 .a2 i..h 6!
against checking all the variations any further.
Attack and defence are worthy of each other. In What a pity! After 27. lt:Je4 li'b5 ! 28.a4 Black has
amazing fashion Black's pieces manage to main the fantastic 28 ....l:!.e7 ! ! 29.ab5 (29.li'e7 li'b3)
tain their coordination. But, despite Black's ma 29 ... .l:!.f7 30.lt:Jd2 ab5 ! , when it is unlikely that
terial advantage, White's passed pawn is enor White can successfully unravel his pinned
mously strong, and it was not at all easy to pieces.
evaluate the subsequent events.
27.tt:Ja4
22. 'iff7 b8 23.Uhe1 ?!
White exploits the weakness of the dark squares,
White calmly brings up his reserves, reckoning and the fact that the opponent's bishop is a long
that both now, and later, the move e6-e7 will not way from the main events. On 27. ..li'c2 he has
run away. But this evaluation was incorrect. Only the adequate reply 28 ..l:!.cl .
by 23.e7 .l:!.he8 24. .l:!.hel could he have main
27... tt:Je4 28.i.e5 aa 29.l:l.d4!
tained the tension in the position.
23...c4! 24.Ue2?!

And this is a serious error. White allows the

opening up of his position, clearly underestimat
ing the coordination of the assembled black
pieces. Correct was 24.b4 and then 25 e7, or even
the immediate 24.e7.
24...cb3 25.cb3 Uhe8 26.e7

Too late. Black now has the possibility of com

pletely uniting his attacking forces.
26 .. J:rc8?!

Why not 26 ... .l:!.d3 ! ! ?

Of course, I saw this obvious move, but at the last An excellent manoeuvre. White's actions are
moment I rejected it. After 26... .l:!.d3 I quickly most praiseworthy, and it is very difficult to keep
worked out a favourable variation: 27 .lLlbl li'b5 ! track of his rooks along the fourth rank. On
28.a4 (28.lt:Jd2 ii.d5) 28 ...li'd7 29.lt:Jd2 d5 !, but 29 ... lt:Jg5 Anand had prepared the venomous
then when considering the alternative, 27. lt:Je4 ! 30.li'f2!, when it is impossible to control the
li'b5 actions of the white pieces.
In this sharp situation Black keeps his cool, and
finds the only defence, by eliminating the chief
enemy - the knight at a4.
29 ... tt:Jc3! 30.tt:Jc3 "it'c3 31 .Ud8
'ti'c6 32.Uc8 'ti'c8 33 ..ig7

White realises that it is time for him to think

about 'material', otherwise it may be too late to
gain compensation in return.
33.....ig7 34.'ti'g7 i..d 5!
'Reminding' White about the threatened attack
on his king; in many cases he has to reckon with
the sacrifice 35 .....ixb3+ 36 xb3 li'b7+, or sim
analysis diagram ply 25 ...li'b7.

31
 35.'it'h7 38.. .'ti'c6 39.c;t>a1

White eliminates a dangerous pawn, which in the White steps out of the diagonal pin and at the
future could have proved very important. He is same time sets a trap: on 39 ... 'it'c5 he had pre
not afraid of 35 ...b3 36. \it>b3 'it'b7 37.\it>c2 ! l:tc8 pared the unexpected 40.b4 ! ab4 4 1 . 'it'a4.
38.d l 'it'b3 39.J:!c2 'it'b l 40.d2.
39....t:!.e8 40 . .t:!.c2! 'it'd6!
35 ... 'it'c3 36.'ifb1 .l:rb8 37Jlb2 as
Brilliant play by both sides: on 40 ...'it'b5 White
was intending 41 .J:!d2 ! i.b3 42.J:!d8 b7
43. 'it'f3 ! But now two white pawns are simulta
neously attacked.
41 .J:!d2 a3 42 . .t:!.a2 'iic5 43.'ifd2

The forced events have led to a drawn position.

Now the simplest was 43 ...J:!e7 44.l:ta5 'it'aS (or
44. .. J:!a7) 45.'it'a5 J:!a7, but the game continu
ation also quickly leads to a draw.
43... c;t>b7 44.J:!a5 g1 45.b2
c6 46.g3 .l:l.e7

Here the players concluded peace negotiations,

in view of 47.'it'b4 lit>c8 48. 'it'e7 'it'd4 49.a3
'it'al 50. \it>b4 'it'd4.
38.'it'd1 !
A fantastic battle! It is rare that one manages to
Gaining an important tempo by the attack on the play such an interesting game, and I think that
bishop. If 38 ...i.f7 White can calmly play 39.a4, both players can be proud of it.
since he has 40.'it'f3 in reserve.

32
 7 am almost a decathlete
of the Sicilian '

An Interview with Lev Polugaevsky

Christophe Gueneau

Speak to us a little about your childhood. childhood and continued my studies. It was equally
I was born on the 20th of November 1934 in there that I learned to play chess.
Mogilev, a middle-sized town in Belarus. I am
the youngest in a family of four children. I had Indeed, tell us how you came to know chess.
two brothers and a sister. My father was a craftsman I must have been about ten years old, and it was
who manufactured wooden dolls, my mother a in the "Pioneer Palace" in Kuybishev. There it
librarian. When I think about it, the fact that I am was possible to participate in many different
still alive is a small miracle. Often, as a joke, I activities. When I went the first time I didn't
sometimes say that I was born against nature as know what to choose, as at school I was inter
my mother was far from enthusiastic about hav ested in many subjects: mathematics and geog
ing another child. Before my birth she often raphy for example. Nevertheless, I had to make
carried heavy objects almost to demonstrate to a decision, so I said to myself "O.K. then, I'll
my father what she thought about her pregnancy ! open the door on the left and take a look!". You
In 1 941, the German troops attacked the USSR and can imagine what particular activity was going
Belarus was invaded. Mogilev fell prey to some on in that room.
violent bombardments. This led to the women
and children being evacuated. Due to one of my Did your parents encourage you to play chess ?
uncles, who worked in an armaments factory, I was Apart from me, no one in the family was inter
able to catch the last train leaving for Kuybishev. ested in chess. My father had never played but
This large city situated on the banks of the Volga soon began to read chess columns in the press.
served as a convenient retreat for the civilian He always supported me because, early on, he
population and as a military base. Again I was very understood that I had talent for the game. With
lucky as during thejourney the train was bombed by hindsight, I ask myself how he could have under
the German air force; of the fifteen or so wagons stood this as he didn't play himself, but it was so:
that comprised the train many were completely he closely followed my results and progress
destroyed, the last two where I was travelling throughout various competitions. When I started
with one of my brothers were left unscathed. to win tournaments, people in Kuybishev started
It was in Kuybishev that I passed the rest of my talking about me and that made him very proud.

33
 mathematics never
declined and I stayed
with it. When it was
time to enter univer
sity, my choice was
simple because if one
loves maths there are
only two possibili
ties: either one goes
in the direction of the
mathematics faculty
and studies only that
subject, or one enters
an engineering col
lege where mathe
matics is also taught
at an advanced level.
It's true to say that
my choice was dic
tated to a great extent
by one particular fac
tor. At that time, the
engineering profes
sion was considered
a prestigious career,
and in Kuybishev, the
engineering college
had an excellent
reputation. It was
there that I enrolled.
The process of selec
tion was very tough
but the courses were
of a remarkable qual
ity. The lecturers
gave us an excellent
foundation in differ
ent types of engineer
Lev Polugaevsky during Hoogovens 1 9 79, a tournament he won ing, but equally so in
other disciplines.
But in tris eyes the most important was that I There was only one area which was deficient:
continued my studies. foreign languages. Fortunately, things have changed,
but at that time the study of foreign languages
It was him who pushed you to become an engi was not taken so seriously. There were of course
neer? some language schools in the country but they
Yes, without any doubt, but I was totally in were few and far between.
agreement with him. I was attracted to mathe
matics at a very young age. I believe that I had When was it that you started to study chess
the right character and a real aptitude for this seriously and who were your different trainers ?
subject. Throughout my education my interest in In 1 948 I played a tournament in the Pioneer

34
 Interview

Palace and it was there that Alexey Ivashin no Following that, when I came to Moscow I didn't
ticed me. I was a first category player and he was have a trainer until the early seventies. It's then that
only a candidate master but he had great experi I met someone who was equally to have a strong
ence as he had played many tournaments, not influence: Isaak Boleslavsky. Just as Aronin, he
only in Russia but all over the USSR. At that time had had a brilliant career but his had been held
he was the Kuybishev champion and I remember back during the Petrosian era. It was well known
that all the members of his family played chess, that the two didn't get on. With him I began to
his brother but also his sister and mother! His realize that I could become one of the best play
house was almost a club and served as a meet ers in the world.
ing-place for the city's players and others who
were passing through. Ivashin was the first to Was it then that you decided to become a profes
give me any real lessons, not on a regular basis, sional player?
only when he had time. Due to him I too became Yes, in 1 973, but much later than most people
a candidate master at the age of 1 5 . Then it was think. During the 50's and 60's I had pursued two
Kulikov's turn, another candidate master, who activities: my studies and then work as an engi
was city champion before Ivashin. After him neer and chess competitions. I must admit that
came the International master Lev Aronin, of being an engineer is an enthralling profession
whom I have the fondest memories and most owe and I gave it much of my time. Looking back, I
for my success. Aronin was a truly strong player don't regret anything but not having given one
who had participated in the Soviet championship hundred per cent of my time to chess, during that
several times, and even finished equal second on period, must have certainly slowed my progress.
one occasion. His main regret was never to have When one is young one learns better and above
achieved the grandmaster title. This fact he sup all quickly. However I must confess that even so
ported badly, sometimes saying "Lev, if I don't I had the benefit of a favourable working arrange
merit the title, who else does, then?". He lived in ment. When I was to play a tournament I needed
Moscow, but he visited Kuybishev from time to to have two or three weeks in order to prepare
time to see his brother, and it was then that I had and in such cases I obtained permission for time
the chance to work with him. Our collaboration off from my director. On my return I plunged
lasted nearly ten years during the 1 950's. Then back totally into my role as an engineer. Frankly,
he left me to become Boris Spassky's trainer. these two careers weren't always simple to pur
From 1 950 to 1 953, as well as the sessions with sue and I know of only two people in the USSR
Aronin, I participated in the group courses of who were in this situation: Botvinnik and I.
Rashid Nezhmetdinov who was training the Rus Nevertheless, putting things into perspective,
sian junior team. He was someone very likeable there were many less tournaments then and I
but rather strange. I remember that no one had played rarely more than two or three a year,
ever seen him eat( !); one really didn't know how although they tended to be longer than those of
he managed to nourish himself. All day he drank today. So during twenty years I thus split my
very strong tea that he had spent hours himself time, but progressively my passion took over
preparing. Rashid had his own philosophy about from my profession. I had obtained excellent
chess. For him the result wasn't of any impor results in chess and it was beginning to become
tance, and the only worthwhile thing to him was clear to me that it was time to make a choice. In
the way that one had played. He loved the "beau 1 973, qualification for the Candidates' , follow
tiful game" and was a master of sacrifices. He ing my second place in the Petropolis Interzonal,
was a fantastic player, a particularly formidable was the decisive moment. It was then that I
opponent in complex positions and it wasn't by officially became a professional chess player.
accident that he achieved some brilliant victories
against Tal. His lessons were orientated towards He was never your trainer but one feels that
tactics. He was very friendly, but unfortunately Botvinnik is someone who influenced you greatly.
had poor health and he died whilst still fairly This is what you seem to express in your last
young. book Grandmaster Achievement.

35
 Yes, it's true. I've always had a strong admiration famous 1 7th of December 1969 in Belgrade, who
for Mikhail Botvinnik. He's someone who has pushed me into writing my first chess book by
meant a great deal to me, as he has given me asking: ''Are you at present writing a chess book?".
much in both the chess and the human domains. I replied in the negative and then he 'assassi
We have become rather close as we have three nated' me with the remark: "Why don't you
points in common: we were of course highly accept that you are lazy? You should be ashamed
ranked chess players and lived in Moscow (I of yourself. It is the responsibility of all grand
moved there in 1 962); but what really brought us masters to write books".
together was that we were both engineers, he in
electricity, myself in thermodynamics. Do you remember your first USSR champion
From the age of 1 5- 1 6 years old Botvinnik be ship ?
came my idol. I liked his style of play and I Yes, it was in 1 956 in Leningrad and I shared fifth
believe that in a certain manner it has much place with 10.51 1 7. I remember that I was par
influenced mine. In Grandmaster Achievement I ticular!y proud of having participated because at
recount faithfully my state of mind from that that time I still lived in Kuybishev, a very modest
period: "Since my youth, Mikhail Botvinnik has city in chess terms. It was the first time that a
been my idol and practically the first game that I player from the city had succeeded in qualifying
studied seriously was his brilliant victory over for the final of the USSR championships. My
Lilienthal from the 1 944 USSR championship. I participation was a great surprise, not only for me
was so delighted by that game that, for the first but for my family and the chess world. In that period
time in my life, instead of going to school I went there were far fewer players than now and the
to the park, and there on the bench I played elite were concentrated in the larger cities such
through the game for perhaps the seventieth time as Moscow and Leningrad. In my personal case,
on my chess board. From that time on I lived the fact that I was so distanced from the 'chess
under the influence of Botvinnik's style. I had a capitals' manifested itself in a lack of informa
book of his selected games that I kept under my tion. I didn't have many books at my disposition,
pillow and I have always followed his advice, and above all I didn't have access to many pub
even after also becoming a grandmaster...". lished games, not only those from the USSR but
I met Botvinnik for the first time in Moscow in also from elsewhere. Therefore, from the quality
1950 at the Russian championships that took point of view, I couldn't compete equally with
place in Saratov. I didn't speak to him but in his the nation's most prestigious players and perhaps
chess column in the magazine 'Ogonyok' he didn't gain the full benefit of the experience.
published my best game with his comments. A For all that, the championship was not all negative
decade or so later, when I came to live in Moscow for me. True, I didn't have as much information
we got to know each other. He was very attentive on my opponents as I would have liked, but from
of both my chess and engineering careers, he their point of view they didn't have much on me.
gave me much sound advice, and due to him, I In a sense, I was a new member of a family and
met many important people. One day he intro it probably took them some time to adapt. There
duced me to Dmitri Gemerin. One time he was was, without doubt, the benefit of surprise that
the energy minister but, having had some prob worked in my favour, and don't forget that I had
lems with Khrushchev, became director of the nothing to lose and everything to gain! I gained
Energy Institute in Moscow. It was there that I in confidence as the competition progressed.
worked. Gemerin loved chess and never missed
a chance to go and encourage his friend Botvin Do you like studies and problems ?
nik, our mutual friend. I always maintained a All through my career I have been close to those
good relationship with Gemerin and it was due for whom the creation or solution of problems is
to him that I was able to sometimes have time off almost a profession. I must say that I have enor
to go and play in tournaments. mous respect for them, even if in my heart I've
I owe Botvinnik my 'career' as an author, be always thought that composition is a totally dif
cause let's not forget that it was him, on that ferent world from competition with a clock.

36
 Interview

Frankly, problems have never really been a passion order to study what we should do and not do
for me, without doubt because of their irrational concerning computers. Basically I think that no
nature; on the other hand studies are rather differ clear reply has been worked out and I have the
ent. When I was young, above all when I had free feeling that no one wants to really reflect on it.
time, it has been known for me to immerse my I think that there are different perverse effects
self for hours into a collection of studies. After linked to the use of the computer but in the main
wards, I even composed some, but never wanted this depends on the operator. The main problem
to show them to others. The spectacular nature for the player to watch out for, and no doubt the
of the solutions enthused me, but the most im worst, is a progressive decline in his under
portant feature was to find a solution to a set standing of the game. Chess is above all based
problem; in fact I believe this to be part of my on personal research and reflection, which neces
nature: finding solutions to any particular prob sitates certain 'mental gymnastics' . Chess end
lem that interests me, in chess of course, but also lessly poses new problems and we must face up
in other domains such as politics, economics and to them to find the appropriate solutions. The
so on. danger is to confine this responsibility uniquely
to computers. You have a problem, you then turn
When one chats with you there is one subject that on the computer, go to sleep, and on waking next
comes up often and seems close to your heart: morning the answer is before you. Of course, that
computers. rather over-simplifies matters but in reality it
Yes it's true that it's a subject that often occupies sometimes happens that way. If we repeat many
my thoughts, not only at a personal level but times this process there are several consequences:
equally because it concerns the future of chess in the player becomes passive and his mind loses
general. certain powers; in tournament play, facing new
Before explaining my point of view I would first problems he would have less chance of finding
like to say that I'm not at all against computers, the adequate solution, and in a general sense, the
on the contrary, because they are a godsend for quality of his game will decline. Another danger:
humanity. Let's not forget that I am trained in excessive confidence in the qualities of a com
engineering and therefore can hardly be opposed puter. When you need to calculate horribly com
to scientific progress. Computers allow one to do plicated multiplications, you are sure that the
an enormous number of things and, in particular, computer will obtain the right number because
for everyone to have access to knowledge. My it's the only possible solution, but in chess it is
principle preoccupation, in chess terms and the not always the case and it happens that several
rest, is to know how to integrate this new phe moves are worthwhile. In some cases computers
nomenon. How are we going to live with com even commit errors of calculation. It is therefore
puters and how are we going to manage their use? appropriate to stay objective and be very critical
What are our objectives and how are we going to towards its proposed solutions; in essence to use
achieve them? efficiently and intelligently the computer's re
From a chess angle, the replies to these questions sources. All these shortcomings can fade the
have become of vital concern, as after only a few style of a player, at whatever standard, from a
years, computers have taken on an important simple amateur to a GM. These days, we can
role, too important in my opinion. I think that the discern perfectly the players whose style has
players but also organizers and different types of been influenced by computer science, those who
managers have yet to get to grips with the ques have the 'ChessBase' culture. Frankly, I am far
tion. Here and there, everybody knows that com off believing that these young grandmasters have
puters have allowed the enlargement of the field a better understanding of the game than those of
of knowledge, notably in respect of games and 1 964 for example; I even feel that the opposite is
opening databases, but practically nobody has the case and we are indeed witnessing a regres
sufficiently thought out the consequences for the sive phenomenon. To clarify what I have just
game of chess. At the end of the 1 970's I myself expounded, it is sufficient to look at the results
suggested a round-table, a sort of think-tank, in of certain veterans like Smyslov, Portisch,

37
 In characteristic pose behind the board. Am sterdam 1 984

Kortchnoi or even Bronstein. Evidently, they aren't as that's what enabled him to win. The intrinsic
strong as before, due to their age, but it doesn't stop strength of the winner had nothing to do with the
them embarrassing the new generation on occa result.
sions. Bronstein takes a certain pleasure in beat Is there an answer to all this? Perhaps. In his time
ing those programs which he is playing! It would Capablanca proposed to include a new piece.
be really interesting to bring together several Why not? But I think that Fischer's idea was more
representatives of each generation and confront practical. Change the starting line-up, which would
them with some totally new problems. In the past erase opening preparation and breathe new life
we were more used to thinking by ourselves and into the game. This would be a good way to ge1
it was precisely that what made us strong. around the perverse effects of the computer.
In the field of openings, the influence of comput Another phenomenon that should be taken intc
ers is more and more important. Without having consideration is the association between man anc
arrived at the point of saturation, we have cer machine during tournaments. The fundamental
tainly come to a point of over-information and question is whether it is better to lose alone or tc
I'm convinced that it is to the detriment of crea win with the help of a computer? A purely ethica
tivity. In Buenos Aires I clearly observed what question but a relevant one in terms of correspon
happened in several games. After several moves dence chess and adjourned games. Public opin
some positions were already virtually lost. The ion was tuned in to this issue when the famom
computer had had its effect. One of the players 16th game from the 1 99 1 world championshii
had simply deeper knowledge than the other and match Kasparov-Karpov was adjourned in Lyon

38
 Interview

As a result of this particular case, many organizers was to be my trainer for the next ten years. He
have reacted well in doing away with adjourn was then one of the best players in the country
ments altogether. This constitutes the only effec and had participated in several USSR champion
tive method of proceeding but unfortunately, it ships. He was only thirty years old at the time
isn't entirely satisfactory, as from an educational when we met but he was already very experi
point of view, I am strongly convinced that ad enced. He was an excellent trainer who was a
journed games enable players to enhance their specialist in the Sicilian, notably the Najdorf. We
powers of analysis and therefore to progress. spent much time studying together and quite
The last point upon which I would like to draw naturally I started to copy him. He exercised an
attention is the participation of chess programs enormous influence on me and after our collabo
in certain competitions. Not long ago, in the ration on the Sicilian I started to obtain good results.
London PCA-Intel Grand Prix, the Chess Genius Afterwards I never looked to study another open
program beat Kasparov. The media had a field ing and I have remained faithful all my life.
day. This highly symbolic victory well illustrates
the progress made these last few years by com Is there anything in particular that you remem
puters but this raises some questions: Can we say berfrom your work together?
that it is a great victory for the game and above I remember that at the time of our collaboration
all for the positive image of chess in the media? the fashionable move against the Najdorf was
Do you believe that a father having seen these 6.e2, against which Black almost always re
images would want his son to join a chess club? plied 6 ...e6, transposing to a Scheveningen set
Do you think that a potential sponsor would be up. But Aronin had his own ideas and for him the
interested in financing world championship best move was 6 ...e5( !). I admit that at first I was
matches when he retains the image of the world not convinced, but Aronin gradually persuaded
champion beaten by a program, that one can find me that the mQve is actually quite logical.
in the shops for less than 200 dollars?
In conclusion, I would like to say that the appearance Talking about 6... e5, one could get the impres
of computers raises many questions and that the sion that after your match with Karpov in 1974
answers are far from simple, but that I believe that you stopped playing the move.
it is in the power of each of us to face up to the Yes it's true, but Karpov was not the only one
problem and think seriously because no one knows responsible. If one looks closely, I believe that I
what will be the case in ten or twenty year time. obtained good positions and that in no way was
If we don't pay attention now it may be too late. the move 6 ...e5 refuted, or unplayable, as a result
of the match. I think that 6...e5 is a sound move
One has the feeling that there is almost a love and has many advantages. After the match with
affair between you and the Sicilian. When didyou Karpov I continued to play the move for a while
decide to regularly play this defence ? but I gradually switched to 6. ..e6, mainly to avoid
In fact I didn't immediately play the Sicilian. my opponent's preparation but also as I had some
Like many beginners and young players I started new ideas and perhaps a desire to have other
out with the Spanish game. After that I played the sensations. In playing 6 ...e6 my intention was not
French. How did I come to adopt the Sicilian? At to transpose into the Scheveningen, which im
what precise moment? I don't remember exactly, plies an early development of the knight to c6.
but I believe that it is because, at that time, some Conversely, I preferred to defer the development
of my friends were playing it. I started with the of the queen's knight aiming rather to play the
Dragon variation. My results weren't bad but at advance ... b7-b5 quickly. Only when White plays
the end of the 1940's White had discovered a the move a2-a4 should one bring the knight to c6.
number of different strategies that were rather Therefore I played the preliminary moves . . .e7
tiresome for Black. I liked the Sicilian but I had and ...'f/fc7 and then from time to time developed
a rather amateurish approach. the knight to d7. When Kasparov started to play
It was at the beginning of the 1950's that the this type of set-up I had already prepared the
'thunderbolt struck' , when I metLev Aronin who ground!

39
 opinion, this is not the case in the
Sicilian, as between the Paulsen,
the Scheveningen, the Najdorf
and even the Dragon there is
much in common.
The next point is that it is an
opening that suits my playing
style as there is little room for
compromise; but I want to add
that at the same time it allows the
possibility of the manoeuvring
type of game, so one can use the
opening to suit one's taste:
mainly tactical or mainly posi
tional . During my career I have
resorted to almost all types of
Sicilian, I am almost a 'decath
lete' of the Sicilian !

Don 't you have thefeeling that

you are taking all sorts of risks
in only playing the Sicilian.
Firstly because it's such a
sharp opening and secondly
because your opponents can
prepare much more easily?
I don't look at things from that
angle. I have been playing the
Sicilian for about forty years
and I don' t see where is the risk.
I have an absolute confidence
in it and I think that I am in the
position to confirm that, de
spite lacking it's perfect mas
tery, I have a good under-
New York 1 9 89 standing of the defence. There
is a complicity, a type of con
Why do you like the Sicilian so much ? nivance between us. In a way, I'd like to say that
Firstly because it is such a rich opening and far the Great Lady, that is the Sicilian, has opened to
from being played out. I have always been a me the door to her secrets ! Further you know that
creative player and it has been through this open I believe that all Sicilian players must recognize
ing that I could best express myself. What I have that the openil)g is complex and there is effec
to say will certainly shock players of the French tively some danger, but this danger also threatens
defence but I find that the positions resulting White. Most of the time I play aggressive sys
from l .e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.ttJd2 to be too rigid, there tems with Black but on the few occasions that I
is much less room for investigation; now if have played l .e4 and that I have met the Sicilian
instead of 3 .ttJd2 White plays 3 .ttJc3 then it's a I have applied the same strategy. In summarizing
totally different game. The lack of a link between my advice is the following "dear opponent, I am
the different variations is an aspect that I dislike in ready to go to the edge of the precipice, but you
certain openings such as the French defence. In my will come with me".

40
 lnteNiew

Once, you stated that you are ready to only play things from my opponent's point of view and I
l.e4 if your opponent will always reply with try to guess what he will play against me, in order
l . .. c5. to better anticipate events. I don't like being in the
I have spent so many years studying the Sicilian position of the fish being baited by the fisherman.
with Black that inevitably I have a certain expe
rience for the white side. Throughout the whole Without playing on words, it seems that at that
of my career I must have played twenty times or particular game Fischer was your superior;
so against the Sicilian and my results are bearing in mind the only game that you have
excellent, in that I have something like 80%. I played together at the Palma de Mallorca Inter
have played this way against Kotov, Geller, zonal.
Boleslavsky. . . Yes exactly. I believe that Fischer always had an
innate sense of danger and an extraordinary abil
And what happens when you are faced with the ity to anticipate matters. He was able to some
Najdoif? times surprise his opponents using techniques
I don't ask myself too many questions. In general that we can call 'psychological' . It's true that in
I play 6 ...ic4. Palma de Mallorca the day that I arrived in the
tournament hall and I realized that he had played
Does that mean that it is the best move against l .c4, I couldn't believe my eyes; I even thought
the Najdoif? for a minute that I had the wrong table!
Perhaps ! You know that there is no really 'best' I well remember that I was somewhat shaken and
move. All depends on individual styles. Karpov it took me a few minutes to settle down. Despite
is just as dangerous with 6.e2 as Fischer is with everything, what a nice surprise for me, and a
6. c4. magnificent present on Fischer's part, that by
refusing to play his favourite move l .e4 he im
In spite of everything, have you never wanted to plied that I was a useful Sicilian player and that
change opening after a string of defeats ? I could have caused him some problems with that
I have often been asked this question and quite opening. One can therefore interpret his gesture
frankly the reply is 'no'. I have sometimes as a mark of respect towards me.
changed variations switching from the Najdorf
to the Scheveningen or to the Paulsen; at times I You have broached the subject of psychology.
have even temporarily given up the Polugaevsky Have you too resorted to such techniques ?
variation, but at no time since I included the In chess, psychology is an extremely important
Sicilian in my repertoire have I wanted to stop factor. All through my life I have used it. Look,
playing it. How can you explain such faith? just taking into consideration the Sicilian I have
Simply by the fact that the Sicilian is my open used a number of schemes and move orders to
ing. It corresponds to my idea of chess and counteract my opponent's preparation. I have a
therefore to my style. I really have the impression good recollection of my last meeting with
that I was born for the Sicilian. I have spent so Kasparov in the 1992 Paris Immopar trophy. By
much time studying it and have won so many playing l .d4, Garry was certainly expecting to
victories with it that I have not experienced the meet my favourite Queen's Indian defence, but
need to resort to another defence. that day I had prepared a small surprise in playing
Take my match against Mecking. My intuition the Bogo-Indian. It was clear that he didn't ex
told me that he was very well prepared to meet pect it. That gave me a 'psychological edge' even
my favourite variations and that he had prepared if later I lost the game.
some nasty surprises. I therefore decided to take
the risk of playing a line that I had never played, Fair enough, but we can consider all that to be
but had much studied: l .e4 c5 2.lLlf3 e6 3.d4 'legal psychology '. I wanted to speak mainly of
cxd4 4.lLlxd4 a6 5.d3 c5. My plan worked things, tricks, to upset one 's opponent which are
admirably, much better than I could have hoped. sometimes at the limit of correctness, of which
You know that I am rather cunning ! I look at Fischer made his speciality.

41
As it concerns me, during a game I have never (van Oosterom). Imagine, a tournament organized
indulged in anything that could disturb my oppo solely in my honour, with the best players in the
nent and have never abused the rules. Very early world and with the opening that I have always
on, I set myself a rule to be honest with myself adored. What more can one ask? No living player
and my opponent. has ever received such a gift from the gods, and
As for Bobby Fischer I am still convinced that he sometimes whilst I was in Argentina I asked
never did anything illegal and that he never aimed myself if I was dreaming with my eyes open.
to wittingly harm any of his opponents. He some But I cannot hide the fact that in another sense
times arrived late for the game but that was more Buenos Aires will remain my worst memory
to do with his own anxiety than a real desire to because in a way I was absent. It was the tourna
destabilize. I only played him once, but we ana ment of my life, it was made for me, tailored to
lyzed together on a number of occasions and I fit, but I couldn't play. What misery ! I don't have
can state that he was a player who was extremely strong enough words to express my suffering.
honest with himself.
How did things progress in the beginning, when
Some World Champions have deep within them your own participation was not in doubt?
selves a sort of 'destructive energy ' which en I was to be the main actor in the Buenos Aires
ables them to beat their opponents. In your case, tournament and in this respect I was one of the
you seem to be an extremely kind person, inca first to be informed about how things were devel
pable of any kind of maliciousness. Is this the oping. When I had the confirmation that the
reason why you have never been a serious can tournament would go ahead I was happy like
didate for the world championship title ? never before. I immediately understood that it
Yes it's true that in comparison to some other was the tournament of my life, a unique oppor
players I don't have a 'killer instinct' , that could tunity not to miss. At the beginning of summer,
have helped me to turn important matches and 1 993, I set about preparing as if I was going to
perhaps even for me to rise to the highest level. fight for the world championship. I had brought
Without doubt I don't have the character of a together all my Informants, all the necessary
champion. I don't have the belligerence of books and documents and got down to work.
Kasparov, Karpov or Fischer but when we take a Nearly every day I spent several hours preparing
close look, Euwe, Smyslov and Petrosian didn't for the tournament, summarizing the state ofplay
have this 'destructive energy' either. Many peo in each variation, but above all I was searching
ple think that I am too meek but this doesn't mean for some good novelties. I knew very well that I
that I am a lamb. In my games, I often have an would be facing the world's elite and I was far
aggressive style that disturbs my opponent from from starting out as favourite, but I felt that my
developing his normal game, he cannot do all that profound knowledge of the Sicilian would en
he wants to do to me. You know that, to achieve able me to cause a surprise and go and play the
the level that I have during the past thirty years, spoilsport !
all the same, one must have a certain character With Black I was confident enough. Nothing too
and I wouldn't have got here ifl was that tender! bad could happen to me. It was mainly playing
Those who have played against me know this with White that preoccupied me. For quite a
well. Those who know me away from the chess while I hadn't been playing l . e4 and in a way I
board know that I can be intransigent, notably if had to start again from scratch. Over time I
I sense an injustice. In this case the person who became used to the idea, especially as I didn't
is facing me has every chance of losing as I am have to face the Spanish or French; after all,
uncompromising ! hadn't I said that one day I would be ready to play
l .e4, all the time, if my opponent would play the
Tell me about the tournament in Buenos Aires. Sicilian?
Oh, it's magnificent ! This tournament will stay All that went well, but almost imperceptibly I felt
one of the highlights of my life, an unforgettable a certain nervousness rising in me. I started to
memory and all my life I will be grateful to Joop become more and more aware of the importance

42
 Interview

of the tournament and what it represented to me. What advice would you give to a young player
I especially didn't want to miss out on the great who would like to become a professional?
occasion and I wanted to be good enough. First of all, he must love chess and always play
with pleasure. It must never be a burden. If he
Were you satisfied with the performance of the aspires only for medals without passion for the
players in the tournament? game, he will never succeed.
It's a question which I find difficult to answer I also think that a golden rule for success is to be
objectively. In this tournament, as things turned strictly objective: one must have a good sense of
out, I had the role of a privileged observer and self-criticism. I often hear young players saying:
the fact that I have played the Sicilian for forty "I played really well, I had a fantastic game, I was
years means that I was able to pass a more critical the best player" but at the same time they don't
eye than others who were present. Truthfully, I realize that they have made many errors, some
believe that I was rather frustrated by various times even blunders. He who recognizes his mis
things. I would have liked to see more commit takes and who judges them clearly and objec
ment from certain players, more fighting spirit, tively will go far. When we lose our sense of
essentially that they would have taken more criticism we go backwards. This advice is appli
risks. The fact that nobody played my variation cable in all walks of life at whatever age.
naturally saddened me, but I had anticipated it,
firstly because it requires two (White must play How do you regard the present situation in the
6.g5) but also because Ljubojevic was the only world of chess ?
one who had previously played it. It is difficult to give an adequate answer to this
question. From one aspect, there are more and
more tournaments in the world and that is a fine
thing. The average level of players has increased
and tournaments are attractive despite present
Some extracts from an interview which was economic difficulties. In a sense this shows that
made in 1992 that are still topical chess is popular but we must keep our feet on the
ground: chess will never generate the media in
Why did you choose to come and live in France ? terest offootball or tennis. If Kasparov or Karpov
I had several options, I could have gone to Israel, think for forty minutes on a move, I can under
to the United States or to the Netherlands, but for stand why certain people fall asleep during a
various reasons France was the best choice. As transmission( !), and this explains why television
you well know, I worked during 1 990 with the has never completely invested in the game.
young GM Joel Lautier in his preparation for the There is also a negative side to this proliferation:
zonal tournament in Lyon and then the Manila the vast number of strong tournaments provokes
Interzonal. I thus created a bond between this banality in the media. The infatuation of the
country and myself. ordinary public diminishes and there is less pas
I equally chose France for practical reasons: my sion. In days gone by, we remember tournaments
only daughter worked in Paris and my wife had such as New York 1 924 or Botvinnik's victory in
for many years been a French teacher in Moscow. Nottingham 1936. Take for example the Candi
I was therefore surrounded by people who spoke dates' tournament in Zurich 1953, people still
the language fluently and for me this was a big remember it today ! Actually there are too many
advantage. I don't regret the decision because I tournaments and they follow on too soon after
am enjoying myself here. From the chess point one another. Even chess magazines can no longer
of view it is a very interesting country with good keep up ...
prospects. In a way, it's a return to grass roots as Further, one notices that these tournaments con
we mustn't forget that France was the cradle of s.ist of practically the same players. The situation
Philidor, La Bourdonnais, Saint-Amant and has evolved these last few years, with the arrival
Deschapelles before being the adopted land of of new talent, but the transition is rather slow.
world champions Alekhine and Spassky. Let's not forget that we have also lost some

43
 With M iguel N ajdorf. Buenos Aires 1 994

tournaments; I am thinking particularly of the don't have any principles. I always have my own
World Cup circuit organized by the GMA. Don't opinions and convictions and I react accordingly.
get me wrong, I am not at all against the GMA I don't like to change my mind with each shift in
and its leaders. On the contrary, because I think the wind's direction. When I believe that some
that the idea is excellent, but I am against the false thing is good for me and for others I hold onto
hopes generated and then left unfulfilled by and stay with it.
abandoning the project en route. I sincerely hope
that the idea will be reborn. One must equally You, who have contested a match with Judit
think of those players who, from the start, were Polgar, what is your opinion on women 's chess
not qualified and who were prepared to battle in in general and Judit in particular?
order to acquire selection. They were more than I have completely changed my opinion when it
disappointed and I understand them. comes to women. Before, I didn't take them
seriously but now I have understood my mistake.
Everywhere, people speak highly of your diplo In my opinion women have made more progress
matic talents but you don 't seem to be a member then men. Compared to before, they now have
of any party nor to be anybody 's man. better understanding, more complete knowledge
I am above all fascinated by chess and in this and are better adapted to competition. Men have
sense I like the battle of ideas and the clash of only progressed in terms of opening theory.
characters, but only in the context of the chess These days women play like men, they are truly
board. We chess players have the same worries, GM's. The big problem for men is that they can't
the same preoccupations, why should we be for prepare psychologically and find it difficult to
ever quarreling? admit that their feminine opponent is a real GM.
This doesn't mean that I am passive and that I Now women have an aim, a model . They are not

44
 Interview

afraid of losing to men, but the opposite is not players calculated by taking the average Elo rat
true. Coming to Judit, she is not a good example. ings over the last three years and 36 players
She is extraordinary; at her age she does some qualifying from the zonals). From the tourna
incredible things. She has a strong character hav ment the first 36 (and not only 10!) go on to the
ing the advantage of not being nervous. next stage of knock-out matches. To the eighteen
Both in a sporting sense and a psychological one winners a further six players are added (the six
she has what it takes to become a great champion. finalists from the previous cycle, who qualify by
When I played against her and lost the first game right to this stage. Only on the first occasion will
I understood that I absolutely had to change my one take the previous quarter-finalists) leaving
approach. I therefore decided to prepare very 24 players. At this stage of the cycle, all of the
seriously indeed. I didn't want to be the first qualifiers compete in three tournaments, GMA
ex-Candidate to lose a match against a woman. style, which would allow us to obtain an overall
In the end I won the match but it was not at all ranking. The winner would be the world cham
easy. pion.
From a general point of view, I am not in favour
You seem attentive to what is happening in the of the idea that a world championship cycle
world of chess and you have your own opinion should serve only to find the challenger and
on the world championship cycle and on Elo champion. I think that it should allow us to
ratings. establish a hierarchy as in other disciplines. Let's
Some years ago when I was a member of the not forget that chess is an individual sport. We
FIDE commission I worked out a plan to reform should be in a position to say who is the No.3,
the world championship cycle. This took much the No.7, the No.22 as the Elo is not enough. We
time and energy. For example, I re-read every should follow the example set by tennis.
thing concerning the history of chess. Concerning Elo ratings my opinion is clear: it's
When I presented my report, nobody in FIDE a total disaster. I can take many examples to
was ready to take it seriously. I therefore ex demonstrate that the Elo does not reflect the true
plained my idea to each member of the commis value of a player.
sion individually. It was then decided to adopt the Today it can happen that a player gains 230
plan. I was very happy and proud. The moment points in six months. How is it possible? There
had come to speak about it to my fellow GM's again one must proceed as in tennis, recalculat
but then FIDE dropped the plan adopting instead ing Elo's after each tournament as is the case of
Schultz's project. My idea fell through... I there the USSR with Edward Doubov. One must find
fore decided to withdraw from the qualification conscientious people to do a good job. If FIDE
stages of the world championship. I was disap doesn't change in this sense, chess-life will be
pointed that my colleagues didn't support me corrupted in a few years.
enough, they were too passive, when I needed Then there are the organizers who 'forget' , on
them. purpose or otherwise, to send in various results.
Fundamentally, I do not think that it is a good I know what I'm talking about because I was on
idea that qualification for the candidates should the Russian commission. I have the names of
be uniquely from Swiss tournaments. It is some organizers, as well as those of players, who are
times impossible for top GM's to play under such involved. I believe that in order to avoid gallop
conditions. lt is a lottery. One plays a tournament ing inflation one must establish a separate rank
with a vast number of very strong players and ing for opens, this would be fairer.
then only ten are taken! That won't do.
My project associated tournament and match What do you think of active chess ?
play. It allows the top players a better opportunity This type of the game has made enormous pro
to prove themselves and yet everyone has his gress. I think it has now become an acceptable
chance. way of attracting the media to our game. It's an
First of all it is necessary to organize a tourna excellent spectacle. But there is a negative side
ment with 1 00 players (the 64 highest ranked and I criticize certain people for the way that they

45
use it. 'Active' chess should remain a show, a between Tchaikovsky and pop music. Classical
spectacle, it shouldn't become concurrent with music is an art and it takes thousands of hours to
'normal' chess of the '40-in-2' type. master a sonata. Giving too much importance to
Why establish an official ranking at this time active chess represents a danger for chess and is
limit? If we follow this logic we should introduce a poor educational tool for the young; one will
titles, norms etc. When speed prevails over re be tempted to suggest easy solutions with instant
flection we can no longer distinguish between rewards. In this case why should one spend many
IM's and GM's. hours studying a precise variation of the King's
What can we say about games where the flag falls Indian? Better to work on one's reflexes and to
when one has a queen or a rook more? Do you play speculative gambits.
want such games to count for an active Elo I often hear the following remark "if a player has
rating? a good understanding of the game, he should be
One should be serious, active chess should be as as strong in normal chess as he is at 30-minute
the Holiday on Ice shows are for ice-skating: an chess". I don't agree with this opinion as there
excellent spectacle for the public. All the same, are some players who only have a superficial
these professionals have not ended their amateur vision, they see quickly but only in a limited
career to receive marks from a jury! Take another sense; on the contrary, there are those who see
example with music. People readily distinguish deeply, but for that they need time.

Lev Abramovitch Polugaevsky - most important results

Born the 20.1 1 .1 934 in Mogilev (Belarus)

GM since 1 962

T EAM COMPETITIONS FOR USSR

Team World Championship

1 985 Luzern 1 st

Olympiads
1 966 Havana 1 st
1 968 Lugano 1 st
1 970 Siegen 1 st
1 978 Buenos-Aires 2nd
1 980 Valetta 1 st
1 982 Luzern 1 st
1 984 Thessaloniki 1 st

European Team Championships

1 961 Oberhausen 1 st
1 970 Kapfenberg 1 st
1 977 Moscow 1 st
1 980 Skara 1 st
1 989 Haifa 1 st

46
 lnteNiew

World University Team Championships

1 956 Uppsala 1 st
1 957 Reykjavik 1 st

Match: USSR v Rest of the World

1 970 Belgrade 4th board
1 984 London 3rd board

INDIVIDUAL COMPETITIONS

USSR Championships
1 961 Baku 2nd
1 965 Moscow 2nd
1 967 Kharkov 1 st equal
1 968 Alma Ata 1 st
1 969 Moscow 1 st equal
1 973 Moscow 2nd equal
1 974 Leningrad 3rd equal
1 976 Moscow 3rd equal
1 977 Leningrad 3rd equal
1 978 Tbilisi 3rd equal
1 983 Moscow 3rd equal

Tournaments
1 959 Marianske Lazne 1 st
1 962 Mar del Plata 1 st
1 962 Havana 2nd equal
1 963 Bad Liebenstein 1 st equal
1 963 Sochi (Chigorin memorial) 1 st
1 964 Sarajevo 1 st equal
1 965 Budapest 1 st equal
1 966 Beverwijk 1 st
1 966 Le Havre 2nd equal
1 966 Sochi (Chigorin memorial) 2nd
1 967 Moscow 1 st equal
1 968 Skopje 3rd
1 969 BOsum 2nd
1 971 Mar del Plata 1 st
1 971 Skopje 1 st
1 972 Amsterdam 1 st
1 972 Kislovodsk 1 st
1 973 Tallinn 2nd
1 974 Solingen 1 st equal
1 974 Sochi (Chigorin memorial) 1 st
1 975 Budapest 1 st equal
1 975 Mantilla 1 st equal
1 975 Manila 2nd equal
1 976 Vinkovci 3rd equal
1 976 Sochi (Chigorin memorial) 1 st equal

47
1 978 Lone Pine 2nd
1 979 Wijk aan Zee 1 st
1 981 Sochi (Chigorin memorial) 2nd
1 982 Mar del Plata 3rd equal
1 982 Bugojno 2nd equal
1 982 Manila 1 st equal
1 986 Biel 1 st
1 987 Sarajevo 2nd equal
1 987 Termas de Rio Hondo 3rd equal
1 988 Haninge 1 st
1 988 Akureyri 2nd
1 989 Biel 2nd
1 990 Reykjavik open 1 st equal
1 991 Reggio Emilia 2nd
1 991 Aruba (match vs J.Polgar) 5-3
1 991 Logrono (match Espagne v CIS) 2nd equal
1 992 Reggio Emilia (category XVIII) 5th equal
1 992 Aruba (match veterans vs women) 1 st

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CYCLE

Interzonal Tournaments
1 973 Petropolis 2nd equal
1 976 Manila 2nd equal
1 979 Riga 2nd
1 982 Toluca 4th equal
1 985 Biel 7th

Candidates
1 974 Moscow 1 /4-final: loss vs Karpov 2.5-5.5
1 977 Luzern 1 /4-final: victory vs Mecking 6.5-5.5
1 977 Evian 1 /2-final: loss vs Kortchnoi 4.5-8.5
1 980 Alma Ata 1 /4-final: victory vs Tal 5.5-2.5
1 980 Buenos Aires 1 /2-final: loss vs Kortchnoi 6.5-7.5

48
A Certain History
of the Sicilian Defence

Christophe Gueneau

The Sicilian defence has had a special reputation nificant proportion of Sicilians go the full term,
throughout the long history of chess. It is prob until defeat of one of the players is assured, and
ably the defence that has been most analysed, draws are less frequent than in all other openings.
studied and commentated upon. There has al Naturally each innovation for the attack or
ways been a certain fascination with it, from the defence provokes research for the appropriate
top echelon as well as those of a more modest rejoinder. It sometimes takes years, or even
ability, and today at all levels, it remains the most decades, to discover the refutation of a new vari
widely used opening of all. ation. Certain have never been really refuted, as
How to explain such popularity which has rarely in the case of the Polugaevsky variation, for
waned throughout the centuries? Fashions in chess example. This has sometimes even led to the
openings change, a phenomenon of all human Sicilian being considered too dangerous and con
activity, but the Sicilian has never really been sequently avoided at the top level.
outmoded for long. It's the development of the perpetual fight between
Without doubt, the Sicilian represents the most sword and shield that is summarized in A Certain
mortal ofstruggles between two players, two human History of the Sicilian Defence which is neither
intellects, seeking to 'finish off' their opponent. exhaustive nor chronologically strict. The priority
It is well recognized that the Sicilian is one of the has been to follow logically the evolution of the
most 'violent' of systems. 'Vim vi repellere licet' philosophy of each variation, with particular refer
goes the old dictum which can be loosely translated ence to those players who have earned their place
as 'violence repels violence' . The player who ven in the history of this opening. There is a certain
tures this defence must be conscious that he will bias towards the currently most popular lines: the
be walking on the edge ofa precipice before accept Najdorf of course, but also the Scheveningen and
ing the risk. One slip and the consequences can be the Lasker-Pelikan-Sveshnikov.
fatal ! He should be aware that no imprecision will First of all, why is ' l. e4 c5 ' called the Sicilian
be permitted, each move must be chosen with great defence and where and when did it appear for the
care and attention and the Sicilian player must first time? Such questions rarely have surefrre
have nerves of steel. It is true that his opponent, answers. In essence, chess historians are divided
who has opened with l .e4 a move full of candour, and none have irrefutable proof of their theories.
must possess the same qualities and suffer the What is certain is that Spain reigned supreme in
same constraints. This may explain why a sig- chess until the end of the sixteenth century where-

49
upon Italy became pre-eminent. Match victories in
6 f5 7.d3 'ir'e7 8..ie4 fe4 9.'ir'e4
.
1574 and 1 575 by Leonardo di Bona da Cutri
(1527- 1 588) and Paolo Boi ( 1 528- 1 598) against
the champion of the period, the Spanish priest
Ruy Lopez de Segura (about 1530-1 580) marked
the end of the Spanish hegemony. Italy became the
chess 'superpower' and was to remain so for three
centuries, coinciding with its cultural domination
linked with the Renaissance.
Many strong Italian players came from Sicily
such as del Biscari, di Siculiana, Clariano Rosso,
Salvatore Albino, and Girolamo Cascio; but the
biggest and most charismatic was Paolo Boi
(known as 'the Syracusan' as he came from the
Sicilian capital). One can imagine that the name
'Sicilian' came from hereabouts.
It seems that the ftrst player to have studied the Eight years later, the talented Giochino Greco
continuation l .e4 c5 was Guilio Cesare Polerio (1600- 1 634) put his brick in the wall in covering
( 1 548- 1 61 2). In his works that appeared in 1 590 1 .e4 c5 in The booke of the ordinary games of
one ftnds some analyses of the opening but no cheste published in London 1623. An anecdotal
mention of the ' Sicilian defence' . title, it brought to attention a game played in
In 1 604, another illustrative figure, the 'king of Naples in 1623 between an amateur and Aurelio
the attack' , Alessandro Salvio ( 1 570- 1640) in his Severino (1 580- 1 656). David Levy and Kevin
book Trattato dell'inventione e arte liberale del O'Connell in their incomplete masterpiece Ox
gioco di scacchi consecrated some analysis to ford encyclopaedia of chess games, volume 1 -
1485-1866 present the following game but un
1 .e4 c5 2.c4 tt:lc6 3.c3 e6 4.tt:lf3 dS
fortunately don't state their source, casting doubt
on its historical value;
1 .e4 cS 2.tt:lc3 eS 3.tt:lf3 tt:lc6 4.tt:ld5
d6 5.c3 fS 6.ef5 fS 7.b5 'iid 7
8.d4 cd4 9.cd4 0-0-0

Here one should place the king on b8 and the

rook on e8, as was the custom of the era.
1 O.deS tt:leS 1 1 ..id7 tt:lf3 1 2. <Jif1
.id3 1 3.'ir'd3 l:!.e1 X

Towards 1617, another great player of the epoch,

Don Pietro Carrera ( 1573-1647) in his work Il
Gioco degli Scacchi claimed that l .e4 c5 was
favourable for White, but the least we can say is
that this was based on some eccentric analysis( !);
1 .e4 cs 2.c3 es 3.tt:lf3 d6 4.d4 tt:lf6
S.deS tt:le4 6. 'iVdS
Naturally 6.a4 wins immediately.

50
 History

Despite the work done, here and there, the Sicil the strength of an opponent." Here is an edited
ian remained a minor opening with limited atten and modernized version of some of his analyses;
tion. In this period the fashion was more than
1 .e4 c5 2.f4 ttJc6 3.lLJf3
ever for 1 .e4 e5 followed by the legendary King's
gambit (2.f4). One has to wait until the eight If you haven't brought out your knight then
eenth century for the Sicilian to regain popular Black would force you to play a gambit by play
ity, notably due to the publications of Comte ing 3 ...e5, as the capture is impossible because
Carlo Francesco Cozio ( 1 7 1 5-1 780) and the ofthe queen check. In this case Black should win
Frenchman Franois-Andre Danican Philidor if he follows up with correct play.
(1 726- 1 795).
3...e6 4.c3
In his book Il giuoco degli scacchi published in
1740 (some sources suggest 1766) Cozio played You could have pushed your queen's pawn two
the role of a barrister for the Sicilian defence squares (4.d4) in order to exchange the c-pawn
improving on Salvio's analyses. He concluded but that would not be much use as, after 5.dc5
that Black had the advantage after c5, the black bishop becomes powerful and
irritating for your pieces, particularly as you
1 .e4 c5 2.c4 ttJc6 3.lt:Jf3 e6 4.d3
cannot oppose it with your queen's bishop.
d5 5.ed5 ed5 6.b5 't!Va5 7.ttJc3
d4 8.ttJe5 dc3 9.c6 beG 1 O.ttJc6 5... d5 5.e5 f5
cb2 1 1 .lLJa5 ba1 'tlV
Black should have advanced the queen's pawn
one square 5 ...d4 and after 6.cd4 you recapture
with the pawn to stop correct piece development,
just as White does on the kingside.
6.d4 lLJh6

It would have been bad for Black to play 6 ... cd4

as this frees the c3-square to be again accessible
for the White knight. Similarly it would be now
wrong for White to capture on c5 as this would
allow the black king's bishop to be very active.
7.i.e3 'ti'b6 8.'ti'd2

Attacking a queenside pawn in order to force you

to play it, but it is best to avoid 8.b3 as after 8 ... a5
He examined some other variations and they too Black has good queenside attacking chances.
led to a good game for Black. One thing is clear;
8... ttJf7
Cozio's work sparked interest in the Sicilian but
it was mainly Philidor who was to give the open If Black had played 8 ... lt:Jg4 you wouldn't have
ing a respectable reputation. In a later edition of allowed the exchange of the bishop; you would
his master book L' analyze des echecs published have retreated your bishop and then later forced
in 1 777 (the first edition dates from 1749) the back the knight.
Frenchman has a good word for the Sicilian
9.dc5
considering that it enables Black to equalize
without it being, nevertheless, as strong as l ...e5 Since you cannot move your knight to a3 as you
in reply to 1 .e4. He wrote that "This method of may then obtain doubled pawns or lose your
playing against the first move is purely defensive queen, you must exchange dark-squared bishops.
and in this case shouldn't be adopted if looking
9 ...c5 1 O.cS 't!VcS 1 1 .lLJa3
for an advantage. But, if one can start with equal
ity (that is, without loss of material - Ch. A way of being able to cooperate with the king's
Gueneau) it is a good method of measuring up knight for the control of the d4-square. In general

51
it is essential to preserve good communication 51 48.8
between the knights as it is advisable to post
them on squares where they cannot be chased 0 Bowdler
away either by pawns or pieces. Philidor
London 1 783
1 1 ... g5
To break-up the centre in the case of 12.fg5.
1 .e4 cS 2.c4 e6 3.'ife2 ttJc6 4.c3
1 2.g3 hS 1 3.h4 gf4 1 4.gf4 l:lg8 a6 5.a4 b6 6.f4 d6 7.ttJf3 ttJge7
1 5.ttJg5 ttJh6 1 6.tLlc2 ttJg4 1 7.tLld4 8.a2 g6 9.d3 ..tg7 1 O.e3 dS
e7 1 8.e2 d7 1 9.0-0 l:tac8 1 1 .tLlbd2 o-o 1 2.0-0 fS 1 3.e5 h6
20.l:lac1 1 4.d4 c4 1 5.b4 bS 1 6 ..tb1 d7

1 7...tc2 'fl/c7 1 8.h3 h7 1 9.h2

tLla7 20.g4 ba4 21 .a4 tt:lbS
22...tb5 ..tbS 23.l:tg1 l::t g8 24.l:tg3
aS 25.ba5 l::taS 26.l::t gg1 l::tga8
27.l::ta5 'fl/aS 28.l::tc 1 'fl/a3

The game is balanced although one could say that

the white pawn, anchored in the opposing camp,
may offer a slight advantage to White.
Towards the end of the eighteenth century it was
England that was largely responsible for recog
nition of the Sicilian. London progressively be At this stage of the game Black had an excellent
came the world capital of chess and many clubs position, but unfortunately several inaccuracies
were formed. The first was the 'Salopian Coffee permit Bawdier to obtain a share of the point.
House' in 1 770 whereas four years later it was
29.ttJf1 'ii' b3 30.'it'd1 l:ta2 31 ..id2
the turn of 'Parsloe' s Subscription Room' to open
'iVd1 32.l::td 1 a4 33Jlb1 .ib3
its doors. It rapidly became an important centre
34.g3 tt:lc6 35.ttJe3 ..tf8 36..ic1
and the best British players were often to be
.ia3 37.h4 .ic1 38.l::tc 1 ttJe7 39.h5
found there. Philidor, as guest of honour, was a
.!le2 40.l::te1 l:te1 41.ttJe1 fg4 42.g4
regular and there he was to play several Sicilians
ttJfS 43.ttJf5 gfS 44.g3 d1
against his regular partners, Doctor Bawdier and
45.ttJf3 f3 46.f3 g7 47.e3
the Reverend George Atwood (1746- 1 807). The
f7 48.d2 e7 49. ..t>c2 d7
latter, who was a good player, is remembered for
50.b2 ..t>c6 51 .a3 b6
having been he who recorded Philidor's games.
For this reason the chess world is indebted to him. Draw.
The following game, played in a blind simulta
neous display in 1 783, reflects rather well Phili Played one year before his death, the next game
dor's talent, who, for the firsttime adopts a king's was also from a blind simultaneous against three
fianchetto in the Sicilian, and a modern-looking opponents amongst whom was his friend At
set-up well ahead of its time. wood. Philidor was then 68 years old.

52
 History

51 49.3 ofDamiano, Ruy-Lopez and Salvia on the game

of chess baptized the continuation 1 .e4 c5 'The
D Atwo o d Sicilian Defence' referring to an old Italian
Philidor manuscript in which figures the expression 'il
London 1 794 giocho siciliano' . Sarratt even brought to light
four games from the manuscript. They are not
dated but they seem most likely to have been
1 .e4 c5 2.f4 e6 3.t2Jf3 t2Jc6 4.c3 d5
played in the seventeenth century and certain
5.e5 f5 6.d4 tLlh6 7.a3 tLlf7 8.e3
analyses are attributed to Greco. Here is the first:
'irb6 9.'i:Ve2 i.d7 1 0.'i:Vf2 c4
1 .e4 c5 2.f4 t2Jc6 3.t2Jf3 d6 4.i.c4
t2Jh6 5.0-0 g4 6.c3 e6 7.h3 f3
a.'irf3 'i:Vd7 9.d3 o-o-o 1 0.f5 tZJes
1 1 .'it'e2 t2Jc4 1 2.i.h6 t2Ja5 1 3.b4
t2Jc6 1 4.i.d2 ef5 1 5.ef5 f6 1 6.b5
tbe7 1 7.'i:Ve6 'i:Ve6 1 8.fe6 t2Jg6
1 9.d4 d5 20.i.e3 c4 21 .i.c1 l:l.e8
22.l:l.e1 i.d6 23.a4 t2Jf8 24.t2Jd2
tbe6 25.t2Jf3 g5 26.t2Jh2 h5 27.a5
l:l.hg8 28.a6 b6 29.tLlf1 f5 30.t2Je3
Ci:Jc7 31 JU1 f4 32.tLld1 tLle6 33.11a2
g4 34.t2Jf2 f3 35.hg4 hg4 36.t2Jh1
And Black is winning.

Yet again, unfortunately, one can only deplore

1 1 .c4 dc4 1 2.d5 'i:Vc7 1 3.dc6 i.c6
the absence of information on the old manuscript
1 4..b7 i.f3 1 5.gf3 g5 1 6.e3 gf4
(by whom, where and when was it written?).
1 7.f4 t2Je5 1 8.e5 'it'e5 1 9.'it'e2
'ife2 20.e2 h5 21.liJd2 l:tc8
The period from 1750 to 1850 can be considered as
22.l:thg1 f7 23.l:l.g2 e7 24.l:l.ag1
the 'golden century' for France. The 'four mus
i.f6 25.tLlf1 e5 26.t2Je3 e6 27.l:l.d1
keteers' : Philidor (1726-1795), Deschapelles
l:l.hg8 28.l:l.g8 l:l.g8 29.tLlc4 l:l.g2
( 1 780- 1 847), Saint-Amant ( 1 800- 1 872) and
30.d3 l:l.h2 31 .l:l.d2 l:l.h3 32.e2
Louis Charles de La Bourdonnais ( 1 795- 1 840)
b5 33.t2Je3 l:l.h2 34.e1 l:l.d2 35.d2
dominated their epoch. At the beginning of the
g5 36.2 e3 37.e3 h4 38.
nineteenth century the 'Cafe de la Regence' be
e4 39.g2 e3 40.h3 e2
came an important and influential club as Paris
White resigned. took over from London. Progressively, the two
capitals became such rivals that the organization
Two hundred years later this game can make one of a match between the 'champions ' of England
smile as none of the Sicilian themes so dear to and France was inevitable: La Bourdonnais and
Polugaevsky are apparent, as he describes in his Alexander McDonnell (1798- 1 835).
book The Sicilian Labyrinth; but the first step had The clash took place in 1834 at London's 'West
been made towards a new defensive system. The minster chess club' . In fact the duel consisted of
history of the Sicilian was moving on and pro six matches totaling 85 games from June to Oc
gress was to be spectacular. tober. For the first time in an important match,
After Philidor's death in 1795 the Sicilian kept the Sicilian had its hour of glory in that the
its reputation but the passion gradually waned. defence was used twenty times. La Bourdonnais
The year 1 8 1 3 was an important date for the had the black pieces 40 times (one mustn't forget
history of the Sicilian. The English master Jacob that colours were decided by lot before each
Henry Sarratt (1 772- 1 8 19) in his book The works individual encounter). McDonnell invariably

53
opened l .e4 and La Bourdonnais used the Sicil Later in the match McDonnell, who was trailing
ian half of the time with reasonable success significantly, modified his play switching to l.e4 c5
obtaining 1 1 .5 out of 20 (i.e. 57.5%). 2.tt:Jf3 followed by 3.d4 and 4.t2:ld4 on four occa
The nine first Sicilians tested the line 1 .e4 c5 2.f4 sions. Today this is considered as the 'open Sicilian' .
e6 3.tt:Jf3 tt:Jc6 4.c3 d5 5.e5 f6. The French player Then the theoretical duel revolved around the line
soon took the initiative in all these games inflict
1 .e4 c5 2.tt:Jf3 tt:Jc6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:Jd4
ing some severe defeats on his opponent. Typical
eS S.tt:Jc6 bc6
was the following game;

51 49.3
0 McDonnell
De la Bourdonnais
1 6th match game, London 1 834

1 .e4 cS 2.f4 e6 3.tt:Jf3 tt:Jc6 4.c3 dS

S.es f6
Philidor recommended 5 ...d4 in this position.
In the 57th game 6.c4 tLlf6 7.g5 c5 was
6.tt:Ja3 tt:Jh6 7.tt:Jc2 'ii'b6 8.d4 d7
played (drawn after 56 moves). McDonnell de
9.tt:Je3 cd4 1 O.cd4 b4 1 1 .'it>f2 o-o
viated in the 61st encounter with 7.'ii'e2 which
1 2.'it>g3 feS 1 3.feS .:tac8 1 4.h4
led to an early draw after 7 ...e7 8.tt:Jc3 0-0
9.g5 tt:Je4 1 0.e7 tt:Jc3 1 1 'i!fe5 J:!.e8 1 2.0-0
'i!fe7 1 3 .'i!fc3 d5 14.i.d3 'i!fd6.

The 62nd was certainly not the best game of the

match but it was certainly the most spectacular.
The final position has been published around the
world many times.

51 32 . 1 0
0 McDonnell
1 4... .:tf3 1 S.gf3 tt:Jd4 1 6.d3 .:tf8
De la Bourdonnais
62nd match game, London 1 834
1 7.f4 CS 1 8. .:tf1 bS 1 9.i.bS
'it'bS 20.'it>h3 tt:Je2 21 .tt:Jg2 tt:JfS
22.'it>h2 tt:Jeg3 23.l1f3 tt:Je4 24.'ii'f1 1 .e4 cS 2.tt:Jf3 tt:Jc6 3.d4 cd4
'it'e8 2S.b4 i.d4 26.l1b1 'it'hS 4.tt:Jd4 es s.tt:Jc6 bc6 6.i.c4 tt:Jf6
27J:tbb3 l:tc8 28.e3 l:tc2 29.'it>g1 7.i.gS e7 8.'it'e2 dS 9.f6 f6
tt:Je3 30JUe3 tt:Jd2 31 . 'ii'd3 .:tc1 1 o.b3 o-o 1 1 .0-0 as 1 2.edS cdS
32.'it>h2 tt:Jf1 33.'it>h3 tt:Je3 34.tt:Je3 1 3.l1d1 d4 1 4.c4 'ii'b6 1 S..tc2
'it'f3 3S.'it>h2 J:[h1 0-1 .tb7 1 6.tt:Jd2 l1ae8 1 7. tt:Je4 .td8

54
 History

c6 was adopted more than a century later by the

1 8.cS 'ifc6 1 9.f3 e7 20.l:tac1 fS
Russian GM Mark Taimanov in an analogous
21 .'ifc4 'ithB 22...ta4 'ifh6 23..-teB
position.
fe4 24.c6 ef3 2SJ1c2 'ife3 26.'ith1
Two years later, in 1 836, La Bourdonnais was
c8 27.d7 f2 28.l::tf1 d3 29.l:tc3
again in the forefront of events, this time as
..td7 30.cd7 e4 31 .'tWcB .idB 32.'ifc4
editor-in-chief of the world's first chess maga
'ife1 33J:tc1 d2 34.'ifcS l:tgB
zine: Le Palamede.
3S.l:td1 e3 36.'ifc3 'it'd1 37.l::td 1 e2
There was considerable media coverage of the
McDonnell - La Bourdonnais match and interest
in the Sicilian certainly developed as a result.
After the death of the Frenchman in 1 840, three
chess legends were responsible for defending the
Sicilian: the Russian (originally from Finland)
Karl Jaenisch (1 813-1872), the Englishman
Howard Staunton (18 10-1 874) and the German
Adolf Anderssen (1 8 1 8- 1 879). In 1 843, in his
book published in St.Petersburg Analyse nou
velle des ouvertures du jeu d'echecs Jaenisch
took a strong position in stating that 1 ...c5 was
the best possible reply to 1 .e4. To justify his
position he gave a number of detailed analyses,
the sum total of which can be considered as the
White resigned. first book consecrated to the Sicilian. Here are
some of his remarks:
A fitting conclusion to our coverage of the match
1 .e4 cS 2.lt::Jf3
concerns the 58th game (again McDonnell had
White) which opened as follows; Previously we thought that this was the best
move but now we prefer 2.d4. If you play 2.f4 or
1 .e4 cS 2.lt::Jf3 lt::Jc6 3.d4 cd4
2.c3 Black replies with 2 ...e6 and transposes to a
4.lt::Jd 4 lt::J d4 S.'ifd4 e6 6..ic4 lt::Je7
position already studied and judged disadvanta
7.lt::Jc3 lt::Jc6
geous for you. 2.c4 leaves the d-pawn backward.
Black has the better game after 2..ic4 e6 3 .l2Jc3
Cf:J e7 4. 'ii'e2 Cf:Jbc6.
After 2.d4 cd4 (if 2 ... e6 3.d5 with the better
game; if 2 ...d5 3.dc5 de4 4.'ifd8 with the better
game) 3.l2Jf3 (3.'ifd4 Cf:Jc6 4. 'ifd1 Cf:Jf6 5 Cf:Jc3 e6
6 ..ig5 .ie7 and White cannot prevent . . .d7-d5)
3...d5 4.ed5 'ifd5 5.Cf:Jc3 'ifd8 the game is balanced.
2 ... lt::Jc6 3.d4 cd4 4.lt::Jd 4 es s.lt::Jf3

The capture on c6 is bad; 5.Cf:Jc6 bc6 6.c4 Ci:Jf6

7 .Cf:Jc3 b4 8 ..id2 c3 9 ..ic3 Cf:Je4 with the
better game (10. e5 'ifa5).
s .. lt::Jts s.d3 cs 1.0-o o-o
The game is equal.
8.'ifd1 CS 9.0-0 0-0

Black lost in 2 1 moves after making several As an aside, it is interesting to note that Jaenisch,
serious mistakes but it is interesting to note that in his analysis of the move 2.d4, cultivated the
the manoeuvre 4 ...l2J d4 followed by ...l2J g8-e7- concept of the Matulovic-Morra-Srnith gambit (a

55
pawn sacrifice still reasonably popular nowadays). 51 32.8
In fact it was another player the Frenchman of
Polish origin, Lionel Kieseritzky ( 1 806-1 853) O szen
who was the first to implement the gambit. Anderssen
London 1 85 1

1 .e4 c S 2.t2Jf3 t2Jc6 3.d4 cd4

4.t2Jd4 e6 S.t2Jb5 d6 6.i.f4 eS
7.i.e3 a6 8.t2J5c3 J..e6 9.t2Jd5 J..dS
1 0.d5 t2Jf6 1 1 .b3 dS 1 2.b7
51 32. 1 t2Jb4 1 3.t2Ja3 t2Je4 1 4.c3 l:tb8
1 5.a7 d4
0 K ie s eritsky
Vitzhum
Paris 1 84 6

1 .e4 cS 2.l2Jf3 t2Jc6 3.d4 cd4

4.J..c 4 e6 5.0-0 .tcs 6.c3

1 6.J..c 4 t2Jd6 1 7.cb4 t2Jc4 1 8.t2Jc4

de3 1 9.0-0 e2 20.l:tfe1 b4
21 ..l:te2 f6 22.g7 l:tf8 23.'it'h7
'it'dS 24.'it'h5 d8 25.l:tc2 'it>e7
26.t2Je3 e4 27. .l:tc7 e6 28.l:tc4
b7 29.l:td1 fS 30.g4 f4 31 .t2Jd5
6 dc3 7.t2Jc3 a6 8Jle1 bS 9.J..b3
..
Black resigned.
t2Jf6 1 o.es t2Jg4 1 1 .t2Je4 J..b4
1 2.t2Jfg5 t2Jce5 1 3.h3 t2Jf6 1 4. d4
As in the above encounter, the Sicilian had several
J..e 1 1 5.t2Jd6 'it>f8 1 6.e5 c7
setbacks during the tournament, and as such, the
1 7.t2Jgf7 J..b4 1 8.h6 .id6 1 9.f6
fashion was to swing back to l e5 . Sicilian sup
'it>e8 20. g7 .l:tf8 21 .t2Jg5 cS
...

porters were no doubt bitterly disappointed by the

22.t2Je4 es 23. .l:te1 ..itb7 24.J..e6
absence of Jaenisch, who was invited, but arrived
de6 25.b7 l:tb8 26.t2Jd6 d6
too late to participate. Staunton, who was pre
27.l:te6 e6 28.b8 'it>d7 29.f8
viously an ardent supporter of the Sicilian, never
Black resigned. again had the same confidence in the opening for
the rest of his career.
In 1 847, Staunton, in his masterful book The In his book published in London in 1 878, Chess
chess player's handbook improved on Jaenisch's Openings, the English master Henry Bird
analyses. In 1 85 1 he earned another place in the ( 1 830-1908), one of the participants of the 1 8 5 1
history books as organizer of the first interna tournament, summarized well the situation in
tional tournament. writing "For many years, the Sicilian used to be

56
 History

considered perfectly playable until the memora

s.. b6 s.ttJc3 tbe7 7.t4 o-o a.dG
.
ble 1 85 1 gathering." However, the poor perform
fS 9.eS a6 1 O.e2 tbbc6 1 1 .0-0 J:!.f7
ance of the opening during the tournament led its
1 2.Wh1 f4 1 3.tbe4 ttJfS 1 4.hS g6
soundness to be brought into question and the
1S.g4 tbg7 16.'iVf3 h5 1 7.h3 'fi'h4
opening was discredited for six or seven years.
1 8.tbf6 Wh8 1 9.'ii'e4 'figS 20.g3 f3
The appearance of the American genius Paul
21 .tbd2 d8 22.tbf3 'ii'h6 23J:lg1
Morphy ( 1 837-1 884) on the international chess
f6 24.ef6 tt:Je8 2S.f4 tbtG
scene didn't help matters !
His career was short but intense, but was sufficient
to put the Sicilian under a cloud. For instance, his
victory over Louis Paulsen ( 1 833- 1 891), a fer
vent supporter of l .. .c5, provoked astonishment
as he exploited the d6-square with such ease. The
following game was from their match in the final
of the first American Chess Congress.

51 4 1 . 1
D Morphy
Paulsen 26.c6 f4 27.c8 J:!.c8 28.gf4
New York 1 85 7
J:l.c2 29.J:!.ac1 J:!.f2 30.J:I.c8 tbg8
31 .ttJeS J:!.g7 32.tbg6 ..t>h7 33.tbf8
1 .e4 cS 2.d4 cd4 3.tbf3 e6 4.tbd4 Wh6 34.tbd7 J:l.d7 3S.J:I.cg8 J:!.f4
CS S.tbb3 36.e6 J:l.e7 1 -0

In the seventh game Black lost in 26 moves after Soon, players of the black pieces came to under
5.e3 b6 6 lLlc3 b2 7.tt:Jdb5 ..ie3 8 .J:!.b 1 b1 stand the necessity of playing the move ... a6 to
9.lLlb1 i.f4 10.g3 a6 1 l .gf4 ab5 1 2.lLlc3 tt:Je7 avoid the intrusion of the white knight on b5 .
1 3.lLlb5 0-0 14.lLld6 lLlbc6 1 5J:lg1 J:!.a2 16 f5 f6 Thus was the natural development of the system
17.c4 J:!.a4 1 8.f4 b6 19.fe6 de6 20.tt:Jc8 tt:Jc8 that is known as the modern Paulsen:
2Lie6 cJo>h8 22.c8 l:.c8 23.d7 tt:Je7 24.e7
1 .e4 c5 2.tbf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.tbd4 a6
.l:!.a1 25.cJo>f2 J:!.c2 26 e3 1-0.
The fifth game went as follows 5.e3 6 6.lLlb5
tt:Jf6 7.5 c5 8.tt:Jd6 7 9.lLlc8 .I:Ic8 10.d3
tt:Jc6 1 1 .0-0 h5 1 2.lLld2 h4 1 3 .h3 g5 14.a3 J:!.g8
1 5 .b4 d6 16.tt:Jc4 c7 1 7.f3 tt:Je5 1 8.tt:Je5 'ii'e5
19.d2 .I:Ig7 20.l:!.ad1 l:.d8 21 .'ii'f2 b6 22.f4 gf4
23.f4 g5 24 .I:If2 f4 25 .l:If4 tl.dg8 26.J:!.d2
J:!.h8 27.e5 tt:Jd5 28.J:!.d4 f6 29.ef6 lLlf6 30J:!.c4
cJo>d8 3 1 .a4 tt:Jd5 32.e4 tt:Jc7 33 .i.f3 d5 34J:!.c6
l:!.d7 35.g4 l:.h6 36.I:!.e2 cJo>e7 37.h2 cJo>f7
38 .g3 hg3 39.g3 .l:te7 40.h4 tt:Je8 4 l .h5 lLlf6
42.J:!.ce6 J:!.e6 43.e6 g7 (43 ... cJo>f8 would lead
to an easy draw) 44.g4 lLlh5 45 . ..ih5 J:!.h5
46.J:!.e7 f6 47 ..1:Ia7 e5 48.J:!.a6 J:!.g5 49.cJo>f3
.l:tf5 50.e2 b5 5 l .ab5 l:!.f4 52.c3 d4 53.c4 J:!.h4
54.c5 and White won on the 64th move. This system was seen in the Morphy-Anderssen

57
match which took place in Paris in 1 858. The 29.f6 <;f;lf6 30.iff2 ifc4 3 1 .ifh4 fl 32.'fih7
German master, who had a high opinion of the etc.) 29.l:rh6 l:rfl (29 ... 1:rf8 30.lt:Je5 followed by
Sicilian, decided to play his favourite opening 3 l .lt:Jc6+-) 30.lt:Je5 e5 3 1 .fe5 lt:Jd5 (the only
with White (therefore with an extra tempo) by move: 3 1 .. .lt:Jg4 32.'fig4 fg4 33.1:rf7 <;f;>fl 34 e6;
opening l .a3. He obtained 1 ,5 out of three 3 1 . ..lt:Jg8 32.l:rd6 'fib7 33 .ifh5 h6 34.e6 d6
(+ 1 1 - 1 ) and set serious problems for Morphy.
= 35.ef7 lt:Je7 36.ifh6) 32.e6 ifc6 33.ifh5 .I:Lff8 34
The following game was the most significant .I:Lh7 d8 35.e7 lt:Je7 36.l:rdl lt:Jd5 37.1:rd5.
even though it led to a win for the American.
28...<Ji;f6 29.'i1i'b2 <Ji;f7 30.l:lh3 J::rg7
31 .'i1!Vd4 <Ji;g8 32.J::rh6 .ifS 33.d6 l:lf7
34.J::r h3 a4 35.J::rc 1 J::rc5 36.J::rg3
g7 37.h3 <Ji;h8 38J:tg7

EO 1 0.6 38.d2 was much better:

A) 38 .. .'e8 39.lt:Je5 e5 (39 ... 1:re5 40.1:rg7
D A nderssen <;f;>g7 41 .fe5 f4 42.ifd4 ife6 43.ife4+-) 40.1:1c5
Morphy bc5 41 .fe5 e5 42.g5 l:rf8 43.d7 d4 44 'fie7.
6th match game, Paris 1 858 B) 38 .. J:tc4 39.1:1c4 ifc4 40.d7
C) 38 ...h6 39.lt:Je5 e5 40.fe5 f44 l .e6 l:rf642.d7
D) 38 . . .e3 39.1:re3 l:rc4 40.J::rc4 'fic4 41 .d7
1 .a3 e5 2.c4 tt:lf6 3.tt:lc3 d5 4.cd5
'f!Yfl 42.<;f;>h2 iff4 43.g3.
tt:ld5 5.e3 .ie6 6.lLlf3 .id6 7..ie2
0-0 8.d4 tt:lc3 9.bc3 e4 1 O.tt:ld2 f5 38..Jlg7 39.llc3 e3 40.l:le3??
1 1 .f4 g5
40.'fif6 or 40.'fie3 would have allowed White to
In the eighth game Morphy preferred 1 1 ... 'fih4 12.g3 maintain equality.
'fih3 1 3 .fl ifh6 14.c4 c6 1 5 .c5 c7 16.c4
40... 1:rc4 41 .'i:Vf6? J::rc 1 42.<Ji;h2 f4
tt:ld7 17.0-0 b5 1 8 .cb6 ab6 19.'fib3 1Ue8 20.b2
b5 21 .e6 ife6 22.ifc2 (drawn in 5 1 moves). White resigned.

1 2..itc4 ..ic4 1 3.tt:lc4 gf4 1 4.ef4 ea

Inspired partly by l .a3, another continuation
1 5.o-o 'i1i'c6 1 6.'i1i'b3 'i1!Vd5 1 7J:tb1 b6
would later make its appearance:
1 8.a2 c6 1 9.e2 tt:ld7 20.tt:le3
e6 21 .c4 tt:lf6 22J:tb3 <J;;f7 23..ib2 1 .e4 c5 2.tt:lf3 a6
.!:tac8 24.<Ji;h1 .I:r.g8 25.d5 cd5
26.cd5 d7 27.tt:lc4 <J;;e7 28 ..if6

The principal idea is to stop the White knight

coming to b5, but one understands better the
As correctly pointed out by Zukertort and Lange, subtlety of the move after the continuation 3 .d4
White could win by playing 28J:th3 l:rg7 (28 ... 'iVb5 cd4 4.lt:Jd4 lt:Jf6 5 .lt:Jc3 e5.

58
 History

Later, Taimanov would examine the possibility 51 36.3

of 3 .d4 cd4 4.tt:ld4 e5 giving Black the option of
developing his king's knight to e7 or f6. D Sellman
At the beginning of the twentieth century the Bird
move 2 ... a6 caught the attention of certain play London 1 883
ers in the Hypermodern school, the main adher
ent being Savielly Tartakower (1 887- 1956).
1 .e4 cs 2.lL'lc3 lL'lc6 3.ltJf3 e6 4.d4
cd4 S.ltJd4 ltJf6 6.ltJdbS d6 7.f4
At the end of the 1 850's another weapon was
eS a.gS
added to the Sicilian armoury. Later it was to
have a brilliant future and is now known as
'Lasker-Pelikan-Sveshnikov' but in the original
game below the experiment was not successful:

51 35.2
D Hannah
Lowe
London 1 857

1 .e4 cS 2.ltJf3 ltJc6 3.d4 cd4

Bird had the opinion that 8 .g3 intending f2-f4
4.ltJd4 ltJf6 S.ltJc3 eS
was a better continuation.

8...a6 9.ltJa3 e6 1 O.tt:ldS dS

1 1 .f6 'it'aS 1 2.c3 e4 1 3.ltJc4
Wic7 1 4.h4 dS 1 S .f3 dc4 1 6.fe4
e7 1 7.f2 lLld8 1 8.'ifdS lieS
1 9.e2 ltJe6 20.g3 0-0 21 .'ii'd 1
I:lfd8 22.'ti'c2 gs 23.l:tb1 'it'c6
24.I:ld1 I:ld1 2S.d1 I:ld8 26.0-0
l:!.d2 27.'it'b1 ltJcS 28.cs WicS
29.h1 'ti'e3 30. .tf3 g6 31 .Wic1
'ti'b6 32.g2 f6 33.'ife1 'ti'b2
34Jlg1 'ifc3 3S. 'ifb1 'ifb2 36. 'iff1
Wid4 37.'ti'f3 Wif2 38.'it'g4 f7
39.'ifh3 g7 40.I:lf1 'ti'g2 41 .'ti'g2
I:lg2 42.g2 c3 43.I:lf2 j_d2 0- 1
6.ltJdbS a6
In this game Black omitted the natural move 6...d6. In 19 10, the World Champion Emanuel Lasker
( 1 868- 194 1 ) placed this variation in the forefront
7.ltJd6 d6 8.'ifd6 h6 9.e3 'il/e7
of the international scene by adopting it in the
1 o.cs bS 1 1 .lL'ldS lL'ldS 1 2.edS
ninth game of his world championship match
'it'd6 1 3.d6 lL'ld4 1 4.0-0-0
against Schlechter. The stakes were high because
And White had a clear advantage. at that moment the ten-game-match was led 4.5-
28 years later, in a tournament in London 1 883, 3 .5 by his opponent.
Bird took up and improved Lowe's idea.

59
 51 35. 1 29.'il'c7 l:!.c7 30JU3 a6 31 .f2
lbc6 32.lbe6 l:l.e7 33.l:le3 b8
0 Schlechter
34.lbd4 l:!.f7 3S.l:!.f3 l:!.c7 36.lbe6
Lasker, Emanuel l:!.e7 37.l:!.e3 ea 38.e2 lbdB -
9th match game, Vienna/Berlin 1 9 1 0
39.lbd4 l:lf7 40.l:!.f3 d7 41 .l:!.d3
e7 42.l:!.e3 d6 43.l:l.d3 lbe6
1 .e4 cS 2.lbf3 lbc6 3.d4 cd4 44.lbf3 CS 4S.g3 lbc7 46 lbd2
4.lbd4 lbt6 S.lbc3 es 6.lbb3 c6 47.lbf3 bS 48.l:ld4 cS
49.lbd2 lbbS SO.t2Jb3 b6 S1 .l:!.d3
l:!.c7 S2.d2 l:l.c4 S3.l:!.d7 l:!.g4
S4.c4 c6 SS.l:td3 t2Jd6 S6.t2Jd4
c7

56 ... b6! would have quickly ended White's

hopes of resisting.

After the game Schlechter criticized this move

suggesting instead 6.tLldb5 d6 7.a4.

6 ... b4 7.d3 dS B.edS lbdS

9.d2 lbc3 1 O.bc3 ..id6 1 1 .'il'hS
"f/c7 1 2.0-0 e6 1 3.-igS h6 1 4.f4
ef4 1 S.l:!.ae1 d7 1 6.fS
S7.t2Je6 c6 S8.t2Jd8 c7 S9.t2Je6
d7 60.t2Jg7 e7 61 .tZ'lhS l:tc4
62.l:!.e3 f7 63.l:tf3 g6 64.l:tf6
hS 6S.l:!.d6
Draw.

Despite some successes there was only a modest

show of interest in the Lasker variation at the
highest level. One had to wait until the 1950's to
see a major resurgence due to the work of Argen
tine and Russian players (two nations who have
produced many famous Sicilian players). lt was
firstly the turn of Jorge Pelikan ( 1 906-1985), a
player of Czech origin who emigrated to Argen
tina after the Buenos Aires Olympiad of 1939.
1 6 ... l:laf8 1 7.f4 f4 1 8.lbcS ea
His work revolved around the line
1 9...ie6 fe6 20.lbe6 ..ih2 21 .'il'h2
l:!.f1 22.l:l.f1 "f/d7 23.lbcS fie7 1 .e4 cS 2.lbf3 lbc6 3.d4 cd4
24.'il'h3 bB 2S.lbe6 aB 26.lbd4 4.t2Jd4 t2Jf6 S.t2Jc3 eS 6.tZ'ldbS d6
'il' c 7 27.fifS l:!.c8 28.'il'cS lbb8 7.-igS a6 8.f6 gf6 9.t2Ja3 dS

60
 History

1 .e4 cS 2.tt:Jf3 tt:Jc6 3.d4 cd4

4.tt:ld4 tt:lf6 5.tt:Jc3 eS 6.tt:ldb5 d6
7.g5 a6 8.tt:Ja3 bS

Amongst the first victims can be found Hector

Rossetto ( 1922- ), one of the top Argentinian
players of the period.

Their work took them to study in particular the

variation
51 36. 1 9.f6 gf6 1 O.lt:JdS fS
D Ross etto Amongst the group of students, two players
Pelikan stood out, Gennadi Tlllloshchenko and especially
Mar d e l Plato 1 956 Evgeny Sveshnikov ( 1950- ). Due to them the
variation was rejuvenated and has stayed popular,
indeed it figures in the repertoire of several of the
1 .e4 cS 2.tt:Jf3 tt:Jc6 3.d4 cd4 4.lt:Jd4
world's leading players, as for example Vladimir
tt:Jf6 5.tt:Jc3 eS 6.tt:Jdb5 d6 7.g5
Kramnik, Alexey Shirov and more recently Joel
a6 8.f6 gf6 9.tt:Ja3 dS 1 O.tt:JdS
Lautier. Actually the last word consists of delay
Without doubt the best move. If White is not ing the development of the king's knight to remain
careful he can be rapidly punished, as in the game flexible:
Drozdov-Usakovsky, Moscow 1972: 10.ed5 a3
1 .e4 cS 2.tt:Jf3 tt:Jc6 3.d4 cd4
1 l .ba3 'iVa5 1 2.'iVd2 lLld4 13.d3 3 14.e4 f5
4.lt:Jd4 eS S.lt:JbS d6
15 .gh3 fe4 1 6.'it>fl f5 17.l:i.b 1 0-0-0 1 8.l:i.g1 l:i.hg8
19.l:i.g2 'iYc5 20."ife3 f4 2 1 .lt:le4 fe3 22.ltJc5 e2
23.'it>g1 lLlf3 24.h1 J:!.g2 25.g2 e1 'iV 0-1

1 0 .ta3 1 1 .ba3 .l:l.g8 1 2.'iYd2 e6

1 3.g3 fS 1 4.g2 fe4 1 5.e4 lt:Jd4

1 6.tt:Je3 fS 17 ..tb7 .l:l.b8 1 8.c3 .l:l.b7
1 9.cd4 f4 20.0-0 fe3 21 .fe3 'tWdS
22.l:!.ac1 ed4 23.ed4 l:i.g4 24.'tWh6
l:i.bg7
And Black had a strong attack that gave him
victory on the 36th move.

Some years later, in the middle of the 1960's, a

group of young masters living in Cheliabinsk in
Russia started their research on the continuation During the 'Torneo Mundial Polugaevsky' in

61
 Buenos Aires this new line that has been called the
6.d3 tbc6 7.tbc6 dc6 8.0-0 c3
Kalashnikov (after the famous Russian automat
9.bc3 'ii'aS 1 0.c4 h6 1 1 .f4 eS
ic gun because of its ferocity) was seen on sveral
1 2.feS 'ii'eS 1 3...tf4 'ifd4 1 4.h1
occasions, particularly in the games of Shirov.
e6 1 S.'i!fe2 tbg4 1 6.h3 tbeS
17 ..l:l.ab1 b6 1 8.e3 'ifd7 1 9.cS bS
Now it is time to return to the nineteenth century.
20Jlfd1 lLld3 21 . .I:td3 'ii'c8 22.'ii'h S
In the 1 860's, the Sicilian attracted new practi-
f8 23..l:l.bd1 g8 24.l::ld 8 'ii'd 8
tioners and entered a rich phase notable for wide
2SJ:td8 l:ld8 26.c3 ..ta2 27.d4
spread research and creativity. This engendered
h7 28.'i!ffS g6 29.'i!ff2 e6
the appearance of new variations, notably at the
30.h8 .:th8 31 .'ii'f4 .:rea 32.g1
London 1 862 tournament. Here is a selection of
aS 33.f2 a4 34.'ii'c 1 l:td8 3S.e3
the most interesting encounters from a theoreti
b3 36.h4 hS 37.f4 l:td1
cal point of view.
38.'ii'b2 .I:td3 39.es g7 40.'i!fc1
Draw.

The English player Thomas Bames ( 1 825-1874)

introduced into practice the Accelerated Dragon
51 4 1 . 1 variation (a line that is still in the news and was in
fact played on several occasions in Buenos Aires).
D Steinitz
owen
London 1 862

1 .e4 cS 2.tbf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.tbd4 51 50. 1 2

tbf6 S.tbc3 ..tb4
D Blackburne
Barnes
London 1 862

1 .e4 cs 2.d4 cd4 3.tbf3 g6 4.tbd4

g7

A relatively aggressive move, but one that has

dropped out of fashion as 6.e5 is considered to
be too strong. Here is just one example: Pyhala
Seppanen, Helsinki 1 992; 6.e5 lLld5 7:ifg4 0-0
8.d2 lLlc3 9.bc3 .ia5 10.d3 lLlc6 l l .lLlc6 bc6
12:ii'e4 g6 1 3 .h4 f5 14.'i!Yf4 .l:l.f7 1 5 .g4 fg4
16.'i!Yg4 'i!Yb6 1 7.h5 'i!Yf2 1 8 .'itJdl 'i!Yf3 19.'i!Yf3
S.b3 tt:Jc6 6.b2 'ii'b6 7.c3 tbf6
.l:f3 20.hg6 hg6 21 .'itJe2 .l:f5 22.f5 ef5 23 ..1:agl
a...td3 dS 9.tbd2 tbd4 1 O.cd4 de4
<J;;;f7 24.J::t h7 'itJe6 25 ..1:g6 We5 26..l:l.e7 1-0

62
 History

1 1.lt:Je4 lt:JdS 1 2.o-o 0-0 1 3.c4 .ie6 hS 37.lt:JgS .l:!.c7 3a.rt;e1 nta
1 4.lt:JcS J:!.ad8 1 S.J:!.e1 lt:Jf4 1 6.e6 39..l:!.h2 aS 40.b5 'it'h6 41 .c1 'it'f6
lt:Je6 1 7.lt:Je6 fe6 1 8.'ife2 .id4 42.lt:Jh3 .l:!.fcB 43.lt:Jf4 ea 44.b2
1 9.d4 J:!.d4 20.'ife6 'ife6 21 .J:I.e6 ti:Jd6 4S. .l:!.hg2 'iWfS 46.'iWe3 'ifb1
J:!.d2 22 . .l:!.f1 J:!.a2 23.l:te7 bS 24.J:I.e3 47.c1 lt:JfS 48.'it'd2 l:i.c3 49..l:!.g7
as 2S.f3 J:tc8 26.f4 b4 27.fS J:!.cc2 CfJg7 SOJlg7 <;tJg7 S1 .CfJe6 rt;ga
28.J:I.g3 rt;g7 29.fg6 hg6 30.h4 J:!.cS
White resigned.
31 .J:I.d3 r$;h6 32.J:!.f6 J:!.c3 33.J:tff3
.l:iac2 34.r$;f1 r$;hS 3S.J:!.dS r$;h4
In 1 864 another very interesting continuation
36.J:!.d4 r$;hS 37.l:ldS r$;h6 38.l:lc3
made its appearance: the Four Knights variation.
l:lc3 39.l:la5 l:lb3 40..l:!.b5 gS 41 .g4
J:tf3 42.r$;g2 J:tf4 43.r$;g3 l:lc4 44Jlb6
r$;g7 45.l:lb5 rt;f6 46Jlb6 rt;e5 47Jlb5
rt;d4 48.l:lg5 b3 49Jlb5 r$;c3 SO.r$;h4
b2 S1 . .l:l.b2 r$;b2 S2.r$;hS r$;c3
S3.gS r$;d4 51 34.2
And Black won after a few more moves. D Neumann
Zukertort
Later on in the same tournament, Louis Paulsen 1 s i match game, Breslau 1 864
took up the same idea against Steinitz to earn, he
too, a fine victory.
1 .e4 cs 2.CfJf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.CiJd4
CfJf6 S.CfJc3 CfJc6

51 43. 1
D Steinitz
Paulsen
London 1 862

1 .e4 cS 2.lt:Jf3 g6 3.lt:Jc3 g7

4.c4 lt:Jf6 S.es lt:Jg8 6.0-0 lt:Jc6
7.'ii'e 2 lt:Jh6 8.lt:Je4 0-0

Capturing on e5 is equivalent to suicide; 8 ... tt:Je5

9.tt:Je5 e5 10.d4 ! or 8 ... i.e5? 9.d4 i.g7 I O.h6
h6 l l. lt:Jd6 <;tJf8 12.lLlf7+-.
6.e3 dS 7.edS edS 8.e2 d6
9.lt:JcS dS 1 0.bS 'il'b6 1 1 .lt:Ja4 9.0-0 0-0 1 o.gs e6 1 1 Jle1 rt;ha
'i!VaS 1 2.d4 tt:JfS 1 3.c3 d7 1 4.c6 1 2.CfJe6 fe6 1 3.g4 tt:Jg4 1 4.'it'g4
c6 1 S.lt:JcS bS 1 6.ti:Jd3 'ifa6
After 14.d8 h2 1 5.<;tJhl tt:Jf2 1 6.<;tJh2 tt:Jdl
1 7Jld1 e6 1 a.g4 lt:Je7 1 9.gS lt:JfS
Black has a clear advantage.
20.'ifc2 .l:.aca 21 .a4 ea 22.b3
d7 23.a3 llfda 24.h4 'ifc6 1 4... 'ifb6 1 SJ:rt1 .l:.aea 1 6Jlae1
2S.b2 'i\fb6 26.tt:Jcs ea 27.\tlg2 tt:JeS 1 7.'ifh3 l::tf S 1 a.h4 .l:!.efa
'ifc7 28.b4 'i!Ve7 29.hS ghS 30.J::.h 1 1 9.ti:Jd1 CfJc4 20. 'i!Vd3 CS 21 .g3
h4 31 .'ii'd2 h6 32Jlag1 hgS 33.r$;f1 CfJb2 22.CfJb2 'ifb2 23.Ue6 'iVa2
b6 34.lt:Jd3 f6 3S.ef6 'ii'f6 36.lt:JdeS 24Jle2 'il'c4 2S.'it'c4 dc4 26.h3 bS

63
 strated that 8.t2Jc8 is insufficient for White;
27.h2 d4 28.f3 h6 29.d6
8 .. J:I.c8 9.d2 c3 10 ...ic3 tt:Je4 1 l .g7 a5
%:!.8f7 30.%ld1 %:!.d5 31 .g3 %:!.fd7
12.c3 .l::!.hg8 1 3 ...ih6 tt:Jc3 14.bc3 c3 1 5 .id2
32.%le6 aS 33..:J.a6 b4 34..:1.c6 c3
e5 16.e3 (draw in 43 moves) and Black had
35. .:1.c8 h7 36.%la8 b3
a good position.
White resigned.
B...es

On the sixth move, White has naturally other Equally interesting is 8 ...a5.
stronger moves at his disposition, as for example
9.ttJts ta 1 o.d2
6.4:Jc6 bc6 7.e5 tt:Jd5 8.4:Je4, which is nowadays
a fashionable continuation. Another manoeuvre, After 10.g5 the most appropriate reply is
known since 1 85 1 and the game Szen-An 10. ..d5 ! ; 1 l ..if6 f6 12.d5 f5 1 3.ef5 .l:td8
derssen, is 6.4:Jdb5. From the end of the 1860's 14.c4 J:!.d4 1 5 b5 e7 16.a3 a6 1 7.e2 .ic3
until the end of the century the theoretical debate 1 8.bc3 c5 19.e3 J:!.e4 20.e4 c3 and Black
revolved around the variation 6 ...b4 7.4:Jd6 is better (Forbes-Grunberg, London 1987).
(modern theory recommends 7.a3 !) 7. .. e7
1 0 ...d6

Again it is possible to play 10 ... d5 with a good

game, White is however better after 10 ... c3?
1 l ...ic3 tt:Je4 12.g4(!).
1 Vt:Jg3 e6 1 2.d3 h5 1 3.0-0
tbg4 1 4.h3 'it'h4 1 5.hg4 hg4
1 6.%le1 ttJd4

And Black has a winning position.

The end of the nineteenth century was marked by

a loss of prestige for the Sicilian. In the second
edition of his book, published in 1 891 Theory of
the Chess Openings George Gossip ( 1 841- 1907)
This variation gained in popularity due to the aptly summarized the state of the Sicilian at that
work of Louis Paulsen and various Germans, but time "The Sicilian knew its greatest success dur
was first studied in detail by a group of players ing the London 185 1 tournament but fell into
from Chicago which explains why the line was disgrace in 1 855 and 1856. It was rehabilitated
baptized American or Chicago variation. by Anderssen in 1 861 but again discredited by
the German school in 1 865. To the frustration of
such authorities as Jaenisch, Bilguer and Staun
ton, who considered it the best reply to l.e4, we
think that it is somewhat inferior to 1 .. .e5 or even
51 34.4 l ... e6. The great majority of contemporary ex
perts consider it weak and therefore the Sicilian
D Zukertort has become unpopular... . "

Schalopp The 1 870's was tragic for the Sicilian as its two
Berlin 1 88 1 main adherents died, firstly Staunton, on 22 June
1 874 in London, and then Anderssen on 1 3
March 1 879 in Breslau, his home town. These
1 .e4 c 5 2.ttJf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.ttJd4
losses almost dealt a knock-out blow to the Sicil
tbf6 5.t2Jc3 t2Jc6 6.ttJdb5 b4
ian because it took a long time to find such
7.ttJd6 e7! 8.f4
important figures to carry the Sicilian's standard.
The game Mason-Mieses, Paris 1900, demon- It is true to say that, except strong masters such

64
 History

as Bird, Paulsen and even Chigorin, who was

starting to take his first steps onto the scene, few
players risked to play l .e4 c5 .
To better understand the decline of the Sicilian
one must equally take into account the phenome
non of fashion which also exists in other disci
plines. It is often the case, even today, that others
follow ideas and variations of the great champi
ons, particularly if they are the World Champion.
In 1 886, for the first time, chess acclaimed a
world champion in the person of Wilhelm Ste
initz (1 836- 1 900), due to his victory in a match
against Zukertort (+10=5-5). Before losing his
crown in 1 894 to Emanuel Lasker he won (from The following game is attributed to Greco;
1862 to 1 894) 24 consecutive matches ! Steinitz, 2 ...cb4 3 .d4 e6 4.a3 ba3 5 .c4 b4 6 ..id2 .id2
throughout his life, had a certain dislike of the 7.d2 d5 8.e5 dc4 9 ..ic4 tt::lc6 10.tt::le2 tt::l ge7
Sicilian. He never ceased to write that he pre 1 1 .J::ra3 0-0 1 2.0-0 tt::lf5 1 3.d3 a6 14.f4 b5
ferred 1 . ..e5 and the majority of players followed 15 ..ib3 a5 16.g4 tt::lh6 17.h3 a4 1 8 .c2 b4 19.f5
his example. It is interesting to note that, nearly ef5 20.g5 b3 2 1 .d1 a5 22.f4 b5 23.J::rg3
a century later, the inverse phenomenon was .id? 24.gh6 g6 25 g5 f6 26.ef6 J::rf7 27.tt::lf4
realized with Fischer and Kasparov, two charis tLld4 28 .tt::lg6 tt::le6 29.tt::le7 h8 30.g7 tt::lg7
matic champions. 3 1 .fg7 rig? 32.hg7 mate.
Another important factor in the decline of the After that, without any obvious reason (fashion?)
Sicilian at the end of the last century was the the gambit disappeared completely from prac
increase in strength of various 'anti-Sicilian' sys tice. Tartakower, then Keres, again brought the
tems. To better understand this effect, we should idea to light between the wars, by occasionally
return to the years 1 860-1 870, a splendid period employing the move.
for the Sicilian. Then, Black victories were so Chess has here a common tendency with other
frequent that it became vital to find appropriate artistic disciplines, to search, in a period of crisis
antidotes for White. Research diversified in sev or saturation, for new ways by looking to the
eral directions, even examining alternatives as past. In chess, one of the best modern examples
early as the second move, as in the following is the reintroduction of the Scotch game by
game: Kasparov in a recent World Championship match
against Karpov
2...cb4 3.d4 e6 4..id3 tt:lc6 5.tt:le2 dS
6.e5 g6 7.a3 ..id7 8.0-0 tt:lh6
9.d2 tt:lfS 1 O...ifS gfS 1 1 .ab4 ..ib4
1 2.c3 f8 1 3.tt:lg3 g7 1 4.tt:la3 a6
1 5.'ifh5 0-0 1 6.'ifh3 f6 1 7.tt:lh5
51 48. 1 .l::!.f7 1 8.f4 tt:le7 1 9.tt:lc2 bS 20..l:i.f3
D Bird An error according to Bird, who claims that it
MacKenzie would have been better to stop the bishop coming
London 1 883 to e2 by playing 20.ef6 .if6 2 l .J::rfe1 , followed
by putting the e6-pawn under siege. Afterwards
Bird committed several other imprecisions and
1 .e4 c5 2.b4
the game was drawn on the sixtieth move.
The famous wing gambit, a museum piece in that
its existence dates back to the seventeenth cen At the same tournament, in the game Winawer
tury. Chigorin, an idea was employed that was rare at

65
the time, to play the move b5 aiming to hinder
c6 1 1 Jld1 eS 1 2.'ifd3 'ifd7
the thematic freeing move ...d7-d5 .
1 3.b4 b6 1 4.a4 :tea 1 S.aS bS
1 6.a6 g6 1 7..if1 tbf6 1 8.f3 0-0
1 9...ie3 b8 20.:t.as dS 21 .tbdS
ttJdS 22.edS .ib4 23.a2 ..ia8
24.:lb2 .id6 2S.bS bS 26.'ti'bS
51 3 1 .4 'ti'fS 27.'fi'e2 e4 28.fe4 'ti'e4
O Winawer 29..ia7 'fi'a4 30...if2 :tea 31 .'ifbS
'fi'c2 32Jle1 .ifS 33.a7 'fWfS
Chigorin 34. .ig2 c2 3S.:lf1 ..th7 36.'fWb8
London 1 883
.icS 37.'fi'f4 'ti'd7 38..icS :lg2
39...tg2 "it'dS 40.'ii'f3 'fi'd2 41 . ..tg1
1 .e4 cS 2.lbf3 tbc6 3.bS e6 4..ic6 ..if3 42.:lf3
beG S.0-0 tbe7 6.d3 tbg6 7.'ti'e2
Black resigned.
.ie7 8.tbe1 0-0 9.f4 fS 1 O.c4

51 48.4
0 Steinitz
Anderssen
6th match game, London 1 866

1 .e4 cS 2.g3 tbc6 3..ig2 eS 4.tbe2

tbf6 S.tbbc3 d6 6.0-0 ..ie7 7.f4 hS
8.h3 d7 9.tbdS 'ir'c8 1 O.tbf6 .ifS
1 1 .fS tbe7 1 2.c4 'ifd8 1 3.tbc3 .ic6
1 4.d3 'fWd7 1 S .a3 as 1 6.b3 bS
White has the better position but it was Black
1 7..ie3 b4 1 8.ab4 cb4 1 9.tba4
who won the game on the 44th move.
.ia4 20.a4 tbc6 21 . 'ifd2 .id8
Another idea that was popular in that period was
22.d4 b6 23.dS 'ti'a7 24..ib6
the fianchetto ofWhite's king's bishop. The con
'ii'b6 2S . ..th1 tbd8 26. 'fWgS ..tf8
cept has been known since 1 862 and was popu
27.f6 g6 28.h4 tbb7 29..ih3 :ld8
larized by Paulsen and then by Steinitz.
30.:la2 ..tea 31 .:ld1 aB 32.'fWd2
tbcs 33."it'e3 ..td8 34.e6 'fWb7
3S...tg1 a4 36.ba4 b3 37.:laa1 b2
38.:lab1 a4 39. .ih3 ..tc7 40..if1
l:lha8 41 J:td2 :lb4 42 . ..th2 :la1
51 44.2 43.:ldd1 l:tb3 44.'ir'h6 :lb1 4S.:lb1
'il'b4 46.'iff8 'ir'd2 47.g2 'ii'd3
0 Paulsen
48.'ti'f7 tbd7 49.cS 'fig3 SO...tg1
Anderssen l:lc3 S1 .cd6 ..tb6 S2.l:Ib2 ..tcs
4th match game, London 1 862
S3.l:lb1 l:Ic2 S4.bS ..tc4

White resigned.
1 .e4 cs 2.tbc3 e6 3.g3 d6 4.g2
..id7 S.tbge2 tbc6 6.0-0 e7 7.d4
Following that, the king's bishop fianchetto kept
cd4 8.tbd4 tbd4 9.'fi'd4 hS 1 0.h3
its appeal, but in a slightly different form and close

66
 History

to what we call today the 'Closed Sicilian'. As

shown in certain analyses of the Frenchman Jules
Arnous de Riviere ( 1 830- 1905):
1 .e4 c5 2.tbc3 e6 3.g3 tLlc6

Here we can see the perverse influence of

Steinitz's recommendations. Nowadays, practi
cally all theoreticians recommend 3 . . . d5, but at
that time, to play willingly with an isolated pawn
(after 4.ed5 ed5 5 .d4) was considered an anath
ema and was therefore strongly discouraged.
4.g2 tLlf6 5.d3 e7 6.f4 0-0
7.tLlh3 d5 8 tbf2
A year earlier, in a tournament in Cambridge
And White is better. Springs, Marshal! had already used this move
against Emanuel Lasker and was able to draw the
At the dawn of the twentieth century a new game.
generation of players entered onto the interna
4.ed5 ed5 5.d4 t2Jc6 6.dc5 tLlf6
tional scene. Some like Lasker, Marshall, Tartak
7.e3 e7 8.b5 0-0 9.0-0 g4
ower or even Nimzowitsch employed the Sicil
1 O.c6 beG 1 1 .d4 t2Je4 1 2.tLla4
ian. Due to them new ideas evolved, often in
tt:lg5 1 3.e3 f3 1 4.gf3 d4 1 5.g5
violent contradiction to Steinitz's rigid concepts.
g5 1 6.f4 f4 1 7.'i\i'g4 'it'f6 1 8J:tfe1
This allowed the Sicilian to cross over into a new
.l:l.ae8 1 9.'it'g2 l:te6 20.l:tad1 l::tfe8
stage of development.
21 ..1:1.e6 l::te6 22.<otf1 'it'e5 23.'it'f3
Like wine, chess has its vintage years and as for
.l:l.f6 24.c;i.>g2 h2 25.'it'h3 h6 26.c3
the Sicilian 1 905 was an exceptional harvest. A
'it'e2 27.l::tf1 e5 28.c;i.>g1 d3 29.f4
great wine; sparkling and fruity !
d2 30.'ii'c 8 c;i.>h7
As we will see, some players no longer hesitated
to push ... d7-d5 relatively early, provoking White resigned.
complex and lively situations well in the spirit of
the period. At Ostend 1905, the Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch
The American player Frank Marshall ( 1 862-1934) known for his expertise in playing
,

(1 877- 1 944) was one of the first to put into with an isolated pawn, applied an idea analo
practice this new concept. Here he adopts an gous to one that is known from the French
interesting pawn sacrifice that even today one defence. In any case, the demonstration was
calls the 'Marshall Gambit' . convincing.

51 4 1 . 1
51 4 1 . 1 0
0 Maroczy
O janowsky Tarrasch
Marshall Ostend 1 905
8th match game, Paris 1 906

1 .e4 c5 2.tLlf3 e6 3.d4 d5 4.ed5

1 .e4 c5 2.tLlf3 e6 3.tbc3 d5 ed5 5.b5 t2Jc6 6.0-0 tLlf6 7J:te1

67
 e7 a.dcS 0-0 9.e3 g4 1 0.c3
tt::Je4 1 1 .c6 beG 1 2.b4 f6
1 3.d4 :tea 1 4.a4 d4 1 S.cd4
f3 1 6.gf3 'ti'gS 1 7.<t>h1 tt::lf6
1 aJ:!.e3 .tl.e3 1 9.fe3 'ti'e3 20 ..t:la3
'ti'f4 2 1 . 'ti'd2 'ii'fS 22.l:!.b3 llea
23.<t>g2 l:!.e6 24.tt::la3 tt::l hS 2S.lle3
tlg6 26.<t>f2 h6 27.l:!.eS h3
2a.<t>e3 tt::Jf6 29.'ti'e2 llg2

White resigned.

The result of this game suggests that the variation

chosen by Black is excellent, but it is true to say
1 3.it.f4 d6 1 4.eS deS 1 S.tt::l b3 0-0
that all is not so simple; White can of course play
1 6. .tl.d3 c6 1 7.l:tad1 ea 1 a.'ti'e3
much better and put into question the soundness
as 1 9J:!.3d2 b4 20.ab4 b4 21 . .tl.d3
of Black's idea.
a4 22.tt::lc1 a3 23.tt::l1 a2 it.cS 24.'itc1
At that time, theory on how to play against the
ab2 2S. 'it'b2 d4 26. 'ifc1 c6
isolated pawn was still in an early stage.
27.'ifd2 'it'a7 2a.tt::Jb4 'iYcS 29.tt:lc6
Tarrasch who had tried the Sicilian on several
c6 30.tt::Je2 'ti'c2
occasions concluded: " ...by consequence the Si
cilian is an excellent weapon for a strong player Draw.
ready to take risks to beat a weaker player. Nev
ertheless, when met by correct play from White, Some years later, the 'Hypermodem school'
Black must succumb". made its influence felt on the Sicilian. Its cher
It is interesting to compare his conclusions with ished principals such as the domination of the
those of Philidor approximately two centuries centre rather than its occupation and the provo
earlier. cation of the enemy centre in order to undermine
The first moves of the following game are very it were applied. Aaron Nimzowitsch when faced
modem and perfectly illustrate the beaten track. with l .e4 replied as often with l ...e6 or I . ..tt:lc6
but didn't balk at employing the Sicilian on oc
casions, not without adding his personal touch.

51 40.6 51 43.6
D Leonhardt D Spielmann
Schlechter Nimzowitsch
Ostend 1 905 San Sebastian 1 9 1 1

1 .e4 cS 2.tt::lc3 e6 3.tt::lf3 a6 4.d4 1 .e4 cs 2.tt::lf3 tt::Jf6

cd4 S.tt::l d4 'ii'c 7 6.e2 tt::lf6 7.0-0
The 'Nimzowitsch variation' . In our time it is
tt::J c6 a.e3 bS 9.f3 tt::Jes 1 0.'ti'e2
employed less often, but despite sometimes be
it.e7 1 1 . .I:!.fd1 b7 1 2.a3 .tr.ca
ing harshly judged, no clear refutation has yet

68
 History

been found. It constitutes an interesting alterna 51 23.6

tive, particularly as a surprise weapon.
0 Maroczy
3.lt:Jc3
Euwe
A rather conservative continuation. A more ac Scheveningen 1 923
tive possibility is 3 .e5 lt:ld5 4.lLlc3 e6 (White has
a good game after 4. .. lt:lc3 5.dc3 lt:lc6 6 ..if4 e6
1 .e4 cS 2.lt:Jf3 lt:Jc6 3.d4 cd4
7.'i!Vd2 'i!Vc7 8.0-0-0 h6 9.h4) 5.lt:ld5 ed5 6.d4
4.lt:Jd4 lt:Jf6 5.lt:Jc3 d6 6.i.e2 e6
lt:lc6 7 .deS .ic5 8. 'ifd5 'i!Vb6 9 ..ic4.
3 ... d5 4.ed5 lt:JdS 5.c4
The game Thomas-Sapira, Antwerp 1 932 ended
brutally after 5 ..ib5 ! ? .id7 6.lLle5 lLlc3 7.'ti'f3 f6
8.'i!Vh5 g6 9.lLlg6 Wf7 1 0.lLle5 1 -0
s ... e6 6.0-0 e7 7.d4 tt::lc3 8.bc3
0-0 9.lt:Je5 Wic7 1 0.i.d3 lt:Jc6
1 1 .f4 d6 1 2J1e1 cd4 1 3.cd4
lt:Jb4 1 4.g3 lt:Jd3 1 5.'i!Vd3 b6
1 6.c4 a6 1 7J:J.ac1 l:!.acB 1 8.Wfb3
f6 1 9.'i!Va4 feS 20.de5 a3
21 .'i!Va3 c4 22..t:f.e4 Wfd7 23.h3
.idS 24..t:f.e2 W/b7 25.f4 Wif7
26. .t:f.ec2 .l:tc2 27J:i.c2 'it'g6 28.Wic3
.ia2 29..ih4 .idS 30.i.e7 .l:teB 7.0-0 i.e7 8.h1 0-0 9.f4 'it'c7
31 .i.d6 Wie4 32.Wic7 h6 33..l:tf2 1 0.lt:Jb3 a6 1 1 .a4 b6 1 2.f3 b7
'ife1 34. .l:tf1 'i!Ve3 35J:i.f2 aS 13.Si.e3 lt:Jb4 1 4.Wie2 dS 1 5.e5 lt:Je4
36.i.e7 Wie1 37.l:tf1 'ife3 38.l:tf2 1 6.i.e4 de4 1 7.Wif2 b5 1 8.ab5 abS
hB 39.i.d8 'i!Ve1 40..l:tf1 'ife3 1 9.lt:Jd4 i.c6 20.Wig3 .l:ta1 21 .l:ta1
41 .l:tf2 Wie1 42.l:lf1 Wig3 43..t:f.f2 l:tb8 22.f5 efS 23.lt:Jf5 f8 24.f4
l:tfB 44.W/b6 .l:tf4 45.i.e7 a4 .t:f.a8 25J1c1 g6 26.e6 Wib7 27.e7
46.f1 'ifg2 .ig7 28.lt:Jg7 g7 29.'it'h4 f6
30. 'it'h6 g8 31 .d6
White resigned.
White resigned.
The period between the wars would be marked
by the appearance of another system that would Despite the mediocre performance of Black in
know an astonishing destiny. It is based on a new this game, the Scheveningen variation would
principle: the restrained centre. It certainly found find new advocates and progressively become
its best justification with the Sicilian defence, an the favourite weapon of a number of Sicilian
excellent counter-attacking opening. Black players. Amongst these 'clients' one should cite
seems to want to erect an impenetrable barrier the names of several World Champions: Ca
and say to White: 'come on then ! ' . pablanca, Botvinnik, Petrosian, Spassky, Karpov
I n this manner the Scheveningen was born, named and Kasparov !
after the seaside resort near the Hague in the Nether The Cuban was one of the first world class play
lands, where the famous 1923 tournament took ers to have confidence in the line.
place. The following game has more historic than
strategic value. Max Euwe who nevertheless won
the tournament wasn't in his best form that day.

69
 51 22.5 ttJf6 S.t2Jc3 e6 6.e2 a6 7.0-0 'ifc7
0 Bohatirchuk 8.a4 t2Jc6 9.r.t>h1 i.e7 1 0.f4 0-0
1 1 .t2Jb3 b6 1 2.ii.f3 b7 1 3."Vllid2
Capablanca
l:tab8 1 4.g4 dS
Moscow 1 925

1 .e4 cS 2.t2Jf3 t2Jc6 3.d4 cd4 4.t2Jd4

t2Jf6 S.t2Jc3 d6 6.e2 e6 7.0-0 e7
8.e3 0-0 9.f4 d7 1 0.t2Jb3 a6
1 1 .a4 tZJaS 1 2.'ii'e1 t2Jb3 1 3.cb3
ii.c6 1 4.f3 "Vllic7 1 S.l:f.c1 .t:rac8
1 6."Vllig3 fliaS 1 7.l:f.fd1 dS

As in the Capablanca game above, this vigorous

central counter-punch illustrates perfectly the re
sources and latent possibilities of the break-out
from the restrained centre.

1 S.edS ttJb4 1 6.de6 f3 1 7JU3

'tWb7 1 8.r.t>g2 t2Jg4 1 9.'ii'e2 fS
20.t2Jd1 l:f.f6 21 .c3 l:tg6 22.cb4
tZJeS 23.r.t>f2 h4 24..l:.g3 t2Jg4
1 8.edS dS 1 9.dS edS 20.d4 2S.r.t>g1 ..tg3 26.hg3 'ti'dS 27.l:f.a3
CS 21 .flif2 t2Jg4 22."VJ/id2 l:f.fe8 l:f.h6 28.ttJf2 t2Jf2
23.h1 'it'b4 24.t2JdS "VJ/id4 2S.t2Je7
White resigned.
f8 26."Vllid4 d4 27.t2Jc8 ttJf2
28.g1 t2Jd1 0-1
Following on, the best ambassador of the
Scheveningen variation is without doubt Garry
In the hands of Tigran Petrosian, who was known Kasparov who has employed it for certain impor
for having a marked preference for 'calm' posi tant games, as for example against Karpov in the
tions, the Scheveningen could become a formi final of the world championship.
dable 'killing machine' . Garry Kasparov, the 'spiritual son' of Fischer,
has doubtlessly inherited from the American a
formidable energy and almost perfect expertise
that makes him almost invincible when playing
the Sicilian. Due to him the defence has achieved
51 23.6 a new degree of understanding, but also of popu
larity amongst the amateurs of the whole world.
0 B hend It would be possible to show tens, even hundreds
Petrosian, Tigran of games illustrating the genius of Kasparov in
Zurich 1 96 1 this opening but there is one that stands above the
others. The following game is not only excep
tional in its own right, but was decisive in decid
1 .e4 c S 2.t2Jf3 d 6 3.d4 cd4 4.t2Jd4
ing the fate of the 1985 world title. Shortly later,

70
 History

Karpov resumed perfectly this situation: "This It is praised for both its solidity and at the same
game is probably one of the most complex and time its flexibility, but even so, many players
intense in all the history of chess. It is hardly have been discouraged from playing the
surprising that Kasparov has consecrated tens of Scheveningen variation due to the strength of the
pages of analysis to it. Many analyses have been Panov-Keres attack. Appearing in the 1940's, it
published but an exhaustive one is practically became a strong weapon for attacking players,
impossible". but its 'charm' also attracted those better known
for their preference for positional play. As such
Karpov has often resorted to this move when
victory is imperative. The following game that he
considers one of the most interesting of his ca
reer, added much to the popularity of the Keres
51 24.8
attack.
D Kar p ov
Kasparov
24th match game, Moscow 1 985

1 .e4 c5 2.tLlf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tLld4

tLlf6 5.tLlc3 a6 6.e2 e6 7.0-0 e7
8.f4 0-0 9.h1 'W/c7 1 0.a4 tLlc6 51 20.1
1 1 .e3 ea 1 2.il.f3 b8 1 3.'ftd2 D Kar pov
d7 1 4.tLlb3 b6 1 5.g4 ea 1 6.g5
Dorfman
tLld7 1 7.'fif2 f8 1 8.g2 b7
Soviet Championship, Moscow 1 976
1 9.l:Z.ad1 g6 20.c1 .l:lbc8 21 . .1:ld3
tLlb4 22.l:!h3 g7
1 .e4 c5 2.tLlf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tLld4
t2Jf6 5.tLlc3 e6 6.g4

23.e3 .l:i.e7 24.g1 .l:i.ce8 25..l:td1

f5 26.gf6 tLlf6 27..l:!.g3 f7 28.b6
This move is considered so strong by certain
'iWb8 29.e3 tLlh5 30.l:!g4 tLlf6
players of the Scheveningen that they have aban
31 . .l:I.h4 g5 32.fg5 lt:\g4 33.'iWd2
doned the line altogether. Others, more faithful,
lt:\e3 34.'iVe3 lt:\c2 35.'Wib6 as
have tried to work out a solution and in the last
36.l:!d6 .l:I.b7 37.'fta6 l:!b3 38..l:I.e6
few years, due to a subtle move order, have found
.l:I.b2 39. 'W/c4 h8 40.e5 Wia7
a way to avoid it by deferring the development
41 .h1 g2 42.g2 tLld4
of the king's knight; l.e4 c5 2.t2Jf3 e6 3.d4 cd4
White resigned. 4.t2Jd4 t2Jc6 5.t2Jc3 d6

71
 3S."fih7 'iff3 36.'ifha 'it>e7 37.'ifh4
'it>ea 3a.'ifc4 'ti'b7 39.b3 l:te6
40J:tg1 l::teS 41 .l::t ga 'it>e7 42.'ifh4
'it>d7 43.'iff6 l:[e7 44.'iffS 'it>d6
45.'ifaS .I:[eS 46.'flda 'it>e6 47.'it>b2 f6
4a.l:[ta 'ifg7 49.'ifca 'it>dS SO.'ifc4

Black resigned.

At the end of the 1 930's the centre of gravity in

the chess world moved progressively towards the
Soviet Union. There was born the 'Scientific
school' headed by Mikhail Botvinnik
It happens sometimes that White stubbornly in ( 191 1-1995). Russian masters, without doubt in
sists on playing the same 6.g4 as was the case in fluenced by Jaenisch's publications, were espe
the 1 4th matchgame Karpov-Kasparov, Moscow cially attracted to the Sicilian defence. A group
1985; 6.g4 h6 7.h4 a6 8.g2 e7 9.e3 t2Jd4 of young talented players adopted it and injected
10 ...Wd4 e5 1 1 . ..Wd1 e6 12.t2Jd5 J:tc8 1 3 .c3 tLlf6 their own ideas. One of the best representatives
14.t2Je7 ..We7 and after a complicated fight the of this school was certainly lsaac Boleslavsky
game ended in a draw. (1919-1977). During all his career he remained
This, alternative move-order, isn't to the taste of faithful to the Sicilian and in his latter years he
everyone, as in this case Black has to be prepared trained numerous players who were to become
to meet 5.t2Jb5. top grand masters. His name is associated with a
system that is still in current use.
6 ... ..ie7 7.gS li.Jfd7 a.h4 li.Jc6
9.e3 a6 1 0. ..We2 ..Wc7 1 1 .o-o-o b5 1 .e4 cS 2.li.Jf3 li.Jc6 3.d4 cd4
1 2.li.Jc6 'flc6 1 3.d4 b4 1 4.li.JdS 4.li.Jd4 li.Jf6 s.lt.Jc3 d6 6.e2 es

At the time, this move left many confused as the

1 4 ... edS 1 S.g7 l:!.ga 1 6.edS "f/c7
Scheveningen was very popular and it was typical
1 7.f6 li.Jes 1 a.es deS 1 9.f4 fS
to choose the 'less compromising' 6 ... e6. What
20.h3 h3 21 .l:!.h3 .:rea 22.feS
ever, the strategic basis for the Boleslavsky system
'ifc4 23.J:tdd3 'iff4 24.'it>b1 l:!.c4
rests on two principles expressed by Tarrasch: 'a
2S.d6 l:Z.e4 26.l:!.he3 l:!.e3 27 .l:!.e3

weakness is only one if it can be attacked' (here

'flh4 2a."f/t3 'figS 29.l:!.e1 "f/g2
the d6-pawn) and 'the weakness of a square can
30."f/fS l:Z.g6 31 . .1:!.f1 'ifdS 32.de7
be compensated by active-piece play' .
'it>e7 33."f/f4 as 34."f/h4 ea
A typical example:

72
 History

51 2 5. 3.4 51 2 5.4
D Stoltz D Taimanov
Boles lavsky Bole slavsky
Groningen 1 94 6 Soviet Championship, Moscow 1 949

1 .e4 cS 2.t2Jf3 t2Jc6 3.d4 cd4 1 .e4 c5 2.t2Jf3 t2Jc6 3.d4 cd4 4.t2Jd4
4.t2Jd4 t2Jf6 S.t2Jc3 d6 6.e2 eS tt:Jf6 S.t2Jc3 d6 6 ...ie2 es 7.t2Jb3
7.t2Jf3 h6 8.c4 ..ie7 a.gs o-o 9.i.f6 i.t6 1 0.0-o
i.e6 1 1 . t2Jd5 ..igS 1 2.'ifd3 ttJe7
The game Levenfish-Boleslavsky, Kuybishev
1943 continued 8.0-0 Yt..e 7 9.Yt..e3 0-0 1 0.'iYd2
i.e6 1 l .Uad1 l:i.e8 1 2.h3 l:i.c8.

8.....ie7 9Ji'e2 0-0 1 0.h3 e6

1 1 .0-0 .l:1c8 1 2. ..ib3 t2Ja5 1 3.l:i.d1
W/c7 1 4.g4 t2Jb3 1 5.ab3 a6
1 6.'it>h1 bS 1 7.b4 W/c4 1 8.'ii'c4
l:i.c4 1 9. .1:1e1 ea 20.g5 hgS
21 ..-igS ..ib7 22.'it>h2 .l:1b4 23.b3
l:Z.c8 24.l:le3 l:ld4 25.J::Z.g1 'it>f8
26...if6 .if& 27.J::Z.g4 b4 28.t2Ja4

The game was drawn in 3 1 moves. With the

diagram position, one can clearly see the similar
ity between this system and the Lasker-Pelikan
Sveshnikov. With the passage of time, the
Boleslavsky system, due to brilliant games from
its originator, achieved its just recognition and
found numerous follower. Amongst these the
most renowned were Tigran Petrosian and Efim
Geller.
The following game earned the beauty prize at
the Interzonal tournament

28 l:lc2 29.t2Jd4 ed4 30.l:le1 J:l.f2

..

31 . .1:1g2 l:Z.f3 32.J:I.c2 d3 33..1:1c7

..ies 34.'it>g1 d2 35. .1:1d1 d4
36.c;t;>h2 l:l.f2 37.'it>g3 .ie4 38.l:l.c4
l:l.f3 39.'it>h2 i.es 40.'it>g1 dS 51 2 5.4
41 .l:l.c8 'it>e7 42.l:l.d2 f4 43.l:l.b2 D Pilnik
i.e3 44.'it>h2 r:l.f1 45.'it>g3 .l:tg1
46.'it>h2 r:l.g6
Geller
Gi:iteborg lnterzonal 1 955
White resigned.

1 .e4 cS 2.tt:Jf3 t2Jc6 3.d4 cd4

One of the motivations behind 6 ... e5 is to restrain
4.t2Jd4 t2Jf6 5.t2Jc3 d6 6.i.e2 eS
the push f2-f4.
7.t2Jb3 i.e7 8.0-0 0-0 9.i.e3 i.e6

73
 1 o.f3 as 1 1.l2:ldS dS 1 2.edS 51 40.2
ltJbB 1 3.c4 tt:Ja6 1 4. ..id2 b6 D Lutikov
1 S.c3 tL:lcS 1 6.tt:JcS bcS 1 7.'ii'e1
tt:Jd7 1 8. ..id1 a4 1 9...ic2 fS 20. .l:l.d1
Taimanov
Soviet Championship, Moscow 1 9 69
g6 21 .'ii'e2 .ifS 22.f3 e4 23...if6
'ii'f6 24.fe4
1 .e4 cs 2.tt:Jf3 tt:Jc6 3.d4 cd4
4.tt:Jd4 e6 s.tt:Jc3 Viic7 6.e3 aS
7...id3 bS 8.tt:Jc6 Viic6 9 ...id4 b7
1 0.'ii'e2 tt:Je7 1 1 .f4 b4 1 2.tt:Jb1
tt:Jg6 1 3.Viif2 d6

24...f4 2S..l:l.f2 tt:Jes 26. .l:l.df1 'ti'h4

27.d1 .l:l.f7 28.'ii'c2 gS 29.'ii'c3
I:taf8 30.h3 hS 31 .e2 g4 32Jlf4
.l:l.f4 33.l:Z.f4 .t!.f4 34.g3 tt:Jf3 3S.r.ftf2
'ii' h3 36.gf4 g3 37.r.ftf3 g2 38.r.ftf2
'ii' h2 0- 1 1 4.e3 0-0 1 S.t2Jd2 .l:l.ac8 1 6.h4
'ii'c7 1 7.eS ..icS 1 8.hS e3
The Soviet school worked equally on other ideas
1 9.Viie3 t2Je7 20.tt:Jc4 tt:JfS 21 .'ii'd2
such as the Taimanov variation, which is pro
..idS 22.t2Je3 t2Je3 23.'ii'e3 'ii'cS
duced after the sequence:
24.'ii'g3 h6 2S . .t!.h4 Viig 1 26.r.ftd2
1 .e4 cS 2.tt:Jf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:Jd4 'ti'd4 27.fS
tt:Jc6

27 .. J:!.c2 28.r.ftc2 b3 29.r.ftd1 'ii'g1

The following game is truly a work of art:
30.'ii'e1 'ii'g2 31 .'ii'f1 ..if3 32.r.fte1

74
 History

either on the king's wing with a pawn advance,

'ii' b2 33.ttb1 'iWeS 34.<Jtf2 ba2
or on the queen's side through lLlb5 and sub
35 ..l::f.e1 'iWf6 36.<oitg3 g2 37.'iWg1
sequent sacrifices. 'This cannot be! ' I said to
ef5 38.'it'd4 'it'gS 39.<oith2 e4
myself. 'He cannot have everything' .
40. .l::f.he4 fe4 41 .'iWe4 'iWhS
Praxis itself led me to verify the virtues and
White resigned. drawbacks of 5 . . .a6, followed by ... e5, which did
indeed check the enemy pawn advance but left
After the end of the Second World War the Sicil the backward pawn on d6 weak. I reasoned it out
ian defence became extremely popular at all lev that with Black one could not aspire to anything
els. It has become a regular in different interna else and this was a minor evil compensated for
tional tournaments and even in World Champi by the activity of the pieces, rather like negotiat
onship matches. In the last few years, due to ing a bargain: conceding something to gain
powerful computers, numerous statistics have something.
been published. It transpires that the Sicilian The successes which I obtained at Mar del Plata,
defence surpasses, by a long way, the popularity against the Spanish Rico in the Argentina-Spain
of all other defences. It has been estimated that radio match and in other tournaments, gave me
in international tournament practice approxi much encouragement. As chance would have it,
mately a third of the games start with 1 .e4 c5. in one of my matches with Reshevsky I had to
fight against my own ideas and won, but not
How does one explain such infatuation? In order through the opening.
to reply it is best to ask the adopted father of the Naturally, the appearance of this variation and its
Sicilian, Miguel Najdorf ( 1910- ). Here is a sig initial run of success were not overlooked by
nificant extract from his book Understanding the researchers into the openings, and thus there
Najdorf variation: arose attempts at refuting it. But despite being
" ... After l .e4 c5 the intentions are obvious and it submitted to the microscope of the 'laboratory'
is at once apparent that a fierce clash is initiated it continued to keep its secrets. I never imagined
between two attacks : White's is on the kingside however that it would cause so much printing ink
with a rapid pawn advance and Black's is on the to flow in magazines and books.
queen's wing, where he exploits the open c-file In 1955 the Argentine players suffered a rude
which provides him with an initiative in that shock in their match against the Soviet players at
sector. Obviously the winner is the one who gets the Goteborg Interzonal and I realized that the
it first, but this is speaking generally since praxis defence would have to be more deeply worked
has shown that traversing either path comprises out in order to avoid such dangerous paths. Re
enormous risks and exacts from each player the cently, in the last few years, there has occurred
utmost precision. A fact to be borne in mind is something I had foreseen: a refutation through
that the Sicilian very rarely allows an alternative positional play. Smyslov previously and now
choice of moves. Karpov have evolved this interesting idea to an
I began to play the Sicilian in the years 1937-38, nul the imaginative flight of the variation. With
since it suited my temperament and my status as it they take advantage of the control of the d5
a player always looking for a fight. It was then square or the weakness on Black's d6 to disrupt
that I put into practice the move 5 . .. a6 which had the queen side, that is to say, precisely the zone
been previously played by Opocensky and other of combat which, for years, was Black's domain
masters. The frequency with which I employed in the Sicilian ...
"

it was the reason for its subsequently becoming

wide-spread under my name. This very interesting introduction serves as a
At that time, the Richter attack and the same plan in our historical visit of the Najdorf vari
Scheveningen that we have nowadays were in ation.
fashion. And these variations obtained very good In master practice the Najdorf variation appeared
results. By observing an infinity of games I no for the first time in a tournament in Budapest
ticed that White could attack naturally enough 1926 in the game Yates-Tartakower. A little later

75
the Peruvian player Esteban Canal employed it 1 2.I:rel 0-0 13.tLlb3 tt:Je5 14.flie2 tt:Jc4 and B lack
in his turn against Efim Bogoljubow, at that time had a small edge, going on to win in 64 moves.
one of the very best players in the world. As one
6...i..g4
can see, the game rapidly took an unusual course,
and had little relationship with the classical pat Normally Black prefers 6 ...e5 or 6. ..e6 but the
terns of the Najdorf. A curiosity that is still move 6 ... ..ig4 is perfectly playable.
however worth a look.
7.f3 d7 8.tt::ld5 tt::ld5 9.ed5 'iWaS
1 0.b4 'ti'd5 1 1 .b2 f6

51 1 4. 1
D Bogoljubow
Canal
Karlsbad 1 929

1 .e4 c5 2.tt::lf3 d6 3.tt::lc3 tt::lf6 4.d4

cd4 5.tt::ld4 a6

Evidently, unless one has seen the first moves of

the game it is hard to imagine that the diagram
position could be a Sicilian in general and a
Najdorf in particular, but after all, Rome wasn't
built in a day !

1 2...id3 tt::lc6 1 3.c4 'iWf7 1 4.o-O tt::ld4

1 5.d4 e5 1 6.b6 j_e7 1 7.'ti'e2
j_d8 1 8 ..if2 j_e6 1 9.f4 0-0 20.f5
d7 21 .a4 h8 22.b5 ab5 23.ab5
I:ra1 24..f:.a1 d5 25.cd5 'iWd5 26..ie4
'iWb5 27.'t!Vb5 b5 28.c5 lle8
29.b7 .ie7 30.e3 g5 31 .j_d5
6.g3 .f:.d8 32.e6 .id7 33.b6 l:lb8
34.d7 .f:.b6 35..l::i.a2 g4 36.g2
At this stage no less than seven alternatives have
j_cs 37.e6 e4 38. .l::i.a8 g7
been the object of profound analyses: 6.h3,
39.l:lg8 h6 40. .l::i.g4 .l:tb2 41 .h3
6.i.c4, 6. .ie3, 6.a4, 6.f4, 6.i.g5 and 6.i.e2.
e3 42.j_c4 .f:.f2 43. .l::i.f4 !6-!6
The text move, at first sight, may seem timid but
is just as dangerous as some of the others. Today Quite a strange game !
it still has its supporters, notably amongst 'ex
Yugoslavs' , and is sometimes called the Zagreb In the 1930's the Czech master Karel Opocensky
variation. ( 1 892-1975) took up the flame with success,
One year later, during the 'Tournament of Na which certainly attracted attention to the line; but
tions' (the forerunner of the Olympiad) which it was after the Second World War that the con
took place in Hamburg, the game Desler-Van den tinuation l .e4 c5 2.tLlf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tLld4 tLlf6
Bosch took another course: 6. .ie2 b5 7.a3 ii.b7 5 .l2Jc3 a6 reached its true consecration world
8 . ..if3 tLlbd7 9.0-0 e6 1 0.g3 i.e7 l l ...ig2 flic7 wide due to the efforts of Miguel Najdorf.

76
 History

51 24. 1 51 1 0.3
D Luckis D R ico Gonzalez
Naj dorf Naj dorf
Mar del Plato 1 94 7 Spain -Argentina (Radio-Telegraph Match) 1 949

1 .e4 c 5 2.lLlf3 d 6 3.d4 cd4 4.lLld4 1 .e4 c5 2.ttJf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.lLld4
ttJf6 5.ttJc3 a6 6..ie2 lt:Jf6 5.ttJc3 a6 6.i..e2 e5
Here two schools ofthought meet head-on: the first,
under the influence of the Scheveningen, prefer the
more restrained text move, which is, without doubt,
more flexible and less compromising. The second,
influenced by the Soviet school and Boleslavsky's
work don't hesitate to push their e-pawn two squares
giving the game a real 'Najdorf' character.

6 ...e6 7.0-0 fl/c7 8.f4 ttJc6 9.h1

i..e7 1 O.ttJb3

Najdorf (as Black) faced GM Pilnik in the same

tournament and following 10.i.e3 i.d7 1 l .i.f3
l:Ic8 1 2.lLlb3 b5 1 3 a3 0-0 14.d2 the game was
drawn after 43 moves.

1 0 ... b5 1 1 .i..f3 i..b7 1 2.i..e3 0-0 7.ttJb3 i..e6 8.0-0 lLlbd7 9.f4 'fic7
1 3.fl/e1 ttJd7 1 4.d1 lLlb6 1 5.lLle2 1 0.f5 i..c4 1 1 .i..d3 b5 1 2.i..e3 i..e7
ttJc4 1 6.i..c 1 e5 1 Vt:Jc3 ef4 1 8.lLld5 13.'ti'e2 l:tc8 14.ac1 o-o 15.lLld2 d5
fl/d8 1 9.i..f4 .igS 20.'ii'c3 i..f4
21 .lLlf4 'ti'gS 22.ttJd5 lLl6e5 23J'Ue1
l:l.ac8 24.lLld4 l::l.fe8 25.b3 lLlb6
26.fl/a5 ttJdS 27.ed5 g6 28.fl/b6 fl/e7
29.lLlc6 fl/d7 30.ttJe5 deS 31 .'ti'f6
c2 32.l::l.e5 l::l.e5 33.'ti'eS l:l.c8 34.d6

1 6.i..c4 dc4 1 7.a3 b4 1 8.ab4 ..ib4

1 9.g4 i..c3 20.bc3 flieS 21 .'ti'g2
ttJcS 22 ..-icS 'ti'cS 23.h1 l:tfd8
24.'ti'e2 h6 25.l:f.a1 fl/d6 26.I:tfd1
'ti'c6 27.g2 l::l.d6 28.h3 l::lcd8
29.f3 'fid7 30.e3 ttJe8 31 .l::l.a5
34...i..f3 35.gf3 l:l.c2 36. 'ti'e7 'ti'h3 CiJc7 32J'l.e5 CiJbS 33.l:l.d5 l::ld5
37.'ti'e8 g7 38.fl/e5 f6 0-1 34.ed5 ttJc3 35.fl/f3 CiJd1 0-1

77
With the passage of time, White has tried different
32.'ii'as g6 33.h3 'f/b1 34.<i;h2
manoeuvres to test the black defence to the limit.
fS 3S.'f/c3 'f/e4 36.f3 'fid4
One of them consists of launching a wave of
37.'ti'd4 ed4 38.g4 ea 39.cS as
pawns on the queenside.
40.c6 c;f;fS

Black resigned.

Another significant example played by Karpov

51 1 1 . 1 0 twenty years later. The method was the same, as
was the result.
0 Geller
Fischer
Curacao Candidates 1 962

1 .e4 cS 2.tt:lf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:ld4 51 1 1 . 1 1

tt:lf6 S.tt:lc3 a6 6.e2 eS 0 Karpov
Throughout his career Fischer remained faithful Por tisch
to this move. London 1 982

7.tt:lb3 e7 8.0-0 0-0 9.e3 'f/c7

1 0.a4 e6 1 1 .aS tt:lbd7 1 2.tt:ldS 1 .e4 cS 2.tt:lf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:ld4
tt:ldS 1 3.edS tt:lf6 S.tt:lc3 a6 6.e2 es 7.tt:lb3 e7
8.0-0 0-0 9.e3 e6 1 0.'ti'd2
White now has a queenside pawn maj ority and he
tt:lbd7 1 1 .a4 l::!.c8 1 2.a5 'f/c7 1 3J:tfc1
doesn't waste time in activating them. Black never
'ti'c6 1 4.f3 c4 1 S J:ta4 I:.fd8
has a chance to create any threats on the kingside.
16.:tb4 'f/c7 1 7.tt:ldS tt:ldS 1 8.edS fS
1 3 ... fS 1 4.c4 g6 1 SJ:tc1 tt:lcS 19.e2 b3 20.l::!.b3 f4 21 ...tb6 tt:lb6
1 6.tt:lcS deS 22.l:tb6 gS 23.g4 l:[bS 24. .t:!.e1
'f/cs 2S.l:te4 .t:!.f8 26.b4 'f/c7 27.c4

1 7.b4 .t:!.ac8 1 8.'ti'b3 .id6 1 9.l::!.fd1

'ti'e7 20.bcS cs 21 .cs l::!.cS 27 ... <i;h8 28.cS deS 29.d6 'ti'd8
22.l::!.a 1 l::!. d8 23.l::!.a4 fS 24. .l:.b4 30.bcS f3 31 .'fidS fg2 32.l:l.eS 'iff6
c8 2S.l::!. b6 l:td6 26.'ti'b4 'f/c7 33.l:tfS 'ti'a1 34.<i;g2 f6 3S.d7
27. .t:!.d6 'ii'd6 28.l:tb1 'ti'c7 29.'ii'a4 'ti'aS 36J:tb7 l::!. b7 37.'f/b7 'it'd8
d7 30.'fia3 nas 31 .nb7 'ii'b7 38.c6 aS 39.c7 'f/d7 40. .l:tf4 1 -0

78
 History

Throughout the 1950's the Najdorf variation

51 6.1
maintained its reputation and started to become
a real thorn in White's side. Under this impetus D Steiner
Eastern-block players (mainly Soviets) worked Naj dorf
out new ' anti-Najdorf' weapons. Some had Warsaw 1 937
purely positional connotations, others consider
ably more aggressive, as for example 6 ...1rl.g5
1 .e4 cS 2.tt:Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:Jd4
It is true to say that, this line that is sometimes
tt:Jf6 s.tt:Jc3 e6 6.gS a6 7.f4 tt:Jbd7
called the 'Yugoslav attack' had its roots in the
8.c4 bS 9.i.b3 tt:Jcs 1 o.es deS
middle-thirties. Here are some examples illus
1 1 .feS "fkc7 1 2."fie2 tt:Jfd7 1 3.tLldS
trating the genesis of this new system:
"fib7 1 4.0-0-0 h6 1 S.h4 edS
1 6.e6 tt:Jb6 1 7.ef7 'iitf7 1 8.l:lhf1
'iitg8 1 9."fke8 fS 20."fieS g6
21 .tt:Je6 tt:Je6 22."fie6 'iith 7 23.f2
tt:Jc4 24.h4 .t:l.e8 2S.'ifh3 "fkc8
51 9.4 26.g4 tt:Jas 27.hS e4 28.c3 tt:Jb3
D Konst antinopolsky 29.ab3 e7 30.e3 l:lhf8 31 ."fkg3
b4 32.d2 bc3 33.bc3 a3
Akshanov
Soviet Union 1 934 White resigned.

Curiously, the continuation 6 .ig5 and 7.f4 used

1 .e4 cS 2.tt:Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:Jd4
.

by Steiner fell into disuse. Until 1953 the line

tt:Jf6 S.tt:Jc3 e6 6.gS a6 7.'iff3
6 . .ig5, followed by 7."iVf3 and then castling
e7 8.0-0-0 "fkc7 9."fig3 tt:Jbd7
long, was very popular amongst players and
1 0.f4 bS
theoreticians who analysed the line exhaustively.
However, in that year a new 'bomb exploded' in
the game Nezhmetdinov - Sherbakov, played in
the Soviet team championship. In that game
White brought to light Steiner's variation but
with an even more aggressive intent.

1 .e4 cS 2.tt:Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:Jd4

tt:Jf6 S.tt:Jc3 a6 6.gS e6 7.f4

1 1 .bS abS 1 2.l:the1 b4 1 3.tt:JcbS

"fibS 1 4.eS deS 1 S.feS l:la2
1 6.'iitb 1 l:laS 1 7.ef6 "fkg3 1 8.fg7
l:lg8 1 9.hg3 l:lbS 20.e7 l:lb6
21 .h4 tlg7 22.tt:JfS l:lg4 23.tt:Jd6
.t:l.d6 24J:td6 b7 2S. .t:l.ed1 dS
26.b3 .t:l.e4 27.tl1 dS edS 28.l:ldS f6
29.l:lhS 'iitf7 30.l:lh7
Progressively Nezhmetdinov's move supplanted
And White won in 5 1 moves. 7 ."iVf3 and its adoption, by Keres, in the 1954

79
Amsterdam Olympiad did much for its reputa
tion. The shock having passed, Najdorf players
throughout the world went to work seeking an
effective antidote. It is from this period that the
first experiences with 7 . . .e7 date, as well as
those of the 'Poisoned Pawn variation' 7 . . . 'irb6,
which was Sherbakov's choice in the stem game
against Nezhmetdinov; a little later came the
Polugaevsky variation 7 ... b5.
In 1 955 the Interzonal tournament was disputed
in the Swedish city of Goteborg, an excellent
opportunity to test the state of play in various
lines of the Sicilian, most notably the Najdorf. lt
must be said that the presence of many strong Keres and Stahlberg were not meeting for the
Soviet and Argentine players, who were un first time, as they had played a match in 193 8 !
doubtedly the most eminent authorities in this (+2=4-2). I n the following game the Soviet Es
variation, would inevitably lead to some fierce tonian doubtlessly regretted bitterly that he
encounters. In fact, despite the rigorous Scandi didn't repeat the above game, by playing
navian climate, the spirits during the tournament 10.tt:Jb3, as he permits his Swedish opponent to
were warmed by the spectacle of some bloody produce a magnificent performance in front of
struggles. 'Don Miguel' himself was not spared. his own public.
The least that can be said is that he was probably
not partying every night!

51 5.2
D Keres
51 5 .2 Stahlberg
Goteborg lnterzonal 1 955
D Rabar
Najdorf 1 .e4 cS 2.t2Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.t2Jd4
Goteborg lnterzonal 1 9 55
t2Jf6 S.tt:Jc3 a6 6.gS e6 7.f4 'ii'c7
8.'fif3 t2Jc6 9.0-0-0 d7 1 O .ith4

1 .e4 cS 2.t2Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.t2Jd4 e7 1 1 .g4 t2Jd4 1 2. .1Id4 c6

t2Jf6 S.t2Jc3 a6 6 ..itgS e6 7.f4 'fic7 1 3.g2 l:!.c8 1 4.l:!.hd1 0-0 1 S.gS
8.'fif3 t2Jc6 9.0-0-0 .itd7 1 0.t2Jb3 t2Jd7 1 6.l:!.4d2 lLJcS 1 7.'ii'e3 bS
e7 1 1 ..ilh4 0-0 1 2.g4 .U.fc8 1 8.t2Je2 'fib7 1 9.t2Jg3 g6 20.l:te1
1 3.g3 bS 1 4.eS t2Je8 1 S.'fie2 b4 .1Ife8 21 .tLlh1 dS 22.t2Jf2 hS
1 6.ed6 .l.d6 1 7.t2Je4 f4 1 8.r;;tJb1
See diagram following page
.itg3 1 9.hg3 tLJeS 20.'fih2
23.edS edS 24.'fid4 t2Je6 2S.l:te6
See following diagram
fe6 26.tt:Jd3 .itd6 27.l:!.e2 'it'g7
20 ... h6 21 .gS c6 22..itd3 t2Jd3 28.t2Jes d7 29..l.f2 es 30..1IeS
23.cd3 .l.e4 24.de4 'flieS 2S.gh6 l:l.c4 31 .'fid2 'ii'fB 32.e3 .!:teeS
'fie4 26.r;;tJa 1 l:!.c2 27.'fihS tt:Jf6 33.e4 de4 34.'it'd7 l:!.c2 3S.r;;tJb1
28.h7 'it'h7 29. 'it'as 'ii'e4 30.l:lh4 'it'f7 36.'it'e6 'it'e6 37..1Ie6 l:!.e2
'it'b7 31 ..1Id8 t2Je8 32.'it'hS 38.llg6 r;;tJf7 39..1If6 r;;tJe7 40.a4
l:te3 41 .fS 0- 1
Black resigned.

80
 History

1 1 .tLle6

position after 22 . h5
..

The fourteenth round gave rise to a unique event in

chess history that one has the custom to call the This sacrifice had of course been taken into con
'triptych' . The luck of the pairings gave that day the sideration by the Argentinian delegation. Sure of
chance to see a match USSR-Argentina. Geller, himself, the Argentine captain Julio Bolbochan,
Keres and Spassky (all with White) were to face reassured his players before the round saying
respectively Panno, Najdorf and Pilnik. The night "Let's go, play the variation, I assure you that the
before the round, the Argentinian contingent, under sacrifice on e6 doesn't work".
the leadership of Najdorf, decided to examine in The first player to make the move was Geller. At
detail a pawn sacrifice elaborated by Pilnik (9... g5) that moment Spassky and Keres were still thinking
that came to be called the Goteborg variation: (they had the possibility of watching the other
game via the large demonstration board) whilst the
1 .e4 c5 2.tLlf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tLld4
bubbling Najdorf was talking in an animated
tLlf6 5.tLlc3 a6 6.g5 e6 7.f4 e7
fashion about the turn of events with his colleague
8.'ii"f3 h6 9.h4 g5 1 0.fg5 tLlfd7
Pilnik. He then launched a 'psychological attack'
by exclaiming to Geller 'your position is lost; we
have already analysed all this ' . The problem was
that there was an enormous hole in the Argentine
analysis which led to a real 'chess-Waterloo' :

51 9.2
D Geller
Panno
Goteborg lnterzonal 1 955
The idea of the gambit is purely strategic. Black
desires to exchange the f4 pawn in such a way as
1 .e4 c5 2.tLlf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tLld4
to permanently obtain control of the e5-square
tt:lf6 5.tLlc3 a6 6.g5 e6 7.f4 e7
for a knight. An idea that is certainly attractive,
8.'ii"f3 h6 9.h4 g5 1 0.fg5 tLlfd7
but terribly dangerous because the delay in de
1 1 .tLle6 fe6 1 2. 'ii"h5 Wf8 1 3.b5
velopment exposes Black to a promising piece
sacrifice for White: A magnificent move that pursues two objectives:

81
stopping Black executing the manoeuvre ... tt:Jb8- The day after this particularly painful day for the
c6-e5 and liberating the fl -square for the rook. South Americans, an Argentinian paper was
headed the 'Argentine tragedy' .
Despite this depressing experience the GOteborg
variation and its ambitious idea would not be
totally abandoned. Some English masters con
ducted a detailed analysis and came to the conclu
sion that it was possible to find a defence. Never
theless, despite this work many GMs remained
skeptical. In these conditions there was astonishment
when Fischer used this variation in a game of the
upmost importance for him. Played in the last
round of the 1958 Interzonal, the American, in
order to qualify, had to make at least a draw!

1 3 tt:Je5 1 4.i.g3 g5 1 5.0-0 we7

.

1 6.i.e5 'ti'b6 1 7.Wh1 deS 1 8.'ti'f7

Wd6 1 9. .l:l.ad1 'ti'd4 20..l:l.d4 ed4 21 .e5
wc5 22.'ti'c7 tt:Jc6 23.i.c6 1-0
51 9.2
D Gligoric
Fischer
Portoroz lnterzonol 1 958

D Keres
1 .e4 c5 2.tt:Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:Jd4
Najdorf tt:Jf6 5.tt:Jc3 a6 6.g5 e6 7.f4 e7
Goteborg lnterzonal 1 9 55
8.'iff3 h6 9.h4 g5 1 0.fg5 tt:Jfd7
1 1 .tt:Je6 fe6 1 2. 'ti'h5 Wf8 1 3.b5
1 3 ... Wg7 1 4.0-0 tt:Je5 1 5.i.g3 tt:Jg6 J:lh7
1 6.gh6 l::!.h6 1 7.I:tf7 wf7 1 8.'Wh6
This game and later analysis, prove that this is
ab5 1 9J:U1 \t>e8 20. 'iig6 Wd7
the best defence at Black's disposal.
21 .l:tf7 tt:Jc6 22.tt:Jd5 l:ta2 23.h4
'ii h8 24.lt::Je7 tt:Je7 25.'ti'g5 1-0 1 4.'ifg6 .l:!.f7 1 5.'ifh6 r:Ji;g8 1 6.'ti'g6
J:!.g7 1 7.'We6 Wh8

D Spassky
Pilnik
Goteborg lnterzonal 1 9 55

23.h3 'ii h 8 24.tt:Je7 tt:Je7 25. 'Wg5

.l:!.a1 26.Wh2 'ifd8 27.'it'b5 r:JiJc7
28.'ti'c5 Wb8 29.i.d6 was 30.i.e7
.l:!.a5 31 . 'ti'b4 1 -0

82
 History

1 8.d7 tt:Jd7 1 9.0-0-0 tt:Je5 20.'ii'd5 tt:lf6 5.tt:lc3 a6 6.g5 e6 7.f4 'ii'b6
g4 21 .df1 g5 22.g5 'ii'g5 8. 'ii'd2 'ii'b2
23 . ..to>b1 'ii'e7 24.'ii'd2 e6 25.g3
dB 26..!::tf4 'ii' g5 27.'ii'f2 \t>g8
28 .!::td 1 l::tf7 29.b3 'ii'e7 30.'ii'd4

tt:Jg6 31 .l::tf7 'ii'f7 32. 'ii'e3 -

For many people, the name Fischer is unques

tionably linked with the Najdorf variation. If
certain players recognize that they started chess
after the Fischer-Spassky match in 1 972, which
received tremendous media coverage, how many
of them have included the Najdorf in their reper
toire, only because it was Fischer's favourite
variation? Without doubt a great number.
Throughout his career the Najdorf variation was his
precious ally and accompanied him on all his
9.l::tb1 'ii'a3 1 0.e5 de5 1 1 .fe5 tt:lfd7
campaigns for the world title. Their complicity was
1 2.c4 e7 1 3.e6 0-0 1 4.0-0
total and the synergy produced allowed Fischer
g5 1 5.'ii'g5 h6
to beat his rivals and attain the summit. To parody
Bogoljubov one could say that 'Fischer won with
Black because he played the Sicilian and he won
with White because he was Fischer! ' .
Fischer never flinched from taking risks when
playing with the Black pieces. The best example is
his adoption of the Poisoned Pawn variation. Due
to him, this variation that was considered dubious
by certain GMs and crazy by Bent Larsen, became
respectable and attracted the attention of the top
echelon. It is certainly not an accident that the two
succeeding world champions Kasparov and even
Karpov(!) have resorted to it from time to time.
Fisc her sometimes obtained extremely tricky po
sitions but his defensive talent (and perhaps his
aura) made the difference. The following game A critical moment is reached. White, due to a
represents a perfect illustration: lead in development and the concentration of
pieces around the black king, has certainly the
better position. By continuing 1 6.h5 ! he would
have posed enormous problems for Black.

1 6.'ii'h4 'ii'c3 1 7..!::tf7 l::tf7 1 8.'ii'd 8

t2Jf8 1 9.f7 ..to>f7 20.l::t.f1 ..to>g6
51 8 . 1 4 21 J:!.f8 d7 22.tt:lf3 'ii'e3 23...to>h1
D B ilek 'ii'c 1 24.tt:lg1 'ii'c2 25.l:!.g8 'ii'f2
26. .r!.f8 'ii'a2 27J:tf3 ..to>h7
Fischer
Stockholm lnterzonal 1 962 At this point White lost on time.

The moment has now come to see (or to see

1 .e4 c5 2.tt:lf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:ld4
again) the famous seventh game from the

83
Reykjavik match, where the Poisoned Pawn sesses an 'internal reservoir of energy' that
made its debut in a World Championship final. makes it a viable defence, endowed with multiple
defensive resources that generate good counterplay.

At the end of the 1950's, Lev Polugaevsky elabo

rated his own method. Considered as even riskier
51 8.4 than the Poisoned Pawn( !) few top players dared
to employ it, but its author with the power of
D Spassky abnegation, managed to show that the move
Fischer 7 b5 was well-founded.
...

7th match game, Reykjavik 1 9 72

1 .e4 c5 2.lt:Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tLld4

lt:Jf6 5.lt:Jc3 a6 6...ig5 e6 7.f4 'ti'b6
8.'ifd2 'ti'b2 9.lt:Jb3 'ifa3 1 0..id3 51 7. 1
..te7 1 1 .0-0 h6 1 2...ih4 D Nikitin
Polugaevsky
Soviet Championship, Tbilisi 1 9 59

1 .e4 c5 2.t2Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.t2Jd4

t2Jf6 5.t2Jc3 a6 6.g5 e6 7.f4 b5

1 2 lt:Je4 1 3.lt:Je4 it.h4 1 4.f5 ef5

1 5.b5 ab5 1 6.lt:Jd6 f8 1 7.tt:lc8

lt:Jc6 1 8.lt:Jd6 .t:ld8 1 9.lt:Jb5 'ti'e7
20.'iff4 g6 21 .a4 g5 22.'ti'c4
.ie3 23.h1 f4 24.g3 g5 25..t:lae1
'it'b4 26.'it'b4 lt:lb4 27.l::J.e2 rJilg7
Nowadays, this is without any doubt one of the
28.lt:Ja5 b6 29.lt:Jc4 lt:Jd5 30.lt:Jcd6
most complex opening positions there is.
c5 31 .lt:Jb7 .t:lc8 32.c4 lt:Je3
33..t:lf3 t2Jc4 34.gf4 g4 35..t:ld3 h5 8.'ti'f3 i.b7 9.a3 t2Jbd7 1 0.f5 e5
36.h3 tt:Jas 37.t2J7d6 d6 38.t2Jd6 1 1 .t2Jb3 ii.e7 1 2.0-0-0 l::tc 8 1 3.i.d3
.t:lc1 39.g2 t2Jc4 40.t2Je8 g6 0-0 1 4.f6 t2Jf6 1 5.t2Jd5 .idS
41 .h4 f6 42.l::te6 l::!.c2 43.g1 '1t>f5 1 6.ed5 Wic7 1 7.'1t>b1 .l:Ue8 1 8.t2Jd2
44.t2Jg7 f4 45 ..t:ld4 '1t>g3 46.t2Jf5 'ti'b7 1 9.t2Je4 b4 20.a4 b3 21 .c3
'1t>f3 47.l::tee4 .t:lc1 48.h2 l::tc2 'ti'd7 22.t2Jf6 ii.f6 23.'it'e4 .t!.c5
49.g1 Y2-Y2 24.'ti'b4 Wia7 25.Wie4 .l:i.a5 26.'iVb4
'it'c7 27.W/b3 .!lb8 28.'ti'c4 'ifb7
29.'it'b4 'ti'b4 30.cb4 l::t b4 31 ..ic2
These two games clearly demonstrate that even
e4 32. c1 .l:i.cS 0- 1
faced with the sharpest variations, the Sicilian pos-

84
 History

At the beginning of the 1960's this system became The zenith of this variation came about during a
the target of attack for certain players who thought Candidates match between Polugaevsky and Tal:
that they had found a refutation. Research diver
sified in different directions. Nezhmetdinov
thought that he had found the solution but col
lided head-on into a severe 'counter-refutation' .
51 7.2
D Tal
Polugaevsky
51 7.2 2nd match game, Alma Ala 1 980

D N ezhmetdinov
1 .e4 cS 2.tbf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.t2Jd4
Polugaevsky tbt6 S.t2Jc3 a6 6.i.gS e6 7.f4 bS
Soviet Championship, Baku 1 96 1
8.es deS 9.feS 'fic7 1 0...tbS

1 .e4 cS 2.t2Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.t2Jd4

tbf6 S.t2Jc3 a6 6..igS e6 7.f4 b5 8.es
deS 9.feS 'flc7 1 0.ef6 'f/eS 1 1 .ttJe4

1 0...abS 1 1 .ef6 'fieS 1 2.'fle2 'figS

1 3.ttJdbS l:!.aS 1 4.fg7 g7 1 S.t2Je4
'fieS 1 6.t2Jbd6 rJiJe7 1 7.0-0 fS
1 8.l:!.ad1 dS 1 9.'fic4 l:td1 20.l:!.d1
Nezhmetdinov's move.
fe4 21.t2Jc8 rrti;f7 22.t2Jd6 rJiJg6
1 1 ... 'f/e4 1 2.tbe2 23.t2Je4 t2Ja6 24.tbf2 ttJcS 2S.b4
tba4 26.t2Jg4 'fits 27.t2Je3 t2Jb2
White has problems after 1 2.e2 'fig2 1 3.f3
28.'fih4 't!WeS 29.'fig4 rJiJh6 30.e1
'figS 14.a8 'fih4.
f6 31 .bS l:tf8 32.b6 gS 33.'fig3
1 2 ... t2Jc6 1 3.'f/d2 h6 1 4.e3 b7 'f/g3 34.hg3
1 S.t2Jg3 'ifeS 1 6.fg7 g7 1 7.d3
And Black won in seventy moves.
t2Jb4 1 8.0-0 t2Jd3 1 9.'fld3 d8
20. 'fle2 hS 21 J:tae1 h4 22. 'f/f2
In Buenos Aires none of the participants played
l:!.d7 23.t2Je2 h3 24.gh3 l:!.h3
the Polugaevsky variation. One can without
2S.t2Jg3 'fidS 26..ib6 ..tes 27.l:!.es
doubt regret it but as its creator remarked "that
'ifeS 28J:te1 'figS 29.i.e3 'fig4
signifies that no one has refuted it !". In the con
30.l:!.f1 fS 31 .f4 l:!.d1 32.c3 .I:'Z.h4
clusion of the first chapter of his last book
33 ...tc7 f4 34.'it'f4 'it'f4
Grandmaster Achievement, Polugaevsky appeared
White resigned. rather optimistic about its future: "Will it have a

85
long life? Will its health be robust enough to As far as the Sicilian goes, the adventure has
resist strong assaults in the future? Will its 'fans ' certainly continued throughout more than three
have enough optimism and courage to defend it? centuries and one can say with certainty that it
For the moment, after thirty-five proud years has some fine days ahead of it. This noble lady
looking forward, its head held high along the which is the Sicilian has not finished to surprise
road of chess, its life, already rich in adventure, us !
continues! ".

Bibliography

Hooper & Whyld The Oxford companion to chess

Oxford university press 1984

Lutes Sicilian defence - O 'Kelly variation

Chess enterprises 1993

Kovacs Sicilian Poisoned pawn variation

Pergarnon press 1986

New in Chess Rene Olthof's criticism on Daniel King's book

Winning with the Najdorf
1 993/5

Polugaevsky Les secrets d'un grand maltre

Armand Colin 1994

Polugaevsky Grandmaster achievement

Cadogan chess 1994

86
 Lev Polugaevsky
Chess Tournament
Buenos Aires 1 994

participants

Viswanathan Anand
Vasily lvanch u k
Gata Kamsky
Anatoly Karpov
Lj ubomir Lj ubojevic
J u dith Polgar
Valery Salov
Alexey S h i rov

tou rnament report by Christophe Gumeau

analyses by Jeroen Piket and the participants

87
Organizing Committee

J.J. van O osterom, Association M ax E uwe chairman

D r. A. Spolski, F undaci6 n B anco Patricios vice chairman
M. B ilik, F undaci6 n B anco Patricios
P. Cordia, Cordia Consultancy I nternational BV
G. Gij ssen, arbiter
M. H ermes, Association M ax E uwe

Contributors of the Organizing Committee

Grandmaster O.Panno, chief press center

E. van der Schilden, Tasc BV
C. Gueneau
H. de J ong
E. J unor, Association M ax E uwe
A.M. M onti, F undaci6 n B anco Patricios
G. Schraier, F undaci6 n B anco Patricios
E. Tolsma, Association M ax E uwe

Appeals Committee and Committee for the special prizes

J.J. van O osterom, chairman

Grandmaster L. Polugaevsk y
Grandmaster M . N aj dorf
Grandmaster J. Pik et

Commentators during the rounds

Grandmaster B . Larsen
Int. M aster A. Sorin
l nt. M aster H. Spangenberg
I nt. M aster P. Z am ick i

Obliged opening moves:

l . e4 c5 2.t2Jf3 t2J c6 3. d4 cd4 4.t2J d4

l . e4 c5 2.t2Jf3 d6 3. d4 cd4 4.t2J d4
l . e4 c5 2.t2Jf3 e6 3. d4 cd4 4.t2J d4

Time limit:

40 moves in 2 hours, then 20 moves in 1 hour, fi nally 1 hour per play er for the
remaining moves, without adj ournments.

88
 "When one loves one doesn't count the cost". that we have a selective memory and the better
The Dutch patron and President of the Max Euwe moments gradually erase the painful ones. Giving
association, Joop van Oosterom, had certainly the reasons for his choice, Polugaevsky explained
this expression in mind when he decided to offer "From the numerous journeys that I have made in
to his great friend Lev Polugaevsky, on his sixti this country I remember each moment. I won
eth birthday, a sumptuous chess tournament on Mar del Plata twice, in 1962 and 1 97 1 , and they
the theme of the Sicilian defence, the favourite still remain happy memories for me. In Argentina,
opening of 'Polu' . It was decided that the tour people live well and the people are marvellous;
nament should be a double-round affair with on top of that they really love chess. I'll never
eight of the world's top players. The financial forget for example, when the police had to make
questions having been
solved, there remained
just two formalities :
choosing the venue and
selecting the players.
When he was asked where
he would like his diamond
jubilee to be organized,
the Russian GM replied
almost without hesitation:
Buenos Aires, Argentina.
His reply may have
seemed a surprise because
the Argentine capital is as
sociated with a tragic epi
sode from the history of
Soviet chess where 'Polu'
was one of the main ac
tors. In 1978, for the one
and only time of its exist
ence, the USSR failed to
win the Olympiad. That
year it could do no better
than to finish second be
hind the astonishing Hun
garian team; however,
'Polu' could hardly be
criticized scoring a mere
eight out of eleven !
Two years later the same
city saw his defeat in the
semi-final of the world
championship against the
'dissident' Viktor Kortch
noi; the match that no So
viet citizen had the right to
lose and which essentially
ended his hopes in the
.._
quest for the supreme title. _ _..__
].J. van Oosterom
In fact, it is well known

89
 a path for me through the masses in front of the famous Argentina - USSR match that took place
San Martin theatre after I had just won a game in in 1 954 in the Cervantes theatre, or the tourna
my match against Kortchnoi. People were grab ments of: 1 93 1 , 1 946, 1 960, 1 964 and 1 970.
bing hold in order to congratulate me, it was Then one must not forget the various tourna
fantastic". His wife Irene added "After Lev was ments organized in Najdorf's honour with the
eliminated, I saw people who were in tears. I've support of the great local newspaper, Clarin.
never seen that in other countries". Concerning the choice of participants, the prob
Personally I had never been to Argentina and no lem became complicated because of the interven
doubt like many people, I thought that Russia tion of some spectacular changes. Firstly ac
(let's say the USSR) was the only real home of cepted, Garry Kasparov's participation was later
chess. After three weeks spent in Buenos Aires I cancelled. To justify his decision, the PCA World
revised my judgement and would like to mention Champion pointed out the length of the tourna
here some significant happenings. Almost every ment and his full diary in order to excuse himself.
where in restaurants, the boss and staffrecognized To compensate for his absence, 'Polu' played
the players and asked for their autographs; at the with the idea, for a few days, of calling Bobby
end of the meal it was typical that the house offered Fischer, but the project was quickly abandoned
us a digestif; be it a bottle of wine or champagne. as unrealistic. A shame because the 'man from
In the street, people became aware of Lev, they Reykjavik' , as well as a specialist 1 .e4 player and
respectfully acknowledged him or even ap undeniable expert on the Sicilian, would have
plauded shouting "Poluga, Poluga". Finally, for brought much to the tournament. His presence
those who still remain unconvinced of the love would equally have led to the first meeting be
that the Portinos (the inhabitants of Buenos Ai tween Karpov and Fischer!
res) have for our game, it is sufficient to remem At the beginning of Spring in 1 994 it became
ber the rich chess history of the city: with Mos clear that following his operation, 'Polu' would
cow ( 1 956 and 1 994) and Thessaloniki (1 984 and not be fit enough to take part, and with much
1988), it's the only city that has organized two emotion, he indicated to the organizers that he
Olympiads, firstly that of 1939 (then called the had to step down. The tournament was already at
'Tournament of Nations') when Germany won an advanced stage of preparation and there was
ahead of Poland and Estonia, then 1 978, with the no question of delaying, or cancelling, the tour
surprise victory of Hungary ahead of the USSR nament. 'Polu' himself simplified things greatly
and United States. Then one must of course add by suggesting a replacement in the person of
the two Candidates semi-finals with the matches Valery Salov.
Fischer - Petrosian (1971) and Kortchnoi -
Polugaevsky ( 1 980). Finally, and indeed mainly, Created in honour of the late World Champion,
the world championship final between Alekhine the Max Euwe Association is still very young as
and Capablanca in 1927. The letter written by it was only created on the 4th of January 1 99 1
Alekhine, the 2nd of September 1 926, to the in Monaco. Nevertheless, its proud record is
president of the Argentino club, who organized already impressive. Each event caused a great stir
the encounter is also revealing: "... I add that I throughout the world, due both to their original
encountered an exceptional atmosphere, favour ity and the quality of the organization. Recently
able from all points of view to the development it has diversified its interests, as in honour of the
of chess activity, and that it is with the greatest second daughter of Joop van Oosterom, Crystal
of satisfaction that I look forward to the prospect Kelly, a billiards tournament was created !
of taking part in a match for the world champi Until then, the Max Euwe Association had al
onship title under its auspices, in the case that ways organized and run its own events, but in
Senor Capablanca accepts my challenge ... ". Buenos Aires, more than 15,000 Kilometres
One could add to this already impressive list, from it's base, the need to involve some foreign
other manifestations, that in their time, attracted partners was evident; not only to balance the
attention such as the series of exhibition games budget (which was phenomenal) but also to en
between Najdorf and Reshevsky in 1 952, the sure the logistics.

90
 In order to draw their lots, the players were required to dance with a tango dancer.
Gata Kamsky was one of the many that enthusiastically submitted to this ceremony.

One of the most prestigious was without doubt for the 'world champion organizer' , as for cer
the Banco Patricios, one of the most prosperous tain, Pieter Cordia would be a serious candidate.
banks in Argentina who, by the expedient of its From my point of view everything was magnifi
foundation, never relaxed its efforts in working to cently orchestrated and one had the feeling that
give great impact and sparkle to the tournament. he had truly calculated everything. It was diffi
It is fitting therefore to thank Doctor Alberto cult to find fault in his organization. Perhaps the
Spolski, the president of the foundation, and also only reproach that could be made was that the
the architect Mariano Billic, the foundation's hotel swimming pool was closed, but can we
director, along with the members of his team. really hold him responsible?
The success of this novel collaboration was From a media point of view the tournament knew
partly due to the mammoth task performed by a great success, notably because of the excellent
'logistics organizer' Pieter Cordia. He spent, in work undertaken by the press officer, Ana Maria
effect, more than a year on this ambitious project Monti . Not without a certain pride, GM Miguel
and as things worked out, became a regular trav Quinteros pointed out to me: "Here everyday
eller between Amsterdam and Buenos Aires. Un there are newspaper articles, almost fifty journal
doubtedly for him, a method of mixing theory ists have been accredited, the radio has news
and practice as he used to work for a travel flashes and even the television is talking about it.
agency ! It is really a shame that there is no award It's even better than Linares!".

91
It is certainly difficult to fault him, as even the ence. His analysis, interspersed with tremendous
Argentinian state itself gave its support in declar anecdotes, often very educational, were a real
ing that the Polugaevsky diamond jubilee was of treat and it wasn't at all rare to hear a thunderous
national interest! Incredible. To my knowledge applause at the end of some spectacular vari
that has never been previously known in any ation. In Argentina one loves a good game and
other country. one lets it be known! The spectacle of the Dane's
analysis alone, was worth the five Pesos ($5)
The tournament, baptized 'Torneo Mundial de entry fee.
Ajedrez Lev Polugaevsky' took place at the head On the second floor was the press room, also
quarters of the Banco Patricios Fundaci6n. Situ equipped with electronic screens but with the
ated at 3 1 2 Callao avenue, it is really near to the added benefit of a television showing the faces
city centre and to the famous 9th of July avenue, of the players. There in charge was local celebrity
considered as the largest in the world. Normally GM Oscar Panno. Throughout the tournament, I
geared towards art, music or the theatre, the had the distinguished honour and luck to work
foundation opened wide its doors to chess as no with him in editing the bulletin. Never tired,
less than four floors were devoted entirely to the always in a good humour, Oscar inspires respect
tournament! and everyone in Argentina seems to adore him.
On the ground floor, a room gave directly onto From the first day, I gave him the nickname 'the
the street allowing spectators (but also casual octopus' because it amused me to see him to
passers-by) to follow the games on four giant bustle about in all directions and accomplish all
electronic screens. This represented a big first in sorts of tasks at the same time. I sometimes had
Argentina and I still remember the flabbergasted the feeling that he had even fifteen arms. He
expressions on the faces of certain aficionados would simultaneously prepare the bulletin, an
the first day of transmission. Comfortably seated, swer the telephone, tap away at his computer,
the spectators (sometimes noisily in this country) greet his friends who would never miss a chance
could at their leisure discuss the games and par to come and see him, anticipate the continuation
take of one of the delicious pastries in the cafe in the games; finally, and certainly not the easi
teria. I have the names of certain players' wives est, put up with me all afternoon. At first, I was
who gained several kilos in this gastronomic rather surprised to see him with so much energy,
paradise whilst their husbands lost a few from the but a little later I learned his secret: four sessions of
nervous tension. At the back of the room, near tennis a day! In this domain too he had some good
the lifts, was the bookshop, which inevitably had habits; Judit Polgar and I learned to our cost.
a good number of specialized books in stock. It was equally on the second floor that the V.I.P
On the first floor, a large area with a hundred or lounge could be found, where the players came
so chairs served as a commentary room. Hugo to analyse their game, replied to journalists ques
Spangenberg (Argentinian champion in 1994), tions and sometimes posed for the television.
Pablo Zarnicki and Ariel Sorin were regular com On the third floor was the actual playing hall
mentators. It is interesting to note that all three which could seat a total of 250 spectators.
were picked for the Argentine team that partici
pated in the Moscow Olympiad,. Zarnicki per What gave the Polugaevsky tournament its
forming in brilliant fashion to obtain the gold charm was above all the unique rule: all players
medal for the fourth board. It is appropriate here must respect the imposed opening moves: 1 .e4
to acclaim their remarkable performance, each c5 2.lt:Jf3 lt:Jc6 (or 2... e6, or 2. . .d6) 3.d4 cxd4
with their own style. However, he who merits the 4.lt:Jxd4. Despite its originality this type of tour
most praise was undoubtedly GM Bent Larsen, nament was far from being a novelty as at the
who now lives in Buenos Aires. A true enter beginning of the century in Vienna, the cele
tainer, he normally started his commentary brated King's gambit was thus honoured. Nearer
around four o'clock in the afternoon, without to our time, in Utrecht in the middle-eighties, a
doubt after a regenerative siesta, and after his tournament took place where positions noted for
three IM colleagues had 'warmed up' the audi- their complexity were selected and 'imposed' .

92
Several top-flight grandmasters took part such as portunity to meet with some local, and even
Ttmman and Miles. The Sicilian already had its world-wide, celebrities. lt was true to say that all
place with the two following positions: the creme of the profession and all the stars of
chess-life in Buenos Aires passed before my
eyes. One of the most diligent was of course
Miguel Najdorf, nicknamed affectionately by his
friends El viejo or Migue lito. At 84 years old, this
living legend showed yet again that the years
have not taken their toll on him and that his
understanding of the game remains intact. Al
ways alert, he still drives himself in his Renault
R21 without glasses, (as he likes to tell everyone)
trying no doubt to imitate another Argentinian
idol: Juan-Manuel Fangio. There was also Fran
sisco Benko, talented composer and keeper of
one of the biggest collections of problems and
studies in the world with about 30,000 works ! At
No.1 Najdorf - Poisoned Pawn the beginning of the tournament he attracted
attention by exhibiting one of his problems that
he considered the most accomplished. He was
always proud to announce beforehand that it had
kept Mikhail Tal occupied for several hours.

No. 2 Dragon - Main Line

Of course, the Utrecht tournament was not in any

way comparable to that of Buenos Aires which,
with an average Elo rating of 2694, reached British Chess Magazine 1 950
category XVIII. The games were played at the Mate in three moves
rate of 40 moves in two hours, then 20 moves in
an hour, followed by one hour per player K.O., Solution: l.lllc4 ( l .lllb7? 'i!Yg3 2.f8'i!Y 'i!Yg8 and
implying that no adjournments were possible. As the b3 pawn is protected) l. 'i!Yg3 2.f8'i!Y 'i!Yg8
.

for Elo rating, at the request of several players it 3.'it;lb3 mate.

was decided that the tournament would not be Another notable visitor, Samuel Schweber, a
counted. A debatable decision as it could have, very experienced player having taken part in six
perhaps, added further spice to an already attrac Olympiads. With his cigar glued to his lips, he
tive competition. blitzed away a good deal of his time and on this
At the stroke of five o' clock in the afternoon (the occasion everybody noticed that he hadn't lost
games started at 2.30 p.m.) the building was any of his ability.
generally jam-packed and the press room had an Carlos Guimard, came along a few times to the
incredible atmosphere. This was for me an op- press-room and during the tournament he cele-

93
>rated, with great ceremony, his 8 1 th birthday to panied by a piano and an accordion; then fol
he 'Bolsa de Commercio' . Finally there was !owed an exhibition of the tango with four cou
luan Sebastain Morgado, second in the world pies. Next was to be the drawing of lots whicl
:orrespondence championship 1 978-1 984 and would allow the calculation of the pairings. Th1
>wner of a famous chess bookshop. Resembling principle was as follows: each player had t<
he old British Chess Magazine bookshop (with choose a dancer (of the opposite sex) then durin1
mt the sea salt!), it contained a few treasures and several minutes to dance a few steps of the tango
me of the most regular customers during the at the end, as if to thank the partner, the dance
oumament was without any doubt, Geurt Gijs would reveal the number previously hidden i1
:en. A collector in spirit, the Dutchman took the dancer's clothes. This provoked some sauCJ
tome to the Netherlands a veritable library of comments from the ineffable Ljubojevic. At thi1
:hess books ! game, Anatoly Karpov showed that he was m
\.s opposed to the closing ceremonies, always stranger to the dance. The next morning, th!
ather formal affairs, the opening functions or Argentinian press did not miss the opportunity tc
anized by the Max Euwe Association are always publish Judit Polgar, smiling radiantly, in th!
plendid. Each time two factors predominate: the arms of her partner. For her, who openly admittec
riginality and quality of the spectacle, based her nerves on the prospect of performing thh
,!ways around the theme of the host's national task, the few steps seemed to last for ever...
lance. In Buenos Aires, this was of course the After a light cocktail, the players and organizen
mgo, almost a religion in this country of more made their way to the bus that was to take us tc
han 30 million inhabitants . the Sheraton hotel, where we were all staying
:'he show started with some folk music, accom- There, in one of the most sumptuous restauran

Anatoly Karpov surrounded by tango dancers.

Mrs. Polugaevsky is an interested spectator.
in the city, we dined in the company of the suddenly the Estonian GM Lembit Oll passed
tournament officials. Having arrived somewhat behind Lane, reached over his shoulder picked
in advance, I met the main arbiter, Geurt Gijssen, up the queen and placed it on e4 ! ! Completely
who was already occupied with the petits fours. dumbfounded, the two players explained that
To engage him in conversation I asked him how rather than analyzing they were in fact still play
he was and if the tournament was going to run ing. Shocked by his mistake Oll blushed and
smoothly. He replied positively, making it be immediately ran out of the playing hall.
known that it couldn't be otherwise, especially Coming back to their senses, the two Englishmen
when it came to tournaments organized by the could not restrain themselves from bursting out
Max Euwe Association! I continued by telling laughing. Other players naturally (who had not
him about my recent visit to the Lloyds Bank seen the incident) asked them to be quiet, where
open in London where apart from playing, I had upon Lane and Ward explained what had hap
witnessed some surprising events. I asked him pened which led equally naturally to general
how he would have acted if faced with the rather uproar!
amusing incident that occurred in the ninth The story doesn't end there; everyone then set
round. tled back down to their games and Lane, after
That day two strong English IM's, Gary Lane and some thought, played the move suggested by Oll:
Christopher Ward were paired together. At that 45.g4-e4( !).
stage, they both had five and a half points out of Phlegmatically, Chris Ward wryly smiled to his
eight, the players still having realistic hopes of opponent and coined the phrase: "The move
obtaining a qualification place for the PCA recommended by the grandmaster!". Later, Lane
Grand Prix tournament (it required victories in won the game and Ward sportingly accepted his
both last games). The two players knew each defeat. Lane and 011 then had the same number
other well and were indeed good friends, but that of points. It is well known that in England pair
day they the two rivals launched into an unrelent ings can be very flexible and some proposed
ing battle. The tension was extreme as time slightly facetiously to the tournament director,
drifted away, then in serious zeitnot, the two the legendary Stewart Reuben, that it would be
players blitzed out their remaining moves in appropriate to pair the two players together. For
order to attain the time control. A reconstruction tunately, this wasn't the case. Lane and 011 (zero
was then required to see if they had indeed made eleven, as he is sometimes called) both lost
the necessary 40 moves. against Yermolinsky and Norwood respectively.
The tension fell, Lane and Ward took their place All the same, this tragi-comic incident raises the
to finish their critical game. Again they settled question: What would have happened if Ward
down to concentrate and after Black's 44th move had complained to the tournament arbiter?
the position was as follows: I posed this question to Gijssen. He explained
that, unfortunately, there was nothing one could
do (you cannot make the players replay the
game) and that it was best to pray that this type
of incident didn't happen too often. I followed up
explaining that on several occasions during the
same tournament the fire alarm sounded and on
each occasion we were restricted from leaving
the playing hall! Jokingly, I suggested that there
was a case here for a new Informator symbol !
All the invitees had now arrived and as I was
preparing to relate some amusing incidents that
had occurred in France, he had to leave. His
parting remark (I must admit that I can't remem
ber it word for word), on raising his shoulders,
Lane was thinking about his next move when was "Oh you French, you always have the best

95
 incidents. Fires ! And why not an earthquake would only have been following this particular
whilst we are here!". game; the encounter between the leaders. How
He probably didn't appreciate the truth of his ever another duel immediately caught the atten
words because apart from an earthquake we had tion, almost relegating the crucial game to sec
to face every other imaginable upheaval. During ond fiddle: Kamsky - Ljubojevic. What was so
the first round for example there was a demon interesting about that particular game? Simply
stration in the street outside. The games had to the opening. As was his habit, 'Ljubo' chose the
be stopped for a few minutes. Then during the Najdorf variation and after a few quickly-played
thirteenth (!) round a fire started. All the games moves the following position appeared on the
had finished except the one between Ljubojevic electronic screens:
and S alov. The tension was at its height as the
Yugoslav took to heart the task of taking revenge
for his sixth round defeat in their first meeting.
The game had already been going for five hours
when one of the lights in the playing hall over
heated. The fire was quickly put out with fire
extinguishers but the smoke that remained made
the air unbreathable. Thus it became necessary to
quickly evacuate the room. At that moment there
was total confusion. Whilst 'Ljubo' was lament
ing his thoughts: "Does that mean that I am not
going to be able to continue the game under
normal conditions?", Gijssen was actively work
ing out the possibility of switching rooms.
Calmly but energetically he immediately took 'Ljubo' sank into deep thought and everyone
the only reasonable decision: to finish the game held their breath. Was the Polugaevsky variation
in one of the small rooms next to the press office about to finally make an entrance? I remember
on the second floor. For the comfort of the play that at that moment I found myself in the playing
ers, the game was continued behind closed doors. hall next to Lev. My eyes switched between the
Therefore the completion of the game was screen and his face, looking for the slightest
watched by only three pairs of eyes, finally reaction on his part; but there he remained, stand
'Ljubo' won, opening up the tournament because ing next to his wife Irene, expressionless and
Salov was only leading his closest challenger, silent. What must he have been thinking, he who
Anand, by half a point. has given so many years to the move 7 ...b5, a
Next day it was a power cut that caused the move that until then had been conspicuously
problems, but fortunately this only lasted for five ignored by all of the participants, of 'his' tourna
minutes. ment? Almost imperceptibly I felt that he was
At the start of the last round the suspense reached communicating telepathically with 'Ljubo' in
fever pitch, as it was impossible to know with saying to him: "Go on, play 7 ... b5, do it for me!".
certainty who would finish first and take home But 'Ljubo' thought on. What must he too have
the winner's purse of 35,000 dollars. Salov had been thinking? Then after several minutes, that
almost outrageously dominated the tournament, seemed an eternity for Lev, he picked up his
but after his penultimate round loss, one could queen and placed it on b6. Lev lowered his head.
speculate that his morale would have taken a He was sad, slowly he left the playing hall, his
battering. 'Vishy ' , on the contrary, seemed very dream was over.
confident having shot up from the depths to be in On my side, I couldn't help thinking about the
a position to challenge the Russian. Further as sixth round. That day there, Miguel Najdorf,
the two were to meet in the last round the game came with us to a tango show and then we were
promised to be exciting. invited to his favourite restaurant. Naturally,
One would have supposed that the spectators there was his wife Rita, Lev, Irene, my wife Katia

96
 The tournament room was situ ated in the impos ing building of the Banco Patricios.

and also Ljubojevic, who was demoralized after tournament that he came here. He arrived tired
his defeat by Salov. During the meal the conversa out and it didn't help having influenza during the
tion concentrated on the Polugaevsky Variation. first few rounds. Many reasons to render his
Miguel and Lev lamented together about the fact victory even more heroic. Reading the cross ta
that it had yet to be played in the tournament. I added ble, one sees that he only won by the narrowest
that it required collaboration in that White had of margins, but in fact his domination was almost
first to play 6.g5. It was at that moment that total . He took the lead in the third round and kept
Ljubojevic intervened by declaring confidently : it until the end.
"In my case, if someone plays 6.g5 against me, He gradually increased the lead until at one mo
I will reply with the Polugaevsky variation". ment he was even two points ahead. His opening
To come back to the game between Anand and choices, based on positional considerations im
Salov, the suspense didn't last for long, as the posed on the middle game. As he expressed later,
Indian, seeing that he couldn't play to win with his main problem was to avoid theoretical dis
out taking considerable risks, offered a draw that cussions in some sharp variations where he had
was of course accepted. Salov's victory was cer no experience. This is why he frequently adopted
tainly a surprise to many people but equally so a king's fianchetto with White and the Paulsen
for himself. He summarized well the situation in with Black. His two victories over Karpov cer
his speech at the closing ceremony: "When the tainly opened up the road to success, but they
tournament was being organized. I soon under didn't change his behaviour in any way. I remem
stood that it wasn't for me; I don't like big cities, ber the evening after the first of these victories
nor big hotels such as the Sheraton, I was only that we dined together and at no time did he show
the reserve and I don't even play l .e4 with any external signs ofjoy. Discreet and respectful
White...". What the Russian (who lives in a small of his opponent, he savoured his win internally,
town near Madrid) forgot to add was that it was but without doubt intensely. When certain jour
straight from his victory in the marathon Tilburg nalists asked him if he felt that he was capable of

97
 Lev Polugaevsky m ade the first move at Judit Polgar's board,
u nder the watchful eye of chief arbiter G eurt G ijssen.

winning the world championship his reply was Ljubojevic. The second half saw him advance
neat and clear: "Of course, before this tourna strongly with 4.5/7. Admirably, he never gave up
ment, I had only beaten Karpov once, in Rotter hope of catching Salov, leading to the passionate
dam 1 989 in the GMA world cup. These victories finale.
here don't increase my potential to be a future lvanchuk, on his first visit to South America,
world champion, as Karpov was not favoured by seemed out of touch and his major problem was
the fact that he hasn't played either the Sicilian, his use of time. At the press conference, which
nor l .e4 with White, for a long time. It's a totally took place on the evening of our arrival, a few
different story when one has to face his Queen's days before the tournament he was still at the
Indian. Naturally, these two games will give me hotel dreaming in the arms of Morpheus (or was
confidence and comfort but one shouldn't jump it Morphy?). When it was time to take the bus to
to hasty conclusions". Finally, he dedicated this the tournament hall he was generally last to turn
tournament victory to his wife Tania, adding that up, which irritated Judit. Further, he lost to Salov
she was far more precious than any 'second' on time in the eighth round, admittedly in a
could be! probably losing position. This didn't prevent him
Anand was as usual rapid, efficient, spectacular from winning three magnificent games, notably
but also opportunistic. He took his time to score those against Anand (winner of the prize for the
his points, as after five rounds he only had 50%. best attack) and Shirov (winner of the beauty
His second place was fully merited but it should prize) . Another satisfaction for 'Chukky' was
be mentioned that he lived up to his nickname of that some days after his arrival on Argentine soil,
'Lucky Luke' as lady luck certainly offered him he created his first crosswords puzzle.
her favours, notably in his two games against Judit Polgar was far from the best prepared in

98
 theoretical terms, but with a little more realism ward! Firstly, Judit, who obtained the prize for
she could have challenged the leaders. She suf the best theoretical novelty after the sequence:
fered from over-optimism (or a lack of objectiv l .e4 c5 2.tLlf3 e6 3 .d4 cd4 4.tLld4 tt:Jc6 5 .tt:Jc3 d6
ity), as in certain positions her desire to win at all 6.g4 a6 7.e3 tt:Jge7 8.tLlb3 b5 9.f4 b7 1 0.'fif3
costs led to her taking too many risks and hence g5 !N. This move made Alexey jump out of his
exposing herself to strong counters. chair (an aesthetic move as it constitutes a sym
Gata Kamsky swung between the best and the worst. metric blow). It was later Ivanchuk, who in the
His best quality, tenacity, was this time lacking last round, obtained the Clarin cup for the beauty
due to a certain weariness, resulting from his prize. Here again it was Black who broke new
father's austere regime: bed at 22.30, up at 06.30! ground, but this time much more classically, as
The mediocre performance of the FIDE world it is based on the principal: attack on the wing,
champion, Anatoly Karpov, could also be ex counter in the centre.
plained by fatigue accumulated over the preced Shirov - lvanchuk (round 14).
ing months, but also by the fact that the thematic l .e4 c5 2.tt:Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:Jd4 tt:Jf6 5 .tt:Jc3 a6
tournament didn't really suit him (he generally 6.e3 e6 7.e2 'fic7 8.g4 d5 !N 9.ed5 b4
plays 1 .d4 and against 1 .e4 his usual replies are 1 0.de6 c3 l l .bc3 'fic3 12.r.tO'fl and Black won
l . . .e5 or l . ..c6). On his arrival in Argentina he in 33 moves.
played a match of four quickplay games against Because of his legendary volubility and perfect
Hugo Spangenberg (+3 - 1). Instead of resting he mastery of the Spanish language, "Ljubo" very
then flew the next day to the town of San Nicolas quickly had the Argentinian journalists and pub
to play another exhibition match of two games lic in his pocket. This often gave the impression
against GM Daniel Campora (+1 = 1 ) . In the first that he was playing "at home". Downhearted
half of the Buenos Aires tournament he managed after his unjust first round loss against Anand, he
417, but the return games took their toll (2.517 seemed almost to have adopted the principle of
with five draws and two losses) on his stamina. "all or nothing", an approach that sometimes
Against Anand in the twelfth round he was pun turned against him but had the merit ofprovoking
ished for his poor opening preparation, as the some spectacular games. This combativity was
Indian GM later pointed out, the FIDE world much appreciated by the organizers who re
champion's position was compromised as early warded him with a prize for his "fighting spirit".
as the twelfth move: A late series of three consecutive victories
Anand - Karpov (round 1 2) l .e4 c5 2.tt:Jf3 e6 3.d4 against Polgar, Shirov and Salov failed to lift him
cd4 4.tt:Jd4 tt:Jc6 5 .tt:Jc3 'fic7 6.e2 a6 7.0-0 tLlf6 from last place but was a proud reaction against
8.e3 b4 9.tLla4 d5?! 10.tt:Jc6 bc6 1 l .ed5 tt:Jd5 misfortune!
1 2.d4 Looking back, Polugaevsky, not fully recovered
Alexey Shirov, despite his Latvian passport, was from his operation, was very disappointed in not
considered to be "the local hero"; since his mar being able to participate in this made-to-measure
riage to a young Argentinian, he shares his life tournament. Commenting on the fact that his
between Buenos Aires and Riga. The best one variation was never used he declared: "Sure, my
can say is that he was not playing under ideal variation was not played here but that means that
conditions as the imminent birth of his first child no one could refute it!". When asked the reason
probably affected his concentration. As well as for his devotion to the Sicilian, his face lights up
that, one should add bad luck and a theoretical and he becomes animated: "Very rapidly I under
preparation that was poorly rewarded. With stood that the Sicilian suited my temperament
White he set about aggressively pushing his g and style. I have never felt the urge to change the
pawn at an early stage. His intention was to force opening; in fact I think that I was born for the
the game down original tactical paths. Apart Sicilian". As for the genesis of the variation that
from one beautiful victory in the ninth round bears his name, his explanation sums up his
against Anand his strategy generally failed; philosophy: "With Black I am ready to take risks,
worse, it gave the possibility to two of his oppo to go to the edge of the precipice, but White must
nents to distinguish themselves and obtain a re- accompany me!".

99
Itis perhaps this lack of risk-taking, noticeable
in some games from the tournament, that may
have diminished the pleasure.

Before we sink into an analysis of the games, I

invite you, dear readers, to take a break by solv
ing this magnificent problem, which was espe
cially created for the tournament by the Dutch
GM Comelis Goldschmeding. Good luck!

(for the solution, see page 236).

Mate in two moves.

1 00
Round 1
An and 1
Polgar 1
lvanchuk 0.5
Lju bojevi c - Anand 0- 1 Kamsky 0.5
Karpov 0.5
lvanch u k - Salov lfz - lfz
Salov 0.5
Karpov - Kamsky 1/z - 1/z
Ljubojevic 0
Polgar - Shi rov 1 -0 Shirov 0

51 26. 1 9 ...tt:Ja5 would have been the logical continuation

of the course chosen.
D Ljubojevic
1 0. 'iif3 ti:ld4
Anand
Notes by]eroen Piket White gained a devastating attack in Istratescu
Nevednichy, Bucharest 1994, after 1 0. ..tt:Ja5
The first round is always very important for the l l .g4! h6 1 2.0-0-0 b5 1 3 .g5 tLlb3 1 4.ab3 hg5
participants, as they find out whether they are in 15.hg5 t2Jd7 1 6.g6!
the right shape at the required moment. Some
1 1 .d4 b5 1 2.a3 0-0 1 3.o-o
solve this problem by settling for a quick draw
and playing themselves into the tournament by Anand admitted during the post-mortem that he
not losing. In this Sicilian tournament it soon had feared 1 3.0-0-0, but according to Ljubo his
became clear that nobody wanted or was able to treatment of the position was best.
go for a solid draw, but whether they were al
1 3...b7 1 4.:ae1 J:.ac8?!
ready in their best shape you, the readers, may
decide for yourselves. Black should hurry with his counterplay because
White is ready to fulfil his wishes on the
1 .e4 c5 2.ti:lf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.ti:ld4
kingside. Correct was 14 .. .'ti'd7 followed by
ti:lf6 5.tt:lc3 tt:lc6 6.c4
1 5 ... a5.
The Fischer-Sozin Attack is usually preferred by
1 5.'iig3 <;t>hS
Ljubojevic to the Rauzer Variation (6. .ig5).
Anand really started a trend with this defensive
6 ...e6 7.e3 a6 8.b3 'iic 7?!
move, as it was frequently seen later in the tour
An inaccuracy, as Black can do without this nament.
move. 8 ... e7, to continue the development, or
1 6.<;t>h1 'ifc6?
8 ...d7 to expand on the queenside with 9 .. b5, .

are the recommendations by the latest theoretical Again 16 .. .'il'd7 was better, as the bishop on e7
articles. needed protection.
9.f4 e7 1 7J:tf3

1 01
Somewhat primitive, but simply reinforcing his
20...h6?1
position.
Vishy clearly dislikes the precarious situation he
1 7...a5 1 8.'ifg51
has got into, and he gives his opponent a decisive
opportunity. Black's task after 20 . . .'ifd7 2 l . tLlf2
(2l .J::f.d3 ! ? was suggested by Polugaevsky) was
also unenviable.

21 . .l:f.h3 h7
Everybody agreed this was the only move, as
2 l . ..e5 22.fe5 tLle4 23.J:lh6 'it>g8 24.'ifg4 ! would
not have helped a lot.

22.lLlf2

The knight is heading for g4.

22.. J:lg8 23.tbg4 lLlg4 24.'ife7

This was wrongly criticized, as it is not only
A surpnsmg move which required a large sufficient to maintain a winning advantage, but
amount of calculation. also stronger than the modest 24.'ifg4 'ifd7
25. 'ifh5 or 25 .f5, when Black can still stubborn!y
1 8 ... b4 1 9.ab4 ab4 20.tLld1 1
defend.
The direct attempt to go for the kill by 20.. J:tg3 J::f.g8
24...e5 25.fe5
2 l .e5 tLle4! would have rebounded ridiculously.

1 02
 Round 1

25.g5 (25.h4 f5 ! was what Anand was hop the most incredible blunders time after time.
ing for) 25 . . . d7 26.f5 ed4 27.g4 was not bad 30 ... tt:lc3 ! ! would have been a terrible shock for
either. Ljubojevic.

25 ... de5 26.g1 tt:lf6 27.'tlfe5? 31 .'tlfgS??

The first mistake due to severe time shortage. The game is taking a dramatic course, as every
From this point the standard of the game rapidly move completely turns the tables. 3 l .i.d5 ! l:i.d5
decreases. 27.f7 tt:le4 (27 .. .l:Igf8 28 .i.g6 is 32.'ifd5 would have given another winner.
lights out! ) 28 .g8 l:i.g8 (28 . .. g8 29.l:i.f3 ! )
31 ... l:i.d4!
29.J:.e2 (29.l:i.f3 tt:lg5 30.l:i.f2 tt:lh3 and tt:lf4 ;
30.J:lg3) 2 9. . .a6 30.J:lee3 would have given a Finally an excellent move and Anand seems to
nice material advantage. have recovered from his black-out.

27 ... tt:le4 28.'1Wf5 'lt>h8? 32.cd4 tt:lb3 33.d5 l:.e8?

Anandcomplicates rnatters notforobjectivereasons,

but purely because of the problems Ljubo has
with the clock. 28 . .. 'fi'g6! 29.f7 f7 30.i.f7
J:lgf8 3 l .b3 tt:lf2 32.i.f2 l:i.f2 33.l:i.g3 l:i.e8
would have been enough to escape with a draw.

29.d4!
Threatening 30J:re4 e4 3 l .l:i.h6.

29...J:lcd8
The other rook to d8 would also lose after
30.g7 'lt>g7 3 l .'iff7 'lt>h8 32 ..ie6!

Giving Ljubo a last opportunity to end the game

with the proper result. 33 . .. 'if a6! would have left
White empty-handed.

34.l:.e8?

34.'ifd8 ! was a brilliant save, as after 34 . . .l:.d8

35 .dc6 i.c6 36.J:I.b3 l:td2 37.l:i.gl l:i.d4 the game
would have ended in a draw.

34... 'tlfe8 35.'tlfe3 'fi'a8! 36.l:l.h6

gh6 37.'fi'h6 'lt>g8 38.'tlfg5 'lt>f8
39. 'fi'h6 'lt>e8

And a very, very bad but exciting game ended

30.c3??
when a disillusioned Ljubojevic resigned.
Allowing a petite combinaison which could have
been prevented by the intermediate 30.i.a4 !
'ifd6 and only then 3 l .c3. Anand was ready to
meet 30.l:i.e4 with 30... l:i.d4 !

30... tt:ld2??

The players were definitely not mentally ready

for such a time scramble, as they manage to make

1 03
 above-mentioned semi-final in Tilburg 1994 he
51 29.2
chose 1 1 .d4.
0 Ivanchuk
1 1 ...e5
Salov
Notes by]eroen Piket After 1 l ...b5 Salov probably feared the central
advance 12.e5 ( 1 2.'iti'b 1 b7 1 3.h4 d5 14.ed5
ttJd5 1 5.ttJd5 'it'd5 16.c4 bc4 1 7.4 'it'd4
1 .e4 cS 2.lLlf3 t2Jc6 3.d4 cd4
1 8.d4 0-0 Gipslis-Lerner, Yurmala 1983, is
4.tbd4 t2Jf6 5.tbc3 d6 6.g5 e6
boring and completly equal) although after
7.'ifd2 a6 8.0-0-0 h6
1 2. .. de5 1 3 'it'e5 'it'a5 14.'it>b1 b7 1 5.i.d3 0-0
During the last few years this particular line of 1 6.'it'g3 'it>h8 1 7.'it'h3 b4 18.ltJe2 'it'h5 Black had
the Rauzer variation has enjoyed a huge revival no problems in Campora-Rodriguez, Amsterdam
and is one of the most frequently used Sicilian 1 987.
variations in general tournament practice. Many
1 2.'ifd2 e6 1 3.g4?!
theoretically important games were played in
this tournament too. Typical kingside expansion, but I think there are
better alternatives:
9.e3
1 3.h4 ! ? 'it'aS 14.'it>b1 l:f.c8 1 5 .a3 ltJd7 1 6.g3 J:.c6
Vasily Ivanchuk has always been an adherent of 1 7.f4 i.g4 1 8 .e2 e2 19.'it'e2 ttJf6 20.ltJd5
this move, but this is really a matter of taste, as 'it'a4 21 .c l ! was pleasant for White in Gufeld
9.f4 is equally often seen. Vilela, Dortmund 1983, while 1 3.ltJd5 ! ? d5? !
( 1 3 . . .ttJd5 14.ed5 f5 1 5.g4 is only slightly bet
9 ...e7 1 0.f3 lLld4
ter, according to Timman) 14.ed5 ltJd7 1 5.g3 !
According to Dolmatov in the Encyclopedia, gave Karpov a serious advantage against Tim
IO . . .d5 gives Black an equal game. Interestingly man in Linares 1983.
Salov tried this two weeks earlier against the
1 3...'ifa5 1 4.'ii'f2
same opponent in the Interpolis tournament
semi-final in the second rapid game, but he faced 14.a3 b5 1 5.h4 b4 1 6.ttJd5 d5 1 7.ed5 l:f.b8
great difficulties after 1 1 .ed5 ttJd5 1 2.ltJd5 'it'd5 1 8.'it>bl d8 was very complicated in Shirov
1 3 .ltJc6 'it'c6 14.d3 'it'a4 1 5 .'it>b1 0-0 16.l:f.he1 Lutz, Munich 1993.
l:f.d8 1 7.'it'f2 d7 1 8.b6 J:tdc8 19.l:f.e4 'it'c6
14 ...t2Jd7 1 5.'itb1 llc8
20.l:f.c4!
With the hope of taking on c3.
1 1 .'ifd4!
1 6.tbd5 gS!

An excellent manoeuvre and the main reason

why I was attracted by 13.h4 instead of the game
move 1 3.g4.

1 7.h4 e3 1 8."i:Ve3 'ifcS!

Gaining an important tempo, as 1 9.'it'c5 can be

answered satisfactorily with 19 ... ttJc5 .

1 9.'it'd2 dS 20.ed5 llc7!

Preparation for an original new way to castle

queenside. After 20... ttJb6 21 .l:f.h2 (2l .c3)
2 1 . ..ltJc4 22.c4 'i!Vc4 23Jie2 White would be
better due to his space advantage.
A very subtle nuance and a little psychological
21 .llh2! d8!
teasing by the grandmaster from Lvov, as in the

1 04
 Round 1

A very difficult position to assess, and in the ble, but not 33.b5? ttJd2 and 34. . . 4Jc4) and the
pressroom the two legends Najdorf and two connected pawns plus bishop should be
Polugaevsky did not agree with the other's judge stronger.
ment
32.f4
22.a4!

Both players were consuming a large amount of

time but this has resulted in a high level middle
game.

22 ... c8 23.a5 b8 24.c4 llhc8

25.b4?!

32 ... lt:Jf6?
Who would not play this in severe time trouble,
as attack is the best form of defence. 32. . .f6?, to
play for 33 ... g5, loses to 33.h5 fS 34.g5 !

33.g5 lt:Jh5 34.gh6 gh6 35.f5 lt:Jf6

A little bit too energetic but 'Chukky' was 35 ...f6 36.r;tJc2 ttJf4 (36 ... 4Jg7 37.d3 would be
pressed by the clock. 25.g5! was the right way to a bit more stubborn, but would lead to a similar
start some action, as the threat of 26.b4 only inferior position as in the game) 37.'it>d2! ttJg2
becomes stronger. (37 ... r;tJb7 38.'it>el ttJg2 39.'it>f2 tt:lh4 40 . .id3 !)
38 ..id3 ! and 38 ... tt:lh4 simply fails to 39.e4.
25 .. .'ii'd 4! 26.llc1
36. c2 lt:Jd7
Not 26.li'd4 ed4 27.f4 (27Jid4 ttJeS) 27 .. J:tc4!?
(27 .. J:te8) 28.c4 l'k4 and Black has more than Again Black could opt for 37 . .. tt:le8 and 38 .. .f6
sufficient compensation for the material deficit. but objectively this is also insufficient to save the
draw. After capturing the d4 pawn White moves
26... b5?
his king to g4 after which the knight has to
This must be based on a miscalculation as it leads remain at g7. Then the bishop is transferred to
by force to an inferior ending. The exchange the a4-e8 diagonal and after... r;tJb8 there follows
sacrifice 26. .. llc4 27.c4 .l::tc4 28.'ii!Yd4 (28Jk4 d7, and the white king moves back to the
'ii!Yc4 followed by 29 ... 4Jf6) 28 . . .lld4 was neces queenside where the break with bS will be deci
sary and seems to give enough counterplay to sive.
maintain the balance.
37.d3 lt:JeS 38.d4 f6 39.e2
27.'ti'd4 ed4 28.llhc2 bc4 <Ji>b7 40.c3 a7 41 .b5??
28 . . .4Je5 29.cb5 would certainly not improve For no reason Ivanchuk is suddenly in a hurry to
Salov's chances of survival. finish the game. The slow 41. 'it>b3-a4 and only then
bS would have been the right way to break Black's
29.llc4 .l:tc4 30..1:tc4 l:tc4 31 .c4 a7
resistance, as Valery will be put in Zugzwang after
3 1 .. .4Je5 32.a6 ttJf3 33.r;tJc2! ? (33.h5 is possi- ... tt:ld7 (before White plays bS) with 5.

1 05
 41 ...ab5 42.b4 a6! 43..tb5 b7 tt:Jf3 50...ie2 tt:Jd4 51 ..id3 tt:Jf3
52 . .te4 tt:Jd4 53.c4 tt:Je2 54..tf3
tt:Jg3 55 ..ig4 tt:Je4 56.b5

And because of 56. .. lbc3 Ivanchuk refrained

from further winning attempts.

51 28.3
D Karpov
Kamsky
Notes by]eroen Piket

Although in this field of eight excellent world

44.h5?
class grandmasters all games are bound to be
Nobody understood why Ivanchuk closed the interesting, I guess we can honestly say that
kingside, as it was just an extra option to enter before the start of the first round this encounter
Black's fortress. However, it is difficult to see was considered the highlight, as everybody was
how to continue and to make use of the extra anxious to see what Karpov would do against one
pawn. Honestly speaking, after quite a bit of of the most successful players of 1 994.
intensive analysis I was no longer able to find a
1 .e4 c5 2.tt:Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:Jd4
win for White as the following notes show:
tt:Jf6 5.tt:Jc3 tt:Jc6
A) 44.e2 lbd7 45.b5 lbc5 46.h5 lba6!
47.f7 lbc7 (47. .. lbc5) 48.c4 r.ti>a6 49.b4 Even though his choice is limited to the Sicilian
r.ti>b7 50.e6 lba6 5 l .c4 (5 1 .r.ti>a4 lbc7! Defence, Kamsky manages to come up with a
(5 l ...lbc5? 52.b5 lba6 53 ..tc8) and there is no variation he has never used before.
penetration possible) 5 l ...lbc7 and White has to
6...ig5
stop his efforts.
B) 44.a4 ! ? lbf3 ! 45.d3 lbe5 46. .tc2 Karpov has always been a big fan of the white
(46. .te2 lbd7 see A; 46.b5 lbd3 47.a6 a7 side of the Rauzer Variation.
48.r.ti>c6 r.ti>a6 49.d6 r.ti>b6 ! 50.e7 c5 5 1 .r.ti>f6
6 ... e6 7.'ir'd2 ..ie7 8.0-0-0 0-0
(5 1 .d6 lbe5 ! ) 5 l . . .d5 52.c:tJg7 h5 is just a draw)
9.f4 tt:Jd4
46 . . . lbd7 47.b5 lbc5 48.a4 lba6 49.r.ti>c4 lbc7
50.c6 r.ti>a6 5 l .b4 a7 and again Black es One of the oldest theoretical lines of the Rauzer,
capes. recently very fashionable thanks to the efforts of
C) And finally 44 ..te8 should be met by the new generation of players like Kramnik and
44 . . .lbf3 ! and 45.d7 lbe5 leads nowhere. Anand. Kasparov in his early years preferred
9 ... h6 10.h4 e5 1 l .lbf5 f5 1 2.ef5 ef4 1 3 .r.ti>b1
44... tt:Jf3 45.e2 tt:Jd4!
d5, which he even used in his first World Cham
Of course not 45 ... lbe5 46.b5 and the game is pionship Match against Karpov, Moscow
over. 1 984/85 .

46..td3 c7! 1 0.d4 'ir'a5 1 1 ...ic4

An endgame expert like Salov is not going to In the PCA-Qualifier, Groningen 1993, Kamsky
spoil the draw any more. tried the original 1 1 .b5 against Kramnik.

47.c3 lbf3 48.f1 tt:Je5 49.b4 1 1 .....id7 1 2.e5 de5 1 3:tlie5!?

1 06
 Round 1

Unusual and therefore appreciated by the Fide

champion. In the thirteenth round Ivanchuk
tested Kamsky in the main line 1 3 .fe5 i.c6
14.i.d2 tt:ld7 1 5 .tt:ld5 'ir"d8 1 6.tt:le7 'ir"e7.

1 3 ... 'ilt'b6!
In the well-known game Suetin-Glek, Moscow
1 983, Black opted for the alternative 1 3 ... 'it"b4.
After 14Jd4! 'ir"b6 15.l::.hd1 l::. ad8 1 6.f5 i.c8 all
authors agree that the position is balanced. This
assessment is probably based on the result of that
game, as it seems to me - and apparently also
to Karpov - that White has some pressure.
14 ... c5 is not an improvement, as according to
my analysis 1 5 .a3 ! i.d4 1 6.'ir"d4 'ir"e7 ( 1 6 . . .'ir"b6
f6) 17.tt:le4! gives White winning compensation
for the exchange, but later I found another
convincing refutation of the bishop move in my
database: 1 5 . .l:.hd1 d4 1 6. .l:!.d4 l:r.fd8 1 7.f6 gf6
1 8.'ir"f6 'ir"b6 19.f5 6 20..l:!.g4 f8 2l .b3 and
Black resigned, Ziatdinov-Ragozin, Antwerp Open
1994.

1 4.'ii'e2! .!:!.adS
Losing a pawn and therefore criticized in the
press room, but Gata had assessed the arising
position very well. The obvious 14 ... c6 did not
appeal to him because after 1 5.f5 'ir"c5
( 1 5 ... 1!fa5 ! ? is a better idea proposed by
Sosonko) 1 6.i.f6 i.f6 1 7.fe6 fe6 1 8.tt:le4 ! he
runs into trouble.

1 5.lt:Je4!

1 5... lt:Jd5!
A pawn sacrifice to gain a lot of activity. 15 . . .i.c6

1 07
1 6.ltJf6 f6 1 7.f6 gf6 1 8 .d3 ! and 15 ... 1i'c7 Kalashnikov. Since then this name has been ac
16 . .l:.hfl would not have solved the problems. cepted but the theoretical value of this line has
decreased. As with the weapon, the variation
1 6.d5 g5 1 7.lt:Jg5 ed5 1 8. .l:.d5
should not be used for more than a few years.
g4!
Shirov, together with Salov, is one of the few elite
The only justification for the material invest grandmasters who is willing to lay his fate in the
ment. hands of this positionally unsound opening.

1 9. 'ii'e4 g6 20. .l::l.d 8 .l::l. dB 21 . 'ii'c4 7.lt:J1 c3

Also after 2 1 .1i'e7 .l:.d7 22.1i'e8 g7 the knight For 7 .d3 see Anand-Shirov in the next round.
on g5 should be described as powerless instead
7...a6 8.lt:Ja3 h6!?
of powerful.
An expert's move as at first sight it is not so easy
21 ... 1i'f6
to understand what the big difference is with
Defending f7 and meanwhile threatening 22... .l:.d4. 8 ... e6 9.e2 or 9.ltJc2.
9 ...g5, exchanging the dark-squared bishop, is
22.g3 'ii'e7!
one of the most important ideas in this line. But
Occupying both open files leaving and White if we have a closer look we can conclude that
with no option but to repeat moves. after this exchange Black has not yet solved all
his opening problems, as becomes clear from the
23.'ife4 'it'd7 24.'ifd3 'ife7
following examples:
24 . . .'ii'd3 25 .cd3 .l:f.d3 would be equal, but the text A) 8 . . .e6 9.e2 g5 IO.ii.g5 'ii'g5 1 1 .0-0 J:Id8
forces the draw. 1 2.ltJd5 ltJf6 13.ltJc7 f8 (13 ... d7 !? Sveshnikov)
14.1i'd3 Anand-Van der Wiel, Wijk aan Zee 1989.
25.'ife4 'ifd7 26.'ifd3 'ife7
B) 8 ... e6 9.ltJc2 g5 1 0.e2 c l l l .'ii'c l
And the players complimented each other on ( l l ..l:f.c l ltJf6 12.0-0 0-0 1 3 .1i'd2 'ii'b 8 14.'ire3
their faultless play. 'ii'a7 1 5.1i'a7 ltJa7 16.f3 Dolmatov-Sveshnikov,
Moscow 1 992) l l ...'ii'b6 1 2.0-0 ltJf6 1 3 . .l:f.dl 0-0
1 4.b3 .l:f.fd8 1 5 .J:Id2 Dolmatov-Van derWiel, Ma
nila olympiad 1992.

9.lt:Jc2 e6 1 o.e2 g5 1 1 .0-0

51 32.9 tt:Jge7!
D Polgar The Latvian grandmaster rightly prefers this
Shirov square for the knight over the standard f6, as then
Notes by]eroen Piket 7 ...h6 would be just a loss of time, as play would
transpose to positions comparable to the above
Shirov had already been beaten twice by Polgar examples.
and of course he was out for revenge.
1 2.b3
1 .e4 cs 2.lt:Jf3 lt:Jc6 3.d4 cd4
Forcing the opponent to make up his mind as
4.lt:Jd4 es 5.lt:Jb5 d6 6.c4 e7
1 3.a3 is threatened. In Geller-Lputian, Mos
This uncommon version of the Sveshnikov Vari cow 1987, White had the better chances after
ation was popularized in the late eighties when 1 2.'ird3 ! ? ltJg6 1 3 .g3 c l 14.J:Iac l 'ii'g5 15.ttJd5
Sveshnikov, Van der Wiel and later even Short d5 1 6.cd5 ltJf4 1 7.1i'e3 !
started to investigate this line of the Sicilian
1 2...c1 1 3 . .l::l.c 1 0-0 1 4.'ifd2 'ifd7
Defence with at first excellent results. It was in
those years that Johnny Van der Wiel came up A very modest approach. 14 ... ltJg6! was more in
with a fantastic name for it, referring to an old the line of expectation, with a complicated strug
and famous Russian military weapon called the gle ahead.

1 08
 Round 1

21 ...i.f5 was required as the white bishop is very

1 5.l2Jd5 .t:lad8 1 6.b4!
powerful, being an important piece for both de
fence and attack.

22.ttJce3 d5?

Positional capitulation! 22 ...'ilff7 would have

maintained the tension, although there is no
doubt that Black is worse.

23.d5 c;i;>h8
Sticking to the wrong plan.

24.e4!

Now the bishop is the strongest piece on the

board.

24... ttJe6 25. 'ilfdS l2Jd4

Judith, relieved by the - for Alexey - unnatu
rally passive treatment, does not hesitate and 25 . . . tl:Jf4 26.'ifdl ! followed by f3 and l:tf2.
springs into action.
26. .l:!.ce1 .l:i.f7 27.f4! ef4 28.'i\fd4
1 6... l2Jg6 fe3 29..l:!.f7
Shirov's play seems rather lacking in confidence 29.'ilfe3 J:te8! could be annoying.
as he changes his strategy. 16 .. .f5 would have
29 .'iff7 30..l:!.e3 l:tf8 31 ..l:!.e1 'ilff4?!
..

been more consistent.

Playing for the trick 32.g3 tl:Jf3 . 3 1 ...tl:Jf5
1 7.a4 ttJce7 1 8.a5
32.'iff2! would also lead to a hopeless ending.
Polgar has established a lasting plus on the
32.'ii'e3 'iff6
queenside.
32 ... 'iff7 33.d5 ! makes it impossible to defend
1 8 ...f5
the b7 pawn as Black has to reckon with the
1 8 . . .jldS 19.cd5 tl:Jf4, accepting slightly worse invasion 34.'ii'e 7.
prospects, was suggested by Polgar after the
33.jLb7 'ii'b2 34.b5!
game, but Ljubojevic thought that 19.ed5 was
definitely the way to recapture, with a very com
fortable position.

1 9.ef5 tZ:lfS

19 . . .d5 ! ? 20.fg6 (20.cd5 tl:Jf4) 20 ...jle4, fight

ing for equality, was an option.

20.f3

Polgar refrained from 20.d3 because of

20 . . .5 2 l . .f5 J:tfS 22.'ilfd5 ..tth 8 and Black is
okay.

20... l2Jfh4?!
A semi-active move as the knight has no future
any more. Material is not important as long as White creates
a passed pawn.
21 .e4 tZ:lf4

1 09
 A last desperate attempt to confuse Polgar.
34 ... ab5 35.cb5 'ii'b5 36.a6 d5
37.l:[c1 ! 'ifa4 40.a8'tW Ila8 41 .a8

With the idea of 38.a7 'ii'a 2! And because 41 . . .'ii'g4 fails to 42.'ii'c 8 Shirov
resigned.
38. 'ifcS! Ild8 39.a7 tt:lg2

110
Round 2
Polgar 2
An and 1 .5
Salov 1 .5
An and - Shi rov 1/2 - 1fz Lj ubojevic 1
lvanch u k 0.5
Kamsky - Polgar 0- 1
Kamsky 0.5
Salov - Karpov 1 -0 Karpov 0.5
Lj u bojevi c - lvanchuk 1 -0 Shirov 0.5

Until now most adherents of this line have gone

51 32.9
in for the odd-looking 1 0. .. g4 to provoke 1 l .f3,
D A nand in order to continue 1 l ...e6, 1 2 ... tt:lh5 and .ig5 .
Shirov In the game Nijboer-Schmittdiel, Leeuwarden
Notes by]eroen Piket 1 993, White simply played 1 1 .i.e2 and after
the retreat 1 1. .. j(e6 secured an enduring plus
Although in a double round event like this the with 1 2.i.e3 Ik8 1 3 .'i!i'd2 'i!i'a5 1 4J:!.fd 1 l:!.fd8
players have an equal number of games with 1 5.f3 l:!.d7 16.tt:ld5 ! Anand considers 10 .. .e6
White and Black, Shirov was in the unfortunate with the idea of 1 1 . ..lLld7 and tt:lc5 as Black's best
situation of starting the tournament with two option.
Blacks.
1 1 .b3!
1 .e4 c5 2.tt:Jf3 tt:Jc6 3.d4 cd4
Securing the pawn chain and at the same time
4.tt:Jd4 eS 5.tt:Jb5 d6
making it possible to avoid the exchange of the
Shirov stubbornly sticks to the same defence he dark-squared bishop.
lost with the day before.
1 1 ... g5 1 2.b2
6.c4 e7 7.d3
Keeping an eye on the only weakness in his
Anand has his own rather unusual treatment of position, the d4 square.
this system. Everybody else plays 7 .tt:l 1c3
1 2 e6 1 3.tt:Jc2 l:!.c8 1 4.'it>h1 !
..

7 . tt:Jf6
Clearly the Indian grandmaster has read the
The most common response, but in Ye-Salov, books of the world's best trainer Mark Dvoret
Tilburg 1994, Valery preferred 7 . .. a6 8.ttJ5c3 sky, as this is a beautiful example of prophylaxis !
g5 to exchange the dark-squared bishops im The general idea is to play g3 and f4 after which
mediately, and after 9.tt:la3 .ic1 1 0.l:!.c1 lLlf6 the king is well placed in the corner.
1 1 .0-0 0-0 12.lLlc2 i.e6 1 3.'i!i'd2 'i!i'b6 he easily
1 4 tt:Je7?
.
managed to maintain the balance.
Too passive. Alexey should have given his oppo
8.0-0 0-0 9.tt:J1c3 a6 1 0.tt:Ja3 tt:Je8
nent the same treatment with the useful 14 ... g6.

111
 1 5.'i!fe2 21 ...f5!

Now after Shirov's concession, development can Ofcourse Shirov profits from this inaccuracy and
be completed. becomes active right away.

1 5 ... g6 1 6.l:l.ad1 CiJg7 1 7.CiJe3 22.'ifg3?!

White's advantage is evident as 18.bl and a3 Anand does not want to change his mind and
will increase the pressure on the weaknesses. executes his plan, but 22.ef5 deserved more at
tention as after 22 ... lt:Jf5 23.lLlf5 f5 24.'ifg3
1 7 .. .'ifb6!
h6 25.f5 :tf5 26.f3 White would preserve his
Panic reactions like 1 7 .. .f5 1 8 .ef5 gf5 19.bll positional advantage, and even after Black's
would only make things worse. most precise defence 22 . . .e3 23.'ife3 'ife3
24.lt:Je3 lt:Jf5 I prefer the white position.
1 8.l:l.fe1 CiJc6!
22 ... e3! 23.fe3 l:l.f7!
Sometimes admitting mistakes is better than try
ing to hide them, but I guess this also applies in Doubling on the f-file with a strong initiative.
normal life! One could discuss whether 23 ... :td7 (with the
same idea) was more exact.
1 9.b1 !
24.ef5
19.lucd5 ifc5 20. .ibl would give Black a
chance to improve on the game with 20 ...f5 !?.

1 9... l:l.cd8
19 .. .lud4?! 20.'ifd3 was no use as the unpleasant
21 .lt:Ja4 ! is hard to meet.

20.CiJcd5 'ifcS 21 .'iff3?

24...f5!

24... lt:Jf5? 25 .f5 f5 26.e4 e6 27.c l ! was

what Anand was hoping for.

25.f5 lLJf5 26.'ifg5 l:tdf8 27.h3!

The right moment to make this useful move, so

Vishy chooses the wrong way to drive the bishop that there will never be mate on the back rank.
away from g5. Much better was 2 l .g3 ! with the
27...b5
idea 22.f4 as mentioned above. Both 2 l ...e3
22.lLJf6 h8 23.'ife3 and 2 1 ...f5 22.ef5 gf5 To strike against the base of the pawn structure.
24.f4 ! would give White an overwhelming posi
28.e4 CiJfd4 29.cb5 ab5 30...tc1 !
tion. The last desperate attempt by the Latvian
grandmaster - during the post mortem - There was no longer any future on the a l -h8
2 l . . .f5 22.ef5 e3 was severely punished by diagonal, but now the bishop is very much alive
23.fe6 :tf2 24.'ife3 'ife3 25.:te3 l:tb2 26.e7 ! again as it is aiming for h6.

112
 Round 2

30 ... 'f/a7 38.e3 l:t8f7 39.'ii'c8 l:t1 f2??

More direct was 30...'Wi'c2 as then 3 1 .4 could be A terrible blunder in time trouble. 39 ... lLldc2!
answered with 3 l ...'Wi'f2! The players therefore would have continued the attack with the minor
analyzed 3 1 .'Wi'g4 after which Black has many pieces.
possibilities viz. 3 l .. .lLle7, 3 l ...h5 ! ?, 3 l ...'Wi'a2
40.f2 l:tf2 41 .'it'd7?
and 3 1 . . .J::!.f2.
Surprised by the voluntary exchange sac by his
31 .'f/h4
opponent, Vishy overlooks a simple win with
3 1 .'Wi'g4 ! ? was interesting, because penetration 4l .'Wi'c7! h6 42.lLle3 ld.e2 43.lLlg4 g5 44.'Wi'c l !
via the light-squared diagonal is more likely and
41 ...h61
3 1 .. .g7 fails to 32.'Wi'h4!
Now it is an open fight again.
31 ... tt:Jc21 32.Ug1
42.lt:Je3 l:te2 43.lt:Jg4 g5
Otherwise the invasion on f1 would be decisive.

32..:ti'f21 33.'f/g4
The ending would be in Black's favour as the
white pawns are easy targets.

33 ... g7

44.g1 1
A fine defence. The fact that material is not very
important in these positions is illustrated by the
variation 44.'Wi'd6 lLldf3 ! 45.hl f4 ! !
(45 .. .J:lg2 46.'Wi'f6 h5 47.'Wi'f3 ! with a drawish
knight ending) 46.gf3 (46.'Wi'f6 g3 47.lLle5
34.l:i.gf1 ? 1
J::!.f2! ) 46. ..lLlf3 47.'it'd3 J::!.a2 48.'Wi'fl g3 ! fol
Vishwanathan made this very risky move as a lowed by 49 ...h5, when White is hopelessly lost.
result of an erroneous assessment of the arising However, he could also have saved his skin by
position. 44.'Wi'h7 ! J::!.g2 45.hl f4 ! 46.'Wi'f7! (46.'Wi'g6
34.'Wi'e6 is ineffective after 34 .. .'ifc5, but 34.a4!, lLldf3 and 46.lLle5 de5 47.'Wi'h4 f3 48.'Wi'el
as proposed by Shirov, was a very good move to lLle2! 49.'ifdl b4! 50.'Wi'd3 f4 are insufficient
divert attention from the kingside. Still, the bat defenses) 46... g3 47.'Wi'g6 h4 ! 48.'Wi'h6 g3
tle would be as sharp as in the game after 49.'ti'g6.
34 ...ba4 35.ba4 lLl6d4 (35 ...h6!?) 36..tld2 h5 !
44...<t>f4 45.'ii'd6 l::tg2 46.f1
34 ... 'ti'f1 35.l:i.f1 l:tf1 36.h2 tb6d4 lt:Jdf3 47.lt:Je5 l:i.g1 48.<t>f2 l:tg2
37.g5 lt:Je1
Draw. This was perhaps the most complicated
The white king is in much more danger than its game of the tournament!
opposite number. Comments are based on the notes of Anand.

113
 51 36.5 players should certainly take this line into ac
count.
D Kamsky
7.f4 es 8.g5 a6 9.ttJa3 e6
Polgar
Notes by]eroen Piket Judith opts for the Bird!Larsen Variation and avoids
the main line for an obvious reason, as Kasparov
Not only the clash between the two youngsters has recently started showing the way for White.
of the tournament but also a fight (despite their
1 O.ttJc4 ttc8 1 1 ..if6
good relationship) between the genders, as Gata
is supported by his father and Judith by her The most fashionable treatment.
mother.
1 1 .. .'iVf6
1 .e4 cS 2.tLlf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.ttJd4
Rather unusual as l l . ..gf6 i s typical of the Svesh
ttJf6 5.ttJc3 ttJc6 6.ttJdb5
nikov.
Kamsky decides to transpose to the Sveshnikov
1 2.ttJb6
Variation as most people do, because the alterna
tive 6.ttJc6 bc6 7 .e5 ttJd5 8.ttJe4 leads to very All standard according to theory, but many famous
complicated and - more importantly - very grandmasters in the press room were wondering
irregular positions which contain a lot of risk for what was wrong with the greedy 12.ttJd6. Sveshnikov
both sides. himself gives 12 . . . d6 1 3.'*d6 .l:f.d8 ! 14.c5
ttJd4 1 5.d3 g5 ! 1 6.\t>fl J:!.c8 ! with sufficient
6 d6
..
compensation, and who am I to disagree?
6. . .b4 7.a3 .ic3 8.ttJc3 d5 9.ed5 ed5 has quite
1 2...J:!.b8 1 3.ttJcd5
a reasonable reputation nowadays and White

114
 Round 2

Highlighting the weaknesses in Black's strategy.

1 3 ... 'ifg6? !
1 9... ..id5 20.ed5 ..ic7
Again Polgar goes for the most dubious choice,
clearly having made up her mind to surprise her 20 ... lt:Jc8 fails to the obvious 2 1 .ltJe5, but 20. . .b5
opponent. 1 3 ... 'ii'd8 14.c3 e7 (14... g6? 1 5.'ik'a4! was playable, as after 2 l .it'd6 (21.ltJd6 b4
and the threat 1 6.a6 is impossible to parry) 22.'i'a6 b6) 21 ...'i'd6 22.lt:Jd6 .tlb6 23.lt:Je4
1 5 ..ic4 0-0 16.0-0 g5 1 7 .a4 as in Karpov lt:Jd5 24.fd1 t2Jf6 the White advantage is mini
Nunn, London 1 982, is known to be slightly mal.
better for White.
21 .ad1 ?
1 4.'ifd3
This mistake is hard to explain, as all of Gata's
Defending the e4 pawn and at the same time previous moves were based on the idea of mak
making it possible to castle queenside. ing 2 1 .t2Je5! possible, and now he suddenly hesi
tates. Judith intended to reply 2 1 . . .de5 22.'i'e7
1 4... ..ie7 1 5.g3?!
d6 and after both 24. 'i'h4 and 24. 'i'd7 to begin
1 5.lt:Jc7 d8 1 6.lt:Jcd5 f5 1 7.0-0-0 is an old rec some action with 24 ... f5.
ommendation by Karpov, but apparently both
21 ... t2Jg8!
Kamsky and Polgar believe that Black is doing
fine. Suddenly Black is ready to start a very strong
initiative on the kingside.
1 5 ... 0-0 1 6...ig2 ..id8 1 7.0-0
22.t2Ja5?
17.c3 f5 1 8 .ef5 f5 19.'ii'c4 h8 leaves White
with a very weak point at d3 . Affected by his previous mistake he produces
another serious error after which his situation
1 7...h8?!
becomes very critical.
Too slow and a very unfortunate move. Much more
22 ... f5 23.c4 f4 24.c5 f3!
to the point were both 1 7 ... b6 1 8 .ltJb6 l:!.bd8
followed by lt:Je7 and the immediate 17 ... lt:Je7 with White is far too slow to compensate for this
an approximately equal position in either case. terrifying attack.

1 8.t2Jc4! t2Je7 25 ...ih1

18 .. .f5 1 9.t2Jd6 f4 20.lt:Jf5 ! does not yield enough Sad but true, as after 25.h3 'i'h5 26.e6 ..ia5
counterplay and 1 8 ... lt:Jd4 1 9.lt:Jde3 ! (19.lt:Jce3 27.it'a5 .l:!.be8! 28.h1 (28.h4 J:!.f4 ! ?) 28 . . . l:!.f6
'ik'h5 20.'ii'd 1 'ii'd 1 2 l .ad1 d5 22.ed5 g6=) 29.cd6? l:!.ee6 30.de6 it'h3 3 l .g 1 'i'h2 32.Wh2
19 . . .c7 20.c3 forces the knight to retreat. l:th6 White gets mated.

1 9.'il'a3! 25... ..ia5 26.'i!Va5 e4!

115
Burying the bishop. 51 40.6
27.l:l.fe1 D Salov
Kamsky's only chance is to sac the exchange on Karpov
e4 so that the f3 pawn might become vulnerable. Notes by]eroen Piket
27.c6 lLJf6 followed by lLJh5 and lLlf4 would be
complete torture. Before the tournament there was a lot of specu
lation about which variation Karpov would use
27 tt:Jf6 28.cd6 't\Vg4 29J:td4

as his main defence, as in the last two decades he

The only way to prevent 29 . ..'i!Vh3 and 30. .. lLlg4. has limited himself to the Petroff Defence, the
Ruy Lopez and of course for several years the
29 l:l.be8 30. 'i!Vb4 'ifh3!
.
Caro-Kann.
Sharply calculated!
1 .e4 c5 2.lt:Jf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:Jd4
31 .l:l.de4 tt:Je4 32J:te4 'fitS! tt:Jc6 5.tt:Jc3 't\Vc7 6 ..ie2 tt:Jf6
7.it.e3 a6
Stressing that mate is the goal of the game.
Karpov has opted for a Taimanov-Paulsen hy
33 .::1.e8 I:te8 34.h4 I:te2! 35.d7

brid, one he knew very well as he played it in his

There was nothing to be done against the inva youth.
sion on b1 and f2 as 35 .'i!fc5 I:te1 36.'1t>h2 I:th1
8.0-0 it.b4 9.tt:Ja4!
37.'it>h 1 'i!fh3 would also mean the end.
Thanks to this move the whole system came
35 'ii'b1 36.'it>h2 .::l.f2 37.'it>h3
under a cloud, but the FIDE Champion obviously
..

thinks it is still playable.

9 e7!?
.

Karpov and many others used to play 9 ...0-0, but

that runs into difficulties after 10.f4 ! , as I re
cently witnessed during the Moscow Olympiad
1994 in the game Ye-Timrnan.
1 0.tt:Jc6

10.lLJb6 ! ? I:tb8 1 1 .lLJc8 I:tc8 1 2.lLlc6 'i!fc6 13 .e5

lLld5 14 ..id2 'f!/c7 1 5 .c4 was a once in a lifetime
try by the Swiss player Franzoni against Pia
Cramling.
1 o ... bc6 1 1 .tt:Jb6
37 h5! !

1 1 . .ib6 is an alternative which appeals very

The beautiful point of the combination started at much to me, as I am not convinced that Black has
move thirty. enough compensation after 1 l ...'i!Vb8 12.d4
lLJe4 1 3 ..if3 lLJgS 14.lLlb6 0-0 1 5 .lLla8 lLJf3
38.'iff8
16.'f!/f3 'ita8, Geller-Andersson, Linares 1983.
38 .d8'i!f 'it>h7 also loses despite the extra queen.
1 1 .. J:i.b8 1 2.tt:Jc8 't\Vc8 1 3.e5
38 'it>h7
.
13.d4 dS 14.ed5 cdS 1 5.c4 ! ? is a completely
And desperately searching for something that is independent variation which has to be tested in
not there, Kamsky overstepped the time limit. practice.
The comments on this game are based on the
1 3 tt:Jd5 1 4.c1
notes of Polgar.

116
 Round 2

The almost forgotten 14.d4!? c5 15.c4 cd4

1 8...a4! 1 9.h6
16.cd5 c5 17.f3 g5 1 8 .d3 J:.b2 19J:tfb1
c2 20.c2 J:.c2 2 l .l:tb8 d8 22.J:.a8 a5 23.d6 19.a3 ab3 20.cb3 came into consideration . as it
as in Mecking-Portisch, Sousse 1967, is ready creates a passed pawn.
for improvements.
1 9... f8 20.h4
1 4... c5 1 5.d3
20.J:.d4 is harmless because of 20 ... J:.b4 !
In the sixth round Shirov tested Karpov with
20...'ii'c7 21 .g5
1 5.c4. My suggestion is 1 5.a3 a5 1 6.3 ! ? and
I prefer White. Admitting that the attack does amount to much.
1 5 ... 0-0 21 ... ab3 22.ab3 J:l.a8 23.c4 tt:lb4
24.'ii'c3 c5
Beliavsky-Andersson, Wijk aan Zee 1 984, saw
1 5 . . .c7 1 6.e4 aS 17.c4 Ci:Je7 1 8.h1 0-0 After some regrouping of the pieces the position
1 9.i.d3 Ci:Jg6 20.f4 d6 with chances for both is balanced.
sides.
25 ..tf3 l:ta1 26.l:ta1 d6
1 6.'ii'g3
26 ... d5 would have demanded a more critical
16.b3 c7 1 7.b2 a5 1 8.a4 f6 19.ef6 Ci:Jf6 reply by White.
20.f3 J:.f7 2 l .l:tae1 with a very unclear posi
27.f4 J:l.d8 28.h5 h6 29.l:td1 ?!
tion was seen in Hiibner-Andersson, Tilburg
1987. 29.ed6 would have taken all tension out of the
game.
29... de5?!
In time pressure Karpov does not want to take a
risk but 29 ... d5 ! was a good move, as after both
30.cd5 ed5 3 1 .g3 d7 and 30.g3 d4 3 l .d2
J:.b8 ! the black position is preferable.
30..I:i.d8 'ii'd B 31 .e5 d7 32.g3
tt:ld3 33..tc6! dB!

It is typical of the fighting spirit of the players

that neither offered a draw.
34.'ii'd2 .te7 35..tc3 .tg5 36.d1
tt:lc1 ! 37.'ii'c2
1 6... J:I.e8!
37 .d8 d8 would lose material because of the
A very subtle refinement over the previously knight's many threats.
played 16 ...Ci:Je7 and 1 6 ... h8. It is evident that
37...'ti'd3 38.'ti'd3 tt:ld3 39.f1 tt:lc1
Karpov feels very much at ease in these kinds of
positions. 39 ... f6 or 39 ...f8 were the expected moves,
drawing without any problem.
1 7.l:td1 aS 1 8.b3?!
40.a4 f6??
Lanka recommends 1 8.d3 and the advance of
the h-pawn as a better plan, and I am attracted by The notorious mistake on move 40.
the little move 18 .a3 to be followed by 19.b3 so 40... f8 would still have kept everything under
that B lack cannot exchange his weak a-pawn. control.
Note that 1 8 . . .a4 would be answered by 19.6
41 . .tf6 gf6 42.b4!!
f8 20.J:.d4 !

117
 60...\iidG 61 .\iie4 \iic7 62.g4
Black resigns.
A fortunate but very important victory by Salov.

51 1 9.6
D Lj uboj evic
Ivanchuk
Notes by Ljubomir Ljubojevic
Missed by Karpov when he offered the exchange of
dark-squared bishops. Suddenly he is completely lost. After losing to Anand in the first round the night
seemed endless to me, as I was trying to achieve
42...\iifS
peace of mind after an absurd and unjustified
42 ...cb4 43.c5 b3 44.c6 (44.b3?? lLlb3 45.c6 defeat. Over and over the moves and respective
lLld2 46.'itie2 lLlc4 47.c7 lLld6) and the white positions kept recurring in my mind, and I won
pawn is unstoppable. dered how I could have missed so many simple
wins. The only way to get a decent sleep, I
43.b5!
thought, was to exhaust myself emotionally. I
Now the knight is locked in the cage and Karpov knew that tomorrow's game was now more im
has to stand by and watch how his opponent will portant, but as the tournament had just started, I
finish the job. was still 'fresh' with energy and there was no way
I could close my eyes until I had taken breakfast
43 ... \iie7 44.c2 fS 45.\iie1
at 7 a.m.!
45.f3 followed by 46.'itif2 and 47.'itie3 was also My worries were how to play Ivanchuk, my
winning. opponent of today, after so miserable a night and
a rest of no more than 4 hours. He is one of the
45 ... lba2 46.\iid2 lbb4 47.b1
world's best players, at least I consider him so.
\iid6 48.\iie2 \tieS 49.\iie3 \iff6
Well prepared, always with new and fresh ideas.
It is an unfair fight as Black will always get into As I had drawn number one in the tournament, I
Zugzwang. was playing White for the second time and my
thoughts were directed toward not taking any
50.\iff4 \iie7 51 .\iieS f6 52.\iif4
risk, in order not to lower my morale by a possi
Now he has provoked the final weakness and is ble second defeat, which would make me lose my
ready to win by sacrificing the bishop for too self confidence. Maybe you have heard the rule:
many pawns. make a draw after a loss ; at this moment it
seemed more than acceptable to me.
52 \iff7 53.b6 lbc6 54.b7 \iie7

I couldn't guess the line my opponent would play,
55.f5! \iid6
but my decision was made. On the sixth move I
After 55 . . .ef5 56.Wf5 Wf7 57.f4 lLlb8 58.g4 lLlc6 would opt for 6.g3, no matter which line B lack
59.g5 fg5 60.fg5 hg5 6l .'itig5 'itig7 62.<iit f5 <iith6 chose! Let's see what eventually happened ...
63.We4 lLlb8 64.Wd5 White wins very comfortably.
1 .e4 cs 2.lbf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.lbd4
56.e4 lbb8 57.g6 \iic7 58.f7 lbf6 S.lbc3 a6 6.g3
\iid6 59.i.e8 \iie7 60.b5
The invitation to the Najdorf, one of the sharpest
Again the knight is completely dominated and lines, was tempting me for a while. However, I
Karpov could have spared himself the rest. was afraid to get into positions where you must

118
 Round 2

exactly calculate straight variations without mis

takes and my intuition also did not suggest such
adventures. I remembered some games playing
Black against 6.g3; White was always very solid
and if Black is too ambitious he can be severely
punished. After some minutes of visible surprise
Vasily made a series of moves very quickly, as
he knows how to set up his pieces.
6 ... lLJc6 7.g2 d7 8.0-0 e6 9.a4
e7 1 0.h3
10.li:Jde2 followed by l l .h3, 12.g4, 1 3.li:Jg3 is a
well known plan for White. My move gave Black
the opportunity for 1 0 ... li:Jd4 l l .'ird4 0-0 1 2.eS I was happy with this decision of my opponent.
deS 1 3 ."ifeS "il'c8 with good play. The d6 pawn will be a possible target for me. I
had expected, and considered the more interest
1 0...0-0 1 1 .lLJb3
ing 17 .. .fS 1 8.efS .ig2 19.'1t>g2 'flc6 20.'iff3 eS
White's strategy is to exchange as few pieces as 21 .li:JdS .id8 22 ..ic3 e4 23 .'ifg4 and White is
possible in order to keep more space and hamper okay. Or 20...'iff3 21 .f3 .!IfS 22.<t>g2 .id8
Black's piece mobility in the reduced area. 23.li:Je4 with more or less equal chances.
Ivanchuk's next move is natural, as c6 is a good
1 8.f6 lLJf6 1 9.'f/d4 .l:l.e7 20.'il'b4
square for his bishop after exchanging knights.
White's other possibility was l l .li:Jde2 with more The a5 pawn must be protected. If Black can free
complicated play, which is precisely what I was his position with d6-d5, without making an iso
not seeking. lated pawn, his position would present abso
lutely no problems. Only if the pressure along the
1 1 ... tLJa5 1 2. lLJa5 'iVas 1 3.i.d2
d-file becomes realistic might Black have some
'f/c7 1 4.a5
problems in freeing himself. But I must say that
With one piece less the position is simpler and I didn't see how I could prevent dS by getting
White does not have much choice about where some concessions from my opponent.
to put his pieces. lt is logical to block the mobility
20... l:ld7 21 .l:lad1 l:Ifd8
of Black's b-pawn and increase control over the
b6 square, which might be one of the motives for To prepare dS and always recapture with a piece
White to play on. is the right decision. With many pieces on the
board, the isolated pawn could be unpleasant.
1 4...c6 1 5 ..l:l.e1
22 . .l:l.d4 h6
This is unnecessary. 1 S ..ie3 was more natural. I
was preventing the immediate 1S ...li:Jd7 by Perhaps it is possible to lose some time and delay
16.li:JdS, but my opponent is well aquainted with dS. I saw that 22...dS 23.eS lLle4 24.li:Je4 de4
these positions. 2S . .!Id7 .!Id7 26 ..ie4 .ie4 27 ..!Ie4 'flc2 or
27.'ife4 'ifa5 would lead to a dead drawn posi
1 5... .l:l.ae8
tion. I had in mind also 24.li:Jdl ?! with the idea
A good move, but only if connected with a pos 2S.g4, 26.f3, but GM Jeroen Piket pointed out
sible break-out by fS, which in my opinion un after the game that 24 .. .f6 2S .ef6 gf6! would give
necessarily weakens the a2-g8 diagonal. I think Black chances of taking the initiative. White
1 S ....l:l.fe8 is more natural. After the text move cannot tolerate Black's knight on e4 for long.
Black should have gone for more complications,
23.l:Ied1 d5 24.ed5 lLJd5 25.lLJd5
in accordance with this last move, but...
d5 26.c4!
1 6...ie3 lLJd7 1 7. ..id4 f6
If 26 ..idS lidS 27 .lidS lidS 28 ..!Id5 edS, White

119
is only symbolically better. I am sure that the 35.'iYa6 'iYg5 (if 35 . . .'iYb4?! 36.'iYd3 'it>g8 37.a6
move I played created more problems for Black with some chances) 36.'it>fl 'iYcl 37.'it>e2 'iYc2
than it would seem, and Ivanchuk realised this 38.'it>e3 'iYc l 39.'it>d4 'iYb2 40.'it>c5 'i!Yf2 4 l .'it>c6
after some thought. He probably regretted that he 'i!Yf3 42.'it>c7 'i!Yf7 43. 'it>b8 'iYf8 44. 'it>a7 'iYb4
had not played 22 ... d5 . 45.'iYd3 'it>h8 46.a6 e5 47.'iYd8 'it>h7 48.'iYb6
'iYe7 49.'it>b8 'iYe8 50.'it>c7 'iYe7 5 l .'it>c6 'i!Yf6 etc.
2 6...g2 27.l:td7 l:td7 28.l:td7 'ifd7
with a draw. In view of this line White should
29.g2 'ifc6 30.g1
reject 34.gf4 and instead try 34.b5 fg3 35.b6 gf2
36.'it>f2, hoping to get his king to a7 to promote
his b-pawn, which would be the only chance of
playing for a win.
32.b4 g5?

32. ..'it>h7 33.b5 f4 34.gf4 'iYbl 35.'it>h2 'iYe4 was

still an excellent practical chance to save the
game. The text move is the decisive mistake.
33.b5 f4 34.gf4 gf4 35.ba6 ba6
36.'ti'a6 f3 37.'ifc8 f7 38.'ifc7
f6 39.h2

30...f5?!

By force we have entered a queen endgame

where White keeps a slight edge due to his
queenside pawn majority. Black's last move is
probably his first mistake in the game. Piket was
right when he showed that 30 ...e5 ! 3 1 . 'iYb6 'iYc4
32.'iYb7 e4 33.b4 e3 34.fe3 'iYc l 35.'it>f2 'iYc2 is
a draw. White can still oblige Black play pre
cisely by 33.'iYb6 'iYd3 34.b4 'iYdl 35 .'it>g2 'i!Yf3
36.'it>h2 'iYe2 37.b5 e3 ! (not 37 ... ab5 because
38.a6 wins) 38 .'iYe3 'iYb5 with a draw. It is nice
to see that chess is a very precise game, even Black resigned here but some people were asking
when it doesn't look too complicated. All of why. After 39 ...e5 40.'iYd6 'it>g7 4 l .'ife7 g6
Black's moves up to this point were quite logical. 42.'iYe6 'it>h7 43.'iYf7 'it>h8 44.a6 'iYe2 45.g3
Only his last move brings him into danger and a etc., or 40 ...'it>f5 4 l .'i!Yh6 'iYc4 42.'iYh5 'it>f6
slightly worse queen endgame proves enough to 43. 'iff3 White remains two pawns up. I was
lose the game. lucky to win, after playing without much ambi
tion, but with the help of my opponent.
31 .'ifb6 'ife4
It has happened many times to me, as well as to
31 .. .'iYb6? 32.ab6 'it>f7 33.c5 'it>e7 34.c6 was my opponents, that modesty has brought many
impossible for Black, but another possibility was more points than one would expect!
3 1 .. .'iYc4 32.'iYb7 'it>h7 33.b4 f4 34.gf4 'i!Yf4

1 20
Round 3
Salov 2.5
Polgar 2.0
An and 1 .5
lvanchuk - Anand 1 -0 lvanchu k 1 .5
Karpov 1 .5
Karpov - Lju bojevic 1 -0
Kamsky 1 .0
Polgar - Salov 0- 1 Ljubojevic 1 .0
Shi rov - Kamsky 1/2 - 1/2 Shirov 1 .0

51 33.7 reminded me of my game with Timman, which I

lost as Black in the last round of the 1994 Am
D Ivanchuk sterdam tournament, and as a result of which I
Anand had failed to share first place with Kasparov. I
Notes by Vasiry Ivanchuk would remind you that this ill-starred game be
gan 1 .e4 c5 2.lt:Jf3 d6 3.ig_b5 ig_d7 4.'it'e2 etc. And
then, after thinking a little, Anand continued: 'On
1 .e4 c5 2.tt:Jf3 tt:Jc6 3.d4
the other hand, you can't now play 3 ..ib5 against
During the course of 1994 I twice had to play me.' And he made a significant gesture with his
matches with Anand in quickplay events. The first index finger. On the basis of these words and
occasion was in the semi-fmal of the Moscow stage gestures by Anand, I realised that, although my
of the Grand Prix, where I lost -1 . the outcome opponent employs various lines of the Sicilian
of the match being largely decided by the first game, Defence, I should first and foremost expect the
which I lost as White in the Maroczy Variation. Accelerated Dragon, and before the game I pre
On the second occasion we met in the final of the pared exclusively for this variation.
London stage of the Grand Prix, and I managed
3 ... cd4 4.lt:Jd4 g6 5.c4
to win that match with a score of 2-2 (with
the score standing at 2-2, I chose 5 minutes and Avoiding the Maroczy Variation by 5.lt:Jc3 .ig7
the black pieces against my opponent's 6 minutes 6.e3 lLlf6 7.i.c4 has, in my opinion, one sig
and the white pieces, and secured a draw.) It nificant drawback. By continuing 7 ...0-0 8 .b3
should be mentioned that in both of my white d6 9 .f3 ig_d7 Black transposes into the normal
games from the London match I did not allow my Dragon, at the same time avoiding 9.0-0-0,
opponent to play the Accelerated Dragon, by which is unpleasant for him in the alternative
choosing 3 .ig_b5. To employ this same weapon in move order l .e4 c5 2.lLlf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.lt:Jd4
Buenos Aires was not possible (the tournament lLlf6 5.lt:Jc3 g6 6.i.e3 i.g7 7.f3 0-0 8.'it'd2 lt:Jc6.
was a thematic one, and the moves 3 .d4 cd4
5 lt:Jf6 6.lt:Jc3 d6 7.e2 lt:Jd4
.
4.lt:Jd4 were obligatory). And then, literally the
8.'it'd4 g7 9.e3 0-0 1 0.'it'd2
day before our game, Anand said to me: 'Vasily,
e6 1 1 .0-0 'it'a5 1 2. .l:[ab1 ! ?
it is to your advantage that with White on the 3rd
move it is only permitted to play d2-d4', and he This new plan, which I prepared beforehand, con-

121
sists in placing one rook at b 1, and the other at White has advantageously managed without f2-
cl, by which White seriously hinders the oppo f3, a move which invariably seems essential in
nent's counterplay on the queenside with ...b7-b5. this variation.
1 2 .. Jlfc8 1 3.b3 lLld7 1 6...a5 1 7.h4!

13 ...b5 looked tempting, but after 14.b4! 'fic7 15.e5 ! The attack on the kingside begins. Now in the
( 1 5 .tt:Jb5? is weaker on account of 1 5 ...'fib7) event of 1 7 ... h5 White could have continued
15 . . .de5 1 6.tt:Jb5 'fib7 1 7.c5 ( 1 7.ti.fcl is also either 18.g5 d5 19.ed5 f6 20. .l:!.el , or im
possible, and if 17 ...a6 1 8.tba3) White's position mediately 1 8.J:!.e l .
is slightly better, in my opinion. If instead
1 7...d5 1 8.ed5 'ii'd7 1 9.'it'e2
1 3 ...a6, then White plays 14JHc l , and in the
variation 14...b5 1 5 .b4 ! 'fid8 16.cb5 ab5 17.b5
Black has insufficient compensation for the sac-
rificed pawn, since on 17 ....l:!.a3 White simply
plays 1 8 .fl , not fearing 1 8 ....l:!.cc3 19 J:tc3 tt:Je4
20Jla3 tt:Jd2 2l...i d2. Instead of 14 ...b5, seri
ous consideration should be given to 14 ... J:!.ab8.
1 4.ti.fc1 'it'd8?!
With this move Anand as though admits that on
this occasion the theoretical duel has ended in my
favour. 14 . .. a6 looks more logical, and if 1 5.f4
ti.ab8, but not 15 ... b5? 16.b4!
1 5.tLld5 tt:Jcs 1 6.f3!

1 22
 Round 3

After the immediate 19.h5 B lack could have 24.g5 looked tempting, in order to activate the
activated his queen by 19 .. .'irf5 . With the move light-square bishop, but after 24 ...'iff5 25 .g4
in the game White prevents this possibility. "ire5 I did not see how White could exploit the
rather awkward position of the black queen
1 9..J:te8
(26.f4 'ife4 27.i.f3 'iff5).
19 ...h5 suggests itself; I was intending to play
24... tt:ld7!?
20.g4 hg4 2 l..g4 f5 22.h3! (22.i.f3 is weaker
on account of 22 ... f6 23.Wg2 c;;>g7 ! , intending In anticipation of White's attack on the h-file,
24 .. ..1h8) 22. ..f6 (otherwise 23.h5) 23.h5 g5 Black brings his knight closer to the kingside and
24.f3 ! (of course, not 24.'it'c2 g4 25 .g4 fg4 prepares ... a5-a4, beforehand moving his knight
26.'ifg6 Wh8 ! 27.'irh6, which leads only to per away from the tempo-gaining b3-b4.
petual check) 24 ... c;t>h8 (24... c;;>f7?! 25.'ifc2! g4
25.hg6 hg6 26..l:l.h4 a4
26.fg4 g8 27.l:lfl ! fg4 28.g2) 25.wh l ! g8
26.gl with a strong position. Now 26...J:lg7 is 26 . ..tt:Je5 was premature on account of 27.e4,
prettily refuted by 27.J:lg2! (27.'ifc2?! g4 28.fg4 intending 28 f4.
fg4 29.h6 J:lgg8 !) 27 ... J:lh7 (27 ...J:lag8
27.bh1 !?
28.bgl ) 28 .i.g5 J:lh5
Of course, I could have kept a positional advan
tage by 27.b4 lbe5 28.g5, but, having already
played 24.J::rh 1 , I was aiming for an attack on the
h-file.
27 ... ab3 28.ab3 .l::la 1 ? !
It is quite possible that this seemingly natural
move is in fact the decisive mistake, since in
many variations the unfortunate position of the
black rook at al affords White additional tactical
possibilities.
In my opinion, Black should have preferred
28 ... b5, and if 29.cb5 'ifc3 .
29. .!:1.1 h3!
29 .J:lh2 ! ! Wg7 (29 ...g5 loses to 30.f5 ! 'iff5
3 1 .l:rh5 Wg7 32.J:lgl +-, or 30 ... 'ife8 3 l .f4 ! +-) Of course. Now it is doubtful whether White's
30.f6 ef6 (30... Wf6 3 Ulgl J:lah8 32.'ifg2 c;t>f7 attack can be parried.
33 .'ifg6 c;t>f8 34.J::r g5+-) 3 1 .l:lgl wf7 32.g4 ! !
29 ... 'fia8 30J:Z.h7! a2?!
h2 33 .'ifh2 fg4 34.'ifh5 We7 35.J::rg4 with a
decisive attack. On 30 ...e5 White would have replied 3 1 .f4!,
and if 3 l ...f4 32.h8 Wg7 33 .J:Bh7 wf6
20.h5 'iff5 21 Jld1 e5?!
34.'il'e4 g5 35.l:!.f7 (35.J::re8 'ife8 36.'ifd4 lLle5
Here Black should probably have played 37.'it'al+- is also sufficient) 35 . .. c;t>f7 36.l:rh7
2l . . .gh5 ! ? 22.h5 lbe4 23.'ifd3! 'ifh5 24.'fVe4 c;;>f8 37.'ii'g6 wins for White, but perhaps by
e5 (or 24. ..f5 25.'ife6 'iff7), somewhat simply playing 3 l .. .jl,g7 (instead of 3 l ...f4) Black
ing the position. could still have somehow held on.
22.g4! 'fic8 31 ..tr.g7 wg7 32.d4 ts
Forced, since after 22 .. .'it'f6? 23.g5 ! the black 32 ... lbe5 33.e5 deS 34.'it'e5 f6 35 .'ifh2 is win
queen is driven back to h8 (23 ...'iff5?? 24.g4 ning for White, as well as 32 ...lLlf6 33.'it'a2 J:la2
'ife4 25.f3, winning the queen). 34.g5.
23. wg2 g7 24. .tr.h1 33.'fie3 tt:'lf8 34..ie4! wf7

1 23
 A very cautious move but not a bad one. ECO
gives 1 2 ...bS 1 3 .a3 b4 as the main continuation.
1 3...if3 l::tac8 1 4Jiad1 b5 1 5.a3
lLld4?!

Helping Karpov to stay in control. As Black's

future play is on the queenside, 1 S ...tt:Ja5 ! was
much more logical, with the idea of keeping the
tension in the center after 16.eS with 16 ...tLle8.
1 6...id4 j.,c6 1 7.l::td 3?!
The immediate 17.eS deS 18 .feS tLld7 19.tt:Je4
.ie4 20. .ie4 enables White to get the pair of
34 .. Jid1 3S.it'h6 fl 36 ..ig6 t2Jg6 37.it'h7+-. bishops but these can easily be neutralized with
20...tt:JcS (20 ...fS ! ?) 21 ..if3 fS. During the post
35 ..l:th8!
mortem Karpov found the very strong 17 .l::tde1 !
The threat of 36.it'h6 cannot be parried, there as the advance e4-eS gains greatly in strength.
fore B lack resigned. Black's main problem is that 17 ...l::tg8 (or
17 ... it'b7 1 8.b4 l::tg8) has the drawback of leav
ing the f7 pawn unprotected, which becomes
unpleasant after 18.eS! 17 ...a5 is not advisable as
it forces the opponent to start the excellent ma
noeuvre 1 8.tLld1 ! ( 1 8.eS deS 19.feS tLld7 20.lLJe4
51 22.5 .ie4 21 ..ie4 ttJcS! is okay for Black). The best
answer to 1 7.Ude1 might be 17 . .. it'd7.
D Kar p ov
1 7...'ifb7
Ljubojevic
Notes by]eroen Piket There is nothing wrong with this move, but
others might prefer 1 7 ... aS so that the queenside
One can never tell what would have happened if does not get fixed. A matter of taste!
Polugaevsky had been able to participate in his
1 8.b4! l::tg8 1 9.e5
own tournament, but it is a fact that this struggle
between Karpov and Ljubojevic would not have To delay this action with 19.l::te l or 19.l::te3 was
been between the two veterans of the event. preferable.
1 .e4 c5 2.l2Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.l2Jd4 19 ... l2Je4! 20.tt:Je4 .ie4 21 .c3
l2Jf6 5.l2Jc3 a6

Ljubojevic is a born Najdorf player and who

knows, when somebody will challenge him with
6. .igS, we might get to see the Polugaevsky
Variation.
6 ..ie2 e6 7.0-0 j.,e7 8.f4 c7
9.h1 0-0 1 0. 'ii'e1 tt:Jc6 1 1 .j.,e3
j.,d7 1 2.'ii'g3
Via the Najdorf we have entered the main line of
the Scheveningen (A seasidP: resort in the Neth
erlands for those who did not know) Variation.
1 2...h8!?

1 24
 Round 3

21 f3?

A ridiculous mistake, according to Ljubo, which

indeed spoils the game.
The mutual analyses did not agree about the
position after the more or less forced 2 l ...f6 !
22.ed6 (22.ef6? gf6 23. 'ii'h3 (23. 'ifh4 e5)
23 . . .i.f3 24.J:ldf3 e5 25 .fe5 deS 26.c5 (26.e5
fe5 27.J:lf7 J:lg7 28.J:lg7 <Jiig7 29.'it'g4 c;t>h8
30.J:lf7 J:lg8 ! and g2 needs protection) 26. ..i.c5
27.bc5 J:lc5 28.J:lf6 J:lc3 ! and Black has fully
utilized the open g- file) 22...i.d6 23.'ii'h4
(23.i.e4 'ife4 24.J:le3 'it'f5 ! (24 ... 'ifd5 25.'it'g4!)
25 .'it'f3 J:lfe8 did not worry Ljubo one bit)
29 ... .t:ld4 30.cd4 'ifd4 31 .l:tgf3
23 ...i.f3 24.J:ldf3 (24.J:lff3 ! ?) 24. . .e5 where Kar
pov has to demonstrate whether he can achieve Threatening to profit from the vulnerable back
anything or should restrain himself to just mak rank.
ing a draw, as his queenside pawns can become
31 .. .'iVd6 32.l:tf7 .1i.e3 33.'iff3 .id4
targets. His best try would be 25 .fe5 ! (25 .f5 with
34. .t:lf8
the cheap trick 26.'ifh7 would yield nothing but
trouble after 25 . .. g5 !) 25 . ..fe5 (25 ....ie5 26.J:lh3 ! In exchange for activating his bishop Black had
is unpleasant) 26 ..ie3 (26.'ii'h7 is safest leading to allow this penetration and Karpov shows fault
to perpetual check) 26 ... J:lc4 ! (26 ...J:lc3 27 .J:lh3 less technique.
h6 28.i.h6 is clearly too dangerous) 27.'it'h5
34....1i.f6 35. .t:lg8 <Jiig8 36 .t:ld1 'ir'b6

'it'e4 ! with a very unbalanced position.

37.'i!Va8 <Jiif7 38 .t:ld7 Wg6

22.I:!.df3 'ife4
38 ...i.e7 39.'ii'a7 was also hopeless.
To his great disappointment Ljubo now saw that
39.'ife4 Wh6 40. .t:ld3 'iff2 41 Jlh3
the planned 22 .. .f6 fails to the very beautiful
<JiigS 42 .C.g3 Wh6 43.l:lh3 <JiigS

23.'it'g6! ! and from now on he finds himself

44.I:!.f3 'i!Vd2 45.h4 <Jiih6 46.'i\Ye6
fighting a lost cause.
And Ljubojevic terminated his resistance.
23.I:!.e3 'ifdS 24.'it'h3!
With this move Karpov prevents Ljubojevic from
playing f7-f6 and at the same time prepares a
decisive breakthrough.
24... I:!.c4
51 20.6
The Yugoslav grandmaster is willing to give up
the exchange for the tremendous bishop. D Polgar
25.f5 .1i.g5 26.J:!.g3!
Salov
Notes by Valery Salov
Not 26.J:leel f6 27.ed6 ef5 and Black is back in
the game.
1 .e4 c5 2.tt:Jf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:Jd4
26 ... .1i.h6 27.fe6 fe6 28.ed6 'ifd6 tt:Jf6 5.tt:Jc3 d6 6.g4 h6 7.g5 hg5
29.'ifh5! 8..1i.g5 tt:Jcs 9 .1i.g2 .1i.d7 1 o.tt:Jb3!?

Completely dominating the position, and Ljubo White is planning to develop her queen on e2
is obliged to give up material to avoid getting where it will support the h-pawn in the future;
mated. however now Black need not waste time on the

1 25
manoeuvre 'ifd8-b6, as the knight d4 has left the Black's inaccuracy on the 22nd move the
centre voluntarily. chances are about equal.
1 0...a6 1 1 .'ife2 'f/ic7 1 2.0-0-0 0-0-0 24 ...fe5 25.ttJe5 ttJeS 26.fe5 ttJc6
1 3.h4 Wb8 1 4.h5 i..e7 1 5.f4 ttJg8! 27.f3?
This method of neutralizing White's activity on Leading to grave problems for White; curiously
the kingside was introduced by Ulf Andersson, Judit didn't even consider the best defence,
one of the greatest masters of positional play. If 27.l':rc6! (the only move) 27 ...bc6 28.f3 l':rh5
15 ...tt::lh7 1 6.e7 tt::l e7 1 7.e5;!;. 29.h5 l':rh5 30.l':rfl l':rf5 3 1 .l':rf5 ef5=.
1 6.ttJd4 f6! ? 27...ttJe5 28.e2 l:[g8 29.b4 d7
30.ttJc3 .l:lg2 31 .l:[6d4 fS 32.Wb2
And this seems to be something new; normally
l:[h7 33.Wb3 l:[g3 34.Wb2 l:[g2
the manoeuvre tt::lf6-g8 is connected with the idea
35.Wb3 .l:lh2 36.a4 l:[g7!
of g5 and f6. After 16 ... tt::ld4! ? 17J:rd4 g5
18 .fg5 tt:Je7 19.h6 gh6 20.gh6 tt:Jc6 2 l .l':rd3 tt:Je5 Now the second black rook enters the game and
22.l':rg3 White has the initiative. the pressure becomes unbearable. White is
forced to give up some material.
1 7.ttJf3 ttJge7 1 8.f6 gf6 1 9.'it'd2
37.b5 abS 38.ttJb5

38.ab5 l':rg3 39.b6 ..t>b6 40.l':rd7 tt::ld7 41 ..l:l.d7

.!:!.e2-+.
38...b5 39.b5 .l:l.hS 40. .t:rd6

40.l':rel tt::lf3 41.l':rc4 Wd6 42.l':rdl 'it>e5-+.

40....l:l.h1 41 J:t1 d2 l:rh2 42..t12d4
.l:l.h4 43..l:l.d2

Allows an elegant combination. Better is

43.l':rd l .

1 9... .!:ih6! !
Th e most difficult move of the game; now after
20.tt::ld4 tt::ld4 2 l .Wfd4 the f6 pawn is protected
and Black is able to activate his bishop by
2 1 .. .c6, obtaining excellent counterplay. Not
19 ...c8? 20.tt::ld 4.
20.'iVd6

White is more or less forced to accept the pawn

sacrifice.
20... 'iVd6 21 . .l:l.d6 c7 22.e5 .l:l.dh8 43... l:re4! 44.c4
22 . . . l':rg8 !=F. 44.l':re6 tt::lf3 ! 45 .l:!.e4 tt::ld2-+ eliminating both
the white rooks. 44.a5 l':rg3 (44 ... l':rg2 45J:tg2
23. .l:l.hd1 ea 24.ttJe4!
Wd6 46J:rg7 tt:Jc6-+) 45.c3 l':ree3 46.l::re6 .tk3
Judit is trying her best to maintain the initiative. 47. ..t>a2 l':ra3 48.'it>b l l':rgb3 49 . .l:l.b2 l::rb2 50.wb2
White's extra pawn is of no importance; after .!:!.a5 5 l .J:!.e5 b6-+.

1 26
 Round 3

44 .. J:tg2 45J:tg2

After 45.l:!.d1 b6 Black is also winning.

45 ... d6 46.l:!.g7 b6

46 ...l:!.e3 47.'ii'b4 b6 also wins.

47.b4 ti:Jd3 48.'ii'c3 tt:Jcs

White is mated after 49.b4 :!.e3.

1 2.h4

51 28.3 1 2.h4 e5 ! 13 .fe5 deS is definitely not a problem

for Black, but the odd-looking 1 2.f6 ! ?, as
D Shirov played by the late former World champion Mik
Kamsky hail Tal, is worth investigation, as after 1 2 ...i.f6
Notes byjeroen Piket 1 3.'ifd2 c3 14. 'ifc3 'ifc3 1 5.bc3 :!.d8 16.e5 b6!
(16 ...d5 1 7.c4 d7 1 8 .cd5 ed5 19.l:!.d4! with a
clear advantage, Liublinsky-Lyskov, Soviet Un
1 .e4 c5 2.tt:Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:Jd4
ion 1949) 17.ed6b7 1 8.l:!.g1 l:!.ac8 the endgame
tt:Jf6 5.ti:Jc3 tt:Jc6 6.i.g5 e6 7.'ifd2
is very complex.
e7 8.0-0-0 0-0 9.f4 ti:Jd4 1 0.'ifd4
'ifas 1 2 ...e5

Obviously Kamsky prepared this line very thor It hardly needs to be said that accepting the piece
oughly for this tournament, as it is the second sac with 12 ... hg5 is very dangerous due to 1 3 .hg5
time in a row that he defends with the Rauzer tt::l g4 14.e2 e5 1 5 .tt::ld5 ! 'id8 1 6.'ig1 ! , Be
Variation. There might be a very good reason liavsky-Tseshkovsky, Soviet Union 198 1 . Tai
behind him getting to know all the details of this manov's 12 ...l:!.d8 leads to a position very diffi
particular line, as his future opponent in the PCA cult to assess after 1 3 .g4 e5 14.'ig1 ef4 15 .f6
matches will be Anand, who is also a big fan of f6 16.lLld5 e5 17.g5 h5 1 8 .g6.
this system.
1 3.'ifd3 ef4! 1 4.f4 e6 1 5.tt:Jd5
1 1 .Wb1
1 5.e2 l:!.ac8 1 6.lLld5 would give a similar type
Before this Shirov had created his own pet line of position.
with 1 l .c4 d7 12.l:!.d3 ! ?, which he had al
1 5 ... ti:Jd5 1 6.ed5 i.g4 1 7.i.e2 i.e2
ready played several times against Vladimir
Kramnik. As both Alexey and Gata are very good 17 ...f6 would be too optimistic as Black faces a
in calculating complicated variations, a clash bleak future after 1 8.d6 (18.g4 'i!Vb4) 1 8 ...J:f.fd8
with this line would have been highly appreci ( 1 8 ...'ik'b6 19.a3 !) 19.g4 l:!.d6 20.c3 !
ated, but Shirov decides to test Kamsky's knowl
1 8. 'ife2 l;Ue8
edge.
Again 1 8 ...f6 19.d6 l:!.fd8 20.e7 e7
1 1 ... h6
2 l .e7 .l:ld5 22.b7 simply leaves White a
Regarded as best, though the alternative 1 1 ... l:!.d8 pawn up.
is perfectly playable. 1 1 ...d7 is not possible
1 9Ji'g4
after White's previous king move because of
1 2.e5 ! Shirov told me after the game that he believed

1 27
19.'iff3 was stronger, as now some weaknesses would have justified Kamsky's earlier decision
around his king can be provoked. to continue the battle.
1 9... 'ifa4! 20.b3 'ii'b4 21 .'ii'g3 h5! 29..tl.fe1 ! g4?! 30.'ii'g4 hg4
31 ..td4! a6 32.c2 g6 33.b4

33. <;tJd3 was predicted in the press room.

33 . ...ig7 can then be met by 34Jie8 e8 35.d2
and the majority on the queenside will become
important.
33 ... g7 34.g7 g7 35.a4

Alexey concentrates only on his plan, as prophy

laxis like 35.g3 is not very useful because it loses
too much time.
35... g3!
Active defence is always best in a rook ending.
36.b3 f5 37. .tl.e6!
2 1 .. Jbc8 ! ? was an interesting suggestion by Na
jdorf to sacrifice the h6 pawn for active counter
play after 22 . .ih6 .if6, but 22.he l ! with com
plete centralization is a much stronger plan.
22.c4

As the Latvian grandmaster has already used up

a lot of time, he is ready to go for a repetition of
moves.
22... b5

To break up the opponent's pawn chain.

23..td2 cs 24..tc3 .tta 25.d4
a3 26.b2 a6?!

Everybody (including Shirov) expected Gata to A bold pawn race is not in White's favour.
stick to the repetition of moves, which was also
37... .tl.e6 38.de6 f6 39. .l:.d6 e7
objectively best, but when one is a great fighter
40. .tl.d3
one has to take some risks once in a while.
Not getting overexcited by the material advan
27.cb5 b5 28J:thf1
tage, as 40Jk6 f4 can be risky.
Anticipating Black's next move.
40 ... f4 41 .l:lf3 l::tf8 42.b5 ab5
28 ... e2? 43.ab5 e6 44.c4 l::tc8 45.d4
tJtfS 46.b6 tJtg4 47.b7 .tl.b8 48.e4
I do not feel very enthusiastic about this move,
as the ending seems to favour White. Instead I 48Jib3 was no better due to 48 . .. f3 ! The balance
would propose 28 ... J::!.e2 ! (29."fif3 'ife8) which remains undisturbed. Draw.

1 28
Round 4
Salov 3.0
Karpov 2.5
Polgar 2.5
An and - Kamsky 1f2 - 1/2 Anand 2 .0
lvanch u k 1 .5
Salov - Shi rov 1J2 - 1f2
Kamsky 1 .5
Lju bojevi c - Polgar 1f2 - 1f2 Lju bojevic 1 .5
lvanchuk - Karpov 0- 1 Shirov 1 .5

51 1 7. 1 The most logical reply, as 9 . . .tt:Je4 1 0.lt:Jc6 lt:Jc3

1 1 .lLld8 lLle2 12.lLlt7 ! d5 13.d5 e6 14.c4 lt:Jd4
D A nand 1 5.0-0-0 is clearly not to be recommended.
Kamsky 9 ...lt:Jd7 ! ? is an alternative which has not yet been
Notes byjeroen Piket tested in practice.
1 0.d3 e5
Due to their past and future matches, this was
definitely one of the two most difficult games in Consistent and best, as 1 0... lt:Jc6 1 1 .0-0-0 lt:Jd4
the tournament for both players. 1 2.d4 e6 1 3.c4! was better for White in the
above-mentioned Keres game.
1 .e4 c5 2.ltJf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.ltJd4
ltJf6 5.ltJc3 g6 1 Vub3

Remarkably enough the Dragon is regaining

some of its popularity. The new generation like
Tiviakov, Topalov and Kamsky frequently uses
this opening to play for a win with Black.
6.e3 g7 7.f3 o-o 8.c4 ltJc6
9.'1i'e2!?!

This move in itself is very interesting but gener

ally speaking not better than 9.'ti'd2. The excla
mation mark is just for using this surprise
weapon at the right moment, as Kamsky was
clearly surprised by this queen move. As far as I
was able to find out, the move was first played
by Keres against Lombardy, Wijk aan Zee 1969,
a time when neither Anand nor Kamsky were yet
1 1 ...d5?
on this earth!
Giving the opponent a big positional plus with
9 ltJa5
.

out a struggle. 1 1 ....ie6 12.0-0 J:lc8 is generally

1 29
accepted as theory and now in Tal-Gufeld, Increasing the pressure.
Sukhumi 1972, there followed 1 3 JUd1 tt:'lc4
1 9.. Jiac8 20Jlad1 l::tfd8 21 .'f!Va4?
14.c4 c4 15.iff2 b6 1 6. .1:!.d2 ii'c7 17 ..1:!.ad1
tt:'le8 ! and B lack took control. Allowing the Nobody -probably including 'Vishy' - under
knight to c4 seems like a concession and appar stood the purpose of this move. Why didn't he
ently Frolov agrees with me, as in his game just play the obvious and strong 2 l .a4 ! Now
against Alterman, Soviet Union 1990, he contin Kamsky easily gets back into the game.
ued 1 3 .tt:'la5 ifa5 14.tt:'lb5 (14.a3 ! ? can also be
21 ... .U.d2 22 . .U.d2 f6!
useful) 14 ...d5 1 5.tt:'la7 J:kd8 1 6.tt:'lb5 .l:!.d7
17.ii'e1 ii'a8 when he was simply a pawn up. The start of a very strong reorganization, exactly
what his position was asking for.
1 2.ed5 li:ld5 1 3.tt:ld5 'f!Vd5 1 4.0-0? !
23.d5 g7 24.'i!Ve4 .U.c7 25 ..U.e2
Not a bad move as it does not really spoil the
advantage, but 14 ..ie4 ii'd8 1 5 .0-0 ttJc6 16JUd1 Here Anand realized what he had done and con
was much better for White in Hellers-Emst, tended himself with a repetition of moves.
Malmo 1987.
25 li:ld8 26Jld2 tt:lc6 27Jle2 li:ld8
.

14 ... tt:lc6 1 5.l::tfd1 'fi'e6 1 6.c3 b6 28.l::t d2 tt:lc6

Already predicted by father Kamsky who made Drawn.

some amazingly good suggestions during this Because of the earlier part of the game, Kamsky
tournament. was happy to make a draw, but afterwards the
players agreed that Black no longer has anything
1 7..U.d2
to fear, and he could even have continued the
I am sure that Anand was happy with his position, battle with 28. .. h5.
but he was definitely not as enthusiastic as many
people in the press room, who not without reason
preferred to weaken Gata's queenside instantly
by 1 7.a4 ! , when 17 ... ii'b3 fails to 1 8..ic4 .ia6
19 ..ia6. 51 1 9.5
1 7 ... 'f!Ve7 D Salov
Another defensive move where 1 7 ... .l:!.d8 was Shirov
expected, though this would also not solve every Notes by]eroen Piket
thing.
1 8.e4 b7 1 9.'ii'b5! 1 .e4 c5 2.tt:lf3 tt:lc6 3.d4 cd4
4.tt:ld4 tt:lf6 5.tt:lc3 d6
After two unsuccessful tries with the Pelikan
Variation, Shirov returns to his regular repertoire
and opts for the Rauzer.
6.g3

Something like this was to be expected from a

player with little experience in the Sicilian as
White. Still it is a pity, as the results in the first
rounds showed that Salov has nothing to fear in
the main lines.
6 ...e6
In the second half of the tournament Ivanchuk

1 30
 Round 4

and Anand preferred to transpose to the Dragon A) 14.lt:Jd4?! g4 ! 15.t3 .th5 (15 ...lt:Jd5 16.fg4
with 6...g6. lt:Jc3 17. id3 c5 (17 ... id4 immediately is also
insufficient) 1 8.e3 d4 19.d4 id4 20.id4
7.g2 d7 8.0-0 e7 9.tt::Jce2
lt:Je2 2l .h1 lt:Jd4 22.b7 and Black remains a
Salov is trying to switch to an English opening pawn down) 16.lt:Jf5 5 17.e3 (17.'it>h1 tt:Jd5
(Hedgehog), where he has much more experi 18.b2 g6!) 17 ...e3 (17... tt:Jd5) 1 8.lt:Je3 ib6
ence than Shirov. 19.id2 lt:Jd5 20.id5 ie3 21 .h1 g6 22.ib7
.l:tc2! with excellent compensation for the pawn.
9 ... 0-0 1 O.c4 .l:[c8
B) 14.id4 ! b5 (14 ...lt:Jg4 is simply met by
10. . .a6 1 l .lt:Jc3 ( 1 l .b3 lt:Jd4 1 2.lt:Jd4 .l:tb8 1 3.b2 1 5.b2! f6 1 6.id2) 1 5 .id2! ( 15 J:te 1 c5
b5 is no problem either) 1 l . ..ia5 12.lt:Jc6 c6 16.id2 ib6 17.lt:Jc3 f2 1 8 .if2 if2 1 9.'it>f2
13.ie1 ih5 14.h4 lt:Jd7 1 5.b3 f6 was equal in .l:l.c3 and thanks to the awkward position of the
Ivkov-Bronstein, Belgrade 1964 white king Black has enough counterplay before
the pair of bishops can become strong) 1 5 ... tt:Jd5
1 1 .b3 d5! ?
1 6.d5 f6 17.l:l.b 1 e2 1 8.t7 l:l.f7 19.ie2
A very understandable and direct attempt to test and it is very doubtful whether Black can save
White's set-up, but it contains a certain risk. his skin. Maybe 14 ...b5 should be replaced by
There was little reason for this pawn sacrifice, as 14 ... c5 to maintain the pressure after 1 5 .id3
after 1 1 .. .a6 1 2.b2 both 1 2 ...b5 1 3 .cb5 lt:Jd4 with 1 5 ... 1Ie8 or 15 ...ib6.
14.lt:Jd4 ab5 15 .id2 ib6 1 6. .1:1.ac1 l:l.fd8, Gli
1 3 ... bc6
goric-Boleslavsky, Zurich 1953, and 1 2 ... ia5
13.a3 l:l.fd8 14.l:l.e1 b5, Gobet-Admjan, Biel 1983, Of course not 1 3 ... c6, as after 14.e5 lt:Je4
enable Black to solve all his opening problems. 1 5.lt:Jd4 ! the isolated pawn is a big disadvantage.
1 2.cd5 ed5 1 4.ed5 cd5 1 5.lLld4 tt::Je4! 1 6.b2
f6

Because of the great activity of his pieces, Shi

rov's chances are a little better.
1 7.'it'd3

Salov sticks to defending, while other players

might have chosen the more active 1 7. ih5 !
1 7... 'ffa5 1 8.I:tfd1 l:l.fe8 1 9.f1

Salov tries to exchange queens, as then he might

find the right moment to attack the 'isolani' .
1 9... h5!
As all his pieces are very well placed, it is time
to start pushing the pawns. 19 ... lt:Jc3 would have
1 3.tt::Jc 6?
been a waste of time because of 20.l:l.dcl .
Salov is trying to avoid complications but now
20.'ffa6 'it'c7! 21 .'ili'd3
he gives Black a very comfortable game. He had
to force Shirov to show the compensation after A sad necessity, as Salov was rightly afraid of
13.ed5 as this is not an easy job. 1 3 ... lt:Jb4 is not 21 ..1:1.acl d4 ! ! 22. .1:1.c7 (22.d4 ic1 23.l:l.c1 l:l.cl
the right idea in this position as 14.d6 and 14.lt:Jf4 24.'it>g2 lUgS !) 22...f2 23.'it>g2 .t!.c7 24.d3
are very strong replies. b6, when Black has a tremendous initiative.
Instead, 13 ... lt:Jd4 was definitely the move both
21 ... h4 22..l:[ac1 'ili'b6 23. .Uc8 .ttc 8
players had in mind. White can recapture either
24.a1
with the knight or the queen:

1 31
A typical time trouble move, but it is hard to find a
40.tt:Jc3 d4 41 .tt:Jb5 e3 42.'it>f3
useful move for White as he is completely tied down.
.:l.f5 43.cJte4 Ug5 44..t:l.b3
24 .. :ti'a5 25.'i!t'a6 'i!t'c5 26.'i!t'd3 aS
44.tbd6 was another try, but after 44 ... f6 the
27.f3
result would have been the same.
44...f2!

Not the greedy 44 . . J:tg3? because of 45.tbd4!

45.a5 d3! 46.Wd3 .:l.g3 47.Wc4
.:l.b3 48.'it>b3 cJtf6 49.'it>c4 wes
Draw.

51 20.1
D Lj uboj evic
An ugly move, but Salov realizes that he cannot Polgar
wait any longer as Black keeps improving his Notes by]eroen Piket
forces on both sides of the board.
27...tbc3? 1 .e4 cs 2.tt:Jf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:Jd4
tt:Jf6 5.tt:Jc3 d6
What a shame to trade so many pieces after White
has made such a concession and weakened his In the first round against Kamsky, Polgar pre
kingside. The Argentine audience got very ex ferred 6...tbc6.
cited about the piece sacrifice 27. .. hg3, but
6.g4
28.fe4 gh2 29.'it>h l ! de4 30.'it'e3 ! could also be
very dangerous for Black. 27. .. tbg5 would have Ljubojevic always accepts the challenge to play
made S alov's task very difficult indeed. the Keres Attack.
28.c3 'i!t'c3 29.'it'c3 .:l.c3 30.'it>f2 6 ... e5!?
a4 31 .ba4 a4 32. .t:l.d2 e7?
Though this system is rather dubious, I still like
32 ...'it>f8 ! would have kept a slight edge, but now the choice, as from now on the pressure is on her
the tables are turned. opponent, who has to find a route leading to an
advantage, while Judith knows all the risky lines
33.b5!
by heart.
Completely overlooked by Shirov, as he frankly
7.b5
admitted afterwards.
Generally seen as the way to refute this system,
33...-ibS 34.tt:Jb5 .:l.c4 35.f4 hg3
but in the old days 7. tbf5 was considered of much
36.hg3 g5! 37.fg5 llc5!
better for White. In the correspondence game
With his last two moves Alexey has reduced the Neielov-Romanov, 1966 White indeed got the
material to a minimum, so he is no longer in better of it after 7 ...h5 8.g5 tbe4 9.tbg7 i.g7
danger of losing. 10.tbe4 d5 l l .tbg3 h4 tbh5 l:th7 1 3 .tbg7 l:tg7
14.'it'h5 ! l l ...h4? is probably the cause of
38.a4 ..ig5 39..:1.d3 'it>g7
Black's troubles as after l l . ..tbc6 1 2.tbh5 l:th5
39 ...f6 to keep the knight out was even more 1 3.'it'h5 tbd4 or 13 ...f5 it is very unclear to me
precise. who is better and why.

1 32
 Round 4

7 d7
.. 8.d7 'it'd7 9.ltJf5 h5 1 5.0-D-0
1 0.g5
In the post-mortem Judith proudly showed part
10.f3 is good for White according to Gipslis, which of her preparation: 15.h4 f5 1 6.h5 gh5 1 7.ll:Je3 f4
he proves with 1 o...hg4 l l .fg4 g6 12.ltJe3 lLlc6 18.lLled5 and Black indeed seems alright.
13.'it'f3 g7 14.lLlcd5 lLld5 15.lLld5 lLld4 16.'it'g2,
1 5 0-0-0
..
but more recent games in the late eighties show
a very tough fight for the initiative if Black opts 1 5 ...<;i;>d7 1 6.f4 f5 17.ef5 gf5 18.lLle3 is clearly
for Suba's move l l ....l:r.h3 ! After 12.'ife2! both not advisable, but 1 5 .. .f5 1 6.ef5 gf5 17.lLle3 f4
12 ... l:lc3 and 1 2 ... 'it'c6 have been played, but the 1 8.lLled5 <;i;>fl is playable.
latest word in this line has not yet been spoken.
1 6.h4 f5 1 7.tt:lh6 h6!
10 .. liJh7!
Polgar takes this opportunity to develop her
pieces immediately, as with active play she will
nullify the dangerous dark squared bishop.
1 8.h6 fe4 1 9..1:r.hg1 !

19.lLle4 d5 20.lLlc3 d4 21 .lLle4 would allow the

unexpected 21 ...lLlf6! and Black is doing fine.
1 9... l:Z.hg8!

Murey 's discovery and a great improvement over

Keres' note 10 ... lLlg4 l l .h3 !
1 1 .d2 hg4 1 2.'ifg4

12.lLld5 lLlc6 ( 1 2. . .g6 1 3.lLle3 f5 14.h3 ! Ljubo

jevic) 1 3.c3 needs some research before a proper
judgement can be given.
1 2 ... g6 1 3.ltJe3 'ifg4!
19 ... lLld4 was suggested afterwards but the more
Much better than 13 ...6 14.0-0-0 lLlc6, as in or less forced 20.l:!.g6 lLlf8 21 .l:!.f6 lLld7 (2 l ... lLlh7
the stem game Christiansen-Murey the American 22.l:!.fl !) 22.l:ld6 lLlf5 23.g5 lLld6 24.d8 d8
grandmaster should have exchanged queens 25.l:!.d6 J::th4 26.J::tg6 ! would only give White
himself, as the queenless middlegame would certain chances, as 26. ..l:!.f4 is not possible be
have given him excellent chances, e.g. 1 5.'it'd7 cause of 27 .J::tg 8.
<;i;>d7 1 6.lLlc4 d2 1 7. .1:r.d2 lLld4 1 8.f4 l:!.c8
20.liJe4 liJd4 21 .b1
19.lLle5 ! deS 20.fe5.
Avoiding nasty checks.
1 4.liJg4 liJc6
21 ... d5!
In Emst-Nowak, Poznan 1987, Black easily held
his own after 14 ...f5 1 5 .lLle3 f4 16.lLled5 lLla6 After 21 ...lLlf5 22.c l ! it would not be easy to
17.0-0-0 <;i;>fl, but this was possibly due to im equalize.
precise play by White, as forcing the knight to a6
22.liJc3 liJf3
looks like quite a victory to me.

1 33
Here Judith could also have gained a draw by 17.J:I.d4 tbd4 is also not so clear) 17.tbb3 ..Wa7
22 ...tbf5 23.c1 d4 24.tbe4 tbh4 25.J:I.h1 g5, as 1 8.e3 ..Wb8 and White can take on f6 but the
in order to regain his pawn, Ljubo would be resulting ending is unclear.
obliged to take on g5 sooner or later, which
1 4...t2Jb4
would result in a tedious rook ending.
14. ..b5? 15.e5 would be a terrible blow for Black.
23.J:I.h1 tbf6 24.g5 tbgS 2S.hg5 d4!
1 S.t2Je1
This was Judith's point, as it leaves Ljubojevic
no other options than a totally level ending. Everybody expected Ivanchuk to be in an aggres
sive mood and thought he had spent his rest day
26.gf6 dc3 27.bc3
analyzing the consequences of 1 5 .e5 ! ?. This was
And a very correct game got its deserved result. obviously not the case as after a long think
Draw. 'Chukky' retreated his knight. After some analy
sis I think 1 5 .e5 ! ? was worth a try, as both
15 ... tbh5 16...Wh3 ( 16.'f!it2! ?) 1 6... tbc2 1 7 ..tc 1
and 1 5 ...tbfd5 1 6.tbd5 ( 16.i.d4 ! ?) 1 6... tbd5
1 7. .id4 ! f6 1 8.d3 ! tbb4 ( 1 8 ...de5 19 ...Wh3 !)
51 22.5 19.ef6 f6 20.f6 gf6 2 l ..ih7 ! h7 22.f5 ! are
very promising for White. The best answer was
D Ivanchuk 1 5 ...de5 16.fe5 tbd5, as intended by Karpov, but
Kar p ov even than I like White's prospects after 17.tbd5
Notes by]eroen Piket tbd5 1 8.g5 f6 (maybe 18 ... b5 but one has to
reckon with 19.c4 ! ?) 19.c4 fg5 20.cd5 ed5
2l .tbg5.
1 .e4 cS 2.t2Jf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.t2Jd4
tbc6 S.t2Jc3 'f!ic7 6.e2 a6 7.0-0 1 S...bS 1 6.a3 t2Jc6 1 7.eS ! ?
t2Jf6 8.h1 e7 9.f4 d6 1 0...te3
After 1 7.tbf3 b4 1 8 .ab4 tbb4 Blackhas no reason
0-0
to complain.
I think the reason why the Scheveningen Vari
1 7 deS 1 8.feS 'flieS 1 9.f4 'flieS
..
ation is so frequently seen becomes clear if one
20.e3 'flieS
studies the move orders and realizes that out of
most Sicilian move orders both players can opt
for this interesting line.
1 1 .'f!ie1 d7 1 2.'f!ig3 h8

Apparently Karpov was impressed with Ljubo

jevic's treatment of this position against the
FIDE champion himself in the previous round,
as he decides to copy the Yugoslav grandmaster's
play.
1 3.J:I.ad1 J:l.ac8 1 4.t2Jf3
Ivanchuk deviates where 14.i.f3 would be fol
lowing the footsteps of his opponent. A remark
able suggestion is made by Kasparov in the En
cyclopedia where he gives 14.e5 as much better
21 .J:I.f6? !
for White, but of course without any further
explanation. To me it is not so evident what So Vasily was in a fighting mood after all, as this
happens after 14 ... de5 1 5.fe5 ..We5 (15 ...tbe5 was definitely a decision of the heart. Besides
16 ...if4 i.d6 1 7.tbb3 !) 1 6. .if4 'flieS (16 ... 'f!id4 repeating moves, 2 l .'tli'e5 tbe5 22.i.d4, as pro-

1 34
 Round 4

posed by Najdorf, came into consideration. After

35....Lf4
the only defence 22 ... d6 White has several
options but none is really good:
A) 23 .e5? ! e5 24.l:!.f6 gf6 25.l:!.d7 i.c3
26.bc3 l:!.c3 and Black has an even better version
than in the game.
B) 23 .l:!.f6 (Ivanchuk) 23 ... gf6 24.l2Je4 b8 !
25.e5 (25.l2Jf6 jlc6) 25 ...e5 26.l:!.d7 b2
27.l2Jd6 .!Ic3 ! ! 28.r;f;>gl (28.l2Jf7 .!If7 and .!Ie3 ;
28.h5 ! ? is a reasonable alternative) 28 ... J:ta3
29 .l2Jf7 l:!.f7 30.J:tf7 .!Ial 3 l ...ti>f2 jld4 also re
bounds on White.
C) 23.l2Jf3 ! ? (Karpov) 23 . ..l2Jf3 24.f3 l2Jd5 !
and again Black has no serious problems.
21 ...'1Wg3 22.hg3 .)1Lf6 23..lld7 ..t>g8!

Probably best, as it enables him to exchange one

36.tt:Je3?
rook, so he can play for a win without any risk.
Nevertheless it was not easy to withstand the After the correct 36.l2Jf2 Black has to be satisfied
temptation of 23 ... jlc3 24.bc3 l2Je5 25.J:ta7 l:!.c3 with a draw and has to force it with 36 ....)iLc 1
26.d4 l:!.a3 (26 ... l2Jc6 27.J:If7! J:lf7 28.c3) 37.l2Jd3 b2 38.l2Jb2 Ua8 or 36. ..jld6 followed
27 .e5 l:l.e3 28.jld6 J:ld8, but after either by Ua8 and jla3, as otherwise he can get into
29.d3 .lle l 30.r;t;>h2 or 29.l2Jf3 l:!.e2 30.l2Je5 trouble as 36 .....ti>f8 37.l2Jd3 d6 38.a4! shows.
Karpov could be on the wrong side of the board.
36...g5 37.tt:Jd2?
24.tt:Jd1 .llfd8 25. .lld8 l:[d8 26.tt:Jf3 hS
In time trouble Ivanchuk loses his head. 37.g3
26 . . .l2Jd4 ! ?, exchanging more pieces, was in my would still have kept him in reach of splitting the
opinion an excellent try to increase the advan point.
tage.
37 ...f5 38.a4 ..ti>f7 39.tt:Jdc4
27. ..t>g1 tt:Je7 28 ..)1Ld3 tt:JdS?
As a pawn race is in progress, 39.b4 ! ? would
Not typical of Karpov, as normally he puts his have been a better attempt.
pieces on the best squares. 28 ... l2Jf5 was much
39 ... Ub8! 40.tt:Jc2 g4 41 .tt:Jd4 h4
better, as after for example 29.jlf4 g6 30.r;t;>f2
42.tt:Jc6 Ua8 43.b5 h3
..ti>g7 the black pawns advance much faster than
in the game.
29..)1Ld2 .)1Le7 30...ti>f2 cs 31 ..t>e2

.Ld6 32.c4?!

In the post-mortem both players agreed that

32.el ! was preferable, after which Karpov has
to maintain the balance.
32 ... bc4 33.i.c4 i.g3 34.a6 tt:Jf4
Of course it is nice to exchange White's dark
squared bishop but, 34 ...jlf4 ! would have been
quite venomous.

35 .r;f;>fl g5 was out of the question. Now it becomes clear that Karpov's pawns are

1 35
much further advanced and this decides the 49. ..thl :tg8 would not help either.
game.
49... b8 50.a6 'lttd 8
44.gh3 gh3 45.tb6e5 'lttf6
Karpov decides to stop White's only trump first,
45 ... ..te5 first was also sufficient but in such and then to proceed with his own pawns.
positions it is important to stick to one plan.
51 .h1 .l::J.g8 52.ttJe5 'lttc 7
46.ttJd7 'ltte7 47.ttJdb6 .l::J.h8
And lvanchuk stopped this tremendous battle
48.c6 h2 49.a5
with a very sad feeling.

1 36
Round 5
Salov 3.5
Karpov 3.0
Polgar 3.0
Karpov - Anand 1f2 - 1fz An and 2.5
lvanchuk 2.0
Polgar - lvanchuk 1f2 - 1f2
Kamsky 2.0
Shi rov - Lju bojevic lfz - lfz Lju bojevic 2.0
Kamsky - Salov 1f2 _ 1f2 Shirov 2.0

51 1 1 . 1 0 d7 13.g5 c6 14.f3 Karpov-Bukic, Bugoj

no 1978.
D Karpov
9 ..e6 1 0.f4
Anand
.

Notes by]eroen Piket 10.f6 was more in the line of expectation but
the Encyclopedia gives 10 . . .f6 1 1 ."ikd3 lbc6
1 2.lt:Jd5 g5 13..U.fd1 .U.c8 14.c3 lt:Je7 ! as equal
1 .e4 c5 2.tt::lf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt::l d4
izing for Black.
tt::lf6 5.tt::l c3 a6
1 0 ef4 1 1 .f4 tt::lc6 1 2.'oth1 d5
.

A safe choice against Karpov as he will not try

to refute the Najdorf by the sharpest theoretical 1 2... .U.c8 is also perfectly playable but Anand's
lines. move is more direct.
6. .ile2 1 3.e5 tt::le41

The FIDE Champion's favourite move, as he 1 3 ... lt:Jd7 14.lt:Jd5 lbde5 1 5 .c4 g5 1 6.lt:Jc5 gave
definitely does not mind transposing to the Byrne a slight edge against Browne in the 1980
Scheveningen Variation. After two decades of United States Championship.
experience he is a great expert with both colours
1 4.j_d31 ? f5
in that particular part of the Sicilian.
As 14 ...lbc3 1 5.bc3 with active play does not
6 ... e5 7.tt::lb3 j_e7 8.0-0 0-0 9 ..tg5

really come into consideration, Vishy had little

9.f4 is generally accepted as the main line, but choice.
the alternatives 9 ...ie3 and 9.a4 are also fre
1 5.ef6 ..tf6 1 6.tt::le4 de4 1 7.e4
quently seen. Just to show how difficult it was
for Anand to prepare for his opponent, I will give In the game Tseshkovsky-Tukmakov, Soviet Un
two examples of Karpov's games: ion 198 1 , White did not achieve anything with
A) 9.e3 fic7 10.a4 b6 1 l .fid2 .tle8 1 2. the spectacular 17.tt::lc5 because of 17 ... ed3
..ie6 1 3.lt:Jc l ! lt:Jc6 14.lt:Jd5 d5 1 5.ed5 lba5 1 8 .lt:Je6 dc2 19.fic2 lLJd4 20.lt:Jd4 fid4.
16.b3 Karpov-Georgadze, Soviet Union 1983.
1 7... i.c4?
B) 9.a4 lt:Jc6 10.<it>h1 ..ie6 1 l .f4 lt:Jb4 12.f5

1 37
 21.:t1 i..b2 2S.tt::lb7 w9a

A difficult decision, as also 28 . ..Wg7 had its pros

and cons.
29.c4 i..d4

A serious mistake, as from now on Anatoly dic

tates the game! Exchanging queens first was
necessary and good, as 1 7...'it'dl 1 8 ..l:tadl c4!
19 ..l:tfel ..ib2 20...id6 .l:tt7 proved to be drawish
in the post-mortem.
1 8.d6! i..f1 1 9.'ifd5!

A tremendous intermediate move, keeping Black 29. ....ig7 was passive but would have given the
under great pressure. 19.i.f8 ..ig2 20.i.g2 'iff8 rook complete freedom, as f8 would be pro
2l .'it'd7 'ifc8 22.l:l.dl would have been slightly tected, preventing the decisive manoeuvre .l:tfl
unpleasant for the Indian grandmaster, but de f8-c8.
fendable.
30.wg3?
1 9...wh8
Vishy was rightly worried about 30.c5 !, as the
19 ... .l:tf7 20..l:tfl would have given White more tactics work for White after 30 . .. .l:te2 3 1 . Wf3 .l:tb2
than sufficient compensation for the exchange, 32.e4 ! l:l.b7 33.'it>d5. So Anand's best defence
as shown by 20...Ci:Je7 (20... 'ife8 ! ? 2 l .Ci:Jc5 or would have been 30. . .g7.
2 l ..l:te l ) 2 l .'it'e6 'ifc8 22 ...ih7.
30 g7 31 ..l:tb1
.

20.'ifh5
Now Karpov refrained from 3 l .c5, as after
Forcing matters. One has to admite Karpov, who 3 l . .Jle2 32 ..l:tf2 l:l.f2 ! 33.f2 'it>t7 34.'it>f3 e6
has calculated the past and future complications 35. e4 he realised that, despite being a pawn up,
faultlessly. victory would be out of the question.
20 ... g6 21 .g6 g2 22.wg2 'it'd7 31 ... lle3 32.Wf2 d4 33.Wf1 .l:tf3
23.tt::lc 5! 34.we2 l:r.c3!
This move was seen by Karpov in advance but Anand defends like a tiger, and thanks to this and
missed by Anand. Luckily for Black he can es his opponent's time trouble he escapes with just
cape to an ending only a pawn down. a few scratches from this fight.
23 .. 'ifg7 24.f8 'ifg6 35.c5 e3 36.Wf1 tt::ld4 37.l:r.b2 gS
24 .. J:I.f8 25.Ci:Je6 demands resignation on the 37...t7 moving the king into play was even
spot. more logical.
25. 'ifg6 hg6 26.i..d6 .l:te8! 38.Wg2 wf7 39.g3
26... .l:td8 27.Ci:Je4 ! i.b2 28 ..l:tb l ..ie5 29 ...ie5 Ci:Je5 39...ie5 e6 40.i.d4 ..id4 would also not have
30 ..l:tb7 remains very problematic for Black. worried Black.

1 38
 Round S

Polgar already knew before the start of the tour

39... tt:Je6
nament that she could expect this line and she
opts for the Maroczy bind, where she could also
have gone for S .tt:lc3, as she did a few rounds later
against Kamsky.
s ... tt:Jf6

s ....ig7 6 ..ie3 ttlf6 7.ttlc3 tt:lg4 8 .'ii'g4 ttld4

9.'ii'd l tt:le6 was popular ten years ago thanks to
the efforts of Bent Larsen. 9 ... eS ! ? is an even
older variation practised by Botvinnik, which
gave me the courage to play it in my match
against Polugaevsky, Aruba 1 994.
6.tt:Jc3 d6 7.e2 tt:Jd4 8.'ii'd 4 g7
9.g5

In the third round, against Anand, Ivanchuk as

40.tt:Jd6
White preferred the alternative 9 ...ie3.
40 ...ie5 ! ? was an interesting last attempt, as
9 ...0-o 1 0.'it'd2
40. . .tt:lf4 4 1 .f3 i.d4 42.e4 .ieS 43.e5 ttld3
44 . ..t>d4 works out fine, but 40 .. J:tc l ! would have 10.'ii'e3 ! ? might be White's best option.
been the right answer.
1 o ... e6 1 1 .0-0 as 1 2.d3?!
40... g6 41 J:tb6 c5 42.l:la6 ..id6
Making Vasily 's next move even more attractive.
43Jtd6 f6 44.a4 l:la3 45..l:l.a6
1 2J:tac l is normally played.
fS 46.a5 tt:Jf4 47.f2
1 2 ... tt:Jd7! 1 3.tt:Jd5 dS
The rook ending is obviously a dead draw.
I always learned that exchanging pieces in these
47...We4 48.We1 .l:l.a2 49.Wd1 We3
positions benefits Black. I guess Ivanchuk had
And peace was signed. the same teacher.
1 4.ed5 .ifS

And here Ivanchuk made it verbally clear that he

was ready to split the point and enjoy an extra
51 33.7 rest day.

D Polgar 1 5.e3?!

Ivanchuk Judith shows her fighting spirit but cannot justify

Notes by]eroen Piket her refusal chess-wise.
l S J:tfel was thought to be more useful but has
the drawback of allowing l S ... eS ! 1 5 ...if6 ttlf6
1 .e4 cS 2.tt:Jf3 tt:Jc6 3.d4 cd4
16J:tfel was of course to Polgar's liking but
4.tt:Jd4 g6
1 5 ... ef6! followed by 1 6...f5 and 1 7. . .'ii'f6 is
Many chess players do not have the Sicilian in pleasant for Black. There remains the option
their repertoire because they consider it too 1 5 .h4!? which would at least go well together
sharp. The system Ivanchuk opts for is quite an with refusing the draw.
exception, as it is based on profound positional
1 5 ... tt:Jc5 1 6. .ie2?!
ideas.
Losing a lot of time as the bishop later returns.
5.c4
The immediate 16J:tabl was better.

1 39
 1 6 85! 1 7.l:[ab1 '1Vb6 1 8.l:[fc1 '1Vb4!

51 33.2
0 Shirov
Ljubojevic
Notes byjeroen Piket

Before, during and after a thematic tournament

one finds out whether or not the rules set for this
special event were working okay, or what adjust
ment would have to be made for the next similar
event. Apart from the fact that, in my opinion,
against the Najdorf 6 ..ic4 or 6 ..ig5 should have
been obligatory, there was another remarkable
point, as Karnsky and Ljubojevic found out at the
press conference at the start of the tournament.
Both players have 2 ... g6 in their repertoire, usu
Very well played by the Ukrainian grandmaster. ally transposing to an Accelerated Dragon, but
this move was not allowed, whereas all other
1 9.'1Vd1 l:[a6
versions of the Dragon were.
Original, but 19 ....l:!.fc8 was more to the point.
1 .e4 c5 2.t2Jf3 t2Jc6 3.d4 cd4
20.i..d 3! 4.t2Jd4 t2Jf6 5.t2Jc3 g6?!
Here people were beginning to worry about Ju This particular line can be considered the 'Black
dith's position, as it seemed as though she had Sheep' of the Dragon Variation, as it is not very
lost the thread of the position, but with her last often used in practice due to its rightly inferior
move she admits her earlier mistakes and is ready reputation.
to play 21 .a3.
6.t2Jc6 dc6
20 t2Jd3
Most Black players prefer recapturing with the
A pity, but 20...a4 21 ..id2 ti'b6 22 ..ie3 ! leaves b-pawn, but Ljubojevic is notorious for doing the
Black with nothing better than to repeat move opposite of what people in general do. 6 ... bc6
with 22...ti'b4, as 22....ib2 is not possible due to 7.e5 l2Jg8 (7 . . .l2Jd5? 8 .l2Jd5 cd5 9.ti'd5 .l:!.b8
23.a3! 10.e6! is a famous example of how one should
not play, Grabek-Seifert, Harrachov 1966)
2 1 . 'fVd3 a4 22.b3 ab3 23.l:[b3 'VaS
8.c4 g7 9.f4! (9.ti'f3 f5 was played with
24.l:tb7 'fVa2 25.g3
reasonable success by Sosonko and Alburt in the
Now there is very little going on and soon both late eighties) 9 ...ti'a5 10.0-0, giving a pawn for
players stop avoiding the inevitable. a strong initiative, as in Timman-Kortchnoi,
Brussels 199 1 , is also problematic for Black.
25 l:[c8 26.<J;>g2 h5 27.h4 l:ta3

28.'1Vc2 'fVc2 29.l:tc2 Ud3 7.'1Vd8 <J;>d8 8 .tc4

Threatening 30 ... .l:!.d5. Another possibility is 8 .f4 l2Jd7 9.0-0-0 i.g7

I O.i.c4 e5 I I .i.e3 ri;;e7 12.f3, Vaisman-Spulber,
30.l:tc1 <J;>f8 31 .th6! <J;>g8!

Bucharest 1980.
3 l ...<it>e8 was asking for trouble, as after 32 ..l:!.e1
8 .<J;>e8 9.e5!
.l:!.c4 33 ..ig5 White has a strong initiative.
Clearly the best approach. Shirov does not give
32 ..te3
Ljubojevic time to breathe. 9.a4 e5 10.f4 .ie6 !
Draw. 1 1 .e6 fe6 12 . .l:!.fl i.h6! was no problem for
Botvinnik in his 1958 match against Smyslov.

1 40
 Round S

So Ljubo has done his best to cut off the white

9 ... ttJd7
king and to get as active as possible, but still his
ECO only gives 9 ... tLlg4, which runs into prob problems are not solved.
lems after 10.f4 h5 1 l..d2 h4 1 2.tLle4 .if'S
23...wf7 24.g4
13 .tLlg5 e6 14.h3 tLlh6 1 5.0-0-0 .ic5 16.J:lhfl !,
Kapengut-Shabanov, Vilnius 1977.
1 0.e6!

More or less forcing Black to give up a pawn, but

allowing his opponent to exchange one rook and
gain some activity. Therefore I would suggest
Securing an enduring plus thanks to the better pawn 24.g3 followed by little moves like 25.a3 and
structure. 1 O.f4 b5 is not necessarily bad for Black. 26.<;t>a2, slowly but surely making Ljubo's de
fensive task unbearable.
1 0 fe6 1 1 .e6 g7 1 2.e3!
..

24... l:lf4! 25.l:lc5 l:lf6 26.l:l.ce5

Preventing 1 2 ... tLlc5 and keeping an eye on the
a7 pawn. 26.J:Ic4, to have both J:tb4 and J:td4 at his dis
posal, would be met by 26 ...g5 ! , and again Black
1 2... b6
will escape.
12 . . .tLlb6 1 3 ..ic8 J:tc8 14.0-0-0 c3 1 5 .bc3 .t!.f8
26 ... l:!.d6 27.l:!.d3 l:!.e6! 28..:te6 we6
was another way of trying to fight back, though
29.f4 hS!
White is indisputably better.
The less material on the board, the better the
1 3.0-0-0 c3!
chances of drawing.
Black's only way to free himself is to exchange
30.h3 hg4 31 .hg4 l:l.b8 32.c4 l:l.b4
some pieces to relieve the pressure.
33.l:l.d4 l:l.b8
1 4.bc3 ttJcS 1 5.c8 .l:lc8 1 6. ..ic5
Ljubojevic realizes very well that he cannot lose
bc5 1 7.l:l.he1
as long as Shirov cannot improve the position of
17 .h4 .t!.f8 1 8 .f3 J:tf5 is nothing special, but 17.f4 his king.
to gain space on the kingside was interesting.
34.l:!.e4 wd6 35.c5 Wd7 36Jla4 aS!
1 7... l:lf8 1 8.f3 l:lf4
This pawn can be given up, as long as Black gets
Ljubojevic stated afterwards that he should have the kingside pawns in return.
exchanged one rook with 1 8 ...J:td8, but 19.J:td8
37.l:l.a5 l:tb4 38.l:l.a7 WeB 39.f5
<;t>d8 20.J:le4! is also very unpleasant.
l:tg4 40.fg6 l:l.g6
1 9Jle5 l:l.a4 20. .l:lde1 l:l.c7 21 .<;t>b2
White is left with a and c pawns which are quite
l:l.b7 22.wa1 l:l.c4 23.l:l1e3
powerless.

1 41
 18 ...tt:\g6 is not a good idea in view of 19."e2
41 .b2 .:gs 42.c4 .:cs 43.c3
intending c2 and 'ii'h 5, when Black's king is in
dS 44.a4 .:es 45.d4 l:l.h5 46.a5
danger.
cS 47.a6 l:ra5 4S.c5 bS 49..t[b7
cs 50.l:re7 .:as 51 .e5 l:ra1 1 9JU1 ? !
52.d6 .l:h1

And Shirov stopped his efforts. Draw.

51 40.6
D Kamsky
Salov
Notes by Gata Kamsky White i s dreaming of f4-f5, but at this moment
19.a4 was interesting, forestalling B lack's future
counterplay on the queenside and creating the
1 .e4 c5 2.lbf3 lbc6 3.d4 cd4
positional threat of a4-a5.
4.lbd4 e6 5.lbc3 "flc7 6.j_e2 lbf6
7.0-0 a6 s ..te3 ..tb4 9.lba4 ..te7!? 1 9 l:rd7
.

1 0.c4 0-0?!
Black has no particular plan, so he is trying to
Better is 10 ... tbe4, the move played by Karpov make useful moves ; the 19 .. .f6 break is to
against me later in the tournament. White's advantage, because the e6-pawn be
comes exposed and the f6-g7-g5 complex of
1 1 .lbc3 b6
squares would also be weak.
1 1 ...d6 has been played a few times and after
20...te4 .:adS 21 ..tb7 'it'b7
12.:c 1 tt:\e5 is Todorovic-Ninov, 1992 (0- 1 );
22.lbe4 "flc6 23..tf2
12 ...d7 Wolff-Gobet, 1993 (1-0).
With the idea of 'ii'e2 and h4, trying to exploit
1 2.lbc6 dc6 1 3.f4 c5
the terrible knight at f8. Frankly, Black's defensive
Black has a slightly inferior but very solid posi resources should be adequate to defend this posi
tion, since there are no weaknesses. tion.
1 4.e5 .:dS 1 5.'ifc2 23... g7 24."fle2?!

15.d3 was interesting, with the idea of devel A waste of time; White's optimal position would
oping the queen on the kingside, since the plan be with the bishop on c3, since only then can he
with a2-a4-a5 never takes place in the game. launch a direct attack with g4 and f5. However
this position is not easy to obtain; perhaps 24.b3
15 .. lbd7 1 6.d3 lbfS 1 7.l:rf3!
preparing f2-e1-c3 was better.
It is necessary to provoke Black into playing
24...b5!? 25.b3 bc4 26.bc4 l:l.b7
g7-g6, in order to have the knight on e4 threaten
27J:tb3
ing to come to either f6 or d6 with maximum
effect. It is not clear whether 24 ... b5 has helped White
or Black. During the game I felt that Black would
1 7... ..tb7 1 S . .I:h3 g6
be okay if all rooks were to be exchanged.

1 42
 Round S

Probably forced, since against passive play White

27.. J:tdb8 28J:tfb1 ttJd7
should win without any problems, for example
40 ... tLld7 4 l .f5 ! ef5 42.tLld6 J:tb8 43.'it'g5 with
the lethal threat of 44.tLlf5, winning instantly.
41 .'it'b3?

As pointed out in the bulletin, 41 .'it'c5! would

have won almost by force: 4 l ...'it'c5 42.tLlc5 J:tc3
43 .l:lc8 with multiple threats such as tLle4-g5 or
tLle4-d6 and J:tc7 winnning a pawn, for example
43 ... a5 44.tt:Je4 lle3 45.tt:Jd6 g5 46J:J.c7 gf4
47.J:tf7 g8 48.c5 l:le5 49.c6 l:!.c5 50.c7 with the
idea of lle7 and c8'it', winning.
41 ...'it'e4 42.'it'g3 aS?

A mistake. It is not easy for White to claim an

advantage after 42. ..'it'c4.
29.e1 !
43.'it'h4 tbh7
After this move White's advantage becomes
more threatening, since Black cannot play f6. Necessary, because 43 ...'it'c4 loses to 44.'it'f6
'itg8 45.I:k8 followed by 46.J:tc7, winning.
29... l:!.b3 30.ab3 h5 31 .'it'e3 g8
32J:J.d1 lLlf8 33.a5 tbd7 34J:J.d3 44.'it'f2 a4
ttJf8 35.h3 g7
44 ... g5 immediately was also interesting.
At this moment we were short of time and I was
45J:J.c8 'it'c4
unable to find a plan. It seems to me that the
direct 35.g4 with the idea of g5 and tLlf6 is very A sad necessity, as Black probably realised, that
unpleasant for Black. 45 ... a3 loses beautifully to 46.l:lc5 'it'a8 47.J:tc7
a2 48.'it'a7 ! ! al'it' 49.J:tf7, mating. Now Black
36.ttJf6 tbh7 37.ttJe4 ttJf8 38.h2
will be lost if White manages to hem in the h7
llb7
knight with h3-h4.
Threatening l:ld7, exchanging the rooks.
46J:J.c5 'it'e4
39.d8 dB 40J:J.d8

47J:J.a5?
40.. .l::J.b3
The decisive mistake. 47.h4 should win without

1 43
difficulty, since 47 ... g5 is bad: 48.fg5 lLlf8
75.e8 g8 76.l:l.e1 g7 n.J:I.e2
49.l:lc7 'it'e5 50.'it'g3.
g8 78.l:l.f2 tt:le5 79.J:I.f4 g7
47...g5! 48.fg5 h4! 49.'it'f3 80.l:l.h4 96 81 .J:I.e4 tt:ld3 82.e7
g5 83.l:l.e3 tt:lf4 84J:tg3 f5
49 .g3 is better.
85.f7 e5 86.l:tg8
49... 'it'd4 50.'i!t'g4 'it'g4 51 .hg4
tt:lg5 52.J:I.a4 tt:lh7 53.h3

Going into this endgame I thought it was winning

for me. However, Black now manages to erect a
blockade. It was necessary to play 53.l:la8,
preventing 53 ...lLlf8 due to 54.l:lf8, and the pawn,
endgame is won. However 52 ... lLlg5 still draws .
53 ... tt:lf8 54.J:I.e4 tt:lg6

The rest does not require any commentary.

55.g5 g8 56.g4 h7 57.f3
g7 58.e3 f8 59.d4 e7
60.'1t>c5 d7 61 .b6 e7 62.c6
f8 63.d6 g7 64.J:I.e2 f8
65J:tf2 g8 66.J:I.f6 g7 67.J:I.f1 86... tt:lg2 87.J:I.g2 e4
f8 68.l:tf2 98 69J:ta2 g7
Draw.
70.I:la4 fa 71 .J:I.e4 ea 72.c6
e7 73.c7 f8 74.d7 g7

1 44
Round 6
Salov 4.5
An and 3.5
Karpov 3.5
Polgar - Anand 0- 1 Polgar 3.0
lvanchuk 2.5
Shi rov - Karpov 1/2 - 1/2
Kamsky 2.5
Kamsky - lvanchuk 1/2 - 1/2 Shirov 2.5
Salov - Ljubojevic 1 -0 Lju bojevic 2.0

51 1 2.5 8.a4
D Polgar One would expect this move as a preparation for
A nand 9.c4 (8.c4 bS 9. ..id5 J:tb8 ! Andersson) but
Notes byjeroen Piket Polgar plays this system the fashionable way.
8 .....ie7 9 .id3 0-0 1 0.0-0 lbcS
.

1 .e4 cS 2.lbf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.lbd4

Black can do this without protecting the pawn on
lbf6 S.lbc3 a6 6.f4
eS, as there will always be a nasty check on d4 if
Polgar's favourite answer to the Najdorf, the White decides to be greedy.
opening system the grandmaster from Madras
1 1 .Wh1 ef4 1 2..tf4 .tg4 1 3.'ife1
specially prepared for this tournament. Some
how I have the feeling that the razor sharp posi
tions arising after 6.c4 or 6.g5 would suit
our female star much better.
6 ...e5
Of course B lack can play different moves and
transpose to other lines, but this is a man's move
and therefore belongs to the Najdorf Variation.
7.lbf3

7.ttJf5 and 7.ttJb3 are less to the point and thus

less frequently seen.
7 ... lbbd7
Formerly it was held that Black should prevent In the database of the press room there were no
the active development of White's bishop at c4 games with this move, but in the post-mortem the
and so 7 ...f!ic7 was almost universal. Nowadays players were mumbling about an idea of the
everybody sticks to the text move. American player Sherzer. The former trainer of

1 45
the Polgars, Hazai, like many others preferred the
1 9.. .'ti'f6!
theoretical 1 3 ...d2.
The black lady is needed to resist the attack. The
1 3 l:l.c8 1 4.ttJd4
.

impulsive 19 ...lL'le4 would have met its Waterloo

14 ..ic4 was obviously not advisable because of after the pretty 20..ie5 ! ..e5 21 .lL'lh6.
14.. .l2:Jce4 but 14...g3 i.h5 15 ..ie3 (15.lL'ld4 seems
20.ed5 f8! 21.ttJh6?!
worth investigation) 1 5....ig6 as in Sherzer-Wolff,
New York 1994, looks a logical continuation. At first sight a very exciting position, but if one
looks a little bit deeper (and that is something
1 4 'it'b6! 1 5 .ie2!?
.
Vishy certainly did!) one sees that Judith's attack
Objectively this move deserves to be marked as this time does not come to much. 21 .l:!.ab1 ! ? was
dubious, but as it demands very precise defence her best chance to fight for survival.
from Black we can regard it as an interesting
21 h8 22.e3
. 'ti'g6 23.lL'lf7
attempt to confuse the opponent. Anand expected
g8 24. 'ti'h3
15.a5 and after 1 5 . .. lL'ld3 ( 1 5 .....b2 16. ..td2!)
16.ab6 lL'le1 17.l:l.ae1 l:lc4 he judged the position It is understandable that Polgar wants to keep the
to be more or less balanced. queens on, but a nice try to escape was 24 ...g6
hg6 25 . .ic5 (25.l::l.a3) 25 ....l:lc5 26 ..l:la3 .l:ld5
1 5 e2 1 6...e2 .l::J.fe8!

(26... .l:lc2? 27. .l:lh3 J:If2 28J:th8 'i.t>f7 29.l::l.f2)

One would expect 1 6 .....b2 to lead to the game 27.g4 .l:le6? (27 ...fie7 ! and White has to face the
after 1 7 .lL'lf5 .l:lfe8, but both players were in facts) 28 . .l:lh3 .l:lf6 29.lL'lh6!
trigued by the intermediate move 17 ...td2!
24 ttJe4!
.

1 7.ttJf5 'ii b2
Suddenly Black has the initiative besides being
Now both players can pmctise their tactical abili a pawn up, and that is sufficient for Anand to
ties, so let the show begin ! finish the game convincingly.
1 8.tLld5 ttJdS 1 9.'iig4! 25 ..l:U3 h5! !

A beautiful move, but it was necessary to come With the strong and hard to parry threat of
up with something extraordinary, as 19.ed5 ..tf6 26. . . 'it>h7 and 27 . . . g4.
20 ... g4 (20 ...f3 ..c2) 20 ...lL'le4 ! 2 l .lLlh6
26 .l:taf1
(2l ..l:lab1 and 21 ..l:lac1 both fail to 21 .. .lL'lf2!)

21 .. .<it>f8 22..l:lae l ? lL'lf2 23.'i.t>g1 ..b6! ! (Not The despemte 26.g4 (hoping for 26 .. .'iVg4? 27.lL'lh6
23 ...lL'lg4?? as Black then gets mated by 24 ..id6 gh6 28.J:Ig1) would simply beansweredby 26...lL'lf6!
l:i.e7 25 ..ie7 ..te7 26.J:!.f7 'i.t>e8 27 ..l:lfe7 'it>f8
26...'il'g4 27.d4
28.lLlf7!) would leave White helpless.

1 46
 Round 6

Some players would throw in the towel but Judith Kamsky played twice in this tournament. The
postpones this for a while. first time was in the fifth round against Salov, but
apparently this did not impress the Latvian
27... 'ii'h3 28.l:l.h3
grandmaster enough to try it himself against
Also 28.gh3 tt:Jd2 29.tt:Jh6 rJih7 would not have Karpov, but afterwards he realized he should
helped. have trusted Gata's choice.
28 .. J:I.c7! 1 O ... bc6 1 Vbb6 l:tb8 1 2.tLlc8 'ii'c 8
1 3.e5 ti:JdS 1 4.c1 cS
Winning the exchange and the game.
So far nothing new on the horizon as the game
29..l:thf3 ti:Jd2 30.ti:Jg5 tLlf3 31 .gf3
Salov-Karpov from the second round is being
.l::!.c 2 32.tLle6 .l::!.ec8 33.e3 .l::!.e2
copied, but now Shirov opts for the move recom
34.f4 .l::!.a2 35..l:tg1 .l::!.a4 36..i.h6
mended by the Encyclopedia, where Valery Sa
h8 37.tbg7 h7
lov went for 1 5 .'it'd3.
White resigned.
1 5.c4 tbe7 1 6.b3 'ii'c7 1 7.b2 0-0
The analysis of this game is based on notes by
Anand. 17 ... d6 to open up the position is obviously too
early, as it only benefits White: 18 .ed6 ( 1 8 .h5 ! ?
deS 19 . .1:tel d4 20.d4 ed4 2 l .'it'd4;;!; 011-
Abramovic, Tallinn 1983) 18 ...i.d6 19.'it'd4 !
tbf5 20.'it'e4 and White was clearly better in
Matulovic-Portisch, Sousse 1967. 17 ...a5 ! ? has
not yet been tested in practice.
1 8.h1 .l:lfd8!

An improvement over 18 ...tt:Jg6 which was put

51 40.6 into practice by two experts in this variation:
19.d3 ! ( 1 9.f4 .l:tfd8 20.'ifc2 d6 !6-!6 Hellers
D Shirov Ribli, Tilburg 1993) 19 ....1:tbd8? ! 20.'it'h5 d6
Karpov 2 l .ed6 d6 22. .l:tad l c5 23.g3 .l:tfe8 24.f4 and
Notes byjeroen Piket White is to be preferred, Bouaziz-Andersson,
Szirak 1987.
1 .e4 cS 2.tbf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.tbd4 1 9. 'it'c2
tbc6 5.tbc3 'ii'c7 6.e2 a6 7.0-0
19.d3 d6 20.'it'e2 looks more active to me.
tbf6 8.e3 b4 9.tba4
1 9...a5!
Both players are confident in their own prepara
tion and are ready to face each other fully armed.
9 ... e7

Towards the end of the tournament in the 12th

round Karpov experimented with 9 ...d5 , but he
chose the wrong opponent, as the Indian grand
master Viswanathan Anand easily won that
game.
1 0.tLlc6

In an excellent article about this event in the

German magazine Schach Shirov and his second
Lanka consider 10.c4! to be White's best, as

1 47
Black makes a useful move, as White was ready
26....if8!
to answer 19 ...d6 with 20.ed6 d6 21 .l:radl .
With the idea of fixing the queenside by c6-c5.
20.l:tad1 a4
27.c3 c5 28Jlf3 t2Je7 29.'ife5 'ifc8
As long as the centre is closed the two white
bishops will not be all that useful. Meanwhile Too passive and missing a small chance to get a
Karpov weakens his opponent's queenside. slightly favourable position by 29 ... a7.
21 .l:td3 30.J:rd3 tt::Jc6 31 . 'ife3!
It is always hard to take seriously but 21 .ba4 Overprotecting b3 and keeping an eye on the cS
might have been considered, as after 2 l . ..a7 pawn, so Black is not able to manoeuvre his
22.J:rd3 White can start an initiative on the king bishop via e7 to f6.
side while the a4 pawn can always be protected
by .idl . Shirov feared 21 ...d6 but after 22.ed6
.id6 23.c5 (I do not mind 23 ...2 or 23 ...-icS)
I believe White is better.
21 ...ab3 22.ab3 t2Jg6 23.f4

31 .. 'ifa6

Shirov gives 3 1 ...e7 32 ..if3 li:JaS 33 ..ie5 as

unclear but 33.f5 ! would not appeal to most
Black players.
32..if3 t2Jd4!?
23... d6!
With time trouble imminent Karpov decides to
Preventing White from starting an attack and content himself with a draw.
trying to exchange the rook on d3, so that he can
33. .id4 cd4 34.'ifd4 g6! 35.g2
put pressure on the b3 pawn. Karpov at his best!
'ifa2 36.l:!.d2 'ifaS
24.ed6 d6
Winning the pawn back with 36 ...b3 was also
24 ....id6 25.g3 f8 would allow White to keep possible, but White does get a strong trump on
his rook on the board with 26.df3 ! c6 after 37.c5 J:rb4 38."f2 J:rc4 39.c6.
25.g3 37..lld3
I believe it would have been better to simplify by And both players were satisfied to split the point.
25.f5, with an approximately equal position. Perhaps this was not the most exciting game, but
it definitely was a very correct one.
25 ..Jld3 26. d3
26 ..id3 was more precise to threaten the advance
f4-f5. Protecting the b3 pawn is never a problem,
as White has c3 and .ic2 at his disposal.

1 48
 Round 6

51 1 8. 1 4 where Black was successful is Oll-Topalov,

Moscow Olympiad 1994: 14 ...hg4 1 5.f4 tt:lc4
D Kamsky 16.'ti'e2 'ti'c8 1 7.f5 tt:lb2! 18.f6 tt:ld1 19.'ti'g4
Ivanchuk ef6 20.J:!.g1 J:!.c4 21 .tt:ld1 d5-+ .
Notes by]eroen Piket
1 4... t2Jeg4! ?
A few days after this game I met Vasily Ivanchuk Actually a very unusual move as most Black
at breakfast and after a while our conversation players prefer 14 ...tt:lc4, a variation I could write
went into the direction of his game against Gata another book about.
Kamsky. 'Chukky' immediately gave me his ex
1 5.l:the1
planation for playing the Dragon: 'When I was
young (probably very young, as he is only 25 Centralization is always good.
years old) I used to play the Dragon and I won
1 5 ... 'tWa5
my first five games with it, so I considered it a
good opening and kept on playing it. Then sud The only move! 1 5 . . .b5 16.e5 a5 17.e6! a4 18.ef7
denly I lost three games in a row and I stopped r;i;>h8 20.e6 gave White a decisive advantage in
playing it until recently. When I remember the Gazik-Ferreira, Groningen 1979/80.
positive sides of this opening and the early vic
1 6.f5
tories as in Novgorod 1994 before my game
against Short, I go for it! ' It is unnecessary to More direct than, and an improvement over
mention that Vasily again had these same dreams 1 6.r;i;>b 1 , as Kamsky played against Basin in
about the most romantic Sicilian on the morning Minsk 1988, when he was barely a teenager.
of the sixth round. Oll-Shabalov, Tbilisi 1989 ended in a quick draw
after 16.tt:lf3 c6 17.tt:ld5 'ti'd2 1 8.J:!.d2 J:!.e8
1 .e4 c5 2.tbf3 t2Jc6 3.d4 cd4
19.c3 b5.
4.t2Jd4 g6 5.t2Jc3
16 gf5! 1 7.t2Jf5 f5 1 8.ef5 l:l.e8
..

A wise choice, as Ivanchuk had already experi

1 9.tbd5
enced the Maroczy bind with White and Black in
this tournament. Defending the f5 pawn and - in my opinion -
securing a slightly better ending.
5 ... i.g7 6.e3 t2Jf6 7.c4 0-0
1 9.. .'iYd2 20J:td2 'Ot>f8!
For 7 .. :ifa5 see Polgar-Kamsky round 9.
8.i.b3 d6

Black ignores the side lines (8 . ..a5; 8 ... 'ii'c7) and

challenges his opponent in the main line of the
Dragon.
9.f3 d7 1 0.'ifd2 l:l.c8 1 1 .0-0-0
t2Je5 1 2.h4 h5

Constantly fashionable and probably the best

option. I was taught the Dragon Variation by the
expert Genna Sosonko who always preferred the
alternative 12 . . . tt:lc4, and so I played this move
against Kasparov in Tilburg 1989.
1 3.g5 l:l.c5 1 4.f4
21 .a4!
Quite a good move but the second hand choice.
Clearly more knowledge is demanded for the The immediate 21 .c3 would have given B lack
uncompromising move 14.g4. A recent example time to advance on the queenside with 2 l ...b5 !

1 49
 21 ... b6 31 ... e6!
Always useful, as after an exchange of knights Ivanchuk does not miss his chance. Kamsky
on d5 the b-pawn is no longer hanging. probably only reckoned with the immediate
31 ...ll:Jd3 which would have been parried by 32.e3.
22.'itb1
32.fe6 fe6 33.l:te5!?
A little too cautions. There was nothing wrong
with the obvious and strong 2 l .c3, as piece Gata is trying to rectify his earlier mistakes and
sacrifices on c3 do not seem to work. starts to defend his precarious position with great
skill. 33.e6 g5 34.hg5 tLld3! would have run
21 ... lbd5 23..l::l. d5 .ifS 24..l::l.c 5?!
into unsolvable problems.
Too eager. Again 24.c3 (I like the manoeuvre
b3-dl very much) was advisable and though
Ivanchuk does not have many worries he would
face a long afternoon.
24 ... bc5 25.c3 l:l.b8!

33....i.e5?

Logical, but throwing away the win. 33 ... de5 ! ,

following the rule of exchanging as many pieces
as possible when one has a material advantage,
leaves White praying for a miracle both after 34.
Quite a difference, as Black has improved his i.d8 ! (even more precise than 34 ... i.g5) 35.d8
pawn structure and does have certain unpleasant l:Z.d8 36.a5 l:Z.dl 37.a6 J::Z.a l 38.b7 (38.d3 l:ta3
threats thanks to the b-file. and e4) 38 ...e4 and after 34.e6 g5 35.hg5 e4.
26.'itc2 'itg7 27..id5 lbe5 34..i.e6 c3?!
Otherwise 28.i.f3 would follow. As I am not sure whether this position can be
won, I do not criticize this move too much, but
28.l:te4 as
34...d4 and 35 ... .ic5 could be better.
Stopping the push b2-b4 or not?
35..id5 .l::l.e8 36 ..ib7
29.b4
36.a5 would be too hasty, as 36. . .J::Z.e5 37. '>t>c4 b3
Panic or just over-optimistic? puts the lights out for White.
29.i.d2 or 29.f4 would have maintained
36....l::l.e1
equality.
36. .. l:te5 37.d8 l:te3 38.i.g5 1:1.el would lead to
29 cb4 30.cb4 ab4 31 .'itb3
..

the same position as in the game.

Gata's idea is to make the b-pawn harmless by
37.a5 l:ta1
blockading it with his king, and then his own
passed pawn becomes powerful. 37...l:Z.bl 38.'>t>c4 J::Z.a l 39.8 ! (39.a6 d5 ! 40.r,t>b3

1 50
 Round 6

J:!.a3 4 l .'tt>c2 d4 is too much to handle) 39. ..el

50 ... J:!.a4 51 .Wf2 wgs 52.wg1 l:tb4
40.a6 d5 41 . 'it>d5 b3 42..ib6! also secures a draw.
53.i.e2 l:th4 54.g3 lla4 55.wf2
38.a6 d5 39.i.e71 lla2 56. c;i;>f3 llb2
Perhaps it was this move that Ivanchuk underes Draw.
timated.
39... J:!.b1

39 .. J:ta3 40.\t>c2 d4 4l .'it>d3 ! and 42..ic5 is

White's next.
40.Wa4 b3 51 3.7
40. . .d4 4 l .'it>b5 .!:tal 42.\t>c4 and Black cannot 0 Salov
improve his position. Ljuboj evic
Notes by]eroen Piket
41 .i.a31

Not 4l .a7? b2 42.a8..- (42. 'it>h7 43.a8..- l:tal After having visited rounds 1 to 5 from the
44...ia3 b l .., is no improvement) 42...J:!.a1 43.a3 beginning to the end I decided before the start of
J:!.a3 ! 44.\t>a3 b l .., and White gets mated. the sixth round to do some useful analytical work
in my room, as enough material had been pro
41 ... b2 42.Wb3
vided by the players in this first part of the
42.a7? loses for the same reason as on the pre tournament. I was actually joking to my wife that
vious move. of course now, when I would not be present,
something hilarious might happen which I then
would not witness. And indeed it did. Valery
Salov played against his former fellow Linares
citizen 4 ...-d4 instead of the obligatory 4.ti:ld4.
Ljubo protested and Arbiter Geurt Gijssen ex
plained to Valery that it was in the rules of this
tournament that 4.ti:ld4 should be played. The
players continued their game and Salov over
whelmed his opponent with an unusual line and
scored an easy victory. After the game the players
started a by now notorious argument, but as I was
in Buenos Aires to analyse the games and not to
report on events before and after the games,
being just a chess grandmaster and not a chess
journalist, I will concentrate on the game!
42 ... i.f6 43.a7 J:!.a1 44.i.b2 l:ta7
45.i.d5 l:ta61 1 .e4 cs 2.tt:Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:Jd4
tt:Jf6 5.f31
45 .....ib2 46.'it>b2 J:!.a4 47.g3! 'it>h6 (47... l:tg4 48...if3
J:!.g3 49..ih5 is a theoretical draw) 48 ...if3 and Black An exclamation mark for the effect this old and
cannot avoid his last pawn being exchanged. almost forgotten move had on the outcome of this
game.
46.i.f6 l:tf6 47.i.f3 Wh6 48.wc3
l:tf4 49.Wd3 l:th4 50.we3 s ...es
White has lost his h4 pawn, but in return his king As it soon becomes clear that Ljubo does not
is back just in time to achieve a well-known really know or remember the theory, 5 ... e6 or
blockade. The final position can be found in the 5 ...g6 might have been a better practical decision,
endgame books. to transpose to other Sicilian lines.

1 51
1 52
 Round 6

To keep on digging in ancient history: 10 . . . gf6

6.b5 d7
1 l .'i:Yd7 t2Jd7 12.fe4 c8 13 .t2Jc3 b4 14.0-0-0
In New in Chess Salov makes a very apt remark c3 1 5.t2Jd6 rtJe7 16.t2Jc8 l:.c8 17.bc3 c3 with
about his opponent's choice of this less precise some - but insufficient - compensation for the
move: 'Interestingly, he may have played this exchange, Keres-Biumenoff, Tallinn 1938. I
in analogy with his game against Judith Polgar have to say that I - and probably many others
(Black), in round 4' . 6 ... t2Jbd7 7.t2Jf5 d5 8.ed5 - would opt for this kind of possibility to try
a6 (8 . . . 'i:Ya5 9.t2Jc3 b4 10.d2 0-0 was an and save my skin, as what happens in the game
attempt to solve Black's problems by Ljubo is quite hopeless.
jevic and Najdorf, but later the Yugoslav grand
1 1 .<;t>d1 gf6 1 2.fe4 tt:Jc6 13.c3! l:lg8
master himself found the refutation, namely
10.t2Jg7 <;t>f8 1 I .t2Jf5 ! , as the bishop on b5 Ljubojevic told me a few days afterwards that
cannot be taken because of 12.h6 and the Black's only chance to try to survive was
black king has no good squares to go to) is 1 3 ... d8 14.t2Jd2 h5 followed by t2Je7 and l:.g8.
supposed to be Black's best answer, and wher In Zhuravlev-Agrest, Podolsk 1990, 13 ... 0-0-0
ever the bishop goes Black will have good 14.t2Jd2 t2Je7 15 .t2Je7? e7 16.rtJe2 g8 17.g3
counterplay for the pawn. h5 ! was okay for Black, but 1 5 .rtJc2, similar to
the game, was of course the correct way to play.
7.il..d7 'it'd7?
1 4.g3 l:ld8
But this is really a terrible move. 7 ... t2Jbd7 8.t2Jf5
d5 9.ed5 'i:Ya5 10.t2Jc3 t2Jb6 1 1 .'i:Ye2 0-0-0 12.0-0 Only here does the game deviate from earlier
t2Jbd5 1 3 .t2Jd5 d5 would give a very compli examples. 14 . . . g4 15 .t2Jd2 d8 16.rtJe2 t2Je7
cated fight, according to Suetin. 17.t2Je3 d2 1 8.rtJd2 e4 19 .'1t>d3 a4 20.b4 !
with a decisive advantage was seen in a 'classic'
8.tt:Jf5 dS 9.il..g5!
encounter of Alekhine versus Rellstab, Salzburg
1943.
1 5.t2Jd2 tt:Je7 1 6.<;t>c2

White certainly does not mind the exchange of

knights, as the e4 square then becomes available
with a technically easily won ending.
16 ... <;t>d7 1 7.l:lad1 ! <;t>cG
17 ...rtJe6 fails to 18.t2Jb3 d1 19.t2Jc5 mate !
1 8.tt:Jf3 l:ld1

Because ofthis very strong move Black is in deep

trouble, as was already proved half a century ago.
9... de4

A matter of taste. Other players might prefer to

be worse but keep the queens on the board with
9 ... d4 1 0.f6 gf6 1 l .c3 t2Jc6 1 2.'i:Ya4 a6 1 3.0-0
c5 14.b4 b5 1 5.'i:Yb3 a7 1 6.c4 ! as happened
in Koch-Meyer, correspondence game 1949 !
1 o.fG 'it'd1

1 53
 30.ab5 ab5 3 l .c4 would have given Valery a
1 9.lbe7
passed b-pawn but he prefers to improve on this.
The last important move as 19J:d l l2Jf5 20.ef5
30...h6 31 .lbd5 gS 32.c4 'it;lc6
h6 ! would have spoiled everything. From now
33.lbc3 bc4 34.'it;lc4
on it is a piece of cake for White especially if one
is an endgame expert. The rest speaks for itself!
1 9 ... e7 20J:td1 .l:ldB 21 ..l:ld8 dB 34...h4 35.lbd5 gS 36.h3
22.lbh4 e7 23.lbf5 fa 24.b4
Zugzwang!
The plan is simply to create a passed pawn which
36 ... h4 37.lbe7 'it;ld7 38.lbf5 e1
will do the job.
39.b5 abS 40.'it;lb5 d2 41.'it;lb6 e1
24 ... 'it;ld7 25.'it;lb3 'it;lc6 26.'it;lc4 a6 42.a5 f2 43.'it;lb7 'it;le6 44.'it;lc6
27.a4 b6 28.g4 bS 29.'it;lb3 'it;ld7
Black resigned.
30.lbe3
Round 7
Salov 5.0
An and 4.0
Karpov 4.0
A nand - Salov 1f2 - 1f2 Kamsky 3.5
Polgar 3.5
Ljubojevic - Kamsky 0- 1
lvanchuk 3.0
lvanchuk - Shi rov 1f2 - 1h Shirov 3 .0
Karpov - Polgar 1f2 - 1f2 Lju bojevic 2 .0

51 39. 1 2 6.i..g2 de4!

D A nand Valery made this decision after a half an hour's
Salov thought and rightly opted for this ending, as
Notes by]eroen Piket White is not able to profit from Black's weak
ened pawn structure.
The last round of the first cycle could not have
7.t2Jc6 't\Vd1 8.'d1 beG 9.i..e4
had a better pairing than this game between the
i.b7 1 0.b3
leader of the tournament and the runner-up. Un
fortunately Anand was starting to develop a cold White obviously likes to trade the dark squared
as it was only spring in Buenos Aires, and his bishops as it increases the vulnerability of
state of mind was clearly affected. Black's queenside.
1 .e4 cS 2.t2Jf3 tt:Jc6 3.d4 cd4 1 0 ... 0-0-0 1 1 .'it>e2 i..e7!
4.t2Jd4 e6
To meet 12.a3 with f6.
This was the line the Indian grandmaster ex
1 2.i..b2 i..f6
pected from his opponent and several hours be
fore the game he had come up with an idea which
might surprise Salov.
S.g3

Not entirely new but seldom played, as 5 .tt:lc3

and 5.lLJb5 are generally preferred.
s... ds!

In the game Makarichev-Popov, Soviet Union

1980, Black answered calmly with 5 . ..lLJf6 but
after 6.g2 d6 7.0-0 d7 8.c4 a6 9.lLJc3 .C!.c8
10.lLJc6! .C!.c6 l l .e2 e7 12.l:.dl the white
set-up was a success.

1 55
What is going on? I was just explaining where White switches plans, since playing for f4 is
White is aiming for and at first sight it seems that dangerous one tempo behind. He is pursing
Black is giving him a helping hand. But if we strategical goals, preparing the bishop exchange
look more closely we can understand Salov's on h6, or developing with .l:rfd I and e3 with the
intention, as after 1 3 .f6 tDf6 14.g2 c5 Black idea of tbd5 and c4.
is fully developed and has nothing to fear.
1 1 ... a6 1 2..l:!.fd1 bS 1 3."ii'f4 tt:Jes
1 3.tt:lc3 cS
Black continues his plan of advancing the queenside
Of course Black takes this opportunity to free pawns, gaining space as well as threatening to harass
himself while White's pieces are not very well the knight with b5-b4. His position is preferable.
organized.
1 4.tt:ld4 c4 1 5.a3 e2 1 6.tt:lde2
1 4.b7 \t?b7 1 5.tt:la4 ..ib2 1 6.tt:lb2
tt:le7 1 7.tt:ld3

The obvious 17.tDc4 is not very impressive

either, as after 17 ... tDd5 ! ( 1 7 . .. tDc6 1 8 .c3 .l:.d5
19.tDe3 l:rd7 20 .l:.hdl is not very special but does
give White the benefit of the doubt) 1 8.tDe5 tDc3
1 9.\t?e3 .l:.d5 ! I prefer Black.

1 7 \t?bG 1 8.tt:le5
.

And at this moment Anand quickly offered a

draw, as he suddenly realized that 18 ... .l:.d5 ! is
perfectly playable for Black, since 19.tDf7 l:!.f8
20.c4 .l:rf5 is not very pleasant. So White has to
continue 1 9 .f4 after which 1 9 . . .f6 is possible and
he has nothing to hope for. A very pleasant way
1 6 ..Jlc4?!
for Salov to enter the rest day.
A stupendous move. I thought that I would be
able to exert some pressure on the e4-pawn by
a8, with the idea of doubling rooks on the c-file
and playing for b5-b4. It was better to play
51 1 5. 1 1 1 6... .l:re8 immediately with the idea of d7-b7.

D Ljubojevic 1 7.tt:lg3

Kamsky The knight stands well here and is ready for the
Notes by Gata Kamsky manoeuvre tbg3-fl-e3-d5. White's position is
almost equal.

1 .e4 cS 2.tt:lf3 tt:Jc6 3.d4 cd4 1 7.. Jle8 1 8.h3 "ii' bB?!
4.tt:ld4 g6 5.tt:lc3 ..ig7 6.tt:lb3 tt:Jf6
Black is trying to transpose into the plan men
7.e2 0-0 8.0-0 d6 9...ig5
tioned above. However 18 ...tDed7, preventing
The game has finally transposed into the Classi 1 9.f6, was better.
cal Dragon, Karpov's Variation.
1 9.f6 f6 20.tt:ld5 g7 21 .c3 aS
9 ... e6 1 O.l:.b1 22 .l:!.d2 .l:!.cS

A very strange move, even a novelty. The normal Finally admitting that the rook doesn't belong on
move is I O.h1, preparing f4. c4, I was trying to play b4.

1 0 .l:!.c8 1 1 J!lfd2
23..l:!.bd1 tDc4

1 56
 Round 7

There was a possibility of setting a trap with With time trouble over, Black was able to assess
23 .....Wd8, intending e6 and g5, but it was easily the position as very favorable due to his superior
refuted by tt:Jfl , thus helping White. bishop and more compact pawn structure. There
fore it is logical to transpose into the endgame,
24 .l:i.e2 tt:lb6 25.tt:lf1 tt:ld7

where White is doomed to passive defense.

Growing short of time, Black didn't want to play
42. .l:i.b1 .l:i.dc8 43.tt:lb4 hS
25 ... tt:Jd5 26.ed5 ..Wb7 27.tt::le3 b4 28.ab4 ab4
29.c4 when White stands better. With the idea of creating extra weaknesses on the
dark squares, or of continuing with h5-h4, allow
26.tt:ld2 'tWa7 27.tt:lf3 h6
ing a later f5 .
Black is trying to improve his position and only
44.h4 .1:1c3 45.l:ta2 ..td4
then to play e6 and tt:Je5.
Another possibility was the immediate 45 .. .f5
28.'tWe3 'tWb8 29.'ifd2 tt:lb61
right away, 46.ef5 gf5 with the potential threat of
Now White is unable to support the knight on d5 d5-d4-d3 and e6-e5-e4.
with the other knight, so Black's chances of
46.'iitf1 l:ta8
playing b4 have drastically improved.
46 .. J8c4 would have allowed White some coun
30. 'ifd3 tt:lc4 31 .tt:ld4 e6
terplay after 47.a4 i.c5 48.tt::la6.
47.tt:lc2 ..tcs 48.'iite2 .1:1c4 49.f3
'iitg 7?! 50 .1:1b3?

The decisive mistake. White would have kept his

chances alive after 50. .U.b7, preventing the threat
of f7-f5 for some time. Even so B lack should win
with accurate play.
50 f5 51 .tt:le3 .l:i.ca4 52.ef5 gfS
..

53.g3 'ii>f6 54.f4 a3

The simplest.
55.tt::Jd 1 cs 56 . .1:1a4 .1:1a4 57.tt:lc3
l:ta1 58.'iitd3?1 l:tf1 1

Finally !
32.tt:le3 .l:i.d8 33.tt:lb3?! .l:i.cc8
34.'ifb1 'tWb6 35.'ifd3 tt:leS

It was also possible to improve the position even

further by playing 35 ... h5 with the idea of
36 ... h6, cramping White's pieces.
36.'ifb1 ? !
More resistance was offered by 36 ...Wd2.
36 ... b4 37.cb4 ab4 38.tt:ld4

38 .a4 is impossible, because 38 ... ..Wa6 wins a

pawn.
Forcing the rook exchange, after which a pawn
38 ... tt:lc4 39.tt:lc4 .l:i.c4 40.tt:lc2 ba3
endgame arises on the board since the bishop
41 .ba3 'tWb1
dominates the knight.

1 57
 59.tt::le2 l:f3 60.c2 l:b3 61 .b3 1 0.f4 d7 1 1 .e21? bS 1 2..if3
f2 62.c4 e7 63.b5 d7 l:b81?
64.b4 c6 65.c4 dS
Probably a new move. Dvoiris-Yermolinsky,
White resigned since both 66/it.;b4 .iel 67.'it>b3 Simferopol 1988, saw 12 ...1:c8 and after 13.ttJb3
c;t>c5 and 66.c;t>d3 <;t>c5 67.<;t>c3 d4 68.c;t>d3 rot>d5 Black failed to equalise.
lead to Zugzwang.
1 3.tt::lc6!?

Of course, 1 3 .g4 tt::Ja5 ! is in Black's favour.

1 3 .ic6 1 4..id41 eSI

51 29.3
D Ivanchuk
Shirov
Notes by Alexey Shirov

1 .e4 cs 2.tt::lf3 tt::lc6 3.d4 cd4

4.tt::ld4 tt::lf6 5.tt::lc3 d6 6.g5 e6
7.'ti'd2 a6 8.0-0-0 h6 9.e3 'ti'c7
More common here are 9....ie7 and 9....id7, but I
think that the text move hasn't said its last word yet.

1 58
 Round l

It wasn't exactly my idea to play the structure

arising after 14 ... b4 1 5 ...if6 gf6 16.lLle2 h5i.
1 5 ...ie3

In the post-mortem lvanchuk suggested

15 .'ifel ! ? (with the idea of 15 ...ed4 1 6.e5 with
an attack), but after 1 5 .. Jk8 ! Black is more than
okay. 15 ...if2! ? would have been interesting.
1 5.....ie7

15 ...b4? ! was too early in view of 16.ttJd5 ..id5

17.ed5 e4 18 ...ie2 b3 19.ab3 l:tb3 20.'iti'bl l:tb8
21 .a6.
Here lvanchuk offered a draw and I accepted, as
1 6.'itb1
I was not sure whether I could fight for an edge;
16.g4 can now be met by 16 ... b4 1 7.lLld5 d5 for example 23 ... .C.c8 24 ..C.f2 'ifc5 25.l:tfd2 with
18 .ed5 b3 ! 19.ab3 ef4! 20 ...if4 l:tb3 with the idea of 26.a3 followed by 27.'ifb4 is unclear.
counterplay. I was a little bit afraid of 16.lLld5
d5 17.ed5, but in fact Black may choose here
between lvanchuk's suggestion 17 ...ef4 1 8 . .if4
0-0 19 . .C.hel .C.fe8 intending 20 ...f8. or
17 ...lLld7 !? 18 ...ig4 lLlb6 19.b6 .C.b6, in both
cases with approximate equality. 51 20.2
1 6 0-0 1 7 .:!.he1 t2Jd7
..
D Karp ov
lvanchuk was slightly scared of 17 . .. b4!? Polgar
18 .lLld5 d5 19.ed5 lLld7 with the idea of Notes by]eroen Piket
20...ef4 21 ..if4 lLlb6 with an attack. In my opin
ion, after 20.'ifd3 ! intending 20. . . l:tb5 2l..g4 These players have met in several tournaments
the position is rather unclear. and Karpov has always opened with his queen's
pawn to test Judith's King's Indian Defence.
1 8.t2Je2
Only this year in Linares Anatoly preferred the
1 8 .ttJd5 .id5 19 .'ifd5 would lead to equality after king's pawn, to meet Polgar's Sicilian with the
19 ...ef4 20 ..if4 lLlb6 2 l .'ifd4 ttJc4 ! 22.e5! deS fashionable 2.c3, which indeed turned out to be
23.e5 ttJe5 24.'ife5 'ife5 25 .l:te5 f6. Interest a great success. This time he is forced to play one
ing was 1 8.f5 ! ? l:tfc8 19.l:te2 lLlb6 20.b6 of the main lines.
l:tb6oo.
1 .e4 cs 2.t2Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.t2Jd4
1 8... t2Jb6 1 9.b6 l:!.b6 20.t2Jg3 ttJf6 S.tt::lc3 e6 6.g4
h4!?
Karpov shows his ambitions of today and goes
Trying to simplify matters in the approaching for the Keres Attack, an opening he frequently
time-pressure. used in the seventies and early eighties when his
More complicated would be 20 .. J1d8 2 l .lLlf5 current opponent was still wearing diapers.
f6 22.g3 (22.lLld6?? b7-+) 22. . .b4 with un
6 ...a6
clear play.
Not the most common answer. 6 . . . ttJc6 and 6 . . .h6
21 .l:!.f1 g3 22.hg3 i..b7
(as in Polgar-Salov, 3rd round) are more often
The position is equal. seen in practice.
23.'Wa5 7.g5 ttJfd7 8...ig2 g6?!

1 59
 17.e3 b4 18 .ab4 lLlb4 with active play was also
satisfactory for Black.
1 6... b4

An over the board inspiration. Funnily enough

the main continuation in the Encyclopedia
(8 ... lLlc6 9.h4 e7 10.a4 h6 1 l .gh6 g6 !) is based
on a game Karpov-Hartmann, Hannover 1983,
with the surprising result of 0- 1 .
9.h4 1 7.lt:Je2?

As later in the game White had some problems After a long think Karpov did not dare to con
in putting his pieces on the right squares, Karpov tinue with the intended sacrifice 17 .lLld5, be
proposed 9.e3 as an alternative. cause after 17 ... ed5 1 8.'fi'd5 fi.b7 (18 . . .lLldb8
19.lLlc5 !) 19.e6 fe6 20.'it'e6 lLle7 2l .b7 'it'b7
9 ... lt:Jc6 1 0.h5?!
22.0-0-0 'it'c6 23.lLld4 the queens get exchanged,
This gives White control of the h-file, but again and although White might have enough compen
simple developing moves like 10.e3 followed sation to ensure half a point it does not look very
by 1 1 .1t'e2 and castling queenside were safe and tempting. There remains the last alternative
sound. 17.lLla4 which was White's best attempt, though
Polgar proved in the post-mortem that after
1 o ... .:tga 1 1 .hg6 hgG 1 2.t4
17. . .lLla5 18.lLld4 lLlc4 19.f2 lLlc5 20.lLlc5 fi.c5
It was too late for 12.e3 as after 12. .. lLlde5 2l .b3 lLla3 22J:tc1 (22.0-0 ! ?) 22 ...lLlb5 ! Black is
13.b3 ( 1 3.'ii'e2 is not possible because of fine or even better than that.
13 ...lLld4 14.d4 'it'g5) 13. ..lLld4 14.'fi'd4 fi.g7
1 7...lt:Jb6! 1 8.fi.f2
Black has nothing to complain of.
Interesting was 1 8.lLld2 aS (18 ... b7 19.b3 ! and
1 2 ... b6 1 3.lt:Jb3
White will occupy the beautiful d4 square as the
The FIDE world champion was not very enthu push d5-d4 is premature) 19. 'it'f2 lLla4 20.b3 lLlc3
siastic about the further prospects of the knight with an unclear position.
in this game, and therefore 1 3.lLlf3 was a better
1 8 ... a5 1 9.lt:Jbd4 a6 20.lLlc6
try, to play for f4-f5-f6, paralysing the black
fi.e2 ! 21 .'ife2 c6 22J:th3!
kingside.
Victor Kortchnoi once told me that Karpov is
1 3 .. .'ii'c7 1 4.'iff3
very good in positions were he can put his rooks
14.e3 b5 1 5.'it'd2 ( 1 5 .'it'e2 b4) 15 ... lLlb6 on the 3rd and 4th rank. Here it is the only way
16.0-0-0 lLlc4 17 .'it'f2 b7 1 8 .'tt>b l would also to avoid becoming much worse.
have given a hard struggle.
22.....tc5 23.b3 'tt>e7 24.l:.c1 Uh8
1 4 b5 1 5.e5 d5 1 6...ie3
.. 25.Ud3 Uac8 26.fi.g3 i..d4?

16.a3 would not change much as 16 . . . b7 Playing for tactics while it is completely unnec-

1 60
 Round ?

essary. 26 .....igl ! looks like a good move to me sight does not seem to work as it allows the tactic
to dominate the game and there can be no doubt 4l .l:i.d5, but after 4 1 . . .<'1:lc5 ! ! 42Jk5 c5 it is
about the fact that Black is beautiful. White who is in danger of losing several pawns
and thus the game.
27.f1 b2 28.l::tc d1
40.f3
The c2 pawn is untouchable so Karpov improves
his position. 40.c4 would be a little too smart as 40 ... bc3
41 .l:td4 b5 ! White has burned his own fingers.
28 ... tt:Jd7 29.f2 'i!VbS 30.l:lb1 c3
31 .l:i.f3 'ifc6 32.l::th3 l::t h3 33.h3 40 ... 'ifc2 41 .d4 d4 42.l::td4
a4 34.g4 a3 'ifc1 ! 43.e2 'ifc2 44.f1 'ifc1
45.e2 'ifc2 46.l:.d2
In order to avoid severe time trouble both players
have limited themselves to logical and solid The only way to keep the game going.
moves. However, I don 't like Polgar's last move
46 ... 'ifc7 47.'i!Va5 'i!Vb8
and I suggest 34 ... l:i.h8! as a better attempt.
Judith has her own ideas of solving the problems
35J:td1 b2 36.e1 ! 'ifcS 37. 'ifa6
and saving the draw. Other players might have
Despite his time pressure or maybe thanks to it opted for 47 ... l:i.b7.
Karpov has clearly improved his position and is
48.l::td4 l::tb5 49.'i!Va6 tt:Je5!
not worse any more.
37... l::tc6 38.'ifa4 l::t b6 39.f2

This was the point of the young girl's previous

play and indeed it works.
39... d4?! 50.fe5 'ifeS 51 .d3 'iffS 52.e2

In the press room everybody condemned this Karpov realizes very well that he should not push
move as it makes the two white bishops very his luck and a fascinating battle ends peacefully.
much alive. With Ivanchuk and Anand I was
52 ... 'ife5 53.d3 'iffS
discussing the consequences of the exchange
sacrifice 39 .. .'fc6! 40 ...ib6 b6, which at first Draw.

1 61
Round B
Salov 6.0
An and 5.0
Karpov 4.5
An and - Ljubojevic 1 -0 Polgar 4.5
Kamsky 4.0
Salov - lvanch u k 1 -0
lvanchuk 3.0
Kamsky - Karpov 1f2 - 1/2
Shirov 3 .0
Shi rov - Polgar 0- 1 Ljubojevic 2 .0

51 1 9. 1 t2Jb3 19.cb3 t2Jd7 20.'it>b1 was clearly better for

White in De la Villa Garcia-Novikov, Pamplona
D A nand 1990. According to Hiibner 13 ...hg5 should be
Ljuboj evic replaced by 1 3 ...b4 or 1 3. .. t2Jfd7.
Notes by]eroen Piket
1 2.l2Jce2 d5 1 3.h3
The players have had a rest day so they have
recharged their batteries for the second cycle of
this tournament. In general many players want to
forget their bad results and in this event it is easy
to do so, as today one can make a clean start.
1 .e4 cS 2.l2Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.l2Jd4
l2Jf6 5.l2Jc3 a6 6.e3

This treatment against the Najdorf has become

popular due to the hard work and good results of
British players like Chandler, Nunn and Short. I
guess this explains the unofficial name English
Attack. Anand has become an adherent of this
line since he studied it very thoroughly with his
second Patrick Wolff. Again the most consistent move. The Spanish
players Romero and Magem Badals are respon
6 ...e6 7.f3 bS 8.g4 h6 9.'QlVd2
sible for this razor-sharp continuation. 1 3.ed5
lLlbd7 1 0.0-0-0 b7 1 1 .h4
and 13 .t2Jg3 are known side-lines but 1 3. t2Jf4! ?
This was to be expected, rather than the alterna still needs to be tested in practice.
tive 1 1 .d3.
1 3 ... de4
1 1 ... b4
The first time I became familiar with the compli
1 I .. .t2Je5 1 2.e2 a5 1 3 .g5 hg5 14.hg5 .a.h 1 cations of this variation was during the 1990
15 . .a.h 1 t2Jfd7 1 6.a3 0-0-0 17.f4 t2Jc5 1 8 .t2Jb3 Olympiad in Novi Sad, where my team-mate

1 63
Brenninkrneijer was taken by surprise in his game Of course, White would like to take on h3 with his
against Magem Badals and lost after 1 3 . . .'iWa5 rook, but Anand did not see what to do after
14.';tb l g6 1 5 .g5 ttJh5 16.f4 0-0-0 17.f5 gf5 18 ...e5, and indeed 19.h8 ed4 (19...ef4 20."ifb4 fe3
18.ef5 e5 19.ttJe6! fe6 20.fe6 'it>b8 2l .ed7 d4 2 l .ttJf5 'ti'g5 22.f8 'it>f8 23.'ti'a4 ttJd7 is not bad
22.ttJd4 ed4 23.'ti'd4. I vaguely remember the either) or 19.ttJf5 ef4 (19...'ti'g5 20Jlh5) 20.h8
Dutch team analyzing the move 14 . . .g5 ! ? 'ti'g5 does not seem to give White anything. Ljubo
jevic was intending, incidentally, to play 18 ...tUg5
1 4.g5 hgS!
19.h8 'ti'e7! followed by castling queenside.
Ljubo needs to open the h-file for his idea.
1 8...e5! 1 9.lLlb3
1 5.hg5 ef3 1 6.lLlf4 lLle4 1 7.'it'e1
A sad necessity as 19.ttJf3 'ti'a5 20.\t>bl tUc3 !
wins on the spot.
1 9... a5!

Black's attack plays itself.

20.lLld2
White's pieces have been completely pushed
back, whereas Black's control all the key
squares.
20 'it'c7 21 ..ib6
..

2 l .ttJe4 e4 22.h2 c8 is also not very hopeful

and after 21 .ttJf3 b3 22.ab3 a4 White will cer
tainly get mated.
So far this is all known and it makes you wonder
21 ... lLlb6 22.lLle4 l:lc8 23.l:lh2 'it'c6
what Nimzowitsch would think about it.
24.t2Jg3 'ti'e6 25.\tb1 lLlc4 26.tt:Jf2
17 . . .tUgS was Black's first try but this has a clear
drawback; 1 8 .tt:Jde6 ! as happened in Romero White is completely outplayed and of course
Thkmakov, Wijk aan Zee 1991 . A very important Vishy realized he needed a miracle to escape
game was Anand-Beliavsky, Groningen PCA from this mess.
qualifier 1993, where the Black player followed
26...lLlb2!?
the latest analysis of Kasparov, but even this did
not save him in the most spectacular game of
1993: 1 7 . . .f2 1 8.f2 'ti'g5 19.e3 'ti'h4
20.ttJde6! 'ti'el ! 21 .lUg7 ! 'it>d8 (2 l ...g7 is sup
posed to be better but apparently Anand did not
mind repeating this) 22J:thel h3 23.tt:'lh3 g7
24.ttJg5 ! 'it>e8? 25.ttJf7 ! and White won. The
grandmaster from Madras admitted that it was
only the fine memories of this game that per
suaded him to play this line again.
1 7... h3!
A very good idea but not such a surprising one,
since in Groningen Ljubojevic had already sug
gested this move. Somehow it did not get pub
lished and Anand simply forgot it. This was an unpleasant surprise for Anand, as he
had only seen that 26. .. tUa3 27.ba3 c2 28.d8 !
1 8.lLlh3
'it>d8 29.'ti'dl did not work for Black.

1 64
 Round B

winning possibility: 28 ... lLlc3 29.lLlc3 J:ic3 fol-

27. .l:rc1 ?
lowed by 30...e4 or 30. . . J:ia3.
Equivalent to resigning, which is what most
29.Wa1
players would do if they did not dare to take the
knight. Anand took Ljubojevic at his word and 29 ... i.e4 30.lLle4 l:ie4 was threatened.
so did most people, but let's see what could have
29 .'ifg4 30.Vi'f1 ! tt::l b6 31 .tt::ld2
.

happened if White had accepted the challenge with

27.'it;>b2. 27. . J:lc2 28.'it>c2 'ii'a2 29.'it>cl (29.'it>d3
'ii'b3 30.'it;>d2 'ifc3 checkmate) 29 ... 'ifal 30.'it>c2
b3 ! 3 I .'it;>b3 (3 I .'it;>d3 'ii'd4 is mate) is forced and
now Black has a choice:

31 .. .l:rc5??
It was time to finish the game with 3 1 .. .'ii'g3
32.lLlc4 'ifh2 33 .lLlb6 'ife2 ! 34.'ifh3 'ii'd2
A) 3 l . . . a4 is what Lj ubojevic intended and 35.'it>b l 'ii'd4 as Granda Zuniga explained to
what Anand feared, as during the game it everybody in the press room.
smelled like mate to both players. Indeed
32. Vi'f2 tt::Jc4?
32.'it;>c4 'ifa2 33.'it>b5 'ife6 ! ! 34J:ld8 (the only
way to parry 34 . . . 'ifa6 or 34 . . .'ifc6 mate and Overlooking White's next move. 32 ...'ii'd4 was
34.'it;>a4 'ii'c4 35 .'it;>a5 i.b4 36.'ii'b4 'ifa6 is also still sufficient to win.
the end) 34 . . . 'it>d8 35.'ii' a5 'it>e8 36.'ii'b6 'ii'd5
33.l:.h8! .l:rc8
37 .'it;>a4 'ifc4 38.'it>a5 i.b4 39.'ii'b4 'ifa6 leads
to a beautiful mate, but White can escape with 33 .. Jic7 was more to the point, but in time
32.'it;>c2 'ifa2 33 .'it;>d3 'ii'd5 34.'it>c2 'ii'b3 trouble Ljubo is losing the thread of the game.
35.'it>d2 i.b4 36.'it>c l and now 36 ... i.el is im
34.l:.e1 tt::Jd2?
possible as then B lack in turn gets mated:
37 .l:.h8 'it;>e7 38 .lLlf5 'it;>e6 39.lLlg7 'it>e7 40Jie8. Black completely collapses and now the tables
So Black must be satisfied with perpetual are turned.
check. However, both 34... lLld6 35 .J:ie5 'it>d7 36.'it;>b l !
B) 3 l ...i.d5 ! 32 . .l:rd5 'ifel 33.lLlfe4 ! (defi and 34 ... f6 35.gf6 gf6 36.lLlh5 l:.c6 (36 ...'ii'g6
nitely the most stubborn) 33 ...'ii'b l 34.'it;>c4! 37.lLlc4 J:ic4 38.'ii'b 6!) 37.J:igl 'ii'd4 38.'ii'd4 ed4
(34.J:ib2 a4 33 .'it;>c3 'ifcl 34.l:.c2 'ifa3 ! (even 39.lLlc4 .l:rc4 40.l:.g8 would also have given
better than 34. . .i.b4) 35 .'it>d2 i.b4 36.'it>dl White the better prospects.
'ii'b3 ! ! 37.J:ie5 'it>d8 and the a-pawn decides
35 . .l:re5 'it;>d7 36. Vi'd2 wc7
White's fate) 34 . . . 'ii'b4 35.'it;>d3 'ifb3 36.lLlc3 f6
and Black maintains a big advantage. 36 ...i.d6 37 ..l:rc8 i.c8 38.lLlf5 'ii'g l 39.'it;>b2 'ii'b6
40.l:i.e7 would not have solved the problem either.
27 .. .tt::Ja4 28.lLlfe4 .l:rc4
37 .l:rf8!

I will restrict myself and give only one other

1 65
 6 ...g6

The Lvov grandmaster transpose into the

Dragon.
6...e5 or 6 ...g4 would have given an entirely
different kind of game.
7.l2Jde2
As swapping the knights on d4 is known to be
a relief for Black, White avoids this possibility.
7...d7
In my opinion another developing plan, with .a.b8
Vishy does not miss the opportunity to annihilate and a6 after castling, equalizes more easily.
his opponent.
8.g2 g7 9.h3
37 ... l:r.f8 38.l:r.e7 wc6 39.l2Je4
The routine 9.0-0 would have allowed Black to
And nobody, least of all the players, could be carry out his idea of exchanging the light
lieve what had happened. So instead of winning squared bishop with 9 ... ii'c8 and 10 ...h3 .
2-0, Ljubojevic lost his mini-match against
9...'ii'c8
Anand by the same score.
Black's first achievement is preventing White
from castling.
1 0.b3?

10.e3 is more natural and the results are clearly

in White's favour: 10 . ..0-0 1 1 Jk1 b5 1 2.b3 l:r.b8
13.ii'd2 a5 14.t2Jd5 t2Jd5 1 5.ed5 t2Jb4 ( 1 5 ... t2Jd8?!
16.i.h6 f6 17.i.g7 IJ;;g7 1 8 .c4 b4 19.h4 gave
White the better chances in Zhuravliov-Lanka,
Germany Bundesliga 1994) 16.c3 t2Ja6 17.h4 h5
51 1 5.3 1 8.0-0 t2Jc5 19 .t2Jd4 and White obtained a lasting
edge in Abramovic-Petursson, New York 1986.
D Salov
1 0 ... 0-0 1 1 .b2 a5!
Ivanchuk
Notes byjeroen Piket The start of an original strategic plan.
1 2.a3
Valery Salov's main goal in the second cycle of
this tournament is consolidating his one point 12.t2Jd5 t2Jd5 13 .i.g7 fails tactically to 1 3 ... t2Je3 !
lead, while Ivanchuk will desperately try reach
1 2... J::i.a6 1 3.l:r.b1 l2Ja7 1 4.l2Jf4 l:r.e8
to the upper half of the tournament table as soon
as possible. Sooner or later the e7 pawn needs protection.
1 .e4 c5 2.l2Jf3 l2Jc6 3.d4 cd4 1 5.l2Jcd5
4.l2Jd4 t2Jf6 5.l2Jc3 d6 6.g3
White has to play for simplification, because
Salov seems to have prepared all kinds of side 15.0-0 is not advisable due to 15 ... e5, when he
lines and he uses them successfully. lvanchuk is loses material.
recognized as one of the best theoreticians in the
15 ...l2Jd5 1 6.l2Jd5 b2 1 7.l:r.b2 a4!?
world and therefore during this event he had to
face several g3 systems.

1 66
 Round B

1 9.tt:Jb6 c7

19 ...1id8 might be the most precise, but because of

time shortage lvanchuk seems happy to repeat moves.
20.tt:Jd5 ea 21 .d2

To me it is unclear why Salov decided to refrain

from repeating moves with 21 .lLib6, as White is
certainly not better.
21 .. tt:Je5 22 .t:lb4 a4! 23.0-0
.

23 .lLib6 1ic2 24.lLia4 lLid3 and 25 ... lLib4 is good

for Black.
What could be more natural than breaking up the
23 c6 24. .t:la1 tt:Jd7
opponent's pawn structure? Nevertheless 17 ... b5
.

followed by c6 and e6 was worth considera Severe time trouble does not improve the standard
tion, as the white rook on b2 remains completely of the game. 24 ... 1id8 ! with the follow-up 1ia5 and
misplaced and passive. d5 would have guaranteed lvanchuk a bright
future.
1 8.ba4!
25.a4 dB 26. 'ifh6 e6?!
Of course Salov takes this opportunity to activate
his rook. Unnecessarily weakening his position. Again
26 .. .'ii'a5 was to be preferred.
18 . tt:Jc6
27.tt:Je3 f6 28.l::. d 1
The knight is heading for c4.

1 67
 than the more usual 10.ttJc6. Kamsky already
knew this from his own experience, as the Span
ish grandmaster Illescas easily held his own with
Black after the knight exchange in Madrid 1994.
The text move had already been played in 1977
by Larsen against Karpov. It's a small world !
1 0... tt:le4

Karpov accepts the challenge. 10 ...0-0?! gave

White fine prospects in Kamsky-Salov in the 5th
round.
1 1 .c5!

28 ... g5??

But this is clear panic. 28 ... .1:!.a4? fails to 29. e5 !

and 30.c6, but 28 ...a4 should be enough to
keep the position more or less balanced.
29.'i!ff6 tt:Jf6 30.d6 ea8

30 ....l:!.c8 3 1 .e5 is similar to the game, but

30 ...ttJd7 was the most stubborn attempt to fight
back.
31 .e5! .tg2 32.a6 a6 33:tg2
tt:ld7 34.tt:lc4 c6 35.f4 gf4 36.gf4
tt:JcS 37.tt:ld6

And in this lost position, while playing 37 .. .f5, A new move and a good one. 1 I .ttJc6 bc6 12.d4
Ivanchuk overstepped the limit. 38 ..1:!.c4 would ttJf6 1 3 .ttJb6 .l:!.b8 14.c5 d6 15 .cd6 d6 16.ttJc4
have left Black without an answer. h2 17 .'it;>h1 c5 18 .c5 c5 19.c5 with an
unclear position was played in De la Riva-lllescas,
Lleida 199 1 . 1 1 .f3 with the idea of c5 and .l:!.c 1
is similar to Gata's plan and was played by
Gutero against Sion, Sevilla 1989.
51 40.6 1 1 ...tt:lf6
D Kamsky Aiming for the d5 square as 1 1 ...ttJc5 is not an option
Karpov due to 12.ttJc6 c6 13.ttJc5 c5 14 . .1:!.c1 d6 15.b4.
Notes byjeroen Piket
1 2...tf3 0-0 1 3.c1

An interesting battle between two of the greatest Of course it is a matter of taste, but I imagine that
fighters the chess world knows at this moment. most players would prefer to be on the white side.
Both players are determined to catch up with the For the moment the players have the same goal,
leader of the pack! which is making useful moves to improve the
coordination of the pieces.
1 .e4 cs V2:Jf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:ld4
tt:lc6 5.tt:lc3 'JI//c7 6 ..te2 a6 7.0-0 1 3... 1d.b8
tt:Jf6 a..te3 .tb4 9.tt:la4 .te7 1 0.c4!
Making the jump to b6 less annoying.
This is clearly a better attempt at posing Black
1 4.g3
some problems in this Taimanov-Paulsen system

1 68
 Round B

A multi-functional move, as it gives the bishop rial one, e.g. 23.'ifc2 (23.b4 'ifh3 24.tt'le5 e6 or
on f3 a lasting future on the h 1 -a8 diagonal, while 23.l:.c2 l:.dl ) 23 ... e8.
the other bishop might one day threaten to go to
22 ...l:!.e6
f4.
22 ... 'ifh3 is best answered by 23.'ifh4.
1 4... g6
23.:tfd1 'ife8 24.e7 'ife7 25.tt:lc6
With his pawn majority in the centre it is to be
'ti'e8 26.'ifa6 g7
expected that Black will be advancing both his
d- and e-pawn, and then it will be useful to cover After this forced sequence of moves (26. .. c8?
the f5 square. 27.tt'le7) we can conclude that Kamsky has done
a good job as he is now a pawn up.
1 5.tt:lb6 l:rd8 1 6.'ifa4

Increasing the pressure against c6 so it will not

be easy for the opponent to free himself.
1 6 ...e5

Karpov is running out of space, so he decides to

return the pawn for some activity.
1 7.tt:lb3 d5 1 8.cd6 l:ld6 1 9.tt:la5
d7?!
19 ...e4 was sharper and probably more to the
point as after 20 . .ig2 (20 ..ie4 tt'le4 21 .tt'lc6 c6
22.'ife4 .ifS is no problem for Black) 20 ... .if5
21 .tt'lac4 l:.d3 22 ..if4 'it'd8 23 ..ib8 'ii'b8 24.tt'le3
(24J:tfdl ! ?) 24... 'ife5 25.tt'lbc4 'ife6 Black has
27.tt:lb8?
good compensation for the exchange.
But this allows Black too much active play. 27.b4!
20.tt:ld7 'ti'd7 21 .c6!?
was much more resolute and after 27 ... l:lc8
21 .tt'lc6 bc6 22.c6 'ife6 23.b3 looks more ob (27 ... l:lb4 28.'ifa3 ! followed by 29 . .i:.d8) 28.b5
vious but 23 . ..h5 ! gave Karpov enough counter l:la8 29.'ifb6 e4 30.'ife3 ! (30.'ifd4 e3 3l .fe3 l:la2)
play in the post-mortem. Karpov would have had a lot more problems.
21 ... bc6 22.c5! 27 ... .l:.a6 28.tt:la6 'it'b5 29.tt:lc5
'ifb2 30.a4 'ifa3

Prevending 31 .a 1 as in this endgame too the

rook behind the pawn would be very powerful.
31 ..l:.c2

Missing the last opportunity to keep the initiative.

3 l .c4 ! (3 l .tt'ld3 e4 32.l:la1 'ii'b3 33.tt'lf4 e3 !
34.f3 e2 35.e1 'iff3) 3l ...h5 32.h4 (32.h3? h4)
32 .. .tt:Jg4 (32 ...'ifa2 33.dc1 tt'ld5 34.tt'le4 tt'lb6
35.l:lc7 !) 32.tt'le4! was still promising for White.
31 ... h5!
Karpov understands very well that now is the
time to attack.
22.tt'lc6 .if8 and I do not see any way for White
32..l:.e1
to convert his positional advantage into a mate-

1 69
Not an easy decision in mutual time trouble.
51 39.4
32.h4 e4 33J:te1 b4 34 ..l:i.ee2 e3 ! 35 .fe3 l2Jd5 !
typifies the strength of Black's queen and knight. D Shirov
32.'it>g2 b4 33 .f3 e4 34.fe4 l2Je4 would have Polgar
led to the same result as in the game. Notes by]eroen Piket
32 .. h4 33.'0t>g2 h3! 34.'0t>h3 f3
This game was awarded the price for the best
Creating some serious threats against the white novelty of the tournament. Thejury consisting of
king. correspondence grandmaster J.J. van Oosterom,
grandmaster L. Polugaevsky, grandmaster M.
35 .::Z.e5!

Najdorf and yours truly were unanimous, as the

idea was very original, specially prepared by
Polgar for her game against Shirov, and an im
provement over Kasparov's play.

1 .e4 cS 2.l2Jf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.l2Jd4

l2Jc6 5.l2Jc3 d6

Again Judith plays a different move order, mak

ing it difficult for future opponents to prepare
against her.

6.g4! ?
A Keres Attack with Black's knight still on g8.
Over the past two years this line has gained some
popularity, and Shirov is partly responsible for
The right choice. As White may be forced to give that.
up material, it is sensible to be materialistic.
6 . a6 7.e3 l2Jge7 8.tt:lb3
35 .. l2Jh5!
8.e2 l2Jd4 9 . .id4 l2Jc6 I O ..ie3 .ie7 1 1 .0-0-0 b5
This is sufficient for a draw. 35 ... d1 would 1 2.f4 a5 1 3 .f2 .l:lb8 14.'it>b1 0-0 1 5 .g5 d7
have been an interesting but risky winning at 1 6.h4 .l:lfc8 17.h5 lLlb4 18 ..id2 b6 and White
tempt, as the following line shows: 36J1ce2 fl had to admit he had not achieved anything in
37.h4 g2 38.h3 (38.f4 f3 is certainly not Luther-Vogt, Altensteig 1992.
an improvement) 38 ... f3 ! 39 . .1:12e3 (39.a5 'it>h6
8 b5 9.f4
..

40.a6 l2Jh7 ! 4 l .J:12e3 f5 ! ! and White gets mated)

39 . . .f2 40.l2Jd3 ! 9.e2 l2Ja5 ! 10.0-0-0 l2Jc4 1 l .f4 c7 definitely
gave Black no problems in Shirov-Salov, Linares
36J:te4
1993.
36J1h5 h5 37.g2 d1 38 . .l:i.c3 d5 39.'it>fl
9 ..Q..b7 1 0. f3
.

d1 would have drawn immediately.

After this game the White players might start
36 ... g5 37J:td2 l2Jf4 38 ..l:i.f4 gf4

investigating IO.d2.
39.l2Jd3 hS 40.g2 f3 41 .g1
dS! 1 0... g5!
By pinning the knight and rook Black prevents A very well known pawn push in the Sicilian but
White from improving his position. normally supported by a pawn on h6. Kasparov
played 1 0 . . . l2Ja5 in this position but got into
42.'0t>f1 'ti'd4 43.'0t>e1 a1 44J1d1
trouble after 1 1 .0-0-0 tLlb3 1 2.ab3 ld.c8 13 .h4
c3 45 .I:.d2

l2Jc6 14.g5 a5 1 5.'it>b1 l2Jb4 1 6.i.d4 d5 1 7 .f5 !

Draw. A very important game for theory. in Shirov-Kasparov, Novgorod 1 994.

1 70
 Round B

But let's see what induced Black to give away a for Black to find counterplay on the kingside.
pawn. 13. ..tal5 14.i.d2 .t:.c8 15.lLled4 or 13 ... lLlc4 14.i.d4
e5 15 .lLlg3 ! would have led to an inferior game.
1 4.gh5?

This decision is more than the White position

can handle and is based on an oversight. Dur
ing the post-mortem the players spent a long
time searching for the truth and this was the
result: 14.gh6, the other way of capturing the
pawn, is not so testing for B lack, as 14 . . .h6
( 1 4 . . . lLld5 1 5.ed5 i.d5 1 6.'iVg3 i.h1 1 7.g5 is
hard to assess) 1 5 .i.h6 l:.h6 1 6.0-0-0 ( 1 6.h4?
lLlg6 1 7.h5 lLlh4) 16 ... lLl7g6 gives excellent
compensation for the small sacrifice: 17.'>t>b 1
tt:lc4 18.lLlg3 lLle3 19.'iVd2 lt:\d1 20.'iVh6 'iVf6 or
1 7.lbg3 'iVb6 !
1 1 .fg5
Shirov finally suggested 14.0-0-0 ! as 14 ... lbg4
1 1 .0-0-0, maintaining a clear lead in develop 1 5.i.d4 e5 16.h3 is good for White. Shirov's
ment, was worth considering, but 1 l ...gf4 12.lbc5 intention was to continue after 14 ...hg4 with
(1 2.i.f4 lbg6 13.lt:\c5 'iVf6!) 12 ... lbe5 ! ( 1 2...c8 15.lbf4 i.g7 ( 1 5 ...lbf5 is clearly not good:
13 .f4 lbg6 14.e5 ! and Black has no grounds for 1 6.ef5 ! g2 17.g2 ef5 1 8 .i.a8 'iVa8 19.tal5
optimism) 1 3.'iVf4 bc6 is okay for Black. 'iVc8 20.lbf6 We7 21 ..1:lhe1 .l:lh2 22.c5 !)
16.lbd4 'iVa5, with a sharp and unclear battle
1 1 . ..tbe5 1 2.'iVg2
that awaits future tests.
1 2.'iVe2 takes away the square for the knight, so
1 4... tLlf5! 1 5 ..if2?
after 12 ... b4 13. lba4 i.c6 ! (13 ... i.e4? 14.b6)
14.lbb6 i.e4 Black regains the pawn. Although after 15 .ef5 i.g2 16.g2 .l:lh5 Black is
to be preferred, it was still White's best chance.
1 2... b4 1 3.tLle2
1 5 ... 'iVg5! 1 6.tLla5
13.lt:\a4 lbd5 ! 14.i.d2 .l:lc8 was not very tempting
for White. Alexey sticks to his intended refutation. 16.'iVg5
lbf3 16.'0t>d1 lbg5 was not much of an option.
1 3 ... h5! !
1 6 ... tLle3!

The point o f Polgar's lOth move and quite an

amazing one, as it looked virtually impossible This is the move he overlooked and it must have

1 71
come as a cold shower. 17.'irVg5 ttJf3 checkmates
21 ... t2Jb3 22.'it>c2 t2Jc5 23.t2Jc5 deS
and 17 ..ie3 'i!Ve3 is not very rosy either.
24.e1 tLlf3 25.c3 t2Jd4 26.'it>d3
1 7.'iYg3 'i!Vg3 1 8.ttJg3 t2Jc2 1 9.'it>d1 d6 27.g2
t2Ja1 20.tLlb7 b3
27.b4 rtJe7 28.bc5 .Q.c5 29 ..Q.d4 .l::.hd8 followed
Black is a clear exchange up and White has by ...e5 was another way to finish the game.
nothing to show for it.
27....ie5 28.'it>c4 'it>e7 29Ja1 t2Jc6
21 .ab3
And Shirov surrendered.
2l .a3 h6 followed by 22 .. .rtJe7 and 23 ....l::.ac8 The analyis is based on the notes by Polgar.
would also not have saved the game.
Round 9
Salov 7.0
Polgar 5.5
A n and 5 .0
Shi rov - Anand 1 -0 Karpov 4.5
lvanchu k 4.0
Polgar - Kamsky 1 -0
Kamsky 4.0
Karpov - Salov 0- 1 Shirov 4.0
lvanch u k - Lju bojevic 1 -0 Lju bojevic 2.0

51 23.5 1 0... l:f.e8!

D Shirov
A nand
Notes byjeroen Piket

Before this moment the games between the Lat

vian and Indian grandmasters had always ended
peacefully, which does not imply that the players
had not tried to beat each other.
1 .e4 cS 2.lLJf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:Jd4
lLJfG 5.lLJc3 a6 6.e3

In my opinion Shirov was the best prepared for

this event and during the tournament he also
worked very hard with his second and friend
Lanka. The only disadvantage of their prepara White was very successful in Short-Ljubojevic,
tion was that Alexey ended up playing a lot of Novi Sad Olympiad 1990, after 10 ... tt:Jc6 l l .g5
Lanka's systems, which made himratherpredictable. tt:Jd7 12.f5 tt:Jd4? (12 .. .ti:Jde5 1 3.f6 d8 is criti
cal, according to the books) 13 .d4 .i:ie8 14.fe6
6 ...e6 7.e2
fe6 1 5.h5 .i:if8 16 ..i:if8 f8 17 . .i:ifl . The centre
Normally one would expect Shirov to play a break 10 ...d5 l l .ed5 tt:Jd5 1 2.ttJd5 edS 13 .f3
sharp system like the English Attack, but the day .i:id8 14.d2 does not equalize either. I O ... b5 is
before Anand had been taught how to play the also quite risky for Black as White just pushes
black side of this system in his game against his pawns; l l .g5 ttJfd7 12.f5 tt:Je5 1 3 .f6 Prand
Ljubojevic. stetter-Adorjan, Prague zonal 1985.
7...e7 8.f4 'f/c7 9.0-0 0-0 1 0.g4 1 1 .g5 lLJfd7 1 2.h5
Lanka's favourite continuation. l O.'f/el oc Forcing weaknesses in the black defences. 1 2.f5
curred many times in this tournament. tt:Je5 1 3 .el ttJbc6 14.g3 b5 15 .f6 also looks

1 73
worthy of consideration, as the attack seems hard A novelty and an improvement over 20. "iff4,
to parry. According to Shirov and Lanka, 12.h4 Pavlovic-Tringov, Podgorica 1992.
or the immediate 1 2..ig4 is better.
1 2 ... g6 1 3.g4 f8 1 4.f5

Burning all his boats. In Polgar-Polugaevsky,

Aruba 199 1 , young Judith was wise enough to
play more solidly, viz. 14.a4 lt:Jc6 1 5."i!lfe2 lt:Jd4
16 ..id4 b6 17."iff2 .ib7 1 8 J:tae1 .l::.e7 19.h4.
1 4... tt:Je5 1 5.fe6 fe6 1 6 . .l::.f6
The idea behind White's previous primitive play.
The rook is a useful help for mating the black
king and White has no hesitation about sacrific
ing the exchange on f6.
16 . tt:Jg4 1 7.'ili'g4
20...g7

20. .. c5? 21 ."i!lff3 il.g7 22.lt:Jd5 edS 23 ."i!lfd5 'it>h8

24. .l::. t7 "i!lfb8 25Jig7 demonstrates how danger
ous Black's situation is. During the post-mortem
Anand was of the opinion that 20 ... "i!lfe5 was
more stubborn, but White is doing fine after
2 l ."i!lff3 .ig7 22 . .l::.g 6! "i!lfc7 (22... hg6 23."iff7
h7 24.l:tf3: 22 ... "iff5 23Jlg7 g7 24."i!lfg3
"i!lfg6 25."i!lfe5 g8 26.il.d4+-) 23 ..l::.f6! ilf6
24.gf6 "i!lft7 25.iJ...h6 followed by 26.h l . Also
2 l .iJ...d4 "i!lfc7 (2 1 .. ."i!lfd6 22."i!lff3 !) 22. .l::. t7 eS
(22 . . ."iff7 23.J::!.f7 'it>f7 24."iff4 g8 25."iff6 eS
26.iJ...e5 l:teS 27."i!lfe5 with the threat of 28.lt:Jd5
seems to stress the drawbacks of Black's posi
tion) 23."i!lff3 ! leads to an advantage; 23 ..."i!lfd6
1 7. ..tbc6?
can be met by 24.il.e5 ! .
Anand was clearly in unknown territory and un
21 .c5! 'ife5
fortunately for him he was not very impressed by
his opponent's play. Otherwise he would have 2 1 . ..ilf6 22.gf6 "i!lft7 23."i!lfg5 followed by lt:Jd 1-
thought for a while and come up with the excel f2-g4 is not a serious option.
lent 17 . . . lt:Jd7 ! !, as 18Jie6 fails to 1 8 ... lt:Je5. This
22.1:117 l:lb8!
move had already been played by Andras Ador
jan, an expert on black openings, in his game Generally expected and the toughest defence.
versus Women's Champion Xie, Budapest 1992. 22... a5 loses to 23.lt:Je2 "i!lfe4 24."ifh3 ! , as 25J:tg7
That game continued 18J.Iafl lt:JeS (this is ex follows and mate cannot be prevented.
actly what Anand had in mind) 19."ifh3 il.g7
23.'iff3 'ifg5
20.lt:Je6 "i!lfd7 21 .lt:Jd5 l:te6 22."ife6 "i!lfe6 23 J.Ie6
.ie6 24.lt:Jc7 lt:Jc4! 25.il.f4 iJ...h3 26.lt:Ja8 .id4 23 ...iJ... b7 24.h4 il.a8 25.lt:Je2 "i!lfe4 26."i!lfe4 de4
27.l:tf2 lt:lb2 and Black won. Interesting is 27.b4 would lead to a very unpleasant ending.
19.l:tf8 l:[f8 20. .l::.f8 'it>f8 21 ."i!lfe6! "i!lfe7 22."i!lfb3 ! ?
24.'it>h1 'ifd8?
(22."i!lfe7 'it>e7 23.lt:Jd5 'it>d8).
After playing several only moves Anand col
1 8.tt:Jc6 bc6 1 9.e5! d5 20J:taf1 !
lapses. 24. ..iJ... b7 would have kept him alive,

1 74
though White is preferable after both 25.d6 c5 And Anand ceased the uneven fight.
26.b8 1:tb8 27.lLla4 and 25.lLle2!? The analysis is based on notes by Shirov and
Lanka.
25.1:tg7!

Obviously !
25 ... g7 26.'iff7 hB 27.d6!

51 33.3
D Polgar
Kamsky
Notes by]eroen Piket

1 .e4 cs 2.t2Jf3 t2Jc6 3.d4 cd4

4.t2Jd4 g6

The Accelerated Dragon has gainend some popular

ity lately, and not without reason, as it is a very solid
Sicilian variation where Black is certainly not with
out chances. The Danish grandmaster Bent Larsen,
who lives in Buenos Aires, has always been the
The decisive blow ! principal advocate of this line at the highest level.
27...e5 5.t2Jc3

Anand obviously saw what would happen after After a not very satisfying experience with the
27 ... 'ifd6 but for the audience it was less easy: Maroczy (6.c4) against lvanchuk in the fifth
28.'ife8 <tJg7 29JH7 <tJh6 30.'ifh8 e5 3 1 .h4 Wh5 round, Judith switches to the move which suits
32.'ifh7 <tJg4 33. 'ifh6 f5 34.<tJg2! 'ifd8 35.lLld1 ! her style best.
36.'1t'g1 f5 (36...'ifh4 37.lLlf2 '1t'g3 38.'ife3)
s ... g7 6.e3 t2Jf6 7.c4 'if as
37.lLlf2 Wf3 38 .'ifg6 and the game is over.
Best by test. 7 ...lLla5 8.f7 Wf7 9.e5 lLlg8
28.b8 fS 29.c7 'ife7 30.'ife7
10.lLle6! is a famous refutation similar to the
l:te7 31 .d8 l:te6 32.l:te1
classic Fischer-Reshevsky, USA (eh) 1958/59.
With the threat of 33.l:te5.
8.0-0 0-0
32...<tJg8 33.c7 d4
ECO gives a complicated line after 8 ... lLlg4,
If 33 ... e4 the pawns would also be blockaded and starting with 9.lLlb3 'fi'h5 10.f4 e5, but
White's victory is just a matter of time. 9.'ii'g4 lLld4 10.'ifh4 ! is a simple route to a plus.
34.t2Je4 cS 35.g2 9.b3
35 .e5 ! was the simplest. 9.lLlb3 'fi'c7 10.f4 d6 1 l .i.e2 transposes to one
of the classical main lines.
35 ... c4 36.f3 l:le7 37.d6 1:te6
38.c7 9 ... d6 1 O.h3 d7
Again 38.i.e5 could have been considered. For players who like to leave the well-trodden
paths, I can suggest they study 10... lLlh5 ! ?
38 ... h6 39.c3 gS 40.t2Jg3 e4
41 .g2 dc3 42.bc3 g6 43J:td1 1 1 .f4 'ifhS
1:te7 44J:td6 f7 45.d8 .:tea
Gata seems to prefer this move over the alterna
46.b6 e3 47.1:td7
tive 1 1 . . Jiac8, which occurred recently in the 6th

1 75
match game Kamsky-Anand, Sanghi Nagar
1 8....U.fe8
1994.
18 . .. l2Jc4 19 . .U.e7 lLlb2 20.g7 ! 'i!Vg7 2l .'i!Vd4 is
1 2.tLlf3
quite hopeless for Black.
12.'i!Vd3 b5 1 3 . .l:!.ae1 a5 14.a3 b4 15/ijc6 c6
1 9.tLlb5 l:f.acB?
16.ab4 ab4 1 7.l2Jd5 l2Jd5 1 8.ed5 d7 gave Black
an edge in the 2nd match game Short-Kamsky, 19 . . .b5 20.'i!Vb5 'f!Vf4 2l .'i!Vd3 ! would give
Linares 1994, as 19 .d4 is not possible due to White an irresistible attack, but 19 . . ..l:!.ab8 ! was
19 ....ib5 . the only chance as driving the knight away was
a priority. 20.lLlc7 .l:!.ec8 2 1 .'i!Vc3 ! (21 .lLla6? .ib5)
12 . b5 1 3.a3 as 1 4.'iVd3 a4
leaves White with an undisputed advantage.
14 ... b4 15.ab4 ab4 16 ..l:!.a8 l:.a8 17.l2Jd5 and
20.b3!
White keeps the initiative.
Simple and devastatingly strong.
1 5.d5
20 f5

15 ..ia2 b4 !
Kamsky had used up most of his time here as
1 5 ... tLld5
the knight on aS has no future whatsoever. He
Tempting but the cause of Black's problems . decided to play for some tricks which obvi
15 ... e6! ( 1 5 . . . ab8 looks playable) 16 ..ic6 .ic6 ously do not work. 20. . . ab3 2 l .cb3 f5
17.l2Jd4 b7 and the b5 pawn cannot be taken 22.'i!Ve3 would also not have changed the out
advantageously despite the fact it is attacked three come of the game.
times . 1 7.d4 is still slightly better for White.
21 .'ti'd2 l:f.c2 22.'iVa5 h3 23.l:f.f2!
1 6.ed5 tLla5 1 7.d4!

Exchanging the strongest black piece on the

board and ensuring victory.
1 7... 'iVh6
23...ab3
Rather passive, but 17 ... 'i!Vf5 18.'i!Ve2 d4 19.lLld4
'f!Vf6 20 . .l:!.ad 1 followed by 21 .l2Je4 is not very From this point on Black's play begins to dete
attractive either. Perhaps 17. . .f5 1 8.'i!Ve3 l2Jc4 riorate due to extreme time shortage. In time
19.'i!Vt2 lLlb2 20.g4 .ig4 was the best practical trouble one always has the excuse of having too
chance as Black gains a lot of pawns for the bishop. little time to resign.
1 8.l:f.ae1 24.g7 g7 25.l:f.c2 bc2 26.'iVc3
gB 27.gh3 'ti'f4 28.f2 'iVa4
For the moment White does not bother about the
29.tLlbd4
b5 pawn and just concentrates on the kingside.

1 76
 Round 9

But now Karnsky no longer has any reason to 14.b4 b6 1 5 .ed5 d5 16.c4 0-0 17.e5 c7
continue. 1 8 .d5 ed5 19 ...ic7 "ifc7 20.tt:Jd5 tt:Jd5 2 1 .l:td5
a5 ! is not to everybody's taste.
29... l:la8 30.l:le7 'it'aS 31 .'it'aS l:laS
32.tt::lc2 .tt dS 33.a4 :Z.aS 34..tte4 fS 1 4... l:lc8!
35.l:lb4 'itg7 36.tt::lcd4 'itf6 37.tt::l b3
l:la7 38.a5 gS

And here Black's flag finally dropped.

One can only imagine how much this defeat must
have hurt Karnsky, the way he kept postponing
the inevitable. Judith deserves all credit for an
other 2-0 victory.

51 29. 1 1
Theory develops amazingly rapidly in this spe
D Karpov cific line as every tournament supplies new ma
Salov terial. The text move is the latest recommenda
Notes by]eroen Piket tion, but there is nothing wrong with 14 ..."ife7.
1 5. 'it'g3
Not only does Karpov want to get even after his
unfortunate loss in the first cycle, but also he 1 5 .e5 ti:Jd7 1 6."ifg3 g6 1 7 ...id3 tt:lc5 1 8.'it>b1 b5
needs to win if he seriously wants to compete for 19.tt:le2 d2 20J1d2a5 21 ."iff2 ..Q.d7 22."ifd4 b4!
first place. and Black started a decisive attack in Unzicker
Shirov, Bundesliga 1994.
1 .e4 cS 2.tt::lf3 tt::lc6 3.d4 cd4
4.tt::ld4 tt::lf6 5.tt::lc3 d6 6.g5 e6 1 5... d4
Salov used to be a big adherent of 6 ... d7, but 15 ... ..Q.c7 16.e5 tt:ld7 1 7.f4 0-0 18 ...Q.d3 tt:lc5
lately he has gone for the most fashionable line 19 ...ie3 tt:ld3 20.tld3 f6 2 Uie1 and a draw was
and not without success. agreed in Adarns-Shirov, Munich 1993.
7.'ti'd2 a6 8.0-0-0 h6 9.f4 d7 1 6.e3?!
1 0.tt::lc6 j_c6 1 1 .f3
Only a month earlier in Tilburg White scored a
Later in the tournament Karpov tried 1 I ."ife1 crushing victory with 16.tt:le2 ..Q.a4 17 ...Q.c3 "ifb6
against Shirov, but the text is regarded as the 1 8 .tld4 ..Q.c3 19.bc3 ..Q.b5 20."ifg7 'it>e7 21 .tt:lf4 in
most ambitious. Svidler-Greenfeld. The key question is whether
Black's play can be improved. 17 ... "ifb6? looks
1 1 ... d5 1 2.'ife1 b4 1 3.a3 as
suspect to me; instead I suggest 17 .....Q.c3 1 8 .tt:lc3
This move was originally supposed to be dubious ..Q.c2 ! 19.c2 "ifb6 20."iff2 (20."ifg7 'it>e7)
because of 14.ed5 tt:Jd5 15 .b4, until in a corre 20 ... e5 and the white king cannot escape.
spondence game Zagorovsky-Rokhlin, 1967,
1 6... .ic7!
Black came up with the excellent discovery
15 . . .tt:Jf4 ! 1 6.l:ld8 d8 with more than enough A really annoying move; what to do with the
compensation. queen?
1 4.d2 1 7.f4

1 77
17.'ii'g7 obviously fails to 17 .. Jh7, as the lady
28 ... .l:!.g3 29.'0tf4 .l:!.g1 ?
is trapped. 17.e5 lLlh5 1 8 .'ii'g4 seems fine but
18 ...e5 19.'ii'h5 'ii'f6 ! is simply better for A difficult choice for Valery, but finally he chooses
Black. I expected Karpov to avoid real problems the wrong option. Much better was 29....l:!.g5 30.f.tg5
by 1 7 ..l:!.d4 g3 1 8 ..l:!.d8 .l:!.d8 19.hg3 with an hg5 3 l .g5 (3 l .e5 f6 mate) 3 1 .. .lLlg6 32.g4
approximately balanced endgame. l:.h4 33.'it>g3 f5 ! which would create a lot of threats.
Now Karpov can show his great defending skills.
1 7... tt:Jh5 1 8.'fig4 'ii'f6 1 9..l:!.d4?
30.tt:Jd5!
I consider this a big mistake as White ends up in
a worse ending. 19.e5 ! 'ii'g6 ( 1 9. .. 'ii'f5 20.'ii'f5 30. .l:!.e5 and 30.c;t>e5 both fail to 30 ... f6 followed
ef5 2 1 . l:ld4 b6 22.lLle2! is quite comfortable for by 3 1 . . .e5.
White) 20.'ii'g6 fg6 21 .l:.d4 b6 22 . .I:.d3 e3
30...d5 31 .ed5 tt:Jg6 32.'0te3 l:lg3
23 . .l:!.e3 lLlf4 24. .l:!.gl and although Black has a
33.'0tf2 l:.g5
very slight edge White should be able to draw the
game easily. In time pressure it is a very wise decision to
exchange pieces. 33 ... e5 34Jb4 is unclear.
1 9 ... f4 20.f4 'ii'f4 21 .'ii'f4 tt:Jf4
22.g3 tt:Jg6 23.'0td2 tt:Je5 34.l:lb4 b5 35.a4 .I:.c8 36.ab5 ab5
37.de6
I was always taught that if Black has an untouch
able knight on e5 he is better. 37.c3 should also be sufficient to draw the game.
24.e2 'Ote7 25.'0te3 g5! 37 ... .l:!.h5 38.h5 l:lc2 39.'0te3 I:.c5
40.i.e2 l:le5
Using the kingside majority is the right way to
squeeze the opponent.
26.h4?

Not a good decision. It is clear that allowing

h5-h4 would also run into trouble, but now White
is opening the gate !
26 .. J:lcg8!

41 .'0tf2?

After defending superbly Karpov seems to have

spent all his energy for the day, as from now on
he plays as poorly as we have rarely seen from
him. 41 ..l:!.e4 ! was the obvious way to save the
game.
41 ...fe6 42.b5?
All the black pieces are ideally placed.
Again White should try to swap rooks, so 42.l:f.b5
27.hg5 l:.g5 28 . .l:!.h5
was to be preferred.
Bravely deciding to sacrifice the g3 pawn for
42 ... '0tf6 43.d3 h5 44.l:le4?!
some counterplay.

1 78
 Round 9

44.g6 would give a rook ending very tough to 51 40.2

defend and 44 ..!:1b5 tt:Jf4 45.fl tt:Jd5 typifies
White's problems. 44 . .!:1b8 was best in my view. D Ivanchuk
Ljubojevic
44.. J:!.c5 45.<itte3
Notes by Vasiry /vanchuk
45.b4 .!:1c3 46 . .!:1e3 h4 (46 ... tt:Jf4 47.e4;
46 ...tt:Je5 47.e2) is also unattractive.
1 .e4 c5 2.ttJf3 tbc6 3.d4 cd4
45 ... .!:1g5 46.<ittf2 .!:1f5 47.<itte3 l:l.g5 4.tbd4 e6 5.ttJc3 Wic7 6.i.e3 a6
48.<ittf2 l:l.f5 49.<itte3 tbe7! 7..td3

This variation has occurred several times in my

games, the most memorable being my win over
Judith Polgar in the Monte-Carlo Blind tourna
ment in 1993.
7... tbf6

In recent times Black has very frequently re

jected this natural developing move in favour of
the immediate 7 ... b5 .
8.0-0 tbd4
The afore-mentioned Ivanchuk-Polgar game
went 8 ... d6 9.tt:Jc6 dc6 (9 ... bc6 10.f4 e5 oc
curred in the game Kasparov-Portisch, Debrecen
Well played, as the knight will ensure the ad 1992) 1 O.f4 e5 1 1 .f5 b5 1 2.a4 l:l.b8 ( 1 2. . . b7? is
vance of the pawns. bad in view of 13 .ab5 ab5 14 . .!:1a8 aS 1 5.b5 !
cb5 16.tt:Jb5 'it'c6 17.'it'd6 ! 'it'b5 18.c5+-),
50. .!:1h4 l:l.e5 51 .<ittf2 d5 52.i.c4
and here, instead of 1 3 .Wh 1 0-0 14 . .!:1f3 as
f5 53.<ittg1 g5 54.<ittf2 f5
played, 13.'it'e2 was stronger, in order to launch
55.<ittg1 tbg6 56.e4 tbf4
an attack with g2-g4 after kingside castling by
With strong manoeuvring Black has greatly im Black.
proved his position and I assess the game as
9.i.d4 .tcs 1 o.cs
winning for Black.
By exchanging the dark-squared bishops, White
57.b4 g5 58.<ittf1 e5 59..ta6
can of course hope for only a minimal advantage,
59.b5 h4 60.b6 h3 is not an equal race. but that day I had no desire at all to go in for the
sharp continuation IO.f6 gf6 l l .'it'g4.
59.. J:tg3 60.c4 l:l.b3 61 .b5
1 0 .. .'ii'c5 1 1 .<itth 1
The b-pawn and the bishop have lost all their
strength and Salov continues with excellent tech Against Ljubojevic (Linares 1 99 1 ) , Anand
nique. played l l .lt:Ja4 'it'c7 1 2.c4, but was unable to
gain an advantage. Remembering this, I de
61 ... h4 62.c6 <ittg5 63.b6 .l::!. b1
cided to try a different plan of attacking on the
64.<ittf2 h3 65.<ittg3 g1 66.<itt h2
kingside .
.!:1g2 67.<itth 1 ttJh5
1 1 ... b5 1 2.Wid2
A very impressive result by Valery, as beating
Karpov 2-0 is not exactly commonplace. In view of White's previous move, it looks
more logical to play 1 2.f4 b4 13.tt:Ja4 (1 3.tLlb 1
followed by playing the knight to d2 is also
possible) 13 ... 'it'c6 14.c3, and now 14 . . . tt:Je4 is

1 79
risky in view of 1 5 . .te4 ! 'ii'e4 1 6.lLJb6 .U.b8 instead of 1 6 ... h6 Black can play 16 . . . ll:Je8, re
17 .'ii'd6 'ii'b 7?! ( 1 7 .. J:tb6 18.'ii'b6 .tb7 is better, taining fair chances of a successful defence.
although even then White has the advantage) Stronger for White is 15 .e5 ! ll:Jd5 ( 1 5 . . . b4
1 8 .ll:Jc4 !, and White's initiative is extremely dan 16. 'ifg5 !) 16. 'ifg5 ! , when his attack is extremely
gerous. dangerous. Therefore my opponent decided to
Instead of 14 ...ll:Je4 Black can try 14 ... b7, in the take control of g5.
hope of achieving a good game after 15 .cb4 ll:Je4
1 4...h6 1 5.e5
16 ..te4 (if 16. .U.f3?! 'ii'd 6!) 16...'ii'e4 17.'ii'd2
c6 ! 18 ..ti.ae1 ( 1 8 .ll:Jc5 'ii'd5 !) 1 8 ... 'ii'g6 19.ll:Jb6 The alternative was 1 5.ll:Jd1 .l:[c8 16.c3 'tWb6;!;; .
(19.f5? 'it'h6!) 19 . . J:tb8 20.ll:Jc4 0-0 2I .ll:Je5
1 5 ... ttJd5 1 6.ttJd5
'ii'f5=.
But instead of 15 cb4, stronger is 15J:te l ! d5 In the variation 16 ..1:[e4 'ii'c5 17.ll:Jd5 i.d5
( 1 5 ... bc3 1 6 ..U.c 1 ) 16.cb4 de4 1 7 ..ti.c1 'ii'd5 (or 18 ..1:[g4 g6 19 .c3 White stands slightly better, but
17 ...'ii'd6 1 8 . .tb5 ! rtJe7 19.'ii'd6 rtJd6 20.ll:Jc5 !) 17 . .. 'ifd5 ! is more accurate.
18 .i.c4 'ii'd 1 19 . .ti.ed 1 , and the resulting ending
1 6... i.d5 1 7.c3 'it'c5 1 8.e4
favours White.
e4?!
Taking account of these variations, Black
should play 1 2 ... .ib7 (instead of 1 2 ... b4), since 18 ...c6 was more cautious, aiming for the ex
1 3 .e5? ! b4 ! 14.ef6 ( 1 4.ll:Ja4 'ii'c6 1 5 .'ii'f3 ll:Jd5 change of light-squared bishops in more favour
16.b3 ll:Je3 !+) 14 . . . bc3 gives him a good game. able circumstances.
The move in the game prevents Black from
1 9.l:le4 l:la7 20.l:lfe1 e7?!
playing 1 2 . . . b4 1 3.ll:Ja4 'ii'c6 in view of
14.'ii'b 4. 20. .. .1:[c7 Iooks more accurate, and only if21 . .1:[d4
rtJe7.
1 2...b7 1 3J:tae1 'ifd4?!
21 .l:.g4 l:lg8 22. 'it'f4 'it'c7?!
I prefer 13 ...0-0, and if 14.e5 ll:Jg4 1 5.f4, then
15 ...f5 ! , when in my opinion Black's chances are 22. .. .l:[c7 was better, not fearing the variation
not worse. And ifWhite plays 14.f4, then 14 ...e5 ! 23 . .U.g7 llg7 24.'ii'f6 rtJe8! 25.'ii'g7 'ii'f2 with
is possible, with a perfectly satisfactory game strong counterplay. White does better to play 23
( 1 5.fe5 ll:Jg4). 'ii'g3 ! , retaining the advantage.
1 4.f3! 23.l:ld1 ?!

Simple and strong. Now in a number of vari As my opponent indicated after the game, by
ations the unfortunate position of the black 23 .'ii'b4 We8 24.a4 .l:[b7 25.a5 ! (this was the
queen at d4 may tell. For example: 14 .. J:!.c8 move that I overlooked during the game) I
1 5 .'ii'g5 0-0 1 6.e5 h6? 17.'ii'd 2+-. However, could have achieved a totally winning position.

1 80
 Round 9

23 ... l:tb7 24.h3 aS 25.a3 .l:!.b6?!

Black's best chance was 25 . . .b4, but even then
after 26.cb4 ! ab4 27.a4, or 26 ... .1:!.b5 27.ba5 it
is difficult for him to hold the position.
26.'it'g3 'itfS 27Jgd4 .U.b7 28.f4
g5 29..1:!.f1 .l:!.g6 30.'it'd3

White avoids the trap. The plausible 30.f5 would

have been answered by 30 ....1:!.f6 ! !
30 ... 'it'c6 31 .f5 ef5 32..1:!.f5 .l:!.e6
33.1:td6 'it'c4 34.'it'd1 'ite8?

In severe time trouble Ljubojevic makes a mis

37.l:!.g5! !
take that leads to his immediate defeat. 34. .. g7
was a tougher defence, although even then after A simple, but spectacular finish.
35 . .1:!.d4 c6 36.h4 White must win.
37... hg5 38.'it'f6
35.'it'f3 .l:l.d6 36.ed6 .l:!.b8
Black resigned.
Round 1 0
Salov 7.5
Polgar 6.0
An and 5.5
A nand - lvanchuk 1fz - lf2 Karpov 5.0
Shirov 5.0
Lju bojevic - Karpov lf2 - lf2
lvanchuk 4.5
Salov - Polgar 1/2 - 1fz Kamsky 4.0
Kamsky - Shi rov 0- 1 Lju bojevic 2.5

51 40.7 Yugoslavia (eh) 1978) 9 ... bc6 10.f4 d5 (10 ...c3

1 l .bc3 tLle4 1 2.a3 is certainly worth a pawn.
D A nand 10 ... 0-0 was suggested by Larsen in the mid-sev
Ivanchuk enties but I forgot to ask him whether he still
Notes byjeroen Piket believes this is a sound option) 1 1 .e5 tLld7
12.tLla4 tLlb6 1 3 .c4 e7 14.e3 tLla4 1 5 ."ii'a4
These two boys have now known each other for d7, Marjanovic-Zafirovski, Yugoslavia 1983.
about ten years and despite their rivalry they have
9.W/d4 cS 1 0.Wid3 bS
a very good relationship. Still their games are
very important as they very much respect each
other. In a training match a couple of years ago
Anand was the stronger over eight games, but in
this mini-match the Ukrainian grandmaster is
leading.
1 .e4 cs 2.t2Jf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.t2Jd4
t2Jc6 S.t2Jc3 Wic7 6.e2 a6 7.0-0
t2Jf6 8.'it;h1

This is a pleasant deviation from 8.e3 which

has enjoyed great popularity during this tourna
ment. The text move was and still is considered
an equally good treatment against this Paulsen
Taimanov system.
For a while 10 ... h5 was more fashionable, but
8... t2Jd4
actually this is not so impressive if White contin
A typical capture in this line, but 8 . . .b4 seems ues with his own plan: 1 1 .f4 tLlg4 12.e5 followed
to guarantee a double-edged game as the sources by f3 and tLle4.
show: 9.tLlc6 (9.g5 c3 10.f6 gf6 l l .bc3
1 1 .f4 b7 1 2.f3 hS 13.eS t2Jg4
tLle7 1 2."ii'd2 d5 1 3 ."ii'h6 de4 14."ii'f6 tLlg6 1 5.f3
1 4.b7
e5 16.tLlf5 f5 17.Wif5 e3 Ivanovic-Kurajica,

1 83
This was also played in Nunn-Zichichi in Reg after 25...tt:Je4 26.e7 l:!.d3 27.'ilVd3 both 27...tt:Jc3
gio-Emilia, and although Nunn is a great opening and 27 ... f5 !? 28.h4 l:!.c8 leave Black with no
expert he did not achieve any advantage either. problems.
14.a4! b4 15.tt:le4 e7 1 6.d2 is the only correct
25 ...'it'f3 26. .!::!.f3 .!::!.d6 27.c5
way to make use of the space advantage.
And the players agreed a draw.
1 4 .. .'ti'b7 1 5.tt:Je4 e7
15 .. .'ti'c6 16.d2 tt:lh6 16.l':.ad1 tt:lf5 17.a3 h4
18 J:H3 e7 occurred in Crepan-Rajkovic, Bled
1989.
1 6.h3?! 51 23.1 0
An enormous waste of time as this only helps D Lj uboj evic
Black to improve the prospects of his knight. Karpov
16.d2 is a fairly routine developing move. Notes by]eroen Piket
1 6... tt:Jh6 1 7.e3 tt:Jf5 1 8.f2
For Ljubojevic it was time to stop the rot, as four
Anand is not necessarily worried about having losses in a row is more than enough. There is not
his bishop exchanged for the knight but 1 8 . . .''e4 even an expression for this sequence; players
needed to be prevented. tend to call two defeats in a row 'castling' (0-0)
and three defeats without interruption 'castling
1 8 ... h4 1 9.c3 0-0 20.J:I.ad1 .t:.fcB
long'.
21 . 'iff3 .!::!.at
Karpov, on the other hand, wanted to forget about
In order not to be ditu':'ed by tt:lf6; moreover the his loss in the previous round as soon as possible,
rook is useful on the b-file anyway in case and of course he would not mind prolonging
Ivanchuk wants to piay for a5 and b4. Ljubo's suffering.
22.b3 J:l.dB 1 .e4 cS 2.tt:lf3 tt:Jc6 3.d4 cd4
4.lt:Jd4 e6 5.tt:Jc3 a6 6 ...ie2 d6
22 . . a5 was also equal according to the players,
7.0-0 tt:Jf6 B...ie3 ..ie7 9.f4 0-0
.

but it is understandable that Ivanchuk takes this

1 0.'We1 tt:ld4
opportunity to play d7-d6.
In the third round these same players, with re
23 . .!::!.d3 d6 24.ed6 lt:Jd6
versed colours, also tested the Scheveningen
Variation and with 1 O ... 'ilVc7 they would have had
an exact copy. Karpov deviates, as White won
that game.
1 1 ...id4 bS 1 2.a3

Since its appearance in high level chess this

opening has been the subject of a heavy theoreti
cal debate, as indicated by the large number of
chapters in the books. Magerramov gives 12.f3
b4 13. tt:la4 l:!.b8 14.e5 de5 15 .e5 l:!.b5 ! as satis
factory for Black due to the flexibility of its
pieces. 1 2Jd1 is considered as the main line in
the Encyclopedia.
1 3.....ib7 1 3.'it'g3
25.lt:Jd6
13.d3, to deploy the bishop on the d3-h7 diago
25 .h4 would not have been a good tactic, as nal, is a less fashionable approach.

1 84
Round 1 0

1 85
 22.lLle2 e5 23.J:!.c3 is very imaginative, but
1 3.....tc6
23 .....Wb7 would be quite a damper.
22 deS 23...tes 'ir'b6 24 ...te2
..

Hopefully not too confusing but worth knowing

is the game Karpov-Andersson, Tilburg 1977,
where Black opted for 13 ... .l:l.c8, but after 14.hl
24....ib4
g6 1 5.i.d3 lLlh5 16 ...We3 ..Wd7 17.e2 lLlf4
18 ...Wf4 e5 19 . ..Wg3 ed4 20.i..g4 he never man 24. .. l:td2 was regarded as better in the press
aged to equalize completely. room, but after 25 . .l:l.g3 ! l:l.e2 (25 . . ..1:k8 26.i.d3
l:l.d3 27.cd3 and 28.lLle4 makes the black ex
1 4. .1:1.ad1
change sacrifice very speculative) 26.lLle2 lLle4
Ljubo wants his rook on the d-file, whereas many 27Je3 White can look to the future with confi
other players have preferred 14.i..d3 and 15Jbe l . dence.
1 4... ..Wc7 1 S ..if3 frad8 1 6.<h1 2S..id3 .l:!.d3
h8 1 7..l:l.d3
25 ...c3 26.c3 (26.i.f6? fails to the crushing
Allowing Black some freedom on the queenside. 26. ..i..g 2! 27.g2 gf6 28 .f2 f5) 26 ...J:!.d3
More to the point seems 1 5 .b4, maintaining an 27.cd3 lLld5 28 ...Wh7 'it>h7 29.J:!.h3 leads to per
initiative. petual check.
1 7 ... aS! 1 8.b4 ab4 1 9.ab4 26.frd3
A big difference, as now the b4 pawn is weak. 26.cd3 i..c3 transposes to the previous note.
1 9... ..Wb7 20.fre3 26.....te7
With the idea of transferring the knight via dl to So who is better and why?
f2 in order to support a future attack.
27.tZ:le2! .ie4
20....t:l.g8
Due to mutual time shortage Karpov did not want
This move is a very important part of Black's to take any risk. 27 ...b4 28.lLld4 i..d5 29.lLlf3
strategy with h8. lLle4 would have led to an unclear but roughly
equal game.
2 1 . 'ir'h3
28. .l:!.d2 ..tfS 29.'ir'f3 .ig4 30.'ir'd3
As there are no longer any threats on the g-file,
.ifS 31 .'ir'f3 .ig4 32.'ir'd3 .ifS
the queen moves, as the h7 pawn might be vul
nerable. Draw.
21 ... 'ir'c7 22.eS

1 86
 Round 1 0

51 42. 5 1 3:ti'e2 jLd7 1 4.tt:lf3

D Salov 14.lbc4 is pointless because of 14 ...d5 . 14.<it>h1
Polgar was not a bad waiting move, as after 14 ...'i!/e7
Notes by]eroen Piket 1 5 .b6 could be annoying.
14 ...'ife7 1 5.'it'f2 es 1 6.c2 ef4
Perhaps Polgar and S alov thought nothing of
it, but everyone else was surprised and at the As in many Sicilian lines the d6 pawn is no
same time enthusiastic about their play and weaker than its white colleague on e4.
results in the tournament so far. Everybody
1 7..i.f4 tt:Je5 1 8.llad1 b5?!
sensed that today the tournament could be de
cided, but that, on the other hand, we might be Rather careless, as it allows 19.'i!/a7. 1 8 ... lbf3
in for some exciting thriller, or for option and ..ie5 or 18 . ...ic6 are the alternatives.
three: the two tournament leaders might re
spect each other too much to dare take the
necessary risks. Let's see . . .
1 .e4 c5 2.tt:lf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:ld4 a6

For this important game Judith relies on the

system she has practised most frequently during
the last few years.
5.d3 g6 6.jLe3
The most consistent way for White is 6.f4 g7
7.lbf3.
7...g7 7.0-0 tt:le7 8.f4 tt:lbc6
9.tt:lc6 tt:lc6
1 9.tt:le5?!
In Holland we do not consider ourselves very
nationalistic, but let's change that! 9 ...bc6, as the Returning the favour. So what about the move
first ful l-time professional in the Netherlands, 19.'i!/a7 which Judith feared so much after she
Johannes Donner, played in Amsterdam 1961 played her last move. 19 ... J:I.bd8 20.lbe5 e5
against Van den Berg, was certainly worth con 2 l .e5 'i!/e5 22.'i!/a6 ba4 23.'i!/d6 just loses a
sideration. pawn, but 19 ... llfd8 seems best as there is no
pressure against the f7 pawn and the rook on the
1 0.c3
b-file is perfectly placed. 20.lDe5 i.e5 21 .i.e5
Of course Salov is happy to play this sort of 'i!le5 22. ..ib3 .ie6 or 22.lld5 'i!/e8 does not give
positional chess against Polgar. Black any worries. 20.e5 ..ie5 2 l . ab5 J:l.b5
(2l ...ab5 22 ...ib3 is dangerous) 22.lbe5 J:l.e5 (on
1 0 ... 0-0 1 1 .tt:ld2 d6
22...'i!/e5 23.'i!/c7 ! gains material) and Black es
The immediate 1 1 . ..b5 1 2.lbf3 d6 1 3.f5 (other capes, as 23.'i!/a6 is not possible in view of
wise Black simply develops with b7 and 'i!/c7) 23 ... .ib5 .
13 . . .lbe5 ( 1 3 ...d5 also looks playable) 14.lbe5
1 9.....ie5 20.e5 'it'es 21 .lld5
..ie5 1 5.'i!/f3 would have given a sharper fight.
And as the game is totally balanced, the two
1 2.a4
players ceased their efforts.
Now White stops his opponent's queenside play. Draw.
1 2... llb8

To make sure that lbc4 can be answered by b5.

1 87
 51 29.3 1 5.e5 b4 1 6.ed6!
D Kamsky Now 1 6.tt:Je4 tt:Je4 1 7.e4 ttJc4 intending
Shirov 18 ...de5 is playable for Black. The text poses him
Notes by Alextry Shirov more problems.
1 6 ... d6
1 .e4 cS 2.tbf3 tbc6 3.d4 cd4
1 6... bc3? 1 7.dc7 J:!.b2 1 8.'ifo>al ttJd5 is too opti
4.tbd4 tbf6 s.tbc3 d6 6.g5 e6
mistic in view of 19.cl a3 20.ltJb3 ! +- ,
7.'tlfd2 a6 8.0-0-0 h6 9 ...te3 'tlfc7
while 16. . .c3 17.de7 o r 1 6. . .d6 1 7. tt:Je4 d5
1 0.f4 ..td7 1 1 ..id3!? b5 1 2.b1
1 8.ltJf6 f6 19.tt:Jb3 also offers White better
This plan is favoured by GM Vitaly Tseshkovsky. prospects.
In round 1 2, against Shirov, Ljubo played 1 2.h3
1 7.tbe4
which is also interesting.
1 7.tt:Jce2 ! ? with the idea 17 ...ttJd5 18 .ltJb3 also
1 2 ... .l::J.b 8!?
deserved attention.
1 7...tbe4 1 8...ie4 tbc4 1 9.e2
tbe3 20. 'tlfe3
Despite having the disadvantage of knight and
bishop versus two bishops White is slightly
better.
20...0-0 21 .g4

On 2 1..d3 ! ? I intended replying 2 l . ..J:!.ce8 ! ?

with the idea of 22.'t!We4 f5 followed by 2 3... e5.
21 ...c5 22.g5! hgS

22. . .h5 23.g6! is too dangerous.

23.fg5 .l::J.bd8
A novelty. The idea of 'Tsesh' was to answer
12 ... ttJa5 with 1 3 .e5 ! The game Tseshkovsky 23 . . .e5 didn't work due to 24.'t!Wg3 ! d4 25 ..l:!.d4
Nevednichy, Cetinje 1993, continued 1 3 ...de5 with an attack.
14.fe5 e5 1 5 .tt:Jf5 ! ef5 1 6.J:!.hel e6 17.b6
24.f3!
b8 18.a5 e7 19.ltJe2 0-0 20.ltJd4 tt:Je4
2l .e4 fe4 and here by playing 22.ttJe6 ! fe6 The strongest. 24.'t!We2 g6! was unclear and
23 .J:!.e4 White could have gained a definite 24.d3 c6! 25.tt:Je6 jLe3 26.ltJc7 jLg2 would
advantage. yield Black good compensation for the pawn.
1 3. .l::J.hf1 !? .ie7 24...d4!

Again 13 . . .tt:Ja5 was not good because of 14.e5 Probably the only way. 24...g6 25.f6 ! is
b4 1 5 .ltJe4 ! ltJe4 1 6.e4 tt:Jc4 17.e2;:!; with the extremely precarious, and variations such as
idea 17 ...de5 1 8.fe5 ttJe3 19.e3 e5? 20.J:!.f7! 24 .. .f5 25.g6! or 24...e5 25.tt:Jc6! c6 26.J:!.d8
and wins. jLe4 27.f7 would simply lose.
1 4.h3 ttJaS 25..l::J.d4 f5!
The position after 14 ...ttJd4 15 .d4 b4 16.t2'le2 Again the best defence. 25 ... b5 loses immedi
e5 17 .e3;:!; doesn't look very attractive for ately to 26.h5 g6 27.g6 fg6 28.'t!Wg6 g7
Black. 29.'t!We6+-.

1 88
 Round 10

29.'iff2 'ifb6 30..l:!.d8 'i!Yd8 31.b3

'ifd1 32.b2 'ifd6 33.'i!Ye3

33.b l = was simpler.

33...'ii!Ve5 34.b1 f7!? 35.'i!ff2? !

Starting to go astray. 35.h4 was still completely

equal.
35 ... e7 36.'ifa7 d7 37.'i!Ye3?!
gS! 38.'i!Yf3 aS 39. 'ifg2 bS
40.'ti!Vf3 'i!Yf4 41 .'ii!Vg2
I would prfer 4 1 . 'ifhS=F.
26.gf6? 41 ... 'ii'f1 ?!

Now White is not better any more. Correct was During the game I was very happy to exchange
26.i.d3 ! and Black can choose between 26...i.c6 queens, but in fact the bishop ending is drawish.
27 .'ife3 ! (27. 'i!Yh5 nd4 28 .g6 l:!.t7! 29 ..tlg 1 'ife5 ! 41 ...'it>f6 42.i.f3 'iWe3=F was more persistent.
30.gt7 f8 3 1 .i.e2 ne4 unclear) 27. . .J::td4
42.b2 'ii'g 2?! 43.g2 d6 44.a3
28.'i!Yd4 a5 29.c4 d7 with a slightly inferior
position, or 26 ... b5 27 . .t1b4 (27J:I.d8 .t1d8 More solid was 44.c3 c5 45.a3=; 44 ...e5
28.b5 ab5 unclear) 27 ...'i!Ye7 28.l:!.b3 d3 45.a4! ba3 46.a3 'it>f4 47.c4 i.d7 48.c5 ! prom
29 . .t1d3 'i!Yg5 when I would again prefer to be on ises White excellent counterplay, for example
White's side. 48 ... e5 49.c6 .ic8 50.'it>a4.
26 ... .l:!.f6 27.'i!Yd1 44...e5 45.ab4 ab4 46.c4

A forced draw could have occourred after Now 46.c3 is dangerous due to 46 ... f4 !
27.h7! ?
46... a6 47.c2 d4 48.d2 eS
49...if3 ea so.g4 J.b7 51 .J.d7
J.e4 52.g4 g6 53...ie2 e4
54...ig4 e3

27 ...h8! (but not 27 ... h7?? 28.'i!Yf6! ! gf6

29.l:!.g l+-, isn't it beautiful?) 28 ..ig6 ! ? .t:l.f3
29.l:If3 c8 30.l:!.h4 'it>g8 3 l ..ih7 h8 with a
perpetual.
27.. JU1 28.'i!Yf1 bS

The worst is over for Black. The fatal error. 55.'it>dl was still a draw since

1 89
Black cannot improve his position, for example for example 62 ..ig4 b3 63 ..if5 b2 64 ..ibl d7
55 ....ie4 56 ..id7 e5 57 ..ig4 f4 58 ..id7. 65.i.e4 .ih3 66.c6 .ic8 67 .c7 g4 68.g6 b3 !
69. .ibl (69 ..if7 c2-+) 69... c4 70.d2 c5
55 .....tc21 56 ...td1 .ie4 57...tg4
7 L .g6 (7l .c3 g3) 7 l ...c6 72.c2 c7
c31 58.e2
73.b2 g3 74 ..ie4 .ib7-+.
58 ..idl .ig2 59.e2 d4 is hopeless.
61 ...Sg_c6
58...b3 59.e3 .ig21
The game is over. The rest needs no comment.
The simplest.
62.c5 d4 63.g3 CS 64.g4
60.e6 .tds 6S...tts b3 66.gs d4
67.h4 Sg_e4 68...ie6 b2 69..ia2
60.d4 a3 6 1 .e5 b3 62.f6 b2 63 ..if5 .ih3
c3 70.f4 .ih7 71 .h5 b4
loses as well.
72.h6 a3
60...c3 61 .f2
White resigned.
If 61 .c5 then 61 . ...ic6! puts White in zugzwang,

1 90
Round 1 1
Salov 8.0
An and 6.0
Polgar 6.0
Kamsky - Anand 1/z - 11z Karpov 5.5
1/z - 1J2 Shirov 5.5
Shi rov - Salov
lvanchu k 5.0
Polgar - Ljubojevic 0- 1 Kamsky 4.5
Karpov - lvanch u k 1/z - 1J2 Ljubojevic 3.5

51 22.8 - Black's a-pawn was on a6 instead of a7 -

preferred the jump to e4.
0 Kamsky
Anand
Notes by ]eroen Piket

Both players are clearly influenced by their

recent successes in the PCA matches. Not only
can they not hide the fact that despite their very
convincing wins they have spent a lot of energy,
but also the lives of both Anand and Kamsky are
not made any easier by the expectations of the
public as well as of their opponents. As they have
already met in the FIDE cycle earlier this year
and they will meet each other again next year, it is
obvious that these two Sicilian games were very
important from a psychological point of view. In the fifth round, against Karpov, the grandmas
ter from Madras, in an almost identical position
1 .e4 cS 2.tt:lf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:ld4
- Black's a-pawn was on a6 instead of a7 -
tt:lf6 5.tt:lc3 e6 6.e2 e7 7.0-0
preferred the jump to e4.
0-0 8.f4 tt:lc6 9.e3
1 4.tt:ld5 tt:ldeS 1 5.c4
More precise is 9.'1t>h 1 , for then the push e6-e5
is not yet possible for Black, as after 10.ltJb3 ef4 This has been the main line since several Russian
1 1 .f4 White has gained a very important GMs tried it against Kasparov. After 1 5 .ltJe1
tempo. The usual reply to 9.'1t>h1 is 9. ..h6. 'flie7 16.'ir"e1 ( 16.c3 nfe8 17.b5 2-2 , Nunn
Andersson, Johannesburg 1 9 8 1 , was not a great
9 ...e5 1 O.tt:lb3 ef4 1 1 .f4 e6
contribution to the theory of this line) both
1 2.'1t>h1 dS 1 3.e5 tt:ld7
1 6 .. J1ad8 and 16 ...nfe8 equalize.
In the fifth round, against Karpov, the grandmas
1 5 ...g5 1 6.g3
ter from Madras, in an almost identical position

1 91
16.'ii'c 1 i.f4 17.tt:Jf4 is not dangerous for Black 51 20.5
at all: 17 ...g4 1 8.i.g4 tt:Jg4 19.'ii'e 1 .l::le8
20.'ii'g3 tt:Jf6 was enough to maintain the balance D Shirov
in Tal-Kavalek, Wijk aan Zee 1982, and 1 7...'ii'e7 Salov
1 8 .'ii'c 3 .l::lad8 19.J:I.ae1 'it>h8 20.a3 f6 gave Black Notes by Valery Salov
the initiative in Kuzrnin-Kasparov, Soviet Cham
pionship, Frunze 198 1 .
1 .e4 c5 2.tLlf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.ttJd4
1 6...h4 ttJf6 5.ttJc3 e6 6.g4 h6 7.h4

Very aggressive. In 1992, Moscow Rapid, Al

exey tried the more restrained 7 .h3 against me.
7 ... e7 8.e3 ttJc6 9.b5
Nowadays quite a fashionable idea in the Sicilian.
9 ...d7 1 0.'ti'e2 h5 1 1 .gh5

l l .gS tt:Jg4 with counterplay.

11 ttJh5 1 2.0-0-0 'ti'c7

After 12 ...a6? 1 3 ..ic6 bc6 14.e5 ! dS 15.tt:Jb3

White has a clear advantage.
1 3.g5
16 ...b5 ! ? looks interesting, but in Unzicker This move is excellent from the positional point
Razuvaev, Moscow 1982, the players were of view; however, it has a tactical refutation:
peacefully minded and agreed to a draw after
1 3 ... ttJd4! 1 4.l:l.d4
17.cb5 i.dS 1 8.bc6 i.c6 19.f3 i.f3 20.'ii'f3
'ii'f6.
1 7.f4 ..tg5 1 8...tg3

Gata obeys the old Russian rule that after succes

sive losses one has to draw the next game no
matter what, just to stop the losing sequence. The
game Kindermann-S . Polgar, Aruba 1992, which
saw 1 8 .tt:Jc5 f4 19.tt:Je6 (19 ..l::lf4 b6 20.tt:Je4 bS!
Geller-Kasparov, Moscow 198 1 , is even favour
able for Black) 19 . . .fe6 20.tt:Jf4 'ii'h4 2l .g3 f/fe7
with chances for both sides, still seems to be the
yardstick for this specific variation.
1 8 .....th4 1 9.f4

Draw.
14 ...ttJg3! 1 5.fg3 ..t9s 1 6.\t>b1 ..tts
1 7.l:l.c4 b5 1 8.l:l.c7

1 8.tt:Jb5 'ii'b 6! 19 ..l::lf l b2 (19 ...i.e5 ! ?) 20.tt:Jc7

'it>e7 2l .tt:Ja8 .l::la8 22.c3 c3 23.\t>c2 f!ib2
24.'it>d3 'ii'e2 25:.t>e2 aS 26.J:I.b l J:l.b8+.
1 8...e2 1 9.ttJe2 l:l.b8 20.c3 d8!

20. . .e5 2l .J:I.fl with counterplay.

1 92
 Round 1 1

defence against the advance of the black pawns

21.l::lc 4 b6!
in the centre.
The endgame is very unpleasant for White. His
33. .l:l.b4!
rook on c4 is cut off from the main forces and his
pawn structure is far from ideal. At last White is able to free his rook.
22.'>t>c2 '>t>e7 23.g4 .l:l.h7?! 33...cs 34..l:l.bS b6 3S.aS!

A rather abstract move; instead 23 ..Jh6 or 35 .gf6 gf6 36.tLld4 ed4 37.cd4 .ta3 38.l:l.b3
23 . . .e5 deserved serious attention. l:l.hg8 !
24.tLld4! 3S ... baS 36J:tas .l:f.a8?
I must admit that I completely overlooked this 36 ... l:l.b2 ! 37.gf6 gf6 38.h5 ! l:l.g2!+ might still
obvious reply. Evidently, maintaining concentra cause serious problems for White.
tion cost me considerable effort at this stage of
37. .l:l.bS .l:l.hb8 38 ..l:f.hb1 .l:f.bS
the tournament.
39.l:[bS fS 40.efS '>t>fS 4Vt:ld4!
24... .l:l.h6!
Forcing White to weaken his pawn chain.
2S.gS
The only move, as 25.tLlf3 is answered by
25 .. Jf6-+ .
2S ... .l:l.hS 26.tLlf3 f6 27.a4! eS!
28 . .l:l.h3?

Now it is White's turn to go astray. The text move

will cost him two tempi; 28.b4! was correct.
28... '>t>e6 29.b4 aS ! 30.baS as
31 ..l:l.h1 l:[hh8! 32.'>t>d3

This tactical resource saves the game.

41 ... ed4

4 l ...'i.ti'g6 42.tt:Je6 .tf2 43.l:l.d5 .tg3 44.'>t>e4=;

4 l ...'i.ti'g4 42.tLle6 'i.ti'f3 43.tLlc5 deS 44.11c5 e4
45 .'i.ti'c2 e3 46 ..l:l.f5 'i.ti'e2 47 .l:[f7 with counterplay.
42.cd4 .l:l.a3 43.'>t>e2 ..l:l.c3 44.dcS
.l:l.cS 4S..l:l.b7 g6 46JU7 '>t>g4
47..l:l.f6

Draw.

32...b6?
The natural 32 ....1:!.hc8 ! would have sufficed to
win the game: 33.tLld2 (33 . .l:!.c8 l:l.c8 34.c4
f5 ! -+; 33.gf6 l:.c4 34.'>t>c4 l:.c8 35 .'i.ti'b5 J:!.c5
mate) 33 ...d5 ! 34.ed5 '>t>d5 and White has no

1 93
 51 40.2
D Polgar
Ljubojevic
Notes by]eroen Piket

1 .e4 cs 2.lbf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.lbd4

lbc6 5.lbc3 W/c7 6.e3 a6 7..itd3
lbf6 8.0-0 b5 9.W/e2
9.tt:lc6 'i!Vc6 10.a3 .tb7 1 l .'i!Ve2 .te7 (or 1 l ...'i!Vc7
12.f4 d6 1 3..id4 .te7 14.e5 Johansson-Kuijpers,
Halle 1967) 12.f4 e7 1 3 .e5 tt:ld5 1 4. tt:ld5 'i!Vd5
15 . .1:tad1 'i!Vc6 16.b4 Scholl-Janosevic, Amster
dam 1970 are ancient references by modem
standards.
9...b7 1 0.a3 .ite7
In Kristinsson-Tal, Reykjavik 1964, the magi
cian from Riga- as he did on so many occasions
- sacrificed his queen: 10 . ..tt:le5 1 l .h3 .l:lc8
12.f4 tt:lc4 13.tt:ldb5 ! ab5 14.tt:lb5 'i!Vc6 1 5 .tt:Ja7
tt:Je3 1 6.tt:lc6 .tc5 1 7.h2 tt:lf1 1 8.J:lfl .ic6.
1 1 .f4 d6 1 2.lbf3

With this and the next move Polgar gives a new

turn to developments. 1 2.tt:lc6 is considered the
normal continuation.
1 2...0-0 1 3 .l::tae1 b4!

Of course Ljubojevic puts his opponent's new

approach to the test by this push of the b-pawn.
1 4.lbd1 ?

A remarkable choice. Polgar's move is ambitious

but involves a certain risk, as her queenside struc-

1 94
 Round 1 1

ture remains shattered from now on. Ljubo completely against his nature. Karpov's sugges
thought that 14.ab4 should have been preferred. tion of 22 .. Jbd8 ! was not considered by either
14.t2Ja4 ba3 1 5 .ba3 d5 ! looks suspect for White. player, but would have yielded a big advantage.

1 4... ba3 1 S.ba3 eS! 23.i.dS l:ta7 24.a4 'ifc3 2S.lZ:le3

Much more to the point than 15 . ..d5 1 6.e5 t2Je4 Suddenly all White's pieces have found good
17.ttJf2 as 1 7 ... t2Ja5 1 8.ttJd2 and 1 7 ... t2Jc3 squares and the game is roughly equal.
18 ."ird2 are not very impressive.
2S ... l:tc7 26.Wh1 as 27.i.b3 i.e6
1 6.lLlf2 28.lZ:ldS i..dS 29.i..dS

16.fe5 deS 17.ttJc3 is best answered by 17 ... ttJd4, 29.ed5? d6 30.g4 e4 ! and the opposite-col
as 17 ... a3 1 8.tt:ld5 leads to unnecessary com oured bishops do not guarantee a draw.
plications. 1 6.<;;t>h l d5 ! ? 1 7.ed5 e4 1 8.dc6 ed3
29... 'ifc2 30. 'ifhS?
19.cd3 "irc6 deserved attention as the knight on
f2 does not have such a great future anyway.
1 6...ef4 1 7.i.f4 lZ:leS!

Illogical and badly misjudged. 30."irc2 c2

3 l .cl c5 32J:rcs ..ic5 33.cl or 3 1 ...c l
32Jkl followed by 33.c7 would easily have
Standard but powerful. drawn the game.
1 8.lZ:leS deS 1 9.i.gS? 30 ... il..gS 31 .l:tf3 WhB! !
Generally condemned, even by the White player This move took up most of Black's remaining
herself. After the tournament Judith looked back time, but it was worth it.
and blamed the loss of this game and the first one
32.l:tef1 ?!
against Anand on an off-day. However alterna
tives to 19.g5 are hard to find as the white 32.t7 was necessary (32J:rf7 .l:[f7 33.t7 "iVf2)
position is clearly inferior. but then 32..."ire4 ! 33 . .l:[efl .!:!.c l is clearly better
for Black.
1 9... h6
32... 'ie2!
19 ...c8 ! ? was also possible.
The position is very tricky, for example 33."iVg4
20.f6 f6 21 .lLlg4 il..e7
fails to 33 ...f5 !
The more active 2 l ...g5 should not have been
33.h4 il..f4
rejected.
By now Judith really regretted not swapping
22.i.c4 .tea?
queens.
Ljubojevic plays far too passively, which goes

1 95
 ---

34. 'it'g4 llc2 35.h5 l:.d2 36.l:i.f4 51 1 4.2

There was no other way to prevent 36... l:!.dl . D Karpov
36...ef4 37.'it'e2 .I:.e2 3 8..I:.f4 f6
Ivanchuk
Notes by]eroen Piket
39.llf3 .I:.c8 40.%lb3 .I:!.a2!

For a change the last move before the time con

1 .e4 cS 2.lbf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.l2Jd4
trol is a winner.
lbt6 5.l2Jc3 a6 6.g3
41 . .I:.b7 lla4 42.l:i.a7 l:.d8 43..if7
Chess certainly is a psychological game, as Kar
l:i.e4
pov shows with his choice of the g3 system. He
If you have a material advantage, exchanging normally always plays 6.i.e2, but because
pieces is generally a good idea. Ivanchuk lost against this g3 line to Ljubojevic
in the second round, he is testing whether
44.lla5 lle7 45..tg6 g8 46.h2
'Chukky' has done his homework. After the tour
f8 47.g3 l:i.c7 48 .ib1 l:i.d4

nament I read in New in Chess that Salov, the

49.l:i.a8 e7 SO.l:i.g8 llc3 51 .f2
only participant who thoroughly studied the g3
l:i.d2
systems and frequently used them, was of the
White resigned. opinion that against the Najdorf g3 was not worth
playing. ,
s...es

In the aforementioned game Ivanchuk went for

6...e6.

1 96
 Round 1 1

i.e4 16.i.e4 fe4 17.tt:lc3 with good compensa

7.tt:lde2 e7
tion for the pawn. The critical move was 14 ....l:l.c8
The move prefered by the living legend Bobby as 1 5.tt:lc3 'ifc4! causes some inconvenience for
Fischer, and more accurate than 7 ... i.e6 or White. 1 6.0-0-0 l2Jc5 17.i.c5 .l:!.c5 1 8.b1 h4!
7 . ..tt:lbd7. looks suspect and 16.f3 'it'b4 .l:!.a3 is complicated
with chances for both sides.
8.g2 tt:lbd7 9.a4
1 5.0-0 tt:lf6 1 6.tt:lc3 c6 1 7.l:r.fd1

White does not achieve anything with 17.i.g5

tt:lh7 ! 18 ..ie7 'i:Ve7 19JUd1 .l:!.fd8 20.'ife3 'it'c7.
17 ... b5 1 8.ab5 ab5 1 9.b4! 'Wib7!
20.'Wid3

On 20.i.g5?! Karpov was afraid of 20... J:!.a1

2 l ..l:!.al tt:le4 !
20 .. J:i.fc8 21 ..tg5 'fibS! 22.l:r.a8

22.i.f6 i.f6 23 .f3 'ifd4 ! is more than okay for

Black.
22 ... l:r.a8 23. f3 l:l.a3!
An interesting idea is 9.h3 allowing 9 ... b5, but
White also has his trumps after 10.g4 b4 l l .tt:la4
i.b7 1 2.l2Jg3 i.c6 1 3 .c4 g6 14.a3 a5 1 5.i.e3 h5
16.g5 l2Jh7 17.h4 tt:lf8 1 8.i.h3 l2Je6.
9 ... b6 1 O.h3 h5!

For a little over a decade this is known to be the

only way to counter White's plan of g3-g4 and
l2Jg3.
1 1 .i.e3

1 1 .0-0 i.b7 1 2.l2Jd5 l2Jd5 1 3.ed5 .l::i.c8 14.i.e3

was seen in one of the stem games Kudrin-Lein,
USA (eh) 198 1 . l l .tt:ld5 ! tt:ld5 12.'it'd5 J:!.b8
1 3.i.e3 was Karpov's post-mortem suggestion, The only move not to lose material, but a strong
after which Black has some problems, as after one.
both l 3 ... i.b7 14.'i:Vd3 and 1 3 ... tt:lf6 14.'it'd3 b5
24..if6
15 ab5 ab5 1 6.0-0 0-0 17 . .l::i.fd1 White seems to
obtain a plus. After the game the FIDE Champion showed his
opponent why he did not play the standard
1 1 ... 'Wic7 1 2.tt:ld5
24 . .l:!.d3: 24... tt:le4! ! 25.i.e7 tt:lc3 26.'ifc6
12.0-0 i.b7 1 3.l2Jcl 0-0 14.l2Jd3 c4 ! is quite (26.'it'f5 would lead to perpetual check) 26 ... .l:!.al
comfortable for Black. 27.'it>h2 'iff2 28.'it'c8 'it>h7 29.h4 tt:le2 ! and White
gets mated as 30 ... J:!.h1 cannot be prevented.
1 2 ... tt:ld5 1 3.'Wid5 b7 1 4.'f/id2 0-0
24... f6 25 . .l::i.d3
lvanchuk manages to temper his aggression. The
most ambitious move is 14 .. .f5 after which 1 5.f3 Not 25.h4? because of 25 ... .ie4
is possible but not forced. If he is so inclined,
25... h4 26 . .l:!.d6 e7! 27.l:r.d3 i.b4
White can ignore everything and continue 15.0-0

1 97
27 ...hg3 28.'ii'g3 would only benefit White. 28... 'ii'a5 29.ttJdl .l:!.d3 30.'ii'd3 c5 was also
sufficient to secure the draw.
28.gh4 e7
29.h5 b4 30.tt:ld5 dS 31 .ed5
'f!Vh6 32.f1 'ifc1 33. 'ifd1 'ii'd 1
34J:td1 d6

Without the queens all the tension has disap

peared.
35.d3 e4 36...ie4 l::rh3 37.l::ra 1
f8 38.J:I.a8 e7 39.l:lh8 g6
Draw.
The analysis of this game is based on notes of
Karpov.

1 98
Round 12
Salov 8.5
An and 7.0
Polgar 6.5
Lju bojevic - Shi rov 1 -0 lvanchu k 5.5
Karpov 5.5
An and - Karpov 1 -0
Shirov 5.5
lvanch u k - Polgar 1/2 - 1/2 Kamsky 5.0
Salov - Kamsky 1/z - 1/2 Lju bojevic 4.5

51 29.3 1 2... ltJa5 1 3.c;.t>b1 ltJc4 1 4...ic4

D Ljubojevic 'it'c4 1 5.'i\fd3 :tea
Shirov Black is trying to maintain occupation of the c4
Notes by Ljubomir Ljubojevic square with a piece, not with a pawn. 1 5 ...'it'd3
16.cd3 clearly yields domination ofthe centre to
White and the potential use of the c-file is also in
1 .e4 c5 2.ltJf3 ltJc6 3.d4 cd4
his favour.
4.ltJd4 ltJf6 5.ltJc3 d6
1 6.a3 .ie7 1 7.g4
My opponent's choice of opening for today was
quite predictable but that didn't stop me worry
ing. Shirov is an excellent "connoisseur" of Si
cilian positions with either colour. The Richter
Rauzer Variation in particular is part of his broad
opening repertoire. My thoughts also went in the
direction of the Sozin, but the choice taken in this
game was made intuitively, without any particu
lar reason. Sometimes we get a sudden feeling
about the kind of positions we should like to play
today...
6 ...ig5 e6 7.'i\fd2 a6 8.0-0-0 h6
9 ..ie3 W/c7 1 O.f4 ..id7 1 1 ..id3 b5
1 2.h3
Up to this moment the game has taken the same
1 7... b4
course as Kamsky-Shirov, round 10, where
White played 12.'it>b l . I have also had some If 17 ...0-0 1 8.e5 deS 19.fe5 lLld5 20.'it'c4 J::!.c4
experience playing this position against Short 21 .lLld5 ed5 22.lLlf5 f5 23.gf5 is slightly better
some years ago, and I was convinced that White for White. In this line the move 17 .g4 is justified,
has a slight positional edge. not - at least not at the moment - in order to

1 99
play gS, but in keeping control over the important that means losing the b2 pawn; Shirov's knight
eS square. is still far away.
1 8.c4 24... .tc6

Forced. If l 8 .ab4 1li'b4 19.eS J:!.c3 20.1li'c3 1li'c3 During the game I thought that Black should
2 l .bc3 deS 22.feS ltJdS 23 .d2 0-0 Black has have played 24 ...e8 2S.d4 lt:Jf8 26.lt:Je4 or
good positional compensation for the sacrificed 2S.7 J:[c8 26.d4 with more or less equal
exchange. chances. It is risky to play 2S .cS? ! cS 26.ltJcS
J:[b2 27.'it>cl or 2S ... J:[b3 26.e7 J:[b2 27.'it>c l
1 8 ... J:!.c4 1 9.ab4 J:!.b4 20.J:!.d3
J:!.2b7 28.a3 J:[c8 29 .J:[d8 J:[bb8 when White has
After about a quarter of an hour's thought this difficulties.
move was 'cooked' in my not very fortunate
25.c5 J:!.b3
head. Later I regretted not playing 20.eS ! deS
2 l .feS lt:Jh7 22.lt:Jb3 c6 23.J:lh2 with still a Probably better would have been 2S ...cS
slight edge, because the cS square will be occu 26.ltJcS J:[b2 27.'it>cl lt:JgS 28.lt:Jb3 J:l2b3 29.cb3
pied in time without having to give up a pawn, as J:[b3 with good compensation or 28.lt:Ja6 J:[8b6
in the game. My fear that Black would get com 29.ltJcS with equality.
fortable play after retreating his knight to prepare
26..te7 J:!.b2 27.'it>c1 J:!.2b7
castling, was justified. Shirov thought for a long
time and he understood the position ... Perhaps 27 ... lt:JgS 28.d6 J:[8b7 29.a3 J:[2b6
30.cS J:[b2 3 I .J:[e3 would have given more
20... lLJh7!
interesting play for both sides with some pres
sure for White, but still with a pawn less!
28.J:!.d8 e8

This was the reason I considered 24 ... e8: to

avoid J:[d8 with check!
29.a3

I must give an exclamation mark to this wise

decision. 20 ...0-0 2 l .eS was unpleasant for
Black.
21 .J:!.hd1 0-0 22.e5 deS
22 .. JHb8 23 .ed6 J:!.b2 24.'lt>cl d6 2S.ltJdbS
bS 26.J:!.d6 e8 27 .a7 wins for White.
23.fe5 29...lbg5?
23.lt:Jf3 bS 24.ltJbS ef4 ! is better for Black. This is the first serious mistake in the game,
leading to the loss of the piece on e8 . During the
23 .. JUb8 24.lLJb3
game I thought that after 29 ...tt:Jf8 30.J:!. ld4 (or
Another difficult decision. If he isn't to end up 30JHd3) 30 ...f6 3 l .ef6 gf6 32.lt:Je4 White would
worse, it is vital for White to get to cS, even if have strong pressure, but after quiet analysis in

200
 Round 12

my hotel room I found 32 ... \t>g7 ! after which I realized that Black was hoping for a kind of
Black should be able to hold the game, for exam fortress set-up where he waits for my plan ... But
ple 33 .f8 'it>f8 34.li:Jf6 I:td8 35J:td8 '>t>e7 saving after five hours of play it was not easy to find a
the rook endgame or 33.li:Jf6 'it>f6 34J:tf4 clear win. I felt that the position had to be won,
(34JH3) 34. .. 'it>g6! 35J.b8 J:!.b8 36.J:!.f8 'it>g7, but how ! Slowly but surely the idea of zugzwang
which looks okay, or 33.J:!.b8 J:!.b8 34.J:!.c4 b5 came into being. The pawn structure on the king
35 .l:i.c7 'it>g6 36.lt:Jd6, trying to fish in very tur side has to be broken up to gain more space for
bulent waters. White's bishop and rook.
30.J:!.1 d7! 52.'it>e2 tt:Jh2 53. .l:f.f4 tt:Jg4 54.'it>d3
tt:Jh6 55J:tf1 'it>gS 56.e7 'it>g6
It often happens that a game is decided by one
57.'it>e4 tt:Jg4 58.'it>f4 tt:Jh2 59..:te1
bad move and a good reply. Shirov should have
tt:Jg4 60..l:[e2 tlJhG 61 .d8 tt:Jg4
forestalled this possibility. His bishop on e8 is
62.g5 'it>h7 63.'it>e4 'it>g6 64.f4
helpless.
'it>h7 6S. .l:[g2 'it>g6 66. .l:[g1 'it>h7
30 ... J:!.d7 31 . .rl.b8 tt:Jh3 32.J:!.e8 'it>h7 67.'it>f3 'it>g6 68.J:!.h1 f6 69.ef6 gf6
33.d6 4Jf2 34.4Ja4 .rl.b7 35.4Jc5 70.'it>g3 eS 71 . .i.d2 fS 72.'it>f3 f4
.rl.bS 36.4Jd7 'it>g6 37.c4 73.b5 'it>gS 74.d8 'it>g6 75.l:Ih3
lt:Jh6 76.'it>e4 tt:Jf7 77.e7 tt:JgS
With some very accurate moves White succeeds
78.g5 'it>gS 79. .l:[h1
in advancing his passed c-pawn, bringing more
material gains. I thought the game was over, but White had finally won, but what hard work it was
some technical problems arise- not without my to realize the win after reaching a winning posi
help ! tion as early as move 30! I was happy, but I
thought how easy it is to lose and how hard to
37 ... .rl.b3 38.'it>c2 .rl.f3 39.c5 tt:Jg4
win in a tournament where the stars were not on
40.c6 tt:Je3 41 . 'it>d2 tt:JdS 42.4Jb6
my side.
This move is characteristic of my tournament
attitude. When matters are very simple I always
succeed in making them more complicated!
42.c7 ! lt:Jc7 43 .c7 would have led to an easier
win because two minor pieces are stronger than
a rook ! 51 40.6
42... 4Jb6 43.c7 l:!.f2 44.'it>e1 .:tc2 D Anand
45. .rl.b8 tlJdS 46.c8'if .l:[c8 47.J:!.c8
tt:Je3 48. .rl.a8 hS 49.J:!.a6 tt:Jg4
Karpov
Notes by]eroen Piket
50.J:!.a3 'it>fS 51 ..:tf3 'it>g6

Ever since their match in Brussels 199 1 it has

been clear that for Karpov, Anand is not an easy
opponent to handle. Actually the Indian grand
master seems to understand the FIDE Champion
and his play much better than most players of his
generation.
1 .e4 cS 2.4Jf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.4Jd4
tt:Jc6 5.4Jc3 'ifc7 6.e2 a6 7.0-0
tt:lf6 8.e3 b4 9.tt:la4

Nothing new so far. It was to be expected that

Karpov would repeat this variation with which
he is still undefeated.

201
 9 ... d5 1 2.d4 c5?!

Apparently 9...7 10.c4 is unpleasant for Black, 12. ..eS 1 3.c3 i.d6 14.cS gives White a small
as was shown in Kamsky-Salov in the fifth round but lasting edge.
and Kamsky-Karpov in the eighth round. Be
1 3.c3
sides the text move there were other options to
deviate. ECO considers 9 .Jije7, 9 ...d6 and Not 13.a3 cd4 14.ab4 0-0 and Black has solved
9. . . 0-0 as the main alternatives. At the beginning his problems.
of this decade the Polgar sisters popularized
1 3 ... cd4 1 4.cb4 eS
9 ...bS which shows some similarity to the text
move. After 10.tt:Jc6 dc6 1 l .i.cS ba4 12.b4 cS Karpov spent an incredible amount of time here,
13.i.c3 tt:Je4 14.g7 g8 the position is cer despite the fact that this seems to be the only way
tainly not unfavourable for Black, but French to defend his d-pawn.
GM Olivier Renet refuted this whole idea against
1 5.13 e6 1 6.tt.Jc5 'it'd6
his compatriot Lautier with 1 3 .i.a3 !
The outcome of the battle will now depend on
1 0.tt.Jc6
whether Black's centre pawns are vulnerable or
10.tt:Jb6 shows a lot of courage but too little strong. The immediate 16 ...0-0 was safer, as 17. tt:Je6
respect for Black's set-up, as 10 ...ifb6 1 1 .tt:Je6 d4 fe6 18.1 b8 19.a3 a5 shows. However, White
12.tt:Jg7 rJi;e7 13 .i.gS g8 14.i.f6 rJi;f6 1S.tt:JhS shouldpreferthe more accurate 17.J:[e 1 ! as 17 ...ifd6
rJi;e7 in Klovan-Shmit, Soviet Union 1970, gave 1 8.ife2 f6 19.tt:Je6 ife6 20.ifc4 ad8 21 .ifd4
Black a winning advantage. According to Taimanov ed4 22.e6 tt:Jb4 23.a3 tbd3 24.b4 is better for
10.c3 is White's best, because 10... d6 is an him.
swered by 1 1 .tt:Jb6. 1t does indeed seem that now
1 7..I:.e1 l:lb8
1 1 . . . ifb6 1 2. tt:Je6 is good for White, as the reply
12...d4 has lost a lot of its strength. It would have 17 ...0-0 1 8.ife2 leads to the previous note.
been interesting to find out what Karpov had in
mind against Taimanov's recommendation.
1 0 ... bc6 1 1 .ed5 tLldS? !

I still wonder what's wrong with 1 1 . ..cdS. Per

haps 1 2 .tt:Jb6 b8 1 3.tt:Jc8 ifc8 14.c4, but Black
should be ready to play this sort of position.
12.c3 d6 1 3 .tt:Jb6 b8 14.tt:Jc8 ifc8 1S.ifa4
looks like the refutation, but after 1 S ...rJ;;e 7!
16.i.a6 ifc7 the question 'who is better and
why?' comes to mind.

1 8.d5! 'fidS

1 8 . ..i.d5 is answered by 19.ifd4.

1 9.tt.Ja6?

19.ifhS ! was simple and strong.

1 9 ... l:lc8 20.'fia4 rJ;;e7
20...i.d7 was necessary. Then after 2 1 . ifaS if aS
22.baS f6 23.f4 0-0 24.feS feS 2S.eS c2 Black

202
 Round 12

would have had chances of survival. Keeping the gen Variation. A more direct equalizing attempt
king in the center is virtually suicidal. is 6 ...e5 to answer 7.tbb3 with 7 . ..e6 8 ..ie3 d5 !
21 .b5 trc4 22.'ii'a5 J::ta8 7.e3 e6 8J!fd2 W/c7 9.0-0-0 e7
1 0.g4 b5
In the post-mortem the players thought that
22 ...<;f;>f6 was a more stubborn defence (23.tbb4 10 ... tbe5 is premature, as 1 l .g5 ttJfd7 1 2.f4 ltJc4
'i!fa8 !) but after 23.b3 .U.c3 24 . .l:i.ad1 the outcome 1 3.c4 'i!fc4 14.f5 ttJeS 1 5 .f6 gf6 1 6.ef6 f6
of the game would not have been different. 1 7 ..l:i.hfl i.e7 1 8.g5 is excellent for White; in
Ristoja-Nei, Helsinki 1989, 18 ...'i!t'b4 quickly
23. 'ii'b6 trd8 24.b3 J::tcc8 25.lbb4
led to disaster: 19.'i!ff4 g5 20.'i!fg5 tbc4
'ii'd6 26.lbc6 <;f;>fS 27.l:te5
2 l .tbb3 'iifb6 22 ..:ld4 'i!fc7 23 .'iiff6 .&:!.f8 24 . .t:!.fdl
Now Black's position collapses completely and b5 25 .e5 d5 26..l:i.d5 1 -0.
his only excuse for playing on is his own time
1 1 .lLlc6
trouble.
White can also increase his space advantage right
27 d3 28.l:td1 J::ta8
.. 29.h3 d2
away by 1 l .g5 ltJd7 1 2.h4 b7 13.h5 tbce5 14.f4
30.tre2 l:tdb8 31 .l:ted2
tbc4 15.c4 'i!fc4, which is slightly better for
Anand had also seen the win 3 l ..l:i.e6 'i!fe6 him, according to Robert Hiibner.
(3 l ...fe6 32.lLlb8 !) 32.ttJb8 'iife 1 33.<;1;>h2 'ili'd1
1 1 ... W/c6 1 2.h4 .ib7 1 3.b1 lLld7
34.'i!fd8 mate.
Remarkable! White delays playing g4-g5, and
31 ... J::t b6
Black decides not to wait for it any more and to
Of course, 3 1 . . .'i!fd2 would be answered by improve the prospects of the knight. Polgar
32.'i!fb8. thought that 13 ...0-0-0 was worth investigating.
32.l:td6 g5 33.l:td8 l:td8 34.trd8 1 4.lLle2 lLle5 1 5.lLld4 'ii'c7 1 6.h5
g7 35.l:tb8

Black resigned.

51 25.9
D Ivanchuk
Polgar
Notes by]eroen Piket

1 .e4 c5 2.lLlf3 l2Jc6 3.d4 cd4

4.lLld4 lLlf6 5.lbc3 d6 6.f3 1 6... .!::!.d8
An unusual choice by the grandmaster from Now 16 ...0-0-0 is asking for trouble, as the piece
Lvov, but one definitely not without venom. I sacrifice 17.b5 ab5 1 8.ttJb5 'i!fd7 19.'iifc3 tbc6
have noticed a tendency for I vanchuk to leave the 20.b6 looks promising. The tempting break in
well-trodden theoretical paths when facing Ju the centre, 16 ...d5, was not advisable, as 1 7.ed5
dith Polgar. i.d5 1 8 .i.f4 ! d6 19.lLlf5 l cannot be ignored.
This leaves us with the natural 16 ....l:i.c8 and the
6 ...a6
battle can begin, for example; 17.'iifh2 ttJf3
Polgar opts for a transposition to the Schevenin- 1 8 .ttJf3 .ie4 19.tbe1 hl 20.'ilfhl .

203
 often turns out to be a grave error. Here this is the
1 7..iif4 l:r.c8?
case. 23.hg6 hg6 24 . .1:1.h8! was still undefendable
Just wasting a tempo, quite a risky business in for Black as after 24 . .l:!.h8 25."ifh8 <;t>d7 26."ifg7
.

the Sicilian. 'tWe3 (26 ...1:!.8 27.i.d6 !) 27."iYf7 "iYe2 28.l:!.d6!

mate follows. Or 24 .. .c.ti>d7 25.l:!.h7 and it would
1 8.l:r.h2 tbc4?!
only be a matter of time before Black would
18 ...0-0 1 9 .g5 tt:Jc4 was dangerous but playable. collapse.
1 9..ic4 bc4 20.'ifc3! 23 ... l:!.d8 24.f2 'ifes 25 ..ig3 'ifcs
26.hg6 hg6 27.f2 es 28 ..iig3
Very strong! 20.tt:le2 was pointless, as after
'ifcs 29.f2 es 30.l:r.dh1
20 . . . 0-0 the pawn on d6 cannot be taken because
of back-rank problems; 21...d6 d6 22."ifd6 Just as he did against Karpov in the fourth round,
l:!.fd8 ! Ivanchuk irresponsibly decides to avoid repeat
ing moves with less time on the clock than his
20 ... l:r.g8?
opponent. Of course, the organizers and the audi
What an ugly move ! But it was hard to find ence love this kind of mentality.
anything better. 20 ... i.f6 2 l .l:!.hd2 d4 22.l:!.d4
30...d5!
e5 23J:td6 ef4 24."ifg7 ! (24.l:!.d7 should also
suffice) does not pose White any problems. How Black is simply better, as the absence of White's
ever, 2 1 . . .i.d4 is not forced. After 2 1 .. .0-0 light-squared bishop makes itself felt.
22.g3 there is no doubt who is better, but the
31 Jas "il'd6 32.'ifa4
game is not yet over.
Here Vasily realized his mistakes and offered a
21 ..iig3 g6 22.tbe2?!
draw, but now Judith was merciless.
Not bad, but 22.hg6 hg6 23 .l::t h7 gives White a
32....iic6 33.a6 de4 34..iig3
decisive attack.
d7
22... 'ifc5
Black avoids 34 ..."ifc5 35.i.f2.
Polgar had to close the position with 22 ... e5 or
35J:th8 <;t>ts 36.'ifc4 ef3 37.tbc1 f2
22 ...g5, but both moves would have their draw
backs.

Tempting, especially in time trouble, but

37 ... J:!.h8 38.J:!.h8 r3;g7 39.l:!.d8 d8 would have
23. "il'd2??
given Polgar a more or less winning endgame.
We all know how it feels when the clock is
38."il'f4
ticking and you do not want to spoil your advan
tage, so you look for a second best move which Threatening a nasty check on h6.

204
 Round 12

38 ... d2 39.12 h1 40.l:Xh1 f2 51 24.3

41 .f2 l:Xd2 D Salov
Unnecessarily active. 4 1 ...'it>g7 would have Kamsky
given Black every opportunity to try to bring the Notes by]eroen Piket
ending to a favourable conclusion.
In their first encounter in Buenos Aires Karnsky
42.ti:Jd3 l:Xe2
clearly had the upper hand, but Salov escaped
After this inaccuracy Ivanchuk became a little with a defence that endgame lovers will enjoy.
more optimistic about surviving this miserable Now in the second game of their mini-match
endgame. 42. . .e5 needed some calculation but S alov will try to put his opponent under pressure,
43.l:t.e1 e4 44.l:t.e4 .l:.d1 45.ttJc1 g5 46.e3 f5 ! as this is the last time they meet before they play
was enough for the win. the FIDE semi-final.
43.a4 e4 44.a5 g4 45.tt::le5 l:ta4 1 .e4 c5 2.tt::lf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt::ld 4
46.l:th7 .Ug7 47Jlh8 l:tg8 48.l:th7 tt:Jf6 5.tt::lc3 a6 6.e2

Salov wisely refrains from the sharpest continu

ation 6.g5, as Kamsky has very often played
this himself.
6... e6 7.0-0 e7 8.f4 Wlc7 9.'iii'h 1
0-0 1 O .i.f3 tt:Jc6 1 1 .e3 d7

1 1 ...tLld4 1 2.'Wid4 e5 1 3.'ifd2 b5 is more aggres

sive. 14.a3 i.b7 1 5J:tad1 J:!.fe8 1 6.'iff2 did not
bring White anything in Kuzrnin-Novikov, Len
ingrad (eh) 1990, but 14.a4 ! ? d7 1 5 . .t:!.fc 1 b4
1 6.ttJd5 led to an interesting fight between Vasi
ukov and Stohl, Stary Smokovec 1988.
1 2.a4

In a game Zakharov-Kortchnoi, back in the sixties,

48... l:tg7
White played the immediate 1 2.'ife1 and after
Due to tiredness Judith had completely missed 1 2 ... .t:!.fd8 1 3.'iff2 I:!.b8 14 ..t:!.ad1 e8 15.g4 ttJd4
46.l:t.h7, and she therefore decided that it would 16.d4 b5 17.g5 ttJd7 1 8.a3 he had the better game.
be unwise to continue the battle. Objectively
1 2... l:tab8
speaking Black is still on top, as 48 ... 'it>e8 49 . .1:.f7
g5 ! (found by Karpov; 49 ... l:t.e4 50.g3 d6 This move was generally condemned. Everyone
5 1.l'b7 e5 52.i.e5 l:t.e5 53.a6 .l:.a5 54.a7 is a preferred the knight exchange 12 ... ttJd4 1 3 .'ifd4
draw) 50.b3 .t:!.e4 and the race was always de and then 1 3 ... e5. The game Hracek-Stohl, War
cided in Black's favour during the post-mortem. saw 1990, continued 14.'ifd2 b5 1 5. ab5 ab5
However, a draw is the correct result. Both play 1 6.fe5 deS 1 7.ttJd5 ttJd5 1 8.'Wid5 with equality.
ers made too many mistakes to deserve more. 1 7 .g5 might be an improvement. Every day
Polugaevsky and Najdorf were analyzing to
49.l:th8
gether and it was very interesting to watch them
Draw. suggesting all sorts of possibilities. Polu's move
here was 12 ...ttJa5, as he did not see a future for
the rook on b8. I guess this knight jump should
be answered with 1 3.g l .
1 3.'Wie1 tt::l d4 1 4.d4 e5 1 5.fe5

205
Probably 99% of White players would have Both 27...tt:le4 and 27...'ie4 are bad because of
played the same move as Valery, but perhaps it 28.tt:lel.
was more to the point to maintain the tension
28.'0t>h2
with 1 5.i.e3 ! ?.
A useful move, especially in time trouble, as J:[fl
1 5 de5 1 6.'it'g3 Sii.d6 1 7.i.e3 Sii.e6
..

will not be check any more.

1 8.Sii.g5
28 h6 29.h4 'it'e4 30.Sii.g3 'it'c2
White has to build up some initiative against the
.

31 ...te5
black king, as he is in trouble on the other side
due to 1 2.a4 and the bad bishop on f3 . White's
main goal is to keep Black busy to prevent him
from undertaking something. 1 8.i.e2 was a rea
sonable alternative, to open the f-file and at the
same time support the queenside.
1 8 i.e7 1 9.i.h6

This is not a loss of time. It was useful to force

the bishop to e7, since this might be handy if the
knight reaches the d5 square.
19 .. tt:Je8 20.Sii.g4 d8
If 20 ... 'it'c8 2 1 . tt:ld5 !
21 .e6 fe6 22.l:lf8 i.f8 23.g5
.l:rd7 24.'it'g4 'it'c4 25.h3 tt:Jd6 31 'it'f5

Suddenly changing the game from difficult 3 1 ...'ie4 would be bad, as 32.J:[e l is possible and
strategical chess to very complicated tricky the pin would work like a boomerang. Neither
chess. 25 .. J:!.f7 was a very logical alternative does 3 l . ..J:[f2 work out very well. Admittedly it
after which Black would be doing fine. looks good after 32.'ih6? 'it>g8, since both
33 . .-e6 and 33 ..-gS fail to 33 ...tt:lf7. However,
the problem after 3 1 .. . .t:!.f2 is the sober 32.tt:le3 !
32.tt:Jf4

The only move! The greedy 32.'ifh6 'it>g8

33 . .-f4 would lose because of 33 ...tt:lc4 ! 34.1Vc4
.-es 35.'it>hl i.d6.
32 'it'e6 33.tt:Je6 tt:Jc4 34.tt:Jf8 tt:Je5

35..l:re1 ! tt:Jf3 36.gf3 .l:rf8

From here on the players only continued to show

their fighting spirit and because neither wanted
to offer the draw.
37.'0t>g3 .l:rf6 38.b4 .l:rb6 39 .l:re4

26.tt:Jd5! 'Ot>h7 40.h4 'Ot>g6 41 .'0t>g4 .l:rd6

42.a5 'Ot>f6 43J:tf4 'Ot>e7 44J:tc4 'Ot>f6
Salov immediately grabs his chance to bring
45J:I.f4 'Ot>e7 46. .l:re4 'Ot>f6
another piece near to the enemy king.
Draw.
26 J:tf7 27.'it'e6 'Ot>h8

Thank God for move repetitions !

206
Round 13
Salov 8.5
An and 8.0
Polgar 6.5
An and - Polgar 1 -0 lvanchuk 6.0
Karpov 6.0
Karpov - Shi rov lfz - lfz
Shirov 6.0
lvanch u k - Kamsky 1f2 - 1f2 Kamsky 5.5
Lju bojev i c - Salov 1 - 0 Lju bojevic 5.5

51 1 2.3 1S ...ih6 b4= Timoschenko-Rusakov, Soviet Union

1976, and 13 ...eS 14 . .-id2 (14.feS deS 1S.h6
D A nand lt:JhS ! 16...ig7 g7 17.lt:JgS tt:Jdf6 18.J:!.f3 h6 led to
Polgar the sad retreat 19.lt:Jh3 in Kuporosov-Zakharevich,
Notes by]eroen Piket Soviet Union 1986) 14 ... tt:JcS 1SJ:I.ae1 l:l.ae8
1 6.feS deS 17.lt:JgS tt:Jcd7 Ljubojevic-Miles,
The battle for second place! Skara 1980, were very promising for B lack.
1 .e4 c5 2.ttJf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.ltJd4 1 4.f5
ttJf6 5.ttJc3 a6 6.f4
In the 198S Soviet Championship Balashov gained
The best combative measure is to fight the enemy the better position against Psakhis with 14.e3
with his own weapons. l:l.ae8 1S.J:!.ae1 tt:JcS 16.fS lt:Jd3 17.cd3 tt:Jd7 1 8.6
but 1 S...lt:JcS should be replaced by 1S ...lt:JhS.
6... ttJbd7
1 4... l:.ae8 1 5.g5?1
6. ..eS see Polgar-Anand, sixth round.
7.ttJf3 Wic7 8.a4
8 ...id3 is more precise because 8 ... bS 9.0-0 b4
10.lt:Je2 ..ib7 1 l .tt:Jg3 e6 1 2."ii'e2 was good for
White in Ciocaltea-Ribli, Baile Herculane 1982,
while after 8 ... g6 postponing the move a2-a4
turns out useful.
a . 9s 9 ..id3 ..ig7
.. . 1 o.o-o o-o
1 1 .Wh1 b6 1 2.Wie1
Clearly White's prospects are on the kingside.
1 2 .ib7 1 3.Wih4 e6
.

There is nothing wrong with this move, but the

results of the alternatives 1 3 ...tt:JcS 14.fS bS A very risky decision. In the Spanish city

207
208
 Round 13

Oviedo, against his countryman King, Mickey lt:le5 23.i.f6 ltJf3 24...ig7 g7 25.f6 and mate
Adams played 1 5 ..ih6, which was also ex follows.
pected/feared by Judith Polgar.
22.l:t3e2?
15 'ifc5
A decision based on the tournament standing.
Not without reason Judith thinks that her play 22 ..1:[1e2 looks like trouble for Black; I cannot
should be concentrated on the queenside and she find a plan.
now threatens 1 6 ... 'ifb4 or 1 6...b5. However,
22 ... 'it'c8 23.l:te3 'it'aS
with his next move Vishy makes these options
less attractive. Miguel Najdorf justly wondered 23 ...'it'c6 would have been very strong psycho
why Polgar rejected the immediate 1 5 ...gf5; after logically, as at this point Anand was not so sure
16.ef5 e5 the queen is much better placed on c7 how to assess the position and he might have
to support the advance of the d-pawn. contented himself with a repetition of moves.
1 6.l:tab1 1 24.l:t1 e2 c6 25.h31?
Both players were spending a lot of time and The game is reaching its climax.
were obviously unaware that only Anand's last
25 'it'b7 26.tt:lh2 d5 27.tt:lg4 tt:lg4
move was new in practice. In Bangiev-Rash
..

28.hg4 f61
kovsky, Soviet Union 1975, White continued
16J:!.ad1 ? ! 'it'b4 17 ..id2 'it'b2 1 8.e5 i.f3
19J:[ae1 ltJe5 20.l:l.fb 1 'it'a1 21 .l:l.a1 .ib7 and
despite the capture of the queen White is lost.
1 6 ... gf5 1 7.ef5 e5 1 8..l:.be1 h8
18 . . .d5 is impossible due to 19.lt:le5.

1 9..l:.e21

All forced, as h7 was becoming very vulnerable.

29.l:th3

29.'it'h7 <Ji>h7 30.l:l.h3 i.h6 does not work. The

king escapes.
29 .. tt:lf8 30...tf6 e4

The point of sacrificing the f-pawn. The seventh

The Indian grandmaster understands very well that rank is very well defended and it is time to collect
if he fixes the black center pawns he will be better. some material.
1 9... 'it'c7 20J:Ue1 J:tg8 21 .l:te31 31 ...tg7 'it'g7??
A very nice manoeuvre. White has many more The pressure ofboth the clock and the knowledge
useful moves than his female opponent. that she is facing her bete noire (Judith's score
against Viswanathan can be counted on one ...
21 ... 'ifc6
finger! ! !) is getting too much. A more or less even
To push d6-d5 is still no good because of 22.l:l.e5 battle would have continued after 3 1 . . Jig7 32.g5

209
(Anand) 32...ed3 33.l:te8 ..ie8 34.l:td3. In my opin Karpov's loss against Salov in this line stimu
ion 32 ..a.be3 followed by sacrificing on e4 was also lated him even more.
not bad, as White gets three pawns for the piece.
9.f4
32.a6 d4
Apparently Karpov has no faith in the 9.e3
treatment.
9 d7 1 0.tt::lc6 .i.c6 1 1 .'ife1
..

Deviating from Karpov-Salov from the 9th

round, where the fashionable 1 l .f3 was played.
1 1 ...e7
IfBlack fears 12.e5 he has the alternative 1 1...'iVa5.
1 2.e5 tt::lh5 1 3.e3 'ilc7 1 4..i.e2
g6 1 5.h5 gh5 1 6..i.f4

33.c4!

33 .i.b5 was not bad either but Anand's move

wins on the spot.
33 ... dc3 34.f6 'ifg6 35.f7 l:lg7
36.fe8'il ea 37.l:lc3

As the Frank Sinatra song goes: 'And now the

end is near'.
37... i.a4 38.d5 d7 39 .i.e4

'ifd6 40.l:1d3 'ilf4 41 .l:.f2

.

At first glance the proceedings may seem very

Black resigned. strange, but actually both sides are just being
Quite a bloody game for two vegetarians. consistent. White has mutilated B lack's pawn
structure for which he has given up the pair of
bishops. In Makarichev-Szabo, Amsterdam 1976,
peace was signed after 1 6.ed6 d6 17 .f3 0-0-0
1 8.'ii'f2 f4 19.g3.
51 29. 1 0 1 6...0-0-0 1 7.f3
0 Kar p ov Again 1 7 .ed6 does not bring White much. In fact
Shirov Black was much better in Matulovic-Ivanovic, Stip
Notes by]eroen Piket 1979, which saw 17 .....id6 18...id6 J:!.d6 19.f3 l:tg8
20.l:1d2 'iVd8 21 .l:1d6 'ii'd6 22."f2 'ii'f4 23. b 1 h4.
1 .e4 c5 2.tt::lf3 tt::lc6 3.d4 cd4 1 7...g5
4.tt::ld4 tt::lf6 5.tt::lc3 d6 6.g5 e6
A novelty. The Encyclopedia only gives 17 ... mtg8,
7.'ild2 a6 8.0-0-0 h6
as occurred in Chandler-Ivanovic, Plovdiv 1983,
This was to be expected. Alexey is a great expert where 1 8.ed6 d6 19.l:td6 J:!.d6 20.g3 ! f6
in this opening, as he had already proved in (20 .....if3?! 21 .l:1fl) 2 l . ..id6 'iVd6 followed. The
several games in this tournament, and of course Encyclopedia considers this position to be equal,

21 0
 Round 13

but who would want to play the black side here, confuse B lack. 30.h3 ! ? should be answered by
especially against Karpov? 30 ... '0t>d6 3 l .'Ot>d2 'Ot>e5 32.c3 b5 33.a3 aS .
1 a ..tgs hgs 1 9.'it'g3 30 d6 31 .c4 cs 32.c3 g4!
..

19.'ii'd2 would be careless, as 19 ...de5 20.'ii'g5 32 ... a5? would not be so clever, in view of 33.h3!
J:.hg8 2l .l:.d8 'ii'd8 hands the initiative to Black. followed by 34.a3.
1 9... deS 33.f4
19 ... d5? 20/L:le2 and 19 . .. h4?! 20.'ii'g5 .U.dg8 33.b4 <bd6 34.f4 e5 (34 .. .f6 35.<bd4 'Ot>c6 35 .a4
21 .'ii'f6 deS 22Jd2 are not advisable. b6=) 35.fe5 'Ot>e5 36.<bd3 b6! was still balanced,
as the players concluded after the game.
20J:ld8 'ii'd 8 21 .'it'eS l:l.g8
33...aS 34.a3 f6 3S.b4 ab4 36.ab4
Ready to exchange queens with 22 ... 'ii'c7.
d6 37.d3 'Ot>c6 38.d4 b6
22.tt:Je4
Karpov was correct in pointing out that 38 ...b6
The knight is certainly not stronger than the was a dead draw.
bishop, so it is better to trade them.
39.bS as 40.<.t>cs es 41 .feS feS
22 ... e4 23.'ii'e4 'ii'd6 42.dS b4

23 . . .'ii'a5 ! ? Karpov. 42 ...'0t>b6 43.<be5 'Ot>c5 was also sufficient to

share the point.
24.g3 l:ld8 2S.'it'e3 'ii'd S
I am not sure that this move is so useful. 25 .. .f6 and
26... e5 to play with the majority looks more logical.
26.b3 'ifd4!

26 ...g4 27 ..U.fl would only help White.

27.'ifd4 l::t d4 28.l:ld1 lld1 29.d1
d7
The easiest way to draw was 29 ...g4 30.'0t>e2 'Ot>d7
3 l .'Ot>e3 eS 32.f4 'Ot>e6.

43.b6 e4 44.'0t>e4

With 44.c5?! 'Ot>b5 45.'0t>d6 e3 46.c6 'Ot>b6 47.c7

e2 White would only burn his own fingers.
44...c4 45.fS CS 46.gS
'Ot>b6 47.'0t>hS aS!
The only square for the king but both competitors
knew exactly what they were doing.
48.g4 bS
Drawn, as 49.h4 (49.'0t>f3?? b4 50.<be2 'Ot>a4-+)
30.d2
49 ... b4 50.h5 b3 5 l .h6 b2 52.h7 b l 'if 53.h8'if
Despite the limited material, matters are not yet 'ife4! 54.'0t>g5 'ife3 leads to perpetual check.
all that simple and White has some chances to The analysis is based on notes by Shirov.

21 1
 51 2 8.3 1 3....tc6 14 ..id2 t2Jd7 1 5.t2Jd5
'ifd8 1 6.lUe7 'ife7 1 7.J:I.he1 l:lfd8
0 Ivanchuk
Kamsky Nowadays everybody takes this move for
Notes by]eroen Piket granted, but there was a time that 1 7 .. J:tfc8 or
17. ..'ifc5 was generally accepted as best. The text
move was introduced by Genna Sosonko and has
1 .e4 c5 2.t2Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.t2Jd4 t2Jf6
been the main continuation ever since.
5.t2Jc3 t2Jc6 6 ..tg5 e6 7.'it'd2 .te7
8.0-0-0 0-0 9.f4 t2Jd4 1 0.'it'd4 'ifaS 1 8..tf1

The Richter-Rauzer really is a hard nut to crack. 1 8 .'ifg4 tt:lf8 19.d3 J:!.d3 20.cd3 'ifd7 2 l .b 1
This system is even more solid than the one with 'ifd3 22.a1 h5 ! was a big success for Black
a6 and h6, and you cannot but wonder why White in 011-Hodgson, Groningen PCA-qualifier
players do not more frequently choose the 1993.
Sozin/Velirnirovic attack. But maybe 'Chukky'
1 8...t2Jf8 1 9.'ife3
has something in mind.
Most games continue with 19.'ifg4, but with the
1 1 ..tc4
queen in the centre Ivanchuk can play on both
1 l .Wb1 was already tried by Shirov. sides of the board.
1 1 ....td7 1 2.e5 de5 1 3.fe5 1 9...'ifh4!

In the first round - which seems ages ago, but I Taking advantage of the white queen's absence
guess time flies when you're having fun - Kar from the fourth rank. 19 ... tt:lg6 20.g3 followed by
pov surprisingly recaptured with his queen, but 2 l .h4 would be the ideal realization of White's
Gata did not suffer much. plan.

212
 Round 13

In the press room we had expected 24.g3 and

25.h4.
24...'iVd8 2S..:ed1

25 .i.d3 ! to prevent 25 .. .f6 was not bad as

25 ...g2 26.Ilg1 c6 27.h4 is a worthwhile
pawn sacrifice.
25 ... 16 26.ef6 'ti'f6
Though Black has clearly made some consider
able concessions, he has counterplay against the
clumsy bishop on fl .
27J:t4d2! l:tf7 28...ig3 h6 29..:1.e1 ?
20.h3 .:d7?
Though his opponent has problems with the
I think that 20. .. l2Jg6, as Salov played against clock, is it Vasily who makes the error. 29 ...id3
Ehlvest in Linares 199 1 , was more useful since would have maintained the advantage.
Black should exchange the rook if the bishop
29 ... tbh4 30.e5
moves from d2.
30.i.h4 'ifh4 is pointless because 3 1 .'ife6 fails
21 .c4 a6
to 3 1 . ..l:r.e8.
The pawn on a7 is always vulnerable.
30... 'ti'g5!
22.b4! l:tc8?!

Allowing the bishop to d6. Probably Kamsky did

not want to play 22 ... b5 because after 23.g4 this
would just have weakened his queenside, but this
may still have been the lesser evil. 22... .1:r.d1,
23.l:r.d1 with the threat of .l:r.d4 with complete
domination, was also not very attractive.
23.d6 tbg6

A very good defence!

31 .''g5 hgS 32...id6

There is no other way to stop 32....1:r.cf8.

32... tbf5 33...ib4 tbe3!
Forcing opposite-coloured bishops and thereby
solving all remaining problems.
34. .:1.e3 .l:tf1 35.c2 ..idS 36.b3
Tactics like 23...g2 (24.i.g2 'ifc4 25.b1
'ifc2) do not work because of 24.J:!.d4 ! Draw.
24.l:td4?!

21 3
 51 32.9 1 0...tbf6
D Ljuboj evic 10 . ..g5 can be met by 1 1 ..ia3.
Salov 1 1 .d3
Notes by]eroen Piket
The other bishop move 1 l ..ie2 allows 1 1 . ..0-0
Ljubojevic has played himself back into the tourna 12.0-0 b5 1 3.cb5 ab5 14. .if3 tt:Jb4 1 5.tt:Jb4 .l:.c3
ment with two successive wins, and of course he 16.d2 .l:.c8 with equality, as in Timman-Short,
wants to take revenge for his defeat in the first half Belgrade 1989.
of the tournament. Salov on the other hand would
1 1 ...0-0 1 2.b2
secure first place by remaining undefeated.
White has to play precisely, for example 1 2.0-0
1 .e4 c5 2.lLlf3 tbc6 3.d4 cd4
would allow Black to free himself with 12 ...b5
4.tbd4 e5
13.cb5 tt:Ja7.
Of late the 'Kalashnikov' Variation has not been
1 2...tbd7
seen very often at high level tournament practice.
The results are very poor for Black, and Alexey In Ivanchuk-Bonsch, Novi Sad (ol) 1990, Black
Shirov too was unable to improve the statistics manoeuvred his other knight to g6 ( 1 2 ... .!:!.e8
in his first two games in Buenos Aires. 1 3.0-0 .if8 14.'ti'd2 tt:Je7 1 5 . .!:!.e1 tt:Jg6) but could
not compensate for his weakness on the d-file.
5.tbb5 d6 6.c4 e7 7.tb1c3
1 3.0-0 tbc5 1 4...ie2 <;;tJhS
7 . .i.d3 occurred in Anand-Shirov in the second
round. 14...f5 15.ef5 .i.f5 1 6.tt:Je3 gives White a favour
able structure.
7 ... a6 8.tba3 e6
1 5.b4 tbd7 1 6.tbd5 g5 1 7.a3!
In the first round, against the Hungarian participant,
Shirov played 8 ...h6 in order to exchange the dark Ljubo also thought for a long while about the
squared bishops, but he never managed to equalize. somewhat artificial 1 7.a3. I believe the game
continuation is much stronger as it exposes
9.tbc2 J:lc8 1 0.b3
Black's problem: a plan for the future. 1 7 .a4 was
bad because of 17 ...aS.
1 7...tbe7 1 8.tbce3 lLlb6 1 9.'iYb3 aS

Understandably, Salov is tired of waiting pas

sively, nevertheless he should have adjusted to
the situation and played the prophylactic
19 . ...id7, intending to take on d5 .

I like this set-up for White. In Linares 1993 Ljubo

tried 10.d2 against Ivanchuk, but after
10 ....ig5 he decided to exchange the bishop after
all. In Frolov-Tiviakov, Soviet Union 1990, in
teresting complications arose after 10.tt:Jd5 g5
1 1 .tLlce3 tt:Jge7 1 2.d3 0-0 1 3.0-0 tt:Jd4.

214
 Round 13

pieces on the right squares, and of course Salov

20.ba5!
can only wait for Ljubojevic to break his
A very confident decision where most players blockade. This makes it harder to understand
would have increased the pressure by 20J:!.fdl. his next move which, allows instant penetra
tion. But it is not the first time that a chess
20...tt:Jd7 2Vbe7 tbc5 22.'ib4
player makes a wrong decision around the no
e7 23.tbd5 .ildS
torious move 40 !
23 ...tt:Je4 24.tt:Je7 f!ie7 25 ..ile5 is one of the tac
tical justifications for White's appetite on move
twenty.
24.cd5 tra8 25..ic3

40... b6?

Ljubo stated that if Black had stayed put with

40 ... f!ic7, he would sooner or later have de
stroyed the fortress after 4 l .f!ib4. Although it
takes quite some manoeuvering, it seems that by
25 ...'i!fc7
playing h2 and putting the bishop on the h3-c8
This move was severely criticized in the Argen diagonal the pressure already increases. Then,
tine newspapers and 25 . .. f!ib8 was suggested as depending on Black's waiting moves, White will
a bigimprovement. I guess Salov feared 26J:tacl open the position with f2-f4 or give back the
(26 ..l:.fcl J:lc8 followed by 27 ... d8), as exchange on c5, after which the e5 and b7 pawns
26 ...d8 is not possible on account of 27.e5 will be targets .
.ila5 28 .f!ic5, and after 26 .. Jk8 White starts a
41 .trb6!
decisive attack on the kingside with 27 .f4, as all
the black pieces are absent. Forced and winning.
26.trfc1 .ilgS 27.trc2 tba6 28.'ib1 41 ... .tb6 42.'ib6 tbe4 43.a6 tra7
.llfc8 29.traa2! 44..ib5 tbc5 45.c6 tra6
Not a very difficult move but a very strong one. It is tough for Salov that suddenly his tournament
victory is not one hundred per cent sure, but as
29 ... tbc5 30. .ib4 lla5
46.b7 cannot be prevented one would expect a
Otherwise the black position would simply col player of his calibre to resign. On the other hand
lapse. you do not win tournaments by resigning.
31 ..ila5 'ti'as 32.trc4 g6 33.g3 46J:ta6 tba6 47.'ifa6 't!Vf6 48.'ia3
..t>g7 34 ..t>g2 .ilf6 35.a4 l:la8
'it'd8 49.f!ic3 ..t>g8 50.f!ib2 't!Ve7
36. .l:lb4 'ic7 37. .l:lb5 .id8 38.a5 51 .'ib6 ..t>g7 52 ..ib5
'ie7 39.h4 h5 40.l:l.a3
Perhaps 52.flib8, to play for 53 .f!ie8, d7 and
In mutual time trouble the players have put their e6, was a quicker way to decide the game.

21 5
 52... <J.?g8 53.<J.?g1 <J.?g7 54.f1
<J.?g8 55.g2 <J.?g7 56.<J.?h2 <J.?g8
57.'iie3 'ifc7 58.f3 'iic4 59.<J.?g2
'ii b4 60.'iie4 'ifc3 61 .g4 hg4
62.'ifg4 <J.?f8 63.h5 gh5 64.'ifh5
'iid 2 65.'iih8 <J.?e7 66.'ifh4 <J.?e8
67.'iif6 'iib4 68.<J.?g3 'ifa3 69.<J.?g4
'ifc1 70.<J.?g3 'ifa3 71 .<J.?g2 'ifc5
72.'ifh8 <J.?e7 73.'iih 4 <J.?e8 74.'iie4

The right square. Now White can start winning

the last black pawns without being bothered by
checks.
74...'ifc1 75.i..h5 'ifgS 76.'iig4 'iff6 77.'iie6

Black resigned.

216
Round 1 4
Salov 9.0
An and 8.5
lvanch u k 7.0
Salov - Anand 1/2 - 1h Polgar 7.0
Kamsky 6.5
Kamsky - Ljubojevic 1 -0
Karpov 6.5
Shi rov - lvanchu k 0- 1 Shirov 6.0
Pol gar - Karpov 1/2 - 1/2 Lju bojevic 5.5

51 1 5.2 One might think that after this unusual opening

the players would be on unexplored territory, but
D Salov one would be mistaken.
Anand 1 1 ...a6 1 2.l:l.ad1 b5 1 3.f4 'i/c7 14.ltJb3 b4
Notes byjeroen Piket 1 5 .ltJd5 ltJd5 16.ed5 lt:\a5 1 7.i.d4 lt:lb3 1 8.cb3
i.d4 19.'i/d4 was seen in Chistiakov-Tal, Riga
This game was sure to be more interesting than the 1954.
first encounter between the same players - an
1 2.i.d4
1 8-move draw - as first place was at stake. It is
funny that in this situation, where a draw benefits
the White player, he is forced to play the Sicilian.
1 .e4 c5 2.lf.Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.lf.Jd4
lf.Jf6 5.lf.Jc3 lf.Jc6 6.g3
After his success with this move against lvanchuk
in the eighth round, Salov does not mind giving it
another try. As Salov explained after the tournament,
he hadn't had very much time for preparation.
He entered the tournament as Polugaevsky's sub
stitute and he had a busy calendar. If you look at
his score in this tournament with these f3 and g3
systems, you cannot imagine what his score
would have been if he had had time to prepare
the main lines.
1 2 J:tc4! 1 3.'it'd3
.

6 ... g6 7.i.g2 i.d7 8.h3 i..g7 9.i..e3

Perhaps 13 .e5 to simplify the game was better.
The retreat 9 .lt:\de2 occurred in the above men
1 3... 'it'c8
tioned game.
Well played. After 1 3 ....ie6 14.lt:\e2! followed by
9 0-0 1 0.'it'd2 l:l.c8 1 1 .0-0 lt.Jd4
..

b3 and c4 White has a pleasant position.

217
21 8
 Round 14

1 4...if6?! 51 8.2
The exclamation mark is only appended, because D Kamsky
White's decision is good and confident in view Ljuboj evic
of the final result of the game. The question mark Notes byjeroen Piket
is given because White is already worse after
fourteen moves.
1 .e4 c5 2.lt:Jf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.lt:Jd4
1 4 f6 1 5.lt:Jd5 l:i.c2 1 6.lt:Jf6 ef6
.. lt:Jf6 5.lt:Jc3 a6 6.g5 e6 7.f4

I witnessed this move when I was sitting in the

playing hall together with Polugaevsky, and we
looked at each other, with the same thought: Is
Ljubo - after three wins in a row - in the mood
for the Polugaevsky Variation? (7 ... b5).
7 ... l'Vb6

We cannot and do not blame the Yugoslav grand

master for being loyal to his Najdorf, but I think
that in general the players of this tournament
missed a big opportunity to prove that they are
more than great chess players, and that they
could have added a little more to Polu 's favourite
Sicilian chess theory.

1 7.l'Vd6 ..ie6 8.lt:Jb3

Salov rightly feared 1 7. .. tlc6 ! , as 1 8 .'ii'd4 3 Side-stepping the poisoned pawn variation in the
19.h3 'ii'h3 20."i'a7 l:te8 or 19.'ii'a7 .ig2 most fashionable way. In the PCA championship
20. 'it>g2 l:te8 would have given him a long and Short had the guts to challenge Kasparov in the
tough afternoon. main line with 8.'ii'd2 'ib2 9.llJb3 'ii'a3 10 ..if6 gf6
1 l ..ie2 llJc6 12.0-0 d7 1 3. 'it>h1 h5 14.llJd l !?
1 8Ji'd4 'it>g7
8... ttJbd7
The more direct 1 8 . .. ld.d8 19.'ii'f6 l:Idd2 forces
White to sac a pawn with 20Jbd1 l:tb2 2 l .l:td2 The alternative is 8 ...h6 followed by check on e3 .
l:!.d2 22.a4 h3 23.h3 'tth3, according to both
9Ji'f3 "f/c7 1 0.0-0-0 b5 1 1 .i.d3
players in the post-mortem, but 2l .h4! looks a
b7 1 2.a3
safer way to reach a draw.
For sentimental readers I give the continuation of
1 9.e5 f5 20.l'!fa7 l:ib2 21 .l:i.ab1
the game Saren-Liang, Buenos Aires Olympiad
l:i.a2 22.l'Vb7 'tlib7 23.i.b7
1978: 12.l:the1 e7 1 3.'ig3 b4 14.llJb1 h6
Vishy has done what he could, but his advantage 1 5 .f6 f6 and Black was doing fine.
only pleases the eye and nothing more.
1 2 ... i.e7 1 3.l:i.he1
23 ... f4 24.<;ii g2 fg3
The question in this line is whether Black has lost
Draw. a tempo with 'ii'b6 and 'ii'c7, or that it was very
And Anand was the first to congratulate the useful to chase the white knight to b3.
tournament winner.
1 3... h6

Better than the alternatives 1 3 ... 0-0-0 and 13. .. l:tc8.

1 4. 'ii'h 3?!

21 9
Although this is a characteristic move in this line,
23.. J:tc3 22.'ii'c3 d5 23..ih5 l:tf8
14.h4 g5 1 5.g3 ! ? with double-edged play
24.f3 'ifc7 25.'ifb4
was to be preferred; 15.fg5 o:'be5 1 6.'ife2 o:'bfg4
17.h3 hg5 1 8.f6 o:'bf6 was okay for Black in Gata is fighting as best he can, but 25. . JUS !
Bogda-Murey, Malta Olympiad 1980. would have left him helpless.
1 4 l:tc8
25...g5? 26. 'ifd6!
In a correspondence game Ivanez Rico-Popescu,
Copa Latina 199 1 , Black opted for 14 ...0-0-0 and
after 1 5.4 g5 16.g3 l:tdg8! he was also on top.
1 5.l2Jd4?

Kamsky is not happy with his position and he

starts looking for complications.

Suddenly White is back in the game in the sense

that he has realistic chances of escaping with a
draw. 26.d5 tbd5 27.l:td5 ed5 28.e6 does not
work because of the intermediate 28 ... l:tf2 !
26 J:tf3! 27.gf3 'ifd6 28.ed6 l2Jf5
.

29.d3!

29..1:1.d5 ed5 30J:[e6 a5 ! followed by c8 to b6 is

15 ...'ti'b6 1 6.l2Je6 fe6 1 7.e5 deS
not advisable for White.
1 8.g6 d8
29...a5?!
The critical position. White has to prove he has
sufficient compensation for the invested material. In time trouble Ljubojevic picks the wrong plan.
My suggestion is 29 ...tt:Jh4, to play against the
1 9.fe5
vulnerable white pawns, while transferring the
White's best chance according to Ljubo, but then knight to f4 might also be an attractive option.
again he was not at all impressed by the threats 29. . .o:'bd6 is too greedy. White escapes with half
against his king. I partly agree with him as a point after 30.J:[e6 as well as first 30.l:td5 and
19.J:[e5 is not so good because of 19 ... J:[c3 20.bc3 only then 3 1 .J:!.e6.
d5, but 19 .f5 l:tc3 20.bc3 would also have given
30.b3 a4?
Black some practical difficulties of how to con
tinue. 20 ... -idS 21 .f6 gf6 22.fe6 e6 23 ...if5 is Giving the white king free entrance and spoiling
not so clear. However, 20...c7 and 20 ... hg5 his advantage completely. Best was 30 ... o:'bf6 ! to
seem to justify Ljubo's point of view. make space for his king to move forwards. In the
post-mortem Kamsky found a very good defence
1 9... l2Jd5 20..ie7 l2Je7 21 ..if7
in 3 1 .b2 d7 32.a4 ! , as he is able to survive
2l .l:td6 l:tc6 22.'ife6 (22 ...ie4 l:td6 23.ed6 o:'bf5 after both 32 ...ba4 33.c4 and 32...b4 33.c3 .
24.b7 'ifb7 25 .l:te6 .U.f8 leads nowhere)
31 .b2 lbb6 32.c3 d7 33.b4
22 .. J:td6 23.ed6 o:'bg6 24.'ifg6 'ifd4! and Black is
..tc6?
simply a piece up.

220
 Round 14

Completely losing the right track. It is hard to At the 1993 World Team Championship in
explain what happened to Ljubo; he probably Luzern i played 6 ...e5 7.t2Jb3 i.e6 8 .f4 ef4 9 .i.f4
does not understand himself. 33 ...t2Jd6 would t2Jc6 against Shirov, but on this occasion I de
maintain approximate equality. cided to employ a different variation.
34. cS lt:\dS 7.e2 'fl/c7 8.g4 dS!?

When preparing for the present game, I remem

bered that somewhere (possibly in one of the
issues of the Chess Informant) I had seen the
following recommendation: 8 ...d5 !? 9.ed5 i.b4
10.de6 i.c3 l l .bc3 'iWc3 1 2.r.t>fl fe6oo. The re
sulting position interested me, and I began ana
lysing it, hoping that my analysis would prove
better than that of my opponent. In view of the
fact that in recent times Shirov has almost regu
larly played the variation with 6.i.e3, 7 .i.e2 and
8.g4, I felt sure that the above recommendation
would also be known to him.
9.ed5 b4 1 0.de6 c3 1 1 .bc3 'ir'c3
1 2.f1 fe6
35.l::!.e6!
This really hurts !
35 ... ab3 36.cb3 e6?

36...tt:lf4 37.J:Iee3 t2Jd3 38Jd3 h5 (38 . . .t2Jh4

39.l::!.e 3 i.f3 40 ..l:l.e7 d8 41 Jlh7) was the only
thing left for Black.
37.c6

Now the pawn is unstoppable and the conclusion

speaks for itself.
37... tt:lf4 38 . .l:l.d2 tt:lg6 39.d7 tt:leS
40.c7 tt:ld7 41 . .1:1d7 es 42.a4
ba4 43.ba4
1 3.tt:lb3?!
Black resigned.
This is a poor move, and after Shirov made it I
realised that 8 ...d5 had come as a surprise to him,
and that he had not analysed it at home. I think
that in this position White should play 1 3.r.t>g2
51 23. 1 0-0 (if 13 ...t2Jd5 14.'iWd3) 14.'iWd3 (14.i.f3 is also
quite possible; now after 14 ...t2Jd5 1 5 .i.d5 ed5
D Shirov 1 6.h3 or 16Jlel White stands slightly better,
Ivanchuk while if 14 ...e5 he should not play 1 5 .t2Jb3 'iWc7 ! ,
Notes by Vasiry Ivanchuk but 1 5.t2Jf5 i.f5 1 6.gf5oo) 14...'iWd3?! ( 1 4...'iWc7,
avoiding the exchange of queens, leads to more
complicated play; in this case White does best to
1 .e4 cS 2.tt:lf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.tt:ld4
play 1 5 .i.f3) 1 5.cd3 e5 1 6.tLlf5 t2Jg4 ( 1 6. ..t2Jc6
tt:lf6 S.tt:lc3 a6 6.e3 e6
17 ..l:l.ab l ) 1 7. t2Je7 r.t>f7 (17 ...r.t>h8 is risky on ac-

221
count of 1 8.c5) 1 8 .lLld5 ! ( 1 8 .c5 is unpromis
1 6...li.Je5?!
ing for White in view of 1 8 ...e6 ! followed by
19 . . .lLJd7, while after 18.lLJc8 !? lLJe3 19.fe3 l:c8 Of course, it was very tempting to simultaneously
20. .:!.hb l !? b5 2L.f3 .:!.a7 22.a4 or 20.f3 the attack both white bishops, but there were also some
game should probably end in a draw), and White interesting alternatives: 1 6 ...lLJf6 1 7.ti'g2 0-0, or
has a strong initiative, since if 1 8 ...lLJc6 he plays 16...lLJe3 17.ti'e3 0-0 18.ti'e4 g6, intending 19....:!.f4.
19 ..ic5 l:d8 20.lLJb6, while after 1 8 ...lLJe3 19.fe3
1 7..itc5!
lLJc6 he has the very strong 20. .:!.hfl <;t>g8 2 l ..:!.f8
<;t>f8 22 ..:!.fl <;t>g8 23.d4! Now kingside castling has become impossible.
I should also mention that the pattern of the
1 7....itd7
position arising after 1 2...fe6 very much resem
bles certain positions that arise in one of the Realising that 17 ... lLJf6 1 8.ti'f4 was unpromising
variations of the Nimzo-Indian Defence(!), for me, I decided to prepare queenside castling.
namely l .d4 lLlf6 2.c4 e6 3 .lLlc3 .ib4 4.f3 d5 5 .a3
1 8..U.e1 li.Jd3 1 9.cd3 li.Jf4
c3 6.bc3 c5 7.cd5 lLJd5 8.dc5 f5.
Alas, for the moment castling is not good in view
1 3... li.Jd5 1 4.'ifd4?!
of 20. .:!.c l .
14 ..ic5 looks more critical, preventing Black's
20.li.Jd4!
kingside castling and at the same time preserving
the dark-square bishop from exchange, but even 20.ti'd4? .ib5 2 l ..id6 ti'c6! would have fa
in this case after 14 ... b6 1 5.a3 .ib7 Black's voured Black.
position is preferable, in my opinion, since if
20 ... 'ifc5 21 .'iff4 .l:tfB
necessary he can castle long.
With the move in the game White is agreeing to
play the slightly inferior ending that could arise
after 14 ...ttJe3 1 5.'ife3 'ife3 16.fe3, but with this
aim it was better to play 14.'it'd2 or 14.ti'd3, after
which it would not have been so advantageous,
as it was in the game, for Black to avoid the
exchange of queens.
1 4... 'ifc7!
Taking account of the poor position of the white
queen ( 1 5 . .. lLJc6, with gain of tempo, is threat
ened), I decided to avoid the exchange of queens.
1 5 ..itd3 li.Jc6 1 6.'ife4

22.'ife4?

While Shirov was considering his 22nd move,

the lights in the playing hall went out and play
had to be adjourned. This incident must evidently
have disturbed my opponent psychologically,
since otherwise it is hard to explain why he
should reject 22.lLJe6 .ie6 23.J:te6 <;t>d7 24.'ife3
ti'e3 (or 24 ... l::.ac8 !? 25.ti'c5 .:!.c5 26..:!.e2=)
25 ..:!.e3 l::.ac8 26.l:e2, which would have led to a
drawn ending (26... .:!.f4 27.h3 .:!.c l 28.<;t>g2 .:!.hl
29.<;t>hl .:!.f3 etc.), and instead prefer to continue
the struggle in an obviously inferior position.

222
 Round 14

22 ... 0-0-0 23..C.e2 'OtbB 24..C.g1

'ii'c 7!?
24 ... 'ifd6 was also strong, and if 25.J:lb2 b5 ! with
the threat of 26... J:lf4.

25.tbe6
25.'ife5 is also bad in view of 25 ...'ife5 26.J:le5
c8 27.CiJ.e6 J:lfe8 28.lLid8 J:le5+.
25 ...e6 26.'ii'e6 'ii'h 2 27.'ii'e3
taB!
Simple and strong. The outcome of the game is
decided in view of the insecure position of the
white king. It should also be mentioned that at
this point Shirov was in time trouble.
28. .C.g3?!
Slightly more tenacious was 28.I:t.g2 'ifhl
29.J:lgl 'ifh4+.
28... .C.c8 29..C.g2
29. J:lh3? J:lc 1-+.
29... 'ii'h 1 30J:tg1 'ii'h 4 31 .C.g2?

31 ... .C.f3! 32.'ii'd2

32.'iff3 'ifhl -+.

32...'ii'h 1 33.l1g1 'ii'h3

White resigned.

\

223
 51 2 9.3 (to meet 1 5 ... b4? with 1 6..if6 f6 17.tbd5)
1 5...0-0 16.g3.
D Polgar
Karpov
Notes byjeroen Piket

This game was important for third place in the

tournament, which, remarkably enough, could
be reached with a 50% score.
1 .e4 c5 2.l2Jf3 l2Jc6 3.d4 cd4
4.l2Jd4 l2Jf6 5.l2Jc3 d6

For this must-win situation Karpov chooses the

Richter-Rauzer, definitely the most successful
Sicilian Defence in this tournament.
6 ....tg5 e6 7.'i!fd2 a6 8.0-0-0 h6
9 ....te3 1 5...b4 1 6....tf6 ...tf6 1 7.l2Jd5 h4!

As White the FIDE Champion twice opted for Gaining an important tempo, and also slowing
9. ..if4 (against Salov and Shirov) but made only down White's intended attack.
one draw out of these two games.
1 8..l:f.e2
9 ......td 7 1 0.f4 b5 1 1 .d3 e7
18.i.a6, to give up the exchange, was not as bad
l l . ..c7 would lead to Kamsky-Shirov, round ten. as it looks, as White gets some pawn(s) in return.
1 2.'it>b1 18...a5 1 9.'i!fe3! 0-0

12.h3 is more modest. 19 ... l:lb8 to prevent the knight jump, runs into
trouble after 20.h3!
1 2... l2Jd4
20.l2Jb6 J:tb8 21 .l2Jc4 b5!
Karpov reacts immediately. 1 2...c7 1 3 .h3 tbd4
14.i.d4 i.c6 15.e3 b4 16.tbe2 e5 is given as The knight on c4 puts pressure on the weak d6
satisfactory for Black by Polugaevsky in his pawn, so Black decides to try and get rid of it.
1983 book on the Sicilian.
22.J:tg2 .l:lc8 23.l2Jd2
1 3.i.d4 i.c6 1 4.l:!.he1
23.tbb6 l:tc5 24.i.b5 b6 25.i.a4 .l:!.d5 shows
In Hassenruck-Pytel, Dortmund 1976, White did the hidden danger for White.
not waste any time, and play continued 14.g4 b4
23 ... d3 24.'fi'd3 ...te7
15.g5 hg5 16.fg5 lLJd7 1 7.lLJe2 .ig5 1 8 .b4 with
an unclear position. 25.g5 was becoming a threat.
1 4... :lc8 25.h4

An interesting new try, but the use of the rook on This is tempting, but in my opinion 25.lLJf3 with the
the c-file is not yet clear. 14 ...0-0 1 5.e5 deS same idea -to push g4-g5 - was to be preferred,
16.fe5 tLJd5 17.tbe4 lbb4? 1 8 .lLJf6 ! was good for as it does not allow d6-d5. Other possibilities
White in Timman-Gheorghiu, Amsterdam 1975, analysed during the post-mortem were the sharp
but 14 ...b4 is supposed to be an improvement. 25.g5 ! ? hg5 26.h4 !? (26.J:tdg1 d5 27.e5 .ic5 and
26.lLJf3 l:.c5 27.l:!.dg 1 a4 28.h4 b3 ! ? are too slow
1 5.g4?!
for White) and the quiet 25.tbc4 c7 26.b3 a4.
15 .a3 to stop the annoying b5-b4 looks more
25...d5
obvious. Another way to continue is 1 5.e3 ! ?

224
 Round 14

Karpov avoided 25 ...'f!ic7 26.g5 h5 27.g6 f6 28.'f!if3 Clearly Black is ready to play an ending.
'f!ic2 29.<it>al 'f!if5 30.l::tg5 for obvious reasons.
32.gf7?
26.e5 a4 27.g5
Making life much easier for Black. 32.'f!ic6 J::tc6
It looks as though Polgar's attack is much faster than 33.lld7 l:l.d8 34.l:l.gd2 maintains the initiative to
her opponent's, but the black king can be defended compensate for the miserable pawn structure.
very well and Black's counteractions should cer
32... .l:!.f7 33.'ti'c6 .l:!.c6 34.b3?!
tainly not be underestimated. 27 .h5 would have
been a more positional approach which might Karpov expected the better 34.l2Jd4, and after
have been less demanding for White. 34 ... l::tc7 both 35 .l2Jb and 35 .l2Je6 give a roughly
equal game.
27 ... h5 28.g6 'flieS!
34... ab3

Of course not 34 ... a3, since Judith would then

have obtained an edge with the temporary pawn
sacrifice 35 .c4! bc3 36.cit>c2.
35.ab3 f4 36J:td4?

In the time scramble Polgar commits a huge

inaccuracy. More to the point seems 36J:td7 or
37.cit>b2.
36 ..l:lc3 37.lld3
.

A sad necessity.
37 J:lf8! 38. .Ugd2 f7
.

The coordination between the black pieces is After the game Karpov stated that 38 ... J:Ifc8
perfect and White is left with weak pawns. would have been more accurate, and indeed
White is then in trouble.
29.ttJf3
39.llc3 bc3 40. .Ud3 <it>e6
29J:tdgl is answered by 29 .....ic5.
29... .l:!.c4

Very precise. Judith clearly had some poisoned

arrows on her bow when she went for these
complications; 29 .. .fg6 30.l2Jd4! or 30J:tg6 l::tf4
3 1 .l::te6 'f!if7 fol lowed by 32.l::te7 and 33.l2Jg5 are
proof enough.
30.f5

There is no way back.

30...ef5 31 .'ti'd5
The consequences of 3 l .l2Jd4 were impossible to
assess, the idea being to continue after 31 .. .fg6
with 32.l2Je6 (32.l::tdg l i.c5 33.l::tg6 l::td4 34.l::tg7 Completing the plan he started on move 38 to
<it>h8 35.'ii'a6 l::td l !) and only then worry about give up a pawn for a very powerful king. 40 .. J:tc8
material. was already too late because of 41 .l:l.d4.
31 ... 'tWc6 41 .J:lc3 <it>fS 42.c1 g4

225
If B lack cuts off the king with 42... l:l.d8, White
47.l:l.d4
survives with 43.l:l.d3 (43Jk7 a3 44.b l g6)
43 ...e4 44.tt:ld2 e5 45.l:l.d8 d8 46.Wdl f5 47.l:l.d7 ! J::te6 48.tt:ld3 was objectively the best
47.tt:lf3 g4 48.e2. defence.
43. ..td1 47.....ilc3?

Even during the game one can learn from one's Spoiling everything ! 47 ... l:l.e6 is tricky but win
opponent, as Judith shows by also activating her ning as the following lines show: 48JU4
king. (48.tt:ld3 d6) 48 ...g5 49.l:l.e4 (49.tt:ld3 l:l.el !
50.tt:lel f4 5 l .e2 (5 1 .tt:ld3 f3-+) 5 1 .. .g3
43.....ilb4!
52.tt:ld3 c3-+) 49 ... f5 50.I:tb4 I:te5 5 l .I:th4
Curbing one's greed is always difficult: 43 . ..h4 g5 52.I:thl h4 53.d2 h5 54.c4 g5 55.b4 g4
44.e2 e7 (44 ... d8 45J:!.c8) 45.l:l.c7! l:l.e8 56.b5 g3 57.b6 g2 58.I:tgl h3 59.b7 I:te8 60.c5 h2.
46.b4 g5 47.b5 g3 48.b6 g4 49.tt:ld2! (49.b7
48.l:f4 ..tgS 49.l2Jd3
gf3 50.fl J::td 8: 49.tt:ld4 g2) 49 ... g2
50.tt:le4 ! and the pawn race goes on. Securing the draw and the tie for third place.
44.l:l.d3 l:l.c8 45.e6 49 J::te6 50.l:l.c4 ..ileS 51 .J::tc5 c;tf6
..

52.l2Je5 l:e5 53.l:l.e5

On 45.c4 Black plays his rook to the a-file.
Draw.
45 ... l::!.e8 46.l2Je5 ..th4
The analysis of this game is based on Karpov's
notes.

226
Tournament Crosstable

u
.::L ;:;:
::J
"0 ..r::::. ..... >
0 2 >
(])
> c u "'
a.
IJ)
0 '6'
0 "' c 00 ..... E ..0
rti c "' 0 "' "'
.!::::
..r::::. ::J
VI <( a.. VI :.::r

1 Salov 1 1 \6 1 1 \6 \6 \6 \6 0 9
2 An and \6 1 \6 \6 \6 0 1 8\6
3 lvanchuk \6 \6 \6 \6 \6 1 0 1 7
4 Polgar 0 \6 0 1 1 \6 0 7
5 0 0 \6 0 1 \6 1 \6 6\6
6 Kamsky \6 \6 \6 \6 \6 \6 0 1 6\6
7 Shirov \6 \6 \6 1 \6 0 0 0 \6
8 Lju bojevic 0 1 0 0 1 0 \6 1 0 \6 0

Index to games

u
.::L ;:;:
::J
"'0 ..r::::.
;a
>
0 2 >
(])
'6'
> c u 00 a.
IJ)
0
0 "' c ..... E ..... ..0
"'@ c "' 0 "' "' .:.c ::J
VI <( a.. VI :.::r

Salov 1 66 1 87 1 16 205 1 30 151

2 An and 207 201 1 29 Ill 1 63
3 lvanchuk 104 1 34 212 158 1 79
4 Polgar 125 145 1 75 108 194
5 Karpov 177 137 196 210 1 24
6 142 191 149 1 14 219
7 Shirov 192 1 73 221 1 70 147
8 Lju bojevic 214 101 1 18 1 32 1 84 156

Numbers refer to pages. Rows represent White players, columns represent Black players.
For example Polgar-Salov can be found on page 1 25, while Salov-Polgar starts on page 1 87.

229
Index of variations

key moves name page

SI 1 .e4 c5 Sicilian
Sl 1 2.lLlf3 d6 [3.b5; 3.d4 lLlf6]
Sl 2 2.lLlf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.'ird4
Sl 3 2.lLlf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.lLld4 lLlf6 [5.lLlc3 e5] 1 51
Sl 4 5 ... a6 6.g5 Najdorf
Sl 5 5 ... a6 6.g5 e6 7.f4 'ire? Najdorf
Sl 6 6 ... e6 7.f4 lLlbd7 Najdorf
Sl 7 6 ...e6 7.f4 b5 Pol ugaevsky
Sl 8 6 ...e6 7.f4 'irb6 Poisoned Pawn 219
Sl 9 6 ...e6 7.f4 e7 Main Line
Sl 1 0 5 ...a6 6.e2 Geller
Sl 1 1 5 ... a6 6 ..te2 e5 7.lLlb3 .te7 Geller 1 37
Sl 1 2 5 ... a6 6.f4 Najdorf 1 45
207
Sl 1 3 5 ... a6 6.c4 Fischer
SI 1 4 5. . .a6 [6.g3; 6.a4; 6.e3; 6.h3] Najdorf 1 96
Sl 1 5 5 ... g6 Dragon 1 56
1 66
217
Sl 16 5 ... g6 6.e3 [6 ...g7] Dragon
Sl 17 7.f3 Dragon 1 29
Sl 18 7.f3 lLlc6 8.'ird2 0-0 9.c4 Dragon 1 49
Sl 19 5 ...e6 Scheveningen 118
1 30
1 63
Sl 20 5 ...e6 6.g4 Keres 1 25
1 32
1 59
1 92
Sl 21 5 ...e6 6.f4 Scheveningen
Sl 22 5 ...e6 6.e2 [6 ... lLlc6] Scheveningen 1 24
1 34
1 91
Sl 23 5 ...e6 6.e2 a6 Scheveningen 1 73
1 84
221
Sl 24 7.0-0 'ire? 8.f4 lLlc6 Scheveningen 205
Sl 25 5 ...lLlc6 Sozin 203

230
81 26 5 ... ltlc6 6 ..tc4 e6 Velimirovic 1 01
81 27 5 ... ltlc6 6 . .tg5 Richter-Rauzer
81 28 6 ...e6 7.'it'd2 .te7 8.0-0-0 0-0 Richter-Rauzer 1 06
1 27
212
S I 2 9 6. . .e 6 7.'it'd2 a6 8.0-0-0 Richter-Rauzer 1 04
1 58
1 77
1 88
1 99
21 0
224
81 30 6 ...e6 7.'it'd2 a6 8.0-0-0 .td7 Richter-Rauzer
81 31 2.ltlf3 ltlc6 3 ..tb5 Rossolimo
81 32 2.ltlf3 ltlc6 [3.d4 cd4 4.ltld4 e5] De la Bourdonnais 1 08
111
21 4
81 33 4 ... g6 Accelerated Dragon 1 21
1 39
1 40
1 75
81 34 4 ... ltlf6 5.ltlc3 [5 ... e6] Four Knights
81 35 4 ...ltlf6 5.ltlc3 e5 Lasker
81 36 6.ltldb5 d6 7 ..tg5 a6 Pelikan/Bird 1 14
81 37 8.ltla3 b5 8veshnikov
81 38 9 . .tf6 [9 ... gf6 1 O.ltld5] 8veshnikov
81 39 4 ...e6 Taimanov 1 55
1 70
81 40 4 ...e6 5.ltlc3 'it'c7 Taimanov 1 16
1 42
1 47
1 68
1 79
1 83
1 94
201
81 41 2.ltlf3 e6 Paulsen
81 42 2.ltlf3 e6 3.d4 cd4 4.ltld4 a6 5 . .td3 Paulsen 1 87
81 43 2.ltlf3 [2 ... a6; 2 ... ltlf6] Nimzowitsch
81 44 2.ltlc3; 2.d3 Closed
81 45 2.ltlc3 ltlc6 3.g3 g6 4 ..tg2 .tg7 5.d3 d6 Closed
81 46 2.c3 Alapin
81 47 2.c3 ltlf6 3.e5 ltld5 [4.d4 cd4] Alapin
81 48 2.b4; 2.b3; 2.ltle2; 2.c4
81 49 2.f4 Grand Prix
81 50 2.d4 Morra Gambit

231
Association M ax Euwe

T he association w as created on J anuary 4 th, 199 1 in M onaco. I t w as named aft er the

D utch World Champion of Chess and former FIDE President, Professor D r. M ax
E uw e.
T he members of th e boardare: M r. J .M. Rapaire, President, M rs. M.V. van O osterom,
T reasurer andM rs. E. B aas, General Secretary. It also employ sM r. M.L.H.J. H ermes,
General M anager andM r. E. Tolsma, F inancial M anager.
T he association is interested in chess and billia rds, and its obj ective is to promote
these sports in general and to organise tournaments and matches. For this, th e
association organises, together w ith the F ederation M onegasq ue des E checs, many
international events in the Principality of M onaco and other countries.
T he follow ing tournaments w ere organised:

1991 Aruba: M atches J. Polgar - Polugaevsky

and S. Polgar - Sosonk o.

1992 M onaco: M elody Amber Tournament.

Aruba: T raining Tournament.
Aruba: Tumba Chess Tournament.

1993 M onaco: F inal Candidates M atch for Women' s World

Championship betw een Z. Polgar andI oseliani.
D elden (NED): Women' s Z onal Tournament
( in cooperation w ith I nterpolis).
M onaco: SecondAmber Tournament.
N ij megen (NED) M atch Kortchnoi - Pik et.
Vienna: Waltz er Chess Tournament.
M onaco: Women' s World Championship M atch X ie - I oseliani.
M onaco: M ini O ly mpiad.
H ilversum (NED) F inal E uropean Club Cup.

1994 Aruba: M atch Piket - Polugaevsk y.

M onaco: T hirdAmber Chess Tournament.
M onaco: Cry stal Kelly three Cushion B illiardTournament.
M onaco: M atch Piket - Lj uboj evic.
M onaco: Palladienne Chess Tournament.
Tilburg (NED): Women' s Candidates Chess Tournament
( in cooperation w ith I nterpolis).
B uenos Aires: Lev Polugaevsk y Tournament
( in cooperation w ith F undaci6 n B anco Patricios).

233
Fundaci6n B anco Patricios

T he F oundati on B anco Patri ci os i s a pri vate, non profi t- maki ng organiz ati on dedi
cated to the producti on and di ssemi nati on of soci al, cultural, sci entifi c and arti sti c
acti vi ti es.

The F oundati on i s i nvolved i n the creati on of a soci al, poli ti cal and cultural proj ect
for the organiz ati on of Argenti ne soci ety.

The B anco Patri ci os i n sponsori ng the acti vi ti es of the Foundati on fulfi ls i ts ethi cal
and poli ti cal ob li gati ons to the communi ty deri vi ng from princi ples of soli dari ty,
mutual assi stance and democracy i n i nsti tuti onal admi ni strati on.

The specifi c ai ms of the Foundati on B anco Patri ci os are as follows:

To sti mulate the sy stemati c development of research, analy si s and refl ecti on on
prob lems relevant to the life of the nati on, with a vi ew to carryi ng out acti viti es
req ui red to i mprove the q uali ty of life of the populati on.

To contrib ute, b oth i nsi de the Foundati on and outsi de, to the creati on of adeq uate
and responsible mechani sms for the di ssemi nati on and transmi ssi on of a k nowledge
of the soci o- economi c reali ty of the country.

To promote th e access of a wi de range of soci ety to arti sti c and cultural events.

Dr. Alberta Spolski

Presi dent
F undaci6 n B anco Patri ci os

234
List of illustrations

page subject artist/source

Cover Pol ugaevsky Van der Lin den

11 Pol ugaevsk y Van der Lin den
34 Pol ugaevsky N iC Archives
38 Pol ugaevsk y N iC Archives
40 Pol ugaevsky E ddis
44 Pol ugaevsk y-N aj dorf Stein er
89 Van O osterom Stein er
91 K amsk y Kohl mey er
94 K arpov Kohl mey er
97 B an co Patricios Kohl mey er
98 Pol ugaevsky Kohl mey er
102 An an d Van der Lin den
107 K arpov Van der Lin den
1 14 Pol gar Van der Lin den
122 I van chuk Van der Lin den
152 Lj uboj evic Van Velz en
158 Shirov Van der Lin den
167 Sal ov Van der Lin den
185 K arpov Van Velz en
194 Lj uboj evic Van der Lin den
196 Piket Van der Lin den
208 Pol gar D e l as N ieves
2 12 K amsk y Van der Lin den
2 18 Sal ov B eek huiz en
223 Pol ugaevsky Van der Lin den

235
Solution to the chess problem from page 1 00

l.tt:Jd4 (..6. 2.tt:J c6)

l.. .lt:J d4 2.'if d4

l ... tt:J e5 2.lt:Jf5
l.. .W d7 2.tt:J de6
l.. .W e5 2.tt:J df3

Mate in two moves

236