The Jack Rabbit Chess Report (April 27): Log jams at top of all tournaments

[Jack Rabbit]

Three tied for top spot in Baku



In what sounds like a replay of the Cold War (or is it present-day Cold War II?), an American, a Russian and a Chinese share first place at the FIDE Grand Prix in Buku, Azerbaijan, as of this afternoon with 4 points each after six rounds.

Gata Kamsky, an American citizen born in Soviet Russia, joined Chinese GM Wang Yue and Russia's Alexander Grischuk in the log jam at the top when he defeated British GM Mickey Adams today in 60 moves. Two of the three Azerbaijanis in the event, Teimour Radjabov and Vugar Gushimov, are close behind with 3½ points.

The 14-player contest goes 13 rounds and concludes on May 5.


Tight races at the European Championships



Three-way tie for first in General Competition

Grandmasters Sergei Movsesian of Slovakia, Emil Sutkovsky of Israel and Pavel Tregubov of Russia are tied for first place in the general competition of the ninth annual European Individual Chapionships with 6 points each after today's seventh round in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

Movsesian and Sutkovsky entered today's games in the Swiss System event with 5½ points apiece and played a short draw against each other. Meanwhile, Tregubov defeated Azerbaijani GM Rauf Mamedov in just 30 moves to make it a threesome at the top.

Eight players follow with 5½ points each, including 15-year-old Italian national champion Fabiano Caruana and 17-year-old French national champion Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

Eight-player log jam at top in Ladies' Competition

Eight women are tied for first place at 5½ apiece after today's seventh round play in the ladies' competition of the European Individual Championship in Plovdiv.

There were only three ladies in first place when play started today, Lithuania's Viktorija Cmilyte, Anna Ushinina of Ukraine and Russian IM Ekaterina Kovalevskaya. IM Cmilyte and IM Ushinina were scheduled to play each other and battled 40 moves to a draw while IM Kovalevskaya lost to Swedish grandmaster Pia Cramling, who celebrated her 45th birthday in Plovdiv Wednesday. Pia joins the crowd in first place while Kovalevskaya drops to a tie for ninth, although only a half point behind the leaders.

In addition to GM Cramling and IMs Cmilyte and Ushinina, the other women in first palce are: grandmasters Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria) and Katya Lahno (Ukraine); international masters Anna Muzychuk (Slovakia) and Elina Danielian (Armenia); and WGM Natalia Zhukova, whose husband, Alexander Grischuk, is tied for first in the general competition.

IM Kovalevskaya, with 5 points, shares ninth place with IMs Lilit Mkrtchian (Armenia) and Lela Javakhishvili (Georgia), who also celebrated a birthday in Plovdiv this week.



Pia Cramling gets flowers before Wednesday's games in honor of her birthday.
One of the first women ever to be named an international grandmaster (1992), Pia is tied for first in Plovdiv.
Photo: Chessdom.com

The event is scheduled for eleven rounds to conclude Firday with any tie breaks necessary to be played on Saturday.


Stellwagen, Tiger share first in Malmø



Twenty-one-year-old grandmaster Daniel Stellwagen, who narrowly missed winning the Dutch national championship earlier this month, and Swedish grandmaster Tiger Hillarp Persson are tied for first place in the 16th annual Sigeman & Company Tournament in Malmø, Sweden, with 5 points after six rounds.

Danish GM Lars Bo Hansen is nipping at their heels with 5½ points.

The event is a nine-game round robin and will conclude Wednesday. The tournament is sponsored by the law firm of Sigeman & Company, Malmø.

[Jack Rabbit]

1. This week's games

Diagrams on the Jack Rabbit Chess Report are made with Chess Mérida, a true type font that can be downlaoded free here.

BLACK
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WHITE
White to move
(This position is a theoretical draw)

[Jack Rabbit]

2. Inarkiev - Kamsky, Baku, Round 1

Gata Kamsky
Ajedrez.com (Argentina)


Ernesto Inarkiev - Gata Kamsky
FIDE Grand Prix, Round 1
Baku, 21 April 2008

Spanish Grand Royal Game: Breyer Defense

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Nb8

• This curious-looking move initiates the Breyer Defense. Black will redeploy the Knight to d7, where it will fortfy the pawn at e5.

10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.Nf1

• If 13.b4 Bf8 14.a4 then:
• If 14...Nb6 15.a5 Nbd7 16.Bb2 then:
• If 16...Qb8 then:
• 17.Rb1 c5 18.bxc5 dxc5 19.dxe5 Nxe5 20.Nxe5 Qxe5 21.c4 Qf4 22.Bxf6 Qxf6 23.cxb5 Red8 24.Qc1 Qc3 25.Nf3 Qxa5 26.Bb3 axb5 27.Qf4 gives Black an extra pawn and White a fierce initiative (Fischer-Spassky, World Ch, Reykjavik, 1972).
• 17.c4 bxc4 18.Ba4 c6 19.Nxc4 Qc7 20.Rc1 Rac8 21.dxe5 dxe5 22.Qb3 is equal (Savon-Mukhin, Soviet Ch, Moscow 1972).
• 16...Rb8 17.Rb1 Ba8 18.Ba1 g6 19.c4 exd4 20.cxb5 axb5 is equal (Planinc-Spassky, IT, Amsterdam, 1973).
• 14...a5 15.axb5 axb4 16.Bb2 bxc3 17.Bxc3 c6 draw (Kavalek-Portisch, IT, Wijk aan Zee 1969).

13...Bf8 14.Ng3 g6 15.a4

• If 15.b3 c6 16.Bg5 Bg7 17.Qd2 Qe7 18.a4 Qf8 19.Rad1 then:
• 19...Rac8 20.Bd3 h6 21.Be3 Rcd8 22.Qa2 Ra8 23.Bc1 Re6 24.Qd2 Qb8 25.c4 bxa4 26.bxa4 Re8 27.Bb2 draw (Motylev-Grigoriants, Russian Ch semif, Tomsk, 2006).
• 19...Rad8 20.Be3 h6 21.Qc1 Kh7 22.b4 Re6 23.Qb1 d5 24.dxe5 Nxe4 25.Bxe4 dxe4 26.Nxe4 Nxe5 27.Nfg5+ hxg5 28.Nxg5+ Kg8 29.Nxe6 Rxd1 30.Qxd1 fxe6 31.Bd4 gives Whitee a slight advantage in space; the material is balanced but asymmetrical (Carlsen-Pruijssers, Euro ChT, Antalya, 2007).

15...c5 16.d5 c4

• If 16...Nb6 17.Qe2 Nxa4 18.Bxa4 bxa4 19.Rxa4 then:
• 19...Nd7 20.c4 Nb6 21.Ra3 a5 22.Bg5 f6 23.Bd2 a4 24.Nh2 Bc8 is equal (Ljubojevic-Gligoric, IT, Milan, 1975).
• 19...Bc8 20.b3 Re7 21.Bg5 Bg7 22.Qe3 Qf8 23.Qd3 h6 24.Bd2 Nh7 25.c4 Rb7 draw (Balashov-Smejkal, IT, Leningrad, 1977).

17.Bg5 h6

• 17...Bg7 18.Qd2 Nc5 19.Nh2 h5 20.Nf3 Qc7 21.Ra3 Rab8 22.Bh6 Bh8 23.Rea1 gives White a small advantage in space (Kuzmin-Spassky, Soviet Ch, Moscow, 1973).

18.Be3 Nc5 19.Qd2 h5

• If 19...Kh7 then:
• 20.Nh2 Bg7 21.Rf1 Qe7 22.Rae1 Nxa4 23.Bxa4 bxa4 24.f4 exf4 25.Rxf4 Nd7 26.Ref1 Rf8 27.Bd4 Ne5 28.Ng4 Nxg4 29.Bxg7 Kxg7 30.Rxg4 Kh7 31.Rgf4 Bc8 32.Rf6 is equal (Borriss-Lindfeldt, Euro ChT, Saint Vincent, 2005).
• 20.Ra3 Nfd7 21.Nh2 Bg7 22.Rea1 Qc7 23.Qc1 Nb6 24.axb5 axb5 25.Rxa8 Rxa8 26.Rxa8 draw (Luther-Acs, World TT, Yerevan, 2001).

20.Bg5 Be7 21.Ra3 Rb8

• 21...Nfd7 22.Be3 Qc7 23.Qe2 Nb6 24.axb5 axb5 25.Rxa8 Rxa8 26.Nh2 Nbd7 27.Qd1 draw (S. Zhigalko-Khairullin, Areoflot Op, Moscow, 2008).

22.Kh1

• 22.axb5 axb5 23.Rea1 Nh7 24.Be3 Qc7 25.Qd1 Ra8 26.Ra7 Rxa7 27.Rxa7 gives White the advantage in space (Quezada-Blanco, Cuban Ch, Santa Clara, 2007).

22...Nh7 23.Be3 Bf6 24.Rea1!?

• 24.Nf1 Bg7 25.Qe2 Qc7 draw (V. Popov-Khalifman, Areoflot Op, Moscow, 2007).

24...Bg7

• If 24...Ra8 25.axb5 axb5 26.Ra7 Qb6 then:
• If 27.R7a2 Qc7 28.Qd1 Rxa2 29.Rxa2 Ra8 30.Rxa8+ Bxa8 31.Qa1 gives White a huge advantage in space.
• 27.Rxa8 Rxa8 28.Rxa8+ Bxa8 gives White the advantage in space.

25.Qe2

• 25.axb5 axb5 26.Ra7 Ra8 27.Rxa8 Bxa8 28.Bh6 gives White a small advantage in space.

25...Bc8 26.Nf1 f5?!

• If 26...b4! 27.cxb4 Rxb4 28.Rb1 then:
• 28...Nd3 29.b3 f5 30.bxc4 Rxb1 31.Bxb1 fxe4 32.N3d2 Balck stands better, although he cannot maintain the Knight on d3.
• 28...f5?! 29.Bxc5!? dxc5 30.Ne3 Nf6 31.Nd2 fxe4 32.Ndxc4! a5 33.d6 Whites's passer promises to be a nuisance.

27.axb5 axb5 28.exf5 gxf5?

• Black is cramped and needs to relief through exchanges.
• Better is 28...Bxf5 29.Bxf5 gxf5 30.Ng3 f4 31.Bxc5 fxg3 32.Ba7 Ra8 33.fxg3 although this, too, gives White an extra pawn and a small advantage in space.

BLACK: Gata Kamsky
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WHITE: Ernesto Inarkiev
Position after 28...gf5:p

29.Ng3!

• This leads to the win of a pawn.
• The text is stronger than 29.Ra7 h4 30.R1a2 Nd3 31.Bd2 e4 32.Nd4 Bxd4 33.cxd4.

29...Nd3

• Black has no good moves.
• 29...f4 30.Bxc5 fxg3 31.Ba7 Ra8 32.fxg3 Bb7 33.Bxh7+ Kxh7 34.Qe4+ givies White an extra pawn, command of the a-file and a centralized Queen that is difficult to dislodge from its post.
• 29...Nf6 30.Bg5 Bb7 31.Nxh5 Bh8 32.Nh4 Bxd5 33.Nxf5 gives White an extra pawn and an edge in space.

30.Nxh5

• White is a pawn to the good.

30...f4

• 30...Bh8 31.b4 Rb7 32.Ne1 f4 33.Bd2 Nxe1 34.Qxe1 Nf6 35.Nxf6+ Qxf6 36.Be4 gives Black more piece activity.

31.Nxg7 Kxg7 32.Ba7

• If 32.Ra7+ Rb7 33.Bd2 Nc5 34.Ra8 Nf6 then:
• White wins after 35.Ng5 Nxd5 36.Qh5 Kg8 37.Bh7+ Kg7 38.R1a7 Qd7 39.Rxb7 Nxb7 40.Be4.
• 35.Nh4 Nxd5 36.Nf5+ Kg8 37.Rxc8 Qxc8 38.Nxd6 forks all of Black's heavy pieces.

32...Rb7 33.Bxd3 cxd3 34.Qxd3

• White has two extra pawns.

34...e4

• If 34...Qd7 35.Nd2 Qf5 36.Ne4 then:
• After 36...Ng5 37.f3 Rh8 38.Nf2 Qf7 39.Ra6 White is still up by two pawns.
• 36...Rh8 37.f3 Qg6 38.Bg1 Nf6 39.Ra7 leaves White with the two extra pawns.

35.Bd4+

• The text is stronger than 35.Qd4+ Kg8 36.Nd2 Qf6 37.Re1 Rbe7 38.Qb4 Ng5 when Black's center remains in tact.

35...Nf6 36.Qd1

• With White two pawns to the good, a better idea is to exchange down to an ending, e.g., 36.Bxf6+ Qxf6 37.Qe2 b4 38.cxb4 Qf7 39.Nd4.

36...exf3 37.Qxf3 Kg6 38.Qxf4

• White has four pawns for a piece.

38...Nh5

• Not as bad is 38...Nxd5 39.Qf3 Qg5 40.Ra5 Nf4 41.Be3 Rf8 42.Qc6. but White is still better.

39.Qh2 Rbe7 40.Qg1 Re2

• 40...Nf4 41.Ra8 Re4 42.f3 Re2 43.Qb1+ Kh6 44.R8a7 remains to White's advantage.

41.Ra8

• After 41.g4! Nf6 42.Qb1+ Kf7 43.Ra7+ R8e7 44.Qd3 White threatens to bring down Black's position like a house of cards.

41...Qh4

• If 41...Qg5 42.Qb1+ Kh6 then:
• 43.Qf1 Rxb2 44.R1a6 Qf4 45.Kg1 Kh7 46.Rc6 Qe4 is equal
• 43.R8a7? Bf5! 44.Qf1 Be4 45.Kg1 Bxg2 46.Bg7+ Nxg7 47.Qxg2 Qf6 Black's pressure on the kingside gives him the upper hand.

42.Rb8 Kh6 43.Rb6?

• White throws away the and hands the game to Black on a silver platter.
• If 43.Qf1 Bxh3 44.Rxe8 then:
• If 44...Bg4+ 45.Kg1 Rxe8 46.Ra6 then:
• 46...Qg5 47.Rxd6+ Kh7 48.Be3 Nf4 49.Bxf4 Qxf4 50.Qd3+ White still has four pawns for a piece.
• 46...Nf4 47.Rxd6+ Kh5 48.Bf6 Ne2+ 49.Qxe2 Rxe2 50.Bxh4 Kxh4 51.b3 gives White four pawns to a Bishop and assures him of two passed pawns on the queenside.
• If 44...Bd7+ 45.Kg1 Rxe8 46.Ra6 Qe7 47.Qc1+ Kg6 then:
• 48.Bc5! Kf7 49.Rxd6 White has the upper hand.
• 48.Qe3?! Qf8! 49.Qd2 Nf6 50.Qd3+ Kf7 is equal.

BLACK: Gata Kamsky
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WHITE: Ernesto Inarkiev
Position after 43.Rb8b6

43...Bxh3!!

• The sacrifice cannot be accepted (see next note).

44.Rxd6+ Kh7 45.g3

• 45.gxh3 Qxh3+ 46.Qh2 Re1+ 47.Rxe1 Rxe1#.

45...Bg2+!

• Accepting this sacrifice is obligatory.

46.Kxg2 Qxg3+ 47.Kf1 Qh3+ 48.Qg2 Ng3+ 1-0

• 49.Kg1 Re1+ 50.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 51.Qf1 Ne2#.
• Grandmaster Inarkiev resigns.

[Jack Rabbit]

3. Savchenko - Sargissian, General Competion, Plovdiv, Round 2

Gabriel Sargissian
Photo ChessBase.de (Germany)


Boris Savchenko - Gabriel Sargissian
European Championships, Round 2
Plovdiv, 22 April 2008

Open Royal Game: Classical Defense (Scotch Opening)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5

• If 4...Nf6 then:
• (Mieses Opening) If 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.c4 then:
• If 8...Nb6 then:
• If 9.Nc3 Qe6 10.Qe4 then:
• If 10...Ba6 11.b3 Bb4 12.Bd2 Bxc3 13.Bxc3 d5 14.Qh4 dxc4 15.Be2 Nd5 16.Bxc4 g5 17.Qd4 Bxc4 18.Qxc4 0-0-0 19.0-0 Nf4 20.Qxe6+ Nxe6 21.Rac1 Rd3 22.Rfd1 Rd5 23.Kf1 Rhd8 24.Re1 h5 gives Black the advantage in space (Mamedov-Karjakon, Ol, Calvia, 2004).
• 10...g6 11.f4 d5 12.cxd5 cxd5 13.Qc2 a6 14.Be2 Be7 15.0-0 0-0 16.a4 Rb8 17.a5 Nd7 18.Qd1 d4 19.Bg4 Qc4 gives Black the advantage in space (Zelcic-Stevic, Croatian Ch, Split, 2008).
• If 9.Nd2 then:
• If 9...Qe6 10.b3 then:
• 10...a5 11.Bb2 a4 12.Qe3 Bb4 13.Be2 0-0 14.0-0 d5 15.Nf3 Re8 16.Bd3 h6 17.Nd4 Qg4 18.h3 Qh4 19.Nxc6 a3 20.Bd4 dxc4 21.bxc4 Bf8 22.g3 Qxh3 23.Bxb6 cxb6 24.Qe4 f5 25.Qd5+ Be6 26.Qf3 Bc5 gives Black the advantage in space (Hendricks-Markus, Dutch Op, Dierden, 2001).
• 10...Be7 11.Bb2 0-0 12.0-0-0 d5 13.exd6 cxd6 14.Qf3 d5 15.Bd3 Qh6 16.cxd5 cxd5 17.Kb1 Be6 18.h4 Bd6 19.g4 gives White a small advantage in space (Ivanchuk-Z. Almasi, Amber Rapid, Monte Carlo, 2001).
• 9...Bb7 10.b3 0-0-0 11.Bb2 c5 12.0-0-0 d6 13.exd6 Qxd6 14.Qg4+ Kb8 15.Be2 h5 16.Qg3 Qh6 17.Bf3 h4 18.Qg4 Bc8 19.Qe4 Bd6 20.Bc3 Rhe8 21.Qc2 Qg5 gives Black a small advantage in space (Shaked-Morovic, FIDE Knock Out, Groningen, 1997).
• 8...Ba6 9.b3 then:
• If 9...g6 10.f4 then:
• If 10...Qb4+ 11.Bd2 Qb6 12.Nc3 Bb4 13.Qf3 Nxc3 14.Bxc3 Bb7 15.0-0-0 c5 16.Qe3 Bxc3 17.Qxc3 0-0-0 18.h4 Rhe8 19.Rh3 d6 20.Rhd3 dxe5 21.Rxd8+ Rxd8 22.Rxd8+ Kxd8 23.Qxe5 Qc6 24.g3 Qh1 25.Qe2 Qg1 26.Qd3+ Kc8 27.Kd2 Bc6 28.f5 Bd7 29.fxg6 fxg6 30.Be2 draw (Barlow-Faisst, Corres, 2000).
• If 10...f6 11.exf6 Qxe2+ 12.Bxe2 Bb4+ 13.Bd2 Bxd2+ 14.Nxd2 Nxf4 15.Rf1 then:
• 15...Nxe2 16.Kxe2 Kf7 17.Kd3 Rae8 18.Rae1 Rxe1 19.Rxe1 Kxf6 20.Ne4+ Kg7 21.Nc3 Kf7 22.Rf1+ Ke7 23.Re1+ Kf7 24.Rf1+ Ke7 25.Re1+ Kd8 26.Rf1 Bb7 27.Ne4 gives White enough space to compensate for his pawn minus (Radjobov-Kasparov, IT, Linares, 2004).
• 15...Nxg2+ 16.Kf2 Nf4 17.Bg4 0-0-0 18.Kg3 Nd3 19.Nf3 Rhe8 20.Rad1 Re3 21.Kh4 Rf8 22.Kg5 c5 23.Bxd7+ Kb8 24.Rxd3 Rxd3 25.Ne5 Rd8 26.f7 Black resigns (Rublevsky-Tseshkovsky, Russian Ch, Krasnoyarsk, 2003).
• If 9...0-0-0 10.g3 g5 11.Bb2 Bg7 then:
• If 12.Bg2 Rde8 13.0-0 Bxe5 14.Qxe5 Qxe5 15.Bxe5 Rxe5 16.cxd5 Bxf1 17.Kxf1 cxd5 18.Nc3 c6 19.Rc1 Kd8 20.Bf3 h5 21.Be2 Ke7 22.Bd3 f5 23.Ne2 h4 24.Rc5 hxg3 25.hxg3 Kf6 26.Ra5 Ra8 27.b4 is equal (Ruan Lufei-N. Kosintseva, Team M, Nizhniy Novgorog, 2007).
• If 12.Nd2 Nb4 13.Nf3 Rhe8 then:
• 14.Bh3 c5 15.Bg4 f6 16.Bh5 fxe5 17.Bxe8 Rxe8 18.0-0 Bb7 19.Rad1 Nxa2 20.Ra1 Nb4 21.Rxa7 Qf6 22.Nd2 Qc6 23.Rxb7 Kxb7 24.Ne4 is slightly advantaeous to White: Black cannot hold his extra pawn without giving White the time to gain considerable space (Shredder-Crafty, World Computer Ch, Reykjavik, 2005).
• 14.a3 g4 15.axb4 gxf3 16.Qe3 Qxb4+ 17.Bc3 Rxe5 18.Bxb4 Rxe3+ 19.fxe3 Bxa1 20.Bh3 Be5 21.0-0 Bb7 22.Rd1 c5 23.Bxc5 Bc6 24.Kf2 h5 25.Bxa7 h4 26.Bd4 hxg3+ 27.hxg3 Rh8 28.Bxd7+ Bxd7 29.Bxe5 Rh5 30.Bf6 Bg4 31.Bh4 Ra5 is balanced and the players soon agreed to a draw (Rublevsky-Onischuk, IT, Foros, 2007).
• If 12.Qe4 f5 13.Qf3 Nb4 14.Kd1 Bb7 15.Nc3 c5 16.Nd5 Bg7 17.Bxb4 cxb4 18.Kc2 Bxd5 19.cxd5 d6 20.Bc4 0-0-0 21.Rae1 dxe5 22.fxe5 Rhe8 23.e6 Qd4 is equal (Nataf-Bacrot, IT, Cannes, 2002).
• (Four Knights' Opening) If 5.Nc3 then:
• If 5...Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.exd5 cxd5 9.0-0 0-0 10.Bg5 c6 then:
• If 11.Qf3 Be7 12.h3 h6 13.Bf4 Bd6 then:
• If 14.Ne2 Rb8 15.b3 c5 16.Ng3 then:
• If 16...Bxf4 17.Qxf4 Rb4 18.Qd2 Qc7 19.c3 Rb6 20.Rfe1 Rd8 21.Rad1 Rbd6 gives Black a small and transient advantage in space (Pogonina-Lahno, Euro ChT, Saint Vincent, 2005).
• 16...Rb4 17.Bxd6 Qxd6 18.c4 d4 is equal (Starr-Pokorna, Ol, Torino, 2006).
• If 14.Rfe1 Rb8 15.Rab1 Rb4 16.Ne2 Re8 17.a3 Rb8 18.Nd4 Rxe1+ 19.Rxe1 Qc7 20.Bxh6!! then:
• 20...c5 21.Bg5 cxd4 22.Bxf6 gxf6 23.Re8+ Kg7 24.Qh5 f5 25.Qh8+ Kg6 26.Rg8# White wins (Kelleher-Cates, Op, King's Island, 2001).
• White still wins after 20...gxh6 21.Qxf6 Bf8 22.Re8.


• 11...Bd6 12.Rae1 Rb8 13.Nd1 h6 14.Bxf6 Qxf6 15.Qxf6 gxf6 16.b3 Be6 17.Ne3 Bb4 18.Re2 Rfe8 19.Nf5 Bxf5 20.Rxe8+ Rxe8 21.Bxf5 Re2 22.Bd3 Rd2 23.g3 Bc5 24.Kg2 Kf8 doesn't present anything promising for either side (Roschina-Jenni, Op, Zurich, 2005).
• 5...Bc5 6.Be3 Bb6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Bxe3 9.fxe3 Nd5 10.Nxd5 cxd5 11.Qxd5 Qh4+ 12.Kd1 Rb8 13.Qd4 Rb4 14.Qc5 Rxb2 is equal (Smeardon-Mastrovasilis, World Jr Ch, Goa (India), 2002).
• (Italo-Scotch Gambit) If 5.Bc4 then:
• If 5...Nxe4 then:
• If 6.0-0 then:
• If 6...d5 7.Bb5 then:
• 7...Bd7 8.Re1 Bd6 9.Be3 0-0 10.Nc3 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Nxd4 12.Bxd7 Nxc2 13.Qxc2 Qxd7 gives Black an extra pawn and superior pawn structure (Pallag-Harti, Slovakian ChT, Brno, 2000).
• If 8.Bxc6 bxc6 then:
• If 9.c4 Be7 10.Nc3 Nf6 11.Bg5 c5 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Re1+ Kf8 14.Nf3 d4 15.Nd5 Bc6 16.Nxf6 Qxf6 17.Ne5 Qd6 18.Qh5 g6 19.Qh6+ Kg8 20.Nxc6 Qxc6 21.Re7 Re8 22.Rae1 Rxe7 23.Rxe7 Qf6 24.Re8# White wins (Koltanowski-Zeitlin, SBX, New York, 1934).
• 9.f3 Nf6 10.Re1+ Be7 11.Qe2 c5 12.Nb3 Be6 13.f4 c4 14.f5 Bxf5 15.Nd4 Be4 16.b3 cxb3 17.axb3 0-0 gives Black a two pawn advantage (Pollack-Showalter, ACC, New York, 1889).
• 7.Re1 Be7 8.Bf4 0-0 9.c3 Nxd4 10.cxd4 Bb4 11.Re3 Nxf2 12.Kxf2 dxc4 13.Nc3 Bf5 14.Qf3 Qxd4 15.Rd1 Bd3 16.Qg3 Rfe8 17.Be5 Rxe5 18.Qxe5 Bc5 19.Qxd4 Bxd4 20.Nb5 Bxe3+ 21.Kxe3 Re8+ 22.Kd4 Re2 White resigns (Ruen-Dr. Euwe, 1923).
• If 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qd5+ Kg7 9.Nxc6 Nf6 then:
• If 10.Nxd8 Nxd5 11.Bh6+ Kg8 12.Bg5 Be7 13.Bxe7 Nxe7 14.0-0 Kf8 White must lose the Knight and resigns (Punt-Beuman, Op, Vlissingen, 2007).
• 10.Bh6+ Kxh6 11.Qd2+ Black must lose the Queen and resigns (Dokshytsky-Sherbakov, Moscow, 1945).
• If 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.0-0 d5 8.Bd3 then:
• If 8...Nc5 9.Re1+ Be7 10.Bg5 Be6 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.f4 Nxd3 13.Qxd3 Qc5+ 14.Kh1 0-0 15.f5 Bd7 16.Nd2 Rfe8 17.Nf3 Qd6 18.Rf1 Qf6 19.Nd4 Re4 gives Black a small lead in space and the gambit pawn (Jensen-Kier, Gothengorg, 1920).
• 8...Nf6 9.Bg5 Be7 10.Nd2 0-0 11.c3 h6 12.Bh4 Nd7 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.Re1 Qd6 15.Nf3 Nf6 16.Qc2 Be6 17.h3 Rfe8 18.Re3 c5 gives Black a moderate advantage in space in addition to the gambit pawn (Hoehn-Anderson, Canadian Ch, Arvida, 1949).
• If 5...d6 6.0-0 Be7 7.Nc3 0-0 then:
• If 8.h3 then:
• If 8...Ne5 9.Bb3 c6 then:
• If 10.Be3 Qc7 11.f4 Ng6 12.Qe2 b5 13.a3 a5 14.f5 Ne5 15.Rf4 Ba6 16.Qd1 b4 17.Nce2 c5 18.Nf3 Nh5 19.Bd5 Bxe2 20.Qxe2 Nxf4 21.Bxf4 Rac8 gives Black a Rook to a Bishop (Grynfeld-Smyslov, IT, Warsaw, 1947).
• 10.Bf4 Qc7 11.Re1 b5 12.a3 a5 13.Qe2 Bd7 14.a4 b4 15.Nb1 Rfe8 16.Nd2 Rac8 17.Rad1 h6 18.Bg3 c5 19.Bxe5 dxe5 20.N4f3 Bc6 21.Qc4 Rf8 22.Nh2 Rcd8 gives Black the advantage in space (Todorov-Grozev, Bulgarian ChT, Pamporovo, 2001).
• 8...Nxd4 9.Qxd4 Be6 10.Bxe6 fxe6 11.e5 Nd7 12.exd6 cxd6 13.Be3 d5 14.Rfe1 Rf5 15.Ne2 Bd6 16.Qd2 Ne5 17.Nd4 Nc4 18.Qd3 Re5 19.Nf3 Rh5 20.b3 Ne5 21.Nxe5 Bxe5 22.Bd4 Bxd4 23.Qxd4 gives White a small advantage in space and better pawn structure (Tarrasch-Taubenhaus, IT, Ostend, 1905).
• If 8.Re1 then:
• If 8...Ne5 9.Bf1 c6 10.a4 Re8 11.h3 Bf8 12.Bg5 a5 13.Nf3 h6 14.Bh4 Ng6 15.Bg3 Nh5 16.Bh2 Qf6 17.e5 dxe5 18.Ne4 Qd8 19.Qxd8 Rxd8 20.Nxe5 Bf5 21.Nxg6 Bxg6 22.Bd3 Nf6 23.Nxf6+ gxf6 24.Bxg6 fxg6 offers little to either side (Luther-Knezevic, Czech Ch, Namestovo, 1987).
• 8...Nxd4 9.Qxd4 Ng4 10.Nd5 Bh4 11.g3 c6 12.gxh4 Qxh4 13.Bf4 cxd5 14.exd5 Nxh2 15.Be2 g5 16.Be3 Qxd4 17.Bxd4 Ng4 18.Bd3 gives White better chances as his Bishops are superior to Black's Bishop and Knight (Friedel-Bennet, Foxwoods Op, Mashantucket, 2001).
• (Malaniuk Opening) If 4...Bb4+ 5.c3 Bc5 6.Be3 Bb6 then:
• 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.Bd4 Nf6 then:
• 9.e5 then:
• 9...Nd5 10.Bc4 0-0 11.Bxd5 cxd5 12.Bxb6 axb6 13.0-0 Re8 14.Re1 Qg5 15.Qd4 d6 gives Black a small advantage in space(Zhang Pengxiang-Sargissian, IT, Merida, 2008)
• 9...Qe7 10.Be2 Nd5 11.Bf3 0-0 12.0-0 Ba6 13.Re1 Nf4 14.Be4 Rab8 15.Bxb6 Rxb6 16.Qd2 f5 17.exf6 Qxf6 18.b3 Rb5 19.Na3 Rg5 20.Kh1 Rh5 21.Re3 Qh4 gives Black the advantage in space (Ni Hua-Tkachiev, IT, Shanghai, 2001).
• If 9.Bd3 0-0 10.0-0 d5 11.exd5 cxd5 12.Nd2 Ng4 13.h3 c5 14.Bxc5 Bxc5 15.hxg4 then:
• 15...f5 16.gxf5 Bxf5 17.Bxf5 Rxf5 18.Qg4 gives White an extra pawn (Dimitar-Vouldis, Kavala, 2001).
• 15...Qg5 16.Nf3 Qxg4 17.Re1 Be6 is equal.


• If 7.Nf5 Bxe3 8.Nxe3 then:
• If 8...Nf6 9.Nd2 0-0 then:
• 10.Bd3 Ne5 11.Bc2 d5 12.exd5 Neg4 13.Ne4 Nxe4 14.Nxg4 Bxg4 15.Qxg4 Nf6 16.Qf3 Qe8+ 17.Kd2 Qb5 18.a4 Qc4 19.Rad1 Rad8 20.Kc1 Qa2 21.Rd4 c5 draw (Berelovich-Miles, Op, Cappelle la Grand, 1999).
• 10.f4 Re8 11.Qf3 d5 12.e5 d4 13.Nc2 Nxe5 14.fxe5 Rxe5+ 15.Kf2 Rf5 16.cxd4 Rxf3+ 17.Nxf3 Bf5 gives Black a material advantage which is soon converted to a win (Dunn-Chapman, Oceana, Gold Coast (Australia), 2001).
• If 9.f3 0-0 10.c4 then:
• 10...d6 11.Nc3 Nd7 12.Qd2 Nc5 13.Ncd5 a5 14.Be2 Ne7 15.0-0-0 Nxd5 16.Qxd5 a4 17.g3 Qf6 18.Qd4 Qxd4 19.Rxd4 Be6 is equal (G. Jones-Kaplan, World Jr Ch, Yerevan, 2007).
• 10...Ne5 11.Nc3 d6 12.Be2 a6 13.Qd2 Bd7 14.0-0 Rb8 15.a4 a5 16.Rad1 b6 17.Ned5 Bc6 18.f4 Ng6 19.Bd3 Nd7 20.Bc2 Re8 21.Qf2 Bxd5 22.cxd5 Nc5 is equal (Tseshkovsky-Golod, Op, Biel, 2005).
• If 7.Bc4 then:
• 7...Nge7 8.Nc2 0-0 9.0-0 d6 10.Nd2 Be6 11.Bb3 Bxb3 12.axb3 Bxe3 13.Nxe3 f5 14.exf5 Nxf5 15.Nxf5 Rxf5 16.b4 a6 17.Qc2 draw (Doukhine-Yandemirov, Op, St. Petersburg, 2003).
• 7...Ne5 8.Be2 Nf6 9.f4 Nc6 10.Bf3 d6 11.0-0 0-0 12.Re1 Re8 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.Bxb6 axb6 15.e5 Nd5 16.exd6 cxd6 17.Bxd5 cxd5 18.Nd2 Bf5 19.Nf1 Rxe1 20.Qxe1 h5 21.Ng3 Bg6 22.f5 Bh7 is equal (Ravi-al Rakib, IT, New Delhi, 2006).
• 7.Qg4 Qf6 8.Qg3 then:
• 8...Qg6 then:
• 9.Qf4 Qf6 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Nd2 d6 12.Bd3 Qxf4 13.Bxf4 Ne7 14.a4 a5 15.Nc4 Rb8 16.e5 d5 17.Nxb6 cxb6 18.e6 Rb7 19.exf7+ Kxf7 20.0-0-0 Bf5 21.Rhe1 Bxd3 22.Rxd3 gives White a comfortable advantage in space (Wang Hao-E. Torre, IT, Kuala Lampur, 2005).
• 9.Nb5 Qxg3 10.hxg3 Kd8 11.Bxb6 axb6 12.f3 d6 13.g4 Be6 14.c4 Nb4 15.N1a3 Ne7 16.Kd2 Kd7 17.Kc3 Nec6 18.Be2 f6 19.Nc2 Nxc2 20.Kxc2 h6 21.Kc3 Bf7 22.a3 Rhe8 gives White a small advantage in space (Nataf-Fressinet, French Ch, Aix-les-Bains, 2007).
• 8...Nxd4 9.cxd4 Bxd4 10.Bxd4 Qxd4 11.Nc3 Ne7 12.Qxc7 0-0 13.Rd1 Qb4 14.Rd2 Ng6 15.Be2 f5 16.Bc4+ Kh8 17.Nd5 Qa4 18.exf5 Rxf5 19.0-0 Qc6 20.Bb3 Qxc7 21.Nxc7 Rb8 22.Re1 b6 23.Nb5 Bb7 24.Nd6 Rff8 25.Nf7+ Kg8 26.Rxd7 Black resigns (Kasparov-Unzicker, Korchnoi Bd, Zurich, 2001).

5.Nxc6

• If 5.Be3 Qf6 6.c3 Nge7 then:
• If 7.Bc4 then:
• If 7...Ne5 8.Be2 then:
• If 8...Qg6 9.0-0 d6 10.f3 0-0 11.Nd2 d5 12.Kh1 then:
• If 12...dxe4 13.fxe4 Bg4 14.Bf4 then:
• If 14...Bxe2 15.Qxe2 Bd6 16.Rad1 Rae8 then:
• 17.Bxe5 Bxe5 18.Qb5 Bxd4 19.cxd4 Qb6 20.Qd3 Qxb2 21.Rb1 Qxa2 22.Rxb7 f5 23.e5 Nd5 24.Nb3 Rf7 25.Ra1 Qf2 26.Qb5 Rd8 27.Rbxa7 g6 28.R7a2 Qe3 draw (Rublevsky-K. Georgiev, Euro ChT, Saint Vincent, 2005).
• 17.Qb5 Ng4 18.e5 c6 19.Qxb7 Bxe5 20.Bxe5 draw (Rublevsky-Najer, Euro Ch, Warsaw, 2005).
• 14...Bd6 15.Bxe5 Bxe2 16.Qxe2 Bxe5 17.Nc4 Bxd4 18.cxd4 c6 19.Rad1 Qe6 20.b3 Rad8 21.Qf3 Rfe8 22.e5 Nc8 23.Ne3 Ne7 24.Nc4 Nc8 25.Ne3 draw (Thorhallsson-Pinter, Ol, Manila, 1992).
• 12...Bb6 13.Bf4 Qf6 14.Bg3 c5 15.Nc2 Rd8 16.Qe1 N5g6 17.exd5 Nxd5 18.Ne4 Qe7 19.Rd1 Ndf4 20.Rxd8+ Qxd8 21.Bc4 Be6 22.Bxe6 Nxe6 23.Ne3 Qd3 gives Black the advantage in space (Hector-Sargissian, Ol, Bled, 2002).
• 8...d5 9.0-0 0-0 10.f4 N5c6 11.e5 Qh4 12.Qd2 Bg4 13.Bd3 a6 14.Nxc6 Bxe3+ 15.Qxe3 Nxc6 16.Nd2 Qe7 17.Rae1 Rae8 18.Nb3 f6 19.Qg3 f5 20.Qf2 is equal (Rublevsky-V. Popov, Euro Ch, Warsaw, 2005).
• If 7...0-0 8.0-0 Bb6 then:
• 9.Na3 d6 10.Ndb5 a6 11.Nxd6 Bxe3 12.Nxc8 Bc5 13.Nxe7+ Qxe7 14.Qe1 Ne5 15.b4 Ba7 16.Be2 f5 17.exf5 Rxf5 18.Nc4 Raf8 19.Nxe5 Rxe5 20.Bc4+ Kh8 21.Qd2 Qh4 22.Bd5 Rh5 23.h3 Rd8 White resigns as he must lose a piece (Pape-Colombo, Corres, 1992).
• 9.Nc2 Ne5 10.Be2 N5g6 11.Bd4 Qg5 12.g3 Nf4 13.Bf3 d6 14.Kh1 Ne6 15.Bg2 Nc6 16.f4 Qh6 17.Bxb6 axb6 18.Ne3 Kh8 19.Nd2 Bd7 20.Qe2 Rfe8 is equal (Toma-Sosna, Op, Brno, 2006).
• If 7.g3 d5 8.Bg2 dxe4 9.Nd2 then:
• If 9...Bb6 10.Nxe4 Qg6 11.0-0 0-0 then:
• 12.Re1 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 Nc6 14.Bxb6 axb6 15.Qd2 Ra5 16.Qf4 Ne5 17.Rad1 f6 18.b4 Ra8 19.Ng5 Bg4 20.Rd2 Rae8 21.Rxe5 Balck resigns as 21...Rxe5 22.Qc4+ Be6 23.Nxe6 Qf7 24.Bxb7 b5 25.Qb3 gives White two minor pieces and a pawn for the Rook (Rublevsky-Sasikiran, World Cup, Khanty Mansyisk, 2005).
• 12.Nc5 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 Nc6 14.Re1 Nxd4 15.Qxd4 c6 16.a4 a5 17.Qe5 h6 18.Rad1 Bg4 19.Rd2 Bxc5 20.Qxc5 Rfe8 21.Rxe8+ Rxe8 22.h3 Qf5 23.Qxf5 Bxf5 24.b4 axb4 draw (Smeets-Kramnik, Dutch ChT, Holland, 2006).
• 9...Bxd4 10.cxd4 0-0 11.Nxe4 Qg6 12.0-0 Be6 13.Nc3 Rfd8 14.Re1 a6 15.Rc1 Nd5 16.Ne4 Nxe3 17.fxe3 Bd5 18.Nc5 Bxg2 19.Kxg2 Ne5 20.Qc2 b6 21.Ne4 Ng4 22.Nf2 Nxf2 23.Qxg6 hxg6 24.Kxf2 gives White a more active Rook (Smeets-Stefanova, Corus B, Wijk aan Zee, 2005).
• 5.Nb3 Bb6 6.Nc3 d6 7.a4 then:
• If 7...a6 8.Nd5 Ba7 then:
• If 9.Be3 Bxe3 10.Nxe3 Nf6 11.Bd3 0-0 12.0-0 then:
• 12...Re8 13.f3 Be6 14.c4 a5 15.Rf2 Nd7 16.f4 f6 17.Rd2 Qb8 18.Kh1 Qa7 19.Nd5 Rac8 20.Qh5 f5 21.Rad1 Nb4 22.e5 g6 23.Qh4 Bxd5 24.cxd5 Nxd3 25.Rxd3 dxe5 26.d6 cxd6 27.Rxd6 Nf8 28.h3 Qe3 gives Black an extra pawn and greater piece mobility (Rublevsky-Naiditsch, Sparkassen, Dortmund, 2004).
• 12...Ne5 13.c4 Nfg4 14.Nxg4 Bxg4 15.Be2 Bxe2 16.Qxe2 Nc6 17.Qd2 Qf6 18.Rfd1 Qg6 19.Re1 Ne5 20.Qe2 f5 21.Nd4 fxe4 22.Qxe4 Qf7 23.Qd5 Nxc4 24.Ne6 Qxf2+ 25.Kh1 Ne3 26.Qg5 Nf5 27.Nxf8 Rxf8 is equal (van der Wiel-Stefanova, Corus B, Wijk aan Zee, 2002).
• 9.Be2 Nf6 10.0-0 Nxd5 11.exd5 Ne5 12.Bf4 Ng6 13.Bg3 0-0 14.Qd2 Bd7 15.Rfe1 Qf6 16.c4 Rfe8 17.a5 Nh4 18.Bd3 g5 19.c5 dxc5 20.Bxc7 gives White the advantage in space (Adams-Kotronias, Chalkidiki, 1993).
• If 7...a5 8.Nd5 Ba7 9.Bb5 Bd7 10.0-0 Ne5 then:
• 11.Bd2 Nf6 12.Bxa5 Nxd5 13.exd5 Bxb5 14.axb5 0-0 15.Bc3 Qg5 16.Rxa7 Rxa7 17.f4 Qh6 18.Qd4 Ng4 19.h3 Raa8 20.hxg4 Rfe8 21.Nd2 Re2 22.Ne4 Black resigns with no way to make up his material shortfall (van der Wiel-Gulko, IT, Amsterdam, 1987).
• 11.Bxd7+ Qxd7 12.Be3 Bxe3 13.Nxe3 Nf6 14.Re1 0-0 15.Nd5 Nxd5 16.Qxd5 Nc6 17.Nd4 Nxd4 18.Qxd4 Rfe8 19.c4 Rad8 20.b3 b6 draw (Letelier-Bronstein, IT, Mar del Plata, 1960).

5...Qf6 6.Qf3

• If 6.Qd2 dxc6 7.Nc3 then:
• If 7...Be6 8.Na4 Rd8 9.Bd3 Bd4 then:
• If 10.0-0 a6 11.Qa5 then:
• 11...b6 12.Qxa6 Bc8 13.Qa7 b5 14.Nc5 Qe5 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.fxe3 Nf6 17.Be2 0-0 18.Nd3 Qxe4 19.Bf3 Qe7 20.Qc5 Qxc5 21.Nxc5 Rd2 22.Rf2 Rfd8 23.Rxd2 Rxd2 24.Bxc6 Rxc2 25.b4 h5 26.Bxb5 Ng4 27.a4 Nxe3 28.Bc6 Rb2 29.Re1 Rxb4 30.Rxe3 Kh7 31.Re7 Blzck resigns (Pavasovic-Flores, Cyberspace, 2000).
• If 11...b5 12.Nc3 Bb6 13.Qxa6 then:
• 13...Nh6 14.Be3 Bc8 15.Qa3 Bxe3 16.fxe3 Qe5 17.Be2 Rd6 18.Rad1 0-0 19.Rxd6 cxd6 20.Rd1 c5 21.Nxb5 gives White an extra pawn (Kasparow-Jussupow, IT, Horgen, 1994).
• 13...Ne7 14.Be3 Bxe3 15.fxe3 Qe5 16.Qa3 Rb8 17.Qa7 0-0 18.Qd4 Ng6 19.Qxe5 Nxe5 20.Be2 Ra8 gives White an extra pawn (Pavasovic-Butnorius, Euro ChT, Batumi, 1999).
• If 10...b5 11.Nc3 Ne7 12.a4 then:
• 12...a6 13.axb5 axb5 14.Kh1 0-0 15.f4 Qh4 16.Ne2 Bb6 17.f5 Bc4 18.b3 Bxd3 19.cxd3 c5 20.Bb2 Nc6 21.Rf3 Nd4 22.Bxd4 cxd4 23.f6 Ra8 24.Raf1 Qh6 25.Qxh6 gxh6 26.Ng3 gives White superior pawn structure (Ivanchuk-Amonatov, Rapid, Odessa, 2007).
• 12...b4 13.Ne2 c5 14.Nxd4 Qxd4 15.Qf4 c4 16.Be2 Ng6 17.Qxc7 0-0 18.c3 bxc3 19.bxc3 Qxc3 20.Bg5 Rd7 21.Qc5 draw (Nunn-Flear, Isle of Man Op, Port Erin, 1994).
• 10.c3 Bxf2+ 11.Qxf2 Rxd3 12.Qxf6 Nxf6 13.Nc5 Rd8 14.Nxb7 Rb8 15.Nc5 Rb5 16.b4 Nxe4 17.a4 Rxc5 18.bxc5 Bc4 19.Be3 0-0 20.Bd4 Rb8 21.0-0-0 Be2 22.Rhe1 Bxd1 23.Rxe4 Bb3 24.Rg4 g6 draw (Rubllevsky-Anand, IT, Moscow, 1996).
• If 7...Ne7 8.Qf4 Be6 9.Qxf6 gxf6 10.Na4 Bb4+ then:
• 11.c3 Bd6 12.Be3 b6 13.f4 0-0-0 14.Kf2 c5 15.c4 Nc6 16.Nc3 f5 17.exf5 Bxf5 18.Rd1 Rhe8 19.Nd5 Nb4 20.a3 Nc2 21.Bc1 Nd4 gives Black the advantage in space (Magem-Kovalev, Euro ChT, Batumi, 1999).
• If 11.Bd2 Bxd2+ 12.Kxd2 0-0-0+ 13.Bd3 b6 14.Rae1 c5 15.Kc1 Nc6 then:
• 16.a3 Nd4 17.Nc3 Rhg8 18.g3 Nb3+ 19.Kb1 Nd2+ 20.Kc1 Nb3+ draws by repetition (Rublevsky-Aleksandrov, Karpov IT, Poikovsky, 2004).
• 16.Nc3 Rhg8 17.g3 Nb4 18.Bf1 a5 19.a3 Nc6 20.Nd5 Bxd5 21.exd5 Rxd5 22.Bc4 Rd7 23.Bd3 Nd4 24.Bxh7 Rh8 is equal (Pavasovic-Hracek, Croatian ChT, Rabac, 2004).

6...bxc6

• If 6...Qxf3 7.gxf3 bxc6 8.Be3 Bxe3 9.fxe3 then:
• If 9...Ne7 10.Nc3 d6 then:
• If 11.Rg1 0-0 12.f4 f5 13.Bc4+ Kh8 14.e5 dxe5 15.0-0-0 Ng6 then:
• 16.Rd3 exf4 17.Rxg6 fxe3 18.Rxc6 f4 19.Rxc7 Bh3 20.Rd4 Rae8 21.Re4 Rxe4 22.Nxe4 h6 23.Rf7 Rxf7 24.Bxf7 g5 25.Bh5 gives White an extra piece; Black's pawns keep him in the game (Valmana-Pentala, Spanish ChT, San Sebastian, 2006).
• 16.Ne2 a5 17.a4 exf4 18.exf4 Ba6 19.Bxa6 Rxa6 20.Rd7 Raa8 21.Rxc7 Rfe8 22.Rg2 Re4 23.b3 Rae8 24.Kb2 Kg8 25.Ng3 Rxf4 26.Nh5 Rh4 27.Rxg7+ Kh8 28.Rxh7+ Kxh7 29.Nf6+ Kh6 30.Nxe8 gives White an extra pawn and better pawn structure (Najer-Akopian, Russian ChT, Sochi, 2007).
• 11.0-0-0 f5 12.e5 dxe5 13.Bc4 Bd7 14.Rhg1 g6 15.e4 Rf8 16.exf5 Nxf5 17.Rge1 0-0-0 18.Rxe5 Nd6 19.Ba6+ Kb8 20.Ne4 Rxf3 21.Nxd6 cxd6 22.Re7 Kc7 23.Rxh7 Rh3 24.Rxh3 Bxh3 25.Bd3 Rh8 26.Bxg6 draw (Kornev-Kobalia, Areoflot Op, Moscow, 2005).
• 9...Rb8 10.b3 Ne7 11.Nc3 d6 12.Rg1 0-0 13.f4 f5 14.Bc4+ Kh8 15.e5 dxe5 16.0-0-0 Ng6 17.Rd3 c5 18.Rf1 Bb7 19.Na4 Be4 20.Rd2 exf4 21.exf4 Rbd8 22.Nxc5 Rxd2 23.Kxd2 Rd8+ 24.Kc3 Bd5 25.Bxd5 Rxd5 26.b4 is equal (Ni Hua-Naumkin, Op, Capelle la Grande, 2007).
• 6...dxc6 7.Bc4 Ne7 8.Qxf6 gxf6 9.Bf4 Bb6 10.Nd2 Ng6 11.Bg3 h5 12.h4 f5 13.exf5 Bxf5 14.Kf1 Kf8 is equal (Ni Hua-Sargissian, Ol, Torino, 2006).
• 6...Qxc6 7.Nc3 Ne7 8.Bg5 0-0 9.Bxe7 Bxe7 10.Nd5 Re8 11.Bd3 d6 12.0-0 Be6 13.Rad1 Rad8 14.c4 Qd7 15.h3 b6 16.Qg3 c6 17.Nxe7+ Qxe7 18.Rfe1 c5 gives White a small advantage in space (Dr. Lasker-Smythe, Sx, USA, 1901).

7.Nd2 d6 8.Qg3!?

• If 8.Nb3 Bb6 then:
9.Bd3 Qxf3 10.gxf3 Ne7 11.a4 a5 12.Be3 f5 13.Bxb6 cxb6 14.Rg1 fxe4 15.fxe4 0-0 16.0-0-0 Bb7 17.Rg2 Rae8 18.Nd4 Bc8 gives White a small advantage in space, but Black's Rook at f8 is more active than White's on g2 (Radjabov-Eljanov, Ruro ChT, Antalya, 2007).
• 9.Bd2 Be6 10.Bc3 Qh6 11.Ba6 Ne7 12.a4 f5 13.a5 fxe4 14.Qxe4 Bxf2+ 15.Kxf2 Bd5 16.Qe2 0-0+ 17.Kg1 Rae8 18.Bc4 Ng6 gives Black the advantage in space (Nataf-Fressinet, French Ch, Besancon, 2006).
• 9.c4 Bd4 10.Nxd4 Qxd4 11.Bd3 Nf6 12.0-0 Ng4 13.Be2 Be6 14.Rd1 Qc5 15.b3 0-0 16.h3 Ne5 17.Qc3 Ng6 18.Be3 Qe5 19.Qxe5 dxe5 gives White a considerable advantage in space (Behmardi-Hungaski, World Jr Ch, Yerevan, 2006).

8...Qg6!?

• 8...Bd4 9.c3 Be5 10.Qd3 Qg6 11.Nc4 Bf6 12.Bf4 Be6 is equal.

9.Nb3?

• The pawn sacrifice is unsound and unnecessary.
• Better is the exchange of Queens: 9.Qxg6 hxg6 10.Nb3 Bb6 11.a4 a5.

BLACK: Gabriel Sargissian
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WHITE: Boris Savchenko
Position after 9.Nd4b3

9...Qxe4+

• Once again, we quote Steinitz: The best way to refute a sacrifice is to accept it.

10.Kd2?!

• If 10.Kd1 Bb6 11.Bf4 Qg6 12.Bd3 then after 12...Qxg3 13.Re1+ Be6 14.Bxg3 Kd7 Black keeps the extra pawn.
• If 10.Be2 Ba6 11.Qf3 Qxe2+ 12.Qxe2+ Bxe2 13.Kxe2 Bb6 14.a4 then:
• If 14...a6 15.a5 Ba7 16.Re1 Kd7 Black remains a pawn ot the good.
• After 14...a5 15.Kf3 Ne7 16.Bd2 Kd7 17.Rae1 Rhe8 Black keeps his pawn.

10...Bb6 11.Qxg7 Bxf2 12.Kc3

• The Rook is tabu because of 13...Qe3+ with mate on the following move.
• After 12.Be2 Qd5+ 13.Bd3 Bh4 14.c4 Qg5+ 15.Qxg5 Bxg5+ White still has too little compensation for the pawn.

12...Bh4 13.Bg5 Qg6 14.Qxg6

• If 14.Qxh8? Black wins the Queen after 14...Bxg5 15.Re1+ Kf8 16.Nd4 Bf6 17.Bd3 Bf5.

14...hxg6 15.Bxh4 Rxh4 16.g3 Rh5 17.Re1+ Be6 18.Bc4 Kd7

• Black is clearly better. He has an extra pawn, his pieces are more active and White's King is exposed.

19.Nd4 Bxc4 20.Kxc4 Nh6

• 20...Rb8 21.b3 c5 22.Nf3 Nf6 highlights Black's superiority.

21.h4 Ng4

• Black is holding Black's pawns in place as a prelude to a kingside advance.

22.Rhf1 Rc5+ 23.Kd3 f5 24.h5

• The text move is a good one under the circumstances. If White can eliminate all kingside pawns and exchange both pairs of Rooks, his Knight will have better chances of holding off pawns on one side of the board, even though Black has an extra pawn.
• 24.c3 Re5 25.Nf3 Rxe1 26.Rxe1 c5 27.Re2 Re8 28.Rxe8 Kxe8 gives Black a won Knight and pawn ending.

24...gxh5 25.Nxf5 Rf8 26.Ng7

• White challenges Black's remaining kingside pawn.

BLACK: Gabriel Sargissian
!""""""""#
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WHITE: Boris Savchenko
Position after 26.Nf5g7

26...Ne5+!

• Black sets a little trap to preserve his kingside pawns (see next note).

27.Kd2 Rg8 28.Nf5

• White cannot take the pawn: 28.Nxh5? Nc4+ 29.Kc3 Nb6+ 30.Kd3 Rxh5 wins the Knight.

28...Rg5!

• To make matters even worst for White, Black sets his sites on the g-pawn. Black will drive the Knight away, which at once removes the defender and gains time to take the pawn.

29.b4 Rd5+ 30.Kc3 Ng6 31.Ng7 Rxg3+

• Mission accomplished. White is now two pawns to the good.

32.Kb2 Ne5 33.Nf5 Rg5 34.Kc3 Ng6 35.Ng7 Rg3+ 36.Kb2 Ne5 37.Nf5 Rg2 38.Kc3

• Both players were repeating moves to reach the time control at move 40.

38...Rdd2 39.Ne3 Rge2 40.Rg1

• 40.Rf8 h4 41.Rh1 Rh2 42.Rxh2 Rxh2 43.Rh8 h3 makes a nuisance of the pawn.

40...Rxe1 41.Rg7+

• Black simply reamins two pawns to the good after 41.Rxe1 Rh2 42.Rg1 Rh3 43.Rg7+ Ke6.

41...Kc8 42.Rg8+ Kb7 43.Kxd2

• Black simpoply remains two pawns to the good in any case.

43...Rh1 44.Rh8 h4 45.a4 h3 46.Kc3 h2 47.Nc4

• The Knight has no good moves in the face of the threat 47...Re1.

47...Nxc4 48.Kxc4 d5+ 49.Kc3 d4+ 50.Kb2

• After 50.Kxd4 Rd1+ the pawn queens.

50...a5 51.bxa5 c5 0-1

• After 52.Rh4 c4 53.Rxd4 Re1 the pawn queens and White must give up the Rook.
• Grandmaster Savchenko resigns.

[Jack Rabbit]

4. Cmilyte - Houska, Ladies' Competition, Plovdiv, Round 3

Viktorija Cmilyte
Photo: ChessBase.com



European Championships, Round 3
Plovdiv, 23 April 2008

West India Game: Benko Gambit

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5

• In this opening, alternately known as the Benko Gambit and the Volga Gambit, Black sacrifices a pawn for rapid development of his queenside pieces.

4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6

• If 5.b6 Qxb6 6.Nc3 d6 7.e4 g6 8.Nf3 Bg7 9.Nd2 0-0 10.Be2 Nbd7 then:
• If 11.0-0 Qc7 12.a4 Rb8 then:
• If 13.a5 Ne8 14.Nc4 Ne5 then:
• 15.Ne3 Qb7 16.f4 Nd7 17.Bc4 Nc7 18.Qd3 Nb5 19.Bd2 Nd4 20.b3 Qa7 21.Na4 Bb7 22.Kh1 e6 23.Bc3 Rbe8 24.b4 Nf6 25.bxc5 exd5 26.Nxd5 Nxd5 27.exd5 dxc5 gives White more mobility (Lautier-Malakhatko, Euro Ch, Ohrid, 2001).
• 15.f4 Nxc4 16.Bxc4 Qa7 17.Qe2 Nc7 18.Be3 Bd7 19.e5 Rb4 20.b3 Bb5 21.Rad1 Qb7 22.exd6 exd6 23.Ne4 Nxd5 24.Nxd6 Bxc4 25.bxc4 Nc3 gives Black a narrow edge in space (Moskalenko-Moskalenko, Corus B, Wijk aan Zee, 1992).
• 13.Nc4 Nb6 14.Na3 Nfd7 15.Bd2 Bb7 16.Re1 Rbe8 17.a5 Nc8 18.Nc4 Na7 19.Qc1 Rb8 20.Bh6 Bxh6 21.Qxh6 gives White a huge advantage in space (Portisch-Malakhatko, Ol, Istanbul, 2000).
• 11.Nc4 Qc7 12.Bf4 Nb6 13.Ne3 Bd7 14.0-0 Rfb8 15.a4 Nc8 16.Nc4 Nb6 17.Ne3 Nc8 18.Nc4 Nb6 19.Ne3 draws by repetition (Grabarczyk-Malakhatko, Op, Krakow, 1999).

5...g6 6.Nc3 Bxa6 7.g3

• If 7.e4 Bxf1 8.Kxf1 d6 9.g3 Bg7 10.Kg2 0-0 11.Nf3 Nbd7 then:
• If 12.Re1 Ng4 then:
• If 13.Qe2 Nge5 14.Nd2 Nb6 15.f4 Ned7 then:
• If 16.a4 Ra7 17.a5 Qa8 then:
• 18.a6 Qc8 19.Nb5 Ra8 20.Nf3 c4 21.Nfd4 Rxa6 22.Nc6 Bf6 23.Be3 gives White a narrow lead in space (Vaisser-Degraeve, French Ch, Marbonne, 1997).
• 18.Qb5 Rb8 19.axb6 Rxa1 20.Qxd7 Rxb6 21.Ndb1 Qb8 22.e5 Ra7 23.Qg4 dxe5 24.fxe5 Bxe5 25.Rxe5 Qxe5 26.Qc8+ Kg7 27.Qxc5 Rab7 is unclear: White has more space, but Black has a theoretical equivalent of an extra pawn in material (Lugovoi-Khalifman. Muni Ch, St. Petersburg, 1996).
• 16.Nf3 Na4 17.Nd1 Qc8 18.e5 Qb7 19.Qe4 Kh8 20.b3 Nab6 21.Nc3 f5 22.Qd3 e6 23.exd6 exd5 Black will soon recover the gambit pawn with the better game (Jussupow-Baklan, Bundesliga, Germany, 1997).
• If 13.Re2 Qa5 14.Bg5 Rfe8 15.Rc1 then:
• 15...Nb6 16.h3 Ne5 17.Nxe5 Bxe5 18.Qd3 Qb4 19.a3 Qa5 20.Nd1 c4 21.Qd2 Qa6 22.Ne3 Bg7 23.Ng4 Nd7 24.Bh6 Bh8 25.Be3 gives White a comfortable advantage in space (Spassky-Vaganian, IT, Linares, 1987).
• 15...Qa6 16.b3 Nge5 17.Nxe5 Nxe5 18.Na4 Rab8 19.Bd2 c4 20.Re3 e6 21.f4 cxb3 22.axb3 Nd7 23.dxe6 Rxe6 is equal (Gavrikov-Tseshkovsky, Spartakiad, Moscow, 1979).
• If 12.h3 then:
• If 12...Ra6 13.Re1 Qa8 then:
• 14.Re2 Rb8 15.Qc2 Ne8 16.Be3 Nc7 17.Rd1 Nb5 18.Nxb5 Rxb5 19.b3 Rb4 20.Bf4 c4 21.e5 dxe5 22.Bxe5 Nxe5 23.Nxe5 Bxe5 24.Rxe5 Rxa2 25.Qe4 Qa7 26.Rf1 Rd2 27.bxc4 Qd4 28.Qxd4 Rxd4 29.c5 Rbc4 gives White an extra pawn, but Black has her Rooks behind the two most dangerous ones and should be all right (M. Gurevich-A. Muzychuk, Op, Gibraltar, 2008).
• 14.Bg5 h6 15.Bd2 e6 16.dxe6 fxe6 17.Qc2 g5 18.a4 d5 19.Ra3 Rf7 20.exd5 exd5 21.Nb5 Qb7 22.Bxg5 hxg5 23.Nxg5 (White has a comfortable advantage in space) 23...Nf8 24.Nxf7 Qxf7 25.Rf3 Ne6 26.Qf5?! Qh5! 27.Qxh5 Nxh5 is unclear: White has the material advantage, but Black just took over the spatial advantage (S. Atalik-Khalifman, Op, Hastings, 1996).
• 12...Qa5 13.Re1 Rfb8 14.Re2 Ne8 15.Rc2 Nb6 16.Qe2 Qa6 17.Qxa6 Rxa6 18.b3 f5 19.exf5 gxf5 20.Bb2 Bxc3 21.Bxc3 Nxd5 givews Black a consierable advantage in space (Zlotnik-Carrasco, IT, Lorca (Spain), 2001).

7...d6 8.Bg2 Bg7 9.Nf3 Nbd7 10.Rb1 0-0

• If 10...Nb6 11.b3 then:
• If 11...Bc8 12.Nh4 h6 13.Qc2 Qd7 14.f4 then:
• 14...0-0 15.0-0 Qa7 16.Kh1 Qa5 17.Bd2 Qa3 18.e4 Ba6 19.Rf3 Bb7 20.h3 Nfxd5? 21.exd5 Nxd5 22.Na4 leaves White a piece to the good (S. Williams-Hertneck, Op, Salzburg, 2004).
• 14...Bb7 15.Bb2 0-0 16.Qd2 Ne8 17.0-0 Nc7 18.f5 g5 19.f6 exf6 20.Nf5 gives White the advantage in space (Barsov-Mannion, Isle of Man Op, Port Erin, 2003).
• 11...Bb7 12.Nh4 0-0 13.0-0 Ne8 14.Bb2 Bxc3 15.Bxc3 Rxa2 16.b4 Nd7 17.e4 Nef6 18.Re1 Qa8 19.Bh3 cxb4 20.Rxb4 Bc8 21.Bg2 Qa7 22.Re2 Rxe2 23.Qxe2 Ne5 is equal (Adianto-Gheam, Op, Doha, 2006).

11.0-0 Qa5 12.Bd2

• If 12.Qc2 Rfb8 13.Rd1 then:
• If 13...Ng4 14.Bd2 Nge5 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.b3 then:
• 16...Bc8 17.h3 c4 18.f4 Bf5 19.Be4 Bxe4 20.Qxe4 Nd7 21.Rdc1 cxb3 22.Rxb3 Rxb3 23.axb3 is equal after 23...Nc5, winning back the gambit pawn; he played something else and White won (Dworakoska-Pavlovic, Isle of Man Op, Port Erin, 2007).
• 16...Qa3 17.h3 c4 18.Be3 cxb3 19.axb3 Rc8 20.Bd4 Qb4 21.Qd2 Rab8 22.Ra1 Qxb3 23.Rxa6 Nc4 24.Qe1 (Ibragimov-D. Gurevich. US Op, Ft. Lauderdale, 2004).
• 13...Ne8 14.Bd2 Nc7 15.a4 Bb7 16.Nb5 Qb6 17.Nxc7 Qxc7 18.e4 Qd8 19.Bf1 Ba6 20.Bxa6 Rxa6 21.b3 Qc8 22.Rdc1 Qb7 23.b4 cxb4 24.Rxb4 gives White a strong position (Dworakowska-O. Pedersen, Arctic Op, Tromsø, 2007).

12...Rfb8 13.Qc2 Qc7

• If 13...Ng4 then:
• If 14.b3 Nge5 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 then:
• 16.a4 Qd8 17.Rfe1 Ra7 18.h3 Rab7 19.Na2 Qc8 20.f4 White still has an extra pawn (Kramnik-van Wely, Amber Blind, Monte Carlo, 2003).
• 16.Rfe1 c4 17.Na4 cxb3 18.axb3 Qb5 19.Bf4 Rc8 20.Qd2 Rc7 21.Bxe5 Bxe5 22.e4 Qb7 23.Bh3 Rb8 24.f4 is unclear; Black has more space, but White has a more stable hold on his space (Galje-Rogers, Op, Hoogeveen, 2003).
• 14.a4 Nge5 15.Nxe5 Bxe5 16.Rfe1 Qd8 17.b3 Rb7 18.h3 Rab8 19.Na2 Rc8 20.f4 Bg7 21.Kh2 Rbb8 22.e4 Ra8 23.Bc3 Bxc3 24.Qxc3 Bb7 gives White the advantage in space and an extra pawn (Turova-Pogonina, Euro Ch, Kusadasi, 2006).

14.b3

• 14.Rfc1 Bc4 15.b3 Bxd5 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Ne1 e6 18.a4 Qa7 19.Nd3 Rc8 20.a5 Rab8 21.Qa2 Qa6 22.Qa4 Qb5 23.a6 gives Black the advantage in space, but White has the initiative as the a-pawn demands immediate attention from Black (Ivkov-Miles, Novi Sad, 1975).

14...Nb6 15.Nh4

• 15.Ng5 Bb7 16.e4 Ba6 17.Rfd1 Ng4 18.Nf3 Nd7 19.Be1 Nge5 20.a4 Rb7 21.h3 Rab8 22.Nxe5 Nxe5 23.f4 Nd7 24.Kh2 Rc8 although the space count is equal, the position slightly favors White in that his space is based on the position of his pawns, which is a more stable basis than Black's pieces (Barsov-S. Kasparov, Op, Cairo, 2001).

15...Bb7 16.e4 Ba6 17.Rfe1 Ng4

• If 17...Bb7 18.Nf3 Nbd7 19.Rbd1 Ra6 20.Bc1 then:
• If 20...Ng4 21.h3 Nge5 22.Nxe5 Nxe5 23.f4! pushes Black back.
• 20...Rba8 21.Bb2 Nb6 22.Ra1 Qd7 gives Black s small advantage in space to offset White's extra pawn.

18.h3 Ne5 19.Re3 Qa7?

• This novelty is no better than 19...Nbd7? 20.a4 Bd3 21.Rxd3 Nxd3 22.Nb5 Qc8 23.Qxd3 c4 24.Qxc4 Qxc4 25.bxc4 Rxa4 26.Bf1 when White has a two minor pieces and a pawn for a Rook plus the advantage in space (Malakhatko-Pavlovic, Op, Hastings, 2007-08).
• Fritz suggests Black does better by 19...c4 20.f4 Nd3 21.Nf3 cxb3 22.axb3 then:
• If 22...Rc8 23.Bf1 Qa7 24.Bxd3 Rxc3 25.Bxc3 Nxd5 then:
• 26.Qf2 Qxe3 27.Qxe3 Nxe3 28.Bxa6 Rxa6 29.Bxg7 Kxg7 30.Kf2 Nc2 is unclear: White has a passed pawn, but Black has two pieces in position ready to stop it.
• 26.Bd4 Bxd4 27.exd5 Bxe3+ 28.Kh1 Bb7 29.Bc4 Bc8 gives Black the advantage in space.
• If 22...f5 23.b4 fxe4 24.Rxe4 Bxc3 25.Qxc3 Qxc3 26.Bxc3 then:
• 26...Ne5 27.fxe5 Bd3 28.Nd2 Bxb1 29.Nxb1
• 26...Rc8 27.Bd4 Nxd5 28.b5 Rab8 29.Bf1 Bxb5 30.Rxb5 Rxb5 31.Bxd3 Rb3 32.Ne1 is unclear: Black has more space, but attacks little; White has more activity.

BLACK: Jovanka Houska
!""""""""#
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WHITE: Viktorija Cmilyte
Position after 19...Qc7a7

20.a4

• If 20.Nf3 Nxf3+ 21.Bxf3 Nd7 22.Ra1 then:
• If 22...Bd4 23.Ree1 Ne5 24.Be2 c4 25.Rf1 Qd7 26.g4 is equal.
• 22...Ne5?! 23.Bh1 c4 24.Rc1 Qd7 is equal.

20...Nbd7 21.Nd1 Rb7

• If 21...Qb7 22.Nb2 Nf6 then:
• 23.f4 Ned7 24.Nc4 Bxc4 25.Qxc4 Nb6 26.Qb5 Qc8 27.Qf1 gives White an extra pawn and a small edge in space.
• 23.b4 cxb4 24.Rb3 Rc8 25.Qd1 Rab8 26.Rxb4 White retains her extra pawn.

22.Bc3 Rab8 23.Rb2 h5

• 23...Bh6 24.f4 c4 25.b4 Nd3 26.b5 Nxb2 27.Bxb2 Bxb5 28.axb5 Rxb5 gives White a slight advantage in space.

24.Kh2 Kh7

• If 24...c4 25.b4 Nd3 26.Bxg7 Kxg7 27.b5 Nxb2 28.Qxb2+ then:
• If 28...Ne5! 29.Qc2 Bxb5 30.axb5 Rxb5 gives Black the advantage in space with the material theoretically balanced.
• 28...Kg8? 29.Qc2 Bxb5 30.axb5 Rxb5 31.Rc3 the c-pawn falls.

BLACK: Jovanka Houska
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WHITE: Viktorija Cmilyte
Position after 24...Kg8h7

25.f4!

• White wins a piece and with it the whole enchilada.

25...Nd3 26.Bxg7 c4

• If 26...Nb4 27.Qc3 f6 28.e5 fxe5 29.fxe5 then:
• 29...Nb6 30.Rd2 Rg8 31.exd6 Rxg7 32.Qxc5 gives White three extra pawns.
• White wins after 29...Rc8? 30.exd6 exd6 31.Nxg6!.
• 26...Nxb2 27.Bxb2 c4 28.Nf3 cxb3 29.Qc3 f6 30.Nd4 gives White the advantage in space.

27.Bc3

• 27.b4 Kxg7 28.b5 Nxb2 29.Qxb2+ Kh7 30.Qc2 gives White a considerable advantage in space.

27...cxb3 28.Qd2 Nxb2 29.Nxb2 Rc7 30.e5

• If 30.Nf3 Qc5 31.Ng5+ Kg8 32.e5 dxe5 33.fxe5 then:
• 33...Nf8 34.Qf2 e6 35.d6 Rd7 36.Ne4 Qc8 37.Nf6+ wins the exchange. leaving White a piece to the good.
• If 33...Nb6 34.e6 f5 35.Be5 then:
• If 35...Qc2 36.Nf3 Qxd2 37.Nxd2 Rc2 38.Bxb8 wins the exchange.
• 35...Nxd5 36.Rf3 Rcb7 37.Ne4 fxe4 38.Qh6 Nf6 39.Qxg6+ forces checkmate.

30...Rbc8 31.e6 fxe6 32.f5 e5 33.fxg6+

• Also good is 33.Rf3 Kg8 34.fxg6 when:
• White wins after 34...Nf6 35.Nf5 e4 36.Qh6 e5 37.dxe6 Rf8 38.Re3. gives White two minor pieces and a pawn for the Rook.
• 34...Be2 35.Rf7 Rf8 36.Rh7 Rf4 37.Qxf4! Nf6 38.Qh6 Ng4+ 39.hxg4 Rxc3 40.Qg7#.

33...Kg8 34.Rf3 Nf6 35.Nf5 Kf8 36.Qh6+ Ke8 37.Nxd6+ 1-0

• 37...Kd7 38.Nxc8 Rxc8 39.Rxf6 leaves White two pieces to the good.
• If 37...exd6 White wins another piece after 38.Rxf6 Re7 39.g7 Kd7 40.Rxd6+.
• Ms. Houska resigns.

[Jack Rabbit]

5. Smith - Stellwagen, Malmø, Round 2

Daniel Stellwagen
Photo: .com

To view this game. please click here and select the second game from the list on the left.

Axel Smith - Daniel Stellwagen
Sigeman & Co International Tournament, Round 2
Malmø, 23 April 2008

Open Sicilian Game: Taimanov Defense

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6

• Mh. Stellwagen comes back with the Taimanov Defense, with which he lost to Jan Smeets in the crucial final round of the Dutch National championships last week.
• For a more detailed survey of the Taimanov Defense, see that game.

5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Qd2

• Axel breaks away from the Hilversum game, undoubtedly believing that Mh. Stellwagen would improve on his play.
• That game continued 7.f4 b5 then:
• If 8.Qf3 Bb7 9.Bd3 then:
• If 9...Nf6 10.g4 d6 11.0-0-0 Be7 12.Kb1 Nd7 13.g5 0-0 then:
• 14.h4 Nc5 15.Nce2 Rac8 16.h5 Nxd4 17.Nxd4 f5 18.gxf6 Bxf6 19.Qg4 e5 20.Ne6 Nxe6 21.Qxe6+ Kh8 22.h6 g6 23.Rhf1 Qe7 24.Qb3 exf4 25.Bxf4 Be5 yielding a position in perfect balance (Smeets-Stellwagen, Dutch Ch, Hilversum, 2008)
• 14.Nxc6 Qxc6 15.Rhe1 Nc5 16.Qh3 Nxd3 17.cxd3 Rfe8 18.f5 exf5 19.exf5 Qf3 20.Qxf3 Bxf3 21.Rc1 b4 22.Ne4 d5 23.Ng3 Bd6 24.f6 gives White the advantage in space (Rogers-Mozny, IT, Biel, 1990).
• If 9...Rc8 10.Nb3 Nf6 then:
• If 11.Qh3?! Bb4! (an aggressive move which White probably would not have made had White castled) 12.0-0 Ne7 13.e5 Bxc3 14.bxc3 (Black has succeeded in weakening White's queenside) 14...Ne4 15.a4 Nxc3 16.axb5 axb5 17.f5 exf5 18.Ra7 then:
• If 18...Qb8!? 19.Bxf5 Nxf5 20.Qxf5 0-0 21.Qxd7 then:
• If 21...Rc7 22.Qd2 b4 although White leads in the space count, the advantage goes to Black because his advanced forces are more stable, especially the Knight at c3 (Negi-Stellwagen, World Jr Ch, Yerevan, 2007).
• Stronger is 21...Qxe5 22.Re1 Rcd8 23.Qxb7 Rd1 24.Rxd1 Qxe3+.
• 18...Ra8 19.Rxa8+ Bxa8 20.Bxf5 Bd5 leave Black up a pawn.
• 11.0-0 d5 12.a3 dxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 f5 15.Bxc6+ Qxc6 16.Qh5+ g6 17.Qh3 is equal.
• If 8.Be2 Bb7 9.a3 then:
• If 9...Nf6 then:
• 10.0-0 then:
• If 10...Bc5 11.Qd3 Qb6 12.Rad1 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 d5 14.exd5 draw (Berczes-Puschmann, First Saturday, Budapest, 06.2001).
• 10...d6 11.g4 Nxd4 12.Qxd4 e5 13.Qd3 exf4 14.Bxf4 Nd7 15.Nd5 Bxd5 16.Qxd5 Qc5+ 17.Qxc5 Nxc5 18.c4 gives White a small advantage in space such that he will be better able to restrain Black's counterplay in the endgame (B. Socko-Macieja, IT, Warsaw, 2005).
• If 10.Bf3 d6 11.0-0 Be7 12.Nb3 0-0 13.Qe1 then:
• 13...b4 14.axb4 Nxb4 15.Qf2 d5 16.e5 Nd7 17.Na5 Rfb8 18.Rfc1 Nc6 19.Nxb7 Rxb7 is equal (Sherwin-Benko, Interz, Portoroz, 1958).
• 13...Kh8 14.Rd1 Rac8 15.g4 Nd7 16.Qf2 b4 17.axb4 Nxb4 18.Bg2 Nc6 19.Na4 g5 20.fxg5 Nce5 21.Nc3 Nxg4 22.Qe2 Nxe3 23.Qxe3 Ne5 24.Qf4 Rg8 25.h4 h6 gives White more space, but Black's centralized Knight holds the position (Tsirulnik-Nyzhnyk, Ukrainian ChU14, Odessa, 2007).
• 9...Na5 10.0-0 Nc4 11.Bxc4 Qxc4 12.f5 Nf6 draw (Shivkuma-Fedorowicz, Berkeley, 2005).
• If 8.Nxc6 Qxc6 9.Be2 then:
• 9...Bb7 10.Bf3 Rc8 11.a3 Qc4 12.Qd3 Nf6 13.0-0 Bc5 14.Bxc5 Qxd3 15.cxd3 Rxc5 16.Rac1 0-0 17.Nd5 d6 18.b4 Rxc1 19.Nxf6+ gxf6 20.Rxc1 Rc8 21.Rxc8+ Bxc8 gives White better pawn structure, but there's no win in this position (Dr. Nunn-Illescas, IT, Linares, 1988).
• If 9...Ba3 10.Bd4 Bxb2 11.Nxb5 then:
• 11...Bxa1 12.Bxa1 axb5 13.Bxg7 Qxe4 14.0-0 Rxa2 15.Bd3 Qe3+ 16.Kh1 Bb7 17.Bxh8 Nh6 18.Bxb5 Bd5 19.Rf3 Qc5 20.c4! Bc6 21.Bxc6 Qxc6 22.Qb1 Re2 23.Qb8+ Ke7 24.Bf6+ Kxf6 25.Qd8+ Black resigns as he is soon mated (Bogdanovic-Suetin, Budva, 1967).
• 11...axb5 12.Bxb2 Qxe4 13.Bxg7 Qxg2 14.Bf3 Qxg7 15.Bxa8 Qc3+ 16.Ke2 Ba6 17.Qd3 Qc8 18.Qd4 Qxa8 19.Qxh8 Qe4+ 20.Kd2 Qxf4+ 21.Kc3 Qc4+ 22.Kb2 Qb4+ 23.Kc1 Qf4+ 24.Kb1 Ke7 25.Qc3 Nf6 is unclear: White has a material advantage, but five units of it is immoble on a1 (Perenyi-Barczay, Hungarian Ch, Budapest, 1977).
• If 8.Nb3 d6 9.Bd3 Nf6 10.Qf3 Bb7 11.0-0 Be7 then:
• If 12.Qh3 Nb4 13.a3 Nxd3 14.cxd3 then:
• 14...Rc8 15.Rac1 Qd8 16.Nd4 0-0 17.g4 Nd7 18.b4 Bf6 19.Nce2 Rxc1 20.Rxc1 e5 21.Nf5 exf4 22.Nxf4 gives White a huge advantage in space (Negi-Mamedov, Op, Dubai, 2004).
• 14...0-0 15.Rac1 Qd8 16.Bd4 Nd7 17.Kh1 Rc8 18.Bg1 Nc5 19.Nd2 d5 20.Bxc5 Bxc5 21.e5 b4 22.axb4 Bxb4 23.d4 f5 24.exf6 Qxf6 gives White a small advantage in space (Movsesian-Stojanovic, Bosnian ChT, Neum, 2002).
• If 12.Rae1 then:
• If 12...0-0 13.Qh3 Nb4 14.a3 Nxd3 15.cxd3 Rac8 16.Qg3 e5 17.fxe5 dxe5 18.Bh6 Ne8 19.Nd5 Bxd5 20.exd5 Qb6+ 21.Be3 Qd6 22.Bd2 Nc7 23.d4 Nxd5 24.dxe5 Qe6 is equal (Gheorghiu-Stein, Moscow, 1971).
• 12...Nb4 13.Nd4 Rc8 14.a3 Nxd3 15.cxd3 Qd7 16.Re2 h5 17.h3 h4 18.Rc2 g6 19.Qf2 d5 20.e5 Nh5 21.Rfc1 0-0 22.Nce2 Rxc2 23.Rxc2 Rc8 24.Rxc8+ Qxc8 25.Bd2 is equal (Ivanovic-Gulko, Ol, Novi Sad, 1990).
• If 12.a3 0-0 13.Qh3 then:
• If 13...b4 14.axb4 Nxb4 15.e5 dxe5 16.fxe5 Qxe5 17.Ra5 Bd5 18.Nxd5 exd5 19.Bd4 Qh5 20.Qxh5 Nxh5 21.Be2 Nf6 22.c3 Nc6 23.Bxf6 Bxf6 24.Rxd5 Rfb8 25.Bd1 Rb6 26.Nc5 Rxb2 gives Black an extra pawn (Arapovic-Smejkal, IT, Sarajevo, 1982).
• 13...Rfe8 14.Rae1 g6 15.Nd4 Nxd4 16.Bxd4 d5 17.Re3 dxe4 18.Nxe4 Bxe4 19.Bxe4 Nxe4 20.Qxh7+!! Black resigns is view of20...Kxh7 21.Rh3+ Kg8 22.Rh8# being lights out (Emms-Roetteler, Op, Hamburg, 1992).
• 12.a4 b4 13.Ne2 0-0 14.Qh3 e5 15.Ng3 Bc8 16.Nf5 Bxf5 17.Qxf5 Qd7 18.Qxd7 Nxd7 19.g3 Nf6 20.Bc4 Rfc8 21.Nd2 Ng4 22.Bb6 a5 23.Bd5 Rab8 24.Nc4 Nf6 25.b3 Nxd5 26.exd5 Nd4 27.Bxd4 exd4 28.Rae1 Bf6 29.Re2 Rc5 is equal (Moen-Hersvikm Noewegian ChT, Langesund, 2001).

7...Nf6 8.0-0-0

• If 8.f3 d6 9.0-0-0 Be7 10.g4 then:
• If 10...0-0 11.g5 Nd7 12.h4 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 b5 14.Kb1 then:
• If 14...b4 15.Na4 Bb7 then:
• If 16.b3 Bc6 17.Nb2 a5 18.h5 Ne5 then:
• 19.Be2 f5 20.gxf6 Bxf6 21.Nc4 d5 22.Nb6 Rad8 23.exd5 Bxd5 24.Qe3 Ng4 25.Nxd5 Nxe3 26.Nxc7 Bxd4 27.Nxe6 Nxd1 28.Rxd1 Bf6 29.Nxd8 Rxd8 30.Rxd8+ draw (Leko-Svidler, IT, Linares, 2006).
• 19.Qe3 a4 20.Nc4 axb3 draw (Kurmann-Cvitan, Zurich, 2004).
• If 16.Qxb4 Bc6 17.Nc3 Rfb8 18.Qc4 Ne5 19.Qe2 then:
• If 19...Bb5 20.Nxb5 axb5 21.c3 Nc4 22.b3 Qa5 then:
• 23.Rh2 e5 24.Be3 Na3+ 25.Kb2 b4 is equal (Iordachescu-Gelfand, IT, Bermuda, 2004).
• 23.bxc4 bxc4+ 24.Ka1.]
• 19...Qa5 20.f4 Ng6 21.Qf3 e5 22.Bf2 Qb4 23.b3 Nxf4 24.Be1 Qc5 25.Bg3 a5 26.Bxf4 exf4 27.Nd5 is equal (Anand-Akopian, Corus A, Wijk aan Zee, 2004).
• 14...Rb8 15.h5 b4 16.Ne2 Ne5 then:
• 17.f4 Nc4 18.Qd3 e5 19.Nc1 Bg4 20.Qxc4 Qxc4 21.Bxc4 Bxd1 22.Rxd1 exd4 23.Nb3 g6 24.Nxd4 gives White more spacer and the initiative for the exchange (Tiviakov-van Welu, Corus A, Wijk aan Zee, 1994).
• 17.Ng1 f5 18.gxf6 Bxf6 19.h6 g6 20.b3 Qe7 21.f4 Ng4 22.Bc4 Bb7 23.Qe2 Bxd4 24.Rxd4 gives White a comfortable lead in space (Aronian-Navara, Morso, 2002).
• If 10...Ne5 11.g5 Nfd7 12.f4 Nc4 13.Bxc4 Qxc4 then:
• If 14.f5 Ne5 15.f6 gxf6 16.gxf6 Bxf6 17.Rhf1 Be7 18.Bg5 Nd3+ 19.cxd3 Qxd4 20.Bxe7 Kxe7 21.Qg5+ Ke8 22.e5 Qxe5 23.Qh4 h6 24.Ne4 is unclear: White has more space and the initiative in return for two pawns (Tseitlin-W. Schmidt, Slupsk, 1978).
• If 14.Kb1 b5 then:
• 15.Rhe1 b4 16.Na4 Rb8 17.f5 Ne5 18.f6 gxf6 19.gxf6 Bd8 20.Bf4 Qc7 21.Bxe5 dxe5 22.Nc6 Bxf6 23.Nxb8 Qxb8 24.Nc5 Be7 25.Nd3 a5 26.Qh6 Black resigns (Svidler-Maksimenko, Tivat, 1995).
• 15.b3 Qc7 16.f5 b4 17.fxe6 Qxc3 18.Qxc3 bxc3 19.exd7+ Bxd7 20.Nf5 Bc6 21.Rhe1 Rd8 22.Bd4 wins a pawn for White (Firman-Reeder, Op, Philadelphi, 2003).

8...Bb4 9.f3 0-0

• If 9...Ne5 10.Nb3 b5 then:
• If 11.Kb1 then:
• If 11...Be7 12.Qf2 d6 then:
• If 13.Bb6 Qb8 14.Bd4 0-0 15.g4 Bb7 16.g5 Nfd7 17.Rg1 b4 18.Ne2 then:
• 18...Rc8 19.Ng3 a5 20.f4 a4 21.Nc1 Nc6 22.Be3 b3 23.cxb3 axb3 24.a3 Na5 25.f5 Qc7 26.Bd3 Ne5 gives Black a narrow edge in space and better minor pieces (Sebag-Sulypa, Bois Colombes, 2004).
• 18...a5 19.f4 a4 20.Nd2 Nc6 21.Be3 b3 22.cxb3 axb3 23.a3 Rc8 24.Nc3 gives White a comfortable advantage in space (K. Georgiev-Z. Almasi, Ol, Torino, 2006).
• If 13.g4 then:
• If 13...Nfd7 14.Rg1 Bb7 15.g5 then:
• If 15...Rc8 16.f4 b4 17.Nd5 exd5 18.fxe5 Nxe5 19.exd5 0-0 20.Bh3 then:
• 20...Ra8 21.Bb6 Qb8 22.Na5 Bc8 23.Bxc8 Rxc8 24.Rdf1 Rf8 25.Nc6 gives White a huge advantage in space (Spraggett-Bellon, Op, Gibraltar, 2006).
• 20...Rce8 21.Bf5 Bd8 22.h4 a5 23.h5 a4 24.Nc1 Qa5 is equal (N. Kosintseva-Javakhishvili, World ChTW, Ekaterinburg, 2007).
• 15...b4 16.Ne2 0-0 17.Ned4 Nc5 18.h4 d5 19.exd5 Bxd5 20.h5 Rac8 21.Bh3 Nxb3 22.axb3 Nxf3 23.Rg3 Nxd4 24.Rxd4 f5 gives Black a huge advantage in space (Lutz-Movsesian, Bundesliga, Germany, 2003).
• 13...Bb7 14.Bb6 Qb8 15.Bd4 0-0 16.g5 Nfd7 17.f4 b4 18.fxe5 bxc3 19.exd6 Qxd6 20.Be2 gives White a comfortable advantage in space (T. Kosintseva-Javakashvili, Euro ChT, Fügen, 2006).
• If 11...Nc4 12.Bxc4 bxc4 then:
• If 13.Nc1 Rb8 14.N1e2 0-0 then:
• 15.Bf4 e5 16.Bg5 Ne8 17.Ka1 d6 18.a3 a5 19.h4 Be6 20.Qc1 f5 21.exf5 Rxf5 22.Na2 d5 23.axb4 axb4 24.Bd2 Qa7 25.b3 is unclear: White has an extra piece and Black has a huge advantage in space.(Erdogdu-Aroshidze, Euro Ch, Kusadasi, 2006).
• 15.g4 d6 16.h4 Bb7 17.h5 Nxe4 18.fxe4 Bxe4 19.Rh3 Qb7 20.Ka1 Bf3 21.Rxf3 Qxf3 22.h6 e5 23.hxg7 Rfd8 24.Bh6 f5 25.Qd5+ Qxd5 26.Nxd5 f4 27.Ng3 Kf7 28.Ne4 gives White the advantage thanks to his centralized Knights (A. Smith-Nestor, Rilton Cup, Stockholm, 2006-07).
• 13.Nd4 Rb8 14.g4 0-0 15.Ka1 d6 16.a3 Ba5 draw (Sax-Goloshchapov. Euro ChT, Rethymnon, 2003).
• If 11.Qe1 Be7 12.f4 Ng6 13.e5 Ng4 then:
• If 14.Bd2 14...Bb7 15.Bd3 Rc8 16.Qe2 then:
• 16...f5 17.exf6 Nxf6 18.Rhf1 0-0 19.g3 b4 20.Ne4 Nxe4 21.Bxe4 a5 22.Nd4 Bf6 23.Bxb7 Qxb7 24.Be3 Ne7 25.Nb5 Nf5 26.Bf2 Rc6 is equal (Svidler-Vitugov, Russian Ch Final, Moscow, 2005).
• 16...Nh6 17.Ne4 0-0 18.Rhf1 f5 19.exf6 Bxf6 20.Nxf6+ Rxf6 21.g3 Bd5 22.Kb1 Bc4 23.Ba5 Qa7 24.Bc3 Rf7 25.Nd2 Bxd3 26.Qxd3 Nf5 27.Ne4 is equal (Aginian-Velcheva, Euro ChT, Crete, 2007).
• 14.Ne4 0-0 15.Bc5 Bb7 16.Nd6 Bd5 17.Rxd5 exd5 18.Qd1 Nh6 19.g3 Rfc8 20.Bg2 Bxd6 21.Bxd6 Qb6 22.Bxd5 Ra7 is unclear: White has more space, but Black haas a theoretical material advantage (Iberra-Vila, Op, Andorra, 2006).
• If 11.Bd4 Be7 then:
• 12.Kb1 d6 13.Qf2 0-0 14.g4 Nfd7 15.Rg1 Bb7 16.g5 Rfc8 17.a3 Nc4 18.Bxc4 bxc4 19.Nc1 Rab8 20.N1e2 Bc6 21.Ka1 gives White a comfortable advantage in space (Kasparov-Ye Jiangchuan, Ol. Bled, 2002).
• 12.Qg5 Ng6 13.Qg3 Bd6 14.Qf2 Rb8 15.Kb1 0-0 16.Bc5 Bxc5 17.Qxc5 Qxc5 18.Nxc5 Rb6 19.a4 Rc6 20.Nd3 bxa4 21.Nxa4 d5 22.exd5 Nxd5 23.Ndc5 Ne5 24.Rd4 Nd7 25.Nxd7 Bxd7 26.Bc4 is equal (Leko-Vallejo, IT, Linares, 2003).

10.g4 b5 11.h4

• If 11.g5 Nh5 12.Kb1 then:
• If 12...Nxd4 then:
• 13.Qxd4 Bxc3 14.Qxc3 Qxc3 15.bxc3 d5 16.Be2 g6 17.exd5 exd5 18.Rhe1 Re8 19.Bd3 Bd7 is equal (Anand-J. Polgar, Canada de Calatrava. 2007).
• 13.Bxd4 Ba5 14.e5 Bb7 15.Qe3 Rfc8 gives White a small advantage in space.
• 12...Ne5 13.Be2 Rb8 14.f4 Nc4 15.Bxc4 bxc4 16.Nde2 Rd8 17.Bd4 Bb7 18.Qe3 gives White the advantage in space (Rogers-Bjelobrk, Australian Ch, Brisbane, 2008).

11...Ne5 12.h5!?

• If 12.a3 Be7 13.h5 b4 then:
• If 14.Na2?! bxa3 15.b3 Bb7 16.g5 Ne8 17.Rg1 Rc8 gives Black an extra pawn (Kritz-Damljanovic, Euro ChT, Crete, 2007).
• 14.axb4 Bxb4 15.g5 Ne8 16.Rg1 Nd6 gives White a small advantage in space.

12...Bb7 13.h6 g6 14.g5 Ne8 15.Be2

• If 15.Bf4 f6 16.gxf6 Rxf6 17.Bxe5 Qxe5 then:
• 18.Bg2 18...Rc8 19.Nde2 d6 20.a3 Bxc3 21.Nxc3 Rc4 is equal.
• 18.Rh3 Rc8 19.Nde2 Rf7 20.Bg2 Qc7 21.a3 Bf8 22.f4 gives White the advantage in space.

15...Rc8 16.Nb3

• If 16.a3 Bxc3 then:
• 17.Qxc3 Qxc3 18.bxc3 f6 19.Rhg1 fxg5 20.Bxg5 Rf7 is equal.
• After 17.bxc3 Qa5 18.Kb2 Nd6 19.Qc1 Ndc4+ 20.Bxc4 Nxc4+ the pawn at c3 falls.

16...f6 17.Bf4?

• White might have been afraid of opening up the position for Black.
• Nevertheless, correct is 17.gxf6 then:
• If 17...Nxf6 then:
• If 18.a3 Bxc3 19.Qxc3 Qxc3 20.bxc3 then:
• If 20...d5 21.Nc5 dxe4 then:
• 22.Nxb7 exf3 23.Bf1 Nd5 24.Re1 Nc4 is equal.
• 22.f4 Neg4 23.Bd4 Bd5 is equal.
• If 20...Nh5 21.Nc5 Ng3 22.Rhe1 then:
• 22...Nxe2+ 23.Rxe2 Bc6 24.f4 Nc4 25.Nxd7 Nxe3 26.Rxe3 Rxf4 27.Ne5 is equal.
• 22...Bc6 23.f4 Nxe2+ 24.Rxe2 Nc4 25.Nxd7 Nxe3 26.Rxe3 Rxf4 is equal.
• If 18.Bd4 Nc4 19.Bxc4 bxc4 20.Na1 then:
• If 20...e5 21.Bf2 d5 22.exd5 Nxd5 then:
• 23.a3 Bxc3 24.bxc3 Rxf3 gives Black an extra pawn.
• 23.Qxd5+ Bxd5 24.Nxd5 Qa5 gives Black the Queen for two minor pieces.
• If 20...d5 21.Qg5 Qf7 22.Qe5 then:
• 22...Rcd8 23.Rhe1 Bd6 24.Qxf6 Qxf6 25.Bxf6 Bf4+ 26.Kb1 Rxf6 gives Black the advantage in space.
• 22...Qe7 23.Rhe1 dxe4 24.fxe4 Bd6 25.Qg5 e5 26.Bg1 is unclear: White has a comfortable spatial advantage, but White's Knight at a1 is entombed so Black is virtually playing with an extra piece.
• 17...Rxf6?! 18.Rhf1 Bxc3 19.Qxc3 Qxc3 20.bxc3 d6 21.Na5 is equal.

BLACK: Daniel Stellwagen
!""""""""#
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WHITE: Axel Smith
Position after 17.Be3f4

17...fxg5!

• If 17...Bxc3 then:
• If 18.Qxc3 Qxc3 19.bxc3 Nxf3 20.Bxf3 fxg5 21.Rxd7 then:
• If 21...Bc6 22.Re7 Rxf4 23.Nd4 then:
• 23...g4 24.Bxg4 then:
• 24...Rxg4 25.Nxc6 Rxe4 26.Rd1 leaves Black a pawn a pawn, but White has ample compensation..
• 24.Bg2 Bxe4 25.Bxe4 Rxe4 leaves Black two pawns to the good.
• If 21...Rxf4? 22.Rxb7 Rxf3 23.Nd4 Rf7 then:
• If 24.Rb6 Nc7 25.Rg1 Re8 26.Rxg5 e5 27.Nc6 is equal.
• 24...e5 25.Nc6 Kh8 26.Nxe5 Re7 27.Nf3 is equal.
• If 18.bxc3 fxg5 19.Bxe5 Qxe5 transposes into the text.

18.Bxe5 Qxe5 19.Qxd7 Rf7 20.Qd4

• If 20.Qd2 Bxc3 21.bxc3 then:
• If 21...Nf6 22.Rhg1 g4 then:
• 23.Qd4 Qf4+ 24.Qd2 Rfc7 25.Qxf4 e5 26.Rd8+ Kf7 Black maintains a small advantage in space.
• If 23...Qxd4!? then:
• 24.cxd4 gxf3 25.Bxf3 Bxe4 26.Bxe4 Nxe4 Black has much more piece activity.
• 24.Nxd4 gxf3 25.Bxf3 e5 26.Bg4 Nxg4 27.Rxg4 exd4 leaves Black a piece to the good.
• If 21...Rxc3 22.Nd4 Rfc7 23.Rhg1 then:
• 23...Qd6 24.Kb1 e5 25.Nb3 Qe6 26.Qxg5 Rxc2 yields a pawn to Black.
• 23...Rxc2+ 24.Qxc2 Rxc2+ 25.Kxc2 Nf6 26.Kb2 Kf7 gives Black a Queen and two pawns for two Rooks.

20...Qxd4

• Black still has the advantage after 20...Qf4+ 21.Qd2 Rfc7 22.Qxf4 gxf4 23.Rd3 e5 24.Rhd1 Nf6 25.Rd8+ Kf7 but one that is greatly diminished..

21.Nxd4 Nc7

• The text works better for Black than 21...g4 22.fxg4 Bxc3 23.bxc3 Bxe4 24.Rhf1 e5 25.Ne6 Rxc3 leaves Black a pawn to the good.

22.Rhg1

• This move is a complete waste of time. It would merit a query if the game weren't already lost.
• Better is 22.Rd3 e5 23.Nb3 Ne6 24.Nd5 Bxd5 25.exd5 Nf4 26.Re3 Bd6 although Black is still winning.

22...Bf8 23.Rh1

• Black immediately returns the Rook to where it was. See previous note.

BLACK: Daniel Stellwagen
!""""""""#
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WHITE: Axel Smith
Position after 23.Rg1h1

23...g4!!

• This fine pawn sacrifice opens up the f-file for Black's Rook and undermins White's blocade of the long diagonal at e5..

24.fxg4 b4 25.Bc4

• This is the best move here.
• 25.Na4?! drops a pawn to 25...Bxe4 26.Rh4 Be7 27.Rh3 e5 28.Nb3 Bg5+.

25...bxc3 26.Nxe6

• After 26.Bxe6 Black wins with 26...Nxe6 27.Nxe6 Bxe4 28.Rh2 Bd6.

26...cxb2+ 27.Kxb2 Kh8 28.Nd8

• 28.Ng5 Re7 29.Nf7+ Rxf7 30.Bxf7 Bxe4 31.Rh3 Nb5 32.c3 gives Black more activity.

28...Rf4 29.Nf7+

• If 29.Nxb7? Rb8 30.Rd8 Rxb7+ then:
• 31.Kc3 Rb6 32.Rf1 Rxf1 33.Bxf1 Kg8 34.Bc4+ Ne6 35.e5 Rc6 36.Ra8 wins a pawn, netting Black a Knight for a pawn.
• If 31...Rf3+ 32.Kd2 Rb6 33.Rh3 then:
• After 33...Rf4 34.Ke3 g5 35.Rf3 Rbf6 36.Rxf4 Rxf4 37.e5 the advancing e-pawn will soon claim a piece as booty.
• If 33...Rd6+ 34.Rxd6 Rxh3 35.Rd8 Rf3 36.g5 Nb5 37.Ke2 then:
• 37...Nd4+ 38.Rxd4 wins a piece.
• 37...Rf4 38.Ke3 wins the Rook.

29...Rxf7 30.Bxf7 Bxe4 31.Rh3

• If 31.Rhe1 Bf3 32.Rd4 Bxh6 33.Ra4 Rb8+ then:
• 34.Bb3 Bg7+ 35.Kc1 Re8 36.Rxe8+ Nxe8 37.Rxa6 Be5 the g-pawn will fall, giving Black a clear advantage of two connected passers as opposed to White's two pawns, which whil unopposed are weak.
• 34.Kc3 Nb5+ 35.Kb2 Bg7+ 36.Kc1 Nc3 37.Ra5 Ne2+ wins the exchange.

BLACK: Daniel Stellwagen
!""""""""#
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WHITE: Axel Smith
Position after 31.Rh1h3

31...Nb5!

• The text is much better than 31...Be7? 32.c4! (limiting the moves of the Black Knight) 32...Rf8 when:
• If 33.Re1! Bf6+ 34.Kc1 Bc6 35.Rb3 Be8 then:
• 36.Bxe8 Bg5+ 37.Kc2 Bxh6 gives White the exchange.
• After 36.Rb8 Bg5+ 37.Kb2 Bxh6 38.Bxe8 Bf4 when White has the exchange and a menacing c-pawn.
• After 33.Re3? Black maintains the advantage with 33...Bf6+ 34.Ka3 Bc2 35.Rd2 Bg5.

32.c4 Nd6 33.Bd5

• White cannot save the d-pawn.
33.Be6 Nxc4+ 34.Kc3 Ne3+ 35.Bxc8 Nxd1+ 36.Kd4 a5 gives Black an asymmetrical material advantage.

33...Nxc4+

• Black gets the pawn, but White gets a brief initiative in return.

34.Bxc4 Rxc4 35.Rd8 Kg8 36.Rc3 Rxc3 37.Kxc3

• White's initiative is spent, and he's still at a theoretical material disadvantage.

37...g5 38.Kd4 Bf3 39.Ke5 Kf7 40.Kf5

• If 40.Rxf8+ Kxf8 41.Kf5 then White wins after 41...Ke7 42.Kxg5 Ke6 43.Kf4 Be2 44.g5 Bd3.

40...Bc6!

• Black eschews the pawn at h6.
The text move is stronger than 40...Bxh6 41.Rd7+ Kg8 42.Rd6 Bf8 43.Rxa6 Be7 44.a4 when Black's a-pawn gives him some counterplay.

41.Rd2 Be7 42.Rd4 a5 43.a4

• More stubborn resitance come from 43.Rd2 a4 44.Rd4 Bb5 then:
• 45.Rd2 a3 46.Ke5 Bf6+ 47.Kd6.
• If 45.Ke4 a3 46.Kf5 Ba6 47.Ke4 Bb7+, but it won't change the outcome:
• 48.Kd3 Bc8 49.Kc2 Be6 50.Kb1 Bf8 endangers White's kingside pawns.
• 48.Kf5 drops a pawn to 48...Bc8+.

43...Be8 44.Rc4 Bd7+ 45.Ke5 Kg6 46.Kd4 0-1

• 46...Bxg4 47.Rc6+ Kh5 48.Rc7 Bf6+ 49.Ke4 Kxh6 gives Black two connected passers.
• Axel resigns.

[palindrome]

6. Or a theoretical win for white, depending on who you ask

[Jack Rabbit]

7. The late American master, W. W. Adams, was of the opinion that it is a win for White.

This is the Jack Rabbit Chess Report. You get Jack Rabbit's take on it.

[palindrome]

8. Pleased to meet you.

I just started chess again last year. I hadn't played in a while, and I have as buddy who is an FM, rated in the upper 2300s, who convinced me I could still make master. I was 1450 rated last year, but with a little study I think I can do it: in one year I took 7/9 and cash at the World Open u1600 then 2nd (6/7) at the north american open u1700. I'm mid 1800 rated within a year! So since I have this current chess project, I'm really glad to see there's other chess players around here. If you ever need any hard to find chess info, I might be able to help: I'm the volunteer library worker at the Nashville Chess Center, and we're getting an influx of books right now from the personal library of Dr. Martin Katahn, mostly books on major tournaments. Chess databases just don't do it for me--I like to see annotation!

[Jack Rabbit]

9. I am a mediocre club player

I do this to improve my game. It helps.

I'll celebrate with a news update: Tiger won in Malmø; Grischuk leads in Baku; Katya Lahno is alone in first place going to the final round in the Plovdiv Ladies' competition; and going into the final round in the general competition in Plovdiv there is an eight-way tie for first. Also, Maire Sebag of France, the lone lady in the general competetition in Plovdiv, got what she was after by competing there: her third and final grandmaster norm. She far, she's shaken up what is otherwise a stag party with 6½ points out of the first ten rounds.