I OPENINGS I

WINNINC
WITH
THE
PETROFF
ANATOLY KARPOV
Winning With the
Petrof
ANATOL Y KARPOV
An Owl Book
Henry Holt and Company
New York
Henry Holt and Company, Inc.
Publishers since 1866
115 West 18th Street
New York, New York 1011
Henry Holt is a registered trademark
of Henry Holt and Company, Inc.
Copyright 1993 by Anatoly Karpov
All rights reserved.
First published in the United States in 1993 by
Henry Holt and Company, Inc.
Originally published in Great Britain in 1993 by
B. T. Batsford Ltd.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 92-56754
ISBN 0-8050-2633- 4 (An Owl Book: pbk.)
First American Edition-1993
Printed in the United Kingdom
All frst editions are printed on acid-fre paper.o
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 !
Adviser: R. D. Keene, GM, OBE
Technical Editor: Andrew Kinsman
Contents
Introduction 7
1 Main Line with 6 ... tc6 and 7 ... ie7 9
2 Main Line with 6 ... tc6 and 7 ... .g4 48
3 Main Line with 6 ... ie7 and 7 ... 0-0 64
4 Main Line with 6 ... .d6 68
5 White Fourth Move Alternatives 81
6 3 d4 87
Index of Variations 112
Introduction
The Petrof is defned as early as
Black's second move: I e4 e5 2
lf3 lf6, and already the opening
appears on the board. What
distinguishing features does it
have? Perhaps only one
between two opponents of equal
strength Black 'risks' fnding him
self with the safety of a draw
straight away -3 lxe5 d6 4 lf3
lxe4 5 1e2 1e7 6 d3 and White
exchanging queens almost guaran
tees a half-point. But is this really
a defciency of the Petrof? I recall
that in one of the current vari
ations of the Ruy Lopez White
c bring the game to an immedi
ate end ( . . . JH8-e8, lf3-g5, . . .
le8-f8, lg5-f 3 etc.) as, in fact,
many of my opponents have done
when I have had Black. But in
practice the player against whom
the
P
etrof is played generally tries
to take the initiative. In this case
Black can fully expect an enthral
ling struggle with equal chances.
As a result, as statistics show, the
7
number of games won by Black is
hardly less than the number of
wins for White.
Incidentally, in four of my fve
matches with Kasparov this com
paratively rare opening was
encountered, and the seven games
played have made an appreciable
contribution to its theory. It can
be said without exaggeration that
throughout its history the Petrof
has never been studied with such
intensity as after my duels with
Kasparov.
Although the reader is possibly
familiar with all our games with
the Petrof(except the one in New
York) from my book The Open
Game in Action, I have of course
inc! uded them in a special book
dedicated to this opening, all the
more so because recently many
important examples, Improve
ments to variations, and new ideas
have appeared. They are all
refected in this new book.
As in my previous work Beating
8 Introduction
the Grinfeld, I have included in
this book 25 contemporary games
as a foundation, the majority of
which were played in the second
half of the 1980s and the beginning
of the 1990s(but the commentaries
to them, as before, refer to many
valuable examples from the past).
According to the modern stan
dard Informator classifcation of
openiogs, the Petrof is divided
into,two sections -C42 and C43.
The frst of these is characterised
by the capture of the pawn - 3
lxe5 (and also by various rare
continuations), and the second
by refusing this capture with 3 d4.
It is worth pointing out that in
recent years the C42 system has
been considerably more popular,
and therefore it is given more
attention and space i this book.
One might recall that one of the
variations beginning with the cap
ture of the e5-pawn (3 lxe5 d6 4
lf3 lxe4 5 d4 d5 6 .d3 lc6)
was subjected to a thorough exam
ination in my frst three matches
with Kasparov, and in the ffth
match there was an interesting
game played with 3 d4.
The main line of the Petrof is
divided into four basic variations,
each of which is covered by a
chapter of this book. Chapter one
deals with the system 3 lxe5 d6
4 lf3 lxe4 5 d4 d5 6 .d3 lc6
(6 . . . .e7) 7 0-0 .e7 (7 . . . lc6)
which has proved to be by far the
most fashionable choice for Black
in recent times. A sharper possi
bility is discussed in chapter two,
in which Black attacks the centre
with 7 . . . .g4 without spending
time developing his king's bishop
frst. Chapter three deals with the
6 . . . .e7 7 0-0 0-0 system which
gives Black a solid, if rather unin
spiring position, whilst chapter
four i concerned with the interest
ing 6 . . . .d6 which has been very
fashionable of late. In chapter fve
we look at White's alternatives on
the fourth move, and the fnal
chapter deals with 3 d4, which is
also very much in vogue.
Does the title of the book do
justice to its contents? Of course,
learning of by heart countless
variations, which there are in this
book, will be of some use. How
ever, I believe that familiarity with
the games included in this book
and close study of them, will give
the reader a contemporary under
standing of the opening, and in
this sense one can certainly think
that the book will develop under
standing of how to play, and win
with, the Petrof.
Finally I want to thank chess
master and writer Evgeny Gik for
his help in preparing the manu
script.
1 Main Line with 6 ... Cc6
and 7
i
e7
Game No. I
Karpov-Portsch
Turin 1982
In 1982 I had a original theoreti
cal duel with Lajos Portisch on
the theme of the Petrof: Turin,
Til burg, Lucerne. Although the
diference in points was mini
mal - 2 :I in my favour, the
opening battle, one can say, was
won by White with a clean
sheet.
The following game opened the
discussion and in the notes to it
are the two other duels (that is,
our opening 'triptych' collected
together). Although the variation
I played three times with Portisch
was not subsequently encountered
at the highest level, it should be
mentioned that this was largely
due to the results achieved in those
games. I also think that this theor
etical argument with Portisch pre
pared the ground well for a new
9
debate i the Petrof which
unfolded m my battles with
Kasparov.
It is now quite clear why I
included this game, played com
paratively long ago - ten years
- in the book. I hope that the
reader familiar with it from other
publications will not be ofended,
since this book is devoted to the
Petrof.
1
2
3
e4
lf3
lxeS
eS
lf6
As we have said already, here
the Petrof branches into two main
systems - 3 lxe5 and 3 d4, and
the frst (larger) part of the book
is devoted to taking the pawn on
e5.
3 d6
4 lf3
The continuations 41xf7 and 4
lc4, to which chapter 5 is devoted,
are comparatively rare.
10 Main Line with 6 ... Cc6 and 7 . . . .e7
4 Cxc4
5 d4
Possib|y on|y Boris Spassky
nowadaysatthetop|eve|usesthe
o|d move 5 we2. As |ar back as
| 969 in hi s match |or the chess
crown, Tigran Petrosian demon-
strated a c|ear p|an o|arranging
his pieces.
ln|act,atthesametournament
inTurininmygamewithSpassky
l succeeded inequa|isingeasi |y . 5
. . . we7 6 d3 C|6 7 3g5 xe2+
8 3xe2 3e7 9 ^c3 c6 !| (This
is Petrosian's idea. B|ack avoids
symmetry and the |oss oltempo
|osessignihcance.)
1
w
|O O-O ^a6 | | Z|el Cc7 l 2
|| ^e6 l 3 3e3 O-O | 4 d4 @e8
l 5 d5 Cxd5 l 6 Cxd5 cd |7 3b5
Zd8 | 8 Zad | 3|6 | 9 c3 Cc7 2O
e2 Ze8 2 l Cd4 d7 22 3|3
}xd4 23 3xd4 3c6 24 }e3
!-
1.
Severa| months |ater against
Yusupov (To|uca l 982) Spassky
pre|erred | 2 d4instead o| |2 .yll .
There |o| |owed . | 2 . . . d5 | 3 3d3
^e6 |4 3e3 O-O | 5 @ad | 3d6
l 6 ^e5 ^e8' l 7 ^e2 |6 l 8 ^|3
^8c7 l 9 b3 3d7 (more accurate
wasatonce l 9 . . . b5! 2Oc4bc2|
bc 3a6) 2O c4 @|e8 2| c5 l8
22 ^c3 b5 23 ^e2 a5 24 a3 g625
h3 ^d8 2g4 C|7 27 g2 ^e6
28 C|4 Cx|4 29 3x|4 @xe| 3O
Zxe | a43l b4Ze832 Zxe8.ixe8
33 Cg| ^d8 34 ^e2 g5! 35 3b8
}g6 36 }xg6 hg 37 |3 !-1.
ln another tournament (Ham-
burg l 982) Spassky chose a new
move 9 c4 against me, but it a|so
gave White nothing. 9 . . . h6 l O
}|4 ^c6 ( Possi b|e i s | O . . . O-O
| | ^c3 Ze8 l 2 O-O l8 l 3 Z|e|
^a6 | 4 a3 3d7 | 5 b4 c6 with
equa|ity. Here l got nothing out
o|it as White, Karpov-Smys|ov,
Ti|burg | 982. ) l | ^c3 3|5 | 2
O-O-O O-O-O l 3 @ he | g 5 | 4 3e3
Cg4 l 5 ^d5 Cxe3 |6 Cxe7+
Cxe7 |7|e @de8wi th|u||equa|ity.
l t must be said that Spassky
sti||uses5 we2,a|thoughwithout
particu|ar success. Here is one
recent examp|e . Spassky-Sa|ov
(Barce|ona | 989) 5 . . . e7 6 d3
Cl6 7 g5 xe2+ 8 3xe2 e7
9Cc3c6 |OO-O-O(cast|ing|ongis
hard|y betterthancast|ingshort)
|O ... Ca6 l | Ce4 Cxe4 l2 de
^c5 |3 3xe7 xe7 | 4 @hcl
@e8 | 5 Cd4 |8
! -
!
.
5 d5
$dJ
Cc
Main Line with 6 . . . lc6 and 7 . . . . . e 7 II
2
w
7 0-0
8 2c
c7
l5 (2)
ln a|| six PetrodDe|encegames
ol my hrst three matchcs with
Kasparov, Black`s |ight-squared
bishopeithercame to g4 (consid-
cred in the ncxt game) or stayed
athome.Thedebatewith Portisch
wasso|e|ydevotedtothedeve|op-
ment ol the bishop on l5. Thi s
movewasintroducedi ntopractice
by Robert Hubnerin his quarter-
hnal Candidates match with
Andras Ador|an in | 98O. l n |act.
this move was knowntomelrom
my own game with Kasparov
our hrst meeting, three years
belore our duels |or the crown
(Moscow l 98 | , threegenerations'
team tournament). l had B|ack
andeventsun|o|dedi nthe|o|low-
ing way . 9 Cbd2 Cxd2 l O wxd2
xd3 | l wxd3 O-O | 2 c3 wd7
(Hubner continued with l 2 . . .
d6, and a|ter | 3 wl5 Zad8 l 4
|4 a draw was agreed) l 3 l4
a6 | 4 Ze3 Zae8 l 5 Zae | d8
|6 h3 Zxe3 l 7 Zxe3 l6 | 8 Ze2
Zl7 |9 Cd2 e7 2O Cl| 8 2|
w|3 Z e7with a mi ni mal advan-
tage to Whi te.
l a|soencountered 8 . . . l5 in
the lourth game ol the Wor|d
Championship match in Merano
in l 98 l . whena|ter9 b5 Korch-
noip|ayedtheimportanti mprove-
ment against me 9 . . . ,l6 ( l n
Timman Portisch,Moscow l 98 | ,
B|ack chose 9 ... O-O |O xc6
bc | | 7e5 h4 l 2 e3 wd6
better was l 2 . . . Ze8 |3 wh5!
and got intoa dimcu|t position).
The point ol the bishop
manoeuvretol6i sthatnowWhite
cannot strengthen his knight on
e5, as a|tcr |O xc6+ bc l l Ce5
xe5 l 2deO-OB|ackcandeve|op
lree|y and Whi te sti|| has to be
carelu| to s|ow down the movc-
mento|theenemyc- andd-pawns.
ln the Meranogame the position
was equa| alter lO l bd2 O-O l |
Cl| . lt i s true that my opponent
short|yaltermadesevera|inaccur-
acies and in the end even |ost;
however the opening was not the
reasonlor this. The resu|tc|ear|y
had a psycho|ogica| edect on
Korchnoi, and he never returned
to the Petrodlor the rest ol the
match. Whatapity!Thelol|owing
movehadbeenspecia||yprepared
lor him.
c4! (3)
l gorZaitsevand lhadprepared
12 Main Line with 6 . . . Cc6 and 7 . . . le7
3
B
precise|ythi sopeningsurpriselor
the match in Merano but it
remained unused. So, the novelty
wassprungon Portisch . . .
Cb4
I0 $
Ol course not |O cd Cx|2! .
Because olthi s strike l began to
doubt 9c4, but White i s not
obliged to hurriedly c|ari|y mat-
ters.
I 0 0-0
Later,atTi|burg | 982,Portisch
tried a di derent continuation
|O. . . dc, butalter | | Cc3' Cl6 | 2
xc4 O-O | 3 a 3 Cc6 | 4 d 5 l
succeeded in obtaining a clear
advantage. The game continued .
| 4 ... Ca5 l 5 a2 c5 | 6 g5
Ze8 | 7wa4 d7 | 8 wc2 h6 | 9
h4 Cxd5 2O Cxd5 xh4 2 |
@xe8+ xe8. Here l cou|d have
increased my advantage wi th 22
@e | or 22 Zd | , but l thought l
saw an edective variation which
un|ortunate|y contained a aw
A|terBlack'sprecise rep|y l prob-
ab|y sti|| had a draw, but l mech-
anica|ly sacrihced a piece and
quick|y |ost . 22 we4 l6 23
b| &|8 24 wh7 wxd5 25 e4
wd6 26 wh8+ &e7 27 c2 Cc6
29 a4 Cd4 29 Cxd4 xd4 3O
Ze |+ &l6 3 | }xe8 wl4 32 Zl|
we5 and White resigned.
To be honest, when we met
at the O| ympiad i n Lucerne and
Portischagainp|ayed the Petrod,
l was surprised at his stubborn-
ness. Apparent|y, the outcome o|
our |ast meeting had encouraged
the Hungariangrandmaster.
I I aJ Cc6 /4,
Now approximate|y the same
structurearisesasinmygamewith
Lubosh Kavalek in the previous
round (l was B|ack) . 9 a3 O-O | O
c4 |6 | | Cc3t xc3 | 2 bc xd3
| 3 wxd3 dc |4 wxc4 Ca5 | 5
wa4 b6 with equa|ity, a|though
nowadaysWhitewinsa|ewgames
with this type o| structure lrom
time to time.
Z CcJ
Main Line with 6 ... lc6 and 7 . . . 1e7 13
A|thoughthismovebroughtme
asp|endid victoryinTurin,at the
O|ympiad in Lucerne l decided
not to test my opponent's home
preparationand deviatedhrst,hit-
tingd5. Sincel promised to bring
you the who|e 'triptych', l sha||
digressandte||howour|astmeet-
ing on this theme turned out. lt
was a|solair|y interesting.
KarpovPortisch, Lucerne (o|)
l 982.
12 cd fxd5 13 Cc3 xc3 14 he
. tg6
B|ack's pieces are precarious|y
arranged,lorexamp|e. |4 . . . Ze8
l 5 e5(withthethreatoll 6 }c4)
l 5 . . ^xe5 | 6 Axe5 wd7 | 7 wl3
witha doub|eattack; l4 . . . }d6
l 5 c4 wa5 |6 }d2 winning; | 4
... Zad8 | 5 }l4 with a c|ear
advantage to White. lt isdi mcu|t
to b|ame B|acklor a move wIich
parries immediate
a|though it does not
cardina| prob|ems.
15 c4 fd7
threats,
so|ve the
at theedgeolthe board . | 8 }d2
b6 |9 }xa5 ba 2O Ce5 wd6 2 l
'c6, or l 8 Ce5 }xe5 | 9 Zxe5
b6 2O }l4 Zle8 2l Z ae2,but the
appearance olthe bishop onl4is
more energetic.
18 . . . rfe8 19 rae2. 1 rec8?
Surrendering the posrtron.
B|ack didn't |ike l9 ... Zxe2
becauseol2Owxe2withthethreat
ol2| e5 }xe5 22 . xe5, but this
wasn'tsodangerouslor B|ack.
20 te5 w]J`
On|y 2O . . }xe5 odered any
resistance.
21 . td2!
Creating the irresistib|e threat
olg2g4. ll2| wd2with thesame
idea, then 2| . . . }h5 22 l3 g5 23
}g3 b6 pro|ongs the strugg|e .
21 . .. txc4 (5)
Alter 2| . . . b6 22 g4 wc2 23
wxc2 }xc2 24 }xa5 }xe5 25
Zxc2B|ackisapiecedown. Now
22 xc4 wxd5 23 }l4 |eads to
victory,butevenstronger is. . .
Alter | 5 . . . wd6 l 6 d5 }l6 5
comes the tactica| b|ow | 7 c5! .
w
16 d5 . tf6 1 7 ra2
The tempting sacrihce ol the
exchange brings no rea| advan-
tage. l 7 }g5 xa| |8 dc wxd|
| 9
Zxd| }l6 2O cb Zab8, and
the
b7-pawn cannot bedelended.
17
. .
. ta5 18 }{4
lt w
as possib|e to exp|oit the
un|ortunatepositiono|theknight
22 g4! txe5
14 Main Lne with 6 . . . Cc6 and 7 . . . Je7
Neither 22 . . . wc2 23 wxc2
3xc2 24 Cxc4, nor 22 .. . ' xe5
23Zxe5Cxe524g5isolanyhe|p.
23 gf tf3+ 24 g2 3h5 25
'a4 th4+ 26 g3 3xe2 and
Black resgned.
Letushna||yreturntothebatt|e
with Portisch inTuri n.
I Z CxcJ
lJ bc
dc
It is di mcu|t lor B|ack to man-
age without thisexchange.
6
w
4 $xc4 $d (6)
A pre|iminary summary can b
made. Whi te has more purpose-
|u||y arranged his |orces and has
c|ear pressure on the centre.
ln the game |h| vestKha|il-
man,Minsk | 987,B|ackp|ayed | 4
. . . Ca5, but was unab|e t oso|ve
hisopeningprob|ems. Thisi swhat
happened . | 5 3a2 c5 |6 Ce5
3l6 | 7 g4 3d7 | 8 4 3xe5
l 9 @xe5 cd 2O cd Cc6 2| @d5
wc8 22 h3 e6 23 @c5 3xa2 24
Zxa2 wd7 25 d5 Ce7 26 Zd2.
Theadvantageolthetwobishops
hasdi sappeared,butB|ackcando
nothingaboutthed-pawn.
7
B
l5 3g5
Bd7
l Ch4| (7)
Mov| ng the kni ght to the edge
o|t heboarda||owsWhi teto!Irm|y
seize theinitiati ve.
l Ca5
ln response to | 6 . . . 3g4there
isa choicebetweenthe simp|e | 7
|3 3h5 | 8 g4 and | 7 wb| Ca5
| 8 3d3 lo||owed by the seizure
olthe |5-square.
I7 . b2 b5
B|ack'spiecesareloose|yp|aced
and Portisch is trying to create
|ootho|ds |or them. White must
act energetica||y.
I8 a4 a
ln the event o| | 8 . . . ba l had
ap|easantchoicebetween | 9 3d5
@ae8 2O @xe8@ xe82| Cxl5wx|5
22 wxa4 Zb8 23 Ze | and | 9 c4
c5 2O dc (or 2O Cx|5 wxl5 2| h4
'b3 22 3b| wd7 23 dc Cxc5
24 @a2 with exce||ent attacking
chances) 2O ... 3xc5 2| @e5
Main Line with 6 . . . lc6 and 7 . . . i . e7 15
wxd l + 22xd|
xdl 24 1 xa5
8
w
ab
Z0 Cxl5
Z
.c7
.ig4 23 xc5
ab
wxl5
Zlb8 (8)
A|ter 2 | . . . xe7 22 1 xe7 c6
23 we2Cc424e |+d5 25e5
(also strong is 25 .ib3) 25 . .
xa2 26 wxa2 Cxe5 27+xd5cd
28xe5d8 29e7c8 3O 1 b7
and Whitehaswona pawn. l l2 l
. . |e8 2 2 3xd6 cd 23 3b|
wh5 the weakness o| the back
ranki srevea|ed. 24 1 xe8+ 1 xe8
25g4 wh3 26xa5wxc327 a2' .
A|sobadis2| . . lc8 22.ib|
+d723 +|3g624a2! However.
movingtherook to b8alsomeets
with
an unexpected and strong
rep|y.
ZZ g4!!
The
ideas behind this extrava-
gant move are revealed in the
lollow
ingvariations .22. . . wl423

xd6
+xd6 24+|3 wd7 (24 . . .
2|8
25
3x|7+' h8 26 wg3' )
25
e2.andi ti sdimculttodelend
against the threat ol26 1 ae| and
27e7. lor example. 25 . . . ^c6
26ae l e8 27+x|7+wi thmate,
or25. . . a626ae ||627 +g3
wi thirresistiblethreats.
ZZ wd7
ZJ .xl7+!
The bishopcannotbetouched:
23 .. &x|7 24 xa5' xa5 25
wb3 + &g6 26 e6+ with
unavoidablemate.
ZJ h8
Z4 .xd wxl7
Z5 Zc7 wl8
Z .ic5
White has a materia| and pos-
itionaladvantage.Theoutcome is
already decided.
Z wl4
Z7 wcZ h
Z8 Zc4 wl7
Z Zc5 Cc4
J0 Zxa8 Zxa8
JI Zl5 wg
JZ wc4 h7
JJ hJ Za+
J4 gZ c I
J5 .b4 Cd
J .xd cd
J7 wdJ d5
J8 lJ! I
Game No. 2
bax~Yusupov
Thessaloniki (of) 1984
I c4 c5
Z ClJ Cl
16 Main Line with 6 . . . {jc6 and 7 . . . .e7
3 Cxc5 d
4 Cl3 Cxc4
5 d4 d5
}d3
}c7
7 0-0 Cc
8 Ac ig4
c4 Cl
10 cd }xl3
11 wxlJ wxd5 (9)
9
w
My hrst Wor|d Championship
batt|ewithKasparov|astedalong
time,hvewholemonths,andmany
opening ideas which were
encountered were rehned during
the marathon,particular|y at the
Olympiad in Thessaloniki where
this game was p|ayed. The reader
mightwe||rememberthatthispos-
ition arose in the 28th game ol
that match, where alter | 2 wh3
matters quick|y ended peacelully
(see thenextgame). But the queen
also has other moves.
12 wg3
More than once exchangingon
d5 has been p|ayed, yet it doesn't
promise White much . l 2 wxd5
Cxd5 | 3 Cc3 O-O-O' (i| | 3 . . .
Cdb4 White manages to get the
advantage. |4 }e4Cxd4 | 5 }e3
c5 | 6 }xd4! cd |7 t b5 l8 | 8
a3! Cc6 | 9 @ac| d 3 2O }xd3
}|6 2| b4 g6 22 }e4, Popovic
Kura| ica, Yugos|avia | 984, or | 5
. . . @d8 | 6 }xd4 @xd4 | 7 a3Cc6
| 8 Cb5 Ad2 | 9 Cxc7+ d8 2O
t b5, Abramovic-Rukavina,
Yugos|avia | 985) |4 }e4 }b4
| 5 }d2 C|6 (a|so sumcient lor
the draw is | 5 . . . Cxd4 | 6 Cxd5
}xd2 | 7 @ad | c6 | 8 @xd2cd | 9
@xd4) | 6 a3 Cxe4 | 7 Axe4 }xc3
|8bcCa5withlu||equa|ity(|h|v-
est-Mi kha|chishin,Lvov| 984).ln
thegameLobronMi kha|chishin,
Dortmund | 984, White took on
c6(i nstead o| |6 a3), andalter | 6
}xc6 bc | 7 a3 @xd4! | 8 ab @xd2
|9 @xa7 Ae8' B| ack even stood
better.
BeloremovingonI shou|dmen-
tionthatthemove |2 wh3, which
Kasparov prelerred in game 28,
washrstseeninthegameVelimi-
rovic-Kura|ica(Be|aCrkva| 984)+
ln that game Black took on d4
with the queen, and | 2 . . . wxd4
| 3 Cc3 @d8 |4 }l5 h5 | 5 g3
l8 l 6 }e3 wb4 | 7 a3 wa5
led to approximate equa|ity. | 4
}b5' i s worth examining. One
wayoranotherldecidedtoavoid
surprisesandchanged theowol
the game myse|lby taking ond4
with the knight, which de|i vered
Main Line with 6 . . . {c6 and 7 . . . i . e7 1 7
Black lrom any probIems.
10
w
Z w xd4
J CcJ 0-0 ( 10)
Up until now everything had
|ollowed HtibnerSmys|ov
(Velden | 983) the origina|
source game ol the exchange on
|3. lnthatgame B|ack continued
|3 . . Zd8 and stil| had to work
hard lor the draw. Thanks to
cast|ingB| acknownoton|yequal-
ises. but even takes theinitiative.
4 Cb5
w g4
ln the gameAbramovicKura-
|ica ( Yugos|avia | 984) there lol-
|owed l 4. . . wb4,and adraw was
quick|y agreed.
5 w xg4
Hardly good is | 5 wxc7 c5'
with a B|ack attack, but alter l 5
xc7 Zad8 l 6 wxg4 Cxg4 l 7
.e2 the game is |evel.
5
Cxg4
$f5
And here l 6 e2 is better. but
l 6 C
xc7 i s dangerous because ol
|
6 .
. c5'
Cl6
7 Cxc7 Zad8
8 cJ
Not | 8 Cb5 because ol | 8 . . .
Zd5.
8 a6
An accurate move. Alter | 8 . . .
}d6 | 9 Cb5 xh2+ 2O &xh2
Zd5 2| Cxa7 White i sbetter.
ZacI
A mistake, a|ter which B|ack
gainstheupperhand.Correctwas
l9 Zed | d6 2O b6 e5 2 l
Zxd8Zxd822Cxa6,andequa|ity
is maintained.

b4|
20 ZlI
ll 2O Zed| then 2O . . . a5'
Z0 Cd4|
ll 2O . . . }a5 White continues
with 2| Cxa6 Ce722 c5! Cxl5
2 xl8.
Z
2c4
ZZ 2xb4
ZJ Zcl
Cxl5
2d7
2 |4 loses to 23 . . . Zc8 24
Zxb7 Cd5 25 e5 Cxc7 26 Zc l
Ce8'
ZJ 2c8
Z4 2bc4 2cd8
Z5 hJ CxcJ
Z lc &l8
Z7 c4 vc7
Z8 2b4 Zdl +
Z 2xd 2xd+
J0 lZ &d6
J c5+
l n time troub|e White makes
18 Main Line with 6 . . . Cc6 and 7 . . . e7
the decisive mi stake. The ending
is unpleasant. but a|ter 3l e2
it was possible to oder stubborn
resistance.
J
JZ Ca8
JJ a4
J4 2 bJ
J5 2 b7
J lJ
0-
xc5
b5
Cd5
ba
2b
aJ
Game No. 3
Karpov~Kasparov
World Ch /4!)
Moscow !984
Kasparovand l haveplayedseven
PetrodDe|encesinour batt|es|or
thechess crown, and l think that
theyhavea||c|earlyinuencedthe
deve|opment o| theory. ln six o|
them al| |rom the hrst three
matches 3 Cxe5 was p|ayed.
Three games are included in the
main text and three in the notes
to them. This opening did not
make an appearance in Sevi||e.
and inourh|th match themove3
d4 was tried. That game wil| be
examined in detail lateron.
c4 c5
Z ClJ
Cl
J Cxc5
d
4 ClJ Cxc4
5 d4
d5
$dJ $c7
II
w
7 0-0 Cc (!!)
A key moment. Thesystem o|
de|ence wi th 6 . . . Cc6 and 7 . . .
e7(orthesetwomovesreversed,
as in this game) was worked out
by the Russian master 1aenisch
back in the last century. More
aggressive seems 6 ... Cc6 7 O-O
g4 with i mmediate pressure on
the centre. However, this idea is
not new either. ln his Handbuch
o| l922 Car| Schlechtergi ves the
|ol |owingvariation withthemoves
transposed. 6 . . . g4 7 O-O Cc6
8 2e i |5 9 c4! 3.d6 |0 cd x|3
ll wx|3 Cxd4 l2 we3 w|6 l3
xe4 |e |4 wxe4+ |7 |5 g5!
Wxg5 l 6 wxd4 with advantage
to Whi te (Capab|anca-Marsha|l,
match |9O9). lnsteado|theunsuc-
cess|u| move 8 ... |5 he rec-
ommended 8 e7' and then 9
xe4 de l 0 Zxe4 3x|3! ll wx|3
Cxd4 l 2 wd3 Ce6withanequa|
game.
Decadeshavepassedandtheory
has not stood sti|l, but possib|y
Main Line with 6 . . . tc6 and 7 . . . ie7 19
on|yi nourtime has i tbecomeso
c|earhowi mportanteverytempo
isi nthisopeningsystem.Thetwo
movesbytheb|ackbishopsthe
b|ack-squared one to e1 and the
whi te-squared one to g4, it can
be said, dehne the two separate
channe|s i n this branch o| the
Petrod. We sha|| |ook in more
detai| |ater at the bishop coming
tog4,whichwasintroducedinthe
|ast game. l have noticed that in
recentyearsthatsidebysidewith
B|ack'sp|an o|action against the
enemy centre the symmetrica|
variationhas been wide|y used,in
which the c6-square i s not occu-
pied by the knight but by the
pawn,wi th the bishopcomingto
d6 . 6 . . . d6 1 O-O O-O 8 c4 c6.
B|ack's position isa | itt|e passive
but so|id enough. We sha|| a|so
|ook at this system |ater.
Now that we sha|| concentrate
on my six games with Kasparov,
l sha|| set out the opening o|
each o|them (in brackets are the
numbero|thematchandthenum-
ber o|the game).
( l , 28) . 6 . . Cc6 1 O-O .ig4
8 @e | 3.e1 9 c4 C|6 | Ocd;
(2,
| 5) and (3,6) 6 ... Cc6
1 O-O 3. g4 8 c4 C|6;
( | , 3O) : 6 . . . e1 1 O-O Cc6
8 @e l 3.g49c4C|6 l O Cc3;
( | , 4| ) . 6 . . 3. e1 1 O-O Cc6
8 c4 Cb4,
( | ,
48) . 6 . . Cc6 1 O-O 3.e1
8 c4 C|6 9 Cc3 O-O.
Thetwogameso|thehrstmatch
(whicharere|erredtoa| i tt|e|ater),
where Kasparov p|ayed Whi te
probab|y convi nccd hi m that the
variation was sa|e |or B|ack, and
thethirdtimehechosetop|aywith
the opposite co|our. However, I
had |aid a sma||surprise in store.
12
B
8 c4 (12)
White quick|y attacks the cen-
tre. ln our previous games with
this opening, White had p|ayed
@e l be|ore moving the c-pawn
and had achieved nothing. Here
arethosegames.
Kasparov-Karpov (1, 28) . 6 . . .
Cc6 1 O-O 3. g4 8 @e | 3. e1 9 c4
C|6 l O cd . zx|3 (this move was
introducedbySmys|ovinhi sCan-
didates match with Htibner,
Ve|den | 983. |ar|ier | O. . . Cxd5
hadbeenpre|erred)| l wx|3wxd5
( a more detai|ed commentary on
thi spositioncanbe|ound i nthe
previous game) |2 wh3 Cxd4 | 3
Cc3 wd1 | 4 wxd1+ xd1 | 5
20 Main Line with 6 . . . tc6 and 7 . . . . i.e7
e3 Ce6 | 6 @ad | d6 | 1 |5
e1 | 8 Cb5 A hd8 l9 Cxd6 cd
2O h3 b6 2| g4 h6 22 d4 Aac8
23 c3 g6 24 c3 h5 25 |3 ]-[.
Kasparov-Karpov ( | , 3O) . 6
. . . e1 1 O-O Cc6 8 Ae l g4
(a|ter 8 . . . |5 9 c4 the game |o|-
|ows Karpov-Portischwhichwas
|eaturedear|ier)9 c4 C|6 |O Cc3
(insteado||Ocd 28thgame) l O
. . . dc l | xc4 O-O | 2 e3 xl3
l 3 wxl3 Cxd4 |4 d4 wxd4 l 5
1 xe1 wxc4 | 6 wxb1 c6 | 1 wb3
wxb3 | 8 ab @ab8 | 9 @a3 @le8
2O Axe8 + Axe8]-.
Muchear|ier,i ngamesixolthe
Candidates hnal with Korchnoi
(Moscow | 914) l p|ayedthemore
restrained 9 c3 l5 lO wb3 (13).
13
8
Alter | O. . . O-O | l Cbd2 h8
l 2 h3 h5 | 3 wxb1 B|ack |ost
quick|y,a|thoughtheopeningwas
not responsib|e. The position in
the diagram is current|y olten
encounteredingrandmastertour-
naments,and ingenera|the game
turns out in White's lavour. An
especia||y amusing incident once
happened tothe young chessstar
Vasi|y l vanchuk. ln the game
l vanchuk-Anand, Reggio |mi|ia
| 988/9, B|ack p|ayed |O . . wd6
insteado|cast|ingshortandevents
turned out rather unusua||y: l l
C|d2! O | 2 |3 h4 | 3 @|l
h3 (the continuations l 3 . . .
|2+ | 4 Ax|2 Cx|2 l 5 &xl2
wxh2 | 6 Cll and | 3 . . . h5 | 4
le le| 5xe4de | 6Cxe4 wg6 l 1
Cc5are|oy|esslor B|ack) | 4 wc2
(i| |4 gh wg6+ | 5 h| then l 5
. . . Cl2+ | 6 @x|2 xl2 | 1 wd|
Ahe8decides) |4 . . . wg6 | 5 Cb3
@hl8 | 6 Ca3 Ade8 (14).
14
w
ln this unconventional strugg|e
Whitehasoutp|ayedhisopponent
andcou|dhaveobtaineda decisive
advantage here: | 1 l4! g5 | 8
xg5 Cxg5 | 9ghCe6+ 2O h |
Cl42 l @ae l . But he unexpected|y
moved the king | 1 h|
Cl2+! | 8 Axl2 ixg2+, and
White resigned (il | 9 2xg2 or l 9
g| then | 9. . . Ae| + lol|ows).
Main Line with 6 ... lc6 and 7 . . . .e7 21
Instead of I 0 . . . 1d6 and I 0 . . .
0-0 Black also has the move 10 . . .
'd7. However, in the recent game
Ehlvest-Yusupov, Rotterdam
1989), White dictated the play: I I
tfd2 0-0-0 1 2 f 3 txd2 1 3 txd2
i.hS 14 1a4 Jhe8 I S tb3 a6
16 id2 ig6 !7 if4 t b8 1 8
1xd7+ txd7 19 "f2 if6 20 g3
lH8 21 a4 Jf7 22 aS h6 23 teS
etc.
Let us at last return to the 41st
game.
8 tb4 (15)
In the 48th game, the last of the
frst match, Kasparov was appar
ently ready to use my "prompting"
(se the White bishop's next
move) - this time Kasparov was
playing White. I did not carry out
the . . . tc6-b4 manoeuvre of the
41st game and decided to play the
old move with the other knight.
Kasparov-Karpov (I, 48):
8 .. . t/6 9 tc3 0-0 10 h3
Once and for all stopping
counterplay with ig4.
Although the move h3 has fairly
lofy principles, one can manage
without it, for example Kudrin
Wolf, USA C 198S: 10 c txdS
I I :el ie6 12 a3 if6 1 3 ie4
tde?? (the wrong knight goes to
e
7
- 13 .. . tce 7! equalises) 14
igS! ixgS IS txgS ifS (and
now I S . . . h6 is correct) 1 6 dS
ixe4 17 Jxe4 tb8 18 "hS h6
19 lael txdS 20 txf 7 tf6 21
txh6+ "h7 22 1h3 and Black
resigned.
10 ... de
After 10 . . . tb4 (following 10
. . . ie6 good is II cS) II ie2 cS
12 a3 tc6 1 3 de de 14 ie3
White has a defnite advantage
(Velimirovic-Schiissler, Smeder
evska Palanka 1979).
11 ixc4 ta5 12 id3 ie6 13
Je1 tc6
Later the interesting try 13 . . .
cS!? was discovered. After 14 ie3
Jc8 I S 1e2 cd 16 txd4 ic4 1 7
Jadl White i s better, but if 1 4
. . . c4 I S ic2 tdS Black has
equalised (Fedorowicz-Kogan,
USA 198S). Possibly 14 igS h6
I S ih4 ofers White better
chances. Now if I S . . . c4 ixf6
ixf6 17 ie4 White dominates
the centre of the board.
14 a3 a6
In the game Lobron-Handoko,
Yugoslavia 198S, after 14 . . . Je8
I S ibS 1d6 (White is also better
after I S . . . a6 16 ixc6 b 17 teS)
16 igS! J ed8 17 ixf6 ixf6 18
te4 White obtained a noticeable
advantage and turned it into a
Wi.
15 i/4 1 d7
A serious mistake. Correct was
I S . . . tdS, for example: 16 ig3
if 6 17 ic2 tce7 18 te4 ifS
19 txf6+ txf6 20 ib3 c6 21
teS tfdS 22 1f3 ie6 23 Jadl
tfS 24 ixdS t-t Gufeld-
22 Main Line with 6 . . . tc6 and 7 . . . e7
Schuss|er, Havana | 985
16 le5! lxe5 1 7 de ld5 18 lxd5 16
i.xd5 19 'c2 g6
B
On | 9. .h6p|aymightconti nue
2O 1ac l c6 2| 1e3 witha strong
attack.
20 :adl c6
This |eads by |orce to a di m-
cu|t position lor B|ack. It was
necessary to submit to a worse
ending with 2O . . wc6 2| xc6
xc6 22 c4
21 i.h6 :jd8 22 e6! fe
No better is either 22 . xe6
23 xg6! , or 22 ve8 23 wc3
|624l4'
23 i xg6 i /8 24 ix(8 :x(8 25
ie4 :j7 26 :e3 :g7 27 :dd3
:j8 28 :g3 <h8 29 .c3 :. [7 30
:de3
B|ack's position is strategica||y
|ost, and a|though the gamecon-
tinued lor a|most another lorty
moves, Kasparov gained the vic-
tory deep in the endgame.
15
w
icZ| ( 16)
Strict|y speaking, onl y this
move,withtheintentionolavoid-
ing the exchange ol the bishop,
was a rea| nove|ty in this bygone
matchBelore then 9cd had been
p|ayed (seegame l O)
dc
Theinterestingpossibilities9 . .
e6 |O 'c3 O-O (or the trans-
position 9 . . O-O |O Cc3 e6)
will be examined in the notes to
othergames
0 xc4 0-0
Cc3
A|so | | Oe5 Cc6 l 2 Cxc6 bc
| 3 Oc3 Od6 |4 b3 C|5 | 5
d 5 c 5 l 6 $e l Cd4 | 1 e3 has
occured,withadvantage to Whi te
(Sindik-Ianaccone, Ita|y | 985)
B|ack's correct response i s the
immediate | | Cd6! Alter | 2
b3Cl5 | 3 a3 Od5 | 4 Oc3 e6
| 5 $el c6 |6c2Cc1thegameis
|eve| (SindikZysk. Baden-Baden
| 985).
Cd
Z b3 i. l
A|ter | 2 . g4 | 3 h3 Jh5 | 4
Main Line with 6 . . . lc6 and 7 . . . 1e7 23
g
4'
_g6 l 5 Ce5 lollowed by l4,
1 7
white is c|early better, but l 2.. .
w
h8' deserves attention. In the
game
Mnatsakanian-Diez,Varna
l 98
5,
alter l 3 Ce5|6 l4C|3 g4
l 5 h3 h5 l 6 e6 x|3 l 7 g|
#e8 l 8 l4 |5 l 9 h2 w g6 2O
_
b3
g5 Black had a seous
initiative onthe kingside.
J hJ
Later,in thegameA. Soko|ov-
Agzamov, 52nd USSR Ch l 985,
whitep|ayedtheevenstronger l 3
(e5! and alter l 3 . . Cc6 (more
accurate was l 3 . . . c5 l 4 |4 c4
l 5 Cxc4 Cxc4 l 6 xc4 xd4
|7 Cb5, but bad i s l 3 . . . Cl5 l 4
Cx|7! xl7 l 5 xl7+ &xl7 l 6
b3+, or l 3 . . . xe5 l 4de Cl5
l 5 x|7+! ) l 4l4 Cl5 l 5 Cxc6
b l 6 d5 c5 l 7 Ca4 a6 l 8 e l
e7 (better i s | 8 . . c4 l 9 c2
Cd6) l 9 cl d6 2O g3
achieved a |arge advantage.
J l5
4 cJ
5 aJ
c8
Cd3 (!/,
A pseudo-active move. More
reliable was l 5 . . . Cc6.
b! c5
7 dc
Cc4
l 7 . . . Cxb2 l 8 xb2 xc3
doesn't work l9 cd' xb2 2O
xl7+! x|7 2l wd5+ with an
unstoppableattack.
8 $cZ|
CxbZ
On l 8 . . . Cg3 strong i s l 9 lg
0 xe32O wd2d42 l Cxd4wxd4
22 h2 g6 23 Cd5!
xd8 2axd
Z0 xbZ xcJ
Z 2xb7 Cxc5
ZZ xc5 xcZ
ZJ 2xa7
As a result ol the mass ex-
changes White has won a pawn,
but this could have been done
better i n another way . 23 Acl
dl+ (23 . . . e4 24 xa7) 24
xd l xdl 25 xa7.
ZJ d
Z4 2c7
xc7
Z5 $xc7 2dJ
Z Cg5 $bZ
Z7 $b4
The threat was 27 ... c2,
winningthea3-pawn. Now 27 . . .
c2 is met by 28 e l !
Z7 h
Z8 Cc4 l5
Z Cc5 d5
J0 c l4!
Intimetroub|eB|ackmakesthe
|osing move. 3O . . . |7 or 3O . . .
c2 was required.
24 Main Line with 6 . . . lc6 and 7 . . . ie7
J a4| Zd4
3 | . . . e5 does not he|p. 3 2 a5
d6 33 a6 xc5 34 xc5 xc5
35 Ae8+ &|7 36a7.
18
w
JZ a5 xb4 (18)
This can be considered an his-
toric position. By moving the a-
pawn one square |orward White
wins . 33 a6' b3 (33 . . . a4 34
a7 c6 35 Ae6 d5 36 d6; 33
. . . A b8 34 1xd l a3 35 ^b7! )
34 ^xb3 1a4 (34 . . . 1xb3 35
Ae8 +and36a7)35 ^c5 1a5 36
e4' &l737 a4' xa438^xa4
d439 ^c3' and B|ack |oses the
bishop.
At this moment l had a|ready
securedhvevictoriesandwinning
thisgamewou|dhavesecuredvic-
tory in the match with a score o|
6 . | . However,thegameconc|uded
in another lashion and chess his-
tory took a comp|ete|y di derent
turn.
JJ Zxd? $d4
J4 Cc $a7
J5 2d7
35 ^xg7 b2 36 ^|5 xl2+
37 &|l is no better.
J5 bl +
J hZ $xlZ
J7 Cxl4 2a
J8 Cc xa5
B|ack makes | i le more comp|i-
cated |or himse||. As JoselDorl-
man pointed out, an easier path
toadrawwas 38 . . . g5! 39 g7+
(39 Ad5 el ) 39. . . &h8 4O Ag6
&h7 4| ^|8 + &h8 42 a6 (42
A xh6+ &g7 43 1g6+ &x|8 44
l6+ &g7 45 xl2 Axa5) 42 . .
gl +! 43 &g3 Aa3+ 44 g4
1a4+!
J
40
4
Axg7+
2l7
&gJ
h8
$cJ
Here the game was ad|ourned
and in my home ana|ysis l con-
vinced myse||that it isimpossib|e
to rea|ise the extra pawn. For
another thirtymovesl tried todo
it, but, a|as,wi thout success.
4 $dZ
4Z d7
$cJ
4J lJ g8
44 Cl4 l5
45 c4
l7|
4 2d8+
There were more chances in
the minor-piece ending. 46 xl7
&x|7 47 &|5. l n lact my
opponent'strainers,Dor|manand
V|adi mirov, short|y a|terwards
pub|ished some interestingana|y-
sis showing B|ack's best method
Main Line with 6 . . . llc6 and 7 . . . ie7 25
ol
delence i n this ending.
4
... h7 47 dJ c7+ 48

lJ
bZ 4 2bJ c 50 Cd5
@c5
5 Cl+ g 5ZCc4 2l5+
5J
qcZ 2c5 54 2b4 2c755 2c4
2c8 5 gJ bZ 57 lJ c 58
@c
d4 5 2d5 c5 0 b5
c7 2c5 b Z 2c8 d4
J 2g8+ g7 4h4 2a5 l4
A|as, alter 65 h5+ xh5 66
xg7 Za3 + 67 &|4 1l3 +
B|ack's lantastic rook appears.
5 ... 2a5 2c8 @l5+ 7
cJ 2c5 8 @g8 2c7 &l4
@l7+ 70 &g4 h5+ 7 4hJ
Game No. 4
KhaIlmau~Arkhpov
Moscow 1985
c4 c5
Z ClJ Cl
J Cxc5 d
4 ClJ Cxc4
5 d4 d5
dJ c7
7 0-0 Cc
8 c4
lt cou|d be supposed that the
4| st game wou|d |or a |ong time
discourageB|ack|rom puttinghis
knight on b4, but short|y a|ter-
wards, instead ol the 9 ... dc
p|ayed by Kasparov, something
e|sewasdevisedandthevariation
rapid|ydeve|oped.
8
Cb4
cZ c
This is the nove|ty (another
orderolmovesi s9. . . O-O |O Cc3
e6). Whose nove|ty is it At
the | 985 Moscow internationa|
tournament, internationa| master
Arkhipov three times made this
bishop move and i n the notes
to his game with Tseshkovsky in
Informator there i s the symbo| N
(nove|ty). However, on|y one
month belore, Christiansen had
p|ayediti nLinaresagainstL| ubo-
|evic. Soitcanbeconsideredthat
this opening discovery was inde-
pendent|ymade by twop|ayers.
0 CcJ 0-0
cJ (19)
The move | | cd wi|| be dis-
cussed|ater.
19
B
B|ack has many continuations
here. | | . . . |5, | | . . . Cxc3, | |
. . . l5, | l . . . |6. We sha|| |ook
at them a||. In the next three
main games we sha|| discuss the
deve|oping move || ... l5,
gamcs 7 and 8 wi|| be devoted to
| | . . . |5,andgame9to l | . . . ,;|6.
26 Main Line with 6 . . . lc6 and 7 . . . i.e7
lnthesecondgameol theCan-
didates match EhlvestYusupov,
20
St.1ohn | 988,Blackexchangedat
w
once on c3. Alter | | . . . Cxc3 | 2
bc Cc6 | 3 cd xd5 | 4wc2 l6
( | 4 . l5 deserved attention) !5
Cd2 .re8 | 6 .rael e6 | 7 d3
g6 |8 l4 3 . g7 | 9 Ce4 d5 2O
Cc5 Zxe l 2 | Zxe l b8 White
hasac|earpositiona|p| us,which,
according to Eh|vest, cou|d be
strengthened by 22 g3' , prepar-
ing 23 h4!
Letus|ookata|ewmoremoves
ol this very sharp game, where
Eh|vest prelerred 22 wd2. There
|o|lowed . 22 . . . :a5 23 we2 . c8
24 3 . e5 xe5 25 dc(commenting
on the game, Yusupov criticised
White's |ast two moves. More
accurate was 24 h3, and now an
equa| game is preserved by 25
wxe5. Takingone5withthepawn
gives B|ack a good game) 25 . . .
we7' 26 wg4 Ad8 (Yusupov
remarkedthat26. . . 1l8! 27 wd4
27 Cd7 e6 28 wa4 wxd7
etc. } 27 .. . .rd8 gives B|ack the
advantage)27 Ce4 wxe5 28 wh4
g5 29 wh5 Cc5 (20) (exchanging
one4was better).
3O l4! (a nice try to exp|oit the
s|ightweaknesso|theenemyking)
3O . . . wg7 (the only move as 3O
. . .gl3l wxe5Cxe532C|6+g7
33 Ch5+ and 34 Zxe5 |oses) 3 |
|g 3 . xe4 32 xe4 Ce5 33 h4 Cg6
34 3 . xg6 hg 35 w|3 Wl8 36 we3
wd6 37 Zll (37 we7 equa|i ses)
Now alter37 . . . b6 (37 . . wb6 +
isa|sogood)B|ackagainobtained
the better chances but the game
was hna||y drawn on move6O.
l l5
Z wb3 (21)
lvanov p|ayed l 2 a3 against
Arkhipov (Moscow l 985) and
alter |2 . . . Cxc3 | 3 bc Cc2 |4
Za2 Cxa3( | 4. . . Cxe3 l 5 le with
a sma|| advantage to White) l 5
1xa3 xa3 l 6 c5 3 . b2 l 7 wb3
3 . xc3 l 8 wxc3 c6 | 9Za| Ae8 2O
Aa3 wc7 2| Cd2 b5 22 Aa6 the
gameiscomp|icatedbutinWhi te's
lavour. However, alter | 6 . . b5
| 7 wb3 xc5 l 8 dc c6 l9 Cd4
d7 2O 3 . |4 a5 2 l d6 .re8
B|ack'sgame ishne.
Fromb3 thequeenhxesonthe
centre and on the b7-pawn. Now
the variation |2 . . . Cxc3 | 3 bc
Cc2 |4 Aacl Cxe3 |5 le is no
|ongergoodlorB|ack, |orexamp|e
|5 . . . g5 l 6 Cxg5 wxg5 |7 Al4
e4 l 8 g3. Game6 is devoted to
Main Line with 6 ... lc6 and 7 . . . _e7 27
21
B
l 2 c| .
Z c
|or l 2 . . . dc see the lo||owing
gamc.
J @ac
l 3 cdcd l 4 acl a5 l 5 a3 'xc3
l 6 @xc3 a4 l 7 Wd| Cc6 |eads to
equa|ity, but | 3 c5 Cxc3 |4 bc
Cc2 | 5 @acl Cxe3 l 6 le is poss-
ib|e. The waiting move with the
rook givesthe initiative to B|ack.
J dc
Compared to the immediate | 2
... dc this exchange gains in
strengthasB|ackhaspreparedthe
. .
b7b5 manoeuvre.
22
w
4 xc4 b5| /22,
5 }xl7+!|
The ti mid move | 5 3.e2 |oses
a pawn. | 5 . . . 3.e6 l 6 Wd | Cxc3
| 7 xc3 3. xa2 | 8 b3 a5 and a4,
or | 7bc Cxa2 | 8 c2 b4. But the
bishopsacrihceis incorrect.
5
@xl7
Cc5 Cd5
ll | 6 . . . we8, there lo||ows | 7
g4' t xc3 | 8 bcetc.
7 Cxc4
lnthevariation| 7 Cxc6Cexc3'
| 8 Cxd8 Ce2+ | 9 h | 'xc|
B|ack retains a materia| advan-
tage.
7 }xc4
8 2xc
Better i s | 8 Cxl7 xl7
on|y then | 9 @xc6.
8
@cc
wc8|
and
l9 @lcl is no good because ol
l 9 . . . Cxe3 2O Cxl7 3. d5!
}d
Z0 Cxl7 wxl7
Z @c
$d8
There is lorma|equa|ityon the
board, but the tang|e ol b|ack
piecesho|dstogetherwe||.
ZZ }g5
Cl4|
Thi s lorcing move |eads by a
series ol exchanges to a winning
bishopending.
ZJ wxl7+
Z4 }xd8
Z5 g5
Z d5
Z7 $d
xl7
xc
CxgZ|
}xd5
c
28 Main Line with 6 . . . lc6 and 7 . . . ..e7
28 JxdS xdS Game No. 5
29 xg2 e4 Timman-Hjartarson
The diference in the activity of Rotterdam 1989
the two kings is too great and this
decides matters. 1 e4 eS
3 .e3 a6 2 lf3 lf6
31 h3 .eS 3 lxeS d6
32 b3 .d4 4 lf3 lxe4
33 .gS d3 5 d4 d
34 f3 c2 6 .d3 lc6
35 .e3 .f6 7 0-0 .e7
36 e4 b2 8 c4 lb4
37 d3 xa2 9 .e2 0-0
38 c2 aS 10 lc3
39 .b6 a4 The following recent game ts
40 b4 interesting, in which White tried a
40 ba loses at once to 40 . . . b4. new approach, quickly playing
40 a3 a2-a3: Sznapik-Tischbierek,
41 .cS hS Warsaw 1 990, went I 0 a3 lc6 I I
42 .f8 g6 cd 1xd5 12 lc3 lxc3 1 3 be .f5
43 .cS gS ( 1 3 . . . lla5 is good) 14 c41e4 15
44 f3 la2 .f6 1 6 ld2 !adS 17 .b2
On 44 .d6 there follows the le7 IS !ei 1f4 19 g3 1d6 20
breakthrough 44 . . . g4! 45 hg h4, .fl .g4 21 h3 .xf3 22 1xf3
followed by . . . h4-h3 and . . . .e7 c5 23 d5 . ixb2 24 lxb2 b6 25
with capture of the b-pawn. lbe2 IeS 26 le5 1d7 27 .d3
4 .eS ld6 2S 1h5 g6 29 1h4 ldeS 30
45 .e7 .g3 le7 1dS 3 1 lxeS lxeS 32 1xdS
46 .xgS xb4 lxdS 33 le7 b5 34 cb c4 35 .fl
47 f4 c4 lxb5 3 a4 ld6? (The game has
4 fS dS! fowed with a slight initiative to
49 .d8 .d6 White, but now after 36 . . . la31
50 .h4 4 37 le3 lc2 3S Jc3 ld4! 39
51 f6 fS .xc4 l xd5! it must end in a
52 c3 .6 draw. But now Black gets a lost
53 .gS b4+ ending.) 37 l xa7 Jc8 3 l a6! c3
54 c4 b3 39 .d3 lc4 4 lc6 lxc6 41 de
0-1 lb6 42 c7 fS 43 a5 IeS 4
Main Line with 6 . . . lc6 and 7 . . . .e7 29
|l !
and B|ack resigne
d (44 . . .
e
7 45
qe2 &d7 46 a6 Cd6
4
7c8
( w) + etc.).
In the midd|e o|that game the
queen
went|rom d5tod6inthree
moves, but . . . wd5d6 can be
p|ayedatonce.H|artarsonYusu-
pov, Barce|ona l 989, l4 s s wd6
l 5 d5 Ce5 l 6 Cd4 d7 l 7 Abl
b6 l 8 Cb5 xb5 l 9 Axb5]-].
0 $c
The bishop near|y a|waysgoes
to |5 intwomoves,butinL| ubo-
|evicYusupov, Barce|ona l 989,
B|ack p|ayed the bishop straight
to |5 and demonstrated a c|ear
path toequa|ity. l O |5 !l a3
'xc3 l 2 bc Cc6 l 3 1e l dc l 4
3xc4 d6 l 5 g5 wd7 l 6 Ch4
Ca5 l 7 a2 g4 l 8 wc2 1ae8
l 9 h3 e6 2O c4 e7 2l xe7
wxe722C|3
]
-
]
.
Severa|months|aterthep|ayers
continued their theoretica| dis-
cussion. In L| ubo|evic-Yusupov,
Be|grade l 989, they repeated
moves up to l 3 1e1. Then the
b|ack p|ayer, possib|y |earing
home preparation, p|ayed a
didereni move instead o|
exchangingon c4 he p|ayed l 3 . . .
|6.Againmattersquick|yended
peace|u||y . l 4 |4 Zc8 | 5 wa4
a6 l 6 wb3 Ca5 l 7 wb4 c5 l 8 dc
'c6 l 9wb3Ca5
1-1.
1 $cJ $l5
Z
wbJ
dc
l 2 . . . c6 was discussed in the
|astgame.
J $xc4 a5
A|ter l 3 o + ^xc3 l 4bcCc2 | 5
$adl Cxe3l 6 |e Whitehasstrong
pressureon| 7.
23
B
14 aJ (23)
In the tournament where the
move ... c8-e6 was hrst |u| | y
tested ( Moscow l 985) Arkhipov
usedhisideathreetimes. Wehave
a|ready ta|ked about two games,
in the third Tseshkovsky p|ayed
l4a3againsthimandtheposition
in the diagram arose. There |o| -
|owed l4 s a Cxc3 l 5 bc a4 l 6
wb2 Cc2 !7 1a2 Cxe3 l 8 |e d6.
Now i t was correct to p| ay l 9
Ce5! e6 2O xe6 |e with un-
doubted|y better chances |or
White. However, a|ter two con-
secutive inaccurate moves - l 9
wxb7 Ab8 2O wd5 (i| 2O wa6
wd7and B|ack'spositioni sactive
enough) 2O d3! , White was
|osing 2 l wc6 (2l d3
xh2+, 2 l Zdl c6! 22' xc6Ac8)
2 l s s x|l 22 &x|l 1bl + etc.
30 Main Line with 6 . . . !c6 and 7 . . . i.e7
In the game we are |o||owing
Timman p|ayed a new move,
answering l 4 . . . Cxc3 by taking
the other knight l 5 ab. How-
ever, be|ore we move on, we
shou|d note that a ha||-move
ear|ier an important nove|ty
|or B|ack had been adopted in
the game EhmenkoVzdvizhkov
(correspondence tournament
l 989). ln the diagram position
|o||owed |4 ... Cd2!. A|ter l 5
xd2 c2 l 6 x|7+ Zx|7 | 7
w e6 |5 l 8 wb3 ( l 8 w e5 .d6)
|8 . . . c2 l 9 w e6 thegamewas
agreed drawn neither p|ayer
cou|d avoid repeatingmoves.
Eva|uation o| l 4 . . . Cd2 o|
course,depends on the variation
| 5 xd2 c2 | 6 ab xb3 l 7
Cxb3 ab l 8 Cd5. The sides are
approximate|y equa| on materia|,
but I wou|d pre|er to p|ay with
thethree minorpiecesagainstthe
queen. I|youdon't|ikethe white
position, it is c|ear that l 2 a3 or
| 2 Zc| shou|d be pre|erred to
p|acing the queen on b3 (see the
nextgame).
4 CxcJ
5 a b (24)
5 b5
ba|
Notsoc|cari s l 6 x|7+ 1x|7
l 7 bc a4, but the continuation | 6
bc bc l 7 wxc4 e6 l 8 wb5 ab
l9 1xa8 wxa8 2O cb d5 is in
B|ack's|avour.
24
B

bc
7 wxcJ $dJ
8 2lc
Now Whitehasmateria|superi-
ority and in the |ong term can
march the a-pawn. H|artarson
odersdesperate resistance.
8 2b8
.dZ c5
Z0 dc .l
Insumcient is 2O . . . .xc5 2 l
we5' Zb 5 2 2 e3(22wg3 Zxb2
23 c3 . x|2+' ) 22 . . . 1e8 23
wxe8 +' wxe8 24 xc5 wa8 25
d4 with the threat o| c3.
Z Ce5 wd5
ZZ $l4|
Prematureis22b4cb23wxd3
wxd3 24 Cxd3 xa| 25 1xal
1bd8, and B|ack is winning.
ZZ 2lc8 (25)
Neither22. . . 1b323wd21|b8
24a61xb225 a7'nor22. . . wxc5
23 Cxd3work,butmorepractical
chanceswereretainedby22. . . g5.
creating an opening |or the ki n
ln|act,itseems that B|ackdoesn't
Main Line with 6 . . . tc6 and 7 . . . ie7 3 I
:5
w
stand so bad|y now
ZJ b4||
A bri||iant rep|y' Three passed
pawnsaretoo much.
ZJ
Z4
Z5
Z
Z7
wxdJ
CxdJ
Za
CxbZ!
cb
wxdJ
$xa
bZ
But not 27 2bl 2b3 28 Cxb2
(28 Ce5 2a3) 28 . 2xb2.
Z7 2xbZ
Z8 hJ 2cZ
Z a| g5
29 . . . Zxc5 doesn'the|p. 3O a7
Za8(3O .. Zcc8 3| 2bl Za8 32
Zb8 etc. ) 3| Zbl Zcc8 32 Zb8
g
5
(32 . . . ;|8 33 &h2' ) 33 3d6
,it's
tooear|y|or33 Zxc8 + Zxc8
31
b8 Zc l + 35 &h2 Za l ) 33
g7
34 ;h2.
J0
$d
2a8
J
a7 l5
3 2a

l7
JJ
c c
J4
$b8 (26) -0
1h
ehna| position is worthsav-
26
B
ouring. A|ter 34 . . . d5 35 c7
trans|erringthe whiterook to the
eighth rankdecides,and i| 34 . . .
h5 there |o||ows 35 c7+ d7 36
Zg6 c8 37 Zxg5.
GameNo. 6
Hbucr~1mmau
Sarajevo I99J
c4 c5
Z ClJ Cl
J Cxc5 d
4 ClJ Cxc4
5 d4 d5
$dJ Cc
7 0-0 3c7
8 c4 Cb4
$cZ 0-0
0 CcJ .ic
.icJ $l5
Z .el (27)
The moves l 2 a and l 2 wb3
havea|readybeencovered.Notice
that the Dutch grandmaster wi||-
ing|y chooses the Petrod with
either co|our. However, i| in the
previous game he p|ayed beauti-
32 Main Line with 6 . . . tc6 and 7 . . . i.e7
27
B
|u||y with Whi te, now matters
don't turn out so we|| with
B|ack in thi s encounter Tim-
manstrugg|ed to draw.
Z dc
The move l 2 @c l was hrst
p|ayed by Short, again against
Ti mman ( Hi|versum (6) l 989). In
i tthetactica|skirmisha|ter l2 . . .
Cxc3 l 3 bc Cxa2 l 4 @c2 xc2
l 5 wxc2Cxc3 l 6 wxc3c6l 7 @b l
a 5 l 8 @xb7 a4 l 9 Ce5 d6 2O
Cxc6 wc8 2 l Zb6brought some
advantagetoWhi te.A|terinaccur-
acies on both sides it eventua||y
ended in a draw. In any case,
Timman prepares |or comp|ica-
tions bypostponingtheexchange
onc3|ora|ewmoves.
J xc4 c
4 Cc5
Nothing is gained |rom l 4
wb3!withpressureon|7.Hbner
gives the variation l4 . . . b5 l 5
x|7 + ( l 5 e2 e6 l 6 wdl
Cxc3 l 7 bc Cxa2 l 8 Zc2 b4! )l 5
... @x|7 l 6 Ce5 Cd5 l 7 Cxe4
xe4 l 8 Cx|7 &x|7 l9 @xc6
&g8 with advantage to B|ack.
4 CxcJ
5 bc Cd5
wlJ
White's pieces are more acti ve,
but B|ack is gradua||y managing
toconso|idate.
c
7 dJ
I|l7 @|el, l7 . . Cxe3 |8 @xe3
xc4 equa|ises immediate|y
7 d
Exchangingone3 isto White's
advantage l 7 ... Cxe3 l 8 |e
d6 l 9 Cc4 c7 2O e4.
8 dZ wh4|!
Decisive measures are needed
toreduceWhi te'squeensidepress-
ure. l 8 . . . xe5 l 9 de Ce7 2O
g5'
2lc Cl
2 a4 Cg4
With exchanges B|ack makes
thingseasi er|orhispieces(2O . .
d5 2 l wg3 wxg3 22 hg with
betterprospects|ur Whi te).
Z l4 Cxc5
ZZ xc5
d5
ZJ wl5 xc5
Whi te gets a s|ight|y better
ending |rom 23 . . . @ad8 24 @e3
g6 25 w|6 wx|6 26 x|6 |4 27
xd8 @xd8 28 @b l xe3 29 |e
b6.
Z4 2xc5 g
The retreat 24 e6 covers
theinvasionsquaresto theeighth
Main Line with 6 . . . tc6 and 7 . . . 1.e7 33
r
ank
,
a| thougha|ter 25 w|3 g626
;b
l
@ab8 27 Za5 a6 28 Ze5
white
has the |reer
game.
Z5 =d7 2ab8
Z @b
@ld8?!
A
nd now 26 e6 27
wc7
;|c
828
wa5a6deservesattention,
dri
vingthepersistentqueenaway
|rom the b|ack camp.
28
w
Z7 wc7
=
g4
Z8 $l
=d7
Z 2c7 wxc7
J0 2xc7
a5 (28)
An important moment. A|ter
t|e obvious 3 | @bxb7 Zxb7 32
0b7 c5 33 Zb6 (33 Zb5 cd 34
cd Jc6 35 @xa5 Zxd4) 33 . . . cd
31 cd, there |o||ows 34 . . . e4'
35
Cb5
Zxd4 36 Zxa5 c6 and
with
the a-pawn the |ast chance
disa
ppears.
J 2b?
A |ata| de|ay, |etting go o| the
ur
ebir
d. Meanwhi|e,theinc|usion
o|
the king in the
hunt 3 | |3'
b
e 3
2
&|2 &g7 33 d3! h5 34
c =e6 35 e3 Ze8 36 &d2
Zbd8 37 &c3 c5 (or 37 . . . |5
38 @xc6 Ze3 39 Zdl ) 38 d5 |5
39 x|5 g|4O @xb6 bringsthe
|ong-awaitedprize(thisgametook
p|ace in the Candidates match,
and had Hubner won the scores
wou|d have been |eve||ed).
J
2c8
Now i| 32 |3 therookcan acti-
vate i tse||. 32. . . Ze | 33 &|2 @c l .
JZ c4 $c
JJ Zbxb7 Cxb7
J4 2xb7
2d8
J5 d5
Thereisnodanger|orB|ackin
35 @ c7 Axd436 @ xc6 Adl .
J5 cd
J c5 2c8
J7 2b5 d4
J8 $dJ 5
J xl5 gl
40 l 2c8
4 c
The continuation 4| @xa5 d3
42 Z b5 Ze4' 43 a5 d2 44 Zb l
@a4 i mmediate|y |orces a draw.
4 dJ
4Z 2d5 2c8
4J
2xdJ
2xc
44
2d5
2c4!
45 Zxa5 g7
4 2a8
2b4
47 a5 2a4
48 a
Theking' s'dance'in|ronto|hi s
ownpawnsdoesn'tpromisemuch .
48 &e2 @a2+ 49 &|3 Za3+ 5O
&|4 Za2 5 | g3 Za3+.
34 Main Line with 6 ... Cc6 and 7 . . . J.e7
48 2aZ
4 gJ h
50 h4
And il 5O &g2 La3 5 l h4 &h7
tIe king i s unable to escape Ii s
incarceration.
50 l4
5 gl 2a4
5Z a7 2aZ
5J vgZ
The king moves out, but the
resultolthegameisalreadydeter-
mined.
5J 2aJ
54 lJ 2aZ+
55 vgJ 2aJ
5 vlZ 2aZ+
57 vcJ 2a4
58 vdJ 2aJ+
5 vc4 2a
0 vd4 2a5
vc4
1 1
r2
GameNo. 7
Karpov~bcrawau
Br ussels 1986
c4 c5
Z ClJ Cl
J Cxc5 d
4 ClJ Cxc4
5 d4 d5
dJ c7
7 0-0 Cc
8 c4 Cb4
cZ c
0 CcJ 0-0
cJ
In the same tournament i
a
Brussels L| ubo|evic somew
|
at
crudelyplayed llcdagainstSeita-
wan.Alterll . . . 'xc3|2bc8xd5
|3 c2 ( | 3 d2 'b6 |eads
to
equality) l 3 . . . c5 |4 c4 'b4 15
we4wd7 l 6 dc J5 | 7d4 we6
|8 b2 l6 |9 d2 xb2 20
' xb2 'c2 Black |ad t|eadvaa-
tage. which he converted into a
lu|lpoint.Whenthegamenni s'ed,
the opinion wasputlorward t'.t
l 6 J.b2 was a better chance for
White.
:9
w
l5|! (29)
A curious idea . thanks to ta:
energeticmovementolthe l-pawr.
Black obtains active counterpl.,
on the kingside. Let us rem|ad
ourselves that the other ma|
possibilities are |l a . . }S
(games 4-6). ll . . . l6 (gamc 9)
and || . . . Cxc3(notetogame4).
In the game A. SokolovSmys
o
.
Moscow l987. yet another coa
tinuation was encountered I
I
. . . Cl6. but thisknightretreatcar
Main Line with 6 . . . Cc6 and 7 . . . .17 35
|ardly be recommended. There
lollowed l 2 a3 c6 l 3 b3 .e4.
Lxc|anging on c3 w|en thew|i te
pa
wn is on b2 is not lavourab|e
lor
Black
as it strengt|ens
t|e
opponent'scentre,butnow, when
||eb-pawnhasmovedonesquare
lorwardand the bc capture is not
pos
sible, theb|ack knight returns
toe4toattackc3.Howevcr,White
takes t|e knight himse|l and the
loss ol two tempi does B|ack no
lavours at a|l . l4 .xe4 de l 5 d5
el l 6 xl3 d7 l 7 dc xc6 l 8

xc6 bc l 9 wl3 wd3 2O abl

g 2l a4 a5 22 l4 d6 23
;. xd6 wxd6 24 bd| wb4 25
2d7 ab8 26 xc7 wxb3 27
wxc6. A|though Smys|ov saved
|imse|l in the ending, hard|y
aayone wou|d want to repeat his
cpeningexperimentwith B|ack.
l 2 aJ CxcJ
l J bc
Cc
4 wa4
e sha|| |ook at l4 cd in the
aext
game.

4 l4
5
dZ
l|
was |ater estab|ished that it
is
betterlor the bishop to return
|o
re. l 5 cl ' &h8 l 6 b l b8
1
7
e l ! (now l 7 . . . dc l 8 .xc4

_1,
as was p|ayed in my game
wi
t|
Seirawan, i s not possib|e
b
ecau
se ol l9 d5!
winning) l 7 . . .
-e
l
8
d3dc l 9 xh7andWhi te
|
asa
la
rgeadvantage(Kayumov-
Serper, USSR l 987)
5
30
B
ab
7 lc
8 xc4
cZ (30)
1h8
b8
dc
g4
An i mportant moment Look-
ing ahead, one shou|d note that
alter l 9 ... d6 2O h3 h5 the
whiterookcarriedoutanunusual
manoeuvre . 2 l b5! }e8 22 wc2
a6 23 l5! . There took p|ace an
exchange ol rooks, the |ight
squares in the enemy camp were
noticeab|y weakened, and in the
end l made use olthis situation.
Short|y alterwards Seirawan
lound a way to i mprove B|ack's
p|ay, and the re|evant game is
worthgivinginlu||(RohdeSeira-
wan. USA Ch l 986). ln the diag-
rammed position B|ack rep|ied
19 . . . a6!
Not a comp|icated move, but
nowit is c|ear that theb5-square
isnot avai|ab|etothewhite rook,
which i snot insignihcant.
36 Main Line with 6 . . . tc6 and 7
20 h3 .fh5 21 lg5'
Meeting the unexpected, White
becomes lost. After 21 Jbdl (also
interesting is 21 lh2) he still has
the initiative.
21 . . . .fxe21
Signifcantly stronger than 21
. . . ..bg5 22 . .bh5 f3 23 . .bg5
'xg5 24 bf3! J xf3 (24 . . . lxd4
25 'xd4 Jxf3 26 Jxb7 Jbf8 27
Jxc7 Jxh3 28 'd6 Jg8 29 'e6
with the terrible threat of 'xg8+)
25 'xc6! and White has a clear
advantage.
22 le6 'ld5 23 Jxe2 f3'
By sacrifcing the exchange
Black creates dangerous threats.
24 Jee1 fg' 25 ixf8 Jxf8 26
'ld1 '1 /5'
Black already has a won game,
but it is interesting to watch the
game to the end.
27 wxg2 'lxf2+ 28 wh1 l/3
In order to avoid mate White
must give up a piece.
29 Je3 Jxe3 30 .fxe3 'lxe3 31
'lg4 g61 32 l/1
Of no help is 32 'c8+ wg7 33
Jxb7 .fd6 34 Jxc7+ .fxc7 35
'xc7+ le7.
32 . . . <g7 33 Jf3 '1e1+ 34 <g2
.xa3 35 '1 /4 'le7 36 Je3 '1 /7
3 'le4 .fd6 38 Je2 le71 39
'lxb7 ld5 40 l/2 le3+
White resigned now in view of
the efetive 41 wg1 .fh2+! 42
wxh2 'xf2+ 43 whl 'g2+!
I t is time to go back to the game
iel
against Seirawan.
19 .d6
I'll remind you again that 1 9
. . .
a6 i correct here.
20 h3
.hS
20 . . . ..f5?! is no better.
21 l bS! ieS
If 21 . . . .fg6 then 22 c4 is ver
y
unpleasant.
22 'c2 a6
A bit too late. In White's favour
is 22 . . . .fg6 23 i.d3 .xd3 24
'xd3 with threats of J h and
lg5.
23 lfS!
24 'xfS
'g4
.c4
25
26
lxfS
ig6
1f6
lfS
A exchange of queens by 26 . .
.ff5 27 'g5 'xg5 28 lxg5 does
not ease the black position.
27 a4 ic2
28 'hS h6
If 28 . . . .fxa4 then 29 lg5 h6
30 lf7+ wh7 31 Je6! decides.
29 Je8! .fS
Again the a-pawn is untouch
able because of 30 lg5!
30 .dS! .d7
31 . xf8+ 'xfS
If 3 1 . . . .fxf8 there follows 32
le5.
32 lh4
.e8
33 'e2
Without rooks it is harder for
my opponent to defend the ligh
t
squares. There i no point in hu
rry
ing. Instead after 33
lg6+
il.xg6
Main Line with 6 . . . tc6 and 7 . . . e7 37

4
xg6
Ce7
Whitehas|ostmost
c
l
|is
ad
van
tage.
JJ
Cd8
J4
wc4 Bc7
J5
Cg+ &xg
J
wxg
c
Stra
tegica||yB|ack'sposition is
|cpe|ess. However, he has man-
a
g
ed toorganisestubborn resist-
ance andthegame|astedanother
40moves enough |or a who|e
g
ame!
J7 bJ b5
J8
lI wl8
J cZ g8
40 bJ+ h8
4I h4 Cb7
4Z c4 wg8 /J1)
31
w
4J wdJ
1his
retreat did not adect t he
te
s
u|t,
butbecauseo|it thewho|e
ev
eni
ng
was wasted hnishing the
_am
e.
A|ter 43 c2! with the
t' i r
e
ato|
c3 d5and
wxh6mate
it
wo
u|d
hav been
hnishedmuch
(uicker
4J
wh7
44 cZ g5
45 c5
It wou|d have been better to
exchange queens at once.
45 &c7
4 ab ab
47 h5 3a5
48 cI
Andhere48exh7+ wascorrect
with an easi|y won ending. For
victory it was now necessary to
create a sma|| study.
48 Uc7+
4 dI
A|ter 49 |3 g4+' B|ack can
a|ready count on victory . 5O
xg4 g5 + 5| |3 (5 | h3
wxh5 mate) 5l s s a wxh5+ 52 g4
(52 e4 wg6+, 52 x|4 eg5 +)
52o o o wh! +.
4
50 cZ
5I bl
5Z
5J
wxgJ
cZ
wcl +
wxlZ+
wgJ
lg
At |ast the queens are
exchanged, B| ack, it is true, has
an extra pawn, but the minor-
piece ending ho|ds no prospects
|or him.
5J
54 d5
55 3bZ+
5 dc
57 3aJ+
58 c!
vg7
Cxc5
l8
Ca
vc8
An e|egant way o| cut ting od
theki ng|romthepawn.
38
Ma|n l|nc w||h 6 = - 'c6 and 7 . . . Ju7
58
b4
Olcourse,not 58. . . Cb4+ 59
xb4 xb4 6O c7.
5 bZ l8
0 d7+ d8
c5 Cb4+
Z dZ Cd5
J c Cc7
4 l7 Cc8 (32)
The |astchance rested in 64 . . .
'a6. Now lo||ows the study I
promised.
32
w
5 xc8! xc8
l!
Theotherwhite bishopcutsthe
king od|rom the pawn. A|ter 66
c7 c5! B|ack is sti|| ho|ding
on.

7 cJ
8 g7
b4
70 xb5
7I c5
n d5
7J l8
g4
d
l4
d8
c7
cJ+
l4
7J ;b
74 d g5
75 xgJ I -0
Game No. 8
Hbucr~Yusupov
Rotterdam 1988
I c4 c5
Z ClJ Cl
J Cxc5 d
4 ClJ Cxc4
5 d4 d5
dJ Cc
7 0-0 c7
8 c4 Cb4
cZ 0-0
I 0 CcJ
The Petrod is one ol graac
masterArturYusupov's|avourite
openings, and he achieves gooc
resu|ts with it, olten with great
artistry.Threemonths|aterint|e
Wor|d Cup in Rotterdam, Naa
p|ayedanewmovei nthi sposit|o
againstYusupov |O'e5! T|:
knight's sudden attack causec
B|ack no harm lO ... c5 l l
e3 l5 l 2 a3 'c6 |3 'xc6 be
l4 cd cd l 5 dc xc5 l 6 xc:
'xc5 | 7'd2d4.B|ack'sposit|o
i sa|readyprelerab|e,i t'strue,
but
alter ten more moves it a|| ende
c
peace|u||y. l 8 .el @ c8 | 9 0b3
'xb3 2O @ xc8 xc8 2l 'ixb3
c2 22 wl3 wb8 23 b4 @c8 2
4
a6 @c3 25 wd5 @xa3 26 e4
B|ack is in comp|etezugzwang. g6 27 wxd4 wb6
1 - 1
.
Ma|n L|ne w|rh 6 lc6 and / . e/ 39
0
c
I
cJ l5
IZ
aJ
Il
l 2 cd xd5 | 3 ^xe4 le | 4
(d2 xe3 |S le g5 and B|ack
|ascverythinginorder,butWhite
caa
p|ay
the stronger | 3 ^xd5

xd5 !4 0.l4 c6 ( 33) , obtaining

a minima| positiona|advantage.
33
w
In lact, in the game Dvoiris-
Sorokin, Che|yabinsk | 99O, this
advantage wasquick|yincreased .
l 5
Le5 b5 (hcre the queen is
out ol the action, another
ranoeuvre, d8e8g6,
deserved attention) | 6 c2 @ad8
| 7 b3 a5 | 8 c4 ^d6 |9 ^d2
l72O |4 l6 2l @ae| xd4
22 x|5 c3 23 c2 ^d6 24
-d6 @xd6 25 ^e4 xe| 26
'xd6 .b4 (the intense skirmish
| a the mi dd|egame has |elt a
dicu|tendinglor B|ack) 27 ^e4
|8
28 xd5 xd5 29 zd| l5
J
0
l3
e7 3 | d3 @l7 32 d4
b
e )
3

c4c5 34 a4 |8 35 e8

e7
36 a8 )g8 37 @d8 @c6 38
h3 c4 39 bc l7 4O ^g5 l6 4|
zxl8+ | -O.
Z
CxcJ
But not l 2 . . . ^c6! l 3 ^xd5
wi tha strong initiativelor White
J bc Cc
4 cd
A nove|ty. To | 4 @b| B|ack
rep|iesl 4 . . . zb8! , andthen | 5 cd
xd5 l 6 c4 e4' withan unc|ear
game (|7 @b5 a6). The previous
gamewasdevoted to |4 a4.
34
B
4 xd5
I5 c4 J1]
According to Makarichev
Whiteretainsbetterchanceswi th
| 5 @b|!. Lessc|earis l 5 l4(l 5
wd2 ^a5! ) | 5 . . . g5! | 6

c|
Ll6' , but not |6 . . . g4!' | 7 ^d2
d6 |8 c4 xh2+ |9 &xh2
wh4+ 2O &g| ixg2 2| &xg2
h3+22 )g| xd4 23 @e| and
B|ack'sattack isbeatenod(23 .
g3 24 ^l| ).
In the game Dvoiris Mi kha|-
chishin, Lvov l 99O, B|ack answ-
ered | 5 )4 with | 5 ... d6.
40
Main Line with 6 . . . !c6 and 7 . . . ..e7
After 16 bd6 ' xd6 17 ld2
White obtained the slightly better
ending, fnally ending in a draw.
It is instructive to see how this
happened: 17 . . . lae8 1 8 . .H3 b6
19 ' a4 la5 20 l fe I .c6 21
.ixc6 'xc6 22 'xc6 lxc6 23
lc4 g5 24 f3 le7 25 qf2 lfe8
26 le3 l f8 27 h gh 28 l hI f4
29 1d5 ld7 30 lb4 1e7 3l lxh4
c5 32 lc2 lg6 33 l h5 cd 3 cd
lc8 35 la2 ldc7 36 lb4 a5 37
ld5 lc2+ 38 lxc2 lxc2+ 39
<gl b5 40 lf6+ qg7 4 1 le4
b4 42 l xa5 b3 43 < h2 l h4 44
< h b2 45 l b5 lf5 46 lc5 lxd4
47 lb7+ M6 48 ld3 lc3 49
lxb2 lxf3 50 gf lxf3+ 51 qg4
lxa3, and White soon had to
resign himself to a draw.
Moving the c-pawn allows
Black to carry out an advantage
ous simplifcation. A year later
Belyavsky chose the more
restrained 1 5 'c2 against Yusu
pov (Barcelona 1989) and also
achieved nothing. There followed
1 5 . . . qh8 1 6 lfdl 'd7 1 7 .f4
.id6 18 le5 (now Black seizes
the initiative. White had to
exchange on d6) 1 8 . . . .xe5 19
de 'e6 20 c4 .ie4 21 'c3 le7
22 .d4 lae8! 23 f3 .b6 24 .g3
g5 25 .id3 f4 26 .f2 lf5 27
.ixf5 lxf5 28 ladl wg8 29 ld8
1Hf8 3 lxe8 lxe8 31 'd4 'xe5?
(Throwing away the advantage.
Correct was 31 . . . b6.) 32 'xe5
lxe5 33 .ixa7 le8 34 .c5 <
f7
35 wf2 wf6 3 .b4 h5 (A car
e
less move, allowing White to g
et
the advantage. I fact, everything
turns out favourably for both play .
ers.) 37 h4! gh 38 ld4 <g5 39
.a5 b6 4 .d2 lf8 41 c5 lf5
42 cb cb 43 lc4 .d7 4 <gl b5
45 ld4 .e6 46 wh2 .ic8 47
.ia5 h3! 4 ld6 lc5 49 .id8+
wf5 50 l h6 ld5! (the presenc
of opposite-coloured bishop
s
guarantees Black a peaceful out
come) 5 1 lh5+ qe6 52 lxd5
<xd5 53 g .f5 5 .ic7 . bl
55 .xf4 <e6 56 <g3 .if5
57
.g5 .bl 58 M4 .f5 59 h4
.ibl 60 h5 qd5 !+
15 .xf3
16 .xf3 f4
17 .idS+
qhs
18 .e! lxd4!
More accurate than 1 8 . . . .f6
19 . b2 lxd4 20 .xd4 .hd4
21 'xd4 c 2 !ad I c 23 cd with
a better ending for White.
19 l bl
Bad is 19 'xd4 because of 1 9
. . . .if6! , and 19 .ib2 c5! leads to
equality.
19 .icS
But not 19 . . . c6 20 .ie4 with
the threat of 21 'h5.
20 lxb7
Now 20 .b2 leads to a draW
after 20 . . . ' f6!
20 f3
21 .xf3 lxf3+
Ma|n L|ne w|rh 6 . . . lc6 and / . . . le/ 4I
t-t
A|ter 22g|d6! White's extra
pa
wn hasnosignihcance.
GameNo. 9
jubojcvc~Karpov
Bugo jno I9
c4
Z Cl3
3 Cxc5
4 Cl3
5 d4
c5
Cl
d
Cxc4
lnInformator 44 inthecommen-
tarytooneo|thegames,re|erence
is made to Mi|es-Christiansen
(SanFrancisco l 987), which went
5 Cc3 |5 6 Cxe4 xe4 7 d3
g6 with a quick draw. The
bishop move to |5 is noted as
a nove|ty. As i s re|ated in the
magazi ne Chess Lfe, Mi |es and
Christiansen i tseems, had agreed
adraw be|orehand and there|ore
itwasn'tworthtakingtheirmoves
seri ous|y.ViswanathanAnand|e| |
into the 'trap' severa| months
a|ter Jnformator appeared (at Bi e|
l 988)hetriedthe're|iab|e'move5
. . .
|5 and aherZapata'sobvious
r
ep|y
6 we2! he had to resign (6
* * " we7 7 Cd5! ). This i s possib|y
tIe
quickestgrandmasterde|eatin
Iistory!Theincidentwi||nodoubt
b added to thetreasure troveo|
o
peni
ngcuriosities.
5 d5
dJ c7
7 0-0
8 c4
cZ
Cc
Cb4
Ahergame4 l o|my matchwith
Kasparov, it seemed that no one
wou|d want to p|ay this position
as B|ack in |uture. But, as you
see, theory quick|y deve|ops and
possib|e antidotes appear |or
B|ack. Eventua||y, l myse||
decided to p|ay the variation as
B|ack.
35
w

0 Cc3
cJ
0-0
c
l (35)
This was hrst seen in another
game by the Yugos|av grand-
master, L|ubo|evicChristiansen
(Linaresl 985).A|ter l 2 Zcl c5l 3
a3 cd l 4 Cxd4 xd4 l 5 xd4
Cxc3 l 6 Zxc3 Cc6 l 7 cd Cxd4
l 8 de |e (|ess dangerous is l 8 . . .
Cxe6, when White has on|y a
minima| advantage) l 9 d3 Z|7
2O wd2 w|6 2 l Z|c l White
obtainedac|earadvantage.
ln the game we are |o||owing
42 Ma|n L|ne u|rh 6 . . . 0c6 ad / . . e/
L| ubo|evic decided totakeon e4.
Other paths are comp|ete|y sa|e
|orB|ack . l 2 cd xc3 l 3 bc ^xd5
and B|ack i s simp|y better, l 2 a3
^xc3l 3 bc^c6 l4cdxd5with
anequa|game.
IZ Cxc4 dc
IJ cI c
I 4 bJ c7
5 aJ
Ca
I CcZ
Z8
Possib|ybetter is l 6 . . . wd7 l 7
Al ^c7,preparing . . . b7b5.
I7 ZI 2ac8
I8 a4 c5!
Not a||owing l 9b4withqueen-
side pressure.
I 2acI !
A|ter l9 d5 d72Owb3 wd6
|o||owed by. . . e5B|ack's pos-
ition wou|d have |u||y suited me.
Now White, having over-protec-
tcdthec4-pawn,renewsthet hreat
olb4
I cd
Z0 Cxd4 Cc5 ( 36)
Sacrihcing a pawn, I get some
p|ay. Irrespectiveo|whathappens
now,theopeningmoveshavebeen
in Whi te's |avour.
ZI xa7 CdJ
Insumcient is 2 l . . . xd4 22
n xd4 n xd4 23 xd4 ^d3 24
Ac2 withadvantage to White.
ZZ xdJ
A|ter22^xc6wxe623 @c2(23
xd3 ed 24 wxb7 Zb8 with an
equa| game) 23 . . . b5! B|ack has
enoughcounter-chances.
36
w
ZZ xd4
ZJ xd4 cd
Z4 @xdJ @xc4
Bad is24. . . @a8 becauseol25
wb6 Za6 26 wb3 Zad6 27 wc:.
Z5 n xc4
xc4
Z @cJ d
Maybe itwasworthp|aying26
. . . d7 with the ideao|27 h: |
28 wc5 3.e6 |o||owed by . . . e
and . . . |7.
Z7 hJ l
2
c5
Anotherpossibi|itywas28 -.b6
wdl + 29 ;h2 wd6+ 3O Z,:
Ab8.
Z8
xc5
28 . . . wxd4 |ai|sbecause ol2
Ze8 + ;l7 3 we7+.
Z ,c5 b5
J0 1b4
3 b3 }|7 3 l a4 $d l + :
;h2ba33ba @a l 34 a3 @a
wou|d |ead to adraw.
J0 h5
JI 2c7!
Forthewho|egame White |ac
had pressure on the enemy pos
Ma|n L|ne w|rh 6 . . tc6 and / . . . 9e/ 43
i t i on a-d cvennowcou|dkeepthe
be|tcr coances . 3 l &h2
@d7 32
h4
wi th thethreato|g3, |3 and
<[4. Ater the rook move I was
at
iast
ab|e to breatheeasi|y.
JI
2dI +
JZ
vhZ
2cI
Bu| not 32 . . . @|| 33 e| '
JJ cJ
2cZ
J4 d4
I| 34 g3 there |o||ows 34 . . .
o4+.
J4 2dZ
J5 2d7 2dJ
A|so possib|e is 3 5 . . . h4 36
d8+ &h7 37 xl6 Zx|2.
J h4 h7
J7 lJ vg
J8 2d8 l7
J b 2xd8
40 )xd8
vg
Or 4O . . l5 4l &g3 &l7 42
&l4 &e6.
4I
4Z
4J
44
vgJ
vlZ
cJ
c7+
I I
z-z
&l5
&c5
bJ
d5
Game No. | O
BcIyavsky-bmysIov
Reggio Emilia 1986/87
I c4 c5
Z ClJ Cl
J Cxc5 d
4 ClJ Cxc4
5
d4 d5
$dJ Cc
7 0-0 c7
8 c4 Cb4
Smys|ov a|ways p|ays the
Petrod inventive|y. Here is one
examp|e, where the ex-Wor|d
Championquick|yobtainsadraw,
having chosen the quiet move 8
... e6. ShortSmys|ov, Has-
tings | 988[89, 9 @e| 7|6 |O c5
O-O ll Cc3 g4 |2 e3 (3
7
) .
37
B
At hrst g|ance White, having
movedthec-pawnlorward, hasa
so|id advantage, but Smys|ov has
prepared a beautilu| operation,
quick|y re|ieving the situation on
theboard. | 2 . . . xc5' | 3 dcd4
| 4 xd4 7xd4 | 5 xh7+ 7xh7
|6 wxd4 x|3 |7 wxd8 @lxd8
| 8 g|Cg5 | 9 Ze7 @ac8 2O @e3
@d22| 7e4
! - !
.
cd
This capture, a||owing the
exchange o| the |ight-squared
bishop,wasknownbe|orethe4| st
gameolthematchwithKasparov.
But thissequence is sti|| lashion-
ab|etoday .
CxdJ
44
Ma|n L|ne w|th 6 . . . tc6 and / . . . l. e/
38
w
I0 wxdJ wxd5 (38)
This position has been known
|orat|easttwentyyears,so there
isnopointingoingintoverymuch
detai|.We,o|course,areinterested
in the most up-to-date materia|.
I ZeI .
Be|orereproducingBe|yavsky's
move on the board, |et us
remember that in recent years
White has in this position a|most
exc|usivc|y chosen l 2 Cc3 Cxc3
l 3 wxc3. Herearetwoimportant
examp|es o|these theme.
(a) HubnerSmys|ov, Ve|den
(m) l 983 . l 3 . . . e6 (The move
l 3 . . . c6 ( 39) uggests itse||, but
has |ong been disproved because
o|a mostedective response.
|4 ,. h6! ' Zg8 | 4 . . . gh | 5
Ze5 wd7 l 6 Hae | e6 l 7 d5' cd
| 8 Zxe6 |e l 9 wxh8 + |8 2O
w|6 etc., | 4. . . e4 | 5 xg7 Zg8
l 6 Zxe4!wxe4l 7 Ze| wxe | + l 8
wxe| Z xg7 | 9 we5} l 5 Ze5 wd7
l 6 Zae l e6 | 7 Cg5! O-O-O | 8
Cx|7! , andWhitewoninBrowne
Bisguier, USA Ch l 974) l 4 wxc7
39
w
d6 l 5 wc2 O-O l 6 d2 |5'
(a|so good is | 6 . . . wh5 l 7 h:
d5 l 8 wd3|6) | 7wb3 wxb3
1
8
ab |6 | 9 c3 &|7. White's extr.
pawnisnot|e|t,especia||yasB|ac|
hastwoactivebishops. Thegame
ended in a draw.
(b) Van der Wie|-Short, Biel
| 985. | 3 . . . e6 l4 Ze5(pethaps
this is better than taking on c7,
but neither is it very dangerous
|or B|ack) |4 . . . wc6 (B|ack a|so
has a strong position alter l4 .
wd7 l 5 g5|6 | 6 Ze3|g | 7 Zae |
O-O | 8 Z xe6 |6) l 5 we| (i| l
5
wxc6+ bc the s|ight weakness o|
B|ack's pawn chain is compea-
sated by the two bishops) l 5 * .
O-O-O | 6 ,g5 xg5 l7 Zx_5
d5 | 8 Ce5 wb6 ( l 8 . . . wh6 | '
Zg3|6 i s a|soacceptab|e) l 9 Zx_
Zhg8 2O Zg3 wxb2 (was it no
better to ta|e the d4 pawn' ) ! |
Zd| Zxg3 22hg xa2(A|ter!!
. . . Ze8 B| ack shou|dn't |ose. By
grabbingthea2-pawn hevirtua|l
y
exc|udeshisbishop|romthegame.
and White`s threats rapidly
Main Line with 6 . . . lc6 and 7 . . f.e7 45
become extreme|y dangerous. In
princip|e, we cou|d p|ace a |u||
stop here, but the hnish is worth
savouring, so it's worth showing
it
to
theend.23wa5 &b8 24'd3
g
b3 25 @c | b6 26 we5 @c8 27
_
l4
wb2 28 @c6 &b7 29 &h2
xl2 3O Cd3 wd2 3 | we4 &b8
(morestubbornthanthei mmedi-
ate
3| . . . @d8) 32 Ce5 @d8 33
d7+' &c8 (40).
40
w
34 @d6! ! . The death b|ow. 34
. . . @xd7 35 wa8 mate, or 34 . . .
c
35
wc6 mate.
White won this game beauti-
|u||y,butnot,o|course,asaresu|t
o|the opening. Now in our |ree
narrativeit'stime to return to the
main game.
Z Ce5|! ( 41)
Theknightthrusthasbeenwe||-
known in theory lor a |ong time,
thoughtheEncyclopedia of Chess
Openings on|y gives it a|ew|ines.
Alter | 2 . . . |6Pau| Keres'recom-
mendationi sgiven | 3 w|3'with
as|ight|ybetterposition|orWhi te'
(andinbracketsitisstated thati|
41
B
| 2 . . . h4 | 3 g3 Cxg3themove
| 4 w|3 decides the game, Zui-
dema-Barendregt, Amsterdam
| 966). However, the move | 2 . . .
l6deservesc|oserinvestigation.In
lact alter | 2 . . . |6 | 3 wl3 B|ack
rep|ies | 3 ... g6! and when the
knight on e5 retreats he has no
particu|ar prob|ems, but in the
variation | 4 g4 |e | 5 g|g|things
areprettybad|orWhite( | 6 wx|5
@g8+ | 7 &|| wc4+).
Whatshou|donedoagainst | 2
.. . |6I nthegameMakropou|os
Toth,Budva | 98 | , there|o||owed
| 3 Cc3 Cxc3 |4 ' xl5 Cb5 | 5
wh5+ g6 | 6 wh3 |e | 7 @ xe5 wxd4
| 8 we6 wd| + | 9 @e | wd7 2O
g5 with equa| chances.
Anove|tywasintroducedinthe
game de Firmian-P|askett,
Copenhagen| 985. | 5 ' g4'.Alter
| 5 . . . Cxd4 | 6 Cd3 B|ack went
alter the exchange - | 6 . . .
Cc2 and le| | into a mating
attack . | 7 Cb4' Cxb4 | 8 wxb4
c5 | 9 wg4 &|7 2O h6' gh (2O
. . . @ hg82 | @ad | gh 22 wxg8+)
46 Main Line with 6 . . . lc6 and 7 . . . .el
21 ladl h5 (21 . . . 1c622 lxe7+!
wxe7 23 1g7+ we6 24 lel +
with utter destruction) 22 1e2 1f5
2 1xe7+ wg6 24 Jd7 h4 2 h3
lag8 26 le4 wh5 27 1f7+ lg6
28 l d5 and Black resigned.
Commenting on the game in
Informator, de Firmian suggested
16 . . . wf7 17 lxe7+ wxe7 18
1xg7 + with an unclear game. But
it turned out that this position is
extremely clear! A game between
the young masters Ulybin and
Serper (Sochi 1986) continued
only another seven moves: 18 . . .
1f7 1 9 1g4 lad8 20 b3 1g6 21
1xg6 hg 22 -.a3+ wf7 23 lel
l h 24 b2 le6 2 lf3 l hd5
and White resigned.
So, the sacrifce 17 lhe7 is
unsound and, possibly, the whole
variation i safe for Black. I could
possibly be concluded that in
response to 12 le5 the move 12
. . . f6 is fully sufcient for equality.
So what was Belyavsky thinking
of when he put his knight on e5,
and what did Smyslov fear when
he avoided 12 . . . f6!? We shall
probably fnd out in the future.
12 g6
It should be pointed out that
there is not a big choice here.
According to Arkhipov, 12 . . .
0-0-0 is insufcient, because of 13
1f3 ( 13 lc3? 1xe5) 13 . . . g6 14
g4 -h4 15 lc3 (in Black's favour
is 15 ld3 lxf2 16 1xd5 lh3+
17 wg2 lxd5 18 gf kxel 19
lxel le8) 15 . . . lxc3 1 6 be
ke6 17 1xd5 lxd5 18 g5 with
advantage to White. Also after 12
. . . ld6 13 lc3! 1a5 ( 1 3 . . . 1xe5
14 de kxd3 15 ed cd 16 ld5) 14
1e3 (or 14 1f3) Black comes
under a powerful bind.
Judging by the quick cessation
of hostilities in the game, one can
conclude that Smyslov's . . . g7-g6
novelty was a success. However.
before achieving the draw, Black
had to overcome a few hurdles, so
moving the neighbouring pawn is
nevertheless more reliable.
13 1f3
An important moment. 13 g4 is
no good because of 13 . . . lxf21
But why not 1 3 lc3? At frst sight
the inclusion of the moves le5
and . . . g6 compared with the
games already looked at i in
White's favour. Indeed, after 1 3
lc3 lxc3 14 1xc3 bad i 14 .
-e6 because of 15 .ih6 0-0-0 16
lxf7! xf7 17 lxe7 with an
extra pawn and a better position.
14 . . . c6 loses to 15 lc4! with
the threat of 16 le3 and 17 d5.
However, correct is 14 . . . 0-0-0
with a good game for Black, since
15 lxg6 is ruled out because of
15 . . . hg 16 lxe7 1d6! with an
attack on both the rook and the
h2-pawn.
It appears that after the queen
manoeuvre chosen by Belyavsk
y,
White's initiative is very danger

ous. But Smyslov calmly takes the

Ma|n L|ne w|rh 6 . . . lc6 and / . . . . e/ 4/
pa
wn.
I J
wxd4
I4
cJ wxc5
B|ackcontinuestopickupany-
thin
g
that comes to hand. The
mate
ria| wi|| soon be won back,
butmeanwhi|etheboard i sbeing
comp|ete|yc|eared.
I5 $l4
Il | 5 Cxe4 B|ack manages to
s|ip away with | 5 . . . O-O.
I5
wa5
I b4 /1.)
A|ter | 6 Cxe4 there i s again
timelor |6. . . O-O | 7 Cg3 }e6.
Be|yavsky had probab|y ca|cu-
|ated the b-pawn thrust when he
p|ayed l 3 wl3. Ilnow |6. . . wxb4
( | . . . wb6),then | 7 Cd5' decides.
This knight |eap a|so |o||ows the
queen's retreat to a6. The vari-
ationsthat arise then are worthy
ol our attention. | 6 . . . wa6 | 7
Cd5! }d8! (there i s no a|terna-
tive) | 8 g4' ( | 8 Ae4+ ixe4 | 9
vxe4+ we62Owd4O-O2 | }h6|6
22 xl8 x|8 23 wd2 &g7 24
2e| wd7i sinB|ack'slavour).Now
B|ack has three possibi|ities, but
noneolthemho|dgoodprospects .
(a) | 8 . . . c6.C|osingthequeen's
r
oute
to the e6-s(
uare, which
White quick|y makes use ol | 9
xe4+ }xe4 2O wxe4+ d7
(
2O
. .
|8 2| h6+ g8 22
ve8
mate)2| Ad | winning) .
(b) | 8 . . . }e6 | 9 wxe4 O-O 2O

h
6 .
e8 (2O . . . }xd5 2 | wxd5
wi
n
ningtheexchange) 2| we5,
(c) | 8 . . . O-O | 9 g|g| ( | 9
-|6 2O }h6) 2O h| with an
unstoppab|eattack.
Neverthe|ess, B|ack hnds the
on|y,butwe||-deserved delence.
42
B
I
waJ!
I7 Cd5
A|as, now this move invo|ves
exchanging queens, but I7 Cxe4
wx|3 |eads to a better ending
|or B|ack, as it's hard|y worth
counting on | 8 -l6+ l8 | 9
.;h6 mate.
I7
I8 gl
I lc
wxlJ
$d8!
ItremainslorWhitetobeproud
that|orhvemoves hecarried out
an attacka piecedown.
I $c
Z0 Cxc7+
$xc7
ZI $xc7 l
ZZ aJ @c8
ZJ 2acI l7
1 1
r2
A shortskirmish, but you cer-
tain|y cou|dn't ca|| it a grand-
masterdraw!
2 Main Line with 6 ... 'c6
and 7 .. . g4
Game No. I I
Kasparov-Karpov
World Championship Match (15)
Moscow 1985
I e4 e5
2 lf3 lf6
3 lxe5 d6
4 lf3 lxe4
5 d4
Sometimes another order of
moves is encountered -5 c4. The
main reply was suggested by
Makarychev -5 . . . lc6L Now if
6 d4, 6 . . . d5 is good, for example:
7 lc3 .b4 8 1c2 1e7 9 .e3
.ig4 10 'cl lxc3 I I be .a3 12
1d2 lb4! with a decisive advan
tage to Black (Kupreichik-Mik
halchishin, Kuibyshev 1986). If 6
lc3 Black equalises easily with 6
. . . lxc3 7 de .f5 8 ld4 lxd4 9
1xd4 1e7 + 10 .e2 1e4 (Chibur
danidze-Agzamov, Frunze 1985).
Also after 6 e2 e7 7 0-0 0-0
8 d4 f6! Black's pieces success-
48
fully interact in the centre. Here
are two examples from the 1985
international tournament in Frunze:
(a) 9 h3 Je8 10 f4 (against
10 lc3 Makarychev had prepared
10 . . . lxd4! I I lxd4 .hd4 12
'xd4 lxc3 13 'xc3 Jxe2) 10 .
[5 I I Jel 'd7 1 2 la3 ..xh3
13 gh 1xh3 14 e3 lg3 with an
attack for Black (Chiburdanidze
Makarychev);
(b) 9 e3 (9 d5 le7 10 d3
.i.f5 I I Jel lc5 and 9 d3 f5
10 Jel Je8 also lead to a good
game for Black) 9 . . . Je8 10 lbd2
[51 I I lb3 d5! 12 Jel de 13
xc4 ld6 14 e2 lb4 and
Black has the advantage (Kup
reichik--Makarychev).
5 d5
6 .d3 lc6
7 0-0 .g4 (43)
And s, we move on to look at
another contemporary plan i the
Petrof, connected with the quick
Main Line with 6 . . . tc6 and 7 a a a "g4 49
43
w
deve|opment o| the |ight-squared
bishop on g4 and the b|ack-
squared bishop staying at home
lor the moment. It wou|d seem
t|atthedi derencei snotgreat,but
aeverthe|ess, at times the game
takes on a comp|ete|y di derent
character Saving a tempo by
omitting . . . e7, B|ack puts seri-
ouspressure on thed4-pawn, but
at thesametimehiski ngi sstuck
ia the centre and can be sub|ect
toenemyattack. Sothereareboth
p|usses and minusses |or B|ack
ia this variation. Curious|y, the
p
ositionindiagram43isnoteven
m
entioned in the Encyclopedia of
Chess Openings ( | 98 | ).
8 c4
Cl6
Having retreated the knight to
l
(a
nd expecting the rep|y Cc3)
b|+ck, as we sha|| see, wi||
exchange on l3 andtakethecen-
tt
+|
d4-pawn. Butisn'ti tpossib|e
to
take on |3 and then straight-
+w
ay
on d4, that i s without
te
tte
a
tingthe knight
be|orehand
The|o||owinge|egantgameshows
whatcan happen.
PsakhisMartinovsky ( Phi|a-
de|phia | 989) . 8 . . . (x|3 9 xl3
Cxd4 I 0 we3 Cl5 I I we2 Cd4| 2
we3Cl5 l 3 h3(o|course,Whi te
i snothappy|usttorepeatmoves)
| 3 . . . d7 | 4 cd Ced6 | 5 Cc3
O-O-O | 6 l4 Ce7 l 7 h5 Cg6
l 8 g3 &b8 | 9 a4 e7 2O a5
|6 2| Ca4 t b5 22 l I xd5
(44) .
44
w
23 ., b5 xh5 24 ., c7+ c8
(24 . . . a8 25 Cb6+ ab 26 ab
mate) 25 e5 mate!
As the reputation o|8 . . . C|6
has been under some doubt
recent|y, i n the lourth game ol
the Candidates match Eh|vest-
Yusupov (St. !ohn | 988) B|ack
choseararermoveorder 8 . . .
e7. Now a|ter 9 Cc3 x|3 (9
. . . Cxd4 |oses | Oxe4 de l |
xd4) | O g| ( | O xl3 Cxd4 l |
g4) | O . . . Cl6 | | cd Cxd5 | 2
e4apositionwou|d havearisen
|rom an ancient game Schiders-
50 Main Line with 6 . . . tc6 and 7 . . . lg4
Ka|omzin, p|ayed back in | 9O| .
White has a dehnite advantage.
| 2 . . . xc3 | 3 bc O-O | 4l4 etc.
But 9O years on we p|ay rather
di derent|y.
9 cd xd5 | O Cc3 Cxc3 | | bc
O-O | 2 J:e| |3 | 3 ex|3 ex|3
| 4 g| d6 | 5 .e3 (45) .
45
B
Whitehas the advantage o|the
twobishops,whichdeterminesthe
positioninhislavour.Inthisgame
Yusupov continued | 5 . + . J:ad8,
but severa| months |ater against
Timman (Be|lort | 988) he p|ayed
l 5 . . . Ce7. In both games B|ack
gotadrawina|ongendgame,but
not without somedimcu|ty. From
thenon,whenp|ayingthePetrod,
Yusupov has no |onger chosen
this variation.
CcJ
B|ack has created pressure
against the d4-pawn and lor the
sake ol rapid piece deve|opment
Kasparov decides to give i t up
straightaway an idea which,
a|though not new, is not rea||y
dangerous lorB|ack. Seegame | 5
lor 9 cd. I t i s c|ear that alter 9
@e | + }e7 wehaveby transposi-
tionKasparov-Karpov( | , 28).As
you wi|| reca||, lO cd xl3 | l
xl3wxd5 | 2 wh3Cxd4 l 3 Cc3
wd7 l 4 wxd7+ xd7 |ed to a
quick draw. O| course, such an
outcome suits B|ack, and there-
|ore, alter 46 mi nutes thought,
Kasparov chose another path,
deciding i t wasn't worth rushing
togivecheck,bettertosavei tlor
the|uture.
xlJ
Othercontinuationscan|eadto
serious prob|ems . 9 . . . e7 |Ocd
Cxd5 | | e4; 9 ... Cxd4 | O
ee | + (thecheckcomesi nhandy
here' ) l O . . . e7 ( | O . . . Ce6 | |
Ce5) | | Cxd4 dc | 2 Cl5 cd | 3
Cxg7+ l8 | 4 h6 g8 | 5 |3
witha strong i ni tiativelor Whi te.
0 wxlJ Cxd4
I 2c +
Alter thi scheck thegame goes
od the beaten track, a|beit on|y
|or one move! The interesting
continuations | | e3+ and | |
wh3 wi | | be |ooked at |ater oa
(games | 2| 4).

c7 (46,
Z wd!!
In the game Lobron-Karpov,
Hannover | 983, there|o||owed | !
wg3 dc | 3 xc4( | 3 wxg7 |oses
to l 3 . . . Cl3+ | 4 h| g8 | 5
ex|6 Cxe | ) | 3 . . . O-O | 4 g
5
Main Line with 6 . . . Cc6 and 7 + g4 51
46
w
d6 ( | 4 . . . Cc2 | 5 Ae7' ) | 5
qh4 h6' | 6 .xl6 wx|6 | 7 wx|6
g| 8 Ae4c5 | 9 Ah4 g72O Ce4
.e7 2 | Cg3 |5 22 A h3 .d6 23
l4 b5 24 .d3 c4 25 .xl5 Ale8.
Thepawn i s hna| | y surrendered,
butB|ack'spositiona|advantageis
vast,anditeasi|ybroughtvictory.
The queen manoeuvre to d!
unquestionab|y comp|icates mat-
ters but,aswesha||soonsee,i tis
a|sonotverydangerouslorB|ack.
I Z
Cc!
In this way B|ack is ab|e to
simp|i|y the position. I| | 2 . . . dc
l 1
.xc4O-O( | 3 . . . c5 |4 wa4+)
l 4
Axe7 wxe7 ! 5 wxd4 B|ack i s
ont hebrinkol deleat,andWhite
a|so has a bigadvantagea|ter | 2
. . .
O-O | 3 cd, or | 2 . . . c6 | 3 e3
'e6 l 4 cd Cxd5 | 5 Cxd5 wxd5
l
wc2.
IJ cd
Cxd5
I4 1b5+
c
I5 Cxd5
cb (47)
T
he position has become
c|e
arer. White has a powerlu|
47
w
knight in the centre, B|ack has
anextra,a|thoughdoub|ed,pawn.
One compensates the other and
peace quick|y ensues .
I wbJ
| 6 .l4 |ookstempting, hinder-
ingB|ack incast|ing. | 6 . . . O-O( | 6
. . . d6 | 7 xd6 wxd6 l 8 Cl6+
e7 | 9 Cd5+ l8 2O wl3. and
B|ack'skingisstuckinthecentre,
il |6 . . . c8, l 7 e5! i s unp|eas-
ant) | 7 Cxe7+ wxe7 | 8 .d6.
However, by brave|y p|ayi ng | 6
. . . Cxl4 | 7 Axe7+ l8 ! 8 e5
wd6' , B|ack avoids a|| prob|ems,
lorexamp|e . |9 l5 d8 2O Ax|4
wxd5 etc.
I 0-0
There is no ti meto delend the
pawn, | 6 . . . a6 | 7 .e3 O-O | 8
Aad| wi tha|u| | bind.
I7 Cxc7+
Il | 7 wxb5 then l 7 . . . .c5 is
good.
I 7 xc7
I8 wxb5 a
Moreaccuratethantheimmedi-
52 Main Line with 6 . . . tc6 and 7 + . v g4
ate | 8 . . . A8 | 9 .e3 wd7 2O
wxd7 Axd72 | @ad | .
wbJ
@ld8
Z0 $cJ 2ac8
2O. . . b5 |eads to equa|ity.
Z @ac l
h
ZZ hJ
Cd4
t-t
A|ter 23 xd4 @XC | 24 @XC |
@xd4 the hghting resources o|
both sidesare exhausted.
GameNo. | 2
Kasparov~Karpov
World Championship (6)
London 1986
c4 c5
Z ClJ Cl
J Cxc5 d
4 ClJ Cxc4
5 d4 d5
$dJ Cc
7 -0 g4
8 c4 Cl
CcJ $xlJ
0 xlJ Cxd4
wcJ+ (48)
Unti | nowwe have|o||owedthe
| 5thgameo|ourpreviousmatch.
Now Kasparov bringsouta pro-
duct o| home preparation. But
the queen check on e3 had been
suggestedthepreviousyear,sothe
surprisewas|ormenotcomp|ete|y
unexpected.

Z cd
Cc
Cxd5
48
B
I| | 2 . . . c5 then | 3 w|3 Cd1
| 4 @e | + |8 | 5 w|4 Cxd5 |
Cxd5wxd5 | 7 wxc7 Ce6 | 8
_3
@d8 | 9 @d| h5 2Oh4i spossib|e,
with advantage to Whi te.
J Cxd5
wxd5
4 1c4 wb5
5 a4
I|| 5 w|3 B|ack rep|ies with | 5
. . . Cd4.
5 Wa6 (49)
White has theadvantage ol the
two bishops and the initiative lot
hispawn. In ordernot to |osethe
b7-pawn,B|ackhason|yonemove
buttheb|ackqueenhndsitse||at
theedgeo|theboard.In thegame
Ivanchuk-Serper, Sochi | 98,
which can be considered as
t|e
sourceo|Kasparov's idea,
Black
tried | 5 . . . wc5, when | 6 xb
@ b8 | 7 b4! wb6 ( | 7 . . . wxe3
l 8
.c6+ &e7 | 9 xe3) | 8 xb

cb|ed toaworseending|orBlack :
| 9 .c6+ #d8 2O @ d | + w
c
7
2 | b5 @d8 22 Axd8 Cxd8 23
.d5 Ce6 24 xe6 |e 25
l
4
'
.
Main Line with 6 . . . c6 and 7 . . . g4 53
@y a|| accounts, the nove|ty in
c
ur
game can be considered not
t|
e
che
ck by the white queen on
e1
,
but
the retreat ol the b|ack
queen to a6
49
w
16 Zl
The i mmediate | 6 b4 does
acthing | 6 . . . b4 | 7 Zb |
4.c5 | 8 wl3 c6 | 9 Zxb7 O-O. Il
| e wl3 Cd4' |7 we3 Kasparov
+dvises B|ack not to take the
echange |7 . . . -e2+ | 8 ;h |
3+ |9 hg wx|| + 2O &h2with
+aunc|eargame,butrecommends
|

. . O-O-O' with an extra pawn
+ad
exce||ent chances.
16
1c7
Vany theoreticians have stud-
|e
d
this game (D|ugy, Makary-
chev,
Nunn, Timman etc.). but I
t h
i nk
that exhaustive ana|ysis
is
mpossib|e wi thout a computer.
l aterestingvariationsarisea|ter
|
t

.
c5 | 7 wl3 c6 | 8 Zd7!
150) .
T
he
rook sacrihce cannot be

-
cep
ted. | 8 . . . xd7 | 9
wxl7+
50
B
.e7 2O l5 c5 (no better is 2O
. . . we2 2 ! . e3 or 2O . . . wc4 2 |
. g5 Zhe8 22 Zd | + c7 23
. xe7) 2| . g5 wd6 22 . xe6+
wxe623 Zd | +.
B|ackmustca|m|ycomp|etehis
deve|opment . |8 . . . O-O |9 d3
( | 9 b4 .d4) |9 . . . wb6 (butnot
|9 . . . wa5 2O . d2! wb6 2| b4
. d4 22 a5 or ! 9 . . . b5 2O b4
. xb42 | we4) 2O a5 wb42 | d2
wh4( badis 2| . . . wxb2 22 c3
wb3 23 wh5 g6 24 . xg6) 22 g3
wl6 (22 . . . wh3 23 .|5) 23 wxl6
gl,andeverythingisundercontro|.
Nothing comes |rom 24 Zxb7
Z|d8 25 Zb3 Cd4 26 Zc3 A. b4
etc.
l7 b4 (51)
White sacrihces another pawn,
butitisverydangeroustotakei t .
| 7. . . . xb4 | 8w|3c6( | 8 . . . Cc5
|9 Zd4) |9 Zd7 O-O2O wh3 g6
( 2O . . . h6 2| . xh6) 2| 3 xg6!
hg 22 b2 Cg7 23 wh6 with
unavoidab|e mate. Another way
top|ayi s ! 8 . b2O-O |9 wh3 g6
54 Main Line with 6 . . . tc6 and 7 . . . i.g4
51
B
( | 9. . . |5 2O x|5 ^g5 2 | wb3+
h822 Zd7 etc.)2OZd3! h5(2O
. . . ^g5 2 l wh6|622d5 + wh8
23 wxg5' )2 | wxh5' gh22 Zg3 +
withmate.
Besides the march |orward o|
the b-pawn, l 7 w|3 was |ater
adopted see thenextgame.
I 7 0-0
8 wh3
I| |8 b5 B|ack has the strong
intermediate move | 8 . . . Zad8' ,
which seizes the initiative, and
which isa|so therep|y to | 8 w|3.
I 8 g
Bad is | 8 . . . h6 l 9 w|5 g6 2O
we5 or 2O w|3 with threats o|
xb7 and xh6.
I 1bZ
Other continuations do not
bringsuccess . | 9 b5Zad8' 2O Ze|
(2O h6 Zxd l +2| Zxd l wxa4)
2O. . . wb6, | 9 wc3 ^g5' 2Oxg5
( 2O b2 |6') 2O ... xg5 2 |
vxc7 Zad8, and Whi te has on|y
asymbo|icadvantage.Theknight
manoeuvre to g5 i n the second
variation i s B|ack's on|y de|ence.
In the game Aseev-lvancha|,
Irkutsk | 986, B|ack tried to pl
ay
moresharp|y |9wc3c5! , aa
d
a|ter 2O b2 Cd4 2 l d3 wb
t
22 a5 wc7 23 bc xc5 24 jfJ
Z|d8 25 Za4 cameunderdeadly
pressure, 25 ... Zac8 26 Zaxd|
etc.
I wc4!
The queen hna||y breaks lree,
and B|ack's torment comes to aa
end. Thereisnothingin | 9 . . . ||
2Owe3! we2 (2O . . . g5 2 l 'h ! )
2 l wd4 |6 2 2 |3! . As be|orethe
pawnisuntouchab|e. | 9 . . . xb
|
2O Zd3' with thedead|ythreatof
2| wxh7+ xh7 22 Zh3+.
Z0 Zd7
Whitecou|d winbackthepawa
with 2O xb7, but a|ter 2O . .
Zad8 he has nothing. O|course,
a|ter the queen went to c4 it was
necessarytoconsider2Od5, bct
B|ackhas animportant tempo
2O. . . wc2,securingat|eastequal
i ty . 2| e5 ( 2| Zabl Zad8) 2 1
. . . Zad8 2 2 Zac | (22 Zd3 _'
23 Zadl c6 24 wxe6 Zxd5! , 22
Zdc | wd2! 23 xe6|e24wxee+
Z|7)22 . . . wxc l ! 23 Zxc l Zxd'

Z0 @ac8!
A| though this is the on|y mo
ve
,
itcomp|ete|ycoo|sWhi te'sattac|
ingardour.Asbe|ore,theb4-pa
w
i suntouchab|e. 2O. . . wxb42O
.

wxe42 | wc3 |622 Zxe7or 2|

.
.
.
Cd4 22 Zel ! w|4 23 Z xd4
-f
6
Main Line with 6 . . . 1c6 and 7 . . . 1g4 55
2
4 xe7 wxe7 25 Ze4! with a
win
ning position) 2 l xg6 ^g5
(
2
1
. . . |g
22 wxe6+ . l723 |6!
2e824 Ze l ) 22 xh7+ 'xh723
a3' wh4 24 xe7 wxh3 25 gh
a
ad
26 Za3.
ZI 5
No
wWhiteneedstop|ayaccur-
a
tel
y. I| 2 l xb7 wxb4 22 a3
xa423 . xe7 . xe7 24 wc3 c5!
2
5
. b2 ^d4 26 . xa4 ^e2+ 27
&|l 'xc3 28 xc3 Zxb7i t' sa| |
cver|or White.
ZI wxb4
ZZ cJ
Il22 a3, then 22 . . . wd4,but
act 22 e5 as 22 ... l6! 23

xl6 ^|4 is good.

52
w
ZZ Cl4! (52)
Th
e ro|es are now reversed in
i
ew
o| the threats o| . . . wxc3
aa
d . . .
^e2+. White's attack has
,eterred out and a|ter many
exchanges B|ack gets the better
:a
di
ng. Even so, a draw ls
a
av
oidab|e.
ZJ xb4 CxhJ+
Z4 gh
xb4
Z5 2xc7 b
Possib|y more accurate was 25
. . . . e5 and transler olthe rook
to|5and pressure on|2.
Z 2xa7 g7
Z7 Z7 Zd8
I| 27. . . Ze5Whitedelendswith
28 Za2! Z|529 . b2 c53O @c2!
(with the threat o| a4a5) 3O . . .
Z c8 3 | e6!
Z8 2xd8
Z Zl
J0 2dJ
JI H
JZ gZ
JJ H
J4 c4
J5 2lJ
J gZ
J7 bJ
J8 2dJ
J 2cJ
40 2c4
4I
2cZ
4Z c4
2xd8
d
h5
2d7
c5
h4
2c7
d
2c7
l5
c5
l
g5
&c5
1 1
2-2
Game No. | 3
Howcll~I vauchuk
Groningen 1986/87
l c4 c5
Z 'lJ 'l
J Cxc5 d
4 'lJ Cxc4
5 d4 5
dJ 'c
7 0-0 g4
56 Main Line with 6 . . . 4c6 and 7 . . . g4
8 c4 Cl6
Cc3 xl3
0 w xl3 Cxd4
w e3+ Ce6
Z cd Cxd5
J Cxd5 wxd5
4 e4 wb5
5 a4 w a6
Zd c7
7
wl3
(53)
The active move | 7 b4 gave
White nothingingame six o|the
| 986Wor|dChampionshipmatch.
Aswehaveseen,Iquick|yrepe||ed
the attack and even took the
ini tiative. There|ore something
new had to be tried. | 7 w|3 was
hrst tried i n Ti mmanYusupov
(Hi | versum match | 986). The
game|astedon| ysixmoremoves .
| 7 . . . d8 | 8 d3 ( | 8 xd8+
Cxd8 | 9 |4 deserved attention)
| 8 . . . w a5(bad|orB|acki s | 8 . . .
Cd4| 9 w g4' moreaccuratethan
|9 w g3 Ce2+ 2O xe2 w xe2 2 |
@xtI 8+ xd8 2 2 e3 O-O 23
d4} |9 . . . w|6 2O e3 Ce62 |
w e4! , a s is | 8 . . . w b6 | 9 e3
w xb2 2O ab | w a3 2O . . . w c3
hastobep|ayed} 2| w xb7O-O22
w e4 g6 23 xa7) |9 d2 (now
| 9w xb7unexpected|y|osesto | 9
. . . Bxd3' ) | 9 . . . b4 2O e3
O-O (i| 2O . . . c6 White retains
the initiative. 2| w e4 g6 22 c4
xd l + 23 xd | w|5! 24wx|5 g|
25 xa7 e7 26 b6. Now the
game instant|y becomes|eve|)2 |
V
xb7 Cc5 2 2 xc5 xc5
2
3
V
b5
- - t .
So, | 7 . . . @d8 i s not bad
,
but
Ivanchukchoosesa more venoa
ous continuation, modestly
de|ending the b7-pawn.
53
B
7 $b8|
8 b4
A|ter | 8 w h3 the game coulc
transposeintoKasparov-Karpcs
(3,6), which we have a|ready dis
cussed.
8 0-0
$d7!
|9 b2 was necessary. A|ter
the mi staken incursion o| tae
white rook to d7, the appearance
o|the b|ack rook on d8 gains i n
strength.
Zbd8| /`I
Z0 $xb7
Itappearsthatthebishop one
isuntouchab|e.Ivanchukgives
t|
e
|o||owing variati on. 2O @xe
)
w d6!(strongerthan2O. . .
Cd42
1
xh7+ h8 2 2 w d3 Ce2+ 23
xe2 1d3 24 xd3 w xd3 25
Main Line with 6 . . . lc6 and 7 . . . fg4 57
54
w
J 1 ) 2| ia3 xe7 22 b5 Cc5 23
xh7+ (23 ze | g6! )23 . . e ;xh7
24 w5 +(24wh5 +g825xc5
w|6')24. . . g625 ixc5we2! , and
@|ack gai nsthe upperhand. The
bishop i s a|so untouchab|e in
cther variations . 2O id3 c62 |
vh3 g6 2 2 zxe7 c3! 2 3 @ xe6
2xd3, 2O b5 wa5' 2 | id2 ib4
22 @xd8 @xd8 23 e3 c3.
Z0 c4
Z
xd8
I|2| A xe7 then theedective2 |
. wd4' or 2 | . . . c3' decide.
Z Axd8
ZZ cJ
xb4
ZJ c4
23
xa7 is bad 23 . . . c5 24
a5
|6 or 2 id5 23 . . . i|6

4
Ac | xa4 25 xe6 |e 26 g3
=
e5
(lvanchuk).
ZJ c5
Z4 {xc5
More stubborn was 24 id5
xe3 25 ixe6 ix|2+ 26 wx|2
le
27
xa7 c5 28 @|l d4+ 29

h| w|4 3O wg| e3+ 3 | h|

h6, a|though B|ack i s a hea|thy
pawn up.
Z4 wxc5
Z5 h4 d4
Z c wxa4
lvanchukcarriesoutthetechni-
ca|stagesimp|yandconvincing|y.
Z7 h5
27 ixh7+ doesn't he|p 27
. . . xh7 28wx|7 zd6! 29 |5 +
g6 3O w|7+ Cg7.
Z7
Z8 wl5
Z
J0
J
JZ
JJ
J4
xc4
hZ
hg
wg5
wl
2h4
0-
Cg5
Cxc4
wd +
g
hg
2d5
wh5+
wxh4+|
GameNo. | 4
Kuprcchk~Yusupov
USSR Ch ( Minsk) 1987
c4 c5
Z ClJ Cl
J Cxc5 d
4 ClJ Cxc4
5 d4 d5
$dJ Cc
7 0-0 $g4
8 c4 Cl
CcJ
So,wereturnagaintothesharp
and |ascinatingvariation connec-
ted with the pawn sacrihce. This
game, p|ayed in the 54th Soviet
58 Main Line with 6 . . . Cc6 and 7 . . . i. g4
Championship, remains an
important mi|estone in the
deve|opmento|this variation.
$xlJ
0 wxlJ Cxd4
So that the reader doesn't get
con|used be|ore we show Kuprei-
chik's nove|ty, |et us remind our-
se|ves o|thein|ormation wehave
be|ore this game.
A|ter | | Ze| + .ie7 | 2 wd|
we arrive at Kasparov-Karpov
(2, | 5) game | | inthi sbook
which ended in a draw, and a|ter
| 2 g3 dc | 3 xc4 O-O | 4 .g5
3d6, LobronKarpov, Hann-
over | 983, B|ack a|so didn't
encounter any dimcu|ties. The
i mmediate | | g3 i s hard|y suc-
cess|u|,asthisismetby| | . . . Ce6
and B|ackcanwintimethanksto
the move . . . }|8 d6.
Kasparovgavemethesurprise
| | e3+ in our return match
(3,6) game | 2 in this book
but a|ter | | . . . e6 | 2 cd 7xd5
| 3 Cxd5 xd5 |4 }e4 wb5 | 5
a4 a6 | 6 @d| }e7 | 7 b4! O-O
| 8 h3 g6 B|ack |ought od the
attack and 'demanded' the draw
|roma position o|strength.
An attempt to strengthen the
variation|orWhite was made in
Ti mman-Yusupov (Hi|versum
match| 986). Insteado|thesudden
attack with b2b4, White p|ayed
| 7 w|3, but a|ter | 7 . . . Zd8 the
gamea|soquick|yhnisheddrawn.
However, B|ack was not | i mi te
c
tothismove,and inHowe||-Iva
a
chuk, Groningen | 986}87, B|a
c|
|oundawaytohght|ortheinitia
tive by p|aying | 7 ... @b8. Th
e
pawnisde|endedand Whitenee
ds
to think about how to win ba
c|
themateria|.A|terthe| 8 b4thrust,
B|ack took the initiative aac
gained the upper hand.
So, one can conc|ude that I I
e3+ is notdangerous|or B|ac|
and neither is | | @e| +. A more
decisive try to j usti|y the pawa
sacrihce was adopted by Kuprei
chik against one o| the |eadi a
specia|ists in the Petrod.
55
B
I hJ| (55)
Curious|y, thi s move had bee
recommendedbyIgorZaitsevaac
myse||. B|ack has saved a tem
pc
on ... l|8-e7, and White
c
Z|l -e l +.
I dc
Hard|ygood|or B|ack is | l
.

c6 | 2 @e | + 3e7 | 3 3g5
e
t
| 4 .ix|6 .ix|6 | 5 cd cd | 6 .f
5
,
Main Line with 6 . . tc6 and 7 . . s g4 59
c
r
| 3
. . . dc | 4xc6 gl | 5 xc4
wi
th
m
orethanenoughcompens-
at|
onlorthe pawn.
A
ltcr | | . . . e7 | 2 g5 dc | 3
xc4
the position in the game
we
are |ooking at i s reached by
t
ra
nsp
osition,andil| 2 @e l dc| 3
xc4 O-O (| 3 ... Cc2!) | 4 g5
|6
|5
xh6 gh |6 wxh6 a sharp
pcsitionarisesinwhichi ti shard
tcpreler onesideinlavourolthe
cther.Stronger,however,is | 2 cd
Cxd5 | 3 @el Ce6 |4 g6! Cdl4
|5 xl4 Cxl4 | 6 xl7+ &xl7
l
wl5 +, when White wins back
thepawnandretains theinitiative
iathecentre.
Z
xc4
A|sointerestingis | 2 @e|+ Ce6
|3 g6
I Z
&
c7
Exchanging queens is not
easy - | 2. . . wd7 | 3 @e l + e7
( l 3 . . &d8 |4 wxd7+ &xd7 | 5
2dl c5 l 6 xl7, winning back
the pawn and keepingtheadvan-
tageolthetwobishops)| 4wxd7+
xd7 ( | 4 . . (xd7 | 5 zdl ) | 5
d5 ,e6 | 6 @xe6! , and Whi te
ha
stheupper hand.
l3 g5 0-0
4 2ad c5
5 2lc (56)
Dangerouslor B|ack now is | 5
.
@e8 | 6 b5( | 6 id3 wc8 | 7

h4
h6 | 8 xh6 ^l5 with an

rc|
ear game) | 6 ... Cxb5 | 7
Ax
d8
xd8 | 8 @xe8+ ^xe8 2O
56
B
&ll Despite the materia| equa|-
ity, White has the advantage
thanks to the manoeuvrabi|ity ol
thequeen.
5 h
xh|!
The bishop sacrihce comes to
mind, but apparent|y Whi te
ought to continue | 6 @xe7' and
alter | 6 . . . hg ( l 6 . . . wxe7 | 7 Cd5
etc. ) | 7 @xb7Whi te'schancesare
better.

7
wxh
8 @3
wh5
gh
Ch7
g5
Il | 9 @g3 Cl5 2O wg6+
Cg7 B|ack's lortress cannot be
taken.
wl
Z0 @g3
Stronger is 2 @h3! wg7 2 | l4
xl4 22 Cd5 g5 23 ^e7+
xe7 24 2xe7 with dangerous
threats. Master Mocha|ov took
this variation lurther. 24 . . . ^l6
25 wxc5 ^g4 26 @g3 @ac8 27
60 Main Line with 6 . . . tc6 and 7 . . . J.g4
x|7+ &h8 28 @h3+ Ch6 29
@xh6+ wxh6 3O wxd4+ wg7 3 |
wh4+ wh7 3 2 wxh7+ xh7 33
e6+ winning.
Z0 @ac8
HereB|ackcou|dp|aythemore
accurate2O. . . C|5! . A|ter2 | Ce4
wg7 22 @g4 (22 @xg5 Cxg5 23
t xg5 Cd6! ) 22 . . . Ch6' 23 J g3
Cl5 the game cou|d end by rep-
etition ol moves i| the p|ayers
agreed.
Z Cc4 h8 /'/]
Yusupovconsidersthatthi swas
the decisive mistake, and that 2 |
. . . &g7' wascorrect. Thegame i s
verydimcu|t,andi nsucha sharp
strugg|einaccuraciesareunavoid-
ab|eonboth sides.
57
w
ZZ h4
2xc4
No better is 22 . . . wh6(g6)23
@xg5, or 22 ... xh4 23 Cx|6
@xe | + 24 &h2.
ZJ @xc4 l4
Z4 $g4 h
24. . . d6doesnotsavehi m
25 @xd4! cd 26 d3. B|ack has
manypieces,but,a|as,theyare
al|
disconnected.
Z5 wxc5
Z wh5
Z7 $xl7
Z8 hZ
Z l4
3 $bJ
J
2c8
JZ gJ
JJ hJ
Cc6
w6
wl +
w6+
wc7
w6
$xl4+
1xgJ+
l-0
B|ack ran outoltime,butthere|s
no avoidingmate.
Forsevera|yearsthisgamewas
regarded as the |ast word on the
move | | wh3 White has a
dangerous initiative. But there
recent|y took p|ace a game
betweenHowe||and vanKemen-
ade,Eng|and| 99 | , i nwhichB|ack
p|ayed the va|uab|enove|ty | l
Ce6! There lo||owed a series c|
exchanges | 2 cd Cxd5 | 3 @el
Cxc3 | 4 bc w|6 | 5 il5 e
(Howe||suggests | 5 . . . O-O-O! 1 6
xe6+ le | 7 @xe6 b8! with a
good game lor B|ack) | 6 e3 he
| 7 xe6le | 8 d4 wl7 | 9 @xee
O-O. Here 2O wg4 }g5 2 | h
:
xh4 22 xg7 x|2+ 23 &h|
h524wg5 w|5 25 @g6 wxg5 26
J xg5 J l7 |ed to equa|ity, but
Howe||'s move 2O wg3 |ed
to
catastrophe 2O ... h4! 2
l
wxh4wxe6and B|ackhasa win
ningposition.
Atpresentthisi sthe|atestwo
rJ
on thi svariation.
Main Line with 6 . . . !c6 and 7 . . . J.g4 61
GameNo. | 5
1mmau~Yusupov
Tilburg (2) 19

Z
J
4
5

7
8

c4
ClJ
Cxc5
ClJ
d4
dJ
0-0
c4
cd
c5
Cl
d
Cxc4
d5
Cc
g4
Cl
9 Cc3 }x|3 | O wx|3 Cxd4
leads,aswe have seen,toa sharp
tactica| strugg|e, so taking on d5
can be considered a positiona|
decision.

0 wxlJ
wcZ+
$xlJ
wxd5
Anove|ty,preparedbyTimman
specia||y|ortheCandidatessemi-
hna| match. A|ter | | J e|+ e7
a position arises which we have
a|readyseenmorethanonce|rom
Kasparov-Karpov ( | , 28) | 2
vh3Cxd4 | 3 Cc3wd7 | 4 wxd7+
xd7 with a quick draw.

1c7
Z $b5 wd|
Taking the pawn | 2
vxd4 i s too risky as White
p
|ays
| 3 Cc3 with a considerab|e
i
riti
ative.
J CcJ
O|
course | 3 J e| O-O |4 xc6
b
e
| 5
wxe7 i s bad i n view o| | 5
58
w
Z|e8 and B|ack wins.
J
0-0
4 xc
b /`)
5 $cJ
White strengthens hisd4-pawn,
hoping to then use the vu|ner-
abi|ity o|his opponent's doub|ed
pawns a|ong the c-h|e. We sha||
returntothispositionagainatthe
end o|thisgame.
5
Cd5
2ac 2lc8
P|askett took the other ha||-
open h|e in two games . | 6 . . .
Zab8 | 7 b3 Cxe3 | 8 wxe3 Z|d8
|9 A| c5 ( | 9 . . . |8 2O g3
with strong pressure on B|ack's
position, Meste|-P|askett, Lon-
don | 986) 2O d5 i|8 2| Ce4
and White has a c|ear advantage
(Short-P|askett, London | 986).
7 Cxd5|
Anunusua|decision. B|acknow
has an opportunity to undoub|e
his pawns, but a|ter | 7 . . . cd | 8
wc2 and then | 9 wc6 he has no
counterp|ay at a||. However, in
62
Main Line with 6 . . . Cc6 and 7 . . . g4
response to White's unexpected
move, B|ack rep|ies with one o|
his own . . .
59
B
7
8 wc4
bJ /`9)
wxd5|
3d
A|ter ! 9 wxc6 comes the rep|y
! 9 . . . wxa2.
@c
Z0 gJ
The pawn is sti|l untouchab| e.
2O wxc6 xh2+
Z0 wl5
Yusupov'strainer,internationa|
master Mark Dvoretsky, com-
pared thispure|ypositiona|sacri-
hce to the pawn sacrihce i n the
Marshall Attack. The opponent's
sma|| materia| gain i s |ul|y com-
pensated |or by the activity o|
B|ack's pieces. I| 2O ... 2ae8,
White would have rather not
taken the pawn, but | imited him-
sel| to the quiet 2! wxd5 cd 22
1 c6. The move 2O ... wh5 also
deserved attention.
Z wcZ
A|ter2 ! wxc6 ae822d5 e
1
23 3c5 h5 Black has sumcie
at
compensation|orthepawn. Wi t'
an intermedary move. Timmaa
drivestheenemyqueenaway|roa
thecom|ortab|e|5-square.
Z wh5
ZZ wxc 2ac8
ZJ wgZ 2c4
Z4 1 lc wl5
24 . . . ib4 is useless becauscc|
25 3d2' , exploitingthe weakness
o|thebackrank.However,itwas
worth inter|ering with Ti mmaa's
intended exchange o| rooks wit|
24 . . . wa5' 25 a4 h5 or 25 2e!
w|5 with . . . h7h5 to |ol|ow. I n
this case White a|ready needs to
beaccurateto avoid mishaps.
Z5 i2 h5
Z lJ
xc +
Z7 2xc
Z8 ,xc
Z wlZ
2xc +
wdJ
aJ|
White's extra pawn makes ac
di derence.
J0 gZ
J wl
JZ wcZ
1cI
wxd4
Moredangerous|orB|ackis3
|2 3e3 (32 . . . wb2 33 wb5' )
33we2 ix|234wx|2,|orcingthc
pawn ending 34 . . . wb6 35
wxb6 ab. But, as Timmaa`
s
second,GrandmasterU||Anders-
son established, White has ac
chances|orsuccess in thisendin
36 &|2 &|8 37 &e3 &e7
3
Main Line with 6 . . . (c6 and 7 . . . 1.g4 63
_
4
&d6!
JZ
wbZ
JJ
wxbZ
xbZ
J4 g4 g
But not 34 . . . hg 35 |g, and
whitegetsadistantpassedpawn.
J5 gh
gh
In
thebishopending the weak-
oess ol Black's queenside pawns

ives White a dehnite advantage,

although not enough to win.
|xchanging another pair o|
pawns, Timman eases his
opponent'staskconsiderably.
J vgJ c5+
J7 vh4 xhZ
J8 vxh5 d
J vg5 vl8
40 vl5
vc8
4 cJ c
4Z c5 c7
4J d4
t-t
And so, Whi te'sintercstingpos-
itiona| plan |inked with the
doubled enemy c-pawns and the
exchange on d5, was not whol|y
success|u| in thisgame. However,
Nige| Short |ater came upwitha
prepared i mprovement. Let's
return to the position in the dia-
ramalter B|ack's | 4th move.
Short-Olalsson, Reyk|avik
|
987
. | 5 @d l ! (c|ear|y a more
e
xactwayo|de|endingthed-pawn
th
a
n | 5 e3) ! 5 . . . @|e8 | 6 w|3
Q
d5
| 7 ^xd5wxd5| 8 wxd5(this
t
in
e White wi||ingly exchanges
(ueens) | 8 . . . cd |9 |4 c6 (60)
60
w
Howsurprising it is that this is
the decisivemistake. One passive
moveputsB|ack inacritica|pos-
ition. The active | 9 ... 3|6
deserved attention 2O xc7
Ze4. Now Shortrea|iseshis pos-
itiona| advantage i n a technica|
manner.
2O Zac| Zac8 2| || |6 22
@d3 &|7 23 |3 |8 24 @b3 h5
25 h4 Ze6 26 a4 e8 27 @e |
@xe | + 2 8 xe l c 5 29dc xc5
3O Zb7 d4 3| d2 b6 32
b4' @c4 33 d6 g5 34 a5 g |
34 hg |g 36 b5 Za4 37 a6 Za2+
38 ;d3 ;d8 3 9 b8 @a3 + 4O
c2 @ a5 4| c7 + | -O.
Black quick|y managed to
improvehisgameasearlyasmove
| 6. | 6 . . . @ab8' (instead o| ! 6 . . .
]d5)|7b3wd7| 8 d5cd| 9 ]xd5
^xd52O@xd5|6 2| e3 wxd5
22 wxd5 3xa | 23 g3 a6 24 c6
Ze625 xc7 3e526 wc4 h527
b4 d6 28 a3 |8' and B|ack
survived (LobronGeorgiev, San
Bernardino ! 987).
3 Main Line with 6 . . . Je7
and 7 . . . 0-0
Game No. 16
Sax-Korchnoi
Wijk aan Zee 1990
I e4 e5
2 lf3 lf6
3 lxeS d6
4 lf3 lxe4
5 d4 i. e7
Usually 5 . . . d5 is played
immediately.
6 1.d3 dS
Once upon a time Black con
tinued 6 . . . lf6, leaving the pawn
on d6. In the ffth game of the
Fischer-Petrosian match (Buenos
Aires 1 971) after 7 h3 0-0 8 0-0
le8 9 c4 1bd7 10 lc3 c6 I I lel
lf8 12 1.f4 a6 13 'b3 le6
a complicated struggle developed
with roughly equal chances, but
later on it was established that 1 3
b4! gives White a clear advantage.
7 0-0 0-0
8 c4 lf6
Korchnoi avoids action i the
6
centre with 8 . . . lc6 and
withdraws the knight from the
centre.
9 h3
A good prophylactic move.
Other continuations allow Black
to pin the knight on f3.
9 de
After 9 . . . lc6 I 0 lc3 a position
from Kasparov-Karpov ( I , 48)
arises by transposition. I took the
pawn on c4 and White obtained a
small advantage. Korchnoi prefers
to exchange pawns immediately,
but develops the knight on d7,
then on b6, to strengthen the
blockade of the d5-square.
10 1.xc4 lbd7
11 lc3 lb6
12 1.b3 lbdS
13 le 1
14 i.gS
c6
1. e6 (61)
The strategies of opening vari
ations are very interesting: on the
board we have a position from the
Main Line with 6 + i.e7 and 7 0-0 65
61
w
Queen's Gambit Accepted which
arises a|ter | d4 d5 2 c4 dc 3 e3
e
5 4
xc4 ed 5 ed C|6 6 C|3
e77 O-OO-O 8 h3 t bd7 9 Cc3
b6| O b3 Cbd5 | | e | c6 | 2
g5 e6. But the p|ayers have
talen two moves more to reach
t|isposition!lnprinciplewecou|d
stop here and direct the reader
toa monograph on the Queen's
Cambit,butthati snotour|ob.( l
|aveusedsomeo| masterZlochev-
sly'snotes).
5 2ac
In the game Razuvayev-Bagi-
rov, Yaros|avl | 982, a Queen's
Cambit, there |o|lowed | 5 Ce5
c7 (or | 5 . . . Cxc3 | 6 bc b3
l7
vxb3 @b8 | 8 |4wi thasma|l
ad
va
ntage) | 6 c2 e8 | 7 wd3
e | 8 w|3 wi th attacking pros-
|ects.
5
Zc8
At
hrstsightBlackhasnoprob-
le
n
s.
Al| his minor pieces are
deve|oped,thed5-squarei sblock-
adedandthepawnond4cansoon
become a good ob| ect o|attack.
Butit'snotaseasyasthat.Whi te's
pieceshavea|reegame,hisknights
can take up wonder|ul outposts
on e5 and c5. Undoubted|y, the
initiativei son his side.
Cc5 Cd7
Black tries to si mpli|y.
7 $xc7
xc7
8 Cc4 Cl8
A|ter | 8 . . . Cxe5 | 9 de Whi te
has been relieved o| his iso|ated
pawnandhasanexcel|entoutpost
ond6|or a kni ght.
Cc5 wc8
Betteris | 9 . . . c8 |ol|owedby
2O . . . ed6 or 2O . . . wa5. On
e8 thequeen stands opposite the
enemy rook.
62
w
Z0 wlJ| 2d8! (62)
l t i hard to say whether this
i s an oversight or an incorrect
eva|uation o|the position arising
asaresu|to|White'scombination.
But apparently, Black did not
want to go back 2O . . . wd8,
admitting his mi stake (which
66 Main Line with 6 . . . _e7 and 7 . . 0-0
wou|d have been thebestmove).
Z 'xb7! 2xb7
ZZ 'xc
NowBlackhastogiveuparook
and two pawns|ortwo pieces,as
23 xd5 Zxd524wxd5threatens.
ZZ 2xbJ
ZJ wxbJ 2d7
Z4 waJ
lt is possib|e that both p|ayers
aimed |or this position. Approxi-
mate materia| equality has been
maintained,but a|| White's pieces
areplacedextreme|y actively.and
hisqueenside pawns areready to
quick|y rush |orward.
Z4 wa8
Z5 b4
'g
Z b5 h
Z7 wlJ wb7
27 . . . ^|6 intending28 . . . d5
|ai|sto28 ^e7+.
Z8
2c5!
Z a4
J0 wgJ!
J wb8+
JZ Cxb8
JJ 2c8+!
Cl
d5
Cc4
wxb8
'xc5
An i mportant intermediary
move. I|33 dc Black would have
played 33 . . Zd8.
JJ h7
J4 dc
2c7 (63)
Sax hastrans|ormedhisadvan-
tage. White now has on|y two
pawns|or the piece, but his con-
nectedpassedpawnsonthequeen-
sideareverythreatening.Theon|y
63
w
chancetostoptheenemy'in|aa|ty'
is to exchangerooks.
J5 Zxc7 'xc7
J a5 g
Black'ski ngistoo|araway.aac
without him Black can't haad' :
thepawns.
J7 a!
It is not easy to decide whic|
pawn to queen. Sax plays t|:
ending particularly accurately.
J7 Cc8
l|37 . . . ;|5 38 b6 ;e6 39 b7
B|ack is in zugzwang. A|tet t|:
pre|iminary |2|3 the white kia
comestothequeensidewithdccis
iveedect.
J8 Cd7
;l5
38 . . . e6 is no he|p beca
cs:
o|39 b6! xd7 4O b7.
J b
'c7
40 ba
I| 4O b7, then 4O . . . ^ce 4
1
b8( w) xb8 42 xb8 ;e6. a
a1
theknightistrappedin theco
t
o
cr

40 Cc8
4 Cb Cxa7
42
lxdS
Main Line with 6 . . . .el and 7 . . . 0-0 67
45 <g3 wd4
We
c
ould draw a close here. 46
M4 f6
42
w
es 47 g4 1-
43
le3 hS If 47 . . . hg then 4 lxg4 f5 49
44
wh2 g6 le5 etc. is sufcient.
4
Main Line with 6 . . . j
d
6
I
Z
J
4
5

7
GameNo. ! 7
1mmau~balov
St. John (4) 1988
c4 c5
ClJ Cl
Cxe5 d
ClJ Cxe4
d4 d5
$dJ $d
0-0 0-0
Thisvariation, the symmetrica|
variation, was known |ong be|ore
the opening itse|| got its name.
However, in recent years i t has
again acquired great popu|arity,
even at grandmaster |eve|. Black
avoids active, but slight|y risky,
variations, linked with attacking
the centre with . . . Cb8-c6, and
tries to strengthen his centre so|-
id|y with . . . c7-c6.
8 c4 c (64)
Here Whi te has three main
possibilities at hi s disposa| 9
wc2, 9 Cc3and 9cd(thelasttwo
moves o|te transposed, and the
68
64
w
harm|esscontinuation|or Black9
@e | , is now rarely met). Corrcs-
pondingly,materia|re|atingtothe
symmetrica| variation is dividec
i nto threegames, thisgamedea
ls
with 9 wc2, game | 8 with 9 lc
3
and game ! 9 with9 cd.
wcZ
Ca
A|ter9. . . |5Whitecansucc
es
s
|u||yseizespaceonthequeensic
c.
|or examp|e. ! O Cc3 Ca6 | | a'
Cc7 | 2 c5 e7 | 3 |4 g5
1 4
xc7 wxc7 | 5 @ad | g4 | 6
t
el
g5 | 7 g3 (Burkov-Var|am
o
,
or | Oc5 c7 | | Cc3Cd7 | 2
te
2
we8 | 3 |4 d8 !4 Ce5 j
6
l
5
(xd7 }xd7 ! 6 |3 (Geiser-
[ot
schil). Curiously, both these

a
a
es
were p|ayed i n the USSR
c
ct
w
een ! 985and | 987 i n a the-
a
atic
correspondencetournament
dcvotcd to the symmetrical vari-
a
|io
n o|the Petrod'
0 aJ
|ar|ier opening books recom-
aendedtaking thepawnsacrihce.
l0 }xe4de ! ! wxe4 Ze8 | 2 wd3
-b4 ! 3 wb3 |5 |4 }g5 with
advantage to White. However,
rccently B|ack has |ound severa|
aatidotes. l nstead o| | 2 . . . ^b4
|ctter is | 2 ... .g4 ! 3 g5 wd7
l 1
(
bd2 h6 ! 5 .ie3 |5 (Kruppa-
kozenta|is, Lvov | 985).
Theknight's|umptob4iseven
s|ronger a move earlier . | l . . .
c4. Let us |ook at the game
KlaichGrodzensky, Corr | 987
8
9, !2 Cg5 (! 2 a3 Ze8 ! 3 Ce5
ae ! 4 wc2 }xe5 | 5 de @xe5
ithadvantagetoB|ack) |2 . . . |5
l J We2 |4 ! 4 C|3 (or |4 Ce4 |3
l
' g| .h3 | 6 Ze l wc7 |7 a3
=\h2 + ! 8 &hl Ca6 |9 g5
.US
2OCc3 h6 2! Cge4 }g6 22

eJ
@|5 23 g2 @a|8 with
.o
m
pensation|or the pawn, Kra-
ovRaetsky, same correspon-
ae
acetournamentasabove) |4 . . .
ig4 l 5 a3 }x|3 | 6 g| wh4 | 7
ee
+
h8 (65) .
Be
re ! 8 wg4 wxg4+ | 9|gCc2
2
0
.:
a2
Cxd4 |eads to equa|ity.
Yh
ite
risked grabbing the piece
65
w
Main Line with 6 . . . d6 69
andcametogrie|. ! 8 ab(| 8 wxd6
@|6 |9 wd7 ^c2 2O @a2 xd4)
| 8 . . . @|6 |9 wd7 @g6+ 2O h|
Zd8 2| w|5 Zg52 2 we6wh523
^d2 Zg6 24 wxg6 hg 25 @xa7
}xb4 26 Zxb7 }xd2 27 }xd2
wx|3+ 28 gl @xd4 O- ! (29
}c3 wg4+ 3O h| |3 3 | @g l
wxgl +' ).
0
}g4 (66)
Sa|ovp|ayedthispiece o|home
preparation (although not a
nove|ty! )ingame|ouro|thisCan-
didates match, but the second
game had gone di derent| y. |O . . .
|5 | | c3 c7 | 2 e2e6|3 b4
h8 | 4 }b2 we8 | 5 Zael wh5
| 6 Ce5 |4 | 7 |3 ^4g5 | 8 cd (a
hasty exchange as Black has no
threatsontheki ngside i|. . . @|6
then Cg4 , so the immediate | 8
}c l i s better) | 8 . . . cd | 9 .c l
}xe5 2Ode }d7 2| .ib2 a6 22
wd2(theconsequenceso|the| 8th
move startto tel l . now Whitehas
to contend with . . . }d7-b5) 22
. . . Zad8 23 Zc l }e8' 24 }d4
70 Main Line with 6 . . . d6
3g6 25 3b6 Ad7 26 3xg6 hg
27 c5 A|5 28 d6 C|7 29
Ac8+ h7 3O Cd4 'xd4 3 |
wxd4 'xe5 32 xe5 @xe5 33
wx|4whenBlackhadmanagedto
gainequalityandadrawwassoon
agreed.
66
w
c5
Timman |iked | O . . . g4, and
amontha|tertheendo|thematch
hechosei thimse||againstL|ubo-
|evic(Li nares | 988),a|terwhicha
|ascinating tactica| struggle
ensued . | | xe4 de | 2 Cg5 3|5
| 3 Cc3 @e8 |4 @e l c7 l 5 wb3
wxd4 | 6 3e3 Cc5 | 7 wb4 wd6
I 8 wxc5 wxh2+ | 9 |l g4 2O
Ch3 Ae5 2| Cd5 3xh3 22 gh
b6 23 Cxb6 Axc5 24 Cxa8
wxh3+ 25 &e2 Axc4, and ten
moves |ater Whiteresigned.
ln thegame Short-Hort, West
Germany | 988, there|ol|owed | |
'bd2 Cxd2 l2 Cxd2 wh4 | 3 |4
Aae8 l 4c5 b8 | 5 Cb3 Ae7 | 6
d2 @|e8 | 7 @|2 Cc7| 8 g3 wh5
| 9|5 |6 2Oa43|3 2| Aa|l e4
22 Ca5' Ca6 23 3xe4 de
24
wb3+ w|7 25 wx|7+ &x|
7
2
6
@e2 and White obtaine
d
th
e
advantage. Correct was 2O

Ca6' 2 | @a|l ( 2| Ca5 3|3

' 2
2
@a|l 3xg3! |oses) 2 | .
h3
with an equa|game.
An active, a|though not vcry
dangerous,continuationoccurrea
in L|ubo|evic-Hort, Amsterdam
| 988. A|ter | | Ce5! 3xe5 | 2
de
Cac5 | 3 |3 ( | 3 b4 'xd3 |4 'xd3
|5 | 5 cd cd | 6 wd4 @c8 aaa
Black is better, Hazai-V|adim|-
rov, Rotterdam | 988)| 3 . . . lxd
3
| 4 wxd3 Cc5 | 5 wd4 Cb3 1 6
wxg4 Cxal | 7 h6 g6 | 8 |
wx|8| 9 cdcdchanceswereeqaal,
although, thanks to a mistakc |]
hi s opponent Hort managed |e
win. 2O wd4 Cc22 | w|2 Ac8 22
wxa7 (correct was 22 @c l vc
'
wi th equality) 22 . . . d4' 23 ld2
we724|4 Ce3 25 Abl wd7' 26
Ce4 &g7 27 wb6 Ac6 28 v|'
w|5! and several moves |a|e|
Whiteresigned.
A|ter| | c5Salov,withaccarate
moves,a|so managed to equa|is
c

.c7
Z Cc5 xc5
J dc Ccxc5
ln theoriginalgameShakar
o

Rozenta|is, USSRCorr | 986)

the
otherknighttook onc5 and Bla
c|
was qui cklyrouted. | 3 . . . Caxc'

|4 |3 wb6 l 5 e3 d4 | 6

x
c
@|d8 | 7 3xc4 A xd4 | 8 )xh

l 9
|g b3 2O &h| ^xa l 2 |
'[5 c 5
2 2 wx|7 &xh72 3 e6 d5
4 ;c3' e5 25 e4' h8 26
8
g
5! and Black resigned (26 . .
;xg
5
27 |3).
4
xh7+
vh8
5
b4
wh4
^||er l 5 . . . d7 | 6 b2g6 l 7
_x
g
6 |g l 8 wxg6 White's attack
| acr
eases.
dJ CxdJ
7 wxdJ Cc7
8 hJ h5
l4 l5
Also possible was | 9 . . . |6 2O
)b! |e 2 | xe5 e6
c|ances |or bothsides.
Z0 'dZ
'c
Z 'bJ b
wi th
Sa|ovclai msthatamoreaccur-
+|eway to equality i s2 l . . . d422
xd4 Zad8 23 ^x|5 wx|4.
ZZ 'd4 Cxd4
ZJ wxd4 l7
Z4 cJ
Zac8
Z5 2ac Zc7
Z ZcJ
Zlc8
Z7 Zlc wc7
Z8 vlZ
c
Z vgJ vg8
J0 a4

hite has i mproved the pos-

||i
oa
o|his pieces to the |ulland
ro
w
needsto open a |ine to pen-
:|t
ate Black's
position.
J0
vl7
JI a5
ba
JZ
ba (67)
67
B
Main Line with 6 . . . ..d6 71
With a pawn sacrihce Sa|ov
now i ni |iates a general exchange
o|a|| |he ma|orpieces and turns
t he game into an opposite-
coloured bishop ending.
JZ c5
JJ Zxc5 Zxc5
J4 Zxc5 Zxc5
J5 wxc5 wxc5
J xc5
a
For another45movesTimman
triesinvaintonndsuccess,buti n
theendheis|orcedtomakepeace
al| the same. For the sake o|
comp|eteness we give a|| the
remauug moves.
J7 b d7 J8 d4 g J
vh4 c 40 vg5 d7 4I vh
c 4Z c5 d7 4J b c8
44 cJ d7 45 lZ c8 4
a7 d7 47 c5 c8 48 d4
c 4 cJ d7 50 bZ c8
5I a d7 5Z vg5 c 5J
bZ c8 54 cJ d7 55 a
c8 5 bZ c 57 cJ c8
58 h4 d7 5 d4 c 0 cJ
d7 lZ c8 Z b d7
72 Main Line with 6 . . . jd6
J $c5 $c 4 $lZ $d7 5 h5
gh xh5 $b5 7 g5 c
8 g4 $dJ gl+ $xl5 70 $d4
$c4 7 $cJ $dJ 7Z g4 $cZ
7J lJ $b 74 cJ $h7 75
d4 $g 7 $dZ $l5 77 $cJ
c4 78 c5 b 7 b $dJ
80 c $cZ 8 c5 !-
68
B

Z
J
4
5

7
8

Game No. | 8
A. bokoIov~lll
Odessa 1989
c4 c5
'lJ 'l
Cxc5 d
'lJ Cxc4
d4 d5
$dJ $d
0-0 0-0
c4 c
CcJ (68)
Deve|oping the knight on c3
was regarded as |air|y dangerous
|or Black be|ore this game, but
here 011 manages to p|ay a valu-
abletheoretica|nove|tyandeasi|y
gets a draw. In |act, thanks
|e
his discovery this game won
t
|
e
Jnormator award |or the
b
e

|
novelty'

0 bc
CxcJ
dc
The position a|ter |O +
_
|
| l cdcdwi|lbelookedat inde|
ai
l
inthe|o|lowinggame.O|course
,i|
Whitewants to avoidexchangi
a
_
pawns on c4, then instead o| 9
Cc3 he shou|d himse|| begia by
exchanging in the centre 9 cd
cd andonly then p|ay |O Cc3.
$xc4 $g4
Z wdJ
I|! 2 @b l good is ! 2 . . . b5' ,|or
example . ! 3 3d3 ^d7 ! 4 2e |
Cb6 ! 5 c2 @e8! with equality
(ShortMakarychev, Rotterdam
! 988).
69
w
Z
J
4
5
Cg5
hJ
l4
'd7
'l
$h5
h (69)
g4 hg
I| ! 6 . . . b5 l 7 b3 c5'
!
_d5
'
3
g6 | 9 wxg6 hg 2O wxg5
a
a
d
Wh
ite's chances are better.
Al
s
o
i n
Whi te's |avour i s | 6 . . .
_xg4
| 7 Cx|7! zx|7 | 8 3x|7+
)x
l
| 9hg Cxg4 2O w|5+.
7 lg
b5
8 3b3
| 8
g| bc | 9 wd2 3g6 2O |g

xg7 2| wh6+ &g8 22 3g5

g
e
etc. loses.
8 Cxg4
This knight sacrihce was hrst
seea i n Short-Htbner, Tilburg
i 988, although the moves . . . b-
c5and3c4-b3wereplayedlater.
The hnish o| that game is given
ce|ow.
hg wd7|
A|ter | 9 . . . 3xg4 there|ol|ows
2O g6 3e6 2 | zx|7! with very
strong threats.
Z0 gh
lnNunn-Salov, Brusse|s | 988,
2O w|5 3xg4 2| wxd7 xd7 22
2x|7 Ax|723g63e8gaveWhite
ro
thing.
Z0 wg4+
Z lZ 2ac8
ll Whi te had p|ayed 2 | h2
t
his
move wou|d havel edt ovic-
to
ry
|orB|ack. Now the threat is
2
2 . . .
Ae2+ 23 wxe2 wg3 mate.
ZZ zgl wh4+
ZJ gZ (70)
At
this point both games coin-
ci
de
again. Here Htbner p|ayed
23
.
. .
c5anda|ter24zh| resigned.
I
a
deed,i |24. . . wg4+ 25 &|l
(25
70
B
Main Line with 6 . . . i.d6 73
&|2 g3+) 25 . . . c4 26 3dl
Ze l + 27 &xe l wg2 28 we2'
wxhl + 29 d2B|ack'sattack is
beatenohand hehas nothing.
23. . . Ae4 |ooksdangerous,but
here also, by continuing with 24
w|3! White de|uses any dangers,
|or examp|e. 24 . . . 3h2 (24 . . .
A|e825 3x|7 +) 25 3d2! Ag4+
( 25 . . . xgl 26 A xg l ) 26 wxg4
wxg4+ 27 &xh2 wh4+ (27 . . .
wxh5+ 28 g3) 28 &g2 we4+
(28. . . z e8 29 3d | ) 29 &|2w|5 +
(29 . . . z e8 3 O Ag2' ) 3 O &e2
ze8+ 3 | &dl . The checks have
ended and White has a decisive
materia|advantage.
However,notsogoodi s25zh|
Ag4+ 26 |l Ag3' 27 wxc6
wh3+ 28 &|2 3|5+ 29 &el .
This position arose i n Psakhis-
Mi kha|chishin ( K|aipeda | 988).
A|ter 29 . . . gl ' 3O &d| wd3+
3| 3d2 e3 Black would have
gainedtheupperhand,butB|ack
played 29. . . z c8(71), be|ieving
thatthisalsoledeasilytovictory.
74 Main Line with 6 . . . i.d6
71
w
But here came the ehective
stri ke 3O e6! and B|ack soon
hadto resign.
So, it seems that the |o||owing
conc|usion mi ght be made . the
knight sacrihce i s unsound. 011
got the award |or re|uting this
conc|usion. heproves that B|ack
can easi|y drawa piecedown.
ZJ hZ+|
An i mportant i mprovement,
which puts into doubt the |uture
o| the who|e variation |rom | 2
wd3.
Z4 l
$l4|
The who|e point, threatening
1 e8-e|+, and a|ter 25 x|4
wx|4+ 26 g2 Ae3 the question
remains whether White can beat
ohtheattack.
Z5 lJ
The on|y move. 25 d| |oses
i mmediate|yto25. . . Ae|+! . The
same resu|t comes |rom 25 g6
e I + 26 &xe | wxg l + 27 e2
e8+. Now B|ack|orces a draw,
andthisoutcomea|sosuitsWhite.
Z5
Z xc
Z7 $cZ
Z8 2xc |
c +|
xg +
$xcI
A|ter 28 d3 xg5 B| acksim
p|yremainsa pawn up.
Z8 xcI
Z g c8+
J0 &dJ .b +
J dZ
Obvious|y not 3 | c2 xa2
and|7i sde|ended.
J
JZ $dJ
JJ $dZ
1 1
z-z
GameNo. | 9
Ovors~Rozcutals
Lvov 1990
I c4 c5
Z ClJ Cl
J Cxc5 d
4 ClJ Cxc4
5 d4 d5
dJ $d
7 0-0 0-0
8 c4 c
cd cd
0 CcJ
The most popu|ar move order,
which gives B|ack quite a |ew
prob|ems . White bui |ds a stab|e
centre and his opponentneeds to
p|ay accurate|y.
0
b
CxcJ
$g4
72
B
Z Ab (72)
Z b
| 2. . . Cd7is a|so o|ten played.
Ict's |ook at the most i nteresting
cxampleso|recentyears .
13 h3
O| course not | 3 @xb7 Cb6
with the threat o| | 4. . . 3c8.
13 . . . .h5 (73)
Worse is ! 3 . . . 3x|3 ! 4 x|3
Cb6 ! 5 g3 @c8 ! 6 h4 @c7 | 7 h5
with a clear advantagc to Whitc
(DvoirisYakovich,Ki ev | 986).
73
w
Now the b-pawn can be taken.
I|
|4
@xb7 Cb6 ! 5 d2 then
!
5
. . . c8 i s bad because o| | 6
xh7+' xh7 ( | 6 . . . h8 ! 7
Main Line with 6 . . . id6 75
Axb6ab | 8 bl ) | 7 Cg5+ g6
|8g4xg4 ( | 8 . . . xb7 |9 gh+
|6 2O @e l ) | 9hgxb7 2O @e l
with thethreato | 2 | oc2+. A|so
insumcientis |5 . . . g6 | 6 xg6
hg| 7 we2andBlackhasdimcu|ty
in exp|oitingthe'iso|ation' o|the
rook on b7. However,byplaying
the preliminary | 5 . . . h6 | 6 @e|
and on|y now | 6 . . . c8, B|ack
gets an equa| game,|orexamp|e.
| 7 a6 wc6 |8 Ce5 xb7 | 9
.ixb7 3xd| 2O xa8 xe5 2 |
de(nobetteri s 2 | @xd l xd422
xd5 Cxd5 23 cd Ab8) 2| . . .
3a4 22 3b7 3b5! 23 @bl c4
withaquick draw (Serper-Akop-
yan. Tbilisi | 989).
In A. Soko|ov-Rozentalis,
Minsk | 986, White p|ayed | 5
a6i mmediately, buta|ter | 5 . . .
we8 ! 6 we2 wc6 | 7 wb5 xc3
| 8 3b2 wc2 ! 9 @c l we4' 2O 1el
g62 | e2 Cc42 2 xc4 dc 23
g4 xg4 24 hg xg4+ 2 5 |l
wh3+ the game ended i n per-
petual check.
14 Ab5!
Thestrongest move in the dia-
gram position. Movi ng the rook
totheh|thrankgivestheopponent
several prob|ems. We sha|| |ook
at the valuab|e theoretica| game
Be|yavsky-Petursson, Reyk|avik
! 988.
14 . . . tb6 15 c4! xf3
Dangerous i s | 5 ... dc | 6
xh7+ xh7 | 7 Axh5+, but i|
76 Main Line with 6 . . . ..d6
1 5 . . . Ixc4 there comes 1 6 I xd5
h2+ ( 1 6 . . . xf3 1 7 'xf3 with
advantage to White) 1 7 Ixh2!
'xd5 1 8 xc4 'xc4 19 'xh5,
and Black is left with nothing.
Interestingly, this position frst
occurred in Mahia-Pia (Mar del
Plata 1988) and was repeated
in Dvoiris-Vladimirov (Barnaul
1988).
16 1 xf3 de 17 c2!
Having opened lines, White
develops a dangerous initiative.
17 . . . a6
This naive move allows an
efective fnale.
18 g5! ab
Bad is 1 8 . . . f6 because of 1 9
1h5 h6 20 xh6 ab 21 'g6, and
if the queen retreats 19 f6 is
decisive. But, of course, without
the queen Black has no chance
either.
19 xd8 'fxd8 20 1h5 g6 21
'xb5 c7 22 a4 'xd4 23 'c5
I d7 24 g3!, and White won shortly
afterwards.
The game Kudrin-Machago,
Thessaloniki (ol) 1988, fnished in
a similar way: 1 7 . . . lb8 1 8 a4
a6 19 g5 'c7 ( 1 9 . . . f6 20 1h5
h6 21 xh6) 20 xh7+ 'xh7
21 1h5+ 'g8 22 f6! h2+
(22 . . . e7 2 xg7! 'xg7 24
'g4+ <f6 2 lf5+ we6 26
lc5+ f5 27 'e2+) 23 'hl 'd6
24 xg7 'xg7 25 lg5+ Wf6
26 lel! 'e6 (26 . . . lh8 27 'f5+
'g7 2 'xf7+) 27 lxe6+ fe 2
8
lg6+ 'e7 29 lg7+ 1-0 (29 .
wd8 3 'g5+ 'c8 3 1 'c5+).
Belyavsky recommends 1 7
'c7 straight away - 1 8 a4 a6 19
lh5 g6 20 h6 lfe8 2 11f6 fs
22 xf8 I xf8 2 I c5 'd8 2
4
'xd8 laxd8 2 lbl ld6 26 a5
ld7 27 lxc4 b5 28 ab lxb6 with
a level ending.
In Timman-Anand, Tilburg
1991, Black placed the queen on
the neighbouring square - 1 7 .
'd7. There followed 1 8 a4 c7
19 lc5 d6 20 lb5 c7 21
lc5 d6. White now rejected a
repetition of moves and after 2
a5 IeS 23 f5 'd8 24 a6 le7
25 ab I b8 26 g5 f6 27 e6+
wh8 2 f4 xf4 29 'xf4 lxb7
30 d5 Ig6 31 'xc4 got a slightly
better ending on account of the
passed d-pawn. Nevertheless,
White was unable to make use of
it, and, unsurprisingly, was barely
able to retain it in the long ending.
1 I bS
Threatening 14 lxd5 xh2+
1 5 Ixh2.
13 c7
14 h3
Luring the Black bishop on g4
to the ffth rank, i order to
play
c4 comfortably. What happens if
White pushes the c-pawn forward
at once? This occurred i the ga
me
Short-Timman, Hilversum 1989:
14 c4 (74)
74
B
14 . . . de!
Worse is ! 4 . . . wd6 ! 5 Ze ! '
3x|3 | 6 wx|3 wxh2+ | 7 ;|l
^c6! 8 @ xd5 (75).
75
B
This position arose in Short-
Sa|ov (Amsterdam ! 989). ln
tesponse to ! 8 ... Zae8, Short
_ives the|o||owingbeauti|u| vari-
ations. ! 9 @xe8' wh| + ( ! 9 . . .
=xe8 2O Zh5) 2O ;e2 Zxe8 + 2 |
=e3 Ze7 22 Zd7! @xd72 3 wxc6

h5+
24|3or2 ! . . . wa! 22w|5
=e6
(22 . . . g6 23 wd7, 22 . . .

x
d4+23Zxd4wxd424wxh7+
|8
25h8+ and 26 wxe8+) 23

h7
+ ;|8 24 wh8+ ;e7 25

x
g7, and Whi te getsthe upper
Main Line with 6 . . . id6 77
hand. However, in the game he
made an error | 9 e3 and
Sa|ov cou|d have a|ready gained
an advantage by | 9 . . . |5' with
many di derent threats 2O . . .
Cb4, 2O . . . Ce7 or2O. . . |4. But
B|acki nturnmadea seriouss| ip,
movingthewrongpawn | 9. . .
g6. A|ter 2O a3' White got the
initiative back and quick|y took
the upperhand. 2O . . . ' h|+ (2O
. . . |5 2 | wh3 wxh3 22 gh |4 23
d2 @d8 24 c3 Short) 2 |
;e2 wh42 2 g4 |5 2 3 @d7 |4 24
Zh | w|6 25 wd5+ Ze6 26 g5
Cxd4+ 27 ;d| | -O.
Let us return to ShortTim-
man.
15 .e4 lc6! 16 .g5
l| | 6 xc6 there|o||ows | 6 . . .
wd6! threatening . . . x|3.
16 . . . x/3 17 wx/3 'id6 18 Zg3
Nobetteris | 8 g3Cxd4| 9 we3
@ae82Oa3 ^e2+ 2| ;g2wd4
or ! 8 @h5 g6 | 9 a3 ]xd4 2O
wh3 ^e2+ 2 | ;h| wd4 (Tim-
man).
18 . . . lxd4 19 wg4 g6 20 ..xa8
.xa8?
B|ack throws away a |arge
advantage, which hc wou|d have
retained a|ter the pre|iminary 2O
. . . |5 and then 2 ! wd! (2! a3
we5 22 wd| Ce2+) 2| . . . Zxa8
22 @e ! b5 23 b2 Zd8 and
Whi te i sde|ence|ess.
21 nd1 nd8 22 wf1 'id5 23 neJ
/5?
78 Main Line with 6 . . . .d6
Now, movingthe |-pawn |eads
tode|eat. ltwasnecessarytop|ay
23 . . . c3 24 A xc3wb5 +.
24 h4 f4
Now a|ter 24 . . . c3 25 @xd4
xd426 @e8+White wins.
25 1e7 h5 26 f6 1-0.
4 a(76)
Be|ore retreating the bishop
B|ack wants to drive the enemy
rook |rom theh|th rank. l| |4. . .
h5therecomes | 5 c4, and a|ter
the passive | 4. . . e6 | 5 Cg5 h6
| 6 wh5 wd6 | 7 g3 Cd7 | 8 |4
wc6 | 9 Cxe6 C|6 2O e2White
has a c|ear positiona| p|us
(Dvoiris-Rozenta|is, Barnau|
| 984).
76
w
Now i| the rook retreats to b|
or b3 B|ack rep|ies | 5 . . . h5
andchancesareequa|.
5 2xd5|!
An interesting possibi|ity. ln
return|ortheexchangeWhitewi||
getapawnandastronginitiative.
lt i s interesting that when this
book was a|most comp|ete, the
|o||owing i nteresting game too|
p|ace in the Candidates quarter-
hna| in Brusse|s.
Short-Ge||and, Brusse|s | 99 l
15 hg!?
The same idea as in the game
weare |ooki ngat,butinas|ightly
diherent |ormat.
15 . . . ab 16 c2 g6 1 7 h6 1e8
18 xb5 1e4
| 8 . . . Cd7 | 9 c6.
19 g5 d6 20 te5 e6 21 f4 (77)
77
B
The position |ooks |air|y dan-
gerous|orB|ack his queenside
issea|ed and there is no |utureat
a|| in exchanging on e5. Mean-
whi |e d3 and |4-|5 threaten.
However,Ge||andhndsane|egant
way o| escaping |rom his tricky
position with the he|p o|a piece
sacrihce.
21 . . . tc6! 22 txc6
22 xc6 xe5 2 xa8
xl^
wi th dangerous threats. There
is
nothing in 22|5.
22 . . . 1xf4 23 1xf4 xf4
Two minor pieces against
a
rook -generally speaking, a con
siderable advantage, but taking
in
to
account that the bishop on
h6
is
hopelessly incarcerated, the
chan
ces can be considered equal.
24 fe5 $xe5 25 de 'xe5 26 a4
'el+
27 wh2 Jc8 28 'd3 'e5+
29 '
g3 'xc3 30 'j4 'c7 31
wg3 'c3+ 32 <h2 'c7 33 'g3
'c3+ j-j.
In recent commentaries to this
game Gelfand and his second,
International Master Kapengut,
have made a number of improve
ments. Instead of 19 g5? there are
better prospects in 1 9 c4!. Black's
move 20 . . . 1e6? is inaccurate.
After the immediate 20 . . . fc6! 21
.lxc6 (21 f3? lxe5 22 .lxc6 Je7!
etc.) 21 . . . J xe5 22 de (22 ..xa8?
loses to 22 . . . Je2!) 22 . . . ''xc623
f4 Ja3 Black's position is better.
Finally, White also made a mis
take on move 23: 23 ''d2! Jxfl +
24 wxfl .lg3 2 a4 ''e4 26 .d3
'lh4 27 ''e3! would lead to an
advantage for White.
15 lxd5
16 hg fc6!
The only move, but quite
sufcient.
17 fg5 h6
18 fe4
White has created a range of
thre
ats -1 9 .xh6, 1 9 g5, 19 'f3,
but
Black has a way of repelling all
of
them.
18 .!adS!
Main Line with 6 . . .td6 79
19 g5
19 ''f3 is unsuitable because
of 1 9 . . . fe5! and 19 .xh6 IS
answered by 1 9 . . . fxd4.
19
lfeS
20 le1 fxd4!
21 cd 'xd4
22 'c2!
22 ff6+ comes up against 22
. . . gf 23 lxe8+ lxe8 24 .h7+
wxl]7 25 'xd4 Je1 mate.
22 'xd3
23 'xc7
lcS
But not 2 . . . hg 24 .xg5 f6?
2 .xf6!
24 'b7 Jxcl
And here if 24 . . . hg 25 .xg5
f5 the bishop manoeuvre 26 .f6!
decides.
25 Jxcl 'xe4
26 'xb6 'f4
27 Jfl le6
28 'd8+ h7
29 'd3+ 'e4
30 'xe4+ lxe4
31 gh
xh6
As a result of this wild skirmish
an equal rook ending has emerged.
Black's rook is a little more active
and so he decides to make his
opponent sufer a little. But, of
course, a peaceful outcome IS
unavoidable.
32 ld1
33 ld2
34 g3
35 g2
36 l b2
la4
g5
g6
f5
la3
80 Main Line with 6 . . . ..d6
37 lc2 'h5 44 lc2 'f5
38 ld2 aS 45 lb2 lc3
39 lc2 a4 46 lb4 a3
40 ld2 g5 47 la4
g4
41 lc2 >g4 48 la8 'f5
42 lc4+ f4 49 la4 'e5
43
g
gf
1 1
2-2
5 White Fourth Move
Alternatives
Game No. 20
Vitolins-Raetsky
Naberezhnye Chelny 1988
1 e4
eS
2 lf3 lf6
3 lxeS
This game is devoted to the rare,
but fascinating knight sacrifce
variation - 3 lxe5 d6 4 lxf7?!
We are also using it to examine
other rare continuations, which
are almost never met in serious
tournaments. In particular,
instead of 3 lxe5 the following
moves are possible to avoid the
main lines - 3 d3, 3 .ic4 and 3
lc3. (The 'correct' move 3 d4 will
be
given considerable attention
late
r).
(a)
If White plays 3 d3 he is
play
ing a Philidor's Defence with
H e
xtra tempo. But in this open
In
g,
even having an extra tempo,
it
is hard to expect much. After 3
. . lc6 4 .ie2 Black has a choice
81
between 4 . . . .ie7, 4 . . . d5, 4 . . .
g6 and 4 . . . .ic5. In each case the
position is roughly level.
(b) 3 .ic4 lc6 leads to the
Two Knights Defence, but Black
has the good reply 3 . . . lxe4!.
Looking in in opening books you
will fnd that after 4 lc3 (4 d3, 4
1e2 and 4 lxe5 give nothing at
all) 4 . . . lxc3 (the quiet 4 . . . lf6
and 4 . . . ld6 are also possible) 5
de f6 White has some initiative for
the sacrifced pawn, but hardly
sufcient.
(c) Finally, to 3 lc3 Black's
best reply is 3 . . . lc6 giving
a Four Knights Game, which is
perfectly satisfactory. The con
tinuations 3 . . . .ic5 and 3 . . .
.i b4, once well regarded by
theory, allow White to obtain a
defnite advantage, for example: 3
. . . .i b4 4 lxe5 0-0 5 .ie2 Je8
6 ld3 ..xc3 7 de lxe4 (78) .
The critical position. After 8
82 White Fourth Move Alternatives
78
w
O-O d5 9 C|4 c6 | Oe3 Cd6! the
game is |eve|, but White can p|ay
the i mmediate 8 C|4! , preventing
. . . d7-d5. ln Psakhis-Yusupov,
Vi|ni us | 98O[8 | , there |o||owed 8
. . . c6 9 c4 d6 | O O-O |5 | | a4
a5 | 2 1a3 Cd7 | 3 1e3 Cdc5 | 4
g4 e6 | 5 |3 C|6 | 6 wd4 wc7
| 7 b3 h6 | 8 b2 1ad8. Here
White p|ayed | 9 @d| which |ed
to equa|ity. However, in B| um-
Pi |inyan, Corr | 982-83, White
pre|erred | 9 1|2! and won.
J d
l t is we|| known that taking
the pawnstraightaway does not
work . 3 . . . Cxe4 4 we2 we7 5
wxe4d6 6 d4de 7 de Cc68 Cc3!
(the simp|est) 8 . . . wxe5 9 wxe5
Cxe5 |O |4 d6 | | g3! and
thenCb5orCe4withanexchange
ond6,which|eadstoanunavoid-
ab|ebreak upo|B|ack'spawns.
4 Cxl7|
This knightsacrihcecanberec-
ommendedtop|ayerswithasharp
sty|e whodon't|ikeremembering
the |ong theoretica| varia
tio
a
s
arising |rom 4 C|3 Whi te
|
a
s
two pawns |or the knight an
d
+
pawnro||erintheomng. Howevct
be|ore|ookingat the knightsac
ti
hce variation, |et u re|er to
on
e
more possibi|ity |or White -
:
Cc4!
The idea behind retreatiag the
kni ght to c4 is its|uture traaslct
to e3, |rom where it wi|l exer|
pressureon thecentre.Letus|
oo|
at how events can deve|op
4
Cxe4 5 d4(the o|dcontinuations
5 Cc3, 5 d3 and 5 we2 |ead to
equa|ity) 5 . . . d5 6 Ce3 wl6 ,t|e
|avourite move o| Makaryc|ev,
the usua| choice being 6 . . . c,
as was p|ayed in the |ast centaty)
7 we2 e6 8 c3 Cc6 9 ld2
O-O-O (/9) .
79
w
A|ter | O g3 (but not | O
lxc^
de | | g3 1 xd4' ) the positio
n
is
rough|y|eve|.
ln Smagi n-Makarychev,
Ma
r
cia(rapid)| 99O,there|o| | owed
t|
c
reck|ess |O Cxd5! xd5 | |
(x
c^
'

6
| 2 Cg3 and in this position
1
2
. . .h5! wouldhavegivenBlack
e:
ce
||e
nt chances. He played
! 2

_d6 and White took the

i
ai|ia
tive with
! 3
h5.
4
xl7
5 d4 (80)
This gambit bears the name o|
||c Scottish master o| the |ast
cca|ury Cochrane. He himse||
c|ose on|y 5 }c4+ in this pos-
i|ioa, which invariab|y brought

ictory (a|ter 5 . . . &e8 6 O-Oor5

. }e6 6 xe6+ xe6 7 O-O).
1|c correct rep|y to the bishop
c|cck is 5 ... d5' and now 6 ed
d6 7 O-O Z|8 8 d4 &g8 or 6
b3 e6' 7 e5 Ce4 8 d4 c5 9
w|3+ e8 with sorry reper-
cassions|orWhite.
80
B
5 c5
Natura||y the e4-pawn cannot
|c
t
ouched 5 . . . Cxe46 wh5+
&c7
(
6 . . . g6 7 wd5+) 7 we2 d5

g
5 +' . This i s exactly how
la
z
arev-Kundyshev, Moscow
! 9
!,
amusingly hnished.
White Fourth Move Alternatives 83
The move 5 ... e7 a||ows
White to organise a dangerous
pawn roller more easily a|ter 6
Cc3, |or examp|e . 6 . . . Ze8 7
c4+ &|8 8 O-O g4 9 |3 h5
|O g4 |7 | | x|7+ &x|7 | 2
|4 or 6 . . . c6 7 c4+ e6( 7. . .
d5 8 ed cd 9 Cxd5 e6 |O Ce3
xc4 | | Cxc4 Cc6 ! 2c3 @e8 | 3
O-O, 9 . . . Cxd5 | O h5+ g6 | |
xd5 + e8 | 2 w|3 @|8 | 3
wb3 and B|ack has problems) 8
xe6+ xe6 9 w|3 wa5 | O
g4i nbothcasesthepawnroller
|ooks promising, and White's
threatsmorethancompensate|or
the materialdehcit.
Apart|rom5 . . . c5, B|acko|ten
rep|ies 5 . . . g6 and i|6 Cc3 then
6. . . &g7or6 . . . we8 (i|6 . . . e7
there comes 7 h6' d5 8 Cxd5!
Cxd59c4c6 |Oedcd| | w|3 +
e6 | 2 we4+). Let us |ook at
oneexampleeacho|thesemoves.
Schulman-Schmudlers, kiga
| 986. 6 . . . &g7 7 e2 (a|ter 7 |4
Whitehassumcientcompensation
|orthepiece,butthisbishopmove,
whichcarriesthestrugg|eintothe
middlegame,isvenomousenough)
7 . . . e7 (7 . . . e8 8 |3) 8 e3
e69 wd2 h6(|osingtime,better
was 9 . . . @e8) |O |3 Cbd7 | |
O-O-Oc6 | 2 g4a6 | 3 h4b5 ! 4 d5!
(81).
White's pawns begin to move,
and B|ack's lack o| queenside
counterp|ayandlacko|protection
84 White Fourth Move Alternatives
81
B
|or his ki ng makes his position
dimcu|t.
!4 . . . cd ! 5 ed b4 ! 6 de bc | 7
wxc3@c 8 ! 8 wd2Ce 5 | 9g5 Ch5
2O|4 witha decisiveadvantage.
Vito|ins-Domu|s, Riga | 983 . 6
. . . we8 7 d3 (7 c4+ e6 8
d c8 9 O-O g7 | O @e l Z|8
| | |4 i not bad) 7 . . . g7 8 O-O
@|8 9 e5 Cg4 | Oh3 Ch6 | | ed
#g8 ( I I ... cd | 2 @e| wc6 | 3
e4) | 2 dcCc6(moreprecisewas
| 2 . . . Ca6) | 3 d5 Ce5 | 4 e4
Ce|7 | 5 d6 wd7 ! 6 e3 Cxd6
| 7 d5+ h8 | 8 c5 @|6 | 9
@e| witha sharpgame.
6 dc
The opening books on|y con-
sider 6 c4+ d5 7 ed d6 8
O-O @e8 9 dc xc5 | OCc3 g4
| | wd3 'bd7 withadvantage to
B|ack (Yandemirov-P|isetsky,
Moscow | 983).
6 Cc6
Recommended by Grodzensky
andGrandmasterMakarychev. 6
. . . we8, 6 . . . d5, 6 . . . g4 and 6
. . . wa5+ have a|so been met
i
a
practice, and in each case a li v
ely
game with chances onboth sides
has occurred.
7 c4+ d5! (82
)
In thi s position this cou
ater-
strike in thecentrei snot sogood
|or B|ack. The corrct respo
ase
is 7 ... e6 8 xe6+ =xe
Apparent|y, the three pawas do
notcompensate|orthepiecehere,
andmoreover,B|ackbringsallhis
|orceinto the batt|e.
Let us look at how the gaue
Vito|ins-Dautov, Mi nsk |9,
continued. 9 O-O d5 (9 . . . dc is
dangerousbecauseo||Owe2wit|
thethreato|advancingthee- aad
|-pawnscombinedwithwc4+)|0
e5 ( | O Cc3deserves attentioa) ! 0
. . . Ce4 | | wg4+ }|7 | 2 'lf5 +
}e8 (having wandered aroaac
theboard,thekingreturnshoae,
and B|ack is ready to reap
|is
harvest)| 3 Cc3 Cd4' |4 wh3 vc
| 5 e6 wxe6 |6 wd3 Cxc3 !
be
Ce2+ | 8 }hl Cxc l | 9 rax
c l
|7 2O @|e l wc6 2| w|5+ <g
8
22 @e6 wd7 23 we5 xc5
.
e
re
thecentra
|isationo|White'
s|o
rc
es
sti|| doesn't sumcient|y c
oa
p
ea
sate his materia| |osses.
It
s
ee
s
that B|ack managed to
use
h
i s
trumps in this game,
aa
d,
o
f
. k
course,the
readershou|d
a
o|
thi
n
that the piece sacrihce
4
tx.?
givesWhitea |orced wi a
.
Neverthe|ess, to attra
ct
lo
er
o
f
sha
rp p|ay to the Cochrane

a
a
bit,wehavechosenagamein
wh
|ch
Vito|insmanagedtogaina
ae
victory.Weshouldnotebythe
way
that
theInternationa|Master
from Riga, a |ervent admirer o|
this gambit, has played scores o|

aa
es
withitand wonthema|or-
ity of them.
82
w
8 $xd5+
Taking withthepawnisweaker
because o|8 . . . Ca5 or8 . . . Ce5.
8
c
Alter8. . . Cxd59edWhitehas
man
y
activepawns|orthepiece.
xc+
xc
0 wcZ
wa5+

CcJ $xc5
Bla
ck's
king doesn't |eel too
.
m
for
table i n the centre and
W
h

'
Ite
al readyhas threepawns|or
t
he
p
ie
ce
.
Z
0-0
1
2 -
c
4
+
e7 ! 3 O-O isn't bad
ei t
h
e
r . .
h

_
i\ug Black's ki ng no
c a
n
ce to
slip out o|the
danger
l
o
ne
.
White Fourth Move Alternatives 85
Z
l7
J wc4+
g
4 Cd5
d
Preventing C|4+, but |4. . . h6
was more tenacious, when White
wou|dstil|haveastrongattacking
position.
5 $l4
2 ad8
Bad is ! 5 . . . 3x|4 ! 6 Cx|4+
h6 because o| ! 7 we6.
2 ad wc5
I|| 6 . . Cxd5! 7 Zxd5wc7then
|8 2 xd6! 2 xd6 !9 wc5 decides.
83
w
7 wbJ Cxc4
8 $cJ wa5
wxb7
2c8 (83)
Z0 b|
Diverting one o| the minor
pieces out o| position. I| 2O . . .
wd8or2O. . . wxa2there|o||ows
2| b5.
Z0 Cxb4
2O ... xb4 also |oses. 2 !
C|4+ &|6 2 2 Ch5 + g6 23
wxg7 + xh5 24 wh6+
g4 25
#h3mate.
Z Cl4+ $xl4
86 White Fourth Move Alternatives
22 1xe4+ 1f5
23 1xb4 .US
24 xa7!
White elegantly wraps up the
game.
24 xa7
25 ld6+ qbS
26 1b7
A double blow! 27 ld5 and 27
1 xa7 are threatened.
26 lxc2
27 ldS
White could still go amu
singl
y
wrong here: 27 1xg7? 1xf2+'
27 lxf2
But this idea doesn't work
n
ow.
28 lxfS+ lxf5+
29 1xa7 1-0
6 3
d4
GameNo. 2 |
Kasparov~Auaud
Linares 1991
c4 c5
Z ClJ Cl6
J d4
Fina||y, we come to |ook at
white's other continuation at
move three, which is connected
ithasystemknownastheStein-
itcAttack.
J Cxc4
The other main possibi|ity - 3
. .cd wi||be|ookedat in detai|i n
thc
|ast game o| this book. The
taremove3. . . d5 (84) , maintain-
i ng |ul | symmetry, is worthy o|
+ttcntion.Whitehastop|ayaccur-
+tc|y to make use o|the right to
o
ve
hrst.
4
3g5 (a|ter 4 Cxe5 Cxe4 5

d3
a
position |rom our main

a
mc
arises.Theoryrecommends
4
c
d ed 5 3b5+ c66 we2+ 3e7
7
dc
bc
8 3c4O-O9 O-O 3g4 | O
-
J
w
ith a mi ni mal advantage |or
87
84
w
White) 4 ... de 5 Cxe5 3e7
(in|erior is 5 ... 3d6 6 Cc3
we7 7 Cd5 wd8 8 c4 e6 9
Cx|6+ g| | O 3xe6 3xe5 | | de
wxd|+ | 2 zxd| |g | 3 3c8witha
won position|or White,Basanta
Schwarzmann, St. 1ohn | 988). 6
3c4 O-O 7 O-O C|d7 8 3|4 Cxe5
9dewxd| | Owxd| e6 | | 3b3
3xb3 |2 ab |5 ! 3 Cc3 |7
(moreaccuratewas | 3 . . . c6with
approximate equa|ity) !4 Cb5
(betterwas ! 4 Cd5! 3d8 ! 5 e6+
xe6 |6 3xc7 Cc6 |7 b4) |4 . . .
Ca6 | 5 e6+ |6 | 6 3d2 c5 ! 7
c3 + xe6 with equa| chances
88 3 d4
|or both sides (Smirin-Akopyan,
Vi|nius l 988).
4 $dJ
A|ter4Cxe5d65C|3aposition
arises that we studied i n detai|
ear|ier by transposition (3 Cxe5
d6 4 C|3 Cxe4 5 d4). l n the
openingmonographs there isevi-
dence that B|ack easi|y equa|ises
a|ter 4 we2 or4 de. ln the game
Ba|ashovMi kha|chishin, Minsk
l 985, as a resu|t o| 4 de d5 5
Cbd2 |5' 6 Cxe4 xe4 7 d3
Cc6 8 O-O e7 9 Ze ! 7b4' | O
we2 Cxd3 | | cd x|3 | 2 wx|3
B|ackobtained exce||entchances.
4 d5
5 Cxc5
Here 5 de i s not approved o|
by theory. Possib|y on|y Grand-
master Romanishin p|ays this
move today . 5 . . . Cc6 6 O-Og4
7 Cbd2 (in RomanishinEhlvest,
Yerevan | 988, a|ter 7 Cc3 Cxc3
8 bc e7 9 @el Black made a
serieso|i naccuratemoves9. . .
wd7 | O h3 h5 | | zb l Cd8 | 2
e2 c6 | 3 c4 dc | 4 wxd7 + ;xd7,
having over|ooked the thrust | 5
e6+! . A|ter on|y hve more
moves | 5 . . . ;c7 l 5 . . . |e l 6
Ce5+} l 6 e|Cx|7 | 7 xc4 d6
l Cd4 @ he8 |9 Ce6+ ;d7
2O zxb7+, B|ack resigned) 7 . . .
Cxd2 xd2Cd49 e2Cxe2+
| Owxe2wd7 | l h3x|3 | 2wx|3
c5 l 3 c4O-O-O | 4zadl we6 l 5
g5 zd7 l 6 zxd5 z xd5 | 7 cd
wxe5 !
-
!
(Romani shi n-Ma
|a
|y
chev, Frunze | 985).
85
w
5 $ d ([
)
The continuation 5 . . .
e
is
somewhat passive, so there|o|e
B|ack has a choice between t|e
o|d 5 . . . d6 and the modern
5
. . Cd7. Games22 24aredevotec
tothemorepopu|ar knight move
0-0
An amusingnove|ty l prepa|ec
with lgor Zaitsev at one o| oa|
training sessions |ong ago was t
w|3!. This idea was tried oat in
ZaitsevYusupov, Yerevan l 9,
but it turned out that a|te| e .

we7 7 O-O O-O 8 Cc3 Cxc3 9

c
-
xe5 |O de wxe5 | | |4 |e
1 2
wg3Cc6Whitehasnothingbett
er
than repeating moves
l 3
g
5
wd6 | 4 |4 w|6.
Ehm Ge||er has p|ayed e .
c
3
severa| times in this position
,
|o
|
exampl e. 6 . . . Cxc3 7 bc
0-0

O-O c5 9 wh5
|5 | O g5 w
c
l
l
w|3 e6 | 2 z|e l c4 | 3 |l

e
l4 Cxc4! xh2+ | 5 ;h l .d7
l e

e3
withadecisiveadvantage
|
or
White (Geller-Yusupov,
|S
S
R
Ch | 983). Yusupov later
|
o
un
d
Black's correct de|ence. 8
.
d7! 9 Cxd7wxd7! O wh5g6
l
| v
|3 @e8 ! 2 h6 3|8 ! 3
_,|8 @x|8 | 4 @|e ! wc6 | 5 h4
wx
c3
! 6 wxd5 e6 and here
S
h
ortYusupov, Plovdiv | 983,
a
s agreed drawn.
0-0
7 c4
Whiteknightmovestoc3ord2
promise litt|e, as theory shows
thesevariationstobe|ul|yaccept-
ab|e|or B|ack.
7 xc5
la recentyears this capturehas
completely supplanted a|| other
oves. Here are the basic vari-
ations given in the Encyclopedia
of Chess Openings: 7 . . . |6 8 cd! ,
. . . C|6 8 g5dc 9 xc4 3xe5
l 0 de wxd| | | @xd | , 7 . . . ^c6 8
cd Cxd4 9 xe4 3xe5 | O ^c3
.fS | | e3 xe4 | 2 xd4

xd4 ! 3 wxd4 3|5, 7 . . . c6 8

c3
Cxc39 bc 3xe5 | O dedc | |
c4 wxd! | 2 @xd ! |5 | 3

a3
@e8 ! 4 |4. White's advan-
|a
_c
is unquestionab|e. l n |act,
this
|ast position occurred at
the
beginning o| the century in
Naroczy-Marshall, Paris | 9OO.
8 dc Cc

cd
wxd5
0 wcZ Cb4
xc4 CxcZ
3 d4 89
Z xd5
l
The |ast hve moves, as was
established longago, are thebest
|or both sides, and there is no
sense in either White or Black
deviating|romthem.
J g4 xg4 /]
Worse is | 3 . . . g6 ! 4 |4 with
a stronginitiative|orWhite.
86
w
Thecritica|positiono|the vari-
ation.
4 c4
Bad is |4 Ca3 ^xa| | 5 e4
e2' | 6 @e| @ad8, and B|ack
a|ready has the upper hand. | 4
|4 ^xa| | 5 e4 transposes,
but Sveshnikov pre|ers | 5 @c| .
SveshnikovBe|ov,Moscow | 987,
continued | 5 . . . @ ad8 (worse is
| 5 . . . c6 | 6 e4|5 | 7 e| @x|6 | 8
e3 3e6 | 9 Cd2 3xa2 2O @xa|
3d52 | 3xd5 cd 22 @xa @ xa7
23 xa7 @|4 24 |l with a
dimcultending|or Black) | 6 ^c3
b5 ( | 6 . . . c6 | 7 e4) | 7 e4 b4
| 8 Cd5 @d7 | 9 |3 e6 2O ^xb4
@ b8 2 | ^d3 3d5 22 ^c5 @dd8
90 3 d4
23 b3 . be4 24 fe and White had
slightly the better chances.
I 4 txal
I 5 .
Equality is reached after 1 5 tc3
h3 1 6 ne1 f5 17 ef nae8 1 8
e3 n xe4 1 9 txe4 tc2 20 n c I
txe3 2 1 fe n c8 22 f7 + <f8 23
tg5 f5 24 nfl h6 25 nxf5 hg
(Psakhi s-Makarychev, USSR Ch
1 980/8 1 ) or 21 . . . c6 22 tg5 f5
23 f7 + <h8 24 nfl g6 (Tal
Timman, Reykjavik 1 987).
1 5 f5 (87)
In Smagin-Schiissler, Copen
hagen 1 988, Black preferred 1 5 . . .
f6. There followed 1 6 tc3 fe 1 7
g3 nad8 1 8 nx a l nd2 1 9 b4
[3 20 a3 xe4 21 txe4 ne2
(2 1 . . . n d5 was correct) 22 tc5
b6 23 te6 nc8 24 ne t ? (After 24
nd1 ! c5 { 24 . . . wf7 25 td8+
<tf6 26 tc6} 25 be be 26 nd7
ne t + 27 <g2 c4 28 nxg7+ <h8
29 ne7 c3 30 h4 White obtains
a winning position -Sveshnikov.
Now matters quickly come to a
peaceful conclusion) 24 . . . c5 25
be nc6! 26 td8 nxc5 27 ndt
ncc2! 2 8 te6 ned2 29 ne1 ne2
30 n d 1 n ed2
! - 1
.
White attempted to improve in
the decisive game of the rapid
chess fnal between Kasparov and
Timman, Paris 1 99 1 , with 1 7
e3!?. This i s how events turned
out : 1 7 . . . f3 1 8 nxal xe4
1 9 txe4 b6 20 b4 a5 2 1 b5 nad8
22 nc 1 nf7 23 a4 h6 2
4
g2
nd3. White has some initi a
tiv
e
but was unable to turn it i
nt
anything concrete. Fifty
mo
v
es
later a draw was agreed.
As
a
result, Timman became the
wi n
ner
of this intriguing mini-match.
87
w
I d5+
More accurate than 16 xb7
tc2! 17 f3 h5 1 8 d5+ >h8
1 9 xa8 nxa8 20 nd t c5 2 1 >f2
td4 with equality (Romanishin
Kochiev, USSR Ch 1 978).

h8
I7
net
c
If 1 7 . . . n ad8, then 1 8 tc
3 b5
1 9 e6! nfe8 20 xc7 nc8 21
txb5 ne7 22 nxa l nexc7
23
txc7 nxc7 24 ne t ! ne7 25 b4
!
wi th a clear advantage for White
(Glek-Varlamov, USSR Corr
1 987).
18 g2
1 8 e6 is playable - 18 .
.
g
5
1 9 xg5 nae8 20 h6 nxe6
2
1
xf8 h3 22 nc3 ng6+ 23 .
g3
'g8 24 e7 f4 25 nxg6
hg
J6 t
a3
f3 with equality (Oli
Kh
a
lifm
an, Vilnius 1 988). Unclear
is
20

c4 b5 (20 . . . f4? 21 f6+)

2
1 _
f! . Here 21 . . . lxe5? is
bad
- 22 d2 le6 23 c3+

g
8 24 td2! (van der Wiei
Mik
halchishin, Lugano 1 987), but
21 . . . f4, chosen in Rozentalis
J v
anch
uk, Mi nsk 1 986, gives an
a
ppr
oximately equal game - 22
.f6+
1 xf6 23 ef . .5 24 f7 1 f8
2
5 lxc6 xbl 26 lcl (Bykhov
sk
y).
1 8 lfd8
There i nothing in 1 8 . . . 1 ad8
1 9 tc3 1 d4 20 e3 1 b4 21 c5
wmnmg.
td2 (88)
There i no danger for Black in
1 9 tc3 ld4 20 .e3 lb4 or 1 9
f3 .h5 20 ta3 1 d4 21 .e3 1 b4
22 tc4 la4 23 ta3
!-!
(Sax
Yusupov, Thessaloniki (ol) 1 988).
88
B

lxd2!
A
sharp-witted method of
re
storing material equality. As
Practice has shown, the quiet 1 9
3 d4 91
. . . h6 20 h4 ld3 i s dangerous for
Black. This position arose twice in
the Candidates Semi-fnal between
Timman and Yusupov, Linares
1 992. In the second game a draw
was agreed after 21 lxal g5 22
hg hg 23 .xg5 lg8 24 .f6+
w h 7 25 tfl f4 (25 . . . .f3 26
tg3 f4 27 .xf3 1 xf3 28 wg2
ld3 29 lh l + wg6 30 te4!
wf5 + 31 tg5 lxg5+ 32 .xg5
wxg5 33 le l loses -Rozentalis)
26 wh2 lg6 (worse is 26 . . . .f3
27 .h3 .g4 28 .xg4 1 xg4 29
wh I ! ? with the threat of th2) 27
le l lh6+ 28 wgl lg6 29 wh2
lh6+ 30 wgi lg6 31 wh2.
Timman introduced an
important new move i n game six.
Instead of 21 1 xa 1 he frst played
2 1 .fl ld4 22 .e3 ld5 and
only then took the knight - 23
lxa l . There followed 23 . . . lxe5
24 tc4 1 d5 25 .g2 1 b5. Whilst
the black rook has somewhat
unsuccessfully manoeuvred along
the ffth rank, the white pieces
have now taken up ideal positions.
After 26 le l ld8 27 .xa7 ldl
2 8 lxdl .xd l 2 9 .d4 f4 30
.e4 1 b4 3 1 b3 .e2 32 .c3
1 b5 33 td6 1 h5 34 f3 .a6 35
tf5 wg8 35 tf5 wg8 36 txg7
lxh4 37 lf5, White went on to
realise his material advantage.
20 .xd2
ld8
Z .c3
22 lxdl
ldl +
.xd1
92 3 d4
The presence of the two bishops
fully compensates White for the
pawn defcit and in addition the
black knight feels uncomfortable
on a t .
ZJ l4
Matsukevich's recommen-
dation, 23 fl , might have kept
a slight initiative.
ZJ CcZ
Z4 lZ
+
g8
Z5 a4 a5
Z xa5
Otherwise the knight simply
jumps to b4.
Z Cd4
For the price of a pawn the
black knight breaks free.
Z7 lI $bJ!
I I
z-z
Game No. 22
bax-baIov
Brussels 1988
I c4
Z ClJ
J d4
4 $dJ
5 Cxc5
c5
Cl
Cxc4
d5
Cd7 (89)
Nowadays one of the most
popular positions in the Petrof,
occurring in grandmaster tourna
ments more often than any other.
Cxd7
Nowadays this capture is
almost automatic, but there are
other moves that have been tried:
89
w
6 tc3, 6 0-0, 6 'e2 and 6 txf7.
With examples from several con
temporary games let us look
briefy at each of these.
(a) Sax-Nunn, Brussels 1 988: 6
tc3 txe5 (the exchange of the
other pair of knights is also poss
ible at once: 6 . . . txc3 7 be txe5
8 de e6 9 0-0 f5! 10 lb l t b8
I I .e3 c5 12 .b5+ <f7 1 3
.e2 .e7 1 4 f4 'id7 1 5 .f3
lhd8 16 lf2 'ia4 with excellent
counterplay for Bl ack, Ki ng
Da vidovic, Thessaloniki 1 988) 7
de b4 8 0-0 txc3 (or 8 . . . j_ xc3
9 be .e6 10 f4 'id7 I I 'f3 g6
1 2 c4 tc5 1 3 .e2!? Wc6! wi th a
roughly equal position in Sax P.
Nikolic, Brussels 1 988) 9 be

xc
3
1 0 l b I ( I 0 .a3 .xa I I I ' xa l
.e6 1 2 'ib2 'ic8 1 3 f4 g6
lead
s
to a sharp game) 10 . . . we7
l l
l b3. Now, after I I . . . . b4 1 2 f4.
there arises a complicated positi
o
n
in which White has compensation
for the pawn. However, Nun
n
carelessly took the pawn I I . . `
.xe
5 and after 1 2 .e | 0-0 1 3
'
h5
f5 1 4 .f4 he had to resign.
(b) Adams- Petrovic, Paris
! 9
89
: 6 0-0 txe5 7 de tc5 8 tc3
txd3 9 'xd3 c6 10 te2 .e7 I I
"l
g3
g6 I 2 c3 0-0 1 3 .h6 .:e8 1 4
f
4
.f5 1 5 .ad! 'd7 1 6 h3 .ad8
J7 t:d4 c5 1 8 txf5 'xf5 19 'f3
'e6 20 .d2 .:d7 21 "g4 f5 22
"
g
3 - .
(c) Fedoseiev-Raetsky, Corr
1983-84: 6 "e2 txe5 (Irecall my
own game with Hort at Amster
dam in 1 980, where after 6 . . . 'e7
7 .xe4 de 8 .f4 txe5 9 .xe5
.f5 1 0 tc3 0-0-0 I I 0-0-0 "e6
12 'e3 h5 1 3 h3 f6 14 .h2 g6 1 5
wbl .h6 1 6 "g3 .h7 1 7 .he!
the Czechoslovakian Grand
master as Black was in a fairly
difcult position) 7 .xe4 de 8
'he4 .e6 9 'xe5 "d7 (90) .
90
w
For the pawn Black gets the
adv
antage of the two bishops and
a free game: 1 0 .e3 (inferior is
1 0
t
c3 0-0-0 | l .e3 .b4 1 2
0-0
f6 1 3 'g3 .xc3 1 4 be h5 1 5
3 d4 93
h4 g5! 1 6 f3 .:dg8 and I was
unable to hold this position
against Larsen, Til burg 1 980. Kiril
Georgiev tried to improve on
move 1 2 against Salov at Lenin
grad in 1 987 - 1 2 c3 f6 1 3 'g3
.e7 1 4 td2 h5 1 5 f3 g5 1 6 c4 f5
1 7 'e5 .d6 1 8 'a5 f4 1 9
.xf4 'xd4+ 20 .f2 g 21 tb3
' b6, but again Black has excellent
chances) 1 0 . . . .b4+ (more
active than I 0 . . . 0-0-0 I I ' a5
'c6 12 tc3 b6 1 3 'a6+ .b8 14
tb5 .c4 15 a4 .b4+ 16 c3
.d6 17 ' xa 7 + wc8 18 0-0-0
"xg2 1 9 d5 .xd5 20 .hgt 'xh2
21 a5 with an extremely sharp
game in which White had the
better chances in Hort-Short,
West Germany 1 987) | | c3 .d6
1 2 'a5 (after 1 2 'xg7 0-0-0 1 3
td2 'c6! Black has a strong
counter-attack for the pawn) 1 2
. . . 'c6 1 3 f3 (castling is prema
ture: 1 3 0-0 .dS 1 4 f3 b6 1 5 'a6
.c4 1 6 d 'xd5 1 7 'a4+ b5 1 8
'dl 'e5 1 9 'f2 'xh2 20 f4
xfl 0- 1 Kl inger-Wolf Baguio
City 1 987) 13 . . . d5 14 td2
0-0 1 5 0-0 .:fe8 1 6 .fel b6 1 7
'a6 jxh2+ 1 8 .xh2 .xe3 1 9
.:xe3 'h6+ 20 'g3 'xe3 and
Black had a clear advantage.
(d) Malanyuk-M. Gurevich,
Tallinn 1 987: 6 txf7 'xf7 (long
ago the game I. Zaitsev-Karpov,
Leningrad 1 966, fnished 6 . . . 'e7
7 txh8 { it was later established
94 3 d4
that White gets the advantage with
7 'e2!} 7 . . . lc3+ 8 wd2 lxdl
9 :el lxf2 10 .bh7 {the queen
sacrifce cannot be accepted: 10
Jxe7+ 1xe7 I I 1xh7 igS+
and Black takes the upper hand}
10 . . . le4 I I Jxe4! de 12 1g6+
wd8 1 3 lf7+ we8 14 ld6+
wd8 I S lf7+, with a draw by
perpetual check. However, Black
can calmly take the knight on f7
and White has nothing better than
a draw) 7 'hS+ we7 (also poss
ible is 7 . . . we6 8 1xe4 de 9 dS+
we7 10 igS+ lf6 I I lc3 'e8!
12 d6+! { 1 2 'h4? ifS 13 0-0-0
Wf7 14 Jhel 1e7, and Black
had a large plus in Dozorets
Kishnev, Jurmala 197S} 12 . . . cd
13 ldS+ wd8 14 lxf6 ''xhS
with approximate equality) 8 'e2
(i 8 'xdS the position resembles
the Cochrane Gambit. In Demi
dov-Makeyev, USSR Corr 1987-
90, after 8 . . . lef6 {more accurate
than 8 . . . ldf6 9 'b3 1e6 10
''xb7 idS 11 'a6 Wf7 12 f3
ld6 1 3 lc3 1b7 14 ''aS with
an unclear position, Nenashev
Baikov, Moscow 198S} 9 'f3 1b6
10 'e2+ Wf7 I I c3 1d6 12 0-0
Je8 1 3 'c2 <g8 White's initiat
ive had dried up) 8 . . . wf7 9
'hS+ we7 10 'e2 with a draw.
6
1xd7
7 0-0
There i nothing to be gained
from 7 'e2 ''e7 8 0-0 0-0-0 9 1d2
lgS (9 . . . lxd2 is also good) 10
'xe7 1xe7 I I f4 le6 12
lf3
J df8 1 3 fS ld8 14 IeS 1e8
1 5
lg4 f6 1 6 1f4 1f7 with equality
(Geller-Arkhipov, Moscow
1986)
.
7 'h4
The queen move to h4 is the
most up-to-date continuation. But
bfore we proceed let's look at two
other moves - 7 . . . 1d6 and 7
. . . ''f6.
(a) Sveshnikov-Mikhalchishin,
Kuibyshev 1986: 7 . . . 1d6 8 c41
c6 9 lc3 0-0 (weaker i 9 . . . lxc3
10 be de I I :el + i.e7 12 .b3
1e6 13 1xe7 1'xe7 14 1xc4
0-0 I S leS 'a3 16 1xe6 fe with a
difcult ending for Black in Short
Hiibner, Wijk aan Zee 1986) 10
''hS if6 I I ''h4 de 12 1xc4 Je8
13 igS h6 14 1xf6 ''xf6 IS 1'xf6
gf 1 6 Jfel 1e6 1 7 le4 i.e7 1 8
1xe6 fe 1 9 IeS JxcS 20 de
Jad8 21 :ad! Wf7 t +
(b) Korolev-Glek, USSR Corr
Ch 1986--88: 7 . . . 'f6 (involving
a pawn sacrifce) 8 1xe4 de 9 lc3
0-0-0 10 lxe4 '' g6 (bad is I 0 .
'b6 I I :el h 12 ''d3 h4 13 h
JhS 1 4c4 Je8 1S Je2, A. Jvanov
Rozentalis, Klaipeda 198S) I I f
3
fS (no better is 1 1 . . . hS 1 2 i.f
4
'
h4 13 1'd3 h3 14 g4 'b6 IS a
4
'
1e6 16 Jfdl a6 1 7 a 1'xb2

1 8
lc3 ''b4 1 9 Ja4 'e7 20 d5. A.
Jvanov-Kochiev, Kostroma
!985;
more resistance was ofered by
1
7
. . . ''c6 1 8 ''c3 'xc3 19 lxc3
a
n
d
W
hite
goes into the ending with
an
ex
tra pawn, but the two bishops
mak
e it hard to realise this advan
ta
ge) 12 tf2 .b5 1 3 .el .d6
1
4
t:h3 .de8 1 5 .f4 .xe l + 1 6
'xel .e8 1 7 'g3 'f6 1 8 c3 .e2
1
9 b3
.c2 20 .xd6 cd 2 1 'et and
White had a distinct advantage.
8 c4
After 8 'et 0-0-0 9 f3 'xel 1 0
Jxe l td6 the game becomes level
immediately, but 8 tc3 txc3 9
be 0-0-0 leads to a complicated
position.
8
91
w
c5
0-0-0 /91]
A
comparatively new idea :
White avoids playing in the centre
and intends to create dangerous
threats on the queenside. If 9 cd
strong is 9 . . . .d6 10 g3 txg3
1 1
fg .xg3
1 2 'd2? .xh2+! 1 3
'xh2 'xd4+ and 1 4 . . . 'xd3
with
advantage to Black i n view
of
the draughty position of the
w
hi te king.

g
5
3 d4 95
The reason behind this active
move will become clear later. 9 . . .
txf2 1 0 . xf2 'xd4 doesn't work
because of 1 1 c6 or 1 1 b4! 'xa 1
1 2 .b2 'xa2 1 3 tc3. 9 e o tf6
is passive - 1 0 tc3 g6 ( 1 0 s s
'xd4 1 1 c6! ) 1 1 te2 .h6 1 2
.xh6 'xh6 1 3 .e l .he8 1 4 b4
wb8 1 5 b5 .f5 1 6 .c3 etc.
(Prasad-Ravikumar, India 1 987).
9 . . . g6 leads to White's advan
tage - 10 tc3 .g7 1 1 te2
tf6 12 b4 th5 13 b5 (Timman
H iibner, Til burg 1 983).
0 CcJ
The other possibility, driving
the knight from the centre straight
away with 10 f3, will be examined
i n game 24.
0 .
g
7
10 . + o tf6, 10 e f5 and 10 . + e
. g8 have also been tried:
(a) Am. Rodriguez-Arkhipov,
Belgrade 1 98 8: 10 tf6 I t te2
(if 1 1 g3 there follows not 1 1 . . .
'xd4 1 2 c6! , but 1 1 . . . 'h3 and
if 12 .xg5, then 12 o o tg4! ;
unclear i s 1 1 'f3 .g7 1 2 .f5
wb8 1 3 g3 'xd4 1 4 .xg5 'e5
1 5 .xd7 .xd7 1 6 h4 te4 1 7
.f4 'e6 1 8 .fe l f5 1 9 tb5 a6
20 a4 .e5 21 . a3 d4 Griinfeld
Mikhalchishin, Palma de Mal
lorca 1 989) 1 1 e e tg4 1 2 h3 th6
1 3 .d2 . g8 14 f3 f5 15 'et 'h5
16 b4 . e8 1 7 "f2 g4? (correct was
1 7 . . . f4! ) 1 8 tf4! 'f7 19 g3! with
a clear advantage for White.
96 3 d4
(b) Wedberg-Schneider, Tor
shavn 1 987: 10 . . . f5 | | txd5
txf2! ? 12 n xf2 wxd4 1 3 xg5
xc5 14 te3 f4! 1 5 xf4 lhf8
16 Wfl "xe3! 1 7 xe3 xe3 1 8
"e2 xf2+ 1 9 whl lde8, when
Black has defnite compensation
for the queen.
(c) Am. Rodriguez-Casafus,
Buenos Aires 1 990: |0 . . . 1 g8! ?
(a novelty which brings Black suc
cess i n this game) | | te2? (better
is | | txd5 lg6 12 f3 lh6 1 3
xe4 Wxh2+ 1 4 wf2 Wh4+ 1 5
<e3 { 1 5 we2 b5+, 1 5 wgl
Wh2+ wi th a draw} 1 5 . . . f5 wi th
a complicated position -Casafus,
Morgado. Now Black gets a
strong attack) l | . . . 1 g6! 1 2 f3
lh6 1 3 fe de 1 4 c2 "xh2+ 1 5
wf2 wh4+ 1 6 g3 ( 1 6 wgl whl +
1 7 wf2 lf6+; 1 6 we3 g4! 1 7
xe4 le6) 1 6 . . . "g4 1 7 a4
lh2+ 1 8 wei e6! and Whi te's
position is hopeless.

te2
Recently g2-g3 has also been
played, diverting the queen from
the central squares.
Geller-Howell, Reykjavik
1 990: | | g3 Wh3 12 txe4 (worse
is 1 2 txd5 lhe8 { 1 2 . . . g4? 1 3
xe4 xdl 1 5 f5 +} 1 3 Wf3
f5 14 te3 g6 1 5 c6? lxd4
wi th advantage to Black, Smagin
H. Olafsson, Sochi 1 988; correct
is 1 5 d5 td2 1 6 xd2 xd3
wi th an unclear position) 12 . . . de
1 3 xe4 b5 1 4 xg5 1 X
d
4
1 5 g2! (more accurate than
1
5
Wb3 lxe4 1 6 "xb5 h 6 1 7
e3
lh4 18 lfd l "xh2+ 19
wf!
Wh3 + 20 wei le4 2 1 c6! lxe3+
22 fe "xg3+ 23 we2 "g2+ 24
wei Wg3 + !-! Dolmatov
Akopyan, Yerevan 1 988) 1 5 . .
.
Wf5 1 6 Wb3 c6 1 7 e3 xfl
1 8
lxfl ld7 (deserving attention is
1 8 . . . lhd8 1 9 xd4 xd4 and
the position is level) 1 9 "a4! ( i n
the game A. Ivanov-Makarychev,
Reykjavik 1 990, where 1 5 g2
was frst played, after 19 "a3 w b8
20 b4 Black could play 20 . . .
lhd8, preparing 2 1 . . . ldl . Now,
however, the dl -square is covered
and Black has additional prob
lems because of c6) 1 9 . . . w b8 20
b4 (92) (materially, the sides are
roughly equal, but Geller attacks
decisively on the queenside).
92
B
20 . . . Wd3 2 1 f4+ wa8 22
d6! lxd6 (22 . . . Wb5 23 tb3
a5 24 h3; 22 . . . f8 23 xc6! ;
22 . . . lhd8 23 ldl do not hel
p)
23 cd 'ixd6 24 b5 cb 25 'ix b5
gb
8
26 .b l 'ic7 27 a4 .c3
2
8
.c l 'ie5 29 .b3 .d4 30
_
xb
7+! 1 -0.
Black tried an interesting
no
velty i n Arencibia-Vladimirov,
Lyon 1 991 : after | | g3 there f ol
l
o
wed I I . . . .h6! ? and then 1 2
xe4 de 1 3 .xe4 f5 1 4 .g2 f4!
1 5 d5 .hf8 1 6 .e l wb8 1 7 d6
cd
18 c6 ( 1 8 'ixd6+ .xd6 1 9 cd
_d4) 1 8 . . . be 1 9 .e4 d5 20 .a4
wa8 2 1 .d2 .h3 22 .hl .f6
led to a clear advantage for Black .
l5
The next game is devoted to
other moves, primarily | |
.he8.
93
B
Z lJ (93)
Z 2hl8|!
Not an obvious sacrifce, this
i d
ea was devised by one of the
le
a
ding Petrof speci alists -
Gr
andmaster Makarychev. Previ
o
u
sly the modest 1 2 . . . lf6 was
e
nc
ountered, and White obtained
the
advantage, for example: 1 3
3 d4 97
.e3 f4 14 .f2 .h6 1 5 .d2
.he8 1 6 .ac l lg8 1 7 b4 <b8
1 8 b5 le7 19 lc3 lf5 20 c6 .c8
21 cb <xb7 22 .xf5 .xf5 23
la4 .f8 24 .a5 .g7 25 lc5 +
.xc5 26 de and White won
quickly i n Tivyakov-Raetsky,
Makhachkala 1 987.
J a4
13 fe fe 14 .c2 .xfl + 15 .xfl
.f8 is poor. Now White prepares
the b5-square for the bishop and
also opens a path for the rook
to go to a3. However, 1 3 .e i !
deserves attention and was seen in
van der Wiel-Sisniega (Thessa
loniki ( ol) 1 988). Let us have a
look at a few moves from that
game: 1 3 . . . .h5 14 .a5 (in a
similar position {see the notes to
Black's 1 4th move in the main
game} the move c5-c6 brought a
quick draw) 1 4 . . . <b8 1 5 .b4
.f6 1 6 fe fe 1 7 lg3 .h4 1 8 .xe4
fe 19 . xf6 .xf6 20 .e3 ( but not
20 d5 e3! 21 le4 .d4! and Black
gets the upper hand) 20 . . . .c6
21 .fl .h6. In this sharp position
chances are equal. Exchanging
queens on e l is worse for Black :
1 3 . . . 'ixel 14 .xel f4 1 5 fe de
1 6 .xe4 . de8 1 7 lc3 .xd4+
18 wfl f3 19 gf g4 20 c6 be 21 f4
g3 22 'g2 c5 23 hg .xc3 24
be .xe4 25 .xe4 .c6 26 .e3
.xe4+ 27 <h3. White's position
is slightly preferable ( K veinis
Fedoseiev, USSR Corr 1 987-90).
98 3 d4
It is also worth noting the move
1 3 .e3, played i n Rodin-Fedose
iev (USSR Corr 1 987-90). After
13 . . . f4 1 4 .xe4 de 1 5 .f2 'ih5
16 fe .g4 1 7 .e l .xe2 1 8 .xe2
f3 19 .d2 'g4 20 Wfl 'xe4 2 1
.el Wf4 2 2 .e3 fg 2 3 'xg2
Wh4 24 .ed ! .fe8, White has a
minimal advantage.
J
2dc8
4 wcI |
In t he source game Sveshnikov
Makarychev, Moscow 1 987, there
followed 1 4 .a3 f4 1 5 c6 .xc6
1 6 fe de 1 7 .b5 f3 1 8 .xc6 fe
1 9 .xb7+ wxb7 20 'xe2
.xfl + 2 1 'xfl .f8 22 'ie2
.xd4+ 23 .e3 'f4 24 h4 'id6
25 hg .d8. In t hi s sharp ending
Black's chances are no worse. In
our main game Whi te ofers the
exchange of queens i n order to get
a slightly better ending after a
series of exchanges. But Black eas
ily holds the ending.
4 wxc
In van der Wiel-Miralles, Lyon
1 988, the queens stayed on the
board, but a draw was soon
agreed: 14 . . . 'ih5 15 c6 .xc6 1 6
fe de 1 7 .b5 .e6 1 8 'idl f4 1 9
d5 .d6 20 lc3 f3 2 1 lxe4
t- t
.
5 2xc l4|
lc dc
7 $c4 lJ
But not 1 7 . . . e3 because of 1 8
.fl !
8 $cJ lc
2xcZ c| (9
4
)
A pair of pawns on the
fift
h
rank could give Black problems.
94
w
Z0 d5|
White, in turn, does not accept
a backward d-pawn and hastens
to exchange i t.
Z0 cd
Z $xd5
h
ZZ 2dZ
Contemplating intervention
along the central fle, but his
opponent easily repels such feeble
threats.
ZZ 2d8
22 . . . .c6 23 .xc6 be 24 n d6
is dangerous.
ZJ 2ad
Of course 23 .xe4 .fe8 24
.d4 .g4! loses.
ZJ $xa4
Z4 $xb7+ c7
The fnal subtlety. After 2
4 . . .
wxb7 25 .xd8 .xdl 26 nd7 +
Black still has to be careful in
t h
e
ending.
Z5 2xd8 2xd8
Z @xd8 xd8
Z7 $xc4 .c7
Z8 c a
Z .dJ $xbZ
I I
-z
-z
Game No. 23
HowcIl~akarychcv
Frunze 1989
I c4 c5
Z tlJ tl
J d4 Cxc4
4 ..dJ d5
5 Cxc5 Cd7
Cxd7 $xd7
7 0-0 wh4
8 c4 0-0-0
c5 g5
0 tcJ $g7
te2 (95)
95
B
The of-shoots that can arise
ov
er the previous fve moves were
looked at i n detail i n the commen
tary to the previous game, which
W
as
devoted to the 1 1 . . . f5 1 2 f3
lhf8 variation. Now we shall look
3 d4 99
at another order of moves intro
duced comparatively recently:
Black avoids the immediate storm
on the kingside and prefers to put
his rooks on the e-fle. In this game
there follows 1 1 . . . 1 he8, but
before we go any further, let's
consider two other important
examples. As the black knight
must retreat from e4 after f2-f3,
i t can do i t straight away, without
waiting to be asked. But there is
no need to hurry - here is the
proof.
Makarychev-Kuijpers, Match
CSKA-Eindhoven 1 986: 1 1 . . .
tf6 1 2 .d2 (If 1 2 f3 then quite
good is 1 2 . . . th5 1 3 g3 { 1 3 .e3
tf4; 1 3 .h 1 g4! 14 g3 'e7} 1 3
. . . ..xd4+ 1 4 .hl txg3+! { 1 4
. . . 'ih3? 1 5 c6! .xc6 1 6 txd4
txg3+ 1 7 <g1 txfl 1 8 .f5 +
winning} 1 5 txg3 ..xc5 and then
. . . .c5-d6, when Black has three
pawns for the piece and the sides
are roughly level. As the knight
has moved from e4 by itself, there
is no sense in White wasting time
wi th f2-f3. ) 1 2 . . . lhg8 (It was
possibly better to play 1 2 . . . tg4
1 3 h3 th6 at once) 1 3 lc1 tg4.
(If 1 3 . . . c6, then 14 f3 is already
possible followed by 'a4 and
.d2-e 1 -g3 with a strong initiat
ive. ) 14 h3 th6 1 5 c6! . .xc6 1 6
lxc6 be 1 7 'a4 ld6 1 8 'xa7
.f6 19 b4! and White has an
unstoppable attack. After 19 . . .
100 3 d4
.e8 2 b5 .xe2 21 o .xc6 22
.xe2 'xd4 23 'a8+ he quickly
won.
Besides 1 1 . . . . he8 the e8-
square can also be occupied by
the other rook - 1 1 . . . . de8
(96) . The following game, Ulibin
Akopyan, Borzhomi 1 988, is of
particular value:
96
w
12 f3
After 1 2 a4 the rook manages
to get to h6 - 1 2 . . . . e6 1 3 f3
.th6! 14 fe de 1 5 .c4 'xh2+ 1 6
<f2 .+ 1 7 .e1 'xg2 1 8 .f6
.xf6 1 9 .e3 .g7. Again Black
has three pawns for the piece and
equal chances (Ioseliani-Gaprin
dashvili, Borzhomi 1 990).
12 . . . Cf6 13 .d2 .xe2!
This move was also seen in our
main game. The game Ulibin
Akopyan was going to be i ncluded
i n the main contests of the book,
but the later Makarychev game
took its place because there Black
manages to fully realise his plan.
14 'xe2 Ch5 15 'f2 'xf2+ 16
.xf2
Jumping ahead w notice that
in a si mi l ar position (the other
rook is on d8) Howell took on f2
with the king, not wishing to
return the exchange. However,
here it is dangerous to take
back
the exchange - if 1 6 . . . .xd4
there comes 1 7 .c3! and after 1 7
. . . .xf2+ 1 8 >xf2 White
has
better chances thanks to the
advantage of the two bishops.
16 . . . Cf4 1 7 ix/4 g 18 c61
So that, if 1 8 . . . be or 1 8 & . .
.xc6 White gives check with the
bishop and defends the d4-pawn.
18 . . . .e6! 19 cb+ >b8 20 >hl
ixd4 21 .c2 ie3 22 b4 >xh7
For the exchange Black has a
pawn and two active bishops
which allow him to easily hold the
position.
23 g3 fg 24 hg h5 25 .el d4 26
.e4+ 'c8 27 .c5 .g8 28 .xh5
.xg3 29 . a5 >d7 30 .d5 <d6
31 .xe6 fe 32 :a6 + >d5 33
.xa7 .xf3 34 .xc7 e5 35 b5 d3
36 .d7+ >c4 37 b .xb6 38
.el+ .b4 39 .bl + .c5
4
0
.el + <b4 41 .bl + i- f.
.he8
Z lJ
There is an interesting game !
.
Polgar-Gaprindashvili, N
ov
i
Sad (ol) 1 990, where White pla
ye
d
1 2 'e1 , when 1 2 . . . Cf6 (poor
is
12 . . . .xd4? 1 3 Cxd4 Cxc5
1
4
Wc3 Ca4 1 5 Cf5! and White
get
s
3 d4 101
th
e
upper hand) 1 3 Wd2 te4! 1 4
97
'le1 tf6 would lead to repetition B
of
m
oves. However, the youngest
of
the Polgar sisters shunned the
'
g
r
andmaster draw', replying 1 4
'la5! ?. After 1 4 . . . .b8 1 5 f3 tf6
White re-evaluated her chances
and played 1 6 g3?! ( 1 6 d2 tg4
1 7
fg lhe2 1 8 xe2 xd4+ 1 9
ch1 .e5 20 h3 'g3 2 1 .g1 led
to
a forced draw. Gaprindashvili
r
ecommends 16 . . . tg8! ) 1 6 . . .
'lh5 1 7 a4? (Gaprindashvili now
energetically carried out the fnale)
17 . . . tg4! 1 8 fg .. bg4 19 tf4
(White loses immediately after 1 9
1c3 .. bd4+ 20 .g2 Wh3 + 2 1
ch 1 f3 + 2 2 J:xf3 J:e 1 + with
mate) 19 . . . .. bd4+ 20 .g2 gf
21 .xf4 .e5 (even stronger was
21 . . . J:c8 22 c6 J:e2+ 23 xe2
.h3 + 24 .h1 lxe2 or 22 J:ae1
.he1 23 .xe1 .h3 + etc.) 22 c6
ic8 23 Wb4 d6! (i t IS
important to drive the queen from
b4) 24 Wb3 .. bf4 25 J:xf4 J:e3
26 .c2 .h3+ 27 .h1 (there is
no
salvation in 27 .f2 lxh2+
28
.xe3 'xg3+ 29 J:f3 d4+ 30
'e2 g4+) 27 . . . J:xg3 28 cb
hb7 29 J:xf7 J:c8 30 .b5 d4+
3
1
.c6 J:c3! 0- 1 .
Z tf6
3 dZ /9/]
After 1 3 .e1 Wxe1 the chances
are
roughly equal.
3 @xcZ!
Ak
opyan's idea is used wi th
even greater efect in thi s game.
Curiously, the assault on the for
tress of the white king is only a
sideline; the main idea is to loosen
the foundations in the centre,
which is not particularly charac
teristic of the variation.
4 wxcZ
In the case of 14 xe2 there
also arise beautiful and interesting
variations. Black's quintessential
plan is the destruction of the d4-
pawn, not by the queen ( 1 4 . . .
Wxd4+ is not good because of
1 5 <h1 h6 1 6 b4), but by the
fanchettoed bishop after 1 4 . . .
tg4! ! . Now after 1 5 fg the whi te
king fies from his sanctuary to
the centre of the board, where he
meets his end : 1 5 . . . .xd4+ 1 6
.h 1 e5 1 7 f4 ( 1 7 g 3 xg3
18 .g2 'xh2+ 19 .f3 J:e8! ; 1 7
h3 lg3 1 8 g 1 Wh2+ 1 9 lf2
d4+ 20 .f3 f5! ) 1 7 . . . xf4
1 8 J:xf4 gf 1 9 .xd5 J:e8! , and
White's position is hopeless
(Sherzer-Halasz, Budapest 1 990).
102 3 d4
Correct is 1 5 .f4! gf? 1 6 fg,
98
closing the breach, or 1 5 . . . lxh2? w
1 6 .xh2 .xd4+ 1 7 < hl e5
18 f4 xf4 19 lhf4 and Black is
in a bad way. Stronger, however,
is 1 5 . . . lf2! with a wonderful
game in all variations : 1 6 xg5
lh3 +! 1 7 gh "hg5+ 18 <hl
"f4; 1 6 g3 "h6 1 7 lhf2 gf 1 8 g4
"f6; 1 6 .g3 lxdl 1 7 xh4
.xd4+ 18 <hl le3 19 .xg5
J e8 20 xe3 J xe3 (Makary
chev).
4 lh5|
Of course, 14 . . . "xd4+ fails to
1 5 e3.
5 lZ
White has only one move. After
1 5 .el "xd4+ 1 6 f2 lf4! he
is already worse.
5
xlZ
xlZ+
As we recall, Ulibin took wi th
the rook against Akopyan - 1 6
Jxf2 and to 1 6 . . . xd4 would
have answered 1 7 c3. But now
Black has no rook on h8, and after
1 6 Jxf2 .xd4 1 7 .c3, before
taking the exchange, he can take
a pawn by 1 7 . . . .xc5.

Cl4|
7 xl4
gl /9]
In a fairly quiet position White
has a material advantage and it is
his turn to move, but has to look
for a draw since he cannot avoid
the loss of two pawns.
8 2lc $xd4+
H $xbZ|
The bishop remains on the long
diagonal and doesn't let the rook
to e5 (as 19 . . . .xc5 would
g
ive
White counterplay). Besides, it i s
useful to leave the opponent with
isolated pawns.
Z0 2abI
More exact was 20 J ad | and
Black has only a minimal advan
tage.
Z0 $d4
If 20 . . . a3 the rook gets to
e5.
Z Jc7!
After 2 1 J bel .e3 followed by
. . . c7-c6 and . . . b7-b6 Black
generates connected passed c
and d-pawns, but White neverthe
less would have had chances to
save himself. Now his rook is
ambushed.
Z 2l8|
The immediate attempt to t ra
p
the rook could cost Black dea
rly
:
21 . . .
.e6? 22
c6! c5? (be
tt
er
i 22 . . . b6) 23 Jxb7 _xe7 24
ja
6 wmnmg. Makarychev
d
efe
nds his f7-pawn and keeps
con
trol of c6 with the bishop.
22 . .bh7
Now the rook will certainly per
ish
in jail, but its release would
involve losing the c5-pawn and
soon Black would have had not
t
wo
, but thre connected passed
pawns. Of course, White's passed
h-pawn cannot compensate this
Joss.
22 je6
23 lel j.e3!
Preventing the double capture
on e6.
24 g4
Jh8!
There is no harm in frst training
his sights on the h-pawn.
25 jf5
d8
26 Jxe6
If 26 jxe6 Black forces the
exchange of rooks with an easy
win in the bishop ending -26 . . .
wxe7 27 jxd5 l xh2 28 l e2
lxe2 29 wxe2 c 3 jc4 jxc5.
Something similar happens in the
game.
26
27 j.xe
28 Jdl
fe
Jxh2
Jhl +
White resigned due to 29 we2
lxdl 30 wxdl c6.
Game No. 24
Dolmatov-Makarchev
Reykjavik 1990
3 d4 103
I e4 e5
2 If3 If6
3 d4 Ixe4
4 jd3 d5
5 Ixe5 Id7
6 Ixd7 jxd7
7 0-0 'h4
8 c4 0-0-0
9 c5 g5
10 f3
In the two previous games 10
Ic3 jg7 II Ie2 and then II . . .
f5 or I I . . . Jhe8 were played.
Black, as we have seen, obtained
sufcient counterchances. The aim
of the move f2-f3 is essentially to
counteract Akopyan's idea of . . .
lxe2! and . . . Ih5.
Besides I 0 f3 and I 0 Ic3 both
10 Id2 and 10 je3 have been
encountered.
Pinkas-Kuczinski, Wroclaw
1 987: 10 Id2 Ixd2 I I jxd2
Jg8 12 lcl (a very sharp pawn
sacrifce) 12 . . . 'xd4 13 j.c3 'h4
14 jf6. Here Black replied 14 . . .
l e8 and lost unexpectedly
quickly: 1 5 f4 je7 16 c6 be 1 7
jxe7 lxe7 1 8 'b3 'g4 1 9 h3
'e6 20 lcel 1-0. 14 . . . jg7!?
deserves attention, and after 1 5
jxd8 l xd8 Black has the two
bishops and a pawn for the
exchange; the game is roughly
level.
As for 10 j.e3, it usually trans
poses (f2-f3 and . . . Ie4-f6 are
put back a move). There are also
104 3 d4
the following independent vari
ations: 1 0 .e3 f5 1 1 f3 tf6 with
an unclear position or 10 . . . leS
1 1 td2 ( 1 1 tc3 1 e6! with the
standard threat of . . . 1 h6) 1 1 . . .
.g7 1 2 tf3 .h5 1 3 txg5 .xd1
1 4 laxd1 txg5 1 5 .xg5 .xd4
1 6 c6! .g4! 1 7 .f5 + with
approximately equal chances.
99
B
0 tf6
.e3 /99)
Now Black has a choice
between 1 1 . . . lgS and 1 1 . . .
leS; however the novelty 1 1 . . .
.g7 was tried in van Riemsdijk
Finegold, Dieren 1 990, although
not very successfully. There fol
lowed 12 tc3 1 deS 13 .f2 . h6
14 g3 .h3?! (more accurate was
1 4 . . . g4 or 14 . . . th5) 15 .c2 h5
16 lfe 1 h4 17 c6! be 1 S .a6+
'dS 19 .b3 .e6 20 .fl ! .f5
2 1 le5! .g6 22 .b7! th5 23
.xc6 hg 24 hg .xe5 25 de .c2
26 .aS+ 1 -0 ( 26 . . . .cS 27
.xd5 + .d7 2S .aS+ cS 29
ld1 +).
le8
Interestingly, in a prev
io
u
s
encounter between these two
play
ers the novelty 1 1 . . . lgS was
played and Black won quic
kly
.
Our main game took place th
ree
months later, and Makarychev
decided not to wait for his
opponent's improvement and
played the other rook manoeuvr
e.
Although Dolmatov gained rev
enge i n this sharp skirmish, this was
not, as we shall see, due to the
opening. First of all let us have a
look at the previous game between
the Moscow grandmasters.
Dolmatov-Makarychev, Palma
de Mallorca 1 9S9 :
1 1 s lg8 12 tc3
After 1 2 .f2 .h6 Black threat
ens . . . g5-g4- g3.
12 s g4!
1 2 . . . leS -- 1 3 .f2 h6
1 4 .d2 and White has a clear
advantage.
13 .ei? (100)
100
B
An important moment; 1 3
g3
' h3 1 4 f 4 l h5 (better was 1 4 . . .
.e8) was necessary and only now
1
5
'e1 ! . This position arose
shortly after in van Riemsdijk
Casafus, Buenos Aires 1 990. There
fo
llowed 1 5 o o .e8 1 6 'f2 lf6
1 7 .fe 1 g7 1 8 'c2 .e7 1 9 f2
.ge8 20 .e5 c6 and now, instead
of 21 . ae l lg8 22 b4, 21 b4! wins
at once. We can guess now why,
in
this second encounter with Dol
matov, Makarychev rejected 1 1 . . .
.g8 i n favour of 1 1 . . . .e8.
13 o o o g3!
Makarychev, commenting on
the game, suggested that his
opponent had expected 1 3 a . . ' h5,
considering the following beautiful
variation after 1 3 . . . g3 : 1 4 hg
.xg3 1 5 le2! .xg2+? 1 6 'xg2
'h3+ 1 7 'g1 d6! ? 18 cd
.g8+ 1 9 g5! ! and White wins
by running away with the king
gl -f2-e3-d2.
14 hg
Or 1 4 h3 xh3 1 5 gh 'xh3 1 6
'd2 g2 1 7 .fd1 'hl + 1 8 'f2
gl ( l) + 19 .xg1 'h2+ 20 'fl
.xgl + winning.
1
4 . . . .xg3 15 'd2
If 1 5 le2 then decisive is 1 5 . . .
.d6! 1 6 cd .xg2+ 1 7 wxg2
.g8+ 1 8 g5 .xg5 + 19

lg3
.h3
+ etc.
15
a . Sxe5.1 16 de .dg81
Of course, not 1 6 . . . d4 right
a
way - 1 7 f4! and White is
a
l re
ady
better.
1
7
..fd1 d4! 18 c6 de 19 ed+ wdB
3 d4 105
and White resigned in view of 20
'e2 .xg2+ 2 1 'xg2 'f2+ 22
'hI ' xg2 mate.
101
B
1 2 'd2 (101 )
A surprise, prepared by Dolma
tov especially for this game (the
queen not only defends the bishop,
but also sets the aS-square in its
sights. Curiously, his opponent
once played 1 2 f2 with White
in this position ( Makarychev-Ye
Rongguarg, Belgrade 1 988). After
1 2 a 'h6 ( 1 2 a 'h5 1 3 lc3 g4
1 4 fg lxg4 1 5 h3) 1 3 lc3 g4 1 4
f4 g 3 ! 1 5 xg3 .g8 1 6 'f3 g4?
1 7 ' f2 le4 1 8 xe4 de 1 9 . fe 1
f5 20 d 5 'a6 2 1 'e3 'c4 22 f2
f3 23 g3 .d8 24 .ac l 'a6 25
d6 c6 24 b4 a fairly sharp struggle
developed in which White had
some initiative, but Black fnally
gained the upper hand. Makary
chev gives the following variation:
1 6 e e e lh5! ? 1 7 'xd5 c6 1 8
' f5 + 'b 8 1 9 e4 lxg3 20 hg
'g7 21 xc6 'xd4+ 22 'h2
be 23 .ad 1 'xc5 24 'xc5 with a
106 3 d4
minimal advantage to White.
Z @xcJ!!
White doesn't manage to catch
his opponent unawares. Al terna
tively, 1 2 . . . .g8 1 3 f2 'h6 1 4
'a5 .b8 1 5 g3 .c 8 1 6 tc3
g4? 1 7 f5! xf5 1 8 tb5 a6 1 9
xc7+ .a8 20 'b6 ab 2 1 'a5
i s mate, but after 1 6 . . . lh5 1 7
e5 g7! a complicated position
anses.
J wxcJ Ch5
The only response, as after 1 3 . . .
g7? 1 4 g3 Black's counterplay
comes to a dead end.
4 2d
An inaccuracy. M akarychev
also showed that 14 f5, 1 4 'f2,
14 ta3 and 1 4 td2 hold no
danger for Black, and that the
correct move is 14 tc3 g7 1 5
te2 @e8 1 6 'f2 and now two
sharp variations arise:
(a) 1 6 . . . lf4 1 7 .ad ! 'xf2+
1 8 .xf2 .e6 19 .fe l with the
threat of b2-b4;
(b) 1 6 . . . @xe2!? 1 7 'xh4 gh
1 8 xe2 xd4+ 19 ' h 1 lf4!
20 .ad 1 xb2 21 .d2 c3 22
.c2 txe2 23 .xe2 b5.
4 g7
15 fl
g4 ( 102)
1 6 'f2 was threatened, disper
sing all danger.
c
A reckless move. After 1 6 fg
.e8 1 7 'd3 xg4 1 8 tc3! xdl
1 9 @xd 1 a draw is in prospect.
102
w
This vanatton is played in the
game, the only diference being
that White has surrendered a
pawn.
be
7 lg Zc8!
8 'dJ xg4
tcJ
He cannot keep the exchange -
1 9 Zc 1 h6 followed by 2
e3+ 2 1 .hl tg3 mate.

xd
Z0 2xd wg5
The dust has settled and Black
ts a pawn up.
Z 1h
tf
ZZ cZ h5
A loss of time. Better was 22 . . .
lg4 at once .
ZJ b4
White tries his only chance -
counterplay on the queenside -
which unexpectedly j ustifes its
elf.
ZJ
Cg4
Z4 xg4 hg
Z5 'a+ 1d7
Z b5 'h
Z7 bc+ wxc
Z8 wdJ
wc
Z 2l c!
An unnecessary weakening ol
|is
own king. Alter29. . . a6Whi te
stil
l has to work lor the draw.
J0 Ca4
vd8
J Cc5
JZ wb
JJ wl5
J4 a4
wcZ
wb5
2c7
wb4!!
Intimetroub|eB|ackmakesthe
decisivemi stake. Alter34. . . we2
(threatening 34 . . . 3xd4 and not
letting the rook on l| out ol his
sights) 35 wbl &c8 36 wl5+
)d8 37 wb | ;c8 the game
wou|d have ended with a rep-
etition olmoves.
J5 l4!
xd4
J wd+ vc8
J7 wxc+
1l8
J8 wc8+ 2c8 (103)
38 ... ;g7 a|so |oses to 39
vxg4+ &h74O h4+ and wxe7.
103
w
J Cc+!
40 wc7+
1c7
vxc
3 d4 107
4 wxl7+ -0
Game No. 25
Kasparov~Karpov
World Ch ( 10)
New York 1990
This game is the last so lar in
my recent debate on the Petrod
withGaryKasparov.Itisnatura|
to end this book withi t.
c4 c5
Z ClJ Cl
J d4
Unti |nowourdebatehadbegun
with 3 Cxe5. Thistime Kasparov
changesthedirectionolthegame,
butdoes not catch meunawares.
J cd
Theory gives the capture 3 . . .
Cxe4asprelerab|e.Intheprevious
lourgameswehaveexaminedthat
move qui te c|ose|y. I chose 3 . . .
ed especial|y lor this match
becausewehadpreparedaninter-
estingnove|ty.A|thoughthegame
wasn't particu|ar|y exciting its
theoretica|va|uei sbeyonddoubt.
4 c5
Cc4
5 wxd4
Atdi derent times 5 we2,5 d3
and 5 3b5 hada| | been popu|ar
herebelore itwasdiscovered that
centra|ising the queen was the
mostdangerouscontinuation.
5 d5
cd
7 CcJ
Cxd
108 3 d4
Thestandard move,but 7 g5
and 7 d3 have a|so been thor-
ough|yi nvestigated.
7 Cc6
The bishop move 7 ... |5
was re|ected thirtyyearsago 8
we5 + we79 Cd5wxe5 | O Cxe5
|6 | | C|3 d7 | 2 |4 wi th
a c|ear advantage |or Whi te i n
BronsteinBorisenko, USSR Ch
| 96 | .
104
B
8 wl4 ( 104)
l n thi s we||-known position
manymoveshavebeentried 8
. . . we7+, 8 . . . e7,8 . . . g6, 8 . . .
|5. They have a|| been studied
i nside-out, and it has been estab-
|ished that White gets a tangib|e
advantage in every variation.
Li mi ti ngourse|vestooneinterest-
ingexamp|e,|et's|ookatthemost
recentattempt|or B|ack.
K|ovans-Harman, European
CorrCh | 983-87 .
8 . . . ./5 9 .b5
This bishop move a|so brings
Whitetheadvantagea|ter8. . . g6.
9 . . . we/+
The de|ence 9 ...
e7
1 0
xc6+ bc | | Ce5 O-O | 2
Cxc
6
we8 | 3 Cxe7+ wxe7+ | 4

e3
xc2 | 5 Zc l d3 | 6 Cd5
wd
8
| 7 wd4! |ed to an advantage |ot
Whi te in SaxYusupov, Rottet-
dam | 988.
10 r; f1
The |orcing theoretica| vati-
ation | O e3 Cxb5 | | Cxb5
wb4+ | 2 wxb4 xb4+ | 1
c1
d6 |4 Cxd6+ cd | 5 O-O-O ee
|6 . xd6 xa2 gives White the
betterchances,but the positionis
rather simp|ihed, whi ch is not to
everyone's|iking.
10 . . . .e4 11 .xc6+
| | a4 O-O-O | 2 e3 |6 | 1
Cxe4 W xe4 | 4 . d| is usua||y
p|ayed,andWhitei sbetter(anold
recommendationo|Pau| Keres').
11 . . . .xc6 12 Ce5 0-0-0
B|ack hastomovetheki ngto
the weakened queenside. Othet
moves promise nothing. | 2 . .
b5 + | 3 Cxb5 Cxb5 | 4 xl7
wx|7 | 5 we5+, | 2 . . . we6 1
3
Cxc6 bc | 4 w|3 wd7 | 5 Ca4.
13 txc6 be 14 Wa4 tb5 15 Wa6+
r;b8 16 .e3 Wb4
| 6 . . . Cd4 is poor | 7 d
|
we5 ( | 7 . . . c5 | 8 Cb5) | 8 i . x
d
4
@xd4 | 9 e l .
1 7 Wxc6 td4
This position has been knowa
|or a|ongtimein theoryanduse
d
to be thought p|easant|or B|ack
In
lact, alter | 8 3xd4 J:xd4 or
|8 we4 3c5 (with the threat o|

.
. J:he8) |9 a3 wc4+ 2O wd3
#xd3+2| cdCc2 B|ack'si ni ti at-
i
ve canevenbecomedangerous.
18 wa6 ( 105)
105
B
By p|aying this move K|ovans
radica||ya|tered the eva|uation ol
the position. Here B|ack guessed
his opponent's c|ever p|an. | 8 . . .
Zd6 | 9 wd3' and | 9 . . . ^b3 is
bad because ol 2O 3xa1+, and
alter |9 . . . 3e1 2O a3 B|ack has
no compensation |orthe pawn.
18 . . . J.c5 19 a3 h7 20 .xh7+
xh7 21 Zc
So, the opening contest is
r
eso|ved in White'slavourasheis
simp|y a pawn up a|though it
took White a|most hve years to
re
a|ise the extra pawn ( ' ), as the
game was p|ayed by correspon-
de
nce.
Why did I choose a variation
which gives B|ack serious prob-
|e
ms (Which ol the a|ternatives
on move 8 do not give serious
3 d4 109
prob|ems)IttranspiresthatB|ack
hasah|thpossib|emove,invented
byIgorZaitsev!
106
w
8 Cl5!! ( 106)
A comp|ete|y|ogica|,a|though,
according to |orma| ru|es, para-
doxica| move, which nobody had
thoughtolbelore.' Whati s|ogica|
is immediate|y apparent. And
whatisparadoxica|. . .'Ithas|ong
beenwe|| known that |osingtime
by moving a|ready deve|oped
pieces, especia||y i n open pos-
itions, is not a good idea. O|the
eight moves made, the b|ack
knight has made |our ol them,
anditseemsunbe|ievab|ethatthis
cannotbe dangerous lor B|ack.
$b5
Alter 9 ^b5 3b4+ | Oc3 3a5
| | g4^|e1B|ack is innodanger.
3d6
0 e4+ we7 ( 107)
3g5
Whitedoesn'thurrytodishgure
B|ack's position with | | 3xc6+ .
in that case Cxd6+ wi|| not be
110 3 d4
107
w
threatened a|ter the exchange on
e4.
| | O-Osuggestsitse||, whena|ter
| | . . . O-O ( | | . . . d7 | 2 xc6
bci sa|so hne|or B|ack) | 2 xc6
bc | 3 wxc6 B|ack p|ays | 3 . . .
Zb8,withgoodcompensation|or
thepawn.Whitegetsnothing|rom
| 2 wxe7 C|xe7 ( | 2 . . . Ccxe7) | 3
Ce4 b4.
| | g5 |6 | 2 d2 was p|ayed
i nour game, and the position o|
the pawn on |6 is possib|y in
B|ack's |avour. There|ore, it was
better to p|ay | | d2 straight
away, and then | | . . . d7 | 2
O-O-Owxe4 | 3 Cxe4e7| 4@ he |
O-O-O.Now| 5 Ceg5! @d|8' | 6 g4
xg5 | 7 xg5 Cd6 | 8 xc6
xc6 |9 Cd4(|9 Ce5|62OCxc6
|g with equa|ity) |9 ... d7 2O
e7 @e8 2 | xd6 cd 22 |3 wi th
a | ike|y draw, but a|ter | 5 c4!
White'spositioni spre|erab|e.
Incidenta||y,a|ter |4g4(instead
o|| 4Zhe | ) |4 . . . a6 | 5 c4 Cd6
|6 Cxd6+ xd6 |7 Zde|+ we
have the hna| position |rom
th
e
mai n game, with the on|y di
er-
ence thatB|ack's|-pawn is sti|
| in
its initia| position. Now, a|ter l 7
. . . Ce7 or | 7 . . . e7 the mov
e
| 8 Ce5 is possib|e, and Wh
ite
retains a sma||initiative.
l
O| course not | | ... wxe4+
| 2 Cxe4 e7 |3 xc6+ bc |
4
xe7 and | 5 O-O-O when the
endingcanhard|y besaved.
Z dZ d7
J 0-0-0 wxc4|
The on|y move. | 3 . . . O-O-O is
bad because o| |4 xc6 and | 3
. . . O-O because o| | 4wxe7 C|xe7
( | 4. . . xe7 | 5 |4' ) | 5 Ce4.
4 Cxc4 c7
The corresponding square!
When the knight i s on c3 the
corresponding square |or the
bi shopis d6,andwhen theknight
i sone4 the bi shopmust move to
e7. |4 . . . O-O-O is worse | 5 g4
C|e7 | 6 Cxd6+ cd | 7 g5 g4 | 8
e2.
5 g4
The|astattempttohght|orthe
initiative. I| | 5 |4 O-O-O | 6 g4
then | 6 . . . g5 doesn't | ookbad

5 a!!
Less c|ear was | 5 . . . Ch6
| 6
Cx|6+! ( | 6 xh6 gh | 7 h3 h
5!
| 8gh|5 or | 8 g5|g | 9Cexg5h6,
and B|ack hasan exce||ent gam
e)
| 6 . . . g|( | 6 . . . x|6 | 7 g5
g
4
| 8 g| x|3 | 9 |g Zg8 2O
xh
6
_xh| 2 | Axh| wi th winning
ch
an
ces lor Whi tc) | 7 h6
_xg4 | 8 @d3 and White has
th
e
i nitiative. However, a|ter the
steady | 5 . . . Cd6 | 6 Cxd6+
xd6 | 7 zde| + &|8 | 8 Ahg|
e8 | 9 @xe8+ &xe8theposition
is
comp|ete|y|eve|.
l6 c4!| (!08)
Here Kasparov cou|d have
p|ayed more accurate|y. Aher | 6
)a4b 5 | 7 b3( | 7 g| ba| 8 Cg3
O-O-O) | 7 . . . Cld4 B|ack has no
prob|emseither,butbycontinuing
|6 xc6 xc6 | 7 @he | xe4
( | 7 . . . Cd6 | 8 Cxd6+ cd | 9
Cd4)| 8 @xe4 Cd6| 9 @e2White
obtains a positiona| p|us i n view
olthe threatened Cl3d4e6.
108
B
l6
l 7 Cxd6+
l 8 @de l +
3 d4 111
Cd6
xd6
In this posrtron Kasparov o|-
lered a drawwhichwasaccepted.
A |ai r resu|t, but a|| the same it
was worth Whi te waitinglor the
rep|y. The lact is, that ol lour
possib|e continuations which at
hrstg|anceappearolequa|merit,
on|y one is correct. Aher | 8 . . .
&l8 | 9 @hg| @e8 2Og5 @xe | +
2| @xe| or the corresponding | 8
. . . &d8 | 9 Ahg| @e8 2O g5
@xe|+2 | @xe|B|ackhastroub|e
conso|idating his |orces. For
examp|e, in both variations 2| . . .
Ce5 i s bad because o| 22 Cxe5
xe523|4. Whitea|sohasac|ear
initiative a|ter | 8 ... Ce7! | 9
@hg| O-O-O 2O Cd4. But I , o|
course,intendedthebishopretreat
| 8 . . . e7! , when | 9 d5 O-O-O
2O xc6 xc6 2 | @xe7 xl3
22 @g | @d7 |eadstolu||equa|ity.
Andso,thecontinuationolour
discussion i n the Petrodi s post-
poned unti|our|uture batt|es.
Index of Variations
1 e e5
2 lf3 lf6
A 3 lxe5
B 3 d4
A 3 lxe5
3 d3 81; 3 c4 81; 3 lc3 81
3 . . . d6
3 . . . lxe4 82
4 lf3
4 lc4 82; 4 lxf7 <xf7 83
4 . . . lxe4
5 d4
5 'e2 10; 5 lc3 41; 5 c4 48
5 . . . d
5 . . . e7 6 d3 d5 see A2
6 d3
A l 6 . . . lc6
A2 6 . . . e7
A3 6 . . . d6
Al 6 lc6
6 . . . lf6 64
7 00 e7
7 . . . g4 8 . e l 18
8 c4 xf3 49
8 . . . e7 49
8 . . . lf6 9 . e l + 50
9 cd 61
9 lc3 5060
Index of Variations II3
8 c4
8 le1 ..f5 I 1
8 . . . ..g4 9 c3 20
9 c4 lf6 10 lc3 20
10 cd 15-19
8 . . . lb4
8 . . . lf6 21; 8 . . . ..e6 43
9 ..e2
9 cd 43
9 . ..e
9 . . . de 22
9 . . . 0-0 1 0 a3 28
10 lc 0-0
11 ..e3
1 1 cd 34
11 . . . ..f5
10 lc3 ..f5 29
10 . . . ..e6 - see below
10 le5 38
1 1 . . . lxc3 25
] 1 . . . lf6 34
1 1 . . . f5 1 2 cd 38
1 2 a3 35-40
1 1 . . . ..f6 41
12 'b3
12 a3 26; 1 2 Jc1 31
12 . . . c6
1 2 . . . de 29
13 lac1 26
A2 6 ..e7
7 0-0 0-0
8 c4 lf6 64
A3 6 . . ..d6
7 0-0 0-0
8 c4 c6
9 'c2
9 lc3 72; 9 cd 74
114 Index of Variations
9 . . !a6
9 . . . [5 68
10 a3
10 xe4 69
10 . . . g4
10 . . . [5 69
1 1 c5 70
B 3 d4 !xe4
3 . . . d 87; 3 . . . ed 107
4 d3
4 !xe5 - see A; 4 'ie2 88; 4 de 88
4 . . . d5
5 !xe5
5 de 99
5 . . !d7
5 . . . d6 88
6 !xd7
6 !c3 92; 6 0-0 92; 6 'ie2 92; 6 !xf7 93
6 . Rxd7
7 0-0
7 'ie2 94
7 . . . 'h4
7 . . . d6 94; 7 . . . 'if6 94
8 c4
8 'ie1 94; 8 !c3 94
8 . . . 0-0-0
9 c5
9 cd 95
9 . g5
9 . . . !xf2 95; 9 . . . !f6 95; 9 . . . g6 95
10 !c3
10 f3 103
10 . . . g7
10 . . . ![6 95; 10 . . . [5 95; 10 . . . .g8 95
11 !e2 96-103
$1 6.95 Botsford Chess Library An Owi Booki
WINNING WITH THE PETROFF
Until recently, Petroff's Defence had always been regarded as a
safe and solid way for Black to play for equality in the opening.
Now, however, its reputation has been completely transformed
and it features in the arsenal of some of the world's most
attacking players who have introduced a wealth of aggressive
new ideas for Black.

Ideal opening for club and tournament players

Regular choice of World Championship Candidates Jan
Timman, Arur Yusupov, Boris Gelfand, and Anatoly Karpov
himself
Completely illustrative games explain all the new ideas

Unique insights into Karpov's opening preparation
Now you can play to win with Petroff's Defence!
Anatoly Karpov is one of the greatest players of al l time.
During his time as World Champion between 1 975 and 1 985,
his tournament record was unprecedented as he outclassed his
contemporaries time and again. His fierce rivalry with Gary
Kasparov endured for five matches for the world title and he
must still be rated as one of the leading contenders.
Other Wnning Wth . . . books from Henry Holt include:
Wnning With the Closed Sicilian
Gary Lane
Winning Wth the Nimzo-lndian
Raymond Keene
Wnning Wth the English
Zoltan Ribli and Gabor Kallai
For a list of other titles in the
Botsford Chess Librry, write to:
Henry Holt and Company, Inc.,
1 1 5 West 1 8th Street, New York,
New York 1 001 1 .
Chess
Wnning With the King's Gambit
Joe Gallagher
Wnning Wth the Philidor
Tony Kosten
Wnning Wth the Bishop's Opening
Gary Lane
ISBN 0 - 8050- 2633- 9
90000>
9 780805 026337