| The following games were played at the Bill Lange Memorial. The tournament was played in Oklahoma City on the weekend of September30th-October1st. All games were played at a time control of G/120. In the first round, my opponent played the Veresov opening, an opening which almost all theoreticians condemn as being totally harmless. Having read Joe Gallagher's outstanding 1996 book, "Beating the Anti-King's Indians," I must admit that I shared the theoreticians' disdain for this opening! When I followed Gallagher's recommendations, however, my opponent unleashed a new and interesting move which I believe the theoreticians should consider when writing their next book on the Veresov: Hulburd, G. (1911) - Kamberi, S. (2351) Bill Lange Memorial (1), September 30, 2000 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nc3 d5 3 Bg5 Nbd7 4 Nf3 g6 5 e3 Bg7 6 Be2 Theory only mentions this move in passing. The available analytical work has instead almost entirely focused on the move 6 Bd3 when after 6...O-O 7 O-O Black has a choice between 7...c5, 7...b6, and 7...c6. 6...O-O 7 Ne5 !? This is Hulburd's big new idea! Now 7...b6? is clearly bad because of 8 Nc6 Qe8 9 Nb5 Nb8 10 NXb8 RXb8 11 NXc7. 7...c5 also leaves White with the advantage after 8 NXd7 QXd7 9 dc. Of the three ideas that Black has against 6 Bd3 O-O 7 O-O that only leaves 7...c6. 7...Ne4 ?! But instead of the ...c6 plan, I decided to try and take advantage of the fact that White's bishop wasn't on d3! I hoped that this move would result in exchanges that would quickly level the position, but after playing and analyzing the game I now think that White's superior pawn structure leaves him with a slight but persistent edge after 7...Ne4?!. Therefore, 7...c6 should have been preferred. In the line with 6 Bd3 O-O 7 O-O c6 8 e4! is thought to give White the advantage, but after 6 Be2 O-O 7 O-O c6 8 e4? is impossible, so in that sense the ...c6 plan should be more logical and stronger against 6 Be2 than against 6 Bd3. But whether this difference is sufficient for Black to equalize is a question that will require more experience with this line to answer. 8 NXe4 de 9 NXd7 This move does lead to somewhat better chances for White, but White players wanting to play this line could also investigate 9 f4!? here. One of the few games in this line, Reynolds-Onoda, Correspondence 1991 continued 9...ef 10 NXf3 c5 11 c3 Qb6 12 Qb3 QXb3 13 ab cd 14 ed when White had a small pull due to the greater activity of his pieces. Of course, there may be some improvements for Black waiting to be found in this line. 9...QXd7 I captured this way so as to be able to fianchetto my queen bishop. On b7 the bishop would securely defend the pawn on e4 and not be subject to any harassing pawn advances by White. 10 O-O b6 11 c3 White wants to arrange his pieces before taking any positive action in the center. 11 f3 would have been more energetic, but less convincing because after 11...Bb7 12 fe BXe4 13 Bf3 BXf3 14 QXf3 Black could have played 14...e5!. Then 15 de BXe5 16 Rad1 Qe6 17 b3 f6 18 Bh6 (18 Bf4 and 18 Bh4 both lead to equal positions after Black contests the d-file with 18...Rad8) Rfd8 19 Bf4 c6 leads to a position too simplified for White to hope for any advantage. 11...Bb7 12 Qb3 Clearing d1 for a rook. 12...h6 I played this because gaining space on the kingside was the only plan for Black that showed any hope of unbalancing the position and allowing me to play for a win. Of course, the plan of playing for ...e5 to iron out my pawn structure was also possible, but it seemed to me that this could not possibly lead to anything better than slightly the worse side of a drawish position. 13 Bf4 Kh8 14 Rad1 g5 15 Bg3 Bc6 A funny looking move, but I really wanted to bury his bishop on g3 and I realized that if I played 15...f5 immediately, his bishop would escape my designs by 16 Be5!. Then exchanging bishops on e5 would favor White after 16...BXe5 17 de Qc6 (17...Qc8 18 e6 Bc6 19 Bh5! leaves Black very tied up) 18 Bb5 Qc5 19 Qe6!! QXb5 20 QXh6+ Kg8 21 QXg5+ Kh8 22 QXe7. Therefore, I would have had to push on with 16...f4, but following 17 BXg7+ KXg7 18 Rfe1 f3 19 Bf1, White would definitely be on top. Black just wouldn't have enough pieces left to breakthrough on the kingside, and in the meantime White would have good play on the queenside and against the target on e4. 16 Qc2 Dodging ...Ba4. 16...f5 Now I was happy with this move because 17 Be5? would allow Black to win a pawn after BXe5 18 de Qe6. 17 c4 ? A weak move which hands the initiative over to Black. In fact, right after Hulburd made the move he gestured in disgust, because he realized that he could have played the much stronger 17 d5! instead. After 17...Bb7 the Black pawn roller would be halted, at least temporarily, because Black would need to work out a way to play ...f5-f4 without losing to QXe4! before proceeding. In the position after 17...Bb7 I think White's queenside play and better pawn structure would be more important than Black's attacking chances, especially given that White could fight back on the kingside with f2-f4! if too many storm clouds gathered there, for instance 18 c4 Rac8 (preparing ...e5) 19 f4! ef 20 BXf3 and White stands better due to his space advantage, the poor bishop on b7 and the target on f5. 17...f4 18 ef gf 19 d5 Bb7 ? This bad tactical error should have lost both the initiative and the game in one bold stroke! If I had played 19...fg! 20 dc gf+ 21 RXf2 QXc6 my position would have been slightly better due to the extra pawn. 20 Bh4 ? I really dodged a bullet here! If he had played 20 QXe4! I would have had a lost position. For example, 20...fg (this doesn't work but there is no reasonable move for Black) 21 Bd3 gh+ 21 Kh1 Kg8 23 Qh7+ Kf7 24 Bf5! Qd6 25 Be6+ Ke8 26 QXg7 and Black is busted. 20...f3 21 gf ?? An atrocious move which is more or less equivalent to resignation. 21 QXe4 was about a million times better. After 21...fe 22 QXe2 White's position would be much better than after 21 gf ?? for two reasons: (1)He gets two pawns for the piece instead of one. (2)His king is much safer than in the 21 gf ?? variation. Naturally, even after 21 QXe4 Black would be on top, but at least White would be able to continue the game for a long time and retain some swindling chances. 21...ef 22 BXf3 RXf3 23 Qe4 Raf8 24 BXe7 ? This loses a second piece and speeds up defeat, but obviously White was fighting a lost battle in any case. 24...R8f4 25 Qe6 White has no way to save the piece. 25 Qe2, for example, loses the bishop on e7 after 25...Qg4+ 26 Kh1 Re4. 25...QXe6 26 de Rg4+ White resigned. My next game also saw my opponent use a little studied idea to good effect. With the Black pieces he rapidly seized the initiative, and I really should have lost this game. Fortunately for me, he allowed me to strike back with a deadly blow just when he had my back against the wall: Kamberi, S. (2351) - Dunlap, J. (1971) Bill Lange Memorial (2), September 30, 2000 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 g3 d5 4 Bg2 c6 The main move for Black here is 4...Be7 which has built up a large body of theory. There are three principal alternatives to 4...Be7: (A)4...c5 which often transposes to the Tarrasch defense after 5 cd ed 6 d4. (B)4...dc which leads to a sort of game more open than the typical Reti. (C)4...c6, Dunlap's move, which has been little analyzed even though some theoreticians have long regarded it as a satisfactory choice for Black. For instance, the first edition of ECO A (1979) analyzes 4...c6 as leading to equality. 5 b3 This simple little pawn move is played more often than all the alternatives (5 O-O, 5 Qc2, 5 d4) put together. The reasoning is simple: White almost always plays this move in Reti/Catalan lines at some point, and playing it now means there will never be any worries about the safety of the c4-pawn. 5...Nbd7 The most common-Black follows the standard Meran pattern of development. By the way, the aforementioned ECO A recommends Bronstein's move, 5...a5, as a good path to equality, but I'm sure strong players such as M. Gurevich and Vaganian who play this line as White would have something to say about that! 6 Bb2 Bd6 7 O-O Although this is the normal move, I think that Alekhine's 7 d4!, to stop ...e5, is more accurate. After 7 d4!, White would threaten, by simply developing the queen knight on the next move, to reach a favorable type of Catalan where Black would be handicapped by his somewhat stodgy formation and slightly misplaced d6-bishop (Catalan theory holds that it belongs on e7). Some analysts have recommended that Black meet 7 d4! with 7...Ne4 to try and obtain a satisfactory Stonewall type of position, but after 8 O-O O-O 9 Nbd2 f5 10 Ne5, the position favors White according to Weinstein. 7...e5! Dunlap doesn't hesitate to take advantage of the inaccurate 7 O-O. When I looked the position after 7 O-O up in the database, I was shocked to learn that out of 68 opportunities Black only played 7...e5! 5 times. All I can say is I think that this, like the previous game against Hulburd, seems to be a case where an unknown amateur has hit upon a more testing idea than his master counterparts. 8 d3 I chose the d2 square for my knight instead of the c3 square. Choosing the c3 square with 8 cd cd 9 Nc3, however, also has something to be said for it. In particular, the threat of Nc3-b5 followed by Rc1 or Ba3 as appropriate usually induces Black to lose a tempo with 9...a6, and after 10 d3 O-O 11 e4 d4 12 Ne2 a typical sort of Reversed King's Indian position is reached. Admittedly, however, this particular position has been reached so rarely in practice (I only found a few games in my database), that there is not yet enough experience to confidently assess the position. 8...O-O Black's accurate play has allowed him to transpose to a position that all of my theoretical manuals regard as equal. 9 e3 Played to defuse all of Black's central energy. 9...Re8 10 Nbd2 Nc5 Very combative! This move more or less forces me to engage in a tactical melee by capturing on e5 since on 11 Qc2 Bf5 is awkward to meet. But how should I capture, with the bishop or with the knight? 11 BXe5 ?! The wrong choice! If I had captured with the knight I could have maintained the balance, e.g. 11 NXe5 BXe5 12 BXe5 RXe5 (12...NXd3? 13 BXf6 QXf6 14 cd is not a sound pawn sac for Black) 13 d4 Bg4 14 Qc1! (In his game against Schubert, Bayern 1988, Tiefenbach mistakenly played 14 Bf3?! and after 14...BXf3 15 NXf3 Re8 16 dc dc 17 bc Qe7 18 Rb1 Ne4 19 Qc2 NXc5, Black's structural superiority gave him a slight edge) Re8 (and not 14...Nd3? 15 Qc3 and Black loses material for insufficient compensation) 15 dc d4 16 ed QXd4 17 b4 Be2 18 Nb3 QXc4 19 QXc4 BXc4 20 Rfe1 and the position has simplified to the point of equality. 11...NXd3 ! This move allows Black to achieve a small advantage. As we saw in the note to the previous move, 11...BXe5 would lead to a balanced game. 12 BXd6 QXd6 13 cd So Black is saddled with an isolated pawn, but in this case he has more than enough activity for it. 13...cd 14 Qc2 When I played this move, I was hoping to drive back the knight from d3 and then go for a quick penetration along the c-file. I was obviously also placing alot of faith in Nh4 as a response to ...Bf5, as otherwise the queen would look pretty stupid on c2! In any case, there really doesn't seem to be any better move for White. For instance, 14 Nd4 Bg4 also leaves Black with a slight advantage. 14...Bf5 15 Nh4 Be4 16 NXe4 When I played 14 Qc2, I was planning on playing 16 f3 Rac8 17 Qb1? here, but then I realized that 17...Qc5! would be a killer. Therefore, after 16 f3 Rac8 I would have no choice but to play 17 NXe4. Consequently, I just decided to make the exchange right away so that I didn't have to push my f-pawn to f3 if I didn't want to. 16...de 17 Nf5 ? This further mistake causes my situation to become critical. The idea to bring the knight to the center is of course a sound one, but in this particular position the nuisance value of the d3-knight is so great that immediate steps must be taken to deal with it, thus 17 f3!. It looks insane to voluntarily accept a weak pawn on e3, but in this position there are compensations for White, namely the half-open f-file and the f5 square for a knight. Black can nip one of those compensations in the bud with 17...Rac8 18 Qe2 g6! when Black does still stand slightly better, but White has alot of fight left. 17...Qe5 18 Nd4 Rac8 19 Qe2 Nd5 Note how Black's knights dominate the center and freeze both of White's rooks! 20 Qg4 Trying to create some distractions on the kingside while also making possible the plan of Rfd1 followed by Bf1 to eject the intruder on d3. 20...g6 Black doesn't want to have to worry about a knight coming to f5. 21 Rfd1 f5 Seizing some space on the kingside and solidifying the e4-pawn. 22 Qh4 Rc7 ? Up to this point Black has played very forcefully, but now he finally makes a mistake. The idea of doubling on the c-file certainly appears reasonable but in this particular position it is just too easygoing to allow Black to realize his advantage. The correct "key" to the position was the surprising 22...Red8! (certainly not an easy move to find!). The point is that on the natural 23 Bf1? there follows the vicious shot 23...NXe3! 24 fe RXd4! and Black wins a pawn. Therefore, White is forced to try something like 23 h3, but then 23...Nc3 24 Rd2 Nb5 25 Nc2 Rd6! (threatening 25...RXc2) 26 Rf1 (26 Rad1 would be met the same way) Qg7! leaves White in a total mess (there is no satisfactory way to meet the threat of ...g5 followed by ...Nf4 or ...Nc3 and ...Rh6). 23 Bf1 This move finally allows me to break out of the bind. Now 23...Rc3 does not keep the initiative for Black since 24 Ne2 Rc2 25 Nd4 leads to a repetition of moves. Nor will moving the knight from d3 do, as then my bishop comes out to c4 and I have no problems at all. Therefore, Dunlap's next move is the only way to try to keep up the pressure, but with correct play I should have been able to rebuff it as well. 23...N5b4 24 a3 Nc2 25 Ra2 ? If I had just played one good move now, namely 25 Rab1!, I would have finally escaped from the critical care unit. After 25 Rab1!, neither the capture on d4 nor the capture on a3 lead to anything for Black, for instance: (A)25...NXd4 26 ed Qb5 (of course not 26...QXd4?? 27 RXd3!) 27 a4 Qa6 28 Rbc1! with sufficient counterchances for White. (B)25...NXa3 26 Ra1 Nc2 27 NXc2 RXc2 28 RXa7 and again White has finally got enough activity to balance out the position. 25...NXd4 26 ed Qb5 Now it is clear why my twenty-fifth move was weak: the rook would stand much better on b1 than it does on a2 where it fails to guard the b3-pawn and can never contest the c-file. Now White is again on the brink of defeat. 27 b4 Rc3 28 Qf6 Desperately trying for counterchances. 28...Qc4 ?! Not the most incisive thrust. 28...Qd5! was strongest, when White would have no choice but to give up the a-pawn, for 29 Raa1? would lose after 29...NXf2! 30 KXf2 e3+ 31 Ke1 e2 32 BXe2 RXe2+! 33 KXe2 Qg2+ 34 Ke1 Re3# and 29 Rdd2? would be hammered by 29...Ne1!. Unfortunately for me, this is one of those positions where Black is so dominant that a few inaccurate moves won't squander his advantage; the only reward I get for Black's lack of accuracy is a temporary reprieve! 29 Raa1 Qb3 30 BXd3 I couldn't tolerate this knight any longer! 30...RXd3 ?! Another uninspired move. 30...ed was stronger since the passed pawn on d3 would be very troublesome to White. Still, even after Dunlap's weaker move I have alot of problems. 31 Rdc1 e3 ?? A pity for Dunlap. After outplaying me for the whole game, he throws away all the fruits of his labor with one careless move. He must have thought that opening my king position would lead to rapid mate, but as so often happens in chess he overlooked one detail, and the result turns out to be catastrophic. After the simple move 31...Rc3 Black would have had very good winning chances. 32 Rc7 ! This is it! Black's attack is just a flash in the pan, while mine leads to forced mate. 32...ef+ 33 Kg2 Qd5+ Black has no way out, but I still remember it striking me as odd that Dunlap played this move quickly and calmly (he wasn't in time pressure), as if he had everything calculated out to a forced mate. If I was one move away from being mated, I would think a long time before deciding between 33...Qd5+ and 33...f1=Q+! 34 Kh3 RXg3+ 35 hg Black resigned. In round 3, I met the only other player in the tournament rated over 2000, S. Galant. Since Galant had already given up one draw, I reckoned that drawing this game with Black would virtually guarantee first place. Interestingly, while I was in Oklahoma thinking that I knew the perfect defense to draw with Black, Vladimir Kramnik was halfway around the world thinking the same thing: Galant, S. (2152) - Kamberi, S. (2351) Bill Lange Memorial (3), September 30, 2000 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nf6 4 O-O NXe4 Some openings never die! The ancient Berlin defense has been used by champions from three centuries-Morphy, Steinitz, Lasker, Smyslov, Spassky, and Kramnik. In particular, thanks to Kramnik's recent successful use of the Berlin to end Gary Kasparov's 15-year reign as world champion, this old opening is now in vogue again. 5 Re1 The best players almost never play this move nowadays, but that does not mean it is entirely harmless. Admittedly, 5 Re1 gives the game a drawish tendency and is not as strong as 5 d4!. Still, White's share of the few chances that exist in the 5 Re1 line is slightly bigger than Black's share. 5...Nd6 6 NXe5 Be7 7 Ba4 ?! Perhaps the punctuation is a bit harsh, but 7 Ba4?! has been known to give Black a very easy game since the days of Tarrasch. The nineteenth century masters (many of whom actually played 5 Re1) discovered that 7 Bd3! poses Black the most problems. 7...NXe5 8 RXe5 O-O 9 d4 Bf6 ?! This move, which has the idea of clearing the e-file for heavy piece trades and pressuring the d4-pawn is not so bad, but it does leave White with a slightly more active position, and thus a very small advantage. Tarrasch's move, 9...Nc4!, on the other hand, equalizes going away. For example, 10 Re1 d5 11 Nd2 Nb6 12 Bb3 Bd6 13 Qh5 Re8! 14 Nf3 (14 RXe8+ QXe8 15 BXd5 Qe1+ 16 Nf1 NXd5 17 QXd5 Rb8! and in view of White's difficulties in untangling, Black has sufficient compensation for the pawn) RXe1+ 15 NXe1 c6 and Black had complete equality in Ye-Ivanchuk, Shenyang 2000. 10 Re1 Re8 Besides setting up to trade on the e-file, this move also threatens the pawn on d4. 11 c3 b5 After the bishop fianchetto, Black will be ready to carry out his plan of trading on the e-file. 12 Bc2 Bb7 13 Bf4 RXe1+ 14 QXe1 Qe8 15 Nd2 QXe1+ 16 RXe1 Re8 Everything up to this point has been played before. Black has suceeded in simplifying the position so much that the game Blackburne-Steinitz, London 1862 (m/8) was actually agreed drawn here! Galant, however, had no interest in a draw here, and with all due respect to Blackburne, I have to agree with Galant. Even though the position is almost equal, White's more active pieces still give him some practical chances to squeeze something out of this position. 17 RXe8+ NXe8 18 Bf5 This set me a tough decision about how to defend my d-pawn. 18...d6? will obviously not do as White wins a pawn after 19 Bd7. Therefore I had to decide between 18...Bc6 and 18...Bc8. 18...Bc8 ? This sort of passive, weak move was doubtless just the sort of thing that Galant was hoping for. Of course, the correct 18...Bc6! was the move I wanted to play but I was worried about 19 Nb3 d6? 20 Na5 Bd5 21 Bd7 Kf8 22 BXb5 BXa2 23 Nc6 when White wins a pawn. What I failed to see was the strong sequence 19...g5! 20 Bg3 Ng7! 21 Bh3 d6 when White's edge would have surely soon evaporated. 19 Ne4 Now White, by forcing me to cede the bishop pair, gets a much better ending with good winning chances. 19...Be7 20 Nc5 BXc5 21 dc g6 Sealing up the diagnol h3-c8 so that I can move my d-pawn and neutralize the threat of c5-c6. 22 Bh3 f5 23 g4 d6 24 Bf1 a6 25 c6 ? A wildly overoptimistic pawn sac that ruins White's excellent position and even leaves Black slightly better. The right way to keep up the pressure was 25 c4! when both 25...b4 26 cd cd 27 g5! and 25...bc 26 BXc4+ Kg7 27 gf gf 28 cd give White very good winning chances due to the bishop pair and better pawn structure. 25...fg The worm has turned! A pawn down, White now has to play for the draw. Still, White remains with the bishop pair and better pawn structure, so his chances of achieving the draw are fairly good. 26 c4 b4 27 Bd2 a5 28 a3 ba 29 ba a4 30 c5 ! An excellent move which increases the scope of White's f1-bishop. White was not worried about 30...dc because after 31 Bb5! White's outside passed pawn supported by the bishop pair would fully compensate for the pawn. I have to admit that after his error on move 25, Galant played very strongly the rest of the way to reach the draw. 30...Be6 I needed to be able to protect the a4-pawn after a White Bb5. 31 cd NXd6 32 Ba5 Ne8 ? After this, White reaches the draw without any particular problems. 32...Bd5! would have been somewhat stronger, as after 33 BXc7 Ne8 we get play similar to what actually happened in the game, but more favorable to Black since the White king is still on g1 instead of the more active e1. 32...Bd5!, in my opinion would have given Black reasonable winning chances, whereas after the weaker 32...Ne8? Galant is able to force the draw with a series of accurate of moves. 33 Bb5 ! Bb3 34 Be2 ! Thanks to Galant's last two skillful moves, Black now has to compromise his kingside pawn structure. 34...h5 35 Bd3 Kf7 36 Kf1 Now I finally understood that I could not realize my plan of approaching the c-pawn with my king due to the vulnerability of my kingside pawns. For example, 36...g5 37 Ke2 Ke6 38 Bg6 Nf6 39 BXc7 Bd5 40 Bd8 BXc6 41 BXf6 KXf6 42 BXh5, draw. 36...Bd5 The position is completely drawn now. We made some further meaningless moves before finally agreeing to the draw. 37 Bb5 Bb3 38 Ke1 Nd6 39 Bd3 Bd5 40 BXc7 Ne8 This position, unlike the one I could have had with 32...Bd5! offers no winning chances to Black because the White king gets over to the queenside and slaughters the a-pawn very quickly. 41 Bb8 BXc6 42 Kd2 g5 43 Kc3 Nf6 44 Kb4 Ke6 45 Bb5 BXb5 46 KXb5 Kd5 47 KXa4 Kc6 48 Kb4 Ne4 49 Ba7 h4 The draw is a dead one: Black exchanges the kingside pawns and there is no way the bishop and wrong colored rook pawn could ever win, even if the Black knight were to magically disappear. Game drawn by mutual agreement. After my draw with Galant, I quickly calculated that my next opponent would be the tactical player J. Berry. Having seen some of Berry's games, I knew that he would meet my usual 1 Nf3 with a line of the Queen's Indian that I hadn't yet studied. Therefore, I decided to reach deep into my bag of tricks and do something that I rarely do nowadays-play 1 e4! Kamberi, S. (2351) - Berry, J. (1981) Bill Lange Memorial (4), October 1, 2000 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 d3 This move, which was once considered too tame to bring White any advantage, is now the preference of the majority of grandmasters. 4...h6 !? There are two lines of thinking behind this relatively infrequent move (the usual recipes are 4 ...Be7 and 4...Bc5): (1)This move has been played countless times by weak players who simply want to rule out the possibility of something to g5 before developing normally. (2)In the 4...Be7 lines Black often ends up playing ...Re8, ...Bf8, ...g6, and ...Bg7 to get his dark-squared bishop to a good diagnol. With 4...h6, Black intends to play ...Bg7 in one move instead of three. The main downside is that Black will need several more moves than usual to get castled, so he will have somewhat fewer resources than usual in the event of an early central attack by White. By the way, it should be noted that 4...g6?! without the precautionary 4...h6 is dangerous as after 5 Ng5 d5 6 ed NXd5 7 Nc3 Black is already under unpleasant pressure. 5 Nbd2 Although this move is not necessarily bad, it doesn't really address the needs of the position in a direct way and is therefore rarely played. As mentioned earlier, to take advantage of the drawbacks of 4...h6!?, White needs to act quickly in the center, so White's most usual line of play is 5 O-O g6 6 c3 d6 7 d4 when theory gives White a small edge. 5...Bc5 This move surprised me, as 4...h6 is nearly always followed up by either 5...g6 (to fianchetto the bishop) or 5...d6 (to strongpoint e5 before fianchettoing the bishop). 5...Bc5, however, is still a good move. It gives Black a Giuoco Piano where the inclusion of ...h6 so early is somewhat inflexible, but not at all weak, as the move ...h6 has good value for Black in Giuoco positions. 6 c3 My long term positional idea was d3-d4, but I must also admit that I was hoping that Black would be tempted into playing an early ...d5. For example, 6...d5? 7 ed NXd5 8 Qb3! and Black loses a pawn, or 6...O-O 7 O-O d5? 8 ed NXd5 9 Re1 Bg4 10 h3 Bh5 11 Ne4 Be7 (11...Bb6 12 BXh6!) 12 Ng3 BXf3 13 QXf3 and after the knight moves from d5, 14 Bb5 will force Black to make material concessions. 6...d6 7 O-O O-O We have now transposed to an interesting sideline of the Giuoco Piano usually reached via the move order 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 c3 Nf6 5 d3 d6 6 O-O O-O 7 Nbd2 h6. 8 Bb3 This move nearly always surprises beginners, but experienced Giuoco players consider it routine. The point is that if central fireworks start, White really doesn't want to be stuck in a position where he is forced to meet ...d5 with ed. For example if the bishop were to stay on c4, d3-d4 would never be effective unless the Black bishop was still on c5, because Black could respond with ...ed followed by ...d5. 8...Be6 ?! I was surprised to learn that this, which in my opinion is Black's most natural move, is very rare. I would expect amateurs to constantly play this simple developing move, especially considering the fact that there are no books to warn against it. Indeed, books give the better move 8...a6 for Black, but without explaining why it is stronger. 9 Re1 ?! This discourages ...d5 and plans to continue with the typical "Spanish" 10 Nf1, but it doesn't really seem good enough to get White any advantage. Moreover, other stereotyped Spanish moves also don't seem strong enough to give White anything. For example, 9 Nc4 (hoping to play d3-d4) Re8! (now d3-d4 is very hard to play because of the pressure the White center would subsequently come under) 10 Ne3 BXb3 11 QXb3 Bb6 and Black, with the plan of ...Qd7, Rad8, and ...d5, has no problems. Or 9 Bc2 (trying to avoid exchanges) a6 10 h3 (10 Re1? Ng4! 11 Re2 BXf2+ 12 RXf2 Ne3 is terrible for White) Re8 11 Re1 Ba7 12 Nf1 d5 and Black has a fully playable game according to E. Gufeld. GM Motwani, however, pointed out the correct continuation for White here, 9 BXe6! fe 10 b4 Bb6 11 Nc4 followed by a2-a4-a5 with somewhat better chances for White, although J. Berry correctly points out that the position remains playable for Black. 9...Ng4 Black wants to induce White to play h2-h3, since he thinks that the h-pawn will turn out to be a weakness. At first, I thought that this move was weak since it amounts to Black trading ...Nf6-g4 and ...Ng4-f6 (which amounts to nothing) for Re1-e2 and h2-h3. Since h2-h3 is a move that White often plays voluntarily in the Giuoco, I reasoned that the exchange of tempi outlined above must be favorable to White. After analyzing the position in detail, however, I have concluded that inducing h2-h3 is a satisfactory plan for Black owing to Black's excellent development. Instead of 9...Ng4, Black could also have equalized with 9...a6. I've been mentioning this ...a6 idea for Black alot, so let me explain it. 9...a6 makes way for Black's bishop to retreat to a7 where it won't be threatened by annoying thrusts like d3-d4 or b2-b4. Moreover, it stabilizes the position of the Black knight on c6 against a b2-b4-b5 pawn thrust and allows Black to seal off the diagnol a4-e8 (with ...b5) if need be. In terms of concrete analysis, after 9...a6 10 Nf1 Ba7, there are the following possibilities: (A)11 Be3 BXe3 12 NXe3 Re8 leads to a position where practice has shown that Black has fully equal chances. (B)11 Ng3 BXb3 12 QXb3 Qd7 13 h3 Rfe8 14 Be3 BXe3 15 fe d5 16 ed QXd5 17 QXd5 NXd5 with an equal ending, Anand-Kamsky, Monte Carlo 1996. 10 Re2 Qd7 11 h3 Nf6 11...NXf2?! 12 RXf2 BXf2+ 13 KXf2 f5 14 Kg1 favors White. 12 Nf1 BXh3 ? To some extent, this sacrifice is a logical continuation of the strategy begun by 9...Ng4, but it is totally Unsound (with a capital U!). Instead Black could have equalized with 12...BXb3! 13 QXb3 Rfe8 14 Ng3 (14 QXb7? costs White the exchange after 14...Rab8 15 Qa6 Rb6 16 Qa4 Nd4; 14 Bd2 stops ...d5 but Black can throw a spanner in the works with 14...Rad8 15 Rae1 Nh5! with sufficient counterplay; 14 Be3 also allows equality after 14...BXe3 15 NXe3 Rab8 16 Nd5 Nh5!) Rad8! and with ...d5 coming up Black has no problems at all. 13 d4 ? As so often happens after a sacrifice, the defender gets nervous and fails to find the best defense. I thought that shutting the c5-bishop out of the attack would help me defend, but in reality all I did was create more targets for Black's attack. After the correct 13 gh!, look at how easily White defends: 13...QXh3 14 N3h2! Ng4 (what else?) 15 NXg4 QXg4+ 16 Kh2 and White easily consolidates with 17 Ng3 and 18 Be3. 13...ed 14 cd NXd4 ?? A horrible error, which allows White to remain with a safe king, no targets, a material advantage, and an easy win. Instead, Black could have seized a golden opportunity by playing 14...Bb6!. After 15 gh QXh3 16 N1h2 Rae8! Black's threats would more than compensate for his material losses. 15 NXd4 Bg4 16 f3 That's all she wrote. The rest was trivial. 16...Rae8 17 Be3 17 fg would also have won without difficulty, e.g. 17...QXg4 18 Be3! RXe4 19 Nc2 Rfe8 20 Re1 and White will eventually win with his extra material, but in playing 17 Be3 I reckoned that my material advantage was already more than sufficient to win, and I wanted to play it safe. 17...NXe4 ? This desperate sacrifice just loses more material and makes the win that much easier for White. 18 fg QXg4 19 Re1 Qg6 20 Nc2 Re5 21 BXc5 dc 22 Bd5 Rd8 ? Black grasps at one last straw, but like the first two, this third sacrifice also proves to be unsound. 23 BXf7+ ! QXf7 24 QXd8+ Re8 25 Qh4 g5 This was the "point" of Black's combination, setting up a check on f2. I could have given him the pleasure, as 26 QXh6 Qf2+ 27 Kh2 QXc2 28 Rad1 would have drawn down the curtain on Black, but I decided to deprive him of even this small satisfaction. 26 QXe4 Now we really get a strange material imbalance-two rooks and two knights against a queen and three pawns! When you take into account that three minor pieces are often a good match for a queen and three pawns, you start to get some idea of just how hugely favorable this rare material imbalance is for White! 26...RXe4 27 RXe4 Qd5 28 Re7 Qd3 29 Nce3 Kf8 30 RXc7 Berry had no desire to watch me amuse myself at his expense, so Black resigned. Now I needed just one more point to take clear first. When my opponent, another strong A-player, played 1 e4 against me I didn't want to answer 1...e5-I've drawn too many games playing that way. Instead, I decided it was finally time to spice up my game with the Sicilian! Veal, J. (1938) - Kamberi, S. (2351) Bill Lange Memorial Open (5), October 1, 2000 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cd 4 NXd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 d6 The so-called Classical variation. Grandmasters who play on the national circuit love playing this variation as Black because while the Classical is very rich strategically, it is not as tactically messy as the Najdorf or the Dragon. 6 Bg5 This Rauzer method with queenside castling is considered the sharpest at White's disposal. 6...e6 7 Qd2 Be7 Although 7...Be7 is a major theoretical path, 7...a6 has even more theory. Even though I'll be playing 7...Be7 alot, I'm also going to take the opportunity to explore 7...a6 in future tournaments. 8 f4 A rare move which allows Black to equalize by sacrificing the d6-pawn. Instead, 8 O-O-O is the main line. 8...h6 ! Normally Black just plays 8...O-O offering a transposition to the main line after 9 O-O-O. In that case, however, Black would still have to work a little bit to equalize. 8...h6!, on the other hand, forces White to grab a pawn that Black gets full compensation for. 9 Bh4 ? This attempt to hang onto the dark-squared bishop meets with a tactical refutation. Therefore, forced was 9 BXf6 BXf6 10 Ndb5 (White has to go after the d6-pawn or else he has nothing to show for the loss of the bishop pair) when Black gets good counterplay with the pawn sacrifice 10...O-O!. For example: (A)11 QXd6?! Qb6!: (A1)12 e5 Rd8 13 Qa3 Be7 14 Nd6 Qe3+ 15 Ne2 QXa3 16 ba BXd6 17 ed RXd6 and White's terrible pawn structure ensures that he will suffer for a long time. (A2)12 O-O-O Rd8 13 Qc7 Qe3+ 14 Kb1 RXd1+ 15 NXd1 Qe1 16 Kc1 Bd8! 17 Qd6 e5! and Black has more than enough play for the pawn. (A3)12 Qd2 Rd8 13 Qc1 (13 Bd3 a6 14 Na4! QXb5! 15 BXb5 RXd2 16 KXd2 ab 17 Nb6 Rb8 with slightly better chances for Black in the ending) a6 14 Na3 Bd4! 15 Nd1 BXb2! 16 NXb2 Qb4+ 17 c3 QXa3 and Black has recovered the pawn with positional advantage. (B)11 NXd6 e5!: (B1)12 f5 (trying to keep the position closed) Nd4 13 NXc8 (13 Nc4 Bh4+ 14 Kd1 Bg5 15 Qd3 Re8 and the exposed White king gives Black more than sufficient compensation) Bh4+! 14 Kd1 RXc8 15 Bd3 Bg5 16 Qe1 Qd6 17 h4 Bd8 18 Qf2 Qb6! 19 Nb5 NXb5 20 QXb6 Nc3+! 21 bc BXb6 with a drawish ending. (B2)12 NXc8 RXc8 13 f5 Qb6! 14 Rb1 Bg5 15 Qd1 Rfd8 16 Bd3 was the game Phan-Ermekov, Szeged 1994, and now Ermekov missed the chance to have his own "Evergreen" with 16...Nb4! 17 a3 (What else? 17 h4 loses to 17...BXh4+!) Qe3+ 18 Qe2 NXc2+!! 19 BXc2 RXc3!! 20 bc QXc3+ 21 Kf1 Rd2 and Black wins! (C)11 O-O-O reaches a position more frequently reached via the move order 8 O-O-O O-O 9 f4 h6 10 BXf6 (10 Bh4 is considered a better try for advantage) BXf6 11 Ndb5. According to theory Black has fully equal chances after either 11...e5 (Schiller's recommendation) or 11...Qa5 12 NXd6 (12 QXd6? a6! 13 Nc7 Be7 14 QXe7 NXe7 15 NXa8 Qc5 16 Be2 Qa7 17 Nc7 b6 gave Black a winning position in Langier-Rojas, Rancagua 1993) Rd8 13 Kb1 (13 e5!? is very sharp but Black at least holds his own after 13...NXe5! 14 Nce4 QXa2 15 NXf6+ gf, Capelan-Honfi, Solingen 1974) e5 (Harlin-Smirin, 1989). Despite Black's excellent counterplay in these lines, 9 BXf6 was mandatory because Veal's 9 Bh4? gets smashed by the tactical blow... 9...NXe4 ! 10 NXe4 10 BXe7 NXd2 11 BXd8 NXf1 12 NXc6 bc 13 Bc7 Ne3 14 Kf2 Nc4! 15 b3 Kd7 left Black clearly better in Harper-Resende, Carribean Open 1999. 10...BXh4+ 11 g3 Be7 12 O-O-O The double attack on c3 and g7 following 12 NXc6 bc 13 Qc3 O-O 14 QXc6 bears no fruit because after 14...Rb8! Black's counterplay along the b-file and the long diagnol leaves White dead lost. 12...d5 13 Bb5 Passing up another chance to recover the pawn with 13 NXc6 because after 13...bc 14 Qc3 O-O 15 QXc6 Rb8 Black has a winning queenside counterattack. 13...Bd7 14 Qe3 O-O ! This simple move leaves Black with both a material and a positional advantage. Less strong would have been 14...de? 15 NXc6 bc 16 BXc6 BXc6 17 RXd8+ RXd8 18 Qc3! with unnecessary complications. 15 Nc3 This leads to the loss of more material, but White was lost in any case. 15...NXd4 16 QXd4 BXb5 17 NXb5 a6 17...Qa5! would have been even stronger, as Black would have won another pawn by force after 18 Nc3 Bf6. 18 Nc3 Bf6 19 Qd3 Qa5 20 Kb1 BXc3 21 QXc3 QXc3 22 bc I'll play this ending all day! With an extra pawn and a shattered White queenside, Black has an easy win. The remaining moves were: 22...Rfc8 23 Kb2 Rc4 24 Rd4 Rac8 25 RXc4 RXc4 26 Rd1 Kf8 27 Kb3 Ke7 28 a3 Kd6 29 Rd2 Re4 30 Rd3 Kc5 31 Rf3 Re2 32 h3 h5 33 g4 h4 ! And since ...Re2-g2-g3 forces a decisive exchange of rooks... White resigned. Bill Lange Memorial Open, September 30 - October 1, 2000, Oklahoma City, final standings (12 players): 1st: S. Kamberi (4.5) 2nd: S. Galant (4.0) 3rd: G. Hulburd (3.5) |