1985-03-01 - James, Stephen ½-½ Elliott, Sean
A remarkable opening by Sean Elliott, another strong junior than we picked up from Hanham. At the time of the game this was the height of theory. James, an experienced Welsh international picks his way to equality.
[Event "NEWPORT OPEN"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1985.03.01"]
[Round "3"]
[White "James, Stephen"]
[Black "Elliott, Sean"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A67"]
[Annotator "Mordue,Tyson"]
[PlyCount "78"]
{Sean Elliott was yet another promising junior. He joined D&F from Hanham and
quickly got to 200 BCF playing strength, certainly benefiting from a close
friendship with Graham Burgess. He was British U18 champion in 1985. Stephen
James represented Wales several times internationally. Original notes by
Graham Burgess marked GKB.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6
6. e4 g6 7. f4 Bg7 8. Bb5+ Nbd7 $5 {"This leads to insane complications. The
alternative is the dreary 8...Nfd7." GKB. The so-called 'insane
complications' had been worked out to some extent by Graham and Sean. David
Norwood, not yet a GM but coming through the ranks, also had some interesting
games with this variation. The first thing to notice is that White apparently
has the advance e4-e5-e6 winning the pinned Knight but it's not as simple as
that.} 9. e5 dxe5 10. fxe5 Nh5 11. e6 Qh4+ {"This constitutes David Norwood's
variation with which he has defeated, amongst other, Plaskett and [Paul]
Littlewood. The alternative is 11...fxe6 12 dxe6 0-0 13 Nf3! Bd4 14 exd7 Bxd7
15 Bh6! is to White's advantage ." GKB. Curiously there are only two games in
the database with this line up to 14...Bxd7, and both continued with 15 Qb3+
and were won by White. I offer no opinion, not being an expert in this line.
The text is very much the main move.} 12. g3 Nxg3 13. hxg3 Qxh1 14. Be3 {"14
exd7+ Bxd7 15 Bxd7+ gives better chances, keeping the Black King in the centre.
" GKB. I recall Graham and Sean several times analysing the continuation 15..
.Kxd7 and trying to decide between the relative merits of 16 Qg4+ and 16 Qa4+.
The latter has a better percentage on the database but when I check 16 Qg4+ f5
17 Qa4+ White has an excellent record. Oddly enough 14 Be3 is by far the more
common move and most players reply 14...Bxc3+. However, White has a 42% win
ratio on my database. Both 14...a6 and 14...Qg2 have been played also, nine
times in total, but White has scored 100%! After 14 Be3 Graham and Sean had
done their homework.} O-O $1 15. exd7 Bxd7 16. Bxd7 Rae8 $5 {Given an !!? by
Graham by commented "This was the move that nearly made White fall off his
chair. Black has given up masses of material, but gets a lot back and has
loads of 'cheapoes'." GKB. This move only appears three times in the database
although 16...Rfe8 features as well. Graham and Sean knew that 14 Be3 wasn't
the strongest but Sean had to know that the remarkable text was the way of
countering it.} 17. Bxe8 Rxe8 18. Kd2 {"In Littlewood-Norwood [Commonwealth
Championship, London] 1985, 18 Qe2 was played. White's King reached a7 and
Black won!" GKB. In said game after 18 Qe2 Bd4 (if 18...Bh6 19 Kf1 Qxe3 20
Qg2 also give White a slight advantage.) 19 0-0-0 Rxe3 White played 20 Qc4,
which is regarded as an error giving Black near equality whilst after 20 Qd2
or 20 Qc2 White keeps a significant advantage. This really was an odd game.
White was a Knight up for most of it but all the play was on the Queenside
while the steed sat on g1. On move 32 it went to h3 and never shifted again.
After the text Black has a forcing sequence to equality.} Bxc3+ 19. bxc3 Qxd5+
20. Kc1 {If 20 Ke2? then 20...Qg2+ 21 Kd3 Qe4+ and Black gets to take on e3
and g3 with four Pawns for his piece and a significant plus whether you're
Deep Rybka or a human!} Qxd1+ 21. Kxd1 Rxe3 {"An ending is reached which
should be drawn, but White has to be careful." GKB.} 22. Ne2 {Here we finally
deviate from established theory, although I should point out that the game
quoted was played later in a Norwegian team event in 1997. Steedman-Robertson
continued 22...h5 23 Kd2 Re4 24 Kd3 Ra4 25 c4 Ra6 and a draw was agreed.} b5
23. Rb1 a6 24. Kd2 Re4 25. Kd3 Ra4 26. Rb2 Rg4 {My guess is that Sean was
trying to win based on James's habitual shortage of time and currently passive
position. By the time the Welshman gets active he hasnt got any pawns left.}
27. Rc2 h5 28. c4 b4 29. a3 bxa3 30. Rc3 $1 {More accurate than 30 Ra2. The
text keeps an eye on the h3 square as will become apparent.} h4 31. gxh4 Rxh4
32. Kd2 {Avoiding 32 Rxa3?? Rh3+ winning the Rook. Now the point of 30 Rc3
becomes clear. After 30 Ra2 then in the current position Black has 30...Rh3
hanging on to the a3 Pawn..} Kg7 33. Rxa3 Rxc4 34. Rxa6 {This seals the result.
Black can't hold on to the c-Pawn but to win it White has to agree to the swap
of Rooks.} Rh4 35. Rc6 c4 36. Kc3 g5 37. Rxc4 Rxc4+ 38. Kxc4 Kg6 39. Kd4 f5
1/2-1/2
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