1986-07-01 - Elliott, Sean ½-½ Holmes, R
A real curiosity here. Sean Elliott faces a rare line in the Sicilian Dragon but goes wrong and gets outplayed. However, the bulk of the interest lies in the notes to Black's 24th move. He opts out of the critical line and the game drifts to a draw. Much to look at in the notes though.
[Event "MAJOR OPEN"] [Site "?"] [Date "1986.07.01"] [Round "2"] [White "Elliott, Sean"] [Black "Holmes, R"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B76"] [Annotator "Mordue,Tyson"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "1986.??.??"] {The original notes are by Sean Elliott (SJE) and were published in BCT issue 59, September 1986.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 {"A popular line at the moment is 7 h3 0-0 8 Bc4 Nc6 9 Bb3." SJE.} Nc6 8. Qd2 O-O 9. g4 Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Be6 11. O-O-O Qc7 {"The usual move here is 11...Qa5." SJE. A very rare move indeed. appearing only six times on the database.} 12. h4 Rfc8 13. Kb1 {13 h5 featured in all the other games except Dubos-Urtado, Montigny le Bretonneux 2002 where Black now lost a tempo with 13. ..Qa5. However, after 14 a3 Rab8 15 g5 Nd6 16 Nd5 Qxd2 17 Rxd2 Bxd5 18 exd5 Bxd4 19 Rxd4 he went on to win the endgame.} b5 $5 {A Pawn sacrifice to gain open lines, specfically the b-file. Black isn't too concerned which piece White takes it with as the reply will be ...Qc7-b7 followed by ...a7-a6 anyway. If White doesn't capture then Black plays ...b5-b4 and then a7-a5, saving a whole tempo on the sequence ...a7-a6, ...b7-b5, ...b5-b4 and ...a6-a5, which is why Black declines to preface this advance with ...a7-a6.} 14. Bxb5 {This way Sean gets to block the b-file with his Bishop, although Black intens to harass the prelate with his a-Pawn.} Qb7 15. Ba4 Rc4 16. Qe3 {"If 16 Bb3 Nxe4!" SJE. In view of the note to White's 20th I wondered about 16 Qf2 instead, but after 16...Nxg4! 17 fxg4 Bxd4 18 Rxd4 Black has 18...Rxc3 as this Knight is no longer defended by the Queen.} Rb8 17. Bb3 a5 18. h5 Rb4 {The immediate 18...a4? 19 Nxa4 Rxa4 20 Bxa4 gets nowhere because b2 is defended by the Bishop on d4.} 19. h6 $2 {"Better was 19 hxg6 hxg6 20 Qf2 with the idea of 21 Qh2 when White's position looks preferable." SJE. Sean played the same line-closing move in his game against Chris Ward in the 1984 British U18 Championship, which is annotated elsewhere on this webpage. However, as we/^ll see, the h6 Pawn has a sustained influence on this game.' After 19 hxg6 hxg6 Deep Rybka suggests 20 e5, 20 g5 and 20 Ka1. After a little thought it likes 20 Qf2 as well.} Bh8 20. e5 {Sean gives this an !? but with no comment. If this is an attempt to swap dark-squared Bishop then both Deep Rybka and I think 20 g5 is a simpler and better way of doing it. Of course swapping this pair is double-edged because White's is giving protection to b2 in certain variations, and already demonstrated in a previous note. Whatever Sean's intentions were Black's next move cuts right across them.} Rxd4 $5 21. Rxd4 $2 {After 21 Qxd4 Nd7 Black wins the e5 Pawn and has good compensation for his Exchange sacrifice. However, the text allows a strike in a different direction. } Nxg4 $1 {Neatly taking advantage of both the newly-created pin on the h1-a8 diagonal and the fact that White played e5 rather than g5. If it had been the latter then this Pawn wouldn't have been en prise.} 22. Qe4 $6 {Deep Rybka prefers the immediate return of the Exchange with 22 fxg4 Qxh1+ 23 Rd1 Qc6. After 24.exd6 exd6 25.Bxe6 Bxc3! 26.Bb3 Be5 27.Qa7 Qb7 28.Qxa5 Qf3 the engine says there is a dynamic balance but slightly in White's favour.} Qxe4 23. Rxe4 Nf2 24. exd6 Nxe4 {"Black actually intended 24...Bxc3 but after 25 bxc3 Nxe4 26 fxe4 a4 27 dxe7 axb3 28 Rd1 bxa2+ 29 Ka1 Rb1+ 30 Rxb1 axb1=Q+ 31 Kxb1 Bd7 32 e5 f5 33 e6! he could not see a win for Black! White's King is just close enough to prevent the g-Pawn from Queening and can blockade the g and f-Pawns. However, Black can play 25...Nxh1 26 dxe7 Re8 27 Rd4 Bxb3 28 cxb3 f6 although White can give up his e-Pawn for Black's a-Pawn and the three Queenside Pawns give good drawing chances. Another possibility is 24...Bxc3 but after 25 bxc3 Nxe4 26 fxe4 a4 27 dxe7 axb3 28 Rd1 Re8 29 Rd8 Bd7 30 e5 f5 31 e6! when White draws as before. The variations are fascinating, but unfortunately rigorous analysis would take up far too much space (and take too long!!). The rest of the game is of relatively little interest, White being very short of time." SJE. In the first line Deep Rybka goes on from 33 e6 with 33...Bc6 34.Kc1 g5 35.Kd2 f4 36.c4 g4 37.Ke1 g3 38.Kf1 f3 39.Kg1 Be8 40.Kf1 Ba4 41.Kg1 f2+ 42.Kf1 Be8 43.Kg2 Bc6+ 44.Kf1 with a constant plus or 2 or more and, being an engine, still won't give up the draw. The White Pawn on c4 is vital to prevent a check on b5 and the board isn't wide enough for Black to play a winning check there either - he needs the square i4 which hasn't been invented yet! By now the reader will have realised that the three Pawns on e6, e7 and h6 prevent the Black King coming into play. The h6 Pawn has more to say later in the game. The line with 24...Bxc3 25 bxc3 Nxh1 26 dxe7 Re8 27 Rd4 Bxb3 28 cxb3 f6 is, as Sean says, fascinating. All I can say is that once White takes the a5 Pawn the number of possible game results goes up to three. Well worth analysing though.} 25. Nxe4 exd6 26. c3 d5 27. Nc5 Rb5 28. Nxe6 fxe6 29. Kc2 Kf7 30. Re1 Rb6 31. Re2 Kf6 $2 {"Black falls for a cheapo which allows White to simplify." SJE.} 32. Bxd5 exd5 33. Re8 {The h6 Pawn helps to trap the Black Bishop.} Bg7 34. hxg7 Kxg7 35. Re7+ Kh6 {"White, with less than a minute to reach move 40, gratefully accepted the draw." SJE. White stands better here as his Queenside Pawns should advance more quickly than Black's.} 1/2-1/2
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