1986-07-28 - Elliott, Sean 1-0 Sugden, J

Sean takes on an expert in the Sicilian Taimanov. He gets a Knight stranded on a4 but a big Kingside initiative, As the Knight perishes the initiative grows to serious proportions. In serious time-trouble Black is unable to find anything to prolong the game and is overwhelmed.

[Event "MAJOR OPEN"] [Site "?"] [Date "1986.07.28"] [Round "1"] [White "Elliott, Sean"] [Black "Sugden, J"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B42"] [Annotator "Mordue,Tyson"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "1986.??.??"] {Most of the original notes are by Sean Elliott (SJE) and were published in BCT issue 59, September 1986.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 {"Sean is too modest to point out that Sugden is an expert on this variation, having translated Taimanov's book on the Paulsen." GKB.} 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Ba7 7. Qe2 d6 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Be3 Bxe3 10. Qxe3 Nf6 11. f4 Qc7 12. O-O-O O-O {"A position has been reached which is well known to theory, but not to the player of the White pieces!" SJE.} 13. Rhg1 {"It turns out that this is recommended in BCO (by Taimanov). In his book 'Beating The Sicilian', Dr John Nunn gives 13 g4, but 13...Nxg4 14 Qg3 Nf6 15 Rdg1 Nc6 16 h4 yields White merely sufficient compensation for the Pawn." SJE. 13 g4 has very good results for White in the database. In the above line 15 Rdg1 doesn't feature in the database. 15 Rhg1 does with three White wins out of three, two of them quite brutal. However, 13 Rhg1 is the most common move, again with good results for White.} b5 {In Spassky-Gerusel, Dortmund 1973 Black played 13...Nb4. After the sharp 14.g4 e5 15.Be2 d5 16.exd5 exf4 17.Qc5 Qxc5 18.Nxc5 Re8 19.g5 Nd7 20.Nxd7 Bxd7 21.Bg4 Bxg4 22.Rxg4 a5 23.Rxf4 Spassky was a Pawn up and winning. The game concluded 23...Rad8 24.h4 Kf8 25.a3 Na6 26.Ne4 Re5 27.c4 a4 28.Kc2 b6 29.Kc3 Nc5 30.Kd4 Rxe4+ 31.Rxe4 Nxe4 32.Kxe4 Re8+ 33.Kd3 Re5 34.b3 axb3 35.Rb1 Rf5 36. Ke4 Rf2 37.Rxb3 Rh2 38.d6 Ke8 39.Rxb6 Kd7 40.Kd5 Rd2+ 41.Kc5 Ke6 42.Rb8 1-0. A year later another German played 13...Rd8 in Spassky-Capelan, Solingen 1974. It was one of Spassky's best wins as a recent ex-world Champion: 14.g4 d5 15. e5 d4 16.Qf2 dxc3 17.exf6 Nb4 18.Bxh7+! Kxh7 19.Qh4+ Kg8 20.Qg5 Rxd1+ 21.Rxd1 cxb2+ 22.Kxb2 Qxc2+ 23.Ka3 Qg6 24.Rd8+ Kh7 25.Qh4+ Qh6 26.fxg7! Kxg7 27.Rg8+ Kxg8 28. Qxh6 Nc6 29.Nc5 Ne7 30.Ne4 Nd5 31.g5 1-0. Apart from the above two games 13...b5 is the only move on the database.} 14. g4 b4 15. Na4 $6 {"The Knight is misplaced on a4 and is undefended (unlike the Velimirovic Attack, where White's Bishop on b3 protects the Knight). The correct way to proceed is 15 g5 Ne8 (15...bxc3 16 gxf6 cxb2+ 17 Kb1 g6 18 e5!) 16 Ne2 a5 17 Nbd4 Nxd4 18 Qxd4 Ba6 when, in a double-edged position, White's attacking chances are somewhat preferable (Arnason-Suetin, Sochi 1980)." SJE. Despite this Arnason lost in 37 moves although his position was okay for a long time. Curiously 15 Na4 was played in two other games on the database and White emerged with a win and a draw. In R Pert-Rigo, EU U-16 Champ, Tallinn 1997 Black quickly blundered his b4 pawn so could never take advantage of the Knight on the edge. Sax-Velikov, Baile Herculane Zonal Tournament 1982, continued 15...Rb8 16 g5 Ne8 17 Nd2 and the players agreed a draw! I suspect by that point Sax had realised his Knight wasn't good on a4.} Rb8 16. Qh3 {This definitely seems to be an improvement on Sax-Velikov.} e5 {Given an ? by Sean. "This stops White's threat (17 e5 dxe5 18 g5) but gives too much leeway on the Kingside. If 16...h6 17 g5 Ne8 (17... hxg5 18 Rxg5 does not help.) 18 f5 Ne5 19 f6 is good for White. The correct defence was 16...g6 17 Qh4 Ne8 (if 17. ..Qa7 18 f5 with the idea of 19 g5 and 20 f6) 18 f5 f6 19 g5 Ne5 20 Nd4 when a complex position arises, although I suspect that Black has better chances with accurate play, due to the misplaced Knight on a4 and Black's well-placed knight on e5." SJE. Basic defensive theory says to avoid moving Pawns in front of a castled King unless absolutely necessary, so I take both 16...h6 and 16...g6 with a big pinch of salt. Also Deep Rybka agrees with the text move, and we have to take into account that a player of Sugden's strength (over 200 for many years) and knowledge with this line - translating Taimanov's book is as about as good as it gets in 1986 - would know what he's doing. Nevertheless here's some analysis by the engine: A) 16...h6 17.g5 Ne8 18.f5 Ne5 19.f6 Nxd3+ 20.Rxd3 e5 21.Qh4 h5 22. fxg7 Nxg7 23.Na1 Bd7 24.b3 Bxa4 25.bxa4 Qc4 looks about balanced. Both King positions are weakened, neither Knight is good and the heavy pieces on both sides have a fair degree of activity. B) 16...g6 17.Qh4 Ne8 18.f5 f6 19.g5 Ne5 20.Nd4 Qa5 21.b3 exf5 22.exf5 Nxd3+ 23.Rxd3 Bxf5 is evaluated as a small plus for Black of 0.34. Obviously these lines are neither forced or exclusive. } 17. f5 Bd7 18. g5 Ne8 19. Qh5 {"White's plan is not particularly subtle. The idea is to play Rg1-g3-h3 when ...h7-h6 is answered by f5-f6." SJE.} Nd8 {Now the stranded Knight on a4 perishes and the onus is on White to demonstrate that he has something for the piece. Admittedly what he has currently looks impressive.} 20. Rg3 Bxa4 21. Rh3 h6 $4 {This is a serious error which Sean doesn't remark on. Black should play 21...f6 and after 22.Qxh7+ Kf7 23.Qg6+ Ke7 it appears that his King is relatively safe. The position of other Black pieces may be questionable but the Knight on e8 holds g7. This points to an alternative with 23 gxf6 Nxf6 24 Qg6+ Ke7 25 Qxg7+ Rf7 when White has garnered another Pawn but no real improvement in his position. There is also 23 Rg3 fxg5 24 Rxg5 Rc8 25 Rdg1 Rg8 26 Qh5+ Kf8 and again White has failed to break through effectively. Obviously after 21...f6 22 g6 h6 seals the Kingside. White needs a minor piece to sac on h6 and the only candidate is the Knight on b3, a long way off.} 22. f6 $2 {As indicated in a previous note this is clearly Sean's planned reaction to ...h7-h6, but one wonders why he didn't play the obvious 22 gxh6. The threat is clearly 23 hxg7 and mates on the h-file so Black needs to move another Pawn to give his Queen access to the Kingside. A) 22...f6 23.hxg7 Nxg7 (if 23...Qxg7 24.Rg3 wins Her Majesty) 24. Rg1 and there is no answer to 25 Qh7+ and 26 Rxg7+, or B) 22...g6 23.fxg6 fxg6 24.Qxg6+ Kh8 25.Rg1 and now White threatens 26 Qg7+! Q or Nxg7 27 hxg7++ Kg8 28 Rh8+ Kf7 29 gxf8 mate. The only defence I can find is 25...Nf7 but then White simply plays 26.h7 and 27 Qg8+ mating. The text is still good for White but Black isn't getting wiped out as badly as he was in the above lines.} Bd7 {Back into play and tickling the Rook on h3. However, there's now another piece between the Black Queen and the Kingside.} 23. Rh4 {Not 23 gxh6? g6 24 h7+Kg8 25 Qh6 Ne6 which shows that the Knights on d8 and e8 have defensive value despite both being on the back rank.} Qb6 $2 {The right idea but mis-timed. Deep Rybka suggests that Black should first play 23...Nxf6 24.gxf6 and then 24...Qb6. After 25.fxg7 Qe3+ 26.Kb1 Kxg7 the engine continues with the remarkable 27.Nc5!? The idea is to remove Black's Bishop and so get in Rg4+ followed by Rdg1 winning. Analysis goes on 27...Bc8 (not 27...dxc5? 28 Qxe5+ and 29 Qxb8 and obviously not 27...Qxc5?? 28 Qxh6+ mates.) 28.Bxa6 Rh8 (if 28...Ne6 29 Rh3 and 30 Rg3+) 29.Rxd6 Qxc5 30.Rxd8 Be6 31.Rd5!? Bxd5 (better may be 31...Qg1+ 32.Rd1 Qg5 33.b3) 32.Qxe5+ f6 33.Rg4+ with an enduring initiative. Instead of 27 Nc5 there are also 27 Bxa6 - which probably threatens 28 Nc5 now that White has control of c8! - and 27 Be2 and Deep Rybka says White is better by nearly +1 in both lines. Plenty to explore. The difference in the game is that White gets to keep the Pawn on g5 which means when Black's ...Qe3+ comes in he's not controlling h6.} 24. fxg7 Qe3+ 25. Kb1 Nxg7 $2 {"Black's best chance here was probably to exchange Queens by 25... Qxg5 26 gxf8=Q+ Kxf8 27 Qxh6+ Qxh6 28 Rxh6 although White, the Exchange and a passed Pawn up, should win." SJE. White is only an Exchange up here but the outside passed Pawn is a decisive factor. Deep Rybka has White at +2. Obviously if 25...Kxg7 then 26 Qxh6+ mates. Had Black interposed 23...Nxf6 24 gxf6 before playing 24...Qb6 then this line would nor be available to White.} 26. Qxh6 f5 {"If 26...f6 27 Qh7+ Kf7 28 g6+ regains the piece with a winning position." SJE.} 27. Qh8+ {There are many good moves here. Deep Rybka suggests 27 Rh3 with the point that if the Black Queen leaves the c1-h6 diagonal then 28 g6 is decisive, so 27...Qf4 28 Rf1 forces the issue. 27 Bc4+ is also strong while 27 gxf6 Qxf6 28 Rxh6 Ne8 (28...Nfe6 29 Be2! is a subtle winner as the threat is 30 Rg1+ and 31 Bh5 mate!) 29 Rg1+ Kf7 30 Rh7+ and 31 Rxd7 leaves Black a Pawn down and in an awful position.} Kf7 28. g6+ Ke8 29. Qxg7 Qg5 { "Better was 29...Ne6 30 Qh7 although Black's position is still hopeless. Black's desperate time-trouble accelerates the result." SJE.} 30. Rh8 Ne6 $2 { "If 30...Qe7 31 Qxf8+! Qxf8 32 g7 wins. Forced was 30...Rxh8 when 31 Qxh8+ Ke7 32 Qh7+ Ke8 33 g7 Be6 34 exf5 Bf7 35 f6 with the idea of 36 Bg6 wins." SJE. In this line Deep Rybka says 33 Bc4 first may be more accurate but Sean's variation looks good enough.} 31. Qf7+ {"After 31...Kd8 32 g7 White emerges a whole Rook up." SJE. Deep Rybka points out that 31...Kd8 32 Rxf8+ Nxf8 33 g7 probably leaves White a Queen up!} 1-0

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