ki In this lecture I would like to show you a game of mine which I played last year against Byelorussian Grandmaster Viktor Kupreichik (2550 FIDE). It was played in Ter Apel, Holland, in 1997.
13
wname Kupreichik
1
bname talpa
1
ki I will give some analysis of the game and try to share with you some of my feelings that I had during this game.
10
ki The game was played in the first round of the tournament, and I was obviously a bit nervous to play against such a famous player.
12
ki I played with the Black pieces.
5
e4
c5
ki Of course I was aiming for a complicated game, so I chose the sharp Sicilian Defence.
10
Nf3
d6
Nc3
Nc6
d4
cd4
Nd4
Nf6
f4
ki This slightly unusual line is often played by Kupreichik.
10
e5
Nf3
Be7
Bc4
O-O
f5
ki The Grandmaster played all this very quickly, while it took me some time to find the right move-order.
10
ki But here I began to think that maybe I had done something wrong.
7
ki Surely, White would very soon start to attack my king and I would lose without a real fight. So I had to think of a way to prevent this.
15
b5
ki !? I was a bit ashamed to play this crazy move against such a big name, but it is really a very interesting move!
15
ki The idea is to disrupt the normal developement of the White pieces by attacking the centre with my own pieces.
12
ki The Black plans are quite clear now: play Qb6, Bb7, Rc8 and Nd4 and start an attack against the White king which is still in the centre.
20
ki Some time after this game, the move 9...Na5! was found, which is probably even better than the move I played.
10
ki But during the game it was not at all easy for White to react in the right way to my novelty.
10
Bb5
ki Now Black has two possibilities. In the end I opted for Bb7, but now I think Qb6 was better.
10
ki Let's see what might have happened then:
Qb6
Bg5
Ne4
ki Now Be7 is not possible because of Qf2 mate.
10
Ne4
Qb5
Be7
7
Qb4
Nfd2
Ne7
7
f6
Nf5
ki with an unclear position, or, instead of 11.Bg5:
5
back 10
Bc6
Qc6
Bg5
Qc5
ki Unfortunately, stuff like Nxe4 doesn't really work here. However, O-O is prevented.
15
Bf6
Bf6
Nd5
7
Bb7
Nf6
gf6
7
Qe2
Rac8
c3
7
d5
ki with dangerous counter chances.
10
ki Now, let's get back to the game.
back 15
Bb7
Bg5
ki This was played rather quickly, but it is not the best.
5
ki Probably White didn't see the point of Black's play and he was just trying to win as fast as possible against this patzer !
10
ki This, however, gave me the opportunity to create a very dangerous initiative.
10
ki Instead of the text, White should have gone for either 0-0 or Be3.
10
Qb6
Qd2
ki Again, this is too optimistic. White wants to castle queenside, but in the game I showed that this is too risky.
10
ki After the game, we looked at the following line:
5
back 1
Bf6
Bf6
Bc6
7
Bc6
Nd5
Bd5
7
Qd5
k Pinning the b5 bishop.
6
Qb2
O-O
7
Qc2
ki with chances for both sides.
10
ki Back now to the game.
back 10
Qd2
Nd4
Bd3
Rac8
ki Black's play has clearly worked out even better than expected.
10
O-O-O
ki Consistent, but very dangerous! The alternative was Nxd4, with the following forced line:
10
back 1
Nd4
ed4
Na4
7
Qc6
Qa5
ki The only move, on b3 there follows Nxe4.
7
Ne4
ki ! White's king is so badly placed in the centre that this piece sac is fully justified.
10
ki for example:
Be7
Rfe8
Bb5
7
Qd5
c4
7
dc3
Rd1
Qe5
7
O-O
c2
ki and Black wins, because if the Rd1 moves, Black has, amongst others, Qd4+
17
ki Back to the position after Black's 13th move...
5
back 16
ki If White tries to protect the pawn on b2 with Rb1, he will also be in big trouble:
10
Rb1
Nf3
gf3
7
d5
k ! Opening the centre for the pair of bishops
8
Bf6
Bf6
7
ed5
Rc3
ki ! Again, this is possible because the White king is still in the centre.
14
Qc3
e4
ki and wins.
8
ki If White captures the pawn with his Knight on the 17th move, he will lose in similar fashion:
10
back 4
Nd5
Bd5
ed5
7
e4
ki !
7
fe4
Bc3
ki ! and Black is winning since after 20.bxc3 Qxb1+ he remains the exchange up.
17
ki In the game Black had another combination, which gave me a winning advantage.
10
back 12
O-O-O
Rc3
ki I was very happy to play this move, because now my pieces were so active that I almost didn't have to calculate anything.
15
ki if now bxc3, then 15...d5! with the idea of Ba3 wins on the spot.
12
Qc3
Ne4
k This was the point of the previous move. The White centre is destroyed.
10
Qa3
ki again, the only move, as is easy to see:
10
back 1
Be4
Ne2
k wins the Queen, and
back 2
Qe1
Nf3
gf3
7
Bg5
Kb1
Nf2
ki is also winning for Black.
ki Back to the game.
back 6
Qa3
Ng5
ki Here I started to make some minor mistakes. Easiest was Bxg5, winning.
10
ki The capture with the Knight is less good, because in many lines the Knight will be trapped on g5 with the move h4.
13
ki But I wanted to keep the pair of bishops and underestimated White's counter-chances.
10
Ne5
k Winning back an important pawn, because of 17...dxe5 18.Qxe7.
8
Nb5
k Unfortunately, I now realised that I couldn't swap Queens with the planned Qc5, because White then has a nice trap:
10
back 1
Qc5
Qc5
dc5
c3
ki !
7
Nc6
Nc6
7
Bc6
h4
ki !
7
Ne4
Be4
Be4
Rhe1
ki and White wins back the piece !
8
ki So I had to go for very complicated tactics, which made me quite nervous.
10
back 12
Nb5
Qb4
Qe3
7
ki I guess Nd4 was better, but it is so complicated that I am still not completely sure about it. I will show you one sample line:
10
back 1
Nd4
Qb6
ab6
7
Nd7
Bg2
Rhe1
7
Re8
ki The threat is Ngf3.
7
f6
Bc6
ki !
7
fe7
Bd7
Bh7
7
Kh7
Rd4
Nf3
7
Rd6
Ne1
Rd7
7
Nf3
ki and Black wins.
ki Still, I have the feeling White can improve on some point.
ki Now, let's see what happened in the game.
back 19
Qe3
Kb1
ki I think objectively Black has lost his advantage here.
5
Qe5
Rhe1
ki ! Suddenly White seizes the initiative ! Black must be very careful not to lose a piece.
10
Qf6
ki Defending the bishop. But now the Ng5 has no squares. Now get ready for some forced tactics.
13
h4
ki !
7
Nf3
ki ! All pieces seem to be hanging, but after all, Black had a material lead.
12
ki The game reaches its climax.
gf3
Bf3
7
Qb5
Bd1
ki The forced line is over, and the result is a very muddy position. White can win back the piece with Rxd1, but h4 is still hanging. That is why White decided to play another intermediate move.
18
ki At this point during the game, I was not very optimistic anymore.
10
ki I realized all too well that truly strong players show their true strength after you have failed to surprise them earlier in the game.
15
Qb7
ki After 24.Rxd1 Qh4 Black is slightly better, but maybe he should have gone for it.
13
Qh4
ki It is possible that Bxc2+ was better, but how could I resist a cheapo against a Grandmaster in timetrouble ?
10
Re7
ki ?? ... And he falls for it !
ki Of course, 25. Qe7 Qxe7 26. Rxe7 would have led to an unclear, probably drawn endgame.
14
ki But now, even though I was in big time trouble as well, I quickly played:
10
Bf3
ki ! The winning move. Because of the mate-threat on h1, White can't take on a7.
12
ki In mutual time-trouble there now followed:
Qf3
Qe7
a4
7
Rb8
b3
Qf6
k I just made some safe moves because I didn't really see how I could win the game in a forced way.
12
Ka2
h6
k The idea of just walking with the h-pawn (h5-h4-h3) was obviously the right plan for Black to exploit his advantage.
12
Qc6
Qd4
ki And here, with less than 1 minute on the clock, I offered a draw.
8
ki Of course, this was a very insipid thing to do. Black must still be winning.
10
ki But I was so exhausted by all the complications earlier in the game that I felt very uncertain at this point.
10
ki My opponent literally grabbed my hand and accepted my offer.
5
ki Well, at least I can see this gesture as a compliment for my play during this game.
10
