Over the past few months, I have annotated some games in which I had had the opportunity to use for the purpose of preparation one of my own theoretical articles published in ChessBase Magazine. In my last tournament, a slightly different situation ocurred.
1.e4
e5
2.Nf3
Nc6
3.Bc4
In our previous encounters, Lupulescu had twice deviated from his main weapon, the Ruy Lopez. This time, I thought he would finally go for the main lines, but got another surprise.
3...d6
I had examined this only apparently modest move in an article published in CBM 128; slightly later, I had the occasion to defend Black's point of view against Tiviakov, at Porto Mannu 2009 (see my comments for CBM 131). However, I did not have the time to re-read my article before the present game, since I was more concerned about checking the viability of the main lines of the Ruy Lopez.
4.d4
exd4
5.Nxd4
g6
6.Nc3
Bg7
7.Be3
Nf6
8.Qd2
[This is the most ambitious continuation, preparing to castle long. Tiviakov preferred the more modest 8.Nxc6
bxc6
9.0-0
]
8...0-0
9.0-0-0
Re8
10.f3
Ne5
11.Be2
[This is a loss of tempo, but the bishop is exposed after 11.Bb3
a6
in view of the threats ...b5 followed by ...c5-c4. Although the position ressembles a bit the Sicilian Dragon, the presence of a black pawn on the c-file makes things a lot different.]
11...a6
12.Nb3
[This was the first new move for me. I vaguely remembered 12.Bg5
b5
13.Nd5
and I was pretty sure that I had reccomended an improvement over a game played by Palkovi (The game is Palkovi,J (2350)-Hammergren,P/Eger 1987/EXT 97/[Mihail Marin] (1-0, 40) and my line went: 13...c5!
14.Nb3
Be6
)]
12...b5
One of Black's main threats is ...Nc4, when White's b3-knight would have to jump around again.
13.Bg5
Be6
14.Nd5
At this moment I had my first really long thought. Comically, I had no idea that...
14...c5!
...basically transposed to my own recomendation! [White gets excellent chances to maintain the domination in the centre after 14...Bxd5
15.exd5
Nc4
16.Bxc4
bxc4
17.Na5
(17.Nd4
allows Black to activate his queen with 17...Qb8
) 17...Qd7
(After 17...Qb8
18.Nxc4
Black has no compensation.) 18.Nc6!
White avoids 18.Nxc4?! Qa4! with counterplay and maintains a stable plus.]
15.Nxf6+
[One of the lines I had analyzed is 15.Nf4
Nxe4!
16.Nxe6
Nxd2
17.Nxd8
Nxb3+
18.axb3
f6
19.Rxd6
fxg5=
]
15...Bxf6
16.Bxf6
[The interesting thing is that in my original notes I did not consider this exchange seriously and examined the more principled 16.h4
when after 16...Nc4!
17.Bxc4
bxc4
the white knight would have a hard life.]
16...Qxf6
The game prematurely ended in a draw here, just about when the position had become really interesting. [After 16...Qxf6
I intended to meet 17.Qxd6
with 17...c4
, eventually followed by ...Rad8 and ...Qg5+. In some lines Black retrieves the pawn, while in others he just gets excellent compenstaion for it. 18.Nc5
(The apparently solid 18.Nd2
leads to disaster after 18...Red8
19.Qb6
Nd3+!
20.cxd3
cxd3
21.Bf1
Rac8+
22.Kb1
Bxa2+!-+
) 18...Rad8
19.Qb6
(19.Qxa6
Ra8
20.Qxb5?
Reb8
) 19...Qg5+
20.Kb1
Qxg2
(During the post-mortem we analysed 20...Rxd1+
21.Rxd1
Qxg2
22.Nxe6
Qxe2?
concluding that Black is winning, because White's pieces are hanging. Fritz has another opinion: 23.Qd8!!+-
Suddenly, the black king is in deadly danger.) 21.Rxd8
Qxh1+
22.Bd1
Kg7
23.Nxe6+
Rxe6
24.Qf2
b4 [with initiative]
This is another of our post-mortem lines, which seems to be correct. White's control over the only open file offers him the hope of keeping Black's overall activity within bearable limits. Although I cannot be satisfied with my fighting spirit (not to mention my poor memory!), I certainly am content that the rare variation based on 3...d6 passed the test of another strong opponent.] 1/2-1/2