I
d4
2
74
3
-00"
dS
c6
44 Queen's Gambit: Slav <15 B
4 �
sliJcJ
6 Af.4
7
., .,el (45) cd'ik6
-JJi
"Like a good many symmetrical variations, this is less innocuous than it appears at first sight. In all symmetrical openings the danger for Black lies in the fact that he cannot indefinitely continue to imitate White, and is liable to find himself confronted with a position in which White makes a strong aggressive move and Black is forced to make a very humble reply . . . " C. H.O'D. Alexander,
Alekhine's Best Games, 1938-45.
7
a6
He wants to forestall il:lb5. Incidentally, contemporary sources indicate that Euwe avoided 7 ... e6, upholding the symmetry, because he was afraid of 8 .,b3. The current view, though, is that after 7 .. . e6 White once more keeps the initiative with 8 l0e5!, e.g. 8 ... l0d7 9 il:lxc6 be 1 0 llc l J..e7 I I ..te2 0-0 12 0-0 e5 1 3 l0b5 a6 14 l0d6 ..tg6 1 5 de l0xc5 16 llxc5 J..xd6 1 7 J..xd6 .,xd6 18 .,d4 llfd8 19 lldl a5 20 .,c3 lldb8 21 b3 ... b6 22 J..b5 f6 23 llc l , Gaprindashvili-Mokry, Reggio Emilia 1982-3. Black's moves have been exceedingly natural, but White still has a dominating position.
46 8
8
�e5! Jlc89
-..&41 (46)A highly typical thrust. It is noteworthy that Botvinnik, Korchnoi and Kasparov have also developed a liking for this son of move, see, for example, the games Korchnoi-Karpov and Kasparov Y.urtaev in this volume. When weighing up an unusual, aggressive move of this nature, it is also worth bearing in mind Alekhine's own advice: 'if your opponent makes some strange move or moves which will give him a good game if you continue to play in
standard fashion, it is usually necessary to react yourself with
some exceptional solution.' Here, for example, 7 ... a6 may be considered a little strange, but
if White had continued urbanely
with 8 .td3 or even
8
�e5 lilc8 9 .td3, Black wouldsoon
have escaped the worst.9
.td7
As so often in such situations, the natural retreat 9 . .. .tg6 is no good, e.g.
10
h4! h6 I I lt:lxg6 fg12 ..td3
±±; or 1 0 ... lt:lxe5 I I de �e412
Wa4+ Wd713
Wxd7+ �xd7 1 4 lt:lxd5 llc5 1 5 lldl ±±. If 9 • . • �xe5 10 fg �c4 I I Wb3.10
.tg2e6
1 1 0-0
h6
To stop White playing g5.
12 -'..:3
hS?
But this is sheer panic induced by White's declared intention of establishing a 'super-Pillsbury Attack' with f4. Better, though miserable, is 1 2 ... �e7, e.g. 13 l0xd7 Wxd7 14 f4 ±; or 13 f4 lt:lxe5 14 de followed by f5.
13 lt:lxd7
li:lxd7?!
After this, Alekhine's vigorous play proves that Black is objectively lost. Stiffer resistance is offered by the very humble 13 ... Wxd7! 14 g5 lt:lg8 ±.
14 gh
Not just winning a pawn. Alekhine also opens the g-file for later occupation.
Queen's Gambit: Slav 45
14
liJf6
ts .to
.tb4
Black's three aims now are: reduce material; complete develop ment; remove his king to safety. It is a measure of Euwe's prowess (he was World Champion from 1935-37, having defeated Alekhine in their 1935 world title contest) that in spite of the opening disaster he more or less succeeds in these aims. Only very brilliant play by the World Champion (Aiekhine had regained the title from Euwe in a 1937 rematch) retains his advantage.
16 llcl
'iti>f8 Not 16 ... 0-0 1 7 �h l ! and llgl ,followed by h6. As Alexander points out, White's extra h5 pawn is not just a token doubled rook's pawn, but a dangerous advance guard which constantly threatens to disrupt Black's king position. For this reason, Euwe keeps his rook on h8.
1 7 a3
18
lhc319 'itb3
20
be Or 20 ... b5 2 1 a4!.txcJ
li.Je7
21 Wb6
liJc8
Driving off White's queen before he can increase the pressure with llbl .
22 \WcS+
23 Ubi
24 b6!
(47)'it;>g8"
bS
46 Queen's Gambit: Slav
Injecting fresh and decisive energy into the white attack. Euwe has accomplished everything pos sible within the confines of hi
�
meagre resources, but Alekhine now blows him out of the water with four beautifully timed pawn thrusts: h6, a4, c4 and finally e4. The point of 24 h6! is either to weaken the e5-h8 diagonal after 24 ... gh (as occurs in the game) or to lure Black's rook from its defensive station on the back rank, when the knight on c8 will lack adequate protection. Thus if 24 ... lhh6 25 a4! lt:la7 (25 ... ba 26 llb8 ti) 26
Wb6
ba 27 1ha6 and there is no answer to llb7."24
gh
25 .te5
�g7
26
a4!
ba
27 c4
Here 27 llb8 does not work, but the text is deadly, prising away Black's final central bastions.
27
li:Je7
Or 27 .. o de 28 .txf6+ �xf6 29 1re5+.28
cdlt:lxd5
Or 28 o • • ed 29 llb6 ti.29 �hi
Not 29 .txd5? ed 30 llb6 1fg4+ with perpetual check. Moving the white king eliminates this while preparing to launch the rook into action via g l .29
30 lilgl +
3 1 Wa3!
(48) liteS�h7
am deeply impressed by the way that Alekhine finally smashes Black's resistance by withdrawing his king to h I , and his queen to a3. There is now absolutely no antidote to the threats of e4 and 1fd3+. If 3
1
0 0 . llc3 32 1ff8 tloThe game concluded:
3l ooo llg8 32
e4 lilxg l + 33 <t>xg l 1lb5 34 ed
1tbl + 35 �g2 1t'g6+ 36 'it>fl Wbl +
37 �g2 1fg6+ 38 .tg3 lt:lxd5
39 .txdS ed
48Wxa4 h5 41 h4 1-0.
"An original and forceful game" (Alexander).
Indonesia 1983
I
-d4
2
c4
3
4 lt::lc3
s
..tr4
dS
_£§.
cd
�
ltJr6
Or 5 . .76
6 e3 .td6 7 .ixd6 1Vxd6 8 f4! followed by lt::lf3 with a menacing grip over the central dark squares.6
lt:lf3 e66 ... tfoola:n Wd8 9
e3 lt::ld7 10 .ib5 e6 I I 0-0 .ie7 1 2 li[cl lilc8 1 3 .ixc6 be 1 4 �e5 �xe5 15 .ixe5 0-0 16 ltJc5 U
±
Andersson-Torre, Wijk aan Zee 1984.
49
8
1 �49)
7
J.d6
Black can strike out with 7 . .
.
ltlhS
hoping to acquire the bishoppair, but after 8 .ig5 tfb6 9 i.b5 h6 10 .ih4 g5 I I lt::lc5! is
±.
The major alternative is7
. .. .tc7: 8
h3(to meet ... lt::lh5 with �h2) !l ... 0-0
Queen' J Gambit: Slav 47
9 .id3 .td7 10 0-0 1rb6 I I a3 lt::la5 12 b4 lt::lc4 13 lt::le5 lilacl!! 14 .i.xc4 de 15 .ig5 with some pressure, Portisch-Petrosian, Candidates' Quarter Final 1974. Also good is 15 ltJc4! followed by lt::lc5. Another line is Capablanca's 7 . . . .ie7 8
.td3!? (not bothering to preserve the queen's bishop from ... lt.':lh5) !l ... 0-0 9 0-0 lLlh5 (9 ... .id7 10 lt::le5 lilc!l I I '@f3 a6 1 2 tfh3 b5? 1 3 lt::lxd5!! ed 14 lLlxd7 'ihd7 1 5 .ixh7+ �h& 1 6 .if5+ .±± is a trap
well worth adding to your repertoire. Of course, if you prefer Portisch's 8 h3 to Capablanca's 8 .id3, you cannot try for it, since h3 is not available for White's queen) 10 .te5 f5 I I lilc I lt::lf6 1 2 .txf6 gf with a sharp struggle ahead, Capablanca-Lasker, New York
1924.
8 J.g3
0-0 :.
9 J.d3
a6
9 ... lile8
is Portisch-Petrosian, Moscow 1967 (see final chapter)9 .
. .b6
10 lilcl .ib7 I I 0-0 .ixg31 2 hg 'ire7 is Black's most solid defence.
10 llcl
Note that White plays as many useful moves as possible before committing himself to 0-0
10
,lxg3
A really dangerous exchange while White can still utilise the open h-file. Perhaps Black should revert to the ... Ile8 idea.
48 Queen's Gambit: Slav
1 1 hg
g6
1 2 e4 !
Rupturing the centre activates all of White's pieces for immediate transfer to the kingside.
12
de
1 3 J.xe4
i.d7
Or 1 3 ... lbxe4 14 lbxe4 planning lbeg5.
14 1Wd2
1We7
He could fight against 1Wh6 with 14 ... h5 15 1Wh6 ltJg4, but it looks like an extreme measure.
50 B
1 5 1Wh6
llfd8
16
g4
(50)A singularly aggressive position
to have arisen from an Exchange Slav. True, White often aims for dark-square control in this variation, but here Portisch would appear to have over-achieved in this respect.
16
"tlrfS
1 7
1Wh4"tlrg7
1 8 g5
�e8
Of course 18 ... �xe4 19 �xe4 presages a deadly check on f6.
1 9 d5!
The winning move. Black cannot capture on d5 ( 19 ... ed 20 �xd5) since this would again invite the terminal check on f6, so White wins a pawn and retains some initiative. 51 B
1 9
20
de
21 .i.xb7
22 i.xa6
23
0-0 (51)
fiJe7
.ixe6
llab8
llxb2
A flexible attitude to castling is
the hallmark of many great masters. White's h-file attack has yielded its harvest, so Portisch now sensibly consolidates.
23
lla8
Or 23 ... .txa2? 24 1fa4 .ie6 25 1Wa3 ::1:±.
24 .i.b5
lbd6
24 ... .ixa2 25 i.xe8 llxe8 26 1Wa4 ::1:±. The game concluded:
25 a4 liJef5 26 'tff4 llc8 27
lbe4�xe4
(27 ... llxc l 28 lbf6+ 'it>fl!29 'tfxc I )