P REPARACIÓN DE LOS DATOS

Alekhine Defence

Interzonal tournament, Taxco 1985

When a game is won, it's usually because of an evident error on the part of the loser. In the normal course of events, you realize while you're playing when and where it was made, regardless of whether you are on the winning or on the lOSing side. I know one player to whom this does not seem to apply: Karpov.

During post-mortems or in written anno­ tations to his games it usually remains obscure where his opponent went wrong, the idea being that he is slowly smothered by Karpov's assassinative play. This introduction is meant to explain what was happening to me during my game against Qi. He played the opening somewhat unfortunately, with the result that his king got stuck in the middle. Black could not exploit this at once, but he started preparations for a long-term attacking plan behind the firing line. This is, in fact, one long-drawn-out attacking game.

On move 24 Black gets the bishop pair, but it is only after another 3 5 moves that White finally succumbs; his last defences crumble under the murderous, combined power of rook and bishop pair.

The reader will have to make do with de­ scriptions of what both players were do­ ing and what they were trying to achieve. I have failed to find the decisive error,

both during play and afterwards. This may be a sign that I was in superior form.

1 . 2. 3. 4. e2-e4 e4-eS d2-d4 ttJg1 -f3 ttJg8-f6 ttJf6-dS d7-d6 g7-g6

An _{early love of mine. I had not played it}

for a long time, as I was afraid of the at­ tacking line with S . .ic4. But in a round­ about way I eventually hazarded to play this variation of the Alekhine defence again. Alburt, the most ardent adherent of the Alekhine defence amongst grand­ masters, was also playing in Taxco. A few rounds later I was White against him. I had started my preparation for that particular game early, mainly because I was inter­ ested in finding out how to tackle the Alekhine. To my surprise I failed to find a clear way to a large advantage for White, which is why I decided to play it as Black.

5. ttJf3-gS

A dangerous-looking attack, but one that had already been refuted in the 60s. The rest of the game makes clear that the Chi­ nese grandmaster was not properly pre­ pared for this line. These days, the white reply is almost exclusively S . ..ic4.

5. . . . c7-c6

This accurate little move scuppers my op­ ponent's chances of launching a sneak at-

tack. The alternative S . . . f6 would have given White the opportunity to make a promising piece sacrifice with 6.c4 tLlb6 7.e6! fxgS 8.dS, as witness a game O'Kelly-Golombek, Amsterdam I 9S 1 .

6. e5xd6 e7xd6 7. �f1 -c4

Not a very effective move, given the situa­ tion. White's only hope of getting an opening advantage was 7 .c4.

7. . . . . . �dS-e7+

With this little check Black exploits the lack of co-ordination in the enemy camp.

S. �d1 -e2

A serious inaccuracy. After the queen swap Black will have a strong initiative. Correct was 8.�e2, when White has not really lost a tempo; his king's rook will soon appear on e 1 , after which the black queen will not be able to hold its position on the e-file. S. 9. �c4xe2 1 0. tUg5-f3 'iWe7xe2+ h7-h6 tUd5-b4

Now it becomes clear why the premature queen swap worked out so unfavourably for White, as it takes a really artificial move to cover the c-pawn. Remarkably enough, Black is already better here, de­ spite the fact that he has developed only one piece so far.

1 1 . tUb1 -a3 �cS-f5

Confronting White with a well-known dilemma in this kind of position: he must either give up his bishop pair (with 1 2 .c3) or accept that his king will stay in the middle of the board.

1 2. c;f;j>e1 -d1

Going for the latter option, which is un­ derstandable, because the d-file is closed and it will not be easy for Black to launch a direct attack on the white king.

1 2. . . . tUbS-d7 13. tUf3-e1

White has to make another passive move before being able to chase the knight from b4. 13. 14. c2-c3 15. tUa3-c4 1 6. �e2xc4 tUd7-b6 tUb4-d5 tUb6xc4 �f5-e6

The knight swap has not brought White any relief. Black is strongly centralized. His first threat is I 7 .. . tLlxc3 +, winning a pawn.

1 7. �c4-d3

Better was 1 7 .�b3 , intending to continue with I 8 .tLlc2 and I 9.tLle3. By dint of ex­ changing as many pieces as possible White is trying to make the position of his king in the middle less precarious.

Remarkable. The preparation for this fianchetto was started on move 4, but it is only now that Black finally manages to re­ alize it.

1S. ttJe 1 -c2 0-0 1 9. �c1-d2

White is forced to develop modestly.

1 9. . . . cS-c5

His development nearly completed, Black now starts attacking the white centre. He need not be afraid of White closing the centre with 20.c4 ttJb6 2 1 .d5 , as he then has 2 1 ...�d7 22.l:Ib l ttJa4, with strong pressure.

20. �h1 -e1 J::tfS-eS

An important little move. White was threatening to take his king to safety with 2 1 .<;¥;>e2.

21 . f2-f3 ttJd5-bS

The correct way to increase the pressure. The knight takes control of squares a4 and c4.

22. �d2-e3 :taS-cS 23. �e3-f2

White perforce continues to manoeuvre in limited space.

23. �g7-fS

24. �d1 -d2

For a long time, White has managed to prevent his opponent from getting the bishop pair, but with the text-move he

finally succumbs in the hope that the en­ suing rook swap will bring him relief.

24. . . . ttJbS-c4+

Black strikes at once, of course, as this check yields him the first long-term ad­ vantage in the game: the bishop pair.

25. �d3xc4 �eSxc4 2S. 27. 2S. I:le1 xeS+ �f2-e3 b2-b3 �cSxeS hS-h5 �c4-aS

Because the c-pawn is hanging, Black is forced to keep his queen's bishop on the a6-fl diagonal. This means that White cannot take twice on cS , as this would al­ low the rook to penetrate on e2 to devas­ tating effect.

29. �a1 -e1 �eS-dS

Indirectly covering the c-pawn.

30 . ..te3-f4

30.a4, to counter the black expansion on the queenside, was probably better. Black would then continue with the modest 30 ... b6.

30. . . . . . b7-b5 31 . �f4-e3 �aS-cS

Black transfers the bishop to e6, where it will work most efficiently.

32. �e3-f4

It would be difficult to censure White for his hesitant play, as it is quite hard for him to find a suitable plan while at the same time making sure that he doesn't weaken his position any further.

32. ..tcS-eS

33. �e1 -d1 gS-g5 34. ..tf4-e3 �dS-eS 35. ttJc2-e1

Finally, White starts working towards the redeployment of his troops. This was more or less forced; otherwise Black would push his a-pawn and annoyingly increase the pressure.

35 . . . . a7-a5

This is one of the four Nimzowitsch situ­ ations in which the bishop pair works ef­ fectively: when Black advances a pawn front. In this game, incidentally, he does so on both wings simultaneously.

36. ttJe1 -d3

Forcing the c-pawn to commit itself be­ fore the a-pawn can continue its advance.

36. . . . c5-c4

37. b3xc4 b5xc4

An important moment. The obvious move is to take on c4 with the bishop, af­ ter which Black could concentrate his fire on the weak pawns on a2 and c3 . After careful consideration I opted for another approach: opening the b-file as a base for the black rook. This makes pawn c4 a wedge splitting the white position in two, especially when the black queen's bishop pops up on the b l -h7 diagonal.

3S. ttJd3-e1

In order to maintain anything like a solid defensive line, the knight has to retrace its steps.

3S. l:leS-bS

39. ttJe1 -c2 �e6-f5

Not, of course, 39".llb2 in view of 40.<;itc l l:txa2 4 1 .<;itb l , and the black rook is trapped.

40. �d2-c1 �gS-g7

41 . l:ld1 -e1 �g7-g6

Black's queen's bishop is optimally posi­ tioned, but his king's bishop needs to be activated in order to force the enemy into a corner. With this in mind, the king starts by taking on the job of covering the g-pawn.

42. �e3-d2 d6-d5

Opening the a3-f8 diagonal for the king's bishop.

43. ttJc2-a3 �f5-e6

Vacating square e7 for the bishop.

44. ttJa3-c2

44 . . . _i.e6-f5

A brief hesitation because 44".�e7 gives White starting-points for immediate counterplay. On closer examination, how­ ever, this counterplay turns out to be in­ sufficient, as may be seen from:

A) 4S.11eS l:tb6 46.ttJe3 f6 47.ttJxdS .ia3 +, followed by a rook check, and Black wins;

B) 4S.f4 g4 46.l:teS �f6 47.fs+ �xfS 48.l:txdS �e4, and Black should be winning.

Unfortunately, I wasn't sure of these vari­ ations, so I decided to shuttle my pieces back and forth a bit to get closer to the time-control on move S 6 (this game was played in the . good old days', with 40 moves in two-and-a-half hours, followed

by 1 6 moves in one hour) . After denying your opponent any chance of counterplay for the entire duration of the game, you don't want to start in the fmal phase.

45. .I:Ie1 -e2 h5-h4 46. l:!e2-e1 �f5-d3

47. 4:Jc2-a3 �d3-f5

Square d3 is an attractive post for the queen's bishop, but it wouldn't be very effective there on its own.

48. 4:Ja3-c2 .itf5-e6 49. 4:Jc2-e3

Exactly what I had hoped for. After this knight move Black can manoeuvre his king's bishop around undisturbed. More stubborn was 49 . .l:i.e2, after which Black could have got the variations given in the comment to Black's 44th move, with the fortunate difference that his h-pawn has advanced to h4.

49. . . . .itf6-e7

Exploiting the fact that SO.liJxdS fails to SO . . . �a3 +. From this point on, the win proceeds as smoothly as clockwork.

50. 'it>c1-c2 .ite7-d6 51 . h2-h3 .ite6-d7

Again the d-pawn is taboo, this time be­ cause of a mating attack. White will be

forced to take up an even more passive position.

52. �d2-c1 53. .I:Ie1 -f1

.itd6-g3 .itg3-f4

The absoluteness of the dominance of the bishop pair in this fairly closed position is staggering. White is almost totally para­ lysed.

54. wc2-d2 .itd7-f5

The threats emanating from a4 have forced White into a very unfavourable set-up of his pieces. Now the bishop will definitively ensconce itself on d3 in order to dominate the white king as much as possible.

55. .itc1-a3 .itf5-d3 56. .llf1 -e1 wg6-f6

Threatening to take the king along the e-file to manoeuvre it to the queenside, where it will eventually penetrate the white position with crushing force via a4.

57. 'i1;;>d2-d1 58. i.a3-c1

.I:Ib8-b1 + 'it>f6-g6

Now that the rook has penetrated, king moves out of the way.

59. 'it>d1 -d2 .I:Ib1 -a1

the

White resigns. He is completely sur­ rounded.

Game 1 5