Sicilian Defence
International tournament, Linares 1 991
The game I am going to discuss now shows some similarities to Hiibner Kortchnoi. In both cases, the Sicilian De fence gives rise to a position in which the knight pair is facing a bishop pair that lacks freedom of movement; partly be cause the position is half closed and partly because Black, the side with the bishops, has doubled pawns that slightly weaken his pawn structure.
There is, however, an important differ ence. Whereas in the former game the bishop pair did not work because of the bad position of the black king, here Kasparov finds it impossible to give his bishop pair a free rein because of his lack of space.
This game, incidentally, was a bad blow for the former World Champion and eventu ally prevented him, for the first time in ages, from winning a tournament; Ivanchuk pipped him by half a point.
1 . e2-e4 2. tLlg1 -f3 3. �f1 -b5+
c7-c5 d7-d6
Ivanchuk refrains from the Sicilian main lines, undoubtedly out of fear of Kasparov's preparation.
3 . . . . tLlb8-d7
An ambitious move that is regarded as less solid than the alternative 3 ... .id7.
4. d2-d4 tLlg8-f6 5. 0-0
In his comments in New In Chess
( 1 99213), Ivanchuk gives this castling manoeuvre an exclamation mark, observ ing that this move is better than the nor mal S. tLlc3 . And it is true that practice has shown that 5 ... t2Jxe4 is now dangerous for Black in view of 6 . .l:te l or 6.'ti'e2. But there is another variation in which it makes no difference whether White first develops his knight or castles first. From a psychological point of view, at least, the text is strong, as Kasparov does not like to be at the receiving end of a strong initia tive.
5 . . . . c5xd4
A few months later, Kasparov played S ... a6 here against Ljubojevic in the VSB tourna ment in Amsterdam. After the forced 6 . .l:t.xd7 + t2Jxd7 the Yugoslav grandmaster played 7.t2Jc3 , after which the game en tered well-known territory. Alternatives are 7.c4 and 7 .dS , as Kasparov indicates in his comments for Chess Informant 5 I . Ivanchuk probably intended playing one of these alternatives.
6. 'ii'd 1 xd4 a7-a6
Making sure of the bishop pair. White is forced to swap on d7, otherwise Black would get a favourable 'Open Sicilian'. Given the position, however, White has
no objection to swapping, as his space ad vantage would be all the more telling if the development of his queen's knight is postponed.
7. �b5xd7+ �cBxd7 B. �c1-g5
A very direct move. White is prepared to swap his queen's bishop for a knight as well, provided he can keep the queens on the board.
B. . . . h7-h6
Ivanchuk rightly rejects this provocative move. The cautious 8 . . . e6 was correct, when White continues with 9.c4 �e7 1 0. ttJc3 , and he is slightly better. This move, by the way, would also have re vealed why 8.�gS was such a pointed move: it prevented the fianchetto of the black king's bishop.
9. �g5xf6 g7xf6
The thematic position.
Normally speaking, the material balance in this type of Sicilian is different, the usual set-up being that White has king's bishop plus knight against a black bishop pair.
1 0. c2-c41
'Probably a new move: Ivanchuk says here. Fernandez Garcia-Csom, Malaga 1 98 1 , continued 1 0 . ttJc3 e6 1 1 . 'ii'd3 �e7 , with roughly equal chances.
The text-move fits snugly in the strategic plan that White has conceived. There is no danger that the black king's bishop will become active on the long diagonal, with the result that the 'Maroczy wall' promises White a lasting advantage.
1 0. . . . e7-e6
The alternative was 1 0 ... �g7 , but then White will take control of the position with 1 1 .ttJc3 0-0 1 2 .'ikd3 ! , and the ad vance of Black's leading f-pawn has per manently been prevented.
1 1 . ttJb1 -c3 .!:laB-cB 1 2. �g1 -h1
A subtle move. White waits to see whether Black will castle kingside, in which case he would play 1 3 .ttJd2, fol lowed by 1 4.f4. If Black keeps his king in the centre, however, he will become ac tive on the queenside.
1 2. . . . h6-h5
Kasparov plays the game in the way he is used to. He leaves his king in the centre in hopes of being able to open the position for his bishops when the time is ripe. But now White changes tack.
1 3. a2-a4!
Expansion on the queenside. White, inci dentally, had no tactical reason to reject the alternative 1 3 .tt:Jd2 , as 1 3 ... h4 1 4.h3 �h6! I S .f4! �xf4 1 6Jhf4 eS 1 7.'ii'xd6
exf4 1 8 . tLldS would then give him a far superior position. But Ivanchuk mainly went for the text, because after 1 3 . tLld2 Black would have had the active bishop move 1 3 ... �c6.
13. h5-h4
14. h2-h3 �f8-e7 15. b2-b4
Further expansion on the queenside. Ivanchuk observes that the alternative I S .tLlh2 yields nothing in view of 1 S . . . �c7 1 6.tLlg4 'iYxc4 1 7 .tLlxf6+ 'it>d8, and Black can have great faith in the fu- ture.
15 . . . 16. b4-b5
a6-a5 'it'd8-c7?
With the queenside fixed, Black's obvious plan is to take a major piece to cS, after which he can take this piece to the g-file in order to put pressure on g2. But it would have been better to play the queen's rook, as Ivanchuk indicates. After 1 6 ... 1:tcS 1 7 .ttJd2 �gS (after 1 7 ... Ilg8 White would be able to thwart the black plans with 1 8.f4) 1 8.f4 l::tg7 he restricts himself to the assessment 'with chances on both sides'. It seems to me that White has a slight plus in this position. Owing to the permanent pressure on g2, White will not fmd it easy to break open the po sition; on the other hand, however, the black bishop pair remains passive.
1 7. tLlf3-d2 'it'c7-c5 1 8. 'it'd4-d3 l:[h8-g8 1 9. l:ta1 -e1
White slowly reinforces his posltlon. 1 9.f4 was premature in view of 1 9 ... l:tg 3 , with active play for Black. This is why White allows the black queen to come to gS , trusting that the resulting initiative will be short-lived.
1 9. . . . 'it'c5-g5
20. l:tf1 -g1 'it'g5-f4 21 . J:!.e1 -f1 !
The white rooks seem to be occupying quite passive positions, but White is con fident that he will manage to chase away the black queen, after which he will be able to advance his f-pawn.
21. . . . b7-b6
A passive move that certainly doesn't sit well with Kasparov's dynamic style. But Black had no way of freeing himself, as Ivanchuk shows convincingly with the folloWing variations:
A) 2 1 ...dS 22.ttJe2 ! (not 22 .exdS in view of 22 ... �d6 23 .tLlf3 'it'xc4, with ad vantage for Black) 22 ... dxc4 23 .tLlxc4, and 23 . . . 'ifc7 is met strongly by H.�c 1 . The position has not really opened up and the white knight pair dominates;
B) 2 1 ... fS 22.ttJe2 'it'eS 23.f4 'it'f6, and now White can hang on to the initia tive with both H.tLlf3 and H.l:tdl .
22. tLlc3-e2 'it'f4-h6 23. c4-c5
A tempting breakthrough that does not give White an immediate decisive advan tage, but certainly makes life very difficult for his opponent. The alternative was 2 3 .f4, with a large space advantage. After this Black would be slowly strangled, without any chance of active counterplay.
Remarkably enough, Ivanchuk rejects the text himself, but I believe he is just being too pessimistic about his chances later in the game.
23 . . . . J:!.c8xc5
The decisive error. Black tries to open the position, but without this resulting in more elbow-room for his bishop pair. He should have accepted a passive defensive position with 23 .. . dxc5, intending to meet 24.ttJc4 with 24 . . . .l:!.bS. This takes the sting from the knight check on d6, as he will be able to play his king to fS. Cru cial is 25.f4 �cS 26.f5 , when Black has the following possibilities:
A) 26 ... exf5 2 7.tUd6+ cJtfS 2S .tUxcS .t1xcS 29 . .t1xf5 , with a decisive advantage for White;
B) 26 . . . cJtfS . Black's best bet.
result, as 2S.ttJd6 is met by 2S . . . �e6 29.ttJxf5 'ilfg6. Stronger for White, how ever, is 2 7 . .l:!.f4! to put more pressure on Black. White is holding all the trumps.
24. tiJd2-c4 We8-f8
Bitter necessity. After 24 . . . d5 25.tUxb6 the black position would collapse even faster.
25. tiJc4xb6 �d7-e8 26. f2-f4 f6-f5 27. e4xf5 J:!.c5xf5
28. l:U1 -c1
Now White has a free hand on the queenside, whereas the black troops are gathered in a pointless huddle on the kingside.
28. . . . <t>f8-g7 29. g2-g4
A remarkable move. White did not need to start any action on the kingside to de cide the game. Simply winning was 29.tUcS, followed by the advance of the b-pawn, as indicated by Ivanchuk in his comments.
The text-move slightly complicates the win, partly because some variations allow Black to spring a surprise check on the white king, as we will see.
29. . . . l:U5-c5
analysis diagram 30. J:!.c1 xc5
Now 30.tUcS was not good in view of the Now 2 7 .e5 exf5 fails to lead to a clear-cut tactical turn 3 0 .. . �xb5 ! .