GM Ildar Ibragimov (2556) - GM Jaan Ehlvest
(2596)
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With both sides (now) castled on
opposite wings, the indicated course
is an all-out
attack on each of the
respective commander(s) for each
of the two different armies.
If Black has judged/guessed correctly,
he shall succeed. But if he has not
correctly
added all the sums in the far
right-hand column, he will fail ...
... "and all the King's horses, and all
the King's men, won't be able to put
Humpty-Dumpty back together again."
17.g4!?,
White tries to get things rolling on
the King-side, but he always
{seems} to be ...
"a day late,
and a dollar short;" as the old
saying goes.
[ Maybe >/= 17.Qc2!, "+/=" - Fritz 8.0 ]
17...Rfc8;
18.g5 Nc4!?; {See the diagram
... just below.}
[Threat = ...NxB/d2+, and Black
wins the White Queen on a fork.]
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
I was tempted to give this a
double-exclam, but prudence,
good reason,
and analysis
eventually won out.
(Of course, if Black had lost, I
would be awarding this move two {whole}
question marks!)
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Black senses the correct time to try
to upset the equilibrium of this game.
(And he is willing to sacrifice a foot-soldier to get it done.)
[ Or
18...Nh5!?; 19.h4 a4;
20.Qc2, "+/=" {D?}
but White is still better here.
]
19.Qc2!?,
('?!') (urgh)
{Diagram?}
Nice - sensible - prudent.
(But in my book, this is way too
passive a move to seriously
threaten Black here.)
[ It seems that the critical
continuation would be:
>/= 19.Bxc4! dxc4;
{Diagram?}
This looks forced ...
(Interesting was: 19...Ne4!?)
20.Qc2!,
{Diagram?}
This is nice in-between move
here for White.
( Or </= 20.Qxc4!? Ne4; "<=>" )
20...Nh5 []; 21.Qxc4 Bxg5;
22.Rcg1!, '±' {Diag?}
Here - all of White's pieces are
pointed at Black's King.
Several different analysis sessions,
all done with the aid of
at least one
computer program, confirm that
White has a
very clear edge. ]
Black continues in the vein of
allowing White to capture the
dreadnought
horseman - a
dare-devil gambit, if you will.
19...Nh5!?;
20.Rcg1 Qd7;
Black appears to be consolidating his
iron grip on the light squares here.
Last chance to capture on c4.
21.Bc1?!
b5!; "="
Now probably dynamite won't get rid
of the horseman on the c4-square.
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22.Ng3?,
YUK!! {Another bad decision.}
In the ensuing endgame, Black's
grip on the light squares leaves
White with almost no counterplay.
[ Much better was:
>/= 22.Nf4! Nxf4; 23.exf4,
"+/=" {D?}
with a slight edge to White. ]
22...Nxg3;
23.Rxg3 c5!;
Now it should be clear that White has
been outplayed.
Black is better on
both sides of the board.
For some reason ...
White refuses to play h3-h4 in
this particular game.
{By the time White gets around to
it on move 27, the game
is close
to being over.}
24.Qe2?! Bd6;
25.Rgg1 b4!?;
Black is going for a complete
crush ... using simple space
on the board as his trump.
[ Or Black could try:
25...cxd4; 26.exd4 Qa7;
{Dm?}
with constant Queen-side
pressure. ("/\") ]
Now the pawn-push of h4!, would
get White's King-side play back
on track ... but the first party
chooses a completely different
route.
{A suspect one?}
26.dxc5!? Rxc5;
27.h4 Ne5!?; 28.h5 a4!; 29.f4 Nxd3; 30.Qxd3 Qe6;
"=/+"
I would judge this position as just
slightly better for Black ... the first
player
has a troubled Bishop, and
no real play to speak of.
31.Bd2!? Rc4;
32.Rf1!? Re4!;
The computer fails (completely)
to grasp the reasons for this play.
{White is gasping for air, Black's
light-square bind has been
increased,
and the damage done
to Black's King-side is completely
insignificant.}
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Black continues the pressure.
33.hxg6 fxg6;
34.Bc1 b3!; 35.a3!? Bc5; 36.Rd1 Rd8; 37.Qb5 Rc8!;
38.Rd3!? Rc4;
39.Rhd1?, ('??')
{Diagram?}
A really bad move ... in an already
very ugly board-position for White.
(The box says that Qb7 is forced
here for White.)
[ Probably forced was:
>/= 39.Qb7 Rd8; 40.Rhd1
Qf5; "/+" {D?}
but Black still clearly
{MUCH} better here. (And
will probably win
with correct play ... from
both parties.) ]
"Pin ... and win," said Reinfeld.
39...Qf5!;
40.Qb7, ('!?')
{See
the diagram - - - just below.}
I don't think it matters any more
what move White plays.
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The stage is all set for an extremely
nice - but thematic - coup de grace ...
by GM Jaan Ehlvest.
[ Or
</= 40.Qa6?! Bb6!;
"-/+" {Diagram?}
The threat is ...Qxd3+!, to be
followed by the very simple ...
RxB/c1 mate. (This
wins for Black.)
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Also unsatisfactory for White
was the continuation:
</= 40.e4!? Qxe4; 41.Qa5 Bd4;
42.Qd2 Rc2;
43.Re1 Qf5;
"-/+" {Diagram?}
and the first party should signal
a surrender ...
without any delay! ]
If you were Black, what move would you play in this position?
40...Rxc1+!!;
41.Rxc1[],
This is definitely forced.
[ Much worse was:
</= 41.Kxc1?? Bxe3+!;
{Diagram?}
No capturing ... it's a double
check by Black, here.
42.Kb1 Qxd3+! ; 43.Rxd3 Rc1#. Ouchers!! ]
41...Qxd3+;
42.Ka1, ("+/-") {Diagram?}
Probably in a time scramble, White
realized that Black was not going to
lose on time. Or he simply noticed
how much material he would be down,
and resigned before Black could play
the simple move of ...Qf5; or even
better, ...Rf8!
A very impressive win by Ehlvest, but
White clearly could have made this
a
much more difficult struggle. (Maybe
White used too much time in the
opening stage? This game has all
the earmarks of that type of struggle.)
Copyright (c) (LM) A.J. Goldsby I.
Copyright © A.J. Goldsby, 2004. All rights reserved.