9.f4 d6 10.Bd3 a6 11.Qf3 b5 12.0 0 Bb7
Michael Khodarkovsky:
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SICILIAN CAPRICIO
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The Past and Present - Tribute
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to Igor Platonov
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We always recommend that our students
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study games played by old masters so they
may learn from the classics. In this survey, I
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refer to modern games, which are
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reminiscent of games played in the 1970s by
the late, and perhaps forgotten by many,
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USSR s Grandmaster Igor Platonov.
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I had the privilege to work as the assistant
coach of Igor Vladimirovich Platonov, Head
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coach of the Ukrainian Team at the 1985
White completed development and it looks
USSR Team Cup in Volgograd. Our
like he didn't do anything wrong. However,
discussions and joint analysis helped me
in a few moves white would feel unexpected
grow both as a chess analyst and trainer.
vulnerability.
However, my long-time friends and
13...b4 14.ab4 Nb4 15.Qg3 0 0 16.e5
mentors, GMs Lev Alburt and Sam Palatnik
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knew Igor Platonov very well. They wrote
in their co-authored book  Platonov s Chess
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Academy :  Platonov was unquestionably a
chess philosopher& His clearly defined
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individuality, in combination with the
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breadth of his views and powerful intellect,
made Igor Platonov a distinguished star in
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the chess galaxy& 
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I am grateful to Lev and Sam for allowing
me to use excerpts of their work to make a
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tribute to Igor Platonov.
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Levy : Platonov
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Havana 1972
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Qb6
16...Nh5 17.Qh3 g6 18.g4 Nd3 19.cd3 Ng7
An innovative idea back then in the
20.Rc1 Qd8 21.ed6 Bd6 22.Nd2
beginning of 70s of the last century, which
Seems better was to play: 22.Nc5 Rb8
forces white knight to move back on b3
23.Nb7 Rb7 24.Qg2 Qb8 25.Ne4 Be7
from the ideal central square d4. This idea
26.Bd4 f5 27.gf5 Nf5 28.Be5 Qa7 29.Qf2=.
became popular and many well-known
22...Be7 23.Nde4 Rc8
players included it in their repertoire.
23...h5 24.g5 Nf5.
5.Nb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 e6 7.Be3 Qc7 8.a3 Be7
24.Rcd1 h5 25.gh5 Nh5
FIDE Surveys  Michael Khodarkovsky 1
one of the most important event as world
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Championship Candidates match is.
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5.Nb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 e6 7.Bd3 Be7 8.0 0 0 0
9.a4 d6 10.Be3 Qc7 11.f4 b6 12.Qf3 Bb7
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13.Nb5 Qb8 14.c3 e5!?
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It was hard to anticipate at move 13 that
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black will dominate the game by move 25th.
26.f5 ef5 27.Rf5
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The text move deserves serious attention.
Back in the 50s, it was established that one
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of the most important elements or strategic
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disorientation of white knights. Therefore
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move 14...e5 has emphasized the control
over square d4 and eliminated an
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opportunity for white knights to reach a
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harmony with each other.
15.f5 a6 16.Na3 d5!? 17.Nd2 Qd8 18.Bf2
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d4! 19.Qe2 Re8 20.Nb3 Nd7 21.Kh1 Ba3
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21...Bh4=.
22.Ra3 Nc5
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Relatively even position would arise after
27& gf5! 28.Qh5 Rc6!? 29.Qf5 Rg6
22...Qf6 or 22... Nf6. The text move and the
30.Ng3 Bd6 31.Nce2 Re8 32.Nf4 Bf4 and
following one, although look aggressive due
White resigned in view of 33.Qf4 Qd5 or if
to active cavalry, but could bring black a lot
33.Bf4, then 33...Qd4 and 34...Qb2. 0:1.
of troubles. See line below after move
25.Qh5.
Kamsky : Gelfand
23.Bc4 Na5?!
Kazan 2011
23...Nb3 24.Bb3 dc3 25.Qh5.
24.Na5 ba5 25.Qh5?
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Qb6
25.Bf7 Kf7 26.Qc4 Bd5 27.ed5 Ne4 28.d6
Almost forty years later since the game
Kf8 29.cd4 Nf2 30.Rf2 ed4 31.Rf1 Qd6.
Levy : Platonov, Boris Gelfand decided to
25...Qc7 26.Bd5 Bd5 27.ed5 Ne4 28.Bg1?
use this line in the game versus Kamsky in
Now black achieves a winning position
FIDE Surveys  Michael Khodarkovsky 2
28.Qe2 Nf2 29.Qf2 Qc4 30.f6 g6 31.cd4 ed4 In his commentaries for Chess informant,
32.Qf4 Re4 33.Qc1 Qc1 34.Rc1 Re5 35.Rd3 Suetin wrote back then that White's position
Rd5 still with better chances for black but here is slightly better. Then he was changing
better than the move played in the game. his opinion to the opposite as game was
28...Qc4 29.Raa1 Qd5 30.Rad1 d3 31.Qf3 progressing.
Rad8 32.Rfe1 Nf6 33.Qd5 Rd5 + 34.c4 11...e5 12.Nf5 h6!?
Rd7 35.Bb6 e4 36.c5 Rc8 37.h3 h5 38.Kg1 Accurate move to ensure useless position of
h4 39.Ba5 Rc5 40.Bc3 Rc4 41.Bf6 gf6 the Knight on f5 on the long run.
42.b3 Rb4 43.Kf2 Rd5 44.Ke3 Rf5 45.Rc1 13.0 0 g6 14.Ng3 ef4 15.Bf4 Ne5 16.Rad1
Rg5 46.Rc4 Rc4 47.bc4 Rg2 48.c5 Bg7 17.Kh1 0 0
Both sides reached a critical position, now
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starts a transition from the opening to
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middlegame.
9+-+-+p+-0 18.Rf2 Rfe8 19.Qf1 Rad8 20.Be5 Re5!?
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48& Re2 49.Re2 de2 50.Ke2 Kf8 0:1.
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Suetin : Platonov
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Russia 1976
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3
A witty maneuver to use a rook as a shuttle
a6 6.Be3 e6 7.Be2 Qc7 8.f4 b5 9.Bf3 Bb7
on the fifth rank.
10.a3 Nbd7 11.Qe2
21.Rfd2 h5 22.Qd3 Rc5 23.Nf1 Ne8 24.e5
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Re5 25.Bb7 Qb7 26.Nd5 Nf6 27.Nf6 Bf6
9r+-+kvl-tr0 28.Rf2 Qe7 29.c4 Bg7 30.cb5 ab5 31.Nd2
Re1 32.Re1 Qe1 33.Rf1 Qe8 34.Nf3 Qc6
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35.Ng5 Rf8 36.b3 d5 37.Qf3 Qd7 38.a4
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ba4 39.ba4 Bh6 40.Qf6 d4 41.Nf3 d3
42.Qa1 d2 43.a5 Rc8 44.Nd2 Qd2 45.a6
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Rc2 46.Rg1 Ra2 47.a7
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And White resigned before Black perform a
simple but cute final accord: 47...Qg2! 0:1.
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FIDE Surveys  Michael Khodarkovsky 3
Karjakin : Cheparinov The battery on the long diagonal is ready to
Porto Carras 2011 shoot!
21.Qf2 Ra7 22.Ng1 Rc7 23.Ngf3 Qc5
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 24.Qd2 Qc3 25.Bg4 Qd2
a6 6.Be3 e6 7.f3 b5 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.g4 h6 Queens exchange here favours black.
10.0 0 0 b4 26.Rd2 Ke7 27.Rdf2 Nd7 28.Ne2 Bb7
According to Bobby Fischer it is in black's 29.Ne1 Ne5 30.Nd3 Ke8 31.Ne5 Be5
favor to play b4 with the following d5 in the Seems like white was able to decline
Sicilian defense. immediate threats, but strategically black
11.Nce2 has much better endgame which he proved
11.Nc6 bc3. in the following moves.
11...Qc7 12.h4 d5 13.Bh3 Nb6 32.Bf3 Rh4 33.Nc1 Be4 34.Re2 Bf3 35.Re5
Be4 36.Rf2 Bf5 37.Ra5 Rc6 38.Rg2 Rh3
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39.Re5 Rh1 40.Kb2 Rd6 41.Nd3 Bd3
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42.cd3 Rd3 43.Re4 a5 44.Re5 Rd5 45.Rd5
9+-wq-+pzp-0 ed5 46.Rd2 Rf1
White resigned in view of 47.Rxd5 Rf5! 0:1.
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Tal : Platonov
Russia 1968
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Among Platonov's sound victories, the
following is one of the greatest
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achievements of his career.
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3
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a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qf3 h6 8.Bh4 Nbd7 9.0 0 0
Qc7 10.Be2 Be7!
The best position for the knight - it takes
control over square c4 and opens the light
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squared bishop to protect a pawn on e6 from
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any possible thematic sacrifices.
14.b3 de4 15.g5 Nfd5 16.fe4 Ne3 17.Qe3
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hg5 18.hg5 g6! 19.Kb1 Bg7 20.Rhf1 Qe5
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Avoiding a hidden trap in case of 10...b5?
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11.e5! Bb7 12.Ne6 fe6 13.Qh5! and if
13...Nh5, then 14.Bh5 mating next move!
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11.Rhe1 g5 12.Bg3 Ne5 13.Qe3 b5 14.a3
FIDE Surveys  Michael Khodarkovsky 4
Rb8 15.f3 Nfd7!
Now black is planning to relocate the knight
from d7 to c4 via b6 square to obtain a
domination of his cavalry.
16.f4 gf4 17.Bf4 b4 18.ab4 Rb4 19.Rf1
Qb6 20.b3 Ng6 21.Bh5
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21& Rd4! 22.Rd4 Nf4 23.Rf4
23.Bf7 Kd8 24.Rf4 e5 +.
23...Bg5! 24.Bf7 Kd8 25.e5 Rf8 26.Ne2
Rf7 27.h4 Bf4 28.Nf4 d5 29.g4 Rg7 30.g5
hg5 31.hg5 Ke8 32.Nh5 Rh7! 33.Nf6
33.g6 Rh5 34.g7 Kf7 35.Qf3 Rf5 36.Rg4
Qd8! +.
33...Nf6 34.ef6 Rh1 35.Kb2 Rh4! 36.c3
Rh2 37.Ka3 Rc2
37...a5!
38.Qh3 Qa5 39.Ra4 Qc5 40.Rb4 a5
41.Qh8 Kd7 42.Qh7 Kc6 43.Qc2 ab4
44.Ka2 bc3 45.g6 e5 46.f7 Be6 47.Qd3
Qf2+-
The best continuation, which leads to
technically winning position. 47...c2?
48.Qa6 Kc7 49.f8Q Qf8 50.Qa7, with a
perpetual check.
48.Ka3 Qa7 49.Kb4 Qc5 50.Ka4 c2 51.f8Q
Qa7 52.Kb4 Qb7 53.Ka4 c1Q 54.Qff1 Qf1
55.Qf1 Qa7 56.Kb4 Qc5 57.Ka4 Kb6 0:1.
FIDE Surveys  Michael Khodarkovsky 5