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There are many published materials about the zonal tournament which took place in the
Spanish town of Mondariz. There is no reason to repeat them. The chess results were quite
typical for a tournament with qualifying status.

Tremendous nervous strain resulted in a vast number of not quite logically consequential
games, with lots of blunders and sharp turns. Even very strong GMs (there were many of
them) could not completely control their emotions at the board. It was a nice show for the
spectators, while the coaches and the fans lost a lot of nervous tissue! It was not clear who
would qualify, would join the happy six, until the last round, until finishing the very last
games! The best game of Joel Lautier, the sole winner of the tournament, is covered by
Vladimir Belov in his review. I liked the following four encounters:

Hodgson,J. - Godena,M. [D00]
Mondariz, 2000

A fairy game. Michele has proved himself to be an exceptionally cold-blooded fighter. I
would have definitely died of fear, if I played as one of the opponents in this game...

1.d4 d5 2.Bg5!

Julian never misses a chance to develop this bishop as far as possible.

2...h6

White’s underlying idea is to meet 2...e6 with the unexpected 3.Bxd8!, as happened in a
blitz game Chepukaitis,G.-Taimanov,M./St.Petersburg/many years ago.

3.Bh4 c6 4.Nf3 Qb6!

Not a bad objection to White’s idea. With the absence of the white bishop on c1, the b2-
point becomes weak in White’s camp.

5.Qc1

The continuation 5.b3 weakens the dark squares too much.

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5...g5 6.Bg3 g4! 7.Ne5 Qxd4

After 7...Qxd4

Now and later, Black plays in computer style -
he captures anything, that his opponent offers
to him.

8.c4 Bg7 9.e3 Qc5 10.Nd2 Nd7 11.Nd3 Qb6
12.a4

With the threat of advancing this pawn even
further, to a6. Deserving attention is the
simple 12.Be2

12...Nc5 13.cxd5 Nxd3+ 14.Bxd3 cxd5 15.
Bb5+ Kf8 16.0-0

After 16.0-0

White has completed development and this
compensates for the pawn.

16...Bf5N

You will laugh out loud, but this has all
happened already! Only Black’s last move is a
novelty. After 16...a6 17.e4 Be6 18.exd5 Bxd5
19.Bc4 suddenly a draw was agreed in the
game Hodgson,J-Krasenkow,M/Germany
1998/GER-chT (19), though the rook’s move
to c8 seemed to be very attractive for Black...

17.Bc7 Qg6 18.Qc5 Nf6 19.a5 a6 20.Ba4 Ne8
21.Bf4 Bxb2

A mere trifle, but a pleasant one!

22.Rab1!

White does not spare material in order to start the attack as soon as possible, while Black
has not yet completed development.

22...Rc8 23.Qxd5 Bxb1 24.Qxb7 Rc1

Black’s sole non-computer move in the whole game! Trading off the rooks provides
security for the black king. After 24...Bf5 25.Qxb2 Nf6 26.Qb7 White retrains some
initiative for the exchange.

25.Rxc1 Bxc1 26.Nxb1 Kg7 27.Be5+ Nf6 28.Qxe7?

A mistake! After 28.e4! the human play may prevail over "computer" play!

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After 28.Qxe7

28...Bb2!

A brilliant reply. Now the capture on b1 with
check is threatened.

29.Bc2 Rc8!

One strike more. The weakness of the first
rank is fatal for White.

30.Nc3 Qxc2!

No prejudices! The black king will take care
of himself.

31.Qxf6+ Kf8 32.Qxh6+

In the following variation the heroism and the greed of the black king are especially
impressive: 32.Qh8+ Ke7 33.Nd5+ Ke6 34.Qf6+ Kxd5 35.Qd6+ Ke4.

After 35...Ke4

32...Ke8 33.h4 Bxc3 34.Bf4 Qg6

One cannot stand against the Italian Machine,
especially being a rook down.

0-1

Van Wely,L. - Degraeve,J. [E97]
Mondariz, 2000

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4

The Taimanov Variation. It was this St. Petersburg GM who started playing it successfully
on a top-rank level.

9...Nh5 10.g3

They played so something like 30 years ago, when Mark Evgenievich still was young.
Nowadays everyone plays 10.Re1

10...f5 11.Ng5 Nf6 12.f3 f4 13.b5 fxg3 14.hxg3 h6 15.Ne6 Bxe6 16.dxe6 Qc8 17.Nd5
Qxe6! 18.Nxc7 Qh3 19.Rf2

Loek’s trademark. White is playing for a win where everyone else agrees on a draw.

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Perpetual check arises after 19.Nxa8 Qxg3+ 20.Kh1 Qh3+, which occurred in practice
many times.

19...Nxe4!?

A creative novelty.
In the source game, my colleague, a steady contributor to our site, could not stand against
the Dutchman’s fruitful opening idea: 19...Rac8 20.Rh2 Qxg3+ (20...Qd7 21.b6!? axb6 22.
Nb5 Nh5 23.Kg2 +=) 21.Rg2 Qh3 (In one correspondence game happened 21...Qh4 ) 22.
Qxd6 Rf7 23.c5 Bf8? (the unclear play arises after 23...Nxe4! 24.fxe4 Qc3) 24.Ne6 Nxe4 25.
Qxe5! Nc3 26.Bc4 Qh4 27.Qxc3 and Black resigned, Van Wely,L - Golubev,M /Romania-
cht/2000/1-0(27); Let us try to figure out what Loek could do after the reliable move 19...
Rad8 After 20.g4 possible is 20...Nxg4! 21.fxg4 Rxf2 22.Kxf2 Rf8+ 23.Bf3 Qh2+ 24.Ke3
Qf4+ 25.Kf2 Qh2+, with a draw. There is also the possibility of 20.Rg2, which looks ugly,
but Black has nothing concrete in this case.

20.Rh2?!

White vainly takes it on trust! Some stormy complications arise after the capture on e4. In
this case, the white king has to run a lot. However, I have a sensation that Black cannot
achieve equality there: 20.fxe4 Rxf2 21.Kxf2 Rf8+ 22.Ke1 Qxg3+ (22...Qh1+ 23.Kd2
Qxe4 24.Qg1!) 23.Kd2 Nf5!? 24.exf5 e4 25.Qb3!, and so on.

20...Qd7

20...Qxg3+ 21.Rg2

21.Nxa8 Nxg3

Temporarily Black is a rook down, but the white knight cannot get out from a8 and White
has already lost two pawns. I think Loek regretted his setup.

22.Bxh6

Perhaps White should try 22.c5

22...Bxh6 23.Rxh6 Kg7! 24.Rh2 Nef5!

Jean Marc improves the positions of his pieces cold-bloodedly, postponing the capture of
the white knight.

25.Kf2 Rxa8 26.Bd3?!

White’s last two moves are not logically consequential.
Better is 26.Qd5 with the threat of Ra1-g1.

26...Qc7 27.Bxf5 Nxf5 28.Qd3 Rc8

I think that checking first is more precise for Black: 28...Qc5+

29.f4

A desperate attempt to change the course of action.
More logical seems 29.Rc1 Qc5+ 30.Ke2 d5 31.Rg2 Kf6 32.Rcg1, with extremely
complicated play.

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29...Qc5+ 30.Kf3

More stubborn is 30.Kg2, though White has few surviving chances here too: 30...exf4

30...e4+!

An unpleasant prick. Black starts a decisive assault.

31.Qxe4 Qa3+ 32.Kg2 Qb2+ 33.Kf3 Qc3+ 34.Kg2 Qb2+ 35.Kf3 Qxh2

Having repeated moves in order to save time, Black starts to gather the harvest.

36.Qxb7+ Kh6 37.Qxc8 Qg3+ 38.Ke2 Qe3+ 39.Kd1 Qd4+ 40.Kc2 Qxa1
0-1

Lautier,J. - Reinderman,D. [A80
Mondariz, 2000

Joel was in perfect sporting form. Leading through the whole competition, he gave no
chance to cast doubt on his right to first prize. Here is one of his typical wins. Pay attention
-- a not-bad GM is playing Black in this game...

1.d4 f5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 g6 4.c4 Bg7 5.b4

A cunning continuation. White occupies space on the Q-side.

5...0-0 6.Bb2 d6 7.Bg2 Qe8

A standard for similar positions, this move turns out not to be the best one in this particular
case.
The genuine evaluation of this variation can be given only after the move 7...c5!

8.0-0 Ng4

In case of 8...e5 9.dxe5 Ng4 10.Nc3, the move permutation arises after 10...dxe5 11.Nd5,
and if 10... 10...Nxe5, then White obtains the advantage by 11.Nd5!, and bad is 11...Nxf3+
12.Bxf3 Bxb2 due to 13.Nxc7 Qe7 14.Bd5+ Kg7 15.Nxa8, then White captures on a1 with
check. Though it may seem strange, the continuation 8...c5 is still appropriate, but the e8-
queen’s position is extremely weird in this case. Here also happened the continuation 8...
c6 , which also does not equalize, if White finds enough inner strength to make the correct
moves Nbd2, Qb3, a4 and b5, obtaining the initiative on the left wing of the board.

9.Nc3 e5

It is this e7-e5 thrust that Black aimed for. And he achieves this aim, but fails to protect his
Q-side...

10.Nd5 Rf7

Bad is 10...Na6 due to 11.b5 c6 12.bxa6 cxd5 13.dxe5 , and so on.

11.h3 Nh6 12.dxe5 dxe5 13.Ng5 Rd7 14.Qa4!

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Refuting the variation.
White also achieved success after 14.Qb3 Nf7 15.c5 c6 16.Ne3 h6 17.Nxf7 Rxf7 18.Nc4
Be6 19.Nd6 Qe7 20.Qe3 in the game Kuporosov - Dubinsky/RUS-Cup/ 1998/1-0(43), but
Black’s play in that game could be improved literally on every move.

14...c6

With Nd5xc7 threatened, the black queen could not move due to Ng5-e6. After 14...Nc6
White wins by 15.b5 Nd4 16.Bxd4 exd4 17.b6 c6 18.Qxa7!! One can move with the knight
to and fro: 14...Na6 15.b5 Nb8 16.b6 Na6 17.bxc7 but this also does not help too.

15.Nb6 axb6 16.Qxa8 Na6 17.Ne6!

White is an exchange up and his position is better. It gets worse and worse...

17...Bf6 18.b5 cxb5 19.cxb5 Nc5 20.Nxc5 bxc5 21.Rac1 Qf8 22.Rfd1 b6 23.Qb8 Qd8 24.
Rxd7 1-0

Tiviakov,S. - Nataf,I. [B32]
Mondariz, 2000

Sergei was the chief outsider of the tournament. He failed to make it in a completely
winning position in the last round, then he lost in the final to Godena in the additional
tournament. It was all nerves, nerves...

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.N1c3

More often 6.c4 is played.

6...a6 7.Na3 b5 8.Nd5

An original hybrid of the two Sveshnikov variations arose.

8...Nge7 9.c4 Nxd5 10.cxd5 Nd4 11.Be3 Be7 12.Bd3

It is hardly good for White to capture the pawn by 12.Bxd4 exd4 13.Qxd4, because Black
obtains the severest attack on the dark squares.

12...0-0 13.0-0 13...Bb7N

It seems strange, but really this move is good. Previously they tried to put the black queen’s
bishop on d7, but without any particular success: 13...Bf6 14.Qd2 Bd7 15.Rac1 Rc8 16.
Rxc8 Qxc8 17.Rc1 Qb7 18.Qb4 Qb8 19.Qa5 and because of the a6-pawn’s weakness the
black bishop must return to c8. Stripunsky,A-Votava,J/Mlada Boleslav op 1995/1/2-1/2
(40)

14.Qd2 f5!

The key move, which justifies the black b7-bishop’s position to a certain extent.

15.Bxd4 exd4 16.Nc2 Qb6 17.Qf4 Rae8

Black is seemingly OK.

18.Rae1 Qc5 19.Qf3 b4 20.Qh3 a5 21.Rc1 Bc8?

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