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Game of the Week

By Sergey Shipov

GM Shipov: How to Win with the
d5 Passer

Game of the Week, January 13-20, 2001

A passed pawn on d5 can be a quick road to victory for White. Sometimes it is put this
way: The passer is most dangerous on the d-file! As this passed pawn approaches the
conversion square it not only forces the opponent’s forces to focus on stopping it, it also
cuts them in two. Moreover, behind the passer it’s easy to centralize your pieces and use
them on both flanks.

Three good games demonstrate this technique. It’s no accident that World Champion
Vladimir Kramnik played the first two of them. In his creative work he frequently uses the
d4-d5 breakthrough, which usually results in the creation of a strong passer.

Let’s sing a hymn to the d5 pawn…

V.Kramnik (2772) – S.Tiviakov (2597)
Nimzo-Indian Defense [E59]

This was a difficult game. The furious anger of White’s passer was supported by many
other pieces.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3

As a result of his preparation for the match against Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik distinctly
broadened his opening repertoire.

4...0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 dxc4 10.Bxc4 Qc7

This is well known as one of the main variations of the Nimzo-Indian Defense.

11.Bb2 e5 12.h3 e4 13.Nd2 Na5 14.Ba2 Bf5N

This is a novelty! Formerly Black tried to kill White’s bishops with 14...c4, for example, 15.
f3 Re8 (15...Bxh3 16.Nxe4!) 16.fxe4 Nxe4 17.Nxe4 Rxe4 18.Qf3 Qe7 19.Rae1 Bd7 20.Bb1
Bc6! 21.Bxe4 (21.Qf5 g6! 22.Qxa5 Rxe3 23.Rxe3 Qxe3+ 24.Rf2 Qe1+ 25.Rf1 Qe3+ 26.
Rf2=) 21...Bxe4 22.Qh5 Nb3 with good play for Black, Byrne,R - Sherwin,J/USA
(ch)/1958/0-1(73).

15.c4 Rfe8 16.d5!

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Now one of the bishops breaks into the open. The second is still sleeping, but will wake up
soon… White also has a strong passer.

16...Nd7

Black could consolidate his grip on the e4-square with 16...Bg6 17.Bxf6 gxf6 18.f3 f5, but
in this case his pawn structure would have been much worse. If 16...Qd6 then 17.f3.

17.f4

Right! He has to open up the game.

17...exf3

Otherwise, the g2 pawn will join the attack.

18.Qxf3 Bg6 19.h4!

A crucial decision. Kramnik forces Black to weaken his kingside. The following line is too
listless: 19.e4 Ne5 20.Qf4 f6, with a solid position for Black.

Kramnik-Tiviakov,aft.19.h4!

19...h5

I suppose that 19...f6 would be followed by 20.
h5 Bd3 21.h6! Bxf1 22.Rxf1 and White has a
strong initiative.

20.Bb1 Qd6

20...Ne5 21.Qg3 Qe7 22.Bxe5 Qxe5 23.Qxe5
Rxe5 24.Bxg6 fxg6 25.e4 Rae8 26.Rae1 b6 27.
Rf4! Black was a tempo short of being able to
block the opponent’s pawns.

21.Bc3 b6 22.Ne4 Rxe4!?

This is a very interesting attempt to change the

course of events in the game. In case of 22...Qe7 23.d6 Qe6 24.Ng5 Qxe3+ 25.Qxe3 Rxe3
26.Bd2 Re2 27.Bxg6 fxg6 28.Bxa5 bxa5 White would have an extra pawn on d6, though
formally White is considered to lack a pawn.

23.Bxe4 Nxc4

Now the lazy knight joins the game.

24.Qf4!

Black wished for 24.Bxg6?! Qxg6 25.Qf4 Nd6 26.Rae1 f5!

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Kramnik-Tiviakov,aft.24.Qf4!

24...Qxf4

24...b5 25.a4!

25.Rxf4 Nxe3

A daring move. Black opened the game,
though it is favorable for White. However, he
didn’t do this without cost. 25...Bxe4 26.Rxe4
Nd6 suggested itself in order to lock the
position (in case of 26...b5 the following line
looks very unpleasing 27.a4! Nd6 28.Re7 Nb6
29.axb5 Nxd5 30.Rd7 Nxc3 31.Rxd6 Nxb5 32.
Rd5). In this position Black is unable to
restrain the activity of White’s rooks - 27.Re7

Rd8 28.Rf1 Kf8 29.Re6! Nb5 30.Bb2 c4 31.a4 c3 32.Bc1 Nc7 33.Ba3+, etc.

26.Bf3!

The bishop is going to show his true worth.

26...Nc2

In case of 26...b5 27.Re1 Nc2 28.Re7 Nb6 29.g4! White gets a powerful initiative. The
following line could give Black more chances to survive: 26...Re8 27.Re1 f6 28.Kf2 Ng4+.

27.Ra2 Re8 28.g4

White is opening up the game even more. By the way, 28.Bxh5 would be an easier way to
win in this position.

28...hxg4

The following wouldn’t have saved Black: 28...Re3 29.gxh5 Bh7 30.Bd2 Rxa3 31.Rxa3
Nxa3 32.d6!

29.Bxg4 Ne5

29...Nf8 would give him more chances to resist.

30.d6!

At last!

30...Nxg4

Or 30...f6 31.d7 Rd8 32.Bxe5 fxe5 33.Ra4!

31.Rxg4 Re6 32.h5 Bd3 33.d7 Rd6 34.Rxg7+

White’s dark-squared bishop managed to put much pressure on the g7-point.

34...Kf8 35.h6 Nd4 36.Rag2 Bg6 37.Rf2 Nf5 38.h7

Tiviakov resigned. What was his mistake? I think that he made it before the game when he

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sat down to play against Kramnik…

1-0

V.Kramnik (2772) - L.Van Wely (2700) [D85]

In this game Kramnik clearly demonstrates ideal play with the d5 pawn.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Be3 Qa5 9.Qd2

Vladimir played this variation against Kasparov. I still don’t know what he had prepared for
the move Black plays next.

9...Nc6!

Garry Kasparov played 9...Bg4 10.Rb1 a6 and after the simple 11.Rxb7! it turned out that
he was unable to equalize.

10.Rc1 cxd4 11.cxd4 Qxd2+ 12.Kxd2 0-0

The white king is stuck in the center. On the other hand, the queens have already left the
board and in case of further simplification his position can improve.

13.d5

If 13.Bb5 then 13...f5! would be quite strong.

13...Rd8 14.Ke1 Na5

Peter Leko at the Budapest 2001 tournament played as follows against the champion: 14...
Ne5 15.Nxe5 Bxe5 16.f4 Bd6 17.Kf2 e5, but after 18.Bc5! he quickly lost the duel.

15.Bg5 Bd7

15...Kf8 is also played; it has given good results for Black.

16.Bd3

In case of 16.Bxe7, then Black can make the game roughly even with 16...Re8 17.d6 Nc6
18.Bb5 Bf8

16...Rdc8 17.Ke2 e6 18.Be3

In response to 18.Bd2 Black could play 18...exd5! 19.exd5 (19.Rxc8+ Rxc8 20.Bxa5 dxe4
21.Bxe4 Re8 22.Kd3 Bb5+ is worse) 19...Re8+! 20.Be3 a6 with mutual chances.

18...exd5 19.exd5

The midpoint of the game. White’s task is easy - he has to promote his pawn. Black has to
block this pawn and annoy the opponent’s king as much as possible.

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Kramnik-Van Wely,bef.19...b6

19...b6?!N

This way Black defends his a7 pawn, but at
the same time he loses the c-file, which is very
important for him at the moment. The only
game I found in the database developed like
this: 19...Ba4!? 20.Rxc8+ Rxc8 21.Bxa7 Rd8!
22.Rc1 Bf8! 23.Bb6 Rxd5 24.Rc8 (24.Rc7!?)
24...Nc6 25.Ra8 Bb5 and Black equalized.
Weeks,C-Easton,A/Bristol 1991/1/2-1/2 (28)

20.Ba6!

Yes!

20...Rd8 21.Rhd1

After 21.Rc7 21...Ba4 looks very unpleasant.

21...Bc8?!

The last move before the abyss. 21...Ba4 22.Rd3 Rd7! (but not 22...b5 23.d6!) could have
kept certain chances for counterplay, so the position could remain unclear.

22.Bxc8 Raxc8 23.Rxc8 Rxc8

The file is retaken. In order to do this Black had to exchange two pairs of pieces, thus
making the d5 pawn even stronger.

24.Nd4!

The right choice. White puts his knight into action before the promotion of his passer. In
case of 24.d6 Rd8, he wouldn’t have had enough time to do this.

24...Bf8

After 24...a6 25.Nc6! Nxc6 26.dxc6 White’s pawn cannot be eaten due to the weakness of
the eighth rank. This pawn takes its place on c7 and decides the outcome of the battle: 26...
f5 27.Rc1 b5 28.Bf4 Kf7 29.c7, etc.

25.Nb5 a6 26.d6!

Breakthrough!

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Kramnik-Van Wely,aft.26.d6!

26...Rc2+

In case of 26...axb5 27.d7 Rd8 28.Bxb6 Nb7
29.Bxd8 Nxd8 30.Rd5! Black would have to
choose between sacrificing his b5 pawn or
letting White’s rook get to e8.

27.Kd3 Rxa2 28.d7

Now Black with great pleasure sacrifices his
piece for this pawn.

28...Nb7

28...Nc6 29.Na7!

29.Nc3 Rb2 30.Nd5

A nice picture! Almost all of White’s pieces line the d-file. Kramnik knows where to put
his pieces…

30...Rb5 31.Kc2 Bc5 32.Bh6

Besides, he is going to murder the opponent’s king...

32...f6 33.Nc7

A glorious victory by the Champion!

1-0

L.Van Wely (2700) - P.Leko (2745) [D76]

Obviously, the Dutch Grandmaster Van Wely liked how the Champion outplayed him so
much that he decided to learn a lesson from this loss. So in a few rounds he passed the
lesson on to Peter Leko.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.0-0 Nc6 8.e3 e5

More frequently played is 8...0-0 9.Nc3 Re8, reserving the e7-e5 break-through for a more
opportune moment.

9.Nc3 0-0

Certainly, the idea to take the pawn in the center is not good: 9...exd4 10.exd4 Nxd4 11.
Nxd4 Qxd4 12.Qxd4 Bxd4 13.Nb5 Be5? 14.Re1+-

10.d5 Ne7 11.e4

As a result of Black’s haste, White has a strong piece on d5. Unfortunately, Black didn’t
manage to get rid of it.

11...Bg4 12.h3 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 c6 14.Rd1 cxd5 15.exd5 Nf5 16.d6!

The beginning of a glorious march!

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16...Rb8

Van Wely-Leko,bef.17.Qd3!N

17.Qd3!N

A strong novelty. This seems to clearly
demonstrate White’s advantage. Formerly
played was 17.Be3 Nd4 18.Bxd4 exd4 19.Nb5
Nc4 20.Qb3 Nxd6 21.Nxa7? (21.Nxd4=) 21...
Qa5 0-1 Zakharevich,I-Karavaev,V/Saratov
1999 (21)

17...Nd4 18.Nb5 Nd7?!

18...a6 19.Nxd4 exd4 20.Bf4 g5 suggested
itself, but after 21.Bd2 Qxd6 (21...h6 22.Bb4!)
22.Bxg5 White retained the advantage because
of his strong bishops.

19.Nxd4 exd4

Amusingly, in this position both parties have passed pawns on the d-file. The sole
difference is that White’s passer is more advanced.

20.Bd2 Re8?!

Now Black had a good opportunity to sacrifice the exchange: 20...Ne5 21.Qb5 Qxd6! 22.
Bb4 or 20...Nc5 21.Qb5 Qxd6!? 22.Bf4

21.Rac1 Qf6

21...Ne5 22.Qa3!

22.Bb4 Ne5

Van Wely-Leko,bef.23.Qxd4!

23.Qxd4!

Loek Van Welty correctly didn’t pass up the
chance to sacrifice a mere exchange for the
opponent’s passer. He was right!

23...Nf3+ 24.Bxf3 Qxd4 25.Rxd4 Bxd4 26.d7
Red8 27.Bd6 Ra8 28.Rc7

Well, that’s the end.