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Game of the Week

By Sergei Shipov

GM Shipov’s Game of the Week:
November 10-17, 2000

Gurevich has dug out the ax of war!

The “Great Huron” does not notice how many winters he has
lived. His coevals have already retired to smoke the peace pipes
in their wigwams for quite a long time, and he is still on the
warpath! This year, the “Iroquois chieftain” has won many strong
tournaments. It was in Cap d’Agde that he not only won the
competition, but took revenge on his old offender, the last of the
Mohicans! The first victory that Mikhail obtained over the world
ex-champion became the turning point in their final match.

Gurevich,M (2667) - Karpov,A (2699) [A28]

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.a3

A typical Sicilian move. White plays this "black" opening with an extra tempo.

4...d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Qc2

With the quite transparent threat of Nf3xe5!, followed by Qc2-e4.

6...Nxc3

Anatoly immediately relieves the tension in the center, but by doing so, he strengthens
White’s central group. In my opinion, stronger are standard moves such as 6...Be6 or 6...
Be7 that were previously played.

7.bxc3 Bd6

A recent game, Bareev - Svidler/Haifa rapid/2000, continued with 7...Be7 8.e3 0-0 9.d4 Bf6
10.Bb5 Bd7 11.Bxc6 Bxc6 12.dxe5 Be7 13.c4 Qd7, and Black obtained perfect
compensation for the pawn. White’s play was definitely not best there.

8.g3

Generally, White can develop his king’s bishop to e2: 8.e4 0-0 9.Be2

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8...0-0 9.Bg2 h6

Black obtained quite plausible play after 9...f5 10.d3 Qf6 11.0-0 (11.Qb3+ Kh8 12.Ng5 h6
13.h4) 11...Kh8 12.Bb2 Bd7 13.Nd2 Rae8 in the game Naumann - Krupkova/Mitropa
cup/1997. Apparently, the ex-champ apprehended the possibility of the white knight’s
possible maneuver to g5. For example: 11.Qb3+ (instead of castling) Kh8 12.Ng5 h6 13.h4!.

10.0-0 Rb8 11.d4 Qe7

In case of 11...f5 White can trade off the pawns on e5, after which Black would like to play
f5-f7!

12.e4

After 12.e4

White has occupied the center with his pawns.
He has an edge, but that’s all.

12...Bd7 13.Be3 b6 14.Nd2 Na5

Apparently, capturing the miserable white a3-
pawn is not good for Black: 14...Bxa3 15.f4!

15.f4! f6 16.Nf3 Nc4

Everybody minds his own business: while
White concentrates the forces for the attack
against the black king, Black is methodically
"processing" White’s Q-side.

17.Bc1 b5 18.Nh4 Qe8 19.Qd1 c5 20.dxe5

fxe5 21.f5!?

The center has stabilized and White can start a pawn storm. But Black is watchful too...

21...Rf6 22.g4 Be7! 23.Qe2 Rd6 24.Nf3 Qd8!

Karpov has placed his pieces harmoniously. He controls the d-file, as well as the g5-square.

25.a4 a6 26.axb5 Bxb5!

A non-standard and extremely strong decision. The black bishop enters the play
appropriately.

27.Qf2 Rd3

Anatoly is gradually outplaying his "young" opponent.

28.h4

Rightly done! White already has nothing to lose, because he simply has no chances if the
maneuvering play continues.

28...Rxc3 29.g5 hxg5?!

Black meets his opponent halfway. He could play 29...Qd6 ; or 29...h5 , after which Black

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would have obtained perfect chances to refute White’s attack and to win gradually.

30.hxg5 Rxc1

This is Black’s idea. Karpov is ready to sacrifice the exchange in order to overtake the
initiative. But he fails to do so...After 30...Qd3 extremely strong is 31.f6!

31.Raxc1 Bxg5 32.Nxg5 Qxg5 33.Rc3!

Transferring White’s rook to g3 decides the issue in his favor.

33...Qd2

Panic... After 33...Nb6 34.Rg3 Qf6 White would win, implementing the reciprocal
exchange sacrifice: 35.Qxc5! Bxf1 36.Bxf1, with irrefutable threats.

34.Qg3

White wins technically after 34.Qxd2! Nxd2 35.Rd1 Nc4 36.Rd5

34...Qd4+ 35.Kh1 Be8?

The final mistake. After 35...Nd2! 36.f6 Rb7 37.Rd1 Rf7, sharp play would follow with
unpredictable results.

36.f6! g6

Here failing is 36...Rb7 due to 37.Rd3! Qb2 38.Rd8

37.Rd3 Qb2 38.Rd7!

After 38.Rd7!

A nice conclusion! Gurevich’s strategic plan is
crowned with complete success and the black
king perishes.

38...Bf7 39.Qh3! 1-0

Benjamin,J (2577) - Gurevich,M (2667)
[C05]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3
c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ngf3

The strongest continuation is 7.Ne2

7...g6 8.0-0 Bg7

The white knight’s position on d2 is highly lame!

9.Re1 0-0 10.Nf1 cxd4 11.cxd4 Qb6 12.Bc2 f6

While White has been improving his d2-knight’s position, his center is undermined.

13.exf6 Nxf6

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After 13...Nxf6

14.Rb1

A new move. As my coach Yuri Golub used to
say, "an opening is where one’s getting
beaten". Here is how White is getting beaten
in this opening: 14.Ng3 Ng4! 15.h3 Bxd4! 16.
Nxd4 Nxf2, and so on. Krays,A-Shaked,T/
Berlin 1997/0-1 (27). The best possibility for
White is 14.Ba4!, trying to trade off the
horrible black c6-knight. Then possible is: 14...
Ne4 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Ng3, and now the usual
stroke follows: 16...Nxf2!? (weaker is 16...e5
17.Be3 Nxg3 18.hxg3 exd4 19.Bxd4 Bxd4 20.
Qxd4 Qxd4 21.Nxd4 Bd7 22.Rac1 and Black
is worse, Svidler,P-Brynell,S/Torshavn 1997/1-

0 (56)) 17.Kxf2 e5! (In case of 17...Bxd4+ 18.Be3 Qxb2+ 19.Re2 Qxa1 20.Qxd4 Qxd4 21.
Bxd4 White’s side is easier to play.) 18.Kg1 e4 19.Nxe4 dxe4 20.Rxe4 Bf5, and Black has
perfect compensation for the pawn.

14...Bd7 15.h3

Perhaps White should try 15.b4 with his rook on b1?

15...Nb4 16.Bb3 Bb5!

A bad bishop becomes a good one.

17.Ne5?

The white knight has a swelled head! All the white pieces are on rank 1, and he is still
attacking somebody! Black obtains an edge after 17.Ng3 Bd3 18.Ra1 Rac8 and then, after
any move by White, the black knight goes to c2.

17...Ne4 18.Be3

More promising for White in practice is 18.Rxe4 dxe4 19.Be3 and then the white queen
goes to g4. Then White can hope for some compensation for the exchange...

18...Nxf2!

Here it is! White takes a hit on f2!

19.Bxf2 Rxf2 20.Kxf2 Bxe5

White is an exchange up for a while, but it’s
just an illusion...

21.Kg1

White could even obtain an extra rook: 21.
Rxe5 Nd3+ 22.Kg3 Qxd4, but then he would
lose even faster.

21...Bxd4+ 22.Kh2 Nd3 23.Re2 Bg1+ 24.

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After 8.Bg5!

Kh1 Nf2+ 25.Rxf2 Bxf2

White is two pawns down and his position is hopeless. The rest is uninteresting.

26.Nh2 Qd4 27.Qc1 Bd3 28.Ra1 Bf5 29.Qc7 Qb6 30.Qe7 Bc5 31.Qh4 Qd8 32.Qh6 Bf8
33.Qd2 Bg7 34.Bc2 Bxc2 35.Qxc2 Rc8 36.Qe2 Qd6 37.Rd1 a6 38.Nf3 Bf6 39.Qd2 Rc4
40.b3 Rc8 41.Qd3 Kg7 42.Qd2 b5 43.Qf2 Qc5 44.Qe2 Qc2 45.Rd2 Qb1+ 46.Kh2 Qf5
47.Qd1 Rc3 48.Kh1 Qf4 49.Qe1 Rxf3 50.gxf3 Bc3 0-1

Hamdouchi,H (2541) - Tregubov,P (2620) [B32]

The Maroccanian player became a sensation of the tournament. Honestly, I would never
have suggested that he plays so strongly...

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.g3

White is going to develop his king’s bishop on g2. More often played is 6.c4, grabbing
space.

6...f5!

A novelty. Nevertheless, it is quite sound and very well grounded. Nigel Short reacted
White’s idea with a rushing raid by his king rook pawn, but this gave him nothing: 6...h5 7.
N1c3 a6 8.Na3 h4 9.Bg2 h3 10.Bf1 (so what?) 10...b5 11.Nd5 Nce7 12.Bg5! f6 13.Be3
Nxd5 14.Qxd5 Rb8 15.0-0-0 Ne7 16.Qxd6 Qxd6 17.Rxd6 Nf5 18.Rb6 Rxb6 19.Bxb6 Nd6
20.f3, and White found himself a pawn up, Nunn,J-Short,N/Wijk aan Zee 1990/1-0 (33)

7.N1c3 a6 8.Bg5!

After 20.Rxd4!

Surprise-surprise!

8...Be7?!

Pitifully, the Europen champion failed to
master the next level of non-standard play.
Capturing on g5 is hardly good for Black,
since the white knight easily returns from a8.
In the case of 8...Nf6, capturing on f6 is utterly
unpleasant for Black, and if Black captures
with his pawn, then the white queen checks
from h5. A quite decent reply is 8...Qd7! 9.
Na3 fxe4 10.Bg2 (10.Nd5 Qf7) 10...h6 11.Be3
Qf7! 12.0-0 (12.Nxe4 d5) 12...Be6 13.Bxe4
Nf6 , with good counterchances for Black.

9.Bxe7 Kxe7 10.Nc7!

Unbelievable! Instead of the disgraceful retreat to a3, the white knight continues to raid
Black’s camp!

10...Rb8

What else? Black cannot capture the white c7-knight, because his c3-brother would

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retaliate.

11.Bc4 Nf6 12.N7d5+ Nxd5 13.Nxd5+ Kf8 14.0-0 g6! 15.f4 Kg7

Black has narrowly managed to evacuate his king in some quiet place. But White is on
alert...

16.exf5 gxf5

In the case of 16...Bxf5 not dangerous for Black is the straightforward assault by 17.g4 Be6
18.f5 gxf5 19.gxf5 due to the cold-blooded response: 19...Qg5+ 20.Kh1 Bxf5! and the
white rook cannot go to g1 due to the check from e4. Perhaps White should simply play 17.
Qd2, then transferring his queen’s rook to e1. The position is in his favor.

17.Qh5 Rf8

More reliable is 17...Qe8 18.Qh4 Qd8, but Pavel was still hoping to cheat his less known
opponent.

18.Rad1!

After this simple developing and centralizing move, Black is helpless!

18...b5

Now bad for Black is 18...Qe8 19.Qxe8 Rxe8 20.Nb6, and one of the black pawns -- either
on d6 or on f5 -- perishes.

19.Bb3 Nd4

In this particular case, failing is 19...Qe8 due to a somewhat pretty strike: 20.Qxe8 Rxe8 21.
Nf6! Rd8 (21...Kxf6 22.Rxd6+) 22.Rxd6! Rxd6 23.Ne8+]

20.Rxd4!

After 20.Rxd4!

I would choose the simpler 20.Rfe1 with a big
advantage for White. But the Maroccanian
player avoids simple ways!

20...exd4 21.Re1 Rb7 22.Ne7!

Indeed! Black cannot capture the white knight
due to the check from g5.

22...d5

You would never guess White’s threat
correctly! If Black makes some neutral move
like 22...a5, then White delivers a beautiful
stroke: 23.Qg5+ Kh8 24.Bf7!!, and Black

either loses his queen, or gets checkmated.

23.Bxd5 Rb6

Again 23...Rc7 is followed by: 24.Qg5+ Kh8 25.Bf7! Qd6 26.Ng6+ Kg7 27.Re6! Qxe6 28.

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