DANIEL KINGThe Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defence is one of Black's most exciting defences. Largely due to the example of former World Champion Bobby Fischer, the Nojdorf has been at the cutting edge of chess opening theory over the last three decades, during which a has been a favorite of counterattacking players across the 9 Ideal battle manual for counterattacking players by one of the world’s leading contemporary exponents Uses complete, illustrative games to highlight the important ideas for both sides Covers all of White's major responses One of England's leading players, Grandmaster Daniel King represented his country in their first-ever viclory over the Soviet Union in a team competition at Reykjavik in 1990. His tournament victory in Calcutta in 1992 was achieved ahead of four world title candidates and included a win, with the Najdorf, against the highly rated Indian star Viswanathan Anand. He writes for magazine; this is his first book for Batsford. Other titles in the Winning With ... series include: Winning With the Nimzo-Indian Raymond Keene ing With the English Zoltan Ri and Gabor Kallai ing With the King’s Gambit Joe Gallagher Winning With the Petroff Anatoly Karpov Winning With the Philidor Tony Kosten Winning With the Bishop's Opening Gary Lane Boca a Ll of other titles in the Batsford Chess Library, tomy yolk cd Golesi, ia 115 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011.Batsford Chess Library Winning With the Najdorf Daniel King An Owl Book Henry Holt and Company New YorkHenry Holt and Company, Inc. Publishers since 1866 115 West 18th Street New York, New York 10011 Henry Hott® is a registered trademark of Henry Holt and Company, Inc. Copyright © 1993 by Daniel King All rights reserved. First published in the United States in 1993 by Henry Holt and Company, Inc. Originally published in Great Britain in 1993 by B. T. Batsford Ltd. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 93-77840 ISBN 0-8050-2943-5 (An Owl Book: pbk.) First American Edition—1993 Printed in the United Kingdom All first editions are printed on acid-free paper. 0987654321 Adviser: R. D. Keene,GM, OBE Technical Editor: Andrew KinsmanContents Acknowledgements and Symbols Preface Bibliography Introduction 6 Rc2 6 Rc4 6 f4 6 Le3 6h3, 6 g3, 6 a4 6 2g5 DANkwne List of Iustrative Games Index of VariationsAcknowledgements T would like to thank Bob Wade for extensive use of the Wade/Batsford library and for his great help with the historical background of the variation; Jan Am- broz in Prague for digging out (possibly) the oldest game with the variation; Jobn Nunn for his analytical comments; and Andrew Kinsman at Batsford for his encouragement throughout. Symbols + check ++ double check mate checkmate ! good move ! excellent move 2 bad move ” blunder 1% interesting or risky move " dubious move 1-0 Black resigns 0-1 White resigns Yp-Y2 draw agreed Ch. — championshipPreface The Najdorf. The very name is enough to fill 1 e4 players with fear, for this is one of the most uncompro- mising, yet sound, variations in the whole spectrum of chess openings: J {cel that this book fully conforms to the title of the “Winning With ...’ se- ries, Most of the top players in the world have at one time or another played the Najdorf. Currently, the strongest exponents of the variation are Vassily Ivanchuk, Boris Gelfand and the World Champion himself, Gary Kasparov — though sadly, from the point of view of the Najdorf devotee, the opening has such a fear- some reputation in his hands that few of his opponents are brave enough to play 1 e4 against him. My approach in this book has been selective rather than compre- hensive. Not only have I tried to strip away variations which I consider ir- relevant, but I have made specific recommendations against each of White’s possible sixth moves. The danger with this approach is that subsequently it might be found that the particular system I am recom- mending is unsound. Possibly, but I doubt it. My recom- mendations are based on my own ex- periences on the tournament circuit. In other words, they have all been road-tested (and very often been in for an overhaul before being wheeled out again). From time to time one is bound to lose a game with the opening — when the position becomes sharp accidents can hap- pen. But don't throw the wholc thing out just because of one bad experi- ence; it is the only way to learn. Have a little faith: go back to the drawing board and find an improvement There will be one, I guarantee it - the opening is sound! If in the unlikely event a variation is looking dubious, or perhaps if you feel that it doesn’t particularly suit your style, I have given several alter- natives to choose from. But don’t be rail-roaded into playing something you are not keen on, or slavishly fol- low my ideas without thinking. Let me quote from the pioneer of the Russian school of chess Mikhail Chigorin, writing in 1901: “Not infrequently ... the theoretical is a synonym of the stereotyped. For the “theoretical” in chess is nothing6 Preface more than that which can be found in the textbooks and to which players try to conform because they cannot think up anything better or equal, anything original’, and later on: ‘In general, the game of chess is much richer than is to be gathered from the existing theory, which en- deavours to compress it within defi- nite narrow bounds.’ To avoid falling into this wap, 1 have tied to point out the salient fea- tures of the position so that it is pos- sible to develop one’s own ideas based ‘on a good general understanding. Having taken far too long writing this book already, I have just one re- gret: that I didn’t spend longer. At the time of writing, Bobby Fischer has just come out of retirement and beaten Boris Spassky — but sadly Spassky did not have the courage to play an open Sicilian against him. It would be fascinating to see how Fis- cher handles the Najdorf after a break of twenty years, but alas, 'm already months over the deadline, so his new ideas will have to wait for the second edition. Till then, good luck. Daniel King London, December 1992Bibliography ‘The Najdorf for the Tournament Player (Batsford, 1988) — John Nunn Sicilian: Najdorf (Batsford, 1976) — Michael Stean The Najdorf Variation (RHM, 1981) - Geller, Gligoric, Kavalek and Spassky Beating the Sicilian (Batsford, 1984) — John Nunn Beating the Sicilian 2 (Batsford, 1990) - John Nunn My Sixty Memorable Games (Faber, 1969) — Robert J. Fischer The Complete Games of Bobby Fischer (Batsford, 1972) - Robert G. Wade and K. J.O’Connell Petrosian’s Best Games of Chess 1946-63 (Bell, 1964), reissued as Petrosian: Master of Defence (Batsford, 1992) - Peter Clarke Dynamic Chess Strategy (Maxwell Macmillan, 1991) — Mihai Suba The Killer Grob (Maxwell Macmillan, 1990) — Michacl Basman How to Open a Chess Game (RHM, 1974) — Larry Evans (ed.) The Soviet School of Chess (Dover, 1958) — Alexander Kotov and Mikhail Yudovich The Chess Struggle in Practice (Ratsford, 1980) — David Bronstein Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings B second edition (Sahovski Informator, 1984) - Alexander Matanovic (ed.) Informator volumes 23-55 New in Chess magazineIntroduction The Najdorf Variation is named after the Argentinian Grandmaster Miguel Najdorf. Najdorf was bom in Poland as Mieczyslaw (Moishe) Najdorf in 1910, but remained in Argentina at the end of the Buenos Aires Olym- piad in 1939 — along with the rest of (he Polish team and many others be- sides - as war had broken out in Lurope. With a new name and a new life, he emerged as one of the strong- est players in the Western world in the 1950s. Playing for Argentina in the Olympiads at Dubrovnik 1950 and Helsinki 1952, he made the best overall score on board one. The first recorded game we have of Najdorf using ‘his’ variation is against Antonio Rico in the radio- telegraph match Spain-Argentina, held on 8 December 1949, Rico-Najdorf Spain-Argentina 1949 1 e4 c5 2 Df3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Dxd4 D6 5 Dc3 a6 6 Re2 e517 Db3 Kes 8 0-0 Dbd7 9 £4 We7 10 £5 Bc4 11 03 D5 12 Se3 eT 13 We2 Bc8 14 Hcl 0-0 15 2d2 d5! (2) 16 &xc4 dxc4 17 a3 b4 18 axb4 Rxb4 19 94 Rxc3 20 bxc3 We6 21 Weg2 cS 22 Rxc5 Wxc5+ 23 dhl Hfd8 24 We2 h6 25 Bal Wd6 26 Bfd1 We6 27 bg? Md6 28 h3 Hed8 29 &f3 Wd7 30 #e3 Ae8! 31 Has Dc7 32 BxeS DbS 33 HdS Hxd5 34 exdS Axc3 35 WE3 Dxdl+ 0-1 But as Najdorf himself freely ad- mits, he was not the inventor of the system. As is so often the case, it is not the originator of an idea who gets the credit, but the one who sees its merit and is able to apply it success- fully — Najdorf was strong enough to do that. In fact, several Czecho- slovakian players had analysed the idea of playing an early ...e5 in we 1940s, in particular, International10 Introduction Master Karel Opocensky (1892- 1975). ‘The earliest known game with the system is... Lokvenc-Opocensky Prague 1943 1e4c5 2 D3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Dxd4 B65 Ac3 a6 6 Re2 5!? 7 Ke3 eS! This is the really new move. 5...a6 had often been played, but only as a method of getting into a Schevenin- gen (...e6) or a Dragon System (26). 8 @b3 Qb7 9 a3 Abd7 10 0-0 We7 11 £3 Abb 12 Aas Dc4 13 Dxc4 Wxc4 14 Wa (2) 14... Wxd3?! A tame continuation; 14...c8!, maintaining the pressure on the c- file and e-pawn, would be a reflex move for a Najdorf player today. ‘The rest of the game was pretty dull: the rooks were traded on the c-file and a draw agreed after forty moves. The system had its first proper test in the game between David Bron- stein and Opocensky in the Prague- Moscow match of 1946. Bronstein-Opocensky Prague-Moscow 1946 1 e4 5 2 Df3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Dxdd DLE 5 Dc3 a6 6 Re2 e5!7 Db3 Ke6 80-0. %e79 R5 Dbd7 10 Wel bS! 11 R43 DcS 12 Sh1 AfAd7 13 Le3 (3) 13...Dxd3 Once again, Opocensky makes an exchange on d3 which allows White to improve his pawn structure — as we will see throughout the book, the pawns on c2 and e4 are potentially very weak, so this is an error. Even after this move, Black still has some advantage, but Bronstein manages to find enough counterplay on the kingside. 14 cxd3 Dc5 15 “cl 0-0 16 £4 exf4 17 &xf4 b4 18 De2 Rf6 19 Wd2 a5 20 Ag3 d5 21 eS Re7 22ce2 d4 23 DAh5 Ryd 24 Deg3 Des 25 h3 RxhS 26 DxhS Ec8 27 We2 bh8 28 Ag3 Was 29 AS Bes 30 Re3 BEB 31 WE2 Ac5 'h-'h All the same, a great success for the variation as Bronstein was one of the dominant players of that era. It is possible that Najdorf picked up the idea when he played in (and won) the international tournament in Prague in 1946, though the system was not played in any of the games there. He would certainly have seen the game Galia-Kotmauer, Vienna 1947, as it was annotated in El Aje- drez Argentina p.136, 1947. Galia-Kottauer Vienna 1947 1e4 c5 2 D3 d6 3 dd cxd4 4 Dxdd DE6 5 Ac3 a6 6 Le2e5 7 Db3 Leb 8 &g5 Dbd7 9 £3 Re7 10 Wa2 0-0 11 Bdi Hc8 12 0-0 We7 13 bhi Mfd8 14.03 Db6 15 Wel d5! 16 exdS @fxd5 17 Axd5 Dxd5 18 Lxe7 Wrxe7 19 243 We5 20 Wd2 e3! (4) Introduction 11 21 Bet (21 Bfel Bxd3! 22 cxd3 Hc2!) 21...6 22 Kgl &xb3 23 cxb3 Excl 24 Excl e4! 25 (4 Hxd3 26 Wrxe3 Hxe3 27 fxg5 hxg5 28 b4 He2 29 g1 Hxb2 30 Hc8+ dh7 31 Hc7 3 32 fl £5 33 Hxb7 Hr2+ 34 gl a? 35 hd (5) = 8 wu .and White resigned before Black had the chance to play 35...Hal+ and ... e2. So where exactly did White make his mistake? Dare I say it, on move three! 1 e4 c5 2 4f3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Dxd4 (6) ee) ahs Sa 6 B12 Introduction ‘Almost everybody plays 3 d4. But isn’t this a positional error? I am. not joking. I like my centre pawns, and I like a queen’s pawn better than a queen’s bishop pawn! I know that sometimes White sacrifices a knight on d5 or e6 and smashes Black before he can castle, but in those games where this has been done, haven’t improvements always been found for Black afterwards? ‘Well then, isn’t 3 d4 something like a cheap trap? I know it can be com- bined with purely strategical ideas, but I find it easier to discuss strategy when I have an extra centre pawn.” (Bent Larsen in How to Open a Chess Game; RHM, 1974). White has exchanged off his d- pawn for the black c-pawn, position- ally a risky decision, as Black now has a majority of pawns in the centre. The previous game is an excellent illustration of the advantages. this confers on Black: having broken out with 15...d5! his e-pawn gave him control of the centre; this enabled him to seize the initiative, which he used to force a transposition into an ending where the extra centre pawn proved decisive. This is a common scenario in the Najdorf variation — much more common than those blinding sacrificial attacks by White which editors like to put in their magazines. If White had had the chance to play his pawn to c4, then he could have maintained greater control over the centre. That is why Black plays 4...f6! straight away, forcing 5 &c3 blocking the pawn. (5 £3 and 5 £43 allow Black to liberate his posi- tion immediately with 5S..e5 and 6...d5.) Unfortunately, it isn’t always so easy for Black to prove his strategic advantage — as Najdorf himself be- gan to discover. While picking up some notable scalps he also had some set-backs, such as the next game. Geller-Najdorft Ziirich Candidates 1953 1 @4 c5 2 Df3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Axd4 DLE 5 Dc3 a6 6 Ke2 5 7 Db3 Rc6 80-0 Abd7 9 £4 We7 10 £5 S04 11 a4 Bc8 12 Re3 Re7 (7) =~ Bronstein comments: *12...d5 13 exdS 2b4 or 13 AxdS ADxd5 14 exdS &xb3 15 cxb3 &c5 was more in the spirit of the opening.’13 a5 h5!? (to prevent the possi- bility of g4) 14 &xc4 Wxc4 15 Had We7 16 b3 h4 17 Hf2 bS 18 axb6 Dxb6 19 &xb6 Wxb6 20 We2 Has 21 @h2 0-0 22 Hfl Ba7 23 Bfal Hfa8 24 Hla2 Qd8 25 Das Bc8 26 Dc4 Web 27 De3 a5 28 He4 Wa6 29 b3 &b6 30 Bxc8+ Wxc8 31 DedS Dxd5 32 Dxd5 (8) A position to avoid. 32...We5 33 Hal Wf2 34 Wxf2 Rxf2 35 MEL Rd4 36 c3 cS 37 gt hxg3+ 38 dxg3 Hb7 39 Hbl £6 40 br3 Hf7 41 e2 Bhs 42 b4 (9) we cana oo A i a Le A oe = ag a2 AY Cr ‘ “ Introduction 13 The dominance of the central light squares and the outside passed pawn give White a simple technical victory. 42.26 43 bd3 gxfS 44 exfS axb4 45 cxb4 2d4 46 Hcl &g7 47 Hc7+ Bh6 48 wed Ye5 49 Bh7 A250 Hy7+ bh4 51 $63 Rel 52 bg2 B68 53 bS aS 54 b6 Rxb6 55 @xb6 Eb8 56 Hg4+ dhS 57 2d5 1-0 When Black plays ...e5 it gives him certain advantages: above all, space and stability in the centre. In many variations of the Sicilian (the Scheveningen for instance — 1 e4 cS. 2 DEB d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Axd4 Al 5 ®c3 6) White manages to play e4- eS! in the middlegame, when the pawn acts as a spearhead for an at- tack against Black’s king. Of course once Black plays ...e5, this is ruled out. Against that, it should be said that .€5 leaves a backward d-pawn. It is actually very rare that this pawn turns out to be weak; the real draw- back is the weak square on d5 — as we saw so graphically in the last game. But don’t worry, Najdorf’s fate can be avoided! The strongest players in the world soon recognised the viability of the system. Tigran Petrosian, the doyen of positional chess in the 1950s and 1960s, made the Najdorf a central part of his opening repertoire.14 Introduction Averbakh-Petrosian USSR Ch., Tbilisi 1959 1 e4c5 2 A3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 @xd4 AI6 5 Dc3 a6 6 Ke? eS 7 Ab3 Ke7 80-00-09 Rg5 Ke6 10 Rxf6 Vxf6 11 @d5 (10) White has played directly for the occupation of d5. This looks impres- sive, but Petrosian demonstrates that itis possible to play around it, gradu- ally undermining the outpost. 11...2d7 12 Wd3 Bc8 13 c3 Rg5 14 Bad] Gh8 15 RF3 26 16 e3 Hc6 17 Hfel Af6 18 We2 b5! (11) of mw The beginning of the minority pawn attack on the queenside. White has no active plan to compensate for Black’s initiative, 19 Hal Wb6 20 Ad2 a5 21 Adfl Hfc8 22 a3 b4! 23 cxb4 axb4 24 a4 Wa7 25 Hed Ha6 26 Hd3 b3 27 a5 Ecc6 28 Wal We7 29 dS Rxd5 30 exd5 Hc5 31 Exb3 HaxaS 32 HxaS Bxa5 (12) a a 2 Mae x o a Black’s strategy has been a total success. Compare the two pawn Structures: Black has one pawn ‘is- land’, compact and secure, while White has three. This is no accident, but rather the result of the logical ex- ploitation of White’s strategic error at move three. It is impossible for White to hang on to the isolated pawns and hold the Test of his position together at the same time: 33 Hc3 Wb6 34 Eb3 Wa7 35 Hb4 &g7 36 h4 Qh6 37 b3 Had 38 Wel WaS 39 Whi Hal 40 Hbs ‘Wc3 0-1 (White loses his queen in- stead of his pawns)We can see from this game that simple occupation of dS does not puarantee White the advantage — on the contrary, that is often where his problems start. Like someone who overspends, falls into debt, then is desperate to keep up appearances, maintaining the knight on the out- post can be a costly and ruinous business — there is so much more go- ing on in the position. You might well be asking: ‘If ...cS 1s such a strong move, why not play ion move five?” 1 e4 c5 2 Df3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 \xd4 Q6 5 Zc3 e5 (13) =. iaaWe wall a anata m natal Ane AA 6 RbS+! The only way to exploit the omis- sion of ...a6. If 6...2bd7, then 7 D5! causes disruption in the Black camp, and 6...8d7 is undesirable as the ex- change of bishops increases White’s control over the d5-square (remem- ber Geller-Najdorf). Now we can see the point to 5...a6 — it threatens ...e5. Besides that, it Introduction 15 also prepares the later advance of the b-pawn to attack the knight on c3, undermining the support for White's e-pawn and opening the c-file. Moreover, 5...a6 is a fine waiting move. — ‘A waiting move? Surely Black should be trying to develop his pieces as quickly as possible in the opening?’ True, but here Black can get away with the seemingly decadent 5...a6, because he is in no danger of being overrun by White’s centre pawns. It is actually very helpful to be able to see White’s next move before com- mitting oneself to a particular pawn structure. For instance, if 6 2e2, then there is no reason why 6...c5 should not be played; but if White plays 6 2c4, then 6...e6! (1/4) is appropriate, blocking the bishop's diagonal. zs ee “a ‘a. ane | ee @ 8 This reminds me of a passage in Mihai Suba’s excellent book Dy- namic Chess Strategy (Maxwell16 Introduction Macmillan, 1991): ‘Alot of ink has been spilt in order to describe White’s first move ad- vantage, the tempo up, the theoreti- cal opening advantage, etc. The time of justice has come for Black, be- cause he has his trumps as well, if only the one in the childish joke: “Say a number.” “Sixteen.” “OK, seventeen, I win!” In terms of the mathematical games theory, chess is a game of complete information and Black's information is always greater — by one move!” If you would like to learn more about the philosophy of the Sicilian Defence (counter-attack!) and its re- lated structures, then I would thor- oughly recommend Suba’s book. There is one further aspect of the Najdorf that I would like to mention here, and again, it is connected with Black’s excellent pawn structure. Although I had grown up on Bobby Fischer’s My Sixty Memora- ble Games (Faber, 1969) and seen the many Najdorfs that he played, the opening remained a mystery to me: it just seemed a muddle of variations. It wasn’t until I saw the following game that I realised that Black has an enormous practical ad- vantage over his opponent, namely: Black's king is often much safer than White's. I could point out much better examples of this throughout the book, but at the time, this game made a striking impression upon me. Mestel-Tarjan Buenos Aires Olympiad 1978 1 e4 c5 2 DE3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Axd4 D6 5 ®c3 a6 6 Re2 e5 7 Db3 Re7 8 a4.0-09 0-0 Acé 10 £4 Ab4! (15) 1S xX 2 Ze a Aim AB aA a AS A a are a ew Ee f4 is acommon move for White to play — it increases the pressure on Black’s centre, and there is the possi- bility of opening the f-file for an at- tack. There is, however, a great drawback to the move. If we just examine the two king Positions, you will see that White’s now only has two pawns for cover, whereas Black’s still has three. Al- though for the moment this is not particularly significant, in the long term White must be careful. 11 Bhi Rd7 12 Re3 Rc6 13 £3 b5 14 axbS axbS 15 We2 Wc7 16 Hfcl d5 (16)Las Black hits the button marked ‘Random’, but he does so knowing that the odds are stacked in his fa- vour, You got it— safer king position. 17 Bixa8 Hxa8 18 exd5 @bxd5 19 Bxd5 AxdS 20 AxdS Kxd5 21 Wrxb5 exf4 22 Wxd5 Hd8 23 &xf4 Wrxt4 24 We3 WeS 25 Hfl 2f6 26 Ebi Wb5 27 b3 (77) ERY % The position has stabilised. White is a pawn up, but it has little bearing on the position, Really, White should have brought his knight over to de- fend the kingside, even if it meant giv- ing up one or both of the queenside Introduction 17 pawns. I imagine the game would have ended in a draw. But it is very difficult to compromise — particu- larly when the danger is not appar- ent. 27...n5! Black is able to use his extra king- side pawn to begin an attack against White’s king. 28 We3 h4! (fixing White’s pawn structure) 29 WF3 Wc4 30 Wf2 2e5 31 Bel 2b8 32 Wes We7 33 del Wh2+ (18) Lia ue vl ey 2-8 lox w g a Pee OA Ln Black has a winning attack. No- tice how irrelevant White’s knight and queenside pawns are. Unfortunately, the finish of the game is marred by what I assume to be time pressure errors. Neverthe- less, even these show that it is more likely to be White who is going to make the final error in such posi- tions. 34 212 He8 35 Wo7 2f4 (or 35...Rg3+! 36 LF3 Rel and ...\We3 mate) 36 c3 g6 37 @d4 &e3+ 3818 Introduction de2 Rxd4+ 39 &d3 We3+ 40 bxd4? (40 Bf3!) 40...We3+ 41 bcd We2+0-1 With the black f-pawn firmly rooted to its starting square, Black’s king was not troubled at any stage in the game. Whenever I play the Najdorf, I find it very reassuring to think that even when the position is turing against me, at some moment I will have the chance to counter-attack my opponent’s king. Now on to specifics.1 62e2 1 e4 cS 2 AaB d6 3 d4 exd4 4 @xd4 Ate 5 D3 a6 6 Red ‘This is the move which I most olten have to face when playing the Nujdorf. I’m sure the feeling of a lot ot White players is: ‘I don’t want to yet involved in a theoretical battle in one of the sharper lines, so ll just play a calm developing move. A very sensible attitude. 6 &c2 simply cannot be bad. White prepares to castle, and waits tw see how Black develops before committing any pawns. On the other lund, it does nothing to prevent us (enping in with our standard Najdorf move: 6 e5! (19) .» Setting up a Strong-point in the entre (e5) and driving the knight trom an excellent square. 7 Db3 The most common retreat, but 7 4S and even the outlandish 7 @f5 me also possible — I deal with them later, oe ee we Pe O> | & The first game I have selected is from 1962. ‘19627’, I hear you cry, ‘I want some Hot Theory!” The prob- Jem with just looking at Hot Theory is that it is, to a certain extent, just fashion. Who is to know what the lat- est trend will be in a particular open- ing? For that reason it is vital to see how the ideas in a variation have evolved: without looking back at what has gone before, it is impossi- ble to reason why contemporary players choose to play in the way that they do. And what could be better than looking at a game played by the greatest Najdorf exponent of them all.20 6 Re2 Game 1 Unzicker-Fischer Varna Opie IS Pouch a P (1 e4 cS 2 Df3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Dxd4 26 5 Dc3 a6 6 Re2 eS 7 Ab3) 7 Reb A good square for the bishop, but 7.,.e7 is probably a more accurate move. 8 0-0 Unzicker doesn’t take the oppor- tunity to lash out with 8 f4!, a move which only became popular a few years later. (This, incidentally, is the reason why most players now prefer 7..,8€7,) After 8 £4 White threatens f5. If Black now captures on f4, he is then a whole tempo down on Dolmatov's line (see game 9), so the best move must be 8...Wc7 - to answer 9 £5 with 9...2c4. Then it has been shown that 9 g4 gives White a very dangerous attack indeed, e.g. 9...exf4 10 g5 Dfd7 11 Rxf4 cb 12 Wd2 AceS 13 0-0-0 Se7 14 Ad4 96 15 h4 0-0-0 (kingside castling was hardly possible with the h-pawn screaming down the board) 16 Ad5 Rxd5 17 exd5 Sb8 18 Hh3! (an ex- cellent move: White uses his space advantage to swing the rook over to attack Black’s king; Rashkovsky- Gutman, USSR 1974). 8 ®Dbd7! Usually the best square for this knight. From d7 the knight protects its comrade on £6, and leaves the c- file clear for the heavy pieces. > f4 A very natural push, but Fischer comments that this is the move he was trying to provoke when playing 7...£.e6. He believes that White’s e- pawn has now been weakened, as i can no longer be protected by the f- pawn. In recent years, under Kar- Pov’s influence, systems where White omits f4 have become more popular. Black must deal with the threat of f5 driving the bishop back. ow We7 10 £5 Red 11 ad Re7 12 &e3 0-0 13 a5! (20) If White had not advanced the a- pawn, Black would have carried out the advance of his b-pawn — if possi- ble all the way to b4. After the white knight moves the c-file would be opened, and the e4-pawn would be weaker. Instead of 13 a5, White had a very sharp move at his disposal: 13 24. Let’s see what would happen if Black played a ‘natural’ developing move: 13...Hac8? 14 25! De8 15 Rxc4 Wxc4 16 242 (there are other good continuations) 16...Wc6 17 @d5 248 18 c4 and White has complete control. It is amazing how quickly Black’s position goes downhill if he loses control of d5. Clearly, drastic action is needed. 13...h6 doesn’t helpmuch, indeed after White renews the threat of g5 with 14 h4, the situation would be even more serious as a file would be opened for the attack on the kingside. 13...d5! is the only correct re- sponse. You must have heard the old cliché, ‘a wing attack should be met hy an attack in the centre’. Well, here Wt is certainly true. Fischer himself #ives some instructive variations: 14 pS d4! and after an exchange of pieces, White’s pawns will look tagged; whilst after 14 Dxd5 @xd5 15 exd5 \f6 Black regains the pawn with a good position as 16 d6? fails to 16.,.Rxd6 17 Rxc4 Wxc4 18 Wxd6 Wxg4+ 19 dh1 We4+; or 14 exdS Rb4 15 g5 Rxc3 16 gxf6 (16 bxc3 @xd5 is very goud for Black) 16...2xb2 17 fxg7 Bfd8 18 abl kc3. Fischer comments tersely: ‘White’s pawns are overextended and his king exposed.’ 13... bs! If you think it is possible to play 6Re2 21 this move, then do. In this kind of position it is essential that Black gets some counterplay down the open files on the queenside to compensate for White’s grip on d5. 14 axb6 15 2xb6 White probably does better to de- Jay this capture with the prophylactic 15 €h1, see diagram 23 below. 15 ... Wxb6+ 16 &hi Rb5! An excellent manoeuvre. Fischer intends putting the bishop on c6 where it covers d5, hits the weak pawn on e4, and prepares to advance the a-pawn. Unzicker feels obliged to exchange this piece off. 17 &xbS Fischer uhinks that it would Have been better to take with the knight: 17 @xb5 axb5 18 Wd3. But here too, I think Black can play for the advan- tage. 18...b4 is reasonable, but 19 @d2! with the idea of “c4 is very solid. A better way to keep the posi- tion unbalanced is 18...a4!. It is tempting for White to relieve the pressure on his position by playing 19 Wxb5 Wxb5 20 2xbS Exe4 — but this typical Najdorf ending, which at first sight looks rather unclear, is in fact favourable for Black. The differ- ence lies in the respective pawn structures: Black’s is beautifully compact; while White’s is a bit ragged — two islands and the pawn on f5 is out on a limb. Once the Dxb622 6 Re2 rook has cleared out of the way (b4 looks a good square for it) Black’s centre pawns will be mobile, but White's... 17... axbS 18 Dds ®xd5 19 Wxd5 (21) 21 x” ‘y y 7 ae A 3 By i Ams le, A) wane Am LB BX BAG BA 2 wxae Looks good for White? 19 Had! No. Once again, this superb move. If Black had conceded the file he would have been in trouble. Over the next few moves it becomes clear that White actually has no construc- tive plan. This is basically because Black has no weak points in his posi- tion that can be attacked. 20 3 Was A clever move. In many vari- ations White’s rook on fl is left hanging to the queen. 21 3 This is Unzicker’s attempt to im- prove on the game Tal-Fischer from Curagao 1962. Tal was lucky to es- cape with a draw after 21 Had] Hc8 22 @cl bd! (successfully carrying out the standard minority attack — and just in time; if Whitc had been allowed to manoeuvre the knight from d3 to b4, and eventually round. to dS, as we have seen in similar po- sitions, he would have a clear advan; tage) 23 \d3 (White cannot save the pawn anyway, viz. 23 cxb4 Exb4 24 b3 Hd4! winning the queen) 23...bxc3 24 bxc3 and now Fischer was bluffed out of taking the pawn (24...Hxc3) probably because of 24 DxeS, but this can be safely taken: 24...dxeS 25 Wxe5 (25 Wd8+ 218!) 25...&b4! 26 Wxc3 Wxfl+!, or 26 Bd8+ 268 27 Wxc3 Wxfl+. 21 ww pC) 22 Bfel h6 23 nz gs 24 g3 (22) If White had time to play h4 and h3, his king would be much safer; but just for one moment, White's second rank is fatally exposed and Fischer pounces. Let us suppose that White had played 24 Hadi. Black would con- tinue with the minority attack: 24...04! 25 Wxd6 Wxd6 26 Hxd6 bxc3 27 bxc3 Bxc3. An instructive position. It looks as though White ought to be able to make a draw, but in fact he is probably lost. He has three weaknesses: g2, e4, and the knight - it cannot get to a safe square, i.e. where itis supported by a pawn. For example: 28 #\d2 Ha2! 29AN Hec2; or 28 Dal Rf4+ 29 del Ry3! 30 Bb1 Axed, a 4 Wa7 25 Sg a2 26 efi Or 26 Bxa2 Wxa2 27 He2 Bxc3. 26. Bxc3! ..and White resigned. If 27 Bxa2 13+ 28 de2 HA2+ 29 od3 Wxa2 and mate is not far off. x7 7 eT n W Rake ae ene BLA aw AR &i 8 AR aneaea Now we return to the position af- ter Black’s 14th move (23). As men- tioned above, it is probably better to delay the capture on b6 with... 6 her 23 1S Shi This cuts down Black’s options. From this point several gamcs have followed the sequence... Is ... Efc8 16 &xb6 Wxb6 17 &xe4 Exed 18 We2 Bac8 19 Ha2 Ra8! An excellent manoeuvre. As is so often the case in the Najdorf, this dark-squared bishop which looks so miserable blocked behind its own pawns, sneaks out to perform a very useful role. Here, it prevents a knight coming to a5 when the queen drops back to b7. 20 Zfal W7! White is reminded of the weak- ness of his ¢-pawn: it is much beter for Black to make a counter-threat than to meekly defend the a-pawn. 21 Had Wise. It looks tempting to grab the a-pawn and start attacking with the rooks, but this is just what a Na- jdorf player dreams of — exchanging the measly a-pawn for White’s beau- tiful centre pawn: 21 Bxa6? Axe4 22 Dxe4 Hxed 23 Wd2 26! - a splendid diagonal. Black’s forces dominate the centre, and he is ready to advance his pawns. If 24 Wxd6? He2! wins immediately — a good il- lustration of how foolish White’s king can feel once the f-pawn has shot down the board. 21. Exad24 6 Re2 22 Hxad Bc6 (24) yY Y y z Waka xs & BAe BAL se win Ae mm 2s x = >i et = A ob Oe =e & ¥ Now Scholl-Ivkov, Amsterdam 1971, is typical of the mess that White can find himself in if he is none too careful: 23 Wa3 26 24 fxg6 hxg6 25 Hal Sg7 26 h3 @®hs 27 as Whs Even though White’s knight has found its way to d5, Black has excel- lent counterplay: the e4-pawn is weak; Black has nagging pressure down the c-file; the squares around White’s king look weak — I can imagine Black’s bishop flying in there to create a mating net; and to cap it all, Black’s king is perfectly safe. Provoking the advance of the f- pawn with ...&e6 is, of course, a double-edged business. With the ex- change of light-squared bishops, Black’s central squares (dS, c4) have been seriously weakened; if White manages to contain Black’s counter- play, he will stand very well indeed. When one sees games like Unzicker- Fischer, it is very easy to be beguiled into believing that the position will turn out well for Black every time. Let us not be fooled: Fischer’s play in game 1 was extremely accurate and forceful, one slip and the game could have tured. For this reason I usually prefer not to allow this kind of position: it is not my style to bal- ance on a knife-edge. If White ad- vances the f-pawn, I try to hack it off (...exf4) before it can get to £5 — see game 3. The next game might serve as a useful warning. As far as I can see, Black made only one serious error, but after that, White seized conuol and quickly reached an overwhelm- ing position. Rev'saan ot 02198 Game 2 Jansa-D.Lazic Kragujevac 1984 (1 e4 c5 2 Af3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Axd4 DI6 5 Ac3 a6 6 Re2 eS 7 Db3) Tow eT 8 00 Re6 I prefer to play 8...0-0 for the rea- sons given above. 9 fa! We7 It is possible to take on £4, but Black would be a tempo down on similar lines (compare with games 9 and 10).10 £5 Ret 11 ad ®ba7 12 oh 00 Black routinely castles — it has af- (cr all been played before... A more imaginative player might have been tempted to tread boldly into the un- known with 12...b6, preventing White’s queenside clamp. There is something strangely _ reassuring about sticking to established paths — even when one is not quite sure where they are heading: ‘If someone has gone this way before, it must be safe’, is the complacent signal sent to the brain. Mr Lazic, however, is on the road to ruin. 13 aS bS (25) Absolutely necessary. Black must create some counterplay on the queenside. 14 axb6 Dxb6 15 Sgs! Judging by this game, it seems that 15 2g5 is a stronger move than 6Re2 25 15 £e3 (which would transpose to Scholl-Ivkov above). 15 we Bras? With hindsight, I think this can be seen as the decisive error. What is the rook doing on d8? It should be on an open file. 16 xf6 Rxf6 17 Rxe4 Wxe4 This was Black’s idea: the rook protects the d-pawn so that he can re- capture on c4 with the queen; this al- lows the knight to remain on b6 whence it performs the useful task of covering d5. The problem is that this knight blocks counterplay down the b-file. 18 as! So often, it is Black’s a-pawn run- ning down we buard that creates enormous problems for White. Here, itis firmly blockaded. 18... We7 19 Wa3 a7 20 Ha2 Rd8 (26)26 6 Re2 An excellent move. If Black cap- tures, 21...@\xd5, White takes back with the pawn, 22 exd5!, giving the knight a superb square on c6. Black’s pieces would hardly be able to move. 2 .. We8 22 Be3! gs 23 Dec! Dxes 24 Dxed We6 25 Hdl Baas Not only driving the bishop off a useful diagonal, but giving the king some safe space. 30 ... as 31 Bds Re 32 £6! (28) Instead of grabbing the first pawn that comes along (32 Axd6 &xd6 33 Hxd6 was a possibility, because 33...Wxc2 fails to 34 Hd8+, but it al- lows Black to exchange off his worst piece) Jansa prefers to keep his op- ponent’s forces bottled up and plays for the attack. So far, 1 have only stressed the negative side to the f- pawn’s advance — the weakening of the e-pawn, and the exposure of White’s king. However, it should also be said that if this pawn is al- lowed to get to £6, it can seriously disrupt Black’s kingside. Najdorf players take note: THIS POSITION SHOULD BE AVOIDED. Black can do absolutely nothing to loosen White’s grip. Over the next few moves White calmly improves his position, and while Black is concerned with protecting his weak pawns, he strikes on the other wing. 28 Hdal = gS 29 g3! Hde8 30 ha! y BS Tt might have been better to try and keep the kingside closed with 32...26, but Black, desperate for ac- tivity, vainly hopes that he will beable to use the open lines on the kingside. 33 bg? gxf6 34 Ef Wes 35 Des! oh7 36 Dfs! White’s knights have truly per- formed wonders in this game. 36. gs 37 Qxd6 Bg 37...Rxd6 38 Hxd6 We4 39 Hxf6! is not much fun. 38 DFS Hag8 39 Hd7 &b8 40 Bd mf 41 He7 10 A superb performance by Jansa. We should go back to Black's ISth move to find an improvement. oe 4 (29): 15..Hfc8 is the natural move, even though this enables White to get a knight to dS. The con- tinuation of the game Jansa (him again!)-Szekely, Tallinn 1984, illus- trates well the chances that both sides have in this variation: 6 Re2 27 16 2xf6 Rxf6 17 &xe4 Axed Not 17...Wxe4 18 Wxd6. 18 Dast Was 19 a2 aS 20 Dd2 Dver Exchanging on d2 would leave White in the ideal position - the knight on d5 must be contested. 21° ~b3 (30) 21 ad In view of my improvement for White later on, perhaps Black ought to stir things up here: 21...Axd5 22 exd5 a4! is areasonable pawn sacri- fice — once the queenside pawns are split, it is actually quite difficult for White to keep control. 22 Dxb6 Wxb6 23 Des We6 24 Wa3 axb3 25 Exa8 Exa8 26 cxb3 ho 27 Hdl Re7 28 3 This is the point at which White28 6 Re2 misses his chance. Creating an es- cape square for the king is of course desirable, but there was no immedi- ate threat, so 28 4\e3! heading for d5 is the move. Black’s bishop would be dominated by the knight, and af- ter due preparation the b-pawn could advance, It is the thought of slipping into this kind of passive position that makes me wary of this variation. Having said that, White must also play accurately, as the continuation shows. 28 Ha2 29 Whi He2 30 Bel Exel+ 31 Weel £6 .and here the players agreed to a draw, although Black has the better chances. To my eyes, 31...f6 is rather an ugly move — but it is effective: it enables Black to get in d5, creating a passed e-pawn — he can then com- bine the threat of advancing it with an attack on White's king. With Black’s bishop on the a7-g1 diago- nal, and the queen ready to hit the back rank, White will be once more regretting the f-pawn’s rash advance. If you like living close to the edge, then this is the system for you: if White’s clamp is avoided, the re- wards are great. As I have already mentioned, when White plays his pawn to £4, I prefer to take it off before it gets any further. Let’s take a closer look. Revises 15/02 142 Game 3 Lengyel-Malisauskas Budapest 1992 (Led c5 2 63 d6 3 d4 cxdd 4 Dxd4 E65 Ac3 a6 6 Re2 e5 7 Ab3 Re7 8 0-0) (32) 8 00 Black employs the most accurate move order. Now White is merely punching in the air if he tries 9 £4 — Black has not moved the bishop to e6, so straightaway he can initiate an attack on the centre and queenside: 9...b5! 10 a4!7 S&2b7!. Now we see one of the advantages of delaying the bishop’s development: under the Tight circumstances, it may find its way directly on to the long diagonal, attacking the weakened e4-pawn. (Think back to game 1: Fischer played ...2c8-e6-c4-b5 hoping to manoeuvre it round to c6 — here it has got to the critical diagonal in one move) I recently had this position ingame: 11 axb5 Wb6+ 12 @h1 axb5 13 xa8 &xa8 14 Wa3 (as usual, the exchange of a centre pawn for a wing pawn would favour Black - White wisely plays more solidly) 14...b4 15. G45 Bxd5 16 exdS Abd7 17 Re3 We7 18 93 Db6 19 2F3 Bcd and with pressure against White’s queen- side pawns and the more compact pawn structure, I had the better chances; Bode-King, Germany 1992. 9 ad White sensibly prevents ...bS. Karpov, amongst others, prefers 9 Re3 (see games 4 and 5). 9 I always enjoy playing the bishop to this square — it feels so secure! At «6, it stands at the intersection of two important diagonals, and is firmly anchored there by the f-pawn. Black has an important alternative here: 9...c6!?, intending ...b4. Normally, as we have already seen, the natural square for this knight in the Najdorf is d7. But here, Black can take advantage of the fact that White has already played a4 to put the knight on a more active square. Vrom b4 the beast covers the critical d5-square, and ties White down to protecting the c2-pawn. For an ex- ample of this idea, see the game Me- stel-Tarjan in the introduction. 10 f4 exf4 10...Wc7 would lead into the sys- tems in games 1 and 2. One of the main reasons why I like to take on f4 6 Re2 29 is that I don’t want my bishop on e6 to be displaced. 11 Sxt4 Dc6! (32) In this position, definitely the best square for the knight. If 11...2\bd7, then 12 4d4!, White threatens either to take off the bishop, or perhaps even to play the knight in to £5. 12 Shi A useful precaution. 12 Bc8 Obviously a good move: Black pre- pares counterplay on the open c-file. If Black wishes to relieve the ten- sion in the position then the liberat- ing 12...d5! could be played. If White exchanges off all the pieces on d5 — 13 exdS Dxd5 14 Axd5 &xd5 — then clearly Black has no problems at all. So the only way for White to play for the advantage is 13 e5. Now Black has two good con- tinuations: 13...0d7 14 Axd5 DdxeS and the firmly rooted knight on e5 ensures Black a very solid position; or 13...De4 14 Rd3 (14 Dxed dred30 6 Re2 15 @d2 Rg5! 16 Rxgs Wxgs 17 xe4 WxeS and Black is actively placed) 14...f5! (much better than 14...2)xc3) 15 exf6 Rxf6 16 Wel (16 @xe4 dxe4 17 Rxed Ke! 18 Hf2 &xb2 presents no difficulties) 16...&xc3 17 bxc3 RFS 18 Ad4 xd4 19 cxd4 Wd7 20 Re5, and with both sides having a firm outpost in the centre, chances are roughly equal. Black actually went on to win this game though: 20...226 21 Wh4 Bd2 22 Hxf8+ Bxf8 23 Rxg6 hxg6 24 b3 Dc4 25 a5 He8 26 We3 WES 27 Wb3 He7 28 sgl Bf7 29 293 Dd2 30 Wd3 Wxd3 31 cxd3 “b3 32 Ha2 Axd4 and the extra pawn won through in the end, Tseshkovsky- Ubilava, USSR Ist league 1982. If you want a sound continuation entailing little risk, then 12...d5 is your move. If you think you have more chance of bamboozling your opponent in a complicated middlegame strug gle then the game continuation is more suitable. Very often there is not one single best move in a position; it is more a question of choosing the continuation that best fits your own style, or which you think your par- ticular opponent on that day will have the most difficulty in facing. 13 Daa?! A seemingly natural move, but as we shall see, not a good one. 13 Oxd4 Hacking the knight off before it does any damage. 14 Wxd4 De8! (33) A fine idea. Black’s knight gener- ously retreats in order to let the bishop out to f6; from there, it burns down the long diagonal, making White’s knight feel even more un- comfortable — if it wasn’t enough to be pinned to the c-pawn, there is also the b-pawn to worry about now. As well as simply clearing itself out of the way, the knight performs the use- ful task of defending the d-pawn once the bishop moves. 15 Hadi Was!? If 15...@£6 immediately, then 16 e5! allows White to escape into a fairly dull ending — Black even has to bea little careful: 16...dxe5 17 Wxd8 R&xd8 18 Rxe5, though 18...2£6! eliminates any danger. 16 Wd2 White does not sense the coming danger. He should already have been thinking about liquidating pieces: 16 e5! dxe5 17 Rxe5 Rf6! 18 Rxf6 ®xf6 is a fairly level position.16 We7 I don’t see the point of this! There ty no reason why 16...$£6 should not be played immediately. I imagine \lack must have been worried about 17 4\dS, but he has two good replies: (7..Wxd2 18 Bxd2 (18 Dxf6+ nxt6 and ...Dxe4) 18..2xd5 19 exd5 &xb2 is a safe pawn (20 Hb1 4kc3); 17...Wxa4!? is also possible, e.g. 18 Db6 Wxc2 19 AxcB Wxc8 und with two pawns for the exchange and a solid position, Black is not worse, 17 We3 18 Wg3 IL is not easy to suggest improve- ments for White — there is no way of «hsentangling himself. It is now (quite possible just to whip a pawn off 18...$xc3 19 bxc3 Wxc3 - but Wack finds an even better way to continue: 18 Whe! (34) 26! Moving the queen out to attack the b2-pawn is very common in the ORe2 31 Najdorf. It is sometimes seen at a very early stage in the game — the in- famous ‘Poisoncd Pawn’ Variation for instance (1 e4 c5 2 Af3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Dxd4 Df6 5 Ac3 a6 6 Re5 6 7 £4 Wb6!?) — but more often it occurs in the middlegame. The threat to the b-pawn is actually very serious for White. Why? The b-pawn is the linchpin of White’s position. Once that goes, then the knight on c3 will have to move; and once the knight moves, then the c2-pawn will be vulnerable to arook on the c-file. An unpleasant chain reaction. White now decides to ditch a pawn and play for the attack, rather than defend passively with 19 Zb1. Black would have then increased the pressure with 19...Wb4!, keeping an eye on the a-and e-pawns. 19 Das xd5 20 Exd5 Waxb2 20...Exc2 looks even better, but Black must be careful: 20 2d3 Exb2? 21 Rxd6 Dxd6 22 Bxd6 We7 23 Hfxf6. Of course, simply re- treating to c6 leaves Black a clear pawn up. 21 23 Be6 Black has ‘wasted’ some time grabbing the pawn, and in retum White has very actively placed pieces. But what can they attack? Black has no really vulnerable point in his position: he still has three pawns in front of his king, and the32 6 Re2 bishop and knight are doing great defensive work; the queen, although ‘way over on the other side of the board, is also contributing to the de- fence of the kingside. It is hardly sur- prising that White’s desperate attack rebounds. 22 4 26 23 hd g7 24 hs te 25 h6 Shs 26 Bes Waa 27 We gxf5! (35) Black accurately calculates that White's attack comes to nothing. 28 Wg3+ = Dga 29 exfS 26 30 Wxg4+ ohs 31 Ee d5! 32 Bg3 If 32 cxd5 Hcl+ 33 &h2 Wgl+ 34 bh3 Bos wins. 32 dxe4 33 Re2 Zec8 34 th2 mgs 0-1 The party is over. 13 @d4 was the root cause of White’s problems in this game: it al- lowed Black to set up unpleasant pressure on the c-file. Instead, 13 Wel is better (36). White intends playing the queen to g3, and prepares 21, hicing the d-pawn. It would be nice to be able to play 13...Ab4, but that would al- low White’s knight back into the fray: 14 Dd4!, 13 De8! This move has been played sev- eral times in this position. Just as in the previous game, Black hopes to activate the bishop on e7 — or per- haps just exchange it off: then he will be able to plant a knight securely on 5. 14 Bdl ha 15 Wa2 REG 16 We3 In the game Mestel-Bouaziz, Las Palmas 1982, Black now played 16...We7 - not a terribly incisivetove, White reached a pleasant end- tng after 17 @d5 S&xd5 18 exd5 Wxe3 19 &xc3 Dc5 20 c3 Bes 21 lxc4 Bxc4 22 Bd Hc7 23 Bb4. We «un now see the dark side of playing the knight to e8: it does clog up \lack’s pieces. What a picture — the knight has no legal move. 16 .. ReS! ..would have been much better, wlieving the pressure on the d- pawn. A plausible continuation mught be... 17 &xe5 ®xe5 (37) The exchange of dark-squared lishops has eased some of the con- pestion in Black’s position and turned the knight on e5 into a rock — Wis very difficult to get at it now. lot's look at some possible continu- nuons after White re-centralises the knight on b3 with 18 4d4!. 18...4\£6! reconnecting the heavy seces must be the best move. Black does not fear 19 4)xe67! fxe6, for the wn on e6 covers the outposts at d5 6Re2 33 and £5. It is difficult to see a decent plan for White after that. 19 £5, occupying the outpost on the open file seems dangerous, but actually once the knight is hacked off Black has little to fear; 19...xf5!. Recapturing with the pawn would merely block the f-file: 20 exf5 He8 21 Wd4 Hc6. The ad- vance of the f-pawn means that the squares on the e-file are weak; they could be potential entry points for Black’s beautifully —_ centralised pieces. And if 20 Exf5, simply 20...Be8!. In the case of 21 Hdfl, 20...He6! defends against a possible exchange sacrifice on f6, and pre- pares to put pressure on White’s e- pawn with ...We7 followed by + DE5-07-C5, 19 Sf5 is probably premature. It is better for White to wait before committing this potentially danger- ‘ous beast. In any case, Black’s next move should be 19...4e8, strength- ening the centre and with the long- term aim of putting pressure on the e-pawn. On the other hand White is also comfortably placed, so chances are balanced. Returning to diagram 36, if you wish to avoid the slight congestion involved with 13...2e8, then I would Suggest another method of blocking the attack on the d-pawn: 13...d7!? 14 Bd DdeS. Once again, by estab- lishing a strong-point on eS, Black has a reasonable game.34 6Re2d It was because of Black's excel- lent equalising prospects when he exchanged on £4 (12...d5! in particu- lar) that in the 1980s White players began to look for new systems in this variation: systems that maintained more tension. The World Champion at that time, Anatoly Karpov, was largely respon- sible for the development of these new ideas. Game 4 Karpov-Portisch London 1982 (Led cS 2 Af3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 @\xd4 Df6 5 Bc3 a6 6 Re2 eS 7 Db3 Re7 8 0-0 0-0) 9 Sed (38) a0 Ke! AG Hams oo o£ @ man Gm AR AMS NAR ows A clever move. White would like to go ahead with the queenside clamp, a2-a4-a5, but as we have al- teady seen, if it is played too early, Black has the annoying possibility of playing a knight to 4. So instead 36 |X PB 4 7 he makes a natural developing move before declaring his intentions. D wwe Reo 10 Wa2 @bd7 11 ad! Now that Black has committed the knight to d7, White can play this safely. ll... Ec8 12 a5! We7 13 Bfcl!? Karpov plans 45, altering the pawn structure, and forcing both sides to rethink their strategies. 13... We6 14 £6 Red Black’s idea is interesting. If White plays 15 AdS @xd5 16 exdS Wec7, he is unable to get in c4. It will take an etemity for him w remove the bishop and activate his queenside pawn majority; on the other hand, Black’s majority of pawns on the kingside are ready to fly down the. board, gaining tempi against the bishops en route. 15 ad (39)15 Hfd8?! Not a good square for the rook. It makes much more sense to play 15,.Bfe8! 16 Hb4 We7 17 4d5 4ixd5 18 exdS DE6! (18...£5 is also yuetty good). Suddenly, White has oblems with his d-pawn. The game | ukin-Hjartarson, Leningrad 1984, continued from this point: 19 Hel e4 4) &b6 Wd7 21 Xxe4 and now if Mack had played 21...2£8 22 2£3 Dxel+ 23 Wxel 2xd5, he would have been close to winning. How ri- «diculous White’s pieces look on the li file. The only move I can see to avoid immediate material loss is 24 dl, but then 24...2c4, threatening «5 uapping the rook, and if 25 Ac5 TWe8! 26 WEI dxc5 27 Bxc4 Wad2 isa wat illusuation of bow careful White must be when moving his took off the back rank. 16 Ebs We7 17 as Axd5 18 exd5 Now that the pawn structure has changed, we can see how pointless it is to have the rook on d8. If Black plays 18.26, as in the previous note, then 19 2b6 picks up an ex- vhange, 18 .. £5 19 Re2 Rxb3? In spite of the earlier inaccuracy, I sull think that Black’s position is perfectly playable: 19..&xe2 20 Wxe2 £8! and Black has dangerous vounterplay on the kingside. The ORe2 35 Najdorf is such a good opening that you can lose a whole tempo and still have a decent position (sometimes). 20 Exb3 f4 White was threatening 21 Wb4 Eb8 22 a7 winning a pawn, but the text move hardly helps. The problem is that Black’s potential source of counterplay, his kingside pawn ma- jority, becomes crippled. 21 &b6 Dxb6 22 Exb6 Kgs 23 gat I bet that Portisch was regretting 20...f4. The bishop is superb on this diagonal. 23. bs 24 Hel! Making sure that the pawns go no further, 24 we Wes 25 Hed! mf 26 b4 We7 27 4 And now the queenside majority is ready to roll. 27 Shs (40)28 cS! dxeS 29 d6 Was 30. bxc5 8 31 Was fxg2 32 BxeS Wes 33 BES Walt 34 xg? 6 35 47 Wxas 36 Bxb7 Bxb7 37 Wxb7 Was 38 6 aS 39 c7 Wxd7 40 Hes 19 A fine game from Karpov, dem- onstrating the potency of the queen- side pawn majority; but really, the rook manoeuvre Hal-a4-b4, al- though it worked to tremendous ef- fect here, is asking a bit toomuch from the position. Antidotes were soon found, as the note to Black’s 15th shows. If White wishes to head for the kind of unbalanced pawn structure that arises from 4\dS, there are better ways of going about it. So Karpov was forced to rethink. A few years later he came up with a more durable idea. The first twelve moves were the same as in the previous game... Game 5 Karpov-Nunn Amsterdam 1985 (1e4c5 2 263 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Axd4 D6 5 Dc3 a6 6 Re2 e5 7 Ab3 Re7 80-00-09 Re3 Re6 10 Wd2 Abd7 11 a4 Bc8 12 a5 We7) 13 fdi! A very natural move, and a good onc too. This is not the big new idea! 3 Bras As I mentioned before, in these kind of positions the rook is usually better placed on e8. 14 Wel We6 15 263 hed Black is playing as if he is expect- ing his opponent to carry out his old plan — but Karpov has something new up his sleeve. 16 cl! (41) VAR Ve wa amd A 0 wo |. AD ao BAe | sw & Black has two pawn breaks in the position: ...d6-d5 and ...b7-bS. It is essential that he achieves one, or possibly even both of these if he is to create sufficient counterplay. Kar- pov’s knight manoeuvre aims to pre- vent these pawn pushes, and having done that, undertake the eventual oc- cupation of d5 with a piece. Karpov cannot actually claim to be the originator of the knight tour. The earliest game I have seen featuring itts Cicller-Bolbochan, Stockholm In- trzonal 1962 (going back a few moves): 9 &e3 We7 10 a4 b6!? 11 Wil2 2e6 12 Bfd1 Abd7 13 £3 Wo7 14 4)c1! Bd8 15 D1a2 Ac5 16 Abs und White stood very well. [et us not forget that Geller was Kurpov’s trainer for many years... 16 ... h6 17 Dia® = D5 18 Db4 Wes 19 g3t ‘Typical Karpov. The first stage of lus plan — the prevention of ...d6-d5 and ...b7-b5 — is complete, but before tushing in and occupying d5, he tukes his time and makes a few im- jwovements to his position. Later on it will be useful for the king to have a Might square, and the bistop las more scope on g2 — it might ap- pear on the h3-c8 diagonal, for in- stance. 19 ... Bec7 20 Rg2 Rac8 21 b3 Leb 22 Beds Dxd5 23 Dxd5 SxdS 24 Exd5 Ec6 25 Hadi ‘This looks very natural, but is ac- tilly a slight inaccuracy. As we shall see, 25 b4!, cutting out ...2g5, wis correct. 25. Deb 26 ¢4 &g5! A good pawn sacrifice. After the exchange of bishops the knight has 6Re2 37 an excellent square on d4: 27 Hxd6 Rxe3 28 Wxe3 Ad4!. Not surpris- ingly, Karpov docs not wish to lose the initiative and attempts to avoid the swap... 27 a7! 28 Qb6 (42) Bas oO nw Ss The point of going to a7 first was to drag the rook into the corner. 28 ww Ra8 29 Red eT Black should have been persistent and kept chasing the bishop; Karpov would then have had to take the pawn and try to grind out a win. 29...%c7 is, however, a tempting move. The d-pawn is once more pro- tected, and if he can play ...b6, ex- change off the bishops, and gang up on the b-pawn... 30 We2 b6 31 ba! bxaS 32 bs! The end of Black’s dreams. 32 axbS 33° cxbS BcS38 6 Re2 ‘The altemative to giving up the exchange, 33...c3 34 b6, is hardly worth contemplating. 34 AxeS AxcS 35 Sel! ad 36 We2 a3 37 Bcd! Karpov can make chess seem a deceptively simple game. The bishop effectively stops the a-pawn, but at the same time will be able to contribute to the attack. 37 Deb 38 Hsd3 Daa 39 Wa2 Rb6 40 Hxa3 10 Once Karpov had accomplished the manoeuvre b3-cl-a2-b4, Black had a horribly passive position. But itis exacdy at the moment that White is chugging around with the knight that he is at his most vulnerable — and that is when Black must be pre- pared to strike. Let us retum to the position after White's 13th move (43). Black players soon cottoned on to the need for activity. Take the game Zagrebclny-Gclfand, Minsk 1986: B.. Web 14 28 Hfes This mysterious-looking rook shuffle is often played in the Na- jdorf, It is a very tidy move: the bishop is protected; f8 is now avail- able for a knight or bishop; in case Black manages to achieve ...d5!, it may support the e-pawn; and it is a good waiting move too! 15 Wel Has! Black defends the a-pawn so that .b5 is now possible. This is the rea- son why 13...Wc6 was played: it drags White’s bishop from the im- portant fl-a6 diagonal where it was hiuing de a-pawn. 16 Eacl bs 17 axb6 D®xb6 18 2d5 ‘This cannot be taken: 18...\bxd5 19 exdS 2xd5 20 Hxd5 @xd5 21 c4 winning material, or 18...2xd5 19 exd5 Wc7 20 c4! followed by Ab3-, a5-c6. Yuck. Gelfand finds a good answer 18 .. Dect! 19 DxaS Best. If White had played 26 Wxa5, then 20...2xd5 21 exdS Wb7lollowed by ...2d8 and ...&b6 is pleasant for Black. 20 Exe? ‘Told you the rook would come in handy on e8. 21 WxaS 3b7 22 Wa3 Axed 23 Rxed Wxet 24 Exd6 A fairly level position has been tached, and the game was soon drawn, 25 £3 We6 26 We3 wes 27 b3 Rc8 28 Wd2 a7 29 Bxd7 Rxd7 30 Edi cb 31 We2 tb7 hth Or another example, Nunn- Sunye, Amsterdam 1985, starting once again from diagram 43: 13 We6 14 263 Eres 15 Wel h6!? ‘This may well be even stronger than Gelfand’s 15...2a8. Black first waits for White’s knight to start on us grand tour before lashing out, and ..h6, giving the king an escape nquare later on, cannot be bad. 16 Act Has! 17 Ba3 (44) One more move and White will have achieved the Karpov clamp, but Wlack is just in time. The clearest method of getting counterplay is 17...b6! (Sunye chose 17...b5, which is okay, but White does not need to take, and the queenside remained closed) 18 4)b4 Wb7. Now if 19 axb6 “xb6, and Black has the usual excellent counterplay on the b- and c-files, so it is probably best to oc- cupy d5: 19 Abus Axud5 20 Dxds Dxd5 21 Bxd5 Af6 22 Hdd bxa5! and White has a tough job defending the b-, c-, and e-pawns successfully. Nevertheless, there is something that does not feel quite right about playing the queen to c6 — it is a little exposed to attack. My suspicions were confirmed when I unearthed... Game 6 Jansa-Lutz Rimavska Sobota 1991 (1 e4.c5 2 Df3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Axd4 M6 5 Dc3 a6 6 Re2 eS 7 Db3 Re7 80-00-09 &e3 2e6 10 Wd2 bd7 11 a4 Hc8 12 a5 We7 13 Bfd1 Wc6) 14 £3!?40 6 Re2 Nommally, White defends the e- pawn by &£3 to keep some influence over d5. 4. h6é 15 Hacl! Jansa has caught his opponent off guard by switching over to Karpov's plan no.1, and now Black is forced to retreat his queen. 15 .. We7 16 Ads xd5 17 exdS @®h7! It is a good idea to exchange the bishops. First, because it eases the congestion in Black’s position; sec- ond, White’s bishop is much better than its Black counterpart; and thirdly, it is simply good to deprive White of his dangerous bishop pair. 18 4 gs 19 5! (45) A fine pawn sacrifice. As we saw in Karpov-Portisch (game 4) c4-c5 is the standard breakthrough. If White had been more painstak- ing in his preparations then Black would have had time to organise a defence: 19 &xg5 Axg5 20 Dal (with the idea b4, 2b3, and then c5) 20...b6! 21 axb6 Wxb6+ 22 Bh1 a5! followed by ...c5. Having blocked the queenside majority, Black has a free hand to mobilise his pawns on. the kingside. 19 dxeS 20 d6 We6 21 Red White's passed pawn is like a stake driven through the heart of Black’s position. Through its ad- vance, the bishop finds an excellent diagonal. 21. Rxe3+ 22 Wxe3 Dhie Although Black is very tied up, it is not easy to see how White is going to make progress. His next move is inspirational... 23 Bd2!! (46) Offering another pawn just to be able to get his last piece into the at- tack. It is understandable that Blackdeclined since after 23...Wxd6 24 44 We7 (24...Wec7 25 Dd6 Bcd8 26 Wb3 and White has a tremendous initiative) 25 Dd6 Hob 26 ALS Wes White’s position is such a picture of harmony: all his pieces are contrib- uting to the attack, Here, Jansa sim- ply suggests doubling on the d-file to increase the pressure. It seems to be very often the case in this variation that if White is able tw successfully manoeuvre the knight on b3 to a better square, then he will have the advantage. I think Black must have been ina state of shock after this wonderful knight move, and he crumbles rap- ally. 23 ons 24 Wos! Beds 25 &xf7 Wxd6 26 Ded We7 27 go! Dbs Trying to manocuvre round to 44, but White is so well coordinated that he is easily able to prevent it. 28 We3! Bas 29 Bxd5 Dxd5 30 Wxe5 Wre5 31 @xe5 ata 32 ExcS White has emerged a clear pawn up, and at the same time retained a great positional advantage on the queenside. The rest is self-explana- tory: 32..Ac6 33 Re4! Axes 34 BxeS De2+ 35 def2 Ad4 36 He7 Ab3 37 Be5 Hd8 38 de3 25 39 Rxb7 1-0 ORe2 41 This book is entided Winning With the Najdorf, and I’ve just given three excellent White victories. Something has gone a bit wrong — it is time to redress the balance. Game 7 Marjanovic-Fedorowicz Clichy 1986/87 (1 e4 c5 2 Df d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Axdd Of6 5 Bc3 a6) 6 Red The move order here is slightly unorthodox, but it soon transposes into the type of position which we have already been considering. 6. 5 7 ®b3 eT 8 Kez 0-07! This is a serious inaccuracy which White, however, does not take ad- vantage of. As White has not castled he could lash out with 9 g4! — see the notes to game 9, 9 00 Reb 10 ad @bd7 11 a5 Bc8 12 Wa2 Now we are back on track. 12 Re8 (47) What caught my eye about this game was Fedorowicz’s reluctance to charge in with the ...Wc7-c6 plan, and instead to calmly improve his position and await developments: ..Hfe8 and ...h6 fit in with almost any system.13 Rfdl h6 I wonder if by delaying ...Wc7, Fedorowicz was hoping that he could make an exchange sacrifice on 3? Certainly Marjanovic believed him and hastened to protect his e- pawn by... 14 &f3 The problem with this is that it is now much easier for Black to play for ...b5, as the bishop is no longer trained on a6. Let us suppose instead that White attempts to carry out Kar- pov’s knight tour straightaway: 14 Del R18! 15 Dd3 (15 Dla2 Wxas) 15...d5! 16 exdS @xd5 17 @xd5 &xd5. The point of 14...28 is clear: 15 4\xe5 is ruled out because the rook recaptures and protects the bishop. In other words, in order to carry out the knight manoeuvre, 2f3 is probably going to be necessary any- way to stop ...d5. 14... We7 Having defended the e-pawn, 15 @d5 was a possibility, which this move prevents. 15 Bel Here it goes ... red alert. 15 RB Very cool, but 15...b6 or 15...b5 could have been played immediately — I would have leapt at the chance. 16 3 bs! Breakout! Black has been pa- tiently biding his time for this mo- ment. It would be very dangerous for White to capture: 17 axb6 Axb6 and now: 18 Hxa6 loses to 18...2)c4 and ...0\xb2; and the more subtle 18 &e2 is met by either 18...Ac4 19 &xc4 Wkxc4, which is not at all bad, or the dynamic 18...d5!, exploding the cen- tre — hang the a-pawn. But now White always has the threat of b4, dislodging the knight, hanging over his head. 17 Bd3 d5! (48) I could not have constructed a more thematic game. Right on cue, just before the knight reaches b4, Black breaks open the centre with this excellent pawn sacrifice.18 exdS RES It was possible to really stir things up with 18...xh3!? 19 gxh3 c4, re- gaining the piece, but Fedorowicz is a player who likes clear themes and prefers to keep more order in the po- sition — particularly when it looks as g00d as this, 19 Del Rd6 I very much like the feeling of harmony in Black’s position; just compare it with White’s. 20 Ba2 e4 21 Re2 He5 22 cA! Good defence. If 22...bxc4 23 Sixcd Wxc4?? 24 Edel. But moving the c-pawn does leave some vital squares weakened. 22 ww Dcs 23 We2 Dds With this simplification, Black re- gains his material and retains a slight initiative due to his better coordi- nated pieces. 24 @xd3 exd3 25 &xd3 &xd3 26 Bxd3 bxe4 27 a4 @xdS 28 Rd2 Re 29 Bet Exes 30 Wes D6 31 We 248 32 ba Was 33 AxcS WxeS 34 D3 Ba2 35 Hel WxaS 36 Des @xed GRe2 43 37 Wxet 38 Bxcd4 (49) Exb2 stata aiztwm & ae nae ‘ee ‘S & a e Y \\ \J S w NS IS S After this White has no chance at all. The only possibility was to un- balance the position: 38 We8+ £h7 39 Wxf7 3, and because of Black’s slighdy insecure king position, it will not be easy to win. 38 Ebs The rest is not terribly interesting. Black gradually grinds out a win: 39 23 WbS 40 W4 He8 41 dh2 a5 42 h4 hS 43 Wadd 96 44 Ec7 WES 45 Sg2 Bc8 46 Hd7 Ws 47 Ba7 Wc6+ 48 dh? WE3 49 He7 a4 50 Wad2 Has! 51 Wa2 Hd8 52 He3 Wf6 53 He4 a3 54 Hf4 We7 55 Hr3 Ha8! 56 Be3 We5 57 £3 Ha7 58 He3 dh7 59 Bs Wi8 60 Hf6 We7 61 Bb6 Wd7 62 Bt6 Wb7 63 Bde Wr3 64 Hb6 Has 65 Bd6 Ba7 66 Kb6 Wc3 67 Ebi Wad4 68 Hb8 Wc3 69 Zbl WF6 70 seg] We6 71 We2 a2 72 Hal Wa5 73 h2 Bad 74 Wh2 Had 75 eh3 WES 76 Hel Hxh4+! (50) 0-144 6 Re2 Fedorowicz showed an excellent understanding of the position in the opening. A game worthy of close study. Game 8 King-Browne Reykjavik 1990 (1e4.c5 2 D3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Axd4 416 5 c3 a6 6 Re2 eS 7 Db3 Ke7 80-00-09 23 2e6) Tleaven knows what made me want to play into the Najdorf. Taking over the mantle of his compatriot Bobby Fischer, Walter Browne has been one of the greatest exponents of the opening over the past two decades. 10 Dds (51) Aiming for the pawn structure typical of Karpov-Portisch. 10 ®bd7! There is no need to capture on dS yet, as 11 Axe7+ Wxe7 only helps Black to develop, e.g. 12 £3 d5! 13 243 (this leaves White with an iso- lated e-pawn, but 13 exd5 Axd5 14 &f2 Af4 is also pleasant for Black) 13..dxe4 14 &xe4 Bxe4 15 fxe4 Bac8 16 c3 bS and Black stands very well owing to his well coordinated Pieces and better pawn structure; Srch-King, Vienna 1991. (Just in passing, 10...Axe4? runs into 11 &b6 and 4c7.) 11 Wa3 In effect, White has to waste a move protecting the e-pawn — the point of Black delaying the ex- change on d5. u RxdS 12 exdS So we have reached the familiar pawn structure of Karpov-Portisch and Jansa-Lutz: White aims at creat- ing a breakthrough with his pawns on the queenside, and Black must try to stir up trouble on the other wing. 12 Ac! Pre-empting the pawn storm — an excellent idea. During the game I had the uneasy feeling that I would really much rather be playing with the black pieces, and that I couldhave played all his moves without too much difficulty! Indeed, two years previously I had played ex- actly the same idea: 12...Be8 13 a4 h6 14 a5 cS! 15 Wal?! Dxb3 16 cxb3 Dd7 17 b4 Res 18 Rxes5 Wxg5 19 bS e4 20 bxa6 bxa6 21 Ha3 46 22 &c4 e3! and White’s king- side position was prised open; Kos- ten-King, London 1988. Browne is correct in playing 12...2c5 immediately. There is re- ally no need to shilly-shally, as I did, with ...He8 and ...h6. 13 AxcS dxc5 (52) Y MARA Aa ae “28 Ww Baars a UES The pawn structure has changed again, and certainly in Black's fa- vour, Although White’s d-pawn is quite far advanced, it will be very se- curely blockaded, and the pawn on 5 provides an effective blockader of the other queenside pawns. This sta- bility gives Black the chance to get his kingside pawn majority rolling. 14 Bfdl e4 15 Wad2 a6! ORe2 45 16 ad We7 17 g3 Hac8 18 a5 a7 19 £4 Black has been able to build up a strong attacking position with great ease — he was already threatening ..f5-f4 blowing up the kingside. The text move buys White a little ime to try and organise some counterplay. If 19...2xf4 20 Wxf4 Wxf4 21 gxf4, White doesn’t stand badly in the ending: for one thing, the blockader of the d-pawn has been removed so it can advance one square further; and Ha3-b3 could be irritating. Not surprisingly, Black keeps at- tacking. 19. Des 20 <4 5 21 Hacl h6 The critical position: Black is teady to throw the g-pawn up the board, and White needs an answer. 22 =h4?? Pathetic. The only chance was to get some counterplay on the queen- side: 22 b4! (the pawn cannot be taken: 22...cxb4 23 c5 S&xc5 24 d6 Wce6 25 Wd5S+ wins material.) 22...g5! 23 Re3 £4 24 RxcS RxcS 25 bxcS Wxc5 26 Wd4. This position is the logical culmination of both sides’ strategies: White has broken through on the queenside, and Black’s pawn majority on the king- side is menacing. Absolutely any- thing could happen.46 6 Re2 22 Dee Thad completely overlooked this simple retreat. The finish of the game still makes me shudder: there is nothing I can do to stop my king- side being rent asunder. 23 Bxd6 24 b4 24 bS e3! 25 Wel f4 26 hxg6 exf2+ 27 Wxf2 fxg3 28 Wel Ef2 is typical. Waxd6 25 Wel 26 bxe5 Wrxe5 27 8 fxg3 28 Wxe3 EA 29 ofl Bas 30 243 Bd6! 31 Bc2 Haf6! 32 Red e2+ 33 Bxe2 Dxe2 34 dxe2 Wxe4+ 35 Bd3 Wa2+ 36 Bd2 Wet 37 Hd3 Wa2+ 38 Hd2 WraS 39 d6 Wbs+ 0-1 A very logical game from Browne, but really, I should have known better... You might well be thinking: ‘If in the Karpov System White delays playing a4, why not take advantage of it, and get in ...b5?” (1 e4 cS 2 D3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Dxd4 Df 5 Ac3 a6 6 Re2 e5 7 Db3 Re7 8 0-00-09 Ke3) D ww bs True, if White reacts meekly, say with 10 a3?!, then the move 9...b5 would be highly desirable. However, White is able to exploit Black’s lack of development with... 10 ad! (54) Be owes Taking is unattractive: it is so much easier for White to target the queenside weaknesses when his cen- tre is stable — omitting f4 makes a big difference. If 10...b4 then 11 dS! and Black is in trouble. 11...Axe4 12 3! wins at least a piece; 11...Axd512 Wxd5 wins a rook; 11...2b7 might just about be okay, White may choose between grabbing an ex- change with 12 2b6 @)xe4 13 @xa8, although Black has some compensa- lion in view of his strong centre pawns, or the solid 12 £3. I don’t like Black’s queenside — expansion has been premature. It would be alright if he were ready to double rooks on the c-file. but he is a million miles from that. 10...2b7 is a better move, but still, as the game Klovan-Vitolins, Yurmala 1983 shows, all of White’s forces are beautifully placed for an assault on the queenside: 11 axb5 axbS 12 Wd3 b4 13 dS Abd7 14 Wb5 @xd5 15 exdS We7 16 &c4 ms 17 Dad cB 18 Wes Was 19 Wxa8! (a fine positional queen sacri- fice) 19..xa8 20 “c6 Bxal 21 Dxal We8 22 Ha8 2£8 23 a6 £5 24 Exc8 Wh5 25 £3 and White went on to win, It is worth comparing the posi- tions after 9 &e3 bS?! 10 a4! with those from the variation 9 f4 b5! 10 a4 &b7 — see the first note to the game Lengyel-Malisauskas. In this case, White is not able to take the in- itiative on the queenside because his centre is unstable. Around 1989, the Moscow Grandmaster Sergei Dolmatov de- veloped a new way of playing 6 Re2 which has grown in popularity over the past couple of years. 6Re2 47 Game 9 Dolmatov-Arnason Reykjavik 1990 (1e4c5 2 Df3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Dxd4 D6 5 Dc3 a6 6 Re2 e5 7 Ab3 Re7) 8 Red Danger. If White delays castling on the kingside, you can bet that he is. plotting something sinister. Under these circumstances it is best to hang back with castling oneself: quite a few players have been surprised by 8...0-0 9 24!?. For instance, Hellers- Gavrikov, San Bernadino 1990, con- tinued 9...2e6 10 g5 Dfd7 11 Wad2 Dv6 12 0-0-0 H8d7 13 h4 with a stinging attack for White. This is very similar to some of the games in the 6 ske3 chapter. Therefore the best move here is... 8 Re6 . keeping options open, Now 9 £4 looks ridiculous as Black counters exf4d Playing 9...Wce7 a la Fischer would not be in place here as White may still castle queenside. 10 &xf4 Dcb 11 Wa2 0-0 12 0-0-0! (55) A good move. Once f4 has been played, the queenside is by far the most sensible place for White’s king. First, there are three pawns to give cover, instead of only two on the kingside; and second, because hisking is secure, he now has a free hand to play in the centre and to ad- vance his kingside pawns. 12... 13 @b1 bs! Black desperately needs counter- play on the queenside to offset White’s pressure in the centre. 14 3 Wa7 It is not possible to play 14...b4: 15 Dd5 Zxe4 16 Wxb4! 2 17 Rxe5!. In a later game Dolmatov-Fe- dorowicz, Buenos Aires 1991, 14...%e8 was tried, setting up the threat of 15...b4, as the bishop is pro- tected. This does look like a better move than the text: 15 Hhel (pre- venting 15...b4 — check it for your- self!) 15...2£8 16 2f1, and now it would perhaps have been best to play 16... Wc7 with the idea of ...Wb7, put- ting more pressure on the e-pawn. Black's position looks robust. 15 g4 Wo7 16 Was Deo 17 &g3 h6 Dolmatov mentions the possibil- ity 17...b4!2 18 Dds BxdS 19 exdS a5 20 g5 a4 21 Dd? Dd7 22 Des ge5 23 hd, assessing the position as slightly advantageous to White. Slightly? I do not like Black’s po- sition at all: he has no clear plan. On the other hand, White’s pieces domi- nate the centre of the board and the two bishops look menacing. 18 Dds DxdS 19 exdS d7 20 h4 It would have been even better to play 20 Hhf1, with the idea of 21 aS Wec7 22 46}. 20 .. £5 Black makes a bolt for freedom which is, however, refuted by White's vigorous play. 21° gxfS RES 22 Shi RE6 23° Wa2! Res 24 QxeS Bxes 25 Dd4t (56) x0 0 kel ia ow Once again, the entrance of thisknight into the scrap spells the end for Black, 25 Res 26 Bgl hs 27 Deb ar 28 Wh4 xd5 29 xg! Bxg7 30 Bxg7 Rxa2+ After 30...xg7, 31 Wxd6 wins the piece back. 31 xa2 Wxg7 32 Exd6 In spite of the reduced material, White has a winning attack: Black’s king is badly exposed while his op- posite number is safe. By a series of forceful strokes Black is reduced to complete passivity. 32 an 33 Reo Bc8 34 243 DeS 35 Wa6! ae 36 Wa EE (57) i a @ “(a ae la Ze | A = e828 @ PRAT OW Vy we” 37 Wed 10 There is no real defence to 38 Hg6. 6Re2 49 Dolmatov's system is well moti- vated: the main theatre of war is in the centre and on the kingside, so he tucks his king well out of the way on the queenside. So often in the Na- jdorf Black’s counterplay comes from the fact that White has exposed his own king. Here, that does not ap- ply. While the position is playable for Black (Fedorowicz’s improvement on the 15th move is notable) I think there is a better way of handling the system — avoid it altogether. Game 10 R.Byrne-King London 1991 (1e4c5 2 DMB d6 3.d4 cxd4 4 Dxad 6 5 \c3 a6 6 Re2 e5 7 Ab3 Re7 8 Re3 Re6 9 £4 exf4 10 Rxf4 Ac6 11 Wd2) 11 a5! (58) Liberation. The only thing that might make Black hesitate playing50 6 Re2 this move is the fact that he has not yet castled. True, over the next few moves he must play accuratcly, but he emerges with an excellent posi- tion. 12 exd5 If 12 e5 Ded! 13 Axed dxed, and I prefer Black’s position because of the excellently placed bishops, e.g. 14 We3? Ab4! 15 Wxe4 2d5 wins; or 14 0-0-0 and now both 14...Wb6 and 14...Wc7 give Black a good game. 12... @xd5 13 Dxd5 Wxd5! 13...&xd5 would be a mistake: 14 0-0-0 &xg2 15 Wc3! and Wxg7. 14 0-00 If White plays into an ending di- recily, by 14 Wxd5 2xd5, then he bas no advantage at all - Black’s bishop occupies the crucial long di- agonal. However, if Black exchanges queens after 14 0-0-0, holding the draw will not be easy: 14...Wxd2+ 15 Bxd2 0-0 16 £f3!. White's bishops bear down on the queenside making life uncomfortable. Psakhis- Gelfand, Klaipeda 1988, continued 16...2fd8 (16...Bac8 17 Ad4! ex- poses the queenside pawns) 17 Xhd1 Exd2 18 Hxd2 Hd8 19 Bxd8+ @xd8 20 Rc7 Ach 21 DaS KgS+ (if 21..DxaS 22 RxaS RcB 23 Lb6 Black is completely tied down - White can advance the queenside pawns unhindered) and now if White had played a few more precise moves, beginning with 22 wdl! Dd4!? 23 Red! bS 24 3 he would have had excellent winning chances ~— the queenside pawns are bound to Wea! Wed! (59) Black had tried Previously, 15...Wa4, but White can force an ex- cellent ending with 16 &xc6+ bxc6 17 Wd4 Wxd4 18 @xd4 oS (18... 2d5 19 Af5!) 19 Axe fxe6 20 Ehel; Dolmatov-Gelfand, USSR Ch, 1989 (compare the two pawn structures). 16 &xc6+ A difficult decision for White. The ending turns out to be not par- ticularly pleasant, but if he chooses not to liquidate then his king might be in trouble: Black’s pieces are per- fectly positioned (my favourite bishop on e6!) to launch an attack — only the king must be brought to safety first.16 bxe6 17 Wa4 0-0! Just in timc, Whitc is in big ltouble: Black’s bishops are lethal. 18 Wxe4 xed 19 Zhel Hfes 20 23 Ras 21 Das It would have been better to keep thus knight closer to the centre; 21 ib] was safer. 21 25! (60) 22 Qc7 {£22 2e3 RF3! 23 Hd7 2b4 wins tmaterial. 22... ReS 23 4 2B White’s only chance is to ex- change off all the rooks, otherwise lus king gets cut to shreds, but the ending is still lost. 24 Exe8+ Bxe8 25 Eds Bxd8 26 &xd8 4! Fixing the pawn on h2, 27 &d2 £5 6Re2 SI 28 Db7 gl 29 Dao? fat 30 Ags Re3+ (61) uo oe yo ok All i a An om a a2" oe White resigned, as 31 wel fxg3 32 Rxe3 gxh2 wins. Dolmatov obviously takes this line seriously: he prefers to enter his variaion by means of the move or der 6 Re2 e57 Db3 Re7 8 Ke3 Reb 9 Wd2!? (instead of 9 £4) 9...0-0 10 £4 exf4 11 Rxf4 etc., thus avoiding the above game. However, after 10 f4 there seems to me to be no reason why Black should not play 10...b5! and if 11 £5 cA, Capturing would be bad: 12 &xc4 bxc4 13 Acl — this knight will have difficulties finding a good square and Black has counterplay on the b-file. Castling queenside is risky: 12 0-0-0 &xe2!? (12...Abd7 is also fine) 13 Wxe2 b4 14 @d5 Dxd5 (14...Dxe4 15 Rb!) 15 Bxd5 @d7 and having kicked the rook from d5, Black has an automatic at- tack on the queenside with ...a5-a4,52 6 Re2 pressure on the c-file, White’s e- pawn is weak... It is also possible, instead of cas- tling, to play 9...Abd7 with the same idea, 10 f4 bS!. [Since writing the above, the following game has ap- peared: 9...2\bd7 10 f4 bS! 11 £5 R04 12 REB D4 13 Dds DxdS 14 exd5 a5 15 WE2 @f6 16 &b6 Wad7 17 BxaS Bxd5 18 Acd Vxf3 19 Wxf3 0-0. Black’s position is superb, Zamicki-Brunner, Buenos Aires 1992. It is encouraging to see one’s ideas confirmed.] After 6 &e2 e5 White can also try 7 Df3 (62). Amst re «A, ee mane “8 a Raneanad ¢ AY This is not a move which has me quaking in my boots. The knight is just as far away from reaching the critical square d5 as it is from b3, but with the added disadvantage that it blocks the f-pawn — as we have seen, often an important source of play for White. This means that Black’s central position is even more stable than usual, giving him a freer hand to develop counterplay on the queen- side. Game 11 Zapata-H.Olafsson Belgrade 1988 (1 e4.c5 2 Df3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Dxd4 M6 5 Ac3 a6 6 Le2 eS) 7 OB h6 Securing the position of Black’s bishop on e6 — it won't be hassled by 5 — and preventing 2.95. Not that this is too much of a problem, viz. Dobrev-King, Cappelle la Grande 1990: 7...Re7 8 RgS Re6 9 Rxf6 Rxf6 10 0-0 0-0 11 DdS (11 Wa2 cb! 12 Had] 44! 13 Axd4 exd4 14. @d5 xd5 15 exdS Wo6 isa litde beuer for Black — White has some problems defending his queenside pawns) 11....Ad7 12 Wd2 Ec8 13 c3 26 14 Hfdl &g7 15 We3 Ac5. Black’s bishops are safe and he is now ready to lash out with f5 — it seems as though White’s pieces are sitting targets in the centre. In des- peration he tried 16 b4? a4 17 c4 Rxd5 18 exdS e4 19 Ad4 Ab2 20 Edel Wb6 21 Ac2 Wxe3 22 Axe3 Ad3 23 &xd3 Sxal and Black hada decisive material advantage. 8 0-0 Keb 9 Hel Dbd7 10 fl Re7 11 ad b6! Preventing White setting up the queenside clamp with ...a5.12 b3 0-0 13 Rb2 We7 14 3 Bees 15 Wed2 (63) Black has had no difficulties in completing his development and, in my view, already has the better pros- pects, The reason? In this slightly closed position Black has two pawn breaks available, ..dS and ...bS, while White has none. In other words it is Black who may choose when to assume the initiative. More- over, White’s knight on c3, vital to the defence of the e-pawn, is ex- posed on the open file. 1S. Wo7! Highlighting the other drawback of 7 2f3 — the e-pawn cannot be pro- tected by a pawn, and is thus slightly vulnerable. The queen move also prepares the doubling of rooks on the c-file. 16 Zad1 RB! Black stays alert. White was pre- paring to solve his problems in the 6Re2 53 centre by playing 17 d5. By re- treating the bishop out of the range of the knight, Black may safcly take the e-pawn if the knight moves for- ward: 17 2d5 @xe4! 18 Hxe4 2xd5 19 WxdS Wxd5 20 Bxd5 £6 and Black will emerge the exchange ahead. 17 94 Just the kind of advance that I love to see played against me. White, frustrated at being unable to find a constructive way to continue, rashly flings his g-pawn up the board. This just means that when Black does break through, White will have even more problems defending his weak- ened king’s position. 17 bs! Black is able to exploit the loos- ening of White’s position immedi- ately. The b-pawn is immune: 18 axb5 axbS 19 &xbS Hxc3! 20 &xd7 Hxf3. ‘The knight is no longer protected. 18 £2 b4 19 Bad a5 (64) 4 Mi ww ] Vee & a \Sm GAD AD Vag NA AN AS la54 6 Re2 Having successfully carried out the b-pawn’s advance, Black has a clear target: the pawn on c2. 20 Dh4 Za6! 21 Os Bac6 22 Ded Dc5 Black has two threats: 23...xe4, and 23...@xa4. White is unable to deal with both, and if 23 AdS \xb3 wins a pawn. 23 Del Wa?! Carefully removing the queen from the diagonal of the bishop. 24 Da3 24 £3 wasn’t possible because of 24...Axb3 and ...Hc2. 24 Dexes Game over. The final moves were: 25 We2 4c3 26 &xc3 Hxc3 27 Bd2 Wec7 28 [4 e4 29 Df2 d5 30 15 d4 31 Hxd4 &c5 32 Hed! &xd4 33 Bxd4 Rd7 34 Axed Axed 35 Dd Ap3 36 Wf2 Wa7 37 De7+ Sf8 38 Axc8 Wxd4 0-1 An even more rarely seen alterna- tive to 7 2b3 is 7 E517. Game 12 Meienhofer-King San Bernardino 1991 (1 e4 c5 2 Af3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4 Axd4 46 5 c3 a6 6 Re2 e5) 7 DES!? (65) Picture the scene. It is the first round of the San Bemadino open tournament. I’m hoping for a quick first game so that I can get outside OS B and breathe in the fresh alpine air. My unrated opponent plays 1 e4, and 1 hit him with the Najdorf. He looks confused. After 6 &e2 eS! he stares at the board as though he has never seen the position before in his life, and a couple of minutes later he plonks the knight on f5 as if it were the most natural move that one could play. Now it was my turn to think. The first thing that occurred to me was that there must be something good against this because no one ever plays it, then having looked for ten minutes and found no clear reply it struck me that if I had seen this posi- tion for the first time, then 7 “5 would seem the most logical move to play: on b3 or f3 the knight will play no significant part in the game for a long time, whereas on f5 it is already in the thick of the struggle. If Black kicks it with 7...g6 then White has the choice of retreating to e3 increas- ing control over d5; or playing theimbitious 8 @h6!?, preventing Black casting for some time. (The Soviet master Rashid Nezhmetdinoy once beat Tal using this idea in a similar position.) Researching what ‘theory’ had to say after the game, the only mention of 7 @E5 was in the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings volume B (Sa- hovski Informator, 1984). Polugay- evsky gives the move a ‘?’ and mentions two replies. The first is 7...&xf5 8 exf5 h6 (to prevent £25) assessing the position as slightly bet- ter for Black. During the game this idea did not appeal: White gains con- trol over the central squares with 9 23. The other antidote offered is 7...Dxe4!? 8 Dxg7+ Kxg7 9 Dxes (15 (slighuly beter for Black - ECO), but this also has its drawbacks: 10 )g3! with the idea of @hS, followed by breaking up the centre with either (4 or c4, depending on how Black plays. ‘Curse the man, I’m going to have to ink In the end J plumped for... 5! 10 nich my opponent reacted hS!? Not strictly necessary — simple development with 10...%e7 was quite satisfactory, followed by play- ing down the open c-file — but I felt like going for a quick kill. 6he2 55 1k Sgs Not 11 @xh5? AxhS 12 AxhS 4. ll... 26 12 2d3 ha 13 De2 Re7 14 Dd2 3! With this pawn stuck here, White will have problems with his king whenever the position opens. 15 3 Dea 16 xe7 Wxe7 17 Be4 Reb 18 Db6 2a8 19 Dd5 If White had not sacrificed this pawn he would have been slowly mashed. I have to tread a little care- fully, but the position is certainly winning. 19 Sxd5 20 exd5 EBxd5 21 Dest? (66) 66 yy yy >a a 4a [ex Lee ‘ YG a Ba AGC AL: ie JWwere Now if 21...exf4 22 Wxg4 White has dangerous counterplay but... 21. Wa7!56 6 Re2 If now 22 Axd5 Wxd5 23 £3 De3 Black wins back the material with a tremendous position. The rest is fairly simple. Black consolidates the extra pawn and crashes through in the centre. 22 Hel Hd6 23 Red Ses! The last difficult move. 24 Dd3 og7 25 We Be8 26 Be2 £5 27 Rxc6 Bxc6 28 Hael e4 29 Wea Bee6 30 £3 exd3 0-1 ‘The other thought I had during the game was that I ought to try 7 Af5 myself. A couple of months later I had the opportunity. 8...dxe4 9 Wxd8+ dxd8 10 0-0-0+ gives White a strong attack; and 8...Rx£5 9 cxf5 &b4 100-0. &xc3 11 bxc3 is pleasant for White with so many open lines for his bishops and rooks. 9 Rxf6 Forced. If 9 b1 Wa5+ 10 Wd2 (10 &d2 Wh6!) 10...Wxd2+ 11 Dxd2 Axed! 9 Wxf6 (67) 9...gxf6 is more ambitious, e.g. 10 bl and now: 10...Rxf5 11 exfS Rb4+ 12 Dd2 WaS 13.23 Rxd2+ 14 Wxd2 Wxd2+ 15 dxd2 reaches a rather unclear ending (I slightly pre- fer Black’s chances because he has two open files at his disposal), or 10...Wb6!? 11 2d2! Wxb2 12 0-0 and White has a lite compensation for the pawn (but only a little). Game 13 King-A.Petrosian Belgium 1991 (1 4 c5 2 @63 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Axd4 M6 5 4\c3 a6 6 Re? eS 7 AES) Artzhak Petrosian from Armenia is a leading expert on the Najdorf. Even he looked confused when the knight went forwards instead of back. 7 ow d5! 8 gs! Much stronger than Meienhofer’s 8 Dp3. 8 ow d4! ao 8 @ 10 Ads 11 4 It is important to support this knight: if both are driven back, White will have nothing to show for Waskiving up the bishop pair. ul... D6 12 0.0 26 13, Dg3 hS!? It seems that Petrosian had similar thoughts to mine. If he had contin- ucd his development in straightfor- ward fashion with 13...sg7 then it was my intention to play 14 c5! 0-0 15 @b6! and then to advance my pawns on the queenside. 14 263 Tcouldn’t let my knight go back to nl. 14... Reb 15 Sez g7 16 Dcl IT had become distracted by the idea of re-routing this piece. Look- ing at de position now, it seems bet- ter to stick to my original plan of 16 5 and “b6. 16 .. 0-0 17, Daa Be? (68) Here my opponent offered a draw, which I accepted. Black cer- tainly does not stand worse. So perhaps 7 4)f5 isn’t so great af- ter all. But it is worth knowing about in case someone springs it on you, and it certainly should not have been dismissed by established theory. This just shows that there are many neglected possibilities early on in the game — neglected because players do not have the courage to try new moves out, or cannot be bothered to use their imagination when they could be following ‘bouk* moves. Perhaps you are wondering why so much space in this book has been devoted to the 6 e2 lines. No ex- cuses are offered for this — an under- standing of the 6 Re2 eS lines is crucial to an understanding of the Najdorf as a whole. If you master the ideas in this chapter, then much of the material which appears later in the book will be straightforward.2 6&c4 board in front of me, ‘Danger!’ starts flashing through my head. Unlike 6 Re2 where White develops quietly and soundly, deferring the main struggle until the middlegame, 6 c4 signals an aggressive stance from the word ‘Go’ The bishop aims at the traditionally weak point £7, as well as d5 and e6. The follow- ing joke variation shows that a litle care should be taken already: 6...2c6? 7 4xc6 bxc6 8 e5 dxeS? 9 &xf7+ winning the queen. There- fore... 6 e6 ..blocking the bishop is sensible. (It would certainly not be good to play 6...e5 here: 7 Af5! lands Black with a miserable position — White’s bishop is perfectly placed on the di- agonal covering d5). ‘White must now use every means at his disposal to get the bishop back into the game, either by pushing his f-pawn to pressurise e6, or, more brutally, by sacrificing a piece. If White fails he will stand worse, the bishop sidelined and irrelevant. This is why the system is so sharp: itis all or nothing. Robby Fischer took this system from obscurity, honed it into one of the most feared weapons against the Najdorf, and then found a good antidote for Black himself, so that thereafter it virtually disap- peared from top tournament play. Recently, new ideas have been found for White and once again 6 &cé4 is in fashion. Fischer’s early games with the variation form the prototypes for White’s strategy.| Game 14 Fischer-Cardoso 4th match game, New York 1957 (14 c5 2 @£3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 @xd4 5N6 5 Dc3 a6 6 B04 e6) 7 00 &d7 A very solid way of treating the opening. Nowadays, Black normally plays with 7...e7 and ...b5, devel- oping the knight on the usual Na- \dorf square of d7 so that the c-file is left open for counterplay. 8 Rb3 Deb 9 Red Re7 10 fa! We7 11 £5! (70) A vital part of White’s strategy. The pawn on e6 is undermined, so that the bishop on b3 can once more play an active role. ll... @xd4 Black had to relieve the pressure on e6. Taking on f5 is out of the question: 11...exf5 12 AxfS Sxf5 6 Rcd 59 13 3xf5. The pressure on the file combined with the bishop bearing down on £7 will be too much, White can also use d5 for one of his minor pieces. 12 &xd4 bs 13 a3 eS It is difficult to know how to punctuate this move. If followed up in the way that Cardoso did here then “?7’ is not out of the question; if fol- lowed up correctly, then probably “9 Black had a safe option here in 13...0-0. After 14 fxe6 fxe6 15 We2 White has the more comfortable po- sition, but Black is very solid, 14 Re Reb Good move. The fight for d5 is on. 15 a5 (71) iu fet _@ oS w Ra wl oa 1S. Rxd5? An appalling decision. Black should play 15...Wb7!, increasing the pressure on d5 and e4, 16 @xe7 &xe7! and taking on e4 is good for Black; and 16 @xf6+ 2xf6 17 Wxd660 6Rc4 xed is also fine — the queen won't last long on d6; so 16 Wd3 looks best, defending the c-pawn and pre- paring to bring arook to d1. Before it gets there, Black ought to take the knight so that White is forced to re- capture with a pawn: 16...2xd5 17 exd5 0-0 18 a4 Hfc8. Black threatens the manoeuvre ...Se7-d8-b6; once the bishops’ are exchanged he will have more freedom to move. White, on the other hand, has no clear plan. 16 Sxd5 @®xd5 17 Wxd5 Ec8 18 3 Wea 19 Wb7! I suspect that this is the move that Black had missed. If White had con- tinued automatically with 19 Had1, then 19...Wxd5 20 Hxd5 Bc4! picks off the e-pawn, But now Black is un- able to castle because the bishop hangs, so must exchange queens un- der less favourable circumstances. 19 We6 20 Wxc6+ Exc6 21 a4 a7 Fischer carries out his strategy in this game very smoothly — but only because his opponent does nothing at all to cut across his plans. Here, for instance, 21...%c4 would at least have mixed it up a bit: 22 axb5 axb5 23 Ha8+ 2.8 when White has many tempting possibilities, but I do not see any clear way for him to con- tinue. 22 axbS axbS en meman Pry “7 “= ‘There is now little that Black can do to stop White creating a passed Pawn on te queenside. Fischer steers the game to victory with ease. 27 we Rd8 28 $d3 h6 29 Bas hs 30 bé! Re7 31 Bgs 206 32 Os Sc6 33 cd! Bd7 34 Ha8 bxed+ 35 dxe4 Eec7 36 Ha7 Exa7 37 &xa7 Ra8 38 Re3 £6 39 bS+ ed7 40 od5 Ras 41 a7 Rb4 42 2b8 ReS 43 g3 (73)nl ee i. 2 Amo AMA eg hg AO a 6 8 oc Ol Black has run out of waiting moves and must give ground. If 43...Rb4, then 44 b6 and b7; or 43... Rg] 44 Rxd6. B . Se7 44 Seb £6 45. fxg6 £5 46 &xd6+ 10 If 46...R.X06 47 7 Sf7 48 Sxd6 {xe4 49 b6 etc. In the next game, White’s strategy is even more pronounced. | Game 15 Fischer-Gadia Mar del Plata 1960 (1e4 c5 2 Df3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Axd4 6 5 Dc3 a6 6 &c4 e6) 7 &b3 bs 8 00 Sb? (74) Black must take extreme care when playing this move: the pawn on e6 has become weakened so that sacrifices on that square are now possible; moreover, Black lags be- hind in development and must be careful that his king does not get caught in the middle. 9 f4 A sharp move that tums out per- fectly, but ten years later Fischer was to prefer 9 Hel! — see the next game. 9 Deb? This does nothing to counter White's plan, The consistent way w continue was to grab a pawn with 9...b4, and try to rough out the attack. 10 Axc6 Rxc6 11 £5! eS Trying to maintain the pawn on e6. with 11... Wd7 looks very precarious, but it might have given Fischer something to think about. White should continue with the process of undermining e6: 12 fxe6 fxe6 13 Kg5 (13 Bxf6!? gxf6 14 Wed is tempting) 13...@e7 (13..xe4 14 Dxed Rxed is suicidal) 14 Rxf6 Rxf6 15 WhS+! WE7 16 Wh3 247 17 e5! dxeS 18 Had1! with a lethal attack. 12 Wa3 13 Sg5! Re762 6Rc4 This is even stronger than playing, the knight in straight away, which would have led to similar play to the previous game. B.. Wh6+ 14 Shi 0-0 15 &xf6 Rxf6 16 Sas! Bac8 17 &xc6 —-Exe6 18 Hadi Bfc8 19 Das Was 20 3 (75) Does this position look familiar? Compare it with Game 2, Jansa- Lazic, and Geller-Najdorf in the in- troduction (page 12). White has total dominance. 20 Re7 21 Hal! A beautiful move preparing a de- cisive breakthrough on the queenside. 21 £6 Defensive positions in which one has litte, or absolutely no counter- play are perhaps the hardest of all to play, so perhaps I should not be too hard on Black. Nevertheless, 21...f6 is an atrocious move. When White does break through it will be much easier to deliver the knockout punch as Black’s second rank has been ex- posed; it also means that the bishop will never emerge from its cage. 22 ad! Black must lose a pawn on the queenside. He tries to. save it, but loses something bigger instead. 22 we Eb8 23° Dxe7+ Black resigned due to 23...Wxe7 24 WdS+ and 25 Wxc6. Fischer played this game on auto- matic pilot. He had probably already had it a hundred times in blitz. If we return to the ninth move, White actually has a much swonger continuation which Fischer himself played in a later game: Game 16 Fischer-Rubinetti Palma de Mallorca Interzonal 1970 (Le4c5 2 DB d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Axd4 46 5 2\c3 a6 6 Lc4 6 7&3 5B 0-0 &b7) 9 Bel! (76) This sets up some very nasty threats. I’m sure Black wanted to play 9...Se7 here, in order to block the e-file and get his king to safety. But with g7 unprotected, White could crash in with 10 &xe6!, a standard sacrifice in this system:10...fxe6 11 Dxe6 Wd7 12 Dxg7+ ‘(7 13 @f5. I cannot see Black last- ing very long now. A plausible con- (inuation might be 13...7\c6 14 AdS! 4\xd5 15 Wh5+ with a mating at- tack. D we Dbd7 10 gS h6 11 the It might be even stronger to play I Rxf6 Dxf6 12 WE! when White’s lead in development looks {rightening. 11 Bc5? This is refuted with great force. IL...g5!? was the best try: 12 2g3 \e5 when 13 @f3 is not bad; and 13 Akxe6 is certainly worth a punt, e.g. 13..f%e6 14 @xe6 We8 (14...Wd7 has been suggested as an improve- ment, but I would not envy Black's defensive task after 15 “d5!) 15 \xf8 Bxf8 16 Wxd6 c4 17 Wd4 Wc6 18 @d5 and White’s attack proved irresistible in Martinez- Alonso, Cuba 1986. 12 &d5! (77) 12 exdS If the sacrifice is not accepted Black ends up with a strategically rotten position, ¢.g. 12...Wb6 13 Rxf6 gxf6 14 Wh5! 0-0-0 15 Rxb7+ Dxb7 16 Had! Bd7 17 He3 Hg8 18 h4! (preventing Hg5) 18..&b8 19 b4! (another good move, taking squares away from the knight) and White stands very well; Polgar- Filep, Hungarian Ch. 1969. 13. exd5+ a7 The next few moves are forced. If 13...e7 14 DES. 14 ba Dad 15 Dxad bxa4 16 c4 Sc8 17 Wxad Wa7 18 Wb3 There is really nothing Black can do to prevent his king from being overrun. His forces are too badly co- ordinated. 18... 35 19 Sg3 ®ns 20 cS! dxe5 21° bxeS (78)64 6Rc4 21... Wxas 22 He8+ ed7 23° Wad+ Re6 From these games we can clearly see where the danger lies. After some trial and error, an accurate move order was established enabling Black to develop without catastro- phe. Not only that, a reliable method of counterplay was found. Game 17 Ermenkoy-Portisch Skara 1980 (1 e4 c5 2 DEB d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Axd4 D6 5 Ac3 a6 6 Rc4 e6) 7 a3 A move which was in vogue in the late 1950s and early 1960s; but is seldom played now. The reasoning behind this apparent loss of tempo Tuns thus: ‘Sooner or later a3 will have to be played to prevent Black’s pawn getting to b4, so why not play it immediately?’ This also allows the bishop to retreat to a2, a slightly safer square than b3. 7 a3 is, however, not only an ap- parent loss of tempo — it is an actual loss of tempo, enabling Black to set up excellent counterplay without any difficulties. Tow Re7 8 Ra2 0-0 9 £4 bs 10 £5 ro 11 Bde2 White will now try to execute Fis- cher’s strategy in Game 15 — the re- moval of everything that covers d5, and then the occupation of that square with a piece. However, Black’s play down the c-file and against the weak e-pawn are more than sufficient to counter White's rather blunt idea. ll... Rb7 12 gs @®bd7 13 gs BS 14 0-0(79) Ww A ew PO 7we2s White’s threat is clear: Sxf6,‘nS, exchange on f6 and then either \ushop or knight to d5. The situation \s critical. Black can no longer rely on vague generalisations, some pre- vise calculation is necessary in order to avoid falling in with White's scheme. This position is worth ex- mining in some detail. In 1959, Fischer had the Black plcces in this position against Fridrik Olafsson. He tried 14...b6-arisky move. As the game continuation bears out, it is inadvisable to take a piece away from covering the f6- square: 15 2\hS! (now capturing on e+ would be fatal: 15..@xe4 16 kxe7 Wxe7 17 Dxe4 Rxed 18 £6 with a winning attack; and if 15...AxhS 16 &xe7 Wxe7 17 Wxhs threatening £6 — 17...WI6 18 g4!; \o Fischer opts to sacrifice an ex- change, but it still does not solve his problems) 15...xc3 16 bxc3 AxhS 17 Bxe7 Wxe7 18 WxhS xed 19 We4! d5 20 £6! Wc5S+ 21 dhl 26 22 acl and White went on to win in line style; F. Olafsson-Fischer, Bled Candidates 1959. I once reached this position my- sclf without any knowledge of pre- vious games and hit upon something new: 14...a5 (continuing the minor- ily attack) 15 &xf6 (15 @hS clearly leads nowhere: 15...2xhS 16 Sxe7 Wxe7 17 Wxh5 @f6 followed by ub4) 15...Dxf6 16 DdS (if 16 DhS ‘)xhS 17 Wexh5 b4 18 axb4 axb4 19 45 Hxc2 — perhaps it would have 6 Rcd 65 been better to have the bishop on b3 after all? — and Black has nothing to fear from 20 £6 &.xf6 21 Dxf6+ gxf6 22 HF3 Rxe4) 16...Rxd5! (I didn’t like the look of 16...Axd5 17 &xd5 &xd5 18 exd5! followed by putting the knight on e4) 17 &xd5 Hc5! 18 Wad3 We7 19 c3 Hb8 20 WE3 b4! 21 axb4 axb4 22 c4 (attempting to keep the position closed for a couple of moves in order to get his attack go- ing; if instead 22 cxb4 Exb4, and the b-pawn is bound to drop) 22...b3 23 Ha3 Wb6 24 Bhi Axd5 25 cxd5 218! (25...2f6 was also possible, but the main thing was to avoid White's threatened £6) 26 h4 Hc2 27 Hb! Wr2 and Black forced a winning ending; Stanec-King, Vienna 1991. ‘That Black has two good continu- ations at his disposal, one revolu- tionary (the main game), and the other evolutionary (the above vari- ation), is a clear demonstration that White’s system is bankrupt. 14 Bxc3! Shattering White’s ideas of cen- tral dominance with one blow. Black has more than sufficient compensa- tion for the exchange — it is White who should now be thinking about trying to force a draw. 15 bxc3 Dxe4 16 Axed Rxes 17 &xe7 Wrxe7 18 c4 It is understandable that White should wish to exchange off one of66 6 Rc4 his weakened doubled pawns, but thereafter Black’s attack develops at such a pace that his bishop at a2 is excluded from the struggle. With this in mind I would suggest 18 2d5 as an improvement: 18.6 19 xed Dxe4 20 Wel. This is un- pleasant, but White limps on. 18 Bc8! Bringing every piece into play. 19 cxb5 Exc? is out of the question for White. 19 We2 20 Bacl? Terribly passive; 20 Had1 was the only move to keep in the game. 20 hS! (80) D6 A wonderful move. White is get- ting hit with everything. Moving the h-pawn up the board also means that Black won’t fall foul of any back- rank tricks. Note once again how it is White’s king that eventually ends up in trouble, not Black’s. 21 exbS 22 WxbS axbS Wa7+ 23 éhi ha! 24 Wb3 Dea 25 h3 Ded 26 Egil @xf5 (81) wh Oe “ite me 2 £a0 gL Wee a & 2am aan a Be The refutation of White's strategy is complete: his forces driven ab- jectly to the comers of the board; while Black's pieces command the centre. 27 eh2 a5 28 4 Eb8 29 We3 Wr The kill. 30 Wrxe5 Eb2 31 exds Wxg2+ (82) How often in the Najdorf is the decisive counterpunch delivered on 22? Exg2+ De3+ 32 Bxg2 33 Shi 0-1 One of my favourite Najdort games. It should be said again that 7 a3 is not the most critical system. Never- theless, the set-up that Black used is,in most cases, the correct way to tet White’s strategy of £4-£5. The following game put an end to the popularity of the Fischer System for some time; and ironically, it was lischer who dealt the blow. White Pays in the most straightforward way, yet still fails to achieve his poal. | Game 18 R.Byme-Fischer Sousse Interconal 1967 (1 04.5 2 B63 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Dxd4 46 5 @c3 a6 6 B04 e6 7 &b3 dS) 8 f4 Very aggressive. It is more usual to play 8 0-0 first, keeping options pen; then Black’s most accurate move is 8...$e7! (8...8b7?! is game 16). 8. 2b7 9 £5 5 10 Ade2 ®bd7 11 &gs ReT 12 Dg3 eB! 6 cd 67 Setting up the standard counter- play without delay. This is much bet- ter than castling: now that the centre has closed Black’s king is relatively safe in the middle of the board. 13 00 Instead of this, taking on f6 is in- teresting: 13 &xf6 Axf6 14 Dns, and if 14...4)xh5 ‘15 Wxh5 0-0 16 We2 with the idea of bishop or knight to d5 is good for White. In- stead, 14...Hxc3 15 bxc3 Rxe4 16 Dxg7+ &f8 17 DhS Bg8 has been recommended in several sources as being good for Black, but I’m not convinced: 18 @xf6 Rxf6 19 WhS with the idea of 0-0-0 is very messy indeed. However, 15...2\xe4 seems good to me: 16 Axg7+ 2f8 17 Abs (17 Wh5 @xg7!) 17...Wb6! 18 We2 KRh4+! (19...Dxc3 20 WE2) 19 23 xc3 with the advantage. 13 hS! (83) A sensational move. Byrne must have been completely demoralised: from a ‘normal’ position he suddenly68 6 Rc4 finds himself without a hope. There is very little that he can do about the threat of ...b4 and ...2xc4. If 14 Rxf6 Dxf6 15 Wd3 Bxc3! 16 Wxc3 h4 17 Be2 Wh6+ 18 dhl Axed 19 Wel h3 and White’s king is cut to ribbons. In other words, he does not have a sensible way to keep going. 14 h4 This move severely weakens White’s king. Its main merit is that it complicates the position. 14... b4 15 &xf6 Since 15 @dS Axd5 16 RQxd5 Rxg5 17 bxgS RxdS 18 Wxd5 Wxg5 wins for Black. 1s .. SRxf6! 15...xf6 wins a pawn, but al- lows White to stabilise bis position: 16 DdS AxdS 17 RxdS Kxd5 18 exd5 &xb4 19 De4. Worth avoiding. 16 Dd5 Sxh4 17 ®xhs Wes 18 £6 The only way to save the knight, and a good attempt to stir things up, but Fischer has calculated everything. 18 26! Sidestepping the tactics. 18...2xh5 was impossible because of 19 H£5; whilst 18...Wxh5 lost to 19 fxg7. 19 Dg7+ eB 20 BS Sg3 (84) The position is an appalling mess, but the only one in danger here is White — his king is doomed. 21 Wd3 Rh2+ 84 Dc5 Once again, White attempts to un- balance the position. If 23...A\xd3 24 Exh8+ @d7 25 Ra4+ is a bit messy, but Fischer sees no reason to get in- volved. He has a winning attack if he just plays simply: White has no pieces protecting his king. 23 Eha! 24 We Dxb3 25 axb3 Exh3 26 Wxh3 Rxds 27 exd5 Waxf6+ 28 del ‘Wea! (35) 0-1I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that after 13...n5! Black has a winning position. While there is little doubt of the potency of the £4-f5 plan, it is per- haps just too obvious (when one knows what is going on) and there- lore relatively easy to deal with. As a consequence of Black’s suc- cesses, White players experimented with other attacking methods. Let us (um to the position after (1 e4 cS 2 Af3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 ‘xd4 D6 5 Dc3 a6 6 Rc4 e6 7 kb3 dS 8 0-0 2e7) 9 f4 &Rb7 (86) a Ts iN aw ae First of all, itis as well to note that 10 &xe6 (not mentioned in any source that I can find!) is probably not very good: 10...fxe6 11 Dxe6 Wh6+! (gaining a crucial tempo) 12 hl and now there are several promising continuations for Black, the most direct being 12...A\xe4! 13 Gxe4 (13 Dxg7+ SE7 14 ALS DL2+ 15 Hxf2 Wxf2 16 Wh5+ £f8 17 6Rc4 69 Wh6+ de8 wins) 13..2xe4 14 Dxg7+ Sf7 15 DbS We6 with a strong counter-attack. Before moving my bishop to b7, I always consider the sacrifice on e6 — itis just a reflex thought — mainly be- cause I can’t remember my ‘theory’; it is safer to check everything at the board. In the 1970s attention focused on the move... 10 e5 ..-but in a sense this suffered from the same drawback as £4-f5 — it was far too direct. Although Black has to tread carefully, there is no doubt that this line does not cause a problem. I don’t want to give a complete game outlining the strategy — for once, this is something that one must simply learn. Instead, I suggest a couple of antidotes. dxe5 Be5t (87) This is White’s problem — the di- agonals to his king are left wide open70 6Rc4 enabling Black to set up counter- threats. Moving the knight gives White good attacking chances: 11...e4 12 e3!; 11..Ad5 12 WF; and 11...\fd7 runs into 12 Bxf7! &xf7 13 Qxe6 Wb6+ 14 hl wes 15 Dxg7+ Sd8 16 e6 which ECO as- sesses as winning for White. 1 was beginning to have my doubts about this until I discovered 16...%.28!? 17 &h6! and here I really would not fancy my chances. 12 Re3 Forced. Not 12 exf6 Wxd4+ and Black goes into an ending with the better position and a pawn to the good. 12 ww xd4 This is the simplest method of de- fusing White’s aggression. There is also absolutely nothing wrong with 12...2c6 — except that there is more to learn. This variation is discussed below. 13 Qxd4 This does not give Black any problems at all. More testing is 13 Whxd4 Wxd4 14 &xd4 c6 15 Rc5!? (a very interesting pawn sac- Tifice; instead, 15 exf6 Axd4 16 fxg7 Ep8 with a strong attack is excellent for Black) 15...\xe5 16 a4!. Now there is no easy way for Black to disentangle — I suspect it is best to return the pawn immediately by 16...bxa4 17 Rxad+ Rc6 18 Rd4 Sxad 19 Bxad Ac6 20 Rxf6 gxf6 21 Exf6 de7 with equal chances. 13... Dc6 14 Bee If White is to avoid the poor end- ing mentioned above, then this con- tortion is necessary. Not a very pretty move, though. 14 We7 (88) & 8 iY Once White’s main attacking pieces have been chopped off, the e- pawn will become much weaker. Ex- perience is limited with this position ~ probably because White players have had very little desire to defend it. Savereide-Gallagher, Lewisham 1984, continued 15 Wfl and now 15...Ah5 (instead of 15...Axe5 16 x6!) is very good for Black. John Nunn gives a sample line: 15 We2 0-0-0 16 Hdl Axd4 17 Hexd4 Exd4 18 Hxd4 Wc5S 19 We3 Ad7 20 Ae4 &xe4 21 Exe4 &b7 when White is struggling to hold the ending be- cause the e-pawn is so vulnerable. Let us now return to the position after White’s 12th move (89).3. Rxd4 14 Wel White has a significant alternative here in 14 fxg7, a dubious piece sac- fice that White players have tried to make work on several occasions — without much success: 14...Sxe3+ IS @hl Hg8 16 Rxe6 (necessary brutality, for if 16 WE3 Exg7! 17 Wxe3 Wa4! returning the piece and starting an assault on g2 is a typical tactic in this variation) 16...2xg7 17 WhS DeS! 18 2d5 Hes 19 Qxf7+ We7 and, once again, 9? falls. If you \tend playing this variation, it is as well to examine this piece sacrifice In some detail to satisfy yourself that the Black position is defensible. 4 .. Rxe3+ 15 Wxe3 Was 16 Hael (90) ‘The great thing about Black’s po- sition is that the endings are almost 6Rc4 71 all promising for him: the bishop on 7 is much better than its counterpart on b3; whilst the passed c-pawn is potentially a strong asset, as well as providing good cover for the central- ised king. 16 .. Bas 17 Bet gxf6 18 Axf6+ Se7 19 Qase!? We are following the game Ro- manishin-Shashin, Daugavpils 1974. This move is typical of the Ukrain- ian’s style, Seeing that the ending does not promise much, he offers material to keep the attack going. Black gave in to temptation and took it, although I see no reason why he should not just retreat his king — 19...e8 — when White has nothing better than to repeat the position. 19 .. Bixd5? 20 &xd5 Wads 21 Bd Bd Black bails out into a bad ending, though attempting to survive the72 6Rc4 attack did not look like fun either. E.g.: 21... We5 22 Wb6! Hb8 23 Brel We5 24 We7+ 2£8 25 Efl, with a winning attack, is fairly typical. The Romanishin game continued 22 WE2! Wxe2+ 23 Wxp2 Sxg2 24 xg? with advantage to White. So Black should be fine after either 12...&xd4 or 12...Ac6, pro- viding he keeps his head in the com- plications. In all these lines White suffers from the fact that his king is so exposed. Every time it looks as though life is getting a bit too hot, a ‘fortuitous’ check or queen exchange saves the day for Black. In conclusion, 10 e5 is tricky, but not terribly good. The move which has brought the 6 &cé4 variation back into fashion is (1e4 c5 2 13 d6 3 d4 cxu4 4 @xu4d D6 5 Dc3 a6 6 Lcd e6 7 Rb3 b58 0-0 &e7) 9 WE (91) LA ase x [ab aaa tao min owe ARAY FA ea) wae This is very dangerous indeed. White hopes to use his lead in devel- opment to begin a lethal attack. The a big advantage over the lines exam- ined above is that it is less easy for Black to initiate counterplay: White's king is much safer here (no weakening pawn moves!), The immediate threat is e5. The natural 9...$b7 is bad on account of 10 &xe6 fxe6 11 Axe6 and Axg7+. 9...2a7 is possible, though seldom played - the rook is slightly loose, which has perhaps put people off. The most common replies are 9...Wic7 and 9...Wb6, intending to meet 10 e5 with 10.,.Sb7. As usual, let me first show a cou- ple of games where Black played the opening miserably. This is what one should NOT do: Game 19 Hofmann-Léffler West Germany 1989 (1 e4 cS 2 213 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Dxd4 AEE 5 Nc3 06 6 Rc4 c67 Rb3 b5 8 0-0 Aer 9 We) Woe 0 Bes Wb7(92) * em @ aAg- waa awe, ABA Au RA 2 axeThe queen is quite well placed on b7, eyeing the e4-pawn and support- ing the advance on the qucenside. However, it has taken a couple of moves to get there, and Black lags behind in development. 11 We3 Rd7? Black prepares to play ...A\c6, and does not fear 12 Wxg7 Hg8 13 Wh6 4\xe4, But... 12 25! (93) Or alternatively: Game 20 de Firmian-Browne US Ch. 1989 (1 e4.c5 2 Df3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Axd4 6 5 Ac3 a6 6 Kc4 6 7 Rb3 v5 8 0-0 7 9 Wr3) 9 We7 10 Weg3 Dc (95) 12... exfS 13 Wxg7 as 14 Rgs Dgs 15 Sxe7 Dxe7 16 a5 Dgo 17 @f6+ Sas 18 @xh7 Dc6 19 Oxf Dxf8 20 Wxf8+ Sc7 21 Wxf7 De5 22 Wee Wxet 23 Bad1 Wha 24 63 We5 It is a sensible idea to try to ex- 25 Bd5 Whe change off some pieces, as it reduces 26 Bfdi(94) 1-0 White’s attacking potential.74 6 Rcd IL Axc6 Wxe6 12 Eel 12 Wkxg7 is not very good: 12.88 13 Wh6 Axe4 with coun- terplay on the g-file. 12 .. 0-0 13 Bh6 D8 14 Bast Caramba. It looks as though Black is going to get mushed - but don’t panic! Taking is out of the question as the rook in the comer drops, however... 14 has! «there is nothing wrong with this calm retreat. Black’s pieces, it must be admitted, do not appear terribly active; but White has not actually broken through the line of pawns yet, and if all goes well, his pieces will have to retreat, not in disarray, but retreat nevertheless. 15 He3!? (96) de Firmian, not shy in matters of this kind, throws another piece in the vague direction of Black’s king. 15... Wb7 The knight is now en prise. 16 ra ons 17 &gs RE A risky decision. I would have wanted to exchange the bishops to relieve some of the pressure around my king: 17...Sxg5 18 Wxg5 h6 19 Eh3 Wxe4 is a slightly safer pawn to grab; and if 19 Wh4 @f6 Black be- gins to unravel. 18 3B 19 Sf! Easy to overlook. White threatens. to bring the rook over and then take on e6. Wxet 19... 5 20 Das aS 21 De7! (97) All kinds of nasty threats are float- ing in the air. Black is lucky to escape with only the loss of the exchange. 21 .. De7 22 Dxc8 Baxc8 23 Re7 £5 24 QxfB Exf825 3 {4 26 Wed b4 27 Bel Wes 28 Eh3 Wes 29 WE h6 30 Wes bxe3 31 Bc2 Whs+ Here Black resigned, as 32 £2d3 wins the queen. From these games we can see where the danger for Black lies: not from any pawn advance, but from White’s hyper-active pieces beating a destructive path towards the king. In this last game, 12...0-0, though not the end of the world, was rather asking for it. It was possible to play... | Game 21 Dolmatov-Polugayevsky Moscow TV 1987 (1 e4 c5 2 Df3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4 Axd4 ING 5 Dc3 a6 6 Rc4 067 Rb3 bs 8 0-0 27 9 WE3 We7 10 Wg3 4c6 11 45\xc6 Wxc6 12 Hel) 12 &b7 (98) 6 Rcd 75 13 Wxg7 is still too dangerous: 13...Hg8 14 Wh6 0-0-0 15 Wh3 2b8 (2d5 was threatened) 16 a3 B46 17 He2 Hdg8 gave Black a blistering at- tack in Drozdov-Shneider, USSR 1987. Instead, Dolmatov tried... 13 a3 White has no clear attacking move so is forced to stall for the time being. The game Vavra-Vokac, Pra- gue 1991, shows what happens if White gets carried away: 13 a4? b4 14 a8 0-0 15 Aa2 Axed 16 Wed £5 17 &xe6+ Bh8 18 We2 d5 0-1. 13. 0-0 14 &h6 Now this move is really not so dangerous. Only temporary disrup- lion is caused. 14... De8 15 Hadl Bas 16 Ea3 It is true that White’s position looks very harmonious compared. to Black's, but what is there to at- tack? 16 .. ns 17 &g5 (99) It was possible to retreat the bishop to cl, though Black is very comfortable after 17...2\f6, recon- necting his rooks. In the game, White hopes that after the exchange of bish- ops, the d-pawn will become weak. 17... Rxgs 18 Wxg5 are 19 Wd2 3d7In fact, the pawn is very easy to defend. The opening phase is over, and we can take stock. Through Black’s ac- curate defence, White’s early piece activity did not develop into a per- manent attack. Even though White had to retreat from attacking, his po- sition has not imploded because he made no weakening pawn moves. Indeed, neither side has any real weakness in structure; a dour strug- gle lies ahead. The game continued... 22 We We5 23 Wxe5 Exe5 24 De2 gst Clearing the way for the king to approach the centre. 25 oR g7 26 3 Sf6 27 Rc2 Se7 28 b4 HeS 29 Hdd D6 30 a4 a5! (101) 34 Sxe4 ..and a few moves later, having chopped off a bit more wood, the players agreed a draw. Heavy stuff. 9...Niéc7 is a solid method of deal- ing with 9 WE3. In consideration of the book’s tide, however, I feel I ought to give an alternative, sharper, antidote. As we saw in game 19, after 1 e4 C5 2 Df3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Axd4 Af6 5 Dc3 a6 6 Rc4 e6 7 2b3 b5 8 0-0Re7 9 W3, Black can also try... 9 on Wh6!? 10 23 Wh7 (202) en a wr @ame aratae a i Ose 7.0 swe ARAM WAL mize At first glance it looks very much ‘as though White has gained a move (10 &e3) compared to the 9...Wc7 line. However, Black’s theory is that: a) bis queen is uactically safer on b7, b) White will still want to play We3 and S2h6, so he has not gained a move at all. 11 Wg3 bat? Raising the stakes. Black pushes the knight to the edge of the board and in so doing hopes that he will be a little safer (the knight can’t sacri- fice itself on d5 any more!); more- over, at some point White will have to protect his e-pawn. The down- side of the move is that with the pawn on b4, it is easier for White to break open a line into Black’s posi- tion, Instead of this move, it was quite possible to continue in similar vein ea 6Rc4 77 to the previous game with 11...0-0 (the dubious 11...52d7 was discussed in game 19) 12 &h6 D8 13 Bfcl 47 14 Hadi dh8 (Black must still be very careful: 14...2\c62? 15 Ad5! Rd8 [15...exd5 16 Axc6 Rxc6 17 exd5 wins back the piece with inter- est] 16 Af5!! exfS 17 exf5 [threaten- ing Bxe8) 17...Ae5 18 HxeS! dxe5 19 &Rxg7 Axg7 20 £6! Kxf6 21 ®xf6+ Sh8 22 Bxd7 Had8 23 Wh4 hS 24 We5 wins. Wham-Bam.) 15 Rg5 Axg5 16 Wxg5 Dc6. From this point Hiibner-Tisdall, Haifa 1989, continued 17 “\ce2 4\f6 18 “g3 h6 19 Wh4 a5 20 a3 De5 21 WE4 a4 22 Ra2 b4 23 We3 Hfc8 24 h3 Babs 25 f4 and the players agreed a draw, al- though Black certainly has the better chances, Instead of 17 @ce2, it prob- ably would have been better to play more circumspectly with 17 @xc6 and 18 a3. 12 Bad (103) 103) a we & 40 #.m oen@ ae Aw} £ 2 xs 2. ®bd7 12...Axe4 is bad: 13 Wxg7 £678 6 Rc4 14 Wh6 and Black’s king is going to be caught in the middle. So far, no one has had the courage to play 12...0-0. It could well be that this transposes to the text, but it is slightly more flexible. The critical response must be 13 Ab6!? Axe4 (13... Wxb6 14 DFS) 14 WE Wxb6 15 4)\f5 Wb7 16 “xe7+ Wxe7 17 Wxe4 Wb7. White has some com- pensation for the pawn in the form of the bishop pair, and a slight lead in development, but Black still has a solid position, 13 White is unable to continue his at- tack for the moment, so just protects the e-pawn. Note how 13 &xe6 fxe6 14 Axe6 is not going to work be- cause the knight does not win a tempo on the queen. The simple 14...26 is good enough, as is the more complicated 14..Ae5 15 Dxg7+ E716 £4 Deg. 13 0-0 (104) wR Re vewongaa ia pie fay ARAM BAR A ae Experience is limited with this Position: yes, play in this way and you could be at the cutting edge of theory! Of the three games that I know of in this variation, two have continued with 14 Had1 dh8!? (this might not be necessary). Now after 15 Hd2! eS 16 “e2 aS the game was agreed a draw in Emms-Szekely, Dublin 1991. “We Szekelys have a right to be proud, for in our veins flows the blood of many brave races who fought as the lion fights, for lord- ship.” — Bram Stoker's Dracula. Since Drac’s demise at the end of the nineteenth century, it would appear that his kin-folk have developed quite an aversion to blood. Black has every reason to play the position on: the threat is ...32d7, embarrassing the knight on a4, and preparing to move the knight into c4 —a very unpleasant square from White’s point of view. In G.Mobr-Szekely, Belgorod 1990, instead of 15 4d2?!, White played 15 Wf2, and Black lashed out with the rather surprising 15...d5. 1 do not like this move — it does not look right for Black to open up the position when White is better devel- oped. I would suggest instead 15...De5 and ...S.d7 as above. Nev- ertheless, after 15...d5 Black man- aged to survive: 16 exdS Axd5 17 M5 (if 17 Rcl, 17...27£6 gives Black a strong point on d5, and he can play &d7 next move) 17...Axe3 18 Wxe3 2£6 19 Ad6 (this knight is