Greetings,
Lou_Cyber wrote on 08/27/07 at 22:28:14:
Hi,
Me and Fritz meanwhile had a closer look at the position after 21.00 Nce5!?.
Nce5 looks better than f5, yet the position is VERY unpleasant for black. On move 22. white can choose between 5 promising moves which give black a difficult defensive task. First I had a look at 22.Bxf8, but couldn´t refute the analysis given above leading to equal / unclear positions.
Then I had a look at alternative attacking moves as 22.Qg3 or 22.Nc5, but didn´t found a way to clear advantage. Blacks defence often depended on the threat of either Qxd2 or Qc5 pinning and exchanging the white queen.
22.Kh1 looks equal to me, but may be too slow as black has an important tempo to consolidate.
Therefore finally I had a closer look to 22. Tdd1.
gewgaw wrote on 08/22/07 at 09:04:18:
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.e5 dxe5 11.fxe5 Nfd7 12.Ne4 h6 13.Bh4 Qxa2 14.Rd1 Qd5 15.Qe3 Qxe5 16.Be2 Bc5 17.Bg3 Bxd4 18.Rxd4 Qa5+ 19.Rd2 0-0 20.Bd6 Nc6 21.0-0 Nce5 22.Rdd1!? f5 [22...Re8 23.Bh5 Ng6 24.Qf2 Qf5 25.Qe2 Qa5 (25...Qb5 26.c4 Qb6+ 27.c5 Qb3 (27...Qb5 28.Qf2+-) 28.Rxf7 Kxf7 29.Qg4+-; 26.Rxf7 Kxf7 27.Qg4 Kg8 28.Qxg6 Rd8 29.Be7 Kh8 30.Bxd8 Qxd8 31.Nd6+-] 23.Bxf8 Kxf8 [23...Nxf8] 24.Nd6 Qc5 25.Nxf5 Qxe3+ 26.Nxe3+ Ke7 unclear
by gewgaw and fruit 2.3.1
21. ...Nce5 still alive, but f7-f5 was necessary. 22.Rdd1 is amazing;
22.Rdd1 f5
Rdd1 is connecting the rooks and thus frees the Qe3 from defensive tasks. If the analysis given above is correct - I checked it - black has to play f5.
23.Bxf8 Kxf8
24.Nd6 Qc5
25.Rd4!? keeping the queens on the board b5 (b6!?; Kg8!?)
26.g4! Nf6
27.Nxf5 Ned7
28.Qxe6 Ne5
29.Qd6+ Qxd6
30.Rxd6 Nf7
31.Rc6 Bd7
32.Rc7 Rd8
33.Ra7 Bc8
34.Nxh6 Nxh6
35.g5 winning back the piece and attacking; white has a clear edge.
I agree that the position looks very uncomfortable for Black after 21. ..., Nce5. I certainly wouldn't like to be Black in this position.
However, it's worth noting that in OTB play in 2007, the following moves have been played after 20. Bd6:
20. ..., Nc6 - Three games with TWO WHITE WINS & ONE DRAW;1-0 (41) - Anand-Van Wely, Wijk aan Zee, Corus A (9)
1-0 (51) - Tukhaev-Zubov, Kharkov, UKR Ch-Fin (5)
0.5-0.5 (26) - Kristjansson-Thorhallsson, Reykjavik, ISL Ch-Fin (3)
20. ..., Rd8 - Three games with THREE BLACK WINS(!)0-1 (31) - Motylev-Anand, Wijk aan Zee, Corus A (2)
0-1 (49) - Vorobiov-Askarov, Serpukhov, Russia Cup (1.1)
0-1 (34) - Gunnarsson-Thorfinnsson, Reykjavik, ISL Ch-Fin (1)
20. ..., Re8 - One DRAWN GAME.0.5-0.5 (33) - Chirila-Salgado Lopez, Kemer TUR WYb16 (9)
Kindest regards,
Dragan Glas