[Event "URS"]
[Site "Soviet Union"]
[Date "1963.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Vitolinsh, Alvis"]
[Black "Zakharov, Alexander V"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "1963.??.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2002.11.25"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6?! {A move that condemns Black to a passive
position from the start. It is not enough to get out of book for the sake of
doing so; one must ensure that they will get a good position. Yet, I have
played against players who leave book all the time and then promptly get into
inferior positions. Why? Because their positions were not active enough. They
would play hedgehog positions by putting pawns at e6 and d6, knights on e7 and
d7, and fianchetto both B's, and then struggle whenever the position opened up.
People like Alekhine, Botvinnik, Kasparov, and Petrosian were some of the most
inventive minds of the game. Yet they knew exactly what they were getting into
when they left book. Their innovations were successful because they set their
opponents problems that they were not used to. On the other hand, I myself
have lost to 1200 players because I would play the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit
without knowing what I was getting into. Getting out of book is no substitute
for careful preparation and study.} 4. c3 Be7 5. Qb3! {5. d4 is played more
than twice as often as the text. Yet, Vitolins goes his own way and succeeds
where others fail -- White scores barely 50% with d4 and almost 80% with the
text. Black will have difficulties defending against f7; both his knights
will be misplaced and completely out of the action. The Queen and the Bishop
will be driven back only at the cost of yielding White a powerful center, and
later, pressure all over the board.} Nh6 6. d4 Na5 7. Qa4+ c6 8. Bd3 b5 9. Qc2
Qc7 10. a4 bxa4?! {a6 was better. The position resembles a bad Spanish where
both of the Knights are on the rim and not just one. The text plays into
White's hands because it opens lines for his Rook on a1. This is as good a
time as any to discuss the concept of opening lines. Time and time again, I
have made pawn moves without realizing that they opened lines for the other
player. And then, I would wonder why I would get beat by a 1200 player when I
did not hang or drop anything. But the fact of the matter is that anyone can
take advantage when you open lines for them. And opening lines for a dangerous
attacker like Vitolins is like waving a red flag at a bull.} 11. Qxa4 Nb7 12.
Na3 Ng4 {White did not take the Knight on h6 because he preferred to force
Black to waste two moves to bring the Knight to f6. But as it turns out, the
Knight never gets there.} 13. Nc4 {The initial consequence of Black's 10th
move. In most normal Spanish-type positions, the White Knight takes four moves
to possibly find a good square at f5, should Black choose to allow it by not
playing ...g6 at some point. By that time, Black is normally in good position
to defend it. But here, the Knight is in perfect position to create thematic
pressure on e5 -- which is White's objective in these Spanish positions.} exd4?! {Black misses a chance to initiate counterplay on White's position and
improve the position of his Knights. Earlier, I mentioned that Black condemned
himself to a passive position. But even in the so-called "passive" positions,
there are plenty of opportunities to break out of one's shell and create
counterplay.} (13... O-O 14. O-O f5! {Now, even though White is still
better, Black has a real chance to make a game of it. Fear affects the one who
is better as well as the one who is worse. The person with the better position
is always afraid of spoiling that position and getting worse. And there is a
way for White to spoil his position.} 15. h3! (15. exf5 e4 16. Bxe4 d5 17. Bc2
dxc4 18. Qxc4+ (18. h3) 18... Kh8 19. d5 (19. h3) 19... Ne5 20. Nxe5 Qxe5 21.
dxc6 (21. Qxc6 Rf6 22. Qe8+ Rf8) 21... Nd6 22. Qf4 (22. Qd4 Qxd4 23. cxd4 Bxf5)
22... Qxf4 23. Bxf4 Bxf5 24. Bxf5 Rxf5 25. g3 g5 26. Rfe1 Bf8 27. Be5+ Kg8 28.
g4 Rf7 29. Rad1 Nc4 30. b3 Nxe5 31. Rxe5 {Here, White has given up a piece for
three pawns; however, he has all the difficulty of the world in coordinating
his passers and creating problems for Black. In all likelyhood, Black will
save the game and perhaps even win it. There is a human factor at work --
the player with the White pieces in such a position will frequently think
about how they spoiled their position instead of the position at hand.}) 15...
Nf6 16. dxe5 Nxe4 17. exd6 Nbxd6 18. Nfe5 {Here, White is still better.
However, Black has drastically improved on his position; his Knights have
finally found good squares, and he has caught up to White in development.
White is still better thanks to his superior pawn structure; however, Black
has forced White to work for the full point rather than play passively.
Petrosian wrote about this -- in a lot of the so-called "inferior" positions,
the side with less space has a lot of pent-up energy waiting to be unleashed;
he won countless games creating positions in which he had much less space and
then defeated his opponent when this energy was unleashed. Even Kasparov fell
victim, losing to him twice.}) 14. cxd4 {Now, White has a free hand in the
center. Black attempts to blockade the position, but cannot create a blockade
on f5/g6 because of his stranded Knight on g4 -- stranded as a direct result
of his opening setup. Consequently, White will be able to have access to the
b1-h7 diagonal and will be able to bring his Queen to g6 via c2.} O-O 15. O-O
f5 (15... d5 {This move, attempting to make use of the Knight on g4 by
bringing the B to d6, does not work as c6 will fall instead:} 16. Nce5 Bd6 17.
h3 dxe4 18. Bxe4 Nxe5 19. dxe5) (15... c5 {This move creates a bad Benoni
setup where the Black Knight is stranded on b7, the B is misplaced on e7.
there is no prospect for counterplay along the B file because of Black's 10th
move, and White is the one creating pressure on the Q-side and not Black.}) 16.
e5 d5 17. Na3 f4 (17... Nd8!? {This is an interesting attempt to get the
Black Knight into the game; it will blockade the passed White pawn on e5.
However, White retains the advantage by radically clearing the e5 square,
securing the Two Bishops, and bringing more pressure on the weak c6 pawn.} 18.
Bd2 Ne6 19. h3 Nh6 20. Rfc1 Bd7 21. Nb5 Qb8 22. Nd6 Bxd6 23. exd6 {
Black cannot capture on b2 because his Queen will be trapped. White will
answer ...Nf7 by either Ne5, forcing the trade on e6 and creating twoconnected
passers on e5 and d6, or Bxf5 and Bxe6, overworking the B and winning the pawn
on c6.}) (17... c5 {The position is now similar to a French, except the pawns
on c3 and e6 are gone. In this particular position, the difference favors
White as he is able to bring his Knight to c3 with tempo to pressure the
unprotected pawn on d5. White has the better ending here, as the pawns on d5
and a7 are weak.} 18. h3 Nh6 19. Nb5 Qc6 20. Nc3 Qxa4 21. Rxa4) 18. Bd2 c5 {
This can be hardly termed a mistake, as Black only had a choice of evils.} (
18... Bf5 {
Here, Black attempts to kill the pressure on h7, only to lose his c-pawn.} 19.
Bxf5 Rxf5 20. h3 Nh6 21. Rfc1) (18... Qb6 {This move attempts to rule out
White transferring the Knight to c3 with tempo. However, this simply makes
Black vunerable to sacrifices on g6, followed by e6, cutting the board in two:}
19. Qc2 g6 20. Bxg6 hxg6 21. Qxg6+ Kh8 22. e6) (18... Nd8 {This prevents the
aforementioned e6 advance and protects the c6 pawn; however, the sacrifice on
g6 is still possible because the Knight on g4 is trapped after h3. This is
still Black's best defense.} 19. Qc2 g6 20. Nb5! {This is best, as White
plans to bring the Knight to e2 to target the pawn on f4. It turns out that
although White wins two pawns out of the Bishop sacrifice, the roles get
reversed -- it is Black doing the counterattacking, b2 is a target, and White
will be tied down to his weaknesses. And this is why I suggest that ...Nd8 is
the best move in this position -- it gives White a chance to go wrong; the
sacrifice on g6 is always tempting for a player like Vitolins.} (20. Bxg6?! hxg6
21. Qxg6+ Kh8 22. h3 Qd7 23. hxg4 Qxg4 24. Qh6+ Kg8 25. Nh2 Qg7 26. Bxf4) 20...
Qd7 21. Nc3 Ne6 22. Ne2) 19. Qc2 h5 {19...g6 was out of the question because
the sacrifice on g6 followed by h3 is a lot more favorable than in the
previous variation. White should prepare it with 20. Nb5 first, forcing Black
to choose between defending the pawn on a7 and his king side. When
creating pressure on the opponent, it is always good to use the whole board.
That makes it that much more difficult for the opponent to defend against all
your threats. As we shall see, Vitolins will do so with drastic effect.} 20.
Nb5 Qb8 21. Nc3 Be6 {Seemingly protecting everything. But not only does it not,
White opens yet another front for his pieces -- the a2-g8 diagonal. This is a
perfect example of crime and punishment on the chessboard -- the "crime" on
move 10 is punished 16 moves later; White exploits Black's thoughtless capture
to its logical extreme.} 22. Ra6!! Nd8 23. Rxe6! {The question may be asked
here -- how does one see such sacrifices. In this case, it doesn't take
spending all one's time on the clock at all -- all White had to see was the
fact that there was no way for Black to contest the a2-g8 diagonal. Should
White have been able to foresee this position from Move 10? No -- what it
takes is being on the constant lookout to exploit one's chances. Now, every
single move by White comes with a threat, forcing Black to react. Once White
puts together a string of these threats, at some point, Black will not be able
to defend. Even though White is down an exchange here, Rybka already gives him
a two-pawn advantage.} Nxe6 24. Nxd5 Bd8 25. Bc4 Kh8 26. Qg6 Nxd4 27. Nxd4 cxd4
28. Bd3 Kg8 29. e6 Nf6 30. Nxf6+ Rxf6 31. Qh7+ (31. Qe8+ {White could have won
more quicker here; he had mate in seven. So, one might ask, why am I
nitpicking when White mates in 9 anyway? Because it is important to play
accurately even in the hour of victory. Tchigorin missed a mate in two against
Steinitz. Bobby Fisher blundered a piece against Spassky in their 1972 match.
If even those people can make those kinds of mistakes, then it is that much
more important that us mortals play as accurately as possible.} Rf8 32. Qxh5
Rf6 33. e7 Bxe7 34. Bc4+) 31... Kf8 32. Bc4 a5 33. Re1 Ke7 34. Qxg7+ Kd6 35.
Qd7+ Kc5 36. Qd5+ Kb6 37. e7 Bxe7 38. Qb5+ Kc7 39. Rxe7+ Kd6 40. Rd7# 1-0
