The Invitational Continued

The second round game between Peter Michelman and Grant Spraggett was an exciting affair, maybe the most dramatic of all the games in this tournament. Peter obtained an advantage in the kind of position GM Har-Zvi liked to describe as; “messy and both sides are losing“. Spraggett then just kept upping the ante by piling on more and more tension until Michelman slipped.

Michelman, Peter - Spraggett, Grant [A57]

Capital Dsitrict Invitational Albany, NY, 20.04.2002

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6

The Benko Gambit, one of my all time favorite openings. Black offers pawns for development and pressure on the Q-side. For the material given he usually obtains good development with both Rooks and the Bg7 pressing down on b2 and the surrounding squares, that is if the game continues in the usual way.

5.f3,..

Known but not usual when the Benko first caught on as a dynamic try for Black.

5..., e6!?

The alternative is 5..., axb5; and if 6 e4 Qa5+. Hans Berliner, the 5th Correspondence World Champion published some analysis of this variation in 1999. Berliner held 5..., e6; leads to a good game for White after; 6 e4 exd5 7 exd5 Qe7+?! 8 Kf2 c4 9 Nc3 axb5 10 d6! Qxd6 11 Qxd6 Bxd6 12 Nxb5 Bc5+ 13 Be3 Bxe3+ 14 Kxe3 0-0 15 Bxc4. Up to the 10th move for White, the variation was played at the top level in 1997. Berliner claims his 10 d6, is a significant improvement. Black has a better move on his 7th turn; 7..., Qc7; in place of 7..., Qe7+. Then play continues; 8 Nc3 Bd6 9 Qe2+ Be7 10 Kf2, and Black is close to equalizing in another messy position. I have a great deal of admiration for GM Berliner. Why he did not share what he may have found to deal with 7..., Qc7; I don’t know. It seems to me that the 5..., e6; line is playable for Black until someone comes up with an improvement for White after 7..., Qc7.

This analysis of the variation 5..., e6; was preliminary to an examination of the line beginning 5..., axb5. There Berliner offers these comments; “ If the aggressive 5..., e6; fails, as it apparently does, then Black has nothing better than 5..., axb5; 6 e4 Qa5+ Black dare not play 6..., b4; 6..., Ba6; or 6..., Qb6; as the reply 7 e5 is too strong.” He sees the line 7 Bd2 b4 8 Na3 d6 9 Nc4 Qd8; as very good for White. Berliner goes on to say; 10 a3, is the right move for White, and if 10..., e6; 11 Ne3, is correct for White. Berliner explains as follows; “It moves a well placed piece for a third time; however, in the process it makes the deployment of White’s kingside forces much easier. Also, the transgression is not so bad, as Black has moved his Queen twice and arrived back at its original square.” Berliner added; “The important point is that, if White can maintain the d5-pawn, he will have split the Black forces into two camps and will not be able to coordinate on anything offensive, while White can operate on both wings.”

Interestingly, there are a fair number of games in these lines in my databases, but relatively few between 2500+ players. In those games the most common move for Black in the 5..., e6; line is 6..., exd5. This leads to every bit as complicated positions as those Berliner cited and in the game under discussion. My conclusion is the move 3 f3, and 5..., e6; will give you tough, fighting game for both sides with positions difficult to evaluate and roaring tactics just to add spice to the problem. Spraggett takes the game down another path.

6.e4 c4 7.Nc3,..

Possible is 7 Bxc4, but one would have to be very confident about the theory of the position to agree to; 7..., Qc7 8 Bb3 axb5 9 Ne2 Bc5 10 Nbc3 Ba6; when White will have a hard time finding a safe haven for his King, especially against a solid FIDE master.

7..., Bc5

Mr. Spraggett hurries to occupy the diagonal g1-a7. Also possible is 7..., axb5; then 8 Be3 Qa5 9 a4 exd5 10 exd5 Bb4 11 Kf2, and here are examples of how that plays out at the hands of some GM’s:

Notkin is something of a specialist in the 5 f3 line. This time he makes a mistake in the middle game after coming out of the opening in good shape.

Notkin, Maksim (2515) - Nisipeanu, Liviu Dieter (2545) [A57]

Ciocaltea mem Bucharest (8), 1997

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.f3 e6 6.e4 c4 7.Nc3 axb5 8.Be3 Bb4 9.Kf2 0–0 10.Nge2 d6 11.a3 Ba5 12.b4 cxb3 13.Qxb3 Na6 14.Rd1 Bb6 15.Nd4 e5 16.Nc2 Nc5 17.Qb2 Nh5 18.Bxb5 f5 19.exf5 Bxf5 20.Rhe1 Nf4 21.Kg1 Rf6 22.Bf1 Rh6 23.Nb4 Qg5 24.Nc6? [Better is: 24.g3 Ne4 25.Nxe4 Bxe3+ 26.Rxe3 Nh3+ 27.Bxh3 Qxe3+ 28.Qf2 Qxf2+ 29.Nxf2 Bxh3] 24...Na4 25.Qd2 Nxc3 26.Bxb6 Nxd1 27.Rxd1 Rxa3 28.Qb2 Ra8 29.g3 Nh3+ 30.Kh1 Kh8 31.Qe2 Ra3 32.Nd8 Qf6 33.Ne6 Bxe6 34.dxe6 Qxe6 35.Bc5 Ra2 36.Qb5 Rxh2+ 37.Kxh2 Nf2+ 38.Kg1 Nxd1 39.Bc4 Qc8 40.Bb6 Nc3 41.Qb4 d5 42.Ba6 Qb8 43.Bb7 Rf6 0–1

White castles long in this game, but with some timely trades he is able to diminish the Black forces enough that no devastating attack crashes through there.

Volkov, Sergey (2634) - Iljushin, Alexei (2543) [A57]

RUS-chT Sochi (9), 27.04.2005

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.f3 e6 6.e4 c4 7.Bxc4 axb5 8.Bxb5 Bc5 9.Ne2 0–0 10.Nbc3 Qb6 11.Qb3 Na6 12.Bg5 Nc7 13.Bc4 Qa7 14.0–0–0 Ba6 15.Bxa6 Qxa6 16.Qc2 Rfb8 17.Rd2 Nfe8 18.Qd3 Qa7 19.Nd4 e5 20.Nb3 Rxb3 21.axb3 f6 22.Bh4 Nd6 23.Kd1 Qa1+ 24.Qb1 Ncb5 25.Ke2 Qa6 26.Qd3 Nd4+ 27.Kf1 Nxb3 28.Qxa6 Nxd2+ 29.Ke2 Rxa6 30.Kxd2 Nc4+ 31.Ke2 Nxb2 32.Rb1 Rb6 33.Nd1 Nxd1 34.Rxb6 Bxb6 35.Kxd1 h5 36.Ke2 Kf7 37.Kd3 Bg1 38.h3 Ke7 39.Kc4 g5 40.Be1 h4 41.Kb5 Be3 42.Bb4+ Ke8 43.Bd6 Bd2 44.Kb6 Bc3 45.Kc7 Ba5+ 46.Kc8 Bd8 47.Ba3 Bb6 [47...Be7 48.Bxe7 Kxe7 49.Kc7] 48.Bb4 Bd8 [48...Be3 49.Ba5 Bc5; 48...Bd4 49.Ba5] 49.Bd6 Bb6 50.Bc7 Bxc7 51.Kxc7 Ke7 52.Kc8 1–0

8.Bxc4 Qb6 9.Nge2 0–0?!

Very probably it is better to play 9..., axb5; before castling.

10.Qb3,..

Also strong is 10 Na4. Either way White has a healthy advantage according to Rybka.

10..., axb5 11.Qxb5 Qa7 12.Bg5 exd5 13.exd5 Na6?!

Better 13..., d6; or 13..., Ba6.

14.Bxf6 Rb8 15.Qa5 gxf6 16.0–0–0?,..

And in one fell swoop Mr. Michelman gives up just about all of his advantage. The correct move is 16 Nb5, then White can return the Exchange after; 16..., Rxb5 17 Qxb5 Nb4 18 a3 Nc2+ 19 Kd2 Nxa1 20 Rxa1 d6; and the passed a and b-pawns leave white with a solid edge. It can’t be said White has a won game in suggested variation. Black, however, faces a challenging task to demonstrate the Bishop pair is worth the investment of two pawns

16..., Bb6?

This looks good but isn’t. Better is 16..., Bb4. This is because 16..., Bb4; allows Black to rip open the defenses around the White King after 17 Qa4 Qd3+ 18 Rd2 Bxc3 19 bxc3 Nc5 20 Qa3 d6; and the White King is exposed to some very chilly winds. The text allows White to keep things closed up around his King.

17.Nb5 Be3+ 18.Kb1 Qc5 19.Qc3,..

Bill Townsend wrote: “During the game I wasn’t so hot on this move, but it seems to be the best.” I had the same feeling thinking 19 b3 was right. White is OK after 19 b3, but the text is stronger.

19..., Re8 20.Bd3?,..

White has made to most of his chances since the slip on move 16, and Black’s failure to find the right way to make progress has given White a significant plus. My guess is Peter hoped for a Queen trade on c3 with the pleasant prospect of torturing a master for some long time with his passed pawns. That was not to be. Mr. Townsend gave this move a double query in his notes and blamed it for the troubles coming. It is not even the next move that proves to be the final coffin nail however.

20..., Rxb5!? 21.Qxf6?!,..

If calmly 21 Bxb5 Qxb5 22 Ng3, threatening 23 Nh5, with the glimmerings of his own attack on the Black King, White retains some advantage. Now Black gets to carryout the classic Benko strategy; attack down the b-file. This attack is made more virulent by the presence of the White King right where the Black pieces are aiming. Now White has no choice but to try for the draw.

21..., Qb6 22.Qh4??

The final mistake throws away the draw to be had with 22 Bxh7+ Kxh7 23 Qxf7+ Kh6 24 Qxe8 Rxb2+ 25 Ka1 Rxe2 26 Qh8+; and the Black King will not be able to avoid the perpetual because when the King goes to f5 the immediate g2-g4+ closes out vital escape squares. Michelman may have shied away from this line because the alternative line 25..., Rxa2+ 26 Kxa2 Nb4+; had to be evaluated at the same time, and he was in some time trouble as usual. He also may have just missed Black’s move 23.

Rxb2+ 23.Ka1 Bh6

Masking h7 neatly and it is now clear White is lost.

24.Nd4 Bg7 25.Bxh7+ Kf8 26.Rd3 Ree2; 0–1

If 27 Nxe2 Rb1 double check and mate. White can only delay mate with silly sacrifices such as checking on d8 with his Queen. After almost Shakespearian “Alarums and Excursions”, the game is decided by typical a typical Benko attack down the b-file by Black.

The game was not very long. It had in a short span plenty of fireworks for the players and the spectators. Most unfortunate for Peter Michelman that he missed the chance for a spectacular upset. It is not so hard to find tactics with my trusty electronic companion Rybka to help out and with unlimited time to search. It is a much different and more difficult task to, unaided, find good moves in a game. In chess, at our less than exalted level, fortune follows the bold. Grant Spraggett was bold in his choice of opening and in the path he pursued in the game. For this he was rewarded with the win.

More soon.