1.c4 g6
White begins with the initial move of the English
Opening. It will become a Grünfeld Defense by transposition.
Black's 1. ...g6 and 2. ...Nf6 are waiting moves to avoid many of the usual
lines of the English Opening which has a reputation for being transformational
in nature.
2.d4 Nf6
White doesn't try too hard to stay in English
Opening lines with something like 2.Nc3, but one can't really say that
he has left them either.
3.Nc3 d5
Reaching the normal position for the Grünfeld
Defense, Black has to prevent e4 or White's center will be too well established
to easily challenge.
4.Nf3 Bg7
White doesn't enter the sharp Exchange variation
of the Grünfeld, by exchanging his c-pawn for the d5-pawn. He
opts instead for earlier development of the knight and castling.
The knight at f3 guards the d4-pawn, but will be susceptible to a pin from
a bishop on g4 as long as the queen remains on d1, one reason the queen
develops early in this variation. The capture and recapture of the
c3-knight could disrupt White's pawn structure and give him double pawn,
but this possibility is way down the road. Also, the d4-pawn can now be
defended e3 instead of Be3 as in the Exchange variation. It is sharper
to move e4 in one move, but this can take place as long as Black controls
that square and defending d4 will be White's main defensive task as Black's
attack becomes more and more organized.
Black fianchettoes his bishop to command the a1-h8
diagonal, an important resource for Black in this and other hyper-modern
openings. Black could have taken 4...dxc4 but it would have been disadvantageous
to so as it would have allowed the d4-pawn to advance shortly when it should
be held at d4 and brought under attack as accomplished by the bishop move.
5.Qb3 dxc4
This queen move, much earlier than in many opening,
minimizes the possibility of a future pin and attacks the black pawn at
d5 which takes forcing the queen to either capture or move with a loss
of a tempo.
6.Qxc4 0-0
The white queen is in rather an exposed position,
but Black castles for king safety, rook development, and the protection
of the f7-pawn, the weakest kingside pawn.
7.e4 a6
White establishes a classic center; Black threatens
...b5, forcing the queen to move with a loss of a tempo.
8.Be2 b5
White develops rather than anticipating ...b5
by moving his queen. Perhaps, the two pawn moves, ...a6 and ...b5,
cancel out a loss of a tempo by the white queen. The white bishop defends
the knight against a possible black bishop move to g4. Capture by
the bishop rather than a pawn would leave White's castled position intact.
9.Qb3 c5
White has a choice to make here, queen to b3 or
d3. At d3, the queen defends the pawn at d4 and exerts pressure on
the d-file. At b3, the queen prepares the advance of the center pawns
which should be mobilized before Black's attack against them becomes well
organized.
Black's gambit pawn attacks the center and frees
Black's position, but at a price. If White takes, the d-file becomes
open, and it appears that the d-file will be under Black's control with
his queen and rook both poised for duty. Things didn't work out this
way.
10.dxc5 Bb7
White accepts the gambit pawn, and Black places
another attacker on the e4-pawn. White has a passed pawn that can be easily
supported by Be3, but White's center is under attack by Black. Black has
given up a pawn to weaken White's center position, but he would have done
better to continual development, blockade the center, bring the center
pawns under attack, or even begin operations against White's queen or castled
position to weaken his kingside.
11.0-0 Nxe4
White opts for king safety and gives back the
pawn. Now a rook will confront the black queen on the d-file. Black
takes the pawn and attacks the passed pawn at c5. The center has been liquidated
by sacrifice and captures.
12.Nxe4 Bxe4
Both sides continue with simplifying exchanges
in the center. Black hoped to secure the center files, but it is
difficult for a queen to control a file when confronted with an active
rook
13.Rd1 Qc7
White forces the queen off the open file and Black
follows a sound policy of attacking the passed pawn. The black queen
also bears down on White's castled position.
14.Be3 Nc6
White easily defends his passed pawn and also
connects his rook to support each other. Black has stopped the passed pawn
now he proceeds to physically blockade it with the knight. He also
connects his rooks on the eighth rank. The knight defends d8 which will
be important if he can challenge White for control of the d-file.
15.a4 b4
White threatened axb and black's capture bxa would
have left him with two a pawns and ruined his already weakened pawn structure.
Black's pawn advance is supported by the knight at c6 which is beginning
to seem over worked.
16.Nd4 Be5
White threatens to exchange knights leaving the
c4-pawn hanging. Black brings another bishop to the kingside attack.
Now h2 is twice attacked and only defended by the king.
17.h3 e6
White saves his h-pawn but allows a hole in his
castled position. Black prepares a strong point at d5 for a bishop
or other piece to shut the open file and possibly to prepare the advance
...f5 if that break becomes possible.
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18.Nxc6 Bxc6
The pawn at b4 is now hanging but White's passed
pawn is still blockaded by a minor piece allowing the black queen to continue
to exert power along the h2-b8 diagonal.
19.Bd4 Bxd4
White confronts the bishop on the a1-h8 diagonal
and Black exchanged leaving a hole in Black's castled position which
would be open to a queen operating on the black squares. However,
surrendering the diagonal would have allowed both a queen and a bishop
to operate along it. Exchanging was best.
20.Rxd4 Qe5
White recaptures and Black moves his queen to
cover the dark squares leading to the heart of Black's castled position.
The queen also strikes at the pawn on c5, the bishop on e2, and the rook
on d4.
21.Qe3
Black to move
White offers a queen exchange and protects his
bishop and rook at the expense of his pawn. Chess Life
analyzed 21...Qxc5 as good for Black. It would rescue his b-pawn.
21...Qxe3
Black accepts the queen exchange.
22.fxe3 a5
White finished the queen exchange while Black
protects his b-pawn.
23.Bb5 Rfc8
White begins an attack of the bishop blockading
his passed pawn. Black acts to defend the bishop and also to bring
the pawn at c5 under attack when the bishop is captured or moves.
24.Rc1 Rc7
White moves his rook according to the well-known
dictum that a rook is well placed behind a passed pawn. Black acts
to double his rooks and build an attack on the passed pawn.
25.Bxc6 Rxc6
White continues to simplify the position and reduce
material. He hopes that control of the open file and the advanced
passed pawn will be the deciding factors in his favor.
26.Rd6 Rc7
White uses a side attack against the black rook.
Taking the white rook would not be good for Black as the pawn recapture
would allow the pawn to advance an additional square with a further reduction
in fighting material.
27.Rb6 Kg7
White could have advanced his pawn, but he wanted
his rook to be in a position to threaten Black's queenside pawns if Black
doubled his rooks. Black mobilizes his king and gets it away from possible
rook checks.
28.c6 Kf6
The pawn advances and the black king moves nearer
the center according to endgame ideas of centralization and mobilization
of the king. The king will have to be used against the passed pawn
since it will be difficult for Black to use both rooks against the passed
pawn. Black's position is noticeably cramped.
29.Rb7 Rac8
White confronts Black's c7-rook. Black defends
the rook as he can't allow any more pawn advances.
30.Rxc7 Rxc7
White initiates a simplifying rook exchange.
31.Rc5 b3
White threatens the a5-pawn but he must continue
to guard his own passed pawn against Black's remaining rook and king. Black
is running out of moves but wants to advance one of his own pawns as far
up the board as he can to complicate the play.
32.e4 e5
Black moves a pawn to block the advance of White's
e-pawn and to clear a path for his own king to reach d6 to attack White's
passed pawn.
33.Kf2 Ke6
Both kings are mobilized and hurrying to battle.
34.Kf3 Kd6
The black king has reached his d6 objective; the
pawn will fall.
35.Rxa5 Rxc6
White's rook capture creates a new passed pawn.
Black takes with the rook rather than the king because he needs his king
near his remaining pawns.
36.Rd5+Ke6 37.Rb5 Rc4
White wants to reduce the remaining black queenside
pawn that would give him connected passed pawns.
38.a5 Ra4
From its position behind the passed pawn, Black's
rook will be able to maximize its pressure on White's passed pawn.
39.Rb6+ Ke7
With every attack and check on Black's king, White
drives him further from the battle field. The a-pawn can now advance another
square towards queening.
40.a6 Kf8 41.Ke3 Kg7 42.Kd3 f5
White's king is going to be used against the black
pawn at b3, and Black is using up the remaining play in the position.
43.exf5 gxf5
Black has a passed pawn of his own, but it cannot
be made good.
44.Kc3 e4 45.Kxb3 Ra1
The white king reaches his objective with a threat
on the black rook.
46.Kc3 h5 47.Kd4 Re1
The white king is now used against Blacks king-side
pawn structure
48.Rb3 1-0.
Black resigns as White can maneuver his rook to
a3, securing the safety of his passed pawn. To stop the queening
of the pawn Black would have to give up his rook and would not be able
to overcome the material imbalance.
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