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Yermolinski,A
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Rajlich,V |
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| E71/04 (2ed) |
King's Indian: Schwarz (Makogonov)
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Annotations by Vasik Rajlich
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| 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.h3 0-0 6.Bg5
Na6 7.Bd3 e5 8.d5 c6 9.Nge2 |
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| This fairly rare position
was reached in Ivanchuk-Kasparov, Horgen 1994, and Kasparov has published
some notes about the opening that I won't try to compete with here. That
game continued 9...Nc5 10.Bc2 Qb6 11.0-0 cxd5 12.cxd5 Bd7 13.Rb1 a5 14.Qd2
Rfc8 15.f3 Qd8, etc., with rough equality, according to Kasparov. |
| 9...cxd5 |
| Kasparov does not comment
on his 9...Nc5. I was concerned that if I delayed ...cxd5 until after I
put my queen on b6 then White might be able to take advantage of this by
replying to ...cxd5 with something other than cxd5, but this seems to be
generally inadvisable. For example, in Kasparov's game against Ivanchuk,
he analyzes 12.Bxf6 (instead of 12.cxd5) 12...Bxf6 13.Nxd5 Qd8 14.b4 Ne6
15.Nxf6+ Qxf6 16.Qd2 b6 as "nothing for Black to worry about", and
I guess I can't really argue with that. |
| At the same time, there
does not appear to be any drawback to the immediate 9...cxd5. |
| 10.cxd5 Qb6 |
| This seems slightly more
accurate than the alternative, 10...Nc5. In the case of 10...Nc5 11.Bc2,
11...Qb6 would transpose to Ivanchuk-Kasparov, where Ivanchuk played 12.0-0.
In that position, Kasparov analyzed 12...Qxb2 as leading to a forced draw
after 13.Rb1 Qa3 14.Nb5 Qxa2 15.Ra1 Qb2 16.Rb1, etc., (and I've run this
through Fritz and agree with his analysis, Qhite seems to have nothing
better); and he analyzed his own choice, 12...Bd7, as leading to rough
equality. |
| At a first glance, 10...Qb6
seems to be, if anything, slightly less accurate that 10...Nc5, since in
the case of 10...Qb6 11.0-0 White has two additional possibilities compared
to the 10...Nc5 lines given above. Should Black play 11...Nc5, with the
idea of transposing to Ivanchuk-Kasparov after 12.Bc2, White can also try
12.Be3; and should Black just play the immediate 11...Bd7, then White can
play 12.Qd2 since 12...Nc5 can then be met with 13.Be3. |
| Unfortunately for White,
however, after 10...Qb6 11.0-0 Nc5, 12.Be3 would be inaccurate since 12...Qxb2
would then leave Black better, since after 13.Rb1 Qa3 White couldn't play
14.Nb5 due to 14...Qxd3. Hence, after 10...Qb6 11.0-0, 11...Nc5 seems to
force 12.Bc2, transposing to Ivanchuk-Kasparov. |
| So, which move order is
more forcing? It seems that 10...Qb6 is, since after 10...Nc5 11.Bc2 Qb6
White can also play 12.Rb1, which seems to avoid the forced draw arising
after 12.0-0 Qxb2 at no cost, since after 12.Rb1 I don't see anything besides
12...Bd7 when 13.0-0 transposes. I imagine that Ivanchuk saw this and just
didn't mind an early draw. On the other hand, after the immediate 10...Qb6,
White will have to think twice before playing something besides 11.0-0,
since 11.Rb1 runs into 11...Nb4 while 11.Qd2 can be met with 11...Nc5 when
White will have to play 12.Bb1. |
| 11.0-0 Bd7 |
| As mentioned above, Black
can also transpose to Ivanchuk-Kasparov with 11...Nc5 12.Bc2 and then either
12...Qxb2 or 12...Bd7, and in fact I like this line (with 12...Bd7) a bit
better than the game continuation. However, after 11...Bd7, I don't think
that Black really stands any worse. 11...Bd7 seems like just another viable
way to play the position. |
| 12.Qd2 Nc5 13.Be3 a5 14.Rab1 a4 15.Bc2 |
|
| This variation takes a
little bit of getting used to. I have actually hardly studied this particular
move order (5.h3 0-0 6.Bg5), but I have taken a decent look at the very
similar 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5 Na6 7.Qd2 e5 8.d5 c6 lines, and they are at least
initially a little puzzling. In many King's Indian variations, for example
in many Classical King's Indian positions, the center gets locked (white
pawns on c4, d5 and e4, black pawns on c7, d6 and e5) and White tries to
play c4-c5xd6 and then attack on the queenside, while whatever Black does
on the queenside is only basically an attempt to buy time for trying to
crush White on the kingside. In many of these variations, a pretty serious
battle takes place for control of c5, White either playing b2-b4 just to
get c4-c5 in or, even worse, White first having to fight hard just to get
b2-b4 in and even then c4-c5 being tough to play, as for example in the
Classical 9.Nd2 a5 lines. In some of those lines white will even play b2-b3-b4,
then Nd2-b3, then c4-c5, and then Nb3-d2 (so that he can continue with
Nd2-c4), all just to play c4-c5xd6. |
| In the game variation,
on the other hand, Black himself plays ...c6 in order to himself play ...cxd5,
spending his own tempo to create a pawn structure which in the Classical
King's Indian White normally spends at least one tempo (and sometimes more)
to achieve. What's the difference? I think it's that here Black has such
good piece control on the queenside that he is comfortable there despite
White's supposedly superior pawn structure & resulting space advantage.
Black's queen knight is on a6/c5, not e7 as in the Classical; and he is
able to quickly clear his back rank and get his rooks to useful queenside
squares. |
| The way I see it, though,
Black has to be very careful on the queenside to make sure that White can't
just turn the tables there. White still has a space advantage there, and
this space advantage is enough to let him completely dominate the queenside
in variations (ie. the Classical King's Indian) where the pieces are just
a little differently placed. If he can roll his b-pawn, kick Black's knight,
put a knight or bishop on b5, etc., maybe then the queenside will be his
once again. Hence, while I hadn't been concerned about 15.b4 due to 15...axb3
16.axb3 Qb4 with a decent blockade, once 15.Bc2 had been played I became
concerned about 16.b4 (for example, 15...Rfc8 16.b4) with the idea of 16...axb3
17.Bxb3 when White plays on the queenside. |
| As it turns out, after
15...Rfc8 the immediate 16.b4 is bad since after 16...axb3 White can't
play 17.Bxb3 due to 17...Nfxe4 when the tactics work out in Black's favor,
so probably 15...Rfc8 is the most accurate move, but then after something
like 16.Ng3 Black will still have to decide how to deal with the threat
of 17.b4. |
| One way - the way I chose
in the game - to deal with this threat is to play ...Qb4 - either 15...Qb4
or 15...Rfc8 16.Ng3 (or 16.f3 or whatever) 16...Qb4. After 15...Qb4, 16.b3
is then met with 16...a3 when Black keeps the queenside under wraps, and
in fact on the whole White seems to be at a loss for an active plan while
Black just gets the rest of his pieces involved with ...Ne8, ...Bf6, ...Bd8,
etc. There is, however, a drawback to the ...Qb4 blockade: White will,
after some preparation, move his c3-knight, forcing the trade of queens.
The b-pawn will then be free to roll, and White will attempt to argue that
the ending favors him due to his space advantage. It could even be argued
that in positions with this sort of pawn structure queen trades generally
favor White, as he has the structural advantage while Black relies on active
piece play and dynamic possibilities to hold the balance. |
| As it turns out, however,
Black retains very active pieces even in the ending, as even his two kingside
pieces are able to join the action on the queenside by the time White manages
to trade queens, and it seems to me that this gives him enough play for
comfortable equality. This ending arose in the game, so I will analyze
it in a bit more detail below. |
| The other way to play would
be 15...Rfc8 16.Ng3 (or 16.f3, etc.) 16...Qd8. This seems a little strange
to me, since Black is half-abandoning the queenside after he has half-abandoned
the kingside, where an attack based on ...f5 seems unlikely to be effective
given the placement of Black's rooks. This, however, is roughly how Kasparov
chose to play the position against Ivanchuk (He did not play ...a4). Continuing
the Ivanchuk-Kasparov game whose opening moves I gave above, after Kasparov's
15...Qd8, Ivanchuk played a move which I just do not understand: 16.a3,
when Kasparov played 16...a4, freezing the queenside and leaving White
what looks to me like just shuffling pieces. The game continued 17.Rbe1
Ra6 18.Nc3 Qa5 19.Bb1 Nh5 20. Nd3 Nb3 21.Qe3 f6 22.Bh6 g5 23.Bxg7 Kxg7,
etc., which Kasparov gives as equal. |
| 15...Qb4 |
| As mentioned above, 15...Rfc8
first would be a little bit more accurate, since 16.b4 wasn't yet threatened. |
| 16.Ng3 Rfc8 17.Rfc1 Ne8 18.Nf1 Bf6 19.Nd1 Qxd2 20.
Nxd2 Bd8 21.b4 axb3 22.axb3 |
|
| The last few moves have
been very natural, but now Black has a choice. This ending could very easily
turn slightly better for White and then gradually more and more difficult
for Black to play, as I found out in a very similar ending against Serper
in North Bay in '97. However, at the moment Black's pieces are pretty active,
and when I showed this game to Dennis Seawald he found a way for Black
to demonstrate clear equality: 22...Bb5, with ideas of either ...Nd7 and
...Bb6 or ...Bd3. It seems strange to try to trade light-squared bishops,
but Black can then take advantage of the weakened light squares. |
| After 22...Bb5, White has
two pretty unambitious continuations at his disposal (23.Nc4 and 23.Nb2)
and one testing one (23.Nc3). The first two do not seem to cause Black
any problems. After 23.Nc4 Nd7, Black isn't yet threatening ...Bxc4 due
to the ensuing threat against his b-pawn, but unfortunately for White both
24.Nc3 Bxc4, etc., and 24.Ra1 Rxa1 25.Rxa1 Bxc4 drop the c-pawn, so probably
best would be to play 24.N1b2 and tranpose to the second line. In this
second line, after 23.Nb2 Nd7 24.Ndc4 (else ...Bb6), Black shouldn't play
24...Bxc4 due not to 25.Nxc4 when 25...b5 is ok but rather due to 25.bxc4
when White looks better. Instead, though, 24. .. Ba6 looks comfortable.
25.Ra1 Bxc4 is then fine, ie 26.bxc4 Bb6 or 26. Nxc4 b5; while 25.Bd3 can
be met with, if nothing else, just 25...Nc5, since 26.Nxd6 Nxd6 and 26.Nxe5
Bxd3 both fail to accomplish anything for White. |
| On the whole, Black does
not look the least bit uncomfortable in either of these lines. If White
wants to accomplish anything, 23.Nc3 is the place to look, but then Black
plays 23...Bd3 and seems to end up just fine. 24.Bxc5 Bxc2 25.Rxc2 Rxc5
is clearly ok for Black. The best try seems to be 24.Na4 Bxc2 25.Rxc2,
but then Black gains control of the c-file with 25...Nd3 26.Rxc8 Rxc8 and
seems completely fine, perhaps even better. 27.Ra1 Nc2 28.Rc1 Ba5 is at
least equal for Black, as is 27.Kf1 f5 28.Ke2 Nb4 29.f3 etc. |
| 22...Kf8?! |
| There's nothing really
wrong with this, but 22...Bb5 was at least more precise. |
| 23.Nc3 Ke7 24.b4 Na6 25.Bd3 |
|
| 25...b5 |
| This seems right, stopping
the b-pawn (b4-b5-b6 might be a real pain for Black to deal with) while
preparing to trade dark-squared bishops with ...Rb8. Yes, Black's b-pawn
is a target, but so is White's own b-pawn. With the queenside pawns fixed,
the game now enters a long maneuvering phase. |
| 26.Rb3 Rab8 27.Ndb1 Bb6 28.Bxb6 Rxb6 29.Rc2 f5 30.
f3 Nf6 31.Ra2 fxe4 32.fxe4 g5 |
| Intending to put the kingside
pawns on g5 and h4. I think that it's a decent idea - it fixes White's
pawns on light squares, creates some outposts for Black in White's kingside,
etc. - but it does have a notable drawback: as soon as Black sets up his
pawns on g5 and h4, it will be easier for White to achieve a favorable
pawn break on the kingside than it will be for Black, since ...g5-g4 by
Black will always leave the h-pawn weak. |
| 33.Ne2 h5 34.Nd2 h4 35.Nf3 Rg8 36.Kf2 Nh5 37.Ke3 Kf6 |
| 37...g4 was reasonable
here, the game being seemingly roughly equal in either case. |
| 38.Ra1 Kg6 |
| A little provocative, walking
into g2-g3, but Black is fine. |
| 39.Rg1 Rf8 40.g3 |
|
| The quiet middlegame is
about to turn into a really complicated ending. What is really amazing
about this ending is just how much calculation is involved. It's probably
more important to be able to calculate accurately in an ending like this
than in even the craziest middlegame position, since in the middlegame
position it may be impossible to really settle anything with calculation,
leaving decisions resting on intuition anyway. In this ending, on the other
hand, it will be very difficult to make good decisions without precise
calculation. |
| 40...hxg3 |
| Necessary, since 40...Bxh3
41.gxh4 g4 42.Ng5 [+/]. |
| 41.Nxg3 Nf4 |
| I thought that this was
forced, since 41...Bxh3 42.Nxh5 Kxh5 43.Rxg5+ Kg6 44.Rg3 Bd7 45.Rb1 wins
for White, but Black has a resource in this line: 42...g4, when best play
seems to leave the game roughly equal after 43.Nxe5+ dxe5 44.Ng3 Rf3+ 45.Ke2
etc. |
| 42.Nf5 Bxf5 |
|
| 43.exf5+ |
| This leads to rough equality.
The alternative 43.Rxg5+ seems to lead to a draw by repetition: 43...Kh6
44.exf5 Nxb4, when if White doesn't opt for 45.Rxb4 Nxb4 46.Ke4 Nxb4 47.Rg6+
Kh7 48.Ng5+ Kh8 49.Rh6+, etc., with a perp then he should stand worse. |
| 43... Kf6 44.Nxg5 |
| No real choice here, since
44.Rxg5 Nxb4 is clearly good for Black. |
| 44...Nxd5+ |
| Black should play this
immediately, since after something like 44...Rg8 45.Ne4+ Kf7 46.Rxg8 Rxg8
White just plays 47.Nc3. |
| 45.Kd2 |
|
| 45... Rh8? |
| This gives White a large
advantage. 45...Ke7 was roughly equal, with best play probably being the
simple 46.Be4 Nf6 47.Bf3 since 46...Naxb4 47.Nh7 Rf7 48.f6+ wins an exchange
for White (48...K-any 49.Bg6) and should leave him with the better ending,
though Black's central pawns may be quite strong. |
| 46.Ne4+ Ke7 |
| Forced, since 46...Kf7
drops the b-pawn to 47.Bxb5 while 46...Kxf5 47.Nc5+ Kf6 (47...Kf4 48.Rg4+
Kf3 49.Be4+ Kf2 50.Rf3#, among other things, I'm sure) 48.Nd7+ should also
leave White with enough to win. |
| 47.Bb1 |
| 47.Rg7+ Kf8 48.Rd7 Rxh3
accomplishes nothing for White. |
| 47...Naxb4 |
| Perhaps Black would have
been better off playing 47...Rf8, though then 48.Rg7+ forces 48...Kd8 (48...Rf7
49.Rxf7+ Kxf7 50. Rd3 +/-) 49.Ng5 Rf6 50.Rg4 leaving White with a massive
bind on the position. |
| 48.f6+ |
| This, however, doesn't
seem to be as strong as 48.Rg7+. 48...Ke8 is then met with 49.Rbg3 with
the idea of 50. R3g6, while 48...Kf8 49.Rd7 also leaves Black with serious
problems. 49...Rh6 50.f6 seems too strong, though Black has a ton of defensive
attempts: 50...Rg6, with the point of 51.h4 (for example) 51...Rg2+ with
a draw, when 51.Rd8+ Kf7 52.Nxd6+ Kxf6 53.Bxg6 should give White enough
to win; or 50...Rxf6 51.Rxb4 Rg6 52.Rb3; or 50...Nxf6 51.Rxb4, when again
White should have enough to win. 49...Rh4 is another interesting defensive
idea, but after 50.Nxd6 Rd4+ 51.Ke1 Ne3 White seems to win after 52.Rc3. |
| I am not ready to spend
the time needed to conclusively evaluate this position, but it's clear
that White's f-pawn is at least giving Black serious problems. This is
why Black was better off playing 45...Ke7 and if 46.Be4 then 46...Nf6 -
blockading the f-pawn seems more important than chasing the b-pawn. |
| After 48.f6+, the following
position has arisen: |
|
| 48...Kf8 |
| I had earlier concluded
that this was a mistake, but now it seems to me that it is one of three
moves which allow Black to hold the balance. The others are 48...Nxf6 49.Rxb4
Nxe4 50.Rxe4 Rxh3 when Black should hold and 48...Ke6 when 49.Rf3 is met
with 49...Nf4 while 49.Rg6 is met with 49...Rh5 50.Ng5+ Rxg5 ...when Black's
central pawns will be very strong. |
| 49.Ng5 Na6? |
| After 49...Nc6 Black shouldn't
have serious problems. White isn't ready to play 50.Nh7+ due to 50...Rxh7
51.Bxh7 Nd4 followed by 52...Nxf6, and I don't see a useful preparatory
move since 50.Rf3 is again met with 50...Nf4 when after 51.Nh7+ Rxh7 52.Bxh7
Kf7 Black's central pawns will again be very strong while 50.Rd3 is met
with just 50...Nxf6. |
| Even after 49...Na6, however,
Black has some drawing chances. |
| 50.Nh7+ Kf7? |
| This finally ends the game.
50...Rxh7 51.Bxh7 Nxf6 is not hopeless, since 52.Rf1 can be met with 52...d5,
though after the stronger 52.Bd3 White is probably winning with best play. |
| 51.Rg7+ Ke6 52.f7 Rbb8 53.Ba2 Rxh7 |
| 53...e4 was worth a try but White wins with
54.Re3, probably among other things. |
| 54.Rxh7 Ke7 55.f8Q+ Kxf8 56.Rh8+ Ke7 57.Rxb8 1-0. |