| In round 3 of the Chicago Open I was paired against
FIDE Master William Morrison who plays for the UMBC chess team. I have
played him twice before, and had .5 out of 2. In both games he played
very solid positional openings and ground me down slowly. In the
game that I held the draw, I was much worse and probably losing.
In that game he played 1.e5 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ against me. I didn’t
want to face that opening again so I played 2...e6! One of the great
things about 2...e6 is that there are no decent anti-Sicilians against
it, such as the annoying Bb5 systems. In my 3rd game against Morrison,
I got the sharp unbalanced position I was looking for in a Sicilian. |
|
W. Morrison (2400) - J.
Ashton (2230)
[B43/01] Sicilian: Paulsen
Chicago Open (3)
|
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 b5 6.Bd3 Qb6 7.Nb3 Qc7
| This line is becoming popular for Black. I have a database of games
up to 1998 with only 17 games in this position. Now this Qc7-Qb6
maneuver is a main line. The idea is to misplace White’s knight to
b3. Also, it avoids the annoying 8.a4 b4 9.a5 Qc7 10.Na4 tactic for
White. On c7 the queen puts pressure on White’s kingside, the c-file,
and controls the critical e5 square. |
| 10.e5? Bxg2 11.Rg1 Nxd5[-/+]. |
| I couldn’t play 10...b4 and take the e-pawn because of tactical reasons:
10...b4? 11.Na4 Bxe4 12.Bxe4 Nxe4 13.Qd4! |
| Clearly the best square for the knight. On d7 it can maneuver
to b6 then c4. If White plays f5 at some point, Black can close the
center with ...e5, then play ...Nb6 and ...d5. It also leaves the
diagnol for the b7-bishop open. Sometimes it is correct to move the
knight to c5 to put more pressure on the center. If White takes the
knight on c5, Black will have a huge amount of space on the queenside. |
| A thematic move in this type of position. It also has the tactical
idea of meeting Qg3 with ...Nh5, then taking on f4 to win the bishop pair. |
| Correctly maintaning the tension and helping to control the d5 square.
If White closed the center with f5, he will stand worst soon after ...Nb6
and an eventual ...d5. |
| No need to rush into castling. |
| A tough choice. Probably the right one. Normally in this type of pawn
structure Black would take back with the knight. Black would have
good dark square control, and active pieces at the cost of the isolated
d-pawn, though White’s isolated e-pawn is just as weak. White however
has the nice d4 square for his knight, where it can later move to f5.
The main drawback of ...dxe5 is White will have more attacking chances
on the kingside than usual. If Black can defend, then taking with
the d-pawn is correct. By taking back with the d-pawn, Black has
the long term advantage of having the better pawn structure. Also
the dark squared bishop is more active. |
| Trying to open up lines for his bishops to attack on the kingside. |
| If 18. Bh6, we’d transpose into exchange sac lines which can occur
later in the game. 18.Bh6 g6 19.Bxf8 Nxf8 20.exd5 Bxd5 21.Bxg6? (21.Bxb5?
Bxg2+) 21...Bxg2+. |
| A very strong exchange sac. For the exchange, Black has a pawn,
a huge center, and very active pieces. Also all of White’s kingside play
has come to an end. Black must still play precisely since there are
a lot of tactics in the position. Black stands better if White accepts
the exchange, though if he does not, White is down a pawn for nothing. |
White should just take the exchange, even though he will stand worst.
20.Bxf8:
A) 20...Bxf8 21.Bf5 Nb6 (21...Bc6? 22.Na5!)
B) 20...Nxf8! The most precise way to recapture. |
| Again, 21.Bxf8 should be played. Now Black is winning. |
| Probably White’s original intention was the spectacular Rxf7 move.
Unfortunately it loses to the following variation: 23.Rxf7 Nf6! (23...Kxf7??
24.Qb3+ Ke8 25.Bxd7+ Bxd7 26.Qg8+) 24.Rg7+ Kh8 [-+]. |
| White is completely losing. His best is to take on c8, and play
down material, though his position is dead lost. |
| White is just playing for tricks now. |
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