1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 The fashion from the year 2002 among top players. 6. Be3 6. Be2 a6 7. O-O Nf6 8. Be3 Bb4 9. Na4 is the other main setup against this "Modern Taimanov". 6... a6 7. Qd2 Nf6 8. O-O-O Bb4 9. f3 This setup of the white pieces has been established nowadays as some kind of an allaround start up against any kind of the Sicilian (Najdorf, Dragon, Scheveningen). 9... Ne5 Here Black first plays with his pieces, before he has to decide how to deal with his central pawns. 10. Nb3 b5 11. Bd4 But the black squares are a kind of a problem in this line. The bishop is excellent on d4. Assisting on c3 and x-raying through e5 to f6 and g7. 11. Kb1 Nc4 12. Bxc4 bxc4 13. Nc1 Rb8 should be very ok for Black. 11... Be7 To help the Nf6 and to keep this bishop on the board. 11... Nc4?! 12. Qg5 or 11... d6?! 12. a3 Bxc3 13. Bxc3 are both clearly better for White. 12. Kb1 Later in Leko - Vallejo Pons, Linares 2003, 1:0 (43), a new way was introduced, which seems to be responsible for the decline of the popularity in this line. 12. Qg5 Ng6 13. Qg3 Bd6 14. Qf2 Rb8 15. Kb1 O-O 16. Bc5+/= because of the weakness of the black squares. But there are some possible improvements for Black 12. Qg5 Ng6 (or 12... d6!? 13. Qxg7 Rg8 14. Qh6 b4 Rowson - Kunte, Great Britain (ch) 2003) 13. Qg3 e5!? 14. Be3 Smirnov - J.Geller, Russia 2003, 0:1 (48). This looks like a 6. Be3 Najdorf with a Ng6, which should be more in White's favour, because he wants to play h2-h4-h5 anyway. But maybe Black can play 14... Bb7 15. Qf2 b4 16. Na4 d5!? 12... d6 Now the structure of the position is the same as in a "Scheveningen English Attack". 13. Qf2 Covering f3 to have g2-g4 and keeping on eye on b6, which might be of use in some lines. 13... O-O 14. g4 Nfd7 I like thi s kind of moves. The knight is jumping away before the white pawns come to close. This makes it much more difficult to start a real attack for White. 15. a3?!N There was the very important key-game Kasparov - Ye Jiangchuan, Bled (ol) 2002, 1:0 (66), which we both had studied intensively as it seems. 15. Rg1 Bb7 16. g5 Rfc8 17. a3 Nc4 18. Bxc4 bxc4 19. Nc1 Rab8 20. N1e2?! Bc6 21. Ka1 Qa5 22. Na2 and now not 22... e5? (but 22... d5 with good play for Black) 23. Bc3 The comments I have given to this game are those of Kasparov in Inf 86. Anyway this source wasn't avalaible to me and my opponent at the time this late oppening stage was played in the game. I have to admit, that I saw the Kasparov game live. Not in the internet, but on stage at the Ice-Stadium of Bled! Even at that day I thought that 22. .. d5 would give Black the even better game. Analysing this for my game I was able to confirm that evaluation. The setup by Kasparov wasn't optimal as he pointed out himself later in the Chess Informant and he won the game against Ye due to his better calculation abilities in complex positions. As it seems I on my own came closer to the truth of Kasparov than my opponent. The point why I critisize the text move is, that Kasparov played a2-a3 only after a black rook came to c8 increasing the pressure against c2. Then b5-b4 was an unpleasant move for White. Now with the early a2-a3 Black doesn't need to play a rook to c8, but can do something else first. 15... Bb7 16. Rg1?! Why do I critisize this move too ? Isn't that the same setup on the kingside Kasparov chose ? White's attack, better said the smooth preparations to an attack, will soon come to a stop and then the pawn formation on the kingside (h2-g4-f3) is in a state of disharmony. Even allthough this seems to be completly unimportant for the moment, it is one of the deciding factors of the game. Thus I think it was better to play 16. h4 16... Nc4 17. Bxc4 bxc4 18. Nc1?! 18. Nd2 was probably better to give Black some pressure on c4. 18... Rab8=/+ Now Black has really won a tempo, because the Rf8 is free from going to c8. 19. N1e2 On 19. Ba7 I intended to play 19... d5!? 20. Bxb8 Rxb8 for example 21. Rge1 Ba8 22. exd5?! Bxa3 23. dxe6 Rxb2+ 24. Ka1 fxe6-/+ 19... Bc6 Removing the bishop from the b-file and thus giving the Rb8 much more effect. In fact this is the start of a very long reaching transformation of the position into a favourable ending for Black. Considering the upcoming complications is was a serious alternative to play 19... Ba8 But I don't like bishops in the corner. They control only one diagonal and usually it costs a tempo in the most unappropriate moment to play them to another square later. 20. Ka1 d5 Opens also the way of the Be7 to the white king. Now there should be something possible against the white king, or not ? 20... Rb7 with the idea to double the black rooks in the b-file was to boring for me. I detected some fun I wanted to go for. 21. exd5 Qa5! Now it is time for real chessplayers! Forget about hanging pieces. Well, at least for a little while. The material counting will come back soon enough. 22. dxc6 Rxb2 A woodcrashing and thus spectacular move, but maybe the easiest one in the entire game. Of course this move is the base for the future black win. The pawn shield around the white king will be destroyed. But contrary to a classical game that ends before move 30, because the attack goes through directly, this advantage will tell in a much more subtle way. 23. Na4 23. Kxb2? Qxa3+ 24. Kb1 Rb8+ 25. Bb6 Nc5!-+ was out of question 23... Rxc2 24. Rc1?! Not really a weak move, but I think it is the second best move and therefore I must mark it as a mistake. The best possible mistake, but a mistake nevertheless. The mainline now is extremly tricky. I think it is better to fasten your seat belts before entering the upcoming lines ;-) 24. Nb2 Ne5 (24... Bxa3 This looks like a winner, but due to one of the miracles that are inherent in chess, White can escape. 25. Kb1 Rxb2+ 26. Bxb2 Rb8 27. cxd7 Rxb2+ 28. Ka1 Rb1+! 29. Ka2 Rxd1 30. Rxd1 Bc5+ 31. Kb1 Qb4+ 32. Kc1 Qa3+ 33. Kb1 Qb3+ 34. Kc1 Ba3+ 35. Kd2 Qd3+ 36. Ke1 Bb4+ 37. Nc3 Bxc3+ 38. Qd2!! Simply unbelievable, but the greedy pawn on d7 saves the day for White! 38... Bxd2+ 39. Rxd2 Qe3+ 40. Kd1 Qxf3+ 41. Kc2= as the black queen has no way back to d8.) (24... Rb8 looks also like a winner, once again White survives 25. Kb1 c3 26. Bxc3 Qxc3 27. Nxc3 Rxf2 28. c7! thanks to this heroic pawn 28... Rfxb2+ 29. Ka1 R2b3 30. cxb8=Q+ Nxb8 31. Rc1=) 25. Kb1 Rxb2+ 26. Bxb2 Rb8 27. Qd4 Bf6 28. Qc3 Nd3 29. Rxd3 (29. Qxa5? Rxb2+ 30. Ka1 Rxe2+ 31. Kb1 Rb2+ 32. Ka1 Rb5+-+) 29... Bxc3 30. Rxc3 Qb6 31. Rc2 Qxc6 Let's do a little balance here. Black has queen and two pawns for a rook, a knight and a bishop. Well this is in White's favour, so why should Black aim for this position ? Because White has still some problems with his open king (c4-c3), which ties his pieces. Furthermore a number of white pawns are targets for the queen. Play might continue like this: 32. f4 h6 33. f5 c3 34. Rgc1 Qa4 35. Nxc3 Qxa3 Taking the last white pawn on the queenside. 36. fxe6 fxe6 37. Na2 Qe3 38. Ka1 Rb7=/+ The outcome of the game will be determined on the kingside and the white pieces are far away from that. So I would give Black some winning chances, allthough it should be a draw in the long run. This strategy is the "subtle way" I mentioned before. And the same strategy is also the guide through the game continuation, but there Black is "only" down a piece for some pawns. 24... Rxc1+ 25. Nxc1 Qxa4 26. cxd7 Rd8 27. Bb2?! After that move the last white pawn on the queenside will be taken off and the bishops will be exchanged too. So White remains with a slow knight. All are factors which help Black a lot to exchange the queens and thus to make further progress. The correct way was 27. Qa2! defending the a3 27... Rxd7 28. Ne2 e5 (or 28... c3 29. Bxc3 Rd1+ 30. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 31. Qb1 Qxe2 32. Qb8+ Bf8 33. Bb4= with a forced draw by perputal check.) 29. Bb2 Rd1+ (or 29... Rd3 30. Rc1 Bxa3 31. Qxc4 Bxb2+ 32. Kxb2 Rd2+ 33. Kb1 and Black has nothing.) 30. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 31. Bc1 Qd3 32. Ng3 h5 33. gxh5 Bc5 34. Qb1 Bd4+ 35. Ka2 Qxf3 36. Qb8+ Kh7 37. Qb1+ Kg8= 27... Bxa3 28. Bxa3 Qxa3+ 29. Na2 Rxd7-/+ 30. Rb1 h6 31. Qc2 Rd8 I wasn't satisfied with 31... Qd3 32. Rb2 Qd4 33. Nc3 Rd8 34. Ne4 because the white knight comes into play to fast. 32. Qe4 32. Rb4 Qxf3 33. Rxc4 g6 34. Nc3 Qe3 leaves White also with a problematic position. 32... Qd3 This form of the queen exchange is better for Black than one move before, because now White has to loose an extra tempo to cover his 2nd rank with the rook later. 33. Qxd3 Rxd3 34. Rf1 34. Rc1?! Rxf3 35. Rxc4 Kh7 makes the black task easier. 34... Kh7 Now here is it that all what I mentioned before comes true. The disharmony in the white's kingside pawn formation (h2-g4-f3) and the long time absence of White's knight and his king on this side. Contrary the black monarch is marching up to the white pawns, putting pressure on them and later supporting the black passed pawns. 35. Rf2 To make Ka1-b2 possible without a black pawn win by Rd3-d2xh2. 35... Kg6 36. f4 White is defending the best he can. He has finally achieved some harmony in his pawn formation and tries to build up a barrier for the black king. 36... h5 But Black can use his pawns to burst open a way for his king. By this some pawns are exchanged and Black needs to stay with at least two pawns to ensure winning chances. I don't think the alternative break is better: 36... f5 37. Nc1 Re3 38. gxf5+ Kxf5 the e6 is now isolated and thus too weak, I think; for example 39. Kb2 Ke4 40. Rc2 Kxf4 41. Rxc4+ Kf5 42. Rc2 Kg4 43. Nb3 Kh3 44. Nc5 g5 45. Nxa6 g4 46. Nc5 and White should get his draw after some more moves. He will play his king now towards g1. 37. f5+?! It was better to ask the Rd3 first and then to decide what to do on the kingside (g4xh5 or f4-f5). 37. Nc1 Re3 (37... Rd1 38. gxh5+ Kxh5 39. Kb2 c3+ 40. Kc2 Rd2+ 41. Rxd2 cxd2 42. Kxd2 Kg4 43. Nd3= This possibility is the main difference to the game move 37.f5+.) 38. f5+ exf5 39. gxf5+ Kg5 40. Kb2 and White's setup is a bit better than in the game. 37... exf5 38. gxf5+ Kg5 I considered the following alternative too slow 38... Kf6 39. Kb2 Rd5 40. Kc3 Rxf5 41. Rd2 g5 42. Kxc4 g4 43. Nc3 Kg5 44. Ne4+ Kh4 45. Ng3= Thus I decided to go for the h2 with my king immediately. 39. Kb2 Now on 39. Nc1 there is 39... Rd1 40. Kb1 c3! 41. f6 g6 42. Kc2 Rd2+ 43. Rxd2 cxd2 44. Kxd2 Kxf6-+ In general the exchange of the rooks is one of the major winning resources for Black. 39... Kg4 40. Nc3 Rf3 This looks like the decision. Black will get at least two passed pawns on the kingside and White has not even collected the weaknesses c4 and a6. 41. Re2? It was necessary to split the black pawns and to take in g7 with 41. Rg2+ Kxf5 42. Rxg7 Rf2+ 43. Kc1 Kf6 44. Rg1! (44. Ne4+? Kxg7 45. Nxf2 Kf6 46. Kd2 Kg5 47. Kc3 Kf4 48. Kxc4 Ke3 49. Nd3 f5 50. Nb4 f4 51. Nd5+ Kf3 52. Kb4 h4-+) 44... Rxh2 Now Black has got 4 pawns for the piece, but all remaining pawns are isolated and weak. To have the combination of rook's and bishop's pawn is a drawing factor in endings of many kind. Here Black has twice this stupid pawn formation! In the end White should be able to hold this position. 45. Rf1+ Ke6 46. Rf4 h4 47. Rxc4 h3 48. Rh4 f5 49. Nb1! Ke5 50. Nd2 Rh1+ 51. Kc2 f4 52. Nf3+ Kf5 53. Nd4+ Ke4 54. Ne2 Ke3 55. Nxf4 h2 56. Nd3= Black can also try to go with his king to h3 and to take in f5 with his rook. 41. Rg2+ Kh3 42. Rxg7 Rxf5 43. Ne4 h4 44. Ng5+ Kxh2 45. Nxf7= White only has to sac his knight for the black h-pawn. Now after 41. Re2 Black will get an irresistable pawn trio. So White could still have drawn the game at this stage with 41.Rg2+ ? Yes, I think so. But I have criticized White quite often throughout the game, while I never gave Black a better alternative. Isn't something wrong here ? To be honest I don't know the answer to that question. First everything I played with Black made sense in tactics and in strategy. So even with some distance to the game I am quite satisfied with my play and I don't have the impression that I missed something. Second, up to the current move, White hasn't done real mistakes but "only" inaccurate moves. It is my personal believe that in chess the way to the draw is a big fat road and it is not necessary to walk along exactly in the middle of the street. To win a game it is nessary that the opponent can be pushed to the ditch beneath that road. If you see the development of this game I think that White moved more and more for the middle of the street to the edge and it is here in move 41 that he falls. To return to the chess-language it became more and more difficult for White to restore the equilibrium. So maybe you have 15 other tries to play for a win with Black after 41. Rg2+ that I have not given. This is no surprise, but the consequence of the white inaccuracies done before. But the draw was still possible for White with 41.Rg2+. 41... Kxf5 42. Nd5 g5 43. Ne3+ Kf4 44. Nd5+ Kg4 45. Ne3+ Kh3 46. Nxc4 g4 Provoking a combinational finish of this game. 46... f5 taking care of e4 or 46... h4 were both also winning 47. Nd2 Rf4 48. Ne4 Rxe4 Sorry, I can 't resist to say it: The triumph of the black strategy. Winning with the pawn majority strongly supported by the king. 49. Rxe4 Anyway the win is by far not so easy to achieve for Black as it might look first. In fact here we have a endgame study with the task for Black to find 11 (!) consecutive only-moves. Of course I have seen that all before my exchange sacrifice. If you think there were easier ways to win for Black, I can't disagree. Anyway I just couldn't resist to play this way, which is simply very beautiful in my opinion. 49... f5 49... Kxh2? is only a draw because the white king comes in time to stop the black trio. 50. Kc3 f5 51. Re2+ Kh3 52. Kd2 g3 53. Ke1 f4 54. Kf1 h4 55. Ra2 Kg4 56. Rxa6 h3 57. Rg6+= 50. Rd4! Using the last defending resource. 50. Re2 f4 51. Rf2 g3 52. hxg3 fxg3-+ 50... Kxh2 50... h4? 51. Kc3 Kxh2 is only a draw as you can see by the comment to the next black move through a transpositional line. 51. Kc3! g3! 51... h4? would have also been the position after 50. .. h4 and is only a draw, because White first uses his rook to misplace the black king and then comes with his own king. 52. Rd2+ Kg3 53. Rd3+ Kf4 54. Rd4+ that's why White had to play 51.Kc3 and not 51.Kc2 54... Ke5 55. Kd3 h3 56. Ke3 h2 57. Rd1 f4+ 58. Kf2= To sad that White resigned here. The finish of the "study" is: 51... g3! 52. Rh4+ Kg2 53. Kd4 (53. Kd2 Kf3! 54. Rxh5 f4 55. Rg5 g2 56. Kd3 a5-+) 53... Kf2! Just the opposite direction of the kings as in the last line. Chess geometry - very often simply strange ;-) 54. Rxh5 (54. Rf4+ Ke2 55. Rxf5 g2) 54... f4 55. Ke4 (55. Rf5 g2 56. Rxf4+ Kg3 and the g-pawn promotes with check. What a bad luck for White ;-)) 55... g2 (55... f3?? 56. Rf5=) 56. Rg5 f3 57. Kf4 Ke2 58. Ke4 a5! The great moment for this innocent fellow. 59. Rxa5 f2 60. Ra2+ Ke1 (60... Kd1 does it also. Here Black has a choice again after the long time of only-moves. ) 61. Ke3 f1=N+ An underpromotion to abolish the white mate setup. A worthy end to this game, I think. 0-1