Chess Mail

investigated by Botvinnik in the 1930’s
and 1940’s.
17 h3
White’s plan is f4 and ¤f3, but he does
not hurry.
a) 17 f4 ¦e8 18 £xe5 £xe5 19 fxe5
¦xe5 20 ¦ae1 ¥g4 21 h3 (21 ¤f3 ¥xf3)
21...¥e6÷;
b) 17 ¤f3 ¦e8 18 ¤h4 ¦d8 19 ¤f5
£c7÷.
17...¦e8
Sadly, it seems that there is not enough
time for the manoeuvre 17...¤e8-c7-
e6-d4.
17...¤e8? 18 f4 f6 (18...exf4 19 gxf4 f6
20 e5±) 19 fxe5 fxe5 20 ¦xf8+ ¢xf8 21
¤f3+-. In view of this I had to choose a
different trip for my knight.
18 ¦ad1 £c7
Black intends to play ...¤d7-f8-e6.
For this reason he puts his queen on c7,
supporting both the a5 and e5 pawns.
19 £e3
This move makes difficult the black
knight’s manoeuvre. From this point,
the game was played via email. We had
spent 13 months to make the first 18
moves (mostly from the theory); we spent
only 7 months to make the remaining
44 moves!
19...¤d7 20 f4
It was also interesting to consider to
move the knight to the king side, 20 ¤f3
for ¤h4-f5, and then the push f2-f4.
20...¦b8
Using the open file as a compensation
for the weak pawns.
21 b3 a4
Now the weak a-pawn disappears,
and the white b-pawn becomes weak.
22 ¤f3 axb3 23 axb3 exf4 24 gxf4
¤f8!
20
XIIIIIIIIY
9-trl+rsnk+0
9+-wq-+pzpp0
9-+p+-+-+0
9+-zp-+-+-0
9-+P+PzP-+0
9+P+-wQN+P0
9-+-+-+L+0
9+-+R+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
An interesting position: White has
more space, but all the black pieces are
well placed, awaiting developments. I
think the chances are balanced.
25 ¦d3
Supporting the b3-pawn and still
working on the open file.
If 25 £xc5 ¤e6! (25...¦xe4? 26 ¤d4±)
26 £e5 £b6+ 27 ¢h2 ¥a6 Black recovers
the pawn and gets a comfortable
position.
25...¤g6 26 ¤d2
The start of a manoeuvre to place
the ¤ on g3. The £ cannot take on c5
without losing her own f4-pawn.
26...f6
Controlling the e5 square in a solid
way.
27 ¦f2 ¦a8
With b3 well defended, the ¦ is activating
in another direction.
28 ¤f1 ¦a1 29 ¢h2 £e7 30 ¤g3
¤h4 31 ¦fd2
The position is complex, and it is
possible that when White was able —
finally! — to double his ¦’s on the open
file, he overestimated his chances.
If 31 e5 ¤xg2 32 ¦xg2 fxe5 33 fxe5
£h4 (33...£xe5? 34 £xe5 ¦xe5 35 ¦d8+
+-) 34 ¤e4 ¥xh3 35 ¤f6+ (35 £xh3
£xe4) 35...¢h8 36 £xh3 (36 ¤xe8?
1/2001