Round five.

Khalifman - Polgar [A70]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 d6

A trick, introduced by the adherents of the Benoni Defence. In case of 4... exd5 5. cxd5 d6 White can manage for some time without development of the knight to c3 with e4 g6 7. h3. Well, if there’s no knight, then a possible advance of Black’s pawns on the queenside is not really dangerous.

5. Nc3 exd5 6. cxd5 g6 7. e4

An early prophylaxis like 7. h3 has its shortcomings: after 7... a6 8. a4 Qe7 White should delay the move e2-e4 for a long time.

7... Bg7

A natural move, but now Black’s crafty fourth move is deprived of its sense. Those who play the Benoni Defence for Black often use 7... a6, forcing White to venture in the race for an advantage on a keen line 8. a4 Bg4 9. Qb3 or to agree to the position after 8. h3 b5 9. Bd3 Bg7 10. O-O.

8. h3

If White completes his development in this system without adventures, then Black encounters great problems with his light-squared bishop.

8... O-O 9. Bd3 a6

Black still played a7-a6, though with a delay, so that now White’s opportunities are more wide. There was a harder refutation of 9... b5. The Hungarian player applied this move two years ago in her first and third games of the rapid (30 min) match with A. Karpov.

10. a4

Now White can afford this natural move without any damage for his position.

10... Qc7 11. O-O Nbd7 12. Re1 Re8 13. Bf4 Rb8

If Black played 13... Nh5 14. Bh2 Ne5, trying to ease his position with exchanges, then White had an unpleasant 15. Be2!, and the exchange 15... Nxf3+ after 16. Bxf3 Nf6 allowed him to break-through in the centre: 17. e5! dxe5 18. d6.

14. Bc4 Nb6 15. Bf1 Nfd7 16. Rc1

After 16. a5 Na8 17. Nd2 b5 18. axb6 Naxb6 19. Bxa6 Bxa6 20. Rxa6 Ne5 21. Qe2 c4 Black got a sufficient compensation for the sacrificed pawn in the game Karpov - Timman (Kuala Lumpur (m/6), 1990).

16... Ne5 17. Nxe5 Bxe5 18. Bxe5 dxe5

After the move in the game White got a strong passed pawn on the d-file. After 18... Rxe5 19. f4 Re8 20. e5 Bf5 21. a5 Nc8 22. e6 Black lost soon in the game Adler - Kljako (Bled, 1992).

19. Qd2 Nd7

Black could have blocked up the white d-pawn with his queen (19... Qd6), but, first, queen is a bad blocker, and, second, after 20. a5! Nd7 21. Na4 he had simply no move.

20. d6!

White’s pawn shot ahead, cutting Black’s position. J. Polgar won’t manage to cope with this problem until the end of the game.

20... Qa5 21. Red1 Kg7

Black is not advised to show activity on the queenside with 21... b5. After 22. axb5 axb5 23. Ra1 Qb4 24. Nd5 Qxe4 25. Bxb5! Rxb5 26. Nc7 White gained a forced victory.

22. Qe3 b6

In case of 22... b5 23. axb5 axb5 White had a subtle 24. b3! (if 24. Nd5, then 24... c4) with the idea of 25. Ra1, as after 25... Qb4 26. Nd5 the black queen got caught.

23. b3!

A quiet but very useful move that restricts Black’s opportunities on the queenside.

23... Bb7 24. Bc4 Bc6 25. Bd5 Rbc8

26. f4!

White is trying to clear a base for an intrusion of his pieces.

26... b5?!

In case of 26... exf4 27. Qxf4 f6 after 28. Bxc6 Rxc6 29. Nd5 c4 (30. Ne7 was threatening, winning by an exchange, and in case of 29... Rcc8 the solution was 30. Ne7 Rcd8 31. Nc6, catching the black queen) 30. Nc7 Rg8 (if 30... Re5, then 31. Qg4 ) 31. Qg4 Ne5 32. Qe6 White’s pieces infiltrated gradually into Black’s camp. Probably the move 26... f6 allowed Black to defend more persistent than in the game, though in this case the bad position of his queen made the defence extremely complicated.

27. axb5 axb5 28. fxe5 Rxe5

In case of 28... Nxe5 White had a forced victory after 29. Bxc6 Rxc6 30. Ra1 Qb6 31. Nd5 Qd8 32. Nc7 Rf8 33. Ra8 Qd7 34. Rxf8 Kxf8 35. Qh6+ Kg8 36. Ra1.

29. Qf4 Bxd5

Black’s defence failed also after 29... f6 30. Bxc6 Rxc6 31. Qg4 f5 (if 31... Nf8, then after 32. d7 Qd8 33. Nxb5 Black lost soon) 32. exf5 Rxf5 33. Ne4 to be followed with 34. Ng3.

30. Nxd5 Qd8

31. Ne7!

Transferring the game to a forced endgame, winning for White.

31... Ra8 32. Nc6 Qg5 33. Qxg5 Rxg5 34. Ra1 Rxa1 35. Rxa1 c4

If 35... Rg3 36. Ra7 Nf8, then the most simple line was 37. Ne5! Kf6 38. Nf3, arresting the black rook.

36. bxc4 bxc4 37. Ra7 c3 38. Nd4 Rc5 39. Nc2 Rb5

If 39... Nf8, then White won with 40. d7 Ne6 41. Ra6! Nd8 (if 41... Rc7, then 42. Rxe6 Rxd7 43. Rc6) 42. Ra8 Ne6 43. Rc8 Ra5 44. Nd4.

40. Rxd7 Rb2 41. Ne3 Re2 42. Nd5 1-0

Black resigned.

Galkin - Timman [B83]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2

White wants to play as solid as possible. A transition to the Keres Attack led to a more keen play: 6. g4.

6... Be7 7. f4 O-O 8. O-O Nc6 9. Be3 e5 10. Nb3

In the beginning of the eighties there was an active discussion of the variation 10. fxe5 dxe5 11. Nf5. Also 10. Nxc6 bxc6 occurs sometimes.

10... exf4 11. Bxf4

In case of 11. Rxf4 Black has time to rearrange his pieces advantageously with 11... Ne8 12. Qd2 Bf6 13. Rf2 Be5 14. Bg5 Nf6 as the game Geller - Andersson (London, 1982) showed.

11... Be6 12. Kh1 d5 13. exd5 Nxd5 14. Nxd5 Qxd5 15. Bf3

15. Qxd5 Bxd5 16. Rad1 Rad8 led to an equal endgame.

15... Qc4 16. Be2

16... Qd5

In the game Gunnarsson - Engqvist (Gausdal, 1993) Black attempted a counterplay, trying to win with 16... Qa4 17. Bd3 Bc4.

17. Bf3 Qc4 1/2-1/2

Draw. All this stuff was seen already in the game Galkin - Gallagher (Batumi, 1999) at the Europe Team Championship.