The 1997 Interplay U.S. Chess Championships:
Annotated Games
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Round Seven
Shabalov-Seirawan
Result 0-1
French Defense
Annotations by Jeremy Silman
"Yaz knew a do or die fight was in store--and that's exactly what he wanted."
IM Jeremy Silman
International Master Jeremy Silman has won the US Open, the American Open, the National Open and the California Championship. He now spends the majority of his time coaching and writing chess books and main-stream fiction. Among the more than 30 books that he has authored or co-authored is the bestselling REASSESS YOUR CHESS, one of the most popular books for intermediate players. A frequent contributor to international chess magazines, he also writes a regular column for CHESS LIFE, "Understanding Chess."
Seirawan really wanted to win his last round game [To avoid having to go through a play-off. --Ed.] and, if you do find yourself in such a situation, an opponent like Shabalov is a match made in heaven-Shabby is a mad-dog attacker who never plays to draw. Yaz knew a do or die fight was in store and that's exactly what he wanted.
1. e4 e6Yasser has loved the French (the opening, not the people) thoughout his career. There's no reason to reject this fighting defense in the present situation. For those looking for a good defense against 1.e4: Botvinnik was a great master of 1...e6, Korchnoi has used it for centuries, John Watson has extolled its virtues in several fine books, and World Junior Champion Tal Shaked has recently given up the Sicilian and achieved great results with the venerable French.
2. d4 d5 3. e5Amateurs are drawn to this move like DeFirmian is to milk. Now grandmasters are jumping on the bandwagon. Sveshnikov's success with it has enticed players like Fedorowicz and Benjamin to follow in his footsteps, and now Shabalov gives it a shot.
Yasser has an impressive record with the maneuvering 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 b6 or 4...Qd7 (these positions would be more suited to Yaz than to Shabalov), and lately his handling of 3.Nc3 Nf6 also gets high marks.
3... b6Avoiding all the recent theory that arises after the usual 3...c5. 3...b6 fits right in with Yasser's style.
4. Bb5+Alright! I admit it! I don't know much about theory in this line. All I can say is that the little bit that is known is unconvincing for White.
Normal is the flexible 4.c3. This Bishop check is fairly common in lines with ...Bb4 and Nc3 thrown in, but I can't say that I've seen it here.
4... c6Naturally, 4...Bd7 5.Bd3 spoils the point of 3...b6: Black won't be able to exchange Bishops with ...Ba6.
5. Ba4This may look strange but it's not illogical: this Bishop will find a nice kingside attacking diagonal with c3 followed by Bc2. In the meantime White avoids an exchange of light-squared Bishops (why let Black trade off his bad Bishop for White's good one?) and ties Black down to the defense of the c-pawn.
5... b5This accelerates Black's queenside expansion but leaves the c8- Bishop blocked in by pawns. An attempt to activate this piece by 5...Ba6 would have been met by 6.Ne2 followed by 7.0-0, 8.c3 and Nb1-d2-f3 when storm clouds could easily appear on the kingside thanks to White's spatial plus in that sector.
6. Bb3 c5 7. c3 Ne7The natural 7...Nc6 is also possible but then it's not easy for Black to find a useful home for the other horse (it usually tries to live on f5 via ...Ng8-e7-f5 with ...h7-h5 thrown in to stop White from kicking it around).
Yasser's move prepares to bring all his pieces to the queenside in preparation for a glacier-like advance in that area.
8. Nf3White doesn't win a pawn with 8.dxc5 due to 8...Nec6 when both e5 and c5 are under attack.
8... Nec6 9. O-O h6Yasser is falling behind in develpment and he wants to keep White's pieces from advancing on the kingside. By placing his pawn on h6, he avoids 9...Nd7 10.Ng5 when threats like Qh5 (or, in certain situations, Nxe6) are in the air. The Knight on g5 also frees the f2- pawn and lets White start a pawn assault with f2-f4-f5.
10. Be3 Nd7 11. Nbd2 c4A big decision. This move closes the center and makes his lack of development less of a burden. It also gives Black a large advantage in queenside space.
On the negative side, 11...c4 takes all the pressure off of White's central pawns and allows the first player to pursue his kingside aspirations without fear of central reprisals.
12. Bc2 b4Yasser has to get White's attention before he turns his attacking eye towards Black's kingside. White may be ahead in develoment but his pieces are sort of tripping over each other (the Knight on d2 has nowhere to go and the Bishop on e3 is not too impressive).
13. Ba4!If White can open up the queenside his superior development will pay dividends. This move is the start of a plan to designed to kick Black where he thinks he's strongest.
A more thematic plan would be 13.h4 with the idea of 14.h5, 15.Nh2 with f2-f4-f5 to follow. If allowed to do all this, White would roll Black off the board. Unfortunately for Shabalov, Black is able to generate quick queenside threats with 13.h4 bxc3 (13...Qa5!?) 14.bxc3 Qa5 15.Ba4 Bb7 16.Rb1 Nb6.
13... Qc7 14. cxb4!?A huge, extremely complex decision, and one that is not necessarily correct. A more restrained method would have been 14.Re1 followed by Nf1, while 14.Ne1 followed by 15.f4 also deserved a look. Black would answer both these plans with ...Nb6, move the c8-Bishop and queenside castling.
14... Nxb4 15.a3 Nd3 16. Qc2 Ba6 17. b3Good or bad, this is the point of White's play. Queenside lines will be cracked open (which may lead to some open central lines) and White will hope that his pieces are in a better position to take advantage of them.
17... Be7 18. bxc4Shabalov decides to strand Black's King in the center but this doesn't have the sting that he had hoped it would have.
One would think that White would want to rid himself of that rude d3-horse by 18.Ne1 but things aren't so clear after 18...Rc8 19.Nxd3 cxd3 20.Qxc7 (20.Qd1!? with the idea of Qg4 seems slow but deserves a look) 20...Rxc7 21.b4 when White intends Nd2-b3-c5 with perhaps equal chances.
Of course, a plan based on trading pieces wouldn't be looked upon with favor by the mad-dog owner of the White pieces.
18...dxc4 19. Bxd7+ Kxd7Taking with the Queen would hang the important pawn on c4.
Yasser is one of the few players who has no problem using his King as an active participant in a battle. He was probably thinking that his strong passed c-pawn and powerful Knight gave him excellent chances. White was most likely drooling at the sight of Black's centralized King.
20. d5Pretty much forced. If White doesn't open up more lines of attack, the Black King will be perfectly comfortable on d7 (besides, allowing eventual Black occupation of d5 by ...Rhc8, ...Ba6-b7-d5 would be intolerable!).
Naturally, 20.Qa4+? led nowhere after 20...Qc6 when 21.Qxc6+ Kxc6 followed by ...Kd5 would be a common Seirawan King deployment.
20... exd5Now Yaz sees firm support for c4 and a healthy extra pawn. Shabalov sees a nice post on d4 for his pieces and the prospect of kingside/central expansion with f2-f4-f5.
Being a gross materialist, I feel White's game already exhibits a certain desperate air. Of course, proving this against a great attacker like Shabalov is easier said than done.
21. Nd4Now 22.Qa4+ must be addressed.
21... Kc8 22. f4 Rb8 23. Rab1 Rb6An excellent move. A later ...Bc5 will stop any tricks along the b6-g1 diagonal while the Black King can soon find shelter on b7.
24. Kh1 Bc5 25. N2f3 Kb7Black intends to shuttle his King safely to a8 and then get his h8-Rook (his only inactive piece!) into play. When this is done the initiative will pass to Black so Shabalov has to make some sort of major gain in the next couple of moves.
26. e6White's major trump is his central/kingside pawn majority. This move and the next milk it for all it's worth.
26... Ka8Black ignores White's demonstration and calmly continues to finish up his plan of consolidation.
27. f5 Rhb8Black's plan reaches its end. Now he's ready to attack with ...Rb2.
28. Rxb6 Rxb6 29. Qa4White is reduced to playing for tactical tricks. Now Qe8+ is hanging over Black's head and the b6-Rook is playing nursemaid to the a6-Bishop.
29... f6!The correct decision (our chess bigotry might recoil at the sight of that protected passed e-pawn. Of course, e7 is well covered so it's not really going anywhere). Now Qe8+ no longer attacks f7 and the e5-square can be used by Black's Knight to force some soothing exchanges.
30. h3This stops backrank mates but creates a hole on g3.
30... c3?!The a6-Bishop finally sees the light of day and the long- dormant c-pawn sharpens its claws on the final three White ranks. However, the c-pawn also becomes vulnerable and White's next move pinpoints that problem.
It seems to me that the tightening 30...Kb7 would have been preferable; it defends a6, gives more cover to c6, and stops any checks on e8.
I should point out that both players were in severe time trouble here. This explains the mistakes to follow.
31. Qa5 Ne5Attacking f1 and preparing to trade off some minor pieces.
32. Re1??Giving e3 support but missing his chance. Correct was 32.Rc1 Nxf3 33.gxf3 when 33...Bxd4?? 34.Bxd4 Qf4 runs into both 35.Qxd5+ and 35.Qxc3. With both clocks ready to fall, I could easily see the game ending as follows: 33...Qg3 (perhaps 33...Bc4!? is the right move) 34.Qxc5 Qxh3+ 35.Kg1 Qg3+ with a draw by perpetual check.
32... Nxf3 33. Nxf3Now 33.gxf3 allows 33...Qg3 when both h3 and e1 are under attack.
33...Bxe3 34.Qxd5+ Rb7??Avoiding a little trap: 34...Bb7 35.Qd7 Qxd7 36.exd7 Rd6 37.Rxe3 Rxd7 38.Re8+. Unfortunately, it seems to miss some tactical points due to the fact that the Rook on b7 is immobilized (that pesky clock was taking its toll on both players!).
Black could have forced a win with 34...Kb8! 35.Nd4 Qg3 (and not 35...Bxd4?? 36.e7) 36.Qd8+ Bc8 37.Nf3 Rb2.
35. Nd435.Rxe3 isn't possible due to 35...c2. The text renews the threat against e3 and covers the c2-square.
35... Qg3White's last hope is his e-pawn. For example, the obvious 35...Bxd4 is strongly met by 36.e7!.
36. Nf3 Qc7 37. Nd4 c2This move hopes to pave the way for Black's dark-squared Bishop's triumphant return to c5 (where it defends the e7-square).
38. Nxc2??With his flag hanging, White goes along with Yasser's agenda. His last chance was 38.e7! Qxe7 39.Nxc2 when the Bishop on e3 is going to drop (though Black retains a superior endgame after 39...Qc5 40.Nxe3 Qxd5 41.Nxd5 Rd7 thanks to his fine Bishop).
After 38.Nxc2?? the win becomes mundane.
38... Bc5 39. Nb4 Bxb4 40. axb4 Qe7Blocking public enemy number one and icing the game.
41. Rd1 Bb5All of Black's pieces are defended and now the d7 and e8- squares are also covered. A bit more consolidation and it will be time for White to lay down his arms.
42. Qf3 Kb8 43. Qf4+ Rc7 44. Rd6 Kc8 45. Qd2 Rc4 46. Qd5 Rc1+ 47.Kh2 Kc7!, 0-1.Black's King delivers the final blow by trapping the White Rook. A good fighting game marred by time pressure mistakes.
[Ed. Note: With this game, Seirawan qualified for the Semifinals along with Kaidanov, assuring that there would be no play-offs in Division 2.]
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