B23: Closed Sicilian: Lines without g3 A funny game against against an unrated opponent who throws a helluva lot of tempi to the winds. Flashy finish shows the perils of such temporal indifference.
1.e4
c5
2.Nc3
With this mov e White manages to: follow both Spassky and Fischer, both noted players of the Closed Sicilian and King's Indian Attack type positions; prevent the Najdorf, Dragon, Sveshnikov and (my personal favorite) Kalashnikov. Not bad going for one simple move.
2...d6
When Black goes for d7-d6 it generally indicates he does not really understand the position; rather he is trying to play his favorite defence anyway. Black needs to aim for d5 (and if he achieves that d7-d6 is a loss of tempo); or Black may need to play f7-f5 to stay on the board - d7-d6 does not help that end.
3.g3
Nf6
Again a mistake - Black is evidently not aiming for d5 however with Nf6 he makes it doubly difficult to play f7-f5 at any point. At this point I was already thinking that Black was going to run out of space soon.
4.Bg2
e5
5.Nge2
Of course I am aiming for f2-f4 and kingside play so Nge2 is the only sensible square.Having played this sort of position thousands of time on the internet I am expecting to get in g3-g4 and Ne2-g3 at some point.
5...Be7
6.d3
Nc6
7.h3
Fritz: "last book move". The point is to play Be3 without encouraging Nf6-g4. It does however weaken f3 - one has to be aware of Bxh3 and Nd4-f3 type tactics (can fork K+Q in some positions, generally where White has played Qd2 against a Black fianchetto).
7...Be6
8.Be3
a6
Fritz: "Controls b5". Thank you Fritz, we had not spotted that. The real point is the herald of Black Q-side expansion. I tend to ignore this completely - it rarely does any harm and it cannot be stopped anyway, merely delayed. Rather one can play the position like a reversed King's Indian Defence - "you do what you like on the Q-side, in the meantime I shall see what happens on the K-side". [8...d5
9.exd5
Nxd5
10.Nxd5
Bxd5
11.0-0=
]
9.f4
b5
The most serious strategic error, from which the rest of the game follows quite naturally. On no account can Black permit f4-f5 in this type of position. 9 . . . ef 10 Ne2-f4 or gf is quite OK for Black.
10.f5
Fritz: "This push gains space". Bigtime. [10.Nd5
Bxd5
11.exd5
Nd4+/=
]
10...Bd7
11.0-0
Fritz: "White is not afraid to castle". I tend to castle after the shape of the game has become apparent - in any event it is very rarely (if ever) good for White to go 0-0-0 in such positions.
11...Nd4
12.g4
The main point of this apparently tame, solidifying move is to permit Ne2-g3 which in turn introduces ideas of g4-g5 and Qh5 (or even Nh5). One essential point is that it also stops Black from going Nf6-h5 (after White pushes g5) with perhaps Benoni/KID style counterplay.
12...Bc6
[12...b4
13.Nb1=
]
13.Ng3
Bb7
[13...b4!?
14.Nce2
h6=
]
14.g5
Nd7
15.h4
[15.Qd2
h6
16.g6
fxg6
17.fxg6
Bg5+/=
]
15...b4
Fritz: "Black wins space". True, and completely useless space a long way from the action. [15...h6!?
is worth looking at 16.Nh5
hxg5
17.Nxg7+
Kf8
18.Ne6+
fxe6
19.fxe6+
Kg7
20.Rf7+
Kg8=/+
]
16.Nd5+/=
Bxd5
The journey this Bishop has made, only to exchange itself on d5, is a shocking loss of tempi to the extent that surely some spectacular finish is imminent: consider Bc8-e6-d7-c6-b7-d5 whereupon it leaves the board, incidentally giving White a big space invader on d5 and introducing the useful square of e4 for either Ng3 or Bg2. Asking for trouble.
17.exd5
Nb5
18.Ne4
Fritz: "The knight feels good on e4". You betcha.
18...Nc7?
Clearly aiming to gang up on d5 - however Bg2 indicates tactical problems for Black. When I play the Sicilian as Black and have to deal with an isolated pawn on d5 (eg various Kalashnikov positions) I find it is almost always better to ignore it - it gets in the way of the White pieces and rarely repays capture. [18...h6!?
19.Qh5
Bf8+/-
]
19.c4
[>=19.f6!?+-
]
19...bxc3+/-
20.bxc3
20 Ne4-c3 would "defend" d5 - but it does not need it and I am trying to tempt him to capture it anyway.
20...Nxd5
21.Nxd6+
Demolition of pawn structure.
21...Bxd6
22.Bxd5
Rb8
23.Qh5
Again tempo is everything - Bxd5 threatened the Ra8, rook moves, Qh5 threatens mate in 1. Material is equal but Black is now dealing with a tremendous loss of time.
23...0-0??
Fritz: "a blunder in a bad position". [>=23...Qe7+-
]
24.f6
gxf6
[24...Be7
no good, but what else? 25.fxg7
Kxg7
26.Qh6+
Kh8+-
]
25.g6
I saw 25 Bd5-e4 won fairly quickly - mate in 7 according to Fritz. I felt there had to be something special, a move which maintained the theme of tempo - so I pushed Gerry instead. At the time I thought that was todally awesome. Also mate in 7 according to Fritz. 1-0