As promised earlier in the week, here’s how the above game at last week’s Bunratty Masters went…
Nigel Short GM (2681) v Mihailo Manojlovic (1928); Bunratty Masters round 3; 24/02/18
Notes by Mihailo Manojlovic
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Nf3 (D)
Although I am quite familiar with this line of the Winawer French, obviously Short, who is notorious for his proficiency with the white pieces versus the French, had perhaps premeditated that I might be less familiar with this than the main Qg4.
7. … O-O 8.Bd3 h6 9.dxc5
Obviously with the aim of stopping a potential c4 advance. White is allowed to continue his attack but at the price of ruining his pawn chain.
(7. … O-O is unusual; the chesstempo database has almost 2200 games with 7. Nf3, and 7. … O-O was never played, while the Gameknot world database has almost 2500 games with 7. Nf3, and 7. … O-O was only played four times. A common plan here is 7. … b6, or 7. … Qa5 and then 8. … b6, with the idea of Ba6, swapping off the light-squared bishops, and then maybe even keeping the king in the centre. 7. … O-O may be too committal, helping white focus his attack, though Fritz is ok with it – Kevin)
9. … Qa5 10.O-O Qxc5 11.Re1 Nbc6 12.Rb1 Qa5
I was avoided taking the c3 pawn because I was unnecessarily afraid of white gaining time in development by kicking my queen around but what I played, Qa5, was just as passive.
13.Nh4 f5
Even after Nh4, the computer still recommends taking the c3 pawn, but my f5 was premature and gives white a considerable advantage, allowing him to easily take total control of the centre, and continue his onslaught on my kingside just as effectively as before.
14.exf6ep Rxf6 15.Qh5 Bd7 16.Rxb7 Qxc3 17.Qd1 Qc5 18.Nf3 Bc8
Although I thought at the time that the long-awaited Qxc3 would maybe buy me some time to defend, the simple Qd1 forces me to move my queen to avoid Bb2. Although Qc5 saves my bishop with a the threat on f2, the white knight’s retreat to f3 was no inconvenience for him as he would have liked to manoeuvre his knight to e5 at some point anyway. Unfortunately 18. … Be8 was also weak; although my bishop could maybe join the defence, after 19.Bb2, white’s combined use of the dark-squared bishop and b7 rook would be overwhelming, so I rightly opted for 18. … Bc8 instead. At this point it was too late to recover anyway.
19.Rb5 Qd6 20.Bb2 Rf8 21.Ne5
Essentially, in the space of five moves and for the very cheap price of the c3 pawn, white has manoeuvred his knight to the stronger e5 square and develop his bishop to b2 which is stronger due to the absence of the c-pawn.
21. … Ba6 22.Qg4 (D)
Ba6 is incredibly naïve because I allow too much pressure on the e6 pawn. Now I’m completely losing. (A further tactical point to note here is 22. … BxR?? 23. Nc4, which attacks black’s queen and threatens mate on g7 – Kevin)
22. … d4 23.Nxc6 Nxc6 24.Rxe6 Qd7 (D) 25.h3
(It’s slightly surprising that Short overlooked 25. Bc4 here, which is very strong. The immediate threat is 26. Re7+, winning the queen and/or mating on g7 – so 25. … BxR 26. Re7+ BxB fails to 27. QxP#. 25. … Kh8 26. RxP+ PxR 27. QxQ is no good, and neither is 25. Rf7 26. Rd5 BxB 27. RxQ RxR, when 28. RxN ends any fight. Fritz’ best is 25. … Rf7 26. Rd5 Qb7 (to defend a6) 27. Bb3, but it looks horrible – Kevin)
25. … Bxb5 26.Bxb5 Qb7 27.Bxc6 Qxb2 28.Bxa8 Qb1+ 29.Kh2 Qb8+ 30.f4 Qxa8 31.Re7 g5 32.Qe6+ 1-0
Not a great game on my side, but it was interesting to play against former world champion challenger for the first time. Maybe in future I can get another opportunity to do so.