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Inside Chess Yasser Seirawan
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Yasser Annotates Yasser Seirawan – Johann Hjartarson, Barcelona 1989 Yasser Seirawan – Johann Hjartarson 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 I’ve been playing the “Classical Variation” against the Nimzo-Indian for a number of years now. And at the time this game was played, a number of top players including Kasparov, Karpov, and even my opponent had started to play the white side. 4...0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 b6 7.Bg5 c5!? Unusual. More common is 7...Bb7, as seen in many games. One of the ideas behind the text move is that by delaying the bishop’s development, Black can try ...Bc8-a6 and a quick ...d7-d5, assaulting c4. The drawback of the move played is the weakening of the dark squares, most notably d6. 8.dxc5! Only this move sets problems for Black. After 8.Nf3 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Ba6, Black has a fine position. Many times in these positions, Black has the exchanging device ...Nf6-e4 to cure the Bg5 pin. 8...bxc5 9.e3 Nc6 10.Bd3?
The problem is that while all these thoughts were running through my mind it hadn’t occurred to me that the bishop could actually be a target on d3. Black could now equalize by 10...Qa5! 11.Qxa5 Nxa5 12.b4 Nc6, intending to meet 13.b5 with ...Ne5. Therefore, best was 10.Nf3, with a likely transposition into the game. 10...Rb8? 11.Nf3 My resolve for queenside castling failed me, but in fact it is the best move! With 11.0-0-0!, White has all the attacking pluses. Options range from Ng1-e2-f4-h5 to Ng1-e2, Qc3-c2, and Ne2-c3-b5 or e4. In the face of this variety of good plans, Black has to undertake some central action. An immediate 11...d5 hangs the c5-pawn without compensation. Thus, if 11...Qe7 12.Ne2 (12.Bc2!?) 12...d5 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Nf4 Rd8 (14...d4 15.exd4 Nxd4 16.Bxh7+ Kxh7 17.Qh3+ Kg7 18.Qg4+ Kh7 19.Rd3 Nf5 20.Rh3+ Nh6 21.Qh5, winning), while 15.Qc2 nets White a pawn. This means that Black has to limit his expansionist ideas: 11.O‑O‑O! Qe7 12.Ne2 d6 is not very aggressive, but it does give White a free hand on the kingside and 13.Nf4 is unpleasant for Black. So why didn’t I play 11.0-0-0? Because I felt that it gave Johann play on the queenside. But no matter how hard we looked in the postmortem, Black has no way to stir up trouble. 11...h6 12.Bh4 d6 During the game 12...Qa5 worried me. The cause for my anxiety was that I had a fixed idea that I had to play 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.b4!? cxb4 15.Qxf6 bxa3+ 16.Kf1, with complications favorable to White. But a simple method for an advantage is 13.Qxa5 Nxa5 14.b4, when the bishop transfer Bg5-f4 will decide. 13.0-0 Qe7 14.Rfd1 Rb6?
15.Rab1! a5 16.Bc2 Starting a pawn hunt. My intention was to simply play Bc2-a4xc6 and Qc3xa5, challenging Black to show that he has compensation for the pawn. Johann now went into a long think and decided to complicate matters in a tactical melee. 16...Ba6?! 17.Bxf6 gxf6 18.Qd3 f5 19.Qxd6 Bxc4 20.Ne5! A triple whammy! Threats include Nxc4, Nxc6, and Qxe7 followed by Nd7. The play remains forced. 20...Ba2! Forced. Black loses material after 20...Bb5 21.a4 or 20...Bd5 21.Qxe7 and Nd7, forking the black rooks. 21.Rbc1! Black has no worries after 21.Nxc6? Qxd6 22.Rxd6 Bxb1 23.Bxb1 Kg7!, with the double threat ...Rf8-c8 and ...Rb6xb2. 21...Rd8
Continuing the complications initiated by 16...Bc8-a6. White now wins an exchange. White has two threats: Qd6xe7 and Nd7xb6 – winning the rook on b6 – and Nd7-f6+, winning the rook on d8. 22...Qxd6 23.Rxd6 Rxb2 I’m often asked the question, “How far ahead do grandmasters think?” Obviously there is no simple answer to this question. Some positions allow you to see five, ten, even fifteen move variations. In other positions, you see plans and patterns but almost no moves. Since move sixteen both players had seen this position, but Johann missed my next move. Hjartarson had chosen the possibility of a complicated position with some chances, as opposed to the unpleasant middlegame he was in at the time. 24.Ba4! Black must now lose an exchange. The game is won except for the fact that both sides are now approaching time-trouble. 24...Rxd7 25.Rxd7 Ne5 26.Rd8+ Kg7 27.Rxc5! Bd5 28.h3 Ra2 29.Rc3 Nc4 30.Bb5?! Simpler was 30.Bc2. If Black defends the f5-pawn, then a3-a4; or if 30...Nxa3, 31.Bxf5 wins easily. In time-trouble I had seen 30.Bb3? Ra1+ 31.Kh2 Nd2!!, intending perpetual check with ...Nd2-f1. Upon noticing this, I put my bishop on b5 to prevent Black’s knight from ever reaching f1! 30...Nxa3 31.Bd3 a4 32.Rd7 Bb3 33.Rb7?
33...Rd2 34.f3 h5 35.h4 Nc2 This bid for freedom had to come sooner or later, as I threatened to improve my position with Kg1-h2-g3 when Black’s king would become subject to a mating attack by Rc3-c7. 36.Bxc2 Rxc2 37.Rxc2 Bxc2 38.Kf2 Bb3 39.Ra7 Kg6 40.Ra6 Bc2 41.Kg3 Bb3 The time-pressure has passed. In the resulting ending, both players were surprised by the simplicity of the win. Winning a rook-and-three versus bishop-and-three on the same side is like pulling teeth. With an extra outside pawn for Black, I assumed the win would be difficult. In fact, it’s quite simple: the white king will waltz up the board and force a pawn weakness. The a-pawn is unimportant. The real problem for Black is that his tattered kingside is more of a welcome mat than a barrier. 42.Kf2! Kg7 43.Ke1 f6 44.Ra7+ Kf8 45.Kd2 Kg8 46.Kc3 Kf8 47.Kb4 Kg8 48.Kc5 Kf8 49.Kd6 Ke8 50.Ra8+ Kf7 51.Kd7 Bc2 52.Kd6 Bb3 53.f4!
53...Kg7 54.Ke7 Kg6 55.Rg8+ Kh7 56.Rg3! a3 57.Kxf6 a2 58.Rg7+ Kh6 59.Ra7 Bd5 60.g3 1‑0 After 60...Bb3 61.Ra8 Kh7 62.Kg5, White wins the h5-pawn. |
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Masking my intentions and cleverly outfoxing myself.
It may seem strange to put the bishop on my open d-file where it will
limit the scope of my rook, but the move has some virtues: it completely
stops the freeing maneuver ...Nf6-e4, as I would respond Bd3xe4xc6 with
a positional win. This means that Black must suffer the pin or chase the
bishop by ...h7-h6 and ...g7-g5, which would weaken his kingside. The
real point behind the bishop’s development is to strengthen the
queenside for castling long! On c2 the bishop offers a nice shield for
the king at times and could also poke its nose out to a4, pressuring c6
and d7. 
Too optimistic. Black wants to defend the d6-pawn
laterally while playing on the b-file, but he doesn’t have time to do
both. Black’s position may be as leaky as a sieve, but 14...e5 15.Nd2 g5
16.Bg3 Nh5 had to be tried. Either that or hunker down with 14...Rfd8.
In either case, White has a sizable advantage. 
22.Nd7! 
Much stronger was 33.Rcc7 e5 34.Bxf5, winning on the
spot. 
