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The year was 1978, the city was London, and
I was playing my second game in the span of a
few months against Jonathan Speelman. I had won
the first and now my opponent was after blood.
The opening promised a sharp struggle:
Silman – Speelman [B67]
Bank of Dubai, England 1978
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3
a6 6.Bg5 Nc6 7.Qd2 e6 8.0–0–0 Bd7
9.f4 b5 10.Nxc6 Bxc6 11.Qe3 Be7 12.Bxf6 Bxf6
13.e5 Be7 14.exd6 Bxd6 15.Ne4 Bxe4 16.Qxe4
0–0
HOW NOT TO PREPARE I had prepared this system a year before, and
whatever theory I had access to at that time
had promised me good chances with 17.Bd3 g6 18.h4.
Indeed, it looks dangerous for Black, but as
I sat there wondering why my opponent exuded
an air of confidence, I decided to take a deep
look at the position for the first time (Mindlessly
memorizing book, and exploring a variation seriously,
are two very different things!). Sure enough,
after pondering the situation for a long while
I realized that White didn't have anything at
all! It occurred to me that after 18…Qf6
19.Rdf1 Rfd8 20.h5 Bf8 21.hxg6 hxg6 22.g4 Bg7
my opponent's Bishop would be very happy on g7
where it would defend the Black King while simultaneously
eyeing my monarch in a lecherous state of rut.
KILLER BISHOP ON g7 (Years later the position after 21.hxg6 hxg6
22.g4 Bg7 did indeed occur, with this result:
23.c3 b4 24.f5 exf5 25.gxf5 g5, 0-1, Santo Roman
- Palac, Cannes 2000.).
| RULE ONE: Opposite
colored Bishops are wonderful attacking
weapons in the middlegame (or in endgames
with many pieces remaining) since one Bishop
can attack something that the other can't
defend. |
Whatever the truth about this line might be,
during the game I began to panic, and this led
to a “cowardly” act on my part:
17.Qd4 Bc7 18.Qxd8 Raxd8 19.Rxd8 Rxd8 20.g3
Yes, I renounced my manhood and shamelessly
played for a draw! After the further
20…h5 21.Be2 h4 22.Rd1
| RULE TWO: Bishops of opposite colors often
give the defender serious drawing chances
in the endgame even if he's one or two pawns
behind! |
Since leaving too many pieces on would conflict
with RULE NUMBER ONE, I made sure to exchange
everything that wasn't nailed down.
22…Rxd1+ 23.Kxd1 g5 24.fxg5 hxg3 25.hxg3 we
arrived at the following situation.
IS BLACK GETTING SOMETHING? My opponent was getting a bit excited, no doubt
due to the fact that both my g-pawns were doomed.
This would lead to two black connected passed
pawns marching down the board. Was it time for
me to get hysterical? Not at all! Why? Because
I knew that the following position (a true worst
case scenario) was dead drawn.
DEAD DRAW! Page1 l Page2 |
