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The next game was the first of a six game match. My opponent, Jack Peters, is a grandmaster strength player and I was really looking forward to showing my stuff against someone of that caliber.

Silman - J Peters
Summit Match (1), 1989
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d6 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.Nf3 h6 7.Bh4 Qe7 8.e3 b6 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.0-0-0!? (Jack is a very aggressive player, so I decided to wrest the initiative from him whenever possible and test his defensive skills.) 10...Bxc3 11.Qxc3 c5! (I would have met 11...g5 12.Bg3 Ne4 13.Qc2 f5 with 14.d5!.) 12.Kb1 cxd4 (He could have prepared this by 12...Rc8 when 13.d5!? is the most interesting response: 13...exd5 14.Bf5 dxc4 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 [White gets good compensation for a pawn after 15...gxf6 16.Qxc4 Rd8 17.e4 Ne5 18.Qc3] 16.Qxf6 Nxf6 17.Bxc8 Bxc8 18.Rxd6 Ne4 19.Rc6! Bf5 [And not 19...Kd7?? 20.Ne5+.] 20.Ka1 Nxf2 21.Rf1 when White stands better.) 13.exd4 d5 (I would have answered 13...0-0 with 14.d5!.) 14.Rhe1! (I had no interest in 14.Ne5?! Ne4!.) 14...Rc8 (And here 14...0-0 runs into problems after 15.Ne5.) 15.Qb3! g5? (Peter's wasn't happy with his position so he lashes out and, as is so often the case, makes things worse. He probably should have gotten his King to safety with 15...0-0, when 16.c5!? [Of course, White has other choices too.] 16...Ba8 17.Ba6 Rb8 18.Ne5 bxc5 19.Qg3 is promising. Another possibility is 15...dxc5 16.Bxc4 0-0, though in that case White claims a plus with 17.d5.) 16.Bg3 Ba6? (Things go rapidly downhill after this error. Like it or not, he should have tried 16...dxc4 17.Bxc4.) 17.Ne5! Nb8 (There is no longer a good choice. 17...Nxe5 18.dxe5 is horrible, 17...Kf8 18.Nxd7+ Qxd7 19.Qa3+ forces resignation, and 17...0-0 18.cxd5 Bxd3+ 19.Nxd3 also sucks since 19...Nxd5 20.Qxd5 picks up a piece.) 18.f4 (I also considered 18.Qa4+ Kd8 [18...Kf8 19.Bg6!] with a huge advantage, but in the end I just decided to rip open the position, secure in the knowledge that something good had to come from it.) 18...0-0 19.fxg5 hxg5 20.h4! (Peeling away the defenses of the Black King.) 20...dxc4 [20...Ne4 21.cxd5!] 21.Bxc4 Nh5 22.Bxa6 Nxa6 23.Qf3 Ng7 24.Nc6! Qb7 25.d5! (My King is safe, his King is threatened with death on the weak dark-squares, and all my pieces are beautifully placed. It can't last much longer.) 25...Rfe8 26.Qf6! (The threat of 27.Be5 does the trick.) 26...exd5 27.Ne7+ Rxe7 28.Rxe7, 1-0.

I surprised Jack in game two by using the Sveshnikov Variation for the first time in my career. I obtained a fine opening position, won a pawn, and the full point followed.

J Peters - Silman
Summit Match (2), 1989
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 (A few months later, Jack and I met in a tournament and I repeated the same variation. This time he tried 7.a4, but after 7...a6 8.Na3 Bg4 9.f3 Be6 10.Nc4 Rc8 11.Be3 Nd4! 12.Bxd4 Bxc4 13.Bxc4 Rxc4 14.Be3 d5! White couldn't avoid a forced draw: 15.Nxd5 Nxd5 16.exd5 Qc7 17.c3 Bc5 18.Qe2 Bxe3 19.Qxe3 0-0 20.0-0 Rd8 21.Rad1 Qc5 22.Rfe1 f6 23.Qxc5 Rxc5 24.d6 Kf7 25.Rd3 Ke6, 1/2-1/2.) 7...a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c3 Ne7 12.Nc2 Nxd5 13.exd5 Qb6 (Black already stands extremely well. White has nothing on the queenside or in the center, while the pawn structure promises Black some chances on the kingside via an eventual ...f7-f5 advance.) 14.Bd3 0-0 15.0-0 g6 16.Kh1 Bg5 17.f3 Bd7 18.Nb4 Rac8 19.a4 a5 20.Nc6 bxa4 21.Qxa4 Bxc6 22.dxc6 Rxc6 23.Bc4 Rc5 24.Qa2 Qc6 25.Bb3 d5 26.Rad1 Rd8 27.Rd3 Qd7 28.Qb1 Qb7 29.Ba2 Kg7 30.Rf2 f5 31.Qd1 Bf6 32.Rfd2 d4 33.f4 Qe7 34.fxe5 Rxe5, 0-1.

A draw in the third game set up another change of opening. This time I reverted to my favorite Accelerated Dragon against his inevitable 1.e4. After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 d6 7.Nc2 Bg7 8.Be2 Nd7 9.Bd2 0-0 10.0-0 a5 11.Re1 Nc5 12.Bf1 f5 13.exf5 Bxf5 14.Be3 Nb4! 15.Na3 Nbd3 16.Bxd3 Nxd3 17.Re2 Nxb2 I got a large advantage and eventually claimed the full point and a 3 1/2 - 1/2 match victory.

Finishing up my efforts with the White pieces, I'll give one game against the very popular Semi-Slav. It shows a calm, positional win over a grandmaster who was well known for his defensive skills.

Silman-P Biyiasas
San Francisco 1983
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Be7 7.b3 0-0 8.Be2 b6 9.0-0 Bb7 10.Bb2 Rc8 11.Rfd1 Qc7 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Bf6 15.Rd2 c5 16.Qg4 (A nice opening to have against a strong player: I can torture my opponent in complete safety.) 16...Rfd8 17.Rad1 cxd4 18.Nxd4 (White's moves are all obvious, yet Black's game is growing more and more difficult.) 18...Ne5 19.Qg3 Nc6 20.Qc7 Rc7 21.Nb5 Rxd2 22.Rxd2 Rc8 23.Bxf6 gxf6 24.Rd7

(Suddenly Black is completely lost! The Rook on the seventh rank, combined with my queenside majority, superior kingside structure, and active minor pieces will prove more than he can handle.) 24...Rb8 25.f4 a6 26.Nd6 Nd4 27.Bh5 Bc6 28.Rc7 Rd8 29.Nc8 Be4 30.Nb6 Bb1 31.Bf7+ Kf8 32.Bh5 Ba2 33.Rf7+ Kg8 34.Nd7 (Playing for mate!) 34...Bb1 35.Nf6+ Kh8 36.Kf2! Nxb3 37.g4! (Intending f4-f5, blocking out his Bishop's defense of h7 and forcing mate via Rxh7.) 37...Rd2+ 38.Kg3 Nc5 39.f5 Ne4+ 40.Nxe4 Bxe4 41.fxe6 (Black stopped the mate on h7, but the monster pawn on e6 will decide the issue.) 41...Rg2+ 42.Kf4 Bc6 43.Rc7 Ba4 44.e7 Rf2+ 45.Kg3 Rf8 (Peter, a good friend of mine, shares a little joke.) 46.exf8=R mate.

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