Dear Mr. Donaldson,
After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4
Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5 11.Bd3 Be6 12.0-0
Bxd5 13.exd5 Ne7 14.c3 Bg7 15.Qh5 e4 16.Bc2 Qc8 17.Rae1 (Perhaps
the old 17.Rad1 is the way to go.) 17…0-0
18.Kh1 we get one of the main
lines of the Sveshnikov. Leko played 18…Rb8 against Shirov and Topalov
and won both games, though White can equalize by 19.g4 b4 20.cxb4 Nxd5 21.gxf5
Kh8! 22.Be4, =.
Instead of 18…Rb8 (or
18…Ng6, the old line), the immediate 18…b4 was
dismissed because of some game where Krasenkov,
playing Black, ran into trouble after 19.cxb4
Bxb2 20.Re3 f6? 21.g4.
Playing on the net a few
months ago, I came across “Chainsaw Warrior,” a
2200 who obviously hadn’t read the script
and demonstrated that far from being worse,
Black is actually better after 20…Nxd5! 21.Rg3+
Kh8 22.Bxe4 (I can’t see anything else
but I’m 1000 rating points shy of the
top players.) 22…fxe4 23.Qxd5 Qe6 24.Qd2
Bg7. Maybe my assessment is wrong, but I certainly
prefer Black here despite White’s 2-1
pawn majority on the Q-side – the center
pawns and the Bishop seem very evil and I certainly
got tonked game after game, albeit by a stronger
player.
If Black is indeed better,
isn’t this an even more convincing reason
to throw 18.Kh1 and maybe 17.Rae1 on the scrap
heap?
IS 18…b4
BETTER THAN LEKO’S 18…Rb8
JOHN DONALDSON REPLIES:
Good question, and give Chainsaw
Warrior credit for going his own way. I agree
with you that 20...Nxd5 21.Rg3+
Kh8 22.Bxe4 fxe4 23.Qxd5 Qe6 24.Qd2 Bg7 is
very comfortable for Black. Much more challenging
is to go for the King and forget about the
pawn with 21.Rh3!.
21.Rh3! IS
FAR STRONGER THAN 21.Rg3+
After the forced 21...Nf6
22.Qh6 Black has
two defenses: (a) 22...Qe6 (this
tricky try can be refuted) 23.f3
exf3 24.Rg3+ Ng4 25.Rxg4+ Kh8 26. Qh3 Bxa3
27.Rh4 and Black's
King is going to get mated shortly, or he’ll
suffer enormous material losses in preventing
it. (b) 22...Kh8 (more
prudent) 23.Bb3! with
strong threats of Nc4 and Rd1. I think White
has far more than enough for the pawn. In fact,
Black’s position is miserable.
I think Black should stick with
Leko’s excellent 18…Rb8!, while 18…b4?
should be put out to pasture.
BLACK’S
POSITION IS MISERABLE
|
