By Manuel Gerardo Monasterio

I am a French Defense fan. If I were going to play OTB, it would be my first choice nowadays. When one grows older, a strategic opening that demands more in terms of understanding than mere memorization is quite an asset. Therefore, I have a good deal of respect when I play White against it, but I wasn't prepared for what was coming in my last French duel.

Manuel Gerardo Monasterio (2293) David R Myers (2368) [C18]
WC.2005.T.00006 IECG, 15.12.2004

I was playing against the American Master during my last tournament -- A semifinal World Cup. In those days I was in the midst of the worst possible mess. My wife and I were moving away from our country home, back to the big apple after fourteen years of relative solitude in the mountains. I don't usually have excuses for my bad performances, but this time I need to make an exception. I played some absolutely horrid games during this dreadful period, losing in some months more games than during my entire e-mail career. In fact, I haven't played anymore since then as I am still without my new home until next month!

I managed to play (more or less) at my normal in this particular game. It wasn't enough, as my opponent had a surprise under his sleeve.

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4

We are playing the Winawer Variation, which was my favorite with Black for many years. Nowadays I prefer the Classical (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6). I had the chance to play 7.Nf3, the so-called positional approach, favored by Bobby Fischer, among others. I used both moves, but I think 7.Qg4 must be the real test of Black's setup.

7...0-0

Today, almost nobody in correspondence chess dares to play the classical approach that begins with the tremendously complex and heavy analyzed 7...Qc7. In ancient times we French players used to swear by this move, entering into a fantastic and surrealistic realm of beautiful variations. Sadly, crude reality slowly came upon us, and White has found some ideas that so far have put this variation under a cloud.

8.Bd3 f5 9.exf6 Rxf6 10.Bg5 Rf7 11.Qh5 g6 12.Qd1

Here White has 12.Qh4, an alternative that, after this game, would be my choice.

12...e5!!?

My "!!?" attached to this move means the following:
The first "!" is for boldness in the face of no apparent refutation; the second "!" is because I believe the move is indeed strong; and the "?" is because I just don't have the slightest clue about what is really happening in the position after this move.

I must admit though that the move in itself is not "miraculous," as the concept of playing ...e5 is floating around all of black's strategy in this line. But the move is a novelty based on very interesting positional grounds.

In fact, ...e5 exists in the following position: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 0-0 8.Bd3 Nbc6 (instead of 8...f5) 9.Nf3 f5 10.ef Rf6 11.Bg5 e5!? as in Enders-Huebner, Germany 1999 which was won by black in 44 moves.

13.dxe5 

My first choice was easy; without any doubt, White must take this pawn.

13...Nbc6 14.Bf6

But here I still have unresolved doubts. 14.Bf6 is a rather vulgar move that I decided to play because none of the alternatives seemed more convenient to me. The Bishop move restrains Black in areas that are not yet relevant to the position. It defends the e5-pawn at the cost of weakening a lot of crucial black squares in White's position. As my late uncle, Paulino Alles Monasterio, used to say on similar occasions: "If you are here you are not there anymore", explaining a move that covers some new squares but leave some "old" squares behind!

I was completely aware of the "black complex pressure" that was coming my way, only I felt unable to do anything about it! In fact, the other choice --14.f4 -- also seemed ugly in terms of the key e3-square. I did a lot of analysis of the Bishop maneuver from h4-g3-f2, but didn't find anything appetizing here either. The third possibility was to accept the reality of the situation, toss away any thoughts of obtaining an advantage, and try to free the white position (take a look at his kingside development): 14.Nf3 Bg4 15.e6 (the pawn is doomed anyway, so why not gain a tempo) 15...Bxe6 16.O-O Bg4 17.Be2. Here White's Bishop pair don't seem to amount to anything. Black has a lot of central squares to roam around on, but the open files seem to offer White enough play to keep things balanced. Perhaps it was better to accept that, and just call it a day.

14...Qc7 15.f4

As this move now seems forced, perhaps it was better to play it when the Bishop was still at g5?

15...c4 16.Be2 Nf5!
 
The only other game available at the time we were playing went 16...Qb6 17.Bf3 Bf5 18.Ne2 Be4 19.Bxe4 dxe4 20.Rb1 Qc5 21.Rxb7 Nd5 22.Rxf7 Kxf7 23.Bh4 h6 24.Bf2 e3 25.Bh4 Kg8 26.0-0 Nxc3 27.Qe1 Ne4 28.c3 Rb8, 1/2-1/2, Sadowski - Ponomarev, Email 2004.

The black squares' "pliers" are beginning to tighten around white's position. It was like seeing Katrina through the satellite screen and being unable to do anything about it.

17.Bf3

Perhaps 17.Rb1!? Black's plan is to get the Queen to the a7-g1 diagonal. With 17.Rb1 I avoid that, but the key square for the Queen is not b6, but c5, and she can get there through a5.  

17...Ne3 18.Qd2 Qb6

The white pieces seem menacing, but they are just too discombobulated to accomplish anything of real weight.

19.Bxd5 Nxd5 20.Qxd5 Qb2 21.Rd1 Qxc3+ 22.Kf2 Qxc2+ 23.Ne2

The last moves were more or less forced.

23...Bf5 24.Rc1 Qb3 25.Qxc4 Qxa3 26.Rhd1 Qb4 27.Qxb4 Nxb4 28.Kg3

I considered 28.Kf3, but still doubt that it would have been any better.

28...a5

And here we are. I still have my personal sitting duck on f6. Nevertheless, the poor fellow will ultimately save my skin. In the not so long run, Black's passed pawns will mean more than White's central play.

29.Nd4 Bd3 30.Rc3 Be4 31.Nb5 Bc6 32.Nd6 Nd5 33.Rxd5 Bxd5 34.Nxf7 Kxf7 35.f5 Bc6 36.Kf4 gxf5 37.Kxf5 Bd7+ 38.Kf4 Ke6 39.Rd3

Ok. The opposite bishops do mean something here; they have saved my life more than once. Just to prove this, I give you another of my games from this same tournament: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Rg1 b5 7.g4 Bb7 8.Bg2 Nfd7 9.a4 bxa4 10.Rxa4 Nb6 11.Rb4 e6 12.Be3 N8d7 13.Nxe6 fxe6 14.Bxb6 Nxb6 15.Qd4 Nd7 16.Rxb7 Nc5 17.Rb4 Qg5 18.Rc4 Be7 19.e5 dxe5 20.Qe3 Qxe3+ 21.fxe3 Rb8 22.b3 a5 23.Ke2 0-0 24.Ra1 Rb4 25.Rxa5 Rxc4 26.bxc4 Kf7 27.Ra7 Rd8 28.h4 Rd7 29.Ra5 h6 30.h5 Rc7 31.Be4 Kf6 32.Kf3 Bd6 33.Bd3 e4+ 34.Bxe4 Be5 35.Na4 Nxa4 36.Rxa4 Bd6 37.Bg6 Ke5 38.Ra5+, 1/2-1/2, Simmelink Manuel Monasterio, WC.2005.T.00006 IECG, 15.12.2004. Aren't these opposite bishops' endings just amazing?

My last move (39.Rd3) is already toying with the idea of Rd6+.
If we just take out the pawns from the kingside, I was assessing  the Bishop + 2 pawns as a draw. But I don't believe that Myers would have accepted the following deal: "Hey, I'll trade you my h- and g-pawns for your h-pawn. What do you say? Two for one?" I don't think so!  After an eventual complete blockade of his two pawns by my Bishop on the queenside, Black wins with his remaining pawn on the kingside. Therefore, no 40.Rd6+.

39...Ra6 40.g4!

I cannot tell you the amount of time I spent analyzing all the nuances of this extremely difficult ending. It is an amazing position, but I just would have liked it to come at a more relaxed time of my life. I have already prepared the inevitable sacrifice of my Bishop, hoping to be able to draw with my two pawns on the kingside.

40...a4 41.Rh3 a3 42.Rxh7 Bc6 43.Re7+ Kd5 44.e6 a2 45.h4 Kd6 46.Rg7 Ra4+ 47.Kg5 a1=Q 48.Bxa1 Rxa1 49.h5 Kxe6 50.h6

The situation has being reversed, now I have the most dangerous pawn! Of course, opponent is a Bishop to the good! But the position is a dead draw

50...Rh1 51.Rg6+ Ke5 52.Rg8 Be4 53.Re8+ Kd4 54.Rb8 Ke3 55.Re8 b5 56.Re5 b4, 1/2-1/2.

Black accepted his fate and offered a draw, which was of course accepted. The final plausible scenario is one in which we are left with a Black Rook against an h-pawn with an inevitable draw.

What immediately followed was entertaining indeed. My opponent confessed to me that he was rather depressed about black's chances (sic) in this 12...e5 line, because "if the White player is strong enough ('as you are,' he implied) Black cannot avoid a draw (!!!!!). I cannot but admire Mr.Myers's modesty and  ingenuity!  What a true fighter! He was demoralized just because he was not able to acquire a winning position with Black, in a major theoretical line, on the 12th move!!!!! God save the American Spirit forever!