I have already confessed that I respect Black's chances in the Sveshnikov. Therefore, when confronted with 2...Nc6 in the Sicilian, I usually try to go somewhere else. The Rossolimo is indeed a good "place to go." I found an interesting game in ChessBase Magazine, it was a multimedia analysis of Nunn-Krasenkow, commented by the English GM. I have been fond of Nunn's games since the mid-seventies, when I got an audio cassette with Nunn's best games. I very much like his concrete, direct style. His victim, by the way, was none other than one of the greatest experts on the Nc6 Sicilian, the Polish GM Michal Krasenkow. The game played by the good doctor went as follows:

Nunn (2595)-Krasenkow (2632) [B30]
Baden Baden, 2002

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.0-0 Nge7 5.c3 a6 6.Ba4 b5 7.Bc2 Bb7 8.Qe2 d5 9.a4!? b4 10.d4!? bxc3?! 11.dxc5 cxb2 12.Bxb2 d4!? 13.e5!? Nd5 14.Nbd2 Bxc5 15.Ne4 Be7 16.Rfd1 Ncb4 17.Rxd4 Nxc2 18.Qxc2 Rc8 19.Qd3 Qb6 20.Ba3! Nf4 21.Nd6+!? Bxd6 22.Rxd6! Qa5 23.Qe3 Qc3 24.Qxc3 Ne2+ 25.Kf1 Nxc3 26.Rb6 Bd5 27.Rc1 f6 28.Bb2! Bc4+ 29.Ke1 Nxa4 30.Rb4 Nxb2 31.Rxb2 Kd7 32.Rb7+ Kd8 33.Rxg7 Bd5 34.Rxc8+ Kxc8 35.exf6 Rf8 36.f7 Kd7 37.Ne5+ Kd6 38.f4 a5 39.Rxh7! a4 40.g4 a3 41.Rh3 a2 42.Ra3, 1-0.

The chance to try 8.Qe2 came to me in the following game:

Manuel Gerardo Monasterio - Radovan Damnjanovic

IECG 2005

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.0-0 Nge7 5.c3 a6 6.Ba4 b5 7.Bc2 Bb7 8.Qe2

So far so good. Of course, I did not expect my opponent to follow the original game, that would be rather stupid, I was just happy to repeat Nunn's scheme.

8...g6!?!

When I saw this rather natural move, I went immediately to the databases. I had been so eager to emulate Nunn's play that I just had not checked out other Black's possibilities. This is not the first time that this happened to me -- I will be soon be showing you another example.

Okay. the position after 8...g6 can't be so bad for White. In fact this is a rather new move, with very few examples. I just found four, two of them were won by Black. The one won by White was not a great advertisement either. And there was a very unconvincing draw. The worst thing was that I just didn't like the position at all, and as far as I see, that counts a lot. I don't know about you, but this is not the kind of position that I aim for when playing White. What kind of plan does White have in this position? He just has to wait. Well, that is what I did.

9.d4

9.a4 was seen in Naiditsch-Nataf, Warsaw 2005, but Nataf played the inferior 9...bxa4?! instead of 9...b4 as in  S Gross - Goloshchapov, Austria 2002: 9...b4 10.d4 cxd4 11.cxd4 Bg7 12.d5 Na5 13.Rd1?! (better was 13.d6, but Black's game is absolutely okay) 13...exd5 14.exd5 0-0 15.Bg5 Re8 16.d6 Nd5 17.Bxd8 Rxe2 18.Bd3 Nb3 19.Bxe2 Rxd8 20.Bc4 Nxa1 21.Bxd5 Bxd5 22.Rxd5 Rc8, 0-1.

9...cxd4 10.cxd4 Bg7 11.Rd1

And now, 11.Be3 was played in Tairova-Nebolsina, Rus.under 20 Ch. 2005: 11...Nb4 12.Nc3 Nxc2 13.Qxc2 0-0 14.a3 f5 15.Rad1 Rc8 16.e5 h6 17.Qe2 g5 18.Ne1 Nd5 19.Bd2 Nb6 20.Nd3 Qc7 21.Nc5 Ba8 22.b4 Nd5 23.Nb1 Qc6 24.f3 Rcd8 25.Rc1 Qb6 26.Kh1 Rfe8 27.Rfe1 Ne7 28.Be3 Nd5 29.Bd2 Bc6 30.Rc2 Ra8 31.Rec1 Qd8 32.Nb3 Ra7 33.Na5 Ba8 34.Nc3 Ne7 35.Nd1 Nc6 36.Nb3 Rc7 37.Be3 Qb8 38.Nc5 Bb7 39.Nb2 Rec8 40.Nbd3 Nd8 41.Bf2 Nc6 42.Nxb7 Qxb7 43.Nc5 Qa8 44.Qd2 Nb8 45.Kg1 Qd5 46.Nxe6 Rxc2 47.Rxc2 Rxc2 48.Qxc2 dxe6 49.Qc8+ Kh7 50.Qxb8 Qb3 51.h3 Qxa3 52.Qd6 Qa2, 1/2-1/2.

Don't be fooled by the drawn result. White had an ugly position and Black failed to exploit his chances.

11...O-O 12.Nc3

And now I was ready to improve on Felgaer-Ramirez, Capablanca Memorial 2004 (the last example I had), which went as follows 12...d6 13.Bf4 Rc8 14.Rac1 Re8 15.e5 Nd5 16.Bg3 Nxc3 17.bxc3 dxe5 18.dxe5 Qc7 19.h4 Ne7 20.Bb3 Nf5 21.Bf4 Bxf3 22.Qxf3 Bxe5 23.Bg5 h6 24.Bd2 Nxh4 25.Qh3 g5 26.c4 Qe7 27.c5 Rc6 28.Bb4 Qf6 29.Qd3 Qf4 30.g3 Qxb4 31.gxh4 Qxh4 32.Qf3 Rec8 33.Rd7 Qf4, 0-1.

But I received a nice surprise from my opponent, he tried to improve on Ramirez' play. The move played is rather senseless and has a strong "engine" smell.

12...b4?!

When you decide to improve on some GM example, you better know what you are doing. If not, just don't improvise! 12...b4, as innocent as it may look, is a positional mistake; you will see why in a while. I wouldn't try to modify Ramirez' play, instead simply leave the burden on White to find an improvement.

13.Na4 Rc8 14.Bf4 d6 15.Rac1 h6 16.h4 Kh7?!

Carelessly played.

17.h5 Kh8

Admitting his previous error.

18.d5 exd5 19.exd5 Ne5 20.Nxe5 dxe5 21.Be3 Nxd5 22.Nc5

And there you are. This winning shot has been possible only because Black invited the lateral 13.Na4, weakening the key c5-square. Black cannot avoid the loss of the Exchange without enough compensation.

22...Rxc5 23.Bxc5 Nf4 24.Qg4 Qc8 25.Qxc8 Rxc8 26.Bd3 Nxd3 27.Rxd3 Bf8 28.Be3 Rxc1+ 29.Bxc1 Kg7 30.hxg6 Kxg6 31.Rd8 Bc5 32.Be3 Bxe3 33.fxe3 f6 34.Rb8?!

A sloppy move that denotes my state of mind during the last year. I made a long move from the mountains to the big city after fifteen years of living at the wilderness. During this  period I lost more games than during all the previous years together. This game is nothing compared with the "pearls" that I produced these last few months as I sank like the Titanic.

Now, after 34.Rb8, I have to win the game all over again. The simple 34.Rd6 was correct.

34...b3! 35.axb3 Bc6

I failed to notice this simple sequence. Now we are in a study-like position. White has to play exactly because otherwise Black has real chances of making a draw.

36.g4!

Perhaps the only way.

36...Bb5 37.Kf2 h5 38.gxh5+ Kxh5 39.Rg8! Bc6 40.Ke1 Bb5 41.Kd2 Kh6 42.Kc3 Kh5 43.Kb4 Kh4 44.Kc5 f5 45.Kd5, 1-0.

You might remember that I claimed that I was "ready" to improve on Felgaer-Ramirez. How? I don't know! Suffice it to say that I am not going to repeat this particular line again!