By Manuel Gerardo Monasterio

I have been a bit lucky against Italian players. I've met three very active players at the International circuit -- Marcotulli, Massimini Gerbino and Sacerdotali -- and I have a clear plus score against them. Who knows, perhaps it is due to my own Italian genes, as my mother is an Italian!

In my previous article, I had White against Sacerdotali. Here I try my hand at the Black pieces. Both games have some theoretical interest.

Sacerdotali-Monasterio [E90]
IECG 2004
1.e4 g6

I have been experimenting lately with a King's Fiancheto-Modern approach, with generally appalling results. I must say though, that my losses can't be attributed to the particular setup, but to my very poor form due to a lot of changes in my personal life. I tend to regularly change my openings; it may not be professional, but it is unquestionably fun!

2.d4 Bg7 3.c4

Sacerdotali makes his first big choice, and he sidesteps my invitation to enter a Pirc and instead heads towards Modern Defense or King's Indian waters. 3.e4 was the obvious alternative.

3...d6

A natural move here.

4.Nc3 Nf6

Now it was my turn to choose whether to stay in the Modern or go to the King's Indian. Well, I chickened out, returning to my first Indian love.

5.Nf3 0-0 6.h3

Another important moment. Sacerdotali chooses the Makagonov variation, the one I myself prefer lately against the King's Indian when I am White. The position that arises from here gives a good mix of strategical and tactical devices which fit well into my own style. It was not easy to meet "my own" variation though, and I chose a Benoni response.

6...c5

The most usual setups come from 6...e5. They are theoretical and crucial, but not to my taste.

7.d5 e6 8.Bd3

Apparently, showing his intention to enter into one of White's hottest systems versus the Benoni.

8...exd5 9.exd5

Okay. This one came as a surprise, as I was expecting the normal 9.cxd5. However, though this system is wildly popular, it's not, in my opinion, particularly dangerous for Black (Lately, I managed to lose a miserable game with Black against a very strong German Master.).

9.exd5, which strives for a small but safe edge, has always enjoyed some popularity. Black s Bishop on c8 is restricted, White has a central space advantage, and it's not easy for Black to generate active play.

9...Re8+ 10.Be3

  One again Black must make a difficult choice. 10...b5?! was the move chosen by Gheorghiu against Ivkov at Buenos Aires 1979, and although the Romanian GM has been a legendary specialist on this setup, he was badly beaten. 10...Bf5!? is possible; 10...Nh5!? too, and also the interesting and natural 10...Nbd7. I preferred an older move. In fact, I am following a game of Oscar Panno's. Panno is a player whose positional understanding I highly respect.

10...Bh6 11.Qd2

More common is 11.0-0 Bxe3 12.fxe3 and now:

  1) 12...Nbd7 13.Qd2 Rf8 14.e4 Ne8 15.Bc2 (15.a3 f6 16.Kh1 Qe7 17.b4 b6 18.Be2 Ba6 19.b5 Bc8 20.a4 a5 21.bxa6 Rxa6 22.Nb5 Ne5, =, M Tseitlin - Szekely, Pernik 1981) 15...Ne5! (Improving on 15...Qe7 16.Ba4 f6 17.a3 Nb6 18.Bxe8 Rxe8 19.b3 a5 20.Nb5 Rd8 21.Qf4 Ra6 22.Nh2, ±, eventually 1-0 in Aleksandrov - Vasilevich, Minsk 1997) 16.b3 (16.Nxe5 dxe5) 16...Qe7 (In this position White has no active plan, and Black may fight for the initiative due to the eventual breakthroughs ...b5 or ...f5) 17.Ne2 (17.Qf4 Bd7 18.Nd1 Ng7 19.Nf2 Nh5) 17...Bd7 18.Qc3 b6 19.Nf4 Rc8 20.Rf2 f6 21.Raf1 Ng7 22.g4 b5 23.a3 a5?! (23...Rb8) 24.Nxe5 fxe5 (24...dxe5 25.d6 Qxd6 26.Rd1 Qc6 27.Nd5 Qe6 28.cxb5 Bxb5 29.Qxa5, ±) 25.Ng2 b4 26.axb4 axb4 27.Qe3 g5 28.Rxf8+ Rxf8 29.Rxf8+ Kxf8 30.Bd1 Qf6? (30...Ne8-f6-g8-e7-g6-f4) 31.Qc1 (31.Qf3! Ne8 32.Qxf6+ [32.Ne3 Qf4] 32...Nxf6 33.Bf3 Be8 [33...h5 34.Ne3] 34.Kf2 Bg6 [34...h5 35.Ne1 hxg4 36.hxg4 Bd7 37.Kg3, =] 35.Ke3 h5 36.Ne1) 31...Be8 32.Qe3 Bg6 33.Be2 Ne8 34.Bd1 (34.Qf3 Qxf3 35.Bxf3 Nf6) 34...Kg7 35.Bf3 h6 36.Kh2 Qe7 37.Ne1 Qa7! 38.h4 gxh4 39.g5 (39.Ng2 Qa2 40.Kh3 Qa1 41.Nxh4 [41.Kxh4 Qc3 42.g5 hxg5+ 43.Kxg5 Nf6] 41...Qc3 42.Ng2 Nf6) 39...Qa2+ 40.Ng2 hxg5 41.Qxg5 Qf2! 42.Qe7+ Kh6 43.Qxh4+ Qxh4+ 44.Nxh4 Bh7!, 0-1, Antic - Velimirovic, Subotica 2000. White didn't need to be shown 45.Kg3 Nf6 46.Nf5+ Bxf5 47.exf5 Kg5.

2) 12...Qe7 13.e4 Nbd7 14.Qd2 Kg7 15.Rf2 a6 16.Raf1 Rf8 17.g4 Ne8 18.Qf4 f6 19.Qg3 Rb8 20.Kg2 b6 21.a4 Rb7 22.h4 h6 23.g5 Ne5 24.Nxe5 Qxe5 25.Qxe5 dxe5 26.Kg3 Rbf7 27.gxf6+ Nxf6 28.Be2 Bd7 29.b3 a5 30.Kg2 g5 31.hxg5 hxg5 32.Bd3 Kg6 33.Nb5 Rh7 34.Rh1 Rfh8 35.Rxh7 Rxh7 36.Nd6 Nh5 37.Bf1 Nf4+ 38.Kg1 Rh8 39.Rh2 Rf8 40.Nb5, 0-1, Pachman - Panno, Manila Interzonal 1976.

11...Qe7 12.0-0-0!?

But this was a big shock. I just did not guess the move. Only when I saw it I did find it on the databases. Only one game. And nothing particularly encouraging for Black.

12...Bxe3 13.fxe3 Nbd7

And not 13...Qxe3? 14.Qxe3 Rxe3 15.Nb5.

14.e4 a6 15.g4

I was ready to innovate on Fishbein - J Shahade ,USA-ch 2002, which went instead 15.Rhf1 Kg7 16.Rf2 b5 17.b3 b4 18.Na4 Ra7 19.Rdf1 Ng8 20.Bb1 f6 21.Nb2 Nh6 22.g4 Nf7 23.h4 Rf8 24.g5 fxg5 25.hxg5 Nfe5 26.Nh4 Rxf2 27.Rxf2 Nf7 28.Nf5+ gxf5 29.exf5 Kh8 30.f6 Qe5 31.Re2, 1-0.

Sacerdotali is a player that always choses his own path, and here he finds a plan that was completely alien to my expectations. This time it seems that he just went too far, as I found an excellent counterattack.

15...Ne5 16.Nxe5 Qxe5 17.Rhf1 Nd7!

This regrouping is crucial to Black's defense. Anything else will render White's attack unstoppable.

18.Be2!?
 
Another non-automatic move.

18...Qe7 19.Qh6 b5!

Of course, this is Black's only plan.

20.cxb5 Ne5 21.g5 axb5 22.Bxb5 Rf8!

White's plan is just too slow to succeed. However, Black must play accurately and demonstrate a good measure of sang-froid. The Benko type structure proves a killer.

23.Kb1 Ba6 24.Rf4 Bxb5 25.Nxb5 Rab8 26.a4 Nf3!

This unstereotyped shot is crushing. Black has what White lacks: piece coordination.

27.Rg4 Ra8 28.Nc3 Qe5!

Now Black's centralization -- as it usually does -- gives him complete control.

29.Rc1 Nd2+ 30.Kc2 Nc4 31.Kb1 Rfb8, 0-1.

Black's lightning counterattack brings curtains to the game, as White is helpless.