by Joel Benjamin

This month I’ll continue with the discussion of anti-e6 systems for White in the Sicilian. Last month I focused on the move 4…b5; now we will move on to 4…Nc6.

Joel Benjamin – Sal Bercys [B40]

U.S. Championship, San Diego 2004

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 a6

This move isn’t strictly necessary for Taimanov (early …Nc6, as opposed to the Paulsen or Kan with early …a6 but no …Nc6), but 3…Nc6 permits a transposition to the Rossolimo Variation with 4.Bb5. Those who play 2…e6 may not be prepared for the Rossolimo, making 3…a6 a sensible precaution.

4.g3 Nc6 5.Bg2 Nf6 6.0–0 Qc7

In the previous installment, I discussed how White’s option of closed or open treatment keeps Black on his toes with his move order.  Black can certainly play 6…d6, but may find himself in the wrong variation if White “opens” with 7.d4. After 7…cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bd7 Black is in a Scheveningen (Sicilian with …e6 and …d6) setup which may not be what Taimanov players are looking for.

If White wants to stay in unorthodox territory, there is nothing wrong with 7.d3. After 7…Be7 8.Ng5 looks okay, to be followed with 9.f2-f4. [Okay, not if he goes 8…h6, clearly we retreat the knight to h3 and then go 10.f4.] I couldn’t find many practical examples.

7.d3 Be7 8.Ng5

I go for the usual business here, but other moves are possible here. 8.h3 looks quite reasonable, perhaps 8.a4 could be tried as well.

8...h6 9.Nh3 b5

This strikes me as a provocation. Black leaves himself vulnerable on the long diagonal, and those tactical possibilities dominated my thoughts.

10.a4

I played this finesse with the idea of creating a weakness at c4. Otherwise Nc3-d5 is flashy but ineffective.

10…b4 11.Nd5 exd5 12.exd5 0–0

Forced. If Black doesn’t castle now, he may not get another chance.

13.dxc6

As soon as I made this move, I realized I had forgotten something. I could get the structure I wanted with 13.Bf4 Bd6 14.dxc6 dxc6, but with my knight misplaced, it’s no big deal. If my knight were on or close to c4, maybe things would be different.

13...d5 14.Nf4 Qxc6 15.c4

If I hadn’t thrown in 10.a4 this would be much stronger, but of course he could have just played 13…dxc6.

15…bxc3 16.bxc3 Qd7 17.c4 Bb7 18.Rb1 Rab8 19.Qf3 Ba8 20.Rxb8 Rxb8 21.Nxd5 Nxd5 22.cxd5 Rd8

My vigorous attempts to tie my opponent down have not borne fruit. Here my young opponent sensibly passes on 22...Qxa4 23.Qf5!, threatening to loosen Black’s position with 24.Be4. By keeping his queen centralized he prevents me from grabbing the initiative.

23.Re1 Bf8 24.Qe4

I couldn’t see a useful move so I protected my a4-pawn. I wasn’t thrilled with this endgame, but I saw a few tricks.

24…Bxd5 25.Qxd5 Qxd5 26.Bxd5 Rxd5 27.Re8 Rxd3?

Bercys is a talented teen who, despite this loss, went on to have the tournament of his (so far brief) career. But as I tell all my young students, old people (like me) will try to trick youngsters in the endgame, where their experience has not caught up with their talent.

It’s natural to grab first and ask questions later. But this capture loses time; with 27...f5 28.Be3 Kf7 Black would have secured the draw without undue effort.

28.Be3 Rd5 29.Kg2 f5 30.Ra8 c4 31.Rxa6 c3 32.Rc6 Bb4?

This looks solid enough but costs Black a pawn. Instead, 32...Ra5 would have secured the draw, e.g. 33.Rc4 g5 and now:

a) 34.Bd4 c2 35.Be3 Kf7 (even 35…Ba3 36.Rxc2 Rxa4 37.Ra2 Ra5 38.Bd2 Rd5 39.Bxg5 hxg5 40.Rxa3 is good enough for a draw) 36.Kf3 (36.Bd2? Rc5) Bd6 37.Ke2 Ba3 38.Rxc2 Rxa4 39.Ra2 Ra5 and White has nothing.

b) 34.Bb6 Ra8 35.a5 Bg7 36.h3 Kf7 37.Rc7+ Kg6 38.Kf3 with perhaps a tiny edge for White.

33.Rc4 Ba5 34.Bd4 c2 35.Be3 Bd2 36.Rxc2 Bxe3 37.fxe3 Rd3?

37...Ra5 would put up much better resistance. Stopping the a-pawn from advancing with the rook behind it is much more important than the e-pawn.

38.Ra2 Rxe3 39.a5 Re7 40.a6 Ra7 41.Ra5 g6 42.Kf3 Kf7 43.Ke3 Ke6 44.Kd4 Kd6 45.h4, 1–0.

The White king will invade decisively somewhere, so Bercys resigned.

I played Pascal Charbonneau in the eighth round of the 2005 World Open, the morning after hallucinating in a drawn position with four queens on the board against Kamil Miton. My opponent had spent the night before with Philadelphia police after he and his friends were mugged at gunpoint. In comparison, blowing a chess game doesn’t seem so important!

Joel Benjamin-Pascal  Charbonneau [B40]

World Open, 2005

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.g3 Nc6 5.Bg2 Nf6 6.0–0 Qc7 7.d3 Be7 8.Ng5 h6 9.Nh3 b5

No way…he is playing exactly the same way as Bercys. I didn’t think he was following the game (it didn’t work out that great for Black) but I didn’t want to repeat my moves from that game (it didn’t work out that great for me either). It turned out that he didn’t know about my game with Bercys, but he had this position before too! He played the same way against Igor “Little Schneidy” Schneider in 2003. Igor played the obvious 10.f4 and after 10…b4 11.Ne2 d5 Black’s move order makes sense. The open long diagonal still had me frothing at the mouth, so I went for tactics again.

10.Bf4!? d6

I had calculated lots of tactics, but Pascal played this sensible move without considering 10...e5 11.Nd5 or 10...Ne5 11.Bxe5 Qxe5 12.f4 Qd4+ 13.Nf2 Bb7 and White might be able to exploit the awkward position of Black’s queen.

11.e5 dxe5

Again the right choice – 11...Nd7 12.exd6 Bxd6 13.Qg4 looks very nice for White.

12.Bxe5 Qb6 13.Ne4 Bb7

Pascal’s excellent intuition steers him right again.  He didn’t waste time – as I had – on 13...Nxe4 14.Bxe4 0–0 15.Nf4 Bb7 16.Bxg7! Kxg7 17.Qg4+ Kh8 (17…Bg5 18.h4 Ne5 19.Nh5+ Kg8 20.Qe2 regains the piece with advantage) 18.Ng6+ fxg6 19.Qxg6 Rf5 20.Qxh6+ Kg8 21.Qxe6+ Rf7 22.Bd5 and White’s attack looks very promising.

14.Bxf6

14.Nxf6+ gxf6 15.Bc3 h5 is just unclear.

14...gxf6 15.Qh5 f5?!

Here I just noticed – but Pascal did not – the simple 15...Rh7, guarding f7. He opts for a creative but objectively weak Exchange sacrifice, which I hadn’t anticipated.

16.Neg5 hxg5 17.Qxh8+ Kd7 18.Qg7 g4 19.Nf4

My knight is critical for defense. 19.Ng5? Bxg5 20.Qxg5 Nd4 would put me in grave danger. Having regained my bearings, I realized I was doing well.

19…Nd4 20.c3 Bxg2 21.cxd4

Pascal thought White to be winning after 21.Nxg2 Nf3+ 22.Kh1. Your computers would agree, but I’m not so sure most strong humans wouldn’t go my way. If the Black rook makes it to the h-file it will be a bitter pill to swallow. Instead, I take over the initiative.

21…Bxf1 22.Rxf1 Rf8 23.d5

I debated between this and 23.dxc5, and as always happens (at least it feels that way) I chose the wrong one. After 23…Qxc5 (I considered 23…Qd8!? intending …Bf6, but it looks unlikely) 24.d4 Qd6 25.Re1 Black can hardly move.  I didn’t see Pascal’s ingenious reply.

23...e5! 24.Qxe5 Qf6 25.d4!?

25.Re1 Qxe5 26.Rxe5 Bf6 27.Rxf5 Bxb2 28.Ng6 Rc8 29.Rxf7+ Kd6 likewise offers Black fierce counterplay.

25…cxd4 26.Re1 Qxe5 27.Rxe5 Rc8 28.Rxf5?

New In Chess, the finest print chess magazine in the world, recently discussed the concept of “toilet moves.” One might think the phrase refers to a move that puts your position in the crapper, but I think they meant one that you play to give yourself a chance to go to the bathroom. My opponent got up to go to the bathroom after his 27th move. Thinking my move was obvious, I played it right away to get extra thinking time while he was away, without my precious minutes ticking down. After I played it, I realized my opponent’s plan and started to sweat. Of course, I should have activated my knight first – 28.Nd3 – after which White retains some advantage. In any case, I developed a new wrinkle in the ever-important concept of toilet moves.

28…Rc1+ 29.Kg2 Rd1!

Now my knight is dominated and the d-pawn becomes a monster! If 30.Rxf7 d3 31.Ng6 d2 and it’s a girl!

30.d6 Bxd6 31.Rxf7+ Kc6 32.Ra7 Kb6 33.Rd7 Kc6 34.Ra7 Kb6, 1/2-1/2.

Pascal was not in the mood to risk 34...Bxf4 35.gxf4 d3 36.Rxa6+ Kc5 37.Ra8.

Will the future bring a “three-peat” in this line, and what will I try then? If anything happens, I’ll let you all know. In the meantime, we will move on to transposition into the Rossolimo.