Instruction / Tournament Preparation
Scheveningen Variation (B81) John P. Fedorowicz (FIDE 2440, USA) GM Tigran V. Petrosian (FIDE 2645, RUS) Hastings 1977/78 (10), 1978
1. e4 c5 Petrosian seldom played the Sicilian,
but I was happy to see it. His main defenses were the Caro-Kann and French. I was most concerned about the French.
2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 The straight up Scheveningen move
order was seldom seen due to the Keres Attack.
6. g4! a6 7. g5 Nfd7 8. Be3 b5 9. a3 Bb7 10. Qg4!
This was a novelty that now-GM Jon
Tisdall showed me. I don’t know how effective it is now, but back then it had big surprise value.
10. ... Nc6 11. 0-0-0 Nce5? 12. Qh3 g6 Breaking down the e6-square with 12. ...
Rc8 13. f4 Nc6 14. g6! is a typical Sicilian theme.
13. f4 Nc6 14. Rg1!? Very safe getting the Rh1 away from
the ... Bb7. The continuation 14. Nxc6 Bxc6 15. Bd4!? e5 16. Be3 exf4 17. Bxf4 Be7 18. Qh6 is very good for White as well.
14. ... Qc8 15. f5 Nc5 16. fxe6 fxe6 17. Bxb5
A typical Sicilian sacrifice with Black’s king in the center. 17. ... axb5 18. Ndxb5 Nd8 19. Rgf1! With ideas of Rxf8+.
19. ... Be7 20. Qh6 Nf7 21. Qg7 Rf8 22. Qxh7 Nxe4 23. Rxf7!
Sveshnikov Variation (B33) IM A. Jonathan Mestel (FIDE 2420, ENG) John P. Fedorowicz (FIDE 2440, USA) Hastings 1977/78 (3), 1977
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6
It was around here that GM Sveshnikov walked by and winked at me!
7. Nd5!? I was well prepared for most variations
and all sacrifice lines, but not this. Lately this line is seen from time to time. It’s a relief from the played out 7. Bg5.
7. ... Nxd5 8. exd5 Ne7 9. c4 Nf5 10. Bd3 a6?? OOPS! How embarrassing. Well my mom
said I would gain important experience. 10. ... Be7 11. 0-0 0-0 is a much better thing to do.
11. Qa4 Sicilian Defense, Sicilian Defense, 28. Qd3!
28. ... Kxc6 29. Nd4+ Kd7 30. h4 d5 31. h5 e5 32. Nb3 Rf3 33. Bd2 Rh3 34. h6 Rg8 35. Kb1
Not so effective is 35. Rg1 when Black’s next move is 35. ... Rxh6.
35. ... Ke6 36. Re1 Bxg5 37. Nd4+ Kd7 38. h7, Draw agreed.
And in mutual time pressure the former world champion offered a draw. Game 2 of the Hastings prep stories
didn’t turn out quite as well. I was a big fan of Sveshnikov and his variation of the Sicilian. What a tribute to him it would be to play his opening. With confidence I trotted it out against the strong English IM Jon Mestel.
it all. I could merely shrug sheepishly.
13. 0-0 g6 14. Ne4 Kf7 15. f4! exf4 16. Bxf4 Be7 17. c5 dxc5 18. d6 Bf8 19. g4 b5 20. Bxb5 Rb8 21. Bc4+ Kg7 22. gxf5 Bxf5 23. Rae1 Rxb2 24. Qxa6, Black resigned.
I dragged it out as long as I could.
Coaching a candidate In 1983 I was asked by the Swiss player
Tatjana Lematschko to be her coach. The mission? A Candidates’ match versus the experienced two-time World Championship player USSR/Georgian Nana Alexandria. The match was played in the beautiful Spanish seaside resort of Alicante, about two hours south of Barcelona. The Soviet coaches were GMs Mark Dvoretsky and Aivars Gipslis, so we faced quite a challenge. (One of the coolest things about this match was that I called timeouts! Every timeout was another two days on the beach.) One tactic that can be used against an opponent is predictability. I noticed in the tournament chess books that in many games Nana repeated inferior lines. This game we rolled the dice, hoping for one specific position. We got exactly what we wanted! A coach’s dream come true.
Symmetrical English (A30) WGM Tatjana Lematschko (FIDE 2255, SUI) WGM Nana Alexandria (FIDE 2355, GEO) Candidates (Women), Alicante (9), 1983
1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e6 4. g3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. 0-0 Be7 7. Re1 d6 8. e4 a6 9. d4 cxd4 10. Nxd4
This is the position we were aiming for.
Black is in a very passive hedgehog forma - tion. Black’s difficulties start with the inability to break with ... b6-b5 or ... d6- d5.
A nice combo leading to a winning game.
23. ... Rxf7 24. Qg8+ Rf8 25. Qxg6+ Kd7 26. Nxe4 Bxe4 27. Qxe4 Qc6 28. Qxc6+??
I learned an important lesson from this.
The attack won a small amount of material, but White shouldn’t trade queens. With queens on it’s obvious that Black’s king is a problem. Without queens Black has one thing less to worry about.
11. ... Ke7 Yuck. 11. ... Bd7 12. Bxf5 axb5 13.
Bxd7+ Ke7 14. Qxb5 wasn’t an attractive alternative.
12. Nc3 f6 It was around here GM Sveshnikov came
to check on my progress. His look of horror followed by a sad shake of his head said
10. ... Qc7 11. Be3 0-0 The greedy pawn snatch 11. ... Qxc4?
gets Black into big trouble. 12. Rc1! Qb4 13. e5 Bxg2 14. exf6 Bxf6 15. Kxg2 Qxb2 16. Na4 wins.
12. f4 Nbd7 13. Rc1
This might not be necessary, but Black is bottled up anyway.
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