Instruction / Tournament Preparation 13. ... Rad8 14. g4!
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6
The Modern Benoni is a very aggressive try vs 1. d4, but it is antipositional.
6. Nc3 g6 7. Nd2 Bg7 8. e4 0-0 9. Be2 Nbd7 10. 0-0 Re8 11. a4
The move 11. Nc4?! is what Black wants;
White violates the rule of cramped positions: don’t trade pieces. White needs the Nd2 for any advantage. Black has counterplay after 11. ... Ne5 12. Nxe5 Rxe5.
This space-gaining move leads to an unstoppable initiative.
14. ... Nc5
14. ... g6 15. g5 Nh5 16. f5 is better than the game, but still no fun. 15. Bf2 e5 16. Nf5!
At this point White has used only four minutes. 16. ... exf4 17. b4! Winning a piece and the game.
17. ... Ncxe4 No better is 17. ... Ne6 18. Nd5!.
18. Nxe4 Nxe4 19. Bxe4 Bxe4 20. Rxe4 Bf6 21. Bh4!
11. ... Ne5 The alternative continuation 11. ... a6 12.
Ra3 Rb8 13. a5 Qc7 14. h3 b5 15. axb6 e.p. Rxb6 16. Qc2 Ne5 17. f4 Ned7 18. Kh1 and White was seen in Tigran Petrosian-Miguel Quinteros when White was in control, mention ed below.
12. Ra3!? At Lone Pine 1976, I asked GM Petrosian
after he defeated Argentinean GM Miguel Quinteros, “What does this move do?” He smiled at me and replied, “nothing.” This type of move was typical of Petrosian: The rook hangs out on a3 ready to defend the kingside at a moment’s notice.
12. ... g5 Anchoring the ... e5-knight against White’s
f2-f4. 13. Re1 13. Qc2!? Considered most accurate,
Forcing trades.
21. ... Bxh4 22. Nxh4 Rfe8 23. Rxe8+ Rxe8 24. Nf5 Re6 25. Qd4 f6 26. Qd5 Qf7 27. Nxd6, Black resigned.
Black resigned here. If Black continues 27. ... Qd7 28. Re1 finishes the job.
The second game from the match was a
similar story, but in a tougher situation. Lematschko had the black pieces in the last game, needing a win to force overtime. Her previous games with black were Bogo Indians which are drawish at best. Once again based on Nana’s predictability, I decided the best chance would be a Benoni.
Modern Benoni, Classical Variation (A77) WGM Nana Alexandria (FIDE 2355, GEO) WGM Tatjana Lematschko (FIDE 2255, SUI) Candidates (Women), Alicante (10), 1983
38 July 2013 | Chess Life
White’s best plan is Nd1 to e3, but not to f5 unless the moment is right. 13. ... a6 14. Nd1 The difference here is that from e3, White has two knights hitting c4. 14. ... b6 15. g3 g4 16. Qb1 Ra7 17. b4 Rae7 18. bxc5 bxc5 19. Rb3 Ned7 20. Ne3 Ne5 21. Rb8 Qc7 22. Rxc8! A positional Exchange sacrifice for a strong outpost on f5. 22. ... Qxc8 23. Nf5 Rd7 24. Bb2 Bf8 25. Qc1 h6 26. Nc4 Kh7 27. Bxe5 dxe5 28. Nb6, winning in John Fedorowicz-David Norwood, London, It (cat. 8) 1988—Petrosian would’ve been proud!
13. ... a6 14. Nf1 h6 15. Bd2 Ng6 16. Ng3 Nf4 17. Bf1 Ng4 18. h3 Ne5 19. Nh5 Nxh5 20. Qxh5 f5 21. f4 Nf7 22. fxg5 hxg5 23. h4 gxh4 24. exf5 Rxe1 25. Bxe1 Qf6 26. Bxh4 Qxf5 27. Qxf5 Bxf5 28. Rb3 b5 29. axb5 axb5 30. Nxb5 Ra1 31. Rf3 Bg4 32. Re3 Bd7 33. Re1 Ra4 34. Bg3 Rg4 35. Kh2 Rg5 36. Nc3 Bd4 37. Be2 Rg7 38. Bh4 Ne5 39. g3 Ng6 40. Bg5 Rh7+ 41. Bh4 Nxh4 42. gxh4 Re7, Drawn in 70 moves.
(see diagram top of next column) Black is very close to winning, but
nerves kicked in. The game was drawn in 70 moves and we lost the match 51
⁄2 -41 ⁄2 . Next let’s look at my coaching on the
men’s side as I helped GM Joel Benjamin in the 1987 world championship cycle.
1987 Interzonal GM Joel Benjamin had qualified for the
1987 Interzonal in Szirak Hungary. At the time I was based in Barcelona, Spain, so Joel and GM Michael Wilder visited for some serious pre-tournament study. I have to say that we did a very good job. In strong events the openings become the real focus. This tournament had 18 players, so it was a lot of work. A good general approach is to play for an advantage with white and to play for equality with black. This method of opening study was favored by Bobby Fischer. I got to carry 50 pounds of books! We worked on openings, played training
games, got some ideas from the opponents’ games and did some work on rook endings. We discussed player styles and matchups. That’s why we decided to play “the snake” versus super-Hungarian GM Lajos Portisch. The thinking was that something weird and new-fangled could send the veteran grand - master into a different type of thinking.
Modern Benoni (A60) GM Lajos Portisch GM Joel Benjamin Szirak, 12.29.1987
1. d4
It’s not so easy to confuse a world-class grandmaster, but Joel had fun trying!
1. ... Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 Bd6
This is “the snake,” a strange type of Benoni.
6. Nc3 Bc7 7. Nd2 7. d6!? A risky attempt at refutation.
Black is cramped, but the d6-pawn is vulnerable.
7. ... d6 8. Nc4 a6 9. a4 Nbd7 10. Bg5 0-0 11. e4?!
11. e3 leaves White with a persistent slight edge.
11. ... Re8 12. Bd3 (see diagram top of next column) 12. ... Rb8
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