MY BEST MOVE GM ALEX SHABALOV
18TH-RANKED U.S. PLAYER (USCF 2633) FOUR-TIME U.S. CHAMPION
For most of the players this was a nice extended vacation (the traditional format for Soviet tournaments:15 rounds, one game per day with rest days!), but I remem- ber being in a fighting mood. I tied for first with my Latvian teammate Edvins Kengis and Russian master Alex Malevinsky with 111
T ⁄2 out of 15. The following game found its way into
countless tactics compilations and Max Dlugy even dedicated one of his art pieces to it! My opponent, the talented Estonian master Juri Vetemaa (who died tragically in 2003), had a rough night before the game and his facial expression the moment I unloaded the star move—well, that alone makes chess a game worth playing. This is one of the most memorable moments in my chess career.
Alekhine’s Defense, Four Pawns Attack (B03) Juri Vetemaa (FIDE 2280, EST) Alexander Shabalov (FIDE 2365, LAT) Baltic Republics Championship, Haapsalu 1986
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. f4 dxe5 6. fxe5 c5!?
I fell in love with this move the first
time my then-coach GM Vladimir Bagirov showed it to me. I scored countless victo- ries with its help (another memorable one was against Yury Lapshun in 2003 on my way to the U.S. title that year) and still con- sider it being a great way to meet the four-pawns attack in the Alekhine.
7. d5 e6 8. Nc3 exd5 9. cxd5 c4! This sneaky move is the whole (and
only) idea behind Black’s otherwise strate- gically-suspicious setup.
10. a3?! Bc5
This move will stop White from castling kingside.
11. Nf3 0-0 12. Be2 Bf5
And this bishop will play a major role in the queenside attack that follows. 13. Bg5 Qd7 14. Qd2 h6 15. Bf4 Na6
72 July 2013 | Chess Life
This critical position is about equal. 16. 0-0-0??! Rac8 17. h3? Interestingly, the computer sees the
danger and suggests all kinds of deflect- ing sacrifices such as 17. Bxh6,17. g4 or 17. e6.
17. ... Na4! Suddenly Black has an unstoppable
attack. I vividly remember seeing the line that happened in the game at this point.
18. Nd4 Bxd4! Too bad both 18. ... Bd3 or 18. ... Nxc3
also lead to big advantage for Black, oth- erwise it could have been a nice problem from this point on.
19. Qxd4 N6c5 20. Bxc4 Looks extremely dangerous for White,
but he hopes to hold on after 20. ... Nxc3 21. bxc3 Qa4 22. Kb2. Well, now it comes:
20. ... Qb5!! The move itself is not complicated. It is
more about overcoming the mental block that the b5-square is out of Black’s reach and also realizing that the threats that Qb5 creates are deadly.
21. Rd2 Nxc3, White resigned.
his game was played in June 1986 at the Baltic Republics Champi- onship in the beautiful western Estonian seaside locale of Haapsalu.
“
...his facial expression the moment I unloaded the star move— well, that alone makes chess a game worth playing.
”
PHOTO: MARK BOLSTER
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