Match between Nigel D Short and Joel Lautier
Event: Sanjin Hotel Cup
Variation: Sicilian – Pelikan (Lasker/Sveshnikov) variation
Eco code: B33
Pgn File:
[Event “Sanjin Hotel Cup”]
[Site “Taiyuan”]
[Date “2004.07.23”]
[Round “6”]
[White “Short, Nigel D”]
[Black “Lautier, Joel”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[WhiteElo “2684”]
[BlackElo “2666”]
[ECO “B33”]
[Annotator “Rogozenco,D”]
[EventDate “2004.07.17”]
[PlyCount “65”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “9”]
[EventCountry “CHN”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2004.09.23”]
[EventCategory “16”]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6
8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 Bg7 11. Bd3 Ne7 12. Nxe7 Qxe7 13. c4 f5 14.
O-O O-O 15. Qf3 d5 16. cxd5 fxe4 17. Bxe4 Rb8 { White tried various ways
here, but the recent practice shows that everywhere Black has compensation
for the pawn. He needs to play very precise, though. } 18. Rac1 $146 {
Short tries a new move, exploiting a well-known idea of exchange sacrifice
in order to take control of the light squares. } (18. Rad1 Rb6 $1 (18… f5
19. d6) (18… Qd7 19. d6 Rb6 20. Qc3 Rxd6 21. Bf5 $1 $14)) (18. Bf5 Qf6 $1
) (18. Rfd1 Qd7 $1 (18… Rb6 19. Rac1 $14)) 18… Qd7 (18… Rb6 $6 19.
Bxh7+ $1 (19. Rc6 Rxc6 20. dxc6 f5 21. Bd5+ Kh8 $44) 19… Kxh7 (19… Kh8
20. Bb1 $16 { [%cal Gc1c6] }) 20. Rxc8 Rxc8 21. Qh3+ Rh6 22. Qxc8 $16) ( {
Deserved attention } 18… f5 19. Rxc8 Rbxc8 20. Bxf5 Qg5 (20… Kh8 $2 21.
Qh3 $16) 21. Be6+ Kh8 $13 { with the knight in the center White would have
had clear advantage, but with the knight on a3 the situation is not
entirely clear. }) 19. Rxc8 { The intention behind 18.Rac1. } (19. Rfd1 f5
{ is okay for Black. }) 19… Qxc8 (19… Rbxc8 20. Bf5 Qb7 (20… Qd6 $2
21. Qh3 $18) 21. Bxc8 Rxc8 (21… Qxc8 22. Qb3 $14) 22. Rd1 $14) 20. Bf5
Qc5 21. Nc2 { White has good positional compensation for the exchange. If
he will consolidate (Ne3, Be4), this compensation will secure advantage. }
21… e4 $5 { Rightly seeking counterplay and avoiding a blockade on the
light squares. } 22. Qxe4 (22. Bxe4 Rfe8 $13 (22… f5 $6 23. Bxf5)) 22…
Rfe8 23. Bxh7+ Kf8 (23… Kh8 $5 { [%cal Gb8b6] }) 24. Qf3 $13 { /+/= }
24… Bxb2 { White needs to retreat the bishop from h7, to put the knight
on f5 and then play d6. But there is no time to achieve it all. } 25. Ne3
Qd4 (25… Rbd8 26. Qg4 Bg7 27. Nf5 Qc3 28. h4 (28. d6 Re1) 28… Rxd5 29.
h5 Rxf5 $11) 26. Nf5 Qh8 27. Qh3 Rbd8 28. d6 { [%csl Rh7] } 28… Re6 29.
g3 Bg7 30. Qh4 Bf6 31. Qh5 Bg7 32. Qh4 ( { Short could try to play on with
} 32. Rc1 $5 Bh6 33. Qh4 Qf6 34. Qxf6 Rxf6 35. Rc6 { and White’s pieces are
quite stable, in spite of fact that the bishop is rather strangely placed
on h7. }) 32… Bf6 33. Qh5 { I suspect that other White players will be
willing to try 18.Rac1 as well. } 1/2-1/2
Comments: