All,
here is my game from the round 4 match against Ukraine in the Olympiad 2008.
Lots of people have asked for it, as this was such a momentous occasion. I
don't proclaim the game to be spectacular, but it was certainly exciting and
the tension and actual victory was something to treasure for many a year.
Enjoy.
[Event "13th IBCA Olympiad 2008"]
[Site "Heraklion, CRE"]
[Date "2008.10.22"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "Wassin, Sergej"]
[Black "Ross, Chris"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E32"]
[WhiteElo "2325"]
[BlackElo "2172"]
[Annotator "Chris Ross"]
[PlyCount "134"]
[EventDate "2008.10.22"]
[WhiteTeam "Ukraine"]
[BlackTeam "United Kingdom"]
{E32: Nimzo-Indian: Classical.}
1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 e6
3. Nc3 Bb4
4. Qc2 d6
5. a3 Bxc3+
6. Qxc3 c5
7. dxc5 dxc5
8. g3
{A surprise to me, as this was a variation I had not prepared for with
Grandmaster Neil McDonald.
At the time, I got rather despondent about this, as it was an obvious
continuation that we should have looked at, but we were more concerned with the
main line moves such as 8. Bg5, 8. Nf3, 8. Bf4 and obscure ideas such as 8. b4.
Annoyingly, I didn't spend the time at the board to analyse why this variation
is easily refuted.
it is, actually, in many ways, easy enough to spot why this plan of
fianchettoing on the king-side can allow black to equalise immediately.}
8... Nc6?!
{after which, white gets a very comfortable position and black is always on the
back-foot.
The easiest and simplest way to refute white's setup is to play 8... Bd7! with
the idea of 9. Bg2 Bc6 and black is well on his way to neutralizing the
light-squared bishop, so that his desired end-game of good-knight vs.
bad-bishop can be obtained more quickly.
The text-move just hems the light-squared bishop in on c8 and although a
natural enough development move, I didn't consider the positional aspect of
placing the bishop on "c6" instead of the knight. certainly, a positional
factor to keep in mind for the future.}
9. Nf3 O-O
10. Bg2 Qa5
{Since black is in a cramped position, I need to seek exchanges.
Getting the queens off will mean that white won't have any major attacking
possibilities and that black might be able to grovel in the ending for a
possible draw. After all, it is an end-game that black is seeking, with the
attempt to make that bishop on "c1" a miserable piece.
since the pawn structure has not been compromised in any way really (apart from
"a3"), black's normal positional probing with the knights are not so easily
accomplished.}
11. Qxa5 Nxa5
12. Nd2 Bd7
{Offering a pawn for development sakes.
White is going to thrust out with b2-b4 in any case, so, might as well try and
get my pieces out before white just starts squishing black to death.}
13. b4 Nc6
{Offering the pawn on c5 for positional gain. If white takes this pawn, then
the a5 outpost becomes available again and the half-open "C" file will give
black enough compensation for the pawn, as the doubled C-pawns will be
difficult to defend.}
14. b5
{White correctly pushes on and makes a target of the b7-pawn.
However, in the long-term, the queen-side pawns are weakened and stand on the
incorrect coloured square, a major factor, that will come back to haunt him at
the end of the game!}
14... Nd4
15. Ra2
{15. rb1 will be even better, as the rook belongs on the "B" file perhaps.
Also, nc2+ is not a concern as the king can run into d1, where it is absolutely
fine.
Unless white intends to push his "A" pawn, this rook on the A file makes little
sense. After all, the dark-squared bishop is surely destined for b2? if so,
then surely the rook should stay on the first rank, to come back onto d1 or
across to the king-side. On a2, it will have to come back to a1 and then
across. Thereby, losing a clear tempo.}
15... Rab8
16. e3 Nf5
17. Nf3
{white is searching to improve his position through the centre.
17. Bb2 b6 18. O-O was a slightly better variation.}
17... Rbd8
{Black seems to be getting back into the game.
17.. a6 might have been another try, just to prevent white from playing
a4-a5-a6.}
18. Ne5 Bc8
19. Ke2 Nd7
20. Nd3 Nd6
{Black is now starting to illustrate that his position, although poor, has some
potential.
White's constant headache in this position is his queen-side pawns, especially,
this weak c4-square. He is tied down defending it.}
21. Rc2 Rfe8
22. Rd1 Kf8?!
{trying to bring the king into the centre.
Black should just continue his grovel with 22... b6 and hope for the best.}
23. a4!
{the correct idea, but white fails to continue in the correct manner. White
should now advance this A-pawn as far up the board as possible. Maybe to a6 or
just to chop on b6 and have the A-file open for operations. In any case, the
white dark-squared bishop should aim for a3 to pressure the c5-pawn and show
that the king on f8 isn't brilliantly placed.}
23... b6
24. Bb2
{24. a5! is his best try.
Although white is still dominating, he should be playing on the queen-side and
not necessarily through the centre.}
24... f6
25. Bc6 Ke7
26. e4
{once again, although this plan seems logical enough, white should have opened
up lines on the queen-side first to give him further scope and lines for
attack. In this regard, white is not playing across the board, but just through
the centre, which gives black opportunities for a defence.}
26... e5
27. f4?!
{trying too hard to break through and smash his way into black's camp. Slow,
positional play must be best here.
27. a5! and black is incredibly short of ideas and moves.}
27... Kf8?!
{trying for traps down the open "E" file and attempting to activate the black
rooks, which is soon undone.
27... exf4!? 28. Nxf4 Ne5 29. Rxd6 Kxd6 30. Bxe8 Rxe8 31. Rd2+ Kc7 32. Bxe5+
Rxe5
is just about equal.}
28. Nf2?!
{Defending the all-important e4 and g4 squares. But this knight is now
passively placed.
However, it was just about now that the match became critically poised. Board 4
had remarkably drawn, board 3 had lost earlier on and top board had just won.
So, with me to play and looking worse, the fight was on. But what to do? E5 is
dropping off, if I am not careful, my pieces are tied down, I have a horrible
bishop on c8 and I am utterly cramped up. So, immediate tactics need to be
resolved. The knight on d6 is en prise. Just about one way to defend it and I
began to play reasonably quickly now, having decided on my plan and approach.
If I was going to lose, I was going to lose fighting.}
28... Ke7
29. fxe5 Nxe5!
{the point. I offer the exchange and immediate tactics to free-up my position.
This must have come as a bit of a shock to my opponent, who sat perplexed for
some time, which was the intention. now, time pressure became a major factor in
the remainder of the game. The exchange sack in itself is not sound, but when
desperate, you have to try desperate means.
29... fxe5 30. Ke1 was horrible for black and probably just about resignable.}
30. Bxe5 fxe5
31. Bxe8 Rxe8
32. Rd5
{A natural move to make, but one that gives black some hope.
how many humans would realise that the best move here is 32. Rdc1! Defending
the C pawn with a rook on a dark square and allowing Rd2 regaining the open
D-file and preventing Bg4+ tactics?}
32... Be6
33. Rxe5 Kf6
34. Rh5?
{at which point, it became obvious that white was starting to lose the plot!
34. rxe6! giving back the exchange, with an extra pawn, would have been
incredibly difficult for black to hold, although there were some vague drawing
chances lurking around. But now, the black pieces spring into action. The
bishop on e6 is just as good as a rook now and especially, to attack those poor
old queen-side pawns for white. The rook on h5 is just simply misplaced and
will take ages to come back into the game. Suddenly, black's doing absolutely
fine here, if not better!
how white has allowed me to come back into this, we will never know. Imagine
now, the atmosphere in the room. Most games had finished with me and my
opponent minutes on the clock to reach 40 moves, there was a lot of people
gathering around to watch this intriguing encounter.
Could black possibly hold this ending, hold it against somebody nearly 150 ELO
points stronger than him and against the Ukraine too? you can imagine the
interest this generated and the crowd soon began to get agitated and the
tension was just palpable!}
34.... Bxc4+
35. Kf3 Bb3
36. Re2 Kg6
{Achieving at least equality. More complicated was 36... Bxa4 37. e5+ Kg6 38.
exd6 Rxe2 39. Rg5+ Kf6 40. d7 Rxf2+ 41. Kxf2
and I'm presuming white should be OK, but are those queen-side pawns just too
quick for the rook.}
37. Rh4 Nf7!
{Getting that knight to the wonderful e5 outpost. After all, I sacked the
exchange to have a knight there, now the other knight must get there, not only
to blockade the pawn, but to dominate the position.}
38. Rg4+ Kf6
39. Rf4+ Ke6
40. Re3
{the last move of the control. No wonder my opponent missed 40 e5!? Which would
have given black something to ponder in his final seconds. Nevertheless, he
took the easy option and went for an easy move. Now, seconds to decide how to
continue...}
40... Ne5+
{getting the night to the outpost and preventing white from occupying it
himself.
at this point, I staggered away from the board, got outside for a breath of air
and waited for my pulse-rate to slow and the tension to drain away. You can
imagine my surprise, when I returned to see the crowd still there, watching on
in enraptured fascination as the Ukrainian now consumed a huge amount of his
final hour to find an adequate defence over the next few moves. There must have
been practically the whole hall stood around watching this now, the other
Ukrainians sat alongside me and surrounding myself, willing my opponent to find
something and naturally, all of this, the sheer physical thickness to the
atmosphere made my nervousness rise again and the tension and anxiety to grow
again. The question was now then, could I hold my nerve, since in previous
years, I have not learned to control these emotions successfully and bring off
the scalps that my performances richly deserve.}
41. Kg2 Bxa4
42. Ra3 Bxb5
43. Rxa7 Re7!
{coolly defending the king-side pawns. the exchange of rooks will demonstrate
that the black pieces are simply too strong and that his own passed queen-side
pawns will march relentlessly down the board. Compare the pieces. the knight on
f2 is so passive, the rook on f4 shut in...the bishop on b5 a wonderful and
powerful piece which will aid his pawns through admirably.}
44. Ra8 Bc6
{now the "e4" pawn becomes a huge target. This pawn gives white some hope and
the fall of this will mean that he is just about lost. A remarkable turnaround!
Black must hold his nerves during the oncoming tactics.}
45. Ra6 Rb7
{Again, coolly defending the pawns. the rook is just as good on b7 as on e7.
Also, it is now behind the pawns to begin their push.}
46. h4 c4
47. Nd1
{Bringing the knight back to hold up the queen-side pawns. But moving this
knight away allows the black knight to spring into action, since the protection
of the g4 and d3 squares are no longer necessary. Now, to win that
all-important e4-pawn.
47. Rf8 was white's best.}
47... Nd3
48. Rf8 Nc5
49. Raa8 Nxe4
{With the loss of this pawn, white's position is just about hopeless. Only
dirty tactics can help him now.}
50. Rac8 Kd6
51. Ne3 b5
52. Kf3
{A very scary move to have made! Being in a pin and moving further into the pin
must have been a nerve-wrecking decision. However, the discovery check isn't
easy to exploit for where does the black knight belong without allowing the
white king to rush to the queen-side and head off the pawns. Careful
calculation is required.
Incidentally, 52. Rf4 Nc5+ 53. Kg1 Ne6 54. Nxc4+ bxc4 55. Rxc4 Bd7 was hopeless
for white.}
52... Nc3+
{Stopping the white king from coming across. 52... Nf6+ 53. Ke2 is still strong
for black but not as accurate.}
53. Kf2 Ra7
{Activating the rook and bringing the final piece to bear on the position.
White has a last gasp effort to complicate things, but can black hold his nerve
still...the tension was almost unbearable!}
54. g4 Ra2+
55. Kg3
{Slightly better was 55. Kf1 Ra1+ 56. Kf2 Ne4+ 57. Kf3 Nf6+ 58. Ke2 Ra2+ 59.
Kd1}
55... Ne4+
56. Kh3 c3?
{Oh no, black's nerve breaks!! At this point, the Ukrainian number 3 was
leaning across me, distracting me horribly and with the tension in the room and
the mutterings and gasps of the crowd and the sheer momentous occasion that was
going on, I broke. To be winning in such a fashion and suddenly to allow the
massive advantage to slip, was almost, almost heart-breaking...but, but, but, I
wasn't gone yet and that fighting spirit soon revived itself. I elbowed the
Ukrainian number 3 away from
me and knuckled down to break my opponent once again...
56... Ra3 57. Rf3 Ng5+ 58. hxg5 Bxf3 59. Nf5+ Ke5 would have forced my
opponent's resignation.}
57. Rf1
{Played after 20 minutes thought, which gave him less than 7 minutes to finish
the game.
57. Nf5+ Kc5 58. Rfe8 Nf2+ 59. Kg3 was still difficult for black to convert.}
57... g6
58. Rc1
{58. Rd1+ Kc5 59. Rd5+ Kb6 60. Rd4 looks nice but probably doesn't do anything.}
58... Re2
59. Nc2 Bb7
{In the final moments of this game, neither player played his best chess. The
sheer moment of the event was just too incredible for either player to stand.
Computer analysis can show us the best moves, but here, I was trying to play
practically and quickly, as I had about 5 minutes extra to my opponent. And
after all, it is my opponent who has everything to lose now. A draw would be an
amazing result for me and the UK, so I was confident that I could probably
offer a draw at any moment and have it accepted. So, maybe, for me, the
pressure wasn't as great. But the crowd, the atmosphere in the room was just
amazing. All the other teams and watching passers-by were now gathered, as we
had been the only game for some time now. Both of us in the final minutes of
our time and the incredible situation we found ourselves in. Was UK going to
score a famous victory over the Ukraine?
59... Bd7 60. Rd8 Rd2 61. Na3 was the way to play for black.}
60. Rh8 Nf2+
61. Kg3 Ne4+
{Again, the tension was getting to me. I couldn't see a clear-cut path to
victory. I thought at this point, my rook belonged on d2 and then d3,
perhaps. So, the attempt to repeat the position.}
62. Kf3
{what is it with wassin and stepping into pins!
here though, the king can run into e3 and across into the queen-side, which is
a bit annoying. Black's advantage is starting to slip...}
62... Rh2
63. h5
{desperation. White had minutes left on the clock now. He was desperately
trying to find something. Any tactic would help him now and he wanted the rook
off the 2nd rank.
63. Rb8 Nc5+ 64. Kg3 Rg2+ 65. Kh3 and black has the king back on the edge of
the board.}
63... gxh5
64. gxh5 Rxh5
65. Ke3
{getting out of tactics. 65. Rb8 Nc5+ 66. Kg3 Rg5+ 67. Kh4 Rd5 and black is 3
pawns up effectively.}
65... Rh3+
66. Kd4
{Oh, black should be winning, but how difficult is this, with both of us down
to less than 5 minutes each. How to stop my pawn on "c3" dropping off, as it
has suddenly become very weak. Probably, even with that gone, black is still
slightly winning, but it would be incredibly difficult to accomplish with the
time left.}
66... Nf6
{Amazingly 66... Nd2 67. Na1 b4 68. Rd8+ Kc7 brings it home for black.}
67. Nb4?
{And you can imagine my relief when my opponent finally broke himself in the
time scramble. Thankfully, I had been shrewd enough to ensure that I had always
had that bit extra on the clock, so that I could always ensure not to lose on
time before my opponent. So, winning material would mean, he would be more
likely to resign. This blunder was the final element to an amazing, finale.
67. Rf1 Nd5 68. Rd8+ Kc6 69. Rxd5 Rh4+ 70. Kxc3 Kxd5 71. Rf5+ Ke4 72. Rxb5 Rh3+
73. Kd2 Rh2+ 74. Kc3 should be good enough to win.}
67... Rh4+
{With the idea of 68. Kxc3 Rc4+ 69. Kd2 Rxb4 winning a clear piece.}
68. 0-1
{At which point, the crowd burst into applause and I, and the united Kingdom,
clinched the most distinguished result of the country's achievements.}
Chris Ross
April 2010
