[Event "SuperGM"]
[Site "Linares ESP"]
[Date "2002.03.09"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"]
[Black "Shirov, Alexei"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Hathaway, Mark"]
[BlackElo "2715"]
[ECO "B50"]
[WhiteElo "2629"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 { I'm surprised to see this move. I'd been thinking about it and then saw a game GM Yudasin - IM Nakamura from a recent event and now here it is again. White's idea is to not commit to d2-d4 and to perhaps threaten c2-c3, d2-d4 when he's used Bc4 to prevent the counter ...d6-d5. Black can easily play ...Ng8-f6 or ...Nb8-c6, but he must realize White's possible plan to achieve d2-d4, else he'll have no offensive potential. } 3... Nf6 4. d3 { perhaps planning 5. Ng5 e6 6. f4 } 4... e6 { Shirov aims to blunt the bishop and prepares ...d6-d5. He might also use ...a7-a6 and ...b7-b5. } 5. Bb3 { so that 5...d5 can be met by 6. e5 if he wishes } 5... Be7 6. O-O O-O ( 6... d5 7. e5 Nfd7 8. c3 Nc6 9. d4 b5 { would be similar to the game except that Black wouldn't yet have committed his king to any position } ) ( 6... Qc7 { trying to find a way to play ...c5-c4 to split apart White's central pawns } 7. c3 O-O ( 7... c4 $4 8. Bxc4 Nxe4 9. Bb5+ $18 ) 8. Re1 b5 9. Bc2 Bb7 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 e5 12. Nf1 Rfe8 13. Ng3 Bf8 { seems like a fairly safe Spanish-like position for Black } ) 7. c3 Nc6 8. Re1 { He's over-protected Pe4, so Pd3 can advance. Black has a couple of choices after d3-d4. One is ...d6-d5 e4-e5 which produces a French Defense kind of pawn structure, but the early ...O-O might not be favorable. Another is ...e6-e5 which produces a Ruy Lopez kind of structure except Black hasn't weakened his queen-side (or gained space if that's a plan you prefer for Black) . Now that White has a Pc3 and couldn't utilize a weaker square d5 it might be good for Black to play 8...e6-e5 in anticipation of 9. d3-d4 Bg4. } 8... b5 9. Nbd2 d5 $6 10. e5 Nd7 11. d4 { White supports Pe5 and prepares for Bb3-c2 to take aim at Ph7 (and Kg8) . } 11... Ba6 { I wonder if later he might miss this piece from c8 where it could defend Pe6 in a few critical cases when Black would want to play ...f7-f5 to block the b1-h7 diagonal. } ( 11... b4 ) 12. Nf1 { student body right } 12... b4 13. Ba4 { This is certainly an odd utilization of the bishop. } ( 13. Ng3 { preventing ...Ba6xf1, keeps the knight for offense and leaves Ba6 doing nothing } ) 13... Rc8 ( 13... Bxf1 $4 14. Bxc6 Rc8 15. Bxd7 Qxd7 16. Kxf1 $18 ) 14. Bxc6 Rxc6 15. cxb4 Bxf1 16. Rxf1 cxb4 { This certainly solves a lot of Black's problems. Kg8 is a lot safer and Black already has control of the only open file (Rc8) . By trading a couple of minor pieces it should also be easier for Black to maneuver comfortably. } 17. Be3 Qa5 18. g3 Rfc8 19. Ne1 Qb5 20. h4 a5 21. b3 { This slows Black's pieces considerably. Be7 is plainly blocked by Pb4 and White's central pawns block Nd7. Ne1 is necessary to prevent ...Rc2. Black could even look at ...f7-f6xe5 to open some lines. Unfortunately it's the f-file which would open for Rf1. The fact is there's no easy way for Black to force a confrontation of his pieces with White's, or to get at Kg1. Black has to be patient and await developments. } 21... a4 { I'm not terribly fond of this move. It places the pawn enprise and can only advance, leaving Pb4 backward or exchange for b3, opening the a-file for White. } ( 21... Rc3 ) 22. Nd3 Rc3 ( 22... Rc2 $2 23. Nc5 Rc3 24. Bd2 ) 23. Nf4 Nf8 24. Qg4 { White offers Pb3, knowing he threatens a strong attack. } ( { White could just get rid of the weak pawn before proceeding with his king-side offensive. } 24. bxa4 ) 24... Qd7 ( { The following variation (and subvariations) are probably far from perfect, but outline a couple of the plans of attack and defense which could occur. } 24... axb3 25. axb3 Rxb3 26. Nh5 g6 ( 26... Ng6 27. Nxg7 Kxg7 28. h5 Ra3 29. hxg6 hxg6 30. Bg5 Bxg5 31. Qxg5 Rxa1 32. Rxa1 Qe2 33. Qf6+ Kg8 { and Black has developed sufficient counterplay possibilities against Kg1 such that White can't go ahead with the offense by Ra1-a7 } ) 27. Nf6+ Bxf6 28. exf6 Ra3 29. Qg5 Nd7 30. Bf4 Qd3 31. Be5 Qf3 { and Black staves off the mating attack by threatening to get rid of Pf6 } ) 25. h5 $6 ( 25. Nh5 ) ( 25. bxa4 ) 25... axb3 26. axb3 Rxb3 ( 26... h6 $4 27. Ne2 Rxb3 28. Bxh6 $18 ) 27. h6 g6 28. Nh3 { It appears he's repositioning to attack Pf7, but that's probably not true. Pf7 is very easily defended by Qd7. Instead he's probably aiming to play Be3-g5xe7 to weaken the dark squares. That would give his queen a more clear path to g7 to give mate. } 28... Rbc3 29. Bg5 b3 30. Rfb1 { This is a tense phase where White has to bring every single piece into play and yet prevent Pb3 from advancing very far. } 30... Rb8 ( 30... b2 $4 31. Rxb2 $11 ) 31. Kg2 Rc7 $6 ( 31... b2 { gets the pawn a little out of reach of White's queen -- it won't be able to attack the Pb2 and Pf7 simultaneously } 32. Ra2 Rcb3 ) 32. Rb2 Bxg5 ( 32... Qd8 33. Rab1 Bxg5 34. Nxg5 Rcb7 35. Qf4 Qe7 36. Qe3 Nd7 37. Nf3 $11 ) 33. Qxg5 Qe7 34. Qe3 Qb4 35. Qf4 Qe7 36. Qf3 { There it is, the ideal location where he threatens Pb3 and Qf3-f6-g7#. } 36... Rcb7 37. Rab1 Nd7 38. Rxb3 Rxb3 39. Rxb3 Qf8 40. Rxb8 Nxb8 41. Ng5 Nd7 { Even here it seems White's advantage isn't big enough to win. But, Black's cramp is dangerous. One false step and it's over. } 42. Qf4 Qe7 43. Qc1 Qd8 44. Nf3 ( 44. Kf3 ) 44... Kf8 45. Ng5 Kg8 46. Nf3 Kf8 47. Kg1 { Apparently this is a critical situation: if Qd8 moves away from the d8-h4 diagonal he weakens e7 and g5 (two squares White would like to gain entree to) too much. Maybe he should just leave Qd8 and move ...Kf8-g8, however odd it may seem to move the king into such a dangerous situation. } 47... Qb8 48. Qa3+ Ke8 ( 48... Kg8 $4 49. Qe7 Nf8 ( 49... Qc8 50. Ng5 $18 ) 50. Qf6 $18 ) 49. Ng5 Nf8 { Now White would like to get to a square on the seventh rank to hit Pf7, but Black has them all guarded. } 50. Qa4+ ( 50. Qf3 Qb1+ ( 50... Qb7 51. Qf6 Qe7 52. Kg2 ) 51. Kg2 Qf5 52. Qe3 Qc2 53. Qa3 $16 { and White is making inroads to Ke8 & Pf7 and Black's queen is not going to be able to administer a perpetual check against Kg2 } ) 50... Ke7 51. Kg2 Qb7 52. Qa3+ Ke8 53. Qf3 Qe7 54. Qf6 { Wow! That's dramatic. I don't think I'd considered the possibility of offering a queen trade, as a way of zugzwanging Black away from Pf7. That's nifty and quite creative. } 1-0