[Event "SuperGM"]
[Site "Linares ESP"]
[Date "2002.02.28"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"]
[Black "Ponomariov, Ruslan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Hathaway, Mark"]
[BlackElo "2727"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2629"]

1. c4 { In earlier rounds he has played 1. c4 against Kasparov (barely surviving) and 1. e4 against Ivanchuk (preferring a closed line with 2. Nc3 and g2-g3, Bf1-g2) . Apparently he believes it will be difficult for his opponents to come and get him if he maintains a safe position. } 1... e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 { a big improvement over 4. e4 Bb4 from his first round game versus Kasparov } 4... d5 { Black refuses to allow White to control d5, holding back Black's pieces in the center. } 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nb6 { This kind of Reversed Sicilian Dragon, Classical Variation isn't too bad for Black. Black has played ...Nd5-b6 to avoid tactical difficulties. White threatened Nf3xe5 when Bg2 and Nc3 double attack Nd5. He'd also rather retreat than capture Nc3. Allowing White to open the b-file with 6...Nxc3? 7. bxc3 isn't very good for Black. Usually White (and possibly Black) has to play on the wing (White with a2-a3, b2-b4-b5 and Black with ...Bf8-e7, ...g7-g5-g4) to fight for central squares. } 7. O-O Be7 ( 7... g5 { is probably premature because it's not well supported } 8. d4 exd4 9. Nb5 { and ...g5-g4 doesn't chase Nf3 backward since it can capture Pd4 } ) ( 7... Be6 ) 8. a3 { White realizes Black might play ...g7-g5-g4, so he begins his own threat of b2-b4-b5 to counter it. They're fighting over control of e5 and d4. } 8... O-O { White's quick queen-side threat (b2-b4-b5) prevented Black from getting to play his own ...g7-g5-g4, so Black simply castles and continues normally. } ( 8... g5 { is still premature because of } 9. d4 ( { too slow is } 9. b4 g4 ) ) ( 8... Be6 { allows Black to meet b2-b4 with ...Nc6-d4 when Pe5 is immune because of ...Be6-b3 } ) 9. b4 Be6 10. Rb1 f6 11. d3 ( 11. b5 Nd4 ) 11... Nd4 { This is a surprising move. Usually Black would avoid a trade of Nf3 in order to keep Bg2 under cover. But, in this case it appears Black intends to get his queen-side better organized before White could play Bc1-e3 and Nc3-e4-c5. } ( 11... a6 ) 12. Nd2 ( 12. Nxd4 exd4 13. Ne4 Bd5 { and Pb7 doesn't become a problem } ) 12... c6 13. e3 Nb5 { again a curious choice. The knight has no better square, but it's odd to see Black allowing doubled pawns this way. } 14. Nxb5 cxb5 15. Nb3 { Unfortunately for White he hasn't won a pawn, but does have a weak Pd3 and undeveloped Bc1. } ( 15. Bxb7 Rb8 16. Be4 f5 17. Bg2 Qxd3 $17 ) 15... Na4 16. Bb2 Bd5 { There were a number of interesting possibilities for Black. I don't know whether trading light square bishops is particularly useful for Black. Was Bg2 really that much of a problem? } ( 16... Rc8 17. Bxb7 Nc3 18. Bxc3 ( 18. Bxc8 Nxd1 19. Bxe6+ Kh8 20. Rfxd1 { is also interesting } ) 18... Rxc3 19. d4 Qc7 20. Bg2 Rd8 ) ( 16... Qd7 ) ( 16... Kh8 { Giving up Pb7 so easily doesn't seem wise. Something more direct and forcing is needed. } 17. Bxb7 Rb8 18. Bg2 ) 17. e4 $6 { Bg2 is blocked out of play for quite some time. } ( 17. d4 ) 17... Bf7 18. d4 { This seems to solve White's problems. The threat of d4-d5 to block Bf7 or the threat of d4xe5 should force Black to exchange pawns and that opens up the way for Bb2. Pe4 will still be blocking Bg2, but if square e5 opens then there's still a chance for e4-e5 to free that bishop too. } 18... Rc8 $5 19. d5 ( 19. dxe5 Nc3 20. Bxc3 Rxc3 { and the threat to exchange queens to undermine Nb3 forces White to leave Pe5 for the moment } ) 19... Qd7 20. Qe2 ( 20. Qd2 { avoids a fork by ...Na4-c3 and keeps better control of c1. But, d2 is possibly a crossroads square which both Bb2 and Nb3 might need to use for maneuvering, so it's not completely clear Qd2 is any better than Qe2. } ) 20... Bd8 21. Ba1 { This phase of the game is where the players reorganize their pieces to suit the new pawn structure. } 21... Bb6 22. Rbc1 a6 23. h4 Rxc1 24. Rxc1 Rc8 25. Rc2 Rc7 26. Bf3 Qc8 27. Rxc7 Qxc7 28. Qd3 { White is pretty well organized to avoid incursions except at c4. Moving Qe2-d3 allows Bf3-e2, securing c4. } 28... Qc4 { So, Black doesn't waste time. } 29. Be2 Bg6 { White can't support Pe4 with f2-f3 because it's pinned and he won't want to move Nb3-d2 because that would allow ...Qc4-c1+, with further damage to follow. } 30. Qxc4 ( 30. Nd2 Qc1+ ) 30... bxc4 31. Bxc4 ( 31. Nd2 $4 c3 32. Nc4 c2 $19 ) 31... Bxe4 { Finally, after that phase the position opens a bit and it appears Black's pieces are a little better. Pe5 blunts Ba1 and Na4 & Bb6 restrain Nb3. So, Be4 and Bc4 duel. It appears to me Pd5 is exposed and weak, so ...Kg8-f8-e7-d6 would be an obvious continuation for Black. } 32. Nd2 Bf5 { Even after this there's a threat of ...Kg8-d6 and ...Bf5-g6-f7xd5. } 33. d6+ Kf8 34. Bd5 { This is a very nifty tactic as it attacks two Black pawns (Pb7 & Pa6) and opens the way for Nd2-c4. Black wasn't given any time to establish a bind by blockading Pd5 and now he even has to spend moves on defense. } 34... Bc8 35. d7 ( 35. Nc4 $2 Ke8 { and Pd6 isn't a weapon any more! } ) 35... Bxd7 36. Bxb7 Bb5 { Time to re-evaluate: Pa6 is defended, but White has a two-to-one queen-side pawn majority. Fortunately for Black the pawns are blockaded and his king has approached the center, so that shouldn't be dangerous. White has a problem bishop (Ba1) , but even that may evaporate if White gets f2-f4 or Nd2-e4-c3. It's about as equal as can be. } 37. Be4 ( 37. Ne4 ) 37... h6 38. Bc2 Ke7 39. Kg2 { After this it is clearer that Black's king can't approach Pa3 because Bc2-b3, in particular, will chase him away. Nd2 helps secure square c4, so Black can't use Bb5 to worm his way in by opposing Bc2. } ( 39. Ne4 Ke6 40. Nc3 Nxc3 41. Bxc3 Kd5 42. Bb3+ $4 ( 42. a4 Kc4 43. Bd2 Bc6 44. Kf1 Bd4 45. Ke2 Bc3 46. b5 ( 46. Bd3+ Kxb4 47. Bxc3+ Kxc3 48. Bxa6 Bxa4 $15 ) 46... axb5 47. axb5 Bb7 48. Bd3+ Kb4 49. Be3 $13 ) 42... Ke4 43. Bc2+ Kf3 44. Bd1+ Be2 $19 ) 39... Bd4 ( 39... Ke6 40. Bb3+ ) 40. Nb3 Bxa1 41. Nxa1 Kd6 42. Bb3 { keeping Kd6 away is essential! } 42... Nc3 43. Nc2 Bc6+ 44. Kf1 Bd5 45. Bxd5 Kxd5 46. Ne3+ Ke4 { After all that Black's king still makes some headway. But, Pf2 isn't endangered, so the real Black plan still is to get to White's queen-side pawns. At the moment Ne3 guards both c4 and c2, so Black must either move Nc3 to open square c3 or use ...f6-f5-f4 to kick Ne3 away. } 47. h5 $1 f5 48. Nc4 { threat: Nc4-d6+ to win Pf5 } 48... f4 49. Nd6+ Kf3 ( 49... Kd5 50. Nf5 ) 50. gxf4 exf4 51. Nf5 { White's queen-side pawns await the call to advance while Nf5 charges about threatening Black's king or any loose pawns it can target. } 51... Nb5 ( 51... Ne4 $4 52. Nd4+ Kg4 53. f3+ { and after Ne4 is captured White's queen-side pawns will be free to advance, quickly. } ) 52. a4 Nc3 53. Nxg7 ( { Not terribly obvious, but still to the point is to advance the queen-side pawns, now that they're unhindered. } 53. Nd4+ Ke4 54. b5 axb5 55. axb5 Kd5 ( { the obvious } 55... Kxd4 $4 56. b6 { runs into a small problem: how to stop the lowly pawn!! } ) 56. b6 Kd6 { and the pawn is stopped, so White still has to go back to the king-side } 57. Nf5+ Kc6 58. Nxg7 Kxb6 59. Nf5 Ne4 60. Nxh6 Nf6 61. Nf7 Nxh5 62. Ne5 Kc7 63. Ng6 $11 ) ( { even more direct is } 53. b5 axb5 54. Nd4+ Ke4 ( 54... Kg4 $6 55. axb5 Nd5 56. Ne6 f3 ( 56... Kxh5 $4 57. Nxf4+ Nxf4 58. b6 ) 57. Nxg7 ) 55. axb5 { transposed to the other variation beginning with 53. Nf5-d4+ } ) 53... Nxa4 54. Nf5 Kg4 55. Nxh6+ Kxh5 56. Nf5 { Most of the pawns disappeared because they weren't mobile and that's also an indication there wasn't enough piece support for them. Now there are only a few pawns, so the pieces will be working in close support of them. But, that means there's less chance for complication to induce an error; hence a draw is likely. } 56... Nc3 57. Nd4 Kg4 58. Kg2 Nd5 59. f3+ Kg5 60. Nc6 Kf6 61. Kh3 Kf5 62. Kh4 Ne3 63. Nb8 Nc2 64. Nxa6 Nd4 65. Kh3 Nxf3 { This was a game Vallejo Pons can be proud of. He played very well througout and especially in several situations which were not easy. He also retained a share of the lead, a tie with only Kasparov! That's something to write home about. } 1/2-1/2