[Event "Eurotel Trophy"]
[Site "Prague CZE"]
[Date "2002.04.30"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Kasparov, Garri"]
[Black "Polgar, Judit"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Hathaway, Mark"]
[BlackElo "2677"]
[ECO "B51"]
[EventDate "2002.04.28"]
[WhiteElo "2838"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ { Moscow Variation -- After this White will either establish a white square pawn formation (Pc4, Pe4) to replace the effect of the bishop (to the extent they can) or aim for c2-c3, d2-d4 and possibly d4-d5 or e4-e5. The move also works to enable O-O quickly. 3. Bc4 is interesting and has been played recently, but 3. d4 is still the most common move. } 3... Nc6 { This is unusual, but not necessarily bad. If White captures Nc6 Black can recapture ...b7xc6 and have better central control. Perhaps Polgar is trying to take Kasparov out of familiar territory. } ( 3... Bd7 ) ( 3... Nd7 ) 4. Bxc6+ bxc6 5. O-O ( 5. d4 cxd4 6. Qxd4 e5 { and Black's better central pawns prevent White from maintaining his Qd4 } ) 5... e5 $6 { This makes Bf8 bad and doesn't prevent White from playing c2-c3, d2-d4 to open the center. } ( { Black can immediately target Pb2 with ...Bg7 and ...Rb8 (or ...Qb6) , but mostly she should use Bg7 in cooperation with her dark-square pawn chain. } 5... g6 6. e5 d5 7. h3 { and Black should be in good shape while White has to justify his (possibly overextended) Pe5 } ) 6. c3 { Already Black faces a crisis since White is better developed and Ke8 might soon be exposed. } 6... g5 { This could be the move of a complete amateur or of a great player such as Ivanchuk, but it seems out of place and unusual, for Polgar. This may be a small indication of an internal struggle wherein she tries to expand her approach, hopefully for the better. In this case I think it just fails. } ( 6... Be6 7. d4 cxd4 8. cxd4 f6 9. Qa4 Qd7 10. Nc3 Ne7 { is clearly easier for White to play and Qd7 isn't very mobile, so White should aim for Rd1 and dxe5 to continue opening lines. } ) 7. d4 $1 { Opening the center is more important than the pawn he appears to be gambitting. } 7... g4 8. Nfd2 cxd4 9. cxd4 exd4 10. Nc4 { practically begging for ...d6-d5, so he can open the e-file with exd5 } ( 10. Qa4 Bd7 11. Qxd4 Qf6 { forces simplification or allows Black to develop unmolested. Pd4 and Rh8 aren't the primary target, Ke8 is. } ) 10... c5 ( 10... Bg7 $2 11. Bf4 ) 11. Re1 { quite likely planning 12. e5 d5 13. Nd6+ } 11... Be6 ( 11... f6 { is ugly, but might hold the dark squares well enough to allow some piece developments } ) 12. Nba3 Be7 { Developing this piece to this square is usually normal, but in this case it's very strange. It helps keep the e-file blocked, but how are the king-side pieces to be developed and used? I'm not certain what Black's plan might be. } ( 12... Ne7 13. e5 d5 14. Nd6+ Kd7 $13 ) 13. e5 d5 14. Nd6+ Kf8 { This position doesn't look too good for Black, but Na3 is misplaced and Nd6 is far from coordinating with other White pieces. } ( 14... Bxd6 15. exd6 Qxd6 16. Nb5 ( 16. Qxg4 Ne7 17. Qg7 O-O-O ) 16... Qb8 17. Nxd4 { and Black's position is falling apart } ( 17. Rxe6+ fxe6 18. Qxg4 Qxb5 19. Qxe6+ Kf8 { and Black appears to survive } ( 19... Kd8 20. Qxd5+ ) ) 17... cxd4 18. Qxd4 ) 15. Bf4 { Kasparov just holds onto Nd6 and keeps an eye on how Black is going to proceed, looking for ways to gain advantage. } 15... h5 16. b4 c4 17. Qxd4 { Pd5 is in danger of being captured by Na3-b5-c3xd5 and I don't see a very good defense for Black. } 17... h4 18. Nab5 Rh5 { White takes over the center while Black squirms out of the corner. Is this sufficient to prevent White from crashing through the center? Well, first of all Pa7 is en prise, so White has to decide whether there is time to capture it and then return to the main theme. } 19. Qe3 ( 19. Nxa7 $4 Bxd6 20. exd6 Qd7 $17 { Na7 is trapped } ) ( 19. Nc3 $2 f6 20. exf6 Bxf6 21. Be5 Rxe5 22. Rxe5 Qxd6 $17 ) 19... Qd7 { Finally Black's position seems to hold together. } 20. Nd4 Bd8 { perhaps considering ...Bd8-b6, but also clearing e7 to develop Ng8-e7-g6 } 21. Qd2 Ne7 { This position requires a comment. It appears Black has secured her king, but there's more of interest here. Black's advanced king-side pawns might give her a chance for some offense while it's not really clear White has any offense at all. The only factor which makes the position really murky is the blocked center. White has more space and Qd7 is dreadful, but can White actually penetrate Black's position? White can advance his queen-side pawns, but the king-side seems to be in Black's hands! This is an amazing realization to make after that peculiar opening. Perhaps a classicist would simply indicate that the immediate position doesn't appear winning for White, but Black will be compelled to make more moves and in so doing will unravel. We'll see. } 22. b5 Ng6 23. Nc6 c3 $5 { chasing White's queen away from control of d4, so ...Bb6 can't be met by Nc6-d4 } ( 23... Bb6 24. Nd4 ( 24. a4 g3 ) 24... Nxf4 25. Qxf4 Bxd4 26. Qxd4 g3 27. fxg3 hxg3 28. hxg3 { seems safe enough for White as Black doesn't have much force on the dark squares } ) 24. Qc1 g3 $2 { And, this is clearly too far-fetched. } ( 24... Bb6 25. Be3 $2 Nxe5 26. Bxb6 Qxd6 $17 { is very good for Black } ( 26... Nf3+ 27. gxf3 gxf3 { and White is in danger, but might well hold on because Qd7 isn't able to get to g2 quickly } ) ) 25. fxg3 hxg3 26. Bxg3 Bb6+ 27. Kh1 { Though Polgar has a rook on the h-file he would rather crouch behind the pawns than be flushed out to f1, or worse e2. } 27... Kg7 28. Qxc3 Rah8 29. Rf1 ( 29. a4 $4 Bf2 30. Bxf2 Rxh2+ 31. Kg1 Rh1# ) 29... Kg8 30. Rae1 f5 $2 { She wants to bring Qd7 to the h-file and/or to use ...f5-f4 to chase away Bg3, but king safety is the first priority! Allowing exf6 is extremely risky. If only there was another way, but I see none. I suppose this is where the classicist says, "I told you so." Black is having difficult with Qd7 because White dominates in the center, cramping Black quite a lot. So, when Black fights back those central pieces spring into action! } 31. exf6 Qh7 { threatening ...Rxh2+ mating } 32. f7+ Bxf7 ( 32... Kf8 33. Qxh8+ Qxh8 34. Rxe6 ) 33. Qxh8+ { forced, to avoid the checkmate } 33... Nxh8 { After this the position is changed dramatically and Black's king is in as much, or more, danger than White's. } 34. Ne7+ Kf8 35. Nec8 { This is a marvelous situation: Bf7 is pinned, Nh8 is stuck defending Bf7 and Qh7 & Rh5 can only sit on the h-file, but they can't open it. White has completely foiled Black's plan, but at a cost. The only question is whether White can finally get to the very exposed Kf8 because a failure to do so would probably allow Black to consolidate and win with her queen. } 35... Qd3 $2 { This looks like a time pressure move. It's quite ineffective. The threat is ...Qxg3. } ( 35... Bc5 36. Re8+ Kg7 37. Rxh8 Qd3 38. Rxf7+ Kxh8 39. Rf8+ Kg7 40. Rf7+ Kh6 41. Bf4+ Rg5 42. Bxg5+ Kxg5 43. Rf5+ $11 ) 36. Rf3 Qc2 $4 37. Nxf7 Nxf7 38. Nd6 Qg6 ( 38... Rh7 39. Re8+ Kg7 40. Rxf7+ $18 ) 39. Rxf7+ Qxf7 40. Nxf7 Kxf7 { After all that it seems terribly unfair that her heroic efforts to get active pieces was all dissipated, only to produce a losing ending. } 41. Re5 { Getting rid of the rooks makes good sense, as it makes the advance of Pg2 & Ph2 much easier. } ( 41. Rf1+ Ke6 42. Bf2 Rf5 ( 42... d4 43. a4 Kd5 44. g4 ) 43. Re1+ ) 41... Rxe5 42. Bxe5 d4 43. Kg1 Ke6 44. Bb8 Kd5 45. Kf1 Kc4 46. Ke2 d3+ ( 46... Kxb5 47. Kd3 { and Black is pretty much out of offensive weapons, so Pg2 & Ph2 will have their say } ) 47. Kd1 Kxb5 48. h4 a5 49. Be5 Bf2 50. h5 Be3 51. Bg7 { Black loses her bishop after h5-h6 and Pg2 will keep Black occupied defensively while White's king gobbles Pd3 & Pa5 to clear the way for Pa2 to advance. This was quite an exciting game with the odd appearances and Polgar's heroic effort to gain piece activity, only to have it fall apart as they neared the time control (assuming that was move 40) . } 1-0