[Event "Leningrad"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1991.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Morozevich, Alexander"]
[Black "Ovsejevitsch, Sergei"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Barsky, V."]
[ECO "B01"]
[EventDate "1991.??.??"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[SourceDate "2001.05.12"]

{ That year Sergei Ovseevich from Herson (Ukraine) won the competition in the
older group. He played in a rather different style to most of his peers - very
accurate, careful and was ready to defend sligtly worse positions without
counterplay. And often his opponents lost vigilance and presented Sergei with
extra points.   I wasn't impressed by his play, although he was very
intelligent, serious and was than in the centre of public attention. 2-3 years
later he disappeared from the chess horizon.  I heard recently he obtained a
GM norm somewhere in the Ukraine, but I don't know if chess is his profession
or hobby now. } 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 { Scandinavian defence - a solid, but
inactive set up. In contrast, 13-year old Sasha Morozevich was fond of
complicated play, sometimes even to the detriment of his position. But
everything changes in our world - a couple of years later Morozevich himself
started to play the Scandinavian for Black! For example, in CT-100 our editor
Graham Brown mentioned the Gurevich - Morozevich game (London 1994). } 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 c6 6. Bc4 Bf5 7. Bd2 e6 { White has more space, and
has a pawn d4 in the centre. But Black has developed his Bishop on f5  very
successfully, and the pawns e6 and c6 create a "saw" for the d4 pawn. Of
course White has a small advantage but it's very difficult to realise
something real. } 8. Bb3 Bb4 9. O-O O-O 10. Ne5 Nbd7 11. a3 Bxc3 12. Bxc3 Qc7 13. Nxd7 { Morozevich doesn't avoid simplifications. But he invents a rather sharp plan... } 13... Nxd7 14. Re1 Nb6 15. Qf3 a5 16. a4 Nd5 17. Re5 $5 { It looks like a
small provocation. White is tempting his opponent to exchange his very strong
Knight in exchange for  destroying White's pawns. } 17... Nxc3 { There is a well
known chess joke: even the best knight is  worse than the worst Bishop. But
now Black remains without any counterplay for the immediate future. } 18. bxc3 Kh8 19. g4 $1 { Because Black can't open the centre, White began a pawn offence. } 19... Bg6 20. Qe3 $6 ( { Better was } 20. Qg3 $5 { taking control over the h4-square. } ) 20... Qd8 $1 21. Kh1 ( { It's always very unpleasant to admit a mistake, but maybe even here better was } 21. Qg3 $5 ) 21... Qh4 22. Rg1 f6 $5 ( { Very interesting! Black sacrificed a pawn, but would like to grab the e-file. } 22... b5 $6 23. f4 $36 ( 23. axb5 cxb5 24. Rxb5 a4 25. Ba2 Bxc2 $15 ) ) 23. Rxe6 Rae8 24. f4 $1 { White agrees to return the pawn but has closed an open file. } 24... Rxe6 25. Bxe6 ( { Of course not } 25. Qxe6 $4 Re8 $19 ) 25... Bxc2 26. c4 f5 $6 ( { Black wants to activate hisRook but it's impossible, as Morozevich proves.
Better was to take another pawn and wait: } 26... Re8 $1 27. d5 cxd5 28. cxd5 Bxa4 29. Ra1 $132 ) ( { or } 26... Bxa4 $5 ) 27. gxf5 Qf6 ( { Black overlooked the next move. Maybe } 27... Qh5 { gave a draw, for example: } 28. Rg5 Qd1+ 29. Rg1 Qh5 $11 ) 28. Rg6 $1 Qe7 ( { Not } 28... hxg6 $2 29. Qh3+ $18 ) 29. Rg3 Bxa4 30. Qe5 Rd8 ( 30... b5 $5 ) 31. d5 cxd5 32. cxd5 b6 33. Rc3 { A curious situation! The White Monarch is alone and very weak but
the Black pieces have no way to come to see it. In time trouble and in an
unpleasant position, Black made a decisive mistake: } 33... Be8 $2 34. Rc7 Qf8 ( 34... Qf6 35. Qxf6 ( 35. d6 $16 ) 35... gxf6 36. d6 $16 ) 35. Rxg7 $1 Qxg7 36. f6 Qf7 $8 { Queen has to stop the f6-pawn... } 37. Bxf7 Bxf7 38. Kg1 Re8 39. Qc7 Rg8+ 40. Kf1 { 1' 54" - 1' 57" A memorable game for me! } 1-0