[Event "Sparkassen sf"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2002.07.13"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Shirov, Alexei"]
[Black "Leko, Peter"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Hathaway, Mark"]
[BlackElo "2722"]
[ECO "B33"]
[EventDate "2002.07.13"]
[WhiteElo "2697"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 { Lasker-Pilnik or Sveshnikov Variation } 6. Ndb5 d6 { Now that Black has secured square d6, White can switch to taking aim at c7 and f6 by using Bc1-g5xf6 and Nc3-d5. } 7. Bg5 a6 { This is necessary to prevent White's threat. } 8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 f5 ( 10... Bg7 11. c3 f5 12. exf5 Bxf5 13. Qf3 Be6 ) 11. Bd3 { White can defend Pe4, but he would be better off to capture Pf5 and not have a Bd3 which might soon be chased away by ...e5-e4. } ( 11. exf5 Bxf5 12. Qf3 Nd4 13. Nc7+ Qxc7 14. Qxa8+ Ke7 15. c3 ) 11... Be6 { After this Pe4 is immobilized (at least temporarily) . White doesn't want to move Nd5 away -- not that that would help after ...fxe4 and ...d6-d5. So, White continues quietly and hopes his king will be safer and the many weak spots in Black's position shall offer him opportunities for attack. } 12. O-O Bxd5 ( 12... Bg7 13. c3 Ne7 $2 { Trying to force the knight exchange doesn't work when there's a weak Pf5. } 14. Nxe7 Qxe7 15. exf5 $16 ) 13. exd5 Ne7 14. c3 $6 { It seems to me Pd5 needs more support and White should play on the queen-side as part of that. } ( 14. c4 $5 b4 15. Nc2 ( 15. Qa4+ Qd7 ) 15... a5 16. a3 ( 16. Ne3 e4 17. Bc2 Bg7 18. Ba4+ Kf8 19. Qh5 $6 ( 19. c5 Bxb2 ( 19... dxc5 20. d6 ) 20. Rb1 Be5 21. Nc4 ) 19... Qc8 ) 16... b3 17. Ne3 e4 18. Be2 a4 19. c5 Bg7 20. Bb5+ Kf8 21. Qd2 ) 14... Bg7 15. Qh5 e4 16. Bc2 O-O { Black secures his king and eyes White's queen-side pawns while considering the ways White might try to attack at h7. } 17. Rae1 Qc8 18. Kh1 Rb8 19. f3 b4 20. Nb1 bxc3 21. bxc3 Bxc3 22. Nxc3 Qxc3 { Black has methodically crashed through the queen-side and White has yet to get his king-side play started. Is Black winning already? It's possible. Pd5 is still weak and Black's rooks have open queen-side files, so all Black has to do to ensure at least a draw is keep his king safe. } 23. fxe4 f4 { Black prefers not to let Pe4 enter into the attack by e4xf5-f6. It also keeps Ne7 safe, so the exposed Bc2 is a big issue. The bishop is blocked by pawns on light squares in ever direction. } ( 23... Qxc2 24. exf5 Rb2 25. Qg4+ Ng6 26. fxg6 Qxg6 ) 24. Bb3 Ng6 25. Rc1 Qf6 26. Qf5 Qe7 27. Rc4 a5 28. h3 Rb4 29. Rxb4 axb4 30. Bd1 { apparently planning Bd1-h5xg6 to undermine Pf4, but the recapture ...f7xg6 would uncover Rf8 to defend Pf4. I think Black is winning the ending if all the pieces trade. Pe4 is terribly weak. } 30... Ra8 ( 30... Re8 31. Bc2 Qc7 ) 31. Rf2 Qa7 32. Rc2 Kg7 { White's position looks fine except for Bd1, it's blocked by pawns on light squares. So, while it may appear equal there are chances for Black to invade on dark squares and catch White wrong-footed. } ( 32... b3 $2 33. Rc8+ ( 33. axb3 Qa1 34. Rc8+ ( 34. Rd2 $2 Qc1 35. Rd4 Ra1 ) 34... Rxc8 35. Qxc8+ Kg7 36. Qc2 $16 ) 33... Rxc8 34. Qxc8+ Kg7 35. Qc3+ Ne5 36. Qxb3 $16 ) 33. Kh2 Qe3 { threatening ...Qe3-g3+ and then ...Qe1+ to pick up Bd1 } 34. Bf3 Qe1 { Now Bf3 is quite isolated away from Pa2, so ...Qe1-b1 and ...Ra8xa2 are possible. Only the threat to Pf7 is major. It takes Fritz 4 a while before it "realizes" how much advantage Black can get by using ...b4-b3 to open the a-file for ...Ra8-a1. Then it goes from an "equal" evaluation to decisive for Black! } 35. Rc7 $6 { White can't afford to abandon his king this way. But, perhaps he thought passive defense wouldn't hold a draw! } ( 35. Bh5 ) 35... Qg3+ { Black's queen does a good job of defending and attacking from this square. } 36. Kh1 Ne5 { White has no checks and Ne5 does double duty defending and attacking. The one thing Black lacks is Ra8, and Pa2 is enprise, so White needs to go back onto defense. } 37. Bh5 Rxa2 38. Rxf7+ { White has nothing more to lose, so he tries for a perpetual check. } 38... Nxf7 39. Qxf7+ Kh6 40. Qf6+ Kxh5 41. Qf5+ Kh6 ( 41... Qg5 $4 42. Qxh7+ Qh6 43. Qf5+ Qg5 $11 { a perpetual check } ) 42. Qf6+ Qg6 43. Qh4+ Kg7 44. Qe7+ Qf7 ( 44... Kg8 45. Qd8+ Kf7 46. Qd7+ Kf8 47. Qd8+ Kf7 ( 47... Qe8 ) 48. Qd7+ Kf8 49. Qd8+ Kg7 50. Qe7+ Qf7 { right back to the game position! } ) 45. Qg5+ Kf8 46. Qd8+ Qe8 47. Qf6+ Kg8 { 48. Qg5+ Kf7 49. Qf5+ Ke7 50. Qe6+ Kd8 51. Qxd6+ Kc8 52. Qxb4 Rc2 -+ White runs out of checks and the Black rooks will help end it quickly. } 0-1