[Event "Stockholm"]
[Site "Stockholm"]
[Date "1989.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Shirov, Alexei"]
[Black "Eingorn, Viacheslav"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Hartwig,Th"]
[ECO "E20"]
[EventDate "1989.??.??"]
[PlyCount "55"]

{ The following game can best be described as "mind-blowing", and it has been among my favorites for a long time. Therefore, one of the first games I intended to present as a "Game of the Week" was this one. The only thing that has held me back is that it proved incredibly hard to produce competent annotations. One of the problems is the same one I mentioned last week; that I can't just reproduce Shirov's notes from _Fire on Board_ so I have to diverge or improve on them. Of course diverging is easier! In most cases, my independent silicon-assisted notes (written as a first draft) emphasized slightly different points, and yet were accurate enough to keep, at least as a framework. However, at some critical moments only Shirov's notes approached what was really going on in the position. You will see how I dealt with the dilemma on black's twentieth move; hope you find it to be a reasonable solution.  Anyway, enjoy the game. } 1. d4 e6 2. c4 Bb4+ 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Be7 $5 { Very ambitious. On the one hand 5.a3 is a free move for white, but black is going to sack a pawn and try to demonstrate that 4.f3 weakened white's king. } 6. e4 c5 ( 6... c6 { was safer, but it isn't in agreement with black's idea outlined at move five. } ) 7. cxd5 ( 7. dxc5 $5 { also looks viable, but at best it's just going to transpose. } 7... Bxc5 ( 7... d4 8. Nb5 Nc6 9. b4 a6 10. Nd6+ Bxd6 11. cxd6 Qxd6 12. Bd3 { followed by 13.Ne2, 14.Bf4, 15.O-O looks comfy for white. } ) 8. cxd5 exd5 { transposes. } ( 8... Qb6 9. Na4 Bf2+ 10. Ke2 Qd4 11. Qxd4 Bxd4 12. dxe6 Bxe6 13. Be3 Nc6 14. Bxd4 Nxd4+ 15. Kf2 { and black probably doesn't have enough for the pawn. } ) ) 7... exd5 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. e5 { This is probably the best way to grab a pawn. I think it is very revealing to see the ways 9.exd5 and 9.Nxd5 get punished. Then one realizes that, assuming he had seen black's idea, he probably would have played it too. } ( 9. Bg5 $5 { is also interesting: } 9... Be7 ( 9... Qb6 10. Qc2 $1 Bxg1 $2 11. Nxd5 ) ( 9... Bxg1 10. Rxg1 ( 10. Bxf6 Qxf6 11. Nxd5 Qxb2 12. Rxg1 ) ) 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. Bb5+ Bd7 12. Qxd5 Nc6 13. Nge2 { and I don't see the compensation. } ) ( 9. exd5 $2 Qb6 10. Na4 Bf2+ 11. Ke2 Qd4 $15 ) ( 9. Nxd5 $2 Nxd5 10. Qxd5 ( 10. exd5 Qb6 11. Qa4+ ( 11. Ne2 Bf2+ 12. Kd2 Qe3+ 13. Kc2 Bf5+ ) 11... Bd7 12. Qe4+ Kf8 13. Ne2 Bf2+ 14. Kd1 Qb3+ 15. Kd2 { is too awkward, for example: } 15... Na6 16. Nd4 Qb6 17. Bxa6 Bxd4 18. Bc4 Re8 19. Qc2 Rc8 20. Qb3 Qa5+ 21. Kd3 Qc5 22. g4 b5 { and something finally drops. } ) 10... Qb6 11. Qe5+ ( 11. Ne2 Bf2+ 12. Kd2 Be6 ) 11... Be6 12. Qxg7 { Essentially forced or else black gets an improved version of the game where Nc3-a4 isn't hanging over his head, but now black gets a winning attack by shutting out the queen: } 12... Bd4 $1 13. e5 Bf2+ 14. Ke2 Rf8 15. Nh3 Bc4+ 16. Kd2 Qd4+ 17. Kc2 Bxf1 18. Rxf1 Qc4+ { and wins. } ) 9... Nfd7 10. Qxd5 O-O ( 10... Qb6 $2 { is too direct: } 11. Ne4 ( 11. Bc4 ) 11... Bxg1 $2 12. Nd6+ ) 11. f4 ( 11. Ne4 Qa5+ ( 11... Qb6 $2 12. Nxc5 Nxc5 13. Be3 Qxb2 14. Bd4 ) 12. Qd2 ( 12. Bd2 Bf2+ ) 12... Qb6 13. Nxc5 Nxc5 { looks acceptable for black because the light squares on the queenside are horribly weak. } ) 11... Qb6 12. Nf3 Bf2+ 13. Ke2 Nc5 $1 14. b4 $1 ( 14. Kxf2 Rd8 $1 ( 14... Ne4+ 15. Ke1 Qf2+ 16. Kd1 { is nothing for black. } ) ) 14... Rd8 $1 { The pawn becomes a piece as black struggles to keep the initiative. However, 14...Rd8 is very dangerous and could have easily won the game against inferior defense. } ( 14... Be6 $2 { is less good: } 15. bxc5 Bxc5 16. Qe4 ( 16. Qd3 Rd8 17. Qb5 Qc7 ( 17... Qxb5+ 18. Nxb5 Bc4+ 19. Ke1 ) ) 16... Qb3 17. Kd2 Rd8+ 18. Bd3 { and black has nothing for the piece. } ) 15. bxc5 Bxc5 16. Qe4 $5 { I'm not sure exactly why Shirov didn't play 16.Rb1. Did he understand that it was an objectively bad move, see some deep tactical refutation, or just prefer to return material over passive defense. It seems clear that black gets prolonged play for the piece, but I don't see how he can convert it to something before the material tells. Another issue is that white's position could be very fun to play after 16.Qe4. } ( 16. Rb1 Qa5 ( 16... Qc7 17. Qb3 Nc6 18. Be3 Na5 19. Nb5 $1 Qc6 20. Qc3 Bf5 21. Qxc5 Bxb1 22. Qxc6 { is clearly better for white. } ) 17. Rb5 Qxb5+ 18. Nxb5 Rxd5 19. Nc7 Rd7 20. Nxa8 b6 21. f5 $1 { otherwise black recovers the piece with an excellent game. } 21... Bb7 22. e6 fxe6 23. fxe6 Re7 24. Bf4 Bxa8 25. Bxb8 Rxe6+ 26. Kd2 Bd5 27. a4 Re8 28. Bg3 Bb4+ 29. Kc2 Rc8+ 30. Kb1 Rc3 { black is still being as annoying as possible, but white is still a piece up. } ) 16... Qb3 17. Bd2 ( 17. Na4 Qd1# ) 17... Rxd2+ 18. Kxd2 ( 18. Nxd2 Qxc3 19. Rb1 ( 19. Rd1 Bf5 ) 19... Nc6 { and the ideas of ...Nd4, ...Bf5, and ...Rd8 are too strong: } 20. Ke1 ( 20. Qd3 Qxd3+ 21. Kxd3 Bf5+ 22. Ne4 Rd8+ ) 20... Bf5 $1 21. Qxf5 Rd8 { wins for black. } ) 18... Qb2+ 19. Kd3 Qxa1 20. e6 $3 { This move really "made the game" for me. There's something about the wide open space around white's centralized monarch that makes it seem odd that white is the one attacking the opponent's king. Thus, the sheer audacity of the move is immediately compelling. Unfortunately the logical reasons for the move are not so easy to explain without getting into detailed variations, but I find this is often the case with Shirov's games; rarely could he be accused of playing transparently! } ( 20. Ng5 Nc6 $1 21. Qxh7+ ( 21. e6 $2 { is a less effective move order as now black can ignore it: } 21... g6 $3 { (Shirov) } 22. exf7+ ( 22. Qd5 { is also given by Shirov as winning for black. } ) 22... Kg7 23. Qe8 Bf5+ 24. Kc4 b5+ 25. Kxb5 Qb2+ 26. Kxc6 Rc8+ 27. Qxc8 Qb6+ 28. Kd5 Bxc8 { wins for black. } ) 21... Kf8 22. Qh8+ Ke7 23. Nd5+ Kd7 24. Qh3+ { only leads to perpetual check according to Shirov. } ) 20... fxe6 $2 { It turns out that this is probably the losing mistake. } ( 20... Bxe6 21. Ng5 { is extremely complex and also the correct line for black, which Shirov analyses to a draw. However I'm not going to crib Shirov's detailed notes here, and I don't think I can improve on them, so if you're really interested you'll have to buy the book _Fire on Board_ or check it out of the library. In my opinion it is just as interesting to see how white breaks through against black's plausible defense in the game. } ) ( 20... g6 $2 { is not possible as 20.Ng5 Nc6 has not been included: } 21. exf7+ Kg7 22. Qe5+ $18 ) ( 20... Nc6 $2 { also loses: } 21. exf7+ Kxf7 22. Ng5+ Kf8 23. Qd5 $18 ) 21. Ng5 g6 22. Qe5 Be7 23. Nxe6 Kf7 $2 ( 23... Bf8 { turns out to be a much better try although with: } 24. Nxf8 Nc6 25. Qf6 Qxa3 $1 26. Kd2 $1 { With the threat of 27.Bc4+ } 26... Qb2+ 27. Ke1 Qc1+ 28. Ke2 $1 ( 28. Kf2 Qd2+ 29. Be2 Qd4+ ) 28... Qb2+ 29. Kf3 Qb4 30. Nxg6 $1 { (Shirov) } 30... hxg6 31. Qxg6+ Kf8 32. Nb5 { white gets a winning position. } ) 24. Qg7+ $3 ( 24. Kc2 $2 { is sensible but takes the back seat to the winning game move. } 24... Bf6 ( 24... Bxe6 25. Bc4 Qxh1 26. Qxe6+ Ke8 27. Nd5 Qxg2+ 28. Kc3 Qf3+ 29. Bd3 Nc6 30. Nf6+ $18 ) 25. Qc7+ Bd7 26. Ng5+ Ke8 27. Nge4 Bxc3 28. Nd6+ Ke7 29. Nc8+ Ke8 30. Nd6+ { draws. } ) 24... Ke8 $2 { Desperation. } ( 24... Kxe6 { would have led to a more thematic finish: } 25. Kc2 Qxa3 26. Bb5 $1 ( 26. Bc4+ Kd7 27. Rd1+ Kc6 ) 26... Nc6 27. Bc4+ Kd7 28. Rd1+ { winning black's queen. } ) 25. Nc7+ Kd8 ( 25... Kd7 26. Qd4+ ) 26. Qh8+ $1 { The most precise, as black's king is badly placed on d7. } ( 26. Nxa8 { also looked OK: } 26... Bf5+ 27. Ke3 Qc1+ 28. Kf3 { ends the checks. } ) 26... Kd7 ( 26... Bf8 { can probably be refuted in a few ways; the following line is long but straightforward: } 27. Qxf8+ Kxc7 28. Nd5+ Kd7 29. Qe7+ Kc6 30. Nb4+ Kb6 31. Qd8+ Kc5 32. Qf8+ Kb6 33. Nd5+ Kc6 34. Ne7+ Kd7 35. Qxc8+ Kxe7 36. Qxb7+ Nd7 37. Qxa8 Qxa3+ 38. Ke2 Qb2+ 39. Kf3 Qc3+ 40. Kf2 Qd4+ 41. Kg3 Qe3+ 42. Qf3 Qe1+ 43. Kh3 Qe6+ 44. g4 { and black is not in good shape a rook down and out of checks. } ) 27. Nxa8 Qxa3 28. Kc2 1-0