[Event "Sparkassen Gp 2"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2002.07.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Leko, Peter"]
[Black "Bareev, Evgeny"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Hathaway, Mark"]
[BlackElo "2726"]
[ECO "B19"]
[EventDate "2002.07.06"]
[WhiteElo "2717"]

1. e4 c6 { Bareev has been a French Defense player for a long time. This may be the first non-French Defense game I've seen him play. He's a classical positional player, as is Leko! } 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 ( 3. e5 ) 3... dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 { White immediately goes after the exposed Bg6. This has been a normal move for many years now. The main alternative is to first play 6. Nf3, threatening Nf3-e5xg6. } 6... h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5 { Doing without h4-h5 has also been played quite a lot. Later on the Ph5 could be a weakness as it can quickly be threatened by ...Ng8-f6. } 8... Bh7 9. Bd3 { It always seems a little odd to see this bishop trade offer. Bd3 is White's better bishop, not conflicting with Pd4, but Bh7 is a very good piece and if Black puts all his pawns in the center on light squares then White's light-square bishop won't be better on any other square. } 9... Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 ( 10... Qc7 { prevents Bc1-f4 and prepares ...O-O-O. But, sometimes Black prefers to castle king-side, so he can advance on the queen-side. } ) 11. Bf4 Qa5+ 12. Bd2 Bb4 { This is an interesting move which I've only seen recently. It essentially forces a weakening of White's queen-side pawn structure. In times past Black used to play ...Qa5-c7 and possibly aim for a bishop trade by ...Bf8-d6-f4xd2. } 13. c3 Be7 { With Ph5 it's not so likely (though not impossible) for White to O-O, but with Qa5 it's not so easy for White to O-O-O. I think White would like to continue playing toward the center and see how Black's pieces develop before committing Ke1. But, Bd2 would be dominated too easily by a ...Nd5. The cautious alternative 14. a3, preparing c3-c4, just weakens White's queen-side further. } 14. c4 ( 14. Bf4 $2 Ngf6 15. Ne5 Nd5 16. Nxd7 ( 16. Bd2 Nxe5 17. dxe5 O-O-O ) 16... Nxf4 17. Qf3 Nxg2+ 18. Qxg2 Kxd7 19. Ne4 ) 14... Qa6 { By itself the position of Black's queen should be some kind of warning that his position isn't going to become sufficiently active. Qd3 isn't defended, so there is still some possibility for Black to break out of the shell, but it could quickly become very difficult. } ( 14... Bb4 $6 15. a3 Bxd2+ 16. Nxd2 { and oddly it's White who can play b2-b4 to begin a queen-side offensive and then O-O } ) 15. O-O Ngf6 { preparing ...c6-c5xd4. Earlier White could avoid the pawn trade with d4-d5. } 16. Rfe1 O-O ( 16... c5 $2 17. d5 exd5 18. Nf5 Ng8 19. Qxd5 ) 17. Nf5 { White can't yet afford Bd2-c3 because ...Nf6-d5 (Pc4 is pinned) threatens Bc3. } ( 17. Ne5 { aims to build pressure in the center, but without allowing any simplifying exchanges which would ease Black's cramp. Besides, there might be some other moment when Ng3-f5 could be played with greater effect. } ) 17... Rfe8 18. Nxe7+ Rxe7 19. Bb4 Ree8 20. Ne5 Rad8 ( 20... Nxe5 21. dxe5 Nxh5 22. Qe4 g6 { Black has some weak spots and Nh5 is awkward, but White doesn't yet have a winning attack. } ) 21. Qe2 ( { Too fanciful is the immediate sacrificial "attack". } 21. Nxf7 $4 Kxf7 22. Qg6+ Kg8 23. Re3 Qxc4 24. Rg3 Nxh5 25. Qxh5 Qxb4 ) 21... b5 { Black wants to break up White's pawns, so he can use d5. } ( 21... c5 ) 22. Rac1 ( 22. b3 ) 22... bxc4 ( 22... Qxa2 $2 23. Ra1 Qb3 24. Nxc6 Ra8 25. cxb5 ) 23. Qxc4 { White's pieces are much better and Pc6 is very weak. The only question is whether Black can apply equivalent pressure to Pd4. } 23... Qxc4 24. Rxc4 Nb6 25. Rxc6 Rxd4 26. Bc5 ( 26. Bc3 Ra4 ) 26... Ra4 { Black's position looks pretty good now. It's clear White wants to make something happen on the queen-side with his two-to-one pawn advantage and Black has to slow him down while making more of his king-side, mainly by grabbing Ph5. } 27. a3 { Ra4 could be very awkward, perhaps even trapped by White's bishop and pawns. } ( 27. Bxb6 axb6 28. a3 Rb8 ) 27... Nc4 $2 { This just begs for White to play b2-b3, forking Ra4 & Nc4. } ( 27... Rc8 28. Rxc8+ ( 28. Bxb6 Rxc6 29. Nxc6 axb6 30. Nb4 Ra5 ) 28... Nxc8 29. Bb4 Nd5 30. Nd3 Nxb4 31. Nxb4 Ra5 32. Rd1 Nb6 33. Rd8+ Kh7 34. Nc6 Ra4 35. Rf8 f6 36. Rf7 a6 ) 28. Nxf7 Nxb2 ( 28... Kxf7 $4 29. b3 Na5 30. Rc7+ Kg8 31. bxa4 $18 ) 29. Nd6 Rb8 { Again, it appears Black is asking for trouble by allowing Re1-b1, pinning Nb2. Maybe he's just trying to distract White from capturing Pe6. } ( 29... Rd8 ) 30. Rb1 ( 30. Rxe6 ) 30... Nxh5 31. Be3 Rxa3 32. Bd4 Rab3 33. Rc8+ Rxc8 34. Nxc8 { and it appears White has managed to capitlize on the pin! } 34... Rb4 35. Bxb2 { though now the pin is reversed and Rb1 is quite awkward. If Black could get Pa7 to a3 or Nh5 to d2 then he might even win. } 35... Nf4 ( 35... a5 36. Ne7+ Kf7 37. Nc6 Rb5 38. Nd4 Rb8 39. Nf3 a4 40. Nd2 { and Rb1 is defended, so Pa4 can't advance safely } ) 36. Ne7+ Kh7 37. Nc6 Rb3 38. Ne5 { preventing ...Nf4-d3 from winning Bb2 } 38... a5 39. g3 Nd5 40. Nc4 { defending Bb2, so ...Nd5-c3 can be met by simply moving Rb1 } 40... Nb6 41. Nd2 Rb4 ( 41... Rd3 42. Bc1 ) 42. Bc3 { Rb4 is pinned on the file, so a trade is unavoidable. This makes it much simpler for White to win Pa5 and the resulting endgame. } 42... Rxb1+ 43. Nxb1 a4 44. Na3 { This isn't the simplest ending to win. Pa4 restrains a minor piece and Pa4 isn't so easily gotten rid of. } 44... Nd5 45. Bb2 g5 46. Nc4 h5 ( 46... Kg6 47. g4 { keeps Black's king boxed-in } ) 47. Ne5 Nb4 { The knight heads to c2 to control both a3 and a1. White needs to challenge the knight with either his king or Ne3 or Nd4. } ( 47... Kg7 { heading for f5 and unafraid of any discovered check caused by Ne5 moving } ) 48. Kf1 Nc2 49. Ke2 Kh6 { Apparently Black is hoping to advance Ph5, particularly if White's king is too far afield, dealing with Pa4. } 50. Kd3 Nb4+ 51. Kc4 Nd5 52. Bc1 Nf6 { The threat to Pg5 by the long-range Bc1 has caused Black to retreat his knight all the way across the board. } 53. Kd3 ( 53. Nf7+ Kg6 54. Nxg5 Ng4 55. Nh3 ) 53... Nh7 54. Ke2 ( 54. Kc3 ) 54... Kg7 55. Nd7 { going after Pa4 } 55... Kg6 56. Nc5 Kf5 57. Kf3 Nf6 58. Nxa4 h4 { Black naturally wants to exchange off all the pawns, but he won't be able to. } 59. gxh4 gxh4 60. Nc3 Ng4 61. Ne2 Ne5+ 62. Kg2 Nd3 63. Be3 Kg4 64. f3+ Kf5 65. Nc3 ( 65. Kh3 Ne1 66. Nd4+ ( 66. Ng1 Nxf3 67. Nxf3 Ke4 $11 ) 66... Kf6 67. Bf2 ) 65... e5 66. Ne4 Ne1+ 67. Kf2 Nc2 68. Ke2 ( 68. Bg5 { forces Black's pawn onto a more vulnerable square } 68... h3 ) 68... Nd4+ 69. Bxd4 exd4 70. Kf2 { Ne4 can catch Pd4 at d2, holding Pf3 at that same time, so the king catches Ph4. } 70... Ke5 71. Nc5 Kd5 72. Nd3 Kc4 73. Ne5+ ( 73. f4 $4 Kxd3 74. f5 Kc2 75. f6 d3 76. f7 d2 77. f8=Q d1=Q { and it's Black who is better, though White can draw by standing in front of Ph4 } ) 73... Kc5 ( 73... Kd5 74. Ng6 h3 75. Nf4+ Kc4 76. Kg3 d3 77. Nxd3 Kxd3 78. Kxh3 Kd4 79. Kg4 Ke5 80. Kg5 $18 ) 74. Kg2 Kd5 75. Ng6 d3 76. Kf2 d2 77. Ke2 Kd4 78. Nxh4 { After this White can establish Kd1 and Ng2 to keep Black's king from doing any damage. } 1-0