Yastrebov,A - Littlewood,J [C41]
Oakham Match (4), 2001
Annotations by John Littlewood
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 2-1 down in the match, I take a gamble by playing something I know well 3.d4 exd4 4.Qxd4 Although Morphy used to play it this way, 4.Nxd4 is the main reason I have given up the Philidor in top-class chess. I did know, however, in the only Yastrebov game I have seen he also then recaptured with the queen. 4...Nf6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.Nc3 h6 I play this early in order to ascertain white's intentions: if the bishop goes to h4, it's more difficult for white to carry out the thematic g4 advance and the bishop can no longer be used to defend the Q-side. An additional tactical nuance is that a later Qd2 can often be met by ...Nxe4. In future I may well delay ...h6 but not on the basis of the present game! 7.Be3 0-0 8.h3 Alex wastes no time in launching an attack on my weakenedpawn front. The next few moves will prove crucial. 8...Re8 Note that in contrast to most of the theory of this line I am in no hurry to 'gain time' with the obvious ...Nc6, since the knight would then get in the way of my projected pawn advance and not be available for the vital defence of the knight on f6. In any case whitle will have to play Qd2 if he wishes to play Bd3. 9.Qd2 What did I tell you?! 9...Bf8 Opening up the e-file, defending against a possible sac on h6 and at some stage hoping to relocate on the lovely g7 square. 10.Bd3 Nbd7 An immediate 10...a6 is also an interesting alternative, hoping for the prophylactic a4,which would discourage white from castling long and also leave open the option to develop the knight on c6 should white castle short. 11.0-0-0 a6! 12.g4 b5! 13.g5 hxg5 14.Bxg5 I'm all for 14.Nxg5 which not only guards the important e4 pawn but also allows f3 to perform the same task. 14...c5!
Completing the only plan available to me. It's interesting to note the strategic difference between the two sides' pawn attacks: mine is geared to the positional dictum that in defence against an enemy wing attack, a central counter-attack is vital. By threatening to remove the e4 pawn's protection by the N on c3 and the B on d3, I greatly hamper white's attacking plans as we shall see. 15.Qf4 Protecting the e4 pawn is hardly the right job for the queen: better would have been 15.Rde1 followed by 16.Rhg1 or even the immediate 15.Rhg1 c4 16.Bf1 b4? 17.Nd5 Nxe4 18.Qf4 Nxg5 19.Nxg5 Ne5 20.Bxc4! which would show up the downside of an overhasty advance and the consequent weakening of the c4 square. 15...c4 16.Bf1 Bb7 17.Nd2 The fact that white is driven to such defensive measures is a clear indictment of his game plan. Within the space of five moves black's central control has increased dramatically and white's pieces have become uncordinated. 17...b4! It's rarely good to play such a committal move without having a concrete attacking plan. Only the fact that white's knight on d2 allows the c3 break gave me the green light in this case. 18.Nd5 c3! 19.Nb3 Better than 18.bxc3 Bxd5 20.exd5 bxc3 21.Nb3 a5! and white is in trouble. 19...cxb2+ 20.Kxb2 20.Kb1 Rxe4! 21.Qxe4 Nxe4 22.Bxd8 Bxd5 23.Rxd5 Nc3+ 24.Kxb2 Nxd5 25.Bh4 g6 with excellent play for black 20...Bxd5?! 20...Rxe4!? 21.Bxf6 (21.Nxf6+ Qxf6+!; 21.Qxe4 Nxe4 22.Bxd8 Nxf2) 21...Rxf4 22.Bxd8 Rxd8 23.Nxf4 Bxh1 24.Bxa6 Bf3 followed by g6! with good play for black but hardly the dramatic win I was looking for. Did I miss anything here? 21.exd5 [21.Rxd5? Nxd5] 21...Qc7 Better to keep the queens on with 21...Qb6. I completely overlooked Alex's next move. Of course, I still maintain a plus in the endgame, but that was hardly my intention. 22.Qc4! [22.Qxb4?! Rec8 23.c4 a5! 24.Qa4 Ne4 25.Be3 g6! would give black a tremendous attack.] 22...Qxc4 23.Bxc4 Nb6 24.Na5 Ne4 25.Be3 Nxc4+ 26.Nxc4 a5! 27.Nb6 Ra6 I wanted to force the issue by threatening the immediate 28...Nc3 and Rxe3 while retaining the option of a4. 28.Na4 g6 29.Rhe1! Preparing f3 which would otherwise fail to Nc3. 29...Re7! A difficult move to find, but it is essential to guard this rook while preparing to centralise the other one. 30.Bd4 Ra8 31.h4 Rae8 threatening 31...Nc3! 32.Rg1 Bg7 33.Bxg7 Kxg7 34.f4 Rh8 35.f5 Rxh4 36.fxg6 f5! usefully supporting the knight on e4 37.Rdf1 Rg4 38.Rh1 Rxg6 Still relying on the knight fork, I continue to protect h8 39.Rh2 Rg5 40.Kb3 Rc7 Perhaps White underestimated the strength of this move. 41.Nb6 Rg3+ 42.Kb2 realising just in time that 42 Ka4?? would fail to 42...Rc5! 42...Rb7 43.Nc4 43 Na4?? Ra3 wins the knight 43...a4 44.Nd2 a3+ 45.Kc1 Nc3 46.Nb3 Nxa2+ 47.Kd2 Nc3 48.Rxf5 a2 49.Rh1 49...Rb5? There's nothing intrinsically wrong with this move but it is based on a bewildering hallucination. Fatigued and short of time, I was just about to play my planned 49...Nb1+ 50 Kc1 Rxb3 winning, when I 'sensed' there was a trap by 51 Rg1+ Kh8 52 Rf8+ Kh7 53 Rf2 threatening mate and thus forcing repetition of moves. I had thereby completely missed both trivial defences of ...Rh3 or
...Rg7. Unbelievably Alzheimerish!? On the basis of "I'm winning anyway" I played instead a perfectly sound move which extended the
game by a further 12 moves. I give them without comment 50.Ra1 Kg6 51.Rf4 Rxd5+ 52.Rd4 Re5 53.Rxb4 Re2+ 54.Kc1 Rgg2 55.Kb2 Rxc2+ 56.Ka3 Nb1+ 57.Ka4 Rg3 58.Rd4 d5 59.Na5 Rb2 60.Rxa2 Rxa2+ 61.Kb4 Nc3 0-1
