Kasparov vs Marovic
Banja Luka | ?
558
[Event "Banja Luka"] [Site "?"] [Round "0"] [White "Kasparov"] [Black "Marovic"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A13"] [Opening "English: 1...e6 2.Nf3 d5"] 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Qc2 c5 { This move is considered the best reply. On 7...c6, 8.Rd1 proves unpleasant, as it will be difficult for Black to achieve the advance e6-e5.} 8. O-O-O { 8.cxd5 It is well known that this move achieves nothing in view of ...Nxd5 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10.Bd3 g6 11.dxc5 Nxc5 12.Rc1Nxd3+} 8... Qa5 9. Kb1 h6 { One can hardly recommend this move, which weakens the position of Black's king. } 10. h4 dxc4 {Acceptance of the sacrifice is too risky. 10...hxg5 11. hxg5 Ne4 12.Nxe4 dxe4 13.Qxe4 g6 when White has a winning attack down the h-file.} 11. Bxc4 Nb6 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Be2 cxd4 14. exd4 Bd7 {Black's po sition seems to be in danger, but if White acts slowly, Black will create counter-play on the queenside.} 15. Rh3 { With this rook lift White is able to use the semi-opened g-file.} 15... Na4 16. Rg3+ Kh8 17. Qd2 Nxc3+ 18. bxc3 Kh7 {18...Qf5+ 19.Kb2 Rg8 20.Qxh6+ Qh7 21.Qf4 retains the White advantage with a material bonus.} 19. Bd3+ f5 20. Ne5 { With the idea of 21.Ng4 taking advantage of the pin along the d3-h7 diagonal.} 20... Bb5 {This is the only defense to 21.Ng4. It seems that Black has turned aside all meaningful threats but the following move clarifies the situation.} 21. Rf3 {My strongest move of the game. It creates a horrible threat of g2-g4 which takes advantage of the pin along the b1-h7 diagonal.} 21... f6 { 21...Bxd3+ 22.Qxd3 h5 23.g4 hxg4 24.Rxf5 Qb6+ 25.Kc2 exf5 26.Qxf5+ Kh6 27.Rg1 is winning for White as Black has no good defense.} 22. Nc4 Qc7 23. Qe2 Bxc4 24. Bxc4 e5 25. Rxf5 {Marovic has defended well. However, this has taken much thought and now my opponent has found himself in time trouble.} 25... Ba3 26. Qe4 Kh8 27. Rh5 Qh7 28. Qxh7+ {This move is inaccurate although it does not through away the win. Better was 28.Bd3. 28.Bd3 Qxe4 29.Bxe4 Kg7 30.dxe5 fxe5 31.Rd7+ Rf7 32.Rxf7+ Kxf7 33.Rxh6 was the simplest path to victory.} 28... Kxh7 29. dxe5 Kg6 30. g4 fxe5 31. Rd7 {A mistake which should have cost me a half point. move in the game, which creates the threat of Bd3, also looks reasonable, but Marovic finds an excellent reply. 31.Rxe5 would have won without any real difficulty. For example ...Rxf2 32.Re6+ Kg7 33.Rd7+ Kf8 34. Rxh6 with a mating attack.} 31... Rae8 {Bringing his last piece into play and defending against the threatened 32.Bd3+ . After thinking for more than 20 minutes, I was amazed to find no direct win and decided to play on my opponent's time pressure.} 32. Rxb7 Rxf2 33. Rxa7 {Now Black has a lot of checks, but the draw can only be obtained by a quiet move - 33...Rd8!} 33... Bf8 {33...Rd8 34.Bf7+ Rxf7 35.Rxa3 Rf2 36.Kc1 with an objectively drawn position. But Black would still face many difficult obstacles.} 34. Ra6+ Kh7 35. Rf5 {Here Black overstepped the time limit, but it is easy to see that his position is hopeless. This game taught me a valuable lesson. I learned how one hasty move can be costly. But all's well that ends well.} 1-0
1-0
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