Yelena Dembo vs Dmitrij Driamin - First Saturday IM section 2000.02.10

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Yelena Dembo vs Dmitrij Driamin
First Saturday IM section Budapest, Hungary 2000.02.10
French Defense: Tarrasch Variation, Botvinnik Variation 1-0

[Event "First Saturday IM section"]
[Site "Budapest, Hungary"]
[Date "2000.02.10"]
[EventDate "2000"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Yelena Dembo"]
[Black "Dmitrij Driamin"]
[ECO "C05"]
[WhiteElo "2342"]
[BlackElo "2281"]
[PlyCount "83"]

1.e4 {Notes by WGM Yelena Dembo} e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 {I like to
play this old variation. Other possibilities for white are
3.Nc3, 3.e5. Some years ago I was playing also these
lines. All these lines are good but on this day I wanted to
sacrifice the central d-pawn and to attack...} 3...Nf6 4.e5
Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 {All these are only moves for both
colours.} 6...Nc6 7.Ngf3 {Here white had an alternative move -
7. Ne2. I also played like this some times but this line has
mostly positional ideas.} 7...Be7 8.O-O a5 {An interesting
move (but cannot say very good one!). It was played against a
possible defence of the d-pawn (after cxd4 and Qb6) with
Nb3. But I was dreaming about giving d4 away!} 9.Re1 {The
usual idea in French - defence of e5 square. It is a very
important moment.} 9...cxd4 10.cxd4 Qb6 11.Qa4 {Modern theory
already recommends 11.Nb1! The idea of an Israeli GM Ilia
Smirin.} 11...g5 {!? A very agressive move! My opponent hopes
for an IM norm in this tournament and starts attacking my King
very sharply!} 12.h3 {! A novelty at that time. I didnt want
to follow Kwaitkowsky-Rendle game!! (12.Nb3 g4 13.Nfd2 Qc7
14.Nf1 Nb6 15.Qb5 a4 0:1 Kwiatkowsky-Rendle, Hastings 2000)}
12...h5 {Black continues attacking.} 13.g4 {! An only but very
good answer. Of course white K will be open but black Q is
still on the queen's side...} 13...hxg4 14.hxg4 Nf8 {Not
bad. Black opens the way to Bc8 and tries to improve the
position of his N.} 15.a3 {The idea is simple: to get space on
the queen's side with b4.} 15...Bd7 {Not only developing the
B. Black threatens to play Nxe5!} 16.Qd1 {An exact move: it is
important to defend g4 after d4-pawn sacrifice! I dont like to
retreat the pieces but here it was necessary.} 16...a4 {Of
course Black wants to take on d4 but also dont want to give
white a possibility of Nb3. (16...Nxd4 17.Nxd4 Qxd4 18.Nb3 Qa4
19.Bc2~~)} 17.Nf1 {White is also improving the N.} 17...Nxd4
{The game started!} 18.Nxd4 Qxd4 {It is hard to believe but
the opponents reached this complicated position on the 19th
move only ten minutes after the start of play. This variation
of French Defence, involving the sacrifice of my d-pawn, had
occured before in my games. My Moscovite opponent knew that of
course and had prepared for the game very meticulously; in
particular he spent about one-and-a-half minutes for the first
twelve moves...). Naturally, this did not appeal to me but I
did not want to refrain from my variation. I had great faith
in my ability to checkmate the opponent's uncastled king! For
this it is necessary to bring about a very sharp and
complicated position...} 19.Be3 {! The first move leading to
this aim. At last my opponent thought for 40 minutes! Before
this move White already was a pawn down and now offers two
more; Black even has the choice! Now there is no question "to
take or not?": Black queen has no other moves. The question is
only "which pawn to take and what to do after that?". After
prolonged thought Black decided to take the central pawn, an
understandable decision.} 19...Qxe5 {(19...Qxb2 20.Rb1 Qxe5
21.Bf5~~)} 20.Bf5 {!! After the game my opponent admitted
having missed this move - also understandable... At this
moment 30-35 chessplayers gathered around our table and one
grandmaster said to my father and coach: "your daughter is
either a genius or crazy!" "Of course the first!" was the
prompt answer of my father, but his hands were still shaking
even some hours after the game, due to the emotional
strain... White has achieved her aim: the position is becoming
totally crazy. White's idea is now Bd4 or Bxg5. Here Black
once again sank into thought, calculating several
variations;as a result he ended up in serious time-trouble.}
20...Rh4 {!? An interesting move. But what about material? How
will the position be after mutual captures?} 21.Bxg5 Qxb2
22.Bxh4 Bxh4 {The captures have finished, so let's sum up: For
WHITE: 1) the material balance: White has a rook against a
bishop and two pawns. 2) the white king is deprived of
protection and the f-pawn is under attack, but there is no way
for Black to increase the pressure on it. 3) the bishop on f5
is very unusually but nicely placed but it is not clear how to
make use of it. 4) the white queen and the rook on a1 are out
of play. For BLACK: 1) the material situation is OK. 2) Black
has the bishop-pair. 3) the queen and the Bh4 are very
active. The f2-square in particular can become a very
dangerous for white. 4) the rook and the knight are
inactive. 5) the Bd7's situation lies somewhere in between. 6)
but the main feature of the position is the king on e8. It is
true though that an immediate attack against it is not
apparent. Therefore the conclusion is: it is necessary to
improve the activity of my pieces.} 23.Qf3 {There are three
ideas behind this move: 1) the queen is more active; 2) the
f-pawn is protected; 3) the d1-square can be used by one of
the rooks (I don't know which yet!).} 23...Qf6 24.Rac1 {?! I
am trying to prevent the black king from castling, but
24.Ng3!? with an idea of Nh5 was much stronger. Of course it
would have been a blunder to play 24.Qd5?? because of
24...Qxa1.} 24...Bc6 {My opponent, just like me, didn't see
the move 24...Kd8. It is hard to say how the game would have
ended after this move... Black was already in serious
time-pressure.} 25.Ng3 {The pin on the f-file is very
dangerous for White, as Black constantly has at his disposal
threats to win the bishop or exchange queens. Therefore the
knight is in a hurry to drive away the black queen.} 25...Nd7
{Black brings his knight into the game as well. (25...Qh8
26.Nh5 Be7 27.Bb1 Nd7 28.Qe3)} 26.Nh5 Qg5 27.Nf4 {The knight's
route from b1 to f4 was long and complicated, but it now
consitutes a source of danger to the black king.} 27...O-O-O
{Black managed to beat back the first wave of attack. But a
second wave is forming...} 28.Nxd5 {! A very interesting idea!
(Much worse was 28.Bxe6? fxe6 29.Nxe6 Qf6! 30.Qe2 Ne5 31.Nxd8
Nf3+-/+)} 28...exd5 {(28...exf5 29.Ne7+ Kb8 (29...Qxe7
30.Rxc6+ bxc6 31.Qxc6+ Kb8 32.Rb1++-) 30.Rxc6 (30.Nxc6+ bxc6
31.Rc4 Qg6! (31...Qf6? 32.Rxc6 Qb2 33.Qf4++-) 32.Rb1+->)
30...bxc6 31.Rb1+ Nb6 (31...Ka7 32.Nxc6++-) 32.Rxb6+ Ka7
33.Ra6+ Kxa6 34.Qxc6+ Ka7 35.Qc7+ Ka6 36.Qc6+=)} 29.Qxd5 {Now
White has rook for two minor pieces. The genius Mikhail Tal
very much liked to bring about and use this material
correlation...} 29...Qh6 {After this move my opponent had
15-20 seconds left until the time-control on move 40. People
around the board were already holding their breaths... }
30.Red1 {It appears that the bishop is about to start working:
31.Bxd7 is threatened. (30.Be6 Bxf2+ 31.Kg2 Bb6 32.Rxc6+ bxc6
33.Qxc6+ Kb8 34.Qd6+ Ka7)} 30...Kb8 31.Rxc6 {! Unfortunately
this last sacrifice only leads to a draw, but luckily for me
my opponent was intent on winning!} 31...bxc6 {31...Qxc6
32.Qxc6 bxc6 33.Rxd7 (33.Bxd7 Kc7-+) 33...Rxd7 34.Bxd7 Kc7
35.Be8=} 32.Rb1+ Kc7 {32...Kc8 would lead to a nice finish
(nice for White, that is!) after 33.Qe5!+-} 33.Qa5+ Kd6
{33...Kc8 34.Qe5!+-} 34.Rd1+ Ke7 35.Qc7 Kf8 {My opponent had
only a few seconds left, but still dreamt of winning!} 36.Rxd7
Rxd7 37.Qxd7 Qc1+ 38.Kg2 Qxa3 39.Qxc6 Qa2 {?? A terrible
blunder in time-pressure. (After 39...Kg7 the position would
be equal.)} 40.Qh6+ {!} Ke8 41.Qh8+ {Never offer the opponent
a tempo!} 41...Ke7 42.Qxh4+ {After the game my father told me:
"I lost some kilograms during these few hours!" I think I also
did...} 1-0

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Updated: 31 January, 2022
Created: 31 January, 2022