[Event "13th ECC final"]
[Site "Kazan RUS"]
[Date "1997.12.29"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Svidler, Peter LAZV"]
[Black "Jussupow, Artur STKZ"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2660"]
[BlackElo "2640"]
[ECO "C43"]
[EventDate "1997.??.??"]
[Annotator "Svidler"]
[PlyCount "83"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 {A tough decision for me, since I never looked at 
this move seriously in my life, at least before this game, but also a 
forced one, because I don't believe anymore that 3.Nxe5 gives White 
anything.} 3...Nxe4 4.Bd3 d5 5.Nxe5 Nd7 6.Nxd7 Bxd7 7.O-O Be7 {Artur plays
this line from time to time, among other things. It gives Black a rather 
dull but very bullet-proof position.} 8.c4 Nf6 9.Nc3 {An interesting bit 
of statistics: in ten games in which this position occured, Black were 
only able to make two draws.} 9...Be6 10.c5 O-O 11.Bf4 c6 12.h3 
    ( 12.b4 {was played by Kindermann in his game vs. Jussupow in 
    Garmisch-Partenkirch 1994, but it allowed Black to activate his 
    pieces, slowly but unstoppably:} 12...Qd7 13.Re1 Rfe8 14.Qc2 g6 15.h3 
    Nh5 16.Be5 Bg5 17.b5 Nf4 18.Bf1 Bf5 19.Qd1 f6 20.Bd6 Rxe1 21.Qxe1 Re8 
    ~ {, even though White went on to win the game, which shows that even 
    the simplest set-ups may work for White in this position. But I wanted
    to destroy any counterplay in its cradle.} )
12...Re8 13.Re1 Nd7!? 
    ( {Black has another very natural move here:} 13...Qd7 {, planning 
    14...Bf5. But here White is able to play} 14.g4!? {and it is not very 
    clear where is any of the Black pieces going.} 
        ( 14.b4 {was seen in Polgar-Jussupow, Vienna 1996, where this 
        position was reached thru another move order, and after} 14...Bf5 
        15.Re5 Bg6 16.Qf3 Bd8 17.Rxe8+ Nxe8 18.Rd1 Nc7 19.Be5 Ne6 20.Bxg6 
        hxg6 21.a4 Bc7 22.Bxc7 Nxc7 {the draw was agreed.} )
        ( 14.Qc2 g6 15.b4 {transposes to Kindermann-Jussupow.} )
    )
14.Qd2 {After a lenghty thought I decided that prophylaxis is still my 
most important task. At first I wanted to play} 
    ( 14.b4 {, but it allows} 14...Bg5! 
        ( 14...Bf6 15.Bc2 a5 16.b5 Nxc5 {does not work in view of} 17.dxc5
        Bxc3 18.Qd3 )
    15.Bg3 Qf6 {, and White is unable to stop Bf5.} )
14...Bf6 15.Bc2 Nf8 16.Re2 {Another prophylactic move, but in a normal 
course of events it would lead to a highly unclear position with both 
sides playing for a win, which is hardly a worthy result of prophylactic 
measures. The problem is that after} 
    ( 16.b4 Ng6 17.Bd6 Nh4! {Black's counterplay is very disturbing.} 
        ( 17...Qd7 18.Qd3! +/- )
    )
16...b6! {Right on time.} 
    ( 16...Ng6 17.Bd6 Qd7 18.Rae1 Red8 19.b4 Bf5 20.Ba4 {gives White a 
    huge advantage,} )
    ( {while after} 16...Bd7 17.Rxe8 Qxe8 18.Re1 
        ( {or even} 18.Be3!? {in order to meet} 18...Ne6 {with} 19.f4!? )
    18...Ne6 19.Be5 {White enjoys a stable plus.} )
17.Rae1 
    ( {Worse is} 17.b4 a5 18.Na4 Nd7 {, and White is needlesly tangled up 
    in queenside affairs.} )
17...bxc5 18.dxc5 Bd7 
    ( 18...Qa5?? 19.Nxd5 +- )
19.Rxe8 Bxe8 20.b4 Ne6 21.Bd6 g6! {The forced sequence ended, and I 
started to think. The first thing I noticed was that unless Black plays a5
himself , I will never be able to push b4-b5 because of Qa5 - the 
beautiful bishop on d6 no longer protects the queen. Then I realized that 
Black plans 22...Bg7 and 23... Qf6, and after that White can only be 
worse. After some thought I came to the conclusion that} 
    ( 21...a5 22.b5 Bxc3 23.Qxc3 cxb5 24.Qd3 +/- )
22.f4 {is the only way to answer all of this.} 22...Bd7?! {After the game 
Artur was very displeased with this decision. He made this move almost 
immediately, and, as it turned out, it was almost the last chance to 
change the course of the game. Black had to play} 
    ( 22...a5! {, and it is very hard to tell who has the upper hand in 
    the following complications.} 23.f5! 
        ( 23.b5 Bd4+ 24.Kh1 Bxc5 -/+ )
    23...gxf5 
        ( 23...Nd4 24.b5 Nxc2 25.Qxc2 Bd4+ 
            ( 25...d4 26.Ne4 cxb5 27.Nxf6+ Qxf6 28.Qe4 +/- )
        26.Kh1 Qf6 27.Ne2! += )
        ( 23...axb4 24.Nxd5 cxd5 25.fxe6 Rxa2 
            ( 25...Bc3 26.Qh6 Bg7 27.Qf4 +/- )
        26.e7 Qa8 27.Qd3 ~= )
    24.Bxf5 
        ( 24.Ne2!? axb4 25.Bxf5 ~= )
    24...Bg7! 
        ( 24...axb4? 25.Qh6 +- )
        ( 24...Bd4+ 25.Kh1 Qf6 26.Ne2! Bf2 27.Rf1 Qxf5 28.Ng3 Qg5 29.Qxf2 
        axb4 30.Nf5 $40 )
    25.Bxe6 fxe6 26.Rxe6 Qh4 27.Ne2 ~ )
23.Ne2! {This little move secures White's edge. Black is unable to stop 
24.f5.} 23...Bg7 24.f5 gxf5 25.Bxf5 Qh4? {The decisive mistake. It was 
necessary to play} 
    ( 25...Nxc5! {, but after} 26.Bxh7+ Kxh7 27.Bxc5 Qh4 28.Nd4! {the 
    control over d4, the safer king and the weakness of a7 pawn gives 
    White a lasting egde.} )
26.Rf1 Re8 27.Kh1! {Completing the consolidation and leaving Black 
paralized. White is planning, for instance, 28.Ng3, 29.Bg4 and 30.Bf5, 
while Black is hard-pressed to find a move.} 27...Bc8 28.b5! Bb7 
    ( 28...cxb5 {is bad:} 29.Qxd5 Qc4 30.Bxh7+! +- )
29.Bxe6! Rxe6 30.Nf4 
    ( {It was tempting to play} 30.Qa5!? Rxe2 31.Qc7 {, but after} 31...
    Qe4! 
        ( 31...Bf6 32.Qb8+ Kg7 33.Qf8+ Kg6 34.Qg8+ +- )
    32.Qb8+ Qe8 33.Qxb7 Re1 {Black is escaping.} )
30...Re8 31.Qa5 Qd8 $8 32.Qxa7 Qd7 
    ( 32...Qa8 33.Qxa8 Rxa8 34.b6 Rxa2 35.Kh2! {, and with rooks on board,
    White will easily win.} )
33.bxc6 Qxc6 34.Rb1 Ba8? $138 
    ( 34...Bc8 {did not lose at once, but if White does not fall for} 35.
    Rb6? Re1+ 36.Kh2 Qe8 $132 {, he is still almost winning.} )
35.Rb6 Qc8 36.Rb8 Qc6 37.Nxd5! +- Kh8 38.Qc7 Qa4 39.Rxe8+ Qxe8 40.Ne7 Be4 
41.c6 h6 42.Qb8 {Black resigned - he loses a piece.} 1-0

