Don't fight a master with his own game
By Kristianus Liem
JAKARTA (JP): From May 17 to May 29 a category 13 tournament was held to celebrate Grandmaster Miguel Najdorf's 87th birthday in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The field was very evenly matched, but in the end it was GM Emil Sutovsky and GM Ivan Morovic who emerged victorious with 6.5 match points from nine rounds.
Indonesian Grandmaster Utut Adianto, who was invited as the top seed, only came joint fifth with Grandmaster Vasilios Kotronias with 4.5 points, after losing three games, winning three games and drawing three games. By finishing with only a fifty percent record, Adianto lost five elo rating points.
Here is one of Adianto losses, to Grandmaster Vasilios Kotronias in the seventh round. It was a serious theoretical battle in the opening with the Caro-Kann Defense expert Kotronias proving the stronger.
White: GM Vasilios Kotronias Black: GM Utut Adianto Caro-Kann Defense
1.e4 c6?
A wrong choice! Playing the Caro-Kann defense against Kotronias is the worst nightmare for any chess player, because Kotronias wrote the book Beating the Caro-Kann!
2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nc3 e6
On 4...Qb6!? is also sometimes played, although Kotronias claims that after 5.Bd3 Bxd3 6.Qxd3 White can count on an edge, and that 5...Qxd4 6.Nge2 is a good gambit for White.
5.g4 Bg6 6.Nge2 Ne7
Here 6...f6 7.h4 fxe5 8.h5 Bf7 9.dxe5 Nd7 10.f4 Qb6 11.Nd4 Bc5 12.Na4 Qa5+ 13.c3 Bxd4 14.Qxd4 c5 15.Qd1 a6 16.Be3 d4 17.Bd2 Qd8 18.cxd4 cxd4 19.Bb4! b5 20.Nc5 Nxc5 21.Bxc5 Qd5 22.Qxd4!! Qxh1 23.0-0-0 Qd5 24.Bg2 1-0, Sax -Lauber, Gyula 1997.
7.Nf4!? c5! 8.h4! cxd4 9.Nb5 Nec6 10.h5 Be4 11.f3 Bxf3 12.Qxf3 Nxe5 13.Qg3!?
In the few games this position has been reached, White has played 13.Qe2 but Kotronias has analyzed this position deeply and has decided that the text (13.Qg3!?) gives White the better options.
13...Nbc6 14.Nd3
See diagram. This is a critical position.
14...f6?
Here is better, as Karpov did: 14...Nxd3+ 15.Bxd3 e5 16.0-0 Bc5 17.h6! g6 18.Qf2 Qd7 19.Kh1! a6 20.Nc3 Rf8 21.Na4 Ba7 22.b3!? Qxg4 23.Ba3 Qh5+ 24.Kg1 Qg5+ 25.Qg2 Qxg2+ 26.Kxg2 e4 27.Bxf8 Kxf8 28.Be2 f5 29.Rad1 b5! 30.Nb2 Nb4! 31.Rd2 Rc8 32.Bd1 Nxa2 33.Bg4 Ke7 34.Bxf5 gxf5 35.Rxf5 e3! 36.Re2 Nc1 37.Re1 Rxc2+ 38.Kh3 Ke6 39.Rg5 e2 40.Rg7 d3 41.Nxd3 Nxd3 42.Rxe2+ Rxe2 43.Rxa7 Kf5 44.Rxh7 Re3+ 45.Kg2 Kg6 46.Ra7 Kxh6 47.Rxa6+ Kg5 48.Ra5 Nf4+ 0-1, Lautier-Karpov, Monaco (rapid) 1997.
15.Nf4! Kd7 16.c3! Qb6 17.cxd4 Nxd4 18.Nxd4 Bb4+ 19.Kf2 Bc5
Black did not want to play 19...Qxd4+ 20.Be3 Qxb2+ 21.Be2 because once White brings the Rooks to the center Black will be in trouble.
20.Nfxe6 Bxd4+
If 20... Qxe6 21.Be3 Nxg4+ 22.Qxg4 Qxg4 23.Bh3 White would take Black's queen and be left in a good position.
21.Nxd4 Qxd4+ 22.Kg2 Rac8
Here Adianto saw his initiative falter because he couldn't continue the checks after 22... Qe4+ 23.Kg1 Nf3+ 24.Kf2 and the party is over.
23.Kh3 Rc2 24.Bb5+ Ke6 25.Re1
After this move White was winning.
25...Kf7 26.Bf4 Ng6 27.Bd6 Qxb2 28.Rab1