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Several places on the net - like
London's Chess Center - consider this struggle to be an
outstanding game.
Things look very calm, but suddenly
White rips open the center with a
beautiful exchange
sacrifice. Black's
game collapses very quickly.
(Note: Howell {is}/was only 12 when this was played!)
*******
"Speelman gave an impressive display of how a Grandmaster can outplay an inexperienced youngster as he controlled the position throughout his forty one victory over the twelve year old prodigy, David Howell."
"Speelman gradually built up a space advantage on the queenside while Howell was unable to find a plan and wasted lots of time trying to untangle his knight pair."
"The game ended with a flourish of sacrifices. Howell finally got his knights organized and played for control of the key d4 square but this equine occupation of the centre did not last long as a sacrifice of rook for knight blasted open the dark squares and set up kingside threats. A further rook sacrifice destroyed the black kingside altogether and forced mate."
-
IM Malcolm Pein, The London
Chess Centre
"Chess Express," #
54; Sept. 09, 2003.
**************************************************
1.Nf3 Nf6; 2.d4 g6; {Diagram?}
Obviously this move - which plans
on developing the Black KB on the
long diagonal -
is a perfectly good
and reasonable plan for Black.
[ MCO gives the continuation of:
2...e6!?; 3.Bg5 c5!?; ('!') {Diagram?}
Many opening books consider
this move to be best - and some even
give it
an exclam.
(Also good is: 3...Be7)
4.e3 Be7; 5.c3 b6; 6.Bd3 cxd4!?;
7.exd4 Ba6;
8.Bxa6 Nxa6;
9.Nbd2 0-0; "~" {Diagram?}
Black has a somewhat disorganized
game and his Knight is off-sides
on
a6. MCO (Korn & de Firmian)
consider this position to be equal, ("=");
but I think that White is just a
little better. "+/=" (But several games
at the
GM level have been quickly
drawn from this position.)
GM G. Kamsky - GM R. Huebner; Dortmund, GER; 1992.
[ See MCO-14; page # 499, column # 5, and also note # (s.). ] ]
3.Bg5,
{Diagram?}
Many English players ... like Adams,
Speelman, and McShane, just to name
a few ... use various forms of an early
Bg5. (Trompowski/Torre/Veresov)
It seems some players would be ready
for this line, but Howell's play
demonstrates that he hasn't found the
answer to this opening!
The main idea of this line/opening is
a free and easy development for White,
while avoiding a lot of theory and
sharp lines. (Like the KID, the Benoni,
the
Gruenfeld, the Benko Gambit,
the Nimzo-Indian, etc. White avoids
all of these
openings with the way
he develops in this game.)
I have some experience in this line,
as many of my opponents have chosen
this
line over the years. One of the
most notable of these has been FM/IM
Stephen
Mohammed, we had several
duels in this line, most of which he
probably won.
[ Interesting is: 3.Nc3!? ]
3...Bg7;
{Diagram?}
One of the main lines.
[ Black can also play: 3...Ne4;
4.Bh4 Bg7; 5.e3 0-0; 6.Nbd2 Nxd2;
7.Qxd2 d6;
8.e4, "+/=" {Diagram?} and White is better.
GM Einar Gausel (2490) -
GM Simen Agdestein (2600);
FIDE Zonal Tournament
/ Reykjavik, Iceland; 1995. ]
4.Nbd2,
{Diagram?}
Just for grins and giggles, I did a
search of CB's (on-line) database.
(By an exact match of the current
position on the chess-board.)
Over 1800 master-level games!!!
[ Also played is: 4.e3!? ]
4...0-0;
{Diagram?}
Of course it is never wrong to
castle, but Black could consider
delaying this
in favor of perhaps
a more flexible development.
[ Black could also play: 4...d6;
5.e4 0-0; 6.Bd3 Nc6!?; 7.c3,
"+/=" {Diag?}
and White has a very small, but
a fairly solid edge.
Andy Reeder - A.J. Goldsby I; State Championship Tournament,
(Rd. # 7)
Chickasaw,
(North of Mobile) AL;
(Alabama; USA) 1997.
(I won a decisive victory ... in the
key game in the last round on
Board
Number One. This win
brought me clear first in the Open
Section of the
tournament - one of
my best ever results.) ]
5.c3 d6; 6.e3 Qe8!?;
{Diagram?}
Black gets out of the pin and prepares
a possible ...e5.
(This is a fairly
common idea in this opening.)
[ The other main line here is: 6...Nbd7;
{Diagram?}
and Black has a fair game. ]
Both sides continue to develop
in a fairly normal fashion.
7.Be2 e5; 8.0-0 Nbd7;
9.a4 h6!?; {Diagram?}
This is OK, but I am not sure if
Black has any clear plan here.
[ Maybe Black should try: 9...e4;
10.Ne1 h6; "~" {Diagram?}
with a fair game. ]
10.Bh4 Nh7!?; 11.e4 Bf6!?;
{Diagram?}
This looks awkward.
[ Maybe the move 11...g5!?;
{Diagram?}
was worth a try. ]
12.Bg3! Qe7;
13.Re1 h5; 14.h4 Re8!?; {Diagram?}
Black seems to have forgotten
about his Queen-side.
[ Possibly worth investigating was: 14...a5!?;
{Diagram?}
to prevent White from gaining so much
space on the Q-side. ]
15.a5 a6; 16.Nc4 Nhf8;
17.Qd2 Ne6; 18.Rad1 Bg7; 19.Bf1, "+/=" {See
the Diag.}
White has a small - but solid edge
- in this particular position.
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(3RRBK1/1P1Q1PP1/2P2NB1/2NPP2P/P3p2p/p2pn1p1/1ppnqpb1/r1b1r1k1)
The only question is how does White
improve his game ... and how does
Black ever
unravel his congested and
undeveloped Queen-side?
[ Also good for
White was: 19.b4!?, "+/=" {Diagram?}
with probably a small edge for the
first player here. ]
19...f6!?; (Probably -'?!') {Diagram?}
This looks bad, as it makes the
Black KB just a tall pawn.
It also
weakens some key King-side
squares.
[ Maybe better was:
>/= 19...exd4;
20.cxd4 Rb8!?; {Diagram?}
with a congested - but perhaps
a playable - game for Black here. ]
Now White tries to slowly gain space
and expand on the Queen-side.
(And Black tries to organize his position.)
20.b4! Kh7; 21.Ne3 Bh6; 22.Qc2 Ndf8; 23.Nd5 Qg7; 24.dxe5 dxe5;
25.c4!? Nd8; 26.Nd2 Nfe6; 27.Nb3 Nc6; 28.Qc3 Rd8; 29.b5 Ncd4;
{See the diagram just below.}
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(3RRBK1/5PP1/1NQ3B1/2PnP2P/PP1Np2p/p3nppb/1pp3qk/r1br4)
Black has ignored his development
on the Q-side, and weakened his
King-side squares ...
all to gain the
d4-square for his Knights. It is
natural and logical that White will
now destroy
Black's control of this
key point ... and refute Black's whole
strategy as a result.
30.Nxd4! Nxd4; 31.Rxd4!! exd4;
32.Qxd4 Kh8; {Diagram?}
This looks to be nearly forced.
[ If 32...Bg4?; then
33.Nxf6+, {Diagram?}
with an advantage for White. ]
33.Qb2!?, {Diagram?}
Interesting ... but did the GM miss
a better move here?
[ It looks like White could play
BxP/c7 with a nearly over-whelming game here:
>/=
33.Bxc7! Qxc7?!; {Diagram?}
This looks like a mistake ...
but what else could Black do?
(Or 33...Rf8; 34.e5, '±' {Diag?}, and White is clearly better.)
34.Qxf6+ Bg7;
{Diagram?}
Black does not have any really
good moves at this point.
(</= 34...Qg7?; 35.Qxd8+, "+/-")
35.Nxc7 Bxf6;
36.Nxa8, ("+/-") {Diagram?}
and White should eventually win,
as he is three pawns ahead. ]
33...axb5; 34.cxb5 Qf7!?;
{Diagram?}
Hmmm ... maybe Black should
have tried ...c6 instead.
(Although
I feel quite certain White is clearly
better.)
[ Possibly
34...c6!?, {Diagram?}
was playable here?
***
Of course not:
34...Rxa5?; ('??') 35.Bxc7 Rxd5;
36.exd5! Qxc7;
37.Qxf6+ Qg7; {Diagram?}
Otherwise Black loses his Queen.
(</= 37...Kh7??; 38.Re7+)
38.Qd8+! Kh7; 39.Qxa5, ("+/-")
{Diagram?}
with an easy win for White. ]
35.Ra1!?, {Diagram?}
This is nice ... safe ... and solid.
But it appears once again that White had an even sharper move.
[ Even better was:
>/= 35.Bxc7! Rd7;
{Diagram?}
This looks to be forced.
(</= 35...Rxd5?; 36.exd5 Qxc7?; 37.Qxf6+ Bg7;
38.Re8+ Kh7; 39.Re7, "+/-")
36.Nb6 Rxc7;
37.Nxa8, ("+/-") {Diagram?}
and White is ahead a very solid
two pawns ahead. ]
35...Rxd5?!; (Maybe - '?')
{Diagram?}
Black tries to strike back ... but
this is definitely not good and really
'back-fires' on Black.
[ Black probably had to defend his
f6-pawn, but after the moves:
35...Bg7;
36.Nxc7, "+/=" ('±')
{Diagram?}
White is surely better. ]
36.exd5 Qxd5; {Diagram?}
Superficially, one might think Black was OK in this position.
Now it looks like White makes a mistake ... and walks into a skewer,
or x-ray attack. (With his next move.)
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37.Qxf6+! Bg7; {Diagram?}
It is too late to try to find good
moves for Black in this position.
[ After the continuation:
37...Kg8; 38.Qxg6+ Bg7;
39.Rc1,
"+/-" {Diagram?} - Black is clearly lost. ]
38.Qxg6 Bxa1;
39.Bd3 Qd7; 40.Qh6+ Kg8; {See the diagram just
below.}
This is all forced.
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(b5K1/5PP1/3B2B1/7P/7Q/PP5p/1ppq4/r1b3k1)
41.Bc4+, ("+/-") {Diagram?}
Black Resigns. (If ...Qe6; then
simply taking the Queen wins.
Or
if ...Qf7; then Qg6+ wins easily.)
A nice game by Speelman with
some entertaining tactics. All the
students of this
line should study
this game very carefully.
*******
Copyright (c) A.J. Goldsby I. Copyright (c) A.J.G; 2003.
*******
(All games - Code initially generated with the program, ChessBase 8.0.)
*******
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