IM Stefanov,K (2405) - Dorobanov,S (2095 BG) [B17]
Pavlikeni Open, Bulgaria, 1991
(Dorobanov, 1999)

Everybody in the Bulgarian chess community knows "The Beautiful". I am not certain how he got this nickname, but I believe he wrote an article in Shahmatna Misul in which he used the word "beautiful" more than authors normally do. It was the last round of the 1991 Pavlikeni Open, I had 5 of 8, the Beautiful had 5.5. He needed a win in order to place in the top 10 while I didn't need any additional points to win the class prize for youngsters. I played with the best feeling of "nothing to lose" and I did very well. After years of experience I've discovered that this psychological condition raises your rating some 200 points! Of course, he also must have underestimated me, since my rating was so low. I pretty much didn't play in rated tournaments the years between 1989 and 1991 (went to the English Language School) but I had been working on my game little by little and I believe I was playing better than my rating. 1.e4 c6 I did play for a solid draw since move 1. Know, however, that avoiding tactical complications makes it also more difficult for your opponent to blunder. If I replayed this game I would play my usual Sicilian or 1...e5. 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Bc4 Ngf6 6.Ng5 e6 7.N1f3

[7.Qe2 is certainly the most popular move in this Main line of the Caro-Kann. It threatens the deadly sacrifice on f7 which forces Black to defend the e6-pawn by 7...Nb6. Then White retreats his bishop and basically the line goes: 7...Nb6 (7...h6?? 8.Nxf7! Kxf7 9.Qxe6+ Kg6 10.Bd3+ Kh5 11.Qh3#) 8.Bd3 (8.Bb3) A) 8...Qxd4?? Another deadly trap. 9.N1f3 Bb4+ (9...Qa4 10.Ne5 and f7 falls) 10.c3! Bxc3+ 11.Kf1! and White wins the piece on the next move; B) 8...h6 9.N5f3 c5 10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.Ne5 Nbd7 12.Ngf3² with difficult but still solid defense for Black.] 7...Nb6 It was safe enough to kick the knight with 7...h6 as described below. However, at the time I feared the sacrifice on f7, despite being pretty sure it was inaccurate for White in this position. [7...h6 8.Nh3 Bd6 9.Qe2 0-0 10.0-0 b5 11.Bd3 a6 12.a4 Bb7 13.Ne5 Qc7 14.Re1 c5 15.axb5 axb5 16.Rxa8 Bxa8 17.Nxd7 Qxd7 18.dxc5 Qc6 19.f3 Bxc5+ 20.Be3 Nd5= Anderson - Van Shelting, 1970.] 8.Bd3 h6 9.Ne4 Nxe4 10.Bxe4

As a result of the unnecessary 7...Nb6 Black's kingside is not protected enough. I didn't realize the danger fully until The Beautiful started making concrete threats but Be7-f6 I thought would stabilize the wing. And this bishop needs to be developed anyway... 10...Be7 ...but this is risky and wrong. Namely because there's a danger of attack, Black must strike the center as quickly as possible. I knew this famous rule but still misjudged the position. The better move was 10...c5! Then White had to decide whether he wanted to allow the exchange of his central pawn or support it with c3 but obtain an isolated pawn. I later played c6-c5 and it was just barely on time. 11.c3 0-0 12.Bc2 I didn't have to wait for this move to feel uncomfortable by the b1-h7 diagonal. Now I hurry back with the knight, saving against Qd3 which is a massive threat - once White provokes a weakening on the kingside (such as f5 or g6, necessary to block the diagonal), he gains clear positional advantages (or material if h6 is dropped). The knight must return to f6 to defend h7. Now imagine if Black's position featured the move c5 instead of 0-0: the king would not be endangered and Black had central counterplay going. 12...Nd5 13.Ne5!

This move is so typical for sneaky attackers! You see, White could have played 13.Qd3 Nf6 and then 14.Ne5, of course with the threat of 15.Ng4! to dislodge the f6-defender. But The Beautiful plays 13.Ne5 first, creating the impression of "Hey, I'm just centralizing my knight!" while he's actually planning the above. To become a strong player you have to learn to use everything possible and legal to make it easier for your opponent to blunder. Give him more chances to make a mistake and he eventually will. And you need him to make a mistake or you'll never get the advantage. At this point I regret not having played c5 instead of 0-0 and I realize that Nf6 is not going to hold the diagonal attackers. So, a kingside weakening with f5 is inevitable (ugly but not as bad as g6), it's time for counterplay wherever we can find it. 13...c5 14.Qd3 f5™ [14...Nf6? 15.Ng4! Re8 Necessary to clear f8 for the king. (15...Nxg4?? 16.Qh7#) 16.Nxf6+ Bxf6 17.Qh7+ Kf8 18.dxc5 White is up a solid pawn and the Black king isn't 100% safe. I don't recall if I saw the move 18...Qd5 here (double attack on c5 and g2) but if I did I dismissed it in view of 19.Be3 Qxg2 20.0-0-0 where opening the g-file is clearly good for White. 18...Qd5 19.Be3 Qxg2 20.Be4! Like I said, I didn't look this deep at the time but obviously 20.Be4! speeds up the process of winning. 20...Qh3 21.c6+-] 15.Ng6 Re8 16.Nxe7+ Qxe7 So now White has won the bishop pair and I also have a backward e-pawn. Shortly the latter problem is fixed, but the pair disadvantage was yet to torture me for the next 40 moves! 17.0-0 cxd4 18.Qxd4 White refuses to play with an isolated queen's pawn and rightfully so for the circumstances. 18...Nf6 Why move the knight off the center? It's not that I was unhappy with the knight, I wanted to push the e-pawn! It is necessary to get rid of the backward pawn as much as it is to develop the QB; with the knight on d5 this plan was impossible. Plus, White can always kick Nd5 with c4, the knight is not worth maintaining there. 19.c4

My prediction came true, although for the wrong reasons. Apparently White isn't playing c4 to chase the knight (I retreated it voluntarily!). The main reason behind c4 is to clear the a1-h8 diagonal because soon b3 is coming and then Bb2, the ultimate outpost for White's QB. The secondary reason behind c4 is to clear c3 for the queen, because clearly she needs a safe square after e6-e5. And how convenient, Qc3+Bb2 makes a beautiful setup, as The Beautiful would say. My opponent played like a true IM and I must say I managed to draw by guessing some right moves for the wrong reasons. It is usually how your first better results come! "Luck is the product of good planning" doesn't sound true to me! 19...e5 20.Qc3 Be6 21.b3² Another one of those "good chance to mislead your opponent" moves. It looks as if White is playing b3 to defend the c4-pawn (which fell in the event of 21.Qxe5) and that's true, but it's also played to prepare Bb2. 21...Nd7 22.a4?! I never understood why The Beautiful played this ugly move, I took it it was with the idea of 23.Ba3. But why develop the bishop on that diagonal for the sake of a single tempo? The bishop belongs to b2 and that's what followed. At the time I was uncertain about the quality of this move but now I know for sure it's a mistake. In fact, I learned it minutes after the game as Topalov explained: 22...Rad8?

Up to this point Vesko hadn't criticized any mistakes that I didn't know of (those were the inaccuracies 7...Nb6 and the delay of ...c5 in the opening). But on 22...Rad8 he "jumped". There's really nothing wrong with this natural development of the rook on the only open file, what's wrong is missing the better move: [22...a5! followed by 23...b6 and eventually Nc5 was the way to take advantage of White's inaccuracy. Although the b-pawn is left backward, it is a "passive" weakness (one that cannot easily be attacked, no serious danger). The benefit is the control of the b4- and c5-squares, almost like blockade. With 2 pawns holding 3 on the queenside White's majority is neutralized. As for Rad8... there's plenty of time for it. Once the rook leaves the a-file it becomes impossible to carry out this defensive plan.] 23.Re1 Qf6 24.Bb2 e4!? Eager to trade queens! 25.Qxf6 Nxf6 26.Rad1 Kf7 27.Bd4 a6 [27...b6!? trying the plan of Nd7, a5, Nc5 wasn't late although White can interfere with a4-a5 now.] 28.f3 exf3 29.gxf3 I was very happy with myself as I had managed to make it to the endgame after hard times in the opening, and it looked equal to me. The hardest part was just ahead though. The isolated f-pawn is not a problem for White (in fact, you saw how The Beautiful did it to himself). It is more important to open up the position, eliminating Black's strongest pawn, and minimizing his chances of making a passed pawn on the kingside. 29...Bc8 30.Kf2 Rxe1 31.Kxe1 Re8+ 32.Kf2 Rd8 33.a5 g5 34.Be5 Rxd1 35.Bxd1

What is he doing? He just let me swap all the rooks! I was getting up, walking, and looking at all the games going but my own! I just knew I could draw it from here, just trade the knight for his light-squared bishop and it's done :-) Of course, trading the knight for either bishop is very difficult and I had to thank his inability to produce a passed pawn, otherwise it would've been over with real quick. The two bishops are in their fury and they get better too. 35...g4? One of those moves you fear might be dubious but you play them anyway. I was too tempting by the idea that he'll take this opportunity to get rid of his isolated pawn, then I recapture with the knight (forking) and after the piece trade we are down to opposite colored bishops, dead draw. A very cheap shot, I'm sure the move 36.fxg4 never crossed The Beautiful's mind for a second. So, my beautiful idea crashed and burned: 36.Kg3! The Beautiful says "Thanks for letting me in". Well, the trade is forced, otherwise it gets worse, so who's got the isolated pawn now?... 36...gxf3 37.Bxf3± Ne4+ 38.Kh4 Nd2 39.Bd1 Kg6 40.Bf4 Ne4 Black doesn't have any ways of improving his position and can only hope that White is in the same situation. That's not quite the case, the following maneuver is beautiful: 41.Bh5+ Kh7 42.Bf7 Kg7 43.Bd5 Kg6 44.b4 Nf6 45.Bf3 Ne4 46.Bh5+ The bishop made a trip around the board and returned. The position hasn't changed except for White's b3-b4, a spare move. 46...Kh7 47.Bf7 On for another round? I felt I had to prevent the the bishop from draining a tempo each time, so I decided to protect the d5-square. 47...Nf6 48.Be5 Kg7 49.Bh5!

This famous crossfire pin (famous for its ability to often cause zugzwang) is the reason why the endgame K+2B vs. K+N is winning for the bishops. White doesn't get to win because of sufficient play by Black's bishop here. 49...Be6 50.c5 Bd5 Complete blockade of White's majority pawn island, now Black only has to make sure the White king doesn't penetrate and stay away from zugzwang. 51.Kg3 Be6 52.Kf4 Bc8 53.Bd4 Bd7 54.Ke5 Having tried everything else White makes the responsible step. This is a temporary piece sacrifice which quickly forces a pawn endgame, White's last resource. 54...Nxh5 This has to go, otherwise the White king penetrated with Ke5-d6-e7 and won the knight clean off! [54...Bc8?? 55.Kd6 f4 56.Ke7+-] 55.Kd6+ A discovered check regaining the piece but only at the cost of a final trade. 55...Nf6! This forces White to trade for the knight before he can win back the material. Moving the king and leaving it to the B vs. N endgame was a blunder as the knight didn't stand a chance. [55...Kg6?? 56.Kxd7 f4 57.Kc7 f3 58.Kxb7+-] 56.Bxf6+ Kxf6 57.Kxd7 f4

I must confess I got really excited for a minute. I thought he messed up in the calculations and now my passed pawn was much quicker than his c-pawn. But White's intention never was Kd7-c7-xb7 and pushing the c-pawn. I realized that shortly before his next move and "cooled off". 58.b5 A majority breakthrough. [58.Kc7 f3 59.Kxb7 f2 60.c6 f1Q 61.c7 Qb5+ Remarkably, this is still a draw since White controls the square b6 (it is a theoretical requirement for the black queen to check on that square). Now all Black has is repetition: 62.Ka7 Qc6 63.Kb8 Qb5+ 64.Ka7 Qc6 65.Kb8 Qd6 66.Kb7=] 58...f3! Here is the fine trap The Beautiful had planned: [58...axb5? 59.c6 bxc6 60.a6 f3 61.a7 f2 62.a8Q f1Q 63.Qf8++-] 59.c6 bxc6 60.bxa6 Capturing the other way was worse: [60.bxc6 f2 61.c7 f1Q 62.c8Q Qf5+ 63.Kc7™ (63.Kd8? Qxa5+ 64.Kd7 Qf5+-+) 63...Qxa5+ 64.Kb8 Qe5+ 65.Kb7 a5³] 60...f2 61.a7 f1Q 62.a8Q Qf5+ 63.Kc7

[63.Kxc6?? Qe4+-+] 63...Qe5+ 64.Kb7 Qb5+ 65.Kc8 Qf5+ Finally!... 1/2-1/2