GM Epishin,V (2655) - Dorobanov,S (2365) [E16]
World Open, Philadelphia 1997
[Dorobanov, 1999]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Qe7 7.0-0 Bxd2 8.Qxd2 d6 9.Nc3 Ne4. I chose this line in pursuit of simplifications but the truth is my Queen's Indian was really rusty! I didn't dare play the recently adopted Modern Benoni which was still under construction (and in fact, I gave it up before I ever went back to it). As it turned out later, the safe looking 9...Ne4 is actually a rather heavy line for Black, despite having been tried by a few good players. 10.Nxe4 Bxe4 11.Qe3! Bb7 [‹11...f5; ‹11...d5] 12.d5!

Now White's 11th move reveals its strength. The pawn White is offering is highly poisonous, as shown in the subline. Allowing White to trade at e6 is also not desirable, while the most durable 12...e5 weakens f5 and leaves the QB "biting on granite". 12...e5 [12...exd5? 13.Qxe7+ (13.Qd4!?) 13...Kxe7 14.Nd4± and now it can be seen that White recovers d5 with interest; after 13.cxd5 Black is left with a very weak c7-pawn which hasn't got a chance of improving and will surely suffer a slow death.] 13.Nh4N [13.Bh3 and 13.Nd2 had been played before, also with success. Epishin's novelty might be an improvement for White in this already struggling line for Black.] 13...Bc8. An ugly looking move but necessary in order to protect the square f5, the c8-h3 diagonal in general, plus to redeploy from its passive position at b7. [13...g6?! as well as 13...0-0 14.f4± were obviously worse choices.] 14.f4 exf4?! As it turns out, this brings Black big problems. But what else was there to deal with White's aggression? 15.Qxe7+ Kxe7 16.gxf4 f5!? Another responsible move but clearly Black's only decent practical defense here. Waiting for e4-e5 is out of the question. [16...Nd7 17.e4±] 17.Rae1 Re8 18.Bh3?! I doubt this is a bad move, but I am also convinced that 18.e4 was much stronger. Attacking f5 helps Black defend the pawn and at the same time leave the dangerous opposition on the e-file. Black's position after 18.e4 doesn't at all look as good as it does in the game:  [¹18.e4! Kf6 (18...fxe4 19.Bxe4±) 19.exf5± (‹19.Nxf5 Bxf5 20.exf5 Nd7²) ] 18...Kf6 19.e4 fxe4 20.Bxc8 Rxc8 21.Rxe4 Na6! There is no stopping White on the e-file, so Black must think in terms of protecting his 7th rank against White's penetration. Instead of providing him with additional 7th rank targets (such as after 21...Nd7?) Black does well to protect c7 in advance. 22.Rfe1 Kf7. More than just pulling back in defense, 22...Kf7 threatens 23...Re8 with liquidation. 23.Nf5 [23.Re7+ Kf8 24.Nf5 Re8 25.Rxe8+ Rxe8 26.Rxe8+ Kxe8 27.Nxg7+ Ke7! is a transposition to the text line.] 23...Re8 24.Rxe8 Rxe8 25.Rxe8 Kxe8 26.Nxg7+.

So, White takes the pawn while he still has the chance. In view of the upcoming rook trades, he had nothing better than winning g7 - a small price for surviving White's 7th rank penetration. 26...Ke7! In view of 27.Ne6, Black's problems in dealing with the c7-weakness are not over. For the purpose, 27.Ne6 must be answered with 27...c6! - ideal for getting rid of the c-pawn and at the same time weakening d5. To prepare this reply, Black needs 26...Ke7. [‹26...Kf7? 27.Ne6+- c6? 28.Nd8+; 26...Kd7 27.Ne6± were not at all acceptable.] 27.Ne6 c6™ 28.Nd4 [28.a3 cxd5 29.cxd5 Nc5! intending 30...Nd3 looks fine for Black.]. I believe Epishin had underestimated this endgame. Not that I knew my counterplay was sufficient for a draw either! The presence of knights generally doesn't affect the outcome of the pawn endgame; rarely one gets away with a 6 vs 5 pawn disadvantage in a knight endgame, let along that one of the pawns is already passed. The question is can White nullify Black's concrete threat of Kf6 and Nb4 immediately following the inevitable exchange at d5? It turns out that he can't. 28...cxd5 29.cxd5 Kf6! While the king was still on e7, White had prepared Nc6+ (fork) in reply to Nb4 (double attack over d5 & a2); but after 29...Kf6 everything changes: Black threatens 30...Nb4 and if White defends with 31.a3 then 31...Nc7 wins d5; meanwhile White has to watch out not to drop f4 to the determined Black king. The weaker alternatives to 29...Kf6: [29...Nb4? 30.Nc6++-; 29...Nc7!? 30.Nc6+ Kf6 31.Nxa7 Nxd5 32.Nc8 Ke6² (32...Nxf4 33.Nxb6²) ] 30.Kf2 Nb4 31.Nb5. White realizes he can't help losing a pawn, so he engages in attack against the black pawns himself. He ties the race, preserving his material advantage of one pawn. However, the result is the total liquidation of queenside pawns, after which Black's task of drawing is significantly easier (actually the draw becomes a theoretical certainty). Notice how close Black comes to the edge in some of the following sublines, but somehow manages to keep balance. 31...Nxd5 32.Kf3 [32.Nxd6 Nxf4 33.Nc8 Nd3+ 34.Ke3 Nxb2=; 32.Nxa7 Nxf4 33.Nc8 Nd3+ 34.Ke3 Nxb2=] 32...Nb4 33.a3 Nd3 34.b4 Ne1+! [34...a5 35.bxa5 bxa5 36.Nxd6±] 35.Ke4 Nc2 36.Nxa7 [36.Kd3 a6! 37.Kxc2 (37.Nxd6 Nxa3=) 37...axb5 38.Kd3 Kf5 39.Kd4 Kxf4 40.Kd5 Kg4 41.Kxd6 Kh3 42.Kc6 Kxh2 43.Kxb5 (43.Kxb6? Kg3 44.Kxb5 h5 45.a4 h4 46.a5 h3 47.a6 h2 48.a7 h1Q-+) 43...h5 44.a4 h4 45.a5 bxa5 46.bxa5 h3 47.a6 Kg1 48.a7 h2=] 36...Nxa3 37.Nc8 Nc2 38.b5 Na3 39.Nxd6 Ke6 40.Nc8 Nxb5= 41.Nxb6 Now it's down to a theoretically drawn endgame. In Knight Endings with pawns limited to one wing only you need at least a 4 vs 3 majority to capitalize on your material advantage. The lower ratios are generally easy draws, because of the material restricting tactics. 41...Nd6+ 42.Kf3 Kf5 43.Nd5 Nb5 44.Ne3+ Kf6 45.Kg4 Nd4 46.h4 Ne6 47.Nd5+ Kf7 48.Kf5 Nd4+ 49.Ke4 Ne6 50.Ke5 Nf8 51.h5 Ne6 52.h6.

52...Nxf4! 53.Nxf4 [53.Kxf4 Kg6=] 53...Kg8. Black has filtered his position down to a simpler theoretical draw. 54.Ke6 Kh8 55.Ke7 Kg8 56.Ne6 Kh8 57.Kf6 Kg8 58.Ng7 Kh8 59.Nh5 Kg8 60.Nf4 Kh8 61.Nd3 Kg8 62.Ke7 Kh8 63.Ne5 Kg8 64.Nf7 1/2-1/2. Playing until stalemate, you can imagine Epishin was pretty upset. He did comment after the game that he simply missed 29...Kf6, and he also added with disgust that he rightfully deserved to win this game. I was in full agreement, but everyone also agrees that a lucky draw is better than any kind of a loss!