GM Georgiev,K (2675) - Dorobanov,S (2340) [B47]
New York Open, NYC 1998
[Dorobanov, 1999]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.g3 a6 7.Bg2 Nf6 8.0-0. .

8...Nxd4?! One of the things I learned from this game was never to take for granted the opening recommendations by even the most respectable grandmasters. The status of 8...Nxd4 had been up and down for the past a few years. The idea is to gain a development tempo after 9.Qxd4 Bc5. For a while Black didn't have any problems, until the theoreticians decided that because of 10.Bf4! (followed by complications in White's favor) the move 8...Nxd4 was dubious. But in 1991 Anand challenged this opinion by winning an important game against Short with he formerly busted 13...Ke7 (to be seen in the game). His improvement was 5 moves later, namely 18...Rac8! but actually against White's second best line. In his book The Sicilian Taimanov (1997), GM Plaskett agrees that Anand's invention has brought the 13...Ke7 and therefore the 8...Nxd4 line back to life and is currently the leader against the Fianchetto Variation. I was confident that my theoretical knowledge was up to date - played by Anand, and recommended by Plaskett! As I found out later, the idea of 13...Ke7 (and therefore pretty much the whole 8...Nxd4) was practically refuted! And worse yet, my opponent was long familiar with all the details and was merely pretending to be taking his time! For the fans of this opening, the choices at move 8 are 8...d6 (transposing into Scheveningen Sicilian, Fianchetto Variation) or 8...Bc5 - avoiding the exchange and continuing in the spirit of Paulsen; e.g. 9.Nb3 (9.Be3 Ne5! is excellent for Black) 9...Ba7 and so on. 9.Qxd4 Bc5 10.Bf4! [10.Qd3 d6 or Ng4 (intending Ne5) is harmless for Black] 10...d6. Quite necessary, since 10...Bxd4 11.Bxc7 Bxc3 12.bxc3 is a terrible endgame for Black despite White's structural weaknesses. The exchange of dark-squared bishops after 10...Qxf4 11.Qxc5 is also bad news. 11.Qd2. As you can see, since 8...Nxd4 everything has been forced. Well, you don't have to continue with 9...Bc5, but then the purpose of trading on d4 is defeated. The position after 11.Qd2 (11.Qd3 might be even stronger) had been evaluated as significantly better for White, in view of the upcoming 12.Rad1 with pressure against d6. How can Black defend? The attempt of a quick castling followed by ...Rd8 fails due to the pin (Rd8 is insufficiently protected and e4-e5 will hurt). In that case Black can't do without playing ...e6-e5 himself, which weakens d5. Moreover, Black's problems with d6 are not over yet. 11...h6. In order to prevent the very unpleasant Bg5 in response to ...e5. 12.Rad1 e5 13.Be3 Ke7?

As mentioned, this move had been awarded a "!" by Plaskett and I was pleased with my knowledge of it. Of course, the misleading information I had is no excuse for me playing it. I took something for granted and didn't bother to further investigate the line on my own and confirm that I can do well with it. I am sure that Anand and Plaskett had the noblest of intentions and the last thing they wanted was to make a false recommendation which also undermines their reputation. Due to the following complications (forced) we now know that 13...Ke7 is "an extremely heavy line for Black" to quote Georgiev. Since the whole idea of defending by means of ...e5 has been proven dangerous (with or without 13...Ke7), Black is better off with 8...Bc5 or 8...d6. There are other options to 13...Ke7 but they are insufficient to justify 8...Nxd4 and the whole idea behind gaining a tempo on White's queen. 14.Bxc5 Qxc5 15.Na4! The idea of leaving the knight at c3 to better exploit d5 (as Short did against Anand in that infamous game) is second best. White can practically force a big advantage following the line Georgiev chose. 15...Qc7 [15...Qc6 is no different] 16.f4 a5™. Absolutely forced in view of 17.fxe5 dxe5 18.Qb4+! (bust). 17.Qd3! Now White threatens the same: 18.fxe5 dxe5 19.Qa3+!, therefore 17...b5™ (planning to block Qa3+ with ...b4).

Judit Polgar had tried 17...Ra6? which is even less hopeful for Black [17...Ra6? 18.fxe5 dxe5 19.Qa3+ Ke8 20.Rf3! +- Sutovskij 2590 - Polgar 2670, VAM Hoogeveen 1997, with the irrelevant difference that Black's queen was on c6 instead of c7.] 18.Nc3 [of course not 18.Qxb5? Ba6 winning the exchange at f1] 18...Be6 19.Nxb5! Qc5+ 20.Kh1 Bc4 21.Qxd6+ Qxd6 22.Nxd6 Bxf1 23.Nf5+! Behold, the refutation of 13...Ke7! 23...Kf8 24.Rxf1±. Now White has a bishop and two pawns for a rook, plus Black's rooks lack coordination. Dealing with the pressure against e5 is no picnic either. Later I found the exact same position in another professional game, annotated by Ribli, where Black played 24...Nd7 and suffered a quick defeat after 25.Rd1 Ra7 26.Bh3± (Kotronias 2590 - Damljianovich 2570, Belgrade 1993). I sure wish I knew all this before I faced Georgiev, instead I had been on my own since move 13! I guess my next move is a "novelty", though I doubt it helps Black much.

24...Re8N 25.Nd6 Re6 26.Nc4 Ke7. Probably the only practical chance - Black gives up another pawn in order to activate his KR and also contain White's KB for as long as possible. 27.Nxe5 Rc8 28.Rf2. Black would certainly like to return the exchange for a couple of pawns when his drawing chances become real. [‹28.Bh3? Rxc2 29.Bxe6 Kxe6 30.Re1 Rxb2=] 28...Rd8 29.Bf3 Rd4 30.Re2 g5! Last hope for counterplay (...g5-g4) as White will surely convert his material advantage once everything "quiets down". 31.c3?! Natural but not the best! White should have overprotected g4 with 31.h3. Now Black manages to mix things up a bit. 31...Rd1+ 32.Kg2 g4!

Black sacrifices a 4th pawn (!) in order to swap a pair of rooks. White's rook is the ultimate defender of his queenside pawns and in a Rook vs Bishop endgame Black's chances to draw are the greatest (though still a very long shot). 33.Nxg4 [33.Bxg4? Rxe5! (removing the defender) 34.fxe5 Nxg4-+ was a disaster for White.] 33...Nxg4 34.Bxg4 Red6. The point - White can't stop 35...R6d2 with a final trade. 35.a4 R6d2 36.b3? A serious mistake which should have cost White the win. The c3-pawn eventually falls and with a4+b3 vs a5 White's queenside majority is nullified! A good example that even the best make mistakes, or probably these best players a little too used to accepting their opponents' resignations in such positions! [¹36.b4! axb4 37.cxb4 Rxe2+ 38.Bxe2 Rd4 39.Kf3 (‹39.a5 Rxe4 40.Kf3 Rxb4²) 39...Rxb4 40.a5± and White ought to win, as Kiril pointed out over dinner after the game. He also confessed that as I played 8...Nxd4 in the opening he was thinking exactly "24.Rxf1 and White wins!" as previously seen. I was going to say "This really makes me feel like a sucker!" but my Bulgarian was so rusty that it came out more like "Wow, that's really something".] 36...Rxe2+ 37.Bxe2 Rb1 38.Bc4 [38.b4 axb4 39.cxb4 Rxb4 40.a5 (40.Bb5 Rxe4=) 40...Rxe4²] 38...Rc1 39.Kh3 Rxc3=.

Now, as my significantly more experienced opponent said, we have a "dead draw". 40.Kg4 Rc2 41.h4 Rc3 42.h5 Re3 43.e5 Rc3 [43...f6! 44.exf6+ (44.e6 Rc3=) 44...Kxf6= Georgiev. I considered this but didn't believe there was any need of ...f6, I was convinced that preventing White's king from causing trouble was sufficient to draw. What's the only way for Black to lose anyway? Drop his rook? Yeah, right!! But I did just that, and the remainder is just too painful to comment on.] 44.Kh4 [44.f5 f6 45.e6 Kd6=] 44...Rf3 [44...f6= still wasn't too late] 45.Kh3 Re3 [45...f6= again] 46.Kg2 Re1 [46...f6= still...] 47.Kf2. My opponent had run out of ideas. I was sure the draw was in my pocket and wasn't even taking my time. All games had finished at this point and everyone had gone out for lunch - my opponent and I left to drain the life out of this lifeless draw. 47...Rh1?? I felt the chilling smell of death as soon as I let go the rook on h1. [47...Rc1 48.Kf3 f6=] 48.Bf1+- Rxh5 (depression...) 49.Kg2 Rf5 50.Bd3 [50.Bd3 Rh5 51.Be2 Rf5 52.Bg4+-] 1-0. Ten years ago I would've spent the entire afternoon crying and then feeling better the next day. But what do you do when you are too old for this? You decide never to play again (kidding yourself, for there is nothing more enjoyable than a good game of chess), you consider selling all your books and chess equipment, and if the tragedy in question happen in round 1 of the tournament, you most likely withdraw.