Excelsior Cup 2004

(1) Berg,E (2495) - Rogozenko,D (2517) [B33] Excelsior Cup 2004 (2), 09.01.2004 [Dorian Rogozenko] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bf4 e5 8.Bg5 a6 9.Na3 b5 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Nd5 f5 12.g3 An interesting system against Sveshnikov, which Berg uses frequently. During my preparations I knew that Black is doing okay in the main lines, but I wanted to play something different anyway. 12...fxe4 13.Bg2 Bg7 [ 13...Bf5 14.f3 This is considered to be advantageous for White, although I am not completely sure about that evaluation after 14...e3!] 14.Bxe4 Rb8!? A rare move, not even mentioned in many theoretical sources. [ 14...Be6 15.Qh5 Rc8 is the main line, with a long of long variations.; 14...0-0? 15.Ne3 followed by c3 and Qd3 or Qh5 is big positional advantage for White.] 15.Qh5 Forced, otherwise Black simply castles and plays f5 with advantage. White's main idea in this system is to delay Black's castle. [ 15.c3? 0-0 16.Ne3 Ne7 followed by 17...f5.] 15...Ne7 The point of previous move. I can keep the bishop on c8 for a while and challenge the knight on d5 right away. 16.c3 A natural move, which probably 9 players out of 10 would make. However, White has another very interesting idea, which was demonstrated by Ivanchuk few months ago. [ 16.Nxe7!? Qxe7 Black's plan in such positions is to prepare pushing either f5 or d5. Ivancuk prevents it in a highly original manner: 17.Rd1 Be6 18.c3 First interesting moment. White sacrifices pawn a2. 18...Qd7 Threatening Bg4. ( If Black takes the pawn, then White gets a very strong compensation: 18...Bxa2 19.Nc2 with idea Ne3, after which Black can forget about advancing any of his central pawns. 19...Bb3 20.Rd2 Bxc2 21.Bxc2 White has a very good compensation. The extra pawn plays no role, while the difference between opposite-coloured bishops does. Black will have to fight hard for a draw here.) 19.0-0!! Two exclamations marks for the idea. When I first saw this game, I thought there is something wrong in the notation and I contacted Loek Van Wely, who played it with Black. He confirmed that Ivanchuk sacrificed the exchange indeed, simply ignoring the threat of Bg4. Van Wely said that he should have definitely taken the exchange, although White would have some compensation. I was pretty surprised to hear all that and I returned to have another look at the position. Soon I realised how brilliant was Ivanchuk's positional exchange sacrifice. 19...Bg4 ( 19...h6 Ugly move, played in the game. Black prepares to castle, but the problem is that the weakness of square g6 will be very annoying in the future. 20.Nc2 Continuing the ignore the threat of Bg4. 20...0-0 21.Ne3 f5 22.Bd5 and White was better in Van Wely-Ivanchuk, Rethymnon 2003. Later White won the game using the weak square g6.) 20.Qh4! ( 20.Qg5 0-0!= ( 20...f6? 21.Qh4 Bxd1 22.Rxd1 h5 23.Nc2 f5 24.Bf3+/- ) ) 20...Bxd1 21.Rxd1 h5 This was Loek's suggestion, saying that Black is doing okay after it. The idea is to prepare either Qg4, or Rh6. However, after a closer look to the position I still believe that White's chances are better. ( 21...h6 22.Nc2 0-0 23.Ne3 The domination on the light-squares gives White a great compensation. 23...f5? 24.Qh3+/- ) 22.Nc2 Qg4 23.Qxg4 hxg4 24.Ne3 Weak pawns on g4 and d6 together with control of squares d5 and f5 secures White a safe advantage.] 16...Nxd5 17.Bxd5 0-0 I was pretty happy about castling in this line. 18.Nc2 [ 18.0-0 More precise is to castle first, in order to force Black to protect pawn f7 before playing Kh8. In that case the position is slightly better for White, although very close to equal anyway.] 18...Kh8! Using little tactics, I could play this move at once. Now the position is equal. 19.0-0 [ 19.Bxf7? Qf6 and White loses. Here the difference between 18.Nc2 and 18.0-0 is clearly seen.] 19...f5 20.Rad1 [ The move 20.Nb4 looks attractive, but defining knight's position at such an early stage has its drawbacks as well. It is unclear whether White needs to hurry with placing the knight on d5, since the bishop is also well placed there. 20...Qc7= ] 20...Rf6 But now Black threatens to advance the f-pawn, so Emanuel correctly prevented it. [ 20...f4? It would be nice to play such a move, but it is impossible for the moment: 21.Be4! and amazingly White wins immediately.] 21.f4! The arising position is pretty difficult to play with both colours. My initial plan to play Qf8 and eventually Rh6 brings nothing, that's why I had to reconsider the plan. Basically, both sides can do little if they just regroup the pieces and wait. Any active plan would offer good counterchances for the opponent. [ 21.Rd2 f4 with good attacking chances.] 21...Bd7! Not a typical move for Sveshnikov Sicilian, but in my opinion the most optimal plan for Black. 22.Qe2 Qc7 From c7 the queen protects the queenside (from an eventual invasion of White's queen in the future), frees the way for rook b8 to the kingside and keeps an eye on the important square c5. The possibility to play Bc6 at some moment (with white king on h1) might also prove important for Black. 23.Qf2 [ 23.Rd2 I expected this move more, but closing the diagonal a7-g1 looks natural. Emanuel obviously didn't want to play a move like Kh1 without being forced to do that.] 23...a5 24.a3 Rg6! An important consideration in such positions is that White should usually take on f4 with the pawn. Taking with a piece would give Black a nice square e5 for the bishop. [ 24...exf4? 25.gxf4+/- ] 25.Kh1 [ 25.Bf7 brings White nothing: 25...Rh6 followed by Rf8.; 25.Rd2?! exf4! 26.Qxf4 Be5=/+ ] 25...Rf8 Here I finally discovered an attractive plan - to push the h-pawn. But first I need to bring all my pieces to the kingside. 26.Bg2 This move confused me, because it suddenly offered new tactical possibilities, which were not easy to calculate in the coming time-trouble. [ After the most natural 26.Ne3 I planned: 26...h5 27.Bf3 probably the position is still about equal, but Black has some initiative. 27...Rh6 ( 27...h4 28.gxh4! ; 27...Bc6!? ) 28.Nd5 Qd8 29.Qb6!= ] 26...exf4 Very tempting, because taking with the pawn for White now looks risky. [ 26...h5!? Maybe I should have played my original plan, since it couls lead to a more complicated battle. Objectively the game continuation is better, though.] 27.Qxf4 [ 27.gxf4 Rxg2! 28.Qxg2 ( 28.Kxg2 Bc6+ 29.Kh3 Rf6-+ ) 28...Bc6 29.Rf3 ( 29.Rd5 Qb7 30.Rfd1 Bh6-/+ ) 29...Qb7 30.Rdd3 Re8 Maybe White can hold it, but it's certainly not his dream to calculate such a position.] 27...Be5 28.Qd2 f4 This move took me another precious minutes. 29.Nd4! Emanuel defends very good. He choses the safest way, even though he was in time trouble (he had some 5 minutes left, while I had about 6, I believe). [ 29.Ne3 fxe3! 30.Rxf8+ Kg7-+ ; 29.gxf4 Rxg2 again the same idea. Another proof in Sveshnikov Sicilian White can never feel very safe. 30.Qxg2 Bc6 31.Rd5 ( or 31.Rf3 Rxf4 ) 31...Qb7 and again White will need a lot of time before feeling safe again.] 29...Rgf6 [ 29...Rfg8 30.Rxf4!? Bxf4 31.Qxf4© ] 30.Nf3 Bg4 [ 30...fxg3 31.Nxe5 Rxf1+ 32.Rxf1 Rxf1+ 33.Bxf1 dxe5 34.hxg3= ] 31.Rde1! Bxf3 32.Rxf3 fxg3 Here I was smelling a full point until Emanuel replayed very precisely. 33.Ref1! Everything suddenly became clear to me - I can win some pawns, but he will trade both rooks and soon the queens after that. My extra pawns will be worth absolutely nothing with opposite coloured bishops. [ 33.Rxf6 is wrong: 33...Rxf6 34.hxg3 Qg7 and the position is unpleasant for White to defend, although objectively he must be able to do so.] 33...Rxf3 34.Rxf3 Rxf3 35.Bxf3 gxh2 Maybe I had better tries than taking such a pawn, but White achieves a draw in all variations. 36.Qd5 Qc5 37.Qxc5 dxc5 38.Bc6 b4 39.axb4 axb4 40.cxb4 1/2-1/2

(2) Hector,J (2518) - Rogozenko,D (2517) [B33] Excelsior Cup 2004, 10.01.2004 [Dorian Rogozenko] Already several years me and Jonny play every summer a tournament in Hamburg. Every time there Jonny plays like a genius, so I developed a great respect for his chess and fighting spirit. 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Not a surprise for me. In our previous games he used to play this move as well. 2...Nc6 3.Nge2 But this is new. Against me Jonny played 3.Nf3 before. Once I played 3...e5, the second time 3...g6, aiming for the sharp Dragon. Both those games were played in Hamburg (in 2002 and 2003) and ended in a draw. 3...Nf6 Clearly showing intentions that this time I'd rather play Sveshnikov SIcilian and not Dragon. 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5 11.c3 Bg7 12.exf5 Bxf5 13.Nc2 All this was pretty confusing for me - Jonny didn't use to play main lines of the Sveshnikov before. So I knew he'll "catch" me somewhere, but had no choice anyway. 13...0-0 14.Nce3 Be6 15.Bd3 f5 16.0-0 Aha, now I started to understand what line he is aiming for. 16...Ra7 17.a4 Ne7 18.Nxe7+ Rxe7 19.axb5 axb5 20.Bxb5 [ 20.Bc2 d5 21.Bb3 f4 22.Nxd5 Rd7 23.Nb4 Rxd1 24.Bxe6+ Kh8 25.Raxd1 Qe7 26.Bd5 e4 27.Rfe1 e3 28.Bf3 Qc5! This is a strong novelty. In 2000 Leko played against Topalov 28...Be5 and had to fight hard for the draw. 29.Re2 exf2+ 30.Kf1 Bf6 31.Nd3 Qg5 32.Nxf2 Rd8 1/2-1/2 Golubev,M-Rogozenko,D, Bundesliga 2003-2004. Black is at least not worse.] 20...d5 21.Ra6 During the game I was pretty amazed. If I am not mistaken, I myself recommended this move to the comments of Svidler-Kramnik, 1999. I sincerely thought that White has chances to get some small advantage here after 21...f4 22.Rxe6. [ 21.Nc2 Rb7 22.Bc6 Rxb2 23.Ra8 Qd6 24.Ra6 Qc5 25.Nb4 Qxc3 26.Bxd5 Qxb4 27.Bxe6+ 1/2-1/2 Svidler,P-Kramnik,V/Wijk aan Zee 1999] 21...Kh8! After some 20 minutes of thought, I decided that this is just better than 21...f4. To my surprise, I had to find out after the game that formally this move is not even a novelty, although the names of the players from the below given two games say nothing to me. [ 21...f4?! 22.Rxe6 Rxe6 23.Qxd5+/= ] 22.f4 This seems to be the most logical move, but Black wins an exchange by force after that, although the position remains complicated. [ 22.Nc2 Qb8 23.Qe2 f4 24.f3 Bc8 25.Ra2 e4 26.Nb4 Bb7© Cerqueira Filho,R-Dias,S correspondence game 2000.; 22.Qh5 f4 23.Ng4 Qb8 24.Be2 Qxb2-/+ Hodova,L-Priborsky,J/Plzen 2003.] 22...d4 23.cxd4 exf4 24.Rxf4 Bc8 It took me lots of time to realise that Black has nothing better than the game continuation. [ 24...Qb8 25.Qf1 Bc8 26.Ra3 Re4 27.Rxe4 fxe4 28.Qc4+/- ] 25.Ra3 Bh6 26.Rf3 f4 27.Nc2 Bg4 The position is difficult to evaluate. White will have two pawns for the exchange, so my task will be to create some initiative in order to prevent White from advancing his passed pawns. I was worried about my time, since I have spent a lot already. 28.b4 Bxf3 29.Rxf3 Qb6 30.Qd3 Bg7 31.h3 Qd6 At this point I had less than 15 minutes left, so I offered a draw. I was feeling that Black is not worse, but playing with little time in such a position is not easy at all. While I was thinking whether I did the right thing or not (with more time I would have played on), Jonny suddenly answered very quickly. 32.d5 His plan is to play Bc6 and push the b-pawn. 32...Ra7 33.Kh2? He obvioulsy misses Black's counterplay. [ 33.Bc4 was the correct move, after which Black is only slightly better.] 33...Ra2!-/+ Starting with this moment the game developed into one direction - Black constantly improved his position, while White was not able to stop it. 34.Qe4 Qe5 35.Bd3 Qxe4 36.Bxe4 Re8 37.Bd3 Rd8 38.Be4 Re8 39.Bd3 Rb2 Probably with very accurate play White can still achieve a draw somehow, but there was no point for me to make a draw here. The time control was practically over, so I could quietly continue the game. In the final part it's difficult to suggest clear improvements for White. Everywhere there are risks of losing. 40.Kg1 [ 40.h4 I would have played this with White.] 40...Be5 41.Rf2 Bc7! 42.Rf1 Rc8! 43.Kf2? Bd6 Now Black should be winning. 44.Kf3 Rcxc2 45.Bxc2 Rxc2 46.Ra1 Rd2 47.Ra8+ Kg7 48.Ke4 Rxg2 49.Ra7+ Kf6 50.Ra6 Re2+ 51.Kd3 Re3+ 52.Kd4 Ke7 53.Ra7+ Ke8 54.Rxh7 Be5+ 55.Kc5 f3 56.d6 Bxd6+ 0-1

(3) Rogozenko,D (2517) - Hultin,J (2300) [D45] Excelsior Cup 2004, 14.01.2004 [Dorian Rogozenko] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 In this tournament everyone played Slav against me. Maybe they prepared using my CD-ROM? I don't use to play e2-e3 before developing my bishop from c1, but I have had enough with all those theoretical lines, so in this game I decided to play quietly. 4...e6 5.Nf3 a6 A popular system these days, played even by Kasparov. I wasn't very familiar with it. 6.b3 [ 6.c5 is the main alternative.] 6...Bb4 7.Bd2 Bd6 [ 7...0-0 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.Qc2 Bd6 10.Ne2 c5 11.0-0 b6 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Ng3 Bb7 14.Nf5 Bc7 15.dxc5 bxc5 16.b4 c4 17.Be2 Ne4 18.Bc3 Nxc3 19.Qxc3 Nf6 20.Rfd1 Bc8?? ( After 20...Qd7 Black's position is at least not worse.) 21.Rxd5 Qe8 22.Bxc4 1-0 Huzman,A-Kasparov,G/Rethymnon 2003] 8.Bd3 c5 9.0-0 0-0 10.Rc1 Nc6 11.h3 I was trying to avoid taking either of Black's central pawns and would rather prefer to force Black to take on c4 or d4. However, my last move involved some sacrifices, which objectively are probably not entirely correct. [ 11.cxd5 exd5 12.h3!? ( 12.dxc5 Bxc5= ) ] 11...Qe7? [ 11...cxd4 12.exd4 Ba3 13.Rb1 ( 13.Bb1!? was an interesting idea, connected with a positional exchange sacrifice. 13...Bxc1 14.Bxc1 h6 ( 14...Bd7 15.Bg5 with strong compensation.) 15.Re1© ) 13...dxc4 14.bxc4 Nxd4 15.Bg5 h6 ( 15...Be7?? 16.Nxd4+- ) 16.Bh4 Nc6! and White's compensation shouldn't be enough, although development advantage and pressure on the b-file can give some hopes for the initiative. ( 16...Nxf3+ 17.Qxf3 Be7 18.Rfd1 Qc7 19.Na4 ) ] 12.Re1!+/= Now it is difficult for Black to find a plan. 12...dxc4 [ 12...Rd8 13.cxd5 exd5 14.Na4! cxd4 15.exd4+/- Here the drawback of 11...Qe7 becomes obvious.] 13.bxc4 Rd8 Black threatens now to take c5xd4, play Ba3 and win pawn d4. On the other hand his queenside is still not developed, so in principle this cannot work out. 14.Ne4! [ 14.Rb1 Rb8!? ( 14...Bc7!? ) ] 14...Nxe4 [ 14...cxd4 15.exd4 Nxe4 ( 15...Ba3? 16.Nxf6+ gxf6 ( 16...Qxf6 17.Bg5+- ) 17.Rb1+/- ) 16.Bxe4 Ba3 17.Bxh7+! I liked this sacrifice during the game. It was unclear to me whether White gets a winning attack, but intuitively I felt that it should be decisive. ( 17.Bc3!? This was pointed out by my opponent after the game. It is not bad, but White has better possibilities. 17...Bxc1 18.Qxc1© ; 17.Rb1 was the quiet (reserve) option. 17...Nxd4 18.Ba5 Nxf3+ 19.Qxf3 Rd7© White has a certain compensation here, but probably it is not enough for any real advantage.) 17...Kxh7 18.Ng5+ Kg6 ( 18...Kg8 19.Qh5 Qe8 20.Rc3 Rxd4 ( 20...Bb4 21.Rf3+- ) 21.Rf3 Nd8 22.Ba5+- ) 19.Rc3! ( 19.Qg4? My initial intention wouldn't have worked because of the simple 19...Rxd4 ) 19...Rxd4 20.Rg3 Bd6 21.f4 and I doubt that Black can hold the position.] 15.Bxe4 Bd7 16.Bb1 Be8 [ 16...Rac8!? ] 17.Qc2 g6 18.Bc3 Qc7?! 19.Ba1 e5 20.d5 [ 20.Rcd1!? ] 20...Ne7?? The decisive mistake. [ 20...Nb8[]+/- After this move White can choose either to play similar to the game - Ng5-e4 and push the f-pawn, or to push the h-pawn, play Ng5 and then transfer the queen to h4. In both cases White has a considerable advantage, but Black can put up a tough resistance.] 21.Qc3 f6 22.Nd2 Now it is all over. White wins material. 22...Nc8 23.f4 [ 23.Ne4 ] 23...Bf8 24.fxe5 fxe5 25.Qxe5 Qxe5 26.Bxe5 Nd6 27.Bf4 [ 27.Bf6 Rdc8 28.e4 Bh6 Would have gave Black some counterplay.] 27...b5 28.Bd3 bxc4 29.Nxc4 Nxc4 30.Bxc4 Bb5 31.e4 Bg7 32.Be3 Re8 33.Bf2 Bd4 34.Bb3 Rad8? 35.a4 Bd7 36.Bxd4 cxd4 37.e5 Rb8 38.e6 Bxe6 39.Rxe6 1-0