Alexander Khalifman Serge

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SERGEY IONOV
PORTRAIT OF A CHESSPLAYER:
ALEXANDER KHALIFMAN
Magnificent play in positions with the initiative is one of the
strongest sides of Alexander Khalifman's style. He has focused his
attention on studying openings since the very beginning of his
chess career. He was especially attracted by those openings, in
which he could thrust his opponent into the role of the defender by
a pawn sacrifice. The Catalan Opening, which meets these criteria
to the full extent, has served him hand and foot for a long time.
The first game that introduced itself to notice was the following
encounter.
Alexander Khalifman - Page 1
Khalifman – Novikov
Lvov 1985, USSR young masters championship
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.¥f3 ¥f6 4.g3 dxc4 5.¤g2 a6 6.0–0 b5 7.¥e5
¥d5 8.a4 ¤b7 9.axb5 axb5 10.¦xa8 ¤xa8 11.e4 ¥f6 12.¥c3 c6
13.¤g5. Another possibility is an immediate breakthrough 13.d5.
13...¤b7. More reliable is 13...¤е7 14.£а1 ¤b7 15.£a7 £c8
16.d5 0–0 17.de6 fe6 18.¤h3 ¥ with mutual chances.
14.¥xf7!?
14...¢ xf7 15.e5 h6 16.¤h4. White retains compensation for a
sacrificed piece also after 16.¤f6 gf6 17.£h5 ¢g7 18.¦a1 f5
19.¥e2 ¦g8 20.¥f4, as it was in a correspondence game Nesis
– Blok, 1985.
16...¥bd7?! Having run across an unexpected novelty, Black did
not decide on the principled 16...g5! 17. ef6 £f6 18.¥e4 £g6
19.£a1 ¥a6! cutting off the access to his camp, and it would be
hard for White to prove his case.
17.exf6 ¥xf6 18.¤xf6 gxf6 (18...£f6 19.¥e4 with unpleasant
initiative) 19.£h5+ ¢g7 20.¦a1 ¦h7. Novikov instinctively wants
to protect the seventh rank from white rook's invasion, but
disaster comes from a different side. 20...¦g8!? can be proposed
and in case of 21. ¥e2 ¤d6 22.d5 cd5 23.¥d4 Black has
23...£е8 with chances for a successful defense.
21.¥e2 ¤d6. It seems that Black covered his vulnerable squares,
but the breach happened in the most fortified spot.
Alexander Khalifman - Page 2
22.d5! The knight joins the attack of the main weakness of Black –
the e6-pawn.
22...cxd5. Very bad is 22...ed5 23.¥d4 ¢h8 24.¤h3! ¤e5
25.¤f5 ¤d4 26.¤h7 £e7 (26...¤b2 27.¦e1) 27.¤f5 ¤b2
28.¦a7 ¤d4 29.¦b7 £e1 (29...£b7 30.£h6 ¢g8 31.¤e6 with
a mate) 30.¢g2 £f2 31.¢h3 £f1 32.¢h4, and white king
escapes from checks.
23.¥d4 ¤c8? A decisive mistake. The struggle remained tense
after 23...£g8 24.¤h3 £f7 25.£e2 f5 26.¥e6 ¢h8 27.¥d4
£e7 ( worse is 27...f4 28.¦e1 with initiative) 28.£h5 ¤c5.
However, White has another way of developing his attack: 24.¦a7
¢h8 25.¦b7! ¦b7 26.£h6 ¦h7 27.£f6 £g7 28.£e6 and now
28...£e5 (28...£d4? 29.¤d5) 29.£c8 ¢g7 30.¥f5 ¢g6
(30...¢f6 31.¥e3) 31.£g8, but it seems that Black is rescued by
28...£h6 29.£h6 ¦h6 30.¥b5 ¤c5 (30...d4!?) 31.¤d5 ¦f6
32.¤c4 ¦f2.
24.¦a8 £d7 25.¥xe6+! A beautiful blow, however no less
efficient was 25. £g4 ¢f7 26.¦c8! £c8 27.¤d5 ¢e7 28.£e4.
25...£xe6 26.¤xd5
Alexander Khalifman - Page 3
26...£d7 (26...£e1 27.¢g2 ¤e6 28.£g4! ¤g4 29.¦g8 a mate! )
27.¦xc8! £xc8 28.£f7+ ¢h8 29.£xf6+ ¦g7 30.£xh6+ ¦h7
31.£xd6. In spite of the fact that Black is not in a very bad
situation as regards material, unsafe position of the king kills him.
31...¦g7 32.£h6+ ¦h7 33.£f6+ ¦g7 34.h4 £e8
35.¤e6! £e7 36.£e5 £b7 37.£h5+ ¦h7 38.£e8+ ¢g7
39.£g8+ ¢f6 40.¤d5 Black resigned.
A few people could hit on an idea of such a bold piece sacrifice!
Alexander cogently refuted a risky opening strategy of his
opponent in the next miniature.
Khalifman – Basin
Minsk 1985, USSR championship (first league)
Alexander Khalifman - Page 4
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.¥f3 ¥f6 4.g3 dxc4 5.¤g2 a6 6.0–0 ¥c6 7.e3
¤d7 8.¥c3 ¤d6 9.£e2 b5 10.e4 e5. More careful is 10...¤e7
11.d5 ¥b4 12.¥e5 ed5, though in this position White also posed
problems for Black in the game Gelfand - Bruzon, Bled 2002:
13.a3! (13.ed5 0–0 14.a3 ¥d3 15.¥d3 ¤g4! was played before
with equality) 13...¥d3 14.¥d3 cd3 15.£d3 de4 16.¥e4.
11.dxe5 ¥xe5 12.¥xe5 ¤xe5 13.f4 ¤d4+. Lately Black tries
keeping this position with the help of 13...¤c3 14.bc3 c6!?
14.¤e3 ¤c6? This natural response hits runs across a refined
refutation. Black made an attempt of rehabilitating the variation in
the game Vallejo – Korneev, Spain 2004: 14...¤e3 15.£e3 b4!?
16.¥e2 £e7 17.e5, and instead of 17...¦d8 18.£a7 with a small
advantage to White deserved attention 17...¥g4 18.£e4 ¦d8 ( or
18...0–0) with unclear position. However, also possible is simple
16.¥d5 ¥d5 17.ed5 £e7 18.£e7 ¢e7 19.d6 cd6 20.¦fe1 ¢f6
21.¤a8 ¦a8 22.¦ad1 with advantage.
15.e5!
15...¤xg2 16.¢xg2 ¤xe3. Leads to material losses, but 16...¥g8
17.¦d1 c5 18.£g4 ¢f8 19.f5 is also joyless for Black.
17.exf6 £d2 18.¦f2!
Alexander Khalifman - Page 5
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