There is a new strong player on the Montreal chess scene; FM Valerian Hirschberg has been playing in a number of local tournaments, and it's nice to see a new face in the crowd. While I don't like to introduce him in a game where he does not play his best, the game was well executed by his opponent, Francois Caire, so I hope he will forgive me for showing you this one.
[Event "Alekhine"]
[Site "Charlesbourg CAN"]
[Date "2014.09.29"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Caire, Francois"]
[Black "Hirschberg, Valerian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B33"]
[WhiteElo "2148"]
[BlackElo "2321"]
[Annotator "MacKinnon,Keith"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2014.09.01"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8.
Na3 b5 9. Nd5 {We go into main line Sveshnikov. The other try is 9.Bxf6 which
actually scores 4% better} Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 (11. c4 {has been
fashionable lately, but 11.c3 is still by far the main move}) 11... Bg5 12. Nc2
Rb8 {A move aimed at taking the half-open b-file in the case of an imminent a4}
(12... O-O 13. a4 bxa4 14. Rxa4 a5 15. Bc4 Rb8 16. b3 {is the most common
continuation. White maintains a small edge here but the dynamic nature of the
position ensures Black active play}) 13. a4 {looks ill-advised at first sight
due to the hanging pawn on b2. But, after a second look, notice that White
need not take back on a4 immediately.} bxa4 {in line with having played 12...
Rb8} (13... O-O 14. axb5 axb5 15. Bd3 {with the scoring heavily in White's
favour}) 14. Ncb4 {White's pieces are getting active, and he's about to
recover his lost pawn} Bd7 (14... Nxb4 15. Nxb4 Bd7 16. Bxa6 {seems a bit
strange - but it's been played hundreds of times so I assume the position is
OK for both sides after 16...Qa5} (16. Qxd6 Be7 17. Qxe5 O-O $44 {and Black
has too much compensation for the lost pawns (b-file, Bishop vs. Knight,
e-file pressure coming)})) 15. Bxa6 Ne7 {finally deviating from conventional
theory} (15... Nxb4 16. Nxb4 (16. cxb4) 16... Qa5 17. Qxd6 Rb6 $11) 16. O-O O-O
17. Bc4 Kh8 18. Nxe7 Qxe7 19. Qd3 ({One interesting idea involves} 19. Bd3 $14
{with the idea to play Bc2 and take on a4 soon}) 19... f5 20. Rad1 fxe4 21.
Qxe4 {It's interesting that the computers see this position as being equal. My
impression is that white has a sizable advantage due to command of the d5
square and the backward pawn on d6} Rbc8 22. Qd3 $6 Bg4 23. Rde1 e4 $6 (23...
Bf5 24. Qe2 a3 25. bxa3 Qc7 $1 {and Black gets at least full equality}) 24.
Qxe4 {I have to think that Valerian must have thought this move was impossible.
It seems likely he missed 28.Rxf5} Qxe4 25. Rxe4 Bf5 26. Rd4 Bf6 27. Rf4 Be5 $2
(27... a3 $1 {a strong move which holds Black's position together by
undermining c3 and taking advantage of the pressure along the c-file}) 28. Rxf5
{the only choice for White. On Rf3 the Bishop on c4 hangs and if Rh4 then ...g5
} Rxf5 29. Be6 Rff8 30. Bxc8 Rxc8 31. Ra1 {White has the position under
control, and with his pawn advantage coupled with Black's weak pawns, the game
should play itself from here on out} Ra8 32. Nd5 g5 (32... Ra6 {would have
prevented White's next move, but then} 33. f4 $1 Bf6 34. Ra3 {and the threat
of b3 to go up two pawns is decisive}) 33. Nb6 Ra6 34. Nxa4 {purposely pinning
himself, but Francois sees a way to keep his material advantage and remove
himself from the pin} d5 35. Ra2 Kg7 36. Kf1 h5 37. h3 g4 38. hxg4 hxg4 39. b3
Rc6 40. Rd2 (40. Rc2 Rc8 41. Ke2 Rb8 42. b4 d4 43. Kd3 dxc3 44. Kc4 $1 {was
another continuation for White. The choice he made in the game was more
practical, however.}) 40... Bxc3 41. Nxc3 Rxc3 42. Rxd5 Rxb3 {If I were
playing Black, I would have preferred to keep my g4 pawn and play something
like ...Kf6. The position now becomes easily won} 43. Rg5+ Kf6 44. Rxg4 Kf5 45.
f3 Rb2 46. Re4 Ra2 47. Re2 Ra1+ 48. Kf2 Kf4 49. Re4+ Kf5 50. g4+ Kg5 51. Re5+
Kg6 52. Kg3 Ra4 53. f4 Rb4 54. Re6+ Kg7 55. g5 Ra4 56. Kg4 Ra1 57. Kf5 Ra5+ 58.
Re5 Ra7 59. g6 Kh6 60. Kf6 Rg7 61. Rh5+ {A good clean win by the White player
after capitalizing on some inaccuracies and then the blunder with 27...Be5} 1-0
