US Chess Championship 2010: Alex Yermolinsky v Jaan Ehlvest Part 2

PART 2

15...Na4



Black aims to undermine White's Queen side defenders.

16. Bd2

The capture Nxa4 looks good initially but fails to some tactics.



16. Nxa4 Qxa4 17. Qxa4 Rxa4 18. Nc3 Ng4+ 19. hxg4 Bxc3 and White's b1 rook is pinned, preventing capture of Black's bishop. Black is not up material at the end of this line, but he has a very good position. Notice how White's Queen side defense has been completely undermined.

White's move 16. Bd2 connects his rooks, so the pin down the b file is not as severe. It also gives up a little defense to the b2 pawn. These are typical problems White has to face in the Benko Gambit, which is why it is most likely the most popular top level gambit.

16...Nxc3

Black trades off one of White's key Queen side defenders.

17. Nxc3



Any other recapture loses the a2 pawn.

17...Nd7

Black now reroutes his other Knight to the Queen side. This gives an extra umph to Black's previous trade. Black has in effect traded off one of White's key defenders for nothing. Black's Knight wasnt doing a whole lot on the King side, and was actually just getting in the way of Black's powerful dark squared bishop! With Black's other Knight out of the way, however, he can now reroute this under utilized knight to the Queen side.

I mention this especially because it appears that White is the one who trades off a knight for nothing. After all, White simply recaptured on c3 with his other knight. Usually in these types of situations, it is inadvisable to trade off the piece. Usually, White's defensive position would remain the same. This is a key type of thing to think about, and is where creativity is critical in chess.

18. f3

White solidifies e4.

18...Qa6

Black gets his Queen out of the line of fire of White's Bishop. This move also gives Black some nice control over the a6-f1 diaganol.

19. b3



White commits to a Queen side pawn structure. Generally, the plan is b3-a4 and put a Knight on b5. This plan works pretty well, but it works much better if White can put a Knight on c4. I dont want to beat a dead horse, but rarely is an exchange of knights so productive!

19...Ne5

Black's Knight is now attacking the critical Queen side square c4. If Black is able to push c4 he should be able to exchange on b3 and leave White with an isolated a2 pawn or b3 pawn. Coupled with Black's Queen side pressure, Black will have a good position.

20. a4



It is very difficult for White to deal with a c4 pawn push. This isnt an ideal move for White, but he has few ideal options.

20...c4



White's Queen side collapses.

21. Nb5 cxb3
22. Qxb3 Qxa4
23. Qxa4 Rxa4



After a series of exchanges, material is now even. Black has better piece activity. The pawn structure makes a draw very possible, though.

24. Nc3 Raa8
25. Rxb8+ Rxb8
26. Rb1



Black's Rook will have more to do in case of an invasion than White's Rook.

26...Rc8

So Black avoids the trade.

27. Nd1



This rerouting of the Knight may have cost White the loss. Maybe rerouting his Bishop first would have been better. These types of endgames are very tough to play and assess.

27...f5

Black attacks White's pawn chain.

28. Nf2

White defends the e4 pawn.

28...Rc2



Black's Rook invades. The pressure is increasing on White in this facially simple endgame.

29. Be1

White gets the bishop out of harms way and defends the Knight.

29...Bh6



Black threatens Be3, which creates a variety of threats against White's position. The most obvious is that it threatens to win a piece by Bxf2. Also in the cards is Nxf3+ if the Knight moves somewhere. Notice that the g2 pawn would be pinned to the White King.

30. Kg1

So White moves his King out of the line of fire of Black's Rook.

30...Kf7

Black moves his King towards the action.

31. h4

Well, this move is a bit cryptic. I think that Black was threatening Kf6-Kg5 and then some sort of King invasion. This would be bad for White, but h4 gives weakens his pawn structure a bit.

31...Be3



Black pins the Knight to White's King. The pressure on White's position is still mounting.

32. Kf1

Otherwise Black's Nd3 would be very bad for White.

32...Bc5

I am not too sure about this one. I think the idea is that Black vacates the e3 square, which can then be used by Black's Knight. Nc4-Ne3 becomes a good threat. The Bishop does pretty much the same stuff on c5 as it would do on e3.

33. Rb7



Maybe the pawn exchange exf5 would have been better here.

33...Bxf2

This exchange allows Black to win a pawn.

34. Bxf2 fxe4
35. fxe4 Rc4



White cannot defend the e4 pawn.

36. Bg3 Rxe4
37. Bxe5 Rxe5



Black is up a pawn and has a good position. White's d5 pawn is weak and will be White's downfall.

38. Rb5

White defends his d5 pawn.

38...h5

Black blockades White's h4 pawn.

39. Kf2 Kf6



Here White resigns. Black will be able to use White's weak d5 pawn to hold down White's Rook. The win is not obvious to me, but I wont go into all the variations on this post. Maybe in the future!