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-> While preparing for the 1976
edition of the great Lone Pine tournament, I noticed
an odd line of the Ruy Lopez that was supposed
to be bad for Black. I had my own ideas, though,
and decided that it would make a good surprise
weapon. The following tactical battle makes a pleasing
impression because the tactics are a natural part
of the needs of the position. In other words, I
didn't play tactically because I wanted to, but
because the position demanded it! This is part
of my eventual "learn to read the body language
of the board" philosophy (expounded in my How
to Reassess Your Chess): you must cater to
the position's needs, not to your emotional leanings!
deFirmian - Silman
Lone Pine, 1976
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3
Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3
d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Qd7!? (An
old idea of Smyslov's that caught my fancy.) 10.d4
Re8 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.d5 Ne7 13.c4 c6 14.a4 bxc4
15.dxc6 (Nick wisely
rejected the tempting 15.Nxc4 due to 15...cxd5!
16.Nb6 Qb7 17.Nxa8 dxe4 when 18.Ng5 runs afoul
of 18...d5.) 15...Qxc6
16.Nxc4 Be6 (Black
has come out of the opening with an excellent
position.) 17.Na5
Bxb3 18.Qxb3 Qc7 19.Bd2 Rab8 20.Qc3 Qb6 21.Nc4
Qc6 22.Qd3 Ng6 (Also
possible was 22...Nxe4!? 23.Na5 Nc5 24.Nxc6 Nxd3
25.Nxb8 Rxb8! [worse is 25...Nxe1 26.Nxa6 Nxf3+
27.gxf3 when White's queenside pawns are too
strong] when Black is okay. I felt 22...Ng6 led
to a richer position.) 23.Nh2? (After
this error Black grabs the initiative and never
lets it go. Better was 23.b3 Qb7 24.Na5 Qa8 when
the upcoming ...d6-d5 advance will guarantee
Black good play.) 23...d5
24.exd5 Nxd5 25.Rac1 Ndf4 26.Qg3 Bb4! (Calmly
ignoring all White discovered attacks along the
c-file. One line: 27.Nxe5 Qxg2+! 28.Qxg2 Nxg2
when Black will end up winning material. By trading
dark-squared Bishops, Black creates certain tactical
themes based on a Knight fork on e2.) 27.Nf3
Bxd2 28.Nfxd2 (And
not 28.Ncxd2? Qxc1! 29.Rxc1 Ne2+) 28...Nh4! (Crushing.
29.Nxe5 is still met by 29...Qxc1!) 29.Ne4
Nhxg2? (So far Black
has played a perfect game. Unfortunately, this
hasty move [time pressure!] throws away the win.
Correct was 29...Qh6! when White can't hope to
successfully defend himself.) 30.Ncd6
Nxe1 31.Nf6+? (White
should have played 31.Rxc6 Ne2+ 32.Kf1 Nxg3+
33.fxg3) 31...Kf8 (I
could have turned the game into a nightmare by
31...Kh8?? 32.Nxf7 mate) 32.Nxh7+? (The
final error. White could have fought back in
a pawn down endgame by 32.Rxc6 Ne2+ 33.Kf1 Nxg3+
34.fxg3 gxf6) 32...Ke7
33.Nf5+ Kd7 34.Rxe1 Qg6 35.Ng5 Qxg5!,
0-1. Though Nick deFirmian is clearly
a far stronger player than me, I always did well
against him (3-1 with several draws). There was
something about his style that made me feel comfortable
(compared to Christiansen, who usually beat me
to a bloody pulp!). Here are two of our other
games with minimal notes. Silman-deFirmian
San Jose 1982
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4
c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nf3 g6 7.Bf4 (A
pet line of mine that garnered many tasty points.) 7...Bg7
8.Qa4+ Bd7 9.Qb3 Qc7 10.e4 0-0 11.Be2 Nh5 12.Be3
a6 13.Nd2!? b5 14.a4 bxa4 15.Nxa4 Bb5 16.Bxb5
axb5 17.Qxb5 Ra5 18.Qb3 Nd7 19.Nc4 Ra7 20.0-0
Rb7 21.Qc2 f5 22.exf5 gxf5 23.f4 (The
opening is a complete fiasco for Black, who is
already dead lost.) 23...Kh8
24.Rf3 h6 25.Re1? (Making
life difficult for myself.) 25...Nhf6
26.Qf5 Rb4 27.Qc2 Nxd5 28.Bd2 Rbb8 29.Re6 Rf6
30.Qe4 Nf8! 31.Rxf6 Nxf6 32.Qf5 d5 33.Ne5 c4
34.Be3! Qa5 35.Nc3 Rxb2 36.Bd4 Rb7 37.h3! Ne4?
38.Qxf8+! Bxf8 39.Nxc4+,
1-0. I played Nick (for the last time)
in one of my final events before retiring from
active play. Silman- deFirmian
San Francisco, 1999
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5
e6 3.Nd2 (A move with
little bite. I saw Miles play it a few times
and thought it might be a good choice against
my aggressive and extremely well prepared opponent.) 3...c5
4.e3 b6 5.Ngf3 Bb7 6.Bd3 h6 7.Bh4 d6 8.0-0 Nbd7
9.c3 Be7 10.Qe2 a6 11.e4 (I
was later told that the audience was upset with
me, thinking that I was playing for a boring
draw. Their collective mood improved in a few
moves when the position began to heat up!) 11...Nh5
12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.g3 e5 14.dxe5 dxe5 15.a4 g6 16.Nc4
0-0 17.Rad1 (The pawn
structure promises White a safe but sure advantage.) 17...Nhf6
18.Bc2 Bc6 19.Rd6 (I
thought I was going to win at this point but,
to be fair to Nick, a horrible case of jetlag
was a major factor in his insipid opening play.) 19...Rfc8
20.Rfd1 Kg7 21.Nh4 Ra7 22.R6d2 Kh7 23.Nd6 (I
didn't expect my bleary-eyed opponent to survive,
but now he sucks it up and defends like the world
class player he is.) 23...Rf8
24.Ndf5!? (This fired
up the crowd, but perhaps 24.Qe3 was better.) 24...Qe8! (Even
a sleep deprived deFirmian wouldn't fall for
24...gxf5? 25.Nxf5 Qd8 26.Rd6 Ba8 27.Qd2 when
Black can hang up his Rooks.) 25.Rd6
Rc7 26.Qd2 Ng8 (White's
position certainly looks impressive, but how
can I improve it? This question tormented me
as I used up all of my time looking for the fatal
blow that simply wasn't there.) 27.Ne3
Ngf6?? (The exhausted
grandmaster makes a losing blunder. Correct was
27...Ndf6 with a transposition back into the
game.)  28.Nef5?? (Very
low on time, I thought I would repeat the position
a couple times, thus making my clock situation
less severe. Sadly, it was here that I missed
a nice opportunity: 28.Nhf5! Ng8 29.Ng4 h5
30.Rxd7 Rxd7 31.Nf6+ Kh8 32.Nxd7 Bxd7 33.Qxd7
Qxd7 34.Rxd7 gxf5 35.exf5 with a winning endgame.) 28...Ng8
29.Ne3 Ndf6! (Not
giving me a second chance!) 30.f3
b5 31.axb5 axb5 32.Nhg2 Qe7 33.Rd8 Ra7 34.Rxf8
Qxf8 35.Qd6 Qxd6 36.Rxd6 Rc7 37.Kf2 Kg7 38.Ne1
c4 39.Ke2 Ne7 40.Bb1 Nd7 41.N1c2 Nc5 42.Nb4
Na4 43.Nd1 Bd7 44.Bc2 Nc5, 1/2-1/2.
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