By Karel van der Weide

The traditional tournament on the Isle of Man, 2003, began with a remarkable incident. Nigel Short's opponent did not show up. In such cases you get another pairing after one hour, but Short insisted on having a forfeit. The arbiters showed no mercy for Mr.Short and penalized him with a loss. Short took his starting-fee and left. I don't know if there is a connection, but some other participants had to wait a long time to collect their money and my Romenian roommates weren't even paid at all! In the end, the sponsor forced the organizers to apologize to Short and so he participated the year after like nothing happened. Strangely enough, I never managed to get conditions on the Isle of Man, neither on other tournaments organized by the same people. Maybe I didn't behave badly enough...

Anyway, I was doing very well in the 2003 edition, especially after beating Kotronias in great style (see my best games selection at www.karelvanderweide.nl). But now I was facing some severe competition; Black against Viorel Iordachescu. He is a player with great understanding, always excellently prepared due to his cooperation with Bologan and Nisipeanu. My Rumanian roommates didn't rate my chances against their fellow countryman very high.

Iordachescu-van der Weide

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 Be7 8.0-0-0 0-0 9.f3!?

This game made such an impression on me that I decided to play this move as White myself! White avoids the over-analyzed theoretical main line, starting with 9.f4. You just play a sort of English attack against the Rauzer. Let's have a look at some possible continuations:

A) 9...Qb6? 10.Be3 just loses time.

B) 9...a6 10.h4 with a further branch:

B.1) 10...Qb6 11.Be3 Qc7 12.g4 Ne5 (After 12...Nd7 the return of the Bishop to g5 is very unpleasant for Black.) 13.h5 and it takes some nerves to play this position with Black: 13...Nfd7 14.g5 Nb6 15.g6 Nbc4 16.Bxc4 Nxc4 17.h6 fxg6 (It is obvious that after the alternatives Black gets crushed: 17...Nxd2? 18.gxh7+ Kh8 [18...Kxh7 19.hxg7+ Kxg7 20.Rdg1+ Kf6 21.Rh6+ Ke5 22.f4 mate] 19.hxg7+ Kxg7 20.h8=Q+ Rxh8 21.Rdg1+ Kf6 22.Rxh8+-) 18.Qh2 Rf7 19.hxg7 Rxg7 20.Bh6 Rf7 21.Rdg1 Bf6 was a position I managed to survive last year, but you should not try this at home!

B.2) 10...Qc7 11.Kb1 b5 12.Nxc6 Qxc6 13.Ne2! Rd8 14.Nd4 has analogies with lines considered in "C".

C) 9...Nxd4 (This voluntarily Knight exchange appears in most of the games where White chooses a set up with f3.) 10.Qxd4 a6 11.h4 (Don't fall for the trick 11.Kb1? Nxe4!.) 11...b5 (Doing without this move gives insufficient counterplay: 11...e5 12.Qd2 Be6 13.Kb1 [so 13...Qa5 can be answered by 14.Nd5.] 13...Rc8 14.g4 Rc6 15.Be3 Qb8 16.g5 Nd7 17.Nd5 gave me an overwhelming position in the 9/9 tournament in Hilversum.) 12.Kb1

AN IMPORTANT TABIYA

Here we have an important tabiya position. One is advised to study Bologan's games. His starting manoeuvre Qd2 followed by Ne2 is essential:

C.1) 12...Rb8 13.Qd2 b4 14.Ne2 a5 15.Nd4 Bd7 16.g4 a4 17.Be3 Ne8 18.g5 Nc7 19.f4 Qc8 20.g6 gave White a dangerous attack in Bologan-Aseev, analyzed in informator 82

C.2) 12...Bb7 13.Qd2 Rc8 (13...Qc7 14.Ne2 Rac8 15.Nd4 Rfd8 16.Bd3 Ne8 17.g4 Bf6 18.Be3 d5 19.e5! gave White an initiative in Bologan-Ye, see informator 79) 14.Bd3 Nd7 15.a3 Nb6 16.Ne2 f6 17.Be3 Nc4 18.Bxc4 Rxc4 and now Bologan assesses 19.b3 Rc8 20.Nf4 Qd7 21.h5! as a little better for White in informator 77.

9...d5

Maybe the most fundamental of all continuations.

10.exd5 Nxd5

11.Bxe7

11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Ne4 e5 14.c4 Nf6 gives Black sufficient resources.

11...Ncxe7

11...Ndxe7 12.Nxc6 Nxc6 (or 12...Qxd2+ 13.Rxd2 Nxc6 14.Bb5) 13.Bb5 Qb6 14.Bxc6 Qxc6 15.Qd6 is a tiny bit unpleasant for Black.

12.Bc4!

AN IMPROVEMENT

Iordachescu is right to refrain from exchanging a pair of Knights on d5, as happened in Lobzanidze-van der Weide, Cappelle la Grande 2001. After 12.Nxd5 Nxd5 13.Bc4 Nb6 14.Bd3 Bd7 15.Kb1 e5 16.Nb3 (The ending after 16.Nf5 Bxf5 17.Bxf5 Qxd2 18.Rxd2 Rfd8 is perfectly playable for Black.) 16...Qc7 17.Rhe1 Rac8 18.Qe2 (18.Qg5 appears to be a shot in the dark: 18...Rfe8 19.Nd2 Ba4 20.b3 Bc6 21.Ne4 Bxe4 22.Bxe4 a5 and Black has his chances.) 18...Rfe8 19.c3 g6 20.h4 Nd5 21.g3 Nf6 22.Qf2 a5 23.Nd2 Ba4 24.Nb3 Bd7 25.Nd2 Ba4 26.Nb3 Bd7 with a repetition of moves.

12...Nb6

In my opinion, 12...Nxc3 13. Qxc3 only helps White.

13.Bb3 Bd7 14.h4

NOT SO BAD FOR BLACK

Maybe the Black position is slightly uncomfortable, but it's hardly the end of the world. A normal move would be 14...Rc8. However, here I managed to conceive one of the worst plans in my entire chess career. Somehow, I wasn't happy with the incoming h-pawn and thought of something to stop its advance. I cannot find the words to explain just how ridiculous my next manouevre is.

14...Kh8?? 15.h5 Ng8?? 16.h6

Of course, Viorel plays h6 anyway! No one has the nerve to take such a pawn.

16...g6 17.g4 Qc7 18.Ndb5 Bxb5 19.Nxb5 Qc5 20.Nd6 To show Viorel that I knew how hopeless the situation was, I resigned. 1-0.

As in my game with Alexander Shabalov, the preparation lasted longer then the game itself. After such a downfall, you have the feeling the whole preparation was useless. Why learn an opening, when you don't understand the resulting middlegame positions?!