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Beating the Blackmar-Diemer with the Euwe Defence (II)
By Junior
TayThis is my first ever win in ICCF tournament play. Despite shuffling the pieces way into the middle of the night, the winning idea (Bishop reroute via f6-d8-c7) flashed out in my mind suddenly one afternoon, while sitting in a taxi-cab which was cruising along the Tampines Expressway
. Schmidt,W (2308) - Tay,J [D00]After studying the games of my opponent from the ICCF Email Team Preliminaries, I found out that my opponent plays the BDG exclusively. Gallagher's "Beating the Anti-King's Indian" recommends the Euwe defence as a good antidote against this opening so I decided to plunge ahead...
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.e4 dxe4 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 e6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bd3
[An impressive variation is 7.Qd2 0-0 8.Bd3 c5 9.Qf4 cxd4 10.Qh4 dxc3! (10...g6 11.Nxd4 Nd5 12.Nf3 White gets slight compensation for his pawn but this will definitely not faze the BDG devotee.) 11.Bxf6 Qxd3 12.cxd3 Bxf6 13.Qc4 cxb2 14.Rb1 Nc6 compensation Gallagher. I'm wondering how does Black intend to play for the win if White returns material after an eventual Rb1xb2 exchange sacrifice.]
7...c5 8.dxc5 Qa5 9.0-0 Qxc5+ 10.Kh1 Nbd7 11.Qe1 a6 12.a3!
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[12.Qh4 Qb4 13.Nd4 Qxb2 with insufficient compensation for White. Black is planning either Nc5 or e5 to remove the pesky Bd3.]
12...Qc7! 13.Rd1 b5
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A risky move which allows White to prise open the Queenside if Black intends to castle there. I thought it better to gain more squares for the Queen if it gets hit by an eventual Bf4 or Bg3. Now the position resembles a Sicilian Najdorf Polugaevsky variation where Black has snatched the e pawn and White has castled Kingside instead. [13...b6!?]
14.Ne4 Bb7 15.c3?!
a rather passive continuation to play after gambitting a pawn. [15.Nd4! messes up the situation considerably.]
15...h6 16.Qh4 0-0-0!
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Now White has no compensation for his pawn. Black gets a tremendous Kingside attack aided by the two Bishops.
17.Bxf6 Nxf6 18.Nxf6 Bxf6 19.Qf2 Rd6 20.Rd2 Rhd8 21.Rfd1 g5!
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Loosening but necessary to prise open the Kingside.
22.h3 h5 23.Be2 Rxd2 24.Rxd2
[24.Nxd2 Qf4µ 25.Qxf4 gxf4 26.Bxh5?? (26.Kg1 h4µ) 26...f3! 27.gxf3 Bg5 28.Bxf7 e5-+]
24...g4 25.Rxd8+ Bxd8!
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Watch this bishop! [25...Qxd8 26.hxg4 hxg4 27.Nh2 White is still in the game 27...g3 28.Qxg3 Qd2 29.Qg8+ Bd8 30.Bf1 Qf2 =+]
26.hxg4 hxg4 27.Nd4 Qe5!
[27...g3 28.Qe3 Qd6 29.Bf3 Bxf3 30.Qxf3 f5 may be winning but the strong Nd4 presents some technical problems.]
28.Bxg4 Bc7
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completing the long diagonal batteries. Now White is definitely pinned down for good.
29.Nf3 Qf4 30.Bh3
[30.Bh5 Kb8 zugzwang]
30...Qc1+ 31.Qe1 Qxb2 32.Ng5 Qxa3 33.Nxf7 Kb8!
Black resigns. [33...Kb8 34.Bxe6 Qe7-+ with Bc8 winning a piece to follow.] 0-1
