Hello again! Today I wanted to share a game by Grandmaster Sergei Tiviakov in which he illustrates a classical plan for White in the Ruy Lopez and Quiet Italian: The transfer of the queenside knight to g3, to prepare a gradual kingside attack. Anyone who plays these openings with either White or Black should definitely be aware of this idea! His opponent, Lalgopal Sharma, was a master. The game was played in the 1993 Goodricke Open, in what was then known as Calcutta.
Opening
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Qe2 This is called the Worrall Variation – something of a Tiviakov trademark. By protecting the e-pawn with the queen, he prepares to put the kingside rook on d1, where it will support the d-pawn.
5…d6 6.c3 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Rd1 So far this is the same as a game Tiviakov had previously played against Zaitsev. 8…Bg4?!
The Plan Begins
Black’s move is a known positional error; the bishop ends up as a target for either h3+g4, or Nbd2-f1-g3, the plan Tiviakov selected in the game. However, it is a very natural error, likely to be committed by your future opponents in various situations! 9.h3 Bh5 10.d3 b5 11.Bc2 Qc8 12.Nbd2
This marks the beginning of the standard Knight’s Tour! The knight aims for g3, where it will attack Black’s bishop on h5. It also aims at the f5 square in preparation for a kingside attack. 12…Re8 13.Nf1 h6
I think Black’s last move makes things worse, since now the kingside light squares are weakened. 14.Ng3 White continues the famous plan. 14…Bg6 Now White will use the position of his knights on the kingside to install one of them on f5. 15.Nh4 Bh7 16.Nhf5Â
The Plan is Complete: White is Dominating
The knight on f5 will be an extremely strong attacking piece. 16…Bf8 17.Qf3 This threatens Nxh6+, since the Black pawn on g7 is overloaded. That shows another downside of Black having played …h6.
Increasing The Pressure
17…Qd8 18.a4! This probing move creates favorable tension on the queenside. This is another positional idea characteristic of the Ruy Lopez. 18…Ra7 Black defends against the threatened axb5 by shifting the rook onto a protected square. 19.d4
This seems to be a feature of Tiviakov’s play at the time of this game: The d3-d4 push in the middlegame. It is also characteristic of the d3 Ruy Lopez more generally. Because there is no direct forced win on the kingside, Tiviakov stretches his opponent’s defenses by playing on different parts of the board simultaneously. 19…Rb7 20.axb5 axb5 21.Bb3 Bg6 22.h4
With the simple idea of h4-h5, gaining space and pushing the bishop away from defending f7. 22…b4 This tactically loses along the a4-e8 diagonal, but after a normal move White would continue building.Â
(22…Rb6 23. h5 Bh7 24. Be3 Threatens d4-d5 and shows White’s plan in action.)
23.Ba4! Black cannot stop White from winning material by attacking the pinned piece.
23…Rb6Â
(23… bxc3 24.bxc3 Ra7 could be tried, pinning the bishop, but White still plays 25.d5 for example 25…Ne7 26.Be3 winning material, since the rook on a1 is now protected.)
Winning MaterialÂ
24.d5
24…bxc3 25. bxc3 Nb8 26.Bxe8 White is now completely winning, up the exchange with a vastly superior position. It makes sense to see how a GM converts the advantage.
Conversion
26…Nxe8 27.Ra8
The point of occupying an open file is generally to access the 7th or 8th rank, as Tiviakov does here. 27…c5 28.h5 Bxf5 29.Nxf5 Nc7 30.Ra1 Nd7 31.Ne3
Rerouting the knight to c4, a standard outpost in the Benoni structure that has now arisen. 31…Rb3 32.Nc4 Nb8 33.Qg3
Threatening Bxh6 and unblocking the f-pawn. 33…Kh8 34.f4 Nb5 35.Rd3 Protecting the c3-pawn. 35…exf4 36.Bxf4 Qf6 37.e5!Â
White breaks into Black’s position. Black can’t take it, since Bxe5 would be a double attack. 37…Qf5 38.exd6 Nd7 39.Rf1 Qxh5 40.Ne5
White wants to trade the Black knight that blocks the passed pawn on d6. 40…Qf5 41.Qh3 Forcing a queen trade ends Black’s resistance. 41…Qxh3 42. Rxh3 Nxe5 43.Bxe5
Black resigned here. Note that taking on d6 loses more material, for example 43…Nxd6 44. Rxh6+ Kg8 45.Rxd6.Â
An excellent illustration of some of White’s typical ideas in the Ruy Lopez. Notice how Black’s inaccuracy …Bg4 was met by the very strong Nbd2-f1-g3, gaining time on the bishop and laying the groundwork for a kingside attack! A few other things stood out to me:Â
- Black’s …h6 only seemed to make things worse
- White’s systematic kingside buildup with Nh4-f5, Qf3, h4, Bb3
- When there was no forced win on the kingside, Tiviakov increased the pressure with pawn breaks all over the board: a2-a4 and d3-d4
