I was impressed by a short game I saw recently by Grandmaster Peter Wells, played against International Master William Paschall in Koszeg, 1998. In addition to being a powerful example of play with a lead in development, it demonstrates an effective way to counter the “Hyper-Accelerated Dragon” variation of the Sicilian, currently extremely popular with scholastic and adult tournament players alike. Grandmaster Wells himself annotated the game in the Mega Database, and I have incorporated his comments into my notes.
Opening
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6
This is the starting position of the so-called Hyper Accelerated Dragon. The normal Accelerated Dragon begins with 2…Nc6, and follows 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6. By playing 2…g6 immediately here, Black wants to get his desired opening while avoiding certain options for White, notably the Rossolimo variation, which arises after 2…Nc6 3.Bb5.
3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4
As with other things in chess, move orders are a question of give and take. Black has prevented the Rossolimo by avoiding putting his knight on c6, but given White the option of taking on d4 with the queen. None of these options guarantee White an advantage – that would be expecting too much – but they do illustrate some of the resources available to him. Now Black has to deal with the attack on their rook, and the game assumes a very different character to a typical Accelerated Dragon.
4…Nf6
The e4-e5 Idea
5.Nc3!?
White now threatens to play e4-e5 without Black’s knight making it to d5.
5.e5 Nc6 6.Qa4 Nd5 shows how Black would have responded to an immediate e4-e5. Wells mentions that he looked at this in his preparation but was not convinced by it from White’s point of view.
5…Nc6
5…Bg7? 6.e5! shows one of the points of White’s play: After 6…Nc6 7.Qh4 Black has no good square for the knight on f6. Without the inclusion of Nc3, it would be able to go to d5.
6.Qa4
6…d6
6…Bg7? 7.e5 Is still an issue for Black.
7.e5! This will give Black some problems to solve, since White gets the initiative.
7…Ng4
7… dxe5 Looks like a safer way for Black to handle this line. I will show the possibility Wells gives in his notes: 8.Nxe5 Bd7 9. Nxd7 Nxd7 10.Bb5 Maybe this is a small edge for White.
Mobilization and Attack
8.exd6 Qxd6 9.Bf4
Wells calls this “One for the collection of obvious enough moves which turn out to be novelties!”
9…e5?! This looks natural, but needing to defend this pawn puts Black under further pressure.
9…Qc5 10.Ne4 keeps the pressure on. 10…Qf5 11.Bg5 Bg7 12.Bd3 Black can’t castle yet due to the threatened check on f6. However, 12…Qe6 is actually not bad for him.
10.Bg3 This seems to be the critical moment of the game. Black urgently needed to catch up in development!
10…Qb4?
10…Bg7 11.Rd1 Qb8 is by no means easy for Black, but he is still in the game. 11.Bb5!
Objectively the winning move! Black now has no way to avoid losing at least a pawn with a severely damaged position.
11…Qxa4
11… Bd7 12.O-O-O White’s threats include h3 followed by winning the e-pawn, or trading queens followed by Nd5.
12.Bxa4 f6
Black solves the problem of the e5-pawn, but not that of the d5-square.
Winning Material
13.h3 Nh6 14.Nd5!
Now Nc7+ and Nxf6+ are both threatened.
14…Kf7 The best try, but it only appears to defend f6!
15.Nxf6!
Converting the Advantage
Here Wells comments that “The theoretical battle is over. The rest is a question of ensuring that black generates no compensation for the pawn.”
15…Nf5
15… Kxf6 16.Bxc6 was White’s tactical justification, threatening Bxe5+ and taking the rook in the corner.
16.Ne4
The knight has done its job and returns to the center.
16…Nxg3 17.fxg3
White keeps the knight centralized on e4 and prefers to open the f-file for an attack on Black’s king. A good example of the importance of piece activity (knight on e4, rook coming to f1) overriding that of pawn structure.
17…Bf5 18.O-O White continues developing, having noticed that Black taking on e4 is not a real threat.
18…Bxe4 19.Ng5+! Ke8 20. Nxe4 Be7 21.Nf6+
When Black takes, White can quickly bring the rooks into the game.
21…Bxf6 22.Rxf6 Ke7 23.Raf1 Nd8 24.R6f3
24…Rc8 25.Re3
White targets the isolated pawn on e5. 25…Rc5 26.b4 A common theme: The defender of a target itself becomes a target. 26…Rc4 27.c3 Kd6 28.Rd1+
Black resigned here, with no way to avoid further material losses.
28…Kc7 29. Bb5 traps the rook.
28… Ke6 29. Bb3 pins the rook.
28… Ke7 29. Rxe5+ grabs a second pawn with a totally winning position.
Takeaways:
- White’s opening approach of 4.Qxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 deserves attention as a way to combat the Hyper-Accelerated Dragon.
- e4-e5 grows in strength if the knight cannot go to d5.
- Natural, aggressive developing moves are often the best ones: Note 9.Bf4! and 11.Bb5!.
- White did not ‘shut up shop’ and try to trade his way to victory after getting the extra pawn; he used his initiative to win more material in the queenless middlegame.