Today we are going to continue exploring White’s attacking ideas in the Ruy Lopez and Quiet Italian, through the prism of Grandmaster Sergei Tiviakov’s games. I first became interested in his games when I used the second volume of his “Rock Solid Chess” trilogy at the NSCF Camp, studying positional play with the students in our advanced group.
It turns out Tiviakov is quite the specialist in the Ruy Lopez and Quiet Italian, having accumulated both a lifetime of experience and a massive positive score in these structures. One of his favorite plans, described in both his books and Chessbase DVDs, is the Bg5 pin against an opponent who has castled kingside, often while his king remains in the center. In this game he played White against Grandmaster Zoltan Almasi, at the 1995 edition of the famous Wijk aan Zee tournament.
Opening
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Qe2 Again we see this Worrall Variation, which Tiviakov also chose in the game against Sharma. That was where we studied the Knight’s Tour against an inaccurate …Bg4 pin. 5…b5 This is a main move, but a deviation from the aforementioned Sharma game. 6.Bb3 Bc5
According to Tiviakov, lines where Black plays …Bc5 are the most accurate response to the Worrall. I think the idea is that the bishop is more active on c5 than it would be on e7. Of particular interest to us is a plan Tiviakov likes against it: Pinning the Nf6 once Black has castled kingside. 7.c3 Tiviakov mentions that one benefit of this order, compared to 7.d3, is now that Black cannot exchange a pair of knights with …Nd4. 7…d6 8.d3
The Bg5 Pin
By treating the …Bc5 lines with delayed castling, White aims to answer …0-0 with the Bg5 pin. 8…O-O 9.Bg5
I think this is the position Tiviakov had been striving for. Because Black has castled (and White has not), unpinning with …h6 and then …g5 looks very risky and committal – Black has to be prepared for the Nxg5 piece sacrifice, exposing his king. This game shows that White also has other attacking ideas when Black refrains from …g5.
9…Be6 10.Nbd2 so far both players are playing well; the game is objectively equal.
10…Qe7?
10… h6 was very solid for Black. The point is not to play …g5 immediately – that looks extremely risky in view of the Nxg5 piece sacrifice. Rather, it is to have the option of breaking the pin with a timely …g5 in the future.
The move in the game has a serious problem: White’s Nf3 gets the possibility of leaping to f5 with a tempo on the queen. We will see this idea very shortly.
The Attack Begins
11.Bd5!
Now Black is in real trouble. There is no good way to meet the attack on the pinned knight on c6!
11…Bxd5? Clearing the e4 square gives White a winning attack without even sacrificing anything.
(11… Bd7 12. Nh4! is another big problem, Nf5 is coming next. If Black took it with the bishop, White could take on c6 and Black would have two pieces hanging. This is Black’s best chance though, maybe continuing with the retreating move 12…Qd8.)
12.exd5 Nb8
Bringing in the Pieces
13.Ne4
White has a winning attack based on two ideas: The pressure on the pinned Nf6, and the coming transfer of the White Nf3 to f5.
13…Nbd7 14.Nh4!
This prepares both Nf5 and Qf3. Note that it wouldn’t even be possible if Black had included …h6, Bh4 earlier on. It is notable that Nh4-f5 and Qf3 were attacking moves in the previously analyzed game as well, although the positions were in many ways completely different! 14…h6 15. Nf5!
15…Qd8 16.Bh4 White simply maintains the pin; Tiviakov is not in a rush. 16…Kh7 17.Qf3
This increases the pressure on the Nf6. Black now tries to make a run for it with his king.
Breaking Through
17…Rh8 18.g4!
This threatens to take on h6 and then play the fork g5+ after the king recaptures. It also threatens to sacrifice the knight on g7 and open the g-file with the g5 pawn break! Pushing the g-pawn illustrates one benefit of White having delayed castling: The ability to directly involve the kingside pawns and rook in an attack on Black’s king. 18…Kg8 19.Nxg7!
As advertised: White breaks open the kingside. Black has no choice; the sacrifice must be accepted.
19…Kxg7 20.Rg1 preparation for g4-g5; Tiviakov has correctly calculated that there is no defense.
20…Nxe4
Black seeks salvation in tactics, but now White gets a winning material advantage. In any case there was no defense: White was going to play g4-g5 and recapture with the bishop, setting up a crushing discovered check. If the Black king moves away, it leaves the knight on f6 inadequately defended.
Converting the Material Advantage
21.Bxd8 Bxf2+ 22.Ke2 Bxg1
23.dxe4 Bxh2 24.Bxc7 Bf4 25.Bxd6
The flurry of captures ends with a decisive material advantage for White. For a Grandmaster, this is an easy win.
25…f6 26.a4 Nb6 27.b3 bxa4 28.Bc7 and Black resigned here.
Takeaways
- By delaying their own castling, White effectively responded to Black’s …0-0 with Bg5
- The pin on the knight led to tactical opportunities and attacking chances for White
- If Black had immediately responded with …h6 and …g5, the piece sacrifice Nxg5 would have been very dangerous; however, Black should have included the move …h6, to have the option of a timely …g5 in the future
- Bd5! Caused Black serious tactical problems; due to the possibilities of Nd2-e4 after exd5 and Nh4-f5, with tempo on the Qe7
- White took advantage of their own delayed castling by executing the g4-g5 breakthrough, in conjunction with Rg1