Teach them a lesson

Jon Speelman's rating doesn't look so great (2539) but he is playing like in the best days. Seven rounds of the Gibtelecom chess festival have been played, with Jon currently sharing 6th place with 5 points. He slipped down after losing to Hungarian GM Zoltan Gyimesi.

The reason I'm making the post is that Jon has beaten much higher rated Emil Sutovsky and World Championsip Candidate Mikhail Gurevich. Here is a game against Sutovsky with brief comments.



Jon Speelman 2539 - Emil Sutovsky 2624
4th round of Gibtelecom chess festival

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 g6 3. Bf4 Bg7 4. e3 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. c3 c5 7. Be2 Be6 8. dxc5 dxc5 9. O-O Qb6 10. Qc1 Nc6 11. Nbd2 Bf5
This doesn't look like the best solution here. Giving away pair of Bishops is too dangerous, as White would achieve strong pressure on the central squares. And after following Bf5 retreat, Speelman moves e3 forward gaining space for nice piece's regrouping.

12. Nh4 Be6 13. e4! (Qc2 was also interesting) 13... Rad8 14. Qc2 Nd7
Black now has problem with finding good plan

15. Nhf3 Nde5 16. Nxe5 Nxe5 17. Be3
Knight's trade was somehow relief for Black. But White is now advancing his K-Side pawns by gaining tempo on unstable Ne5

17... Qc7
18.b4 would have been unpleasent

18. f4 Bh6 19. g4 (Who cares about the pin!) 19... Nc6 20. Rf3
White is improving his pieces before further pawns push. Wall e4-g4 is controlling large number of squares to restrict Black piece's activity.

20... f5
Knowing Sutovsky, a move like this is not a surprise. Famous attacker has no patience for passive defence.

21. exf5 gxf5 22. g5 Bg7 23. Nf1 (Aiming for Nf1-g3-h5. 23 Bc5? Ne5) 23... Bd5 24. Rf2 Be4 25. Qb3+ Kh8 26. Bxc5 Ne5
Better was 26...b6 with idea 27.Be3 Na5 28. Qa3 e5 with still complicated position. White now takes on a7 in cold-blood

27. Bxa7 Ng6?
A mistake. 27....Nd3 had to be played

28. Qb6
Even stronger was 28.Bb6. Anyway, White is gaining tempo to save f4 pawn and go for decisive maneuver Nf1-g3-h5

28... Qc8 29. Ng3 Bc6 30. Nh5 e5 31. Nxg7 Nxf4? 32. Rxf4+- exf4 33. Nh5 Qe6 34. Qf2 h6 35. Bd4+ Kh7 36. Nxf4 1-0