Speelman – Kasparov

When I am in the mood to play a King’s Indian, I sometimes play this against the English Opening.

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Date: 1989.??.??
Location: ?
Tournament: Madrid Rapids
Round:
Opening:
Submitted by:
Published on: February 9, 2020

[Event "Madrid Rapids"] [Site "?"] [Date "1989.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Speelman"] [Black "Kasparov"] [Result "0-1"] [PlyCount "78"] 1.c4 g6 {When I am in the mood to play a King's Indian, I sometimes play this against the English Opening.} 2.e4 Bg7 3.d4 d6 4.Nc3 Nf6 {And here we are!} 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.Be3 {White normally castles in such positions, but in the King's Indian this is a viable alternative. The only problem is that the bishop at e3 can be attacked by a knight.} Ng4 8.Bg5 f6 9.Bh4 g5 {My bishop at g7 looks pretty bad, but White's is no better.} 10.Bg3 Nh6 11.h3 Nc6 12.d5 {Now I have a choice. It is almost certainly better to retreat the knight to e7 but I was in the mood for a sharp game, especially since we were playing at a very fast time control. So I took a chance.} Nd4 13.Nxd4 exd4 14.Qxd4 f5 {In return for the pawn I have a bishop which is once again alive and well, ready to exert a lot of pressure on the diagonal. White's bishop at g3, however, is pathetic. But is this worth the material investment?} 15.Qd2 f4 16.Bh2 Nf7 {Now Speelman over-reacts and tries to immediately free his trapped bishop. If he had castled queenside, it is not clear my plan would have been justified and in fact in 1991 a practical example cast doubt on my plan.} 17.h4 {17.O-O-O Ne5 18.f3 c5 19.dxc6 bxc6 20.h4 The delay of the advance of the h- pawn has resulted in a clear advantage for White.} h6 18.hxg5 hxg5 19.g3 {It looks like White is achieving his objective but I now sacrifice a pawn to thwart his plans.} f3 20.Bxf3 Ne5 21.Be2 {I have given up a second pawn to open up a line and also bring my knight into the attack with tempo.} g4 22.Bg1 c5 23.dxc6 bxc6 24.O-O-O {Obviously the king could not remain in the center much longer! Now what will I do about the d-pawn which is now under attack?} Be6 25.Qxd6 Qg5+ 26.Kb1 Qg6 {This little maneuver is worth much more than a pawn. Look at Speelman's silly bishop at g1, and see how my pieces are lining up against his king. The White queen is needed for defense, but it is far from home.} 27.Ka1 Rab8 {White is in deep trouble. Jon Speelman is a very creative player and his next move is ingenious, especially in a game played in just a few minutes. But it was perhaps not best.} 28.Rh5 {In return for the rook, White gets my bishop in addition the pawns he has already been given. 28.f4 gxf3 29.Bf1 This strange series of moves was suggested by Viktor Korchnoi, and it is probably best.} Qxh5 29.Qxe6+ Kh8 30.Qe7 Nf3 31.Bxf3 Rxf3 32.Na4 Re8 33.Qxa7 Qe5 {Notice how well my pieces are centralized. White's are scattered all over the place.} 34.Qb6 Qxe4 35.Qb4 Qc2 {This invasion of the seventh rank brings the game to a quick close.} 36.Rb1 Rd3 {The queen will be joined by at least one rook.} 37.Qc5 Re2 38.Qh5+ Kg8 39.Qxg4 {Now Black mates in two moves.} Qxb1+ 0-1