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ANNOTATED GAME
Shirov #1: Shabalov Attack
Shirov (2720?) vs. Thorhallsson (2450)
Annotated by: raskerino (1841)
Chess opening: QGD Slav defence, Alekhine variation (D10)
Shirov (2720?) vs. Thorhallsson (2450)
Annotated by: raskerino (1841)
Chess opening: QGD Slav defence, Alekhine variation (D10)
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14... Bxc3 |
Black follows his policy of trading pieces. | ||||||
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15. Bxc3 hxg5 |
Black now accepts the piece offer, he has little choice as the myriad of threats against h7 and g6 are quite terrifying. | ||||||
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16. hxg5 |
Notice how white has converted the valuable open g file into the even greater open h file. | ||||||
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16... Ne4 |
Black's policy of trading is once again shown. He both shuts down the b1-h7 diagonal and forces white to give up his light squared bishop (as ...Rxf2 and ...Nxc3 are threatened). | ||||||
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17. Bxe4 dxe4 18. Qxe4 |
White has two pawns for the piece, has a monster pawn on g5 and an open h file. Also note that the bishop on c3 may now enter the game with a timely d5. The immediate problems for black is h7. | ||||||
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18... Rf5 |
Black places a rook in the way of the queen's attack on h7. | ||||||
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19. Qh4 |
White renews the attack while defending his g pawn. | ||||||
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19... Qg6 |
An attempt to bring the queen to the defense, more importantly this move stops g6! which would restrict blacks king or if black takes give white a hugely powerful g file. | ||||||
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20. Qh8+ Kf7 21. f4 |
White has huge control over the center and kingside, he has pinned black's pieces down, and is almost equal in material. The rest of the game is a bit slower than the opening, white maneuvers to create a pawn break through and black strives for counterplay while attempting to stop white's threats. Personally, I'm a tactical player who loves to attack. Most of my attacks come from a spatial advantage (especially when white). Thus, for me this is a dream position, white has all the space he could ask for an is well on the way to a win with his attack. | ||||||
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21... Nf8 |
This stops the queen from infiltrating via d8 and it coves some light squares. | ||||||
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22. Qh4 |
White pulls the queen out, there's no more need for it on h8. | ||||||
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22... Ke8 |
Black flees. Also, e4 threatened to trap black's rook and it needs a retreat square. | ||||||
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23. e4 |
And white begins an unstoppable rolling forward of his pawns. | ||||||
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23... Rf7 |
White's pawns look quite military to me, they will march forward and crush black. | ||||||
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24. Rhe1 |
After having done an excellent job on the h file the rook comes to the center aiming straight at black's king. White is preparing to orchestrate a break through with d5 or f5. | ||||||
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24... Kd8 |
The king continues it's run. As the king is on the d file, the break through is obvious. | ||||||
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25. d5 |
A great, explosive move. Black's passive, cramped position is practically impossible to play. And his extra piece is doing nothing of f8. For that matter the c8 bishop is useless, one rook is locked out of the game and the other (on f7) cannot be envied. Even the queen is doing little. On the other hand white's pawn are a storm, his rooks support them perfectly and his bishop has suddenly come into the game. | ||||||
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25... cxd5 26. cxd5 Bd7 |
An attempt to shut the d file down. | ||||||
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27. f5 |
Another spectacular breakthrough. The key pawns white wants to get through are the d and e pawns (as shown by rook placement), this move sacrifices the f pawn to fulfill that purpose. | ||||||
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27... exf5 28. e5 |
The thematic followup, white has forced a pawn breakthrough, he has two well supported passed pawns that continue to tie black down. | ||||||
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