A DOG WAR AGAINST "ZACALOV"! Zachary "Zacalov" Ramsay is undoubtedly one of the "finds" of Jamaican chess in recent years. A unique talent, he combines his passion for the sport with great work ethic and tremendous fighting spirit, making him a formidable opponent. One of the "unofficial masters" in Jamaica, although in medical school his love for the "king of games" still sees him finding time to play competitively including the current national qualifier. We have had some bruising, uncompromising battles in the past exchanging wins on more than one occasion with a 70-move stalemate in our history, I had no doubt that this clash was going to see fireworks!
1.e4
c5
Zachary almost always plays this move in response to the king's pawn double hop.
2.Nf3
d6
3.d4
cxd4
4.Nxd4
Nf6
5.Nc3
a6
Ramsay swears by the Sicilian Najdorf. Why not ? He understands the opening well and has had good results with it, including a demolition job on Jamaican record seven-time national champion FM Shane "the Magician" Matthews in a memorable game from the 2007 Jamaican national championship.
6.Bc4
Nbd7
7.Bb3
g6
This move reminds me of the legendary Jamaican chess player and administrator, NM John Powell who died in 2007. John and I played a number of "friendly", training games and he usually played the Sicilian defence with the black pieces. Whenever he employed this set-up he referred to it as the "Drag-Dorf" - a hybrid of the Najdorf and the Dragon!
8.f4N
Again, my database is screaming out "novelty". This is a surprise to me as this seems to be a natural move. [To demonstrate how dangerous this opening is for Black, White won against much "stronger" opposition with 8.Be3
Bg7
9.f3
Nc5
10.Qd2
0-0
11.0-0-0
Nxb3+
12.axb3
Qa5
13.Kb1
Rd8
14.g4
e5
15.Nde2
Be6
16.Bg5
Rac8
17.h4
b5
18.h5
b4
19.Nd5
Bxd5
20.exd5
Rc5
21.Bxf6
Bxf6
22.hxg6
hxg6
23.Ng3
Rdc8
24.Ne4
Bg7
25.Rc1
Rxd5
26.Qh2
Rd4
27.Qh7+
Kf8
28.g5
Rxe4
29.fxe4
Qd8
30.Rhg1
d5
31.Rcf1
Qd6
32.Rxf7+
Kxf7
33.Rf1+
Qf6
34.Rxf6+
1-0 Melgosa,M (2295)-Gausel,E (2525)/Dos Hermanas 2004/CBM 099 ext]
8...Bg7
9.Be3
0-0
10.Qd2?!
A dubious opening "experiment". I thought of playing 10.h3 (the first choice of the engines) but did not want to "waste" a move.
10...Qc7
[A strong refutation of my last move was 10...Nc5!
and after 11.e5
dxe5
12.fxe5
Ng4
it is clear that Black has dominated the opening.]
11.0-0-0
Nc5
A natural, but very strong, move. Black was very OK after this and, to my mind, might even be better.
12.Nd5
Nxd5
13.exd5
I hated to lock in the Bb3 but I think that this was the only way not to lose the e4-pawn. An additional benefit of capturing with the pawn was that it left Ramsay saddled with the backward e7-pawn. This pawn on e6 was to prove vital in the jousting to come.
13...Bd7
14.h4
Nxb3+
I was actually relieved at this exchange having regard to the limited scope of the religious figure.
15.axb3
h5
[Looking at the position after I had moved I did not like 15...Bg4!
In fact, in a brief post-mortem (without sight of the board) I told Zachary that this was the move he should have played and he agreed acknowledging that this would have given him a tempo in attacking the Rd1 and then, if necessary, he could have played h5. In fact, 16.Rde1
is met by 16...a5!
and Black develops a powerful initiative.]
16.f5!
I was about to play this move without any hesitation as my intuition told me it was very strong; not only does it prevent Bg4, it also clears the c1-h6 diagonal with chances to exchange the Bg7 . My discipline held, however, and I looked at the position for a couple of minutes before playing it anyway!! Two powerful silicon beasts agree that the text-move was better than their second choice 16.Rhf1.
16...Rfc8?!
["Zacalov" also agreed with me outside the playing hall that Black has excellent chances to hold after 16...Bxd4
, the reason I hesitated before making my last move. 17.Bxd4
Bxf5
18.g4
hxg4
but it is understandable that Zachary did not want to part with his precious "Gufeld" bishop. Indeed, after 19.h5!
Black needs to find 19...f6!
20.hxg6
Bxg6
preserving the dynamic balance. White has no time to play the immediate 21.Qh6 due to the mating attack on c2.]
17.fxg6
fxg6
18.Ne6
I wondered if this was too hasty. The computers like 18.Rdf1 or 18. Rhf1, each appearing to be an excellent preparatory move.
18...Bxe6
19.dxe6
Qc6
[With 30 minutes at his disposal Ramsay missed the strong, "Sicilian-freeing" move 19...d5!
If I respond with 20.c3
(20.Qd3 is a useful option) then Black can play actively with 20...Rf8
21.Kb1
Rf5
22.Bd4
Raf8
23.Bxg7
Kxg7
24.Qd4+
Kh7
25.g4
hxg4
26.Qxg4
Qe5
and he has "dynamic equality"!]
20.Bg5
[Interesting was the prompt 20.Qd3
and White consolidates his position. For instance, 20...Kh7
(of course the pawn is taboo as after the greedy 20...Qxg2??
White wins with 21.Rhg1+-
) 21.Rhf1
Rf8
(21...Bf6?
runs into 22.g4!
hxg4
23.h5!+-
winning for White.) 22.Bg5
Rxf1
23.Rxf1
Rf8
24.Rxf8
Bxf8
25.Qe2
Bh6
with a likely draw.]
20...Rc7
21.Rhf1
I had 48 minutes left after making this move. Having regard to the threats I saw on pondering my next move, I should have immediately played 21.Qd3!
21...Rac8!
Zachary spent three minutes thinking before making this strong move - he now had 24 minutes left. The 4th world champion, Alexander Alekhine, would have been proud to see the heavy artillery lined up like this especially with the king in the line of fire.
22.Rf2?
I spent twelve minutes thinking about my options before selecting an inferior choice. I saw all kinds of "demons" coming at me. [I did not like 22.c3
because I saw the strong riposte 22...Qe4
(the suggested 21.Qd3 would have denied Black this option) and Black not only threatens to win the e6-pawn but his troops are ideally placed to rip c3 apart. For example, if 23.Bh6??
(23.Rde1 is necessary) Black wins with 23...Bxc3!
24.bxc3
Rxc3+
25.Kb2
Rc2+-+
; The move I considered agonisingly (and the best defence suggested by the engines!) was 22.c4!
but I genuinely found it hard to play that move in light of 22...b5!
The emotionless silicon monsters have the calm defensive response 23.Qc2!
Now let us consider a few variations - I prefer Black's position after 23...bxc4
(the defensive retreat by her majesty 23...Qe8?!
seems dubious as it allows White a crucial tempo to play 24.Kb1!
and now if 24...bxc4
25.Rf7!
Kh7
26.b4
and White seems to be past the worst and, indeed, with the advantage.; 23...Kh7!?
also leads to tense play particularly after 24.Rf7
bxc4
25.Qc3!
the pin is aesthetic. 25...Rg8
Only move. (25...cxb3??
loses material to 26.Rxg7+
Kh8
27.Rxe7+
Qxc3+
28.bxc3
Rxe7
29.Bxe7+-
) 26.b4
Qe4!
27.Re1
Qxg2
but in this line I think that Black is really walking a tightrope especially after 28.Bd2, with the idea of 29.Qe3 hitting h6.!) 24.b4
The only feasible option. 24...c3
25.b3
Qb5!
After this move (instead of the viable option 25...Kh7) the computers reveal a spectacular draw in the variation - 26.Qxg6
Qe2!
27.Qf7+
Kh8
(27...Kh7!?
28.Qf5+
Kh8
29.Rf2
Qb5<=>
) 28.Rf2
Qg4
29.Rf4
Qxd1+!?
(29...Qe2
30.Rf2=
) 30.Kxd1
c2+
31.Ke2
(31.Kc1??
loses to 31...Bb2+!
32.Kd2
(32.Kxb2
c1Q+
33.Ka2
Rc2#
) 32...c1Q+
) 31...c1Q
32.Qxh5+
Kg8
33.Qf7+
with a perpetual.]
22...Qb5?
After sixteen minutes in the think-tank, Ramsay goes astray in the complications and I heaved a sigh of relief. [The move I feared the most (as I told Zachary after the game) was 22....Qe4 as, inter alia, White is now threatening to win the e6-pawn. 22...Qe4
23.Qd3
In reality the "only" move. 23...Qe5
24.c4
Qxe6
and Black must be winning, or close to it ,here.]
23.Qe3!
After spending nine minutes I played a move that not only defends but simultaneously maintains chances of an attack! This move was also crucial as Zachary was threatening to play Qe5 with poisonous threats along the a1-h8 diagonal. For the record, I also looked at 23.Qd5 but did not like 23...Rc5!
23...Qa5
Down to less than five minutes I felt that Zachary would have problems with the position still very dynamic.
24.Kb1
The only move. I had all of 27 precious minutes left and felt absolutely safe after getting in this thematic, prophylactic move so late in the game!
24...Qb4
25.Bh6
After worrying for some time at the potential threat of the bishop along the long diagonal, the desire to exchange this piece is understandable. Very strong was 25.Rdd2, that was to come next, to shore up my second rank and remove all hope of counterplay for Zacalov!
25...Qg4!
To his credit, although down to 2 minutes on the clock Ramsay still found, in my opinion, the best move.
26.Rdd2
Bf6??
With just one minute left on my worthy adversary's clock the inevitable happened. Disastrous also for Black was 26... Bxh6 27.Qxh6 Qxe6 28.g4! with a winning attack. Only 26...Be5 would have preserved the dynamic balance.
27.Rf4!
The queen is dead...long live the queen!
27...Rxc2
28.Rxg4
Rc1+
29.Ka2
hxg4
30.Rf2
R8c5
I immediately saw that 31.b4 averted the Ra5 mate threat but could not resist ending with the queen sacrifice
31.Qxc1!
A truly tense struggle. 1-0