Grivas on the Four Pawns Attack

It is quite common that a chess professional does not care too much for social celebrations, as he is obliged to follow the tournaments’ schedule where he is invited. Well, no hard feelings; this is the everyday work; just another day at the office!

But I feel that it is a little bit hard to be fully concentrate on your birthday and make the best you can. This is mostly based on psychological factors, and of course on the importance of the occasion.

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I am a Greek, and I come from a country where birthdays are a social celebration. The house is open to everybody and many people come for personal wishes, bringing presents as well! And of course, you have to be well-stocked, providing food and drinks of every kind!

Today I am celebrating my 58^th birthday, as I was born in 1966. I started playing chess in 1979, so already 45 years living in our chess world is a huge number. During all these years, I had the obligation to play on March 30^th just six times, scoring +2 =4 -0, so at least I didn’t feel any harsh emotions which come from a nasty defeat!

In 1998, I was already a semi-retired player, working as the Technical Adviser of the Greek Chess Federation. But I was playing still from time to time.

When I received an invitation to play a GM Round Robin tournament in London, England, I could hardly turn it down! This was the Hampstead GM 1998, and I was invited by the legendary London-based organiser Adam Nasim Raoof. I was staying in the house of GM Jonathan Levitt, whom I knew for quite a long time, so some nice discussions took place after the games…

The tournament was a Round-Robin GM event of 10 invited players (average rating of 2404) and it was played from March 25th to 31st, 1998.

I lost the crucial game against GM Neil McDonald and in the end I shared the 3^rd-4^th position with 6/9 (/+4 =4 -1) and a gain of three rating points. Let’s see the birthday game:

Buckley, Graeme2315

0–1

Grivas, Efstratios2495

Hampstead GM London30.03.1998[Efstratios Grivas]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 (D)

At those times the 'King's Indian Defence' was a loyal companion to my chess career. 5.f4 The famous 'Four Pawns Attack'; a 'weapon' that never really enjoyed popularity. At first sight it looks scary, but Black gets also his portion of chances. A complicated fight arises now, where all results can be possible. 0-0 6.Nf3 c5 7.d5 e6 (D)

8.Be2 Everything is a matter of taste... White's alternatives are 8.dxe6 (D)

8...Bxe6 8...fxe6 9.Bd3 Nc6 10.0-0 Nd4∞ Zuniga,D-Sambuev,B Toronto 2015 9.Bd3 Bg4 10.0-0 Nc6 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Qxf3∞ Zuniga,D-Sambuev,B Toronto 2015 and 8.Bd3 exd5 9.cxd5 9.exd5? Re8+ 10.Ne2 b5! Al Halila,A-Torre,E Tagaytay 2004 9...b5! 10.e5! dxe5 11.fxe5 Ng4∞ Matnadze,A-Mirzoev,A La Pobla 2009. 8...exd5 (D)

9.cxd5 Black should feel happy after 9.exd5 Bf5 10.0-0 Ne4∞ Holm,K-Jones,G Reykjavik 2012. Now, we have a 'Modern Benoni' pawn structure position, rather than a typical 'King's Indian Defence'. 9...Bg4 9...Re8 , is supposed to be the main line here: 10.e5 dxe5 11.fxe5 Ng4 12.Bg5 Qb6 13.0-0 Denayer,E-Sindarov,J Internet 2022, with an extremely complicated game. With the text Black wishes to reduce White's control over the e5-square. 10.0-0 Re8 (D)

11.h3 It is probably too early for 11.e5 dxe5 12.fxe5 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Rxe5 14.Bf4 , as after Nbd7! 14...Re8? 15.Nb5± 15.Bxe5 Nxe5 16.d6 Qd7 Gormally,D-Sheldon,R England 1998, Black has a fully acceptable position, despite his exchange (for a pawn) deficit, due to his central and dark squares control. 11...Bxf3 12.Bxf3 Na6 (D)

This position is classified in ECO as 'A68 - Modern Benoni - Four Pawns Attack'. 13.e5 13.Re1 , cannot really pose any troubles to Black. After Nd7 14.Be3 14.a3 Rb8 14...c4! 15.Nb5 Qb6 16.Qa4 Nc7 Varelakis,D-Grivas,E Athens 2002 and Black stands fine 14...c4! 14...Nc7 15.e5?! 15.a4! 15...dxe5 16.fxe5 Rxe5 17.Qd2 Rxe3! 18.Rxe3 Bd4 , Soultatis,K-Grivas,E Athens 1999 15.Bd4 Bxd4+ 16.Qxd4 Nb4∞ , Black has a complicated and nice position. 13...dxe5 14.fxe5 Rxe5 (D)

15.Bf4 The logical continuation. After the early 15.d6 Nb4! 15...Qd7? 16.Bf4 Re6 16...Rf5 17.Qd2 Nh5 18.Bg5? 18.Bh2!± 18...Bd4+∞ Lopez Rebert.P-Lupis,F Villa Martelli 2014 17.Nd5∞ Colin,V-Navrotescu,C Chateauroux 2005 16.Bf4 Rf5 17.Bh2 c4 , a difficult position to evaluate is occurring. White has the bishop pair and a strong passed pawn on d6, but Black has an extra pawn and the d3 outpost. 15...Re7? (D)

A prepared novelty, trying to block the d-pawn and to protect the b7-pawn as well. I ‘discovered’ it during my morning preparations and obviously it wasn’t the best… 15...Re8? 16.d6 Qd7 17.Qb3 Nb4 18.Rad1 Rab8 19.Bg5± Titov,I-Marholev,D Vojvodina 2015. But the good stuff here comes with the suggested novelty 15...Ne8! 16.Qd2 Nd6 17.Bxe5 Bxe5 18.Rae1 Bd4+ 19.Kh1 Nc7 , when Black stands absolutely fine! 16.d6! Now, the bishop pair and the strong passed d-pawn offer White excellent compensation (even more!) for the sacrificed pawn. Rd7 17.Qb3?! Engines propose the calmy 17.Kh1! , with a long-term good advantage for White: Rc8 17...Nb4? 18.a3 Nc6 19.Na4+- 17...c4 18.Qe2 Nc5 19.Qxc4 Ne6 20.Bh2 Rc8 21.Qd3 Ne8 22.Rad1 Nd4 23.Bg4 f5 24.Ne2!± 18.Nd5 Nxd5 19.Qxd5 Nb4 20.Qc4 Kh8! 20...a6 21.Bg4 b5 22.Qb3+- 21.Rae1 a6 22.a4± . In those days, without a strong engine assistance, it was more than obvious that a move like 17.Kh1, would be missed! 17...Nb4! 18.Rad1 Rc8 19.Be5? (D)

But the text is going to the wrong direction. Good was 19.Qc4 h6 20.Kh1 a6 21.a4± , when White has everything under control, while Black is suffering to breathe. 19...Nd3! A tactical idea, which turns the tables. 20.Bxf6 20.Rxd3 c4-+ , is of course out of the question. 20...Bxf6 21.Bg4? But this was the real mistake. White should calm down and find 21.Bd5 c4 22.Bxc4 Nc5 23.Qc2 Rxd6 24.Nd5 Bg7 25.Qf2! Kh8 26.Qxf7∞ . Well, White got blind by materialistic dreams… 21...c4 22.Qb5 Rxd6! It must be noted that I was more than happy to sac the exchange and relieve from the pressure. 23.Bxc8 Qxc8 (D)

White won the exchange for two pawns, which is not anything special. The most important is that Black has put his position in harmony and his pieces are active and cooperate in the best possible way, giving him the advantage. Somehow I was already sure on my win, so I started to make plans for the rest of the night. I was planning to call my family and then have a modest dinner in one of my favourite Indian London-based restaurants, obviously alone… This is depressing for a Greek, but in life choices aren’t always matching our wishes and I had chosen to play in a tournament in a splendid town like London. 24.Nd5 White is going nowhere with 24.Ne4 Bd4+ 25.Kh1 Re6 26.Qd5 Bxb2 . 24...Bd4+ 25.Kh1 Qd8! (D)

26.Qxc4 It seems that White has nothing better here, than to return the exchange and accept that he will suffer for a long time... Nf2+ 27.Rxf2 Bxf2 The smoke has been cleared and Black has an extra pawn, without giving White any activity. Still, the game has to be won... 28.Qb5 b6 29.Qd3 Re6 30.Qd2 Bg3 31.Rf1 Rd6 32.Qc3 (D)

32...Rxd5?! An understandable move based on psychological reasons, but objectively it was better to preserve the bishop by 32...Bh4 33.Ne3 h5-+ . But I was in hurry to ‘finish the job’ quickly and call my family and friends. Simple words: I lost concentration and objectivity! 33.Qxg3 Qd6 (D)

34.Qf3 I had a good technique in rook endings since my early chess childhood, so I was confident that I will win the ending after 34.Qxd6 Rxd6 . White wisely preserves the queens in board; as many pieces in, more probabilities for Black to go wrong. 34...Qd7 35.a3 h5 36.Qc3 Rd3 37.Qf6 Qd5 (D)

38.Rf3? A 'panic' move in time trouble. 38.Rc1! , was by far the best try. After Qb7 39.Re1 Qa8 40.Rf1 Qe8 41.Rc1 Re3 , Black would be in the right track, but still a lot of work is demanded to cash the point. 38...Rxf3 39.gxf3 Qe6! 40.Qd8+ Kh7 41.Qh4 (D)

41...Qf5! 41...Qf5 And White decided to resign, as after 42.Kg2 42.Qf2 Qxh3+-+ 42...Qc2+ , he is losing another pawn. 0–1

For those who are interested which is my favourite birthday song, I would call them to hear carefully the excellent song by the group Uriah Heep, which is called ‘The Magician’s Birthday.’