Alex Yermolinsky: My most memorable game

by Alex Yermolinsky
6/6/2020 – Life as a professional chess player can be tough. Alex Yermolinsky, a.k.a. ‘Yermo’, knows it all too well. In an unmissable edition of this new series, the Soviet-born American grandmaster tells the backstory surrounding an impressive attacking win over Veselin Topalov in Wijk aan Zee. Things were not going well for him, nor at the chessboard nor in life, but he pulled through: “Every line I calculated was going through my mind like a flash, with uncanny accuracy as well”. | Photo: Saint Louis Chess Club

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MMMG #3: When life gets in the way of chess

Alex Yermolinsky was born on April 11th, 1958 in Saint Petersburg (known as Leningrad at the time). He emigrated to the United States in 1989 and started representing the US team in Olympiads since 1992. During the 1990s, Yermo enjoyed great success participating in Swiss opens, notably winning the World Open three times. In those years, he also won the US Chess Championship twice, first in 1993, when he shared it with his old friend Alex Shabalov, and then in 1996, when he won the title outright. These accomplishments led to Yermolinsky's induction to the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2012.

His chess career is not limited to his sporting achievements, though, as he has also made a name for himself as an instructor, broadcaster, tournament director and author. In 1999, his famous book The Road to Chess Improvement was published by Gambit. A winner of the Chess Journalists of America Cramer Award for Best Chess Book in 2000, it received high praise from critics. In his lengthy review of the book, John Watson quotes some of his favourite excerpts, including:

The whole idea is to reject any postulates in principle, only to be replaced by concrete analysis.

That is the kind of no-nonsense approach that so many chess fans enjoy in Yermo's writing and broadcasting. We are glad to have him as a regular contributor, as his storytelling abilities help him to get his ideas across in a much more effective way.

Alexander Shabalov, Alex Yermolinsky

Shabalov and Yermolinsky during the 2019 World Senior Team Championship in Rhodes

Yermo sent a game that can only be described as memorable. Amid some personal issues troubling his mind, he defeated none other than Veselin Topalov in attacking style. Enjoy!  


Yermolinsky, Alex vs. Topalov, Veselin
Hoogovens Tournament, 1999 (Wijk aan Zee, Holland)
 

I came to the 1999 Hoogovens in Wijk aan Zee a day late and a dollar short.

I made a successful debut in this venerable event two years prior to that. The 1997 edition had a decent field, as attested by seeing Korchnoi, Short and Lautier all taking place in the bottom half of the table, yet I was able to finish fifth. Probably, I made some of the local crowd unhappy when I defeated their local boy, Jeroen Piket, in the last round, depraving him of first place. 

Anyway, I was at the top of my game at that time, however brief that period was meant to be. In the summer of 1997 I went from one tournament to another, got married in the process, and, generally, was a little high in the head. The Wijk aan Zee organizers sent me an invitation for the next year event, but in those days of snail mail and unreliable Internet, it somehow got lost in the shuffle. When I finally learned about it, my spot was already given to Alexey Shirov, more than a capable replacement in an improved field. I was mildly annoyed by that, but not really devastated, and, besides, the organizers made a very nice gesture by extending their invitation to the 1999 edition.

Bad thing was, by that time life began to catch up with me. You heard the old “life gets in the way of chess” expression? That's exactly what happened to me. 

Not for the lack of trying though. I kept going like Energizer Bunny. In 1998, I played 135 tournament games (no rapid of blitz counted), saw my rating drop 70 points, and felt completely burned out toward the end. The last tournament I played before returning home for Christmas was the Koop Tjuchem Premier in Groningen. I did horribly, finishing last in the six-player field, with no wins to my credit.

I came home to Cleveland, to my poor wife and six-month-old son, only to pack my bags and leave for Holland again a couple of weeks later. I felt guilty and depressed.

The Hoogovens tournament transformed itself to an elite event by securing the participation of World Champion Garry Kasparov and all other usual suspects. Fighting off the jet lag, I started with a quick draw with Svidler, and then went on a three-game losing streak. My game was completely off, I had no preparation, didn't sleep or rest well. Having to face Kramnik and Kasparov in rounds two and three didn't help either. Then in round five I finally put together a decent performance against Ivanchuk (Kasparov said it was a nice game), only to blow a win on the last move before the time control. With 1 point after five rounds, the tournament was over for me.

From the perspective of a Swiss tournament regular, as I was, I hardly saw any point in continuing to fight. Rating gain or loss didn't matter to me anymore, and money-wise there was hardly any incentive to try to climb back to the middle of the pack.

I just wanted to win one goddamn game, and I went for it like a maniac.

 
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1.Nf3 Notes written right after the tournament, only with minor corrections. Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.d4 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Bg5 I never thought this line was so good for White, but I had played it a few times before, scoring victories against Fedorowicz and Kamsky. Nh5 10.Ne1 Nf4 11.Nd3 Nxe2+! In the above mentioned games my opponents played the inferior 11...Nxd3 As expected the trade of a pair of knights made White a bit safer against a kingside attack. 12.Qxe2 h6 13.Bd2 f5 I thought 13...g5 was better. I was going to play 14.g4 the move recommended by Shirov in his notes to Oll-Shirov, Tilburg 1992. 14.f4 exf4 15.Nxf4 g5 16.Ne6?! I was so pumped up coming to the game that I was only looking to go forward. The superior 16.Nh5 Be5 17.exf5! was also mentioned by Shirov. 16...Bxe6 17.dxe6 f4 17...c6 was a decent alternative: 18.exf5 Nxf5 19.Rae1 Qe7 20.Qd3 Nd4 21.Rxf8+ Rxf8 22.Ne4∞ 18.g3
18...fxg3? After the game was over, while getting my coat, I overheard Veselin's coach Silvio Danailov saying that 18...Ng6! was better. Indeed, after 19.gxf4? In order to stay in the game I'd have to find 19.Nd5 c6 20.Nxf4! gxf4 21.gxf4 Considering my hightened state of awareness, I think I might have been able to do it. 19...Bxc3! 20.Bxc3 Nxf4 21.Qg4 Qe7 White is in big trouble. 19.hxg3 Ng6? Now it's bad. Black had to take away the d5-square: 19...c6 20.Nd5! c6 20...Re8 21.Rf7 Rxe6 22.Raf1 with multiple threats. 21.Qh5 Engines advocate 21.e7 Nxe7 22.Rxf8+ Qxf8 23.Rf1 as a very good line for White. I wasn't even looking at that or any other alternatives. What I experienced is best described as "tunnel vision". 21...cxd5 22.Qxg6 Qb6+ 23.Kh1 Qxb2 24.e7 Rfe8 During the game I thought 24...Rxf1+! 25.Rxf1 Qxd2 26.e8Q+ Rxe8 27.Qxe8+ Kh7 28.cxd5 Qd3 was Black's best bet. 25.Bxg5! Everything works like a charm. hxg5 26.Qf7+ Kh8
26...Kh7 27.Rae1 Rxe7 28.Qxe7 Rh8 29.Qf7± 27.Rae1 I was very happy to find this move, which brings the last piece into the attack. Truth to tell, 27.exd5 Qxa1 28.Rxa1 Bxa1 29.c5 was even more convincing. 27...dxc4 Every line I calculated was going through my mind like a flash, with uncanny accuracy as well. 27...dxe4 28.Rxe4 d5 29.Qh5+ Kg8 30.Re2 Qb6 31.Qf7+ Kh8 32.Rh2+ Bh6 33.c5+- 27...Qe5 28.exd5 Qxg3 29.Rf2 Be5 30.Rxe5 Qxe5 31.Rh2+ Qxh2+ 32.Kxh2+- 28.Qh5+ Kg8 29.Re2 Qxe2 30.Qxe2 Here I had to take a deep breath. There was no way in hell I was going to blow it. Rxe7 The e-pawn survives in case of 30...Rac8 31.Qg4 or 30...b5 31.Qd1 31.Qxc4+ Kh7 32.Qd5 Rae8
33.Rf7? Yet, a slip-up. The direct 33.Qxg5 Rxe4 34.Qh5+ Kg8 35.Qf7+ Kh7 36.Qxb7 had to be enough to win. 33...Rxf7 Veselin could have kept his queenside pawns had he found 33...Kg6! 34.Qxf7 Re5 35.Qxb7 Now it's all over, the rook is not going to be able to stay on the a-file for long. Ra5 36.Qb3 Be5 37.g4 Bf4 38.a4+- Kg6 39.Qg8+ Kh6 40.Qd8! Rc5 41.Qf6+ Kh7 42.Qf7+ Kh6 43.Qxa7 Kg6 44.a5 Kf6 45.a6 Rc1+ 46.Kg2 Rc2+ 47.Kf3 Time spent 2:10-2:12
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Yermolinsky,A2595Topalov,V27001–01999E97Hoogovens6

I wish I could write a different script of what happened after this victory. “Alex Yermolinsky builds up on his brilliant win to get on a winning streak, eventually finishing just behind the leaders, goes back to the U.S. with his head high, and continues with his glorious chess career.” Didn't happen.

I plodded through the rest of the event by trying (and making) draws with White and losing with Black. The final score of -5 signified the end of my aspirations as a professional player. In the mock interview for the back page of New In Chess, I answered the question “What is your worst nightmare?” with, “Playing in Wijk aan Zee again”. 

It was high time for me to change my priorities. By the end of 1999 I took the job with the Mechanics Institute Chess Club in San Francisco. 


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Yermo is enjoying his fifties. Lives in South Dakota, 600 miles way from the nearest grandmaster. Between his chess work online he plays snooker and spends time outdoors - happy as a clam.

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