Playing what you preach

by ChessBase
11/24/2014 – Did you ever wonder how honest grandmasters are when making opening recommendations? Do they really believe in the lines they advertise? GM Mihail Marin does. In fact, after publishing two DVDs on "his perennial" love, the Pirc, he felt that he did not play the opening often enough. He soon had a chance to rekindle his passion - and scored a fine victory.
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Mihail Marin explaining the intricacies of the Pirc

Perennial love lives in the now

 
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,166,62354%2421---
1.d4947,29855%2434---
1.Nf3281,60256%2441---
1.c4182,10256%2442---
1.g319,70256%2427---
1.b314,26554%2427---
1.f45,89748%2377---
1.Nc33,80151%2384---
1.b41,75648%2380---
1.a31,20654%2404---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d395450%2378---
1.g466446%2360---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c343351%2426---
1.h328056%2418---
1.a411060%2466---
1.f39246%2436---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
Early October I gave ChessBase an interview in which I talked about my perennial love for the Pirc defence and my DVDs about this opening. However, after the interview I was slightly frustrated. First of all, I could not remember when I had last played the Pirc - according to the database I had played it once in 2011 and twice in 2009, which does not at all make me look like a regular Pirc player! So my secret question to myself was whether I could reconnect with the Pirc more tightly. Secondly, I was surprised that I had problems naming my best game ever with the Pirc, and had to consult the database for a selection of my best three games with the Pirc! Had I grown that old, was I already doomed to think of the Pirc as a lost love of my youth? A few days after the interview was published I started to play in the Isle of Man tournament. Pairing offered me an 1.e4 player as my first round opponent (the experienced IM Yochanan Afek, one of my regular breakfast table colleagues). I decided time had come to put an end to my fears and frustrations and played the Pirc. I won with a mating combination in a queenless position, but shortly before that my situation was critical. A month later I played in the Romanian team championship. I had my first 1.e4 game with black in the sixth round, against my theoretically strongest opponent, Zbynek Hracek, who played for the big favourite AEM Timisoara. Things had gone rather well in the previous rounds (At that time I had 4,5 out of 5 on second board) so I thought this was a good opportunity to give the Pirc a new try. I was also animated by the idea of using a plan recommended on my "Aggressive Pirc"-DVD, leading to sharp, uncompromising play. 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be3 Bg7!? In an older game against Zbynek I had played 4...c6 5.Qd2 0-0
I had never played this before, but as explained on the DVD it makes some sense to delay committal pawn moves at this stage. 6.0-0-0 The game with Afek went 6.Be2 e5 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.0-0-0 Qxd2+ 9.Rxd2 Nc6 10.Nf3 b6 11.h3 Bb7 12.Rhd1 Rfe8 13.Bc4 Na5 14.Bb5 c6 15.Bf1 b5 After the game my opponent confessed he was impressed by my creative approach over the last few moves, but I was not too proud of my play. 16.b4 Nc4 17.Bxc4 bxc4 18.g4 a5 19.bxa5 Bf8 20.g5 Ba3+ 21.Kb1 Bb4 22.gxf6 Bxc3 23.Rd6? 23.Rd7! would offer White an advantage. 23...Rxa5 24.Rd7
24...Rxa2! 0-1 (24) Afek,Y (2287)-Marin,M (2583) Douglas 2014 6...c6 7.f3 b5 8.h4 The next day Zbynek asked me: "What would you have played after 8.Bh6 ? In the database White has won almost all the games with it!" Indeed, this is the critical continuation and the main variation on my DVD. 8...b4 As a general rule, I mentioned ...h7-h5 as the best reply against h2-h4, whenever the h7-pawn is not blocked. This may happen if White does not play Bh6 at all, or if he exchanges on g7 prematurely. But during the game I understood that I should make some developing moves before carrying out the mentioned plan. If 8...h5?! I was worried of 9.e5 , driving the knight away from the control of the h5 and g4-squares, when the insertion of the moves h2-h4 and ... h7-h5 offers White chances for taking over the kingside initiative. One of my lines went b4 10.exf6 bxc3 11.Qxc3 exf6 12.g4 hxg4 13.h5 9.Nce2 I considered 9.Nb1 to be better. After Qa5 White could transpose to the DVD main lines with 10.Bh6, while 10.a3? could lead to trouble: c5 11.dxc5 dxc5 12.e5 Nfd7 13.Qd5?
For an experienced player, this is obviously too hazarduous, but since it more or less wins a rook, I had to look for an adequate way to react: 13...Nxe5 14.Qxa8 Nbc6 The queen will be trapped while the queenside attack looks very dangerous. 9...Qa5 10.Kb1 Once again, 10.a3? is an invitation to troubles: c5 11.dxc5 dxc5 12.e5 Nfd7 13.Qd5 bxa3! threatening ...a3-a2-a1=Q. 10...h5! Finally the thematic way of stopping the kingside attack and, as I found out from Zbynek, a novelty! 11.Nc1 Nbd7 12.Nh3 c5 13.Ng5 The knight stands nicely here, it puts some pressure on f7, but it does not contribute to the thematic attack based on g2-g4. Moreover, it prevents Be3-h6. Rb8 I wanted to over-protect the b4-pawn in an anticipation of ...cxd4 or ...Qc7 folowed by ...c5-c4. But 13...cxd4 14.Bxd4 Rb8 would have been a somewhat simpler and more restrictive continuation. 14.Nb3 White rightly decides time had come for giving play a concrete character. White is slightly better developed, but strategiclly Black is doing great. If 14.Be2!? Qc7 (threatening ... c5-c4) 15.dxc5 Nxc5 followed by ...a5-a4 Black has dangerous queenside play. 14...Qc7 15.dxc5 dxc5 16.Bc4 The main alternative was 16.Bf4 Ne5 16...e5 17.Be3 c4 18.Nc1 c3 19.Qd6 would offer White the more pleasant play in the queenless middlegame. 17.Bc4 Nfd7 18.Bxf7+!? Rxf7 19.Qd5 Qb6 20.Nxf7 e6
21.Qxe5!? The oly chance to keep fighting for the initiative. Nxe5 22.Nxe5 Qc7 23.Nxg6 e5 24.Bg5 Kh7 25.Ne7 c4 The situation has turned around. White is better strategically, but Black's queenside attack should not be undereestimated. 16...Nb6!? 16...Ne5 17.Bf4 would transpose above. 17.Qe2 White could have tried an immediate tactical solution: 17.Bxf7+ Rxf7 18.Bf4 e5 19.Qd8+ Qxd8 20.Rxd8+ Rf8 21.Rxf8+ Kxf8 22.Bxe5 Ra8 23.Nxc5 Nc4 with a complicated ending with three white pawns for a bishop. On the next day, Zbynek suggested 17.Qd3 as somewhat better, although he admitted that it would not have changed anything essentially. 17...Nfd7 Clearing the long diagonal, defending c5 and bringing the reserve knight closer to the blocking c4-square. 18.f4 White starts an ambtious central expansion. After the predictable e4-e5, he will have all sorts of tactical threats, such as e5-e6 or sacrifices on f7 followed by e5-e6. The drawback of this plan is weakening the light g4- and f5-squares as well as the fact that it inevitably opens the long diagonal for the Pirc bishop. a5! I was happy to discover that I could start my attack without the preparatory move ...Rb8-a8. 19.e5 This move was accompanied by a draw offer. My opponent started being short of time and he might have felt uncomfortable about the position, too. The a5-pawn is posioned: 19.Nxa5 Nxc4 20.Nxc4 Ba6 followed by ...Nb6 with a decisive weakening of the white queenside. 19...a4 I took quite some time before playing this natural move. 20.Na1 During my opponent's relatively long thought, I was mainly afraid of this paradoxic move. The knight is awfully placed in the corner, but this is the only continuation against which I could not find a forced win. When thinking of my previous move I was initially afraid of 20.Na5 , until I discovered that Nxc4 21.Nxc4 Ba6 is more or less winning. 22.e6 Nb6 23.exf7+ Rxf7 24.b3 I did not see from the beginning that after 24.Nxf7 Bxc4 25.Qf2 I could play Bxf7 24...axb3! This is another important aspect: Blac can clear the a4-square for the knight. 25.cxb3 Or 25.axb3 Nxc4 26.bxc4 Qa5 25...Bxc4 26.bxc4 Na4 with a winning attack in both cases. My dream variations were 20.Nc1 Nxe5 21.fxe5 Nxc4 22.Qxc4 Qxe5-+ and 20.Nd2 Nxe5 21.fxe5 Qxe5-+ In these lines White can sadly not defend with Be3-c1, while his last move llows it. 20...a3 It was a bit painful to release the knight from its cage, but getting short of time, too, I decided that the weakening of the white castle would give me excellent practical chances. It appears that the thematic sacrifice 20...Nxe5 was strong anyway: 21.fxe5 Nxc4 22.Qxc4 Qxe5 23.Bc1
Apparently White has mor eor lss consolidated, but I have underestimated the next killer: 23...b3! 24.axb3 24.cxb3 weakens the b1-h7 diagonal: Bf5+ 25.Nc2 axb3 26.axb3 Rb4 27.Qd5 c4 28.Qxe5 Bxe5 29.bxc4 Rxc4-+ 24...a3 25.Rhe1 Ra8‼ Threateing ...a2 mate! 26.c3 a2+ 27.Kc2 Bf5+ 28.Ne4 Rad8 The attack is very much on and the a1-knight is hopeless. Anotherpossible move order was 20...b3 21.axb3 21.cxb3 Nxe5 22.fxe5 Nxc4 23.Qxc4 Bf5+ 21...a3 The merit of these lines is that they avoid freeing the knight. 21.Bxf7+ I had mainly calculated 21.Nb3 Nxe5 22.fxe5 Qxe5 23.Bc1 axb2 24.Bd2 Bg4 Black has three pawsn for a knight, good ttacking chances even after the exchange of queens. On top, he will inevitably gain some material. Or if 21.e6 axb2 22.Nb3 Na4 Black's attack is quicker. 21...Rxf7 22.Nxf7 Kxf7 I still had more time than my opponent and decided to play simple chess. With a bit more of time I might have found the immediate win: 22...axb2! 23.Nb3 Qa7‼ 24.Ng5 Qa3 followed by ...Ra8 or maybe even ...Qxa2+, with similar ideas as in my game against Afek. 23.e6+ Kg8 24.exd7 Bxd7
Black is an exchange down, but he threatens to rtrieve it with ...Bg4. Strategically, he has achieved a dream position and his queenside attack is just about to start. Summing up, I thought I would be dissapointed if I did not win it. 25.Nb3 Bg4 26.Qb5 axb2 27.Bxc5 I planned to meet 27.Qxc5 with Nc4! threatening ...Na3 mate. 27...Kh7?! Slightly inaccurate, but keeping the advantage anyway. I calculated 27...Bxd1 28.Rxd1 Nd5 29.Qc4 but stopped one move too early.
Black could unpin his knight with 29...e6! reneweing the threat of ...Nc3, winning. 28.Bxb6 Black retains a strong attack after the relatively better 28.Bd4 , too: Nc4 29.Qc5 Qxc5 30.Nxc5 Rd8 31.Bxg7 Bxd1 32.Bxb2 Rd2 28...Rxb6 29.Qa5? Alogical move which made me fear for a while that I might have to simplify to just a mor epleasant ending. 29.Qc5 would have been a bit more stubborn without really solving White's problems: Rc6 30.Qf2 Bf5 31.Rd3 31.Rd2 Rc3 32.Re1 Rxb3 33.axb3 Qa5-+ 31...Qc8‼ 32.Rhd1 Rc7 followed by ...Qa6, ...Ra7 29...Bxd1! Over the past few moves I was not interested in giving up my bishop, fearing that at some point White could get some counterplay with f4-f5. But I was lucky to find out with a few minutes on my clock that now was a perfect moment to weaken White's back rank. 30.Rxd1
30...Rd6! An elegant unpinning move, creating imparable back rank threats. 30...Rd6 31.Re1 31.Qxc7 Rxd1+ 31.Rd3 Rxd3 32.cxd3 Qc3 31...Qd7 followed by ...Rd1+. This game leveled my personal score with Zbynek, 24 years after our first encounter. It also brought me again over the 2600 rating barrier. I now feel able to consider myself a Pirc player again and I might face less problems mentioning my favourite win with this opening if asked again! Finally, I find it always nice to prove to my readers that I do believe in the plans and lines I recommend in my articles and videos. If some of them is mistaken, I would not mind out fidning it out on my own skin, in order to operate some adjustments and warn the readers about it! 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Hracek,Z2636Marin,M25810–12014B07Superliga6

 

Video running time: 4 hours (English)
Interactive training including video feedback
Exclusive database with 46 essential games
Two Marin articles on the Pirc published in ChessBase Magazine
Including CB 12 - Reader
€29.90 (€25.13 without VAT - for Customers outside the EU)
$31.77 (without VAT)
Play the Pirc like a Grandmaster, Vol 1 in the Shop...

Sample Video

Video running time: 4 hours 21 minutes (English)
Interactive training including video feedback
Exclusive database with 50 essential games
Two Marin articles on the Pirc published in ChessBase Magazine
Including CB 12 - Reader
€29.90 (€25.13 without VAT - for Customers outside the EU)
$31.77 (without VAT)
Play the Pirc like a Grandmaster, Vol 2 in the Shop...

Sample Video

See also: A Passion for the Pirc: An Interview with GM Mihail Marin

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