Although he has never won the World Championship, Vassily Ivanchuk is the scourge of the world’s elite. In his day he has defeated Karpov, Kasparov, Anand, Carlsen and Topalov, usually in spectacular victories. A new book, which I highly recommend, catalogues Ivanchuk’s most impressive wins, accompanied by outstandingly deep and instructive annotations.
White: Vassily Ivanchuk
Black: Vladimir Kramnik
Las Palmas 1996
King’s Indian Defence
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 Nge2 0-0 6 f3 c5 7 d5 e6 8 Ng3 exd5 9 cxd5 Nbd7 10 Be2 a6 11 a4 h5 12 Bg5 Qe8 Imaginative but dubious. Black’s idea is to fianchetto his queen! However, the more normal moves 12 … Qa5 or 12 … Qc7 are less complicated and better. 13 Qd2 Nh7 14 Bh6 It is normal good policy for White in the King’s Indian to trade off Black’s aggressive dark-squared bishop. 14 … Qe5 15 Bxg7 Qxg7 16 Nf1 Pre-empting the disruptive advance … h4 and … h3. White’s manoeuvres, though strategically justified are somewhat time-consuming. Therefore, Black feels that he can strike at once in the centre to gain dynamic counterplay. 16 … f5 17 exf5 gxf5 18 Ne3 Kh8 Not 18 … f4 19 Nc4 Qxg2 20 0-0-0 when White’s threats are overwhelming. 19 Nc4 Qf6 20 0-0 Rb8 (see diagram 1) 21 Rfe1 Normally White would inhibit Black’s proposed expansion on the queenside by means of 21 a5. Ivanchuk, however, feels that his chances on the other wing allow him to ignore this disruptive thrust. 21 … b5 22 axb5 axb5 23 Na5 b4 24 Nb5 Ba6 25 Nc7 Bxe2 26 Rxe2 Rg8 27 Nc6 It is rare to see white cavalry so fearsomely entrenched in the opposite camp. This game might be seen as an object lesson in the advantages of centralisation over wing manoeuvres.
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