Mr. Donaldson played the Maroczy Bind against my Sicilian and was strangled in less than 30 moves. Unfazed by my loss, I faced GM Andy Soltis the next evening. I am very proud of this game not only because I was able to obtain a draw, but because I was able to find the right defensive moves and noticed all of his tactical threats. It was also one of the first times I planned a series of moves based on a specific idea (trapping his rook along the h-file).
Sicilian Defense
Sozin System
GM Andy Soltis
Louis Lima (1540)
1. e4
c5
2. Nc3
d6
3. Nge2
Nc6
4. d4
cxd4
5. Nxd4
Nf6
6. Bc4
g6?!
I used to enjoy playing the Dragon and was trying, perhaps a little too hard, to steer the game along those channels.
7. Nxc6
bxc6
8. e5
The first threat of the game. At the time I thought I had blundered and lost the game with 6... g6 remembering the trap
8... dxe5
9. Bxf7
Kxf7
10. Qxd8
which some players have fallen for, including two 2100 rated players according to my chess database! Now I know that the 6... g6 line is playable. Emanuel Lasker who “fell” for this trap (According to T.Harding in the “Sicilian Sozin”) was able to draw against Carl Schelecter at the 10th World Chess Championship. Bobby Fischer once finished off a player at a simul in 1964 after
8... Nd7?!
9. exd6
exd6
10. 0-0
d5
11. Nxd5!
Nc5
(11... cxd5
12. Qxd5
threatening mate on f7 and the undefended rook on a8)
12. Qd4
cxd5
13. Bb5+
Bd7
14. Bxd7+
Qxd7
15. Qxh8
f5
16. Re1+
Ne6
17. Qf6
1-0.
8... Ng4
9. e6
It took me some horrifying seconds to find
9... f5,
simultaneously protecting the f pawn and the Knight on g4. I should have seen all this before playing 8... Ng4.
10. 0–0
Bg7
11. h3
Nf6
12. Re1
0-0
13. Bf4
Threatening
14. Bxd6
exd6
15. e7+
discovery check winning the Queen or
14. Bxd6
Qxd6
15. Qxd6
Qxd6
16. e7+
winning the Rook and d pawn for the Bishop.
13... Ne8
13... d5!?
was an interesting alternative. For instance, if
14. Bb3
then
14... Ne4
and perhaps play against White’s overextended e pawn. I was mistakenly concerned about the weakening of the h1-a8 diagonal which I thought could also prevent me from making use of the b file with my rook later on. White, however, had very different plans on the part of the board that mattered.
14. Qd2
Kh8
This move gets me away from the x-ray attack by the Bishop on b3, as White could renew the discovery threat after Rad1. My main purpose for this move, however, was to begin building pressure on the e pawn by moves like Rf6, Ng7, and Qg8 in conjunction with the Bishop on c8. This piece arrangement also allowed me to get the Queen’s help in staving mate along the h-file a few moves later.
15. Bh6
Bxh6
16. Qxh6
Ng7
17. Rad1
Rf6
18. Rd4
Bxe6
19. Rh4
Qg8
20. Bxe6
Rxe6
21. Rxe6
Nxe6
(21... Qxe6??
22. Qxh7#)
22. Qe3
White’s e pawn has fallen and his Kingside attack came up short. Now White has to waste time extricating his pieces off the h-file to more useful positions. 22. Qe3 seems an effective move. It ties up my Queen to the defense of the Knight while keeping a vigil on the weak f pawn. Another plan for White could have been to shift the Rook over to the queenside and contest the b file.
Here I began a long think and remember having to pass twice when Mr.Soltis came by my board, which he graciously accepted. I wanted to trap his Rook and was calculating ways of achieving this.
22... f4
23. Qe4
h5!?
Sacrificing a pawn in order to gain time to prevent any escape squares for the Rook, and to begin preparing g5 and Qc7. The move is not so obvious to find, as one usually does not push the pawn cover of one’s King when a Rook is directly behind it!
24. Qxc6?!
After
24. Ne2
Rf8
25. Nxf4
Rxf4
26. Rxf4
Nxf4
27. Qxf4
Qe6
White gets his pawn back but with a slightly better pawn configuration of two islands versus three of mine. The Queens being on the board though, seem to make this a very drawish position.
24... Rc8
My plan to trap the Rook involved placing the Queen on c7 to defend the h pawn after g5. Thus, I did not want to leave the Rook undefended. Perhaps a better temporizing move would have been
24... Rb8!?
Attacking the queenside pawns. If
25. g3
then c3 would be weak.
25. Qe4
Qf7
26. Ne2?!
26. Nd5
seems to accomplish the same goal of pressuring the f pawn, while being placed on a more active position.
26... g5–+
27. Rxh5+
Qxh5
28. Qxe6
Rxc2
29. Nc3
Rc1+?!
Here I missed an opportunity to force White into a more defensive position by
29... Qh4
30. Nd1
Rc1
31. Qe2,
and now have a variety of moves to choose from such as
31... Qh7 threatening
32... Qb1,
or
31... g4
(32. Qxg4??
Qxg4
33. hxg4
losing the Knight).
30. Kh2
g4
31. Qxe7
gxh3?!
Here I had the chance to swap off the Queens after
31... g3+
32. fxg3
fxg3+
33. Kxg3
Qe5+
34. Qxe5+
dxe5
35. Nd5
but was unsure about the resulting material imbalance.
32. Qf6+
Kg8
33. Qe6+
Kh8
Later on after the game I found a way to make some headway. After
33... Qf7
34. Qc8+
Kg7
35. gxh3
Qg6
36. Qb7+
Kh6
was another possibility that I missed.
34. Qf6+=
Kg8
½–½
Mr. Soltis made his made his last move and offered me a draw, which I accepted when he returned to my board. The tournament would begin the next morning, but I had already gotten my draw against one of my favorite chess authors, and that is all that counted then.