Sicilian B33
Yuri Solodovnichenko (2430) Valerij Filippov (2610)
Grand Prix Polski Bydgoszcz (Poland), 1999

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bf4 e5 8. Bg5 a6 9. Na3 b5 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Nd5 f5 12. exf5 Bxf5 13. c3 Bg7 14. Nc2 Be6 15. Nce3 Ne7 16. Nxe7?! 16. g3 16... Qxe7 17. g3 d5 18. Bg2 Rd8 19. O-O O-O 20. Qe2 f5 21. Rfd1 e4 22. Nc2 f4 23. f3 Be5 24. fxe4 fxg3 25. Qh5 gxh2+ 26. Kh1 Qg7 27. Ne3 dxe4 28. Bxe4 Bf4 29. Rxd8 Rxd8 30. Ng2 Bc7 31. Re1 White's po sition is critical but I found an amazing resource to survive... But some help from my opponent was necessary :-) 31... Bxa2?! With 31... Bf7 Black is preserving all pluses of his position. But why not to take a pawn? 32. b3!! The next pawn offers itself on a plate! 32... Bxb3 33. c4! And the third pawn in a row! 33... Bxc4? Finally Black falls into the trap. 33... bxc4?? Of course, other way to grab c4-pawn was very bad: 34. Bd5+ 33... h6? 34. Bd5+ Kh7 35. Qh4= with sufficient counterplay 33... Kh8? 34. Bxh7! Bd1! (34... Qxh7 leads to perpetual check: 35. Re8+ Rxe8 36. Qxe8+ Qg8 (36... Kg7 37. Qe7+ Kg6 38. Qe4+ Kh6 39. Qh4+ Kg7 40. Qe7+=) 37. Qh5+ Kg7 38. Qg5+ Kf7 39. Qd5+ Kf8 40. Qc5+ Ke8 41. Qc6+=) 35. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 36. Qxd1 Qxh7 37. cxb5 axb5 (37... a5 38. Qc1=) 38. Qa1+ Qg7 39. Qa8+ Qg8 40. Qa1+ Kh7 41. Qb1+ Qg6 42. Qxb5= Only with 33... Rf8! Black still has some chances to make a full point: 34. cxb5 Bg3 (34... axb5 35. Qxb5 leads to the similar position) 35. Rb1 axb5 36. Qxb5 Be6 37. Bd5 Bxd5 38. Qxd5+ Kh8 Black is two pawns ahead, but wrong Bishop's corner (h1 is light square) gives White good drawish chances. White will try to exchange all of the major pieces, even at the cost of Knight, reaching drawing endgame. Comparing to starting position (before 31.Re1!?), this is significant improvement, proving that this amazing combination was sound! 34. Bd5+! Only now my opponent (strong 2600+ GM) understood the sense of pawns'sacrifices . But it was too late... 34... Bxd5 35. Re8+ Rxe8 36. Qxe8+ Qf8 37. Qxf8+ Kxf8 Stalemate!!! 1/2-1/2 [Yuri Solodovnichenko]