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There were some issues accessing the doc file I published my Shirov draw in. Here is the game again, sorry that diagrams didn't turn out, also there are only a few short side lines printed as the whole story would have taken a lot more time and energy.
Event "Shirov Simul Ottawa 2010"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.02.11"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bertrand, Daryl"]
[Black "Shirov, Alexei"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[PlyCount "82"]
{My first surprise came as I discovered I would have the white pieces
against
the great attacking genius Alexei Shirov. This allowed me to gamble my
smith-morra gambit.} 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 Nf6 {This move may not be a
surprise since the positions that arise from the smith-morra can be very
defensive. Surely Shirov was hoping for a more active game.} 4. e5 Nd5 5.
Qxd4
e6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Qe4 d6 {An important alternative is 7...f5.} 8. c4 {This
may
already be an inaccuracy. The pawn on c4 blocks the light square bishop and
the Queen. Better was 8.Nbd2.} Nde7 {A slippery move by Shirov. Now if 9.ed
black can play 9...Nf5 with good play. Instead Walter Browne played the more
enterprising 8...f5!? against a young Nigel Short in London,1980 and went on
to win.} 9. Nc3 Ng6 $146 {9...d5 is interesting.} 10. exd6 Bxd6 11. Be2
{White
has an active position. Maybe because of this Shirov seems to force the next
few moves, creating threats and causing me to make choices.} f5 12. Qc2 e5 {
This move scared me. Black has ideas like e4 and Nd4. Plus where do I place
my
knight on f3? I felt that my entire position was a little off kilter here,
and
wondered if I was losing already. As it turns out white is fine, however
Shirov could have played 12...Nge5 or12...Nh4 both of which offer black some
prospects.} 13. Bg5 Qa5 {A good psychological move by Shirov. Fireworks
could
have gone off with 13...Nd4 where it seems the best defence is 14.0-0-0! Qg5
with a good position for white. Maybe Shirov should have played 13...Be7 but
why let your opponent know he is ok? Shirov makes me figure things out for
myself!} 14. Rd1 Bb4 15. O-O {It takes guts to play with a wrecked pawn
structure but I felt things were ok, at least for a while. The knight on c6
has to find a new plan and black has a few development problems.} Bxc3 16.
Qxc3 {?! This move is not as good as my original idea of 16.bc3. I sort of
played this at the last minute as I saw Shirov approaching. Was I hoping to
get him to take my poison a-pawn?? Not likely, and after Shirov's response
white can no longer claim any advantage.} Qxc3 17. bxc3 O-O 18. Rd6 f4
{Oops.
Did I just lose a piece? This move terrified me. First of all Bh4 loses to
e4.
Now the bishop on c8 can develop to f5 and the rook on d6 is vulnerable. I
wish I could say that I saw the whole combination coming from this point,
but
oh no! I didn't even see my opponents next move. I simply wanted to open the f3
square for the f2 pawn so I could retreat my g5 bishop.} 19. Nd2 Nh8 {As I
began to look at this position I started to feel hopeless. I wondered if I
would be telling my friends about how Shirov played Nh8 winning instantly on
the 19th move. But all is not lost. White is active and can take advantage
of
blacks position if he strikes now. I may have even passed here, but finally
I
came across the correct move.} 20. Bf3 Nf7 21. Rxc6 {Only move. Now if 21...
Ng5 white has Bd5+ followed by Rc7 with a nice game.} bxc6 22. Bxc6 Rb8 {
Shirov tanked here a bit, probably looking at 22...Ng5 which is slightly
worse
than the move played.} 23. Be7 Bb7 {This trappy move doesn't change the
evaluation much so it was worth a try. If 24.Bb7 Rfe8 and if 24.Bd7
Rfd8
wins. Instead 23...Rb2 was better but still equal.} 24. Bxf8 Bxc6 25. Bb4 e4
{
Black should try 25...a5 26.Ba5 Ra8 but things are not so clear after
27.Nb3.}
26. Nb3 Rc8 27. Rd1 {Fritz 11 loves 27.Rb1 for reasons I can't fully
understand. It seems better that the rook should be active on the vacant
file.
Another small lead has been squandered.} Ne5 28. Rd4 e3 {Almost immediately
I
noticed that Shirov wants to now play f3. This move is quite powerful, but
not
as dangerous as e2 which is blacks second threat. If I play 29.Kf1 to get
out
of the fork on f3 and protect against e2, can black play29... Nc4?} 29. fxe3
fxe3 30. Bd6 e2 31. Kf2 Re8 32. Bxe5 Rxe5 33. Ke1 Bxg2 {Fritz 11 also likes
this move but I was prepared. The knight on b3 can defend well on d2 and the
king cannot be pushed from his hole on e1.} 34. Rd8+ Kf7 35. Rd7+ Kf8
{Better
was 35...Kg6. Shirov must have recognized that this position was getting
tough.
} 36. Rxa7 Rh5 37. Kxe2 {I looked for a long time at 37.Nd4 which is almost
winning because of the check on e6. Finally I was too scared of tricks using
the e2 pawn so I decided to quash Shirovs last great chance.} Rxh2 38. c5
{38.
a4 is also good.} h5 39. Ke3 Rh3+ 40. Kd4 Rh4+ 41. Ke3 {I could try for
41.Ke5
if I felt adventurous.} Rh3+ {Here Shirov asked if I would like a draw to
which I replied emphatically "YES"!! After 42.Kd2 white may be able to claim
some small advantage but the h5 pawn is a real danger that I didn't want to
deal with. I was honored to accept the draw and now I have a story to tell
my
future grandchildren! Thanks again to Alexei and Gordon Ritchie, aslo
thank-you to Stijn DeKerpel for his tireless work.} 1/2-1/2
Event "Shirov Simul Ottawa 2010"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.02.11"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bertrand, Daryl"]
[Black "Shirov, Alexei"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[PlyCount "82"]
{My first surprise came as I discovered I would have the white pieces
against
the great attacking genius Alexei Shirov. This allowed me to gamble my
smith-morra gambit.} 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 Nf6 {This move may not be a
surprise since the positions that arise from the smith-morra can be very
defensive. Surely Shirov was hoping for a more active game.} 4. e5 Nd5 5.
Qxd4
e6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Qe4 d6 {An important alternative is 7...f5.} 8. c4 {This
may
already be an inaccuracy. The pawn on c4 blocks the light square bishop and
the Queen. Better was 8.Nbd2.} Nde7 {A slippery move by Shirov. Now if 9.ed
black can play 9...Nf5 with good play. Instead Walter Browne played the more
enterprising 8...f5!? against a young Nigel Short in London,1980 and went on
to win.} 9. Nc3 Ng6 $146 {9...d5 is interesting.} 10. exd6 Bxd6 11. Be2
{White
has an active position. Maybe because of this Shirov seems to force the next
few moves, creating threats and causing me to make choices.} f5 12. Qc2 e5 {
This move scared me. Black has ideas like e4 and Nd4. Plus where do I place
my
knight on f3? I felt that my entire position was a little off kilter here,
and
wondered if I was losing already. As it turns out white is fine, however
Shirov could have played 12...Nge5 or12...Nh4 both of which offer black some
prospects.} 13. Bg5 Qa5 {A good psychological move by Shirov. Fireworks
could
have gone off with 13...Nd4 where it seems the best defence is 14.0-0-0! Qg5
with a good position for white. Maybe Shirov should have played 13...Be7 but
why let your opponent know he is ok? Shirov makes me figure things out for
myself!} 14. Rd1 Bb4 15. O-O {It takes guts to play with a wrecked pawn
structure but I felt things were ok, at least for a while. The knight on c6
has to find a new plan and black has a few development problems.} Bxc3 16.
Qxc3 {?! This move is not as good as my original idea of 16.bc3. I sort of
played this at the last minute as I saw Shirov approaching. Was I hoping to
get him to take my poison a-pawn?? Not likely, and after Shirov's response
white can no longer claim any advantage.} Qxc3 17. bxc3 O-O 18. Rd6 f4
{Oops.
Did I just lose a piece? This move terrified me. First of all Bh4 loses to
e4.
Now the bishop on c8 can develop to f5 and the rook on d6 is vulnerable. I
wish I could say that I saw the whole combination coming from this point,
but
oh no! I didn't even see my opponents next move. I simply wanted to open the f3
square for the f2 pawn so I could retreat my g5 bishop.} 19. Nd2 Nh8 {As I
began to look at this position I started to feel hopeless. I wondered if I
would be telling my friends about how Shirov played Nh8 winning instantly on
the 19th move. But all is not lost. White is active and can take advantage
of
blacks position if he strikes now. I may have even passed here, but finally
I
came across the correct move.} 20. Bf3 Nf7 21. Rxc6 {Only move. Now if 21...
Ng5 white has Bd5+ followed by Rc7 with a nice game.} bxc6 22. Bxc6 Rb8 {
Shirov tanked here a bit, probably looking at 22...Ng5 which is slightly
worse
than the move played.} 23. Be7 Bb7 {This trappy move doesn't change the
evaluation much so it was worth a try. If 24.Bb7 Rfe8 and if 24.Bd7
Rfd8
wins. Instead 23...Rb2 was better but still equal.} 24. Bxf8 Bxc6 25. Bb4 e4
{
Black should try 25...a5 26.Ba5 Ra8 but things are not so clear after
27.Nb3.}
26. Nb3 Rc8 27. Rd1 {Fritz 11 loves 27.Rb1 for reasons I can't fully
understand. It seems better that the rook should be active on the vacant
file.
Another small lead has been squandered.} Ne5 28. Rd4 e3 {Almost immediately
I
noticed that Shirov wants to now play f3. This move is quite powerful, but
not
as dangerous as e2 which is blacks second threat. If I play 29.Kf1 to get
out
of the fork on f3 and protect against e2, can black play29... Nc4?} 29. fxe3
fxe3 30. Bd6 e2 31. Kf2 Re8 32. Bxe5 Rxe5 33. Ke1 Bxg2 {Fritz 11 also likes
this move but I was prepared. The knight on b3 can defend well on d2 and the
king cannot be pushed from his hole on e1.} 34. Rd8+ Kf7 35. Rd7+ Kf8
{Better
was 35...Kg6. Shirov must have recognized that this position was getting
tough.
} 36. Rxa7 Rh5 37. Kxe2 {I looked for a long time at 37.Nd4 which is almost
winning because of the check on e6. Finally I was too scared of tricks using
the e2 pawn so I decided to quash Shirovs last great chance.} Rxh2 38. c5
{38.
a4 is also good.} h5 39. Ke3 Rh3+ 40. Kd4 Rh4+ 41. Ke3 {I could try for
41.Ke5
if I felt adventurous.} Rh3+ {Here Shirov asked if I would like a draw to
which I replied emphatically "YES"!! After 42.Kd2 white may be able to claim
some small advantage but the h5 pawn is a real danger that I didn't want to
deal with. I was honored to accept the draw and now I have a story to tell
my
future grandchildren! Thanks again to Alexei and Gordon Ritchie, aslo
thank-you to Stijn DeKerpel for his tireless work.} 1/2-1/2