Scottish Centenary Tournament

Last updated 22 February 2004

Sterud,E (2425) - Bohak,J (2395) [E99]
SCCA-100, 1984
[Notes by John Hawkes]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Nd3 [Highly interesting is: 10.f3 f5 11.g4 Nf6 12.Nd3 c6 13.Be3 f4 14.Bf2 g5 15.Kg2 h5 16.h3 cxd5 17.cxd5 Ng6 18.Rg1 hxg4 19.hxg4 Nh4+!? Ohlin-Korolev, CC, 1987.]

10...f5 11.Bd2 Nf6 [Cebalo-Cvitan, Yugoslav Championship, 1986, went: 11...Kh8 12.Rc1 f4 13.f3 Ng8 14.b4 Ndf6 15.c5 g5 16.cxd6 cxd6 17.Nb5 Ne8 18.a4 h5 19.Nf2 Nh6 20.h3 Rg8 21.Rc3! Bf8 22.Qc2 Bd7 23.Rc1+/= Black's attack was held, and White won in 44.]

12.f3 f4 [The fascinating game Gelfand-Kasparov, Linares, 1990, continued: 12...Kh8 13.Rc1 c5 14.g4 a6 15.Nf2 h6 16.h4 and a game of fluctuating fortunes was drawn in 45.]

13.c5 [The latest idea here is: 13.g4 g5 14.Be1 h5 15.h3 Ng6 16.c5 Khalifman-Spasov, Manila Interzonal, 1990, 1-0 in 58.]

13...g5 14.Rc1 Kh8 Black can't afford this in conjunction with f4. [14...Ng6 15.cxd6 cxd6 16.Nf2 Rf7 17.a4 h5 18.h3 Bf8 19.Nb5 Nh4 20.a5 Rg7 21.Bb4 g4 22.fxg4 hxg4 23.hxg4 Nh5 24.Nc7 Nxg2 25.Kxg2 f3+ 26.Bxf3 Nf4+ 27.Kg3 Nh5+ 28.Kg2 Nf4+ 29.Kg3 Nh5+ Shirov-Spasov, Manila Interzonal, drawn.]

15.cxd6 cxd6 16.Nb5 Ne8 17.Nf2 h5 18.h3 Ng8 19.Qb3 Nh6 20.Rc2 Rf7 21.Rfc1 a6 22.Na3 b5 23.Ba5! Qxa5 24.Rxc8 Rxc8 25.Rxc8 Qe1+ 26.Bf1 Rf8 27.Qc3! Qa1 He must avoid the endgame naturally.

28.Ra8 g4 29.hxg4 hxg4 30.fxg4 b4 31.Qxb4 Nf6 32.Rxf8+ Bxf8 33.Qb8 Kg8 34.Qc8 [34.g5? Nhg4 35.gxf6 Ne3 and White can't defend the bishop.]

34...Nf7 35.Qc2 Qxa2 36.Bxa6 Ng5 37.Bd3 Be7 38.Qc1 Qb3 39.Qc8+ Kg7 40.Nc4 Qb4 41.Kf1 Now it's a winning position. White is 1.5 pawns up, and has the better of the two bad bishops.

41...Qa4 42.Ke2 Qa7 43.Qf5 Nf7 44.Nh3 Nh6 45.Qg5+ Kh7 46.Nxf4! Nfxg4 47.Qg6+ Kh8 48.Nh3 Qc5 49.b4! Qxb4 50.Nf2 Bh4 The bishop gets in to the game, but...

51.g3! this spoils the illusion! [51.Nxg4 Qe1+ only draws.] 1-0