Half the variations which are calculated in a tournament game turn out to be completely superfluous. Unfortunately, no one knows in advance which half.
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[Event "Hoogoven Tournament, Wijk aan Zee"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1985.05.10"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Beliavsky, Alexander GM"]
[Black "Nunn, John GM"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "2500"]
[ECO "E81"]
[TimeControl "0"]
[WhiteElo "2500"]
{ A game of clever sacrifice played in the second longest-running tournament
in the world. The Hoogoven has seen many great games in its 6 decades, but
few as good as this one. } 1. d4 { E81: King's Indian: Saemisch: 6th move
deviations (including 6 Be3 c6) } 1... Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 Nbd7 { Not the standard move here. Most common is 6... e5 fighting for
the center. Black could also play 6... c5. The move played allows white to
develop his g1 knight safely to f2 via h3. } 7. Qd2 { A typical move in this
position. White prepares to castle long and pawn storm the black king.
However, 7. Nh3-f2 is a better idea. Seirawan-Istratescu, 1994 continued 7.
Nh3 e5 8. d5 Nh5?! 9. g4 Nf4 10. Nxf4 exf4 11. Bxf4 Ne5 12. Be2 f5 13. exf5
gxf5 14. O-O fxg4 15. fxg4 h5!? 16. Bxe5 Bxe5 17. Qd3! gave white a clear
advantage according to Seirawan in his book, Winning Chess Brilliancies.
However, GM Nunn had prepared a special treatment of this line. } 7... c5 8. d5 Ne5 9. h3 { A mistake. The move is logically designed to prevent black's knights
from going to g4 after white plays the natural f4 to drive away black's
knight on e5. Few better moves spring to mind for white here. 9. Bd3 Nxd3
uncoordinates the white position. 9. Ne2? Nxc4 loses material. Watch how
black immediately targets the weakened g3 square. } 9... Nh5 10. Bf2 f5 11. exf5 Rxf5 { This move invites the pawn fork which sacrifices black material for no
clear tactical advantage. After the natural 11... gxf5 12. f4 Ng6 13. g3
would make black's knights harmless. White is nearly forced to fork the black
pieces in order to develop his own pieces. } 12. g4 Rxf3 13. gxh5 Qf8 { The
point of this entire line of sacrifice is made with this move. The white king
is stuck in the center. Castling queenside would run into Bh6 immediately.
White finds it difficult to develop his kingside pieces. Black has the
initiative with the f-file battery. Therefore, white will find it hard to
devise a defensive plan. } 14. Ne4 Bh6 15. Qc2 Qf4 { White can only curse his
fortune. White cannot remove black's rook on f3 because 16. Nxf3 Nxf3+ 17.
Kd1 Bf5 18. Bg3 (not 18. Bd3 Nd4! 19. Bxd4 Qf3+ 20. Qe2 Qxh1+ 21. Kc2 Qxa1
wins material) 18... Qe3! 19. Bf2 Qxe4 20. Qxe4 Bxe4 21. Bg2 Rf8 gives black
a superior end game. The black queen assumes a dominating position in the
middle of the board planning Bc8-f5 and Ra8-f8. } 16. Ne2 Rxf2 17. Nxf2 Nf3+ 18. Kd1 Qh4 19. Nd3 Bf5 20. Nec1 Nd2 21. hxg6 hxg6 22. Bg2 Nxc4 23. Qf2 Ne3+ { Black could also play for a winning endgame with 23...Qxf2 24. Nxf2 Ne3+ 25.
Ke2 Nxg2, but GM Nunn plans for a beautifully coordinated attack. The end is
near. } 24. Ke2 Qc4 25. Bf3 Rf8 26. Rg1 Nc2 27. Kd1 ( { White can try: } 27. b3 Qc3 28. Rb1 Qd2+ 29. Kf1 Ne3+ 30. Qxe3 Qxe3 { Black wins with a large material
advantage. } ) 27... Bxd3 0-1