Speelman is a good opening theoretician, but here he plainly intends to avoid all theoretical battles and grind down his lower-rated opponent in a risk-free manner.
3...Bg7
4.Nbd2
h6
5.Bh4
c5
6.Bxf6
Giving up the Bishop pair, but this is only temporary.
6...Bxf6
7.Ne4
Fork! Now if he wants to maintain material equality, Black must give up the Bishop pair himself.
7...Qb6
8.Nxf6+
Qxf6
9.c3
d6
10.g3
Since Black has already put a pawn on c5, White reasons that the long diagonal will be a good place for his Bishop.
10...0-0
11.Bg2
Nc6
12.dxc5
dxc5
13.Qc1
Getting to e3 with a gain of time.
13...Kg7
14.Qe3
c4
Now this pawn becomes a target.
14...b6?
is positionally desirable but tactically flawed: 15.Ne5
Bb7
16.Nd7!+-
15.0-0-0
Bf5
16.Nd4
Nxd4
17.Qxd4
Now Black has pawns hanging at both c4 and b7.
17...e5
18.Qxc4
Be6
19.Bd5
Rac8
20.Qe4
Bf5
Black fights well. The Bishop is on an excellent diagonal here. In a few moves, we will see how Black coordinates this idea with the opening of the c-file to give White serious difficulties.
21.Qe3
b5
22.Qxa7?
This is too greedy and gets White into trouble.
22...b4!
23.c4
Be4!
24.Bxe4
Rxc4+
25.Kb1
25.Bc2
Rfc8
26.Rd2
Qc6-+
25...Rxe4
26.Rd2
Rc8
26...b3
27.axb3
Rb4
would leave White scrambling to prove that he can draw.
27.b3!
Preventing ...b3 by Black.
27...Qf5
28.Ka1
Rxe2
29.Rxe2
Qf3
30.Qe3
Qxh1+
31.Re1
Qxh2
32.Qxe5+
Kg8
33.Qd4
h5
34.Qd7
Rf8
35.Qd2
Rc8
36.Kb2
h4
37.gxh4
Qxh4
38.f4
Ra8
39.Re5
Qh8
40.Kb1
Rb8
41.Rc5
Qh1+
42.Rc1
Qe4+
43.Kb2
Qe7
44.Rc4
Qf6+
45.Qd4
Qxd4+
46.Rxd4
This ending still should not be a win for White. But now Speelman's superior endgame technique begins to tell.
46...f5
47.Rd7
Re8
48.a4
Re4?
This is a fairly serious mistake. The right way to draw is to swap off a pair of pawns on the queenside with 48...bxa3+
49.Kxa3
and then create a dangerous passed pawn of his own with 49...g5!
(49...Re4?
50.b4
Rxf4
51.b5
is very dangerous for Black because the b-pawn is so far advanced.) 50.fxg5
f4!
51.Rd3
Rf8
52.Rf3
Kg7
53.b4
Kg6
54.b5
Kxg5
and Black draws without difficulty.
49.a5
Re2+
50.Kb1
Re1+
51.Kc2
Ra1
52.Ra7
Ra3
53.a6
Kf8
54.Kd3!
This is the only way to make progress. White gives up the b-pawn but activates his King. It takes strong nerves to play such a move in a real game!
54...Rxb3+
55.Kc4
Ra3
Black has to give up his b-pawn anyway, so he may as well do it immediately, while White's Rook is still on the a-file in front of his own pawn.
55...Rb1
56.Rb7
Ra1
57.a7+-
is an easy win for White, who has 58.Rb8+ and 59.a8=Q coming up.
56.Kxb4
Ra1
57.Kb5
Rb1+
58.Kc5
Ra1
59.Kd5
It is Black's misfortune that White has an f-pawn here. This means that even with White's Rook trapped on a8 by his pawn on a7, Black cannot simply shift his King from g7 to h7 for a book draw: the White f-pawn comes to f6, rendering the shift impossible.
But first White has to win the other two Black pawns. For that purpose, the current position of White's Rook is ideal: it traps the Black King against the back rank so that White's King can eat pawns virtually unopposed.
59...Ke8
60.Ke6
Kd8
61.Kf6?!
White misses a nice chance here to win cleanly. The best move is 61.Rd7+!
Ke8
(61...Kc8
62.a7
and White will put the Rook over on the right and win with a skewer.) 62.Re7+
Kf8
63.Ra7
and now Black's King cannot even dream of coming over to the queenside to stop the pawn because of 63...Ke8??
64.Ra8#
61...Ra4
62.Kg5
Kc8
63.Ra8+
Kc7
64.a7
Kb6
So Black has caught the a-pawn, but at a ruinous price: his King is far from the Kingside pawns and will be cut off.
65.Rg8
This is the right moment to shift plans. The a-pawn has done its work as a decoy; all that remains is for White to mop up the kingside pawns.
65...Rxa7
66.Rxg6+
Kc5
67.Kxf5
Kd5
Black tries as hard as he can to get his King over to the kingside. But at the moment, White's Rook and King keep him cut off. The question is whether White can maintain that cutoff or whether Black's King can work his way back to the f-file.
68.Rg8
A simpler winning method is to secure the e6 square for the Rook by 68.Kg5
Ra5
(68...Re7
69.Ra6
Rg7+
70.Kf6
Rg1
71.f5
Rf1
72.Re6
and again Black's King is cut off.) 69.f5
Ra1
(69...Ke5
70.Re6+
drives Black's King away, after which White easily achieves the Lucena position.) 70.Re6
Rg1+
71.Kf6
and with Black's King cut off, the Lucena position appears on the horizon.
68...Rf7+
68...Kd6
69.Re8
cuts off Black's King, winning easily.
69.Kg5
Ke6
70.Re8+!
Cutting off the King and winning by the Rule of Five.
70...Kd7
71.Re1
If Black could put his King on d6 and his Rook on g8, he could draw with checks here. But he cannot.
71...Rg7+
72.Kf6
Rg4
73.f5
Rh4
74.Kg6
Rh8
75.f6
Rh2
76.f7
The Lucena Position looms. 76.f7 Rg2+ 77.Kf6 Rf2+ 78.Kg7 Rg2+ 79.Kf8 Rf2 80.Rd1+! Kc6 81.Rd4! Rf1 (81...Kc5 82.Rd7 Kc6 83.Ke8 Re2+ 84.Re7 etc.) 82.Ke7 Re1+ 83.Kf6 Rf1+ 84.Ke6! Re1+ 85.Kf5 Rf1+ 86.Rf4 and the pawn queens.
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