Polgar’s attack never got going, and blacks extra material won the day.

Polgar needs to take a further look at this variation, as she never really got going in this game.

Polgar,J (2710) - Mamedyarov,S (2728) [C95]
10th Essent Hoogeveen NED (5), 27.10.2006
[Shredder 8 (30s)]

[C95: Closed Ruy Lopez: Breyer Variation with 10 d4.]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5

The Ruy Lopez Opening.

3...a6

Morphy's idea forcing her to decide the future of her bishop. She can either avoid the loss of a tempo by playing the exchange variation 4.Bxc6 (which would cede Mamedyarov the two bishops) or keep her bishop on the board by retreating it.

4.Ba4

The main continuation for White in this position, retaining her bishop on the board.

4...Nf6

Beginning to develop his kingside minor pieces and attacking her unprotected e-pawn.

5.0-0

This is the most popular continuation for White in this position.

5...Be7

Completing his kingside minor piece development and preparing to castle on that side of the board. [Analysis:Capturing the pawn on e4 by: 5...Nxe4 is known as the "Open" defense.]

6.Re1

A move usually played by White at this time, she spends a tempo to prevent the loss of her e-pawn.

6...b5

This move is by far the most popular for Black in this position, driving her bishop back, which prevents her from playing Bxc6 in the future and also prevents a potential pin against his queen's knight once he advances his d-pawn up the board.

7.Bb3

Obviously the only safe square the bishop can be retreated to.

7...d6

The most popular continuation for Black, reinforcing his e-pawn and facilitating the development of his light-squared bishop.

8.c3

A move almost always played by White in this position, and which possesses multiple purposes. Firstly, it allows her to retreat the bishop if he should play ...Na5 and secondly this pawn advance prepares the advance of her d-pawn to d4.

8...0-0

The most often played move by Black in this position, placing his king in safety and allowing his rook to be centralized.

9.h3

She spends a tempo to prevent him from playing ...Bg4 (which can be an annoying pin).

9...Nb8

This move defines the variation being played, it is known as the Breyer variation This variation is a bit unusual but the idea behind it is satisfactory, black re-develops the queen side knight to d7. This variation is named for Gyula Breyer (April 30, 1893 – November 9, 1921) who was a Hungarian chess player. He was a leading member of the hypermodern school of chess theory, which favored controlling the center with pieces on the wings.

The main continuation for White in this position, opening the d2 square so she can develop both her queen's knight and queen's bishop using this square. She also creates the threat of 11.dxe5 exe5 12.Nxe5 winning a pawn.

10...Nbd7

He redevelops the knight to a square where it overprotects his e-pawn and coordinates well with his other knight. This comes at the cost of blocking the d7 square which will retard the development of his light-squared bishop.

11.Nbd2

This is the most popular move for White in this position.She develops another minor piece (to catch up in minor piece development with Mamedyarov). She intends to immediately move this piece to f1 so she can develop her dark-squared bishop.

11...Bb7

An idea that is almost always played by White in this position. By playing this move she overprotects her double-attacked e-pawn which frees up the knight on d2 to move to f1.

12...Re8

Again according to my database this is the most often played continuation for Black in this position. He centralizes his rook and opens up the f8 square for his dark-squared bishop.He intends to play his bishop on e7 to f8 which will allow his rook to give more protection to his e-pawn.

13.Nf1

The most popular continuation for Black in this position.She opens up the c1-h6 diagonal so she can develop her dark-squared bishop.She intends to use another move next move to move her knight to the g3-square.

13...Bf8

This move is almost always played by Black at this point of the game, for the reason I have already mentioned above.

14.Ng3

Now she threatens to play her knight to f5 and if he were to play ....g6 then she could play the knight to h6 with check which would force him to decide whether to allow her knight to remain on h6 or not. He answered this threat by playing the move.....

14...g6

He spends a tempo to prevent Judit from playing her knight to f5.

15.b3

She gains an influence over the c4-square and prevents him from playing the knight maneuver ....Nb6---Nc4 in the future. [ Analysis:The main continuation in this position for White is: 15.a4 and play most often continues: 15...c5 16.d5 c4 17.Bg5 h6 18.Be3 Nc5 19.Qd2 h5 20.Bg5 Be7 21.Bh6 Nh7 22.Ra3 Rb8 23.Rea1 Bc8 24.axb5 axb5]Returning to the moves of the g ame which continued:

15...d5

According to my Fritz opening book this move is a rarely played continuation.He decides to create a second pawn lever in the center which more creates central tension (especially against her e-pawn which is now triple- attacked.)

16.Bg5

The most popular continuation for White in this position, pinning his knight, which takes some pressure off her e-pawn.

16...h6

He forces her to decide the fate of her bishop, either exchange it off on f6 which will give him the two bishops, or preserve the existence of the bishop by retreating it. [ Analysis:The only other move I have Black playing in this position is: 16...exd4 (one game).]

17.Bh4

The only move Black plays in my database in this position (3 games).

17...g5

According to the chessbase online database this move was first played in the game Klovans-Bandza, Novosibirsk tt 1986 [ Analysis:Black has also tried the move 17...dxe4 in this position.]

Judit plays an exchange sacrifice that does not work out for her.This move is played by White in 7 of the 8 games I found in the chessbase online database for this position.The Shredder 8 evaluation program did not assign this move a ?!, !?, or ? however it evaluates the position after this move as favoring Black . [ Analysis: 18.dxe5 gxh4 19.Nf5 Nxe5 20.Nxe5 Rxe5 21.f4 Rxe4 0-1 Ayas Fernandez,A (2310)-Beltran Rueda,S (2376)/Sitges 2003/CBM 95 ext] The game continued with these moves being played:

18...hxg5

19.Bxg5

She gains two pawns for her knight and retains the pin against his king's knight.

19...exd4

Also played by Fedorov in the above mentioned game she leaves her e-pawn enprise offering a pawn sacrifice.

20...Rxe5

The only move played in the four games for this position I found in the chessbase online database leaving him up a minor piece in material. [ Analysis: Shredder 8: He could not play 20...Nxe5 as this variation shows: 20...Nxe5 21.Nh5 Bg7 22.Bxf6 or else he would give up his advantage. ( ‹22.Nxg7 Kxg7 23.cxd4 Ng6 ) 22...Bxf6 23.cxd4=] The game continued:

21.Rxe5

The only move played in this position by the White player in games found in the chessbase online database.For the moment she goes up the exchange however, obviously he will now play 21...Nxe5:

21...Nxe5

Leaving him up a full minor piece in material.

22.cxd4

She regains a pawn for her piece and wins a tempo.This is move was played by the player of the white pieces in two of the three games I found in the chessbase online database for this position. [ Analysis:GM Navara played the move 22.Qxd4 in the following game: [Event "GRE-chT 34th"] [Site "Ermioni Argolidas"] [Date "2005.07.04"] [Round "6"] [White "Navara, David"] [Black "Socko, Bartosz"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C95"] [WhiteElo "2663"] [BlackElo "2615"] [PlyCount "82"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. Nf1 Bf8 14. Ng3 g6 15. b3 d5 16. Bg5 h6 17. Bh4 g5 18. Nxg5 hxg5 19. Bxg5 exd4 20. e5 Rxe5 21. Rxe5 Nxe5 22. Qxd4 Qd6 23. Re1 Ne4 24. Bf4 Re8 25. Re3 Qe6 26. Nxe4 dxe4 27. Bxe4 Bxe4 28. Qxe4 Bg7 29. c4 bxc4 30. bxc4 Nxc4 31. Qxe6 fxe6 32. Rg3 Re7 33. Bh6 Kf8 34. Bxg7+ Rxg7 35. Rc3 Nb6 36. Ra3 c5 37. Rxa6 Rb7 38. a4 c4 39. a5 Nd5 40. Rxe6 c3 41. Rc6 Rc7 0-1 ] Returning to the moves of the Polgar- ) - Mamedyarov game it continued:

22...Nc6

He ties down her queen to defend her d-pawn. This idea was first played by GM Inarkiev in his game with Federov which I mentioned above. [ Analysis:The move 22...Ned7 (which was also favoured by Shredder 8 in its analysis) was played by GM Socko in the following game: [Event "POL-chT"] [Site "Ustron"] [Date "2006.09.02"] [Round "8"] [White "Navara, David"] [Black "Socko, Bartosz"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C95"] [WhiteElo "2719"] [BlackElo "2621"] [PlyCount "69"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. Nf1 Bf8 14. Ng3 g6 15. b3 d5 16. Bg5 h6 17. Bh4 g5 18. Nxg5 hxg5 19. Bxg5 exd4 20. e5 Rxe5 21. Rxe5 Nxe5 22. cxd4 Ned7 23. Qf3 Qe7 24. Bf5 Qd6 25. Bf4 Qe7 26. Rc1 c6 27. Bg5 Qd6 28. Nh5 Bg7 29. Nxg7 Kxg7 30. Bf4 Qe7 31. Qg3+ Kh8 32. Qh4+ Kg8 33. Bxd7 Qxd7 34. Qxf6 Qe6 35. Qg5+ 1-0 ] Returning to the moves of the Polgar- Mamedyarov game it continued with Polgar playing:

23.Nf5N This move appears to be a theoretical novelty for this position. In the only two games in the chessbase online database, Fedorov-Inarkiev and Landa-Kosyrev, PAL/CSS Freestyle KO, 2005, 48 moves draw, White played the move 23.Nh5. Shredder 8 and Rybka both give a poor evaluation to the move.She aggressively posts her knight, so that will attack his dark-squared bishop if he moves it to e7 or d6. [ Analysis:(a)Shredder 8: 23.Nh5 Be7 24.Bxf6 Bxf6 25.Qd3 Bxd4 26.Qh7+ Kf8 27.Qh6+ Ke8 28.Re1+ Ne5 29.Bf5=]

Mamedyarov now continued the game by playing:

23...Bc8

24.Rc1

She centralzes her knight, placing it on the half-open c-file where it can be used to attack his backward c-pawn and knight in the future. [Analysis:(a)Shredder 8: 24.Bf4 Be6 25.a4 bxa4 26.Rxa4 Bxf5 27.Bxf5 Qb8 28.Qf3 Bg7 ; (b)Rybka: 24.Be3 Bxf5 25.Bxf5 Qd6 26.a4 bxa4 27.Rxa4 Bg7 28.Qf3 Re8 ] The next move of the Polgar-Mamedyarov game was:

24...Bxf5

He decides her knight is too well-placed and gives up the two bishops to Polgar. [ Analysis:Rybka:(a)Worse is 24...Ba3 25.Bh4 Nb4 26.Qd2 Bxf5 27.Bxf5 Bxc1 28.Qxc1 Qd6=; (b) 24...Nb4 25.Qf3 Nxc2 26.Rxc2 Qd7 27.Nh6+ Bxh6 28.Bxh6 Ne4 29.Qf4 Qd6 ]

25.Bxf5 Qd6

He gives his queen much more mobility by placing it on this square.In doing so he prevents her from moving her dark-squared bishop to f4 to attack his backward c-pawn. [ Analysis:Rybka: 25...Qd6 26.Bh4 Ne7 27.Bg3 Qb4 28.Bd3 Ne4 29.Bxe4 dxe4 30.Qg4+ Ng6 31.h4 e3!? 32.fxe3 Qd2 33.Re1 Re8=] Play in the game continued with Polgar playing:

26.Bh4

She intends to move the bishop to g3 to attack his queen (and c-pawn). [ Analysis:Shredder 8 and Rybka:: 26.Bh4 Ne7 27.Bg3 Qb4 28.Bd3 c6 ( Rybka: 28...Re8 29.Bxc7 Ne4 30.Bb6 Ng6 ) ]

Mamedyarov continued the game by playing:

26...Ne7

Attacking her bishop winning a tempo.

27.Bg3

The lost tempo.

27...Qb4

He ties down her queen to the defense of her d-pawn.

28.Bb1

She spends a tempo to defend her a-pawn possibly believing he was about to play ....Qa3. [ Analysis:(a) 28.Bd3 c6 ( 28...Qxd4?? taking the pawn will cause Black grave problems 29.Bh7+ Kxh7 30.Qxd4 ) ; (b)Taking the pawn would be a mistake: 28.Bxc7? Nxf5 29.Be5 Bg7 ( 29...Nh7) ] The game continued with

Mamedyarov playing:

28...c6

He spends a tempo to protect his c-pawn. [ Analysis:Rybka: 28...c6 29.Be5 Bg7 30.Qf3 Ne4 31.Bxg7 Kxg7 32.Bxe4 dxe4 33.Qxe4 Rd8 34.Qe5+ f6 ] Returning to the moves of the game which continued with Polgar playing:

29.Be5

Attacking his unprotected knight winning a tempo.

29...Bg7

The lost tempo and the move Shredder and Rybka also suggested in their analysis.

30.a3!?

She offers a pawn sacrifice.
[ Analysis:(a)Shredder 8:Better is >=30.h4 c5 31.Bd6 Re8 32.Bxc5 Qa5 33.b4 Qc7 34.Qf3 Nc6 35.Rd1 Ne4 36.h5 Nxc5 37.dxc5 Nd4 38.Qg4 Ne2+ 39.Kh1 Qc6 ; (b)Junior 9:Better is: 30.Qf3 Qd2 31.Rd1 Qg5 32.Re1 Ng6 33.Qc3 Rc8 34.Bxg6 Qxg6 35.Qe3 Re8 And White has insufficient compensation for the two pawns.] Play in the game continued with the two GM's making these moves:

30...Qxa3

31.Rc3

She intends to play Rg3.This move was also suggested by Shredder and Junior 9 in their evaluation of the position.

31...Nd7

Attacking her bishop,forcing her to decide about the future of this piece. [ Analysis:(a)Shredder 8:Better is: 31...Re8 32.Rg3 Kf8 33.Bd3 Neg8 34.Bc2 Bh6 35.Bf5 Qb4 ; (b)Rybka:Better is: 31...Ne4 32.Bxe4 dxe4 33.Rg3 Ng6 34.Bxg7 Kxg7 35.h4 Kh6 36.d5 Rd8 ]

Rather than exchange off bishops on g7 she decides to pin his bishop against his king. The Shredder 8 evaluation program evaluated this move as "bad move" and assigned it a ? [ Analysis:Shredder 8 and Junior 9:Better was 32.Bxg7 with this continuation possible: 32.Bxg7 Kxg7 (a)Junior 9: 33.Rg3+ ( (b)Shredder 8: 33.Qg4+ Kf8 34.Qf4 Qb2 35.Rc1 Qe2 ( Less effective is: 35...Qxb3 36.Qd6 a5 37.Qxd7 Qb2 38.Re1 Re8 39.Rd1 Qe2 ) 36.Qh6+ Ke8 37.Rf1 a5 38.Qc1 Qe6 39.Re1 Qd6 ) 33...Ng6 34.h4 Nf6 35.Bxg6 fxg6 36.h5 Kf7 37.Qb1 Ne4 38.Rxg6 Rh8 39.Qd1 Nf6 ] The game continued with Mamedyarov playing:

32...Nxe5

He decides to exchange minor pieces, which will simplify the position.

33.dxe5 Qb4

[ Analysis:Shredder 8:The idea 33...Qb2 might be the shorter path to victory with this continuation possible: 34.f4 f6 35.f5 Qa1 36.e6 a5 37.Rxg7+ Kxg7 38.Qg4+ Kf8 ( 38...Kh8 39.Qh5+ Kg7 40.Qg4+ Kf8 41.Qh5 Qd4+ 42.Kh1 Kg7 43.Qf7+ Kh6 44.Qxe7 Qa1 45.Kh2 Rg8 46.g4 Qb2+ 47.Kg3 Qxb3+ 48.Kf4 Qb4+ 49.Qxb4 axb4 ) 39.Qh5 Qd4+ 40.Kh2 Kg7 41.Qf7+ Kh6 ( 41...Kh8 42.Qh5+ Kg7 43.Qf7+ Kh6 44.Qxe7 Rg8 45.g4 Qb2+ 46.Kg3 Qxb3+ 47.Kg2 Qb2+ 48.Kf3 Qc3+ 49.Ke2 Kg5 ) 42.Qxe7 Rg8 43.g4 Qb2+ 44.Kg3 Qxb3+ 45.Kf2 Qb2+ ( 45...Qxb1?? 46.Qxf6+ Kh7 the only move 47.Qh4+ Kg7 the only move 48.Qg5+ Kh7 49.Qh5+ Kg7 50.Qg6+ Kf8 ( 50...Kh8 51.Qh6#) 51.Qf7#) 46.Kg3 Qc3+ 47.Kf2 Kg5 (47...Qd2+ 48.Kf3 Qd1+ 49.Kf2 Kg5 50.Qh7 Qd4+ 51.Kf3 Qc3+ 52.Ke2 Rb8 53.Qc7 Ra8 54.Qb7 Qe5+ 55.Kd2 Qh2+ 56.Kc1 Qg1+ 57.Kb2 Qd4+ 58.Kc1 Ra7 59.Qxc6 Rh7 60.Qc2 Rxh3 61.Qd2+ Qe3 ( 61...Qxd2+ 62.Kxd2 d4 ) ) ] Returning to the moves of the game which continued with Polgar playing:

34.Rg4

Attacking his queen threatening to win a tempo. [ Analysis:Shredder 8: 34.Bd3 The Shredder 8 analysis program states: "There is nothing else anyway." ie. 34...Kf8 35.e6 f5 36.Re3 Qh4 37.Qc2 Qf6 38.Qe2 a5 39.Bb1 a4 40.bxa4 bxa4 41.Ra3 Qb2 42.Qh5 ( 42.Qd3 c5 43.Ra2 Qc1+ 44.Kh2? c4 45.Qc2 Qxc2 46.Bxc2 a3 47.Kg3 Nc6 48.Bxf5 Bb2 49.h4 Nb4 ) 42...Qxb1+ 43.Kh2 Qb8+ 44.Rg3 Qe8 45.Qh7 Ng6 46.Rxg6 Qe7 47.f4 Ra7 48.Rh6 Ke8 49.Qxf5 Bxh6 50.Qg6+ Kd8 51.Qxh6 a3 ]

Mamedyarov now continued the game by playing:

34...Qc3

Avoiding the loss of a tempo and instead winning one by attacking her unprotected e-pawn.

35.f4

Advancing his passed pawn up the board. [ Analysis:Shredder 8: 35...Qe3+ 36.Kh2 Kf8 37.Rh4 c5 38.Qh5 Nc6 39.Rg4 Nxe5 40.Rxg7 Kxg7 41.Qh7+ Kf8 42.Qh6+ Ke7 43.Qh4+ f6 44.fxe5 Qxe5+ 45.Kh1 Kd6 ] The game continued with the two GM's playing these moves:

36.Kh2 Nd5

(Threatening ...Ne3 forking her queen and rook. )

37.f5

[ Analysis:Shredder 8:Playing 37.Rxg7+ is not much help as after 37... 37...Kxg7 38.Qg4+ Kf8 39.Qh4 Qc1 40.Qh8+ Ke7 41.Qxa8 Qxf4+ 42.Kh1 Qf1+ 43.Kh2[] the only move 43...Qxb1 44.Qxc6 Qe4 45.Qd6+ Ke8 46.Qb8+ Kd7 47.Qd6+ Kc8 48.Qxa6+ Kc7 49.Qxb5 Qxe5+ 50.g3 Qe4 51.Qa5+ Kd7 52.Qb5+ Kd6 53.Qb8+ Ke7 54.Qa7+ Kf6 55.Qa2 d3 56.Qf2+ Kg7 57.h4 Qe3 58.Kg2 d2 59.Qf1 Qe4+ 60.Kg1 Ne3 61.Qa1+ Kh7 62.Kf2 Ng4+ 63.Kg1 Qf3 64.Qd4 Qxg3+ 65.Kf1 d1Q+ 66.Qxd1 Qf2#] Play in the game continued with Mamedyarov playing:

37...d3

(This threatens: 39...d2 39.f6 Qxe5+ 40.g3 Qe1 41.Rxg7+ Kf8 42.Rh7 Nxf6 43.Bc2 Qf2+ 44.Kh1 Nxh7 45.Qg1 Qe1 46.Kh2 Qe2+ 47.Kh1 d1Q 48.Bxd1 Qe4+ 49.Kh2

Polgar for her next move of the game played:

38.Qxd3

[ Analysis:Shredder 8:Playing 38.Rg3 hardly improves anything as after 38... 38...Qxe5 39.Bxd3 Qf4 40.Qf3 Qxf3 41.Rxf3 a5 42.Bc2 Bb2 43.Be4 a4 44.bxa4 bxa4 45.h4 a3 46.Bb1 a2 47.Bxa2 Rxa2 Black wins] Returning to the moves of the Polgar- - Mamedyarov game it continued with the two GM's playing:

38...Qxe5+
39.Rg3

[ Analysis:Shredder 8: 39.Kg1 Qe1+ 40.Kh2 Kf8 41.Rxg7 Kxg7 42.Qd4+ f6 43.Be4 Re8 44.Bxd5 cxd5 45.Qxd5 Qe5+ 46.Qxe5 Rxe5 ]

The game concluded: