CA 1.1 (E00)
Viktor Laznicka
Jan Timman
Paks HUN 8th Gyorgy Marx GM 2010 (1)
Notes by Jeroen Bosch

---

SOS Game of the Month September: NIC Magazine 2010/5, pp.86-89. I recently wrote on a Budapest Gambit Delayed for NIC Magazine. Still, I was somewhat surprised when editor-in-chief Jan Timman decided to try this particular SOS against Laznicka at the recent György Marx tournament in Paks, Hungary. Timman lost unfortunately, but his intrepid behaviour in the opening earned him quite a reasonable position it seems.

1.d4 f6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 e5!?

So here it is. You can't get in your surprise too early these days! First played by multiple Hungarian Champion Barcza, the text is an excellent way to avoid the Catalan. What is more Black intends to show (in his most optimistic mood) that g3 is actually detrimental to White's position. The Gambit must be accepted of course.

4.dxe5 g4 5.e4

Alekhine liked to play 4.e4 against the Budapest Gambit, so this deserves to be taken seriously. Another recent game saw 5.g2 xe5 6.h3 xc4!? (Black can decline the pawn with 6...b4+) 7.d5 d6 (hanging on to the pawn, but allowing White some annoying pressure. 7...b6 8.e5+ e7 9.xc7 d5 10.xe7+ xe7 11.f4 d4 ought to be playable; 7...b4+ is another option, although 8.c3 b6 9.e5+ f8 gives White compensation too) 8.c3 e7 9.e4 c6 (9...0-0) 10.0-0 0-0 11.b3 f6 (I like 11...e8 to bring back the coordination in Black's camp) 12.b2 b6 13.d2 d4 Black is probably OK, but his position is not so easy to play in practice. 14.f4 a6 15.fe1 e8 16.ad1 f6 17.h4 f7 18.cd5 xb2 19.xb2 ce5 20.c3 c6 21.e3 e7? 22.f5 c5?! 23.xc5! bxc5 24.h5 Ouch, Black is in trouble now. 24...d3 25.fxg7 xe1 26.xe8 xg2 27.exf6+ f8 28.xg2 and White won in Grigoryan-Sharbaf, Abu Dhabi 2010;
5.f4 as in the regular Budapest Gambit, may be answered by 5...g5!? see the analysis in NIC Magazine; 5.f3 c5 6.e3 c6 7.g2 gxe5 8.xe5 xe5 was my main line; 5.f4?! is dubious after 5...c5 6.h3 d6 with compensation;
Theory's recommendation of 5.c3 has to be answered by 5...xe5 as I argued.

5...xe5 6.f4 ec6

The best square for the knight. The other knight can go to a6. White has an impressive centre, but he has weakened his dark squares.

7.e3 b4+ 8.d2

A novelty, but a completely normal reply of course. Now 8.c3 xc3+ 9.bxc3 e7 would transpose into a regular Budapest Gambit (where Black provokes g3 by playing ...Qh4+), a line that is known to favour Black;
Alternatively, 8.f2 e7 9.g2 c5 10.d2 xe3+ 11.xe3 b4 and Black is doing fine in this complicated position, Quinteros-Van Riemsdijk, Sao Paulo 1978, was given in NIC Magazine.

8...e7 9.g2 a6 10.e2 c5

Timman, as usual, sets up the game in the most ambitious manner. This looks like the start of an erroneous plan, although it takes some excellent play by Laznicka to prove this. I would prefer 10...0-0 intending ...c5, but please note that the immediate 10...c5 favours White after 11.xc5 xc5 (11...xc5 12.a3) 12.0-0 d6 13.c3.

11.c2 f5?!

This looks strong, but Laznicka counters with a temporary pawn sacrifice.

12.c3

12.e5 d6 is fine for Black.

12...xc3 13.xc3

Also good is 13.bxc3 0-0 (13...fxe4 14.0-0) 14.0-0 d6 15.ae1.

13...xe4 14.xe4 fxe4 15.0-0-0

White is a pawn down, but he has two bishops, an edge in development, and open files for his rooks. Black's position is more difficult to play.

15...d6 16.he1 0-0

16...g4 17.xe4 (17.f2) 17...xd1 18.f2 e2!? 19.xe2 is also bad for Black.

17.d2 f5 18.h3

Now White regains his pawn, with a clear positional advantage.

18...f6

18...h5 19.g4 hxg4 20.hxg4 xg4 21.xe4 and White wins.

19.g4 g6 20.f5 f7 21.xe4 d5

21...e5 22.f1! planning 23. g5.

22.xf6 gxf6 23.ee1 d4

Seeking relief in bishops of opposite colours.

24.xc6 bxc6 25.b3 a5

25...c5 26.a5.

26.a4! fb8 27.c2 b7

Setting up some tricks along the b-file, but Laznicka anticipates this.

28.c1! c5

28...ab8 29.d3.

29.a3 ab8 30.d3 e8 31.e6

Or 31.xc5 xa4! 32.b1! c6 33.xd4.

31...d7 32.xf6 b6

32...xb3 33.xb3 xa4 34.xc5 xb3 35.d2 and White should win, as 35...xh3 fails to 36.f8+ g7 37.f6+ g6 38.xd4+-.

33.xb6 cxb6 34.c1 c6 35.f4!

The problem is that all of Black's queenside pawns are stuck on the dark squares. And Black's king is just too far away.

35...e8 36.d2 e7 37.g3 f7 38.g5 e8 39.f4 e7 40.d6 d7 41.e5 e7 42.f4 e4 43.g1 f3 44.e1!

After some manoeuvring Laznicka exchanges the rooks. The game lasted only a few more moves.

44...g2 45.xe7+ xe7 46.g5

and Timman resigned as he cannot save his queenside. A sample line runs:

46...xh3 47.f6+ f7 48.c7 g6 49.xb6 e6 50.xa5 xg5 51.d8 g6 52.e7

and the rest of the queenside will also fall.

1-0