by Aviv Friedman

Adams - Shirov:

Adams - Shirov:   Shirov decided not to repeat his opening against Kasparov, possibly fearing home preparation, or maybe not being satisfied of something in his own analysis. It was again a Rossolimo, but this time with 3…e6 and not 3…g6. The opening was nothing new, the type that black plays when he wants to play aggressively. The big question is, can this piece structure be trusted? There seems to be some disharmony for now amongst the black army: A N on h4, a B on d6, a R on c8. The point is that if white goes all out too quickly, he might get caught, but with a player like Mickey, one sees the faults of the opening. 13.a4 was a new move and a good one. After 13…b4 that important square is no longer available for black, and white is simply attacking b5 twice. 13...Nxf3+ 14.Nxf3 Qb6 15.Be3 is out of the question, so Shirov chose 14…bxa4. But then white's superiority was unmistakeable. Black's plan of 15…Nb4 and 16…a5 made some progress on the queenside and gained some space, but white has nothing to attack. His monster Bc3 was untouchable. It was the a5 pawn, if anything, that needed constant babysitting. Adams himself said that 19…Bf4? was a bad move, making things worse - After 21.Qg4 black had an unpleasant junction to pass: If he moved his Bf4, then d5 will always loom and white's fluid center will prove too much. He went for the second option of taking e5, alas without joy. Lacking counterplay he had to sit and defend against white's developing initiative, a mission that is tough on any player and twice as much for a dynamic player like Alexey. White slowly improved his position, gaining space on the kingside and attacking the weak pawns there. The collapse was complete after 29.Bc5 Be2 where black had hoped to bail with an exchange for a pawn sac, missing the instant winner in 31.Rh3!. Mickey is back in business while Shirov is out of form and his bag of tricks is not working in this event.

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