by Aviv Friedman

Vallejo - Shirov:

Vallejo - Shirov:   The 3.Bc4 line against the d6 Sicilian came as a surprise for black, who took some minutes trying to decide on a set-up against it. Top players, such as Anand, Adams and Morozevich have used it before. For example, the same 12 moves occurred in the game Adams-Lutz Frankfurt 1999, where white went 13.Bc2. Here 13.Ba4?! and taking on c6 was tried, leading to a structure similar to that of a French defense where the light squared B were traded. These are almost always trouble-free for black, and this seemed like no exception. With nothing moving in the center or the kingside, where white usually tries to get is play, black slowly gained space on the other wing, doubled Rooks on the 'c' file and around move 21 or so I could hear Adams' second, GM Emms saying that maybe this is going to be black's first win in this event. Well, it is not easy to beat the confident Spaniard sometimes! Paco decided to sacrifice his 'b' pawn to try and mobilize some forces on to the right, clearly his only chance to generate enough counter play. He succeeded in making some progress and maybe 28…Rd3!? was worth a look. The point is to discourage 29.Bg5 because of 29…Rc4 harassing the 'd' pawn. It is hard to say if black could somehow combine defending and realizing his extra pawn - amazingly the out-of-form Shirov allowing his opponent some initiative that combined mating threats with eventually picking up the extra pawn. After the time control, Shirov looked quite grouchy, having to defend a position where all he could do is sit and wait. All the while, Vallejo slowly improved his position with moves like 47.Kg1 (Rozentalis in the pressroom: "A Dvoretzky type move") and then penetrated aesthetically. The final position was quite picturesque where black resigned in an even material, but zugzwang position. Finally a win for the local hero! Applause and cheering was all around in appreciation of this achievement.

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