[Event "32nd National Ch."]
[Site "Kingston, Jamaica"]
[Date "2000.08.27"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Elliott, Warren"]
[Black "Matthews, Shane"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B99"]
[Annotator " John Tobisch"]
[PlyCount "57"]

{This game shows two top players deciding to fight it out on a slippery
precipice where the loser falls on sharpened bamboo stakes. Quite gruesome.
This game shows how the Najdorf has little margin for error.Elliott wastes
little time in punishing the errors of Matthews.} 1. e4 1... c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4
cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 5... a6 {The first critical juncture of the game. The
battlefield has been chosen and the players are signalling their willingness
to dive into the swirling vortex of variations and uncharted territory of the
Najdorf.} 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 {An invitation to the Poisoned Pawn variation which
Shane politely declines ( 7...Qb6 would lead into the Poisoned Pawn variation.)
} 7... Be7 8. Qf3 Qc7 9. O-O-O {White deploys his forces as rapidly as
possible and black organizes a defence against central advances such as e4-e5.}
9... Nbd7 10. g4 {White wishes to initiate a pawn storm and chase the knight
on f6 with an eventual g4-g5 and also clear the way for the Queen to the h5
square.} 10... b5 {Many chess players prefer more peaceful positions. The
position requires strong nerves and the coolness of an accountant in checking
over lines. Much energy is required over the next set of moves.} 11. Bxf6 Nxf6
12. a3 {White spends a tempo trying to slow black's counter punch.} 12... Rb8 (
12... Nd7 13. f5 Ne5 14. Qg3 Rb8 15. Na2 15... Bd7 {
was unclear in Mochalov vs. Maeder corr. 1977}) 13. f5 13... O-O $6 {Shane does
not play the most energetic continuation. His move dates back to the game
Pares vs. Quinteros , Torrelimos 1975 ! This can be found in Informant 19/478.
Interestingly , Grantel was to follow this game more closely a little later
against Elliott. More energetic is 13...b4.} 14. g5 Nd7 15. Rg1 {
This rook can be deployed later on h3 via g3.} 15... Ne5 16. Qh5 {Shane is in
a critical position where accuracy is at a premium. Elliott's evil plan is
easy to spot, f5-f6 or Rg3-h3. Shane has not begun his counter attack. Shane
finds a lateral defensive idea which allows Elliott to set up an interesting
Queen sacrifice.} 16... Qc5 {
It is hard to find better moves. 16...b4 and 16...f6 come to mind.} 17. f6 Bxf6
18. gxf6 18... Nd3+ {The point of 16...Qc5. Warren has seen a little further.}
19. Rxd3 Qxh5 20. Rxg7+ Kh8 21. Rh3 Qg6 22. Rxg6 22... fxg6 {at this point the
Fritz 6 program evaluates the position as +/- in favour of Elliott.} 23. Rf3
Kg8 24. Bh3 Kf7 25. e5 d5 26. Nxd5 {Elliott is always to the point.} 26... exd5
27. e6+ Bxe6 28. Bxe6+ Ke8 29. Nc6 {Shane fell on the bamboo stakes by the
thirteenth move . Interestingly Grantel improved with 14...Ne8. More of that
later.} 1-0

