[Event "Baku"]
[Site "Baku"]
[Date "1972.??.??"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Alburt, L."]
[Black "Tal, M."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A45"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "1972.??.??"]
[Annotator "Kevin Denny"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e4 dxe4 4. f3 c6 $5 {
White now has many options, none of which offer any advantage:} 5. Bg5 (5. fxe4
e5 6. Nf3 exd4 7. Qxd4 (7. Nxd4 Bb4 8. Bc4 O-O $15) 7... Qxd4 8. Nxd4 Bb4 9.
Bd3 O-O $11) (5. Be3 $6 exf3 {The passively placed bishop on e3 makes this
capture even more attractive than usual.} 6. Nxf3 (6. Qxf3 Bg4 7. Qg3 e6 8. Be2
Bd6 9. Qh4 Bxe2 10. Ngxe2 Nd5 $17 {
and once again black has consolidated his extra pawn.}) 6... Bg4 7. Bc4 e6 8.
O-O Nbd7 9. Qe1 Bxf3 10. Rxf3 Bd6 $17 {Black is clearly better, with a
possible follow up being Nb6-d5 with the further Qc7 and 0-0-0 in the offing.})
(5. Bf4 Qa5 (5... exf3 $5) 6. Bc4 Nbd7 $17 {
intending e5. Now back to the main game.}) (5. Nxe4 Nxe4 6. fxe4 e5 7. Nf3 exd4
8. Qxd4 Qxd4 9. Nxd4 Bc5 $15 {Black is slightly better.}) 5... Nbd7 $1 6. fxe4
e5 7. dxe5 (7. d5 Bc5) (7. Nf3 exd4 8. Nxd4 Bb4 9. Nf5 O-O 10. Bd3 Ne5 11. Bxf6
Qxf6 12. O-O Bxf5 13. Rxf5 Qe7 {
Schiller-Ligterink 1986 are both good for black.}) 7... Qa5 8. exf6 $6 (8. Bxf6
gxf6 9. exf6 (9. e6 fxe6 10. Bc4 (10. Qg4 $6 Ne5 11. Qh5+ Ke7 {
intending Nd3+ winning the queen.}) 10... Bb4 11. Nge2 Ne5 12. Bb3 Bd7 {
intending 0-0-0 with an excellent game.}) 9... Nxf6 10. Qd4 Bg7 11. O-O-O O-O
12. Nge2 Be6 $15 {intending Rd8 with a good game.}) (8. Nf3 Nxe4 9. Bd2 Nxd2
10. Qxd2 Bb4 11. O-O-O O-O 12. a3 Bxc3 13. Qxc3 Qxc3 14. bxc3 $15) 8... Qxg5 9.
fxg7 Bxg7 10. Qd2 {Alternatively,} (10. Nf3 Qe3+ 11. Be2 Bxc3+ 12. bxc3 Qxc3+
13. Nd2 Ne5 14. O-O Be6 15. Nf3 Rd8 16. Qe1 Nxf3+ 17. Bxf3 Qxe1 18. Rfxe1 Rd2
19. Re2 Rxe2 20. Bxe2 Ke7 21. Kf2 Rg8 22. h4 Kd6 {
and black was on the verge of victory in Elina-Chiburdanidze USSR 1976.}) 10...
Qxd2+ {Black's initiative persists into the endgame, in particular his
unopposed dark squared bishop raking the open board and white's exposed king
more than compensate black for his pawn minus.} 11. Kxd2 Nc5 12. Bd3 Be6 13.
Nf3 O-O-O 14. Ke2 b5 15. a3 a5 16. h3 Rhe8 17. Rhd1 f5 $1 {The rest of the
game is a testament to the power of the bishop pair on an open board. Enjoy!}
18. e5 Nd7 19. Re1 Bxe5 20. Kf2 Bf6 21. Re3 Nc5 22. Rae1 Kd7 23. Nxb5 f4 24.
Re5 Nxd3+ 25. cxd3 cxb5 26. Rxb5 Rb8 27. Ne5+ Kd6 28. Rxa5 Bh4+ 0-1

