The 1991 Candidates Cycle represented a changing of the guard. Of the great players from the 1960s and 70s, only Viktor Korchnoi qualified, and the only former champion to secure a place was FIDE favorite Anatoly Karpov (Tal and Smyslov played in the Interzonal, but did not qualify). Replacing reliable standbys like Larsen, Portisch, Polugaevsky, etc. were a whole series of emerging stars from the new generation, names that were soon to achieve international recognition: Boris Gelfand, Viswanthan Anand, Nigel Short, and of course, Vassily Ivanchuk. It still seemed implausible that anyone could unseat the eternal challenger, ex-champion Karpov (who had contested 7! straight world championship matches and qualified for another), but time was taking its inexorable toll on the great Tolya, and prospects seemed bright for the new contenders, if not in this cycle, then certainly in the next one.
The tournament began badly for Ivanchuk, as he lost to New Zealand Master Murray Chandler in the first round in an upset of over 100 rating points. Chandler managed to diffuse Ivanchuk's Winawer French, forcing the Ukrainian star into a passive position that appeared lost before resourceful play brought Ivanchuk within reach of a draw and then he lost the thread, and with it, the game. Not losing heart though, Ivanchuk clawed right back into contention, rattling off an impressive string of five straight victories!
Ivanchuk-Cabrilio
Manila Interzonal 1990
Round 2
Here, Ivanchuk won with the help of a nice little combination:
23. Rxe4! Nxe4
24. Qe7
And black was forced to resign in 6 moves.
Zapata-Ivanchuk
Manila Interzonal 1990
Round 3
In this difficult position, white blundered with:
29. Be6?
Allowing Ivanchuk to obliterate his king with the nice sequence:
29. ... Nh5
30. Nb4 Bxg3+
31. fxg3 Rf2+
32. Kh1 Nxg3+
33. Rxg3
And now, rather than 33. ... Rxg3, allowing 34. Nxc6+ with a hint of counterplay, Ivanchuk calmly finished the game with the elegant stroke:
33. ... Rh2+
Ivanchuk-De Firmian
Manila Interzonal 1990
Round 4
In this fascinating position, Grand Master De Firmian has sacrificed his knight on e4 to shatter white's kingside and build up a terrific initiative (This plan has since appeared in many games). Faced with a complex opening innovation, Ivanchuk nevertheless arrived at an amazing rejoinder, here playing:
16. c6!
The point being that 16. ... Bxc6 will be met by the discoordinating 17. Bf4.
16. ... 0-0
17. Bd2 Bxc6
18. Qa5 Rb6
19. e3 Rfb8
20. Rc1 Nxe4
21. Nf3
And here, facing the ever-present threat that his initiative will run out and his two pawns will not be enough to compensate the lost piece, De Firmian missed the best move, 21. ... Nxd2, instead playing the immediate:
21. ... Qe7
To which Ivanchuk duly responded with:
22. Bb4
And after
22. ... Qb7
23. Bd3
Ivanchuk had fully unraveled. Black's momentum waned over the next few moves, and Ivanchuk promptly seized the initiative and used his extra piece to win.
In the next round, playing black against Pedrag Nikolic, Ivanchuk turned in a strangely reckless performance, as if his string of success had gone to his head. He did not lose his form though, and when Nikolic missed the best continuation to punish him, Ivanchuk recovered to pull out yet another win.
Nikolic-Ivanchuk
Manila Interzonal 1990
Round 5
1. d4 f5
2. g3 Nf6
3. Bg2 g6
4. c3 c6
5. Bg5 Bg7
6. Nd2 d5
The position is a Dutch defense, ostensibly a Leningrad, which typically resembles a King's Indian Defense, except that Ivanchuk has been forced to play d5 by Nikolic's slightly unusual setup with c3 (otherwise Qb3 would make it impossible for black to castle). This has brought about an odd sort of hybrid between the Leningrad and Stonewall Dutch variations. The position is a bit shaky for black, with holes and several points of entry for the white pieces (if Nikolic can coordinate an invasion). On the other hand, it is difficult for white to fully mobilize here, and black certainly has his chances...
7. Nh3
The king's knight aims for f4, reserving the f3-square for the queen's knight.
7. ... 0-0
8. 0-0 Qe8
9. c4 Ne4
Ivanchuk plays resourcefully, aiming to preemptively diffuse white's mobilization through an exchange.
10. Nxe4 dxe4
11. f3 exf3
Ivanchuk later recommended the fascinating and complex 11. ... e5!?
12. exf3 Qf7
13. Re1 Qxc4
Snatching the c4-pawn was a very risky move, requiring great precision to hold the balance. Essentially, Ivanchuk has just opened the position for white and that with all of his queenside pieces still in the box! 13. ... Re8 was more conservative, probably still allowing white some advantage, but with far less severe consequences than in the game.
14. Bxe7 Re8
15. Kh1 Na6?
Amazingly, this simple developing move seems to be a serious mistake overlooked by several of the GM commentators. With his thirteenth move, Ivanchuk has bitten off a bit more than he can chew, and now he must seek to simplify the position. 15. ... Qxd4 seems to be best, angling to force the queens off. Then 16. Qb3+ Qd5 and it seems that white has no better than to exchange: 17. Qxd5+ cxd5 18. f4 Nc6 19. Bxd5+
White retains an annoying initiative here, with threats like Ng5, but black can defend via Bd4 and Kg7, and his position is fundamentally sound and ought to gradually drift toward equality. Instead, with the game continuation, Ivanchuk allows white's initiative to grow with the queens still on so that the attack packs a lot more venom.
16. Bf1 Qf7
17. Ng5 Qd5
And now, it seems that white is winning! After 18. Rc1! b5 (otherwise Bc4 skewers queen and king) 19. Rxc6! Bb7 (19. ... Qxc6 20. Qb3 +-) 20. Rd6 Qxa2 21. Bxb5 the black position crumbles. Nikolic didn't find this continuation though, instead opting for:
18. Qc1?
This threatens Bc4, but it remove the check threat along the a2-g8 diagonal, which takes the bite out of the tactical threats.
18. ... b5
19. Bg2 Bb7
20. f4 Qxd4
And suddenly, miraculously, black is up a pawn with chances of staying that way. Note that 21. Bxc6 loses to the diabolical 21. ... Qd7!
21. a4 Rab8!
This move holds the black position together, as we shall see in another move.
22. axb5 cxb5
And now, 23. Bxb7 looks like it should work but doesn't! After 23. ... Rxb7 24. Rxa6? comes 24. ... Qd5+ 25. Kg1 Bd4+ 26. Kf1 Qh1+ 27. Ke2 Rbxe7+ and the roof caves in on white.
So Nikolic instead tried:
23. Rxa6 Bxa6
24. Qc6?
This renews the threat along the a2-g8 diagonal, but it turns out that Ivanchuk has an escape:
24. ... h6!
25. Qe6+ Kh8
26. Nf7+ Kh7
And preposterously, the black king slinks away to blow razzberries at the white army.
27. Ne5 Bxe5
28. fxe5 Qc4
29. Qf6 Bb7
30. e6 Rg8
Nikolic maneuvers every which way to try to get at the black king, but Ivanchuk seems to have an answer for all comers.
31. h4
This is pure dreaming though.
31. ... Bxg2+
32. Kxg2 Qd5+
33. Kh3 Rbc8
34. h5 g5
35. Qe5
This last move is tantamount to raising the white flag, and indeed, the game is over:
35. ... g4
36. Kh4 Rc2
With mate to follow.
0-1
So, after five rounds, Ivanchuk found himself at +1.5 on a 4-game winning streak, but in the next round, he faced the legendary Hungarian master Lajos Portisch. I'll pick up the story in a future installment!
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