Beating the Sicilian
Submitted by
on Fri, 03/06/2009 at 7:39am.
This post would have really fit in the "Beating the Najdorf"-series for the tactics and sacrifices, but unfortunately it was not a Najdorf-Sicilian but a Sicilian Kan game. But like I said, this didn't make the game less interesting or less sharp. Around move 15-20, the game was still roughly equal according to Rybka 3, but with a quick and painful attack, black (an International Master) was checkmated by move 29!
The game was quite straight-forward from white's point of view. I opted for a Maroczy-Bind kind of position, preventing counterplay for black in the center or on the queenside. After developing I just aimed my minor pieces and queen at the black kingside which was underprotected, and on move 23 it was time for a crushing double sacrifice, ripping open the black's king position. After that it was a matter of time before it was mate, and indeed, on move 28 he couldn't prevent mate anymore.
Below is the game with annotations. Enjoy!