Lessons From Mariánské Lázně IX

IN round nine I had white against Pavel Vodička (1967), reaching the following position after 27 moves.

I have just played 27.Qf3-e4

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Black should probably accept that kingside play will not lead to an attack, and settle for equality with 27...Qg4 28.Qxg4 hxg4.

Instead, the self-pinning 27...Kh7?! was played.

I give the move a dubious sign (?!), rather than calling it outright bad (?), because the refutation is not obvious.

I have analysed the position, with Stockfish17.1 and Dragon1, in some depth here, but a key line runs 28.d6! Bxd6 29.Nf3 Be7 30.Rxd8 Rxd8 31.Nxe5 Qe6 32.f4 Rd5 33.Ra1! Bd6 34.Ra6, when Black has no good answer to the threatened f5.

In the game I played 28.Nf3?!, which is not even second-best, but was sufficient for equality, and the game was indeed drawn, without much drama.

LESSON: when an opponent plays a move that violates frequently given advice, in this case to avoid self-pinning, it often pays to search long and hard for a refutation.