D44 Mikhalevski Victor (ISR) - Shabalov Alexander (USA) Philadelphia (USA) 2003

[#]1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.¤f3 ¤f6 4.¤c3 e6 5.¥g5 dc 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.¥h4 g5 9.¤g5 hg 10.¥g5 ¤bd7 11.ef ¥b7 12.g3

12...£c7!? The Cuban ramification of the Botvinnik system seems to become popular. Obodchuk's victory over Onishchuk (Poikovsky 2003) propelled the variation's elaboration. 13.¥g2 c5 14.O-O Having run into an unexpected development of events, White

[abstains from the principled continuation 14.d5 b4 , etc.]

14...¥g2 15.¢g2 £b7 16.f3 O-O-O 17.a4?! This extremely attractive continuation, however, brings about a position difficult for White.

[He should rather choose 17.dc ¤c5 18.£e2 , which is more reliable.]

17...¤b6! 18.ab cd 19.¤e4 ¥h6! Black has found an 'Achilles' heel' in White's position, the vulnerable e3-point. 20.¥h6 ¦h6 21.£d2 ¦h5 22.£b4 ¢b8 23.¤c5 £d5 24.£a5 £c5 25.£a7 ¢c8 26.¦a6

26...£e5! 27.£b6 £e2 28.¦f2 ¦h2 29.¢h2 £f2 30.¢h3 ¦h8 31.¢g4 ¦g8 White resigned. [0:1]