[Event "Havana"] [Site "Havana CUB"] [Date "1965.09.22"] [Round "?"] [White "Ratmir Kholmov"] [Black "Francisco J. Perez"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A78"] [Annotator "Stockfish 14.1 (10s)"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "1965.08.25"] {Modern Benoni} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nf3 g6 7. e4 Bg7 {In the Modern Benoni the B on g7 is the same that in the basis of the K-Indian, but here it can operate on the whole a1-h8 diagonal instead of being locked in by its own P on e5, as usually happens in the K-Indian. Black's plan is simple: with Ps on d6 and c5, and sometimes b4, he creates possibilities for his B on g7.} 8. Be2 O-O 9. O-O Re8 10. Nd2 Na6 {Black does somewhat better with 10...Nbd2} 11. Re1 Rb8 (11... Nc7 {is a better alternative.} 12. a4 b6 13. Qc2 Rb8 14. Nc4 Ba6 {White is slightly better.}) 12. h3 (12. Bf1 Nc7 13. a4 a6 14. a5 Bd7 15. Nc4 Nb5 16. Bg5 h6 17. Bh4 g5 18. Bg3 Nxc3 19. bxc3 Nxe4 20. Nxd6 Nxg3 21. Nxe8 Bxe8 22. hxg3 Bxc3 23. Qc2 Bxa1 24. Rxa1 Qxd5 {and black went on to win. Kuzmin,G (2518)-Simantsev,M (2371)/ Alushta 2004}) (12. Bb5 {is best.} Bd7 13. a4 Ng4 14. h3 Bxc3 15. bxc3 Nf6 16. c4 {White has a strategically won game. Vidal Zamora,A (2423)-Sturt,R (2429)/ Platja d'Aro ESP 2019}) 12... Bd7 13. Bf1 b5 {Black's thematic move, but in this position it loses the a-Pawn. here was nothing better though.} (13... Nc7 14. Nc4 Nb5 15. Qf3 Nd4 16. Qd3 {and black can't seem to get ...b5 in.} Qc7 17. Bf4 Bf8 18. Qg3 {and the P on d6 is lost.}) 14. a4 Nc7 15. axb5 Nxb5 16. Bxb5 Bxb5 17. Rxa7 { Black has no real compensation for his a-Pawn.} Bd3 18. Nf3 Qb6 19. Ra4 c4 { Black is attacking the b-Pawn and his B is anchored on d3, but all the action is in the center as white's next move demonstrates. Still, in spite of that, black's position is far from hopeless.} 20. e5 Nd7 {Out of curiosity I ran a Shootout from this position and white scored a bit worse, +1 -0 =4 in mostly long R+P endings.} (20... dxe5 {was playable.} 21. Nxe5 Ne4 22. Nxd3 Nxc3 23. bxc3 cxd3 24. Rb4 Qc5 25. Rxb8 Rxb8 26. Qxd3 Qxc3 {With a difficult ending. In Shootouts white scored +2 -0 =3 so black does have some drawing chance.}) 21. e6 {This allows black to equalize.} (21. exd6 {keeps a slight advantage.} h6 22. Rxe8+ Rxe8 23. Ra1 Qxd6 24. Be3 Nf6 25. Ra5 Ne4 26. Qa4 Rd8 27. Nd4 Kh7 28. Ndb5 Nxc3 29. Nxc3 Bxc3 30. bxc3 {white has only a very slight advantage.}) 21... Nc5 (21... fxe6 {was better as after} 22. dxe6 Nc5 23. Ra2 Nxe6 {black has fully equalized.}) 22. exf7+ Kxf7 23. Ra2 Kg8 {Black does not have time for this passive approach.} (23... Qb3 {was his best chance as after} 24. Qd2 ( 24. Be3 Qxd1 25. Rxd1) 24... Kg8 25. Rxe8+ Rxe8 26. Qf4 Qb8 {White's advantage is minimal.}) 24. Be3 Qb3 {The difference between this position and after 23... Kg8 is that white's Q has access to the a-file.} 25. Qa1 Qb4 {As often happens, when under pressure the defender is not up to the task of finding the best move every turn. Somewhat better was 25...Ne4. The sudden collapse of black's position is striking!} 26. Bxc5 Qxc5 27. Rxe8+ Rxe8 28. Ra8 Rc8 29. Qa6 Rf8 30. Rxf8+ Bxf8 31. Ng5 Qc7 32. Qa8 {Perez resigned.} (32. Qa8 Qe7 33. Ne6 Kf7 34. Qxf8+ Qxf8 35. Nxf8 Kxf8 {and white has a won ending. Here is an example of how he wins.} 36. f4 Kg7 37. Kf2 g5 38. fxg5 Kg6 39. g3 Kxg5 40. Ke3 Kf6 41. Kd4 Bf1 42. h4 Bg2 43. g4 Bf3 44. Ne4+ Ke7 45. g5 Be2 46. Nd2 {etc.}) 1-0