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13. Re1
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The best move for Short. He now threatens 14.e6!, and no matter what happens, the e-file will become semi-open, and the strength of Short's queen and rook will grow
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13... e6
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Preventing the pawn from advancing
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14. Nd2
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Short now looks to ease the pressure on his position. The knight is destined for f3, where it will drive away Timman's queen
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14... Nd5
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Timman, in turn, centralises his knight
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1 comment
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15. Nf3 Qc5
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Timman retreats his queen, and targets White's c2 pawn as well!
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16. Qe4
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!? I would have played c3 in this position - committing my queen to its defence just doesn't seem sure enough to me... though this move turns out just fine!
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1 comment
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16... Qb4
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.Short need not worry about the pawn now. Instead, Timman offers an exchange of queens
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17. Bc4
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Good move - instead of retreating the queen to a less active (or more awkward) square, Short simply blocks the attack. Short's queen definitely has more power here!
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17... Nb6
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Timman retreats his knight back to b6 to threaten the c4 bishop.
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18. b3
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Again, Short doesn't want to retreat his piece...
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18... Nxc4
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so Timman exchanges
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19. bxc4
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! 19.Qxc4 Qxc4 20.bxc4 would have doubled up the pawns anyway. With this move, Short preserves the strength of his centralised queen
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19... Re8
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Short was threatening Ba3, but why not Rd8? It grabs the open file...
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2 comments
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20. Rd1
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and allows this move from Short!
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20... Qc5
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Timman attempts to get his queen more active...
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21. Qh4
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while Short aims his at kingside! This move serves another purpose, as will be revealed in the next couple of moves...
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21... b6
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With the idea of Bb7... but couldn't Timman simply play Bxe5? After all, there are two pieces attacking it and only one defending - Timman must have been worried about the defence around his king - 21...Bxe5 22.Nxe5 Qxe5 23.Qh6, and should Short's dark square bishop ever occupy the long diagonal, the results could be devastating!
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2 comments
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22. Be3
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After 22 moves, Short finally brings his last piece into the game. This isn't so much an attack on the queen as it is a zwischenzug...
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22... Qc6
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The Black queen doesn't have a lot of options here - Qe7 was on I looked at as an alternate variation, trying to get rid of the queens, but then Short can simply play Bg5... the idea behind this move is to pin the knight after Bb7.
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23. Bh6
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Now Short reveals the real purpose of the bishop, putting the question to the fianchettoed bishop. There really is only one logical answer to this...
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