rugin_29, yes, Nf7# is a smothered mate.

NM GreenLaser,

well, its good enough!i just want confirmation from u the kind of mate that it looks like.very well done NM.thanks for having ur time...

WGM Natalia_Pogonina, thanks for the tip. I suggest that applies to all chess literature. Each reader has to choose chess literature that is suitable, whether guides with explanations or encyclopedic data dumps. Both have their place and both need checking by the reader. Both will have limits. Both have one fault in common - errors in printing, including illegal moves. The games and lines presented have to be checked with what is published elsewhere. Games presented in software will also have moves that were not played in the game referenced. It is hard enough to predict future moves, but we can't always "predict" past moves. Trust but verify.

happyfanatic, I use character to be the attribute that allows a player to utilize intelligence. A skilled player of low character can defeat a much weaker player of better character anyway. I use this idea first of all in the internal sense. A player can use intelligence to learn the game and to improve. It takes character, which includes self-discipline to improve and to demonstrate improvement in play. For example, a player may decide the game should be a win when it is no better than a draw. The player may internally say, "I do not want a draw." If the result is a loss, it is not due to a lack of intelligence, but weakness of character at that point in the game. A player's intelligence and character must be applied to get the most out of the player's potential. Of course, good health is very helpful.

rugin_29, thanks for reading and asking. I'm sorry I did not put that line in the article.

Great game. I still think that Yasser is one of the best players in the world.

"I have long said that chess requires intelligence and character."

I guess that depends on what is meant by the words intelligence and character .   I've heard quite a bit about skilled chess players lacking character (meaning integrity) but perhaps that is not what is meant by character in this statement.

NM GreenLaser,

After 22.Nh6+, If 22...Kh8 23.Qxf7 theatening Qg8# wins. If 23...gxh6 24.Bxf6+ and mate. If 23...Be7 24.Qg8+ Rxg8 25.Nf7#.

thanks a lot it clarifies me the few combination that follows on Kh8.i highlighted red font that seems to be like a smoothered mate is it?i am just a low rated player that can't easily find the good combination as what an NM like u can do.i appreciate ur effort...  

Yes, it's kind of hard to tell how Benjamin took the comment.  Apparently Seirawan went so far as to publish the comment in one of his books, saying that Benjamin made some kind of mistake - it sounded by the way Benjamin was describing it in his video lecture that it kind of pissed Benjamin off a little bit, but then again, it's hard to tell.  I might just be reading into it a little too much.

Khalifman & co's analysises are great and extensive. However, there are glitches (2500+ players have special "anti-Khalifman" collections used for catching opponents who don't bother to check what they read). And they're extremely hard to memorize, serving more as encyclopedias, not as guides to a certain opening.

SilentWalker, "haha." Don't you mean dayo? If the lecture by Benjamin made you a fan of his, that is good. However, I hope it did not make you root against Seirawan, unless he is playing against someone who you are rooting for. After a game, players exchange their views of the game. Differences of opinion, whether firm or first impressions, are natural. They are colleagues and often friends. I first met Seirawan 33 years ago and scored 20% against him in five minute chess. That is better than my 0% against Benjamin in tournaments. I found nothing about either that would make me happy about their losses to others.

rugin_29 wrote,"20...Qa5 move by black is a defense,counter attack or a blunder??? what will be the good combination for white after black reply 22.Kh6+...Kh8 instead of gxh6 & aside from winning the exchange of knight for a rook?"

After 22.Nh6+, If 22...Kh8 23.Qxf7 theatening Qg8# wins. If 23...gxh6 24.Bxf6+ and mate. If 23...Be7 24.Qg8+ Rxg8 25.Nf7#.

Sas3, Khalifman, not Shirov, of course, played 6.c3. Typo? - maybe braino.

"hey mr khalifman, khalif me banana" - haha - 

no, but seriously, since becoming Fide champion, we really have not heard much from this guy.  i do like the fact that he beat Seirawan.  I was listening to a lecture video by GM Joel Benjamin who said Seirawan basically said one of his moves was bad positionally in a game the 2 played, and Seirawan lost that game, and Joel basically said it was a good move.  

20...Qa5 move by black is a defense,counter attack or a blunder??? what will be the good combination for white after black reply 22.Kh6+...Kh8 instead of gxh6 & aside from winning the exchange of knight for a rook? 

Thanks for the nice game and the useful links.

I play Caro-Kann regularly and these will surely help me.

Oh BTW, the annotation for move 6. c3 says "...Shirov is not playing the main line". Perhaps a typo.

alphamale26, thanks for the question and the honesty. No apology is needed.

I apollogise I didn't see the check. I didn't refer to move 20 but move 22. I thought taking was choice for black. Thanks for the clarity.

alphamale26 wrote, "Wouldn't it have been better for black on move 22 to just push g6 attacking both the queen and the knight? My bet is that he would have been much happier in the end :)"

I am not taking bets. Notice that 22.Nh6+ is check. I am guessing, not betting, that you mean 20...g6. Then, Black would have been happier than in the game, but still not as happy as White.

Wouldn't it have been better for black on move 22 to just push g6 attacking both the queen and the knight? My bet is that he would have been much happier in the end :)