Clamping the Svesnikov break

Playing on the White side of a Sicilian Sveshnikov, this game showed the importance of Black getting in ... b5.

By failing to play ... b5, it makes it much easier for White to surround d5 with pieces.

Black attempted to play ... f5 to obtain counterplay, but with White's control of light squares, tactics allow White to obtain advantage.

Clamping on b5

Black played 7. ... Be7 rather than the mainline 7. ... a6. The big difference is that this allows White to clamp down on b5 by playing 8. a4

Controlling d5

The fight centres on d5, and it's logical to remove the defender of d5. White plays 12. Bxf6 to strengthen his control of d5

Master of Light Squares

Black has shown his hand by placing his King on h8, but blunders with 18. ... f5. The tactics are on the light squares, not just on the a2-g8 diagonal but also the h3-c8 diagonal.

My Game Annotations and Analysis