[Date "2013.07.22"]
[White "The Sozin in 60 Minutes"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "B86"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "12"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
{In this blog post I'll aim to teach the basics of the Sozin System (Bc4 in
the 2...d6 Open Sicilians) in 60 minutes!} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 {Bc4 is
generally ineffective against the 2...Nc6/2...e6 Open Sicilians. An exception
can be made for} (2... Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 {
, but this is an Accelerated Dragon not a Sozin!}) 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5.
Nc3 {Now I'll be recommending the move 6.Bc4 for White whether Black plays 5...
a6, 5...e6 or 5...Nc6.} a6 (5... g6 {, the Dragon, leads to different
positions altogether, though like in the Accelerated Dragon White can play} 6.
Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Bc4 {, which again is outside the scope of this post.}) (
5... Nc6 6. Bc4 {is the Sozin against the Classical, while}) (5... e6 6. Bc4 {
is the Sozin against the Scheveningen, though Black is not forced to play 6...
a6 here.}) 6. Bc4 e6 {Why would White place his bishop on c4, where it hits
the well-guarded e6-pawn? Basically White wants to develop as aggressively as
possible, and find a way to break down Black's centre before he can catch up
in development. To this end, White will often play for an f4-f5 break, but an
e5 break can also be on the cards, and sometimes White will even sacrifice a
piece on e6 or d5 to denotate Black's centre! Anyway, let's take a look at
some games.} *[Event "Yugoslavia"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1992.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Brajovic"]
[Black "Rodic"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B94"]
[WhiteElo "2400"]
[BlackElo "2350"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "1992.??.??"]
1. e4 {Though not technically a Sozin, I've picked this example to show how
Black can quickly end up in trouble if he neglects his defence of the
e6-square.} c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 (6. Bc4 e6 7.
O-O Nbd7 8. Bg5 {would be our move order.}) 6... Nbd7 7. Bc4 e6 8. O-O Be7 $2 {
Due to White's reply, this is simply a blunder.} (8... Qa5 {was necessary,
when after} 9. Qd2 {the game Li Chao-Zhou Jianchao, Hefei 2010 continued} h6
10. Be3 Ne5 11. Bb3 Neg4 12. f4 Be7 13. Kh1 Nxe3 14. Qxe3 {and now instead of
the weakening 14...g5 (which ran into a strong 15.f5!), developing with} O-O
15. f5 e5 16. Nf3 Bd7 {would be satisfactory for Black, though White has
succeeded in opening the a2-g8 diagonal for his remaining bishop and can fight
for an edge with} 17. Nd5 Nxd5 18. Bxd5 {.}) 9. Bxe6 $1 fxe6 10. Nxe6 Qa5 11.
Nxg7+ Kf7 12. Nf5 {White has three pawns and a massive attack for the piece,
so his position is already winning. Black's king will never find safety.} Nb6 (
12... Qc5 {defends d6, but} 13. Nd5 $1 Nxd5 14. Qh5+ {is crushing.}) 13. Bxf6
Bxf6 14. Qh5+ {Once the queen joins the attack, Black's days are numbered.} Kf8
15. Qh6+ Kf7 16. Nxd6+ Ke7 17. e5 Bxe5 18. Rfe1 Kd7 19. Rad1 Kc7 20. Nf7 Re8
21. Nxe5 {If you read chess news websites such as ChessBase you'll probably
notice the similarity between this game and Wang Hao-Giri, Beijing 2013.} 1-0[Event "Dos Hermanas"]
[Site "Dos Hermanas"]
[Date "1997.04.06"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Salov, Valery"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B89"]
[WhiteElo "2765"]
[BlackElo "2665"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "1997.04.01"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "ESP"]
[EventCategory "19"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1997.08.01"]
{White isn't forced to castle kingside in the Sozin; in some lines he may
prefer to castle queenside, with an attacking race likely to result.} 1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 Be7 8. Bb3 O-O 9.
Qe2 {This setup is known as the Velimirovic Attack, after the hyper-aggressive
Yugoslav Grandmaster. White will play 0-0-0, g4-g5 and conduct a kingside
attack with all his energy. Black's responses fall into two main categories:
try to mate White first with a queenside attack, or take all offered material
and not get mated!} a6 10. O-O-O Qc7 11. g4 (11. Rhg1 Nd7 12. g4 Nc5 13. Nf5 {
is another version of the Nf5 sacrifice - the point is that after} exf5 $2 14.
gxf5 {White gains a winning attack as the g-file is opened and White's pieces
will flood in with Nd5, Bh6, Qh5 and so on.} Ne5 15. Nd5 Qd8 {(Lanc-Bonsch,
Germany 1984)} 16. Bxc5 dxc5 17. f4 Nd7 18. Nxe7+ Qxe7 19. Qg2 Qf6 20. Rd6 {is
one example of how the game could conclude.}) 11... Nd7 12. Nf5 {Again, Black
dare not accept the sacrifice - he needs the pawn on e6 to blunten the
b3-bishop.} Nc5 {With this move Black can exchange the irritating b3-bishop at
an opportune moment.} 13. Nxe7+ Nxe7 14. Qd2 {One of the nice things about the
Sozin is that it's not just an attempt to mate Black - if Black plays solidly
White can often switch to a more positional plan (such as attacking the
d6-pawn).} Rd8 (14... Nxb3+ 15. axb3 d5 {is an example of a typical central
break in the Sozin lines, and often White can reply e5 and have a good version
of a French Defence pawn structure (e5 vs. e6/d4) but here} 16. exd5 Nxd5 17.
Nxd5 exd5 18. h3 {and Bd4 leaves White with the better opposite coloured
bishop, which is a very important advantage with all the major pieces on the
board.} ({or} 18. Bd4 $1)) 15. Bf4 Ng6 (15... Qc6 {is probably a better
defence to get out of the way of Bxd6, but White isn't forced to take on d6
and might prefer} 16. f3 {, with chances for an edge because White's unopposed
dark-squared bishop is quite strong and Black hasn't succeeded in engineering
queenside counterplay.}) 16. Bxd6 Qc6 17. f4 {Remarkably enough there's no way
for Black to exploit the pin on the d6-bishop.} b5 18. e5 ({White missed an
opportunity for a trick:} 18. f5 Ne5 19. Bd5 $1 {and after} Qxd6 ({or} 19...
exd5 20. Bxe5) 20. Bxa8 {White is winning.}) 18... b4 19. Ne2 a5 20. Nd4 Nxb3+
21. axb3 Qe4 {The rest of the game isn't so important for us - Anand doesn't
play the best moves and lets Salov almost equalise, only for Salov to err and
lose anyway.} 22. f5 Nxe5 23. Bxe5 Qxe5 24. Rhe1 Qd6 25. fxe6 fxe6 26. Nxe6
Qxd2+ 27. Rxd2 Rxd2 28. Kxd2 Kf7 29. Nd4 Bxg4 30. Nc6 Bf5 31. Re5 Kf6 32. Rxa5
Rxa5 33. Nxa5 Be4 34. c3 g5 35. Ke3 Bh1 36. Nc4 h5 37. Nd2 Bb7 38. Ne4+ Kg6 39.
cxb4 h4 40. Nd6 Bd5 41. b5 g4 42. Kf2 1-0[Event "Candidates sf1"]
[Site "Denver"]
[Date "1971.07.11"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Fischer, Robert James"]
[Black "Larsen, Bent"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B88"]
[WhiteElo "2760"]
[BlackElo "2660"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "1971.07.06"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1999.07.01"]
{Of course, when learning a new opening or variation we should study the games
of the leading specialists of the system in question, and the games of the old
masters. Let's kill two birds with one stone, and see how Fischer (who brought
the variation into mainstream use) defeated Larsen very convincingly with
'his' system.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bc4 e6 (
{If Black tries to move order us into a Dragon with} 6... g6 {, simply} 7. Nxc6
bxc6 8. e5 $1 {is rather strong for White. For example,} Ng4 (8... dxe5 9.
Bxf7+ Kxf7 10. Qxd8) 9. exd6 Qxd6 10. Qxd6 exd6 11. Bf4 {is a better endgame
for White as he is ahead in development and Black's queenside pawns are rather
weak.}) 7. Bb3 Be7 8. Be3 O-O 9. f4 Bd7 10. O-O a6 {The combination of ...Bd7
and ...a6 is simply too slow to stop White's plan of f5.} (10... Qc8 {is
correct to dissuade f5.}) 11. f5 $1 Qc8 $2 {(now this is just mistimed, as the
game continuation shows)} (11... e5 {was necessary, though we know this
structure to be favourable for White when he can retain his b3-bishop:} 12.
Nxc6 Bxc6 13. Qf3 b5 14. a3 {. Note that Black will never be able to break
with ...d5 to liquidate his backward d-pawn.}) 12. fxe6 Bxe6 (12... fxe6 13.
Nf5 $1 {, forking e7 and d6, is perhaps what Larsen missed, though} (13. Na4 {
with the threat of Nb6 is also good.})) 13. Nxe6 fxe6 14. Na4 $1 {The threat
of Nb6 makes material loss inevitable, as then the c8-queen cannot keep its
defence of the e6-pawn.} Rb8 15. Nb6 Qe8 16. Bxe6+ Kh8 17. Bf5 Ne5 (17... g6
18. Be6 Nxe4 {regains the pawn, but Black's king is far too open to survive
the likes of} 19. Qd3 Nf6 20. Rae1 {.}) 18. Qd4 {By this stage White has a
winning position. I'll leave the rest of the game unannotated, in case you
want to see how Fischer polishes off this one-sided game.} Qh5 19. Nd5 Nxd5 20.
Qxd5 Qe2 21. Ba7 Rbe8 22. Rf2 Qb5 23. c3 Bh4 24. g3 Qxd5 25. exd5 Bf6 26. Raf1
Nc4 27. Be6 Ra8 28. Bd4 Bxd4 29. cxd4 Rxf2 30. Rxf2 b5 31. Kf1 g6 32. b3 Na3
33. Ke2 Ra7 34. Rf8+ Kg7 35. Rd8 b4 36. Rxd6 Nb5 37. Rb6 Nxd4+ 38. Kd3 Nxe6 39.
Rxe6 a5 40. Kd4 Kf7 41. Re2 1-0[Event "Vilnius"]
[Site "Vilnius"]
[Date "1973.07.20"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kengis, Edvins"]
[Black "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B89"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "108"]
[EventDate "1973.??.??"]
[EventCountry "LTU"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2009.11.30"]
{When studying an opening we shouldn't just look at the beautiful victories
for 'our' side - like in an actual game, we should also look at the opponent's
best moves and defensive resources! This game played by the young Kasparov
shows a few standard tricks an agile Black defender might use.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3
d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bb3 Be7 8. Be3 a6 9. Qe2 Qc7
10. O-O-O O-O 11. g4 Nd7 {Black prepares the standard manoeuvre of ...Nc5-xb3
to eliminate one of White's most dangerous attacking pieces.} (11... Nxd4 12.
Rxd4 b5 {occurred in a later game by Kasparov.}) 12. g5 Nc5 13. Rhg1 Bd7 14.
Rg3 {White wants to play Qh5, Rh3 and mate on h7!} Rfc8 {This combines attack
(play on the c-file) with defence (opening up the possibility of ...Bf8).} 15.
Qh5 g6 16. Qh6 Bf8 17. Qh4 Nxb3+ 18. axb3 Be7 19. f4 (19. Rh3 {doesn't win
because of} h5 {, blocking the kingside as gxh6 loses the queen!}) 19... b5 20.
Qh6 Bf8 21. Qh4 b4 {In the Sicilian it can take a while for Black to start his
counterattack, but when it comes it is very dangerous!} 22. Nxc6 Bxc6 23. Rh3
h5 24. gxh6 bxc3 25. Qf6 Kh7 26. Bd4 cxb2+ 27. Kxb2 e5 28. fxe5 Bxe4 29. e6
Qxc2+ 30. Ka3 d5+ 31. e7 Bxe7+ 32. Qxe7 Qc7 33. Qxc7 Rxc7 34. Rg3 Rc2 35. Rf1
f5 36. h4 Kxh6 37. Be3+ Kh7 38. Rfg1 Rc3 39. h5 g5 40. Bxg5 Rxg3 41. Rxg3 Rg8
42. Kb2 d4 43. Bf4 Rxg3 44. Bxg3 Kh6 45. Be5 d3 46. Kc3 Kxh5 47. Kd2 Kg4 48.
Ke3 Kh3 49. Bd4 Kg2 50. Bc3 Kf1 51. Bd2 Kg2 52. Bc3 Kg3 53. Be5+ Kg4 54. Bd6
Kg5 {You can find this game with detailed annotations by Kasparov in 'Garry
Kasparov on Garry Kasparov Part One: 1973-1985'.} 1/2-1/2[Event "25th Staufer Open"]
[Site "Schwaebisch Gmuend GER"]
[Date "2013.01.05"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Zeller, Frank"]
[Black "Zubarev, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B57"]
[WhiteElo "2398"]
[BlackElo "2595"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2013.01.02"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2013.01.07"]
{Let's round up the Classical (5...Nc6) by showing a rare but quite promising
gambit against one of Black's main independent options.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3.
d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bc4 Qb6 {With this move Black wants to force
the knight to retreat (say to b3) before playing his Scheveningen setup with ..
.e6. In this way, the pressure on the e6-pawn (a theme in our previous games)
will be greatly reduced. I suggest that we don't budge in the face of this
provocation!} 7. Be3 $1 Qxb2 8. Ndb5 Qb4 9. Qe2 {For the pawn, White has a big
lead in development and Black will have to waste a few moves getting his queen
back to safety.} Qa5 ({The critical line is apparently} 9... Nxe4 $1 {, when
the key line runs} 10. Bxf7+ Kxf7 11. Rb1 Qa5 (11... Nxc3 12. Qf3+) 12. Qc4+ e6
13. Qxe4 {with sufficient compensation for the pawn as Black's king is quite
weak, though the position is still extremely complicated.}) 10. Rb1 Bg4 (10...
Nxe4 {is the cold-blooded engine's suggestion, but it's understandable that a
human doesn't rush to grab more pawns here!}) 11. f3 Be6 12. Bd2 Qd8 (12...
Bxc4 13. Qxc4 e6 {is a good alternative to try and simplify Black's way out of
trouble.}) 13. Nd5 Rc8 14. Be3 Bxd5 15. exd5 Na5 16. Bd3 Nxd5 17. Nxa7 $1 {
White decides to sacrifice an exchange too!} Nc3 18. Bb5+ Nc6 19. Bxc6+ bxc6 {
Funnily enough this is the decisive error.} (19... Rxc6 20. Nxc6 Qc7 $1 21. Qd3
Nxb1 22. O-O Nc3 23. Qxc3 Qxc6 24. Qd3 {doesn't neutralise White's initiative.
The question though is whether Black develops his kingside before White can
checkmate?}) 20. Qa6 $1 {Now it's all over, as the rest of the game
demonstrates.} Nxb1 21. Nxc8 Qc7 22. Qa8 Kd7 23. Nb6+ Ke6 24. O-O Nc3 25. Re1
Kf6 26. Qe8 Nd5 27. Nd7+ Kg6 28. Nxf8+ Rxf8 29. Qxf8 Qa5 30. Bf2 Qxa2 31. Bd4
f6 32. Qe8+ Kh6 33. g4 g6 34. h4 {Black resigned. That was a nice king hunt!}
1-0[Event "Amber-rapid 17th"]
[Site "Nice"]
[Date "2008.03.18"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Black "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B87"]
[WhiteElo "2751"]
[BlackElo "2732"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2008.03.15"]
[EventType "rapid"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "FRA"]
[EventCategory "21"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2008.05.06"]
{If you're the type that prefers sacrificing queens to pawns, then the Sozin
has you covered too!} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6.
Bc4 e6 7. Bb3 {We've already covered the old-fashioned lines with ...Nc6 and ..
.Be7 well so let's have a peek at the more modern stuff.} b5 8. Bg5 (8. O-O Be7
9. Qf3 Qc7 10. Qg3 (10. a3 $5 {(to prevent ...b4)} O-O 11. Qg3 Bd7 12. Bh6 Ne8
13. Rad1 Nc6 14. Nxc6 Bxc6 15. Rfe1 a5 16. Bg5 Bxg5 17. Qxg5 Rb8 18. e5 dxe5
19. Qxe5 Qb6 20. a4 bxa4 21. Bxa4 {gave White a small edge because of her more
active pieces in Polgar-Anand, London 2012.}) 10... O-O 11. Bh6 Ne8 12. Rad1
Bd7 {is another main line, where White develops very rapidly but if Black is
careful he'll rebuff White's initiative and complete his development with a
solid game.}) 8... Be7 9. Qf3 {This queen move is a fairly thematic counter to
...b5 as now there are e5 and Qxa8 ideas.} Qc7 10. e5 Bb7 {In turn, this is
Black's standard reply.} (10... dxe5 {to sacrifice the exchange doesn't work
out after} 11. Ndxb5 $1 axb5 12. Qxa8 {. As you've probably observed, this
opening is full of little tactical tricks and twists!}) 11. exd6 Bxd6 12. Qe3
Bc5 {This isn't the only move, but} (12... Nbd7 $2 {allows} 13. Nxe6 $1 fxe6
14. Qxe6+ Kd8 15. Bxf6+ gxf6 16. O-O-O {with a decisive attack against Black's
king stuck in the middle.}) 13. O-O-O Nc6 14. Qxe6+ $3 {A wonderful move,
don't you agree?} fxe6 15. Nxe6 Qe5 16. Nxg7+ Kf8 17. Ne6+ Kf7 (17... Ke7 18.
Rhe1 Bxf2 $1 19. Rxe5 Nxe5 20. Ng7 $1 {followed by Nf5 gives White enough
compensation for the rook. Ultimately it all ends in a draw, like most chaotic
variations!}) 18. Rhe1 Qxe1 $2 {After this move White will emerge with a
material advantage.} (18... Qxg5+ 19. Nxg5+ Kg6 20. Nce4 {gives White a
continuing attack against Black's king, but Black's extra piece shouldn't be
underestimated.}) 19. Nxc5+ Kg6 20. Rxe1 Kxg5 21. Nxb7 {As this is a rapid
game and White is winning, I'll leave the rest without comment.} Nd4 22. Nd6
Rhf8 23. f3 b4 24. Nce4+ Nxe4 25. Rxe4 Nxb3+ 26. axb3 a5 27. Rg4+ Kf6 28. Ne4+
Ke5 29. Rh4 a4 30. bxa4 Rxa4 31. Nc5 Ra1+ 32. Kd2 Rg8 33. g3 Rf1 34. Ke2 Rb1
35. Rxb4 Kd5 36. Ne4 Kc6 37. h4 Rh1 38. Rc4+ Kb6 39. b4 Rd8 40. Rc5 Ra8 41. c3
Ra2+ 42. Ke3 Re1+ 43. Kf4 Rf1 44. Rh5 Ra8 45. Rh6+ Kb5 46. Nd6+ Ka4 47. Rxh7
Kb3 48. Rc7 Rd8 49. Nf5 1-0[Event "Dortmund SuperGM"]
[Site "Dortmund"]
[Date "2008.07.05"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Naiditsch, Arkadij"]
[Black "Van Wely, Loek"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B86"]
[WhiteElo "2624"]
[BlackElo "2677"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2008.06.28"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[EventCategory "18"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2008.07.30"]
{To finish up, I'll show a nice game where Germany's top player destroys
Black's ...Nbd7-c5 scheme.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6
(5... e6 6. Bc4 Be7 7. Bb3 Na6 {is a somewhat annoying line, which resembles
the game continuation except that Black has played the useful ...Be7 in place
of ...a6! Fortunately not many people know of this nuance. If you are really
worried about it, you can always play 7.0-0 or 7.Be3.}) 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bb3 Nbd7
8. Bg5 {With this pinning move White emphasises rapid development and piece
play.} h6 ({One of the leading exponents of the Sozin is Rublevsky, and I
advise you to study his games closely as he has played Bc4 a lot and amassed
an impressive score with it. Here's one nice win of his against a strong GM:}
8... Qa5 9. Qd2 Be7 10. O-O-O Nc5 11. Rhe1 h6 (11... Bd7 $2 {would still run
into} 12. Nf5 $1 Nxb3+ 13. axb3 exf5 14. exf5 Qa1+ 15. Nb1 {with a winning
attack on the king.}) 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. Nf5 $1 {Very nice! This sacrifice
reminds one of the Anand-Salov game earlier.} O-O 14. Nxd6 Rd8 15. f4 Nxb3+ 16.
cxb3 e5 {Black thinks he has prevented e5, but this will not be the case for
much longer.} 17. Qf2 $1 exf4 18. e5 $1 Be7 19. h4 Be6 20. Qxf4 {Now White has
full control of the position - his king is fairly safe and the knight on d6
stops both Black's bishops from pestering White.} b5 21. Kb1 b4 22. Nce4 Qb6
23. g4 a5 24. g5 a4 25. gxh6 axb3 26. hxg7 Qc6 27. Re2 Bd5 28. Ng3 Rxa2 29. Qh6
Ra1+ 30. Kxa1 Qa6+ 31. Kb1 Qa2+ 32. Kc1 Rc8+ 33. Nxc8 Qa1+ 34. Kd2 Qxb2+ 35.
Ke3 Qc3+ 36. Rd3 Bc5+ 37. Kf4 Qc1+ 38. Red2 Qc4+ 39. Rd4 {1-0 (39) Rublevsky,S
(2693)-Bologan,V (2712) Poikovsky 2012}) 9. Bh4 Nc5 10. Qe2 Be7 11. O-O-O O-O
12. Bg3 Qc7 13. e5 dxe5 14. Bxe5 Qa5 15. Kb1 Bd7 16. f4 b5 17. g4 b4 18. g5
bxc3 19. gxf6 gxf6 20. Nf5 exf5 21. Bxc3 Qd8 22. Qh5 Kh7 23. Rhg1 Qe8 24. Rg3
Rg8 25. Bxf7 Rxg3 26. hxg3 {For an analysis of this game, check out Ftacnik's
notes for 'Mega Database'. Summing up, the Sozin is a very interesting
attacking system, which is no less dangerous than the English Attack, but is
forgotten by modern theory, meaning most of the theory is old and not changing
at a rapid rate. However I can't recommend this scheme for timid players as
even a slight delay can see the initiative pass over to Black, and material
sacrifices are often essential! The Sozin will improve your tactical vision,
force you to calculate accurately and, if you persist with it, score you many
nice wins and make you a stronger player.} 1-0