MI exhibition games follow a very special format. It's a Game/45 with a twist! The players are located in the opposite sides of the room, and surrounded by their respective groups of fans. The moves are relayed by a runner. During the game the players share their thoughts and opinions about the position with the audience. The benefits are mutual. The fans get to see how Grandmasters work during the game, while the players find the audience's advice surprisingly useful.
One problem, the clocks are not accurate and there's never enough time to discuss everything! On one occasion (Atalik's game) the GM's were forced to finish the game in a blitz mode.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qb6 5.Nb5 a6 6.Be3 Qd8!
Why is this move better than 6...Qa5? You'll see.
7.N5c3
Worth mentioning is 7.N5a3 b5 8.c4 b4 9.Nc2, an old idea of Ilya Gurevich. Black should continue with 9...Nf6 10.Nd2 d6 11.Be2 g6 with reasonable prospects.
7...e6 8.Nd2
I think Kaidanov's move, 8.Na4, which he tried against me back in 1992, is better even if White's hopes for an advantage are largely gone: 8...b5 9.Nb6 Rb8 10.Nxc8 Qxc8. Black's lead in development fully compensates for the two bishops.
8...b5 9.a4
Instead of this dubious attempt to refute the whole line White could choose from a number of reasonable systems.
a) 9.g3 Bb7 10.Bg2 Nf6 11.f4 d6 12.g4;
b) 9.Bd3 Nf6 10.0–0 Bb7 11.f4 d5; or even
c) 9.g4!?
I doubt Black would face a lot of problems in any case.
9...b4 10.Nd5?!
Jaan was operating under the spell of an old game of his where Black got crushed. Only he forgot about one small detail. In that game the black queen was on a5, exposed to the Nc4 attack.
10...exd5 11.exd5            Diagram

11...Nce7!
If White's crazy sacrifice had any chance to succeed it would have to be something like this:11...Ne5 12.f4 Ng6 13.Nc4 Qe7 14.Qd2 Bb7 15.0–0–0, a scenario where the white d5-pawn survives, and his pieces come out swiftly. After the text move White cannot maintain his pawn on d5.
12.Qe2?
A horrible blunder which effectively ends the game. Jaan had to play 12.d6, in response to which Black must be careful, as both 12...Nf5 13.Qf3, and 12...Nd5 13.Qh5 are bad. However, after 12...Nc6! 13.Nc4 Bb7 14.Qe2 Qf6 (ignoring White's "threat of discovered checks) 15.0–0–0 Qe6, Black consolidates his position and avoids immediate danger. It's still a fight, but in my opinion White's compensation is inadequate.
12...Nxd5
Once again Black has no reason to fear discovered checks. I think Jaan missed this simple idea.
What to do now? On 13.Bd4+ Black has a pleasant choice between 13...Nde7 14.Ne4 d6 15.0-0-0 Be6 with a solid position, and a slightly sharper line
13.Bc5+ Be7 14.Nc4 Ngf6 15.Nd6+ Kf8 16.0–0–0
With his minor pieces active White is ready to pounce with 17.Rxd5 Nxd5 18.Qh5, but Black has a move to disturb these plans.
16...Qc7!
Both Bc5 and Nd6 are hanging, and Jaan embarks on his last desperate attempt.
17.Rxd5 Nxd5 18.Qh5 Bxd6 19.Qxd5 Qxc5 20.Qxa8 g6 21.Bxa6 Kg7 22.Rd1 0–1

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 d6
In a surprising twist Black goes to the Benoni.
Indeed, I have never played this opening in over-the-board play!
5.Nc3 exd5 6.cxd5 g6 7.e4 a6 8.Bd3!?
White surrenders the queenside but look for some play in the center.
If 8.a4 Black can enter a double-edged line favored by GM Topalov: 8...Bg4 9.Qb3 Bxf3 10.Qxb7 Bxg2 11.Bxg2 Nbd7 with interesting compensation.
8...b5 9.h3
Suat didn't want to allow the pin after 9.0–0 Bg4! Indeed, Black's light-square bishop is a liability, while White's Nf3 is instrunmental in engineering the e4-e5 break.
9...Bg7 10.0–0 0–0 11.Re1 Nbd7
Books give 11...Re8 12.a3 Nbd7 13.Bf4, which is similar to the game.
12.Bf4 Nb6!?
A relatively new idea. Previously seen was 12...Qb6 13.a4 b4 14.a5 Qc7 15.Na4, and White has succeeded in crippling Black pawn majority.
13.a3 Re8 14.Rc1?!
Played to prepare the pawn move b2-b4, designed to restrain Black's queenside activity. Naturally, I didn't trust 14.b4? cxb4 15.axb4 Nh5 16.Bd2 Nf4 17.Bf1 Nc4‚ but14.Qd2 Bb7 15.Bg5 as played once by the Icelandic GM Margeir Petursson may be more to the point.
14...Bb7 15.b4 Rc8       Diagram

His development is complete, and in case of 16.bxc5 Rxc5 17.Be3 Black has an enterprising exchange sac: 17...Rxc3 18.Rxc3 Nfxd5 19.Rc2 (Everything else walks into trouble: 19.Rc1? Nxe3 20.Rxe3 Bh6; or 19.Bxb6? Nxc3 20.Bxd8 Nxd1) 19...Nxe3 (Black gets nowhere with 19...Nc3 20.Qc1 Nba4 21.Bd4) 20.Rxe3 Na4 with sufficient play.
The line given by Suat is a good illustration of the Modern Benoni ideas. The traditional roles are reversed: saddled with an inferior pawn structure Black is searching for every counterplay opportunity, while White carefully avoid any complications.
16.Qd2 cxb4 17.axb4 Nc4 18.Qa2 Nh5 19.Bh2 f5!?
White is experiencing certain difficulties: his queen is sidelined and Nc3 is hanging in the air, but given time he'll take care of that, and then his superior pawn structure will carry White to an easy victory. I felt Black must try and take advantage of the temporary factors before it's too late.
Alex avoids 19...Qb6 20.Na4 bxa4 21.Bxc4 Qxb4, where 22.e5! represents the classic breakthrough White has been looking for.
20.exf5 Rxe1+ 21.Nxe1 Qg5
This is the idea behind 19...f5.
22.Ne2 Re8!
And here comes the follow up. Black's activity is alarming. 23.Bxc4 was not to my taste because of 23...bxc4 (but not 23...Rxe2? 24.Qxe2 Qxc1 25.Qe6+!, and mates) 24.Qxc4 Qd2 25.Kf1, and White must lose the d5-pawn.
I also looked at 23.f4?, but turned away in horror when I saw 23...Qe7 24.fxg6 Qe3+ 25.Kh1 Qxc1!! 26.Nxc1 Rxe1+ 27.Bg1 Rxc1 28.gxh7+ Kh8 with terrible threats.
I was anticipating the above variations, but it all vanished when Suat came up with a strong reply.
23.Nf3!
Seemingly blundering a piece, but everything is under control.
23...Rxe2 24.Qb1!           Diagram

It was my turn to sit there in disbelief. It turns out that Black can't maintain the pressure on the c1-rook, as demonstrated by the line we both saw: 24...Qh6 25.Rxc4! (not 25.Bxe2? Na3 26.Qe4 Qxc1+ 27.Bf1 Qc8, and wins) 25...Rb2 26.Qe1! bxc4 27.Qe6+ Kh8.
Look at this position. Despite his large material advantage Black is in terrible danger and may even be losing by force after 28.Qe8+ Bf8 29.Bxd6.
Here I disagree with Suat's last suggestion‚ and recommend 28.Ng5! instead. The knight can't be taken because of checkmate in two, while Nf7 is a reral threat.
25.Bxe2 Qxe2 26.Re1 Nd2!
At this moment both players have exhausted the original time limit and the audience was getting tired. By mutual agreement we decided to conclude the game in a Blitz mode.
Which incidentally explains the following mistakes....
By the way, Alex's last move is the only good try as 26...Qb2? loses to 27.Re8+ Kf7 28.Qe1 Ne5 29.Nxe5+ Bxe5 (29...Kxe8? 30.Nd3+) 30.Bxe5 dxe5 31.Rxe5.
27.Rxe2!
The ending after 27.Nxd2 Qxd2 28.Qe4 Qxd5 looks equal due to uneven pawn structure on the queenside, which provides for Black's counterplay.
27...Nxb1           Diagram

White has a forced win here, but it's tough to spot. First White will lure the black king out: 28.Re8+! Kf7, then the rook will suddenly retreat with a tempo: 29.Re1 Nc3, and now 30.Ng5+ Kf6 31.Nxh7+ Kf7 32.Re6! with a terrible attack.
Suat is right, Black will have a hard time coordinating his scattered pieces, and his king is subjected to multiple threats. If that's the truth, then the entire conception beginning with 19...f5 is flawed. The question is, does it bother me? Not a whole lot. It was impossible to tell which way it would turn twenty moves down the line.
I still think my decision to throw the game down a tactical curve was appropriate for this particular game situation. Black was worse to begin with and could expect things to get tougher if the game continued along a quiet positional path. And, don't forget, it took some great moves from a strong GM to uncover the hidden flaws in Black's position.
28.Bxd6? Nf6!
Even after White's mistake on the previous move a careful defense is required from Black. Insufficient is 28...Bxd5? 29.Re8+ Kf7 30.Re7+ Kf6 31.Ne5 gxf5 32.g4!, and White wins at least a piece.
I realized that without bringing my knights into play Black has no hope, so the following moves seemed logical to me. If Black is going to give up his entire kingside in the process of activating his pieces, so be it.
29.fxg6 hxg6 30.Nh4 Nxd5!
The alternative, 30...Nc3 31.Re7 Bf8 32.Rxb7 Bxd6 33.Nxg6, looks dangerous because Black cannot get his king out, while the white three connected passers will soon begin to march.
31.Nxg6 Nbc3 32.Re8+ Kf7 33.Rb8 Bc6 34.Ne5+ Ke6!
Alex handles this sharp endgame with precision.
I realized Black could ill afford 34...Bxe5? 35.Bxe5, where he's left with no counterplay.
35.Nxc6 Kxd6 36.Na5!           Diagram

Strangely, a5 turns out to be an excellent square for the white knight.
The knight does a great job slowing down the black pawns from its position on the side of the board. I had better expectations from the upcoming pawn race until this move!
36...Nxb4 37.h4 Ne4 38.g4
38.h5, anticipating 38...Nf6 39.g4!, was better. Both players were running out of time, and indeed one move later White overstepped the time limit.
In Suat's line, the g4-pawn is untouchable, 39...Nxg4? 40.Rg8, but the white pawns are safely stopped, and a move like 39...Ncd5 leaves Black with a perfectly good position. How good? Probably, not better than a draw.
38...Bd4 39.Kg2 0–1
The knight endgame after 39.Kg2 Nxf2 40.Rd8+ Ke5 41.Rxd4 Kxd4 42.Kxf2 is drawish, but White's flag fell before the players could agree to a draw.
A truly great battle that kept the audience on the edge of their seats. The draw would be a fair result, but Suat refused to accept my offer which came seconds before his flag fell.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e4 d6 6.Bd3
The players choose a very sharp line - a perfect fit for an exhibition game.
6...0–0 7.Nge2 e6 8.Bg5
Slightly unusual. More popular is 8.0–0, followed by h2-h3 and only then the bishop developing.
8...h6 9.Bh4
The problems is that White did not prepare for 9.Be3 Ng4.
9...Re8 10.0–0 exd5 11.cxd5
My dear friend Wojt plays very competitive chess tonight.
The alternative, 11.exd5 Nbd7, leads to a quieter game where White is aiming for a long-term squeeze.
11...Na6
This "sideways" knight deployment is very popular these days in many opening variations. Today's players are free of dogma! Black is just happy with that knight not getting in the way of other pieces. What else to do? In case of 11...g5 12.Bg3 Nh5 I was afraid of 13.f4! which would expose Black's kingside.
12.f4?!
After the game GM Wojtkiewicz pointed to this move as a cause of White's future problems. Indeed, the prophylactic 12.h3 looked more reasonable.
12...Qb6!            Diagram

Black is quick to take advantage of the weak g1–a7 diagonal.
13.Kh1
Wojt rejected 13.h3 because he assessed the position after 13...c4+ 14.Bf2 cxd3 15.Bxb6 dxe2 16.Qxe2 axb6 as very bad for White. I'm not so sure, the queen is the queen!
13...c4!?
The logical follow-up to the previous move. Obviously bad was 13...Qxb2? 14.Rb1 Qa3 15.Nb5 Qxa2 16.Nxd6; and I couldn't find anyhting after 13...Ng4 14.Rf3.
14.Bc2?
After this passive reply Black's initiative reaches dangerous proportions. White should have taken the pawn: 14.Bxc4 Nxe4 because he has 15.Bb5! (Black is comfortable after 15.Nxe4 Rxe4) 15...Nxc3 16.Nxc3. My intended combination 16...Bxc3? (The sane choice is 16...Rf8 with approximately even chances.) 17.Bxe8 Bxb2 18.Rb1 Bf5 would backfire after 19.Qe2! Bxb1 20.Rxb1 and White wins a piece.]
14...Ng4 15.Qc1
Nothing could be accoplished by 15.Ba4 Rf8
15...Nb4
The knights are jumping into the action.
16.Bb1
He could try 16.h3 Nxc2 17.Qxc2 Ne3 18.Qa4 but Black has 18...Bxh3! 19.gxh3 Nxf1 20.Rxf1 Qxb2 White's position here lacks a solid foundation.]
16...Nd3 17.Bxd3 cxd3 18.Ng3?!
A desperate try that comes short. The only move to maintain material equality, 18.Ng1 would be answered by 18...f5! and Black's on the roll.
18...Nf2+ 19.Rxf2 Qxf2 20.Nf5           Diagram

It looks like White is going to get something going. In case of the obvious 20...Qb6 he may develop a serious attack after 21.Nxg7 Kxg7 22.f5, as the black pieces are cut off the kingside. Black can avoid this danger by exchanging the queens, but 20...Qc2?! 21.Qxc2 dxc2 22.Nxd6 Rf8 is insufficient to claim any advantage. White can win back the exchange with 23.Be7 or simply take the stray black pawn after 23.Rc1.
In situations like this an intermediate move often comes handy...
20...d2! 21.Qc2
If GM Wojtkiewicz had anticipated Black's 22nd he would have chosen 21.Qd1 Qxf4 22.Bg3 Qg5 where Black's advantage can no longer be disputed, but the position remains complex.
21...Qxf4 22.Bg3 Rxe4!
This shot clarifies the matters.
23.Nxe4
23.Bxf4 Re1+ was my main idea, while 23.Nxh6+ Qxh6 24.Qxe4 Bf5 25.Qf3 Re8 offers no hope either.
23...Qxf5
White is down two pawns, his knight is pinned, so GM Wojtkiewicz decided he had seen enough. 0–1