Magazines Games 2008-2018 2011

1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 e6

The most solid move. Black locks in his light squared bishop and concentrates on getting his kingside mobilized. (4...Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4 leads to more dynamic positions. ) 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Be3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Be7 8.Nc3 Qd8 It may seem odd to drop the queen back to her home square, but this is where she is safest. Other moves such as Qd6 or Qa5 are playable but her majesty may become a target for White's pieces.  9.Bd3 O-O 10.O-O Nbd7 (10...Nc6 is the main move but after  11.a3 it is not so easy to maneuver the knight to d5. ) 11.Bc2 Nb6 12.Qd3 White hopes his queen-bishop battery will force a weakness in Black's kingside.   12...Nbd5 13.Nxd5 Qxd5 14.Bg5 With a small threat :-)  14...g6 Weakness forced! Now to infiltrate...  15.Rfe1 Qd8 The queen was in the way. This move frees up d5 for the other knight.  16.Bb3 After ...g6 the b1-h7 diagonal is less exciting. The bishop's new targets are e6/f7 and/or possibly supporting a d5 pawn break.  16...Nd5 Blockade!  17.Bh6 White avoids exchanges. His space advantage is more valuable with more pieces on the board.  17...Re8 18.Ne5 Bf8 19.Qf3! Hoping for (19.Qf3 Bxh6? 20.Qxf7+ Kh8 21.Bxd5 exd5 22.Nxg6+ and White wins ) 19...Qf6! The best reply. White can no longer avoid the exchanges.  20.Qxf6 Nxf6 21.Bxf8 Rxf8? But here Black errs. (21...Kxf8 was superior, bringing the king closer to the center and keeping the rook active. ...Re7 is an important resource but instead Black "deactivates" his rook. ) 22.Rac1 White has a lead in development and his rook has an open pathway to c7  22...b6 23.Rc7 Nd5 24.Bxd5 exd5 25.Nc6! A powerful move. From here the knight dominates Black's position, attacking the a pawn and controlling the back rank. Note that neither rook can oppose on c8 because of Ne7+. I remember losing a game to GM Drazen Sermek in similar fashion when a Black knight landed on c3 and paralyzed my rooks.  25...Bf5 Best. Trying to save the a-pawn will only make things worse: (25...a5 26.Ne7+ and  26...-- 27.Nxd5 hitting b6. ) 26.Nxa7 I had to decide whether to capture with the knight or the rook. The knight is better - after (26.Rxa7 Rxa7 27.Nxa7 Ra8 28.Re7 Kf8 29.Rb7 Re8 Black has counterplay. ) 26...Rfe8 27.Re3 Definitely not (27.Kf1?? Bd3+! From e3 White blocks the e-file and prevents the Black rooks from becoming active ) 27...Re4 28.Rxe4 dxe4 29.Kf1 Rd8 30.Nc6 Rd6 31.d5 A little tactic to cement White's advantage. The pawn is immune because of Ne7+   31...Kg7 32.Nb4 Another terrific square for the knight. From here the a and d-pawns are protected, Black's b-pawn blockaded and c2 covered.  32...Rd7 33.Rc6 Black's rook is passive, White's active. Why exchange?  33...b5 Yet another black pawn lands on a white square. Black's bishop is bad (blocked by pawns) and he has no control over the black squares.  34.Ke2 The coast is clear. Time for the king to emerge!  34...Rb7 35.Ke3 Bd7 36.Rc3 f5 37.Kd4 Kf6 38.Ra3 Black has beaten the rook back down the c-file but there is another way in.  38...g5 39.Ra6+ Kf7 40.Ke5 Kg7 Contrast the activity of the two monarchs. White's king is invading while Black's is oscillating.  41.Nc6 Resigns 1-0

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3

4...e6 Black needed a win for an FM title so decides to go for the most complicated option  5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.h4 g4 11.Ne5 h5 12.O-O After the game Eugene said he expected 12 f3 as in Lukey - Chandler 2009 but that was perhaps optimistic as despite the happy result in that game I was dead lost after 17 or so moves  12...Nbd7 13.Qc2 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Bg7 15.Bg3!? The sacrifice of the 2nd pawn is the most aggressive option, and Grischuk and Aronian amongst others have given it a whirl  15...O-O 16.e5 I wasn't familiar with black's last move and didn't want to transpose back to the quieter line with (16.Rad1 ) 16...Nh7? Although this keeps the d pawn under attack, the knight is sidelined here which white brutallyexploits ( I expected 16...Nd7 but it turns out after  17.Ne4 the threat of Ng5 forces the slow  17...Qe7 when  18.Nd6 is nice for white ) ( A check of the database reveals that black's best is 16...Nd5 17.Ne4 Ne7! 18.Nd6 Nf5! when neither winning a piece with  19.Nxb7 ( or a pawn with 19.Nxf5 exf5 20.Qxf5 Qd5 ) 19...Qxd4 seems to lead to any advantage for white ) 17.b3! undermining black's whole setup with a second pawn sacrifice  17...cxb3 18.axb3 Qxd4 (18...f5 19.exf6 Nxf6 20.Be5 is safer but still uninspiring for black ) 19.Rfd1 Qb6 (19...Qc5 20.Bd3 f5 21.exf6 Nxf6 22.Bd6! Qb6 23.Qe2! is also grim for black ) 20.Rd6! with an unusual double attack on b5, and the sidelined knight on h7 with Bd3  20...f5?! (20...Rfd8 is more tenacious but after say  21.Nxb5 Nf8 22.Qc1! black starts to regret having pawns on h5 and g4 rather h7 and g6 ) 21.exf6 Nxf6 22.Bxb5 Ne8 (22...Nd5 23.Nxd5 exd5 24.Qg6! Qd4 25.Ra4 wins ) 23.Rxe6 Qd4 24.Bc4 Kh8 25.Qg6 Qc5 26.Re5 1-0

1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb7 6.Bg2 Bb4+ 7.Nbd2 Bc3 8.Rb1 Bxd4 9.O-O Bc5 10.b4 Be7

11.Bb2 O-O 12.Qc2 g6 13.Bc3 d6 14.Rfd1 Nbd7 15.Nd4 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 Qc8 17.Nc6 Qb7 18.Qe4!! 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5 5.Nxf7 Bxf2+ 6.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 7.Ke3 Qe7 8.c3 Nd4 9.Kxe4 Qh4+ 10.Ke3 Qf4+ 11.Kd3 d5 12.Bxd5 Bf5+ 13.Kc4 b5+ 14.Kc5 Qh4 15.Nxe5 O-O-O 16.c4 Rxd5+ 17.cxd5 Rd8 18.Nc3 Nc6

19.Qa4!! (Strangely enough this is the best move!)  19...Qe7+ 20.Kxb5 Qxe5 21.Qc4 Nd4+ 22.Ka4 Bd7+ 23.Ka5 Nc6+ 24.Ka6 Nb8+ 25.Kxa7 c6 26.Nb5 (Stopping 26 ....Qc7+)  26...Bf5 27.d4 Rd7+ 28.Ka8 Qe7 29.dxc6 Be4 30.d5 Bxd5 31.Qxd5 Rxd5 32.Na7+ Kd8 33.Kxb8? (33.Bf4 is better ) 33...Qc7+? (33...Qb4+ 34.Ka8 Kc7 35.Bf4+ Qxf4 36.b4 Rd8+ 37.Nc8 Qxb4 38.Ka7 Qa5# ) 34.Ka8 Ra5 35.Bg5+! Rxg5 36.Rad1+ Ke8 37.Rhe1+ Kf8 38.Rd7 Qxh2 39.Ree7 Qxg2 40.Rb7 Rc5 41.c7 Qg4 42.Rf7+ Ke8 43.b4 Rc2 44.a4 h5 45.a5 h4 46.b5 h3 47.Nc6 h2 48.Rxg7 (48.Rxg7 Qc8+ 49.Rb8 Kf8 50.Rd7 Re2 51.Rxc8+ Re8 52.Rxe8+ Kxe8 53.c8=Q# ) 1-0

I chose to annotate this game because this game was played early in round 2 and contributed greatly to my great run of wins at the start of the tournament. As we will see, it was also especially exciting as there were many ups and downs throughout.  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ This almost certainly came as a surprise for my opponent since I rarely go for the Bogo-Indian. However, I really wanted to try this 11...h5 idea.  4.Bd2 Qe7 5.g3 Nc6 6.Bg2 I would describe this as the classical main line as white just gets on with castling ASAP. (6.Nc3 Bxc3 7.Bxc3 Ne4 8.Rc1 is another popular main line ) 6...Bxd2+ 7.Nbxd2 (7.Qxd2? Ne4 8.Qc2 Qb4+ 9.Nbd2 Nxd2 is a well known error whereby black picks up a pawn with relatively little compensation for white ) 7...d6 8.O-O a5 (8...e5 9.d5 Nb8 (9...Nb4?? 10.Qa4+ ) 10.b4 is also possible for black but with 8...a5 black can go for a different type of position ) 9.e4 (9.a3?! is possible but black is quite happy to get in a4 himself  9...a4 10.Nb1 O-O (10...Bd7 11.Nc3 Na5 ) 11.Nc3 Bd7 12.Nxa4 Na5 13.Rc1 Qe8 14.Nc3 Nxc4 ) 9...e5 10.d5 Nb8 11.Ne1 h5!? Actually this move is not new but simply a little forgotten. If one checks the database then it can be seen this move has been known since the late 1940's! I saw this move been played by the strong Russian GM Evgeny Tomashevsky at the Khanty Mansyisk Olympiad in 2010 with good effect and decided to surprise my opponent with this move as well. (11...O-O 12.Nd3 Na6 13.a3 is more classical and indeed more popular. ) 12.h3! White sank into thought for half an hour and finds what I think is the best move. At first it looks like 12.h3 is wrong since it gives up the dark squares but in fact it's very difficult for black to exploit this and in fact it is not easy for black to develop properly after this. Also indicative is that GM Vassily Ivanchuk feels this is a good move :) (12.h4 now its difficu lt for white to organise f4 since g4 is a very nice outpost for white  12...O-O 13.Nd3 b6 14.b3 (14.f4 exf4 15.Rxf4 Nbd7 ) 14...Na6 15.a3 Nc5 16.Nb2 g6 17.b4 ) (12.f4?! is tempting but tactically suspicious  12...h4 13.fxe5 Qxe5 14.Nef3 Qxb2 15.e5 dxe5 =+ ) (12.Nd3 h4 13.f4 hxg3 14.hxg3 Nbd7 happened in the above mentioned Tomashevsky game. I think black has good prospects. ) 12...h4 Otherwise 11...h5 loses its point  13.g4 Nbd7 (13...O-O 14.Nd3 Na6 15.a3 Nc5 16.Nxc5 dxc5 17.Re1 Ne8 18.f4 Nd6 19.Qc2 and I think white's space advantage gives some advantage ) (13...Nh7 is nice positionally but white is very fast on the queenside  14.Nd3 Nf8 15.c5 dxc5 16.f4 exf4 17.e5 with massive compensation for the pawn ) 14.Nd3 b6 (14...Nc5 once again white gets a strong initiative with a quick strike in the centre  15.Nxc5 dxc5 16.f4 exf4 17.e5 Nd7 18.e6 fxe6 19.dxe6 Nf6 20.Qa4+ ) 15.Qc2 (15.f4 exf4! 16.e5 dxe5 17.d6 Qxd6 18.Bxa8 Qxd3 -/+ is a nice idea by white but simply doesn't work ) 15...Nc5 16.b3 (16.f4!? This is a serious alternative to the game continuation  16...Nxd3 (16...exf4 17.Nxc5 bxc5 18.e5 Nd7 19.exd6 cxd6 20.Rae1 Ne5 21.Nf3 f6 22.Nxe5 fxe5 23.Rxf4 Kd8 24.Rf2 +/- ) 17.Qxd3 Nd7! (17...exf4 18.e5 dxe5 19.d6 +- ) 18.f5 Ba6 19.Qe3 Nc5 20.b3 b5 ) 16...O-O (16...Nh7 was a bit slow for my liking  17.a3 Nf8 18.Nxc5 bxc5 19.b4 ) 17.Nb2! I like this idea for white. He has more space and simply wants to keep more pieces on.  17...Nh7 18.a3 g6 Black obviously has to prepare f5  19.b4 Nd7 A very tough decision and in retrospect maybe the other one was better (19...Nb7 20.Nd3 f5 21.f3 (21.gxf5 gxf5 22.f4 axb4 23.axb4 Rxa1 24.Rxa1 fxe4 25.Nxe4 exf4 26.Rf1 Bxh3! ) 21...Ng5 ) 20.Nd3 Ng5 (20...f5 is also possible but I felt it would be better to get Ng5 in first  21.gxf5 gxf5 22.exf5 (22.f4 ) 22...Rxf5 23.Rae1 ) 21.c5?! I think this is a serious inaccuracy since it clarifies the position too quickly. (21.Rfe1! axb4 (21...f5? 22.exf5 gxf5 23.f4 ) 22.axb4 Rxa1 23.Rxa1 f5 24.f3 Nf6 25.Qd1 ) 21...bxc5 (21...Ba6 22.c6 Nf6 23.bxa5 Bxd3 24.Qxd3 Rxa5 25.Nc4 Ra4 is also nice for black ) 22.bxc5 Ba6 Now everything comes out to good places for black  23.c6!? Forcing the pace and asking the big question: should black be greedy and just take the exchange? (23.Nc4 dxc5 24.Rab1 Qf6 25.Rfe1 (25.f4 Bxc4 26.Qxc4 exf4 27.Rxf4 Qd6 ) 25...Rfe8 ) 23...Bxd3? Black is still fine after this but still it's too meek (23...Nc5 24.Nxc5 (24.Nc4 Ncxe4 25.Bxe4 Nxe4 26.Ndxe5 Ng5 27.Nd7 Nxh3+ 28.Kh2 Nf4 29.Nxf8 Rxf8 -/+ and black is close to winning ) 24...Bxf1 25.Rxf1 dxc5 26.Nc4! (26.Nb3 this is what worried me in the game but I missed the simple  26...c4 27.Nd2 (27.Qxc4 Qxa3 ) 27...Qxa3 28.Nxc4 Qc5 -/+ ) 26...f6 27.Rb1 Nf7 28.Rb7 Nd6 29.Nxd6 Qxd6 I suspect this is likely to be a draw but black certainly has nothing to worry about. Compare this position with what follows in the game! ) 24.Qxd3 Nc5 25.Qe3 a4 Somewhere around here my opponent offered a draw which was very reasonable but I got very ambitious and started to lose the plot. I am going all out for the f5 break but in the mean time white is very fast once he gets the rooks on the b-file. (25...Rfb8 is much more circumspect with level play  26.Rab1 Qd8 (26...Kg7!? ) 27.Nc4 Qf6 ) 26.Rab1 f6 27.Rb4 Rae8?! definitely losing the plot as I abandon the queenside completely. It was not too late to oppose on the b-file (27...Rfb8 28.Rfb1 Qd8 = ) 28.Rfb1 Kg7 Pretty planless play but I was also running short of time and somehow still felt optimistic! (28...f5 29.gxf5 gxf5 30.exf5 Rxf5 31.Rg4 +/- ) 29.Kh1 Rf7

30.Rb7! Obvious but still very nice  30...Qd8 (30...Nxb7? 31.cxb7 Rb8 32.Nc4 +- and the knight will land on c6 with devastating effect ) (30...f5 31.gxf5 gxf5 32.Rxc7 Qxc7 33.Qxg5+ Kf8 34.exf5 +- ) 31.R1b5 White has played really well and is on the verge of a decisive advantage. Now black has to watch out for Rxc5 all the time  31...Ref8? (31...f5? 32.gxf5 gxf5 33.exf5 Rxf5 34.Rb4 +/- ) (31...Rfe7! is relatively best, re-routing the knight to f7 as quickly as possible  32.Nc4 Nf7 33.Ra7 ) 32.Nc4 Re7 33.Rxc5 And now white is very close to winning  33...dxc5 34.Qxc5 Nf7 35.Qb4! Nd6 36.Nxd6 cxd6

in many ways the crux of this topsy-turvy game  37.Rxe7+? A very serious mistake as now the c-pawn is more or less under control (37.Bf1! White simply prepares to hold the monster pawn on b7 and will eventually march his a-pawn to victory  37...Rxb7 38.cxb7 Qb8 (38...Qc7 39.Ba6 Rb8 40.Qxa4 Kf7 41.Qc6 Qd8 42.Qc8 Ke7 43.a4 Kf7 44.Kg2 Ke7 45.a5 Kf7 46.Qxd8 Rxd8 47.Bd3 ) 39.Ba6 Rf7 this is relatively the best chance but still white wins quite handily  40.Kg2 "Do not rush in the endgame" - Dvoretsky :)  40...g5 41.Qxa4 (41.Qb6 ) 41...Rxb7 42.Bxb7 Qxb7 43.Qb4 Qa6 44.a4 +- ) 37...Qxe7 38.Qb6? Lukey told me that somewhere around here he had a serious hallucination and thought that the bishop would get to a6. Instead white should have been greedy and chopped off the pawn on a4. Then he is still in the driver seat although black is probably already not losing. (38.Qxa4 Qc7 39.Bf1 Rb8 40.Kg2 Rb2 41.Qa6 Rb6 42.Qe2 Rb3 43.a4 Qa5 ) 38...Rf7?! (38...Ra8 with the same idea is even better and black has completely equalised ) 39.Bf1 (39.Kg1!? f5! this is a hard move to see in some ways as now the bishop gets more scope but it's important to activate the black rook (39...Qa7 40.Qb4! ) 40.gxf5 gxf5 41.exf5 Rxf5 42.Qe3 (42.c7 Qd7! 43.Be4 Rf8 ) 42...Rf4 ) 39...Qa7 40.Qxa7? Now white gets into a very difficult endgame which is probably lost. Keeping the queens on still maintains equality. (40.Qb2 Qc5 (40...Qd4 is not a good idea as the d4-pawn will fall  41.Qxd4 exd4 42.Kg2 ) 41.Bg2! and it's still equal (41.Kg2 f5 ) ) 40...Rxa7 41.Kg2 Black first brings his rook to c5 then comes across with the king and prepares f5. If he can open the f-file then at some point white will simply be overstretched  41...Ra5 42.Kf3 Rc5 43.Ke3 Kf7 (43...Rc3+ 44.Kd2 Rxa3?? 45.c7 ) 44.Kd2 Ke7 45.Bd3 Kd8 46.Bc2 Kc7 47.Bd3 Kb6 (47...f5 was already possible but I felt that it was better just to manoeuvre around with the king first.  48.exf5 gxf5 49.Bxf5 Rxd5+ 50.Ke3 Rc5 51.g5 Kd8 ) 48.Be2? Almost certainly the decisive mistake (48.f3! Ka7 (48...f5? Now this is tactically bad as white's g-pawn is too fast  49.exf5 gxf5 50.g5 Rxd5 51.g6 e4 52.g7 ) 49.Be2 Kb8 50.Bd3 Kc7 51.Bc2 and just maybe white can still draw this ) 48...f5! 49.f3 (49.exf5 Rxd5+ 50.Ke3 gxf5 51.g5 (51.gxf5 Rd4 -+ ) 51...f4+ 52.Kf3 (52.Ke4 Rd4+ 53.Kf3 Rd2 54.g6 e4+ 55.Kg2 Rd5 -+ ) 52...Rd2 53.g6 (53.Bc4 d5 54.g6 dxc4 55.g7 Rd8 ) 53...e4+ 54.Kg2 Rd5 -+ ) 49...fxe4 50.fxe4 g5 to prevent g5 and Bg4 by white. Anyway black no longer needs the g5-square  51.Bd3 Ra5 52.Ke3 Ra8 53.Be2 Kc5 54.Bd1 Kc4 55.Kd2 Kd4 At this point white overstepped the time limit but I think it's fair to say that he is completely lost as black is threatening to penetrate the f-file with the rook. This was an epic game and it was the basis of my 7/7 run at the beginning of the tournament! (55...Kd4 56.Bc2 Rf8 57.Bxa4 (57.Ke2 Kc3 58.Bxa4 Ra8 59.c7 Rc8! ) 57...Kxe4 58.c7 Rc8 -+ ) 0-1