WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 ROUND 1 – WADSWORTH vs MAGHSOODLOO

The style of analysis in today’s game is the same as that used in my new book: Hidden Lessons From The 2018 Batumi Chess Olympiad.

The 2018 edition of the World Junior Championship has as top seed the phenomenally talented Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran as top seed. He has only just turned 18 and already has a live rating of 2667. Winning this tournament now is a massive opportunity as it is a direct seeded slot into the 2019 World Cup, which in turn is a gateway to the next Candidates cycle. In addition it will open the door to invitations to the lucrative super tournament circuit.

It might seem strange to many, but when I look at chess players I always take a close look at the physical condition of the player. This comes from my background in the health and fitness industry.

Physical fitness is a vital ingredient on the classical tournament circuit where it is possible to have consecutive days at the chess board of seven hours or longer. As chess players we know how physically draining long tournament games can be.

Remember how Peter Svidler lost a lot of weight before the Candidates in 2013? It made a huge difference to his performance over the final two rounds when tension was at an extreme level.

It is clear that Parham does not rate working on his fitness highly at all. During an interview Parham indicated that he works at least ten hours every day on his chess. From my perspective, if he took just 30 minutes a day from that schedule for physical training he would be able to absorb so much more during his study sessions.

Aspirant higher level players all realize that having a coach is an important step to improvement. It is just as important to have a coach or personal trainer for the physical aspect of your chess training as well.

Today’s game features an English Opening that includes some Q&A style annotations.

While playing through the game, scroll slowly so that when you get to the questions you can put some time on the clock (ten to fifteen minutes) and try and find the solution.

Wadsworth,Matthew J (2351) - Maghsoodloo,Parham (2649)

World Junior U20 Open 2018 Gebze (1.1), 05.09.2018

1.c4 e5 2.g3 h5 3.Nc3 Nc6 [3...Bb4 4.Nd5 a5 5.a3 Bc5 6.e3 d6 7.Bg2 c6 8.Nc3 h4 9.d4 Bb6 10.Nf3 h3 1/2–1/2 (41) Bruzon Batista,L (2664)-Rakhmanov,A (2635) Havana 2018] 
4.Nf3 Bc5 5.Bg2 d6 6.d3 A20: English Opening: 1...e5 
6...Nge7 7.a3 a6 

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8.e3N White has an edge. [8.h3 f6 9.e3 Bf5 10.b4 Bb6 11.Bb2 1–0 (30) Klings,P (2167)-Petersen,M (2009) Helsingor 2013] 
8...Ba7 9.b4 Be6 10.Ng5 Bg4 11.Bf3 Qd7 12.Nd5 Nxd5 13.cxd5 Nd8 14.h3 Bxf3 15.Nxf3 c6 16.dxc6 Nxc6 17.Bb2 f6 18.d4 e4 19.d5 Ne5 20.Nxe5 fxe5 21.Rc1 Bb6 22.Rc4 Qf5 23.Rh2 Kd7 24.Qa4+ Ke7 25.b5 Rhc8 [25...a5µ] 
26.Rxc8³ Rxc8 27.bxa6 bxa6 28.Qxa6 Bd8 

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29.g4? 
Can you find a better option for White?

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[29.Kd2³] 
29...hxg4–+ 30.hxg4? 
Opening up the kingside does White no favors at all. What was the alternative?

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[30.Kd2 Rc5 31.Bc3] 
30...Qxg4 31.Kf1 Rc2 32.Qb7+ Bc7 ( -> ...Qe2+) 
33.Qb5 

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33...Qd1+ 
Here Black missed a forced mating combination. What was it?

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[¹33...Bb6! 34.Bc3 (34.Qxb6 Qe2+) 34...Rxc3 35.Qb1 Rd3 36.Rh7 Rd1+ 37.Qxd1 Qxd1+ 38.Kg2 Qf3+ 39.Kg1 Bxe3 40.fxe3 Qxe3+ 41.Kh1 Qf3+ 42.Kh2 Qf2+ 43.Kh1 Kf7 44.Rh3 e3 45.Rxe3 Qxe3 46.Kg2 e4 47.Kf1 Qf3+ 48.Kg1 e3 49.a4 e2 50.Kh2 e1Q 51.a5 Qfh1#] 
34.Kg2 Qd3 35.Qb4 Qxe3 36.Kg1 

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36...Rxf2 
Black is clearly winning, but there is an even more decisive move available than 36...Rxf2. What was it?

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[¹36...Qe2 37.Rg2 Rxb2 38.Rxg7+ Kf6 39.Qxb2 Qxb2 40.Rxc7 Qxa3] 
37.Rxf2 [¹37.Qc3 Qg5+ 38.Kxf2 Bb6+ 39.Ke2 Qg4+ 40.Kd2 Qf4+ 41.Kc2 Qxh2+ 42.Kb3] 
37...Bb6 38.Bd4 Qxd4  0–1