WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 ROUND 10 – MAGHSOODLOO vs VAVULIN

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. 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 a Sicilian Najdorf 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.

Maghsoodloo,Parham (2649) - Vavulin,Maksim (2559)

World Junior U20 Open 2018 Gebze (10.1), 14.09.2018

1.Nf3 c5 2.e4 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 6.h3 e5 7.Nde2 h5 B90: Sicilian Najdorf: Unusual White 6th moves, 6 Be3 Ng4 and 6 Be3 e5 
8.Bg5 Be6 [8...Be7 9.Ng3 g6 10.Bc4 Be6 11.Bb3 Nbd7 12.Qf3 Nc5 13.0–0–0 Nfd7 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 15.Qe3 1/2–1/2 (43) Xiong,J (2650)-Kovalyov,A (2644) Irving 2018] 
9.Bxf6 Qxf6 10.Nd5 Qd8 11.Qd3 g6 12.0–0–0 Bh6+ 13.Kb1 Nd7 14.Qa3 Nc5 15.Nec3 

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15...0–0N 16.h4! b5 17.f3 f5 

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18.Be2 
White missed an attacking opportunity here. What was it?

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[White should try 18.exf5!± gxf5 19.g3] 
18...Bg7 
How could Black have retained equality in this position?

00000

[18...f4= remains equal.] 
19.g4 

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19...hxg4 
What should Black rather have played?

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[Black should play 19...fxg4² 20.fxg4 Bxg4] 
20.fxg4 
Find an even more attacking move for White.

00000

[20.exf5!± gxf5 21.fxg4] 
20...fxg4 21.Rhg1 Rb8 22.Bxg4 

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22...Bf7? 
This was a grave error. Find the alternative.

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[22...Bxg4± 23.Rxg4 Rf3] 
Find the move that punishes Black's error.

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23.h5!+- gxh5 [23...g5 is a better defense. 24.b4 a5] 
24.Bf5 Kh8 

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25.Ne2 
What is White's winning threat?

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Threatens to win with Rxg7! 
25...Bh6 26.Qh3 
What would have been wrong with 26.Qg3?

00000

[Weaker is 26.Qg3 a5²] 
26...Rg8 27.Rxg8+ Qxg8 28.Rg1 Qf8 

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29.Ng3? 
There was an even stronger move available. What was it?

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[29.Nf6+- has better winning chances.] 
29...Rb7? 
What was the correct defense in this position?

00000

[29...Qg7±] 
30.Nf6? 
This was another missed opportunity to kill the game. What move did White overlook?

00000

[30.Nxh5 Bxd5 31.exd5] 
30...b4? 
Black seems to have overlooked the looming Check Mate threat. What was a better defense here?

00000

[30...Qg7 31.Nfxh5 Qg5] 
31.Ngxh5 a5 32.Nh7 Bxa2+ 33.Kxa2 Rxh7 34.Bxh7 Kxh7 35.Qg4 White mates. 
35...Qf7+ 36.Kb1 Ne6 

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White's next move forced an immediate resignation. What was it?

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37.Nf6+!  1–0