WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 ROUND 11 – ESIPENKO 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  winner of the 2018 edition of the World Junior Championship was the phenomenally talented Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran. He won in spite of losing his final round game, his only loss of the tournament. He finished with nine wins, one draw and one loss for a tournament performance well in excess of 2800.

 Winning this tournament 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 opens the door to invitations to the lucrative super tournament circuit.

He has already accepted an invitation to the Challenger tournament at Tata Steel 2019.

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 Queens Gambit Declined 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.

Esipenko,Andrey (2593) - Maghsoodloo,Parham (2649)

World Junior U20 Open 2018 Gebze (11.1), 15.09.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 a6 4.Nc3 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Qb3 D37: Queen's Gambit Declined: 5 Bf4 
6...b5 7.Bg5 next Bxf6 is good for White. 
7...Be6 8.Qc2 The position is equal. 
8...Nbd7 9.e3 c5 10.dxc5 

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10...Nxc5N [10...Bxc5 11.Bd3 h6 12.Bh4 Rc8 13.0–0 0–0 1/2–1/2 (39) Gelfand,B (2728)-Mamedyarov,S (2800) Geneva 2017] 
11.Bd3 Rc8 12.0–0 h6 13.Bh4 Be7 14.Nd4 0–0 15.Qd1 Nfd7 16.Bxe7 Qxe7 17.Nce2 Nxd3 18.Qxd3 Ne5 19.Qd1 Bg4 20.b3 

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20...Nc6 
What is Black threatening here?

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And now ...Nxd4 would win. 
21.Qd2 Bxe2 22.Nxe2 Rfd8 23.Rfd1 Qa3 24.h3 Rd6 25.Rac1 Rcd8 26.Nf4 

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26...d4 
Yet another strong threat from Black. What is it?

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Threatens to win with ...dxe3. 
27.e4 Nb4 28.e5 Rc6 29.Rxc6 Nxc6 30.Nd3 Ne7 31.Nf4 Nc6 32.e6 fxe6 33.Nxe6 Re8 

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34.Nf4 
What would have been wrong with 34.Nxd4?

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[But not 34.Nxd4 Rd8µ] 
34...Qd6 35.Nd3 a5 36.Qc1 Re2 37.a4 bxa4 38.bxa4 Kh8 39.Qc4ƒ White has the initiative. 
39...Qf6 40.Kf1 Re6 41.Rb1 Qf5 42.Qb5 Qf6 43.Rd1 Qf8 44.Rc1 [44.Qd5 feels hotter. 44...Rd6 45.Qc5 Qf6 46.Re1 Kh7 47.Qc4] 
44...Qa3 [44...Nb4²] 
45.Kg1± Ne7 46.Rc7 Kh7 

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47.Rd7 
White missed a very strong attacking move. What was it?

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[47.Qb1!+- Rf6 48.Ne5+ Nf5 49.Qe4] 
47...Qc3 48.Qb1 Ng6 49.h4 

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49...h5? 
The first grave error by the new World Junior Champion. Can you find the improvement?

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[49...Re4± 50.g3 Ne5 51.Nxe5 Qe1+ 52.Qxe1 Rxe1+ 53.Kg2 Rxe5] 
50.Rd5+- Kh6? [50...Qc7 51.Rxh5+ Kg8] 
51.Qd1 White is clearly winning. 
51...Kh7 52.Rc5 Qa3 53.Qxh5+ Kg8 54.Qd5 Kf7 55.Rc7+ Ne7 

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56.Nf4 
Even though Black resigned in this position, White missed a forced Mate in 13. See if you can find it.

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[¹56.Ne5+ Kf6 57.Nd7+ Kf7 58.Qh5+ Rg6 59.Ne5+ Ke6 60.Nxg6 Qd6 61.Nf8+ Kf6 62.Nh7+ Ke6 63.Ng5+ Kf5 64.Nf7+ g5 65.Nxd6+ Ke5 66.Qe2+ Kd5 67.Qe4+ Kxd6 68.Qxe7+ Kd5 69.Rc5#]  1–0