WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 ROUND 2 – MAGHSOODLOO vs HALDORSEN

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 a Sicilian, Morra Gambit, 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) - Haldorsen,Benjamin (2461)

World Junior U20 Open 2018 Gebze (2.1), 06.09.2018

1.g3 c5 2.Bg2 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.e4 d5 [5...Nf6 6.d3 0–0 7.0–0 d6 8.Nbd2 Rb8 9.a4 a6 10.h3 b5 11.g4 Nd7 12.axb5 axb5 13.Rf2 Bb7 14.Nf1 Ra8 15.Rb1 Ra2 16.c3 Qa8 17.Be3 Qa4 18.d4 Qxd1 19.Rxd1 cxd4 20.Nxd4 Nxd4 21.cxd4 Rc8 22.Rd3 1/2–1/2 (22) Laznicka,V (2651)-Lupulescu,C (2609) Germany 2016] 
6.exd5 B21: Sicilian: 2 f4 and Morra Gambit 
6...Qxd5 7.0–0 Nh6 

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8.Nc3N The position is equal. [8.c3 Qd3 9.Ne1 Qd8 10.d3 0–0 11.Nd2 Qc7 12.h3 Nf5 13.Ne4 1/2–1/2 (33) Sulskis,S (2350)-Szymanski, A (2210) Warsaw 1992] 
8...Qh5 9.Ne4 0–0 10.d3 Rd8 11.c3 c4 12.d4 Bh3 

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13.Ne5ƒ 
White has a threat of an immediate and decisive win. What is the threat?

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Threatens to win with Qxh5. White has the initiative. 
13...Qxd1 14.Rxd1 Bxg2! 15.Kxg2 Rac8 16.Be3 e6 17.Nxc4 

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17...Nxd4? 
Can you find the improvement on Black's error?

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[17...Nf5= and Black is okay.] 
18.Ned6+- [18.Bxd4 Rxc4 19.Bxg7 Rxd1±] 
18...Ndf5 19.Bxa7 Strongly threatening Bb6. [19.Nxc8 Rxc8 20.Bxa7 Rxc4²] 
19...Nxd6 

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20.Nxd6 
What would have happened if White had played 20.Rxd6 instead?

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[Weaker is 20.Rxd6 Rxd6 21.Nxd6 Rd8²] 
20...Ra8 21.Bb6 Rd7 22.a3 e5 [22...Ng4 is a better defense. 23.Ne4 Rad8] 
23.fxe5 Ng4 24.e6 fxe6 25.Nb5 [25.Nc4± Rd5 26.Rxd5 exd5 27.Ne3 Nxe3+ 28.Bxe3] 
25...Rf7? 

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What should black have played?

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[25...Rad8!= 26.Rxd7 (26.Bxd8 Ne3+ 27.Kf3 Nxd1=) 26...Rxd7] 
26.Rd6 [White should play 26.a4+- ] 
26...Ne5 [26...Rf5± 27.Nc7 Be5] 
27.Rxe6 Nc4 28.Nd6 

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28...Nxb2? 
This was Black's final error, leading to a resignation in five moves. There was an alternative that would have still offered resistance to White's initiative. What was it?

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[28...Nxd6 keeps fighting. 29.Rxd6 Re8] 
Find the move that seals Black's fate.

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29.Nxf7 White is clearly winning. 
29...Kxf7 30.Rae1 Bxc3 31.Re7+ Kf8 32.R1e2 Na4 33.Bf2  1–0