WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 ROUND 4 – MAGHSOODLOO vs HAKOBYAN

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 Symmetrical English 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) - Hakobyan,Aram (2554)

World Junior U20 Open 2018 Gebze (4.1), 07.09.2018

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.b3 c5 4.c4 Bg7 5.Bb2 d6 6.Bg2 e5 7.0–0 0–0 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.d3 h6 10.Nd2 Be6 A38: Symmetrical English vs ...g6: 4 Bg2 Bg7 5 Nf3 Nf6 
11.Nde4 Ne8 [11...Qd7 12.Nxf6+ Bxf6 13.a3 Bg7 14.Nd5 Rab8 15.b4 b6 16.Bc3 Ne7 17.Nxe7+ Qxe7 18.a4 Qd7 19.Qd2 d5 20.bxc5 bxc5 21.cxd5 Bxd5 1/2–1/2 (36) Artemiev,V (2653)-Gelfand,B (2725) Moscow 2016] 
12.Nd5 Ne7 

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The position is equal. 
13.Nec3N [13.Nxe7+ Qxe7 14.Qd2 f5 15.Nc3 Nf6 16.Rab1 Kh7 17.a3 Rad8 18.b4 1/2–1/2 (47) Bendig,F (2309) -Eckhardt,T (2449) ICCF email 2008] 
13...Nxd5 14.Nxd5 Nc7 15.Nc3 Rb8 16.e3 d5 17.Qc2 d4 18.exd4 exd4 19.Ne4 b6 20.Rae1 f5 21.Nd2 g5 22.Nf3 Qd6 23.Bc1 f4 24.gxf4 gxf4 25.Kh1 Rbe8 26.Nd2 Qd7 27.Rg1 Kh8 28.Bf3 Bf5 29.Ne4 Ne6 30.Qd1 

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30...Bxe4 
Black has a better option than 30...Bxe4. What is it?

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[Black should play 30...Re7² ] 
31.Bxe4± [31.Rxe4?! Ng5=] 
31...Ng5 32.Rxg5! Rxe4 33.Rxe4 hxg5 34.Qh5+ Kg8 35.f3 [35.Kg2²] 
35...Bf6= 36.Qg6+ Qg7 37.Qf5 Bd8 38.Qg4 Kh7 39.Kg2 Qf7 40.b4 Re8 41.bxc5 [41.Rxe8?! Qxe8 42.Kf2 Qa4=] 
41...bxc5 42.Bd2 [42.Rxe8?! Qxe8 43.Qf5+ Kg7=] 
42...Rxe4 43.fxe4 Qb7 44.Kf2 Qb2 45.Ke2 Qxa2 

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[¹45...Kh8] 
Find the strong attacking move that White has at his disposal.

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46.h4!± gxh4? 
What should black have played instead?

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[46...a6±] 
47.Qxf4+- 

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What would have been wrong with 47.Qd7+?

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[Not 47.Qd7+ Kg6±] 
47...Kg7 48.Qg4+ Kf7 49.Qh5+ Kg7 50.Qg4+ Kf7! 51.Qf5+ Ke8 52.Qxc5? 

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White went wrong with 52,Qxc5. What did he miss?

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[52.Qh5++- Kd7 53.Qxc5] 
52...Qa6± 53.Qxd4 
What is an even stronger option for white than 53.Qxd4 that was played?

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[White should try 53.Qe5++- Be7 54.Bb4] 
53...Qg6 ...Qh5+ is the strong threat. 
54.Qe5+ Kd7 [54...Kf7= remains equal.] 
55.Qd5+! Ke8 56.Qb5+ Kf7 57.Qd7+! Be7 

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58.Bb4 
What would have been wrong with 58.Qxa7?

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[Much weaker is 58.Qxa7?! Qh5+ 59.Ke1 h3=] 
58...Qg2+ 59.Kd1 

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59...Qg5 
Black missed the best defense here. What was it?

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[59...Qg1+± was called for. 60.Kc2 Qh2+ 61.Kb3 Qe5 62.Qxa7 h3 63.Bxe7 Qxe7] 
60.Kc2 [60.Bd6!+-] 
60...a5 61.Bd6 aiming for e5. 
61...Qf6 62.Bxe7 Qxe7 Endgame KQ-KQ 
63.Qd5+ Kg7 64.Qxa5 h3 [¹64...Qf6 65.Qa7+ Kg6] 
65.Qh5+- Qe6 66.e5 

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66...Qh6? 
The decisive error. What was the alternative?

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[66...Kg8 67.Kd1 Kf8] 
Find the move to punish Black's mistake.

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67.Qg4+! Kf8 68.Qd7! Qh4 69.Qd6+ Kg7 70.e6 h2 71.Qe5+! Kh7 

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White has a crushing move here. Find the move.

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72.Qf5+! 
What would have been wrong with 72.e7?

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[Don't go for 72.e7? Qf2+ 73.Kc3 h1Q–+] 
72...Kg7 73.e7? [73.Qf7++- Kh6 74.e7] 7
3...h1Q?? 

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Did Black have an alternative to the massive blunder he played?

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[73...Qxe7= 74.Qg4+ Kh8 75.Qh3+ Qh7 76.Qc8+ Kg7 77.Qg4+ Qg6 78.Qd4+ Qf6 79.Qd7+ Qf7 80.Qd4+ Qf6 81.Qg4+ Qg6 82.Qd4+ Qf6] 
74.Qe5+ Kh7 ( -> ...Qf2+) 
75.e8Q! Qxc4+ [75...Qf2++- 76.Qe2 Qhf3 77.Qxf2 Qxf2+ 78.Kb3 Qb6+ 79.Qb5 Qg1] 
76.dxc4  1–0