WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 ROUND 7 – MAGHSOODLOO vs SINDAROV

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 Spanish 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.

Maghsoodloo,Parham (2649) - Sindarov,Javokhir (2484)

World Junior U20 Open 2018 Gebze (7.1), 11.09.2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.a4 b4 10.a5 Rb8 11.Bc4 [Nxe4! C90: Spanish Opening (early deviations) 
12.Bd5! [12.Rxe4 d5] 
12...Nxf2! 13.Kxf2 Nxa5! The position is balanced. 
14.cxb4 c6 15.Ba2 Rxb4 ...e4 is a real threat. 
16.d4 

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16...Bg4N [16...exd4= 17.Na3 c5; 16...exd4 17.Kg1 d5 18.Bd2 Be6 19.Bxb4 Bxb4 20.Nxd4 Bxe1 21.Qxe1 1/2–1/2 (36) Dubov,D (2661)-Kovalev,V (2598) Moscow 2017] 
17.dxe5± Qb6+ 18.Be3 Rxb2+ 19.Kg3 Bxf3 

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20.Kxf3 [20.Bxb6± Bxd1 21.Bxa5] 
20...Qb5 21.Bc1! Threatening Nc3. 
21...Rb4 22.Ba3 And Nc3 would win now. 
22...Ra4 23.g3 Black must now be aware of Kg2. 
23...Nc4 

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24.Bb3 
What would be wrong with 24.Bxd8?

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[Don't play: 24.Bxd6 Bxd6 25.exd6 Qh5+ 26.Kf2 Rxa2+ 27.Rxa2 Qxh2+ 28.Kf3 Qxa2=] 
24...Rxa3 [¹24...Nxe5+ 25.Kg2 Ra5] 
25.Rxa3 

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Why would 25.Nxa3 have been a mistake?

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[Of course not: 25.Nxa3?! Qxb3+ 26.Qxb3 Nd2+ 27.Kg2 Nxb3²] 
25...Nxa3 26.Nxa3 Qc5 

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27.exd6! Bxd6 28.Nc4 Bc7 29.Kg2 g6 30.Qf3 Kg7 31.Rd1 Threatens Rd7. 
31...Rd8 32.Nb2 f5 33.Nd3 Qc3 34.Ba4ƒ White has a well-coordinated game. 
34...Rd4 

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35.Bxc6 
Can you improve on 35.Bxc6?

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[Better is 35.Qxc6± Qxc6+ 36.Bxc6] 
35...Qc2+!= 36.Kh1 Rd6 [36...Bd8=] 
37.Bb7± Qb3 38.Rc1 Rxd3 39.Rxc7+ Kf6 [39...Kh6± 40.Qf4+ g5] 
40.Qc6++- 

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40...Kg5? 
Find the improvement on this error?

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[40...Qe6 41.Bxa6 Rd1+ 42.Kg2 Qxc6+ 43.Rxc6+ Ke5] 
41.Qc1+? 
White failed to capitalize on Black's error. Can you?

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[41.h4+ Kh6 42.Qc1+ Re3 43.g4 (43.Bxa6 Qd5+ 44.Kg1 Qe5=) ] 
41...Kf6 

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42.Kg2! Rd1? 
What should Black have played instead?

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[42...Qb4 43.Qa1+ Qd4 44.Qxd4+ Rxd4 45.Bxa6 Rd2+ 46.Kg1 h6 47.Rc6+ Kg7 48.Rc7+ Kf6 49.Rc6+ Kg7] 
Find the move that exploits Black's error?

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43.Qh6 Intends Qg7 + and Mate. White is clearly better. 
43...Qb2+ 44.Kh3 Threatens Mate with Qh4 +. 
44...Qb4 45.Bf3  1–0