LEKO vs HOFFMANN – EUROPEAN CLUB CUP 2018 ROUND 3

This game is from round 3 of the 2018 European Club Cup. It is between Peter Leko with White against Michael Hoffmann with Black.

This game features a Sicilian Taimanov Defence. To learn more about the Sicilian Taimanov Defence, here is the best instruction book I could find on Amazon.

Leko,Peter (2690) - Hoffmann,Michael (2441)

34th European Club Cup 2018 Halkidiki (3), 14.10.2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 B48: Sicilian: Taimanov: 5 Nc3 Qc7 6 Be3 a6 without Be2

XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+kvlntr(
7+pwqp+pzpp'
6p+n+p+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-sNP+-+$
3+-sN-vL-+-#
2PzPP+-zPPzP"
1tR-+QmKL+R!
xabcdefghy

7.Qf3 Black's piece can't move: c8 [7.f3 b5 8.Qd2 Nxd4 9.Bxd4 Ne7 10.0–0–0 Nc6 11.Be3 Bb4 12.h4 Ne5 13.h5 h6 14.Qd4 Bxc3 15.bxc3 f6 16.Rh4 Bb7 17.f4 Nc6 18.Qd6 Qxd6 19.Rxd6 Ne7 20.Bd3 Rc8 21.Kd2 Rc7 Van Wely,L (2655)-Lautier,J (2660)/Tilburg 1997/CBM 061/½–½ (32)] 

7...Bd6N Black threatens to win material: Bd6xh2 [7...Ne5 8.Qg3 h5 9.Bf4 d6 10.h4 Nf6 11.0–0–0 b5 12.Bxe5 dxe5 13.Nf3 Ng4 14.Nh2 b4 15.Na4 Bd7 16.Nxg4 Bxa4 17.Ne3 b3 18.axb3 Bxb3 19.Kb1 Ba4 20.b3 Rb8 21.Nc4 Bb5 22.Qxe5 Stoykov,G-Paskalev,D (1925)/Sofia 2004/CBM 102 ext/0–1 (46)] 8.0–0–0 Be5 9.g3 Covers f4 

9...Nge7 White has an active position 

10.Qe2 b5 11.f4 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 Bxd4 13.Rxd4 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+k+-tr(
7+-wqpsnpzpp'
6p+-+p+-+&
5+p+-+-+-%
4-+-tRPzP-+$
3+-sN-+-zP-#
2PzPP+Q+-zP"
1+-mK-+L+R!
xabcdefghy

13...Rb8 14.e5 Black has a new backward pawn: d7 

14...Bb7 15.Bg2 Bxg2 16.Qxg2 

XABCDEFGHY
8-tr-+k+-tr(
7+-wqpsnpzpp'
6p+-+p+-+&
5+p+-zP-+-%
4-+-tR-zP-+$
3+-sN-+-zP-#
2PzPP+-+QzP"
1+-mK-+-+R!
xabcdefghy

16...b4 Black threatens to win material: b4xc3 

17.Ne4 0–0 Black castles and improves king safety 

18.Nd6 Praise the knight! 

18...Qa5 Black threatens to win material: Qa5xa2 

19.Kb1 Nd5 20.Qe4 Qb6 21.Ka1 a5 22.f5 

XABCDEFGHY
8-tr-+-trk+(
7+-+p+pzpp'
6-wq-sNp+-+&
5zp-+nzPP+-%
4-zp-tRQ+-+$
3+-+-+-zP-#
2PzPP+-+-zP"
1mK-+-+-+R!
xabcdefghy

22...b3 [¹22...a4!?= should be considered] 

23.cxb3± Nb4 24.Rd2 a4 25.bxa4 Qa5 26.a3 Nc6 

XABCDEFGHY
8-tr-+-trk+(
7+-+p+pzpp'
6-+nsNp+-+&
5wq-+-zPP+-%
4P+-+Q+-+$
3zP-+-+-zP-#
2-zP-tR-+-zP"
1mK-+-+-+R!
xabcdefghy

27.Rd3 [¹27.Re2!? Ra8 28.f6 Qxa4 29.Qe3±] 

27...Nxe5² Black has a new passed pawn: d7 

28.Rc3 Nc6 29.Rhc1 Qb6 30.Nb5 Ne7 31.g4 

XABCDEFGHY
8-tr-+-trk+(
7+-+psnpzpp'
6-wq-+p+-+&
5+N+-+P+-%
4P+-+Q+P+$
3zP-tR-+-+-#
2-zP-+-+-zP"
1mK-tR-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

31...Nd5 Black threatens to win material: Nd5xc3 

32.Rc5 Nf6 33.Qd4 d5 [33...h6 34.h4 exf5 35.g5+-] 

34.fxe6+- fxe6 35.Qb4 [35.Rc7!? Rfe8+-] 

35...h6 36.Rc7 Ne8 

XABCDEFGHY
8-tr-+ntrk+(
7+-tR-+-zp-'
6-wq-+p+-zp&
5+N+p+-+-%
4PwQ-+-+P+$
3zP-+-+-+-#
2-zP-+-+-zP"
1mK-tR-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

37.R7c6 [37.R7c6 Qe3 38.Rc8+-]  1–0