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?

00000

[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?

00000

[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?

00000

[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?

00000

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

00000

[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?

00000

[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?

00000

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

THE NEWEST VICTIM OF CHESS CORRUPTION IN PERU

Boris Ascue, three time convicted criminal and president of the Peruvian chess federation, has excluded their top player, Ingrid Aliaga, from Peru's national chess team. This after she laid a charge of sexual harassment against her coach, that had been hand-picked by Ascue.

Peru is one of the Latin American countries that have consistently produced the most chess talent. However, it is a sport governed by a federation wallowing in perpetual scandal. Boris Ascue, convicted of at least three crimes and banned for three years, continues to serve as president of the federation. This is thanks to protection received from the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and as a result being tolerated by the Peruvian Sports Institute (IPD). The Peruvian chess federation’s latest move as been to exclude top player Ingrid Aliaga from the national team for laying a charge of sexual harassment, with evidence, against coach that had been hired by the federation.

It seems to me what has happened here is that the action taken against Ingrid Aliaga was an attempt to silence a whistle blower before any media attention could be focussed on the deeper rot within the Peruvian chess federation.

"The sanction of banning Mr. Boris Ascue, imposed by the Superior Council of Sports Justice, is effective from the date of notification to the parties. As of that moment, the IPD does not recognize Mr. Ascue as president of the federation, nor is he eligible to hold the post of vice president." says Víktor Preciado Rojas, president of the IPD. However, he added that the IPD was not empowered in this case to appoint a management commission to administer the Sports Federation of Peruvian Chess (FDPA). That is because notices had been sent out calling for candidates for new federation elections literally days before the ban took effect. The net result is that Ascue still holds the position from which he has been banned till the new elections take place. Elections that surprisingly have failed to materialize.

That last statement clashes with common sense.

Ascue was sentenced to two prison terms of three years in 2005 (case 0860), for water pollution, and in 2007 (case 0043), for illegal appropriation. Another two years was added for culpable homicide (case 164-95). The judgment also cites the crime of aggravated usurpation (2003-0587), but does not mention a conviction. Although he did not actually serve time in prison because the sentences were less than four years, such convictions disqualify him from holding any public office, as stated in the first banning judgment by the Superior Council of Sports Justice, dated February 26, 2018.

However, Ascue held his position of chess federation president, with the protection of the IPD because his convictions were subject to appeal. His appeal was rejected by the second, higher, court on July 24.

The news was widely reported in the Peruvian media. The federation meeting to call elections that Preciado Rojas cites was held on August 8.

It is obvious that Ascue already knew of his immenent dismissal and banning. Nevertheless he called for elections and made decisions regarding the Chess Olympiad and the FIDE General Assembly, which will be held in Batumi (Georgia) later this month. None of these actions were opposed by the IPD. In fact, the official IPD website was still citing Ascue as president of the FDPA until last week Monday. Now his name has been replaced by a link to the ruling on his ban.

This is the third time in twelve years that FIDE has protected a president of the Peruvian Federation facing a ban from holding office. The previous occasions were in 2006 and 2010. All three instances were immediately prior to elections for the FIDE presidency. In both occasions the vote of the banned chess federation president was in for the former FIDE president Kirsán Iliumyínov.

In 2010, several Peruvian media accused Iliumyínov of blackmail. He threatened the Peruvian Olympic Committee that the national team would not play the Olympiad if the delegate in Congress was not his protege Milton Iturry. At the time Iturry had been removed from office and serving a ban issued by the Peruvian Government.

In 2006, FIDE - member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) - argued that it only followed the directives of National Olympic Committees, and not governments. But in 2010 the Peruvian Olympic Committee did not recognize the banned Iturry, and yet he attended the FIDE congress in an official capacity and his vote was accepted by FIDE.

This brings us back to the sexual harassment accusation that Ingrid Aliaga levied against coach Dorges Heredia, a Cuban hired by the FDPA. The alleged sexual harassment began last March during several federation organized training sessions.

The first reaction of federation president, Ascue, was to affirm that Aliaga was "discredited" to exert such accusation. This was to effectively try to silence anything that might bring attention to the corruption at the head of the federation.

But on March 15, two things happened: an eight-minute recording appeared in which Heredia clearly recognizes his "error" several times during a meeting with Aliaga and other players (one of the other players recorded the conversation without Heredia knowing).

In addition, her team mates testified before the FDPA in favour of Aliaga. With those testimonies and the recording, Ascue announced that he was withdrawing Heredia from conducting training sessions with the women’s team.

However, last Monday the FDPA published on its Facebook page an open letter from Heredia in which he denies the accusations against him. He attributes the accusation to indiscipline within the team. He also claims the support of the best player in Peru, Deysi Cori, whom he says he admires and appreciates. However, Cori has endorsed Aliaga's accusation repeatedly.

Aliaga, third in the national ranking (the Olympic team has five places) was champion of Peru in 2017. She has also qualified for the Women's World Championship, which will be played in Russia from 1 to 25 November 2018.

Ascue asserts that he has excluded her from the team because she has played few tournaments in 2018, and also finished sixth in the 2018 Peruvian Championship.

Aliaga has responded by stating that according to the Peruvian chess federation rules all international tournament entries are done by the National federation. Aliaga had sent the federation a list of tournaments that she wanted to contest. However, subsequent to her making the sexual harassment accusation, not one entry has been forwarded to a tournament organizer. As to her sixth place at the Peruvian Championship, that was during the time that the harassment was happening – severely affecting her psychological state.

Furthermore, Aliaga attests that Ascue is pushing to have her name removed from the World Championship entry lists. This to send a clear message to other victims that might be considering coming forward.

The Peruvian Julio Granda, 51, the current veteran world champion has also weighed in on the situation. And he has been a recurring victim of the FDPA's management disaster over the past several decades.

Granda stated that it was regrettable that, once again, the FDPA is in a both uncertain and harmful situation regarding chess in Peru. Firstly the federation has been allowed a person who has been banned to maintain the position of presidenct, effectively with the complicity of other, otherwise, competent bodies – each of which have chosen to ignore obvious things. In addition this negatively affects negatively the image of Peru on the eve of both a Chess Olympiad and FIDE elections. This lack of integrity puts a cloud over the good image of the entire country. This whole thing is positively shameful.

On Aliaga’s sexual harassment case Granda says that everything points at the very least to a tacit pact of silence between the federation and the accused, judging by the recording and testimony of the girls. It must also be noted that the exclusion of Aliaga from the team is a reprisal for breaking the “omerta”. In addition there are the thinly veiled threats against Cori for supporting Aliaga as a confirmation of an “omerta”. When Granda was mistreated years ago, the message was very clear: This is how we treat the number one, so the rest of you best keep quiet.

In addition publishing Heredia’s defence against the harassment charges, the FDPA also published on Monday a manifesto to boast of Ascue’s great achievements compared to previous presidents of Peruvian chess.

Peru, without Granda who had been sanctioned for speaking out against the federation, was tenth out of 170 countries in the last Chess Olympiad.

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?

00000

[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.

00000

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

00000

[46...a6±] 
47.Qxf4+- 

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What would have been wrong with 47.Qd7+?

00000

[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?

00000

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

00000

[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?

00000

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

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
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59...Qg5 
Black missed the best defense here. What was it?

00000

[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 

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

00000

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

00000

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

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
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White has a crushing move here. Find the move.

00000

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

00000

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

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
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Did Black have an alternative to the massive blunder he played?

00000

[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

WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 ROUND 3 – JARMULA 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 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 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.

Jarmula,Lukasz (2504) - Maghsoodloo,Parham (2649)

World Junior U20 Open 2018 Gebze (3.1), 07.09.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 a6 4.Nc3 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 D37: Queen's Gambit (5.Bf4) 
6...Be6 7.e3 Nbd7 8.Bd3 Bd6 [8...h6 9.Bf4 g5 10.Bg3 Nh5 11.Be5 Nhf6 12.Bg3 Nh5 13.Qb3 Nxg3 14.hxg3 1/2–1/2 (48) Karjakin,S (2773)-Caruana,F (2822) Saint Louis 2018] 
9.0–0 c6 10.Bf4 Qc7 11.Bxd6 Qxd6 12.Qc2 0–0 13.h3 g6 

XABCDEFGHY
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14.Rab1N a5 15.a3 b5 16.Ne2 b4 17.axb4 axb4 18.Nc1 c5 19.dxc5 Nxc5 20.Nd4 Rfc8 21.Ncb3 Na4 22.Qe2 Bd7 23.Rfc1 Ne4 24.Ra1 Qf6 25.Bxe4 dxe4 26.Rxc8+ Rxc8 27.Qd2 Qd6 28.Rc1 Rxc1+ 29.Qxc1 f5 [29...Be6!?] 
30.h4 Kg7 31.Qd2 Kf6 32.Nc1 Be6 33.Nce2 Bf7 34.b3 Nb6 

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35.Qb2 
White now has a winning threat on the board. Can you find the move?

00000

And Nc6 + would win now. 
35...Ke7 36.Qa1 Nd5 

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37.Qa8 Nc6 + is a real threat. 
37...Be8 38.h5 Kf7 39.h6 Nf6 [39...Bd7!= keeps your balance.] 
40.Nf4!± g5 [40...Bd7±] 
41.Nfe6+- Kg6 

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42.Ng7? 
Can you find the improvement on the move White played?

00000

[42.Qa5+- Nd5 43.Nf8+ Qxf8 44.Qxd5] 
42...Bd7µ threatens ...f4. 
43.Qd8? [43.Qh8µ Qe5 44.Nge6 Bxe6 45.Qg7+ Kh5 46.Qe7] 
43...Qc5 44.Nge6 Qc1+! 45.Kh2 Threatening Nf8+. 
45...f4?‚ Black has some attack. [worse is 45...Bxe6 46.Nxe6 Qa1 47.Qb6=; 45...Qe1!–+ ( -> ...Ng4+) 46.Nf8+ Kf7] 
46.f3? 

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46.f3 was a critical error. How would Black respond to 46.Nf8+ instead?

00000

What should White have played to save the position?

00000

[However not 46.Nf8+? Kf7–+; 46.exf4= Bxe6 47.Nxe6] 
Now find Black's crushing respomse.

00000

46...exf3! [Not 46...Bxe6 47.Nxe6 exf3 48.Qd3+ Kh5 49.gxf3µ] 
47.exf4 

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47...Bxe6 
Black missed a forced Mate here. What was it?

00000

[¹47...f2 48.fxg5 Qg1+ 49.Kh3 Bxe6+ 50.Nxe6 Qh1+ 51.Kg3 Ne4+ 52.Kf4 f1Q+ 53.Ke5 Qf5+ 54.Kd4 Qa1+ 55.Kd3 Nxg5+ 56.Ke3 Qe1+ 57.Kd4 Qee4#] 
48.Nxe6 Qc2 And black Mates. 
49.f5+ Kh5 50.Ng7+ Kh4 51.Qd4+  0–1

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?

00000

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?

00000

[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?

00000

[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?

00000

[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?

00000

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

00000

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