Showing posts with label chessbase. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chessbase. Show all posts

Friday, September 14, 2018

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 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+lwq-trk+(
7+-+-vlpzpp'
6p+pzp-+-+&
5sn-+-zp-+-%
4-tr-zP-+-+$
3+-+-+N+-#
2LzP-+-mKPzP"
1tRNvLQtR-+-!
xabcdefghy

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 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-trk+(
7+-+-vlpzpp'
6pwqpzp-+-+&
5sn-+-zP-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-vLlmK-#
2Ltr-+-+PzP"
1tRN+QtR-+-!
xabcdefghy

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 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-trk+(
7+-+-vlpzpp'
6p+pzp-+-+&
5+q+-zP-+-%
4r+n+-+-+$
3vL-+-+KzP-#
2L+-+-+-zP"
1tRN+QtR-+-!
xabcdefghy

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 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-trk+(
7+-+-vlpzpp'
6p+pzp-+-+&
5+q+-zP-+-%
4-+n+-+-+$
3tRL+-+KzP-#
2-+-+-+-zP"
1+N+QtR-+-!
xabcdefghy

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 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-trk+(
7+-+-vlpzpp'
6p+pzp-+-+&
5+-wq-zP-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3sNL+-+KzP-#
2-+-+-+-zP"
1+-+QtR-+-!
xabcdefghy

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 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-vl-+-mkp'
6p+p+-+p+&
5+-+-+p+-%
4L+-tr-+-+$
3+-wqN+QzP-#
2-+-+-+KzP"
1+-+R+-+-!
xabcdefghy

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++- 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+LtR-+-+p'
6p+Q+-mkp+&
5+-+-+p+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+q+r+-zP-#
2-+-+-+-zP"
1+-+-+-+K!
xabcdefghy

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 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+LtR-+-+p'
6p+-+-mkp+&
5+-+-+p+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+q+r+-zP-#
2-+-+-+-zP"
1+-wQ-+-+K!
xabcdefghy


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

Saturday, August 25, 2018

CARUANA vs KARJAKIN – SINQUEFIELD CUP 2018 ROUND 6


Caruana’s crushing victory in round six left little doubt that he is coming into some excellent form ahead of his World Championship match.

In fact had Carlsen not managed to salvage the draw against Grischuk, Caruana would have been the new number one ranked player on the live rating list. As is the rating difference between the two has reduced to just 7.4, something that can be erased should Caruana somehow beat Carlsen with Black in Round 7. Carlsen has been World number one since the middle of 2011, so this is a potential big deal.

The Carlsen versus Caruana game in round 7 will be the last time that the two players face each other before their match in London – so be sure not to miss that one.

Today’s game features a Nimzo-Indian 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.


Caruana,Fabiano (2822) - Karjakin,Sergey (2773)
6th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2018 Saint Louis (6), 24.08.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.g3 0–0 5.Bg2 d5 6.Nf3 dxc4 7.0–0 Nc6 8.Qa4 E20: Nimzo-Indian: 4 g3 and 4 f3 
8...Bd7 9.Bg5 [9.Qc2 Be7 10.e4 Nb4 11.Qe2 Nd3 12.Be3 b5 13.Ne1 Nxe1 14.Rfxe1 c6 15.Rad1 Rc8 0–1 (41) So,W (2780)-Anand,V (2768) Saint Louis 2018] 
9...a5 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7+pzpl+pzpp'
6-+n+psn-+&
5zp-+-+-vL-%
4QvlpzP-+-+$
3+-sN-+NzP-#
2PzP-+PzPLzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

10.Bxf6N White has an edge. [10.Rfd1 Nxd4 11.Rxd4 Bxc3 12.Rxd7 Qxd7 13.Qxd7 Nxd7 14.bxc3 f6 15.Be3 Rab8 16.Nd4 Kf7 17.Nb5 1–0 (17) Lenderman,A (2600)-Gretarsson,H (2567) Reykjavik 2018] 
10...Qxf6 11.a3 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Qd8 13.Qxc4 a4 14.Nd2 Na5 15.Qb4 Ra7 16.Rab1 b6 17.e3 Bc6 18.Bxc6 Nxc6 19.Qb5 Qa8 20.c4 Rd8 21.Rfc1 e5 [21...h6= remains equal.] 
22.d5± Nb8 23.c5 Ra5 

XABCDEFGHY
8qsn-tr-+k+(
7+-zp-+pzpp'
6-zp-+-+-+&
5trQzPPzp-+-%
4p+-+-+-+$
3zP-+-zP-zP-#
2-+-sN-zP-zP"
1+RtR-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

Now that White has the space advantage, the time has come to open the position and launch the attack. Find the move.
00000
24.Qb2! Qxd5 25.cxb6 cxb6 26.Nc4 Rc5 27.Qxb6 

XABCDEFGHY
8-sn-tr-+k+(
7+-+-+pzpp'
6-wQ-+-+-+&
5+-trqzp-+-%
4p+N+-+-+$
3zP-+-zP-zP-#
2-+-+-zP-zP"
1+RtR-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy


27...f6?
Can you find an improvement on Black's decisive error?
00000
[27...Rcc8±] 
White's next move exploits the error and forced Black to resign within three moves. What was it?
00000
28.Rd1 White is clearly winning. 
28...Qxd1+ 29.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 30.Kg2  1–0

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

CARUANA vs NAKAMURA – SINQUEFIELD CUP 2018 ROUND 4


After two days featuring decisive games lasting almost 7 hours, it was a pleasant change to have one that finished in just over four hours. We now have half the field tried for the lead on plus one. Nakamura languished in last place on minus two.

Caruana hasn’t lost a classical game to Nakamura in the last three years. The opening novelty that lead to victory is what Nigel Short referred to during his match against Kasparov as a condom opening – something to use once, then discard. In this instance it was castling queenside out of a Catalan positional structure. Caruana prepared the line a few months back with the view to perhaps use it in a rapid game.

During the post-game interview, Caruana noted that Nakamura had played completely logical moves. They were just not the best moves in the highly unusual position.

Today’s game features a Catalan 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.


Caruana,Fabiano (2822) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2777)
6th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2018 Saint Louis (4), 21.08.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.g3 dxc4 6.Bg2 0–0 7.Ne5 Nc6 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.Nxc6 Qe8 10.Nxe7+ Qxe7 11.Qa4 c5 12.dxc5 E06: Catalan 
12...Qxc5 13.Be3 Qc7 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+-trk+(
7zp-wq-+pzpp'
6-+-+psn-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4Q+p+-+-+$
3+-sN-vL-zP-#
2PzP-+PzP-zP"
1tR-+-mK-+R!
xabcdefghy

14.0–0–0N The position is balanced. [14.0–0 Nd5 15.Bd4 Bd7 16.Qa3 a5 17.Rad1 Nb4 18.Bc5 Qxc5 19.Rxd7 Rab8 1/2–1/2 (46) Svidler,P (2763)-Nakamura,H (2780) Palma de Mallorca 2017] 
14...Ng4 15.Rd2 Nxe3 16.fxe3 Rb8 17.Rhd1 a5 18.Kb1 h6 19.Ka1 Rb4 20.Qc2 Rb8 21.Qe4 Bb7 22.Qd4 Ba8 23.e4 Rfc8 24.Qf2 

XABCDEFGHY
8ltrr+-+k+(
7+-wq-+pzp-'
6-+-+p+-zp&
5zp-+-+-+-%
4-+p+P+-+$
3+-sN-+-zP-#
2PzP-tRPwQ-zP"
1mK-+R+-+-!
xabcdefghy

Black now has to pay attention to Rd7. 
24...Bc6 25.Qc5 Be8 26.Qxc7 Rxc7 27.Rd6 Kf8 28.Ra6 Rc5 29.Ra7 Rbc8 30.Kb1 Rh5 31.h4 Re5 32.Kc2 g5 33.Rf1 Kg7 34.Rb7 Kg6 35.Kd2 f5 36.hxg5 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+l+-+(
7+R+-+-+-'
6-+-+p+kzp&
5zp-+-trpzP-%
4-+p+P+-+$
3+-sN-+-zP-#
2PzP-mKP+-+"
1+-+-+R+-!
xabcdefghy

36...fxe4 
Can you find and improvement on what Black played?
00000
[Rather 36...Kxg5² 37.exf5 exf5] 
37.Ke3 
There is a better move available for White. What is it?
00000
[Better is 37.gxh6± e3+ 38.Kc1 Kxh6 39.Rh1+ Rh5 40.Rxh5+ Bxh5 41.Rb6] 
37...Bc6 38.Re7ƒ aiming for gxh6 Black is under heavy pressure. 
38...Rxg5 39.Rxe6+ [39.Nxe4?! Bxe4 40.Rxe6+ (40.Kxe4 Rc6=) 40...Kg7=] 
39...Kg7 40.Re7+ [40.Nxe4?! Bxe4 41.Re7+ (41.Rxe4 Rxg3+ 42.Kd4 c3=; 41.Kxe4 Rb5=) 41...Kg6=] 
40...Kg6 41.Rd1 [41.Nxe4?! Bxe4 42.Re6+ (42.Rxe4 Rxg3+ 43.Kd4 c3=; 42.Kxe4 Rb5=) 42...Kg7=] 
41...Kf6 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+-+-+(
7+-+-tR-+-'
6-+l+-mk-zp&
5zp-+-+-tr-%
4-+p+p+-+$
3+-sN-mK-zP-#
2PzP-+P+-+"
1+-+R+-+-!
xabcdefghy

Find the best continuation for White.
00000
42.Ra7! Ke6 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+-+-+(
7tR-+-+-+-'
6-+l+k+-zp&
5zp-+-+-tr-%
4-+p+p+-+$
3+-sN-mK-zP-#
2PzP-+P+-+"
1+-+R+-+-!
xabcdefghy


43.Rh1 
What would have been wrong with 43.Nxe4?
00000
[Much worse is 43.Nxe4?! Bxe4 44.Kxe4 Re5+ 45.Kf4 Rf8+ 46.Kg4 h5+ 47.Kh3 Rxe2=] 
43...h5 44.g4! [However not 44.Nxe4?! Re5=] 
44...Be8? [44...Rh8±] 
45.gxh5+- Bxh5 [45...Rxh5 is probably better. 46.Rxh5 Bxh5 47.Rxa5 Be8] 
46.Nxe4 White is clearly winning. [Weaker is 46.Ra6+ Kf7+-] 
46...Rf5 47.Ra6+ Ke7 48.Nd6 Re5+ 49.Kd4  1–0

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

NAKAMURA vs GRISCHUK – SINQUEFIELD CUP 2018 ROUND 3


For the second day in a row Central European time meant that I was already asleep when the only decisive game of the day finished. Just like round 2, this was also 6.5 hours – although 89 moves compared to Carlsen’s 88 mover. Grischuk leveraged his space advantage to win three pawns, creating a won end game.

Today’s game features a Two Knights Defense 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.


Nakamura,Hikaru (2777) - Grischuk,Alexander (2766)
6th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2018 Saint Louis (3), 20.08.2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.0–0 0–0 6.c3 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Re1 Bg4 9.Nbd2 Nb6 10.Bb5 Bd6 11.h3 Bh5 12.Ne4 C55: Two Knights: 4 d3, 4 d4 exd4 5 e5 and Max Lange Attack 
12...Re8 13.Bg5 f6 Threatens to win with ...Bxf3. 
14.Be3 The position is equal. 
14...a6 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Ng3 Bf7 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqr+k+(
7+-zp-+lzpp'
6psnpvl-zp-+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-zPPvLNsNP#
2PzP-+-zPP+"
1tR-+QtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy

17.c4N Hoping for c5. [17.d4 Nc4 18.dxe5 Bxe5 19.Nxe5 Rxe5 1/2–1/2 (43) Carlsen,M (2855)-Aronian,L (2792) Leuven 2016] 
17...Bb4 18.Re2 Bf8 19.b3 c5 20.Qe1 a5 21.Rd1 a4 22.Nd2 Qd7 23.Nb1 axb3 24.axb3 Bg6 25.f3 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+rvlk+(
7+-zpq+-zpp'
6-sn-+-zpl+&
5+-zp-zp-+-%
4-+P+-+-+$
3+P+PvLPsNP#
2-+-+R+P+"
1+N+RwQ-mK-!
xabcdefghy

25...Rad8 
What would have been wrong with 25...Bxd3 instead of the move that was played?
00000
[Don't go for 25...Bxd3? 26.Red2+-] 
26.Qf2 Qc6 27.Red2 Nd7 28.Nc3 h6 29.Kh1 Kh8 30.Nb5 Bh7 31.Ra2 f5! 32.Bc1 Nf6 33.Nc3 Qb7 34.Rb2 g5 35.Rb1 Qc6 36.Bb2 Kg8 37.Nf1 Nh5 38.Nd5 Qd6 39.Ng3 c6 40.Nc3? 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-trrvlk+(
7+-+-+-+l'
6-+pwq-+-zp&
5+-zp-zppzpn%
4-+P+-+-+$
3+PsNP+PsNP#
2-vL-+-wQP+"
1+R+R+-+K!
xabcdefghy

Can you find an improvement for White instead of 40.Nc3?
00000 
[40.Nxh5µ cxd5 41.g4] 
Find the move that punishes White's error.
00000
40...Nf4!–+ 41.Qf1 Nxd3 42.Nce2 Qe6 43.Bc3 Rd6 44.Rd2 Red8 45.Rbd1 Bg6 46.Nc1 Nxc1 47.Rxd6 Bxd6 [Resist 47...Rxd6 48.Rxc1 e4 49.fxe4–+] 
48.Rxc1 Rb8 49.Ra1 [49.Qe2 was necessary.] 
49...Rxb3 50.Ra8+ Rb8 51.Ra6 Bf8 52.Qe2 Bg7 [¹52...e4 ...Rb3 is the strong threat. 53.Kg1 e3] 
53.Ra7 

XABCDEFGHY
8-tr-+-+k+(
7tR-+-+-vl-'
6-+p+q+lzp&
5+-zp-zppzp-%
4-+P+-+-+$
3+-vL-+PsNP#
2-+-+Q+P+"
1+-+-+-+K!
xabcdefghy

Can you see the immediate threat posed by White?
00000
And now Rxg7+! would win. 
53...Re8 54.h4 [54.Nf1 is a better defense.] 
54...gxh4 55.Nf1 f4 56.Nd2 Re7 57.Rxe7 Qxe7 58.Ne4 Bf7 59.Kh2 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7+-+-wqlvl-'
6-+p+-+-zp&
5+-zp-zp-+-%
4-+P+Nzp-zp$
3+-vL-+P+-#
2-+-+Q+PmK"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

Black has a powerful continuation here. What is it?
00000
59...h3! 60.gxh3 Qe6 61.Qg2 Kh7 62.Qc2 White wants to mate with Nf6+. 
62...Kh8 63.Qb2 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-mk(
7+-+-+lvl-'
6-+p+q+-zp&
5+-zp-zp-+-%
4-+P+Nzp-+$
3+-vL-+P+P#
2-wQ-+-+-mK"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

63...Kh7 
What would have been wrong with 63...Qxc4 in this position?
00000
[Don't play 63...Qxc4 64.Bxe5 Bxe5 65.Qxe5+ Kh7 66.Qxf4=] 
64.Qc2! 
What is White's unpleasant threat?
00000
White threatens Nf6+ and mate. 
64...Qg6 65.Qe2 Be6 66.Qf1 Bf5 67.Qe2 Qh5 68.Nf2 [¹68.Qf1] 
68...Qh4 69.Ne4 [¹69.Kg1] 
69...Qxh3+ 70.Kg1 Qh5 Black is clearly winning. 
71.Be1 [¹71.Nd2 Qg6+ 72.Kh1] 
71...Bxe4 72.Qxe4+ Qg6+ 73.Kh2 Qxe4 74.fxe4 Endgame KB-KB 
74...Kg6 75.Kh3 Kh5 76.Bh4 f3 77.Bf2 Bf6 78.Be1 Bg5 79.Bf2 Be7 80.Be1 Bd8 81.Bg3 Kg5 82.Bxe5 Bf6 83.Bd6 f2 84.Kg2 Bd4 85.Kf1 Kg4 86.Ke2 h5 87.Kf1 h4 88.Bh2 h3 89.Ke2 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-+p+-+-+&
5+-zp-+-+-%
4-+PvlP+k+$
3+-+-+-+p#
2-+-+Kzp-vL"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy


Blacks next move caused White to resign immediately. What was it?
00000
89...Be3!  0–1

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Le vs Shankland - 9th Hainan Danzhou GM 2018 - Round 6


China has not been good to Sam Shankland. The US Champion has suffered his first two losses of 2018 at this same tournament.

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.

Le,Quang Liem (2728) - Shankland,Samuel L (2727)
9th Hainan Danzhou GM 2018 Danzhou (6), 02.08.2018
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Nc3 c6 8.Bf4 E16: Queen's Indian: 4 g3 Bb7 5 Bg2 Bb4+ 
8...d5 9.cxd5 

XABCDEFGHY
8rsn-wqk+-tr(
7zpl+-vlpzpp'
6-zpp+psn-+&
5+-+P+-+-%
4-+-zP-vL-+$
3+-sN-+NzP-#
2PzP-+PzPLzP"
1tR-+QmK-+R!
xabcdefghy

9...Nxd5N [9...cxd5 10.Nb5 Na6 11.0–0 0–0 12.Rc1 Ne4 13.h4 Nd6 14.a4 Nc4 15.Ne5 Na5 16.Bh3 Qe8 17.h5 Nc6 18.h6 g5 19.e4 dxe4 20.Nxc6 Bxc6 21.Bxg5 Bxg5 ½–½ (66) Bacrot,E (2717)-Ivanchuk,V (2729) Morelia/Linares 2006] 
10.0–0 0–0 11.Qc2 Nxf4 12.gxf4 Nd7 13.Rfd1 Qc7 14.e3 Rfd8 15.Rac1 Rac8 16.f5 exf5 17.Qxf5 g6 18.Qh3 c5 19.d5 Bf6 20.Nd2 Qb8 21.Nde4 Bg7 22.Rc2 Nf8 23.Rcd2 Rd7 24.Qh4 Qe5 25.f4 Qe8 26.Kh1 f5 27.Ng5 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+qsnk+(
7zpl+r+-vlp'
6-zp-+-+p+&
5+-zpP+psN-%
4-+-+-zP-wQ$
3+-sN-zP-+-#
2PzP-tR-+LzP"
1+-+R+-+K!
xabcdefghy

27...Bxc3 
Can you find an improvement for black here? 
00000 
[Better is 27...h6µ 28.Nf3 Rcd8] 
28.bxc3 Qxe3 29.Nf3! Qxc3 30.Ne5 Rg7 31.Qf6 Re8 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+rsnk+(
7zpl+-+-trp'
6-zp-+-wQp+&
5+-zpPsNp+-%
4-+-+-zP-+$
3+-wq-+-+-#
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32.Re2 [32.Ng4!? Qc4 33.Nh6+ Kh8 34.Nf7+ Kg8 35.Nh6+ Kh8 36.Nf7+ Kg8 37.Nh6+=] 
32...Qb4 [32...Ree7= remains equal.] 
33.Ng4! fxg4 34.Rxe8 Rf7 

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35.Qe6 [35.Qe5!±] 
35...c4? 
What should Black have rather have played in this position? 
00000 
[35...Qa4± 36.Re1 Qd4] 
36.Rf1+- 
What would have been wrong with 36.Qxg4? 
00000 
[Weaker is 36.Qxg4 c3²] 
36...c3 37.f5 Kg7 38.f6+ Kg8 39.Qe7 1–0

Sunday, April 29, 2018

US WOMEN’S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 ROUND 10


Heading into the final round we have a sense of déjà vu all over again. Wang leads Paikidze by half a point, identical to the situation at the end of round 6 before the rest day.

Round 10 could have sealed tournament victory for Wang. Instead, however, Paikidze’s win and Wang’s draw closed the gap to a margin that creates the possibility of a play off for the title.

GM Irina Krush also closed the gap to Wang, moving into a clear third place. But her one and a half point deficit leaves the seven time champion out of the running for 2018.

Abrahamyan,Tatev (2366) - Paikidze,Nazi (2352)
US-ch Women 2018 Saint Louis (10), 28.04.2018
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 b5 4.Bd3 [4.a3 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Nf6 6.Bd3 g6 7.Bg5 Bg7 8.Nf3 0–0 9.Qd2 Bf5 10.Nxf6+ exf6 11.Be3 Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Nd7 13.d5 0–1 (41) Belyakov,B (2487)-Howell,D (2644) Doha 2016] 
4...b4 5.Nce2 dxe4 6.Bxe4 B15: Caro-Kann: 3 Nc3: 3...g6 and 3...dxe4 4 Nxe4 Nf6 5 Nxf6+ exf6 
6...Nf6 7.Bf3 e6 

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8.Nh3 The position is equal. 
8...Bd6N [8...Be7 9.0–0 0–0 10.Nhf4 Bb7 11.Nd3 Nbd7 1/2–1/2 (41) Abrahams,D (2080)-Garcia Albarracin,F (2374) Porto 2015] 
9.Nhf4 Qc7 10.Nd3 Nbd7 11.Bf4 Bxf4 12.Nexf4 Rb8 13.0–0 0–0 14.a3 a5 15.axb4 axb4 16.Qd2 Qd6 17.Qe3ƒ White has some pressure. 
17...Nd5 18.Bxd5! cxd5 19.b3 Ba6 20.Ra4 Rfc8 21.Rc1 Rb6 22.Qd2 Rcb8 23.Rca1 Bxd3 24.Nxd3 h6 25.Ra7 Re8 26.h3 Reb8 27.R1a4 Nf6 28.Nc5 e5 29.dxe5 Qxe5 30.Na6 Ne4 31.Qe3 [31.Qe1² Rf8 32.Nc5! (32.Rxb4 Qf6=; 32.Nxb4 Qc3³) ] 
31...d4!= 32.Qe1 Re8 33.Nxb4 Rg6 

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[33...Nc5= remains equal. 34.Qxe5 Rxe5] 
34.Ra8!± Rxa8 35.Rxa8+ Kh7 36.Ra6 f6 [36...Rxa6± was worth a try. 37.Nxa6 f5] 
37.Nd3 Qf5 Threatens to win with ...Qf3. 
38.Ra5?? [38.Qe2+- and life is good for White.] 
38...Qf3!–+ Black has strong compensation. 
39.Qf1 

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39...Nd2! 40.Ne1? [40.Kh1 Qc6 41.Qg1 (41.Nb4? Qc3–+) 41...Qxc2 42.Nf4] 
40...Qd1  0–1


Goletiani,Rusudan (2306) - Krush,Irina (2422)
US-ch Women 2018 Saint Louis (10), 28.04.2018
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 e6 4.c4 dxc4 5.Qa4+ c6 6.Qxc4 b5 7.Qc2 Bb7 8.0–0 Nbd7 A13: English Opening: 1...e6 
9.b3 [9.d4 c5 10.Nc3 a6 11.Bg5 Rc8 12.Rad1 Qb6 13.Qd2 Be7 14.Ne5 Bxg2 15.Nxd7 Nxd7 16.Kxg2 cxd4 17.Bxe7 Kxe7 18.Qxd4 Qxd4 19.Rxd4 1/2–1/2 (55) Mamedov,R (2688)-Ghaem Maghami,E (2574) Doha 2016] 
9...Be7 10.Bb2 0–0 11.Nc3 

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11...Qb6 12.d3N [12.Ng5 h6 13.Nge4 Nd5 14.d3 Nb4 15.Qd1 c5 16.a3 0–1 (43) Skembris,S (2412)-David,A (2584) Loutraki 2015] 
12...c5 13.e4 Rac8 14.Nd2 Nb8 15.Ne2 Nc6 16.a3 Rfd8 17.Rac1 Rd7 18.Nf3 Rcd8 19.Rfd1 [19.Nf4=] 
19...b4 20.a4 Ba6 [20...h6³] 
21.Nf4= Rc8 22.Rd2 Rdc7 23.h4 Nd4 24.Qd1 Nd7 25.Bh3 [25.e5= remains equal.] 
25...Bf6µ 26.Ne1 Ne5 27.Nfg2 Nec6ƒ White is under strong pressure. 
28.Rb1 Na5 29.Bc1? [29.Bxd4µ Bxd4 30.Qe2] 
29...Naxb3–+ 30.Rxb3 Nxb3 31.Qxb3 c4 32.dxc4 Bxc4 [Resist 32...Rxc4 33.Bb2–+] 
33.Qb1? 

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[33.Qf3] 
33...Ba2! Black is clearly winning. 
34.Qxa2 b3 35.Qa3 Rxc1 36.e5 Bxe5 37.a5 

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37...Qb8! 38.Rd8+ Rxd8 39.Qxc1 b2 40.Qb1 Qc7 Strongly threatening ...Qc1. 
41.Nc2 Qxa5 42.Nge3 Qa1  0–1