Chess Evolucion 2019

Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
A lot of opens came to an end this week and here are some of
them:
Editorial Preface 2 The 90th Hasting Congress was won by Zhao Jun, with a
fantastic score of 8/9. In the 44th Rilton Cup, the 1st place
4 best games of the past week 3 was shared by Hammer and Hillarp Persson, both on 7/9, but
Hammer had the better tiebreak.
The K-Files. Accelerated Queen’s Indian, 3.f3 9 In the ongoing Australian Open (which is not that strong, but a
decent open anyway) Ni Hua is currently showing an amazing
David vs. Goliath 12 result of 7/7, but there are still 4 rounds to go.
In other news, we are starting another new column, ”Chess
Puzzle section 13 and the City”, by WGM Elisabeth Paehtz, the best German
female player and current Nr. 26 in the World. You will find
Endgame section 16 her own little introduction inside her first column.
On Saturday the world’s best players will start to battle it out
Chess and the City 22 in Wijk aan Zee. The A tournament features Carlsen, Caruana,
Aronian and many more Super GMS, while the B group, where
Clash of the Titans 24 Navara is the top seed, will also be very interesting to follow.
In our next issue our focus will mainly be on this traditional
super event!
Surprise section / study 26
For now we hope you will enjoy our current issue and of
Solutions 27 course we would be very happy to hear your opinion about
the latest changes to the newsletter.
Best wishes,
Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh
www.chess-newsletter.com 2
4 best games of the past week
(1) Grandelius, Nils(2581)

- Turov, Maxim(2591) [A15]
44th Rilton Cup 2014-15(4.1),

2014.12.30 GM Arkadij Naiditsch
Best rating: 2737
4...c5 It is hard to say why Black didn’t want to start with b5.
5.Bg2 b5 6.Nc3 A logical move. Attacking the b5 pawn and
Nils Grandelius is not only famous for his spectacular haircuts,
maybe provoking Black into playing b4- but is it really that
but also for his very attractive chess. He can beat almost any
bad for Black to playb4?!
player, but sometimes things can also go horribly wrong for
him. This time, the victim of the very aggressive Swedish GM 6...Qb6?! This is quite a careless move. Black should have
was Maxim Turov. After a very strange opening, Black misses paid much more attention to the fact that his pieces are still
White’s play which leads to a mating attack. Grandelius not developed and to White’s possible play in the center. [In
finishes the game in a great manner, not giving Black any my opinion Black is doing fine after 6...b4 7.Na4 Bb7 and
chances for survival. White has quite a few plans here, but I think Black’s simple
setup with d6, Nbd7, Be7 and 0-0 would give him comfortable
1.Nf3 Grandelius plays quite a few openings with White.
play.]
1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Usually White plays this move order to
avoid some lines in the Catalan or maybe just to provoke
Black into not playing d5.
3...a6 This move looks bad, but actually it is not a stupid one.
Black wants to play b5 followed by Bb7, winning some space
on the queenside.
4.b3 A very rare move and clearly a decision by White just to
play a game of chess. [4.Nc3 4...d5 would lead us to the main
positions.]
7.e4! An excellent move by White, using the fact that Black is
badly prepared for central play. White’s idea is simple, to play
e5 next.
7...d6 A solid move, but Black’s position is already very risky.
[7...Bb7 would lead to a clearly better position for White: 8.e5
Ng4 and for example after the simple 9.O-O the pawn on e5
can’t be won and White’s threat of playing h3 next is quite
unpleasant.]
8.d4 Grandelius s exactly with the right approach and this is
to use the moment and not give Black any rest!
8...Qa5 Another queen move in an already very risky position
doesn’t make things better. But it is already not an easy task 11.Nxd4 Bb7 Black finally managed to develop his bishop
to find the right moves. [8...Bb7 was probably the most solid to b7, but already the position is looking very bad, especially
move. 9.O-O Black can n ever take the pawn on e4, as it would since the queen is horribly placed on a5.
immediately lead to a deadly attack in the center. 9...cxd4 12.O-O! Of course White should not care about the e4 pawn,
10.Nxd4 b4 11.Na4 Qc7 Of course Black just lost a tempo by especially since it is not that difficult to calculate that the
playing Qb6 and now Qc7, but still the fight just started. 12.a3! pawn can’t be taken.
This strong move opens the a-file and gets rid of the strong
pawn on b4. White is clearly better but the position is very 12...Nbd7 [12...Nxe4 loses on the spot: 13.Re1 and White
fighting.] starts collecting the material.; White is almost winning after
12...Bxe4 13.Bxe4 Nxe4 14.Qf3 and Black has no good way
9.Bd2! Another very good move by White. Nils correctly of defending the knight on e4.]
evaluates the complications after the b4 move, when the e4
pawn can just be taken. 13.Re1 White is pl aying a perfect game. Of course it was
tempting to play 13.a3 and win the b4 pawn, but the move in
9...b4 10.Na4 The question is whether Black can take the e4 the game is even stronger! White does not only want to play
pawn or not. If not, all of Black’s play just looks very bad. a3, but the threat of playing e5 at a good moment could also
10...cxd4 Turov doesn’t take and this is the right decision. be deadly for Black.
[10...Nxe4? leads to a direct loss of material after 11.Ng5! 13...Nc5 Black tries to complicate things, which is usually the
Nxd2 12.Bxa8 and White is not only an exchange up, but the best practical chance in a bad position.
knight on d2 is also doing very badly... The game would not
last for much longer here.] 14.Nxc5 Simple and strong! Maybe Turov had overlooked
White’s next move and was happy for a moment here... [14.a3
14...Ncxe4 15.axb4 Qc7 16.Be3 and White’s position is of
course much better, almost close to winning.]
14...dxc5 This move practically loses by force. [Not much 20.Qg4 Who cares about the rook on a1 when the black king
better is 14...Qxc5 15.Nc2 is one of the possible continuations is on f7!
for White. 15...a5 16.a3 bxa3 17.Rxa3 and of course Black can 20...Qd8 Turov is suffering but fighting. [After 20...Bxa1
never play 17...Be7? because of 18.e5! Bxg2 19.exf6 and White 21.Qf5+ Kg8 White has a beautiful winning move: 22.Re7!
is winning a piece.] This calm but deadly move ends the game. White wants to
play Qf7 mate or Qe6, the game is over!]
15.Nxe6! Clearly White had prepared this move before

playing 14.Nxc5. Black’s position is falling apart.
21.Rae1! Another very nice move by White. There is no reason
15...fxe6 Black needs to take. to hurry with the mate, so White brings an extra piece into the
16.e5 The bishop on b7 in hanging, so Black’s next move is game...
also forced. 21...Bf8 There is no more hope for Black. All moves are losing.
16...Bxg2 17.exf6 So what to do now? The bishop on g2 in 22.Bg5 White ends the game with a nice little combination:
hanging and the black king is totally open. Things are looking
22...Qd4 23.Re7+ Bxe7
very dark here...
17...Bb7 Turov still hopes to survive White’s attack. [Maybe
the relatively best move here was 17...O-O-O 18.Kxg2 and now
the calm 18...Qb6 to defend the e6 pawn, but of course White
has a huge advantage after 19.f7!; 17...Bh3? 18.Qh5+! and the
bishop is lost.]
18.Rxe6+ Kf7 19.fxg7 Once again very practical play by
White. Of course there were a lot of good moves here, but the
move in the game is very safe! An excellent practical decision.
19...Bxg7 Black has no choice... 24.Qe6+ Of course in case of 24.... Kf8 25.Bh6! ends
the suffering after 25...Ke8 26.Qxe7#! We just saw a clean
start-finish win by Grandelius, who played logical and strong (2) Galyas, Miklos(2428)
moves, supported by good calculation. This is really what we - Rodshtein, Maxim(2676) [A09]
can call a perfect win! 1-0
90th Hastings Masters 2014-15(4.2), GM Csaba Balogh
2015.01.01 Best rating: 2672
My good friend and countryman IM Miklos Galyas wins a nice

attacking game against his top GM opponent.
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 The game starts calmly, but it is getting very
wild soon.
2...d4 3.b4 White prepares to attack the advanced pawn with
Bb2 and prevents c5.
3...f6 The main theoretical move. Black would like to
strengthen his center with e5.
4.e3 White undermines the d4 pawn and would like to take
control over the center after recapturing with the f-pawn on
e3, followed by d4.
4...e5 5.c5 [5.exd4? is a known theoretical mistake. 5...e4
6.Qe2 Qe7 7.Ng1 Nc6 and Black is better.]
5...Qe7 A dubious novelty.... I think that Rodshtein mixed up

something. [The right and the critical move is 5...a5! with very
sharp lines, Arkadij has recently commented the Panjwani-So the sacrificed pawn with 12...a5! White cannot consolidate his
game in a previous issue.] queenside pawns and the c5 is going to fall.]
6.Bb5+ This is a known move in the critical 5...a5 varation. 10.fxe3 a5?! A standard undermining of the c5 pawn,
White provokes the c6 move before occupying the ideal c4 using the fact that White cannot play a3. However, Black
square with the bishop. The idea is to avoid Nc6 and in is far behind in development and his king is stuck in the
some lines the d6 square might get vulnerable when a knight center. Losing two important tempi with a5 and axb4 requires
arrives to c4. [However in this particular position, I believe it punishment... [10...Qf7 was not the same anymore. 11.Qxf7+
was better to start with 6.Bc4 The point is that after 6...Be6 Kxf7 12.O-O threatening Nxe5. 12...Ke8 13.d4+= and Nc3 next.
7.Bxe6 Qxe6 8.O-O White is already threatening to take on d4. We can see that in comparison to the 9...Qf7 line, having the
8...dxe3 9.fxe3 and d4 is coming next and after e4 White has inclusion of the dxe3 fxe3 pair of moves strongly improves
the very unpleasant intermediate move d5. After provoking White’s position, because he is able to take control over the
c6, this does not work.] center.]
6...c6 7.Bc4 Be6 8.Qb3 [Probably it was better to play 11.O-O! axb4 12.d4! Very well played! White does not pay
8.Bxe6 8...Qxe6 9.O-O dxe3 10.fxe3 followed by Nc3 and d4 attention to the queenside, he rather focuses on opening the
at some point. Black still has some problems with finishing position somehow.
the development of the kingside pieces to finally ensure the 12...Na6 [12...e4 trying to close the center does not solve the
safety of his king with 0-0. 10...a5 is strongly met by problems 13.Nfd2 Nh6 14.Qxb4 White creates the serious
threat of Nxe4 because Qxe4 loses to Qxb7. 14...f5 15.Nc4 and
Black is in trouble. Now we can see the fruits of provoking c6:
the d6 and b6 squares are weak.]
11.Qb3!+= either wins a huge tempo or trades the queens,

which favorably opens the a-file for White.]
8...Bxc4 9.Qxc4 dxe3 [Black could have solved his problems
with 9...Qf7! White cannot really avoid the trade of the 13.a3! A great decision again! White opens the position even
queens and the point is that after 10.Qxf7+ (10.Qc2 10...dxe3 more and by eliminating the b4 square he prepares to develop
11.fxe3 Qg6) 10...Kxf7 11.exd4 exd4 12.Nxd4 Black wins back his knight to its ideal square on c3! [13.dxe5 was premature
because of 13...Qxc5] solving the problems with Nf7 and 0-0.
13...bxa3 14.Rxa3 [14.Bxa3 was also promising with the idea 21.e4! A very effective way of leading the attack! e5-e6 is
to protect the c5 pawn and threatening to take on e5. 14...e4 coming next. The black king is still in the center. The h6 knight
15.Nfd2 and Nc3 or Rf4 next looks terrible for Black.] is hanging and the a3 rook is ready to join the game along the
14...g6 Black finally tries to finish the development, but 3rd rank.
obviously it is too slow. [14...Nh6 is not better either. 15.Nc3 21...Qxd6 [21...Nf7 also loses after 22.e5 O-O 23.Bh6h Raf3
Nf7 16.Ne4 and Black cannot really make a move.] and e6 are coming.]
15.Nc3 e4 Black tries to lock the center, but the position
screams for a refutation.
16.Nd2 f5 Black actually needs only one move, Nf6, to be
consolidating the center and to be fine, but White does not
spoil the moment and punishes his opponent for his lack of
development.
22.Bxh6! The last accurate decision! White calculates

perfectly and sacrifices his a3 rook. Black has nothing better
than accepting it and hoping not to get mated.
22...Qxa3 23.Qf7+ Kd8 24.Qxb7! The best again! White
prevents the hiding of the king after Kc8.
24...Nc7 [24...Rb8 25.Bg5+ Ke8 26.Qf7#]
17.Ndxe4! fxe4 18.Nxe4 Nd6 is the threat, which is not easy
to deal with... 25.Bg5+ Kd7 26.Rf7+ Ke6 27.Qxc7! h It is clear that
Black cannot avoid getting mated, the only question is if he
18...Qd7 [18...Qxe4 loses to 19.Qf7+ Kd8 20.Qxf8+ 20. Qxb7
could create some counterplay. However the well placed
also wins on the spot. 20...Qe8 21.Qd6+h and Rf8 next.]
bishop on g5 prevents the Qe3 check after which Ra1 could
19.Nd6+! Well played yet again! At first sight this is a strange follow.
decision because it trades the active knight for the bishop,
27...Qa1+ 28.Rf1! Qxd4+ 29.Kh1 [Black resigned in view of
which has not moved yet, but Galyas correctly forsees that the
29.Kh1 Qe7 is threatening with mate and for instance after
advancing of the e-pawn will decide the fight.
29...Rhe8 30.Qxc6+ Qd6 31.Rf6+h wins.] 1-0
19...Bxd6 20.cxd6 Nh6 Black is only two moves away from
The K-Files. This was when the NoName opening reached its first peak of
popularity (1921 - 1930). The efforts of Reti and Gruenfeld, who
Accelerated Queen’s Indian, 3.f3 used it quite regularly, must of course also be mentioned.
However, as it still happens quite often nowadays, the fashion
then changed. The general assessment used to be that after
3.Nc3 Bb7 4.Qc2 White has a comfortable advantage. And
then the reputation of this ”minor line” stayed stable for more
than 70 years. The fact that the NoName opening was used by
GM Alexander Khalifman Fischer, Bronstein and Larsen didn’t change anything.
FIDE World Chess Champion (1999)
A new era only began in the 21st century. OK, when Vallejo
Best rating: 2702
Pons played it twice in 2008 almost nobody paid attention.
Everybody knows that Paco likes experiments - so what?!
No Name Opening However, in 2011 GMs Vallejo, Ivan Sokolov, Kiril Georgiev,
Edouard and some others started playing it on a regular basis
It’s rather confusing but the line 1 .d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6 really has no with fantastic results. And it was a clear sign that something
name. happened. As a matter of fact, there was no opening bomb in
It looks like simply nobody has taken it seriously until critical lines but some lines were not as forced as it seemed
now... In 2007 Artur Kogan wrote an interesting (quite good, before, some old evaluations were too categorical and so
but sometimes more emotional than analytical) article in on and so on. The whole situation is fairly standard for
NIC-SOS where he called it ”The Queen’s Gruenfeld”. Well it well-forgotten lines.
makes some sense but in fact there are many lines where the The opening then got some attention from some 2700+
black bishop doesn’t even have a chance to be developed to players (Vachier-Lagrave, Harikrishna, Ding Liren) and, finally,
g7. In some others a fianchetto is possible, but definitely not in December 2014, it was used by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
the best. So...Gruenfeld?! Hmm... as his main weapon against 1.d4 in the Mind Sports blitz
Alexei Kornev in his ”1.d4 2.c4 Repertoire” called it tournament. OK, it was only blitz but it was Mamedyarov!
”Accelerated Queen’s Indian”. This might be more logical but He is currently one of the brightest role models for young
it is still far from an acknowledged name. players all over the world (not only in Azerbaijan) due to his
unconventional and aggressive style. So I can easily take the
The story began in 1912, when Czech grandmaster Duras risk to predict that the popularity of the NoName opening will
played 2...b6 against Teichmann. In 1921 Alekhine played this only grow in the nearest future. And then it will maybe finally
line no less than 4 times (later he used it successfully in his get a name.
World Championship match against Bogoljubow).
But enough history, it is time to say a couple of words about (3) 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3... [A50]
the plans and ideas. Of course it’s rather banal, but Black’s 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6
main point is to stop e2-e4. If White doesn’t pay attention
to this fact and just develops his pieces randomly, then quite
often Black just doesn’t touch his e-pawn and goes for a
double fianchetto. If White tries to organize e2-e4 then Black’s
typical response is d7-d5, with the idea to undermine White’s
center in Gruenfeld style. In fact, this opening is a real
chameleon: the positions after the early phase may be similar
to the Queen’s Indian (of course!), the Gruenfeld, the Nimzo,
the King’s Indian, the Benko gambit, the Benoni and even the
Queen’s gambit (TMB system). So there is at least one definite
plus: if you analyze it seriously, your strategic outlook will be
widened massively. 3.f3 The only 3rd move (except for the natural 3. Nf3 and 3.
Nc3 of course) which must be taken seriously. In fact, Avrukh
And finally here is the necessary disclaimer: I’m not claiming recommends it in his excellent book as the strongest move.
that Black at least equalizes comfortably in all lines! I’m no I’m not so sure about it, but the practical strength of this
adman, just a chess player and one that is quite bored of move is absolutely undoubtable. If Black doesn’t know how
reading various junk, such as ”1.e4 h6! - Black is winning!!!”. to react properly, he might be in deep trouble very soon. The
So there are lines where Black faces certain problems and idea is very simple and natural: to build a strong pawn center.
I will only try to describe the situation objectively. My [3.Bg5 definitely doesn’t look like an improved version of the
conclusion is that this is fairly new and original branch of the Trompovsky. 3...Bb7 4.Bxf6 gxf6 and Black is doing fine as
opening theory is quite playable for Black. But you’d better his dark squared bishop will soon be very strong.; 3.d5 If White
judge for yourself, dear reader. intends to gain space this way, then he’d better wait for Bb7.
So, after so many words... Back to the chessboard! 3...e6 4.a3 (4.Nc3 4...Bb4; 4.f3 4...Bc5 5.e4 exd5 6.cxd5 O-O)
4...Ba6 (Of course Black can switch to the 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.d5 line
by playing 4...Bb7 5.Nc3 Bd6 but it’s not necessary.) 5.e3
Part 1 Refuting here and now 3.f3, etc.
exd5 6.cxd5 Bxf1 7.Kxf1 g6 8.Nc3 Bg7 9.g3 O-O 10.Kg2 Vaulin
Part 2 Solid and classical 3.Nf3
- Ibragimov Maikop 1998 and now 10...c5!? would have led to
Part 3 Good old central setup 3.Nc3
a comfortable version of the Benoni.]
3...Nc6! In a certain sense this is the only move. The
alternatives differ from "very dubious" to "simply bad". [3...c5
4.d5 d6 5.e4 e5 6.Nc3; 3...e5 4.dxe5 Nh5 5.Nh3; 3...e6 4.e4 d5
5.e5; 3...d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4]
4.Nc3 A necessary preparation move. White is not ready for 7.Nge2!? (which was never tested before) 7...Bc5 8.a3 (8.h4!?
a pawn advance yet. [After 4.d5 4...Ne5 5.e4 e6 the pawn ) 8...a5 (8...O-O 9.b4 Be7 10.Be3 Nh5 11.g3 a5 12.Rb1 d6)
center is rather shaky. 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Be3 O-O 8.Rc1 c6 9.d6 9.Rb1 O-O 10.b4 axb4 11.axb4 Be7 12.Be3 Ne8 13.c5 (13.Qd2
Ne8CDubov - Vallejo Khanty Mansiysk rapid 2013; 4.e4 4...e5 13...Nd6) 13...bxc5 14.bxc5 d6 15.c6 f5 are far from clear.]
5.d5 Nd4 6.Ne2 Bc5 doesn’t look attractive either.] 7...Bc5 8.Qd2 [8.Bxc5 8...bxc5 9.d6 O-O Manolache -
4...e5 5.d5 Ne7 [5...Na5 is recommended by strong engines. Zajarnyi Techirghiol 2000 doesn’t look too promising for
However, from a human point of view it looks absolutely White, especially when one understands that Black will find
mysterious. 6.e4 Bb4 (6...Nb7 7.a3) 7.Bd2 O-O 8.a3 (8.Bd3 the route from g6 to d4, and he will do so quite soon.]
8...Ba6 9.b3 c6 10.Nge2+=) 8...Be7 9.Bd3+= Ivanishevic - 8...d6 9.O-O-O [9.Nge2 is recommended by Avrukh (the idea
Jurcik Yerevan 2014 It is still unclear what the black knight is is not to define the king’s position too early). However, after
doing on a5.] 9...O-O 10.Nc1 Nh5 Black has serious counterplay.]
6.e4 Ng6 This is the critical position of the whole line with 9...a6!? 10.Nge2 [10.h4 10...h6]
3.f3. White has a strong center and a space advantage. Black
is slightly better developed and has different possibilities 10...Bxe3 11.Qxe3 Bd7 Black has adequate counterplay.
to undermine White’s center. Boris Avrukh evaluates this (Sammalvuo - I.Sokolov Porto Carras 2011)
position as slightly better for White, but I believe that it is quite
double-edged.
7.Be3 Just for fun, we can note that this position has already
occurred in practice via this different move order: 1.e4 Nc6
2.d4 e5 3. d5 Nce7 4.e4 Ng6 5.Be3 Nf6 6.f3 b6 7.Nc3. [It
might be the right moment to look for an improvement. In
general White, who has a space advantage, should better
avoid exchanging pieces. However, the consequences of
David vs. Goliath
Peter Zhdanov
Chief Editor of Pogonina.com
Top-10:
Let me start this column by making a disclaimer. Last week Farias (1574) - Moyses Fo. (2115), 1-0, 441 points
a technical mistake has occurred during the makeup. As a Lochte (2079) - Milov (2492), 1-0, 413 points
result, the overview of the upsets, the statistics and the pgn Rakesh (2123) - Rombaldoni (2505), 1-0, 382 points
file with the games have been disposed of, thus making my Lodici (2312) - Amaro (1936), 0-1, 376 points
brief annotations the main dish instead of a bonus to the Vinoth Kumar (2119) - Deepan (2489), 1-0, 370 points
traditional format. While this is not my fault, I still feel like I Ashcar (1676) - Chaves (2040), 1-0, 364 points
should apologize to you for what has happened. Le Roy (2290) - Jackson (1927), 0-1, 363 points
Last week has produced relatively few upsets - 18. The highest Milov (2492) - Agushi (2143), 0-1, 349 points
profile one was FM Shetty (2307) - GM Gareev (2621), 1-0. GM De Oliveira (1751) - Miyoshi (2082), 1-0, 331 points
Leonid Milov had a tough time at Zurich (by the way, GM Schwabeneder (2377) - Suta (2049), 0-1, 328 points
Arkadij Naiditsch won the tournament), which has resulted
in two sensational defeats: Lochte (2079) - GM Milov (2484), Average gap: 372; White won 6 games, Black won 4 games.
1-0 and GM Milov (2484) - Agushi (2143), 0-1. The longest game
You can view all the games in the accompanying pgn file.
took a David 64 (chess number!) moves to beat a Goliath: Chiu
(2052) - FM Jackson (2356), 1-0. No miniatures this time. The If you have ever won a game against someone rated
shortest game was De Oliveira (1751) - Miyoshi (2082), 1-0, 26 300 points or above yourself, please send it to
moves. peter@pogonina.com for publication. Any additional
information (a photo, annotations, etc.) will be appreciated.
A special ”hardcore” nomination goes to Chew Lee (1931) -
Zelesco (2256), 1-0. The encounter ended with Black getting
checkmated - a rare occurrence in modern practice!
Puzzle section
(4) Longson, A(2339)-Vakhidov, J(2502) (6) Vakhidov, J(2502)-Flear, C(2181)
Hastings Open, 2014.12.30 Hastings Open, 2015.01.02
1... e 1. h
(5) Marusenko, P(2194)-Mista, A(2614) (7) David, A(2578)-Ramnath, B(2405)

Hastings Open, 2015.01.01 Chennai Open, 2014.12.31
1... i 1... i
(8) Kumaran, B(2316)-Brunello, S(2573) (10) Romanov, E(2638)-Bekker Jensen, S(2459)
Chennai Open, 2015.01.02 Rilton Cup, 2015.01.02
1... i 1. c
(9) Meier, G(2640)-Rambaldi, F(2476) (11) Mikhalevski, V(2571)-Smith, A(2479)

Zurich Open, 2014.12.30 Rilton Cup, 2015.01.03
1. h 1. h
(12) Istratescu, A(2627)-Horvath, J(2508)
Donau Open, 2014.12.29
1. h
(13) So, W(2762)-Batchuluun, T(2525)

North American Open, 2014.12.30
1. h
Endgame section 28...Ke7 29.Kf3 In the endgames, the kings belong to the
center.
29...Bd6 30.Ke4
(14) Ivanov, Sergey(2559)
- Tari, Aryan(2485)
Rilton Cup, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.12.30 Best rating: 2672
30...a5? A committing decision. Black would like to use

his b8 knight, but he destroys his pawn structure. He fixes
all his pawns on dark squares and deprives himself from
the potential counterplay of playing b5. [Black should have
continued with the waiting policy, starting to play Kf8-e7 and
see how White intends to make progress. 30...Kf8 By feeling,
White should be winning, but I did not manage to figure out
27.Qxe8+ Kxe8 A very interesting endgame has been
the method. Another winning attempt is 31.f5 opening the
reached. White’s overwhelming advantage is undisputable
position for the two bishops. (The point of this move is to
because of the bishop pair and the protected passed pawn on
transfer the bishop to the h3-c8 diagonal. On the direct Bg4,
d5! The weakness on a6 is another important factor as it pins
Black could play b5. 31.Bf1 31...Ke7 32.c4 Nd7 By playing
the b8 knight to its protection. However, despite the many
Bf1, White has left from the motif of Bg4 f5 gxf6 Nxf6. 33.Bc3
plusses the win is still far from obvious, because the position
f5+! Black tries to close the position. (33...f6 34.Bh3; On
is closed and Black might hope for a successful blockade.
33...Kf8 34.Bh3! Nb8 35.Be5!h White manages to make
28.h4 White has all the time to make these small progress and the d-pawn decides the game.) 34.Kf3 (34.gxf6+
improvements. Later he might open the position a bit 34...Nxf6+ is not clear either.) 34...Kf7 35.Bd3 a5 36.h5
with h5 or rather after playing f5, he could create a passed
h-pawn. White could also have activated his king, the only
thing he had to take care about is to keep on attacking the a6
pawn in order to avoid Black playing b5, followed by c4 and
Nd7.
white king on f5 or e5. (Black loses after 36...gxh5 37.Bxh5
Ke7 (37...Kxd5 38.Bxf7+ Kd6 39.g6 Ke7 40.Kg5h The
g-pawn promotes soon.) 38.c4 Nd7 39.Kf5 Nf8 40.d6+!h
and again White breaks through.) 37.h6 Nf8 And Black starts
to wait with Nh7-f8 and again I don’t see how White could
make progress. 38.c4 (38.Bxa6 38...Kxd5) 38...a5 Seems like
a fortress.]
31.Bb5! White immediately occupies the weakened square.
31...Nd7
Everything seems to go well for White, but after 36...Bc7
followed by waiting with Bd6-c7, I don’t see how White could
make progress. It is important to keep the knight on d7 to
avoid Be5.; 31.c4 frees the b8 knight. 31...Nd7 32.Bc3 f5+!
Otherwise Be5 could be unpleasant. 33.gxf6 (33.Ke3 33...a5
34.h5 Kf7 is the same as the 31.Bf1 line.) 33...Nxf6+ with Kf7
next and Black might hope for survival.) 31...gxf5+ 32.Kxf5
g6+! It is important to include this move, otherwise White
creates another passed pawn with h5-h6. 33.Ke4 Ke7 And
again it is not obvious how White could make progress. A very
natural try is 34.Bf4 trying to invade with the king through e5. 32.Bxd7! A perfect decision! The bishop endgame is easily
34...Bxf4 35.Kxf4 Kd6 36.h5! This is the point! White opens winning after White manages to occupy the a1-h8 diagonal,
a new front to attack the f7 pawn. because he attacks the g7 pawn and at the same time is
threatening with Be5.
32...Kxd7 33.c4 Ke7 [The alternative defense was 33...Bf8
protecting the g7 pawn with the bishop and controlling the
c7 square (against Bc3-e5-c7) with the king, but it also fails...
34.Bc3 Kd6 35.Be5+ Kd7 36.Kf3 Kd8
However after 36...Nd7!! It is very important to keep the

structure (the pawn on g6) to avoid the penetration of the
39.Bd2+ Kg4 Black tries to avoid Kf5, but now the h-pawn
becomes too strong. [39...Kxh5 does not change anything.
40.Kf5 Be5 White has many ways to win. A nice one is
41.Bc1 setting Black into zugzwang. The bishop cannot move
and after 41...Kh4 42.Bg5+ fxg5 43.Kxe5 g4 44.d6h White
promotes the pawn with check.]
40.h6 f5+ 41.Kd3 Be5 42.h7 f4 43.Bc3 Black resigned. 1-0
37.f5! The decisive break. White either creates a passed pawn

or he opens a way for his king to penetrate. 37...Kd7 (37...gxf5
38.h5h followed by Kf4-f5 and Black cannot play g6 because
of h6.) 38.fxg6 fxg6 39.Kg4 Kd8 40.h5h]
34.Bc3 f5+ [34...Kf8 simply loses to 35.Be5! Bxe5 36.Kxe5
Ke7 37.d6+ Kd7 38.Kd5h]
35.gxf6+ gxf6
36.f5! The last important move, otherwise Black locks the

position with f5. Now the distant passed pawn on the h-file
decides the game.
36...Kf7 37.fxg6+ Kxg6 38.h5+! Kg5 [After 38...Kxh5
39.Kf5h we can see the superiority of White’s pawn
structure. Black has no chance to create a passer and his
pawns start to fall one after another.]
waiting anyway, so why not cut the black king off at least for
(15) Rodshtein, Maxim(2676) a while.
- Arkell, Keith C(2489)
59...h4 60.Rc8 Kb6 A slightly strange move. Why not play h3
immediately? But it doesn’t really change anything.
90th Hastings Masters 2014-15(7.2),
2015.01.04 GM Arkadij Naiditsch 61.Rc4 h3 Now Black already wants to play Rf2 followed by
Best rating: 2737 h2 with a win, so the white rook needs to take position on the
h-file.
We are in a very interesting rook endgame, but already on

move 57. Both players are a bit tired and probably don’t have 62.Rh4 The only move. [62.Rc3 is losing on the spot.
too much time, which makes the game even more exciting. 62...Rh1! Black is showing a very typical idea for many rook
At first sight the position looks like a draw. The white king endgames. 63.Kxd2 h2 64.Rh3 Rb1! If White was in time to
is blocking the d2 pawn, the h-pawn can be stopped by the play Kc2 the position would of course be a total draw. 65.Rxh2
white rook and of course the b2 pawn gives White some Rxb2+ 66.Kc3 Rxh2]
countrer chances if the black king would start his walk to 62...Kc5 The black king starts walking to g5.
support the h-pawn. But things are much more tricky than
that and soon we will see why... 63.Kd1 White still doesn’t have anything better than to keep
on waiting. [A very wrong idea is to touch the b2 pawn,
57...h5 Black needs to push the h pawn-this is clear which would lead to an immediate end of the game: 63.b4+?
58.Kc2! A good move. It is very important for White not to 63...Kb5 64.Kd1 and now Black wins exactly with the same
give Black the chance to play Kb3-Ka2. Not now, but later idea as we saw before: 64...Rh1+! 65.Kxd2 h2 66.Kc2 Once
when the pawn will be on h3. again if White had enough time to reach the b2 square the
position would be a draw, but it is Black to move... 66...Ra1!
58...Kb5 The black king starts to walk towards the h-pawn. Now that the b2 pawn is gone, Black has a check on the a2
59.Rc7 White doesn’t have anything better than to keep on square. 67.Rxh2 Ra2+ 68.Kb3 Rxh2 and Black is winning.]
63...Kd5 64.Kc2 to h7 or h8, because in case of 67.Ra4? Rf2 the game would
be over immediately.]
65...Ke4 66.Re8+ White doesn’t have anything better.
66...Kf3 67.Rf8+ Ke2 68.Re8+ Kf1 So there are no more
checks and Black wants to play Rf2.
64...Ke5 65.Rh8 White could have waited for the black king
to reach the g5 square, but the rook would have to leave the
4th rank anyway, which would allow the black king to reach
the position in the game. [After a waiting move like 65.Kd1
65...Kf5 66.Kc2 (White doesn’t save the game with the king
on d1 either, because now Black is using the other winning 69.Re3! White uses his only practical chance. [69.Rh8 loses
idea: 66.Rh8 66...Kf4 67.Rf8+ Ke3 68.Re8+ and here comes to 69...Ke1 70.Re8+ Re2 followed by d1Q.]
the difference: 69...Kg2? Black is missing a win, even if it was not that
simple to find! [The right move was 69...d1=Q+! 70.Kxd1 and
now the very strong
68...Kd3! 69.Rd8+ Kc4 The black king is going to b3. 70.Rh8

The white rook must go back to h8 and Black is using this for
the standard winning idea: 70...Kb3 71.Rh6 Rh1+ 72.Kxd2 h2 70...Rh1! It is amazing, but White can’t save the game here.
and White can’t stop Black from playing Rb1 next. Black is 71.Kd2 (71.Kc2 71...h2 72.Rh3 Kg2 and Rf1 next.) 71...Kg2
winning.) 66...Kg5 and the white rook would have to go back Black wants to play h2 next. 72.Re2+ White doesn’t have
anything better. 72...Kf3 73.Re3+ Kf4! White has no defense 73.Kc3 White tries to get the b-pawn going, but of course it is
against Black’s idea of playing h2 followed by Rb1. 74.Re8 too late...
h2 75.Rh8 Rb1 76.Rxh2 Rxb2+ 77.Kc3 Rxh2 and the game is 73...h1=Q 74.Rxh1 Rxh1 In case of 75.b4 Black can win with
over.] 75...Rh4! and after 76.b5 Kf3 77.b6 Rh6! So, finally it was
70.Kxd2? and White returns the favor... [ a winning endgame for Black, but both players managed to
exchange presents. Again we can see how hard it is to play
rook endgames well! 0-1
70.Rd3!! 70...d1=Q+ What else to try? 71.Rxd1 Rh1 (White

easily holds the draw after 71...Kf3+ 72.Kc3 Re2 73.b4! The b2
pawn is finally useful. 73...h2 74.Kc4 Kg2 75.b5 h1=Q 76.Rxh1
Kxh1 77.b6 Rb2 78.Kc5 Kg2 79.Kc6 Kf3 80.b7 Ke4 81.Kc7
with a draw.) 72.Rd2+! Now that the white king is placed
on c2, Black doesn’t have the usual h2-Rb1 idea. 72...Kg3
73.Rd3+ Kf4 74.Rd4+ Ke3 75.Rh4 and the position is a draw.]
70...Rh1 Now we are back to what we already know...
71.Re8 h2 Black is simply winning. 72.Rh8 Rb1
Chess and the City Mirror, mirror on the wall,
who is the ”most talented” of them all?
It is well known that chess players often display a broad

range of talents especially in fields such as arts and science.
However, deciding whose talent is more worthy or impressive
is subjective. Examples of multi-talented well-known chess
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz players could be easily drawn from history (to name a
Best rating: 2493 few: Philidor, Lasker, Botvinnik and Smyslov), but taking
into account living players we can for example cite some
”Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, accomplished musicians or opera singers such as Emil
weak minds discuss people.” Sutovsky (bass-baritone), Lajos Portisch (bass-baritone) and
Yes Socrates was a very wise man indeed... Mark Taimanov (concert pianist). These are those I have heard
singing myself, but I am sure that the list could go on.
But we do not want to waste our time with useless As for other fields, one of the prominent economists of our
explanations, people always hear what they want to hear! time happens to be a chess Grandmaster as well, his name
And this gossip corner will not be abused to spread negative being Kenneth Rogoff. He is not an active player nowdays, not
and personal things about people, but to provide you with surprisingly given that being a Professor at Harvard must not
funny and interesting stories about our life in and outside the leave too much spare time...
chess world.
I could also write about scientific talents or other similar skills,
As we have New Year, and some of you may not have but the reader might point out that all these skills are not very
sobered totally down by now, let me start with something less useful in everyday life, just like chess.
conventional and I truly hope I may be forgiven...
But what talent could be actually useful in daily life? This
”I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I reminds me about my flight from Oslo to Tromso for the 2014
am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t Chess Olympiad. In this flight I not only had the pleasure of
handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me being seated next to the charming Woman World Champion
at my best.” (Marilyn Monroe) Hou Yifan, but also to get lectured on how to greet your chess
Wish you all an UNFORGETABLE 2015! :) colleagues in about 10 different languages by the as charming
Grandmaster David Navara. Just when I thought to award
him the non-official prize of most ”everyday life” talented
chess grandmasters I happened to come across the following
picture...
”Never have I thought that I was the happy possessor of a
talent; my sole concern has been to save myself by work and
faith.” (Jean-Paul Sartre)
Satre’s concern was to save himself, but brave ”window
cleaners” can save women the efforts connected to such
dangerous and dull work.
Thus, my female readers will not be surprised that the
award of multi-talented player of the year 2015 will go to
GM Alexander Ipatov from Lvov. To challenge him for 2016
I encourage all male GMs (and btw. all men in general) to
improve their ironing and pamper changing skills :)
Clash of the Titans some weaknesses on the kingside. 8...b6!? with the idea
to exchange bishops. 9.h5 h6 The only move! 10.Bb5+! A
strong move which was probably discovered by Fischer. White
(16) Fischer, Robert James simply prevents Ba6. 10...Bd7 11.Bd3 Ba4 An important
- Weinstein, Raymond Allen[C19] square for the black bishop. In many lines Black also plays
Qa5-Qa4 just to prevent the activation of the white bishop
USA-ch(1), after a4-Ba3. 12.Kf1!?]
1960.12.18 7...Nbc6 8.Nf3 Qa5 9.Qd2 White wants to keep the
GM Kamil Miton opportunity to develop the bishop to a3 but in my opinion the
Best rating: 2655
whole setup looks very artificial. [9.Bd2 9...Bd7k]
9...Bd7 10.Bd3
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Ne7 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5
10...c4?! I don’t like this move. In my opinion Black could

7.a4!? In general this move is very useful but in this concrete equalize after [10...cxd4 11.cxd4 Qxd2+ 12.Bxd2 (12.Kxd2
position White usualy plays other moves: [7.Qg4 7...O-O 12...Na5 Without the queens on the board the a3-f8 diagonal
(7...Qc7 leads to very complex play after 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 has no big meaning and Black has good counterplay over the
cxd4 10.Ne2 Nbc6 11.f4 Bd7 12.Qd3 dxc3 and Black is looking c-file.) 12...Nf5 13.Bxf5 exf5 and only Black can be better
for a strong initiative on the queenside.) 8.Bd3 f5 (8...Nbc6 here!]
9.Qh5 Ng6 10.Nf3) 9.exf6 Rxf6 10.Bg5 Rf7 11.Qh5 g6 12.Qd1 11.Be2 O-O-O 12.Ba3 f6 13.O-O Nf5 14.Rfe1 Be8 Black is
Nbc6 13.Nf3 and is not easy for White to prove an advantage going to activate his pieces. It was also possible to play
because of the weak dark squares.; 7.Nf3 7...Qc7 8.h4 This is [14...h5!? 15.Bf1 h4k]
the alternative plan. White is going to create
19.Rab1 Rf7 [19...fxe5 20.Nxe5 Nxe5 21.dxe5 Rf7 22.f4
h5!Vwith the idea to stop the f5 break.; 19...f5 20.gxf5 Nxf5 An
orginal strategical sacrifice! 21.Bxf8 Rxf8 22.Bxf5 Rxf5 and I
suppose that because of White’s many weaknesses, Black has
full compensation.]
20.exf6 gxf6 21.Bg3
15.g4! White’s only plan is to regroup his pieces and to create

pressure on the kingside.
15...Nfe7 16.Bf1 Bd7 [16...h5 17.exf6 gxf6 18.g5k(18.Bxe7
18...Nxe7 19.Rxe6 hxg4 20.Rxe7 gxf3 21.Qf4 Bd7k) ; 16...f5?
17.Ng5c]
17.Bh3 It is clear what Fischer wants. He could immediately
try [17.exf6 17...gxf6 18.g5 Rhg8 19.Kh1 fxg5 20.Nxg5 Nf5! In a 21...Ng6 Black prevents the Qf4 threat.
dynamic position it is important to play very actively. 21.Nxe6
Bxe6 22.Rxe6 Ncxd4 23.Bh3! Nxe6 24.Bxf5 Rde8 25.Re1 22.Rb5?! The beginning of a strange plan. White should
Rg6 26.Bxg6 hxg6k] probably create something over the e-file and on the kingside,
so the idea to double rooks on the b-file cannot be dangerous
17...h6! Black simply prevents White’s idea. for Black.
18.Bd6 22...Qa6?! Why not take the a4 pawn immediately?
[22...Qxa4 23.Rbb1 Qa3e]
23.Reb1 [23.Qc1!? with the idea to activate the queen over
Qa3-Qd6. 23...Qxa4 24.Qb2 threatening Ra1.]
23...b6 and the white rooks are stopped very easily.
24.Qc1 Qxa4 25.R5b2 threatening Ra1.
25...Qa3 26.Qe3 Kb7 27.Nh4 Nxh4 28.Bxh4
18...Rdf8! Black also looks for the best places for his pieces.
Surprise section / study
(17) Zepler
1. =
28...e5?? A huge strategical mistake. Black opens the

position and with one move activates all the white pieces!
29.dxe5 fxe5 The decisive mistake! Black lost a good game in
just 2 moves! [29...Re8 30.Rxb6+ (30.Bg2 30...Rxe5 31.Qd2C
and here White has many attacking targets like d5-h6 and
even b6.) 30...axb6 31.Qxb6+ Kc8 32.e6 Rxe6 33.g5 Qa7!
preventing the white queen from activating. 34.Bxe6 Qxb6
35.Rxb6 Bxe6 36.g6 Rg7 37.Rxc6+ Kd7 38.Ra6 Rxg6+=]
30.Rxb6+! h and White is winning very quickly now!
30...Ka8 31.R6b5 Be6 32.Bg3 e4
33.Qxh6! 1-0
Solutions
(20) Ma Qun(2621)-Raznikov, D(2494)
(18) Hawkins, J(2552)-Brustkern, J(2236)
Groningen Open, 2014.12.27
Hastings Open, 2014.12.29
10...Qxb3!! 0-1 [10...Qxb3 11.Qxb3 Nf3+ 12.Kd1 (12.Ke2

19.f4! 1-0 [19.f4 19...Qxg3 20.Nf5 Qxg2+ 21.Qxg2 Bxg2 12...Nd4+i) 12...Nxf2+ 13.Ke2 Nd4+ 14.Kxf2 Nxb3 15.Rb1
22.Nxe7+ Kh8 23.Kxg2h] Nxc1 16.Rxc1 Bxc5+i]
(19) Tiviakov, S(2677)-Senders, M(2380) (21) Romanov, E(2638)-Martynov, P(2400)
Groningen Open, 2014.12.22 Rilton Cup, 2014.12.28
26.Qg4+! 1-0 [26.Qg4+ 26...Kxf6 (26...Kh7 27.Qh4! Kg7 37.Rxf6+! 1-0 [37.Rxf6+ 37...Kxf6 38.Bxe5+ Ke6
28.Rg6+! Kxg6 29.Qxe7h) 27.Qh4+ Kg7 28.Qxe7h] 39.Bxb8h]
(22) Krasenkow, M(2614)-Bellon Lopez, J(2381) (24) Navara, D(2727)-Grossmann, R(2124)
Rilton Cup, 2014.12.28 European Rapid Championship, 2014.12.20
27.Be8+! Rxe8 28.Rxh6h 25.Bxf7+! Kxf7 26.Rd7+ Kg6 27.Rxc7h
(23) Zherebukh, Y(2631)-Shen, V(2410) (25) Riazantsev, A(2684)-Girya, O(2457)

Intercollegiate, 2014.12.28 European Rapid Championship, 2014.12.20
32.Rxd4! exd4 33.Bxd6+ Qxd6 34.Qxf5+ Nf6 35.Ra7h 47.Qxf7+! Kxf7 48.Ne5+ Kf6 49.Nxd3 1-0
(26) Fedorchuk, S(2669)-Socko, M(2470) (28) Kubbel
European Rapid Championship, 2014.12.20
1.Bb6+!! cxb6 2.a7 Bxa7 3.Nd6! Rb8 4.Ka3!! Rc8

[4...Nd3 5.Nc4#]
39.Rxg6+! Bg7 [39...hxg6 40.Qxg6+ Bg7 41.Qh7#] 5.Nb7#
40.Rxg7+! Kxg7 41.Qxh7+ Kf6 42.Qf5+! Kg7 [42...Ke7
43.Qe6#]
43.Ne6+! Kg8 44.Qg6+ 1-0
(27) Piorun, K(2517)-Navara, D(2727)
16...c4! 17.Bxe7 [17.Bxc4 17...Bxa3i]

17...cxd3 18.Qxd3 Qxe7i
Chess Evolution Books
Table of Contents
From the creators of the ”Top GM Secrets” newsletter:
Editorial Preface 3
Two best games of the past week 4
The K-Files. Accelerated Queen’s Indian, 3.Nf3 13
David vs. Goliath 17
Puzzle section 18
Endgame section 21
Chess and the City. Ben Oni 26
Clash of the Titans 27
Solutions 30
Please click on the images of the covers or visit

Chess-Evolution.com for a detailed description of the
products and prices in $.
Editorial Preface Very important news is that the price of the newsletter
is going to change to 99.88$ for a yearly subscription,
but we are giving all our subscribers the option to renew
Wijk aan Zee 2015 has begun! Both the A and the B group are their subscriptions (when they are going to run out) for
very exciting with a lot of surprises, especially in the A group. the old price of 52.99$ a year. What you need to do is to
Let us take a look at the situation after 5 rounds: send us an email where you prove that you have been our
subscriber and we will provide you with a personal bonus
Who would have guessed that Wojtaszek would beat Carlsen code. You can find all the informations on our official
and Caruana in a very convincing way, or that Ivanchuk would website: www.chess-newsletter.com
lead the tournament with a fantastic 4/5. The play of Wesley
So and Ding Liren is also both good and stable. The young
Chinese players have been doing very well recently, even in In the current issue we of course mainly focus our attention
the best European tournaments. on Wijk aan Zee. Enjoy!
These are the good surprises, now let us take a look at the
upsets: Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh
Jobava has as usual been playing very attractive chess, but
he’s on a catastrophic score of 0.5/5!
The same goes to Aronian, who is probably having one of his
worst ever performances with 1.5/5. We should not forget that
Aronian has already won Wijk aan Zee 4 times!
Caruana, who started to well, had a tough time losing to
Wojtaszek on Thursday.
Saric, Hou Yifan and Van Wely are also all having very hard
times, but this was more expected, as it is not easy to play
against players who are more than 100 points higher rated
than you.
In the B group things are also very mixed up, but the favorites
are still leading: Navara, Wei Yi (who is only 16-years old but
already has an ELO of 2675) and the Dutchman Erwin l’Ami are
all on 3.5/5.
A huge surprise was the loss of Jan Timman to Anne Haast.
Two best games of the past week 10.Qc1 This seems to be the new direction! [Most of the
games continued with 10.Qb3 10...Ne4 11.e3 Nc6 and theory
considers it to be fine for Black.]
(1) Ding, Liren(2732) 10...cxd4 11.Nxd4 It is very interesting, that in the first round
- Caruana, Fabiano(2820) [D78] of the tournament there were two games for this position.
11...Nc6 Caruana follows the recent game of Gelfand. [The
77th Tata Steel GpA(1.5), GM Csaba Balogh
Best rating: 2672 other game continued with 11...Bd7 Black prepares to
2015.01.10
develop the knight to c6 and recapture with the bishop.
This seems to me to be a more accurate response than
Fabiano Caruana got into a suspicious position by Caruana’s choice. 12.Nd2 Nc6 If Black manages to finish the
preparation, but some "invisible" mistakes of his strong development he might even get some advantage because of
Chinese rival allowed him to nicely turn the game to his favor. the better pawn structure and the isolated pawn on c4. 13.c5
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 Caruana would like to play the Gruenfeld Qa6 14.Qc4 Qxc4 15.Nxc4 Rfc8 The isolated c-pawn has the
and Ding Liren chooses the g3 system against it. advantage of having an opened b-file. White might put some
pressure on the b7 pawn, but it does not seem to be enough
3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.O-O O-O 7.b3 An ambitious to achieve an edge... 16.Rab1 Rab8 17.Rfc1 Ne8 followed
line where White tries to hold the tension in the center. The by a mass of exchanges and the game became very drawish,
main move is 7.cxd5. This temporarily weakens the long Shankland-Wei Yi, Wijk aan Zee Challengers 2015.]
diagonal and Caruana directly makes use of it.
12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.Nd2! This is the ideal development of the
7...dxc4 8.bxc4 c5 We are still following some theoretical knight. It is heading to b3 from where it might potentially
variation with hundreds of games with it. jump to c5, a5 or d4 and at the same time it closes the b-file
9.Bb2 Qb6 against Black’s counterplay with Rb8.
13...Bf5 This is the novelty. I am not sure if it was a prepared
one. [The previous game continued with 13...Bg4 14.Nb3!
Bxe2 15.Re1 Bd3
[14...Rad8 was very natural, but it runs into the very strong
15.Bc3! and suddenly it is not easy to deal with the Ba5 and
Na5 threats.; However 14...Rfd8! seems to be stronger. The
point is that after 15.Bc3 (It also prevents the deep idea of
White which he could execute in the game 15.e4? which does
not work now because after 15...Bxe4 16.Bxf6 Bxg2 17.Bxg7
Bxf1 the f8 rook is not hanging...) 15...a5! works!]
16.c5 (I guess Ding Liren wanted to improve his own game

by playing 16.Bd4! The idea is to keep the c5 square for the
knight. This is quite hard to find over the board, because Black
can save his extra pawn, but the activity turns out to be more
important. White seems to get an advantage everywhere...
16...Qa6 (On 16...Qc7 17.Qc3 Bf5 18.Be5! Qc8 19.Na5!
If the c6 pawn falls, White gets an indisputable advantage
with such active pieces. 19...Bd7 20.Rab1!c White has more
than enough compensation for the pawn. Black cannot 15.e4! Very well played! Gaining space and pushing back the
really move with any of his pieces. The c6 and e7 pawns black pieces.
are doomed.) 17.Re3! Very strong computer moves. The 15...Be6 A forced retreat. The pawn could not be taken
complications favor White in all the lines. 17...Bf5 (17...Bxc4? either way... [15...Nxe4? drops a piece after 16.Bxg7 Kxg7
drops the bishop after 18.Nc5 Qb5 19.Rb1h; 17...Qxc4 is 17.g4!; 15...Bxe4? is refuted by 16.Bxf6! Bxg2 17.Bxg7 Bxf1
strongly met by 18.Qd2! Bf5 19.Na5! Qc2 20.Qxc2 Bxc2 18.Bxf8h and White ends up with an extra piece.]
21.Nxc6c White wins back the e7 pawn next move and his 16.e5? This is a very natural move, but it is wrong. It further
pieces are going to be dominant. The a1 rook also joins the pushes back the black pieces, opens the diagonal of the g2
game with tempo.) 18.Rxe7 Rfe8 19.Rxe8+ Rxe8 20.Qc3+= bishop, closes the one on g7, but somehow it turns out to be a
White is better again.) 16...Qa6 17.Rxe7 Rae8 Black equalized huge weakening of the pawn structure and this becomes the
in the game Ding Liren-Gelfand, Moscow 2014] most important positional factor. It is very hard to understand
14.Nb3 Rac8 Black wishes to push c5! which limits the and evaluate the plusses and minuses at first sight, but a
movement of the b3 knight.Afterwards White could forget few moves later it all becomes clear. [The right move was
about the Nd4 or Bd4-Nc5 ideas. It also gets rid of the 16.Rb1! creating a highly unpleasant pin on the b-file with
weakness on c6 and fixes the white pawn on c4, which might which it is not easy to deal at all... 16...Qa6 (On 16...c5 17.Ba3!
potentially become a target like it happened in the game. is very strong and Black has no good way to protect the c5
pawn.) 17.Nc5! Again the activity is more important than the
material! 17...Qxc4 18.Qxc4 Bxc4 19.Rfc1! Be2 (19...Bxa2
does not equalize. 20.Ra1 Be6 21.Rxa7
17...c5! Finally Black got his free move to push c5 and its effect
is even higher than expected. Black has fixed the weakness on
c4 and is ready to attack it with Qa6 and Nb6! Suddenly the
knight on b3 becomes misplaced, it has no more chance to
White’s pieces are too active. The e7 pawn is hanging, occupy the d4 or c5 squares.
but the main problem is the e6 bishop with which Black 18.Nd2 Black has a choice between three tempting moves
cannot do anything. One illustrative line is 21...Rfe8 It seems and it is very hard to assess which one is the best.
quite natural to protect the hanging pawn, but it runs into
22.Nxe6 fxe6 23.Bh3! Kf7 24.e5! Nd5 25.Ra3! An extremely 18...Qa6 Consequently following the plan with Nb6 and
unpleasant maneuver! Rf3 is coming next and the e6 pawn putting pressure on the c4 pawn. [It made sense to include
falls!) 20.Rc2 The light squared bishop does not find its 18...Rb8!? 19.Bc3 and only now play 19...Qa6 This way, Black
place on the board... 20...Bh5 White has a strong initiave could have avoided what happened in the game.; 18...Qc7!?
and a pleasant choice. Probably the most accurate is 21.h3 also looks very strong. 19.f4 Nb6 20.Qc2 Rfd8! In this case
threatening to trap the bishop with g4. Black’s reply is forced: Black just brings his pieces to their ideal squares. He is going
21...g5 22.Bc1! h6 23.Rb7!+= winning back the pawn.] to double his rooks on the d-file and uses the fact that the
d2 knight cannot move because it is obliged to defend the c4
16...Nd7 17.Re1 Protecting the e5 pawn. [Knowing what weakness. 21.Rad1 Rd7 Black has the initiative.]
happened in the game, White should have played 17.c5 but it
is understandable that Ding Liren did not want to give up the 19.Re3! Resourceful prophylaxis against Nb6, which is now
control over the d5 square... 17...Qa6 18.Qe3 Bd5! followed strongly met by Ra3 and the queen is trapped.
by e6. Black has no problems.] 19...Rb8 20.Ra3 [Perhaps it was better to play 20.f4 right
away. Nb6 is still met by Ra3 and if Black plays Qb6 White will
have an extra tempo compared to the game.]
20...Qb6 21.Rb3 Qc7 22.f4 Nb6! After some maneuvering
we have reached a similar position to the 18...Qc7 tempting
option. Black is going to play Rbd8 followed by doubling on disharmony between the white pieces. The rooks are cut off
the d-file. A well-timed undermining of the e5 pawn with f6 is from the game. The minor pieces are just protecting each
also hanging in the air to bring the g7 bishop to the game. other and the c4 pawn. These are the facts that justify that
23.Rb1 seems to be an inaccuracy. White cannot really do the opening of the position will favor Black!
something useful on the b-file. [It looked more natural to play 27.exf6 Allowing Black to take on e5 and open the f-file for his
23.Qc2 and bring the rook to e1, preparing to the f6 break.] rook is even worse.
23...Rbd8! Black can leave the b-file, as the b6 knight 27...exf6 Black is ready to occupy the e-file. Suddenly the
controls it properly. The d-file turns out to be a more relevant white king becomes extremely vulnerable. The move f2-f4
file. seriously weakens the king’s position. Perhaps if White could
24.Bc3 [24.a4 would have been a consequent follow-up, pull it back to f2 he would not have any serious problem, but
trying to invade the 7th rank. Although Black is completely now he is in huge trouble.
fine after 24...Rd7! 25.a5 Na4 and the a5 pawn becomes 28.Rb5 Too slow, but it is difficult to be clever. [28.Nf3 is not
weak, while the 7th rank is properly secured.] better, as Black has good answers here as well: 28...Rfe8 (Or
24...Qd7 Black is threatening to take on c4 now, as with his 28...Be4 followed by Ba8 with potential threats on the long
last move he prepared to meet the Rb7 counterplay with Qd3! diagonal with Qb7.) ]
[24...f6!? also looked very good 25.exf6 exf6 and Black plays 28...Na4! Black picks up the important dark squared bishop
Qf7 next, increasing the pressure on the c4 pawn.] after which the opening of the h8-a1 diagonal with f5 turns out
25.Bf1 Not a nice move to make, but White had to do to be decisive.
something about the c4 pawn. [25.Rb5 25...Qd3 is also much 29.Nb3 [29.Ba5 is not much better. 29...Qd4+ 30.Kh1 Rde8
easier to play with black.] with complete domination and the h1 king might get mated
25...Bf5! 26.Ra1 very soon, for example after Bd7-c6.]
29...Nxc3 30.Qxc3
26...f6! Here comes the freeing break! There is huge
30...Be4! Of course! Black occupies one of the long f5 and Black wins the queen because Bd4 is a decisive
diagonals and prepares to open the other one in the next threat. 35.Qe3 (35.Nxe4 35...Bxc3i; 35.Qa3 35...Bd4+
move with f5! The bishop pair starts to work, there is no way 36.Re3 Bc6i) 35...Bd4i]
to stop them! 34.Qc1 f5 35.Qf4 White desperately tries to complicate the
31.f5 Trying to lock the g7 bishop for at least a few moves. matters in Caruana’s time trouble. He would like to play Rc7,
[31.Nxc5!? would have been more tricky. 31...Qc6! (It which gets parried in the simplest way.
seems like Black wins on the spot with 31...f5 however it spoils 35...Re7 36.h4 Giving air to the king on h2 against checks on
the advantage because of 32.Nxd7 Bxc3 33.Rd1! (33.Nxf8 the g1-a7 diagonal.
33...Bd4# would have been the neat point! Quite a pretty
mate, we must admit!) 33...Rf7 34.Rb8! and White just holds
by miracle.) 32.Nxe4 f5! wins an exchange and the game, but
it would have been worth a try and hoping that Black plays
31... f5, since Black is winning anyway in the game.]
31...Qxf5 32.Re1 [32.Nxc5 32...Bc6i; 32.Rxc5
32...Qd7i and f5 next.]
32...Rfe8 Caruana uses all his pieces!
33.Rxc5 [33.Nxc5 loses to 33...Bc6 White must protect the c5
knight. 34.Ra5 (34.Rxe8+ 34...Rxe8 35.Ra5 Bh6i and Be3 36...a5!! A brilliant finish! Caruana sees that the b3 knight
next wins.) 34...Rxe1 35.Qxe1 Qf3i] is the key in White’s defense, otherwise Bd4 is decisive.
Therefore he is threatening to send it away with a4 and both
captures on a5 lose material.
37.Rxa5 Bc3! 38.Rd5 Desperation again! Black has many
different wins here, Caruana finds an easy one...
38...Qa7+ 39.Kh2 Rxd5 40.cxd5 Bxe1 A great game! It was
interesting that this all happened because of the natural 16.e5
move. Sometimes one mistake like this determines the entire
game... 0-1
33...Qd7 Black was in some time trouble and quickly plays

the most natural move. He is pushing f5 next move and
the joining of the bishop to the game decides the outcome.
[However, there was a brilliant win with 33...Qxc5+!! 34.Nxc5
(2) Ivanchuk, Vassily(2715)
- Van Wely, Loek(2667) [B45]
77th Tata Steel GpA(3),

Best rating: 2737
Ivanchuk’s games are usually fun to watch, with a lot of

interesting ideas and original play, but Van Wely is also a 7.Qe2!? Lately in the Najdorf it becomes more and more
very fighting player who stands by his Sicilian already for fashionable to put the queen on e2 instead of the usual
many years. Ivanchuk seems to celebrate his comeback in f4-Qf3. The queen on e2 has the advantage that White has
Wijk aan Zee with a fantastic start of 4/5 and we are going the possibility of playing g4 and Bg2 and at the same time
to see one of this excellent victories. In the current game the sometimes Nd5 or Nf5 are possible as well.
position quickly becoming extremely sharp and complicated,
where White clearly has a better overview and with a perfect 7...a6 Van Wely continues with the standard set up. Maybe an
domination of his pieces he makes Black’s play look almost interesting try for Black could be to play 7... Bd7 and a quick
funny. A great game to watch and learn from. Qa5 and Rc8, trying to save a tempo on the a6 move.
1.e4 c5 As expected, a Sicilian... 8.O-O-O Bd7 9.f4 Rc8 10.Kb1 This is a typical prophylactical
move which we see in many different Sicilians.
2.Nf3 e6 Van Wely used to play the Najdorf more often, but
he also often goes for a lot of different versions of the Paulsen 10...Qc7?! Of course Black could have played 10...Be7
or Sheveningen. followed by short castle, but usually the queen is nicely placed
on c7. On the other hand the Qc7 move is a bit slow, so in the
3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 d6 A rare move order in the current situation I don’t think it was really needed.
recent games, usually Black goes for 5...Qc7 or 5...a6.
11.Nb3 A preparation for the main idea of Qe2: to play
6.Be3 Nf6 In case of 7.f3 we would be back to the main lines, g4. [White could have tried to play g4 immediately: 11.g4!?
but Ivanchuk tries an interesting idea. 11...Nxd4 12.Rxd4 and 12...e5! Now we can see why Ivanchuk
decided to go back with 11. Nb3. 13.Rd2 Bxg4 Black is winning
a pawn, but things are far from clear. 14.Qg2 and I think
Whites has excellent compensation for the pawn.]
11...b5 Once again Black plays a very standard move.
12.g4 Things are getting more direct now. White wants to play
g5 next, so Black needs to act quickly.
16.Bxa6! This is the key move behind 14. g5, which you must
see before playing 14.g5! The bishop on d1 is hanging, the
knight on f6 as well and the rook on c8, so it is clear that White
12...b4?! just doesn’t look right... [12...h5 doesn’t help since is getting some material back- but for the moment Ivanchuk
after 13.g5 Ng4 White has the cool 14.Bg1 with the deadly is just a full rook down. [Black is doing fine after 16.gxf6?
threat of playing h3 next.; But maybe the calm 12...h6 was the 16...Nd4! with a big pressure on the c2 pawn, with a very
best way to go on.] unclear position.]
13.Na4 Not only is the pawn on a6 hanging, but White also 16...Nd7 [16...Ng4 doesn’t help because of 17.Bb6! It is very
has another idea of playing Nb6 next. rare that in a Sicilian White is dominating on the queenside so
13...e5? This was of course the idea of Van Wely when he much. 17...Qd7 18.Rxd1 with a winning position for White.]
played 12...b4?!, but it just doesn’t seems to work out and in 17.Rxd1 White is only an exchange down and he has a pawn
general pushing e5 is a wrong approach for Black. and a great initiative, so it is clear that he is much better.
14.g5! Great play by Ivanchuk. The sicilian is a very sharp 17...Ra8 A logical move, but probably already almost losing
opening and needs to be played energetically! I guess Black the game. [Probably the best way to fight would have been
had clearly underestimated thecomplications we are entering to play 17...Rb8 but anyhow White has a great position after
now. 18.Qe2! followed by Qc4. We can see a great domination by
14...Bg4 15.Qg2 Now we can see Ivanchuk’s plan. the white pieces.]
15...Bxd1 This move is also forced. 18.Bb5 Be7 [18...exf4 didn’t help much, because after
19.Bxf4 Be7 White has a winning punch with 20.e5! and
Black’s position is falling apart.]
19.f5! Another very good strategic decision. There is no need 23...g6
for White to rush things, Black has almost no play at all and
the idea of playing f6 in the right moment could be deadly.
19...Qb7 Hoping to get rid of the b5 bishop.
24.h4 Ivanchuk starts to joke... [Why not take a piece with

24.Bxd7 24...Nxd7 25.Rxd7 Qa6 26.Nbc5 White doesn’t only
have a winning position, but even a material advantage.
26...Qxc4 27.Qh3 and I guess the best Black can do is to
20.c4! Ivanchuk is playing great chess, using the fact that
resign.]
Black is not in good shape to play 20...bxc3, so White is
securing a great position for the bishop on b5. 24...h5 Black is sort of fighting.
20...O-O [20...bxc3 didn’t help either. 21.Nxc3 The white 25.Qf3 and we now have a funny position where Black has no
knight is taking the perfect d5 square under control. 21...O-O move which would not lead to a direct loss of some material.
22.f6 and the game is basically over. 22...Bd8 23.Rxd6 with a Amazing!
totally winning position for White.] 25...Bc7 Van Wely is still hoping for something...
21.f6 White is starting the assault! 26.Rxd7 Nxd7
21...Bd8 22.Rxd6 and the second black pawn is gone... What
an amazing domination by the white pieces! But already in a
few moves it will get even worse...
22...Ncb8 23.Qg4 Not the most precise way to end the
game, but a very practical move. White is attacking the d7
knight, which has no squares.
27.Bxd7 White has 3 pieces and 2 pawns for Black’s both
rooks-which is already a material advantage- but the real bad
thing is that the white pieces are totally dominating the game.
27...Rad8 28.Nbc5 It was slowly time to resign, but Black
keeps on making moves...
28...Qa8 29.Qd1 The white queen is going to take a great
position on d5.
29...Qa7 30.Qd5 Ra8 Black can practically not move...
31.Bd2 And again Ivanchuk does not hurry, he is going for the
b4 pawn! :)
31...Rfd8 32.Bxb4 Ba5 33.a3 Qc7 34.Nc3 The second
white knight wants to take a nice position on b5.
34...Bxb4 35.axb4 Qa7 36.Kc2 and of course the white
king is perfectly protected by the armada of white pawns and
pieces.
36...Rac8 37.Nb5 What a position!
37...Qa1
38.Nd6 What we can learn from this game is this really nice
touch which Ivanchuk showed us with his domination play,
and that usually a move like e5 is very wrong in a Sicilian for
Black- don’t try it in your own games! 1-0
The K-Files. 7.O-O d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Bd2 Nd7= Bondarevsky - Taimanov
USSR ch 1963) 6...d5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.O-O O-O 9.Nxd5 Qxd5
Accelerated Queen’s Indian, 3.Nf3 10.e4 Qd7=; 4.Bg5 4...Ne4 nothing is wrong with 4...e6, but
Black can play more ambitiously 5.Bh4 h6!? 6.Nc3 Nxc3
7.bxc3 g5 8.Bg3 d6V; 4.Nc3 - 3.Nc3]
4...g6
GM Alexander Khalifman
Best rating: 2702
GM Alexander Khalifman continues his review of the Queen’s

Indian Accelerated. Here is a reminder on the contents of the
series:
Part I (Issue #150). Refuting here and now 3.f3, etc.
Part II (Issue #151). Solid and classical 3.Nf3 In my opinion the only serious alternative to the classical
III & IV (Issues #152-153). Good old central setup 3.Nc3 4...e6 (it’s the last moment when Black can return to the
Queen’s Indian)
No Name Opening, Part II [4...e5 played by Alekhine and Botvinnik but... their
opponents couldn’t use Houdini for the preparation 5.dxe5
Ng4 6.Bg2 Nxe5 (6...Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Bxd2+ 8.Qxd2 Nxe5
(3) 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.Nf3 [A50] 9.O-O) 7.O-O! N Clear improvement on (7.Nbd2 7...Nxf3+
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.Nf3 It’s a solid classical reaction. White 8.Nxf3 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 O-O is very close to equal
doesn’t pay attention to the opponent’s move order tricks and (Teichmann - Alekhine Berlin 1921)) 7...Nxc4 (7...Nxf3+ 8.exf3
invites him to play the Queen’s Indian. It’s possible, of course, Be7 9.Nc3 O-O 10.Nd5c) 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.b3 Nd6 10.e4nand
but Black also has some other options. White has a tremendous compensation for the pawn; 4...c5
5.d5 b5 Otherwise it’s just an awkward Benoni, and after
3...Bb7 [3...e6 - Queen’s Indian] 5...b5 it’s a quite strange Benko gambit. Still I can’t believe
4.g3 The other moves (except 4. Nc3) don’t create any that Black can afford such dynamic play, wasting time on
problems. [4.e3 4...g6 Once again, Black can switch to b7-b6-b5. Not sure if the following lines refute it outright,
Queen’s Indian, but double fianchetto is also perfectly OK but... 6.Bg2 g6 (6...bxc4 7.e4! N (the natural 7.Nc3 suddenly
here. (4...e6) 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Bd3 (6.Be2 6...O-O (6...Ne4!? ) turns out to be a waste of time, and after 7...d6 8.O-O Nbd7
9.e4 g6 10.Qa4 Bg7 11.e5 Nxd5 Black is fine) 7...Nxe4 (7...d6 6.d4 0-0. So, the following part might be quite useful also for
8.O-O Nbd7 9.Re1 g6 10.e5c; 7...g6 8.Nc3 Bg7 9.e5 Ng4 the readers who are skeptical about the concept of NoName
10.Bf4 O-O 11.O-O d6 12.exd6 exd6 13.Re1c) 8.O-O Nf6 (8...d6 opening, but look for a reliable setup against 1.Nf3.
9.Re1 Nf6 10.Nc3) 9.Bg5 d6 10.Re1 Nbd7 11.Nc3 White has a
fantastic compensation the natural 11...g6? loses immediately
12.Bxf6 Nxf6 13.Qa4+ Nd7 (13...Qd7 14.Nb5h) 14.Ne4 Qc7
15.Nf6+ Kd8 16.Ng5!h) 7.O-O Bg7 8.e4! N the same idea
8...Nxe4 9.Re1 Nf6 10.Ne5 O-O 11.cxb5c it’s definitely not
the kind of position Benko players are dreaming about;
4...Bxf3 There is certain logical basis; Black intends to exploit
the opponent’s compromised pawn structure and to build a
solid pawn center c6-d5-e6. However, b7-b6 doesn’t belong
here. If Black likes to play like this, he should better try
something like 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Bg4. 5.exf3 e6 6.Bg2 d5 7.O-O 7.d5 In my opinion the only way to fight for something
Be7 8.f4 c6 9.b3 Na6 10.Nd2+= quite soon the white knight tangible. White gains space and tries to leave the opponent’s
will arrive to e5 and Black will have to think if it was worth light-squared bishop passive. The other moves seem to be
to play b7-b6 only to exchange the light-squared bishop two pretty harmless.
moves later (Aronian - Lysyj Tromso (rapid) 2013)] [7.Nc3 The most popular and natural move. However, it
5.Bg2 [5.Nc3!? might be a more practical move order as never seemed to grant White even a symbolic advantage.
it reduces Black’s opportunities and sets a nice positional 7...Ne4 8.Nxe4 (8.Bd2 8...Nxd2 9.Qxd2 c5 10.d5 d6= Stean
trap 5...Bg7 (5...Ne4?! runs into 6.d5 Nxc3 (in the game - Diesen New York 1977; 8.Qc2 8...Nxc3 9.bxc3 (9.Qxc3
Romanishin - Kir.Georgiev Wijk aan Zee 1985 Black was so 9...c5 10.Be3 Bxf3 11.Bxf3 Nc6=) 9...d6= White’s control on
much upset about his previous move that he played 6...Nf6?! the center and pawn weaknesses compensate each other
which is, of course, even worse - just losing two tempi 7.e4c) (Lisitsin - Savitsky Leningrad 1934)) 8...Bxe4 9.Be3 (9.d5 9...c6
7.Qd4! after the best 7...f6 8.Qxc3 c6 9.dxc6 Nxc6 10.Bg2+= 10.d6 (10.Bh3 10...cxd5 11.Ng5 Vareille - Bordling France 1996
things are far from clear but Black’s kingside structure is (11.cxd5 11...e6=+) 11...e6! 12.f3 Bf5 13.g4 Bf6V) 10...exd6
quite ugly) 6.d5 (now 6.Bg2 already can be met by 6...Ne4!?) 11.Qxd6 Na6= Szmetan - Rodriguez Buenos Aires 1990 ;
6...Na6 7.Bg2 Nc5 8.O-O O-O transposing to the main line] 9.Bf4 9...c5 (9...d6 - 7.Bf4) 10.Qd2 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Bxg2 12.Kxg2
Qc8= Pedersen - Cummings Denmark 1978; 9.Bg5 9...c5
5...Bg7 6.O-O O-O This position happened also in Black 10.Qd2 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Bxg2 12.Kxg2 Nc6 (12...d5 13.Rad1!
games of Carlsen, Grischuk and Morozevich despite none of dxc4 14.Nf5 Qxd2 15.Nxe7+ Kh8 16.Rxd2 Re8 17.Nd5+=
them has played 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6 so far. The reason is simple: Chatalbashev - Ashwin Albena 2013) 13.Nxc6 dxc6 14.Rad1
the most popular move order to reach the position on the Qc7 15.Qd7 Qe5! 16.Qxe7 Qa5!=) 9...c5 10.Qd2 d6 The
diagram is 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3. g3 Bb7 4.Bg2 g6 5.0-0 Bg7 easiest way to equalise. 11.Bh6 Nd7 12.Rfd1 Nf6 13.Rac1
Qc7= Radjabov - Kramnik Istanbul 2012; 7.Qc2 is strongly 9.Rd1! A recent invention by Caruana. (9.Nbd2 leads to
met by 7...c5 8.d5 b5! 9.cxb5 (9.Nc3 9...b4 10.Nd1 d6 11.e4 a fairly unclear position after 9...Nd6 10.e4 c6 11.Rd1 cxd5
Nbd7V Nikolic - I.Sokolov Pula 1991; 9.e4 9...d6) 9...d6 10.e4 12.exd5 Na6 Fridman - Mainka Senden 2002) 9...c6 (9...Na6
a6 looks like a good Benko version for Black, as e2-e4 has 10.Nd4) 10.Nc3! N A critical move. (10.Nd4 10...cxd5 11.cxd5
only weakened the important square d3. The recent top-level Bxd5 12.Nxf5 Caruana - Robertson Bilbao 2014 could have
game confirmed this assessment: 11.b6 Nbd7 12.Bd2 a5 led ro completely unclear position after 12...gxf5 13.Rxd5
13.Nc3 Nxb6VNepomniatschij - Morozevich Russia ch 2014; e6 14.Rd1 d5 15.Nd2 Nd7 Black’s strong center and active
7.Re1 Half-waiting move which is very popular now in a pieces compensate White’s bishop pair.) 10...Nxc3 11.bxc3
similar Queen’s Indian position (with the black bishop on e7). Na6 12.Nd4 Qc8 13.Rb1+= I like White’s position more, but
However, here Black has no problems with the useful answer. certainly further practical tests are required; 7...e6 8.Nc3
7...e6 (7...c5?! 8.d5 b5 is not recommended here: 9.e4 bxc4 exd5 9.cxd5 Re8 10.Nd4 Na6 11.Ndb5!?+=; 7...c6 8.Nc3 cxd5
(9...d6 10.e5) 10.Nc3c e4-e5 is coming (Yevseev - Pimenov, 9.cxd5 Na6 10.e4+= Budo - Alatortsev Leningrad 1932]
St.Petersburg 2011)) 8.Nc3 (8.Bg5 8...h6 9.Bxf6 Qxf6 10.e4 8.Nc3 Nc5 9.Re1 The most unpleasant for Black in my
d6=) 8...Ne4 9.Nxe4 Bxe4 10.Bg5 Qe8 11.Qd2 d6 12.Bh6 opinion. The idea is simple: e2-e4 [9.Qc2 not the best square
Nd7= and Black is perfectly safe and solid here (Aronian - for the queen as black rook will soon arrive to c8 9...c6! 10.e4
Carlsen Saint Louis 2014) ; 7.Bf4 Another small trick which cxd5 11.exd5 e6VNorman - Tiviakov Guernsey 2013; 9.Nd4 the
wouldn’t threaten Black if he reacts properly 7...d6 (7...c5?! same plan: e2-e4 9...a5!? so this rare prophylactic move is
8.d5 b5 9.d6!) 8.Nc3 (8.d5 8...b5 9.Qb3 Qc8 10.Qxb5 c6 11.dxc6 better (9...e5 was played by Grischuk, Tiviakov and Kurnosov,
Bxc6 12.Qb3 Nbd7n gives Black excellent compensation as but seems to be inaccurate. 10.Nb3 (10.Nc2!? ) 10...d6
the bishop is misplaced on f4.) 8...Ne4 9.Nxe4 Bxe4 This (10...Nxb3 11.axb3 a5 12.d6!? is a problem) 11.Nxc5! Very
position might arise via the move order 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Nxe4 Bxe4 straightforward (but effective) way to proceed. 11...bxc5 12.a3
9.Bf4 d6 (instead 9...c5! equalises immediately). So White a5 (12...Ba6 Grischuk - Sargissian Khanty Mansiysk blitz 2013
avoided 9...c5, but is it such a big achievement?! 10.Qd2 13.b3 and it’s no pleasure to play with the bishop on a6 (if
Nd7 11.Bh6 Guimard - Euwe Groningen 1946 11...Nf6 12.Bxg7 it retreats, then b3-b4 follows)) 13.e4 and White intends to
Kxg7=] go for a5-pawn with something like a4 Nb5 Qe1 Bd2. Looks
7...Na6 This is the most natural developing move. [7...b5 quite slow but works...) 10.e4 (10.Bf4 10...e5! this trick is
would be good if not 8.Qb3! and it’s right time for Black a tactical basis of 9...a5 11.dxe6 (11.Bxe5 11...Nxd5 12.Bxd5
to decide if his previous move was a sacrifice or a blunder. Bxe5 13.Bxb7 Nxb7 14.f4 Bg7 15.e4 Nc5V) 11...fxe6 12.Bxb7
8...Qc8 9.Qxb5 c6 10.dxc6 Nxc6 11.Nc3 Rb8 12.Qa4 Ba6 Nxb7 13.Qd2 Nc5k; 10.Nb3 10...Nxb3 11.axb3 d6V) 10...e5
13.a3 Ng4 14.c5 and Black doesn’t have enough for the pawn 11.Nb3 (11.Ndb5 11...c6 12.Na3 cxd5 13.exd5 Ne8V; 11.Nc2
(Cheparinov - Salgado Spain 2013); 7...Ne4 is recommended 11...Ne8! an important manouevre 12.Be3 Nd6 13.Qe2 Qe7k
by the engines, but from the human point of view it looks a bit planning f7-f5) 11...Nxb3 12.axb3 d6klooks like very much
too aggressive 8.Qc2 f5 (8...Nd6 9.e4 e5 10.b4 c6 11.Nbd2+=) playable King’s Indian]
9...e6 [9...Nfe4 According to general principles when Black
is lacking space piece exchanges are good for him. But in
this concrete case it’s combined with the massive loss of
time and doesn’t work properly. 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Qc2 Nc5
(11...f5 12.Ng5 Nd6 13.Bf4 with strong pressure (Ivanchuk -
Robson Tromso 2013)) 12.e4 d6 13.Be3 and it’s difficult to
create adequate counterplay]
10.e4 d6 11.Qc2 [after the logical 11.Nd4 (Castro - Alvarez
Bogota 2014) 11...e5 leads to positions which are quite similar
to the 9.Nd4 line.]
11...a5 12.Bg5 h6 13.Be3 White’s position is more pleasant
to play, but Black also has some trumps (Sargissian - Vallejo
Khanty Mansiysk rapid 2013)
David vs. Goliath
Peter Zhdanov
Top-10:
In this special weekly column we will be looking at the Kravchenko (1777) - Shemeakin (2266), 1-0, 489 points
most unexpected results that occurred last week. Players Dibusz (1593) - Juhasz (2074), 1-0, 481 points
usually face opponents of a similar level. Considerably Kokeny (2086) - Erseki (1612), 0-1, 474 points
less frequent are situations when a significantly lower-rated Bayramov (2051) - Gasimov (2517), 1-0, 466 points
player succeeds in beating a much stronger adversary. Popov (2622) - Deshpande (2157), 0-1, 465 points
The previous week has brought us 23 upsets. The number Vernacki (2354) - Lukic (1953), 0-1, 401 points
of moves ranges from 24 in WIM Alexandra Jule (2139) - FM Badalian (1703) - Pedashenko (2085), 1-0, 382 points
Brice Le Roy (2290) to 73 in FM Peter Constantinou (2284) Eade (1858) - Reilly (2238), 1-0, 380 points
- Nail Bashirli (1963), 0-1. The highest-profile loss was GM Sevdemaliev (2505) - Asadli (2127), 0-1, 378 points
Ivan Popov (2622) - Annirudha Deshpande (2157), 0-1. Elvin Katashuk (2191) - Stupak (2557), 1-0, 366 points
Bayramov (2051) has defeated two Goliaths in one week:
FM Ulvi Sadikhov (2414) and CM Parvis Gasimov (2517). CM Average gap: 428; White won 6 games, Black won 4 games.
instead of GM is not a misprint: young Parvis (born 2000) has
famously improved his rating by 568 points over a 3-months
period!
If you have ever won a game against someone rated
The ”hardcore” nomination goes to GM Kirill Stupak, who
300 points or above yourself, please send it to
played Kh7 and resigned in the following position against FM
peter@pogonina.com for publication. Any additional
Katashuk (2191). As you can see, White can give checkmate in
one move with Qf7.
Puzzle section
(4) Van Wely, L(2667)-Wojtaszek, R(2744) (6) Timman, J(2593)-Haast, A(2352)
Wijk aan Zee, 2015.01.11 Wijk aan Zee B, 2015.01.12
1. h 1... i
(5) So, W(2762)-Aronian, L(2797) (7) Paakkonen, T(2247)-Agrest, E(2590)

Wijk aan Zee, 2015.01.12 Keres memorial rapid, 2015.01.09
1. h 1... i
(8) David, A(2572)-Raja, H(2144) (10) Demchenko, A(2611)-Krishna, C(2350)
Parnsvath Open, 2015.01.09 Parnsvath Open, 2015.01.11
1. h 1. h
(9) Karthikeyan, P(2435)-Gupta, A(2631) (11) Zelcic, R(2535)-Kozul, Z(2631)

Parnsvath Open, 2015.01.10 Croatian Championship, 2015.01.12
1... i 1. h
(12) Bellia, F(2420)-Turov, M(2591)
Rilton Cup, 2015.01.04
1... i
(13) Duessel, U(2198)-Iturrizaga, E(2649)

Basel Open, 2015.01.02
1... i
Endgame section to be able to create a passed pawn later.
(14) Ivanchuk, Vassily(2715)

- Jobava, Baadur(2727)
Wijk aan Zee, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.01.10 Best rating: 2672
36...Kd7 This is the only attempt for Black if he wants to

continue playing for the win. He drives his king to b6 to
support the advance of the a-pawn. Both players were in
severe time trouble, which probably also affected Jobava
to play ambitiously. [36...g5 was very logical to stop the
advance of the pawns, although it does not change the logical
outcome. 37.f4 gxf4+ 38.Kxf4 is still just a dead draw. If Black
drives his king to b6, White always gets counterplay against
Jobava had an advantage at an earlier stage of the game, the f7 pawn.]
but he missed some tactical ideas after which White managed 37.f4 White is ready to push e5, followed by Ke4 and f5!
to equalize. Obviously in this 5 against 5 pawns and rook
endgame the logical outcome would be a draw, but Black 37...Rc6 38.Kd4 Kc7 Jobava con sequently follows his risky
was probably disappointed about the spoiled chances and he plan. Obviously if he keeps his king on e7 the game would end
continues playing for the win. in a draw.
33...Re6 Black pins his hopes to his symbolic edge because 39.f5 Rc4+ 40.Kd5 The last move before reaching time
of the a6 passed pawn, but this should not be enough to win control! Generally in rook endgames it is very important to
the game. [Naturally 33...Rc5 34.Rxa6 Rxc3 35.Rb6 is a dead defend actively! Passively defending the c3 pawn would have
draw.] given Black chances after Kb6 and a5. The white king must
support his passer in the center. [40.Ke5!? was actually
34.Kf2 Both sides activate their king, which is a known also strong, when Black has nothing better than retreating
principle in most of the endgames. with 40...Rc6 (40...Kb6? is strongly met by 41.Kf6! Rxe4
34...Kf8 35.Ke3 Ke7 36.g4 White has a pawn majority on 42.Kxf7 and White gets a very strong passed f-pawn in any
the kingside, therefore he advances his pawns there in order case. 42...Rxg4 43.f6!) ]
40...Kb6 Thanks to Jobava’s hard efforts, we have reached
a very interesting rook endgame with mutual chances.
Although it is already rather White who has better chances.
The a-passed pawn is still on a6, while on the other side,
White is ready to push e5-e6 and his king is excellently placed
to support the further promotion of the pawn. Probably at
this point Jobava had also realized that he was overoptimistic
about his chances, but it was very difficult to evaluate
correctly in time trouble.
47.Rf2! This is very important! White wants to promote his
pawn with his rook with the idea to keep the king closer to
the queenside pawns. (47.Kd7? loses to 47...Kb5! 48.e8=Q
Rxe8 49.Kxe8 a4i and the pawns promote more or less
automatically.) 47...b3 48.Rf8! The perfect square for the
rook, from where it supports his own pawn and also stops
the b-pawn because of Rb8. 48...Kb5 (48...a4? is too slow,
White wins after 49.e8=Q Rxe8 50.Rxe8 Kb5 51.Kd5 Black
cannot advance his pawns, because after a check on the b-file,
his king gets squeezed to the a-file and Kc4 wins. 51...Kb4
41.Ra3 Ivanchuk decides to protect his c3 pawn as Black 52.Kd4h; 48...b2? 49.Rb8+) 49.Rf5+ Another important
cannot avoid e5-e6 anyway. [41.e5 right away was also motif in rook endgames! One can promote his pawns also
possible. 41...gxf5 42.gxf5 Rxc3 43.e6 fxe6+ 44.fxe6 Re3 Black by closing the key line. 49...Kc4 50.Re5 Rxe5 51.Kxe5 b2
has the upper hand here. He intends to give up his rook for the 52.e8=Q b1=Q 53.Qc6+ Kb3! is the only move to save the
e-pawn and advance his passers with the support of his king. queen. 54.Qb5+ Kc2 55.Qxa5=]
The single rook without the king cannot stop them. However
with accurate play White can still hold the draw. 45.Kd6 b4 41...a5 42.e5 Ra4?? A terrible blunder! [42...Rxg4 was also
46.e7 a5 suspicious because of 43.f6! (43.e6 is less accurate, because
Black has 43...fxe6+ 44.fxe6 Kc7! saying stop to the pawn and
making a draw after 45.Rxa5 Rg5+ 46.Ke4 Kd6 47.Ra6+ Ke7=
48.Ra7+ Kxe6 49.Rxh7) ; Black should have played 42...gxf5
43.gxf5 Rf4 44.f6 Rf3! A very nice move! Black pins the rook
and creates the threat of b4. At the same time he prevents the
e6 idea as it is met by Rxf6 e7 Re6! 45.Kd6 b4
not change anything.) 50.c5+! Ke6 51.c6 a3 52.c7 Kd7 53.f7
a2 54.c8=Q+ Kxc8 55.f8=Q+h The resignation might look
a bit premature, but on this level such things belong to the
easy-to-calculate category. An undeserved loss for Jobava,
but sometimes fighting spirit does not pay off properly.] 1-0
White must force a draw here by playing 46.cxb4!! Rxa3

47.bxa5+ e6 is coming after each move. 47...Rxa5 48.e6 fxe6
49.f7 Rf5 50.Kxe6 Rf2 51.Ke7 and the draw is inevitable.
51...Re2+ 52.Kd7 Rf2 53.Ke7=]
43.Rxa4! [Black resigned in view of 43.Rxa4 43...bxa4
44.Kc4! The white king stops the passed pawn. But of course,
it is not the end of the story... 44...gxf5 45.gxf5 Kc6 It looks
like White is in trouble. He soon gets into zugzwang and
needs to move with his king, but then Kd5 wins the e5 pawn.
However the truth is different: 46.Kd3! White simply wants
to go towards the a-pawns. Black must play 46...Kd5
And here comes the brilliant point! 47.e6! fxe6 48.f6! A

very nice breakthrough! Both sides have two passed pawns,
but the white ones are promotingfaster! 48...Kd6 49.c4! e5
(49...Kd7 loses to 50.c5 Ke8 51.c6h; 49...a3 50.Kc2h does
19.Nxd6 Nxd6 20.Bxf4 So White has the bishop pair and
(15) Saric, Ivan(2666) more advanced pawns on the queenside. White’s idea should
- Aronian, Levon(2797) be to advance the pawns even more to create some weakness
in the black pawn strcuture and make the bishop pair even
77th Tata Steel GpA(1), more dominant.
Best rating: 2737 20...Be6 Preventing White from playing c4.
21.Rad1?! I think this is clearly not the best. White’s idea

should not be to exchange the rooks, but to play for the c4
We are in the 1st round of Wijk aan Zee. For Saric it is
push. [The right move was 21.Rac1! and Black cannot stop
one of first super tournaments he has participated in, so to
White from playing c4. 21...c6 22.c4 and White’s advantage got
immediately play the first round against the World Nr5 in not
a bit bigger. The next idea could be to play Kf2-Ke3 and maybe
an easy task. The game reached an endgame already on
Red1. Black’s position is very unpleasant here.]
move 10, where White got a minimal advantage. After a few
not very accurate moves, White already has a very pleasant 21...Rd7?! A very logical move, but Black misses a nice
position. Black’s pieces are passive and the white knight on c4 tactical idea of White. [More solid would have been 21...Rac8
is perfectly placed. Still, it is very hard to create real winning 22.Rd4 h6 with the idea of playing Ke7 next. Black’s position
chances out of a small edge. is a little worse, but very solid.]
18.f4! A very good decision by Saric. Of course it was possible 22.c4 Finally the c4 move is played!
to play Be3-f3-Rad1 with a small plus here, but Black would be 22...Rad8 Black still doesn’t see the trick.
solid too with f6 and maybe have the idea of playing Be7 and
Nd6. Now the game is getting a bit more funny. 23.c5 Nb5 The position looks like a draw- but only at first
sight!
18...exf4 This move is a must.
26...Be6 27.Rxd8+ Kxd8 and after the rooks are gone, to
just have the bishop pair is not enough to win the game. The
position is a draw.
28.Bxb5 axb5 Opposite colored bishops endgames are equal
and it is not much fun to play on.
29.c6 bxc6 30.Be3 Kc8 31.Bc5 Kb7 32.Kf2 We just saw
how important it is too keep the tension and fight for every
resource, even when the position looks simple and very much
24.Rxd7? What a mistake by White! [What White and Black like a draw. 1/2-1/2
both missed was 24.c6! A beautiful "little" punch! 24...bxc6
(Of course Black cannot take the rook: 24...Rxd1?? 25.Rxd1
Rxd1 26.cxb7 Rd8 27.Bxb5 and White is easily winning.)
25.Rc1! Another calm and very strong move. Black can’t stop
White from playing Rxc6 next and after that the a6 pawn is
in big danger. We would clearly see the domination of the
bishop pair here.]
24...Bxd7 Black doesn’t give White another chance to play
the c6 move.
25.Rd1 Ke8! An accurate move after which the drawn
outcome is almost sure because White can’t do anything
against Black playing Be6 next or Bc6, with the exchange of
the rook.
26.Bc4
Chess and the City. About one year ago, on the 11th January 2014, the chess world
was shocked by the news of the death of GM Vugar Gashimov,
Ben Oni. who passed away at the early age of 27.
Vugar was one of the most talented players of our time,
peaking at number 6 in the world, but above all he was a kind
soul, a good friend and a cheerful person.
He made Azeri history by winning the crucial game in the
European Team Championship in Novi Sad 2009, which
secured the gold medal for his team.
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz
Best rating: 2493 Vugar played his last tournament in Wijk An Zee 2012, before
he was diagnosed the cruel disease which plagued him for the
rest of his life and finally separated him from chess and his
”And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called
loved ones.
his name Ben-Oni”
(which means ”son of my sorrow”) (Genesis 35:18) On the board Vugar was known for his daring style as shown
by his (successful) efforts to revitalize the Benoni opening. It
”Whenever I felt in a sorrowful mood and wanted to take refuge
is a sad coincidence that the name of this opening bears the
from melancholy, I sat over a chess board, for one or two hours
most distinctive features of his life: an extraordinary creativity
according to circumstances. Thus this book came into being,
and a gloomy fate.
and its name, Ben-Oni ”Son of Sadness”, should indicate its
origin.” (Aaron Reinganum) I would dare to say that Vugar was a good friend of mine and
I think that this video summarizes the enormous void that his
untimely death has left in the hearts of those who had the luck
to meet him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ApWKRXTyEw
Clash of the Titans 12.Qc2 Qc8 and we can find a lot of games in this position
where objectively Black should equalize the position after
reducing the material by playing Ne4 or pushing d5.]
(16) Portisch, Lajos 6.Nc3 Be7 7.Bg2 O-O 8.Bf4 Because of the Bxb8 threat
- Smyslov, Vassily[E15] Black plays
Amsterdam Interzonal(8), 8...d6!? [8...Qc8 9.O-O d5 10.Ne5 Qb7 (10...Bxc4 This trick
1964.05.29 now works because of 11.Nxc4 b5 12.Nxb5 cxb5 13.Qxb5h)
GM Kamil Miton 11.cxd5 cxd5 and now White can try the thematic plan with the
Best rating: 2655 idea to take control of the c-file by playing Rfc1 or because of
the bad queen on b7 it is possible to break in the center with
Re1-e4.]
1.c4 Nf6 2.d4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6
9.Rc1 Qc8 10.O-O Nbd7 11.Rfd1 Bb7
5.Qa4 is one of the options. White has many other moves:

[5.b3 ; 5.Qc2 ; 5.Qb3 ] 12.e4+= White has a clearly better position thanks to his space
advantage.
5...c6 Not the main line. The idea of this move is to transpose
to Catalan structures after d5. The most popular move now 12...Nh5 13.Bg5?! It was much better to keep more pieces
is [5...Bb7 6.Bg2 c5! Black immediately fights for the center. on the board. [13.Be3+= ]
7.dxc5 (7.O-O 7...cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bxg2 9.Kxg2 Qc8 Black has a 13...Bxg5 14.Nxg5 Nhf6 15.Qa3 h6 16.Nf3 [16.Nxe6!?
good version of the hedgehog structure with less pieces and 16...fxe6 17.Qxd6 White has compensation and e5 is coming
a badly placed queen on a4. 10.Nc3 Qb7+ 11.f3 Be7 12.e4 O-O next.]
13.Be3 Rc8V) 7...Bxc5 (7...bxc5 8.Nc3 Be7 9.O-O O-O 10.Rd1
d6 11.Bf4) 8.O-O O-O 9.Nc3 Be7 10.Rd1 Na6 11.Bf4 Nc5
16...c5 22.cxb5 c4 with Qb6-Ng4 next and Black has the initiative.]
21...Bxd5 22.exd5 Qd6 23.Nd3 Rfe8 24.Re1 exf4 25.Nxf4
Ne5 26.Qc3
17.Ne1?! A very strange move in my opinion. Why not play

the logical [17.d5 with the idea to limit the black bishop. The
white queen is temporarily out of play but thanks to his space 26...b5! Thanks to this tactical trick Black is going to open the
advantage White has a slightly better position.] b-file and create a weak pawn on c4.
17...a6! with the unpleasant idea b5, so White is forced to take 27.b3 [27.cxb5? 27...axb5 28.Qxc5 Qxc5+ 29.Rxc5 Nf3+i]
on c5.
27...bxc4 28.bxc4 Rab8 29.a3 Re7 30.Re2 Rbe8 31.Rce1
18.dxc5 dxc5 19.Qb3 Qc7 20.f4 Ned7 [31...Nfd7!? with the idea Nb6.]
32.Bh3! White is hoping to activate or to exchange his bad
bishop.
32...Rxe2 33.Rxe2 Rxe2 34.Nxe2 Qe5 35.Qd3 [35.Bxd7
35...Qxe2! 36.Bf5 Kf8 and Black is better thanks to his better
pieces.]
35...Qa1+ 36.Bf1 Ng4 [36...Ne5?! 37.Qc3 and without the
queens, White’s chances to save the position are higher.]
37.h3 Nge5 38.Qc3 Qb1 39.Nf4 [39.Nc1!?]
20...e5! Black is taking control over the dark squares.
21.Nd5 [21.f5 21...b5! (21...Nb8 This typical plan of transfering
the knight to d4 is too slow here. 22.Nd5! Bxd5 23.exd5 Qd6
24.Nd3 Nf2-g4-h4 is coming next with an unclear position.)
hurry. [44...g4 45.Bg2 Qe1+ 46.Kh2 Qe2i]
45.Bg2 Qe1+ 46.Bf1 Qd2 47.Bg2 Qe2 48.g4 f4 [48...fxg4
49.Qb1 Ke8i and the black king will escape to c7.]
49.Qb1 White is looking for his chances. Also interesting was
[49.d6!? with the idea to activate the pieces somehow. 49...f3
50.Bf1 Qd2 51.Ng3 Qxd6 52.Nf5V]
49...Qe3+ 50.Kh2 Qd3 51.Qb7 Qd2 52.Kg1 f3 53.Bf1
Qe3+ 54.Kh1 Qe1 55.Kg1 Qe3+ 56.Kh1 Qf2 57.Qb1
39...Qe4! A strong move! Black puts the queen on the most
Kg8 [57...Nxc4 58.Qh7+ Ke8 59.Qg8+ Ke7i and Black is
active square.
winning because the king escapes from the checks.]
40.Kf2 g5 [40...Nb6 just wins the pawn. 41.d6 (41.Bg2
58.Qa1 Kf8 59.d6 Kf7 Black is just waiting for a mistake and
41...Qf5) 41...Nc8e]
in the worst case Smyslov can always win the d6 pawn.
41.Nh5 f5 Black is improving his position.
60.Qd1 Ke8 61.Ng7+ [61.Qb1 ]
42.Qb3 [42.Bg2!? 42...Qd4+! is the more accurate move.
61...Kd8 62.Qb1 [62.Nf5 62...Nxc4i]
(42...Qxc4
62...Nxg4! The decisive blow at last!

43.Nf6+! Nxf6 44.Qxe5 Qd4+ 45.Qxd4 cxd4 46.Ke2 Kf7
(46...Ne4 47.g4V) 47.Kd3 Nh5 48.Kxd4 Nxg3 49.Ke5V and 63.hxg4 [63.Ne6+ 63...Kc8i]
White has counterplay thanks to his active pieces.) 43.Qxd4 63...Qh4+ 64.Kg1 Qg3+ and after 65.Kh1 f2 White won’t be
cxd4 and White is not able to do anything. Black completely able to avoid mate. 0-1
controls the position and after Kf7-Ke7-Kd6 or Kf7-Kg6 he
should easily win the game.]
42...Qd4+ 43.Kg2 Qd2+ 44.Kg1 Kf7e Black is not in a
Surprise section / study Solutions
(17) Duras (18) Longson, A(2339)-Vakhidov, J(2502)
1. = Hastings Open, 2014.12.30
31...Nxb6! 32.Qxe6+ Kh8 33.Qxb6 Bd4+ 34.Rxd4

Qxd4+ 35.Qxd4+ Rxd4e
(19) Marusenko, P(2194)-Mista, A(2614)
Hastings Open, 2015.01.01
37...f5+! 38.Kg5 Rh5+ 39.Kxg6 Qg7+! 40.Kxh5 Qh6# 0-1

[40...Qg4# ]
(20) Vakhidov, J(2502)-Flear, C(2181) (22) Kumaran, B(2316)-Brunello, S(2573)
Hastings Open, 2015.01.02 Chennai Open, 2015.01.02
26.Bg5! 1-0 [26.Bg5 26...Rxd5 27.Bxe7h] 31...Ra1! 32.Rf1 [32.Rxa1 32...Qxa1+ 33.Kh2 Qe5+!i]
32...Rxf1+ 33.Kxf1 Qd4! 0-1 [33...Qd4 34.Bxe4 (34.Bb3
34...Bd3+i) 34...Qd1#]
(21) David, A(2578)-Ramnath, B(2405) (23) Meier, G(2640)-Rambaldi, F(2476)
Chennai Open, 2014.12.31 Zurich Open, 2014.12.30
21...f4! 22.Nxf7 fxg3 23.Nxh6+ [23.Nxd8 23...gxf2+ 24.Kf1 15.g4! Qxg4 [15...Qe6 16.Nf4 Qe5 17.Bc3h]
fxe1=Q+ 25.Kxe1 Rxd8i; 23.Nxd6 23...gxf2+i] 16.f3 Bxf3 17.Rxf3h
23...Bxh6i
(24) Romanov, E(2638)-Bekker Jensen, S(2459) (26) Istratescu, A(2627)-Horvath, J(2508)
Rilton Cup, 2015.01.02 Donau Open, 2014.12.29
32.Bb5! Nd2 [32...Bf5! 33.a4h] 22.Ne7+! Kb8 23.Rf5! Bxg3 [23...Qg4 24.Rxe5 Qf3+
25.Kg1h] 24.Qxg3h
33.Bxd7 Nxf1 34.Kxf1h
(27) So, W(2762)-Batchuluun, T(2525)

(25) Mikhalevski, V(2571)-Smith, A(2479)
North American Open, 2014.12.30
40.Bxh6+! Kxh6 41.Rxf7 Be8 [41...Nh7 42.f4!h; 41...Ng8

55.Rg3! Nd5 56.Rh3# 1-0 42.g5+ Kh5 43.Rh7+h]
42.g5+ Kh5 43.Rxf6 [43.Rf8! 43...Nh7 44.Kg3!! Nxf8
45.f4h]
43...Kxh4 44.f4 [44.Rf8 44...Kxg5 45.Bb5h]
44...Rxa5 45.Rf8! Bb5 [45...Bd7 46.Be2h]
46.Kf3! 1-0 [46.Kf3 46...Bxd3 47.Rh8#]
(28) Zepler
1.Rh1!! Rf5+ 2.Kg1! d3 3.f7 d2 4.f8=Q+ Rxf8=
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
And of course once again the whole chess world has its eyes
on a little Dutch town called Wijk aan Zee.
Editorial Preface 2 After a bad start, when he lost to Wojtaszek, Carlsen won 6
games in a row! This is unreal, but it is a fact and he is now
leading with a full point advantage and a score of 7.5/10. The
2-3rd places are shared by Vachier-Lagrave and Wesley So,
both on 6.5/10. The two young players are playing attractive
The K-Files. Accelerated Queen’s Indian, 3.f3 14 and fighting chess, which is very nice to watch.
At the end of the cross table we find Jobava, with a
David vs. Goliath 18 catastrophic result of 1.5/10, as well as Saric and Hou Yifan,
both on 3/10.
Puzzle section 20 All in all Wijk aan Zee is a very fighting tournament with
almost no short draws and a lot of interesting games. A
Endgame section 23 fantastic event to follow!
The B group sees a fight between Wei Yi and Navara, who are
Chess and the City. Chess superstition 28 both on 8/10, an amazing score! It is going to be very exciting
to follow who of those 2 players will qualify for next year’s A
group.
Surprise section / study 32 Now let’s come to the upcoming events of the next few weeks:
The Grenke Chess Classics 2015, a round robin featuring
Solutions 33 Carlsen, Caruana, Aronian, Anand, Adams, Bacrot, Naiditsch
and Baramidze are going to start on the 1st of February.
And the huge Gibraltar open, featuring many GMs over 2700,
is going to begin already on 26th of January.
So a lot of chess fun is guaranteed in the next week and of
course we should enjoy the end of Wijk aan Zee, as maybe
some surprises are still to come... We wish you a lot of chess
fun with the current issue.
Best wishes,
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Two best games of the past week my personal opinion is that the World Champion mixed up
something and this move is a blunder... [I guess, he wanted
to go for the line with 8...O-O 9.Qd2 e5]
(1) Caruana, Fabiano(2820) 9.O-O Refusing the challenge... Of course it is easy to
- Carlsen, Magnus(2862) [B31] understand Caruana’s logic, that a sacrifice in the opening
played instantly by Carlsen should be sound and he searches
77th Tata Steel GpA(6.4), GM Csaba Balogh for an alternative to continue the game with. [It would be
2015.01.16 Best rating: 2672 interesting to know what Carlsen had in mind against 9.Nxe5!
9...Nxe4 Otherwise White is just a pawn up.
A very tough battle between the current World Nr.1 and Nr.2.
The World Champion manages to outplay his rival in a very
complex middlegame.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Caruana decides to avoid the open
Sicilian and plays the recently popular Rossolimo variation.
3...g6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 In this system, White gives up his bishop
pair in order to inflict some damage to the pawn formation.
He intends to keep the structure closed to avoid the two
bishops starting to work.
10.Qf3! This is the key and suddenly the attack against the
5.d3 Bg7 6.h3 This is basically the intitial position, where f7 pawn is very unpleasant! 10...f5 (10...Bxe5 simply leaves
Black has a wide range of playable setups. Black in a bad position after 11.Qxe4 f6 12.Bf4 O-O 13.Bxe5
6...Nf6 7.Nc3 b6 8.Be3 Re8 14.O-O Rxe5 15.Qxc6c without sufficient compensation
for the pawn.) 11.Bf4! An important move to retain
the advantage. (Black is fine after 11.dxe4 11...Bxe5 12.exf5
O-O 13.Qxc6 Bxf5 The two bishops are working perfectly
now. Black should get back the c2 pawn and equalize.)
11...Nxc3 (11...Qe7 12.dxe4 Bxe5 13.O-O-Oc is just an extra
pawn for White.) 12.Qxc6+ Bd7 13.Nxd7 There are some
complications, but White ends up being better in the end.
13...Rc8 14.Qe6+ Qe7 15.Qxe7+ Kxe7 16.Be5! The last
important move and White saves his extra pawn. 16...Bxe5
17.Nxe5c; White can also play 9.Qd2 when Black does not
8...e5 This is practically the novelty. Well, to be honest have anything better than 9...Qd6 or 9... 0-0, but both should
transpose to the normal 8...0-0 variations, therefore I cannot his positional defeat on the queenside and pins all his hopes
figure out the subtle point of starting with 8...e5. (9...h6 is a to his attack against the g1 king. This idea is known in many
common idea in some other lines to prevent the trade of the lines of the King’s Indian variation, but on the other hand
bishops on h6, but here it does not seem to work because it is quite atypical for Carlsen’s style. [White is better after
of 10.Nxe5 and after 10...Nxe4 11.Nxe4 Bxe5 12.Bxh6! Bxb2 12...cxb4 13.axb4 threatening to take on b6. 13...Be6 14.Ra6
13.Rb1 Be5 14.O-O followed by Rfe1 with a very strong attack!) f5 15.Qa1! Refreshing the Bxb6 idea. Black should really
10.Bh6] do something now on the kingside, but it is unclear how
9...O-O 10.a3 A common plan in this variation. White would he could break through. 15...fxe4 16.Nxe4 Bxh3 (16...Rxf3 is
like to undermine the queenside with b4, which would yield promising at first sight, but after 17.gxf3 Bxh3 18.Re1 the white
him the upper hand in the center and some pressure on the pieces seem to cover all the threats. I don’t see any adequate
a-file against the a7 pawn. [10.Nxe5 is already a different counterplay for the exchange.) 17.Nfg5! Bc8
story. Black can play 10...Nxe4 and the f7 square is safe,
so Qf3 makes no sense. White should take back on e4,
but then after Bxe5 the exchanges of the central pawns
favor Black, because it opened up the position for the two
bishops. 11.Nxc6? does not work since after 11...Nxc3
12.Nxd8 Nxd1i Black takes one more piece.]
10...Qe7! Preventing b4 and protecting the e5 pawn. [On
10...a5 a known reaction is 11.Na4! refreshing the positional
threat of b4, based on the new weakness on b6. 11...Nd7
parrying b4 by protecting the b6 pawn. 12.Qd2! looking 18.Bxb6! This small combination wins material for White.
into two directions. It supports b4 and also the trade of the 18...Bxa6 19.Bc5 White just wants to take on f8 and a6, while
bishops with Bh6.] after 19...Qb7 20.Nd6!c followed by Qa2 check and Nf7.]
11.Qb1 A consequent continuation of the plan. It also made 13.bxc5 f4 14.Bd2 bxc5! There was no way back, Black had
sense to play Qd2 and Bh6. to destroy his pawn structure on the queenside and hope
that the counterplay with g5-g4 will be coming in time. The
11...Nh5 Carlsen decides to launch his counterplay on the
game becomes extremely sharp now. [Keeping the healthy
kingside with f5, making use of the fact that the white queen
structure with 14...Qxc5 allows White to enter a clearly better
has gone to the other side of the board. [The prophylactic
endgame after 15.Qb3+! sending the king a square further
11...a5!? also made sense now, because after 12.Na4 Nd7 it is
from the center. This is quite useful before trading the queens.
not easy to execute the b4 break well and otherwise the queen
15...Kh8 16.Qb4! Qxb4 17.axb4c with excellent prospects for
gets a bit misplaced on b1.]
White. He might double his rooks on the a-file or put pressure
12.b4 f5 Black goes all in on the kingside! He basically admits on the e5 weakness with let’s say Na4 (threatening on b6), Bc3
and Nb2-c4.] following exchange sacrifice: 18...f3! 19.Nxf3 Rxf3! 20.gxf3
15.Qb3+ [The alternative was 15.Na4 with the idea of getting Bxh3 21.Rfe1 g4! 22.fxg4 Qh4i Black is crushing.]
the queen to c3. Black must launch his counterplay again with 18...g4 19.hxg4 [White could also have started with 19.Qxc5
15...g5! 16.Qb3+ Kh8 17.Qc3 (Preventing the g4 idea with The queen is hanging and after the exchange the e6 bishop
17.Nh2 is very risky. Black gets a very strong attack after 17...f3! gets under attack, but after 19...Qf6 we will reach the game
18.Nxf3 Rxf3! 19.gxf3 Bxh3 20.Rfe1 Nf4 The white pieces are by transposition.]
driven to the queenside, he can hardly defend his naked king 19...Bxg4 20.Qxc5 Qf6 Caruana was already quite down on
like this. 21.Rab1 Qf6i The direct threat is Ne2 followed by time and it is really unpleasant to face such an attack.
Qxf3 with an inevitable mate on g2.) 17...g4 18.hxg4 Bxg4 and
just like in the game, Black gets a very strong attack.] 21.Nh2 [The alternative was 21.Rfb1 with the idea to open an
escaping route for the king to the center. Black must lead
15...Be6 16.Qa4 Winning the c6 pawn would give a great the attack precisely to get enough compensation. 21...Qg6
square for the knight on d5, therefore Black must waste a 22.Kf1 Ng3+! A spectacular sacrifice, trying to open the f-file
tempo before launching his attack. for the rooks. 23.Ke1! Black can force a draw here by playing
16...Rac8 17.Qa5 (White gets mated after 23.fxg3? 23...fxg3 24.Ke2 Qh5! 25.Rf1
It seems like everything is under control, but the truth is...
17...g5! No choice! Black committed himself to this idea

when he accepted getting doubled c-pawns. [The positional 25...Qh2! 26.Qg1 Rxf3! 27.Rxf3 Bxf3+ 28.Kxf3 Rf8+ 29.Ke2
alternative was 17...c4 getting rid of one of the weaknesses, (29.Kg4 29...h5+! 30.Kg5 Bf6+! 31.Kg6 Qh4i Mate is
but Black is still left with many others. 18.Na4! threatening coming soon.) 29...Rf2+ and White must give up his queen to
to win an exchange with Bb4, therefore Black must play 18...c5 avoid getting mated. 30.Qxf2 gxf2i) 23...Nxe4!? 24.Qc4+
19.Nb2 cxd3 20.Nxd3 and Bc3 is coming next with too much (24.dxe4 24...Qxe4+ 25.Kd1 Qxa4 is the point.) 24...Be6
pressure on the e5 pawn.] 25.Qxe4 Bf5 26.Qc4+ Both sides are forced to repeat the
18.Na4 [Just like in the 15.Na4 line, preventing g4 with moves. (26.Qe2 is too dangerous after 26...Qxg2 Qh1, Bg4 or
18.Nh2 is too slow. Black’s attack breaks through after the e4 is coming...) 26...Be6 27.Qe4 Black cannot play for more
with 27...Qxg2? because suddenly White saves himself by
playing 28.Ke2! Bd5
27...Qxg5!? An extremely deep decision! Black decides

to not repeat the moves, but to swap the queens off the
board. He must evaluate the consequences well, because the
29.Rg1! Qh3 30.Rxg7+! Kxg7 31.Qxe5+h Rg1 is coming material is balanced, he must forget about giving mate and
next and White is the one who mates first.] the g2 pawn might fall, the rook might invade on b7 and the
21...f3! Carlsen usually plays positional games, but we can knight is also just one move away from an excellent outpost
see that he plays perfectly even when it comes to tactics. on c5. However Carlsen believes that saving the pawn on
g2 with Nf4 will give him chances to continue playing for the
22.Nxg4 Qg6 23.Qe7! A nice defense! White drops win. [It was quite natural to play something like 27...Qf3?!
the queen to g5 to protect the g2 pawn. [23.Ne3 28.Qxg2 Qf7 keeping the queens and intending to mate with
23...Nf4i White cannot defend against Nxg2 or Ne2 Kh8-Rg8. However the counterplay comes very fast: 29.Nc5
and Qh5 mate.] Rc7 (29...Kh8 30.Rb7 is also good for White!) 30.Kh1! Kh8
23...fxg2 24.Rfb1 Qxg4 25.Qg5! Qe2 26.Qe3 The only 31.Rg1c White is a pawn up and he seems to consolidate.]
move again! 28.Bxg5 Nf4 29.Bxf4? The decisive mistake. Caruana
26...Qg4 27.Qg5 A very interesting moment! As we can see, blunders the 31st move! [White should have parried the
Black could repeat moves with Qe2, but of course with such Nh3 threat by playing 29.Kh2 Black has the option to force
a king on g1 one should think about more. The most natural a repetion with 29...Bf6 (Or he can continue pushing with
decision would be to keep the queens on board and trying to 29...h6 30.Bh4 h5 with the idea of Bf6-Bg3 and h4! White is just
mate with Kh8-Rg8 somehow. in time to play 31.Rg1! Bf6 32.Bg3 Black must lose a tempo
on moving with his king, because after Bxf4 exf4 the g2 pawn
is hanging with a check. 32...Kf7 33.Rae1 and White holds,
because he is ready to take on f4 and g2 as the a1 rook is not
hanging anymore.) 30.Bh6! It is important to not allow the
rook to the h-file. 30...Bg7 31.Bg5]
29...exf4 30.Kxg2 [30.c3? 30...f3i followed by Rf4-h4 is 32...Rd8!! The same idea as in the 32.Ke1 line. Black cuts the
over.] white king from his escaping route to the center of the board
30...f3+ 31.Kf1 by attacking the d3 pawn.
33.d4 [33.Rd1 loses to 33...Rh4 34.Ke1 (34.Kg1 34...Rd6i)
34...Bh6!i and mate on h1.]
31...Rf4!! An amazing move! Black does not grab the

exchange, but saves his bishop to help in different kind of
mating ideas against the white king. It is a bit shocking, but 33...Bh6 This is also good enough, but... [An even more
White cannot avoid getting mated. [The automatic move for beautiful win would have been 33...Bxd4!! 34.cxd4 Rh4
most of the players would have been 31...Bxa1 32.Rxa1 and 35.Ke1 (35.Kg1 35...Kh8i) 35...Rxd4i and mate on h1!]
start to think here. The game is about even, White plays 34.Ke1 Rxe4+ 35.Kd1
Ke1-d2-e3 and brings his knight back to the game through c5.
Rh1 perfectly stops the h-pawn and the e-pawn might give him
excellent counterchances. The f3 pawn is also quite weak, or
at least it is quite bad for Black to pin one of his rooks to the
protection of that pawn..]
32.c3 [The alternative 32.Ke1 does not help. Black prevents
the Kd2 idea by playing 32...Rd8!! This is the very subtle
point of the previous move and Black continues haunting
the king with Rh4! since Kd2 is now met by Rxe4! 33.Nc5
(33.Kd2 33...Rxe4 34.Nc3 Bh6+ 35.Kd1 Rh4i and mate is
coming next! In such positions we can see that the bishop 35...c5!! Extremely powerful play! One mistake would let
is better than the a1 rook, but still it is very hard to refrain the advantage slip away, but the most direct move always
from grabbing the exchange.) 33...Bc3+ 34.Kf1 Rh4 35.Kg1 deprives White from consolidating and getting his rooks into
Kh8i and Rg8 is coming with mate.] play. [On the direct 35...Re2 36.Rb2 holds.]
36.Kc2 [36.Nxc5 is already met by 36...Re2 and Black
penetrates on the 2nd rank. 37.Rb7 Rde8i Rd2 is (2) Aronian, Levon(2797)
threatening with mate in 2.] - Jobava, Baadur(2727) [A56]
36...cxd4 37.Kd3 Re2 38.c4 [38.cxd4 also loses to 38...Rd2+
77th Tata Steel GpA(9.7),
39.Kc3 R2xd4 40.Nc5 Bg7i The king is just too weak... ] GM Arkadij Naiditsch
2015.01.20
38...Rxf2 [It was slightly more precise to send the king Best rating: 2737
towards the center first with 38...Rd2+ 39.Ke4 Rxf2i]
39.Rd1 [White could have prolonged his loss for a while by It has been a very sad tournament for Jobava, who started
trading rooks: 39.Rb2 39...Rxb2 40.Nxb2 but of course the with a very unlucky loss to Ivanchuk and continued often
outcome is out of question... 40...Rb8 41.Rg1+ Bg7 42.Nd1 being too optimistic about postions where a draw would have
(42.Kc2 42...Re8i) 42...Rb3+i] been the expected result. The tournament has also been
39...Re2 White resigned! A very exciting game! 0-1 going anything but greatly for Aronian, who was on -2 at
this point, Anyhow, in the current game White is showing
excellent preparation with a long-term mating attack idea
and precise play when it came to "taking the point". This
game is an excellent example on how to play for "isolation of
your opponent’s pieces from the main action on the board".
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 Jobava likes Benoni structures a lot and
has already played a lot of games in them. It is a positionally
dangerous opening for Black, but very dynamic and Jobava
plays it excellently and has shown good results in it. This time,
things will go very badly for Jobava though....
3.d5 g6 There are a lot of move orders as for example Black
can start with 3...e6, but Jobava usually goes for 3...g6.
4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e4 O-O This move order is a big provocation for
White to immediately push 6.e5, but things are very unclear
after this move. Black is launching a fast attack with Ne8 and
then d6, trying to crush White’s center.
10...Na6 Jobava follows his plan.
11.Bg5 This move looks a bit strange to me. Of course it is not
a bad one, and the bishop is nicely placed on g5, provoking
Black into playing h6 and making a weakness on the kingside,
but why not just castle first?!
11...Nb4
6.Bd3 A very safe move and in many lines the bishop is

standing perfectly on d3.
6...e6 7.h3 This move might look slightly strange, but h3 is
very tricky. In case of exd5 exd5 Black usually continues with
d6 and in case the white knight is placed on f3- which is also
usual- the h3 move is needed anyway because Black’s idea is
to play Bg4 and Bxf3.
7...exd5 8.exd5 a6 Jobava does not hurry with the d6 move 12.Bb1 Of course White does not give Black a chance to play
and tries to threaten the immediate b5 first. Nxd3. The white rook on a1 is looking like it is passively placed,
9.a4 A very consequent move. On one hand White is stopping but it can very quickly be activated via a3.
Black’s play with b5 but on the other hand a4 gives the b4 12...b6 In my opinion this is also a move into the wrong
square up completely. direction. Probably 12...d6 would have been a safer option.
9...a5?! Very creative play by Black, but Jobava clearly 13.O-O Ba6 Jobava tries to provoke the b3 move, after which
underrestimates the deep idea of White, which we will see White would not have the idea of playing Ra3 anymore and
already in the next few moves. [9...d6 10.Nf3 would lead to the rook would have to stand passively on a1.
to the usual position.]
14.Nb5 A very logical move.
10.Nge2! This little move is actually very strong. It is clear
that White’s play has to be on the kingside, where he has more 14...h6 Now White needs to decide whether to go to h4 or stay
space and to develop the knight to f3 just doesn’t make any on the c1-h6 diagonal.
sense. Usually the knight must go to f3 because Black plays 15.Bc1! In my opinion this is another great decision by
d6 and Nbd7 with the idea of playing Ne5 next, but now it Aronian. One can ask why not play 15.Be3, but the answer is
is obvious that after the a5 move Black is planning to get his easy: White is planning Ra3-Rg3 and an attack on the black
knight to b4, so the knight will be perfectly placed on e2. king. Of course 15.Bh4 would not have been a bad option
either, but to keep the bishop looking at the black king is just connected to Nh5 ideas. 21...Ne5 (21...Nd6 22.Nh5) 22.Nh5
too tempting. and White’s attack is very strong.; 20.Qg4 doesn’t lead
15...Bxb5 16.axb5 Ne8 Black is trying to make use the fact anywhere. 20...Qg5! A nice move! 21.Nxg6 Qxg4 22.Ne7+
that the d6 move was not played and get the knight there, Kh8 23.Rxg4 N2d3 and the position is very unclear, since the
but again, the black king is now almost without defenders. black a-pawn can become very dangerous.) 20...Bxb2 How to
Another very important key is that the black knight is standing continue that attack now?! 21.Qh5 (Another move that leads
nicely on b4, but all the white pieces are going "around" the to very unclear play is 21.Bxg6 21...fxg6 22.Nxg6 Bg7 and it is
knight, making its mission almost useless. hard to say who is better here.) 21...Bg7
17.Ra3 Here comes the rook!

17...Nd6
22.Nxg6! To see this kind of line from that far is actually not
easy at all. 22...fxg6 23.Qxg6 Rf7 24.Qh7+ Kf8 and White
now has the winning move 25.Bg6! The decisive factor once
18.Rg3! and of course White should not care about the c4 again is that the black knight on b4 is totally out of the game.
pawn any longer. 25...Rf6 26.Re1 and White will mate very soon.]
18...Nxc4 Considering his tournament position, can we 20.Nh5! Now the game is basically over. The bishop on g7
blame Jobava for taking on c4 and risking getting mated? No is Black’s main defender, and once it is gone, the position will
we can’t! collapse like a house of cards...
19.Nf4 All white pieces are joining in the attack! 20...Qh4 [After 20...gxh5 21.Bxh6 Ng6 22.Qxh5 White is
winning as he has two ideas in mind, to play Bxg6 or f4-f5.]
19...Ne5 After this move Black does not even have any
practical chances anymore. [The position was probably lost 21.Nxg7 Kxg7 22.Re1 Another nice move. White brings his
anyway, but it was worth it to try 19...Nxb2 20.Bxb2 (20.Qd2 other rook into the attack.
also seems to be a good move. 20...Nc4 21.Qe2 and White is 22...d6 23.Re4 Black’s position is on the verge of being lost.
trying to get a similar position as in the game,
23...Qd8? After this move the game is over. [A tougher
defense would have been 23...Qf6 and now White has a
couple of different moves, one of them being 24.Qd2 Rh8 and
now comes the very strong
25.b3! with the idea of playing Bb2 and f4. I don’t see many
chances for Black to survive the attack.]
24.Qh5 and the game is just over! On 24...Rh8 25.Rxe5 dxe5
26.Bxg6 is just mating. The conclusion of this game is simple:
White went around the pretty looking knight on b4 and simply
mated Black. A very constructive game from a positional
point of view! 1-0
The K-Files. opinion this is the most reliable way. Enough is enough: the
unconventional move order allowed Black to avoid Nimzo,
Accelerated Queen’s Indian, 3.f3 3.Nc3 Catalan and the main line of Queen’s Indian with 4.g3. The
alternatives, of course, do not lose instantly, but leave White
with somewhat better prospects. 4...d5 (4...e6! leads to
the Queen’s Indian 4.Nc3 Bb7 line which is, however, not
the subject of this article; 4...g6 5.Qc2 The most dangerous
move in my opinion. Now Black has a choice between
unpleasant versions of the Gruenfeld and the King’s Indian
(5.d5 5...Bg7 6.e4 d6 (6...O-O was the move order chosen by
Best rating: 2702
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 3 times, but just in blitz... 7.e5 Ng4
8.Ng5! Cis very unpleasant for Black 8...Nxe5 9.f4 h6 10.Nh3
Nec6 11.dxc6 Nxc6 12.Bd3c) 7.Bd3 (7.Be2 7...O-O 8.O-O
GM Alexander Khalifman continues his review of the Queen’s e6!? 9.Nd4 Re8 10.f3 Wang Hao - Mamedyarov Beijing blitz
Indian Accelerated. Here is a reminder on the contents of the 2014 10...Nh5V(10...c6 ) ) 7...O-O 8.O-O e6 (8...Na6 ) 9.Re1
series: Nbd7 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bd2 Re8 White has a space advantage,
Part I (Issue #150). Refuting here and now 3.f3, etc. but Black’s dynamic resources are not to be underestimated
Part II (Issue #151). Solid and classical 3.Nf3 (Aronian - Mamedyarov Beijing blitz 2014); 5.g3 was analysed
III & IV (Issues #152-153). Good old central setup 3.Nc3 before in 3.Nf3 section) 5...d5 (5...Bg7 6.e4 d6 (6...O-O 7.Be2
Nc6 8.O-O) 7.Be2 O-O 8.O-O Nbd7 9.Rd1 Qc8 10.Bf1 What
to say?! In my opinion it’s a dream version of the Classical
No Name Opening, Part III
King’s Indian for White. If somebody feels fine playing it with
Black then it’s probably better to start with 1.d4 Nf6 2,c4
g6 (Wojtaszek - Mamedyarov Beijing blitz 2014)) 6.Bf4! The
(3) 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.Nc3 [A50] smartest choice. In Gruenfeld with Bf4 Black’s counterplay
is usually connected with the idea c5 dxc5 Qa5. In this
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.f3 Saemisch-style. This "Neo-Gruenfeld" the black queen doesn’t come to a5 - so he
variation is quite dangerous for Black - but not because faces problems. 6...Bg7 7.e3 O-O Gruenfeld - Reti Moscow 1925
of what is supposed to be the main line! [4.Nf3 The 8.Rd1! N c6 9.Be2 Nbd7 10.Qb3+= Black’s position is solid
most popular and natural developing move. However, it but quite passive - not exactly what one is aiming for.) 5.Bg5!
doesn’t pretend to refute Black’s setup because it’s possible Only this active move puts 4...d5 in doubt
to transpose to the Queen’s Indian (4...e6). And in my
for the theory of the line 1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 3. Nc3 Bb7 4.a3
(5.e4 5...Bb4 6.Bd3 (6.e5 6...Ne4 7.Qg4 Nxc3 8.a3 Bf8 9.bxc3
Qe7e) 6...Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 d6 (7...Qe7 ) 8.Ne2 Nbd7 9.O-O Nc5
10.Ng3 O-O White’s pawn structure is seriously weakened
and his kingside attack chances are rather unclear. Black is
not worse at least (Bacrot - Mamedyarov Beijing blitz 2014))
5...Bd6 Black doesn’t have to hurry with exchange on d5
(5...exd5 6.cxd5 Bd6 7.g3) 6.Nf3 (6.g3 6...Be5 (6...O-O 7.Bg2)
7.Bd2 (7.Bg2 if White allows to spoil his pawn structure he
5...Ne4 this leads to rather unusual positions, but still is must forget about the opening advantage 7...Bxc3+ 8.bxc3
not enough to equalize (5...dxc4 6.e3 (6.e4 6...Nxe4 7.Nxe4 O-O 9.Nh3 d6 10.O-O Kalantarian - Degraeve Issy 1995
Bxe4 8.Bxc4 Bd5) 6...e6 7.Bxc4 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.Qe2 Nbd7 10...Qe7!?=+) 7...O-O 8.Bg2 Na6 9.Nh3 exd5 10.cxd5 c6 11.dxc6
10.Rfd1+= gives White a very comfortable edge (Fernandez (11.Nf4 11...cxd5 12.Nfxd5 Nxd5 13.Nxd5 Bc6 14.Qb3 Nc7)
- Caputo Chivilcoy 1987); 5...e6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Qa4+!? The 11...Bxc6 12.O-O Re8 13.Rc1 Bxg2 14.Kxg2 d5=) 6...O-O 7.g3
immediate check seems to be even more promising than (7.Bg5 7...h6 8.Bh4 Be7! This nice retreat provides Black
(7.e3 7...Be7 8.Qa4+ c6 9.Bd3 O-O 10.O-O Nbd7 11.Ne5+= good game. 9.Bg3 d6 10.e4 Nh5 with at least equal chances
Johnsen - Finjord Denmark 1993) 7...Qd7 (7...Bc6 the bishop due to bishops’ pair (de la Rocha - Forintos Cattolica 1994);
is obviously misplaced here 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.Qb3c; 7...Nbd7 7.e4 7...exd5 8.exd5 c6 9.Be2 (9.dxc6 This modest exchange
8.Ne5c) 8.Bxf6 Qxa4 9.Nxa4 gxf6 10.e3+= compared to a promises White absolutely nothing 9...dxc6 10.Be2 Qc7
well-known Carlsbad endgame (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 11.O-O Nbd7= Bertok - Planinc Zagreb 1972; 9.Bg5 9...h6
4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6. e3 Bf5 7.Qf3 Bg6 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.Qxf6 10.Bh4 cxd5 11.Be2 (11.cxd5 11...Re8+ 12.Be2 Na6 13.O-O -
gxf6) here Black’s light-squared bishop is much worse on 9. Be2 13...Nc5k14.Nd4 Rc8 15.f4 Bf8) 11...Be7! and White’s
b7 (Ward - Hunt England 2000)) 6.cxd5 Nxc3 (6...Nxg5?! compensation for the pawn might be enough only to equalise
7.Nxg5 e6 8.Nxf7! This is big difference with the seemingly (Franco Alonso - Edouard Spain 2013 )) 9...cxd5 10.cxd5 Na6
similar Gruenfeld line 8...Kxf7 9.dxe6+ Kxe6 10.e4c with 11.O-O Re8 12.Bg5 h6 13.Bh4 Nc5 Black pieces are active and
a terribly strong attack (Nikolic - Djuric Bled 1991)) 7.bxc3 it’s perfectly unclear if the pawn on d5 is strong or weak
Qxd5 8.g3!? N (8.Qc2 Gelfand - Djuric Yugoslavia 1997 14.Nd4 Be5 (14...Rc8 15.f4 Bf8) 15.Bc4 Qb8 16.f4 Bxd4+
8...Nd7 9.e3 e5!? is less clear) 8...e6 9.Bg2 Qa5 10.O-Oc and 17.Qxd4 Nfe4k Knaak - Planinc Warsaw 1979 18.Rae1) 7...c6
White’s development lead is an important factor; 4.d5 logical 8.Bg2 (8.dxc6 is too shy 8...dxc6 9.Bg2 Qe7 10.O-O Nbd7=
approach. However, concrete lines prove that White is unable Gyimesi - Plaskett Gibraltar 2003) 8...cxd5 9.cxd5
to preserve his strong center. Of course, Black has to play
precisely. 4...e6 5.a3 This position is also quite important
4...d5 In a certain sense the only move, Otherwise White gets
strong center for free. [4...Nc6 5.d5 Ne5 6.e4 e6 7.f4 Ng6
8.e5 Ng8 9.Nf3+= S.Saric - Egorov Novi Sad 2014; 4...e6 5.e4
d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.e5 Nfd7 8.f4 c5 9.Nf3+= Saemisch - Helling
Berlin 1931]
5.cxd5 Nxd5
9...Na6! This tricky move order solves the opening problems.

(Both 9...exd5 10.Ng5+=; and 9...Nxd5 10.Nxd5 exd5 11.Ng5+=
leave Black under some pressure) 10.O-O (The ambitious
10.Nb5 10...Bb8 11.d6 is quite risky as well (11.dxe6 11...dxe6=)
11...Nc5 12.O-O a6 13.Nc3 Ne8 14.b4 Ne4 15.Nxe4 Bxe4
16.Bf4 f6 and the pawn d6 is gone. White will have some
compensation of course but it’s hard to believe that it will
be enough for more than draw) 10...exd5 (10...Nxd5 is also 6.Nxd5!? It seems that this exchange (although by far less
quite playable 11.Nxd5 exd5 12.b4 Nc7 13.Bb2 Re8= White has popular than the traditional 6.e4) is the only way to put Black
enough for a pawn but definitely not more (Blake - Galvin under pressure. The idea is rather primitive: White keeps the
email 2012)) 11.Nh4 Nc7 12.e4 Be5 13.Nxd5 Nfxd5 14.exd5 c-file open to create pressure on c7. Looks straightforward but
Qf6= and Black is not worse at least (Zalkind - Birnboim Israel sometimes works with a strong effect. Black has to play very
2013); 4.Bg5 4...e6 (4...g6 is an interesting alternative 5.f3 d5! carefully after it. [6.e4 6...Nxc3 7.bxc3 This is the traditional
this is necessary; otherwise it’s just a fairly unpleasant version treatment. White hopes that the strong pawn centre would
of King’s Indian Saemisch 6.cxd5 (6.Bxf6 6...exf6 7.cxd5 Bxd5 be enough to provide him better chances. However, Black
8.e4 Bb7 9.Bc4 Bg7 10.Nge2 O-OV11.O-O f5 12.exf5 Nc6 has different ways to create adequate counterplay. 7...e6
13.fxg6 hxg6) 6...Nxd5 7.e4 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Bg7 9.Qd2 Qd6!? V This is the most solid way to play. Some next moves for
with standard Gruenfeld counterplay (Baetel - Vallejo Plovdiv Black are more or less automatic. (Be7 0-0 c5 Nc6, etc.)
2008) 10.Bc4 c5) 5.e3 (after the active 5.e4 it’s White who White has a certain choice (first of all - what to do with
has to play carefully to maintain the balance 5...h6 6.Bxf6 his light-squared bishop), but it’s unclear if he can achieve
Qxf6 7.Nf3 (7.a3 7...d6) 7...g5!?C looks like a decent version of something tangible. (7...e5 this leads in many lines to messy
Trompovsky; 5.Nf3 leads to a Queen’s Indian line where Black positions which are quite far from standard. It seems that
is doing well) 5...Be7 (5...h6 6.Bh4 Be7) 6.Qc2 (6.Nf3 Queen’s everywhere Black has good counterchances 8.dxe5 (8.Be3
Indian again) 6...h6 7.Bh4 c5 8.dxc5 bxc5 9.Nf3 d6 10.Be2 8...Nd7 9.Bc4 D.Gurevich - Peptan Mermaid Beach 1998
Nbd7 11.O-O O-O= Karpov - Polugaevsky Bugojno 1980] 9...Qh4+!? 10.g3 Qh5 11.h4 f5V; 8.Bc4 8...exd4 9.cxd4 Qh4+
10.g3 Qf6 11.Bb2 Nc6V) 8...Qxd1+ 9.Kxd1 Nd7 10.Bf4 g6n 8...e6 [8...g6 In this case I wouldn’t recommend the Gruenfeld
Debashish - Ikeda Kolkata 2012; 7...g6 The Gruenfeld setup setup. 9.Bc4 Bg7 10.Ne2 O-O 11.O-O Nc6 12.Bb5 a6
seems to be risky here. However, up to now nobody has 13.Ba4+= and the pressure becomes extremely unpleasant]
managed to refute it. 8.Be3 (8.Bc4 8...Bg7 9.Ne2 O-O 9.Bc4 [9.Ne2 locks the bishop on f1. Black can use it by
10.O-O c5 transposes to a Gruenfeld line which is assessed increasing the pressure on d4. 9...Nc6! N (9...Bb4+ 10.Nc3
as quite satisfactory for Black (Botvinnik - Smyslov World O-O 11.a3 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3+= Korobov - Simonian Kharkov 2007)
Championship match (6) 1954)) 8...Bg7 9.Qd2 O-O (9...Qd6 10.Nc3 (10.Qa4 10...Be7 11.Nc3 O-O=) 10...Rd8 11.d5 (11.Bb5
10.Bc4) 10.Rd1 (10.h4 10...c5 (10...h5?! 11.g4 hxg4 12.h5A) 11.h5 11...a6 12.Bxc6 Bxc6 13.O-O Be7 14.Rc1 O-O=) 11...exd5 12.exd5
(11.d5 11...Qd6) 11...cxd4 12.cxd4 Nc6 13.Ne2 Rc8V) 10...c5 Nb4 13.Bb5 c6 14.dxc6 Bxc6 15.Qxd7+ Rxd7 16.Bxc6 Nxc6
11.d5 Kozul - Valsecchi Zagreb 2012 11...Nd7!? 12.Bh6 Bxh6 17.Ke2 Bb4=]
13.Qxh6 Qc7k) 8.Be3 (8.Bb5+ 8...c6 9.Ba4 Be7 10.Ne2 O-O
11.O-O c5; 8.Bc4 8...Be7 9.Ne2 O-O 10.O-O c5=; 8.Bd3 8...Be7 9...c5!? N The point. Black has to improve the pawn structure
9.Ne2 O-O 10.O-O c5) 8...Be7 9.Bb5+ c6 10.Bd3 (10.Ba4 as soon as possible. [9...Bb4+ 10.Kf2 O-O 11.Ne2 c5 12.dxc5
10...O-O 11.Ne2 c5 12.O-O cxd4 13.cxd4 Nc6=) 10...O-O 11.Ne2 Qc7 13.Qd6 Qxd6 14.cxd6 Bxd6 15.Rhd1+=; 9...Nc6 10.Ne2
c5 12.O-O Nc6 13.Rb1 (13.Rc1 13...Rc8 14.Qd2 Qd7=) 13...cxd4 Na5 11.Bd3 c5 12.Qd2+= Baron - Nabaty Benasque 2012]
14.cxd4 Nb4 15.Bc4 Rc8 16.Bb3 Ba6= Khairullin - Vallejo 10.Ne2 [in the endgame after 10.dxc5 10...Bxc5 11.Bxc5 bxc5
Khanty Mansiysk rapid 2013] 12.Qxd7+ Nxd7 13.Kf2 Ke7= Black’s better development and
6...Qxd5 7.e4 Qd7 I believe this retreat is the most accurate more active pieces compensate for the relative weakness of
[7...Qd6 the idea to prepare e7-e5 looks tempting, however... the pawn c5.]
8.Be3 e5 (8...g6 9.Qc2! Bg7 10.Rc1 Bxd4? 11.Qa4+) 9.Ne2 10...cxd4 11.Qxd4 Bb4+ 12.Kf2 O-O 13.Qxd7 Nxd7
Qb4+ 10.Qd2 (10.Kf2 10...Qxb2) 10...Qxd2+ (10...Nc6 11.d5 14.Nd4 Ne5 Black has to look for a concrete solution.
Qxd2+ 12.Kxd2 O-O-O) 11.Kxd2+= the resulting endgame is Quiet development would leave him under pressure as the
not automatically equal: White has a better structure and bishop b7 is substantially limited by the White’s pawn chain.
more active pieces. 11...Bd6 12.Kc2 O-O 13.Rd1 a6 14.d5 Nd7] [14...Rac8 15.Rac1 Rfd8 16.Rhd1 Ne5 17.Be2+=]
8.Be3 This move is more or less compulsory. The alternatives 15.Be2 f5! Here it is! Seems to work fine.
usually lead to move transposition. [8.Ne2 8...e6 (8...g6
fianchetto is playable here although not necessary 9.Be3 16.Nxe6 fxe4 17.Nxf8 exf3 18.gxf3 Rxf8n Black’s
Bg7 10.Nc3 O-O 11.Qd2 Nc6 12.d5 Ne5 13.h3 Qe8V) 9.Nc3 counterplay is perfectly sufficient to keep the balance.
Nc6 (9...Be7 10.Be3+=) 10.Be3 - 8.Be3; 8.Bc4 8...e6 (8...g6
9.Be3 - 8.Be3) 9.Ne2 (9.Be3 - 8. Be3) 9...c5 (9...Bb4+
10.Kf2 (10.Bd2 10...Bxd2+ 11.Qxd2 O-O 12.O-O c5= Euwe
- Tartakower Stockholm 1937) 10...O-O 11.Be3+=) 10.Be3 -
8.Be3]
David vs. Goliath
Peter Zhdanov
Top-10:
In this special column we are reviewing the most unexpected Sideris (2048) - Mirzoev (2554), 1-0, 1-0, 506 points
results that occurred last week. Players usually face Moshovakis (1419) - Fragiadakis (1925), 1-0, 506 points
opponents of a similar level. Considerably less frequent are Carstens Dobuchak (1816) - Puebla Arredondo (2288), 1-0, 472
situations when a significantly lower-rated player succeeds in points
beating a much stronger adversary. Berka (1724) - Volodin (2186), 1-0, 462 points
Katashuk (2191) - Maiorov (2596), 1-0, 405 points
The previous week has brought us 22 upsets. The number of
Koleva (1666) - Gelemerov (2066), 1-0, 400 points
moves ranges from 20 in Anatoliy V. Andreev (1958) - Nikolay
Georgantas (1814) - Moshovakis (1419), 0-1, 395 points
Georgiev (1639), 0-1 to 67 in Wojciech Reza (2212) - GM Kacper
Nunez Donaire (1560) - Riquelme Abuffon (1934), 1-0, 374
Piorun (2523), 1-0. The highest-profile loss was FM Katashuk
points
(2191) - GM Nikita Maiorov (2596), 1-0. The player of the week
Izzat (2424) - Bayramov (2051), 0-1, 373 points
is Wojciech Reza (2212) from Poland. His recent ”victims”
Reza (2212) - Dragun (2567), 1-0, 355 points
include a 2405, a 2523 and a 2567.
The ”fatality” nomination goes to Aggelos Moshovakis (1419)
Average gap: 425; White won 8 games, Black won 2 games.
for delivering an aesthetically appealing checkmate in the
game against Fragiadakis E (1925):
The featured player this week is Francisco Restuccia from
Argentina. His message (published below) sounds quite
modest, while his feat is really impressive: Francisco
has defeated none other than ex-Women’s World Chess
Champion GM Antoaneta Stefanova!
Hello Mr. Zhdanov.
I follow your column in CEWN ”David vs. Goliath” and I dare send
me an old game, if you think may be interested.
The game is my only ”prowess like David” over 25 years to
participate in open tournaments. The game started well for me,
but at the critical moment I omitted the winning move (37.Qh4).
But I could ”resist” during the wild and mutual time trouble
(both played only 30 seconds of increase since the move 40)
and, when the position was heading for a draw, black lost for 37...Rf1+ 38.Bc1 h5 39.Qd3+ Rf5 40.Rh3 c4 41.Qd4 Rf1
time. 42.Qd2 Qe5 43.Rf3 Re1 44.Rf8 Re2 45.Qd1 d5 46.Rd8
Nf6 47.Rh8 Kg7 48.Rh6 Re1 49.Qd2 Rf1 50.Ka2 c3
Thank you for your interest in us, the fans. Best regards.
51.bxc3 Ne4 52.Qe3 Nxc3+ 53.Kb3 Qxe3 54.Bxe3 d4
55.Re6 Nb5 56.Bd2 d3 Black lost by time. 1-0
Francisco Restuccia
from Argentina If you have ever won a game against someone rated
Restuccia, Francisco(2239) information (a photo, annotations, etc.) will be appreciated.
- Stefanova, Antoaneta(2550) [C22]
34th Mar del Plata Open (Argentina)(5),
2003.04.15
Time control: 90 minutes + 30 seconds per move.
1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6 4.Qe3 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4
6.Bd2 O-O 7.O-O-O Re8 8.Qg3 Rxe4 9.a3 Bd6 10.f4 Re8
11.Bd3 Bc5 12.Nf3 d6 13.Rde1 Rxe1+ 14.Rxe1 Ne7 15.Nh4
Bd7 16.Ne4 Bd4 17.Nf3 Nxe4 18.Bxe4 Bf6 19.Ng5 Bf5
20.Bxf5 Nxf5 21.Qd3 Bxg5 22.fxg5 Ne7 23.Qe4 Nc6
24.h4 Qd7 25.h5 Qe6 26.Qf3 Ne5 27.Qxb7 Rf8 28.Kb1 f6
29.h6 fxg5 30.hxg7 Rf7 31.Bxg5 c5 32.Qe4 Kxg7 33.Rh1
Qf5 34.Bh6+
V Kg6 35.Qh4 Ng4 36.Qg3 Qe6 37.Rh4
[37.Qh4 Rh3 − g3h]
Puzzle section
(4) Radjabov, T(2734)-Ding Liren(2732) (6) Saric, I(2666)-Vachier-Lagrave, M(2757)
Wijk aan Zee, 2015.01.13 Wijk aan Zee, 2015.01.17
1... i 1... i
(5) Vachier-Lagrave, M(2757)-Ding Liren(2732) (7) Ding Liren(2732)-Saric, I(2666)

1. h 1. h
(8) Haast, A(2352)-Gunina, V(2538) (10) Rathnakaran, K(2387)-Gupta, A(2631)
Wijk aan Zee B, 2015.01.18 Parnsvath Open, 2015.01.13
1. c 1. h
(9) Navara, D(2729)-Michiels, B(2563) (11) Leitao, R(2636)-Zambrana, O(2465)

Wijk aan Zee B, 2015.01.18 Zicosur Open, 2015.01.06
1. h 1. c
(12) Vovk, A(2637)-Neuman, P(2465)
Slovakian league, 2015.01.17
1. c
(13) Lopukhin, A(2361)-Smirnov, P(2585)

Dvorkovich memorial, 2015.01.19
1... i
Endgame section 48.Bd5 Bg1 49.Rf1! Radjabov realizes that the direct
advance of the a-pawn is premature, therefore he delays this
plan and tries to fight against the Kh5 counterplay. [49.a7?
(14) Radjabov, Teimour(2734) leads to a draw after 49...Bxa7 50.Rxa7 Kh5!= (However
- Wojtaszek, Radoslaw(2744) winning the pawn with 50...Rh3? loses, because out of the
blue White can create a mate net by playing 51.Ke5! Rxh4
Wijk aan Zee, GM Csaba Balogh 52.Be4+ Kh5 53.Rg7! Threatening with Bf3 mate. 53...Rh2
2015.01.18 Best rating: 2672
54.Bg2! A very unusual motif for trapping the rook! 54...Kh4

55.Kf4 Kh5 (55...h5 56.Rg6h is zugzwang. Black must give
up his rook and there is no stalemate.) 56.Bf3+! (But not
46.Rf5+! White wins the f7 pawn with check and gains an 56.Kg3? because of 56...Rh3+! and suddenly Black survives.)
extra pawn. However the win remains very difficult, because 56...Kh4 57.Rh7h and mate is coming next.) ]
of the opposite colored bishops and the limited material on
the board. 49...Bc5? This turns out to be a serious mistake. When
the white king goes to e5, Black will miss the opportunity
46...Kg7! The correct retreat! [46...Kg6 is much worse, if checking along the h2-b8 diagonal. We should not blame
because it allows White to squeeze the black king to the 8th Wojtaszek for this mistake, as it was very hard to foresee the
rank after 47.h5+! Kg7 48.Rxf7+ Kh8 49.Bd5 with excellent drawback of this move... [The right move was 49...Ba7 and
winning chances. The a-pawn is very far advanced and the the difference is that after 50.Ke5 Kh5! works now as Rf4
black king might end up in a mating net.] runs into Bb8!]
47.Rxf7+ Kg6 Black might hope for counterplay with Kh5.
White cannot push the pawn at once because of Rxc4 followed
by Ra4 and otherwise Bg1 blocks its way.
50...Re3+ is also bad because of 51.Be4+ Kh5 52.Rf4! and
Black cannot defend against the threats of Kf6-Bg6 or Kf5-Bf3
mating ideas.]
51.Rf6+ Kh5 [51...Kg7 is met by 52.Rc6 Bf2 53.h5! taking
control over the g6 square in order to squeeze the black
king to the back rank with Rc7. Rg6 mighty also be decisive
sometimes.]
52.Rf4! Very nice play by Radjabov! He again creates
50.Ke5! A great move and very easy to blunder! Suddenly the mate threat of Bf7, which forces Black to retreat. The
the black king finds himself in different kind of mating ideas! unfortunate placement of the c5 bishop and the a1 rook
deprives him from a successful defense.
50...Ra3 [50...Kh5 is now refuted by 51.Rf4! This is the
reason why Bc5 was wrong, Black does not have Bb8 check. 52...Kg6 [52...Rxa6 53.Bf7+ Rg6 54.Kf5h]
White is threatening with Bf7 mate and the only way to avoid 53.Rg4+! Finally, White’s serious efforts bear their fruits. The
it is to play 51...Kg6 52.Rf6+ Kh5 (52...Kg7 53.Rc6 Re3+ black king is forced to run into the corner...
54.Be4h White promotes his a-pawn with the help of Rc7.)
53...Kh7 [53...Kh5 loses to 54.Kf5!h and the king is
trapped! Bf7 wins next.]
54.Be4+ Kh8 55.Rg6! The huge advantages of having the
king squeezed to h8 are the following: White does not need
to worry about counterplay against the h4 pawn with Kh5. He
can easily create mating ideas like, Rc6-Kf6-Rc8. The a-pawn
is much more dangerous now, as if it reaches the 7th rank,
White will always have the option of promoting it with a rook
check on the 8th rank.
55...h5 Black decides to fix the pawn on h4 and hopes to win
53.Kf4! A highly spectacular haunt against the black king! Bf3 it with Bf2. On the other hand, the h5 pawn becomes much
is threatening, followed by Rh6 mate. Actually Black cannot more vulnerable there, as it can be attacked by the bishop.
parry this simple idea... 53...Be3+ 54.Kg3! is the point! White [55...Be3 is met by 56.h5 Ra5+ 57.Bd5 It is extremely hard,
does not need to worry about discovered checks, because probably even impossible to defend this position with Black.
he has the Bf3 countercheck-mate in his pocket. 54...Bd4+ 57...Ra4 58.Rc6h and White is threatening to mate after Kf6.
55.Bf3+ Rxf3+ 56.Rxf3h; If Black tries to prevent it, the a-pawn starts to run...]
(15) Saric, Ivan(2666)
- Van Wely, Loek(2667)

Best rating: 2737
56.Rc6! Asking the bishop to choose a diagonal. As we will

see, there is no good square for it. The black king always gets
into trouble.
56...Bf8 [56...Bf2 loses to 57.Kf6! Rg3 (57...Bxh4+ 58.Kf7h
and mate is coming from h6 or c8.) 58.Bg6 Rf3+ 59.Kg5h;
56...Be7 57.Ke6 Bxh4 58.Kf7h with an inevitable mate
again.]
57.Kf6! Excellent play by Radjabov! He further squeezes the
black king.
57...Kg8 [On 57...Ra1 the easiest is 58.Bd3! h covering the When we look at the current position, it is hard to imagine
f1 check and protecting the a6 pawn. Black cannot deal with that White was a clear pawn up and close to winning, but
the threats of Kf7 and Rc8. 58...Ra3 59.Rc8] then Saric clearly overpushed in an already equal position
58.Bd5+ Kh7 59.Kf7 [Black resigned in view of 59.Kf7 and found himself in this double rook endgame. It is still very
59...Bb4 (59...Bg7 60.Be4+ Kh8 61.Rc8+h) 60.Be4+ Kh8 hard to say if this position is winning or just a draw. In case
61.Rh6# It was fantastic to see how White managed to catch Black manages to win the g5 pawn and not let the white king
the black king by simply using the light squares and ignoring take a safe position in front of the pawn, it should be enough
the dark ones.] 1-0 for a win. On the other hand "all" White needs to do is to keep
his king as close as possible to the g1 square.
80...Ra1+! A very strong move. Black is starting the right
plan- to get the white king as far away as possible from the
g-pawn.
81.Ke2 Re8+ 82.Kd3 Rd1+ using the fact that White cannot
play Rd2.
83.Kc3 [White is just not in time (by one tempo) after [87...Kg2 would also lead to a winning position. 88.Ke4 Rg3
83.Rcd2 83...Rd8+ 84.Kc2 R8xd2+ 85.Rxd2 Rxd2+ 86.Kxd2 89.Kf4 Kh3 and Black is winning by bringing his king to h4
Kf4 87.Ke2 Kxg5 The white king would need to jump to and playing g5. 90.Ra6 Kh4 followed by g5 with a winning
g3 now to keep the opposition and the draw. 88.Kf3 Kh4 position.]
89.Kg2 Kg4 90.Kf2 Kh3 and Black is easily winning.] 88.Ke3 g5 89.Rg6 So what to do next? If Black could
somehow move the rook from g4 without losing the g5 pawn,
it would be an easy win, but how to do it...
89...Kg2 This move is not a bad one, but it doesn’t change
anything.
90.Rg7 White keeps on waiting and it is the best he can do.
83...Rc8+! Another good move. Black is still following the

right plan, one rook needs to be exchanged and it is the right
moment while the white king is far away from the g1 square.
84.Kb2 Rxc2+ 85.Kxc2 To take on c2 with the rook of course
makes no sense, as the white king has to get to g1 as quickly
as possible.
90...Rg3+?? What a mistake by Loek Van Wely, when the
85...Rd5 Black is collecting the g5 pawn. [Entering the pawn win was so close! [90...Kh3! This strong move put an end
endgame would already lead to a draw: 85...Kxf2? 86.Kxd1 to White’s hopes... 91.Rh7+ (After 91.Kf2 91...Rg2+ 92.Kf1 g4
Kf3 87.Ke1 Kg4 88.Kf2 Kxg5 89.Kg3 and White is in time.] Black is entering a theoretically winning position by playing
86.Rf6! Saric uses his best chance and this is to attack the g6 93.Rh7+ Kg3 94.Ra7 Rb2 and Black is winning because White
pawn and try to keep the black rook as passive as possible. can’t defend from Rb1 and Kh2 at the same time.) 91...Rh4
86...Rxg5 87.Kd3 Rg4 Black is still on the right way. For 92.Rg7 g4 The black rook on h4 is horribly placed, but White
those who learned rook endgames by heart, it is easy to know cannot make use of it. 93.Kf2 (93.Kf4 didn’t help, because of
that this position is winning! But in case you are new to the the nice and tricky 93...Rh8! 94.Rxg4 Rf8+ 95.Kg5 Rg8+ and
position, things are far from obvious. Black is winning the white rook.) 93...Rh8 The black rook is
coming back into the game. 94.Kg1 Rb8
95.Rg6 White can’t do anything better than waiting. 95...Kg3
96.Kf1 Rb1+ 97.Ke2 Rg1! is the most simple way toward
victory. 98.Rg8 Kh2 99.Kf2 g3+ 100.Kf3 Rf1+ 101.Ke2 Rf7
and we are in a theoretically winning position.]
91.Ke4! White of course happily accepts the present. It is

funny, but the position is already a draw.
91...g4 [Black also can’t do much after 91...Kh3 92.Kf5 g4
93.Rh7+ Kg2 94.Ra7 and there is no way to improve the
position for Black.]
92.Rg5 and here as well we can see that Black cannot
improve his position. In case of 92...Kg1 93.Kf4 leads to an
immediate draw. A huge upset for the Dutch Van Wely, who is
usually a very fighting player, but it seems like a lack of energy
or maybe endgame knowledge clearly cost him half a point
here... 1/2-1/2
Chess and the City. 4. Sex during a tournament: very serious male GMs may
consider it as a huge loss of energy, however some of them
Chess superstition, and it’s obvious take that reason as an excuse to hide their real intentions...
drawbacks... 5. Lucky numbers: Even Kasparov strongly believed in lucky
numbers during his professional time as a chess player. In
his case he always hoped and expected to benefit from the
number 13.
The above list is actually quite typical and it is hard to
argue with most of the points as they are also seen in
many other sports. Before discussing the negative side
of superstition in chess, I would like to briefly mention a
tournament which I visited about 5 years ago in Moscow. It
Best rating: 2493
was a tournament which was played in many different rooms
and the phenomenon I observed was that, the closer you got
That sportsmen are especially superstitious should not
to the rooms of the top boards, the more you could ”feel”
surprise us at all. Though how it’s ”practised” in the chess
the change in ”atmosphere”(!) Of course one should take into
world, especially by men, is enough to make the mind boggle.
consideration that small rooms combined with lots of people
I am sure no women player dared write about it, maybe
will always leave a lack of oxidation, but the smell.... The
because of shame, maybe because she was lucky enough not
smell was something I could honestly never forget, and I was
to experience it directly, who knows...
desperately wondering how people could stand it especially
Why am I writing about this? Well, I thought it’s about time! if they were involved in a long game!...
The biggest problem in today’s chess world is superstition
Let’s start with the harmless ways in which chess embraces about clothing. The so-called winning shirts/jumpers and
superstition: socks hit are top of the list here. On underwear I am not in
1. ”The Winning Pen” The most boring item in our collection, a position to comment since I have never had a chance, nor
nevertheless be sure it will be dealt with the moment one deeper wish, to test it out, but for the sake of mine and the
loses... dear reader’s health I’d rather not delve into it on these pages!
2. ”Leave it alone”, or in other words, don’t move anything in ”The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing
your room! From personal belongings to food, chess players hits, but not when it misses.” (Frances Bacon)
have a habit of keeping the status quo at home!
3. Sleep! As a true ”German” you better obey the clock!
Professional chess players like to make sure their routines are
consistent.
Clash of the Titans
(16) Nimzowitsch, Aaron

- Spielmann, Rudolf[C02]
San Sebastian(12),
1912.03.05
GM Kamil Miton
Best rating: 2655 7.Bf4!? An aggressive decision. White wants to be on
time with developing the bishop to support the important e5
square, but after this move Black can win the pawn. [7.O-O
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.Nf3 Of course the main move is
7...Ng6 8.Re1 Qc7 Black is very quick with his pressure on the
[4.c3 4...Qb6 5.Nf3 Nc6 Black’s main idea in this structure
e5 pawn and Bf4 doesn’t work anymore. 9.Bxg6 fxg6 10.Be3
is to create pressure on the weak d4 pawn. (5...Bd7 An
Be7 Black keeps the bishop pair, otherwise White would get
alternative idea for Black is to exchange the limited bishop
control over the dark squares. Potential plans for both sides
over the b5 square.) 6.Be2 (6.Bd3 6...cxd4 7.cxd4 Bd7 8.O-O
are Nbd2-c4-Rc1 for White and 0-0-h6-g5-Bd7-Be8-Bg6 for
Nxd4 9.Nxd4 Qxd4 10.Nc3 with compensation for the pawn.)
Black.]
6...cxd4 7.cxd4 Nge7 8.b3 Nf5 9.Bb2 Be7 10.O-O h5 with
Bd7-Rc8-g6-Kf8-Kg7 and Black has no problems at all.] 7...Qb6V 8.O-O Qxb2 9.Nbd2 Qb6 10.Nb3 White gets
better development for the pawn sacrifice. [10.c4!? with the
4...Nc6 [4...cxd4 5.Nxd4 (5.Bd3 The pawn on d4 has no
idea to activate the knight over c4 or e4.]
meaning. White plays a similar plan as in the game:
0-0-Re1-Nbd2-Nb3-Bf4.) 5...Nc6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 with this center 10...Ng6 11.Bg3 Be7
Black can’t be doing badly.]
5.dxc5 Objectively not the best move, but White is looking for
a simple set-up. The position could still transpose to the main
line after [5.c3 ]
5...Bxc5 6.Bd3 Nge7
12.h4! A typical reaction against the knight on g6.
12...Qb4! Black is not afraid of White’s initiative and tries to
defend actively. [12...Nf8 13.h5 Nd7 14.c4 dxc4 15.Bxc4n]
13.a4 White is preparing a trap, but it is too slow. [13.h5
13...Nf4 14.a3 Qa4 15.h6k]
13...a6?! was not needed as Bb5 was not the threat. Black
could have won a second pawn after [13...Nxh4 14.Nxh4
(14.Bxh4 14...Bxh4 15.c3 Qg4) 14...Bxh4 15.c3 Qe7e and two
pawns down is too much...]
14.h5 Nh4 [14...Nf4?? 15.c3 and White wins the piece.] 19.Nd4! There was nothing to do for the knight on b3.
15.Nxh4 Bxh4 16.c3 Qe7 19...e5 20.Bf5 [20.Nf5 20...Bxf5 21.Bxf5 Rd8 22.Rb1 with
Qb3 next and White has strong pressure over the weak light
squares.]
20...Nxd4 21.Bxc8 Rxc8 22.cxd4
17.Bh2?! I don’t like this move because the bishop on h2 will

be limited. More promising looks [17.Qg4 17...Bxg3 18.Qxg3
g6 19.h6Cand the dark squares are really weak.]
22...O-O! The last call! It was time to escape with the king.
17...f5?! makes no sense. Black opens the position and [22...e4?? 23.Qg4h]
activates the white pieces. More solid was for example
[17...Qd8 with idea to get the bishop back to e7 and then play 23.dxe5 fxe5 24.Qxd5+ Qf7 Fortunately for Black, White is
Bd7-Rc8 etc.] forced to exchange queens.
18.exf6 gxf6 25.Qxf7+ [25.Qxe5 25...Bxf2+ 26.Kh1 Rc5!=]

25...Rxf7 26.Bxe5 Rf5
32...Kf7? It was more accurate to avoid the pin by playing
[32...Kf8 33.Rb7 Rxa4 34.R7xb6 Rxb6 35.Rxb6 There is not
much material left, but thanks to the very active white pieces,
the position is very unpleasant for Black. 35...h5!? trying to
prevent g4, but then White has 36.Rh6 h4 37.f5A]
33.a5?! White missed a winning chance: [33.Re1! 33...Rxa4
34.f5! and Black is losing material: 34...Kf8 35.Rxe7 Kxe7
36.Bg7+h]
27.f4! White advances the pawn and at the same time keeps 33...b5 After this move White has additional ideas of putting
the bishop on a strong position. pressure on the a6 pawn with Rb7-Rb6. [33...bxa5 34.Rbb7
Black was probably afraid of this move. (34.Re1 ) 34...Re6
27...Rxh5 28.Rab1 White could also have played [28.Rac1
35.Bd6 Rce4 and Black is still fighting!]
28...Rxc1 29.Rxc1 Rf5 and Black is on time with protecting
the queenside. 30.g4 Rf7 31.Kg2 Bf6 32.Bxf6 Rxf6 33.Kg3 34.Re1 Rcc6 35.Bd4?! Again not the most accurate move.
Thanks to his easy possibilities of improving the position with White could have limited the black rooks after taking control
g5-Kg4-f5 etc, White keeps the initiative.] of the e6 square. [35.f5! 35...Ke8 36.Rb7A]
28...Be7 29.Kf2 [29.Rxb7?? 29...Bc5+i] 35...Rhe6 36.Rh1 White is trying from the other side.
29...b6 30.Kf3 The white king slowly becomes a very strong 36...h6 37.Rb7
piece.
30...Rh6 31.Rfd1 White improves the position with each
move.
31...Rc4! Also a good move! Black defends actively.
32.Rd7
37...Red6? This move allows White to improve his king, which

will be the decisive factor in realizing his advantage. [37...Rc4
38.Be5 b4Vand White is not able to play Ke4 or Kg4 because
of Rxe5.]
38.Be5 [38.Re1 38...Rxd4 (38...Re6 39.Rxe6 Kxe6 40.Ke4h
with f5 next.) 39.Rexe7+ Kg6 40.Rb6 Rxb6 (40...Rdd6 Surprise section / study
41.Reb7 with the idea to get a winning pawn endgame after
rook exchanges.) 41.axb6 Rd6 42.b7 Rb6 43.Re6+!h] (17) Kaev
38...Re6 1. h
39.Ke4! White improve the last and most important piece!

39...Rc4+ 40.Kf5 Rc5 41.Rd1 b4 42.Rd8! Rxa5 43.Rf8+!
Kxf8 44.Kxe6 with Rb8 next. 1-0
Solutions (20) Timman, J(2593)-Haast, A(2352)
Wijk aan Zee B, 2015.01.12
(18) Van Wely, L(2667)-Wojtaszek, R(2744)
Wijk aan Zee, 2015.01.11
26...Nxf2! 27.Qxd2 [27.Kxf2 27...Qxd1 28.Rxd1 Ng4+i]

27...Qh3+! 28.Kg1 [28.Kxf2 28...Ng4+i]
38.Rc1? [38.Ra6!! 38...Qxa6 (38...Qb7 39.Rc6h) 39.Qc7+
Kg6 40.Qxd8h (40.g4!?h ) ] 28...Neg4 29.Rxe8+ Rxe8 30.Rxf2 Qxg3+ 0-1 [30...Qxg3+
31.Bg2 Nxf2 32.Qxf2 Re1+i]
38...Be8k
(21) Paakkonen, T(2247)-Agrest, E(2590)
(19) So, W(2762)-Aronian, L(2797)
Keres memorial rapid, 2015.01.09
21.Bh5! g6 22.fxg6! Bxh3 [22...hxg6 23.Qxc8+h] 29...Nxe3! 0-1 [29...Nxe3 30.Rxe3 Qf1#]
23.gxf7+ Kd7 24.fxg8=Qh
(22) David, A(2572)-Raja, H(2144) (24) Demchenko, A(2611)-Krishna, C(2350)
Parnsvath Open, 2015.01.09 Parnsvath Open, 2015.01.11
19.g4! Be4 20.f3! Bxd5 [20...Bf4 21.Ng2h] 29.Bd7! Rxc8 [29...Rd6 30.Rxd8+ Qxd8 31.Rc8h]
21.Nxd5h 30.Rxc8+ Kg7 31.Bxe6h
(23) Karthikeyan, P(2435)-Gupta, A(2631) (25) Zelcic, R(2535)-Kozul, Z(2631)
Parnsvath Open, 2015.01.10 Croatian Championship, 2015.01.12
31...Nxa3+! 32.bxa3 Qc2+! 33.Ka1 [33.Qxc2 33...bxc2+i] 23.Bf6! gxf6 24.Rg3 1-0 [24.Rg3 24...Nf5 25.Rxf5!h]
33...Rxa3+! 0-1 [33...Rxa3+ 34.Bxa3 b2+ 35.Bxb2 Ra8+i]
(26) Bellia, F(2420)-Turov, M(2591) (28) Duras
1.Bc5!! Rb1 2.Bg1!! Rxf1= [2...Kg8 3.Rxb1 cxb1=Q=]
28...Bb3! 0-1 [28...Bb3 29.Rxc8 Bxd1+ 30.Kxd1 Rxc8i]
(27) Duessel, U(2198)-Iturrizaga, E(2649)

Basel Open, 2015.01.02
[Solutions]
27...Bxf2+! 0-1 [27...Bxf2+ 28.Kxf2 Bxe4+i]
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
The great event in Wijk aan Zee came to an end. As probably
expected by many, the winner’s name is Magnus Carlsen. After
Editorial Preface 2 a bad start, Carlsen quickly recovered and with a streak of 6
winning games he practically secured the 1st place.
4 players managed to be as close as possible to the winner,
so just half a point behind we find: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave,
Anish Giri, Wesley So and Ding Liren. All of these players are
The K-Files. Queen’s Indian Accelerated, still under 25! The result of Caruana was a bit strange, as he
3.Nc3 & Summary 12 had a great start but didn’t play too well later on and even
lost the last game to Vachier-Lagrave with the white pieces,
David vs. Goliath 17 to finish on just 7/13, clearly a result under his expectations.
In the B group the only 15-year old Chinese Wei Yi was just
Puzzle section 18 unstoppable! With an amazing score of 10.5/13 he secured
huis participation in the A group of Wijk aan Zee 2016.
Endgame section 21 Following him by just half a point and also showing a great
result is David Navara.
Chess and the City. Good, Better, Gibraltar! 26 And in 3rd position, with 9/13, we find the American Samuel
Shankland.
Clash of the Titans 27 The Gibraltar Open has begun with some extremely strong
GMs participating in it: Topalov, Nakamura, Svidler, Vitiugov,
Surprise section / study 32 Harikrishna, Hou, Yu Yangyi, Wei Yi, Rapport. And this is just
to name a few of them... This amazing field probably makes
Gibraltar the strongest open in history, even beating the
Solutions 33
recent Super Open in Doha (with Kramnik, Giri, Mamedyarov
etc).
In the first round there were not many surprises, as the
favorites are winning most of their games, but already in a
few days we will be able to see the great battles between the
rating heavyweight players.
Next Monday the Grenke Chess Classics 2015 is also starting,
so the World Champion will be back in action.
In the current issue you will find great games from Wijk aan
Zee Super tournament, as well as many interesting news in
the other sections.
Enjoy!
Two best games of the past week 7...h5 and of course Black prevents White from it. We are still
in one of the main lines which were often played on a high
level.
8.g3 Caruana played this against Hou Yifan and continues
(1) Caruana, Fabiano(2820) playing it. Another main line here is 8.Bg5 followed by f4.
- Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime(2757)
[B90] 8...Be6 Sometimes Black can play the position without Be6
and with Nbd7-b5.
77th Tata Steel GpA(13.2), GM Arkadij Naiditsch 9.Bg2
2015.01.25 Best rating: 2737
A great preparation with a deep positional pawn sacrifice,

followed by great play in the middlegame and an exact finish-
this is what Vachier-Lagrave will do to Caruana in the last
round of Wijk ann Zee to share the second place. A great game
to watch!
1.e4 c5 Vachier-Lagrave is mainly playing the Najdorf.
2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 This silent
move is getting more and more popular. Already in the past 9...Nbd7 Black is not showing for the moment whether he
rounds Caruana played 6.h3 against Hou Yifan and actually wants to play b5 or not. [In my opinion it is too early for the
did not get much out of the opening. Later on the game b5 move: 9...b5 10.a4! A very typical move for this kind of
went crazy and both had winning chances. The idea of 6.h3 position. 10...b4 11.Nd5 and I think White is slightly better.]
is of course to play g4 next and then Bg2. Of course a move 10.a4 Caruana probably wasn’t sure if now b5 is already a
like 6.h3 can’t be the reason people would stop playing the threat or not. Usually the a4 move is of course the right choice,
Najdorf, but it is a tricky move and it is not that simple for as White’s play is usually on the queenside.
Black to prove that White is not doing better. 10...Be7 11.O-O Rc8 The beginning of a great idea which
6...e5 Of course in case you are a Najdorf player you are was clearly Maxime’s preparation. Black does not castle, but
playing the e5 move, as in case of a move like e6 we would keeps the idea of h4 and the attack on the white king in mind.
be back to the Sheveningen, which is of course also a possible 12.Be3 It is hard to blame Caruana for playing the most
choice for Black. natural move, but this move is getting him into trouble...
7.Nde2 White wants to play g4 now followed by Bg2 and Ng3, [White could have played the more safe 12.b3 with a very
with a clearly better position. complicated position.]
12...Nb6 Of course a move like Nb6 can only be played with create play on the queenside as quickly as possible to make
a connection of playing Nc4 or d5 next, otherwise it doesn’t use of the extra pawn and Black will try to get his play rolling
make sense. on the kingside.
13.b3 A logical move. White should not let the black knight on 17.c4 This move just can’t be a bad one.
c4 and of course a move like 13.Bxb6 would be a big positional 17...Qd6 Black is putting his queen to the right spot and
mistake. preparing to play h4 or maybe f5.
13...d5! What a great preparation by Black. At first sight this

move makes no sense as White is going to be a full pawn up, 18.a5?! The right positional choice, but it is already looking
but if we look a bit more at the position, we can discover too slow. White should have done something about Black’s
that Black will have excellent compensation and actually the counter chances on the kingside. [Maybe a move like 18.Qd2
position is very hard to play for White. with the idea of playing 18...f5 19.h4 could have been a
14.Bxb6 White doesn’t have a choice. [After 14.a5 14...d4 possible option and the position would have remained very
Black is just better.; 14.exd5 14...Nbxd5 also leads to a better complicated.]
position for Black.] 18...f5 Now h4 is already a dangerous threat.
14...Qxb6 15.Nxd5 This is probably also the best move for 19.Qd3 Another strange-looking move, but it is not that easy
White. [To leave the knight on c3 under the attack of the c8 to find a move for White. [In case White would try to stop
rook doesn’t make much sense. 15.exd5 15...Bf5 and Black is Black’s play with 19.h4 19...g5 20.hxg5 h4 I would not like to
going to have great play on the c-file.] be White here.]
15...Nxd5 16.exd5 Bd7 So let us take a fresh look at the 19...h4 Of course. Black is trying to open the position as much
position. White is a clear pawn up but Black has the bishop as he can, especially since all the black squares are under
pair and some chances to create an attack on the kingside. the Frenchman’s control. It is strange that White has done
Of course White can’t be worse here, but the position is very nothing wrong during the last 3 moves but his position is
dynamic and every move counts. White’s idea should be to already very dangerous.
20.g4!? An interesting pawn sacrifice. White is trying to 23...fxe4 24.Nxe4 White has 3 pawns for a piece and a nice
change the dynamic of the game and win control over the knight on e4, but it is clearly not enough to say the position
white squares. To wait for Black to play hxg3 is not a great is equal. Black’s bishops are controling the entire board
option... and White has a lot of target points in his structure. Black’s
advantage is obvious here.
20...O-O! Black doesn’t care about the g4 pawn g4 and

prefers to target the white king’s position with all he has. 24...Qf4 Another exact move of Black. There is no reason to
[Maybe Black could have played 20...fxg4 21.Nc3 O-O with give White a chance of playing f4.
probably also a better position for Black, but the move in the
game is at least equally strong. ] 25.Qxf4 Rxf4 26.f3 White is trying to fix the pawn structure
and to close the position.
21.Nc3?! and this move is almost losing the game. [White
should have gone for the following very dangerous move: 26...Be7 Black is ready to play Rcf8 and also to get a nice
21.gxf5 21...Bxf5 22.Qd2 and of course Black is going to attack position for the bishop on b4.
the white king hardly, but it is still more or less unclear how 27.Kf2 Now the game will end quickly. [27.Kg2 was a tougher
the game would end. White’s idea could be to just play move, but after 27...Bb4 28.Rf2 Black also has at least a few
Kh1-Rg1 and maybe Nc3 later and try to keep things together.] good plans. One of them is to play Rcf8 followed by Be8-Bg6,
21...e4! A strong move. Black is getting to White’s king over kicking out the knight from e4 and the other plan could be
the dark squares. to prepare the b6 move in a good moment, to get a play over
the b-file. I think Black’s position should be close to winning
22.Qe3 Bd8 Black wants to play Bc7 next, followed by Qh2 here.]
with probably just a mate. White is helpless against this
simple plan. So Caruana tries entering a bad endgame... 27...Rcf8 28.Ke3 Be8! A strong move which was not really
hard to find. Black wants to play Bg6 next.
23.Bxe4 A hard move to make, but what else should White
have done?! [In case of 23.Rfe1 23...Bc7 24.Kf1 Qh2 I don’t 29.c5 Bb5 The most accurate move again...
see how White could escape the mate here...] 30.b4 [30.Rf2 30...Rxe4+! 31.Kxe4 Bxc5 and White is
immediately lost.]
(2) Wei, Yi(2675)
- Haast, Anne(2352) [B48]
77th Tata Steel GpB(12.4), GM Csaba Balogh

2015.01.24 Best rating: 2672
The winner of the Wijk aan Zee Challengers is the 15-year old
Chinese Wei Yi! He was simply crushing through the field. It is
worth looking at his brilliant victory in the penultimate round.
30...Rxe4+! A nice way to end the game by force! 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 The
recently very popular Sicilian Paulsen variation.
31.Kxe4 Re8! Black now has different mating ideas
combined with just winning some material. The game is 6.Be3 a6
totally over.
32.Kf4 g5+ 33.Kf5 Kf7 with the idea of Bd3 mate next.
34.Rfe1 Bd3+ 35.Re4
7.Qf3 A relatively new alternative to the main lines with Qd2

and 0-0-0. The idea is to castle queenside here again and
White often intends to play Qg3, offering the trade of queens
35...Bf6 and mate in the next move! A great game by after which Qxg3 hxg3 improves his pawn structure, opens the
Vachier-Lagrave where we could see how dangerous the h-file for the rook and it usually yields a better and more easy
control over the squares can be, even when one is a pawn to play endgame.
down. 0-1 7...Ne5 8.Qg3 h5 The young Dutch lady follows the path of
her countryman Anish Giri, who played two interesting games
with good results in the same tournament, but in the A group.
9.O-O-O h4 10.Qh3 b5 A standard Sicilian game. The black
king stands in the center, therefore White launches a central
attack with f4-f5 and Black looks for counterplay on the
queenside.
11.f4 Nc4 [11...b4 is a known counterattacking motif, but it
makes no sense this time, because after 12.Na4 the b6 square
becomes vulnerable!]
12.Bxc4 Qxc4 13.f5 White has already arrived, but the e6
pawn is well protected at the moment, he still needs to
increase the pressure to execute a blow. It is time to finish the 16.Rxf7 (16.Nf3 16...Nf6 is not the same anymore as in the
development for Black... 15.Nf3 line, because White cannot sacrifice on d7 followed by
taking on e6!) 16...Kxf7 17.b3 Deflecting the queen from the
13...Bb7! A typical move in some Sicilian lines. Black delays e6 square. Fortunately for Black, he has 17...Ba3+! Black frees
the development of his kingside and brings his bishop and the f8 square for the king with an intermediate check. 18.Kb1
the a8 rook into the game. [Going for the a2 pawn with Qxc3 19.Qxe6+ Kf8
13...b4 14.Na4 Qxa2 loses too many tempi. Black gives
up the b6 square and the queen alone cannot create any
serious threats. 15.Nb6 Rb8 16.Nb3! Trapping the queen and
securing the b6 square for the knight! Black is in trouble...
16...Nf6 17.fxe6 dxe6 18.e5h]
14.Rhf1 e5! Anne Haast follows Giri’s improvement over his
own game. [In the first encounter against Radjabov, Giri had
played 14...Rc8 and the game finished in a spectacular way:
15.fxe6 (However White could have achieved a very promising
position after 15.Nf3! The knight is heading to e5, from where
it attacks the two most critical targets on d7 and f7. Probably White had nothing more than forcing a perpetual check with
the only move is 15...f6, but to weaken the e6 square cannot 20.Rf1+ Nf6 21.Rxf6+! gxf6 22.Qxf6+ Kg8 23.Qg6+ Kf8
lead to anything good either. 15...Nf6 (15...b4 is too slow 24.Qf6+ Kg8 25.Qg6+ Kf8 26.Qf6+ 1/2 Radjabov-Giri, Wijk
16.Ne5 Qc7 17.fxe6h and White is coming faster!) 16.Ne5 aan Zee 2015]
Qc7 17.Nxd7! Nxd7 18.fxe6h Black collapses.) 15...dxe6
15.Nb3 Qc7 Black must cover the a5 square. [15...Nf6
Allowing Na5 leads to serious positional problems after
16.Na5 Qc7 17.Nxb7 Qxb7 18.Bg5! White is going to take on
f6 and install his knight to d5, which will dominate the entire
game. Black is positionally lost there, while 18...Nxe4 loses
tactically to 19.Nxe4 Qxe4 20.Rfe1h and the e5 falls.]
16.Kb1 This is Wei Yi’s improvement over the Saric-Giri game.
Quite a deep idea, which was missed by Black in this game.
[Saric played 16.Bg5 when Black had time to play 16...Rc8
17.Rf2 Be7! 18.Bxe7 Kxe7! securing and excellent square for
the knight on f6! 19.Rfd2 Nf6 20.a3 Rh6! With the idea to
drive the king into safety with Kf8-g8. He could not do it with
the rook on h8 because White had g4-g5, using the fact that
Black cannot take en passant on g3. 21.Qe3 Kf8 and Black 17.f6!! Opening the h3-c8 diagonal! A series of sacrifices
was fine in Saric-Giri, Wijk aan Zee 2015.; The same series are coming and Black loses because he cannot defend the d7
of tactical blows with 16.f6 fails right away, because of the square.
hidden point... 16...Nxf6 17.Rxf6 gxf6 18.Bb6 and Black has 17...Nxf6 18.Rxf6! Eliminating the defender of the d7
18...Bh6+! freeing the f8 square for the king! This is the point weakness!
of playing 16.Kb1! 19.Kb1 Qxb6 20.Qxd7+ Kf8i]
18...gxf6 19.Bb6! Deflecting the other defender of the d7
16...Rc8? Black fails to recognize the differences and falls into pawn. Bh6 is not a check anymore thanks to 16.Kb1. Black
the prepared trap! has nothing better than
[16...b4 was also wrong, because after 17.Nd5 Bxd5 18.Rxd5 19...Qc6 20.Na5! The haunt of the queen continues! The d7
Nf6 19.Ra5! deprives B lack from his counterplay with a5-a4 square is still the key!
and White wants to enter a good knight vs. bad bishop
position with Bg5 and the d5 square is very weak! 19...Nxe4? 20...Qe6 21.Nxb7 White has won material. He gained two
tactically fails to 20.Qf3!; However Black should have played pieces for the sacrificed rook and all his pieces are standing
16...Nf6! which was most probably Giri’s preparation. He is very well. The knight is soon coming to d5 with decisive
already threatening to take on e4 and he seems to be doing threats. Black must try to win back the material with Rb8,
well. 17.Nd5 It seems like White has nothing better than this, otherwise he is lost.
but I believe that if White cannot take with a piece on d5 and 21...Rb8 [If Black includes the trade of the queens 21...Qxh3
he is forced to change the structure with exd5, he cannot hope 22.gxh3 Rb8 23.Nd6+! saves the piece and guarantees a
for an advantage. 17...Bxd5 18.exd5 Rc8 19.c3 with mutual winning endgame. 23...Bxd6 24.Rxd6h]
chances. Black might go for a balanced endgame with Qc4-g4
for instance.]
22.Nd5! This is the only way to victory! 23.Qc3! The only move to win again! White switches his
22...Rxb7 [Black loses in a beatiful way after 22...Qxh3 queen to the queenside and creates the decisive threat of Qc8.
23.Nc7+! Ke7 White could give a perpetual check with 23...Qc6 Other moves are also losing quickly: [23...Rb8
Nd5-c7, but he can play for more with 24.Bc5+! d6 24.Nc7+h; 23...d6 24.Qc6+ Qd7 (24...Rd7 25.Qc8+h)
25.Nxf6+h]
24.Nxf6+! The firework continues!
24...Ke7 [24...Qxf6 25.Qc8+ Ke7 26.Bc5+ d6 27.Qxb7+ Ke8
28.Qc6+h and mate is coming in a few moves.]
25.Rxd6!! As simple as that! Black is more than a queen up,

but he cannot avoid getting mated! 25...f5 trying to open an
escaping route to f6 does not change anything... (25...Rxb7
26.Rd1# is quite a pretty mate!) 26.Nd5+ Ke8 27.Nf6+ Ke7
28.Rc6# Another awesome mate!]
25.Bd8+! Not the only, but the most spectacular win!
25...Ke6 [25...Kxd8 26.Qxc6h]
26.Qh3#! Mate! What a game! It will be very interesting to
see Wei Yi participating in the A-group next year! 1-0
The K-Files. Bb7 4.Qc2 d5 5.Bg5 and 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.Qc2 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5
6.Bd2.
Queen’s Indian Accelerated,
3.Nc3 & Summary
(3) 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.Nc3 4.Qc2 [A50]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.Qc2 The main line of the
whole opening since 1921 (Teichmann - Alekhine). For a long
time this used to be a serious reason for Black to avoid playing
GM Alexander Khalifman 2...b6. However, modern theory shows that the assessment is
FIDE World Chess Champion (1999) far from clear. White’s idea is quite simple: e2-e4. At the same
Best rating: 2702 time the square f3 is still available for the white knight.
4...d5 Certainly the strongest answer. Black has to fight for
the center. [4...e6 was played surprisingly often, although
Brief summary: the NoName opening is, of course, no direct after this the game usually transposes into an extremely
refutation of 1.d4 and no start of a new opening revolution at dubious Nimzo line (4.Qc2 b6?!) 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bd3 c5
all. I wouldn’t even recommend someone to make it the basis 7.d5c Rubinstein - Janowski Marienbad 1925 The recent tries
of your opening repertoire. However, it leads to unusual and to put this evaluation under doubt were not convincing at all
mostly unexplored positions and might serve you quite well if 7...b5]
you use it from time to time as a surprise weapon. So far the
way to reach a clear advantage for White is not known. 5.cxd5 [5.Nf3 This move order might be slightly more
accurate than 5.cxd5, but in most cases leads to the same
Important: if you are a true fan of placing the bishop positions, so I decided to leave a more popular move as the
g7 and want to use this opening to reach relatively new main line. 5...e6
Gruenfeld-type positions, then probably it’s not worth trying.
In most cases the dark-squared bishop fianchetto leads to a a) 5...g6 fianchetto is definitely not enough for equal chances
stable advantage for White. But a switch to Queen’s Indian here 6.Bf4 (6.cxd5!? 6...Nxd5 7.Bd2 is another attractive
kind of positions works better. So it might be really poisonous line) 6...Bg7 7.e3+= was analysed already in 4.Nf3 g6 5.Qc2 d5
when your opponent plays only Nimzo or Catalan with White. move order;
I’m quite sure that this opening will become more popular b) 5...dxc4 6.e4;
in the nearest future and, so I am waiting for the new 6.Bg5 (6.cxd5 6...exd5 (6...Nxd5 is better - see 5.cxd5) 7.Bg5
developments with great interest. The lines which have the Be7 8.e3 O-O 9.Bd3 h6 10.Bh4 c5 11.O-O+= practice has
best chances to become critical are in my opinion 3.f3, 3.Nc3
confirmed that this version of QGD is very pleasant for White) taken seriously. In fact, it might be very critical. 5...dxc4
6...Be7 7.e3 ( (5...Ne4?! is quite typical, but here it simply doen’t work
a) 7.cxd5 Nxd5 - 5.cxd5; because of 6.Nxe4 dxe4 7.O-O-Oc and the pawn e4 is just
weak; 5...e6 is a solid choice, but after 6.cxd5 exd5 7.e3 Be7
b) 7.Bxf6 Bxf6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.g3 (9.e3 9...O-O - 7.e3) 9...O-O 8.Bd3 White gets a good version of the Queen’s Gambit
10.Bg2 c5 11.Rd1 Na6 12.O-O Qe7= and Black has no problem (Botvinnik - Chekhover Leningrad 1934))
at all (Preuschoff - Schwanbeck Germany 2009))
7...O-O This type of QGD position (when cxd5 exd5 is not
included) is just another story. Black is always able to take
on d5 with the knight and White can’t keep the tension in the
centre in his favour. So Black’s resources are good enough
to hold the balance. White has tried different ways here, but
without any great achievements 8.Bxf6
a) 8.O-O-O Ne4 good moment for this typical manoeuvre
9.Bxe7 Qxe7 10.Nxe4?! dxe4 11.Nd2 f5=+ Bobotsov - Pfleger
Bamberg 1968; 6.e4!N has not been played yet, but in my opinion it’s the only
b) 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Bxe7 Qxe7 10.Nxd5 exd5 - 5.cxd5; (but quite dangerous) move which gives White chances for
opening advantage (neither 6.e3 6...a6 7.a4 Salgado - Garcia
c) 8.Rd1 Ne4!? 9.Bxe7 Qxe7 10.Bd3 Nd7=;
Barbera 1997 7...Nbd7! 8.Nf3 b5 9.Be2 e6k; nor 6.Rd1 6...h6
d) 8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 c5 10.dxc5 Jianu - Nikolov Skopje 2011 7.Bxf6 exf6 8.e4 b5 9.Nxb5 Bb4+ 10.Nc3 O-OV (Mamedyarov
(10.O-O-O 10...cxd4 11.Nxd4 Qc8C) 10...Qc7! 11.Bd3 Qxc5 - Anton Gujarro Qatar 2014) would promise something for
12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Bxh7+ Kh8n; White) 6...a6! of course risky, but the most challenging move
8...Bxf6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Bd3 (10.O-O-O 10...c5! creating a) immediate 6...Qxd4 7.Nf3 Qc5 8.Be3 Qh5 9.Bxc4n looks
active counterplay as soon as possible 11.h4 Nc6 12.g4 cxd4 too provocative;
13.exd4 Qd6C Peev - Radulov Varna 1968) 10...g6 When Black’s
b) 6...e6 is rather solid, but not enough to equalize completely
dark-squared bishop has no counterpart this move is no
7.Nf3 (7.O-O-O!? might be even stronger) 7...Nc6 (7...b5 8.d5!
serious weakening 11.O-O Bu - Danielsen Helsingor 2011 (11.h4
h6 9.O-O-O and it’s not clear whether Black will be able to
11...c5 12.h5 cxd4 (12...c4 13.Bxg6!) 13.exd4 Nc6k Redzepagic
survive the opening phase) 8.Rd1 Nb4 9.Qb1 Nd3+ 10.Bxd3
- Stojanovski Struga 1991) 11...c6!? 12.e4 Na6=; 5.Bg5!? was
cxd3 11.Qxd3 Be7 12.O-O O-O 13.Rfe1+= Annurudha - Kostenko
played in less than 10 games, however - with 100% stats for
Tabriz 2014;
White and what is even more important it was played by
Botvinnik, Andnd and Mamedyarov. So this move has to be 7.Bxc4 (7.d5 7...b5 8.Rd1 Qd6 9.Nf3 Nbd7 10.a4 h6 11.Bh4
e5 and Black has good counterchances) 7...Qxd4 8.Bd3 e6
9.Nf3 Qc5 10.a3 h6 11.Be3 Qe7klooks very dangerous for 8.Bxc3 Bg7 9.Nf3 O-O 10.Bc4 Nd7 11.O-O e6 12.Rad1 Qe7
Black, but still a pawn is pawn. Once more: 4.Qc2 d5 5.Bg5!? 13.Rfe1+= it’s definitely not the position Gruenfeld players are
is a very serious try which needs more practical tests] dreaming about) 7.Nf3 (7.e4 is not well-prepared yet 7...Nb4
5...Nxd5 6.e4 [6.Nf3 is a good move order to avoid 6.e4 Nxc3 8.Qa4+ Qd7=; in the stem game White has chosen the modest
7.bxc3 e5. However, we’ll see later that there is no special 7.e3 and after 7...c5 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.Nxd5 Qxd5 10.Nf3 O-O
reason for White to avoid it. 6...e6 Black is OK (Zabodrocky - Reti Bratislava 1925))
a) 6...g6 once again not the best moment for Gruenfeld-like

play 7.Bd2!? (7.e4 7...Nxc3 8.bxc3 - 6.e4) 7...Bg7 8.e4 Nf6
Wells - Adorjan Hungary 1995 9.Bc4 O-O 10.O-O+=;
b) 6...Nxc3 is quite playable 7.Qxc3 (7.bxc3 7...e6 (7...g6 8.e4
- 6.e4) 8.e4 - 6.e4) 7...e6 might look good for White as
8.a3 now leads to a well-known position of the Queen’s
Indian Petrosian and this move doesn’t look necessary. But
surprisingly it’s not so easy to find a more usefel move here.
8.a3 (8.Bf4 8...Bd6 9.Bxd6 cxd6=; 8.Bg5 8...Be7 9.Bxe7 7...Nb4! Black is using the fact that White didn’t play a2-a3 in
Qxe7 10.Rc1 c5 11.dxc5 O-On) 8...h6= is well-known theory. a rather strange, but effective way (now the standard 7...Nxc3
Black doesn’t have any problem; 8.Bxc3 Be7 9.e4 O-O 10.O-O-O once more leads to the original
7.Bg5 (7.e4 7...Nxc3 8.bxc3 transposes to the main line; 7.Bd2 Queen’s Indian Petrosian where White has saved the tempo
- 6.Bd2) 7...Be7 8.Bxe7 Qxe7 9.Nxd5 exd5!? 10.Rc1 Kelecevic on a2-a3. In this case it’s perfectly obvious that this detail is in
- Sahovic Yugoslavia 1980 (10.e3 10...O-O 11.Bd3 g6 12.O-O c5 White’s favour as Black’s queenside attack will develop much
13.dxc5 bxc5 14.Rac1 Rc8= Ragozin - Tartakower Saltsjobaden slower. (10.Rd1 10...Nd7 11.Bd3 Rc8 12.Qe2 Nf6; 10.Bc4
1948) 10...c5! 11.dxc5 O-O 12.cxb6 axb6 13.a3 Nc6 14.e3 10...c5 11.d5 exd5 12.Bxd5 Bxd5 13.Rd1 Nc6 14.Rxd5 Qc8
d4n; 6.Bd2 This move was played only once back in 1925. 15.O-O Qe6) 10...Nd7 11.Kb1 c6 12.h4A) 8.Qa4+ (8.Qb3 8...c5
However, its posistional basis is very solid. The similar setup is more or less the same) 8...Qd7 9.Qb3 (9.Qxd7+ 9...Nxd7
has recently become very popular in Queen’s Indian and 10.Rc1 c5= leads nowhere) 9...c5 10.a3 N4c6 black knights are
Gruenfeld. Frankly speaking, before studying the NoName looking weird but it’s just temporary 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.Rd1 O-O
opening very seriously I believed that it is... OK, not the 13.Bf4 Qe7= and Nb8-d7-f6 with quite satisfactory position;
formal refutation, but the most dangerous White’s weapon. 6.Nxd5 looks strange here 6...Qxd5 7.Nf3 e5!? (the quiet
And in fact it is, although I believe that there is a very narrow 7...e6 is also fine 8.e3 Bd6 9.Bd3 Nd7=) 8.dxe5 Nc6 9.Bd2
road for Black to solve the opening problems. 6...e6 (6...Nxc3 O-O-On]
7.Bxc3 Qd5 this kind of blockade is far from perfect 8.Nf3 6...Nxc3 7.bxc3 e6 [The tricky 7...e5 was played first by
Nd7 9.Nd2! Nf6 10.f3 e6 11.e4 Qg5 12.Nc4+=; 6...g6 7.e4 Nxc3 Alekhine in 1921. However, in 2015 it looks rather dubious.
8.Nf3 exd4 9.Bc4 d3 10.Bxd3 (10.Qb3 10...Qf6 11.Ng5 Bc5) 10.Bd3 (10.Bc4 - 9.Bc4) 10...c5 - 9.Bd3]
10...Bc5 11.O-O Qe7 E.Atalik - Bok Iasi 2014 12.e5! Bxf3 9...c5 The accurate move order. [9...O-O 10.O-O c5 11.d5!
13.gxf3 Nd7 14.Bf4C; 7...g6 once again the Gruenfeld setup exd5 12.exd5 h6 (12...Qxd5 13.Bxh7+ Kh8 14.Re1c Rohde
doesn’t solve the opening problems 8.Nf3 (8.h4!? is quite - SOCRATES Boston 1994) 13.c4 Bf6 14.Rb1c Kruppa -
dangerous 8...Bg7 (8...h5 9.Nf3 Bg7 10.Bc4c; 8...h6 9.h5 g5 Simonian Kiev 2007]
10.f4C) 9.h5 e5 (9...O-O 10.hxg6 hxg6 11.Qd3; after 9...Nd7?!
10.h6 Bf8 11.Bg5c Black’s position looks ugly (M.Petrosyan 10.O-O [10.Bb5+ 10...Bc6 11.a4 is an interesting approach
- Jurcik Yerevan 2014)) 10.Nf3 Nd7 11.Bb5 O-O 12.hxg6 hxg6 which deserves further tests 11...a6 12.Bd3 (12.Bxc6+
13.Bg5 Qc8 14.Qd2A) 8...Bg7 9.Bb5+ A useful c heck. 12...Nxc6 13.O-O O-O 14.Rd1 cxd4 15.cxd4 Rc8=) 12...Bb7
Black’s choice is quite unpleasant: c7-c6 closes the bishop, 13.O-O cxd4 14.cxd4 Nc6 15.Qe2 O-O 16.Bb2 Nb4 17.Bc4
so the counterplay with e7-e5 is not effective after it, but Rc8kthe black knight is quite annoying (Pashikian - Simonian
the knight on d7 will be quite passive. (now 9.h4 9...O-O Gyumri 2008)]
10.h5 c5 11.hxg6 hxg6 12.d5 Nd7 is quite unclear (Korchnoi - 10...cxd4 [10...O-O 11.d5! - 9...0-0]
van Geffen Dresden 2008)) 9...Nd7 (9...c6 10.Be2 O-O 11.O-O
c5 12.d5+= Jakobsen - Pedersen Denmark 1988) 10.O-O O-O 11.cxd4 O-O 12.Bb2 [Now 12.d5 doesn’t work because of
11.a4!? (11.Bf4 11...a6 12.Bd3 Quinteros - Planinc Ljubljana 12...Na6! 13.Bb2 Rc8 14.Qe2 Nb4=+]
1973 12...e5! 13.Nxe5 (13.Bg5 13...Qe8) 13...Nxe5 14.Bxe5 12...Nc6 Suddenly it turns that a2-a3 is a quite useful move
Bxe5 15.dxe5 Qe7 16.f4 Qc5+ 17.Kh1 Rad8n) 11...a6 12.Be2 e5 for White.
13.Ba3 Re8 14.d5+=] 13.Qe2 [13.a3 13...Rc8 14.Qe2 - 13.Qe2]
8.Nf3 Be7 Kingside deve lopment is the top priority. Now 13...Rc8
9.a3 would lead to another theoretical position of the Queen’s
Indian Petrosian. But once again it’s perfectly unclear what
profit can White get from this extra tempo. That’s true, Black
doesn’t have such wide range of development plans that
he has in position with a2-a3 played. But is it such a big
problem?! [After 8...Nd7 9.Bd3 c5 the pawn sac 10.d5!? is
very annoying 10...exd5 11.exd5 Bxd5 12.O-O Be7 13.Rd1c]
9.Bd3 [9.Bc4 the pluses of this square for the bishop are
not clear 9...c5 10.O-O cxd4 11.cxd4 O-O 12.Bb2 Nc6 13.Qe2
Rc8 14.Rfd1 Na5 15.Bd3 Bf6k; 9.Bf4 White tries to meet
c7-c5 with d4-d5, but it doesn’t promise much 9...O-O 10.Rd1 14.Rfd1 [14.d5?! 14...Nb4; 14.Rac1 14...Bf6 15.Qe3 van
c5 11.d5 exd5 12.exd5 Bd6k; The most popular intermediate Ketel - Erwich Groningen 2001 (15.Bc4 15...Na5 16.Bb5 Rxc1
check 9.Bb5+ usually leads to the same positions 9...c6 17.Rxc1 Qb8) 15...Qd7kand White’s center is quite shaky;
Finally 14.a3 leads to one of the important positions for
the theory of the Queen’s Indian Petrosian. It was quite
popular in 1980’s and used to be assessed as highly dangerous
for Black. However, recent research has proved that it’s
quite playable, although Black must pay enough attention to
White’s attacking prospects. 14...Bf6 15.Rad1 Na5 (15...Nxd4?
fails to 16.Bxd4 Bxd4 17.Bb5!c Gelpke - Vogel Eindhoven 1981)
]
14...Nb4 15.Bb1 Bf6 Clearly better than [15...Ba6 16.Qd2
Nc6 17.d5CRoghani - T.Vakhidov Dubai 2004]
16.a3 Ba6 17.Qd2 Nc6 18.Bc3 Bc4k Black has enough
counterchances.
19.Qc2 [19.Ba2 19...Bxa2 20.Rxa2 Qd7]
19...g6
David vs. Goliath goes to FM Matsuura (2289) for hanging a queen in one move
against Cruz (1963):
Peter Zhdanov
In this special column we are reviewing the most unexpected

results that occurred last week. Players usually face 13...dxc4?? 14.Bxh7 1-0 Beware the zwischenzug!
opponents of a similar level. Considerably less frequent are
situations when a significantly lower-rated player succeeds in
Top-10:
beating a much stronger adversary.
De Graaf (1855) - Korolewicz (1388), 0-1, 467 points
The previous week has brought us only 18 upsets. The number
Szulic (1367) - Svec (1800), 1-0, 433 points
of moves ranges from 14 in Cruz (1963) - FM Matsuura (2289),
Korolewicz (1388) - Von Keyserlingk (1779), 1-0, 391 points
1-0 to 74 in Sztokbant (2278) - Goncalves (1945), 0-1. The
Wolaniecki (1473) - Muecke (1829), 1-0, 356 points
highest-profile loss was Smolich (2252) - GM Zhigalko A (2584),
Maghsoodloo (2421) - Pilvaieh (2075), 0-1, 346 points
1-0.
Sztokbant (2278) - Goncalves (1945), 0-1, 333 points
The ”Finish him!” award goes to Patryk Wolaniecki (1473) for Smolich (2252) - Zhigalko A (2584), 1-0, 332 points
wrapping up the game in style vs. Michael Muecke (1829): Sa (2026) - Bernardes (1694), 0-1, 332 points
Pottker (2109) - Paveto (2437), 1-0, 328 points
Hamidi (1963) - Firoujza (2291), 1-0, 328 points

27.Bxg6+ Kxg6 28.Qf5X The ”blunder of the week” prize information (a photo, annotations, etc.) will be appreciated.
Puzzle section
(4) Carlsen, M(2862)-Radjabov, T(2734) (6) Saric, I(2666)-Giri, A(2784)
1. h 1... e
(5) Caruana, F(2820)-Hou Yifan(2673) (7) So, W(2762)-Saric, I(2666)

1... = 1. h
(8) Wojtaszek, R(2744)-Ding Liren(2732) (10) Jobava, B(2727)-Radjabov, T(2734)
1... i 1... i
(9) Vachier-Lagrave, M(2757)-Aronian, L(2797) (11) Haast, A(2352)-Shankland, S(2652)

Wijk aan Zee, 2015.01.24 Wijk aan Zee B, 2015.01.25
1. = 1... i
(12) Khismatullin, D(2673)-Korneev, O(2591)
1... i
(13) Mekhitarian, K(2565)-Umetsubo, C(2311)

Brazilian Championship, 2015.01.20
1. h
Endgame section
(14) Jobava, Baadur(2727)

- Radjabov, Teimour(2734)
Wijk aan Zee, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.01.25 Best rating: 2672
48.Ra1! with the idea of switching the rook to the kingside

and invading along the h-file. An attempt to prevent it is
48...Rh3 but then 49.Rb1! Nb4 50.a6! Rh2+ The only move!
Black tries to stop the pawn with Ra2. (50...Nxa6 51.Rb7+
Black finds himself in a mate net.) 51.Nf2 This is a sm all
achievement for Black. At least one of the active knight
was forced to retreat, but the position remains quite bad...
51...Nxa6 52.Rb7+ Ke8 53.Kf3!c and the knight is coming
back to e4!]
46.Nc4 Rb4! Even at the cost of the d6 pawn, Black sticks to
his initial idea of creating his passed pawn.
Radjabov was dominating the entire game, but after some
wrong decisions he ended up in some difficulties and 47.Rxb4 cxb4 48.Nexd6 b3!? Black decides to give up his
suddenly the white knights have excellent outposts on e4 and f7 pawn as well. This is probably not a mistake, but from
c4, attacking the weakness on d6. a practical point of view 48...f6 seems to be more accurate.
[48...f6 It looks natural to trade a pair of pawns. Black was
45.Ne4 Rb2! A clever idea to put the rook to b4, from where probably afraid of 49.f5!? White creates a passed pawn, but
it either controls the important c4 square or after the trade it proves to be insufficient because after 49...fxg5 50.fxg6 b3
he obtains a very dangerous passed b-pawn which yields him 51.Nf5 b2 52.Nd2 Bf6 53.g7 Bxg7 54.Nxg7 Kd6 Black soon
counterplay. [45...Rd3 was another defensive attempt, but it eliminates all the pawns. The far advanced b2 pawn restricts
turns out to be inferior after White’s precise play... 46.Ke2! the mobility of the white pieces. 55.Ke4 is strongly met by
The only way to reach the c4 square with the knight. 46...Rb3 55...Nc5+! and Nb3 next!]
47.Nc4 Bf8
49.Nxf7 b2 50.Nxb2 Bxb2 51.Ne5+ We have reached the
critical moment where Black fails to find the only defense.
51...Ke7? [Surprisingly, Black could have gone for 51...Bxe5! 55...Na6! Suddenly the white king got too far away from the
52.fxe5 Nc5! 53.Ke3 Ke7 central pawns and the knight switches direction: 56.Kd2 Nb4
57.d6 Nc6 58.a6 Nxe5! 59.a7 Nc4+ 60.Kc3 Nb6 stops the
pawns!) 54...Nb3+ 55.Kc4 White sacrifices his a5 pawn and
hopes to promote the central ones with the support of the
king. 55...Nxa5+ 56.Kc5 Nb3+ 57.Kc6 Nd4+ 58.Kc7
It is quite understandable that Radjabov refused to enter this

endgame. The three passed pawn should seemingly bring
the victory for White, but the excellent placement of the c5
knight prevents White from making progress. Black simply
intends to wait with Kd7-e7 and in case of the advance of
one of the central pawns he is going to stay between them. It seems like everything is going according to White’s plan,
Kd4 and Kd2 runs into Nb3 and the a5 falls. White has two but actually it is Black who is winning after the shocking:
winning attempts left: 54.Kd4 (The other option is 54.Ke2 58...Ne6+!! 59.Kc6 (59.dxe6 59...Kxe6i Black collects all
with the idea to go around with the king and sidestepping the the pawns.) 59...Nxg5 60.d6+ Ke6 61.d7 Nf7i wins.;
b3 square. Black must defend with 54...Kd7 55.Kd1 51...Kd6? did not work right away because of 52.Nc4+! Kxd5
53.Nxb2h]
52.Nxg6+ Kd6 53.Ne5! The knight cuts the long diagonal
and White is ready to advance his g-pawn.
53...Bxe5 [53...Kxd5 is simply refuted by 54.g6 Ke6
55.g7h as the knight also controls the f7 square.] (15) Wojtaszek, Radoslaw(2744)
- Ding, Liren(2732)
54.fxe5+ Kxd5 [54...Kxe5 loses nicely to 55.g6! Kf6 56.d6!
Nb8 57.a6!h and one of the pawns promote.]
55.g6 Ke6 56.Kg4 The rest is easy... 2015.01.23 GM Arkadij Naiditsch
Best rating: 2737
56...Nc7 57.Kh5 Kxe5 58.g7 [58.Kh6h was also winning
on the spot.]
58...Ne8
After a quite turbulent game, we reached this interesting

position. It is clear that White is at least equal, but does he
59.g8=Q! The last accuracy, but of course to calculate such a have anything more than that?!
thing on this level is very easy... 47.Qg4+ Kf6 48.Qe6+ Kg5 49.Qg4+ Kf6 So after a few
59...Nf6+ 60.Kg5 [Black resigned in view of 60.Kg5 checks, White decides to continue the game.
60...Nxg8 61.a6h and the pawn cannot be stopped.] 1-0 50.Qxh4+ But now of course the black queen is coming into
the game.
50...Qg5 51.Qe4! It is a good choice not to enter the
endgame for White. Of course the 3 passed pawns could
be very dangerous, but Black could also be very quick with
creating a passed pawn on the queenside, and this pawn will
run faster than the 3 white pawns.
51...Qe5 52.Qh4+ Qg5 53.Qe4 Qe5 and again after
repeating the moves once, White tries to play on for a win.
54.Qc2 Qe1+ A logical move, but maybe Black could have
played 54...Kg7 immediately to keep the queen on e5, but
White would continue with 55.g3! followed by Kg2 and the
white king would be safe on g2.
55.Kh2 Kg7 Ding Liren wants to weaken the white pawn
structure as much as possible.
60.Kg3 [It would have been worse to play 60.g4 60...Rd6

61.Bd5 a6! Not falling for the temptation of taking on d5...
(61...Rxd5? would not win for Black, but lose the game!
62.cxd5 c4 63.d6 Kf7 64.g5 and the white pawns keep on
running! 64...c3 65.d7 Ke7 66.g6 c2 67.g7 c1=Q 68.d8=Q+
Kxd8 69.g8=Q+ with good winning chances for White.) 62.h4
56.f3 It is clearly not a pleasure to play a move like f3, but it b5 and the black pawns on the queenside are clearly faster
was the only way to protect the f2 pawn. than the white pawns on the kingside. Black is winning.]
56...Re8 Black tries to place the pieces as actively as possible. 60...Rd6 61.Bd5 It seems like White has blocked the black
rook and the white king is getting to e5, but Black has
57.Qf5? This is a serious mistake by White. Wojtaszek clearly
something very nice in mind. ..
underestimates the black chances in the endgame. [Maybe
White should just have agreed that the position is around
equal and make a draw after 57.Be4 57...Rd8 58.Bd5 Re8]
57...Qe5+! and here comes the punishment! Ding Liren is
perfectly right to enter this endgame where Black’s chances
are now already better.
58.Qxe5+ Rxe5 Black wants to play the simple Re1-Ra1 and
attack the a4 pawn.
59.Be4 A very logical move. White is blocking the rook and
preparing to push the kingside pawns. 61...a5!! What a move! Black wants to play b5 next and White
can’t do anything against this plan. [61...a6 would have been
59...Re6! Perfect play by Black! He needs to active the rook
a much worse choice for Black. 62.Kf4 The white king is in
as soon as possible.
time to stop Black’s play. 62...b5 63.axb5 axb5 (Black is not
in time after 63...a5 64.Ke3 a4 65.Kd3 and the white king is 65.Kf4
easily stopping Black’s a-pawn.) 64.Ke5 Rb6 65.cxb5 Rxb5
and only White can be better here, but most probably the
position is a draw.]
62.Bb7? White has the idea of playing Ba6 and Bb5, holding
both the a4 and c4 pawns, but it comes too late... [The
best way to continue was 62.Be4 and now Black has a lot
of different options: 62...b5 (62...Rd4 63.Bd5 Rd2 (63...b5
64.axb5 a4 65.b6 and White seems to be faster.) 64.Bc6 and
White is fighting.) 63.cxb5 Rd4 Black is getting the a4 pawn.
64.b6 Rxa4 65.b7 65...Rd2 What a sad loss for White, who clearly overpushed
in a position where probably the best choice would have been
to just make a draw. And clearly great play by Black, with the
fantastic idea of playinga5-b5! 0-1
65...Rb4 and here White has the amazing 66.Bc6! preventing

Black from playing a4 because of Bxa4 and of course Black
is still close to winning, but White can keep on fighting for a
draw.]
62...b5 Now Black is creating a passed pawn and White
cannot do anything about it...
63.cxb5 c4 64.Be4 c3 Rd2-c2 is unavoidable.
Chess and the City. GM Simon Williams, alias ”Mr. h4”, has been providing live
commentary on this event for 3 years now, for the first 2 of
Good, Better, Gibraltar! which he was assisted by Irina Krush. However, this year she
preferred to participate again, and the challenge of replacing
her was offered to me. The picture below perfectly describes
the result of this!

Best rating: 2493
The thirteen edition of what I would call THE most popular

Open tournament of all time started just two days ago -
Tradewise Gibraltar!
This is not just a tournament, it is one of the strongest Open
tournaments of all time and has a very unique character.
Besides having a wide range of side events, such as ”Master
Classes”, ”Team Blitz events” and the very famous ”Battle of
the sexes” (which was convincingly won by the weaker sex last
year) etc. It is also the only tournament where Women have a
double race. Since I am a woman myself, I obviously cannot
admit that having a chance for winning a main prize, as well as
an exceptionally large women’s prize, is actually quite unfair.
Last but not least I would like to give the following advice to
But it is not a secret in the Men’s world that beauty actually
all chess teachers: by all means have your pupils play through
HAS ITS PRICE! Over £15000 will be awarded to the highest
and enjoy this round one game, by Nakamura, but insist that
place female in the Open. Is there any greater confession of
they do not try to imitate it, unless they have his talent!
love? No!
For me this year is actually quite special and different. For the
first time in my life I am not participating as a player, but as
live commentator!
Clash of the Titans 10...h6 An useful move because Black is usually looking for
counterplay on the kingside. A possible plan is g5-f5-Qe8-Qg6
or Ng6 etc...
(16) Capablanca, Jose Raul 11.e3 a6!? Black wants to open the a-file.
- Bogoljubov, Efim [A26]
12.a4 [12.bxa6 This move normally makes no sense because
Nottingham, 1936 White gets a worse structure, but it must still be checked.
12...Rxa6 with a small trap... 13.Rxb7!? A very interesting
GM Kamil Miton
strategical sacrifice. (13.Bxb7? 13...Bxb7 14.Rxb7 Qa8 15.Qb1
Best rating: 2655 Rb6 16.Rxb6 Qxh1i) 13...Bxb7 14.Bxb7 Ra7 15.Bg2
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 6.Bd2 White

could have played [6.Rb1 immediately.]
6...f5 7.Rb1 We have one of the typical positions in the English
opening.
7...Nf6 [7...a5 Generally it is useful for Black to include the
a5-a3 moves to open the a-file. ]
8.b4 O-O [8...a6!? with the idea to open the a-file. 9.a4 O-O
(9...a5!? 10.b5 Nb4 This idea was used by Spassky.) 10.b5 axb5
15...c6! A strong plan. Black is going to limit the bishop on
11.axb5 Ne7 transposes to the main plans.]
g2 and fight for the center at the same time. 16.Nge2 d5
9.b5 Ne7 17.cxd5 cxd5 18.O-Ok; 12.b6 This is a tricky idea but Black has
the simple and strong 12...c6! (12...cxb6? is worse because of
13.Na4 Nd7 14.Nxb6! Nxb6 15.Ba5 and White is much better
thanks to the pressure on the b-file.) ]
12...c5?! From a strategical point of view this move looks very
ugly. The bishop on g2 becomes stronger now and the d5
square is weak. [12...axb5 13.axb5 c6 (13...g5 with the idea to
create pressure on the queenside.) ]
13.bxa6 [13.Nge2 13...a5 14.O-O+= White always keeps the
opportunity to push b6 and does not allow Black to close the
10.Qc2 I’m not sure if this move was needed now. position.]
13...Rxa6 17...Qe8! The queen on e8 helps with the f4 break, protects
the knight on c6 and can attack the a4 pawn at some moment.
18.Kf1 [18.Bg2 with the idea to avoid Ne7, a plan we will see
happening in the game. 18...f4 19.Be4! f3 20.h5A(20.Nc3
20...Nb4 21.Rxb4! cxb4 22.Nb5 Bf5k) ; 18.Rb5 18...Na7;
18.O-O 18...g5 19.hxg5 hxg5 20.Kg2k]
18...Ne7 19.a5 [19.Bxb7?? 19...Bxb7 20.Rxb7 Qc6i]
19...Nxd5 20.cxd5 From a strategical point of view the
position is very interesting. Black has two bishops but on the
14.Nge2 [14.Rxb7!? was interesting too. 14...Nc6! Black other hand a limited rook on a6 and a weak pawn on b7.
plays for activity! (14...Bxb7 15.Bxb7 Ra7 16.Bg2n The 20...Qf7 Let’s check other ideas: [20...Bf6!? 21.Qc4 Bd8
a-pawn and a strong bishop give White full compensation.) 22.Rb5 b6 (22...Rf7 23.Kg2 Ra7 24.Rhb1 g5V; 22...Bc7
15.Rb5 Nb4 16.Qb1 e4kThe black pieces become very active 23.Kg2 Qd8 24.Rhb1 (24.Ra1 24...b6V) 24...Ra7 25.f4 Re8V)
and White’s problem is the king, which is still stuck in the 23.axb6 Rxb6 (23...Ra1+ 24.Kg2 Rxh1 25.b7! is an important
center.] trick, otherwise Black has Ba6.) 24.Rxb6 Bxb6 25.Kg2 Rf7
14...Nc6 with the idea to bring the knight to b4. 26.Rb1k; 20...Kg8 21.Kg2 g5 is also interesting for Black.]
15.Nd5 [15.Nb5 15...e4!? 16.dxe4 Nxe4 (16...fxe4 17.Bc3! 21.Qc4
preventing Ne5.) 17.O-O with a slightly better position for
White.]
15...Nxd5 16.Bxd5+ Kh7
21...f4!? 22.gxf4 According to the general rules, Black is going

to open the position and activate his bishops, especially the
light squared one.
17.h4!? An orginal idea. White temporarily prevents g5. The
most simple was [17.O-O+= ]
22...Bg4 [22...exf4 23.e4 (23.Nxf4 23...Be5 24.Bc3 and here 30...Bxf4! 31.Rf3 Bxe3 32.Rxf7+ Rxf7+ and the black pieces
Black doesn’t need to hurry with taking on f4. 24...Bxf4 dominate the board.) 26...Be2+ (26...b5 I’m not sure when
25.Qxf4 Qxf4 26.exf4 Rxf4 27.Re1C and White has the exctaly b5 is most accurate.) 27.Kxe2 Qxf2+ 28.Kd1
initiative.) 23...f3 24.Nf4 Rxa5! 25.Ne6 b5A] b5 29.Nxf8+ (29.Qb3 29...Qxg1+ 30.Kc2 Qg2 pinning the
23.Rg1 Bf3 24.e4 exf4 25.Nxf4 [25.Qb5 bishop.) 29...Bxf8 30.Rxb5 Qxg1+ 31.Kc2 Ra1 and the white
king is under pressure.]
26.Ne6 Raa8 [26...Be2+ 27.Kxe2 Qxf2+ 28.Kd1 Qxg1+
29.Kc2h]
This move was recommended by Alekhine, but now Black

could maybe play 25...Be5! 26.Qxb7 Ra7 27.Qxf7+
Rfxf7nand the white pieces are very badly placed.]
25...Be5 We will see that Black tried to solve his biggest 27.Nxf8+? This move is premature! Objectively the knight
problem of the limited rook on a6 by playing 26...Raa8, but on e6 can be even stronger than the rook! White could
here he missed a good chance... [25...Rxa5! A strong and firstplay [27.Be3! Simply protecting the f2 pawn and avoiding
nice move! 26.Ne6 (26.Rg3 26...b5! 27.Qc2 Bh5 28.Be3 Be5 some tactical threats! 27...Rxa5 (27...Rfb8 28.Bxh6! A nice
29.Nxh5 gxh5 30.f4 and unexpected move! 28...Kxh6 29.Qc1+h; 27...Bh5 28.f4!)
28.Nxf8+ Qxf8 29.Rxb7+ Kh8 30.Rb1! (30.Ke1 30...Ra1+
31.Kd2 Rxg1 32.Qb5 Bf6! 33.Rb8 Bd8 34.Qd7 Ba5+i)
30...Qc8 31.Qb3 with the idea to exchange queens and White
should win the game.]
27...Rxf8
34...Be3!! (34...Bxf2+ 35.Qxf2 Rxf2 36.Rxf2 Qh1+ (36...Qxh4

is less accurate because of 37.Rb8+ Kh7 38.Bg5!! A nice trick
28.Qb5? More accurate was [28.Be3! and it is not easy
which immediately gives White a winning position.) 37.Rf1
for Black to develop his initiative now, for example 28...Bh5
Qxh4+ (37...Qg2 38.Rb8+ Kh7 39.Rf7+ Kxh6 40.Rh8#)
29.Ke1 The idea is to escape with the king. (29.Qc2 The queen
38.Kd2 Qh2+ 39.Kc1 Qa2 40.Rb8+ Kh7 41.Bd2 Qa1+
is back to defend the weak squares around the king. 29...Qf3
42.Rb1 Qa3+ 43.Kc2 Qa4+ 44.Kb2 Qb5+ and Black has to
30.Rxb7+ Kg8! We will see later why this move is more
fight for a draw.) 35.Bg5 (35.Rb8+ 35...Kh7 36.Qb2 Bd4i)
accurate than Kh8. 31.Bxh6 Qh3+ 32.Ke1 Rf3!? (32...Qf3!?
35...Bxg5 36.Rb8+ (36.hxg5 36...Re3+i) 36...Kg7 37.Rb7+
deserves attention, with the idea Bc3. 33.Rb3 Bd4 34.Rf1
Kg8 38.Rb8+ with perpetual check.) 29...Qf3 30.Rxb7+ Kg8
Ra8V35.Ra3? Rxa5!) 33.Rb3 (33.Qe2 33...Bc3+! just to
31.Kd2 Qe2+ 32.Kc1 Rxf2 33.Bxf2 Qxf2 34.Rh1 Qg2 35.Rd1
force White to put the bishop on d2. 34.Bd2 Bd4 35.Kd1
(35.Re1 35...Qf2 with a positionally drawn position. Once
Rg3 36.Rxg3 Qf1+i; 33.a6 33...Rxd3 34.a7 Bc3+ Now we
again we see how important it was to keep the king on g8, as
see why it was more accurate to put the king on g8: White
in case king was on h8 White could play the amazing 36. Kb1!!
doesn’t have Qxc3 check! 35.Bd2 Re3+! 36.fxe3 Qxe3+
36...Qxe1+ 37.Qc1 now and after the queens exchange the a6
37.Kf1 Qe2#; 33.Qa4!! I analyzed this complex position
pawn will be decisive!) 35...Bxd1 (35...Bf4+ 36.Kb1 Bxd1 37.a6
without an engine, but with my friend, and there was only one
Qf1 38.a7 Bb3+ 39.Kb2 Be5+
great idea which we missed during our work. This move is just
amazing! 33...Bc3+ 34.Kd1 Rf7+ 35.Kc2 Rxb7 36.Kxc3c)
33...Bd4 34.Rf1
36.a6 White is pinning all his hopes to the a-pawn.
36...Be4+ 37.Kh3 Rg7 [37...Ra7 38.Rb7+ (38.Rb6A )
38...Bxb7 39.Rf7+ Kg8 40.axb7 Ra3+! 41.Kg2 Rb3 42.Re7
Kf8 43.Rc7 d5 and Black is on time!; 37...Rxf1 leads to a very
nice draw: 38.Rxf1 Bd3 39.Rf7+ Kg8 40.a7 Kxf7 41.a8=Q
40.d4!h What a fantastic line!) 36.Kxd1 Qf1+ 37.Kc2 Qe2+

38.Kb3 The most accurate. (38.Kb1 38...Qd1+ 39.Ka2 Qa1+
40.Kb3 and now Black can also take the pawn. 40...Qxa5k)
38...Qb2+ 39.Ka4 Qxb7 40.Qb5 Qa8!
41...Bf1+ 42.Kg4 Be2+ with perpetual check!]

38.Rb6 Bf5+ 39.Kg2 [39.Rxf5 only leads to a draw: 39...gxf5
40.Rb7 Rxb7 41.axb7 d5 42.Kg2 Kg6 43.Kf3 Bb8! The only
move. 44.Bf4 Ba7 45.b8=Q Bxb8 46.Bxb8 Kh5 and this
position should be drawn.]
39...Be4+ 40.Kh3
with a difficult to evaluate position. The a-pawn is very

dangerous but Black has the defending idea c4-Bd4. You can
try to analyze this position yourself if you want!]
28...Bxe4! 29.Qxb7 Bxd3+ 30.Kg2 Be4+ 31.f3 [31.Kh3 is
very risky because Black keeps the queens on the board after
31...Bf5+ 32.Kg2 Bd7! 33.f4 Qf5 34.Rb3 with very complex
play.]
31...Bxf3+ 32.Kh3 Bxd5 33.Qxf7+ Rxf7 34.Rgf1 Be6+
35.Kg2 Bf5 [35...Bd5+ Objectively a perpetual check was the 40...Re7? The players were probably in time trouble! Black
best for Black.] should have repeated moves. [40...Bf5+= ]
41.Bf4 leads to a drawish position by force. [41.Rf8 41...c4 Surprise section / study
42.Bf4 c3 43.Bxe5 dxe5 44.Kg3 Rc7 preventing Rc8. 45.Rf1
c2 with more or less equal chances.; 41.Re1! A strong move (17) Birnov
which could give White winning chances. 41...Bd5 42.Bf4 and
thanks to the a6 pawn White is better.] 1. h
41...Rf7! 42.Bxe5 Rxf1 43.Bxd6 Rf3+ 44.Kh2 g5 45.hxg5
hxg5 46.Bxc5 1/2-1/2
Solutions
(18) Radjabov, T(2734)-Ding Liren(2732) (20) Saric, I(2666)-Vachier-Lagrave, M(2757)
40...Rb1+! 0-1 [40...Rb1+ 41.Kxd2 Rxa2+ 42.Ke3 Re1+

43.Kf4 Rxf2+i] 32...Qa2+! 0-1 [32...Qa2+ 33.Kxa2 b1=Q+ 34.Ka3 Qb3#]
(19) Vachier-Lagrave, M(2757)-Ding Liren(2732) (21) Ding Liren(2732)-Saric, I(2666)
30.Re5! Qh3 [30...Bxe5 31.Bxe5+ Kh7 32.Bxh8 Kxh8

33.Rxg6h d2 (33...Qxg6 34.Qxg6 Rg7 35.Qxg7+ Kxg7 27.Nxd5! Qxd5 [27...Rxb3 28.Nxe7+ Kf8 29.Nxc6h;
36.Kf1h) 34.Qh4+ Rh7 35.Qd8+] 27...Qh6 28.Nxe7+ Kf8 29.Qxb7h]
31.Ree6 Qxg3+ 32.hxg3c 28.Qxh3h
(22) Haast, A(2352)-Gunina, V(2538) (24) Rathnakaran, K(2387)-Gupta, A(2631)
Wijk aan Zee B, 2015.01.18 Parnsvath Open, 2015.01.13
15.Bf4?k [15.Rxc6!! 15...Bxd2 (15...bxc6 16.Qe6+ Rd7 30.Re7! Qxf6 [30...Qxc4 31.Bxg7#]
(16...Kb7 17.Qb3 c5 18.c3h) 17.Qxc6h) 16.Rg6 Bf4 31.Bxg7+ Qxg7 32.Rxg7h
17.Rxg7c]
(25) Leitao, R(2636)-Zambrana, O(2465)
(23) Navara, D(2729)-Michiels, B(2563)
Zicosur Open, 2015.01.06
Wijk aan Zee B, 2015.01.18
16.Nfxd5!! Nxd5 17.Qh5! Nf5! [17...Nf6 18.Qxh4h;

36.Rg8+! Rxg8 37.Qe5+ Rg7 38.Qxg7# 1-0 17...Nxc3 18.Qxh7+ Kf8 19.Qh8#]
18.Bxf5 g6 19.Qf3 Nxc3 [19...Nxe3! 20.fxe3 Bxf5 21.Qxb7
Rae8 22.Qd5! c Rxe3? 23.Qxd6 cxd6 24.Nd5 R3e6
25.Nc7h] 20.Bxc8h
(26) Vovk, A(2637)-Neuman, P(2465) (28) Kaev
Slovakian league, 2015.01.17
1.Nf5+! exf5 2.Rh6+ Kg4 3.Ne5+! Rxe5 4.Rf4+! Kxf4

5.Rh4#
25.Nxh7! Qxf6 [25...Qxh7 26.Qd8+! Kf7 27.Qxb6h;
25...Kxh7 26.Qxg6+ Kh8 27.Bd3h (27.g4h 27...Nh4
28.Qh6+ Kg8 29.Re3h) ]
26.Nxf6+ Kg7 27.Ng4c
(27) Lopukhin, A(2361)-Smirnov, P(2585)
47...Nf4+! 48.Nxf4 Rxh2+ 49.Nh3 Rxh3# 0-1
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
And another great week of chess is behind us with 3 major
events: the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival, the Grenke
Editorial Preface 2 Chess Classics and the Moscow Open.
Let’s first come to the finished event in Gibraltar:
Two best games of the past week 5 What was one of the strongest opens in history (with Topalov,
Nakamura, Svidler, Vitiugov, Jakovenko, Yu Yangyi and many
David vs. Goliath 13 more players over 2700 ELO) came to an end with the one
player who started the tournament with 6/6 and finished on
Puzzle section 14 8.5/10 taking it all, and that was Nakamura. The American
didn’t play the cleanest chess, but with his great passion and
Endgame section 17 strong fighting spirit he looked for chances until the very end
in all his games. A completely deserved tournament victory
and Nakamura gets back the title of ”best American player”,
Chess and the City. The Battle of the Sexes 23
which was briefly taken from him by Wesley So who had a
great result in Wijk aan Zee. David Howell took clear second
Clash of the Titans 25 place with 8/10, which was a great surprise and probably his
biggest tournament success so far.
Surprise section / study 28 Places 3-11 were shared by a group of players on 7.5/10, but
on tiebreak the 3rd place went to Hou Yifan, who scored a
Solutions 28 great performance of 2772. It seems like there is another Judit
Polgar on the rise...
In the Grenke Chess Classics only 3 rounds (out of 7) have
been player. So far the biggest surprise of the tournament
was probably that your commentator Arkadij Naiditsch beat
Magnus Carlsen in an marathon 6-hour game (an endgame
which you can find in this newsletter). Another upset is the
result of Aronian, who had a bad start with 1/3 and even
dropped out of the live Top 10 list. And to think that not so
long ago Aronian was the clear number 2 with an ELO of 2830!
Moscow Open is a huge event with a lot of different
sections. Let us focus on the main section:
After round 5 Inarkiev is leading with a perfect score of 5/5,
followed by Grachev, Nepomniachtchi, Mamedov and many
more.
The Spanish number 1 Vallejo is on 4/5 and in a good position
to try and catch the leader as soon as possible.
That’s all from the major tournament news for the past week.
We hope you enjoy our weekly chess material!
Two best games of the past week have more dynamism in this game.
5...d6 6.Nc3
(1) Baramidze, David (2594)

- Naiditsch, Arkadij (2706) [A30]
3rd GRENKE Chess Classic(4.1),

Best rating: 2737
Before this game against my teammate I thought it would be

great to get a wild position, as David is a strong player but 6...f5?! First I was quite happy with this try, but this move
a lack of practical play is visible in some of his games. He just makes little sense. The pawn is even sometimes better
doesn’t play too many games and from time to time he makes placed on f7. It was better to continue with 6...Nf6 or 6.... Bd7
quite serious miscalculations. After a rare opening setup I or 6...e5, with very usual play.
was not happy at all with my position, but with the risky 7.a3! An excellent reply by White. Of course the idea of b4 is
move 11.d4 Baramidze got himself into something he doesn’t standard, but it is very important not to move the d2 pawn too
like too much: a crazy position. When things were probably early, because in case Black goes Nf6 there is always d4.
already better for Black, but the position was still very sharp,
7...a5 8.Rb1 Once again David is correctly waiting before
White just made a huge blunder which cost him the game.
moving the d2 pawn and prepares for the b4 break.
1.c4 This move came as a surprise to me. I had more expected
8...Bd7 A developing move and I also hope to maybe play a4
1.d4 and maybe 1.e4.
at some point.
1...c5 David clearly also did not expect this, as my main moves
on 1.c4 are 1... Nf6 or 1... e5.
2.g3 a set up with g3 is quite popular one
2...Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 Black has a lot of different ways to
continue, but 3...g6 is a very solid try.
4.Nf3 Bg7 5.O-O Now I needed to decide whether to play
5...e5 or not. It is a very central line, where White usually
continues with Nc3-Ne1-Nc2-Ne3, covering the d5 square. The
position is close to equal but also very boring. I wanted to 9.b3! David is showing very deep understanding of the
position! At first sight b3 looks like an average move, but in
fact it is a move which made me worry a lot. White’s idea now
is to play Ne1-Nc2 and b4, with a clear edge for White. What
can I do to stop this?!
9...e5 Maybe not the best, but what else to play?! [For some
time I was thinking about 9...Nf6 but White can still play
10.d4! Ne4 11.Nxe4 fxe4 12.Ng5 Nxd4 13.Bxe4 and White’s
position is clearly better here. We can also see how useful the
b3 move really is, as the white bishop is going to take a great
position on b2.] 12...Nce7! This strong move turns the game around. [For a
while I was thinking about 12...d3? but managed to find 13.e4!
10.Nb5 Forcing my queen to take a passive position on b8. and because of my horrible development my position will fall
10...Qb8 apart.; Another option was to play 12...Na7 13.Nxa7 Qxa7
14.exd4 e4 but now White has 15.Re1 Of course things are not
that clear here, but I had the feeling that White was going to
continue with d5 and Be3-Nd4 and somehow I did not like my
position too much.]
13.exd4?! I don’t think this is the best practical choice.
[During the game I mainly calculated 13.a4! It is very
important to keep a good pawn structure. 13...d3 14.e4 the
usual move 14...Nf6 15.exf5 gxf5 with a very complicated
position.]
11.d4?! This move is really double-edged. There was no 13...e4 14.Ng5 There is no better place for the knight.
reason at all for White to play it. [After the logical 11.Ne1 14...h6 15.Nh3 Bxb5 16.cxb5 Now we can see why it was so
11...Nge7 12.Nc2 O-O (12...Nd4? 13.Ncxd4 cxd4 14.Bxb7 Bxb5 important for White to play 13.a4. I would not have the d5
15.Bxa8 and White is an exchange up.) 13.b4 I think White’s square for my knight now otherwise.
play on the queenside is quite serious and this is a rather
unpleasant position for Black.] 16...Nd5 17.Nf4 White needs to bring the knight into the
game.
11...cxd4 12.e3 Of course the idea to get some play in the
center is the right one because of Black’s bad development, 17...Nge7 Now it is all about whether I can hold my pawn
but Baramidze probably missed my next move. structure in the center. In case I can, I will be clearly better. [It
would be very bad now to be greedy: 17...Nc3? 18.Qc2 Nxb1
19.Nxg6 and because of my king’s central position, White has
great compensation.] 21...Nc3 I need to keep being a rook up.
22.exf5 gxf5 We are in a funny position. Black is a full rook
up, but because of the bad position of the king on e8 and
everything sort of hanging, things are much more unclear
than they look like at first sight.
18.f3!? After a long thought, Baramidze tries a very

interesting move. Maybe it is really the best White has already.
[In case of a passive move like 18.Rb2 18...Nxf4 19.Bxf4 O-O
followed by g5 and d5, Black’s pawns will start rolling on the
kingside. I would say that White is already in quite some 23.Ng6?? What a terrible blunder by my opponent... [The
serious trouble.] right way to go on was 23.Bd2! This silent move is very strong.
23...Be5 (23...Qc8 leads to a very unclear position. 24.Qd3
18...Nc3 I have to go for the exchange.
Be5 25.Rc1 Qd7 26.Bxc3 Rc8 and things are very wild...)
19.Qc2 Bxd4+ It also lo oks very natural to win the d4 pawn 24.Bxc3 Qc7 and maybe I can hope to be a bit better, but the
and secure the bishop a great position on e5 for the future. main fight would still be ahead of me.]
20.Kh1 Now I have 2 options... 23...Nxg6 24.Qxf5 and here comes the move that
20...Nxb1 I was not sure about this move but I hoped Baramidze missed:
that being a rook up should give me some advantage. 24...Ne7 It wasn’t too hard to find, but it simply wins the
[Another move was 20...exf3 21.Bxf3 Nxb1 22.Qxb1 and game.
maybe 22...Qc8 but after 23.Bb2 the position is actually very
25.Qf7+ Kd8 Now I am already a rook and a piece up, which
wild. My king on e8 is experiencing big pressure and the white
pieces are quickly joining the game.] is just too much...
26.b6 Qc8 27.Bxh6
21.fxe4 is exactly the right way to play as White! [21.Qxb1
21...d5 and I think I can already say that Black is better now.;
21.Ne6 doesn’t work because of 21...Qc8!]
(2) Adhiban, Baskaran (2630)
- Nakamura, Hikaru (2776) [D20]
Gibraltar Masters 2015(5.1), GM Csaba Balogh

2015.01.31 Best rating: 2672
Nakamura started the Gibraltar Masters with 6/6. Let’s see

one of his spectacular wins.
27...Ne2 All in all it was an interesting game that came to 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 The Queen’s Gambit Accepted. Nakamura
an abrupt end because of a blunder of by my opponent and employs this weapon quite often recently.
which brought me the tournament lead after round 4. 0-1
3.e4 b5 Thanks to the French GM Romain Edouard, the
following very interesting line connected with an exchange
sacrifice came to the practice. Theory is just about to develop
here. The two main lines are 3...Nf6 and 3... e5.
4.a4 c6 5.Nc3 a6 6.axb5 cxb5 7.Nxb5 axb5! 8.Rxa8
8...Bb7 This is basically the initial position of this variation.

At first sight it is not clear what Black has got for the exchange,
but things are not easy at all for White. The b5-c4 pawns
are restricting the development of the white pieces and Black
plans to set the central e4-d4 pawns under big pressure in the
next few moves. White can retreat the rook to a2 or a1, actually
there are serious differences between those two. In most of 16...Ng4+ 17.Kxe4 f5+ 18.Kd3 Nxf2+! 19.Ke3 f4+! 20.Qxf4
the lines the rook is better placed on a2, but the drawback is Bc5+ 21.Kf3 (21.Ke2? 21...Qd3+ 22.Ke1 Qxc3+i) 21...Rf8e)
that it stands in the Nc6-b4 tempo. 16...Nf5+ 17.Ke2 Nd4+ 18.Ke3= with a repetition.]
9.Ra1 e6 [On the direct 9...Bxe4 White could quickly 12...Bb4! 13.Bd2
undermine the queenside with 10.f3 Bd5 11.b3!]
10.Ne2 [The alternatives are 10.f3 ; And 10.Nf3 ; 10.b3? now
is obviously wrong because of 10...Bb4+ 11.Bd2 c3]
10...Bxe4 11.b3 [11.Nc3 is met by 11...Bc6 12.Bf4 Nf6 Black
already has a pawn for the exchange, a perfect pawn structure
and the nice square on d5 for the minor pieces gives him
excellent compensation.]
11...Nc6 12.Nc3?! This mistake already passes the
advantage the advantage to Black! White tries to use,
13...Bxc3! Very simple refutation of White’s whole concept.
that the bishop cannot retreat to c6, but after having played
Black creates an amazing dangerous protected passed pawn
b3, the c3 knight has lost it’s stability. Black immediately
with b4-c3. All moves are coming with tempo.
makes use of it. [I have to admit, that I have also analyzed
this opening and my preparation concluded, that White 14.Bxc3 b4 15.d5 White tries to complicate the matters, but
should go for 12.bxc4 12...Nb4 13.Nc3 Nc2+ 14.Ke2 and here it ends up badly for him. Other moves were hardly better
Black has nothing better than forcing a draw. He can do it in either... [15.Bb2? is the worst in view of 15...c3 16.Bc1
different ways, one of them is 14...Nxd4+ 15.Ke3 Nxd4i; 15.Bd2 15...c3 16.Be3 Nge7e followed by 0-0 and
Nd5 is also great for Black!]
15...bxc3 16.dxc6 Qxd1+ 17.Kxd1 [17.Rxd1 is not better
either, because Black has the very strong intermediate move
17...c2! 18.Rc1 and he can already capture on 18...cxb3
because after 19.c7 Kd7 simple stops the pawn.]
17...cxb3 Very picturesque position with such pawns for both
sides, but the black ones are stronger. We dont meet often
with such situations. White has to be careful to not surrender
within a couple of moves.
15...Nf6! White has to be careful which piece to take...
16.Nxe4! is the only move and Black has nothing better
than (16.Qxd4 is wrong in view of the long and forced line
invades to b8 next move, pinning the undeveloped pieces.
24...Be4 25.Rb8 g5 A clever move! Black opens a path to g7
for his king to defend his pieces. He also keeps the option
of defending with h6 and Bh7. [There was no time to grab
more pawns with 25...Bxg2 White’s counterplay is coming too
fast after 26.Rg1 Bf3+ 27.Kd2 g6 28.Rg3 Bd5 29.Rc3! and
the other rook also arrives to the 8th rank. Black does not
have more than draw after 29...e5 30.Rcc8 f6 31.Rd8+ Kc6
32.Rbc8+ Kb7 33.Rb8+ Kc6=]
18.c7! [18.Bb5 loses to 18...b2 19.c7+ Ke7 20.Ke2
Nf6i Black stops the c-pawn, while his own pawns 26.Ke2 Ke7 Heading to g7.
are promoting.] 27.h4 In general it is good to trade pawns for the defensive
18...Kd7 19.Ra3! White finds the only way to stop the pawns. side. Also the Kf6-g7 plan becomes more shaky now because
of the checks on g4. [Black is in time after 27.Rc1 27...Kf6
19...b2 20.c8=Q+! White had to sacrifice his own trumph to 28.Rcc8 Kg7e The knight is saved, but it is still not easy to
eliminiate the more important one on c3 with check! finish the development. Perhaps something like, Bg6, f6, Bf7,
20...Kxc8 21.Rxc3+ Kd7 22.Bd3! There was nothing better followed by h5-h4-g4 and Rh5 might rescue the black pieces
again! White recaptures on d3 with check, therefore Black from the cage.]
must promote his pawn right away. 27...gxh4 28.Rxh4
22...b1=Q+ 23.Bxb1 Bxb1 It seems to be all over, Black wins
with decisive material advantage, however things are far from
clear yet. White retains his chances to save the game by using
the temporar misplacement of all black pieces...
28...Bc6! We should never worry about Nakamura’s

resourcefulness in unusual position! He intends to rescue
his pieces with Be8 and Nf6. [28...Bg6 is less clear because
29.Rc4 Kf6 30.Rcc8 Kg7 31.Re8! preventing the f6-Bf7 idea
24.Rb3! Attacking the bishop with tempo and the rook and it is not obvious how Black could make progress.... Losing
one of the pawns, for instance f6, Rxe6 Bf7 in order to develop Black has 32.Ke1 32...Nc6 33.Ra6 Kc7 consolidating.]
the knight next move leaves too limited material on board. 32...Ke5! 33.Rb7 Realizing the importance of the b5 square,
Black could hardly win with the 2 minor pieces against the but it is too late... [33.Rxe7 runs again into 33...Bb5+ 34.Rd3
rook with only 2-2 pawns on the board, having them on the Rd8! winning the full rook otherwise White could have saved
same side.] the rook endgame with 3 vs 2.]
29.Rc4 [29.Rg4 is also met by 29...Be8] 33...Kf6! Protecting the knight and creating the threat of Bb5
29...Be8! 30.Rc7+ Kd6?! A mistake which could have cost by leaving the 5th rank and avoiding capturing it with check.
to a half point... [30...Kf8 should have been played and Nf6 34.Rdb8 [The usual problem again, that 34.Rbb8 allows
or Ne7 next move.] 34...Bb5+!; If White leaves from the b5 check with 34.Ke1 he
moves into another tactical motif 34...Bc6! 35.Rxh8 Bxb7
36.Rxh7 Bxg2i]
34...Ng6 The rook is protected now and Black is ready to
move his bishop.
35.Rb6 h5 36.f3 Ba4 37.Rxh8 Nxh8 With huge efforts
Nakamura succesfully rescued his pieces and saved all of
his pawns. The rest is just the matter of technique. Black
improves his position move by move, he has all the time to
31.Ra7? Spoiling the chance. [It was very difficult to realize make progress...
over the board, that the b5 square must be under the control
of the rooks to avoid Bb5 in some lines! 31.Rcb7! seems to
save the game. Black has nothings better, than 31...Nf6 (The
hidden point is after 31...Ne7 like it happened in the game,
White has 32.Rd8+! Ke5 33.Rbb8! and there is no check on b5,
because White captures it with check!) 32.Rxf7 should secure
the draw for White fairly easily.]
31...Ne7!! Brilliant idea! This is what Nakamura had in mind,
when he moved his king to d6! In comparison to the Nf6 move,
the f7 pawn is protected now! The hanging pieces are always 38.Ke3 Ng6 39.Ra6 Bb3 40.Ra5 Bd5 41.Ra7 e5 Slowly
saved by the tactical motif of Bb5 check. advancing the pawns.
32.Rd8+ [32.Raa8 moves into 32...Bb5+! and the bishop 42.Ra5 Be6 43.Rb5 h4 Fixing the one on g2. If White
cannot be taken.; If White leaves from the b5 check, then manages to trade it with g3 it is also not a disaster. Black
creates a passed pawn from his extra pawn and with the help
of the minor pieces he slowly promotes it.
44.Rb1 Kg5 45.Rb5 f6 46.Rb7 Nf4 47.Kf2 Nh5 48.Rb6
Bf5 49.Rb8 Bg6 50.Rb4 Nf4 Black does not need to hurry...
51.Ra4 Bf7 52.Ra7 Kg6 53.Ra1 Bd5 54.Rd1 Kg5 55.Rd2
f5 [55...f5 White resigned. Let’s see some illustrative lines
what happens if White tries to resist a bit longer 56.g3 (56.Rd1
56...e4 57.fxe4 Bxe4i) 56...hxg3+ 57.Kxg3 and here the
easist plan to win the game seems to be 57...Kf6 58.Kf2
Ke6 59.Kg3 Kd6 protecting the bishop in order to free the
knight. Black plays Ne6 next move, followed by f4, fixing the
weakness on f3 and winning it with Nd4!] 0-1
David vs. Goliath the Canadian GM won both games. Moreover, TWIC #1056 has
been trying to convince me that Kevin has played two games
against Pedro Godinho Marques in one tournament...In fact,
such mistakes are quite widespread, so please make sure to
consult the official sources of information when you stumble
upon something supernatural. I am practicing what I preach,
but occasional errors are inevitable.
Peter Zhdanov
Top-10:
Cretnik (2142) - Marn (1446), 0-1, 696 points
Maltsevskiy (1760) - Osoblivi (2272), 1-0, 512 points
Bayramov (2051) - Gasimov (2517), 1-0, 466 points
results that occurred last week. Players usually face
Galmandakh (2240) - Motylev (2665), 1-0, 425 points
Rodriguez Alvarez (2122) - Lalith (2537), 1-0, 415 points
Drobnic (1915) - Vasiljevic (1507), 0-1, 408 points
Esipenko (2271) - Khismatullin (2673), 1-0, 402 points
The previous week has brought us only 18 upsets - again! Sevdimaliev (2505) - Asadli (2127), 0-1, 378 points
Nevertheless, the average gap between the ratings of the Nemec (1808) - Kersic (2183), 1-0, 375 points
winners and the losers is relatively large - 445. The number Izzat (2424) - Bayramov (2051), 0-1, 373 points
of moves ranges from 22 in Rodriguez Alvarez (2122) - GM
Lalith (2537), 1-0 to 78 in Battaglia (1690) - Gueci (2010), 1-0.
The ”Goliath of the week” title goes to the formidable-looking
GM Denis Khismatullin (2673) who lost two games at the
Dvorkovich Memorial. The Davids were FM Andrey Esipenko You can view all the games in the accompanying pgn file.
(2271) and FM Roman Oganisian (2304). In the next column If you have ever won a game against someone rated
we are expecting annotations to the Esipenko-Khismatullin 300 points or above yourself, please send it to
game by the White player, one of the most promising Russian peter@pogonina.com for publication. Any additional
juniors, and his coach GM Dmitry Kryakvin. information (a photo, annotations, etc.) will be appreciated.
”Check your facts” alert: when going over the latest TWIC I
have taken note of two losses by GM Kevin Spraggett in the
early rounds of Gibraltar Masters. However, my impression
was that this wasn’t really the case. After visiting the official
site I have discovered that the results were indeed incorrect:
Puzzle section
(3) Heinemann, J(2160)-Ganguly, S(2595) (5) Rapport, R(2716)-Tari, A(2487)
Gibraltar Open, 2015.01.27 Gibraltar Open, 2015.01.28
1... i 1. h
(4) Roiz, M(2592)-Heer, S(2157) (6) Jones, G(2671)-Melia, S(2473)

1. h 1. h
(7) Vishnu, P(2463)-Sutovsky, E(2637) (9) Muzychuk, M(2520)-Adhiban, B(2630)
1. h 1... i
(8) Matlakov, M(2695)-Muzychuk, M(2520) (10) Donchenko, A(2511)-Motylev, A(2665)

1... i 1... i
(11) Negi, P(2669)-Enkhbat, T(2417)
Chinggis GM, 2015.01.31
1. h
(12) Szelag, M(2456)-Socko, B(2611)

German league, 2015.02.01
1... i
Endgame section 42.Kf1 [In case of 42.Kh3 42...Rf4 I probably I probably don’t
have anything better than to go back to g2. 43.Kg2 (Of course
not 43.Rd3? 43...g5) 43...Rg4+ and we are back in the same
(13) Naiditsch, Arkadij (2706) position.]
- Carlsen, Magnus (2865) 42...h3 I wasn’t really sure if this move was really needed for
Black. Of course it is great to have a passed pawn on h3, but
3rd GRENKE Chess Classic(3.3), on the other hand the h3 pawn could become a target and in
2015.02.04 GM Arkadij Naiditsch case Black lost the h3 pawn the postition should already be
Best rating: 2737 winning for White.
43.Rd3 with the simple idea of playing Nh2 next.
After a very turbulent game where I had very good winning

chances- which I missed in time trouble- we are looking at 43...Bf6! A very strong move, using the fact that I can’t take
an interesting endgame. The first question should be to ask on d6. Black’s idea should basically always be to play g5-g4
who is better here? Black has 3 pawns for the piece and and connect the pawn structure, which I should of course
opposite colored bishops. From a strategical point of view avoid.
White’s position should somehow be better, let’s say in case of 44.Nh2 I continue my strategy of playing against the h3
a rooks exchange it is clear that White will be doing better by pawn. [In case of 44.Rxd6 44...Rf4 45.Rd3 g5 followed by g4
attacking the a5 pawn and the other black pawns, but on the next, I think the position should be a draw.]
other hand in case the black pawns start to move the position 44...Rh4 45.Kg1! The beginning of a nice plan. First I need
should just be a draw. to move my king to free my knight from h2.
41.Rd1! I am not sure if this was the best move, but I liked the 45...Bd4 46.Rf3 protecting the f2 pawn and at the same time
move a lot. My threat is simple, to play Rd4 or Nd4 next. playing against Black’s idea of g5-g4 because now the f5 pawn
41...Rg4+ This is probably also the best. is going to be hanging.
46...Kf6 47.Nf1 Now that the white king can easily stop the 50.Rxf4 (It is very hard to say if White can win the position
black h-pawn, it is time to bring the knight back into the game. after 50.Rxh3 50...Rxf2 51.Nc4 attacking the e5 bishop and the
47...Be5 48.Ne3 White already has the serious theat of a5 pawn. 51...Kf4 52.Nxa5 g5 and my feeling tells me that
playing Nc4 in a good moment. Black should be able to save the game, even if things are still
pretty unclear.; 50.Rg3+ 50...Kh4 51.Rxg6 Rxf2 52.Rh6+ Kg3
48...Kg5?! The World Champion starts to go into the wrong 53.Nf1+ Kg4 54.Ne3+ Kg3 leads to a forced draw.) 50...Kxf4
direction... [Black can’t wait any longer and really needs to and again we are in an endgame where it is very difficult to
act fast to prevent me from being in time with the Nc4 move. say if White is winning or not. .. 51.Be8 There are of course
48...h2+! Of course it is very risky to put the pawn on h2 many other possibilities. 51...g5 52.Bd7 We can clearly see
as it can now easily be attacked but Black is getting active how good it is for White that the bishops are not of the same
play for it. 49.Kh1 Rd4! The black rook will take a great color, as Black can’t defend his pawns from a double attack.
position on d2. 50.Kg2 Kg5 avoiding all the tricks. 51.Rh3 52...Kf3 53.Bxf5 Kxf2
d5 and of course Black still has a serious fight for equality,
but objectively the position should probably be very close to
equal.]
54.Nc4 and once again only an in-depth analysis could clarify

whether White really hs enough for a full point here.]
50.Nc4 Now the a5 pawn is falling.
49.Kh1! and this is probably the winning move of the game!
Calm but deadly... As is often the case in endgames, the 50...g5 Black doesn’t have anything better than to try and
silent Kh1 creates the deadly threat of Nc4. [49.Nc4? was create counterplay as quickly as possible.
premature since after 49...Rg4+ 50.Kh1 Black saves the game 51.Nxa5 g4 52.Rd3 f4 and I am in time for
with 50...Kh4! defending the h3 pawn. The position should
be around equal now.] 53.Nc4 stopping Black from playing g3 just in time. Here I
started to feel that a win over the World Champion was very
49...Kf6?! It is strange that Carlsen didn’t seize his best very close...
practical chance... [Probably the best practical choice would
have been 49...Rf4!? and now White has 3 different options:
57...Rc2 Black will win the f2 pawn.
58.a6 Rxf2+ 59.Kh1 Black has a huge armada of pawns
advancing but White is just faster.
59...g3 60.a7 The bishop from b5 covers the f1 square.
60...Rd2 [60...Rb2 61.Ra1 wouldn’t change anything...]
53...Rh7 I have to push my a-pawn and avoid the g3 move

at the same time. [53...g3 of course didn’t work since after
54.fxg3 fxg3 55.Nxe5 g2+ 56.Kh2 White is easily winning.]
54.Nxe5 is maybe not the best, but from a practical point of
view it is a very logical move. Now I don’t need to care about
the unpleasant g3 threat anymore.
54...dxe5 55.a5 It is time to push the pawn. 61.Ra1 and the game is over. Black can’t stop White from
55...Rc7 The rook must be activated. playing a8Q and after a line like 61.... Rh2 62.Kg1 Rg2 63.Kf1
Rf2 64.Ke1 h2 65. a8Q, the queen covers the h1 square. I can
56.Ra3 This is a risky move at first sight, but before playing it tell you guys that there is no better feeling than beating the
I calculated the complications until the end and hoped to be World Champion in a difficult, 6-hour game! :) 1-0
right.
56...Rc1+ This is Black’s only chance. To wait for a6 and to
play Ra7 is clearly not an option because of Bc6-Bb7 and the
black rook would be trapped on a7.
57.Kh2
(14) Nyback, Tomi (2603)
- Braun, Arik (2549)
German league, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.01.31 Best rating: 2672
46.Ne5+! The desperado knight continues his journey!

46...dxe5 47.Kxc5 Kxe7 48.fxe5h) 46.Ka5 Kf7= and White
cannot make progress.) However Black has
The players have reached a study-like endgame. White has

an extra pawn and a huge protected passed pawn on e6, but
Black seems to create an unbreakable fortress. The white king
is also a bit trapped, sometimes Rb3 check can be unpleasant.
44.Nc6+! The only one and an excellent attempt to break 45...Rf3! A great resource! Black keeps the 3rd rank under
through! White sacrifices his knight to create even more control and the rook cannot be taken because the f-pawn
passed pawns. becomes unstoppable. The game remains unclear after all!
44...bxc6? Wrong decision, most probably based on a (45...Rxa3? loses to 46.Kxa3 Nd3 White has other wins too,
miscalculation. [Black should have tried to keep the pawn but a pretty one is 47.e7 Kf7 48.Nd8+ Kxe7 49.Nxb7 Nxf4
structure with 44...Kf6! 45.Ra3! my teammate Arik Braun 50.Nc5! Kd8 51.Ne6+! Nxe6 52.dxe6h and one of the pawns
was rightly afraid of this move and White saves himself from promote.) ]
the b3 check, the knight endgame is winning and if Black 45.dxc6! White is winning now, but it still requires very good
leaves the 3rd rank, White can already invade on a8. (Black technique! It is very important to keep the rook on a2 to
must be very careful after 45.e7 45...Rb3+! It is necessary to keep control over the a3 square. After the invading of the
insert this check before catching the pawn with Kf7. (45...Kf7? rook, Black could have the option of Rb3 Ka5 Ra3. [45.Ra7+
right away moves into leads only to draw after 45...Ke8 (But not 45...Kf6?? because
of 46.Rf7#) 46.dxc6 (46.Ra8+= White can also give perpetual 48.e7! Excellent play by White! He lures away the rook from
check.) 46...Rb3+ 47.Ka5 Ra3+ 48.Kb5 Rb3+ Black survives the b-file to rescue his king from the edge of the board!
with perpetual.] 48...Nb7+ [48...Re3 loses to 49.Kb5! Threatening with Ra8!
45...Rb3+ [45...Kxe6 is refuted by 49...Kd7
46.Re2+! An important intermediate check to send the king 50.c8=Q+! (But not 50.Ra8?? because of 50...Rb3+ and
away from the connected pawns... 46...Kf7 47.c7! And now, Ra3 next wins the rook and the game.) 50...Kxc8 51.Kc6!
when Kd7 does not work anymore, White advances his pawn Kb8 52.Ra7h (52.Kxd6 wins as well 52...Nb7+ 53.Kd7 Nc5+
and in the same time opens a shelter for the king on c6 54.Kd8 Nb7+ 55.Ke8h White has too many passed pawns.)]
against the checks... 47...Rb3+ 48.Ka5 Ra3+ 49.Kb5 Rb3+ 49.Ka6 Nc5+ 50.Ka7 Re3 Black’s clever idea to trap the
50.Kc6h] white king with two checks seems to be succesfull! Kb5 does
46.Ka5 Kd8 [The only refutation of 46...Nxe6 is 47.Re2! not work anymore and the e-pawn is also stopped. However
pinning the knight and White is ready to advance his passed Tomi Nyback finds another beautiful motif!
pawns... 47...Kf6 48.c7h]
47.c7+! Kc8
51.b7+! The key is again to rescue the king from the a-file and
let the rook penetrate over a8!
51...Nxb7 52.Kb6! Kd7 [52...Rb3+ 53.Kc6h is over.]
53.Kxb7 Rb3+ 54.Ka6 Unfortunately for Black, he cannot
take any of the passed pawns...
54...Re3 Black is already threatening with Kxc7 and Kb6 or
Kb7 is met by a check on b3 and the rook goes back to e3. How
could White make progress?
55.Ra5!! Another brilliant idea and Black runs out of

defensive resources. White intends to play Kb7 because after
Rb3 he already has Rb5.
55...Kxc7 [55...Rxe7 loses to 56.Kb7 Re8 57.Rd5 other
moves are also good. c5 is coming next, while after 57...Rc8
58.Rxd6+!h wins.]
56.Re5! This is the point of the previous move and we can
also see the reason why White has moved his king to a6 in
move 54, to avoid getting mated after Ra3.
56...dxe5 57.e8=Q The rest is clear!
57...exf4 58.Qxg6 Re5 59.c5 Rd5 60.Qb6+ Black defended
resourcefully and tried everything, but White’s play was just
amazing! 1-0
Chess and the City.
The Battle of the Sexes.

Best rating: 2493
(Strong but not strong enough - Team of 2014 lead by Team Captain Nigel
The Battle of the Sexes is THE highlight of the Gibraltar Chess Short)
Festival!
It was held for a third time in a row this year, and proves Unfortunately, the team of Agdestein, van Kampen, Vachier,
a bitter and merciless fight among the strongest men and Dubov, Ganguly, Rapport back in 2014 turned out not to be
women participants of the Master’s tournament. competitive enough. Instead, the men sent out a much more
After a bitter defeat of the men’s team in 2014 (lead by serious and stronger team this year; but have a look yourself...
several-time winner of the Gibraltar Master tournament GM
Nigel Short), it was time for revenge and in 2015, the men’s
team were true to their word.
(From left to right: Nakamura, Wei Yi, Cheparinov, Ganguly, Svidler)
(The women’s winning Team of 2014) (from left to right: Cmilyte, Krush, And their team captain...
Hoang, Sachdev, Tournament Organizer Brian Callaghan, Vojinovic, Paehtz,
Zhukova)
(Women’s team in 2015 (from left to right: M.Muzychuk, Zhukova, Stefanova,
Melia, Paehtz, Houska, Dronavalli, Sachdev)
Comparing both teams, I have to honestly admit that our

chances were not too great this year, and eventually we had
to face a bitter loss of 2,5 - 1,5.
Last but not least my last attempt of ”I do not let you push the
clock” cheating was applied, but this eventually did not help
to change the final result. For more pictures about this great
event, you too can have a look yourself at the official webpage
(...Veselin Topalov) of the Tradewise Gibraltar Festival 2015:
www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/photos.htm
Facing such opponents meant for a very tough upcoming www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/photos_js.htm
match, so naturally we had to an alternative method of
compensation... All pictures are taken by Sophie Triay ©
Our new Team Captain Antoaneta Stefanova did not lose the
moment of opportunity and requested a time bonus of an
extra 2 minutes before the start of the fight. Taking into
account that sport is involved, high heels could turn out to be
a huge disadvantage, but obviously lacking such experience
themselves the two male arbiters did not seem to be too
convinced!
Clash of the Titans 10...Bb7 11.Bf3 Nc5 12.Qe2
(15) Nezhmetdinov, Rashid

- Tal, Mihail [B84]
URS-ch29(15),
1961.12.08
GM Kamil Miton
Best rating: 2655
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Be2 a6 12...e5!? This kind of move is very risk because now the
7.O-O Qc7 8.f4 d5 and f5 squares are available to the white knights. More
solid was [12...Be7 13.g5 Now black has the d7 square for
the knight! 13...Nfd7 14.b4 Otherwise Black will play Nb6
with good play, when White will need to lose some time to
regroup his pieces like Bg2-Rf3-Rh3 to put pressure on the
black king after 0-0. 14...Na4 15.Nxa4 bxa4 16.Bb2 Rc8kIt
is very important to take control of the c-file and the c4
square, otherwise White will play c4-Rac1.; 12...h6 13.g5 hxg5
14.fxg5 Nfd7 15.b4 Ne5!? is an interesting idea. Black gets
a pawn and the strong e5 square for the piece, with for
example this forced variation: 16.bxc5 dxc5 17.Nb3 c4 18.Nd4
8...Nbd7 Black had a few other options to develop the pieces, Rd8 19.Be3 Bc5 20.Rad1 Qb6 21.Qf2 Rxd4 22.Bxd4 Nxf3+
for example [8...Be7 9.a4 O-O 10.Kh1 Nc6 11.Be3 Re8 and 23.Qxf3 Bxd4+ 24.Kg2 Qc7 25.Qxf7+ Qxf7 26.Rxf7 Kxf7
the game transposes to the main Sheveningen line.] 27.Rxd4 Ke7 with a better endgame for Black.]
9.g4 This is a typical reaction. White very often plays g4 with 13.Nf5 [13.Nd5 was promising for White as well and after
idea to push g5 and then the knight from f6 needs the d7 13...Nxd5 14.exd5CWhite gets the useful c6 square.]
square which is now occupied. More accurate was [9.Bf3 13...g6 14.fxe5 [14.Ne3 14...exf4 (14...Be7 is too slow. 15.g5!
White temporarily stops the b5 move and the bishop is useful Nfxe4 16.Ned5h) 15.Ned5 Bxd5 16.exd5+ Be7 17.Bxf4 Now
on f3 anyway. 9...Be7 10.Kh1 O-O 11.g4 with better version the question is whether Black manages to get control over
than in the game.] the dark squares in time. 17...O-O 18.g5! limiting the black
9...b5 10.a3 [After 10.g5 Black of course plays 10...b4!] pieces, stopping a potential Bf6 and forcing Black to put the
knight on e8, not d7. 18...Ne8 19.Rae1! The black pieces are Qxc2 20.Bg5 Qxf2+ 21.Rxf2 Bxh6 22.Bxf6 O-O 23.d6 Rad8
losing coordination. 19...Bd8 (19...Ra7 20.b4 Na4 21.Nxa4 24.g5 Bg7 25.Be7 White is not in a hurry with winning
bxa4 22.c4c) material and thanks to the strong bishops and the d6 pawn
White keeps the pressure on.) 18.exd5 Nd4 19.Qf2 f6 Black
solves the problems with the f7 pawn and can escape with the
king by castling queenside. The position is very complex.]
17...Bxf6 18.Nd5 Qd8 [18...Bxd5 19.exd5 Qb6+ (19...Nd4
20.Qf2 Qa7 21.Be3 (21.Qxf6 21...Nf3+ 22.Kf1 Qg1+i)
21...Bh4 22.Qxh4 Nf3+ 23.Bxf3 Qxe3+ 24.Kg2 e4 25.Rf1 exf3+
26.Rxf3 looks dangerous for Black.) 20.Be3 (20.Kh1 20...Nd8
protecting the f7 pawn, with an unclear position.) 20...Nf4
21.Qf2 (21.Qe1? 21...Nxg2i) 21...Qc7 22.Re1 O-O-O 23.Bb6
20.Qxe8! Rxe8 21.Rxe8+ Kg7 22.Be3 The bishop joins the
attack. 22...Nd7 23.Ne4 with a huge initiative for White.]
14...dxe5 15.Nh6 The idea is clear, White is going to take
advantage of the f-file which is weak and put pressure on the
f7 pawn.
15...Ne6 A logical move and one of the ideas is to play Nf4 to
close the f-file.
16.Bg2 Bg7 [16...Nf4!? 17.Bxf4 exf4 18.e5 Nd5! 19.Nxd5
Bxd5 20.Bxd5 Qc5+ 21.Qf2 Qxd5 22.Rad1k]
23...Bh4! 24.Bxc7 Bxf2+ 25.Kxf2 Kxc7 26.Nxf7 Rdf8
27.Nxh8 Nd3+ 28.Ke2 Nxe1 29.Nxg6 hxg6 30.Kxe1 Rf4 31.h3
Kd6 32.Ke2 g5e and Black should win.]
19.Qf2 White follows his plan to put pressure pawn on f7.
19...Nf4 20.Bxf4 exf4
17.Rxf6!? [17.Nd5 17...Nxd5 (17...Bxd5 18.exd5 Nd4 19.Qf2
26.Re7+ Kc6k) 22...Rf8 stopping the e6 move. 23.Rd1 White
has a strong initiative but Black is still in the game.]
22.Re1 f6 Other moves didn’t help either... [22...Bxd5
23.Rxe5+ Be6 24.Bc6+ Kf8 25.Bxa8 Qd6 (25...Qxa8 26.Rxe6
fxe6 27.Qd4 Ke7 28.Qg7+ Kd6 29.Nf7+ Kd5 30.Qe5+h)
26.Qxf4 Kg7 27.Bf3 f6 28.Re4 Qxf4 29.Rxf4 Kxh6 (29...Rf8
30.g5h with the idea Ng4.) 30.Rxf6 Re8 31.h4 and White
is just a pawn up.; 22...Qd6 23.Qd4 O-O-O 24.Rxe5 Rhf8
25.g5!c followed by Ng4, with good cooperation between the
21.e5 White could also play [21.Qxf4 21...Bd4+ (21...Bxd5 white pieces.]
22.exd5 Qb6+ 23.Kh1 O-O-O The king must escape. 24.Nxf7 23.Nxf6+h White is winning very simply now.
Bxb2 25.Rf1 Rhf8 26.d6! with the idea Qe4 and the black king
is still in some trouble. White has a strong attack.) 22.Kh1 23...Qxf6 24.Qd4 Kf8 25.Rxe5 Qd8 [25...Rd8 26.Re8+
Bxd5 23.exd5 Qf6 24.Qe4+ (24.Qc7 24...Ra7 25.Qc8+ Qd8 Kg7 27.Re7+h]
26.Re1+ Re7 27.Rxe7+ Kxe7 28.Qb7+ Qd7 29.d6+ Kxd6 26.Rf5+ gxf5 27.Qxh8+ Ke7 28.Qg7+ Ke6 29.gxf5+ 1-0
30.Nxf7+ Ke7 31.Nxh8 Bxh8 and being a pawn up will not
be enough to win the game.) 24...Qe5 25.Re1 f6 26.d6! Rc8
27.Rd1 Qxe4 28.Bxe4 Bxb2 29.d7+ Ke7 30.dxc8=Q Rxc8
The extra pawn and the bad knight on h6 give Black good
practical chances.]
21...Bxe5?? The decisive mistake. Now the rook is joining the

attack! Black should play [21...Bh4 22.Qd4 (22.Qc5 22...Rc8;
22.Nf6+ 22...Qxf6 23.exf6 Bxf2+ 24.Kxf2 Bxg2 25.Re1+ Kd7!
(16) Sehwers (17) Carlsen, M(2862)-Radjabov, T(2734)
1. = Wijk aan Zee, 2015.01.20
31.Nxg7! Kxg7 32.Qh5! [32.Rg3+? 32...Kf7]

32...Nh7 33.Bxh6+ Kh8 34.Qg6! h Qg8 [34...Rg8
35.Rd8! Rxd8 36.Qg7#]
35.Bg7+! Qxg7 36.Qxe8+h
(18) Caruana, F(2820)-Hou Yifan(2673) (20) So, W(2762)-Saric, I(2666)
45...Nxh4+! 46.gxh4 f3+! 47.Kg3! [47.Kh2 47...Qd6+i; 24.g4! [24.Bxd5 24...Rxe5 25.Qxb4 Rxd5]
47.Kh3 47...Qe6+! 48.Kh2 Qd6+i] 24...Qf6 25.Bxd5 Nxd5 [25...Rxe5 26.Qxb4 Rxd5 27.Re8+
47...Qd6+! 48.Bf4 Qg6+ 49.Bg5 Qd6+ 50.Bf4= Kh7 28.Qe4+h]
26.Qxd5h
(21) Wojtaszek, R(2744)-Ding Liren(2732)
(19) Saric, I(2666)-Giri, A(2784) Wijk aan Zee, 2015.01.23
62...b5! 63.cxb5 [63.axb5 63...a4 64.Be4 a3 65.Bb1 Rd1i]

30...Rxc3! 31.Qxc3 Nxe4 32.Qd3 Nc3+! 33.Qxc3 Bxg2 63...c4 64.Be4 c3 65.Kf4 Rd2 0-1 [65...Rd2 66.Ke3 Rxg2
34.Qc8+ Ke7e 67.f4 c2i]
(22) Vachier-Lagrave, M(2757)-Aronian, L(2797) (23) Jobava, B(2727)-Radjabov, T(2734)
33.Ne4! 1/2 [33.Ne4 33...Qxe1 (33...Qxd4 34.Nf6+ Kh8 20...Qxc2? [20...Nxf3+! 21.gxf3 Qxf3 22.Rf1 (22.Bf4 22...g5!
(34...Kg7 35.Nxh5+ gxh5 (35...Kh6 36.Nf4+! Kg7 37.Nh5+=) (22...Nh5!? ) 23.Bg3 (23.Bh2 23...Ng4 24.Rf1 Qh3i)
36.Qg5+ Kh7 37.Qxh5+=) 35.Qg5 Qd2 36.Re3 Kg7 23...Ng4 24.Rf1 Bd4+! 25.Nxd4 Qxg3+ 26.Qg2 Qxg2+
37.Nxh5+ Kg8 38.Nf6+ Kg7=; 33...Rxd4 34.Nf6+ Kh8 27.Kxg2 Ne3+ 28.Kf2 cxd4i) 22...Qg4+ 23.Kf2 Qh4+
(34...Kg7 35.Nxh5+! Kh6 36.Nf4+! Kg7 37.Nh5+=) 35.Qg5 24.Kf3 (24.Kg2 24...Ng4 25.Bf4 g5 26.Bg3 Ne3+ 27.Kf2
Qd2 36.Re3! Kg7! 37.Nxh5+ Kg8 38.Nf6+=) 34.Nf6+ Kg7 Qxg3+ 28.Kxg3 Nxc2i) 24...Ng4i 25.Rh1 Qf2+! 26.Kxg4
(34...Kh8 35.Qg5!) 35.Nxh5+ gxh5 36.Qg5+ Kh7 37.Qxh5+=] f5+! 27.exf5 (27.Kg5 27...Bf6+ 28.Kxg6 Qg2+ 29.Kxf5 Rf8i
30.Rbg1 Be5+ 31.Ke6 Rf6#) 27...Rb4+!! 28.axb4 Rxb4+
29.Bf4 (29.Ne4 29...Qxe2+i) 29...Qg2+! 30.Ng3 (30.Kh4
30...Bf6#) 30...Qxc2i]
21.Rxc2 Nc4 22.a4k
(24) Haast, A(2352)-Shankland, S(2652) (26) Mekhitarian, K(2565)-Umetsubo, C(2311)
Wijk aan Zee B, 2015.01.25 Brazilian Championship, 2015.01.20
34...Rxh2+! 35.Kxh2 [35.Kg1 35...Qh5i] 30.Qxh6+!! 1-0 [30.Qxh6+ 30...gxh6 (30...Kxh6 31.Rh8#)
31.Nf6+ Kg7 32.Rg8#]
35...Ng4+! 36.Kg1 [36.fxg4 36...Qxf2i]
36...Nxf2 37.Kxf2 [37.Bxf5 37...Nxd1 38.Bd3 Nxb2 39.Bxb5
a4i] 37...Qc8
(27) Birnov
(25) Khismatullin, D(2673)-Korneev, O(2591)
1.f8=N+! Kxd6 [1...Kd8 2.Ba5+ Nc7 3.Bxc7+ Ke8 4.d7+

Kf7 5.Bxg3h]
2.Bb4+! Kd5 3.Rc5+! Kd4 [3...Kd6 4.Rc3+ Kd5 5.Rxg3h]
43...Rdxd6! 44.Qa3 [44.Qf3 44...Rd1i; 44.exd6 44...Re3! 4.Ne6+! Ke3 5.Rc3+ Kf2 6.Bc5+! Kg2 7.Nf4+! Kh2
45.Qd2 Qxg3+ 46.Kg1 Re1+i] 44...Rd1i 8.Bg1+! Qxg1 [8...Kxg1 9.Rxg3+h] 9.Rh3#
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
Magnus Carlsen wins his second Super Tournament in a row,
scoring 4,5/7, the same as your commentator Naiditsch, and
Editorial Preface 2 winning the the tiebreak in the armageddon game with the
white pieces. This exciting tiebreak has been analysed for you
by Arkadij in the current issue.
Six best games of the past week 4
The 3rd place was shared by Michael Adams and Fabiano
Caruana, both on 4/7. Anand result of 2.5/7. And Aronian’s
The K-Files. Nimzo 4.e3 0-0 5.Nge2 c6 22 3.5/7 were both somewhat disappointing.
The Moscow Open was won by Invarkiev with a fantastic 8/9,
which brings his ELO very close to 2700. The second place was
shared by Korobov, Vallejo, Petrosian and Artemiov, all with
Puzzle section 30 7/9.
The female section was won by Lei Tingjie with 8/9, 2nd place
Endgame section 33 went to Goryachkina Aleksandra and 3rd to Mirzoeva Elmira
with 7/8.
Chess and the City. Good Bye Gibraltar 36
In the current issue you will also find the final report on the
Gibraltar Open and very exciting articles by Khalifman and
Clash of the Titans 37 Zhdanov!
Already this week we will be able to follow another Super
Event in Zurich, with the participation of Carlsen,Caruana,
Nakamura, Aronian, Karjakin, and Anand.
Solutions 42
Enjoy your ”Top GM Secrets Nr 155”!
Six best games of the past week match against the World Nr1 and World Nr2 and of course had
the Caruana game running on our mobile phones. Caruanas
game remained a rolercoster between win and a draw, so
finally, after over 6 hours of playing Baramdze holded the
draw-it ment a match against Magnus Carlsen for the first
place. I been very excited and happy to compete with the best
in a mini match out of 2 games with time control of 10m plus
GM Arkadij Naiditsch 2 second per move for the title of Grenke Chess Classics 2015.
Best rating: 2737 Meanwhile we had already 20 to 10pm, and the organizers
had called me that the match with Carlsen will start at around
We are in the last round of Grenke Chess Classics 2015. 10pm. You can imagine, in case Caruana would have won his
I am on +2 and playing my game with White pieces against game how late the tournament might have finished -I would
Aronian. Magnus Carlsen is having same points and playing guess not earliar than 2am ! I think many top players are very
White against Bacrot. Half a point behind us is playing scared of Magnus, for me it was pure excitement. I am not bad
Caruana with Black against Baramidze. In case of same in rapid chess, but I am not good at all in blitz, so I though my
points-there is a tiebreak for the first place. I started my best chances are in 10m +2 second rather than in case of 1-1 in
game with a save opening where I quickly got a promissing blitz wih 5 min +2 second. So, let us take a look how the match
position, so after around 3 hours of play, I reached a rook would developed.
endgame which I though is close to winning. As well the
position of Magnus Carlsen been looking very promissing
against Bacrot. We went into short time trouble where I
clearly missed good winning chances which made me very (1) Carlsen, Magnus (2865)
upset, cause I been almost sure that Magnus has meanwhile - Naiditsch, Arkadij (2706) [E11]
won his game, but... the World Champion has blondered 3rd GRENKE Classic TB(1),
away his winning position and agreed already shortly after 2015.02.08
move 40 to a draw. My position still remained a bit better,
but it was just a draw, after another hour of trying I had to
The tiebreak has begun for me with a horrible game! I came
shake the hand with a draw offer. I been very upset not
out nicely out of opening, but started to make very bad
to win it but felt as well a bit happy about that in worse
desicion and ended up in totally hopeles endgame where I
case I share the places 1-3 and still have my chances in the
just had no moves. A terrible loss :)
tiebreak. Caruana been doing very well against Baramidze
and it looked like there is going to be a tiebreak with 3 players. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ I like to play 3...Bb4, it is a save
After a short press conference, my wife and me desided to line where as Black You dont need to know too much theory
have a small snack to have more energy for the upcoming
4.Nbd2 [4.Bd2 is the other main line] (in case of 13.b5 13...Nb4 14.Qb3 Qa8 Black is great) 13...Qe7
4...b6 5.a3 Bacrot continued against me with 5.g3 but of and Blacks position is a bit better]
course 5.a3 is one of the main moves 13.c5 [maybe White could have tried 13.b5 13...Qb4+ 14.Nd2
5...Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 first Qd2 is looking like a strange move, but in a rapid game it is looking like a risky try]
but the White bishop is going to take a nice position on b2 13...f5 very logical, gaining even more control over the e4
6...O-O 7.e3 Bb7 in this lin e it is very important for Black to square
keep conrol over the e4 square 14.Be2 avoiding tricky with Ng5 of Black
8.b4?! I dont think this move is the best, it gives to Black a 14...Nc6 not a bad move, but clearly not the most practical
direct play on the Queen side. Maybe more careful is 8.b3 or one [14...Ba6 would have been a normal choise. With the
8.Be2 exchange of biships Black is sequiring to have a normal
8...a5! I think it is the right plan! [Another typical idea for position]
Black is to play 8...Ne4 9.Qc2 f5 but I think White is having a 15.Bc3! a very strong move and clearly the best way of
better play after 10.Bb2 followed by Be2 and short castle with defending the b4 pawn
the idea of playing Ne1 and f3] 15...bxc5?! I start to play in a wrong direction [much more
9.Bb2 axb4 10.axb4 Ne4 the knights position on e4 cant be simple was 15...Ra8 16.O-O Qe8 with the idea of Ne7-Nd5 and
bad I think position remains around equal]
11.Qc2 Rxa1+ 12.Bxa1 now I had a lot of different options 16.dxc5 White needs to take with the d pawn to have a
how to go on dangerous practical idea of playing b5 in a good moment
12...Qe7 quite a logical move, it is not that simple for White 16...Ra8 [my initial idea was to play 16...Nxc3 17.Qxc3 Qf6
to defend the b4 pawn in a nice way [but I had a better option but I understood that after 18.Qxf6 gxf6 19.b5 the endgame
12...Na6! using the moment that White cant play b5 13.Bc3 could be very dangerous for Black]
17.O-O Nxc3 What else to play?! To let White keep the bishop Ke7 36.Bf3 e5 37.Rh7+ Kd6 38.dxe5+ Kc5 39.Rxc7 Kxb5
pair seemed to me to be a bad option 40.Bxd5 1-0
18.Qxc3 Qf6?! and another move which maybe costs me
already the game
19.Qd2! holding the b4 pawn and same time attacking
d7 pawn and theatening the b5 move. Things start to look
horrible for me
19...Rd8 what else to play ?!
20.b5 Ne5 [20...Ne7 is looking as well very bad]
21.Nxe5 Qxe5 22.c6 and from a promissing position after the
opening, I am already almost lost
22...Bc8
23.Rd1! another great move by Carlsen, forsing me to play d5

leaving my bishop dead on c8 forever
23...d5 24.Qd4 White is following its strategy
24...Qxd4 25.exd4 Kf8 26.f4 and my bishop is out of the
game. Position is totally lost and the rest doesnt need to be
commented any longer. I been wondering after such a game
if I can recover in the second one with White?!
26...Ke7 27.Ra1 g6 28.Kf2 Kd6 29.Ra3 Rf8 30.h4 Ke7
31.h5 Rg8 32.hxg6 hxg6 33.Rh3 g5 34.fxg5 Kd6 35.Rh6
(2) Naiditsch, Arkadij (2706) 12.h3 Bh5 so, the things are horrible pretty bad for me. I need
- Carlsen, Magnus (2865) [C49] to win the game and my position is looking everything else
3rd GRENKE Classic TB(2), than good here. The only advantage is, there are a lot of pieces
2015.02.08 on the board and we are playing a rapid game-so many things
can happen
I needed to win this game, so all or nothing 13.g3! I think I am taking a good practical chance. I cant
play the immediate g4, but I want to improve my King first
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Nc3 Lately I used to play 4 to g2 and maybe then to have the idea of playing Rh1 and
knights in couple of game, it is more tricky than it lookes like g4 somewhere [13.g4 13...Nxg4 14.hxg4 Bxg4 and I can do
:) nothing against Nh4-Qf6 of Black]
4...Bb4 one of the most solid moves 13...d5 very logical, but not sure from practical point of view
5.O-O O-O 6.d3 d6 7.Bg5 Ne7 Usually Black is taking on c3 the best choise. Maybe just Qd7 followed by Rae8 been safer
before playing Ne7 for Black
8.Re1?! this move I played fast, because in the lines with Bxc3 14.Kg2 now Black is having again a lot of different options
bxc3 the Re1 move is usual, but now it is making not much which is good in a long game, but in rapid sometimes it makes
sense lose a lot of time
8...c6 9.Ba4 to go with the bishop on c4 would mean to get 14...d4 not sure if this was the best Black could have done. I
d5 at some moment am still for Qd7
9...Ng6 10.Bb3 h6 my bishop has to leave the g5 square 15.Ne2 my knight is going to g1! from where I will be able to
play g4 in the future
11.Bd2
15...Bxf3+ 16.Kxf3 Bxd2 17.Qxd2 things are starting to get
unclear. In case I will be in time now for Kg2 and f4 I can might
be clearly better! My bishop on b3 could became a beast!
11...Bg4! excellent move, using that I cant play h3-g4
h4 next [to a better endgame for White would lead 24...exf4
25.Nxf4 Nxf4+ 26.Rxf4 Rxf4 27.Qxf4 Qxf4 28.gxf4 Rxf4
29.b4 followed by Re7 and being a pawn down probably I am
having a better position]
25.Rf3 h4 a very tricky position to play just with under 30
seconds on the clock
26.g4 [26.fxe5 would have been of course stronger]
26...Nxf4+ 27.Kh2 but this has been my original plan
17...Nd7! good move. Black knight is going to c5 to take my 27...Rg5 [we both has missed the Black could play the
bishop away 27...Qg5! with a very unclear play]
18.a3 as well a move which is needed [18.Kg2 18...Nc5 and 28.Nxf4 exf4
probably White is not worse, but I cant be better eather]
18...Kh8 19.Kg2 Nc5 20.Ba2 f5 Right now we both had
already less than 2 minutes on the clock, and the position is
very complicated
21.exf5 Rxf5 22.Rf1 Qf6
29.b4! I am taking over the game

29...Nd7 30.Re6 Qd8 31.Qe1! winning control over the e
file and same time attacking the h4 pawn, the game is running
on just 2 seconds increament
31...Rb5 32.a4 Rb6 33.Re7 I am going for the h4 pawn
23.f4! a very good practical choise. Black is very active, but
we should not forget how strong the bishop on a2 can became 33...Nf6 34.Qxh4+ [34.g5 would win the game in one move]
when position will be opened 34...Nh7 35.Be6 and the things are unclear again
23...Rf8 24.Rae1 My oponent started to get really low on time 35...Rf6 36.Bf5 Rh6 37.Qe1 Qd6 38.Re8+ Nf8 here we
24...h5 instinctive move which is super logical, idea is playing were already just banging the moves
56...Nd7 57.Ra6+ Ke7 58.Bxg6 Ne5 59.Be4 Nxd3
60.Bxd3 Re3+ 61.Kf4 Rxd3 62.h5 the pawns are running
62...Rh3 63.h6 d3 64.Rxa7+ Ke6 65.Ra6+ Kf7 66.g6+ Ke7
67.g7 d2
39.Qe7? a horrible move, but I have almost lost on time :)

39...Qxe7 40.Rxe7 Rxb4 41.Re8 Rf6 42.Rxf4 and the
position is again totally unclear
42...g6 43.g5 Rf7 44.Rh4+ Kg7 45.Be4 Rb2 46.Kg3 Rxc2
47.Rf4 What a crazy game. Still things remain very unclear 68.g8=Q And I win this crazy fighting back. I am back into the
match with been looking like almost lost for win. 2 blitz games
47...Rc5 48.h4 Ra5 49.Rxf7+ Kxf7 50.Rb8 and White is are to come with a control of 5min +2 second per move. Here
back on being better I though Carlsen should be a big favourite over me knowing
50...b5 51.Rb7+ Ke6 52.axb5 cxb5 53.Kf4 it is actually a his excellent blitz skills, but still I wanted to give the World
very unpleasent position for Black to play with just few second Champion a good fight 1-0
left on the clock, and my situation been quite simple-I needed
a win!
53...Ra2 54.Rxb5 Rf2+ 55.Kg3 Re2 56.Ra5 so slowly I start
to collect Blacks material
(3) Carlsen, Magnus(2865) 16.g3 covering the f4 square but the diagonal a8-h1 is very
- Naiditsch, Arkadij(2706) [E11] open now. First I been very happy with my position, and in
3rd GRENKE Classic TB(3), a normal classical game I guess I would find the right way
2015.02.09 to continue, but in a blitz game it is important to take a fast
desicion, and I didnt want to play N7f6 because of Nfe5. So
what else to do?!
So I am Black again in the first game of the blitz match
16...Nb4 not a bad choise. In case You dont know what to
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 b6 and we do play the play-attack something!
same opening cause I been sure that I could improve my play
from the last game 17.Be2 of course White cant give up his White squares bishop
5.e3 Carlsen is switching to other "usual" set up 17...Na2 18.Ra1
5...Bb7 6.Bd3 c5 it is important for Black to play the early c5

and cxd4
7.O-O cxd4 8.exd4 now the Black bishop from b4 can go back
to e7
8...O-O 9.a3 Be7 10.b4 and again I think that to put the pawn
on b4 is not the best. The right choise should be b3
18...Bxf3?! and this move is just a desaster. I totally forgot

that White will place his bishop on c6 [18...Nb4 is giving to
Black a normal play, maybe White got nothing better than to
get back on c1 with his rook]
19.Bxf3 Rxc4 20.Rxa2 Nf6 I need to get my knight on d5 as
fast as possible
21.Bc6 Nd5 first I been very scared to lose the exchange, but
then I though that even if somehow White will manage to win
10...a5! forsing White into playing b5 the exchnage I will probably have some play because of my
11.b5 d5 12.Bb2 Nbd7 and now we can see how unlucky is great knight ond5
the position of the White bishop on b2 22.Qe2 Rb4 23.Rd1 Magnus is bringing his pieces into the
13.a4 Rc8 14.Rc1 dxc4 15.Nxc4 Nd5 I want to play Nf4 next game-very logical, but missing my next move
36...Rb4 and the position is a total draw. Well, not a bad
game for a blitz one and a clearly good start for me my holding
with the Black pieces. The situation is getting more exciting.
In case I win my White won I am could be the champion!
1/2-1/2
23...Rb3! it is funny, but White cant catch my rook which

keeps on controling the 3rd rank, and in case the rook cant
be caught, I should be doing finehere
24.Kg2 Qd6 I am getting my Queen on b4
25.Qc2 Qb4 26.Rda1 White wants to play Ba3 next
26...Rc8 and I play the save Rc8 calculating that I seem not
to lose any material
27.Ba3 as well it is hard to find anything better for White
27...Qc3 28.Qxc3 Rxc3 and the exchanges are forced
29.Bxd5 Rxa3 30.Rxa3 Bxa3 31.Bxe6 fxe6 32.Rxa3 Rc4 I
am winning back the pawn
33.Kf3 Rxd4 34.Rc3 Rxa4 35.Rc6 Kf7 36.Rxb6
(4) Naiditsch, Arkadij (2706) 14.Rad1 b5 what a risky desicion by Black! [I been expectin
- Carlsen, Magnus (2865) [C67] more a move like 14...h4 but maybe White is doing a bit better
3rd GRENKE Classic TB(4), here after 15.Nfg5 but again it is really hard to say in Berlin
2015.02.09 when it is really better and when not]
15.Nfg5 what can be more logical then to attack the e6
And what a chance I had to win against the great Magnus bishop!
Carlsen...when I look back now I feel a bit of pity not to 15...Bxg5 16.Nxg5 a6 seems like Magnus has no clear plan
have find the right continuation, but if we look at the [maybe Black should have tried 16...bxc4 17.Rxd8+ Kxd8
sercumstances, I should clearly not be. It was already almost 18.Nxe6+ fxe6 19.bxc4 Kc8 20.Rd1 Rd8 21.Rxd8+ Kxd8 and
midnight, we both been very tired and to play on 2seconds I dont know if White do have realistic chances of winning this
per move is everything else then easy. Another fighting game position, but what is sure, that Black has to defend here very
ended in a draw well and White is having no chances oflosing]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 17.Bc3 c5?! and this is really looking already strange. The
6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 The Berlin pawn on c5 is just weak
endgame, Magnus loves it and I like it as well 18.Rxd8+ here I started to lose a lot of time not knowing
9.c4!? it is a rare move which I already have played couple of if I should play Ne4 immediately or later. This was stupid.
times Time matters much more in a blitz game then to be perfectly
9...Ke8 10.Nc3 Be6 11.b3 Be7 12.Ne4 Rd8 accurate
18...Kxd8 19.Rd1+ Ke7 20.Ne4 bxc4 21.Nxc5 so it is easy
to see that White is doing much better here. The knight on f5
is out of game
21...cxb3
13.Bb2 all things been pretty normal till here, but my

oponent has spend already quite some time
13...h5 a usual move for Berlin, Black wants to get the rook
out of h8 over the h file
22.axb3 [first I though that I might have the Bb4 but then I 29...Ne7 30.Nb3 I want to forse a draw which is going very
found than even after 22.Bb4 22...Rc8 the move Bb4 been not wrong
useful at all] 30...Nd5 31.Rxc6 Bxc6 how to defend the b4 pawn now
22...Rb8 Black is getting he rook into the game 32.Ba3 what an ugly bishop on a3
23.b4?! [in any case I should have taken on a6 23.Nxa6 32...Nf4 33.g3?! of course just a blonder
23...Bxb3 24.Rb1 Rb6 25.Nxc7 Rb7 and maybe Black got
some drawing chances-but in any case White is a clear pawn 33...Nd3+ 34.Ke3 hxg3 35.hxg3 Nxe5 36.Kf4 probably I
up] am already close to lost, but as well Magnus is having just
some seconds
23...Rb6 Now Blacks position is relatively safe again. From
now on we both had under 1 minute on the clock 36...Nxf3 37.Bb2 f6 38.Nd4 Ne1 [38...Ne5 and probably
nothing would save me any longer]
24.Kf1 I try to get my King into the center
39.Ke3 Bd5 40.Ke2 Ng2
24...Bc4+ 25.Ke1 Bb5 26.f3 King will be nicely placed on f2
26...h4 27.Kf2 Rc6 maybe Black wants to play somewhere
a5
28.Bb2
41.Kf2 sudenly the knight on g2 is almost caught

41...Kd7 42.Bc3 g6 43.Nf3 g5 44.Bxf6 Bxf3 45.Kxf3
Ne1+ 46.Ke2 securing the drawish outcome
46...Nc2 47.Bxg5 Nxb4 48.Bf4 and position is probably a
28...Ke8! a very good move on such a short time. Black is draw because I will push my g pawn which will forse Black
planning to get the knight out over the e7 square King or Black Knight to get away from the Queen side
29.Rc1 having just few seconds, I desided that it is time to 48...Nd5 49.Bd2 Ke6 50.Kd3 Nf6 51.Bc1 Kd5 52.Bg5
make a draw-and yes, I am not very experianced in playing Ng4 53.Kc3 c5 54.Kb3 Kc6 55.Ka4 Ne5 56.Ka5 Kb7
blitz game, it has been not a great desicion. I should have 57.Bh6 Nc6+ 58.Ka4 c4 59.g4 Kc8 60.Bg7 Kd7 61.Bf6
continued with keeping the position the way it is Ke6
62.g5 Kf5 (5) Carlsen, Magnus (2865)
- Naiditsch, Arkadij (2706) [B91]
3rd GRENKE Classic TB(5),
2015.02.09
And we are in the armagedom game. Magnus made his quess

and been lucky to chose the White color. Statistically White is
having a great score. We are going to play a 6 min vs 5 min
game, where "all I needed to do " is to hold a draw.
1.e4 This time no more 1.d4
63.Ka3 my bishop is save on f6 and I can just keep on moving
my King 1...c5 How to play an armagedom game?! To go for a save
opening-which might mean suffering with a minute down and
63...Ne5 64.Kb4 a5+ 65.Kc3 a4 66.Bxe5 Kxe5 67.Kxc4
maybe a lost on time, or a fight in an unclear sharp position. I
Kf5 68.Kb4 Kxg5 A draw in a game where we both had
though the second is the right choise
winning chances. After a 7 hard games in classical chess
sometimes it is hard to have a normal look at the blitz games 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6
where the ammount of mistakes is just incredibly hight,
specially when the game is getting tought 1/2-1/2
6.g3 a popular line which I play couple of times myself with

White
6...e5 7.Nde2 Be7 8.Bg2 O-O 9.O-O Nbd7 a possible choise
but a bit too passive one [9...b5 is probably the better way to
go on]
10.a4 b6 11.Nd5! a very good positional desicion to me.
White is getting rid of the knight on c3 to put the other one
there
11...Nxd5 12.Qxd5 Rb8 13.Nc3 Nf6 14.Qd3
20.Qf5! My oponent is playing a fantastic game keeping all

the position closed which makes my moves very hard to play
20...Rbd8 21.Bf4 Qc5 I am trying to get some active play
22.Rd1 Qb4 the b2 pawn is hanging, but again White is
14...Be6!? quite a tricky move for a blitz game and maybe finding the best
not a bad one from practical point of view. Can White take on
23.Be5! another very very strong move.
a6?! this made Magnus lose almost a minute of thoughts
23...Bc5? this loses immediately, but I just panicked not
15.Qxa6! very strong play specially for a blitz game. White is
knowing what to do next [23...Qxb2 24.Nxe4 is losing as well
sacrifizing the exchange to dominate over the White squares
immediately; maybe relatively the best was to play 23...Nd7
15...Qc7 16.Qe2 this has been the idea of White but the position is already clearly lost]
16...Bc4 17.Qf3 Bxf1 18.Bxf1 so I am an up, but in a very 24.Bxf6 gxf6 25.Nxe4 Qxb2
unpleasent position. Still I had around 1 minute less on the
clock and in case I will do "nothing" White will slowly get the
bishop to c4, or maybe play Bg5 and get the knight to d5 and
it is not clear where my counterplay should be
18...d5!? of course this move just gives a pawn-but I must do
something!
19.exd5 e4
26.Bd3 White is clearly having a mating attack
26...Rfe8 27.Nxf6+ Kf8 28.Nxh7+ Ke7 29.Re1+ what a
position, it remind me a bit on our the first game of tiebreak (6) Anand, Viswanathan (2797)
- Baramidze, David (2594) [C95]
29...Kd6 30.Qf4+ Kxd5 31.Nf6+ Kc6 32.Nxe8 and it was
all over. I have lost the match, felt very pity clearly having my
3rd GRENKE Chess Classic(6.4), GM Csaba Balogh
chances in the 4th blitz game, but, I think I made a good fight Best rating: 2672
2015.02.08
to the World Champioin and can be very happy with my play.
Magnus played a really fantastic armagedom game where we
can see the full strenght and why Carlsen because last Year a
double World Champion in Rapid and Blitz chess in Dubai. 1-0 Vishy Anand was out of form in Baden-Baden, but his win
against Baramidze was still very inspiring.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1
b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3
9...Nb8 Baramidze sticks to his favorite Ruy Lopez Breyer

variation. He does not play any other openings and it makes
the preparation very easy for his opponents.
10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.Nf1 Bf8 14.Ng3
White follows the main line by executing the standard knight
maneuver to the kingside.
14...g6 15.a4 The old main line has come back into fashion.
There was a time when all the Breyer games continued with
this 15.a4 move, then suddenly some sidelines like 15.b3 or
15.Bg5 became more popular, but since last year 15.a4 is back
to the main focus.
15...Bg7 Baramidze deviates from his previous games with more or less balanced, although Carlsen managed to outplay
this relatively rare move. [Previously he was following the his opponent and later won the game... Carlsen-Baramidze,
main line with 15...c5 16.d5 c4 but after his clear-cut defeat Baden Baden 2015]
against Adams in the Dortmund Supertournament last year - 17...Qc7 18.Qd2 exd4?! This seems e a dubious decision to
which I have annotated in our newsletter - he decided to stop me! Giving up the tension and center so easily usually does
playing it.] not lead to anything good for Black... [Probably the best was
18...Nf8 but White was slightly better after the typical break
on the queenside with 19.dxe5 dxe5 20.c4! in Adams-Golod,
World Open 2011.; Another standard freeing break is 18...d5
but it does not solve the problems, because of 19.dxe5 Nxe4
20.Bxe4! A clever move! White realizes that the knight is
going to be a much more useful piece on e4 than the bishop.
20...dxe4 21.Nxe4 Nxe5 22.Nxe5 Bxe5 23.Nc5+= This is the
point and White has a clear edge because of the poor bishop
on b7!]
16.Bd3! The point of the previous 15.a4 move. White puts 19.cxd4 c5
pressure on the queenside, namely on the b5 pawn, which
forces an unfavorable decision for Black. Capturing the a4
pawn significantly weakens the pawn structure, especailly the
a6 pawn, therefore Black does not have anything better than
c6, but it closes the b7 bishop, which was pressing the e4
pawn.
16...c6 17.Be3 This is Anand’s improvement over the previous
Baramidze game, but it is not a novelty yet. We can already
see the benefit of the Bd3 move, provoking c6, the bishop’s
most natural development to e3 was not possible before
because of exd4 and on cxd4 the e4 was hanging. [Two days 20.d5 The standard reply again. White locks the b7 bishop
before our current game Carlsen played 17.Bg5 hoping to and gains some space advantage. There is a pressure again
provoke an h6 weakening after which he intended to return on the b5 pawn, which forces Black to make a committing
to e3 and Qd2 could have come with a tempo, but Black could decision. Pushing b4 leaves him without any counterplay and
improve his knight with 17...Nf8 18.Qd2 Ne6 It turned out to creates an excellent hole on c4, which will be occupied by the
be Black who gained a tempo because of Bg5. 19.Bh6 Nd7 f3 knight, while pushing c4 like it happened in the game gives
20.Bc2 Bxh6 21.Qxh6 Qf6 22.Rad1 Rad8 and the game was up the d4 square... [The alternative was 20.axb5 20...axb5
21.Bxb5 but after Black’s correct reaction the position gets c2 bishop is hanging behind. However it does not work...
too simplified... 21...Nxe4 22.Nxe4 Rxa1 (But not 22...Bxe4? [23...Qxc3 24.Bd3h is a healthy extra pawn.]
because of 23.dxc5! and Black cannot take back on c5...) 24.exd5 Bxc3 25.Qd1 Bxa1 [25...Bxe1 26.Nxe1h protects
23.Rxa1 Rxe4 24.Rc1 Perhaps White is still better, but the the c2 bishop and leaves White materially ahead.]
game is much easier to play.]
26.Qxa1! Simple and strong! Black is going to miss his dark
20...c4 21.Bc2 Rec8 Black would like to get counterplay squared bishop around his king!
with c3. [On 21...Nc5 attacking the e4 pawn 22.Bd4 is
the strongest and after 22...Nfd7 23.Bxg7 Kxg7 24.h4! (Or 26...axb5 An intermediate move, but it does not change
24.Nd4 is also good.) ] the key factors... [26...Qxc2 loses to 27.Bh6! Qc3 (27...f6
28.Re7!h)
22.axb5 [22.Bd4 is less clear now, because Black could play
22...Ne5! 23.Nxe5 dxe5 24.Bc3 Nd7 I still prefer White
because of the protected passed pawn and the bad black
bishops, but the game is much better.]
22...c3 Black has pinned his hopes to this tactical blow, but
Anand had calculated one move further... [22...axb5 is also
bad in view of 23.Nd4! and it is hard to deal with the b5
pawn... 23...Ba6 looks very ugly, White could strengthen his
position with 24.Ra2c doubling the rooks. It is important that
Black is unable to push b4-c3 and otherwise his pawns are
rather weak.] 28.Re8+! The key move, which had to be foreseen very
23.bxc3 long ago by Anand. White wins decisive material. 28...Rxe8
(28...Nf8 29.Rxf8+! Another deflection of the c8 rook and
Black is already forced to accept it. 29...Rxf8 30.Qxc3h)
29.Qxc3h]
27.Qd4! White is able to hold the long diagonal!
27...Qc3 is kind of admitting the opponent’s great play.
[27...Qxc2 loses to 28.Bh6 f6 (28...Qc3 is the same as in the
26...Qxc2 line. 29.Re8+! Nf8 30.Rxf8+! Rxf8 31.Qxc3h)
29.Re7 Rc4 30.Qe3! (30.Rg7+? 30...Kh8 31.Ng5? also looks
over and beautiful. White is threatening with mate on Nf7.
23...Nxd5 Black continues his initial plan based on this deep Taking the knight loses to Rxh7 double check followed by Qg7
tactical idea. He wants to take on Bxc3 then on a1 and the mate, but Black has a counterblow at his disposal... 31...Qc1+!
32.Kh2 Qxg5!i and suddenly Black wins!) ] 32...Ra8 [If Black tries to prevent the back rank mate with
28.Ne4! Qxd4 [28...Qxc2 again loses to 29.Bh6 f6 32...Rc8 33.Nc3! wins in a pretty way. The knight cannot be
taken and after 33...Ra5 34.Nxd5 Rxd5
30.Qxf6!! A brilliant blow! (Actually 30.Nxf6+ is equally

strong. 30...Nxf6 31.Qxf6 Rc7 32.Qe6+ Kh8 33.Qe8+h) 35.Nc6! Another nice move and Black cannot avoid the triple
30...Nxf6 31.Nxf6+ Kh8 32.Re7 and Black cannot prevent the fork on e7! 35...Kh8 (35...Rxc6 36.Re8+ Nf8 37.Rxf8#) 36.Ne7
threatening Rxh7 and Bg7 mates. 32...Qc1+ 33.Bxc1 Rxc1+ Re8 37.Nxg6+! is the final point!]
34.Kh2h] 33.Bd3 Rd8 34.Bg5 Ra8 35.Be7 Rcc8 36.Nd6 Rc7
29.Nxd4 Bxd5 30.Nxd6 Rc5 31.N6xb5 The game has 37.N4b5 [37.Bb5 was also possible to pin the black pieces to
simplified to this endgame. White has a winning position and defend each other.]
the material advantage of two minor pieces against the rook 37...Rc6 38.Bf1 White does not need to hurry, he can slowly
will decide the game in the long term, but it requires patience improve his position and pieces. In my opinion, the only thing
and some technique... he should be careful about is to not allow the trade of a pair
of rooks.
38...Kg7 39.g4!? With the idea of caging the king with g5.
[39.Bg5h was also very strong and White invades with his
rook to the 7th rank.]
39...f6 40.g5 The human way to play. Anand weakens the
black king by removing one of its main guards. [The computer
sees a pretty win with 40.Nd4 40...Rb6 (40...Rc7 loses to
41.Bg2! Bxg2 42.Ne6+!h) 41.Bb5! Ne5
31...Ra2 32.Bh6 Locking the king in order to create some
tactical threats.
42.Nf5+! gxf5 43.Rxd7h It is over, Bd6 is threatening with
discovered check, winning the rook.]
41...h5 42.Bh3 [42.Rd1! was strong again, with exactly the
same motifs as in the 41.Rd1 line.]
42...f5 43.Bf1 After provoking the f5 move the structure
became fixed, so Black cannot hope to reduce the material
anymore. Thanks to the f5 and h5 moves the king became
more exposed. Anand missed some direct wins, but he
42.Ne8+! From a practical point of view, when we have significatly improved his position in the last 15 moves.
a technical win it is better to avoid going into such 43...Kg8 44.Rd1 Bf3 45.Ra1 It would be excellent to occupy
complications. The computer calculates everything and the a2-g8 diagonal with the bishop to haunt down the black
sees the win, but for a human brain it is better to avoid such king.
a risk of a blunder given the many hanging pieces... 42...Kf7
45...Bd5 46.f4 Nc5 47.Rd1 [47.Bf6 was another win.
43.Nxf6! Rxb5 with the idea of deflecting the d4 knight to
White is threatening with Ra7 and for instance after
give Nf3 check, but White takes another piece: (43...Kxe7
47...Ne4 48.Nxe4 Bxe4 49.Be5 Rd8 (49...Re8 50.Nd6h)
44.Nxd5+h) 44.Rxe5! Rb1+ 45.Kh2 Rh1+ 46.Kg3 Rg1+
50.Nd4h wins very soon.]
47.Kf4h]
47...Bf3 48.Bc4+ Kh7 49.Rf1 [49.Ra1! was faster. Ra7 is
40...Rb8 [40...fxg5 41.Bxg5h is over, the rook goes to e7
a decisive threat. Black has no adequate defend against it,
next.]
for instance after 49...Ra6 50.Rxa6 Nxa6 51.Nd4! A double
41.h4 [Another, more forcing win was suggested by the attack on the minor pieces... 51...Bb7 52.Ne6 The white
machine: 41.Rd1! This was already possible to find also for pieces are just too well placed. Nf8 is coming next. 52...Nb4
a human... 41...Bb3 (41...Rc5 42.Nf5+! gxf5 43.Bxc5 Nxc5 53.Nf8+ Kg7 54.Nd7 Ra8 55.Nxb7h]
44.Rxd5h; 41...Be6 42.Nd4h)
49...Be4 50.Ra1 Nd3 51.Nd4 [The last trick White had to
be careful about was 51.Ra7?? 51...Rxc4! The b5 knight is
hanging and Black survives. 52.Bf6+ Kg8 53.Rg7+ is just a
draw after 53...Kf8 54.Rf7+ Kg8=; 51.Nc3h was winning.]
51...Rc7 52.Nxe4 fxe4 Both bishops are hanging, but Anand
solves the problem tactically... [52...Rxe7 53.Nf6+ Kg7
54.Bxd3h]
53.Bf6! Rcb7 [53...Rxc4 leads to forced mate: 54.Ra7+ Kg8
55.Rg7+ Kf8 56.Ne6+ Ke8 57.Re7#; 53...Nxf4 also loses after
54.Be5! and White takes more material. 54...Rxc4 55.Bxb8
Rxd4 56.Bxf4h]
54.Ne6! Now White can even allow the trade of the rooks,
because the black king is too vulnerable.
54...Rb1+ 55.Rxb1 Rxb1+ 56.Kg2 A pretty mate in one move
is threatening with Nf8.
56...Rb8 57.Kf1! Black ran o ut of useful moves. The rook
must control the f8 square. White simply goes around with
his king towards the e4 pawn.
57...Rc8 58.Bd5 Re8 [58...e3 59.Ke2h]
59.Be5! The last accurate move! White protects the f4 pawn
in order to continue the journey with the king to e2-e3. [It was
not too late to go wrong with 59.Ke2? blundering the idea of
59...Rxe6! 60.Bxe6 Nxf4+]
59...Rc8 [59...Nxe5 60.fxe5 Rc8 61.Ke2h is totally
hopeless.]
60.Ke2 Nc5 61.Nxc5 Rxc5 62.Bxe4 The position has
simplified and this kind of material disadvantage is already
too much for Black...
62...Ra5 63.Ke3 Ra3+ 64.Kd4 Ra5 65.f5h1-0
The K-Files. that White can use Black’s 5th "half-move" to gain some space
in the center but quite often it proves to be a double-edged
Nimzo 4.e3 0-0 5.Nge2 c6 weapon as we will see. Finally it must be said that Black has
really excellent stats in this line so far. 65% in more than 100
games is really very convincing. Well, to be objective one must
add that the average rating of the Black players was 100 points
higher than their opponents, but still...
Best rating: 2702
(7) Nimzo 4.e3 0-0 5.Nge2 c6 [E46]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Ne2 The Reshevsky 6.a3 Ba5 7.b4 Moving too many pawns before completing
system has been quite a poisonous weapon for a long time. the development is always fairly responsible but if White
Of course, its recent popularity is mostly connected with the plays for an opening advantage he has to do so. The
game Carlsen - Anand (Moscow 2013) won by White in just 29 alternatives are rather shy: [7.Qc2 7...d5 8.Ng3 Nbd7
moves.. 9.Be2 (9.cxd5 9...exd5 10.Bd3 Re8 11.O-O Bc7= Wemmers
5...c6!? Both the classical 5...d5 and the modern 5...Re8 are - Cramling Gibraltar 2014) 9...e5 (9...dxc4 is another move
solid enough. However, both don’t equalise automatically order which usually leads to the same position. 10.Bxc4 e5
so it’s worth trying to look for some alternative. The text 11.O-O exd4 12.exd4 - 9...e5) 10.O-O exd4 11.exd4 dxc4 (11...Re8
was first played back in 1963 but neither this game nor some 12.cxd5 Nxd5! (12...Bxc3 13.bxc3 cxd5 14.Bf4+= 13.Nxd5
following did attract much attention. Only after the game cxd5 14.Bf3 Bb6 (14...Nf6 15.Bg5+= Be6 16.Nh5c) 15.Qb3
Tomashevsky-Zvjaginsev (Moscow 2010) this line becane an Nf8 (15...Bxd4 16.Bxd5+= +=) 16.Be3 Be6=) 12.Bxc4 Bc7The
object of intensive research but the practical material is still black pieces are well-placed for the classical play against
not enough for the final conclusions. The main idea of Black IQP. (12...Nb6 13.Ba2 Nbd5 Sadorra-Narayanan, Queson City
is not to meet cxd5 (after d7-d5) with cxd5 (which is possible 2014 14.Bb1!?C) 13.Bg5 (13.Ba2 13...Nb6 14.Bg5 - 13.Bg5)
but not necessary) but to provide the c7 square for his bishop. 13...Nb6 (13...h6 14.Bh4 g5?? 15.Qg6+) 14.Ba2 h6 15.Bxf6
And it must be said that in most resulting structures it’s just (15.Bh4? 15...Qxd4e) 15...Qxf6= Dale - Bluebaum London
a perfect square for this piece. Certainly there is a problem 2014; 7.Ng3 Trying to develop pieces in a solid way without
defining the queenside pawn structure is premature. 7...d5 enough prepared yet... 8...d6 This modest move might be the
(7...c5!? N c7-c6-c5 might look illogical but it works well: 8.Be2 most ambitious as the following lines show: (8...exd5 9.cxd5
(8.d5 8...b5! This Bluemenfeld breakthrough is quite typical cxd5 10.g3 Nc6 11.Bg2 Be5 12.O-O d6 (12...Re8?! 13.f4 Bxc3
for different Nimzo lines. 9.dxe6 fxe6 10.cxb5 Bb7nBlack (13...Bc7 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.Bxd5 Bb6 16.Nc3+=) 14.Nxc3
has nice compensation. It’s not too obvious how White d4?! 15.exd4 d5 16.f5!+= Ipatov - Yu Yangyi Kocaeli 2013) 13.f4
would complete his development.; 8.dxc5?! 8...Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Bxc3 14.Nxc3 Ne7= ) 9.Ng3 (
Na6VThe ruined pawn structure speaks for itself.) 8...d5! a) 9.e4? 9...a5! 10.b5 (10.Bb2 10...axb4 11.axb4 Rxa1 12.Bxa1
(8...cxd4 9.exd4 d5 10.b4 Bc7 11.c5 (11.Bg5!? ) 11...e5 12.Bg5 Na6e 13.Qb3 exd5 14.cxd5 (14.exd5 14...Re8 and the game
Nc6 13.Nh5c Nxd4 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Nxd5c) 9.dxc5 (9.O-O is more or less over.) 14...Bb6! (14...cxd5 ) 15.Ng3 (15.Nf4
9...cxd4 10.exd4 dxc4 11.Bxc4 - 7...d5) 9...Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 Nbd7 15...Bxf2+! 16.Kxf2 Qb6+ 17.Ke2 (17.Ke1 17...Qe3+ 18.Nfe2
11.O-O Nxc5=) 8.Bd3 ( Nxe4i) 17...Re8i) 15...Ng4 16.Nd1 Nxb4e (16...cxd5e ) )
a) 8.b4 8...Bc7 - 7.b4; 10...cxd5 11.cxd5 Bb6e 12.Ng3 exd5 13.Bg5 (13.Nxd5 13...Nxd5
b) 8.Qc2 - 7.Qc2; 14.exd5 Re8+i) 13...h6 14.Bf4 Re8 15.Be2 dxe4e;
c) 8.Bd2 - 7.Bd2; b) 9.g3 (Gu - Nicolas Zapata Al Ain 2013) looks the most
d) 8.cxd5 8...cxd5N is the easiest way to equalise. (8...exd5
natural but after 9...Nbd7! the c4 pawn becomes vulnerable.
9.Bd3 Re8 10.O-O Nbd7 11.f3 c5 Nyback - Rusev Warsaw 2013
10.dxc6 (10.Bg2 10...Ne5 11.dxc6 bxc6 12.Nd4 d5=+) 10...bxc6
12.Bc2!?+= and Black is under some pressure.) 9.Bd3 Nc6
11.Nd4 Bb7 12.Bg2 Ne5=+) 9...a5!? As we already mentioned,
10.O-O e5=) 8...dxc4 (8...c5!? ) 9.Bxc4 c5 (9...Nbd7 10.O-O
"Moving too many pawns before completing development
e5 is also good enough.) 10.O-O (10.dxc5 10...Bxc3+ 11.bxc3
is always fairly responsible". 10.b5 (10.Bb2 10...exd5 11.cxd5
Qxd1+ 12.Kxd1 Nagy - Horvath,A Hungary 2013 12...Bd7!?=+)
cxd5 12.Nxd5 Nxd5 13.Qxd5 axb4 14.axb4 Rxa1+ 15.Bxa1 Nc6C)
10...cxd4 11.exd4 (11.Nce4?! (Wemmers - Tkachiev Gibraltar
10...cxd5 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Nxd5 Nxd5 13.Qxd5 a4! 14.Be2
2013) This pawn sac is too adventurous. 11...Bb6 12.exd4
Be6 15.Qxb7 Nd7n; 8.Bb2 8...d5 9.Ng3 - 8.Ng3; The most
Bxd4=+) 11...Nc6 12.Be3 Bb6 and the white knight seems
ambitious and critical 8.e4 will be analyzed in part 2.]
to be misplaced on g3 in this IQP structure (Martynov -
Smirnov,P St, Petersburg 2011).; 7.Bd2 7...d5 8.Ng3 Nbd7 8...d5 planning e6-e5.
9.cxd5 (9.b4 9...Bc7 10.f4 Nb6 11.c5 Nc4 12.Bxc4 dxc4 13.O-O 9.Bb2 [9.f4 preventing e5 and hoping to use the space
Gonzalez - Ortiz Cuba 2014 13...b6 and Black has enough advantage but due to White’s poor development this idea
dynamic resources.) 9...exd5 10.Bd3 Re8 11.O-O Bc7 12.Qc2 doesn’t work properly. 9...Nbd7 10.c5 is logical but... (
Nf8 13.f3 h5!? and Black’s play is already easier (Dubov -
Andreikin Russia ch 2012).] a) 10.Bd3 10...a5 (10...dxc4 11.Bxc4 Nd5 12.Bd2 a5 - 10...a5)
11.Bd2 dxc4 12.Bxc4 Nd5 White’s weaknesses are an
7...Bc7 8.Ng3 White intends to complete his development important factor. 13.Nce4 (13.b5 13...N7b6 14.Bd3 Nxc3
first. However. Black has enough time to prepare adequate 15.Bxc3 Nd5 16.Bd2 cxb5 17.Bxb5 Bd7 18.Bxd7 (18.Rb1
counterplay in the center. [8.d5 is ambitious but not well 18...Bd6 19.a4 Bb4e) 18...Qxd7 19.O-O f5!=+) 13...Qe7
14.O-O N7b6 15.Bd3 axb4 16.axb4 Rxa1 17.Qxa1 Nxb4 White action in the center. 13.Bxc4 dxc4 14.O-O Nd5 (14...a5!? 15.b5
doesn’t have enough compensation for the pawn (Vlasenko - Nd5 16.Nge2 Bd7=+) 15.Bd2 (15.Nxd5 15...exd5e Richardson
Khismatullin Taganrog 2014).; - Grachev London 2013) 15...f5=+) 12...dxc4 13.O-O (13.Nh5
b) 10.Be2 10...dxc4 - 10.Bd3) 13...Nd5 Berczes - Medvegy Hungary 2013 14.Qf3 Qh4+
15.Ng3 b5e) 13...Nd5 14.Qe2 b6VIn this unusual structure
Black has enough counterchances.; 10.Rc1 is usual for
these structures. White tries to save the tempo in case of
an exchange on c4. 10...Re8 and Black does the same.
11.Be2 (11.Qb3 11...e5!=+ =+) 11...Nb6!? (11...dxc4 12.Bxc4 e5
(12...Nb6!? 13.Bd3 e5 14.dxe5 Ng4Vis also quite good for
Black.) 13.Qb3 Qe7! The most rel iable. Now Black has no
problem at all as the concrete lines show it’s White who has to
play accurately to hold the balance. (13...exd4 14.Bxf7+ Kh8
15.Nd1kis somewhat crazy (Duzhakov - Ponkratov Izhevsk
2014).) 14.d5 (
10...e5! =+ 11.Be2 A sad necessity... (11.dxe5 11...Nxe5!e; After
11.fxe5 11...Nxe5! 12.dxe5 Bxe5A White is in trouble. 13.Bb2 a) 14.Nce2 14...Nb6 15.dxe5 Ng4! 16.e6 Nxc4 17.Nf5
Ng4 14.Qf3 Re8 15.Be2 Bxc3+ 16.Bxc3 Rxe3e Costachi - (17.exf7+ 17...Qxf7 18.Qxc4 Be6i) 17...Qxe6 18.Nxg7
Doros Romania 2014) 11...exd4 12.exd4 h5! Typical and strong. Qd5 19.Qxc4 (19.Nxe8 19...Qd2+ 20.Kf1 Be6i) 19...Qxg2
13.O-O (13.Nxh5 13...Nxh5 14.Bxh5 Re8+ 15.Be2 a5e; 13.Bxh5 20.Nxe8 Qxf2+ 21.Kd2 Qxe3+ 22.Ke1 Be6 23.Nf6+ (23.Qd4
13...Nxh5 14.Nxh5 a5 15.b5 Re8+ 16.Ne2 Nf6 17.Ng3 cxb5 23...Qxd4 24.Bxd4 Rxe8=+ 25.h3 Ne5 =+) 23...Nxf6 24.Qh4=;
18.O-O b6e) 13...h4 14.Nh5 (14.Nf5 14...Nxc5 15.Nxg7 Nce4e b) 14.O-O 14...exd4 15.exd4 Nb6=+;
Guthrie - Hamitevici London 2013) 14...g6 15.Nxf6+ Nxf6=+;
c) 14.Nf5 14...Qf8 15.O-O Nb6=+ 16.dxe5 Bxe5 17.Bd3
9.cxd5 doesn’t promise anything. 9...exd5 (9...Nxd5!?; 9...cxd5
Be6=+) 14...Nb6! 15.dxc6 bxc6 16.Na4 (16.O-O 16...a5 17.b5
) 10.Bd3 Nbd7 11.O-O Re8 Lobersil - Roberson London 2014
a4 18.Qa2 Rb8=) 16...Nxa4 17.Qxa4 Bd7 18.Qa6 (18.Qb3
12.f3 a5 13.b5 c5 14.a4 b6V; 9.c5 9...e5 10.Be2 Novik - Palliser
18...a5 19.O-O axb4 20.axb4 Reb8=) 18...Reb8 19.O-O Rb6
Finland 2012 10...g6!? 11.O-O h5Vand Black’s play is quite
20.Qa5 Rb7=) 12.c5 Nc4 13.Bxc4 dxc4 14.Nce4?! (14.O-O
clear.]
14...b5V) 14...Nxe4 15.Nxe4 b5 16.cxb6 axb6 17.Rxc4 Qd5
9...Nbd7 10.Bd3 Now Black has a wide choice of attractive 18.Qc2 (18.Qg4 18...Kh8e (18...Qxc4?? 19.d5h; 18...Bd8e )
options. [10.f4 Once again te tries to prevent e6-e5 but Black ) 18...Ba6 19.Rxc6 Rec8e and Black’s compensation is clearly
also has another possibility to create counterplay: 10...Nb6 A more than enough.; 10.Qc2 (Rodshtein - Zontakh. Legnica
nice positional idea which is typical for the whole variation. 2013) White chooses an Anti-Meran setup. But his knight is a
11.c5 Nc4 12.Bxc4 (12.Bc1?! A strange decision. White will bit misplaced on g3 and Black can try to use it immediately.
have to exchange on c4 anyway. 12...b6 starting immediate
10...h5!? (10...Ng4!? is also interesting. 11.Be2 (11.O-O-O gets excellent compensation: 13...b5 14.cxb6 axb6 15.Qxc4
11...Qf6) 11...f5C) 11.Bd3 (11.O-O-O 11...a5 12.b5 h4C) 11...a5 12.b5 Bb7n16.O-O Ng4COnce again knight is misplaced on g3.
(12.O-O 12...Ng4 13.h3 Nxe3 14.fxe3 Bxg3 =+) 12...e5Vplaying 17.h3? Nxe3e]
all over the board, which is quite typical for the whole line. 13...b6 14.e4 bxc5 15.bxc5 Rb8 16.Rb1 e5V Finally breaking
Black is at least not worse here.; 10.cxd5 10...exd5 makes little White’s centre. Black is at least not worse.
sense with the bishop on b2.]
10...Nb6!? [10...e5 aiming for IQP structure. This might be

the most solid way. 11.O-O (11.cxd5 11...exd4 12.exd4 Re8+=+
13.Nge2 Nxd5 14.Nxd5 cxd5 15.O-O Nb6 16.Rc1 16...Bg4
17.f3 Bh5=+ (17...Bd7=+ ) ) 11...dxc4 12.Bxc4 Nb6 13.Bd3
exd4 14.exd4 Qd6 15.Rc1 Be6=+ (15...h5!? ) 16.Qc2 (16.Re1
16...Nc4 17.Ba1 b5 =+) 16...Bc4!?=+ with a nice positional
plus.; 10...dxc4 11.Bxc4 a5 (11...e5!? ; 11...Nb6!? 12.Bd3 e5
13.Nce2 a5=) 12.b5 c5!? 13.O-O (13.dxc5 13...Nxc5= ) 13...b6
14.a4 Bb7=]
11.c5 Nc4 12.Bxc4 [12.Bc1?! 12...e5=+]
12...dxc4 13.O-O [13.f4 13...Nd5 14.Qd2 b5=+ 15.O-O It looks
like White protected all weaknesses, but what about b4?
15...a5 16.Nce4 (16.e4 16...Nxf4 17.Rxf4 Bxf4 18.Qxf4 axb4
19.axb4 Rxa1+ 20.Bxa1 Qxd4+ 21.Qf2 e5e) 16...axb4 17.axb4
Bd7 and Black enjoys a comfortable positional advantage.
His knight on d5 is rock-solid because Black can always secure
its position with f7-f5.; 13.Qe2 going for the pawn, but Black
David vs. Goliath In terms of high-profile upsets one has to mention GM Jones
(2671) - IM Watson (2319), 0-1: those chess writers are good for
something! Also, GM Reinderman (2590) succumbed to Van
der Put (2201).
Top-10:
Doven (1503) - Uysal (2053), 1-0, 550 points
Mikuz (1795) - Trplan (1285), 0-1, 510 points
Peter Zhdanov Soysal (2339) - Karaahmetoglu (1837), 0-1, 502 points
Chief Editor of Pogonina.com Sari (1462) - Koksal (1870), 1-0, 408 points
Akkok (1866) - Sari (1462), 0-1, 404 points
In this special column we are reviewing the most unexpected Lokman (1648) - Gyokbulut (2047), 1-0, 399 points
results that occurred last week. Players usually face Reinderman (2590) - Van der Put (2201), 0-1, 389 points
opponents of a similar level. Considerably less frequent are Doven (1503) - Sarikaya (1889), 1-0, 386 points
situations when a significantly lower-rated player succeeds in Altunbay (1550) - Kaplan (1935), 1-0, 385 points
beating a much stronger adversary. Kocyigit (1391) - Benk (1774), 1-0, 383 points
The previous week has brought us an incredible number of
upsets - 41. However, I have to admit that most of them Average gap: 432; White won 6 games, Black won 4 games.
feature relatively low-rated players. The number of moves
ranges from 6 in Akkok (1866) - Celik (1518), 0-1 to 79 in Doven You can view all the games in the accompanying pgn file.
(1503) - Akkok (1866), 1-0.
Like I have promised in the previous issue, this column will
How does one lose in 6 moves? Here is the answer. I wonder introduce to you FM Andrey Esipenko.
how one can play THAT badly unless the game was not a hoax
Reminder: if you have ever won a game against someone
or something:
rated 300 points or above yourself, please send it to
Akkok, D (1866) - Celik,Eda (1518) [D00] information (a photo, annotations, etc.) will be appreciated.
Turkish Cup 2015 Manavgat TUR (10.117),
06.02.2015
1.d4 d5 2.Qd3 Nf6 3.Nf3 e6 4.Na3 a6 5.Bg5 c5 6.Qb5+
axb5 0-1
(8) Esipenko, Andrey (2271)
- Khismatullin, Denis (2673) [A87]
Vladimir Dvorkovich Mem(7.12),
2015.01.24 [DK]
Good afternoon! My name is Andrey Esipenko. I live in

Novocherkassk city of the Rostov region in Russia. However, I
am playing for the Anatoly Karpov’s Centre (Tyumen), where my
clubmates and coach GM Dmitry Kryakvin live. By the way, I admire
Karpov’s games a lot. At a certain point I have read a few books
written by the XII World Champion, which has helped me win the
European Junior Championship’12. Other than that I lead the
normal life of a 12-year old. I go to school, watch movies, play
tournaments and occasionally beat grandmasters. I am specifically
FM Andrey Esipenko. Live rating: 2354. Born March 22, 2002. grateful to my friends and sponsors from the consulting company
Titles won in junior chess: European Champion (2012), European A DAN DZO for supporting me in this quest. At the Dvorkovich
vice-Champion (2013), Russian Champion (2014). Absolute champion Memorial in Taganrog in January I was lucky to defeat the future
of Novocherkassk. Most notable results include victories over GM winner of Moscow Open’15 GM Ernesto Inarkiev and the bronze prize
Denis Khismatullin, GM Sanan Sjugirov, GM Ernesto Inarkiev and winner of the last Russian Superfinal GM Denis Khismatullin.
draws with GM Sergei Tiviakov, GM Pavel Smirnov and ten other
1.d4 f5
grandmasters.
During preparation I have dedicated more attention to the Slav
FM Andrey Esipenko and his coach GM Dmitry Kryakvin kindly
and Nimzo. Nevertheless, the fact that my opponent has won an
agreed to annotate Andrey’s recent win against GM Denis
important game against Pavel Ponkratov in Russian Cup’14 with the
Khismatullin:
Dutch didn’t escape my attention. Therefore, I more or less knew
the main line of this variation.
2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.O-O O-O 6.c4 d6 7.Nc3 Qe8
Crossroads. The game Ponkratov - Khismatullin continued [7...c6
8.b3 a5 9.Bb2]
8.d5 a5 9.Nd4 Na6 10.b3 Bd7 11.Rb1 The game Postny -
Pruijssers, 2014, continued with [11.Bb2 11...Nc5 12.Qc2 c6 13.Rad1
Rc8 14.Qb1 g5 15.a3 Qh5], but such a twist of events was
totally unacceptable to me. After having studied the profile
of Khismatullin, I realized that most losses of the eminent
grandmaster come from overlooking a certain tactical shot in a
complicated tactical struggle. Hence, I decided to try to put
pressure on him as soon as possible.
11...Nc5 12.a3 c6 13.b4 axb4 14.axb4 Nfe4 15.Nxe4 Nxe4
16.Bb2 The theory ends here, so both players are on their own. An
alternative is [16.Qd3 16...cxd5 17.cxd5 Qf7 18.Be3 Qxd5 19.Nxf5
Qxd3 20.exd3 Nc3 21.Nxe7+ Kf7 22.Rbe1 Be6 23.Bg5 with sharp
play in Mikhalevski - Zhang, 2002.]
16...Ra2 The Dutch is a strange opening. I have no idea what makes
people go for such positions with a hole on e6. However, when 20.b5 cxb5 [I was a bit surprised here, because I have been
analyzing with an engine it’s not easy to find an advantage for White. expecting 20...Nd5 21.Nxc6 (21.bxc6 21...Rxb2 22.Rxb2 dxc5)
That’s why 1...f5 is gaining popularity. White has to act quickly here. 21...Ne3 (21...Rxb2 22.Qxd5) 22.Qd3 Nxf1 23.Bxg7 Kxg7 24.Kxf1
Bxc6 25.bxc6 dxc5 26.f4 with such a pawn on c6 White shouldn’t
lose, but I believed that it was quite logical to transfer the knight to
the weak square e3. Now White obtains a serious trump in the form
of a powerful passed pawn.]
21.c6 Be6 22.Nxe6 Qxe6 23.Qd3 f4 [Once again, I failed to
anticipate this move! The knight is not going to the coveted square.
23...Nd5 24.Qxb5 Ne3 25.Rfc1 Rc8 26.Bxg7 Kxg7 27.Rb2 with a
balanced position.] A return sacrifice of a pawn is a responsible step
to make, but in the line 24.Qxb5?! Nh5 25.Bxg7 Kxg7 26.g4 Nf6 it is
a pain to look at the bishop on g2, while after 24.gxf4 Nh5 25.Bh3
Qxh3 26.Qb3+ e6 27.Qxa2 Nxf4 28.Rf2 Qh4 Black can always repeat
17.c5!? Qf7! A very strong and cold-blooded move. Any capture of moves if he wants to. That’s why I had to do something drastic to
the pawn would give me a long-lasting initiative: [17...cxd5 18.Qb3; free my bishop.
17...dxc5 18.bxc5 Nxc5 19.Nb3 Rxb2 20.Rxb2 Bxb2 21.Nxc5 Kh8
22.Qa4 Bf6 23.Rd1] Khismatullin is not in a hurry, just like Kaa from
the cartoon about Mowgli. White should do something about the
pawn on d5 now; the Rubicon has been crossed.
18.dxc6 bxc6 19.f3 Nf6 [Very interesting is to sally with the queen -
19...Qc4 After 20.Nxc6 Bxc6 21.Bxg7 Kxg7 22.fxe4 Bxe4 23.Rf4!?
d5 we have a position of dynamic equilibrium on the board. The
grandmaster is trying to restrain my bishop on g2 and not allowing
any simplifications.]
24.e4! [24.Qxb5 24...Nh5 25.Bxg7 Kxg7 26.g4 Nf6; 24.gxf4 most aesthetically attractive one, in my opinion, - White’s king is
24...Nh5 25.Bh3 Qxh3 26.Qb3+ e6 27.Qxa2 Nxf4 28.Rf2 Qh4] paying a visit to the Black colleague. Gone are the days when the
king and the bishop had to vegetate on g1 and g2. Now they are the
24...Rc8 [After 24...fxe3 comes 25.Bh3; an equal endgame occurs
key factor behind White’s upcoming victory.
after 24...fxg3 25.hxg3 Nh5 26.Bxg7 Kxg7 27.Qd4+ Qf6 28.Qxf6+
Kxf6 29.Kh2 Rc2 30.f4] 43.Kg4 Bd2 44.Ra1 h5+ 45.Kh4 and Black resigned due to Rb8
46.f4 Rd8 47.Kg5 Rg8 48.Kh6 1-0
25.Bxf6 [25.Qxb5 25...Nh5 26.Bh3 Qxh3 27.Qd5+ Kf8 28.Qxa2
fxg3 29.Bxg7+ Kxg7]
25...Bxf6 26.Qd5 Qxd5 27.exd5 Exchange of queens has
dramatically changed the situation on the board. The pawn on c6
is very strong; White’s bishop will soon paralyze Black’s rook; the
only resort for Black is that he is keeping an extra footman. Bd4+
28.Kh1 Ra5 29.Rfe1 Rc7 30.Re4 Bc3 31.Bh3 fxg3 32.hxg3
Special thanks to Peter Zhdanov for the offer to annotate a game

of mine for the Top GM Secrets newsletter. As a conclusion, I would
like to add that when you are playing a GM rated nearly 2700, it is
vital to have no fear. You can beat anyone as long as you struggle
for the initiative with all your might.
32...Kf7? [Time trouble. A single mistake spells doom for Black.

Maybe Denis didn’t like...32...b4 because of 33.Bd7 Kf8 34.Rf4+
Kg7 35.Be6, but the king escapes after 35...h5. Now an unexpected
assault of the White rook is winning.]
33.Be6+ Ke8 34.Rc4! Be1 [Such simple lines as 34...b4 35.Rxc3
bxc3 36.Rb8+; 34...Bf6 35.Rcb4 are easy to calculate, but even the
trick in the game doesn’t save Black.]
35.Kg2 Ra2+ 36.Kh3 Ba5 37.Rxb5 The pawn has been regained.
The Black monarch is on the brink of execution.
Kf8 38.Rb8+ Kg7 39.Rg8+ Kf6 40.Rf8+ Kg7 41.Rf7+ Kh8
42.Rc1 Rb2 All the roads lead to Rome here, but I have chosen the
Puzzle section
(9) Aronian, L(2777)-Caruana, F(2812) (11) Nabaty, T(2579)-Neeloptal, D(2437)
Baden-Baden, 2015.02.04 Gibraltar Open, 2015.02.02
1... i 1. h
(10) Anand, V(2797)-Carlsen, M(2865) (12) Grandelius, N(2602)-Houska, J(2388)

Baden-Baden, 2015.02.06 Gibraltar Open, 2015.02.02
[CEWN]
1... i 1. h
(13) Sengupta, D(2569)-Bellon Lopez, JM(2370) (15) Kuipers, S(2390)-Oparin, G(2551)
1. h 1. h
(14) Iturrizaga, E(2649)-Dragne(2344) (16) Sutovsky, E(2637)-Spragett, K(2538)

1. h 1. h
(17) Cheparinov, I(2681)-Adhiban, B(2630)
Gibraltar Open, 2015.02.05
1... i
(18) Ganguly, S(2595)-Sengupta, D(2569)

1... i
Endgame section
(19) Carlsen, Magnus (2865)

- Baramidze, David (2594)
Grenke Chess Classic, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.02.07 Best rating: 2672
31.Rxd5! Nxd5 32.Nxe6 Re8 and White wins serious material with
33.Bb3!h Black cannot survive the pin on the diagonal.; 30...Ree8
moves into 31.Nd6 Re7 32.g3; 30...Rc6 is similar to the game. White
again plays 31.g3!]
Black seems to be completely fine. He has a nice center and active

minor pieces. The only temporary drawback of his position is the
misplacement of his e6 rook, however it allows White to grab the
advantage with extremely powerful play... 31.g3! The main point of the previous move! White uses the fact
that the black pieces are tied to defend each other.
30.Nfg5! Very well played! Actually the position is very concrete
and Carlsen starts to use his tactical skills to gain a positional 31...Bxe4 [Probably the best defense was 31...fxe4 32.gxf4 Nb6
advantage. Suddenly Black faces a difficult problem, he has 33.fxe5 Rxe5 34.Nxe4 White has won a pawn, but at least Black
many moves and none of them seem to be adequate. [Black is managed to keep his active pieces and he might hope for sufficient
slightly better after the simple retreat 30.Ned2 30...Ree8 Black compensation. 34...Kg7+=]
consolidates and is ready to overtake the initiative by pushing e4
32.Bxe4 fxe4 [32...Nxh3+ is even worse, because it leaves Black
followed by Ne5-d3.; The reason why the f-knight had to go to g5
with a horrible structure after 33.Nxh3 fxe4 34.Ng5!c White could
can be seen in the line 30.Neg5 30...Ree8 31.g3 Nxh3+! and the f3
have recaptured the e4 pawn right away, but it is much better to
knight is hanging.]
occupy this excellent square with the knight. Despite the material
30...Re7 [A nice tactical point is to meet 30...fxe4 by equality, White can claim a serious advantage because of the two
weaknesses on e5 and b5 and the excellent placement of his pieces.] Kg7! It looks clever to leave the back rank to avoid the cutting of
the king with Rb7. White cannot avoid losing the b2 pawn anyway.
33.gxf4 Rf8 [Black loses material after 33...exf4 34.Rxe4! Rde8
.. 41.Kg2 Rd4 followed by Rd3 and b3 next move. If White tries to
Black was forced to leave the pin on the d-file but it simply costs
activate his king with Kf3-e4 the dropping of the h3 pawn gives Black
him a pawn. 35.Rxf4c]
strong counterplay with the h-passer.]
34.Nxe4 Rxf4 The material is balanced, but the b5 pawn is
35...Nf6 Baramidze aims for a rook endgame, but Carlsen correctly
extremely weak. Carlsen continues the game with extreme
refuses this option.
precision. It is tempting to go for the pawn directly with Rd5, but
it allows Black to create counterplay. He rather fixes the weakness 36.Nd6! The fall of the b5 pawn creates very dangerous connected
first to be able to win it in better circumstances... passed pawns for White!
36...Rf3 37.Nxb5 Rxh3 38.c4! The material is still balanced, but
the quality of the pawns decides the outcome. The b- and c-pawns
start to advance and Black cannot really stop them.
38...Rh4 [38...Rb3 runs into 39.Nd4! and Nc6 next!]
39.Nd6 Nh5 [On 39...Ne8
35.b4! Rd5 and Nd6 are real threats now. [35.Rd5 is strongly met
by 35...b4! 36.cxb4
40.Re4! is a key move to save the pawns along the 4th rank.
(Sometimes such pawns automatically decide the game, but here
White loses one of them... 40.Nxe8? 40...Rxe8 41.Rc1 Rc8=)
40...Rxe4 41.Nxe4h and the pawns continue marching. ]
40.b5 Nf4 Black pins his hopes to active counterplay against the
exposed king, but he is lacking the pieces to create something
36...Nf6! forcing the simplification to a rook endgame, where Black
serious. White can easily neutralize the threats of the knight and
keeps excellent chances to survive. 37.Nxf6+ Rxf6 38.Rdxe5 Rxe5
rook.
39.Rxe5 Rf4! It is important not to allow the rook to come behind
the b-pawn. For instance Rf3? Re3 followed by Rb3 is over. 40.Rb5 41.b6 Rg4+ 42.Kf1 Rh4 43.f3! Simple and strong. White parries
the mate threat.
43...Rh1+ 44.Kf2 Rh2+ 45.Kg1 [Sacrificing an exchange
with 45.Ke3 was also good enough. 45...Ng2+ 46.Kd3 Nxe1+
47.Rxe1h and the passed pawns are unstoppable.]
45...Rc2 Nh3 is threatening now, but White has many convincing
winning moves to parry this single threat. [45...Rb2 loses to 46.Rb1
Nh3+ 47.Kh1 Nf2+ 48.Kg2h and there are no more checks.]
46.Kh1 [46.b7? is wrong because of 46...Nh3+ 47.Kh1 (47.Kf1??
47...Rf2#) 47...Nf2+ 48.Kg1 Nh3+=]
46...Nh3
47.Ne4! The last exact move! White prevents Nf2 and now the
only question that remains is what happens if Black captures the
unprotected pawn, but it is also refuted directly...
47...Rxc4 48.Rd8+! Kg7 49.Rb1! [and Black resigned in view
of 49.Rb1 49...Rb7 50.Nd6h and the pawn promotes. Perfect
technique by Carlsen!] 1-0
Chess and the City. One of the most impressive performances came from the
current women’s world champion Hou Yifan, she agreed to
Good Bye Gibraltar play despite participating in the well-known tough event in
Wijk aan Zee of 13 rounds immediately before. Throughout
the tournament she showed great play and was even close
to defeating David Howell in the last round to secure herself
second place outright. Eventually she finished in 3rd-11th
place and was rewarded not only with the first women’s prize
of over 15000 pounds, but also earning a substantial sum in
the main price category.
Best rating: 2493
The most amazing open tournament of all time has finally come
to an end. It was convincingly won by one of the favorites Hikaru
Nakamura with an astonishing score of 8.5 /10.
In order to give more honour to that fantastic open

tournament, the team of Chess Evolution and I agreed
One of the crucial rounds of the tournament. After losing his last three on a small quiz which give 1 special book reward sent by
games vs. Topalov Nakamura was seeking a bloody revenge and eventually Chess Evolution to the winner.
managed to succeed.
But let us start the quiz:
This did not only secure him a substantial gain of 16 rating 1. How many times has the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival
points, but he will also regain his place as the highest ranked taken place?
player of the USA on the next list. 2. Who among the main Organizers has the nickname ”the
fox”?
3. Which female participant is the strongest rated one playing Clash of the Titans
for the first time in 2015?
4. Which other female participant had to spend some
additional days at Gibraltar in 2013 due to a Visa problem? (20) Lutikov, Anatoly S
5. Which two participants at the Gibraltar Festival of 2015 are - Taimanov, Mark E[B48]
sponsored by Red Bull?
6. Who is the creator of the Gibraltar Chess Tournament? URS-ch37(23),
7. Which Top Grandmaster is known by the name of ”Prince 1969.10.11
Charming”? GM Kamil Miton
8. Which other Top GM being called ”The finest”? Best rating: 2655
9. What is the favorite move of the commentator Simon
Williams (related to the nick name I gave him)?
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3
10. Last but not least, which super GM agreed his participation
a6 7.Bd3 b5 8.Nxc6 Qxc6 [8...dxc6 9.a4! Bb7 (9...Rb8 )
for 2016?
10.axb5 cxb5 11.Nxb5A]
9.Bd4?! Probably with the idea to avoid Bc5, but it looks
Please send the answers to the following address
a bit strange. White usually plays for example: [9.O-O
(chessnewsletter@yahoo.com) within 2 weeks after the
9...Bb7 10.Re1 with the idea to use some Nd5 tricks. 10...Nf6
publication of the newsletter. We will draw one winner and
11.a3 Bd6 12.Bd4 e5 13.Be3 Bc5 14.Qf3 Bxe3 15.Rxe3
reward him/her with a book price, which will be posted to
Qc5 16.Qf5 Kf8 17.Rg3 h6k1/2-1/2 Macieja,B-Anand,V/New
his/her address.
Delhi/Teheran 2000/CBM 080 (26)]
9...Bb7 10.Qe2
10...Ne7 This was Taimanov favorite setup in the Sicilian,

with a pawn on d7. [10...Nf6 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Nd5 O-O-O!
13.Nxf6 Bg7V] 16...Qc7
11.f4 b4 The other idea was to bring the knight to c6:
[11...Qc7 12.Qf2 (12.Be5 12...d6 13.Bxb5+ Bc6!i Duda)
12...Nc6 13.Bb6 Qb8k]
12.Nb1 Ng6
17.e5 [17.g3 just to limit the black pieces a bit, but now
Black can launch some aggressive play over the center:
17...f5!? Friend 18.O-O-O fxe4 (18...Ne5 19.fxe5 fxe4 20.exd6
Qa5 21.Qxf8+ Kxf8 22.Nxe4 Qxa2 23.Rhf1+ Kg8 24.Nc5c;
18...e5?! 19.exf5 exf4 20.Bb6!) 19.Bxe4 (19.Nxe4 19...Ne5!
13.Qf2 White had two other options: [13.Rf1!? This move 20.Nxd6 Nxd3+ 21.Rxd3 Bxh1 22.Nxc8 Rxc8 23.Rd4 a5 with
looks most logical to me because the rook on f1 is useful.; for example d5-Be4 next and Black is clearly better.) 19...Bxe4
13.g3 13...e5!? 14.fxe5 Bc5 15.Qf2 Rc8! Milton 16.Bxc5 Qxc5 20.Nxe4 Be7k]
17.Qxc5 Rxc5 18.a3 with the idea to create pressure on the
queenside, but Black is on time after 18...Nxe5! 19.axb4?? 17...Bc5 18.h5 Bxe3 19.Qxe3 Ne7
Nxd3+ 20.cxd3 Rc1+i]
13...Bd6 14.Be3 [14.Bxg7 14...Nxf4! 15.Bxh8 Nxd3+ 16.cxd3
Qc1+i; 14.g3 14...e5V]
14...O-O 15.Nd2 Rac8 looks natural but might not be
necessary. An alternative was [15...a5 with the idea to put
pressure on the c2 pawn after Ba6.]
16.h4!? A very agg ressive move, but White could put his king
into safety after the simple [16.O-O-Ok]
20.Nc4 [20.Ne4 20...Nf5 21.Qf2 d6!? Duda (21...f6!? Friend-
with the idea to destroy the white center and activate the
pieces. 22.exf6 Bxe4 23.Bxe4 (23.fxg7 23...Nxg7 24.Bxe4
Rxf4k) 23...Rxf6 24.O-O-O Qc4!V) 22.exd6 (22.g4? 22...dxe5
23.gxf5 exf5i) 22...Nxd6 23.Nxd6 Qxd6 24.O-O-O Qc5 and 29...Be4!! We missed this on the board and it was shown
Black doesn’t have any problems here.] to us by the engine. 30.Bxe4 Qxb2+ 31.Ke3 Qc1+ 32.Ke2
20...Nf5 21.Qd2 Bd5 22.Ne3 [22.Bxf5 22...Bxc4] Qb2+ 33.Kf1 Qc1+ 34.Kf2 Qd2+ and White is not able
to avoid perpetual check because after 35.Kg1? Qd4+e;
22...Nxe3 23.Qxe3 Qc5 Instead of defending a slightly 26...Qxg2+ 27.Qxg2 Bxg2 28.Rg1 Bd5 29.Rhg4 g6! 30.hxg6
worse endgame White decides to create some pressure f5 31.exf6 Rxf6 32.g7 Bc4!=+ to avoid Bh7. Black is better
against the black king. becasue the g7 pawn can be weak.) 27.Bxc2 Bc4+ 28.Kd2
24.Qg3 h6 25.Rh4!? (28.Kf3 28...Qxa1 29.Rg4 Qf1+ 30.Ke3 Qe2+ 31.Kd4 Qxc2i)
28...Qd4+ 29.Kc1 Qg1+ 30.Bd1 Rc8 31.f5! There is no useful
check now, but Black plays 31...Rc5! Duda - to have a check on
d5 after Kd2. 32.Rxc4 Rxc4+ 33.Kd2 exf5 and Black is better.]
26...Qd4? After deep analysis we can objectively say that
this is a mistake. Black should have forced the draw after:
[26...Rxc2+ 27.Bxc2 Qd4+ 28.Qd3 Qf2+ 29.Kd1 (29.Kc1??
29...Qe1+) 29...Qg1+ with perpetual check.]
27.f5 [27.Re1 to prevent Be4 but then after 27...f5! 28.exf6
Qxf6 Black is fine.; 27.Rg4 27...Be4! 28.Rxg7+ Kh8e and the
25...Qg1+!? Taimanov accepts the challenge. Objectively queen and rook are badly placed on the g-file.]
better for Black was the simple [25...Kh8 26.Rg4 Bc4! 27...Rxc2+ 28.Kxc2
(26...Rg8 ) ; 25...f5 26.exf6 Rxf6 27.Rg4 Rf7 is also fine for
Black.]
26.Kd2 [26.Ke2!? was an interesting alternative. 26...Rxc2+
(26...Qxa1 27.Rg4 Kh8 28.Rxg7 Rxc2+ An amazing move!
29.Bxc2
28...b3+ Black could also play [28...Rc8+ 29.Kd1 (29.Kd2

29...Qxb2+ 30.Ke3 Qxa1 31.f6 Qc1+ is less accurate.
(31...Qg1+ 32.Ke2 Qxg2+ 33.Qxg2 Bxg2 34.Rg4 Bd5
35.Rxg7+ Kh8 (35...Kf8 36.Bh7h) 36.Rxf7 Bxa2 37.Rh7+
Kg8 38.f7+ Kf8 39.Rh8+h) 32.Kf2 (32.Ke2?? 32...Qg5
33.Rg4 Qxh5i) 32...Qd2+ 33.Kg1 (33.Be2 33...Qg5 34.Rg4
Qf5+ 35.Rf4 Qg5=) 33...Rc1+ 34.Kh2 (34.Bf1 34...Qxg2+
35.Qxg2 Bxg2 36.Kxg2 gxf6 37.exf6 a5 and it is not easy to
evaluate this position.) 34...Qg5 35.Rg4 Qxh5+ 36.Rh4 Qg5
37.Rg4=) 29...Qg1+ (29...Qxb2 30.Rb1h) 30.Qe1 Qxg2
The whole line was based on the following amazing move:

39.Rh7+! Kxh7 40.Qg7#]
29...Qg1+ 30.Qe1 Once again an interesting option was to
give the rook: [30.Kd2 30...Qxa1 31.Rg4 (31.f6 31...Qxb2+
32.Ke1 Qxg2 33.Qxg2 Bxg2 34.Rg4 bxa2 35.Rxg7+ Kh8
36.Rh7+=) 31...Qxb2+ 32.Kd1 Qa1+ (32...Kh8 33.Rxg7 Be4?!
Milton 34.Bxe4 Qd4+ 35.Bd3 bxa2 36.Rh7+! Kxh7 37.f6+
31.Be2 (31.Rxb4 31...Bf3+ 32.Be2 Rc5A; 31.Qe3!c A perfect Qxd3+ 38.Qxd3+ Kh8 39.Qa3! Otherwise Black would have
place for the queen! We overlooked this defending idea on Rb8.; 32...bxa2 33.Rxg7+ Kh8 34.Rh7+! nice. 34...Kxh7 35.f6+)
the board, but it was shown to us by the engine.) 31...Bb3+! 33.Kd2 Qxa2+ 34.Ke3 Qxg2 35.Rxg7+ Kh8 36.Qxg2 Bxg2
or Bxa2!? - Milton 32.axb3 Qd5+ 33.Qd2 Qxb3+ 34.Ke1 37.Rxg2 exf5 Black has many pawns, but they are quite weak
Qg3+ 35.Kf1 Qxh4 36.Bf3k(36.Rxa6 36...Rc1+! Friend) ] so this should be a draw.]
29.Kd1? Lutikov overlooked a winning variation! He 30...Qxg2 31.Qf1?! [31.axb3! Friend 31...Qxb2 (31...Bxb3+
could play [29.axb3! 29...Bxb3+ 30.Kd2 (30.Kxb3 30...Rb8+ 32.Kc1 Rc8+ 33.Kb1 Rc2 34.Rxa6 Rxb2+ 35.Kc1
31.Kc2 Qxb2+ 32.Kd1 Qxa1+A) 30...Qxb2+ 31.Ke3 Qxa1
32.f6 and now the white king needs to escape from the checks.
32...Qg1+ 33.Ke2 Qd1+ 34.Kf2 Qd2+ 35.Kg1 Qc1+ 36.Bf1
Qg5 37.Rg4 Qxh5 38.Rxg7+ Kh8
35...Rc2+ 36.Kb1 leads to a nice perpetual check! -Friend)
32.Rc1 Bxb3+ 33.Bc2 Rc8 34.Rh2 Rc5! Duda- Once again the
rook is activated over the 5th rank.]
31...Bf3+! 32.Ke1 Qxb2 33.Rb1 Qxe5+ 34.Kf2 bxa2 Black
grabs a lot of pawns. The position is wining for him but he still
needs to play accurate moves.
35.Re1 Qf6 36.Kg3
doesn’t work because of the nice 40...a1=Q! 41.Rxa1 Qg2+

42.Ke1 Re8+ 43.Kd1 Bf3+ 44.Kc1 Re1#]
39...Be4! 40.Rhxe4 fxe4 41.Qxe4 Qxh5+ 0-1
36...Bg2?! looks nice but better was [36...Qg5+ 37.Kh3

Bd5i with the plan to activate the rook over the b-file.]
37.Qg1 [37.Qxg2 37...a1=Q 38.Rxa1 Qxa1=+ with chances for
White.; 37.Qf2!? ]
37...exf5 38.Qd4 [38.Bxf5 38...Bc6 Rb8 is coming and with a
weak king and the unpleasant pawn on a2, White’s position is
very bad.; 38.Qe3 38...Bc6 39.Rd4 Rb8 40.Qf4 Rb3 Friend]
38...Qg5+ 39.Kh2 [39.Kf2 was more accurate compared to
the game, so that there would be no check on h5. 39...Bc6
(39...Be4 40.Rhxe4 fxe4 41.Qxe4 and there is no check on h5.)
40.Rg1
(21) Troitzky (22) Heinemann, J(2160)-Ganguly, S(2595)
1. = Gibraltar Open, 2015.01.27
25...Re1+! 26.Rxe1 Bd4i

(23) Roiz, M(2592)-Heer, S(2157)
13.h3! [13.dxc5 13...Qxd1 14.Rxd1 e4]

13...Bxf3 [13...Bh5 14.g4h]
14.Bxf3 e4 15.dxc5! Qxc5 [15...Qxd1 16.Bxd1h]
16.Bg2h
(24) Rapport, R(2716)-Tari, A(2487) (26) Vishnu, P(2463)-Sutovsky, E(2637)
17.Kd2!! g6 [17...exf3 18.Qh7#; 17...f5 18.g6! Qe8 19.Rh8+! 32.Bg7+! Kg6 33.f5+! 1-0 [33.f5+ 33...exf5 34.Be5+ Kh6
Kxh8 20.Qh1+ Kg8 21.Qh7#; 17...f6 18.g6 Qe8 19.Rh8+! 35.Bf4#]
Kxh8 20.Qh1+ Kg8 21.Qh7#]
(27) Matlakov, M(2695)-Muzychuk, M(2520)
18.Qh1! f6 19.Rh7! 1-0 [19.Rh7 19...fxg5 (19...Rf7 20.Rh8+
Kg7 21.Qh6#) 20.Qh6 Bf6 21.Qxg6+h]
(25) Jones, G(2671)-Melia, S(2473)
39...e3! 40.Bxc6 [40.fxe3 40...Rxc2 41.Kxc2 Bxg2i]

40...e2! 41.Rxd2 [41.Rc1 41...Rd1i]
26.Nf6+! exf6 27.exf6! Rxd1+ 28.Kh2 Qb8+ [28...Qxe2 41...e1=Q+ 42.Kc2 bxc6i 0-1
29.Qg7#] 29.g3 1-0
(28) Muzychuk, M(2520)-Adhiban, B(2630) (29) Donchenko, A(2511)-Motylev, A(2665)
34...e5+!! [34...Ra4+ 35.c4; 34...Rd2?? 35.Rb8+ Kf7 14...Qf8!! 15.Qd1 [15.Be2 15...Qg8i; 15.Nxf8
36.Rf8#] 15...Rxh5i]
35.Kc4 [35.Kxe5 35...Rxd3 36.Rb8+ Kf7 37.Rf8+ Kg6i; 15...Rxh7 16.Bxc4 [16.Qb1 16...Qh8 17.Qxb5+ Bc6 18.Qxc4
35.Bxe5 35...Rd2 36.Rb8+ Kf7i] Rxh4 19.Rxh4 Qxh4i]
35...Ra4+ 36.Kb3 Rxd3i 16...bxc4? [16...Nc7i ]
17.Qb1 Nd7 18.Qxh7 Ne7=+
(30) Negi, P(2669)-Enkhbat, T(2417) (32) Sehwers
Chinggis GM, 2015.01.31
1.d6+! Qxd6 [1...Nxd6? 2.Nd5+; 1...Kxd6? 2.Bf8]

2.Rf7+!! Bxf7 [2...Kd8? 3.Bg5+; 2...Kb8 3.Bf4; 2...Kb6
34.Nxe6!! fxe6 [34...Qxd2 35.Rxg7+ Kh8 36.Qh7#; 3.Rf6! Qxf6 4.Nd5+]
34...Qxb2+ 35.Qxb2h; 34...Rxd2 35.Rxg7+ Kh8 36.Qh7#;
34...Rxc2 35.Rxg7+ Kh8 36.Rxd8+h] 3.Bf4! Qxf4 4.Nd5+! Bxd5
35.Rxd8+ Kf7 36.Qg6+ Ke7 37.Re8+ Kd6 38.Qxe6+ Kc5

39.Rg5+ 1-0
(31) Szelag, M(2456)-Socko, B(2611)
20...Qe7!! 21.Qxe7 [21.Qe5 21...f6i]

21...Rxg2+ 22.Kh1 Rg1+!! 23.Kxg1 Rg8+ 24.Bg4 Rxg4# 0-1
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
And the Zurich Chess Challenge 2015 is already behind us. 6
Top Grandmasters were playing a round robin in blitz, rapid
Editorial Preface 2 and normal chess.
Anand can celebrate a great comeback, as after not having
Two best games of the past week 6 a great showing in Baden-Baden he managed to consolidate
and take clear first place with 3 draws and 2 wins over
The K-Files. Nimzo 4.e3 0-0 5.Nge2 c6 8.e4 14 Nakamura and Aronian. Second place went to Nakamura,
who also won 2 games, against Karjakin and Caruana, but he
lost to Anand.
In the blitz section Aronian was unstoppable and Vladimir
Puzzle section 19 Kramnik was the strongest one in rapid.
In the overall standings, Anand and Nakamura scored the
Endgame section 22 same amount of points, so an armaggedon game was needed
to decide the overall winner. Nakamura was Black and a draw
would have been enough, but he even managed to win the
Chess and the City.
game in convincing style.
To change or not to change, that is the question 27
All in all it was a great event to watch and in the current issue
Clash of the Titans 29 you will find some commented games taken from it.
Another super event has begun and that is the FIDE
Surprise section / study 32 Grand Prix, in which Grischuk, Giri and many other Top
Grandmasters are participating.
Solutions 32 The biggest surprise so far is the excellent start of
Tomaschevsky with 3.5/4. His games were a bit strange,
as it seems like he only wants to play a calm game and has
nothing against a draw, but people keep on trying to look
for trouble and Tomaschevsky shows no mercy in punishing
them.
After round 4 nothing too dramatic has happened, but the
fight for the first places is probably going to be between
Tomaschevsky, Grischuk, Giri and Mamedyarov. A lot of
excitement is still awaiting us!
We hope you enjoy the current issue.
With best chess wishes,

Play GM Arkadij Naiditsch for Free
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Two best games of the past week 5.e3 cxd4 6.exd4
(1) Jobava, Baadur (2696)

- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (2759)
[A01]
Tbilisi FIDE Grand Prix(5), GM Arkadij Naiditsch

2015.02.20 Best rating: 2737
The latest results of Jobava have been anything but great 6...d5! A very good move. Now the bishop on b2 is "dead".
and after a very bad event in Wijk aan Zee, he continued 7.Qd2 White is planning to castle queenside- what else to
playing in the same way in the Grand Prix, often going for do?!
irrational openings combined with overly aggressive play.
7...Nc6 8.O-O-O Qa5 This move looks a bit too rushed to me.
This might work in an open tournament, but when you are
Why not immediately play8...Bf5 with the idea of just playing
playing against the best in the world, usually such play is
0-0 and doubling on the c-file. Maybe Qa5 will be a useful
getting punished. Anyhow, in the current game, after a very
move in the future, but maybe not...
strange opening, Black got at least equal play, but maybe he
wanted too much too quickly and Mamedyarov took a risky 9.f3 preparing the g4 push and protecting the e4 square.
decision. The game got very hectic but Black seemed to keep 9...h5 not allowing g4 and sometimes Bh6 could be a threat.
a clear advantage, until Mamedyarov made a blunder which
allowed Jobava to get on the top. A funny game to watch... 10.Kb1 Bf5 Black wants to play Nb4 next.
1.b3 Well... 11.Bd3!? A very good practical desicion. White decides to

sacrifice a pawn and get an active position rather than playing
1...Nf6 2.Bb2 g6 Personally I like this setup for Black a lot. a move like 11.a3?! and be clearly worse after for example 0-0
3.Nc3 To play 3.Bxf6 is of course not an option. Black would followed by Rfc8.
just be better. 11...Nxd4?! A very principled move, but there was no reason
3...Bg7 4.d4 Baadur already played a few games with this for Black to play it. [After the simple 11...Bxd3 12.Qxd3 O-O
setup, which looks very strange to me. What is the idea of Black’s position is at least equal and I would clearly prefer to
putting the bishop on b2 and then playing d4? I don’t get it... be Black here.]
4...c5 Black uses the fact that White cannot take on c5
because of Ne4.
together. [13...Bxd3 14.Rxd3 and White is threatening to play
Nxd5 next.]
14.Rhe1 Typical Jobava! All or nothing... [White could have
chosen a safer way by playing 14.Bb5!? 14...Bxb5 It seems like
Black doesn’t have anything better. 15.Qxb5+ Qxb5 16.Nxb5
and Black cannot hold the d5 pawn. The position is around
equal for example the simple 16...O-O and the game would
probably end in a draw in this endgame.]
14...e6 It looks like Black’s position is protected, but Jobava
12.Nge2! Maybe Mamedyarov underestimated this strong
of course had something in mind before playing 14.Rhe1.
answer of White, but on the other hand White had nothing
else to play. [In case White would try to recover the pawn
with 12.Bxf5?! 12...Nxf5 13.Nxd5 Black has the strong answer
13...Qxd5! entering a clearly better endgame. 14.Qxd5 Nxd5
15.Rxd5 Bxb2 16.Kxb2 Ne3 17.Rd2 Rd8 and this endgame
looks very unpleasant for White.]
12...Nxe2 [Another option for Black seems to be 12...Bxd3
but now White can play for the initiative after 13.Nxd4 Ba6
14.Rhe1 All the white pieces are in the game, the black bishop
is badly placed on a6 and the position is very unclear.]
15.Bxg6!? Not very good, but very inventive play! The
13.Qxe2 position is very crazy now.
15...fxg6 Of course Black has to take the piece.
16.Nxd5 This is also the only move.
16...Nxd5 17.Bxg7 So, where to put the rook now?! On g8 or
h7?
17...Rg8?! Maybe Mame dyarov stopped being serious about
the game or maybe he just miscalculated something, but I
cannot understand why he didn’t go to h7. [It seems like the
right choice was 17...Rh7! and if White tried to do same as in
13...Bd7! An excellent move by Mamedyarov! The black the game 18.Qe5 Black now has the very strong 18...Kf7!! and
bishop will be passive on d7, but it will hold everything the black king can escape to g8 after 19.Rxd5 Qxd5 20.Qf6+
Kg8 and this was all not possible in the game.] 21.Red1 [The very tempting-looking 21.Re4 doesn’t bring
18.Qe5 is probably White’s best chance. much either. 21...Qb5 The only move. 22.Qd4 Be8 23.Rexe6
with a very unclear position.]
18...Rxg7? This is already a blunder. Black had several
good options here: [A very hard move to play was 18...Kf7 21...Bc6?! Another unlucky decision... [21...Be8 looks much
19.Rxd5 We are entering a long forced line now. 19...Qxd5 tougher. 22.Rxe6 Bf7 23.Rd7 Kg8 Black wants to play Rf8
20.Qf6+ Ke8 21.Qxg6+ Kd8 22.Qf7 Kc7 23.Re3! Of course next and it seems like everything is okay, but White has the
Black always has Rxg7 or other options, but for a human such amazing
a position can look very dangerous and unclear.; 18...Qc7!
seems to be very strong. 19.Qb2 (19.c4 just leads to a
lost endgame. 19...Qxe5 20.Bxe5 Ne7 and I don’t see any
hope for White.) 19...O-O-O! The only move, but it is very
strong. 20.Be5 Qa5 and maybe White has some play for the
piece, but I think his position should be close to lost in the
long-term.]
24.Rxf7! Kxf7 and again White needs to find 25.Qd5!! which

is very difficult during a practical game. 25...Kf8 26.Re4 and
because of his dangerous attack, White has good winning
chances.]
22.R1d4? and White gifts the game back... [22.Rd8+ was
winning. 22...Rxd8 23.Rxd8+ Be8 (23...Ke7 loses to 24.Rd4;
Maybe what both players missed is that after 23...Kf7 White
19.Rxd5!! Black had clearly missed this counterblow... needed to find 24.c3!! The black queen cannot keep control
[19.Qxg7 was losing on the spot as after 19...Nc3+ 20.Kb2 over both the f8 and f4 squares any longer. 24...Qe7 25.Qf4+
Nxd1+ 21.Rxd1 O-O-O White has no compensation at all.] Qf6 26.Rf8+ Kxf8 27.Qxf6+ and White is easily winning.) ]
19...Qb4 controling the f8 square and keeping an eye on the 22...Qb5 The right move.
e1 rook. 23.Rd8+ Rxd8 24.Rxd8+ Ke7 25.Qd6+ The position seems
20.Rd6 preventing the black queen to joining the defense. to be a draw now...
20...Kf8 Another only move. 25...Kf6 26.Qd4+
(2) Anand, Viswanathan(2797)
- Aronian, Levon(2777) [D97]
4th Zurich CC Classical(2.3), GM Csaba Balogh

2015.02.15 Best rating: 2672
Anand has a terrible personal score against Aronian, but in

this game he takes a nice revenge. It would be very interesting
26...Kf7?? and Mamedyarov is the last one to blunder. [After to know how long his preparation lasted, perhaps it was until
the correct 26...Ke7 27.Qd6+ (If White wanted too much with he reached a completely winning position. In any case, Vishy
27.Rh8? Black is winning after 27...e5! 28.Qd8+ Ke6 and the wins a very nice game.
black king is perfectly safe on e6.) 27...Kf6 and this seems to 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 A surprise by Aronian. He only
just be a draw.] occasionally employs the Gruenfeld defence, but recently
27.Qf4+ Now the game is just over. everyone faces serious difficulties about how to play for and
edge against it...
27...Ke7 followed by mate with 28.Qf8. A very exciting game,
even though it had quite a few mistakes in it, and clearly a very 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 Anand sticks to his amazing preparation,
important point forJobava! 1-0 which he did before the World Championship match against
Carlsen. He got a very promising position there in this 5.Qb3
system.
5...dxc4 6.Qxc4 O-O 7.e4
7...Na6 Aronian follows the game against Carlsen and the old
main line used in so many games succesfully by Kasparov.
However recently all the experts are trying different setups
like 7...a6 or 7...Nc6.
8.Be2 c5 9.d5 e6 10.O-O exd5 11.exd5 The initial position of
the 7...Na6 system.
11...Re8 The other main line is 11...Bf5, but they often
transpose to each other.
12.Rd1 The main line, but at the same time the deviation
from the Anand-Carlsen WCC game from last year November.
White supports his main trumph, the d5 passed pawn,
16.Bg5! We can clearly see the strength of the d7 pawn. White
which sometimes becomes extremely strong when it starts to
comes out with a big advantage from the complications.
advance. [The Anand-Carlsen game continued with the rare
One important lineis 16...Qxd7 17.Rxd7 Rxc4 18.Rxb7! Ra4
12.Bg5 Arkadij commented it in detail in a previous issue of
19.Rd1c with a big advantage for White. Suddenly the
our newsletter.]
black pieces are poorly placed and the king is getting very
12...Bf5 Black usually pins his counterplay to the Ne4 move, vulnerable. One direct threat is Rxa7 because after Rxa7 Rd8
which opens the diagonal of the g7 bishop, which is often Bf8 Bh6 wins.]
threatening with tactical ideas like Nxc3 followed by Re4 or
14.Be3 This is the new direction prepared by Anand.
just the positional plan of a Nd6 retreat. The knight could
[Almost all the games continued with 14.Bf4 14...Nd7 even
become the ideal blockader of the passed pawn.
such classical ones as Karpov-Kasparov from their World
13.d6 Everything is still known with hundreds of games in the Championship match back in 1987.]
database. White has in mind to play Ng5 sometimes or Qb3,
14...Ng4! Aronian tries to point out the drawback of the
attacking the b7 pawn and threatening Bb5 or Bc4.
previous move with the most direct answer. [14...Ne4 is again
13...h6! The correct answer. Black has to take control over the met by 15.d7! Re7 16.Nxe4 Bxe4 (16...Rxe4 17.Qd5 is too
g5 square. [Many players have fallen into the opening trap of strong! The b7, c5 and a6 are hanging. This is one of the points
13...Ne4 which is strongly met by 14.d7! Re7 15.Nxe4 Rxe4 of the 14.Be3 move, as the e2 bishop is hanging now.) 17.Rd6!
and Rad1 next. The d7 pawn paralyzes the black pieces.]
15.Bf4 19...Bd3!! 20.Bxd3 Rxf3! Of course it is impossible to
find these ideas over the board. Black eliminates the main
defender of the king and Qh4 is coming next move with a scary
attack... 21.gxf3 (21.Qxc4 21...Qh4 comes anyway.) 21...Qh4!
There is nothing else left to do for Black, he sacrifices all
his pieces... 22.fxg4 Qxg4+ 23.Kf1 Qh3+ 24.Ke1 White
might try to avoid the perpetual check by moving the king
towards the center, but he cannot escape from it... 24...Re8+
25.Be2 (25.Kd2?? 25...Qxd3+ 26.Kc1 Qxc3+ 27.Kb1 Rb8+i)
25...Qg4! A subtle move, when Black is a rook and bishop
15...Bxc3! This is the tactical point of the previous knight down! It is important to protect to c4 pawn to stop the white
move! If Black gives up his favorite bishop, there must be queen from joining the defence. 26.f3 Qg1+ 27.Kd2 Qg5+ and
serious reason to do it. The point is that the bishop has moved White is forced to agree a draw with 28.Ke1= (28.Kc2?? loses
into the Re4 fork. The Gruenfeld players must be good in to 28...Rxe2+ 29.Kb1 Qf5+ and mate on c2!) ]
creativity and very strong in calculation, which in general fits 19.d7! This position was clearly part of Anand’s preparation.
perfectly both Anand’s and Aronian’s style. The lines show that in case of Black’s perfect reply the game is
16.bxc3 Re4 Black wins a piece, but the game goes on. balanced, but obviously to play such a sharp position over the
Obviously Anand had to be prepared for all these things... board is quite impossible for a human, so it is a good practical
17.Qb5 Rxf4 18.Qxb7 Black is a piece up, but his pieces are choice for Anand to opt for this position. Black is still a piece
totally discoordinated. He must try to consolidate in the next up, but his pieces are misplaced and the d7 pawn keeps many
couple of moves... tactical resources at White’s disposal. [19.Bxa6? right away
was wrong in view of 19...Rb8! and White cannot save his
18...Ra4 The human move, indirectly protecting the a6 a6 bishop. 20.Qc6 (20.Qxa7 20...Ra8i) 20...Bd7!i is the
knight. [The machine shows a brilliant variation, which seems point and the bishop falls.]
to lead to a forced draw 18...c4!! 19.Qxa6
19...Be4 [The alternative was 19...Nc7 saving the knight, but
White has strong counterplay here as well after 20.h3! Nf6
is forced to sacrifice to survive this tension somehow...
21...Bxg2! Surprisingly Black survives the complications in
all the lines. 22.Nc4 (22.Bxg4 22...Qg5; 22.Kxg2 22...Qh4)
22...Rb8 23.Nxa5 Rxb3 24.axb3 Ne5 25.Kxg2 Nb8 and Black
eliminates the d7 pawn and solves most of his problems.
These are all computer lines and it is very hard to understand
what is going on for us... ]
21.Ne5! creating the threat of Nc6 and Qb3, with a double

attack on a4 and f7! 21...Nxd7 22.Nxf7! Black must accept
the sacrifice. 22...Kxf7 (Other moves are much worse, for
instance 22...Qf8 23.Nd6h wins for White . Too many pieces
are hanging. The c7 knight, the f5 bishop and then the d7
knight and also Qb3 check.) 23.Qb3+ Kg7 24.Qxa4+= The
position has simplified and White’s prospects are better. He
is already doing fine materially and the black knights remain
21.Rd6! The rook joins the game with decisive power. Black
discoordinated.]
has no good way to deal with the hanging of the c6 bishop
20.Qb3 Bc6? A blunder which causes the loss of the game because the a4 rook must also be protected. Rxg6 is an
for Black. [The only move was the ugly 20...Ra5 protecting additional threat.
the pieces on the a-file. 21.Nd2
21...Bxd7 [21...c4 22.Qd1! h is over. The c6 and the a4
are hanging and after 22...Bb5 23.Qd5!h wins because
of the Rxg6 check threat.; 21...Rb8 22.Qd1 leads to the
same problems as the 21...c4 line. 22...Rb6 23.Rxc6! Rxc6
24.Qxa4h]
22.Rad1! h As simple as that! Black cannot solve problems
despite his extra piece. Even Qxa4 is a threat.
22...Qb8 23.Rxd7 Qxb3 24.axb3 Ra2 The material
is balanced, but the weakness of the black king and
themisplacemen t of the a6 knight decides the game...
attacking many pieces again. The g4, the e4 are hanging
directly and Nc4 is threatening to trap the rook. Black
25.Bc4! Rf8 26.R7d6! The final b low! White wins as not just
the a6 knight is hanging, but Rxg6-Rxg4 is also in the air.
26...Kg7 27.Rxa6 Rxf2 28.Re1 What a great game by Anand!
1-0
The K-Files.
Nimzo 4.e3 0-0 5.Nge2 c6 8.e4
FIDE World Chess Champion (1999) 8...d5 This natural move seems to be the best. [8...e5 was not
Best rating: 2702 tried yet and there is a good reason for it: 9.dxe5 (9.d5 is good
enough to secure some advantage. 9...d6 10.Ng3 - 8...d6)
9...Bxe5 10.f4 Simple and good. 10...Bc7 (10...Bxc3+ 11.Nxc3
a5 12.b5+= (12.Bb2 12...axb4 13.axb4 Rxa1 14.Bxa1 d6 15.Be2
Na6kis less clear.) 12...Nxe4 13.Nxe4 Re8 14.Be2 Rxe4 15.O-O
(3) Nimzo 4.e3 0-0 5.Nge2 c6 8.e4 [E46]
d6 16.Qd3 Re8 17.Bb2 and White has more than enough for
the sacrificed pawn.) 11.Ng3 and White wi ll complete the
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Ne2 c6 6.a3 development with a comfortable positional advantage. (11.e5
Ba5 7.b4 Bc7 8.e4 The most ambitious and dangerously is too active. 11...Ne8 12.Bb2 d6k) 11...a5 12.b5 d6 13.Be2+=;
straightforward plan. White is trying to gain as much space 8...d6 It was a real shock for me to find out that this modest
as possible. Black has to react very precisely just to avoid move has so far brought 85% for Black. OK, 10 games is not
full suffocation. However, pawns don’t move back and if the most reliable number but still.. . However, it’s mostly
Black succeeds in undermining the opponent’s center, then a coincidence and this massive success has little to do with
he can easily regain the initiative. The serious problem I faced the opening results. White has a comfortable choice of lines
analyzing this line is the lack of practical material (just 20 which promise him a nice positional advantage. Maybe not
games so far). The same is true about the whole system too much, but it is quite pleasant to play. 9.Ng3 This is the
with 5...c6 but in the other lines the structure is quite usual best plan. (
so it’s easier to play, just considering well-known strategical
a) 9.g3 It was mentioned already in part 1 that a fianchetto
patterns. After 8.e4 the situation becomes completely
combined with b2-b4 always has a certain drawback as the c4
different so an accurate knowledge is extremely valuable
pawn becomes vulnerable. The same is true for this line. 9...e5
here.
10.Bg2 a5 11.Rb1 (11.b5 11...Nbd7 12.O-O exd4 13.Nxd4 Ne5V)
11...exd4 12.Nxd4 Nbd7 13.O-O axb4 14.axb4 Ne5 x c4 15.Qb3
(15.c5 15...dxc5 16.bxc5 Qe7 17.f4 Vasilov - Ivanov,S Izhevsk
2010 17...Bg4! 18.Nce2 Qxc5e) 15...Bb6 16.Nce2 c5 17.bxc5 14...Nbd7 15.O-O Re8 Tay - Sukandar Incheon 2013 16.Bd3 Nf8
Bxc5=; 17.Nce2+=) 15.cxd5 Qb6 16.O-O Bd7 17.Bd3 Ng4 18.Be1 Ra3
b) 9.h3 9...a5 10.b5 e5 11.g4 Nbd7 12.Bg2 Granda - Ly 19.Nce2+=; 8...a5!? I don’t see any problem for Black in the
Pavlodar rapid 2015 12...Nb6!? and once again c4 is a target. main line but still this new move might be a good alternative.
13.dxe5 dxe5 14.c5 Qxd1+ 15.Kxd1 Nc4C) Black tries to define the queenside structure before starting
action in the center. 9.e5 This is the critical independent line.
9...a5 (9...e5 doesn’t change too much as a7-a5 seems to be However, after (
useful for Black anyway. 10.Be2 (10.dxe5 10...dxe5 11.Qc2+=;
10.d5 10...a5 11.Rb1 - 9...a5) 10...exd4 (10...d5?! 11.cxd5 cxd5 a) 9.b5 9...d6 10.Ng3 e5 is a favorable version of the 8...d6
12.Bg5c Lercel - Polyakov Krakow 2014) 11.Qxd4 a5 12.Rb1 - line.;
9...a5) 10.Rb1! (10.b5 10...e5 and whatever White plays here, b) 9.Rb1 9...axb4 10.axb4 d5 The open a-file is good for Black
the c5 square gives Black good counterplay. 11.Be2 ( in another setup. 11.e5 Ne8 (11...Nfd7!? 12.cxd5 exd5 13.f4
a) 11.dxe5 11...dxe5 12.Be3 Be6 13.Be2 Qxd1+ 14.Rxd1 g6=; Qe7) 12.c5 f6 13.f4 - 8...d5;
b) 11.d5 11...cxd5 12.cxd5 Bb6 13.Na4 (13.Be2 13...Bd4 c) 9.Bg5 9...d6 and it’s not clear what the bishop is doing
14.Bb2 Nbd7=) 13...Bd4 14.Bb2 Bxb2 15.Nxb2 Nbd7= on g5.) 9...axb4 10.exf6 bxc3 11.fxg7 Re8 12.Nxc3 d5! 13.Bd3
Matheson - Sukandar Queenstown 2012;) Qh4 14.g3 Qh3 15.Bf1 Qf5VBlack has nothing to worry
about.]
11...exd4 12.Qxd4 Nbd7 13.Rb1 Nc5 14.O-O a4 15.Be3 Re8k
This position is complex, but I believe that Black has enough 9.e5 The other moves don’t create any problem for Black.
dynamic resources.) 10...axb4 11.axb4 e5 and now Whit e has [9.Bg5 9...h6 10.Bh4 (10.Bxf6 10...Qxf6 Gu - Medina China
a very pleasant choice between 3 options which lead to some 2013 11.e5 Qe7 12.c5 f6e) 10...g5 11.Bg3 Nxe4 12.Nxe4 dxe4
positional advantage. The structures are quite different so in and White has yet to prove that he has enough for the pawn.
my opinion it’s just a matter of taste. I would most probably ; 9.Ng3 9...e5!Cand the center opens in Black’s favor.; 9.cxd5
go for 12.d5, but I don’t claim that this is the most promising Opening the diagonal for the black passive light squared
move. 12.d5 ( bishop is obviously illogical. 9...exd5 10.e5 and now, besides
the two moves which transpose to the main lines, Black has a
a) 12.dxe5 12...dxe5 13.Qc2 Qe7 14.Be2 Rd8 15.O-O g6 tricky resource: 10...Ng4!? (10...Nfd7 - 9.e5; 10...Ne8 - 9.e5)
16.Bg5 Na6 17.Qb2+=; 11.h3 Nh6 12.Bxh6 gxh6 13.f4 f6 14.Qd3 Qe7 and Black’s
b) 12.Be2 12...exd4 (12...Bb6 13.Be3+=; 12...d5 13.cxd5 cxd5 dynamic resources (a7-a5 first of all) fully compensate the
14.Bg5 dxe4 15.d5c) 13.Qxd4 c5 (13...Bg4 14.O-O Bxe2 weakened pawn structure. White also has certain problems
15.Ngxe2+=) 14.bxc5 Nc6 15.Qe3 dxc5 16.O-O Nd4 17.f4C) completing the development. 15.Rc1 (15.Ng3 15...fxe5 16.fxe5
Nd7 17.Be2 Nxe5! This is a typical piece sacrifice in this
12...Bb6 13.Be2 Bd4 This bishop looks stronger than it
structure. 18.dxe5 Bxe5i) 15...a5 16.b5 fxe5!? (16...a4!? )
really is. 14.Bd2 cxd5 (14...Na6 15.O-O Bd7 16.Bd3+=;
17.fxe5 Qxa3k]
9...Nfd7!? looks a bit ugly but it works. First of all Black is believe that White’s space advantage and Black’s active piece
ready to move this knight further to b6 and c4 and if White counterplay must be somewhat balanced but only practical
prevents it with c4-c5 then the typical knight sacrifice on e5 tests can confirm or deny this.]
is very interesting in many cases. [Zvjaginsev’s 9...Ne8 is also 10.Nf4 A logical response. Whte prevents f7-f6 but Black has
quite playable. The piece sac on e5 is not Black’s main idea another (not obvious at all) way to undermine the opponent’s
anymore, but it is still possible in some lines. But the passive center. [10.c5 looks temptin g but now the piece sac on e5
knight on e8 might surprisingly soon become active after f7-f6 works perefectly. Not immediately, of course. 10...a5! 11.Be3
f2-f4 g7-g5! with the following Ne8-g7-f5. 10.c5 is of course the (11.b5 might be the best, but it looks strange as it allows Black
critical move. ( to open queenside even without sacrifices. 11...b6 12.cxb6
a) 10.Ng3 was chosen by Tomashevsky in the stem game Nxb6=+) 11...axb4 12.axb4 Rxa1 13.Qxa1 f6 14.f4 fxe5 15.fxe5
and it looks quite logical. However, the forced 10...f6 11.f4 Na6 16.Qb2 Nxe5! This is almost the dream version of
a5 12.Rb1 (12.b5 12...fxe5 13.fxe5 Nd7V) 12...axb4 13.axb4 fxe5 the typical sacrifice 17.dxe5 Bxe5e and White’s position is
14.fxe5 Qh4 gives Black excellent counterplay as the white close to collapsing...; 10.cxd5 10...exd5 (10...cxd5 is playable
king is stuck in the center. 15.Be3 Nd7 16.Qh5 Qxh5 17.Nxh5 but slightly worse the other capture. 11.Nf4 Nc6 12.g3 Bb6
Ra3 18.Bd2 Nxe5! Even in the endgame this idea might work! 13.Nce2+=) 11.f4 was played in 2 games However, after the
19.dxe5 Bxe5n and despite his extra piece, it’s White who best 11...Qe7! once again it’s White who has to be extremely
has to play accurately to hold the balance. (Tomashevsky - careful. The knight sacrifice on e5 is in the air in many different
Zvjaginsev Russia ch 2010); lines. (11...a5 Pardo Simon - Aroshidze Barcelona 2013 12.b5+=;
b) 10.cxd5 10...exd5 11.f4 f6 12.g3 g6V) 11...Nb6 Greet - Bremner England 2014 12.Ng3 f6 13.Bd3+=)
12.g3 (12.Ng3 12...f6 13.Be2 fxe5 14.fxe5 Nxe5!? 15.dxe5 Bxe5
10...f6 11.f4 a5 12.Be3 (12.Rb1 12...axb4 13.axb4 Nd7 14.g3 fxe5 16.Bb2 Qh4n) 12...f6 13.Bg2 fxe5 14.fxe5 Nxe5 15.dxe5 Bxe5
15.fxe5 Nxe5! Once again! 16.dxe5 Bxe5 17.Qb3 Qf6 18.Nd1 16.Bb2 Nd7n]
b6!n; 12.b5 12...b6V) 12...g5! VBlack must play aggressively,
otherwise the opponent’s space advantage will tell. (The 10...a5 [The immediate 10...c5 is also playable although it
quiet 12...b6?! 13.g3 Nd7 14.Bh3 Qe7 15.O-Oc led to a clear seems that opening the a-file first is slightly more accurate.
white advantage. (Kotanjan - Rausis Beirut 2014)) 13.g3 axb4 11.bxc5 Ba5 12.Bd2 Nc6 13.Nb5 a6 14.cxd5 exd5 15.Nd6
In my opinion it’s the perfect moment for this liquidation. Nxd4 16.Bb4kis a critical line. Black most probably
(After 13...gxf4 14.gxf4 Ng7 Khachiyan - Molner USA 2014 has enough dynamic resources but knight on d6 is rather
15.b5!? b6 16.Rg1 Kh8 17.Bh3C might be unpleasant for Black, annoying.]
although this position is still very complicated.; 13...Ng7 11.Rb1 The alternatives don’t promise any advantage either.
14.b5!? gxf4 15.gxf4 - 13...gxf4) 14.axb4 Rxa1 15.Qxa1 Ng7kIn However, it may be the right time for White to reduce his
my opinion this is the key position for the whole 9...Ne8 ambitions. [11.Bb2 11...axb4 12.axb4 Rxa1 13.Bxa1 Qe7
line and it is extremely complicated and hard to assess. I 14.Qb1 Na6 15.b5 Nb4C; 11.Ra2!? looks quite artificial but it
might be the safest choice. 11...axb4 12.axb4 Rxa2 13.Nxa2 c5! complications which might be in Black’s favor.]
Anyway! 14.bxc5 Ba5+ 15.Bd2 Nc6 16.cxd5 Nxd4nBlack has 17.Bxb5 exd5 18.O-O Nxe5 19.Bxa5 Rxa5 20.Qxd5 Bf5=
enough for the pawn, but not more.; 11.b5 11...c5!C] The queenside pawns will be exchanged soon. Game over.
11...axb4 12.axb4 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS: At the moment it looks like 5.. .c6
is a perectly sound way to meet the Reshevsky System. Its
positional basis is quite healthy. The most critical line must
be 6.a3 Ba5 7. b4 Bc7 8.e4 but as the concrete variations show
it’s perfectly unclear whose chances are preferable there
(especially in the line 8...d5 9.e5 Nfd7). It would be interesting
to see how the top-level players would fight with it as so far it
didn’t happen.
12...c5! This is a very important tactical resource which

justifies the whole setup. Without this move, White would just
be comfortably better.
13.bxc5 [13.dxc5 13...dxc4 14.Bxc4 Nxe5=+ is just fine for
Black]
13...Ba5 14.Bd2 [14.Bb2 14...Nxc5! is another tactical trick.]
14...Nc6 15.cxd5 This is new and not very dangerous for
Black. [However, 15.Nb5 might only be dangerous for White.
15...dxc4 (In the game Grotnes - Schmittdiel Gausdal 1992
Black just went too far with 15...Qg5?! 16.Bxa5 Rxa5 17.Qd2c)
16.Bxc4 (16.Qc2 16...Bxd2+ 17.Qxd2 b6=+) 16...Nxd4! Of
course this tactical trick is easy to miss over the board.
17.Nxd4 Nxe5 18.Nb3 Nxc4 19.Bxa5 Nxa5 20.Qxd8 Rxd8
21.Ra1 e5 22.Ne2 Be6 23.Nxa5 Ra6e and Black wins the
piece back.]
15...Nxd4 16.Nb5 Nxb5 This move was chosen as the main
line just to show that Black has everything under control. [In
fact the alternative 16...Nxc5!? 17.Nxd4 Ne4nleads to crazy
David vs. Goliath
Peter Zhdanov
In this special column we are reviewing the most unexpected Top-10:

results that occurred last week. Players usually face Al Mousawi (1688) - Al Othman (2240), 1-0, 552 points
opponents of a similar level. Considerably less frequent are Beukema (2345) - Corstjens (1897), 0-1, 1-0, 448 points
situations when a significantly lower-rated player succeeds in Al Othman (2240) - Alamiri (1812), 0-1, 428 points
beating a much stronger adversary. Papin (2515) - Zeynalov (2121), 0-1, 394 points
The previous week has brought us an anti-record quantity of Hamidi (1963) - Sheykhhasani (2337), 1-0, 374 points
upsets - only 12. The number of moves ranges from 25 in GM Horbing (2080) - Brynell (2452), 1-0, 372 points
Akesson (2451) - Winfridsson (2080), 0-1 to 67 in Hamidi (1963) Stauskas (1971) - Germanavicius (2343), 1-0, 372 points
- Sheykhhasani (2337), 1-0. The highest-profile loss was GM Akesson (2451) - Winfridsson (2080), 0-1, 371 points
Mirzoev (2556) - Asgari (2193), 0-1. Mirzoev (2556) - Asgari (2193), 0-1, 363 points
Czumbel (1775) - Kiss (2103), 1-0, 328 points
The ”desire to win” nomination goes to FM Stefan Beukema
(2345) for desperately fighting with White against Rolf
Corstenjs (1897) and allowing Black to deliver mate on the Average gap: 400; White won 5 games, Black won 5 games.
board. By pure coincidence, it is also the most shocking upset
of the week, featuring a 552 points rating difference: You can view all the games in the accompanying pgn file.
Puzzle section
(4) Nakamura, H(2776)-Karjakin, S(2760) (6) Timman, J(2553)-Nikolic, P(2588)
Zurich, 2015.02.16 Noteboom GM, 2015.02.15
1. h 1... i
(5) Kramnik, V(2783)-Caruana, F(2811) (7) Lai, H(2308)-Sprenger, J(2496)

Zurich blitz, 2015.02.13 Noteboom Open, 2015.02.15
1... e 1. h
(8) Fridman, D(2648)-Fedorchuk, S(2648) (10) Predojevic, B(2614)-Elsness, F(2447)
Noteboom Open, 2015.02.15 Norwegian league, 2015.02.07
1. h 1. h
(9) Socko, B(2611)-Moor, O(2348) (11) Tarlev, K(2557)-Mashmooli, K(2175)

Graz Open, 2015.02.14 Khazar Open, 2015.02.11
1. h 1. h
(12) Solodovnichenko, Y(2577)-Rydstrom, T(2314)
Vaxjo Open, 2015.02.13
1. h
(13) Sedlak, N(2558)-Loebler, H(2161)

Graz Open, 2015.02.13
1. h
Endgame section
(14) Kramnik, Vladimir(2783)

- Nakamura, Hikaru(2776)
Zurich, 2015.02.15 GM Csaba Balogh

Best rating: 2672
simplifying to a position where Black is a pawn down, but

there are opposite colored bishops on the board. As long as
White can keep at least a pair of rooks on the board, he will
maintain winning chances. In the best case Black can trade
only one pair of rooks, therefore he is doomed to long-term
suffering.]
17.Qxb2 Bxd5 18.e4 This is the point of the temporary piece
sacrifice and White wins back the material.
16.Nxd5! Kramnik finds a nice tactical blow to win material.

Black has different ways to continue the game, but in all of
them he ends up being materially down. The question is in
which one he retains the best drawing chances?! Nakamura
shows a perfect solution... [Some positional improvement
like 16.e3? with the idea of playing Ne2, trading the dark
squared bishops and ending up with an isolated pawn on
d5 and a good knight against the poor bishop, which would
be perfect for White, but Black counters this with active 18...Bxe4! An excellent decision! Nakamura gives up his
counterplay... 16...d4! 17.exd4 Bf3! 18.Re1 Qxd4=+ Black queen, but the arising rook and bishop endgame against
grabs the advantage as the bishop pair starts to rule.] the queen, without a single weakness, guarantees Black a
relatively easy draw. [18...Rc5 would have been wrong in view
16...Bxb2! [The alternative was 16...Qxd5 17.Qxd5 Bxd5
of 19.Qd2 White increases the pressure on d5. 19...Qd6
18.Bxf6 Be6
21.Qa3 looks like a double attack on e4 and a7, but the point
is (21.Qe5 21...Bc6) 21...Re2! using the weak back rank again
and after for instance Rf1 Black simply plays a6 and holds
with the active pieces.; 20.Qe2 was perhaps the best attempt.
20...Bc6 21.Rd1
20.Rac1! A subtle move, which leaves White with a healthy

extra pawn. White trades the rooks before taking the bishop,
using the fact that Black still cannot leave the pin on the d-file.
(20.exd5 20...Rd8 is less clear.) 20...Rxc1 21.Qxc1c]
19.Rxd8 Rfxd8 I general I would say that White should aim
for trading a pair of rooks, because the black one might get
too active within a few moves. White cannot create any We have reached an interesting moment. Should Black trade
weaknesses as after putting the pawn to a6 everything is the rooks or it is better to keep them on the board? Both
perfectly protected. The light square bishop is very strong as probably lead to draws, but the easier one seems to be
it not only protects the queenside, but also creates different 21...Re8! (21...Rxd1+ 22.Qxd1 Re8 23.f3 h5 24.Kf2 g6 25.Qd4
kind of back rank threats against the king, having it locked to a6 26.a4 Re6 Compared to having 3 rooks on the board, here
g1. at least White manages escape with his king, but the win
should not be possible. Black has built up the ideal fortress.
The bishop is perfectly placed on c6, keeping the queenside
pawns together, while the rook and the king will cover the
kingside. White might have some attempts to make progress
with h3-g4-f4-f5, but with a good defense such tries can easily
be neutralized...) 22.Qg4 Rc7 with Rce7 and h6 next. By
having both rooks on board, White’s possibilites are much
more limited because of the potential counterplay against the
white king.]
20.b4 [20.Rc1?? is a blunder because of 20...Rxc1+ 21.Qxc1 20...a6 21.a4 Rc4! The draw is getting very close after Black
Bf3!i; 20.Re1 is strongly met by 20...Rc2! (20...Bc6 is also activates his rooks!
safe, but why not activate the rook if it works tactically...) 22.Re1 [22.b5 is met by 22...Rxa4!]
22...h6! The last safety measure is to open the back rank!
(15) Aronian, Levon(2777)
23.Qe5 Bc6 24.b5 This was the entire idea of Kramnik when
- Kramnik, Vladimir(2783)
he advanced the queenside pawns. He wanted to send the
bishop away from the ideal h1-a8 diagonal to make the b7
4th Zurich CC Classical(3.1),
pawn more vulnerable. However Black is perfectly prepared GM Arkadij Naiditsch
2015.02.16
for these actions and he reaches a draw by force after... Best rating: 2737
24...Re8! 25.Qxe8+ [25.Qa1 25...Rxe1+ 26.Qxe1 axb5
27.axb5 Bxb5= leaves both sides with zero winning chances.]
25...Bxe8 26.Rxe8+ Kh7 27.Re7 f6 White cannot even reach
a 3 against 2 rook endgame, which would also be a dead draw,
but Black has time to save all his pawns...
28.a5 Ra4 29.Rxb7 Rxa5 30.b6 Because of the rule that the
players cannot agree a draw before move 40, they continued
the game with some unnecessary moves...
30...Rb5 31.Kf1 a5 32.Kg2 a4 33.h4 h5 34.Rb8 Kg6 35.b7
a3 36.Ra8 a2 37.Kh3 Rxb7 38.Rxa2 Rb3 39.Kg2 Rb5
40.Re2 Ra5 1/2-1/2 Straight from the opening White had a decent advantage, and
he was even very close to winning the game between moves
30 and 40, but Kramnik managed to escape into a clearly
worse endgame, but maybe a holdable one.
41.Ne3 Of course the g4 pawn should be taken.
41...a4! A very strong move! The b2 pawn should be fixed.
42.Nxg4 Rd8! Another grea t decision by Black. First one
could ask himself why play Rd8 at all, but we will already
see during the next few moves what Vladimir had in mind.
Before that, let us take a look at what would happen in case
Black forced the pawn exchange on the queenside. [42...a3
43.bxa3 Rxa3 Now White has a lot of different options, but
let’s say White plays 44.Rb7 If we now exchanged the light
pieces, of course the rook endgame would be a draw, but
the presence of the white knight makes the defense for Black
anything but simple. White wants to put his knight to f5 by just
playing Ne3-Nf5, then support it with g4 and maybe f4 and
start walking with the king. The position should be a draw, but
it is extremely unpleasant to defend such an endgame, which
gives White good practical chances to hope for a full point.]
43.Ra5 It is hard to say if this was an inaccuracy by White, but
it looks very logical.
43...Rd4 44.Ne3 and now Kramnik’s plan is getting visible...
47...Rb4 and Black’s plan is coming true.

48.Rg5+ [48.Rxb4 would lead to a draw. 48...Bxb4 49.Nd5
Bc5 If White could avoid exchanging the a4 pawn against the
b2, the position would be winning, but a3 is coming next.
50.Nc3 a3 51.bxa3 Bxa3 and this endgame is already not that
difficult to hold, but of course White still keeps some minimal
winning chances.]
48...Kh7 49.Rh5+ Kg8 50.Ra5 We are sort of back to the
position from which we started, only now Black is already in
44...Rd2! Black’s main idea is to exchange the light pieces time to force a drawing endgame.
before taking the b2 pawn.
50...Rxb2 Now Kramnik takes the pawn, but only because he
45.Nf1 What else to play?! [After 45.Rxa4 45...Bd4! The white has the Bc5 move.
knight has no good square to go to and of course the rook
endgame is a simple draw. 46.Ng4 This is White’s best try. 51.Rxa4 Bc5 and once again the knight is under attack.
46...f5! and Black is just in time: 47.Nh6+ Kh7 48.Nxf5 Rxf2+ 52.Nd1 is the only move to immediately avoid a draw.
49.Kh3 Bxb2 and of course to just have the extra g3 pawn is [52.Ng4 52...f5 doesn’t work for White either.]
not enought to win the game. The position is an easy draw.]
52...Rd2 53.Ra1 White managed to exchange the queenside
45...Rd4 Black defends the a4 pawn and asks White "what’s pawns, but the cost is a terrible position of the knight on d1.
next?". The position is a draw and Kramnik shows us how.
46.Rb5 Bf8 Black continues defending very presicely and the 53...Kg7 54.Kf1 Kg6 It is never wrong to bring the king into
threat now is to play Rb4. the action zone.
47.Ne3 It is difficult to find anything better for White. 55.Rb1 [55.Ke1 55...Bb4 doesn’t lead anywhere.]
55...f5! The last precise move. The black pawn is excellently
placed on f5 and sometimes Black just wants to play f4 and
exchange the pawn.
56.Ke1 Rc2 The white knight is still caught on d1.
57.Rb8 Kf6 All Black needs to do is keep on waiting.
58.Rh8 Bb4+ 59.Kf1 and of course Kramnik could have
continued with a passive defense, but he finds a forced draw:
59...Rd2 60.Ne3 Bc5 The knight has no more square.
61.Rh6+ Kg5 followed by Bxe3, with an easily drawn rook
endgame. What we can learn from this endgame is not to
hurry with entering a dangerous position, but rather try and
reach an easy to defend position. Such things can often save
a lot of time and half points. 1/2-1/2
Chess and the City. made it to the news as the organizing team of the Tromso
Olympiad refused the Russian women team the right to
To change or not to change, participate as they handed in their team line-up way past
that is the question the deadline. The reason for that delay was the request of
the former top Ukrainian player to change to the Russian
Federation.
If I remember correctly, the reason for this delay was a dispute
between both federations. You do not need to be a chess
expert to understand that the decision of such a great player
will eventually weaken the old team and strengthen the new
one, and especially in the case of Russia and Ukraine this
Best rating: 2493
could be crucial in international team events. I am not sure
about the reasons behind her transfer; all I basically know
is that one of her parents is actually Russian and the other
Changing federations is also gaining more and more
Ukrainian.
popularity in the chess world. Whether this is because
of a change of living place or rather a disappointment Indirectly connected to this case is another girl from Ukraine,
with one’s own federation or any other personal reasons the current top Ukrainian player Anna Muzychuk. If I am
is eventually of course up to the player. Some years ago not mistaken, she first changed federations from Ukraine to
FIDE naturally invented ”new payment rules” to prevent an Slovenia in 2003-2004. At that time, I believe the reason for
inflation of changes, but it did not seem to stop most of the that change was maybe connected to the fact that she was
players to get infected with that ”life threatening” epidemic. not being selected for the National Ukrainian Women’s Team
in her teenage years.
In this newsletter however I do not want to discuss the new
rules, but rather list some recent and crucial examples among Last year she eventually decided to go back to her roots,
famous players who decided to undergo that procedure. thus strengthening the Ukrainian Women’s team and finally
reuniting with her younger sister Mariya, who has been part
I do not want to judge anyone regarding this matter as I
of the Ukrainian national team since 2010.
perfectly understand how difficult it is nowadays to make
a decent living out of chess. It is not a secret that most In the men’s section I believe Alexei Shirov is the most famous
changes are usually connected to financial benefits, some example. The number one of Latvia served his country in the
to immigration into a new country and some could even be chess Olympiads in 1992 and 1994, before moving to Spain
related to political backgrounds, but we do not want to dig and changing to their federation. Like Anna he eventually
any deeper here. decided to go back to his roots and has represented Latvia
again since 2012.
Last year the case of the Ukrainian player Katerina Lagno
Since we have mentioned some very famous players, we
should not forget to mention the most popular federation as
well. The US Chess Federation should be the top federation
regarding changes. Almost every year new chess players are
moving across the ocean to start a student scholarship and
eventually also a new career as an American chess player.
Here we have to name the very famous example of the young
and extremely strong Wesley So, who is originally from the
Philippines. His case is a good opportunity to introduce
the above-mentioned compensational fees. Since he is a
player rated over 2700, the amount he was supposed to pay
to his old federation was hitting the incredible sum of over
50.000 US-Dollars. The alternative choice is to take a 2-year
break from any national or international chess events. Wesley
eventually became a member of the American Federation in
October 2014.
Last but not least I will get back to our greatest talent of
2014, Alexander Ipatov, alias ”the window cleaner”. If I am not
mistaken, he is the only player who also changed federations
two times, but with the difference of always representing
someone new. The Grandmaster who was born in Lvov
changed from Ukraine to Spain and nowadays represents the
Turkish Chess Federation.
Those who I left out I deeply apologize but perhaps your
examples have not been heart breaking enough to be
remembered by the general chess public.
Clash of the Titans 12...Nxe4!? Black sacrifices the knight for two central pawns
and to activate his pieces. Objectively it is not completely
correct but from a practical point of view it is enough. The
(16) Averbakh, Yuri L complex fight based on tactical variations has just begun.
- Tal, Mihail [A76] 13.Nxe4 Bf5 14.Nfd2 Nxd5
URS-ch25, 1958
GM Kamil Miton
Best rating: 2655
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6

7.Be2 Bg7 8.Nf3 O-O 9.O-O Re8 [9...Bg4 Nowadays this
move is the most promising for Black. After exchanging the
knight on f3 White will not be able to create the typical e4-e5
break in the center.] 15.Bxd6?? Averbakh immediately makes a decisive
mistake... In this critical position he had better options:
10.Qc2 [10.Nd2 is the main move.] [15.Bg5 is the most logical move, as White escapes with
10...Na6 [10...Bg4 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Bxf3 Nbd7 Black gets tempo. 15...Qd7 (
control over the important e5 square and now his idea is to a) 15...Qxg5? 16.Nxg5 Bxb1 17.Bc4! Bh6 18.Bxd5 Bxg5
get the initiative on the queenside, over b5 or c4-Nc5 etc.] 19.Nf3h;
11.Bf4 [11.a3 11...Nc7V] b) 15...Qb6
11...Nb4 Tal stayed true to his style and took the decision to
immediately complicate the position.
12.Qb1
16.g4 A logical move, just to solve the problems with the pin.
(16.Nc4 looks promising for White as well. 16...Bxe4 17.Nxb6
Bxb1 18.Nxd5 Rxe2 19.Raxb1 Re5 20.Nf6+ Kh8 21.f4c and
White is a safe piece up.) 16...Bxe4 17.Nxe4 Bxb2 18.Bc4 Bxa1
19.Bxd5 and the white pieces are very active.)
16.Bd3 (16.Bf3 16...h6 17.Bh4 Nb4 (17...g5?! 18.Bg3 g4
19.Be2 only weakenens the black structure.) 18.Qd1 (18.a3
18...d5 19.axb4 dxe4 20.Nxe4 cxb4 21.Re1k) 18...g5 19.Bg3
g4 20.Nxd6 gxf3 21.Qxf3k White doesn’t need to win the
exchange as the knight on d6 is very strong.) 16...h6 17.Bh4
Black is not able to immediately play 17...Nb4 or Nb4 because 22.b3!c looks very strong! Now Black is not on time with his
of the 18.Nf6 trick: Bxf6 and then 19.Bxf5! 17...Qc6 18.Bg3 c4-d3 setup.;
Nb4 (18...Rad8 19.Nxd6 Bxd3 20.Qxd3 Rxd6 21.Bxd6 Qxd6
22.Rfe1+=) b) 15...Qd7!? 16.Bd3 Nb4 17.Bxd6 Qc6 It looks like the
white pieces lost coordination.;
c) 15...Nb4 16.a3 Nc6 17.Bxd6 (17.Bd3
19.Nf6+ Bxf6 20.Bxf5 gxf5 21.Qxf5 The black king is a bit

weak, which is why the position is completely unclear.; 15.Bg3
15...Bh6!? (
17...c4 A nice idea. 18.Nxc4 d5 19.Ncd6 dxe4 20.Nxe8 exd3
a) 15...Nf6 16.Bd3 Nxe4 17.Nxe4 c4 18.Bc2 Bxe4 19.Bxe4 d5 21.Nxg7 Kxg7 22.Qc1 f6 The strong d3 pawn gives Black
20.Bf3 Qd7 21.Rd1 d4 full compensation.) 17...Bxe4 18.Nxe4 Rxe4 19.Qxe4 Qxd6
20.Rad1 Nd4 21.Bc4 We already saw this kind of position.)
16.Bb5 (16.f4 16...Bg7k) 16...Bxd2 17.Bxe8 Qxe8 18.Qd1
(18.Nxd6 18...Bxb1 19.Nxe8 Bd3 20.Rfd1 Rxe8 21.Rxd2 c4n)
18...Bxe4 19.Qxd2 Qc6 20.f3 Bf5 21.Rad1 Be6 with complex
play.]
15...Nf6! After this simple move, which was overlooked by 30.Qf3 Qxf3 31.gxf3 Kf6 32.Kg2 Kg5 33.Rd1 Kf4 The black
Averbakh, Black will win a pawn by force. White probably pieces are perfectly placed, but how to improve the position?
expected [15...Bxe4 16.Nxe4 Rxe4 17.Qxe4 Qxd6 18.Bc4 g5-g4 still does not guarantee a win.]
Rd8 19.Rad1 Bd4 Black has one pawn and a strong bishop 27...Qf4 28.g3 Qf6 29.Qd1 Rd8 30.Bg4 [30.Qd3
for the exchange. Of course White is better but Black has good 30...Rd5e (30...Bxf2?? 31.Rxf2; 30...Kg7 ) ]
drawing chances.; 15...Qxd6? 16.Nxd6 Bxb1 17.Nxe8 Rxe8
18.Bb5h] 30...Bxf2i 31.Qe2
16.Bf3 Nxe4 17.Nxe4 Bxe4 18.Bxe4 Qxd6e 19.Qc2
[19.Bxb7 19...Rab8]
19...Re7 20.Bf3 Rae8 21.Rad1 Bd4 22.a4 b6 23.b3 Because
of the opposite colored bishops White’s idea is to get a
structure which doesn’t allow Black to take advantage of his
extra pawn. The problem for White is that thanks to his active
pieces, Black is simply going to play for an attack on the
kingside!
23...Re5 24.Rd2 31...Rd2! 32.Qe8+ [32.Qxd2 32...Qc6+]
32...Kg7 33.gxh4 Qd4 34.Bh3 Qd3 35.Bg2 Rd1 0-1
24...h5! A strong technical move. Black is going to weaken

the white king.
25.Re2 Rxe2 26.Bxe2 The exchange of one pair of rooks
doesn’t help White to avoid trouble.
26...h4 27.Kh1 [27.h3 weakens the h2-b8 diagonal. 27...Qf4
28.Bc4 Kg7 preventing Qxg6. 29.Qd3 f5 (29...Be5 30.g3)
(17) Mitrofanov (18) Aronian, L(2777)-Caruana, F(2812)
1. h Baden-Baden, 2015.02.04
35...Bxf2+! 36.Kg2 [36.Kxf2 36...Qf6+ 37.Kg2 Qxd8i]

36...Bb6i [36...Bd4?? 37.Rxd4! exd4 38.Qxd4+ Qf6
39.Qxa7]
(19) Anand, V(2797)-Carlsen, M(2865)
Baden-Baden, 2015.02.06
33...Qd1+!! 34.Qxd1 Kxg6i 35.Qd3+ Kh6 36.h4 gxh3

0-1
(20) Nabaty, T(2579)-Neeloptal, D(2437) (22) Sengupta, D(2569)-Bellon Lopez, JM(2370)
49.Rxf8+!! [49.Rxc1 49...Bxb6 50.Rc8 Kg7=] 31.Rxf7+! 1-0 [31.Rxf7+ 31...Kxf7 32.Ne5+h]
49...Kg7 [49...Kh7 50.Rh8+! Bxh8 51.f8=Qh] (23) Iturrizaga, E(2649)-Dragnev, V(2344)
50.Rg8+ Kxf7 51.Rf8+! 1-0 [51.d8=Q? 51...Qf1+ 52.Kg4 Gibraltar Open, 2015.02.03
Qe2+=; 51.Rf8+! 51...Kxf8 (51...Kg7 52.d8=Qh) 52.d8=Q+
Kf7 53.Qc7+! Qxc7 54.bxc7h]
(21) Grandelius, N(2602)-Houska, J(2388)
23.Rxg7+! Kxg7 24.Qc7+ Kh6 25.Nf7+! [25.Qxd8??

25...Qc1+]
25...Kh5 [25...Kg7 26.Ng5+h]
26.g4+! Kxg4 [26...fxg4 27.Qe5+ Kh4 28.Qg5#]
21.Nxd5! exd5 22.Bxd5+ Kh8 23.Rxc4h 27.Ne5+ 1-0 [27.Ne5+ 27...Kh5 28.Qxh7#]
(24) Kuipers, S(2390)-Oparin, G(2551) (26) Cheparinov, I(2681)-Adhiban, B(2630)
16.fxe5! dxe5 17.Rxf6! Qxf6 18.Qxd7h 34...Bd1! 0-1 [34...Bd1 35.Qb2 Bxf3i]
(25) Sutovsky, E(2637)-Spragett, K(2538) (27) Ganguly, S(2595)-Sengupta, D(2569)
31.Bb1! Rc6 32.Qxg6+ Kg8 [32...Kf8 33.Re3!h] 32...Nc4!! 0-1 [32...Qxd2 33.a4k; 32...Nc4 33.Rd1 Nd2+
33.Re3! Rxc5 1-0 [33...Rxc5 34.Rf3 (34.Qh7+ 34...Kf8 34.Ka1 (34.Rxd2 34...Re1+i) 34...Nxb3+ 35.axb3 Qxg4i]
35.Rf3+ Ke7 36.Qxg7+ Kd8 37.Bg6h) 34...Rc1+ 35.Kh2
Rxb1 36.Rf7 Rh1+ 37.Kxh1 Qc1+ 38.Kg2 Qc6+ 39.Kh2h]
(28) Troitzky
1.Qxe4+ Kd8 2.Qxh4+!! Qxh4 3.Nd6!! cxd6 [3...Qg4

4.Bg5+! Qxg5 5.Nf7+h; 3...Qe7 4.Bg5! cxd6 5.Bxe7+ Kxe7
6.Kg1 Kf6 7.Kf2 Kf5 8.Kf3]
4.Bg5+! Qxg5=
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
Dear Friends! With the current issue Nr. 157, we celebrate
the 4th year of the newsletter! Big thanks to all of you for
Editorial Preface 2 staying with us and we promise you for the forthcoming year,
that we will do our best to provide you with chess satisfaction!
The month of February ends with a surprising result in the
The K-Files. FIDE Grand Prix event in Tbilisi.
The ancient treasure, shining again or...? 11 Evgeny Tomashevsky won the tournament with a 1.5-point
lead, which makes him the current Grand Prix leader. With
David vs. Goliath 15 an amazing result of 8/11 and a performance of over 2900, he
made a big name for himself with a safe and positional style,
Puzzle section 16 combined with a strong sense of punishing the mistakes of his
opponents.
Second place went to Jakovenko with 6.5/11 and 3rd to
Endgame section 19 Radjabov with 6/11.
The results of the favorites Grischuk, Giri , Mamedyarov
Chess and the City. This pen is cursed... 24 and Vachier-Lagrave was a big surprise, as they didn’t really
participate in the fight for the first places.
Clash of the Titans 25 In the currently underway European Individual
Championship in Jerusalem, Israel and the top seed Navara
Surprise section / study 30 continues showing great form and is on 3.5/4. However, the
actual leader on 4/4 is Korobov, a very fighting and aggressive
Solutions 30 player, who was pushing hard in his games and with a bit of
luck and help of his opponents is now the deserved leader.
There are also many other top favorites who began their
event well and are on 3.5/4 or 3/4. The tournament promises
to be very exciting during the next 7 rounds and in the next
issue you will be able to find a few of the best games from
this event.
For now we hope you enjoy the current issue of Top GM
Secrets Nr 157.
With best wishes,

Two best games of the past week 11.Bh4 dxe5 12.fxe5 g5 Black has other options too, but this
was considered to be the best by the latest theory.
13.Bg3 A rare move. [Most of the games continued with
(1) Radjabov, Teimour (2731) 13.exf6 13...gxh4 14.Be2 but the concrete computerish line
- Grischuk, Alexander (2810) [B97] lead to good positions for Black... 14...Qa5 15.O-O Nd7
16.Kh1 Qg5 17.Rf4 e5 18.Nd5 exd4 19.Qxd4
Tbilisi FIDE Grand Prix(6), GM Csaba Balogh
2015.02.21 Best rating: 2672
A crushing miniature victory by Radjabov over Grischuk. The

game is extremely important from theoretical point of view,
the variation played in the game was considered to be closed
as Black is completely fine, but White’s novelty opens a new
area...
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 The
Sicilian Najdorf. The 6.h3 system is the most popular 19...Kd8 Theory starts somewhere here with hundreds of
nowadays, but Radjabov turns back to the previous main line. games in the database. Arkadij has recently commented in
the newsletter the Duda-Wojtaszek game which also went like
6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 The "Poisoned pawn this.]
variation" was the petline of Bobby Fischer. Obviously there
were a lot of development since then with the help of the 13...Nh5 14.Ne4 Nd7 [We usually reach the game’s position
computers, but the line is still alive. from the following moveorder... 14...Qxa2 15.Rb3 Nd7]
15.Rb3 Qxa2
9.Rb1 Qa3 10.e5 h6 [The other main line starts with 10...dxe5
11.fxe5 Nfd7 12.Ne4 with thousands of games.] 16.Be2 I have found some correspondence game for this
position where the black players have correctly found the Probably Radjabov’s analysis have started somewhere
right defenses. Without some homepreparation it is quite around here. It will be interesting to follow the development
impossibe to play this position over the board, it is not an of this line... White is threatening with 0-0 and Bh5 next.
accident that one of the best players of the World also loses White’s position is much easier to play over the board
the thread and collapses quickly... [Some dozens of games because of the safer king and the attacking potentials, but of
continued with 16.Qc3 but Black is considered to be fine after course homepreparation and memory are playing the main
16... b6 or 16...b5.] role in such situations...A possible development of the game
16...Nc5? After a long think, Grischuk fails to find the best is 20...Qa5 (20...b5 21.O-O Ra7 Protecting the f7 pawn against
defense. After Radjabov’s perfect reaction, this move turned the Bh5 idea 22.Kh2 I would never want to be Black here
out to be the decisive mistake. [16...Nxg3 17.hxg3; The critical despite the machine’s support...) 21.O-O Qc7 is possible.
move is 16...Qa1+! 17.Bd1 The h5 knight is not hanging, this (21...O-O? runs into 22.Qd3! and Bc2 next. The king is actually
is already a big achievment, but of course Black must find weaker on g8 then on e8.) 22.Bh5 Rf8 with mutual chances.
further only moves because White is threatening with 0-0... Further analysis required.]
(The point is after 17.Kf2? 17...Nxg3! works! 18.Nxg3 (18.Rxa1 17.Nc3!! A great intermediate move, which wins the h5
18...Nxe4+i; 18.hxg3 18...Qxh1i) 18...Qxd4+= 19.Qxd4 knight. Of course, Grischuk has anticipated this move, but he
Bc5e Black ends up with material advantage!) 17...Nc5! missed something later...
Another only move! The computer gives the evaluation of 17...Nxb3 [17...Qa1+ loses simple to 18.Rb1 and the h5 falls.]
close to winning for Black, but of course in such a sharp
position it is easy to find resources for both sides. As we go 18.Nxb3! As simple as that! Two pieces are hanging and
deeper into the lines, the advantage is slowly evaporating... there is no check on a1 for Black...
18.Nxc5 Nxg3! (18...Bxc5 19.Bf2 followed by 0-0 looks scary 18...Bb4 [18...Nxg3 was objectively better, but also quite bad
for Black. The h5 knight gets out of the game.) 19.hxg3 Bxc5 after 19.Nxa2 Nxh1 20.Kf1c and the knight is trapped in the
20.c3 corner.]
19.Bxh5 Qb2 Grischuk has pinned his hopes to this resource,
but it does not save Black...
20.O-O Qxc3 [If Black protects his f7 pawn with 20...O-O
White can simple secure his material advantage with
21.Be1h Bxc3 Black cannot keep the queens on board with
such a weak king, but now it runs into different problems...
22.Qxc3 Qxc3 23.Bxc3h and Bb4 is coming next, winning
the f7 pawn and the game.]
21.Bxf7+ Ke7
(2) Tomashevsky, Evgeny (2716)
- Kasimdzhanov, Rustam (2705)
[E90]
Tbilisi FIDE Grand Prix(9), GM Arkadij Naiditsch

2015.02.25 Best rating: 2737
Tomashevsky is the man of the hour at the Grand Prix in

Tbilisi. Playing very solid, safe, and positionally excellent
chess, he is having what is probably the best result of
22.Qf2! This is the key move, which had to be foreseen
his career. In the current game we will see the power of
before 17. Nc3! White manages to save the queen and
slow-positional play in quite a sharp position. After the
launches an enormous attack against the naked e7 king. Qf6
opening it seemed like Black had quite comfortable play, but
is threatening.
in fact Kasimdzhanov’s position was very dangerous. Step by
22...Kd7 [22...Rf8 is met by 23.Qf6+ Kd7 White has several step White managed to develop all his pieces and take control
wins at his disposal. An easy one is 24.Bxe6+ Kc7 over the very important white squares, which suddently made
25.Bf7h followed by e6 next with a crucial discovered Black resign, when just a couple of moves ago everything
check] seemed to be fine. A really nice game to watch and learn from.
23.Qb6 23.Qf6 was also good, but probably this one finishes 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 Kasimdzhanov plays a lot of different
the game even faster. openings and usually has great preparation , as he was
23...Rf8 24.Be1! A subtle retreat and Black resigned as the Anand’s second for about 6 years.
b4 falls! 1-0 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.h3 The King’s Indian with
6.h3 is very fashionable nowadays and Tomaschevsky very
regulary plays this line.
6...e5 7.d5 Nh5 The most principled line. Black sometimes
continues with 7...a5 or 7...Na6 but White’s idea of playing
g4-Be3 and Nd2 brought great results in the past.
8.g3 f5 Black’s idea is simple, to get play in the center as
quickly as possible.
9.exf5 gxf5
14...e4!! 15.bxc5 Nd3+ and now it it is already Black who is

winning! 16.Ke2 f4 with a mating attack.) 14...a5 The position
10.Nh4!? A very interesting and rather rarely played move.
is very unclear. It is very important for Black to be in time to
10...Nf4 The black knight is going to g6, which is very logical. secure his knight on c5.]
11.Bd2 Qe7 Black is clearly in his preparation, but I am not 14.O-O-O Kh8 15.Kb1 Both players play prophylactical
sure about this move at all. Maybe the queen’s position on e7 moves in order to get ready for the action in the center.
is good, but maybe not. For me it is hard to tell why Black did
15...Rae8 16.Re1 threatening to play Bxf4.
not start with 11...Na6 immediately.
16...Qf6 17.Rg1 Now Black already needs to count with
12.Qc2 Na6 A very usual plan for Black.
White’s gxf4 in a good moment and his main idea of playing
13.a3!? This is a very interesting move! Now the black knight c6 or Nc5 doesn’t seem to work.
can never jump to b4, and what is also very important is that
17...Ng6 Black continues choosing safe moves. [I think that
in case of Nc5 White always has the b4 push.
Black should have tried a pawn sacrifice with 17...Nc5 18.b4
13...Bd7?! and this logical move is maybe already a heavy Ne4 19.Nxe4 fxe4 20.Qxe4 c6 and maybe White is still better
mistake... [Black should have calculated the following lines here, but the position is very very sharp. I think it was a good
better... 13...Nc5! It is the last chance to place the knight to a practical chance to at least fight for 3 results.]
good position on c5. 14.O-O-O (14.b4? doesn’t work right now,
18.Nxg6+ Qxg6 [After 18...hxg6 19.h4! White is able to put his
because of the amazing
bishop to g5 next, with a clearly better position.]
19.f3! Another very strong move. Now a move like Nc5-Ne4 is 26.Rg3! Another great move by White. The idea is to play
never possible and White also prepares to start the fight over Reg1 next followed by Be3, chasing the black knight away
the light squares with g4. from c5 to be able to play Ne4.
19...c6 Logical but maybe too slow. [Black clearly should have 26...Nb3?! Kasimdzhanov is losing the game without a
tried to complicate matters with 19...e4! and even if White has fight... [Black should have tried to play 26...Bf6 27.Reg1 and
a lot of different moves here, and maybe Black’s position is now maybe something like 27...a6 avoiding Nb5 and of course
just worse after 20.Bg2, it was still Black’s best chance.] Black’s position is really bad, but the game still goes on...]
20.g4 The game starts to become a bit sharper... 27.Be3 Now the white knight is getting to e4.
20...cxd5 21.cxd5 White just wants to play Bd3 and it is very 27...Nd4 28.Ne4 What an amazing domination of the white
unclear what to do next for Black. pieces.
21...Rc8 [21...e4? doesn’t work: 22.Bxa6 bxa6 23.gxf5 Qxf5 28...Rd8 29.Reg1 It is already impossible to defend the g7
and here comes the typical but great sacrifice: 24.Rxg7! bishop in a nice way...
Kxg7 25.Rg1+ Kh8 26.Nxe4 followed by Bc3, with a winning 29...Rf7
position for White.]
22.Bd3 White is following his plan.
22...Nc5 23.Bxf5 Bxf5 24.gxf5 Qxf5 25.Qxf5 Rxf5 Let us
take a fresh look at the position. Black managed to reach
an endgame which seems to be quite unclear, but in fact his
position is on the verge of being lost! The g7 bishop is very
bad and in case White will be able to place his knight on e4,
the game could immediately be over.
30.Ng5 White will play Bxd4 and Ne6 next and the game will
be over. It seems like Tomaschevsky has done nothing "too
special" to win the game, but in fact his concept was brilliant
with a long-term plan of controling the light squares and of
course Black helped to fulfill the plan a bit by playing too
passively. 1-0
The K-Files. Well, these 2 facts (1620 and mate in one) already make this
line remarkable but almost everybody still remained quite
The ancient treasure, shining again skeptical. At this moment it was already clear that Greco’s
or...? ”refutation” 4.a4 c6 5.axb5 cxb5 6.b3 (slightly improved by
ECO in the 20th century as 4.a4 c6 5.b3) was not really deadly
dangerous, but the new main line 4.a4 c6 5.axb5 cxb5 6.Nc3
(invented by Yermolinsky in 1993) still was a real problem for
Black.
The a new era started in March 2014, when the talented
German junior Alexander Donchenko played the new and
FIDE World Chess Champion (1999) interesting version of the rather typical exchange sacrifice.
Best rating: 2702 Annotating the game Adhiban - Nakamura in CEWN 154,
Csaba Balogh gives the credit to Romain Edouard but with
all respect to the creative French grandmaster, Donchenko
It’s not very often that you start studying some trendy opening played it 2 months earlier. This ”new old” exchange sacrifice
line and find out that the first game was played... in 1620(!). leads to very fresh, unbalanced and dynamic positions, so
In fact I can’t remember if something like this happened in the following months 3...b5 was tested by a group of
to me before. But this is the case: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 grandmasters led by Hikaru Nakamura.
b5 was played in Greco - NN (Italy 1620). However, this The very idea of 3...b5 is quite banal and primitive: Black
fact didn’t impress modern players too much: 3...b5 was just defends the gambit pawn. White can’t ignore the fact
supposed to be a greedy amateurish move which contradicts that the c4 pawn disturbs his normal development. So White
the basic opening principles. So the line was a very rare tries to destroy the opponent’s pawn chain and as I already
guest in grandmasters (and even in masters) games. The mentioned, he did it with great efficiency until March 2014.
exceptions like Dlugy and Miles could do nothing to change
Finally it must be said that this line is quite important for the
the reputation (both grandmasters were known more for their
opening theory nowadays because
adventurous style than for their solid opening preparation).
1) Black is doing quite well recently in the QGA without 3.e4.
The first appearance of 3...b5 on 2700+ level was very special: 2) The classical alternatives after 3.e4 seem to be under
it was played in 2006 by Kramnik in his match against Deep certain pressure recently.
Fritz (yes, exactly the game when Vladimir blundered mate
So let’s have a closer look at the concrete lines.
in one). But it still looked more like a trick against the
computer’s opening library (the game transposed to a Slav
sideline quite soon and Black solved the opening problems
successfully) rather than some analytical breakthrough.
(3) QGA 3.e4 b5 [D20] 12...Bb4!?k) 9.Nxb5 (9.Bg5?! 9...Be7 10.Bxe7 Nxe7 11.Qc2
Riegler - Meister FRG 1990 11...Qd7!? 12.Be2 O-O 13.O-O f5e)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 b5 9...Bxe4 10.Bxc4 Nf6 This is the most accurate move order.
11.O-O c6 12.Nc3 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 Qxd4 White’s compensation
is enough to hold the dynamical balance, but nothing more.
) 5.a4 (5.b3 5...cxb3 6.Qxb3 Nf6 7.Nbd2 e6=+ Sondermann
- Heinicke Dortmund 2001) ; 4.Nc3 Now Black can also
transpose to the mail lines, but he has an independent option
which promises good chances. 4...a6 (4...c6 5.a4 - 4.a4) 5.a4
b4 (5...c6 - 4.a4) 6.Nce2 (6.Na2 6...Bb7 7.f3 e5! 8.Bxc4
exd4 9.Qb3 Qe7e Gulko - Dlugy Philadelphia 1988; 6.Nb1
6...Bb7 7.f3 e5! 8.d5 c6e Korchnoi - Huebner Cologne rapid
1984; 6.Nd5 6...e6 7.Ne3 Bb7 8.f3 Nc6=+ Jagstaidt - Delanoy
4.a4 In a certain sense this reaction is just necessary. Delaying Geneve 2001) 6...e6 7.Nf3 c5V]
it gives Black some additional options. [4.b3 is met by the
4...c6 [The alternative 4...Bb7 doesn’t impress at all. 5.axb5
standard reaction 4...e5! 5.dxe5 (5.Nf3 Nf6=+; 5.d5 Nf6 6.Qc2
Bxe4 6.Nc3 Bb7 7.Nf3 Nf6 8.Bxc4 e6 9.O-O The b5 pawn
Ovod - Madl Germany 2009 6...Bc5! 7.Nf3 c6e) 5...Qxd1+
seriously limits Black’s development and is not easy to
6.Kxd1 Bc5 7.Nf3 Bg4=+; 4.Nf3 Of course Black can play
remove. 9...Be7 10.Ne5 O-O 11.Re1 Nbd7 (11...a6 12.Nxf7
4...c6 and it is hard to find another move than (Another way
Rxf7 13.Bxe6; 11...c5?! Ribli - Nikolic Reykjavik 1988 12.Be3!
is 4...a6 5.a4 Bb7 transposing to the system 3. Nf3 a6 4.e4 b5
cxd4 13.Bxd4c; 11...Kh8 Bacrot - Lazarev France 1998 12.Qd3!
5.a4 Bb7, which is nowadays assessed as fully satisfactory for
Nbd7 13.Qh3A) 12.Nc6 Bxc6 13.bxc6 Nb6 14.Ba6c]
Black. The following lines confirm it. 6.axb5 (
5.b3 This straightforward attempt to destroy Black’s pawn
a) 6.b3 e6 7.bxc4 (7.axb5 axb5 8.Rxa8 Bxa8 9.bxc4
chain is once again well met with the standard reaction
Bxe4! 10.Nbd2 Beil - Krnavek Olomouc 1975 10...Bb4=+)
[5.Nc3 leads to a Slav with 3.Nc3 dxc4 4.e4 b5 5.a4, which
7...bxc4 8.Bxc4 (8.Nc3 Bb4 9.Bd2 Nf6 10.e5 Nd5 11.Qc1
was extremely popular about 5 years ago (nowadays White
Nxc3 12.Bxc3 c5!=+ Ivanov,S-Salov,V/S-Peterburg GM 1997)
mostly tries 4.e3). 5...a6 The modern trend. Black invites the
8...Bxe4 9.O-O Bb4! 10.Ne5 Ne7=+ Andruet - Semkov
opponent to exchange on b5, thus returning to the main line.
Bulgaria 1985;
The alternatives don’t seem to be dangerous. (
b) 6.Nc3 e6 7.axb5 axb5 8.Rxa8 Bxa8 - 6.axb5)
a) 5...b4 This is the traditional main move which was played
6...axb5 7.Rxa8 Bxa8 8.Nc3 e6 Giving back the extra pawn in about 700 games. Today’s assessment is that it’s quite
and equalizing comfortably. (8...c6 This greedy move is rather playable for Black but deep knowledge is required of course.;
risky. 9.Bg5!? h6 10.Bh4 Qb6 (10...Nd7 11.Be2 g5 12.Bg3
b) 5...e5? Strangely enough this move was tested on a
e6 13.O-On) 11.Be2 e6 12.O-O Knaak - Chekhov Leipzig 1986
serious level a lot of times. However, this move is simply 6...Qxd1+ the best [6...Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Bxd2+ (7...Bc5 8.Nf3;
bad and the reason was shown in the very first game. 7...Qd4 8.Bxb4 Qxa1 9.Ba5! f6 (Agostini - Bologni Italy 1995)
6.axb5! (6.Nf3 6...exd4 7.Qxd4 Qxd4 8.Nxd4 b4 9.Nd1 is dubious because of 10.Ne2 Nd7 11.e6 Nb6 12.Bc3 Qa2
Ba6+= Kasparov - Huebner Belfort 1988) 6...exd4 7.Bxc4 dxc3 13.Nd4n) 8.Qxd2 (8.Nxd2 8...c3 9.Ndf3 Qxd1+ 10.Rxd1 b4=+)
(7...Be6 8.Bxe6 fxe6 Moller - Enevoldsen Buenos Aires 1939 8...Qxd2+ 9.Kxd2 Nd7 (Parligras - Luther Kozloduy rapid
9.Nce2 e5 10.f4c) 8.Bxf7+ Ke7 9.Qb3c Timman - Balshan 2013) and now after 10.axb5!? cxb3 11.Nf3+= this unusual
Jerusalem 1967 9...Qd3 10.bxc3 Qxe4+ 11.Ne2 Nf6 12.Ra4c) structure promises White some advantage: Black’s queenside
6.Nf3 (6.axb5 6...cxb5 - 5.axb5; 6.Bg5 6...h6 7.Bh4 Nf6 The pawns are all weak.; 6...Qa5+ This tactical trick suggested by
import ant detail here is that the bishop is on c8, so e4-e5-e6 Houdini doesn’t look healthy. 7.Bd2 b4 8.Bxc4 (8.Bf4 8...c3
is not a threat yet. 8.axb5 cxb5 9.Nf3 Qb6k White has to 9.Bc4 Bc5 10.Nf3 Ba6) 8...Qxe5 9.Ra2 Qxe4+ 10.Ne2 Qxg2
prove that his compensation for a pawn is enough.) 6...e6! 11.Rg1 Qf3 12.Bg5Aand despite the extra pawns, it becomes
Practically forcing White to take the exchange. (6...Bb7 clear that it’s impossible to play a game of chess with a single
7.Bg5!? h6 8.Bh4 Here this anti-Moscow gambit play is quite piece, even if it’s the queen. ]
unpleasant. 8...g5 (8...Qb6 9.Be2 e6?! 10.Ne5c) 9.Bg3 Nd7 7.Kxd1 This complicated endgame (it is probably more to the
10.Be2n e6 11.d5 cxd5 12.exd5 exd5 13.Nxd5) 7.axb5 (7.Bg5 point to call it a queenless middlegame) is quite difficult to
7...Be7 8.Bxe7 Nxe7 9.axb5 cxb5 10.Nxb5 axb5 11.Rxa8 Bb7n) play for both sides. My intuition tells me that Black must
7...cxb5 8.Nxb5 axb5 9.Rxa8 Bb7 10.Ra1 - 5.axb5; 5.Nf3 will have enough counterchances but it’s not easy to prove it over
be examined in Part 2.; The most critical is 5.axb5 - Part 3] the board. However it must be added that both sides have
5...e5 [5...Nf6 is playable but not completely enough to weaknesses, so it’s not like White is playing without any risk.
equalize. 6.e5 (6.axb5 6...cxb5 7.bxc4 e5 8.Nf3 exd4 9.Bd3)
6...Nd5 7.bxc4 (7.axb5 7...cxb5 8.bxc4 bxc4 9.Bxc4 e6 10.Nf3
- 5.Nf3 e6 6.axb5 cxb5 7.b3) 7...bxc4 8.Bxc4 e6 9.Nf3 Ba6
10.Nbd2+= and there are still some problems to solve here.
(Ledger - Karkanaque Plovdiv 2010)]
6.dxe5! The only critical line. Now it’s not so easy for
Black to find the best defense over the board. [After 6.Nf3
it’s White who has to play accurately. 6...Nf6 (6...exd4!? )
7.axb5 (7.bxc4?! 7...Nxe4 8.Bd3 Bb4+ 9.Kf1 Nf6e Goganov -
7...Bc5! Development is a top priority. [The natural 7...cxb3
Stevic Aix-les-Bains 2011) 7...Nxe4 8.Bxc4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 (9.Kf1
might be inaccurate. 8.axb5 and this structural change works
9...O-Ok) 9...Nxd2 10.Nbxd2 exd4 11.Qe2+ Qe7=; 6.axb5
in White’s favor. 8...Bc5 (
6...cxb5 (6...Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Qxd4 8.Bxb4 Qxa1 9.Bxc4n) ; 6.bxc4
6...Nf6! 7.Nf3 - 6.Nf3] a) 8...Nd7 9.Nd2 (9.f4 9...cxb5) 9...Nxe5 10.Bb2 Ng4
11.Nh3+=;
b) 8...cxb5 Wang - Juhasz Budapest 2012 9.Bxb5+ Bd7
10.Nc3+= and White’s lead in development might soon
become the most important factor.)
9.Nf3!? (After 9.f4 9...Nh6 10.h3 O-O 11.Nf3 Rd8+ 12.Nbd2
Be3!V Black has good counterplay.) 9...Bxf2 10.Nbd2 cxb5
(10...Ne7 11.Nxb3 O-O 12.Ba3 Re8 13.Rc1) 11.Bxb5+ Bd7
12.Bc4Cmight be a problem. White’s pawn structure is
destroyed, but his pieces are very active.]
8.Nf3 [8.bxc4 8...b4 This is the key idea. Of course a pawn is a
pawn, but the queenside structure now clearly favors Black.
9.f4 Vogel - McPherson corr 2006 9...f6! and Black either
destroys the opponent’s pawn center or gets the f6 square
for his knight; with good compensation in both cases. 10.Nf3
(10.Nd2 10...fxe5 11.fxe5 Ne7n; 10.exf6 10...Nxf6 11.Nd2 O-On;
10.Bb2 10...fxe5 11.Bxe5 Nf6 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Nd2 Be3 14.g3
Na6n) 10...fxe5 11.Nxe5 Bd4 12.Ra2 Bxe5 13.fxe5 Nh6n;
8.axb5 8...Bd4! 9.Ra5 Bb6 10.Ra1 Bd4=]
8...Ne7 and now precise play from both sides leads to equal
endgames or just an immediate draw. Sorry, but I don’t feel
like overloading the text with them. Here is one possible (but
not the craziest) line: [There is no time for 8...Bxf2 9.axb5
cxb3 (9...cxb5? is just bad because of 10.Nc3c) 10.Nbd2
transposing to the 7...cxb3 line.]
9.axb5 cxb5 10.Na3 O-O 11.Nxb5 Rd8+ 12.Bd2 [12.Ke1
12...cxb3 13.Nc7 Nbc6 14.Nxa8 Nb4 15.Bc4 Nc2+ 16.Ke2
Nxa1 17.Nc7 Bg4 18.e6 Kf8 19.Bb2 Nc2 20.exf7 Nd4+ 21.Kf1
Bxf3 22.gxf3 Rc8=]
12...cxb3 13.Nc7 Bg4 14.Rb1 a5! 15.Nxa8 a4 16.Bb5
Bxf3+ 17.gxf3 Bb4 18.Bxa4 Rxd2+ 19.Kc1 Rc2+ 20.Kd1
Rd2+=
David vs. Goliath (1982) in 30 moves:
Peter Zhdanov

opponents of a similar level. Considerably less frequent are Top-10:
situations when a significantly lower-rated player succeeds in Ahmadi (1982) - Gasimov (2497), 1-0, 515 points
beating a much stronger adversary. Gholami (2325) - Mammadov (1877), 0-1, 448 points
The previous week has brought us only 13 upsets. In fact, Vorontsov (1727) - Kuba (2164), 1-0, 437 points
the initial version of the column also had a few games by GM Thanki (2061) - Swayams (2480), 1-0, 419 points
Tkachiev and GM Fressinet, but those were blitz matches from Nieto de la Cruz (2178) - Arribas Lopez (2537), 1-0, 359 points
the French Blitz Chess Championship, not to mention that Grebeniuk (2188) - Bernadskiy (2525), 1-0, 337 points
some of the pgns look quite ambiguous. Soozankar (2258) - Gholami Orimi (1925), 0-1, 333 points
Alekseev (2679) - Kazakovskiy (2354), 0-1, 325 points
The number of moves ranges from 25 in Grebeniuk (2188) Ghaffarifar (1882) - Bagheri (2188), 1-0, 306 points
- GM Bernadskiy (2525), 1-0 to 62 in FM Gholami (2325) - Cao Armillas (2113) - Bento Iglesias (1809), 0-1, 304 points
Mammadov (1877), 0-1. The highest-profile loss was GM
Alekseev (2679) - Kazakovskiy (2354), 0-1, although the final
position in the pgn doesn’t spell any trouble for White; all I Average gap: 378; White won 6 games, Black won 4 games.
know is that Black did win the game according to the official
site. You can view all the games in the accompanying pgn file.
The ”There and back again” nomination goes to FM Parviz If you have ever won a game against someone rated
Gasimov aka ”I have earned 568 rating points over three 300 points or above yourself, please send it to
months”. He has become a frequent guest of ours, even peter@pogonina.com for publication. Any additional
though his journey back is slower (K=10) than his way uphill information (a photo, annotations, etc.) will be appreciated.
(K=40). This time Gasimov (2497) got checkmated by Ahmadi
Puzzle section
(4) Karjakin, S(2760)-Kramnik, V(2783) (6) Markgraf, A(2486)-Zajogin, A(2393)
Zurich rapid, 2015.02.19 German league, 2015.02.21
1... i 1. h
(5) Kramnik, V(2783)-Caruana, F(2811) (7) Lauber, A(2441)-Brunello, S(2552)

Zurich rapid, 2015.02.19 German league, 2015.02.21
1. h 1... i
(8) Li Chao(2711)-Areshchenko, A(2654) (10) Brunello, S(2552)-Gauglitz, G(2394)
German league, 2015.02.22 German league, 2015.02.22
1... i 1. h
(9) Saric, I(2678)-Bartel, M(2652) (11) Piorun, K(2532)-Bobras, P(2535)

1... i 1. h
(12) Shirov, A(2691)-Zaragatski, I(2472)
1. h
(13) Hoolt, S(2332)-Movsesian, S(2657)

1... i
Endgame section take the pawn.
40.gxh4 [40.g4 also drops the e4 pawn as after
40...Bc4i the rook cannot stay on the e-file because it
(14) Vachier Lagrave, Maxime (2775) moves into a knight fork either on f1 or on f3.]
- Tomashevsky, Evgeny (2716) 40...Bc4 41.Rg2+ Kh6 42.Kg3 Vachier knows that he
cannot hold his pawns for long, therefore he escapes with his
Tbilisi GP, GM Csaba Balogh
king from the corner where it is threatened by different kind
2015.02.23 Best rating: 2672
of mating nets. [42.e5 loses quickly to 42...Nf1+ 43.Kg1 Bc5+
44.Kh1 Bd5i there is no stalemate and after any pawn
moves Ne3 wins.]
42...Bf1 Black could have taken on e4 right away, but
Tomashevsky tries to trap the rook first.
43.Rh2 Bd3 Nf1 is the main threat.
44.Kg4 Nxe4
We are facing an unusual endgame. The three minor pieces

are known as a worth of a queen and now in an opened
position due to the two bishops it is even better. White tries
to hold the draw with rook and three pawns. Unfortunately
for him the black pieces are in perfect harmony, while the
white pawns are vulnerable. Tomashevky shows excellent
technique and collects all the pawns one by one. 45.Kf5 White knows that he cannot keep his pawns for long
39...Nd2! Not the only move, but Black shows the and he goes with his king to the middle of the board where it
importance in the quality of the pawns. He could have taken is going to be the most difficult to deliver the mate.. When the
on g3 first, but then the king gets closer to the protection of pawns are off the board, Black’s winning strategy will be to
the central pawns. White can grab a fourth pawn now, but the squezze the white king to the edge of the board. Black cannot
doubled h-pawn cannot be caunted as a healthy pawn and it grab any direct benefits from the discovered checks with a
also devides the pawnchain into two islands which will make knight move.
them more vulnerable. Nf1 is threatening, White is forced to 45...Bd6 The minor pieces are cooperating perfectly.
46.Rg2 Kh5 It is time to collect another pawn. bring home the full point. We can see the importance of the 2
47.Rg8 Ng5+ [47...Kxh4 48.Rh8+ Kg3 was equally good. bishops as well, if Black had two knights and a bishop White
There are many different ways to eliminate all the pawns.] could always threaten with sacrificing the rook for the bishop
and the game is drawn with single two knights. Now the rook
48.Kf6 Nh7+ 49.Kg7 Bxf4 50.Ra8 Be5+ 51.Kf7 Kxh4 sacrfifices for one minor piece never works.
52.Ra4+ Kh5 [Of course not 52...Kxh3?? because of 53.Ra3]
68.Ra1 Kg5 Black needs to use all his pieces to haunt the
53.h4 [On 53.Ra5 Black unpins himself with 53...Ng5+ after white king.
which he can already remove his bishop.]
69.Rg1+ Bg4 70.Rg2 Bc5 71.Rg3 Nf4 72.Ke5 Bf2 73.Ra3
53...Bb2 54.Rf4 Bc3 55.Ke6 Be1 56.Rf3 Bg6 57.Rf1 The Bh3 [73...Bf5 is also possible to squezze one line on the king
days of the h4 pawn are counted, but Tomashevsky uses a with Ng6 next move.]
very good practical technique, that he improves his pieces
first before he grabs the material. The reason is to avoid 74.Ra5 Bg2 Tomashevsky decides to control the h1-a8
the 50 moves draw rule according to which if there is no and g1-a7 diagonals with his bishops and squezze the king
capture or pawn move throughout 50 moves the game is towards e8.
drawn. Therefore Black starts to squeeze the white king to the 75.Ra3 Ne2 76.Ra5 Bg3+ 77.Ke6+ Kg6 The first success,
edge of the board and takes on h4 a bit later to win some time the king has been pushed one rank closer to the edge and
for the countdown from 50. Black is threatening with Nd4 check to squeeze another line.
78.Ra6 [78.Ra4 prevents Nd4, but moves into 78...Bh3+
forcing the king to move to the 7th rank as Kd5 moves into
Nc3!]
78...Nd4+ 79.Ke7+ Kg7 80.Ra1 Bh3 Black makes progress
slowly but surely. He again controls with his bishops the
escaping routes of the king.
81.Rh1 Bg4 82.Rg1 Ne2 83.Rf1 Bf4 Bring the pieces closer
to each other in order to cooperate more efficiently is another
very good strategy!
57...Bb4 58.Rf4 Nf8+ 59.Kd5 Be7 60.Rf1 Bc2 61.Rg1
84.Rd1 Nc3 85.Rd3 [85.Rd4 is met by 85...Bg5+ and Kd6
Bb3+ 62.Ke4 Ng6 63.Kf5 Bd8 64.Ke4 Be6 65.Rd1 Be7
does not work. 86.Ke8 Bf5i]
Black is not in hurry now, he can do whatever he wants.
85...Ne4 [85...Be5! was easier. White is in a kind of
66.Ra1 Bc8 67.Ra5+ Kxh4 So the pawn is taken, Black has
zugzwang. For instance 86.Rd2 loses to 86...Bf6+ 87.Ke8
50 moves to mate his opponent. I thought the win should
(87.Kd6 87...Ne4+i) 87...Nb5!i with an inevitable mate
be quite trivial, but actually Black must do some efforts to
on c7 or d6.]
86.Kd8 Nc5 87.Rd5 Ne4 [The machine recommends
87...Nb7+ 88.Ke7 Bc1! with the idea, that White must
control the g5 square and if he does it by 89.Rb5 Ba3+
90.Ke8 Nd6+ wins.]
88.Rd3 Ng5 89.Ke7 [89.Ke8 was slightly more resistent
89...Nf7 90.Rb3 Bg5 91.Rb7
91...Ne5! and White resigned in view of the threatening mate

on h5! Very good technique by Tomashevsky who needed
only 25 moves to deliver the mate. 0-1
91...Kg8! threatening with Nd6 mate and the knight cannot

be taken because of Bh5. Without the rook it would be a
stalemate now, therefore White should try sacrifice his rook...
92.Rb6 Bf5! Black is threatening now with Ne5 followed
by Bg6. Unfortunately Rg6 Bxg6 frees the d7 square for the
king, but White can try (92...Ne5?? 93.Rg6+! is a draw!)
93.Re6 Bh4! setting White into zugzwang. The rook must
control the d6 square, but then he must free the e5. 94.Rh6
Another stalemate trick, but the easiest refutation is (94.Ra6
94...Ne5i and Bg6 next.) 94...Bd7+! 95.Kxd7 Nxh6i]
89...Nf7 White is getting squeezed more and more. The end
is near...
90.Rd4 Bg5+ 91.Ke8
59.c4 bxc4+ 60.Rxc4 and now it is very important for Black not
(15) Mista, Aleksander(2597) to miss the chance of bringing his rook to the h-file to attack
- Erdos, Viktor(2615) the white pawn from behind.
German Bundesliga 2014/15,

Best rating: 2737
60...Rd8+! (No better is 60...Rg8 61.Rc5+ Kd6 and now White

has the very strong 62.Rg5 (62.Ra5 62...Rg4 is just a draw.)
62...Rf8 63.h5 with very good winning chances.) 61.Kc2!
preventing the black rook to get to the h-file over the d1
square. (61.Kc3? would probably lead to a draw. 61...Rd1
Is this a winning or a drawn endgame?! The answer is hard to 62.h5 Rh1 63.Rc5+ Kd6 and the very active black rook is
tell at first sight... In case White would somehow manage to saving the game: 64.Ra5 Kc7 65.Kd3 Kb6 66.Rf5 Rh4 It
put his rook behing the h-pawn the position would of course seems like White can’t win the game any longer... 67.Kc3
be winning, but right now the black rook is feeling quite free Rh3+ 68.Kc4 Rh4+) 61...Rg8 and now White is just in time with
on the h-file and in case the white king would go to g3, the c3 62.h5! with the idea to play Rh4. 62...Rg2+ 63.Kb3 Rh2 It
pawn could be under attack. seems like the position is close to a draw, but White has a very
57.Kc2! Mista starts with the right move. White needs to nice winning move:
bring his king to d3, as on b3 he is just badly placed.
57...Rh6 Black can’t do much, so he needs to keep on waiting.
58.Kd3 Kf5? Black allows White a nice trick. [The best
chance for Black was to keep waiting on the h-file. 58...Rh8
Now White has several ideas, but probably the most logical
one is to try the same as in the game, as other plans like
bringing the king to g3 don’t make much sense as Black would
put his rook on c8 and king on f5, with good drawing chances.
64.Rc6! and Black cannot defend the position any longer.] endgame skills!
59.h5! An excellent move, using the right moment that Black
cannot take on h5.
59...Kg5 avoiding Rh4. [A rather easy calculation shows
that White is winning after 59...Rxh5? 60.Rd5+ Kg6 61.Rxh5
Kxh5 62.Kd4 Kg5 63.Kc5 Kf5 64.Kb6 Ke4 65.Kxa6 Kd3
66.Kxb5]
60.Rd5+ Kf4 61.c4 Now the h5 pawn is saved and the black
king is cut off on the 4th rank, clearly c4 is the right move.
61...bxc4+ 67.Rg6! Rxh5 68.Rxa6 Black can’t stop White from playing
Rc6 and b5, which means his position is just lost.
68...Rh8 69.Rc6+ Kd5 70.b5 In case Black would have the
king on d7 it would be a draw with the famous idea of playing
Rc8!, winning the c-file, but now that the king is on d5 Black’s
position is just hopeless.
70...Ra8+ 71.Kb4 Ra1 72.Rc2 Kd6 73.b6 Kd7
62.Kxc4 All White needs to do now is to get his king to a5 and

Black can’t stop White from realizing this.
62...Rc6+ 63.Kb3 Ke4 64.Rc5 very safe play
64...Rh6 Now White has 2 options...
65.Ka4! This is the right choice, as there is no need for White
to think about the other tempting idea... [65.Rc4+ 65...Kd5
66.Rh4 Fixing the black rook on h6 looks great, but in fact 74.Kb5 followed by b7 and Kb6. What a great technique by
it is not that useful right now. 66...Kd6 67.Kc4 Ke5 68.Kc5 Mista, even if Erdos made things a bit too easy for White... 1-0
Kf5 and the white king cannot get to the a6 pawn because the
rook on h6 has the 6th rank under control.]
65...Kd4 66.Rg5 Kc4 Once again Mista shows great rook
Chess and the City.
This pen is cursed...

Best rating: 2493
Our team composition last weekend from left to right: Oleg Boguslavskyy,
Some time ago I remember I was writing an article about me, Sabino Brunello, Rainer Buhmann, Team captain Blerim Kuci, Ivan
superstition. I am myself actually not very superstitious Saric, Dennis Wagner, David Baramidze and Richard Rapport
however I tend to exchange the so-called lucky pen once I
suffer a loss, especially when it is a bitter one.
The next morning I returned the pen to David, since obviously
Last weekend we played in German Bundesliga in Berlin and I did not plan to give it another try. This time I went for a blue
I found myself as so often without any writing tool. I asked pen and managed to win the game. Our team succeeded in
my team mate David Baramidze if he could help me out. He another victory however suffered again a single loss but this
handed me a black pen and so the story began... time by our team mate Ivan Saric from Croatia. The actual
I played on Saturday against an IM from Spain. In the first point about this loss was that also Ivan was in need of a pen
4 hours I could say I played a very nice game, outplayed my before the game and again it was David who was so kind to
opponent totally until I found myself in a winning endgame. borrow him one - and of course it was the very same pen.
Probably due to a lack of energy and nervousness I somehow The question I am now wondering about is if this is just a funny
lost control over the game and had to throw in the towel a few (or rather sad) coincidence or if there is really something we
hours later. Fortunately my team could still win the match and could call fate, luck or more often bad luck. Actually I have
I did not need to feel guilty but nevertheless sank in sadness no idea, but what I know for sure is that this was the very last
and in the ”I wanna kill myself mood.” time to borrow a pen from David, especially when this pen is
black and cursed.
In my next newsletter I will reveal the results of the Gibraltar
test and after that the team of Chess Evolution should
announce a winner, in case there is any...
Clash of the Titans 10.Ne5 Nbd7 [10...Nfd7!? The idea of this move which
deserves attention is to save the light-squared bishop.
11.Nd3!?]
(16) Capablanca, Jose Raul 11.Qxb6?! A bad decision. This exchange improved
- Janowski, Dawid Markelowicz Black’s structure. White should have played [11.g4 11...Bg6
[D11] 12.Nxg6 hxg6 13.Kg2 Qc7 14.Bd2 O-O-O 15.Rac1!?AThere
are no tactical threats on g4 or h3 yet because the king will
New York Rice prel(3), escape over f3-e2.; 11.Nxd7 11...Nxd7 (11...Qxb3?? 12.Nxf6+;
1916 GM Kamil Miton 11...Kxd7? 12.Qc2) 12.e4
Best rating: 2655
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e3 [The main move
is 5.a4 ]
5...Bg4 [Nowdays the best reaction is 5...b5 ]
6.Bxc4 e6 7.h3 Bh5 8.O-O
12...e5! A typical fight for the center. (12...Qxb3 13.Bxb3 O-O

14.Be3 Black’s position is very solid but on the other hand
White has the better center and his idea is to play against the
bishop on h5.; 12...Qxd4 13.Be3 Qd6 14.Qxb7 O-O
8...Be7 [8...Nbd7!? to avoid Ne5.]

9.Qb3 This is not the best square for the queen as White had
possibilties to create two other setups which give him slightly
better positions: [9.g4 9...Bg6 10.Ne5 Nbd7 11.Nxg6 hxg6
12.Qf3 or; 9.Qe2 with the thematic idea to get a better center
after Rd1-e4.]
9...Qb6 [9...Bxf3 10.Qxb7!] 15.Rfd1! Bxd1 16.Rxd1 Nc5 17.Qb4 (17.Rxd6 17...Nxb7 18.Rd7
Na5e) 17...Rab8 (17...Qb8 18.Qa3 Qb6 19.b4h) 18.Qa3 18.Na2? Another weak move which gives Black the
Qe5 19.f4 Qh5 20.Be2 Qh4 21.Bxc5 Bxc5+ 22.Qxc5 Rxb2 opportunity to blow on a3. [18.Rab1 ]
23.Qe3 and White is better.) 13.dxe5 (13.d5!? ) 13...Nxe5 18...Nd5?! Janowski decided not to play [18...Bxa3! 19.bxa3
14.Be3 Qxb3 15.Bxb3 f6 (15...Nd3?! 16.g4 Bg6 17.Rad1 Nxb2 Rxa3 20.Rc2 Nd5 with the idea b4. 21.Rb2 Nb6 and White’s
18.Rd2c) ] position is very unpleasant because it is hard to solve the
11...axb6 12.Nxd7 White again had the chance to get the problems with the pin.]
advantage of the bishop pair. [12.g4 12...Bg6 13.Nxg6 hxg6 19.Rab1 f5 20.Kf1 Ra4 21.Nc3
14.Kg2 b5 15.Be2]
12...Kxd7 13.Bd2 [13.g4 13...Bg6 14.f4 b5 15.Nxb5 cxb5
16.Bxb5+ Kd8 17.f5 exf5 18.gxf5 Bh5e]
13...b5= 14.Bd3 [14.Bb3 White’s idea now is to take the
center and limit the black bishop after f3-e4, so Black plays
14...Bg6 15.a4 (15.f3 15...Bd3!) 15...Bd3 (15...b4 16.Na2 Ne4
17.Bxb4? (17.Be1! ) 17...Bxb4 18.Nxb4 Nd2e) 16.Rfc1 bxa4
(16...Bc4 17.Bxc4 bxc4 18.a5! Bb4 19.Ne4c) 17.Nxa4 Ra6
(17...Kc7 18.Nc5 At least White gets some active play here.)
18.Nc5+ Bxc5 19.Rxa6 (19.dxc5 ) 19...bxa6! (19...Bxa6 20.dxc5
Ne4 21.Be1 f5 22.f3 Nf6 23.Bg3c) 20.Rxc5 Rb8 21.Rc3 Be4 21...Rc4!? A brave decsion by Janowski. He is going to
22.Bc1 Nd5 and Black is on time, so White is forced to sacrifice the exchange to complicate the position.
exchange the bishop!] 22.b3 [22.Ke2 ]
14...Bg6 15.Bxg6 hxg6 16.Rfc1 Ra6=+ [16...b4 17.Ne2 22...Rxc3 23.Bxc3 Rxa3 24.Be1 Bf6 [24...Ra2 25.Ra1 Rb2
Ra6 18.b3 Rha8 19.Rc2 Ra3 20.Nc1= White can try 26.Rcb1 Rc2=]
Rab1-Rbb2-Nd3 next.]
25.Ke2 e5 26.dxe5 Bxe5 [26...Ra2+ 27.Kd3 Bxe5 28.Rc2+=]
17.a3 Rha8
27.f4 Bd6 [27...Bf6 28.g4 b4 It was more logical to keep the
bishop on this diagonal.]
28.Bc3 Ra2+ 29.Kf3 Bc5 [29...Ba3 30.Rd1c]
35...fxe4+?! A wrong decsion. It was better to keep the e-file
closed! [35...fxg4+! 36.hxg4 Nxf4 37.Bxf4 gxf4 38.Kxf4 Bh6+
(38...Ra5! A nice move! Black has very good drawish chances
as he is controling the dark squares.) 39.g5 Rf2+ 40.Kg3 Bxg5
41.Rxc6+ (41.Rc5 41...Rd2) 41...bxc6 42.Kxf2 and here White
has winning chances.]
36.Kxe4 Re2+ [36...Rf2 37.Rf3 Re2+ 38.Kd3 Rh2 39.Re1!
and White has the initiative.]
37.Kf3 Rh2 38.Kg3 Re2 [38...gxf4+ 39.Kxh2 (39.Bxf4
30.Rd1! Ke6 31.Rd3 A nice rook improvement by
39...Rxh3+!) 39...Kxe5 is too optimistic. 40.Re1+ Ne3
Capablanca.
41.Rd7c]
31...Bf8 [31...Kf7 32.Be5+=]
39.h4 gxh4+ [39...gxf4+ 40.Bxf4
32.Be5 b4 Maybe it was not necessary to put the pawn on b4.
[32...g5!? ]
33.Rc1? Astrange move, which I cannot understand. I think
it was more logical to play [33.Ra1!? to exchange or activate
the rook.; Or 33.Re1! with the idea to open the position
over e4. 33...g5 34.e4 Nxf4 (34...fxe4+ 35.Rxe4 gxf4 36.Bxg7+
Kf7 37.Bxf8 Kxf8 38.Rxd5 cxd5 39.Rxf4+ Kg7 40.Rxb4h)
35.exf5+ Kxf5 36.g4+ (36.Rd7 36...Bc5) 36...Kg6 37.Bxf4 gxf4
38.Kxf4h]
33...g5 34.g4 [34.Bd4!? 34...gxf4 35.exf4 Rxg2 36.Re1+ Kf7
37.Re5 g6? 38.Rxd5h] 40...Rg2+! 41.Kf3 Nxf4 42.Kxf4?! (better is 42.Re1+!c )
42...Bd6+ 43.Rxd6+ (43.Kg5 43...Be7+!=) 43...Kxd6 44.Rh1
34...g6 35.e4 with complex play but Black is not worse. (44.Kg5 44...b5V)
44...Ke6 (44...Kd5 45.h5 gxh5 46.gxh5 Kd4 47.h6 Rg8 48.h7
Rh8V) 45.h5 gxh5 46.gxh5 Kf7 47.h6 Kg8 and Black is on
time.]
40.Kxh4 Be7+ [40...Rh2+ 41.Kg3 (41.Kg5?? 41...Kf7i)
41...Re2 42.Kf3 Rh2 43.Re1 Rh3+ 44.Ke4 Rh4 and it is not
easy to improve White’s position.; 40...g5+!? 41.Kxg5 Be7+
42.Kh6 The only square, otherwise Black has Rxe5! 42...Bf8+
43.Kh7 The only square again. 43...Rh2+ (43...Kf7 44.Rh1) 47...Bd6 48.Kg2 Nf4+ 49.Bxf4 Rxd3 50.Bxg5 Rg3+) 47...Bc5
44.Kg8 Bh6 45.Rxd5!c avoiding the mate threats.] 48.Rg2 Nf6+ 49.Kf3 Rh1 50.Be5 and White is clearly better.]
41.Kg3 g5 42.Kf3 Rh2 43.Re1 Rh3+ 44.Ke4 Rh4 45.fxg5 45...Bxg5 [45...Rxg4+ 46.Kf3 Rxg5 (46...Kf5 47.Rxd5 cxd5
White also keeps an advantage after [45.f5+ 45...Kf7 48.Bb8h) 47.Bf4+ Kd7 48.Rxe7+h]
46.Kf3 [46.Bg3 46...Rh3 (46...Rxg4+ 47.Kf3+ Kf5
48.Re5+h) 47.Rf3 Bd2 48.Ref1c]
46...Rh3+ 47.Bg3+ Kd7 [47...Kf7!? Why not keep the king
closer to the g pawn!? 48.Kg2 Nf4+ 49.Bxf4 Rxd3 50.Bxg5
Rxb3 51.Re7+ Kg6 52.Be3 Rc3 53.Kf3 b5 and I suppose
Black shouldn’t lose this position.]
48.Kg2 Rh7 49.Re5 Bf6
46.Bg3 (46.Rxd5!? A nice and interesting idea! 46...cxd5+

(46...Rxg4+ 47.Kf3h) 47.Kxd5 Rxg4 48.Rh1! with the idea
to avoid counterplay from the second rank. (48.Rc1 48...Rg2
49.Rc7 Rd2+ 50.Bd4 Kf8V) 48...Rh4 (48...Bf6 49.Rh7+ Kg8
50.Rxb7 Bxe5 51.Kxe5h The king is going to g6.) 49.Rc1
50.Rexd5+!? An interesting decision. Capablanca changes

the character of the position, which from a practical point of
view is a typical way of dealing with the position. [50.Rf5
50...Ke6]
50...cxd5 51.Rxd5+ Ke8 52.Rb5 Rd7! [52...Bc3 53.Bd6]
53.Rxb4 Kf7 54.Rb6
49...Rh6! The only way to defend is to take control of the 6th
rank. (49...Rh3 50.Rc7 Rd3+ 51.Ke4h with f6 next.) 50.Rc7
Ke8 51.Rxb7 g4V) 46...Rh3 (46...Rxg4+ 47.Kf3 Nf6 48.Re6h
The rook on g4 is dead and Rxf6 coming.) 47.Rg1 (47.Kf3?
66...Bc3 67.Kg6 Bd2 68.Kf6 Bc3+ 69.Ke6 Bd2 70.g6
Bc3 71.Kd5 Bd2 [71...Kg7?? 72.Bd4+h]
72.Bd4 b5! Kc5 was not a threat anyway because of Ba5.
73.Ke4 b4 74.Be3 Bc3 75.Kd3 Be1 Now to improve the
position White is forced to exchange the g- for the b-pawn.
76.Bd2 Bf2 77.Ke4 Bc5 78.Kd5 Be7 79.Kc4 Kg7
80.Bxb4 Bd8 81.Bc3+ Kxg6 82.b4 Kf5 [82...Kf7 83.Kd5
Ke8 is not the correct plan as White is winning now after
54...Bd4 Janowski nicely regroups his pieces. 84.Kc6 Bh4 85.b5 Bf2 (85...Kd8 86.b6 Bg3 87.b7 Ke8
55.Rd6 Both players were probably not sure about the 88.Ba5 Bb8 89.Bc7 Ba7 90.Kb5 Kd7 91.Ka6h) 86.Ba5
evaluation of the bishop endgame, but objectively it is Be3 87.Bb6 Bd2 88.Bf2 Ba5 and this diagonal is too
drawish. [55.Rb5 55...Kg6 56.Kf3 and White can try for a very short... 89.Bc5 Bd8 (89...Kd8 90.Bb6+ Bxb6 91.Kxb6 Kc8
long time here.] 92.Ka7h) 90.Bd6h with Bc7 next.]
55...Rxd6 56.Bxd6 Kg6 57.Kf3 Bf6 58.Bf4 Kf7 59.Ke4 83.Kd5
Ke6 60.Be3 Be7 61.g5 Bd8 62.Kf4 [62.Kd3 62...Kf5
(62...Kd5 63.g6 Ke6 64.Bd4) 63.Kc4 Bc7 64.Kc5 Bd8
65.Kd6 Ba5 White is trying to attack the b-pawn. 66.Kd7
Bc3 67.Kc7 b5 68.Kc6 b4 with a similar position as in the
game.]
62...Bc7+ 63.Kg4 Be5 64.Kh5
And here in a drawish position Janowski unexpectedly

resigned!!! He didn’t know the defensive method which half
a century later a 17-year old Bobby Fischer used in his game
against Taimanov! To get the answer as to how to make a
draw you can check the game Taimanov-Fischer, Buenos Aires
1960. 1-0
64...Kf7 Black cannot allow White to bring his king to h7.
65.Kh6 Kg8 66.Bb6 Fixing the pawn on b7.
(17) Roche (18) Nakamura, H(2776)-Karjakin, S(2760)
1. = Zurich, 2015.02.16
26.Nxd7! Rd8 [26...Bxd7 27.Rc3+ Kd8 (27...Bc6 28.Rdc1h)

28.Rcd3h]
27.Rc3! 1-0 [27.Rc3 27...Rxd7 28.Rdc1 Rd6 29.e5h]
(19) Kramnik, V(2783)-Caruana, F(2811)
Zurich blitz, 2015.02.13
22...Nb5!! 23.Rxc6 [23.Qb2 23...Nd6! 24.Rb4 a5!i;

23.Qa4 23...Rxc1+ 24.Nxc1 Qc8i]
23...Bxc6 24.Rxb5 Bxb5i
(20) Timman, J(2553)-Nikolic, P(2588) (22) Fridman, D(2648)-Fedorchuk, S(2648)
Noteboom GM, 2015.02.15 Noteboom Open, 2015.02.15
41...h5+! 0-1 [41...h5+ 42.Kxh5 (42.Kg3 42...h4+ 43.Kg4 Rg2+ 20.Re7! [20.Rxf6! 20...Rxf6 21.Re7h Qxe7 (21...h6 22.Nxf6
44.Kh5 Rh8#) 42...Rh8+ 43.Kg4 Rg2+ 44.Rg3 Rh4#] Qxe7 23.Qxh6+) 22.Nxe7]
(21) Lai, H(2308)-Sprenger, J(2496) 20...Bxe7 21.Rh6 Rf7 22.Qxf7 Qg8 23.Qxe7h
Noteboom Open, 2015.02.15 (23) Socko, B(2611)-Moor, O(2348)
Graz Open, 2015.02.14
22.Nxg6!! Rf7 [22...fxg4 23.Qxf8+! Qxf8 24.Nxf8h;

22...Qxg6 23.gxf5 Qxf5 (23...Rxf5 24.Qxe4h) 24.Rg1+ Kh7 28.Nb8!! 1-0 [28.Nb8 28...Nxb8 29.Rd8 Kf8 30.Bd6+! Kg8
25.Rg7+h] 31.Rxe8+ Kh7 32.Rxb8h]
23.gxf5h
(24) Predojevic, B(2614)-Elsness, F(2447) (26) Solodovnichenko, Y(2577)-Rydstrom, T(2314)
Norwegian league, 2015.02.07 Vaxjo Open, 2015.02.13
49.Rxf7+! 1-0 [49.Rxf7+ 49...Rxf7 50.Qxf7+! Kxf7 51.Rh7+ 31.Bxf5! Bxf5 [31...Rxe1+ 32.Rxe1 Bxf5 33.Qxf5h]
Kf6 52.Rxb7h] 32.Rxe4h
(25) Tarlev, K(2557)-Mashmooli, K(2175) (27) Sedlak, N(2558)-Loebler, H(2161)
Khazar Open, 2015.02.11 Graz Open, 2015.02.13
17.Bxf6! Rxe1+ 18.Nxe1! 1-0 [18.Nxe1 18...gxf6 19.Nxd3h] 18.Ngf5! gxf5 [18...Bxh6 19.Qxh6 gxf5 20.Nxf5 Ne8
21.Nxe7+ Kh8 22.Qxf8#]
19.Qg5 1-0 [19.Nxf5!?h ; 19.Qg5 19...Ne8 20.Bxg7 Nxg7
21.Nxf5h]
(28) Mitrofanov
1.Rb4+! [1.Kxe4? 1...d2=; 1.Kxd3? 1...Nc5+=]

1...Kc2 2.Rc4+! [2.Kxe4? 2...d2=]
2...Kd2 [2...Kb2 3.Kxd3h]
3.Kxe4 g3 [3...Ke2 4.Nc7! d2 5.Nd5 d1=Q 6.Nc3+h]
4.Kf3! g2 5.Kxg2 Ke3 [5...Ke2 6.Re4+!h]
6.Rc3!! Ke2 7.Nb6! d2 8.Nc4! d1=Q 9.Re3#
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
The 16th Individual European Championship is one round
away from the end. After 10 rounds Evgenij Najer leads with
Editorial Preface 2 the amazing score of 8/10, beating Korobov in round 10 with
the white pieces.
The second and third places are shared by David Navara, who
is playing a very solid event and showed a few great games
like against Nepomniachtchi, and Dennis Khishmatulin, who
The K-Files. QGA 3.e4 b5 4.a4 c6 5.Nf3 10 won a crazy game against Eljanov in round 10.
So we will witness the showdown on Sunday, after a rest day
on Saturday.
Puzzle section 14 Meanwhile Alexei Shirov managed to organize an amazingly

strong rapid event in Yurmala, Latvia, which starts tomorrow.
A lot of GMs will participate in it, with names such as
Endgame section 17 Karjakin, Mamedyarov, Gelfand, the recent Grand Prix winner
Tomaschevsky and many more.
Chess and the City. Time to speak ”Tacheles” 23
There is a friendly match between China and India under
way, but both teams are not playing even close to their best
Clash of the Titans 24 line-ups.
The traditional open of Capelle-la-Grande 2015 is lead by
Kotronias with 6/7. A lot of strong GMs are following him with
5.5/7 and one of them is the top seed of the tournament, Li
Solutions 32 Chao from China, with an ELO of 2720.
As always we hope you enjoy this week’s chess material!
Best wishes,
Two best games of the past week reversed colors.
7.a3 White is quickly trying to make the b4 move work, as in
combination with the bishop on g2 the b5 threat will have
(1) Nepomniachtchi, Ian (2714) some value.
- Howell, David W L (2663) [A29] 7...Be7 8.b4
16th ch-EUR Indiv 2015(8.1),

Best rating: 2737
Ian Nepomniachtchi is one of the most interesting players

in the world. He had tournaments in which he was not
spending more than 20 minutes for the whole game, and
lately has had a lot of very successful events in normal chess,
as well as in rapid and blitz. Usually he is playing original and
strange chess, which is not easy to play against, especially 8...Be6 Black is preparing to answer Nd4 after White’s b5.
since Ian usually pushes his opponents into time trouble. In 9.O-O a5 It is clear that Black is still in his preparation and of
the current game it seems like Black could reach a normal course it is nothing new. Black is forcing White to play b5 to
position out of the opening, but in fact things were very tricky play Nd4.
and White clearly kept the better overview over the position, 10.b5 Nd4 11.Rb1 protecting from Bb3 and threatening to
which slowly brought him domination and later on a decisive play Nxe5. [Of course White should not play 11.Nxe5? 11...Bb3
material advantage. 12.Qe1 Nc2 and Black is winning.]
1.c4 Ian likes to start a lot with the first 1.c4 11...Nxf3+ 12.Bxf3 Rb8 This is a very safe way to protect the
1...e5 Lately Howell has been showing great results as we can b7 pawn, but of course now the rook is passively placed on b8.
see on his ELO. He is also quite strong in theory, so he picks 13.d3 O-O 14.Bb2 White’s idea is clear, to start his play on the
the very main 1...e5. queenside, where he has a bit more space, and put pressure
2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 There are a lot of different moves against the c7 pawn with Qc2-Rfc1. Black’s play should usually
orders and tricky lines here. be on the kingside.
4...d5 [4...Bb4 is the other main line.] 14...f5 A very logical move.
5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 This is a very usual move. If we look 15.Bg2 I am not sure that this move was really immediately
at the position, we have a line from the Sicilian dragon with needed, although of course a prophylactical decision like Bg2
is not bad. [15.Qc2 seems to be the best move here.] course White has other moves as well, but I guess this was
15...Bd6 Black is overp rotecting the c7 pawn and putting his Nepomniachtchi’s idea. 20...fxe4 Black of course has a lot
bishop to a slightly more active position. of different options too, but here comes the most crazy one.
21.f5 White is trying to reach a positional advantage. 21...Qh5!
16.a4 Black would most probably play Qe7 next anyway, so 22.fxe6 Ng4 The threat of playing Qxh2 and Bc5+ makes the
there is no reason to avoid playing a4. piece sacrifice very exciting. The position is very unclear.]
16...Qe7 [In my opinion maybe it would make sense for Black 20.fxe5 Nxe5 and here comes the move that clearly Black has
to put his queen on h5 now: 16...Qe8 17.Qc2 Qh5 and maybe missed:
one idea could be to start some attack on the ingside with Rf6
next.]
17.Qc2
21.Ne4! This move is not that hard to find, but very very
important. White is now getting one of the black bishops,
which will give him a a clear positional plus.
17...Qf7 Clearly a useful move, taking more control of the d5 21...Bb4?! The intention of not giving away the dark squared
square and threatening to play Bb3. bishop is right, but again Black is missing White’s next move...
18.Bc1 defending from Bb3 and White is now switching to the [More solid seems to be 21...Bd5 to at least try and exchange
idea of playing f4 somewhere. In principle Black’s position is the g2 bishop. 22.Nxd6 cxd6 23.e4 gives White a clear plus.]
lookg quite nice, but we should not forget about the b7 pawn 22.Bf4! White is not interested in easy solutions and wants
which makes the black rook take a passive position on b8. to win the game on the spot! [The simple 22.Ng5 22...Qe7
18...Nd7 So far Black is playing a good game. The knight is 23.Nxe6 Qxe6 would give White some advantage, but the
going to take a good position on f6. move in the game is much stronger.]
19.f4 and White is starting some action. 22...Ng4 The c7 pawn is going to fall and there is not much to
do about it, so Howell decides to try his chances in the tactics.
19...Kh8?! Black is clearly missing White’s idea... [Why
not play 19...Nf6 avoiding all the white tricks. 20.e4 Of
23.Ng5 Qe7 26.Qd6! After this move White is winning back the exchange
and gets a winning position.
26...Qxe2 [Not better is 26...Rbe8 27.Qxe7 Rxe7 28.Bd6
winning the exchange. 28...Rfe8 29.Bxe7 Rxe7 30.Bxb7 and
White’s position is just winning.]
27.Qxd7 White has a serious material advantage and the
bishop pair, so things are looking very dark for Black.
27...Rbc8!? This move loses without a fight... [Black should
at least have tried to create some mess with 27...Rbe8!?
28.Qxb7 Ne3 and of course White is winning here with several
24.Rxb4?! This is not the best move. [After the simple moves, but at least there are some practical chances left.]
24.Qxc7 the check on c5 is not dangerous. 24...Bc5+ 25.Kh1
and this position seems to be almost winning for White.]
24...axb4 25.Qxc7 Black is an exchange up, but how to
defend the hanging pieces?!
25...Bd7? This move just loses... [The only way to go on was
25...Qxc7 26.Bxc7 and now the very strong 26...Ba2!! with
the idea of b3-b2-b1, which is probably what Ian missed when
he played 24. Rxb4?!. 27.Bxb8
28.Qe6! This is the last important move of the game. White

is forcing the queens exchange, which means game over for
Black.
28...Qxe6 Otherwise Nf7 would be coming.
29.Nxe6 Rfe8 30.Nc7 The b7 pawn is going to fall.
30...Re2 31.Bxb7 Nxh2 32.Bxc8 Nxf1 33.b6 [33.Kxf1
33...b3 34.Bxf5 b2 35.d4 of course wins as well.]
33...Nh2 34.b7 Black doesn’t have any threats at all.
27...Rxb8 White is still better and he has a lot of different
moves here, but at least the game would stay dynamic and
I guess Black would have some chances.]
34...Ng4
(2) Vitiugov, Nikita (2735)
- Aleksandrov, Aleksej (2603) [D38]
16th ch-EUR Indiv 2015(3.14), GM Csaba Balogh

2015.02.26 Best rating: 2672
Nikita Vitiugov won an unusual game, where he decided the

outcome of the middlegame with a king march to the middle
of the board!
35.b8=Q We just saw a great game by White where we have 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 Aleksandrov plays his
to admit some level difference between the young Russian pet line, the Ragozin defense.
and the English man. Anyhow, the game showed us a lot of 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Qc2 The most common move by
different ideas of the opening and the positional idea of White far is 7.e3.
to maintain the pressure on the b7 pawn as long as possible
to disturb the development of the black rook. 1-0 7...c5 [7...h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 Ne4 was played by some top
GMs recently.]
8.g3 One of the points of the 7.Qc2 setup. White would like
to fianchetto his bishop and get a Tarrash defense structure,
where the g2 bishop will push the d5 isolated pawn. The
question is if White will have enough time to execute this
plan or if Black can create his counterplay within the next few
moves... [8.a3 or 8.dxc5 are all more common than the text
move, but they are not necessarily better...]
8...h6 Black unpins himself by making use of the previous
8.g3 move. Now the bishop cannot hold the pin because after
g5 it cannot return to g3 anymore...
9.Bf4 Qa5 The novelty. [Just a few months earlier,
Aleksandrov played in a rapid game 9...Ne4 10.Bg2 Ndf6
11.O-O O-O
11.Rc1! An excellent decision in connection with the next

move! Black does not really have a choice, if he wants to be
consequent he must accept the pawn sacrifice on a2.
11...Qxa2 The queen is not in danger of getting trapped
because Black plans to take on c3 followed by trading queens.
12.Nd2! This is the point! White unpins himself and opens
Vitiugov has most probably planned an improvement at the diagonal of the g2 bishop, which starts to put very strong
this moment: 12.Nxe4! is the computer’s recommendation. pressure on the d5 pawn.
(Black was doing fine after 12.dxc5 12...Nxc3 13.bxc3 Bxc5 12...Bxc3 [12...Nxc3 is much worse, because the d5 pawn
14.Rad1 Qe7= with equality in Bartel, Marta-Aleksandrov, falls after 13.bxc3 Qxc2 14.Rxc2 Ba5 15.Bxd5 winning back
Wroclaw 2014) 12...dxe4 13.Nd2 Bxd2 (13...cxd4 14.Nxe4 the sacrificed pawn and the white pieces remain much more
leaves Black with with a very weak target on d4.) 14.Qxd2 active. Nc4 is coming.]
Qxd4 (14...cxd4 15.Be5 wins back the pawn and the two
13.bxc3 Qxc2 14.Rxc2 Black faces a difficult decision. The e4
bishops, and especially the very strong dark-squared one
knight is hanging and he has many possibilities to deal with it,
guarantees an edge for White.) 15.Qxd4 cxd4 16.Rfd1 Rd8
but all of them have their drawbacks. Taking on d2 seriously
17.Be5+= White wins back the pawn and enters a pleasant
strengthens the power of the g2 bishop while the other moves
endgame with a slight edge. 17...d3? is wrong in view of
have concrete problems...
18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.Bxe4c winning a pawn.]
14...Nxd2 [14...f5 with the idea of cementing the e4 knight,
10.Bg2 Ne4 Principled and typical play by Black! He spares
however White could strongly reply with 15.c4! exploding the
an important tempo by delaying castling and quickly puts
fortress of the key knight on e4! 15...Nxd2 (15...cxd4 16.cxd5
pressure on the c3 knight as long as the king is on e1.
Ndf6 17.Be5+= The bishops start to work effectively.) 16.Kxd2
dxc4 17.Rxc4 cxd4 Despite the fact that White is temporarily
two pawns down he is better. The reasons for this are the
extremely well-placed bishop pair, the undeveloped black 17.Kd3!! The second step of the brave king, which is heading
pieces and weak black pawns, which will start to fall one after to the middle of the board. It will play a very important role in
another... 18.Rb1 Nb6 19.Rxd4+= Black still cannot finish the protecting the c5 pawn and attacking the d5 pawn. Somehow
development of the queenside because of the b7 pawn. He is Black is lacking the pieces to be able to create any serious
obliged to suffer.; 14...Ndf6 is also logical to keep the knight threats against it. [Black is completely fine after the less brave
on e4, but White wins back the pawn after 15.Nxe4 Nxe4 16.f3! retreat 17.Kc1 17...Be6 18.Rd1 Rc8! The c5 is pawn equally
Nf6 17.dxc5+= The bishop will securely guard the c5 pawn weak as the d5 pawn now and it is already Black who has the
from d6 and the one on g2 will be actived later over the f1-a6 initiative because after 19.Bxd5 Rxc5 20.Bxb7 Ra5 suddenly
diagonal after playing Kf2, Ra1 and e3.] the white king gets into trouble.]
15.Kxd2! The queens are off, therefore to bring the king to 17...Bf5+ Black tries to haunt down the king with the most
the middle of the board is less risky. It is more important to direct moves. [Now on 17...Be6 18.Kd4! is very strong.
bring the h1 rook to the game as soon as possible. White wants to take on d5 as the pin with Rd8 can be safely
15...Nb6 Black decides to defend actively and gives back his neutralized by e4 or if the knight moves away from c4 the
extra pawn. [The alternative was 15...cxd4 16.cxd4 Nb6 but bishop can be placed on d6. The game could continue with
White has more than enough compensation here as well after 18...Rd8 19.Ra2 a6 20.Rb1 Rd7 21.Bd6 White has other good
17.Ra1 (17.Rc7 also looks good.) 17...O-O 18.Rca2 a6 19.Ke1! options too, but this seems like the best one. He prevents
leaving from the c4 check and White intends to attack the b6 castling and attacks the d5 pawn and after 21...Nxd6 22.cxd6
knight - the defender of the d5 pawn - with Rb1 after having Rxd6 23.Rxb7 O-O 24.Ra7c White ends up with an extra
succesfully provoked the a6 move. Black cannot save his pawn.]
pawn because after 19...Be6 20.Rb2+= the b7 falls and it will 18.e4! using the fact that the c4 knight becomes unprotected
give a nice edge for White as the black pawns remain weak if Black takes on e4.
and the two bishops continue doing their great job.] 18...Bh7
16.dxc5 Nc4+
19.Kd4! Of course! Vitiugov leaves from the pin, his rook still
remains in the diagonal, but he is threatening with Re2 or Ra2 The K-Files.
and then the d5 pawn simply falls.
QGA 3.e4 b5 4.a4 c6 5.Nf3
19...Na5 [19...g5 is the other option, but it fails too: 20.Kxd5!
The amazing story of the king continues! 20...Na3 (20...gxf4
21.Kxc4c with an healthy extra pawn for White.) 21.Ra2
Nb5 (21...gxf4 22.Rxa3c) 22.Kc4!c White saves his material
advantage!]
20.Kxd5! The king con tinues his journey! The reason why it
is possible is the placement of the c5 pawn and the d6 bishop GM Alexander Khalifman
which will ensure the safety of the white king against the black
Best rating: 2702
rooks, while the minor pieces are not well placed to create
adequate counterplay.
(3) QGA 3.e4 b5 4.a4 c6 5.Nf3 [D21]
20...O-O-O 21.Bd6 b6 Black continues his logical play, but
that day nothing worked. He tries to undermine the bishop
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 b5 4.a4 c6 5.Nf3 Another shift to a
and prepares to bring back his knight to b7, but White has a
Slav sideline, this time 3.Nf3 dxc4 4.e4 b5 5.a4. This is far
strong reply again!
less popular than 3.Nc3 dxc4 but there is enough practical
22.Ra1! Nb7 [22...f6 with the idea of Bg8 check loses to material here too. Also here it must be added that in the move
23.Rxa5! bxa5 24.Rb2!h and suddenly the black king is the order 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 dxc4 the most dangerous move is
one who gets mated. Bh3, c6 or Kc6 are all deadly threats.] 4. e3.
23.Rxa7 bxc5 24.Bh3+! The easiest! 5...e6 The best move. Now the game once again transposes
24...f5 25.e5! With his previous check on h3 White has to another line, 1. d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3,Nf3 dxc4 4.e4 b5 5.a4 c6.
provoked the closing of the h7 bishop. The rook is not hanging Black has good chances to hold the balance but he has to
anymore and Black gets mated after Rb2 or Kc6. Black play carefully. [5...Bg4 was played by Nakamura (in rapid)
resigned! Despite this very nice victory, I don’t recommend but doesn’t look very healthy. Black needs this bishop at
to march so bravely with your king, as usually it does not lead home because the white squares are rather weak. 6.axb5 cxb5
to anything good. 1-0 Markos - Wilhelmsson Copenhagen 1997 7.Nc3! Qd7 8.d5n;
5...Nf6 6.axb5 cxb5 7.Nc3 a6 (7...Bb7 8.e5 Ne4 Sachdev -
Danielian,E Moscow 2005 9.e6!?C) 8.e5 Nd5 9.Nxb5 axb5 This
version of the exchange sac is definitely weaker than the main
line. 10.Rxa8 Bb7 11.Ra1 e6 12.Be2 Nc6 13.O-O Na5 14.Be3
Qb6 15.Nd2+= OK, it’s not a technical position yet, but
Black’s compensation is clearly not enough.; 5...Bb7 leads
to interesting complications but doesn’t solve the problems. This is supposed to be the main line. However, in my opinion
6.b3! e5 (6...Nf6 7.e5 Nd5 Bacrot - Dao Thien Hai Batumi rapid it leaves Black under certain pressure. 8.bxc4 Bxe4 (8...bxc4
2001 8.e6!C) 7.axb5 cxb5 8.bxc4 exd4 (8...Bxe4 9.c5c) 9.cxb5 9.Bxc4 Bxe4 10.O-Oc)
Nf6 10.Bd3+=; 5...a6?! This seemingly standard move just
turns out to be a loss of time. 6.b3! Nf6 7.axb5 cxb5 8.bxc4
Nxe4 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.cxb5c]
6.axb5 [6.b3 can create problems only for White. 6...Bb4+
7.Bd2 Bxd2+ 8.Qxd2 cxb3 restricting the opponent’s
possibilities. (8...Nf6 usually leads to the same position but
also allows 9.e5 (After 9.axb5 9...cxb3 - 8...cxb3) 9...Ne4 10.Qf4
with unclear play.) 9.axb5 Nf6 10.Nc3 O-O 11.Bd3 Mainka
- Loeffler Germany 1994 (11.Ne5 11...Bb7 12.f3 Beliavsky -
Bacrot Albert 1999 12...Nfd7! 13.Nxd7 Nxd7 14.Rb1 c5e)
11...Bb7!? 12.e5 Nd5 13.Ne4 cxb5 14.Nd6 Qe7=+; After 9.Nbd2!? In my opinion this move is more promising
6.Nc3 Black can play 6...a6 (Both 6...Bb4 ; and 6...b4 are also than the natural 9.cxb5. (9.cxb5 9...Nf6 10.Be2 Be7 11.O-O
playable but require certain knowledge.) ] Nbd7! is an important improvement by Rublevsky. (The
normal developing move 11...O-O allows White to create
6...cxb5 7.b3 This is the most dangerous and critical strong pressure after 12.Nc3 Bb7 13.Ne5!CAnand - Karpov
subvariation. It was tested many times on the top level and Las Palmas 1996) 12.Nc3 (12.Nbd2 12...Bd5 13.Nc4 Qc7=
it is enough to say that the list of players who played it with Shipov - Vorobiov Moscow 2003) 12...Bb7 13.Ne5 (13.Bf4
Black includes Kasparov, Karpov and Ivanchuk. So it’s quite 13...O-O) 13...Qc7 (13...Nxe5 14.dxe5 Nd7 15.Bf3CTregubov
surprising that the most precise defence was played only in a - Yakovich Samara 2000) 14.Nc6 (14.Bf3 14...Qxc3 15.Bxb7
couple of games and remained quite unnoticed. Qxa1 16.Bxa8 O-O= Bacrot - Kharlov France 2001) 14...Bxc6
(14...Bd6 15.g3 O-O 16.Bf3 a6) 15.bxc6 Qxc6= and White’s
initiative is only enough to hold a draw. (Krasenkov -
Rublevsky Polanica Zdroj 1998)) 9...Bb4 (The point of White’s
tricky move order is that after 9...Bb7 10.Qb3! Nf6 11.Qxb5+
Qd7 Bareev - Semkov Vrnjacka Banja 1987 12.c5!?c the pawn
structure is clearly favorable for White.) 10.cxb5 (10.Be2
10...bxc4) 10...Ne7 (10...Nf6 11.Be2 O-O 12.O-O Bd5 Bocharov
- Kotsur Abu Dhabi 2004 13.Qa4!? Be7 14.Ba3+=) 11.Be2
O-O 12.O-O Bb7 13.Ba3 Bxa3 14.Rxa3+= The queenside
structure b5 vs a7 together with the fact that the b5 pawn
7...Nf6 The best and safest move in my opinion. [7...Bb7 is very safe makes Black’s task fairly unpleasant.; 7...Bb4+
is close to equal but not exactly. 8.Bd2 Bxd2+ 9.Nbxd2 9...Nxe4 10.O-O Be7 11.Re1 [The direct approach 11.d5 only
Nc6 10.bxc4 Nxd4 11.cxb5 and now both 11...Ne7 Bacrot - leads to simplifications after 11...O-O 12.Ba3 (12.Re1 12...Nf6
Lautier Paris rapid 2002 (and 11...Nf6 Dautov - Raetsky Seefeld 13.dxe6 Bxe6 14.Bxe6 Qxd1 15.Bxf7+ Rxf7 16.Rxd1 Nc6=)
1997 12.Nc4 Nxf3+ 13.gxf3 O-O 14.b6!+=) 12.Ra4 Nxf3+ 13.Nxf3 12...Bxa3 13.Rxa3 Yermolinsky - Stefanova Honolulu 1997
O-O 14.Qxd8 Rxd8 15.Be2+= leave Black struggling. With an 13...Nf6 14.dxe6 Bxe6 15.Bxe6 fxe6=]
accurate defence he must hold a draw most probably, but 11...Nf6 [11...Nd6 12.Bb3nand d4-d5 is a very unpleasant
defending this kind of position is not easy at all.] positional threat.]
8.bxc4 [8.e5 is only looking for trouble. 8...Ne4 9.bxc4 Bb4+ 12.Ne5 O-O 13.Qf3
10.Nbd2 (10.Bd2 might be better. 10...Nxd2 11.Nbxd2 Nc6
12.Bd3 Nxd4 13.O-O Bxd2 14.Nxd2 O-O=) 10...Nc6 11.Bd3
Nc5=+ van der Werf - van den Doel Leeuwarden 2001]
8...bxc4!? This rare move solves all the problems. Of course
Black will have to play some precise moves afterwards but
it’s not like suffering in a long endgame. [8...Nxe4 9.c5! A
smart trick which is of course underestimated even by the
best engines. 9...Bxc5 10.Bxb5+ Bd7 11.Bxd7+ Qxd7 12.dxc5
Qxd1+ 13.Kxd1 Nxf2+ 14.Ke2 Nxh1 15.Bf4+= Once again it’s
easier for Black to hold a draw than to win for White, but is this
a good reason to go for such a position right from the opening? 13...Bb4! An important trick which leads to rather tricky
(Bacrot - Arencibia Havana 1998)] lines but Black is OK everywhere. [After the natural 13...Nd5
14.Nc3 Nb6 15.Bd3AWhite has more than enough for the
9.Bxc4!? This pawn sacrifice is the most dangerous attempt pawn.]
to refute Black’s setup. But the following lines show
that defensive resources are quite enough. [9.e5 9...Nd5 14.Qxa8 [14.Bd2 14...Bxd2 15.Nxd2 Nd5 16.Nb3 (16.Rab1
(9...Ne4 (Cvitan - Lane Cappelle la Grande 1995) is a bit 16...a5) 16...Qd6=]
too provocative. 10.Nbd2!? Bb7 11.Bxc4 Bb4 12.O-O Nxd2 14...Bxe1 15.Qxa7 Bd7 16.Bd2 [16.Ba3 16...Re8 17.Qb7
13.Bxd2 Bxd2 14.Nxd2C) 10.Bxc4 Bb4+ 11.Bd2 (11.Nbd2 Nc6! 18.Nxd7 Bxf2+! 19.Kxf2 Ng4+ 20.Kg3 Qg5n]
11...O-O 12.O-O a5= Le Bourhis - Rausis Creon 1999) 11...a5
16...Bxd2 17.Nxd2 Nc6 18.Qc5 Qc8 19.Ba6 Qa8 20.Nb3
12.O-O O-O 13.Bxb4 Nxb4 14.Nc3 Ba6= The remaining
Ne4 21.Qc2 Nxe5 22.dxe5 Qb8=
material leaves White no realistic chance for a kingside attack,
so Black has nothing to worry about.; 9.Nc3 may lead to a
funny drawish line: 9...Nc6 (9...a5!? ) 10.Ra4 Bd7 11.Rxc4
Na5 12.Ra4 Rb8 13.Bd3 Nb3 14.Rc4 Na5 15.Ra4=]
David vs. Goliath
Peter Zhdanov
In this special column we are reviewing the most unexpected Top-10:

Bochkarev (2076) - Bok (2587), 1-0, 511 points
Gabison (1760) - Slonimskij (2176), 1-0, 416 points
Tenev (1332) - Iliev (1735), 1-0, 403 points
Leriche (1919) - Saada (2319), 1-0, 400 points
The previous week has brought us only 13 upsets - again! So Faure (1893) - Dijkhuis (2278), 1-0, 385 points
far the devil’s dozen is a regular visitor of our column. Rusek (1798) - Obermayr (2170), 1-0, 372 points
The number of moves ranges from 19 in Faure (1893) - FM Estremera Panos (2373) - Deues (2007), 0-1, 366 points
Dijkhuis (2278), 1-0 to 99 in Bochkarev (2076) - GM Bok (2587), Carroza (1669) - Engl (2034), 1-0, 365 points
1-0. The highest-profile loss was GM Postny (2647) - IM Levin (1869) - Gershkowich (2227), 1-0, 358 points
Birnboim (2347), 0-1. The rating difference is exactly 300 Yaniv (1579) - Lukovski (1932), 1-0, 353 points
points.
As usual, we pay a special humorous tribute to people who Average gap: 393; White won 9 games, Black won 1 games.
are not afraid to get checkmated. Here’s the final position of
the Carrozza (1669) - Engl (2034) game: You can view all the games in the accompanying pgn file.
Puzzle section
(4) Iljiushenok, I(2450)-Eljanov, P(2727) (6) Berenboym, I(2112)-Hovhanissyan, R(2592)
European Championship, 2015.02.24 European Championship, 2015.02.24
1. h 1... i
(5) Potkin, V(2605)-Vaisman, M(2136) (7) Navara, D(2735)-Parligras, M(2583)

1. h 1. h
(8) Cheparinov, I(2681)-Forster, R(2446) (10) Nisipeanu, D(2654)-Birnboim, N(2347)
1. h 1. h
(9) Moiseenko, A(2695)-Huzman, A(2582) (11) Khairullin, I(2629)-Kjartansson, G(2484)

1. h 1. h
(12) Bartel, M(2631)-Ducarmon, Q(2482)
European Championship, 2015.03.01
1. h
(13) Martynov, P(2410)-Kovalenko, I(2656)

Cappelle la Grande Open, 2015.02.28
1... i
Endgame section 45.Kxd3 Kg8 46.Ke4 At first sight Black is completely
winning as he simply brings up his king and White is unable to
trade pawns because f5 is met by g5 and g4 by h4. However
(14) Bukavshin, Ivan (2622) the truth is different...
- Moiseenko, Alexander (2695)
European Championship, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.02.27 Best rating: 2672
46...Kf7 47.Kf3 White intends to push g4 as it cannot be

taken because after Kxg4 h4-h5 is coming inevitably and
trades off the last standing pawn. [Trying to reach the game’s
position in a different move order by playing 47.f5 fails to
do the job, because Black can answer with 47...g5 48.h3
Ke7! 49.Kd5 (White has no time to play 49.g4 because Black
Black is a piece up, but the h1 corner square does not fit to reaches the d6 square with the king. 49...hxg4 50.hxg4 Kd6i
the color of the g7 bishop. This makes the win more difficult and the king goes to e5 next move and soon catches the g4
technically. The question is if Black should trade rooks or not? pawn.) 49...g4! This is the key! Black separates the f5 pawn
44...Rxd3+? It’s amazing, but the game seems to be drawn from the others... 50.hxg4 hxg4 51.Ke4 Bh6! prevents Kf4!
after this exchange. [Black should have kept the rooks on the The rest is just a matter of technique. 52.Ke5 Kf7! 53.f6
board, followed by slowly improving his position by bringing Otherwise Black plays Kf6. Now he must prevent Kf5 with
the king to the game... 44...Ra7 45.Ke4 Kg8 46.h3 Kf7 53...Kg6 54.Ke6 Bg5 55.f7 Bh6 56.Ke7 Kf5 57.f8=Q+ Bxf8+
followed by Ke6 and Bf6 and start squeezing down the white 58.Kxf8 Ke4i wins.; However 47.h3 is also strong. 47...Ke7
king. 47.g4 Black could also keep his pawns on the board (47...Kf6 48.g4) 48.Kd5 will transpose to the game.]
with h4, but there is an even stronger direct solution as well: 47...Kf6 [47...Ke6 does not work because of 48.g4 h4
47...Ra4+! 48.Kf3 Bh6i forcing the g5 move, which is a (48...hxg4+ 49.Kxg4= and h4-h5 next.; 48...Kd5 49.f5=)
fatal weakening of the pawn structure.]
his king and from now on the squeezing goes more or less
automatically... 52.Kd4 (52.g5 52...Ke6i; 52.f5 52...g5i)
52...Bg7+ 53.Ke4 Bb2i White finds himself in zugzwang.
Kd5 is coming next.) ]
50.Ke4 [50.f5 50...g5 51.Ke4 is again a transposition to the
game.]
50...Bb4 51.f5 g5 White has done a great job since the initial
position of our game. He has set all his pawns on light squares
49.f5+! leaves Black with a single h-pawn, which is not where the bishop cannot attack them. Black has managed to
winning with the dark squared bishop. 49...gxf5 50.gxf5+ save the g-pawn, but surprisingly it is not enough to win. Let’s
Kxf5 51.Kg2 and the king goes into the corner and reaches see the reasons...
the well-known theoretical draw... 51...Kg4 52.h3+ Kf4
53.Kh2 Kf3 54.Kh1 Kg3 55.Kg1 Kxh3 56.Kh1= White just
passes on g1-h1 and Black cannot squeeze it out from there
because it always ends in a stalemate.]
48.h3 [48.g4 48...h4 49.h3 is equally good as it transposes to
the game.]
48...Bf8 49.g4 h4 [49...hxg4+ 50.Kxg4! (50.hxg4? also
looks good at first sight, but Black wins after some subtle
maneuvering:
52.Kd5 White keeps the king in the cage, does not open a
path towards the h3 pawn.
52...Ke7 53.Kc6! It is very important that the king cannot
be allowed to d6 or e5! White must always control these two
squares and he will hold the draw...
53...Ba3 54.Kd5 Kd7 55.Ke5 Black would like to go around
with his king, but suddenly White finds his counterplay in Kf6!
[Let’s just demonstrate the win if Black reaches the d6 square
50...Ke7! Black must go around with the king and he must with the king: 55.Ke4?? 55...Kd6 56.Kd4 Bb2+ 57.Ke4
sidestep the f5 check to save his last pawn... 51.Ke4 Kd6 Bf6i The king is forced to retreat and Black gets to e5. Later
Compared to the game, Black has reached the 6th rank with he uses the same technique and soon he gets to the h3 pawn.]
55...Bb2+ The king cannot be allowed to get to f6. [55...Kc6 seen this position 16 moves ago...
also leads to a draw after 56.Kf6 Bc1 57.Kg6 Kd6 58.f6 Ke6 77.Ke4 Ba3 78.Kd5 Ke7 79.Ke5 Bb2+ 80.Kd5 Kd7
59.f7 Ba3 60.Kxg5=] 81.Kc5 Be5 82.Kd5 Bb8 83.Kc5 Ke7 84.Kd5 Kf7 85.Kc5
56.Kd5 Bg7 57.Kc5 White has a very easy task. He simply Kf6 86.Kd5 Black admitted his opponent’s brilliant fortress
needs to control the d6 and e5 squares... and agreed a draw. This endgame could be very useful to
57...Be5 58.Kd5 Bb8 59.Kc5 Bc7 60.Kd5 Bd6 Black remember... 1/2-1/2
finally managed to set his opponent into zugzwang , but it is
still not enough because suddenly the bishop gets misplaced
on d6 as it occupies the king’s ideal place...
61.Ke4 Bf4 [61...Kc6 would be the thematic squeezing, but

it allows quick counterplay again: 62.f6! The black king got
too far away from the kingside... 62...Kd7 63.Kf5 Bf4 64.Kg6
Ke8 65.Kg7 Be5 66.Kg6= forces the draw.]
62.Kd5 White occupies the right square again and keeps the
black king in his cage, far from the d6 square.
62...Ke7 63.Kc6 Kf7 64.Kd5 Kf6 Now Black tries to break
through along the e5 square, but White has enough squares
for his king to prevent this idea.. .
65.Ke4 Be5 66.Kd5 Bb2 67.Ke4 Kf7 68.Kd5 Ke7 Black
tries again along d6, but we already know what happens...
69.Kc5 Kd7 70.Kd5 Bf6 71.Kc5 Bd8 72.Kd5 Bb6 73.Ke5
Ke7 74.Kd5 Bc7 75.Kc5 Kd7 76.Kd5 Bd6 We have already
on h2.]
(15) Korobov, Anton(2687)
45.Rg6 is probably the best practical chance for White. The
- Sutovsky, Emil(2626)
position is getting very sharp.
Best rating: 2737
45...Be4! A very strong move! The white bishop on d3 is

sort of controling a lot of important squares and needs to be
exchanged, so the white king gets in big danger, being attack
by both black rooks.
46.Bxe4 Rexe4 47.Rxb6 White already has 3 pawns but now
After an interesting game where White missed a clear win
the bishop on c3 gets lost.
in time trouble, we are in a strange endgame. Black is an
exchange up, but White has 2 pawns for it and the bishop pair. 47...Rf2+ 48.Kb3 [48.Kd3 is not better since after 48...Rxh4
Is the postion equal or does White still keep some winning Black has the double threat of playing Rf3 and Rh3.]
chances? We will find out during the next moves...
44.Bc3 A very logical move. White puts his bishop to a
better square and bxc5 bxc5 and Ba5 could also sometimes
be possible in a good moment.
44...Bf3 Black enters a very forced line. [44...Ref7 was a
safer option in my opinion. Now Black wants to exchange the
rooks after which the position should just be a draw. 45.Be1 It
seems like there is no other move that White can play to avoid
Rf2 next. 45...Rg4 getting the white rook to a passive position
on h2. 46.Rh2 and I can’t believe that White really has any 48...Rf3? What a mistake when the draw was that close!
objective chances to play for a win with such a passive rook Black chooses the wrong rook to put on the 3rd rank.
[48...Re3! would lead to a draw as it avoids the move in the Kd6 with a draw.) 55...Rc3 followed by Rh3 or Kf6 with a
game. 49.bxc5 Rff3 Now we have a similar position to the draw.) 51...Rf3 52.Bg5 Kd6 and White keeps good winning
game, but the white rook is badly placed on b6. 50.Rd6+ chances, but Black is still fighting for a draw.]
White already has to force a draw: (To continue playing for 50.bxc5 Now the game is over...
a win would be a dangerous decision for White, since even
though the white pawns are very dangerous, Black is a rook 50...Ree3
up! 50.Kb4 50...Rxc3 51.Rb7+ (51.c6+ 51...Kd6 doesn’t lead
anywhere for White.) 51...Kc8 52.Rh7 Rb3+ 53.Ka5 Rfc3 and
maybe the position is still a draw, but White can definitely not
win.) 50...Kc7 51.Rc6+ Kd7]
49.Rf6!! This is what Sutovsky missed and here is the
difference to the 48... Re3 line:
49...Rh3? A bad decision usually doesn’t come alone...
[Black should have tried 49...Rxf6 50.Bxf6 Re3+ and now
White would have a difficult choice: 51.Kb2 is clearly the best,
but a difficult move to find. (The very natural 51.Ka4 leads to 51.c6+ This is the difference to the rook on b6: Black has no
an amazing draw: 51...Re4 52.h5 It seems like there is no way more Kd6 move.
to stop White’s h-pawn, but Black has a draw here! 51...Kc7 52.Kb4 Rxc3 53.Rf7+ The most simple win.
53...Kb8 The white pawns are just too strong.
54.Rf8+ Kc7? Another move after which Black needs to
resign on the spot instead of keeping the game going a bit
longer. [It is never too late to resign a game, so Black
should have fought on with 54...Ka7! 55.c7 Kb6 With the
idea of mating the white king with the rooks. 56.c8=N+!
Sometimes a promotion to a knight is enough to win the
game... 56...Kb7 and of course White has different options
here and the position is winning, but Black can still hope for a
52...Rf4!! winning a decisive tempo by chasing the white miracle.]
bishop from the f6 square. 53.Bg5 Rxc4 54.h6 cxb4! Black is 55.Kc5! Now it is the black king who gets mated...
just in time! 55.axb4 (55.h7 55...bxa3+ 56.Kxa3 Rc8 57.Bf6
55...Rhd3
56.d6+ This was an interesting endgame were clearly Black

could have done better but White’s 49. Rf6!! move was easy to
miss. Sutovsky maybe thought that he has a draw with any of
the rooks moves. Chess is sometimes a very very exact game!
1-0
Chess and the City. 4. Which other female participant had to spend some
additional days at Gibraltar in 2013 due to a Visa problem?
Time to speak ”Tacheles”
The Chinese player Ju Wenjun was the ”unlucky” one who had
to spend some additional time in Gibraltar as she was in need
of an English transit visa for her departure. Nowadays she
travels through Malaga - I wonder why...:)
5. Which two participants at the Gibraltar Festival of
2015 are sponsored by Red Bull?
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz If you looked carefully at the pictures you would have seen
Best rating: 2493 Hikaru Nakamura with his Red Bull drink during every one
of his games. The second ”participant” (who was not
participating as a player but rather as a broadcaster) is
About 4 weeks ago I published a quiz about the Gibraltar Tania Sachdev, who has been sponsored by the energy drink
Festival and here come the answers: company for three years now.
1. How many times has the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess 6. Who is the creator of the Gibraltar Chess
Festival taken place? Tournament?
This year the Gibraltar Chess Festival celebrated its 13th As already mentioned above this is Brian Callaghan!
edition! 7. Which Top Grandmaster is known by the name of
2. Who among the main Organizers has the nickname ”Prince Charming”?
"the fox”? Prince Charming was the nickname I gave to the very
”The foxy Stu, the foxy Stu makes all the women’s wishes charming David Howell from England!
come true” - Stuart Conquest is not only well known as 8. Which other Top GM being called ”The finest”?
”the fox” but also quite popular for supporting Women
”The finest” was actually invented by my colleague Simon
Chess together with the inventor of the tournament, Brian
Williams and goes to another English Top Grandmaster,
Callaghan!
Gawain Jones!
3. Which female participant is the strongest rated one
9. What is the favorite move of the commentator Simon
playing for the first time in 2015?
Williams (related to the nick name I gave him)?
Lilit Mkrtchian from Armenia is the strongest rated women
Simon Williams is known as ”Mr g4”!
player who participated for the very first time in 2015!
10. Last but not least, which super GM agreed his Clash of the Titans
participation for 2016?
This is no other than the great Vishy Anand!
(16) Averbakh, Yuri L
- Spassky, Boris V[E74]
If anyone answered all answers correctly, he or she will be
contacted in the next couple of days. In any case I will let you URS-ch23 playoff-1pl(3),
know about it in my next newsletter. 1956
Last but not least I would like to mention that I was lucky GM Kamil Miton
enough to sneak into the Women’s World Championship Best rating: 2655
which will start on the 17th of this month. My first
opponent will be the Georgian Woman Grandmaster Meri 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.d4 Bg7 5.Be2 O-O 6.Bg5
Arabidze. My next newsletters will naturally concentrate on Averbakh plays the system which was named after him.
that championship!
6...c5 7.d5
7...Qa5 [7...b5 leads to Benko structures.; 7...e6 leads to

Benoni structures.]
8.Bd2 [8.Qd2 8...a6! A typical move. 9.Nf3 b5V10.cxb5 axb5
11.Bxb5 Nxe4! 12.Nxe4 Qxb5 13.Bxe7 Re8i]
8...a6 9.a4 Compared to the 8.Qd2 line now Black is not able
to play b5.
9...e5?! A strange decision. Black have mixed up a few
plans. Better was [9...Qc7 with the idea to go back to the
plans with e6. 10.Nf3 (10.Bf4 10...Qa5 11.Qd2 b5 12.cxb5
axb5 13.Bxb5 Ba6n) 10...e6 11.dxe6 (11.O-O 11...exd5 12.exd5
(12.cxd5 12...Re8V) 12...Bf5 with the idea Ne4.) 11...Bxe6
(11...fxe6!?k ) 12.Bf4 Rd8 13.O-O Nc6 14.Nd5+= and White has
the advantage.]
16.Bxh5! gxh5 17.Qxh5 Qd7 18.f3! preventing Qg4, White has

a strong attack.]
12.h5 The alternative for White was to open the position
after [12.gxf5 12...gxf5 13.exf5 (13.Nf3 13...f4 14.Ng5 Nf6 15.Ne6
Bxe6 (15...Rf7 16.Nb5 Qb6 17.a5h) 16.dxe6 Nc6 with typical
complex play.) 13...Bxf5 14.Nf3 XQa5 14...Nf6 (14...h6 to
10.g4! A strong and typical move in King’s Indian structures. prevent Ng5 but it looks a bit slow. 15.Rg1 Kh7 16.Ne4! White
White is going to take space and fight against the thematic is going to take control of the light squares! 16...Qd8 17.Ng3
f7-f5 plan. At that time ideas like this were not well-known. Bg6 18.h5A) 15.Ng5 Qd8 16.Be3Awith the idea to play Ne6
10...Ne8 11.h4 f5?! is premature in my opinion. First Black at some moment.]
should improve the queen which is very badly placed, far 12...f4 Black is trying to close the position but it is already
away from the kingside. [11...Qd8 12.h5 and now we can too late. [12...Qd8 13.hxg6 hxg6 14.gxf5 gxf5 15.Nf3 with
check the original idea, connected with closing the position Qc2-0-0-0 and a simple attack.]
on both sides: 12...a5!? (12...b6 13.a5! to keep possibilities of
playing on the queenside.; 12...g5 13.Nh3 h6 14.a5! Of course, 13.g5! Qd8
otherwise Black plays a5 with a funny drawish position.)
13.Nh3 Otherwise Black wil play g5 and close the position
again. (13.g5 13...f5!? 14.exf5 Bxf5 (14...gxf5kand it is not easy
for White to create some advantage only on one side.) 15.h6
Bh8 16.f3 e4!V) 13...h6?! preparing g5, but after 14.hxg6 fxg6
15.g5 h5
14.Bg4! This move is not just played because the g5 pawn
is hanging, but it is generally good for White in King’s Indian
structures to exchange the light squared bishops.
14...Nc7 15.Bxc8 Qxc8 16.Nf3 [16.h6 16...Bh8 17.a5 and
because the bishop on h8 is "dead" White is kind of a piece
up and the position is simply wining for him.]
23.Rah3 Qf7 24.Bc3 White wants to exchange the strong

knight.
24...Rfe8 25.R3h2 I don’t understand this move...
25...Qxc4 26.Nxg6 Re6 [26...f3 doesn’t help as White
mates first: 27.Rh8+ Bxh8 (27...Kf7 28.Qd7+ Kxg6 29.R1h6+
Bxh6 30.Rxh6+ Kxg5 31.Qg7+ Kf4 32.Rh4#) 28.Rxh8+ Kg7
16...Nc6! What an amazing move by Spassky! He understood
29.Qd7+ (29.Rh7+ only leads to a draw. 29...Kxh7 30.Qh5+
that strategically his position is lost and decides to change
Kg7 31.Qh6+ Kf7 32.Qh7+ Ke6 33.Qh3+=) 29...Kxg6
the character of the position. [16...Re8 to keep the option Bf8
30.Rh6+ Kxg5 31.Qg7+ Kf4 32.Rh4#]
after h6 but then 17.hxg6 hxg6 18.Nh4 Kf7 19.Nxg6!h]
27.Bxd4? White missed a winning chance after [27.Rh8+!
17.dxc6 bxc6 White is piece up and objectively his position is
27...Bxh8 28.Rxh8+ Kg7 (28...Kf7 29.Bxd4 with the king on
just winning, but Black gets the opportunity to play over the
g7 White doesn’t have this move.)
b-file and Ne6-Nd4 as well.
18.Nh4 Qe8 [18...Qe6 takes the knight’s square.]
19.hxg6 hxg6 20.Qg4 Rb8 21.Nd1 [21.Nf5? 21...gxf5 22.exf5
Qd7i]
21...Ne6 22.Ra3 An original maneuver to join the h-file.
22...Nd4V
29.Rh7+! (29.Rxb8 29...f3! and Black is winning because of

the weak e2 square! 30.Rb7+ Kxg6 31.Qf5+ Nxf5 32.exf5+
Kxg5 33.Bd2+ Kf6!i) 29...Kxh7 and now White is wining by still keeps easy practical play, thanks to the strong central
force like in a puzzle: 30.Qh5+ Kg7 31.Qh6+ Kg8 32.Qh8+ pawns and the bad white pieces.
Kf7 33.Qh7+ Ke8 34.Qg8+ Kd7 35.Qf7+ Kc8 (35...Kd8 32.Rh3 [32.Kd2 32...d4 (32...c4 was more accurate.) 33.Kd3
36.Ba5+h) White gives back the piece to change the character of the
position. 33...dxc3 34.Nxc3 Rd6+ 35.Kc2C(35.Kc4 is risky.
35...Rb4+ 36.Kxc5 Rdd4V) ]
32...c4 33.Kd2 Rg6 34.Rg1 d4 35.Ba5 White has a passive
knight and rooks and his pawns are also very weak, so it is not
easy to improve the position.
35...Bf8
36.Ne7+! The queen on c4 is hanging in case of Rxe7.

36...Kb7 37.Nd5+ Ka8 38.Nc7+ Kb7 39.Nxe6+h]
27...Rxg6 28.Qf5 [28.Qd7 28...cxd4 29.Rh8+ Bxh8 30.Qh7+
Kf8 31.Qxg6 (31.Qxh8+ 31...Qg8i) 31...Qb4+! A very
important check to protect the d6 pawn. 32.Kf1 Bg7 33.Qf5+
(33.Rh7 33...Rb7 and Black easily defends the position.)
33...Ke7e with defensive ideas of Qc4+ Qe6/Qf7.]
36.Rg4 [36.Bc7 36...Bb4+ (36...Re6 Volodia) 37.Kc2 d3+ This
28...Qe6 29.Qxe6+ Rxe6 30.Bc3
move is risky because it gives the c3 square away. 38.Kc1 Bc5
39.Rg2 Bd4 (39...Be3+ 40.Nxe3 fxe3 41.Bxe5 d2+ 42.Kc2h)
40.Ba5c]
36...Rd6 [36...Bb4+ 37.Bxb4 Rxb4 38.Rgh4 White finally
gets activity. (38.Rh6 ) 38...Rxg5 39.Rh8+ Kf7 40.R3h7+ Rg7
41.Rxg7+ Kxg7 42.Rh5 Kf6 43.Rh6+ Kg5! Volodia. with the
idea to bring the king to g3. 44.Rxc6 Kh4!?V]
37.Kc2 White didn’t fall for the trap. .. [37.Bc7! 37...c3+!
38.bxc3 (38.Kc2 38...d3+ 39.Kxb3 c2i) 38...dxc3+ 39.Kc2
30...d5V 31.f3 Rb3 Objectively White is winning but Black
39...Rd2+! 40.Kxb3 c2i] 40.Rgh4? More accurate was [40.Rg2! with the idea
Kc1-Rc2! 40...Rd3 with the idea Rbb3. (40...c3 41.bxc3
37...Rd7 38.g6 Rdb7 39.Be1 [39.Rg5 39...Bg7k; 39.Bd8
Ra3 42.Kd3 Rxa4 43.Nb2 Ra2 44.Rhh2c White gets control
with the idea Bf6 but when the white bishop moves away from
over the light squares.) 41.Nf2 (41.Nc3 41...dxc3 42.Bxc3
the e1-a5 diagonal Black gets tactical ideas: 39...d3+ 40.Kd2
Bg7 43.Rg5 Re7 44.b3 Re3! Volodia 45.bxc4 Re2+V)
(40.Kc1
41...Rdb3 (41...Re3? 42.Ng4 Rxe1 43.Nf6+ Kg7 44.Rh7+ Kxf6
45.Rxb7h) 42.Nd1=]
40...Bg7 Now the white rooks are very limited.
41.Ba5
40...d2+! 41.Kc2 (41.Kxd2 41...Rd7+) 41...Rxb2+ 42.Nxb2

Rxb2+ 43.Kd1 c3 44.Ke2 Rb1i) 40...Rxb2+ 41.Nxb2 Rxb2+
42.Ke1 (42.Kc1 42...Ba3i) 42...c3 43.g7 Rb1+! 44.Kf2 Bc5+
45.Kg2 Rg1+i]
41...c3! C Black overtakes the initiative.
39...c5 Advancing the central pawns and getting possibilties
of attacking the g6 pawn from b6 in the future. 42.bxc3 Ra3 43.cxd4 exd4 [43...cxd4!? was the alternative to
keep the passive rooks on the h-file.]
44.Rxf4 Ra2+ [44...c4 45.Rf7! Ra2+ 46.Kc1 Ra1+ 47.Kc2=
(47.Kd2!?)]
45.Kd3 Rb1 Black already has the initiative, so now White 48...c4 49.Rf5 (49.e5 49...Ra2+ 50.Kc1 d3i) 49...Ra2+
must play very accurately. The easier option for Blackwas 50.Kc1 Ra1+ (50...d3 51.Rxb5 axb5 52.e5! That’s why White
[45...c4+ 46.Kxc4 Rxa4+ 47.Kd3 Rxa5 48.Rf7 Rb1 49.Rh1 should play 48. Bc7, not 48. Bd8. 52...b4 53.Kb1k) 51.Kc2
(49.Kc2 49...d3+!) ] (51.Kd2 51...Rbb1) 51...d3+ 52.Kd2 Bd4! 53.Rxb5 axb5 looks
46.Rh1 bad for White.]
48...d3+ is the most practical way, but Black could probably
win after [48...Bxe5 49.Re4 c4 50.Rxe5 Rxe5 51.Bb6 Re2+
52.Kb1 Rb4+i or; 48...Rbxa5 49.e6 c4 50.e7 d3+ 51.Kd2
Ra2+ and White is losing the e-pawn.]
49.Kxd3 Rxf4 50.Bc3 Rxf3+ 51.Ke4 Rg3
46...Rxa4! Once again Spassky does not hurry with

recapturing the piece! He wanst to play for activity.
[46...Raa1? 47.Rf5! Rxd1+ 48.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 49.Ke2 Rc1
50.Bd2 Rc4 51.Kd3 Rxa4 52.Rxc5 Ra3+ 53.Ke2c]
47.Kc2?! Probably more accurate was [47.Bd2 47...c4+
48.Ke2 (48.Kc2 48...d3+) 48...Ra2 49.e5! A strong move which
helps White activate his rook with tempo. 49...Bxe5 50.Re4 52.Kf4! [52.Kf5 52...Rb1i]
c3 51.Nxc3 Rxd2+ 52.Kxd2 dxc3+ 53.Kc2 Rxh1 54.Rxe5=]
52...Rxg6 53.Ne3 The tide has turned, but Averbakh also
47...Rb5 understands that his last chance lies in active play.
53...Rb8 54.Nf5 Rf8 55.Rh5 Objectively Black should win
but we will see that it is not an easy task.
55...Re8 [55...Kf7 with the idea of activating the king.
56.Ke4 Ke6 57.Nxg7+! Rxg7 58.Rh6+ Ke7 59.Rxa6 with a
draw.]
56.Ke4 White is trying to hold the position thanks to his
active pieces!
48.e5? White could try to save the position after [48.Bc7 56...Rg1 57.Rh3 Bf8 [57...a5 58.Nxg7 Kxg7 59.Bxa5 should
be an easy draw.; 57...Re1+? 58.Bxe1 Rxe5+ 59.Kf4 Rxe1
60.Rg3]
58.Kd5 Rd1+ [58...Rd8+ 59.Nd6 (59.Ke4 59...Rg4+ 60.Ke3
Kf7 and Black’s task is easy here as the king goes to
e6.; 59.Kc6 59...Rg6+ 60.Kc7 Rd1e The white pieces lost
coordination and Black can try to bring the king to e6.)
59...Rd1+ 60.Kxc5 Bxd6+ 61.exd6 R1xd6 (61...R8xd6i )
62.Rh8+ Kf7 63.Rxd8 Rxd8 64.Kb6 Rd6+ 65.Kb7 Ke6
66.Ba5 Kd5 67.Bb6
66.Rc6 White could also make a draw after [66.Rxa6
66...Rh4+ 67.Kd5 Rd8+ 68.Rd6! (68.Kxc5?? 68...Rc8+ 69.Rc6
Rxc6+ 70.Kxc6 Rc4+i) 68...Rc8 69.Re6+ (69.e6?? 69...Rh5+
70.Be5 Rd8 71.Rxd8 Kxd8 72.Kd6 c4i The c-pawn will
promote.) 69...Kf7 70.Rf6+=]
66...Kd7 67.Rxc5 Rh6 68.Kd5 Rb6 69.Ba5 Rb5 70.Rxb5
axb5 71.e6+ A nice move, but not the only one. [71.Kc5= ;
71.Bb4 71...Rc8 72.e6+ Ke8 73.Bc5= (73.Bd6?? 73...Rd8 with
Rxd6 next.) ]
67...Rd7+! 68.Kxa6 Kc6 White is in zugzwang and not able to 71...Rxe6 72.Kc5 Re5+ 73.Kb6
bring the king to the a8 corner.]
59.Ke4 Rc1 60.Kd5 Rd1+ 61.Ke4 Rd7 Black has no idea
how to convert his material advantage. [61...Kf7 62.Rh7+
Ke6 63.Ra7V]
62.Nh6+!? [62.Rg3+ 62...Kf7 63.Rf3 Ke6 64.Rg3
threatening Rg6.]
62...Bxh6 63.Rxh6 Rh7 [63...Ra8 64.Rc6=]
64.Rg6+ Kf7 65.Rf6+ Ke7
And Black is not able to improve his position without losing
the b-pawn, so the position is drawish. What a great game
by Aberbakh (who is the oldest alive grandmaster nowadays!)
and Boris Spassky. My first coach, the Russian Vladimir
Shiskine, told me that when he worked for the magazine Surprise section / study
"Sahmatna Nedela" (which doesn’t exist anymore) Boris
Spassky was the official main editor. One time Volodia asked (17) Rumiantsev
the former Wrold Champion about this game and Spassky
answered "Yes I remember, I was young then and didn’t 1. =
understand chess at all". :-) I think we canot agree with this!
:-) At least he had the necessary skills to change the character
of the position... 1/2-1/2
Solutions (19) Kramnik, V(2783)-Caruana, F(2811)
Zurich rapid, 2015.02.19
(18) Karjakin, S(2760)-Kramnik, V(2783)
Zurich rapid, 2015.02.19
24.Ne4! Rxe4 [24...Nxe4 25.Bxe5 Bxe5 26.Qxe4h;

24...Re6 25.Bxf6! Bxf6 26.Nxf6+ Rxf6 27.Qb2!h]
50...Bf4? [50...Rxg3+!! 51.Kxg3 Bf4+ 52.Kg4 Rg2+ 53.Kh3 25.Bxe4h
Rg3+! 54.Kh2 Rc3+ 55.Kg2 Rxc1i 56.Rh8 Rc2+ 57.Kh1
(20) Markgraf, A(2486)-Zajogin, A(2393)
(57.Kh3 57...Kf3i) 57...Kf3 58.Rg8 Be3i 59.h5 (59.Rf8+
59...Kg3) 59...Rc1+ 60.Kh2 Bf4+ 61.Kh3 Rh1#] German league, 2015.02.21
51.Re1+ Kd5 52.Kg4 Bxg3 53.Kxf3 Bxe1 54.Rh8c
29.Bxg7! Nxe3 [29...Kxg7 30.Nf5+h; 29...f6 30.Nf5 Qe8

31.Qg4h]
30.Qh8# 1-0
(21) Lauber, A(2441)-Brunello, S(2552) (23) Saric, I(2678)-Bartel, M(2652)
19...Rxc1! 20.Qxc1 [20.Nxc1 20...Bxe3+ 21.Kh1 Bxb5i]

34...Rxc2! 35.Qxc6 [35.Rxc2 35...Qxc2 36.Qxc6 Ne2+
20...Nd3!! 21.axb6 [21.Bxd3 21...Bxe3+ 22.Kh1 Bxc1i; 37.Rxe2 Qxc6i] 35...Rxc1! [35...Ne2+? 36.Rxe2 Rxc6
21.Qc2 21...Qxe3+ 22.Kh1 Qg1+! 23.Rxg1 Nf2#] 37.Rxa2] 36.Rxc1 Ne2+ 37.Kh2 Nxc1 38.Qxc1 Qxb3i
21...Nxc1 22.Rfxc1 Qxe3+ 23.Kf1 Bxb5 24.Bxb5 Qxb3 (24) Brunello, S(2552)-Gauglitz, G(2394)
25.bxa7 Qxb5+ 26.Kg1 Ra8 0-1
(22) Li Chao(2711)-Areshchenko, A(2654)
25.Qg5 Qe5 [25...g6 26.Nh6+ Kg7 27.Qxd5h]
27...Bg5! 28.Bxg5 Qxg5 29.Rc7 [29.Qxa2 29...Qxc1+i; 26.Ned4!! Qxd4+ [26...Nxd4 27.Nh6+ Kh8 28.Qxe5h;
29.Rb1 29...Qd2i; 29.Rd1 29...Rd2i] 26...Qf6 27.Qxf6 gxf6 28.Nxc6h]
29...Ra1+ 30.Bf1 Nc5i 27.Nxd4 Nxd4 28.Rf2c [28.Qc5h ]
(25) Piorun, K(2532)-Bobras, P(2535) (27) Hoolt, S(2332)-Movsesian, S(2657)
30.Rxg6+! 1-0 [30.Rxg6+ 30...fxg6 31.Qxg6+ 50...Bxc1! 51.Rxa2 Bb2! 52.Rxa6+ [52.Rxb2 52...c1=Qi]
Kh8 32.Qxe8+h] 52...Kb7i
(26) Shirov, A(2691)-Zaragatski, I(2472) (28) Roche

1.Ng6! [1.g8=Q? 1...Rh5+!i]

1...Rxg6 2.g8=N! [2.g8=Q? 2...Rh6+i]
31.Rc7! 1-0 [31.Rc7 31...Rxc7 32.Rb8+ Kh7 33.Rh8#]
2...Re8 3.Ne5+! Rxe5 4.Ne7+! Rxe7
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
And the winner of the 16th European Individual Chess
Championship is Evgeny Najer! The Russian GM was clearly
Editorial Preface 2 not the favorite with a rating of 2634, but he showed strong
and aggressive play and clearly deserved the gold medal with
a fantastic score of 8.5/11.
The 2nd place was shared by 3 people: Navara, Bartel and
Khismatullin, all with 8/11.
The K-Files. QGA 3.e4 b5 4.a4 c6 5.axb5 11 It was a very exciting event with a great fighting last round. In
the current issue you will find a few games from the event.
The China-India match ended with a 18-14 victory of China,
but again we have to say that both teams didn’t play with their
Puzzle section 19 best line-ups.
The rapid event ”Vladimir Petrov Memorial” was won by
Endgame section 22 Ivanchuk with 9/11. Age doesn’t seem to affect the chess
legend. 2nd place went to Karjakin and 3rd to Gelfand.
Chess and the City. La Dolce Vita 27 The main organizer of the event, Alexei Shirov, can probably
call the tournament a full success, as the average of the Top 10
Surprise section / study 29 in the event was higher than the average of the Top 10 in the
European Champion which was running at the same time!
Solutions 29 In Iceland, the very strong Reykjavik Open has begun, with
Mamedyarov, Navara, Eljanov as top seeds. After the first
rounds all the favorites are doing well.
The next few weeks seem to be a bit calm when it comes to top
chess events, but anyhow there are a lot of opens underway
with the participation of Top GMs.
We hope you enjoy the current issue of ”Top GM Secrets”!
Two best games of the past week
(1) Najer, Evgeniy (2634)

- Korobov, Anton (2687) [B29]
16th ch-EUR Indiv 2015(10.1), GM Csaba Balogh

2015.03.06 Best rating: 2672
6...e6 7.Bc4 h6 8.Qe2 White wants to castle queenside.

The European Champion of 2015 is Evgeny Najer from Russia!
Black cannot launch any dangerous attack there and the rook
He was showing great chess during the entire course of the
will be ideally placed on the opened d-file. There was no need
event! We are in the very important penultimate round, when
to prevent g5, because it seriously weakens the structure,
he manages to beat his Ukrainian rival and takes a half point
White would quickly get a grip on it with h4.
lead ahead of the field, which held out in the last round...
8...Qc7 9.Bg3 A prophylactical move against the space
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 Najer is known to be an excellent
grabbing move f5 to have the bishop protected to enable to
theoretician and Korobov tries to lead the game to a
take it en passant.
less explored territory. However this strategy sometimes
backfires, because after White was familiar with the 9...b6 10.O-O-O Bb7 Black cont inues the development and
subtleties, Black ended up in an inferior and difficult intends to castle queenside as well.
position...
3.e5 Nd5 4.Nc3 Nxc3 [4...e6 is the other main move of this
line.]
5.dxc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 The e5 pawn stands perfectly and that is
the key of the position! White enjoys some space advantage
because of it and it also restricts the mobility of the black
pieces. It is not easy to develop them adequatly. The bishop is
excellently placed on f4 because it prepares the undermining
ideas like d6 or f6.
11.Rd2! Simple and strong! White doubles his rooks on the
opened file, puts pressure on the backward d7 pawn and
prevents Black’s undermining plans with d6 or d5.
11...O-O-O 12.Rhd1 Kb8 13.Ba6! I like the trade of the light
squared bishops a lot. The black one was well placed on the 17...Rhg8 18.Qe4 This positi on is a disaster, especially for
the long diagonal and it also guards the king, while the white such an active player like Korobov. Black is lacking any active
one was not doing much on c4. Another idea to improve could plans and he is obliged to suffer without any useful moves.. .
have been Bd3-c4, but Bd3 would have temporarily closed 18...f5 Searching for some counterplay, but it does not
the d-file, which allows Black to free his position with d5 exd6 change anything about the evaluation of the position.
Bxd6. [Waiting with 18...Kb8 would have strongly been met by
13...Be7 14.h4! Another strong positional move! Quite 19.Qh7! threatening with Rxd7!; Preventing Qh7 with
typical at this pawn structure. White grabs space on the 18...Rh8 A strong plan is 19.Bh4 Bxh4 20.Qxh4c trading the
queenside with h4-h5 against which Black cannot defend. h5 bishops. Now even the dark squares are vulnerable. White
would give up the g5 square, while g6 weakens the h6 pawn could continue with Qf4 and after Rhf8 Rd3, followed by
after Bf4 and Qe3. Nd2-c4-d6 and rook to g3 or f3. Black collapses soon.]
14...Ka8 15.Kb1 In the Sicilians it is always useful to place 19.exf6 Bxf6 [19...gxf6 is more logical to build the center, but
the king to b1. White leaves from the potential Bg5 ideas after it has a drawback as well, namely the h6 pawn becomes very
pushing h5. It is important to mention that White keeps the weak after 20.Qe3! Rh8 (20...Bf8 loses nicely to 21.Qxe6!h
tension of the light squared bishops, he invites Black to take using the disconnection of the black rooks.) 21.Nh4!h and
on a6 but after Qxa6 he cannot kick out the annoying queen Ng6 next.]
with Qb7 or Qc8 because it costs to the d7 pawn. 20.Bd6 [20.Bh4!? looked quite strong as well, trading the
15...Qc8 Black forces the exchange, but at least White had bishop which keeps the black position together. 20...Bxh4
won a tempo with his patient play.. . 21.Nxh4c]
16.Bxb7+ Qxb7 20...Rge8
17.h5! Thanks to the advance of the pawn to h5, Black 21.Rd3! Very well played positionally again! White cleans the
suddenly got two more backward pawns on g7 and f7 (next d2 square for the knight from where it is heading to its final
to the d7), which can be attacked quickly by Qe4-g4-f4. destination of d6.
21...e5 It is very difficult to suggest something clever for Black. strong to keep the queen on the board and further strengthen
In a bad position all moves are bad. the position with Qe2 and Ne4, executing the final blow a bit
22.a4 [22.Nd2 should have been played right away.] later.]
22...Re6 [Black could have had a sudden chance to create 25...Qxe4 26.Nxe4 Nc4 [26...cxb4 27.Bxb4h wins the d7
some complications with 22...Nb4!? although it does not pawn.]
solve the problem, but at least it causes White some 27.Ka2! A strong prophylactic move before opening the
headache, that perhaps he has missed this move... 23.Re3 b-file too prematurely. [27.bxc5?! 27...bxc5 28.Bxc5? would
(On 23.Qxb7+ 23...Kxb7 24.cxb4 e4 is the point and suddenly it have dramatically changed the position after 28...Rb8+! and
is not so clear.) 23...Qxe4 24.Rxe4 Nc6 25.Nd2c White keeps suddenly the white king gets under an enormous attack...
his big positional advantage. He plays Rg4 and Ne4 next, but 29.Kc1 (29.Ka2 loses on the spot to 29...Rb2+ 30.Ka1 Ra6i)
trading the queens seems to easen Black’s defensive task a 29...Ra6e Black overtakes the initiative.]
bit.] 27...Rc8 Korobov decides to sacrifice a pawn in his cramped
23.Nd2! Rde8 24.f3 Najer does not decide yet to install position and hopes to find counterplay with his nice knight on
the knight to e4 or c4. One looks better than the other... c4. [27...cxb4 28.cxb4 followed by Kb3 looks horrible as well.]
[24.Nc4 was also possible because 24...Na5 does not work 28.bxc5 bxc5 29.Bxc5 Rb8? [The last chance was
concretely: 25.Qxb7+! Nxb7 (25...Kxb7 26.Nxa5+ bxa5 29...Rec6! 30.Bf2 d6 but White retains a big advantage
27.Bxc5) 26.Bc7!h A nice move which wins the d7 pawn!] after 31.Rb1c However, Blac k can at least continue fighting,
24...Na5 whereas in the game it was not possible. The extra pawn
with the doubled c-pawns are not a decisive advantage yet.
White’s advantage rather lies in his superior pieces.; 29...Ra6
30.Rxd7 Rb8 31.Bb4 Rxa4+ 32.Kb3]
25.b4 A very logica l move again! All the white pieces

are excellently placed. The position asks for widening the
initiative by opening a new front. It is clear that Black is not
prepared to treat this problems with his poor rooks on the 30.Rb1! White trades the active rook which could have
e-file and the with the bishop on f6. [25.Rd5h was also very created some counterplay and the d7 pawn becomes
undefendable, which means the end of the game. With a
single rook and the knight Black is unable to create any (2) Bartel, Mateusz (2631)
serious threats... - Nepomniachtchi, Ian (2714) [B51]
30...Rxb1 31.Kxb1 Ra6 32.Ka2!? Najer does not want
to give any chance and frees his king from the back rank. GM Arkadij Naiditsch
2015.03.08
[However there was nothing wrong with 32.Rxd7 32...Rxa4 Best rating: 2737
33.Bf8h]
32...d6 33.Bxd6 Rxa4+ 34.Kb3 Nb6 35.Bf8 Ra1
We are in the last round of the ECC and both players are on
a score of +4 which is enough to qualify for the World Cup,
but knowing Bartel and Nepomniachtchi we could be sure we
would get a fighting game instead of a short draw. The young
Russian was leading the tournament for quite a while, but a
loss to Navara dropped him back so he could only fight for
the 2nd-3rd placed with a win. To play Bartel is never easy,
as we sometimes see the Polish player lose to anyone in 20
moves with White, or he can have great games and win against
almost anybody.
36.c4! The last accurate move! White starts to advance his 1.e4 c5 A sign that it is going to be a fighting game!
passed pawn and suddenly it is not easy at all to stop it.
2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Maybe a sign that Bartel is happy with a
36...Rb1+ 37.Ka2 Rh1 38.c5 Nc4 39.c6 Kb8 40.Rc3 Black draw?! 3.Bb5 is counted as a very safe move, but it seems to
resigned! [40.Rd7h was also over.; 40.Rc3 40...Nb6 41.c7+ give Black more or less equal play.
Kc8 42.Nd6+ Kd7 43.c8=Q+ Nxc8 44.Rxc8!h (But not
3...Nc6 [3...Bd7 is the main reply here.]
44.Nxc8?? because after 44...e4! 45.Rc4 e3 suddenly it is
completely unclear.) ] 1-0 4.O-O Bd7 5.Re1 a6 6.Bxc6 is a rather rarely played line,
much more popular is 6.Bf1.
6...Bxc6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 It is never great to give away a
bishop in the Sicilian, but White sort of gained a tempo. Of
course according to theory Black is OK here.
8...Bd7 is a very rare move. The usual reply here is 8...Nf6 or
8...Rc8.
11...e6
9.Bg5! A good reply by Bartel! Black can’t get the knight 12.Qh5! The white queen is perfectly placed on h5, also
from g8 that easily into the game now. [In case White would preventing Black from playing Qa5 himself.
continue with the simple 9.Nc3 9...Nf6 10.Bg5 Black would 12...Bg7?! Black is looking for trouble. Now the d6 pawn is
be in time now to develop with 10...e6 and his position is very also getting weak. [Black could have tried to activate his rook
solid.] over c5: 12...Rc8 but White has the very interesting 13.Nf5!?
9...Nf6 I am not sure about this move at all. [Maybe Black Rc5 and the second knight is joining the attack. 14.Nd5!?
should have tried something "crazy", which actually would None of the knights can be taken and I guess that because
perfectly fit Ian’s style. 9...h6 10.Bh4 g5 11.Bg3 Of course of Black’s very poor development we could say that White at
it looks very dangerous to weaken the pawn structure that least has a strong initiative.]
much when the king is still on e8 and the pieces are still 13.Rad1 White brings the last piece into the game and the
undeveloped, but Black has the bishop pair, something we white rooks can always be transported to the nice g3 square
should not forget about. 11...h5! The key move! (After the over the 3rd rank.
usual 11...Bg7 12.Nc3 followed by Nd5 or Nf5 or even e5. White
is better.) 12.h3 e5! playing against the g3 bishop. The 13...Rc8?! and after this logical move Black’s position is just
position is very complicated.] lost! [It is already not that simple to find a "good defense"
against White’s Nf5, but maybe Black couldhavetried 13...Qc7
10.Bxf6 Of course White takes the chance to give Black a 14.Rd3 (Whites can also consider playing 14.Nf5 14...exf5
"bad" pawn structure. 15.exf5+ Kf8 16.Re7! Kxe7 17.Nd5+ Kd8 18.Nxc7 Kxc7
10...gxf6 11.Nc3 We often see this kind of structure in the 19.Qxf7 Rhg8 and we have a strange position, with queen
Rauzer, but somehow now it looks like White is at least a against rook+2 bishops, but both bishops are passive and the
few tempos up. In case Black would manage to develop and black king is still under attack. It is quite sure that White is
maybe castle kingside, things would be fine, but White is very not worse, but it is hard to tell if he is better!) 14...Qc5 Black’s
active now and will have direct threats already in couple of position is still very dangerous, but at least things are not that
moves from now. clear.]
podium!
22...Kg7 23.Qg4+ Bg5 Now that the bishop on g5 is pinned
White is simply collecting the material.
14.Nf5! Bartel doesn’t miss his chance for this typical tactical
blow.
14...exf5 Black has no choice but to take on f5.
15.exf5+ Kf8 and here comes the move that Black probably 24.Rdd1! So far Bartel played a perfect game! The bishop on
missed: g5 can’t be rescued and it seems like the game is almost over.
16.Ne4! White wants to play Nxd6, attacking the f7 pawn and 24...h6! I can’t say that Black has any chances to save the
the rook on c8. game, but from a practical point of view this is clearly the best
16...Bc6 It is already hard to give Black any advice... There is chance. At least the rook from h8 gets into the game and the
no good way to defend from Nxd6. black king on g7 has a safe position.
17.Nxd6 Qc7 At least Ian found a way not to get mated on the 25.a3 Bartel continues choosing the most safe moves. Why
spot. give the a2 pawn away?! :)
18.Nxc8 Qxc8 White has a rook and 2 pawns agains the black 25...Qc7 26.Qg3 protecting the h2 square, just in case.
bishop pair, where the g7 bishop is more looking like a pawn. 26...Qa5 and again the f5 pawn is under attack, so White
White is clearly close to winning here. needs to think about what to do next.
19.Rd4 Qc7 20.Qd1 Rd8 is a deadly threat. 27.f4?! From a practical point of view this is clearly a bad
20...Bh6 21.h4! Stopping Black from playing Kg7 because of decision. The white king’s position is getting very open now
Qg4 check and the threat of playing Rd8 followed by Qg4. and there was no reason at all for such risky action. [After
a simple move like 27.hxg5 27...hxg5 28.Re7 White is a full
21...Qa5 Black is looking for chances, attacking the f5 pawn exchange up! 28...Qxf5 29.Qb3 Qg6 The black queen is
and making the rook on e1 feeling observed. getting to h5 which looks dangerous, but in fact it is just
22.Rd8+ Bartel continues his good play and it is easy to see nothing. 30.Rd4 Qh5 31.f3 and Black doesn’t have anything
why, as a win would give him a chance to get a place on the more than one check on h1. White is totally winning.]
27...Qc5+ Black is planning a very nice tactical blow... 31.Kxg2
28.Re3 Of course it is not pleasant to put the king on the h-file
after which hxg5 would already not be a threat anymore.
31...Qc6+ Black is fighting ! [31...Rxd1 32.gxf6+ Kxf6

33.Qh4+ leads to mate in a couple of moves.]
28...Bxg2! and this is clearly the move Bartel missed. The 32.Rf3! The only winning move!
bishop on g2 can’t be taken! 32...Rxd1 [Now Black can’t play 32...Qxc2+ because the rook
29.fxg5 The bishop on g5 has to be taken sooner or later... on h1 is hanging. 33.Kxh1]
[29.Kxg2? 29...Qxc2+ and Black is winning the d1 rook.] 33.gxf6+ Kxf6 White is only a pawn up, but now it is Bartel
29...hxg5 The g2 bishop is still untouchable. who starts to mate his opponent’s king.
30.hxg5! Bartel shows great nerves and exact calculation in 34.Qh4+ Kg7 35.f6+! Once again the only winning move for
such an important game! The white king is totally "nacked" White! It was not to hard to find this one, but to see all this
but the black king is also getting under attack now. before playing 30. hxg5 is everything but easy...
30...Rh1+ It is hard to say if White calculated it all or if he 35...Kg8 [White is also easily winning after 35...Kg6 36.Qg4+
was just a bit lucky, but Black is losing by force now, if White Kh6 37.Qg7+ Kh5 38.Qxf7+]
finds the only move... [In case of 30...Be4 31.gxf6+ Kxf6 White 36.Qg3+ Kf8 Maybe somebody else would just play 37. Qg7
can enter a winning endgame after 32.Qd6+ Qxd6 33.Rxd6+ followed by Qg8 here, with a win of the f-pawn, but not Bartel!
Kxf5 34.Rd4 and some technique is still needed to win the He finds a very beautiful mating idea!
game, but objectively the position is of course winning.]
37.Qb8+ Qe8
The K-Files.
QGA 3.e4 b5 4.a4 c6 5.axb5
38.Rh3! Black has no defense against Rh8. What a beautiful FIDE World Chess Champion (1999)
mating idea! Best rating: 2702
38...Rd2+ 39.Kf3 We just saw a great game by Bartel and
of course cleary not the best game of Nepomniachtch, who (3) QGA 3.e4 b5 4.a4 c6 5.axb5 [D20]
was practically lost after just 14 moves! Anyhow, this win
gave Bartel the bronze medal and good price money, while
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 b5 4.a4 c6 5.axb5 cxb5 6.Nc3 The
Nepomniachtchi was very lucky to take one of the last places
main critical line of the whole system was invented by Alex
to qualify for the World Cup 2015 in Baku. So it was actually a
Yermolinsky in 1993. Suddenly the b5 pawn is not so easy
happy end for both players! :) 1-0
to defend . [6.b3 Together with the exchange on b5 this is
not dangerous for Black. Even more - in some lines it’s quite
unclear who is playing for advantage. 6...e5 (6...a5 This move
was played already in 1620. It’s great to know it but not to
repeat. 7.bxc4 b4 8.Nf3 (8.d5 8...e6 is not so clear. Greco
- NN Italy 1620) 8...e6 9.c5 Nf6 10.Ne5!c and Black’s passed
pawns are not important at all.) 7.bxc4 This move is actually
an exchange sacrifice. The quiet and sound alternative is (
a) 7.Nf3 exd4 8.bxc4 (8.Qxd4 8...Bd7 9.bxc4 Nc6 10.Qd1
Bb4+ 11.Bd2 Bxd2+ 12.Nbxd2 b4V) 8...b4 - 7.bxc4;
b) 7.dxe5 Qxd1+ (7...Bb4+ 8.Bd2 Bc5 is recommended
by the engines on moderate depth. However. White has
the strong response 9.Nc3! b4 10.Na4 Bd4 11.Bxc4 Bxa1
12.Qxa1c) 8.Kxd1 Nc6 This is why the exchange on b5 was
not in time. Black has absolutely no problem now. 9.Nf3 Bg4
10.bxc4 Nxe5 11.Nd2 bxc4=; 7.d5! In my opinion the most promising way. It’s not so
c) 7.d5?! Nf6 and somehow there is no convenient way to easy for Black to complete his development now. (7.Nf3 is
defend the e4 pawn. 8.Qf3?! Mamedyarov - Nakamura Dubai the most popular move. But after 7...e6 8.Be2 Nf6 (8...Bb4
blitz 2014 (8.f3 Gritus - Becko Slovakia 2010 8...Nxe4!i) 9.O-O Ne7 10.d5 O-O 11.dxe6 fxe6 12.Ne5nThomsen - Cipka
8...Nc6!! 9.dxc6 Bg4i OK it was only blitz but still it doesn’t corr 2008) 9.O-O Bb4! (worse is 9...Be7 10.d5!c Yermolinsky
happen everyday when top grandmaster gets such a bad - Zaltsman St.Martin 1993) 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bxf6 Qxf6 12.Ne5
position with White in just 8 moves.) Tonoian - Guliyev, N Moscow 2012 12...Bxc3 (12...Qd8 ) 13.bxc3
a6k it’s quite clear that White has compensation for the pawn
7...b4!? In fact this position is a very special one. Frankly but is it enough for an advantage?) 7...a6 (7...e5 gives back the
speaking I can’t remember any other theoretical line where gambit pawn but doesn’t solve the problems. 8.dxe6 Bxe6
the 7 first moves were played by pawns only!!! (8...fxe6 9.Nxb5! Bb4+ 10.Nc3c Scharrer - Tennstedt Bad
Woerishofen 2013) 9.Qxd8+ Kxd8 10.Nxb5 Bb4+ 11.Bd2c and
Black’s weaknesses are difficult to defend. Wang - Lakdawala
Los Angeles 2010) 8.b3! N This is of not a human decision
but it doesn’t become weaker because of this. (8.Nf3 8...e6
9.Be2 Bc5 10.O-O Ne7k is less clear.) 8...b4 (8...e5 9.bxc4
b4 10.Na4 Bxa4 11.Qxa4+ Qd7 12.Qa5 Nf6 13.Nf3 Nxe4
14.Be3c) 9.Na4 c3 10.Be3 The protected passer on c3 looks
great. However, it doesn’t help Black to develop his kingside,
and this is a huge problem. Black is already in real trouble as
the following lines show. 10...e6 (10...Bxa4 11.Rxa4 e5 12.dxe6
(After 7...Bb4+ 8.Bd2 Qxd4 9.Bxb4 Qxa1 Gartner - Vegh Qxd1+ 13.Kxd1 fxe6 14.Nf3c; 10...Nf6 11.Nb6 Ra7 12.Nc4 Rb7
Budapest 1997 10.cxb5 White’s compensation wouldn’t be 13.e5c) 11.Nb6 Ra7 12.Nf3 Nf6 13.Ne5c; 6...Bb7? is simply
underestimated but at the same time it’s hard to believe bad. 7.Nxb5 Bxe4 8.Bf4 (8.Qg4 8...Bc6) 8...e5 9.dxe5c Ress -
it can be enough for more than equal chances because Ovcjak corr 2013 9...Bb4+ 10.Bd2 Qe7 11.Nc3 Bc6 (11...Qxe5
White is not well-developed yet. 10...Be6 (10...Qd4 11.Qxd4 12.Qe2h) 12.Nf3]
exd4 12.Nf3n) 11.Nf3 Nd7 12.Be2 Qb2k) 8.Bb2 exd4 9.Nf3
Kasparov - Bankers Trust London simul 1993 and now Black 7.Nxb5 White has to accept the challenge. The modest
had to find the strong maneuver 9...Ne7! 10.Bd3 Nec6 positional play doesn’t promise anything. [7.d5 7...Bb7 8.Nf3
11.Nbd2 a5V] e6 9.Bg5 Nf6=+]
6...a6! and this is the move which has given a new start to the 7...axb5 8.Rxa8 Bb7 This idea has already become quite
whole system. Well it must be said that it was played before standard, especially after Topalov’s spectacular wins in
but not in connection with the correct plan. [6...Bd7 This was Chebanenko Slav in 2006. However, in that game White’s
the old main line. However, it doesn’t look very impressive. dark-squared bishop was placed on h4 or exchanged. So the
idea Bf8-b4+ was something like a direct threat. Here Black’s Ruzomberok 2014 and now (13...Bb4!?n) 14.Ne5!? Nxe5
ideas are rather different and engines are not very optimistic 15.dxe5 Nc3 16.Bf3 Nxd1 17.Bxd5 Nxe3 18.Bxb7 Nxf1= leads
about the compensation. So it took time to understand that to a drawish endgame.;
this line might be really playable. b) 10.f3 The most natural and popular move. 10...Nc6
9.Ra2!? I wouldn’t say it’s a clear improvement on the is more solid and leads to "human" play. (The
traditional 9.Ra1 but in my opinion this unusual retreat hyperadventurous 10...f5 leads to big complications. 11.Nh3!?
promises a clear advantage for White without serious risks was successfully tried in Shirov - Sulskis Finland 2015 but its
and from a practical point of view it’s preferable. The rook consequences are not clear after (
looks a bit strange here as it invites the knight to jump to b1) 11.exf5 Nc6 (11...Ne7 is less accurate. 12.Ra7!? It’s a
b4 with tempo. However, the Nb8-c6-b4 maneuver is not good moment for counter-sacrifice! 12...Qb6 13.Rxb7 Qxb7
so universally useful for Black and also White is intending to 14.fxe6c Gharamian - Cornette Nimes 2014) 12.fxe6 Nge7nis
play b2-b3 as soon as possible after which the rook is quite absolutely crazy. Despite White’s massive material advantage
good on the 2nd rank. This move was never played in OTB the assessment is far from clear.;
chess yet and a few correspondence games couldn’t clarify
the evaluation so far. [9.Ra1 This natural move was played b2) 11.g3!? is another interesting setup. 11...Nc6 (11...fxe4
almost automatically before but it may be not the strongest. leads to a long forced line which is quite favorable for
9...e6 The key move which gave a new life to the whole system. White. 12.Bg2 Nf6 13.fxe4 Bb4+ 14.Bd2 Qxd4 15.Bxb4
(9...Bxe4?! was played in the only game where this position Qxb2 16.Bd2 c3 17.Rc1 Bxe4 18.Bxe4 Qxd2+ 19.Qxd2
happened before 2014. Ammann - Costa Switzerland 1993 cxd2+ 20.Kxd2 Nxe4+ 21.Ke3 Nd6 22.Nf3+=) 12.Ne2 Na5
However, it is met by the nice tacticalrefutation 10.f3 Bd5 13.Bg2 Nb3 14.Rb1 Bb4+ 15.Nc3 Qb6kand Black has certain
11.b3c e6 12.bxc4 bxc4 13.Bxc4! Bb4+ 14.Kf2 Bxc4 15.Qa4+ compensation for the exchange.)
Nd7 (15...Qd7 16.Qxb4 Qxd4+ 17.Be3 Qxa1 18.Qxb8+ Kd7 11...fxe4 12.fxe4 Nf6 13.Ng5 Nc6 (13...Bb4+?! was played
19.Qb7+h) 16.Ne2 Bxe2 17.Qxb4 Ne7 18.Kxe2 O-O 19.Bg5 in the above-mentioned game. 14.Bd2 Bxd2+ 15.Qxd2
and Black’s compensation for the exchange is clearly not O-O 16.Nxe6 Qe7 17.Nxf8h) 14.Nxe6 Bb4+ 15.Bd2 Qe7
enough.) 10.Ne2!? is a very interesting new move by Adhiban 16.Bxb4 Nxb4 17.d5 Nxe4k) 11.Ne2 (11.Be3 wasn’t tested yet
although he completely misplayed some next moves. ( most probably due to 11...Bb4+ 12.Kf2 f5! 13.d5 f4! 14.Bxf4
a) 10.Nf3 Here the knight doesn’t attack the important Bc5+ 15.Ke1 (15.Be3 15...Bxe3+ 16.Kxe3 Qb6+ 17.Kd2 exd5
squares e4 and d5, so Black gets sufficient compensation 18.exd5 Nd4e) 15...exd5 16.Qxd5 Qb6nand White faces
after 10...Nf6 11.Be2 (11.e5 11...Bxf3 12.gxf3 Bb4+ 13.Bd2 serious problems.) 11...Bb4+! A real improvement played by
Nd5nis OK for Black as well.) 11...Nxe4 (11...Bb4+ 12.Bd2 Edouard. (
Bxd2+ 13.Qxd2 Nxe4 Mamedyarov - Kasimzhanov Baku b1) 11...Nf6 Now Black doesn’t have the important resource
2014 14.Qe3+= is less accurate in my opinion.) 12.O-O f7-f5 so his compensation might disappear step by step.
Nc6 (12...Qd5 13.b3!?) 13.Be3 Qd5 Heimann - Godena 12.Be3 Bb4+ 13.Kf2 O-O 14.b3c Parligras - Thesing Germany
2014; 15...Nxb4 16.Nc3 Nec6! 17.Bxc4 Nxd4 18.O-O Nbc2 19.Nb5
b2) 11...Na5 Moving knight to b3 is an interesting positional Nxa1 20.Nxd4 Qb6 21.Qxa1 Ra8! 22.Qc3 Rd8 23.Rd1 e5
idea but it turns to be too slow. 12.Nc3 Bb4 (12...Qb6? is 24.Qb3 Qxb3 25.Bxb3 Rxd4 26.Rxd4 exd4 27.Bc4 Kf8= and
simply bad because of 13.Nxb5! Qxb5 14.Qa4 Qxa4 15.Rxa4 Black will hold this endgame easily.) 10...Bxe4 is the only
Nc6 16.Be3 Bd6 17.Bxc4c and White even managed to lose critical answer. The alternatives don’t impress at all. (
this endgame in Goganov - Tabatabaei Moscow 2015.) 13.Kf2 a)10...Nc6 11.d5 exd5 12.exd5 Nb4 13.Nc3c;
Qb6 14.Be3 (14.Nxb5 14...Qxb5 15.b3 Nxb3 16.Rb1 Qa5
b)10...Nf6 11.f3 Bb4+ (11...Nc6 12.Be3 Bb4+ 13.Kf2c)
17.Bxc4 Nxc1 18.Qxc1 Ne7) 14...Nb3 15.Ra2 Ne7 16.Nxb5
12.Kf2 O-O 13.b3c)
Qxb5 17.Qc2 O-O 18.Qxc4 Qb6 19.Qb5 Qxb5 20.Bxb5c and
although this position is not that bad for Black as in Goga’s 11.Nc3N This is the move to play although its main idea
game it’s still very unpleasant.) is not so easy. (11.b3 This is good with the rook on a2
but now 11...Nc6! 12.f3 (12.Nc3? 12...Bb4 13.Bd2 Bxc3
12.Bd2 (
14.Bxc3 b4e and White is already in trouble. Adhiban -
b1) 12.Kf2 f5 with the white king on f2 it might be called the Nakamura Gibraltar 2015) 12...Bd5 (12...Nb4 is entertaining
typical reaction. 13.exf5 (13.Nf4 13...fxe4 14.Nxe6 Qd7 15.d5 but not completely sound. 13.fxe4 Nd3+ 14.Kd2 Bb4+
Nd8) 13...Nge7 14.fxe6 Nf5nand it’s rather White who is in 15.Ke3c) 13.bxc4 bxc4 14.Ra4 Bb4+ 15.Bd2 Bd6k gives Black
danger.; reasonable compensation.) 11...Bc6 (11...Bb4 12.Be2! and
b2) 12.Nc3 Qb6 13.d5 Nd4n) Black’s compensation is far from enough in all lines. The white
knight is perfectly placed on c3 and the other pieces are quite
12...Nge7 Still keeping f7-f5 in mind. 13.b3 (13.Bxb4 13...Nxb4 active. 12...Nf6 (
14.Nc3 Qb6 15.Nxb5 at this moment doesn’t promise any
advantage. 15...Qxb5 16.Qa4 Qxa4 17.Rxa4 Nc2+ 18.Kf2 a) 12...Bxg2 13.Rg1 Bc6 (13...Be4 14.Rg5!c) 14.Rxg7c;
Nxd4 19.Bxc4 O-O (19...Nec6 20.b4) 20.b4 Rb8 21.Rd1 e5=) b) 12...Ne7 13.O-O Bc6 (13...Bxc3 14.bxc3 O-O 15.Ba3c)
13...O-O 14.bxc4 bxc4 15.Bxb4 leads to the long and forced 14.Bf3 O-O 15.Bxc6 Nbxc6 16.Nxb5c)
line shown by GM Deviatkin in his deep annotations to the
above-mentioned game. ( 13.O-O Bxc3 (13...Bc6 14.Bf3 O-O 15.Bxc6 Nxc6 16.Nxb5)
14.bxc3 Nd5 (14...O-O 15.Bg5c) 15.Qd2 O-O (15...b4? 16.cxb4
b1) In the game Javakhishvili - Edouard Gibraltar 2015 White c3 17.Bb5+) 16.Re1 Qc7 17.Ba3c) 12.Be2! Here this resource
went clearly wrong with 15.Kf2?! 15...f5! 16.Nf4? Qxd4+ is far from obvious. At the first moment it’s not so difficult
17.Be3 Qb2+ 18.Be2 fxe4e; to understand what for White is giving the very important
b2) 15.Qc1!? This tricky move might be critical although it’s pawn. However, the roles are changing quickly. White’s
still unclear what exactly White intends to do to develop his pieces become active and it’s now Black’s problem how to
kingside. 15...Qb6 16.Rb1 Rb8 (16...Ba6 17.Kf2 Ne5 18.Nf4 complete the development. 12...b4 (12...Bb4 - 11...Bb4; After
Qxd4+ 19.Be3 Qd6 20.Qd1) 17.Kf2 Ba6k) the immediate 12...Bxg2?! 13.Rg1 Bc6 14.Bf3c Black gets
even bigger problems.; Rejecting the pawn doesn’t look good: the play becomes totally chaotic. (10...Nc6 11.b3! seems
12...Bd6 13.Bf3c) 13.Nb1 Bxg2 14.Rg1 and now wherever to be the most dangerous. The critical line is (After the
the black bishop would retreat White has a strong initiative. natural 11.Ne2 11...Bb4+ 12.Bd2 Nf6 13.Bxb4 Nxb4 14.Ra3
The material is about equal but it happens that Black has O-O 15.Qd2 Nc6 16.Ra1 Qb6 17.Rd1 Rd8nBlack gets good
other problems. 14...Bc6 (14...Bd5 15.Nd2 c3 (15...Ne7 compensation.) 11...Bb4+ 12.Kf2 Bc5 and now White has a
16.Nxc4 g6 17.Ne5c) 16.bxc3 bxc3 17.Bb5+ Bc6 18.Bxc6+ choice: 13.bxc4! looks more promising and after (After 13.Ne2
Nxc6 19.Ne4c and White is ready for a decisive attack. both 13...f5 (and 13...e5 14.bxc4 exd4kSilva - Kerr corr 2002)
19...Nxd4 (19...Qxd4? 20.Ra8+h) 20.Qa4+h) 15.Nd2 c3 14.bxc4 fxe4klead to absolutely crazy unbalanced positions
(15...Qc7 16.Nxc4 Qxh2 17.Rf1c) 16.bxc3 bxc3 (16...Nf6 17.Qb3 where Black’s counterchances are not to be underestimated.)
g6 18.Nf3 Bd6 19.Bh6c) 17.Nc4 Ne7 18.Qb3 Nf5 19.Qxc3 13...Bxd4+ 14.Ke1 b4 15.Qa4+= Black has some compensation
Qxd4 20.Bb2 Qxc3+ 21.Bxc3 f6 22.Ne3c Despite the limited but it doesn’t look enough as his pieces are not perfectly
remaining material Black still has to solve the development coordinated.) 11.exf5 (11.Nh3 This is quite strong with the rook
problems. And his chances to do it are not very high.; The on a1 but after 11...fxe4 12.fxe4 Nf6 13.Ng5 Nc6 14.Nxe6 Bb4+
counter-sacrifice 9.Rxb8 9...Qxb8 10.f3 e5 11.b3 Bb4+ 12.Kf2 15.Bd2 Qe7n it becomes clear that the rook’s position on a2
as seen in Atalik,S - Pancevski Serbia 2014 can’t be dangerous also has certain drawbacks. 16.Bxb4? Nxb4 doesn’t work.)
for Black after 12...Qd6! 13.bxc4 (13.d5 13...f5e) 13...Bc5C] 11...Nc6 12.fxe6 We have a really weird position. White has
9...e6 At the first moment it’s difficult to understand what a huge material advantage and it’s still hard to understand
Black’s compensation for the exchange is. White has a healthy what for. So it’s quite amazing to see how quickly Black’s
structure and the development is about equal. However, seemingly undeveloped pieces come into play and create
then it becomes clear that the compensation is quite serious. dangerous threats. When both sides play the best moves
It looks like White has to defend the e4 pawn but the there are some crazy drawish lines but it’s rather White who
only reasonable way to do it (f2-f3) weakens his kingside has to play precisely. 12...Nge7 (Or even 12...Nh6!? 13.Bxh6
and doesn’t help the pieces to develop. [9...Bxe4?! is gxh6 14.Ne2 Bb4+ 15.Nc3 Nxd4n) 13.b3 Nd5 14.Ne2 Ncb4
not recommended. 10.f3 Bd5 11.b3! cxb3 12.Bxb5+ Nd7 15.bxc4 Nxa2 16.cxd5 Bb4+ 17.Bd2 O-On]
13.Ra6c] 10...Bxe4 This must be the critical move. [10...Nc6 is met by
10.Ne2! Moving to an absolutely unexplored zone. In fact the strong 11.Nc3! (11.f3 - 10.f3) 11...Nxd4 12.Be3 e5 13.Ra7!
this move is a good solid practical choice. With the best Qd7 14.Bxd4 exd4 15.Qh5! Once again it’s White’s turn to
defense Black can keep drawish chances but most probably sacrifice material. He gets very strong initiative for it. 15...dxc3
nothing more. White just gives the central pawn in order 16.Qe5+ Ne7 17.bxc3 Qc6 18.Be2 Bc8 19.O-O Qb6 20.Ra8
to organize the important breakthrough b2-b3 as soon as Qc6 21.Qb8c; Black can force the opponent to play f2-f3
possible. [10.f3 White would like to play b3 without giving with 10...Nf6 11.f3 but now he doesn’t have the important
the important central pawn. So Black has to do something resource f7-f5 anymore. 11...Nc6 (11...Bb4+ 12.Kf2 Nc6 13.b3
about it. 10...f5!? N might be an improvement. Now O-O 14.bxc4 bxc4 15.Be3c) 12.b3!? The basic idea. Now
Black can win the exchange back but this leaves White with O-O 19.O-O+= Black played all the best moves and is close
an extra pawn and a solid position. 12...Nb4 13.Rd2 Nd3+ to exchange the c4 and d4 pawns, which makes his drawish
(13...Qa5 14.Kf2 Be7 15.bxc4 bxc4 16.Nc3 O-O 17.g3c) 14.Rxd3 chances fairly reasonable. But... was it worth it?]
cxd3 15.Qxd3 Bb4+ 16.Nc3 O-O 17.Be2 Qa5 (17...Qc7 18.Bd2 12.bxc4 bxc4 [12...Bb4+ 13.Bd2 Bxd2+ 14.Rxd2 - 11...Bb4+]
Rd8 19.Nxb5 Qc1+ 20.Bd1 Bxd2+ 21.Qxd2 Qc6 22.Be2 Qb6
23.O-Oc) 18.Bd2 Qa1+ 19.Nd1 Bxd2+ 20.Qxd2c] 13.Qa4+ Bc6 [13...Nc6 may seem tempting as Black tries
to attack pawn d4 as soon as possible. But his piece
11.b3 With the rook on a2 it works fine. The annoying construction is rather shaky and White can use it with precise
construction b5-c4 is finally destroyed. [Here 11.Nc3 11...Bc6 play. 14.Rb2! Be7 15.f3 (After the most natural 15.Nc3
12.Be2 b4 13.Nb1 Bxg2 14.Rg1 Bd5kleads nowhere. So as 15...O-O! 16.Nxe4 Nxe4 17.Qxc6 Qa5+ 18.Kd1 Nc3+ 19.Kc2
we can see in some lines the rook’s position on a2 has serious Na4 20.Qxc4 Qa8!n Black gets a strong attack.) 15...Bd5
drawbacks.] 16.Nc3 and now Black has several oppotunities but none
11...Nf6 seems to be the best answer. Black gives the of them promises him enough compensation. Of course
pawn, which leaves him once again a plain exchange down. converting the material advantage into a full point wouldn’t
However, he completes the development and hopes to create be so easy for White but still... 16...Qd7 is probably the best. (
some pressure. The alternatives lead to some kind of one-way a) 16...O-O 17.Nxd5 exd5 (17...Qxd5 18.Bxc4c) 18.Qxc6
street where the best Black can hope for is the endgame with
Qa5+ 19.Kd1 Qa1 20.Qb5 Ba3 21.Rb1 Qxd4+ 22.Bd2 c3
4 pawns vs. 3 pawns on one side and an exchange down.
23.Qd3 Qa4+ 24.Qc2 Qxc2+ 25.Kxc2 cxd2 26.Kxd2c;
But even this is not guaranteed. [11...Bd5 12.bxc4 Bxc4 -
11...Bd3; 11...Nc6 is good enough with the rook on a1 but b) 16...Qa5 17.Qxa5 Nxa5 18.Rb8+ Bd8 19.Kf2c)
now after 12.bxc4 Nb4 13.Rd2 bxc4 14.Nc3c the difference 17.Bxc4 Bxc4 18.Qxc4 O-O 19.Be3+=]
becomes clear.; 11...Bd3 12.bxc4 Bxc4 13.Ra8! This pin is
very annoying. Now it’s not so easy for Black to exchange 14.Qxc4 Bd6 15.Ba3 The dark-squared bishops’ exchange
the b5 and d4 pawns. (13.Rb2 13...Nf6 14.Ng3 Bxf1 15.Nxf1 is useful for White to limit the opponent’s counterplay. [After
Nc6 16.Rxb5 Bb4+ 17.Bd2 Bxd2+ 18.Nxd2 Nxd4 19.Rb2 O-O+= 15.Nc3 15...O-O 16.f3 e5! 17.dxe5 Bxe5 18.Bd3 Bb7nBlack’s
Some accuracy is required but objectively this must be a counterplay is quite annoying.]
draw.) 13...Nf6 14.Ng3 Bxf1 15.Nxf1 Bd6 16.Ne3 O-O 17.O-O 15...O-O 16.Bxd6 Qxd6 17.Qc5 Qxc5 [17...Qd8 18.f3 Bd5
Qc7 18.h3 Qc6 19.Qf3c; 11...Bb4+ 12.Bd2 Bxd2+ 13.Rxd2! 19.Rb2c and it’s not easy to develop adequate counterplay.]
Once again White is not satisfied with the massive pawn
18.dxc5 Rc8+= Black’s chances to save this endgame are
exchange which might happen if he takes on d2 with the
good enough but still he has to work for it.
queen. (13.Qxd2 13...cxb3 14.Rb2 Nc6 15.Nc3 Bc2 16.Bxb5
SOME CONCLUSIONS Well in general one can use this old line
Ne7 17.Ba4 O-O 18.Bxb3 Bxb3 19.Rxb3 Nxd4 20.Rb2+=)
3.e4 b5 in rapid chess and/or as a surprise weapon but my
13...Qa5 (13...Nf6 14.bxc4 bxc4 15.Qa4+ Nbd7 16.Qxc4c)
intuition tells me that it’s not 100% correct from a theoretical
14.Qc1 Bd5 15.Nc3 Ne7 16.Ra2 Qb4 17.bxc4 bxc4 18.Be2
point of view. The only problem is the main line but it’s really
serious. For White players there are two attractive options
and both of them still require practical tests. The basic choice
is between 9.Ra1 e6 10.Ne2 and 9.Ra2 e6 10. Ne2. Somehow
I still doubt which of them must be preferred. Most probably
it’s a matter of taste. With the rook on a1 White plays for the
initiative but any inaccuracy might cost dearly. The second
option just oppositely secures him from any strategical risk
but in some lines Black’s drawing chances are quite high.
David vs. Goliath
Peter Zhdanov
In this entertaining column we are reviewing the most Top-10:

unexpected results that occurred last week. Players usually
Mikhalevski (2559) - Westreich (1929), 0-1, 630 points
face opponents of a similar level. Considerably less frequent
Melkumyan (2673) - Kraus (2190), 0-1, 483 points
are situations when a significantly lower-rated player
Kochavi (1607) - Chubar (2066), 1-0, 459 points
succeeds in beating a much stronger adversary.
Lindstaedt (1446) - Bruening (1891), 1-0, 445 points
The previous week has brought us 24 upsets. Finally an Kali (2089) - Barnaure (2508), 1-0, 419 points
improvement in quantity! Potkin (2605) - Kraus (2190), 0-1, 415 points
The number of moves ranges from 23 in Gorodetzky (2210) Manakova (2318) - Iliaguev (1926), 0-1, 392 points
- GM Kogan (2555), 1-0 to 75 in Kochavi (1607) - IM Chubar Amellal (1953) - Bellahcene (2436), 1-0, 383 points
(2066), 1-0. The highest-profile loss was GM Melkumyan (2673) Bengherabi (2145) - Haddouche (2524), 1-0, 379 points
- Kraus (2190), 0-1. In fact, Ohad Kraus (born 1995) defeated Kali (2089) - Kanmazalp (2457), 1-0, 368 points
yet another strong GM -Vladimir Potkin (2605) - as Black.
Westreich (1929) prevailed over GM Mikhalevski (2559) with Average gap: 437; White won 6 games, Black won 4 games.
the Black pieces. Now that’s a shocking 630 rating points gap!
IM Sipila (2425) gets a special mention for allowing Pogosian You can view all the games in the accompanying pgn file.
(2124) to brutally checkmate him:
Puzzle section
(4) Shimanov, A(2594)-Khismatullin, D(2653) (6) Mikhalevski, V(2559)-Grachev, B(2670)
1... i 1... i
(5) Kryvoruchko, Y(2692)-Dvirnyy, D(2533) (7) Damaso, R(2451)-Bok, B(2587)

1. h 1. h
(8) Mchedlishvili, M(2586)-Kuzubov, Y(2667) (10) Bartel, M(2631)-Nepomniachtchi, I(2714)
1. = 1. h
(9) Vovk, Y(2588)-Dreev, A(2643) (11) Eljanov, P(2727)-Romanov, E(2625)

1. h 1. h
(12) Melkumyan, H(2673)-Abasov, N(2523)
1. h
(13) Rombaldoni, A(2488)-Andriasian, Z(2612)

1. h
Endgame section is still very strong, but White is in time to save the game. (The
idea of being tricky and try to cover the a-file with a rook is
not helping much: 53...Kb4 54.f6! White is securing a passed
f-pawn. 54...gxf6 55.Rxf6 a4 56.Ra6 Rb5 57.Ke3 Ra5 58.Rxa5
(14) Akopian, Vladimir (2660)
Kxa5
- Ipatov, Alexander (2592)

Best rating: 2737
59.f5 and we are entering a drawish queen endgame. 59...a3

60.f6 a2 61.f7 a1=Q 62.f8=Q with a draw.) 54.f6! It is very
important for White to get rid of the g7 pawn. 54...gxf6 55.Rxf6
a4 56.Ra6 a3 57.Ke3 and the passed f-pawn secures the
draw.]
53.hxg4 Kxa4 54.Ke3 This is not the most exact play, but
In the current endgame Black is clearly better, even if there still enough to make a draw. [White could have won a tempo
are equal pawns on the board. The strong e4 pawn, the weak by first playing 54.Ra6! not allowing Black to immediately
a4 pawn as well a very active king give Black good chances for play Kb3-a4. 54...Kb4 55.g5 a4 56.Ke3
the full point.
51...Kb4! Logical and strong. Getting a passed pawn can’t be
wrong.
52.g4! An excellent decision by Akopian. White is not only
exchanging a pawn, but also making the e4 pawn a weakness.
[52.Rg5 52...Rf7 and White will still need to play g4 sooner or
later.]
52...fxg4 What else to do?! [To take the pawn on a4 on the
spot just leads to a draw: 52...Kxa4 53.gxf5 Kb3 The a-pawn 56...a3 Black doesn’t have anything better than trying to push
the a-pawn as far as possible. 57.f5 Kb3 58.f6 Not giving Black
any chance for some tricks. 58...gxf6 59.gxf6 a2 60.Kxe4 and
as we can see the game ends in a clear draw: 60...Kb2 61.Kf5
a1=Q 62.Rxa1 Kxa1 63.Ke6]
54...Kb3 55.f5 a4
60...Rg7! It is funny, but White has no ways of defending the

g5 pawn, except by crossing the f-file with his king. 61.Kf5
Rf7+ and the f1 rook is getting lost.]
59...Kc4 60.Rb1 White manages to stop the a-pawn, but the
position is already lost.
56.f6? What a mistake by Akopian! [56.Ra6 would still lead to 60...Rg7 The most precise move. Black’s idea is that in case
a draw. 56...a3 57.g5 a2 58.f6 gxf6 (No better is 58...g6 59.Kxe4 the white king goes to f4, Black has e3.
Kb2 60.Ke5 and Black can even lose the game!! 60...a1=Q 61.Rc1+ Kb3 62.Rb1+ Kc3 63.Rc1+ Kb2 64.Rc5 White is
61.Rxa1 Kxa1 62.Ke6 and White is winning because Black trying the already known idea of checking on the b-file and
cannot do anything against the upcoming f7 move!) 59.gxf6 this would work in case the white rook was placed a bit more
Rf7 Now all White needs to do is to check the black king. far than on the 5th rank, but it is not the case because the g5
60.Rb6+ Kc2 61.Rc6+ Kb2 62.Rb6+ with a draw.] pawn needs to be protected.
56...gxf6 57.Rxf6 a3 Now White is just not in time! 64...a2 65.Rb5+ Kc3 66.Ra5
58.g5 Ra7! The winning move! [A mistake would be to
rush with 58...a2? 59.Ra6 Rb5 Black is trying to attack the
g5 pawn. 60.g6 Rg5 61.Rb6+ (61.Kxe4? of course loses to
61...Rxg6) 61...Kc2 62.Rc6+ Kb2 63.Rb6+ with a draw again.]
59.Rb6+ [This is probably what Akopian missed. 59.Kxe4
59...a2 60.Rf1 and it seems like the position is a draw, but in
fact Black is winning in 1 move!
66...Kb3 and White cannot continue checking the black king
with Rb5 because of Ka4. (15) Sjugirov, Sanan (2678)
- Lupulescu, Constantin (2626)
67.Kf4 e3 and the e-pawn plays its key role.
68.Rb5+ [68.Kxe3 68...Rxg5 69.Rxg5 a1=Q and we are European Championship, GM Csaba Balogh
entering a theoretically winning position.] 2015.03.05 Best rating: 2672
68...Ka4 and there are no more checks...

69.Rb8 Ra7 A sad end for White to lose a drawn position, but
once again we could see how complicated rook endgames are
and that it is very easy to miss a move which could totally
change the evaluation of the position. 0-1
We are in the last move of the time trouble. White is a pawn

up, but in rook endgames it is often not enough to win the
game, especially when the defensive side has such an active
rook like the one on c2!
40.Rb3 A very tricky move to conclude the time pressure.
White already had the forthcoming pawn endgame in mind
and he keeps the calculation part for after the 40th move,
when he receives the extra time... [40.Rf3+ 40...Ke6 White
cannot make progress. The rook is passively defending the
pawns on the second rank and Black is going to play Ra3 next,
restoring the material balance.]
40...Rxf2 [Black could have avoided all the complications
by starting with 40...Kf6!? and only after 41.Rb7 (41.Ke3
41...Rc5 forces the white rook to go into passive defense from
a3 after which he does not retain any more winning chances...)
41...Rxf2 42.Rxa7 Rxg2
43.Kc5 Kd7?! The first inaccuracy, although the game
remains a draw. Black has blocked the way to the a7 pawn
and he is in time to protect it against Kb5-a6 with Kc7-b8, but a
serious drawback is that he gave up the d5 square from where
White can decide later to go towards the queenside or the
kingside... [The easiest draw was 43...g5 44.Kc6 and basically
all moves are leading to a draw now. The point is that when
the white king collects the a-pawn, the black king king must
squeeze it to the corner from where it cannot escape... One
Eliminating the queenside. This kind of endgames are rather possible move is 44...a6 45.Kb6 Kd6 46.Kxa6 Kc6!
risky for White. Black has enough time to collect the h2 pawn
and the rook returns behind the a-pawn. Black starts to push
his own pawns afterwards and if White works hard to promote
his passer with the support of his king Black will sacrifice his
rook at some point and promotes his own pawns because the
white king gets too far from them...]
41.Rf3+!? This was the idea of the young Russian GM. He
hopes that the more active position of his king (being close
to the a7 pawn) will yield him adequate winning chances.
Locking the king to the a-file from where it cannot escape,
41...Rxf3 42.gxf3 This kind of pawn endgames require poor
therefore the draw is inevitable... 47.Ka7 Kc7 48.a6 h5
calculations. Black has numerous ways to continue the
49.h3 h4 50.Ka8 Kc8 51.Ka7 Kc7=; 43...Ke5 is the same as
game, but some of them lead to a draw and some are losing.
43...g5. 44.Kc6 g5 (Black is too slow with 44...Kf4?? 45.Kb7
Surprisingly the Romanian GM fails to save the game...
The a-pawn is too far advanced, White wins the race with
many tempi...) 45.Kb7 Kd6! Changing the direction again!
46.Kxa7 Kc7= with the same draw as in the 43...g5 line.]
44.Kd5! Black most probably forgot about this move and
he collapsed right away. He is already facing a difficult
calculation problem... [44.Kb5 44...Kc7 45.Ka6 Kb8= is safe
for Black. Even if he gets into zugzwang, he can wait with
Ka8...]
44...Kc7?? The losing mistake, Black fails by one tempo...
42...Ke6 Naturally, Black brings his king closer. Let us examine the alternatives. [Waiting with 44...Ke7 was
the best, knowing the fact that losing the a-pawn is not when they promote at the same time... [However the
really a threat... 45.Ke5 (45.Kc6 45...g5 46.Kb7 Kd6 47.Kxa7 point is that after 51.h4 51...a5 52.h5 a4 53.h6 a3 54.h7 a2
Kc7 is a draw as we already know.) 45...Kd7 46.f4 Ke7 55.h8=Qh White promotes first and at the same time he
47.f5 a6 48.Kd5 Kd7= Black holds the draw by keeping the controls the a1 square.] 1-0
opposition!; 44...g5? loses after 45.Ke5 Kc6 46.Kf6 Kb5
(46...h6 transposes to the game.) 47.Kxg5 White promotes
the h-pawn faster.; 44...g6 is another way to hold the draw!
Black wins a very important tempo in the pawn race. In
order to create a passed pawn White must capture both
kingside pawns, while with the pawn on g7 it is enough to
take that pawn and he can already advance the f-pawn... 45.f4
Kc7 46.Ke6 Kc6 47.Kf6 Kb5 48.Kg7 Kxa5 49.Kxh7 Kb5
50.Kxg6 a5 51.f5 a4 52.f6 a3 53.f7 a2 54.f8=Q a1=Q Black will
suffer for at least 50 more moves, but with correct defense the
game is drawn...]
45.Ke6 Kb7 46.Kf7 g5 [46...Ka6 is too slow. 47.Kxg7
Kxa5 48.f4h Black loses the decisive tempo by freeing the
path for the a-pawn...; 46...g6 47.Kg7 Ka6 48.Kxh7 Kxa5
49.Kxg6h transposes to the game...]
47.Kf6 h6 [47...Ka6 48.Kxg5 Kxa5 49.f4h]
48.Kg6 Ka6 49.Kxh6 Kxa5 50.Kxg5 Kb5
51.h4! Perhaps Lupulescu forgot about this move, he thought

in his pre-calculations that White has to push his f-pawn
Chess and the City. However, as a German moving to Italy, this bears several
risks, which a true punctual German like myself may easily
La Dolce Vita underestimate. And when we speak about punctuality we get
to one of the most crucial aspects about living with Italians:
punctuality in Italian ”puntualitá” is a word which does not
seem to exist with many Italian people, or it has a totally
different definition. Puntualita could mean everything up to
1-2 hours delay. It took my quite a while to learn this definition
with my dearest Italian boyfriend! After a while I realized that
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz everything starting in 20 minutes or more shall be multiplied
Best rating: 2493 by three, and anything sooner than that could be delayed by
a multiple of 4 or 5. Once I understood this, I realised that
As I mentioned at the end of my previous newsletter, there was no longer any point in being upset or fighting over
the Women’s World Championship is going to start soon. it. But of course, this being Italy, there are other frustrations
Therefore, careful preparation is naturally needed, chess wise too. ” Bureau crazy” is more appropriate than ”bureaucracy”
as well as emotionally. After some extensive chess and sports as, in Italy, it is a process which requires nerves, patience
preparation I decided to spend my last week of ”freedom” in and the ability to just accept it. Just yesterday I encountered
my new (since 2012) home city of Rome. Rome is a wonderful, ”bureaucrazy” at its finest while trying to change foreign
historic city with many sights, great food and sunny weather. currency in the city centre.
This set up is both tempting and ideal, before facing a In Germany, for instance, you can enter any bank of your
heart-beating, nervous, lottery-like a knock out system. choice and fix this issue in less than 5 min. In Italy you a)
need a lot of time to empty your pockets and get rid of all
the metal, and b) cannot just change money at any bank
you like, but instead only the one you are registered with.
So, being a foreigner, the bank option is therefore already
lost, since you usually don’t like the idea of putting your
money in an account abroad. The relief of seeing an exchange
office was music to my ear... except... of course I should
have been aware of the Italian method of calculation and its
surprising drawbacks. The exchange office usually requires
a commission of approx.5 percent, which sounded, looking
at the window from outside, not that terrible. With great
hope and enthusiasm I finally entered the office. But, before
In my favorite restaurant ”L’Archetto”
handing over my 140 pounds I decided to ask how much Euros Surprise section / study
I may expect in exchange. According to my calculation it
should be about 140 pounds x 1,3 which is about 180 Euros. (16) Gurgenidze
The answer of the guy at the office desk was slightly different,
and he finally came up with 147 Euros. I just couldn’t believe 1. =
my ears, try as I might to figure out his rate or imagine a
dramatic increase on the Euro stock market! Did he really
believe I was that dumb? Holding back my anger, I ran out of
the office. Even today I am still wondering how they could get
away with that sort of robbery! Of course, eventually I must
confess that these frustrations make me laugh in a positive
way, and it is actually nice to get away from a too-strict,
disciplined and boring country like Germany, when compared
to a lively and hot tempered one such as this. Italy is a lovely
place and always worth a visit. For me it is the very best way to
prepare for a chess tournament as you’ve got everything you
may be longing for : warmth, excellent food and very friendly
people.
Solutions (18) Potkin, V(2605)-Vaisman, M(2136)
(17) Iljiushenok, I(2450)-Eljanov, P(2727)
34.Rxf7+! 1-0 [34.Rxf7+ 34...Kxf7 35.Qxh7+ Bg7 36.Bh5+

Kf6 37.Qg6#]
23.Rg7!! fxe5 [23...Kxg7 24.exf6+ Bxf6 25.Qxc7h;
23...Qxe5 24.Qh6 Qe4 25.Nf5h]
(19) Berenboym, I(2112)-Hovhanissyan, R(2592)
24.Qh6 Rxf1+ 25.Kxf1 Bb5+ [25...Qc4+ 26.Kg1 Qd3
27.Rxe7h]
26.Kg1? [26.Ke1!! 26...Bh4+ (26...Bd3 27.Nxe6 Qb6
28.Rxh7+ Bxh7 29.Qg7#) 27.Qxh4! Qxg7 (27...Kxg7
28.Nxe6+h) 28.Qxd8+ Qg8 29.Qxg8+ Kxg8 30.Nxb5
axb5 31.Kf2h]
26...Bd3 27.Nxe6 Qb6+ 28.Kh1 Bf8! 29.Qf6 Qxe6!V
22...Ne2+!! 23.Rxe2 Rh1+!! 0-1 [23...Rh1+ 24.Nxh1 Qh2+

25.Kf1 Qxh1#]
(20) Navara, D(2735)-Parligras, M(2583) (22) Moiseenko, A(2695)-Huzman, A(2582)
19.Rf5+! exf5 20.Rxe7 Kxe7 21.Qf6+ Ke8 22.Qxh8+ Bf8 32.Rxg5+! 1-0 [32.Rxg5+ 32...hxg5 33.h6+!h]
23.g6h
(21) Cheparinov, I(2681)-Forster, R(2446) (23) Nisipeanu, D(2654)-Birnboim, N(2347)

26.Rxc7! b5 [26...Qxc7 27.Qxd4+ Kg8 28.Bxd6h] 18.Bxb4! Bxd1 19.Kxd1!h [19.Bxa5? 19...Bxf3]
27.Rxg7 bxa4 28.Rd7h
(24) Khairullin, I(2629)-Kjartansson, G(2484) (26) Martynov, P(2410)-Kovalenko, I(2656)
European Championship, 2015.02.27 Cappelle la Grande Open, 2015.02.28
19.Ba5! 1-0 [19.Ba5 19...Qxa5 20.Qxe6+ Rf7 (20...Kh7 20...Rxg2+! 21.Kxg2 Nf4+! 0-1 [21...Nf4+ 22.exf4 Qxc6i]
21.Qxe7h) 21.Bh5!h]
(25) Bartel, M(2631)-Ducarmon, Q(2482) (27) Rumiantsev

1.Kg6+ Kg8 2.f7+ Kf8 3.Rh8+!! Qxh8 4.f6 h3 5.f5 Qh4=
23.Nxf7! Qh5 [23...Rxf7 24.Qxa8+h; 23...Ne7 24.Nh6+

Kh8 25.Qxa8! Rxa8 26.Nxg4h]
24.Nd8+ 1-0 [24.Nd8+ 24...Kh8 25.Qxa8h]
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
The surprise winner of the Reykjavik is Erwin l’Ami, who
started with an amazing 8.5/9 and won the tournament with
Editorial Preface 2 a round to spare. This result is clearly the biggest success in
his career so far. The 2nd-3rd places were shared by Eljanov
and Libiszewski, both with the very good score of 8/10. The
results of Mamedyarov, who finished on ”only” 7.5/10, and
Navara, who finished on 7/10, were both very big surprises.
David vs. Goliath 11 Both players could clearly not be happy about it.
The Women World Cup has begun with all the top females
Puzzle section 12
participating, with the notable exception of Hou Yifan.
Most of the favorites have made it to the 2nd round, but
Endgame section 15 there were a few surprises as well. A lot of the matches
were decided in the tie-breaks where most of the higher rated
Chess and the City. Sochi 19 players showed better nerves.
Clearly the next matches are going to be even more exciting
Clash of the Titans 21 and not even a single match seems to have a huge favorite.
In the German Bundesliga the club of OSG Baden-Baden is
Surprise section / study 24 very close to win the 10th consecutive title, as they already
have a 2-point advantage over Bremen with just 2 rounds to
Solutions 24 go.
As usual we hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter!
The three lucky winners who will get a chance to play a 2
game blitz match against GM Arkadij Naiditsch are Top GM
Secrets subscribers Giovanni Di Girolamo, Sándor Balogh
and Walther Leitzke. Congratulations!
Two best games of the past week 7.Nbd2 White is preparing 3 different ideas: 1) to play
Re1-Nf1-Ng3 2) to play d4 at some point 3) to play b4 followed
by Nc4 and exchange the black bishop.
(1) Svidler, Peter (2729) 7...Ne7 Ragger also shows that he is well-prepared and goes
- Ragger, Markus (2661) [C65] for what is currently the most solid line. Black’s idea is simple,
to play Ng6 and then d5 somewhere. The idea of playing c6
BL 1415 SG Solingen - OSG Baden followed by Bb6-Bc7 and d5 is quite typical.
Baden(13.1), 2015.03.15 GM Arkadij Naiditsch
Best rating: 2737 8.d4 exd4 9.cxd4 Bb6 Now White should try to be as solid as
possible and Black starts to play against the center.
10.Re1 Another very logical move. Black often goes for the d5
After a disappointing result at the Grand Prix, Peter Svidler push and it is helpful to have the rook on e1.
is back with a great win against the Austrian Nr1. In a very
popular line of the Berlin, Svidler shows great preparation 10...Bg4 11.h3 Bh5 Bxd4 can sometimes be a threat and
and a very interesting piece sacrifice. The position actually White can also not play 12.Nf1-Ng3 because of 12...Bxf3 13.
looks very complicated, but under big pressure Black makes Qxf3 and Bxd4.
a mistake with 22...Nd5? which basically decides the game. 12.Qb3 White is leaving the pin, but of course the question is
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 This is one of the main what White wants to do next?! Could he want to push e5 or
moves besides 4.0-0, but Black actually has a very decent maybe just play Nc4 with idea of playing Nxb6?
score against it. I can only recall Magnus Carlsen still showing 12...d5 Black picks the most direct reply. I think another
excellent results with White. option could be to play 12...Bg6 or 12...Nc6 first.
4...Bc5 5.c3 avoiding the Nd4 line. [5.O-O 5...Nd4 is the other 13.e5 Nd7 It all looks a bit passive for Black, but in fact the
main line which is counted as very close to equal.] position is very unclear. Black wants to play c5 next an then
5...O-O 6.O-O d6 maybe Nc6 and get great play against the white center.
14.a4!? Svidler played this move very quickly, so I think it
must still be his preparation and indeed a move liks a4 seems
to be at least very interesting! The threat is simply to play a5
next.
14...a6 This is clearly the main reply. [14...c5? 15.a5 and
White has a big advantage since Black can’t take the a5 pawn
because of Bxd7.]
15.Bd3 This is clearly the best place for the bishop, but what
is White planning to do after c5?!
15...c5
19.Bg5! A great move which is a must! If White didn’t have it,

I guess Black would just be better. Now the threat is simple,
to win the piece with Nxb6 and Bxe7. Black also needs to pay
attention to the fact that White can push e6 at any momen!
19...Ba7 Probably the best move, as other ways of defending
seem to be worse.
16.g4!? This very interesting piece sacrifice was clearly 20.Qa3 White forces Black to open his whole position.
Svidler’s idea, which started with 14.a4!?. Now things are [20.Nd6!? also looks very interesting. 20...Rb8 Black has
getting very complicated. other choices, but we just take a look at one line. 21.e6 seems
to be most direct, but White also has many other silent moves,
16...c4 I would have done the same. A piece is a piece...
as for example 21.a5!?. 21...Nf6 22.exf7+ Bxf7 Now the line
[In case of 16...Bg6 17.Bxg6 hxg6 White has the very strong
is pretty forced. 23.Nxf7 Rxf7 24.Ne5 Qd5 25.Qxd5 Nexd5
18.Ng5! with the double idea of playing Qg3-Qh4 and e6.
26.Nxf7 Kxf7 and probably we could evaluate this endgame
Black’s position looks very dangerous.]
as close to equal.]
17.Bxc4 White still follows his plan. [I think that after 17.Qa3
20...f6 The only move to defend the knight on e7. [20...Re8
17...cxd3 18.gxh5 Blacks seems to get active play with 18...Nc6
21.Nd6 and White is just winning.]
19.Qxd3 Rc8 with the idea of Nb4-Nc2. I think the position is
very unclear.] 21.exf6 gxf6 22.Bh6 with a double attack against the f8 rook
and the knight on e7.
17...dxc4 18.Nxc4 Black is a piece up for just 2 pawns, but his
pieces are quite discoordinated.
18...Bg6 Of course Black needs to save his piece.
rook on f8 White would have a small material advantage.
26...Rad8 27.Nxb7 White already has 3 pawns and both
black rooks are hanging. The game is coming to an end...
27...Nd5 A strong knight on d5 is not enough to hold things
together.
28.Rg7+ Kh8 In an already winning position, Svidler
continues playing great moves.
22...Nd5?! This logical move probably costs Black the game.

[Black should have tried the more strange-looking 22...Nc6
but if we think from a general point of view, this move is
not that hard to find, since Black has 2 pieces for a rook,
which means that the 2 pieces should attack something of
White and with this move we attack the d4 pawn. 23.Bxf8
Nxf8 24.Nd6 and I still believe that Black’s position is at
least very dangerous, but things are objectively unclear after
forexample 24...Qd7 with Rd8 next.]
29.Rc1! Because Black is still paralyzed, White brings the last
23.Nd6! White doesn’t take back the exchange on f8, but
piece into the game.
threatens a much more unpleasent move, as after Nxb7 or
Qb3 the rook from f8 can still not move anywhere. 29...Rg8 30.Nxd8 and finally it is time to collect some
material.
23...Qb6?! Black aims to enter an endgame, but it is just
lost! [23...Rb8 doesn’t help, because for example 24.Nh4!? 30...Rxg7 31.Bxg7+ Kxg7 32.Nc6 The bishop on a7 can’t be
seems to give White a clear advantage.; But maybe Black defended so Black has nothing left but to resign. A great game
should have tried a crazy move like 23...a5!? with the idea by Svidler! Amazing preparation followed by very nice play
of playing N7b6 next and try to keep the knight’s position on and an accurate finish. This is what a perfect win looks like! :)
d5 safe. White is better here, but the position would remain 1-0
complicated.]
24.a5 This move is too easy to miss.
24...Qb4 25.Qxb4 Nxb4 and here comes the strong
26.Re7! Black’s problem is still the very bad coordination of
his pieces and we should not forget that even after taking the
5...Qa5 6.Nf3 The novelty of the game. It is quite rare to
(2) Motylev, Alexander (2680) see one in the 6th move nowadays. [I mainly focused on the
- Balogh, Csaba (2658) [A20] following line: 6.dxe5 6...Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 Qxc3+ 8.Bd2 Qxe5
where White has sacrificed a pawn, but he might get very
Schachbundesliga, GM Csaba Balogh dangerous compensation on the dark squares.]
2015.03.15 Best rating: 2672
6...e4 7.Nd2 d5 I was happy that my opponent started to
think after this most logical move... [White had only prepared
I managed to win a nice game in the German Bundesliga. for the greedy 7...Bxc3 8.bxc3 Qxc3 but he gets more than
1.c4 A surprise t in the first move. My opponent is a huge enough compensation after 9.Rb1 The point is that 9...Qxd4?
theoretician and plays only 1. e4, probably this was the first is wrong because of (9...d5 ) 10.Bb2 Qd6 11.Bxf6 Qxf6
time in his life when he tried the English opening. The reason 12.Nxe4c]
should be that in the last two games I lost with Black my 8.Qc2 White was already afraid of taking twice on c3.
opponents were playing 1.c4.
8...O-O 9.O-O Bg4 It was difficult to judge where the light
1...e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 4.d4 [4.Nf3 is the other main line.] squared bishop should develop. Be6 and Bf5 also had their
4...Bb4+ points, but I thought it could be annoying to put pressure on
the e2 pawn. I thought that White was going to undermine the
e4 pawn anyway with f3, but even then the bishop stands well
on g4.
10.f3 [10.Nb3 would have been met by 10...Qa6! forcing the
decision in the center and keeping and eye on the e2 pawn.]
10...exf3 11.Nxf3 An ambitious, but risky recapture.
Ambitious because White would like to grab the initiative by
playing quickly Ne5 and risky because if Black manages to
parry the direct threats, White might end up with a backward
5.Nc3!? A tricky sideline. This move has always worried me a e2 weakness. [Objectively it was better to play 11.exf3 11...Bh5
lot despite having been played only in a few games, therefore 12.Nb3 Qa6 13.cxd5 cxd5 14.Bf4 Nbd7= with a balanced
I dedicated serious attention to it in my earlier preparations. game.]
[Usually the games continue with 5.Bd2 5...Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2
and here Black can choose between 6...d6 (or 6...e4 ) ]
to take back with a piece.
15.g4 Bg6 16.Nxg6 hxg6 17.Bd2 Threatening to play g5,
winning the d5 pawn. [The direct point was 17.g5 runs into the
intermediate move 17...Bxc3! after which Black manages to
put his knight to e4! 18.bxc3 (18.Qxc3 18...Qxc3 19.bxc3 Ne4e;
18.gxf6? 18...Bxd4+) 18...Ne4e]
17...Qb6 Leaving from the pin and provoking another
weakening.
11...Nbd7! Preventing Ne5 with a useful developing move. 18.e3 [There was a small tactical trick that White could not
[11...dxc4 Giving up the initiative for a pawn was not defend the d4 pawn with 18.Qd3 because of 18...Ne5!]
recommended in view of 12.Ne5 (12.e4 followed by e5 is also 18...Rac8 Bringing all the pieces into the game. [18...Bxc3
possible.) 12...Be6 13.Ne4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 White wins back the was also good. 19.Qxc3 (19.bxc3 19...Ne4) 19...Ne4 20.Bxe4
pawn and keeps some edge.] Rxe4 also with an undisputable advantage because of the
12.cxd5 cxd5 13.h3 [13.Ne5 suggested itself to me, but it did exposed king and the good knight versus the bad bishop.]
not work directly because of 13...Nxe5 14.dxe5 Qc5+! Black 19.Qb3 Bxc3 20.Bxc3 [20.bxc3 was even worse. The holes
pins the c3 knight with tempo. 15.Kh1 Ne4 and Black is fine. on e4 and c4 are going to be occupied by the knights very
Giving up the g2 bishop, leaving the white king so exposed, soon... 20...Qd6! freeing the b6 square for the knight.
should not come into consideration.] 21.Qxb7? loses the queen after 21...Rb8 22.Qxa7 Ra8 23.Qb7
13...Bh5 I wanted to keep the pawn structure and Reb8]
consolidate the e4 square with Bg6. [13...Bxf3!? was
also very promising. It is illogical to give up the two bishops
and strengthen the pawn formation, but the move has a
direct point... 14.exf3 Rac8 15.Bd2 Qb6 16.Be3 (16.Qd3
16...Ne5!) 16...Ne5! and Nc4 is coming next, a move that is
not easy to deal with.]
14.Nh4 This is a standard idea in many openings. White
would like to grab the bishop pair, but playing g4 is another
weakening in front of the king, just as 13.h3 was in the
previous move. 20...Qc6! A very impo rtant move to keep the queens on the
14...Rfe8! Fortunately there was time for this improving board, which makes the white king more vulnerable and at
move. The final goal is to install a knight to e4 and being able the same time Black has protected his d5 pawn and prepares
to bring his other knight to b6-c4. [20...Rxe3 would have advantage...
spoiled the advantage because of 21.g5! Qxb3 (21...Ne4
22.Qxd5) 22.axb3 Ne4 23.Rxa7! White restores the material
balance and he equalizes.]
21.Ba5!? A clever po sitional move. White prevents the
Nb6-c4 plan and tries to provoke the b6 move, which would
deprive Black from his plan of improving the knight. [21.Rac1
21...Nb6e]
21...Qa6! Simple and strong! Black needs the b6 square for
his knight, therefore he sends away the bishop...
22.Bb4 Nb6 The d5 pawn is safely protected and the knights 27...Qe4! with the idea of playing Qf3! [27...Ne4 also looked
are ready to occupy their ideal outposts. good with the intention of playing either Ng5 or Qf6, but
White has the only move 28.Rc1! followed by Rf1 and he is
23.Rac1 Rxc1 24.Rxc1 Nc4 A very nice position. I am big fan
alive.; 27...Nd5 also looked very strong, but White survives
of the two bishops, but in this partiular case, they are clearly
after the following tactical blow: 28.Rc5! Nxb4 29.Re5! An
dominated by the knights on e4 and c4!
intermediate move to avoid the loss of the e3 pawn! 29...Qc6
25.Bf1 White aims to get rid of one of the knights, but he 30.Qxb4=; 27...Qd5 28.Rc7 forces the trade of the queens
leaves his king alone without his main defender. because of the f7 pawn.]
28.Rc7 Re6 [28...Nd5 was actually also winning, but it
required much more calculation than the text move. 29.Rd7
25...Qe6! A positional pawn sacrifice! Black centralizes his

queen and forces the trade of the f1 bishop after which the g1
king becomes heavily vulnerable. 29...Qf3! is the point and the attack leads to mate with
26.Bxc4 dxc4 27.Rxc4 A critical position. Black has various the queen and the rook. 30.Qxd5 (30.Rxd5 30...Qg3+ 31.Kf1
promising options, but only one of them leads to a clear Rxe3i) 30...Qxe3+ 31.Kg2 Qe2+ 32.Kg1 (32.Kg3 32...Re3+
33.Kh4 Qf2+ 34.Kg5 Qf6#) 32...Qd1+ 33.Kh2 Re2+ White is
forced to sacrifice his queen with Qg2, but of course it is also
hopeless... 34.Kg3 Qg1+ 35.Kh4 Qf2+ 36.Kg5 Qf6#]
29.Be1 White desperately tries to bring a defender, but it is
too late...
29...Nd5 30.Rc8+ Kh7 31.Bf2 Allowing Nxe3 would have
been the end of the game.
31...Qf3! Refreshing the Nxe3 threat.
32.Qc2 [32.Qxb7 32...Rf6!i; The best practical chance
was 32.e4 32...Qxe4 33.Qxb7 but is also loses after (33.Qg3
33...g5i) 33...Qb1+! 34.Kg2 (34.Kh2 34...Re2i) 34...Nf4+
35.Kg3 g5! 36.Qa8 Qd3+ 37.Qf3 Qf1i White gets mated.]
32...Nxe3 33.Bxe3 Rxe3 34.Qf2 Qd1+ White resigned as he
loses his queen after Re1 or Re2 in the next move. 0-1
David vs. Goliath A special respect goes to Henrik Carlsen (1986), Magnus
Carlsen’s father, who defeated FM Dagur Ragnarsson (2347) at
Reykjavik Open. Bottom line: don’t mess with the Carlsens!
Top-10:
Moller (1806) - Foisor (2279), 1-0, 473 points
Kruglyak (1775) - Mai (1320), 0-1, 455 points
Peter Zhdanov Ragnarsson (1497) - Klausen (1937), 1-0, 440 points
Chief Editor of Pogonina.com Sigurdsson (1767) - Kristjansson (1335), 0-1, 432 points
Starosciak (1304) - Steingrimsson (1720), 1-0, 416 points
In this entertaining column we are reviewing the most Valdimarsson (1889) - Wahlbom (2278), 1-0, 389 points
unexpected results that occurred last week. Players usually Le (2025) - Pham Chuong (2397), 1-0, 372 points
face opponents of a similar level. Considerably less frequent Valtysson (1974) - Loos (2337), 1-0, 363 points
are situations when a significantly lower-rated player Carlsen (1986) - Ragnarsson (2347), 1-0, 361 points
succeeds in beating a much stronger adversary. Bisby (2321) - Movsesian (2665), 1-0, 344 points
The previous week has brought 32 upsets, providing us plenty
of chess content to enjoy. Average gap: 405; White won 8 games, Black won 2 games.
The number of moves ranges from 22 in Ingason (1880) -
Babijczuk (1549), 0-1 to 84 in Baldvinsson (1945) - Niemann You can view all the games in the accompanying pgn file.
(2275), 1-0. The highest-profile loss was FM Bisby (2321) - GM
Solution of Bisby-Movsesian: The encounter lasted only two
Movsesian (2665), 1-0.
more moves after 30.Nd5! Ra5 31.Bf6 (31.Ne7+ is mate in 5,
How did White defeat the ex-top 10 super GM? but the game continuation is good enough as well) 1-0

White to move
Puzzle section
(3) Bisby, D(2321)-Movsesian, S(2665) (5) Hansen, E(2566)-Tjomsland, S(2300)
Reykjavik Open, 2015.03.11 Reykjavik Open, 2015.03.11
1. h 1. h
(4) Ptacnikova, L(2242)-Steingrimsson, H(2530) (6) Kristinsson, J(2251)-Gao Rui(2533)

1... i 1... i
(7) Navara, D(2736)-Kristjansson, S(2482) (9) Sarkar, J(2376)-Rasmussen, A(2532)
1. h 1. h
(8) Grandelius, N(2603)-Pulvett, D(2434) (10) Christiansen, J(2351)-Rombaldoni, A(2488)

1. h 1. h
(11) Igonin, T(2332)-Aleksandrov, A(2603)
Agzamov memorial, 2015.03.13
1... i
(12) Vocaturo, D(2590)-Bischoff, K(2504)

1. h
Endgame section
(13) Quesada Perez, Yuniesky (2637)

- Rajdeep, Sarkar (2268)
Kolkata Open, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.03.16 Best rating: 2672
50.g3 (50.e5 50...Kd5! and the g6 pawn gets a key role by

preventing White from playing Kf5!) ]
49...hxg3 [But not 49...g5? because after 50.gxh4 gxh4 51.Kf4
Ke6 52.e5 Kd5 White already has 53.Kf5!h]
50.Kxg3 g5 A very strange move! Black gives a full tempo and
White promotes his pawn first in the race, however it is not
enough for the win... [50...Ke5 was actually a much simpler
draw, but in this case the game would not make it into our
newsletter! :) 51.Kf3 g5 52.Ke3 (52.Kg4 is too slow. 52...Kxe4
The material is balanced, but the doubled c-pawns can hardly 53.Kxg5 Kd3 54.h4 Kxc3 55.h5 Kb3 56.h6 c3 57.h7 c2 58.h8=Q
be regarded as two healthy pawns, therefore White should c1=Q+) 52...Kf6= and Ke5 back next holds the draw.]
have realistic chances to play for an advantage. However 51.Kg4 Ke5 52.Kxg5 Kxe4 53.h4 Kd3 54.h5 Kxc3 55.h6
the Indian player finds a brilliant idea to save the game...
Surprisingly, those c-pawn are going to save the day.
47...Nd6! At first sight, it seems like Black simplifies to a lost
pawn endgame...
48.Nxd6 Kxd6 49.g3 [White is too slow with 49.Kg4
49...Ke5; 49.Kf4 49...Ke6
55...Kd2! The only move! [55...Kb3 loses to 56.h7 c3
57.h8=Q c2 58.Qa1h and the pawns are stopped.; 55...Kb2
56.h7 c3 57.h8=Qh pins the pawn.]
56.h7 c3 57.h8=Q c2 Surprisingly, this position is a draw!
Without the c5 pawn we would have the famous theoretical
draw due to the stalemate idea. This will be shown in the
62.Qxc5 line. One could think that the c5 pawn is actually an
ill pawn, which prevents Black from playing for the stalemate
motif. However it controls the very important d4 and b4
squares and without those White is unable to squeeze the king
to c1 to win time in order to bring the king closer... 62...Kb2 63.Qb4+ Ka2 64.Qc3 Kb1 65.Qb3+ Ka1!= Not Kc1,
after which the king comes closer. The pawn cannot be taken
because of the stalemate and the game is drawn...]
62...Kb2 63.Qe5+ Kb1 64.Qe4 Kb2 White is simply unable
to get that position after 65.Qb3 in the 62. Qxc5 line, where
Ka1 Qxc2 is not a stalemate because of the c5 pawn. Without
the check on b4, White cannot make progress.
65.Qe2 Kb1 66.Qb5+ Ka2 67.Qa4+ Kb2 White should
play Qb4 Ka2 Qc3 Kb1 Qb3, but it simply does not work.
Therefore this entire endgame with the c2-c5 pawns is adraw!
58.Qb2 Kd1 59.Qb3 Kd2 60.Qa2 Kd1 61.Qd5+ Kc1 68.Qb5+ Ka2 69.Qc4+ Kb2 70.Qe2 Kb1 71.Qd3 Kb2
Finally Black is not threatening to promote his pawn, which 72.Qd2 Kb1 73.Qd3 Kb2 74.Qb5+ Ka2 And a draw was
gives White a free tempo to improve his king. [61...Ke2 was agreed! It can be very useful to remember such things. 1/2-1/2
equally good, as it will lead to the same lines.]
62.Kf4 [62.Qxc5 This is the famous draw. The queen wins
against the b2-d2-e2-g2 pawns, however the weaker side
holds with the a2-c2-f2-h2 pawns because of some stalemate
ideas...
g7. 51...Kxg7 52.Nf5+ and Black is losing material or getting
(14) Gupta, Abhijeet(2625) mated on the next move. 52...Kf7 53.Nh6+ with an easy win
- Abdumalik, Zhansaya(2379) for White.]
51...Nd1 Black switches back to the right plan.
Reykjavik Open 2015(9.8),
2015.03.17 GM Arkadij Naiditsch 52.Kxc4 Kg6 53.Kc5 White is trying to be fast with the
Best rating: 2737 a-pawn, a4 is a deadly threat now.
53...Nc3! A strong move, attacking the a2 pawn and at the

same time preventing White from playing a4.
The young and talented Abdumalik was defending her bad 54.a3 and Black finally has time to take the g7 pawn.
position already for quite a while and it is still unclear if it is
a draw or a win for White. The g7 pawn can’t be taken and 54...Rxg7 55.Rxg7+ The position is still unclear! As we all
the white a-pawn could also become very dangerous. On the known, it is sometimes very difficult for the knight to stop the
other hand, the material is equal, and "all" Black needs to do a- and h-pawns from promoting.
is to give up her knight for the 2 pawns to get a draw. 55...Kxg7 56.Kb4 White forces the black knight to move,
50...Nb2? It is very ical to defend the c4 pawn and at the which could make the a4 move possible.
same time to prevent White from playing a4, but this is a 56...Nd5+?! This move still holds the draw, but Black
losing move. [A better try was 50...Nf2+ 51.Kd5 Nd1! This had a much more precise way of achieving it with accurate
move makes a4 impossible because of the fork on c3. 52.Kxc4 calculation. [56...Na2+! A risky move to play, but everything
and now Black has time for 52...Kg6! and again the move a4 is working. 57.Kb3 Nc1+ 58.Kc4 The black knight is out of
is not possible because of Nb2. 53.Kb4 Nb2 with quite some the game, but the black king is just in time to save it. 58...Kf6
drawing chances.] 59.a4 Ke6 60.Ne4 Kd7 61.a5 Kc7 and the position is a draw.]
51.Kd5? White misses a forced win. [The right choice was 57.Kc4 Nb6+ 58.Kb5 Nd5 It seems like White can’t improve
51.Rc6! The threat is to play Nf5 and Black can’t take with on the position but Gupta finds a way.
59.Ne4! taking the c3 square under control, so the a-pawn is
running.
59...Kg6?! This is the wrong direction. [Much better was
59...Kf7 60.Kc6 but now of course Black had to see the saving
idea 60...Nf6! which is not an easy move to find! Of course
the pawn endgame is just a draw. 61.Nc3 Ke7 62.a4 Kd8 The
black king tries to reach the a8 square. 63.Kb7 and now again
Black needs to find
66.Kc5 all white moves are pretty natural and not that
difficult to find, but Black could still hope for a mistake.
66...Nc7 67.a5 Na6+ 68.Kb6 Nb4 69.Nc3 followed by Kb5
and White is winning.]
61.a4 Kf5 62.a5 Black can’t stop the a-pawn so Zhansaya
tries to play against the queen.
62...Nc2 63.Kc5 Kxe4 64.a6 Kd3 65.a7 e4 66.a8=Q If the
black pawn was on e3 the position would be a draw, but the
pawn is only on e4... 66...e3 67.Qf3 Kd2
63...Ne8! 64.a5 Nc7 Just in time! Now the position is a draw.]
60.Kc6! and Black is lost!
60...Ne3 This move is loses on the spot. [60...Nf6 was not
working any longer because of 61.Nc3 and there is no way
to stop White from playing a4-a5-a6-a7-a8Q.; 60...Ne7+ was
probably the best try, even if it is still losing. 61.Kd6 Nc8+
62.Kc7! White still needs to do a bit of work. 62...Ne7 63.a4
Nd5+ 64.Kc6 Nb4+ 65.Kb5 Nd5
68.Qd5+ and in case of 68...Kc3 the finishing move is 69.Qd1

and the black pawn is stopped. A sad end for the only 13-year
old girl who was fighting so well and already had a draw on
the board but could not calculate precisely enough. Knights
endgames are always very tricky, especially when one side
has a passed a- or h-pawn. 1-0
Chess and the City. actually located in a mountainous area, and a lot of people
come here for skiing. I must admit that the venue is the
Sochi best I have ever seen, for a world championship - nice hotel,
excellent food and a very nice and comfortable playing hall.

Best rating: 2493
Finally the Women’s World Championship, in Sochi, has

started! I actually didn’t expect to participate, as I failed to
qualify in either of the last two European Championships.
But, as we all know, ’hope springs eternal in the human
breast’!
Thanks to the refusal of the current Women’s World Champion My first opponent is, as I mentioned before, the Georgian
Hou Yifan, to participate, I stepped in as a reserve player due Woman Grandmaster Meri Arabidze. After we tied 1-1 (two
to my rating. I suppose she declined as she is anyway eligible draws) in the classical section, we will face a tiebreak
to play the World Championship Match at the end of the tomorrow. For anyone curious, you can have a look at the
year. Her opponent will be the winner of this championship pairing tree, below.
in Sochi.
It is the fifth time I have flown here, and as far I remember
it was almost always connected with problems. Sochi is a
region in the caucasian area of Russia, and a very foggy area
too. Almost all my flights in the past were therefore cancelled,
delayed or even re-directed to Krasnodar, a neighbouring city
of Sochi. This time, however, everything went quite smoothly,
and we (my coach and I) managed to arrive without any
troubles. Sochi is also well-known as a Russian resort. It is
quite popular among rich people, and is ideal for swimming
in the black sea, or even skiing in the mountains. Our hotel is
As the knock-out system is quite thrilling, it is no suprise that
there have been some upsets already. Gaponenko beat her
stronger rated compatriot, Natalia Zhukova, and Arakhamia
Grant beat the former European champion of 2012, Hoang
Thrang. In my next newsletter Ill add some pictures from the
Championship. Let’s hope I’ll still be found somewhere on the
pairing tree below:)
Clash of the Titans
(15) Smyslov, Vassily

- Petrosian, Tigran V[E15]
URS, 1967
GM Kamil Miton
Best rating: 2655
9...O-O [9...a5 Because the white knight is not on c3 Black
can simply prevent b4. 10.b3 (10.e4?! 10...O-O 11.e5 Ng4
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Nd2!? More popular is [4.Bd2 12.Qe2 Qb8 and the e5 pawn is weak now.) 10...O-O (10...Nd4
which leads to many different structures. 4...Qe7 (4...Be7 Exchanges are useful for Black but in this case it doesn’t work.
5.Bg2 d5 transposes to the Catalan.; 4...c5 5.Bxb4 cxb4 with 11.Nxd4 Bxd4 (11...Bxg2 12.Nxe6!) 12.Bxb7 Rb8 13.Bg2 Bxa1
a solid position for Black as well.; 4...a5 5.Bg2 O-O 6.Nf3 d5 14.Nf3 and Black has problems with the bishop.) 11.Bb2
transposes to the Catalan.) ] d5! is once again Black’s main idea. 12.e3!? preventing
d4. (12.Qc2 12...d4! with the idea to play against the b2
4...c5 A typical fight for the center. [4...d5 5.Bg2 is more tricky
bishop. 13.Ne5 (13.Ne4 13...Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Qe7k) 13...Nxe5
than 5.Nc3. Now 5...dxc4 is not possible because of 6.Qa4!
(13...Qc7? 14.Nxc6 Bxc6 15.Bxc6 Qxc6 16.Nf3c) 14.Bxb7
5...O-O! 6.Qc2!?]
Ra7 15.Bg2 d3V) 12...dxc4 13.Nxc4 Qxd1 14.Raxd1 Rad8
5.dxc5 Bxc5 6.Bg2 Nc6 7.Ngf3 b6 [7...O-O! 8.O-O! d5! 15.Nfe5! Nxe5 16.Nxe5 Bxg2 17.Kxg2+= This endgame can
fighting for the center. 9.cxd5 (9.a3 9...a5) 9...Nxd5 White be unpleasant for Black because of the weak c6 square and
should try to get an advantage thanks to the powerful Catalan the more active white pieces.]
bishop on g2 but on the other hand the black pieces are
10.b4 White grabs some more space and wants to develop the
very active in the center. (9...exd5 10.Nb3 White has a typical
bishop.
slightly better position.) 10.Qc2 Be7 11.a3 Bd7 with Rc8 next
and Black has counterplay.] 10...Be7 11.Bb2 Rc8 [11...d5 12.cxd5 (12.b5?! is premature
as White just weakens the c-file. 12...Na5 13.Ne5 Bd6V with
8.O-O Bb7 9.a3
Qe7-Rac8-Rd8 next.) 12...Nxd5 13.e4 Nf6 14.Qe2 White is
better thanks to his space advantage.; 11...a5?! Black is going
to get the useful c5 square but unfortunately for him this idea
is too slow. 12.b5 Nb8 13.Qc2! threatening Ng5. 13...h6
(13...d6 14.Ng5 Bxg2 15.Bxf6!)
f5.]
16.Qd3 Rcd8 17.Rac1 d6
14.e4! White must be on time, otherwise Black will play

d6-Nbd7-Rc8 with good play. 14...d6 15.e5 dxe5 16.Nxe5 Bxg2
17.Kxg2c and the c6 square is very weak.]
18.Qb3! Smyslov immediately creates pressure against the
12.Qb1! The beginning of a great plan which is based on deep
black structure.
strategical understanding.
18...Kh7 [18...Bf6 19.c5 (19.Bxf6 19...Rxf6 20.c5 bxc5 21.bxc5
12...h6 preventing the unplessant Ng5.
d5 22.e3+=) 19...Bxb2 20.cxd6 Rxd6 21.Qxb2 Rxd1+ 22.Rxd1
13.Rd1 [13.e4?! 13...d6 with complex play. ] Rd8
13...Qc7
23.Rc1! and White keeps some advantage because of the

14.Ne4! Smyslov is going to exchange an important weak e5 square.]
defender. 19.c5! The white pieces are perfectly placed for concrete
14...Nxe4 15.Qxe4 f5?! This move seriously weakens the action.
black position. [15...Rfd8 looks more solid. 16.Qg4 Bf8 19...dxc5 [19...d5!? 20.Qe3 (20.b5 20...Na5V; 20.cxb6
17.Rac1 White is better anyway, but at least Black didn’t play 20...Qxb6 21.e3!? and White is probably better here. A simple
plan can be to play for a blockade on the e5, d4 and c5 23.axb4 Rd8 [23...Qe6 24.b5 Na5 25.Nd4c; 23...Bxb4
squares.) 20...bxc5 21.Qxe6 c4 Then position is complex 24.Ne5 (24.e4 24...f4! (24...fxe4?? 25.Ng5+! hxg5 26.Qh5+
because White can’t play 22.Rxd5?? Bc8i] Kg8 27.Bxe4h) ; 24.Nh4!? 24...Bc5 25.Rxc5 bxc5 26.Qd6
20.Qxe6 Qc8 Qe8 It looks like Black should consolidate his position
soon.) 24...Bc5 25.Nd3 Nd8 (25...Rd8 26.Qc2C) 26.Nxc5 bxc5
27.Qd6! Nf7 28.Qxc5 Qxc5 29.Rxc5 Bxg2 30.Kxg2 with a
very unpleasant endgame for Black.]
24.Qb3
21.Qb3! Of course the white queen is needed for the attack.

[21.Qxc8 21...Bxc8 22.Rxd8 Rxd8 23.Ne1 with the idea to
put pressure over the c-file, but then Black plays 23...Nd4!
24.Bxd4 Rxd4 25.bxc5 (25.Nd3 25...Ba6!) 25...Bxc5 26.Nd3
Ba6 27.Nxc5 bxc5 28.e3 Rd3 Black is on time with his 24...Bxb4? The decisive mistake. Black could still fight after
counterplay. 29.Rxc5 Rxa3 30.Rxf5?? Ra1+i] [24...Qd7 25.b5 Na5 26.Qf7 Bc5 27.Qh5AWhite is clearly
21...Rxd1+ 22.Qxd1 better.]
25.Nh4! The black p ieces are too far away from the kingside!
White is simply wining because of the weak black king.
25...Bf8 26.Bh3 1-0
22...cxb4?! I don’t like this move. Why open the c-file and
give White active play? Black could have played the solid
[22...Qe6 just to prevent Qb3.]
(16) Kralin (17) Shimanov, A(2594)-Khismatullin, D(2653)
1. = European Championship, 2015.03.03
32...Nxe4? [32...Nxf3!! 33.Qxd8 (33.gxf3 33...Qxh4i;

33.Qxh5 33...Nxe1i) 33...Ng3#]
33.Qxd8 Neg3+ 34.Kh2 Rxd8 35.Bd2k
(18) Kryvoruchko, Y(2692)-Dvirnyy, D(2533)
21.Nxf6+! Bxf6 [21...gxf6 22.Bxe7h]

22.Bxf8 Bxd4 23.Bb4 Rxf2 24.Qxf2 Bxf2+ 25.Kxf2h
(19) Mikhalevski, V(2559)-Grachev, B(2670) (21) Mchedlishvili, M(2586)-Kuzubov, Y(2667)
30...Bxg4! 31.hxg4 Qh2+ 32.Kf2 Qxh1i 37.Kd6!! Qxf6! [37...e1=Q? 38.Rg6+ Kf7 39.Qg7+ Ke8
40.Qe7#]
(20) Damaso, R(2451)-Bok, B(2587) 38.Qxf6 e1=Q 39.Qg6+=
European Championship, 2015.03.03 (22) Vovk, Y(2588)-Dreev, A(2643)

22.Nxg6! fxg6 23.Rxe6! Bxe6 24.Rxe6! h Rxf4+

[24...Qxe6 25.Bxe6+h] 32.Nf6! 1-0 [32.Nf6 32...gxf6 (32...Rxd2 33.Qh7#)
25.gxf4 Qh4+ 26.Qg3h 33.Rxd8h]
(23) Bartel, M(2631)-Nepomniachtchi, I(2714) (25) Melkumyan, H(2673)-Abasov, N(2523)
38.Rh3!! Rd2+ [38...Qxb8 39.Rh8#] 52.Rd8+! 1-0 [52.Rd8+ 52...Kh7 53.Nf6+! gxf6 54.Rc7+h]
39.Kf3 1-0
(24) Eljanov, P(2727)-Romanov, E(2625) (26) Rombaldoni, A(2488)-Andriasian, Z(2612)
37.Nf6!! Nxg1 [37...Rxf6 38.Qxf6+! Rxf6 39.Rg8#] 34.Rd6! Bxd6 [34...Rxd6 35.Qxa7h]
38.Nxh7! Rb8 [38...Rxh7 39.Qxf8#] 35.Qxb6! Ra8 36.Rxc7+! 1-0 [36.Rxc7+ 36...Bxc7
39.Nf8+ Rh7 40.Nxh7 1-0 [40.Nxh7 40...Qxh7 41.Qf6+h] 37.Qxe6+h; 36.Qb7+h ; 36.exd6?? 36...Qe1+ 37.Kb2
Qxc3+! 38.Kxc3 cxb6i]
(27) Gurgenidze
1.e4! [1.f8=Q 1...Rf5+ 2.Qxf5 gxf5i]

1...Re6! [1...Rxe4?? 2.f8=Qh]
2.e5! Rxe5 3.Rh1!! Rf5+ 4.Kg1 a3 5.f8=Q a2 6.Qf6+!!
[6.Qg7+? 6...e5i]
6...Rxf6= [6...e5 7.Qxa6! a1=Q+ 8.Qxa1+ Kxa1=]
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
The Women’s World Cup continues being extremely exciting
and we already have the first semi-finalist, Harika Dronovalli.
Editorial Preface 2 The Indian player won her match 1.5-0.5 against one of
the biggest surprises of the tournament, the Georgian Meri
Arabidze, who played a really fantastic event, eliminating V.
Cmilyte in the previous round.
Mariya Muzychuk won her first game against Koneru, who
The K-Files. Breaking the Symmetry I - 5.e3 12 started the event with straight 6 wins, but lost her second
game, so tomorrow we are going to have a very exciting
David vs. Goliath 15 tiebreak. Pogonina lost her first game but managed to win
the second one confidently, so she will also play a tiebreak
Puzzle section 16 against Zhao Xue. The match between Anna Muzychuk and
Pia Cramling ended with two draws. This means that we will
Endgame section 19 see a total of 3 tiebreak matches tomorrow!
The traditional Aeroflot Open is back after a 2-year break, with
Chess and the City. Mamedyarov and Nepomniachtchi as top seeds. As usual the
One man’s meat is another man’s poison... 24 Top GM group is very strong and the first place qualifies for
the super event in Dortmund, so we are back to the same
structure as before.
The Polish National Championship is also under way, but
Surprise section / study 28 of course the non-participation of Wojtaszek makes it much
weaker. It is too early for now to say anything about the
outcome, but Kacper Piorun had a fantastic start with 3.5/4.
Solutions 29
In the current issue, beside our usual columns, we are
commenting on a few exciting games from the Women’s
World Championship knock-out from Sochi.
Enjoy!
Two best games of the past week 10...a5 11.a3 c6 Black would like to trade his poor bishop on
c8, but Ba6 was not possible right away because of b5 and
c6 catching all the pieces on the queenside. There is no time
(1) Anand, Viswanathan (2797) to prevent this positional idea with Qe2, because the a1 rook
- Nakamura, Hikaru (2776) [D37] needs protection.
12.O-O Qc7 13.g3 Ba6 We are still following hundreds of
4th Zurich CC Classical(4.2), GM Csaba Balogh games. White has a fragmentary advantage thanks to his
2015.02.17 Best rating: 2672 space advantage, but Black stands without any weaknesses
and around 90% of the games ended in a draw. However as
We always comment the best games of the week, but this time we will see in this game, some small positional inaccuracies
I make an exception. One of our readers had a special request might let this invisible edge grow to a significant one.
to comment the following Anand-Nakamura game. He called
it as a positional masterpiece, with which I fully agree.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.Nf3 Nf6 Nakamura plays the
Queen’s Gambit, one of the most solid openings nowadays
against 1.d4. He wanted to neutralize Anand’s amazing
preparation, that he did for his WC match against Carlsen.
5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.c5 Nh5 The modern way of dealing
with this opening. Black gets rid of the strong f4 bishop in
compensation for the space disadvantage on the queenside
and the center. [Anand won a game against Carlsen in their 14.Re1 Threatening to play f5, but of course it is easy to parry
match last year more or less out of the opening, where Black this idea by leaving the pin.
chose the other main line: 7...c6 8.Bd3 b6 9.b4 a5 10.a3 Ba6
14...Bf6 15.Kg2 This is the novelty, although it does not
11.Bxa6 Rxa6 12.b5 cxb5 13.c6 Qc8 14.c7 b4 15.Nb5 I have
change the character of the game and the plans employd in
commented this game in detail in a previous issue of our
the other games remain valid here as well.
newsletter. Anand-Carlsen, Sochi 2014]
15...Bxd3 Nakamura rightly declines the challenge of
8.Bd3 Nxf4 9.exf4 b6 10.b4 White must hold his c5 pawn
complicating the game... [At first sight, Anand blundered the
and the space advantage at any cost, otherwise if he was
tactical idea of 15...bxc5 16.bxc5 Nxc5 but of course it was all
forced to take on b6, axb6 followed by c5 Black would
prepared at home... 17.dxc5 Bxc3
overtake the initiative.
the threat of Rxe6 and the queen is hanging on c7. 23...Rac8
protects the queen. (23...Rh8 loses to 24.Rxe6+! fxe6
25.Qxc7 exf5 26.Qxc6+h and everything falls.) 24.Qh6+
Ke7 25.Ng6+! fxg6 26.Rxe6+ Kd7 (26...Kd8 27.Qxf8+h)
27.Rf6+ gxf5 28.Qg7+h with mate to follow...]
16.Qxd3 Rfb8 Black prepares for the opening of the
queenside and he brings his rooks to the open files. [16...Ra7
serves the same purpose. Black keeps the tension on the
queenside and doubles his rooks first before taking on b4 to
18.Bxh7+! White wins back the pawn, but if Black rejects to win the fight for the a-file.]
take the piece both rooks are going to be loose. 18...Kh8
17.h4 Qa7 Another way of fighting for the a-file. Black would
(18...Kxh7 19.Qc2+ Kg8 20.Qxc3+= This is a kind of positional
like to get two rooks for his queen, which is usually considered
dream, where the knight is going to dominate the bishop
to be advantageous. [17...h6 was better to avoid the tactical
when it establishes itself on d4 or on e5. The bishop on
break which could have happened in the game. The reason
a6 seems to be nice, but actually it does not do anything
why h6 is preferable to g6 will be explained after the 18th
and White can simply maneuver with his pieces by ignoring
move.]
the light squares.) 19.Nh4! Opening the queen’s path to
h5. 19...Bxa1 (19...Kxh7 20.Qc2+ Kg8 21.Qxc3+= leads to the 18.Ne2 Anand was familiar with all the ideas, as he clearly
same as before. White will bring back his knight to the center deeply studied this type of position. The game perfectly
in two moves.; 19...g6 20.Bxg6! fxg6 21.Nxg6+ Kg7 22.Nxf8 shows the deepness of this move... [However both players
Kxf8 23.Rxe6 is complicated, but the numerous pawns and seem to have missed a nice tactical blow with
the exposed king gives more than enough compensation for
White.) 20.Qh5 g6 21.Bxg6+ Kg7 22.Qh7+ Kf6
18.f5! The point is that after 18...exf5 19.b5! White actually

weakened the d5 pawn with his last two moves! (19.Qxf5?
White has a beautiful winning move here: 23.Bf5!! creating blunders the small tactic of 19...bxc5 20.bxc5 Nxc5!) 19...Qb7
20.bxc6 Qxc6 21.Qxf5 and the d5 falls, which leads to the 21...bxc5 22.bxc5 h5?! It looks natural to fix the structure, but
collapse of Black’s position. 21...bxc5 22.Nxd5 cxd4 23.Rac1 it turns out to be a serious mistake. [Black should have aimed
Qd6 24.Rc7c] for simplifications with 22...Rxb1 23.Rxb1 Rb8 White has a
symbolic advantage, but I doubt that it could be enough to
win the game. Now the knight might join to the game through
a6. There is only one weakness on c6, but it should not be
enough to create something real.]
18...g6 This move was criticized by Anand in the post-game

analysis. As he explained, this move leaves the d7 knight
without a future. It can never come to the game because
the white pawns are controlling all its squares. The only
path to improve it was through f8-g6-e7-f5, but this does not 23.Ne5! The right moment to change the pawn structure!
work anymore. This shows again how familiar the ex-World White takes back with the f4 pawn, which will be followed by
Champion was with all the nuances. [Therefore Black should
Nf4 and thanks to the previous h5 move, there will be very
have played 18...h6 to keep the g6 square free for the knight.;
dangerous threats on g6!
On the direct 18...axb4 19.axb4 Qxa1 20.Rxa1 Rxa1 21.b5! is
very strong and White creates a c6 passed pawn, which will 23...Nxe5 Black did not want to end up with his poor knight,
cause Black serious headache to deal with.] but the bishop is not better either. Nakamura thought that
it would at least save him from the attack with Nf4. [The
19.Rab1 A standard move in this line! White cannot hold the
key line continued with 23...Bxe5 24.fxe5 Rxb1 25.Rxb1 Rb8
a-file for long, he allows the queen to invade, but this does not 26.Rxb8+ Nxb8 but it is not the same as before, because of
bring much for Black. 27.Nf4! threatening to take on g6 or e6 and if Black tries to
19...axb4 20.axb4 Qa2 21.Rec1! These are the usual moves strengthen his structure with 27...Kg7
in this line to neutralize the invasion of the black rooks. White
is threatening to break through over b5 to create a c6-passer
now.
25...Rc8 [25...Rxb6 26.cxb6 The c6 pawn is hanging.
26...Qa4 27.b7 Rb8 28.Rb1c]
26.Nc3 Anand conse quently drives all his pieces to the
queenside and focuses on the c6 weakness.
26...Qa7 27.Rcb1 Qd7 Black goes into passivity with all his
pieces, but it was very difficult to suggest anything better.
[27...Rab8 is strongly met by 28.Ra6! Qc7 29.Rbb6! followed
by Na2-b4, putting maximum pressure on the c6 pawn.]
28.g4!! is suddenly a crusher! 28...hxg4 29.h5 g5 (29...gxh5 28.R1b4 In a few moves it all becomes clear! The knight is
30.Nxh5+ Kf8 31.Qh7 Black cannot save himself against the going to a4-b6.
two attacking pieces... 31...Nd7 32.Qh8+ Ke7 33.Ng7 Mate is
28...Bh6 29.Na4! Qd8 30.Ra6! Vacating the b6 square for
threatening on e8 and after 33...Nf8 34.Qh4+! Kd7 35.Qf6h
the knight and opening the path for the other rook to invade
the f7 pawn falls.) 30.Nxe6+! fxe6 31.Qg6+h and h6
the 7th rank. In the meantime, White keeps an eye on the c6
wins. This line was seen by both players and it explains why
pawn to tie down the black pieces.
Nakamura took on e5 with the knight.]
30...Kg7 31.Rb7 Rxa6 32.Qxa6 g5 The only chance! Black
24.fxe5 Bg7 Black managed to save himself against the
cannot hold the queenside for long, he must try to find
Nf4 ideas, but now his queenside becomes much more
counterplay with some desperate attempts. However Anand
vulnerable!
neutralizes it in a beautiful fashion...
25.Rb6! White immediately uses the fact that the knight

disappeared from d7! White wins the fight for the b-file with 33.Qe2! An excellent positional move, which forces the
this excellent positional move, because the c6 pawn is under locking of the kingside.
attack and taking on b6 creates a too strong passed pawn 33...g4 34.Qa6 There is no threat on h4, so the queen returns
which will be supported by the heavy pieces from behind... to its ideal square on a6.
34...Qg8 Nakamura continues resisting resourcefully. He
pins his hopes to the Qh7-e4 counterplay, but Anand remains (2) Koneru, Humpy (2581)
precise... - Galliamova, Alisa (2484) [D45]
35.Nb6 Rf8 36.Nd7 Qh7 [36...Ra8 loses as well after
WCh Women 2015(3.1),
37.Ra7! which does not allow any counterplay along the GM Arkadij Naiditsch
2015.03.23
a-file. The queen and knight will collect the c6 pawn anyway. Best rating: 2737
The only hope remains in the counterattack, but it fails by one
tempo.. . 37...Rxa7 38.Qxa7 Qh7 39.Nf6! controls the e4
square. 39...Qd3 40.Qa8! There is no perpetual and Black The Women’s knock-out World Championship with 64
gets mated. 40...Qf3+ 41.Kg1 Qd1+ 42.Kh2 Kg6 43.Qg8+ participants combined almost all the best female players
Bg7 44.Qh7#] with the exception of the current World Champion Hou Yifan,
for who there is actually almost no reason to particpate
37.Nxf8 Qe4+ 38.Kh2 Kxf8 39.Rb8+ Kg7 40.Qc8 Kg6
in women events any longer as she has around 100 points
41.Qh8! 41.Qg8 Bg7 was not clear, but now the rook is coming
more than the Nr2. Koneru, who took a short break from
to g8 and decides the game. A Karpovian game! 1-0
chess because of her marriage and seems to now be back to
crush her oponents with extreme confidence. The current
game is the first one from the 3rd round. After the opening
it seemed like Black got a pleasant position and wanted
clearly more than to just "play safe" which brought the game
to a complicated stage where Koneru clearly kept a better
overview and with strong play decided the game in her favor.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 Alisa Galli amova has been one of the best
women players for an extremely long time. Lately she has not
been playing many games, but when she is playing we can
still see her very good understanding of chess. It is just that
from time to time she lacks energy or some miscalculations
are preventing her from showing top results.
3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 The Slav with 4.e3 is not the most ambitious
opening for White but it is an attemp to go for a long-term
game without much theory.
4...e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 This is a tricky move in a
well-known position. The idea is not to lose a tempo on the
regular 6.Bd3 dxc4. course in case it doesn’t work out the black king will remain
6...b6 Usually Black plays 6...Bd6, with thousands of games dangerously placed on e8.
played before. 14.Bf4 protecting the e5 pawn and at the same developing a
7.Bd3 Bb7 8.O-O Be7 It is always hard to tell where to place piece, which can’t be bad.
the black bishop, to d6 or e7.
9.b3 The white bishop is going to b2.
14...g5 Black is starting a very risky-looking plan, but this was

probably the best choice. [Another option could have been
14...Nc5 15.Bxh7 Qd4 (15...g6 of course loses to 16.Bxg6 fxg6
9...dxc4!? An interesting move. Black is not trying to be solid 17.Qxg6+ Kd7 18.Rad1+ and White is winning.) 16.Ne2 Qd7
with moves like 0-0, Rc8 and c5 but starting dynamic play on and Black wants to castle queenside or play Qc6 with some
the spot. play, but White is probably better here, although the position
10.bxc4 c5 Of course this move is connected to the idea that is far from clear.]
otherwise White would just play e4 with a better position. 15.Bg3 h5 Black continues hunting the white bishop.
11.Ne5 A pretty logical move, but I am not sure that this was 16.h3 h4 17.Bh2 g4!? A very interesting move. [In case of
the best possible way to continue for White. [Maybe White 17...Nc5 18.Be2 it is hard to say what to do next for Black. To
should be not afraid of Bxf3: 11.Rd1 with the direct threat of castle kingside looks very dangerous and to castle queenside
playing d5 next. 11...Bxf3 12.gxf3 cxd4 13.exd4 O-O Black’s is simply impossible because White prevents it with Rd1.
position is looking solid. 14.Qe2 In exchange for the bad 18...a6 preventing Nb5. 19.Rad1 Qc7 and the position is still
structure on the kingside White has the bishop pair and nice complicated, but White should somehow be better position
central pawns. I think that White is better here.] because of the position of the black king on e8.]
11...cxd4 Very direct play. [11...O-O was another option.] 18.Be4?! Now Black is fine. White should have taken the
12.exd4 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Nd7 So now we have a very pawn on g4. [To win a pawn is usually a good idea if you
interesting position. In case Black is able to play Nc5 and don’t see a direct loss.. . 18.hxg4 18...Bb4! is probably Black’s
maybe 0-0 it would only be her who could be better, but of best chance. In case White is in time to play Be4 it is hard to
imagine Black getting any compensation for the pawn. (18...h3 23...Qg5+ 24.Kh1 White has a lot of different plans, like
19.Be4 hxg2 20.Kxg2 The white king is feeling safe on g2. dominating on the g-file or trying to push f4-f5.
20...Qc7 21.Bxb7 Qxb7+ 22.Qe4 and White is clearly much 24...Rc8 25.Rae1! A strong move! Now f4-f5 is a heavy threat.
better.) 19.Be4 White has many other moves, but then Black
can play h3 next with strong play on the kingside. 19...Bxc3 25...Kd8 Black decides to keep her king on d8, which is
20.Bxb7 Bxa1 21.Rxa1 Rb8 and maybe White is a bit better probably the best choice in the current situation.
but the position is very unclear.] 26.Rg1 Qc5 Black attacks the c4 pawn and wants to
18...Bxe4 19.Qxe4 gxh3 exchange queens with Qc6.
27.Qf4! Another great move by Koneru, who spots the
weakness on f7 which is hard to defend.
27...Qf5 There was no better way to defend the f7 pawn.
28.Qxf5 exf5 Black has exchanged the queens which is very
good, but she also destoyed her pawn structure and now the
qhite rooks will be able to enter the 7th rank.
20.Nb5?! This move was clearly not needed. [20.gxh3

20...Rc8 21.Rfd1 Qc7 with a fighting position.]
20...Rb8? This move is really hard to explain. The black
rook belongs to c8 and not b8. [Why not simply win a pawn?!
20...hxg2 21.Rfd1 Rc8 Black’s position looks very dangerous,
but it is probably just fine. 22.Nxa7 Rc5 and I think it is
already White who needs to be careful here.] 29.Re7! Rf8 30.Bf4 The white bishop is going to h6 to chase
21.gxh3 a6?! Another unlucky decision. [Black sould have the black rook from f8.
hurried with 21...Nc5 and now no matter where the white 30...Rxc4?! and it seems like this is already the losing move.
queen will go Black should continue with Qd3!, brining the [In this difficult position Black should have played the precise
queen into the game.] 30...Rc6! attacking the d6 pawn. 31.Bh6 Rh8 32.Rxf7 Rxd6
22.Nd6+ Bxd6 23.exd6 Now Black is already in some of course Black’s position is very bad, but the fight for a draw
trouble. Material is equal but the black king remained in the would continue.]
center. White’s advantage is obvious. 31.Bh6 Rh8 32.Rxf7 Now that the d6 pawn is alive,
everything is falling apart.
32...Kc8 [It is already too late to try and get the d6 pawn:
32...Rc6 33.Bf4]
33.Rgg7 What a domination of the white pieces!
33...Nc5 [33...Rd8 34.Bg5 and it is over.]
34.Be3 Another accurate move. White does not hurry as she
knows that the game is almost over and places her pieces
perfectly.
34...Rd8 [34...Ne6 35.Rg6 and the black knight has no more
good squares...]
35.Bxc5 Rxc5
36.Ra7 threatening mate on a8.

36...Kb8 37.Rgb7+ Kc8 38.d7+ and Black needs to give her
rook which means the end. A great game by Koneru! Even if
things were looking "simple" her play was really strong and
very precise. 1-0
The K-Files. independent plan. What is even more valuable is the fact that
it was played in a very important moment (the penultimate
Breaking the Symmetry I - 5.e3 round of London Candidates, London 2013 vs/ Boris Gelfand).
In the following period this idea was tested by many top
players including Kramnik’s archrival Veselin Topalov and just
recently by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov but the assessment is
still far from clear.
5.e3 White’s idea is understandable: he plans to develop the
GM Alexander Khalifman knight to e2 where it doesn’t limit the activity of the fianchetto
FIDE World Chess Champion (1999) bishop. The drawbacks are also rather obvious: the c4 pawn
Best rating: 2702 becomes vulnerable and the important e5 square is not kept
under enough control. So what is more important? Black
(3) Breaking the Symmetry I - 5.e3 [D71] has 2 main answers: just completing the development as if
nothing happened (5... Bg7) or immediately accepting the
gambit (5...dxc4).
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5
5...Bg7 Development first of all. This is quite solid but maybe
not enough to equalize completely. [An ultra-creative move
like
a) 5...Bf5 6.Ne2 Qd7 7.b3 Bh3 aims for an early kingside
attack but is Black’s development advanced enough for this?
8.Bxh3 Qxh3 9.Nf4 Qf5 10.O-O Nbd7 11.f3! Suddenly the
black queen becomes a target. 11...dxc4 12.bxc4 Qa5 13.Qb3
e5 14.Nd3 O-O-O (Rodshtein - Nepomniachtchi, Legnica 2013)
would lead nowhere if White reacted precisely. 15.Na3!
(15.Nc3!?);
The symmetrical Gruenfeld is a long-time headache for the
b) 5...b5 trying to define the queenside structure
players who prefer to fianchetto the kingside bishop against
immediately. 6.cxd5 (The less committing 6.b3!? might
the Gruenfeld and the King’s Indian. Black’s setup is extremely
be an option.; 6.c5 6...e5 is fine for Black.) 6...cxd5 7.Nc3!?
solid and passed many tests on the highest level. So it seemed
(7.Ne2 7...e6 8.Nd2 Bb7 9.Nb3 Nbd7 10.Bd2 a5k (Loetscher -
that it was hardly possible to find new interesting way for
Krassowizkij, Austria 2014) and White can’t use the weakened
White at the early stage. But Vladimir Kramnik once again
c5 square so straightforwardly.) 7...a6 (Of course not 7...b4
proved that nothing is impossible by playing a novelty on
8.Qa4+) 8.Nge2 (The ambitious 8.e4 8...dxe4 9.Nxe4 Nxe4
move 5(!!!). And not just a novelty, but a completely new and
10.Bxe4 Ra7k doesn’t promise anything.) 8...Bb7 9.Nf4 and now the exchange doesn’t promise much: 8.cxd5 8...cxd5
e6 10.Nd3 Nbd7 11.O-O In this si tuation the weakened c5 9.Nbc3 b6 Black has enough time to develop his pieces
square is quite sensitive. White has certain pressure. After comfortably and can strongly meet the opponent’s action in
the natural 11...Bd6E12.b4 Nb6 (12...O-O 13.a4+=) 13.f3+= the the center. 10.f3 Bb7 11.e4 dxe4 12.fxe4 e5 13.d5 Ne8k) 8...b5
e3-e4 idea is quite annoying.; 9.Nd2!? (There is no reason to decentralize the knight. 9.Na3
c) The most critical answer 5...dxc4 will be examined in part Wen - Wan, China 2013 and it becomes obvious after 9...bxc4
2.] 10.bxc4 Nb4V) 9...Bf5 10.Nf3+=;
6.Ne2 O-O 7.O-O The standard moves are played and now e) 7...e6 8.b3 (Another option is 8.Nd2 8...Nbd7 9.b3 b6
Black must do something to develop his queenside. 10.Bb2 Ba6 Davila - Cardenas Carbajal, Panama City 2013 and
now 11.Nf4!?+= prevents Black’s counterplay in the centre.)
8...Nbd7 9.Nbc3 (after 9.a4 9...e5 10.Ba3 Re8 11.cxd5 Nxd5
12.Nd2 exd4 13.Nxd4 Harikrishna - Salgado Lopez, Doha 2014
13...a5!? 14.Ne4 Nb4 15.Nd6 Re7 16.Qd2 Ne5= Black is fine.)
9...b6 But the exchange on d5 works once again when the
black knight is on d7: 10.cxd5!? (When the white knight is
on c3 10.Ba3 10...Re8 11.Rc1 Edouard - Konopk a, Wroclaw
2014 White has to be worried about the c4 pawn all the time.
11...a5!? 12.Nf4 (12.e4 12...Nxe4 13.Nxe4 dxe4 14.Bxe4 Bb7
15.Qc2 Qc7=) 12...Ba6 13.Nd3 b5 14.cxb5 cxb5=) 10...exd5 (The
7...b6 is the most popular move. [ other option 10...cxd5 11.Ba3 Re8 12.Nb5 Ba6 13.Nd6 Rf8
14.e4+= doesn’t solve the problems either.) 11.b4 A pawn
a) 7...dxc4 8.Na3 Nbd7 9.Nxc4 transposes to the 5. ..dxc4
minority attack is very typical for this structure. 11...Bb7 12.b5
line but it’s not the most favorable version for Black.;
c5 13.Nf4 cxd4 14.exd4+=;
b) 7...Nbd7 Dobrov - Khusenkhojaev, Varna 2014. As usual
f) 7...a6 8.b3 b5 9.Nbc3 (9.Nd2!? is also interesting.)
in this structure the black knight is a bit misplaced on d7 when
9...Bb7 10.Nf4 e6 11.Nd3 Nbd7 Edouard - Fedorovsky,
White exchanges pawns on d5. 8.cxd5!? cxd5 9.Nbc3 e6 10.a4
Munich 2015 and now White would start regrouping his pieces.
a5 11.b3 b6 12.Ba3 Re8 13.Nb5+=;
12.Ba3!? Re8 13.Rc1 Rc8 14.Re1 Ba8E15.cxb5 cxb5 16.Re2
c) 7...Re8 8.b3 Nbd7 See the note from the previous Qb6 17.Rec2+= trying to use the c5 square.;
line. 9.cxd5!? (White shouldn’t postpone this exchange:
g) 7...a5 White should try to keep the tension in the center
9.Bb2 9...e5 10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.e4 Nc7 12.Qc2 Popilski - Aharon,
Jerusalem 2015 12...exd4!? 13.Nxd4 Ne5V) 9...cxd5 (9...Nxd5 with 8.Nf4!? (Here the exchange 8.cxd5 8...cxd5 9.Nbc3 e6
10.e4 Nc7 11.Nbc3 e5 12.d5+=) 10.Nbc3 e6 11.a4+=; 10.b3 Bd7 11.Ba3 Re8 12.Qd3 Na6 13.Rfc1 Nb4= Zhao Xue -
Howell, Auckland 2015 doesn’t make much sense since the
d) 7...Na6 8.b3 (With the knight on a6 it’s a different story
black pieces are quite active.) 8...dxc4 9.Na3 Nd5 10.Nxc4 9...Nbd7 [If Black tried to use the weakness on c4 by playing
Nxf4 11.gxf4+=; 9...Ba6 Topalov would most probably sacrifice this pawn:
h) 7...Bf5 8.b3 intending 9.Nbc3. (8.Nd2 Le Quang Liem - 10.Ba3 dxc4 11.e4 cxb3 12.Qxb3n]
Troff, Saint Louis 2013 8...Nbd7!? 9.b3E e5) 8...b5 9.cxb5!? 10.a4!? [Black is well-developed now and the typical 10.cxd5
(Otherwise Black has no problems: 9.Nd2 9...Nbd7 10.a4 bxc4 10...cxd5 11.Nf4 e6 12.Ba3 (12.Nb5 12...Ne8 13.Ba3 Ba6
11.bxc4 e5 12.Ba3 Re8= Wang Yue - Dominguez, Beijing 2014) 14.Bxf8 Bxb5 15.Bxg7 Bxf1 16.Qxf1 Kxg7=; 12.a4 12...Ne4=)
9...cxb5 10.Nbc3 b4 (10...a6 11.Ba3+=) 11.Na4 Nbd7 12.Nf4 e6 12...Re8 13.Nb5 (13.Rc1 13...a6=) 13...Ba6= doesn’t promise
13.f3+= and the black bishop is not very comfortable on f5.] anything.]
8.b3 Bb7 [Before White puts the knight on c3, attacking c4 10...Re8 11.Ba3 e6
doesn’t bring the desired results:
a) 8...Ba6 9.Nd2 Nbd7 10.Bb2 Rc8 11.Nf4!? (Otherwise
Black would prepare e7-e5 in a certain moment. 11.Rc1 11...b5
12.c5 b4 13.a3 bxa3 14.Bxa3 e5= Adhiban - Paragua, Manila
2013; 11.a4 11...Re8 12.Re1 e5 13.a5 b5 14.cxd5 Nxd5 15.Ne4
Qe7= Bhat - Popilski, Durban 2014) 11...e6 12.Re1+= with a
comfortable positional edge.;
b) 8...a5 9.Nf4 Ba6 10.Nd2 e6 11.Re1 (11.a4 was played by
Topalov but after 11...Nbd7 12.Bb2 Rc8 13.Rc1 Qe7 14.Rc2
Rfd8 15.Qa1 c5!= Topalov - Kamsky, Thessaloniki 2013 Black 12.Rc1 [But now once again the exchange is worth a look:
was just in time with efficient counterplay.) 11...Nbd7 12.cxd5 12...exd5 (12...cxd5 13.Nb5 Bf8 14.Qc1+=) 13.b4+=]
12.Bb2 (12.Ba3 12...Re8 13.e4 dxe4 14.Nxe4 Nxe4 15.Bxe4 Rc8 12...Ba6 13.Qc2 Rc8 [Giving up the center doesn’t solve the
16.Rc1 b5=) 12...Rc8 (12...b5 13.Rc1 bxc4 14.bxc4 Nb6 15.Bf1+=) problems: 13...dxc4 14.Bxc6 Rc8 15.Bg2 cxb3 16.Qxb3 Bc4
13.Rc1 Re8 (After 13...Qe7 14.e4 must be considered seriously. 17.Qb2 a6 18.Rfd1 Qc7 19.Nb1 Qb8 20.Nec3+= M. Marin]
14...dxe4 15.Nxe4 Nxe4 16.Bxe4+=) 14.Rc2+= Once again Black
doesn’t have active counterplay and his defensive task is 14.Qa2 Bf8 15.Bxf8 Rxf8 16.Rfd1 Qe7 17.Nf4+= Topalov -
quite unpleasant.] Hammer, Stavanger 2013 Black is certainly under pressure.
9.Nbc3 [The active move of the rook pawn is not exactly in
time because of 9.a4 9...a5 10.Ba3 Re8 11.Nbc3 e6 12.Qc2
Yuffa - Villegas, Pardubice 2014 12...Na6kaiming for the b4
outpost.; However if White is worried about the necessity to
sacrifice the pawn he can also develop his pieces in a more
conservative way: 9.Bb2!? 9...Nbd7 10.Nf4 e6 11.Nd2+=]
David vs. Goliath The second one is courtesy of Davidsson (1454) - Kruglyak
(1775):
Peter Zhdanov
In this entertaining column we are reviewing the most

unexpected results that occurred last week. Players usually Top-10:
face opponents of a similar level. Considerably less frequent Carraro (2099) - Fuentes (1570), 0-1, 529 points
are situations when a significantly lower-rated player Babijczuk (1549) - Hald (2069), 1-0, 520 points
succeeds in beating a much stronger adversary. Laurnagaray (1535) - Roman (2006), 1-0, 471 points
The previous week has brought 26 upsets - not bad at all! Echeguren (1737) - Sanchez Sandoval (2193), 1-0, 456 points
Horvath (2013) - Moser (2453), 1-0, 440 points
The FM Reichmann (2279) - Bachlerner (1959) encounter Nguyen Dang Hong Phuc (2047) - Padmini (2454), 1-0, 407
turned out to be a 13 move miniature. The Horvath (2013) - points
IM Moser (2453) game lasted 84 moves. Skettos (1428) - Zacharoplastis (1801), 1-0, 373 points
The highest-profile upset of the week was Lewtak (2301) - GM Barbosa (2501) - Le Kieu Thien Kim (2138), 0-1, 363 points
Kovalenko (2661), 1-0. Another notable victim was GM Ortiz Puranik (2264) - Ortiz Suarez (2625), 1-0, 361 points
Suarez (2625) who went down against CM Puranik (2264). Lewtak (2301) - Kovalenko (2661), 1-0, 360 points
Time for the ”fatalities”, i.e., checkmates on the board. The
first one is from Skettos (1428) - Markidou (1783): Average gap: 428; White won 8 games, Black won 2 games.
Puzzle section
(4) Morshedi, A(2221)-Hagen, A(2412) (6) Hauge, L(2380)-Rombaldoni, A(2488)
1. h 1... i
(5) Navara, D(2736)-Danielsen, H(2514) (7) Sevian, S(2531)-Iotov, V(2579)

Reykjavik Open, 2015.03.18 US Teams, 2015.03.17
1... i 1. h
(8) Sevian, S(2531)-Kritz, L(2583) (10) Sebag, M(2482)-Pogonina, N(2456)
US Teams, 2015.03.19 Wch Women 2015, 2015.03.23
1. h 1. h
(9) Guramishvili, S(2367)-Javakhisvili, L(2481) (11) Zhao Xue(2527)-Kotenashvili, B(2513)

Wch Women 2015, 2015.03.18 Wch Women 2015, 2015.03.23
1. c 1. h
(12) Le Quang Liem(2676)-Zhang Zhong(2614)
HD Bank Cup, 2015.03.19
1. h
(13) Shankland, S(2661)-Hou Yifan(2686)

Hawaii rapid, 2015.03.20
1. h
Endgame section and counterattack the c3 pawn. 53.Rg8+ (53.Rd8 53...Rd2
54.Kb5 Rd3 55.c4 Rd4= holds easily, as Black can take on
h6 next and hurry back to the pawn. White cannot make
progress.) 53...Kf7 54.Rg7+ Kf6 55.Rd7 Ke6 56.Rh7 Kf6=
(14) Krush, Irina (2477)
57.Rh8 Kg6 We have reached our initial position.]
- Milliet, Sophie (2377)
53.Rg8! Cutting the king and threatening to promote the
Wch Women 2015, GM Csaba Balogh h-pawn. Black is forced to go back to the h-file!
2015.03.17 Best rating: 2672
53...Rh2 54.Rd8! A great move! White lures the king away
from the h-pawn.
54...Ke5
White is a pawn up but as we know, in rook endgames the

defensive side always has a chance to hold, especially in such
cases when all the pieces are ideally placed. The king is close 55.Rh8! Compared to the initial position, the king has gone
to the passed pawn and the rook is behind the pawn and it is to e5, getting unprotected against the threatening check after
ready to counterattack the c3 pawn if the white king goes for pushing h7!
the d6. White’s only winning attempt could be to trade the h6
pawn for the d6, cut the black king away from the c-pawn and 55...Rh4+ [It is too late to go back because after 55...Kf6
promote it with the help of the king. However with the best 56.h7! Kg7 (Trying to save the d-pawn with 56...Ke7 loses to
defense, Black holds the draw rather comfortably. the typical trick 57.Ra8!h) 57.Rd8 Kxh7 58.Rxd6 the king is
too far away from the c-pawn... 58...Kg7 59.Kb5 Kf7 60.c4
52...Rd2? Black was rightly afraid of the Rd8 idea, but he Ke7 61.c5h will be the same as the game.]
should have prepared for it in another way. Irina Krush
punishes this mistake with very nice technique! [The most 56.Kb5 Kd5 Black tries to hide the king from the checks in
natural 52...Kg6 was also the best. Black obviously does front of the d-pawn. [56...Kf6 is the same as before. White
not want to take the h6 pawn, because he loses the pawn wins after 57.h7 Kg6 58.Rd8h]
endgame afterwards, but he frees the rook to protect the d6 57.h7 Rh5 58.Kb6 [The most direct way to win was 58.c4+
58...Kd4+ 59.Kc6 (59.Kb4 is probably the easiest and it 58...Rh6 59.c4+ Kd4 [Black cannot sacrifice his rook for the
transposes to the game.) 59...Rh6 (59...Kxc4 60.Kxd6 Kd4 h-pawn, because the white king is too close to the d-pawn...
61.Ke6 Ke4 62.Kf6 Kf4 63.Kg6 Rg5+ 64.Kh6h and the rook 59...Kxc4 60.Rc8+ Kb4 61.h8=Q Rxh8 62.Rxh8h]
goes away from h8 next move.) 60.Kb5 Rh5+ 61.Kb4 Rh1 62.Rd8! Very unfortuna tey
situation for Black. She is forced to take on h7, but then Rxd6
not only takes the pawn with check but also cuts the king
away from the c-pawn.
62...Rxh7 63.Rxd6+ Ke5 64.c5 The rest is easy. Black
cannot put up any kind of resistance. White keeps the king
cut, advances the pawn slowly and wins with the help of
bridge-building at the very end.
64...Rb7+ 65.Ka5 Rb1 66.Rd2 Ke6 67.c6 Ke7 68.c7
60.c5! Not necessary (60.Kb5 Rh5 61. Kb4 transposes to Rc1 69.Kb6 Rb1+ 70.Ka7 Rc1 71.Kb7 Rb1+ 72.Kc8
the game), but very instructive. White wants to destroy the Rb3 73.Re2+ Kf6 [73...Kf7 Here comes the so called
shelter of the black king. 60...dxc5+ 61.Kb5 Kc3 Otherwise bridge-building with 74.Re4! Rb1 75.Kd7 Rd1+ 76.Kc6 Rc1+
Rd8 and h8Q. 62.Kxc5 Rh1 (62...Rh5+ 63.Kd6 Kd4 64.Ke6 77.Kd6 Rd1+ 78.Kc5 Rc1+ 79.Rc4h]
Ke4 65.Kf6 Kf4 66.Kg6 Rg5+ 67.Kh6h) 63.Kd5 Kd3 74.Re8 Kf7 [74...Rb1 loses to 75.Kd7 Rd1+ 76.Kc6 Rc1+
64.Ke5 Ke3 65.Kf5 Kf3 77.Kb6 Rb1+ 78.Ka5h and the king comes in zigzag on the
a- and b-files.]
75.Re4 Black resigned, she did not want to go through the
73...Kf7 line. 1-0
How to make progress now? Black hides his king by following

his opposition in the same line. Kg6 is met by Rg1 check
forcing the king back to the f-file and the rook also returns to
h1. 66.Rf8! Nice tactics even with such a limited material on
board! 66...Rxh7 67.Kg6+h]
45.Rg7 White is trying to win some tempo but losing the f5
(15) Harika, Dronavalli (2492) pawn. 45...Re2+ 46.Kd5 Kxf5 47.a7 Ra2 48.Kc6 g5 49.Kb7
- Kosteniuk, Alexandra (2529) Kf4 and Black is clearly in time to make a draw. ) 43...Kxg6
44.Ra8 might be White’s best chance. (44.Ke4 44...Rxg2 Now
WCh Women 2015(3.3), in comparison to the game the f-pawn can start advancing.
2015.03.25 GM Arkadij Naiditsch 45.Rc7 Ra2 46.a7 f5+ and the f-pawn starts to run. 47.Kd5 f4
Best rating: 2737
48.Kc6 f3 49.Kb7 f2 50.Rc1 Rb2+ with an easy draw.)
44...Kf5! It is very important for Black to activate his king.

We are in the 3rd round and in the 1st rapid game. Things 45.Ke3 White’s only chance is to run to the a-pawn and hope
in the match were quite crazy from the beginning, as first to be fast enough. (45.a7 leads to a dead drawn position.
Kosteniuk lost her white game, then recovered with a great 45...Ra3+ 46.Ke2 Kf4 47.Kd2 f5 now White’s only chance is to
win with Black in classical chess. In the current game, things run with his king to h5. 48.Kc2 Ra1 49.Kb3 Ra5 50.Kb4 Ra1
were around equal all game long until Black started to play 51.Kb5 Rb1+ 52.Kc6 Ra1 53.Kd6 Ra6+ 54.Ke7 Ra5 55.Kf6
inaccurately in the rook endgame, so we finally reached this Ra6+ 56.Kg7 and just when the white king crosses the g-file,
interesting endgame with a pawn up for White. White’s idea the black king can enter the h2 square. 56...Kg3 57.Kh7
is pretty simple, to put the rook on a8 and start running to b5
with the king, but it is hard to realize because Black always
has Kg5 after White’s Ra8. Let us take a look at how things
developed in the game.
42...Ra4? The first move into the wrong direction. Black
should not have chosen a passive strategy. [42...g6! would
have been the correct way to act. Black needs her king to
become more active. 43.fxg6 (In case White would try 43.Ke4
43...Rxg2 seems to give Black an easy draw. 44.Rf7 Kg5
57...Kh2 and once again the position is a dead draw.) Now the white king is going to hide on a7. 50...Kg5 51.Kb7
45...Rxg2 46.Kd4 Rg3 Black wants to collect the h-pawn so Rb1+ 52.Ka7 Kxf5 Black wins the f5 pawn but it is too late.
White is forced to change the place of her rook. 47.Rc8 Ra3 53.Rb8 followed by Rb2-Kb6-a7 and White is easily winning.)
48.Rc6 Kf4 and the black king is going for the h3 pawn. 46.Kb6 Rb2+ 47.Kc7 Rc2+ 48.Kb8 (To run to g8 leads to
49.Kc5 Rxh3 50.Rxf6+ Kg5 with an immediate draw.] nothing more than a draw: 48.Kd8 48...Ra2 49.Ke8 Ra1
43.Ke3! The white king starts marching in direction of the 50.Kf8 Ra3 51.Kg8 Ra1 White can’t improve her position any
a-pawn. longer, so the g7 pawn must be taken. 52.Rxg7 Rxa6 53.Rg6+
Kh5 54.Kg7 White is going for the f6 pawn, but Black has a
43...Ra2?! Not the best once again... [Once again the right very nice drawing idea: 54...Ra7+ 55.Kxf6 Ra6+ 56.Kg7 Ra7+
move was 43...g6 ] 57.Kg8 Ra8+ 58.Kh7 White is 2 pawns up and Black seems to
44.Kd4! Harika shows no mercy! Black is in big danger. be lost- but no!
White’s plan of playing Ra8 and getting the king to b5 is
becoming a reality.
58...Rh8+!! 59.Kxh8 with stalemate!) 48...Ra2 49.Ra8 Kg5

Now Black collects both the f5 and g2 pawns. 50.Kb7 Rb2+
44...Rxg2?! This is the losing move. Now White is in time to 51.Ka7 Kxf5 52.Rb8 Rxg2 It seems like White should be
win the game. [Let us take a look at what would happen in winning somehow, but how?! 53.Rb4 cutting the black king.
case Black would continue waiting... It would lead to crazy (53.Rb5+ 53...Kf4 54.Rb4+ Kf3 and it is unclear how White
complications! 44...Ra1 45.Kc5 Ra2 (45...Rc1+ is basically the can win this position.) 53...Ra2 54.Kb6 g5 55.a7 Black’s
same as 45...Ra2, except that Black has the worse postion of position is on the verge, but maybe things just work out for
the rook on the 1st rank. 46.Kd5 Rd1+ 47.Kc6 Rc1+ 48.Kb7 her. 55...Ke6! A very important move! White wanted to play
Rb1+ 49.Kc8! Ra1 50.Ra8 Another important move! Rb5+ and Ra5 and it is also important for Black to keep her
king as central as possible to give the white king a "shoulder
block".
49...Ke3 50.Kb6 f5 [50...Rb2+ 51.Ka5 Ra2+ 52.Ra4 and it is
over.]
51.Rxh4 Kf3 52.Rh8 Now of course it is too simple to mess
up...
52...Kg3 53.a8=Q Rxa8 54.Rxa8 Kxh3
56.Rb5 (56.Rc4 56...f5 57.Rc6+ Kf7 58.Rc5 Rxa7 59.Kxa7 Kf6

60.Kb6 g4 seems to be a draw as well.) 56...Rxa7 57.Kxa7 f5
58.Kb6 g4 59.Kc5 and Black needs to find the only defence:
59...Ke5! keeping the white king away from reaching the f2
square. The position is adraw. ]
45.Rc7 Now Black is lost...
55.Rf8 and the white king is easily in time to come back
45...Ra2 46.a7 The problem is that the black king is still
to e3 and stop the f-pawn. We can conclude that from the
passive on h6!
beginning the position should be a draw but Black has to act
46...Kg5 47.Rxg7+ Kxf5 48.Kc5 and White has all the time actively and later on the position might still be a draw but
in the world... from a practical point of view it is closer to be lost. 1-0
48...Kf4
49.Rg4+! Another accurate move! White is securing to get the

h4 pawn and can thus be 100% sure to win the game.
Chess and the City. Only 8 more players are still in the tournament. But let me
give you a small summary of the happenings so far.
One man’s meat is another man’s
I would say that the classical games went in a more or less
poison... normal way, whereas the tiebreak matches are in some cases
even comparable to a horror scenario and the heart attack
risk is very high for any coach involved. Daulyte, Hoang
Qian and Ushenina are so far the most tragic victims of this
tournament. Certain people believe that luck does not exist in
chess and that may be actually true to some extent, however
missing a game because of a mobile phone setting error is
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz what I would call luck or bad luck, depending from which
Best rating: 2493 angle you look at it.
This is a phrase which we are pretty much facing at the The current situation in this tournament has not left too many
ongoing Women’s World Championship. That chess is surprises so far, apart from one exception. My first round
compared to other sports is quite cruel in a way that it is opponent Meri Arabidze is still in the tournament! In her last
much easier to blunder when you are extremely close to a match she managed to eliminate another favorite, Victory
win. However the resulting emotions, relief or joy, can be Cmilyte, and she is now facing India’s second highest ranked
heartbreaking or euphoric for different people at the same player Harika Dronavalli.
time... Apart from these two, some of the top favorites are still in the
After I already got kicked out of the tournament in round one, I tournament, such as Humpy Koneru, Anna Muzychuk and her
have the pleasure (or some may rather call it a punishment) to younger sister Marya, Zhao Xue and let’s not forget one of the
comment on the games of my dear colleagues together with strongest woman players of the past decades, Pia Cramling
GM E. Miroshnichenko from Ukraine. from Sweden.
Impressions of this great championship can be found under:
http://sochi2015.fide.com/en/component/content/article/
132-photo-gallery
Clash of the Titans 10...Bd6 (10...Nd7!? with the idea Bf6-Re8-e5.) 11.Ne5! Qc7
(11...Bxe5 12.Bxe5 (12.dxe5 12...Nd7 13.Nf3 h6 and the bishop
on f4 is limited. I have no idea how to improve White’s
(16) Petrosian, Tigran V position, maybe by playing Kh2-g4-Rg1.) 12...Nxe5 13.dxe5
- Reshevsky, Samuel Herman [A47] Nd7 14.f4 f6
Lugano ol (Men) fin-A(6),

1968.10.30
GM Kamil Miton
Best rating: 2655
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 e6 3.Bf4 b6 4.e3 Bb7 5.Bd3 Be7 [5...Nh5

6.Bg5]
6.Nbd2 Petrosian stays true to his style and goes for a simple
setup. [6.h3 A typical move which prevents the bishops’ A typical move but it doesn’t work. 15.Qh5! g6 16.Bxg6 hxg6
exchange.] 17.Qxg6+ Kh8 18.Qh6+ Kg8 19.Rf3h) ]
7.Bg3 [7.O-O 7...Nxf4 8.exf4 This structure makes more sense
when the black pawn is already placed on d5. 8...O-O 9.c3
d6 (9...c5V ) 10.f5 exf5 11.Bxf5 Nd7 12.Be4 Bxe4 13.Nxe4 d5
14.Ng3 c6 with equal play.]
7...Nxg3 8.hxg3 h6 9.Qe2 White keeps the option of castling
queenside.
9...c5 10.c3 Nc6 [10...d6 11.g4 Nd7 12.e4 (12.Ba6 12...Bxa6
13.Qxa6 Qc8 14.Qxc8+ Rxc8 15.g5 and White creates a
weakness on the kingside.) 12...cxd4 13.cxd4 a6 14.a4+= and
6...Nh5 The idea t o exchange the bishops is logical. Black White is better because I have no idea what to do with the
also had other possibilities to develop. For example [6...c5 black king. Black should probably try to play g6-Kf8-Kg7.]
7.c3 d5 (7...d6 8.O-O Nbd7 9.e4 a6 10.a4! fixing the weak pawn 11.g4 Qc7 12.a3 This probably means that after cxd4
on a6. 10...O-O 11.Qe2 White has a stable advantage as he has Petrosian wants to recapture with cxd4. [12.g5 was possible
more space.) 8.O-O O-O 9.Qe2 Nc6 (9...Nh5 10.Bxb8 Rxb8 immediately. 12...cxd4 13.exd4 Qf4? 14.g3 Qg4 15.Rh4h]
11.Ne5 Nf6 12.f4 followed by the typical maneuver Rf3-Rh3.)
10.h3 Black needs to start fighting for the important e5 square.
12...d5 [12...g6 13.g5 (13.e4 13...Kf8 14.g5 Kg7! 15.Rxh6 Rxh6 16...f5 [16...c4 17.Bxb7+ Kxb7 18.e4 b5 19.g3c and the b5-a5
16.gxh6+ Kxh6 17.Nc4 cxd4 18.cxd4 d5 19.exd5 exd5 20.Ne3 plan is not dangerouse for White because the king will stay on
Qd6 It looks that Black solves his problems.) 13...h5 14.Ne4 g2.]
(14.g4!? ) 14...d5 (14...Qd8 ) 15.Nf6+ Bxf6 16.gxf6 Qd8 17.Ne5 17.g3 c4 [17...h5!? 18.Bxb7+ Kxb7 19.O-O-O h4 with the idea
Qxf6 18.Bb5 Rc8 19.Nxc6 Bxc6 20.Bxc6+ Rxc6 21.Qb5 Kd7 to give the pawn but defend a bit more actively. 20.gxh4 Rh8
22.a4 Ra8! A very strong move which prevents the opening of 21.Rh1 Bf6 22.Kb1 Rh6 with c4-b5-a5-Qh7 next.]
the a-file. 23.a5 (23.dxc5 23...a6) 23...a6e]
18.Bxb7+ Kxb7
13.g5! White is creating a weak pawn on the kingside.

19.Ng1! A very strong move. White is preparing to put
13...O-O-O 14.gxh6 Rxh6 [14...g6 15.g4c]
pressure against the weak h6 pawn.
15.Rxh6 gxh6
19...Bd6 20.Qh5 activating the queen and fixing the h6
pawn, otherwise Black could play Qf7-h5 and try to get rid of
it.
20...Qg7 21.Ne2 Ne7 [21...Qg5 22.Qf7+ Qe7 23.Qg6c]
22.Nf4 Bxf4 [22...Qf6 23.Ke2 Rh8 24.Rh1 Kc6 25.Qf3
threatening Nxc4. 25...Kd7 26.Rh5 b5 27.Qh1 a5 28.Nf3Cwith
Ng5 ideas at some point.]
23.exf4 Ng8 24.Qf3 Kc7 [24...b5 was less accurate because
of
16.Ba6! The bishop on b7 was limited but more important
was to get rid of the black pair of bishops. [16.O-O-O was less
accurate because of 16...c4 17.Bc2 b5 18.e4 a5! 19.exd5 exd5
with b4 next and Black is quick with his counterplay.]
25.a4! a6 26.axb5 axb5 27.b3Aand the black king is not safe.] 33.Nh4! (33.Ne5 Compared to the game, this idea now leads
to a draw. 33...Nxe5 34.Qxe5 Qxe5 35.fxe5 Rh8 36.f3 Kf7 37.g4
25.O-O-O It would be interesting to know why Petrosian fxg4 (37...Kg6= ) 38.fxg4 Kg6 (38...Kg7 39.Rf1 Rf8 40.Rxf8
didn’t want to keep the king on the kingside. [25.Kf1 Kxf8 41.Kh3 Kg7 42.Kh4 Kg6=) 39.Rf1 Kg5 40.Kg3 (40.Rf6
25...Nf6 26.Qe2 Kd7 27.Kg2 Ne4 28.Nf3 (28.Nxe4 28...fxe4 ) 40...b4 This is why Black should keep this possibility. 41.axb4
29.Rh1 Rf8 and here Black can defend his position.) 28...Rg8 axb4 42.Rf6 bxc3 43.bxc3 Rb8 44.Rxe6 Rb3V) 33...Kf7 33...
29.Ne5+ Kd6 30.Qf3 (30.Rh1 30...Nxg3 31.fxg3 Qxg3+ 32.Kf1 Qf6/Qf7/Rf8 was not possible because of 34.f3!. 34.Re1! (34.f3
Qxf4+V) ] 34...Nf6 35.Qe5 Rg8 36.Qc7+ Kf8) 34...Rb6 35.Nxf5 exf5
25...Nf6 26.Qe2 Kd7 27.Rh1 Ng4 28.Nf3 [28.f3? creating 36.Qe8+ Kf6 37.Qd8+h]
a weakness on g3 and not allowing the knight to transfer to
e5. 28...Nf6=]
28...Re8 29.Kd2 Rb8 [29...b5!? Black is hoping to get
counterplay on the queenside. 30.Ke1 a5 31.Kf1 b4 32.axb4
axb4 33.Kg2! (33.cxb4 33...Kc6! 34.Kg2 Qa7 preventing Ra1.
35.Ne5+ Nxe5 36.Qxe5 Kb5V) 33...Kc6 34.b3c]
30.Ke1 b5 31.Kf1 a5 32.Kg2 a4?! I somehow don’t like
this move at all. Maybe Black was afraid that White would
open the position on the other side but now he denies himself
33.Ne5+! Now Petrosian simplifies to a winning rook
any chance for counterplay, as the b4 break is not possible
endgame.
anymore. [32...b4? 33.axb4 axb4 34.Ra1A; 32...Ke7 This
move seems to be the most logical but now White has the 33...Nxe5 34.Qxe5 Qxe5 35.fxe5 Rh8 36.f3! Ke7 37.g4
unexpected and very strong fxg4?! Black would have better practical chances after
[37...Kf7 At least now the f-file is not open. 38.gxf5 exf5
39.Kg3 h5! 40.Kf4 (40.Kh4 40...Rg8!V) 40...Ke6
(17) Bondarenko
1. h
41.Rh4! (41.Kg5 41...Rg8+ with the same trick.; 41.Rg1

41...h4 42.Rg6+ Kf7 43.Kxf5? Rh5+i) 41...Rh7 42.Kg5
Rg7+ 43.Kxh5 Rg2 44.Kh6 Rxb2 45.Kg5 Rb3 46.Rh6+ Ke7
47.Kxf5 Rxc3 48.Rh7+ Ke8 49.f4 and of course White should
be faster.]
38.fxg4 Rg8 [38...Kf7 39.Rf1+ Kg7 40.Rf6 Re8 41.Kh3 and
White is simply winning after Kh4-Kh5.]
39.Kh3 Rf8 40.Kg3 Rh8 41.Kh4 Rg8 [41...Rf8 42.Kh5 Rf2
43.Kxh6 Rxb2 44.g5h]
42.Rf1 1-0
Solutions (20) Hansen, E(2566)-Tjomsland, S(2300)
Reykjavik Open, 2015.03.11
(18) Bisby, D(2321)-Movsesian, S(2665)
26.Rxd4! exd4 27.Re7! Rg8 [27...Nxe7 28.Qxh7#; 27...Qd6

28.Bxg6 fxg6 29.Qxh7#]
30.Nd5! Ra5 [30...exd5 31.Qxd7h] 28.Rxd7h
31.Bf6 1-0 (21) Kristinsson, J(2251)-Gao Rui(2533)
(19) Ptacnikova, L(2242)-Steingrimsson, H(2530) Reykjavik Open, 2015.03.11
22...Nd3! 0-1 [22...Nd3 23.Bxd3 Be5i]

7...Qc5! 8.c3 e5i 0-1
(22) Navara, D(2736)-Kristjansson, S(2482) (24) Sarkar, J(2376)-Rasmussen, A(2532)
27.Qe7! Qf5 [27...Qxe7 28.Bxe7h] 15.Rxh6! f5 [15...Bxh6 16.Nf6+ Kf8 17.Qh7h Bg7 (17...Ke7
28.g4h 1-0 18.Nxe8 Qxe8 19.Qxh6h) 18.Nxg5h Bxf6 19.Qxf7#]
16.Nf6+ Kf8 17.Rg6 1-0
(23) Grandelius, N(2603)-Pulvett, D(2434) (25) Christiansen, J(2351)-Rombaldoni, A(2488)
19.Ng5! fxg5 20.Qxe6+ Kh8 [20...Rf7 21.fxg5 Rf8 32.Qxe6! Qxe6 33.Rxe6 f2 34.Rxh6+! Kg7 35.Kg2! 1-0
22.Bc4h] [35.Kg2 35...Kxh6+ 36.Kxf2h]
21.Qxe7 gxf4 22.Qe4h
(26) Igonin, T(2332)-Aleksandrov, A(2603) (28) Kralin
Agzamov memorial, 2015.03.13
1.g6! a3 2.g5 a2 3.Kg4 a1=Q 4.Kh5! Qxe5 [4...Qh1 5.h4=;

4...Qd1+ 5.g4 Qf3 6.h4=]
26...Nd3! 27.Rxe7 [27.Rxd3 27...Rxe1+i] 5.h4! Qe1 [5...Qxg3= ]
27...Rxe7! 28.Rxe7 Nxf2 29.Re8+ Kg7 30.Kxf2 b4i 6.g4 Qxh4+! 7.Kxh4 Kg8 8.Kg3 Kf8 9.Kf4 Ke7 10.Ke5
Kd7 11.Kd4! Kd6 12.Ke4 e5 13.Kf5! Kd5=
(27) Vocaturo, D(2590)-Bischoff, K(2504)

15.Nb1!! Qxc1 [15...Qa2 16.Rf2 Qa1 17.Nb3h]

16.Bxc1h
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
The Women’s World Championship is coming to an end. The
two finalists are Natalija Pogonina from Russia and Mariya
Editorial Preface 2 Muzychuk from Ukraine. Both players were fighting very hard
to reach the final stage of the event. The score is 1.5-0.5 to
Muzychuk, but the final consists of 4 classical games. Despite
being behind, Natalija Pogonina must still feel confident,
since she passed the last three(!) rounds after losing the first
The K-Files. game of the match, but she always equalized in the second
Breaking the Symmetry II - 5.e3 dxc4 10 and went through in the tiebreak.
The very strong Aeroflot Open in Moscow is also coming
to its conclusion. Before the last round the sole leader is
Ian Nepomniachtchi with the amazing score of 6.5/8. Three
Puzzle section 14 young GMs, Ivan Bukavshin, Daniil Dubov and Lu Shanglei are
just half a point behind him.
Endgame section 17 The US Championship has just started. We expect a huge
fight for the first place between Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley
Chess and the City. So. They have already shown their intentions to the field by
Miss "Tactics" versus Miss "Come back" 22 getting off to a great start with 2/2. However the field is full
of very talented young players, who can cause surprises at
Clash of the Titans 24 any moment and obviously one should never forget about the
reigning champion, Gata Kamsky.
Surprise section / study 27 As usual we wish you a lot of fun with the current issue! Enjoy!
Solutions 28 Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh
Two best games of the past week but in a much better version because he is sparing 2 tempi.
The drawback is clearly that Black opens the center too fast,
while his king is still in the middle of the board. White has two
(1) Zvjaginsev, Vadim (2658) moves to make use of it, otherwise Black develops with Nf6
- Bok, Benjamin (2587) [C44] and 0-0 and he is completely fine. [More normal was to finish
the development with 5...Nf6 and 0-0.]
Aeroflot Open A 2015(3.11), GM Csaba Balogh 6.exf5 Bxf5
2015.03.29 Best rating: 2672
Vadim Zvjaginsev was always a very resourceful player with

extraordinary imagination in unusual positions. He is also
known for his creative opening play...
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3 Obviously this move cannot
create real problems for Black, it rather aims at avoiding a
theoretical battle.
3...Bc5 Black keeps the structure closed. [An alternative is
3...Nf6 attacking the e4 pawn and after 4.Nc3 or 4.d3, d5 leads 7.b4!! A brilliant resource, extremely creative play!
to a completely different game.] Zvjaginsev follows the principle that he must open the
4.Bg2 d6 5.O-O center on the king. He wants to play d4, but first he lures one
of the minor pieces to b4 in order to make the real plan more
effective.
7...Bxb4 It is important to keep the knight on c6 to keep
the position together. It protects the e5 square after White
plays d4. [The black pieces become much more confused
after 7...Nxb4 8.d4! This is a position which is impossible
to calculate before 7.b4, one must have the intuition that
White’s compensation should be more than enough. The
following lines seem to confirm it. 8...Nxc2 (8...Bb6 9.dxe5
Nxc2 10.Nh4! This is a recurring motif in this game. The
5...f5 A highly ambitious move. The point is that in positions bishop does not have a square to protect the c2 knight and
with Nf6 and 0-0 a standard idea is to play something like h6 after 10...Nxa1 11.Nxf5 it is clear that things will end up badly
and Nh7 followed by f5. Black would like to execute this plan, for Black. The king faces an enormous attack and the knight
is also trapped in the corner.; There is a nice line after 8...exd4 12.Bg5! Developing with tempo and pinning the knight.
9.Nxd4 Bxd4 10.Qxd4 Nxc2 11.Qxg7 Qf6 Black must delay castling with another move, because White
could take on e7 and then on a5.
12...Bb6 13.Nh4 Very concrete chess! White wants to
achieve the maximum as long as the king is still on e8.
It all looks perfect for Black. He manages to trade queens and

the a1 rook is caught, but suddenly the dark squared bishop
becomes a hero. 12.Bb2! Qxg7 13.Bxg7 Nxa1 14.Bxa1! taking 13...O-O Finally Black castles, but losing the light squared
the knight first and the rook remains trapped on h8.) 9.dxc5 bishop is a very sad scenario for him. The power of the g2
Nxa1 10.Bb2 Nc2 11.Nh4! The same idea again. The bishop bishop increases heavily by this and the pressure on the c6
cannot defend the c2 knight anymore. An attempt to replace pawn increases even furter. But of course Black is still a
it with the queen, for instance 11...Qd7 is refuted by 12.c6! pawn up, since the 7th move... [13...Bd7 could have been
bxc6 13.Nxf5 Qxf5 14.Bxc6+h] met by 14.Qb3! keeping the king in the center. White
8.d4 Nge7 Black must focus on quickly finishing the could strengthen his position with Nd2-c4. 14...c5? locks the
development. [8...exd4 9.Nxd4] position and lets Black castle next move, but this move is a
positional disaster after 15.Na3! and Nc4. The black pieces
9.c3! It is important to open the diagonal to b3 and a4 for the and his pawn structure are just terrible.]
queen. This is the only way to gain some direct benefits before
Black can castle. 14.Nxf5 Rxf5 15.Qh4 The most natural move to keep the
annoying pin alive, but perhaps it was not objectively the
9...Ba5 10.d5 [The alternative 10.Qb3 to prevent castling best. [The simple 15.Bxe7 15...Qxe7 16.Nd2 seems to give
also looks pretty interesting, although after 10...Qd7 with the White a pleasant edge. Black has difficulties with finishing
idea of Be6 11.dxe5 d5 followed by 0-0, Black seems to be the development of his queenside. The only way to do it is
alright.] by giving back his extra pawn 16...Nd7 but now he ends up
10...Nb8 11.Qa4+ c6 Black saves the piece, but he critically in a worse position after 17.dxc6 bxc6 18.Qxc6 Raf8 19.Ne4+=
weakens his pawn chain, which allows White to organize his The e4 knight is extremely strong. It attacks the target on d6
counterplay. and protects the weakness on f2.]
15...Rf7 16.a4 Another natural positional move! White would after axb7 Rxb7 and Nd2, but it is not the same as in the 13...
like to weaken the light squares with a5-a6. [16.Nd2 16...h6 Bd7 line, because the position got simplified a lot!]
17.Bxe7 Qxe7 18.Qxe7 Rxe7 will lead to more or less to the 20...Rc7 Black protects his c6 pawn in order to develop his b8
same as the game after a4. Nc4 is answered by Bc5.] knight! [20...a6 21.Rfb1 is also unpleasant.]
16...h6 17.Bxe7 Qxe7 18.Qxe7 Rxe7 It is a huge relief for 21.Nc4 Be7 Black wants to protect everything, but he
Black to finally unpin himself and simplify the position a blunders a beautiful idea... [21...Na6 was the only move,
bit, but the danger is far from over... His queenside is still although White has a clear plus here as well. 22.Nxd6c]
undeveloped and he is very vulnerable on the light squares.
22.Nb6!! This fantastic tactical blow finishes the game right

19.a5 Bd8 Too passive. [Black should have played 19...Bc5 away! The rook is trapped on a8.
20.Nd2 Black should not suffer anymore and return his extra 22...axb6 23.axb6 Na6 [23...Rxa1 24.bxc7h White
pawn for further simplifications... (Black was probably afraid promotes to a queen next move.]
of 20.a6 but actually he holds after 20...b6! and on 21.dxc6 Rc7
Black has just enough time to take on c6 and leave from the 24.dxc6 bxc6 25.Rxa6 [Finishing the game in style! Black
pin with his a8 rook.) 20...Nd7! 21.dxc6 bxc6 22.Bxc6 Rc8 resigned in view of 25.Rxa6! 25...Rxa6 (25...Rcc8 26.b7!h)
23.Bd5+ Kf8 24.Ne4 White seems to still be in control, but 26.bxc7 Ra8 27.Rb1h (Or 27.Bh3h The 7.b4 and 22. Nb6
after 24...Nf6! Black trades the knights and he should be able moves were really adorable.) ] 1-0
to hold the draw with the opposite colored bishops.]
20.Nd2! Black has probably underestimated this simple
positional move. White delays playing a6, but he intends
to improve his position with Nc4, Rfb1 and only in a better
moment to push a6. [On the direct 20.a6 Black had planned to
reply with 20...c5! which is why he did not put his bishop to c5
in the previous move. White still has very nice compensation
7...Nd5 8.O-O White is sacrificing a pawn to get much better
(2) Pogonina, Natalija (2456) development.
- Cramling, Pia (2495) [B28]
8...Nxc3 9.bxc3
Best rating: 2737
We are in the 2nd game of the semi-final of the World

Championship in Sochi. Pogonina lost her first game for the
3rd time in a row and needs to win the current game to
equalize and play the tie-break tomorrow. It is very difficult
to bounce back once after losing the first game, to make it
twice is already exceptional, but to manage 3 comebacks just 9...Be7 The safest choice. [The game Giri-Vitiugov continued
deserves a lot of respect. So let us take a look at how Natalija with 9...Bxc3 10.Ba3! White gives an exchange to keep
very confidently made the 3rd comeback a reality! the black king in the center. 10...Qa5 11.Bd6 The e5 pawn
needs to survive. 11...Nc6 12.Nxc6 dxc6 13.f4 Bxa1 14.Qxa1
1.e4 c5 Cramling doesn’t pick the safest opening when all she
Black is an exchange and a pawn up, but White’s position is
needed was a draw.
better here! The very dangerous position of the black king
2.Nf3 a6 and this move is even harder to understand. Usually and the very bad bishop on c8 give White more than just
we see such openings in opens, during the first rounds, when compensation for the lost material.]
a stronger player is trying to beat a weaker one.
10.Bf4 O-O 11.Qd3 This is nothing new and clearly evaluated
3.Be2 A normal move, but the main ones are 3.c4 and 3. c3 as better for White.
which both seem to bring White nice play.
11...b6 Black’s intention to develop the bishop to b7 is right.
3...e6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.Nc3 and we are back to the [Of course it would be a reliefe for Black to be able to play d6,
main lines. but it just doesn’t work: 11...d6? 12.exd6 Bxd6 13.Nxe6! and
6...Bb4 Black is going for a very risky line. [6...d6 and we are White is winning.]
in the very main position.] 12.Bf3 Quite a logical move, but White also had another
7.e5 Of course! Natalija needs to win so she is going for a very alternative: [Why not first play 12.Qg3 with the simple threat
sharp line. of playing Bh6 next. 12...Kh8 13.Bd3 and I think White’s play
on the kingside could become very dangerous.]
12...Ra7 18...Qc7 19.Nd2 Nc6 The black knight is out and White has
to protect the e5 pawn.
20.Qg3 White continues playing for Ne4. [White could have
won a pawn, but I think the position would be very close
to a draw after 20.Qxa6 20...Ra7 21.Qb5 Ra5 and White
probably doesn’t have anything better than to play 22.Qxb6
Qxb6 23.Rxb6 Rxa4 with a slightly better, but close to equal
endgame.]
20...Rc8?! Too passive... Black had to look for fast
counterplay. [20...b5! would have been the right choice.
13.Be4! In my opinion this is a very strong move. White is 21.axb5 Rxb5 Exchanging one pair of rooks will make the
weakening Black’s pawn structure for the future. defense a bit more easy. 22.Rxb5 axb5 23.Ne4 Ra8 24.h4 and
13...g6 [To play 13...h6 14.Qg3 looks too dangerous for Black.] White still has some initiative, but Black is on a good way to
equalize.]
14.Rfd1 White is bringing all her pieces to the center.
14...Bb7 Black can breathe a bit better after the bishop from
c8 has been exchanged.
15.Bxb7 White wants to have the a6 pawn under attack, but
maybe it was more simple to play 15.Rab1 with clear pressure.
15...Rxb7 16.Rab1 White’s idea is to prevent Black from
playing Nc6 now.
16...Qc8?! A very strange move... [It was much more natural
to play 16...Qc7 with the idea of playing Rc8 or Nc6 next.
Black’s position is almost OK.] 21.Ne4 Qd8 Black is trying to go into a passive defense, but
17.a4 A nice positional move. White stops Black from even it is usually a bad choice...
dreaming about playing b5 one day. 22.Bg5! Strong and logical! After the exchange of the black
17...Qc5 A natural move, but it allows a great maneuver... bishops the dark squares are becoming even weaker.
18.Nb3! A very strong move! The white knight is going to take 22...Bxg5 23.Nxg5 Na5 Black is trying to get her knight to
a fantastic position on e4 and now we can see how important c4, but from there it will not help on the kingside either. [White
the 13.Be4! move was, since the f6 and h6 squares are now is doing better even after 23...Qc7 24.Rd6 Ne7 25.Ne4 The
very weak. domination on the dark squares is really scary!]
24.Ne4 [24.Qh4!? was maybe even stronger, provoking decent defense against the upcoming Qf6.]
Black into playing h5, which could make White’s play on the 30.axb5 Now White has all the time in the world again.
kingside even more efficient. 24...h5 25.Qf4 Qe7 26.Ne4 Nc4
27.Rd3 and the black king is in big trouble!] 30...axb5 31.Qg4! Pogonina really plays a fantastic game!
With this silent move White is preparing the deadly threat of
24...Nc4 25.Rd4 The white rook will very soon be able to act playing Rd3-Rg3 next. Black has no defence against it!
on the 4th rank.
31...Qe7 Other moves would not help much already.
25...Kg7 26.Re1 All the white pieces are now in the attack
and it is still unclear where Black’s counterplay is. 32.Rd3 Rg3 is coming...
26...h6 defending from a possible Ng5 move or Nf6 and Rh4. 32...Rg8 33.Nf6 Rh8 34.Rg3 and the g6 pawn can’t be
protected any longer. The game is over.
27.h4! Exactly the right answer! White is securing her king
from getting mated on the 1st rank somewhere in the future 34...d5 35.hxg6 fxg6 36.Qxg6+ Kf8 White is a pawn up and
and she is also threatening to play h5 in a good moment. the black king is under a huge attack. The game will not last
much longer.
27...Qc7 I think this move was made out of despair. Black
should have played the immediate 27...b5 and hope not to get 37.Ra1! Precision until the end. The threat of Ra8 is finishing
mated. the game immediately.
28.f4 Now the e5 pawn is even more secured than it was 37...Ra7
before.
28...b5 Black’s play comes too late...
38.Nd7+ and of course Black cannott play 38... Qxd7 because

of 39.Qf6 and Qxh8! Pogonina made it real, a 3rd comeback
in the mini matches is done! This is really an extraordinary
achievement of which Natalija can be very proud. The next
29.h5! using the fact that Black can’t take the a4 pawn. day, to make things perfect, she won her rapid match 1. 5-0.5
29...Qd8 [In case of 29...bxa4 White is winning with the silent and went into the final where she will face Marya Muzychuk.
move 30.Qh4! and the game is over because Black has no 1-0
The K-Files. 7...Nc6 8.Nxc4 Be6 (8...cxd4 is the playable alternative.
9.Nxd4 Nxd4 10.exd4 Bg7 11.O-O O-Ok) 9.Qa4 Bg7 10.Nfe5
Breaking the Symmetry II - 5.e3 dxc4 Bd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.O-O Edouard - Gledura, Hastings 2015,
and now 12...Nd7!? 13.dxc5 Nxc5 14.Qc2 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 Qd3
16.Qxd3 Nxd3 17.e4 O-O-O= would allow Black to defend
his queenside weaknesses with the king.) 7...cxd4 8.exd4
Bg7 9.Ne2 O-O 10.O-O Nc6 11.d5+= with a typical Gruenfeld
structure and some edge for White.;
GM Alexander Khalifman b) 6...b5 7.Ne2 White intends to open the c-file with b2-b3
FIDE World Chess Champion (1999) and obtain good compensation for the pawn. 7...Nd5 (After
Best rating: 2702 7...Bg7 8.b3 cxb3 9.axb3nWhite’s play is easy.) 8.O-O a5
(8...Bg7 9.b3 c3 10.Ne4 b4 11.a3 Qa5 12.Rb1n) 9.e4 Nb6 10.b3
(3) Breaking the Symmetry II - 5.e3 dxc4 [D71] cxb3 11.axb3 Bg7 Dvirnyy - Salgado Lopez, Jerusalem 2015
12.Nf3!? O-O 13.Bf4n)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.e3 dxc4 Black accepts 7.Ne2 Bh6 This maneuver is known from some
the sacrificed pawn and it’s not easy for White to win it back. Gruenfeld-Bg5 lines. 8.Qc2 b5 9.O-O O-O 10.b3 cxb3 11.axb3
a5 12.Nf3!? (12.e4 allowed Black to solve his queenside
development problems. 12...Na6! 13.Qxc6 Bd7 14.Qc2
Nb4 15.Qb1 Rc8 16.Nf3 Bxc1 17.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 18.Nxc1 Qc7=
Mamedyarov - Navara, Reykjavik 2015) 12...Bf5 (12...Nd5
13.Bd2n The black knight is still sleeping on b8.) 13.Qd1 Be4
14.Nc3 Bd5 15.Qc2n]
6...Nbd7!? The most accurate move order. Black plans
to defend the c4 pawn with the knight, thus avoiding the
weakening b7-b5. [
6.Ne2 This is Kramnik’s move. Now White is always ready a) 6...Nd5?! 7.O-O b5 looks suspicious because of 8.a4!
to meet Be6 with Nf4. [However it might happen that the Bb7 (8...b4 9.e4 Nc7 10.Be3 Ba6 11.Nd2c) 9.b3 cxb3
alternative 6.Nd2 invented by Edouard in August 2014 is the 10.axb5 cxb5 11.Qxb3 Qd7 (11...a6 12.Nec3 e6 13.Nxd5 Bxd5
most critical line. 6...Be6 can be played here since the knight 14.Bxd5 Qxd5 15.Qxd5 exd5 16.Nc3c) 12.Nbc3 Nxc3 13.Nxc3
can’t jump to f4 yet. ( Bxg2 14.Kxg2 a6 15.Nxb5 Bg7 16.Nc3c Navara - Hammer,
Tromsoe 2013;
a) 6...c5 Black give s a tempo but pretends to clear the
matters in the center as soon as possible. 7.Nxc4 (7.Ngf3 Immediate b) 6...b5 is more logical but after 7.O-O (7.a4
7...b4 8.a5 Ba6k) 7...a5 (7...Bg7 8.a4 b4 9.a5+=; 7...Bb7 8.a4 2013 15...h5!VM. Krasenkow) 15...Nd5 16.a3 Qe7 17.Bb2 h5
b4 9.Nd2 Ba6 10.e4n; 7...Ba6 8.b3n) 8.b3 cxb3 9.axb3nWhite 18.Rbd1 Ndf6 (18...h4? 19.Ndxc6h) 19.f3 Ng5 20.e4+=
has full compensation for the pawn.; Edouard - Petr, Tromso 2014 gave White some advantage.) )
After c) 6...e5 7.O-O (7.dxe5?! 7...Qxd1+ 8.Kxd1 Ng4e) 10...Re8 (After 10...c5?! 11.Ba3 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Nxc4 13.bxc4 Qc7
7...exd4 8.Nxd4nthe white pieces only become more active.; 14.Rc1 a6 15.c5 Rd8 16.c6c Ding Liren - Ganguly, Doha 2014
Black’s position is close to collapse.) 11.e4!? (Otherwise Black
d) 6...Bg7 This was Gelfand’s choice in the very first game is fine. 11.Bb2 11...Nxc4 12.bxc4 e5=; 11.Ba3 11...Nxc4 12.bxc4 e5
with 5.e3 6.Ne2. 7.O-O allows Black to return to the plan 13.d5 cxd5 14.cxd5 Zoler - Roiz, Legnica 2013 14...e4V) 11...Nxc4
with Nb8-d7-b6. (7.Na3!? is more precise. 7...e5 8.Nxc4 12.bxc4 e5 (After 12...c5?! 13.e5 Nd7 14.f4 Nb6 15.dxc5 Nxc4
exd4 9.Nxd4 O-O 10.O-O Qe7 (10...Nbd7 11.b3 Nb6 12.Ba3 16.Qxd8 Rxd8 17.Rb1c White’s pressure is increasing.) 13.d5+=
Nxc4 13.bxc4+=) 11.b3 Rd8 12.Ba3 c5 13.Qe1 Na6 14.Qa5 The strong pawn center gives White some advantage.]
Nd5 15.Rad1 Bg4 16.Nf5 Bxf5 17.Rxd5 Rxd5 18.Bxd5+=
Greenfeld - Semprun Martinez, London 2014 White’s pieces 7.O-O [After 7.Na3 7...Nb6 8.O-O (as 8.Qc2 doesn’t work
are more active.) 7...O-O (7...Nbd7!? - 6...Nbd7) 8.Na3 (The because of 8...e5!? 9.dxe5 Ng4V) 8...Bg7 we just have a move
other way to attack the pawn 8.Nd2 after 8...b5 only brings transposition.]
White additional problems. 9.a4 (The standard 9.b3 9...cxb3 7...Bg7 This is the critical position (or at least one of them).
10.axb3ngives White certain compensation.) 9...Nd5 10.axb5 White has a choice and it’s still hard to say which way to go.
cxb5 11.Nc3 Bb7 12.Qf3 (12.Nxb5?! 12...Nxe3! 13.fxe3 Bxg2
14.Kxg2 Qd5+ 15.Qf3 Qxb5 16.Nxc4 (16.Qxa8 16...Nc6
17.Rxa7 Rxa8 18.Rxa8+ Bf8 19.Nf3 f6=+) 16...Nd7=+ Michalik
- E. Hansen, Dubai 2014) 12...e6 13.Nxb5 Bc6 14.Na3 Nb6=)
8...Nbd7 (8...Be6 9.Qc2+=) 9.Nxc4 Now e5 is under firm
control. 9...Nb6 (9...Nd5?! only makes things worse. 10.b3
a5 Kukhmazov - Vastrukhin, Voronezh 2014 11.e4 N5b6 12.Ne3
e5 13.Bb2c The black knights are obviously misplaced now.)
10.b3!? So this developing move is preferable in my opinion.
(The retreat 10.Na5 allows Black to prepare the freeing e7-e5.
10...Qc7 (10...Nbd7 The other move 11.b4 e5 12.Bb2 Qe7 8.a4 [After 8.Na3 8...Nb6 9.Qc2 O-O if White wants to play
13.b5 cxb5 14.Qb3 b4 Gajewski - Aabling Thomsen, Reykjavik for an advantage he must play in true gambit style. 10.e4
2013 15.a3!+= doesn’t bring the desired results as White is far (In case of 10.Nxc4 10...Bf5 11.Qc3 Nfd5 12.Qb3 Be6 13.Nxb6
ahead in development.) 11.b4 (11.Qc2 11...e5 12.Bd2 Re8k) Nf4 14.Qd1 Nxe2+ 15.Qxe2 axb6= Black has absolutely no
11...e5 12.dxe5 Qxe5 13.Nd4 So it’s better to start the action problems.) 10...Be6!? (10...Ne8 is weaker. 11.Nxc4 Bg4
on the kingside immediately. 13...h5!V (The solid 13...Ne4 12.Na5! Nd6 13.Rd1+= Potkin - Timman, Wijk aan Zee (B) 2015)
14.Qc2 Re8 15.Rb1 (15.Ba3 Kramnik - Gelfand, London 11.Rd1 (11.Nf4?! 11...Qxd4 12.Nxe6 fxe6 13.Rd1 Qc5=+) 11...Qc8
(11...Nh5k ) 12.Nf4 Rd8 13.Qe2 Ne8 14.Be3 Nd6kWhite But it is completely playable and leads to quite fresh and
certainly has some pressure for the pawn but it’s quite hard unexplored positions. If Black doesn’t accept the sacrifice his
to break through.; The situation is about the same after position is fairly solid but still a bit worse. If Black accepts the
8.Qc2 8...Nb6 9.e4 O-O (9...e5 is quite risky: 10.dxe5 Ng4 pawn White must be ready to play in gambit style but he has
(After 10...Qd3? 11.exf6!! Qxc2 12.fxg7 Rg8 13.Nbc3h the a good positional basis for it. The most critical line which we
black queen is trapped after Rd1-d2 or Rd1 Nd4.) 11.Rd1 will probably see in top games in the future seems to be 5...
Qe7 12.f4 f6 13.exf6 Bxf6 14.e5 Bf5 15.Qc3 Qc5+ Ding Liren dxc4 6.Nd2!?
- Sethuraman, Hyderabad 2015 16.Rd4! Nxe5 17.fxe5 Bxe5
18.Be3+=) 10.Rd1k]
8...a5 9.Na3 Nb6 10.Qc2 O-O 11.e4 Ne8 [When the moves
a4 a5 are included White doesn’t have to meet 11...Be6
with the prophylactical Rd1. 12.Nf4! Bc8 (12...Qxd4 13.Be3
Qd8 14.Nxe6 fxe6 15.Rad1 Qc7 16.Nxc4 Nxc4 17.Qxc4 Qc8
18.Bh3c) 13.Rd1 Ne8 14.Be3 Nd6 15.b3!? cxb3 16.Qxb3n]
12.Nxc4 Bg4!? But here we see the drawback of including
a4 a5. In a similar position without this inclusion (see 8.Na3
Potkin - Timman, Wijk aan Zee (B) 2015) there was a great
square on a5 for the white knight. Now it’s not available.
[12...Nxc4 was played before. 13.Qxc4 e5 Yuffa - Sarana,
Taganrog 2014, but after the correct answer 14.dxe5! Bxe5
15.Be3 Bxb2 16.Rad1 Qc7 17.Bc5c White could reach a clear
advantage.]
13.Be3 [13.f3 13...Nxc4 14.Qxc4 Be6 15.Qd3 Nd6kwith
good counterplay.]
13...Nxc4 14.Qxc4 Bxe2 15.Qxe2 Bxd4 16.Rfd1 e5 [Black
also has the more complicated opportunity to play 16...c5
17.e5 Ng7 18.Rac1 Ne6 19.Bh6 Re8 20.Bxb7 Rb8 21.Bc6
Rxb2 22.Rc2 Rb6k]
17.Bxd4 exd4 18.Qc4 Ng7 19.Bh3 Qe7 20.Rxd4 Rfd8
21.Rad1 Rxd4 22.Qxd4 Re8 23.f3 Ne6 24.Bxe6 Qxe6=
The chances are equal. SOME CONCLUSIONS Of course the
plan with e3 is no refutation of the Symmetrical Gruenfeld.
David vs. Goliath Semenov (2072). The Goliath was quite disappointed and
has even left the score sheet on the table. I could have
taken the piece of paper and copied the notation, but have
somehow decided that it would have been inappropriate.
Unfortunately, I doubt that the games will make it to the
database, because the organizers have been trying to sell
printouts of the games to the participants instead of providing
everyone with the pgns. This is something I haven’t seen in a
Peter Zhdanov while.
Top-10:
unexpected results that occurred last week. Players usually Farnault (2007) - Andres Gonzales (2515), 1-0, 508 points
face opponents of a similar level. Considerably less frequent Bayo Milagro (1996) - Chabanon (2491), 1-0, 495 points
are situations when a significantly lower-rated player Davidsson (1454) - Klausen (1937), 1-0, 483 points
succeeds in beating a much stronger adversary. Todorovic (2388) - Kuruz (1913), 0-1, 475 points
Vaitkevicius (1930) - Butnorious (2377), 1-0, 447 points
The previous week has brought 19 upsets. Puppi Lazo (2022) - Dolezal (2457), 1-0, 435 points
The Puppi Lazo (2022) - IM Dolezal (2457) encounter turned Markovski (2011) - Dourerassou (2438), 1-0, 427 points
out to be the shortest win - 34 moves. Gountras (2005) - Arsovic (2428), 1-0, 423 points
The Vinal Guttierez (2100) - Arocena Uria (1692) confrontation Vinal Guttierez (2100) - Arocena Uria (1692), 0-1, 408 points
lasted 92 moves. Zuloaga Erauskin (1625) - Felizes (2017), 1-0, 392 points
The highest-profile upset of the week was GM Perunovic
(2632) - FM Dinev (2317), 0-1. Average gap: 449; White won 8 games, Black won 2 games.
Recently I have been playing in the PriFO Championship - a
qualification event for the Russian Top League. In Round 3 You can view all the games in the accompanying pgn file.
81-year old Viktor Marsak (1944) has defeated Anton Yatsenko If you have ever won a game against someone rated
(2403). The former has earned 51 rating points in the 300 points or above yourself, please send it to
tournament! This remarkable feat got me thinking once again peter@pogonina.com for publication. Any additional
about how pathetic I and other young guys sound when we information (a photo, annotations, etc.) will be appreciated.
start lamenting about aging, health issues, tiredness, etc.
Another upset has occurred on the next board to me. Alexey
Smirnov (2492) lost in 19 moves with White against Maxim
Puzzle section
(4) Gundavaa, B(2505)-Dubov, D(2627) (6) Mamedov, R(2658)-Wagner, D(2549)
Aeroflot Open, 2015.03.27 Aeroflot Open, 2015.03.28
1... i 1. h
(5) Potkin, V(2605)-Tabatabaei, M(2448) (7) Motylev, A(2653)-Mozharov, M(2555)

1. h 1. h
(8) Salem, AR(2603)-Korobkov, P(2423) (10) Korobov, A(2694)-Ponkratov, P(2613)
1. h 1. h
(9) Savchenko, B(2581)-Predke, A(2530) (11) Motylev, A(2653)-Yilmaz, M(2570)

1... i 1. h
(12) Svane, R(2509)-Esen, B(2571)
Aeroflot Open, 2015.03.30
1. h
(13) Tran Tuan Minh(2455)-Gundavaa, B(2505)

1... i
Endgame section of the d-pawn. Only the 64.f5 line is critical, any other moves
are losing quickly... The most tricky attemptis 64.f5! (
a) 64.Kc6 64...Ke8 65.Kc7 Rf7+! 66.Kc8 (66.Kc6
(14) Shimanov, Aleksandr (2594) 66...Rxf4i) 66...Rd7i wins.;
- Mamedov, Rauf (2658)
b) 64.d7 is another bad try, as Black easily refutes it by
playing 64...Ke7 65.Kc6 Rxf4 66.Kc7 Rd4i;
Aeroflot Open, GM Csaba Balogh
2015.03.29 Best rating: 2672 c) 64.b4 is slightly more stubborn, but it also loses fairly
easily. Black continues his initial plan with 64...Ke8! 65.b5
Kd7 66.Ke5 Rh8 67.f5 Rxh2 68.f6 Rh5+! cutting the white
king. 69.Kf4 Rxb5 70.f7 Rb8i and Rf8 next wins.)
64...Rb8! (64...Ke8? does not work anymore after pushing
the pawn to f5, because the white king can occupy a very
active position with 65.Ke6! Rh8
A very interesting endgame with unbalanced material. White

has 4 pawns, but all of them are separated. The most
dangerous one is on d6, but it is well blockaded by the rook
and the king is also close enough to stop it. After all we could
think that Black is winning, and he really is, however one
of the most natural moves, which actually happened in the 66.f6 Rxh2 67.f7+ Kf8 68.d7 Rd2 Black is stalemated, but
game, spoils the full point. White would get into zugzwang. However here comes the role
of the b-pawn: 69.b4! White simply wants to advance it and
63...Rb8? The b-pawn is the one which stands the most far
Black has nothing better than to force a draw with 69...Re2+=
away from the black king and it can be supported by the white
giving checks and if the king hides in front of the b-pawn, the
one, therefore it is very natural to eliminate it. However it
rook goes back to d2.) 65.Kc6
allows White to survive... [63...Kf7 was the most natural of
the winning moves. Black would like to place his king in front
playing 69.Ke8! Re5+ 70.Kf8 Rd5 71.Ke8=]
Black has only one winning move here and very precise
calculation is required to find it! 65...Rc8+! (65...Rxb3? leads 65.f5!! Black probably blundered this move when he played
to a draw after 66.Kc7! Rc3+ 67.Kd8! It is very similar to 63... Rb8 and White now saves by miracle. The point is that
the game. White advances his pawn to d7 and then he starts White wants to play Kc7 and d7, when the pawn could be
to push the h-pawn. The rook will be forced to catch it, but stopped by Rd3 and Ke7. However after pushing the pawn to
it allows the white king to leave from d8... 67...Rh3 68.d7 f5, White will have the oportunity to lure the king away with
Rxh2 (68...Rc3 69.h4=) 69.Kc7 Rc2+ 70.Kd6! Rd2+ 71.Kc7 f6 and promote the d-pawn. [65.Kd7 65...Rf3i]
Ke7 72.f6+!= This is the key and White promotes his pawn.)
65...Rc3+ 66.Kd7! The only move again! [66.Kb7 loses to
66.Kd7 (66.Kb7 66...Rc3 67.b4 Ke8i) 66...Rc5! This is very
66...Rc5! 67.h4 Rxf5 68.d7 Ke7i]
important! Black must eliminate the f5 pawn with the rook in
order to avoid the f6 check at the end, which we had seen in 66...Kxf5 [66...Rc5 67.Kd8 Rxf5 fails again, because the king
the 65...Rxb3 line. We will see that keeping the black king on stands badly on f6. White holds after 68.d7 Rd5 (68...Ke6
f7 is another essential factor for winning the game... 67.Kd8 69.Ke8!=) 69.Ke8!=; Trying to correct the mistake and place
Rxf5 68.d7 Rd5!i and Ke6 next, or after Kc7, Ke7 wins.] the king to f7 fails also by one tempo in very unlucky
circumstances. 66...Kf7 67.Kd8 There is no time to execute
64.Kc6 Rxb3 [64...Rc8+ is not the same as before because
the winning technique, which we had already seen in the
after 65.Kd7! Black cannot attack the f-pawn with the rook!
63...Kf7 lines by playing 67...Rc5 68.d7 Rxf5 69.Kc7 Rc5+
65...Rc3 66.f5 It is important to control the e6 square to play
70.Kd6! and the rook turns out to be too close. If it was
Kd8 and advance the d-pawn. 66...Rc5 (66...Rxb3 67.Kd8=
anywhere else on the c-file, he could give a check from below
and again d7 is coming next with the same ideas which we
followed by Ke7, but now it does not work...]
have already seen in the 63...Kf7 - 65...Rxb3 line.; 66...Kxf5
67.Ke7 Re3+ 68.Kf7= and d7 next or after 68...Rd3 69.Ke7=) 67.Ke7! Re3+ 68.Kf7 Rh3 69.d7 Rh7+ 70.Ke8 Ke6 The
67.Kd8 Rxf5 68.d7 Rd5 This was the winning plan in the 63.. last well-known trick. White cannot promote a queen because
.Kf7 line, but here comes the huge difference as to why the of the mate on h8, but...
black king should stay on f7. White saves the game now by
(15) Harika, Dronavalli (2492)
- Muzychuk, Mariya (2526)

Best rating: 2737
71.d8=N+! and the rook against knight is an easy theoretical

draw.
71...Kf6 72.h4 Rxh4 1/2-1/2
We are in the first rapid game and throughout the game White
has been trying to put some pressure. So we finally landed in
this queen endgame, which looks close to equal at first sight,
but in fact things are looking very bad for Black.
45.h4! A great move! Black is in zugzwang.
45...Qd6 This move loses a pawn, but Black couldn’t defend
her pawns for much longer anyway. [45...Qg6 also loses a
pawn: 46.Qh8+ Qh7 47.Qf8+! Kg6 48.Qd6+ and the b6
pawn is lost. 48...Kg7 49.Qxb6 and White has an easily
winning position.]
46.Qh8+! Now White is collecting the h5 pawn.
46...Kg6 47.Qg8+ Kf6 48.Qg5+ Ke5 49.Qxh5 In the
queen endgames the rules are similar to pawn endgames, so
almost all positions with a pawn up are winning, but there is of
course a much bigger practical chance for tricks if the queens resign, but here where the stakes are so high-an entry ticket
are still on the board. to the final of the WCC- usually resignation comes very late.
49...Qd3 50.Qh8+ Now White will also win the b6 pawn. 66...e3 Exchanging the e-pawn for the a-pawn, which is
50...Ke6 51.Qh6+ Kf7 maybe the best chance for Black to go on.
67.Qxe3 Qxa5 68.Qf4 Kg6 All White needs to do now is to
push her h-pawn.
69.Qg5+ Kf7 70.Qh5+ Kf6 71.Qh6+ Kf7 72.h5 Qc5
73.Qf4 There were more simple ways of winning, but White
is trying to be as safe as possible.
73...Kg7 74.Qg5+ Kf7 75.Kg1 Qd5 76.Qg6+ [It is hard to
say why White did not just play 76.h6 ]
76...Ke7 77.Qg7+ Ke8 78.Qg6+ Ke7 79.Qg5+ Kf7 80.h6
Finally...
52.Qxb6 at the same time protecting the f2 pawn.
80...Qd1+ 81.Kg2 Qd5+ 82.Kh2 In a totally lost position,
52...Qf3+ 53.Kh2 Qe2 Black has nothing to do but wait. Black is trying her best chance and is at least threatening
54.Qe3 Qd1 55.Qf4 Ke6 56.Qh6+ Ke7 57.Qg7+ Ke6 something...
58.Qg8+ Kf6 59.Qf8+ Ke6 60.Qe8+ Kf6 61.Qc6+ Kf7 82...Qf3
62.Qc7+ Kg6 After a lot of checks White takes the a5 pawn
and everything seems to go smoothly for Harika...
63.Qxa5 Qxb3 64.Qb5 Qa2 65.Qb6+ Kf7
83.Qe3?? What a shocking error! White is trying to be more

than safe, ultra safe, and sudenly the game is already a draw!
[83.Qg7+ would lead to an easy win since after 83...Ke6 White
just needed to calculate that after 84.h7 Qxf2+ 85.Kh3 Qf1+
66.a5 If this was not a rapid game I guess Black would just 86.Kh4 Qh1+ 87.Kg5 Qc1+ 88.Kg6 the white king easily
escapes from the checks, so White is winning because of So, what do we learn from this shocking game which maybe
h8Q next.; 83.Qf4 would lead to a winning pawn endgame. cost Harika the WCC title? That it is never too late to
83...Qxf4 84.gxf4 Kg6 85.Kg3 Kxh6 86.Kf3 Kh5 and now make a mistake and it is clearly better to focus once and
White needs to find calculate things until the end than to all the time try and avoid
complications, even if the position is winning! 1/2-1/2
87.Ke2! (87.Ke3 87...Kg4 88.f3+ Kg3 is just a draw.) 87...Kh4

88.Kd3 Kg4 89.Ke3 Kh4 90.Kd4 and the pawn endgame is
easily winning. 90...Kh3 91.Ke5 Kg4 92.f3+ Kxf3 93.Kxf5]
83...Qxe3! What a shock! White is 2 pawns up in a pawn
endgame, but the position is a draw.
84.fxe3 Kg6 85.Kg2 Kxh6 86.Kf2 Kh5 87.Kf3 Kg5
88.Kf2 White just cannot make any progress.

88...Kh5 89.Kg2 Kg4 90.Kf2 Kh5 91.Kg1 Kg5 92.Kh2
Kh5 93.Kh3 Kg5 94.Kg2 Kg4 95.Kf2 Kh5 96.Kf3 Kg5
Chess and the City.
Miss "Tactics" versus Miss "Come back"
For Marya it was totally based on tactical superiority. Her

first crucial match of this tournament she won in convincing
Best rating: 2493
style in the classical encounters versus former Women’s
World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova. For the semi-finals,
After more than 2 weeks we have eventually reached the however, she had to face probably her toughest opponent -
final stage! Miss Tactics, alias Marya Muzychuk, versus Miss Humpy Koneru from India, who was not only the first seed
Come back, alias Natalija Pogonina, will face each other in a in this tournament but had a perfect score of 6/6 up to
match of 4 games for the Women’s World Championship title that moment. Frankly speaking, Marya was pretty much
of 2015! The winner of this match will not only be rewarded outplayed in every single game in that match, except in
with 60000 Dollars but will also have the pleasure of a Duel the area of tactical resourcefulness. Eventually that very
versus the current World Champion, and first ranked women important aspect of chess led to her not only knocking out
in the world, Hou Yifan from China. Humpy from the semis, but also her next and last Indian
The way to the finals was a long and tough one which both of victim, Harika Dronavalli, from the final.
them mastered perfectly, although in slightly different styles.
While Marya shot herself to the final in a very tactical and
tricky manner, Natalia went the "you can have the first win"
way, which I specially admire as it must be psychological very
tough to always come back after losing the first game of a
match. Since the quarter finals, Natalja managed to always
level the score in game 2 followed by smashing her opponents
in the rapid encounters. Her first victim was Marie Sebag,
followed by Zhao Xue and finally Pia Cramling.
If we take a look at the upcoming match, certain question
may arise. Who of these two still has enough energy to go
through that final battle? While Natalija "only" played three
tiebreaks, Marya only managed to avoid them once, and that
was in her match versus Stefanova. The next aspect may be
the age advantage. Marya is 8 years younger but I would not
say less experienced than Natalija. However, in rapid games
I personally think that the younger you are, the better you
seem to handle your nerves. For both players it looks to
me like they are quite cabable of keeping their nerves under
control, otherwise they wouldn’t be where they are right now.
Last but not least remains the "home advantage", which I
would say does not really affect chess players in comparison
to other sports. However, for Natalija, as a Russian, it should
be a little easier psychologically. On the other hand, Marya
will have her lovely older sister by her side.
Pictures from the official tournament page: (Eteri Kublashvili,

Vladimir Barsky, By B. Dolmatovsky, Anastasya Karlovich)
Clash of the Titans 11...Nd7 12.O-O b6 13.Rad1 Bb7 14.Rfe1 Both sides
developed their pieces to optimal squares.
14...Rc8 In one of my games I tried to play according to the
(16) Keres, Paul idea which we will see in this game. [14...Qc7 15.Bb3 Qd6
- Fine, Reuben [D41] 16.d5 exd5 (16...Nc5? 17.dxe6 Qxd2 18.exf7+!) 17.e5! (17.exd5 to
evaluate recapturing on d5 is always difficult as somtimes the
Ostend(1), 1937 d-pawn can be strong, but in many cases it is simply attacked
by the black pieces.) 17...Qc7 18.Nd4 This is the point, White
GM Kamil Miton sacrifices the pawn- even two pawns! It helps him create
Best rating: 2655
pressure against the black king. (18.Bxd5 18...Bxd5 19.Qxd5
Nc5 Here Black has no real problems.) 18...Nxe5 19.Qf4 Rae8
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 [5...exd5 (19...f6 20.Ne6c) 20.Ba4
leads to Tarasch structures.]
6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+
10.Qxd2 O-O This system is still interesting. White has
an advantage in the center but Black doesn’t have any
weaknesses and after some exchanges he looks very solid.
Arkadij Naiditsch in his game against Vishy Anand proved
that is not easy for White to break this system.
20...b5! A strong move based on good calculation. (20...Re7

21.Nf5 Re6 22.Qg3 g6 (22...f6 23.Rc1 and unfortunately the
black queen has no square on the 7th rank!) 23.Rc1 Qb8
24.Nd4 Re7 25.f4 and Black lost a piece.) 21.Bxb5 Re7 22.Nf5
Re6 23.Qg3 g6 24.Rc1 Qb8 25.Nd4 Re7 26.Nf5 (26.f4 and
now compared to the line with a pawn on b6 Black has 26...a6!
with counterplay over the g1-a7 diagonal.) 26...Re6 27.Nd4
Re7 28.Nf5 Re6 1/2-1/2 Miton,K-Volokitin,A/Lublin POL 2009]
11.Bc4 [11.Rc1 This tricky move recently became very
popular. The idea is not to show where the bishop will be 15.Bb3 White can also play [15.Bd3 15...h6 16.Bb1 White is
develop.] preparing his attack. 16...Re8 17.Re3 A typical move.
17...Qc7 18.e5 Nf8 19.Ne1! Qe7 20.Rg3 Qh4 21.h3 with the 17...Rfd8
idea Rg4. 21...f5 22.exf6 Qxf6 23.Nd3 Red8 24.Nf4Aand the
white pieces are nicely regrouped for the attack. 24...Rc5
25.d5 g5 26.h4 Rc4 27.Nh5 Qe5 28.hxg5 Rxd5 29.Nf6+ 1-0
Radjabov,T-Van Wely,L/Khanty Mansyisk RUS 2005]
15...Nf6 [15...Qf6 This logical move is preparing Rfd8 and
not allowing Qf4, but now White once again has the following
thematic idea: 16.d5
18.Re3?! A logical move. White is going to activate the

rook over the 3rd rank but he also has another idea...
[18.Ng5! 18...h6 Otherwise White would play e5. 19.Nxe6
fxe6 20.Bxe6+ Kh8 21.Bxc8 Rxc8 22.f3 White has a rook and
two pawns for two pieces but the most important factor is
the strong central pawns d5-e4-f3, which will limit the black
pieces. 22...Qc2 23.Qf2! just to avoid counterplay against the
a2 pawn. White is better.]
16...exd5 (16...e5 Thanks to the strong pawn on d5 and 18...b5 Black starts creating counterplay on the queenside.
the limited bishop on b7 this structure is usually better [18...h6 19.Ne5A]
for White.) 17.e5! Qg6 18.Nd4 Nc5 19.Bc2 Ne4 20.Qf4 19.Rde1 White sill had the idea Ng5-Nxe6! [19.Ne5 was
The white pieces get strong activity. 20...f6 21.e6 Qg5 probably less accurate. 19...a5 20.Rg3 Nxe4 (20...Kh8 21.Qg5
22.Qxg5 fxg5 23.e7 Rfe8 24.Ba4 Rxe7 25.f3 and soon White Rg8
will convert his advantage of being a piece up. 1-0 Ding
Liren-Jovanic,O/Cappelle-la-Grande FRA 2014 (34)]
16.Qf4 Qc7 17.Qh4 The white queen is ready to support the
attack. [17.Qxc7 17...Rxc7 This endgame is usually very safe
for Black. 18.d5 exd5 19.exd5 Rd7 Xd5]
When four pieces attack the king, one’s intuition usually says
that there should be a fatal blow somewhere! 22.Bxe6! fxe6 21...exd5 [21...e5 22.Qg3 followed by the unpleasant
23.Ng6+ hxg6 24.Rh3+ Nh7 25.Rxh7+ Kxh7 26.Qh4#) 21.Rg4 maneuver Nh4-Nf5.]
Nd6 (21...a4 is too slow. 22.Qh6 g6 22.e5 Thanks to this typical idea White gets the strong d4
square for the knight and also the d5 pawn disturbs the black
pieces from getting active.
22...Nd7 [22...Ne4 This jump to the center was more logical
but Black was probably afraid of 23.e6 (23.Rxe4 23...dxe4
24.Ng5 h6 25.Nxf7 Bd5i) 23...f5 (23...fxe6 24.Rxe4 dxe4
25.Ng5 h6 26.Nxe6 Qc3 27.Nxd8+ Qxb3 28.Nxb7 Qd5 and
now there are problems with the knight, so Black gets
practical counterplay. 29.Qe7 e3 30.f3 (30.fxe3 30...Rc2i)
30...b3V) 24.Nd4
23.Rxg6+! hxg6 24.Nxg6 fxg6 25.Bxe6+ Qf7 26.Qxg6+h)
22.Qf6 Ne8 Not an easy plan to find! Black brings the knight
to e8 to protect the g7 pawn. (22...Nf5 23.Nxf7!) 23.Qh6
Bd5e and Black manages to avoid getting mated.]
19...a5 20.a4 b4?! This move gives White some important
time. More accurate was [20...bxa4 21.Bxa4 h6 with an
unclear position.]
24...Qe5! (24...g6 25.f3 Qb6 26.Nxf5 gxf5 27.fxe4 fxe4 28.Kh1

Qxe6 29.Rxe4h) 25.e7 Re8 26.Nb5 (26.Nxf5 26...Kh8k)
26...Rxe7 27.f3 Kh8 28.fxe4 dxe4 The material is equal but the
white pieces are very active.]
21.d5! All the white pieces are placed well so it is the right
moment for the break!
23.Ng5 27...d4 28.Qh8+ Ke7 29.Qxg7 Rf8 30.Qf6+ Ke8 31.e6!
After 31... dxe3 then 32. exf7 Kd7 33.Be6+ White wins the
queen. 1-0

(17) Kovalenko
1. h
23...Nf8? The decisive mistake! Black could have saved

the game after [23...h6 24.e6 hxg5 25.exf7+ Kxf7 26.Re7+
Kg8 27.Qxg5 Qc3 28.Bxd5+ Bxd5 29.Qxd5+ Kh8 30.Qh5+
Kg8 31.Qf7+ Kh8 32.R7e3 and it looks like White is simply
winning but after 32...Nf6 33.Rh3+ Nh7 34.Rxc3 bxc3
the c-pawn is so strong that it gives Black enough

counterplay! For example: 35.Qb3 c2 36.Rc1 Rd1+! 37.Rxd1
c1=Q=+]
24.Nxh7! The final blow!
24...Nxh7 [24...Ng6 25.Qh5 Nf4 26.Qg4 Kxh7 27.Qxf4h]
25.Rh3 Qc1 26.Qxh7+ Kf8 27.Re3! and Black has no more
counterplay over the first rank.
Solutions (20) Hauge, L(2380)-Rombaldoni, A(2488)
(18) Morshedi, A(2221)-Hagen, A(2412)
31...Rd2! 32.Qc8+ [32.Kxd2 32...Qd3+ 33.Kc1 Qc2#;

26.Rxe5! fxe5 27.Qh4+ Ke8 28.Qh5+ Kd8 29.Qg5+ Ke8 32.Nd4 32...Qd3i]
30.Ng7+h 1-0 32...Qxc8 0-1
(19) Navara, D(2736)-Danielsen, H(2514) (21) Sevian, S(2531)-Iotov, V(2579)
Reykjavik Open, 2015.03.18 US Teams, 2015.03.17
25...Nxg4! 26.f6 [26.hxg4 26...Qxg4+ 27.Rg2 Qxd4i]

26...Qxf6 [26...Bxd4 27.Qxd4 Qg3+i] 34.g5! gxh5 35.gxh6 Bg6 36.Kf4h 1-0 [36.Kf4 36...Kd7
37.Kg5 Bd3 38.Kf6h]
27.Bxf6 Ngxf6 [27...Bxe3+ 28.Kg2 Ngxf6i]
28.Bxd7 Nxd7 29.Qxc5 Nxc5i
(22) Sevian, S(2531)-Kritz, L(2583) (24) Sebag, M(2482)-Pogonina, N(2456)
US Teams, 2015.03.19 Wch Women 2015, 2015.03.23
25.Nf5! Qc7 [25...exf5 26.Qxe7+h] 35.h4? [35.Rxd6! 35...Rxd6 (35...Qxd6 36.Bxe5+h)

26.Nxg7 Kxg7 27.Bd4+ 1-0 36.Qxe5+ Kg8 37.Qxd6h]
(23) Guramishvili, S(2367)-Javakhisvili, L(2481) 35...Nd4
Wch Women 2015, 2015.03.18 (25) Zhao Xue(2527)-Kotenashvili, B(2513)

Wch Women 2015, 2015.03.23
31.Rxe7! Rxe7 [31...Qd6 32.Re2c]

32.d6 Bxc6 33.dxc7 Rexc7 34.Rb6c 45.Bxf5+! Qxf5 46.e6 Qe5 [46...Bxe6 47.Qg7#]
47.Qd3+! 1-0 [47.Qd3+ 47...Qf5 48.exd7h]
(26) Le Quang Liem(2676)-Zhang Zhong(2614) (28) Bondarenko
HD Bank Cup, 2015.03.19
1.f7+! [1.a7 1...Bxb5+ 2.Kxf2 Bc6]

29.Bxg6!! Qxg6 [29...fxg6 30.Rxf8+ Qxf8 (30...Kxf8 1...Kxf7 [1...Bxf7 2.a7h]
31.Qh8+ Ke7 32.Qxb2h) 31.d6 Qd8 (31...Nd5 32.d7h)
2.a7 Be3 3.Nxe3 Bxb5+ 4.Nc4!! Bc6 [4...Bxc4+ 5.Kxf2h]
32.Qg4! Ne8 33.d7 Ng7 34.Rc1!h]
5.Ne5+ Ke6 6.Nxc6h
30.Rd3! [30.Rf3? 30...Rb1]
30...Rxb4 [30...Kg7 31.Rg3 Rh8 32.Rxg6+ fxg6 33.Rf7+ Kxf7
34.Qxh8h] 31.Rg3h
(27) Shankland, S(2661)-Hou Yifan(2686)
Hawaii rapid, 2015.03.20
26.d5! Rxe1+ 27.Qxe1 g5 [27...Qxd5 28.Qe8#]

28.dxc6 gxf4 29.c7 Qc6 30.Qe7h 1-0
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
Mariya Muzychuk from Ukraine is the new Women’s World
Editorial Preface 2 Champion! She could win her final match over 4 normal
games against Natalia Pogonina with the score of 2.5-1,5
winning her second game and drawing the other 3. It was a
very exciting match to watch and the tension was maintained
until the last seconds of the 4th and final game.
David vs. Goliath 13 We congratulate Mariya on this great achievement, especially
considering the fact that the situation in her birth country is
Puzzle section 15 everything else that being comfortable.
We also have to underline the great success of Pogonina who
Endgame section 18 could recover 3 times in a row from a loss in the first game,
before reaching the final table.
Chess and the City. The traditional Aeroflot is back and has a winner as Ian
The 15th Woman World Champion! 23 Nepomniachtchi scored 7/9 and showed great fighting play!
2nd place went to Dubov with 7/9 too, but his play was much
Clash of the Titans 24 more "solid". With this great victory Ian has qualified for
the Super Tournament in Dortmund, which will take place in
June.
In the US Chess Championships Nakamura is leading with 6/8,
Solutions 28 followed by Robson with 5.5/8. It is strange to see Wesley So
on just 4.5/8 after his great results in the past tournaments.
But there are still 3 rounds to go and a lot can happen.
In the female group Nemcova is leading with 6.5/8, followed
by Krush with 6/8.
In the biggest German open, the Neckar Open, nobody could
stop the rush of the Li Chao, who scored a fantastic 8.5/9.
At the moment the Dubai Open is also under way with a lot of
strong GMs.
As usual we wish you a lot of chess fun and we can already
be excited about two upcoming super events: the super
tournament in Shamkir (with Carlsen, Caruana etc) and the
World Team Championship in Yerevan.
Two best games of the past week 11.cxd4 O-O 12.Bd3 Bg4 Black uses the standard Gruenfeld
plans and exerts maximum pressure on the d4 pawn.
13.Qxa5 [13.Rxb7? is wrong because of the tactical trick
(1) Matlakov, Maxim (2693) 13...Bxf3 14.gxf3
- Bok, Benjamin (2587) [A34]
Aeroflot Open A 2015(9.11), GM Csaba Balogh

2015.04.04 Best rating: 2672
The next game demonstrates well the power of the two

bishops in an open position!
1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.d4 Nxc3 6.bxc3
g6 The game started like an Anti-Gruenfeld, but Matlakov
decided to transpose to the main line. 14...Qh5! with a double-attack on f3 and d4. White cannot
7.e4 The main alternative to avoid the classical main line is protect both with 15.Be2 because Black takes on d4 anyway:
7.e3 with the idea to strengthen the d4 pawn against which 15...Bxd4! 16.Bxd4 Rfd8e wins back the piece with excellent
Black is going to focus all his pieces. prospects.]
7...Bg7 8.Be3 Qa5 9.Qd2 Nc6 10.Rb1 The most common 13...Nxa5
move is 10.Rc1, but Matlakov must have his reasons to choose
this variation as he is the second of Peter Svidler, one of the
biggest Gruenfeld experts.
10...cxd4 [The subtle point of Rb1 is to provoke 10...a6
because of the Rb5 threat of winning a pawn and now White
switches his rook to 11.Rc1 overprotecting the c3 pawn in
order to push d5. 11...cxd4 12.cxd4 Qxd2+ 13.Kxd2 and here
the pawn on a6 significantly weakens the queenside pawn
structure, especially the hole on b6, which can be occupied
by the bishop after pushing d5.] 14.Ke2! Without the queens on board, White does not need
to worry about getting mated and in general in endgames
the king stand better in the center, from where it participates
more in the battle.
14...Rad8 The queens are off, but Black should continue
playing in the spirit of the opening and create his counterplay
against the center.
15.d5 f5 Consequent play and the reason why Black put his
a-rook to d8. [The other principled alternative was 15...e6
with the same idea of undermining the central pawns. White
probably tries to consolidate with 16.Rb5 b6 17.h3 Bxf3+
18.Kxf3 playing for a small edge due to the pair of bishops.]
16.Rhc1! White bring s his last unemployed piece to the game
22...Kh8 [22...Rf7 drops an exchange after 23.Bd5! Rxd5
and tries to lock the a5 knight out of the game by taking the
24.Rc8+!; 22...Bd4 It would be another positionally justified
c4 square under control. [16.Bxa7 is premature in view of
decision to trade the bishop pair, but it is tactically refutedby
16...fxe4 17.Bxe4 Ra8 18.Bc5 Nc4Cand the counterplay gets
23.Bd5+]
too strong.]
23.Rd5! Another subtle move! Black has left from the Bd5
16...e6 Black seems to do everything well, or at least his play
check and was intending to play Bd4. White trades a pair of
looks very logical to me.
rooks to limit Black’s chances for sufficient counterplay. The
17.h3 Bxf3+?! Very strange, but this is wrong. Black a7 pawn cannot run away. [23.Rxa7 was premature because
completely destroys the center and even temporarily wins a it allows the knight to join the game... 23...Nc4]
pawn, but somehow the white pieces become too active and
23...Rfe8 24.Rxa7 Nc4 25.Rxd8 Rxd8 26.Bg5 Re8
dominant. [17...exd5 18.hxg4 fxe4 seems to solve the opening
problems. 19.Bxe4 dxe4 20.Nd2 White wins back the pawn
and the game becomes drawish.; Or 17...fxe4 18.Bxe4 exd5
should also be completely fine.]
18.gxf3 fxe4 19.fxe4 exd5 20.Rb5! dxe4 21.Bxe4 b6
22.Rc7! Knowing the computer’s evaluation and the time
consumptation of Matlakov, I would not be surprised if this
was all analyzed at home. The two bishops are working
extremely well, they control the entire board and the active
rook on c7 soon restores the material balance, as Black
cannot protect his a7 pawn. 27.Be7! Restricting the mobility of the black pieces. The
bishops are just temporarily pinned, but Bc6 is coming next.
There are two very important factors which guarantee White’s
edge: Black cannot trade any of his minor pieces and there are
pawns on both sides of the board, especially the b6-a2 pair of
pawns are playing an important role.
27...Nd6 [27...Bf8 does not work because after some
defensive moves the black king finds himself in a mating net...
28.Bf6+ Kg8 29.Kd3 Ne5+ 30.Kd4 Bc5+ 31.Kc3h and
Bd5 is coming next.]
28.Bc6 Nc8 29.Bxe8 Nxa7 30.Bd7! Trapping the knight
on a7! White cannot win it, but it is enough that the black
pieces are tied to defend each other while White can improve
37.Kd5! Setting Black into zugzwang! Any of his moves
his position step by step!? Despite the very limited material
allow a huge improvement for White... Black must control
on the board I would evaluate White’s winning chances to be
the d6 square, otherwise the king’s invasion is decisive. It
much better than Black’s drawing ones.
did not work right away because of Bxf4, but if the bishop
30...Bd4 31.f4 Kg7 32.Kd3 Kf7 33.Bd8 Obviously White is moves from e3 it already does the job... 37...Bxf4 (37...Bc5
not interested in trading the bishops. moves into 38.a5!; 37...Bf2 38.Kd6h; 37...Kg7 38.Ke6h)
33...Bf2 34.a4! Black’s pieces are totally paralyzed. The 38.Bxb6 Bb8 Black is even more busted than before, but it
knight cannot move. The bishop is forced to protect the b6 still requires some technique to convert the advantage. One
weakness. The king is also kind of trapped in a cage. way to win is 39.h4 Kf6 40.Bd8+ Kf7 41.a5! Slowly advancing
the pawn to a6, meanwhile depriving Black from any kind of
counterplay... 41...Bg3 42.Be6+ Kg7 43.Bb6 Bb8 44.Bd7
Kf6 45.Bd8+ Kf7 46.a6 Here we are again, but the pawn is
a square ahead... 46...Bg3 47.Bb6 Bb8 48.Bc5! The final
part of the plan. White simply trades bishops and traps the a7
knight... 48...Kf6 49.Bd6 Bxd6 50.Kxd6 g5 51.hxg5+ Kxg5
52.Kc7 h4 53.Kb6h]
36...Bf2 37.Kd5 Be3 38.Bg5 Kd6-c7 is the threat again. The
only was to avoid it is
34...h5 35.Ke4 Bc5 Black cannot do anything better than 38...Bc5 39.Bd8 [39.a5 It is strange that White did not
waiting with his bishop on the g1-c5 diagonal and watch how advance his pawn to a6. Matlakov chose another way to
White is making progress. improve his position...]
36.h4 [A very nice winning plan was suggested by the

computer: 36.Ke5 36...Be3
39...Be3 40.Ke5 Bc5 41.f5 White opens a path towards the bishops are winning against the knight, but in case of the best
h5 pawn. defense, the defensive side can prolong his defeat for more
41...gxf5 [Otherwise 41...Bf2 42.f6h and Be6 is decisive.] than 50 moves until losing his knight, which will allow him to
claim the draw by the 50 moves rule.]
42.Kxf5 Be3
46.Bf7+ Kd7 47.Kg7! White takes the h5 pawn with the
bishop and he keeps the black king away from the h-pawn
with his own king.
47...Bb4 48.Bxh5 b5 49.Bg4+ Ke8 50.h5 bxa4 [50...Bd2
51.a5h]
43.Bf6 Here is another zugzwang! Black can only move with

his bishop, but it either allows Kg5 or Bd4!
43...Bc5 [43...Bd2 is not better either. 44.Be6+ Kf8 45.Bd4
Ba5 46.Bd5 Nc8 47.Kg5 is similar to the game.]
44.Be6+ Ke8 45.Kg6 Be7 [The only move was 45...b5! 51.Bd7+! Not the only win, but definitely a very nice final
46.a5 Nc6 47.Kxh5 Nxa5 48.Kg6 Nc6 49.h5 Be3 50.h6 Bxh6 blow! White deflects the king from the f8 square to avoid
51.Kxh6 h6-Bf8 and sacrificing the bishop. There is no way to stop the
h-pawn.
51...Kxd7 52.h6 Black resigned! A great positional
performance by Matlakov! 1-0
According to the 6 pieces tablebase, in case both sides play

the best moves, White mates in 69 moves. As far as I know, two
(2) Holt, Conrad (2530)
- Nakamura, Hikaru (2798) [E90]
ch-USA 2015(1.1),
Best rating: 2737
We are following the US Championships and Nakamura is

back. For some years there was not really a concurrent for 9.Nd2!? I like this move a lot. White’s ideas are to stop Black
him, but now that Wesley So is just a few points behind him, from playing f5 immediately because of exf5 and the knight
the tournament is getting very exciting. Basically before the on h5 is hanging and at the same time to prepare to play b4
event probably most of the spectators would think- just like after Black’s Nc5.
me- that it was going to be a fight between Nakamura and 9...Qe8 preparing the f5 move.
So for the first place, which is why it could be very important
to score the best possible results against the "lower rated" 10.Be2 chasing the knight back.
opponents in the event. In the current game, Nakamura picks 10...Nf6 11.h4! Another very good move by White! Holt
KID, which is not a big surprise, and then the game is getting doesn’t wait for Black to play Nd7 and f5, but launches his
very sharp. Things were looking everything but great for own play on the kingside, using the fact that the white rook
Black, but Hold could not hold the pressure, chose the wrong is still on h1.
track where and got punished with a mating attack.
11...Nd7 Not a pleasant move to play as it lets White push h5,
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 Nakamura plays a but what else to do?! To play 11...h5 is clearly not a move for a
couple of different openings with Black, but one thing is sure: KID player and White still has the positional threat of playing
he clearly plays most of his games for a win, rather than a3-b4-Nb3-Be3 with total domination.
chosing a safe opening where the drawish outcome could be
12.h5 Of course!
the most probable one.
12...f5 Rather than going for a a passive strategy, Nakamura
5.Nf3 O-O 6.h3 This is a very modern line with a lot of games
looks for complications, thus taking into account that he is
played. The idea of White is simple, to play g4 and stop Black
playing for 3 results and might just lose the game.
from playing the usual f5 move.
13.hxg6 Before taking on f5, White opens the h-file, which is
6...e5 7.d5 Nh5 is one of the main moves for Black.
very logical.
8.g3 Na6 [8...f5 is the other try here.]
13...hxg6 14.exf5 It seems like Black can’t take back on f5 and 16.Nf3! So far Holt played a perfect game! I guess Nakamura
of course this was not his plan anyway. underrestimated the strength of the white knight on h4 who
14...Nf6 This is clearly the best move and it was obviously will perfectly defend the position of the white king.
planned before playing 11...Nd7. [After 14...gxf5 15.Bh5 Qe7 16...Nb4 Black tries to put some threats around the c2
16.Bg6 White’s play on the kingside is very dangerous.; And of square.
course it is always wrong for Black to take with the rook since 17.Nh4 Qh7 Nc2 is still a dangerous threat.
after 14...Rxf5? 15.Nde4 White’s domination is obvious.]
18.Kf1! A very strong move, avoiding the Nc2 idea and at the
15.fxg6 Why not take another pawn?! Personally I think that same time leaving the white rook on a perfect position on h1.
to take some material is generally the right decision in case Now White is very close to stabilize his position which would
there is nothing concrete to be afraid of. White also had mean being a clear pawn up.
another, more calm option of playing 15.Nb3, blocking the
black knight on a6 followed by Bg5 and maybe 0-0-0. I guess 18...Bf5!? Nakamura is also looking for his chances and
White’s position should also be clearly better. plays the most unpleasant move for Hold. The game gets
very tactical. All black pieces are in the attack, but White’s
15...Qxg6 I am not sure about this move at all. [I think the structure continues looking very safe.
best practical chance was to play 15...e4!? Anyway this move
has to be played sooner or later and Black avoids the strong 19.Kg1 It was a hard decision whether to play Kg2 or Kg1, but
Nf3. 16.Nf1!? getting the knight to a great position on e3. why actually to go to g2 where the king can sometimes be
16...Qxg6 17.Ne3 White is a clear pawn up but Black has some checked from e4.
play after 17...Nc5 and we are in a quite typical position for 19...Bc2
the KID. White is probably better, but from a practical point of
view the position is very complicated and the game is going
for 3 results.]
20.Qd2?! After some fantastic moves Hold starts to "shake".

[Why not just play 20.Qf1 with the idea of playing Ng2 next or
just Be3. I believe White should be better here.
20...Ne4 Black’s try doesn’t lead anywhere because of the
great move 21.Bg4! Of course all this is not easy to see and
things remain very complicated, but when you play the KID
you must be ready for a hard fight.]
20...Ne4 Now the move Ne4 is already much more effective.
21.Nxe4 Qxe4
25.Nf5? A mistake rarely comes alone and this move is

just losing. [White could have fought with 25.Qd1 25...Nxa1
26.Be3 with the idea of playing Qh5 next. Of course now
things are looking reversed, and it is already White who needs
to be lucky to survive, but there are clearly some practical
chances to make things complicated for Black.]
25...Ne1 Black doesn’t miss his chance...
22.Bf1? and this move is already clearly a big mistake
26.Ne7+ Nothing helps any longer... [26.Nh4 would lead to a
based on miscalculation. [White should have continued with
beautiful mate: 26...Qg2+ 27.Nxg2
22.Ng2 22...Bd3 23.Bh5 and although White’s position looks
dangerous at first sight, in fact most of the tactics work for
him. Nakamura would not have had an easy time here finding
the right way to continue the game.]
22...Bd3! Clearly White blundered this great reply of Black.
23.Bh3 [Holt probably missed that after 23.Qxb4 23...Bxf1
White can’t take the f1 bishop because the rook on h1 is
hanging.]
23...Nc2 24.Be6+ Rf7 The black knight wants to go to d4 and
e1. White’s position is already looking just bad! 27...Nf3#]
26...Kf8 27.Ng6+ Ke8 and White needs to resign as there is
no way to defend from Qg2 or Nf3 next. Would it be right to
say that Nakamura got a bit lucky- I don’t think so.
In fighting chess it is always easy to find a mistake after
the game, but during the game things are much more
complicated and it is hard to take the right decisions. 0-1
David vs. Goliath
Peter Zhdanov
Top-10:
unexpected results that occurred last week. Players usually Chudinovskih (2263) - Mazouz (1595), 0-1, 668 points
face opponents of a similar level. Considerably less frequent Jarque Megias (1952) - Cifuentes Parada (2461), 1-0, 509 points
are situations when a significantly lower-rated player Muller (2057) - Zhao Zong Yuan (2558), 1-0, 501 points
succeeds in beating a much stronger adversary. Henderson de la Fuente (1753) - Jimenez Almeida (2244), 1-0,
491 points
The previous week has brought 30 upsets, including a few Torres Fernandez (1916) - Valmana Canto (2390), 1-0, 474
high-profile ones. points
The number of move ranges from 30 in WGM Abrahamyan Kollari (2110) - Kurecki (1658), 0-1, 452 points
(2322) - WIM Wang (1901), 0-1 to 76 in FM Dehmelt (2246) - GM Al Hageri (2115) - Epishin (2563), 1-0, 448 points
Ortiz Suarez (2625), 1-0. Tanev (1366) - Stoyanov (1812), 1-0, 446 points
Saeed (2200) - Safarli (2641), 1-0, 441 points
Three more 2600+ GMs have succumbed to amateur players:
Tabada (2238) - Kuzubov (2667), 1-0, 429 points
GM L’Ami (2605) - FM Van Dijk (2273), 0-1; Tabada (2238) - GM
Kuzubov (2667), 1-0; FM Saeed (2200) - GM Safarli (2641), 1-0. Average gap: 486; White won 8 games, Black won 2 games.
Also notable is former top-10 GM Epishin (2563)’s loss to Al
Hageri (2115). Our featured player of the week is Nicolas Skettos from
Especially impressive is the result of the game between IM Cyprus. According to him, he is the author of 5 David
Chudinovskih (2263) and Mazouz (1595). The stronger player vs. Goliath upsets. Below is the most recent one and, by
had White and, on paper, was supposed to win his game coincidence, the one with the largest rating difference - 432
blindfolded, drunk, in blitz mode and using his left hand only. points. Black misplayed the opening pretty badly, and White
However, the lower-rated female player prevailed! converted the extra material rather smoothly:
(1) Skettos Nikolas (1525)
- Abatzidis, Stelios (1957) [B22]
PASYDY OPEN 2015(1)
1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.cxd4 Nc6 6.Nf3
Bg4 7.Nc3 Qd7
1-0
8.d5 Bxf3 9.gxf3 a6 10.dxc6 Qxc6 11.Qd5 Qb6 12.Qb3 information (a photo, annotations, etc.) will be appreciated.
Qc7 13.Be3 e6 14.Qb6 Qb8 15.Bg2 Bd6 16.f4 Nf6
17.Bxb7 O-O 18.Bxa8 Qxa8 19.O-O-O Be7 20.Qa7 Qe8

21.Bc5 Bxc5 22.Qxc5 Qb8 23.Qe5 Qb6 24.Qd4 Qb7
25.Rhg1 Ne8 26.Rg3 a5 27.Rdg1 g6 28.h4 Ng7 29.Rd3 Nf5
30.Qf6 Qb6 31.Rd2 Rc8 32.Rgd1
Puzzle section
(3) Idani, P(2496)-Sjugirov, S(2669) (5) Sasikiran, K(2682)-Svetushkin, D(2592)
1... i 1. h
(4) Matlakov, M(2693)-Sanal, V(2487) (6) Inarkiev, E(2706)-Salem, A.R.(2603)

1. h 1... i
(7) Vidit, S(2625)-Swayams, M(2440) (9) Khismatullin, D(2650)-Mamedov, R(2658)
1. h 1. h
(8) Grachev, B(2673)-Svetushkin, D(2592) (10) Fedoseev, V(2674)-Antipov, M(2529)

1. h 1. h
(11) Virkud, A(2132)-Krush, I(2477)
US Woman Championship, 2015.04.04
1... i
(12) Van Wely, L(2665)-Heberla, B(2567)

Doeberl Cup, 2015.04.05
1... i
Endgame section 57...Re1 58.Kf4 and we are back to a similar position as in the
game.]
57.Kf4 The white king is going to take a good position on e5.
(13) Onischuk, Alexander (2665)
57...Kg8 58.Ke5
- Kamsky, Gata (2683)
ch-USA 2015(6.3),
Best rating: 2737
58...Kf7 Black has nothing better than bringing his king to

f7-f8 because to stay passive on h7 would mean that the
e-pawn would just march through.
59.Rd7+ Kf8 White has done the best he could to place his
pieces to perfect positions, but what’s next?!
This simple looking endgame is actually very complicated. Is 60.Kd5 A good choice. White is preparing the e5 move after
it a win or still a draw? We are going to find out during the next which Ke6 is possible at some point.
moves... 60...Ra2 61.Ke6 Of course 61.e5 was possible too.
55.Rd8 White is planning to play Rd3 and Re3 with the idea 61...Ra6+ 62.Rd6 Ra8 63.e5 Rb8 So the white pawn is on
of pushing the e-pawn, thus freeing the white king from g5. e5, but still it is quite unclear how to actually win the game.
[55.e5? would lead to an immediate draw after 55...Rf8!
56.Re6 Re8 and White is losing the e-pawn, which means an 64.Rc6! A very good idea! White needs his rook on the c-file
easy draw.] to be able to play Kd7 at a good moment and protect from the
checks on the a-file with Rc7.
55...Re1 [55...Rf8 56.Rd6 and the pawn on g6 is hanging.]
64...Rd8 65.Rc7 Ra8 66.Kd7 The threat is to play e6 next.
56.Rd4 Re2 Black starts the passive defense. [Black can’t
keep the king on g5. 56...Rf1 57.Rd3! Now the threat is Re3.
74...Kf7 75.e6+ So White finally played e6!
75...Kf8 76.Rc7! A good move. The white rook is greatly
placed on c7 and soon we will see why.
76...Ra8 Black can’t do much but keep on waiting.
77.Kd6
66...Re8! The only defense. White still can’t put his pawn to
e6.
67.Kd6 [67.e6? would lead to a draw since after 67...Re7+
68.Kd6 Black just enters the pawn endgame: 68...Rxc7
69.Kxc7 Ke7 with a draw.]
67...Rd8+ 68.Rd7 Ra8 69.Kd5 White has shown no winning 77...Rd8+ [77...Rb8 was losing too. 78.Kd7 Re8 79.Rc4! Now
plan so far, so Onischuk is going for a second attempt... there is already nothing Black can do. 79...Re7+ 80.Kd6 Re8
69...Ra5+ 70.Ke6 Ra8 We has this position already... 81.Rf4+ The black king is being cut off. 81...Kg8 82.e7 Ra8 and
White is easily winning after 83.Ra4!]
71.Rf7+ Kg8 72.Rc7 Kf8 This one as well.
78.Rd7 Ra8 79.Rf7+ Kg8 80.Rc7 Kf8 81.Rf7+ Kg8 82.Rb7
73.Rc6 Finally White finds the right spot to target the g6
Kf8 Onischuk decided to repeat the position a couple of
pawn...
times before going for the correct
73...Rb8? and this move just loses on the spot. [We would
be back to a similar position as in the game after 73...Rd8
74.Ra6 Rb8 75.Kd5 White is attacking the g6 pawn but it is
only a secondary threat, as the main idea is to finally play
e6. 75...Kf7 76.Ra7+ Kf8 77.e6 and we are back to a similar
position as in the game.]
74.Kd5 was not the best. [74.Kd7! was winning on the spot.
74...Re8 trying a similar defensive idea as before, but now
White has 75.Re6! The winning move! Protecting the e5 pawn
and at the same time winning the g6 pawn. 75...Ra8 76.Rxg6 83.Kd7! Re8 and now we dy know how White should win and
Ra7+ 77.Ke6 and White is easily winning.] of course Alexander doesn’t miss it:
84.Rb1 The right move!
(14) Rapport, Richard (2709)
84...Re7+ 85.Kd6 Re8 86.Rf1+ Kg8 87.Kd7 Just as
- Khalifman, Alexander (2613)
winning as 87.e7.
87...Ra8 Aeroflot Open, GM Csaba Balogh
2015.04.02 Best rating: 2672
88.Rc1 and Black can’t avoid Rc8 next. The e-pawn is a

queen. So the conclusion of this endgame is simple: White is
winning and the game perfectly showed how. Bring the king
We are facing a very instructive practical endgame, which can
to d6, the rook to the 7th rank and play e5-e6 when possible.
be very useful to remember for our own games. The 2 vs 1 rook
1-0
endgames are fairly easy theoretical draws if the pawns are
on the same side. If the black king was on b8 we could speak
about this case, however the huge difference is that the black
king is far away from the pawn and by approaching towards it
he must always count on trading the rooks, thus entering into
a seemingly suspicious pawn endgame. Our co-author, the
Ex-World Champion Alexander Khalifman, solves this difficult
situation by perfect understanding of the position!
48...Kd8!! The most natural move! Black would like to move
the rook along the 7th rank and continue the journey with the
king towards the a7 pawn to secure the draw. The question
is what happens if White forces the trade of the rooks. Black
had to evaluate the arising pawn endgame accurately...
49.Rh8+ Kc7 50.Rh7+ Kb6 51.Rxb7+ Kxb7 This endgame
is a draw, but without knowing about it one must be really
scared of losing.
Here we can see the importance of each tempo. If the pawn

was on a3, the game would be drawn. However, White wins
the crucial tempo with 59.a3! Ka8 60.a4 Kb8 61.a5 Ka8
52.Ke5 Kc6! It is very l to go forward with the king, provoking 62.b6 axb6 63.axb6 Kb8 64.b7!h]
the a2-a3 move to win a crucial tempo and to avoid getting 53.Kd4 Kb5 54.a3 [54.Kc3 54...Kc5 forces one of the pawns
into zugzwang in some positions. The following 52... Kb8 to move if White wants to make progress.]
line demonstrates the point. [52...Kb8? 53.Kd6 Kb7 54.Kc5
Kc7 55.Kb5 Kb7 56.b4 54...Kb6! Black starts waiting now. He only moves with his
a-pawn if it forces a draw. Lets say after 55.b4 a5. Otherwise
it is obligatory to keep it on a7 to save the game.
55.Kd5 [White cannot make progress if he tries frontal
opposition: 55.Kc4 55...Kc6 56.Kb4 Kb6]
55...Kb5 56.Kd6 Kb6 57.a4 Kb7 58.Kd7 [58.Kc5 is
another line where we can see the importance of provoking
all the white pawn moves... 58...Kc7 59.Kb5 Kb7
Here is a zugzwang! Black must allow the white king to occupy

the a6 square. 56...Kb8 (Touching the a-pawn is never good.
It just makes the pawn more vulnerable. 56...a6+ 57.Kc5 Kc7
(Black cannot force the b-pawn to capture on a5. White wins
after 57...a5 58.b5!h) 58.a4 Kb7 59.Kd6 Kb6 60.a5+ Kb5
61.Kc7 Kxb4 62.Kb6h Black misses one tempo to squeeze
the king to the a-file.) 57.Ka6 Ka8 58.b5 Kb8
The only thing that Black must calculate here is the position
with the white king on a6 and then White advances his pawns
to b6 axb6 axb6 and in this situation he should play Ka8!
60.b4 (If 60.Ka5 60...Kb8 61.Ka6 Ka8 62.b4 Kb8 63.b5 Ka8
64.a5 Kb8 65.b6 axb6 66.axb6 Ka8= and draw!) 60...Ka8!
By accurate calculation we come to the right conclusion!
(60...Kb8? loses now, because of 61.Ka6 Ka8 62.b5 Kb8 63.a5
Ka8 64.b6 axb6 65.axb6 Kb8 66.b7h; 60...Kc7 is also good.
It transposes after Ka6 Kb8.) 61.Ka6 Kb8 62.b5 Ka8 63.a5
Kb8 64.b6 axb6 65.axb6 Ka8!= and Black holds! ] I wanted to reach this position where 64...axb6 65.axb6 Kb8
66. b7 wins again. But Black has two different ways to make
a draw: 64...Kb8 (64...a6 is another well-known theoretical
draw. Black only waits on the b8-b7 and if necessary c8
squares and White cannot make progress because 65.b7+
Kb8 66.Kb6 is stalemate!) 65.b7 a6!= and White is forced to
stalemate his opponent with Kb6.]
59...Kc8 60.Kc5 Kc7 61.Kb5 Kb7 62.Ka5 Kb8! We
already know that Black must calculate if the king should go
to a8 or b8. With the white pawn on a3, 62...Ka8 would have
58...Kb8! The only move! Black must prevent the white king been the drawing move!
from getting behind his pawn! [58...Kb6? loses to 59.Kc8! 63.Kb4 [63.Ka6 63...Ka8 64.b4 is the usual draw after
a5 (59...Kc6 60.Kb8 Kb6 61.b4h) 60.Kb8 Kc5 61.Kb7 Kb4 64...Kb8 65.b5 Ka8 66.a5 Kb8 67.b6 axb6 68.axb6 Ka8
62.Kb6 Kxb3 63.Kxa5 Kc4 64.Kb6h] 69.b7+ Kb8 70.Kb6=]
59.Kc6 [On 59.Kd8 Black only waits with Kb7-b8. 59...Kb7; 63...Kc8 64.Kc5 Kc7 65.b4 Kb7 66.Kd6 Kb6 67.Kd7
I just want to demonstrate another drawing idea with the line Kb7 68.a5 Kb8 69.Kc6 Kc8 70.b5 Kb8 71.b6 axb6
59.Kd6 59...Kc8 59...Kb7 is more natural of course, but it is 72.axb6 Kc8 73.b7+ Kb8 74.Kb6 A very instructive
still a draw. 60.Kc6 Kb8 61.b4 Kc8 62.b5 Kb8 63.a5 Kc8 endgame! 1/2-1/2
64.b6
Chess and the City. rating points, and yet was eliminated because of several
unfortunate tactical black-outs at decisive moments.
The 15th Woman World Champion!
The former World Champion Hou Yifan skipped her
participation, mainly because she was already committed
to play a tournament in Hawai, which, by the way, she
succeeded in winning. In autumn this year there will be a
match between her and Marya Muzychuk, over 10 games.
The place and date has yet to be announced, but rumour has
it that it may be in Lvov, the hometown of both Muzychuk
sisters.
Best rating: 2493
After 3.5 weeks the Women’s World Championship has finally

come to an end. It was won by the 22 year old Marya Muzychuk
from the Ukraine. In a match of 4 games "Miss Tactics", alias
Marya Muzychuk, managed to prevent "Miss Come back",
alias Nataliya Pogonina, from achieving that important final
comeback. She beat her Russian opponent convincingly
2.5 :1.5.
The way to the final for both girls was both tough and
spectacular. On their way they had to face not only a lot of
world class opponents, but also had to endure several nerve
thrilling tiebreaks. Some may wonder why big favourites such
as Koneru, Ju Wenjun, Anna Muzychuk and even Stefanova
failed at early stages. Well, the answer may be that a
knock-out system with only 2 games leads to psychology
playing a much more dominant role.
If I look back at this tournament and have to pick the player Some may think that it will be a one-sided affair, but Marya’s
who showed the highest quality of chess, it is without a doubt tactical skills could prove quite a handful for the Chinese
the top seed and world number 2 Humpy Koneru, from India. Superstar. Time will tell, and with this newsletter we have
She scored 7/8 in her classical matches, gaining substantial finally come to an end of Sochi 2015!
Clash of the Titans Bxc6 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Qxd8+ Rxd8 12.Nxe5 Be4 13.Nd2 (13.f3
13...Bc5+ 14.Kf1 Bf5! and Black is fine because of the trick
with check on d3.) 13...Be7 14.Nxe4 Nxe4 15.Bh6! gxh6
(15) Alekhine, Alexander 16.Rxe4 and the black structure is worse.]
- Johner, Hans[C79] 8.d5 Nb8
Zuerich, 1934
GM Kamil Miton
Best rating: 2655
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.O-O Nf6
9.Bc2?! I don’t li ke this move. Generally in King’s Indian

structures the exchange of the light squared bishops is useful
for White. [9.Bxd7+ 9...Nbxd7 10.Re1 O-O 11.c4 Ne8 12.Nc3
g6 with Ng7-f5, but without the bishop on c8 it is harder for
Black to create pressure on the kingside.]
9...Bg4 Other plans were also promising for Black: [9...a5
10.h3 O-O 11.c4 Na6 12.Nc3 c6 13.Be3 cxd5 14.cxd5 (14.exd5
6.c3 White can also immediately fight for the center with This recapture is rare but in some cases interesting. 14...Rc8
[6.d4!? 6...exd4 (6...b5 7.Bb3 Nxd4 8.Nxd4 exd4 9.c3 (9.Qxd4 15.Nd2 Ne8 16.a3 f5 17.f3 with very complex play where White
9...c5i with c4 next.) 9...dxc3 10.Nxc3 White’s compensation is going to play over b4 and Black is looking for the initiative
is not enough.; 6...Bd7 7.d5 Nb8 8.Bxd7+ Nbxd7 9.Re1 and on the kingside.) 14...b5V(14...Qb8 with the typical ideas
White didn’t lose time for c3-c4.) 7.Nxd4 Bd7 8.Bxc6 bxc6 b5-Rc8-Bd8-Bb6.) 15.Nxe5! dxe5 16.d6 b4 17.dxe7 Qxe7
9.Nc3 Be7 10.Re1 O-O Thanks to his space advantage and a 18.Nd5Cand White is better.]
better stucture White has a stable advantage but on the other 10.c4 Nbd7 [10...O-O 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Qxf3 and the main task
hand with two bishops Black is very solid. The next plan could is to do something with the weakest piece, the bishop on e7.
be c5-Bc6-Re8-Bf8 etc.] 12...c6 (12...Ne8 13.g3 Bg5 14.Bxg5 Qxg5 15.h4 Qe7 16.Nc3
6...Bd7 7.d4 Be7 [7...Nxe4 Without development this looks Nd7 17.Kg2 Black managed to exchange bishops but White
dangerous for Black, for example after 8.Re1 Nf6 9.Bxc6 has more space and after Nd1-Ne3 White can nicely prevent
plans with f5.) 13.Be3 Nbd7 14.Nd2 knight on d2 should be 15...h6 16.Kg2 Bh7 The beginning of a wrong plan.
more flexible. 14...Qb8! followed by the typical maneuver Black should be looking for counterplay on the queenside.
Bd8-Bb6. The position is equal. 15.Rab1 [16...c6k]
17.Rh1 g5?! Black wants to close the position but this idea is
artificial. [17...Bg5 18.Nxg5 hxg5 19.h4! gxh4 20.g5A; 17...c6
was still correct.]
18.h4 f6 19.Nd1 Rf7 20.Ne3 Nf8 21.Nf5 [21.h5 is not
needed but even here without space Black’s position is very
unpleasant. 21...Kh8 22.b4 Rg7 23.Bb3 Bg8 24.Rhc1 Nd7
25.Ne1c with Nd3-c5 next.]
21...Bxf5 22.gxf5 [22.exf5c also looks good for White. The
next plan could be Be3-Nd2-Ne4 -b4-c5, as well as ideas of
15...Bd8 16.dxc6 bxc6 17.b4! Bb6 18.c5c]
playing over the h-file.]
11.h3 Bh5 12.Nc3 O-O 13.g4 Bg6 [13...Nxg4!? 14.hxg4 Bxg4
22...Rh7 23.Rag1 Ng7 24.Kf1 [24.Ba4!? is an interesting
15.Kg2! White needs to hurry with his king evacuation.
option to prevent Qe8. 24...Nh5? 25.hxg5 hxg5 26.Nxg5h]
(15.Qd3?! 15...Nc5 16.Qe3 f5 17.exf5 Qe8!A) 15...f5 16.exf5
Qe8 17.Rh1! Bxf5 18.Bxf5 Rxf5 19.Rh3 White should 24...Qe8
consolidate his position.]
14.Qe2 Ne8 [14...h5!? looks risky. 15.Ne1 (15.g5? 15...Nh7
16.h4 f6e) 15...hxg4 16.hxg4 Nh7kand White needs a lot of
time to create an attack over the h-file.; 14...h6 15.Nh4 Nh7
16.Nf5 Bg5! 17.Kg2 Bxc1 18.Raxc1 Bxf5 19.exf5 Qh4 and it is
not easy for White to improve his position.]
15.Bd2
25.Nh2! Nh5 Black is also trying to activate his pieces.

26.Ng4 Nf4 27.Qf3 Kg7 [27...h5 28.Nxf6+ Bxf6
29.hxg5Ashould be decisive.]
28.hxg5 [28.Bxf4 28...exf4 29.Nxh6 Rxh6 30.hxg5 Rxh1
(30...fxg5 31.Rxh6 Kxh6 32.Qc3! Qh5 33.Qh8+ Nh7 34.Qxa8
Bf6 followed by Be5-g4, with an objectively unclear position
in a practical game.) 31.Rxh1 fxg5 32.Qh3 Bf6 and the black 39...exf4 40.Qe8 taking control over the h5 square to
king will escape.] prevent Qh6-Qh1. [40.Bh5!? ]
28...hxg5 29.Rxh7+ Nxh7 30.Rh1 Kh8 31.Rh6 Qf7 32.Bd1 40...g4V It looks like Black gets some counterplay.
A good move because at some moment the white bishop can 41.Qh5
be activated over h5.
32...Rg8
41...f3 limiting the bishop, but maybe more promising was

[41...g3!? 42.Qg4 Qxg4 43.Bxg4 gxf2 44.Kxf2 Nd7! 45.b4
33.Qb3! It is time to play on the other side! Ne5 46.Be2 Kf7 47.a4 Ke7 48.a5 bxa5 49.bxa5 Kd7 and
33...b6 [33...Rb8 with the idea to not weaknen the Black is on time! I have no idea who is better now!]
light squares but then White plays 34.Bxf4 exf4 35.Rg6 42.Ba4 White is looking for chances to activate his bishop.
threatening Nh6.] 42...Nh7 43.Bc2 Nf8?! This is a typical psychological
34.Qa4 Bf8 [34...a5 35.Qd7h] moment, where for almost the whole game Black defended
35.Qxa6!? White wins a pawn but now Black gets rid of a very bad position and now when he gets practical chances
the bishop, which was the weakest piece, so maybe from a they don’t feel dangerous and he makes a mistake. [43...Qg5
practical point of view it was better to play [35.Rh1 35...a5 44.Qxg5+ Nxg5 45.Kg1 Nh3+ 46.Kh2 Nxf2 47.Kg3 Nh3
36.a3c and the bishop on f8 is still "dead".] (47...Nh1+ 48.Kxg4 f2 49.Bd3h) 48.Kxg4 Ng5 49.Bd3 Kf8
50.b4 Ke7 51.a4 Kd8 and in case the white king will come to
35...Bxh6 36.Nxh6 Qg7 37.Nxg8 Kxg8 38.Qc8+ Nf8 Kh5-Kg6, then Black will play f2 and Nxe4!]
39.Bxf4 An important move, otherwise Black will get
counterplay after actvating the queen. [39.Qe8 39...Qh8
40.Bxf4 Qh1+! 41.Ke2 gxf4V]
(16) Mozes
1. h
44.e5! A great idea! In the end, the worst piece will deliver
the decisive blow!
44...dxe5 [44...fxe5 45.f6 Qxf6 46.Qxg4+ Kf7 47.Be4c]
45.d6! c5 [45...cxd6 46.c5! and White sacrifices pawn numer

three! (But not 46.Be4 46...Nd7 47.Bd5+ Kf8k) 46...d5
47.cxb6 Qb7 48.Qxg4+ Kf7 49.Bb3 Nd7 50.Qxf3 Nxb6
51.Qh5+h]
46.Be4 Qd7 47.Qh6 1-0
Solutions 25.Bd5+ Kd6 26.Bxe5#; 24...Kd8 25.Qf6+ Ke8 26.Ng6!h)
25.Ng6!h]
(17) Gundavaa, B(2505)-Dubov, D(2627) 20.Nf5h [20.Qg6+ 20...Nf6 21.Nf5h (21.Qxg7h ) ]
Aeroflot Open, 2015.03.27 20...Na4 21.Nxc7+! 1-0 [21.Nxc7+ 21...Qxc7 22.Qg6+ Nf6
23.Bd5#]
(19) Mamedov, R(2658)-Wagner, D(2549)

60...c2! 0-1 [60...c2 61.Kxd2 c1=Q+! 62.Kxc1 Ra1+ 63.Kd2

Rxg1i]
(18) Potkin, V(2605)-Tabatabaei, M(2448)
36.Rxe6! fxe6 37.Qg4 Rf7 38.Qxe6 Rf8 39.Rxf7 Rxf7

40.Qe8+! Rf8 41.Bd5+! Kh7 42.Qxf8 Qxe2+ 43.Qf2 1-0
18.Rxf7!! Kxf7 19.Qh7! Ke6 [19...Re6 20.Rf1+ Nf6 21.Nxf6

Rxf6 22.Rxf6+ Kxf6 23.Qg6+ Ke7 24.Qxg7+ Ke8 (24...Ke6
(20) Motylev, A(2653)-Mozharov, M(2555) (22) Savchenko, B(2581)-Predke, A(2530)
35.Nh6+! 1-0 [35.Nh6+ 35...Qxh6 (35...Nxh6 36.Qxg5+h) 20...Ne5! 0-1 [20...Ne5 21.Bxe5 Qxe5!? (21...Rxd4 22.Bxc7
36.Rg3+h] Rd1+i) 22.Qxe5 Rd1+ 23.Rf1 Rxf1#]
(21) Salem, AR(2603)-Korobkov, P(2423) (23) Korobov, A(2694)-Ponkratov, P(2613)
24.Rxe6! fxe6 25.Ne5 Qf6 26.b7 Rd8 [26...Rb8 27.Ng6+ 27.Rxd6! 1-0 [27.Rxd6 27...Rxe4 (27...Nxd6 28.Rxe7+h)
Kxh7 28.Nxf8+ Kg8 29.Nd7 Qd8 30.Nxb8 Qxb8 28.Qg6#]
31.Qxc6h]
27.Bg6h 1-0 [27.Nxc6h ]
(24) Motylev, A(2653)-Yilmaz, M(2570) (26) Tran Tuan Minh(2455)-Gundavaa, B(2505)
38.Bxg7!! Bxg7 [38...Qc5 39.Be5!h; 38...Kxg7 39.Rg1+

Kf6 40.Qg5+ Kf7 41.Qg8+h] 39...Re1+! 40.Rxe1 Qxe1+ 41.Kh2 Qh4+! 0-1 [41...Qh4+
42.Kg1 Rc1+i]
39.Qe8+ Kh7 [39...Bf8 40.Rg1+ Kh7 41.Bf5+ Kh6 42.Qe3+
Kh5 43.Qg5#] (27) Kovalenko
40.Bf5+! Kh6 41.Qe3+! Kh5 42.Rf2!! h Bf6 43.Rg2!

[43.Rh2+ 43...Bh4 44.Rg2!h]
43...Qh4+ 44.Rh2h
(25) Svane, R(2509)-Esen, B(2571)
1.Bd4! Ba7! [1...Bc7 2.Bb6 Bb8 - 1...Ba7]

2.Bb6! Bb8 3.Ka5! Kb7 4.Kb5! Kc8 5.Ka6! [5.Kc6
5...Bc7!]
5...Bc7 [5...Kd7 6.Kb7h]
6.Bxc7! Kxc7 7.Ka7h [7.Ka7 7...Kc8 8.Kb6 Kd7 9.Kb7
Kd8 10.Kc6 Kc8 11.Kxd6 Kd8 12.Kc6 Kc8 13.d6 Kd8
25.Re8! Qxe8 26.Nf6+ Kf7 27.Nxe8h 14.d7h]
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
First we have some good news for you, from the next issue
the super GM and good friend of ours, Etienne Bacrot, is
Editorial Preface 2 going to join us with his weekly "young and talented" section,
commenting on the best game of the week from an U-18
player.
Let’s come to the finished events:
The K-Files. The very strong Dubai Open came to an end with 6 players
Blumenfeld Gambit - part 1 11 sharing the first place- all with 7/9. The best after tie-break
were Solak, Howell and Fedoseev.
David vs. Goliath 16 Hikaru Nakamura easily won the US Championship with the
solid score of 8/11- 5 wins and 6 draws- while Robson came
Puzzle section 17 second with 7.5/11. It was a very good tournament for the
young US player. 3rd place went to Wesley So with 6.5/11 who
Endgame section 20 lost a total of 4 games, which is more than in the previous 100
games he played!
Chess and the City. In the womens’ section as expected Irina Krush made her way
Not all that glitters is gold 25 to the title with 8.5/11, followed by Paikidze and Nemcova on
7.5/11.
Clash of the Titans 26 Today sees the start of the super tournament in Shamkir,
which features Caruana, Giri, So, Anand, Kramnik, Vachier
Surprise section / study 29 Lagrave, Mamedyarov, Adams and Mamedov. What an
amazing line up! We are clearly going to see great games!
Solutions 29 In just 3 days from now, the World Team Championship is
going to begin in Yerevan and we can also expect a lot of top
players to represent their countries. Csaba Balogh, one of
your commentators, is participating for the team of Hungary.
As usual we hope you enjoy our weekly online magazine!
Two best games of the past week very typical.
9...Ne5 planning to play Nc4 next as it is very good for Black
to exchange his knight against the e3 bishop if possible.
(1) Fedoseev, Vladimir (2674) 10.Qe2 preparing to castle queenside, play f4 and defending
- Solodovnichenko, Yuri (2584) from Nc4.
[B90]
17th Dubai Chess Open(5.2), GM Arkadij Naiditsch

2015.04.11 Best rating: 2737
One of the best young Russian talents Fedoseev once again

shows his good tactical skills. After the opening, the
game is quickly getting into a very random position with
a lot of diffirent tactical motives. Being a bit greedy,
Solodovnichenko is taking a pawn which he should not have
taken and is getting under many different pins and threats, 10...b5!? A very risky but maybe good move! [Another risky
eventually just losing the game on the spot. try was 10...g5 which is a typical idea too, but here it doesn’t
seem to work. 11.O-O-O Nbd7 12.h4! breaking Black’s pawn
1.Nf3 c5 2.e4 and we are back into a Sicilian. structure on the kingside.; 10...Qc7 seems to be the most
2...d6 3.d4 Nf6 Sometimes Black uses this move order, but normal move.]
personally I could never understand what he is trying to 11.b3 To play such a move somehow doesn’t feel right.
avoid... [Maybe White could have played 11.f4 11...Nc4 12.O-O-O
4.Nc3 [4.dxc5 4...Nxe4 is considered OK for Black.] and yes, it is pity to give up the e3 bishop, but White’s
development is clearly compensating for it.]
4...cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 So we are in a Najdorf.
11...Nbc6! A good choice! [11...Qc7 12.Qd2 would not bring
6.h3 e6 is not the main move but clearly an option. [6...e5 is much to Black.]
the very main move.]
12.O-O White changes his strategy because it is clearly too
7.g4 White takes space on the kingside, which is the idea risky to castle queenside now. [12.Nxc6 12...Nxc6 13.O-O-O
behind the h3 move. Qa5 is looking risky for White.]
7...Be7 8.Bg2 Nfd7 We are still following theory. Black’s idea 12...Nxd4 Black is planning an interesting idea. [But after the
is to put his knight on e5 as quickly as possible. simple 12...O-O I can’t imagine White’s position being better
9.Be3 White is preparing to castle queenside, which is also here. The b3 move clearly doesn’t fit well and Black will
always have good play on the c-file.] 17.c4!? White is trying to open the position to make use of the
13.Bxd4 fact that the rook on h7 might be out of the game. [17.a4 also
looks solid for White.]
17...bxc4 18.bxc4 and here comes the first mistake by Black:
13...g5!? In many Sicilians the idea of playing g5 is very

typical, but usually the g5 move is played to stop White from 18...Nxc4? There was no reason at all for Black to enter such
playing f4-g5. Now that White has castled kingside though, a dangerous line. [Why not simply play 18...hxg4 19.fxg4 Rc8
the g5 move is not really needed although it still deserves and I don’t see how White could use the fact that the black
attention. I think that once again simply castling kingside king is placed on e8.]
would give Black pleasant play.
19.Qb4! A strong move, double attacking on b7 and c4.
14.Qd2 Quite a tricky move. White is not only preparing to
push f4 somewhere, but also planning to get his knight to h5, 19...Qc7 20.Rac1 White is trying a funny idea. [Another
with a clearly great position. logical move was 20.Rab1 20...Rb8 and Black’s position
is looking very dangerous, but maybe White doesn’t have
14...Bb7 15.Ne2 h5! Once again Solodovnichenko makes anything better than being "unclear". 21.Rfc1 (21.Ba7 21...Ra8
the right choice, as opening the h-file is clearly good for Black 22.Bd4 would lead to a draw.) 21...d5 22.Qb3 and things are
who can even think about castling queenside in the future. very complicated.]
16.f3 is probably already the best. 20...d5 21.Qb1!? This is what Fedoseev had been planning,
16...Rh7 A very deep move, but I think it was not really now the rook on h7 is hanging!
needed. [In case of 16...Qc7 White could play 17.a4 starting 21...Rh6 The best move.
some play on the queenside. Of course Black is not even close
to being worse, but the position is very unclear.; 16...hxg4 22.Nc3 The position is getting more and more messy. White’s
looks nice, checking with what White is planning to take on pawn down is compensated by the bad position of the black
g4. 17.fxg4 Bc6 just defending from a4. In my opinion Black is king on e8 and the rook on h6.
at least equal here.] 22...Rd8 Not the best move. [Black should have tried
22...Bc5 as exchanging the black bishops is good for Black. 28.Rcxf7 hxg4 This move makes the win too easy for White.
23.Bxc5 Qxc5+ 24.Rf2 Bc6 and things remain very complex, [Black could have fought on a bit after 28...Bf4 29.Bxf4
but it is hard to imagine Black being worse here.] gxf4 30.R1xf4 Nc3 but of course White’s position is close to
23.exd5 Now the position is getting even more open. winning.]
29.e5! with the deadly threat Bc6. So, another typical game
23...Nd2? A blunder... [Black had a strange, but quite
in the Sicilian where things are very unclear until somebody
powerful move: 23...Kf8!? trying to make the king’s position
makes a calculation mistake. What is clear from the current
a bit safer. 24.Qd3 exd5 25.Rfe1 White has some play for the
game is that a move like b3 is not the right choice to go on
pawn, but I think Black is just better here after 25...Bc5 and
for White, while Black’s move g5 was interesting even if not
pawn is a pawn.]
needed. 1-0
24.Ne4! Clearly this is the move that Solodovnichenko
underestimated.
24...Nxb1?! Another mistake... [Black could still have
returned with his knight. 24...Nc4 but now White already has
moves like 25.f4!? and the fight is very unclear.]
25.Rxc7 Now Black is losing material.
25...Bxd5 The only move.
26.Be3! An excellent reply. White is threatening to play Rxe7
and Bxg5 or just to win the knight on b1. The game is basically
over.
26...Bxe4 27.fxe4 The white threats remain.
27...Bd6 Other moves were not any better.
11.a4 Nbd7 12.e4 Ng4 Transferring the knight to it’s ideal
(2) Troff, Kayden W (2532) square on e5.
- Nakamura, Hikaru (2798) [A62]
13.Nd2 A typical maneouvre to drive the knight to c4. If White
could play Nc4, Bf4 and a5, he would achieve the maximum
ch-USA 2015(8.1), GM Csaba Balogh
Best rating: 2672 of this opening, but of course, Black also has his trumphs.
2015.04.09
[It is not advisable to occupy the center with the pawns by
playing 13.h3 13...Nge5 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 The trading of the pair
Nakamura has convincingly won the US Championship. Let’s of knights favors Black, as he is lacking of space, therefore the
examine one of his victories. maneouvering with his pieces inside his camp will be more
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nc3 g6 easy. If it was his move, he could play c4, establishing a knight
Recently it is extremely hard to win a game, especially with on d3, while after 15.f4 Nc4! with strong pressure on the h8-a1
the black pieces because everybody is very well prepared diagonal. The g7 bishop is very strong now and if White kicks
in the openings. Nakamura shows his intention right in the out the knight with Qd3 for instance, Na5 could come with a
beginning of the game. The Benoni defense is considered to new direction to occupy the hole on b3!]
be a bit risky, but very sharp opening and it was exactly what 13...Nge5 14.Bf1 White has to establish control over the d3
he needed to outplay his young GM opponent. and c4 squares to prevent Black’s counterplay.
7.g3 Bg7 8.Bg2 O-O 9.O-O The initial position of the g3 We can see the point why White wants to keep all knights on
system. This position arises more often from the King’s Indian board. Now the one on e5 is nice, but is threatened by getting
defense. A huge line with a lot of theory. trapped by f4! Nakamura plays another typical move, which
9...Re8 10.Re1 White wants to occupy the center with e4. helps him to keep his knight on e5! [Preventing Nd3 with a
developing move is inferior 14.Qc2 is strongly met by 14...c4!
10...a6 Black tries to ground on the queenside, which must
preparing to install an annoying knight to d3 15.Bf1 comes too
be prevented with a4, but it creates some holes in the white
late, because Black gets too big activity after
camp. These are all standard ideas.
15...Nc5! The knight cannot take on c4 because of Nf3 and 16...Bh6! With the intention of playing Qg7, Nf6 and g4. The
after 16.Bxc4 Bh3! followed by Rc8. All black pieces are knights are occupying the f6-e5 squares (closing the a1-h8
standing perfectly which clearly worth the value of a pawn. diagonal), but the bishop finds another great diagonal to stay
White cannot play like this.] on! [On the natural 16...h6 to strengthen the g5 pawn, the plan
14...g5! Black starts his fight for the dark squares on f4 and e5. of the game is much more efficient. 17.Nd1! and Ne3 next.]
If it was his move, he would push g4, creating eternal outpost 17.Nd1 White consequently follows his plan.
for the knight on e5 by preventing f4 forever. 17...g4?! A tempting move, which was seriously criticized by
15.h3 White prevents g4 and would like to push f4 later Nakamura himself. [Black should have followed his initial
at some point after some preparation. [15.f4 right away idea with 17...Qg7! 18.Ne3 Nf6 19.Qd1 g4! and he is doing
was premature, because the white pieces are not supporting very well.]
well the center. Black could quickly get his counterplay 18.Ne3! [Of course not 18.hxg4? because of 18...Bxd2
with 15...gxf4 16.gxf4 Ng6 17.Nf3 (17.Nc4 is stongly met by 19.Bxd2 Nf3+ 20.Kg2 Nxd2i]
17...Bd4+! 18.Kh1 Nf6 with pressure on all the pawns and
threatening with Bg4 or Ng4.) 17...Qf6 forcing White to push 18...Bxe3 19.Rxe3 Qg7! Freeing the f6 square for the knight.
f5, but it gives up the e5 square.] The queen looks kind of trapped on h5, but it finds an unusual
way to come back to the game.
15...Qf6 Black continues fighting for the dark squares.
20.hxg4 Nxg4 20...Nf6 could be a transposition.
16.Qh5 Troff tries to show the drawback of the g6-g5 move,
namely, that it has weaken the h5 and f5 squares. The plan
is to drive the c3 knight to f5 through d1-e3. Nakamura
was familiar with this positional ideas of the opening and he
makes an excellent preparation for this plan.
ideally to c4 or f3.
23.Qf3 Leaving from the Rh5 tempo. [Now on 23.Qg2
23...Rh5 and Rh2 is coming next. Nf3 does not work this time
because the e4 is hanging.; 23.f3? loses nicely to 23...Rh5
24.Qg2 Rh2 trapping the queen.]
23...Bd7 Bringing the rest of the pieces to the game! The
other rook also arrives to the e-file, putting pressure on the e4
target. [It was easy to go wrong with some premature moves
21.Rc3? [It is very deep and hard to foresee, but White should like 23...Qh6? 24.Qg2 Black has moved into different motifs
have overprotect his e4 pawn in order to be able to leave with discovered attack on the queen after jumping away with
the d2 square with his knight and finish the development the knight. 24...Qh5 25.f3! pushes back the black pieces
(ideally Nc4 and Bf4). If Black cannot do anything concrete 25...Nh6 26.Nc4 and suddenly Black collapses.]
against it, his position simple becomes much worse. 21.Re2! 24.Qd3? A blunder, but it was difficult to play the position.
The plan executed in the game does not work properly [The critical line was 24.Rb3 but it strongly met by 24...Rae8!
now, because after 21...Ndf6 White needs find some artificial 25.Rxb7 Qg6! with huge compensation for the sacrificed
moves 22.Qh1! Re5 23.Qg2! leaving from the Rh5 threat pawn. All black pieces are standing well. Here is one line
and intending to play Nc4! 23...Rh5 24.Nf3! White protects to illustrate their power 26.Rb6 attack the d6 pawn, but
everything and Bf4 is coming next. Despite his strange queen suddenly after
on g2, White is much better.]
21...Ndf6 22.Qh1
26...Bf5!! Black gets a very strong attack. 27.exf5 (27.Rxd6

27...Qh5 28.Qg2 Nxe4) 27...Rxf5 28.Qh1 Rxf2i White will
22...Re5! Very nice attacking idea by Black. He drops his be punished for his undeveloped pieces.; It is easy to
rook to the h-file. In comparison with the 21.Re2 line, White understand, that White did not want allow the black rook
has problems with his e4 pawn and he cannot get his knight penetrate on the back rankafter 24.Nc4 24...Rxe4 25.Nxd6
Re1 threatening with Rxf1 and Nh2.] 28...Rxe4!! 29.Nxe4 [29.Qh1 refuted nicely by 29...Ng4+
24...Qh6! Nakamura does not let the oportunity slip away 30.Kf3 Bxg2+ 31.Qxg2 Ne5+ 32.Kf2 Re2+i wins the
and he makes use of his opponent’s mistake. queen.]
25.Bg2 [25.Nf3 is simple met by 25...Qh5! leaving from the 29...Nxe4+ 30.Ke3 [The point is after 30.Kf3 30...Qxg3+!
attack and White cannot protect his e4 pawn!] 31.Kxe4 Re8# is a nice mate in the middle of the board.]
25...Qh2+ 26.Kf1 30...Bxg2 31.Qf4 Nxc3 It is all over now. Even materially
Black is ahead, but the main problem is the king on e3, which
cannot survive for long.
32.Qg5+ Kf8 33.bxc3 Re8+ 34.Kf2 Bh1+ White resigned in
view of Qg2 mate next move. A very nice win by Nakamura!
0-1
26...Nxf2! A well-calculated sacrifice gives Black a winning

advantage.
27.Kxf2 Bh3! 28.Qf1 White is threatening to solve the
problems with Qh1, forcing the trade of the queens and
preserve his extra piece, but a decisive blow was prepared by
Black before sacrificing on f2 a couple of moves ago. [28.Qf3
loses to 28...Ng4+ 29.Kf1 Qh1+! 30.Ke2 Qxg2+ 31.Qxg2
Bxg2i with material advantage and better position.]
The K-Files. 7.Nc3 This move is preparing e2-e4 to undermine Black’s
pawn center. Until a certain moment in February 2007 it
Blumenfeld Gambit - part 1 was considered like a refutation of the gambit, until Black
found an excellent idea. Or...?! [7.Bf4 An interesting idea.
Now White’s dark-squared bishop is quite active in the center.
However, it might be missing on the queenside, which Black
has to prove with precise play. 7...a6 This is the best reaction.
Black starts with active play on the queenside immediately. (
GM Alexander Khalifman a) 7...Bd6 8.Bxd6 (8.e3 doesn’t promise much because
FIDE World Chess Champion (1999) of 8...Bxf4 (8...O-O (Akimov - Ovechkin Ekaterinburg 2008)
Best rating: 2702 allows White to return to the main line.) 9.exf4 a6 10.Nbd2
O-O 11.a4 (11.Be2 11...axb5 12.Bxb5 Qb6 13.a4 Bd7= 14.Bxd7
(3) Blumenfeld Gambit - part 1 [E10] Nfxd7) 11...Qc7 12.g3 Nbd7 13.Bg2 axb5 14.axb5 Rxa1
15.Qxa1 e5 and Black is just in time. 16.fxe5 Nxe5
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 b5!? The Blumenfeld Gambit 17.O-O Nxf3+ 18.Nxf3 Bd7=) 8...Qxd6 9.Nbd2 O-O (9...e5?!
is a relatively unexplored area in modern opening theory. 10.e4!c This is in fact White’s key idea in this opening.) 10.e3
Generally it is supposed to be rather incorrect but the clear a6 (10...Nbd7 11.a4! a6 (11...e5 12.e4!) 12.b3 - see 10...a6.)
ways to prove this are not perfectly clear. 11.a4 Nbd7 12.b3!? N White is fighting for a tempo, which is
5.dxe6 The classical approach is that the only way to a standard idea in many openings. He is waiting for a6xb5
refute the gambit is to accept it. Of course, this is not an to take back with his bishop from f1. This approach might
universal truth but in this case it looks quite reasonable. The seem risky but it works. (12.Be2 12...axb5 13.axb5 Rxa1
alternatives (5.Bg5 first of all) are solid enough but after them 14.Qxa1 e5 and Black has adequate counterplay. (Delemarre
it’s only about some positional advantage. So, why not grab - Peralta Vlissingen 2007)) 12...axb5 (12...h6 trying to prepare
a pawn?! e6-e5 and preventing the response e4 dxe4 Ng5. However...
13.Rc1!? White still has useful moves. 13...e5 14.e4 dxe4
5...fxe6 6.cxb5 d5 15.Bc4+ Kh8 16.Nh4 Rd8 17.Nf5 Qc7 18.O-O Nf8 19.Ng3
axb5 20.axb5 Qa5 21.Rc2 Ne6 22.Qe1 Nd4 23.Rc1 and White
is ready to take on e4, when Black’s weaknesses will be really
sensitive.) 13.Bxb5 Ba6 14.Bxa6 Qxa6 15.Qe2 Rfb8 16.Qxa6
Rxa6 17.Ke2+= and Black’s compensation is not enough here.;
b) 7...Qa5+?! is dubious because of 8.Nc3! (8.Qd2
8...Qxb5 9.e4 Qb7 10.exd5 exd5 11.Nc3 Be7 12.O-O-O
Lindgren - Thoren Ulmel 1997 12...O-O! 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.Bc4
Be6 15.Bxb8 Raxb8 16.Bxd5 Bxd5 17.Qxd5+ Qxd5 18.Rxd5 Nbd7nand Black has adequate compensation for the pawn.;
Bf6 19.b3 c4 20.bxc4 Rfc8 21.Nd2 Rb2 22.Re1 Rxa2 and 7.Bg5 Some ideas this move are quite similar to 7.Bf4, but at
Black’s active counterplay is enough to make a draw.) 8...a6 the same time White prevents 7... a6. However, the bishop’s
(8...d4 9.Qa4 Qxa4 10.Nxa4c ) 9.Bd2 Qb6 10.e4!c Lysyj - position on g5 has some drawbacks as well and Black is able
Fang China 2014; to find good resources. 7...Nbd7 This quiet developing move
c) 7...Be7 8.e3 O-O 9.Be2 a6 Romanko - Schuurman is the best reaction. (
Plovdiv 2008 10.O-O axb5 11.Bxb5+= and once again Black’s a) 7...h6 doesn’t improve the kingside structure for Black.
compensation is not obvious.) 8.Bh4 (8.Bxf6 8...Qxf6 9.Nc3 Bb7 10.e3 Nd7nwith good
8.e3 compensation for the pawn. (van Hoolandt - Mehmeti,
Tromso 2014); 8.Bf4!? ) 8...Be7 Evdokimov, Alexander A
2558 - Bocharov, Dmitry 2602. RUS Cup rapid final 2013.0-1
(After 8...Nbd7?! 9.Qc2 clearly shows the drawbacks of
h7-h6. 9...Qa5+ Sjodahl -Popov,V Sweden 2007 10.Nbd2!
Kf7 11.e3 Bd6 12.Bd3 Rf8 13.O-Oc) 9.e3 O-O 10.Be2 (10.Nbd2
(Evdokimov - Bocharov Hanty Mansiysk rapid 2013) is not
precise because of 10...a6 11.a4 c4k) 10...a6 11.O-O axb5
12.Bxb5 Ba6 13.Nc3 Bxb5 14.Nxb5 Nc6 15.a4+= intending
b2-b3 and stopping Black’s pawn mass. Black doesn’t have
enough for the pawn.;
c4!? (8...Qa5+?! (Sokolov,I - Savchenko,B Dubai blitz 2014) b) 7...Qa5+?! is not worth trying as almost always is the
is quite senseless now. 9.Qd2 Qxd2+ (9...Qb6 10.Nc3 case in this opening. 8.Qd2 Qb6 (8...Qxb5 9.e4 Qb4 (9...Qb7
c4 11.bxa6 Nxa6 12.Be2+= with an extra tempo for White 10.exd5 exd5 11.Bd3 Be7 12.O-O O-O 13.Nc3c and the black
compared to 8...c4.) 10.Nbxd2 c4 11.b6 Nbd7 12.Be2 Nxb6 pieces are certainly misplaced.) 10.Qxb4 cxb4 11.exd5 exd5
13.O-O and although Black managed to win the sacrificed 12.Nbd2+=) 9.Bxf6 gxf6 and White has a pleasant choice
pawn back White is far ahead in development and ready between and 10.e3 (10.e4!? N 10...dxe4 11.Nh4 Nd7 12.Nc3
to undermine the opponent’s center.) 9.bxa6 Bb4+!N An Bb7 13.O-O-O Ne5 (13...O-O-O 14.Bc4c ) 14.Be2 Bg7 15.f4
important intermediate check. Now the white knight can’t exf3 16.Nxf3 Rd8 17.Qxd8+ Qxd8 18.Rxd8+ Kxd8 19.Nxe5
jump to c3 where it belongs. (9...Qb6 10.Qc1 just to avoid fxe5 20.Bf3 Bxf3 21.gxf3 with a somewhat better endgame.)
Nb8-a6(c6)-b4 with tempo. (10.Nbd2 10...Nc6 11.Qc2 Bxa6 10...Nd7 11.Nc3 f5 12.a4 Nf6 13.Be2 Bd6 14.O-O Bd7 15.Rfd1+=
12.a3 Be7 13.Be2 Nd7!nwith good counterplay. (Giorgadze - Korchnoi - Vallejo Pons, Gibraltar 2011;
Kacheishvili, Tbilisi 2007)) 10...Bxa6 11.Be2 Bb4+ 12.Nc3 O-O c) 7...Bd6 8.e3 (8.e4 8...Nbd7!= - 7...Nbd7) 8...O-O Mikhalev
13.O-O Nbd7+= Markus - Wojtaszek, Heraklio 2007) 10.Nbd2 - Dragnici, Goa 2006 9.Nc3 Nbd7 10.Be2 Bb7 11.O-O+= Kh8!?
(10.Nc3 10...Qa5 11.Qc2 Ne4n) 10...O-O 11.Be2 Bxa6 12.O-O
Here the prophylaxis is useful. (11...Qe8 12.a4! h6 13.Bxf6 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Ne4=) 10...O-O 11.O-O a6 12.bxa6 Bxa6nand
Nxf6 14.a5 Rd8 15.a6 Ba8 16.b6! axb6 17.Qb3c; 11...Qe7 Black’s counterplay is good enough.; 7.Nbd2 looks a bit
12.Bh4 e5 13.Nd2 e4 14.Nb3+= Now White’s dark-squared passive. Yes, in many lines this square is the best for this
bishop is cementing his kingside. 14...Bc7 15.Rc1 Rad8 knight but here White just defines its position too early. 7...a6!
16.Na4! Now Back’s pawn center is just a weakness. 16...c4 (
17.Nd4c; 11...h6N 12.Bh4 g5 13.Bg3 Bxg3 14.hxg3 Kg7 a) 7...Qa5?! looks tempting but is met by the strong 8.e4!
15.Qc2 e5 16.Nd2 Qe7 17.Rad1 Rac8 18.Na4! e4 19.Qc3!+= Nxe4 9.Bd3 Nf6 10.Ng5 Bd6 Bojchev - Dvirnyy, Herceg Novi
and White is clearly better.) 12.a4 Bc7 13.Bh4 e5 14.Nd2 e4 2008 and now 11.O-O White could use his development lead.
(14...d4 15.Nce4c) 15.Nb3 Ne5 16.Bg3 Qe7 17.a5c; 11...O-O 12.Nde4! A nice tactical surprise! 12...dxe4 13.Nxe4c;
d) 7...Be7 8.e3 O-O (8...Nbd7 9.Nc3 Bb7 10.Be2 O-O 11.O-O b) 7...Bb7 This "standard" move is just asking for trouble.
- 8...0-0) 9.Nc3 Bb7 10.Be2 Nbd7 11.O-O+= intending to move 8.e4! (8.b3!? is also worth attention.) 8...dxe4 (8...Nxe4?
the a-pawn. Black has no clear plan. 11...Qc7 12.a4! e5 13.a5 d4 9.Nxe4 dxe4 10.Qxd8+ Kxd8 11.Ne5c is fairly bad for
14.Bc4+ Kh8 15.Ne2! += Bxf3 16.gxf3 h6 17.Bxf6 Rxf6 18.Qd3! Black.) 9.Ng5!? (9.Ne5!?+= ) 9...Qd5 10.f4! Very strong
Raf8 19.Qe4 Rxf3 20.b6! axb6 21.a6h; trick (10.Nh3 10...Nbd7 11.Bc4 Qf5 12.Nf1 Nb6VTovmasian-
e) 7...a6?! doesn’t work here because of 8.e4!c) Vetoshko, Lviv 2012) 10...e3 (10...exf3 11.Ngxf3c Black has
8.e3 (8.e4 Of course Black doesn’t have to destroy his pawn many weaknesses.) 11.Nc4 h6 12.Nf3 Qxd1+ 13.Kxd1+=
center. 8...Bd6! N ( winning the e3 pawn with a huge advantage.;
a) 8...dxe4?! 9.Nfd2 Bb7 10.Nc3 Qc7 11.Nc4 Nb6 Sjoberg c) 7...c4!? deserves attention as well.)
- Ingbrandt Sweden 2012 (11...Be7 12.Bh4! O-O 13.Bg3c and 8.e4 (8.bxa6 8...c4! n As we could already see, this resource
White is clearly better.) 12.Qb3!?c; is very important for the whole opening system. 9.e4 Nc6
b) 8...h6 is premature as the following forced line proves: 10.Be2 Bc5 - see 8.e4.; 8.e3 8...c4! 9.bxa6 Bd6 10.Be2 O-O
9.Bxf6 Qxf6 10.exd5 Qxb2 Al Hantouti - Abdel Razik Beirut 11.O-O Bxa6 12.Nb1 Qc7 13.Nc3 Nbd7 14.h3 Nc5n with a
2007 11.dxe6! N Qxa1 12.exd7+ Bxd7 13.Bc4 O-O-O 14.O-O dream position for Black. All his pieces are on excellent
Qb2 15.Qd5 Kc7 16.Ne5 Be8 17.Qe4A) squares.) 8...c4! and Black has no problem at all. It’s
White now who has to be careful. 9.bxa6 Nc6! preventing
9.Bd3 h6 d5 is not threatening anymore, so now this move b4 might be a more accurate move order. (9...Bc5 10.Be2
works. 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.exd5 exd5 12.O-O O-O (12...Bb7 Rychagov,A - David. Paleochora 2010. (10.b4!? ) 10...O-O
13.Re1+ Kf7k) 13.Bc4 (13.Bc2 13...Qf7 14.Nc3 Bb7 15.Qd3 11.O-O Bxa6=+ and Black’s pawn center is too strong.) 10.Be2
Nf6n) 13...dxc4 14.Qd5+ Rf7 15.Qxa8 Nb6 16.Qe4 Bb7n is Bc5 11.O-O O-O=+; 7.a4 Not the best time for prophylaxis.
dangerous only for White.) 8...c4!? preparing the annoying White must think about his development first. 7...a6! (7...Bd6
Bb4+. 9.Be2 (9.Nd4 Krejci - Jenc Klatovy 2007 9...Bb4+ was played more often but the immediate action is more
10.Nc3 Qa5V) 9...Bb4+ 10.Nbd2 (10.Nc3?! 10...Qa5 11.O-O convincing.) 8.Nc3 might be the relatively best, although
Black has enough dynamic resources as the following lines 11...Nxe5 12.Nxe6 Qd6 (12...Nxf3+ 13.Qxf3! Qa5+ 14.Bd2
show. (8.e3 Rodkin - Rotstein,J Gladenbach 1999 8...c4! Qxd2+ 15.Kxd2 Bxf3 16.gxf3h RYBKA - Flores, Santiago 2006
forcing White to do something about his b5 pawn. 9.bxa6 ) 13.Nxe5 Qxe6 14.Bf4 Nd7 15.Bc4 Qf5 16.Nc6c; 7...Be7
(9.Nc3 9...axb5 10.Nxb5 Ne4! 11.Be2 Bb4+ 12.Bd2 Nxd2 8.e4! d4 9.Na4!? This is a quite fresh and promising
13.Nxd2 Bd7 (13...Qa5!? ) 14.Nc3 O-O 15.O-O Na6 16.Nf3 approach. White is ready to sacrifice his central pawn for
Nc5=+ and Black is slightly better already.) 9...Nxa6 10.Be2 some tempi and the possibility to attack the opponent’s
Nc5n and now it’s clear that the "prophylactical" move a2-a4 weakened center. (The standard 9.e5 leads to a fairly unclear
just seriously weakened White’s queenside.) 8...axb5 (8...d4 endgame after 9...dxc3 10.exf6 Qxd1+ 11.Kxd1 Bxf6k Neurohr
9.Nb1 axb5 10.e3 and Black faces certain problems.) 9.Bf4 - Migl, Germany 1988) 9...O-O (9...Nxe4 10.Bd3 Qd5 11.O-O
(9.Nxb5 9...c4n) 9...bxa4 10.e4 Be7 11.exd5 exd5 12.Bb5+ Nd7 12.Re1 Ndf6 13.Qc2 Bb7 14.Bf4 O-O 15.Re2c Black’s
Bd7= 13.Bxd7+ (13.Nxd5 13...Nxd5 14.Qxd5 Bxb5 15.Qxa8 central construction is very shaky.) 10.Bd3 Nbd7 (10...a6
O-OC) 13...Qxd7 14.Bxb8 Rxb8 15.Ne5 Qd6 16.Qxa4+ Kf8 11.b6 Nbd7 12.Qb3c Miroshnichenko - Jianu, Bucharest 2008)
17.f4 g6 18.O-O Kg7V; 7.g3 will be examined in part 2.; 7.e3 11.O-O Ng4 (11...Bb7? 12.Ng5! and e6 is a big problem.) 12.b3
- part 2.] 12...Qc7 13.h3 Rxf3 14.hxg4 Rf8 15.f4c; 7...d4?! stops e2-e4
7...Nbd7! This is an important move. The alternatives allow but clearly spoils the structure. 8.Na4 Qa5+ 9.Bd2 Qxb5
e2-e4 with great effect. [7...Bd6? only helps White to destroy 10.e3c and Black’s center is in ruins. (Sadler - Ansell, London
the opponent’s center. 8.e4!c Lahav - Romm, Tel Aviv 1989; 1994)]
7...a6?! 8.e4! d4 (8...Be7 Bitan - Neelotpal, Dhaka 2009 8.e4 d4 A very critical moment for this line and maybe for
9.exd5 exd5 10.Bg5 and Black’s pawn center transformed into the whole opening. The traditional 9.e5 leads to very sharp
a serious weakness. 10...d4 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.Ne4 O-O 13.Bc4+ play but fails to create problems. So the knight’s retreat to a4
Kh8 14.O-O+=) 9.e5! Nfd7 (9...Nd5 10.Nxd5 Qxd5 11.Qc2c (similar to the 7...Be7 line) might be an improvement although
Handler - Martinez Caldas Novas 2011; 9...dxc3 10.Qxd8+ Kxd8 it’s quite difficult to make any conclusions so far and more
11.exf6 gxf6 12.bxc3c Jovanic - Cebalo, Sibenik 2007) 10.Ne4 practical tests are required.
Bb7 11.Neg5 Bd5 12.Bd3 Be7 Uliashov - Volkov, Ukhta 9.e5 [9.Na4!? 9...Bb7 (9...Nxe4 10.Bd3 (In the only game
2009 (12...c4 13.Bxh7 Bb4+ 14.Kf1h) 13.O-Oc; 7...Bb7 The played so far Black was OK after 10.b4 10...c4! 11.Bxc4 Bxb4+
old main move which was first played by Maroczy in 1922. 12.Kf1 Ndf6kKarolyi,T - Csiszar, Hungary 2010) 10...Qa5+
However, it fails to stop e2-e4. 8.e4! d4 9.e5 Nfd7 10.Ne2! N 11.Nd2 Nef6 12.O-O Bb7 13.b4! cxb4 14.Re1 Bd5 15.Nf3c)
A sign of the computer era. This strong move was first played 10.Bd3 Bd6 11.O-O O-O 12.Qe2+= and Black’s center is quite
in a Man - Machine game. The point is very logical: White unstable.]
is not afraid of exchanging on f3 as his light-squared bishop
will dominate the board after it. 10...Qc7 (10...Bxf3 11.gxf3 9...Ng4 10.Ng5 [10.Ne4 10...Bb7!V An important
Nxe5 12.Bg2 Nbd7 13.f4 Nf7 14.b4!c This is another typical improvement which was first played in the game Ehlvest -
idea for this line. Black is close to collapse.) 11.Nf4 (11.Qc2!?) Alekseev, Moscow 2007. (10...Ndxe5 11.Nxe5 Nxe5 12.Qh5+
Nf7 13.Nxc5 g6 14.Qf3 Bxc5 15.Qc6+ (15.Qxa8 15...O-On)
15...Qd7 16.Qxc5 Bb7 17.f3 Rc8 Gyimesi - Csiszar, Pecs
1998 18.Qb4+=) 11.Nfg5 (11.Bd3 11...c4!; 11.Qe2 11...Bd5
12.Nxd4 cxd4 13.Qxg4 Nxe5 with good play for Black, as
played in the aforementioned game.) 11...Ndxe5 12.f4 Bxe4
13.fxe5 Bf5 14.Bd3 Mamedyarov - Nisipeanu, Sofia 2007
14...Qd5!?Vwith a complicated game where Black has
enough counterchances.]
10...Ndxe5 11.f4 Be7 12.fxe5 Nxe5! A nice piece sacrifice
which gives Black excellent chances.
13.Nf3 [13.Nge4? 13...O-O 14.Ne2 Bb7 15.N2g3 Bxe4
16.Nxe4 Kazhgaleyev - Kvon, Tashkent 2011 16...Qd5i with
a decisive attack.]
13...Nxf3+ 14.Qxf3 dxc3V and now it’s White who has to
play accurately to hold the balance.
15.bxc3 [15.Qxa8?? 15...cxb2 16.Bxb2 Qa5+i]
15...Bf6 16.Bb2 Qd5=
David vs. Goliath Top-10:
Gunina (2528) - Zhu (1989), 0-1, 539 points

Bergsson (2101) - Gretarsson (2456), 1-0, 455 points
Saeed (2200) - Perunovic (2632), 1-0, 432 points
Kristinsson (2160) - Petursson (2532), 1-0, 372 points
Olafsson (2213) - Eliasson (1858), 0-1, 355 points
Maquieira (1734) - Jaunooby (2183), 1-0, 349 points
Peter Zhdanov
Ahmed (1960) - Yousry (2304), 1-0, 344 points
Pavlovic (2478) - Jicman (2137), 0-1, 341 points
Wang (1901) - Melekhina (2235), 1-0, 334 points
Zhao Jun (2621) - Zhu (2288), 0-1, 333 points
unexpected results that occurred last week. Players usually Average gap: 385; White won 7 games, Black won 3 games.
are situations when a significantly lower-rated player You can view all the games in the accompanying pgn file.
succeeds in beating a much stronger adversary. If you have ever won a game against someone rated
The previous week brought us only 11 upsets. 300 points or above yourself, please send it to
The number of move ranges from 32 in Bergsson (2101) - GM peter@pogonina.com for publication. Any additional
Gretarsson He (2456), 1-0 to 121 in Ahmed (1960) - FM Yousry information (a photo, annotations, etc.) will be appreciated.
(2304), 1-0. The latter game featured a rather weird endgame
with White having a rook+bishop+two ”f” pawns vs Black’s
two bishops.
The most notable results were GM Zhao Jun (2621) - Zhu Y
(2288), 0-1 and FM Saaed (2200) - GM Perunovic (2632), 1-0.
Also worth mentioning is the loss of one of the best female
chess players in the world GM Valentina Gunina (2528) to an
amateur Chinese player Zhu Jiner (1989).
Puzzle section
(4) Nakamura, H(2798)-Onischuk, A(2665) (6) Rakhmanov, A(2639)-Abhishkek, K(2343)
US Championship, 2015.04.12 Dubai Open, 2015.04.07
1. h 1... i
(5) Sevian, S(2531)-Holt, C(2530) (7) Fier, A(2601)-Karavade, E(2405)

US Championship, 2015.04.12 Dubai Open, 2015.04.08
1. h 1. h
(8) Karthikeyan, M(2504)-Ivanisevic, I(2638) (10) Safarli, E(2641)-Grandelius, N(2603)
Dubai Open, 2015.04.11 Dubai Open, 2015.04.13
1... i 1. h
(9) Mammadov, Z(2470)-Volkov, S(2614) (11) Pruijssers, R(2511)-Almasi, Z(2695)

Dubai Open, 2015.04.11 German league, 2015.04.11
1. h 1... i
(12) Swiercz, D(2614)-Kraemer, M(2570)
1. h
(13) Nikolic, P(2605)-Baramidze, D(2605)

1. h
Endgame section 39...Rd8
(14) Onischuk, Onischuk (2665)

- Naroditsky, Daniel (2633)
US Championship, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.04.09 Best rating: 2672
40.a6! Excellently played! The bishop is trapped on a8 until

the end of the game. Black cannot do anything better, than
waiting, while White slowly improves his position.
40...Kf8 41.Be4! Putting the bishop to a more active square,
freeing the king’s path towards the center and vacating the
3rd rank for the rook for further maneouvering.
41...f5 Opening the position just hastens the defeat. The only
chance would have been to attempt to build a blockade, but
Seemingly Black just survives the difficulties with his a8 it could hardly be succesful. [On 41...Ke7 42.Rh3! is the most
bishop, because the d4 pawn is hanging and he is threatening precise. White wants to penetrate along the 7th rank after
to free his position with e5 or c5. However Onischuk finds which it is not easy to deal with the g7 pawn. 42...f5 (Black
a brilliant idea with which he manages to win the game in cannot hope for activity, because after 42...Rd4 43.Kf3! the
style... rook is forced to retreat to the 8th rank in view of the threat
37.c5!! A positional pawn sacrifice! The key is to lock the of Rh8!) 43.gxf6+ Kxf6 44.Kf3 followed by Ke3 and Rf3-Bg6,
bishop to a8 even in the cost of some material. [After some with similar ideas to the game, trying to trade rooks and enter
natural move like 37.Red3 Black holds the draw easily by into a winning bishop endgame.]
playing 37...c5 (37...e5 is also possible.) 38.Bxa8 Rxa8 39.dxc5 42.gxf6 gxf6 43.Rh3 Kg8
Rxd3 40.Rxd3 Rc8= He takes on c5 next move and the draw
is logical outcome.]
37...Rxd4 38.Rxd4 Rxd4 39.Rb3! Forcing the black rook
back to passivity. The only way to avoid Rb8 and losing the
bishop is Rd8.
49.Bc4! Onischuk cuts the black king from the c5 pawn. It is
essential for keeping the a8 bishop locked.
49...e4 [49...exf4+ 50.Kxf4 Kg6 51.Be6 Kf6
52.Bc8h followed by Bb7 wins. Of course there was
nothing wrong with taking on f5.]
50.Kd4 [Black resigned in view of getting into zugzwang
again... 50.Kd4 50...Kg6 51.Ke5 e3 52.Be2 and taking on f5
next followed by coming back to collect the e3 pawn as well.
44.Rd3! The most brutal move! Black is forced to trade rooks, Very nice lesson by Onischuk who basically has played this
otherwise Rd7 wins in the spot, but the arising endgame is entire endgame with an extra piece.] 1-0
completely hopeless with the dead bishop on a8 despite the
healthy extra pawn!
44...Rxd3 45.Bxd3 f5 Black tries to push his defensive line
a rank forward. [Keeping the pawn structure and waiting
with 45...Kf7 does not change anything. White wins after
46.Bc4 pinning the black king to the e6 pawn, ensuring the
penetration of the white king along the kingside. 46...Ke7
47.Kf3 Kf7 48.Kg4 Ke7 49.Kh5 Kf7 50.Bb3h zugzwang.
Kg6 is coming next.]
46.f4 White opens the path for his king to e5!
46...Kg7 47.Kf3 Kf6 48.Ke3 e5 [48...Kf7 leads to the same
after 49.Kd4 Kf6 50.Bc4h zugzwang. Ke5 wins next move.]
e4 will support the movement of the d-pawn while the white
(15) Kuzubov, Yuriy (2667) king on h2 is not doing anything.
- Solak, Dragan (2607)
17th Dubai Chess Open(6.4),

Best rating: 2737
49.Re8 Not a bad move, but maybe not the most precise.
[Why not continue with 49.Rxh6 49...Ke4 and now White
would have to find the very strong 50.Rd6! A nice tactic which
gives White a clear advantage. 50...Rxd6 51.exd6 Rc8 (Black
can’t stop the white pawn after 51...Kxd3 52.d7) 52.Rd1 Rd8
Now White has a couple of moves, but I think that after the
simple 53.Kg3 Rxd6 54.Kf2 White’s chances to win the game
This is the game which brought Solak what is probably one are excellent.]
of his biggest successes of his chess career, taking first place 49...Ke4 The white rook on d3 is under attack and to go back
at the very strong Dubai Open. Black’s position seemed to to d2 is not an option because of Ke3.
be close to lost for a long time until this interesting rook
endgame appeared. White is a pawn up and Black’s pawns 50.e6! White finds the best move, the e-pawn starts to be
look to be in danger, especially the pawn on h6, but, Solak dangerous as well.
finds a great way to complicate things and even after a few 50...Rg7 and Black also plays the best move. To let White play
mistakes by his opponent to win the game! Rg3 would end up badly for Black.
46...d4! Black uses his only chance. The idea of the d4 move 51.Rd2? This is a serious mistake. [White had to play 51.Rg3
is not to push the pawn, but to get the king to the e4 square. 51...Rxg3 52.Kxg3 and now we are in a crazy position! White
47.Rg6 What can be more logical than to take the e6 pawn? is a full 2 pawns up and has a strong pawn on e6, but the d4
pawn almost cannot be stopped. Things are very complicated
47...Kc6 Black’s only chance. here. 52...Rc7 (Black is losing after 52...Ke3 53.Rf8! and the f5
48.Rxe6+ Kd5 White is already 2 pawns up, but things are pawn is falling. 53...Rc7 54.Rxf5 followed by Re5+ with an easy
much more complicated than they seem. The black king on win.) 53.Rd8 (53.Kf2 53...Rc2+ just leads to a draw.) 53...Re7
54.Rd6 The black rook is blocked on e7, but here comes the get back to d6 after which the game is over, butno! 59.Kg3
king! 54...Ke3 with the simple idea of playing d3-d2-Ke2 and Kd2 60.Kg4 Ke3 and
queen. Of course Black can never be better here, but if White
is winning or not is really hard to tell, especially in a practical
game. White’s idea here is to play Kh4 followed by g4.]
51...Ke3 Of course! Winning a clear tempo and getting the
white rook to a passive position on b2.
52.Rb2 d3 Now it is already White who is risking to lose the
game, as Black just wants to play d2.
53.Rd8 There is no other way to stop Black from playing d2.
53...Rc2 Offering the rook exchange and attacking the g2 61.f6! The e6 pawn has to be sacrificed. 61...Rxe6 62.Kf5 Re4
pawn. 63.f7 Rxf4+ 64.Kg6 Kf3 The black king is going for the h5
54.e7? and White makes another mistake. [ pawn. 65.Kg7 Kg4 66.f8=Q Rxf8 67.Kxf8 Kxh5 68.b5 Kg5
69.a4 h5 70.a5 h4 71.b6 axb6 and of course
54.Rxc2! This move is just impossible to calculate during a 72.a6! getting the h1 square under control. 72...h3 73.a7 h2
practical game. 54...dxc2 55.Rc8 Kd2 and here comes the 74.a8=Q and White is winning. To calculate this line from the
key move: 56.g4!! This is not the hardest part to find, but the beginning is almost impossible and as we saw just a tempo
position that will appear in a couple of moves is the nut to decides about win or loss.]
break. 56...c1=Q Black doesn’t seem to have anything better.
(56...Re7 57.gxf5 leads us back to the main line.; 56...fxg4 57.f5 54...Rxe7 Now Black has taken the main enemy and the
Re7 58.Kg3 Here White is just winning.) 57.Rxc1 Kxc1 58.gxf5 d-pawn is still alive.
Now Black has 58...Re7! and it seems like he managed to stop 55.Rb3 is White’s only chance to stop the d3 pawn from
all the white pawns. The king from c1 also has enough time to moving.
55...Rd2 56.b5? The long-term idea is to play a4-a5 and
create a passed pawn, but now Black is winning by force.
[White had to play 56.Rd6 with the idea of having Rg6 after
Black’s Rg7. Black is better here, but White has good chances
to survive. ]
56...Rg7 attacking the g2 pawn which cannot be protected
any longer.
57.Re8+ [White was probably planning to play 57.Kh3 but
Black can still take the g2 pawn. 57...Rgxg2 58.Rbxd3+ Rxd3
58.b6 Rxg2+ 59.Kh3 Rg3+ 60.Kh4 Of course Black could
59.Rxd3+ Kxd3 60.Kxg2 We are in a pawn endgame where
have played Kg2 immediately.
Black is winning.
60...Rg4+ 61.Kh3 Rg3+ 62.Kh4 Kg2 and White can’t stop
the mate on h3. A very lucky win by Solak, but we have to
admit that he used his practical chances well and the winning
decisions for White were anything but easy. Once again we
can only see how complicated rook endgames are. 0-1
60...Kc4 61.Kf3 Kxb5 62.Ke3 and Black has the only

62...Kc4! (62...Ka4? Now it is White who has good winning
chances! 63.Kd4 Kxa3 64.Ke5 Kb3 65.Kxf5 a5 66.Kg6 a4
67.f5 a3 68.f6 a2 69.f7 a1=Q 70.f8=Q and White is pushing for
a win.) ]
57...Kf2 Now the g2 pawn is falling and White’s position is
totally lost.
Chess and the City. connection 2 hours later, and even made sure that my luggage
would also be transferred onto it. After an exhausting day
Not all that glitters is gold I finally arrived in Hamburg, relieved and happy about my
cheerful upcoming evening with friends... Baggage check,
bags get claimed, but no sign of mine; people get fewer
and fewer, as well as my hopes of spotting my mozarella
and Italian cheese equipped German luggage... Of course
this may all sound very familiar to many of you, and if you
are a frequent flyer with Air France you would barely bat an
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz eyelid, but by German standards, their "Ordnung" and their
Best rating: 2493 pre-check on your schedule really makes you wonder what
caused such an incident. Going to ’lost and found,’ they
assured me that my "dearest love" was left by itself in Munich,
German mentality is well known for its precision, punctuality and promised me a late evening delivery to an address of my
and planning, or, as we call it in our language, "Ordnung". choice. Now it is 10 pm, no luggage, no hint of it, and finally
Today was a day where I really wonder what is left from it’s time to call it a day...
that mentality. I remember some time ago I wrote an article
about Italian cliches, about their interpretation of timing, or
bureaucracy. Indeed I must confess that this article today is
entirely based on frustration, but sometimes the best therapy
for overcoming bad emotions is to write about them.
This morning I had a flight from Rome to Munich - so far so
good. The day was already spoiled by an extremely early wake
up, but that should not lower one’s mood as this decision you
basically make beforehand, when you choose that particular
flight. I arrived at the airport to find the flight would be
delayed by 15 minutes, which even sounded quite good by
Italian standards! I was relieved that it wasn’t worse than
that. Those 15 minutes, however, quickly changed into 45,
and eventually into 1,5 hours, which assured that my day was
to be a "scheisse" one. Arriving in Munich and sprinting to
my connecting flight to Hamburg was sure to be hopeless,
as Germans never seem to fail when it comes to punctuality.
Arriving at the Airberlin desk the kind lady booked me for a
Clash of the Titans (9.Nh4 and compared to the game now Black has the strong
9...g5e) 9...g5! with the typical plan of getting more space and
preventing f2-f4. 10.Bf3 with the idea of exchanging bishops
(16) Botvinnik, Mikhail over g4, but now comes 10...Bh3! with Qd7 next and Black is
- Pomar Salamanca, Arturo [A08] on time to avoid Bg4.]
9.Nh4 Be6 [9...g5!? 10.Qh5+ Kd7 11.Bh3+ (11.Nf5 11...Kc7k)
Varna ol (Men) qual-A(5), 1962 11...Kc7 12.Bxc8 Qxc8 13.Ng2 Qe6 The king is safe on c7 and
the position is unclear.]
GM Kamil Miton
Best rating: 2655 10.f4
1.g3 d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.d3 e5 5.O-O and we have a

King’s Indian with a tempo up.
5...Bd6 6.e4 [6.c4 6...d4 7.e3 leads to Benoni structures.]
6...d4 7.Nbd2 Nge7
10...exf4 Black could not hurry with this move, for example
[10...O-O 11.f5 Bf7 12.Bf3! A logical idea to exchange the
limited bishop. 12...Kh8 (12...Qe8 preventing Bh5, with a6-b5
next.) 13.Bh5 Bg8 14.Ng6+! Nxg6 (14...hxg6?? 15.Bxg6 and
Black is not able to avoid mate.) 15.fxg6 h6 16.Bg4 and here
I think White can try to create an attack on the kingside with
8.c4 I think this is a strange move. It seems more logical Bf5-g4-h4 etc...; 10...Qd7 is more flexible because Black keeps
to immediately prepare a plan with f4 orplay [8.Nc4 8...Bc7 the option of castling queenside. 11.f5 Bf7 12.Bf3 O-O-Ok]
9.a4 O-O 10.c3 Be6 An important move otherwise White will 11.gxf4 Qc7 [11...Qd7 12.e5! White sacrifices a pawn to
play cxd4-cxd4 and the strong b4! 11.cxd4 cxd4 12.Bd2 (12.b4? activate his pieces. 12...fxe5 13.fxe5 Nxe5 14.Ne4 O-O-O
12...Bxc4) 12...a6 13.b4 b5 and Black is better.; 8.Nh4 like in 15.Bf4Cwith initiative.; 11...Bc7 In general it is an interesting
the game without losing time.; 8.Ne1 also with the idea to idea to get the e5 square after f5, but unfortunately White has
play f4.] 12.Qh5+ with Qxc5 next.]
8...f6 In my opinion it was more accurate to play [8...h6 9.Ne1
12.e5! fxe5
17...h6 Now the queen will not escape to h6, so it looks like
Black is preparing a hunt for the whitequeen! [17...Nb4!? ]
13.f5! This is a very famous idea, typical for King’s Indian
structures, where White gives the pawn in order to activate 18.Bd2 [18.Nf6 to prevent Rg8 but now comes
the bishop and create a blockade on e4.
13...Bf7 14.Ne4 [14.Qg4!? The idea of this move order is to
stop 0-0-0 (because of f6) but Black can play 14...e4!? with
excatly the same idea! Now Black gives the pawn to activate
his pieces and gets an useful square on e5. 15.Nxe4 Bxh2+
16.Kh1 Be5 17.f6 but the black king is still in the center and
White has the initiative.]
14...O-O-O 15.Qg4 Kb8 16.Qxg7 Thanks to the strong
knight on e4 White’s advantage is clear, but Black can look
for some counterplay because the queen on g7 is not placed 18...e4! We already saw this idea. 19.Bxe4 (19.Nxh5 19...e3
safely. 20.Rf1 Rdg8 and the white queen will be mated. 21.Qf7 Nd8
22.Qf6 Be5i) 19...Rhg8 20.Nxg8 Rxg8 21.f6 Rxg7+ 22.fxg7
16...Bh5 threatening Be2. [16...Rdf8!? ]
it is unhuman but the g7 pawn is very dangerous.]
17.Rf2 [17.Nxd6 was suggested by the engine but exchanging
18...Rdg8 19.Qf6 Nc8 threatening Be7 and the white pieces
the very strong knight on e4 for a limited bishop is unhuman.
lost a bit of coordination.
17...Qxd6 18.f6 Nc8 19.f7 with Bh6 next and it looks like the
f-pawn is too strong.] 20.Ng6 Bxg6 21.fxg6
move. 28.dxe4 Nc6Vand thanks to the pawn sacrifice Black
gets three things: a strong blockading square on e5, a strong
passed pawn on d4 and the bishop on g2 is limited.; 27...Qg7
28.Raf1 Nh4k]
28.Raf1
21...Be7 It looks like even if black won the g6 pawn White

should have compensation since he is controling the light
squares.
22.Qf7? looks active but gives Black important tempi.
[22.Qf5 22...Bh4 23.Re2 N8e7 24.Qh3 Nxg6 25.Nxc5
Bg5!VThanks to this strong move Black gets the active
f4 square for the knight.; 22.Qf3! 22...Rxg6 23.Kh1 with 28...Nf4?? What an amazing blunder! It is very strange that
compensation, maybe followed by a3-b4 next.] Black expected only Bxf4, but now White is wining after an
easy tactical trick:
22...Nd8 23.Qf5 Bh4 24.Rf3 Ne7V In three moves the
black pieces have been nicely improved. 29.R6xf4! exf4 30.Bxf4+ and the king cannot escape
because of Qc8 mate! 1-0
25.Qh3 Nxg6 26.Nf6 I suppose that White played this move
to avoid Bg5 ideas.
26...Bxf6 27.Rxf6
27...Qe7 [27...e4! From a practical point of view I like this
(17) Kralin (18) Idani, P(2496)-Sjugirov, S(2669)
1. h Aeroflot Open, 2015.03.31
27...Qa3! 28.Rh2 [28.cxb4 28...Qxb2#]

28...Bxc3 0-1
(19) Matlakov, M(2693)-Sanal, V(2487)
41.Qxh5+! Nxh5 42.Nf7+ Kh7 43.Nxe5h
(20) Sasikiran, K(2682)-Svetushkin, D(2592) (22) Vidit, S(2625)-Swayams, M(2440)
33.Rxd5! Rxd5 [33...cxd5 34.Rxb6h Qxf3 35.Qxg7#] 37.Rb6! Bd3 [37...exd4 38.Rxg6h; 37...Kh7 38.Nf5! gxf5
39.Qxh5+ Kg8 40.Qxe8+h]
34.Rxb6 [34.Nf4!?h ]
38.Re6! Rb8 [38...Rxe6 39.Nxe6h; 38...Kf7 39.Rxe8 Kxe8
34...Rxe5 35.Nf4h 40.Ne6h] 39.Re7!h
(21) Inarkiev, E(2706)-Salem, AR(2603) (23) Grachev, B(2673)-Svetushkin, D(2592)
24...Rxg2+! 25.Kh1 [25.Kxg2 25...Nxe3+ 26.Kh1 Nxd1i] 22.Rb4! Qe7 [22...Qc6 23.Bxg7! Kxg7 24.Qg5+ Kh8
25.Qf6+ Kg8 26.Rg4#]
25...Qc6! i 26.Bc5 Bxc5 27.Kxg2 Ne3+i
23.Rg4! 1-0 [23.Rg4 23...f6 24.Bb4h]
(24) Khismatullin, D(2650)-Mamedov, R(2658) (26) Virkud, A(2132)-Krush, I(2477)
Aeroflot Open, 2015.04.04 US Woman Championship, 2015.04.04
26.Bf6+! h Kg8 [26...Kxf6 27.Rf3+ Kg7 28.Qxa4h] 37...Qxd4! 38.Qxd4 Nb3+ 39.Kd1 Bxf3+! 0-1 [39...Bxf3+
27.Qd2 1-0 [27.Bxe5h ] 40.Ke1 Nxd4i]
(25) Fedoseev, V(2674)-Antipov, M(2529) (27) Van wely, L(2665)-Heberla, B(2567)
Aeroflot Open, 2015.04.04 Doeberl Cup, 2015.04.05
20.Qxh5! gxh5 21.Bxf6+ Kg8 22.Bxe7h 27...Qe4+! [27...Qxh3+ 28.Kg1 Qxg4+ 29.Kf2 Qf3+
30.Kg1k]
28.Kg1 [28.Kh2 28...Rxh3+! 29.Kxh3 Qxc2i]
28...Rg3+! 29.Nxg3 Qxc2i
(28) Mozes
1.e5! fxe5 [1...c2 2.exf6h]

2.Nf3! d6 [2...c2 3.Nxe5 c1=Q 4.Nf7#]
3.h4! c2 4.Ng5! hxg5 [4...c1=Q 5.Nf7#]
5.h5! c1=Q 6.h6!h
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
And once again Carlsen seems to be unstoppable. After 7
rounds he has scored an amazing 5.5/7 and is a full point
Editorial Preface 2 ahead of Anand, who with 4.5/7 is also playing an excellent
tournament. Third-fourth place is shared by Caruana and So.
It has been a very interesting tournament so far with a lot of
decisive games and great fighting chess. We are commenting
on a few games from this event in our current issue.
The K-Files.
Blumenfeld Gambit - part 2 11 In the World Team Championship China and Ukraine are
leading with 8/10 (where teams get 2 points for a win and 1
point for a draw), followed by Israel and Cuba with 7/10. Now
the question is: where is the Russian team? And the answer
is, Russia started with 2 losses, followed by 2 draws and 1 win,
Young & Talented 19 which is clearly a very disappointing result.
Hungary, the team of your weekly commentator Csaba
Puzzle section 21 Balogh, is doing not that well either with 4/10, but Csaba has
a very good 50% score.
Endgame section 24 In the Women’s section Georgia is leading with 9/10, followed
by Russia with 8/10 and China with 7/10. As usual, we wish you
Chess and the City. Size matters...?! 30 a lot of chess fun with our current issue!
Clash of the Titans 31 Best wishes,

Solutions 34
Two best games of the past week continuation. [In most of the top games White continued
with 4.Nf3 ]
4...Nxe4 5.Bd3 Bb4+ A very logical reply, but maybe not the
(1) So, Wesley (2788) best. [I think Black could just continue with 5...Nc5 6.Nf3 d6
- Giri, Anish (2790) [A10] exchanging the e5 pawn. I think the position should be close
to equal here.]
Vugar Gashimov Mem 2015(1.5),
Best rating: 2737
A fight between these two youngsters is always very

interesting, especially since both players are very different.
Giri, wo has been on the top already for a couple of years
now, is very safe player with HUGE preparation, often playing
forced lines with some interesting idea in them. Wesley So is
very different. His rise to the Top 10 just came recently ater 6.Kf1! A great move! Usually it is a bad idea not to castle, but
showing amazing results, but his latest tournament, the US right now White is gaining a few very important tempi to put
Championships, went anything but successfully. Wesley is Black under a lot of pressure.
also usually well-prepared, but he plays much more creative 6...Nc5 Again the most simple move, but I think it is only the
and fighting chess than Giri, often trying to outplay his second best. [6...d5!? could lead us to a very crazy position
opponents in unclear position. In the current game, I guess where White has a lot of options, such as 7.f3 or 7.Qc2 or
both players were quickly out of the book because of a very 7.Qe2.]
strange opening, where So clearly outplayed his opponent 7.Nf3 Simple and strong. White wants to continue with Bg5.
and basically rushed through Black’s defense lines...
7...Ne6 [In case of 7...Nxd3 8.Qxd3 Black would try to
1.c4 g6 Sometimes the move order can be tricky, especially if develop the pieces normally with 8...Nc6 but White is clearly
some player wants to avoid the Gruenfeld. better after 9.Bg5 Be7 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.Nc3 followed by Nd5
2.e4 I guess So wants to avoid it... with a big advantage.]
2...e5 Already on move 2 we are in a rather rare position. 8.a3 White is preparing to play Nc3.
3.d4 Clearly the most logical move! White is fighting for the 8...Be7 Another unclear decision. Maybe it was better for
center. Black to play Bf8-Bg7 to at least cover the dark squares.
3...Nf6 4.dxe5 This is already a very rarely played 9.Nc3 The white knight is going to d5, where it will stand
perfectly. 14.Bxf6 Qxf6 15.Qd2 Now we can see that Black is very
9...d6 Of course the d6 move has to be played, but if we look undeveloped, as well there are big problems arising on the
at Black’s first 9 moves, we can wonder if everything went as dark squares.
expected... And it clearly did not. 15...O-O 16.Re1 White is preparing to play Ne4 next or h4.
10.exd6 Bxd6 11.b4 White is gaining space on the queenside 16...Qd8 Black wants to play Nf4.
and preparing to play Bb2.
11...Bf8 [Black would also be in a very dangerous position
after 11...O-O 12.Bb2 Nd7 13.h4! Now it is actually very useful
for White that the rook is still on h1. 13...Nf6 14.h5 with a very
dangerous attack.]
12.Qe2 A creative move. [An easier plan was 12.Bb2 12...Bg7
13.Qc2 O-O 14.Rd1 and White’s advantage is clear to see.]
12...Bg7
17.Rd1!? Another very interesting move by White! [17.g3
followed by h4 or just Kg2 with a clear advantage.]
17...a5 Black is looking for some counterplay.
18.h4! Exactly the right choice! Black’s play on the queenside
is very slow, the direct attack on the black king looks really
scary and we finally see the rook on h1 coming into action!
18...axb4 19.axb4 Nd7 Black tries to bring some pieces over
to the kingside.
13.Bg5!? A very interesting approach, especially since Black 20.h5 Nf6 21.c5 White is playing for mate and doesn’t care
already made 5 moves with his bishop! about winning some material. [Another option was 21.Qc1
13...Bf6?! and this clearly put Black in a very difficult 21...Qd6 (21...Qe7 22.Nd5! Nxd5 23.cxd5 Ng7 24.hxg6 fxg6
position. [I think Giri should have continued with 13...f6 and 25.Re1 and Black is just lost because of the open h-file.)
although it looks very ugly, it is still better than 13...Bf6?!. 22.hxg6 fxg6 23.Bxg6 Qf4 24.Bc2 with a clear pawn up in the
14.Bd2 O-O 15.h4 This might be what Black was afraid of, endgame.]
but actually he is not doing that badly here. 15...Nc6! with 21...b6 [Maybe Black should have taken a risk and played
the idea of playing Nd4 or Ne5 next keeps Black alive. The 21...Nxh5 Now White has a lot of choices. 22.Rxh5 (To a
position is better for White, but things are not that clear at all.] better but yet somewhat unclear position would lead 22.Qh6
22...Ra1! A strong move! 23.Rxa1 Qxd3+ 24.Ne2 b6! and of 27...Rd6 28.Nxc5 Now there is no way to hold the pressure
course White is clearly better, but Black is fighting.) 22...gxh5 on e6 any longer.
23.Qh6 Now things are forced. 23...f5 24.Bxf5 Qxd1+ 25.Nxd1 28...Ng4 Black launches the last attack as there are no
Rxf5 26.Ne3 Ra1+ 27.Ne1 and White is also much better here, chances to hold the piece on e6.
but having 2 rooks gives Black clear chances in a practical
fight.] 29.Qe4 A very safe and solid move.
22.hxg6 fxg6 23.Qe3 Now Black needs to take care about a 29...Nxf2 30.Kxf2
lot of different threats!
23...Qe7 The only move.
24.Bc4 A very logical move. The pin on the e-file is forever!
24...bxc5
30...Rd2+ One check is all that Black has.

31.Kg3 Rxf3+ White is a rook up and the knight on e6 is still
hanging! A very clean win by So, playing very creatively and
not letting the black pieces entering the game.
25.b5! A strong move! White is threatening to play Re1 and it 32.gxf3 1-0
is very unclear how to defend against it.
25...Rb8? Under big pressure Giri makes a mistake. [Black
should have tried 25...c6!? and at least the fight is not over.
26.bxc6 Ba6 getting rid of the nasty bishop on c4. 27.Qe2!
but the white queen takes its place! 27...Bxc4 28.Qxc4 and
of course White continues being much better, but Black could
fight on with 28...Rac8]
26.Re1 Rb6 and here comes the move that Giri probably
blundered:
27.Na4! The white knight is getting to c5 with tempo!
finish the development with Nf6, Be7 and 0-0. The point is
(2) Balogh, Csaba (2655) to save the f6 knight to cover the hole on d5, which is the
- Ortiz Suarez, Isan (2625) [B51] only big minus in Black’s position. On the direct Nf6, White
could play Bg5 followed by Nc3, taking on f6 at some point
10th World Teams 2015(1.1), GM Csaba Balogh and occupying the d5 square with the knight. [8...b5 is the
2015.04.19 Best rating: 2672
main line, which leads to very sharp positions. Probably my
opponent was surprised about my 4. d4 decision and he
I managed to win a nice game. I must be grateful to my friend wanted to avoid my preparation in the complications.]
and teammate GM Viktor Erdos, who just showed me this line 9.Nc3 Nf6 10.O-O Be7 11.Rd1 O-O [11...Rc8 is more
before the game. circumspect, although I like White’s position after 12.b3 O-O
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 I played several games on 13.a4 followed by Ba3, with pressure on the backward d6
4.0-0 and 4.c3, but thanks to Viktor I went for the old main pawn.]
line... 12.c5! A very nice tactical idea, which was suggested by
4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4 a6 6.Bxd7+ Bxd7 7.c4 The general idea Viktor! From a positional point of view, it is not advisable to
is to get a slightly more pleasant position due to the space trade the c-pawn for e5, as first of all it helps Black to get rid of
advantage. Black has many different setups here and my his weakness on d6 and it also opens the position for the two
opponent chose one of the main ones. bishops. However White has something different inmind!
7...e5 [An alternative is 7...Nf6 8.Bg5 e6 9.Nc3 Be7 which 12...dxc5

happened in the first Carlsen-Anand World Championship
match in 2013.]
8.Qd3
13.Bxh6! This is the point! White wants to open the g-file

before taking on e5 in order to give a discovered check on g3.
[If White starts with 13.Nxe5 13...Be6 14.Qg3 Black could play
14...Qb8! and on 15.Bf4 or 15.Bxh6? Nh5! works!]
8...h6 A good prophylactical move if Black just wants to 13...Qc7 [Black cannot accept the sacrifice with 13...gxh6
because of 14.Nxe5 Bg4 (14...Be6 15.Qg3+h wins the queen and suddenly he is alive.]
now!) 15.Qg3 Qb8 16.Nd5h (16.h3h also wins.) ] 18...Be7 Black dreams about the position where he can play
14.Bg5! And the positional idea of the entire plan of Bd6 and f5-e4, but he lacks one tempo to execute this plan.
c5 connected with Bxh6 becomes clear now. White has [18...e4 has the same refutation as before: 19.Nxe4 Bxb2
eliminated the h6 pawn, therefore he can get rid of the f6 20.Ng5 g6 21.Qh3h and f5 prevents the mate, but allows
knight, which dramatically weakens the d5 square. White is Ne6. ]
ready to occupy it right away. 19.Ne4! Supporting the d6 break! The knight is also ready to
14...Be6 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Nd5 Bxd5 17.exd5! White jump to g5 if the bishop goes to d6.
changes the character of the game. The single d-file with 19...c4 The only move! [19...f5 loses to 20.d6! fxe4
the d5 hole would not be enough to seize the initiative, but 21.Qc4+h leaving the pin with check and the queen falls.;
the well-supported d5 passed pawn will do the job! The 19...Bd6 loses nicely to 20.Nf6+! gxf6 21.Qg3+ Kh7 22.Qh4+
difference between the two minor pieces will also become Kg7 23.Qg4+ Kh7 24.Rd3h and Rh3 mate next.; I was
a real factor, as the bishop passively stands behind his own hoping that my opponent lays a trap with 19...Rd7 but it loses
pawns, while the knight might occupy the e4 or c4 squares. to 20.d6! Bxd6
We will see in many lines that the missing of the h7 pawn
makes the black king very vulnerable!
21.Nf6+! leads to forced mate after (21.Nxd6? 21...Rfd8 would

have been Black’s idea.) 21...gxf6 22.Qg3+ Kh7 23.Qh4+ Kg7
17...Rad8 [17...e4 would be the positional move to bring 24.Qg4+ Kh7 25.Rd3h]
the bishop to life, but it does not work tactically becauseof 20.Qh3! The only way to maintain the advantage! The key is
18.Qxe4 Bxb2 19.Ng5! g6 20.Qh4h and Black is in trouble.] again the h7 square, connected with the sacrifice of d6 Bxd6
18.Nd2! Transferring the knight to its ideal outpost. Black Ng5. It looks like quite a simple threat, but actually it is very
cannot create a blockade now on the d6 square with his difficult to deal with it. [The alternative was 20.Rac1 but I
heavy pieces. [18.d6 It is premature to aim for some direct was afraid of the endgame after 20...cxd3 21.Rxc7 f5! 22.Rxe7
benefits, because Black has the intermediate move 18...e4! fxe4 23.Rxe5 Rfe8 24.Rxe8+ Rxe8 and despite being a pawn
down, Black should be able to hold.] 25.Rh5! [It was important to not blunder 25.Qe3 25...f6! and
20...Rd7 [20...f5 was again strongly met by 21.d6! Bxd6 suddenly Black is fine... 26.Rxe7 Qxh2+ 27.Kf1 Qh1+ 28.Ke2
22.Ng5 g6 23.Ne6h winning an exchange.; The only move Qxa1=]
was 20...Qd7 but it was e that my opponent did not want to 25...Rxh5 26.Qxh5 g6 27.Qe2 Bf6 I thought that this
suffer in a terrible endgame after 21.d6! Qxh3 22.gxh3 Bh4 endgame is dead won, but it still requires some technique.
23.Rac1 b5 24.Rd5c with a big advantage. The d6 passed The black bishop is very active on f6, pushing the b2 pawn
pawn is very strong. Nc5 is a threat and the queenside pawns and he wants to create a passed pawn with b5-b4-c3. White
are vulnerable, or White can open a new front with b3 and cannot create any direct threats, therefore he must convert
penetrate with the rook on the c-file.] the advantage slowly.
21.d6! Being familiar with all the motifs, it was already very 28.Rd1 Kg7 29.g3 Opening the back rank.
easy to calculate the winning line. 29...Qc6 The black pieces are standing perfectly, they
21...Rfd8 [21...Bxd6 loses to 22.Ng5!h; 21...Qd8 is refuted control all the invading squares on the d- and e- files.
by 22.Rd5! Bxd6 Now the queen controls the g5 square, but 30.h4! with the idea to expose the king with h5, or send the
the pin on the d-file is fatal. 23.Rad1h] bishop away with g4-g5.
22.Rd5! White already had a pleasant choice, but I managed 30...b5 31.Rd2 [I think it is very important to not include the
to find the most precise way to win. White already threatens 31.a3 31...a5 pair of moves, because after b4-axb4-axb4 the
to take the queen or the bishop, because there is no back rank queenside gets eliminated, which might have a relevance in
problems anymore. [The alternative was 22.Qg4 protecting the endgames.; 31.h5 was possible. 31...g5 (31...gxh5 32.Qxh5
the d1 rook and threatening to take the queen. The only move Bxb2 33.Rd8 will be decisive.) 32.Qg4 followed by Rd7 also
is 22...Rxd6 (22...Bxd6 23.Nf6+h) 23.Nxd6 Bxd6 and this looks very dangerous.]
position must be winning, but here Black at least has a pawn
for the exchange.] 31...b4 32.Rc2 I tried to the happenings on the queenside to
start my plans on the kingside.
22...Rxd6 [The point is that after 22...Bxd6 23.Rad1!
Black cannot escape from the pin. Ng5 is coming next, 32...c3 33.bxc3 bxc3 34.Qd3 The c-pawn is blockaded, but
against which Black has no adequate defense since f6 White needs to activate his pieces to win the game. In the next
allows Qe6. 23...Qc6 24.Ng5h; 22...Qc6 23.dxe7 Qxd5 few moves, White improves his pieces.
24.exd8=Q+h wins a piece.] 34...a5 35.Re2! Qc5 36.Qe4 Black has reached the
23.Nxd6 Rxd6 24.Rxe5 This is the difference to 22.Qg4. maximum, he cannot improve his position anymore, he can
Black does not even have a pawn for the exchange. [24.Rad1 only sit and wait and hope that the presence of the c3 pawn
was also winning. ] will prevent White from making progress.
24...Rh6 [24...Rd3 25.Re3h]
36...Kg8 37.Kg2 Kg7 but he exposes the king which runs into a deadly attack
against the heavy pieces.
41...gxh5 42.g6 Kg7 43.gxf7 Bf6 [43...Kxf7 44.Qe8+ Kg7
45.Re7+h]
44.Qe8! [Black resigned in view of 44.Qe8 44...Qd5+
(44...Qf8 45.Kh2!h is the same, Rg2 wins next.) 45.Kh2
Qxf7 46.Rg2+h wins.] 1-0
38.g4! White has also done all the necessary preparations

and now it is time to decide the game by advancing the
kingside pawns, where White is materially ahead.
38...Kg8 [38...Bxh4 loses to 39.Qe5+! Qxe5 40.Rxe5h and
the rook stops the pawn from c5. Here we can see the
importance of keeping the two a-pawns on the board. After
the white king goes to d3, he will collect the a5 with the rook.]
39.g5 Bg7 40.f4! Bringing all the pawns to execute the final
break with h5 or f5. The white king is well protected by the
heavy pieces, so there is no need to worry about it getting
exposed...
40...Bd4
41.h5! The decisive blow! White gives back some material,
The K-Files. 7...a6! Here this breakthrough is quite necessary so the best
way is to start with it. [7...Bb7?! Weakening the e6 pawn
Blumenfeld Gambit - part 2 at this moment looks extremely dubious. And in fact it is.
8.Bh3! 8...Qb6 (8...a6? Akshat - Huerga, Badalona 2014
9.Ng5 e5 10.e4!h White’s key idea in different Blumenfeld
versions (to meet e6-e5 with e4!) works perfectly here.)
9.O-O Be7 10.Ng5 Bc8 A sad confession... 11.Nc3c (11.Qd3c
) ; 7...Bd6 Postponing a7-a6 has certain drawbacks as we
will see. If Black tries to play without it at all it’s even
worse. 8.Bg2 (8.Bh3 is quite poss ible but it’s not the way
Best rating: 2702
to exploit Black’s inaccurate move order. 8...a6!? might also
be the most accurate move here. (8...O-O 9.O-O a6 (Banikas -
(3) Blumenfeld Gambit - part 2 [E10] Bayram, Istanbul 2003) allows the interesting complications
10.Nc3!? (10.bxa6 - 7...a6) 10...d4 (10...Qe8 11.e4c) 11.Ng5
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 b5!? 5.dxe6 fxe6 6.cxb5 d5 dxc3 12.Bxe6+ Bxe6 13.Nxe6 Qb6 14.Nxf8 Bxf8 15.Qb3+
Kh8 16.bxc3 axb5kand concequences are far from clear.)
9.Nc3?! (9.bxa6 - 7...a6) 9...d4=+) 8...O-O (8...a6 9.Nc3! is the
big difference between this move order and 7...a6! (
a) 9.bxa6 - 7...a6;
b) 9.b6 The idea is similar to a Benko Gambit but here
we have a different structure in the center so it doesn’t
promise anything. Black just wins back the pawn with
good play. 9...Nc6 10.O-O Villavicencio - Krivoshey, Spain
2007 10...Qxb6 11.Nc3 preparing e2-e4. 11...Rb8 Necessary
7.g3 A fianchetto is very solid against various gambits, first of prophylaxis. (After 11...O-O 12.e4! White’s idea works fine.)
all because it secures the king’s castle position. Here it’s solid 12.e4 d4 13.Re1! exploiting the bishop’s vulnerable position
too. But at the same time it does little to stop Black’s pawn on d6. 13...e5 14.Nd5 Qd8V)
center. And what might be even more important is that the b5 9...axb5 (9...d4? is now simply bad because of 10.Nxd4
pawn is now rather unprotected which means that after the cxd4 11.Qxd4h) 10.Nxb5 Be7 (10...Qa5+ 11.Nc3 O-O
standard a7-a6 White in most cases will have to take on a6 12.O-Oc doesn’t promise enough compensation either. Once
immediately thus opening queenside lines for the opponent. again: despite various similarities it’s not the Benko Gambit
These reasons promise Black good counterplay if he plays and the black queen is often misplaced on a5. (Nedilko -
precisely.
Wojciechowski, Warsaw 2009)) 11.a4 O-O 12.O-O Nc6 13.Bf4+= insufficient try. Black doesn’t succeed in winning back the
(13.b3!?+= Pacher - Hrabusa, Slovakia 2010) ) 9.O-O Bb7 ( pawn and his queen on a5 is far from well-placed. 8.Nc3!
a) 9...a6 10.Nc3 is quite similar to 8...a6 9.Nc3!; The alternatives (which for some strange reasons are quite
popular) just give back the pawn and don’t create problems.
b) 9...Qe7 10.Nbd2N might be even stronger. Black can’t do 8...d4 (8...Bb7 9.Bd2 with the obvious threat Nxd5. 9...Qb6
anything against e2-e4 (10.Bg5 gives White a solid advantage (9...d4 10.Nd5 Qd8 11.Nxf6+ gxf6 (11...Qxf6 12.Bg2 Nd7
after 10...Bb7 (10...h6 11.Bxf6 Qxf6 12.Nc3 Bb7 Kukula - 13.O-O Bd6 14.b4h Another typical way to destroy Black’s
Abergel, Wroclaw rapid 2014 13.Nd2 13...Nd7 14.e4 d4 15.e5 center.) 12.e3c (12.Bh3c ) ) 10.Bh3! pointing out once
Bxe5 16.Bxb7 dxc3 17.bxc3c) 11.e4! dxe4 12.Nfd2 e3 13.Bxb7 again that Black’s light-squared bishop should better remain
Mueller - Pakhomov, Zaragoza 2013 13...Qxb7 14.Bxf6 Rxf6 on c8 until a certain moment in this line. Otherwise e6
15.fxe3 Be5 16.Rxf6 Bxf6 17.Nc3c) 10...e5 (10...Bb7 - 9...Bb7) becomes pretty sensitive. 10...d4 (10...a6? 11.Na4 Qxb5
11.Ng5 h6 12.Nde4! dxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4h) 12.O-Oc with a huge advantage.) 11.Na4 Qxb5 12.Bxe6 Qa6
10.Nbd2 Once again White prepares e2-e4 and Black can’t do 13.Bh3 Bd6 14.O-O O-O 15.Rc1 Ne4 16.b3c) 9.Qa4! Qb6
anything against it. First of all because of the annoying b5 (9...Qxa4 10.Nxa4 Bb7 (10...Bd7 11.e3c) 11.Bh3 11...e5 12.O-O
pawn. The following lines clearly show why a7-a6 is necessary Bd6 (12...e4 13.Ng5h) 13.Ng5 Nbd7 14.f4! e4 15.Ne6 Kf7
against the fianchetto setup. 10...Nbd7 ( 16.b4!c and the seemingly strong black pawn center falls
into ruins at once.) 10.Nb1! Bb7!? (10...Bd7 11.Na3 a6
a) 10...h6?! 11.e4! Nbd7 (11...dxe4 Burmakin - Salvador, 12.Ne5 (12.Bh3!? deserves attention as well.) 12...Qb7
Rome 2007 12.Nh4c and White’s advantage is obvious.) 13.Nxd7 Nbxd7 (The greedy 13...Qxh1 is just bad because
12.Nh4 Re8 13.exd5 exd5 14.Nc4! This is one more typical of 14.Nxb8 Rxb8 15.bxa6+ Kf7 16.Nc4h Nd5 17.Ne5+
tactical trick which is often used in the Catalan and Queen’s Lombardy - Formanek, New York 1986) 14.f3 Be7 15.Bh3 Kf7
Indian. In this structure it brings even greater effect. 14...Bc7 16.O-O Rhb8 17.bxa6 Qxa6 18.Qc2c) 11.Na3 Nbd7 12.Bh3!
(14...Bf8 15.Bd2) 15.Nf5 and Black’s position is extremely The same idea once again! (12.Nc4 12...Qd8 13.Bg5 Nb6
unpleasant.; 14.Nxb6 axb6 15.Qc2 Be7 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 and Black has enough
b) 10...Qe7 11.e4c Hummel - Westerkamp, Groningen 2003) compensation. (Potpara - Antipov, Athens 2012).) 12...a6 It’s
11.e4! Qb6 Roski - Gustavsson, Germany 1993 (11...dxe4 necessary to do something against the Nc4 threat. 13.O-O
12.Ng5 Qe7 13.Ndxe4c) 12.a4 a6 (12...Bc7 13.exd5 exd5 14.b4! Be7 14.Nd2! But still... 14...Bd5 15.bxa6 Rxa6 16.Qc2+=
cxb4 15.Bb2 a5 (15...a6 16.a5 Qxb5 17.Nb3c White has given Black’s center is blocked. He doesn’t have enough for a pawn.]
back the sacrificed pawn and sacrificed one more but Black 8.bxa6 [8.Nc3?! 8...axb5 9.Nxb5?? Qa5+ 10.Nc3 d4i]
is in deep trouble because his pieces are terribly misplaced.
17...Qc6 18.Nfd4 Qd6 19.Nf5 Qe6 20.Nbd4 Qf7 21.Rc1
Be5 22.f4 Bxd4+ 23.Qxd4h) 16.Rc1c) 13.Bh3! (13.Re1
13...Ng4) 13...Rfe8 14.Re1+=; 7...Qa5+?! An interesting but
8...Nc6!? In my opinion this is the most flexible move order. a) 10...Bd6 This square seems to be the most active but it’s
The knight belongs here anyway and the best position for the kind of an optical illusion as the bishop has little prospects
Bf8 is not clear yet. [8...Bxa6?! on b8-h2 diagonal and at the same time it’s rather vulnerable
here (mostly due to Nc3-b5 but also e2-e4 might be the case).
11.Nc3 O-O Zaja - Cebalo, Zagreb 2007 12.a4 (12.b3 12...Qe8
13.Bb2 Qh5 14.Bg2 d4 15.Nb5 Be7 16.Nd2 Ne5n) 12...Qe8
13.Nb5 Bb8 14.Be3+= and Black has certain problems as the
typical operation 14...Qh5 15.Bg2 Ng4 16.Bxc5 Rxf3 faces the
cold-blooded response 17.h3!h;
b) The fresh example from the grandmaster practice was
the over-ambitious 10...e5?! 11.Bxc8 Qxc8 12.Bg5 e4 Korobov
- Ponkratov, Moscow 2015 and now 13.Nh4 Be7 14.Nc3 d4
15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Nd5c would have been the most convincing
as we have seen already is inaccurate due to 9.Bh3! and
way to underline Black’s structural drawbacks.)
Black’s development plans are seriously damaged because
of the problems with the e6 pawn. 9...Qb6 10.Qb3 Qxb3 11.Nc3 O-O Todorovich - Djokic, Vrjacka Banja 2012 12.b3 Qe8
11.axb3 Bd6 12.Bxe6 Kd8 13.O-O Re8 14.Bf5 Rxe2 15.Nc3 13.Bb2 Qh5nand Black’s kingside initiative becomes quite
Re7 16.Rd1h Gupta - Babujian, Yerevan 2006; 8...Bd6 dangerous in combination with the central pawns being ready
9.Bh3 (9.Bg2 9...O-O 10.O-O Nc6 - 8...Nc6) 9...O-O 10.O-O Nc6 to advance. 14.Bg2 d4 15.Na4 e5 16.h4 h6C]
11.Nc3 Rxa6 leads to the 8...Nc6 line but in this situation 9...Bd6 [9...Be7!? It might happen that the setup with
Black’s bishop would be slightly better placed on e7.] the bishop on e7 and rook on a6 is quite promising also
9.Bg2 [9.Bh3 against the traditional fianchetto. However, there is not
much practical material for serious conclusions. 10.O-O O-O
11.Nc3 Rxa6 12.Bg5 (12.Bf4 Toth - Rogers, Reggio Emilia
1984 12...Nh5 13.e3 c4!?n) 12...h6 13.Bxf6 Bxf6nAnastasian -
Hertneck, Baden-Baden 1996]
10.O-O O-O 11.Nc3 The alternatives give Black good chances.
[11.b3 The double-fianchetto seems to be quite slow against
Black’s growing initiative. 11...Bxa6 12.Bb2 Qe8 This is a
less risky and more traditional way to increase the pressure.
White’s task is not easy here either. (12...e5!? (Stefanova -
Muzychuk,A Khanty Mansiysk blitz 2014) and Black’s central
9...Rxa6!? 10.O-O Be7! This is the best square for the bishop
pawns are ready to force White’s pieces to retreat to the last
in this line. (
ranks. The critical line is 13.Ng5! Nd4 14.Re1 (14.e3 14...Be2! - Cebalo, Basel 2007) 18.Nh4 Ng4 (18...Bc7 19.Nc4 Nxe1
15.Qc1 Bxf1 16.Qxf1 Ng4 17.Bxd5+ Kh8 18.Nf7+ Rxf7 20.Rxe1 Nxd5 21.Nxe5 Ne3 22.fxe3 Bxe5 23.Bxe5 Qxe5
19.Bxf7 Nf3+ 20.Kg2 Qd7V) 14...h6 15.Bxd4 cxd4 16.Ne6 24.Be4k) 19.f3 Ngf2 20.Nc4 Bxc4 21.bxc4 e4 22.f4 Rxf4
Qb6 17.Nxf8 Rxf8k and even the computer is not very happy 23.Rxe4 Nxe4 24.Qxd3 Rxh4 25.gxh4 Qxh4 26.Qxe4 Bxh2+
about White’s chances despite his huge material advantage. 27.Kh1 (27.Kf1?? 27...Rf8+i) 27...Bf4+=; 11.Bg5 11...Bxa6
The black pieces are well-coordinated and the central pawns 12.Nc3 - 11.Nc3; 11.Nbd2 In this line the white knight is badly
look threatening.) 13.Re1 Rd8 14.Nbd2 (14.Qc1?! 14...e5! misplaced because of 11...Bxa6 12.Re1 c4! nand Black’s
15.Ba3 e4 16.Ng5 Nd4 17.Nc3 Qh5 18.f4 h6 19.Nh3 Bxe2 pressure becomes really annoying. The standard 13.e4? runs
20.Qd2 Bf3 21.Rf1 Ng4i Essing - Odendahl, Germany into (13.b3? A sign of panic. 13...c3 14.Nb1 Ne4 15.Be3 Qa5
2008) 14...e5 The most straightforward way to obtain enough 16.Rf1 Bc5 17.Ne1 Bxe3 18.fxe3 Rxf1+ 19.Kxf1 Qc5 20.Nc2
counterchances. ( Qf8+ 21.Kg1 Qf2+ 22.Kh1 Bxe2 23.Qe1 Bd3i Cernousek
a) 14...Bc7!? An interesting maneuver. The black bishop - Navara, Prague 2009; 13.Nb1 might be the relatively
goes to b6 and f2 becomes a real target. 15.Qc2 Bb6n; best, which tells enough about the value of 11.Nbd2 plan...
13...Bc5C) 13...Bc5 14.exd5?! Odnorozhenko - Oleksienko,
b) 14...Ng4?! was tried successfully in the spectacular Alushta 2011 (14.Bh3 14...Kh8!?e) 14...Bxf2+! 15.Kh1 (15.Kxf2
game Georgiev,Kir - Nisipeanu, Fuegen 2006. However, this 15...Ng4+i) 15...exd5i]
ambitious idea didn’t pass the analytical control. 15.h3!
(15.e4?! 15...d4! 16.h3 Nxf2! 17.Kxf2 Qg6A) 15...Nxf2 16.Kxf2 11...Bxa6 12.Re1! The only way to create some problems.
Nd4 (16...Qg6 17.g4! h5 18.gxh5 Qg3+ 19.Kg1 Rxf3 20.Nxf3 [12.Bg5 12...h6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Nxd5!? doesn’t promise any
Rf8 21.Rf1h) 17.Nf1! is the most reliable move. (Jianu - advantage but it might be the right moment to forget about
Cioara, Romania 2007) (In the above-mentioned game White it. (14.Rc1 14...Kh8 15.b3 Lputian - Babujian, Yerevan 2008
could still pretend for an advantage after 17.g4 17...h5 18.g5 15...g5!?n and Black’s pressure is very unpleasant.) 14...exd5
Qf7 19.Kg1!) 17...Qg6 (17...e5 18.Kg1 Qg6 19.Rc1 Kh8 15.Qxd5+ Kh8 16.Qxc6 Bxe2 17.Nh4 Bxf1 18.Rxf1 Cruz -
20.Qd2 Nxf3+ 21.exf3 Bxf1 22.Rxf1 Qxg3 23.f4h) 18.Bxd4 Santos, Spain 2011 18...g5 19.Nf5 Qxf5 20.Qxd6 Rf6 21.Qe7
cxd4 19.Kg1! (19.Qxd4 19...e5 20.Qg4 Bc5+ 21.e3 Qxg4 Rf7= and it’s difficult to avoid the logical drawish outcome for
22.hxg4 e4k) 19...e5 20.Qd2c and the extra piece must play both sides.]
its role finally.)
15.e4 It’s absolutely necessary to stop e5-e4 at any cost.
15...Nb4 (15...d4!? 16.Bf1! Bxf1 17.Rxf1 Qh5 18.Nh4 Qxd1
19.Rfxd1 Ra8n) 16.exd5 Nd3 This position is extremely
complicated. The point is that Black is not hurrying to win
the exchange in many cases. 17.Qc2 (17.Rb1!? 17...Nxe1
18.Qxe1 Nxd5V) 17...Qh5! (17...Nxe1? 18.Rxe1c Malakhatko
it’s White who has to be extremely careful as the following
computer line shows. 18.Qa4 h6 19.Qh4 Qe8! 20.Nh3 Be7
21.Qc4 Bf6 22.Be3 Bxb2 23.Nf4 Bxa1 24.Rxa1 Rd8 White
played many strong (and far from obvious) moves to reach
this position where he is still not perfectly safe although a
draw is the most probable result here.) 14...d4 15.Nd5! (15.e5
is not dangerous here. 15...Nxe5 16.Nce4 Nxe4 17.Bxe4 h6V)
15...Qe8 (15...exd5 16.exd5 Ne5 17.f4+=) 16.b4!? is the most
dangerous attempt. 16...d3 17.e5! Bxe5 (17...Nxe5 18.bxc5c)
18.Nc7 Bxc7! 19.Rxe6 Nd4 20.Rxe8 Rfxe8kThese weird
12...Rb8!? N This is the new and critical move. Black complications led to an extremely chaotic position which
simply improves his rook’s position and at the same time is difficult to play for both sides. Its objective assessment
he removes it from the dangerous long diagonal. All moves must be about balanced.; The forced sequence 13.e4 13...d4
tested before were not enough because of various tactical 14.e5 dxc3 15.exf6 cxb2 16.Bxb2 Rxb2 17.Rxe6 Rxf6 18.Rxf6
tricks. [12...Ne5?! 13.Ng5! Qe7 14.f4 Nc4 15.e4h Perez Qxf6 19.Qd5+ Kh8 20.Qxc6 Bf8ngives Black no reasons to
- Coll, Barcelona 2011; 12...Ng4? 13.Nxd5h Bxg3 14.hxg3 worry.]
exd5 15.Bg5 Qd7 16.Rc1 h6 17.Bf4 c4 18.Nd4 Ne7 19.Bh3
g5 20.e3 Bc8 21.f3 gxf4 22.Bxg4h Rajkovic - Nestorovic, 13...Ne5 Removing the knight from a shaky position,
Belgrade .2007; 12...d4 13.Ng5! Qd7 14.Nce4 Nxe4 15.Nxe4 preparing h7-h6 and defending from e2-e4 at once. Not bad
Be7 16.Bg5c; 12...Qc7 13.Bh3 d4!? In true gambit style but... for one move! [The immediate 13...h6 is dubious because of
(13...Rae8 14.Ng5 Nd8 (14...Bc8 15.e4! promises more than 14.Bxf6 Qxf6 (14...Rxf6 15.e4! (15.Nxd5 15...exd5 16.Qxd5+
the obvious exchange. (15.Nb5 15...Qb8 16.Nxd6 Qxd6 17.e4 Kh8 17.Qxc6 Bxg3 18.Qxc5 Bd6k) 15...d4 16.e5c) 15.Nxd5!
e5!k) 15...Nd4 16.Be3c) 15.e4! h6 16.Nf3 Nxe4 17.Nxe4 dxe4 exd5 16.Qxd5+ Kh8 17.Qxc6c and with the bishop on g2
18.Nd2+=) 14.Bxe6+ Kh8 15.Nd5 Nxd5 16.Bxd5 Rae8 Babula White’s king is well-protected. Black’s compensation is not
- Krejci, Pardubice 2011 17.Ng5!c2 pawns are most probably enough.; 13...Rxb2 14.e4!+=]
too much.] 14.Nxe5 Bxe5 With a very complicated position where
13.Bg5!? [13.Ng5 13...Qe7! (13...Qd7 is asking for trouble the strong center and active pieces give Black good
as White’s bishop comes to the same diagonal. 14.Bh3 compensation for the pawn.
Rfe8 15.Nxd5!15...Nxd5 16.Qxd5 exd5 17.Bxd7 Nd4 18.Bxe8
Rxe8 19.e3 Nc2 20.Bd2+= and the bishop’s pair is enough
only for some drawing chances here.) 14.e4 (14.Nxd5
14...exd5 15.Bxd5+ Nxd5 16.Qxd5+ Kh8 17.Qxc6 Bb7n is
fairly dangerou s for White as the black light-squared bishop
dominates the important diagonal. Despite the 2 extra pawns
David vs. Goliath Average gap: 389; White won 3 games, Black won 2 games.
To compensate for the low number of upsets, I decided to
annotate a rollercoaster duel between IM Plenkovic (2410)
and Vukalovic (1954). Black quickly found himself in a
hopeless position, but seized the opportunity to exploit his
Peter Zhdanov opponent’s carelessness and to turn the tables.
Plenkovic, Z.(2410) - Vukalovic, Z.(1954) [C44]
In this entertaining column we are reviewing the most 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d3 I personally believe that people who
unexpected results that occurred last week. Players usually play such openings deserve to be punished :)
3...Nf6 4.Be2 d5 5.Nbd2 dxe4 prematurely releasing the
tension in the centre [5...Bc5 6.O-O O-O=]
6.dxe4 Bc5 7.O-O O-O 8.c3
The previous week brought us just 5 upsets. This is an all-time
anti-record.
The number of moves ranges from 27 in IM Plenkovic (2410) -
Vukalovic (1954), 0-1 to 59 in Altschuler (2089) - IM Eggleston
(2424), 1-0. In fact, 20-year old Jason Altschuler (2089)
defeated two experienced IMs in one tournament; the second
Goliath was IM Kopylov M (2440). This is quite an achievement
for a player of Jason’s rating.
Top-5:
Ladisic (1982) - Jovanic (2474), 1-0, 492 points 8...a6?! [8...a5= is the main move. The idea is obvious - to
Plenkovic (2410) - Vukalovic (1954), 0-1, 456 points grab some space on the queenside and to prevent b4.]
Kopylov (2440) - Altschuler (2089), 0-1, 351 points 9.b4+= Ba7 10.Qc2 [10.a4N deserves attention here. For
Altschuler (2089) - Eggleston (2424), 1-0, 335 points example 10...Bg4 11.h3 Bh5 (11...Bxf3 12.Bxf3+= White gets
Manjunath (1689) - Martinez Llamas (1998), 1-0, 309 points two bishops and is clearly better) 12.Qc2 Re8 13.Re1+= with
the standard idea Nf1-Ng3]
10...Qe7 [10...Nh5 looks preferable. Yet another standard enjoying a clear advantage]
idea of rerouting the knight to f4.]
11.a4 In this position Black has tried a number of moves
11...Re8N [11...Bg4 ; 11...b6 ; 11...Rd8 ; 11...Nh5N Maybe Black
has to execute the same plan even after losing a tempo on
Qe7. What else is there to do?]
12.Nc4 Be6 13.Ba3
19.Qe2? c [19.Be2! the knight has nowhere to go! 19...Kh7

20.Bxh5 g6 21.Bf3 Ng5 22.Bg4 gxf5 23.Bxf5+h White has
an extra pawn and a winning position; 19.Qd1!? is also
good enough 19...Nhf4 a desperate counterattack 20.gxf4
exf4 21.Qg4 Qxc3 22.Bxe6 fxe6 23.Nxh6+ Kh7 24.Ra3 Qf6
25.Rd1 gxh6 26.Rd7+ Re7 27.Qxf4h and it’s pretty much
over]
13...Bxc4? Why give up a bishop? [13...b5! 14.axb5 19...Qg6
(14.Ncxe5?! 14...Nxe5 15.Nxe5 Qd6 16.Nf3 Nxe4! =+ Black
must have overseen this witty resource. Now if 17.Qxe4?!
then 17...Bc4 18.Ne5 Bd5! 19.Qf4 Qxe5 20.Qxe5 Rxe5 21.Bf3
Bxf3 22.gxf3 bxa4e with a clearly better endgame for Black)
14...axb5 15.Na5 (15.Ne3?! this natural-looking move runs
into 15...Bxe3 16.Bxb5 (16.fxe3 16...Reb8= in such a closed
position White doesn’t have any advantage all of a sudden)
16...Bxf2+ 17.Rxf2 Bd7 and Black is fine) 15...Nxa5 16.bxa5
Bc5 17.Bb4 Bd7 White looks better, but it is not so easy to
come up with a good plan.]
14.Bxc4c Nd8 15.Bc1 h6 16.Nh4 Nh5?! [16...Qd7 with the 20.Nh4?? Here comes the blunder! [20.Kh1c Prophylaxis is
threat of Qc6 is more resistful] called for]
17.Nf5 Qf6 18.g3 Ne6? loses by force [18...Qg6 19.Kh1 Ne6 20...Nxg3! It’s hard to miss this move. If only the queen was
20.f3c With such a nice knight on f5 and two bishops White is on d1...The David is using his slingshot in an efficient way.
21.Qf3? Trying to keep the queens on board and to come up
with something clever [21.Nxg6 21...Nxe2+ 22.Bxe2 fxg6=+
I guess that White, who had a winning position just a few
moves ago, was disgusted with the prospects of having to
defend an endgame down a pawn against someone rated 456
points below himself. But this was the only chance to draw
or...maybe even to win! :)]
21...Qxe4! i Black is calmly devouring pawns. The Goliath
is going down now.
22.Qxg3 Qxc4
23.Bxh6 Maybe White was hoping to get an attack going this

way, although I greatly doubt it.
23...Rad8 a good centralizing move
24.Bxg7? all the other options are losing as well
24...Rd3 25.Qg2 Nf4 26.Qxb7 Kxg7 One of the multiple
winning moves.
27.Nf5+ Kh7 What a turnaround! 0-1
information (a photo, annotations, etc.) is welcomed.
Young & Talented
(4) Wei, Yi (2703)

- Melkumyan, Hrant (2651) [C49]
10th World Teams 2015(4.4),

2015.04.22 GM Etienne Bacrot
Best rating: 2749
12.Bc2 h6 13.h3 Be6 14.Re1 Bc7 [14...b5 was played in
Rapport-Jakovenko in Gibraltar this year. 15.Bd2 Qc7
16.Qc1!? Kh7 17.a4 a6 18.Nf5 and White has nice attacking
In this new column for CEWN I will try to find the most
possibilites.]
interesting games by strong junior players. Today I decided
to comment on one from the 15-year old Chinese Wei Yi who 15.Be3 d5 It is funny that we still have a mirror position after
helped his team, the current Olympic champions, to beat fifteen moves! But with the extra tempo and the fight in the
Armenia 3,5-0,5! center White logically takes the advantage.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 The four knights is 16.Nxe5 [16.exd5 16...Bxd5 17.Bxg6 fxg6 18.Nxe5 Bxe5
often employed by Wei Yi along with the Italian game. 19.dxe5 Rxe5 seems almost equal.]
4...Bb4 [4...Nd4 is my favorite move.; 4...Bc5 5.Nxe5 Nxe5 16...Nxe5 17.dxe5 Nxe4 [17...Bxe5 18.f4! Bc7 19.e5 White
6.d4 a6!? is an interesting new option, Wei Yi-Eljanov 2014.] has a great advantage.]
5.O-O O-O 6.d3 d6 7.Ne2 A new, fashionable and very logical 18.Nxe4 [18.Qd3 was the other way to play for an edge.]
move. The big theory is [7.Bg5 7...Bxc3 8.bxc3 Qe7 9.Re1 18...dxe4 19.Bd4
Nd8 10.d4 Ne6 with still more than 500 games played.]
7...Ne7 8.c3 Ba5 9.Ng3 c6 10.Ba4 Ng6 11.d4 Normal play
for the center. Melkumyan will develop his pieces before going
for the counterbreak with d5.
11...Re8 [11...d5 is a very decent try. 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 (12...Nxe4
13.Nxg6 hxg6 14.Nxe4 dxe4 was played in Lipke-Pillsbury
1898! 15.Re1 Re8 16.Bf4+=) 13.dxe5 Nxe4 14.Nxe4 dxe4
15.Bf4 I am still not sure that Black can fully equalize here.]
19...Bd5!? There was another tricky defensive possibility: need many strong moves to prove an advantage.]
[19...Qg5! 20.Bxe4 Bxh3 21.f4 Qg3! with an unclear position 27.Ke2 Qxg2? enters a lost endgame. There were still some
because the obvious 22.Re3? is nicely met: 22...Qxf4 23.gxh3 chances after [27...Qh2 followed by Bb6.]
c5! 24.Bxc5 Rxe5 and White can’t defend the king and save
the piece at the same time.] 28.Qxg2 Rxg2 29.Kf3
20.Bxe4 c5 [Of course not 20...Bxe5? 21.Bxe5 Rxe5
22.Bh7+h]
21.Bxc5 Rxe5 22.Bxd5 Rxd5 23.Bd4 Qd6 [23...Bb6
24.Re4+=]
29...Rh2?? Now the rook gets trapped! [29...Rg5 30.Re7c]

30.Re7 Rxh3+ [30...Rc8 31.Rxc7! Rxc7 32.Kg3 is another
nice final.]
31.Kg4 Bd6 32.Rd7h Rd3 33.Rxd6 Re8 34.Rg1 g6
24.Qg4 Fearless play! [24.g3 is a more conservative move 35.Rg3 Rd2 36.Re3 Rf8 37.Re7 A very clean game by Wei
where White still pushes: 24...Bb6 25.Qf3 Bxd4 26.cxd4 Yi. 1-0
Rd8 (26...Rb8!? 27.Rad1 Rxd4 28.Rxd4 Qxd4 29.Re7 Qxb2
30.Qxf7+ Kh8 and it seems like Black might hold.) 27.Rad1
b6 28.Re4 White is still a pawn up.]
24...Rg5 25.Qf3 Qh2+ 26.Kf1 Qh1+?! It is necessary to
exchange White’s strong bishop: [26...Bb6! 27.Rad1 Bxd4
(27...Qh1+ 28.Ke2 Qh2 29.Bxb6 axb6 30.Rd7+=) 28.Rxd4
Qh1+ 29.Ke2 Qh2! was the best practical chance, since both
other moves lead to very unpleasant endgames: (29...Re8+
30.Re4 Rxe4+ 31.Qxe4 Qxg2 32.Qxg2 Rxg2 33.Rd1 Rg6
34.Rd8+ Kh7 35.Rd7 Rb6 36.b4 Kg6 37.Kd3+=; 29...Qxg2
30.Qxg2 Rxg2 31.Kf1 Rh2 32.Re7 Rxh3 33.Rf4 Rf8 34.Rxb7c)
30.Rd7 Rf8 and because of his slighly unsafe king, White will
Puzzle section
(5) Banusz, T(2585)-Pourramezanali, A(2432) (7) Ikeda, J(2403)-Dragun, K(2558)
Dubai Open, 2015.04.14 Bangkok Open, 2015.04.14
1. h 1. h
(6) Sagar, S(2458)-Mammadzada, G(2336) (8) Ghosh, D(2512)-Stokke, K(2360)

Dubai Open, 2015.04.14 Bangkok Open, 2015.04.14
1... i 1. h
(9) Swapnil, S(2450)-Illingworth, M(2489) (11) Kovacevic, A(2517)-Ratkovic, M(2365)
Bangkok Open, 2015.04.16 Serbian Championship, 2015.04.20
1... i 1. h
(10) Bogosavljevic, B(2516)-Antic, D(2457) (12) Georgiev, K(2623)-Dimov, D(2340)

Serbian Championship, 2015.04.18 Bulgarian Championship, 2015.04.18
1... i 1. h
(13) Korneev, O(2600)-Weber, U(2399)
Hofheim Open, 2015.04.11
1. h
(14) Martian, D(2220)-Nevednichy, V(2559)

Romanian Championship, 2015.04.20
1... i
Endgame section pawn, but White attacks the e6 with Ra6 and after Kf7 Ra7
check he goes back to a6 next.]
30.Ra1? Caruana tries to repeat moves, but he
(15) Caruana, Fabiano (2802) underestimates Carlsen’s subtle plan... [White should
- Carlsen, Magnus (2863) have played 30.Ra5 30...Rd1 This was what White was afraid
of, but he has
Gashimov memorial, GM Csaba Balogh
2015.04.19 Best rating: 2672
31.Ra1! preventing Nd2 by pinning the knight! (31.Kg2 loses

to 31...Nd2! 32.Be2 Re1 demonstrates well how bad the white
bishop is! It got trapped!) 31...Nc3 32.Ra3 Rc1 33.Ra8+ Kf7
We are facing another example where the World Champion 34.Ra7+ forces a draw. Kg6 can be met by Ra6.]
outplays the other top players of the world from a seemingly
nothing position. The material is balanced, but the knight is 30...Nd2! The knight is heading to f3 to collect the e5 pawn.
clearly superior to the locked bishop. However Black has his 31.Be2 Another mistake which already causes too big
weaknesses on e6 and c5, which should give White enough problems for White. [White should again have tried 31.Kg2
counterplay to hold the draw. 31...Nf3 32.Ra6 still with good chances for a draw.]
29.Ra3 I like this move. White sends the knight to a worse 31...Nf3+! 32.Bxf3 [32.Kg2 32...Nxe5 33.Ra5 Rc8 is a
place, because Black was threatening with Rd2 followed by healthy extra pawn for Black.]
Nd1, winning the f2 pawn. [Trying to do the same with 29.Rc1 32...exf3 Caruana probably thought that if he managed to
was less accurate, because Black locks the rook as well with trade his poor bishop for the knight the rook endgame must
29...Na2 30.Ra1 Rd2 depriving White from his counterplay on be an easy draw. However changing the pawn structure in
the a-file.] Black’s favor creates new problems for White. The new key
29...Nb1 [Now on 29...Nd1 30.Be2= White takes the knight factor is the king on g1, which is squeezed to the back rank
and holds the rook endgame. Black might try to win the c4 thanks to the f3 pawn! White cannot start his counterplay
against the c5 and e6 pawns because of the penetration of the 34...fxg4 35.hxg4
black rook on the d-file.
35...h4! Excellent play by Carlsen! It is more important to

33.h3 Trying to give air to the king. White also plans to play keep the king in a cage by keep controlling the g3 square
g4, followed by going to the f3 pawn with Kh2-g3. Carlsen than gaining a material advantage, but allowing counterplay.
prevents this idea with the most natural move. [35...hxg4 36.Kh2 Rd2 37.Kg3 White should hold without
33...h5! [Activating the rook with 33...Rd2 allows White to difficulties.]
free his position with 34.g4! fxg4 35.hxg4 Rc2 36.Kh2 Rxf2+ 36.Kh2 [White could have tried to avoid getting a protected
37.Kg3 Rc2 38.Kxf3 Rxc4 Black has won a pawn, but White passed pawn with g5 by playing g5 himself: 36.g5 but it also
rescued his king from the cage and launches his counterplay fails to hold, as the black king joins the game too quickly.
with 39.Ra8+ Kf7 40.Ra7+=] 36...Kf7 37.Kh2 Kg6 38.Kh3 Kh5! (But not 38...Kxg5
34.g4 A clever attempt to rescue the king at the cost of a because of 39.Rg1+! getting counterpay again.) ]
pawn! [Another defensive attempt, 34.Ra6 also seems to 36...Rd2 I believe that this is the only inaccuracy Carlsen
fail after 34...Rd1+ 35.Kh2 Rf1! 36.Rxe6 Rxf2+ 37.Kg1 Rg2+ made in this game. [He should have started with 36...g5 and
38.Kf1 Rxg3 Black collects all the pawns and his passed only in a next step activated the rook. 37.Ra6 is met by
pawns are going to be more dangerous than the white ones. 37...Rd2 38.Kg1 Rd1+ 39.Kh2 Rf1 40.Rxe6 Rxf2+ 41.Kh3 Kf7
39.Rc6 (39.h4 39...Rg4 Black takes on c4 first and then on 42.Rf6+ Ke7 43.Rf5 I tried to hold with active defense, but it
h4.) 39...Kf7 40.h4 Rg4 41.Rxc5 Rxh4 42.Kf2 g5 43.Kxf3 Re4 is not enough...
followed by h4 and g4, which seems to be very bad for White.
He is also in some kind of zugzwang as he cannot push his
pawns and if he moves with the rook, one of the pawns is
falling.]
Rxc4 48.Kf4! White gets very active with Ke5 next! In most
of the rook endgames, the active defense is usually the best,
even if it sometimes costs a pawn. I would say the draw is the
most probable outcome here.]
37...g5! 38.e4 Setting up a deep trick, but of course Carlsen
does not fall for it. [38.Ra6 transposes to the 36...g5 line!]
38...Rd4! collecting all the pawns one by one. [We can see
the point of 38.e4 after 38...Rxf2? White has gives up all his
43...Rf1! winning an important tempo by threatening with moves, his king is stalemated, he only needs to sacrifice his
mate on h1! 44.Kh2 Rc1 45.Rxf3 (45.Rxg5 45...f2i) 45...Rxc4 rook. 39.Ra8+ Kg7 40.Ra7+ Kg6
This is the point. Now the g4 pawn is hanging thanks to the
43...Rf1 move. 46.Kh3 Rc1 47.Rf5 c4 and the c-pawn runs too
fast! 48.Rxg5 c3 49.Rg7+ Kd8 50.Rg8+ Kc7 51.Rg7+ Kc6
52.Rg6+ Kb5i White cannot stop the pawn.]
37.Kh3 Missing the opportunity! [The only chance was 37.g5!
and compared to the 36.g5 line, the white king is a square
closer. 37...Rxf2+ 38.Kh3 Rg2 39.Kxh4 Kh7 also looks quite
bad for White. Kg6 is coming and the white rook cannot leave
the first rank because of f2, but perhaps he can save the game
with 40.Rf1! f2 41.e4 Kg6 42.Kh3 Rxg5 43.Rxf2 Rxe5 44.Rf4 41.Rg7+!=]
39.Ra8+ Kf7 40.Ra3 [40.Ra7+ does not change the
outcome. Black wins in a long, but forced line: 40...Kg6
41.Re7 Rd1! 42.Kh2 Rf1 43.Rxe6+ Kg7 44.Rf6 Rxf2+ 45.Kh3
Rf1 This mate threat is always the key! 46.Kh2 f2 47.Rf5
Rg1 48.Rxf2 Rxg4i The connected passed pawns decide
the game. Black wants to take on e4 and Re2 allows Kf7-e6.
49.Rf5 Kg6 50.Rf6+ Kh5i]
40...Rxc4 41.Rxf3+ Ke7 42.Re3 Rd4 White has finally
eliminated the f3 pawn, but his king is still forced to stay
Black is a healthy pawn up, but his rook is passive. White behind the h-pawn. Meanwhile, Black got another passed
wants to bring his king to f3 to free his rook and if Blackgoes pawn, which decides the game. White also have difficulties
44...Rh5+ (44...Rg5 45.Rf8) 45.Kg3 Rh1 46.Rf8 Rc1 47.Rc8 to keep his remaining moves protected...
43.f3 c4 44.Ra3 Rd3 45.Ra7+ Kd8 46.Kg2 c3 47.Ra4 c2 [It
was even easier to go behind the c-pawn with 47...Rd7! and (16) Carlsen, Magnus (2863)
Rc7 next! 48.Ra8+ Kc7 49.Ra4 Kb6i] - Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime (2765)
48.Rc4 Rd2+ 49.Kh3 Kd7 50.Rc5 Rf2 51.f4 [51.Rc3 fails to
51...Rxf3+!i] GM Arkadij Naiditsch
2015.04.21
51...Rf3+ 52.Kh2 Rxf4 [White resigned because of Best rating: 2737
52...Rxf4 53.Rxc2 Rxg4i The connected passed pawns
win automatically. White must stay passive to defend the
e-pawns, but it allows driving the black king to h5, from
where it will help to promote the pawns. A very instructive
and nice endgame by the World Champion.] 0-1
As Carlsen said in the interview, Maxime managed to surprise

him already on move 2 with 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 b5!? but usually it is
a bad idea to try and play something "not very solid" against
Carlsen, who is great in feeling what is needed in an unclear
situation. So White quickly got a clear advantage and with
a great postional pawn sacrifice he put Black under a lot of
pressure. What we will see right now is already an endgame,
which is clearly very bad for Black. Material is equal, but the
bishop on f8 is very passive. What we are going to see in
the next 20 moves is a perfect conversion of an advantage,
without giving any chances to the opponent.
31.Re2 A very safe and good move. White just protects the b2
pawn and leaves the knight on a4 on a passive position.
31...Rc1 32.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 33.Kg2 In case Black would
somehow manage to exchange another pair of rooks the
position would get closer to a draw, but of course this is only Rd5 after which the pawn on a5 will be lost.
a dream... 42...Nc7 [A tougher defense was maybe 42...h5 to stop the
33...Nc5 34.b3! A very strong move! Black’s ideas was maybe white king from entering the g4 square for the future.]
to play a4-b3 and threaten to play Rc2. 43.Bg4
34...Rc3 What else to do?! Black keeps on waiting...
35.Kh3! Another great positional move! White improves 43...a4?! Black is losing his nerves. [It looks very ugly,
his king’s position which can maybe go to h5 now, or maybe but Maxime should have continued with passive defense...
sometime in the future to f5. 43...Ne8 ]
35...Nd7 36.Be6 Nc5 37.Bd5 Nd7 Maxime continues to 44.Nxd6 Now the position is falling apart.
wait. 44...Bxd6 45.Rxd6 a3 This was Black’s idea, to get to the a2
38.Ne3! Using a small tactic, Magnus transfers his knight to pawn by threatening Nb5 or Rc2, but once again Carlsen just
c4 where it will attack both the a5 and d6 pawns. sees more than his opponent.
38...Nf6 39.Be6 The pawn on e4 can’t be taken.
39...Rc5 [39...Nxe4? 40.Nd5 and the game is over.]
40.Nc4 Kg7 Finally the black king feels a bit more free, but
the pawns on a5 and d6 are in big danger.
41.f3 Another "small" but very good move. Now that the black
rook is not on the 3rd rank anymore, White has all the time in
the world to place his pieces perfectly. The easy threat is to
play Rd2 next.
41...Ne8 42.Rd2 Now Black needs to be afraid of Bd7 and of 46.Bd7! Another very strong move! White doesn’t let the
knight jump to b5 and at the same time he threatens to play
Bc6 and Rd7, against which Black is just helpless!
46...Rc2 47.Bc6 Rxa2 Black’s last try. [47...Na6 48.Bd5 Nc7
49.Bc4 and White is totally dominating the position.]
48.Rd7+ Kf6 49.Rxc7 Rc2 Black wants to play Rc1 and a2.
Of course it is a very "long term" threat and White is going to
stop it easily.
50.Rxh7 First of all Carlsen takes the h7 pawn- why not!
50...Kg6 51.Rc7 Kf6 and now he finds the right mating plan:
52.h5! Suddenly the black king is in a mating net!
52...Rc1 [52...a2 53.Ra7 Rxc6 54.Rxa2 leads to a totally lost
rook endgame for Black.]
53.Rh7 a2 and after the beautiful
54.Bd5 Black can’t avoid getting mated in a couple of moves

with Rf7-Kg5 and Rf5 mate. What we saw right now looked so
simple and easy, but in fact to play the most accurate move
is one of the hardest things in chess and the current World
Champion does it perfectly! A great game to learn from. 1-0
Chess and the City. while men could explore themselves through hunting and
collecting. So basically by nature men were more willing to
Size matters...?! take risks, leading to greater creative development. I must
admit that, while this sounds like total rubbish, it is always
nice to have such an excuse rather than admit that you are
just a very lazy chess worker.
Have you ever heard of a strong woman player who was
capable of working on chess by herself, and , and here comes
the main point, doing so effectively? I havent... The problem
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz with women is simply that they have too many things on
Best rating: 2493 their minds, they cannot just focus on 64 squares and 32
pieces and neglect all the other crucial things, such as their
Just a few days ago the world was "shocked", or rather appearance, chatting, and shopping and so on... These
amused, by an article by the famous and eloquent GM Nigel temptations are indeed far too important to allow us to work
Short on the topic of why men are superior at chess. There on chess for a couple of hours without interruption. So, since
has, of course, been plenty of discussion on this matter, and we always need to think about something, we inevitably work
it is a topic that never seems to die. less effectively, and this may also be a very logical explanation
Frankly, I feel quite relieved that we now know that the for why we are not often found in the top 100 rankings (except
reason is a simple deficiency in our brain constitution. So, Hou and Polgar, of course).
basically we can stop here and start demanding that FIDE Anyway, Nigel’s explanation has become my all time
totally separates men’s chess from women’s chess, as we favourite, because it deflects away from, eg, my laziness
cannot change or influence the biology of our birth. However, holding me back, and puts the blame firmly on these
this may not be convincing enough, and anyway, separating deficiencies which can be proven scientifically. So, whenever
men’s and women’s chess will end up financially disastrous, we face this sort of question , thanks to Nigel, we finally have
as I doubt there would be enough sponsorship to keep an answer! Anyway, as my brain is smaller than the rest of
women’s chess afloat. Having the smaller brain, or, as Nigel the ’Evolution’ team, I have to come to an end now, because I
puts it, a ”different wiring construction”, sounds like a perfect have a million other things swirling around in my head! And,
reason, or in my case an excuse, for not being ranked in the by the way, this may also explain why I only do the writing,
top 100. whereas the others do the annotations .
Whenever a journalist asked me, in former times, why
men were so much stronger, I tended to point towards
our evolution and physical constitution. Evolution-wise
women were usually taking care of the household and family,
Clash of the Titans 9.O-O Nc6 [9...Nbd7 10.e4! cxd4 11.Nxd4 and White has a
typical stable plus thanks to his space advantage and Bxe6!?
can also be a threat sometimes now.; 9...a6 leads to Queen’s
(17) Botvinnik, Mikhail Gambit Accepted positions.]
- Kholmov, Ratmir D [D40] 10.dxc5 [10.Qe2!? ; 10.d5!? 10...exd5 11.Nxd5 Be6 (11...Nxd5
12.Bxd5 Qc7 13.e4 White keeps his strong bishop on d5 and
Moscow-chT, 1969 Black needs play accurately to equalize.) 12.Nxf6+ (12.Nxe7+
12...Qxe7= White needs to lose time to develop the bishop on
GM Kamil Miton b2, then Black can limit him after Ne4-f6.) 12...Bxf6 13.Bxe6
Best rating: 2655
fxe6 14.Qc2 Qd5 Black has the worse structure but thanks to
his active pieces he should be able to equalize.]
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.d4 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 [Another, less 10...Qxd1 [10...Bxc5 ]
popular option is 5.Ne2 ]
11.Rxd1 Bxc5 12.b4 Be7 13.Bb2 A symmetrical structure
5...d5 doesn’t always mean equal position. Black needs to finish his
development first.
6.a3 [6.Nf3 6...c5 (6...b6 7.O-O Bb7 8.cxd5 exd5 9.a3 Bd6 13...Bd7 [13...b6 14.e4 A typical move with the idea to get
10.b4 Nbd7 11.Qb3 a6 12.a4 The main task for White is to more space. (14.Nb5 14...a5V) 14...Bb7 15.e5 Ng4 16.Nb5
activate the dark-squared bishop after b5-Ba3 or with a plan (16.Rd7 16...Ngxe5! and Black is fine!) 16...Rfd8 17.Nc7
like Bb2-Ne2-Ng3. Black should try to look for counterplay on (17.h3 17...Nh6 and the knight will get back into play after
the kingside with Qe7-Ne4.) 7.O-O Nc6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 dxc4 Nf5.) 17...Rac8 18.Nxe6 Rxd1+ 19.Rxd1 Nxb4 20.Bb3 Nd5
10.Bxc4 Qc7 with complex strategical play.] 21.Ned4Cand White keeps the initiative.]
6...Be7 [6...Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 c5k] 14.Ne4! White needs to play actively, otherwise after
7.Nf3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 c5 Black is fighting for the center. Rd8-Rc8 Black will solve all his problems.
14...Rfd8 [14...Nxe4 15.Rxd7 Rad8 (Less accurate is 15...Rfd8 thanks to his strong knight on d5 Black easily holds the
16.Rxb7 Nd6 17.Ba6!h) 16.Rxd8 Rxd8 17.Bb5 Rc8 18.Rc1 a6 position.) 27...Kxc6 28.Ne5+ Kb5 29.Nxf7 Ka4! and thanks
19.Bd3 Nd6 20.Kf1 with a similar position as in the game.] to his active king Black has counterplay.]
15.Nd6 [15.Nxf6+ 15...Bxf6 16.Bxf6 gxf6 and the doubled 27.Bxd5! exd5
pawns are not a weakness here. It can only be a weakness in
a pawn endgame in case White manages to bring his king to
h5. Have a look at the game Cohn-Rubinstein, St Petersburg
1909.]
15...Bc8 [15...Bxd6 16.Rxd6+= and Black will have no time to
limit the bishop after f6-e5.]
16.Nxc8 Raxc8 17.Rxd8+ Nxd8 18.Rc1 White keeps a stable
advantage thanks to the bishop pair.
18...Nd7
28.e4! It looks very strange to exchange the bishop and
isolated pawn but thanks to this operation the white king will
become very active.
28...dxe4+ 29.Kxe4 Kd7 30.Kd5 h5 [30...Bd8 with the idea
to get rid of the white king after Ne7.]
19.Bb5! White avoids the bishops’ exchange after Bf6.

19...Rxc1+ 20.Bxc1 Nb6 21.Kf1! In an endgame the king
should be an active piece.
21...a6 22.Bd3 Nc6 23.Be4 White brings the bishop to an
active diagonal. 31.Bg7! We should k now that the bishop endgame is drawish
23...g6 [23...Bf6 24.Nd2! followed by the unpleasant Nb3.] but in the other ones thanks to his active king White has good
24.Ke2 Kf8 25.Kd3 Ke8 26.Bb2 Nd5 [26...Kd7!? with practical chances.
the idea f5. 27.Bxc6+ (27.Ne5+ 27...Nxe5+ 28.Bxe5 Nd5 and 31...Bd8 [31...Bd6 32.Bf6!]
32.Bf8 Bb6 33.Bc5 Ne7+ [33...Bd8 34.a4C]
34.Kc4 Bxc5 [34...Bc7 35.Bxe7!? Kxe7 36.Kc5 with the
idea to bring the knight to d5.]
35.Kxc5 Kc7 preventing Kb6 but now White plays
46.Ne5! Ka4 47.Nc4 Kb3 [47...b5 48.Na5 Kxa3

49.Nc6h Thanks to this pawn sacrifice White prevents
counterplay!]
48.Nxb6 Kxa3 49.Nd5 Kb3 50.f4 Kc4 51.Nc7 Kxb4
52.Nxa6+ with an easy win for White. 1-0
36.Ng5! A strong move which forces Black to make
weaknesses.
36...f6 37.Nh7 f5 38.h4! fixing the good structure for White.
38...f4 [38...b6+ 39.Kd4 Kd6 40.Nf8!h and soon Black will
be in zugzwang.]
39.Nf8 b6+ 40.Kd4 Nf5+ [40...f3 This trick doesn’t help
Black. 41.g3 Nf5+ 42.Ke4 Nxg3+ 43.Kxf3h]
41.Ke4 Nxh4 42.Ne6+ Kc6 43.Nxf4 Kb5 Black is looking
for counterplay.
44.g3 Nf5 45.Nxg6 Nh6 [45...Nd6+ 46.Kd5 Ne8 47.Ne5!
The same strong idea as in the game! (47.Nf4 47...Ka4
48.Nxh5 Kxa3 49.g4 a5 50.bxa5 bxa5 51.Kc4 a4 (51...Kb2?
52.Kb5) 52.Kc3 Nc7 and Black has some chances to survive.)
47...Ka4 48.Nc4! b5 49.Na5 Kxa3 50.Nc6h]
(18) Herbstmann (19) Nakamura, H(2798)-Onischuk, A(2665)
1. h US Championship, 2015.04.12
28.Nd4! Nh3+ 29.Kh1 Nf2+ [29...Rd2 30.Rd8+! Kg7

31.Ne6+! (31.Nf5+! ) 31...fxe6 32.Rxd2h]
30.Kg2 Nd1+ [30...Rd2 31.Rd8+ Kg7 32.Ne6+ fxe6
33.Rxd2h] 31.Nxe2 1-0
(20) Sevian, S(2531)-Holt, C(2530)
US Championship, 2015.04.12
27.Ke2? [27.Nf5!! 27...exf5 (27...Rxf5 28.Rh8+ Kf7 29.Qh7#)
28.e6!! (28.Rh8+ 28...Kf7 29.Rh7+ Ke6) 28...Qg7 (28...Qxe6 (22) Fier, A(2601)-Karavade, E(2405)
29.Rh8+ Kf7 30.Qh7#) 29.Kd2!! Rb7 (29...Nd8 30.e7 Dubai Open, 2015.04.08
Qxe7 31.Rh8+ Kf7 32.Rh7+ Ke6 33.Qe5+h) 30.Rh1h]
27...Qg7k
(21) Rakhmanov, A(2639)-Abhishkek, K(2343)

Dubai Open, 2015.04.07
29.Bxf6+! 1-0 [29.Bxf6+ 29...Kxf6 30.Rxb7! Rxb7 31.Qxc6+

Kg7 32.Qxb7h]
(23) Karthikeyan, M(2504)-Ivanisevic, I(2638)
29...Nxe3! 30.fxe3 Rxe3 31.h4 [31.Bd2 31...Rd3 32.Nf3

Bxd2 33.Nxd2 Qxb4 34.Rc2 Qa4! 35.Rc1 (35.Qc1
35...Ra3i 36.Rb2 Ra1 37.Nb1 Qa3i (37...Qc4i ) )
35...Qxd1+ 36.Rxd1 Bh5i; 31.Ba1 31...Rd3i]
31...Rd3 32.Qxd3 Bxd3i 0-1
36...e1=Q+! 37.Bxe1 Bxe1! [37...Rxe1+?? 38.Rxe1 Bxe1

39.b7h]
38.b7 Bb4! 39.g3 [39.Rxb4 39...Re1#]
39...Bd6i
(24) Mammadov, Z(2470)-Volkov, S(2614) (26) Pruijssers, R(2511)-Almasi, Z(2695)
28.Nxf5! exf5 29.Qxh6+! gxh6 [29...Kg8 30.Nf6+! gxf6 48...Rxc3! 49.Rxc3 e3+ 50.Kh2 Bxh1 51.Rxe3 [51.Kxh1
31.Rg3#] 51...Qd5+ 52.Kh2 Qd2+i]
30.Nf6+ Kh8 31.Nxd7h 51...Be4i
(25) Safarli, E(2641)-Grandelius, N(2603) (27) Swiercz, D(2614)-Kraemer, M(2570)
49.Rf4!! exf4 50.Re1! 1-0 [50.Re1 50...Nxc3 51.Qh7+ Kf6 25.Rxb6! Qxb6 26.b4h a5 27.bxc5 dxc5 28.Nd5 Bxd5
52.Qe7#] 29.exd5h
(28) Nikolic, P(2605)-Baramidze, D(2605)
21.O-O! [21.Kf1? 21...Rb2 22.Qd3 Rexe2! 23.Qxa3 Rxf2+

24.Ke1 Rfe2+=]
21...Rb2 22.Qd3! Qa5 23.Rfe1 [23.Bd1h ]
23...Qg5+ 24.Kh1 Rd2 25.f4! Qxf4 26.Qf3 Qxd4 27.Bf1c
[27.Red1!h ]
(29) Kralin
1.d7+ Kd8 2.Rf8!! Qxf8 3.Bxg5+ Nf6+ 4.Ke5! Ke7 5.Kf5!

c6 6.c3! c5 7.c4! Qh8 8.d8=Q+! Kxd8 9.Bxf6+ Qxf6+
10.Kxf6 Ke8 11.e7 Kd7 12.Kf7h
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
Two super events and one exceptional match came to an end.
In Shamkir Magnus Carlsen once again showed who the boss
Editorial Preface 2 is, with an amazing score of 7/9 and a performance of almost
3000 he totally dominated this event. Anand also showed a
Two best games of the past week 4 very good result with 6/9. Caruana and So shared 3-4th place
with 5/9.
The K-Files. Let’s now come to the Team’s World Championship Men:
Blumenfeld Gambit - part 3 11 Nothing could stop the Chinese team, who are winning almost
any event they are playing. With 15/18 points the Chinese
David vs. Goliath 16 superstars finished 3 points ahead of their main concurrent,
the team of Ukraine. The host team of Armenia took 3rd place
Young & Talented 18 with 11/18. Russia showed a very disappointing result, with
only 10/18. Grischuk could not even win a single game.
Puzzle section 22 In the women’s section Georgia scored 17/18 points - an
outstanding result! 2nd place went to Russia with a very good
score of 15/18 and 3rd place to the ladies from China (who
Endgame section 25
were playing without Hou Yifan) with 11/18.
Chess and the City. Trudno skazat... 29 In the battle of the legends between Kasparov and Short in
Saint Louis, it was one-way traffic. Nigel Short was crushed
with a score of 8.5-1.5. Well, lately we have been reading a lot
of "strange" interviews by the Englishman, but maybe "less
talking, more working" should be his on his schedule now.
In the current issue we comment on games from the recent
super events in combination with a lot of interesting articles
Solutions 33
and the usual weekly puzzle section. Enjoy!
Two best games of the past week not be afraid of 10.Nxc6 10...bxc6 11.e5 dxe5 12.Bxc6 Rb8 and
Black has excellent play.]
(1) Adams, Michael (2745)

- Giri, Anish (2790) [B91]

Best rating: 2737
Both Adams and Giri didn’t have a great run in Shamkir and at
the end of the event they managed to score "only" 3.5/9, but 10...Rb8 I am not sure about this move at all. Black’s idea is
in the current game Adams- who is usually a very solid player- to take on d4 and to play b5, but it leads to a worse position.
showed great attacking chess. After the opening it seemed [10...Ne5 11.Qe2 Qc7 looks more normal to me.]
like White’s position was a bit better, but by playing a bit "too 11.f4 Now White is already preparing to take on c6 and play e5
slow" Adams gave Giri excellent chances to turn the game, but at some point.
Giri didn’t take them and got under a very heavy attack...
11...Qc7 A very usual move for Black.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 I guess this was a little surprise for Adams,
since Giri usually plays 2...e6. 12.Kh1 This prophylactical move is often played in Sicilian
positions, but is it really needed now?! I think White’s idea
3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 So we have one more should be to play g4 and for that maybe the position of the
Najdorf. white king on g1 is even better. [12.g4 didn’t work because
6.g3 This is a move that is becoming more and more after 12...Nxd4 13.Bxd4 e5 the g4 pawn is getting lost.; In my
fashionable. opinion the right move was 12.Nb3 followed by g4.]
6...e6 The main move is 6... e5. 12...Bd7 13.Nb3 White is preparing the a5 move and the g4
push.
7.Bg2 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.a4 White’s whole idea is to play
a Sheveningen, where he usually plays Be2-Bf3-g4-Bg2, but 13...b6 directed against White’s a5 push. [13...Nb4 14.a5 e5
now the bishop is already on g2 so he could be a sort of tempo 15.Bb6 Qc8 16.f5 and White is very solid in the center.; 13...b5
up. was also premature. 14.axb5 axb5 and White has the strong
15.Qe2! Black has huge problems to defend the b5 pawn.]
9...Nc6 A rather usual setup for Black.
10.Be3 Also a usual move for White. [Of course Black should
14.g4 Of course! White is starting the action on the kingside. 18...e5! A strong reply by Giri. A move like e5 is usually a
14...h6 A strong reply. Black can’t let White play g5 followed bad move since it gives away the f5 and d5 squares, but in the
by f5. current situation it is the right choice.
15.Qe2 attacking the a6 pawn and maybe preparing to play 19.Nf5 Bxf5 20.exf5 Freeing the bishop from g2.
g5 sometime in the future. Now we can see that maybe 20...exf4 [Taking the pawn on c2 looks very dangerous:
playing Rb8 was not the best idea. 20...Nxc2 21.g5 and White’s attack is just too strong.]
15...Nb4 A slightly strange move, as it is hard to understand 21.Rd4 [After 21.Bxf4 21...d5 the position looks very unclear
where the black knight is going... [Why not play 15...Na5 to me.]
which is a typical move in this kind of pawn structures. 16.g5 21...Qc7 22.Bxf4
hxg5 17.fxg5 Nh7 18.h4 Nc4 and I think the position is very
unclear.]
16.Nd4 [I think white should have played more directly with
16.g5 16...hxg5 17.fxg5 Nh7 18.h4 and because of the passive
position of the knight on h7 I believe that White is better.]
16...Rbc8 Black is preparing to play Qc4, as the endgames are
usually good for Black.
22...Nxc2? A clear mistake, but even from a human point of

view it is hard to see the full danger of White’s attack. [Black
should have tried to play for the d5 push, which is very typical.
22...Qc5 23.Rd2 d5 and the position is very unclear.]
23.Rd2 Nb4 It seems like Black is a pawn up, but in fact it is
White who rules the game.
24.h4! A great move! Black has no decent defense against g5.
17.Rad1?! and this move is already too slow. [It was really
time for White to play 17.g5 17...hxg5 18.fxg5 Nh7 19.h4] 24...Nh7 I guess Giri clearly underestimated Adams’ next
move.
17...Qc4 18.Qf3 Of course White avoids the endgame, but
now Black has a sudden resource:
29.Rxd6! Another great move by Adams!
29...Bg7 [After 29...Bxd6 30.Nxd6 Qc2 31.Bxh6 Black’s
position is also in ruins.]
30.Bxh6 It is time to collect some more material and to get
rid of the lonely defender of the black king.
30...Bxh6 31.Rxh6 The game is totally over.
31...Rc6 32.Qg4+ Kh8
25.g5! The right move since Black can’t take the g5 pawn.
25...Qc4 Not a great move, but what else to do?! [In case of
25...hxg5 26.hxg5 Nxg5 27.Qg3 Nh7 White has a very simple
win: 28.Bf3! activating both rooks and threatening to play
Rg1-Rh2 with a deadly mating attack.]
26.f6 Adams is on fire! Black’s position is getting destoyed.
26...gxf6 27.gxf6 A logical move but maybe not the simplest
one. [White would win very easily after 27.gxh6 27...Kh8
28.Re1! attacking the e7 bishop. 28...Rfe8 29.Re4 Qc5 33.Rxh7+ and in case of 33...Kxh7 34.Nf6 Rxf6 35.Qc4 White
30.Be3 Qa5 31.Bd4 Finishing the game on the spot! White would be a queen up. A very nice game by Adams where Black
has too many threats like Rxe7 for Black to even have a chance basically lost the game in one move by not playing 22...d5!
to save the game.] and instead being a bit greedy and going for the c2 pawn. 1-0
27...Bxf6 28.Ne4 White’s play is simple, he brings all the
pieces to the kingside and mates the black king.
28...Be5 There was already no way for Black to save the
game.
10...Qc6!
(2) Kasparov, Garry (2812)
- Short, Nigel D (2664) [E11]
Legends Rapid Match 2015(1), GM Csaba Balogh

2015.04.25 Best rating: 2672
Kasparov completely destroyed Short in an exhibition match

in Saint Louis. The final score was 8.5-1.5. We examine
the first game, where Kasparov was already showing huge
domination, but Short could put up tenacious resistance and 11.f3! A very clever move! White not only closes the pressure
he survived... on the g2 pawn, but he also prevents the Ne4 tempo in some
1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 Bb4+ The Bogo Indian defense. lines and prepares to push e3-e4,establishi ng the control
over the center and the active squares of the f6 knight.
4.Nbd2 This has recently been considered to be the more He will also be able to develop the c1 bishop ideally to e3
ambitious answer. White would like to get the bishop pair afterwards. Black quickly needs to do something to gain some
after a3. The other main line is 4. Bd2. counterplay.
4...c5 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 In the long term, White achieved a 11...a6 12.Nc3! [It was tempting to retreat the knight with
positional advantage. The two bishops might guarantee him tempo by playing 12.Nd4?! but after 12...Qb6 the knight has
an edge. no stability on d4. Black attacks it with e5 and it will need to
6...cxd4 7.Nxd4 O-O 8.e3 d5 9.cxd5 Kasparov opens the occupy an unfortunate square. 13.Be2 e5 Nc6 and Rd8 are
position to make his two bishops more powerful. [Another coming next with tempo.]
positionally principled move was played recently by GM 12...e5 13.e4 Nbd7?! This is clearly the mistake which allows
Vitiugov: 9.b3 with the idea of developing the bishop to the White to get an advantage. The idea would be to quickly play
long diagonal and delaying the movement of the f1 bishop to Nc5-b3 (and prepare it with Be6 if necessary) or in case of b4-
avoid losing a tempo after dxc4.] Nb6, Be6 and the c4 square is weak. However Kasparov finds
9...Qxd5 10.Nb5 White would happily enter an endgame a perfect way to ignore this ideas! [Black should have played
without queens, but Short rightly keeps them on board and 13...Be6! and after the same plan we will see in the game...
keeps the pressure on the g2 pawn to make the development 14.Qf2 Bb3! controlling the most valuable open file. 15.Be2
of the white pieces more difficult. Qe6! The black knight should ideally develop to c6 and its
final destination is on d4! 16.O-O Nc6 17.Be3 Rfd8= and Black
had enough counterplay against the two bishops in the game
Gelfand-Andreikin, Moscow 2013.]
but also e5 with a very dangerous attack.]
21.Bh5! White does not give up his bishops and puts more
and more pressure on Black’s kingside.
21...Bc4 [According to the computer, the only move to stay
in the game was 21...Qc5! threatening the h5 bishop with an
x-ray and stabilizing the very important e5 square. White’s
advantage is undisputable anyway with the two bishops. He
can take twice on e5 followed by Bg5 for instance.]
14.Qf2! Kasparov does not weaken his pawn structure with

b4 (which also gives up the stability of the c3 knight), but he
quickly moves away on the dark squares and ignores the b3
knight.
14...Nc5 15.Be3! Nb3 16.Rd1 Very well played! We can see
now that the b3 knight is not doing that much and Black had
a much better version in the 13. ..Be6 line.
16...Be6 17.Be2 White has consolidated his position and it
is time to finish the development and enjoy the power of the
two bishops. 22.fxe5! Kasparov sacrificed the exchanged without thinking.
He feels the domination and the dynamism so well that he
17...Rfd8 18.O-O+= Ne8 Black would like to play Nd6-c4, but knows that the compensation will be more than enough...
this maneuver takes some time, which allows White to create White gets a pawn for it, all his pieces are standing perfectly,
different kind of problems... the black king is vulnerable and after the disappearance of the
19.Qg3! Kasparov provokes a weakness before opening a c4 bishop, another great piece comes to the game, as White
new battle front. [19.f4! immediately was also very strong. plays Nd5!
19...exf4 20.Qxf4 followed by Bf3 and Nd5 with very active 22...Bxf1 23.Rxf1 Kh8 The best defense. Leaving from
piece play.] Nd5-e7 and the pin on the g-file which made the takeback
19...f6 20.f4! White has the two bishops and he wants to open on f6 after Bxe8 and exf6 impossible. [23...fxe5 24.Qxe5 Nc2
the position for them! 25.Nd5h]
20...Nd4 Short tries to show the drawback of having included 24.Nd5! A devastating attack is about to break through.
the Qg3-f6 move. [20...exf4 21.Qxf4 would be even better Short finds the only way again to avoid immediate resignation
than one move before. Now not only Bf3-Nd5 is threatening, and gives back his material advantage...
24...Rxd5! 25.exd5 Qxd5 26.Qf2? This move looked very
tempting, but some miraclous defensive resources by Short
allow him to survive. [Kasparov pointed out that he should
have played 26.Qh4! 26...Ne6 27.exf6 Nxf6
33.Bd1! Sending the king back to the corner after which the
advance of the h-pawn will decide the game. 33...Qf7 loses to
the small tactical trick 34.Bb3! Qxb3 35.Qxg7#) 32.Bg4 Qf8
33.Qd7 White controls all the squares of the rook since Re8
or Rd8 loses to Bxg7 and the winning plan is the following:
28.Rxf6! gxf6 29.Qxf6+ Ng7 (29...Kg8 30.Bf7+h) 30.Bd4!
33...a5 34.Be6 b4 35.Bd5 Rb8 36.axb4 axb4
The two bishops are extremely powerful in such positions.
In comparison to the game the dark squared bishop is now
standing on the long diagonal from where it controls much
more squares than from h6. 30...Qg8 The only move.
(30...Rg8 31.Bf7h; 30...Qd7 31.Bf7 Qg4 32.h3 Qg3 33.Be5!
and Black cannot save the g7 knight. 33...Qe1+ 34.Kh2h)
31.Qe7! Black is totally dominated and in danger of getting
into zugzwang. Here are some illustrative lines to feel the
power of the white pieces: 31...b5 Saving the b-pawn. (31...Rc8
aiming for counterplay. 32.Bg4 32.Qxb7 is also winning.
32...Rc1+ 33.Kf2 Rc2+ 34.Kf3h White ran out of checks and
37.g4! with the idea of g5-h4-h5-h6! and if Black tries to
Be6 is coming next, deflecting the queen from the g7 knight.;
prevent it with 37...h6 38.g5! hxg5 39.Qh3# is mate!]
31...Qf8 White obviously keeps the queens on the board.
32.Qd7 Kg8 26...fxe5! Cold-blooded defense. Kasparov could probably
not believe to his eyes, that with such pieces and back rank
problems he does not have an instant win.
27.Qf8+ [Black’s point is that after 27.Bxd4 27...Nf6!!
(27...exd4 28.Bf3c and Bxb7 next or Qxd4 would have been
good for White.) ]
27...Qg8 28.Qe7 Nf6! The only move again to avoid Rf8. 38...Qa1+ [38...Re7 39.Qc8+ Re8 also forces the draw.]
29.Rxf6! Kasparov finds this brilliant exchange sacrifice 39.Kh2 Rxe4 It is already White who must save the game and
again, but this time it does not have the same efficiency as he did it by playing [39...Qe5+ also with a draw.]
in the 26.Qh4 line. [29.Qxe5 again runs into an intermediate
move: 29...Nc6! and Black takes on h5 next with more or less
equality.]
29...gxf6 30.Bh6! The game seems to be over, but Black has
an only move yet again... [30.Qxf6+? 30...Qg7 is nothing.]
30...Nf5! 31.Qxf6+ Ng7 Amazing defense by Black!
32.Qxe5 Rc8 White’s pieces are nice, but it is very difficult to
make progress. Black is ready to solve the tension on g7 with
Rc6. Qf8-c5 is another idea. White is not in danger to lose the
40.Bxg7+! Qxg7 41.Qd8+ Qg8 42.Qf6+ Qg7 43.Qd8+
game, but the win looks equally far away. Probably the right
Qg8 Black cannot avoid perpetual check. Draw agreed. An
evaluation is something like dynamic balance.
excellent fighting game! 1/2-1/2
33.Bf3 Preventing Rc6 but it allows Black to come out from
the big squeeze with
33...Qf7! 34.h3 Opening the back rank.
34...b5 35.Be4 [It was probably better to transfer the bishop
to the long diagonal with 35.Bd2 but Black also gets his
counterplay here with 35...Qe6 The trade of the queens
would solve the problems forever... 36.Qd4 Qc4 37.Qf6 Qe6
38.Qf4 Qc4=]
35...Re8! Another very nice resource.
36.Qd4 [36.Bxg7+? is met by 36...Kg8! and only in the next
move taking back on g7. Black would have managed to get rid
of the bishop pair this way.]
36...Qe7 Further squeezing back the white pieces with Qe5!
37.b4 Qe5 38.Qd7! White still cannot trade queens, but his
compensation is only enough for equality.
The K-Files. deserves attention as well (Andre - Reizniece, Germany 2006))
10...Qxa6 Panjwani - Molner, Los Angeles 2011 11.a4 d5 12.e4!
Blumenfeld Gambit - part 3 Typical and strong 12...dxe4 13.Nb5 Qc8 14.Ng5c)
8.Nbd2! Bb7 9.b3 O-O 10.Bb2 Qe8 11.a4 Qg6 (Volke
- Firman, Germany 2007) This manoeuvre looks tempting
but White has a strong answer 12.Be2! Qxg2 13.Rg1 Qh3
14.Rc1 and Black has serious development problems which
makes White’s attack very dangerous 14...d5? 15.Ng5 Qf5
GM Alexander Khalifman 16.Ndf3h; 6...Bb7 7.e3 Be7 (7...d5 - 6...d5) 8.Nbd2 White
FIDE World Chess Champion (1999) is no t in hurry to develop his kingside bishop as after the
Best rating: 2702 possible a7-a6xb5, he will be able to capture directly from
f1 without losing an important tempo. 8...O-O (8...d5 9.b3!
(3) Blumenfeld Gambit - part 3 [E10] It’s very important to control e5 square with the bishop on
b2. Another point is preventing c5-c4. 9...Qd6 10.Bb2 Nbd7
- 6...d5) 9.b3! is possibly even stronger (9.Qc2 9...a6 10.b3
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 b5!? 5.dxe6 fxe6 6.cxb5
axb5 11.Bxb5 Na6?! (11...Qb6 might be slightly preferable as
Seems like it’s the right time to look at Black’s alternatives on
it disturbs White’s development. However, after 12.a4 Ba6
move 6.
13.Bd3 Nc6 14.Ba3 the compensation doesn’t seem to be
6...d5 [6...a6!? Benko Gambit - style. As we could see in the enough.) 12.O-O Nb4 13.Qb1 Ra5 14.Be2 Qa8 15.a3! Ne4
previous parts this move is an important resource for Black in 16.Bb2! and the following forced sequence favours White
different kind of Blumenfeld lines. 7.e3! White doesn’t want 16...Nxd2 17.Nxd2 Bxg2 18.axb4 Bxf1 19.Nxf1 Rxa1 20.Bxa1!
to exchange this pawns on a6 thus helping the opponent to cxb4 21.Ng3 Bf6 22.Bxf6 Rxf6 23.Qd3 White’s advantage
develop pieces. 7...Be7 ( is close to be decisive (Karpov - Rogers, Cap d’Agde rapid
a) 7...d5 8.b3 Bd6 - 6...d5; 1998)) 9...Nd5 the only way to exploit White’s move order
10.Bb2 Bf6 11.Qc2 a6 (11...Nb4 12.Qb1c) 12.a3 axb5 13.Bxb5
b) 7...axb5 8.Bxb5 Qa5+ Very direct reaction. Black tries to Qa5 14.Bd3 Bxb2 15.Qxb2 Ba6 16.Ne5 d6 17.Nc4c and
use the hanging bishop on b5 to win back the pawn or at least once again it’s totally unclear where is Black’s compensation.
to spoil White’s structure. It doesn’t work, however. 9.Nc3 These lines prove that all tricks without d7-d5 might be
Ba6 (9...Nd5 Bastos - Encarnacao, Portugal 1992 10.Rb1! refuted rather easily. So at some point d7-d5 is still necessary
It’s also typical for various gambits. White doesn’t mind to play.]
to give back the pawn as the opponent will waste time
for it and then the lead in development might become the 7.e3 For a long time after the classical game Tarrasch
most important factor. 10...Nxc3 11.bxc3 Qxa2 (11...Qxc3+ - Alekhine, this move was considered to be secondary.
12.Nd2c) 12.Bb2 Be7 13.c4! O-O 14.Ra1c) 10.Bxa6 (10.Qb3!? However, White has made his mistakes in the later stage of
the game and 7.e3 in my opinion is White’s most promising a) 8.Ng5 Trying to use Black’s move order 8...Bd6! N This
(or at least one of those) reaction to the Blumenfeld Gambit. is very strong response. Black sacrifices another pawn but all
However it must be connected with the proper setup (actually his pieces become extremely active. (
Be2 b3 Bb2 0-0 Nbd2). If White succeeds do this and Black a1) 8...Qd6 9.Qf3! Strong manoeuvre. The pressure
at the same time couldn’t create something substantial then on e6 is increasing. 9...h6 10.Qh3 e5 11.Be2 Nbd7 12.Qe6+
White’s chances will be clearly better. Of course, the correct Qxe6 13.Nxe6+=;
move orders are quite important as we will see.
a2) 8...Qd7 it stops Qd1-f3-h3 but still rather slow 9.Be2
(9.Qf3 9...e5n) 9...Bd6 10.f4!? O-O 11.O-O Qe7 12.Nc3 Nbd7
13.e4 h6 14.e5 hxg5 15.exd6 Qxd6 16.fxg5+=)
9.Nxe6 Qe7 10.Ng5 O-O 11.Be2 Nbd7 12.O-O Rad8n;
b) 8.Nbd2 8...c4!k Another important and typical reaction.
As b2-b3 is now successfully met by c4-c3 White’s pieces look
rather uncomfortable. This is the reason for White to reach his
dream setup, first playing b2-b3 and only then developing the
knight.)
7...Bd6 [7...Be7!? an interesting idea. Black’s counterplay 8...Bd6 9.Nbd2 White must be ready to meet e6-e5 with e3-e4
must be connected to e6-e5 first of all and he plans to support 9...O-O 10.Be2 a6 - 7...Bd6; 7...a6 8.b3 Bd6 - 7...Bd6]
it by playing Qd6. However White has enough resources 8.Be2 At least the most solid way to play. Delaying the
to meet this plan. 8.b3! Important prophylactical move. kingside development is not fitting to everybody’s taste.
Delaying the kingside development might seem risky but it [8.Nc3?! Of course, it’s at least impolite to criticize the great
has solid positional basis in this situation. 8...Qd6 9.Bb2 Dr.Tarrasch but in fact this natural move is just a positional
Nbd7 10.Nbd2 Bb7 11.Qc2 O-O 12.Be2 (12.Rd1 is conceptual mistake. White’s main idea is to meet e6-e5 with e3-e4 but
but not the only way for advantage 12...a6 13.a4! still fighting with the knight on c3 it usually runs into d5-d4 and leads
for a tempo 13...axb5 14.Bxb5 Ba6 15.Nc4 Qb8 16.Bxa6 Rxa6 to undesirable results. 8...Nbd7 9.Be2 (9.Bd3 9...Bb7 10.e4
17.Ncd2c) 12...e5 (12...a6 13.O-O axb5 14.Bxb5 Ba6 15.a4 Bxb5 (10.Qe2 10...e5Cand the initiative is on Black’s side (Devereaux
16.axb5 Qb6 17.Qd3 Rfb8 18.Rxa8 Rxa8 19.e4 and White is - Lalic, Swansea 2006)) 10...d4V Ligterink - van der Wiel,
better) 13.Qf5! An important resource (The typical 13.e4 is not Hilversum 1985) 9...Qe7 10.O-O O-O 11.b3 Bb7 and suddenly
universal as we can see 13...Nxe4 14.Nxe4 dxe4 15.Rd1 Qc7k there is nothing to be done against the following e6-e5-e4.
Rudolph - Migl, Germany 2006; 13.Rd1!? ) 13...Ne4 (13...Bd8 Black is already at least not worse. 12.Bb2 Rad8 following
14.Nxe5 Ba5 15.O-O-Oc) 14.Qh3 Nxd2 15.Nxd2c; 7...Bb7 In the classical masterpiece (12...e5 is already possible 13.Nh4
most of the cases it transposes to the main line, but gives (13.e4 13...d4e Rosa - Carrascoso, Spain 2003) 13...g6 14.g3 e4
White some additional resources 8.b3! The best move order. (
(14...Rad8n) 15.Ng2 g5!n) 13.Qc2 e5 14.Rfe1 (14.e4 14...d4e Very direct and strong. Suddenly White is in real danger.
That’s the big difference with knight on d2) 14...e4 15.Nd2 13.Be2 (13.Qc2? 13...axb5e; 13.bxc4? 13...dxe4 14.Ng5 Bb4
Ne5A shows clearly why the kingside development delay can’t be
the universal way 15.Be2 e3! 16.fxe3 Ng4!i) 13...Bb4!
threatening c4-c3 14.Qc2 (14.Rc1?! 14...dxe4 15.Bxc4+ Kh8
16.Ng5 Nc5 17.Bc3 Nd5! 18.Qh5 Bf5i and Black’s threats
are much more stronger.) 14...Bb7!C and it’s White who has to
play accurately.;
b) 11.bxa6 11...e5 (11...Bxa6 natural but wrong. Now White
has time to complete the development. 12.Bxa6 Rxa6
13.O-O+=) 12.e4 c4! 13.Be2 (13.exd5 13...e4 14.Ng5 e3! 15.fxe3
Qe7nWhite has a lot of extra pawns, but will they help him?!)
Gambit player’s dream. All black pieces are active, pawn 13...Qa5! 14.exd5 c3 15.Nc4 cxb2+ 16.Nxa5 bxa1=Q 17.Qxa1
center is dynamic. All he needs to do is just to prepare Bb4+ 18.Nd2 Bxa5k and Black has good resources in this
the decisive attack. (Tarrasch - Alekhine, Bad Pistyan crazy position.)
1922); 8.Nbd2 As already mentioned this is quite premature 11...axb5 (11...e5 12.e4! c4 now it doesn’t work properly.
because of c5-c4. Another point is that in some lines a7-a6 is White is just in time to evacuate his king to the safe place.
stronger now. 8...O-O (8...a6 9.b3 Bd7?! rather artificial. The 13.O-O!c) 12.Bxb5 Qa5 13.a4 Ba6 14.Bxf6 Nxf6 15.Bxa6
bishop simply doesn’t belong here. 10.bxa6 Nxa6 11.Bb2 O-O Qxa6 16.Qe2+= Black has realistic drawish chances in the
12.a3 Qe7 13.Be5 Nb8 14.Nc4! Bxe5 15.Ncxe5 Nc6 16.Bd3+=; resulting endgame but surely not more.]
8...c4!? ) 9.Be2 (9.b3 (Graf,F - Brustkern, Budapest 2006)
8...O-O 9.O-O [9.b3 One more ambit ious try to reach the
runs into 9...e5! 10.e4 Qa5k 11.exd5 e4 12.b4 Qxb4 13.Rb1
perfect setup avoiding the critical line 9.0-0 Bb7 10. Nbd2 c4!?
Qa5V) 9...a6 10.b3 (10.bxa6 10...Nxa6! n 11.O-O Nb4 12.a3
9...a6!? N
Tolk - van der Lijn, Netherlands 1993 12...c4!=+ Once again!
It works perfectly here.) 10...axb5 11.Bxb5 e5! n12.e4 c4V;
8.b3!? This is another interesting attempt to build the perfect
setup. 8...a6 (8...O-O 9.Be2 - 8.Be2; 8...e5 9.e4!+=) 9.Bb2 O-O
10.Nbd2!? (10.Be2 - 8.Be2) 10...Nbd7 Gruenberg - Knaak,
Plauen 1980 11.Be2 Better later than never! (
a) 11.a4 This is already too much. 11...e5! (11...Qe7 12.Be2!
(12.bxa6?! 12...e5! 13.e4 c4!nwith good compensation)
12...e5 (12...axb5 only helps White 13.Bxb5+= once again the
compensation is very doubtful) 13.e4 c4 14.O-Oc) 12.e4 c4!
This move might be the critical test for White’s move order. ( valid. 16...Be5 (16...e5 17.e4!) 17.Rb1 Qb8 18.f4 Bc7 19.Bb2c;
a) 9...e5 Papathanasiou - Bazhenova, Herceg Novi 2006 9...Nbd7 10.Nbd2 Bb7 - 9...Bb7]
10.e4! d4 11.O-O! and the pawn on e4 is indirectly protected 10.Nbd2 [10.b3 It’s just wrong here. Black can play e6-e5 and
11...Nxe4? 12.Bc4+ Kh8 13.Bd5h; White doesn’t have e3-e4. 10...e5! 11.Bb2 Nbd7 12.Nbd2 e4
b) 9...Nbd7 10.O-O! Until the black bishop has not reached 13.Nh4 Marovic - Bobotsov, Belgrade 1961 13...g6 14.g3 Qe7n;
the b7 square, White doesn’t need to play Nbd2 to stop e6-e5. 10.Nc3?! Nothing has changed compared to the notes above.
(10.Nbd2 is also possible) 10...e5 11.e4!c; The knight is just misplaced here. 10...Nbd7 11.Ng5 (11.b3
11...Qe7 - 8.Nc3) 11...Qe7 Incutto - Torres, Buenos Aires 1962
c) 9...Bb7 10.Nbd2 a6! Of course, this move is much more 12.a4 Rad8 13.a5 c4 14.f4 Nc5n]
promising when Black’s knight is still on b8 as bxa6 can be met
by Nb8xa6-b4. 11.O-O (11.bxa6 11...Nxa6n); 10...c4!? N
d) 9...Ne4 10.Bb2 Cherednichenko - Brustkern, Budapest

2007 10...a6 11.O-O (11.bxa6 is rather inaccurate due to
11...Qa5+ 12.Nbd2 c4 13.O-O! (13.bxc4? 13...Rxf3!e) 13...c3
14.Nxe4 cxb2 15.Nxd6 bxa1=Q 16.Qxa1kBxa6k)
11...axb5 12.Bxb5 Ba6 13.Bxa6 Nxa6 14.a3! Qe7 15.Nbd2
Nxd2 16.Nxd2 Nb8 17.f4 Nc6 18.Qc2+=) 10.Bb2 axb5 11.Bxb5
Qa5+ 12.Nc3 Ne4 13.Qc2 d4 leads to a long and forced line
with extremely unclear consequences. (13...Nxc3 14.Qxc3+=)
14.exd4 Rxf3! 15.gxf3 Nxc3 (15...cxd4 16.fxe4 dxc3 17.O-O Ba6
18.Qxc3 Qxc3 19.Bxc3 Bxb5 20.Rfd1+= and connected passers An interesting new move. White has managed to castle, but he
must promise White somewhat better chances.) 16.Qxc3 didn’t have time to reach the perfect setup. The alternatives
Qxb5 17.dxc5 Bf8 18.Rg1 Ra7kWhite is doing fine materially, allowed White to play b3 and Bb2 with clearly better chances.
but Black has serious dynamic resources.] [10...Nbd7 11.b3 Qe7 (11...Qe8 12.Bb2 e5 13.e4 dxe4 14.Nh4!
(14.Ng5 14...Qg6 only justifies Qd8-e8) 14...Bc7 15.Rc1 Rd8
9...Bb7 [9...a6 10.Nc3 This is a kind of exception. After
16.b4!c and the Black centre is destroyed (Karpov - Lobron,
a7-a6 the knight on c3 is OK because in many lines it has
Walldorf rapid 1997)) 12.Bb2 Rad8 (
the important square b5. 10...Bb7 11.a4 Iasman - Turov,
Rethymnon 2010 11...Nbd7 12.bxa6 Bxa6 13.Bxa6 Rxa6 a) 12...a6 - 10...a6;
14.b3+= Black doesn’t have enough for a pawn. White’s b) 12...e5 13.e4! dxe4 14.Ne1 e3 (14...Rad8 15.Nc2) 15.fxe3
structure is healthy and the only weakness (b3) is difficult to e4 16.Nc4 Bc7 17.g3 Rad8 18.Qc2 Nd5 Lindgren - Holving,
attack. 14...Qa8 15.Nb5 Bb8 16.Nd2 Despite th e positional Stockholm 2011 19.Rd1c Black fails to create any threats;
transformation the basic idea (to meet e5 with e4) is still
c) 12...Kh8 13.Qc2 e5 14.e4 Nxe4 15.Nxe4 dxe4 16.Nd2!
(16.Ne1 16...Nf6 17.g3 Nd5kZhu Chen - Pogonina, bring his pieces to the best squares. 11...Qe7 12.Nb1 Nbd7
Krasnoturinsk 2007) 16...e3 17.fxe3c) 13.Nc3 Nc5n14.f4 is probably the best way to stop the direct
13.Qc2 e5 14.e4! Nxe4 (14...dxe4 15.Ng5c) 15.Nxe4 dxe4 assault, but now Black gets long-term compensation after
16.Nd2 e3 17.fxe3 Qg5 18.Bc4+ Kh8 19.e4 Qe3+ 20.Kh1 (14.b3 14...Nfe4 and Black’s attack becomes very dangerous
Rxf1+ 21.Rxf1 Nf6 22.Qc3 Qh6 23.Nf3 Bxe4 (Fedoseev - as the following lines prove 15.Nxe4 Nxe4 16.Bg4 (16.bxc4??
Zeller,Marianske Lazne 2011) Black has managed to win back is brilliantly refuted by 16...Bxh2+! 17.Kxh2 Nxf2 18.Rxf2
the gambit pawn, but his weaknesses must tellafter 24.Bc1! Qh4+ 19.Kg1 Qxf2+ 20.Kh1 dxc4 21.Nf3 Bxf3 22.Bxf3
Qh5 25.Ng5 Bg6 26.Qe1 preventing any counterplay 26...e4 Rad8 23.Qg1 Rxf3! 24.gxf3 Qxf3+ 25.Kh2 Rd5i) 16...Rxf2
27.h3c; 10...e5 11.e4!c; 10...a6 11.b3 Nbd7 ( 17.Bxe6+ Kh8 18.Rxf2 Bxh2+ 19.Kf1 (19.Kxh2 19...Qh4+
20.Kg1 Qxf2+=) 19...Nxf2 20.Kxf2 Rf8+ 21.Ke2 Bg3 22.bxc4
a) 11...Qe7 Schulze - Landa, Senden 2011 12.Bb2 axb5 dxc4 23.Bxc4 Be4 24.Nf3 Qf6 25.Bd2 Qh4 26.Nxh4 Rf2+
13.Bxb5 Nc6 (13...e5 is as usual met by 14.e4! d4 (14...dxe4 27.Ke1 Rf8+=) 14...Kh8 15.b3 Nfe4 16.Nxe4 Nxe4V17.Bg4
15.Nc4! Rd8 (15...exf3 16.Qxd6h) 16.Nfd2c) 15.Qe2 Black’s trying to stop e6-e5 but anyway... (17.bxc4 17...e5A) 17...e5
centre is successfully blocked. It’s hard for him to create 18.Nf5 Rxf5 19.Bxf5 exf4 20.exf4 Re8n]
any counterplay.) 14.Bxc6 Bxc6 15.Be5 In general in gambits
exchanges are favorable to the side which has the material 11...Qc7!? Black, however, has to fight against b2-b3
advantage. 15...Qc7 16.Bxd6 Qxd6 17.Qc2+= It is not so somehow. [11...Nbd7 12.b3! cxb3 13.axb3 Qe7 (13...e5
easy to convert the extra pawn, but it doedn’t make Black’s 14.Ba3!) 14.Ba3! exchanging the most dangerous piece
position really attractive. 17...e5?! 18.Rfc1! Nd7 19.e4c; 14...e5 15.Bxd6 Qxd6 16.Nbd2c There is no compensation
at all.; 11...Ne4 It also stops b2-b3 but this version of knight
b) 11...axb5 12.Bxb5 e5 13.e4! dxe4 14.Ng5h) exchange is favourable for White. 12.Nc3 Nxc3 13.bxc3 Nd7
12.Bb2 Qe7 13.a4 This is a typical position for the whole 14.a4 Nf6 15.Nd4 Qe7 16.Bf3 g6 17.a5! and White has a
system. If Black doesn’t try to exploit the drawbacks of this certain advantage in all cases 17...a6 (17...e5 18.a6 exd4 19.axb7
or that in White’s move order, but just plays natural moves Qxb7 20.Ra6c; 17...Rab8 18.a6 Ba8 19.e4 dxe4 20.Bg4 Bd5
allowing White to reach the perfect setup, his counterplay will 21.Be3+=) 18.b6 e5 19.Nc2 e4 20.Be2 Qe5 21.g3 Qxc3 22.Ba3
be stopped and a pawn is a pawn after all, (13.bxa6!? 13...Bxa6 Bxa3 23.Rxa3+=; 11...e5 is not so dangerous anymore because
14.Bxa6 Rxa6 15.e4!c (15.a4 is not bad either)) 13...Bc7 ( after e5-e4 the knight has an excellent square on d4 12.b3c]
a) 13...axb5 14.Bxb5 Rad8 (14...e5 15.e4c) 15.a5 e5 16.a6 Ba8 12.Nc3 [12.b3 is a bit too provocative 12...c3 13.Qc2 Ne4 14.a4
17.e4h d4 (17...dxe4 18.Ng5h) 18.Qe2h; Nd7 15.a5 Rac8 16.b6 axb6 17.a6 Ba8k]
b) 13...e5 14.e4 (14.bxa6!? 14...Bxa6 15.Bxa6 Rxa6 16.e4 d4 12...Nbd7 13.h3 Rac8 [13...e5 14.b3 cxb3 15.Qxb3 Rac8
17.Ne1c) ) 14.Qc2c] 16.Bb2 Nc5 17.Qd1+=]
11.Nb1!? Looks artificial but White has to prepare b2-b3. 14.b3! The best reaction. White gives back the extra pawn,
[11.Nd4 looks active but in fact it only helps the opponent to but grabs the initiative.
14...cxb3 15.Bb2 bxa2 16.Rxa2 Qb6 17.Qa1 Bb8+= This David vs. Goliath
complicated position is preferable for White as his pieces are
more active and Black has some sensitive weakness, although
it requires practical testing, of course.
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS The Blumenfeld Gambit Accepted
is quite playable for Black. Even if I wouldn’t dare to
call it 100% correct mathematically, it leads to original
unbalanced positions and even if White plays the best moves
his advantage is far from obvious. Most probably it’s not Peter Zhdanov
recommended to use as the one and only opening against Chief Editor of Pogonina.com
1.d4 but as a surprise weapon it might serve you well. The
important note: if you would go for it, please remember that
this article is not enough. You also have to know what will In this entertaining column we are reviewing the most
you do if White doesn’t accept the gambit. From White’s point unexpected results that occurred last week. Players usually
of view it’s also quite good, because there are still some lines face opponents of a similar level. Considerably less frequent
which promise certain advantage. Please pay your attention are situations when a significantly lower-rated player
first of all to 7.e3 and 7.Nc3 (with the idea 7... Nbd7 8.e4 d4 succeeds in beating a much stronger adversary.
9.Na4!?) The previous week brought us 19 upsets. Life is getting better
again for the Davids!
The number of moves ranges from 19 in Hadjikyriakou (1805) -
Fernandez Lopez (2133), 1-0 to 81 in Jouault (1910) - IM Berend
(2349), 1-0.
Keep an eye on the 12-year old WFM Turmunkh Munkhzul Munkhzul (1550) - Uuriintuya (1934), 1-0, 384 points
(1550) from Mongolia. She defeated opponents rated 1934, Frantz (1920) - Mirimanian (2274), 1-0, 354 points
1986, 2067 and 2155 in one tournament. Girl power! The
good news is that thanks to the K=40 coefficient she should Average gap: 472; White won 8 games, Black won 2 games.
probably quickly obtain an adequate rating. These four
games constitute a +147.2 rating points gain.
The winner of the ”fatality” nomination is Bramson (1822). He
finished off Shaw (2160) in style: If you have ever won a game against someone rated
This position is not good enough for a ”mate in 3” puzzle,

because Qg7 is another solution. The game proceeded 42.f4
b1Q 43.Qh7X. Kudos to Black for allowing this checkmate on
board.
Top-10:
Soyolmaa (2067) - Amina (1438), 0-1, 629 points
Munkhzul (1550) - Lkhamsuren (2155), 1-0, 605 points
Munkhzul (1550) - Soyolmaa (2067), 1-0, 517 points
Amina (1438) - Uuriintuya (1934), 1-0, 496 points
Nielsen (2373) - Jouault (1910), 0-1, 463 points
Jouault (1910) - Berend (2349), 1-0, 439 points
Munkhzul (1550) - Sarantungalag (1986), 1-0, 436 points
Ohanov (1879) - Rouffignac (2278), 1-0, 399 points
Young & Talented 7...Bd6 8.f4
GM Etienne Bacrot
Best rating: 2749
(4) Wei, Yi (2703) 8...Bc5 The bishop moves again but now White can’t castle
- Rodshtein, Maxim (2667) [C48] easily. This seemingly strong idea was only used twice in older
games.
2015.04.25 9.exd5 O-O [9...Nxd5 10.Ne4 Qh4+ is an additional option.]
10.dxc6 This might look greedy but White needs to take some
Second column, second game of the Chinese GM Wei Yi! He material to compensate his poor king position.
played a very interesting game to give an important 2,5-1.5 10...bxc6 11.h3 Losing a tempo for development but
victory for his team against Israel. controling the important g4 square. I suspect White’s
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nd4 [4...Bb4 was unusual play was part of his opening preparation.
his opponent’ s choice in last week’s game. Anand said 11...Re8
that Wei Yi-Melkumyan inspired him for his opening against
Mamedyarov in the Shamkir Gashimov memorial.]
5.Ba4 c6 On impulse of Giri, and now Rodshtein, this
move might soon become very popular. [5...Bc5 is Black’s
long-time favourite move.]
6.Nxe5 [6.d3 6...a5!? A funny move that seems strong
for Black. 7.Nxe5 d6 8.Nf3 Nxf3+ 9.Qxf3 Bg4 10.Qg3 b5
11.Nxb5 cxb5 12.Bxb5+ Bd7 13.Bc4 Nh5 14.Qf3 Nf6 15.Qg3
Nh5 with a draw in Vallejo-Giri 2013.]
6...d5 7.d3 [7.exd5 7...Bd6 8.dxc6 O-O Black has great 12.Qd2! A very funny move and the best defense.
compensation.] 12...Nd7 The strong knight should be taken off the board.
13.Kd1 The king somehow finds a safe place. Of course all 20...Re8 21.Bd2? A logical move, but based on a
problems are not solved and now White should find a way to miscalculation. [21.Ne4 maintains White’s clear advantage.]
take out his queenside pieces. 21...Qe7 Now the evaluation is very unclear, since Black’s
13...Nxe5 14.fxe5 Rxe5 15.Re1 Rxe1+ [15...Qe7 looks more pieces are working well together.
natural but 16.Rxe5 Qxe5 17.Qg5! Bf5 18.Bf4 Qe6 19.Bb3 22.Qg5 [22.Ne4? was Wei Yi’s first intention in my opinion
Nxb3 20.axb3 Re8 21.Bd2 followed by Kc1-b1 might be better but after 22...f5! 23.Nxc5 Qe2+! 24.Kc1 Qxg2i White can’t
for White.] defend against the fork and back rank mate threats.]
16.Qxe1 Bf5 17.Qe5 [17.Ne4 17...Bf8nUnnatural and 22...Qb7 23.b4 A good try to get out. From here there are
strong. (17...Bb6 18.c3! Ne6 19.Kc2! White consolidates.) many inaccuracies in the game but the players were probably
18.c3?! Qa5! =+ 19.b3 Ne6 20.Bxc6 Rd8e] short on time after this opening!
23...Bb6 [23...Bxb4 Taking back some material is also nice.]
24.Qd5 Qc7
17...Qf8 Black had a much stronger move which only leads

to a draw. It is incredible but White’s crazy opening is safe!
[17...Bb6 18.Bxc6 If it wasn’ t for this move then Black would 25.Kc1 [25.a4! A great computer move to disturb the bishop’s
simply continue with Qd7 and Re8, with a great attack. good square on b6. 25...Rd8 26.Qc4 Qh2 27.Kc1 Qh1+
18...Bc7 19.Qc5 (19.Qd5? 19...Qf6 20.Bxa8 Bg4+ 21.hxg4 28.Kb2 Qxg2 29.Ne4+= It’s funny that we get the game’s
Qf1+ 22.Kd2 Bf4# would be a dream finish for Black!) position with the useful tempo a4 up for White!]
19...Bb6 20.Qd5 (20.Qe5 20...Bc7=) 20...Qf6! This strong
idea was probably missed by Rodshtein when he played 25...Rd8 [25...Rc8! with the idea Ne2 is strong and leads to
his 17th move. 21.Bxa8 Bg4+ 22.hxg4 Qf1+ 23.Kd2 Qf2+ an unclear position.]
24.Kd1 Qf1+=] 26.Qc4 Qg3 27.Kb2 [27.a4! was still a strong move.]
18.Bxc6! += Nxc6 19.Qxf5 Nd4 20.Qf4 [20.Qf1 seems far 27...Qxg2 28.Ne4 Qxh3 [28...Nf3 29.Bc3 Nd4! 30.Rc1
safer to me.] Qxh3 leads to a wild middlegame.]
29.Qxf7+ Kxf7 30.Ng5+ 41.axb5 h5 42.Bd4 Bg5 43.b6 Bf4 44.Rf3 [44.Rh3 slowing
down Black’s pawns was the last winning possibility.]
44...g5 After four strange moves the endgame is now unclear.
45.Kc2 h4 An alternative idea was to bring the king to the
queenside. [45...Re8 46.Kd3 Kf7 Black seems fine and the
rook endgame after 47.Be3 Ke6 48.Bxf4 gxf4 49.Rxf4 Kd5 is
drawish.]
46.Kd3 Re7! 47.c4 Rh7 A perfect place for the rook, as it
stops White’s pawn and helps the h-pawn advance.
30...Kg8? [30...Kg6 is much more natural.] 48.c5 h3 49.Rxf4!? gxf4 50.c6 h2 51.b7
31.Nxh3 Nf3 32.Bf4 Bd4+? Now White regroups. [32...h6
with the idea g5 was essential.]
33.c3 Bf6 34.Nf2 Bh4? Too many moves by pieces when the
passed pawn should have been pushed forward.
35.Be3 Re8 36.Ne4 Ne1 37.Rd1 a6 38.a4 Nxd3+ Black
takes back material but he is clearly down in the race.
39.Rxd3 Rxe4
51...Rh3+? A bad luck mistake. Now White has a miraculous

win because his king finds a safe place. [51...h1=Q 52.b8=Q+
Kf7 53.Qxf4+ Ke8 54.Qb8+ Kf7 was the most obvious draw.;
51...Rxb7 is also a draw but it is more complicated to be
sure about it over the board. 52.cxb7 h1=Q 53.b8=Q+ Kf7
54.Qc7+ Ke8 55.Qc8+ Ke7! 56.Bc5+ Kf6 57.Qf8+ Ke6
58.Qe8+ Kf5 59.Qf7+ Ke5 60.Bd4+ Kd6]
52.Kc4 h1=Q 53.b8=Q+h The win is not so easy to achieve
40.b5 Not the best way to push. [40.Kb3 40...h5 41.c4 Bg3 but Wei Yi displays flawless technique.
42.b5 axb5 43.cxb5 is an easy win, for example: 43...h4 44.Bc5 53...Kh7 54.Qh8+ Kg6 55.Qf6+ Kh5 56.Qf5+ Kh6
Rg4 45.a5 h3 46.a6 h2 47.Rd1] 57.Qf6+ Kh5 58.Qf5+ Kh6 59.Qxf4+ Kg6 60.Qf6+ Kh5
40...axb5 [40...Rxa4 41.b6h] 61.Qf5+ Kh6 62.Qf4+ Kg6 63.Qg4+ Kh6 64.Qe6+ Kh5
65.Qf5+ Kh6 66.Qf6+ Kh5 67.c7 Qc1+ 68.Bc3! Rh4+
[68...Rxc3+ leads to an easy queens endgame. 69.Qxc3
Qf1+ 70.Kb4 Qf4+ 71.Kb3 Qf7+ 72.Qc4 Qf3+ 73.Kb4 Qf8+
74.Qc5+ Check!]
69.Kd5 Qd1+ 70.Kc5 Qg1+ 71.Kb5 Qb1+ 72.Kc5 Qg1+
73.Bd4! Qc1+ 74.Kb6 Qb1+ 75.Ka7 Qa2+ 76.Qa6 Qf7
77.Qb5+ Kg6 78.Qb6+ Kf5 79.Kb8 1-0
Puzzle section
(5) Carlsen, M (2863)-Vachier Lagrave, M(2765) (7) Moiseenko, A(2693)-Postny, E(2645)
Gashimov memorial, 2015.04.21 World Teams, 2015.04.22
1. h 1. h
(6) Gelfand, B(2747)-Ponomariov, R(2713) (8) Yu Yangyi(2724)-Sargissian, G(2668)

World Teams, 2015.04.22 World Teams, 2015.04.22
1. = 1. h
(9) Ivanchuk, V(2731)-Yu Yangy(2724) (11) Kasparov, G(2812)-Short, N(2664)
World Teams, 2015.04.26 Battle of the Legends (blitz), 2015.04.26
1. h 1. h
(10) Short, N(2664)-Kasparov, G(2812) (12) Ushenina, A(2486)-Padmini, R(2454)

Battle of the Legends (blitz), 2015.04.26 World Teams Woman, 2015.04.21
1... i 1... i
(13) Gunina, V(2528)-Abdumalik, Z(2369)
World Teams Woman, 2015.04.26
1. h
(14) Bukavshin, I(2618)-Eliseev, U(2514)

Russian Junior Championship, 2015.04.24
1. h
Endgame section 62.Kg3 Ke5 63.Bc7+ Kd4 64.Bb6+ Kd3 Black wants to
play Ke2 next.
65.Kf2 The best defense and again asking Black "what’s
(15) Sethuraman, S.P. (2623) next?".
- Yu, Yangyi (2724)

Best rating: 2737
65...h2! Perfect play by Black. The h-pawn is getting

exchanged against the white f-pawn, but the thing is that
Black keeps the white king in the corner.
66.Kg2 Rf1 67.Kxh2 Rxf3 68.Kg1 [After 68.Kg2 68...Ke2
White would be in zugzwang. 69.Bc7 Other moves lead to the
same end. 69...Rf7 70.Bb6 Rg7+ and Black is able to cut the
white king on the g-file.]
After a very good game, Yu Yangyi is very close to win the
game. It is clear that the black pawns are very dangerous, but 68...Kd2! Continuing waiting for Kg2.
still, to win such a position is not an easy task. The Chinese 69.Kh2
superstar shows us how it is done!
59...f4+ A logical move, but there is much more calculation
behind it than it seems!
60.Nxf4+ Of course! [60.Kf2 60...h2 61.Kg2 Re1 and White
could resign on the spot.]
60...gxf4+ 61.Kxf4 So the white king will go to g3 next, so
how to improve Black’s position?!
61...Kf6! A good choice! The black king is taking a walk to e2
and White can’t do anything against it. 69...Kd1! and again White is in zugzwang. Now after 70.Kg1
comes Ke1! and after 71. Kg2 Ke2 and we are back to the
position where White can’t avoid being cut off on the g-file. (16) Sargissian, Gabriel (2668)
- Karjakin, Sergey (2757)
70.Bc7 Now that White has moved his bishop, Black is in time
to cut the white king on the h-file.
World Teams 2015, GM Csaba Balogh
70...Rf7 71.Bb6 Rg7 and the job is done! During the next 2015.04.26 Best rating: 2672
moves we will see why it was so important to have the white
king on the h-file.
72.Kh3 Ke2 73.Kh4 Kd3 The black king is on his way to b4.
74.Kh3 Kc4 75.Kh2 [The same plan would also happen if
White would keep his king on h4: 75.Kh4 75...Kb4 76.Kh5
Rg2 77.Kh4 Ra2 78.Kg4 Rxa5 79.Bxa5+ Kxa5 80.Kf3 Kb4
81.Ke2 Kb3 82.Kd2 Kb2 and White is just not in time! Now
we can see how important it was for Black to cut the white
king on the h-file.]
75...Kb4 76.Kh3
White has a beautiful position. The black pawns are fixed on

light squares, where they are targets of the white bishop and
they are resticting the movement of the black pieces. Actually
all the black pieces are in a cage and only the knight could
be activated by driving it to d5, but that would make things
even worse, because after Bxd5, White would get a protected
passed pawn either on e5 or on c5 and an excellent outspost
for the knight on d4 against the poor bishop. This means that
Black cannot do anything better than sit and wait. However
everything is protected, the opened files are well controlled
76...Rg5 and the a5 pawn is lost. and White cannot penetrate with his rook, so converting the
77.Kh2 Rxa5 78.Bxa5+ Kxa5 79.Kg3 Kb4 White is clearly advantage still requires some efforts. White has all the time
not in time to get back to c1 with his king. What looked so for maneuvering and Sargissian finds a very nice way to win
easy was actually great technique from the Chinese player, the game.
who found a great winning concept and made it a reality with 45.Ne1! White drives his knight to c2 in order to allow access
perfect play. A great job by Yu! 0-1 for his rook to d6 and the knight could also jump to d4.
45...Kb7 [45...Rg1 is just seemingly some kind of activity, but 53...Rg8 Black still cannot do anything better than just
after 46.Kf2 the rook must retreat.] waiting.
46.Nc2 Nc7 47.Kf2 White is not in a hurry. 54.Nxc6+ Bxc6 55.Bxc6 Rg4 56.Ke3 Perhaps not the most
47...Be8 48.Rd1! Bd7 [48...Rd7 is strongly met by accurate move, but Sargissian has calculated the line until
49.Rd6!h followed by Nd4 and the c6 pawn falls. Taking on the end, so there was nothing wrong with it. [56.Kf3 and
d6 is hopeless, since after exd6 White breaks in with his king taking on b5 next would have won automatically without any
through e5-f6.] calculations. 56...Rg1 57.Bxb5 Rd1 (57...Rb1 58.c6 Rxb4 59.c7+
Kc8 60.Ba6+h wins.) 58.Ke3h controlling the d4 and d2
49.Rd3 One more waiting move before starting the action. squares followed by Be2 next, sending the rook away from the
49...Kc8 50.Rd6! Ne8 Black still seems to be in control! He d-file and then c6-c7 will already work.]
defends his c6 pawn byattacking the rook and if it retreats he 56...Rg3+ 57.Kd4 Rb3
also goes back to Nc7 without any achievements for White.
58.Ke5! Well played! The only winning move! [58.Bxb5

51.Nd4!! This great sacrifice decides the outcome. White allows Black to stay between the pawns after 58...Rxb4+
gives up his rook, but he gains a protected and far advanced 59.Bc4 Kd7! 60.Kc3 Rb1= and White is not better anymore.]
passed pawns in exchange. The black rook still cannot create
any counterplay. 58...Rxb4 [A tricky defensive attempt would have been
58...Re3+!? 59.Kf6 Re4! but it also loses after 60.Bxe4!
51...Nxd6 52.exd6 Kd8 [52...Kb7 defends the c6 pawn, but (But not 60.Bxb5? because of 60...Rxb4 61.Ba6 Ra4 and it is
drops b5! 53.Nxb5!h was the po int behind the sacrifice and not easy to advance the c-pawn, because the bishop always
White returns to d4 followed by pushing b4-b5!] gets attacked. 62.Bb7 allows 62...Kd7! using the unfortunate
53.h5! Giving Black no chance! White wants to take on c6 placement of the bishop, which cannot give an essential
(which does not run away), but it allows the black rook go check.) 60...fxe4 61.c6 e3 62.c7+ Kd7 63.c8=Q+! Kxc8
to g4, attacking both pawns and gaining some counterplay. 64.Ke7 e2 65.d7+ Kb7 66.d8=Q e1=Q The queen endgame
Therefore Sargissian decides to put it to a protected square. is hopeless. White eliminates all the pawns. The b5 even falls
with checkafter 67.Qd7+ Ka8 68.Qc6+ Ka7 69.Qc7+ Ka6
70.Qa5+ Kb7 71.Qxb5+h]
59.Bb7! Rc4 60.c6 b4
61.Kxe6! The last accuracy, which had to be calculated long

ago. White promotes his pawn and the bishop is just in time to
catch the b-pawn. [Black resigned in view of 61.Kxe6 61...b3
(61...Re4+ 62.Kd5h) 62.c7+ Rxc7 63.dxc7+ Kxc7 64.Bd5 b2
65.Ba2h] 1-0
Chess and the City. spirit is we could come up with a team like Armenia, which
managed to win two Olympiads in a row in 2008 and 2010 and
Trudno skazat... remains a unique case....
However you may put this ”team spirit performance” in
question when you look back at the success of the Hungarian
team in 1978, when none of their members would even talk to
each other no matter what.... As a German I can also look at
the German national men team, which managed to win the
European team competition in 2011 although most of their
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz members were not on speaking terms...
Best rating: 2493
In any other sports I would say that team spirit or home
advantage plays a decisive role, whereas in chess it doesn’t
Whenever you ask a Russian top player a difficult question,
show any constant flow at all....
he looks at the sky, touches his unshaved skin, looks very
smart and comes up with the answer: ”hard to say” (trudno Taking team spirit and individual strength into account it is
skazat)... hard to say which recipe is the one to succeed... In chess it
There is one question to which any top Russian player may seems like chance has a lot to do with it.
not have a suitable answer: ”Why did the Russian men’s In this year’s team competition China managed to repeat their
team lately always fail at any national team competition?!”. success from the Olympiad in Tromso in winning the World
In the last century they won everything they possibly could team competition as well! Russia however proved to fail
have, until 2002 basically. After that the Russian team kept again, repeating their disgrace from Tromso 2014...
failing although rating-wise they were more than superior
every time. That leads me to the conclusion that team spirit or individual
strength may certainly play a role, however not a decisive one.
But why?
China remains a mystery for us. In former times we thought
Some may say that team spirit is more important than everything was managed by the officials but now it’s allowed
individual strength. Some others may claim that the pressure to give away even world championship titles- just look at Hou
is simply too high for the Russians to succeed... There is a Yifan. So, do THEY have any team spirit? Who knows...
rumor that they only get paid if they win...
If we skip their success in the last team world championship Chess still looks like an individual sport to me, as
in 2013 it is obvious to say that the performance of the most unsurprisingly everybody is responsible for their own
dominating team (at least by rating) was rather disappointing positions...
in every event in the past decades....
When it comes to the question about how important team
Clash of the Titans
(17) Janowski, Dawid Markelowicz

- Lasker, Emanuel [C48]
Cambridge Springs(15), 1904
GM Kamil Miton
Best rating: 2655 7...Ng6 8.e5 c6 [8...Bb4 9.exf6 Qxf6 10.O-O Bxc3 11.bxc3 O-O
Black has no time to play d5-Bf5. 12.f5A]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 [4.d4 4...exd4 5.Nxd4 9.Bc4 [9.exd6 9...cxb5 10.Qe2+ Kf8 11.f5 Nh4 12.O-O
Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.exd5 cxd5 9.O-O O-O 10.Bg5] White has a strong initiative because the black pieces lost
4...Bc5 Instead of this move Black has a few other coordination.]
possibilities: [4...Bb4 5.O-O O-O 6.d3 d6 7.Bg5 Bxc3 9...Bc7 [9...Bb4 10.exf6 Qxf6 11.O-O d5! Now White is not
(7...Bg4?? 8.Nd5 Nd4 9.Nxb4 Nxb5 10.Nd5 Nd4 11.Qd2 Qd7 able to play 12.Bxd5 because of Bxc3! and 12.Bd3 because
12.Bxf6 Bxf3 13.Qg5 Qg4 14.Ne7+ Kh8 15.Bxg7#) 8.bxc3 of Qxd4. (Less accurate is 11...Bxc3?! 12.bxc3 d5 13.Bd3 Bf5
Qe7 (8...Ne7!? ) 9.Re1 Nd8 10.d4 and White has a stable 14.Bxf5 Qxf5
advantage thanks to the bishop pair and his better center.;
4...Nd4 leads to very complex play after the pawn sacrifice
on e5.; 4...Bd6 is a very solid option. Black going to castle
and then play Re8-Bf8.]
5.Nxe5!? [5.O-O 5...O-O 6.d3 d6 7.Na4]
5...Nxe5 6.d4 Bd6 [6...Bb4 7.dxe5 Nxe4 8.Qd4! Nxc3
9.bxc3 Be7 10.Qg4 and is not easy for Black to finish
his development, so White keeps the initiative. 10...O-O?
11.Bh6c]
7.f4 [7.dxe5 7...Bxe5 8.O-O O-O 9.Bg5 with the idea f4-e5. 15.g4! A strong move which stops Black from creating a
9...h6 10.Bh4 g5 11.Bg3 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Nxe4 and it is hard to blockade on the light squares. f5 is coming next.) 12.Be2 Bf5
say if White has enough compensation.] 13.g4 Bxc3 14.bxc3 Be4 15.f5 Ne7 16.Bf4k]
10.exf6 Qxf6 11.O-O d5
19...Qa6? A mistake. The queen should be closer to the

black king, which is under pressure. [19...Qc6! 20.Nxe7 Bxe7
12.Bxd5! A good practical decision! [12.Be2 and because of 21.Qh6 Be6 (21...Kf7 22.Rxe7+!h) 22.Qg7 Kd7 23.d5 The
the limited knight on c3 and bishop on c1 only Black can be last chance. 23...Qxd5 24.Bb4 axb4 25.Rad1 Rhe8 26.Rxd5+
better here.] Bxd5 and it looks like Black has a decisive advantage.]
12...cxd5 13.Nxd5 Qd6 14.Qe2+ Ne7 [14...Kf8 15.Nxc7 20.Qh6 [20.Rxe7+? 20...Bxe7 21.Nc7+ Kd8i]
Qxc7 16.f5Awith f6 next!]
20...Be6 21.Nxf6+?! White missed a winning chance.
15.Re1 Bd8 More active was [15...Be6!? 16.Nxe7 Kxe7 17.f5 [21.Nxe7 21...Bxe7
doesn’t work now because the h2 pawn will be hanging.
16.Qb5+ Kf8 17.Nxe7 Qxe7 18.Qxb7 (18.d5 18...Qd7! 19.Qxb7
Bb6+i) 18...Qd8 and Black should be better.]
16.c4 f6 Black is going to avoid the pin over the e-file.
[16...Kf8 ]
17.Bd2 a5 preventing Bb4.
18.Qh5+ g6 [18...Kf8 19.f5!kwith the idea to activate the
bishop.]
19.c5 [19.Qh6 19...Kf7e] 22.d5! Bxd5 (22...Bxc5+ 23.Kh1 O-O-O 24.Rxe6 Qd3 with
hope for counterplay. 25.Bxa5 Rxd5 26.Qg7h) 23.Rxe7+
Kxe7 24.Qg7+ Ke6 25.Re1+ Kf5 26.Re5+! with mate soon.]
21...Kf7 22.Ne4 [22.d5 deserves attention. 22...Nxd5
(22...Bxd5 23.Rxe7+ Bxe7 24.Nxd5 Bxc5+ 25.Kh1 Qd3 26.Bc3
Qxd5 27.Qg7+ Ke6 28.Re1+ Kd6 29.Re5 Qd1+ 30.Re1 Qd5
with a draw. 31.Be5+?? Kc6 32.Qc7+ Kb5i) 23.Ne8! is
suggested by the engine. 23...Kxe8 24.f5 and White keeps the
initiative.]
22...Nf5 23.Qh3 Be7 It looks like Black is taking control of
the situation on the board.
24.Bc3 [24.Ng5+!? 24...Bxg5 25.fxg5 Qc6 (25...Nxd4 26.Qe3
Black has a huge material advantage but the white pieces are
gives White strong pressure over the dark squares.) 26.Bf4
very active and well coordinated. Thanks to the f6-f7-Rf7 or
with the idea Be5-g4-Rf1 etc...]
Bd2-Bh6 threats it is not easy to evaluate who is better.]
24...Bd5 The black pieces were nicely improved. [24...h5
29...Kg8 30.d5 Bxd5 31.Rg7+ Kf8i The check on g7
25.d5 Bxd5 26.Bxh8 Rxh8e]
didn’t bring anything to White, so Black is easily winning now.
32.Re1 Qc6 33.b4 Rd8 34.Bd4 Rxd6 35.cxd6 Bh1 0-1
25.g4! Nh4 26.Nd6+ Kf8 [26...Bxd6 27.Qxh4 Bf8 28.f5k]

27.Rxe7! Very nice! Janowski found a practical way to
maintain the pressure. [27.Re3!? ]
27...Nf3+ 28.Qxf3 Bxf3 29.Rf7+? The decisive mistake.
Janowski wants to activate his bishop but more accurate was
[29.Rae1! 29...Bd5 30.f5 with an amazing position!
(18) Mattison (19) Banusz, T(2585)-Pourramezanali, A(2432)
1. h Dubai Open, 2015.04.14
42.Nf5+! gxf5 [42...Kh7 43.Qh6#]

43.Qg5+ Kh7 44.Qxh5+ 1-0 [44.Qxh5+ 44...Kg7 45.Qh8+
Kg6 46.Rg8+h]
(20) Sagar, S(2458)-Mammadzada, G(2336)
27...Qd8! 28.Rxf7 [28.Rxc5 28...Nf3+! 29.Bxf3 Qxd2i]

28...Qxd5 29.Rxf8+ Kxf8i
(21) Ikeda, J(2403)-Dragun, K(2558) (23) Swapnil, S(2450)-Illingworth, M(2489)
Bangkok Open, 2015.04.14 Bangkok Open, 2015.04.16
34.Ne6! 1-0 [34.Ne6 34...Qe8 (34...fxe6 35.f7+ Kh8 30...Bb5! 0-1 [30...Bb5 31.Qxa5 (31.Qxb5 31...Qxb5 32.Nxb5
36.Bf6+h) 35.Qh6h] Rxc2i) 31...Bc4+ 32.Ka1 Qxa5i]
(22) Ghosh, D(2512)-Stokke, K(2360) (24) Bogosavljevic, B(2516)-Antic, D(2457)
Bangkok Open, 2015.04.14 Serbian Championship, 2015.04.18
26...Bxf5!! 27.Rxf6 Bxh3 28.Qb3 [28.f3 28...Rd1+ 29.Kf2

28.Rxe4! fxe4 29.Be6+ Kh7 30.Kg2! h Rf5 31.Bxf5 gxf5 Rf1#]
32.Qf6 1-0
28...gxf6i 29.g4 Bxg4 30.Qb6 [30.Qg3 30...Kh8!
31.Qxg4 Rg8i]
30...Rd1+ 31.Kg2 Nd7i
(25) Kovacevic, A(2517)-Ratkovic, M(2365) (27) Korneev, O(2600)-Weber, U(2399)
Serbian Championship, 2015.04.20 Hofheim Open, 2015.04.11
24.Be6! 1-0 55.Rxh5+! 1-0 [55.Rxh5+ 55...gxh5 56.Qg7#]
(26) Georgiev, K(2623)-Dimov, D(2340) (28) Martian, D(2220)-Nevednichy, V(2559)

Bulgarian Championship, 2015.04.18 Romanian Championship, 2015.04.20
26.Rd6! Qa8 [26...Bxd6 27.Nf6+ Kf7 28.Qxc6h] 34...Ra1+! 0-1 [34...Ra1+ 35.Kxa1 Rc1#]
27.Rg6+ 1-0
(29) Herbstmann
1.Nc6! Rc7 2.a7 Rc8 3.Nb8! Rc5+! 4.Kg6 Ra5 5.Nc6!

Ra6 6.Kxg7! c3 [6...Kd7 7.Nb8+h]
7.Kg8! h Kd7 8.Nb8+h
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
In the very strong Russian Team Championship which was
held in Sochi and had only 7 rounds, 1st place was clearly
Editorial Preface 2 taken by to the team of Sibir (Aronian, Kramnik, Jakovenko,
Wang Yue, Korobov, Kokarev, Bocharov, Maletin) with a
perfect score of 14 points. In 2nd place followed the team
of St.Petersburg with Svidler, Vitiugov, Dominguez, Matlakov,
Rodshtein, Khairulin, Fedoseev and Saric.
In the Italian Team Championship first place went to the team
of "Obiettivo Risarcimento Padova" with Nakamura, Vachier
Young & Talented 11
Lagrave, Bacrot, Fressinet and many more strong GMs.
Puzzle section 14 In the Nakhchivan Open 2015, none of the tops seeds like
Kasimdzhanov, Bacrot or Hou Yifan are even close to be in the
leading position. After a great start of 5/5, Pantsulaia lost a
Endgame section 17 very promising position to Safarli in round 6, who thus joined
him on 5/6.
Chess and the City. Manger comme un Dieu... 21 Kasimdzhanov is just on 4 points and Bacrot and Hou Yifan
are both having a very disappointing event with only 3.5/6.
Clash of the Titans 22 We can expect a very exciting finish for the first price of
10.000$.
Surprise section / study 25 As usual, we wish you a lot of chess fun in the upcoming week!
Solutions 25 Best wishes,

Two best games of the past week 7.b4 White doesn’t wait for Black to play Nc6 and immediately
launches his play on the queenside.
7...Nfd7 A very solid move. Now it is all about whether Black
can keep the pawn on d4 alive or not.
(1) Kramnik, Vladimir (2783) 8.O-O
- Svidler, Peter (2729) [A05]
TCh-RUS Men 2015(2.1),

Best rating: 2737
Vladimir Kramnik is clearly one of the best chess players of

all times, but lately he started to have some slips in his play.
Sometimes he shows amazing results in combination with
some blunders in tactical phases. His opening repertoire has 8...Nc6! A strong move which forces White to decide what to
also changed and he is playing more aggressively than before, do with the pawn on b4.
as well as often staying away from very main theoretical lines.
One of his main openings nowadays is the Reti, which is not 9.bxc5 Of course White should not play b5 after which Black
very often played on the top level. Anyhow, in our game, after would get an excellent center. For those who play the Benoni
a somewhat modest opening Kramnik outplays his "team with Black, we have sort of the same thing, just with opposite
collegue" easily and finishes the game in a little tactical battle. colors and an extra tempo for White.
It is great to see Vladimir back in shape! 9...O-O The pawn on c5 will not run away...
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 Maybe by playing the Reti Kramnik wanted 10.d3 Nxc5 11.Nbd2 I guess this is the first moment where
to avoid the main lines of the Gruenfeld, of which Svidler is Black needs to have a deep thought, as there are a lot of
famously an expert. options... From a general point of view it would be great to
2...d5 3.Bg2 g6 Svidler loves to have his bishop on g7. play e5 at some point, but on the other hand White wants to
start his action on the queenside by playing Ba3 and Rb1. The
4.b3 A very modest approach, but actually this bishop on g2 could then become a very dangerous piece.
double-fianchetto is trickier than it looks.
11...Rb8 Both a very solid and good move. Black is maybe
4...Bg7 5.Bb2 c5!? I personally like what Svidler is doing- intending to play b6-Bb7 next. We should not forget that the
covering the center. [5...O-O 6.c4 leads to a more calm game.] pressure is on White now, as in case Black can develop his
6.c4 d4 This is Black’s point. pieces nicely, White’s position would just be worse.
12.Ba3 A very normal move. [White should not try to win a 16.Rae1! A fantastic move! White is totally switching the
pawn after 12.Nb3?! 12...Na4! Of course everything else is strategy from playing on the queenside to playing on the
good for White. 13.Bxd4 Nxd4 14.Nbxd4 and now Black has kingside. The plan is of course to play e3 next and now we
a couple of moves, but the most solid seems to be 14...Nc5 can see that from a great knight on a4, Black will find himself
A calm and strong move. Now White needs to give some with a terrible knight on a4 when the d4 pawn will disappear.
material back. 15.Nb3 (15.e3 15...e5 16.Nb5 Nxd3 and Black 16...Rfd8?! This move is hard to understand... [Black could
is clearly better.) 15...Bxa1 16.Qxa1 Qc7 The position is still have tried to prepare counterplay against White’s e3 plan by
very unclear, but I can hardly believe that being an exchange playing 16...Rfc8 17.e3 dxe3 18.fxe3 and here comes the point
down White has chances for any advantage.] as to why it is so good to have rook on c8: 18...b5! and the
12...Qa5 An interesting move. Black’s plan is to play Na4-Nc3. game is really messy.]
[Black could also have played 12...b6 13.Rb1 and maybe some 17.e3 Following the plan.
solid move like 13...Qc7 wih an unclear position.]
17...dxe3 [Black can’t keep the d4 pawn alive: 17...e5
13.Qc1 White wants to play Nb3 next, so the next moves are 18.Nbxd4 with a clearly better position for White.]
sort of forced.
18.fxe3 Now White has the big positional threat of playing d4
13...Na4 14.Nb3 Now Black needs to decide where to put the and basically winning the fight over the center. A move like
queen. Ng5 could also be very unpleasant as the black rook on d8 is
14...Qc7 looks too passive to me. [Why not put the queen on clearly misplaced.
14...Qh5 with the idea of playing Bh3. I think Black is more 18...h6 It seems like it is not possible to avoid d4, so at least
than fine here.] Black prevents Ng5.
15.Qc2 A solid move. 19.d4 Bf5 As in a Gruenfeld, Svidler is trying to get some play
15...Bd7 Black is almost fully developed, but Kramnik has a against White’s center.
great idea in mind. [15...Nc3 16.e3] 20.e4 Bg4 Now things are pretty clear: in case White can
survive the next few moves, Black will be in big trouble.
21.e5 Perfect play! Kramnik shuts down the g7 bishop and 23...Qxc4?! Clearly not the best move. [Black should have
keeps his center alive. tried 23...Nf5 even if the position looks very scary. 24.e6
A powerful move. (24.Re4 was less clear. 24...h5 25.h3
21...Nb6 The right idea but Black missed White’s next move...
Bxe5! 26.Rxe5 Qxe5 27.hxg4 hxg4 28.Nxf5 Qxf5 29.Qxf5 gxf5
[Of course Black can’t win the d4 pawn because after 21...Bxf3
30.Bxe7 and of course White is clearly better, but Black keeps
22.Bxf3 Nxd4 23.Nxd4 Rxd4 the knight on a4 is hanging.
drawing chances.) 24...fxe6 25.Rxe6 and White’s attack is
24.Qxa4; Svidler should have continued with 21...Bf5 22.Qd2
scary!]
(In case of 22.Qf2 22...Bd3 Black should be fearless with 23.d5
Bxf1 24.Rxf1 Nxe5 25.Nxe5 Qxe5 26.Qxf7+ Kh7 with a very 24.Re4! Simple and strong! White is winning a piece.
unclear position.) 22...Nb6 Now this move is much stronger! 24...Be6 [24...Be2 also loses a piece. 25.Re1 Qc3 26.Nxd4
23.Qc3 and White should still be better, but the position is Qxa3 27.R4xe2 and White is winning. ]
very sharp.]
25.Nxd4 Bd5 Svidler is trying to be tricky, but Kramnik keeps
22.Nh4! Another great move by Kramnik! White is targeting a cool head.
the g6 pawn.
22...Nxd4 Black has no choice but to take on d4.
23.Qf2 White takes no prisoners. [23.Nxd4 would lead to a
better endgame. 23...Qxc4 is Black’s only chance. 24.Qxc4
Nxc4 25.Re4! protecting the d4 knight and attacking the
bishop on g4. 25...Nxa3 26.Rxg4 Bxe5 Black has 3 pawns, but
White is doing very well on the kingside. 27.Ndf5! and White
has a crushing attack, although it is an endgame!]
26.Ne6! Another beautiful move by White. The queen on c4

is hanging and Qxf7 is a deadly threat. The game is over.
26...Bxe6 Black doesn’t have anything better.
(2) Aronian, Levon (2770)
27.Rxc4 Nxc4 28.Bxe7 White has a queen for a rook, which is
- Shoker, Samy (2466) [A42]
too big a material advantage to even give Black any practical
chances.
10th World Teams 2015(9.4), GM Csaba Balogh
28...Rd2 29.Qxa7 Black’s material is disappearing. 2015.04.28 Best rating: 2672
29...Bxe5 30.Nf3
Many club players love playing the following very passive
opening as Black. However employing it against a top GM is
not necessarily a clever idea. Aronian shows a classic example
of how to punish your opponent for such play...
1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.e4 White occupies the center with all his
pawns to gain a space advantage, while Black just aims at
developing his pieces and later tries to bounce back.
3...d6 4.Nc3 e6 [4...Nf6 would be a transposition to the
King’s Indian defense.]
30...Bc7 and White can even play the simple 31.Kh1 to be
5.Be3 Ne7
totally winning. A very nice game by Kramnik, who showed
a great positional idea with Rae1! and mastered the tactical
complications with the precision of a swiss watchmaker! 1-0
6.Qd2 White already shows his intentions. If Black castles

kingside, he must face an enormous attack after Bh6 followed
by h4-h5!
6...h6 This is the standard reaction. Black would like to
preserve his dark squared bishop. Now the h4-h5 plan can be
met by g5, keeping the files closed. The big drawback of this [10...c5 is premature, because White is better prepared for the
move is the weakness of the h6 pawn, which deprives Black opening of the files. 11.Rad1 Bb7 12.Ba4c]
from castling. He usually tries to deal with this problem by 11.a4 Nc6 Black wants to enjoy the benefits of provoking
executing an artificial castling with Kf8-g8-h7 at a later stage a4 and he is heading towards the b4 square with his knight.
of the game. However, White can simply ignore this fact...
7.Bd3 White completes his development. 12.Rae1! Aronian wants to keep the harmony between his
7...Nd7 8.Nge2! Aronian already thinks about the further pieces and he is ready to meet Nb4 by Bb1. He could have put
course of the game and he develops his knight to e2 to keep his rook to d1 as well, but he believes that from e1 it supports
the option of f2-f4-f5, destroying the pawn formation in front more the f4-f5 plan, as if Black takes on f5 exf5 opens the e-file
of the black king. for the rook.
8...b6 9.O-O a6 This symmetrical setup is the way how 12...Nb4 13.Bb1 c5 Black must do something, he cannot just
Black likes to organize his development. The last move sit and wait. He still could not castle because of the h6 pawn
also prepares the first active move to push c5, which was and the Kf8-g8-h7 plan was too slow, as White would already
impossible right away because of Nb5! swipe him off the board with f4-f5.
14.f4 White launc hes his decisive attack. A small happiness
for Black is that the h6 pawn is finally not hanging after
castling.
14...Qc7 [14...cxd4 15.Nxd4 O-O White wins material with
16.Na2! deflecting the knight from the c6 square. 16...Nxa2
17.Nc6! Qc7 18.Nxb8h wins an exchange.; 14...O-O 15.f5
also looks terribly strong. The h6 pawn is hanging again.
15...Kh7 (15...g5 16.h4!c destroys Black’s defense.) 16.fxg6+
fxg6 17.Rxf8 Nxf8 (17...Qxf8 18.Nf4! looking at the g6 and
10.Bc2! A clever p rophylactic move against c5. White e6 weaknesses. White is ready to open the diagonal with e5!
prepares for the opening of the d-file in that case and he 18...cxd4 19.Nxe6! This intermediate move wins a pawn as
removes his d3 bishop from the way. Sometimes he also dxe3 does not work because the queen is hanging with check.)
wants to annoy Black with Ba4, using the fact that he cannot 18.dxc5 bxc5
castle kingside since the h6 pawn is still hanging.
10...Rb8 Well, yes, Black is suffering of a lack of space. He
tries to get some activity on the queenside with b5, but
Aronian simply prevents this plan...
the most demoralizing. Black cannot leave from the pin on
the c-file.
19...Qc5 20.Na2h White wins decisive material. The game
is over. Black continues resisting for few more moves, but
there is no hope...
20...Nxa2 21.Rxc5 bxc5 22.fxe6 Ne5 23.Nf5+ gxf5
24.Qxd6 A convincing crush! 1-0
19.e5! Opening the b1-h7 diagonal. All the white pieces are
dangerously looking at the h7 king. 19...Bxe5 20.Bxh6c]
15.f5! Obviously the c4 pawn does not count when the king is
under such attack.
15...cxd4 16.Nxd4 O-O [16...Qxc4 17.fxe6 fxe6 18.b3 Qc7
White can choose between dozens of win. One of them is
19.Ncb5 axb5 20.Nxb5 Qc6 21.Nxd6+ Kd8 22.Rc1h and
everything is hanging in the black camp.]
17.Bxh6 [17.fxe6 was also winning.]
17...Qxc4 At least the material balance is restored, but there
is nothing that could save the black king.
18.Bxg7 Kxg7
19.Rc1! White had other winning moves, but such ones are
David vs. Goliath
Peter Zhdanov
Chief Editor of Pogonina.com Black to move. After a continuation like 35...Rf8 the
game should be level. Instead Black blundered with the
pseudo-active 35...Rde8? In reply to 36.Ng4 the GM decided
In this entertaining column we are reviewing the most not to give up the exchange by playing 36...Nh5. Is there a
unexpected results that occurred last week. Players usually problem with this plan? 37.Nh6X happened! This is a mating
face opponents of a similar level. Considerably less frequent pattern often seen in tactics books.
succeeds in beating a much stronger adversary. Top-10:
The previous week brought us 16 upsets. Benitez Galeano (1740) - Latorre (2297), 1-0, 557 points
Georgiev (1530) - Metev (2066), 1-0, 536 points
The number of moves ranges from 13 in Toncheva (1299) - Abreu (1449) - Belsley (1978), 1-0, 529 points
Mladenov (1751), 1-0 to 76 in Roman (2006) - IM Pichot (2482), Nelson (2231) - Varney (1746), 0-1, 485 points
1-0. Roman (2006) - Pichot (2482), 1-0, 476 points
Most of us are particularly interested in seeing super GMs Beben (2132) - Mista (2597), 1-0, 465 points
succumb to amateur players. Such upsets are extremely rare, Toncheva (1299) - Mladenov (1751), 1-0, 452 points
but this time we have two of them to check out. Ex-FIDE World Kasimdzhanov (2712) - Jagodzinski (2273), 0-1, 439 points
Champion Kasimdzhanov (2712) was dominating the rapid Repreza Perez (1867) - Diogo (2270), 1-0, 403 points
game against Jagodzinski (2273) only to hang a rook in one Mustedjeb (1671) - Tonchova (1299), 0-1, 372 points
move and to resign. More instructive is the victory of IM Altini Average gap: 471; White won 7 games, Black won 3 games.
(2410) over GM Vachier-Lagrave (2765). White managed to
outplay his formidable adversary and to eventually squeeze You can view all the games in the accompanying pgn file.
the full point out of the game. If you have ever won a game against someone rated
A tragicomedy occurred in Beben (2132) vs GM Mista (2597). 300 points or above yourself, please send it to
This is rapid chess, of course, yet still rather unbelievable: peter@pogonina.com for publication. Any additional
Young & Talented 7...Nc6 8.O-O
GM Etienne Bacrot
Best rating: 2749
(3) Troff, Kayden W (2532) 8...d6 Not bad but also not the most natural way of playing. I
- Sevian, Samuel (2531) [A34] think the best is [8...b6 and some unclear line might continue
with 9.d4!? (9.b3 9...Bb7 10.Bb2 d5=) 9...Bb7 10.d5 (10.b3
ch-USA 2015(6.4), 10...cxd4 11.exd4 d5=) 10...Na5 11.Qd3 g5! 12.Nfe2 Ba6 13.b3
2015.04.07 (13.e4 13...Bxc4 14.Qc2 Ng4k) 13...Nxd5 14.Rd1k]
9.a3 I would have played the most principled 9.d4 but it is not
Since I am currently playing a tournament, I prepared clear if White has the advantage.
an interesting strategical game played in the recent US
Championship by two young players, 16-years old and only 9...Bd7 10.Rb1 [10.b4 is also an option. 10...cxb4 11.axb4
14-years old for the eventual winner of the game. Nxb4 12.Ba3 a5 13.Qb3k]
1.c4 Going for the English is not in Troff opening repertoire. 10...a5 11.d3 To continue the development by playing [11.b3
followed by Bb2 and probably d2-d4 in one move looks more
1...Nf6 2.Nc3 c5 Another surprise, as Sevian usually goes for logical to me.]
an e5 setup.
11...Rb8 12.Nb5 An interesting move but White was not
3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.e3 An interesting small move aimed at forced to give the center. 12.b3 was still good.
playing for the center without letting Black play d5. [5.Nf3
5...d5] 12...d5! Black starts a series of strong positional moves.
5...O-O 6.Nge2 e6 A strange but usual move. Black needs be 13.b3 Taking the pawn was of course quite dangerous:
ready to react on an eventual d4 by a later d5. [13.cxd5 13...Nxd5 14.Nxd5 exd5 15.Bxd5 Ne5n]
7.Nf4 White continues playing against d5. [7.d4 7...cxd4 13...d4 14.exd4 Nxd4 15.Nxd4 cxd4 16.b4 axb4 17.axb4
8.exd4 d5 is considered to be equal.]
21...Rd8 22.fxe5 Bg4 Searching for counterplay in a difficult
position.
23.Rf4 h5 24.Bxd4!? Another way of playing was [24.Qc2
24...Bxe2 25.Qxe2 Bxe5 26.Re4 with no material up but
strong pieces.]
24...Bh6 25.Bf2 [25.Rxg4! seems to be a better exchange
sacrifice. For example: 25...hxg4 26.Bf2 Qxe5 27.d4 Qe7
28.Qd3 Nc7 29.Nc3 and Black can’t avoid the d-pawn push.]
17...b5?! A standard move in this Benoni-like pawn structure 25...Bxf4 26.gxf4 Qd7 It is already not easy for White to
but a bad move in this given position. It was much better prove a huge advantage.
to first exchange the light-squared bishops with complicated
play. [17...Bc6! 18.Re1 Bxg2 19.Nxg2 Nd7= (19...b5 20.Bg5!?)] 27.c6 Qxd3 28.Qxd3 Rxd3
18.c5 Qc7 19.Ne2 I like this move, played against the Bc6
threat. 19.Qf3 was also an option.
19...Ne8? I cannot understand this move, as now the black
pieces are extremely uncoordinated. [19...e5 was of course a
normal follow-up move. 20.Bg5 (20.f4!? ) 20...Bc6 21.Bxf6
Bxf6 22.Nc1!? Qb7 23.Bxc6 Qxc6 24.Nb3 Rfe8 with a
fighting position.]
20.Bb2 e5
29.Ng3? Now White loses his whole advantage. It was
necessary to play [29.Nd4! 29...Nc7 30.Bf1 Rc3 31.Be1
Ra3 32.Nxb5 Nxb5 33.Bxb5 Rfa8 and visually White has all
chances but with the best computer moves Black holds.]
29...Nc7 30.Ne4 Bf3! An important exchange!
31.Nc5 Ra3 32.Nd7 Rc8 Black improved all his pieces during
the 4-move journey of White’s knight and has now taken the
advantage.
33.Rc1 Bxg2 34.Kxg2 Nd5 35.f5 Nf4+? Surely missing
21.f4c Logical and strong.
White’s 37th move, as simply taking the pawn would have
given Black a big advantage. [35...Nxb4e ]
36.Kf1 Nd3?! Ra3+ 49.Ne3 Rxc7 50.Rd5+ Kf6 (50...Ke6 seems to win but
after 51.Rxb5! Rcc3 52.Rb6+! it is difficult to hide from
checks! 52...Ke5 53.Rb5+ Kd6 (53...Kd4 54.Rd5#) 54.Rb6+
Kc7 55.Re6=) 51.Rf5+ Kg6 52.Rg5+ Kf7 53.Kf4 and the fight
continues!]
47...Rd6 48.Rd8 Rxc7! 49.Nxc7 [49.Rxd6 49...Rg7+! With
White’s king on f3 this important check didn’t exist (Rf7+
Rf6!).]
49...Rxd8i Now it is all over even if it took some time for
Black to convert his advantage.
37.Nb6! Counterattacking! 50.Nxb5 Kf5 51.Nc7 Rd3+ 52.Kf2 Rb3 53.Nd5 Ke5
37...Re8 38.Rd1? [38.Nd5! would pose Black in front of very 54.Ne7 Ke6 55.Nc6 Kd6 56.Nd4 Rxb4 57.Nf3 Ke6
big problems. 38...Kf8! (38...Nxc1 just loses to 39.Nf6+ Kf8 58.Kg3 Kf6 59.Nh4 Rg4+ 60.Kh3 Rf4 61.Kg3 Kg5
40.Bc5+ Re7 41.c7 Ra8 42.Nd5h) 39.Rc2!? Nxf2! 40.Kxf2 62.Nf3+ Kf5 63.Nh4+ Ke4 64.Kh3 Rg4 65.Nf5 This
Rxe5! 41.c7 Rxf5+ and Black saves himself because White’s stalemate trick is not enough!
king cannot escape the checks. 42.Ke2 Re5+=] 65...Kf4! 66.Nd4 Kg5 67.Nf3+ Kf6 68.Nh4 Ra4 69.Kg3
38...Nxf2 39.Kxf2 Rc3 40.Rd6 Rxe5 Time control has been Kg5 70.Nf3+ Kf5 71.Nh4+ Ke4 72.Ng2 Ra3+ 73.Kh4 Kf3
passed and a tough defensive job awaits White. 74.Ne1+ Kf2 75.Kxh5 Kxe1 76.h4 Kf2 77.Kg6 Kg3 78.h5
Kg4 79.h6 Ra6+ 80.Kg7 Kg5 81.h7 Ra7+ 82.Kg8 Kg6
41.fxg6 Rc2+ 42.Kf3 Re6 43.gxf7+ Kxf7 44.Rd7+ Kf6
83.h8=N+ Kf6 0-1
45.Nd5+ Ke5 46.c7 Ra6 Both players played the best moves
so far but now White blunders.
47.Kg3?? [47.h4 is a very tricky attempt. 47...Ra8 48.Rd8
Puzzle section
(4) Movsesian, S(2665)-Adly, A(2589) (6) Nepomniachtchi, I(2714)-Potapov, P(2471)
World Teams, 2015.04.28 Russian league, 2015.05.02
1... i 1. h
(5) Tomashevsky, E(2745)-Rodshtein, M(2654) (7) Ibragimov, I(2543)-Potapov, A(2394)

World Teams, 2015.04.28 Russian league, 2015.05.03
1. h 1... i
(8) Yandemirov, V(2375)-Fedoseev, V(2674) (10) Ovod, E(2325)-Gunina, V(2528)
Russian league, 2015.05.04 Russian Women league, 2015.05.02
1. = 1. h
(9) Khismatullin, D(2650)-Savitskiy, S(2330) (11) Kovalevskaya, E(2438)-Guseva, M(2378)

Russian league, 2015.05.03 Russian Women league, 2015.05.03
1. h 1. h
(12) Altini, N(2410)-Vachier Lagrave, M(2765)
Italian league, 2015.05.01
1. h
(13) Mamedov, R(2658)-Khurtsidze, N(2457)

Nakhchivan Open, 2015.05.04
1. h
Endgame section 36...Kh7
(14) Korobov, Anton (2694)

- Khairullin, Ildar (2630)
Russian league, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.05.02 Best rating: 2672
37.Nf8+! This intermediate check serves to save the c6 pawn

as well as the knight temporarily! [37.Qxc7? is not enough,
because the c-pawn can easily be stopped after 37...fxe6
38.Qb7 Nd5i]
37...Kh6 38.Qxc7 Black is a pawn up, but the c-pawn is far
advanced, which gives White enough compensation. His only
chance to win the game is to win the knight!
38...Qc5+! It is very important now to choose the right
square for the king.
This time I have chosen a slightly different game for the
endgame section. Although we reach an endgame a few 39.Kh1! [The following line shows why the king has to stay on
moves later, we should rather consider this example like a h1! 39.Kh2? loses to 39...Qxf8 40.Qf4+ and now Black can
tactical clash with unusual resources for both sides which hide his king with 40...Kh7 because after 41.Qf5+ Kg8 42.c7
ends in a draw after a dozen of only moves. White seems to Qd6+!i wins!]
be in huge trouble, because he is already 2 pawns down and 39...Qxf8 [39...Nd5 is the alternative, but Black can hardly
he is pinned on the d-file. His only trumph, the c6 pawn, is be better after 40.Qxf7 Qxc6 41.Ne6 The white pieces are
well blockaded. However White survives after dominating, which gives enough compensation to secure the
34.Nxe6! Rxd1+ 35.Qxd1 Qxc4 36.Qd8+! [36.Nxc7? half point.]
simply loses to 36...Qxc6i] 40.Qf4+ Kg6! It was again Black’s turn to find the only move!
[40...Kh7? loses to 41.Qf5+! g6 (41...Kg8 42.c7h there is
no check on d6 now.) 42.Qxf6 The general rule in queen
endgames is that the quality of the pawns is more important
than the quantity. Black is a pawn up, but the c6 pawn is the
main factor here. 42...Qc5 43.Qxf7+ Kh6 44.c7 Black does 43.Qf5+ Kh6 44.g5+ Kh5 45.gxf6+ White has won the piece
not even have a perpetual check. 44...h4 back, but his king got exposed, which allows Black to give a
perpetual.
45...g5! Yet another only move! [45...Kh6 loses to 46.Qd7!
Qxf6 47.Qh3+! Kg6 48.c7! and Black loses because
of the misplacement of his g6 king. It always stands in
counterchecks. For instance 48...Qc6 moves into 49.Qg2! Or
48...Qa1+ 49.Kh2!h and there are no more checks because
Qa2, Qb2 or Qe5 are all met by counterchecks.]
46.Qd7 Qxf6 47.c7 [A draw was agreed in view of 47.c7
47...Qf1+ with perpetual check.; The difference to the 45..Kh6
45.Qd7! An ideal square for the queen. It supports the c7
line is that after 47.Qh3+ 47...Kg6 the g5 pawn gives a shelter
pawn and protects the white king from the most important
to the king and there is no countercheck on g2... 48.c7 Qc6+
checks... 45...Qc1+ 46.Kh2 Qf4+ 47.Kg1 Qc1+ 48.Kf2 Qc2+
wins the c7 pawn.] 1/2-1/2
49.Ke3! Qc1+ 50.Ke4!h The king runs through the board
and hides somewhere on b7-b8 or d8.]
41.g4! Another great and cold-blooded move! White is a piece

and a pawn down and he simply plays g4! He creates the
threat of Qf5 followed by g5 against which it is not easy to
defend... And the c6 pawn is still there as a huge potential
threat!
41...hxg4 42.fxg4 Qd8 Black did not have anything better.
[42...Qc5? loses to 43.Qf5+! An unexpected trade! 43...Qxf5
44.gxf5+ Kxf5 45.c7h]
because the black bishop on b3 controls the a2-g8 diagonal.
(15) Shirov, Alexei (2691)
52.Kg5 Bd1 Of course the h5 pawn has to be protected.
- Kramnik, Vladimir (2783)
53.Nc4 White is immediately going for the b6 pawn, but why
TCh-RUS Men 2015(1.1), be in such a hurry?! [White could have tried to first put his
2015.05.01 GM Arkadij Naiditsch pieces perfectly: 53.h4 fixing the pawn on h5 which could be
Best rating: 2737 good for the future. 53...Be2 54.Kg6 fixing the position of
the black king even further. 54...b5 Black has nothing better,
as 44...Bd1 45.Nc4 would lead to a similar position as in the
game, just in a slightly better version for White. 55.Nc6 a4
56.Nd4 and White is winning a second pawn.]
53...Kf7
Shirov is back! After an unlucky year in 2014, getting under

2700 ELO, with this nice win over Kramnik the former world
Nr3 is once again in the live +2700 rating list. The game
started very calmly with a Berlin with 5.Re1, which is usually a
pretty drawish line, but strangely enough, Kramnik misplayed 54.Nxb6 Black is 2 pawns down, but now the black pieces are
his equal position terribly and found himself in this very bad more active and the bishop on f8 is very passive. The opposite
endgame. White is a clear pawn up and the black king on h8 color bishop endgame might still be a draw though.
has no squares, but in case Black manages to exchange the
54...Nd6 55.Nd5 Ne4+ 56.Kh4 a4 Black is trying to be as
knights, the position might be a draw.
solid as possible and asking White what’s next. [If Kramnik
50.a3 A very safe move, as it is good to put the own pawns on only knew that the bishop endgame is lost, he would have
the opposite colored squares of the enemy bishop. played 56...Bf3 but of course his position would still be lost.]
50...Kg8 Black keeps on waiting. 57.Nc3 Nxc3 Black has no choice.
51.Kf4 Bb3 Now White needs to decide what to do next. It 58.bxc3 Be2 Not letting White play c4 immdiately.
would be great to get the king to d8- it would finish the game
in fact- but it seems to be impossible to cross the 5th rank
59.Kg5 Ke8 The black king has to be placed on d7, which is 70.c5
its perfect position.
60.h4 Kd7 [An attempt to keep the bishop on f8 would lead
nowhere: 60...Kf7 61.Kf5 and the white king moves to d6,
after which Bh6-Bg5 will be possible.]
61.Kf6 Bc4 62.Bh6 Ke8 63.Bf4 Bf7
70...Bg6 [Now after 70...Kc7 71.Ke6 is the right winning

plan. 71...Kc6 72.Be3 and once again Black can’t do anything
against the idea of Kf6-Kg7-Kf8.]
71.c6+ Kc7 72.Bf4+ Now White puts a second pawn on the
7th rank.
72...Kc8 73.Ke6
64.Bg5 Bb3 65.Ke5 White is going to play c4.
65...Kd7 66.Kd4 Bf7 67.Kc5 Before playing c4, why not
improve the position of the king?
67...Kc7 68.c4 Be8 69.Kd5 In case Black could somehow
get the position with Bc6 and Kd7 and at the same time not
allow White to put his king to b6 and pawn on c5, the position
would be a draw, but it is too much to ask for...
69...Kd7 [Black is also losing after 69...Bc6+ 70.Ke6! The
white king gets to f8 and the black king is not in time to get
to e8. 70...Be8 71.Kf6 followed by Kg7-Kf8 and the game is 73...Bf7+ The last check!
over.] 74.Kf6 It is better not to take the poisoned bishop...
74...Be8 75.c7 Kd7 76.Kg7 A beautifully played endgame
by Shirov, with the right evaluation of the opposite colored
bishopendgame! 1-0
Chess and the City. with the legend Pia Cramling on top board. When it comes
to Pia, I already mentioned that she was my hero in the last
Manger comme un Dieu... world Championship and I am very excited to play against her
again.
I will update you about all final results in my next newsletter.
Here are some pictorial impressions of the championship!

Best rating: 2493
France is not only well known for its excellent cuisine but also
for its fantastic wines.
However, going to France as a chess player is usually
connected to chess and not to abuse of wine and food. But
doing both could sometimes be an option too....
My team from left to right: Emma Richard, Mathilde Choisy,
Today the Top 12 is going to start in Montpellier. It is a women myself and Salomé Neuhauser
competition of 12 teams divided into 2 pools - A and B. The
two top finishers of both pools will meet for the semi-final and
final in the end of June for the French championship title.
The rules in France are very different compared to the German
ones and in my opinion they are much more "nationalistic".
Whereas a German women team could basically compete
with 6 non-Germans, in the French league only one foreigner
is allowed. This indicates that the championship itself is
weaker, but the support of French players is more important.
My team is the team of Phillidor Mulhouse from Alsace, which
managed to finish second last year, mainly blaming me for
skipping the two final games. The team consists of me and
3 French girls: Mathilde Choisy, Emma Richard and Salomé "Our team captain is not only a GM but also a quite talented
Neuhauser. In the first round we will play against Monaco, chef" Jean Noel Riff alias Jiji
Clash of the Titans with f7-f5. [9...Nh5?! 10.g4 Nf4 11.Nxf4 exf4 12.Bxf4 Qb6
13.Qd2c]
10.Qd2 [10.g4 10...f5 (10...Bh6! A typical trick which helps
(16) Smyslov, Vassily Black solve the problems with his limited bishop.) ]
- Geller, Efim P[E89]
10...f5
URS-ch22 playoff-1pl(7), 1955
GM Kamil Miton
Best rating: 2655
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 O-O 6.Be3 e5 A

typical fight for the center. Nowdays 6...c5 is also popular,
which leads to the Benoni structures.
7.Nge2 [7.d5 ] 11.h3?! I don’t like this move, which looks too slow. [11.O-O-O
7...c6 A tricky move which forces White to close the center. 11...Nf6 (11...fxe4 12.fxe4 Bg4?! is not dangerous. 13.h3 Bxe2
14.Bxe2c and the bishop will be activated over the h3-c8
diagonal.) 12.h3 fxe4 13.fxe4 Nh5 (13...b5!? Because the e4
pawn is hanging Black can immediately get the initiative on
the queenside.) 14.g3! limiting the black pieces. Less accurate
is (14.g4 14...Nf4! 15.Nxf4 exf4 16.Bxf4 Qb6C and thanks to
this pawn sacrifice Black gets a strong bishop and the useful
e5 square for the knight.) 14...Nd7 15.Kb1 Nc5 16.Bg2 Bd7
17.Rhf1 with complex play.]
11...Nd7 An interesting alternative for Black was [11...f4
12.Bf2 Bf6! It is very important for Black to activate the
8.d5 [8.Qd2 gives Black the opportunity to get counterplay bishop. 13.h4 (13.O-O-O 13...Bh4k 14.Bg1?! and the rook on h1
after 8...exd4 9.Nxd4 d5! The white king is in the center, which is dead.) 13...Ng7 14.O-O-O Nh5 In case White plays Kb1-Nc1
is why this action is possible. 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.e5 Ne8 12.f4 f6! Black will answer Ng3.]
13.exf6 Nxf6 14.Be2 Nc6 15.O-O Re8kand the pawn on f4 is 12.g3 A rather strange move. Maybe White wanted to play Bg2
badly placed, so Black has counterplay over the e-file.] but it looks very artificial. More active was [12.O-O-O 12...fxe4
8...cxd5 9.cxd5 Ne8 Black is preparing the thematic plan (12...Ndf6 13.g4 Bd7 (13...f4 14.Bf2 Rf7 15.Kb1 Bf8 16.Nc1
and White is clearly better thanks to his space advantage.)
14.exf5 (14.Kb1 14...b5V) 14...gxf5 15.gxf5 Bxf5 16.Ng3 Bg6
17.Bd3 White gets control of the light squares.) 13.fxe4 Nef6
14.g4 b5 (14...Nc5 15.Ng3+=) 15.Ng3 (15.g5 15...b4 16.gxf6 bxc3
17.Nxc3 Nxf6k) 15...a6 16.g5 Ne8 17.Be2
16.h4! (16.Bxe3 16...fxe3 17.Qxe3 Bf6!e) ) 16.h4 Rc8 17.b3

Ne3 18.Bxe3 fxe3 19.Qxe3 Qa5 with the idea Bf6-Bd8-Bb6
and Black has full compensation.]
13...f4 Because after 13.b3 the a1-h8 diagonal is weaker Black
is able to play this move.
and again White has a stable advantage thanks to his space 14.gxf4 exf4 15.Bd4 [15.Nxf4 15...Qh4+ 16.Kd1 Rxf4 17.Bxf4
advantage. 17...Rf4!? This kind of idea can be interesting. Bxc3i This is the point of the 12...Nb6 idea.]
18.Bxf4 exf4 19.Qxf4 Ne5 with compensation!]
15...Nd7! A strong move, stopping the knight from coming to

12...Nb6! Usually this is not a good place for the knight but the useful e5 square.
in this case Black has a concrete idea.
16.h4 [16.Bxg7 16...Qh4+e]
13.b3 [13.Bf2!? deserves attention too. 13...Nc4 (13...Bf6
14.h4) 14.Qc1 (14.Qc2 14...Bh6 Xe3) 14...f4 15.g4 (15.b3 15...fxg3! 16...Ne5 17.Bg2 Bd7 18.Bf2 Rc8 [18...Nf6?! 19.Nxf4 Bh6
and the f-file is weak now.) 15...Bd7 (15...Ne3 20.Be3]
19.Nd4 White managed to regroup his pieces and is preparing
Bh3, with the idea of exchanging bishops and getting the 24...Nxe4! [24...Ncd3 25.Ne6V]
important e6 square. 25.fxe4 f3 26.Nxf3 Nxf3+ [Black could keep more pieces on
19...Qa5 20.Rc1 the board after 26...Rxf3!?e ]
27.Bxf3 Rxf3 28.Bxa7 The last practical chance is to grab
the pawn. [28.Bd4 28...Rxf1+ 29.Kxf1 Bh6!e Of course Black
keeps the bishop pair!]
28...Rh3 29.Bf2 White could try to defend the position
actively. [29.Nf4 29...Rxh4 30.Ne6 Rxe4 (30...Bxe6 31.dxe6
Rg4+ 32.Kh1 Be5 33.Bd4V; 30...Be5 31.Rdf2 Bxe6 32.dxe6
Rxe4 33.Rf7; 30...Bh6!? ) 31.Nxg7 Kxg7 32.Bd4+ Kg8
33.Rf6C]
20...Nc7! A good move. Black improved the last piece which 29...Be5 [29...Bh6!? forcing White to put the rook on b2.]
was not placed perfectly, all the while setting a trap! [20...Nf6 30.Nd4 [30.Rc1!? might have given White better chances.
21.Bh3!] 30...Rf8 31.Rc7 Rh2!e]
21.Rc2 [21.Bh3 doesn’t work now because of 21...Nb5!! and
Black is winning! 22.Bxd7 Nxd4i]
21...Na6 22.O-O Nc5 [22...Nb4 also looks good. 23.Nce2
Rxc2 24.Nxc2 Qxa2!]
23.Nce2 [23.Kh1 23...Ncd3 24.Bg1 Qd8!i]
23...Qxd2 24.Rxd2 It is typical that in case your pieces
are placed perfectly then some concrete action comes
automatically.
30...Bg4! A very strong move which allows Black to keep his
active bishop, as otherwise White would have played Ne6!
31.Be1 [31.Re1 31...Bf4 32.Rb2 Rh2e]
31...Re3 32.Bf2 Rxe4 33.Re1?! Rxe1+ 34.Bxe1 Rc1 Black is
winning very easily now after 35.Kf2 Bf6! 0-1
(17) Kubbel (18) Carlsen, M(2863)-Vachier Lagrave, M(2765)
1. h Gashimov memorial, 2015.04.21
54.Bd5! 1-0 [54.Bd5 54...a1=Q 55.Rf7+ (55.Kg4!?h )

55...Kg5 56.Rf5#]
(19) Moiseenko, A(2693)-Postny, E(2645)
World Teams, 2015.04.22
24.Bd3!! Rd5 [24...Bxe5 25.Bh7+! Kxh7 26.Rxd8h]

25.exf6! Rxc5 26.Be4! Rd5 [26...gxf6 27.Rd7 Bc8
28.Rd8+h] 27.Bxd5h
(20) Gelfand, B(2747)-Ponomariov, R(2713) (21) Yu Yangyi(2724)-Sargissian, G(2668)
World Teams, 2015.04.22 World Teams, 2015.04.22
14.Bh3!! Qxh3 15.Qxb7h Bd6 [15...Qe6 16.Nc6h]

43.h7! Qb1+ 44.Kg2 Qxh7 45.Qf3+!! [45.Qe7+
45...Rc7i] 16.Qxf7+ Kh8 17.Nxd5! Bxe5 [17...Rf8 18.Nxf6!! Rxf7
(18...gxf6 19.Qd7!h) 19.Nxf7#]
45...Rc6 [45...Kb6 46.Bd4+ Kc7 47.Be5+ Kd8 48.Bf6+=
Ke8? 49.Qb7h] 18.Bxe5 Rf8 [18...Rd7 19.Ne7!h]
46.Qxf7+ Rc7 1/2 [46...Rc7 47.Qd5+ Kb6 48.Bd4+ Ka5 19.Qb7 Rab8 20.Qxa7 Ra8 21.Qb7 Rab8 22.Nf4!h
49.Bc3+ Kb6 50.Bd4+=] (22) Ivanchuk, V(2731)-Yu Yangyi(2724)
26.Na4! Rxc2 27.Rxc2 Qa5 [27...Qd6 28.Nb5h]

28.b4! Qxa4 29.Rxc7h
(23) Short, N(2664)-Kasparov, G(2812) (24) Kasparov, G(2812)-Short, N(2664)
Battle of the Legends (blitz), 2015.04.26 Battle of the Legends (blitz), 2015.04.26
22...Qe1! i [22...Rxd1+ 23.Bxd1 Qxd1+ 24.Kb2 e3? 29.Bh6! Re2 [29...gxh6 30.Nxh6 Ke8 31.Qxf7#]
25.Qa8+ Kh7 26.Qe4+] 30.Bxg7+ Ke8 [30...Kxg7 31.Qh6+ Kg8 32.Nf6#]
23.Qxa6 [23.Bh5 23...Qxb4+ 24.Nb2 Rb8i; 23.Qxe4 31.Nh6 Nb6 32.Qxf7+ Kd7 33.Ng5h
23...Rxd1+! 24.Bxd1 Qxe4i; 23.Qc4 23...Rxd1+ 24.Bxd1
Qxd1+ 25.Kb2 e3i] (25) Ushenina, A(2486)-Padmini, R(2454)
23...Qxb4+ 24.Kc1 [24.Nb2 24...Rb8i] World Teams Woman, 2015.04.21
24...Qd2+ 25.Kb2 Rb8+ 26.Bb5 Qb4+ 27.Kc1 Rxb5i
40...f4! 41.f3 [41.Bxf4 41...Nc3 42.Re1 Ne2+ 43.Rxe2

Ra1+i]
41...Nc3! 42.Rxb6 Ne2+ 43.Kf1 fxg3i
(26) Gunina, V(2528)-Abdumalik, Z(2369) (28) Mattison
World Teams Woman, 2015.04.26
1.Rd5! Rxd5 2.Be3!! Rg5 [2...d2 3.Bf7#; 2...Kg6 3.Bxd5h]

3.Bf7+ Kh6 [3...Rg6 4.Kh2!! Kg4 5.Bxg6h]
28.Nxg6+! 1-0 [28.Nxg6+ 28...hxg6 29.Qxf7#] 4.Be8!! [4.Kh4 4...Kg7=]
4...d2 5.Bxd2h
(27) Bukavshin, I(2618)-Eliseev, U(2514)
Russian Junior Championship, 2015.04.24
27.Nxg6+! Qxg6 [27...Bxg6 28.Rxf6h; 27...hxg6 28.Qh6#]

28.Qxf5h
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
The strong open in Nakhchivan had 2 winners and both are
from Azerbaijan: Eltaj Safarli and Gadir Guseinov scored 7/9,
Editorial Preface 2 but Safarli was declared the tournament winner on tiebreak.
The last stage of the FIDE Grand Prix - from where 2 players
Two best games of the past week 4 will qualify for the Candidates tournament that will determine
the player who can challenge the current World Champion
David vs. Goliath 12 Magnus Carlsen - has begun in Khanty-Mansiysk. Currently
Tomaschevsky is leading the Grand Prix standings, which is
a bit surprising, followed by Caruana and Nakamura, so this
Young & Talented 13
last stage promises to be very exciting. Tomaschevsky had the
best start with 1.5/2, and it could even have been 2/2 if he had
Puzzle section 16 converted a totally winning position against Grischuk. Both
Caruana and Nakamura had a slow start with 2 draws.
Endgame section 19 One of the biggest chess news of the week is clearly the
change of Caruana to the US chess federation, for which he is
Chess and the City. From hell to heaven... 24 going to play in the next Olympiad in Baku 2016. The US team
now has 3 players from the Top 10: Caruana, Nakamura and
Clash of the Titans 26 So, which makes them clear pretenders for the gold medal.
More good news is the fact that our good friend Natalia
Surprise section / study 29 Pogonina has signed a contract with an application developer
from Japan for Chess Heroz. For those of you who like to have
Solutions 29 chess fun on portable devices, you can find more details on
this on the last pages of this newsletter.
This week Alexander Khalifman is taking a break because of
his recent playing schedule, but he is already going to be back
in the next issue with his usual outstanding opening article!
We hope enjoy your weekly issue of "Top GMs Secrets"!
(1) Vachier Lagrave, Maxime (2754)

- Gelfand, Boris (2744) [B30]
KM FIDE GP 2015(1), GM Csaba Balogh

2015.05.14 Best rating: 2672
8.Be2! Regrouping of the misplaced bishop! White loses a

The final stage of the Grand Prix series. We expect big fight for
tempo, but we can say, that the Ne7-g6 maneouvre also drops
the two qualification places to the Candidates tournament.
a tempo compared to developing it simple to f6. White usually
The main contenders are Tomashevsky, Caruana and
continues with c4, Nc3 aiming for space advantage and he did
Nakamura, but Gelfand and Jakovenko also have their
not want to exclude his bishop from the game by keeping it on
chances.
b5.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 Gelfand is heading towards his favorite
8...O-O 9.Nc3 This is the prepared novelty of Vachier
Sicilian Sveshnikov defense, but Vachier Lagrave prefers to
Lagrave. He wants to play a standard Sicilian (not a hedgehog
play the Rossolimo, the main alternative to avoid the main
type after 9.c4) and he hopes, that the knight on g6 is going to
lines...
be misplaced in the future and he could make use of it with
3.Bb5 e6 4.O-O Nge7 5.d4 This side line became popular the f4-f5 attacking plan.
since Caruana beat Gelfand in 2013. The most common moves
9...a6 Typical Sicilian move. Black takes control of the b5
are 5.Re1, 5.c3, 5.Nc3 or 5.b3.
square and intends to develop his bishop to the long diagonal
5...cxd4 6.Nxd4 The character of the game has changed and with Nxd4 followed by b5-Bb7.
now it is like an opened Sicilian. However both sides have a
10.a4 Preventing the mentioned plan of Nxd4 and b5.
misplaced piece, the bishop on b5 is unnatural, since White
does not want to take on c6, but the knight on e7 might also 10...Qc7 11.Nb3 White wanted to play f4, but it did not work
look a bit strange, since in most of the Sicilians it belongs to tactically. [11.f4 was strongly met by 11...Bc5! Suddenly White
f6. cannot really deal with the pin on the a7-g1 diagonal. Black is
threatening to take on d4 and then on f4! 12.f5
6...Ng6 7.Be3 Be7
12...Qe5! is a very nice motif! Black wins a pawn after all. 14...f5! This is another big difference of having the knight on
13.fxg6 hxg6! and Black wins back the sacrificed piece next g6. Black suddenly launches strong counterplay on the long
move.] diagonal 15.exf5 Nh4! and Black overtakes the initiative.]
11...b6 Another standard Sicilian move. White had the 13...Rad8! I like this move a lot! The standard placement of
positional threat of pushing a5, squeezing Black on the this rook in this kind of opened Sicilians is on c8, but Gelfand
queenside, therefore he prevents it and intends to develop his must adopt his play to the new circumstances with the knight
bishop to b7. on g6 and he places his rooks to support different kind of
12.f4 Bb7 This is the difference between having the knight on central breaks with d5 or f5.
g6 and not on f6. With the knight on f6, Black must always 14.Bd3 Creating the hidden threat of Qf2, winning the b6
count with e5, usually it is better to prevent it with d6, but pawn. Black must react actively.
with the knight on g6, e5 makes no sense because it can be
effectively undermined by d6 or f6 and White’s center falls
apart. The only existing attacking idea is to push f5, but White
must prepare for this break, otherwise Black simple installs
his knight on e5 and he is doing completely fine.
13.Qd2 [13.f5 is premature because of 13...Nge5; When I was
following this game, I expected 13.Qe1 with the idea of f5 and
on Nge5 Qg3, or the other point could be to attack the b6
pawn with Qf2. However this move has a drawback as well,
that it leaves the c2 pawn unprotected 13...Nb4! 14.Qd2 14...d5! Very well played by Gelfand! Black creates an
isolated pawn and also closes his bishop on the long diagonal,
but he gets very active pieceplay in exchange.
15.exd5 exd5 16.f5 Vachier Lagrave tries to refute Black’s the job even if White takes on h7 and captures the rook with
idea tactically. [Blockading the pawn with 16.Nd4 is met by the queen.]
16...Bc5! followed by Rfe8 with strong pressure on the white 16...Nge5
pieces.; The most principled move was 16.Ne2
17.f6! Bxf6 18.Rxf6! This exchange sacrifice was the point

Trying to establish a blockade on the d4 square, keeping behind the last 2 moves. Otherwise White would have weaken
the b7 bishop locked. However Black has the very strong his own squares, but now he wants to destroy Black’s pawn
reply of 16...d4! a tempting pawn sacrifice with the idea of structure in front of his king.
opening the long diagonal and creating threats against the
18...d4!? A very clever practical decision. Instead of accepting
g2 square. 17.Nbxd4 Nh4! 18.Rf2 Bc5 It is clear, that Black
the sacrifice and entering into a very shaky position with
has huge compensation for the sacrificed pawn. 19.c3 Rfe8
unclear outcome, Gelfand prefers to simplify the position.
All the black pieces are standing perfectly. An illustrative
After a forced line he ends up with a pawn down, but he gets
line to demonstrate their power is 20.b4 Bxd4 21.Bxd4 Nxd4
excellent compensation (and a safe king’s position), which
22.Nxd4
will secure the draw. [Let’s see, where the complications lead
after 18...gxf6 19.Qf2! Nxd3! (19...Ng4 seems to be strong
at first sight, however White has an unpleasant intermediate
move after 20.Qh4 Qxh2+! 21.Qxh2 Nxh2 this would be the
point and Black forks with d4 next move, but White comes
first with 22.Bxb6! and two pieces are hanging.) 20.cxd3
d4! White’s main threats are on the kingside, but Black must
also deal with the Bxb6 threat. (20...Ne5 21.Bxb6) 21.Ne4!
(21.Nxd4 21...Ne5 is probably good for Black.) 21...dxe3
22.Nxf6+ Kg7 (22...Kh8? loses to 23.Qf5 Kg7 24.Qg5+ Kh8
25.Qh6h)
22...Bxg2! 23.Rxg2 Rxd4! and Nf3 forks the queen. It does
players. White is a pawn up, but the bishop pn b7 is a monster,
clearly dominates the knight on c3.
23...Re8 [23...Rd8 was also possible to occupy the opened
file with tempo. Gelfand was probably afraid of losing the
e-file, but it is not dangerous at all 24.Qh4+ Kg8 25.Re1 Qc5+
26.Qf2 Qb4= with full compensation for the pawn.]
24.Rd1
23.Nh5+! leads to perpetual check. (23.Qf5? is bad now

in view of 23...Qe5! White has only one check.) 23...Kg8
(23...Kg6 also leads to draw after 24.Qf6+! Kxh5 25.Qf5+ Kh6
26.Qf6+=) 24.Nf6+ (24.Qf6? 24...Qe5) ]
19.Rxc6! This desperado rook eliminates all the minor
pieces. [19.Rff1? leads to very bad position after 19...dxe3
20.Qxe3 Nxd3 21.cxd3 Rfe8e The material is balanced, but
the black pieces are much better, d3 pawn is isolated and
24...Re6! Very important to treat the position actively,
weak and the bishop is going to rule on the long diagonal.]
otherwise White might consolidate, trade queens and end up
19...Nxc6 White seems to end up and exchange down, but he with a healthy extra pawn. It is important for Black to keep all
had another tactical idea in mind, which actually gives him 3 pieces on board to create his threats, he should only trade
the material advantage... something if he gets some concrete benefits.
25.Rd3 Rg6 26.Rg3 White easens the pressure on the g2
square. [The alternative was 26.Rh3+ 26...Kg8 27.Nd5 Bxd5!
(27...Qd6 28.c4! would be fine for White!) 28.Qxd5 Rd6!
Qa8 is simple met by Rd8. Black gets enough compensation
on the opponent’s backrank and the c2 pawn. The key line
goes with 29.Qe4 Qc5+ 30.Kf1 Rf6+ 31.Rf3 Qg5!= and Black
cannot deal with the Qc1 threat, Rxf6 drops the b2 pawn after
Qxf6. White does not have a good option to preserve his extra
pawn.]
20.Nxd4! Nxd4 21.Bxd4 Rxd4 22.Bxh7+! Kxh7 23.Qxd4 26...Rxg3 27.Qh4+ Kg8 28.hxg3 [The problem of 28.Qxg3
This is the position which was foreseen long ago by both was 28...Qc5+! King moves are met by Qf5! and 29.Qf2 Qb4!
leads to draw again. 30.Nd1 Qxa4 31.Qxb6 Qxc2=]
(2) Dominguez Perez, Leinier (2734)
28...Qc6 29.Qd8+ Kh7 30.Qh4+ Kg8 31.Qd8+ Kh7
- Jakovenko, Dmitry (2738) [D43]
32.Qd3+ Kg8 33.Qd8+ Draw agreed! [It was possible to
play on with 33.Qe2 but there was no realistic hopes for an
KM FIDE GP 2015(2),
advantage. Black is too active, the bishop is much better than GM Arkadij Naiditsch
2015.05.15
the knight and White cannot focus on making progress on Best rating: 2737
the kingside, because his king and queen are tied to defend
the kingside pawns. 33...Qc5+ 34.Kh2 g6= with an equal
position.] 1/2-1/2 We are going to see a very fighting and interesting game.
Right from the beginning the position got very sharp and it
was hard to evaluate who was actually better. Just when it
seemed like Black was taking over, Jakovenko made a clear
miscalculation and was mercilessly punished in the tactical
battle.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 This is one of the most
popular positions in high level chess at the moment and now
Black has a lot of moves to choose from.
4...c6 Jakovenko chooses to go back to a Slav. He could also
have played a Queen’s gambit after 4...Be7, or a Ragozin after
4...Bb4.
5.g3 A very sharp line.
5...dxc4 The most critical move. Now the ideas are simple,
Black is trying to hold on to the extra pawn on c4 and White is
trying to get good play in the center.
6.Bg2 Nbd7 Black is preparing to play b5.
7.a4 This is a very usual way of avoiding b5.
7...Bb4 This move is played to avoid White’s e4 push, because
now Black will have Bxc4 and Nxe4.
8.O-O O-O 9.Qc2 A very logical move, White is preparing to
play e4.
9...Qe7 and black is preparing to answer e4 with e5. Another 13.d6! Qe8 14.bxc3 and the d6 pawn is a beast!; It also didn’t
idea could be to play c5 somewhere, but then the white make sense for Black to continue with 12...cxd5 13.Nxd5 Nxd5
bishop on g2 would become very strong. 14.Rxd5 and White is simply better because the c4 pawn is
10.a5 White is not only trying to play a6 somewhere to destroy going to fall very soon.]
Black’s pawn structure, but Ra4 could also be good at some 13.Be3 A solid move, but maybe White had a better choice.
point in the future. [Dominguez could have tried to first play d6 in order to avoid
Qe8. 13.d6 13...Qe6 (13...Qe8 14.Na4 and White’s advantage
seems to be clear.) 14.Be3 and White’s position is very active.]
13...Nb3
10...e5 [10...a6 was possible too and now White would have
to choose between Ra4 and maybe Rd1 e5, and we would be
back to the position in the game.]
14.Ra4 Now we can see how useful the a5 move was.
11.Rd1 A good move! White keeps the pressure in the center.
[Another interesting try for White could have been 11.a6!? 14...c5 Probably the best move to get an open game! Of
11...bxa6 Of course Bl ack has other options, but to let the course it looks dangerous to have the Bb4 totally out of the
a6 pawn alive is a dangerous choice. 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 game, but the rook on a4 is now passive too.
Qxe5 14.Bxc6 but maybe Black is just fine after 14...Bf5! and 15.d6 The d-pawn is rolling.
the position is probably close to equal.] 15...Qe8 All Black needs is one move to play Nd4 next.
11...a6 A solid move, but maybe Black could have played a bit 16.Rxb4! An excellent move! The d6 pawn will compensate
more directly. [11...exd4 doesn’t look too bad. 12.Nxd4 Ne5 the loss of the exchange.
13.a6 Rd8 and Black’s position is probably a bit worse, but
nothing too dramatic.] 16...cxb4 17.Nd5 Nxd5 18.Rxd5 What a complicated
position. White is a full exchange and a pawn down, but the
12.d5 Let the action begin! d6 pawn is extremely strong and White also has the threat
12...Nc5 A very logical move, the black knight is going to of just taking the e5 or c4 pawn, as well as to play Ng5 with
b3. [Of course White would be much better after 12...Bxc3? some attack on the king.
18...Nd4?! A logical move, but probably not the best.
[18...Qa4 19.Ng5 (19.Nxe5 19...Be6 and of course the position
remains very unclear, but Black’s chances don’t seem to be
worse.) 19...g6 20.Be4 and it is reall y hard to tell who is
in charge here, as it is a material advantage against White’s
domination!]
19.Bxd4 Yet again I’m not sure this was the best move.
[19.Nxd4 looks very logical. 19...exd4 20.Rxd4 Now the c4
pawn is hanging and in case White can take it, it is clear that
he will have more than just compensation. 20...Be6 21.Bxb7 20...b3! A good choice. Black is willing to give away both
Qb5 (Black can’t save the exchange with 21...Ra7 pawns, c4 and b4.
21.Qxc4 Be6 Now the b3 pawn could become very
dangerous in the future.
22.Qd3 Qc6 The position remains very complex, but now
Black already has the more simple plan of playing Qc2 at
some point.
23.Qd2 White continues playing very solid chess.
23...Rac8?! [Better was 23...Qc2 24.Ng5 Qb1+ 25.Bf1 Bd7
with very unclear play.]
22.Rh4! with a double attack on a7 and h7.) 22.Bxa8 Rxa8 24.Ne1?! Both players seem to have missed the d7 move...
and in my opinion White’s position is clearly better, although [24.d7! was the right move. 24...Rcd8 (I guess both players
of course Black keeps drawing chances.] missed the following line: 24...Qc1+ 25.Bf1 Qxd2 and now
White wins with the amazing 26.dxc8=Q!) 25.Ng5 and it is
19...exd4 20.Rxd4 Another strange move in my opinion. already White who is pushing for a win.]
[Why not take the pawn with the knight and open the g2
bishop?! 20.Nxd4 ] 24...Qc1 Of course! Entering an endgame is a good idea for
Black.
25.f4 White’s best chance.
30.Qa4! and this move wins the game. The rook e8 and the
pawn on c2 are hanging. The game is over.
30...Kf8 31.d7 Bxd7 [31...Rd8 32.Qb4+ Kg8 33.Qe7h]
32.Rxd7 c1=Q All the moves were losing anyway...
33.Qa3+ Kg8 34.Bxb1 White is more than just a pawn up
since the bishop on b1 is untouchable.
25...Qb1?! This move is hard to understand... [After the

simple 25...Qxd2 26.Rxd2 Rc5 Black is better.]
26.Kf2 The white pieces are very safely placed.
26...Rc2? This is already a blunder. [26...Rfd8 leads to a
worse, but playable position.]
27.Qb4! A strong move! White wants to play d7 and at the
same time Be4. 34...g6 [34...Qxb1 35.Qe7 and the game is over.]
27...Re8 [27...Qxb2 28.Nxc2 Qxc2 29.d7 and White is easily 35.Qb3 Qc5+ 36.e3 From being an exchange and a pawn
winning.] down, White finds himself a full piece and a pawn up! All in all
28.Be4 Black is lost! a very interesting game with some mistakes, but Jakovenko’s
28...Bg4 Jakovenko tries his last chance and creates some 25...Qb1 is really hard to understand... 1-0
complications. 29.Nxc2 Perfect play by White.
29...bxc2
David vs. Goliath
Peter Zhdanov
Black to move. White has just played g4. Instead of the normal
36...Qg6 with mutual chances the Goliath went 36...d3?? (I
In this entertaining column we are reviewing the most wish more question marks were available) and received a neat
unexpected results that occurred last week. Players usually checkmate -37.Qh5X.
are situations when a significantly lower-rated player Top-10:
succeeds in beating a much stronger adversary. Benitez Galeano (1740) - Latorre (2297), 1-0, 557 points
The previous week brought us 23 upsets. Vega Gutierrez (2395) - Muller (1887), 0-1, 508 points
Nelson (2231) - Varney (1746), 0-1, 485 points
The number of moves ranges from 24 in Lakat (1802) - Darazs Roman (2006) - Pichot (2482), 1-0, 476 points
(2197), 1-0 to 103 in GM Khismatullin (2666) - Palchun (2288), Nicolas-Manceau (1611) - Richard (2083), 1-0, 472 points
0-1. Nikolovski (2356) - Radenkovic (1908), 0-1, 448 points
The high-profile upsets this week are GM Khismatullin (2666) Radonjic (1928) - Vlatkovic (2361), 1-0, 433 points
- Palchun (2288), 0-1, rapid chess; GM Alekseev (2653) - FM Lakat (1802) - Daracz (2197), 1-0, 395 points
Gerasimov (2329), 0-1, blitz; GM Khismatullin (2650) - FM Sukovic (1775) - Anicic (2155), 1-0, 380 points
Murtazin (2342), 0-1; GM Romanov (2613) - Beradze (2310), 0-1. Julien (2101) - Normand (1721), 0-1, 380 points
In the ”girl power” section Mari Muller (1887) deserves an
honorary mention for beating WGM Sabrina Vega Gutierrez Average gap: 453; White won 6 games, Black won 4 games.
(2395) as Black. That’s a 508 rating points difference! You can view all the games in the accompanying pgn file.
A tragicomedy occurred in Normand (1721) - Dandin (2059): If you have ever won a game against someone rated
Young & Talented 6.h3 Very safe and positional play but Black’s strange start
deserves to be refuted. [6.Nc3! is of course the critical move.
6...Bg4 White has two options to take the advantage now.
(6...dxe5 7.Nxe5 g6 8.Be2 Bg7 9.Be3 O-O 10.O-O+= White has
a great game.) 7.Be2 A logical develop ment of the pieces.
Both black moves now involve a pawn sacrifice but White
gets great play. (7.exd6!? 7...exd6 8.h3 Bh5 9.g4 Bg6 10.Qb3
GM Etienne Bacrot b6 (10...Qc8 11.Nh4! simply taking the bishop.) 11.Bg2+=)
Best rating: 2749 7...Bxf3 (7...dxe5 8.Nxe5 Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Qxd4 This move should
(3) Tari, Aryan (2520) be tried but is refuted. 10.O-Oc Nd7 11.Nxf7! An important
- Agdestein, Simen (2620) [B04] blow. 11...Kxf7 12.Rd1 Qe5 13.Rxd7 Qxe2 14.Nxe2 White wins
Scandinavian Masters 2015(2.3), a pawn. 14...Rc8 15.Bf4) 8.Bxf3 dxe5 9.d5 e6 10.Qb3 White
2015.05.11 crushes on the light squares.]
6...dxe5 7.Nxe5 g6 8.Nc3 Bg7 9.Nf3 White has to retreat,
After a first round loss, the 15-year old Norwegian player so the position is around equal. [9.Be3 9...O-O 10.Be2 is now
Aryan Tari needed a win to stay in contention for the only met by the strong 10...c5!]
qualifying spot for Stavanger. Simen Agdestein was the 9...O-O 10.Be3
country’s long-time leader (before the Carlsen era obviously!)
and became more and more active again lately.
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 c6 Not the most sound
move. It seems like Black is trying to avoid his opponent’s
opening preparation. I think that in Alekhine’s defence, Black
should fight White’s advanced center, so the main moves are
4...Bg4, 4... g6 or 4...dxe5.
5.c4 Nc7
10...b5 Interesting play, but 10... Nd7 and then the central e5
break is still more to my taste.
11.Qd2 Ba6 [11...bxc4 12.Bxc4 would be slightly better for
White.]
12.Bh6 The right idea. After Black’s two queenside moves
White logically plays on the kingside, but the best move was
[12.h4!! 12...h5 (12...bxc4 13.h5 seems very dangerous.) 13.Bh6
bxc4
18.O-O The last moves were very logical and now the position
is very unclear.
18...Rb8 Black should have chosen a more central regrouping
now with [18...Nb6 followed by Qc7 and Rad8.]
14.g4!! Very nice. It is easy to find this at home with the fast 19.Rfe1 c5? Improving the structure but opening the center
confimation of the engine but much more difficult to play it files for White’s heavy pieces was not Black’s wisest decision.
over the board. 14...hxg4 15.h5 gxf3 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.hxg6
20.dxc5 Nxc5 21.Qe3+= Rc8 22.Nd5!? [22.Bf1 Attacking e7
Rh8 18.Rxh8 Qxh8 19.Qf4 White wins back the pawn and
forces 22...Nd3 23.Bxd3 cxd3 24.Qxa7 Ra8 and any take on
continues attacking the opponent’s king.]
e7 would give Black some compensation, but not enough for
12...bxc4 13.Bxg7 [13.h4 is already not that strong here. equality.]
13...Bxh6 14.Qxh6 f6! is safe.]
22...e5 [22...Nf5 23.Qa3 Qd6 is maybe better but frankly
13...Kxg7 14.Ne5 Nb5 Black’s knight continues its long very difficult to play. 24.Bf1 e5 25.f4 with a position that only
journey, but a central break was also possible. [14...c5! computers might save.]
15.dxc5 (15.d5 15...Nd7! 16.Nc6 Qe8! and Black is even better.)
15...Qxd2+ 16.Kxd2 Ne6 with a pretty equal endgame.]
15.Rd1 Nd6 16.Be2 f6 White’s strong knight needs to be
removed.
17.Ng4 Nd7
23.b4!? [23.Ndxf6! The first miss of this strong move by
White. 23...Rxf6 24.Rd5! Nd3 25.Bxd3 cxd3 26.Qxe5 Nf7 32.axb3 Nf5 33.Qc3 Rbc8 34.Qf3 Qxf3 35.Nxf3 Only next
27.Rxd8 Nxe5 28.Rxc8 Bxc8 29.Nxe5 Black has a very nasty two moves might be critized but probably wouldn’t have
endgame to defend.] changed the result.
23...cxb3 [23...Nf5 gives a defendable but not very enjoyable 35...Nf4 [35...Rxc1 36.Rxc1 Rb8 37.Rc3 Rb7 followed by
position. 24.Qa3 Nd3 25.Bxd3 cxd3 26.Qxa6 Qxd5 27.Nxf6! Nfd4 is almost a draw.]
Qd4 28.Ne4 Qxb4 29.Qxd3 with a slight advantage for 36.Rxc8 Agreeing to a draw. White could still have pushed
White.] with a rook move like 36.Rcd1.
24.Bxa6 Nxa6 25.Qxa7+ Nc7 26.Nb6?! Now Black 36...Rxc8 37.g3 Nxh3+ 38.Kg2 Ng5 39.Nxg5 fxg5 40.Ne3
has only moves but equalizes comfortably. Maybe White Nxe3+ 41.Rxe3 Rb8 1/2-1/2
missed that the exchange on f6 gives him some winning
chances. [26.axb3 26...Nb5 27.Qa5 Nd4 28.Ndxf6+=;
26.Ndxf6 26...Rxf6 27.Nxf6 Qxf6 28.axb3+= Black has some
trouble organizing his pieces and will surely lose his e-pawn.]
26...Rb8 27.Nc4 Nb5! 28.Qc5 Ne6! 29.Qe3 Nbd4
[29...Qc7 30.Ncxe5! The same only move as in the game.
30...fxe5? (30...Nbd4! and we are back to the game.) 31.Rd7+!
Qxd7 32.Qxe5+ and White wins after 32...Kf7 33.Qf6+ Kg8
34.Nh6#]
30.Ncxe5! The only move. In mutual time pressure, the rest

of the game is pretty good.
30...Qc7 31.Rc1 Qb7 [31...Qd6 32.Nxg6 hxg6 33.Qh6+ Kg8
34.Qxg6+ Ng7 35.Nh6+ Kh8 36.axb3 can be dangerous only
for Black.]
Puzzle section
(4) Murtazin, B(2342)-Potkin, V(2605) (6) Tregubov, P(2617)-Savitskiy, S(2330)
Russian league, 2015.05.05 Russian league, 2015.05.06
1... i 1. h
(5) Motylev, A(2653)-Najer, E(2634) (7) Nepomniachtchi, I(2714)-Sjugirov, S(2669)

1... i 1. h
(8) Chekhov, S(2486)-Yudin, S(2524) (10) Shemeakin, A(2247)-Sarana, A(2461)
1... i 1. h
(9) Chigaev, M(2496)-Iljiushenok, I(2485) (11) Svidler, P(2734)-Potapov, P(2477)

Russian league, 2015.05.03 Russian league (rapid), 2015.05.08
1. h 1. h
(12) Dubov, D(2659)-Landa, K(2634)
Russian league (rapid), 2015.05.08
1. h
(13) Svidler, P(2734)-Malakhov, V(2702)

1... e
Endgame section 50...Re6+ 51.Kf3 and of course the white king is getting as
close as possible to the middle of the board to prent Black
from pushing his pawns.
- Jobava, Baadur (2699)
KM FIDE GP 2015(2),
Best rating: 2737
51...g5 A very difficult decision as now the black king will be

cut from the pawns. Black had another interesting option:
[51...Kg6! avoiding being cut off on the 6th rank. 52.Rb8
White needs to take the b6 pawn anyway, so why not to it right
away?! 52...Rxe7 53.Rxb6+ and again Black has to choose
where to go. 53...Kh5 (After 53...Kf5 54.Rb5 Re5 55.Rxa5
g5 White holds the position as well. 56.Ra8 g4+ 57.Kf2 h5
and White is in time to get good counterplay by pushing the
After a very interesting game where both sides had their a-pawn. 58.a5 h4 59.a6 and the game should end up in a draw.)
chances, we finally ended up in an endgame which at first 54.Rb5 g5 Black is trying to move as quickly as possible in
sight looks like it might be winning for Back, but as usual, rook direction of queening. 55.Rxc5 Kh4 56.Rxa5 Now White is
endgames are much more tricky than they seem to be! a pawn up, but the black pawns are much more advanced,
48...d1=Q+ [Of course not 48...Rxd6?? 49.Rh8+! Kxh8 which gives him a clear advantage. 56...g4+ 57.Kf2 h5 and
50.e8=Q+ and White is winning.] now it is important for White to be extremely accurate to hold
the position. 58.Rd5 The white rook is trying to come back to
49.Kxd1 Rxd6+ To go to the c-file or e-file is an easy
the first rank to help the white king in the defence. 58...g3+
decision...
Now there are a lot of different moves for White, but what
50.Ke2 Of course! When the black kingside pawns will start is clear is that his position is very dangerous. 59.Kg1 Re1+
to run, White will need his king to stop them. 60.Kg2 Re2+
61.Kg1 and actually here Black was winning if he played the 58.Ra8! A strong move which combines 2 ideas: to check
logical 61...Kg4 with the idea of playing h4-h3. 62.Rd4+ the black king from behind and at the same time support the
Kh3 63.Rd1 h4 64.c5 Kg4 and White can’t stop Black from advance of the a-pawn.
playing h3-h2-Kh3. What this variation shows us is that in 58...Rf3 This move leads to a draw, but Black already didn’t
rook endgames it is usually to even give up a pawn in order have anything better.
to maximize the activity of your king.]
59.Rg8+ Kf5 60.Rf8+ Ke4 61.Re8+ Chasing the black king
52.Rb8 Of course! away from the pawns.
52...Rxe7 53.Rxb6 Now Black’s only chance is to push the 61...Kf4 62.Rf8+ Ke3 63.Re8+ Kd2 and now that the black
pawns as far as possible. king is 3 squares away, White starts the attack on the pawns.
53...h5 54.Rc6 Rf7+ [54...g4+ was not winning either. 55.Kf4 64.Rg8 Of course other moves would be a draw as well, but
Rf7+ 56.Kg3 and White is not afraid of Rf3. 56...Rf3+ 57.Kh4 this is the most simple one.
Rh3+ 58.Kg5 and the saving idea is yet again in having an
active king. 58...g3 59.Rc7+ Kg8 60.Kf6! and Black has 64...h3+ 65.Kh2 The black pawns are stopped so the
nothing more than a draw here.] position is just a draw. 65...Rf2+
55.Kg2 h4 The pawns ar e running, but White is in time to

"clean" the board on the queenside.
56.Rxc5 Kg6 57.Rxa5 g4 It is already too late for Black to try
the Kh5-Kg4 idea.
66.Kh1 Not falling for Black’s last trap... [White could still
have lost after 66.Kg1? 66...Rg2+ 67.Kh1 g3 68.a5 and the
black king is just moving to f1. 68...Ke2 White can’t do (15) Andreikin, Dmitry (2723)
anything against the Kf1 and Rh2 mate threat.] - Potapov, Pavel (2471)
66...Rf1+ 67.Kh2 Rf2+ 68.Kh1 An interesting draw after a
Russian league, GM Csaba Balogh
great fighting game and of course a pity for Jobava that he Best rating: 2672
2015.05.06
missed quite good winning chances by playing the premature
g5 and not Kg6. It would have been very interesting to watch
whether Maxime would find a way to hold this difficult rook
endgame. 1/2-1/2
White has a perfect Stonewall. Black is missing his dark

squared bishop and he fails to control the h2-b8 diagonal. He
is left instead with the typically poor c8 bishop, which has no
mobility because of his own pawns. Another very important
factor is the rooks on board. White controls the only opened
file and invading to the seventh rank is always hanging in the
air. All these facts guarantee a huge advantage for White,
but the win still requires some technique. Please note how
Andreikin improves his position with each move by simple
advancing one of his pawns.
27.b3! White resticts the movement of the knight by taking
control over the c4 and a4 squares. [White does not achieve
anything by the immediate 27.Rc7 because after 27...Na8!
he is forced to retreat on the c-file, since 28.Re7 is met by
28...Rf7! 29.Re8+ Rf8 forcing the trade of the rooks, which
seriously increases Black’s defensive chances.]
27...Na8 Black tries to control the c7 square, but of course structure and also opens the position for the two bishops.
it is quite a poor place for the knight. [27...Bd7 is already met 32.Kg2! It is time to bring the king into the game. It
by 28.Rc7 preventing the trade of rooks with Rc8 by attacking has a beautiful entrance to the Black’s camp along the dark
the b7 pawn. 28...Bc6 drops a pawn after 29.Bxa6!] squares.
28.a4! Gaining space and further squeezing the knight. White 32...Kf7 [Here was a chance for Black to trade rooks, however
is threatening with a5-b4, locking the knight forever to the as we will see the endgame is completely hopeless after
corner. 32...Rc8 33.Kg3 Rxc2 34.Bxc2 Kf7
28...b6 Black temporarily prevents a5, but it does not solve
the problems.
29.b4! Bb7 Black controls all the invading squares on the
c-file and he wants to trade off the rooks. However, the a8
knight remains trapped, the only question is if White able to
break through on the kingside or not.
30.b5! a5 White has achieved the maximum on the
queenside. Black succesfully controls all the important
squares, but it ties up all his pieces. Therefore it is logical,
that White must make progress on the kingside. [30...axb5 35.Kh4! There is a clear path for the white king towards
31.Bxb5 is even worse, because White is threatening with the h6 square. Black could only block it with his king, but a
Bd7 and (31.axb5 is also possible, because White have the bishop check on e5 sends it to wrong square again... 35...Kg7
option of playing Ra2-a7.) 31...Rc8 loses to 32.Rxc8+ Bxc8 36.Be5+ Kf7 (36...Kh6 37.g5#) 37.Kg5 Bc8 Black ran out of
33.Bc6h The destiny of the knight comes true.] moves. He can only wait with bishop moves. One of the
winning plans for White is 38.Bd1 Bd7 39.Bf3 Keeping an eye
on the d5 pawn in order to threat with gxf5. Black can only
take back with the g-pawn then, but it creates new problems...
39...Bc8 40.gxf5 gxf5 41.Kh6 Kg8 42.Bh5! A new diagonal
has opened where White is going to penetrate. 42...Bd7 43.h4
Black is in zugzwang! He is forced to allow the bishop to e8.
43...Bc8 44.Be8h]
33.Kg3 Rh8 Black probably wanted to meet the Kh4-g5-h6
plan by h6, but White sends the rook away.
31.g4! g6 The only chance is the keep the position locked. The 34.Be5 Rg8 35.h4! White continues making progress on the
capture outward the center on g4 seriously improves White’s kingside. He is ready to play Kf4-g5-h6, which will force Black
create another weakening with h6. He still does not have 41.Rd6! Ke7 42.gxf5 Black resigned! A nice squeezing by
anything better than waiting. .. Andreikin. 1-0
35...Bc8 36.f3 Another small improvement. White
sometimes wants to drop his rook to the h-file, lets say
with Kf4, h5-hxg6 and Rh2-h7 is decisive.
36...Bb7 37.Kf4!
37...h6 Otherwise Kg5-h6 wins, but now the black pawn chain
has been damaged. White immediately makes use of it.
38.h5! White critically weakens the f5 pawn!
38...g5+ 39.Kg3 Bc8 [Opening the f-file with 39...fxg4
40.fxg4h followed by Rf2-f6 is over!]
40.Rc6! After the black structure has lost it’s stability, White
is ready to penetrate along the 6th rank. 41. gxf5 is the direct
threat.
40...Bd7 This loses material on the spot, but other moves
were equally hopeless. [40...fxg4 41.fxg4 Bd7 42.Rc2! White
has provoked the capture on g4, therefore he retreats with his
rook. 42...Rc8 White has many good moves here, one of the
wins is 43.Bg6+ Kg8 (Or 43...Ke7 44.Rxc8 Bxc8 45.Bg7h
wins.) 44.Rxc8+ Bxc8 45.Be8 Black cannot prevent Bc6,
trapping the knight. Even after 45...Bb7 46.Bc6! Bxc6
47.bxc6h and c7 next wins.]
Chess and the City. described in a previous article, but more plainly to enjoy the
benefits of its wonderful attractions. In particular my latest
From hell to heaven... Italian experience brought me to the beautiful city of Gaeta,
in the Lazio region (that is the region of Rome). My mood
was immediately boosted by the warm weather, the sunny
beaches, the endless sea, some nice wine and unforgettably
tasty seafood. In one word, it was paradise. However, whether
this state of beatitude will persist and help me achieve a good
result in the upcoming European Women’s Championship is
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz still to be seen...
Best rating: 2493 What can be said for sure is that chess can be a very cruel,
albeit alluring, game, and to face the hardships that it can
The French qualification tournament eventually came to an bring is fundamental to achieve any long-term success.
end and I am happy to announce that my team managed to
Below are some pictures of my personal attempt to solve this
win it with 8-1 match points. As I mentioned previously, the
problem. You are warmly encouraged to seek (and find) your
team competition consisted of 2 pools and the other pool was
own solutions to this common problem....
won by the team of Bischwiller deploying Lela Javakhishvili
on the top board. In the upcoming final we initially face the
team of Clichy, likely playing with Kosteniuk or Skripchenko
on the top board. These developments sound pretty nice,
however, I cannot claim to have contributed too much to the
overall team result, given that my individual performance was
nothing short of disappointing, to put it politely...
It is a common experience for every professional player to
have a very unlucky period, and personally I can say that
every event after the World Championship held in Sochi was
characterized by rather frustrating performances.
Clearly, it is very important to find a way out of this loop,
and thus recover from the "bad shape", but unfortunately
there is no common recipe which can guarantee success on
these matters. My attempt was maybe predictable, in that
I went back to Italy...well I must say that I did not do that The view from our room was breathtaking...
because I was eager to face again the cultural clash that I
Seawater can wash tears away...
...and bring back a smile :)
Clash of the Titans 5.Qxc4 c5 6.Na3 This way of development is not new. The
knight goes to c4 but in case the queen is placed on d7 it
deserves attention to launch quick play in the center, for
(16) Botvinnik, Mikhail example: [6.Nf3 6...Nc6 (6...b5 7.Ne5! Otherwise Black has
- Goldenov, Boris [A13] Bb7 and is fine.) 7.O-O b6 (7...Nf6 8.Nc3 Be7 9.Rd1
Moscow, 1952
GM Kamil Miton
Best rating: 2655
1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 dxc4 4.Qa4+
9...e5 (9...Nd4 10.Nxd4 cxd4 11.Nb5h; 9...O-O 10.d4C) 10.e3!

White follows the plan! 10...O-O 11.d4 and after the exchanges
in the center the white pieces become more active.) 8.d4
Bb7 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Nc3 Nf6 11.Rd1 Qe7 (11...Qc7 12.Bf4 e5
13.Nxe5 Nxe5 14.Qa4+!) 12.Bg5 with the unplesant threat
Ne4. White keeps the initiative.]
6...Nc6 7.Qb5 a6 Black could have played the interesting
[7...Nd4!? 8.Qxd7+ Bxd7 9.Bxb7 Rb8 10.Bg2 c4! V11.Nf3
4...Qd7!? A very rare move. The main moves are [4...c6 Nxf3+ 12.Bxf3 Bxa3 13.bxa3 Nf6 and because he has the
5.Qxc4 b5 6.Qc2 Bb7 and the evaluation of this setup control over the b-file Black’s position is very good.]
depends on whether Black manages to push c5 and activate
the bishop on b7.; 4...Nd7 5.Qxc4 c5 6.Nf3 Ngf6 7.Qb3 8.Bxc6!? This exchange changes the character of position a
(7.O-O is less accurate because of 7...b6! and Black is on time bit. White creates weaknesses but at the cost of his strong
with developing the bishop on the most important diagonal bishop. [8.Qa4 8...Rb8 preparing b5-Bb7.]
in this structure. In case 8.Ne5 there is Nxe5! and the queen 8...bxc6 [8...axb5 9.Bxb5!]
is hanging.) 7...Rb8 preparing b6-Bb7. 8.d3 Bd6 Otherwise
White would play Bf4. 9.a4 with Na3-Nc4 next and White has 9.Qa4 Rb8 10.Nf3 [10.Nc4 10...Rb4 11.Qc2 Qd5i]
a chance to keep a small advantage.; 4...Bd7 5.Qxc4 Bc6 10...f6 A typical move. Black is going to take more space in
6.Nf3+=] the center and activate his light squared bishop.
11.d3 [11.Qc2 This move doesn’t stop Ne7-Nd5. 11...Ne7! 16.O-O-O and now the knight on b4 is riskily placed.
12.Qxc5 Nd5 with c5-Bb7 next and Black gets a strong 16...Qg4 [16...O-O 17.a3 (17.Nb6 17...Qg4 18.Nxc8 Rfxc8
initiative.] 19.Ne1 c4! gives Black counterplay.) 17...Nxd3+ (17...Nd5!?
11...Ne7 12.Nc4 e5 18.exd5 cxd5 19.Qxd7 Bxd7 20.Ne3 Be6 Black only has a pawn
for the piece but from a practical point of view thanks to his
strong center, the bishop pair and the pressure over the b-file
Black has some compensation.) 18.Kc2 Qg4 19.Rxd3 Qxe4
20.Re1 Qg6 and Black keeps some initiative over the light
squares.]
17.Ne1 Bd7 18.a3 Nd5 Black manages to save the knight.
19.Qc2 Rb5
13.Bd2! Nd5 14.Ba5 A good place for the bishop. White

can control the b4-d8 squares now and prevents the possible
maneuver Nc7-Ne6!
14...Be7
20.f3 [20.exd5 20...cxd5 21.Ne3 Qe6 22.Bd2 O-O 23.Kb1

Rfb8 24.Bc1 Rb3 25.Ka1 Ba4 with strong pressure.]
20...Qe6? More accurate was [20...Qh5! and now White is
not able to play Ng2 because the pawn is hanging. 21.exd5
(21.g4 doesn’t look good because it weakens the f4 square.)
21...cxd5 22.a4 Rb7 23.Nb6 Be6n24.b4 Qf7! with the idea
15.e4! Usually this move can be risky because of the weak that after 25.bxc5 Black plays Bxc5! 25.Kb2 c4 with complex
pawn on d3 but in this case White’s idea is very concrete. play]
15...Nb4 [15...Nc7 16.Bxc7! Qxc7 17.Nfd2 and without the

knight black is not able to exploit the weaknesses on the
d-file. White’s strategical advantage is clear.]
21.Ng2 O-O 30.Qxb2 Rxb2 31.Rxd7 Rb1+ 32.Kc2 R8b2+ 33.Kd3 Rd1+
34.Kc3!h]
29...Qf7 30.dxc4 g6
22.Rhe1! White nicely improved his pieces and will soon be

ready to take on d5!
22...Rfb8 [22...Qf7 23.f4 exf4 24.exd5 cxd5 25.Rxe7 Qxe7 31.Rxd7! A practical move because this bishop can be
26.Re1 Be6 27.Nxf4 dxc4 28.Rxe6 Qf7 29.Bc3 cxd3 30.Qxd3 activated over f5.
The white pieces are very well coordinated, which is why 31...Qxd7 32.Nxg6 R5b6 33.Nxf8 Kxf8 34.Rxh7 Qg4 1-0
Black’s position is worse.]
23.f4! Bf8? [23...Bd6 Maybe it was the last chance to
support the e5 pawn. 24.fxe5 fxe5 25.exd5 cxd5 26.Nf4
(26.Bc3 26...dxc4 27.dxc4 R5b6 28.Ne3 with a clear advantage
for White because of the weaknesses on d5 and e5.) 26...Qh6
27.Bc3 exf4 28.Nxd6 f3+ 29.Kb1 Qxd6 30.Be5 Qc6 31.Bxb8
Rxb8 and thanks to the pawn on f3 Black is still in the game.]
24.fxe5 fxe5 25.exd5 cxd5 26.Nf4 White is winning very
easily now since all of his pieces are very active. [26.Rxe5
26...Qc6 27.Nf4 dxc4 28.Qxc4+ Kh8 29.Bc3 and now the
black king is in trouble.]
26...Qh6 27.Rxe5 dxc4 [27...Bg4 28.Rxd5 Bxd1 29.Qxd1
Qxh2 30.Qe2 Qxg3 31.Bc7h]
28.Rh5 Qf6 29.Bc3 The most human move. White could
also win after [29.dxc4 29...Qxb2+ (29...Rxb2 30.Qxh7+ Kf7
31.Rxd7+ Ke8 32.Rdd5 Rb1+ 33.Qxb1 Rxb1+ 34.Kxb1h)
(17) Horwitz (18) Movsesian, S(2665)-Adly, A(2589)
1. h World Teams, 2015.04.28
39...Rxh3+! 40.Kg1 [40.gxh3 40...Ng3+! 41.Kg2 Ne2+!

42.Kf2 Qxf3#]
40...Bh2+ 41.Kf2 Bg3+i
(19) Tomashevsky, E(2745)-Rodshtein, M(2654)
34.Bxc6! Rxe3 [34...Kxc6 35.Rxb5h Qa6 36.Qc4+ Kd6

37.Rd5+ Ke7 38.Qxa6h]
35.Rxb5 Rxc3 36.bxc3h 1-0
(20) Nepomniachtchi, I(2714)-Potapov, P(2471) (22) Ibragimov, I(2543)-Potapov, A(2394)
55.e6! Qxe6 [55...Rxe6 56.Qb8+ Re8 57.Qd6+ Kg8 33...Qg5! 0-1 [33...Qg5 34.Qxg5 Nf2#]
58.Nf6+h]
(23) Khismatullin, D(2650)-Savitskiy, S(2330)
56.Qf4+ 1-0 [56.Qf4+ 56...Kg8 (56...Qf5 57.Qd6+ Kg8
Russian league, 2015.05.03
58.Nf6+h) 57.Nf6+h]
(21) Yandemirov, V(2375)-Fedoseev, V(2674)
23.Bxf7!! Kxf7 24.Qh6! Qf6 [24...Rh8 25.Ng5+ Kf6

26.Nh5+!h]
25.Ng5+ Ke7 26.f4!? [26.Nh7! 26...Qh8 (26...Rh8 27.Nf5+!
45.Rxg6+! Kxg6 1/2 [45...Kxg6 46.Qg5+ Kh7 47.Qh5+ Kg7 Bxf5 28.Rb7+ Kd8 29.Qd2+ Kc8 30.Nxf6h) 27.Qxg6h]
48.Qg5+ Kf8 49.Qd8+=; 45...fxg6 46.Qe7+ Kh6 47.Qg5+
Kh7 48.Qe7+=] 26...Rh8 27.Nh7h exf4 28.e5 Qe6 29.Qg7+h
(24) Ovod, E(2325)-Gunina, V(2528) (26) Altini, N(2410)-Vachier Lagrave, M(2765)
Russian Women league, 2015.05.02 Italian league, 2015.05.01
30.Be3? [30.Be2!! 30...fxe4 (30...Ke7 31.Bh5 Rxh8 29.Qxg6!! cxd5 [29...Rxd5 30.Qxe8+h]
32.gxh8=Qh) 31.Bh5h] 30.Rc7! Qxc7 31.Bxc7 Rc8 32.Bf4h
30...Qxg7k (27) Mamedov, R(2658)-Khurtsidze, N(2457)
(25) Kovalevskaya, E(2438)-Guseva, M(2378) Nakhchivan Open, 2015.05.04
Russian Women league, 2015.05.03
31.Bg5!! hxg5 [31...R6f7 32.Qxe6 hxg5 33.Bxd5h]

29.Rxf7! Nxf7 30.Qxe6+ Kd8 31.Qxf7 Rf8 [31...Rh8 32.Qh7+ Kf7 33.Bxd5! exd5 34.Rc7+ Ke8 [34...Ke6
32.Ne6+ Kd7 33.Nxc7h] 35.R1c6#]
32.Ne6+ Kd7 33.Nxf8+ Rxf8 34.Qxd5+h 35.Qxg7 R8f7 36.Qg8+ 1-0 [36.Qg8+ 36...Rf8 37.Qxd5h]
(28) Kubbel
1.Nf2+! Kf5 [1...Kh5 2.Ne4!h]

2.e4+! Ke5 3.Ng4+! Kd4 [3...Kxe4 4.Nf6+h]
4.Be3+! Kd3 [4...Kxe4 5.Nf6+ Kxe3 6.Nxd7h]
5.Bc5!! dxc5 [5...Qb5 6.Nf2#; 5...Kxe4 6.Nf6+h; 5...Qf7
6.Nf2+ Qxf2 7.Bxf2h]
6.Ne5+ Kxe4+ 7.Nxd7h
From here on, Natalia will support CHESS HEROZ activities
as the official ambassador. She will be online in CHESS
HEROZ and look forward to playing with you. Some activities
featuring Natalia will be announced in advance so that you
can actually challenge her or see her in the app.
Natalia’s comment
Tokyo (HEROZ, Inc.) - HEROZ, Inc. (”HEROZ”), providing I am thrilled to become the
mobile applications with Artificial Intelligence (AI), and official ambassador of CHESS
Natalia Pogonina (”Natalia”), who is the Vice Women’s World HEROZ. I really love this app,
Chess Champion, have mutually agreed to popularize Chess which enables one to enjoy
through a mobile app, ”CHESS HEROZ”. From here on, Natalia playing chess against people all
Pogonina will be the official partner of HEROZ. over the world. Together we are
planning some events, such as
Natalia is a chess grandmaster and one of the best female BLITZ marathon, so that chess
chess players in the world. Since 2004 she has been a member fans could challenge me to a game during a predetermined
of Team Russia and is the reigning Olympic Women’s Chess period.
Champion.
AI x mobile as the key concept, HEROZ takes on the challenge About Natalia Pogonina
in the world stage, providing mobile applications with AI Born on March 9, 1985. A chess grandmaster and one of the
function such as Shogi Wars (Japanese Chess app) and other best female chess players in the world. Since 2004 she has
new apps in various fields. CHESS HEROZ is one new app been a member of Team Russia.
released in 2014 with the world-class AI function, allowing
Some of Natalia’s main tournament results:
online match-ups all around the world. Thanks to all chess
World Women’s Chess Championship: silver (2015)
players, fans and users, CHESS HEROZ has been featured in
European Women’s Chess Championship: bronze (2009)
more than 50 countries, including Russia, US, UK, Germany
Russian Women’s Chess Superfinal: gold (2012), silver (2010),
and India etc, at the Google Play Store and at the App Store.
bronze (2013)
HEROZ has been impressed by Natalia’s charm, wisdom and International Women’s Chess Olympiad: gold (2014, 2012)
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Editorial Preface
Table of Contents Clearly the main event of the week is the last stage of the
FIDE Grand Prix in Khanty-Mansisk, from where 2 players will
qualify to the Candidates, but there are also two other big
Editorial Preface 2 events under way.
The very strong Chinese league is currently being played, with
all the top Chinese players participating in it. There are a lot of
interesting games and a lot of new and very talented players
The K-Files. Anti-Dutch 2.d3 11 who are more or less unknown to the rest of the world.
In Batumi, the Women’s European Championship is under
way. After 3 rounds, there are 4 players on 3/3, but what is
a bit strange is that none of the big favorites had a 100% start.
Young & Talented 19 But anyway, it is just the beginning of the event and things will
heat up towards the end.
Puzzle section 22 FIDE GRAND PRIX:
Tomaschevsky started as a big favorite to qualify for the
Endgame section 25
Candidates, and actually for him it would probably even have
been enough to just finish 50% to qualify, but currently things
Chess and the City. Good, better, Georgia! 30 are running badly for him with, as he is on 2.5/7.
Caruana is stealing the show. He is playing great fighting
Surprise section / study 31 chess and is the deserved leader with 5/7, which guarantees
him a position in the Candidates. The fight for 2nd place is
Solutions 32 very tough. Maybe it will be Nakamura, who is on 4/7, but
Karjakin is also on a very good 4.5/7. Jakovenko also still has
his chances in case of a good finish, as he is now on 3.5/7.
And Grischuk also remains in the game, but he needs to start
winning, as he is currently on 3/7. Four extremely exciting final
rounds await us here!
Until then, enjoy the best moments of the last week!
(1) Karjakin, Sergey (2753)

- Jobava, Baadur (2699) [C10]
KM FIDE GP 2015(7.3),
Best rating: 2737
6.Ne2 A natural move, but a bit slow. [White had the

And as usual in Jobava’s games the craziness is guaranteed! interesting idea 6.h4!? preparing to react with g4 after Black’s
This time the Georgian Nr 1 chooses the French defense, but Nf5.]
a very rare line. The game quickly gets out of control as
6...Nf5 Black sees the moment and wants to exchange his
Jobava sacrifices an exchange. The position is very sharp,
own knight, which is a very natural decision. In a passive
but it should be better for White. Not too at ease in the
position it is usually a good idea to exchange some pieces.
complications, Karjakin goes for an endgame with more or
less equal material and this wonderful fighting game ends in 7.Ng3 Nh4 Of course not 7...Nxg3 because after 8.hxg3 the
a draw. A fun game is awaiting us! white rook would come into the game.
1.e4 Usually Jobava is playing the Caro Cann 8.c3 This move has to be played anyway since the d4 pawn
has to be protected.
1...e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nc6 A rare con tinuation. Of course
3...Bb4, 3...Nf6 or 3...dxe4 are the 3 main moves. 8...g6!? A very smart move! Black is not letting White play
Nh5, where it would fix the black pawn structure.
4.e5 Karjakin closes the center in order to make the knight on
c6 look a bit stupid. Black’s idea should of course be to play 9.Bf4 Clearly missing Black’s next move... [9.Bd2 looks
c5 somewhere and now it is just impossible. better.]
4...Nge7 This move is not that easy to understand. Black 9...f6! A very inventive and strong move, which only works
does not really want to play Nf5 and now the typical f6 push because the white bishop is on f4.
is not that efficient any longer. 10.Nxh4 [Of course after 10.exf6 10...Qxf6 Black is just better.;
5.Nf3 Bd7 Black still keeps on waiting. White had the funny try 10.Nh5 but now after 10...fxe5
(10...gxh5 11.Nxh4 and White is winning because Qxh5 is
coming.) 11.Nxe5 Bd6 the position is very unclear.]
10...fxe5 11.Nxg6 What a sharp position!
11...hxg6 12.dxe5 White is a pawn up, but suddenly all the 17.Qe3! A very strong move! White is not only attacking the
black pieces are in the game. e5 knight but also the a7 pawn, so the black knight has to
leave its perfect position on e5.
17...Nc6 18.Bb5 Of course! The exchange of any piece is good
for White.
18...Bh6 19.Qe2 So, what to do next for Black?! Jobava
shows us!
19...e5! A very strong move! There is no time to waste, Black
needs to push all he can into the direction of the white king.
20.Rd1 Once again Karjakin plays the most logical move and
12...Qh4 Another good move. Black is preparing to castle it seems like it is very difficult for Black to find a good way
queenside. of defending the d5 pawn, but again Jobava shows us how
creative chess can be...
13.Ne2 Another strange decision by Karjakin. [Why not first
play 13.Qd2 preventing 0-0-0 and threatening to play Bg5.]
13...O-O-O A logical move, but maybe Black had an even
better continuation. [Black could have put White in front
of direct problems after 13...Bg7 14.Bg3 It seems like it is
difficult to find another way to defend the e5 pawn. 14...Qe7
15.f4 and now Black continues with the active play with
15...g5! and White’s position is very close to falling apart.]
14.Qd2 Rh5 Jobava continues playing "crazy chess" when it
is not really needed. [14...Be7 looks much more solid, with 20...a6! A wonderful move! Black gives another pawn just to
the idea of playing Rf8 next or maybe now Rh5. ] keep his center alive!
15.Ng3 White needs to go for it. 21.Bxa6 [After 21.Bxc6 21...Bxc6 the position would remain
15...Rxe5+ This move is already a must after Rh5 was played. very unclear, since the black bishop pair compensates for
16.Bxe5 Nxe5 So, what can we say about this position? being an exchange down.]
White is a full exchange up, but the white king is still in the 21...Ne7 Wonderful play by black. Now the bishop on a6 is
center and the black bishop from f8 will soon come to h6. It already hanging and the d5 pawn is protected. [Of course
is a very hard position to evaluate, but usually having some Black is just losing after 21...bxa6? 22.Qxa6+ Kb8 23.Rxd5
extra material is a good thing... and White is winning because of the Rb5 threat.]
22.Bb5 Karjakin is trying to choose the safest moves. [Of 29.Rd1 preparing Ne4.
course the critical line is 22.Bd3 22...e4 23.Bc2 Bg4!? Black 29...Ke6 30.Re1 White is trying to repeat the moves and of
is opening the position of the white king. 24.f3 Bf4! Another course this is very logical, especially since Karjakin was not
very strong move! The position is very complicated!] too ambitious during the game.
22...c6
30...Kd6 and Jobava is also happy with a draw- but why?!

23.Qxe5?! Karjakin prefers entering a slightly worse [Why not play 30...Kf6 I really cannot imagine Black having
endgame than to remain in the complications. any problems here. White needs to be very careful not to let
Black play b4, or maybe Bb8 followed by Ne5 and Nc4. I think
23...Bf4 [Black could have played 23...cxb5 24.Rd4 Qg5
that Black’s position here might be slightly better.]
25.Qxg5 Bxg5 and I believe that only Black can be a bit better
here.] 31.Rd1 Ke6 32.Re1 A slightly disappointing draw after such
a great fighting game, and of course a lot of credit goes to
24.Rd4 Bxe5 25.Rxh4 cxb5 So we are in an endgame. Black
Jobava for his amazingly creative play! 1/2-1/2
has 2 pieces for a rook and 2 pawns, so the material is about
even, but Black still has the bishop pair, so in case the position
remained open, the bishops might dominate the game.
26.O-O Well, it’s a bit late for castling... :)
26...Kc7 Black brings his king to the center.
27.Re1 Kd6 It is not easy at all for White to find the right move
here.
28.Rh7 Maybe a good practical choice! At least the rook on
h7 is nicely placed.
28...Nc6 [Black could also have continued with 28...Re8 ]
7.Bg5! White pins the knight, but the main idea is to keep
(2) Nakamura, Hikaru (2799) the healthy pawn structure. [7.Bxd6 is a positional mistake,
- Vachier Lagrave, Maxime (2754) because after 7...cxd6 followed by the exchange of the d5 for
[A45] the c4 pawn, we reach a more or less symmetrical position
GM Csaba Balogh with completely even chances.; 7.Bg3 was the alternative
KM FIDE GP 2015(7), Best rating: 2672
with the idea to improve the pawn structure with hxg3 in
2015.05.21 case of the exchage, but the text move looks much more
threatening.]
Vachier Lagrave is in a terrible shape in the last stage of the 7...h6 [If Black tries to unplin himself with 7...Be7 8.Qa4+!
Grand Prix series, but still it does not take anything away from Nbd7
the following very convincing win of Nakamura.
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 A rare attempt by White to avoid the
Gruenfeld defense. To be honest, I am not exactly sure
how White wanted to react if Vachier continued playing in
Gruenfeld style and fianchettoes his bishop to g7. Nakamura
will hopefully show us in the near future in another game...
2...b6 3.c4 Bb7 4.Nc3 e6 We have reached a Queen’s Indian
type of structure. A small psychological victory for Nakamura,
that he managed to avoid the Gruenfeld.
5.a3 A very useful move. White prevents the most natural White has a typical way to achieve a solid structural
developing move Bb4, which would transpose to a kind of advantage with 9.Bxf6! It is important to take on f6 before
Nimzo Indian defense. cxd5 to avoid the knight’s recapture... 9...Bxf6 10.cxd5 exd5
11.Ba6!+= This is the key! Without the light squared bishops,
5...d5 6.e3 Bd6 the d5 pawn and queenside becomes vulnerable!]
8.Bxf6 White gives up the bishop pair, but he gets big
positional benefits in exchange.
8...Qxf6 9.cxd5 A very important follow-up to the previous
move! White fixes the structure to limit the movement of the
black bishops! Otherwise Black would have taken on c4 and
later pushed c5, opening up the position.
9...exd5
15.e4! This is another standard break in various different

openings with the same structure. White explodes the center
10.Qa4+! A very unpleasant check to deal with! Black has 4
and opens his own bishop, which makes the c6 pawn more
moves, but all of them have a big drawback.
vulnerable. Before this move both light squared bishops were
10...Kf8 A sad response, but it is difficult to suggest locked, but now only the one on b7 remains out of the game.
something clever...Black does not want to commit any
15...dxe4 16.Nxe4 I have seen this structure in many games,
positional mistake on the queenside and he intends to castle
but with the white bishop on a2 and the e2 knight on f3.
kingside artificially with g6-Kg7. [10...Nd7 allows the trade
That one is also very dangerous for Black, because White is
of the light squared bishops: 11.Bb5 11.Ba6 is also good, but
launching a strong attack with Ne5!
this is an even better version. 11...Qe6 12.Bc6+=; 10...Bc6
11.Bb5+=; 10...c6 This should be the right move positionally. 16...Re8
Black strengthens his center and saves his light squared
bishop. However it does not work tactically because 11.Nxd5!
wins a pawn!]
11.g3! Another great positional move! Nakamura
fianchettoes his bishop and provokes the c6 move, which
closes the b7 bishop and allows White to open the game
effectively with e4 afterwards... White’s plans are clear, but
Black cannot really fight against them.
11...c6 12.Bg2 g6 13.Nge2 White finishes the development
before executing the break with e4. 17.Rad1! The start of the next plan! The black queenside is
13...Kg7 14.O-O Qd8 Vachier Lagrave leaves from the e4 completely undeveloped, while on the other side of the board,
dxe4 Nxe4 tempo, but of course it is coming anyway. all white pieces are ready for the action. In such cases, the
further opening of the position with an eventual d5 could be
decisive. As we will see, Nakamura had another tricky move
in his mind.
17...Na6 Black tries to establish a blockade on the d5 square
with the Nc7-d5 maneouvre.
18.N2c3! Supporting the d5 break!
18...Nc7 [18...Bf8 leaves from the trap which happened in the
game, but it has different problems: 19.d5! cxd5 20.Nxd5!
Bxd5 21.Nc3!c White wins back the material with excellent
circumstances.] 22.Ne4! Perfect play by Nakamura! The new target is the
extremely poor bishop on b7. White is going to install his
knight on c5. [22.Nxd5 22...cxd5 is also better for White. He
could double his rooks on the d-file to put pressure on the d5
weakness and also the distant passer on the queenside is a
plus. However, the text move is even stronger.]
22...Qe5 23.Rc1! Yet another subtle positional move! White
really wants to get his knight to c5 and he avoids any kind of
tactical ideas. [On the direct 23.Nc5 Black wanted to easen
his position with 23...Nc3! 24.bxc3 Qxc5 25.Rd7 White keeps
19.Nc5!! The hidden point of the 17.Rad1 move! The pin on a clear advantage, but there is no reason to easen Black’s
the d-file creates serious problems for Black. Black has no defensive task with exchanges.]
choice, he must accept the sacrifice, but White gains back the 23...Nb6 Black wanted to free his a8 rook by sending away
material right away. the queen from the attack of the a7 square.
19...bxc5 [19...Bxc5 is even worse in view of 20.dxc5 Qe7 24.Qb4 Rad8 25.Nc5 The only inaccuracy by White in the
21.cxb6 axb6 22.Qd4+h winning the b6 pawn.] entire game. [25.Rce1! was actual ly even stronger. Black has
20.dxc5 Nd5 The only move to at least keep the material problems with the pin. If he moves away with the queen, Qc3
balance! could be decisive and after 25...Rd4
21.cxd6 Qxd6
26.Nd6!! is a very nice win! 26...Rxb4 (26...Qxd6 27.Qxd6
Rxd6 28.Rxe8h) 27.Nxe8+!h This intermediate check wins
decisive material.]
25...Rd4? A blunder, but Black was much worse anyway. [The
only move was 25...Ba8 but of course White’s advantage is
undisputable with such a piece on a8.]
26.Qc3 Bc8 27.Rce1 Black resigned as he loses big material.
A great game by Nakamura! 1-0
The K-Files. It must be added that top players nowadays not only play 1
or 2 main lines with White against the Leningrad Dutch but
Anti-Dutch 2.d3 try almost everything including some obscure sidelines. It’s
actually exactly what they do against "normal" openings like
QGD, Slav, Gruenfeld etc. In my opinion this is clear proof that
the status of this opening system has totally changed. But -
enough advertising the Leningrad Dutch for Black, especially
because it’s not the subject of this article. But if someone is
GM Alexander Khalifman quite impressed by what is written above and would like to
FIDE World Chess Champion (1999) think about including the Leningrad Dutch in their opening
Best rating: 2702 repertoire I can only recommend the new and excellent book
by Malaniuk and Marusenko. Kindermann’s book on this
subject is also a good one but already a bit outdated. This is
(3) Anti-Dutch 2.d3 [A04]
no surprise - it happens to all good opening books. For some
strange reason only bad opening books never get outdated.
In the last few years we can see the renaissance of the =)
Leningrad Dutch. The list of players who use it on a more
1.Nf3 And the subject of this article is some poisonous move
or less regular basis is headed by Caruana, Nakamura„
order to avoid the Leningrad Dutch. Not something new but
Mamedyarov, Ivanchuk, Svidler, Ponomariov... - enough I
still quite unexplored.
guess. So it’s no surprise that it quickly comes into fashion on
practically all levels. The reasons in my opinion (except the 1...f5 I have to admit that the move order I would like to offer
above-mentioned list) are quite clear: is not really an universal way to avoid the Leningrad Dutch.
Black can also try to play it starting with 1...g6 or 1...d6 (or
1) In most cases it leads to sharp asymmetrical positions
even 1...c6 - which looks pretty exotic but was still regularly
2) Black’s play is almost always strategically clear and easy to
used by GM Anic). In all these cases Black should consider
understand
2.e4 (e2-e4 to avoid the Dutch is possible also on move 1 but
3) The theory is still not very much developed. This is hard to
that’s another story, of course). One more important detail is
believe in the 21st century but it is true - just compare it to the
that after 1.Nf3 f5 2. d4 all these pawn moves are not the main
Gruenfeld or King’s Indian for example
move order (which is certainly 2... Nf6) and thus have some
4) The computers quite often clearly misevaluate the resulting
drawbacks. They are not deadly but Black must know exactly
positions assuming that f7-f5 is a clear weakening and give
what he would do, for instance, in case of
White a massive plus without any real reason for it.
And so on...
Bd6 8.Bxd6 Qxd6=+ Tolonen - Kiltti, Vasa 1996) 6...exd4
7.Qxd4 Nc6 8.Qh4 Rohde - Palatnik, Philadelphia 1992
(8.Bb5 8...Nf6 9.Nc3 Schmitz - Stock corr 1989 9...a6 10.Bxc6+
bxc6=) 8...Nh6 9.Nc3 Nf5 10.Qh5+ g6 11.Qe2 Nxe3 12.Qxe3+
Be7=]
2...Nc6 is one of two critical answers. Black prepares e7-e5.
[1...g6 2.d4 f5 3.h4!? (3.Nc3 3...Nf6 4.Bg5 Bg7 is not so

dangerous for Black.) 3...Nf6 4.h5; 1...d6 2.d4 f5 3.Nc3!? Nf6
4.Bg5 Nbd7 (4...d5!? ) 5.Qd3; 1...c6 2.d4 f5 3.Bf4 In this
case Aronian’s setup might be quite annoying. 3...Nf6 4.e3 g6
5.Nbd2 Bg7 6.Bd3 d6 7.h3+= Dorfman - Anic, Cannes 1995]
2.d3!? This is the delayed Lisitsin Gambit (also invented by
maestro Lisitsin, by the way). The idea is very simple and [2...Nf6 Quite surpr isingly this is the most popular answer
radical: White prepares e2-e4 to disturb Black’s development even in the 21st century. Not on the high level, of course (but
immediately. [The "normal" Lisitsin gambit is 2.e4 2...fxe4 as a matter of fact it was played by Nakamura and Beliavsky).
3.Ng5 It can also be a good surprise weapon, especially in However, in my opinion this move is clearly second-rate.
quick time controls. But beware: now almost everyone who White easily reaches a comfortable advantage in all the lines.
plays Dutch knows how to meet it properly. In fact Black has 3.e4 Of course Black didn’t prevent this move. 3...d6 This is
several ways to good play. The simplest one in my opinion the way to get a Leningrad type position but in fact this is a
is 3...e5 (The greedy 3...Nf6 4.d3 exd3? is White’s main hope. very dubious version of it. (
5.Bxd3 with a huge advantage already. We’ll look at this
position later as it can also be reached with the move order a) 3...e5 leads to a rather dubious version of the Latvian
2.d3 Nf6 3.e4 fxe4 4.dxe4 Nxe4 5.Bd3 Nf6 6. Ng5.) 4.d3 Gambit (even when the Latvian Gambit itself is not the most
(4.d4 4...exd4 5.Nxe4 Nc6 6.Bc4 Rohde - Castro, Philadelphia sound opening). 4.Nxe5 Qe7 (4...Bc5 5.d4c Paavilainen
1990 6...d5! 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qxd5 Qxd5 9.Bxd5 Bf5= and it’s - Pyhala, Helsinki 1988) 5.Nf3 fxe4 6.dxe4 Qxe4+ (6...Nxe4
already White who has to play accurately.; 4.Nxe4 4...Nc6 7.Be2 Nc6 8.O-O Qf7 9.Nbd2c) 7.Be2 Bb4+ 8.Nbd2 Qe7
5.Bb5 Nf6=+ leads to some weird version of the Schliemann 9.O-O O-O 10.a3 Bc5 11.b4 Bb6 Rothen - Aaberg, Sweden 1996
Gambit in the Ruy Lopez (with the white knight on b1 instead 12.Bb2c White is clearly ahead in development and has good
of f3) where Black is perfectly fine. (Bjarnason - Hjartarson, attacking chances.;
Reykjavik 1979)) 4...e3 5.Bxe3 d5 6.d4 (6.f4 6...exf4 7.Bxf4 b) 3...fxe4 4.dxe4 Nxe4 (4...e5 5.Nxe5 (5.Bc4!? ) 5...Qe7
6.Nf3 - 3...e5) 5.Bd3 Nf6 (5...d5 is relatively the best but nice positional advantage and it’s hard to organise adequate
the endgame after 6.Bxe4 dxe4 7.Qxd8+ Kxd8 8.Ng5 Ke8 counterplay. (Mertanen - Koskinen, Finland 2000); 2...d5
9.Nc3+= is very pleasant for White. (Keene - Keogh. Ybbs prevents an immediate e2-e4 but that’s the only merit of
1968); 5...Nc5? (Franke - Lange, Germany 1978) just loses this move. White just gets a very pleasant anti-Stonewall
instantly due to 6.Ne5! Nxd3+ 7.cxd3h) 6.Ng5 This is the structure and still wants to organise e2-e4 after completing
dream position of the Lisitsin Gambit. Black has to play the development. 3.c4!? e6 (
precisely to avoid immediate trouble. a) After 3...dxc4 4.d4!?c this QGA with the extra move f7-f5
looks really disgusting for Black.;
b) 3...d4 Playing a 4 pawns attack versus the King’s Indian
with one tempo down is also more than risky. 4.e3 c5 (4...Nc6
5.exd4 Nxd4 6.Nxd4 Qxd4 7.Nc3c) 5.exd4 cxd4 6.g3 Nc6
7.Bg2 e5 8.O-O Bd6 9.Re1 and Black just doesn’t have time to
complete his development. The e5 pawn is very weak. 9...Nf6
(9...Nge7 10.c5 Bc7 11.Qb3 Na5 12.Qa3c) 10.Nxe5c Rorato
- Reginato, Italy 2009;
c) 3...c6 4.Nbd2+=)
6...g6 (6...e5 7.Bxh7h Geveke - Storm, Germany 1983;
6...c6 7.O-O d6 8.Bxh7 Nxh7 9.Qh5+ Kd7 10.Nf7 Qe8 4.g3 Nf6 5.Bg2 c6 6.O-O Be7 with the bishop on e7 the plan
11.Qg6!c Barle - Titova, Pula 1999; 6...d6 7.Bxh7 Nxh7 of playing Nc3-e4 doesn’t work properly but White also has
8.Qh5+ Kd7 9.Nf7 Qe8 10.Qg4+ e6 11.Nxh8h Nikolaou another way to prepare e2-e4. (6...Bd6 7.Nc3 O-O 8.e4 dxe4
- Matakoudis, Greece 1998) 7.h4 d5 (7...d6 8.h5 gxh5 9.dxe4 e5 (9...Bb4 10.exf5 Qxd1 11.Rxd1 exf5 12.Bd2c Vayser
9.Bxh7c Lisitsin - Krogius, Leningrad 1949) 8.h5 Bg4 - Savchur, corr 2010) 10.Qb3 Qb6 11.Qc2 fxe4 12.Ng5 Na6
9.f3 Bxh5 10.g4 (10.Nc3!? might be even stronger.) 10...Qd6 13.a3c Me - Ivanov, corr 2009) 7.b3 O-O 8.Bb2 a5 9.a3 Na6
11.gxh5 Bh6 Salgado - Gonzalez, Spain 1999 12.Qd2! Nxh5 10.Nbd2 Ng4 11.Qc2 Bf6 12.Bxf6 (12.e4!? ) 12...Qxf6
13.Nc3c and the piece must be stronger than 3 pawns here.) 13.d4+= Damljanovic - Moskalenko, Barcelona 2005; 2...g6
Black simply ignores the opponent’s intentions. It doesn’t
4.exf5 Bxf5 5.d4 This loss of a tempo doesn’t matter as
seem to be a good idea. 3.e4 fxe4 (3...d6 - 2...d6) 4.dxe4
the pawn structure is favorable for White. 5...g6 (5...Nc6
Bg7 5.Bc4 e6 6.O-Oc Space advantage, development lead
6.d5 Nb4 7.Nd4 Qd7 8.c4 c5 9.dxc6 bxc6 10.a3 Na6 11.Nxf5
and good chances to attack the opponent’s weakened king’s
Qxf5 Dudukin - Korobov,I Russia 2007 12.Be2c) 6.Bd3 This
position - White has almost everything one can dream of.
exchange is always good for White in this structure since e6
(Bayat - Bourigault, Budapest 2003); 2...d6 is another critical
is a chronical weakness. 6...Qd7 7.O-O Bg7 8.Bxf5 Qxf5
line which will be analyzed in part 2.]
9.c4 O-O 10.Nc3+= This is most probably the best Black can
reach after 2...Nf6 but still no dream at all. White has a 3.d4!? In my opinion only this unusual move first played in
the game Roiz - Wojtaszek, Warsaw 2005, can create certain A cold shower... (After 12...Kf7? the nice combination
problems for Black. It looks like White just lost a tempo, which 13.Nxd5! Bb4+ 14.Nxb4 Rhe8 15.Bc4+ Kf8 16.O-O! Rxe3
contradicts the basic opening principles. However, now the 17.fxe3c brought White a decisive advantage in Taimaniv -
black knight is quite misplaced on c6 and White intends to Zaichik, Leningrad 1989.) 13.Qxe7+ Kxe7 14.Nxd5+ Kd7=+
win the lost tempo back with d4-d5, gaining some space at and White has to defend a very unpleasant endgame.) 9...Be7
the same time. So Black has to do something against this (9...Bxc2? 10.Rc1 Bf5 11.Nb5c) 10.O-O-O O-O 11.Nxd5 Nxd5
positional threat. [3.e4 is now possible but doesn’t bring the 12.Qxd5+ Qxd5 13.Rxd5 Be6 14.Re5 Rxf4 15.Rxe6 Bg5= and
desired result after the natural answer 3...e5 4.Nc3 ( the drawish outcome is very close.]
a) 4.d4 leads to the well-known Vienna Game position with 3...d6 This move was not played often before but in my
reversed colors (it’s exactly the same as 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 opinion it is still quite critical for the whole line, especially
d5). This is good enough for equal chances but not more. The if Black plans to play the Leningrad Dutch. Now he’s always
main line goes now 4...fxe4 5.Nxe5 Nf6 and here White has a ready to meet d4-d5 with Nc6-e5, and if White chooses a quiet
choice between 6.Bc4 (6.Nc3 ; 6.Be2); development he will get a Leningrad with Nc6 (not the most
b) 4.Be2 promises nothing after 4...Nf6 5.exf5 d6 is more solid subvariation, of course), but with an extra tempo for
accurate than (5...d5 6.Nh4 Liemann - Cooke, Dortmund Black, which makes it perfectly playable. Also e7-e5 must be
1993 6...Nd4 7.Bh5+ Nxh5 8.Qxh5+ Kd7 9.Bg5 Qe8 10.Qd1 considered at any moment. So in order to reach something
Kc6 11.Nd2C) 6.Nh4 (6.d4 6...Bxf5=) 6...Be7 7.Bh5+ Nxh5 tangible White has to find some concrete reaction. [3...e6 This
8.Qxh5+ Kd7 9.Nf3 Qe8 10.Qg4 Kd8V and despite the is the most popular answer. Now the game usually transforms
rather strange position of his king and queen, Black is not into a Stonewall with the extra move Nb8-c6 for Black. Good
worse here.; or...? In fact, I’m not so sure that this extra move is really
useful. Of course I know that Botvinnik, Smyslov and Spassky
c) 4.g3 is not dangerous at all after the natural moves played Nb8-c6 in a normal Stonewall, but still. Now this setup
4...fxe4 5.dxe4 Nf6 6.Bg2 Bc5 7.O-O O-O 8.Nc3 d6= Demidov - doesn’t look flexible enough. One important thing about
Hauge. Prague 2015) the resulting positions is that in most cases White would
4...Nf6 5.exf5 (5.Bg5 5...Bb4 6.Be2 fxe4 7.dxe4 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 avoid developing his queenside knight to d2. Now d5 is not
h6=) 5...d5 6.d4 (6.Nh4 (Hecht - Hollig, Germany 1975) now defended as solidly as it is when Black has a pawn on c6, so in
gives nothing because of 6...d4!? 7.Ne2 Nd5C) 6...exd4 7.Nxd4 most cases the white knight is good on c3. 4.g3 Nf6 (4...d5
Nxd4 8.Qxd4 Bxf5 This position is quite similar to one we 5.c4 It’s necessary to meet d7-d5 with the immediate c2-c4
will see later in the 2...d6 line, but here the black pawn because otherwise White can have some difficulties preparing
is on d5 (not d6) and this makes a big difference. 9.Bf4 this move. (5.Bg2 5...Rb8 6.O-O Nf6k) 5...dxc4 6.Qa4 Qd5
indirectly defending the c2 pawn. (Ferretti - Cherin, Italy 7.Nc3 Bb4 8.Bd2 Bxc3 9.bxc3n) 5.Bg2 (5.c4 makes Black’s life
2006) (9.Bg5 Ambitious but risky. 9...Bxc2 10.Rc1 Bg6 11.Bxf6 a bit easier. 5...Bb4+ By exchanging his dark-squared bishop
Qxf6 12.Qe3+ (12.Qxf6 12...gxf6 13.Nxd5 O-O-Oe) 12...Qe7! Black gains time to castle and prepare e6-e5. 6.Nbd2 (6.Bd2
6...Bxd2+ 7.Qxd2 O-O 8.Bg2 d6 9.O-O e5=) 6...O-O 7.Bg2 d6 Nxf4 9.exf4 g6 10.Bd3 Bg7 11.O-O O-O 12.Re1 Re8 13.Ng5
8.O-O Bxd2 9.Bxd2 e5k) 5...Be7 ( Bd7 14.Rc1 cxd5 15.cxd5 Qa5k]
a) 5...g6 The last attempt to reach a Leningrad type of 5...Nf6 [5...e6 6.e4 exd5 7.exd5 Qe7 8.Bb5+ c6 9.Be2 Nxf3+
position which was not tried before. White must react 10.gxf3C; 5...Nxf3+ 6.exf3 e5 7.dxe6 Bxe6 8.Bd3c]
precisely. 6.c4 Bg7 (6...d6 7.d5 Ne5 8.Nd4 Bg7 9.Nc3 O-O 6.e4!? Still! In my opinion it’s the only way to prove that 3...d6
10.Qb3+=) 7.d5! (After the normal 7.Nc3 7...O-O 8.O-O d6 doesn’t solve the opening problems.
9.d5 Ne5VBlack kas good counterplay due to the extra move
e7-e6 compared to the usual positions from the Leningrad 6...fxe4 7.Nxe5 dxe5 8.Bb5+ An important detail. The point
with 7...Nc6.) 7...Na5 8.Na3 seems to be a strange square of this check is that the black bishop is better on c8 than on
for the knight but Black’s problem is that the knight on a5 is d7. [8.Bc4 8...a6 (8...c6!? 9.dxc6 Qxd1+ 10.Nxd1 bxc6) 9.Be3
even more misplaced and always in danger. 8...b6 9.O-O O-O (9.h3 9...b5 10.Bb3 b4) 9...Qd6 10.h3 b5 11.Bb3 Bb7V]
10.Bf4+=; 8...Bd7 9.Bc4 A very interesting new position. Black has
b) 5...d5 6.c4 is necessary once again - see note to 4...d5. an extra pawn and one can’t say that his triple pawns are
(6.O-O 6...Rb8!? Fressinet - Christiansen, Tromso 2013 very weak (at least for now). But at the same time he has
(6...b5!? 7.a4 b4 8.c4 bxc3 9.Nxc3 Rb8) 7.Qd3 (7.b3 7...b5 certain development problems and the white key pawn on d5
8.c4 bxc4 9.bxc4 dxc4k) 7...b5V) 6...dxc4 (6...Rb8 7.b3+=) seriouly limits the opponent’s options. I believe that White’s
7.Qa4+=) compensation is at least enough but certainly practical tests
are required.
6.O-O O-O 7.c4 d5 (7...d6 8.d5 Ne5 de Schampheleire -
Froeyman, Belgium 2013 9.Qb3+=) 8.b3 (8.cxd5!? This is not
the most usual exchange in a normal Stonewall but here it
looks interesting as the d5 pawn is not protected enough due
to the c6 knight. 8...exd5 9.Nc3+=) 8...Bd7 9.Bb2+=; 3...d5
Now if White plays g3 and Bg2 the game will most probably
switch back to the 3...e6 line but he also has a very promising
plan which clearly underlines that the advantage of the extra
moves Nb8-c6 is very questionable. 4.Bf4 e6 5.e3 Bd6 6.c4
Nf6 7.Nc3+= Krasenkov - Moskalenko, Hoogeveen 2013]
4.d5 [4.c4 4...e5 5.d5 Nce7k] 9...a6 [9...Bf5 10.Be3 a6 - 9...a6; 9...c6 10.dxc6 Bxc6 11.Qe2C]
4...Ne5 5.Nc3 White prepares e2-e4 to open the center and 10.Be3 [It’s not the best moment for the prophylactical 10.h3
make use of his development lead. [5.Nxe5 5...dxe5 6.e4 10...b5 11.Bb3 c5 12.dxc6 Bxc6V]
e6kZaragatski - Nijboer, Holland 2014; 5.c4 5...Nf6 6.Nc3 g6 10...Bf5 [10...g6 looks more in the spirit of the Leningrad
7.Nxe5 dxe5 8.g3 Bg7V; 5.Bf4 5...Ng6 6.e3 c6 7.c4 Nf6 8.Nc3 Dutch, but still after 11.h3 Bg7 12.O-O O-O 13.a4 Kh8 14.Qe2
h6 15.a5nWhite has good compensation and many ways to
increase his queenside pressure.; 10...Bg4 11.Qd2 e6 trying
to get read of the annoying d5 pawn. But White has the strong
answer 12.h3 exd5 13.Nxd5 Bh5 14.Bg5 Be7 15.Bxf6 Bxf6
16.Qb4Cand suddenly Black’s king is very vulnerable.]
11.h3 Qd6 [11...h5 stopping g4 but White has another
resource: 12.Qd2 Qd6 13.O-O-O O-O-O 14.Na4n]
12.g4 Bg6 13.Qe2n and White has fantastic compensation
for the pawn.
David vs. Goliath
Peter Zhdanov
Black to move. 33...Nf4 is simply winning: White has to play
35.Qxc4, but after the multi-purpose move 35...Qxf5 White
is toast. What did Dragicevic overlook? Was it some sort of
In this entertaining column we are reviewing the most optical blunder, for example, forgetting that after 33...Nf4
unexpected results that occurred last week. Players usually 34.exf6? Nxe2 35.f7+ doesn’t lead to mate because of the
face opponents of a similar level. Considerably less frequent capture on d4? Anyway, the game continued cooperatively
are situations when a significantly lower-rated player with 33...Rb2?? 34.exf6! h6 35.f7+ Kh7 36.f8NX
The final position deserves another diagram:
The previous week brought us 15 upsets.
The number of moves ranges from 22 in Abrahamsson (1887)
- FM Sagit (2360), 1-0 to 62 in Becuwe (2083) - FM Di
Nicolantonio (2414), 1-0 and Duessler (2063) - WGM Foisor
(2398), 1-0.
The high-profile encounters that deserve a mention are GM
Vovk (2629) - FM Schulz (2300), 0-1 and a blitz game Choukri
(2231) - GM Van Wely (2653), 1-0.
A very dramatic and spectacular ending occurred in Persson
(1984) - FM Dragicevic (2304), 1-0: Top-10:
Abrahamsson (1887) - Sagit (2360), 1-0, 473 points
Declercq (1763) - Frederic (2231), 1-0, 468 points
Mahji (2178) - Billot (1745), 0-1, 433 points
Choukri (2231) - Van Wely (2653), 1-0, 422 points
Troyke (2058) - Meister (2464), 1-0, 406 points
Ronneland (2213) - Nilsen (1851), 0-1, 362 points Ottmar Seidler (1608) - Niclas Emrich (1306) [A52]
Leclerq (1545) - Griffon (1907), 1-0, 362 points Bezirkseinzelmeisterschaft 2015 Steinheim, Bahnhof (5.8),
Kirst (1781) - Steinbacher (2119), 1-0, 338 points 10.05.2015
Lui (1947) - Desbois (1609), 0-1, 338 points
Duessler (2063) - Foisor (2398), 1-0, 335 points 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bf4 Bb4+
6.Nbd2 Qe7 7.a3 Ngxe5 8.axb4?? Nd3 0-1
The featured player of the week is Niclas Emrich. Here is the

message I have received from his friend Karlheinz Vogel:
Dear Peter,
first of all I do have to admit that this game was played by a
teammate and not by me.
Second to be honest I replaced ELO by the national ranking
system DWZ. The difference is 302 DWZ rating points and thus What does this miniature teach us? First of all, never
Niclas should have passed the formal qualification. underestimate your lower-rated opponents. Secondly, club
Although the game is rather short it is definitely not a fake, here players should be acquainted with such a standard mating
are the tournament details: finale. For example, there is a well-known trap in the
http://www.svw.info/referate/dwz/2015/B519-C06-BEM Caro-Kann that goes like this: 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4
it was a precandidate tournament for the local state mastership 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Qe2 Ngf6?? (wrong knight) 6.Nd6X. White
(the top 3 qualify for the candidate match and from there you was probably not aware of it, or simply too careless to check
may qualify for the master tournament (amateur level). why Black left the bishop en prise. The main move, of course,
In order to prove that I do have Niclas’ okay in forwarding his is 8.Nxe5 instead of the greedy capture on b4.
game to you I simply copied him cc into this mail as well. If you have ever won a game against someone rated
Best regards, 300 points or above yourself, please send it to
Karlheinz information (a photo, annotations, etc.) is welcomed.
In the game White succumbed to a cheapo in the Budapest

gambit in just 8 moves!
Young & Talented favorable for Black. Karjakin-Tomashevsky.]
4...Bg4 Since my childhood I prefered this move over 4...Bf5,
since if White manages the e4 break they will win a tempo over
the bishop.
5.d3 The most principled line. Other possibilites are [5.c4
5...e6 6.Qb3 Qb6 7.d3; 5.d4 5...e6 6.c4 Nbd7 7.Nc3 Be7
8.Qb3 Qb6 9.Re1]
GM Etienne Bacrot
5...Nbd7 6.Qe1 It became fashionable to delay the knight’s
Best rating: 2749
developpement of Nd2 thanks to Kramnik’s efforts. [6.h3
avoids the maneuver which happened in the game (Be6)
(4) Artemiev, Vladislav (2671) but gives Black another option. 6...Bxf3!? (6...Bh5 7.Qe1
- Fedoseev, Vladimir (2683) [A07] e5 8.e4 is an unclear position that White is currently aiming
ch-RUS Rapid 2015(9.4), for.) 7.Bxf3 e6 8.Nd2 (8.Bg2 I faced this move and came
2015.05.14 up with an interesting idea: 8...Bd6 9.e4 Qc7 10.Qe2 dxe4!?
11.dxe4 h5!?k fighting for the black squares. Bricard-Bacrot
2011) 8...Bd6 9.Bg2 Qc7 10.e4 O-O (10...dxe4 11.Nxe4!?)
Here is a very interesting rapid chess game between young 11.Qe2 Rfe8 12.f4 e5kArtemiev-Bukavshin 1 May 2015. Maybe
Russian players. Artemiev is 17 and world n4 under 20 and Artemiev couldn’t find an improvement on his recent game.]
his opponent Fedoseev is more experienced. He is 20 years
old, second in the world junior list and his best achievement 6...e5 7.e4 [7.h3 is still not great: 7...Bxf3 8.Bxf3 e4!]
is third place in the European Championship in 2014. 7...dxe4 8.dxe4
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 The Reti opening is very popular now and
Karjakin even had this position on the board four times in a
row in the current FIDE Grand-Prix. It is far more complicated
than it seems.
2...d5 3.Bg2 c6 It is very logical to restrict the Bg2.3...c5 3...g6
and 3...e6 are other usual moves.
4.O-O [4.c4 is the alternative, and the latest game on
this theme was just played in the FIDE Grand Prix in
Khanty-Mansiysk. 4...Bf5 (4...dxc4 is also possible.) 5.O-O
e6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.d3 Bc5 8.Qb3 Bb6 9.Nc3 O-O 10.Na4 8...Be7!? Quite a rare move. [8...Bc5 9.h3 Bh5 10.a4
White gets the two bishops but the pawn structure is slightly O-O 11.Nbd2 (11.Nh4!? Kramnik- Vachier-Lagrave April 2015.)
11...Re8 12.Nc4 (12.Nb3!? 12...Bf8 13.Nh4) 12...Qc7 13.Bd2?! 15...O-O-O The king is of course going to the queenside now.
Nb6 14.Ba5 Bxf3 15.Bxf3 Qc8 Black has no problem.
Artemiev-Wang Yue 6 may 2015. There is quite a lot of room
for improvement over this game.]
9.h3 [9.Nbd2 9...h6!? 10.b3!? might be critical.]
9...Be6! N The bishop cannot dream about a better square.
10.Nbd2 [10.Ng5? 10...Bc4 just wins an exchange.]
10...h6 11.Qe2 Qc7 12.b3 Nh7!? Black uses the fact that
he can choose where to castle to start the action on kingside.
[12...O-O 13.Bb2 b5 is also perfectly safe.] 16.Nhf3 Bf6 The first non-perfect move by Black. He had
13.Nh2 Too ambitious. White should have continued with a great exchange sacrifice possibility: [16...h4! 17.g4 (17.f5
normal development. [13.Bb2 13...Ng5 14.Kh2 Nxf3+ 17...gxf5 18.exf5 Bd5 19.g4 Rhe8 with the strong "e4" threat.
15.Nxf3 O-O= with an equal position.] 20.Ne4 Bxe4 21.Qxe4 Nhf6e followed by e4.) 17...exf4
18.Bxh8 Rxh8=+ and the small material deficit is more than
compensated by the dark squares.]
17.fxe5?! [17.Rad1 This solid developing move is essential.
17...h4 18.fxe5 Nxe5 19.Bxe5 Bxe5 20.Nxe5 Qxe5 21.gxh4 and
White is able to equalize.]
17...Nxe5 18.Nxe5 Bxe5 19.Bxe5 Qxe5 20.Qf2
13...h5! A great attacking move with the positional threat h4,

which would take over the black sqaures.
14.f4 [14.Qxh5 It is dangerous to take this pawn: 14...O-O-O!
15.Qe2 Ng5 16.h4 Nh3+ and soon g5 will be devastating.;
14.h4 14...g5!]
14...g6 Necessary prophilaxis against f5. 20...Ng5! Fast and strong play by Black, as protecting the a7
15.Bb2 [15.f5 15...gxf5 16.exf5 Bd5 17.Ne4 Rg8e even with pawn would give the opponent time to consolidate. [20...Kb8
the e4 square, White has too many problems on the g-file.] 21.Rad1 Ng5 22.h4 Nh3+ 23.Bxh3 Bxh3 24.Rfe1=+]
21.h4 [21.Nc4 leads to a difficult positional position. 26.Kxg2 Qxg3+ 27.Kh1 Qxh4+ 28.Kg2 Qg3+ 29.Kh1=;
21...Bxc4 22.bxc4 Rd4!? 23.Rae1 Rh7!? and when 24...Qxc2 25.Qa8+ Kc7 26.Qa5+= It looks like Black missed
Black reorganizes his forces he will exploit White’s many this defense. 26...Kd7 (26...Kb8 27.Qe5+ Ka7 28.Qa5+=)
weaknesses.] 27.Qxd2+!]
21...Qc3! 25.Qa8+ Kd7 26.Qxb7+ Ke8 27.Qa8+ Ke7 28.Qb7+ Ke8
[28...Kf8? 29.Qb4+]
29.Qc8+ Ke7 30.Qb7+ Ke8 31.Qc8+ Ke7 A great game!
In the tournament they both finished in the top ten, with
Fedoseev sharing second-fourth place. 1/2-1/2
22.Nc4! Bxc4? This move unexpectedly leads to a draw.

[22...Nh3+ 23.Bxh3 Bxh3 24.Rfd1 Bg4! e An important move
to take the d-file. 25.Rf1 Be6 26.Qe3 Qxe3+ 27.Nxe3 Rd4
28.Rf4 Rhd8 with a technically winning endgame.]
23.bxc4 Rd2 24.Qxa7 Black definitely thought this position
was winning, and it was indeed not easy to see how White
would defend everything with little time in rapid chess.
24...Qxg3 [24...Nxe4 25.Rxf7 There is no direct mate and

White has counterplay. 25...Rxg2+ (25...Qxa1+ 26.Kh2+=)
Puzzle section
(5) Jobava, B(2699)-Grischuk, A(2780) (7) Hammer, JL(2665)-Grandelius, N(2623)
Khanty Mansyjsk GP, 2015.05.17 Scandinavian Masters, 2015.05.13
1... = 1. h
(6) Agdestein, S(2620)-Hammer, JL(2665) (8) Fressinet, L(2712)-Hammer, JL(2665)

Scandinavian Masters, 2015.05.12 Scandinavian Masters rapid, 2015.05.15
1... i 1... i
(9) Matlakov, M(2694)-Popov, I(2648) (11) Grachev, B(2666)-Levin, E(2518)
Russian Championship rapid, 2015.05.13 Russian Championship rapid, 2015.05.13
1. h 1. h
(10) Paravyan, D(2469)-Demchenko, A(2589) (12) Ponkratov, P(2610)-Savchenko, B(2556)

1. h 1. h
(13) Motylev, A(2648)-Shimanov, A(2606)
Russian Championship rapid, 2015.05.14
1. h
(14) Malakhov, V(2702)-Iskusnyh, S(2465)

Russian rapid Championship, 2015.05.14
1. h
Endgame section 43...Be3 [If Black wants to keep his bishop on d2 and decides
to wait with his king, this causes another kind of problem...
43...Kg7 White wins now after 44.g5! hxg5 45.hxg5
(15) Horvath, Adam (2528)
- Korpa, Bence (2435)
Zalakaros Open, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.05.18 Best rating: 2672
White has succesfully created his passed pawn on the kingside

and the next step towards the win is to drive his king over the
board to help create the second passer on the queenside...
45...Bc1 46.Kg4 Bd2 47.Kf5 Bc1 48.g6 Bb2 49.Ke6 Ba3
50.Kd5 Kf6 51.Kc6 Kg7 52.Kb5 Bb4
My friend GM Adam Horvath just showed me the following

very instructive endgame with opposite colored bishops.
White is two pawns up, but Black has created an excellent
blockade and he seems to hold the draw. In such situations,
the only chance is to create a passed pawn on both sides. It
seems to me after all, that with precise play White is able to
achieve this goal and his position is objectively winning.
43.Bc2! This very subtle waiting move sets Black into
zugzwang. The point is that to execute the breakthrough on 53.Ka4! This is a very important detail! White had no other
the queenside, White must wait until the d2 bishop leaves way to make progress. 54.a3 is coming in the next move!
its square. [The direct 43.a4 is met by 43...Kg7 44.g5 hxg5 53...Bc3 54.a3 The threat is Kb5, because the bishop cannot
45.hxg5 Bb4= and Black just waits with his bishop or king and occupy the b4 square anymore. 54...Bb2 55.b4! (Obviously
White cannot make progress.] not 55.Kxa5? because after 55...Bxa3 there is no way to create
a passer.) 55...axb4 56.axb4 cxb4 57.Kxb4h The g-pawn
immobilizes the black king and White simply promotes his
c-pawn with the help of his king.]
It is very important now, how White makes progress. 52.Kh6!!

White is ready to push g6-g7. (The hasty 52.g6 allows
Black to stop the pawn with 52...Bg7!= Black exchanges his
44.a4!! A very strange move at first sight, because it just b-pawn for the c6 with b3 next and holds the draw easily.)
seems like White fixes the pawn structure on the queenside. 52...Be3 53.Kg6! This is psychologically the hardest part
However the point is to push b4 next and no matter how Black of the plan. White should win the game by advancing his
captures it, White successfully gets his passed pawn. g-pawn and he temporarily blocks its way with his own
king. However the idea is to play Kf6 and push the pawn.
44...Kg7 [44...Bd2 does not prevent the threat, White White wins by only one tempo in the following line: 53...b3
anyway plays 45.b4!! This brilliant move uses the fact that the 54.Bxb3 Kxc6 55.Kf6! Kd7 56.g6 Ke8 and if it was Black’s
bishop cannot take since the pawn is hanging on h6. 45...cxb4 move, Bd4 would succesfully block the pawn and secure the
Other captures are even worse. 46.c5 White lures the king or draw, however after (56...Bd4+ 57.Kf7h wins.) 57.g7 Bd4+
the bishop to stop the c-pawn, but this will allow him to push 58.Kg6h White wins.]
g5 at some point. 46...Ke6 47.Bb3+! It is important to not
allow the king too close to the pawn. 47...Kd7 48.Bd5! The
pawn is temporarily safe from the king. 48...Be3 (48...b3 loses
to 49.Bxb3 Kc6 50.g5 hxg5 51.hxg5 Kxc5 52.g6 Bc3 53.Kh6h
Black cannot stop the g-pawn and the a8 promoting square
fits the white bishop. ) 49.c6+ Kd6 50.g5! A small trick, since
the bishop is not really hanging. 50...hxg5 51.hxg5 Bd4
45.b4!! The right timing for creating the passed pawn!

[45.g5? is met by 45...hxg5 46.hxg5 Bd2= and Black holds.]
45...cxb4 46.g5! White has succesfully created his passed 52.c5 Bc3 53.Ke4 Kd7 54.Kd5 Kc7 55.Bb3 Bg7 56.Bc2
pawns on both sides, but the win still requires some Bf8 57.g6 Bg7 The rest is already very easy. White simply
technique... collects the a5 pawn.
46...hxg5 47.hxg5 Kf7
58.Kc4 Bf6 [Black cannot prevent Kb5 with 58...Kc6

48.Bb3!! Another great move! White is ready to advance his because of 59.Be4+ Kc7 60.Bd5!h A great place for the
pawn with discovery check. This prevents Black from playing bishop. It controls both the c6 and b3 squares, therefore
Ke6. [48.Kg4 would have been met by 48...Ke6 and it is much White is ready to play Kb5 next.]
harder to make progress.] 59.Kb5 Bc3 The last tri ck by Black, but of course, White can
48...Ke7 [48...Ke6 49.c5+!h transposes to the 44...Bd2 delay the capture of the a5 pawn by a move.
line.] 60.Bb3! Black resigned! A third passer after losing the
49.Ba2 A waiting move. [49.Kg4 The winning plan is to take a5 pawn would be already too much to hold! This very
the king to the queenside. White could also have done it instructive endgame shows us how tricky these opposite
immediately, but it will later transpose to the game.] colored bishops can be. 1-0
49...Kf8 [49...Bd4 50.Kg6h followed by Kf5 will again

transpose to the game.; 49...Ke6 allows 50.c5+h and again
transposes to the 44...Bd2 line.]
50.Kg6! Ke7 51.Kf5 The plan is to push g6, followed by
Ke5-d5, supporting the c-pawn.
51...Bd2 This allows the advance of the c-pawn, but the game
was over anyway. [If Black plays for instance 51...Bd4 White
wins after 52.Ke4 Bg7 53.Kd5 Kd7 54.Kc5h and Kb5-a5
next.]
(16) Grischuk, Alexander(2780)
- Caruana, Fabiano(2803)
KM FIDE GP 2015(6.6),
Best rating: 2737
68...Kh2 and the position is a theoretical draw.) 65.Rd4+!

An important move, chasing away the black king as far as
possible. 65...Kg5 66.Rd8 Rxf6 67.Rg8+ Now the white rook
starts to check from behind. 67...Kh5 68.Rh8+ Kg4 69.Rg8+
Kh3 Now that the black king is cut off on the g-file, we again
have an easy theoretical draw. 70.Ke2]
61.Bd4 White keeps on waiting on the a1-h8 diagonal.
61...Kh2 Black of course tries to bring his pawn as close as
Caruana had been dominating the game for a very long time,
possible to the h1 square.
but Grischuk was fighting very well and made it difficult for
Caruana to score the full point. Currently, Black has passed 62.Bb6 It is not the best idea to move the bishop away from
b- and h-pawns, which gives him excellent winning chances, the a1-h8 diagonal. [62.Rb7 62...Rf5+ 63.Ke2 and White
especially since the white king is also cut off on the 1st rank. keeps on waiting.]
60...Rg5 Caruana is playing in a very practical way. [Black 62...h3 A normal move, but maybe Black had a sudden better
could have transposed into a rook endgame after 60...Bd3+ chance. [62...Rf5+ 63.Ke2 Kg2! using the fact that White
61.Ke1 Re2+ 62.Kd1 Rxe5 but now White is in time with can’t take the h4 pawn because of the b2 move. 64.Rg4+
63.Rxb3 and Black can’t save the d3 bishop. 63...Rf5 White doesn’t have anything better. 64...Kh3 65.Rb4 Rxf6
64.Rxd3+ Kg4 But it is still not that easy to see that it is 66.Bd8 Rh6 and Black is already 2 pawns up.]
actually a draw! (64...Kg2 65.Rd2+ Kg1 66.Rd4 h3 67.Ke2 63.Bc7+ Kh1 It is very hard for White to defend such a
Rxf6 68.Rg4+ position. Maybe it is a draw, but practically it is very hard to
hold. Black has a lot of tactical ideas.
64.Rh4 [64.Ke2 Maybe White should have tried and go to b2
with his king.]
[71...Bg6! was the right move, controling the b1 square. Black
is threatening to play Rg2 next and free his king from h1. White
is lost here!]
72.Bd4? After such a tough defense, Grischuk hands back the
present! [White could have used the little tactical trick that
after 72.Be5! attacking the h2 pawn and threatening to play
Rb1. The position is a draw!]
72...Rg2+ Now Black is back on the winning track.
64...Bd3+! A very strong move, since now Black will be in 73.Kf1 Rc2 White can’t keep the black king on h1 any longer.
time to play b2!
74.Rb6 Bc4+ 75.Ke1 and now Black can even choose with
65.Kf2 Rg2+ 66.Ke3 b2 67.Rb4! Grischuk refuses to give up which move to finish the game.
and pins his hope on the f6 pawn.
67...Bg6 Black needs to stop White from playing f7.
68.Be5 The b2 pawn is falling, but the h-pawn is almost there.
68...h2 69.f7! and again White finds the only way to continue.
[69.Bxb2 was losing on the spot after 69...Kg1 and h1Q next.]
69...Bxf7 70.Bxb2 Rg5! Perfect play! [70...Kg1 already
leads to a draw now. 71.Be5 and with the f7 move White
secured the threat of playing Rb1, so the position is a draw.]
71.Kf2 White cannot let Black play Kg2. 75...Rg2 Clearly a safe winning move. Black wants to remove
the rook from g2 all the while attacking the white bishop,
and then play Kg2. White is hopeless. [Of course a move like
75...Kg2 was winning too. We saw very high level play in an
interesting endgame, where both players used their chances
very well, and then blundered at the same time...] 0-1
71...Bd5? What a mistake when the victory was so close!
Chess and the City.
Good, better, Georgia!
Khachapuri Adjaruli and Khachapuri Imeriti

Best rating: 2493
This year’s European Women’s Championship is taking place

in Chakvi, a small city in Georgia. Georgia has always been
well known for its rich chess tradition, boasting famous
former stars such as Nona Gaprindashvili, Nana Alexandria
and Maia Chiburdanidze. Even nowadays the Georgian
women’s team is one of the strongest in the world, and they
duly took the World Team title just a month ago.
For me personally, however, Georgia is more than just a
famous chess country. It is my all-time favorite place when
it comes to food and wine. Georgian cuisine is popular Khinkali
for its unique cheese breads, called "Khachapuri", and it’s
meat-filled dumpling "Khinkali". For me these are, of
themselves, more than enough reason to stay here for a very
very long time.
Chicken in walnut sauce
As a true wine lover, Georgia is definitively not a place to miss, Surprise section / study
and their Saperavi and Kindsmataruli grapes are certainly
worth a try! For me the tournament itself has started quite (17) Platov
badly, with 1,5 out of 3. It seems that my ’out of sorts’ patch
is still lingering on, and I am wondering how long I must 1. h
wait before I snap out of it.... However, I will stay motivated
as there are still 8 rounds to go, and nothing is lost yet in
respect of a chance to qualify for the upcoming Women’s
World Championship. All together there are 14 qualifying
places available, so that gives me a fair chance of eventually
succeeding.
Solutions (20) Tregubov, P(2617)-Savitskiy, S(2330)
(18) Murtazin, B(2342)-Potkin, V(2605)
28.Bxe7+! Kg8 [28...Rxe7 29.Qxb8+h; 28...Kxe7 29.Rc7+

Kd8 30.Rxf7 Qxf4 31.Nxf4h Re7 32.Rxg7! Rxg7 33.Ne6+
34...Nd4! 0-1 [34...Nd4 35.Qxd4 Re2i] Ke7 34.Nxg7 Kf7 35.Bd5+ Kxg7 36.b4h]
(19) Motylev, A(2653)-Najer, E(2634) 29.Qxb8h Rxb8 30.Rc7 1-0
Russian league, 2015.05.06 (21) Nepomniachtchi, I(2714)-Sjugirov, S(2669)

27...Rxc4+!! 28.dxc4 Rc3+!! 29.bxc3 [29.Kb1 29...Qxd1+

30.Ka2 Rc1i] 35.Qxd6!! 1-0 [35.Qxd6 35...Rxd6 (35...Bxd6 36.fxg7#)
29...Ba3+ 0-1 [29...Ba3+ 30.Kd2 Qxc3+ 31.Ke2 Qe3#] 36.fxg7+ Bxg7 37.Rf8#]
(22) Chekhov, S(2486)-Yudin, S(2524) (24) Shemeakin, A(2247)-Sarana, A(2461)
19...Bxg4! 20.Qxg4 f5 21.Ng5+ Kg8 22.Bc3 [22.Qf3 23.Rxc8! Rxc8 24.Bxe6 fxe6 [24...Rxe6 25.Nxe6 fxe6
22...Bxb2+ 23.Kb1 Ba3+ (23...Bc3+ 24.Kc1 Rb1+! 25.Kxb1 26.Qe4h (26.Qf6h ) ]
Qb6+ 26.Kc1 Qb2#) 24.Ka1 Qd4+i] 25.Qe4 [25.Qf4!! 25...Rf8 26.Qc7 Qxf2+ 27.Kh1h]
22...Bxc3i 25...Qb2 26.Qxg6+ Qg7 27.Qxh5c
(23) Chigaev, M(2496)-Iljiushenok, I(2485) (25) Svidler, P(2734)-Potapov, P(2477)
Russian league, 2015.05.03 Russian league (rapid), 2015.05.08
27.Rb6+!! 1-0 [27.Rb6+ 27...Kxb6 (27...Kc7 28.Bxc5h) 24.Rxf6+!! Kxf6 25.Rf1+ Kg6 26.Qxe7 [26.Qg3+!!
28.Bxc5+ Kc6 (28...Ka6 29.Qc4#) 29.Rb6+h] 26...Kh5 (26...Bg5 27.h5+! Kh7 (27...Kxh5 28.Qf3+ Kg6
(28...Kh4 29.Qh3#) 29.Qf7#) 28.Qc7+ Kg8 29.Qf7#;
26...Kh7 27.Rf7#) 27.Qf3+ Kxh4 (27...Kg6 28.Qf7#) 28.Qf4+ (27) Svidler, P(2734)-Malakhov, V(2702)
Kh5 29.Qf7+ Kg5 (29...Kh4 30.Rf4+ Kg3 31.Rf3+ Kh4 Russian league (rapid), 2015.05.09
32.Rh3+ Kg5 33.Rh5+ Kg4 34.Qf3#) 30.Qxe7+ Kh5 31.Qf7+
Kg5 32.Qf6+ Kh5 33.g4+ Kxg4 34.Rf4+ Kg3 35.Qh4#]
26...Qxe3+ 27.Kh2c
(26) Dubov, D(2659)-Landa, K(2634)

15...Nxd4! 16.Bxd7 [16.cxd4 16...Bxb5 17.dxe5 dxe5e;

16.Nxd4 16...exd4 17.Bxd7 dxe3 18.Bxe8 exf2+ 19.Bxf2
Qxe8e]
16...Nxf3+ 17.Rxf3 Qxd7e
(28) Horwitz
20.Bxg7!! Kxg7 [20...Qxg7 21.Rxe8+h; 20...Rxe1

21.Bxf8h]
21.Qd4+! [21.Qg5+? 21...Kh8 22.Qf6+ Kg8=]
21...f6 [21...Kg8 22.Qg4+h]
22.Qg4+ Kh6 23.Qxd7h
1.d8=Q+! Kxd8 2.Rxf8+! Rxf8 3.Bf7! d2+ [3...Rh8

4.Ra8+h; 3...Kc8 4.Ra8+h]
4.Ke2! d3+ 5.Kd1h
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
The last stage of the FIDE Grand Prix in Khanty-Mansisk
decided of the first 2 qualifiers for the next Candidates
Editorial Preface 2 Tournament - which in turn qualifies to the World
Championship match - and these are Caruana and Nakamura.
The fight for the 2 places was very tough. Before the
tournament Tomashevsky was the clear leader and he only
needed to score around +1 to qualify, but after a good start
David vs. Goliath 12 things went badly for him.
Jakovenko also just missed the golden place by half a point,
Young & Talented 13 but all in all, Caruana and Nakamura both clearly deserved
the qualification spots.
Puzzle section 16 So in the final standings Caruana, Nakamura and Jakovenko
all shared the first place with 6.5/11.
Endgame section 19 In the Chinese Championship, nothing and nobody can stop
Wei Yi, who is now leading by a full point as he is on 7.5/10 (out
Chess and the City. of 11 rounds). Yu Yangui is in second position with 6.5/10 and
Good, better, Georgia - Part 2 23 3rd is Ding Liren with 6/10. Clearly, the only 15-year old Wei
Yi will have a great future and maybe he could even be a real
threat to Carlsen, as the young Chinese player is already very
close to 2730 ELO.
Surprise section / study 27 In the 10th American Continental in Montovideo, Mareco

Sandro and Quesada Perez both scored 8.5/11. The 3rd place
was shared by a lot of players, but best on tiebreak was Cori
Solutions 27
Jorge with 8/11.
In the European Women’s Championship in Batumi, the
leader is Nino Batsiashvilli with a fantastic score of 8/9.
Zhukova is in second position with 7.5/9, but there are still 2
rounds to go and a surprise might still happen.
The main event of the next week will be the French league,
with a lot of 2700+ players participating. The first round is
already tomorrow.
As usual, we hope you will enjoy our weekly issue of Top GM
secrets!
Two best games of the past week queenside first.
8...Qe7 A typical move, but I don’t think that it is the best for
Black now. [8...b6 with the idea of playing Bb7 next and then
(1) Grischuk, Alexander (2780) c5.; Or maybe even 8...a5 taking the b4 square under control
- Giri, Anish (2776) [D45] and with the idea to play b6 later on looks like safer moves to
me.]
KM FIDE GP 2015(10.4),
9.a5 Now White often wants to play a6.
Best rating: 2737 9...a6 [Maybe Black should have tried immediately 9...Ne4 ]
10.Qb3! A strong move! White stops Black from playing e5
We are going to see a very interesting game with a too easily, which means that the bishop on c8 will remain very
disappointing end, as a draw was agreed in a very unclear passive.
position. Both Grischuk and Giri clearly had a disappointing 10...Ne4 [Black could have tried to anyway force things with
event, but the great fighting spirit never dies! 10...e5 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.Nxd5 (After 12.Bd2 12...e4 13.Ne1 Rd8
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 A lot of games on the top followed by Nf8-Ng6, the position is unclear.) 12...Nxd5
level start with this move order. 13.Qxd5 White is a clear pawn up, but Black is winning 2 tempi
for development now. 13...Nf6 14.Qa2 Be6 but even here
4...c6 We are back in the Slav.
White seems to be better after 15.b3 and pawn is a pawn.]
5.e3 Nbd7 6.Be2 There are small differences between 6.Bd3
11.Nd2 A very logical move. In case White can get rid of the
and 6. Be2, but these are nuances.
knight on e4 he is going to be clearly better.
6...Bd6 7.O-O O-O
11...f5 This move has to be played. [11...Nxc3 12.bxc3 This kind
of position is always better for White.]
12.f4! A very strong move in my opinion. White could have
tried many other ideas like Ndxe4 and then f3, but I think
Grischuk’s play against the bishop on c8 is very smart.
12...Rb8 A prophylactical move, but maybe the direct
12...Ndf6 was a simpler solution.
13.Ndxe4 dxe4 [After 13...fxe4 14.Bd2 gives White a big
positional advantage. Black has no play and White can think
8.a4!? Very original play. Knowing that Black’s main idea is about playing on both flanks.]
usually to play e5, Grischuk wants to gain some space on the
14.Bd2 Developing before the action starts. often be found in such strcutures.
20.d5!? Of course, White should not wait any longer with the
action!
14...g5?! A very aggressive move, but Black is just damaging

his own position. [Much more natural was 14...c5 15.Na4 cxd4
16.exd4 Nf6 17.Nb6 Bd7 and the position is better for White, 20...gxf4 [I think the main move should have been 20...cxd5
but things are far from clear.] and White has a lot of different options here: 21.Rad1!?
preparing to play cxd5. (In case of the immediate 21.cxd5
15.g3 A solid move. [White could have won a pawn after
21...Nxd5 22.Nxd5 exd5 23.Qxd5 Black has the very strong
15.fxg5 15...Qxg5 16.c5 Bc7 17.Qxe6+ Kh8 but Black is going
23...Rd8! and the position is very unclear.; 21.Bxf6 It is clearly
to be fast now with Nf6 and some play on the kingside, which
a hard decision to give up the dark squared bishop. 21...Rxf6
might compensate being a pawn down.]
22.cxd5 gxf4 23.gxf4 e5 and again the position is far from clear.)
15...h6 Black is trying to keep his structure together. 21...Rd8 22.cxd5 and White has some initiative.]
16.Na4 Kh7 Preparing to play on the kingside. 21.gxf4 Ng4 A slightly strange decision, since Black is closing
17.Nb6 [Maybe White could even avoid the exchange of his own play! [21...Rg8 looks more natural.]
knights and first play 17.Kh1 but probably Black doesn’t have 22.Bxg4 fxg4 Black’s king’s position is very open now.
anything better than to play Nf6 anyway and we would be
back to the position of the game.]
17...Nf6 [Now Black had another opportunity: 17...Nxb6
18.axb6 c5 but White is probably still better after 19.d5 but
again, things are far from clear to me.]
18.Kh1 Bd7 19.Bc3 White’s idea is clearly to push d5 at some
point, after which Black’s position could fall apart.
19...Be8 Typical play from Black. Bd7-Be8-Bh5 ideas can
23.Qc2? A very strange move. [Why not play 23.c5 23...Bxc5 31...Be7 [In case of 31...Bxd5 32.cxd5 Rxd5? White is almost
24.dxe6 Rf5 25.Be5 and I think it is very clear that White is winning after 33.Qc4!]
much better.] 32.Qc2 What a strange draw offer! White is clearly better
23...Bg6 Black is back into the game. here and it is hard to see where the risk is if he continued
24.Rad1 Rbd8 The black king is more or less safe now and playing... This draw offer is also very untypical of Grischuk,
the black pieces went around the white knight on b6, which who is usually a great fighter. A slightly sad end of the game,
went from being a fantastic knight to a rather useless one. but on the other hand we just saw 30 very interesting moves
with a lot of different ideas. 1/2-1/2
25.b4 Grischuk keeps on trying to create something.
25...c5 Again I am not sure at all what Giri is doing. [25...cxd5
looks much more natural. 26.cxd5 Bf5 and Black’s position
looks very safe.]
26.bxc5 Bxc5 27.Qe2 Now White is left with a strong d-pawn.
27...Bf5 28.Be5 Rg8 Black is preparing to play g3 at some
point.
29.Rg1 and of course White avoids it.
29...Qf7 30.dxe6 It is a good choice to open the position,
although it is a bit of a pity to lose the passed pawn on the
d-file.
30...Bxe6
31.Nd5! An excellent move, using the fact that Black can’t win
the pawn on d5.
7...Bb6! The correct retreat. Black is sometimes afraid of
(2) Yu Yangyi (2723) the pin after Bg5, which would not be so dangerous with
- Ding Liren (2757) [C65] the bishop on f8. [7...Bf8 is wrong because of 8.Bc4! and
suddenly Black faces some unpleasant problems around the
ch-CHN 2015(3.6), GM Csaba Balogh f7 square. Ng5 and Qb3 are threatening. With the bishop on
2015.05.20 Best rating: 2672
b6, Black could more easily defend with Rf8.]
8.Bc4 Black was threatening with a5, destroying the healthy
The Chinese players are improving very fast! They are getting pawnchain on the queenside. Now he is ready to meet it with
stronger and stronger and it is very interesting to follow their b5.
National Championship. Let’s take a look at two of their
8...d6 [8...h6 is another option, preventing Bg5 and Ng5.]
highest rated players.
9.a4 a5 [I had two games, one with both colors on 9...a6
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 Ding Liren is considered to be
where the idea would be to keep the pawn structure more
Caro-Kann expert, but it looks like even he is switching to the
flexible.]
rock solid Berlin Wall.
10.b5 Ne7 The knight’s maneuver to g6 is a typical plan in this
4.d3 No Berlin endgame today...
opening. That could be followed by Be6, trading the bishops
4...Bc5 5.c3 O-O 6.O-O Re8 My favorite move as well with and solving all the problems.
both colors, although 6...d6 is more frequently seen.
11.Qb3 Rf8! looks a bit passive, but Black must solve the
direct problems. We should check what happens if White
tries to get some direct benefits with concrete moves: [11...d5
weakens the squares too much.. . 12.exd5 Nexd5 13.Re1
putting pressure on the e5 pawn. Bg5 is another unpleasant
threat, pinning both knights. Black is not well prepared to
deal with all these ideas.]
12.Nbd2 The standard development. [12.Bg5 is simply met
by 12...Ng6 followed by h6, unpinning the knight. 13.Nh4 is
the standard move to avoid h6, but Black is completely fine
7.b4 I have seen this tricky move first time by Harikrishna and after 13...Nf4; 12.Ng5 is met by
then I played it myself also as White. The idea is to grab some
space on the queenside and to ask the black bishop, which
diagonal he wants to choose.
reasons... [14...dxe5 does not work, since after 15.Ba3! the
d2 knight is protected.]
15.Nxe5 dxe5 16.Nf3 [White cannot make use of the
undeveloped queenside pieces with 16.Ba3? 16...Qxd2
17.Bxf8 Kxf8 18.Bxf7 The idea could be some quick
penetration with Rad1, but Black quickly consolidates
with 18...Qg5e]
16...Qf6! An obvious move! Black protects both the f7 and
12...Qe8! temporarily running into passivity, but Black sends the e5 pawns and brings his queen into tha game, but it
back the knight with h6, followed by Ng6 and Be6. These required some calculation...
Ng5 ideas should be connected with f2-f4, quickly opening the
17.Bg5 [17.Ba3 does not make much sense anymore,
f-file, but now the bishop on b6 prevents this plan.]
because the f7 square is well protected. This bishop should
12...Ng6 13.d4 White should challenge Black in the center if rather guard the f4 square. 17...Re8]
he wants to fight for an advantage. An even slower plan could
17...Qg6 18.Be7 This was the whole point behind White’s
be to play Re1, followed by Bf1 and Nc4 or a direct one is to
setup. The rook and the e5 pawn are hanging, Black seems
take on e5 followed by Ba3, sending the rook away from the
to be in deep trouble, however the counterplay is coming
guarding of the f7 pawn.
veryfast!
13...Nh5! Another known plan from many Ruy Lopez lines

and Italian openings. Black organizes his counterplay on 18...Nf4! 19.Nh4 [19.g3 is even worse 19...Qxe4! 20.gxf4
the kingside with Qf6 and Nf4, which could be even more Qxf3 21.Bxf8 Bh3! and White collapses. 22.Bd5 e4i]
powerful now because the white pieces are slightly driven to 19...Qg4 A difficult decision. Black wanted to keep an eye
the queenside. on the g2 square, he is threatening with g5. [However it was
14.dxe5 Nxe5! A necessary recapture because of concrete even stronger to play 19...Qh5 The point is to overprotect the
f7 pawn in order to save the rook with Re8. 20.Bxf8 (20.g3 21.Ng2 Nh3+! 22.Kh1
now can be met by 20...Re8! 21.Ba3 Bh3 It is clear that Black
has a crushing attack here. 22.Rfe1 g5!i is game over. Black
eliminates the last defender of the white king and is going
to mate with Qf3.) 20...Qxh4 Black simply wants to take on
f8 and White has no time to save the bishop because the
consequences after 21.Ba3 are even worse: 21...Qg4 22.g3
Qf3 23.gxf4 Bh3i]
20.g3 [20.Bxf8 20...Qxh4 transposes to the 19... Qh5 line.]
20...g5!? Another very hard moment! Black continues
playing on mate with the Qf3-Bh3 plan, but first he needs 22...Qf3! Completely squeezing White into the corner at the
to capture the knight. [However it was objectively better cost of an exchange. This is something that a human does not
again to play 20...Nh3+! 21.Kg2 (21.Kh1 21...Nxf2+ 22.Rxf2 start to calculate, but he feels that the compensation will be
Bxf2 23.Bxf8 Qxe4+ 24.Ng2 Bh3i) 21...Nxf2! Qh3 and Qxe4 more than enough.
are decisive threats, therefore White is forced to play 22.Rxf2 23.Bxf8 Kxf8 24.Qa2 [Getting rid of the queens with 24.Qd1
Qh3+ 23.Kg1 Bxf2+ 24.Kxf2 Qxh2+ 25.Ng2 Bh3 26.Rg1 does not solve the problems. White remains busted after
24...Bg4! 25.Qxf3 Bxf3i followed by Rd8-d2 with complete
domination of the pieces. White is ties up and he has no
counterplay at all despite the extra exchange.]
24...Bg4! Developing and keeping the queen on f3 against
the Be2 threat.
25.Rae1? White does not pay enough attention to the
importance of the d-file. [The only move was 25.Qd2
although the position remains extremely unpleasant to play
with White, but at least the game goes on. 25...Re8e looks
And the key move of the line is 26...Rfd8!! 27.Bxd8 Rxd8 The strong with the plan of Kg7 followed by Re7-d7.]
rook joins the attack along the d-file. White does not have
adequate defense. An attempt to close the d-file with 28.Bd5 25...Rd8! [The direct 25...Nxf2+ is premature. 26.Rxf2 Qxf2
loses to 28...Rd6!i and Rf6 next wins.] 27.Qxf2 Bxf2 28.Rf1 White gets counterplay on f7. However
with the rook on d8, this line does not save White because of
Rd2 or Rd1.]
26.Be2 [After 26.Qc2 26...Nxf2+ works already: 27.Rxf2
Qxf2 28.Qxf2 Bxf2 29.Rf1 Rd2i (29...Rd1i ) ]
26...Nxf2+ 27.Kg1 [27.Rxf2 27...Qxf2 28.Rf1
Black has two very nice wins here: (28.Bxg4 28...Qxa2i)

28...Bxe2! The human win. (28...Rd1! is actually even
stronger! 29.Rxd1 Bh3i) 29.Rxf2 Rd1+ 30.Ne1 Bxf2 White
stands in too many motifs. 31.Kg2 (31.Qxe2 31...Rxe1+
32.Qxe1 Bxe1i) 31...Bxe1 32.Qxe2 Rd2i]
27...Qxc3! The last precision! It serves the invasion of the
rook to d2!
28.Rxf2 Bxf2+ 29.Kxf2 Rd2 [White resigned in view of
29...Rd2 30.Qb1 Qf3+ 31.Kg1 Rxe2 32.Rxe2 Qxe2i with 3
extra pawns and a superior bishop.] 0-1
David vs. Goliath In this double-edged position Black erred with 24...Qg5? and
got mated after 25.h4! Nxf1 26.Rxf1 Qh5 27.Qc7+ Kg8 28.Qf7X
Black scored on par with White this week largely due to
Mariam Tevzadze (1834)’s feats. She defeated WGM Inga
Khurtsilava (2212) and WIM Marina Baraeva (2204) at the
European Women’s Chess Championship.
In other news: how much time does one need to improve
Peter Zhdanov from a 2114 to a 2540 rating? Obviously, most players never
Chief Editor of Pogonina.com make it. GM Mohamad Al-Modiakhi pointed out that it
took him 13 years. Meanwhile, 14-year old Jergus Pechac
In this entertaining column we are reviewing the most from Slovakia managed to achieve this breakthrough in...one
unexpected results that occurred last week. Players usually month! Obviously, quite a few upsets happened along the
face opponents of a similar level. Considerably less frequent way: Individual Calculations April 2015 - Pechac, Jergus
are situations when a significantly lower-rated player Top-10:
Zabystrzan (2321) - Havelka (1805), 0-1, 516 points
The previous week brought us 15 upsets. Masrhi (1865) - Ahmed (2346), 1-0, 481 points
The number of moves ranges from 24 in Perez (1543) - Bekentayev (1926) - Amanov (2380), 1-0, 454 points
Campora (1847), 1-0 to 60 in WGM Daulyte (2402) - WFM Paveto (2400) - Pereira (1955), 0-1, 445 points
Sviridova (2087). Khurtsilava (2212) - Tevzadze (1834), 0-1, 378 points
Baraeva (2204) - Tevzadze (1834), 0-1, 370 points
The highest-profile upset of the week was FM Decoster (2303)
Decoster (2303) - Fedorchuk (2657), 1-0, 354 points
- GM Fedorchuk (2657), 1-0.
Mammadova (1862) - Unuk (2213), 1-0, 351 points
The ”fatality” nomination goes to Chamlian (1714) - Garcia la Casas (1834) - Andrade (2177), 1-0, 343 points
Rosa (2017) for this dramatic finale: Henriquez Villagra (2478) - Michailov (2137), 0-1, 341 points

Young & Talented 9...Ke8 10.Nc3 Ne7 11.h3 Ng6 A typical knight maneuver to
avoid some g4 with the gain of a tempo sometimes.
12.b3 Bd7 13.Bb2
GM Etienne Bacrot
Best rating: 2749
(3) Xiong, Jeffery (2497)

- Batista, Lazaro (2684) [C67]
24th Chicago Open(9.1), 13...Nf4 An interesting concept to go to e6 with the knight.
2015.05.25 Bruzon’s compatriot, Dominguez, also used it during the last
FIDE Grand Prix against Caruana.
Whatever the quality of the game, I have to show you the win 14.Rd4 [14.Kh2!? 14...Be7 15.g3 Ne6 16.Rd3 It is maybe a
which made Jeffery Xiong a Grandmaster at 14 years old! His slight improvement to have the pawn on g3 but the position
triumph in the Chicago open, ahead of 24 GM, also brought remains unclear.]
him a nice paycheck of 10.000$ !
14...Ne6 15.Rd2 Rd8 16.Rad1 Be7 17.Ne2 c5 Black wants
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 The Berlin is a very safe to keep the pieces and avoids Nfd4.
opening but the strong Cuban, who - like his opponent - was in
18.Nc3 Bc6 19.Nd5 White needs his knight on this strong
a must-win situation (since it would bring 5 times more cash
square but it doesnt bring any advantage.
than a draw), knew that he would get his chances anyway.
19...h5
4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+
Kxd8 9.Rd1+ Not the most played move in this theoretical
endgame. White should prefer to put the a1 rook on d1, but
at least it forces Black’s king to go to the kingside. This week
Wei Yi won a very nice game against Ding Liren and later also
clinched the Chinese title after [9.h3 9...Bd7 (9...Ke8 10.Nc3
h5 is the most popular and solid line.) 10.Rd1 Be7 11.g4 Nh4
12.Nxh4 Bxh4 13.Nd2 Kc8 14.Nf3 Be7 15.Rd3 h6 16.Nd4 b6
17.Rf3!? Be8 18.Nf5 Bf8 19.b3 with pressure.]
20.c4 I think White needs to put his pawn on h4 and later find 33.axb3 Kb7 34.Nde3
a way to push his f-pawn. [20.h4 ]
20...Rd7 [20...h4 is a more precise move order.]
21.Rd3 Bd8 I would prefer to play h4 and then Kd8-c8.
22.Nd2 h4 23.Nf1 This knight maneuver shows that White
doesn’t find a plan.
23...Bg5 24.Nh2 Rh5 25.Ng4 Kd8 26.Bc3 Kc8 Black’s
pieces are all on their best positions and his position is
preferable. Now White understands that he can’t wait and
seeks some pieces exchange. 34...Re7?! To exchange one rook would make life more
difficult for White. [34...Rxd3! 35.Rxd3 Rh8 gives Black a clear
edge. The b3 pawn is difficult to defend and White cannot
take the h4 pawn: 36.Nf5 Ra8! 37.Nxh4 Ra2+ 38.Kg3 (38.Kf1
38...Nf4 39.Re3 Bd7e) 38...g5! 39.Nf5 Nf4 and Black wins
the rook or mates. ]
35.Nd5 Re8 36.b4! White gets rid of his main weakness.
36...cxb4 [36...Bxd5 37.cxd5 Nf4 38.Rc3 (38.R3d2!? )
38...cxb4 39.Rc4 Ng6 40.Rdc1 Rc8 41.f4 seems ok for White.]
27.Bd2 The problem of this move is that Black’s strong knight 37.Nxb4 Rhh8 Now that the files are open this rook should
gets easy access to the d4 square. also be brought back to the game.
27...b6 28.Bxg5 Rxg5 29.Kh2 A strange move. It was better 38.Ne3 Ba4?! Once again, Black should exchange one pair of
to start with f3, followed by Kf2. rooks to keep real winning chances. [38...Nc5 39.Ra3 Ra8=+
(39...Rxe5?? loses to the nice tactical motif 40.Ra7+!) ]
29...Rh5 30.f3 a5! It is typical to provoke weaknesses on
White’s queenside. 39.Ra1 Ra8 40.Rda3 Exchanging all rooks would be fine for
White.
31.Kg1 a4 32.Kf2 axb3 It was not necessary to hurry with this
exchange. 40...Nc5 41.Nbd5 Rhe8 [41...Ra5 was the last chance for
Black to push. 42.Nc3 Rha8 43.Nxa4 Nxa4 44.f4 Nc5]
42.f4 54...Rxh3 55.Rf5
42...g5? This mistake is probably based on a tactical 55...Rd3+?? A terrible blunder. It was quite easy to achieve a
oversight. The idea behind it is very strange because Black draw with the forced move [55...Rg3! 56.c5 (56.Rxf7+ 56...Ka6
just destroys his kingside when he should play on the other The h- and g-pawns will soon be exchanged and a draw
wing. [42...Ra5 is still a normal move.] agreed.) 56...h3 57.c6+ Kb6 58.c7 Rd3+ 59.Ke7 (59.Ke5
43.fxg5 Rxe5 44.Nc3 Now it is already Black that should 59...Kxc7 60.Rxf7+ Kd8 61.Rh7 Ke8=) 59...Kxc7 60.Kxf7 h2=]
seek equality. 56.Ke7 h3 [56...Rg3 57.Kxf7 h3 58.g6 h2 59.Rh5h]
44...Nd3+!? The beginning of tactical lines which lead to a 57.Rxf7! h2 58.Rh7 Rd2 59.g6 Rf2 60.g7 Re2+ 61.Kd6
drawn rook ending where Black should be very precise. Rd2+ 1-0
45.Ke2 Rae8 46.Nxa4 Rxe3+ 47.Kd2 Re2+ 48.Kxd3
R8e3+ 49.Kd4 c5+ 50.Nxc5+ bxc5+ 51.Kxc5 Rxa3 52.Rxa3
Rxg2 53.Kd6 A very normal move, but another way to pose
some defensive problems is [53.Rf3!? 53...Rxg5+ 54.Kd4+=]
53...Rg3 54.Ra5 [54.Ra4 doesn’t pose much problems.
54...Rxh3 55.Rb4+ Kc8 56.c5 Re3 57.Rxh4 Re6+ 58.Kd5 Rg6
59.Rh5 Kd7 60.Ke5 Ke7=]
Puzzle section
(4) Giri, A(2776)-Tomashevsky, E(2749) (6) Caruana, F(2803)-Jakovenko, D(2738)
Khanty Mansijsk Grand Prix, 2015.05.21 Khanty Mansijsk Grand Prix, 2015.05.22
1. h 1... i
(5) Grischuk, A(2780)-Karjakin, S(2753) (7) Jakovenko, D(2738)-Gelfand, B(2744)

Khanty Mansijsk Grand Prix, 2015.05.22 Khanty Mansijsk Grand Prix, 2015.05.24
1. h 1... =
(8) Pichot, A(2504)-Granda Zuniga, J(2650) (10) Shen, V(2394)-Kamsky, G(2673)
American Continental, 2015.05.17 Chicago Open, 2015.05.24
1. h 1... i
(9) Granda Zuniga, J(2650)-Hansen, E(2580) (11) Naroditsky, D(2622)-Pancevski, F(2494)

1. h 1. h
(12) Plenkovic, Z(2385)-Kozul, Z(2620)
Croatian Teams, 2015.05.23
1... i
(13) Zhao Jun(2613)-Lin Chen(2460)

Chinese Championship, 2015.05.25
1. h
Endgame section chances. Let’s say in case we would exchange the e-pawns,
the position would be a theoretical draw.
49...Bb2 Another very good move by Dominguez. The black
(14) Tomashevsky, Evgeny (2749) bishop will take a perfect position on c1 and soon we are going
- Dominguez Perez, Leinier (2734) to see why.
50.Ke4 Ke7 Black is placing his king to f6, even closer to the
KM FIDE GP 2015(8.2), place of action.
Best rating: 2737 51.Bh5 Kf6 52.g4 White needs to start pushing the pawns.
52...Ke7 53.Kf3
During the next 50 moves, we will see a great defense of 53...Bc1! Another very good move. Now whenever White is
a difficult endgame by Dominguez, who does everything going to put g5 and try to play e4 and Kg4, Black is going to
perfectly and gives us a good example on how to play such answer with e5.
opposite colored bishop endgames! 54.Bg6 Bd2 55.Bc2 Kf6 56.Bd3 Bc1 Black keeps on
47...h4! A great move according to an old rule which says waiting and White doesn’t seem to have a winning plan.
that when you are worse in an endgame, you should try to 57.Bb1 Bd2 58.Be4 Bc1 59.Bc2 Bd2 60.Bd3 Bc1 61.Bb5
exchange as many pawns as possible. Bd2 62.Bd7 Ke7 63.Bc8 Kf6 64.Ba6 Bc1 65.Bc4 Bd2
48.Bxg6 [After 48.g4 Black reaches a draw by playing 48...g5! 66.Bb3 Bc1 67.Ba2 Bd2 68.Bc4 Bc1 69.g5+ Finally
49.fxg5 Ke7 and all Black needs to do is to keep on moving Tomashevsky decides to do something.
with his bishop on the diagonal a1-h8. The position is a draw.] 69...Ke7 But it is still unclear what is next?!
48...hxg3 49.hxg3 White is 2 pawns up, but the opposite 70.Ke2 Ba3 71.Bb3 Bc1 72.Kd3 Ba3 73.Kd2 Bb4+
colored bishop endgame gives Black excellent drawing 74.Ke2 Ba3 75.Kd3 Bc1 76.Bd1 Kf7 77.Bh5+ Ke7 78.Ke2
Kf8 79.Kf3 Bd2 80.Ke4 Bc1 81.Kd4 Bb2+ 82.Kd3 Bc1
83.Ke2 Kg7 84.Kf3 Bd2 85.Bg4 Kf7 86.Bh3 Bc1 After
moving around for a long time and not being able to find any
winning plan, White tries his last chance.
94...Kxe4 Black is in time to hold the white pawns.

95.g6 Bc3 96.Kg5 f6 is a threat, so Black needs to hurry back
with his king.
96...Kd5 97.Kh6 [97.f6 97...Ke6 with a draw.]
87.Bxe6+ [87.e4 leads to an immediate draw since after
87...e5! the g5 pawn is falling.] 97...Ke4 The right move as White was threating to play g7.
87...Kxe6 88.e4 3 pawns against the bishop looks 98.Kg5 Kd5 99.f6 There is no more hope.
interesting, but in fact it is nothing but a draw. 99...Ke6 100.g7 Bxf6+ 101.Kg6 Bxg7 Taking the last pawn.
88...Bd2 Black correctly keeps on waiting. What seemed to be so easy was actually great play by
Dominguez. A very good example on what to do in similar
89.Kg4 Bc1 90.Kg3 [In case of 90.f5+ 90...Ke5 is the right endgames! 1/2-1/2
way to defend.]
90...Bd2 91.Kf3 Bc1 92.Kg4 Bd2 93.f5+ The last chance.
93...Ke5 94.Kh5 [Another try for White could be 94.f6
94...Ke6 95.Kh5 but now Black goes to the other diagonal
to keep on waiting. 95...Bc3! 96.Kg6 Bb2 and White has no
further plan to improve the position. 97.Kg7 Bc3 The only
chance is 98.Kg8 but Black still holds easily with 98...Bxf6!
99.gxf6 Kxf6 followed by Ke5 with a draw.]
(15) Jobava, Baadur (2699)
- Nakamura, Hikaru (2799)
Khanty Mansiysk Grand Prix, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.05.22 Best rating: 2672
69...Ra6! with the idea of playing g6 and Kg7.

70.Rf5 [70.Rg5 70...g6 White cannot use his king, Black
slowly makes progress like it happened in the game.]
70...g6 71.Rf6 A clever defensive attempt. White would like
to pass the rook’s rank with the king by offering the trade
of the rooks. The trade leads to an easy theoretical draw,
however Black is not forced to do it...
Black is two pawns up, but the doubled g-pawns should
deprive him from realistic winning chances in case of best
defense by White. Black should pin his hopes to a well-timed
knight exchange, transposing to a rook endgame.
68.Nxg6? White wins back one of the pawns, but he
transposes into a lost, but very instructive rookendgame.
[White should have waited for instance with 68.Rd2 and see
how Black intends to make progress. 68...Nf4 is met by
69.Rd8+ Kh7 70.Nf7! creating a mate net. White should
hold.] 71...Ra7+! 72.Ke6 Kg7! White faces the same problem as
68...Rxg6 69.Rxh5 Black is winning here. The reason is the before. His rook is misplaced on f6, it stands in the motif of
horizontally cut off white king. He cannot pass the rook’s rank Ra6, therefore he must lose a very important tempo, which
and Black advances his pawn square by square. Nakamura allows Black to occupy the ideal position with his rook...
realizes his advantage with perfect technique. 73.Rf3 [If the rook was somewhere else than f6, then 73.Ke5
would hold the draw, but now it drops the rook after
73...Ra5+]
73...Ra5! Nakamura uses the same idea again! We have the 78...Rh4 79.Rf1 Otherwise Rf4 check cuts the king away.
same position as before, just all pieces are a rank ahead. 79...Rh3! 80.Rf2 g4 81.Kf4 Kh4i etc...]
74.Rf7+ [Waiting with 74.Rf2 does not change anything, since 77...Rh4 78.Rg1 Rf4+ 79.Ke5
Black makes progress with the same motif: 74...g5 and after
75.Rf5 Ra6+! 76.Ke5 Kg6i]
74...Kh6 75.Rf1 The frontal attack is a very important
defensive resource in many rook endgame with 1 vs 0 pawn.
The idea is to send the black king behind the pawn with
checks and then stay in front of the pawn. However it
does not help here. [Another defensive attempt is 75.Rf8
75...g5 76.Rh8+ Kg6 77.Rg8+ Kh5 78.Rh8+ Kg4 79.Rh1
Kf3i Black wins easily.]
75...g5 76.Kf6 Creating the mate threat in one move. 79...Kg6! Taking control over the f5 and f6 squares. Black
[76.Rh1+ 76...Kg6 77.Rg1 This is the standard defense with again wants to drop his rook to the a-file and avoids Kf6. White
the frontal attack, however with the horizantally cut off king cannot prevent it...
it does not help. Black makes progresswith 77...Ra4! and 80.Rh1 Ra4 White resigned. He cannot fight against the
continues with the same method as before.] technique employed by Nakamura. 0-1
76...Ra4! Black prevents the mate and keeps the king

cut horizontally. He is also threatening with Rf4, trading
rooks. [76...g4? spoils the advantage because of 77.Rh1+ Rh5
78.Rg1=]
77.Rh1+ [Preventing Rf4 with 77.Kf5 loses to 77...Kh5!
78.Rh1+ (78.Rf2 78...Kh4i followed by g4 wins easily.)
Chess and the City. a common delay of live transmission but was not practiced
in our tournament until round 8. Looking at Sandu’s current
Good, better, Georgia - Part 2 position, I feel sad and some taste of unfairness about the
whole issue. It must also be very hard psychologically to
continue playing after you basically get accused by the other
players. She lost her last 2 games in a row, yet she is likely to
need only one more point to qualify. I bet this will be the last
international tournament without precautions regarding this
topic. Then at least everybody can play calmly and should not
feel anxious in case of a player scoring too well. As for me I
Best rating: 2493
managed to win today and recovered from a terrible start to
come back to plus 3. There are two more games to go and you
will get a final report next week.
After 9 tough rounds we have a sole leader and that is Nino
Batsiashvili from Georgia, who has the stunning score of
8/9. Mihaela Sandu from Romania had the most incredible
start in this tournament, as she seemed unstoppable after
5 rounds with 100 percent. Some of the participants had
concerns about her performance and asked the arbiters for
action. In round 6 the live transmission of her game against
the current leader was cut and she eventually lost in a tough
but good game. In round 7 former World Champion Antoaneta
Stefanova, who was paired against Sandu, asked the ECU
president Zurab Azmaiparashvili for a 15 min delay of all live
games. This request was not accepted and Stefanova lost her
game after a huge blunder in time trouble. On the free day
two letters were published. The first one was officially asking
for a delay of all the games and was signed by 32 players. The
second letter, which was asking to cut the live transmission
in Sandu’s game, was not approved. The whole issue about
cheating is of course nasty and seems to be a big problem
in nowadays’ chess society. I can understand that one may
worry when some lower rated player comes up with such a
performance. The usual measure taken by FIDE nowadays is
Clash of the Titans 7...c5 An active move. An alternative was the strong [7...c6!
in order to play against bishop on g2, which is placed much
worse than on d3 in Carlsbad structures.]
(16) Lasker, Edward 8.a3 This looks a bit slow. More active was to just develop
- Marshall, Frank James[E20] the pieces, for example [8.Nf3 8...h6 (8...Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qa5
10.O-O!C and thanks to his quick development White is going
New York, 1941 to use the power of the two bishops and the central pawns.)
9.Bxf6 Qxf6 10.O-O Be6 11.Rc1 (11.dxc5 11...Bxc3 12.bxc3
GM Kamil Miton Nd7 Nxc5-Rc8 next with a typical equal position.) 11...Bxc3
Best rating: 2655
12.Rxc3 c4 13.Ne5 with the idea to destroy Black’s central
In this issue I would like to show one of the many games pawns after e4 or b3. 13...Nc6 14.Nxc6 bxc6 15.b3 cxb3
between two American masters. We should note that Edward 16.axb3 Bd7 17.e3 with equal play.]
Lasker was not related to the second World Champion 8...Bxc3+ 9.bxc3
Emanuel.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.g3 O-O 5.Bg2 d5 6.cxd5 A
premature move, but that is probably because the Catalan
structures after dxc4 were not very well-known yet. [6.Nf3
6...dxc4 7.Ne5 (7.O-O 7...Nc6 and Black’s main idea is to push
e5 at some moment and equalize in the center.) 7...Nc6! A
typical strong move which prevents White from recapturing
the c4 pawn and keeps the advantage in the center. If White
want to take another pawn on c6 and plays 8.Nxc6 bxc6
9.Bxc6 Rb8VBlack gets active play.]
9...cxd4?! I don’t like this move. Black could organize typical
6...exd5 7.Bg5
counterplay against the c3 pawn. [9...Qa5! 10.Bd2 looks a bit
passive. (
a) 10.Bxf6 10...Qxc3+ 11.Kf1 gxf6 12.dxc5 (12.Bxd5
12...Rd8=+) 12...Qxc5 13.Qxd5 Qxd5 14.Bxd5 Rd8= and
only Black can be better here.;
b) 10.Nf3!? 10...Ne4 (10...Qxc3+ 11.Bd2C) 11.O-OC)
10...Ne4 11.Nf3 (11.c4 11...Nxd2 12.Qxd2 Qxd2+ 13.Kxd2 dxc4!
(13...cxd4 14.cxd5 Rd8 preventing Nf3. 15.Rc1! preparing Nf3.
(15.Kd3!? is a bit risky because there are still many pieces thanks to the strong bishop on g2.
on the board! 15...Bf5+ 16.Kxd4 Nc6+A) 15...Nd7 16.Nf3 16...Nc6 is probably not accurate, since now the knight on
Nf6 17.Nxd4 Nxd5 18.e3 and because of the strong knight c6 and the pawn on b7 will stay under the bishop’s pressure.
on d4 and White’s more active pieces this endgame should Black could have played [16...Ne6 The idea of this move is
be unpleasant for Black.) 14.dxc5 Rd8+ 15.Kc3 Na6 16.c6 bxc6 to build a more solid b6-Nc5 setup and empty the bishop’s
17.Nf3 (17.Bxc6 17...Rb8) 17...Nc5V) 11...c4 ( diagonal! 17.Qxd5
a) 11...Bg4 12.Ne5C;
b) 11...Nc6 12.dxc5 Qxc5 (12...Nxc3 13.Qc1 d4 14.Nxd4
Nxd4 15.Bxc3 Qxc5 16.Qb2) 13.O-O Nxc3 14.Bxc3 Qxc3
15.Qxd5 Be6)
12.O-O Nc6 (12...Nxc3 13.Qe1) 13.Qc2 Re8 (13...Bf5 14.Nh4!)]
10.cxd4 Nc6 11.Bxf6 Qxf6 12.e3+= White has a stable plus
because of the isolated pawn on d5.
12...Re8 13.Ne2
17...Re7! (17...Rab8 18.Qa5! and after 18...a6 it will not be
possible to play b6-Nc5.; 17...b6 18.Qxa8 Rxa8 19.Bxa8 Nc5
It is clear that the two rooks are stronger than the queen and
the b7 pawn can also be a potential weakness.) ]
17.Qxd5 Rad8 18.Qb5 Re7 19.Rac1 Rc7
13...Bg4! A good and active setup for Black.

14.O-O [14.Ra2 The idea of this move is to prevent the
exchange of the d-pawns. 14...Rad8 15.O-O h5! A strong
and typical move which should help Black to find some
counterplay on the kingside.] 20.Rc4! += A strong move because the white rook is going to
14...Bxe2 15.Qxe2 Nxd4 16.Qd1 Black managed to get rid play along the 4th rank.
of the weak pawn but White still keeps a symbolic advantage 20...g6 [20...Qd6!? ]
21.Bd5 [21.h4!? deserves attention, since this kind of move keeps the initiative.]
always improves the position because the idea is to play 26.Rd8+ Kg7
h5-h6 and weaken the black king.]
21...Qd6 22.Rd1 [22.Bxc6 22...bxc6 (22...Rxc6 23.Rd4c)
23.Qa5 (23.Qc5 23...Qxc5 24.Rxc5 Rd3=) 23...c5 24.Rfc1 Qe7!
and one weak pawn on c5 is not enough. 25.Rxc5? Rxc5
26.Qxc5 Rd1+! 27.Kg2 Qe4+; 22.Rc5 22...Ne7 23.Rxc7 Qxc7
24.Bxb7 (24.Bf3 24...b6=) 24...Rb8 25.Rb1 Nf5V]
22...Qxa3 23.Rxc6 Rxd5 [23...bxc6 24.Bxf7+ Kxf7 25.Qc4+
27.Qb4! h Qc3 28.Qf8+ Kf6 29.Rd4! Kg5 30.h4+ Kh5

31.Rd5+ and after 31...f5 White mates with 32. Rxf5 gxf5
33.Qxf5 Kh6 34.Qg5. 1-0
25...Rd5! (25...Kg7 26.Rxd8A) 26.Rxd5 cxd5 27.Qxc7+ Kf6

28.Qc6+ Kg7 29.Qxd5 a5 and the a-pawn gives Black enough
counterplay for a draw. The game should end after a
perpetual check somewhere.]
24.Rxd5 Qa1+? An unnecessary move, as it was more
important to control the a3-f8 diagonal. [24...Rxc6 25.Rd8+
(25.Qxb7 25...Rf6=) 25...Kg7 26.Qe5+ Rf6! and Black is fine.
27.g4 Qc1+ 28.Kg2 Qc6+e]
25.Kg2 Rxc6? The decisive mistake. Black could still
fight after [25...bxc6 26.Rd8+ Kg7 27.Qc5 h5 28.Qf8+ Kh7
29.Qg8+! otherwise Black would play Qg7! 29...Kh6 30.Rd4!
preventing Qg7 and threatening Qh8-Rg4. 30...f5 31.Qh8+
Rh7 32.Qf8+ Rg7 33.Rd8 Qa2 34.Qh8+ (34.Rd7 34...Qg8!)
34...Rh7 35.Qe5Cand White is not winning by force but he
(17) Kubbel (18) Jobava, B(2699)-Grischuk, A(2780)
1. h Khanty Mansyjsk GP, 2015.05.17
17...Rxg2+! 18.Kxg2 Qg3+ 19.Kh1 Qxh3+ 20.Kg1 Qg3+

21.Kh1 Qh3+ 22.Kg1 Qg3+ 23.Kh1 Qh3+ 1/2
(19) Agdestein, S(2620)-Hammer, JL(2665)
Scandinavian Masters, 2015.05.12
45...Rgc7! 46.Nc5 [46.Rxa6 46...Rc1#; 46.Qb2

46...Qxd3+i]
46...Qxh6! 47.Rxh6 Rxc5 48.Rxh7+ [48.Qb2 48...Rc1+
49.Qxc1 Rxc1+ 50.Kxc1 g3i] 48...Kxh7 49.Qe4+ Kh8i
(20) Hammer, JL(2665)-Grandelius, N(2623) (22) Matlakov, M(2694)-Popov, I(2648)
Scandinavian Masters, 2015.05.13 Russian Championship rapid, 2015.05.13
28.Bxf7+! Kg7 [28...Qxf7 29.Bxe5h; 28...Kxf7 28.Bh6!! Nxh7 29.gxh7! 1-0 [29.gxh7 29...f6 (29...Bxh6
29.Qd5+h (29.Ng5+ 29...Kg7 30.Nxh3h) ] 30.h8=Q#) 30.h8=Q+h]
29.Bh6+ [29.Bd5h ] (23) Paravyan, D(2469)-Demchenko, A(2589)
29...Kxf7 30.Ng5+ Ke8 31.Nxh3h Russian Championship rapid, 2015.05.13
(21) Fressinet, L(2712)-Hammer, JL(2665)
Scandinavian Masters rapid, 2015.05.15
22.Qxd6! Qg7 [22...Qxd6 23.Nf7+ Kg7 24.Nxd6h]

23.Qb6 h6 24.Ngf3h
42...Rxe4 43.Rh8 [43.Rxe4 43...Qf3+ 44.Kg1 Qxe4i]
43...Qf3+i
(24) Grachev, B(2666)-Levin, E(2518) (26) Motylev, A(2648)-Shimanov, A(2606)
13.Bxh7+! Kh8 [13...Kxh7 14.Ng5+ Kg8 (14...Kg6 15.Qd3+

30.g4! Qb5 [30...Rxe3 31.gxf5 Qxd4 32.Qxg6+!h;
Nf5 16.Qh3h) 15.Qh5 Bxc2 16.f5!h]
30...Bxg4 31.Qxg6+h; 30...Bd3 31.f5h]
14.Bd3h [14.Ng5h ]
31.gxf5 Qxd5 32.f6 1-0
(27) Malakhov, V(2702)-Iskusnyh, S(2465)
(25) Ponkratov, P(2610)-Savchenko, B(2556)
Russian rapid Championship, 2015.05.14
Russian Championship rapid, 2015.05.13
26.Rxc7!! Qxh7 [26...Rxc7 27.Ne5+! fxe5 (27...Kf8

26.Rxd5!! cxd5 27.Bb4+ Re7 [27...Kg8 28.Qh7#] 28.Bb4+h) 28.Rf3+h]
28.Qh7!h [28.Qxg5 28...hxg5 29.Rh3h] 27.Rxd7+ Kg6 28.Ne5+! [28.Rxh7 28...Kxh7 29.Rxe6h]
28...fxe5 29.Rg3+ Kf5 30.Rxh7h
(28) Platov
1.Bc3+! Kg8 2.h7+! Kxh7 3.Nf6+ Kh6 [3...Kh8 4.Ne4+h]

4.Bd2+! Qg5 [4...Kg7 5.Nh5+h]
5.Be3!! a5 [5...Qxe3 6.Ng4+ Kg5 7.Nxe3h]
6.Kd7!! Qxe3 [6...a4 7.Bxg5+ Kxg5 8.Ke6 a3 9.Ne4+ Kf4
10.Nc3h]
7.Ng4+ Kg5 8.Nxe3 Kf6 [8...a4 9.Ke6 a3 10.f6 a2 11.Nc2h]
9.Kd6! a4 10.Kd5! a3 11.Ke4! a2 12.Nc2h
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
From the World’s top events there is only one to be written
Editorial Preface 2 about, and that is the French Team Championship, where a
lot of top chess players are playing, such as for example So,
Giri, Jakovenko, Wojtaszek, Vachier Lagrave and many more.
As usual the very strong team from Clichy (So, Jakovenko,
Vachier Lagrave, Fressinet...) defends the title but this time
David vs. Goliath 10 the team of Bischwiller (Giri, Naiditsch, Bacrot, Edouard,
Ragger...) is a very serious competitor. Both teams managed
Young & Talented 11 to win the first 5 rounds and in the 6th it came to the direct
encounter, where Bischwiller managed to decide the match
Puzzle section 14 in its favor with wins from Giri and Bacrot, while Skripchenko
scored Clichy’s only win.
Endgame section 17 In the current issue you will to find the best games from the
French league, combined with a lot of other interesting chess
Chess and the City. material!
Good, Better, Georgia Final III 21 Enjoy!
Clash of the Titans 22 Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh
Solutions 26
Two best games of the past week 11...f6 The main move for Black, because in case he would let
White play Bh6 then after Nc3-Ne4-Rad1 his position would be
clearly better.
(1) Jakovenko, Dmitry (2738)

- Cornette, Matthieu (2590) [B31]
TCh-FRA Top 12 2015(1.3),

Best rating: 2737
We are going to see a long line of theory, where according to

the computer Black is fine, but in practical play it is almost
impossible to find the right moves. A very good example on 12.Nc3 Jakovenko chooses the most direct line. [An easier
the fact that human understanding can still beat a computer try for White is 12.exf6 12...exf6 13.Bd2 preparing to play Bc3,
preparation! Big credit of course goes to Jakovenko, who with a small plus for White.; It is too early for 12.Bh6?! 12...g5
showed with very convincing play what the dangers are in 13.Qh5 Ne6 and Black is threatening to play Nf4 next.]
such a risky line. 12...Ne6 13.Ne4 White is giving the e5 pawn in exchange for
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 Cornette is usually very a strong initiative on the kingside.
well-prepared and doesn’t just play some "random" lines. 13...fxe5 This move is also a must. We are in quite a forced
4.Bxc6 bxc6 [4...dxc6 5.d3 Bg7 6.h3 is the main line here.] position.
5.O-O Bg7 6.Re1 the main move. White is not trying to play 14.Nfg5 Nxg5 15.Bxg5 We are still following theory.
c3-d4 immediately but waiting for Black to decide where the 15...Qb6 Black is going for the b2 pawn. White can’t take on
knight is going from g8. e7 on the spot because of Rf4.
6...Nf6 [6...Nh6 is another possible line, but it seems like 16.c5 fixing the bishop on c8. We are still in a more or less
White is a bit better after 7.c3 O-O 8.h3 d6 9.d4+=] known position.
7.e5 Nd5 8.c4 Now we see that the move Re1 was very useful 16...Qxb2 17.Rad1 Now White finally wants to take on e7.
and White can immediately play c4. 17...Qxa2 Cornette played everything very quickly until here,
8...Nc7 9.d4 cxd4 10.Qxd4 O-O This is of course all still so it seems to be his preparation.
theory. 18.Bxe7 Now that Rf4 is not that dangerous any longer, White
11.Qh4 White wants to exchange the bishop with Bh6 next. is taking the e7 pawn.
18...Rf4 19.Qg3 So we are in the first critical position. It is
clear that White will try to mate on the kingside and that Black
will try to push the a-pawn. The position is very dynamic.
19...a5 Cornette is immediately launching his play. [In case
Black would try to get rid of the knight on e4 with 19...Qc2
a simple move like 20.f3 looks very solid. White’s idea would
remain to play Bg5 or maybe the direct h4-h5.]
20.Bg5 Asking Black a difficult question.
22.h4! A strong move! White does not only want to break
Black’s pawn structure with h4, but he also creates an escape
square for the white king in case there will be opportunity to
play Rxe5.
22...Bc4 Black is trying to get the bishop back into defense.
23.Rde1 Another good move. Now White is really considering
to take on e5.
23...Bf7 [After 23...Bd5 White has 24.Rxe5! Bxe5 25.Qxe5
20...Rxe4 [After 20...Rf8 21.h4 a4 22.h5 White’s attack looks Now the deadly threat is Bh6 next. 25...Rf8 and after the cool
very dangerous, not to say winning... 22...a3 23.hxg6 hxg6 26.f3 Black can’t do anything against the upcoming Bh6.; It
24.Rd6 and all the white pieces are mating the black king!] also seems to be too late for 23...a4 24.h5 and I don’t see how
21.Rxe4 Now White is an exchange up but in case Black would Black can hold this position.]
manage to hold on the kingside, the a-pawn and the bishop 24.h5 a4 The black pawn is only 3 squares away from a1, so
pair would give him enough compensation. White needs to act fast!
21...Ba6 Cornette is trying to transfer his bishop from c8 to
d5; a very logical decision, but it costs him a lot of time.
[It would end up badly for Black to go for the c5 pawn:
21...Qc2 22.Rde1 Qxc5 and White is winning with 23.Rxe5!
Bxe5 24.Rxe5 and as we know, the attack is only getting
stronger when there are opposite colored bishops on the
boards. White must be winning here.]
25.h6!! A great move by Jakovenko. It looks strange to close is over.
the position where you are attacking, but White has a deep 30...Kf7 31.Bd8! The last exact move!
idea in mind!
31...Qxc5 32.Qh5+ and mate will follow in a couple of
25...Bh8? Missing White’s next move... [Black should have moves. A great game by Jakovenko, smartly using the bad
tried 25...Bf8 but now White can even continue with the position of the black king and of course a very strange
simple 26.Bf6 a3 27.Bxe5 controlling the a1 square. 27...Bxh6 preparation by Black, who deliberately went for a line which
28.Qf3 threatening to play Qf6 next. Black’s position is clearly just seems to be close to lost! 1-0
very bad.]
26.Qh4 This is what White had plapned before playing 25.
h6!! Black cannot stop White from playing Bf6next!
26...Bd5 Probably the only move.
27.Rb4 Bf6 is still a threat.
27...Qc2 [After 27...a3 28.Reb1! would just end the game.
(28.Bf6 would be a mistake now since after 28...Qd2! Black
would be back in the game.) 28...Rf8 29.Rb8 and White will
mate in the next moves.]
28.Bf6 g5 [28...Qf5 doesn’t help either. 29.Bxh8 Kxh8
30.Rxa4 and it is only matter of time until Black will resign.]
29.Bxg5 The most simple.
29...a3
30.Rg4 The white rook is switching from b4 to g4. The game
(2) So, Wesley (2778)
- Vazquez Igarza, Renier (2606)
[C42]
GM Csaba Balogh
TCh-FRA Top 12 2015(3.2), Best rating: 2672
2015.06.01
The World Nr.6 Wesley So is playing in the French league.

His next game has a calm start in the Petroff defense, but A big positional fight starts for the squares. Black has
suddenly it turns out to be a tatical struggle. consolidated the light squares, while White is going to
establish control over the dark ones with 14.Ne2 Nc7 15.Nf4
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 The Petroff defense went out of the fashion
Be8 16.h4 with a complex game.]
after Kramnik and Gelfand stopped playing it, but of course it
remains a rock-solid opening. 11.Nc3 Ndf6 This looks e healthy than the 10...Na6 line at first
sight, because Black does not give up the dark squares with
3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 The main move. Interestingly, a
f5. However, the truth is that Black also lacks the control over
few days after this game, So himself deviated from this game
the e4 square and White immediately makes use of it.
and played the currently most popular 5.Nc3 variation against
Iordachescu. 12.Ne5! With the idea of winning a piece with f3, because
after Nxc3 Bxf5 the knight is trapped on c3.
5...d5 6.Bd3 Bd6 [6...Nc6 7.O-O Be7 is the main line.]
12...Bg6 13.Nxg6
7.O-O O-O 8.c4 c6 9.Re1 Wesley So is hard worker and very
strong theoretician, there is a reason behind each of his
opening choices. [The other main line starts with 9.Qc2
9...Na6 10.a3 Bg4 11.Ne5 Bxe5 12.dxe5 Nac5 13.f3 Nxd3
14.Qxd3 Nc5 15.Qd4 Nb3 16.Qxg4 Nxa1 17.Bh6 g6 with
hundreds of games and big complications.]
9...Bf5 10.Qc2 Nd7 A rare move by Black. I don’t know if
it was prepared or found over the board. [Most of the games
continue with 10...Na6 11.a3 Bg6 12.c5 Bb8 Keeping the c7
square free for the knight. 13.Nc3 f5
13...Bxh2+ [A similar game was won by Ivanchuk, which
continued with 13...fxg6 14.Bxe4! (Here again 14.Nxe4 is
wrong because after 14...dxe4 15.Bxe4 Ng4! is coming with
big power. White should have a knight on e4 to have the f2 15...fxg6
pawn protected.) 14...Bxh2+ (14...dxe4 15.Nxe4 Ng4 is not
dangerous now, as White can simply play 16.h3c) 15.Kxh2
Ng4+
16.Bxe4! It is very mportant to have a knight on e4 again as

it defends the kingside much better than the bishop. [After
16.Nxe4 16...Qh4! is also already good for Black. For instance
16.Kg3! Ivanchuk has no fear. He is two pieces up and after 17.Bg5 Qh2+ 18.Kf1 dxe4 19.Bxe4 Rae8!i too many
those will grant enough safety for the king... 16...Rxf2 pieces are attacking the white king.]
(16...dxe4 17.Kxg4h and the king comes back in the next 16...Qh4 [16...dxe4 17.Rxe4 White is ready to give back some
moves.) 17.Re2 Rf1 18.Nxd5! Not the only win, but the material on g4. (17.g3 is also good with the idea of preventing
best one according to the computer. 18...cxd5 19.Bxd5+ Qh4!) 17...Rxf2 18.Qd1h wins.; 16...Rxf2 is simply met by
Kh8 20.Kxg4 Rh1 (Black has only two checks because after 17.Re2!h forcing exchanges, which clearly favors the side
20...Qd7+ 21.Kg3 Qc7+ 22.Re5!h saves everything!) 21.Qe4 with a material advantage.]
(21.Kf3h ia also winning with the idea to hide the king
behind the d-pawn.) 21...Rh4+ 22.Kg3 Rxe4 23.Rxe4 White 17.Bf3! Calm defense, but on the other hand it is very logical
ended up with a winning material advantage. Black resigned as White wants to get rid of the attacking knight on g4! White
a few moves later. 23...g5 24.Bd2 Qf6 25.Rae1 Rf8 26.Bb4 is ready for a king journey towards the center.
1-0, Ivanchuk -Frolyanov, Yerevan 2004. Wesley So was 17...Qh2+ 18.Kf1 Rae8 The logical follow-up! Black cuts the
probably familiar with this game.] king’s escaping route. However Wesley So keeps his mind cold
14.Kxh2 Ng4+ 15.Kg1 In comparison to the Ivanchuk game, and continues defending tenaciously... [18...Qh1+ 19.Ke2
White cannot go to g3, but this one is also completely fine. Rae8+ brings nothing as White has 20.Be3h]
19.Rxe8 Rxe8
20.Ne4! This line’s closing idea brings White the full point.
White was two pieces up, so he can easily sacrifice back one
and he refreshes his emergency exit for his king on e2. [But
not 20.Be3? because of 20...Rxe3! and suddenly Black wins:
21.fxe3 Nxe3+i]
20...Qh1+ [20...dxe4 21.Bxg4h is over.]
21.Ke2 Qg1 Desperation! [21...Nf6 does not change
anything. White wins for instance after 22.Be3 Qxa1
23.Nxf6+ gxf6 24.Qb3h; 21...dxe4 22.Bxg4 Qxg2 was
probably the most tenacious, although White wins
after 23.Bd7 Qf3+ 24.Ke1 Re7 (24...Qh1+ 25.Kd2h)
25.Bc8h The two extra piece should ensure the victory after
some precise moves...]
22.cxd5 cxd5 23.Bxg4 Rxe4+ 24.Kf3h White ran out of
checks and he enjoys two extra pieces. The game is over.
24...h5 25.Be6+! A small tactical trick.
25...Kh7 [25...Rxe6 loses to 26.Qc8+ Kf7 27.Qd7+ Re7
28.Qxe7+! Kxe7 29.Bg5+h]
26.Qc8 [Black resigned as after 26.Qc8 26...Qd1+ 27.Kg3
h4+ 28.Kh2 the king comes back behind his shelter and Black
gets mated on g8!] 1-0
David vs. Goliath 18...Qxg2?? 19.Bh5+ and White won a few moves later.
Top-10:
Tomic (1333) - Oputic (1930), 1-0, 597 points
Koci (1703) - Zurawicki (1138), 0-1, 565 points
Elmejbri (1841) - Ahmed (2346), 1-0, 505 points
Sulkowski (1238) - Christensen (1700), 1-0, 462 points
Peter Zhdanov Orzechowski (1372) - Cervenka (1825), 1-0, 453 points
Chief Editor of Pogonina.com Walter F (2134) - Walter T (1709), 0-1, 425 points
Fejzic (1690) - Lakovic (2110), 1-0, 420 points
In this entertaining column we are reviewing the most Galuszka (1454) - Szmek (1873), 1-0, 419 points
unexpected results that occurred last week. Players usually Bar (2110) - Strikovic (2526), 1-0, 416 points
face opponents of a similar level. Considerably less frequent Drino (1774) - Karup (2156), 1-0, 382 points
are situations when a significantly lower-rated player Average gap: 464; White won 8 games, Black won 2 games.
The previous week brought us 21 upsets. It is time to celebrate
the 100th edition of the David vs. Goliath series. In fact, it is
only the 24th column for Top GM Secrets and #100 overall.
The number of moves ranges from 20 in Koci (1703) - Zurawicki peter@pogonina.com for publication. Any additional
(1138), 0-1 to 74 in IM Moussard (2444) - GM Wojtaszek (2746), information (a photo, annotations, etc.) is welcomed.
1-0. The latter is also the highest-profile upset of the week.
I feel sorry for Oputic (1930) who blundered a queen in one
move against Tomic (1333):
Young & Talented 8...Nbd7
GM Etienne Bacrot
Best rating: 2749
9.Nbd2 From a theoretical point of view I think White should

(3) Donchenko, Alexander (2570) take the bishop so h3 at any moment should be analyzed
- Dorfman, Iossif (2574) [A15] more deeply. [9.h3 9...Bxf3 10.Bxf3 e5!? It seems like in this
TCh-FRA Top 12 2015(1.1), game Black played for this move. 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.Nc3 Nb8!?
2015.05.30 The knight should go to the good c6 square. Black has the
center to compensate for the bishop pair.]
Alexander Donchenko is a 17-year old from Germany who is 9...Re8 10.Ne5?! After this move Black has no problems at
having a great chess year and is fastly improving (he was 2511 all. [10.h3 10...Bxf3 11.Nxf3 e5 is the point behind Black’s 9th
on the January list). Here he was a little lucky to beat the move. 12.cxd5 cxd5 13.Rc1 with complicated play.]
experienced coach Iossif Dorfman in the French league. 10...Nxe5 11.Bxe5 Qd7 It is very logical to improve the
1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 c6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Bg2 g6 Two weeks ago I position of the g4 bishop.
analyzed the Reti opening with 4...Bg4 and this time we have 12.Re1 [12.Nf3 12...Bh3 13.Qc2 Bxg2 14.Kxg2 Ng4=]
the version with g6.
12...Bh3 13.Bh1 I would not avoid the exchange, as it is too
5.b3 White can transpose to a g3 Grunfeld by playing d4 but late to seek an advantage.
it is not the idea of starting with 1.c4.
13...Ng4 14.Bxg7 Kxg7
5...Bg7 6.Bb2 O-O 7.O-O Bg4 This year I played 7....a5!?
here.
8.d3 The main move. [8.d4 Since it is not usual to play Bg4
with a pawn on d4 this move makes sense, but maybe Black
can go 8...Qc8!?; 8.h3 is also a possibility but I think Black is
fine after 8...Bxf3 9.Bxf3 Nbd7 10.d4 Ne4=]
25.Bxc6 b4 26.Ra1 a5 27.a3 Rd3 28.axb4 axb4 29.e4 Rxb3
30.Kf2= followed by Bd5.]
19...Qc7? Black misses his chance, probably missing White’s
strong 21th move. [19...Nxe3! With all the pieces well placed,
it is logical that an advantage should be found. 20.Rxe3
exd4 21.Rd3 (21.Rxe8 21...Rxe8 22.Qd3 Bf5 23.Qd2 d3i The
passed pawn is too strong for White’s uncoordinated pieces.)
21...Qc7 22.b4 c5e White’s position is horrible to play.]
20.b4 Nf6 21.Qc1! Strangely enough, everything is fine
15.d4 Black was ready to take the center with e5. again.
15...dxc4!? There are many ways to play and Dorfman
chooses the most active one. The position seems easier to
play with Black but is around equal.
16.Nxc4 Rad8 17.e3 e5 18.f3 This ugly-looking move is
forced.
18...b5
21...Rc8? Not a great defensive move. [21...exd4 gives

equality. 22.Nxc6 Rc8 (22...dxe3 23.Nxd8 Qxd8 24.Bg2
Bxg2 25.Kxg2 Qd4 26.Rb1+=) 23.Nxd4 Qxc1 24.Rexc1 Rxc1+
25.Rxc1 Rxe3 26.Nxb5 Nd5= Black will regain the pawn
thanks to his active pieces.]
22.dxe5 Rxe5 23.f4+= The bishop on h1 is much stronger
than a few moves ago!
19.Na5? It was time to exchange some pieces, as now Black 23...Re6 [23...Ree8 was more precise in order not to be
has a great piece sacrifice. [19.Nxe5 19...Nxe5 20.dxe5 Rxe5 chased by White’s knight with tempo.]
21.Qxd7 Rxd7 At first it might seem like this endgame is better
for Black, but his pawn structure on the queenside is bad. 24.Nb3 Ne4 25.Qc2 Nd6 Not the best maneuver, seeing as
White needs to play a few precise moves to equalize. 22.f4 the c4 square is clearly not equivalent to the c5 one.
Rc5 (22...Re6 23.Kf2 Bg4 24.Bf3=) 23.Rac1 Rxc1 24.Rxc1 Rd2
30.a4c Suddenly White is a pawn up and has good pieces.
30...Be6 31.Qd4+ Kg8 32.axb5 Nxb5 33.Qc5 Qb7
34.Rec1 Bf5 It is strange to provoke White into improving his
pawn structure. 34...Rc7 was more stubborn.
26.Nd4?! Positionnal way of playing been much better,

[26.Nc5 26...Re7 27.Qc3+ Kg8 28.a4 with a great position for
White.]
26...Ree8 27.Qxc6? This move activates Black’s pieces, but
after 27.a4 White would still have an advantage.
35.Ne5? [35.e4 35...Bg4 36.e5c]
27...Qe7 Black wants to attack the e3 pawn in case of 28.Qf3,
35...Qb8? An exchange of tactical mistakes... [35...Be4 was a
but there was an even stronger maneuver: [27...Qb8 28.Qf3
logical continuation after Bf5! 36.Bxe4 Qxe4 37.Qxc8 Qxe3+
Qb6 with full compensation over the board. 29.g4 is of course
38.Kf1 Rxc8 39.Rxc8+ Kg7VWhite has a material advantage
scary but Black has many possibilites, for example: 29...Nc4
but it is impossible to win with his bad king.]
30.Rad1 (30.Qxh3?? 30...Nxe3 and Black wins.) 30...Rcd8n]
36.Bc6h Now it is all over.
28.Qd5 [28.Qf3 28...Rc3=]
36...Na7 [36...f6 37.e4! Be6 38.Nf3h]
28...a6? is too slow. Black would have been fine after
[28...Qf6 29.Rad1 Nc4k] 37.Rxa6 Rc7 38.b5 Rec8 39.Rb6 trapping the queen! 1-0
29.Nc6! Qc7
Puzzle section
(4) Demuth, A(2515)-Doettling, F(2588) (6) Feller, S(2626)-Navara, D(2751)
French league, 2015.05.30 French league, 2015.05.30
1. h 1... i
(5) Bedouin, X(2336)-Vaisser, A(2530) (7) De Seroux, C(2115)-Benmesbah, N(2199)

1. h 1... i
(8) Duda, J(2610)-Feller, S(2626) (10) Duda, J(2610)-Ider, B(2401)
1. h 1. h
(9) Bauer, C(2624)-Navara, D(2751) (11) Lenderman, A(2636)-Matamoros Franco, O(2525)

French league, 2015.06.01 American Continental, 2015.05.22
1. h 1... i
(12) Lupulescu, C(2635)-Miron, L(2481)
Iasi Open, 2015.06.01
1... i
(13) Nenkov, L(2217)-Spasov, V(2554)

Bulgarian Championship, 2015.05.31
1... i
Endgame section time for Ra1-Rc1 or similar things. Black needs to hope to
be fast enough to get the a-pawn as close to possible to the
promotion square.
(14) So, Wesley (2778) 38.Bd5 a4 39.Rb2 White wants to play Rb6 next.
- Edouard, Romain (2627)
39...Bxd5 The exchange of bishops is forced.
TCh-FRA Top 12 2015(6.2), 40.cxd5 Ra1 Black is preparing to check the white king from
2015.06.04 GM Arkadij Naiditsch behind.
Best rating: 2737
41.Rb6+ Kf7
42.Ke5 White’s position is still better and Black remains

In the critical match between the 2 strongest teams, Edouard under pressure.
showed great defensive skills, as he had a very unpleasant 42...a3! Another great move by Romain who is defending
endgame since an early stage of the game. Right now, things the endgame perfectly. Black should not care about losing
are still looking dangerous for Black. The white king is almost the f-pawn, but the idea should be to exchange the a-pawn
in the center and the black king is sort of cut by the pawn on f4, against the d-pawn, which would leave a drawish rook
while the pawns on a6 and c4 could become potential targets. endgame with 3 vs 2 pawns on the same side.
34.Ke3 White wants to bring his king to d4. 43.Ra6 [43.Rb7+ also leads to a draw: 43...Kg6 44.Kd6 a2
34...Rb3+! A very good decision. Black is forcing the 45.Ra7 Kh5 and White has no idea to improve the position.]
exchange of a pawn, but the position remains very dangerous. 43...a2 Black reached what he started with 37...a5.
35.Kd4 c3 36.bxc3 Rxa3 White is clearly better, but the 44.Kxf5 g6+ The most accurate move. [Of course Black could
a-pawn could become the game saver. immediately have gone for 44...Rd1 45.Ra7+ Kg8 46.Rxa2
37.c4 a5 The best move again. There is no need to lose Rxd5+ 47.Ke6 but now a bit more accuracy would be needed
to hold. 47...Rd8 48.Ke7 Rf8! The only move. (48...Rb8? Kh6 62.Kh3 Kg7 63.Rd7+ Kh6
49.Rd2! and Black can’t avoid the exchange of rooks, which
would lead to a lost pawn endgame.) 49.g3 (In case of 49.Rd2
Black would save the game with 49...Rf7+!) 49...g6 and White
even has some practical chances here, although the game
should end in a draw.]
45.Kg4 h6 Another very accurate move by Black! White can’t
avoid Rd1 next.
46.g3 Kg7 [Of course the direct 46...Rd1 47.Rxa2 Rxd5 would
lead to a drawish endgame as well.]
64.Rf7 As we can see, So doesn’t even find ways of trying
something.
64...Ra2 65.Re7 Rb2 66.Re1 Ra2 67.Rb1 Rc2 68.Rb6 Rf2
69.Re6 Kg7 70.Kh4 Kh6 71.h3 White finally plays h3, but it
doesn’t help much.
71...Rf1 Black just keeps on waiting.
72.Rf6 Rf2 73.Rf8 Rf3 74.Rf6 We just saw a perfect defense
of an unpleasent endgame by Edouard. What is very
important to learn from this game is that in a position where
47.Ra7+ Kf6 48.Ra6+ Kg7 49.Ra8 Kf7 50.Ra5 Kg7 the opponent’s king is much better placed, it is neccessary to
51.Ra6 Rd1 So finally Black decides to put an end to "playing find an active plan instead of keep on waiting and of course
around" and takes the d5 pawn. the very typical play with the a-pawn, which secured the
drawish outcome! 1/2-1/2
52.Rxa2 h5+ Fixing the structure is always a good option if
you are defending a worse position.
53.Kh4 Rxd5 and this position is an easy draw.
54.Ra7+ Kh6 55.Ra6 Rd2 [Of course 55...Kg7 would also be
good enough for a draw.]
56.Kh3 Rf2 Now White doesn’t even have theoretical threats
any longer.
57.Ra7 Rb2 58.Re7 Ra2 59.Re6 Rf2 60.Rd6 Kg7 61.Kh4
46.Qc6
(15) Gajewski, Grzegorz (2648)
- Fedorchuk, Sergey A. (2657)
French league, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.05.30 Best rating: 2672
46...Kg5! Black can go ahead with his king without fear.

A queen alone cannot create any serious threats. Another
possible plan is simply to go towards the c4 pawn and capture
it with the rook.
47.Qa4 White sends the well-placed rook away in order to
either easen the pressure on the c4 pawn or to get his king
out from the first rank.
We have an endgame with unbalanced material. Black has 47...Rc1+ 48.Kg2 Kf4! The white kin g is still trapped after
a rook, knight and a pawn for the queen. In general we the activation of the black one. Black is ready to push his
could consider it as equal to the queen, but of course the f-pawn.
correct evaluation should be drawn according to the concrete
position. The key factor here is the passed pawns. White 49.Qb3 Hoping for perpetual with the check on f3, but Black
cannot create one after Black succesfully protects d6, while prevents it with another prophylactic move.
Black has the f6-e5 connected passers which are going to 49...Rc3! 50.Qb1? This loses quickly, but other moves were
advance soon. White could pin his hopes to perpetual check, not much better either. [
but the knight provides very good shelter for the king.
44...Be4! 45.Bxe4+ Nxe4 The d6 pawn is safe. White has
no chance to break through with c5. The next step to make
progress is to push the central pawns. The white king is also
badly placed, cut from everything on its own back rank.
Let’s say 50.Qa2 50...f5 (Now on 50...Rg3+ White could avoid 53...Ng4+ 54.Kh1
getting squeezed to the h-file and play 51.Kf1 although his
position remains very bad. 51...f5e) 51.Qe2 Rg3+ 52.Kf1 Re3
53.Qd1 The only move, otherwise White loses his queen.
(53.Qa2? 53...Ng3+ 54.Kg1 Re1+ 55.Kf2 Re2+) 53...Kg3
followed by f4-f3. Black should win the game without too
many difficulties.]
50...Rg3+! The king gets trapped again and this already turns
out to be decisive.
51.Kh1 [51.Kf1? 51...Nd2+i; 51.Kh2 51...Ng5! 52.Qc1+
Kg4 There are no more checks and Nf3-Rg1 mates or wins 54...Kf3! The black pieces are in perfect harmony! They
the queen. 53.c5 Nf3+ 54.Kh1 Rh3+ 55.Kg2 Rh2+ 56.Kf1 protect each other and at the same time they create decisive
Rh1+i] threats against the white king. Nf2 followed by Rg2 is
51...Nf2+ 52.Kh2 e4! Perfect techn ique by Fedorchuk! The threatening with mate in two. White can only give a few
queen is hopeless to create any counterplay. checks before resigning.
53.Qb2 [53.Qf1 53...e3 54.c5 might give some hopes, but 55.Qb3+ e3 56.Qd1+ e2 57.Qd3+ Kf2 Black cannot play Nf2
White finds himself in a mating net after anymore, but he has created enough other threats instead.
Rh3, Rg1 and e1Q are all hanging in the air...
58.Qd4+ [58.Qf5+ 58...Rf3 59.Qxg4 e1=Q+i]
58...Kf1 [White resigned in view of the countercheck 58...Kf1
59.Qf4+ Nf2+! and White cannot hope for stalemate because
of his c4 pawn.] 0-1
54...Kf3! 55.cxd6 Rg8i and the mate in coming on h1, White

cannot avoid it.]
Chess and the City. She not only managed to beat her toughest challenger in their
direct encounter, but also convincingly outplayed each of her
Good, Better, Georgia Final III last 5 opponents. She scored 9,5/11 to regain the title she won
back in 1999 in Batumi.
For me, personally, it is amazing to witness how many
victories, of late, have been earned by Ukrainians! It started
with the World title of Anna Ushenina, in 2012, followed by
Mariya Muzychuk in 2015, and only a short time after that,
the European title, by Natalia Zhukova. Furthermore, their
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz strongest player, Anna Muzychuk, is a hot candidate to follow
Best rating: 2493 in their footsteps.
If we speak about justice, maybe we cannot speak of
After over 2 weeks of tough battles, the European Women’s coincidence, in pointing out all the latest developments in the
Championship finally came to an end. However, it was not political conflict, and the pain the Ukrainian citizens in the
won by the long-time leader Nino Batsiashvili, from Georgia, East of the country have to suffer from. Maybe it is a form of
but by Natalia Zhukova, from the Ukraine. reaction, but it is more likely that all of these women I’ve listed
are simply very strong players!
’Justice’ is a word, by the way, which could also be
understood in a different context - viz, when we remember
the goings on in this Championship. In my last newsletter
I mentioned the case of Rumanian player Mihaela Sandu.
Perhaps she just started the tournament too well, and
eventually became a victim - or rather, the victim of the
tournament. After both letters were published, she was not
able to continue at the same level, and bitterly lost all 4
remaining rounds.
This case will not be forgotten, and it should teach all of us
that certain things are better handled in a more sensitive and
discrete way. Paranoia was rife, and ’witch hunting’, as it was
so "nicely" described on certain blogs, may be just what the
resulting action was. I can’t, and anyway don’t want to, judge
this matter, but what I can say for sure is that it crossed a
line that should never have been crossed. In court we call it Clash of the Titans
’benefit of the doubt’, and as long nothing is proven or can
be proven afterwards, only apology is left. Just like when we
play chess, we know that moving quickly, rather than thinking (16) Evans, Larry Melvyn
first, can often lead to blundering. - Tal, Mihail [B43]
Amsterdam Interzonal(16),
1964.06.10
GM Kamil Miton
Best rating: 2655
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.Be2 I don’t know why White

is waiting with d2-d4. [4.d4 4...cxd4 5.Nxd4 leads to main
positions.]
4...b5 [4...d5 5.exd5 exd5 6.d4 c4 7.O-O and White should take
the advantage thanks to his better development.]
5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4
6...Bb7 7.a3 It is clear that White prevents b4 but in many

Sicilian positons a2-a3 is a bit slow. Maybe an alternative
idea is just to sacrifice the pawn for active play. [7.O-O!?
7...b4 8.Na4 Bxe4 (8...Qa5 9.c4 Bxe4 10.Bf3 Nf6 11.Re1 d5
12.Bg5 The white pieces are very active, for example 12...Bxf3
13.Qxf3 Qxa4 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.Rxe6+h) 9.Bf3
Bxf3 10.Qxf3 d5 11.Re1 Nf6 12.Bg5 Nbd7 13.Nxe6 (13.Rad1
) 13...fxe6 14.Rxe6+ Kf7 15.Rae1AWith only a pawn for the
piece, but is not easy to play for Black.]
7...Qc7 8.O-O Nf6 9.Qd3 [9.Bf3 9...Bd6 or even 9...d6 and
the bishop is not placed perfectly on f3.]
9...d6 10.Bg5 Nbd7
15.Bxg6! fxg6 16.Nxe6 (16.Qxe6+ 16...Be7 17.Rae1 d5 18.f5

Qd6 Exchanging the most dangerous piece. 19.Bxe7 Qxe7
20.Qb6 O-O It looks like the king is safe, so Black is better
now.) 16...Qb6+ 17.Kh1 with complex play. 17...Nf2+??
doesn’t work because of 18.Rxf2 Qxf2 19.Nc7+ Kf7 20.Qe6+
Kg7 21.Bf6+ Kh6 22.Qh3+h]
11...Be7 12.Rad1 O-O 13.f4 Rac8
11.Qe3 Another move I don’t like. In Sicilians White should
play more dynamicly, even at the cost of some material!
[11.f4 11...Nc5 (11...Be7! The most solid option is to just finish
the development. 12.f5 e5 13.Nb3 and the knight on b3 is
very far from the important d5 square, so Black is fine here.)
12.Qh3 A useful place for the queen, which now supports
the sacrifce on e6. (12.Qe3 12...Ncxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.f5
Nxg5 (14...e5 15.Ne6! is one of the typical sacrifices. 15...fxe6
16.Bh5+ Kd7 17.fxe6+ Kc8 18.Rf7h) 15.Qxg5 Qc5! with
counterplay. (15...e5 16.Ne6!) 16.c3 e5 17.Rae1 Be7 18.Qxg7
O-O-Oe) 12...Ncxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 (13...Bxe4 14.Bxf6 gxf6
14.g4?! White is mixing toe many plans and setups. This
15.Bh5 O-O-O (15...Ke7 16.Bxf7!) 16.a4A (16.Nxe6 16...fxe6
move can not be good. [14.Kh1!? is almost always a useful
17.Qxe6+ Kb8 18.Qxe4 Qc5+e) 16...d5! A typical answer
prophylactic move. 14...Nc5 (14...Nb6 15.Qh3 with ideas of
because activity is the most important factor! 17.axb5 Bc5
Bd3 or Rd3-Rg3. Sometimes Nxe6 is working as well, so as we
18.c3 Rhg8k) 14.Bh5 g6
said before the h3 square is good for the white queen. 15...Nc4
(15...Nxe4 16.Nxe4 Bxe4 17.Nxe6! Bxg2+ 18.Kxg2 fxe6
19.Qxe6+ Rf7k) 16.Bxc4 bxc4 Now the b7 bishop can become
a very strong piece. (16...Qxc4? 17.e5h) 17.f5 e5 18.Bxf6 Bxf6 21.h4 Nc4 22.Bxc4 Rxc4 23.Rd4 A good decision. White is
19.Nde2k An interesting position from a strategical point of going to exchange the active rook on c4.
view, which is not easy to evaluate. White should easily take 23...Rec8 24.Rxc4 Rxc4
control over the d-file but Black can look for counterplay over
the b-file.) 15.f5 (15.e5 15...dxe5 16.fxe5 Nd5 17.Nxd5 Bxd5
18.Bxe7 Qxe7 With no problems for Black.) 15...e5 (15...Ncxe4
16.Nxe4 Nxe4 17.Bxe7 Qxe7 18.fxe6 fxe6 19.Bg4 Kh8 20.Bxe6
Rce8=) 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.Nf3 Rfd8 18.Rd2 (18.Nd5 18...Bxd5
19.Rxd5 Na4!e)
25.Qa7! White is looking for his chances.

25...Qd7 26.Kf2 [26.Nd5 26...Rxc2e and White doesn’t
have any tricks.]
26...d5! A logical move.
18...d5! A typical reaction. Black needs to activate his pieces! 27.Nxd5 Rxc2+ 28.Kg3 Rc8 Securing the 8th rank.
19.exd5 e4V]
29.Rf6 White nicely activates the rook. [29.h5 White is going
14...Nb6 [14...h6 15.Bxf6 (15.Bh4 15...Nxg4) 15...Bxf6 16.g5 to push h6 and create weaknesses around the black king.
hxg5 17.fxg5 Be5=+ and it looks like White doesn’t have any 29...Rd8 30.Rf5k]
chance to create any pressure over the h-file.]
29...Ra8 Black manages to get rid of the unpleasant queen
15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.g5 Bxd4 [16...Be7 17.f5 e5 18.Nb3 on a7, but now the black rook will be less active. [29...Rc4!? ]
d5!Vagain the same important idea.]
30.Qc5 Rd8 31.Rb6 Bxd5 [31...Bc8 32.Ne7+ Kh8 33.Nxc8
17.Rxd4 [17.Qxd4 17...Rfd8=+] Rxc8 (33...Qd3+= ) 34.Qd6 Qa7kBlack must keep the queens
17...e5! =+ Because of the weak king on g1 only Black can be on the board.]
looking for an advantage here. 32.exd5 Qf5 33.Qd6 [33.Qd4 and Black has no time to
18.Rd2 exf4 19.Rxf4 Rfe8 20.Qf2 preventing d5. activate the rook since the d-pawn is very strong! 33...Re8
34.d6k]
20...Qe7 [20...Re5 21.h4 Rce8 with the idea to open the
position a bit more after d5 at some moment.] 33...Qd3+ 34.Kg2 Qc2+ 35.Kg3 Qb3+ 36.Kf4 Re8
(17) Platov
1. h
37.Rb8?? What a blunder! Now White is losing the rook by

force! [37.Qe7! preventing Qe3 and now Black doesn’t have
anything better than perpetual check: 37...Rc8?! 38.Rc6C]
37...Qe3+ 38.Kg4 f5+! 39.gxf6 h5+ A nice trick!
40.Kxh5 Qf3+ 41.Kg5 Qxf6+ [41...Qg2+ 42.Kf5 g6+ 43.Kf4
Qh2+ 44.Kg5 Qxd6 45.Rxe8+ Kf7 46.Re7+ Kf8 47.Kxg6
Qxd5 also leads to a winning position.]
42.Qxf6 gxf6+ 43.Kxf6 Rxb8h 44.d6 Kf8 45.h5 Rb7
46.Ke6 Rh7 47.Kd5 Ke8 48.Kc6 Kd8 0-1
Solutions (20) Caruana, F(2803)-Jakovenko, D(2738)
Khanty Mansijsk Grand Prix, 2015.05.22
(18) Giri, A(2776)-Tomashevsky, E(2749)
36...c4! 37.Qc3 [37.dxc4 37...Qa5!i]

37...cxd3 38.f3 Bxe4 39.fxe4 Rxe4 40.Rexe4 Rxe4i
58.Rd5! 1-0 [58.Rd5 58...Rxd5 59.Bf6+h; 58.h4? 58...h6k]
(21) Jakovenko, D(2738)-Gelfand, B(2744)
(19) Grischuk, A(2780)-Karjakin, S(2753)
49...Qg2+! 50.Ke3 Nd5+! 51.Kd4 [51.Bxd5 51...Qd2+!=]

40.Qg8! 1-0 [40.Qg8 40...Qxc4 (40...e5 41.Nxe5+ Nxe5
51...Qf2+ 52.Kxd5 Qd4+! 53.Kxd4 1/2
42.Qxd5h) 41.Qxg7+ Kf5 42.Qxf7+h]
(22) Pichot, A(2504)-Granda Zuniga, J(2650) (24) Shen, V(2394)-Kamsky, G(2673)
16.Nxb5!c 1-0 [16.Nxb5 16...Nc5 (16...Qxb5 17.Ba4 Qb8 37...Rxc2! 0-1 [37...Rxc2 38.Rxd8 (38.Kxc2 38...Ne3+i)
18.Bxd7h) 17.Bc4c] 38...Rxb2+ 39.Kc1 Rxe2i]
(23) Granda Zuniga, J(2650)-Hansen, E(2580) (25) Naroditsky, D(2622)-Pancevski, F(2494)
26.Qa4! Nxa5 [26...Rc8 27.Rc1 Ne7 28.Rxc8+ Nxc8 40.e6!! h Rc3 [40...Rxe6 41.Ra8 Qe1+ 42.Kg2 Qe4+
29.Qe8+ Kg7 30.Qxc8h] 43.Kh2h; 40...Qxe6 41.Ra8 Rc1+ 42.Kh2h]
27.Qxe8+ Kg7 28.Rc1h 41.exf7 Rxg3+ 42.fxg3 Qe3+ 43.Kf1 Qf3+ 44.Ke1 Qe3+
45.Kd1 Qb3+ 46.Kd2 Qb2+ 47.Kd3 Qb3+ 48.Kd4 Qc4+
49.Ke5h
(26) Plenkovic, Z(2385)-Kozul, Z(2620) (28) Kubbel
Croatian Teams, 2015.05.23
1.Qe6! exd6 2.Qc8+ Kd5 3.Qxf5+ Kc6 [3...Kd4 4.Qe4#]

4.Qc8+ Kd5 5.Qe8!! Qxf3 [5...Qf2 6.Qe4#]
30...Ra2!! 31.Rxa1 Rxa1! i 32.Kf1 [32.Qb3 32...Rxe1+ 6.Qa8+ Ke5 7.Qxf3h
33.Bf1 Bh3i]
32...Bd1 0-1
(27) Zhao Jun(2613)-Lin Chen(2460)
Chinese Championship, 2015.05.25
27.g5! h Bxg5 28.Bxg5 Rxc3 29.Ra2h
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
And the team of Bischwiller is the new French Champion with
a perfect score of 33 points (3 points for a win). 2nd place went
Editorial Preface 2 to the team from Clichy ( 30 points) and 3rd to Bois-Colombes.
It is the second title for the Sponsor "Grenke Group" after
winning the German Bundesliga for the 10th time.
That is everything from big events of the past week, but
The K-Files. Sicilian 3.Bb5+ 12 already in a couple of days the Super Tournament in Norway
begins, with the participation of Carlsen, Caruana and many
more of the world’s best players. It is going to be a very
exciting event since it is the first tournament of the "Grand
Chess Tour", which will consist of a total of 3 super events
Young & Talented 18 (Norway, Saint Louis and London).
We can expect a lot of fighting games and you will definitely
Puzzle section 22 find a few of them analyzed in the next issue of your weekly
chess magazine.
Endgame section 25 For now, enjoy the best moments of the French Team
Championship, combined with a range of interesting articles!
Chess and the City.
Injustice to one is a threat to all... 30 Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh
Solutions 34
(1) Fier, Alexandr (2632)

- Feller, Sebastien (2626) [D31]
TCh-FRA Top 12 2015(4.5), GM Csaba Balogh

2015.06.02 Best rating: 2672
8...Nd7 9.Bd3 Nb6 The latest ent of the theory shows Black
A very nice attacking game by Alexander Fier!
should drive first his knight to b6 from where it can often jump
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 Black would like to play the to c4. It also prepares for the potential e4 break, because
Queen’s Gambit declined, but in this moveorder White has an Black could occupy the d5 square then. Trade the dark
extra option at his disposal. squared bishops on d6 and decide the development of the g8
4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 c6 6.e3 Bf5 7.g4!? This is the point of knight only after making all these preparations.
keeping the knight back on g1. White takes ground on the 10.Nf3 Bd6 11.Bxd6 Qxd6 12.Qc2 Ne7 [In my opinion,
kingside and asks the bishop which diagonal he wants to Black should start with 12...O-O-O!? and Kb8 next, because
choose. On the other hand, Black hopes that this move might now the maneouvre executed perfectly in the game with
turn out to be weakening of which of he later make use. This 13.Nb5 makes no sense, as Black has 13...Qb4+]
move was introduced by Botvinnik more than 50 years ago.
13.O-O-O It is already difficult how Black should play. He
7...Be6 8.h3 White wants to develop his bishop to d3, cannot castle kingside, keeping the king in the center is also
consolidating the important b1-h7 diagonal followed by bad, but 0-0-0 happened in the game is not so good as
Nf3-e5. Later he intends to castle quenside and then the g4-h3 before...
pair of moves are rather grabbing space, than weakening the
13...O-O-O 14.Nb5! Qd7 Black tries to use the fact, that the
structure. [8.h4 with the idea of h5 is the other option for
pawn on a7 cannot be taken because the knight gets trapped.
White. The pawn should not be taken, because after Qb3,
However things are a bit different... [14...Qb8 is better, but it
Black must be sreious weakening on the queenside as he
is not much fun either start to run with the king after 15.Qc5
cannot play anymore Qb6 because of the hanging bishop on
Kd7 16.Nc3 White is better again.]
h4.]
15.Ne5! Bringing the knight to a central square with tempo is
always welcomed.
15...Qe8 16.Qc5! [16.Nxa7+! leads to the same with Black. He is already threatening with Qd6 Qb6 Qc7 haunting
transposition.] the queen which cannot be traded because the knight gets
16...Kb8 lost. ; 18.Qxe7 could be another brilliant tactical blow, but it
is less strong because of 18...Nxe5! (On 18...Qxe7 19.Naxc6+!
transposes to the line below...) 19.Qxe8 Nxd3+! intermediate
move leaves the knight trapped on a7!]
18...Nxc6 [18...bxc6 is strongly met by 19.Qxe7! Qxe7 (Now
on 19...Nxe5 White has 20.Qb4+!h and taking back on e5!)
20.Nxc6+ Kc7 21.Nxe7 g6
17.Nxa7! There is no way back! White must accept the

challenge and go for the complications, otherwise Black
pushes back the pieces with f6 and he is completely fine.
17...Nd7 [17...Kxa7 18.Qa5+ Kb8 19.Qxb6c wins a healthy
pawn.; 17...f6 18.Qxb6 fxe5 hoping that the knight remains
trapped on a7, however White could save it with a small
tactical trick 19.Nb5! cxb5 20.Qxe6c] The knight looks still trapped on e7, however the truth is
22.Nf5! saves the knight because after 22...gxf5 23.gxf5h the
bishop gets suddenly trapped!]
19.Qd6+! A very important check with the point of taking the
c6 pawn with check!
19...Ka8 Only move! [19...Ka7 is even worse because
20.Nxc6+ bxc6 21.Qc7+ Ka8 22.Ba6 Rb8 23.Rd3! and
Black gets mated! For instance 23...Qd8 24.Bb7+ Rxb7
25.Ra3+h]
18.Naxc6+!! White destroys all the kingside pawns. He 20.Nxc6 bxc6 21.Qxc6+ Kb8 [21...Ka7 loses quickly to
gets 3 pawns for the sacrificed piece and the black king gets 22.Qc7+ Ka8 23.Bb5!h]
exposed against which White launches a very strong attack 22.Qd6+ Kb7 23.Qa6+ [The fastest way to the victory was
within few moves! [18.Nxd7+ 18...Qxd7 is already good for 23.Ba6+! 23...Ka7 24.Bb5! Rc8+ 25.Kb1 and Rd3 is coming
next against which Black is hopeless. 25...Qf8 just delays the
Rd3 threat 26.Qa6+ Kb8 27.Rd3h and Black gets mated
soon.]
23...Kb8 24.Qb5+ Kc7 [On 24...Ka7 Fier has probably
wanted to play 25.Kb1 bringing to rook into the attack along
the c1 square 25...Nb8 26.Qa5+ Kb7 27.Rc1 Rc8 28.Rxc8
Qxc8 29.Rc1h The game will not last long.]
25.Kb1! It is clear, that Black cannot hold for long after the
rook goes to c1, but Black continues defending tenaciously.
35.Qb5+! Kf8 36.Qf5! A calm move after which the mate
25...Rb8 [An attempt to close the c-file with 25...Nb6 26.Rc1+ can be avoided only by losing big material 36...Qd5 (36...f6
Nc4 fails in view of 27.Qa5+! and the king has no good square 37.Qe6h) 37.Qxd5 Rxd5 38.Rc8+h entering to the rook
to leave. 27...Kb8 (27...Kb7 28.Rxc4! dxc4 29.Be4+ Kc8 endgame with 4 extra pawns.]
30.Qc5+ Kd7 (30...Kb8 31.Qb6+ Kc8 32.Qb7#) 31.Bc6+h;
On 27...Kd7 the easiest is 28.Bxc4 dxc4 29.d5h; 27...Kd6 26.Qa5+ Rb6 [On 26...Nb6 27.Rc1+ Kd8 28.Qa7 Nd7
29.Rc7 Ke7 30.f4! and Black collapses after f5 in the next
move!]
27.Rc1+ Kb7 [27...Kd8 28.Rc6h; 27...Kd6 28.Qa3+h]
loses nicely to 28.Rxc4! dxc4 29.Qc5+ Kd7 30.Bc2! Ra8

Otherwise Ba4 is decisive and now 31.d5!h wins. After white
takes on e6 he will be winning even materially, but the rook
is coming to d1 which is even more important.) 28.Rxc4! 28.Ba6+!! Rxa6 [Black should have played 28...Kb8 after
dxc4 29.Qb6+ Kc8 (29...Ka8 30.Be4+ Bd5 31.Qa5+ Kb8 which White can choose between two good options. One is
32.Bxd5h) 30.Rc1! h Black cannot defend. The most the direct 29.Rc8+ (And the other, more human is 29.Rc3!?h
tenacious way to prolong the defeat is 30...Qa4 but after bringing all the remaining pieces to the attack!) 29...Qxc8
31.b3! Qa8 32.Bxc4 Bxc4 33.Rxc4+ Kd7 34.Rc7+ Ke8 30.Bxc8 Rxc8 31.Rc1 Rxc1+ 32.Kxc1h The computer
considers this endgame to be completely winning with the
3 pawns, especially with the two connected ones on the mated, he can only give a desperate check on e4...
queenside, but I am not sure if it going to be such an easy task 34...Qe4+ 35.Kc1! Of course not to a1, as it changes the
to convert. Also the psychological advantage is on Black’s game with 360 degrees because of Qh1! Now Qh1 Kd2 and no
side, that he managed to avoid getting mated. Therefore I more checks. 1-0
would prefer the 29.Rc3 line!]
29.Rc7+ Kb8 30.Qxa6 Kxc7 31.Rc1+ Nc5 [31...Kd8
32.Rc8+ Ke7 33.Qa3+ Kf6 34.Rxe8 Rxe8
35.Qd6h This is obvoiusly just materially the same position

like in the 28...Kb8 29.Rc8 line. Now the black pieces are
totaly disharmonized, White only needs to advance the a-
and b-pawn and they will promote automatically.]
32.Rxc5+ Kd8 33.Qd6+ Bd7 [33...Qd7 34.Qb8+ Ke7
35.Qxh8h is also over.]
34.Rb5! A calm finish to the end of the game. Black gets
5...Bb6
(2) So, Wesley(2778)
- Fedorchuk, Sergey A(2657) [A27]
TCh-FRA Top 12 2015(10.1),

Best rating: 2737
There has been some controversy around Wesley So lately. By

playing great fighting chess, his rise to the Top 10 was very 6.e3! A strong move! White is playing against the b6 bishop
quick, but the story at the US Championship where he got a which is stupid now. If we look at this position, White actually
0 for taking notes didn’t just bring him fans. Anyhow, until has a very good Sicilian.
the current game So was showing a very good result at the
French league. Shortly after the opening, the position got 6...Bg4?! I don’t like this move. [I think 6...Nf6 was more
crazy and very complicated. It seemed like White managed to solid. 7.d4 exd4 8.exd4 a5 A very typical move. 9.b5 Ne7 and
outplay his opponent, but Black always kept dangerous play White is just a bit better.]
around the white king and taking advantage of a mistake by 7.h3 A good move, asking Black where the bishop is going.
So, Fedorchuk finally mated the white king with a nice but not 7...Bh5 8.g4 So far So played a very logical and good game.
too difficult combination. A very interesting game to watch.
8...Bg6 Black’s play is a bit funny with this double bishop
1.c4 So likes to start with 1.c4. development... :)
1...e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 Bc5 Black rarely chooses this move 9.d4! White continues playing strong chess. The center
order. It is much more popular to play 3...Nf6. belongs to White now and the position of the black bishop on
4.a3 Threatening to play b4. a3 is often a very useful move b6 is getting worse and worse.
anyway. 9...exd4 10.exd4 a6 is almost the only move to escape losing
4...d6 A solid reply. [After 4...Nf6 5.b4 Bd4 6.Bb2 White will the bishop after c5.
play e3 next and get the bishop pair.; But it might have been 11.Bg2 White is playing a perfect game. Before starting the
interesting for Black to continue with 4...a6 5.b4 Ba7 and the final action, So brings all his pieces into the game and the
game might transpose to known positions.] bishop’s position on g2 is clearly just great.
5.b4 Of course! 11...h5 Black is looking for counterplay.
12.O-O A good move, but it is a bit risky. [White could just have
continued with 12.g5 closing the h-file. 12...Nge7 13.O-O O-O
14.c5 and the domination in the center should give White a 18.Bb2 All the white pieces are out.
clear plus.] 18...f6 There was already no other move. [18...Nf6 didn’t
12...hxg4 13.hxg4 Black has opened the h-file, which could work because of
potentially be dangerous for White, but the bishop on g2 is a
great defender so White has no reasons to worry too much.
13...Qd7 A very logical move, attacking the only weakness of
White’s position, the g4 pawn.
14.Re1+ Kf8 The black king would have gone to f8 anyway.
19.Rxe7! Qxe7 20.cxd6 and the bishop on a7 is hanging!]

19.Qf4 White wants to play Nd4-Ne6 or Ng5-Ne6. [But
he could have tried the direct 19.g5 19...dxc5 20.bxc5 Bh5
(20...Nxd5? doesn’t work because after 21.Nxd5 Qxd5
22.Ne5! White is just winning.) 21.gxf6 Nxf6 22.Ng5 and I
15.c5 A very logical move. Now that all the white pieces are cannot imagine White’s attack not being enough for a serious
perfectly placed, it is time to start some action. advantage.]
15...Ba7 The only move. [The endgame after 15...dxc5 16.dxc5 19...Nh6 is Black’s only hope. [19...dxc5 20.Ng5 Bf7 21.Ne6+
Qxd1 17.Rxd1 Ba7 18.Bf4 is almost winning for White.] Bxe6 22.dxe6 Qe8 23.Qxc7h]
16.d5 It is pity play such a move, which might free the bishop
from a7. On the other hand, White is really dominating the
center, so from a practical point of view it is hard to stop
yourself from playing d5. [16.g5 would give White quite a big
advantage.]
16...Nce7 17.Qd4 Defending the c5 pawn and the g4 pawn.
17...Rd8?! A very slow move. [Black should have hurried with
17...Nf6 Fedorchuk maybe did not see what he could do after
18.Bg5 but Black has 18...Neg8! and of course White is better,
but the g4 pawn is in serious trouble.] 20.g5 So is still playing the good moves to put maximum
pressure on Black’s position. [White could have won an 25.Nd4 with an obviously better endgame for White.]
exchange after 20.Nd4 20...Qxg4 21.Ne6+ Kf7 22.Nxd8+ 23...Ne5 24.Qxg4 Nxg4 and now the game is totally open!
Rxd8 but now because the white pawn is on d5 and not on d4, Black is targeting the kingside and the pawn on f2.
the bishop from a7 is becoming a dangerous piece. 23.Bc1!
(The endgame after 23.Qxg4 23...Nxg4 is not that clear at all!) 25.Nd4 Kf7 [25...dxc5 26.bxc5 Kf7 was another possible
23...Bf5! with the idea of playing Ng6 next and White might move.]
be better, but things are pretty unclear.] 26.Ne6
20...Qg4 Black hopes to escape into an endgame.
21.Qd2?! A logical, but White should not have avoided
the endgame. [21.Nd4 was better. 21...Qxf4 22.Ne6+
Kf7 23.Nxf4 Now White’s threat is to play Rxe7 and Nxg6.
23...Nhf5 24.gxf6 gxf6 25.Ne4! and Black’s position seems to
fall apart.]
21...Nf7 The black knight is going to e5 to block White’s attack
a bit.
22.gxf6 gxf6
26...Rdg8! An excellent move! Fedorchuk doesn’t care about
the c7 pawn, but fixes the white king on g1.
27.Nxc7 So is still hoping to be better when actually his
position is already in big danger. [Maybe it was a good
moment for White to start defending with 27.Ne2 ]
27...Ne5 The threat of playing Nf3 is in the air and a move like
Nd3 could also be very unpleasant.
28.cxd6 Nc8! Another excellent move by Black. [It is too early
23.Qd4?! This move is really strange. White just avoided the for 28...Nf3+? 29.Bxf3 Be4+ 30.Kf1 Bxf3 because the knight
exchange of queens and now loses a clear tempo to achieve on e7 is hanging with check. 31.Rxe7+ Kg6 32.Ke1 and the
it! [23.Nd4 leads to very unclear play. 23...Ne5 24.Ne6+ white king escapes.]
Kf7 25.Nxd8+ Rxd8 The usual exchange sacrifice by Black. 29.d7?? Having followed a wrong path for a couple of moves,
26.Qd1! Qg5 and the position is really unclear.; But White So blunders a pretty mate... [The only way for White to go
had a strong alternative: 23.Qe2! Avoiding the Ne5 move for on was 29.Rxe5 29...fxe5 30.d7 but Black’s position still looks
a moment and attacking the e7 knight 23...Nf5 24.Ne4 Re8 clearly better after 30...Nb6! winning the d7 pawn. Things are
still far from clear in a practical game, for example after 31.d6
and White keeps an open fight in a worse position.]
29...Nf3+ Black doesn’t miss his chance.
30.Kf1 [30.Bxf3 also leads to mate. 30...Be4+ 31.Kf1 Bxf3
and there is no defense against Rh1 mate.]
30...Bd3+ 31.Re2 and here comes the last pretty move of the
game:
31...Rh1+! To call it deserved win by black would be a

bit unfair because White was really dominating most of the
game, but Black showed good fighting spirit. He defended
a difficult position and used his chances very well when the
game started to change. As Carlsen once said: "I don’t care if
my opponent played a great game". 0-1
The K-Files. dxe5 6.Nxe5 Qc7 7.Qf3 Bd7 8.Bxc6 Bxc6 9.Nxc6 Qxc6
10.Qxc6+ bxc6 11.Na3+= with a very nice structural advantage
Sicilian 3.Bb5+ in the endgame Georgiev.Kr - Piket, Corfu 1990.; 4...Bg4 5.h3
Bh5 6.c3 Nf6 (6...Qb6 7.Na3+=) 7.d4 a6 8.Bxc6+ bxc6 9.Qa4
Qb6 10.dxc5c Boleslavsky - Petrosian, Gagra 1953 and the
natural answer 10...Qxc5 fails to 11.Nd4]
5.Re1 The accurate move order. [After 5.c3 5...a6 6.Bc4 b5 the
main idea doesn’t work.]
5...Nf6 [5...a6 This move order has become popular recently.
Best rating: 2702
However, it doesn’t stop our plan. 6.Bc4!? Now Black has
different ways to dealy the natural developing move Ng8-f6
which transposes to the main line but none of them seems to
(3) Sicilian 3.Bb5+ [B51] be enough to equalize completely. (6.Bxc6 6...Bxc6 7.d4 cxd4
8.Nxd4 is White’s main reaction where the clear road to equal
The "strange" bishop retreat - part 1. chances is also not shown yet.) 6...e6 (
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nc6 This opening system has a very a) 6...Ne5? just gives a pawn for nothing after 7.Nxe5 dxe5
solid reputation. It was played with Black by many strong 8.Qh5c Gurgenidze - Karolyi, Tbilisi 1986;
players with good results. One of its advantages is that Black b) 6...b5 7.Bf1 e5 (7...Nf6 8.c3 - 5...Nf6) 8.c3 Bg4 This
players who play both Sicilians with 2...d6 and 2...Nc6 don’t solid move stops d2-d4 but costs the bishop pair. (8...g5!?
have to study two different systems in case of 3.Bb5. White Nowadays this move is more or less standard in similar
has tried different plans looking for an advantage but none of positions but here it doesn’t reach its main goal (to stop
them were too convincing. And then... d2-d4). 9.a4 An important intermediate move. White tries
to define the queenside structure first. (9.d4 9...g4 10.d5
Na5 (10...gxf3 11.dxc6 Bxc6 12.Qxf3c) 11.Nfd2 h5Vis less
clear) 9...g4 (9...b4 10.d4 g4 11.d5 Na5 12.Nfd2c) 10.axb5
axb5 11.Rxa8 Qxa8 12.Nh4 b4 13.Nf5c and Black has too
many weaknesses everywhere) 9.h3 (9.a4 9...b4 10.h3 Bxf3
11.Qxf3 Nf6k) 9...Bxf3 (9...Bh5 10.g4 Bg6 11.d4c) 10.Qxf3
Be7 11.Na3 Nf6 12.Nc2 O-O 13.Ne3+= with a solid long-term
advantage;
c) 6...e5 7.c3 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.d4 cxd4 10.g4 Bg6 11.cxd4+=
4.O-O Bd7 The alternatives look dubious here. [4...Nf6 5.e5 White is ahead on development and Black can hardly use the
opponent’s weakened kingside.; for lazy players who don’t want to study different setups
d) 6...Nf6 7.c3 - 5...Nf6) against 2...Nc6 3.Bb5 and 2...d6 3.Bb5+ in Sicilian - this is my
case. But then at some moment really strange move attracted
7.c3 Ne5 This is in my opinion the most interesting attempt my attention... [The quiet development. like 6...g6 gives
to avoid the main line but still White is slightly better here. White clear advantage after 7.d4 cxd4 (7...Bg7 8.dxc5 dxc5
(7...g6 8.d4 Bg7 9.d5 Na5 10.Bf1c Gurgenidze - Chatebashvili, 9.e5 Ng4 (9...Nxe5? This pawn is poisoned 10.Nxe5 Bxb5
Tbilisi 2001) 8.Be2 (After 8.Nxe5 8...dxe5 9.d4 cxd4 10.cxd4 11.Qb3h) 10.Bf4 Bxe5 Now this pawn is not pisoned like one
Rc8 11.Bb3 exd4 the fact that the knight is still on g8 works move before but still not tasty at all. 11.Nxe5 Ngxe5 12.Na3n
in Black’s favor: White doesn’t have the important resource with great compensation (Glek - Kupreichik, Germany 1998))
e4-e5. 12.Qxd4 Bc6=) 8...Nf6 9.d4 Ng6 10.Bd3 (10.e5 is 8.cxd4 Bg7 9.Nc3 O-O 10.h3+= with a typical position where
premature due to 10...dxe5 11.dxe5 Ng4=+ and the e5 pawn Black has no compensation for White’s strong pawn center
is just weak.) 10...Be7 11.e5 dxe5 12.dxe5 Now it’s another and space advantage (De Greif - Ramirez. Columbia 1958)]
story. 12...Nd5 (12...Ng4 13.h3 Nh6 14.Bxh6 gxh6 15.Be4c)
13.g3 Bb5 14.Bc2Cand White’s space advantage promises him 7.Bc4!? ... And more and more I looked at the resulting
somewhat better chances.] lines less and less I liked it for Black. Well, in this case it’s
not about being crushed in 20 moves (although everything
6.c3 a6 Now it is already necessary. Black has to do might happen as we will see later) but it looks like everuwhere
something about d2-d4. White is comfortably better after the opening phase. Maybe
it’s too early to come with some strong conclusions as the
variation is not analysed well enough till now (only 20 games
in Megabase) but still... The idea is fairly simple: White claims
that in many lines bishop is better on c4 than let’s say on f1
(the cooperative line 7..e5? 8.Ng5 is first what comes to mind).
But then why did I call this move : "strange"? Mainly because
of
7...b5 gaining space with tempo looks perfectly logical. So it’s
no surprise that more than 50% of grandmasters who played
This is in fact the critical position of the whole variation. this position with Black have chosen this move. However, the
For a long time the discussion was going around two logical sad truth about it is that ifirst of all it seriously weakens the
bishop retreats - to a4 and f1 (the gambit line 7.Bxc6 bxc6 queenside structure and after Bf1 and a4 Black faces serious
8.d4 is rather tricky but not really dangerous for Black). Both problems just immediately. [
have their merits and drawbacks but in both lines there are 7...Ne5 This move is already rather standard for the whole
lines which are quite OK for Black. At least I think so. As I 3.Bb5+ system. Black hopes that firm control in the center will
mentioned already before the whole line for Black is attractive
compensate a little structural defext. In many cases it’s true Lopez lines (what is also not attractive for many @pure
but here White has strong concrete answer. 8.Nxe5 (8.Be2 Sicilian players). But the big difference is white bishop on f1
8...Ng6!?V) 8...dxe5 9.d4! and it turns that White is better (instead of c2) and this difference clearly favours White as b5
prepared to open the center. 9...cxd4 10.cxd4 Qc7 this is becomes the target. [
relatively best but still the following complications work fine a) 8...Bg4?! is logical/ Black fights for square d4. But at
for White ( the same time when queen side light squares are seriouly
a) 10...Rc8 11.Bb3 exd4 12.e5 Ng8 13.Bg5!?c looks ugly for weakened Black just needs the bishop here - not on g4. So if
Black; Black’s previous move might be treated as some inaccuracy
b) 10...Qb6 Smart tactical trick which meets very strong this one turns to be a serious mistake. The following lines
reaction 11.h3! Qxd4 (11...exd4 12.e5 Ng8 13.e6! Bxe6 confirm this assessment. 9.a4 (9.d4 9...cxd4 10.cxd4 e5 11.d5
14.Bxe6 fxe6 15.Qa4+ Qc6 16.Qxd4n) 12.Qb3 e6 13.Qxb7 Nd4 12.a4) 9...b4 10.d4 cxd4 11.cxd4 e6 (11...e5 looks consistent
Qa7 14.Qxa7 Rxa7 15.Be3c and White is much better here but after 12.d5 Nd4 13.Be3c Black’s queenside is in ruins.
due to better development and queenside pawn majority.) The important point is that White wouldn’t be afraid of
weakening his kingside structure. Black lacks time and piece
11.Bb3 e6 (11...exd4 12.e5 Ng4 13.Qxd4c) 12.dxe5 Qxe5 coordination to use it (Baklan - Mamedov, R Turkey 2014))
13.Nd2 Qd4 14.e5 Ng4 15.Qe2 Bb5 16.Bc4 Bxc4 17.Nxc4 12.d5 Ne5 Sutovsky - Mchedlishvili Baku 2011 and now the
Rc8 18.Nd6+ Bxd6 19.exd6 Nf6 20.Rd1 Qc4 21.Qf3 O-O simple 13.Nbd2 Be7 14.h3 Bh5 15.dxe6 fxe6 16.Qb3c would
22.Bg5c and the pawn is very strong on d6; bring White clear advantage;
7...e6 8.d4 b5 9.Bf1 - 7...b5; b) 8...e6 9.d4 cxd4 10.cxd4 Be7 and now White faces an
7...g6 Ignoring White plans to build strong pawn center important choice 11.d5!? this is more dangerous (The normal
doesn’t promise anything good here is well. 8.d4 cxd4 developing move 11.Nc3 meets strong reaction 11...b4 12.Ne2
(8...Bg7 9.e5 dxe5 10.dxe5 Ng4 11.Bf4c) 9.cxd4 Bg7 (9...Bg4 (12.Na4 12...Qa5) 12...Nxe4 13.d5 exd5 14.Nf4 Nf6 15.Nxd5
10.Qb3 e6 Kapp - Mlecnik, Laguna 1996 (10...d5 11.Bxd5 Nxd5 Nxd5 16.Qxd5 O-O 17.Bf4 Ne5! 18.Nxe5 dxe5 19.Bxe5 Bb5
12.exd5 Na5 13.Qd3c) 11.Qxb7 Na5 12.Qb4 Bxf3 13.gxf3 and Black must be able to hold rather easily) 11...Ne5 12.Nxe5
Nxc4 14.Qxc4 Qd7 15.Nc3 Bg7 16.Qa4c) 10.e5 dxe5 11.dxe5 dxe5 13.d6! Yet another pawn sac. 13...Bf8 14.a4 b4 15.Nd2
Ng4 12.Bf4 Be6 13.Nbd2!+=; Bxd6 16.Nc4 Bc7 17.Nd6+ Ke7 18.Nc4 Smart trick to leave
Black king in the center. White’s compensation here is even
7...Qc7 Verspecht - Werner, Belgium 2004 8.d4 e5 9.d5 Ne7 stronger than it might seem. 18...Bc6 (18...Re8 19.Be3 Kf8
10.a4+=; 20.Nb6 Bxb6 21.Qd6+ Kg8 22.Bxb6c) 19.Qc2 Qb8 20.Be3
7...Bg4 will be analysed in part; Nxe4 21.Bd3 Nf6 22.Bc5+ Ke8 23.Rad1n;
7...e5? 8.Ng5c] c) 8...Ne5 When this knight doesn’t attack white bishop
8.Bf1 e5 Now the game develops very similar to some Ruy it makes less sense. White just continues his play. The
knights’ exchange itself doesn’t help Black too much. 9.d4 10...Be7 Black has different options to define the central
Nxf3+ 10.Qxf3 e5 11.a4CIt’s not easy for Black to complete pawn structure here but none of them looks fully satisfactory.
development as 11...Be7 just gives a pawn 12.axb5 axb5 Most of the following lines have one common point: white
13.Rxa8 Qxa8 14.dxe5 dxe5 15.Qg3c; knight arrives from b1 to c4 and becomes the real force. It
d) 8...g6 Here once again the pawn centre provides White might be a bit early to speak about White’s big advantage but
pleasant positional advantage. 9.d4 cxd4 (9...Bg7 10.e5c) the opening results clearly favours him and his play is much
10.cxd4 Bg7 11.a4 (11.e5 11...dxe5 12.dxe5 Ng4 13.Bf4 Be6 easier. [10...bxc3 11.bxc3 Be7 12.dxc5 (12.Na3!? looks risky
14.Nbd2+=) 11...b4 12.Nbd2 O-O 13.h3+=] but actually may be even stronger. 12...cxd4 13.cxd4 Bg4 14.d5
Nd4 15.Be3 Nxf3+ 16.gxf3 Bh5 17.Nc4 O-O 18.a5 Nd7 19.Bh3C)
9.a4 It’s very useful to define queenside structure as soon as 12...dxc5 13.Nbd2 Qc7 14.Nc4 Be6 15.a5CBxc4?! 16.Bxc4
possible. Nxa5? 17.Qa4+h; 10...cxd4 11.cxd4 Be7 (11...exd4 12.Nbd2
9...b4 Guerra - Ceschia Venice 2012 [9...Rb8 if Black tries to Be7 13.Nb3 O-O 14.Nbxd4 d5 15.e5 Ne4 16.Be3+=; 11...Bg4
protect this pawn and keep control over c4 it really doesn’t 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nbd2+=) 12.Nbd2 O-O 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Nxe5
help after the natural 10.axb5 axb5 11.Na3 b4 12.Nc4c and dxe5 15.Nc4 Qc7 16.Be3 Bc5 17.Rc1 Bxe3 18.Nxe3 Qb6
White’s pressure is only increasing; 9...bxa4 This capture is 19.Nc4 Qe6 20.a5+= It might seem like Black manages to
considered to be certain concession in Ruy Lopez structure reach something with minor pieces exchanges. But in fact his
but the whole situation is not very much attractive already position is still extremely unpleasant because of numerous
10.Rxa4 a5 11.d4 (11.d3 is more quiet choice 11...Be7 12.Nbd2 weaknesses. Once again: Nc4 is a monster.]
O-O 13.Nc4 Qc7 14.g3+= also with some positional advantage; 11.dxc5 dxc5 12.cxb4 cxb4 13.Nbd2 O-O 14.Nc4 Qc7
c4 is an excellent square for the knight.) 11...cxd4 12.cxd4 Be7 15.Be3+= and Rc1 on the next move. Black is under pressure.
13.Nc3 O-O 14.Bb5+= Now Black has good square b4 for his
knight bit everything else is in White’s favour.] 15...Nxe4? 16.Bb6h
10.d4! N Quite important: White doesn’t have to waste time

for h3 because Bg4 is not dangerous in any line.
David vs. Goliath Over the course of my chess career I have won a couple of
games as the ”David”, but decided that including them into
the column would be classified as unsolicited bragging. On
the contrary, here is a fresh example of how terribly one can
fail as a ”Goliath”.
Peter Zhdanov

are situations when a significantly lower-rated player I have outplayed my young opponent in the endgame. By
succeeds in beating a much stronger adversary. this point the game is a technical win, so I was expecting to
put my king on b6 and to devour another pawn a few moves
The previous week brought us 27 upsets. later. After the disastrous move 45...Ka5?? (instead of the
The number of moves ranges from 16 in IM Bogdanovic (2268) obvious Kc5 -+) White quickly played 46.Nc4X and pressed
- Sinanovic (1930), 0-1 to 78 in FM Ahmed (2346) - Sharabaty the clock. Somewhat dumbfounded, I smiled helplessly and
(1884), 0-1. asked ”It is mate, right?”. ”Yes!”, replied the kid. It requires a
lot of love for the game and a strong will to recover after such
We didn’t get to see many high-profile upsets this time. A
inexplicable blunders. To be honest, after this misfortune I
game worth mentioning is Rosmuller (2142) -GM Pruijssers
was considering to quit tournament chess altogether.
(2507), 1-0.
In fact, quite a few of this week’s upsets hail from
One of the greatest upsets ever happened in Bryn (2071)
Nezhmetdinov Memorial. On one of the adjacent boards
- Tomic (1333). This is a 738 rating points difference! To
next to mine the following finale took place:
be honest, it is not clear from the final position how Black
prevailed. Still, the official site confirms the result, so we can
be sure that the upset did occur.
Shkalikova (1737) wrapped up the game against Martynyuk
(2078) with 18.Qc4+ e6 19.Qc3 Kf7 20.Qf6+ Ke8 21.Ng7X
Top-10:
Bryn (2071) - Tomic (1333), 0-1, 738 points
Orysenko (1560) - Gilyazitdinov (2067), 1-0, 507 points
Ahmed (2346) - Sharabaty (1884), 0-1, 462 points
Abdulla (2498) - Sammed Jaykumar (2071), 0-1, 427 points
Himanshu (2420) - Sa (2003), 0-1, 417 points
Ambartsumova (2331) - Tukaeva (1922), 0-1, 409 points
Orysenko (1560) - Mischeryakov (1945), 1-0, 385 points
Rosmuller (2142) - Pruijssers (2507), 1-0, 365 points
Van Dael (1701) - Koudinov (2065), 1-0, 364 points
Bylino (2067) - Khlopushin (1724), 0-1, 343 points

Young & Talented
GM Etienne Bacrot
Best rating: 2749
8.h4 Played instantly. 8.Nc3 would simply turn back into a
(4) Jakovenko, Dmitry (2738) usual Queen’s Gambit with Bxf6.
- Bacrot, Etienne (2704) [D30] 8...g6 I thought a long time about it and played the usual solid
TCh-FRA Top 12 2015(6.5), move to save the kingside by answering Bg7 to g4. White’s
2015.06.04 play on the flank might induce play in the center but [8...c5
9.g4! cxd4 10.g5 seems really awful for Black over the board!]
For once I will change the theme of my column, which is 9.Nc3 c6 10.O-O-O A normal move. It is funny that if White
analysing a junior game. I will show you one of my very few now plays [10.h5 10...g5 we got a position that I quickly
but important successes, which helped my team Bischwiller checked during the last FIDE Grand Prix while I followed the
to win 2-1 against Clichy and eventually become French team Nakamura-Svidler game, which came from a totally different
champion! opening: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.h4 c6 6.Bg5 h6
7.Bxf6 Bxf6 8.h5 g5 9.e3 e6 10.Qc2 a6?!. If 10...0-0 was played
1.Nf3 d5 This day I switched back to the Queen’s Gambit, it would transpose to the same exact position! Back then I let
since I had too much of King’s Indians lately. the computer think a little about it and he couldn’t find a good
2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Qc2 Going for an unusual plan for White.]
move order. 10...Nd7 11.Kb1 White started to think around here so at
5...h6 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 7.e3 O-O I started to think around here, least I was safe from huge preparation. Here I think the most
and I didn’t like the immediate [7...c5 8.cxd5 cxd4 9.Bb5+! It principled move is [11.e4 11...Bg7 with very complex play.]
appears this was played recently in Nakamura-Adams London 11...Bg7 12.Bd3
2014 and White had the edge. I of course saw the game but
couldn’t remember exactly how it went.]
19...Rb8
12...a6 I decided to stick to the same strategy all game to 20.Ne5? This is a big mistake. Black’s pieces are quite
slightly improve my position and wait for a good moment to restricted so he cannot make use of his positional and
use the bishop pair. The opening position should help White two bishops advantage. Play might continue with [20.Nb3
make use of his development advantage. Another option is 20...Qb4 21.Rhe1 Nf8 (21...Nb6 22.Ne5 Nd5k) 22.Ne5 Bd7
[12...dxc4 13.Bxc4 Qe7k] 23.Qc5 Qa4k]
13.cxd5!? [13.e4 runs into 13...dxc4! 14.Bxc4 b5 followed by 20...Nxc5 21.Nc4 Qb4 Finally an active move. I calculated it
c5, with great play for Black.] until the 24th move and decided it was stronger than [21...Qc7
22.dxc5 Bd7=+ which is also clearly in Black’s favor.]
13...cxd5 [13...exd5 14.h5 g5 15.Ne2 didn’t appeal to me as
after Ng3 White takes control of the important f5 square.] 22.dxc5 [22.a3 22...Qxc4! 23.Qxc4 Nxe4i The pieces are
much stronger than the queen here.]
14.e4 A logical opening of the position. [14.Ne2 14...b5k]
22...Bd7 23.Nd6 [23.Nb6 23...Bxb2! 24.Nxd7 Be5+ 25.Qb3
14...dxe4 15.Bxe4 [15.Nxe4 15...b5=+]
(25.Kc1 25...Bf4+i) 25...Qxe4+e]
15...Qb6 Another safe move. Now I am ready to easily meet
23...Ba4 24.b3
the d4-d5 break. My plan is Rd8 Nf6 (or Nf8) Bd7-e8 Rac8.
One of the other interesting options is [15...Nf6 16.Ne5 Bd7!?
17.Bxb7 Rb8 18.Bxa6 Qa5 with compensation.]
16.g4 A good move. White will take the f6 square for my knight
and improve his dark squares position.
16...Rd8 17.Na4 Qa5 18.g5 h5 19.Nc5 [19.a3 19...Rb8 20.b4
Qb5 21.Qc7 Rf8 22.Nc3 Qb6 23.Qxb6 Nxb6k]
24...b6! Not the only way but the most forced and best one.
25.Qc4 Entering a lost endgame. [25.Nxf7 might give more
practical chances. 25...Kxf7 26.c6 Rd4 27.c7 Rc8 28.Bb7
Bd7e]
25...bxc5 26.Qxb4 Rxb4i Two bishop s and a pawn up
should be enough but even then, under time pressure, I gave
some saving chances!
27.f3 Bd4 [27...Bf8! is a very strong computer move which
didn’t cross my mind. 28.Nb7 (28.Nc4 28...Rxd1+ 29.Rxd1
Rxc4 30.bxa4 Rxa4i) 28...Rxd1+ 29.Rxd1 c4i] 40.Nxb6 It is very natural to go for opposite colored bishop
28.Nb7 Rc8 29.Kc2 Bd7 30.Na5 Rb5 31.Nc4 Rcb8 endgame but maybe the other possibility is more tenacious:
[31...Rbb8 Considering the chance I gave in the game, this [40.Rxd4 40...cxd4 41.Nxb6 Rxb6 42.Rd1 e5 43.Re1 Kg7
option was better!] followed by f6 and Black has good chances to convert the
extra pawn.]
32.Rd3 Kf8
40...Bxd3+ 41.Kxd3?! To save the game White should try to
transfer his king to the kingside to protect his weak pawns.
[41.Bxd3 41...Rxb6 42.Bc4 Rd6 43.Kd2 Bf2+ (43...Bb2+
44.Ke2 Bxa3?! 45.Ra1 Bb4 46.Rxa6 Rd2+ 47.Ke3 Rh2
48.Ra8+ Kg7 49.Ra7!=) 44.Ke2 Bg3e]
41...Rxb6 42.Kc4
33.Nd6! Aasty surprise! I have to save the rook now!

33...R5b6 34.Nc4 Rb5 [34...Rb4 is the other choice but after
35.a3 Rxc4+ 36.bxc4 Ba4+ 37.Kc1 Be5 38.Kd2 Bf4+ 39.Kc3
Ke7 40.Rg1e it is not so easy for Black to improve. 40...Rb3+
41.Kc2e There is no lethal check.]
35.Nd6 Rb4 36.a3 R4b6 37.Nc4 Rb5 38.Nd6 R5b6 42...Be3i Now it seems clear that Black is winning thanks
39.Nc4 Bb5 After maneuvering to get closer to move 40 I to the extra pawn, the active pieces and the big weakness of
need to play this move. the h4 pawn. I will slowly improve the position until I win extra
material.
43.Rh2 Ke7 44.Re2 Bc1 45.Ra2 Bf4 46.Rg2 Rb8 47.Bc2
Bc1 48.a4 Ba3 49.Be4 Rd8 50.Kc3 Bb4+ 51.Kc2 Rd4
52.Re2 a5 53.Kc1 Kd7 54.Kc2 Kd6 55.Kc1 c4 56.bxc4
Rxc4+ 57.Kd1 Rd4+ 58.Kc2 Ke7 White is not able to defend
the a4 pawn after Bd6, so he resigned. 0-1
Puzzle section
(5) Duda, J(2610)-Dorfman, J(2574) (7) Duda, J(2610)-Baklan, A(2632)
[CEWN]
1. h 1. h
(6) Ider, B(2401)-Vaisser, A(2530) (8) Postny, E(2630)-Fedorchuk, S(2657)

1. = 1... i
(9) Navara, D(2751)-Fier, A(2632) (11) Salgado Lopez, I(2616)-Demuth, A(2515)
1. = 1. h
(10) Duda, J(2610)-Flear, G(2460) (12) Gajewski, G(2648)-Postny, E(2630)

1. h 1. h
(13) Solodovnichenko, Y(2592)-Milliet, S(2369)
French league, 2015.06.04
1. h
(14) Fressinet, L(2712)-Tranchant, S(2275)

1. h
Endgame section succesfull mating nets.
58...Kb3 [Black cannot stay in the middle of the board with
58...Kd3? because of 59.Nd5h with the multiply threats of
(15) Apicella, Manuel (2510) Rc3, Nf4 and Nxe7.]
- Koch, Jean-Rene (2452)
59.Nd5 Ba3
French league, GM Csaba Balogh
2015.06.08 Best rating: 2672
60.Ke4! Very good technique by White! He bring all

his pieces closer to the opponent’s king. Black is getting
squezzed and defending is getting more and more tricky with
each move. The idea is to play Kd3 followed by Rb6 check
Without the rooks, the bishop and knight vs the bishop is forcing the king go to the a-file. It is very strange, but I already
an obvious draw. White does not even have the slightest dont see a draw for Black!
winning chance there. The story is different with a pair of
rooks on board. The objective evaluation should be still 60...Rd8 Logical, Black stops the Kd3 plan. [Another defense
draw, but White retains excellent practical chances because of is 60...Re8+ 61.Kd3 Rd8 62.Rb6+ Ka4 The point is Kc4 is
different kind of mating nets. In the game, Black makes some met by Rc8 and the king is forced to retreat. White needs to
inaccuracies and White gets what he wants... make some unwanted move, however it does not change the
outcome... 63.Kd4! Rc8 64.Bg5! Controlling the d8 square
56.Rh6+ A good practical idea could be to try for 50 moves and using the fact, that the rook cannot be taken after Bc5
and if Black defends perfectly then trade off the knight for check because the knight forks the rook. 64...Bc5+ 65.Kd3
the black bishop and try for another 50 moves with the rook Ka5 (65...Rg8 loses to 66.Nc3+ Ka5 (66...Ka3 67.Bc1#)
and bishop vs the rook. In our current chess, making our 67.Rb5+ Ka6 68.Rxc5h) 66.Bd2+ Ka4
opponent as tired as possible is an important factor.
56...Kd5 57.Nc3+ Kc4 58.Rc6+ White squezzes the king to
the edge of the board. This is clearly the right idea to create
the a-file... 68...Ra6 69.Rc5 Ra4 70.Rc6 Ra8 71.Bb4! Black
is getting squeezed. A possible finish is 71...Ka1 72.Bc3+ Ka2
73.Rd6h and Black has no defense against Rd1-a1!]
61.Bd4 Bf8 62.Rb6+ Ka3 63.Rb7! Putting the pieces to
light squares to ingore the black bishop is another sign of the
good technique.
63...Ka4 64.Bb2 [White should have asked the rook where
does it want to go 64.Bf6! 64...Re8+ (64...Rd6 is the only
way to avoid Kd3-c4, but it moves into 65.Nb6+!h and Nc4
67.Rb1 Black is lost again. There are too many threats around
check wins the rook!) 65.Kd3h A possible finish is: 65...Ka3
the king. He cannot move his rook, because Kc4 decides,
66.Bb2+! Ka4 67.Kc4 Rc8+ 68.Nc7!h and the king is
while the bishop must control the b6 square. Not too many
trapped again!]
legal moves are left, one of them is 67...Bf2 but it moves into
another motif... 68.Nc3+ Ka5 69.Ne4+h; Another attempt 64...Bd6 65.Bd4 Rb8 Black tries to get the b-file for his
is 60...Rb8 trying to control the b-file to avoid getting a check, king, but it does not solve the problems... [On 65...Bf8 White
but it also does not help for long 61.Kd3 Bb4 62.Rc1! White already wanted to play 66.Bf6!]
gives the wished check from behind. 62...Rd8 63.Rb1+ Ka2 66.Nc3+ Ka5 Otherwise Nb5 wins the bishop.
64.Rxb4 Rxd5+ 65.Kc2
67.Ra7+
The following endgame is winning, because the black king is

trapped! It still requires good tecnhnique. 65...Ka3 66.Rc4 67...Kb4 68.Kd3! Taking control over the c4 square! Black
White is threatening with mate in two moves, therefore the temporarily controls the b-file and the b7 check, but it only
only move is to send the rook into passivity to the a-file. delays the problems...
66...Ra5 67.Bc5+ Ka2 68.Bd6 White slowly makes progress, 68...Bf8 69.Ra4+ Kb3 70.Ra1! and Black gets squeezed
but taking away the possible squares from the black rook on again to the edge of the board!
70...Bb4 There is already no salvation for Black. All the
moves are losing on the spot.. . [70...Ba3 71.Rb1+ Bb2 (16) Postny, Evgeny(2630)
72.Nd1h; 70...Rd8 71.Rb1+ Ka3 72.Kc2 Rxd4 73.Rb3#; - Dorfman, Iossif(2574)
70...Bd6 71.Rb1+ Ka3 72.Bc5+ Bxc5 73.Rxb8h]
TCh-FRA Top 12 2015(10.2),
71.Rb1+ Ka3 72.Kc2! Bxc3 73.Bc5+! An unpleasant GM Arkadij Naiditsch
2015.06.08
intermediate check and Black resigned because his rook falls Best rating: 2737
next move. Very interesting endgame. After all, I dont wish
to anyone to end up in such endgame, it looks practically
impossible to hold over the board. 1-0
White was better all game long and managed to reach this
very promising endgame. Postny perfectly converts it into a
full point.
42.d6 A very logica l move and probably the best. White wants
to play Ba5 or Bf6 next to support the movement of the pawn.
42...f5 [42...Rd8 is not much better. 43.Rd2 Rd7 44.Bf6 and
the g5 pawn is getting lost, which means game over in the long
term.]
43.Ba5 Rd8 What else to do?! [In case of 43...Re4 44.Rd2
White wants to play d7. 44...Nd7 45.Rd5 and Black’s position
is just lost.]
51.Rc7 The threat is now to play Rb7-Rb6, offering the
exchange of rooks which would lead to an easily winning
pawn endgame for White.
51...f4 Once again Black is taking his only chance.
44.Rxc4! A good move. There is no reason for White to enter

a rook endgame on the spot.
44...Rxd6 45.Rc7 The rook is perfectly placed on c7.
45...g4 [In case Black would try to save the a7 pawn by
playing 45...a6 a calm move like 46.h3! is just deadly. White
52.gxf4 White needs to take otherwise Black would push f3.
will slowly get to attack the g5-a6 pawns of and it will be
impossible to defend them. Another idea could be to play h4 52...Rxf4 53.Rc6+ and the a6 pawn is falling.
in a good moment.] 53...Kg5 54.Rxa6 Ra4 For those know know it, this is an
46.Kg2 A very safe move, but White should have taken the easily winning rook endgame. but for those who don’t it can
a7 pawn. [Why not play 46.Rxa7 46...Nc4 47.Kg2 and Black be very unclear.
doesn’t have enough time to play Nd2-Nf3-Rd1, which is easy 55.Ra8! The absolutely correct plan. In case White would
to see!] exchange the f-pawn against the g-pawn the position would
46...a6 47.Bxb6! A nice move. White correctly evaluates that be a draw and the same goes for the exchange of the a-pawn
this endgame is winning. against the g-pawn, which would also be a theoretical draw.
47...Rxb6 48.Rc5 fixing the black rook on f6. 55...Ra3 Black can only keep on waiting.
48...Rf6 49.a4! Another accurate move. Before taking 56.a6 Kg6 57.a7 Kg7 and what now?
actions on the kingside, Postny wants to play a5 followed by
Rc7-Rb7-Rb6, winning the a6 pawn.
49...Kg7 50.a5 Kg6 Black wants to free the rook from f6, but
White is in time.
58.h3!! Exactly! White sacrifices the h-pawn to get a passed
f-pawn. All that White then needs to do is to push the f-pawn
to f6, after which Black will need to play Kf7 and then Rh8
Rxa7 and Rh7+ wins the black rook. This is a typical winning
idea in rook endgames, so Dorfman decided that enough
was enough and resigned. Very nice endgame technique by
Postny! 1-0
Chess and the City. I am choosing the results of ACP as my topic of this
weeks’ newsletter as players often forget how important, and
Injustice to one is a threat to all... difficult, it is to find sponsors, organize tournaments and
support professional chess. I, and my female colleagues
at the European Women Chess Championship, recently had
a first hand experience of the positive aspects of the ACP
organization.
After the main tournament, ACP collaborated with the
Georgian Organisers to raise the prize fund of the European
Rapid Championship managing to attract more strong
players in joining the event. In addition to the participants
Best rating: 2493
already present at the main event in Chakvi, players of the
caliber of Alexandra Kosteniuk and Valentina Gunina decided
is the slogan the ACP (association of chess professionals) to come all the way from Russia to participate to the rapid
has chosen. ACP is a non-profit organisation which was event. After a three-day battle and 11 rounds, these very two
founded in 2003 for improving the life of chess professionals players topped the event and collected the first two places.
and particularly in financial and legal aspects. During the
relatively few years from its foundation, ACP managed to Who said that practising before rapid games is the best way
organize and co-organize several tournaments tournaments to go?!:) Sometimes perhaps a temporary break from chess
totalling a budget in excess of million Euros. is the key to success. Despite the trip from Russia, Valentina
and Alexandra displayed an excellent shape and managed to
The president of ACP - Israelian Emil Sutovsky- is a strong keep at the minimum the nightmare of all blitz players, the
Grandmaster himself and a good singer either. Thanks to his blunder...
efforts, and to the efforts of the ACP team, the association
could not only collect members all over the world, but also
convince world class players to join.
Clash of the Titans 5...Nxe4 6.dxe6 Premature. Nowdays theory says that more
[6.Bd3 is more accurate. 6...Nd6 (6...Nf6 7.O-OC and White’s
initiative is based on his strong development.) 7.cxb5 a6
(17) Rubinstein, Akiba (7...exd5 8.O-O Be7 9.Nc3 Bb7 10.Re1 and Black is not able
- Tartakower, Saviely[E10] to escape with the king. 10...O-O because of 11.Nxd5! Bxd5
12.Bxh7+ Kxh7 13.Qxd5h) 8.b6 The best move to keep
Teplitz-Schoenau(10), the initiative. 8...Bb7 9.Nc3 Be7 10.O-O Qxb6 11.Re1 O-O
1922.10.12 12.Bf4C]
GM Kamil Miton 6...fxe6 7.Bd3 Nf6 8.Ng5
Best rating: 2655
1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c5 4.d5 b5 This opening is called the

Blumenfeld Gambit.
8...Qe7?! preventing the Bxh7 idea but this is not a perfect

place for the queen. [8...bxc4 9.Bxh7 Qc7 (9...Nxh7? 10.Qh5+
Ke7 11.Bf4! not allowing the black king to escape. 11...Qe8
12.Bd6+h) 10.Bg6+ Ke7 11.h4 Bb7 12.Kf1 Nc6 with an
5.e4!? An interesti ng idea discoverd so many years ago! unclear position.; 8...Qc7!?k]
Instead of accepting the sacrifice White is going to develop his 9.cxb5 [9.Bxh7?! 9...Rxh7 10.Nxh7 Nxh7 11.Qh5+ g6
pieces very quickly. The alternative is [5.dxe6 5...fxe6 6.cxb5 12.Qxg6+ Qf7 13.Qxf7+ Kxf7 14.cxb5 Bb7 with a clearly
d5 7.g3 This should be the best setup for White. 7...Bd6 8.Bg2 better position for Black.]
O-O 9.O-O Bb7 Black has strong central pawns for the pawn.
10.Nbd2 One of White’s ideas can be to destroy the black 9...d5 10.O-O g6 and Black has to lose more time to develop
structure after e4. 10...Nbd7 11.b3 Qe7 12.Bb2 with complex the pieces because the queen is placed on e7.
play.] 11.Re1 Bg7
16.Qf1
12.Qe2?! An important moment, where White took the

wrong decision. Rubinstein should still focus on developing
his pieces instead of hurrying with grabing the e6 pawn. 16...a6! A typical move which helps activate the black pieces.
[12.Nc3! 12...O-O 13.Bf4 h6 (13...a6 14.b6 Nc6 15.Rc1 All 17.Rxe8+ Nxe8 18.Nc3 [18.Bd1!? 18...axb5 19.Nxd5 Bb7
the white pieces are in the game.) 14.Nf3 g5 15.Bg3 Bb7 20.Nbc3 Nc6 and thanks to his more active pieces Black has
16.h4AThis position looks very unpleasant for Black.] compensation.]
12...c4 13.Bc2 [13.Nxe6? 13...Bxe6 14.Qxe6 Qxe6 15.Rxe6+ 18...Bb7 [18...Bxc3?! is not a logical move. 19.bxc3 axb5
Kf7e; 13.Bxc4 13...dxc4 14.Qxc4 O-O 15.Nc3 h6 16.Nxe6 Qf7 20.Be3c and White is better because of the weak dark
and Black is fine.] squares.]
13...O-O 14.Nxe6 Winning the e6 pawn cost White too much 19.Qe1 [19.Bd1 White could try to activate the limited bishop.
time, so now Black gets the initiative. 19...axb5 (19...d4 20.Bg4! Kh8 21.Be6 Qf8 22.Qxc4 dxc3
14...Re8 [14...Bxe6 15.Qxe6+ Qxe6 16.Rxe6 Nbd7 All of 23.Nxg6+ hxg6 24.Qh4+h) 20.Bg4 Ra6 21.Nxb5 Nf6n]
White’s queenside is still undeveloped. 17.Nd2 Rae8 18.Rxe8 19...d4
Rxe8 19.Nf3 d4C]
15.Nf4 [15.Nd4 with the idea to create a blockade on the
d4 square. 15...Qc5 (15...Qb4 16.Be3 Qxb2 17.Nd2 Ng4
18.Nxc4! dxc4 19.Qxc4+ Kh8 20.Be4h) 16.Be3 Ng4! Black
immediately attacks the d4 square. 17.Ne6 Qd6 18.Qxg4
Bxe6e]
15...Qf7! [15...Qb4 is bad because of the following trap:
16.Qxe8+ Nxe8 17.Rxe8+ Kf7 18.Nxd5! and the white pieces
get nice coordination. 18...Qxb5 19.Re7+ Kf8 20.Nbc3 Bxc3
21.Bh6+h] 20.Ne4?! The idea of activating the pieces is correct but
Rubinstein could do it more accurately and first exchange his 24...h6! A very good move, forcing exchanges and making the
bad bishop, for example with [20.Be4! 20...Bxe4 21.Nxe4 position more stable. [24...Bxb2 ]
(21.Qxe4 21...Ra7 22.Ncd5 axb5 23.Bd2 Nd6e) 21...axb5 25.Nxg7 Nxg7 26.Nf3 Re8! 27.Qa5 White is hoping for
22.Ng5 Qd7 23.Nd5! Ra7 24.Bf4 Na6 (24...Nc6 25.Nb6h) some counterplay but the d3 pawn decides the outcome of
this game.
27...g5 28.Be3 [28.Bd2 28...g4 29.Nh4 Qe7! 30.Ng6 Qe4
31.Nh4 Nc5i]
28...Nf5 29.Qb6 [29.a4 29...b4! stopping the white pieces
from activating. 30.Ne5 Qd5 31.Qxd5+ Bxd5i]
29...Re6 30.Qa7 Qe7 31.Rc1 [31.Bd2 31...g4i]
31...Nxe3 0-1
25.a4!Vactivating the last piece, the rook on a1.]

20...axb5 21.Ng5 Qd7 22.Nfe6 [22.Nxg6!? with hope for
some practical chances. 22...hxg6 (22...Nc6!? An interesting
idea. Black just doesn’t care about the kingside and plays
over the center. 23.Nf4 d3 24.Bd1 Nd4A) 23.Bxg6 Nf6
24.Bf7+ Kf8 (24...Kh8?? 25.f3h and Qh4 is coming.) ]
22...Na6 23.Bf4 d3e and the black pawns are very
unpleasant.
24.Bd1
(18) Riester (19) Demuth, A(2515)-Doettling, F(2588)
1. h French league, 2015.05.30
21.Bxg7+!! [21.Qh7 21...Bf6!]

21...Kxg7 22.Qh7+ Kf6 23.Rxe6+? [23.Be4! /3 23...Rxd4
(23...Nxe3 24.Qxh6#) 24.Rxd4 Qxd4 25.Rf3+ Ke5 26.Qg7+!
Bf6 (26...Nf6 27.Qg3#) 27.Qxg4 Kd6 28.Rd3h]
23...Kxe6 24.Qf5+ Kd6k
(20) Bedouin, X(2336)-Vaisser, A(2530) (22) De Seroux, C(2115)-Benmesbah, N(2199)
23.Bxd5+! Kf8 [23...Nxd5 24.Nxd5! Rxd5 25.Rxd5 Qxd5 27...Qf2! 0-1 [27...Qf2 28.Rxf2 Rxd1+i]
26.Rd1! Qxb3 27.Rxd8+ Kf7 28.axb3h]
24.Bg8! Nxg8 [24...Qc7 25.Rxd8+ Qxd8 26.Rxe5! Rxe5
27.Qf7#] 25.Rxd6h (23) Duda, J(2610)-Feller, S(2626)
(21) Feller, S(2626)-Navara, D(2751) French league, 2015.05.31
51.Rxe5!! Qxe5 [51...d1=Q+ 52.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 53.Re1h]

14...Nxc4! 15.Qxc4 [15.Nxc4 15...Be4i] 52.Qa7! 1-0
15...Bxf3i
(24) Bauer, C(2624)-Navara, D(2751) (26) Lenderman, A(2636)-Matamoros Franco, O(2525)
French league, 2015.06.01 American Continental, 2015.05.22
30.Qf3? [30.Bf7+! 30...Kxf7 (30...Kd7 31.Qxe7+ Kc8 25...Qh3! 26.Ne2 [26.Rxg8 26...Qxe3+i]
32.Be6+h) 31.Qxe7+ Kg8 32.Qe6#] 26...Nxe4 0-1
30...c5!k (27) Lupulescu, C(2635)-Miron, L(2481)
(25) Duda, J(2610)-Ider, B(2401) Iasi Open, 2015.06.01
33...b2! 0-1 [33...b2 34.Qxa4 (34.Rxb2 34...Qxd1i)

18.Bxg6! fxg6 19.Qh6! h Rf8 [19...Bf8 20.Qxg6+ Bg7 34...bxc1=Q+i]
21.Bh6 Re7 22.Ng5h]
20.Qxg6+ Kh8 21.Qxh5+ Kg8 22.Bh6 1-0
(28) Nenkov, L(2217)-Spasov, V(2554)
Bulgarian Championship, 2015.05.31
34...Rh2+! 35.Kxh2 Qxf2+ 36.Kh1 Rh6+ 0-1
(29) Platov
1.Ba7+! Ke4 2.Bd4! [2.b8=Q 2...a1=Q 3.Qb4+ d4!]

2...Kxd4 3.b8=Q a1=Q 4.Qb4+! Kxe5 5.Qe7+ Kf4
[5...Be6 6.Qg7+h; 5...Kd4 6.Qf6+h]
6.Qh4+! Ke5 7.Qh8+! Ke6 8.Qxa1h
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
This week is full of chess events! The super tournament in
Editorial Preface 2 Stavanger, the Capablanca Memorial in Cuba and the match
between So and Navara.
Two best games of the past week 5 Let us start with the past events:
1) A mini-match consisting of 4 classical games between So
The K-Files. Sicilian 3.Bb5+ 12 and Navara was held in the Czech Republic. In all 4 games
So had a better position and managed to win the match very
David vs. Goliath 17 convincingly with 3-1.
2) In Cuba, where the 2 best Cubans (Dominguez and Bruzon)
Young & Talented 19 are playing alongside 4 foreigners, the lead belongs to the
very strong Yu Yangiy with 3.5/4. The Chinese player seems
Puzzle section 21 to be unstoppable!
3) But clearly the main event of the week is the Stavanger
Endgame section 24 tournament with Carlsen, Caruana, Anand, Topalov and
many more top players.
Chess and the City. Mitropa Cup 2015 29 After 4 rounds, clearly the biggest surprise of the event is that
Carlsen has 0.5 points out of 4! In the first round, Carlsen had
played a great game and when it seemed like the win was
close, he lost on time on move 60, thinking that there was
additional time coming, but there was not! It seems like he
Solutions 31 did not manage to recover from this terrible blow and keeps
on losing his games.
The leader of the tournament is Topalov with a fantastic 3.5/4.
In second position we find Nakamura with 3/4 and Carlsen is
last with 0.5/4.
In the current issue, we focus on the freshest games and
analyze the best moments of the super event in Stavanger!
We hope you enjoy the issue of Top GM Secrets Nr173!
Two best games of the past week White is prophylactically putting the rook on d1.
9...b6 Another typical move.
10.b3
(1) Dominguez Perez, Leinier (2746)
- Yu, Yangyi (2715) [E10]
50th Capablanca Mem Elite(3.2),

Best rating: 2737
Yu Yangyi is one of the Chinese superstars that are on the

rise. He was in the winning Olympiad team, won the very
strong Qatar Open and many other top events, all the while
just being 21 years old. In the Capablanca Memorial, he is once 10...a5!? An interesting approach. Black doesn’t play the
again showing fantastic chess and had an almost perfect start standard Bb7 and c5, but tries to maybe even take over the
with 3.5/ 4 points. In the current game, Dominguez risks a game by puting the bishop on a6 and then to play Rc8 and c5.
lot in the opening and gets a slightly worse position. Playing 11.Bf4 Ba6 12.Ne5 Maybe a bit premature... [More normal
really great chess, Yu is makes the most out of his position and is 12.Nbd2 12...Rc8 13.e4 with maybe a minimally better
manages to catch Dominguez’ queen, which brings him the position for White.]
full point on the spot! A great game awaits us!
12...Rc8 Black is ready to play c5.
1.d4 As usual Dominguez starts the game with 1.d4. The
Cuban Nr1 is a very safe player who likes to play slightly better 13.e4?! What a strange decision to give up the g2 bishop...
positions with minimal risk. [13.Nxd7 13...Qxd7 14.Nd2 c5 just leads to an equal position.]
1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Another Catalan... 13...Nxe5 is probably not the best. [13...Nxe4!? looks very
strong. 14.Bxe4 dxe4 15.Qxe4 and now the interesting 15...g5!
4...Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 This is one of the main lines. Black’s 16.Be3 f5 and I think Black’s play is very dangerous.]
idea behind playing Bb4 first to provoke Bd2 is that the d2
square is usually perfect for the knight and not the bishop. 14.Bxe5?! [White should have continued with 14.dxe5
14...Nd7 15.exd5 cxd5 16.Nc3! dxc4 17.Ne4 with probably
6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O c6 8.Qc2 Nbd7 Nothing new so far... enough counterplay for the pawn.]
9.Rd1 Usually Black’s main idea is to play c5 somewhere, so 14...Nxe4 Now Black is going to have the bishop pair.
15.Bxe4 dxe4 16.Qxe4
23...g5!? An interesting approach! [23...e4 was a simpler

move. 24.Qg2 Rcf7 followed by Bd7 and then h6-Rg8,
16...f6! An excellent move by Yu! Black is not going for the preparing to play g5. In that case it would have been a game
standard c5 push -which is not that easy to play because for 2 results.]
of White’s d5, with a probably equal position- but for e5,
24.fxe5 is probably the best. [It looks very risky for White to
followed by a regrouping idea on the kingside.
play 24.fxg5 24...f4 25.Bf2 because of the beautiful 25...e4!
17.Bf4 e5 18.Be3 white wants to play Nc3 after which (After 25...Qxg5 26.Ne4 Qg6 27.Qc3 White is fine.) 26.Nxe4
position is equal fxg3 27.Nf6+ Rxf6 28.gxf6 gxf2+ 29.Qxf2 Rf7 and Black is
18...c5! Yu is showing extremly good understanding of the clearly better.]
position. 24...Bxe5 25.Rad1 Bd6! Another fantastic move by Black in
19.d5 The only move. my opinion. It is clear that the d-pawn has to be blocked, but it
looks very tempting to just play Bg7, h6 and then Qd6. In fact,
19...Bd6 Now Black is going to proceed with f5 and then with I think the black bishop is perfectly placed on d6 and supports
Rc7 and Bc8, bringing all the pieces to the kingside. Black’s main idea, which is to play f4 at some point.
20.f4 Dominguez is trying to block as much as he can. 26.Bf2 Qf6 27.Qh5 White is trying to be as solid as possible.
20...f5 21.Qf3 Rc7 Black needs to bring the bishop to c8. 27...Rg7 Black is also bringing all his pieces to the kingside.
22.Nd2 Bc8 23.Re1 28.Re8 The right decision. White should try to exchange as
many pieces as possible.
28...Bd7 29.Rxf8+ Kxf8 Black’s advantage is slowly
increasing.
30.Re1 h6 A nice prophylactical move, but h6 might be the usual Be3!
needed anyway. 34.Be3? This move loses on the spot. [White should have
defended with 34.Re1 34...Re7 35.Nf1 and he has a horrible
position but is still fighting.]
34...Re7! The game is over... White probably missed Black’s
next move.
35.Kf1 Re5! [35...Be8? of course doesn’t work since after
36.Bxh6+! Qxh6 37.Rxe7+ Bxe7 38.Qxe8 the position is
about equal.]
36.Bf4 Everything else loses as well. White has no defense
31.a4 Dominguez continues playing for survival and tries to against f4.
close the position.
36...Rxe2 37.Kxe2 Bxf4 38.gxf4
31...Rf7 Black improves the position to the maximum before
starting the action on the kingside.
32.Kg2 Kg7 [It is too early for 32...g4 33.Be3 Kg7 34.Nf1
followed by Bd2 and White is fighting, although Black is still
clearly better.]
33.Re2?! A very careless move... [White should have been
much more careful with his queen on h5... 33.Qf3 but of
course Black is much better and it would have been a long
road for Dominguez to finally draw this game.]
38...Kf8! Black’s next move is Be8 after which the queen
on h5 is caught! It is very rare in chess to be able to catch
a full queen. What can we say about this game?! We just
witnessed perfect play by Yu, who showed great positional
understanding and great tactical skills when needed! 0-1
33...g4! The perfect moment to play g4 as White doesn’t have
12...Bf5 This move in the Berlin is always double-edged.
(2) Caruana, Fabiano (2805) Firstly, it is always nice to develop the bishop to an active
- Carlsen, Magnus (2876) [C67] square, but it also has the drawback that after the next pair of
moves, the black bishop leaves the important c8-h3 diagonal,
Norway Chess(2), GM Csaba Balogh which makes the breakthrough of e5-e6 more effective and
2015.06.17 Best rating: 2672
more easy to achieve. [The main move is 12...Ng6 which
should be countered by 13.Ne2! (The direct 13.Bb2 allows
After the scandalous loss of Carlsen in the first round by being the standard regrouping of the pieces with 13...Nf4! and the
forfeited on time in a winning position, he ran into another knight ends up on e6, when the position is considered to
painful defeat, this time getting completely outplayed by already be fine for Black!) ]
Caruana in his favorite Berlin. 13.Nd4 Bh7 14.Bb2 Rd8 Black brings one of his rooks into
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 the game, which is usually an important factor, but he still
6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 Recently needs to work to do something with the one on h8. Black
Caruana is the only one player in the World, who can always cannot go for the c2 pawn with c5, because the b5 square
show something against the rock-solid Berlin Wall! Most of needs to be controlled.
the others just aim to get a playable position and avoid theory
after 4.d3.
9...h6 10.Rd1+ Ke8 11.Nc3 Ne7
15.Nce2 The real novelty and a prepared one as Caruana

played it instantly. A multi-purpose move: he removes the
knight from the long diagonal in order to make to e6 break
more effective, he wants to place his pawn on c4 to take
12.b3 Caruana’s improvement on their previous encounter ground on the queenside and to take control over the d5
earlier this year. That game and also the game square and last but not the least, he wants to play Nf4,
Caruana-Dominguez continued with 12.Bf4, but both ended supporting even more the e6 break and after opening the
in a relatively easy draw. This time he gives a try to develop diagonal jumping to h5, putting pressure on the g7 pawn.
the bishop to the other diagonal. [The previous game continued with 15.e6 which is logical, but
looks premature as exf7 Kxf7 is not a real threat yet. Somehow his knight to e6, but it simply costs too much time. [Perhaps
it allows Black to finish the development more comfortably. it was still better to play something like 18...Be7 with the idea
15...Nc8 (15...Nd5 was also possible...) 16.Nce2 Bd6 17.c4 of Bg5, although I don’t like Black’s position.]
Ne7 with mutual chances in the game Polgar-Howell, Warsaw 19.Nf5! White improves his position with each move!
2013.]
19...Nc5 20.Rxd8+ [It was possible to keep the black king in
15...Nd5 Black tries to activate his knight before White could the center with 20.Kg2!? because the plan of 20...Ne6 does
play c4. [In general the exchange of the knights favors Black, not seem to give equality after 21.Nxe6 fxe6 22.Rxd8+ Kxd8
therefore 15...Nf5 was a logical move, although it is met by 23.Rd1+ Ke8 24.Nd4 Kf7 25.Ne2+= It is not easy to deal with
the very strong 16.Nf3! keeping the pieces on the board and the d-file and Nf4, threatening the e6 pawn at the same time.]
g4 next sends the knight back to its previous position.]
20...Kxd8 21.Rd1+ Kc8
16.c4 Nb4 17.Nf4 Caruana still plays without thinking,
showing great preparation again.
17...Rg8?! Not a happy decision. Black was afraid of
developing his bishop because after the e6 push the g7 pawn
might get weak. [However it still looks much more natural
to play 17...Bc5 18.e6 (18.g4 18...Bxd4 19.Rxd4 Otherwise Nc2
wins material. 19...Ke7 Black connects his rooks and seems
to the fine.) 18...Ke7! Connecting the rooks. If White does not
have something concrete, then Black is going to hold.]
22.Ba3! Another excellent positional move by Caruana,

which had to be foreseen before taking on d8. The critical
tactical line which was tested in the game favors White.
Otherwise White just wants to get rid of the dark squared
bishops, leaving Black without his bishop pair in an inferior
structure. Black does not really have a useful move, while
White can improve his position with Kg2 for instance...
22...Ne6 [In similar positions, I was faced with the idea
18.g4! Securing the excellent f5 outpost for the knight! Bc5 is of 22...Bxf5 23.gxf5 g6 but it does not seem to solve the
already met by Nf5! problems after the simple 24.fxg6 (24.f6 24...g5 followed by
Ne6 is not easy.) 24...fxg6 25.Kg2+=]
18...Na6?! Another sad decision, showing that Carlsen was
very disappointed about his position. He tries to maneuver
23.Nxe6! Bxa3 [The key is that (and this is perhaps what
Carlsen missed in his pre-calculations ) 23...fxe6 loses to
27...Be7 28.Kg2 The next plan could be Nh5, f4, Kf3-e4, with
total domination. Exchanging the rooks on d8 leads to a
hopeless endgame for Black and otherwise he must defend
24.Be7!! and the game is suddenly over! It is easy to miss such without his king...
moves!]
28...Rf8 29.Rd3 Nh5 was also possible, but Caruana knows
24.Nexg7 Bf8 The problem is Black is not threatening to play that the endgame is winning,therefore he wants to play Rf3
Bxg7 because of Ne7 Kb8 Nxg8 and mate ond8! and if Black avoids the exchange he invades on f7!
25.e6! Saving the knight again by using a tactical motif! 29...Rf7 30.Nh5 Bd6 31.Rf3 Rh7 The sad plan of Black
25...Bxf5 [25...fxe6 26.Nxe6 Bxf5 27.Rd8# was the point this to avoid the exchange and at the same time prevent the
time!] penetration on the 7th rank, but of course White is winning
anyway.
26.Nxf5 fxe6 27.Ng3 The material is balanced, but the game
is over from a positional point of view! Black has a useless 32.Re3 Re7 A dream position to play against anyone, but
extra pawn on the queenside, which cannot be used because of course to have it against the World Champion is an extra
of the doubled c-pawns. On the other side of the board, White pleasure! White can play on and his position wins by itself...
has the pawn majority and a much more healthy structure,
which will be converted easily with the support of the white
pieces. Black cannot create any counterplay, he must watch
how White continues improving his position move by move.
33.f4h Ba3 34.Kf3 Bb2 35.Re2 Bc3 36.g5 White had
other winning plans too, but he wants to create connected g-
and h- passers.
36...Kd7 37.Kg4 Re8 38.Ng3 Opening the way for the
h-pawn.
38...Rh8 39.h4 b6 40.h5 c5 41.g6 The game is over. Black
cannot fight against the protected passed pawn on g6. White
pushes f5 next and if the knight occupies the ideal f5 square it
will perfectly support the progress on the kingside...
41...Re8 42.f5 exf5+ 43.Kf4 Rh8 [43...Rxe2 44.Nxe2h is
the tactical point and Black cannot stop the pawn with Ke6,
because the bishop is hanging.]
44.Nxf5 Bf6 45.Rg2 Black resigned as g7 is coming next
and Bg5 is met by Rxg5! A very nice and convincing win by
Caruana and an usual feeling for the World Champion to start
a tournament with 0/2. 1-0
The K-Files. 13.Bb3! Cand the foolowing lines prove that it’s very difficult
for Black to do something with his misplaced pieces: 13...g6
Sicilian 3.Bb5+ (13...Qd7 14.Qd4 O-O-O 15.cxb4c) 14.Bg5 Bg7 15.Qd4 O-O
16.Bxf6 Nf5 17.Bxd8 Nxd4 18.cxd4 Rfxd8 (18...Bxd4 19.Bc7
Bxa1 20.Bxd6c) 19.Nd2 Bxd4 20.Rad1 Bc3 21.Re2c) 11.Bf1
and the complications are always in White’s favor. 11...exd5
(11...g5 12.Bxg5 Rg8 13.f4 h6 14.Bg2 hxg5 15.fxe5 dxe5 16.dxe6
fxe6 17.Nd2+=) 12.f4 Nfg4 This aggressive attempt looks very
GM Alexander Khalifman dangerous at first, but White has enough resources. (12...Ng6
FIDE World Chess Champion (1999) 13.e5 dxe5 14.fxe5c) 13.h3 Qh4 14.Re2 Nf3+ 15.Kg2 O-O-O
Best rating: 2702 16.Kxf3 dxe4+ 17.Kg2 d5 18.hxg4 Rd6 19.Re3 Rh6 20.Bxa6c)
10.Be2 Bxf3 11.Bxf3 Now it’s better to choose the solid
capture as (11.gxf3 11...exd5 12.exd5 Be7k is far from clear.)
(3) Sicilian 3.Bb5+ [B51]
11...Nxf3+ (11...Be7 12.Be2 O-O 13.f4 Ned7 14.dxe6 fxe6 15.a4+=
and White has the bishop pair and a better pawn structure.)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nc6 4.O-O Bd7 5.Re1 Nf6 6.c3 12.Qxf3 Be7 (12...exd5 13.exd5+ Be7 14.Bf4 O-O 15.Nd2+=)
a6 7.Bc4!? Bg4 In my opinion this is the only critical line. 13.dxe6 fxe6 14.Nd2 O-O 15.Qh3 pointing at the weak point of
My intuition tells me that if Black is able to equalize somehow Black’s structure. 15...Qd7 16.e5 Nd5 17.exd6 Nf4 18.Qg4+=
after 7.Bc4 then he must start with this move. with a long-term positional advantage.;
8.d4 This is the only way to proceed. The basic idea of White’s b) 8...Bxf3 9.gxf3 e5 and now White has a choice: (9...cxd4
play is that he is almost never afraid to take on f3 with the 10.cxd4 - 8...cxd4; 9...e6 10.d5 - 8...e6) 10.d5 The most
pawn. In most cases the kingside weakening is only an optical promising move in my opinion. On the next move White plays
illusion because the black pieces are not active enough to f3-f4 and the black pieces are not placed properly to establish
create some real threats there. [The "solid" 8.h3 8...Bxf3 a dark-squares blockade. (
9.Qxf3 Ne5 10.Qe2 Nxc4 11.Qxc4 e6= gives White absolutely
b1) 10.Be3 When cxd4 cxd4 is not included this move is
nothing (Solak - Ibrayev, Calvia 2004)]
a bit inaccurate. The problem is that on the next move White
8...cxd4 This is the main answer. The alternatives don’t make will have to define the structure in the center anyway and in
life easier. [ this case the bishop on e3 is not very useful. 10...Be7 11.d5
a) 8...e6 9.d5 Ne5 (9...Bxf3 10.gxf3 This sharp line might be Nb8 12.Nd2 Nh5 13.a4 Nd7 14.Bf1 Bg5k;
even more promising than (the solid 10.Qxf3 10...Ne5 11.Qe2 b2) 10.dxc5 The solid option 10...dxc5 11.Qxd8+ (11.Na3
Nxc4 12.Qxc4+= which is also enough for some positional 11...Qc7 12.f4 Bd6 13.f5 Baklan- Jakubiec Bad Wiessee 2011
advantage.) 10...Ne5 (10...exd5?! 11.exd5+ Ne7 (Bartel - Bu 13...O-Ok) 11...Rxd8 12.Bf1 Be7 13.Na3 Nh5 14.Nc4 Nf4
Biel 2013) is quite dubious first of all because of 12.b4!? cxb4
15.Be3+= is quite pleasant to play with White. The main idea is doesn’t fully compensate the weakness on d6. All white
to exchange on f4 at the most convenient moment. However, pieces are active.;
Black’s defensive resources shouldn’t be underestimated.) b) 9...e6 (Podoba - Nikolova Split 2012) is once again met
10...Ne7 (10...Nb8 11.f4 Nbd7 12.Bf1 Be7 13.fxe5 Nxe5 14.f4 with the standard 10.d5 Ne5 (10...Bxf3 only makes things
Ng6 15.a4 O-O 16.Na3 Re8 17.Bd2+=) 11.f4 Hamidullin - worse after 11.gxf3 Ne5 (11...Na5 12.Bd3c Lasic - Kinez Velika
Dolbnia Moscow 2008 11...Ng6 12.fxe5 dxe5 13.Bf1 Be7 14.a4 Gorica 2007) 12.Bb3c) 11.Be2 Bxf3 12.Bxf3 Nxf3+ 13.Qxf3+=
O-O 15.a5 Ne8 (15...Nd7 16.Qh5+=) 16.Be3 Rc8 17.Nd2 Bg5 with a very nice advantage.;
18.Qg4 Bxe3 19.fxe3+=; c) 9...Rc8 is an interesting alternative, which was not tested
c) 8...b5 This is not better than 7...b5 and only weakens the yet. The problem is that White has a lot of possibilities here.
queenside structure. 9.Be2!? (9.Bd5!? ) 9...Nxe4?! 10.a4c; OK, it’s a problem for both sides .
d) 8...Rc8 just too artificial. After 9.e5 dxe5 10.Qb3 e6
11.Nxe5c White is clearly better as 11...Na5 fails to 12.Qa4+
b5 13.Bxb5+ axb5 14.Qxb5+ Ke7 15.dxc5h]
9.cxd4 Bxf3 [
a) 9...e5 looks logical. Black tries to fight for the center.
But White has a very strong answer: 10.Be3! and now
White is ready to play d4-d5. Black has different ways
to define the structure but none of them promises him
equal chances. (The natural 10.d5 gives nothing after 10.Be3 is very promising too. Frankly speaking, I don’t
10...Nd4 11.Nbd2 Rc8 (11...Be7 is also playable. 12.h3 Bh5 know which bishop move deserves to be the main line here.
13.g4 Nxf3+ 14.Nxf3 Bg6k) 12.Bd3 Be7 13.h3 Bh5 and It’s more or less a matter of taste. (
Black has good counterchances. (13...Nxf3+ 14.Nxf3 Bxf3
15.Qxf3 Nd7 16.Qg4+= Bartel - Ter Sahakyan Yerevan 2014) c1) 10.d5 doesn’t promise much if Black reacts properly.
14.g4? is only looking for trouble. 14...Nxg4! 15.Nxd4 10...Bxf3 11.gxf3 Ne5 12.Be2 g5 A very important idea. The
(15.hxg4 15...Bxg4 16.Kg2 O-Oe) 15...Nxf2 16.Bb5+ axb5 dark squares blockade in the center suddenly becomes real.
17.Qxh5 exd4e) 10...exd4 (10...Be7 11.d5 Nd4 12.Bxd4 exd4 13.Kh1 h6 14.f4 Ng6!? (14...gxf4 15.Bxf4 h5 16.Nc3 Ng6
13.Qxd4 Bxf3 14.gxf3 Nh5 15.e5 O-O 16.Nc3c; 10...Bxf3 This 17.Bg5 Bh6 18.Bxh6 Rxh6 19.Qd2 Rh8 20.f4C) 15.f5 Nf4
exchange now and on the next moves only transposes to 16.Bxf4 gxf4 17.Nc3 Nd7k;
the 9...Bxf3 line. 11.gxf3 - 9„,Bxf3; 10...Nxe4 11.Bd5 Nf6 c2) 10.Nc3 is also not really dangerous. 10...e5 11.d5
12.Bxc6+ bxc6 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.Qxd8+ Rxd8 15.Nxe5c) 11.Bxd4 (11.Qb3 leads to a tricky forced line with a perpetual check in
Nxd4 (11...Be7 12.Nc3 O-O 13.Be3 Re8 14.Rc1+= Bf8 15.Qb3c) the end: 11...Na5 12.Bxf7+ Ke7 13.Nd5+ Kxf7 14.Ng5+ Ke8
12.Qxd4 Be7 13.Nc3 O-O 14.Qe3+= and the bishops’ pair 15.Qg3 Nc6 16.dxe5 dxe5 17.Nxf6+ gxf6 18.Qxg4 fxg5 19.Rd1
Nd4 20.Qh5+ Kd7 21.Qg4+ Ke8=) 11...Nd4 12.Bf1 g6! The Rd1 25.Kf3c) 14.Qxf3 Nxc4 15.d5 e5 16.Rc1 Nxe3 17.Qxe3 Be7
best way. Only when the black bishop is on the long diagonal 18.Rc6 O-O 19.Nc3+=;
the knight on d4 is both safe and strong. 13.Be3 Bxf3 14.gxf3 c2) 10...g6 11.Nbd2 Bg7 12.Bd3 O-O 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Nxf3+=
Bg7k; with a solid long-term advantage due to the bishop pair
c3) 10.Be2!? Not the most obvious, but a very interesting and strong pawn center. 14...Nd7 15.Be2 Qa5 (15...d5 16.e5
move. White plans to play d4-d5 at the most convenient e6 17.Rc1) 16.a3 e5 17.d5 Nd4 18.Nxd4 exd4 19.Bxd4 Bxd4
moment. 10...d5 The critical answer, of course. (10...Nxe4? 20.Qxd4 Rc2 21.Bd3 Rd2 22.Re2c)
runs into standard the trap 11.d5h; 10...e5 11.d5 Bxf3 12.Bxf3 11.d5 and once again White has the upper hand in all lines.
Nd4 13.Nc3+=) 11.exd5 (11.e5 11...Ne4=) 11...Nxd5 12.h3 An His advantage is not huge but very stable. (11.Nc3 11...Bxf3
important nuance. (12.Nc3 12...e6 13.Qb3 Bb4 14.Bg5 12.gxf3 d5k) 11...exd5 (11...Ne5 12.Be2 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Be7
Qa5k) 12...Bh5 (12...Bf5 13.Bc4 Ncb4 (13...e6 14.Bxd5 Qxd5 (13...exd5 14.exd5 Nxf3+ 15.Qxf3 Be7 16.Nc3 O-O 17.Rad1+=)
15.Nc3c; 13...Bxb1 14.Rxb1 e6 15.Ng5!C) 14.Bxd5 Nxd5 14.Be2 O-O 15.dxe6 fxe6 16.Qb3+=) 12.Bxd5 (12.exd5 12...Bxf3
15.Nc3 Nxc3 (15...e6? 16.Qa4+c) 16.bxc3 Rxc3 17.Bd2 13.gxf3 Ne5 14.Bf1 Be7k) 12...Nxd5 13.exd5 Ne5 14.Nbd2
Rc8 18.Qb3C) 13.Nc3 e6 14.Qb3 Bxf3 (14...Bb4 15.Bg5 Qa5 Be7 15.Qb3 Bxf3 16.Nxf3 Nxf3+ 17.gxf3 Qd7 (17...O-O
16.g4 This is the reason why 12.h3 was absolutely necessary. 18.Qxb7 Bg5 19.Qxa6 Qf6 20.Qe2+=) 18.Bg5 f6 19.Bd2+=;
16...Bg6 17.Nxd5 Qxd5 18.Bc4c) 15.Bxf3 Nxc3 16.bxc3 Na5
17.Qd1 Bd6 18.d5 e5 19.Bg4C and White’s initiative is quite d) The major difference with 7.Bf1 line is that now 9...d5
dangerous.) doesn’t work at all: 10.exd5 Na5 (10...Nxd5 11.Nc3c) 11.Be2
Nxd5 12.Nc3c;
10...e6 (
e) 9...g6 is too slow. 10.Qb3 e6 11.Qxb7 Na5 12.Qb4c]
c1) 10...Nxe4 Here it’s n ot so obvious why this pawn is
poisoned. In fact it’s not but still White has a way to an 10.gxf3 g6!? This is most probably the critical line for the
advantage. 11.Qb3 (11.Bxf7+ A smart tactical trick. However, whole variation with 7. Bc4. It seems to me that White has a
it leads to a very unclear position. 11...Kxf7 12.Ng5+ Nxg5 slight advantage anyway but the resulting positions are quite
13.Qxg4 h6 14.f4 Nh7 15.d5 Nf6 (15...Nb4 16.f5) 16.Qe6+ complicated and both sides have their own trumps. [10...e5 A
Kg6 17.dxc6 Rxc6k) 11...e6 12.Qxb7 Straightforward but logical move but it doesn’t lead to the desired result. 11.Be3
good enough. 12...Na5 (12...d5 13.Bxa6 Nd6 14.Qb3 Ra8 This is a very important idea which justifies the whole line.
(14...Rb8 15.Qa4 Qd7 16.Nbd2c) 15.Bb5 Nxb5 16.Qxb5 White is not afraid of the double exchange on d4 because after
Qd7 17.Rc1c) 13.Qxe4 Bxf3 (13...Bf5 enters a long forced this all his pieces will become active. (11.d5 11...Nd4 12.Bf1 g6k
line which leads to the endgame where White’s big material is quite unclear. The knight on d4 is very strong and with the
advantage doesn’t win automatically but still... 14.Qxf5 exf5 black bishop on g7 its position is quite stable.)
15.Bg5+ Be7 16.Bxe7 Qxe7 17.Bf1 Qxe1 18.Nxe1 Rc1 19.Nd3
Rd1 20.Nb4 Rc1 21.g3 O-O 22.Kg2 Re8 23.Bxa6 Rb8 24.Nd3
doesn’t work again because Black doesn’t have enough
control over the key d5 square. 11.exd5 Nxd5 (11...Na5 12.Bf1
Nxd5 13.Nc3c) 12.Nc3 Nxc3 (12...Nb6 13.Bb3 Qxd4 14.Be3
Qxd1 15.Rexd1 (15.Raxd1 15...Nd7) 15...Nd7 16.Bxf7+ Kxf7
17.Rxd7c) 13.bxc3 e6 14.d5 Na5 15.Bf1 Be7 16.dxe6 Qxd1
17.exf7+ Kxf7 18.Rxd1c]
11...exd4 Now Black has to do something about a possible

d4-d5. (
a) 11...Rc8 12.dxe5 dxe5 (12...Nxe5 13.Bf1c) 13.Qb3C;
b) 11...Be7 12.d5 When the black bishop is not on the long
diagonal the knight on d4 is not so strong anymore. 12...Nd4
13.Bf1 is stronger than the greedy (13.Bxd4 13...exd4 14.Qxd4 11.Nc3 Precise move order is very important here. White is
Smerdon - Hall England 2014 14...O-OV) 13...O-O (13...g5 This waiting for Bg7 to avoid a dark-squares blockade which is
attempt to stop f3-f4 only creates new weaknesses. 14.Na3 possible after the immediate 11.d5 Ne5 12. Be2(f1) g5!? [
O-O 15.Bxd4 exd4 16.Nc2c and the knight goes to f5.) 14.f4
Rc8 (14...Qb6 15.Nd2 Qxb2 16.Rb1 Qc3 17.Rxb7c) 15.Nc3+= a) 11.f4 allows typical counterplay: 11...e5!? 12.d5 Nd4
and the knight on d4 is really shaky. Black has to do 13.Be3 Nh5V;
something about the positional threat fxe5 dxe5 f4.; b) 11.Qb3?! With the exchange on f3 included there is a big
c) The fianchetto attempt c) 11...g6 doesn’t work here difference! 11...e6 12.Qxb7 Nxd4e;
because of the very direct reaction 12.Qb3 (Now 12.d5 c) 11.Be3 Another half-waiting move which is less flexible
12...Nd4 13.Bxd4 exd4 14.Qxd4 Bg7kis quite satisfactory for in my opinion. 11...Bg7 12.d5 Ne5 13.Be2 (13.Bf1 13...O-O
Black.) 12...Qd7 13.dxe5 dxe5 (13...Nxe5 14.Be2c) 14.Nc3 Na5 14.f4 Neg4k This is exactly why the 11.Be3 move order is
15.Qb6! Nxc4 16.Qxf6 Rg8 17.Qh4 Nxe3 18.Rxe3c) not the best.) 13...Rc8 14.Nd2 O-Okand the assessment is
12.Bxd4 Nxd4 13.Qxd4 Be7 14.Nc3 (The attempt to prevent unclear. White has certain pluses but his knight is rather
Black from castling kingside doesn’t work: 14.e5 14...dxe5 passive on d2 and the opponent’s counterplay with e7-e6
15.Qxe5 Rc8 16.Na3 Kf8V) 14...O-O 15.Rad1+= Despite the shouldn’t be underestimated. 15.f4 (15.b4 15...e6) 15...Ned7
weakened kingside White’s pressure in the center is very 16.b4 e5 17.dxe6 fxe6 18.Qb3 d5 19.Rad1 Kh8k;
unpleasant. In some lines he can also use the g-file to launch d) 11.d5 This is White’s key idea. However, this move order
a kingside attack himself.; 10...e6?! 11.d5 - 9. ..e6; 10...d5 has a serious drawback. 11...Ne5 12.Be2 (12.Bf1 12...g5!
is even more dangerous here than with the bishop on e2 be more important factors than a slightly compromised pawn
because g5-g4 is always in the air. 13.Kh1 (13.Bxg5 13...Rg8 structure.
14.f4 Bh6n) 13...g4 14.f4 Nf3 15.Re3 h5k) 12...g5! That’s it! SOME CONCLUSIONS: Of course 7.Bc4 doesn’t pretend to be
White’s center is blocked and now it’s quite questionable if he a clear refutation of the whole opening system but at the
can find a good active plan. 13.Kh1 (13.Bxg5? 13...Rg8 14.f4 current moment it looks quite dangerous and the way to
Ned7e) 13...h6 14.Na3 Moving the knight to f5 is logical but it equalize for Black is far from clear. Another merit of 7.Bc4 is
takes a long time. (14.f4 14...Ng6 15.fxg5 hxg5 16.Bxg5 Bh6n; that the theory of this line is not developed as deeply as in the
14.Qb3 14...Nh5 15.Qxb7 Bg7n) 14...Qd7 15.Nc2 Bg7 16.Nd4 other subvariations. The problem is of course that in many
Nh5 17.Nf5 Bf6kBlack’s counterplay on the dark squares is lines White has to play with a weakened kingside structure
strong enough.] but nowadays it’s almost a common point. If White wants to
11...Bg7 [If Black prefers to wait too with 11...Rc8 then White reach something more than a safe symbolical advantage he
also has a useful move: 12.Bf1 Bg7 (12...d5 13.Qb3! with the has to take certain risks. What can I recommend to the players
idea 13...Nxd4 14.Qa4+ Nc6 15.exd5 Nxd5 16.Rd1 e6 17.Nxd5 who play this line with Black?! Well, it might be worth trying
exd5 18.Re1+ Be7 19.Bh6A is much more unpleasant.) 13.d5 - to take a closer look at the lines 9...Rc8 and 9...Bxf3 10.gxf3 g6
11...Bg7] (the main line actually). Perhaps some of my evaluations may
12.d5 [12.f4 doesn’t bring anything after 12...e5V13.dxe5 dxe5 be rather subjective. If you’ll fail to find something inspiring
14.fxe5 Nxe5] in these lines then it’s probably time to think about some
reliable alternatives on move 3.
12...Ne5 [12...Na5 Well, there is some rational idea to
avoid f3-f4 with tempo but such decentralization has some
drawbacks as well. 13.Bf1 Rc8 14.Bh3 Nd7 15.Rb1+=]
13.Bf1 The right square. There are 2 important points: 1) the
bishop gets the important h3 square 2) f3-f4 and e4-e5 is a
threat now. [13.Be2 13...Rc8 14.Qb3 Nfd7k]
13...O-O [13...Rc8 looks logical but White has a strong and
straightforward response: 14.f4 Nc4 15.e5! dxe5 16.fxe5
Nd7 17.f4 O-O (17...Qb6+ 18.Kh1 Nxb2 19.Qe2!c) 18.Kh1CIt
might look rather risky but in fact White’s pawn center is very
strong.]
14.f4 Ned7 15.Be3 Rc8 16.Rb1+= This is the critical position.
Its assessment is not 100% clear but I believe White has better
chances here. His space advantage and the bishop pair must
David vs. Goliath 24.Bg7+ Kxg7 25.Rg4+ Kf8 26.Qd5 1-0
Yet another summer tragicomedy occurred in Mrdjen (1942)
vs. GM Drazic (2468):
Peter Zhdanov

Black has a winning position, but White plays 22.Ng5 and
provokes the opponent into committing a huge blunder with
22...h6?? (”let’s kick the knight away!”), which is exactly
what happens. Black probably forgets that h7 is no longer
The previous week brought us only 9 upsets. defended after this move. As a result, the game ends with
The number of moves ranges from 23 in Mrdjen (1942) - GM 23.Qh7X. This is actually a rather rare case of a GM blundering
Drazic (2468), 1-0 to 59 in Belova (1993) - FM Puzko (2306), 1-0. mate in one.
The highest-profile upset was FM Lomasov (2305) - GM Top-9:
Bukavshin (2647), 1-0. The decisive petite combination Mrjdgen (1942) - Drazic (2468), 1-0, 526 points
deserves a diagram. Sorokin (2396) - Mingatin (1957), 0-1, 439 points
Abdumalik (2393) - Kahramanova (2035), 0-1, 358 points
Lomasov (2305) - Bukavshin (2647), 1-0, 342 points
Spence (2246) - Blasco (1925), 0-1, 321 points
Belova (1993) - Puzko (2306), 1-0, 313 points
Shapiro (2249) - Tarlev (2554), 1-0, 305 points
Lintchevski (2557) - Aminov (2255), 0-1, 302 points
Kuipers (2409) - Kharitonov (2107), 0-1, 302 points

Young & Talented 9.Qf3 In the game White chose an aggressive approach, but
maybe it makes more sense to start kingside actions and then
decide where to put the queen. On f3 it will be quite exposed.
9...Nbd7 A normal plan. The other one is [9...b5 10.g4 Bb7
11.g5 Nfd7 and then Black can choose between Nb6 Nb8-d7
or Nc6.]
GM Etienne Bacrot 10.g4 h6 A necessary move now that the d7 square is
Best rating: 2749 occupied.
(4) Sosa, Tomas ARG. (2385) 11.Be3 [11.h4 11...h5! 12.g5 Ng4 13.g6 Nc5 is also very sharp.]
- Pichot, Alan (2492) [B82]
11...b5 12.O-O-O [12.e5 is always countered by 12...Bb7; 12.a3
19th Copa Mercosur 2015(4.6), is a logical prophylactic move that White chose not to play in
2015.06.07 the game.]
12...Bb7
Alan Pichot is a 17-year old player from Argentina and the
current under 16 World Champion. This week he took 3rd
place in a closed tournament in Buenos Aires.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 This agressive line is
Pichot main weapon.
5.Bd3 [5.c4 5...Nf6 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Qd3 was Carlsen’s choice in
the match against Anand.]
5...Qb6 6.Nb3 Qc7 The queen goes to the most natural
square after annoying White’s knight. 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.f4 d6
13.Rhe1 White puts everything in the center but it is quite
difficult to break.
13...b4 14.Ne2 Rc8 The immediate center break is not good:
[14...d5 15.e5 d4 16.Qh3 dxe3 17.exf6 Nxf6 18.g5 Nd5 19.g6
and White becomes strong on the light squares.]
15.Ng3 Be7 16.h4 [16.Qe2 is interesting, followed by h4-g5.]
19...gxf4! Throughout the game and especially in this
position all of Black’s pieces are on the best squares and even
the king is safe in the center! That is the reason why the
complications are in his favor. Having said that, you still need
good calculation to play this move.
20.Bxf4 Nxg4 21.Bxd6 The only chance.
21...Nde5! 22.Bxc7 Nxf3 23.Bf4 Ngh2! What a funny
knights’ position!
16...g5!? It is an unclear choice between this move and
16....d5.
17.hxg5?! An automatic move but it is possible to keep more
tension: [17.Kb1 17...gxf4 It is normal to take the e5 square.
(17...d5 18.Nd4k; 17...gxh4 18.Nh5 Nxh5 19.gxh5 Rg8 20.Bf2
with a fight.) 18.Bxf4 Rg8 19.g5 hxg5 20.hxg5 Nh7 21.g6 Rxg6
22.Rh1 with a balanced position.]
17...hxg5 18.Rf1? If White wants to play a slow move then
18.Kb1 is clearly better and more sharp is 18.Nh5!?
24.Na5? Losing big material and the game on the spot.
18...Rg8 Even stronger is [18...d5! 19.Nd4 (19.exd5 19...Nxd5
[24.Rf2 24...Bh4e; 24.Rh1 is the only move. 24...e5 25.Nf1!
20.Ne4 Nxe3 21.Qxe3 gxf4 The two bishops and the dark
exf4 26.Nxh2 Ne5 with some saving chances, but the two
squares give Black a huge advantage.) 19...gxf4 20.Bxf4 e5
bishops and the strong knight on e5 should prevail.]
The complications are in Black’s advantage. 21.g5 exf4 22.gxf6
Bxf6 23.Ngf5 Ne5 24.Qe2 Nxd3+ 25.Qxd3 dxe4e] 24...Nxf1 25.Nxf1 [25.Rxf1 25...e5i]
19.Kb1 25...Rg4 The last precise move.
26.Bh6 Bxe4 27.Bxa6 Bxc2+ 28.Kc1 Rc5 29.Nb7 Bxd1+
30.Kxd1 Rd5+ 31.Kc1 Bg5+ 0-1
Puzzle section
(5) Topalov, V(2798)-Caruana, F(2805) (7) Topalov, V(2798)-Aronian, L(2785)
Norway blitz, 2015.06.15 Norway blitz, 2015.06.15
1... i 1... i
(6) Grischuk, A(2781)-Topalov, V(2798) (8) Vachier Lagrave, M(2723)-Hammer, J(2677)

1... i 1. h
(9) Giri, A(2773)-Carlsen, M(2876) (11) Grischuk, A(2781)-Vachier Lagrave, M(2723)
1... i 1... =
(10) Giri, A(2773)-Grischuk, A(2781) (12) Anand, V(2804)-Carlsen, M(2876)

1... i 1... i
(13) Caruana, F(2805)-Giri, A(2773)
Norway blitz, 2015.06.15
1. h
(14) Caruana, F(2805)-Giri, A(2773)

1. =
Endgame section 33...Ke5 34.a4 Fixing the pawn structure.
34...Kd5 35.Ke2 White probably wants to put his king to c3
to free his rook, but that is only enough for a draw, not to play
(15) Nakamura, Hikaru (2802) for a full point.
- Caruana, Fabiano (2805) 35...Rd7 36.Kd2 h6 Black keeps on waiting, which is normal.
I guess most of the spectators already fixed this game as a
3rd Norway Chess 2015(3), draw.
Best rating: 2737 37.Rc1
37...Kc6?! The first move in the wrong direction. Why move

the king away from the center...
After a fantastic win over Carlsen in the Berlin endgame, it
38.Kc3 b5?! This is already a very strange move. I can’t find
seems like Caruana can be called the "God of endgames" but
any reason for Black to take such drastic measures. [38...Kd5
in this game he shows us the total opposite. In the current
and I think the position is still just a draw.]
position, we can see that the game should end in a draw. The
position is equal, all pawns are equal and there doesn’t seem 39.axb5+ Kxb5 40.b3 Now Black has 2 weak pawns on a5
to be much to play for... and c5. White could try the idea of bringing the rook to f4 now,
by playing Ra1-Ra4-Rf4 and then maybe something with e4,
30...Kg7 The black king is going towards the center, which is
but of course Black still has excellent chances for a draw.
very logical.
31.Rc3 White is preparing to plays Rb3 at some point or e3,
with the idea of playing a4 later and fix the black pawns.
31...Kf6 32.e3 Rd6 33.Kf3 White is also bringing his king to
the center.
40...g5? This is already a heavy mistake! Why give White 51.Kg2 and now that the white king is far away, Black is going
the only open file?! It is hard to understand what was going for the d3 pawn. 51...Rd1 with very good drawing chances for
on with Caruana during the last 3-4 moves, since usually the Black.]
World Nr2 plays excellently in endgames. 43...f4?! I don’t think this is the best try. [Black should still
41.hxg5 hxg5 42.Rh1! Of course White takes over the h-file. have gone for 43...a4! 44.bxa4+ Rxa4 45.Rxf7 Ra3+ and as
Sudenly Black’s position is already very difficult! White is we saw in the line above, the position is closer to a draw than
ready to attack all the black pawns and the idea of playing to a win.]
Rh8-Rb8+ and then Kc4 could be very unpleasant for Black. 44.gxf4! The best move in my opinion. [44.exf4 44...gxf4
Objectively I would say that Black’s position is maybe already 45.g4 was also possible, but in comparison to the game,
lost! White’s pawns are not all connected, which might give Black
42...Ra7! A great defensive idea by Caruana. Black wants to better surviving chances.]
play a4 at some point, get rid of the weak pawn and later try 44...gxf4 45.e4 The pawn on f4 will be lost in any case.
to get the king back to the kingside.
45...a4 Better late than never... 46.bxa4+ Rxa4
43.Rh7 White is trying to stop Black from playing a4, but
does it really do the job?! [White could also play 43.Rh5
43...f6 44.Rh6 Quite a similar try as in the game... 44...a4!
A very strong move. Black should not try to be passive, but
rather look for direct counterplay. 45.bxa4+ (45.Rxf6 45...a3)
45...Rxa4 46.Rxf6 Ra3+ The white king has to move back.
47.Kd2 (The position after 47.Kb2 47...Rxd3 48.Rxf5 Kb4 is
just equal because of the very active black pieces.) 47...Ra2+
48.Ke1 Ra1+ Black keeps on checking. 49.Ke2 Ra2+ 50.Kf1
Ra1+
47.Rxf7 Black is in big danger but the fight still goes on.
47...Ra3+ 48.Kd2 Ra2+ 49.Ke1 Ra3 is the best try. [In case
of 49...Kb4 50.Rxf4 Kc3 51.Rf3 Kd4 52.Re3 White’s position (16) Hammer, Jon Ludvig (2677)
seems to be winning because of the Kf2-Kg2 maneuver.] - Vachier Lagrave, Maxime (2723)
50.Ke2 Ra2+ This move doesn’t leave Black much hope...
Norway Chess, GM Csaba Balogh
[Black could keep a bit more hope after 50...c4 51.dxc4+ Kxc4 Best rating: 2672
2015.06.17
52.Rxf4 Kd4 but White is winning here too after 53.Rh4 Rb3
54.Kf1 followed by Kg2-f3-Kg3, with an easy win.]
51.Kf3 Rd2 Black is hoping to win the d3 pawn, but it just
doesn’t work.
52.Rd7! Of course defending the d3 pawn.
52...Kc6 53.Rd5 and Black is actually in some sort of
zugzwang.
A very interesting endgame. At first sight White has very good

winning chances, because Black is paralyzed by the d7 pawn
and the bishop on f1 excellently blocks the two passed pawns
on h4 and d4. However it is not easy to find a final break
through, since Black always has his resources.
44.Rxd8!? A clever way to promote the pawn. Hammer
53...Kb6 and the e-pawn is unstoppable. [After 53...Rc2 eliminates the main blockader and promotes with the help
White is winning with 54.d4! cxd4 55.Rxd4 followed by of the king. [Another winning attempt is 44.Kb7 but it fails
Rd8-Rf8-Rxf4, with an easily winning position. ] to 44...f5! using the fact that the white king goes too far
54.e5! Kc6 55.Rd8 [55.e6 55...Kxd5 56.e7 Rxd3+ 57.Ke2 from the kingside. Black breaks the pawn chain with this
was also winning for White.] sacrifice. 45.gxf5 Rf8 46.Kc8 Ba5 47.d8=Q? already loses
after 47...Bxd8 48.Rxf8 (48.Kxd8 48...Rxe8+ 49.Kxe8 Kf6!i
55...Kc7 56.Rd6! Putting Black in a similar zugzwang as Black either collects all the pawns and promotes his own and
on the last move. White is of course totally winning. A very if White protects f5 with the bishop it gives free way to one of
unpleasant defeat for Caruana, who collapsed in just 4 moves the passed pawns. The white king got too far away from the
in a totally equal endgame. However, Nakamura perfectly action...) 48...Kxf8 49.Kxd8
took his chances and finally got the full point. 1-0
sense, White just takes and stops the other pawn. 48.Bxh3 d3
49.Bf1 d2 50.Be2h]
48.gxh5! is also White’s only move! [48.g5? might look
tempting at first, but it runs into the same problems as in the
44. Kb7 line. Black wins by the same motif... 48...h3! 49.Bxh3
d3 50.Bf1 d2 51.Be2 h4 52.f5 h3 53.Ke7 h2i]
48...Kh6 49.Ke7 Kxh5 50.Be2+ Otherwise Black goes Kg4,
while 50.f5 will happen later in the game.
49...h5! The doubled h-pawns look completely harmless, but 50...Kh6 [There was nothing wrong with 50...Kg6 Black is
actually the backward one is going to decide the game in threatening with Kf5 or h3, therefore White must play 51.Bd3+
Black’s favor... 50.Kd7 h3! Black sacrifices one pawn in Kh5 52.Bf5 The only attempt to stop h3 and Kg4, if White
order to let the other one run... 51.Bxh3 d3 52.Bf1 d2 53.Be2 does not want to force a repetition with Be2...
h4i and the white king is too far to stop the passers. Black
soon promotes one of the pawns.]
44...Rxd8 45.Kc7 Rf8 46.d8=Q Rxd8 47.Kxd8
52...h3! leads to the elimination of all the material by force!

53.Bxh3 d3 54.Bf5 d2 55.Bc2 Kg4 56.f5 d1=Q 57.Bxd1+
Kxf5=]
51.Bf1 [51.Kxf7? loses by one tempo after 51...h3 52.f5 h2
47...h5! A great move and actually the only one which avoids 53.Bf3 d3 54.f6 d2i and Black promotes his pawns before
losing! The point is the same as before. Black sacrifices one White could go Ke7 and f7-f8Q with check.]
of his pawns in order the break the pawn chain. [47...f5? with
the same idea as in the 44. Kb7 line. Black would like to place 51...Kh5 52.f5 Hammer keeps on playing for a win, but there
his king on the f-file, block the pawns and let his own ones is simply no way...
run, but he fails because after 48.Ke7!h the white f-pawn is 52...Kg4 53.f6 h3 54.Bxh3+ [54.Kxf7 also leads to a draw
going to be fastest!; The breakthrough with 47...h3? makes no after 54...h2 55.Bg2 d3 56.Kg7 d2 57.f7 d1=Q 58.f8=Q
h1=Q=]
54...Kxh3 55.Kxf7 d3 56.Kg7 d2 57.f7 d1=Q 58.f8=Q The
game is drawn. An interesting endgame! The players quickly
traded queens to keep only two kings on the board...
58...Qg4+ 59.Kf7 Qf5+ 60.Ke7 Qxf8+ 61.Kxf8 1/2-1/2
Chess and the City. As for my personal score, I was quite happy until today’s game.
With 3 out of 5 I am playing more or less according to my
Mitropa Cup 2015 rating, but of course I feel a bit upset since I had started with
2.5/3.
This year’s Mitropa Cup takes place in Mayrhofen, a small
town in the Tyrolean part of Austria, which is surrounded by
beautiful mountains and fresh air.
Below you can find some impressions of this beautiful event
from this year:
Best rating: 2493
The Mitropa Cup is a team event (Open and Women) that

takes place every year. Compared to the European team
championship, it is restricted to 10 countries (Italy, Slovenia,
Slovakia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, France,
Czech Republic and Croatia) which are all located in the
middle of Europe. For me it is the very first time I take part in
this event and I feel especially honored to be allowed to play
for the men’s team. However, it is not the first time in German Our match today versus Austria with Bluebaum-Ragger on the
history that a woman played in the Open competition. Exactly top board
20 years ago, Ketino Kachiani played her first National Team
event for Germany at the Mitropa Cup. Our team composition
this year is a mix of youth and experience. The top boards in
our team are held by the two "princes", Matthias Bluebaum
and Dennis Wagner, followed by IM Andreas Heimann and
myself. The women’s team only consists of 2 boards and with
Sarah Hoolt and Judith Fuchs we have two very experienced
players representing our country this year.
After 5 rounds the host team of Austria leads the event with
a 100 percent match score, including a sad victory over
Germany today. In the women‘s section the Hungarian team Judith Fuchs - the second board of the Women’s team
is leading with 9-1 match points.
(17) Troitzky
1. h
Tournament Hall
Tournament Hall with Germany in the front
Solutions (20) Duda, J(2610)-Baklan, A(2632)
(18) Duda, J(2610)-Dorfman, J(2574)
33.Rxe6! [33.Nd8+ 33...Rxd8 34.Rxd8 Rxb2+=]

33...Rxe6 [33...Kxe6 34.Nd4+h]
45.Qxg4! 1-0 [45.Qxg4 45...Qxg4 46.a7h]
34.Nd8+ Kg8 35.Nxe6h
(19) Ider, B(2401)-Vaisser, A(2530)
(21) Postny, E(2630)-Fedorchuk, S(2657)
37.Nc5!! Qf5 [37...dxc5 38.Qxe5+ Kf7 39.Qc7=]

34...f5! 0-1 [34...f5 35.Qf4 (35.exf6 35...Rxe4i)
38.Bg4! Qf4 39.g3! Qxg3 40.Qxg3 Bxg3 41.Nxd7 c3 35...Qxe2i]
42.Bd1=
(22) Navara, D(2751)-Fier, A(2632) (24) Salgado Lopez, I(2616)-Demuth, A(2515)
34.Rg8+! Rxg8 35.Qh4+ Qh7 36.Qf6+ Qg7 [36...Rg7 27.Rxd5! exd5 28.Qe6+ Kf8 [28...Qf7 29.Qxc8+h]
37.Qxd8+ Qg8 38.Qh4+ Rh7 39.Qf6+=] 29.Bg5! [29.Rxh7!? 29...Qxh7 30.Qxc8+ Kf7 31.Bg4h]
37.Qh4+ 1/2 29...Qc6 [29...Kg7 30.Bh6+ Kh8 31.Qf6+ Kg8 32.Bg4h]
(23) Duda, J(2610)-Flear, G(2460) 30.Bh6+ 1-0 [30.Bh6+ 30...Rg7 31.Bxg7+ Kxg7 32.Qe7+h]
36.Nxg7! Kxg7 37.Rg3+ Kh8 38.Nxf6 Rxf6 39.Rxf6h
(25) Gajewski, G(2648)-Postny, E(2630) (27) Fressinet, L(2712)-Tranchant, S(2275)
35.Be3!! [35.c6 35...exf4 36.c7 Rc8!] 17.Rxd8! 1-0 [17.Rxd8 17...Rxd8 18.Nc7! Nxc7 (18...Rd7
35...Rxe3 36.c6 Bh6 [36...Rc8 37.c7 Kf7 38.Kf2 Rd3 19.Nxa6h) 19.Qxe7+ Kg8 20.Qxd8+h]
39.Rb8h] 37.c7 Kf7 38.Rb8 1-0 (28) Riester
(26) Solodovnichenko, Y(2592)-Milliet, S(2369)
1.b5! a5 [1...axb5 2.a5h]

2.e4! Kf2 3.Kc4 Ke3 4.e5! Ke4 5.Kxc5 Kxe5 6.Kc6 f5
7.Kxc7 f4 8.b6 f3 9.b7 f2 10.b8=Q f1=Q 11.Qb5+! Qxb5
28.Be6+! [28.Qh3? 28...Rxf5; 28.Qxh4? 28...Qxg2#] 12.axb5 a4 13.b6 a3 14.b7 a2 15.b8=Q a1=Q 16.Qh8+!h
28...Qxe6 [28...Kg7 29.Be5+h]

29.Qxh4 Rde8 30.f3h
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
The main event of the week, the Norway Chess Stavanger
2015, came to an end. The tournament had a lot of surprises,
Editorial Preface 2 like the first round loss on time of Carlsen against Topalov or
the outcome of the game Hammer-Carlsen.
Veselin Topalov, who has recently only played very few
tournaments, came clear first with 6.5/9. Anand and
Nakamura, who both had a great tournament, shared second
Young & Talented 11 place with 6/9. Carlsen only came 8th with 3.5/9, which is
clearly his biggest upset in classical chess since he became
Puzzle section 14 World Number 1.
In the traditional 50th edition of the Capablanca Memorial
Endgame section 17 nobody could stop Yu Yangyi who finished clear first with 7/10.
In second position we find Andreikin and Eljanov, both with
Chess and the City. 5.5/10.
Host team wins Mitropa Cup 2015 22 The B group was won by Kunin with 6/9.
Another few top events are also underway, like the 10th
Surprise section / study 23 Edmonton International or the Russian higher league.
In a couple of days already the Super tournament in
Solutions 24 Dortmund and the Super tournament in Biel are going to start.
In the current issue we focus our attention on the Stavanger
tournament! Enjoy!
Two best games of the past week 8.Bg2 Nc6 9.Be3 White usually aims for castling queenside
in this line (after Qe2), but Black manages to avoid this idea...
[9.Nxc6 9...bxc6 10.e5 seems to create direct problems, but
(1) Anand, Viswanathan (2804) Black has 10...Nd5! and he is fine.]
- Vachier Lagrave, Maxime (2723) 9...Be7 10.f4 Intending Qe2 and 0-0-0. [After the direct
[B90] 10.Qe2 Black quickly comes with his typical counterplay
GM Csaba Balogh 10...Nxd4 11.Bxd4 e5! This is the reason why White usually
3rd Norway Chess 2015(6.2), Best rating: 2672 starts with 10.f4. 12.Be3 Be6 13.O-O-O Rc8kPreparing for the
2015.06.22 standard Sicilian exchange sacrifice on c3 or just playing Qa5
increasing the attacking chances.]
Anand wins the next game with a brilliant combination, which 10...Nd7! This is the point behind Black’s play. White does
is too hard even for the computers! not have enough time for playing Qe2 or Qd2 because of the
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 Vachier unpleasant check on h4! White therefore castles kingside, but
Lagrave plays his favorite Sicilian Najdorf variation and Anand this gives a different character to the game.
replies with one of the most fashionable answer...
6.h3 e6 This probably came as a surprise. The Frenchman
usually plays 6...e5, also a few rounds before the current game
against Caruana he chose that option.
7.g4
11.O-O We could say, that it is risky to castle this direction after

having advanced all the pawns in front of the king, however
the black king cannot stay for long in the center, castling
queenside is even more dangerous, therefore he will castle
kingside as well, but then the advance of the kingside pawns
7...h6 The game has transposed now to the Sicilian Keres are rather giving attacking potentials, than weakening the
variation, which was considered to be better for White, but of king.
course the newest computers are showing good and playable 11...Nxd4 Black needs to exchange the knights in order to
options for Black here as well. fianchetto his bishop to b7. [If Black starts in the other
move order, 11...O-O Vachier Lagrave most probably wanted bishop on c8 to keep his e6 pawn and the d7 knight protected.
to avoid the new direction of some games, which continued In case of 15...Bb7, White could either try e5, using that the
with 12.Nce2!? and White could take back with the knight on d7 knight is not protected or to push f5, followed by putting
d4.] pressure on the e6 pawn with Nf4.
12.Qxd4 O-O Black had to waste a tempo on protecting the 16.f5 White reveals his cards about sacrificing on h6, but
g7 pawn. Black does not believe in it and completely ignores it. At the
13.Qd2! Another stro ng prophylactic move against b5 and beginning correctly...
White also retreats his queen from the center to leave from 16...Nf6 17.Ng3 White brings another attacker. After taking
all the kind of attacks. Anand probably was already thinking twice on h6, White might threaten with with g5 and Nh5. [The
about the sacrifices on h6, which later decided the game on direct 17.Bxh6 only leads to draw 17...gxh6 18.Qxh6 Black has
his favor. Now on b5, White could push e5, because he has left other moves as well, but the most forcing one is 18...Nh7
from the dxe5 tempo, while the queen was standing on d4. Black wants to play Bg5, therefore the only move is 19.f6!
13...Rb8 Black is finally able to push b5. All these moves Bxf6 20.Rxf6 Nxf6
are typical to many Sicilian lines. Another known idea in
such positions is to regroup the bishop to d4 by including the
Ba7-Ra8 pair of moves, however the bishop stands better now
on e3 because it is ready for the sacrifices on h6 and it does
not stay in the e5 tempo, after which black could win the dark
squares for the minor pieces.
21.Qg5+! (Black defends succesfully after 21.Qxf6 21...Qc5+

22.Kh1 Qe5!) 21...Kh7 22.Qh4+ draw with perpetual check
as Kg6? does not work in view of Nf4! 22...Kg7 23.Qg5+=]
17...Bb7 [Trying to use the x-ray on the g3 knight with 17...d5?
runs into 18.e5! Qxe5 19.Bf4 and the b8 rook falls.]
18.Kh1 The last p reparation to the sacrifice! White leaves
14.Ne2 b5 15.Rad1! Anand bring s all his pieces to the game. from the potential checks on the dark squares. [The
Who could guess, that this rook on d1 will very soon decide immediate 18.Bxh6 shows perfectly, why 18.Kh1 is so useful
the outcome of this game?! 18...gxh6 19.Qxh6 White is threatening with g5 and Nh5. The
15...Qc7 A known idea in the Sicilians, that Black retains his only move is 19...d5! and the brilliant tactics played in the
game only leads to draw now. .. 20.g5 Qxg3 21.Rd3 Black has
some other options too, but the easiest is 21...Bc5+ 22.Kh1
Nxe4 23.Rxg3 Nxg3+ 24.Kh2 Bd6 and White must move into
perpetual check... 25.Kg1 Bc5+ 26.Kh2=]
18...Rbd8? Black still ignores the sacrifice, but this time he
should not have done it. His plan was to push d5 and he also
left from the motif of e5 Qxe5 Bf4 and the rook is hanging on
b8. [Black should have strengthen his kingside with 18...Kh7!
when it is not obvious how White should make progress in the
attack. On the other hand, Black is coming with Rad8 and d5!] 21.g5!! The second blow, but it all fails without the
next move... [Perhaps, Vachier Lagrave has expected 21.e5
21...Qxe5 22.Qg5+ Kh8 23.Qh4+ when the draw is inevitable
with 23...Kg8 (23...Nh7 loses to 24.Qxe7 Qxg3 25.Qxb7h)
24.Qg5+=]
21...Qxg3
19.Bxh6! The sacrifice itself suggests itself. White has based

all of his moves on this idea, but the follow-up is extremely
difficult to find and to calculate beforehand...
19...gxh6 20.Qxh6 d5! Black thought, that the sacrifice is
unsound as he has the usual central break and White will have 22.Rd3!! Black is two pieces up, but this intermediate move
nothing more than perpetual check. However, Anand has kills all his hopes. The point is to send the queen into wrong
prepared a deep surprise... place before taking on f6. On the direct 22.gxf6 Bd6 wins
for Black as he mates on h2 and in the same time the queen
covers the g7 square...
22...Nh5? Black misses the final point! [The only move was 23.g6!! The only winning move, which was most probably
22...Nxe4! White must continue his extremely powerful play missed by Black! [23.Rxg3 leads to a draw after 23...Nxg3+
with 23.f6! Bxf6 (Another key line is 23...Qxg5 24.Qxg5+ Nxg5 24.Kh2 Bd6 25.Kg1 Bc5+=]
25.fxe7 Rd7 23...fxg6 24.fxg6 Rxf1+ 25.Bxf1 And Black has no defense
against the threatening mates after Qh7. He must give up his
queen for free...
26.Rg3!! Taking on f8 would remove the king from the

danger zone and Black could get strong compensation for the
exchange. However now he gets mated... 26...Rxe7 27.Rxg5+ 25...Nf6 [25...Qf4 26.Qh7+ Kf8 27.Qh8#; 25...Qe5 26.Qh7+
Kh8 28.Rf6! Driving the king to wrong square to avoid the Kf8 27.Qf7#]
defense of f5-Rh7... 28...Kh7 29.Rf4! Kh6 30.Rg3! Temporary
26.Rxg3 The game is over! Black continues resisting for a few
retreating but now mate is coming... 30...Kh5 31.Bf3+ Kh6
more moves.
32.Rh4#) 24.Bxe4! dxe4 25.Rxg3 Bg7 26.Qh4 e3+ 27.Kg1 e2
28.Re1h Black only has two bishops for the queen, which is 26...dxe4 27.Be2 e3+ 28.Kg1 Bc5 29.Kf1 A beautiful and
clearly not enough compensation.; 22...Qe5 loses to 23.gxf6 very long combination by Anand! 1-0
Bxf6 24.Rf4! Bg7 25.Rg3h all the heavy pieces are in the
attack.]
(2) Hammer, Jon Ludvig (2677)
- Carlsen, Magnus (2876) [D30]
3rd Norway Chess 2015(9),

Best rating: 2737
It has been a horrible tournament for Carlsen but after a very

bad start Magnus seemed to recover a bit with a few wins,
but in the last round turned against him again. We are going 6...Nc6 After this move White’s advantage is clearly very big.
to see a game between the World number 1 and his second. [It was maybe a slightly better try to hold on to the c4 pawn:
Psychologically I can’t imagine Hammer’s situation... How to 6...b5 7.a4 A standard move. 7...Bb7 8.axb5 axb5 9.Rxa8
play against your boss? Against somebody who you helped Bxa8 10.b3 and White clearly has a safe and nice advantage.]
become World Champion, accompanied to so many events 7.Bxc4 Bd6 Now we can rly see that because of the big
and who you see is having a horrible event. Anyhow, we are damage done to Black’s pawn structure White is doing very
going to see a strange game where Carlsen clearly is out of well.
shape and Hammer keeps taking advantage of his mistakes. 8.e4 I don’t know if e4 was really needed. [White could have
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 a6 Well, what to say about such an continued with the simple 8.Nc3 8...Nge7 and going for the
opening!? It seems like Carlsen is joking with his second, but bishop pair with 9.Ne4 followed by Nxd6.]
it turned out to be a bad idea... 8...Nge7 9.O-O O-O Black wants to play Kh8 and e5
4.Bg5! I think it is a great move! Hammer wants to play a somewhere and f5 move could also be possible at some point.
good version of the Queen’s Gambit. 10.Qb3 Hammer puts maximum pressure on the e6 pawn.
4...f6?! This is already more shocking than funny. After such 10...Kh8 After this move Black enters a very unpleasant
a horrible move White’s advantage is very clear. endgame. [Another try to hold on to the e6 pawn was
5.Bd2 I would like to know if Hammer was more laughing or 10...Qd7 but after the simple 11.a4 avoiding Black’s b5, White
more nervous about the beginning of the game. is clearly much better.]
5...dxc4 to give the f6 move an idea 11.Bxe6 Hammer evaluates the situation correctly.
6.e3 A good and solid move! [6.e4 would be a bit careless 11...Bxh2+ The only move.
because after 6...Nc6! Black is back in the game.] 12.Kxh2 [Of course not 12.Nxh2? 12...Nxd4 and Black is
winning.]
12...Qd6+ 13.Kh1 Bxe6 Black won the piece back but the 20...fxe4 21.fxe4 Ng6 Attacking the only weakness of White’s
white pawns in the center mean that White is still a lot better. position, the e4 pawn.
14.d5 Bg8 black is trying to remain solid. 22.Nf5?! Hammer enters the complications, which was
15.Qa3! A strong move! Black’s only chance to get absolutely not needed! [After a simple move like 22.Rfe1
counterplay is to start something on the kingside because of White would keep a decent advantage. The black knight on
the missing pawn on the h-file, but since Hammer is forcing a7 is in a bad position, the bishop on g8 as well and White
the queen exchange now, in the endgame the slightly open keeps the idea of playing Nf5-Bc3 in mind.; But the seemingly
position of the white king will not matter any longer. logical move 22.Rce1? would be a mistake because of 22...c5!
and Black is back!]
15...Qxa3 16.Nxa3 Na7 Black is forced to go back and hope
to be able to play c6 later. 22...Rxe4 23.Bc3 The g7 pawn can’t be protected, so Black
needs to decide between moving the h-pawn and playing
Bxd5.
23...Bxd5?! It is hard to say if this is just a blunder ... [Black
would keep fighting after 23...h6 24.Bxg7+ Kh7 25.Bd4 b6
From a huma n point of view, Black’s position looks very scary,
but in fact maybe most of White’s advantage has vanished.
I guess Carlsen would not lose this position to anybody any
longer.]
24.Bxg7+ Kg8 25.Bd4 Attacking a7 and threatening Nh6
17.Bb4 Hammer continues playing well and solidly! The mate.
bishop on b4 is well-placed. 25...Rxd4 Black is forced to give the exchange.
17...Rfe8 18.Rac1 Rac8 Carlsen is still hoping to play c6 26.Nxd4 Being an exchange up gives White a close to winning
somewhere. long-term advantage.
19.Nd4 Another white piece is taking a good position. 26...Bxa2 Well, Carlsen has nothing to lose so of course he
19...f5 It is maybe the best practical decision to unbalance the takes the a2 pawn is very risky, but in case Black would keep
position. on playing normal moves, White would slowly exchange the
pieces and the exchange up would be enough for a full point.
20.f3 White continues keeping the strong center under
control.
32...Rxb3 [After 32...Nc6 33.Rxb7 Rxb3 White can even
choose an easy winning way like 34.Rxb3 Bxb3 35.Rf6 Ne5
36.Rxa6 and the win would only be a matter of time.]
27.b3! A perfect answer! The a2 bishop is going to be taken.

27...Rd8 This move leads to a fast end. [Black could
have fough harder after 27...c5 28.Rf2 cxd4 29.Rxc8+ Nxc8 33.Rd1! Hammer shows no mercy...
30.Rxa2 and Black’s chances to make a draw are small, but
the fight still goes on. 30...Nf8 Setting a little trap... 31.Nc4 33...Nc6 34.Rdd7 and the mate on c8 is unavoidable! Well,
(White could fall into the trap after 31.Rd2 31...Ne6 32.Nc2 what to say after such a game... We rarely see Carlsen not
Nd6! and the d4 pawn can’t be taken because of Ne4!) playing at his level, missing a lot of chances and giving so
31...Ne6 32.g3 followed by Kg2 and slowly White is going to many to his opponents. I am curious to see if Hammer will
win the d4 pawn and it is going to be almost impossible for remain Carlsen’s second after beating his boss in the last
Black to keep the h7 and b7 pawns alive. The rook is much round! :) 1-0
stronger in such endgames where the fight is going on on both
flanks.]
28.Ne6 Rd2 29.Rc3 A good move because White just wants
to play Rg3 next, but there was another option. [The forced
line 29.Rxc7 29...Bxb3 30.Rg7+ Kh8 31.Rff7 was not that
easy to see, but possible to calculate until the very end.
31...Bxe6 32.Rxh7+ Kg8 33.Rhg7+ Kh8 34.Rxb7 with a
double attack on the Na7 and g6. White is totally winning.]
29...Re2 30.Nf4 [30.Rf6! was leading to an even faster win.
30...Nc6 31.Rcf3 and the mate on f8 is unavoidable.]
30...Rb2 Carlsen keeps on looking for practical chances.
31.Nxg6 hxg6 32.Rxc7 Black’s position is simply lost.
Young & Talented 10.Bf2 A necessary retreat. There is a nasty surprise
after the most logical move: [10.Qd2 10...d5 11.exd5 cxd5
12.O-O Nc6 13.c5 Rxe3! with great compensation, as in the
Karpov-Kasparov World Championship Match 1990.]
10...d5 11.exd5 cxd5 12.O-O Nc6 13.c5 Nh5 Very normal
other possibilites are 13...Bf8 or 13...Re5.
GM Etienne Bacrot 14.Qd2 Be5 15.g3 Ng7 The knight has done its job of
Best rating: 2749 weakening White’s king and is back to fight for central
(3) Bluebaum, Matthias (2600) squares.
- Bailet, Pierre(2518) [E92] 16.Rfd1 Bf5 Quite a new move. [16...Be6 was the main
Mitropa Cup 2015(9.3), theoretical move for a long time.]
2015.06.22
The German player Matthias Bluebaum is only 18 years old

and just crossed the 2600 barrier. He is currently the 13th
player in the world under 20 rankings. This game doesn’t
belong to his best achievements but is very interesting, also
thanks to his French opponent.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5
7.Be3 exd4 Black rarely opens the center this way in King’s
17.Rac1!? Finishing the developpement. The alternatives are:
Indian, but here it works thanks to the bishop on e3.7....Ng4 is
[17.Ndb5 is nicely met by 17...d4 18.Nxd4 Bxd4 19.Bxd4 Bc2!!
the "closed" alternative.
An unexepcted move which solves all the problems. 20.Qxc2
8.Nxd4 Re8 9.f3 c6 Nxd4 21.Qa4 Nxe2+ 22.Nxe2 Qg5 Black wins back the pawn
and got full equality in Kovalyov-Van Kampen 2014.; 17.Bf1
looks good but Black eaqualizes after the following forced
sequence: 17...Bxd4 18.Bxd4 Ne6 19.Bf2 d4 20.Nb5 Ng5
21.Bg2 Ne5 22.Nxd4 Qxd4 23.Qxd4 Nexf3+ 24.Kh1 Nxd4
25.Bxd4 Bg4; 17.Nxf5!? might also be checked by theoretical
players. 17...Nxf5 18.f4 Some research is needed to find out if
White has the advantage.]
17...Bxd4!? Black needs to play very concretely in this
opening because of his bad pawn structure. He sacrifices his 28.Bxf6 Qf7 29.Bxe8 Rxe8 with some compensation.]
dark squard bishop but somehow frees his pieces.
18.Bxd4 Ne6 19.Bf2 d4 20.Nb5
24...Be4! All black pieces are on the best squares and now
this move puts great pressure.
20...Ng5?! Maybe this is not the best move but it is 25.Bg2? A bad mistake, missing the tactic. 25.Qe3 or 25. f4
very interesting over the board and other moves lead to might hold for White.
slightly worse endgames. [20...Qd5 21.g4 (21.Nd6 21...Ng5k) 25...Bxf3! 26.Bxf3 Nxf3 27.Kxf3 Rxd4!! 28.Qxd4 Qe2+
21...Bxg4 22.fxg4 Ng5 23.Rc3! Qe5 24.Nxd4 Nxd4 25.Bxd4 29.Kf4
Qxe2 26.Qxe2 Rxe2 27.Re3 Rc2 28.Bc3 Ne6 29.Re5 White
somehow pushes in this endgame.; 20...d3 21.Bxd3 Ng5
22.Be2 Qxd2 23.Rxd2 Bd3! 24.Bxd3! Nxf3+ 25.Kg2 Nxd2
26.Rd1 Ne4 27.Nc7 Nxf2 28.Kxf2 and again White has a
slightly better endgame.]
21.Nxd4 Nxd4 22.Bxd4 Qe7 23.Kf2 [23.h4!? seems to be
the best practical decision and now White fights for only two
results, win or draw. 23...Qxe2 is the best defensive option.
(23...Ne6 24.Bf2 Nxc5 25.Bb5 Rad8 26.Qh6 and with two nice
bishops White has a clear lead.; 23...Nh3+ 24.Kf1h) 24.Qxe2
Rxe2 25.hxg5c] 29...h6! It’s funny, but White can’t save this.
23...Rad8 24.Bf1 [24.Bb5 was the last chance to play for an 30.h4 [30.Re1 30...g5+ 31.Kf5 Qf3+ 32.Qf4 Qd5+ 33.Kg4
advantage but Black has two moves that lead to a fighting h5+! winning big material.]
game: 24...Be4 (24...Bd7!? 25.Re1 (25.Bxd7 25...Rxd7 26.Re1 30...h5 31.Kg5 Qe7+?? [31...Kh7 Taking away the h6 square
Ne6n) 25...Bxb5! 26.Rxe7 Rxe7n) 25.Qc3 Bxf3 26.Re1 Be4! from White’s king simply mates. Black for sure missed one of
(26...Ne4+ 27.Kxf3!) 27.Bh8! (27.Bxe8 27...Qe6!n) 27...f6 the two nice tactics and settled for a draw. A lucky escape!
32.Re1 (32.Rf1 32...Re5+! 33.Kf6 Rf5+ 34.Rxf5 Qe6+ 35.Kg5
Qxf5#) 32...f6+! 33.Kxf6 Rf8+ followed by Rf5 mate.]
32.Qf6 Qe3+ 33.Qf4 Qe7+ 34.Qf6 Qe3+ 1/2-1/2
Puzzle section
(4) Dominguez, L(2746)-Yu Yangyi(2715) (6) Cordova, E(2609)-Hevia, A(2535)
Capablanca memorial, 2015.06.17 Capablanca memorial B, 2015.06.19
1... i 1. h
(5) Cordova, E(2609)-Miton, K(2604) (7) Bocharov, I(2472)-Bukavshin, I(2647)

Capablanca memorial B, 2015.06.15 Russian Higher League, 2015.06.22
1... i 1... i
(8) Korobov, A(2698)-Nadanian, A(2380) (10) Petrosyan, T(2423)-Gaboyan, S(2153)
Asrian memorial, 2015.06.17 Asrian memorial, 2015.06.17
1... i 1. h
(9) Hambardzumian, Y(2322)-Khismatullin, D(2646) (11) Baghdasaryan, V(2402)-Oleksienko, M(2629)

1... i 1. h
(12) Ter Sahakyan, S(2586)-Harutyunian, T(2472)
Asrian memorial, 2015.06.25
1. h
(13) Ilyashev, Y(2128)-Mikaelyan, A(2437)

1... i
Endgame section 47.Ra7 Rc3 48.Re7 Rb3 49.Kg3 Carlsen now tries to bring
his king to h4 and later to g5, followed by damaging the pawn
structure with g4-f5. Even after this the game was drawn, but
(14) Carlsen, Magnus (2876) it was much easier to prevent all these ideas by attacking the
- Nakamura, Hikaru (2802) g2 pawn...
Norway Chess, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.06.22 Best rating: 2672
49...Rb2! 50.Kf3 White admits that he cannot make

progress without pushing g4...
50...Rb3 51.g4 hxg4+ 52.hxg4 There are only 5 pawns on the
board, but the main problem for White is still that the advance
In the following endgame Nakamura shows the right of his pawns will lead to further exchanges...
technique of holding the 4 vs 3 rook endgame when the 52...Rb1 Black could also wait on the 3rd rank, but Nakamura
pawns are on the same side. It is very important that in the changes his strategy after the g4 move. He is going to harass
earlier stage of the game, he has already built up the best the white king with checks from behind and attack the g4
defending pawn formation (h5-g6-f7). White can only make pawn, trying to fix the structure.
progress by advancing his pawns, but this will lead to the
53.Rd7 Rf1+ 54.Ke4 Rg1 55.g5 Another development of
trade of the pawns and all the simplifications brings the draw
the game. After the g5 push, White has only two plans
closer for the defending side.
to make progress. The f5 move always leads to further
45...Rb2+ 46.Kf3 Rb3 Black basically just waits, he has exchanges, therefore Black should not fight against it. The
nothing to do. At the same time Nakamura pays attention to only dangerous plan could be e4-e5-e6 and Black focuses his
preventing the advance of the e-pawn. attention on preventing this idea...
55...Ra1 Black again wants to confuse his opponent in 82...Rf1 83.Kf6 Rxf4+ 84.Kxg6 Rf8!= In case of the g- and
executing his plan by giving checks from the side... h-pawns, even the passive defense with the rook on the 8th
56.Ke5 Ra3 57.e4 Ra5+ 58.Kd6 Ra6+ 59.Ke5 Ra5+ rank yields a safe draw. Black does not even need his e-pawn,
60.Rd5 Ra4 61.Rc5 [61.f5 leads to an immediate draw after that position is an easy theoretical draw. He just moves with
61...gxf5 62.exf5 (62.Kxf5 62...Ra1=) 62...Rg4=] his rook along the 8th rank and in case of a check on g7, he
goes to h8.]
61...Ra1 62.Rc2 Rf1 63.Rc7 Re1 The game is a dead draw.
Both players go around for some time, before Carlsen starts 81.Rd4 Ra5 82.Rc4 Kf8 83.Rc8+ Kg7 84.Rc7 Kf8 85.Kd4
his final winning attempt. Ra4+ 86.Rc4 Ra5 87.Rc8+ Kg7 88.e6 The very last try, but
of course it cannot lead to anything serious from White’s point
64.Ra7 Rg1 65.Ra4 Rf1 66.Ra6 Re1 67.Kd4 Rd1+ 68.Ke3 of view...
Re1+ 69.Kf3 Rf1+ 70.Kg3 Re1 71.e5 A new change of the
structure. White now remains with the hope of pushing e6 88...fxe6 89.Rc5 Ra7 Black obviously keeps the rooks on the
when the king is pinned on the 7th rank. Obviously Black has board.
many effective ways to avoid this idea... 90.Ke5 Rf7 91.Rc4 Rf5+ 92.Kxe6 Kg8 The white king is
71...Re3+ 72.Kf2 Rb3 73.Rd6 Ra3 74.Rd8 Rc3 75.Ke2 Ra3 cut from the f4 pawn and the rook is obliged to protect the
76.Rd3 Ra1 77.Ke3 Re1+ 78.Kd4 Rf1 79.Ke4 Ra1 80.Rd7 f4 pawn. Black only waits with Kg7-g8, therefore the draw is
Ra4+ [White has no winning chances at all. The following inevitable and even Carlsen admits that he has no more hopes
variation shows it well. If Black leaves from the pin with for the win...
80...Kg8 White might hope for 81.e6 Of course Black could 93.Rc8+ Kg7 94.Rc7+ Kg8 95.Rc8+ Kg7 We can see that in
immediately make a draw with Re1, but let’s say he does not case of good defense, White has no winning chance in the 4 vs
have this option and plays 81...fxe6 82.Ke5 This could be 3 rook endgames. 1/2-1/2
White’s only hope. He invades with his king along f6, collects
the g6 pawn and the g5 pawn gives him a shelter against the
checks. However the game is still a draw after
and actually this looks like a very good choice to me! The
(15) Giri, Anish (2773) black pawns are fixed and White just wants to gain some space
- Topalov, Veselin (2798) during the next moves.
34...h5?! Not the best in my opinion since it is always very
3rd Norway Chess 2015(8),
GM Arkadij Naiditsch
dangerous in an endgame to give a pawn for free, even if
2015.06.24
Best rating: 2737 it weakens the opponent’s pawns structure. [34...h6 looks
safer. 35.h4 Kh7 36.h5 and now Black should play the very
important
This calm-looking endgame is much trickier than it seems. 36...g6! 37.Nf6+ Kg7 38.Ne4 gxh5 39.gxh5 b4 40.Nxd6 Rxd6
Many young players don’t remember the greatest Catalan 41.Rxb4 Rd5 and Black’s chances to make a draw in this
player of all times, Ulf Anderson, who was famous for his rook endgame are not bad. But again, the position is really
perfect endgame technique and the knight in the current unpleasant!]
position on d7 could be just like from his games! In fact he was
more famous for having similar endgames with the knight on 35.gxh5! A good choice. Of course White doesn’t give Black
c6 more often. the chance of exchanging pawns so easily, which is always
good for the defending side.
33.Rb7 A good move! Now the black rook from d8 doesn’t
have any moves and White might threaten to play Nb8 or Ne5, 35...Kh7 36.b4! Perfect play! Maybe this is the move that
winning the b5 pawn. Topalov had underestimated.
33...Bd6 A logical move, preventing White’s knight moves. 36...Bxb4 [36...Kh6 37.Nc5 also leads to a very unpleasant
endgame with a pawn down for Black.]
34.g4 An interesting moment. White clearly has to start
pushing his pawns, but with which one to start?! To play e4 37.Ne5 Now the f7 pawn is falling.
but maybe then Black is able to play e5. Or maybe to play 37...Rd5 [Of course 37...f6? is not possible since after 38.Nc6
f4 with the idea of playing e4-e5. Giri chooses the g4 move White is winning material.]
38.Nxf7 Rxh5 39.f4 White continues playing a great game! to exchange a pawn or maybe enter a rook endgame, the
Now the white knight will go to g5 and the e6 and b5 pawns position would most probably be a draw, but it is simply
will be under attack. impossible!
45...Bd2 [After 45...e5 46.Nf7+ Kh7 47.Nxe5 the position is
probably lost.]
46.e3 The e6 pawn is going to fall.
46...b4 There is already no way of saving the pawn...
47.Nxe6 Rh5 Black is trying to get some play. [In case of a
passive defense like 47...Bc3 White is winning with 48.e4 Rh5
49.e5 and the g7 pawn is going to fall.]
48.Nxg7 Rxh2 49.Nf5+ Now we can evaluate this position
39...Kg6 A possible move but Black maybe had another
as winning for White.
chance to fight for an escape. [39...Bd2 but this move is
almost impossible to find over the board. 40.Ng5+ Kg6 49...Kg6
41.Nxe6 Black’s position looks lost, but after 41...Rh4! it is not
that easy for White to prove that the position is winning.]
40.Ne5+ Kh7 41.Nf7 Kg6 42.Ne5+ Kh7 After repeating a
couple of times, White of course continues the fight.
43.Nf3
50.Ne7+ The most human and simple, White is winning the

b4 pawn. [50.e4 was good as well.]
50...Kf6 51.Nd5+ Ke6 52.Ke4 The most simple. The king is
a strong piece in an endgame.
43...Rf5 [After 43...Kg6 44.e4 looks very strong.] 52...Rh3 Preventing Nxb4.
44.Ng5+ Kh6 45.Kf3 The white pieces are perfectly placed 53.Rb6+ Kd7 54.Kd3 The b4 pawn is lost and so are Black’s
and this is a real problem for Black. If he was in time chances to hold a draw.
54...Bc1 55.Rxb4 Kd6
56.Kd4 and Toplaov resigned without any further fight

since White is totally winnning. We just witnessed great
endgame technique by Giri who used his chances very well
and especially the unusual idea of 36.b4! is something we
should remember from this game. 1-0
Chess and the City. well-known trio of Zimina, Sedina and Brunello was however
not able to deliver a serious fight for top place this time.
Host team wins Mitropa Cup 2015 Slovakia managed to get another medal (bronze) with their
women team and their overall success was maybe based on
their captain Eva Repkova - the only female captain in the
entire tournament. Tenderness and care are psychological
aspects which one may easily underestimate but in their case
it clearly paid off!
For the German girls Sarah Hoolt and Judith Fuchs things
went less favorably. They lost their Bronze medal in the very
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz last moment by losing a bitter match against Austria II 2-0.
Best rating: 2493 All in all, as already mentioned, for Germany things did not go
the way we would have wanted or expected and it is actually
hard to say why. On a personal note, it was the very first time I
Austria did not only manage to organize a beautiful and participated in the Mitropa Cup and my personal performance
professional tournament, their team in the Open section also was not such a great support for higher goals. In team events
won the championship convincingly with 15-3 match points. it is however usually the unit of the entire team which makes
For Austrian’s highest rated player Markus Ragger it was sort the difference and somehow we were not able to find our real
of the first time he was competing in such an event and his shape in that event.
team’s victory was mainly based on the fact that together with
GM David Shengelia they showed clear dominance on the top
boards.
Silver went to the young Slovakian team which was able to
overtake Germany by winning their last 4 matches.
The third place for Germany is definitively not what we have
expected beforehand. However, the whole tournament went
a bit unfortunately after the upsetting but well-deserved
defeat against the hosts.
In the women’s competition it was a similar one-man-show
with the Hungarian Ladies. Ticia Gara was the top scorer of
their, with an impressive result of 6/6. Second place went to
Italy who won most of the Mitropa Cups in previous years. The
(16) Prokes
1. h
The Austrian team (pictures by the Austrian Chess Federation)
Solutions (19) Topalov, V(2798)-Aronian, L(2785)
(17) Topalov, V(2798)-Caruana, F(2805)
23...a5! 24.fxe5 [24.Rxb6 24...Nc4i]

24...axb4 25.exf6 bxc3 26.bxc3 gxf6i
50...Bg1! 0-1 [50...Bg1 51.Rxd8 (51.Qd2 51...Qxd2 52.Rxd2
(20) Vachier Lagrave, M(2723)-Hammer, J(2677)
Rxd2i) 51...Qh2#]
(18) Grischuk, A(2781)-Topalov, V(2798)
31.Re7! Rxf2 [31...Rxe7 32.Bf3#]

32.Bh3h h6 33.Rh7 1-0
37...Nxe2! 0-1 [37...Nxe2 38.Qxc6 Nxd4+ 39.Ke3 Nxc6i]
(21) Giri, A(2773)-Carlsen, M(2876) (23) Grischuk, A(2781)-Vachier Lagrave, M(2723)
44...gxf5? [44...Rxf2+! 45.Kxf2 c2i] 46...Rg1! 47.Nxf5+ Rxf5! 48.Rhxf5 Rg2+ 49.Kh1 Rg1+
45.Rc5= 50.Kh2 Rg2+ 51.Kh1 1/2
(22) Giri, A(2773)-Grischuk, A(2781) (24) Anand, V(2804)-Carlsen, M(2876)
34...Rbb1? [34...Bh3! 35.Rxb2 (35.Rxa7 35...Rxf2 36.Kxf2 44...Qd4+! i 45.Kf5 [45.Qxd4 45...cxd4 46.Kf4 a5
Rxf1+i) 35...Rxf1#] 47.Ke4 c5 48.g4 a4 49.Kd3 a3 50.Kc2 d3+i]
35.Kg2 Bd5+ 36.Kh3k 45...Qxf6+ 46.Kxf6 c4 47.g4 c3 48.g5 c2 0-1
(25) Caruana, F(2805)-Giri, A(2773) (27) Troitzky
1.Nc5+!! dxc5 2.Qxh3+ Ke7 [2...Kd6 3.Qg3+h; 2...Kd5

3.Qf3+! Ke6 (3...Kd4 4.Qd3+ Ke5 5.Qg3+h; 3...Kc4
26.Nh6+!! gxh6 27.Qg3+ Kh8 [27...Bg7 28.Bxh6h] 4.Qd3+ Kb4 5.Qb1+h) 4.Qf5+ Ke7 (4...Kd6 5.Qf4+h)
28.Rxf7 [28.Bd4+ 28...Re5 29.Rxf7h] 5.Qf6+ Ke8 6.Qh8+h]
28...Rb4 29.Ref1! Qd8 30.Nc3 [30.Rxh7+ 30...Kxh7 3.Qh4+ Ke6 [3...Kf8 4.Qh8+h]
31.Rf7+ Kh8 32.Qg6h] 4.Qf6+ Kd5 5.Qf3+ Ke6 6.Qf5+ Ke7 7.Qf6+ Ke8
30...Be6 8.Qh8+ Ke7 9.Qxb8
(26) Caruana, F(2805)-Giri, A(2773)

37.Bxg7+? [37.Kg1!! 37...Rxd6 (37...Kg8 38.Bxg7 Rxg7

39.Qe5C) 38.Bxg7+ Qxg7 39.Qxd6=] 37...Rxg7 0-1
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
A lot of big chess events are under way, but let us start with
Editorial Preface 2 the traditional round robin in Dortmund, the ”Dortmunder
Schachtage”.
After a long time, another women chess player (the previous
one was Polgar Judith) finally joined the world’s best chess
players and this is Hou Yifan. After 5 rounds she has 2 points.
Puzzle section 13 She only lost one game to Kramnik and made 4 draws, which
is clearly not a bad result!
Endgame section 16 Nisipeanu and Caruana are sharing the first place with 3.5/5.
Then comes Kramnik with 3 points. The last 2 rounds of
Golden knowledge. Dortmund are clearly going to be the very fighting because
The famous rook trick 20 everything is still possible for the top 3 places in the event.
What is a bit strange for such a top tournament is the very
Chess and the City. small amount of draws! For example Kramnik has won 3
A dangerous game 29 games and lost 2, but of course this is very good news for the
spectators.
Your weekly commentator Arkadij Naiditsch has 2.5/5 points.
In the Chinese Island Hainan a very strong round robin is
also under way, with all the best Chinese players and the two
foreigners Bruzon and Sasikiran.
Solutions 33 The 2nd Porticcio Open in Corsica had 2 winners,

Areshchenko and Laznicka, both with the very good result of
7.5/9. From the top French players Fressinet scored 7 points
and Bacrot, who lost his last game, only 6.5/9.
In the Russian higher league 3 players came equal first with
6.5/9: Artemiev, Motylev and Bukavshin.
In other news, we are proud to announce that Adrian
Mikhalchishin, a Senior FIDE Trainer, joins us with his column
”Golden Knowledge”.
We would like to warmly welcome Adrian and hope that you
will enjoy the exercises from one of the World’s best trainers!
Enjoy!
(1) Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter (2654)

- So, Wesley (2778) [B23]
43rd GM 2015(1.4), GM Csaba Balogh

2015.06.27 Best rating: 2672
9.f5!? Nge7 Black wants to play like in the other lines, but he
Nisipeanu has managed to surprise the extremely well must deal with some unexpected concrete ideas. [I believe,
prepared Wesley So with a tricky sideline in the Sicilian the strongest reply is 9...exf5 (with the bish op on c4 this
defense, which brought him a very nice victory. usually does not work, because of the pressure on the f7
pawn) 10.exf5 O-O-O (10...Qxf5? does not work in view of
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 Not the main line, but if someone plays 11.Ng5!; 10...gxf5?! destroys his own pawn structure. White
the Sicilian, that must also know about the sidelines likes gets strong compensation after 11.Nh4 Nge7 12.Qh5) ]
this. Of course, So was also familiar with the beginning of the
theory... 10.fxe6 fxe6 11.Ng5! This is the difference! Black is
missing one tempo (not castled yet) and he must face some
3...g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bb5+ [The main move and by far more unexpected problems on the f7 and e6 squares. White is
common is 5.Bc4 but here Black has enough time to arrange ready to create problems with Qg4, Rf7 and Nf7, Black tries
the ideal development of his pieces with 5...Nc6 6.d3 e6 7.O-O to prevent all these ideas with one move...
Nge7 and 0-0 next showed by Gelfand and Karjakin in some
games.] 11...Ne5? Wesley So probably misses the next tactical blow...
[The right move seems to be 11...h6! 12.Nf7 Rh7! A very
5...Bd7 6.Bxd7+ Qxd7 7.O-O Nc6 8.d3 e6 In comparison to concrete line is about to come. The outcome od the f7 knight
the lines in the 5. Bc4 variation, White is a tempo ahead in the will decide the game, White either creates decisive threats
development (the knight is not yet on e7), which allows him or it gets trapped... (12...Rf8 13.Nxh6 the knight escapes.)
the following option. 13.Nb5! White prevents the concrete Bd4 check after which
the knight was falling and attacks the d6 in the same time.
13...Nc8 Black protects everything for now, but White creates
new threats...
14.Qg4! The pawn on g6 has become unprotected and White 12...Qxb5 [12...h6? just strengthens the main threat, White
immediately makes use of it. 14...N6e7! Only move, but now wins on the spot after 13.Nxe6!; A very logical defend would
the b5 knight is hanging. White must continue pushing with be to evacuate the king from the center. The point is after
the most active moves: 15.e5! Qxb5 16.Nxd6+ Nxd6 17.exd6 Nxa7 Kb8 the knight gets trapped, however White has the very
strong move at his disposal: 12...O-O-O 13.d4! Qxb5 (13...cxd4
14.Nxd4 and the e6 pawn cannot be protected!) 14.dxe5 dxe5
destroys the future of the g7 bishop. White soon wins back
the sacrificed pawn he ends up with a winning advantage...
(14...Bxe5 15.Nf7 wins material. 15...Rhf8 16.Bg5h) 15.Qg4
Rhf8 16.Be3h]
13.Nxe6 White wins back the minor piece, as he is threatening
with Nc7 and Nxg7 in the same time.
13...Kd7 Black has pinned his hopes to this move! He hopes,
The knight cannot be saved, because Black loses even more if that the knight on g7 gets trapped and he will have enough
he drops the g6 pawn with check. The game seems to be over, time to capture it.
however Black saves himself with 17...Qd7! 18.dxe7 Qd4+!
14.Nxg7 h5 Black had two ideas in mind. He prevents the
19.Qxd4 Bxd4+ 20.Kh1 Kxe7= and the game is balanced!]
Bh6 resource of safely guarding the piece and he creates an
additional threat of attacking the knight to Rag8 with Rh7.
White must continue acting directly! [In case of 14...Rhg8
15.a4! just like in the game, White sends the queen away
from the b2 square in order to protect the knight with
Bh6! 15...Qb6 16.a5 Qb5 17.c4 Qc6 (Black cannot keep the
pressure on the b2 pawn anymore with 17...Qb4? 18.Ra4h
traps the queen.) 18.Bh6h without being able to win the
knight, Black is just lost.]
15.a4 White wants to develop his c1 bishop and he does want
12.Nb5!! This beautiful move was missed or underestimated to worry about the fall of his b2 pawn.
by So. White starts dancing with his knights and somehow
15...Qb6 16.a5 Qb5 17.c4! The b2 pawn cannot be attacked
Black is unable to deal with them. The main threat is to take
anymore...
Nxe6 because then none of the knights can be taken because
of the other checks the queen with Nc7! 17...Qc6 [17...Qb4 18.Ra4h]
18.b4!? Stylish move, but it is not the only move to a get 20.Rf6! This was the key, which had to be foreseen by
decisive advantage. On the other hand it is very logical, Nisipeanu before choosing the 18.b4 variation! White puts
White wants to destroy the pawn structure and explode the further pressure on the d6 pawn and Qxc5 cannot be taken as
center, while the black king stands on d7. He either lures a it gives back the piece after d4! Otherwise Black must set all
central pawn to b4 after which the knight e5 knight loses it’s his pieces into passivity to not collapse immediate because of
outpose or he takes on c5 with similar consequences. White the Rxd6 threat.
believes, that the two moves until Black grabs the knight on 20...Nc8 A sad decision. Black preserves his extra piece, but
g7 will be enough to execute the plans. [18.Bf4!? is also very he basically lost his a8 rook and c8 knight... [20...Qxc5+ 21.d4
strong, but the point is different... 18...Rag8 19.d4! (19.Bxe5? Qxc4 22.dxe5h]
19...dxe5 20.Rf7 is too slow, Black wins the piece with 20...Rh7)
19...Nxc4 (19...cxd4 20.Qxd4h The black cannot hold his e5 21.d4! Nisipeanu continues playing the most direct and
knight.) 20.d5! Qb5 21.Ne6h White not only saves his highly energetic moves with which he swaps off his opponent
knight, but he manages to place it on an excellent square from from the board.
where it completely paralyzes the black pieces.] 21...Ng4 [21...Nxc4 22.Qb3h is also over, the knight is
18...Rh7 [On 18...cxb4 19.d4 Nxc4 20.Bg5h Black quickly trapped!; I tried 21...Qxe4 22.dxe5 Qxe5 but the machine
collapses.] quickly finished me with the following variation: 23.Qa4+
Kc7 24.Rf3 The bishop is coming soon to the game though f4
19.bxc5 Rxg7 [19...dxc5 leads again to the opening of the or e3. 24...Qxc5+ 25.Be3 Qc6 26.Qa3 Black is still a pawn up,
position and a quick defeat after 20.d4!h] but his pieces are totally discoordinated. He cannot survive
for long... 26...Ne7 27.c5! d5 28.Bf4+ Kd7 29.Be5 Rh7
30.Rf6h and the game is over.]
22.Rf3 Qxe4 [Another unsuccessful defensive attempt is 27.Bb2 [27.Bg5h is equally strong.]
22...dxc5 23.h3! We can see the strength of the white center. 27...hxg4 28.Re1 [Black resigned in view of 28.Re1 28...Qxe1
The cover all the important squares, therefore Black does not 29.Qxe1 gxf3 30.Bf6h A nice win, which was mainly thanked
have a good way to save his knight... 23...Qd6 24.hxg4 Qxd4+ to the one-game opening idea. However if Black reacts
25.Be3 Qxd1+ 26.Rxd1+ Black manages to trade queens, correctly it does not bring anything.] 1-0
but his king does get out of the danger! 26...Ke6 (26...Kc6
27.Rf6+h) 27.Rf8 Looks like a deadly pin, but Black can still
resist with 27...Nb6
28.Bh6! However after this great move, the game turns into a
completely winning rook endgame after... 28...Rxf8 29.Bxg7
Rg8 30.axb6 Rxg7 31.bxa7 Rg8 32.Ra1 Ra8 33.gxh5 gxh5
34.Kf2h]
23.h3 White wins back the material by trapping the knight and
he retains all the previous advantages by keeping all the poor
black pieces and the vulnerable king in the center...
23...dxc5 24.dxc5+ Ke8 [On 24...Kc7 White has different
kind of wins, but probably the easiest one is 25.Bf4+ Ne5
26.Qd5! Qxd5 27.cxd5 Re7 28.Re1h]
25.hxg4 Ne7 White has various ways to win. The rest is just
the matter of taste...
26.Qf1 Threatening with Rf8!
26...Rg8 [26...Kd7 27.Bb2 Rgg8 28.Re1h]
6.b3 Now that the bishop can’t get to f4 or g5, of course White
(2) So, Wesley(2778) develops to b2.
- Naiditsch, Arkadij(2722) [D37]
6...O-O 7.Bb2 b6 8.Bd3 Bb7
43rd GM 2015(3.3),
Best rating: 2737
We are in the 3rd round of the traditional tournament

"Dortmunder Schachtage" and as usual the tournament has
a great and interesting line-up. For me it was the first game
against the very talented young player from Philipines, who
changed his federation to American and is already in the Top
10. I have to say that to play against Wesley is everything but 9.Qc2! A well-known move, but it is still important to know
pleasant. He bangs the clock, caughs non-stop and plays the this. White doesn’t take too early on cxd5 because of Nxd5 and
moves instantly without writing the move of the opponent with the move Qc2 now Nxd5 will not be possible any longer
down. Well, a lot of young players behave very badly at the because the h7 pawn is hanging.
board these days and I am sure that the incident of Wesley 9...c5 [To continue with 9...dxc4 10.bxc4 c5 11.d5 usually leads
So during the US Championship where he got a 0 for writing to a better position for White.]
strange things on his scoresheet will not be the last time he
breaks the ethic chess rules. 10.cxd5 exd5 I am forced to take exd5 and now my bishop on
b7 is a bit "stupid".
1.d4 It is not easy to guess the first move of So, since he plays
everything. 11.O-O a6 Before playing 11...a6 I thought for a long time.
There are a lot of different setups for the black pieces and I
1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Nbd7 In my first round game needed to choose one. [If I was Peter Leko I would clearly
against Kramnik I chose to play my favorit 4...c5 Tarash, but I go for 11...cxd4 12.Nxd4 g6 and try to hold this very safe but
had a strong feeling that something unpleasant was waiting clearly worse position.]
for me there, so I switched to the Queens Gambit.
12.Rfd1 Re8 I wanted to put my bishop on d6, but I need to be
5.e3 Clearly not the most ambitious but a very possible way careful with White’s e4 push first. [12...Bd6 seems premature
of playing. The main at the moment is 5.Bf4. since after 13.e4! it is clearly White who will benefit from the
5...Be7 There are as well a lot of different possibilities to open center.]
develop pieces for Black, but I usually like a solid setup in the
opening.
13.Rac1 Bd6 14.Bf5 An interesting try. [It would have been
more usual for White to play 14.Ne2 14...Qe7 15.Ng3 White
wants to enter the f5 square. 15...g6 Of course the a1-h8
diagonal is a bit opened, but Black’s position also has its
pluses. Things are very complicated here.]
14...Rc8 I continue playing very safe moves and develop my
pieces.
15.dxc5 Usually White should not give up the center without a
concrete idea, but maybe So was afraid of my c4 push next. [A
16...Rc7 I continue keeping things safe.
very typical move for White could have been 15.Qb1 and now
I need to decide to play something "normal" like 15...Rc7 or to 17.Na4 To play with or against hanging central pawns is
try and enter the complications with 15...c4 16.bxc4 dxc4 17.e4 always a very difficult task. Both sides have a lot of ideas
(17.d5 17...g6) ] and a lot of tactical motifs which need to always be taken into
account.
15...bxc5 16.Qd3 So far my opponent was playing very
quickly. [16.Bxd7 is of course not dangerous for Black. 17...Qe7 I managed to protect my center which is very good
16...Qxd7 17.Na4 d4 (17...Qe7 is good as well.) 18.Nb6 and news.
here comes the very beautiful blow which I saw during the 18.Qc3 Another move which was played very quickly by So.
game: It is logical to bring the queen to a5, but how to play such
a move without spending at least a bit of time calculating
the resources of your opponent?! [Maybe White should have
continued with a prophylactical move like 18.h3 but I think it
is already Black who can hope to get a better position. 18...g6
19.Bxd7 Nxd7 and I think the position is about dynamically
equal.]
18...Bxh2+! 19.Nxh2 Qc6 and Black is better.]
18...d4! A very strong move which completely turns the game
around.
19.exd4 Bxf3 I was playing against the weak 1st rank.
[19...Nd5 would also lead to a very unclear position. 20.Qe1
Qd8 21.Qf1 Nf4 and I was totally unsure during the game
about who is actually better here.]
20.Qxf3 cxd4 This was my idea. Of course White has the
bishop pair, but the 1st rank is very weak and the knight on
a4 is totally out of the game.
24.Bxd4? Another bad move by White... [24.Bf1 24...Nf4
21.Ra1? A really shocking reply! [21.g3 would lead to a 25.Qg3 White’s position looks lost, but it is still playble.
normal position. 21...Ne5 22.Qg2 Rxc1 23.Bxc1 g6 24.Bb1 25...Ned3 26.Qf3 with a big advantage for Black, but nothing
and maybe Black is only a tiny bit better after 24...Bb8 with too dramatic has happened.]
the idea of putting a lot of pressure on the f2 pawn by playing
24...Nxd3 Because I didn’t have too much time left, I played
Ba7. White’s problem of the horrible position of the knight on
this move quickly and missed a direct win. [24...Nf4 25.Qh6
a4 is still unsolved.; Of course White can’t exchange the rooks
and now comes the move that I missed: 25...Qf6!! with
because of the mate: 21.Rxc7 21...Qe1+ 22.Rxe1 Rxe1#]
the idea of playing Bf8 next, catching the white queen. Just
21...Ne5 The black pieces keep on coming! beautiful!]
22.Qh3 White’s position is already very difficult. 25.Qxd3 Nf4 26.Qxa6? and this move just loses on the
22...g6 23.Bd3 Here because I spent of a lot of thinking spot in many different ways. [White’s best chance was 26.Qf3
between the moves 12-20 I had only 20 minutes left on the 26...Ne2+ 27.Kf1 and now Black has a few options, but the
clock and So about an hour, but what really surprised me most simple one is 27...Nxd4 28.Rxd4 Be5 29.Re4 Bxa1
during the game was that he was always playing his move 30.Rxe7 Rc1+ 31.Ke2 Rxe7+ and White’s position should be
instantly without even writing down my move. Well, in any close to lost with such an open king and the knight on a4.]
case it did not go too well for him... 26...Qg5 A safe move. [Another easy win was 26...Ne2+
23...Nd5 White is in a huge danger. 27.Kf1 Nxd4 28.Rxd4 Rc2 and White is totally lost. 29.Rxd6
Qh4! with the double threat of taking on h2 and f2. The game
is over.]
27.g3 [In case of 27.Qf1 27...Ne2+ 28.Kh1 Black is winning
after 28...Bxh2! 29.Kxh2 Qh4#]
27...Ne2+ 28.Kf1 36...Qf3 and after 37.gxf4 I have 37... Rxf2 38.Rxf2 and Re1.
I was very happy after the game to beat a Top 10 player with
Black with such a nice mating attack. 0-1
28...Qg4 I had another 5 different moves to end the game as

well. My threat is simple, to play Qh3 next.
29.Be3 Rxe3 [29...Qf3 was maybe a bit more accurate.]
30.Qa8+ Kg7 31.Rxd6 [White can’t take the rook: 31.fxe3
31...Rc2! All the black pieces are attacking the lonely white
king. 32.Qg2 Qf5+ 33.Ke1 Bb4+ and Black will mate during
the next few moves.]
31...Re4 Safe and soli d. Now the white king is fighting against
the whole black army alone!
32.Kg2 Nf4+ 33.Kg1 Nh3+ 34.Kg2 Rc2 The f2 pawn is
going to fall.
35.Rf1 Nf4+ Of course many other options would have been
good enough, but this is a pretty one. 36.Kg1
Puzzle section
(3) Topalov, V(2798)-Caruana, F(2805) (5) Ortiz Suarez, I(2572)-Gonzalez Vidal, Y(2550)
Norway Chess, 2015.06.23 Capablanca memorial B, 2015.06.25
1. = 1. h
(4) Anand, V(2804)-Hammer, J(2677) (6) Ivanchuk, V(2733)-Matras Clement, A(2269)

Norway Chess, 2015.06.24 Edmonton GM, 2015.06.24
1. h 1. h
(7) Haessel, D(2180)-Harikrishna, P(2733) (9) Hambleton, A(2446)-Ganguly, S(2625)
Edmonton GM, 2015.06.24 Edmonton GM, 2015.06.27
1... i 1... i
(8) Shankland, S(2656)-Pechenkin, V(2314) (10) Kobalia, M(2623)-Fedoseev, V(2674)

Edmonton GM, 2015.06.25 Russian Higher league, 2015.06.23
1. h 1. h
(11) Shimanov, A(2606)-Alekseev, E(2651)
Russian Higher league, 2015.06.24
1... i
(12) Riazantsev, A(2658)-Chekhov, S(2476)

1. h
Endgame section The black king is not cut anymore therefore he quickly brings
it to the game. [It is too early to play 46...Rxd6 47.Rxc4! this
is the point of 46.Rd2! 47...Rb6 (47...Bxc4 48.Rxd6 is not the
(13) Ponkratov, Pavel (2610) same as the game, because the black king is very far from the
- Dubov, Daniil (2661) b-pawn and b2 runs into Rb6. White is suddenly better here.)
48.Rxd3 b2 49.Rd1 b1=Q 50.Rxb1 Rxb1+ 51.Kg2=]
Russian Higher league, GM Csaba Balogh 47.d7 [A key line is 47.Rc3 White wants to give back the
2015.06.28 Best rating: 2672 exchange. 47...Kf6! 48.Rcxd3 cxd3 49.Rxd3
49...Rb8! Both sides have a strong passed pawn, but the

Black manages to convert his advantage into full point with difference is that the black king is close enough to join to the
perfect technique. It is clear, that the connected c- and b- game and to stop the d-pawn, while the white one is not only
passed pawns supported with the bishop worth more than an too far but also stands on the first rank to make the promotion
exchange. The d-pawn cannot be promoted and it’s days are happen with check... 50.d7 b2 51.Rd1 Ke7! 52.Kg2 Black
counted, but still the win requires some work... must find one more prophylactic move to win the game...
52...Kd8 and Black already prepared to promote his pawn...
45...Rd8! Black needs to eliminate the d-pawn and only then (52...b1=Q? is too early because of the intermediate move
he could focus on his own trumphs. [45...Rb8 46.d7 and Black 53.d8=Q+! Rxd8 54.Rxb1=) 53.Rb1 Kxd7i]
cannot advance his b-pawn...]
47...Kf5! Black wants to play Ke5-d4 after which the pawns
46.Rd2 Only move. White indirectly protects his pawn. are promoting automatically. The only move is to try to give
46...Kg6! Making use of the drawback of the previous move. back the exchange...
48.Rc3 to d5 and to play Kd4 afterwards... [51...Kxf4 is a blunder, but
it also leads to draw after 52.Rd4+ Ke3 53.Rxc4 Kd3=]
52.Kg2 Bd5 53.Rd6 b2 54.Rb6 Kd3+ 55.Kg3 Kc3 55...Kc2
leads to the same. Black wants to play Bb3 in both cases,
therefore White cannot win any more tempi, he must give up
his rook right away.
56.Rxb2 Kxb2 57.Kg4 Kc3! Black cannot save his h-pawn,
but the f7 remains on board. He quickly brings back his king
to the kingside to conclude the win...
58.Kh5 Kd4 59.Kxh6 Ke4 60.Kg5 f5 [White reisgned in
48...Rxd7! Compared to the position after 46.Rd2, Black view of 60...f5 61.h4 Bf7 62.Kf6 Bh5 63.Kg5 Be8 setting
already gives up his rook for the c-pawn, because he has White into zugzwang... 64.h5 Bxh5 65.Kxh5 Kxf4i] 0-1
brought his king out from the cage and it is ready to support
the b-pawn... [48...Ke5 leads to draw after 49.Rdxd3 cxd3
50.Rxd3 b2 51.Rb3=]
49.Rxc4 Bxc4 50.Rxd7
50...Ke5! This is the point! Black wants to play Bd5 which is

threatening with the b2 win right away and it also opens the
path for the king to penetrate along the Kd4-c3...
51.f4+ [51.Kg2 51...Bd5 52.Rd8 Kd4 Black is ready to push
b2... 53.Rb8 Kc3i and b2 next because Rc8 is met by Bc4!]
51...Ke4! Of course the most important is to get the bishop
position.) 46...Rg4+! Not giving White a chance of playing f3
(14) Bacrot, Etienne (2695) again. 47.Kf3 Rc4 48.Kg3
- Sethuraman, S.P. (2623)
2nd Porticcio Open 2015(6.1),

Best rating: 2737
48...Rg4+! 49.Kh3 Rf4 and so on. The position is a draw.]

46.f3! Of course Etienne doesn’t miss his chance! Now White
just wants to bring his king to g3 to free the rook from h6.
46...Rc2 [Black is also losing after 46...f6 47.Rxf6 Rxh4
48.Rxf5 Kg6 49.Rd5]
White has been putting big pressure all game long, but Black
47.Rf6 Forcing the black rook to leave the 2nd rank.
managed to escape into this rook endgame a pawn down. If
the black pawn from f5 was placed on g6, the position woul 47...Rc4 48.h5 and the white pawns keep on moving.
just be a draw, but because of the weakness of Black’s pawn
structure, White’s chances for a full point are quite realistic.
44...Rc4! A good move. Black forces the white rook to take a
very passive position.
45.Rh6 There is no other way to save the h4 pawn. [The
position after 45.Rf6 45...Rxh4 46.Rxf5 is just a theoretical
draw.]
45...Kg7? Black does not feel the danger. [The idea to save
the game is to not let White play f3. 45...Rf4! 46.Kg2 (46.Kf1
46...Kg7 Black just keeps on waiting. 47.Ke2 Re4+ 48.Kf3 48...Rc5 [48...f4 doesn’t help. 49.h6+ Kg8 50.Rf5! Defending
Now that there is no more f3 threat, Black continues keeping against Rc5. Now all White needs to do is to play Kg2-Kh3-Kg4
the rook on the 4th rank. 48...Rg4 and White can’t improve his and it is game over.]
49.h6+ Kg8 50.f4 White is careful until the very end! [Of 59.Rc6 We just saw perfect play from White in this not so
course not 50.Kg2? 50...f4! and suddenly there is no way to simple rook endgame and once again what a great example
defend the g5 pawn and the position is a draw!] on how complicated rook endgames are, where a small detail
50...Ra5 Black can’t do anything but to keep on waiting. like the position of a pawn on f2 or f3 can decide about the
outcome of the game. 1-0
51.Kf2 Rb5 52.Kg3 The white king is going to h5.
52...Ra5 53.Kh4 Rb5 54.Kh5 Ra5 and here comes the last
stage of the winning plan:
55.h7+! White doesn’t exchange his pawns, which would be

bad, but enters the g6 square with his king!
55...Kxh7 56.Rxf7+ Kg8 57.Kg6 The game is totally over!
57...Ra6+ 58.Rf6 There is no way for Black to save the f5
pawn.
58...Ra7
Golden knowledge. 74.Kc2 Ra3 75.Kd2?? [Incredible, but it was necessary to
go back here! 75.Kb2= 75...Rg3 76.Kc2 Kd5 77.Kd2 Ra3
The famous rook trick 78.Ke2 h2 79.Kf2]
75...h2 76.Ke2 Ra1! Forcing the white rook to come to the
same rank as the king.
77.Rxh2 Ra2+ 0-1
(16) Varga, Zoltan - Groetz, Harald

GM Adrian Mikhalchishin Austria, 2007
Best rating: 2551
Rook endgames are most common in chess and every player

has to know theoretical basic positions as well as typical
plans. In rook endings there are quite a few additional special
tactical maneuvers which are frequently misplayed. But we
study not just on great examples. Mistakes are extremely
instructive too and even the world’s greatest and strongest
grandmasters are not immune to them.
I) Typical rook tactics It is very strange that classical knowledge from great players
(15) Vyzmanavin, Alexey - Lerner, Konstantin Z is not studied by all others!
URS-ch51, 1984 77...Rb3+ 78.Ke2?? It is incredible that an experienced GM

made such a mistake against a much weaker player! [There
were two easy drawish options 78.Kg2 ; 78.Kf2 78...Rh3
79.Kg2]
78...Rh3 79.Kd2 Rh1 80.Rxa2 Rh2+ 0-1
(17) Noritsyn, N. - Babula, V. 59.Kb6 Rb3+ 60.Kc5 Ra3 61.a7! Ke6 [Trying to avoid our
Khanty-Mansiysk RUS, 2010 maneuver 61...Kd7 62.Rg8 Rxa7 63.Rg7+]
62.Rg7 Ra1 63.Kc6 Ra2 64.Kb7 Rb2+ 65.Kc8 Ra2
66.Kb8 Rb2+ 67.Rb7 Rh2 68.a8=Q Rh8+ 69.Ka7 1-0
(19) Zhao Xue - Stefanova, Antoaneta

4th WGP 2014, 2014.04.11
57.Kg2 Rb3 58.Kf2 Rh3 59.Ke2?? [Correct was 59.Kg2 as

in the first example 59...Rb3 60.Kf2 Kb6 61.Ra8 Kb5 62.Ke2
Kb4 63.Kd2 Rb2+ 64.Kc1 Kb3 65.Rb8+ Ka2 66.Rc8!
transposing into a famous draw position.]
59...a2 60.Kd2 Rh1 0-1
With the modern time control of 30 seconds increment big

(18) Fischer, R. - Benko, P.
mistakes in the endgames are quite usual.
New York, 1959
64.Ra6 Rf7+ 65.Kg6 Rf1 66.Ra7+ Kf8?? [The simple way
to draw was 66...Ke6 67.h6 Rg1+ 68.Kh7 Rg2 69.Rg7 Rh2=]
67.Ra8+ Ke7 68.h6 Rg1+ 69.Kf5 Rf1+ 70.Ke5 Rh1 71.h7!
Rxh7 72.Ra7+ 1-0
58...Ra3+ [58...Kd7 59.a7 Kc7 (59...Ra3+ 60.Kb4 Ra1 61.Rg8

Rxa7 62.Rg7+) 60.Rg7+]
(20) Glavina Rossi, P. - Oms Pallisse, J. 59...Ra1 [59...h5 did not help. 60.a7 h4 61.b6]
Zaragoza ESP, 2010 60.a7 Rd1+ 61.Ke4 Re1+ 62.Kf3 Ra1 63.b6! Finally!
63...cxb6 64.Rh8 1-0
(22) Martinovic, Sl - Dumpor, A.

Novi Becej , 1986
Sometimes the idea of this maneuver is conducted on an open

file after a few pawn sacrifices.
36.g4+! hxg4 37.fxg4+ Kxg4 38.h5! Kg5 39.hxg6 1-0
(21) Shirov, A. - Kramnik, V.

1...g4! 2.hxg4 Black’s idea was to take on f2, then play h4- h3
Beograde, 1999 and after the capture opening the second rank and then play
Rh1, completing the maneuver.
2...h3! 3.gxh3! exf2 Mission completed!
4.Rb7+ [4.Kxf2 4...Rh1]
4...Kf6 5.Rb6+ Ke5 6.Rb5+ Kd4 7.Kxf2 Rh1 8.Kg3 b1=Q
9.Rxb1 Rxb1 10.Kf4 Kd5 11.h4 Rf1+ 12.Kg5 Ke6 13.Kg6
Rf6+ [A bit easier win was after 13...Rf4 ]
14.Kg7 Rf7+ 15.Kg8 Ra7! 0-1
59.Ra8 [Shirov could immediately play 59.b6 59...Ra5+

(59...cxb6 60.a7; 59...c6+ 60.Ke5 Ra5+ 61.Kf6 Rxa6 62.b7)
60.Kc4 Ra4+ 61.Kb5]
(23) Stohl, I. - Korchnoi, V.
Tilburg , 1993
60.a6 Ra4 61.Ra8+ Kf7 62.a7 Ra5 63.h6 and Black resigned
as he just saw the forced capture on h6 and the rook check.
But in chess capture is not obligatory!!
63...Kg6! [63...gxh6 64.Rh8]
80...Kxf7 [Much more stubborn was 80...Rd8 81.Rh7 Kf6 64.Kd4 Kh7!! and Black could achieve a draw! 1-0
82.a7 Kg6 83.f8=Q! Rxf8 84.Rb7 Ra8 85.Kd2 Kf6 86.Kc3
Ke6 87.Kc4 Kd6 88.Kb5h]
(25) Bernstein, Ossip - Smyslov, Vassily
81.Rh8! h [81.a7? 81...Rd8=]
Groningen, 1946
81...Kg7 [81...Ra3 82.a7 Rxa7 83.Rh7+]
82.a7 Kxh8 83.a8=Q+ Kg7 84.Qb7+ Kf8 85.Qb4+!
Kg7 86.Qg4+ Kf6 87.Qf4+ Kg7 88.Qg5+ Kh8 89.Qh6+
Kg8 90.Qg6+ Kh8 91.Qxd3 Kg7 92.Qd6 Kh8 93.Ke2
Kg7 94.Qe6 Kh8 95.Kf3 Kg7 96.Kf4 Kh8 97.Kg5 Kg7
98.Qe7+ 1-0
(24) Polugaevsky, L. - Parma, B.

Soviet Union, 1965 59...b2?? Here a young future World champion tries to
Sometimes even on the top level the tragedies and comedies immediately conduct the maneuver but he falls into a
are happening. White’s plan is to come to the classical stalemate! [Easy win was after 59...Ke4 60.Rb4+ Kd5
position after opening the seventh rank. 61.Rxf4 Rh1 (61...b2 62.Rf1 Kc4 63.Kd2 Kb3i) 62.Rb4
b2i] 60.Rxb2! Kg4 [60...Rh2+ 61.Kf3 Rxb2= Stalemate]
61.Kf1 1/2-1/2
(26) Gunina, Valentina - Ziaziulkina, Nastassia 1...fxg3 2.hxg3?? White intended to win by moving the
Rijeka, 2010 f-pawn forward but overlooked simple tactics! [Winning was
2.Kxg3 2...Kh7 3.h4! gxh4+ 4.Kh3 and just now is it possible
to move the f-pawn to f6.]
2...g4+!! 3.fxg4 and a draw was agreed as White can’t reach
a main theoretical position. Everybody has to remember that
winning are f- and e-pawns, while g- and h-pawns are a draw!
This is the rule to remember. 1/2-1/2
(28) Evelev, A. - Mikljeva, A.

Moscow, 1993
Black didn’t study her classics obviously!
74...Rh1?? [It was necessary to know Smyslov’s mistake we
saw earlier! 74...Ke5 75.Ra8 f3]
75.Rxa2! Rh2+ 76.Kf3 Rh3+ [Just now Black saw the
stalemate after 76...Rxa2 ]
77.Kg2 Kg4 78.Ra8 Rb3 79.Rg8+ Kf5 80.Rf8+ Ke4
81.Re8+ Kd4 82.Kf2 Re3 83.Rd8+ Ke4 84.Re8+ Kd4
1/2-1/2
(27) Volkevich - Fishbein

In most practical situations the seventh rank is not available
Moscow, 1958 for checks. So it is necessary to open one if it is possible!
1.Kc5? [Chess is timing, as great Robert Fischer used to say.
1.g5! 1...Ra1 2.f5! gxf5 3.g6 sacrificing two pawns to clear the
seventh rank! 3...Kf6 4.gxf7 Kxf7 5.Rh8]
1...Kf6! If the king will be transferred to g7 then our
maneuver here is not possible.
2.Kb6 Rb2+ 3.Kc7 Rc2+ 4.Kd7 Ra2 1/2-1/2
(29) Vistaneckis, I. - Sardarov, A. author of the classical Averbakh manual on rook endgames!
USSR, 1961 1.Ke7 Re3+ 2.Kf6 Rf3+ 3.Ke6 Re3+ [3...Kc6 4.Ra6+! Kc7
5.Rxa3]
4.Kd5! Rf3 [Another defense did not work: 4...Rd3+ 5.Ke4
Rd8 6.Ke5]
5.Rxa3 Rf1 6.Ra8! Rxf7 7.Ra7+ 1-0
(31) Vasiukov, Evgeni - Dzindzichashvili, Roman

Baku, 1972
To open the seventh rank now it is necessary to sacrifice three

pawns! Just one remark- with the king on g7 it does not work!
1.f5!! exf5 [1...gxf5 2.g6 fxg6 3.Rh8]
2.e6 Ra4 3.exf7 Kxf7 4.Rh8 1-0
(30) Kopajev=N
Shakhmaty v SSSR, 1949
Here this maneuver doesn’t win directly but prepares
transposing into a winning pawn endgame.
58.Rb6 Ra2 59.h6 Rh2 60.h7! Kf7 61.Rb8 Rxh7 62.Rb7+
Kg6 63.Rxh7 Kxh7 64.Kd2 The pawn ending is winning for
White as the black king is too far.
64...Kg6 65.Kxd3 Kf5 66.Kd4 Ke6 67.Kc5 Kd7 68.Kxb5
Kc7 69.Ka6 1-0
The greatest rook endings specialist in history, Nikolay

Kopaev, made a nice study with this idea. He was the real
(32) Giri, Anish - Ponomariov, Ruslan 57.f4! From this move it is clear what position White is going
Dortmund SuperGM 39th, 2011.07.28 to enter!
57...Rd2 58.fxg5 hxg5 59.Rb8 Rd3 60.b4 Rb3 61.b5 Kf6
62.b6 Kg6 63.f3! Preventing g5-g4 and after that White will
play h3-h4.
63...Kg7 64.b7 Rb4 65.h4 g4 66.f4 1-0
(34) Stany, G. - Oleksienko, M.

5th Kolkata Open, 2012.12.13
Now here are a few examples from the practical use from
moden players. The players know this maneuver and include
it in their plans.
56.Kf2 Ra3 57.Ra7 Kf8 58.a5 Ke8 59.a6 Kf8 60.Ke2 Ke8
[60...Kg7 61.Kd2 Ra4 62.Kc3 Rxf4 63.Rd7 Ra4 64.a7h -
Black has no moves on the kingside and White’s king goes
forward.]
61.Ra8+ Kd7 62.a7 Kc6 [Our maneuver was possible after
62...Ke7 63.f5 gxf5 64.g6 Kf6 65.gxf7 Kxf7 66.Rh8]
46...g6 Black’s plan is to open the second rank.
63.Rc8+ Kb7 64.Rf8 1-0
47.Rb6 f5 48.Rb5 fxe4 49.Rxe5+ Kf6 50.Rb5 e3! 51.fxe3
(33) Safarli, Eltaj - Nikolaidis, Ioannis
[51.Rb8 51...exf2 52.Kxf2 Rh1]
ETCC 2011 51...Rh1 0-1
(35) Peralta, Fe - Bukavshin, I. II) Exercises
XXVIII Festival des Jeux 2014, 2014.03.02
(36) Smirin, Ilia - Kasparov, Garry
Yerevan, 1996
52.Rb8! White gets his rook to a8, moves his pawn to a7

and then creates a passed pawn on the f-file. [After 52.g4? The World Champion conducts this maneuver easily and
52...Rd3 53.a6 Ra3! 54.Rb6 Rxf3 55.Kxd2 Rg3 Black should quickly:
be OK.]
39...Ra1! 40.Kxe2 a2 41.Kf2 e4 42.h4 e3+ 0-1
52...Ra4 53.Ra8 Ra2 [Did not work 53...Ra1+ 54.Kxd2 Ra2+
55.Kc3 Rxg2 56.Rg8+]
(37) Scheichel, Herbert - Sax, Gyula
54.g4 Kg5 55.a6 Kf4 [After 55...Kg6 56.a7 Kg7 57.f4 Kh7
White plays 58.f5 followed by g4-g5 and f5-f6.] WchT U26 prel-2 20th, 1974.07.17
56.a7 Kxf3 57.g5! fxg5 58.Rf8+ Kg2 59.a8=Q+ Rxa8
60.Rxa8 g4 61.Kxd2 g3 62.Ke2 Kh1 63.Ra1+ 1-0
59...a2! 60.Kd3 e2+! 61.Kxe2 Rh1 62.Rxa2 Rh2+ 0-1
(38) Radziewicz, I. - Kadziolka, B.
Poland, 2004
White threatens to play h5-h6 and after ...gxh6, Rh8! Rxa7,

Rh7+ is winning. Black has no defense simply.
56...Ra2+ 57.Kg3 Ra3+ 58.Kxg4 Ra1 59.h6 1-0
1.Rh7+? [Easily winning was the same trick: 1.Rh8 1...Rxb7
2.Rh7+]
1...Kd8 2.Kd3 Bxd4 3.b8=Q+ Rxb8 4.Kxd4 Rb5
(39) Stevic, Hrvoje - Nishant, Malhotra

16th Dubai Open 2014, 2014.04.07
52.g4! hxg4 [Or 52...Ra3+ 53.Kc2 hxg4 54.Kd2 Ra4

55.h5h ]
53.Ke2 Ra2+ 54.Kf1 Ra1+ 55.Kg2 Ra3 56.h5
Chess and the City. some generic tearful description. It is clear to me, from
my experiences in the League, that most Greek people are
A dangerous game cheerful, lively and hospitable, especially towards foreign
visitors and that they are far away from the descriptions
of lazy welfare stealers that some press (alas, also German
press) has tried to portrait. I will never forget my first U-18
World Championship title, which I won in Greece in 2002, and
just for this, maybe selfish but all too human memory, I feel
very attached to this country. All the same, I don’t think that
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz the majority of Greeks perceive the Germans as panzer driving
Best rating: 2493 mustached financial vampires...
All in all, I hope that soon the only battles in Greece will
This being a chess newsletter the reader may reasonably be fought on the chess board, and that the political and
think the headline must refer to some brilliant tactical social situation will return to normal. However, there are
encounter, or to the time control of the recent Norway Chess... some reasons to think that unfortunately the worst has not
However I must disappoint you, today’s topic is politics. Well, yet come for Greece. Thus, we as chess players can only
more specifically the impact of politics on chess, and namely hope that the upcoming World Youth Chess Championship,
the cancellation of one of my favorite yearly events, the Greek scheduled for October in Porto Carras will take place normally
Chess League. As the most informed readers should already and contribute to set a positive example for all, this will be one
have guessed, the League was cancelled due to the turmoil of the best chances to teach the outer world that Gens Una
prompted by the decision to hold a referendum on Sunday... Sumus.
The reader may of course object that the tournament was
cancelled due to the hard stance of the IMF, or due to Germany
or...well whatever, the League was cancelled and instead of
writing to you from the beach in Patras, I’m roasting in Rome
with 35 degrees and no air conditioning.
Well, before getting angry letters to the Editor pointing out the
hardship of the Greek pensioners, or the historical moment
that the whole of Europe is facing, I must state that I am
aware of these problems. However, it is my belief that to
understand such historical events one must start from an
individual, personal, perspective which allows to avoid the
all so common mistake to reduce them to numbers or to
Clash of the Titans 8...f5!? An important moment in the game. The f7-f5
move supports the knight on e4 but on the other hand the
black structure is weaker now. The alternative was [8...Nxd2
(40) Petrosian, Tigran V 9.Qxd2 Bd6 10.Bd3 O-O 11.Bg3 Qd8 (11...Bxg3?! gives
- Olafsson, Fridrik [D03] White the opportunity to get an attack. 12.hxg3 h6 13.g4A)
12.O-O b6 Black’s plan is Bb7-Qe7-e5, so White needs to play
Stockholm Interzonal(1), actively. 13.e4 Bxg3 (13...cxd4 14.e5 dxc3 15.Qc2 Bc5 16.Bxh7+
1962.01.27 Kh8 17.Bd3 Nb4 18.Qxc3 Nxd3 19.Qxd3 a5 with a complex
GM Kamil Miton position.) 14.hxg3 cxd4 15.cxd4 dxe4 16.Bxe4 Bb7 17.Qc2
Best rating: 2655 Nb4 (17...h6 18.Bxc6 Rc8 19.Ne5 Qxd4 20.Rfe1h) 18.Bxh7+
Kh8 19.Qd2 Kxh7 20.Qxb4 Bxf3 21.gxf3 Qd5 with good
chances for Black to make a draw.; 8...Bd6?! 9.Nxe4 dxe4
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bg5 [3.g3 3...b5!?]
10.Nd2 f5 11.Nc4 Qc7 12.Nxd6+ Qxd6 13.Bg3 Qe7 14.Be2
3...c5! I like this move. Black immediately fights for the O-O 15.O-O e5 16.dxe5 Nxe5 17.c4 with Qc3 next. White is
center. clearly better because of the strong dark squared bishop.]
4.e3 [4.c3 ] 9.Nxe4?! is premature. White should have finished his
4...Qb6 A development move with tempo. development first. [9.Bd3 9...Bd6 10.Bg3 Nxg3 11.hxg3 c4!
(11...Qc7 12.dxc5 Bxc5 13.c4C A typical idea.) 12.Bc2 Qc7
5.Qc1 [5.Nbd2!? This pawn sacrifice deserves attention. Black takes space and now White is not able to destroy
5...Qxb2 6.Bd3 d5 7.c4nand White has compensation thanks Black’s structure because after 13.b3 b5 14.a4 Black has
to his better development.] 14...b4!; 9.Be2 9...Bd6 10.O-O O-O 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.Nb3 (12.c4
5...Nc6 6.c3 Ne4 7.Bh4 [7.Bf4 ] 12...Bxe3!) 12...Bd6 13.c4! and White is slightly better here.]
7...d5 8.Nbd2 9...fxe4 10.Nd2 cxd4 11.exd4 [11.cxd4 11...Bd7 gives Black a
strong initiative on the queenside.]
11...Bd6 12.Be2 [12.f3 The idea of this move is to improve
the white pieces a bit. 12...O-O! My intuition tells me that
development should be decisive. (12...exf3 is worse. 13.Nxf3
O-O 14.Bf2! preventing e5. 14...Qc7 15.Qd2 e5 16.dxe5 Nxe5
17.Qxd5+ Kh8 18.O-O-Oc) 13.fxe4
17.Nb3
13...e5! 14.exd5 exd4 15.dxc6 Bg4Aand the white king is in

trouble.]
17...Bg4! Black is going to win the important g4 square for
12...O-O 13.O-O Bf4 14.Bg3 A logical exchange for White. his knight.
[14.Qc2? 14...Qc7! with the double threats Bxh2 and Nxd4.]
18.Qd1 Bxe2 19.Qxe2 Qg6! Black launches a decisive
14...e5 15.dxe5 attack!
20.Nd4 Rae8! Bringing the last piece into play and not
allowing White to play f3. [20...Ng4 was also good enough.
21.f3 exf3 22.Nxf3 (22.gxf3 22...Ne3! 23.Qxe3 Qxg3+ 24.Kh1
Rf4i; 22.Rxf3 22...Rfe8!i) 22...Rae8 23.Qd2 Ne3 24.Rf2
(24.Rfe1 24...Rxf3i) 24...Qxg3 25.Re1
15...Bxg3! An important move order. Less accurate was

[15...Nxe5 16.Bxf4 Rxf4 17.Nc4 Qf6 18.Nxe5 Qxe5 19.Qe3
and without the knights Black has no attack. White can
slowly prepare pressure against the d5 pawn, for example
with Rd1-Rd2-Bd1-Bb3 etc.]
16.hxg3 Nxe5 [16...e3 17.Nf3 exf2+ 18.Rxf2 Nxe5 19.Nd4
25...Nxg2! 26.Rxe8 Nh4+ 27.Kh1 Rxe8 28.Qxd5+ Kh8
Rxf2 20.Kxf2 with an equal position.]
29.Qf7 Qh3+ 30.Kg1 Nxf3+ 31.Rxf3 Qc8e]
21.Qb5 [21.Nc2 with the idea of playing 22.Ne3 after 21...Ng4,
but Black has other options to improve his position, for weak back rank White gets enough counterplay for a draw.
example 21...Rf5!e with the idea Rh5-Qh6.] 32...Qf8 33.Rf5!
21...Ng4! 22.f3 Ne3 23.g4 a6!? We will see the point of
this move a bit later. [23...Nxf1 24.Qxd5+ Kh8 25.Rxf1 exf3
26.gxf3 and thanks to strong knight on d4 White can continue
the fight but the position is very hard for him.; 23...h5!?A]
24.Qxb7 exf3 25.Rxf3 Rxf3 26.gxf3 [26.Nxf3 26...Qxg4
27.Ne1 Rf8i]
26...Qd6! i Now we understand why Black played 23...a6,
the rook is not hanging.
27.Ne2 Nc4 28.Re1
33...Qd8?? An amazing blunder. Black should not lose
in one move but play [33...Qe7 34.Qd5+ Qe6 35.Qd8+
Qe8 36.Qd5+ reapeating moves or 36...Kh8 37.Qd6
Re7 (37...Kg8 38.Qd5+=) 38.Qf4 Kg8 39.Qc4+ Rf7
(39...Kh8 40.Qf4=) 40.Rxf7 Qxf7 41.Qc8+ Qf8 42.Qe6+
Kh8 43.Qe2k]
34.Qf7+ with mate on f8 to follow. 1-0
28...Qc5+?! The first mistake. Black could simply win after

[28...Ne5 29.Nd4 (29.Kg2 29...Nd3i; 29.Rf1 29...Nd3i)
29...Nxf3+ 30.Nxf3 Qg3+i]
29.Kg2 Ne3+? looks logical but it is clear that Black
overlooked counterplay. The best move in this position
was [29...Qd6! 30.Qb4 (30.Qb3 30...Rb8) 30...Ne3+ 31.Kg1
Qxb4 32.cxb4 Nc2 33.Kf2 Nxe1 34.Kxe1 Re3 35.Kf2 Rd3i]
30.Kh3 Nc2 [30...Rf8 31.Nd4 Qd6 32.Rxe3 Qh6+ 33.Kg2
Qxe3 34.Qxd5+ Kh8k]
31.Rd1 Rxe2 32.Rxd5V and unexpectedly because of the
(41) Pogosiants (42) Dominguez, L(2746)-Yu Yangyi(2715)
1. h Capablanca memorial, 2015.06.17
38...Kf8!! 0-1 [38...Kf8 39.h3 Be8i]

(43) Cordova, E(2609)-Miton, K(2604)
Capablanca memorial B, 2015.06.15
23...Rc4!! 24.Nd2 [24.Qxc4 24...Ng4i 25.Qxe4 Qxh2+

26.Kf1 Qxf2#]
24...Rxc3i
(44) Cordova, E(2609)-Hevia, A(2535) (46) Korobov, A(2698)-Nadanian, A(2380)
Capablanca memorial B, 2015.06.19 Asrian memorial, 2015.06.17
28.Bf4!! Bxf4 29.Qxb6! 1-0 [29.Qxb6 29...Rxb6 (29...Bxc1 29...Nxg2!! 30.Kxg2 [30.Rxg2 30...Nxf3+ 31.Kh1 Nxe1
30.Qd8+ Rxd8 31.Rxd8#) 30.Rd8#] 32.Qxe1 Qxb5i; 30.Bxg5 30...Nxe1 31.Qxe1 Qxg5+i]
(45) Bocharov, I(2472)-Bukavshin, I(2647) 30...Nxf3! 31.Bxh6 Nxe1+ 32.Qxe1 Qd5+! 33.Kg1
Qxa2i 34.Bc1 Qc4i
Russian Higher League, 2015.06.22
(47) Hambardzumian, Y(2322)-Khismatullin, D(2646)
34...Nhxf4! 35.gxf4 Nxf4i 36.Qg3 [36.Bxb7

36...Nh3+i; 36.Bf1 36...Qg6+i]
25...Rg6!! i 26.Qd2 [26.Qxd7+ 26...Kxd7 27.Nxb6+
36...Nxg2i Bxb6 28.Rc4 Be4!i; 26.Nxb6 26...Rh6+ 27.Bh5 Rxh5#]
26...Qd4! 0-1 [26...Qd4 27.Qxd4 Bxd4!i]
(48) Petrosyan, T(2423)-Gaboyan, S(2153) (50) Ter Sahakyan, S(2586)-Harutyunian, T(2472)
32.Rf5! Kf8 [32...Bxf5 33.Qh6h] 29.Qe6+!! [29.Rxd6? 29...Rf1+! 30.Kh2 Qxd6+]

33.Rxh5! Ke8 [33...gxh5 34.Rg8+! Kxg8 35.Qh6h] 29...Kh7 [29...Rxe6 30.Rxd8+ Rf8 31.Rxf8+ Kxf8
32.Rxe6h]
34.Rh7h
30.Rxd6 Rf1+ 31.Kh2h
(49) Baghdasaryan, V(2402)-Oleksienko, M(2629)
(51) Ilyashev, Y(2128)-Mikaelyan, A(2437)
21.Rh7+! 1-0 [21.Rh7+ 21...Kxh7 22.Qf7+ Kh6 23.Rh1+h]

26...Nf3+! 27.gxf3 exf3 28.Rb2 [28.Nf4 28...Qxb1+i]
28...Qg5+ 29.Ng3 hxg3i
(52) Prokes
1.Ng4+! fxg4 2.Qb6+! Kh5 [2...Kh7 3.Qg6#; 2...d6

3.Qxd6+ Kh5 4.Qh2#]
3.Qb1!! h g3 4.Qh1+ Kg4 5.Qxh8
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
And the winner of Dortmunder Schachtage is once again
Editorial Preface 2 Caruana. The World Nr2 had a bad start with only 0.5/2 but
he won the last 5 games and took clear first place with 5.5/7.
Wesley So and Nisipeanu finished 2nd and 3rd, both with 4/7.
A very interesting event is still under way at the Chinese Island
The K-Files. French 7...cxd4 & Qb6 12 Hainan, with the best Chinese players participating. We saw
many exciting, fighting and fantastic games. Wang Yue leads
with a fantastic score of 6.5/8, followed by Ni Hua with 5.5/8
Young & Talented 20
and in 3rd position we find Ding Liren with 5/8. There is still
one round to be played.
Puzzle section 22
Another top event is the Dutch Championship with Anish Giri,
who started with 2/3.
Endgame section 25
The 43rd Annual World Open also saw the participation of a
lot of Top GMs. The first place was shared by 8 players who
Golden knowledge 29
all finished on 7/9. Best on tiebreak were Rauf Mamedov, Ilja
Smirin and Alexander Ipatov.
Chess and the City.
A look says more than a thousand words... 36 That’s all for this week’s events and we can already look
forward to the upcoming Super tournament in Biel which
starts on the 20th July.
Until then, enjoy your current issue of Top GMs Secrets Nr176.
Solutions 41
(1) Wei, Yi (2724)

- Bruzon Batista, Lazaro (2669)
[B40]
GM Csaba Balogh
6th Hainan Danzhou GM(2.4), Best rating: 2672
2015.07.03
11.Qe1 White drops his queen to the kingside to obtain
different kind of attacking potentials.
An immortal game was played by the 16-year old Chinese
talent, Wei Yi! He crushes his Cuban opponent with some 11...Nxd4 12.Bxd4 b5 The point of 11.a4 would have been to
beautiful and shocking sacrifices. prevent this typical idea.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 White chooses this unusual move 13.Qg3 Bb7 [On the direct 13...b4 14.e5! is very strong
order before playing the main 3.d4 to avoid some theoretical 14...dxe5 15.Bxe5 and the knight is coming to e4!]
lines. 14.a3 Black has various of options here. The latest
3...a6 4.Be2 Nc6 Black is ready to play Nd4 in case of 5.0-0, development of the theory gives a first sight mysterious
therefore there is no time to waste on opening the center. plan and Bruzon follows it...
5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Qc7 We have transposed now to 14...Rad8 15.Rae1 White brings all his pieces to the game.
the Sicilian Taimanov variation and soon it turns to the 15...Rd7 16.Bd3 Qd8 A sideline. Black leaves from the e5
Sheveningen variation... dxe5 Bxe5 tempo.
7.O-O Nf6 8.Be3 Be7 9.f4 d6 10.Kh1 O-O The starting
position of the Sheveningen. The old main line used to be
the move 11.Qe1, which happened in the game. After some
time the 11.a4 alternative has become the most common line
and now in the last years the fashion has come back to the
old move thanks to the computers, which found some very
interesting ideas for White.
[The most popular move is 16...Re8 preparing for a
counterplay with e5, however the new idea of the computer goes towards the center.
17.a4! seems to create some difficulties for Black. Both 21...Nxd5 [21...Bxd5 22.exd5 Nxd5 is much worse. The
players were definitely familiar with the new ideas and bishop on d5 could be a much better defender as it protects
Bruzon decided to deviate from this line.] the f7. Now the same tactics works quite smoothly 23.Rxf7!
17.Qh3! Using the fact, that the queen has gone from c7, Kxf7 24.Qh7+ Ke6 25.Bxg6! White creates many different
when Black could solve his problems with e5 (in the 16...Re8 mate threats. The most important ones are Qf7 and Bf5
line)! White has created the threat of e5 dxe5 fxe5 Rxd4 exf6 followed by Qg6 mate. Black should try to cover the squares
and Black faces problems on h7 square. Therefore he must on the f-file with (25.Qxg6+? comes to the mind at first
ensure the safety of his h7 pawn. to continue the attack with check, but Black is safe after
17...g6 18.f5! The standard drawback of the g6 move. White 25...Nf6!) 25...Rf8 but it does not help in view of 26.Qh3+!
opens the f-file now. With the pawn on g7 this move is usually Kf6 27.Be4h and Black has no defense against the mates.
not dangerous because of the central break with e5 Be3 and Qh6, Rf1 or Qf5-Qg6-Qh7 is a forced mate.]
d5, but now Bh6 or Bg5 are much stronger.
18...e5 19.Be3 Re8 We are still following some games, but
here comes the novelty. Despite all this could be known from
practical games, I believe that Wei Yi finds all the forthcoming
brilliant ideas over the board...It is not a home preparation.
20.fxg6 hxg6
22.Rxf7!! The point of the previous move! White has

deflected the knight from f6 in order to start the haunt of the
black king! The only thing which makes the sacrifice easier
to execute is the fact, that White always has a draw with
perpetual check at his disposal, therefore White can go ahead,
calculate the lines when they appear on the board and in the
21.Nd5! Wei Yi starts the firework with this move! He has no worst case if he does not see anything just make a draw...but
retreat after this sacrifice, otherwise he is just losing material. of course, the main goal is to mate the black king.
He obviously could not calculate all the lines until the end - 22...Kxf7 23.Qh7+ Ke6 Here is a moment when White could
as it is impossible - , but he had to have the intuition, that he force a draw with 24.Qh3, but Wei Yi thinks much deeper and
has enough resources to finish the attack after the black king continues searching for mate.
24.exd5+! White gains back some material and eliminates the
knight which could have become an important defender if it
returns to f6.
24...Kxd5 Black tries to run away with his king to c6-c7.
[24...Bxd5 is similar to the 21...Bxd5 line. White must be
precise with 25.Bxg6! (25.Qxg6+? is not enough again
25...Bf6 26.Bf5+ Ke7 and Black saves himself.) 25...Bxg2+
(25...Rf8 allows forced mate after 26.Qh3+ Kf6 27.Rf1+
Kxg6 28.Qh6#) 26.Kxg2 d5 Black opens a free way for his
king towards the queenside, but he already gave back too 26.Qf7!! What an amazing follow up! After sacrificing many
much material and he loses even more after 27.Qf7+ Kd6 pieces, White comes up with a silent move! The point is to stop
28.Qxe8h] the black king running back the d5-c6-c7 and creates different
kind of mate in one threats, such as Qf3 or any bishop move
with discovered mate along the g1-a7 diagonal. [However
it was even more forcing to play 26.c4!! a computer move,
which is extremely hard to find over the board. It has the same
idea as the game, White prevents the Kd5-c6-c7 defending
plan and his has a special hidden point, which can be seen
if Black takes on c4. The point if 26. c4 can be seenafter
26...bxc4 (26...Kd3 Black tries to gain some benefits of the c4
move and makes an attempt to hide his king. However it is
not succesful. 27.Qxg6+! Be4 (27...e4
25.Be4+!! Another brilliant sacrifice! White prevents the hide
of the black king to c6-c7 and lures it further more to his own
camp to catch it with his remaining pieces.
25...Kxe4 Black has no choice, he must continue his journey.
[25...Kc4 loses quickly to 26.Qf7+ d5 27.Qf1#]
28.Qg4! White is a rook and a bishop down, but the

most important factor is the king on d3, therefore he must
focus on creating new and more threatening mate threats
in each move... 28...Kxc4 29.Rc1+ Kb3 (29...Kd5 30.Qf5#)
30.Qd1+ Kxb2 31.Rb1+ Kxa3 32.Qb3#; 27...Kxc4 28.Rc1+
Kd5 29.Rd1+ Kc6 30.Qc2#!)
29.Qb3!! Keeping the cold-blooded style. Black has closed

the f-file, succesfully excluded the queen from the attack, but
as it is the longest ranged piece, it can quickly join back to the
haunt of the black king. The new mate in one threat is Qd3.
Black has only one move to avoid it.
28.Rd1+! Kc2 29.Qxe4+ White sacrifices even his rook and
mates with only two of his pieces. The black ones are still in 29...Kf5 30.Rf1+! Of course, White’s only chance is to keep
their initial position and they cannot take part in the defense. the king outside from the camp and try to catch it while it is
29...Kxd1 30.Qd3+ Ke1 31.Qd2+ Kf1 32.Qd1#) 27.Qxg6+ Kd5 running through the board.
28.Qf7+! Ke4 (And now after 28...Kc6 29.Qxc4#! is mate, 30...Kg4
which would not be so with the black pawn on b5! This is
the reason of pushing 26.c4.) 29.Qxc4+ Kf5 30.Rf1+ Kg6
31.Qf7#; 26.Qxg6+? is too slow, Black runs away with
26...Kd5 27.Qf7+ Kc6i; White could win the queen with
26.Bb6+? 26...Kd5 27.Bxd8 Rexd8i but Black already got
too much material, after he hides his king in the next 2 moves
he is already winning.]
26...Bf6 Only move! [26...Rf8 prevents Qf3, but allows all the
bishop moves, for instance 27.Bg1#]
27.Bd2+ Kd4 28.Be3+ Ke4 White again has a draw by
31.Qd3! We are already used to this kind of silent moves.
perpetual check, but Wei Yi finds a subtle way to play for more!
Despite the huge material disadvantage, White is not in
rush to finish the game, because Black does not have any
counterplay, he can only hope for consolidating, but for this
he would need much better placed pieces.
31...Bxg2+ Black decides to give back some material and
try to bring the queen to the defend along the long diagonal
with tempo. [31...Kh5 loses to 32.Qe2+ Kh4 33.Rf3!! Bxf3
34.Qxf3h and Black is unable to defend the mate in one with
Qh3!; 31...Rg7 also loses to 32.Qe2+ Kh4
36.Be1! A final blow and a last subtle move! White opens

the f-rank in order to allow his rook joining to the mating
attack. Rf3 is thethreat! [Black resigned in view of 36.Be1!
36...Rf8 (36...Qa7+ 37.Kh1 Qa8+ 38.Rf3+ Kg4 39.Qg2+ Kh5
40.Rh3+h; 36...e4 defends Rf3, but closes the long diagonal
37.Qg2#) 37.Rxf8 Qxf8 38.Qg2# What an amazing game by
33.h3!! White always creates new concrete threats. Black has
the 16-year old Chinese super talent, Wei Yi!] 1-0
to defend against Qd7 now. 33...Qd7 34.Kh2! Another subtle
move! Black has only one move to avoid getting mated with
g3! 34...Bxg2 35.Qxg2 White does not have a concrete threat,
but still Black ha no defense. The f6 is hanging followed by
mate on g5 and one possible finish of the game could be
35...Bd8 36.Qf2+ Kh5 37.Qf3+ Kh4 38.Rg1h and Bf2 or
Rg4 next wins.]
32.Kxg2 Qa8+ 33.Kg1 Bg5 Bruzon continues defend
stubbornly, but it does not help this time!
34.Qe2+! [It was still possible to go wrong with the logical
34.Qxg6 Black holds after 34...Rg8!]
34...Kh4 35.Bf2+ Kh3
protects the a5 bishop.]
(2) Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter (2654)
7...Qd7 The f7 pawn needs to be protected.
- Caruana, Fabiano (2805) [C52]
8.dxe5
43rd GM 2015(7.1),
Best rating: 2737
We are in the last round of Dortmund and Caruana is leading

the event with a half point lead over Nisipeanu. Both players
were a bit lucky throughout the tournament and both players
are very fighting ones. We should not forget that Livu-Dieter,
who is now playing for Germany, was European Individual
Champion and is capable of beating higher rating players, 8...Bb6! A strong move! Black wants to play Na5 next and
especially with the white pieces. In the current game, I guess take the c4 bishop. [White would get a strong initiative after
Nisipeanu did not know the line Caruana chose too well. 8...Nxe5 9.Nxe5 dxe5 10.O-O followed by Rd1 next.]
Black equalized quickly, then outplayed him in the endgame 9.a4 is probably not the best. White’s idea is to put pressure
and finished the game with a great tactical combination on the b6 bishop with the a5 threat somewhere, but it is just a
which gave Caruana a totally deserved tournament victory! bit slow. [9.Nbd2!? looks more interesting. 9...dxe5 (9...Na5
1.e4 Nisipeanu plays a lot of different lines in the opening. 10.Qc2 Nxc4 11.Nxc4 and White gets some play thanks to his
great knight on c4.) 10.Bb5 with a very unclear position.]
1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 And Italian game, which probably
means that White was afraid of Caruana’s Berlin... 9...Na5 Of course Black is going for the c4 bishop.
3...Bc5 4.b4 is not played too often on the top level, but 10.Qa2 Nxc4 11.Qxc4 Ne7 A very solid and good move.
clearly deserves attention. In case Black manages to finish his development White’s
position will simply be worse.
4...Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 is quite a rare reply. [Currently the main
move is 5...Be7 ] 12.Ba3 Not the best move again. [Maybe White could have
continued with 12.a5 12...Bc5 13.exd6 cxd6 14.Nbd2 with
6.d4 White is trying to open the position as much as possible the idea of playing Nb3 next. Of course Black has very
and this is clearly the idea of the Evans Gambit! comfortable play but the position is probably still around
6...d6 Black is trying to keep the e5 pawn alive. equal.]
7.Qb3 [Of course White can’t win the piece by playing 7.d5 12...O-O [Black could also have chosen to play 12...d5 13.exd5
7...Nce7 8.Qa4+ because of 8...c6 and the queen on d8 (13.Qe2 13...Ng6 and the Nf4 move is a serious threat.)
13...Qxd5 and because of the control of the light squares, his 20.a5 Bc7
position looks very nice.]
13.O-O Re8 Caruana wants to play Ng6 next.
14.exd6 White is trying to win the d6 pawn, but it is harder
than it seems...
14...cxd6 15.Rd1 The d6 pawn can’t be protected, but Black
has another idea:
21.Nf1 Nisipeanu decides to give back the extra pawn. [In

case White would have tried to hang on to the pawn with
21.Rdb1 21...Bf4 22.Nf1 Bc4 the domination of the black
pieces would have made it very hard for White to play on.]
21...Rxd1 22.Rxd1 Nxa5 So Black has won the pawn back
and still has the bishop pair, which means that he is clearly
better.
15...Qc6! A strong move! Caruana feels that the endgame
will be at least equal, not to say better for him... 23.Nd4 Nc4 A solid move. [Black could also have continued
with 23...Bd7 24.Nf5 (Of course White can’t win a piece by
16.Nbd2 [After 16.Qxc6 16...Nxc6 the d6 pawn still can’t be playing 24.Bxa5 24...Bxa5 25.Nb3 Bg4 26.f3 Bb6+ because
taken because now Rxe4 would win the pawn back.] Black is almost winning with the bishop pair and an extra
16...Be6! Caruana continues playing a perfect game and pawn.) 24...Bxf5 25.exf5 Nc4 26.Rd7 Rc8 with a clearly better
sacrifices the d6 pawn to get all his pieces into the game. position for Black.]
17.Qxc6 Nxc6 18.Bxd6 Rad8 The black pieces are 24.Nxe6 Rxe6 Black kept his advantage because of the
dominating the board! a-pawn, which is ready to move forward.
19.Bb4 [19.Ba3 19...Rd3 and White wil l not be able to hold 25.Rd7 Rc6 Black keeps solid and in case White doesn’t do
on for a long time on the d-file or not to lose the c3 pawn.; anything special the a5 move will be almost deadly.
19.e5 19...f6! and again the bishop pair will give Black better
play, even being a pawn down...]
19...Rd3 Black just wants to double on the d-file.
26.Ng3 30.Rxc7 [30.Ne7+ 30...Kf8 31.Rxc7 Nd6 and there is no way
to stop Black from playing b2-b1Q.]
30...Nd6 and yet aga in White is not in time to stop the
b-pawn from promoting. A really great win by Caruana in such
an important game for the first place! 0-1
26...g6 Another very good move by Black, cutting the options

of the white knight. [26...a5? would have been a huge mistake
since after 27.Nf5! White is just in time! 27...axb4 28.Ne7+
Kf8 29.Nxc6 bxc6 30.Rxc7 bxc3 31.Rxc6 c2 32.Rxc4 and
White is in time to stop the c-pawn.]
27.Ne2 The white knight is going to d4, but it doesn’t help any
longer...
27...a5! A great finish to a perfect game by Caruana!
28.Nd4 [White could have fought longer after 28.Be7 28...a4
29.Nd4 Ne5 30.Nxc6 Nxd7 but the a-pawn gives Black a
huge advantage.]
28...axb4 This is a move that Caruana had planned before
playing a5. White cannot catch the b-pawn!
29.Nxc6 b3
The K-Files. opening theory this assessment means almost nothing and
there is no surprise that after Nakamura played it twice in
French 7...cxd4 & Qb6 2011 the variation returned under the spotlight and many new
details were found since that moment. Black’s idea is fairly
simple: he attacks the pawn and increases the pressure on
the important point d4. In fact, if White wants to fight for an
advantage he has to sacrifice the pawn and take some risks
as well. But first we will look at what happens if White doesn’t
feel this way.
Best rating: 2702
(3) French 7...cxd4 Qb6 [C11]
We are going to have a look at the French Poisoned Pawn line.

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6
7.Be3 This is one of the most important positions for the
theory of the French Defense. Of course both sides have 9.a3 White protects the pawn b2 indirectly. This trick is
enough possibilities to avoid it during previous moves but well-known in different opening lines, the first one which
still the assessment of this line has a critical value. Black has comes to mind is the Najdorf Poisoned Pawn. [
some playable alternatives now (first of all 7...a6 and 7...Be7)
but they all seem to lead to rather quiet play with slightly a) 9.Bb5?! is just dubious. True, White played a developing
better chances for White. Here we will look at the most direct move and protecetd the pawn but all this means nothing
approach. compared to the fact that after the natural answer 9...a6 White
will have to give the bishop pair and improve the opponent’s
7...cxd4 [7...Qb6 8.Na4 Qa5+ 9.c3 is a completely different pawn structure. 10.Bxc6 (10.Be2? 10...Qxb2i; 10.Na4
story of course.; 7...Be7 ; 7...a6 ] 10...Qa5+ 11.Bd2 Qc7 12.Bxc6 bxc6 13.O-O c5 14.Nf3 Qc6 15.c3
8.Nxd4 Qb6!? That’s it. This active and provocative move a5=+ Thiede - Zinn, Schkopau 1955) 10...bxc6 11.Na4 (11.Qc1?
leads to the French Poisoned Pawn line. Its first peak of 11...c5 12.Nb3 d4 13.Na4 Qc6i Darini - Khodadadi, Kerman
popularity happened between 1987 and 1995 when it was 2013) 11...Qa5+ 12.c3 c5 13.Nf3 Bb7 As it often happens in
used by Korchnoi, Ehlvest, Dolmatov, Dreev etc. But then this line the white knight on a4 is clearly misplaced. 14.Nxc5
as it happens quite often it disappeared from grandmaster This exchange operation is the lesser evil but it doesn’t solve
practice with the assessment "too risky". However, for today’s all the problems. (14.O-O 14...Bc6 15.b3 Bxa4 16.bxa4 Qxc3e
Fecko - Panko, Slovakia 2009) 14...Nxc5 15.b4 Qa3 16.bxc5 Kxd7 19.Qxa4+nMoller - Thomsen, Copenhagen 2000)
Bxc5 17.Qd2 Bxe3 18.Qxe3 Rc8 19.Rc1 Bc6=+ White’s pawn 14.Bxc5 (14.bxc5 K. Bodnaruk -D. Mihailov, St Petersburg
structure is in ruins. The strong knight on d4 gives him good 2014 14...Bd7e) 14...Bxc5 15.Bxb5+ Ke7 16.bxc5 Qxc5=+
drawing chances but definitely not more.; Hashemi - Karimi, Rasht 2013 White managed to hold the
b) 9.Na4 In a certain sense this move is just a draw offer. material balance but clearly not for long.) 10...Bb4 (10...Qb6
9...Qa5+ 10.Nc3 Now Black ca n simply repeat the position = 8...Qb6) 11.Nb3!? (11.Nb5?! 11...a6 12.Nd6+ Bxd6 13.exd6
but if he’s not satisfied with a draw and (or) doesn’t want Qb4e Heinicke - Grube, Dortmund 2001; 11.Ne2 11...O-O 12.a3
to give the opponent a second chance there is a playable Bxc3+ 13.Nxc3 f6! 14.exf6 Nxf6C 15.Be2E? A. Artemiyev -
alternative (although in my opinion it is not enough to Rybakov, Zhukovsky 2007 15...d4! 16.Bxd4 Rd8i; 11.Kf2
equalize completely): (10.c3?! is not a good idea because 11...Bxc3 12.bxc3 Nc5k Bader - Steyer, Bad Zwesten 2001;
after 10...Nxd4 White loses at least a pawn for no real 11.Qd2 11...Nc5!? Black can prepare the exchange on c3 at a
compensation. 11.Bxd4 creates more problems but still more convenient moment. 12.Bd3 Na4 13.Nb3 Bxc3 14.Nxa5
doesn’t help: (11.b4?! 11...Bxb4 12.Bxd4 (12.cxb4 12...Qxb4+ Bxd2+ 15.Bxd2 Nxa5 16.Bxa5 Nxb2 17.Bb5+ Bd7 18.Bxd7+
13.Bd2 Qe7 14.Bd3 (14.Rb1 14...Nc6 15.Bb5 O-Oe Nassar - Kxd7 19.Rb1 Nc4 20.Rxb7+ (Jovchev - Panajotov, Sunny
Oknayan, Beirut 2014; 14.a3 14...Nf5 15.g3 a5 16.Bd3 Lengyel Beach 2006) and Black solves all problems with 20...Kc8!
- Kovacs, Hungary 2004 16...b6e) 14...Nc6 15.O-O b6!? 21.Rc7+ Kb8 22.Rc5 Rc8 23.Rb5+ Nb6=) 11...Qc7! The most
(There is no reason to exchange the Na4: 15...Nc5?! 16.Nxc5 solid move. (11...Bxc3+ is quite risky. 12.bxc3 Qxc3+ (More
Qxc5+ 17.Kh1 Bd7 18.Rc1nShort - Korchnoi, Brussels solid is 12...Qc7 13.Bd3 Na5 14.Bd4C(Plume - Dzenis, corr.
(blitz) 1987) 16.Qg4 f5 17.Qh5+ Qf7 18.Qh4 O-Oe Rosic - 2013) gives White a comfortable advantage.) 13.Bd2 Qb2
Nikolenko, Pula 1990) 12...Be7 13.Rb1 (13.Bd3 13...b5 14.Nb2 14.a4! and suddenly the black queen is in danger. 14...Nb6
Bc5 15.O-O Qxc3e Heymann - Stangl, Germany 1999; (14...a6 15.h4 a5 16.c3 b6 17.Rh3 Nc5 18.Nxc5 bxc5 19.Rb1
13.Qb3 13...b6 14.Qb5 Qxb5 15.Bxb5 O-O 16.O-O Lebrun - Qa2 20.Bb5 Bd7 21.Qc1h Hauser - Zholob, corr. 2012)
Chaudagne, France 1999 16...Nb8!e) 13...O-O 14.Bd3 (Essler 15.Bd3 Nc4 16.O-O h6 (16...O-O 17.Bxc4 dxc4 18.Bc1 Qc3
- Boehm, Oberhof 2010) and now the typical maneuver 19.Rf3 Qb4 20.Ba3 Qb6+ 21.Bc5h) 17.a5 Rb8 18.Bxc4
14...Nb8!? 15.O-O Bd7 16.Nb2 Nc6e underlines the fact dxc4 19.Bc1 Qc3 20.Rf3 1-0 Hauser - Hipfl, corr. 2013) 12.Be2
that there is no compensation at all.) 11...b5 12.Nc5 (12.b4 (12.Bd3 (Slamenik - Carbonell Bofill, corr. 2010) is met by the
12...Qxa4i; 12.Bxb5 12...Qxb5i; 12.Bd3 12...bxa4i) tactical response 12...d4!? 13.Nxd4 Ndxe5! 14.Be2 (14.fxe5
12...Nxc5!? (As we could see in above-mentioned game 14...Qxe5 15.Qe2 Nxd4 16.Bxd4 Qxd4 17.O-O-O Qf4+ 18.Kb1
Short - Korchnoi the dark-squared bishop is an important O-Ok; 14.O-O 14...Nxd3 15.Qxd3 O-O=) 14...Ng6 15.O-O O-O=;
piece here. 12...Bxc5 13.b4 Bxb4 14.cxb4 Qxb4+ 15.Qd2 12.Bd2 12...a6 13.Qg4 O-O 14.Bd3 Tritzschler - Papapostolou,
Qxd2+ 16.Kxd2nDomankusic - Opacak, Croatia 2005) 13.b4 Bad Schussenried 1994 14...Nc5!? 15.Nxc5 Bxc5 16.O-O-O
Qc7! (There is no reason to be greedy: 13...Qb6?! 14.a4 Nb4 17.Be2 b5k) 12...O-O 13.O-O Bxc3 14.bxc3+= (Sherwood
bxa4 15.bxc5 Bxc5 16.Rb1! Qc7 17.Bb5+ Bd7 18.Bxd7+ - Wittal, corr. 2006) promises White some advantage since
his kingside attack prospects are more important than the
weakened pawn structure.; 15.Nxe4 dxe4e; 13.Nd4 13...Qb4+ 14.c3 Qxb2 15.Nxc6
c) 9.Ncb5 This aggressive move is not dangerous at all. Qxc3+ 16.Kf2 bxc6e Beckemeier - Blauert, Dortmund 1995;
Black has a comfortable choice between dynamic play with 13.Ng3 13...Qxb2 14.Rb1 Qc3+ 15.Qd2 Qxd2+ 16.Kxd2 Getz
mutual chances and a forced draw. 9...a6 - Groffen, Caleta 2011 16...g5!i) 13...Nd8 14.Nxg7 (14.Nd4
14...Qb4+! 15.c3 Qxb2 16.Rd1 Qxc3+ 17.Kf2 Bd7 18.Be2
Ba4i R. Byrne; E. Mednis; 14.Ng3 14...Qxb2 15.Rd1
Joentausta - Pursiainen, Lahti 2000 15...Qb4+i) 14...Qb4+!
The key intermediate check. (14...Kxg7? 15.Qg5+ Kf8
16.Qh6+ Ke7 17.Qf6+ Kd7 18.Qxh8 Qb4+ 19.c3 Qxb2
20.Bb5+! axb5 21.O-Oc Nunn - B. Zueger, Nuremberg
(active) 1990) 15.c3 Qxb2 16.Rd1 (16.Qh6 16...Qxa1+ 17.Ke2
Ke7 18.Qf6+ Kd7i R. Byrne; E. Mednis) 16...Qxc3+ 17.Rd2
h6! i 18.Nge8 (18.Qh4 18...Kxg7 19.Qf6+ Kh7 20.Nxf7
Qxd2+! 21.Kxd2 Ne4+i R. Byrne; E. Mednis) 18...Ne4! (0-1
Now White must be accurate to force a draw. (After Huebner - Korchnoi, San Francisco 1995) 19.Qe2 (19.Nxe4
9...Bc5!? 10.c3 a6 (10...Nxd4 11.cxd4+=; 10...O-O 11.b4 Bxd4 19...dxe4i /3) 19...Ke7!? 20.Nxc8+ Rxc8 21.Nd6 Nxd6
12.Nxd4+= Nunn - B. Zueger, Thessaloniki 1988) 11.b4! Black 22.exd6+ Kxd6i R. Byrne; E. Mednis) 11...Kf8 12.Qh5 Nd8
has to react properly so 11...Nxb4! is necessary and after (12...Ncxe5?? 13.fxe5 Nxe5 14.Qg5! exf5 15.Bxc5h Sharma -
(the natural 11...axb5?! is only looking for trouble after Kostenko, Macau 1996) 13.Nxg7 Bxe3!
12.bxc5 Qxc5 13.Nf5! Qxc3+ 14.Bd2 Qb2 15.Rb1! Qxa2
16.Nd6+ Kf8 17.Bxb5 with excellent compensation. 17...g6
18.O-O Qa7+ (18...Kg7 19.f5! exf5 Tseshkovsky - Dreev,
St Peterburg 1993 20.Bxc6! bxc6 21.Bc3 (/1) 21...Qa7+
22.Kh1h V. Tseshkovsky) 19.Kh1nBlossl - Skopetz, corr.
1994) 12.Rb1 Nc2+ (12...axb5 13.cxb4 Bxd4 14.Bxd4 Qa6
15.Bd3 Nb6 16.Qg4c Macieja - Ehrenfeucht, Warszawa 1994)
13.Qxc2 axb5 14.Bxb5 Qc7 the position is fairly unclear.
15.Bd3 is strongly met with 15...Bxd4 16.Bxd4 Nc5! and
Black shouldn’t be afraid of 17.Bb5+ Bd7 18.Bxc5 Qxc5
19.Bxd7+ Kxd7 20.Rxb7+ Kc6!V) 10.Nf5 Bc5 11.Nbd6+ and White has only the choice between different perpetuals
(11.Bxc5?! was played a couple of times by the strong (13...Kxg7? leads to the aforementioned game Nunn -
players but in fact brings White into trouble: 11...Nxc5 Zueger. 14.Qg5+ Kf8 15.Bxc5 Nxc5 16.Qh6+ Ke7 (16...Kg8
12.Nbd6+ (12.Nxg7+ 12...Kf8 13.Qh5 Ne4!i R. Byrne; E. 17.Ne8h) 17.Qf6+h) 14.Nxe6+ (14.Qh6 14...Bf2+ 15.Kd1
Mednis) 12...Kf8 13.Qh5 (13.Nxc8 13...Rxc8 14.Nd6 Ne4! Ke7 16.Ngf5+ exf5 17.Nxf5+ Ke8 18.Nd6+ Ke7 1/2-1/2 Haika
- Appel, corr. 1997) 14...fxe6 (14...Ke7? 15.Qg5+ f6 16.Qg7+
Kxe6 17.Be2!h) 15.Qe8+ (15.Qh6+ 15...Kg8 16.Qg5+ Kf8=
B. Lengyel - B. Zueger, Budapest 1994) 15...Kg7 16.Qe7+ Kg8
17.Qg5+ Kf8 18.Qh6+ Kg8 19.Qg5+ Kf8 20.Qh6+ Kg8 1/
2-1/2 Andreikin - Vitiugov, Tyumen 2012;
d) 9.Rb1 The direct defence of the pawn has absolutely no
merits comparing to indirect one (9.a3). Actually the only
reason to look at this is that it happened once in Alekhine’s
simul game (although with move order 7...Qb6 8.Rb1 cxd4
9.Nxd4) 9...Bc5 10.Na4 (10.Nce2?! this is antipositional and 13...b6! but this is typical and good. Now it’s White who has
leads into trouble 10...O-O! it’s necessary to prepare f7-f6 to be careful to hold the balance (13...b5?! 14.Nc5 Qxa2 Such
(10...f6?! 11.b4! Bxd4 12.Nxd4 fxe5 13.Nf5 d4 14.Nd6+ Ke7 pawn gra b is extremely risky especially when your opponent
15.Nc4 Qc7 16.Bf2 exf4 17.b5 Nd8 18.Qxd4c Kopczynski is great attacking genius 15.Bd3 O-O (15...a6 16.O-O Qa5 17.f5
- Olszewski, Kolobrzeg 2001) 11.c3 (11.Qd2 Kickert - Zier, Qb6 18.b4 Nxc5 19.bxc5 Qc6 20.c4! bxc4 21.Rb6 Qc7 22.Bc2
Willingen 2005 11...f6! 12.exf6 Nxf6 13.c3 e5i; 11.a3 11...f6 O-O 23.f6 g6 24.Rf3 Kh8 25.Rh3 1-0 Alekhine - Petrovic,
12.b4 Bxd4 13.Nxd4 fxe5e Fuchs - Schott, Schleswig Holstein Belgrade (simultan) 1931) 16.O-O Qa5 Van Gils - Offringa,
1989) 11...f6! 12.exf6 Rxf6 13.g3 e5 14.fxe5 Ndxe5 15.Bg2 Bg4 Hengelo 1996 (after 16...Nxc5 17.Qxc5C(Brenk - Guenzler,
16.Bxd5+ Kh8A Fox - Heyden, Wolfsberg 2004; 10.Ncb5 Germany 1997) there is very annoying threat 18.Bxh7+) 17.b4
10...O-O!? (the natural 10...a6 (Andrejkin - Nakhapetiane, Qb6 18.f5n) 14.Be2!? (immediate 14.Qb4 14...Qxb4 15.cxb4
Serpukhov 1999) is playable too 11.b4!? axb5 12.bxc5 Qa5+!? (Esonboeva - Muminova, Tashkent 2011) leaves Black with
13.Qd2 b4 14.Nb3 Qc7k) 11.c3 a6 12.b4 axb5 13.bxc5 Qxc5 better pawn structure what could be used with 15...g5!? 16.g3
14.Qd2 Qa3 15.Bxb5 (Ling - Amann, corr. 2006) and now Ke7 17.Bb5 Rg8 18.Ke2 f6=+) 14...Ba6 15.Qb4 Qxb4 16.cxb4
the temporary pawn sacrifice 15...Nc5!? 16.Nxc6 bxc6 17.Bxc6 Bxe2 17.Kxe2 g5=+;
Ne4 18.Qb2 Ra5 19.Bb6 Ra6= gives Black comfortable play)
10...Qa5+ 11.c3 (11.Nc3 11...Nxd4 the simplest (of course, e) 9.Be2!? For some strange reason this move has the
Black can repeat position 11...Qb6 ; however, the greedy best stats. But the way to equalise is rather clear. 9...Bc5
11...Bb4?! 12.Nb3 Qxa2 Molnar - Szunyogh, Hungary 2006 (9...Qxb2?! Here this pawn is really poisoned even when
13.Bb5!ncan’t be recommended) 12.Bxd4 Qb4 13.Bxc5 Qxc5 the reason is not perfectly obvious but 10.Ndb5! N is
14.Qf3 O-O 15.Qf2 b6=) 11...Bxd4 12.Bxd4 Nxd4 13.Qxd4 quite convincing reason for Black to retrain from grabbing
(after 13.b4 13...Nf3+ 14.Kf2 (Howard - Dyce, England 1997) the pawn b2 (The practice has seen only 10.Ncb5 but after the
most logical answer is 14...Qc7!? 15.Qxf3 Qc6= forcing White best answer 10...Bc5! the consequences are far from clear
to play weakening b4-b5 as 16.Nb2E? f6e is even worse) (10...Nxd4 11.Nc7+ Kd8 12.Bxd4 Bb4+ 13.Kf1h Kobese
- Delgado Palomeque, Navalmoral 1999; 10...Qb4+ 11.Bd2
Qc5 12.Nc7+ Kd8 13.Nb3h Stets - Gazik, Hlohovec 1998;
10...Bb4+ 11.Kf1 O-O 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.Bd4 Qxa1 14.Bxa1
cxb5 15.Bxb5c Degoirat - Galli, Porticcio 2007) 11.Nxc6
(11.Rb1 11...Qxa2 12.Nc7+ Kd8 13.Ndxe6+ fxe6 14.Nxe6+
Ke8 15.Nxg7+ Kf7 16.Bh5+ Ke7 17.Nf5+ Kd8 18.O-On)
11...bxc6 12.Rb1 (12.Bxc5 12...cxb5 13.Bd4 Qa3k) 12...Qxa2
13.Ra1 Qb2 14.Nc7+ Kd8 15.Bxc5 Qc3+ 16.Kf1 Kxc7
17.Bd4 Qb4 18.c3n) 10...Qb4 11.Bd2 Kd8 12.Rb1 (12.Nxd5
12...Qe4 13.Ndc3 Qxg2 14.Bf3 Qh3 15.Ne4c) 12...Qe7
13.Nd6c) 10.Na4 Qa5+ 11.c3 (11.Nc3 11...Nxd4 (11...Qb6
repeats position, of course) 12.Bxd4 Qb4 13.Bxc5 Nxc5 14.O-O 13...b6! Immediately preparing Ba6 (13...O-O is less accurate
Bd7 15.Rf3 Rc8 16.Rb1 Na4= Comp "Deep Junior 10" - Comp as it allows White to castle and to avoid the bishops’
"Glaurung 2.1", CEGT 2008) 11...Nxd4! this is the way to play exchange. 14.O-O b6 15.Bd1 (15.b3 15...Nc5= Ramus - Raessler,
(Now the standard capture 11...Bxd4 12.Bxd4 Nxd4 is not corr. 2006) 15...Ba6 16.b4!? (16.Rf3 looks tempting but
accurate because of 13.b4!? (13.Qxd4 - 11...Nxd4) 13...Nf3+ after 16...Bb5 17.b4 Qa6 18.Nb2 Black is able to exchange
14.Bxf3 Qc7 15.Qd4 and Black faces certain problems 15...O-O the bishops 18...Be2! 19.Bxe2 (19.Rh3 Pierna Chamorro
De Firmian - Chernin, Wijk aan Zee 1986 (the solid 15...b5 - Carbonell Bofill, Murcia 1997 19...Bxd1 20.Nxd1 f6V)
16.Nb2 a5 17.Be2 Ba6 (17...axb4 18.cxb4 Ba6 E. Alekseev 19...Qxe2 20.c4 f6 21.Qc3 (21.cxd5? 21...fxe5!e; 21.Rf2
- Fridman, Beer Sheva 2013 19.a4+=) 18.a4 Qb7 (Comp 21...fxe5! 22.Rxe2 exd4=+; 21.exf6 21...Nxf6kVera Gonzalez
"Zappa Mexico" - Comp "Loop 13.6", CCRL 2007) still leaves Quevedo - Borges Mateos, Havana 1987) 21...d4! (21...fxe5??
White chance to break through 19.c4! bxc4 20.b5 Bxb5 22.Re1 d4 23.Qc1h) 22.Qxd4 fxe5 23.Qc3 Qe4 24.Re1 Qc6
21.axb5 Qxb5 22.Na4+=) 16.c4!? using the chance 16...Qxc4 25.fxe5 Rxf3 26.Qxf3 (26.gxf3 26...Nf8n) 26...Qxf3 27.gxf3
(16...dxc4 17.Rc1+=) 17.Qxc4 dxc4 18.O-O-On) 12.Bxd4 (now Rf8 28.Kf2 Rf4nVaclav - Siviero, corr. 2001) 16...Qb5 17.Rf3
12.b4? simply doesn’t work because of 12...Bxb4 13.cxb4 Qc4 (17...Qc6 18.Nb2 Qc7 19.a4 Rac8 20.Bc2 g6 21.Re1+=
Qxb4+ 14.Bd2 Qe7e; 12.Nxc5 leads to positions with Sherzer - Vigh, Hungary 1995) 18.Nb2!? (if White avoids
opposite-coloured bishops where White is not better at all exchanging queens then Black has enough counterchances
12...Nxe2 13.Qxe2 Nxc5 14.b4 Qa4 (14...Qa6 15.Bxc5 Qxe2+ after 18.Qe3 18...f6 19.Nb2 Qc7 20.exf6 Rxf6 21.Bb3 Raf8
16.Kxe2 Larino Nieto - Herraiz Hidalgo, Las Palmas 2012 22.Re1 Kh8kN. Mitkov - O. Danielian, Leningrad 1991; 18.Qf2
16...b6 17.Bd6 Ba6+=) 15.bxc5 (15.Bxc5 15...b6 16.Bd6 Ba6 18...f6 19.Nb2 Qc7 20.exf6 Nxf6 21.Qd4 Ne4VE. Alekseev
17.Qd2 O-O-Ok) 15...O-O 16.O-O b6= Contos - Hladecek, corr. - Lintchevski, St Petersburg (active) 2014) 18...Qxd4+ 19.cxd4
2009) 12...Bxd4 13.Qxd4 Rfc8 20.a4 Bb7 21.a5 bxa5 22.Rxa5 Rc1 23.Kf2 a6 24.Rfa3+=
and Black is under certain pressure) 14.Bd1 (14.O-O allowing
bishops’ exchange 14...Ba6 (14...Nc5 is not effective due
to 15.b4 Qxa4 16.bxc5 Qxd4+ 17.cxd4 bxc5 18.dxc5 Bd7
19.Rab1+= (Hein - Wornath, Darmstadt 1996) and Black still
has to work hard) 15.Bxa6 Qxa6 16.f5 (16.b3 16...b5 17.Nb2 (11.Nxd4?! 11...Qxb2e) 11...O-O 12.Bxc5 (White doesn’t have
Qb6 18.Nd3 Rc8 19.Kh1 Nc5 20.Nxc5 Qxc5 21.f5 Qxd4 time to develop quietly 12.Bd3?! 12...Bxd4 13.Nxd4 Dueball
22.cxd4 O-O= Baer - Krause, corr. 2007) 16...O-O 17.b3 - Smejkal, Raach 1969 13...f6! 14.Qh5 f5e; 12.b4 was played
(ambitious 17.f6 17...gxf6 18.exf6 Kh8 19.b3 Rg8 20.c4 b5 most often but it also creates new weaknesses. 12...Bxd4
21.cxb5 Qxb5 22.Rac1 Qe2 23.Rf2 Qh5k(Scuderi - Palladino, 13.Qxd4 Black has some ways to good play, the simplest is
corr. 2011) is fine for Black) 17...b5 18.Nc5 (18.Nb2 18...Qa5 (13.Nxd4?! 13...f6e) 13...a5!? 14.Rb1 due to poor development
19.a4 Rfc8 20.Rf3 Qb6 21.axb5 Qxb5 22.fxe6 fxe6 23.Rxa7 White has to give a-file (14.Rd1 14...axb4 15.axb4 Qxd4
Rxa7 24.Qxa7 Nxe5 25.Rf1 Qb8= Comp ”Shredder 10” - 16.Nxd4 Nb6 17.Bd3 Bd7 18.Kd2 Ra4 19.Rb1 Rc8= Saric -
Comp ”SmarThink 1.10”, INTEL_CORE2_DUO 2007) 18...Nxc5 Martinovic, Plitvicka Jezera 2013; 14.Qxb6 14...Nxb6 15.Nc7
19.Qxc5 Rfc8= Sherzer - I. Almasi, Hungary 1995) 14...Ba6 Ra7 16.Nb5 Ra8 17.Nc7 Ra7 1/2-1/2 Magem Badals - Vallejo
15.b4 Qb5 16.Nb2 Qc6 necessary because of the threat Pons, El Sauzal 2010) 14...axb4 15.axb4 f6 16.Qxb6 (16.exf6
a2-a4. Now Black has enough counterchances in all lines: 16...Qxd4 17.Nxd4 Nxf6 18.Bd3 Ne4 19.g3 g5 20.Rf1 gxf4
17.Ba4 (17.Kf2 17...Rc8 18.Rc1 O-O 19.Re1 f6 20.Kg1 fxe5 21.fxe5 21.gxf4 Nc3 22.Rc1 Na2= Carrión Lava - Mesquita Jr., corr.
Rf7= Aseev - Dreev, Frunze 1988; 17.a4 17...Qc7 18.b5 (18.Bf3 2012) 16...Nxb6 17.Bd3 Bd7 18.Nd6 (Schmaltz - Krassowizkij,
18...Rc8 19.Kd2 O-O 20.Rhe1 N. Mitkov - Paredes Galan, Germany 2014) and now the most reliable way to equalise
Lalin 1994 20...f6!=+) 18...Bb7 19.O-O O-O 20.Rc1 a6 21.Nd3 is 18...fxe5!? 19.fxe5 Ra2 20.Nxb7 Nc4 21.Bxc4 dxc4 22.Nc5
axb5 22.axb5 Nc5= Guerra Mendez - Buchenau, Sitges 2013) Rxc2 23.Nxd7 Rff2=) 12...Qxc5!? N aiming for f7-f6 is more
17...Bb5!? (17...Qc7 is less convincing 18.Kf2 Rc8 19.Rac1k logical (The practice has seen only 12...Nxc5 but after 13.Qd4!
N. Mitkov - Shmeliov, Las Vegas 2007) 18.Bxb5 Qxb5 19.a4 Bd7 14.Nd6 f6 15.Be2! (15.b4 15...Na4 16.Qxb6 Nxb6 17.Bd3
Qc6 20.c4 a5 21.cxd5 (21.b5 21...Qc5=) 21...Qxd5 22.Qxd5 Rab8 18.Rf1 Nc8 19.Nxc8 Rbxc8= Fleck - Seyb, Augsburg
exd5 23.Rd1 axb4 24.Rxd5 Nc5 25.Rd6 Nxa4 26.Nxa4 Rxa4 1984) 15...fxe5 16.fxe5 Bc6 (16...Na4 17.O-O-O+= Macieja -
27.O-O Ke7 28.Rxb6 Rd8=; Gradalski, Suwalki 1999) 17.Rd1!+= White still has some
f) The main and most dangerous move 9.Qd2 will be pressure) 13.g3 (13.Qd4 13...Qxc2e; 13.Qd2 13...f6 14.exf6 Nxf6
examined in part] 15.Bd3 Ne4 16.Bxe4 Qxb5!e; 13.Nd4 13...Qb6! 14.Rb1 f6C;
13.Be2 13...f6k B. Macieja)
9...Bc5 [9...Qxb2?? 10.Na4h is just too obvious]
10.Na4 This is certainly not the best square for the knight
but the alternatives don’t impress either. [10.b4? just loses
material after 10...Bxd4 11.Na4 Dembo - Zatonskih, Beijing
(blitz) 2011 11...Bxa1 12.Nxb6 Bc3+! 13.Bd2 Bxd2+ 14.Qxd2
Nxb6i; 10.Nce2?! 10...Qxb2e Adrien - Amigues, Fourmies
2010 ; 10.Ncb5 is the only reasonable alternative to the main
line but still it promises nothing after 10...Nxd4!? 11.Bxd4
13...f6 14.exf6 Nxf6 15.Qd4 (15.Bd3? 15...e5! 16.fxe5 Ne4i B. 15...a6!? 16.Qe3 (16.Bd3 16...b5 17.Nb2 Qxc3 18.Rhb1 g5e)
Macieja) 15...Qxc2 16.Bd3 Qg2 17.O-O-O Bd7 18.Nd6nWhite 16...f6Vand White can be only worse after all.]
has certain compensation for the pawn but not more] 13...O-O!? The interesting ambitious move. Black prepares
10...Qa5+ 11.c3 [11.Nc3 11...Qb6 is usual picture already; f7-f6 and intends to exchange queens on his terms (or maybe
11.b4 11...Qxa4 12.bxc5 leads to absolutely drawish endgame even to avoid it) [The traditional main line 13...b6 14.Qb4
(12.Bb5?! this exchange operation is ambitious and... bad. Qxb4 15.axb4 Ke7!? (/5) 16.Bb5 Bb7= (Nunn - Ehlvest,
12...Bxd4! (Black has no reason to panic 12...Bxb4+? 13.Kf2 Reykjavik 1988) is also perfectly playable foe Black.]
Qa5 14.axb4nwith strong initiative 14...Qxb4? 15.Rb1h Al 14.Be2 [14.Qb4 Without b7-b6 played this move makes little
Rufei - Jalaluldeen, Sulaymaniyah 2012) 13.Bxa4 Bxe3 14.Qf3 sense 14...Qc7 15.Bb5 (There is also a tricky trap 15.Bd3?
d4! natural and strong (14...Bb6 15.c4kis fairly unclear (Rivera 15...b5! 16.Bxb5 Rb8i Weng - Huber, Germany 1992)
Kuzawka - Delgado Palomeque, Mondariz 1999)) 15.c3 Nb6 15...b6 16.Qd4 Nc5 17.Nxc5 bxc5 18.Qd2 Rb8=+ Vl. Andreev
16.cxd4 Nd5e and black pieces are clearly stronger than - Aliferenko, Yuzhny 2011; 14.Bd3 14...b6 15.Qb4 (15.O-O
white queen (Cipka - Glinz corr 2007)) 12...Qa5+ 13.Qd2 15...Ba6 16.Bxa6 Qxa6 17.b3 (Zemlianukhina - Fukson, Kazan
Qxd2+ 14.Kxd2 Nxc5 15.Nxc6 Ne4+ 16.Kc1 bxc6 17.Bd3 O-O 2000) is just careless due to 17...Rfc8! C 18.Rf3E? b5 19.Nb2
18.Bxe4 dxe4 19.Rb1 Rd8 20.Rb4= Kritz - Bora, Richardson Nc5i) 15...Qxb4 16.axb4 (Szalanczy - Vigh, Budapest 1991)
2014] and it’s Black who starts the active play with 16...g5!? 17.g3 f6
11...Bxd4 Now this is an accurate move order [11...Nxd4?! is 18.exf6 gxf4 19.gxf4 Rxf6=+]
wrong because of 12.b4! Qd8 13.Bxd4 Be7 14.Bb5+= Welsch 14...b6 15.Qb4 [15.Bd1 15...Qb5 16.b4 f6=+ (Torre -
- Kleine, corr. 2000] Dizdar, Saint John 1988) and suddenly White faces serious
12.Bxd4 [After 12.b4? the queen costs too much 12...Qxa4! development problems]
(12...Bxc3+ 13.Nxc3 Qd8 14.Nb5 O-O 15.Bd3n Castellanos 15...Qxb4 16.axb4
Mendoza - Cerezo Gaston, Spain 2008) 13.Qxa4 Bxc3+
(13...Bxe3 14.g3 O-O 15.Bd3 f6e Boll - Rakhorst, corr. 1983)
14.Kf2 (14.Bd2 14...Bxa1 15.Bd3 Bd4!i Santo Roman -
Mercier, Ales 1984) 14...Bxa1 15.Bb5 Bd4 16.Bxc6 Bxe3+
17.Kxe3 bxc6 18.Qxc6 Rb8i]
12...Nxd4 13.Qxd4 White has nominally good bishop vs. bad
one. But b6Ba6 is an idea and also Na4 is badly misplaced.
So Black has nothing to worry about. [After 13.b4 Black has
very strong resource 13...Nf3+ 14.Kf2 (14.gxf3?! 14...Qd8 15.h4
O-O 16.Qd4 f6 17.Kf2 fxe5 18.fxe5 Qe8 19.Re1 Qh5e Lein - Nei,
g5!? [16...f6 is also possible 17.Bg4 Kf7 18.exf6 Nxf6 19.Nxb6
Kharkov 1967) 14...Qc7 15.Qxf3 Lederer - Goldt, corr. 1986
axb6 20.Rxa8 Nxg4 21.O-O Bd7kRihtaric - Rumyantsev, corr.
2011]
17.fxg5 Bb7 18.b3 Nxe5k (Nowakowski - B. Ivanov, corr.
2011) and Black is definitely not worse.
Young & Talented 8...b5 9.a4 c6 10.Be2 I feel this is best move order, but 10.Qb1
and 10.Nd2 also exist.
10...a6 A normal consolidating move. 10....Nd7 might give
White extra possibilites.
11.O-O Bb7?! This move should be delayed, 11....Nd7 is much
better. [11...Nd7!? 12.Nd2 O-O!? (12...Bb7 is back to the game
all the while avoiding the nasty 12.Qb1!)]
GM Etienne Bacrot
Best rating: 2749
(4) Harmon-Vellotti, L. (2430)

- Chandra, A. (2495) [A40]
US junior championship(1),
2015.07.07
This week’s best game of a junior player is clearly Wei

Yi-Bruzon which is already analyzed by Csaba. So I found 12.Nd2 Missing a good opportunity. [12.Qb1! 12...Qc8
some interesting game from the US Junior Championship. At (12...Nd7 13.Bxc4+=) 13.Qb4 f6 (13...O-O 14.Bxe7 Re8
the time of writing, the 16-year old Chandra Akshat is leading 15.Bd6+=) 14.Bg3 Nd7 15.Rfb1 Nb6 16.Nd2 with very strong
with 2/2. compensation for the pawn.]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 The Grunfeld is quite famous 12...Nd7 13.Bf3 Qc8 [13...O-O 14.Qb1 Rb8kis an interesting
among US juniors these days. alternative.]
4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bg5 Ne4 6.Bh4 6.Bf4 is the main move while 14.Qb1 f6 15.Bg4 Provoking further weaknesses in Black’s
6.cxd5 almost disappeared from practice. camp. [15.Qb2 15...O-O 16.Rfb1 might also be good for White.]
6...Nxc3 7.bxc3 dxc4 8.e3 A few months ago Harmon-Vellotti 15...f5 16.Bf3 is good in case you find the antidote to Black’s
against Troff tried [8.Qa4+ 8...c6 9.Qxc4 Qa5 10.e3 Na6 next move. Somewhat more human is [16.Be2!? 16...e5
11.Qb3 but here it seems Black gets a good endgame after 17.Bxc4! bxc4 18.Nxc4 and it is clear that White will get the
11...Nc5! 12.Qb4 Qxb4 13.cxb4 Ne4 14.Bd3 Nd6=] advantage after this sacrifice.]
16...e5 25.Rxa6 It is dangerous to give a pawn around the king. White
would get better saving chances if he played 25.h3 followed by
26.e4.
25...Bxh2+ 26.Kh1 O-O 27.Qa3 I don’t know what to
suggest... The position is very difficult to play with White,
for example: [27.Nxc4 27...Bg3 28.Bxg3 Qxg3 29.Nd2 Nf6!
30.Nf3 Ne4 with very strong black pieces.]
27...Bg3! 28.Bxg3 Qxg3 29.Nxc4 I would try to go for
an endgame even if Black is a clean pawn up. [29.Qd6!?
17.Qb4?! This move permits Black to regroup. But the
29...Qxd6 30.Rxd6 Nf6e]
good move was extremely difficult to find. [17.axb5! 17...axb5
18.Nxc4!! You cannot ly calculate the consequences of such 29...Nf6 30.Ne5 Ng4 31.Nxg4 simply loses but the
a sacrifice but it looks promising. 18...bxc4 19.Qb4 Bf6! toughest defense is also not enjoyable: [31.Nf3 31...Nxe3
(19...Bf8 20.Qxc4 Nb6 21.Qb3 Nd5 22.c4c) 20.Bxf6 Nxf6 32.Qa2+ Kg7e with a pawn up and the attack.]
21.dxe5 with great compensation.] 31...fxg4 32.Qd6 Qh4+ 33.Qh2 Qf2 34.Qh6 [34.Qg1 is
17...Bf8 18.Qb2 Bd6 It is now clear that Black is better. not mate but loses too many pawns: 34...Qg3 35.Qh2 Qxe3
36.Qe5 Qxc3i]
19.Rfb1 [19.e4 19...O-O 20.exf5 gxf5 21.Bg3 Qc7=+]
19...e4! 20.Be2 Rb8 21.f3 Trying to open the position is
essential since Black is a pawn up!
21...exf3 22.Bxf3 Qc7 It is difficult to comment on Black’s
last moves, they are simply logical and strong.
23.axb5 cxb5 [23...axb5 24.Ra7 Nb6 25.h3 O-O 26.e4 White
gets counterplay.]
24.Bxb7 Rxb7
34...g3! 35.Rg1 Rbf7 White resigned in view of Qxg1 or Rf5

with mating threats. Black’s play was very neat, with the
exception of some imprecisions in the opening. 0-1
Puzzle section
(5) Kramnik, V(2783)-Nepomniachtchi, I(2720) (7) Ovod, E(2313)-Mirzoeva, E(2233)
Dortmund, 2015.06.30 Russian Higher league (W), 2015.06.30
1. h 1. h
(6) Nisipeanu, D(2654)-Caruana, F(2805) (8) Savina, A(2422)-Ovod, E(2313)

Dortmund, 2015.07.05 Russian Higher league (W), 2015.07.01
1... i 1... i
(9) Ofitserian, B(2306)-Levin, E(2519) (11) Giri, A(2791)-Pruijssers, R(2507)
Polugaevsky memorial, 2015.07.04 Dutch Championship, 2015.07.06
1... i 1. h
(10) Van Kampen, R(2609)-Van Wely, L(2647) (12) Laznicka, V(2657)-Sethuraman, S(2623)
Dutch Championship, 2015.07.06 Porticcio Open, 2015.07.01
1... i 1. h
(13) Areshchenko, A(2656)-Terrioux, K(2440)
Porticcio Open, 2015.07.02
1. h
(14) Smirin, I(2663)-Nikhilesh, K(2235)

World Open, 2015.07.01
1. h
Endgame section it is very possible to see it... [55...Kb7 Black gives away the a6
pawn but the c-pawn is becoming very hard to stop. 56.Nxa6
c3 57.Nb4 (57.Nc5+ 57...Kc7 and White can’t do anything to
stop Black from playing c2 with a draw.) 57...Rd4
(15) So, Wesley (2778)
43rd GM 2015(7.2),
2015.07.05
37th Zurich Christmas 2013(2.1), Best rating: 2737
2013.12.27
58.Nc2 It seems like White managed to bring his knight back

home, but it just doesn’t help. 58...Rd2 59.Ne3 c2 and the
position is a draw.]
56.Ra6+ [56.Nc6+ 56...Kb6 is good for Black.]
56...Kb7 57.Rxa5 Kb6 The positi on still looks like a draw,
the black pieces are active and the king is getting to help the
b5 pawn to move by playing Kc5.
We are in the last round of Dortmund and Kramnik is fighting 58.Ra2! White is playing great chess, looking for only chances
for the 2nd place. For most of the game he had a better to fight for a win. [58.Ra8 would lead to a draw after 58...Kc5
position, but maybe he played too hastily for a win and got 59.Na6+ Kb6]
this unpleasant endgame where Black is already in quite 58...Rd7?! Another inaccurate move by Black... [Kramnik
some danger to lose. should have moved just one square further... 58...Rd8 59.g4
54...Rd2+ A good move. Black places the rook to a good Kc5 60.Na6+ Kb6 61.g5 c3 and the active c-pawn should
square. All Black needs to do is to exchange his 3 pawns for secure the drawish outcome.]
the g2 pawn, but this is not that simple to achieve. 59.Ra8! Another very strong move. Now the white rook
55.Kf3 is clearly the best try. and knight make it impossible for the black pawns to move
forward.
55...a5?! Kramnik misses a forced draw. And even if it looks
dangerous from a human point of view, with exact calculation 59...Kc5 60.Nc2 The black pawns are stopped.
67.Rf4 and the b4 pawn is gone...
67...Kb3 68.Nxb4 I guess the only reason Kramnik did not
resign here is that he was feeling very angry about misplaying
the nice position he had so badly...
68...Re7+ 69.Re4 Rg7 [An easy line to calculate is 69...Rxe4+
70.Kxe4 Kxb4 71.Kd3! Kb3 72.g7 c2 73.g8=Q+ and White
queens with check.]
70.Rg4 Now the white king will go to h6, so Black is hopeless.
60...Rc7?! Yet another unlucky move by Kramnik... [Black’s 70...Re7+ 71.Kf3 Rg7 72.Nc6 So transfers his knight to d4,
chances to make a draw were still good after 60...Rf7+ 61.Ke2 which was not really needed but almost any move is already
Re7+ 62.Kd2 Rd7+ 63.Kc1 and now that the white king has winning.
gone far away, Black should start attacking the g2 pawn:
63...Rg7 64.Ne3 and of course White has some practical 72...Rg8 73.g7 c2 74.Nd4+ Kc4 75.Nxc2+ Kd5 and of cour
chances to win here, but Black’s chances are at least not worse se White is in time to stop the black king from geting to f7.
to make a draw.]
61.Rf8! And the game is basically over. White’s threat of
playing Rf5 is deadly...
61...c3 62.Rf5+ Kb6 [62...Kc4 63.Ne3+ Kb4 64.Nd5+ and
Black loses his rook because of its unlucky position on c7.]
63.g4 Ka5 64.g5 Ka4 Black simply doesn’t have any threats.
65.Ke3 A very safe decision. White also brings his king to help
the pieces now that the g-pawn is not in danger to get lost.
76.Rg6 followed by Kg4 next. A very sad end of the game
65...Rd7 66.g6 b4
for Kramnik, who really had his chances during the middle
game and basically lost a drawish endgame. But it is a great
example for us on how knight and rook work together to stop
the opponent’s pawns from running further. 1-0
47.Qf5! and Black has only two checks and then he gets
(16) Wang Yue (2716) mated on g6... 47...Qe1+ 48.Bf1 Qe3+ 49.Kh1h]
- Ding Liren (2749)
46.Qxf6+! Bxf6 47.Kf2 At first sight the game is drawn,
because the connected passed pawns on the kingside are
Hainan Danzhou GM, GM Csaba Balogh
Best rating: 2672 fixed and perfectly blockaded by the king, while the black
2015.07.06
bishop could succesfully protect the queenside. However,
Wang Yue sees the position much more deeply...
In this position, Wang Yue simplifies the game to a very 47...Bh4+ Black prepares to defend his b6 pawn from a5 with
instructive opposite colored bishop endgame. He perfectly the bishop. That looks completely safe. [The diagonal is too
foresees and evaluates the consequences . short if Black wants to do the same from d8-c7. Black quickly
45.Qd6+! This forces the exchange of the queen. [45.Qxb6+ gets into zugzwang after 47...Kg5 48.Kf3 Be7 49.Be2 Bd8
45...Bf6 46.Qxc5 should be also winning, but of course with 50.Ke4 Bf6 51.Bf3 White does the same preparation like in
the queens on board, Black might always hope for salvation. the game. He settles his bishop to f3 from where it not only
If the bishop endgame is winning, then there is no reason to blocks the e5 pawn, but also defends the g4. It gives free way
allow counterchances...] to the king to attack the b6... 51...Bg7 52.Kd5 Bf6 53.Kc6
Bd8 54.Kd7 Bf6 55.Kc7h and the pawn is lost.]
45...Qf6 Only chance! [45...Bf6 loses now to 46.Qf8+! Bg7
48.Kf3 Kg5 49.Be2! White preserves all his pawns and
prepares to centralize his king.
49...Be1 50.Ke4 Bc3 51.Bf3 Bb4 Well, Black believes, that
the e5 pawn does not make much difference, which is actually
true from the matter of the outcome... [51...Bd4 52.Kd5 Bc3
53.Be4! Using the fact, that the g4 pawn cannot be taken
because the h-pawn queens. Suddenly Black finds himself
in zugzwang. If the bishop moves and it keeps the e5 pawn kingside, it frees the black bishop to move. However here
protected, Kc6 is going to win the one on b6. He could only comes the brilliant idea, which was foreseen by Wang Yue
play then 53...Kh6 but it loses to 54.Ke6! Threatening with before trading the queens...
Kf6 and pushing the g-pawn... 54...Kg5 55.Bd1!! Kh6 56.b4!! cxb4 [56...Bxb4 57.Kxb6h is over,
since the a-pawn promotes.]
57.Bb3! This is the point! The black bishop is trapped and
suddenly Black finds himself in zugzwang! He can only move
with his king now, but after...
57...Kg5 58.Kd5 [58.Kd5 Black resigned because the king
goes towards f6 and promotes the g-pawn. 58...Kh6 59.Ke6
Kg5 60.Ke5 At some point Black is forced to sacrifice his
b6-pawn to free his bishop, but then 60...b5 61.axb5 and the
white king goes back to support the b-pawn. White wins!] 1-0
55.h6! is the point and the reason why Black gave up his
e5 pawn. Now the bishop cannot take part in stopping the
g-pawn... 55...Kxh6 56.Kf6h and the g-pawn promotes
automatically.]
52.Kxe5 The appearance of the e5 pawn does not change
the strategy of the defense. The kingside pawns are still
blockaded and the b6 pawn can be still defended with Ba5...
52...Bc3+ 53.Kd5 Bd2 54.Kc6 Ba5
It looks like the game is drawn, because Black just starts

waiting with Kh6-g5 or if the white king approaches the
Golden knowledge (18) Svidler - Gelfand
GM Adrian Mikhalchishin
FIDE Trainers Commission Chairman
1...Qc8 2.Kf7 Qd8 3.Rg7+ [We get to the known position
after 3.Kg7 3...Qe8]
I) Fighting against the queen with the rook 3...Kf5 4.Rh7 Qd7+ 5.Kg8 Qe8+ 6.Kg7 Kg5 This
(17) 1 zugzwang is the simplest way to win, as in the previous
example. It is the most instructive method which has to be
known and applied on every level. 1-0
(19) Morozevich, A. - Jakovenko, D.

Pamplona ESP, 2006
The simplest way in such cases is to transfer the move to

the opponent, as he will be in zugzwang. It is something
like a queen triangulation, similar to the king triangulation in
pawns endings.
1.Qd5+ The simplest way to win most of this kind of position
is to lose a tempo-to give opponent possibiolity to destroy its
coordination of the pieces. Simply-zugzwang. 104.Qd4+ [104.Qe5! Setting Black in zugzwang and keeping
1...Kh8 2.Qh1+ Kg8 3.Qh5! Ra7 4.Qd5+ Kh8 5.Qh1+ control over the important h2 square. 104...Rf2 105.Kg3 Rg2+
Kg8 6.Qg1+ 1-0 106.Kh3 is easily winning.]
104...Kg2 105.Qd3 [105.Qe5 Once again, but when in (21) Beliavsky, A. - Boersma, P.
modern games with 30 second increment the player goes in Tilburg, 1993
the wrong direction, only the opponent’s mistake can help
him.]
105...Kg1 106.Qe3+ Kf1 107.Qc1+ Kf2 108.Qd2+ Kg1
109.Qe1+ Kg2 110.Qg3+ [110.Qe5 ]
110...Kh1 111.Kf3?? [It was necessary to play 111.Qe5 ]
111...Rf2+! and the rook becomes untouchable.
112.Ke3 Re2+ 113.Kd3 Rd2+ 114.Kxd2 1/2-1/2
(20) Szablewski, M. - Radjabov, T.

EU-ch U10, 1996 72...Kg8?? A terrible mistake. Much better would be the
drawn continuation [72...Rf8 ]
73.Qh6 1-0
(22) Penrose, J. - Hartston, W.

Great Britain (ch), 1970
Sometimes the players cannot win with just queen against

rook, but even with an additional pawn! The most frequently
underestimated defence in all type of queens endings is the
stalemate motif.
114.h7?? [114.Qe7 was winning as there is no more stalemate
defense.]
1...Kh7? A typical mistake, made in many games. Correct
114...Rg5+ 115.Ke4 Rg4+ 116.Kd5 Rg5+ 117.Ke6 1/2-1/2 was to keep the opponent’s king far from the 7th rank.
[1...Rg7!= ]
2.Kf7h Rg5 3.Qf6 Rg8 4.Qe6 Rg5 [4...Rg7+ 5.Kf8 Rg5
6.Qe7+ Kh8 7.Qf7!h]
5.Kf8 h5 6.Qf7+ Kh6 7.Qf6+ Rg6 8.Qf4+ Kh7 9.Qe5!
Kh6 10.Kf7 h4 11.Qe4! 1-0
(23) Jaszczuk, B. - Gniot, T.

Szczecin, 1949
The position is drawn since the king is cut off.

57.Qc8+ Kh7 58.h4 Rg6 59.Qf5 Kg7 60.Kh3 Rg1 61.Qc5
Rg6 62.Qe5+ Kg8 63.Qf5 Rg7 64.Qe5 Kh7 65.Qe4+
Kh8 66.Kh2 Kg8 67.Qe6+ Kh7 68.Kh3 Rg8 1/2-1/2
(25)
1.Kh3?? [1.Kh1! In such cases it is necessary to use

self-stalemate motifs.]
1...Qd2 2.Rg4 Qd7 3.Kh4 Qd3 4.Rg5 Qd8 5.Kh5 Qd4
6.Rg6 Qe3 7.Kg4 Qe4+ 8.Kh5 Qe8 9.Kh6 Qe5 10.Rg5
Qh2+ 11.Kg6 Qh7+ 12.Kf6 Qe4 13.Rg6 Qf4+ 14.Ke6
Qf7+ 0-1
In many cases the only way to win is to find a favorable
(24) Stefansson, H. - Bjarnason, S. transposition into a pawn ending.
ISL-ch, 2002.08.29 1...Kf7 [Does not help 1...Kh7 2.Kf4 Rf6 3.Ke5 Rh6 4.Qe6!!
Kh8 5.Kd6]
2.Qd8 Rf6 [2...Rh3 3.f6 is winning.]
3.Qxf6+! gxf6+ 4.Kh6
(26) Pismenny, A. - Shwarz, B. Here we see another very important practical ending.
Moscov, 1968 68...Qe4 69.Ka2?? [According to the analysis of Grigorjev
from 1917, correct is 69.Ra3= ]
69...a3 70.Kb1 [70.Rb3+ did not help: 70...Kc4 71.Kb1 a2+]
70...Qe1+ 71.Ka2 Qc1 72.Rb3+ Ka4 0-1
(28) Rogulj, B. - Andres, M.

Jugoslavija , 1968
Here is the same main (and only!) idea to win this endgame:
to transpose into a winning pawn ending.
1.Qf6!! Kf8 2.Kd8 [It is strange that the well-known
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHEESS ENDGAMES does not show the
following mate: 2.Qh8+ 2...Ke7 3.Qd8#]
2...Kg8 3.Kd7 Re1 4.g6 1-0
1.Rf3? [The correct defense is 1.Ra3! As it was stated before it
(27) Timman, J. - Nunn, J. is necessary to stop a4-a3. 1...Qf6+ 2.Ka2 Qh6 3.Kb2! Qh1
Wijk aan Zee , 1982 4.Rd3 Qa8 5.Ra3!=]
1...a3+! 2.Ka2 Qc4+ 3.Rb3+ Ka4 4.Ka1 a2 [Wrong was
4...Qxc2 because of the classical stalemate defence, which
has to be known by every player: 5.Rxa3+ Kb4 6.Rb3+ Kc4
7.Rb4+ Kd3 8.Rb3+ Kd2 9.Rb2]
5.Rb2 Qf1+ 6.Kxa2 Qc1! Once again the winning method is
through zugzwang. 0-1
(29) Akopian, V. - Djukic, Z. (30) Kotov, Al - Pachman, L.
Niska Banja , 1991 Moscow-Prague, 1946
When the exact position is not reached there are very 79...h4?? [The correct theoretical way would be 79...Qc2!
interesting and instructive options to prevent it. 80.Kh1 Qd2 (Even now some players managed to make
1.Qh4!! []h [1.Qxf4? 1...Ra6=] mistakes: 80...h4? 81.Rxh4 Qf2
1...Rg3 [1...Kg7 2.Qg5+ Kf8 3.Qd8+ Kg7 4.Qd4+! Kg8
5.Kd6 Ra6+ (5...Re3 6.Qxf4 Re6+ 7.Kd7h) 6.Kd7 Rg6
7.Qd5! Kg7 (7...Rg3 8.Ke7! Re3+ 9.Kf6 Re6+ 10.Qxe6 fxe6
11.Kxe6h) 8.Qe5+ Kg8 (8...Kh7 9.Qxf4 Rxg2 10.Ke7h)
9.Ke7! Rxg2 10.Qb8+h]
2.Qh8+! Rg8 3.Qh6+ Rg7 4.Kd6! Kg8 5.Ke7 Rg6 [5...f5+
6.Kf6h; 5...Rxg2 6.Qf8+ Kh7 7.Kxf7h]
6.Qf8+ Kh7 7.Qxf7+! [7.Kxf7 7...f3! 8.g4! (8.gxf3? 8...Rf6+!=;
8.Qc5? 8...Rg7+ 9.Kf6 fxg2=) 8...f2 9.Ke7h]
82.Rg4+!! (or Jana Krivec way: 82.Rf4 82...Qxg3 83.Rf5+ Kg6
7...Rg7 8.Kf6 1-0 84.Rf6+) ) 81.Kg1 Qe2 82.Kh1 h4! 83.Rxh4 Qf1+ 84.Kh2
Qf2+ 85.Kh3 Qg1 is winning.]
80.Rxh4 Qf3 81.Rh2 Qd1+ 82.Kg2 Qd5+ 83.Kf2 Qd2+
84.Kg1 Qe1+ 85.Kg2 Qe2+ 86.Kg1 Qf3 87.Rf2 Qd1+
88.Kg2 Qe1 89.Rf4 Qe2+ 1/2-1/2
(31) Zaric, V. - Feher, S. opponent’s king: 60...Qg6+ 61.Kh2 Qf5 62.Kg3 Qe5+
Yugoslavia, 1994 63.Kf3 (or 63.Kh3 63...Qg5 64.Rg4 Qf5 65.Kg3 h5 66.Rh4
Qg5+ 67.Kh3 Qg1 68.Rxh5+ Ke4 is winning.) 63...Qg5
64.Rh3 Kd4 65.Rg3 Qd5+ 66.Ke2 Qh1 and the h7 pawn will
come like an express.]
61.Rh3 Qe4+ 62.Kh2 Kf6 63.Re3 Qd5 64.Rg3 h5 65.Re3
Kg5 66.Rg3+ Kf4 67.Re3 h4 68.Rh3 Qb7 and we once
again have the Grigorjev position.
69.Re3 Kg4 70.Rh3 Qb1 71.Kg2 Qh7 72.Kh2 Qc7+
73.Kg2 Qc2 74.Re3 1/2-1/2
(33) Kuzmin, G. - Polugaevsky, L.

66.Qf7 Rh1?? [66...Rg5+!! Sometimes people know,
sometimes not!] USSR , 1975
67.Kg5? [Better was 67.Qf2 67...Kg7 68.Qa7+]

67...Rg1+ 68.Kh6 Rh1+ 69.Kxg6 Rg1+ 70.Kh5 Rh1+
71.Kg4 Rg1+ 72.Kh3 Rh1+ 73.Kg2 Rg1+ 1/2-1/2
(32) Averbakh, Y. - Bondarevsky, I.

URS-ch16, 1948
Now let us check how top players transpose into this concrete
ending:
42...Ra6!! 43.Bxb8? [43.Qe7!c was still keeping the
advantage.]
43...Nxb8 44.Qxb8 gxh5 45.Qxe5+ Kg8 46.Qb8+
[46.Qxh5 leads to a dead draw after 46...Re6+]
46...Kg7 47.Qb2+ Kg8 48.gxh5 and now we have the
60...Ke6? [It was necessary to immediately attack the position from the Grigorjev analysis.
48...Re6+ 49.Kf3 Kh7 50.Kg4 Rh6 51.Kg5 Re6 52.Qh2 II) Fighting against the queen with minor pieces
Rh6 53.Qf4 Kg7 54.Qxf7+ 1/2-1/2
(34) 3
Here is one of the most important fortressess. The black

pieces maintain an unbreakable zone around the king.
(35) 4
Two bishops don’t allow the opponent’s queen to mate.
(36) 2 Chess and the City.
A look says more than a thousand
words...
Two knights, when placed close to the own king, also keep a WGM Elisabeth Paehtz
draw. Best rating: 2493
1.Qd1 Nd2+ 2.Ke2 Nb3 3.Qe1+ Kc4 4.Qh4+ Kc3 5.Qf6+

Nd4+ 6.Kf2 Nd5 1/2-1/2
Picture taken from the official website of the French Chess Federation
Being a captain of a women team brings not only a huge

responsibility, but also requires steady nerves, a thick skin
and, most importantly, the ability to stay calm whatever
happens, whenever needed. Obviously, these traits are not
given by birth, and usually it takes ages, sometimes a lifetime
of practice to acquire them. Thus, unsurprisingly, most wise
men throw in the towel much earlier, and these are the ones I
would call clever...
On the other hand, the "tough - believers", who we can realize how hard the job that he has chosen is. Somewhere
unceremoniously call the masochists, see a life goal in leading behind him, in the red shirt, is GM Pavel Tregubov, seriously
a women team. From my own experience of being a national worried and looking dangerously close to a heart attack.
team member for more than a decade, after every team event Apparently, even an experienced team captain like Pavel has
the tough-believers experience real physical consequences not yet learnt the hard lesson that women teams must be
(increased hair loss and quicker aging in general...), and on only met for cocktails and not for training them...
top of that they always need some extra vacations or, in the
worst scenario, some psychological support. I guess this
is well-known to all chess players and should not come as
a surprise to those who have witnessed or played in team
events which include a women section.
But let us take a practical example, which can illustrate the
physical suffering of these poor idealistic creatures...What
do we see in this picture? Yep, on the surface we can spot
that it is a women’s match between former World Champion
Alexandra Kosteniuk and myself. However, this is not really
relevant here and should not be the focus of the reader’s
attention. The crucial part here is the facial expressions. But
to fully understand the pain of the poor bystanders I must give
you some information about the importance of the particular
match shown in the picture. My team "Philidor Mulhouse"
was down 2-1 against the team of "Clichy" and in case I could
manage to win the game we would level the score, and,
more importantly, proceed to the final of the Top 12 French
Women‘s Team Championship. This is because the win on the
top board would also count as a tie-break according to the
French regulation.
Now, strengthened by this knowledge, we can finally
understand the drama that is unfolding. First we can name
our Team Captain ”Jiji” alias GM Jean Noel Riff (the guy in the
black Nike polo), who does not seem too confident about the
actual outcome of the game. This or he was chewing a lemon.
Since he is only in his mid 30s he still has plenty of time to
Clash of the Titans typical plan to activate the bishop on b3. 13...Nxd4 14.Bxd4
exf5 15.exf5 Bc6 16.Qd3 Rae8 with the idea to exchange
the strong bishop on d4 after Nd7-Bf6 or Bd8-Bb6. This line
(37) Kupreichik, Viktor D doesn’t bring White any advantage.; 7.Be3 7...Qxb2 8.Ndb5
- Tal, Mihail [B82] Qb4 9.Qe2 Qa5 10.Bd2 Qd8 11.Nd5 Nxd5 12.exd5 Ne5
and White doesn’t have full compensation for the pawn.;
Sochi schev, 1970 7.Nxc6 7...bxc6 8.O-O should not be dangerous since Black
can develop the pieces over g6-Bg7 or e6-Be7.]
GM Kamil Miton 7...e6 8.Be3 Black lost time for Qb6-Qc7, but in exchange the
Best rating: 2655
white knight is not placed on the central d4 square.
8...Qc7 9.f4 a6 White is preparing to put pressure on the
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 [In this move kingside and Black does the same on the queenside.
order White had the additional opportunity to play a Maroczy
structure. 5.c4 ] 10.Bd3 b5 11.a3 [11.Qf3 11...b4 12.Ne2 (12.Na4 12...Rb8)
12...Bb7 13.c4 bxc3 wasn’t necessary. 14.Nxc3 Be7 15.O-O
5...Nf6 6.Bc4 [Nowdays a more popular weapon against the Nb4 (15...O-O 16.Rac1C) 16.Bb1 d5! and Black takes the
Rauser is 6.Bg5 ] initiative.]
6...Qb6 A very concrete move. White needs to decide what 11...Be7 12.Qf3 Bb7
to do with the knight. The alternativewas [6...e6 7.Be3 and
White can play a very sharp line called Velimirovich Attack,
with Qe2-0-0-0-g4.]
13.O-O [13.g4 13...d5 (13...b4 14.axb4 Nxb4 15.g5 Nd7 and

because the white king looks weak, Black is fine.) 14.exd5
exd5 15.Nd4 (15.g5 15...d4!) 15...O-O and Black will get
7.Nb3 [7.Ndb5 7...a6 8.Be3 Qa5 9.Nd4 e6 10.O-O Be7 counterplay on the e4 square. 16.g5 Nxd4 17.Bxd4 Ne4Vand
11.Bb3 (11.f4 11...O-O and White anyway has to lose time for even if Black lost the pawn he would have compensation
Bb3. 12.f5?? Qc5 13.Bb3 e5i) 11...O-O 12.f4 Bd7 13.f5 A because of the weak white king.]
13...Rc8 14.Rae1 [14.Qg3 14...g6 15.Rae1 (15.f5 15...gxf5
16.exf5 Rg8 and White has problems with the g2 square.)
15...h5VBlack can keep his king in the center and I have no
idea how to break his position. One of Black’s ideas could be
to play h4-h3 to weaken the h1-a8 diagonal.]
14...O-O [14...h5!? with the same idea as in the previous
comment.]
15.Qh3 After Black castled, White has more attacking ideas...
15...b4 21.Qh4 With the trap that now Black is not able to move the
knight from f6 because of the well-known tactical motif Qxh7!
and Rh3-Rh8 mate. [21.Qh6 21...Nc6! An important move.
Black needs to hurry with taking out the strong bishop on d4.
22.Bxf6 Bxf6 23.Rh3 Rfe8i and with the bishop on f6 Black
is safe.]
21...Nbd7 [21...Nh5 22.Qxh5!h]
22.Qh6 Qb7 23.Rg3
16.Nd5!? An interesting idea. Kupreichik going to play in

Tal style! [16.axb4 16...Nxb4Vand Black will eliminate the
important bishop on d3.]
16...exd5 17.exd5 Nb8 The best answer because Black is
going to support the knight on f6 after Nbd7.
18.Bd4 g6 [18...h6? 19.Bxf6 Bxf6 20.Qf5h]
19.Rf3 A logical move. White activates the rook.
23...Nc5? A mistake! Black should quickly eliminate the d4
19...Bxd5 20.Rfe3 Bd8 bishop. [23...Bb6! 24.Bxg6 (24.f5 24...Ne5 Controlling the g6
square!) 24...Bxd4+ 25.Nxd4 fxg6 26.Rxg6+ hxg6 27.Qxg6+
Kh8 28.Qh6+ White has no bishop on d4 and Black is able to
play the simple 28...Nh7i]
24.Nxc5 dxc5 [24...Rxc5 25.f5! Rc7 Trying to protect the
position over the 7th rank. 26.Qh4 Re7 27.Rf1 Re5! Closing Surprise section / study
the dangerous diagonal. 28.fxg6 fxg6 29.Bxg6 Kh8 and Black
should hold the position.] (38) Shikril
25.f5 1. h
25...cxd4?? The decisive mistake! Black could hold the

position after the logical [25...Rc7! 26.fxg6 fxg6 27.Bxc5
Be7 (27...Rg7!? 28.Bxf8 Kxf8k) 28.Rxg6+ (28.Rxe7 28...Rxe7
29.Bxg6 Re1+ 30.Kf2 Ng4+ 31.Kxe1 Nxh6 32.Bh5+ Qg7
33.Rxg7+ Kxg7 34.Bxf8+ Kxf8 35.axb4 Bxg2i) 28...hxg6
29.Qxg6+ Kh8 30.Qh6+ Kg8=]
26.fxg6 fxg6 27.Bxg6! h Kh8 28.Qxf8+ Ng8 29.Bf5
White is now winning in many ways...
29...Rb8 30.Re8 Qf7 31.Rh3 1-0
Solutions (41) Ortiz Suarez, I(2572)-Gonzalez Vidal, Y(2550)
Capablanca memorial B, 2015.06.25
(39) Topalov, V(2798)-Caruana, F(2805)
Norway Chess, 2015.06.23
23.Qxc8! f6 [23...Rxc8 24.Rxc8+ Bf8 25.Bd6 h6 26.Bxf8

Kh7 27.e3h]
38.Ne6+! fxe6 39.Qc7+ Kf6 40.Qd8+! Kf7 [40...Ne7??
24.h3 Qf5 25.Bb8 Rxc8 26.Rxc8+ Kf7 27.Bxa7h
41.Qf8#]
(42) Ivanchuk, V(2733)-Matras Clement, A(2269)
41.Qd7+ Kf8 [41...Ne7? 42.d6h]
Edmonton GM, 2015.06.24
42.Qd8+ Kf7 43.Qd7+ Kf8 44.Qd8+ 1/2
(40) Anand, V(2804)-Hammer, J(2677)
Norway Chess, 2015.06.24
37.Rxf8+! 1-0 [37.Rxf8+ 37...Kxf8 38.Qa8+ Qe8 39.Qxb7h]
34.Bxg6! Qxg6 35.Qxe5+ Kg8 36.Qxc5 1-0
(43) Haessel, D(2180)-Harikrishna, P(2733) (45) Hambleton, A(2446)-Ganguly, S(2625)
Edmonton GM, 2015.06.24 Edmonton GM, 2015.06.27
32...Rxg3+! 33.Kxg3 Qg5+ 34.Kf3 [34.Kf2 34...Rh2+i]

23...Nxf3+! 24.gxf3 [24.Ke2 24...Nxd2 25.Qxd2 Nd3i]
34...Rh3+ 35.Kf2 [35.Ke2 35...Rh2+ 36.Qf2 Rxf2+ 37.Kxf2
24...Qe3+ 25.Kf1 [25.Kd1 25...Qxf3+ 26.Re2 Nd3 27.Qc3
Qf6+ 38.Ke2 Qxc3i]
(27.Qxc4 27...Nb2+i) 27...Qxh1+ 28.Kd2 Ba6i]
35...Qg3+ 36.Ke2 Rh2+ 37.Kf1 Qg2+ 38.Ke1 Rh1+ 0-1
25...Qxf3+ 26.Kg1 Qe3+ 27.Kf1 Qf3+ 28.Kg1 Qe3+
(44) Shankland, S(2656)-Pechenkin, V(2314) 29.Kf1 Nd3! i 30.h4 [30.Qd1 30...Qf4+ 31.Kg1 Qxe4i]
Edmonton GM, 2015.06.25 30...Qf4+ 31.Kg1 Qe3+ 32.Kf1 c3 33.Rhh2 Ba6 34.Rhe2
Qxe2+ 0-1 [34...Qxe2+ 35.Kxe2 Nxc1+ 36.Kd1 cxd2i]
(46) Kobalia, M(2623)-Fedoseev, V(2674)
25.Nxe5! Qg5 [25...dxe5 26.Rxf6! Qxe2 27.Rxf8+ Rxf8

28.Bxe2h; 25...Qxe2 26.Ng6+ Kg8 (26...Kh7 27.Nxf8+h)
27.Bxe2h]
26.h4 1-0 [26.h4 26...Qxh4 (26...Qg3 27.Ra3h) 27.Ng6+h] 28.Rxf5+! Nxf5 29.Qe8# 1-0
(47) Shimanov, A(2606)-Alekseev, E(2651) (49) Pogosiants
1.Ne5+! Ka5 [1...Ka3 2.Qb3#; 1...Kb5 2.Qb3+ Kc5 3.Qb4#]

2.Qd8+!! Kb5 [2...Qxd8 3.Nxc6+ Kb6 4.Nxd8h]
22...Rxf2+! 23.Rxf2 e3+ 24.Rf3 Ne1+! 25.Kh3 [25.Kg1 3.Bc4+! Rxc4 [3...Kc5 4.Qa5#; 3...Kb4 4.Bd5+h]
25...Nxf3+ 26.exf3 Qxf3i]
4.Qa5+!! [4.Qxd6 4...Rxh4+ 5.Kg1 Rhh5=]
25...Qe4 0-1 [25...Qe4 26.Rf4 Qg2+ 27.Kh4 Qxh2+ 28.Kg5
Qxg3+i] 4...Kxa5 5.Nxc4+ Kb5 6.Nxd6+ Kc5 7.Nxf5h
(48) Riazantsev, A(2658)-Chekhov, S(2476)
19.Qxc6! Qxc6 20.Ne7+ Kh8 21.Nxc6h
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
The main event of the week is clearly the match between
Russia and China, with both a men’s and women’s match.
Editorial Preface 2 Both teams are young, fighting and very much want to win
this prestigious match.
After 3 rounds, the Chinese men have a slight advantage
and in the ladies match the Russians are in the lead for the
moment.
The K-Files.
Breaking the Symmetry II - 5.e3 dxc4 11 Another interesting match, which also takes place in China, is
being played between Ding Liren (the Chinese super star) and
Boris Gelfand. Here the first 2 games ended in a draw.
Young & Talented 14
In Warsaw the very strong Najdorf Memorial, an open
Puzzle section 16 tournament, is underway and in Georgia the 10th Nana
Aleksandria Cup is being played.
Endgame section 19 Next week the super tournament in Biel starts and we will be
focusing our attention on this event in the next newsletter.
Golden knowledge. For now we wish hope you enjoy this week’s issue!
QUEEN against PIECES 23
Chess and the City.
The unbearable lightness of aging 32
Solutions 37
(1) Matlakov, Maxim (2691)

- Lu, Shanglei (2595) [D30]
China-Russia Match 2015(1.3),

Best rating: 2737
7...Nc6 It is written in every book that you should not put
your knight in front of the c-pawn, but in the current situation
The match between China and Russia is always very
Black is planning to put his knight on e7.
interesting one. Despite both being young teams that
show great fighting games, they have completely different 8.Rd1 a5 Black is planning to play Ne7-b6 and get the bishop
styles of play. The Russians usually play positionally and to a6.
have big theoretical knowledge, while the Chinese have a 9.a3 A very solid reply. [Another idea of Black could have been
much more tactical style, fighting until the very end and visible after 9.Ne5 9...Nb4! It is quite rare to put the knight on
with sometimes rare opening setups. In the current game b4, but in this case Black is aiming for fast play in the center.
Matlakov demonstrates amazing positional play which gives 10.Qb3 c5 11.dxc5 Qc7 With an unclear position.]
him a full point in just 30 moves-which is a very rare thing
against a Chinese opponent... 9...Ne7 [If Black tried to fix White’s pawn structure with 9...a4
10.Ne5 looks very strong now.]
1.d4 It is a bit strange, but most of the young Russian players
start their games with 1.d4. 10.Nc3 This is clearly the best position for the white knight.
1...d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 We have a Catalan. 10...b6 [It is very dangerous for Black to take the pawn on c4:
10...dxc4 11.e4 and both black knights are badly placed.]
4...g6 A very rare set up, but it is not that stupid.
11.Bf4 White had many other interesting setups, as for
5.Bg2 Bg7 Black’s idea in this line is to put maximum example to play Bg5 with the idea of the e4 push or to put the
pressure on the d4 pawn. knight on e5. In my opinion this 5...g6 setup at least looks a
6.O-O O-O 7.Qc2 A very nice move in my opinion. White is bit strange for Black.
preparing to play Rd1 to fix the only problematic piece in his 11...Bb7 A logical move but it leads to a clearly worse
position. position. Maybe Black should have tried 11...dxc4 to at least
change the course of the game.
17.Nb5 Qxb4 18.Qxc7 Ba6 19.Rb1 The lines are quite forced
here. 19...Qa5 20.Nd6 Bxe2 21.Qxe7 Bxd1 22.Rxd1 and of
course White is much better here, but Black might have some
chances for a draw.]
16.Qb3 Another very solid move. The queen takes a nice
position on b3.
16...h6 Black can’t do much anyway and Lu is preparing to
play g5 at some point.
12.cxd5! A very smart move! 17.Ne5 Qe6 Whites position is great, but how to break
through?!
12...exd5 [In case of 12...Nfxd5 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 it is usually
great for Black to exchange one pair of knights, but now White
is in time to get a better position with 14.Bg5! winning an
important tempo to play e4 next and Black is not in time with
Rc8-c5.]
13.Rac1 Now we are in a more or less typical position, where
White is clearly better because of the bad position of the black
bishop on b7 and the weakness of the c6 square, which will be
visible very soon. Usually in such structures it is much better
for Black to have the bishop on e6 and the pawn on b7.
18.b5 Now things are getting forced. [A good option was to
13...Ne8 14.b4 Very standard play by Matlakov but White play 18.h4 stopping g5 and intending to play b5 next, with full
also had another very interesting option: [14.Qb3 The goal is domination.]
simply to put maximum pressure on d5 and wait for a good
moment to play Nb5 or Na4-Nc5. 14...Nd6 In case Black 18...g5 is Black’s only chance to break free. [18...Nd6 19.Nc6
doesn’t play Nd6, then why was Ne8 needed... 15.Bxd6 cxd6 gives White a nice advantage.]
16.Ne1 With the idea of playing Nd3-Nf4. It is going to be very 19.Bd2 Nd6 Now the white bishop on d2 is not so well
hard for Black to defend the d5 pawn, so White clearly has a placed.
big advantage.] 20.Nc6 Bxc6 Black should not give up the bishop pair... [It
14...axb4 15.axb4 Qd7 A very dangerous move, as now White was more logical to play 20...Nxc6 21.bxc6 Bxc6 22.Bxd5
often has Ne5 with tempo. [Another option for Black was (22.Nxd5 22...Ba4) 22...Bxd5 23.Qxd5 b5 Whites position
to play 15...Nd6 16.Bxd6 Qxd6 This looks very dangerous looks better, but I am not sure if the advantage is so
for Black, but maybe it was the best chance to play on. significant.]
21.bxc6 Ra5? This is already a clear mistake. [21...Bxd4 Black
had to go for a worse endgame after 22.Nxd5 Nxd5 23.Qxd5
Qxd5 24.Bxd5 Rfd8 and of course White is clearly better, but
Black’s position remains very solid and hard to break.]
22.e3 Now White is of course not giving Black another chance
to get the d4 pawn.
22...Rfa8
27.Bh3! The winning move! There is no protection against

Bxe7 any longer.
27...h5 All the moves were losing at this stage.
28.Bxe7 g4 29.Bf1 Preparing Nxc7.
29...Nxe7 30.Nxc7 followed by Bxa6. A really nice game by
Matlakov who played safe and good moves, which brought
him a winning position. 1-0
23.Nb1! A great move! White wants to activate the d2 bishop
over b4.
23...R5a6 24.Bb4 Suddenly Black’s position is almost lost!
White wants to play Nc3 next and win the d5 pawn.
24...Ndf5 In a bad position there are no good moves, but Lu
chooses a painful death... [24...Bf8 would have been a bit
more stubborn. 25.Nc3 Ne4 26.Nxe4 dxe4 But here as well
White can choose between an endgame with a pawn up and
a simple crush in the centerwith 27.d5 an Black’s position is
very bad.]
25.Nc3 The white knight is going to b5.
25...Rd8 26.Nb5 Rc8 The c7 pawn is protected, but it
doesn’t solve the all of Black’s problems.
10.Bxc3 e5 11.O-O-O
(2) Volokitin, Andrei (2654)
- Zhigalko, Andrey (2574) [B32]
Najdorf Mem Open A 2015(4.2), GM Csaba Balogh

2015.07.13 Best rating: 2672
A very sharp Sicilian game. White seemed to have the

advantage and the upper hand, but with a great intuitive
sacrifice in the middlegame, Black managed to take over the
initiative and turned the game in his favor.
11...a5 This is the new direction. There were some fresh
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qb6 The Grivas games with it, but it should not be good for Black. He gave
variation. It is not so common on the highest level, but in open up the bishop pair, created many holes in his camp (b5, d6)
tournaments it is always popular to lead the game onto some and the position of his pieces, especially the undeveloped c8
less explored, sharp territories. bishop, does not justify all these weaknesses.
5.Nb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 e6 12.g4 The standard attacking method. Both sides start
advancing their pawns in front of the opponent’s king. [12.f4
7.Qe2 Volokitin chooses the most interesting setup as usual

with opposite side castling. also looks very promising at first sight, trying to open the long
7...Bb4 8.Bd2 O-O 9.a3 Bxc3 A rare and in my opinion diagonal and damage the pawn structure after taking on f6,
dubious move. [Black should rather go for the main line however Black has the following unexpected blow: 12...d5!
with 9...Be7 when the lines continue with 10.e5 (10.O-O-O using the fact that after Bg4 White does not have f4 anymore.
10...d5) 10...Nd5 11.Nxd5 exd5 followed by d6, getting rid of 13.Rxd5 Nxd5 14.exd5 Nd4 15.Qxe5 Nxb3+ 16.cxb3 f6 With
the doubled pawns.] mutual chances.]
12...d6 13.g5 Ne8 14.f4 Volokitin is a dynamic player and
he wants to squeeze the black pieces completely with f5,
while taking on f4 just temporarily wins a pawn, but it opens
the diagonal of the c3 bishop and vacates the d4 square
for the knight. [However the computer recommends 14.Rg1
14...Be6 15.Qe3! Qxe3+ 16.fxe3 with a clear advantage in
the endgame. The black queenside is vulnerable while the
doubled e-pawns cannot be attacked, they rather control the
important central squares.]
14...Be6! Black could not allow closing all his pieces with 17...d5!! It is possible to miss such moves! Black frees his
f5. [14...exf4 15.Qf3 Qe3+ 16.Qxe3 fxe3 17.Rg1! followed by position and he is ready to bring his knight to the excellent
winning back the pawn with Rg3, with a clear advantage in the outpost on d6!
endgame.; If Black includes 14...a4 15.Nd2 before grabbing 18.exd5 [18.Rxd5? drops an exchange after 18...Ne7!;
the pawn on f4 to avoid the knight going to d4 15...exf4 18.Qxd5? is strongly met by 18...Rd8 19.Qc4 Rxd1+ 20.Kxd1
suddenly the knight appears on other good squares: 16.Nc4 Nd6! 21.Qd3 Rd8 and suddenly all the black pieces
Qc7 17.Qf2 and the plan is Nb6-d5, or after taking on f4, are extremely actively placed, while the white ones have
Ne3-d5!] completely lost their coordination.]
15.f5! A pawn sacrifice for the superior structure! 18...Nd6 19.Qe2 [19.Qd3 does not allow Nd4 with tempo,
15...Bxb3 16.cxb3 Rc8! Black feels that his best chance is but moves into 19...Nb4! 20.axb4 axb4 and after taking on
to stay active! It is more important than grabbing pawns. c3, the opening files in front of the white king will decide the
[16...Qxb3 is met by 17.Qb5! Qxb5 18.Bxb5 and despite the game. We can clearly see now the difference between the
extra pawn, the endgame is terrible for Black. White can great knight on d6 and the poor bishop on f1!]
strengthen his position however he wants and at the same 19...Nd4 20.Qxe5
time Black cannot move with his pieces.]
17.Qc4? This is the mistake which leads to the turn of
the game... [17.Qb5 should have been played. White was
probably afraid of 17...Qxb5 18.Bxb5 Nd4 but he keeps an
advantage after 19.Bd7! Rc7 20.Bxe8 Rxe8 21.Kb1 Nxb3
22.Rxd6+=; If Black leaves from the Nd4 threat with 17.Kb1
17...Qxb3 is stronger as Qb5 does not work anymore because
the d1 rook has to be protected.]
20...Rxc3+!! This kind of sacrifices belong to such 26.Qg3 Ra4!? Black correctly avoids the repetition!
combinations, which cannot be calculated until the end, 27.Re1? White tries to use the weak back rank with Qxd6,
but Black must feel intuitively that after damaging the but Black is coming first... [The machine shows a miraclous
queenside structure he must have enough compensation survival after 27.Qg1! 27...Nc5 28.Rb1 Qc7 29.Rb5! Nxb5
against the king with such knights and heavy pieces. Black 30.Bxb5 Rxa3 31.Qe3! Both sides need to play precisely,
also prevented the potential mate on g7. otherwise they get into trouble... 31...Ne4! 32.Kb2! Qxc3+
21.bxc3 Nxb3+ 22.Kc2 Re8! Everything comes with tempo! 33.Qxc3 Rxc3 34.Re1 Rc5 35.Rxe4 Rxb5+ 36.Kc3 Kf8 37.d6
All the white pieces are undeveloped. Rd5 38.Re7 Rxd6 39.Rxb7 After dozens of only moves for
23.Qf4 Re4 24.Qg3 Re3 25.Qf4Black has played a perfect both sides, we have reached an endgame with an extra pawn
game since the pawn sacrifice with 17...d5. He also feels for Black, but the activity of the white rook and pawns should
correctly that he must have more than a repetition with enable him to hold the draw comfortably.]
Re4-e3, but he fails to find the right way of strengthening the 27...Rxa3! 28.Qxd6 Ra2+ 29.Kb1 [Perhaps White initially
attack. wanted to play 29.Kd3 but he missed
29...Nc1+! deflecting the rook! 30.Rxc1 (30.Kc4 30...Ra4+

25...Re4 [25...Qc5! was the strongest move, but Black should
31.Qb4 Rxb4+ 32.cxb4 Qxb4#) 30...Qxd6i; 29.Kd1
have foreseen some deep ideas before making this move...
29...Rd2#]
26.Bd3 Rf3!! This is th e key! Black drives his rook to a
protected square before taking on a3! (26...Qxa3 looks strong
with the idea of Qa2 mate, but White has 27.Rb1!h and
suddenly all the black pieces are hanging.) 27.Qe5 (27.Qxf3
27...Nd4+i wins.) 27...Qxa3 28.Rb1 Nc5! and the e3
rook is not hanging anymore, so the attack breaks through...
29.Qxd6 Qa4+! 30.Kc1 Nxd3+ 31.Kd2 Qa2+ 32.Kd1 Nf2+
33.Ke1 Re3+ 34.Kf1 Qe2+ 35.Kg1 Nh3#]
29...Nd2+! A great finish, which leads to a forced mate!
30.Kxa2 Qb3+ 31.Ka1 Qxc3+ 32.Ka2 Qc2+ [White
resigned in view of the mate in the next move: 32...Qc2+
33.Ka3 (33.Ka1 33...Nb3#) 33...Qb3# White is two rooks up,
but the mate takes it all!] 0-1
The K-Files. 7...Nc6 8.Nxc4 Be6 (8...cxd4 is the playable alternative
9.Nxd4 Nxd4 10.exd4 Bg7 11.O-O O-Ok) 9.Qa4 Bg7 10.Nfe5
Breaking the Symmetry II - 5.e3 dxc4 Bd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.O-O Edouard - Gledura, Hastings 2015,
and now 12...Nd7!? 13.dxc5 Nxc5 14.Qc2 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 Qd3
16.Qxd3 Nxd3 17.e4 O-O-O= would allow Black to defend
his queenside weaknesses with the king,) 7...cxd4 8.exd4 Bg7
9.Ne2 O-O 10.O-O Nc6 11.d5+= with the typical Gruenfeld
structure and some edge for White;
GM Alexander Khalifman b) 6...b5 7.Ne2 White intends to open c-file with b2-b3 and
FIDE World Chess Champion (1999) obtain the good compensation for a pawn, 7...Nd5 (after
Best rating: 2702 7...Bg7 8.b3 cxb3 9.axb3nWhite’s play is easy) 8.O-O a5
(8...Bg7 9.b3 c3 10.Ne4 b4 11.a3 Qa5 12.Rb1n) 9.e4 Nb6 10.b3
(3) Breaking the Symmetry II - 5.e3 dxc4 [D71] cxb3 11.axb3 Bg7 Dvirnyy - Salgado Lopez, Jerusalem 2015
12.Nf3!? O-O 13.Bf4n)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.e3 dxc4 Black accepts 7.Ne2 Bh6 prevented. This manoeuver is known from
the gambit pawn and it’s not easy for White to win it back. some Gruenfeld-Bg5 lines, 8.Qc2 b5 9.O-O O-O 10.b3 cxb3
11.axb3 a5 12.Nf3!? (12.e4 allowed Black to solve queenside
development problem 12...Na6! 13.Qxc6 Bd7 14.Qc2
Nb4 15.Qb1 Rc8 16.Nf3 Bxc1 17.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 18.Nxc1 Qc7=
Mamedyarov - Navara, Reykjavik 2015) 12...Bf5 (12...Nd5
13.Bd2n Black knight is still sleeping on b8,) 13.Qd1 Be4
14.Nc3 Bd5 15.Qc2n]
6...Nbd7!? The most accurate move order. Black plans to
defend the gambit pawn with the knight avoiding weakening
b7-b5, [
6.Ne2 This is Kramnik’s move, Now White is always reday to A) 6...Nd5?! 7.O-O b5 looks suspicious because of 8.a4!
meet black bishop on e6 with Nf4. [However it might happen Bb7 (8...b4 9.e4 Nc7 10.Be3 Ba6 11.Nd2c) 9.b3 cxb3
that the alternative 6.Nd2 invented by Edouard in August 10.axb5 cxb5 11.Qxb3 Qd7 (11...a6 12.Nec3 e6 13.Nxd5 Bxd5
2014 is the most critical line 6...Be6 since knight can’t jump 14.Bxd5 Qxd5 15.Qxd5 exd5 16.Nc3c) 12.Nbc3 Nxc3 13.Nxc3
to f4 yet ( Bxg2 14.Kxg2 a6 15.Nxb5 Bg7 16.Nc3c Navara - Hammer,
Tromsoe 2013;
a) 6...c5 Black gives a tempo but pretends to clear the
matters in the centre as soon as possible, 7.Nxc4 (7.Ngf3 B) Immediate 6...b5 is more logical but after 7.O-O (7.a4
7...b4 8.a5 Ba6k) 7...a5 (7...Bg7 8.a4 b4 9.a5+=; 7...Bb7 8.a4 Gelfand, London 2013 15...h5!VM. Krasenkow) 15...Nd5 16.a3
b4 9.Nd2 Ba6 10.e4n; 7...Ba6 8.b3n) 8.b3 cxb3 9.axb3nWhite Qe7 17.Bb2 h5 18.Rbd1 Ndf6 (18...h4? 19.Ndxc6h) 19.f3
has full compensation for a pawn; Ng5 20.e4+= Edouard - Petr, Tromso 2014 gave White some
C) After 6...e5 7.O-O (7.dxe5?! 7...Qxd1+ 8.Kxd1 Ng4e) advantage) ) 10...Re8 (After 10...c5?! 11.Ba3 cxd4 12.Nxd4
7...exd4 8.Nxd4nwhite are pieces only become more active; Nxc4 13.bxc4 Qc7 14.Rc1 a6 15.c5 Rd8 16.c6c Ding Liren -
Ganguly, Doha 2014 Black’s position is close to collapse.)
D) 6...Bg7 This was Gelfand’s choice in the very first game 11.e4!? (Otherwise Black is doing fine 11.Bb2 11...Nxc4 12.bxc4
with 5.e3 6.Ne2, 7.O-O Allows Black to return to the plan e5=; 11.Ba3 11...Nxc4 12.bxc4 e5 13.d5 cxd5 14.cxd5 Zoler - Roiz,
with Nb8-d7-b6 (7.Na3!? is more precise 7...e5 8.Nxc4 Legnica 2013 14...e4V) 11...Nxc4 12.bxc4 e5 (After 12...c5?! 13.e5
exd4 9.Nxd4 O-O 10.O-O Qe7 (10...Nbd7 11.b3 Nb6 12.Ba3 Nd7 14.f4 Nb6 15.dxc5 Nxc4 16.Qxd8 Rxd8 17.Rb1c White’s
Nxc4 13.bxc4+=) 11.b3 Rd8 12.Ba3 c5 13.Qe1 Na6 14.Qa5 pressure is increasing) 13.d5+= The strong pawn centre gives
Nd5 15.Rad1 Bg4 16.Nf5 Bxf5 17.Rxd5 Rxd5 18.Bxd5+= White some advantage.]
Greenfeld - Semprun Martinez, London 2014 White’s pieces
are more active.) 7...O-O (7...Nbd7!? - 6...Nbd7) 8.Na3 7.O-O [After 7.Na3 7...Nb6 8.O-O (as 8.Qc2 doesn’t work
(The other way to attack the pawn 8.Nd2 after 8...b5 only because of 8...e5!? 9.dxe5 Ng4V) 8...Bg7 it’s just move
brings White the additional problems 9.a4 (The standard transposition]
9.b3 9...cxb3 10.axb3ngives White certain compensation.,of 7...Bg7 This is a critical position (or at least one of them).
course.) 9...Nd5 10.axb5 cxb5 11.Nc3 Bb7 12.Qf3 (12.Nxb5?! White has a choice and it’s still hard to say which way he would
12...Nxe3! 13.fxe3 Bxg2 14.Kxg2 Qd5+ 15.Qf3 Qxb5 16.Nxc4 go.
(16.Qxa8 16...Nc6 17.Rxa7 Rxa8 18.Rxa8+ Bf8 19.Nf3 f6=+)
16...Nd7=+ Michalik - E. Hansen, Dubai 2014) 12...e6 13.Nxb5
Bc6 14.Na3 Nb6=) 8...Nbd7 (8...Be6 9.Qc2+=) 9.Nxc4 Now
e5 is under firm control. 9...Nb6 (9...Nd5?! makes things
only worse 10.b3 a5 Kukhmazov - Vastrukhin, Voronezh 2014
11.e4 N5b6 12.Ne3 e5 13.Bb2c Black knights are obviously
misplaced now.) 10.b3!? so this developing move is preferable
in my opinion (the retreat 10.Na5 allows Black to prepare
freeing e7-e5 10...Qc7 (The other method 10...Nbd7 11.b4
e5 12.Bb2 Qe7 13.b5 cxb5 14.Qb3 b4 Gajewski - Aabling
Thomsen, Reykjavik 2013 15.a3!+= doesn’t bring the desired 8.a4 [After 8.Na3 8...Nb6 9.Qc2 O-O if White wants to
results as White is far ahead in development.) 11.b4 (11.Qc2 play for advantage he must play in gambit style 10.e4 (in
11...e5 12.Bd2 Re8k) 11...e5 12.dxe5 Qxe5 13.Nd4 so it’s better case of 10.Nxc4 10...Bf5 11.Qc3 Nfd5 12.Qb3 Be6 13.Nxb6
to start the action on the kingside immediately 13...h5!V Nf4 14.Qd1 Nxe2+ 15.Qxe2 axb6= Black has absolutely no
(the solid 13...Ne4 14.Qc2 Re8 15.Rb1 (15.Ba3 Kramnik - problem) 10...Be6!? (10...Ne8 is weaker: 11.Nxc4 Bg4 12.Na5!
Nd6 13.Rd1+= Potkin - Timman, Wijk aan Zee (B) 2015) 11.Rd1 SOME CONCLUSIONS Of course the plan with e3 is no
(11.Nf4?! 11...Qxd4 12.Nxe6 fxe6 13.Rd1 Qc5=+) 11...Qc8 refutation of Symmetrical Gruenfeld. But it’s completely
(11...Nh5k ) 12.Nf4 Rd8 13.Qe2 Ne8 14.Be3 Nd6kWhite playable and leads to quite fresh unexplored positions. If
certainly has some pressure for the pawn but it’s quite Black doesn’t accept the gambit his position is fairly solid but
hard to break through.; The situation is about the same still a bit worse, If Black accepts the pawn White must be ready
(compensation for the pawn) after 8.Qc2 8...Nb6 9.e4 O-O to play in gambit style but he has the good positional basis
(9...e5 is quite risky: 10.dxe5 Ng4 (after 10...Qd3? 11.exf6!! for it. The most critical line which we will probably see in top
Qxc2 12.fxg7 Rg8 13.Nbc3h Black queen is trapped: Rd1-d2 games in the future seems to be 5... dxc4 6.Nd2!?
or Rd1 Nd4) 11.Rd1 Qe7 12.f4 f6 13.exf6 Bxf6 14.e5 Bf5 15.Qc3
Qc5+ Ding Liren - Sethuraman, Hyderabad 2015 16.Rd4! Nxe5
17.fxe5 Bxe5 18.Be3+=) 10.Rd1k]
8...a5 9.Na3 Nb6 10.Qc2 O-O 11.e4 Ne8 [When the moves
a4 a5 are included White doesn’t have to meet 11...Be6
with prophylactical Rd1 12.Nf4! Bc8 (12...Qxd4 13.Be3
Qd8 14.Nxe6 fxe6 15.Rad1 Qc7 16.Nxc4 Nxc4 17.Qxc4 Qc8
18.Bh3c) 13.Rd1 Ne8 14.Be3 Nd6 15.b3!? cxb3 16.Qxb3n]
12.Nxc4 Bg4!? But here we see the drawback of including
a4 a5. In the similar position without them (see 8.Na3 Potkin
- Timman, Wijk aan Zee (B) 2015) there was a great square
a5 for white knight. Now it’s not available. [12...Nxc4 was
played before 13.Qxc4 e5 Yuffa - Sarana, Taganrog 2014, but
after the correct answer 14.dxe5! Bxe5 15.Be3 Bxb2 16.Rad1
Qc7 17.Bc5c White could reach the clear advantage.]
13.Be3 [13.f3 13...Nxc4 14.Qxc4 Be6 15.Qd3 Nd6kwith
good counterplay]
13...Nxc4 14.Qxc4 Bxe2 15.Qxe2 Bxd4 16.Rfd1 e5 [Black
also has more complicated opportunity 16...c5 17.e5 Ng7
18.Rac1 Ne6 19.Bh6 Re8 20.Bxb7 Rb8 21.Bc6 Rxb2 22.Rc2
Rb6k]
17.Bxd4 exd4 18.Qc4 Ng7 19.Bh3 Qe7 20.Rxd4 Rfd8
21.Rad1 Rxd4 22.Qxd4 Re8 23.f3 Ne6 24.Bxe6 Qxe6=
The chances are equal.
Young & Talented 9...Nb8 Wesley So introduced this Breyer style move in
January.
10.Ne2!? A natural novelty. Caruana tried 10.a4 with no
success and Anand played a very famous game with 10.Ng5
against So in Shamkir, wherre Black was definitely ready for
it.
10...Nbd7 11.Ng3 Bb7 I don’t think this is the best reaction.
GM Etienne Bacrot I feel that [11...Nc5 12.Ba2 Be6 13.Bxe6 Nxe6 14.c3 c5 15.d4
Best rating: 2749 is the critical position to assess after 10.Ne2.]
12.Re1 A strange move. I would go for the bishop with 12.Nf5,
(4) Chandra, Akshat (2495) with a slight advantage.
- Shen, Arthur (2339) [C77]
12...Re8 13.c3
US junior championship(8),
2015.07.14
I will again comment on a game of the new US junior

champion, who was the early leader last week. Here in round
8 both players were sharing first place with 5.5/7, while Jeffery
Xiong was half a point behind them.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.d3 b5
7.Bb3 d6 8.a3 O-O 9.Nc3 This line is very fashionable in the
Spanish at the moment. 13...Bf8 An interesting pawn sacrifice. Also playable is
[13...h6 14.d4! Bf8 15.Bc2 c5 16.d5 c4 with an usual Spanish
structure.]
14.Ng5!? is the only way to play for an advantage.
14...d5 15.exd5 Nc5 Of course the pawn is untouchable:
[15...Bxd5 16.Bxd5 Nxd5 17.Qh5h]
16.c4 c6 The alternative is to first take the bishop: [16...Nxb3
17.Qxb3 c6 18.dxc6 Bxc6 19.Qc2 (19.cxb5 19...Bd5n 20.Qa4?!
axb5 21.Qxb5?? Ra5 and the queen is trapped!) 19...Qd7 with
an unclear position.]
17.dxc6 Bxc6 23.Be3c White’s king is very safe and the conversion of the
material advantage is easy.
23...Ng4 Not the best move but it is always difficult to play
bad positions.
24.d4! White is not afraid of walking up with the king.
24...Qh4 25.Kxg2 Ne6 26.Bf5 Re8 [26...Qxh2+ 27.Kf3
Nxe3 28.Qxe3 Ng5+ 29.Ke2 and the checks stop! 29...Bd6
30.Rh1 Qg2 31.Be4h The endgame will be quite difficult for
Black!]
18.Bc2 A very passive move, but White has to cope with the
defense of the backward pawn. [18.Ba2!? to keep an eye on f7 27.Bxg4 The most easy move, after which White is completely
is nicely met by 18...b4! 19.d4 (19.axb4 19...Nxd3 20.c5 Ra7=+) winning.
19...b3kwith an unbalanced position.] 27...Qxg4 28.Qd1 Nf4+ 29.Kh1 Qh4 30.Qf3 Nd3 31.Nf5
18...h6 19.Nf3 [19.cxb5 was a much safer move. 19...Bxb5 Qd8 32.Rg1 Kh7 33.Nxh6 Rxe3 34.fxe3 After this fine win,
20.N5e4 Rc8 Black should have enough play to equalize.] Chandra managed to win a difficult last game with Black to
become the new US under 20 champion. Xiong took silver and
19...e4? Black was probably counting on 20.dxe4 bxc4 and
Shen bronze. 1-0
missed White’s easy next move. After [19...bxc4 20.dxc4 Qc7
with the idea Rad8-e4 Black has full compensation.]
20.cxb5! += exf3 [20...axb5 21.dxe4 White is simply a clean
pawn up but Black would have better saving chances than in
the game.]
21.bxc6 Rxe1+ 22.Qxe1 fxg2?! [22...Rc8 to eliminate White’s
strong pawn was the only move.]
Puzzle section
(5) Wang Chen(2521)-Wei Yi(2724) (7) Yuffa, D(2474)-Alekseenko, K(2513)
Danzhou GM, 2015.07.10 Polugaevsky memorial, 2015.07.10
1... i 1... i
(6) Levin, E(2519)-Ozolin, M(2384) (8) Bok, B(2562)-Pruijssers, R(2507)

1... i 1. h
(9) Ernst, S(2545)-Giri, A(2791) (11) Mickiewicz, P(2356)-Safarli, E(2649)
Dutch Championship, 2015.07.10 Najdorf memorial, 2015.07.10
1... i 1... i
(10) Vidit, S(2643)-Artemiev, V(2660) (12) Cheparinov, I(2683)-Bjornsson, S(2327)

Lake Sevan, 2015.07.13 Najdorf memorial, 2015.07.11
1. h 1. h
(13) Bromberger, S(2556)-Volokitin, A(2654)
Najdorf memorial, 2015.07.12
1... i
(14) Lomasov, S(2305)-Bukavshin, I(2647)

Voronezh Masters, 2015.07.12
1. h
Endgame section 56...Kf7 57.g5 White tries to force some exchanges, which
would lead him closer to the draw. If Black takes on g5, White
takes back, followed by f6, securing the draw. Black must
keep all his pawns on the board to continue playing for the
(15) Oganian, Miran (2370)
win!
- Mokshanov, Alexey (2458)
Polugaevsky memorial, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.07.10 Best rating: 2672
57...h5! 58.Kc3 Ke7 59.Kb4 Sooner or la ter White must

go in this direction. If he waits on c4-d4, Black lures the king
away with a5 anyway...
59...Kd6 60.Ka5 Ke5 61.f6 Otherwise Black takes all the
pawns.
A very instructive pawn endgame. The principle says that in 61...gxf6 62.g6 [62.gxf6 loses by just one tempo: 62...Kxf6
pawn endgames the distant passed pawns play an extremely 63.Kxa6 Kf5 64.Kb5 Kg4 65.Kc4 Kxh4 66.Kd3 Kg3
important role and usually the side that has them has the 67.Ke2 Kg2! and the white king does not get into the corner
advantage. This is the case in our example as well. The white to secure the draw. He should have reached the f1 square.]
king is forced to go far away towards the a6 pawn and at
the same time Black could try to gain some benefits on the 62...Ke6! Black comes back with his king and collects the g6
kingside. pawn. He soon ends up with an extra pawn, but it still remains
very instructive!
55...Kg8! It is clear that Black must collect the pawns with his
king, therefore he goes around with his king despite it costing 63.Kxa6 Ke7 64.Kb5 Kf8 65.Kc5 Kg7 66.Kd5 Kxg6
some time...
56.h4! The only move! [56.Kb3 56...Kf7 57.Kb4 Kf6 58.Ka5
Kg5 wins easily. The white king is too far away from the
action... 59.h3 Kh4 60.Kxa6 Kxh3i]
69.Ke4 Ke7 70.Kf5 [70.Kf4 is already met by 70...Ke6
71.Ke4 f5+ 72.Kf4 Kf6i followed by Ke5, f4, etc, with an
automatic win.]
70...Kf7! Here we are! The mutual zugzwang, but White is on
move, therefore Black reaches the e6 square next move with
his king. If it was his move Ke7 would allow Kg6.
71.Ke4 Ke6 72.Kf4
67.Ke4! These positions are very tricky and easy to

misevaluate. Black is winning here, but it requires good
technique. The key is the mutual zugzwang position when the
kings are on f7 and on f5. Black must transfer his king to e6 in
order to be able to push f5 (the direct f5 is met by Ke5 with
an immediate draw). However he must exclude the f7 square
from his way, he must only go there if White plays Kf5. [67.Ke6
leads to the mutual zugzwang position more quickly. 67...Kg7
68.Kf5 Kf7 later transposes to the game...] 72...f5! It is already possible to advance the extra pawn,
67...Kg7! Not the shortest, but the right path towards e6. because collecting the h5 pawn takes too much time.
68.Kf4 73.Kg5 Ke5 74.Kxh5 Kf6! The most principled win,
squeezing the white king to the corner. This makes the pawn
race more easily winning for Black. [However 74...f4 75.Kg4
Ke4 also wins despite the pawns promoting at the same
time... 76.h5 f3 77.h6 f2 78.h7 f1=Q 79.h8=Q Qg2+!i and
Black wins the queen next move with a check on the h-file.]
75.Kh6 f4 76.h5 f3 77.Kh7 f2 78.h6 Kf7 79.Kh8 f1=Q
80.h7 Qa1# 0-1
68...Kf8! After Black found the deep ideas in this simple

looking endgame he executes the plan correctly. [68...Kf7
69.Kf5 forces the king to go back to g7 with repetition.]
forever with no risk and White will be forced to defend
(16) Gelfand, Boris (2751) precisely for a long time to sign the draw.]
- Ding, Liren (2749)
52...f4 Of course Black doesn’t exchange the pawns, since
every exchange is good for the defending side.
Ding Liren - Gelfand 2015(1),
2015.07.16 GM Arkadij Naiditsch 53.g5+ Kg7 The black king has been hunted back, but the g5
Best rating: 2737 pawn is now a potential target and the passed f-pawn could
also become dangerous.
54.Kd2 What else to do?! [54.Bg4 54...f3! and it is not easy
to see how White can stop the f-pawn from moving.]
This is the first game of the match between Gelfand and the
only 21-year old Ding Liren. After very sharp play in the first 54...Rh1! A very nice move. Black is attacking the h3 pawn
half of the game, where Ding Liren chose his favorite KID, the and at the same time threatening to play Be1 and win the a5
game finally led to this opposite colored bishop endgame, rook.
which is definitely a draw, but the defense is much more 55.Rb5 Be1+ Before taking the h3 pawn, Ding Liren repeats
difficult than it looks like. Let’s take a look at how things will the moves.
develop.
56.Kd1 Bf2+ 57.Kd2 Rxh3 So Black is already two pawns up
52.g4?! A very risky move which needs very precise and the g5 pawn remains a potential target. The only minus
calculation. [White could have continued with a passive of Black’s position is the king on g7.
defense after 52.Bf3 52...Kg5 but now Black will try to play
h5 and then g5-g4 at some moment. White’s plan should be 58.Bc4 White wants to play Rb8 next, with the threat of Rg8
to keep on waiting and to try to prevent Black’s main plan. The mate.
exchange of rooks would of course lead to an immediate draw, 58...Bh4 Not the best move. [58...Kf8! seems stronger,
but in apractical game is it very unpleasant to defend such with the idea of playing Ke7-Kd6, which would solve the only
an endgame because Black can keep on playing practically problem of Black’s position. 59.Rb7
61.Rf7+ Ke8 62.Rxf4 Bxg5 If Black could remain two pawns
up he would just be winning, but the problem is that the g6
pawn cannot be protected.
63.Rf1 White wants to play Bf7 next and Black can’t do
anything about it.
63...Rh2+ 64.Kb3 The safest square for the white king.
64...Ke7 Black couldn’t stop Bf7 or Bd3...
65.Bd3 and the g6 pawn is gone.
59...Bh4! and White can’t play 60.Rxh7? because after
60...Be1+ Black wins the rook and with it the game.] 65...h4 66.Bxg6 Now all White needs to do to secure the
draw is to exchange his bishop against the h-pawn and this
59.Kc2! Great defense by Gelfand, who makes things as is easy, but to defend the position R+B vs R is not that easy
difficult as he can for Black. Now Rb7 is already a serious and Black would keep some practical chances for a full point.
threat.
66...Re2 67.Rf3 Not giving Black any chances of playing
59...h5 This move almost leads to a forced draw. [Black could h3-h2.
have tried to play a funny position after 59...Bxg5 60.Rxg5 h5
The black pawns look very dangerous. 61.Kd2 White needs
to hurry back. 61...Kh6 and Black would keep some winning
chances, although the position should be a draw with a good
play by White.]
60.Rb7+ Now the f-pawn is falling.
67...Re3+ and Ding gives up the fight for a full point.

Personally I think it is a bit too early even if the position is of
course a draw. Black could have played on for a while by first
bringing the bishop to g3 and then trying to somehow get to
play Rh2 and h3 in a good moment. White would still need
to be careful. So, we saw a fighting draw in an interesting
opposite colored bishop endgame where White first played
60...Kf8 [60...Kh8 61.Rb8+ Kg7 62.Rb7+ does not improve very riskily with g4 and then Black did not use all his winning
things much for Black.] chances. 1/2-1/2
Golden knowledge. (17) Djingarova, E.-Dworakowska, J.
QUEEN against PIECES Istanbul TUR, 2003
In some cases the rook can be supported by the pawn, which
is in reality a passed pawn. If the pawn runs for promotion,
As we know, an extremely instructive method of studying then it can be done very quickly. The king also has to be as
endgames is to analyze the mistakes of the greats of the game. close as possible to the rook and the pawn..
Why it this instructive? In the middle game, in a normal
position there are usually a few playable moves, which it is 90.Rf8? [90.g6 was correct- the function of the passed pawn
possible to rank from the strongest until the fifth strongest. is to go forward!]
Or in modern, computer slang, from 0.60 until 0.10 let’s say. 90...Kg4 91.g6 Qh2+ 92.Kg7 Kg5 93.Rg8 Qc7+ 94.Kh8
In endgames we usually have two options: a correct and a Kh6 95.g7 Qf7 0-1
wrong one. And this can explain a huge quantity of mistakes
in modern practice, even on the highest level. The path is
(18) Zuidema, C.-Hort, V.
narrow in endgames and sometimes even top players can
slip, especially with the modern time control with increments. Oerebro, 1966
Such time pressure demands better (or I can even say more
automatic) endgame knowledge.
Every player must know basic endgame positions and needs
to have knowledge of methods used in endgames.
Queen against pieces endgames have a few important
theoretical positions in which it is important to have the
correct knowledge.
93.Kg5? [93.Rf6 was threating to come to f7 and then to push (20) Tukmakov, V.-Ornstein, A.
the pawn.] Thessaloniki (ol) , 1984
93...Qd4 94.Rf6 Qe3+ 95.Kf5 Kh4 96.Re6 Qg5+ 97.Ke4
Kg4 98.Kd4 Kf3 99.Kc4 Qf5 100.Rc6 Qe5 101.Kb4 Ke3
102.Rc3+ Kd2 103.Rc6 Kd3 104.Ka4 Qd5 105.Rb6 Kc3
Very instructive technique of pushing both white pieces far
away from the pawn! 0-1
(19) Jaffe, C.-Chajes, O.

Karlsbad, 1911
59.Kd3? Now the black king comes to its pawns and saves
the draw. The only possibility was [59.Qb7! 59...Rc5 60.Kd3
Re5 61.Kc3 trying to keep both pawns under control and
not allowing the opponent’s king to come to help the most
dangerous one.]
59...Kd5! = 60.Qb7+ Kc5 61.Qc7+ Kb4 62.Qxd6+ Kb3
63.Qa6 Kb4 64.Qa1 Rc8 65.Qe1+ Ka4 66.Kd4 Rc4+
67.Kd5 Rc8 This is a theoretical draw since the white king
75.Rd8?? [75.Kb7 was enough for a draw: 75...Qb5+ 76.Kc7 can’t help attacking the black pawn.
Qa6 77.Rd6+ Ke5 78.Kd7] 68.Qe7 Rc4 69.Qa7+ Kb4 70.Qa6 Rc5+ 71.Kd4 Rc4+
75...Qb4+ 76.Kc7 Qa5+ 77.Kc8 Qa7 78.Rd1 Qa4 79.Rc1 72.Kd5 Rc5+ 73.Kd6 Rc4 74.Kd7 Rc1 75.Qd6+ Ka4
Kd6 80.Kb7 Qb5+ 81.Kc8 Qa6+ 82.Kb8 Qb6+ 83.Ka8 76.Qf4+ Rc4 77.Qf1 Kb4 78.Qa1 Rc5 79.Qb2+ Ka4
Kc7 0-1 80.Qa1+ Kb4 81.Qe1+ Ka4 82.Qd1+ Ka5 83.Qa1+ Kb4
84.Qb2+ Ka4 1/2-1/2
(21) Galkin, A.-Timofeev, A. (22) Gelfand, B.-Ivanchuk, V.
Russia, 2005 Belgrade Investbank, 1995
51.Rf5? [It was necessary to come closer to the pawn with the 77...Ke6? [The right move was 77...Kg4!? 78.Qf6 Rd5+
king. With the g- or b-pawns it is a draw not only with the pawn 79.Ke3 Rd4=]
on the second or third rank , but even with the pawn on the
fourth rank, when a normally placed king and rook secure the 78.Qf3 Kd6 79.Kc4 Ke6 80.Kb5 Rf5 [80...Kd6
draw. 51.Kf2 51...Qd1 52.Kg3 Qg1+ 53.Kh3! Qe3+ 54.Kh4 Endspiel-CD 81.Qf7 Rd5? 82.Qf6+ Kd7 83.Qc6+h]
Qf2+ 55.Kh3] 81.Qh3 Kf6 [81...Ke5 82.Kxc5 Kf4+ 83.Kd4h]
51...Qh1! 52.Kf2 Qh2+ 53.Kf3 Qh3+ 54.Kf2 Because Qe3 82.Qh6+ Kf7 If the rook and king lose contact, that is
mate would follow after Kf4 White has to give up his only hope, a serious problem. [82...Ke5 83.Kxc5h g4!? (83...Kf4+
the g4 pawn... 84.Kd6! h CD (84.Kd4 Gelfand:!, CD: ? 84...Kg3 85.Ke3
54...Qxg4 55.Rf3 Ke4 56.Re3+ Kf4 57.Rd3 Qh4+ 58.Ke2 Rf3+ 86.Ke2 g4= CD3) 84...Kg4 85.Qe6 Kf4 86.Qd7 Kg4
Qh2+ 59.Kd1 Qb2 60.Ke1 Qc2 61.Rd2 Qc1+ 62.Ke2 Ke4 87.Ke7 Kf4 88.Ke6 Kg4 89.Qd1+ Rf3 90.Ke5 Kg3 91.Qg1+
63.Rd8 Qc4+ 64.Kd1 Qa4+ 65.Ke2 Qb5+ 66.Kd1 Ke3 Kh4 92.Qh2+ Kg4 93.Qg2+ Rg3 94.Qe4+ Kh3 95.Qe2
67.Kc2 Qc6+ 68.Kd1 Qb6 69.Rc8 Qb1+ 0-1 g4 96.Kf4 Rf3+ 97.Kg5 Rg3 98.Qf2 Rf3 99.Qh4+h CD3;
83...Ke4+ 84.Kd6 g4 85.Qg6 Kf4 86.Ke6 Re5+ 87.Kf6
Ra5 (87...Re3 88.Qf5+ Kg3 89.Kg5h) 88.Qd3h)
84.Qg6h (84.Qe3+ 84...Kf6+ 85.Kd6 (85.Kd4 85...Rf3
(85...Kg6= CD3) 86.Qe5+ (86.Qh6+ 86...Kf5 87.Qh5+ Kf4
(87...Kf6 88.Qxg4h) 88.Qe5#) 86...Kg6 87.Ke4 Kh6)
85...Rf3E (85...Kg6!= CD3) 86.Qh6+ Kf5 87.Qe6+) ]
83.Kc4 Re5 84.Kd3 Ke7 85.Qg6 Rd5+ 86.Ke4 Rd4+
87.Ke5 Kd7 88.Qb6 Rf4 89.Qe6+ Kc7 90.Qd6+ Kc8 (24) Qin, Kanying-Peptan, C.-I.
91.Qxc5+ Black has no chance to save the game. Moscow (ol) , 1994
91...Kd7 92.Qd6+ Kc8 93.Qg6 1-0
(23) Tzermiadianos, A.-Inarkiev, E.

EU-ch 4th, 2003
1...Qf8+! It is necessary to force the black king into an

unpleasant situation. [1...Kf5? 2.Kh7! (2.Rg5+? 2...Kf6
3.Rg6+ Kf7 4.Rg7+ Kf8 5.Kh7 (/ h6=) 5...Qe4+ 6.Kh6
Qe5!i) ]
2.Kh7 [2.Rg7 2...Ke5! (2...Kf5? 3.Kh7 / h6=) 3.Kh7 Qf5+
66...Ka7? [The correct defense was 66...Kb6 67.Qb4+ Ka6] 4.Kh6 Qd3! (4...Kf6? 5.Rf7+!=; 4...Ke6? 5.Rg6+= Kf7E
67.Kxc7 c1=Q+ 68.Qc6!! Incredible! White transposes into 6.Rg7+ Kf8? 7.Rg8+!) 5.Rg6 (5.Kg5 5...Ke6 6.h6 Qe3+ 7.Kh5
a pawn ending! But this endgame is simply lost for Black! Kf6i) 5...Qh3! 6.Rg5+ (6.Kg5 6...Qe3+i) 6...Kf6 7.Rg6+
Kf7 8.Rg7+ Kf8 9.Rg6 Qh4! (9...Qf5? 10.Rg8+!=) 10.Rg5 Qf4
68...Qxc6+ 69.Kxc6 Kb8 [Not better is 69...Ka6 70.Kd6 11.Kg6 Qf7+ 12.Kh6 Qf6+ 13.Rg6 Qe5!i (.)]
Kb5 71.Ke5 Kc4 72.Kf5 Kd4 73.Kg5 Ke4 74.Kxh5 Kf3
75.g4h] 2...Qf7+ 3.Kh6 [3.Kh8 3...Qf5i]
70.Kd7 [The same was 70.Kd5 70...Kc7 71.Ke5 Kd7 72.Kf6 3...Qf5 [3...Kf5 doesn’t lead anywhere: 4.Rg5+ Kf6 5.Rg6+]
h4 73.gxh4 Ke8 74.Kg7h] 4.Rg1 Qf8+
70...Kb7 71.Ke7 Kc6 72.Kf6 Kd7 73.Kg5 Ke6 [73...h4 did [Now simpler was the difficult move 4...Qh3! (/ Kf5) 5.Rg5
not help either: 74.Kxh4 Ke6 75.Kg5] Qh4 6.Rg6 Kf5i]
74.Kxh5 Kf6 75.g4 Kf7 76.Kh6 Kg8 77.g5 Kh8 78.g6 1-0 5.Kh7 Qf7+ 6.Kh6 Qd5 7.Rg6 [7.Rf1+ 7...Kg4 8.Rg1+
Kh4i]
7...Qe5!? [Similar as to what was written before, there was
an easy way here with 7...Qh1! / Kf5i]
15.Kh6?? [To a drawish set up leads 15.Rg7 / h6=]
15...Qe3+ This example shows how difficult for both sides it
is to play these endings with rook and passed pawn. 0-1
(25) Dimitrov, V.-Lautier, J.

Adelaide, 1988
8.Rg8 Qf6+ 9.Kh7 [9.Rg6? 9...Qh8# #]

9...Qf7+ 10.Kh6 Qf6+ [Of course not falling for the
stalemate! 10...Qxg8?= ]
11.Kh7 Kf5? [Once again easier was 11...Qf5+ 12.Kh6
Qh3!i]
Here is very instructive endgame on how to get a winning

position against rook and pawn.
48...Qa7! 49.Ka2 [49.Kb1 did not help: 49...b4! 50.axb4
Qh7+!! (50...axb4 51.Re4+! Kd3 52.Rd4+=) 51.Ka2 axb4
52.Rxb4 Kd2i]
12.Rg1? [Now White could have activated her passed pawn: 49...b4! 50.axb4 axb4+ 51.Kb3 bxc3 52.Kxc3 [52.bxc3
12.h6! 12...Qe7+ 13.Rg7 Qe4 14.Rg8 Kf6+ 15.Kh8 Qh4 would lead to a theoretically lost position.]
16.Kh7!= (16.h7? 16...Qd4!i) ] 52...Qc5+ 53.Rc4 Qe3+ 54.Kb4 Kd2 The white king is in
12...Qf7+ 13.Kh6 Qf8+? [13...Qb7! was the difficult move the front of its own pawn. The only chance to draw would
that was winning here. 14.Rg5+ (14.Rf1+ 14...Kg4 15.Rg1+ be to try to play b4 and to move the pawn forward like in
Kh4i) 14...Kf4! 15.Rg6 Qh1! / Kf5i] Tukmakov-Ornstein.
14.Kh7 Qe7+? [14...Qf7+ 15.Kh6 Qb7! i 16.Rf1+ Kg4 55.Rc3 Qb6+ 56.Ka3 Qa6+ 57.Kb3 Qa5 58.Rc2+ Kd1
17.Rg1+ Kh4 it is the point, as the queen controls the h1 59.Rc3 Kd2 60.Rc2+ Kd1 61.Rc3 Qa6! (.)
square.] 62.Kb4 Qa2! This move forces the pawn to move forward.
63.b3 Qa6 64.Rc4 Kd2 65.Rc5 Qb6+ 66.Rb5 Qd4+ (27) Mikhalchishin, A.-Krivoshey, S.
67.Ka5 Qa7+! 68.Kb4 Kc2! Now the king finally comes Bled , 1999
from behind.
69.Kc4 Kb2 70.Kd5 [70.Kb4 70...Qc7i]
70...Qc7! 71.Rb4 Ka2! 72.Rb5 Ka3 0-1
(26) Zueger, B.-Kindermann, S.

Muenchen , 1989
It is very instructive how White starts to attack his opponent’s

pawns one by one.
61.Qf8+ Ke6 62.Ke4 Rf7 63.Qe8+ Re7 64.Qc8+ [The
game would become much more complicated after 64.Qxh5
64...Kd7+ 65.Kd4]
64...Kf6+ 65.Kd5 White wants to win the d-pawn first.
1.f3+? A wrong evaluation of the fortress which was built 65...Re5+ 66.Kxd6 Rf5 67.Qh8+ Kg5 68.Ke6 Rf3
and it finds itself destroyed. The only possibility was to keep 69.Qe5+ Kg4 70.Qe4+ Kg3 71.Qg6+ Kf2 [71...Kh4 would
a pawn ready to go forward. [1.a3! [] 1...Qxf2 2.Rf3 Qe3 take longer. 72.Ke5 Rf8 73.Qe4+ Kg3 74.Qe3+ Kh4 75.Qe1+
(2...Qxf3 3.gxf3+ Kxf3 4.a4=) 3.Rh3 Kd3 4.Rf3 (4.a4? 4...Ke4) Kh3 76.Qh1+ Kg4 77.Qg2+ Kh4 78.Qd5 Re8+ 79.Kf4 Rf8+
4...Kd2 5.Rh3 Ke2 6.Rf3 Qe5 7.a4!? (7.Kg1= ) 7...Qe3 8.a5= 80.Ke3 Re8+ 81.Kd2 Rf8 82.Qd4+ Kh3 83.Qd7+ Kg3
(8.Rxe3+E? 8...fxe3 9.a5 Kf2 10.a6 e2 11.a7 e1=Q 12.a8=Q 84.Qd6+ Rf4 85.Ke3]
Qe5+ / Qh5#) ] 72.Qxh5 Rb3 73.Qh2+ Ke1 74.Kd5 Rb7 75.Kd4 Rd7+
1...Kd4 2.Kg1 Qe1+! [It was necessaey to avoid the other 76.Kc3 Rf7 77.Qh4+ 1-0
fortress: 2...Qxa2 3.Rb4+ / Re4=]
3.Kh2 Qa1! 4.Rb4+ Ke3 5.Re4+ Kf2 6.Kh3 Qg7 0-1
(28) Yanofsky, D.-Sosonko, G. (29) Radziewicz, I.-Kosintseva, N.
Haifa (ol) , 1976 15th European Team Championshi, 2005
In such situations once again the winning method is just to 58...Qg1+ 59.Kf3 Qg7 60.Ke2 Passive defense is usually
find the correct transposition into a pawn ending. wrong in chess. An active queen would secure the draw.
1...Qd4! 2.Rc2 [2.Rxd4+ 2...cxd4 / Ke2i] 60...Qf8? [60...Qb2+ 61.Kf1 Qc1+ 62.Kg2 Qg5+ 63.Kf3
Qf5+]
2...Qg1+ 3.Kb2 Kd4 Black’s plan is to transfer the king to the
other side, around his pawn. 61.Rf6! Now the rook protects both pawns and the white king
can try to get closer to his passed pawns.
4.Rd2+ Ke5 5.Rc2 Kd5 6.Ka2 Kc6 7.Kb2 [7.b4 does not
work because of 7...Qg8+ 8.Kb2 c4i] 61...Kc6 62.Kf3 Kd7 63.Kf4 Kc6 64.Kf5 Kd7 65.Kg6
Kc6 66.Kf5 Kd7 67.Ke5 Kc8 68.Ke6
7...Kb5 8.Rc4 Qf2+ 9.Kb1 Qe2! 10.Rc2 [10.Kc1
10...Qa2i]
10...Qd3 11.Kb2 Qd4+! 12.Kb1 Kb4! 13.Rc4+ Kxb3!
is the correct transposition, not [13...Qxc4? 14.bxc4 Kxc4
15.Kc2=] 0-1
68...Kd8? [68...Kb7 leads to a draw. 69.Kd7 Kb6 70.Rf3

Kc5 71.Rf5+ Kb6] 69.Rg6 1-0
(30) Stein, L.-Hennings, A. 59...Kg8?? [59...Rg7= ; 59...Rg1= ; 59...Rg8= ]
Kislovodsk, 1972 60.Qe6+ Kh7 61.Kf7 Rg8 62.Qf5+ Kh8 63.Qe5+ Kh7
64.Qe6 [64.Qe6 64...Rg5 65.Kf8 h5 (65...Rg1 66.Qe4+)
66.Qf6 Rg6 67.Qe5 Kh6 68.Kf7 h4 69.Qe4] 1-0
(32) Rittner, H.-Thiele, M.

corr , 1970
Black keeps a zone around his pawns and king. White will find
a fantastic method in order to destroy Black’s defensive setup.
5.g3! Kh8 6.g4!! hxg4 7.h5!! gxh5 [7...Rxh5 8.Qf7h wins
the key g6 pawn.]
8.Qe6 Rf3 9.Qxe5+ Kg8 10.Qg5+ Kf8 11.Qxh5 Rf7
12.Qh8+ Ke7 13.Kg2 1-0 Here White’s only chance to win is to transpose into a winning
pawn ending, but Black has to be very careful and technical!
(31) Karpov, A.-Istratescu, A. 10.Qxd7 Kg8!! Preparing to get the opposition.
Bucuresti (m), 2005 11.Kd6 Rxd7+ 12.Kxd7 Kf7 1/2-1/2
(33) Kaidanov, Gregory S(2629)-Galkin, Alexander(2568)
Moscow, 2003
Inf 87/418
88...h3 89.Qe4 Rf4 90.Qe5+ [90.Qe1 90...Rh4 91.Qg3+

Kh5 92.Qh2 Kg4 93.Kb6 Rh5 94.Kc6 Rg5 95.Kd6 Rf5
96.Ke6 Rf1 97.Ke5 Re1+ 98.Kd4 Re7 99.Kd3 Re1 100.Qf2
Rb1 101.Ke4 Rb4+ 102.Ke5 Rb5+ 103.Kf6 Rb3 104.Qd4+
Kg3 105.Qg1+ Kf4 106.Qg5+ Kf3 107.Qd5+ Kf2 108.Qxb3
h2=]
90...Kg4 91.Qe2+ Kg3 92.Qe1+ Kg2 93.Qe2+ 1/2-1/2
Chess and the City. Well, at least that’s how it felt to me, but not to my young
friend who was always full of energy and ready for more
The unbearable lightness of aging walks, more exercises, more stairs. Since she is not the secret
daughter of Usain Bolt and, as far as I know, does not plan
to join the SAS, it can only mean one thing: I’m old. Well,
at least compared to her. I guess it’s not rocket science to
understand that 15 years of difference matter, but to FEEL
it...to feel it brings disappointment to a higher level. Now, the
last part of the article should be devoted to the explanation
of the benefits of being 15 years older, for example I should
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz convince the readers that I have become wiser with time. But
Best rating: 2493 that would be an outright lie, and I try to not lie too often to
you. Thus I will simply close the article with a picture of me as
Turning thirty this January was not a particularly shocking a kid, a rather lame choice, but then maybe this is the main
experience for me. I celebrated, enjoyed nice food, pretended advantage of being older, I have my own newsletter and I can
to be a bit upset (you are supposed to show some melancholy fill it as I like! :)
for the lost youth on such occasions), got cheered up by
friends who pretended to believe that I was a bit upset, and
that was it. Just a nice party and life goes on, after all at
thirty you are by no means old, and libraries are full of books
explaining how life starts at 50-60 or some even more daring
numbers. Thatťs what I thought, until last week began.
Yes, last week changed my life perspective and in particular
my perspective on age. And the worst part is that nothing
astonishing happened, nothing tragic or catastrophic, it all
started with an innocent looking invitation. I approached
a 15-year old friend of mine and asked her, "I have some
time to spend in Rome, would you like to come and visit me,
you could see the city and we could hang around together,
do some sports, shopping etc." Imagine my surprise when
shopping turned into exhausting marathons, hanging out
together meant walking for 8 hours a day under the burning
sun and "some sports" meant following a schedule that
would have been more appropriate for Olympic athletes.
Clash of the Titans 10.Bg5 A typical move in many KID lines. White provokes h6,
which can be a weakness.
10...h6 11.Be3 Nfd7 [11...Ng4 This move looks more active.
(35) Petrosian, Tigran V 12.Bxc5 (12.Bd2 12...f5V with Nf6 next and the important
- Suetin, Alexey S [E94] e4 square is not well controlled by White.) 12...dxc5 13.h3
Nf6 14.Nxe5 Nxd5 15.cxd5 Bxe5 16.f4 Bd4+ 17.Kh1 With a
URS-chT(1), 1954 complex position where it seems that with the strong bishop
Black should be fine, but on the other hand White has strong
GM Kamil Miton central pawns.]
Best rating: 2655
12.Nd2 f5 13.exf5 [13.f3 13...f4 (13...Bf6!? 14.Bxh6 Rf7 and the
h-file can be useful for the attack!) 14.Bf2 Bf6 It is a typical
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 d6 [3...e5!? 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.d4 exd4 idea to exchange the limited bishop. 15.Kh1 (15.b3 15...Bh4
6.Nxd4 Bg7 7.Nc2! (7.Be3 7...Ng4 with the same idea as in 16.a3 Bxf2+ 17.Kxf2 Nf6 18.b4 Na6 19.Qb2 c5 20.dxc6 bxc6 and
the Maroczy. 8.Qxg4 Nxd4 9.Qd1 c5 with his strong knight Black is fine.) 15...Bh4 16.Bg1 Bg3 (16...Nf6 17.b3 Nh5 18.Rfb1
on d4 Black cannot be worse.) 7...O-O 8.Be2 Re8 9.f3 White and now the following knight sacrifice is dangerous: 18...Ng3+
keeps an advantage thanks to his space advantage. Black is 19.hxg3 Bxg3 20.Nf1!) 17.b3 Qh4 18.a3 Nf6 19.b4 Nh5 20.Rfc1
not able to execute his main plan with c6-d5.] axb4 21.axb4 Rxa1 22.Rxa1 Na6 White can’t play 23.Rb1?
4.d4 Bg7 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 [6.Bg5 is the Averbakh line.]
6...e5 7.d5 This line is called after Petrosian. Nowdays more
popular is [7.O-O 7...Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 White has a few plans here
but the basic one is to advance the pawns on the queenside.
Of course Black’s main idea is to play f7-f5.]
because of 23...Nxb4! 24.Rxb4 Bxh2 25.Bxh2 Ng3+ 26.Kg1

Nxe2+ 27.Nxe2 Qe1+ 28.Nf1 Qxb4i]
13...gxf5 14.f4 White also could try [14.f3 14...Nf6 to improve
his pieces with Bd7-Qe7-Rae8 etc. (14...Qh4 15.Nb5 Xc7)
15.a3 (15.Nb3 15...b6=) 15...a4 16.Bxc5 dxc5 17.Nxa4 b6 18.Nc3
7...Nbd7 8.O-O Nc5 9.Qc2 a5 Securing the knight on c5. Ne8CWith great compensation.]
14...exf4 Black wants to control the useful e5 square for his to paralyze the black rooks. [22.Kh1 22...Qd6 23.Re2 Kh8
knight. [14...e4 also leads to unclear play. 15.Kh1 Nf6 16.b3 24.Ref2+=]
(16.Bd4? with the idea Nd1-Ne3, but it loses to 16...Nxd5 22...Qd6 23.Bc2 Ref7 [23...e4 24.Rf2 Be5 25.g3 Rf6 26.Ref1
17.Bxg7 Nb4i) 16...Bd7 17.a3 Ne8 18.b4 Qf6 Black is on with Ne2-Nf4 next, but Black could try h5-h4.]
time with his counterplay. 19.Rac1 axb4 20.axb4 Na4V]
24.Kh1 Ra8 And indeed, Black has no idea what to do.
15.Bxf4 [15.Rxf4 15...Ne5 16.Raf1 Qe7 and the rooks don’t
do anything on the f-file.] 25.Re2 Qf8 26.Ref2 True to his style, Petrosian placed all his
pieces perfectly.
15...Ne5 16.Rae1 Bd7 17.Nf3 Qf6 18.Qd2 Both players
improve their pieces. 26...Nb7
18...Rae8?! looks logical but is not accurate. Black
could reduce the material after [18...Nxf3+ 19.Rxf3 (19.Bxf3
19...Qd4+ 20.Kh1 Qxd2 21.Bxd2 Nd3 (21...Rae8= ) 22.Re7
Ne5) 19...Ne4 (19...Qd4+ 20.Qxd4 Bxd4+ 21.Kf1) 20.Qc2
Rae8 looks fine for Black.]
27.Qe2! The queen is going to h5.

27...Nd6 28.c5 bxc5 29.Bxc5 Rb8 30.b3 Qc8 [30...e4
31.Qe3 a4 32.Ne2 (32.bxa4 32...Nc4!) 32...axb3 33.Bxb3 The
knight is going to e6. Black’s position is very difficult.]
31.Qh5 Qa6
19.Nxe5! It is time to change the structure a bit.

19...dxe5 20.Be3 b6 My first intuition told me that thanks
to the well-placed pieces and central pawns Black should be
completely fine here, but after thinking about it a bit longer I
realized it is not easy to find a plan. In case Black moves one
of the pawns then the f4 or e4 square will be weak! White can
improve his position by creating pressure against the f5 pawn.
21.Bh5 Re7 22.Bd1 White could also keep the bishop on h5 32.g4! It is time to crush Black’s position!
32...f4 33.Re1 It looks like Petrosian sometimes tried to trouble here. Suetin was probably afraid to open the g-file but
be too accurate! :) He takes control of the e4 square he should have taken the pawn on g4! [36...Bxg4 37.Qh4 f3
instead of matingwith [33.g5! 33...e4 (33...Rf5 34.Bxf5 38.Nxd6 (38.Rg1 38...Rf4V) 38...Qd7 39.Nc4 Rf4 and I don’t
Nxf5 35.Rg1; 33...hxg5 34.Bg6 Rf6 35.Qh7+ Kf8 36.Ne4h) know who is better here.]
34.gxh6 (34.Nxe4c is simpler to see.) 34...Bxc3 35.Qg6+ Kh8 37.g5
36.Bxd6 Qxd6 37.Qxf7 Rf8 38.Qxf8+ Qxf8 39.Rxf4 Qd6
40.Bxe4 With a winning position, but of course it was not
possible to see this line during the game.]
33...Qc8 34.Bxd6? More accurate was [34.Qg6 34...Bxg4
35.Rxe5 f3 36.Qh7+ Kf8 37.Bg6 and Black will not survive.;
34.Rg1 is also good, with g5 next.]
34...cxd6 [34...Bxg4 35.Bh7+ (35.Qg6 35...cxd6 36.Ne4 Bf5
37.Qxf7+ Kxf7 38.Nxd6+ Kf6 39.Nxc8 Rxc8 40.Bxf5 Kxf5 and
it looks like Black is better here!) 35...Kxh7 36.Qxf7 cxd6
37.Ne4 Rb7 38.Nf6+ Kh8 39.Qe8+ Qxe8 40.Nxe8 Bf8 With 37...Rf4? [37...Bg4 38.Qh4 Rf4 39.gxh6 Qd8 40.Ng5
a good position for Black.] (40.Qxd8+ 40...Rxd8 41.hxg7 Kxg7) 40...Bf6 41.h7+ Kg7
35.Bg6 [35.Ne4 35...Bxg4 (35...Be8 ) 36.Qxf7+ Kxf7 42.Rg1 Bxg5 43.h8=Q+ Qxh8 44.Qxg5 Qd8 (44...Qh6
37.Nxd6+ Kf6 38.Nxc8 Rxc8 39.Be4 45.Qe7+h) 45.Rxg4 Qxg5 46.Rxg5 Kf6 47.Rg3 e4 48.Bxe4
Rxe4 49.Rfxf3+ Ke5 50.Rg5+ Kd4 and thanks to his active
king Black keeps some drawing chances.]
38.Rg1?? [38.gxh6 38...Bg4 39.Qg5h]
39...Bf8! Activating the bishop and stopping the

pawn. (39...Bf5 40.Rd2 Bxe4+ 41.Rxe4 Kf5 42.Rc4 Rd8
43.d6 e4 44.Rd5+h) 40.Rg2 Bf5 41.Bxf5 Kxf5 42.Rg8
Rb8!VPreventing d6. Black has good practical counterplay.] 38...Bf5?? Black missed the last opportunity to escape!
35...Rf8 36.Ne4 f3? I suppose that both players were in time [Black had to play 38...Bg4! 39.Qh4 (39.Bf7+ 39...Kh8
40.gxh6 Bxh5 41.hxg7+ Kh7 42.g8=Q+ Qxg8 43.Bxg8+ Surprise section / study
Rxg8 44.Rxg8 Kxg8 45.Nxd6 Rd4e) 39...Bh3 40.Qg3 Rg4
(40...Bg2+ 41.Rfxg2 fxg2+ 42.Qxg2C Kh8 43.Nxd6 Qf8 44.Ne4 (36) Bent
Rb6 45.d6 Rb4V) 41.Qxg4 Bxg4 42.gxh6 Bxh6 43.Bh5 Kh8
44.Bxg4 Qb7k] 1. =
39.gxh6 Bxe4 40.Bxe4 1-0
Solutions (38) Nisipeanu, D(2654)-Caruana, F(2805)
Dortmund, 2015.07.05
(37) Kramnik, V(2783)-Nepomniachtchi, I(2720)
Dortmund, 2015.06.30
28...axb4!! 29.Nxc6 b3! 30.Rxc7 [30.Ne7+ 30...Kf8

31.Rxc7 Nd6i]
47.Nb7! Nc3 [47...Nxb6 48.Rxd1h; 47...Ke6 48.Nd8+ Kf6 30...Nd6!! 0-1 [30...Nd6 31.Nd4 (31.Rd7 31...b2i)
49.Rf7#] 31...b2i]
48.Nd8! [48.f4! 48...Bb8 (48...Bd4 49.Nd8!h) 49.Rxd1 (39) Ovod, E(2313)-Mirzoeva, E(2233)
Nxd1 50.Nd7+ Ke6 51.Nxb8h] Russian Higher league (W), 2015.06.30
48...g5 [48...Rxd7 49.Nxd7+ Kg7 50.Nxe5h]
49.Rxd1 Nxd1 50.Nd7+ Ke7 51.Nxe5 Kxd8 52.hxg5h
48.Bf6+!! Rg7 [48...Qxf6 49.Qh5+h]

49.Rb8+! Kh7 50.fxg6+ Kxg6 [50...Rxg6 51.Rh8#]
51.Qxg2+h
(40) Savina, A(2422)-Ovod, E(2313) (42) Van Kampen, R(2609)-Van Wely, L(2647)
Russian Higher league (W), 2015.07.01 Dutch Championship, 2015.07.06
34...Nf2+! 35.Rxf2 [35.Kg1 35...Nh3+ 36.Kh1 Qg1+ 37.Rxg1 48...Re1+! 49.Rf1 [49.Kh2 49...g3#]
Nf2#] 49...gxh3! 50.Qc6 [50.Rxe1 50...Qxg2#]
35...Qa1+! 0-1 50...Rxf1+! 51.Kh2 [51.Kxf1 51...Qxc6 52.Nxc6 h2i]
(41) Ofitserian, B(2306)-Levin, E(2519) 51...Qxg2+ [51...Qg7i ] 52.Qxg2 hxg2 53.Kxg2 Rd1i
Polugaevsky memorial, 2015.07.04 (43) Laznicka, V(2657)-Sethuraman, S(2623)
Porticcio Open, 2015.07.01
25...Rxc4! 26.Qxc4 Bxf3 27.Bxf3 Qxf3i
26.Be4! Nxe4 [26...Rxe4 27.Rxd7 Nxd7 28.Qxe4h; 26...g6

27.Qf6h] 27.Rxd7h
(44) Giri, A(2791)-Pruijssers, R(2507) (45) Areshchenko, A(2656)-Terrioux, K(2440)
Dutch Championship, 2015.07.06 Porticcio Open, 2015.07.02
35.Reg3!! [35.Rh3 35...d1=Q 36.Bxh7 Qxg2+!! 37.Rxg2 31.Rd6! 1-0 [31.Rd6 31...Qf3 (31...Nxd6 32.cxd6+ Kf7
(37.Kxg2 37...Qe2+=) 37...Rxg2+ 38.Kxg2 Qe2+] 33.Rxd8h) 32.Rb3h]
35...Qd8 [35...d1=Q 36.Bxh7! Rxg5 37.Bc2+ Kg8 38.Qxg5+
Kf7 39.Qg8#]
36.Bc2 [36.Be8!! 36...Rxg5 (36...Qxe8 37.Rxg7h; 36...Qc7 (46) Smirin, I(2663)-Nikhilesh, K(2235)
37.Qf6! Kg8 38.Bh5h) 37.Qf8+h] World Open, 2015.07.01
36...Qf8? [36...Rxg5 37.Qxg5 Qf8k]
37.Rxg7 Rxg7 38.Rxg7 Qxg7 39.Qxe6h
18.Nd5! 1-0 [18.Nd5 18...Qxc2 19.Nc7+ Kf8 20.Rd8+ Be8

21.Rxe8#]
(47) Shikril
1.Nb2!! h5 [1...Kxb2 2.a4 h5 3.a5 h4 4.a6 h3 5.a7 h2

6.a8=Qh]
2.a4! Kb4 [2...h4 3.a5 h3 4.a6 h2 5.Nd1+! Kd2 (5...Kb4
6.Nf2h) 6.Nf2 Ke2 7.Nh1 Kf1 8.a7h]
3.Kc6! h4 4.Kb6! h3 5.a5! h2 6.Nd3+ Kc3 7.Nf2h
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
A lot of action on the chess board could be witnessed during
the past week, but let us start with the finished events:
Editorial Preface 2 The match between Boris Gelfand and Ding Liren in China
ended in a deserved 3-1 victory for the Chinese superstar.
Two best games of the past week 4 The friendly match between China and Russian ended in a
14-11 victory in the men’s section and a dominant 15-10 score
Young & Talented 10 in the women’s, both in favor of the Chinese.
The Chinese also won the blitz leg.
Puzzle section 13 After a clear domination by the Chinese players in team events
in the past years the question is coming up if some other team
Endgame section 16 will able to compete against the Chinese machine in the next
Olympiad in Baku!
Golden knowledge. The traditional Najdorf Memorial was won by Igor Kovalenko
QUEEN ENDINGS - passed pawn problem 20 with a fantastic score of 8/9.
The Dutch National Championship was "as usual" won by Giri
Chess and the City. with 5.5/7.
Are marriages among professional chess players Currently the super tournament of Biel is under way with a lot
healthy? 25 of decisive games and great fighting chess! If you have some
free time, don’t miss the games!
As usual, the current issue of Top GM Secrets brings you very
colorful chess material from the recent top events combined
Surprise section / study 29 with many other interesting sections. Enjoy!
Solutions 29 Arkadij Naiditsch & Csaba Balogh
Two best games of the past week 11.Nf3

- Wei, Yi (2724) [D85]
China-Russia Match 2015(5.3),

Best rating: 2737
11...Bb7 Maybe Wei Yi didn’t choose the best move order. [To
We will see another great game by Matlakov, where he crushes me it seems like Black is fine after 11...c5 12.O-O (12.d5 12...e6
the lately so strong playing Wei Yi. After the opening White Here we have a position which is close to the game but in a
manages to quickly put a lot of pressure on Black’s position much better version for Black.) 12...cxd4 13.cxd4 Bb7 and I
and later on to totally dominate the game, even making Black believe the position is a very fighting one, but should be close
resign in a position with equal material. A very nice game to to equal.]
watch. Enjoy! 12.O-O c5 So Black finally pushes c5, but White has an
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 This time the game enters the very excellent counter measure up his sleeve...
main Gruenfeld. 13.d5! Perfect play! The black bishop on b7 is getting blocked
4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Qa4+ This is a now and the knight from b8 is having serious trouble getting
relatively rare line, the very main being 7.Nf3. into the game.
7...Qd7 The main idea of 7.Qa4 is to avoid the c5 push 13...e6 14.Be3 Another good move, preparing to play Rad1,
for a couple of moves, which White needs to complete his bringing the last piece into the action.
development. 14...exd5 Black doesn’t have anything better. 15.Rad1
8.Bb5 Of course not exchanging the queens! If the queens are
gone from the board, Black usually has an excellent endgame.
8...c6 9.Be2 O-O Black wants to play c5.
10.Qa3 and White is preventing it.
10...b6 Yet again preparing the c5 push.
15...d4?! In my opinion this is at least a very risky decision. 22.Rxe4; Black could also have tried a tricky move like
[I think Black could have continued with 15...Qd6 16.exd5 20...Bf5 21.c6 but here White is also clearly better after 21...a6
Nd7 and this quite typical position should be evaluated as 22.Ba4 b5 23.cxd7 bxa4 24.Rd2 and the d7 pawn gives White
minimally better for White.] a big plus.]
16.cxd4 Bxe4 17.dxc5 Now that the center is fully opened 21.Bd4 Black is suddenly in big trouble!
it is extremely important that White’s development is much 21...Bf5 What else to do?! To play 21...Bxf3 22. Qxf3 and
better than Black’s one, so White has some time to create a give White the bishop pair and a strong c-pawn is a very
few threats- and this is what Matlakov is going to do... unpleasant option...
17...Qb7 This is probably the best position for the black 22.c6 It is very nice to see how the white pieces are
queen. dominating the center.
18.Rfe1! A silent but very unpleasant move for Black! White 22...a6 23.Be5 A nice "zwischenzug" which allows White not
does not hurry to force things immediately, but is threatening to worry about the c6 pawn.
to play Ng5 now, after which Bxg2 will not be possible any
longer because of f3, and the rook on e1 could often be a useful 23...Qc8 24.Ba4 b5 25.Bb3
piece. [18.Rd6 was another nice possibility.]
18...Nd7 The knight is finally out.
25...a5 Wei Yi is still hoping to escape by creating some

threats on the queenside. [25...Qxc6 26.Rd6 and the f6
19.Ba6! Another great move by White to destablize the knight is gone.]
position of the black pieces. 26.Qb2! Another safe and strong move by White!
19...Qc7 [Not better is 19...Qc6 20.Rd6 Qc7 21.c6 and White 26...a4 [26...Nh5 would lead to a total domination of the
is clearly better. ] white pieces: 27.Bxg7 Nxg7 28.Re7 a4 29.Bd5 with a winning
20.Bb5 Using the fact that Black can’t take the c5 pawn. position for White.]
20...Nf6 [20...Nxc5? loses a piece after 21.Bxc5 bxc5 27.Bxf6 Bxf6 28.Qxf6 axb3 29.axb3 Bc2 Black is
equalizing the material, but not saving the game. The
white queen and knight make for an excellent combination (2) Rapport, Richard (2671)
to mate the black king... - Adams, Michael (2740) [C36]
30.Rd7 Bxb3
48th Biel GM 2015(2.1), GM Csaba Balogh
2015.07.21 Best rating: 2672
Richard Rapport continues playing in his highly entertaining

style- even against the World’s best players. Adams takes up
the challenge and they play a very interesting game...
1.e4 e5 2.f4 The King’s Gambit! We can say that we had
to wait for 2 moves for the first sacrifice, but of course this
opening must be taken very seriously, as World Champions
have employed it successfully in the past.
31.h4! Maxim shows no mercy. The simple threat of playing
h5-h6 is deadly. 2...exf4 3.Nf3 d5 Black has many options, but this is given as
an easy equalizer by the theory.
31...Ra6 32.Ne5 The c6 pawn is saved and Black is
completely paralyzed. A really beautiful positional win by 4.exd5 Nf6 5.Be2 This already had to come as a surprise for
White and another example of how dangerous it is to play Black and must have been a home preparation by White! The
without the center and with a worse development, especially two main moves are Bb5 and Bc4.
when the position is very opened. 1-0 5...Nxd5 6.c4 White wants to build a huge center with c4-d4
and later win back the material with Bxf4. If he manages to do
all this he will reach a stable advantage.
6...Ne7 Black had many other options at his disposal. Adams
wants to retain his extra pawn by driving his knight to g6.
7.Nc3 This is the official novelty. 7.d4 was played in all the
games before. It could still be a transposition if White plays
d4 next, but Rapport had something else in mind (or in his
preparation).
7...Ng6 11.d4
8.h4!? Wow! I am not so sure about the objective strength of 11...Nxg2+! The huge difference to the previous line is that
this move. Of course it is nice to send back the knight with h5, Black can favorably exchange some pieces one3!
however Black also has his answers and later this move could 12.Kf1! Rapport feels the dynamism very well! [12.Kf2 is
rather be a weakening, as it might be difficult to hide the white more logical, but less strong because after 12...Ne3! 13.Nxe3
king. fxe3+ 14.Bxe3 Black has a free move to play 14...Bf6! and now
8...Be7 The most natural reply. Developing and giving the the d5 move can be met by Ne5! Black is a pawn up and he has
knight a good square to go to after h5. [The alternative was nothing direct to fear.]
the simple 8...h5!? preventing h5 and consolidating the nice 12...Ne3+ 13.Nxe3 fxe3 14.d5! It is clear that without the e5
g4 square for the bishop.] square Black must do something artificial, but of course he
9.h5 Nh4 10.Nd5! At least White is very consequent! He does will still be a pawn up even after White takes on e3!
not count the pawns, but he rather aims for active piece play 14...Nb4 15.a3 Na6 The knight is temporarily on the edge of
and quick development. the board, but it might quickly come back through c5!
10...Nc6! Adams also knows that developing his minor 16.Bxe3 White has achieved some compensation. He has
pieces is more important than grabbing some pawns... some lead in development, his pieces are standing well and
[10...Nxg2+ is met by 11.Kf2 Nh4 12.d4 and the g2 pawn does he is ready to explode the kingside with h6. However a pawn
not count that much now.] is a pawn and Black has no structural weaknesses.
16...O-O played like this. Qd7 and Rae8 are coming next.]
20.Bd4! This is the point and suddenly White creates threats
on the g7 square. The only natural move of taking on d4 does
not work because after Qxd4 the g4 bishop falls.
20...Be7! Cold-blooded and strong, but of course it allows a
repetition unless Black wants to play on with 19...f6.
21.c5 Rapport likes playing with the initiative, refuses the
repetition and takes further ground in the center. In the
meantime he completely excludes the a6 knight from the
game. The drawback is that the d5 pawn loses its stability.
17.Qc2! White keeps an eye on the h7 square. If it was his
[However it was stronger to bring the rook into the game with
move he would play Bd3 and suddenly it is not easy to deal
21.Re1! 21...Re8 (21...Qd7 22.Kg2 threatens with Ne5! It is
with the h7 pawn. g6 opens the h-file and provokes dangerous
not easy to suggest a good move for Black.) 22.Ne5! Bxe2+
sacrifices on g6. h6 again fixes the pawn structure and White
23.Rxe2
might have very dangerous attacking ideas connected with
Rg1-Bxh6 or Bd4. The third reply would be f5, but this is
very bad positionally as it locks his own pieces, especially the
bishop on c8, and gives up the e6 square. Therefore Adams
decides to prevent this Bd3 idea with a developing move.
17...Bg4 A very natural move, but it also has the drawback
that Rapport immediately points out with his next moves...
18.h6! g6
with very strong compensation for the pawn. The problem

is that Black could neutralize the g7 square with Bf8, but it
leaves the f6 square unprotected after Ng4!]
21...Re8! Calm defense again! Black wants to put his bishop
on f8 to not worry about the g7 mate anymore and he also
activates his rook. [21...Qxd5 was bad in view of 22.Bf2! with
the threat of Qg7 mate and after 22...f6 23.Bc4! wins the
19.Qc3! Bf6 [19...f6 is very ugl y, but Black should have queen.]
22.c6 Bf8!? Black opens the e-file for the rook. He is ready to pawn after 29...Rxe1 30.Rxe1 c5 31.Be3 Rxb7e The win is still
take on d5 after which the sacrifices on e2 might already work. doubtful because White is active and he might transpose to
After the the white king is naked, crushing sacrifices around a drawish rook endgame, but of course the extra pawn will
it should not be such a big surprise. [The machine suggests guarantee a long suffering for White.]
and likes Black after 22...b5!? with the idea of 23.Bxb5 Qxd5 27.Bxe2 Bxh1
counter-attacking the f3 knight.]
23.cxb7 Rb8 24.Bxa6 Taking the knight "for free", but this
is objectively a mistake. [White should have played 24.Bg7!
after which the repetition is forced. 24...Bc5 (24...Bd6?
25.Bxa6 already wins a piece for nothing.) 25.Bd4 (25.Bxa6?
25...Qxd5 is still too strong.) 25...Bf8=]
24...Qxd5 25.Kf2 [25.Be2 is strongly met by 25...Rxe2!
26.Kxe2 Bxf3+ 27.Qxf3 Qxd4 Black is an exchange down,
but he is going to have 2 pawns for it after taking one of the
28.Rxh1! Deflecting the queen from the d4 bishop. Perhaps
b-pawns. 28.Rab1 Qb6!e with Rxb7 next. Black overtakes
Adams missed or underestimated these exchange sacrifices,
the initiative since his king is already safe and the f8 bishop
which seem completely unsound at first sight, but together
protects everything, while the white one in the center of the
with the following move they are very strong!
board will get under the attack of the heavy pieces.]
28...Qxh1 29.Qxc7! White creates the threats of Qe5 and the
25...Bxf3 26.Bc4
rook is also under attack! Suddenly it is Black who needs to
find the right moves to force adraw!
29...Qh4+! [29...Rxb7 is met by 30.Qe5! f6 31.Bc4+ Rf7
32.Qe6Aand it is clear that something has gone wrong for
Black.; 29...Re8 is bad in view of 30.b8=Q and the two queens
protect everything. Black does not even have a perpetual
check. 30...Qh4+ 31.Kf1 Qh1+ 32.Bg1h]
30.Kf1! [White also cannot play for more with 30.Kg2 30.Ke3
drops the h6 pawn with check... 30...Qe4+! 31.Bf3 Rxb7! and
White does not have Qe5!]
26...Re2+?! Very pretty, but wrong! This move leads to a
forced repetition. [Black could maintain his advantage after 30...Qh1+ 31.Kf2 Qh4+ 32.Kf1 Qh1+ 33.Kf2 A great
26...Qe4! 27.Rae1 Qf4 The only move to avoid big problems fighting game that was not without mistakes, but of course in
is 28.Bxf7+! Qxf7 29.Qxf3 but Black ends up with an extra such a sharp position it is impossible to play perfectly. 1/2-1/2
Young & Talented 14...f6 Damaging the structure a bit, but Black needs to
chase the knight from e5. [14...d6 15.Qf3 Nd7 16.Nc6 Qe8
17.Rfd1+=]
15.Qf3 Very tempting but not the best. White might be
slightly better after the simple 15.Nf3.
15...Qc7 16.Qxa8!? is logical after White’s 15th move but
GM Etienne Bacrot 16.Nd3 was still a better move.
(3) Salem, AR. (2615) Best rating: 2749 16...Nc6 17.Qxf8+
- Duda, Jan Krzysztof (2632) [E18]
Martuni(6),
2015.07.17
Duda just won the Lake Sevan tournament in Armenia. The

17-year old Polish grandmaster, 7th on the FIDE list under 20,
is on a rush after winning 22 rating points in the French league
in June. Here he wins against the best UAE player.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 With Black
Duda usually chooses slow openings, on this day the Queen’s 17...Bxf8 At first I thought that White should be better but
Indian. it is difficult to make the two rooks work together and the
white king is also a bit weak, so Black quickly uses his queen’s
6.Nc3 Ne4 7.Bd2 Bf6 8.O-O O-O 9.Ne5 Nxc3 10.Bxc3 strength.
Bxg2 11.Kxg2 c5 12.dxc5 bxc5 13.Qd6 Be7!? This is quite a
dangerous choice in this very important theoretical position. 18.Nxc6 looks good but Black’s next move proves to be very
13...Qb6 is the usual move. strong. [18.Nf3 18...d5 19.e3 looks good but after (19.cxd5
19...exd5 20.e3 Qe7 and Black is better.) 19...dxc4! White has
14.Qd3 some problems on the light squares, for example: 20.Nd2
Qd7 21.Rfd1 Qd5+ 22.Kg1 h5! with unclear play.]
18...Qxc6+ 19.f3 is unfortunately forced, since after [19.Kg1
19...Qe4! 20.Rfd1 d6 Black wins a pawn without opening the
lines.]
19...Qa6! 20.b3 d5! I tried hard to find a convenient defense
for White but the position is very tough.
24...h5 I like such moves, improving the position when your
opponent has no good ideas.
25.Kd2 Qa6 White protected the bishop to threaten bxc4
and managed to push back the queen but now his king is in
the center.
26.Rd1 Bc7 27.Kc2 It was not better to go back to the
kingside: [
21.e3 It is understandable that White wants to prevent d4,

but this move also weakens his king. The alternatives were
[21.Rfd1 21...d4! (21...dxc4 22.Kf1 should be fine for White.)
22.Bd2 e5 23.e4 Avoiding the e4 break. 23...Bd6 followed by
Bc7-a5 and White might hold the position, or not!; 21.cxd5 is
strongly met by the following forced line: 21...Qxe2+ 22.Rf2
Qe3 23.Bd2 Qd4 24.Re1 exd5 25.Re8 Kf7! 26.Rd8 c4!
27.bxc4 Bc5! 28.Be1 Qxc4e]
21...dxc4 22.Kf2 Qa3 is maybe the best move again. Black 27.Ke1 27...Qb7 28.Ke2 Qb5 29.bxc4 Qxc4+ 30.Rd3 h4!i]
simply improves all his pieces and maintains White’s rooks in 27...cxb3+? The first inaccurate move after the opening!
defense. [22...e5!? is also a possibility in order to have the e4 Some more slow moves to improve the position would have
break at some point.] done the job. [27...Kh7!? works because White cannot play
23.Rfb1 Bd6e actively: 28.Rd7 Bd6! 29.Bxf6 cxb3+ 30.axb3 Qe2+ and the
white king has no safe place. 31.Kb1 Qd1+ 32.Kb2 Be5+!
33.Bxe5 Qxd7 is one of the winning lines.]
28.axb3 Qe2+ 29.Rd2 Qxf3 30.Rxa7 White finally gets
some activity!
24.Ke1 An ugly move but what to do!
30...Qe4+
31.Rd3?? [White almost had the draw: 31.Kb2 31...Be5

(31...Qc6 32.Ra4 and it would be difficult to improve the
position for Black.) 32.Rdd7! Bxc3+ 33.Kxc3 Qxe3+
34.Kc4=]
31...c4! A very strong move. The black bishop joins the attack
and White cannot connect the rooks on the 7th rank.
32.bxc4 Bb6! 33.Rd7 White’s pieces are uncoordinated and
his position is lost. [33.Re7 33...e5 34.Kd2 Kh7!i; 33.Ra4
33...Bxe3i]
33...Qxc4 34.Kd1 e5 35.Bd2 Kh7 36.Ke1 Qe4 37.Kd1
Bd4 38.R7xd4 exd4 39.Rxd4 Qf3+ 40.Kc2 Qe2 One more
pawn is doomed, so White resigned. After this nice game Duda
finished with 3 draws to take clear first place in this strong
young GM tournament. 0-1
Puzzle section
(4) Matlakov, M(2691)-Lu Shanglei(2595) (6) Ding Yixin(2439)-Kashlinskaya, A(2432)
China-Russia match, 2015.07.15 China-Russia match, 2015.07.16
1. h 1... i
(5) Huang Qian(2457)-Pogonina, N(2465) (7) Sevian, S(2578)-Hovhanissyan, R(2611)

China-Russia match, 2015.07.15 Lake Sevan, 2015.07.14
1... i 1. h
(8) Artemiev, V(2660)-Petrosian, T(2630) (10) Olszewski, M(2562)-Chomczyk, M(2165)
1... i 1. h
(9) Swiercz, D(2634)-Czerwonski, A(2375) (11) Markowski, T(2574)-Mista, A(2585)

Najdorf memorial, 2015.07.15 Najdorf memorial, 2015.07.16
1. h 1... i
(12) Mista, A(2585)-Cheparinov, I(2683)
1... i
(13) Dragun, K(2586)-Bilguun, S(2361)

1. h
Endgame section
(14) Petrosian, Tigran (2630)

- Ter Sahakyan, Samvel (2593)
Lake Sevan, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.07.17 Best rating: 2672
50...Rc5+!! deflects the bishop and forces mate: 51.Bxc5

Qh6+ 52.Kf5 Qf6#) 49...Qd2+! and compared to the game
the f6 square is not free for the king, which means the loss
of the d7 pawn... 50.Kh4 Qxh2+ 51.Kg5 Qd2+ 52.Kh4
Qxd7i]
48...Kh7 49.Qe4+! White provokes g6, which becomes a
very important factor in the later stage of the game!
49...g6
At first sight it looks like White is in big trouble because he is

an exchange down and his king is under a mating attack. The
question is if the d6 pawn gives him enough counterplay to
save the game or not?! I guess both players were already in
time trouble, but White still manages to find a beautiful way
for salvation.
48.Qa8+! [The immediate 48.d7 loses to 48...Qf2+ 49.Kg5
(49.Kxh5 49...Qxh2+ 50.Kg5 (50.Bh4 50...g6+ 51.Kg5
Rc5+i and the bishop falls with mate.) 50.d7! It is a kind of all or nothing move. It is impossible
to foresee all the consequences, but at the same time White
had to go all in and pin all his hopes to this move, because it
is clear that with such a king he cannot survive for long, he
must create some direct threats. White wants to promote his
queen, therefore Black also has no time to waste...
50...Qf2+ 51.Kg5 Qd2+ 52.Kf6! We can see the point of 56.Qxe6! Qxe6+ 57.Be7 Despite being a queen up, Black
forcing the g6 move now! cannot win. The pawn on d7 is too strong.
52...Rc6+!? A very nice idea indeed, but unfortunately it 57...Qg8+ [The only winning attempt is 57...Qc6 but White
does not help. The rook cannot be taken because of mate in locks the king into the corner with 58.g5! Kg8 (58...h4 59.Bf6
one. [The other winning attempt is 52...Qxd7 53.Kxf7 Qxg6 Kg8 60.Ke7= forces Black to give a perpetual.) 59.h4 Qb5
threatens with mate now... 53...Qd3! (Surprisingly 53...Rc6? 60.Bf6= and again Ke7 is coming next and Black cannot do
loses because suddenly the black king becomes the one who anything better than draw with his extraqueen!]
gets mated after 54.Qe5!h) 54.Qxd3 Rxd3 55.gxh5 Rxf3+ 58.Bf8 Qe6+ 59.Be7 Qg8+ 60.Bf8 Qe6+ 1/2-1/2
56.Ke6 gxh5 57.h4! Kg6 58.Kd5! Kf5 59.Kd4!= We have
reached a famous theoretical draw. The point is that Black
cannot cut the white king with one more line which would be
essential for the win. White just waits with Bd8-e7-g5 and if he
can, he plays Ke3. The winning method would be to sacrifice
the rook for the h4 pawn, but he needs two moves for this (Rh3
and Kg4), but it allows Ke4 and in case of Rxh4 Bxh4 Kxh4 Kf3
the game is drawn because the white king is in time to squeeze
his opponent to the h-file. By being cut with one more file, this
would already work for Black.]
53.Kxf7 [53.Qxc6? 53...Qf4# is a nice motif!]
53...Qa2+ [53...Qxd7? loses again to 54.Qe5!h]
54.Ke8 [54.Kf8? 54...Qg8# is another pretty mate!]
54...Qg8+ 55.Bf8 Re6+ White lost his queen and it seems
like the game is over. However, there can be miracles in
chess...
Rf5 and the f6 pawn is gone, leaving Black with a heavy
(15) Navara, David (2724) advantage.]
- Rapport, Richard (2671)
36.Be3 Bd6 [It would be wrong for Black to play 36...Bxe3+?!
37.Kxe3 Rxg3+ 38.Ke2 and the position is probably a draw
48th Biel GM 2015(3.3),
because of White’s next moves, c4 and Rf1.]
2015.07.22
Best rating: 2737 37.c4 Bc6 [Of course Black can’t take the g3 pawn:
37...Bxg3+? 38.Ke2 Bc6 39.Rg1 and it is already White
who is winning.]
38.Ke2 White can’t keep the g3 pawn alive. [After 38.Bf4
38...e5 39.Be3 Black is winning the f6 pawn with 39...Rg6]
We are in a very interesting endgame which appeared after

a fighting game where White was a bit better throughout the
game, but then it got extremely complicated. Right now White
is a clear pawn up, but the a-pawn is very dangerous and the 38...a3? Black should have cared more about winning some
bishop pair also gives Black good chances to be perfectly fine. material... [The simple 38...Rxg3 would keep Black’s position
The position is very sharp. clearly better.]
34...Rg8 Good and logical! The black rook is getting into the 39.f7 Now the f-pawn is becoming dangerous.
game- attacking the g2 pawn and wanting to play Rg6 with an 39...Rxg3 Black continues playing very riskily without any
unpleasant attack on the passed f6 pawn. reason. [After 39...Rf8 40.Rf1 a2 41.Bd4 White would keep
35.g3 Not the best move. [The position would remain more good drawing chances.]
playable after 35.Nf3 35...Rg6 36.Be5 a3 37.f7 and Black is 40.Ne4! Navara manages the time trouble perfectly and now
probably better, but the position remains practically unclear.] it is already Black who should be careful.
35...Bc5+ Not a bad move, but why not win the f6 pawn?! 40...Rg2+ This is quite a mistake even it is hard to blame
[35...Rg6 was very logical. 36.Be5 and here comes the Rapport for being in time trouble on the 40th move. [Black
difference to the aforementioned line: 36...Rg5! 37.Bf4 had to find a very difficult way to a draw: 40...Bxe4 41.Rxd6
Rf3 42.Rxe6 Black’s position looks lost but in fact it is a draw! 43...e5! An excellent move!
42...Rxf7 43.Rxe4 a2 44.Bd4 44.Bg5 Threatening to play Rd8.
44...a2 45.Bf6 White is winning the e5 pawn and at the same
time he wants to protect the a1-h8 diagonal.
45...Bd3? and this is the losing move. [Black could have
tried to save the game after 45...c5! 46.Bxe5 Bc2! chasing
the white rook from the d-file to play Kd7 next. 47.Rc1 Bg6
48.Rf1 Kd7 and Black has excellent drawing chances.]
46.Bxe5 Now the game is over...
46...Bxc4 The threat of playing Rd8 is deadly.
44...Rh7 and strangely although he is a clear piece up White
cannot convert his advantage because of Black’s threat of 47.Bf6 a1=Q
playing Rh1 or winning the c4 pawn.]
41.Kf1 Now Black will be an exchange down.
41...Bf8 The only move.
42.Kxg2 Bxe4+ Black still keeps some hopes for a draw
because of the strong a-pawn and in case he would manage
to win the f7 pawn it would be very unclear if the position is
winning or a draw.
43.Kg3 White wants to play Bd4 and Kf4.
48.Rd8+ followed by Bxa1 and White is winning. The
conclusion of this very interesting endgame is that the bishop
pair has huge power and even after blundering on the moves
38-40 Black maintained very good drawing chances. He just
should have fought a bit harder! 1-0
Golden knowledge. where Black’s main task is to force the opponent’s queen into
a passive position on e1.
QUEEN ENDINGS - passed pawn problem
46.Qd4+ Other tries for perpetual don’t work here: [46.Qb7+
46...Ke8 47.Qb8+ Kf7 48.Qb7+ Kf6; 46.Qe1 46...Qe4 47.g3
f4 48.gxf4 Qd3 49.f3 Qxf3 50.b4 Ke6 51.b5 Kf5 52.Kh2
Qe3 53.b6 Kg4 54.b7 Qh3+ 55.Kg1 Qg3+ 56.Qxg3+ Kxg3
57.b8=Q e1=Q#]
46...Qd6 47.Qg7+ Qe7 48.Qd4+ Ke6 49.Qc4+ Kf6
50.Qc3+ Kf7 [It is not too late to fall for the following simple
trap: 50...Qe5?? 51.Qxe5+ Kxe5 52.f4+! Kd4 (52...Kxf4
GM Adrian Mikhalchishin 53.Kf2 e1=Q+ 54.Kxe1 Ke3 55.b3 (55.b4 55...Kd4 56.Kf2 Kc4
FIDE Trainers Commission Chairman 57.Ke3 Kxb4 58.Kf4 Kc5 59.Kg5 Kd6 (59...Kd4 60.Kh6
Ke3 61.Kxh7 Kf2 62.Kxg6 Kxg2 63.Kxf5) 60.Kh6 Ke6
Queen endings are not like other endgames - here we don’t 61.Kxh7 Kf7 62.g3 Kf6 63.Kg8 g5 64.h5) ) 53.Kf2 Kd3
have precise basic positions, except in situations with queen 54.Ke1]
against pawns. But there are still a few important factors, 51.Qc4+ White still tries to provoke his opponent. A primitive
like the role of the passed pawn, the position of the queen, blockade of the pawn would be simply and slowly refuted:
the activity and safety of the king, as well as different tactical [51.Qe1 51...Qe4 52.g3 f4 53.gxf4 Qd3 54.f3 Qxf3]
motifs, as queens are terribly powerful pieces. We will see
51...Kg7 52.Qc3+ [The other check is not better: 52.Qd4+
what the importance of each characteristic is.
52...Kh6 53.Qf4+ g5 54.hxg5+ Kg6]
(16) Boruchovsky, A. - Sanal, V.
52...Kh6 53.Qe1
European U18, 2015
We have a classical endgame with a distant passed pawn, 53...Qe4 54.g3 Kh5 55.Kh2 h6 Black wants to secure his
king against some mating ideas like Qe1-c1-g5. [Black could Kh6 58.Qxh4+ Kg7 59.Qe7+ Qf7i) 54...Kg5i; Or 51.Qe3
also have won after 55...Qd3 56.Qc1 h6 57.b3 Qd1 58.Qe3 51...Qc6+ 52.Qf3 Qd7 53.Qd1 d2 54.f3 Qd3]
e1=Q]
56.b4 Qd3 57.Qh1 Qc3! A very instructive example where
the difference of activity of both queens is remarkable. 0-1
(17) Romanishin, O.-Karpov, A.

Moscow, 1983
51...d2 52.Qxf7 Qc6+ 53.f3 [After 53.Kh2 Black needs to

find the following precise win: 53...Kh7! 54.Qf5+ Qg6
55.Qd7 Qc2 56.Qe8 (56.Qf7 56...Qc8 57.Qd5 Qc7+ 58.Kg2
Qc2 59.Qf7 Qc6+i) 56...Qc7+ 57.Kg2 g6i]
53...Kh7 54.Qb3 Qd6 55.Qc2+ Kh6 56.Qd1 The white
queen is finally limited to a poor defensive position and
Karpov easily improves his position.
45...Qb5!! In this Soviet Championship I was one of Anatoly
Karpov’s trainers. This extremely strong move was found
after many hours of analysis! [45...Qd4 was wrong in light of
46.Qf5+ Kg8 (46...Kh6 47.Qxf7) 47.Qc8+]
46.Qe4+ [46.Qxf7 immediately loses to 46...d2i 47.Qf3
Qb1]
46...Kh6 47.Qd4 Qc6+ 48.Kg3 Qc7+! [48...Qc2? was
premature: 49.Qd7 d2 50.Qxf7 Qc3+ 51.Kh2 Qe5+ 52.Kg2]
49.Kg2 Qc2 50.Qe4 [Now the previous defensive idea does
not work: 50.Qd5 50...d2 51.Qxf7 Qc6+ 52.Kg3 Kh7i] 56...Qd3 57.Kf2 Kg6 58.Kg2 Kf7 59.Kf2 Kf8 [As in the
50...Qc3 51.Qd5 [51.h4 According to Karpov, this desperate pre vious game, it is necessary to simply be careful and not
counter attack would not save the game: 51...gxh4 52.Qf5 to allow some stupid check. 59...Ke6 60.Qe2+]
g6 (52...Qc6+ 53.f3 Qg6 54.Qd5 f5 55.Kh3) 53.Qxf7 Qc6+ 60.Kg2 Ke7 61.Kf2 Kd6 62.Kg2 Kc5 White cannot stop
54.Kh2 (54.f3 54...Kg5 55.Kh3 Qd6 56.f4+ Qxf4 57.Qe7+ the black king from coming to b2 and then Qd3-c2 finally
clears the way for the passed pawn. Great technique! 0-1 51.Qh8! It is necessary to try and push the pawn anyway.
51...Qd5+ 52.Kc3 Qc4+ 53.Kb2 Qd4+ 54.Kb3 Qa4+
(18) Mikhalchishin, A. - Gufeld, E. 55.Kb2 Qb4+ 56.Ka2 Qd2+ 57.Kb3 Qd3+ 58.Kb4
Nikolaev, 1981 [58.Kb2 was possible, but White tries to attack the b5 pawn.]
58...Qc4+ 59.Ka5 Qa4+ 60.Kb6 b4 61.h6 and Black can’t
play for a win as the white pawn is much more advanced.
1/2-1/2
(19) Gutman, L. - Bellon Lopez, J.

Bruxelles II , 1987
46.g6+! Using a tactical motif to open the black king and

create different perpetual possibilities.
46...Kg7 [46...Kxg6 47.Qg5+ Kh7 48.Qh5+ Kg7 49.Qg5+
Kf8 50.Qd8+ was one of such cases.]
47.gxf7 Qe2+ 48.Kc1 Kxf7 49.h5! White pushes his passed
pawn as quickly as possible. He is ready to exchange his
h-pawn against Black’s b-pawn. Endings with a central pawn In many cases the queen can attack the opponent’s king
are not dangerous for the defending side as his king is close non-stop:
to the pawn.
7.Kg3 Qg5+ 8.Kf3 Qf5+ 9.Ke2 [White cannot avoid the
49...Qc4+ 50.Kd2 Qc6 perpetual even with three extra pawns: 9.Kg2 9...Qg4+
10.Kh1 Qe4+ 11.Kg1 Qxb4= (11...Qg4+= ) ]
9...Qe4+ 10.Kd2 Qxb4+ 11.Ke3 Qxa4 1/2-1/2
(20) Gulko, B. - Gurevich, D. 62.b7 The next step is achieved!
USA, 1994 62...Qb8+ 63.Kd7 Kg6 64.Qe4+ Kg5 65.Qe3+ Kg4
66.Qd4+ Kg5 67.Qc5+ 1-0
(21) Dlugy, Maxim - Benjamin, Joel

USA, 1988
Even with equal pawns there is some difference. There are

pawns which are supported much better by the king and
queen on their way to glory.
51.Qc5! Qe6 52.b6 Qe4+ 53.Qc4 Qb1+ 54.Kc5 White’s
plan is to come forward with the king and then try and
promote the pawn. 62.Qd3 Kg7 63.Kc5 Qa5+ 64.Kc6 The king comes closer
to his passed pawn, which is the best strategy in queen
54...Qf5+ 55.Qd5 Qc8+ 56.Kb5 Qe8+ 57.Ka6 Qa4+ endings.
58.Kb7 f6? The black king is relatively safe from the
opponent’s queen’s checks, so it was necessary to simply 64...Kh6 65.Qb5 Qc3+ 66.Qc5 Qf6+ 67.Qd6 Qf5 68.a7
keep the position, with some chances for a perpetual. Qe4+ 69.Kc7 Qc4+ 70.Kd8 Qg8+
59.Kb8 Qf4+ [59...Qe8+ was met by 60.Kc7]

60.Kc8 Qc1+ 61.Kd8 Qf4
71.Ke7! Qa8 [71...Qg7+ did not help: 72.Ke8 Qxa7 73.Qf8+
Qg7 (73...Kh7 74.Qf7+) 74.Qxg7+ Kxg7 75.Ke7 Kh7 76.Kf7 34...bxa5 35.Qb5+ Kc8 36.Qc6+ Kb8 37.Qb6+ Kc8
Kh6 77.Kg8 g5 78.f5] 38.Qxe6+ Kd8 39.Qd5+ Ke7 40.bxa5 Qb1+ 41.Ka4 Now
72.Qd4 Qb7+ 73.Qd7 Qb4+ 74.Kf7 Qc4+ 75.Kf8 Qc5+ starts the second part of the plan- the king comes to help his
76.Kg8 1-0 pawn.
41...g6 42.a6 Qa1+ 43.Kb5 Qb2+ 44.Kc6 Qf6+ 45.Kc7
(22) Maroczy, G.-Betbeder Matibet, L. Qc3+ 46.Qc6 Qe3 47.Kc8 1-0
Hamburg ol (Men), 1930
Here we will see how to create a passed pawn by exloiting a

pawn majority on one flank.
23.Kc2 Qa6 24.a4 Qb7 25.Kb3 h5 26.Qd6 Qf7 27.Ka3
Kb7 28.h4 a5 29.b4 axb4+ 30.cxb4 Qg6 31.Qd7+ Kb8
32.Qd3 Qf6 33.Kb3 Qa1
34.a5! In order to create a passed pawn, the help of the queen

is needed!
Chess and the City. some nasty side effects such as losing a couple of rating points
and maybe dropping an important half a point for the overall
Are marriages among professional chess result.
players healthy? The good news about their story is that even though Erwin
eventually dared to kick his dearest wife over the board they
are still happily married.
Fortunately for me I only once had the "pleasure" of
facing a "GM-boyfriend" during a round robin tournament in
Germany. The awful discussions and fights it caused made
me rather believe that marriages among two professional
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz chess players of similar strength or let’s say a rating difference
Best rating: 2493 not higher than 100 points for sure cannot be totally healthy.
As for my part, I never wanted to have a repetition of that
To marry someone from the same "field" always bears a
period even though eventually he believed to be "merciful"
certain risk. At chess this may even lead to terrible arguments,
by offering a draw.
as compared to other sports there is no separation of sexes in
most of the tournaments. Therefore the chance of actually One of the main things I learned from that experience is that
facing your own husband or wife at the chess board during a objectivity in that moment is out of the topic. Higher rated
tournament is not too low. The key question in that moment husbands automatically believe that being stronger or higher
however is how to handle such a fate once it happens? rated is a 100 percent safe bet. Unfortunately playing each
other is just one of many problems professional chess couples
Most married couples I know would likely agree on a quick
have to deal with during their active times. Who would watch
draw and solve that "issue" peacefully. But what if the
the kids and who is allowed to play is just another topic to
difference of both partners is more than just a couple
mention here.
of rating points? And how are you going to prepare
against each other when sharing a double room during the In any case there is quite a long list of happily married and
tournament?! Blackmailing him with sexual refusal is among strong chess players nowadays, which eventually makes me
those alternatives some women may funnily consider. But believe that there is no clear answer to the head line topic. It
honestly the situation is much trickier than one may expect all actually just depends.
here. To finish this topic of, let me give you the top three of the
strongest chess couples of today’s chess society:
I remember a hilarious article from Alina l’Ami about her
experience playing her husband GM Erwin l’Ami at an open 1: Grischuk - Zhukova
tournament not too long ago. In their case the rating 2: Peter Heine Nielsen - Victoria Cmilyte
difference is over 200 rating points, which naturally causes 3: Fressinet - Skripchenko
Clash of the Titans pieces are better placed for this fight.) 9...Nbc6 (9...g5 doesn’t
work here because the b7 pawn is hanging. 10.Nf5 Nxf5
11.exf5 Bxf5 12.Bxb7 Nd7 13.Bg2 White is better, but taking
(23) Botvinnik, Mikhail the rook looked dangerous.) 10.f4 exf4 11.gxf4 g5!? (11...f5k )
- Pachman, Ludek[A07] 12.fxg5 hxg5 13.Nf5 Both sides trol important squares. White
keeps a strong knight on f5 but Black is going to create a
Leipzig ol (Men) fin-A(8), blockade on e5 and f4. 13...Ng6 14.Nf3 g4V]
1960.11.04 9.Nh4 Be6 10.f4 Nd7
GM Kamil Miton
Best rating: 2655
1.g3 d5 2.Nf3 g6!? One of many setups for Black. Nowdays

the most popular is [2...c6 3.Bg2 Bg4]
3.Bg2 Bg7 4.O-O [4.d4 4...Nf6 5.O-O O-O 6.c4 leads to the
Gruenfeld.]
4...e5 5.d3 Ne7 6.Nbd2 O-O 7.e4
11.f5!? Another plan also deserves attention: [11.Nhf3!?

11...Kh8 (11...h6 12.f5!? A typical pawn sacrifice. 12...gxf5
13.Nh4 fxe4 14.dxe4n (14.Bxe4 There is no time for a
blockade because of 14...f5e) ; 11...Bh6 12.Nc4A) 12.fxe5
Nxe5! (12...fxe5 13.Ng5 Bg8 14.Bh3 with Ne6 next.) 13.Nxe5
fxe5 14.Nf3 h6 and only Black can be better thanks to his
space advantage.]
7...d4!? Black decided to close the center immediately. The 11...Bf7 12.fxg6 [12.g4 12...Bh6! A strong strategical move.
alternative was [7...Nbc6 Now if White plays 8.Re1 then d4 If Black manages to exchange the limited bishop then his
seems to be strong because the rook is placed on e1. 8.exd5 position will be very good.]
(8.c3 8...a5 is typical to avoid b4.) 8...Nxd5 9.Nc4 h6 10.Re1 12...hxg6 13.Bh3 White activates his bishop. [13.Ndf3!? with
Re8 11.Bd2 Bf5!? with the idea of pushing e4 at some the idea of playing g4-g5.]
moment. The position is equal.] 13...Nc5 [13...Bh6!? 14.Bxd7 (14.Qg4!? A 14...Be8) 14...Qxd7
8.a4 f6 Black is preparing Be6. Also interesting- with the same 15.Rxf6 Be3+ 16.Kh1 g5 17.Nf5 Nxf5 18.Rxf5 Be6 19.g4 Bxf5
idea- was [8...h6 9.Nh4 (9.Ne1 9...Nbc6 10.f4 f5! and the black 20.exf5
20...Bxd2! Otherwise White will block the position after Ne4 20.Ne1! This shows the deep understanding of Botvinnik.
and get the advantage. 21.Qxd2 Kf7 Now Black will be able to For him it was more important to improve the knight
break the position after e4. 22.Qxg5 Qc6+ 23.Kg1 Rh8!i] (Nd3-Nc5-Ne6) than to allow Black to get rid of the limited
bishop. [20.Nxg5 20...Bxg5 21.Qxg5 Nc6 22.Qxd8 (22.Qd2
14.b4 Ne6 15.Nc4 Ng5
22...a5V) 22...Raxd8 23.Rxf8 (More accurate is 23.Rab1 )
23...Rxf8 24.Rb1 There is an interesting variation after 24...a5
(24...Rf3! V 25.Bf1 Ra3 26.a5 Ra4e) 25.bxa5 Nxa5 26.Rb5
Nxc4 27.Rxb7 Ne3 (27...Rf7? 28.Be6) 28.Rxc7+ Kh6 29.a5
g5V30.Bf5 (30.g4 30...Rf3 31.Bg2 (31.a6 31...Rxh3 32.a7 Rf3
33.Rc6+ (33.h3 33...Rf1+ 34.Kh2 Ra1i) 33...Kg7 34.Rc7+
Kf6 35.Rc6+ Ke7 36.Rc7+ Kd6
16.Bxg5! This move was not forced, but the idea is very
concrete. [16.Bg2 16...Bxc4 (16...a6 17.Nxe5!; 16...Ne6 17.b5
with Ba3 next.) 17.dxc4 Qd7 18.Qd3 and White should be
better because of the weak light squares.; 16.Bg4!? ]
16...fxg5 17.Nf3 Bxc4 18.dxc4 Bf6 19.Qd2 Kg7
37.Rc6+ Kd7!i and there is no perpetual check.) 31...Rf4

32.a6 Rxg4 33.a7 Rxg2+ 34.Kh1 Rf2 35.h3 Rf1+ 36.Kh2 Ra1i)
30...Nxf5 31.exf5 Rxf5 32.a6 e4 33.a7 Ra5 34.h4 gxh4 35.gxh4
d3 36.cxd3 exd3 37.Kf2 d2 38.Ke2 Ra2=; 20.a5!? ]
20...a5 Black is trying to get control of the dark squares. this endgame a bit. It looks like Black managed to defend all
21.Nd3 b6 Preventing Nc5. the weak pawns at the same time. I suppose that the main
winning idea is to sacrifice the bishop. 42.Kc6 Ba5 43.Kc7
22.c5 Nc6 [22...axb4 23.Qxb4 Ra5 24.Rab1c] Kg7 The only move. 44.Kd6 Kf6 (44...Bc3 45.Ke6h)
23.b5 Nb4 24.Nxb4 axb4 25.cxb6 [25.Qxb4 25...Be7]
25...cxb6 26.Qxb4 Black is looking for drawing chances in an
opposite colored bishops position.
26...Be7 In my opinion the idea to create counterplay over
the c-file looks interesting. [26...Ra7 with Rc7 next.; 26...Qc7
]
27.Qc4 Bc5 28.Kg2 Qd6 29.Be6 White improves his
bishop.
29...Rxf1 30.Rxf1 Rf8 31.Rxf8 Qxf8 32.Qd5 Kh6 33.Bg4 45.Bxg6! This is the point! 45...Kxg6 46.Kxe5 Bc3 47.Kd5
Qd6 [33...d3 34.Qxd3 Qf2+ 35.Kh3c and the white king is Kf7 48.Kc6 (48.h4 48...g4V with Be1 next.) 48...Ba5 49.Kd7
safe.] with the idea to promote the e-pawn. 49...Kf6 50.Kd6 Bb4+
34.Kf3 Kg7 35.Qxd6 [35.Ke2?! 35...Qxd5 36.exd5 e4!=] 51.Kd5 Bc3 52.e5+ Ke7 53.h4 g4 54.h5 Bd2 55.a5! (55.h6
55...Bxh6 56.a5 bxa5 57.b6 Kd8! and Black is on time! 58.e6
35...Bxd6 Bf8 59.Kc6 Kc8i) 55...Bxa5 (55...bxa5 56.b6 Kd8 57.e6 Bg5
58.h6! and it is impossible to catch the three pawns!) 56.h6
Kf8 57.e6 Bb4 58.Kc6 Bc5 59.Kd7 Bb4 60.h7 Kg7 61.e7
Bxe7 62.Kxe7 Kxh7 63.Kf6h]
42.Kc6 1-0
36.Ke2! and because of the weak pawn on g6 White is

winning in this endgame.
36...Bb4 37.Kd3 Kf6 38.Kc4 Be1 39.Kd5 Bb4 40.Bd7
Be1 41.Be8 Bc3 [41...g4 42.Bd7h; 41...Bd2 Let’s analyze
(24) Reti (25) Wang Chen(2521)-Wei Yi(2724)
1. h Danzhou GM, 2015.07.10
26...Bd4! 27.Qxa6 Qb8+! 28.g3 Bxf2 0-1

(26) Levin, E(2519)-Ozolin, M(2384)
Polugaevsky memorial, 2015.07.07
56...Rxb4! 0-1 [56...Rxb4 57.axb4 Qa8+i]
(27) Yuffa, D(2474)-Alekseenko, K(2513) (29) Ernst, S(2545)-Giri, A(2791)
35...Bb2! 0-1 [35...Bb2 36.Bxb2 Rd1+i] 31...g5! 0-1 [31...g5 32.Ne7+ Rxe7 33.Bxe7 Qh4#]
(28) Bok, B(2562)-Pruijssers, R(2507) (30) Vidit, S(2643)-Artemiev, V(2660)
Dutch Championship, 2015.07.10 Lake Sevan, 2015.07.13
42.Qh8+! Kg6 43.Rd6+ Kh5 [43...Re6 44.Qe8+ Kf6 45.Qxg6+! 1-0 [45.Qxg6+ 45...hxg6 46.h7#]
45.Rxe6+ Qxe6 46.Qxe6+ Kxe6 47.Kg3h]
44.g4+ [44.Rxh6+h ]
44...Kh4 [44...Kg5 45.Qd8+ Kf4 46.Rd4+h]
45.Rxh6+h
(31) Mickiewicz, P(2356)-Safarli, E(2649) (33) Bromberger, S(2556)-Volokitin, A(2654)
17...Bxh3! 18.gxh3 Rd3! i 19.Bxc6 bxc6 20.Qa7 Qd7 40...Kf7! 41.Bh6 Ne6# 0-1
21.Ng5 [21.Re3 21...Qxh3 22.Ne1 Qg4+i]
21...Rxh3 22.f3 Rg3+ 0-1
(32) Cheparinov, I(2683)-Bjornsson, S(2327) (34) Lomasov, S(2305)-Bukavshin, I(2647)
Najdorf memorial, 2015.07.11 Voronezh Masters, 2015.07.12
26.Nh6!! Bd5 [26...gxh6 27.Qf6+ Rg7 28.Qxf8+h] 24.Bg7+!! Kxg7 25.Rg4+ Kf8 [25...Kf7 26.Qd5+ Kf8
27.Qf5! Bf7 [27...Qd6 28.Rxc8h] 27.Qg8#; 25...Kh8 26.Qh6h]
28.Rxc8 Qxc8 29.Nxf7+h Kg8 30.Qe6 1-0 26.Qd5 1-0
(35) Bent
1.Nf7! Rg8 2.d8=Q Rxd8 3.Nxd8 Bxd3 4.Nxb7 Bc2+!

5.Ka2! d3 6.Ka1!! d2 7.Na5! d1=Q 8.Nb3+! Bxb3=
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
The Biel super tournament came to an end. It was a great
and fighting event, with a lot of very interesting fights until
Editorial Preface 2 the very end.
The winner is Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with 6.5/10. Second
place goes to Wojtaszek with 6/10 and places 3-4 were shared
Best game of the past week 4
by Adams and Navara.
The tournament was a big disaster for Rapport, who finished
Young & Talented 7 on a very poor 2/10.
In the open section Sutovsky came first with 7.5/9, while
Puzzle section 9
second place was shared by 6 people, the best of whom on
tiebreak was Solak and 3rd position went to Bok.
Endgame section 12
The Leiden Open was won by David Howell with a fantastic
8.5/9.
Golden knowledge 16
In the Politiken Cup everything is still unclear after 8 rounds,
but the best players are leading.
Chess and the City.
On the trail of Emanuel Lasker 23 An interesting match is going on in China, once again between
the Russians and the Chinese in a knock-out system, where if
Clash of the Titans 24 one player wins, he stays against the next opponent. At the
moment Karjakin is crushing the Chinese men, as he won 3
matches in a row, so there are only two Chinese left against
the full Russian team.
Solutions 27 We hope you enjoy issue Nr 179!
Best game of the past week to avoid the theoritcal discussions and played the rare
14...Bg6 15.Bxd5 cxd5 16.Bf4 d4 17.cxd4 Bb4 18.Nc3 Qxd4
19.Be5 Qd7
- Adams, Michael (2740) [C89]
48th Biel GM 2015(8), GM Csaba Balogh

2015.07.28 Best rating: 2672
An important theoretical battle in the Marschall defense.

Vachier-Lagrave manages to get the advantage of the two
bishops, which he manages to convert into a full point.
It looks like a typical compensation with the two bishops,
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 however Anand found thebrilliant 20.Nd5!! f6 (With the idea
The old main line with 6.Re1 has started to come back into of 20...Bxe1 21.Nf6+! gxf6 22.Qxf6h) 21.Nxb4 fxe5 22.Qd5+
fashion because there were already too many games for the Qxd5 23.Nxd5 Bxd3 24.Rxe5c With a healthy extra pawn for
6.d3 line and people know which directions to choose against White in the Anand-Carlsen, Shamkir 2015 game.]
it.
15.g3 Qh3
6...b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.c3 d5 The Marschall Gambit. The main
reason why White started to play 6.d3.
16.Be3 This is the new development of the theory! White

gives back the material advantage, but he quickly finishes
the development and aims for a positional advantage. [Most
9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d3 The of the games continue with 16.Bxd5 16...cxd5 17.Qxd5 Rad8
alternative and the old main line is 12. d4. 18.Qg2 Qxg2+ 19.Kxg2 Bxd3 and this endgame is considered
12...Bd6 13.Re1 Bf5 14.Qf3 Qh4 [Carlsen probably wanted to be a relatively easy draw despite the pawn down.]
16...Bxd3 17.Nd2 Qf5 18.Bd4 Rae8 The new move! [Adams
himself as White had a game for this position. That game also
continued with 18...Rfe8 19.a4 h6 20.Kg2 Qxf3+ 21.Kxf3 just
like our game. The difference of having the a8 rook on e8 will
be seen in the following move...]
19.Kg2 h6 20.a4 Qxf3+ 21.Kxf3 Re6!? This is the point of
playing Rae8. First of all Black now takes back on e6 with
check and also after axb5 his rook is not pinned on the a-file.
22.axb5 axb5 23.Kg2 White prepares to take on e6 followed
by Ra6 and he leaves from the check after fxe6! [An important 29.Kf2! += There is no concrete way of forcing further
line is 23.Rxe6 23...fxe6+ 24.Kg2 c5! 25.Ra6 Rd8! and Black exchanges, which means that White will be able to create new
holds his central pawns and pieces together and closes the threats and torture Black in the long term.
light squared bishop with c4 next move.]
29...Rd7 30.Ra3! White is threatening to win a piece after
23...Rfe8 [Black could now play 23...Rxe1 24.Rxe1 and in the taking on d5 and on d3. He is asking the bishop to choose
ndgame it is definetely more useful to have the king on g2 a diagonal. Its ideal place would be on d5, but of course it
rather than on f3, but White keeps some initiative after playing requires very long maneuvering. Black would like to ensure
Ne4 next move.] the safety of the c6 pawn by putting his bishop to b5, therefore
24.Rxe6 Rxe6 25.c4! The only way to active the knight now. removing it on the b1-h7 diagonal is also not principled.
More and more pieces are getting traded off, but the game still 30...Nc7 [30...Bb5?? allows an unexpected forced mate after
goes on and Black still needs to solve some problems. 31.Ra8+ Kh7 32.Bc2+ g6 33.Rh8#]
25...bxc4 26.Nxc4 Be4+? A very strange check after which 31.Be3 Nd5 32.Bc5! Of course White does not want to
Black loses the two bishops and ends up in an inferior repeat, he can play for a win without risking anything. In an
endgame. [Black should have saved his bishop with 26...Bc7 open position, the two bishops can always avoid exchanges
and the game should soon end in a draw.] and force repetitions.
27.f3 Bd3 28.Nxd6 Rxd6 Of course the material is very 32...f6 Black wants to give his king some air and bring it to
limited, but still the bishop pair is the bishop pair. We already f7. Later it gets stuck because of this move, but it is not easy
know from Karpov’s games that this kind of advantage might to suggest something, White keeps the initiative of the two
become very unpleasant. Black is threatening with Nf4, bishops in any case.
therefore White removes his king from the check.
33.Ba4 Bb5 34.Bc2! The c6 pawn is safe now, but the b5
bishop got a bit out of the game. White focuses his pieces on
the kingside.
34...Nc7 [It was logical to play 34...Kf7 to avoid Bg6, but center, but it is strongly met by 39.Bd6! Nd5 40.Ra3!c Black
White retains his advantage after 35.Bf5 Rb7 Black needs succesfully controls the e7 square and the invading along the
to avoid a check on the 7th rank. (35...Rc7? nicely loses to e-file, but now again White returns to the a-file! It is extremely
36.Bd6 Rb7 37.Bc8! The rook loses all its squares on the 7th unpleasant to defend such a position!]
rank, so it is forced to give free way to the white one... 37...Rb6 38...c5 [38...Nc7 39.Bd6 Nd5 40.Ra3c also looks terrible.
38.Ra7+ Kg8 (38...Kg6 39.Bf8h) 39.Be6+ Kh8 40.Bf8h) White invades on a7 and advances all his pawns on the
36.Bc8 Rc7 37.Ra8 The threat is Bd6. It is getting more and queenside. Black can only sit and wait.]
more unpleasant.]
35.Bg6! Na6 Adams wanted the avoid the penetration on
the a-file with Ra7, but this also sends the knight out of the
game. [35...Rd2+ 36.Ke1 Re2+ (36...Rxb2? 37.Ra7h wins
because of the weak back rank.) 37.Kd1 Na6 38.Bd6 Rxh2
39.Re3 creates new problems.]
39.Bf5! Black suddenly has problems with the c5 pawn.

39...Rc6 [The other option 39...Rc7 also loses after 40.Bd6!
Rc6 41.Re8+ Kf7 42.Rf8# What an unusual mate!]
40.Bd7! White wins material and the game is over!
40...cxb4 [40...Rb6 41.bxc5h]
36.Re3! The a-file is finally closed but there are other opened 41.Bxc6 Bxc6 42.Re6 Black resigned! An excellent job by the
files, which the white rook is ready to occupy and create two bishops. 1-0
threats on the back rank. Suddenly both black minor pieces
are getting out of the game.
36...Rd8 37.Be7 Rc8 38.b4 White lays a trap and Adams
falls into it. This move provokes c5, which seemingly leads
to the complete elimination of the queenside, which would
definitely bring Black closer to the draw. However this move
loses concretely... [White could have also squeezed with
38.h4!? 38...Nc7 Black quickly brings back his knight to the
Young & Talented 7...Bxd2+ [7...Be7 8.Qa4+ Bd7 9.Qxc4 should be slightly
better for White, as the a5 pawn is oddly placed.]
8.Nbxd2 b5 9.b3 White is in no rush of winning back the
sacrificed pawn and simply continues with his development.
9...cxb3 10.Qxb3 c6 The position becomes a bit cramped
after this but the alternative is also not great: [10...Ba6 11.O-O
O-O 12.Qb2 Nbd7 13.Ne5! After this important move the
GM Etienne Bacrot tactics work for White. 13...Nxe5 14.Bxa8 Nd3 15.Qc3! Nxf2
Best rating: 2749 16.Bg2c]
11.O-O O-O 12.Rfc1 Bb7
(2) Wagner, Dennis (2569)
- Brkic, Ante (2607) [E04]
48th Biel Master Open(6.9),
2015.07.25
1.d4 The 18-year old Dennis Wagner is number 18 in the world

under 20 standings. He just finished the Biel open by sharing
a very honorable 2-7th place and continues improving his
rating. Here is a very clean game he won mid tournament.
1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 a5 13.Qb2 This position occurs for the 4th time and after this
game the score is 4-0!
13...Na6? N It seems clear that Black was surprised in the
opening and doesn’t choose the best defense. [13...Nbd7
14.Ne1! e5! (14...Nb6 15.Bxc6 Bxc6 16.Rxc6 Rb8 17.Qxb5
Qxd4 18.Nb3 and White will win the a5 pawn. Giri-Fridman
2015.) ]
14.Ne5 Logical and strong. The c6 pawn falls and it is difficult
for Black to save his queenside.
14...Nd5 15.Nxc6 Bxc6 16.Rxc6 b4 [16...Qb8 17.Nb3 Nac7
7.a3!? This is a new way to counter the rare line Black 18.e4 Ne7 19.Rc2c White has the c-file and a strong outpost
employed against the Catalan. for the knight on c5, so defense is very difficult.]
17.axb4 Naxb4
18.Rc5 Increasing the pressure. The knights are not very

stable with the weakness on a5 and the possible e4 push.
18...a4 19.Rc4 Qa5? It was about time to say goodbye to the
a-pawn by playing 19...Rb8 and trying to regroup. Now White
wins big material by force. [19...Rb8 20.Qa3]
20.e4! Nd3 [20...a3 21.Qb3 Rfb8 22.exd5 Nxd5 23.Qc2
Black has no compensation for the piece.]
21.Qc2 N5b4 [21...N3b4 22.Qb1h]
22.Qc3 e5 23.Bf1! Simply grabbing the material.
23...exd4 24.Rxd4 Rad8 [24...Rfd8 was just a little more
testing: 25.Bxd3 Rxd4 26.Qxd4 Rd8 27.Rxa4! Rxd4 28.Rxa5
g6 29.Bc4 Rxd2 30.Ra7 with an easy win.]
25.Rxd3 A strong move following a strong opening brings
Wagner a nice point against his solid Croatian opponent. 1-0
Puzzle section
(3) Adams, M(2740)-Eljanov, P(2723) (5) Rakhmanov, A(2626)-Sjodahl, P(2425)
Biel, 2015.07.23 Politiken Cup, 2015.07.27
1... i 1. h
(4) Yilmaz, M(2582)-Ludwig, P(2228) (6) Haubro, M(2382)-Maze, S(2575)

Biel Open, 2015.07.20 Politiken Cup, 2015.07.27
1. h 1. h
(7) Verstraeten, R(2312)-Shankland, S(2656) (9) Fuchs, F(2250)-Boruchovsky, A(2539)
Politiken Cup, 2015.07.27 Czech Open, 2015.07.24
1... e 1... i
(8) Warakomska, A(2274)-Movsesian, S(2653) (10) Predke, A(2537)-Smid, M(2250)

Czech Open, 2015.07.24 Czech Open, 2015.07.24
1... i 1. h
(11) Kochetkova, Y(2309)-Westerberg, J(2452)
Czech Open, 2015.07.25
1... i
(12) Tkachiev, V(2661)-Loiseau, Q(2429)

Andorra Open, 2015.07.21
1. h
Endgame section Kh2 brings nothing because White simply waits with 44.Kf2
Kh1 45.Kf1=]
43.fxg4
(13) Hillarp Persson, Tiger (2563)
- Ragger, Markus (2688)
Politiken Cup, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.07.28 Best rating: 2672
43...Kxg4 This is in general the winning method. Black

temporarily gives up the activity of his king, but thanks to
a zugzwang, it soon goes back to g3, followed by advancing
the f-pawn, which opens the path towards the a3-b4 pawns...
[43...fxg4 44.Kf1 Kh2?? with the idea of pushing g3, but of
course White plays 45.Kf2! first and suddenly Black is in
trouble.]
We might think that pawn endgames are very easy, but as we 44.Kf2 f4 [White resigned here! An amazing story, because
will see they are difficult even for good grandmasters. It is the game is drawn! Hillarp Persson was sure that Black plays
clear that Black has the upper hand in this position because Kg3 and f3 and collects the a3-b4 pawns with his king, but
his king is more active, but the question is if it is enough to he forgot about a saving motif! 44...f4 45.Kg1 Kg3 (Keeping
win the game?! White only waits with Kg1-f1 and Black has the queenside pawns on the board also fails because after
different attempts to seize the initiative... 45...Kf5 46.Kf2 Ke4 47.Ke2 Kd4 48.Kf3 Black must turn
41...f5 This move perfectly serves all attempts of making back with 48...Ke5= (Because White wins the pawn race after
progress. Sooner or later Black had to play this move. 48...Kc3?? 49.Kxf4 Kb3 50.g4 Kxa3 51.g5h) ) 46.Kf1 f3
47.gxf3 Kxf3 48.Ke1 Ke3 49.Kd1 Kd3
42.Kg1 g4 [Running to the queenside with 42...Kf4 also
fails because White is in time to block the king with 43.Kf2
Ke5 44.Ke3 Kd5 45.Kd3 f4 White gets into zugzwang, but
the good position of the f3 pawn prevents the black’s king
penetration back on the kingside. 46.Kc3!=; 42...f4 43.Kf1
(14) Eljanov, Pavel (2723)
- Wojtaszek, Radoslaw (2733)
48th Biel GM 2015(8.1),

Best rating: 2737
It seems to be over, but actually White saves the game with

50.a4!! using the fact that the number of the a-pawns does
not matter if the white king reaches the corner. 50...bxa4
(50...Kc3 51.axb5 axb5 52.Kc1 Kxb4 53.Kb2!= White holds
the opposition and the draw!) 51.Kc1 Kc3 52.Kb1 Kxb4
53.Ka2=] 0-1
White was pushing all game long and it seemed like the win
could be very close. White’s king position on g5 is fantastic
and the idea of getting the rook to f6 could end the game
at any moment. But Black still has some drawing chances
because of the equality of the material.
64.Rf1?! Quite an inaccuracy, even if it is a very logical move.
[64.Rdc1! was the winning move. 64...cxb4 (64...Rxc1 leads
to a hopeless endgame. 65.Rxc1 cxb4 66.Nxb5 axb5 67.Rc5
followed by Rxb5 and Black can simply resign.) 65.Rxc3 bxc3
and now White had to see the very strong 66.Rc1! Black
can’t protect the c3 pawn. 66...Nd4 (66...Nxd6 67.exd6 Rd7
68.Rxc3 Rxd6 69.Rc7+ followed by Kxg6 and White is winning.;
66...Rc7? 67.Ne8+) 67.Rxc3 Nc6 Now it is easy to see that
White is much better, but how to end the game?! 68.h5!
Protecting the e5 pawn through tactics. The white king will
penetrate to f6. 68...gxh5 69.gxh5 Nxe5 70.h6+ Kh7 71.Kf6 69.h6+ Winning the f6 square for the white king.
and White is winning material.] 69...Kh7 70.Kf6 [70.Rxe5 is not enough for the win since
64...Nd4 Black takes his chance! after 70...Rxe5+ 71.Kf6 Black is in time to take the last pawn.
65.bxc5 The right move. [65.Rf6 would lead to a very 71...Rxa5 72.Kxe7 Kxh6 73.Kf6 There is still some mating net
complicated position. 65...Nf3+ 66.Rxf3 Rxf3 67.bxc5 Re3 around the black king, but he escapes.
and it is hard to say who is better here.]
65...Rxc5
73...Kh5! and we are looking at a theoretically drawn

endgame.]
70...Nc6 The only move yet again. [70...Ng6? 71.Ne4! and
66.Rbe1?! and again White misses the best continuation. the threat of playing Ng5 next is deadly.]
[66.Ne8+! This beautiful move would lead to a winning
71.Rc1 [Now it is already not enough for White to play 71.Ne4
position. 66...Kg8 (66...Rxe8 loses to 67.Rxb7+ Kg8 68.Rff7
71...Rxa5 (71...Rh5 would lead to a very dangerous position.
and White will mate in the next couple of moves.) 67.Kh6!!
72.Ng5+ Kxh6 73.Rg1! and because the a5 pawn is still there,
The king is the strongest piece in endgames! :) 67...Rxe8
White keeps some winning chances.) 72.Ng5+ and 72...Rxg5!
68.Rxb7 and although he’s a piece up, Black can’t hold the
73.Kxg5 e5! With the threat of playing e4 and Re5. White is
position. The threat of playing Rff7 is deadly. White is winning
better but Black’s chances to draw are good.]
here.]
71...Rxa5 Black takes the last white pawn.
66...Nc6 The e5 pawn is falling.
72.Rg1 Eljanov is trying all his chances. [72.Rxc6 72...bxc6
67.h5 White’s last hope is the h-pawn.
73.Kxe7 Kxh6 would also lead to a draw.]
67...gxh5 Of course Black is trying to simplify the position as
72...Rh5 Simple and logical. If Black is able to win the h6
much as possible.
pawn, the position will definitely be a draw.
68.gxh5 Nxe5 The position remains very tactical. The black
king is in big danger.
73.Rxc6 78.Rxb7 White will slowly win all the black pawns, but it
does not matter any longer. The defence with R+N vs R is
quite simple and Wojtaszek masters it easily. The rest of the
game needs no comments, it is just a good example for those
who need to repeat how to hold such a theoretically drawn
position.
78...Rh1 79.Re7 Re1+ 80.Ne4 a5 81.Rxe6+ Kf7 82.Ra6
a4 83.Rxa4 Ke7 84.Ra7+ Ke8 85.Kd5 Kf8 86.Rb7 Ke8
87.Nd6+ Kf8 88.Nf5 Re2 89.Kd6 Re1 90.Ng7 Rd1+
73...Rd7! The only move. [73...bxc6? was not enough for a 91.Ke6 Re1+ 92.Kf6 Rf1+ 93.Nf5 Ke8 94.Ra7 Kd8
draw since after 74.Kxe7 Rxh6 although the h6 pawn is gone, 95.Ke6 Re1+ 96.Kd5 Rd1+ 97.Nd4 Ke8 98.Rh7 Kf8
the black king remains in the mating net. 75.Kf7 Rh3 76.Ne4 99.Ke5 Re1+ 100.Kf6 Rf1+ 101.Nf5 Ke8 1/2-1/2
Followed by Nf6 with mate during the next moves.]
74.Rc8 [White is not winning after 74.Kxe6 74...bxc6 75.Kxd7
Rxh6 76.Ke7 and Black is in time with 76...Rg6! Freeing the
black king from the h-file.]
74...Rxh6+ 75.Ke5 If White could keep both rooks on the
board, the position might be winning, but it is impossible.
75...Rg7! The best move, leaving White no choice but to
exchange one pair of rooks.
76.Rxg7+ [76.Re1 would lead to more or less the same:
76...Rh5+ 77.Kxe6 Rh6+ 78.Kd5 Rg5+ 79.Re5 Rxe5+
80.Kxe5 and the position is a draw.]
76...Kxg7 77.Rc7+ Kg6
Golden knowledge for Black’s b-pawn. Endings with central pawn are not
dangerous for the defending side as his king is close to the
pawn.
49...Qc4+ 50.Kd2 Qc6
(15) Mikhalchishin, A.-Gufeld, E.

Nikolaev, 1981
51.Qh8! It is necessary to try and push the pawn anyway.
51...Qd5+ 52.Kc3 Qc4+ 53.Kb2 Qd4+ 54.Kb3 Qa4+
55.Kb2 Qb4+ 56.Ka2 Qd2+ 57.Kb3 Qd3+ 58.Kb4
[58.Kb2 was possible, but White tries to attack the b5 pawn.]
58...Qc4+ 59.Ka5 Qa4+ 60.Kb6 b4 61.h6 and Black can’t
play for win as the white pawn is much more advanced.
1/2-1/2
As it was mentioned in the previous part, the main task in

queen endings is to create a passed pawn. An own passed
pawn can compensate huge material deficits.
46.g6+! Exploiting tactics to open the black king and to
create different possibilities for a perpetual.
46...Kg7 [46...Kxg6 47.Qg5+ Kh7 48.Qh5+ Kg7 49.Qg5+
Kf8 50.Qd8+ was one of such cases.]
47.gxf7 Qe2+ 48.Kc1 Kxf7 49.h5! White pushes his passed
pawn as fast as possible. He is ready to exchange his h-pawn
(16) Topalov, V.-Anand, V. 90...Qe1+! 91.Kg4 Qd1+= 92.Kg5 Qd8+ 93.Kh5 Qd5+!
San Luis, 2005 94.Qg5 Qh1+ 95.Qh4 Qd5+ 96.Kg4 Qd1+ 97.Kg3 Qe1+
1/2-1/2
(17) Mikhalchishin, A.-Cvetkovic, S.

Trnava II , 1988
72...Ke6 [Despite White’s material advantage, Black could

defend this position. 72...Qd6+! 73.Qxd6+ Kxd6 74.h7
b1=Q 75.h8=Q Qg1+ 76.Kf3 Qd1+!! (76...Qxg5 77.Qd4+ Kc6
78.Qc4+ Kb6 79.Qf7!h) 77.Kf4 Qd2+ 78.Kf5 Qd3+=]
73.Qxb2 [73.Qc4+ 73...Kd7 74.Qd5+ (74.Qb5+ 74...Ke7 1.h6!! The main task at the moment is to expose the
75.Qe5+ Kd7 76.h7 b1=Q 77.h8=Q Qg1+ 78.Kf4 Qxf2+ opponent’s king.
79.Kg4 Qg2+ 80.Kf4 Qf2+=) 74...Qd6+=]
1...Qc4+ [After 1...Qxh6 2.Qc8+ Kh7 3.Qxc6c the pawns are
73...Qxg5+ 74.Kf3 Qh5+ 75.Ke4 Qf5+? [The correct becoming unstoppable.]
application of the mechanism was 75...Qg6+ 76.Kf4
2.Kf3 Qxa6 [Slightly better would be 2...Qxb4 3.hxg7+ Kxg7
Qxh6+=]
4.Qd7+ Kg6 5.Qxc6c]
76.Ke3 Qg5+? [Once again, it was better to play 76...Qh3+!
3.e5!! Another blow with the same idea- to open the king or
77.Kd4 Qg4+ 78.Kd3 Qf5+]
to create an own strong passed pawn on the e-file. [3.Qg6
77.f4h Qg3+ 78.Ke4 Qe1+ 79.Kf3 Qf1+ 80.Kg3 Qg1+ 3...Qd3+ 4.Kg2 Qd7 5.hxg7+ Qxg7 6.Qxg7+ Kxg7 7.f4 Kf7=]
81.Qg2 Qb1! 82.Qc6+ Kf7 83.Qd7+ Kf6 84.Qg7+ Ke6
3...Qa3+ [or 3...gxh6 4.Qxf6+ Kh7 5.Qf5+ Kg7 6.Qd7+ Kg6
85.Qe5+ [Here it was possible to transpose to a theoretical
7.e6h]
position: 85.f5+! h 85...Qxf5E86.h7 Qd3+ 87.Kh4]
4.Kg2 Qxb4 5.exf6! gxh6 6.Qc8+ Kh7 7.Qd7+ Kg6
85...Kf7 86.Qh5+ Kf6 87.Qg5+ Kf7 88.Qh5+ Kf6
8.Qg7+ Kh5 9.f7 [9.f7 9...Qe4+ 10.Kh2 Qf4+ 11.Kg1 Qc1+
89.Qh4+ Kf7 90.h7? [Now White falls under the mechanism
12.Kg2h] 1-0
of perpetual. He should have played 90.Qg4! 90...Qe1+
91.Kg2 Qc3 92.Qf5+ Kg8 93.Kf2!]
(18) Shneider, A.-Agzamov, G. (19) Hoi, C.-Mikhalchishin, A.
URS-ch FL, 1982 Budapest, 1989
42.Qb4 g5 43.Qb5 Qf4+ 44.g3 Qd2+ 45.Kh3 b2 46.f4 40.Qg8+ Kh6 41.Kh2 [Wrong was 41.Qh8+ 41...Kg5
gxf4 47.Qg5+ Kf8 48.Qc5+ Ke8 As always in such cases, 42.Qg7+ Kf4 and the white pawns are in danger.]
the king has to join the own passed pawn. The journey seems
to be long and impossible, but it almost always works in the 41...Qxe4 42.Qd8 Qc6 43.Qf8+ Kg6 44.Qg8+ Kh6
end! 45.Qh8+ Kg6 46.Qg8+ Kf5 As it was said before, the main
plan in such positions is to come with the king to the own
49.Qe5+ Kd7 50.Qh5 Kc7 51.Qc5+ Kb7 52.Qb5+ Ka7 passed pawn.
53.Qc5+ Ka6 54.Qc6+ Ka5 55.Qc5+ Ka6 56.Qc6+ Ka5
57.Qc5+ Ka4 58.Qc4+ Ka3 59.Qa6+ Kb3 47.Qg7 Ke5 48.Qe7+ Kd4 49.Qd8+ Ke3 50.Qe7+ Kf2
51.Qa7+ Kf1 52.Qg1+ Ke2 There are no more checks and
it is now possible to advance the c-pawn.
53.Qd4 c2 54.Qg4+ Kd2 55.Qd4+ Ke2 56.Qg4+ Kd3
57.Qg3+ Kd2 58.Qf4+ Kc3 It is not so easy, but it is still
necessary to go around.
59.Qc1 Qd6+ 60.Kh3 Qd3+ 61.g3 Qd7+ 62.g4
Mission practically completed!

60.Qb7+ Qb4 61.Qxf7+ Ka3 62.Qa7+ Qa4 63.Qc5+
Ka2 64.Qd5+ Qb3 0-1
51.Qxd5c Qc2+ 52.Kh3 Qc1? [Bad was 52...Qc8+?
53.Kh4!; It was necessary to at least try and create some
threats with 52...g5!c ]
53.Qd4+ Ke6 [53...Kf7 54.Qf4+h]
54.Qe4+ Kd7 55.Kh4! The king is ready to penetrate Black’s
position.
55...Qd2 56.Qe5! This pawn sacrifice prepares the king
breakthrough. [Of course not 56.a4? 56...Qh2+]
62...Qd4! A very strong centralizing move of the queen. 56...Qxa2 57.Kg5 Qf2 58.Qf4 Qb6 59.Qf7+ Kc8
63.Kg3 Qe5+ 64.Kh3 a5 65.a4 [White had no useful moves, 60.Qxg6h Qd8+ [Or 60...Qe3+ 61.Kxh5 Qxf3+ 62.Qg4+]
for example 65.Kg2 65...Kd3 66.Qf1+ Qe2+ 67.Qxe2+ Kxe2 61.Kxh5 Qd5+ 62.Kh4 Kb8 [It was not possible to get
was also losing.] one pawn back, because of the pawn ending: 62...Qxf3
65...Kb3 66.Kg2 Qb2 67.Qe3+ Ka2 0-1 63.Qg4+h]
63.Qg5 Qd1 64.Qf4+ Ka7 65.Qe3+ Ka6 66.g4 Qd6
(20) Taimanov, M.-Gligoric, S. 67.f4 Qh6+ 68.Kg3 Kb5 69.Qd3+ Ka4 70.g5 1-0
Santa Fe, 1960
(21) Nikolic, Pr-Seirawan, Y.
Wijk aan Zee , 1995
White’s passed pawn is clearly more dangerous than Black’s,

plus White’s queen is much better placed in the center. It is
necessary to first stop Black’s planned check on c2. 48...d4? It looks like it is the natural move to push this passed
50.Qd3 Kf6 [50...Qg7 51.a4c Qb2+ 52.Kh3 Qf6 leads pawn, but the black king is not very well placed, so it was
nowhere.] necessary to try and weaken the white pawn defense. And
to centralize the own queen, which was enough to save the 53...Kd1+ The best move, as others were giving White
game. [48...Qd3 49.b5 Qe4+ 50.Kh2 d4 51.b6 d3=] good drawing chances. [53...Ke1+ 54.Kg1 Qe3+ 55.Kg2
49.b5 d3 50.Qd6+ f6? [Better was 50...Kg7 51.Qd4+ Kg6 Qe2+ 56.Kg1 d2 57.Qa1+! d1=N (57...d1=Q 58.Qa5+=)
52.b6c Qe2E(52...Qc2E? 53.Qe4+) 53.Qc4! but White still 58.Qa5+ Qd2 59.Qxd2+ Kxd2 60.h4!=; 53...Ke3+ 54.Kg1
keeps winning chances, as the black pawn and queen are not Qd1+ 55.Kg2 Qe2+ 56.Kg1 Qf3! 57.Qxg5+ Ke2 58.Qb5
well coordinated.] Qxg3+i]
51.Qd5 Qe2 52.Qg8+ Kf5 53.Qc4! Qc2 [The pawn 54.Kf1 Qe1+ 55.Kg2 Qe4+ 56.Kf2 Kc2 57.Qf7! [Weaker
endgame is lost: 53...Qe4+ 54.Qxe4+ Kxe4 55.Kf1 Kd4 was 57.Qa6 57...Qe2+ 58.Kg1 Qf3i]
56.Ke1h] 57...Qd4+ 58.Kg2 Qe4+ [Once more premature was 58...d2
54.Qd5+! h Kg6 55.b6 Qb1 [After 55...d2 56.Qg8+ Kh5 59.Qf5+! Qd3 60.Qc5+ Qc3 61.Qf5+ Kc1 62.Qxg5=]
(56...Kf5 57.Qh7+) 57.Kh3! the black king is in a mating net.] 59.Kf2 Qe2+ 60.Kg1 Qe3+ 61.Kg2 Kd1 62.Qb3+ Ke2
56.b7 d2 57.Qg8+ Kh5 58.Qf7+ Kg5 59.f4+! Kg4 63.Qb2+ Qd2 64.Qd4? [A strange move, as it was possible
60.Qe6+ Kh5 61.b8=Q! 1-0 to obtain the previous position after 64.Qf6 This just shows
that the defense is extremely difficult.]
(22) Romanishin, O.-Akopian, V. 64...Kd1+ 65.Kg1 Qe1+ 66.Kg2 Qe2+ 67.Kg1 Qf3!
68.Qe5
Linares , 1996
52...Qd2 [In such cases it is premature to push the pawn: 68...g4!! [It is funny, but pushing the passed pawn was
52...d2? 53.Qb5+ Qd3 54.Qe5+ Kd1 55.Qa1+ Kc2 56.Qa2+ wrong again: 68...d2? 69.Qxg5 Qe4 (69...Ke2 70.Qb5+ Qd3
Kc3 (56...Kc1 57.Qa1+ Qb1 58.Qc3+ Kd1 59.Qf3+=) 57.Qa3+ 71.Qh5+=) 70.Kf2 Qe2+ 71.Kg1 Ke1 72.Qf4!!=]
Kd4 58.Qa7+= With a perpetual.] 69.hxg4 d2D 70.g5 Kc2 71.Qc5+ Qc3 72.Qf5+ Kb2
53.Qf6! [The best square for the queen. Other moves were 73.Qf2 Kb1 74.Qf5+ Qc2 0-1
much weaker: 53.Qe5+ 53...Kd1+i; 53.Qb7 53...Ke3+i]
(23) Mikhalchishin, A.-Aronian, L. 60.Qc3 g6! A small tactical idea.
Calvia , 2004 61.Kf2 Kxh6 62.hxg6 Qg7 63.Qc5 The last try to create
some threats, but they are easily refuted.
63...Qf6 64.g7 Kxg7 65.Qc7+ Kh6 0-1
(24) Alekhine, A.-Reshevsky, S.

AVRO, 1938
53...Qc4! Black has to try and push his own pawns as fast
as possible. White can try to create some threats against the
black king, but Black’s play is far more real.
54.Qg6 a2 55.Qe8+ Kh7 56.g5 [It was not possible to get a
perpetual: 56.Qg6+ 56...Kh8 57.Qe8+ Qg8i]
56...Qg8 [Simpler was 56...hxg5!i ] It is not always possible to win simply- in many cases the
57.Qa4 weaker side can block the passed pawn.
44.Qa2 Kg8 45.a4 Qc6 46.a5 Qa6 47.g4 g5 48.Kf2 Qd6
49.Kf1 Qa6+ 50.Kg2 Kg7 51.Qb2+ Kg8 52.Qb8+ Kg7
53.Qe5+ Kg8 54.Kf2 Qa7+ 55.Ke2 Qa6+ 56.Kd2
57...Kh8! A good prophylactic move to avoid any check from

c2.
58.gxh6 c2! 59.Qa3 Kh7! Preparing the exit of the queen to
c4. 56...Qc4! It is very important to activate the black queen
since now there are threats of perpetual.
57.Qf5 Qd4+ 58.Ke2 Qb2+ 59.Kd3 Qb3+ 60.Ke2 Qb2+
1/2-1/2
Chess and the City.
On the trail of Emanuel Lasker

Best rating: 2493
Picture by Fiona Steil-Antoni

In 1891 the upcoming World Champion Emanuel Lasker left
for England because in that country it was possible to make Just like Lasker, Arkadij was never really in good terms with
a living from chess. In those times London counted as the the German chess federation and eventually decided to leave
chess capital in the world. Nowadays it is actually possible us for a better perspective of his chess career, which certainly
to make a living from chess even in non-chess-enthusiastic awaits him in a country like Azerbaijan.
countries such as Germany, but Azerbaijan will surely be an
improvement... After one of the most famous Azeri players, Vugar Gashimov,
sadly passed away in 2014, the Azeri team was certainly
Why do I actually write this? Our strongest German player of weakened and this may just be one of the reasons for hunting
all times, Arkadij Naiditsch, recently became a member of the a world class player such as Arkadij Naiditsch, who recently
Azeri National team. He was the only German ever to reach managed to beat the World Champion Magnus Carlsen twice.
2700+ and also the key player for winning the first Gold Medal Another reason is certainly the fact that the next Chess
at the European Team Championship in Porto Carras in 2011 Olympiad will be staged in Baku in 2016.
since 1939.
Rumor also has it that the initial idea of the Azeris was to hire
Azerbaidjan, as a member of the former USSR, is quite a world number two Fabiano Caruana, who however decided
chess loving country nowadays, especially with a sponsor like to play for the USA, where he spent most of his childhood.
"Socar Energy", a company which is one of the most potent
chess sponsors worldwide. Last but not least Emanuel Lasker became World Champion
three years after he left Germany for London. So let’s see what
happens to Arkadij in 2018 - which will funnily also be the 150
birthday of Emanuel Lasker.
Clash of the Titans 9...a6 10.b3 g6 11.Bb2 Bf5 12.Ne2 Re8 13.Ng3 Bxd3 14.Qxd3
and without the light squared bishops the position should be
equal.]
(25) Pachman, Ludek 6.Bd2 [6.a3!? 6...Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 Na5! Otherwise White would
- Fischer, Robert James [E51] play cxd5 and c4 next, with two bishops and a strong center.
8.cxd5 exd5 9.Bd3 O-O 10.Ne5 (10.O-O 10...Bg4 with the idea
Santiago(6), 1959 Bh5-Bg6.) 10...c5 11.O-O Re8 12.a4k]
GM Kamil Miton 6...O-O 7.a3 Bxc3 8.Bxc3 Ne4 9.Qc2

Best rating: 2655
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.d4 d5 4.e3 A rare and quiet move. More
popular are moves like [4.Nc3 ; and 4.g3 ]
4...Nc6 This is not a perfect place for the knight. Black had
better plans, connected with c7-c5.
9...a5 A typical move to prevent b4, taking space and

preparing for the bishop to develop on a6. The alternative
was more solid but a bit passive: [9...Nxc3 10.Qxc3 Ne7
Improving the bad knight is obligatory. 11.Rc1! (11.Bd3 11...b6
12.e4 (12.O-O 12...dxc4 13.Bxc4 Bb7=) 12...c5!? 13.dxc5 dxc4
14.Bxc4 bxc5 15.O-O Bb7 and the black structure should be
5.Nc3 [5.b3!? with the plan Bb2-Nbd2-Bd3-0-0 etc.] not a big problem, so the position is close to equal.) 11...dxc4
(11...b6 12.c5!?C) 12.Qxc4 c6 13.Bd3 b6 14.O-O Bb7 15.Be4
5...Bb4 The position transposes to a structure from the
Qd6 16.Ne5 and White keeps some pressure.]
Ragozin Qa4+ line where White didn’t lose time for Qa4-Qc2.
[5...Bd6!? This is the only way to fight for the center. 10.b3 b6 11.Bb2 White lost some time but saved the bishop.
6.cxd5 (6.Be2 6...dxc4 7.Bxc4 O-O 8.O-O e5 and now Black is 11...Ba6 [11...Bb7 12.Bd3 Ne7 13.O-O h6 14.b4 With a clear
fine.) 6...exd5 7.Bd3 O-O (7...Bg4 8.Qb3) 8.O-O Ne7 9.Qc2 advantage for White.]
Temporarily preventing Bf5.
12.Bd3 f5 13.Rc1 Rc8 14.O-O
17.cxd5
14...Rf6! The rook joins the attack and protects the knight 17...g4? Following t he plan but too optimistic... Interesting
on c6. It looks to me like this is the only plan which can create variations could happen after [17...Bxf1! 18.Qxc6 (18.Kxf1
some practical problems, otherwise White’s position will be 18...exd5 19.Ne5 Nxe5 20.dxe5 g4! (20...c6 21.f3c; 20...Rxh2
much better from a strategical point of view. 21.Qc6c) 21.f3 gxf3 22.gxf3 Rg6 23.fxe4 Qg5 24.exd5 Qg1+
15.Rfd1 [15.cxd5!? 15...Bxd3 16.Qxd3 exd5 (16...Qxd5 17.Qc4 25.Ke2 Qg2+ 26.Ke1=) 18...Bxg2 19.Kxg2 (19.Ne1 19...Nxf2!
and after the queens exchange White will keep a stable 20.Nxg2 Nxd1 21.Rxd1 Qxd5 22.Qxd5 exd5k) 19...g4 20.Rg1
advanatge thanks to the pressure over the c-file and the gxf3+ 21.Kxf3+ Kf7 22.dxe6+ Rxe6 23.Qb7 Qh4 24.Rxc7+
weak e5 square.) 17.Ne5 Nxe5 18.dxe5 Rh6 19.f3 (19.b4 Rxc7 25.Qxc7+ Re7 26.Qc4+ Re6 27.Qc7+=]
19...axb4 20.axb4 c6 21.f3 (21.b5 21...c5 22.Rcd1 Qh4 23.Qxd5+ 18.Bxa6 gxf3 19.gxf3 [19.g3 19...exd5 20.Bxc8 Qxc8 White
Kh8 24.h3 Rg6 25.e6 Qg5 26.g4k) 21...Qh4 22.h3 (22.fxe4 has a material advantage but his pieces are very limited
22...Qxh2+ 23.Kf2 fxe4A) 22...Ng3 23.Rfd1 Qxb4 24.Ba3 and Black has a strong attack. 21.Qd3 Qe8 22.Qb5 Kh8!
Qh4 25.Bd6 and because the black pieces are badly placed 23.Qxd5 Rxh2!! 24.Kxh2 Qh5+ 25.Kg1 Qh3i and the
White has good compensation.) 19...Nc5 20.Qxf5 Nxb3 knight on c6 controls the e5 and d8 squares.]
21.Rcd1 (21.e6!? ) 21...c6 22.Qc2 Nc5 23.e4A]
19...Qg5+ 20.Kf1? White is going to escape with the king
15...Rh6 16.Bf1 White’s idea is put the bishop on g2 to stop but more easily winning was [20.Kh1! 20...Qh5 21.Rg1+ Kh8
the attack. 22.Rg2h and the white king is safe!]
16...g5! [16...Ng5 17.Ne1 It is important for White to keep the 20...Rxh2 21.fxe4 A logical decision but maybe not the
knight.; 16...Ne7 17.g3 (17.Ne5 17...Ng6 18.f3 Qh4 19.h3 Nxe5 best. White had a difficult choice as to which piece to
20.dxe5 Qg3 21.fxe4 Rxh3A) 17...Qe8 and Black is looking for take. [21.Bxc8 21...Qh5 (21...Qg2+ 22.Ke2 Qxf2+ 23.Kd3
his chances over the light squares, for example with a4 or dxc4 Ne5+ 24.dxe5 Nc5+ 25.Kc4 Qh4+ 26.Bd4 Rxc2+ 27.Rxc2h)
and Bb7 next.] 22.Bxe6+ Kf8 23.Ke2 Rxf2+ 24.Kd3 Rxc2 25.Kxc2 Qxf3
26.dxc6 Nf2 27.Bc4 Nxd1 28.Rxd1 and again White has too
many pieces.]
21...Rf8 The rook comes into play. king will not escape. Black is winning! 24.Qxe6+ Kh8 25.Ke1
22.e5? White wants to avoid opening the f-file but more Qf3i; 23.Ke2! was the last call for escape. 23...Rxf2+
accurate was [22.Rd2! A very hard move to find for a human (23...fxe3 24.Qxc6h) 24.Kxf2 fxe3+ 25.Ke2 Rf2+ 26.Kd3
being. 22...fxe4 (22...f4 23.f3! This is the point of putting the Nb4+! 27.axb4 Qg6+ 28.Kc3 Rxc2+ 29.Rxc2 axb4+ 30.Kxb4
rook on d2. 23...Rh3 24.Rh2 Rxf3+ 25.Ke2 fxe3 (25...Rxe3+ Qxc2 31.Rg1+ Kf8CWith a comple x position. White must be
26.Kf1 Rf3+ and now it is possible to play 27.Rf2h) 26.Qxc6 careful because his pieces are not coordinated.]
Qg3 27.Qxe6+ R8f7 28.Qc8+ Rf8 29.Qxc7 Rf2+ 30.Kd3h; 23...f3 24.Ke1
22...Qg2+ 23.Ke1 Rh1+ (23...fxe4 24.Bf1 Rh1 25.Qc4h White
is on time.) 24.Ke2 fxe4 25.Rxh1 Rxf2+ 26.Ke1 Rxd2 27.Qxd2
Qxh1+ 28.Bf1h) 23.Qxe4 exd5
24...Qg1+?? This huge mistake changed the result of

the game! Black should not lose control over the d2
square because White doesn’t have any useful move
24.Qxd5+! Qxd5 25.Bc4 Ne7 26.e4!h; 22.Ke1 ] anyway. For example [24...exd5 25.Bf1 (25.exd5 25...Ne7i)
25...Qg1i Threatening Qxf1.]
22...f4
25.Kd2 Qxf2+ 26.Kc3 The king has escaped and the knight
is hanging, so White is winning now.
26...Qg3 [26...Qh4 ]
27.Qd3h exd5 28.Rg1! Forcing the exchange of the active
rook.
28...Rg2 29.Rxg2 Qxg2 30.Qf1! Another exchange, which
is the most practical way to convert a winningposition.
30...dxe4 31.Qxg2+ fxg2 32.Rg1 Rf2 33.Bc4+ Kf8 34.Bd5
23.e4?? It looks logical not to open the f-file but this move Rf3+ 35.Kc4 b5+ 36.Kc5 Ne7 37.Rxg2 Nxd5 38.Kxd5
is already a big mistake. [23.Qxc6 23...Qh5! and the white Rxb3 39.Kxe4 b4 40.axb4 axb4 1-0
(26) Kondratiev (27) Matlakov, M(2691)-Lu Shanglei(2595)
1. h China-Russia match, 2015.07.15
30.Nxc7! 1-0 [30.Nxc7 30...Rxc7 31.Bxa6h]

(28) Huang Qian(2457)-Pogonina, N(2465)
China-Russia match, 2015.07.15
32...Rxb3! 33.axb3 Rxa1+ 34.Kh2 Rb1! 35.Bxb4 Be5+

36.g3 Rb2i
(29) Ding Yixin(2439)-Kashlinskaya, A(2432) (31) Artemiev, V(2660)-Petrosian, T(2630)
China-Russia match, 2015.07.16 Lake Sevan, 2015.07.16
27...Rxe1+! 28.Rxe1 Ne2+! 29.Kh1 [29.Rxe2 29...Qb1+i] 40...d4! 41.Rxc6 [41.Nb2 41...Re1#]
29...Nxg3+!i 41...Ng1+! 42.Kd2 Rxc6i
(30) Sevian, S(2578)-Hovhanissyan, R(2611) (32) Swiercz, D(2634)-Czerwonski, A(2375)
54.Rg2! Rd8+ [54...Bg3 55.Kc4! h Rb8 56.Rg1h] 18.Bxd6! Qxd6 19.e5 1-0
55.Kc4 Rd1 56.Rxh2h
(33) Olszewski, M(2562)-Chomczyk, M(2165) (35) Mista, A(2585)-Cheparinov, I(2683)
27...a5!! 28.Qxa5 [28.Nxa5 28...d5i]

30.Ng5! g6 31.Qb3! Qf6 [31...Rxd7 32.Qxa3h]
28...Qb7! 29.Bd1 [29.Bf3 29...Ra8 30.Qb4 Ra4i]
32.Qxa3 Qxg5 33.Re8+ Kh7 [33...Kg7 34.Qf8+ Kf6
35.Qe7+h] 29...Ra8 30.Qb4 d5! 31.Nc5 Qa7i
34.Qh3+ 1-0 [34.Qh3+ 34...Kg7 35.Qh8#] (36) Dragun, K(2586)-Bilguun, S(2361)
(34) Markowski, T(2574)-Mista, A(2585) Najdorf memorial, 2015.07.18
16.Bxe4! Nxe4 [16...Bxe4 17.Bxf6 Bxf6 18.Nxe4h]

17.Ncd5! Bxd5 18.Nxd5 Qxc4 19.Rac1!! Qxd5 [19...Qxe2
33...Rxd3! 0-1 [33...Rxd3 34.Rxd3 Qe2+ 35.Qf2 Qxd3i] 20.Rxc8+ Kd7 (20...Bd8 21.Rxd8#) 21.Nxb6#]
20.Rxc8+ Kd7 21.Rxh8h
(37) Reti
1.Re8!! [1.Ne4+ 1...Ke3]

1...h1=Q 2.Ne4+! Kc1 [2...Ke2 3.Ng3+h; 2...Kd3
3.Nf2+h]
3.Rc8+! Kb1 [3...Kd1 4.Nf2+h]
4.Nd2+! Ka1 5.Nxb3+ Kb1 6.Nd2+ Ka1 7.Rc2!! Qh3+
[7...Qd5 8.Rc1#]
8.Nb3+ Kb1 9.Rb2#
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
A lot of opens have been taking place, but the strongest
Editorial Preface 2 one was probably the Politiken Cup. After a big fight and a
strangely quiet and peaceful last round, a total of 10 players
shared first place. The best on tiebreak was Markus Ragger,
followed by Nisipeanu and Hammer.
Young & Talented 10 Another big open is under way in Vlissingen, but here just 7
rounds out of 9 have been played and all the favorites are on
the top, so the last 2 rounds will be decisive.
Puzzle section 13
The Turkish league is also under way, with top players like So,
Endgame section 16 Mamedyarov and Harikrishna are taking part.
In the British Chess Championship where David Howell was
Golden knowledge 20 the clear favorite, after 10 out of 11 rounds four people are in
the lead: Howell, Pert, Gormally and Hawkins. It is going to be
a very exciting last round!
Chess and the City.
Where does the buck stop? 28 Very soon we will be able to watch the extremely strong
Russian Super Final amongst men and women.
Surprise section / study 30 We hope you enjoy the games and articles from the current
issue!
Solutions 31
Two best games of the past week 7...a5 The main move. Black is waiting for a3 to take on d2,
while a5 is clearly a useful move.
(1) Williams, Simon K(2426)

- Howell, David W L(2698) [E11]
102nd ch-GBR 2015(4.3),

Best rating: 2737
We should not look at the rating of Simon Williams, who is a 8.Nb1!? I like this move, even if I would probably never play
much stronger player than he often shows. Simon is famous it. Usually White continues with 8.Qc2. The idea of the move
for his ultra aggressive style and a lot of great victories with in the game is simple, to get the knigh to a much better square
bright combinations. I still remember his fantastic win over on c3 and there is also the direct threat to play c5 and catch
Boris Gelfand with the black pieces in the Stonewall. In the the bishop on b4.
current game, it seemed like Simon was once again going
to crush a much higher rated oponnent, but things went 8...Be7 A logical move. [White’s idea is visible after 8...h6
differently. In a very promising position White just wanted 9.c5! a4 The only move to save the bishop. 10.a3 and White
to play too prettily, which led to the loss of more and more wins the a4 pawn.]
material and finally resignation. A sad end to a very beautiful 9.Re1 White continues keeping his ideas "uncovered", which
game. is smart! [9.Nc3 doesn’t lead anywhere since after 9...Ne4!
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ I like to play 3...Bb4 as well the exchange of the knights is very important for Black here.
He should never allow White to play d5 or e4.]
4.Nbd2 Another option is 4.Bd2, which seems to be
considered the main move. 9...Qc8 This move is a bit too deep for me... [9...Na6 looks
much more natural. ]
4...b6 5.g3 [Black’s idea is visible after 5.a3 5...Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2
Bb7 White has the bishop pair, but Black is very solid with a 10.d5! A very strong move! White sacrifices a pawn -which
great bishop on b7. It is a slightly passive line but for those is quite typical in this kind of structures- but this move still
who don’t like forced lines and like to keep the game calm, clearly came as a surprise for Black.
this is clearly not a bad choice.] 10...exd5 Black needs to take the pawn because if he doesn’t,
5...Bb7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O White is trying to save a tempo on White will play e4.
playing a3. 11.cxd5 With which piece to take now?!
11...Bxd5 [It would make no difference to play 11...Nxd5 12.e4 15...c6 Howell black the Bg2, which is logical.
Nf6 since we are back to the position of the game.] 16.Qh5 d5
12.e4 Of course!
17.Bh3 I am not sure if this move was really needed. [White

12...Bxe4?! and what Howell does here is just incredibly risky could also have continued with 17.Nc3 17...Nd7 18.Nd4
to say the least! [Black should have continued with 12...Bb7 followed by Nf5, with very unclear play.]
13.e5 Nd5 and of course Black’s position looks very risky, but 17...Qb7 The black queen has a passive position on b7, but it
White still needs to prove that there is some compensation for will still play a very important role.
the pawn. 14.Ng5! A strong move! White is going for the black
king. 14...Nb4 (14...Bxg5 15.Bxg5 Nb4 and now White has the 18.Bf5?! Now White is trying to rush things... [The position
very strong 16.Bf6! and Black is in big danger.) 15.Ne4 N8a6 would still have been unclear after 18.Nc3 ]
With a very fighting position.] 18...g6 The only move.
13.Rxe4 Not a bad move, but there was no need for it at 19.Qh6 White wants to play Ng5 next.
all. [After the simpler 13.Nc3 13...d5 14.Nxe4 dxe4 15.Ng5
White wins back the e4 pawn and clearly has more than just 19...Re8! A very strong defensive move! Black’s idea is to
compensation.] play Bf8 next, chasing the white queen away from h6. [Of
course not 19...gxf5?? 20.Ng5 Bxg5 21.Qxg5+ Kh8 22.Qf6+
13...Nxe4 14.Qd5 The rook on a8 is hanging. Kg8 23.Bh6 and Black cannot avoid being mated on g7.]
14...Nxg3 15.hxg3 So Black has 3 pawns and a rook for
White’s 3 pieces, an interesting constellation. White’s idea
is clear, to get the pieces in the attack on the black king,
while Black should try to reach a solid position or even an
engdgame in the best case.
27...Rf8 Well, what to say about such a spectacular game
where Black just won by taking all the material for free. It is a
big pity for White not to have used his chances and of course
we need to give Howell credit for staying cool and playing very
rational moves. 0-1
20.Ng5? This is already a self-destruction. White had to move

his bishop back.
20...Bxg5 21.Bxg5 Maybe Simon missed Black’s next move...
21...f6! The queen from b7 controls the 7th rank, which gives
White no mating chances. The game is basically over.
22.Bxg6 [22.Bxf6 doesn’t help either since after 22...Qf7
White is losing another piece.]
22...Re1+ It is difficult to attack with the knight on b1 and rook
on a1.
23.Kg2 fxg5 A very safe move. White has no threats.
24.Nd2 To die with a smile is Williams’ choice here...
24...Rxa1 All Black needs to do now is to bring the a8 rook
into the game.
25.Bf5 Na6 26.Nf3 Qg7 White simply has no threats...
27.Qxc6
12.Re2!? A useful and waiting move at the same time! The
(2) Karjakin, Sergey(2753) general idea is to fight for the e-file by doubling the rooks
- Ni Hua(2703) [C42] on it. White wants to develop the bishop to f4, followed by
Rae1. The most natural moves to counter this are running
CHN-RUS Super Go 2015(3.1), GM Csaba Balogh into problems... [On the direct 12.Bf4 Black equalizes with
2015.07.31 Best rating: 2672
12...Bd6! 13.Ng5 g6 14.Qh3 h5 and Black is safe.]
12...a6! As we will see in the 12...Re8 line, the control of the b5
Ni Hua introduced a strong novelty in the opening, equalized square is very important. [On 12...Re8 13.Bf4! White intends
completely, but he failed to find the right follow-up and ended to play Rae1. If Black moves away with his bishop, the c7
up in trouble. pawn falls after taking on e8. 13...Bd6 This thematic move
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 The rock-solid Petroff defense still comes it is met by 14.Rxe8+ Qxe8 15.Bxd6 cxd6 16.Qb5!+= with a
back to the practice from time to time, even on the highest double attack on b7 and d5.; After 12...Bd6 to anticipate Bf4,
level. It got a bit forgotten since Kramnik and Gelfand stopped White has 13.Ng5! g6 14.Qh3 h5
playing it.
3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 The main line, however recently
5.Nc3 was played more often.
5...d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.O-O Be7 8.Nc3 A tricky sideline. Black
must know exactly how to react, otherwise he might quickly
get into a difficult situation. [The huge main line goes with
8.c4 8...Nb4 9.Be2 O-O 10.Nc3 Bf5 11.a3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Nc6
13.Re1 Re8 14.cxd5 Qxd5 15.Bf4 Rac8 We can call this the
starting position of this line, with thousands of games.]
15.g4! This is the point! In comparison to the 12.Bf4 line, the
8...Bf5 9.Re1 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 O-O bishop is not hanging on f4 and White is not forced to trade
pieces. Now the attack is getting very dangerous. 15...Be7 is
strongly met by 16.Qh4!A]
13.Bf4 Qd7 14.Rae1
14...Rae8! This is the new idea, which seems to solve 20.d5! If the back rank was opened with h6, all would be
the opening problems! Instead of Bd6, which never works perfectly fine, but now Black’s choices are limited.
tactically somehow, Black wants to fight for the e-file with 20...Ne7 [20...Ne5 21.Nxe5 Black cannot recapture with the
Bd8. It protects the c7 pawn and prevents Ng5 at the same queen and otherwise the d-pawn gets too strong... 21...dxe5
time. To get rid of some heavy pieces is more important than 22.d6h]
to trade the dark squared bishops.
21.Qc7! Somehow the white back rank seems to be equally
15.c4 Karjakin admits that he cannot gain any concrete weak, but the f3 knight covers the e1 mate and Black has no
benefits, therefore he also gets rid of his long-term structural access to the other squares.
weakness on c3.
21...Nxd5 22.Qxb7 White wins the a6 pawn. [22.Qxd6
15...dxc4 16.Qxc4 Bd6? The most natural move, but 22...Nc3= was equal.]
this causes all the further problems. White gets the
advantage with some very concrete and direct moves. [There 22...Nc3 23.Qxa6 White ended up with an extra pawn, but
was nothing wrong with 16...Bd8 ; However probably the to convert it still requires good technique.
strongest was 16...b5! 17.Qd3 h6! neutralizing the g5 square 23...Qb8 24.g3! White has done the last step by opening the
first and trading the bishops on d6 next move. White cannot back rank before realizing his advantage.
make use of the tempo as d5 with the idea of Ne5 allows Nb4
24...h6 The long awaited move, Black also had to open the
and the d5 pawn falls. (17...Bd6? did not work immediately
back rank.
because of 18.Ng5! g6 19.Ne4 with problems on the f6
square.) 18.c3 Bd6=]
17.Rxe8 Rxe8 18.Rxe8+ Qxe8 19.Bxd6 cxd6 Black was
probably satisfied with the outcome and he expected a quick
draw, but unpleasant surprises are awaiting him.
29...d5 [Now on 29...Nd1 30.Qb6! is a perfect square for the
queen. It protects the king and supports the a-pawn at the
same time. 30...Qe2 31.a6 Nxf2
25.a4! An excellent technical move! Karjakin correctly

evaluates that the advance of the a-pawn is more important
than the saving the extra pawn! [White could have saved the
c2 pawn with 25.Kg2 but then Black blocks the a-pawn with 32.Ng1! An important intermediate move to avoid the
25...Qb4! and making progress is a much more difficult task technical problems! White gets the f7 pawn, after which the
than in the game.] win is already out of question... 32...Qa2 33.Qxf2 Qxa6
25...Qb1+ 26.Kg2 Qxc2 The material is balanced again, but 34.Qxf7!h was the point behind 32.Ng1!]
the difference between the two passed pawns (a4 and d6) 30.Qb6 Qa2 [Somewhat more tenacious was 30...Qb5
decides the outcome. Black has no chance to compete with White has other winning moves as well, but the following
his d6 pawn, so his only hope lays in some kind of attack line demonstrates well, why they say that knight endgames
against the king and the f2 pawn. However White has enough are similar to pawn endgames in the evaluation. 31.Qxb5
resources to defend against it. Nxb5 White has the distant passed pawn, therefore he has
27.Qc8+! It is very useful to pin the knight before advancing the winning chances... 32.Ne5 Kg8 33.Nc6 Nc7 34.Kf3 Kf8
the pawn, because Black must lose an important tempo on 35.Ke3 Ke8 36.Kd4 Kd7 37.Kc5!h and Nb4 next wins.]
moving with the queen. 31.a6 Ne4 32.a7 The pawn is only one square away from
27...Kh7 28.a5 Qb2 [Black cannot try to stop the pawn with promotion. White cannot support it with the queen, because
28...Qd3 29.a6 Nb5 since White simply promotes it after it must stay with the f2 pawn, but the knight on f3 is free to
30.Qb7h] do anything. 32...g5 33.Ne5 Kg7 34.Nd3 The f2 pawn is
protected, so White can play Qb7 next.
29.Qc6! An important prophylactic move to anticipate
Black’s counter ideas... [Black saves himself after the hasty 34...d4 35.Qxd4+ Nf6 36.Nc5 [Black resigned in view
29.a6? 29...Nd1! 30.Qf5+ Kg8= and White should give of 36.Nc5 36...Qxa7 (36...Kg6 37.Ne4h) 37.Ne6+! fxe6
perpetual check with Qc8 because if he defends his f2 pawn 38.Qxa7+h Black made only one mistake with 16...Bd6, but
by removing his f3 knight, that allowsNe3!] it was enough to lose the game.] 1-0
Young & Talented 5.d4 a6 6.Be2 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Qc7 8.c4! The strong key move.
8...Nxc4 If he doesn’t play this, Black will simply have a bad
version of the Hedgehog.
9.Bxc4 Normal play for developement. The slow move also
would have given an advantage [9.Qc2 9...b5 10.a4 Bc5
11.axb5 Bxd4 12.Qxc4 Qxc4 13.Bxc4 a5 14.Rd1 With a clearly
a better endgame.]
GM Etienne Bacrot
9...Qxc4
Best rating: 2749
(3) Naroditsky, Daniel (2622)

- Schmidt, Kresten (2254) [B30]
Politiken Cup 2015(3.8),
2015.07.26
The 19-year old Daniel Naroditsky from America is 10th in

the FIDE juniors list. Here are two fine games he won at the
Politiken Cup. 10.Nc3c Bb4 Let’s have a look at other defensive tries:
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.O-O [10...Qc7 Getting back with the queen is losing because of the
following typical sacrifice: 11.Re1! Be7 12.Nf5! exf5 13.Nd5
and there is no defense.; 10...Nf6 11.Bf4 followed by Rc1 is
also hopeless.]
11.Be3 The d4 knight should be defended!
11...Bxc3 12.Rc1 Qxa2 [12...Qc7 13.Rxc3 Qd8 was a more
solid option but it is understandable that Black takes material
in a bad position.]
13.Rxc3 Qa5
4...Na5 This funny try will be refuted that day. [4...Nge7 is

the usual move in the Rossolimo.]
(4) Tan, Justin (2417)
- Naroditsky, Daniel (2622) [C84]
Politiken Cup 2015(4.6),
2015.07.27
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.d3

b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a3 O-O 9.Nc3 Nb8 10.Ng5 We had the
the interesting 10.Ne2 in a previous column from the game
Shen-Chandra. Here White plays like Anand.
14.Qg4 Provoking more weaknesses on the kingside.
14...Qe5 15.f4 [15.Nf3 is a more trivial win: 15...h5 16.Nxe5
hxg4 17.Nc4 Black can’t avoid huge material losses. 17...Ne7
18.Nb6 Rb8 19.Bf4h]
15...h5 16.Qf3 Qa5 17.Rfc1 [17.Qg3 Attacking g7 is also fine.
17...g6 18.f5h]
17...Ne7 18.Rc5 Qd8 19.Rxh5 Taking back a pawn and
opening new lines for the attack.
19...Rg8 20.Rh7 b6 21.Qg3 Kf8
10...h6 A good improvem ent! It is clear that the American
juniors are doing a good job in the openings. [10...Nc6 11.Ba2
Nd4 12.Ne2 Nxe2+ 13.Qxe2 h6 14.f4 Anand-So Shamkir
2015.]
11.f4 [11.Nh3 with a later f4 is also a possibility, but I don’t
think it can bring an advantage.]
11...hxg5! [11...exf4 seems good but White has the strong
move 12.Nf3! g5 13.h4 Bg4 14.hxg5 hxg5 15.g3! The black king
will soon be in trouble. 15...Nc6 16.gxf4 Nd4 17.Be3 With a
22.f5! h Black cannot survive with all those pieces on the crazy position which should be in White’s favor.]
last rank. 12.fxg5 Ng4! [12...Bg4 runs into a mating attack: 13.Qe1
22...Bb7 23.fxe6 dxe6 24.Rf1 Qd7 25.Qe5 Ng6 26.Nxe6+ Nfd7 14.Qh4 Be6 15.Rf3c]
Ke7 27.Bg5+ With mate to follow soon. 1-0
19.Qh4? Now it is all easy. White should have tried [19.Qg5
19...d5 20.Rg3 Ne8 21.Qh5 Qd6 22.Nd1 (22.Rh3 22...Qh6) ]
19...Qb6+ 20.Kh1 Qd4 21.Qg5 Qg4 22.Qd2 d5i Black
easily converted his big material advantage.
23.Nd1 e4 24.Ne3 Qh4 25.g3 Qh5 26.Rf4 d4 27.Nf1 e3
28.Qe1 Rfe8 29.Kg2 Rad8 30.h3 Nd5 31.Bxd5 Rxd5 32.g4
Qh6 33.Rf3 Rc5 34.c3 e2 35.Ng3 dxc3 36.bxc3 Rxc3
37.Ne4 Qc1 0-1
13.Rf5? Not the best move after Black’s strong opening
play. [13.h3 is the most obvious move. Black equalizes
comfortably after 13...Bxg5 14.hxg4 Bxc1 15.Rxc1 Be6!=;
13.Qd2 Defending g5 before catching the g4 knight. But Black
has a fine defense: 13...c6 14.h3 Nd7 15.hxg4 Nc5 16.Ba2 Be6
and Black will get his knight to e6 and win back the pawn.;
13.g6 is met by counterblow 13...d5! 14.d4! fxg6 With crazy
complications.]
13...Bxf5 14.exf5 Bxg5 15.Qxg4 Bxc1 16.Rxc1 looks
tempting but White is not fast enough to get enough
compensation.
16...Nd7 17.Rf1 c6 [17...Nf6 is the most obvious move, but
maybe Black didn’t want to allow 18.Qh4 Nh7 19.f6!?]
18.Rf3 Nf6
Puzzle section
(5) Moiseenko, A(2710)-Fier, A(2628) (7) Gharamian, T(2649)-Nezad, H(2405)
Biel Open, 2015.07.27 Biel Open, 2015.07.29
1. = 1. =
(6) Wagner, D(2569)-Adhiban, B(2627) (8) Bogner, S(2544)-Ivanisevic, I(2662)

1... i 1... =
(9) Bartel, M(2631)-Esen, B(2567) (11) Wagner, D(2569)-Dragun, K(2586)
1. h 1. h
(10) Wirig, A(2511)-Wagner, D(2569) (12) Ivanisevic, I(2662)-Zoler, D(2498)

1... i 1. h
(13) Bartel, M(2631)-Wagner, D(2569)
Biel Open, 2015.07.31
1. =
(14) Adhiban, B(2627)-Solak, D(2622)

Biel Open, 2015.07.31
1. c
Endgame section
(15) Ding Liren (2749)

- Karjakin, Sergey (2753)
CHN-RUS Super Go, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.07.30 Best rating: 2672
Black temporarily prevents the advance of the b-pawn and

stops Ke5, but White easily sets him into zugzwang with
62.Rd6! and if the rook moves, Ke5 wins, while after 62...Kg7
63.Rd7+!h Black does not have Ke6 anymore and now b7
followed by Rc7-c8 wins.) 61.Ke5 Rxg5 62.Kd6h and White
automatically promotes his b-pawn.]
60...Ke6 Black suddenly threatens to mate in one move on
g4!
61.Rc6+ Ding Liren zes that he was winning after 60.b5. He
tries to repeat moves, but Karjakin finds a clever way to retain
This game is from the Armageddon part of the match, when
more drawing chances!
White starts the game with more time, but Black only needs a
draw to go through to the next round. Probably both players 61...Kd5! Seemingly giving up the g6 pawn is equal to
were very short on time. I don’t want to criticize anyone resignation, but Black gets his counterchances.
because of the following endgame, it is just very interesting 62.Rc5+? A blunder which could have cost the full point. [It is
to analyze it in detail. White is a pawn up, but Black wants to interesting to analyze what happens after 62.Rxg6! 62...Rg2!
restore the material balance with Rg4. (62...Rf1? fails to 63.Kg3!h and the white king escapes from
60.Rc7+?! A mistake, although the game remains winning. the cage.)
[White should have played 60.b5! ignoring the g5 pawn. It
leads to a very easy win: 60...Rg4+ (60...Rb1 61.b6 Rb5
66...Kxf6 (66...Rc1 67.g7! Rc8 68.Rf8h) 67.Kxf1 Kxg6
68.b5h and the king is not in the square of the b-pawn.]
62...Ke6? [Suddenly Black was winning after 62...Kd6!
because of the mate threat on g4! White has only one move
to avoid it, but it leads to a lost endgame... 63.f3 Rf1! 64.Kg3
Rxf3+ 65.Kh4 Rxe3i and the connected passed pawns
decide the outcome.]
63.f3 White should have played 63.Rc6 again, but it is already
a draw by threefold repetition, which is equal to losing in the
63.Rf6! The first key move! White gives free way to the
armageddon game.
g-pawn. (63.Kxf5 only leads to a draw after 63...Rxf2+ 64.Kg4
Rg2+ Black gives checks until the king comes back to the 3rd 63...exf3 [Black could have won with 63...Rf1!i ]
rank and then he takes the e3 pawn with check. 65.Kh4 Rh2+ 64.Kxf3 Rxg5 Black won back the pawn and the game is
66.Kg3 Re2 and the e-pawn gives Black enough counterplay drawn. The b-pawn is not advanced far enough to gain any
to save the game.) 63...Rxf2+ 64.Kg3 Rf1 (If Black goes for the benefits from it.
second pawn with 64...Rf3+ 65.Kh4 Rxe3 he gives too much
time to advance the g-pawn. It is important that Black must 65.Rc1 Going behind the passed pawn is a good strategy in
lose another tempo to go behind it, but it turns out to be general, but it does not help now.
too much... 66.g6 Re1 67.g7 Rh1+ (67...Rg1 loses to 68.Rxf5+! 65...Rg4 66.Rb1 Kd6 67.b5 Kc7 68.b6+ Kb7= White cannot
Ke6 69.Rg5!h) 68.Kg5 Rg1+ 69.Kh6h Rg6 is threatening make progress, the rest is easy...
with promoting the pawn and Rxg7 Kxg7 also wins for White!)
69.Rb5 Re4 70.Rb2 Re6 71.Kf4 Re4+ 72.Kg5 Rxe3
65.g6 Ke5 (65...Rg1+ 66.Kf4h Rf1+ 67.Kg5h)
73.Kxg6 Re6+ 74.Kxf5 Rxb6 75.Rxb6+ Kxb6 1/2-1/2
66.Kg2! A very important intermediate move and actually

the only winning one! White prevents Rg1 withtempo!
55...Kxe8 56.Ke2 Another very solid and good move. [White
(16) Gormally, Daniel W (2484) could also have tried to play 56.Nd6+ but now Black has
- Hawkins, Jonathan (2554) 56...Kd7! and taking on f7 is not possible, but luckily White
has another plan: 57.Nc4 (57.Nxf7 57...Ke6 58.Nh6 Bg5
102nd ch-GBR 2015(6.2), 59.Nf5 Bc1 and White is losing the b2 pawn, which gives Black
2015.08.01 GM Arkadij Naiditsch a draw.) 57...Ke6 58.Na5 and White is winning the b3 pawn
Best rating: 2737
again.]
56...Bg5 This move loses a pawn, but Black didn’t have
anything better, as in case of passive play White would just
go for Kd3-Kc4 and Kxb3.
Gormally was playing a very nice positional game, where the

knight was dominating the bishop. In the current position,
White is still much better. As we know, queen+knight is a great 57.Nd6+ Now this is already the right choice. White is winning
combination for making threats and the bishop on f6 has no a pawn.
real potential. But still, the material is equal, which of course
57...Ke7 Black is fighting! [57...Kd7 was losing on the spot:
makes the win quite difficult.
58.Nxf7 Bc1 59.Nxe5+ Ke6 60.Nc4 White is in time to collect
51.Qg4+! A good move! White is correctly aiming for an the two black pawns and protect b2.]
endgame, where the knight will dominate the bishop.
58.Nb7 Bc1 Black needs to go for the b2 pawn.
51...Kf8 52.Nh6 Threatening Qg8.
59.Nxc5 Bxb2 60.c4 A very solid move. But why not 60.
52...Qe8 Black has no choice. Kd3?! The answer is, Gormally’s idea is to get his king to f5,
53.Qg8+ Ke7 54.Nf5+ Bringing back the knight before which is clearly its best place, and then slowly take the other
exchanging the queens with tempo. two black pawns.
54...Kd7 55.Qxe8+ [White would also have kept a clear 60...Ba3 61.Nxb3
advantage after 55.Qg4 ]
65.g4?? After such a great game, what a terrible mistake!
[White was easily winning after 65.Kg4 since now the black
king can never move away from e6. 65...Bf8 66.c5 Be7 67.c6
Bd6 and here comes the killer move: 68.Nb2! Bc5 69.Nc4
White is totally dominating the position and has a lot of
different ways to end the game.]
65...f6 Right now White’s hopes can only be on the queenside
because the kingside is blocked, which gives Black a chance
to bring his king from e6 to c6.
61...Kd6?! Black doesn’t feel what is soon going to happen...
66.c5 Played too quickly again. White should have brought
[61...Ke6! was the only way to fight on. Black is threatening
his king to d3 first and get the knight somewhere to f5, keeping
to play f5 and exchange one pawn, which could be very
good practical chances to play a very long game where the
important in the fight for a draw. 62.Kf3 f5 and now White
oponent can make a mistake.
has a great maneuver which ends the game: 63.exf5+ Kxf5
64.Nd2! The white knight is going to take a superior position 66...Bd8? And Black returns the favor... [Hawkins should
on e4, from where he controls both flanks and helps playing have played 66...Kd7 with the very simple idea of playing Kc6
c5 and g5. Black can’t save the game any longer.] and Bxc5 with a draw. 67.g5 fxg5 68.Nxe5+ Ke6 69.Nd3 Bd8
Black starts to keep on waiting. 70.Kg4 Be7 and I don’t see
62.Kf3 The white king is going to f5.
how White can win this position.]
62...Bb4 63.Nc1 Bringing the knight to d3 was not needed,
67.Ke2 White tries to bring his king to c4.
but isn’t bad either.
67...Ba5? This is the final mistake. [Black could have fought
63...Ke6 64.Nd3 Be7
much harder after 67...Kd7! 68.Nb4 This is already the only
move to avoid an istant draw. (68.Kd2 68...Kc6 69.Kc3 and
Black reaches a draw with 69...Kb5 since White can’t improve
his position any longer.) 68...Be7 69.c6+ Kd6 70.Kd3 and
White is probably still winning, but things are far from clear.]
68.Nc1! Now it is all over since the white king reaches c4.
68...Kd7 69.Kd3 Kc6
Golden knowledge
70.Kc4 Now all White needs to do is to get his knight to b4, GM Adrian Mikhalchishin
then put his king to d5 and it is done. FIDE Trainers Commission Chairman
70...Bc7 71.Nd3 Bd8 72.Nb4+ followed by Kd5, with a

totally winning position. We just saw an interesting endgame
and domination of a knight over the bishop. And once again, (17) Lomineishvili, Maia(2364)-Galliamova, Alisa(2478)
even in a winning position it is never too late to slip and lose ewcc-2015, 2015
half a point... 1-0
Endgames are still a very big problem, even for top women
players.
79.c7?? It is incredible, but the position that will appear now
is drawn despite White’s two extra pawns. There were a few
easy ways for the win, but the move in the game seemed to
be the simplest! [79.g5 ; 79.Kh5 79...Rh1+ 80.Kg5 Rc1 81.c7
Rc5+ 82.Kh4 Rc3 83.g5]
79...Kf7 80.Rh7+ Kg6 81.Rd7 Rc3! 61.Kd5 [61.e6 61...Kf8 62.Rg4 Ke7 63.Rxg7+ Kxd6 64.Rxb7
Kxe6 65.Rxb4 with a very simple win.]
61...Rxb3 62.Rd8+ Kf7 63.Kc6 [A very instructive line is
63.e6+ 63...Ke7 64.Rg8 Kf6 (64...Rb5+ 65.Kc4) 65.Rf8+ Kg6
66.Rg4+ Kh7 67.d4 Rc3 68.Re4 Rb5+ 69.Kd6 Rb6+ 70.Ke5
Rb7 71.d5 b3 72.Rf1 b2 73.Rh4+ Kg8 74.Rf8+! Kxf8 75.Rh8+
Ke7 76.d6#]
63...Re7 64.Rf4+ Kg6 65.d4 [More precise was 65.Kd6
65...Rb7 66.Rg4+ Kh7 67.d4]
65...Rc3+ 66.Kd6 Ra7 67.Rb8 b3 68.Rb6 Kg5 69.Rf8
This cutting king move obviously underlines the helpless [Better was 69.Rf1 ]
position of White’s rook.
69...Rd3 70.h4+? [Now winning was 70.Rb4 70...b2 71.Rxb2
82.Re7 Kf6 83.Rh7 Kg6 84.Rd7 Kf6 85.Rd6+ Kg7 Rxd4+ 72.Kc6 Rc4+ 73.Kd5 Rg4 74.Re2]
86.Rd7+ Kf6 87.g5+ Kg6 88.Rd6+ Kg7 89.Rd7+ Kg6
90.Kg4 Rc4+ 91.Kf3 Kxg5 92.Ke3 Kf6 93.Kd3 Ke6 70...Kxh4 71.d5 Ra5 The white pawns are in danger now.
94.Rh7 Rc1 95.Kd4 Kd6 96.Ke4 1/2-1/2 72.Ke7 Rdxd5 73.Rf4+ [The best chance for a draw with a
pawn down(!) was 73.e6 ]
(18) Ovod, Evgenija(2320)-Galliamova, Alisa(2478) 73...Kg5 74.Rfb4 Rxe5+ 75.Kf7 Ra7+ 76.Kf8
ewcc-2015, 2015
76...Rc5! Suddenly mating threats appear.

77.Rb8 Kh5 78.Rxb3 g5 The white king is terribly placed, so
It is very difficult to believe that White lost this position with there is no real stopping the black pawn!
two extra pawns! Alisa was very lucky in this tournament. 79.Rb1 g4 80.Rh1+ Kg5 81.Kg8 Rac7 82.Rb3 Rd5 83.Rb8
g3 84.Rg1 Kg4 85.Kh8 Kh3 86.Rh1+ Kg2 87.Rh6 Rd2 Now the black king cannot stop his white counterpart from
Protecting the second rank against rook checks. coming to c8.
88.Rg8 Rcd7 89.Rhg6 Kh1 90.Rh6+ Rh2 91.Rxh2+ Kxh2 95...Ka5 96.Kc6 Bb8 97.Bf1 1-0
92.Rg6 g2 93.Rh6+ Kg1 94.Rf6 Rd3 95.Kg7 Kh2 0-1
(20) Goryachkina, Aleksandra(2474)
(19) Schleining, Zoya(2375)-Topel, Zehra(2179) -Mkrtchian, Lilit(2459)
ewcc-2015, 2015 ewcc-2015, 2015
91...Be5+ The draw is easy: put the bishop on a7 and the king 76.g4 Sooner or later White has to start exchanging some
on c7. But Black started to just play moves without a clear idea pawns.
about the drawing setup... [91...Kc6 92.a6 Kb6] 76...hxg4 77.hxg4 Bd7 78.Bg2 White’s only plan is to play
92.Kd3 Kb4?? [Once more was necessary 92...Bb8 ] Bh3, then to exchange on f5 and to play e3-e4.
93.a6 Bb8 94.Kd4 Ba7+ 95.Kd5 78...fxg4 [A simpler defense was to help create a passed pawn
with 78...Ba4 79.Bh3 Bc2]
79.e4 Bc8? [There was a tricky draw here: 79...g5+! 80.fxg5+
Kg6 81.Bf1 g3 82.e5 Kf5]
80.Bf1 Bb7 [Now it was too late already: 80...g5+ 81.fxg5+
Kg6 82.Be2 Bb7 83.Bd3]
81.Bd3 Bc8 82.Be2 g3 83.Bf3 Bd7 84.Bg2? [An unclear
way to the win was 84.Kxg3 84...Be8 85.e5 Bb5 86.Be4 Bc4
87.Kh4 Ba2]
(21) Savina, Anastasia(2417)-Gvetadze, Sofio(2319)
Chakvi, 2015
84...Bc8? [Black had the chance to draw again here: 84...g5+

85.fxg5+ Kg6 86.Bf3 Bc6]
85.e5 Be6 86.Bh3 Bd5 [86...g5+ This chance is never
ending! 87.fxg5+ Kg6 88.Bf1 Bf5]
83...Bf8? [This is a very instructive endgame on the theme
87.Kxg3 Kg7 88.Kh4 Kf7 [Now it is impossible to block the of why it is not recommended to defend passively. [It was
g5 square: 88...Kh6 89.Bd7 Bc4 90.e6] obligatory to remove as many pawns as possible from the
89.Kg5 Be4 90.Kh6 Bd3 91.Bg4 Be4 92.Kg5 Bd3 dark squares: 83...Kf7 84.Kc4 (84.Ke4 84...g6 85.Be3 Bf8
93.Bd1 Be4 94.Bb3+ Kg7 95.Bc4 Bc6? [It was necessary 86.Bf4 Kf6=) 84...g6 85.Kb5 gxh5 86.gxh5 Bg5 87.Kc6 Ke7
to know the famous Centurini position: 95...Bc2 96.e6 Bf5 88.Bc3 Bh4 89.Bd2 Bg5 90.Bb4 Bf4 91.Ba3 Kf6 92.Bxd6
97.e7 Bd7 98.Bd5 Ba4 99.f5 gxf5 100.Kxf5 Bb5 101.Ke6 Ba4 Bd2 93.Bc7 Bb4 94.Bb6 Kg5 95.Bc5 Bd2 96.d6 Kxh5
102.Kd6 Kf6 103.Be6 Be8] 97.d7 Bg5 98.Kc7 Kg6 99.Kc8 h5 100.Bb6 h4 101.Bd8 Bxd8
102.Kxd8 h3=]
96.Bd3 Be8 97.e6 With zugzwang! 1-0
84.Kc4 Kd7 [Now it was already too late for the same plan:
84...Kf7 85.Kb5 g6 86.Kc6 gxh5 87.gxh5 Ke7 88.Bb2 Kf7
89.Ba3 Kf6 90.Bxd6 Bg7 91.Bc5 Kf5 92.d6 Kg4 93.d7 Bf6
94.Kc7 Kxh5 95.Kc8 Kg4 96.Bb6 h5 97.Bd8 Bc3 98.Be7
Ba5 99.Bd6 and there is no defense against Bg7.]
85.Kb5 Kc7 86.Ka6 Kc8 87.Kb6 Kd7 88.Kb7
(22) Daulyte, Deimante(2402)-Sviridova, Vlada(2087)
Chakvi, 2015
88...Ke8 [Black is in zugzwang and the following pawn

sacrifice does not help: 88...Be7 89.Bxg7 Bg5 90.Bc3 Be3
and the winning plan is that White’s king returns to the
kingside. 91.Ka6 Bg5 92.Kb5 92...Ke7 93.Kc4 Kf7 (93...Bf6
94.Bxf6+ Kxf6 95.Kb5h) 94.Kd3 Bf4 95.Ke4 Bg5 96.Bd4 Of course in some games high technique was demonstrated
Be7 97.Be3 Bf8 98.Kf5 Bg7 99.Bd2 Bf8 100.Bf4h] too.
89.Kc6 Kf7 [No big difference is 89...Kd8 90.Bb6+ Ke8 49...Bb1! Creating a weakness before giving the decisive
91.Bc7 Be7 92.Bxd6 Bh4 93.Bc7] check. [The immediate 49...Be4+? only leads to a draw after
50.Bxe4 Kxe4 51.Kxg3 Kd4 52.Kf4 a5 53.Kf5 Kc3 54.Ke4
90.Kd7 g6 [Now the activation with 90...Be7 is too late:
Kb2 55.Kd5 Kxa2 56.Kc6 Kxb3 57.Kxb6 a4 58.c5=]
91.Bxg7 Bg5 92.Bb2 Bf4 93.Ba3 Kf6 94.Bxd6h]
50.a3 Be4+ Now this transposition into a pawn ending is the
91.hxg6+ Kxg6 92.Ke8 Bg7 93.Bxg7 Kxg7 94.Ke7 Kg6
quickest win. [50...Ba2 51.b4 Bxc4 52.a4 Bd3 53.Kg1 Be4
95.Kxd6 Kg5 96.Ke5 Kxg4 97.d6 h5 98.d7 h4 99.d8=Q
54.Bc8 a5 wins too, but takes longer.]
h3 100.Qd1+ Kg3 101.Qh1 1-0
51.Bxe4 Kxe4 52.b4 [52.Kxg3 does not help either, as it is
met by 52...Kd4 (52...Kd3? 53.Kf4 Kc3 54.Ke5 Kxb3 55.Kd5
Kxa3 56.c5 bxc5 57.Kxc5 a5 58.Kc4=) 53.Kf4 a5! 54.b4 axb4
55.axb4 Kxc4i]
52...Kd4 53.c5 bxc5 54.bxc5 Kxc5 55.Kxg3 Kb5 56.Kf3
46...Kf3 47.Rc3+ Kg4 48.Ka6 g5 This counterattack allows
Black to save the game.
49.hxg5 fxg5 50.a5 h4 51.gxh4 gxh4 52.b6 axb6 53.axb6 h3
54.b7 Rxb7 55.Kxb7 h2 56.Rc1 Kg3 57.Kc6 Kg2 58.Kd5
1/2-1/2
(24) Zaksaite, Salomeja(2203)-Daulyte, Deimante(2402)

ewcc-2015, 2015
56...Ka4! [A mistake was still possible: 56...a5?? 57.Ke2 Ka4
58.Kd2 Kxa3 59.Kc3 and the white king is in time!]
57.Ke3 Kxa3 58.Kd4 Kb3 59.Kd3 a5 60.Kd2 Kb2 0-1
(23) Stefanova, Antoaneta(2512)-Sviridova, Vlada(2087)

ewcc-2015, 2015
47.b6? [It was much better to prevent the activation of the

black king with 47.Kd3 47...Kxb5 48.Re6 Rd8+ 49.Ke3 Kc4
50.Rxe5 h4 51.Rg5]
47...Kb5 48.Re6 Rxb6 49.Rxe5+ Kc4 50.Rxh5 Rg6 51.g4
Kd4 52.e5 Rc6+ 53.Kd2 g6 54.Rg5 Ke4! White has two
extra pawns, but Black’s king activity and the strange white
44.Rc5+ [Simpler was 44.a5 44...Kg4 45.a6 Kxg3 46.Rb8 rook allow a draw here.
Kxh4 47.Rb7 Rd1 48.Rxa7 and White is a pawn down, but her
pawns are much more advanced!]
44...Ke4 45.Kb4 f6 46.Ka5 [Now the following direct line
just leads to a draw: 46.a5 46...Kf3 47.Rc3+ Kg4 48.b6 axb6
49.axb6 g5 50.Kc5 gxh4 51.gxh4 f5 52.Kc6 Rd8 53.b7 Kxh4
54.Kb6 Rb8]
here: 65.Kg5 65...a3 66.Kg6 a2 67.e7 Nd6 68.h7+ Kh8
69.e8=Q+ Nxe8 70.Kh6 a1=Q 71.Ng6#]
65...a3 66.Nb4 [Or 66.e7 66...Nd6 67.Nc3 Kh7 68.Kg5]
66...Nc7 67.Kf5? [Why not 67.e7 ]
67...Kh7 68.f4 Kxh6 69.Ke5 Kg7 70.f5
55.h4 Kd4 [More logical was 55...Ra6 56.h5 gxh5 57.gxh5 Kf4
58.Rg6 Ra2+ 59.Kd3 Kxe5]
56.Kd1 Ke4 57.Ke2 Rc2+ 58.Kd1 Rc6 59.Kd2 Kd4 60.h5
gxh5 61.gxh5 Re6 62.Rg6 Kxe5 63.Rxe6+ Kxe6 1/2-1/2
(25) Khomeriki, Nino(2228)-Gavasheli, Ana(2122)

70...Ne8! Now the pawns are equal and the white ones are
ewcc-2015, 2015 blocked!
71.Na2 b5 72.Nb4 Nf6 73.Kd6 Kf8 74.Kc5 Ne8 75.Kxb5
Nd6+ 76.Kc6 Nxf5 77.Kd7 Ne7 78.Na2 Nf5 1/2-1/2
(26) Ozturk, Kubra(2235)-Gaboyan, Susanna(2153)

ewcc-2015, 2015
It is difficult not to win with such a material advantage...

62.h6 Nxb5 63.e5+ Kf7 64.e6+ [64.Kh5 64...Nc7 65.e6+
Kf6 66.e7 Ne8 67.Nd5+ Kf7 68.h7 Kg7 69.h8=Q+ Kxh8
70.Kg6 a3 71.Nb4 Nd6 72.f4 b5 73.f5]
64...Kg8 65.Nd5 [A classical mating attack was possible 57.Be7? White overlooked a simple exchanging maneuver...
[White has the bishop pair, a huge space advantage and This position demands simple but automatic knowledge and
slowly winning was 57.Kc5 57...Kb7 58.Bd6 a3 59.Bd5+ Kc8 a technical perfomance from both sides.
60.Bf4 Nd8 61.Bc1] 68.Kg6 [A classical winning line here was 68.Rd8+ 68...Bg8
57...Nd8! One of the bishops is exchanged and now it is an 69.h6 Kh7 70.Rd7+ Kh8 (70...Kxh6 71.Rd1) 71.Kg6 Bb3
easy draw. 72.h7]
58.Ke5 Nxe6 59.Kxe6 Bd7+ 60.Kf6 a3 [60...Kc6 ] 68...Bb1+ 69.Kh6 Ba2? [The only way for a draw was to
61.Bxa3 Kd8 62.Kg6 Ke8 63.f6 Be6 64.Kxh5 Kf7 escape from the corner with 69...Kg8 70.Rg7+ Kf8]
70.Rb7 Bc4 71.Rb8+ Bg8 72.Kg5 Kh7 73.Rb7+ Kh8 74.h6
Bc4 [74...Bh7 did not help: 75.Rb8+ Bg8 76.Kf6 Kh7
77.Rb7+ Kh8 78.Kg6]
75.h7 Bd5 76.Rc7 Bf7 77.Kh6 Be8 78.Rb7 1-0
(28) Osmanodja, Filiz(2352)-Khurtsilava, Inga(2212)

ewcc-2015, 2015
White has two extra pawns, but with opposite colored bishops
it is a dead draw!
65.Kg5 Bb3 66.h5 1/2-1/2
(27) Santeramo, Alessia(2118)-Folkova, Martina(2134)

Chakvi, 2015
55...g5! Black starts creating an unbreakable fortress.

56.Re2 Rc4! Now is following the correct transfer of the
rook to the important f4 square, from where it will put strong
pressure on the f3 pawn.
57.Ree3 Rb4 58.Ra6 Rf4 59.Rb6 Rc4 60.Rb8 Rf4 61.Rc8
Rd4 62.Rc7 Rd1? It was necessary to stick to the f3 pawn.
[62...Rf4 ] Chess and the City.
63.Rd7 Rd4 64.Rd6+ Kg7 65.Re5! White starts an attack Where does the buck stop?
and Black destroyed his own fortress!
65...f6 66.Re7+ Kg6 67.Rdd7 f5 68.Rd6+ Be6 69.Rdxe6#
What a disaster! 1-0

Best rating: 2493
The former US President Truman used to keep the phrase

"the buck stops here" on his desk to signify that he took final
responsibility for his decisions. However, in recent events at
the European Women’s Chess Championship it is difficult to
understand where the buck actually stopped.
It has been more than a few months, and this topic might have
gone into hibernation for most of us - except for the Romanian
WGM Mihaela Sandu. But before digging into the details, let
me give you an overview of the actual event.
This year’s European Women’s Championship was held in
Chakvi, Georgia, and was indeed a special one. We may
even claim that it made history, not only for the outstanding
performance of its winner Natalia Zhukova from Ukraine, but
rather for the incidents which overshadowed the tournament.
”Gens Una Sumus” is the FIDE slogan which embraces our
chess community. We are indeed a family, but sometimes
perhaps a dysfunctional one...
Despite not being personally involved in the quarrel, I would
like to try and summarize the events for the chess community
without judging the parties involved, leaving this burden to
the readers instead.
Before the start of the tournament I was told that the chief
arbiter requested a 15 minutes delay of live transmission, general delay of 15 minutes for the rest of the tournament.
which the organizers eventually did not approve. They For Stefanova it was most important to end the paranoia.
probably did not believe in any problems, which is logical if we According to her, Azmai promised to take steps in that
consider that we have never heard of any scandals in women’s direction by either delaying all the games or stopping the
competitions before. Delaying live games also seems to broadcast of that particular one. However nothing was
require more sophisticated software, which the organizers changed and Azmai later claimed that he never promised
considered important. anything.
The whole story became an issue after 5 rounds when Mihaela Round 8 was what we may call the crucial one as it changed
Sandu, rated 2300, was the sole leader with a 100 percent the fate of the entire tournament. Before that round there was
score. A couple of players then went to the arbiter and ECU a free day and Natalia Zhukova, the next opponent of Sandu,
president Azmaiparashvili and asked for cautious measures. tried to convince both the arbiter and Azmai to implement
Remembering the recent cheating scandals in India and the delay. As we know, the arbiter wanted this procedure
Dubai, one may not be surprised that some players start before the beginning of the event, but nobody could ever have
getting paranoid if someone unexpectedly shows up with 5/5. imagined the devastating outcome of not doing so.
In round 6 the live transmission of the game between Sandu Azmai denied the request of Zhukova and informed her that
and the Georgian player Batsiashvili was interrupted during he would not do anything without official documents, which
the first 3 hours of play until the organizers were able to fix for the Ukrainian eventually meant composing two letters.
this "obvious technical problem of transmission". Funnily The second letter was for her a sort of insurance in case
enough there was indeed a technical problem, but on board the request to delay the transmission would once again be
2 between Savina and Gyria. In that game the arbiter tried denied. Two letters were written, signatures collected, and
to fix the cables after each move, whereas the first board eventually handed to the chief arbiter. The organizers and
game remained totally neglected despite its "transmission the arbiter decided to display those letters at the hotel lobby
problems". I suppose that the game on board one was before the start of round 8, as well as informing all players
interrupted on purpose until the organizers realized that about them. The chief arbiter announced that the first letter
Sandu was simply playing a good game. was approved and all the games from round 8 onwards would
In a later interview the Vice-European Champion Nino start with a delay of 15 minutes, while the second letter was
Batsiashvili even stated that she was informed prior to not accepted by the organization. It was not hard for Mihalea
her game that the live transmission would be stopped! to understand that both letters were probably connected to
http://chess-news.ru/node/19194 her performance, and, as I was told, she saw them for the first
Eventually Sandu lost that game and some players may time after that particular round.
have seen this result as evidence which worsened the whole After that Sandu lost all her remaining games and this is where
situation. In round 7 Sandu was paired against Stefanova we now stand! But there is one question which remains:
and the latter approached Azmaiparashvili to ask for a Where does the buck stop?
As a player myself, I can empathize with all the parties
involved, but I would also certainly have lost all my remaining Surprise section / study
games if I had been the target of that letter. The whole
situation was very unfortunate and went beyond certain (29) Jarmonov
limits, especially taking into account how long we have all
known each other in the beautiful world of chess. 1. =
Until today I have not heard of any official statement
neither from ECU nor the anti-cheating-commission at FIDE.
I remember of course that I mentioned this incident in one
of my previous newsletters during the actual event; however
I decided to give it another shot, as this case cannot be
considered closed yet.
Solutions (32) Rakhmanov, A(2626)-Sjodahl, P(2425)
Politiken Cup, 2015.07.27
(30) Adams, M(2740)-Eljanov, P(2723)
Biel, 2015.07.23
27.Qc4+!! Qxc4 28.Nxc4 1-0 [28.Nxc4 28...Rxb1 29.Nxe5+

fxe5 30.Rxb1h]
48...Bb8! i 49.Qa2 Qxa2 50.Rxa2 Bg3 0-1 (33) Haubro, M(2382)-Maze, S(2575)
(31) Yilmaz, M(2582)-Ludwig, P(2228) Politiken Cup, 2015.07.27
Biel Open, 2015.07.20
28.Nh4!! Nxb3 [28...Qe8 29.Nxg6+! Qxg6 30.Qxf8+h]

29.Nxg6+ Kg8 30.Re3!! h Rf7 [30...hxg6 31.Qxg6+ Kh8
21.g4! gxf4 [21...Rh3 22.Bxg5h] 32.Qh5+ Kg8 33.Rg3#]
22.gxh5h 31.Rg3 Qe8 32.Nxe5+ [32.Nf8+! 32...Kh8 33.Nxh7!
h Rxh7 34.Qxf6+ Rg7 35.Qxg7#] 32...Kh8 33.Nxf7+h
(34) Verstraeten, R(2312)-Shankland, S(2656) (36) Fuchs, F(2250)-Boruchovsky, A(2539)
Politiken Cup, 2015.07.27 Czech Open, 2015.07.24
13...Ndc5!! 14.dxc5 Nxc5 15.Qd2 Qxb5e 24...Nb6! 25.Qxc7 Bxg7i
(35) Warakomska, A(2274)-Movsesian, S(2653) (37) Predke, A(2537)-Smid, M(2250)

Czech Open, 2015.07.24 Czech Open, 2015.07.24
36...Rxf3! 37.gxf3 Qxh3+ 38.Kg1 Bh2+ 39.Kh1 Bg3+ 21.Ba6! Bb6 [21...bxa6 22.Qxa6+ Kd7 23.Bxa5h;
40.Kg1 Qh2+ 41.Kf1 Qh1+ 42.Bg1 Rxf3+ 0-1 21...Bxd2 22.Rxb7h]
22.c4h 1-0
(38) Kochetkova, Y(2309)-Westerberg, J(2452) (40) Kondratiev
Czech Open, 2015.07.25
1.Bc7! a1=Q 2.Be5+ Kg8 3.Rg7+! Kf8 4.Rg2!! Qe1

[4...Qa6+ 5.Bd6+ Ke8 6.Rg8#]
28...Qg3? [28...Rxh3! 29.gxh3 Qg3+ 30.Kh1 Qxh3+ 31.Kg1 5.Rb2!! [5.Ra2? 5...Qe4!]
Qg3+ 32.Kh1 Rxf2! 33.Rxf2 Bxf2i] 5...Kg8 6.Rh2!h
29.Rd3k
(39) Tkachiev, V(2661)-Loiseau, Q(2429)
Andorra Open, 2015.07.21
29.Qxc4! 1-0 [29.Qxc4 29...Rxd8 30.Qh4+ Kg8

31.Qxd8+h]
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
The main event of the week is clearly the Russian Chess
Editorial Preface 2 Championship. After 6 rounds there are 3 leaders: Vitiugov,
Tomashevsky and very surprisingly the young Artemiev.
These three players all have 4/6. In the women’s section
Goryachkina and Kosteniuk are leading with 4.5/6.
Puzzle section 10 In the mini match out of 4 games between Li Chao and Leko
in Leko’s hometown Szeged, the first game ended in a draw.
Endgame section 13 There is also a surprising leader in the French Championship
(that takes place without the participation of Fressinet and
Golden knowledge 18 Vachier-Lagrave) and this is Jean-Marc Degraeve with 4.5/6.
The Turkish team Championship is still under way, with 2
Chess and the City. rounds to go (out of a total of 13 rounds).
Li La Lueneburg 26 Already very soon we can expect the publication of the
pairings for the World Cup in Baku, which starts on the 11th
Clash of the Titans 27 September. It seems like almost every top player in the
world is going to participate in this event and the fight will be
Surprise section / study 31 extremely tough for the 2 golden tickets which qualify to the
Candidates tournament.
Solutions 31 That’s it from the main events of the current week. Enjoy the
material and the analyses from the recent tournaments!
Two best games of the past week 9...Bxc5
(1) So, Wesley (2779)

- Volkov, Sergey (2589) [C11]
TCh-TUR Super League 2015(2.1), GM Csaba Balogh

2015.08.05 Best rating: 2672
It is quite unusal that a top player appears in a league, but a

Turkish team invited Wesley So to show his class. He beats his 10.Bd3! The new direction! All the top players are going for
experienced GM opponent in style. this line recently. White plays for the ideal arrangement of
1.e4 e6 Volkov only plays the French defense, so it is not so the pieces with Ne2-d4. [The old theory went with 10.Bxc5
difficult to prepare against him. 10...Nxc5 11.Qf2 Qb6 12.Bd3 b4! 13.Ne2 a5 followed by Ba6,
trading the bad french bishop. Hundreds of games have been
2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Wesley So follows a good practical played, but the latest theory considers it to be equal.]
strategy, that he goes for the recently most popular and
sharpest line, where a dubious old line might be refuted with 10...Qb6 [The tactical justification of the line is 10...d4
the strongest computer analysis. 11.Nxd4! Nxd4 12.Ne4! and Black is in trouble.]
4...Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 The initial position of this 11.Bf2! White wants to keep the option of castling kingside,
line. Black has various options here. Volkov chooses one of which would not be possible after taking on c5.
the main lines. 11...Bb7 [11...b4 12.Na4 Bxf2+ 13.Qxf2 Qxf2+ 14.Kxf2+=
7...a6 7... cxd4, 7...Qb6 and 7...Be7 are the alternatives. White opens the queenside with Rhc1 and c3 and the
endgame with the d4 square is typically better for him.]
8.Qd2 b5 9.dxc5 [9.a3 is the other option.; A well-known
mistake is 9.O-O-O? because Black closes the queenside with 12.O-O Rc8 13.Rae1 White activates his last unemployed
9...c4 and launches a terrible attack with b4!] piece! At the same time he protects the e5 pawn and prepares
for an attack with f5!
13...g6 This is the novelty. Hardly a prepared one. The move
itself is logical, an attempt to avoid f5, but it runs into tactical
problems.
16.Rxf2 Na5 Black tries to strengthen his d5 square against
the potential knight sacrifices.
17.Qh6! After White has found 14.f5, the moves are already
suggesting themselves. White does not count the hanging
piece, but focuses all his forces on the attack!
17...d4 [17...exf5 18.e6!h is still devastating!]
18.Ne4 exf5 Black knows that he cannot survive, so he tries
his best practical chance to accept the material and hope
14.f5!! A beautiful move! The breakthrough is coming for a blunder after which he might preserve it in the future.
anyway! The black king stands in the center, therefore White However Wesley So leads the attack precisely and collects the
opens the files in front of it even at the cost of a piece! An full point. [18...Bxe4 19.Bxe4h is also hopeless. Ng5 or Qg7
important detail is that Black has just played Rc8, which is coming next.]
prevents him from castling queenside, which could solve his
19.Nd6+ Kd8 [19...Ke7 20.Qg5+ Kf8 21.Qxf5h is also
problems after accepting the sacrifice on f5.
over.]
14...gxf5 15.Bxf5! Bxf2+ [Black cannot accept the piece,
20.Nxf7+ Kc7 Black wants to run away, but he misses one
because the attack becomes too strong after 15...exf5 16.e6!
move to get to b8-a8.
(16.Nxd5 looks even stronger, however Black has the brilliant
21.e6! Attacking the knight and creating the more important

16...Nd4!! with the idea of 17.Nxb6? Nxf3+ 18.gxf3 Rg8+ threat of Qf4 against which Black has no adequate defense!
19.Kh1 Bxf3#) 16...Nf6 (16...fxe6 is even worse, Black 21...Bxf3 22.Qf4+ Kb7 23.exd7h Black resigned as all his
loses after 17.Rxe6+ Kd8 18.Qg5+ Kc7 19.Nxd5+h wins pieces are hanging. White takes on f3 with check and then
the queen.) 17.Nxd5 Bxf2+ 18.Rxf2 Nxd5 19.exf7+ Kxf7 grabs one of the rooks, followed by promoting his d-pawn
20.Qxd5+h White is crushing!] soon. 1-0
10.Bg5 Bb7
(2) Bukavshin, Ivan (2655)
- Lysyj, Igor (2673) [E53]
68th ch-RUS 2015(1),

Best rating: 2737
We are going to watch a fantastic game, with a lot sacrifices,

great positional play and very precise defence by Black. What
is also worth mentioning is that the game is just perfect. Both 11.Ne5 is one of the most aggressive continuations. The game
player played it extremely well, having full control over the is getting very sharp now.
situation and making the right decisions in very complicated 11...h6 It is usually a good idea for Black to include the h6-Bh4
positions! moves before doing something, to secure the king’s position
1.d4 e6 The move order in the game is not important, as a bit more.
the game anyway gets back into the main line of Nimzovich. 12.Bh4 Nbd7 Black is immediately fighting against the
Sometimes Black starts with 1...e6 on 1.d4, but only in case knight on e5, which is clearly the best thing to do.
he feels well-prepared in the French, which could appear after
2.e4. In this is the case, Lysyj even wrote a book on the French 13.Nxf7!? This is the beginning of a very interesting position.
defence. [Of course it is not dangerous for Black to play 13.Nxd7
13...Qxd7 14.Bxf6 gxf6 since in such structures only White is
2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 is one of the oldest and still most at risk of getting a worse position.]
popular lines.
13...Kxf7 is clearly the most principled move. [After 13...Rxf7
4...O-O 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.O-O This is the very main 14.Bxe6 we have a position which is difficult to evaluate, but
position and now Black has a wide range of continuations. White should not be worse. The 2 pawns for the 2 pieces vs
7...cxd4 has clearly been the most popular line lately. [For a rook should give White an edge, but on the other hand Black’s
long time the most played was 7...Nc6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 dxc4 pieces are very well placed and could compensate the slight
10.Bxc4 Qc7 which is still not out of fashion and we can find material disadvantage.]
games of for example Topalov in it.] 14.Bxe6+ White continues with the sacrifices, but it is already
8.exd4 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b6 Black’s idea is simple, to quickly get needed.
the bishop to b7 and later on put maximum pressure on the 14...Kxe6 15.Qb3+ Kf5 The only move yet again.
d4 pawn.
16.Qc2+ Ke6 [Of course Black can’t counter with 16...Be4
17.Nxe4 Nxe4 since White is winning the queen after 18.Bxd8]
17.Qb3+ Kf5 18.Qc2+ Ke6 After repeating the moves twice,
White continues to play for a win.
19.Qg6!? A very cool move! White is 2 pieces down but the
black king is in big danger. The direct threat is Rfe1 and after
Kd6 White would have Bg3.
23.c4!! To find such an amazing move is extremely hard over

the board. The idea is to force the black king to take the
c4 pawn, after which the c-file opens. 23...b5 24.Rab1 and it
seems that White’s attack is deadly! What a crazy position!]
21.Rfe1+ Kd5 The right move. [21...Kd6 was losing as after
22.Qg3+ the queen is getting back into the game. 22...Kc6
23.d5+ Kc5 24.c4 and White will mate soon.]
19...Bxc3! The strongest reponse. Black not only exchanges
22.c4+ White needs to do something fast!
a piece- which is great as he is 2 pieces up and has an open
king- but also protects for a second time the e1 square. [Let 22...Kc6 The best move once again. [White is mating after
us take a look at an example line: 19...Bd5 20.Rfe1+ Kd6 22...Kxc4 23.Qc2+ Kd5 24.Qf5+]
and now White catches the black king on d6 and doesn’t give
a chance to escape with Kc6-Kb7: 21.Rac1!? With a lot of
different mating threats.]
20.bxc3 and now Black really has a very wide range of moves,
because it seems like White doesn’t have any direct threats.
20...Re8! Another excellent decision by Lysyj. [20...Be4?
21.Rfe1 and Black loses a full piece after 21...Kd6 22.Rxe4
With a strong attack.; The game could also be very interesting
after 20...Kd6 21.Bg3+ Kc6 and now White has the very
strong 22.d5+! Kc5 (22...Kxd5 23.Qf5+ leads to mate: 23.Qg3! An excellent move. White continues threatening to
23...Kc6 24.Qe6+ Kb5 25.a4+ Ka5 26.Qc4) play d5 and now another idea is to just give a check on f3 at
some point. [23.Qxg7 is almost losing for White. 23...Ba6!
Freeing the b7 square for the king. 24.d5+ Kc7 and although
Black remains with a big material advantage, things are still Kc8 29.Qf5+ Nd7 30.Qf4 Qd8 31.Re1 With the deadly threat
not that clear.] of playing Re8. The game is over.]
23...Rxe1+ Probably the only move again. [23...Ba6 was 27.Qxg7 Why not take a pawn if possible. Now White already
losing on the spot: 24.Qf3+! Kc7 25.Bg3+ Kc8 26.Qxa8+] has 3 pawns for the piece and his attack is still alive.
24.Rxe1 What a shocking position. White just has 3 pieces left 27...Nd7 Black is trying to consolidate.
on the board and he is 2 pieces down- but still things are very 28.Bg3 Defending against the Rg8 idea and at the same time
unclear! This is a very rare case in chess. puting the black king under pressure.
24...Qg8 The only move. White threatened to mate in one by 28...Rg8 The black pieces are finally out.
playing Re6.
29.Qc3 White wants to play Re1 next. [29.Qb2 would lead
25.Rc1 A very strange move, but maybe the best one! White to a very interesting position. 29...Ba6 30.cxb6 axb6 and it
wants to play d5. [25.d5+ was losing: 25...Nxd5 26.cxd5+ is very hard to tell who is better here, but maybe Bukavshin
Qxd5; 25.Qf3+ didn’t work either: 25...Kc7 26.Bg3+ Kc8 thought that it could become a bit dangerous with Black
27.Qf4 Qd8; But maybe an interesting choice was 25.Bxf6 somehow going for the g2 pawn with h5 or playing Bb7 and
25...Nxf6 26.Re7 and it seems that the game would end in a Qc6.]
draw after 26...Rc8 27.Qf3+ Kd6 28.Qa3+ Kc6 29.Qf3+ What
a beautiful perpetual check !] 29...Nxc5 30.Re1 Can Black stabilize the position to get the
full point?
25...Nc5! Perfect play! [25...Ba6 would still lead to a
dangerous position. 26.Qf3+ Kd6 27.Re1! Cutting the king’s 30...Qf5 [After 30...Qf7 31.Qd4! looks very strong and Black
escape route.] already needs to give the exchange in order to avoid being
worse. 31...Rxg3 32.hxg3 and I think White is clearly better
26.dxc5 here.]
26...Qe6 Another only move. [White is winning after

26...bxc5? 27.Qf3+ This line is very forced. 27...Kc7 28.Bg3+ 31.Re7 Threatening mate on c7.
31...Qb1+ 32.Re1 Qf5 33.Re7 A repetition of moves!
33...Qb1+ [The last chance for Black was to play 33...Nd7 and
it is really difficult to say who is better here... The black king is
really dangerously placed but it is also hard for White to find a
way to continue the attack. It is a very complicated position!]
34.Re1 Why do such great fighting games usually end with a
"boring" draw?! :) 1/2-1/2
Puzzle section
(3) Guseva, M(2431)-Girya, O(2487) (5) Howell, D(2712)-Gormally, D(2485)
Russian Woman Championship, 2015.08.10 British Championship, 2015.07.29
1... i 1... i
(4) Edouard, R(2634)-Degraeve, JM(2551) (6) Arkell, K(2488)-Summerscale, A(2416)

French Championship, 2015.08.10 British Championship, 2015.08.04
1... i 1. h
(7) Gao Rui(2528)-Le Quang Liem(2699) (9) Nguyen Ngoc Trungson(2662)-Salem, A(2595)
Asian Continental, 2015.08.04 Asian Continental, 2015.08.09
1... i 1... i
(8) Gupta, A(2619)-Dzhumaev, M(2493) (10) Sethuraman, S(2635)-Khusnutdinov, R(2510)

Asian Continental, 2015.08.04 Asian Continental, 2015.08.09
1. h 1. h
(11) Van Wely, L(2654)-Van Foreest, J(2519)
Vlissingen Open, 2015.08.04
1. h
(12) Harutyunian, T(2472)-Cori, J(2635)

Badalona Open, 2015.08.08
1. h
Endgame section 42.b5 A logical move as the white pawn will probably be
better placed on b5 than on b4 for the future.
42...Ke6 The black king is getting closer to the center and
(13) Khairullin, Ildar (2662) maybe Black wants to play g4 next.
- Dubov, Daniil (2654) 43.exd5+ Nbxd5+ A very strange response in my opinion.
[I think it was more logical to play 43...Kxd5 with the easy
68th ch-RUS 2015(1), plan of playing Kc5 next. 44.Nc6 Attacking the e5 pawn.
Best rating: 2737
44...Nbd7 and Black continues threatening to play Kc5. Of
course the position remains very complicated, but I think
Black’s chances to make a draw are reasonable.]
44.Kf2 [White could have tried to go into a different direction:
44.Kd3 but Black would do the same thing- try to exchange
all the pawns. 44...g4 45.fxg4 Nxg4 46.h4 Nf2+ 47.Ke2 Ng4
and it is not easy for White to improve.]
White was better all game long and now we are in a double
knight endgame where he is a pawn up. Usually knight
endgames should be evaluated similarly to pawn endgames,
so an extra pawn normally gives a very good chance to win
the game. In the current position however, things are far from 44...g4?! Black rushes things too much. [Maybe it was better
easy. Black wants to exchange the pawns and the double to play 44...Nb6 with the same idea as before, to bring the
knights are giving to him some extra chances for escape king to c5. 45.Nac4 Nxc4 46.Nxc4 Kd5 47.Ne3+ Kc5 and
because in case of a blank board it is not possible to mate the Black has good drawing chances.]
black king with just 2 knights. 45.Nac4 The knight from a5 is finally back in the game.
41.Nd2 Black would play d5 next anyway, so White is bringing 45...gxf3 46.Kxf3 All black needs to do is to take White’s 3
the knight a bit closer to the center. pawns, but that is a very difficult task.
41...d5 Of course ! Exchanges of pawns is what is needed! 46...Nd7 47.Ne4 The white knights are perfectly placed.
47...Ne7 Black is looking for some play. 59.Kf2 Kd3
48.Nc3?! There was no reason at all to let the black knight
out to d4. [48.Ne3! would paralize the black pieces. Now
White would have all the time in the world to create another
passed pawn on the kingside.]
48...Nf5 The knight is back in the game.
49.g4? This is a very serious mistake. The idea to create a
passed h-pawn is correct, but right now it just doesn’t work!
[White should have continued with 49.b6 49...Nd4+ 50.Kf2
with good winning chances.]
60.b8=Q Nxb8 61.Ke1 Nc6 62.h7 Nd4 63.h8=Q Nc2+ and
49...Nd4+ [After 49...hxg4+ 50.Kxg4 Nf6+ White has the Black is just in time!]
strong 51.Kg5!]
53.Kg2 e4 Black’s chances for a draw are still very good. Give
50.Kg3 hxg4 51.Kxg4 up one knight for the b-pawn and one for the h-pawn and it is
done! :)
54.b6 White pushes the passed pawn, but that probably just
makes things easier for Black. [White had a tricky move like
54.h3!? to prevent Black from playing Ng4 in the future.
54...Kd7 55.Kf2 followed by Ne3 somewhere, with still some
practical chances of winning the game.]
51...Nf6+ Suddenly the passively placed black pieces are in

perfect harmony.
52.Kg3 Nf5+? and Black gives back the favor, probably
based on a miscalculation of the following long line: [52...Nd5
The beginning of a forced line. 53.Nxd5 Kxd5 54.b6 (Not
better is 54.Na3 54...Kc5 55.h4 e4 56.Kf4 and Black makes
an easy draw with 56...e3 57.Kxe3 Nf5+ followed by Nxh4.)
54...Kxc4 55.b7 To make the following calculation is not that 54...Kd7 Now the black king is getting very close.
simple, but possible... 55...Nc6 56.h4 e4 57.h5 e3 58.h6 e2 55.Na5 The only move to avoid Kc6.
55...Kc8 A very safe move with the threat of playing Nd7 next.
56.Nb5 White doesn’t have anything better.
- Khismatullin, Denis (2642)
56...Nd7 57.Na7+ [57.b7+ 57...Kb8 followed by Nc5 and
Nxb7 with a draw.] Russian Championship, GM Csaba Balogh
2015.08.09 Best rating: 2672
57...Kb8 58.N7c6+ Kc8 59.Na7+ Kb8 60.N7c6+ and
White finds no way to improve the position- and there was
indeed no way to improve it already! Well, this was an
endgame with a lot of mistakes but we had to admit that the
starting position was very complicated. 1/2-1/2
A very interesting question is as to how one would evaluate

the following endgame. It is clear that the pieces with the
pawns are stronger than the queen, but the question is, if
Black is able to create any counterplay, does he have realistic
drawing chances after the pawn gets advanced? White must
advance his pawns sooner or later to make progress, but then
the white king gets exposed and Black will have more checks-
but will it be enough to save the game?! After all, I came
to the conclusion that White is winning. Karjakin realizes
his advantage with perfect technique. He has all the time
to prepare for any kind of progress and Black cannot fight
against the pawns in the long term... Let’s see how it looks
like in practice.
54...Qc2 55.Nd3 Qc6+ 56.Kg1 White does not want to
move his f-pawn yet, because it allows checks on the 2nd
rank. He rather moves his h-pawn and hides his king on g2
or h2 according to the circumstances.
56...Qe4 57.h3 Ke7 58.Re3! It is time to regroup the pieces.
The knight could support the pawns better and at the same
time give the king shelter against the checks.
58...Qd5 59.Ne1! The knight should be somewhere around
the king!
59...Qd1 60.Kh2 Qb1 61.Kg2 Qg6+ 62.Rg3 Qe4+
63.Nf3! In the last 5 moves, the only change that White
has made in his position is to drive the knight from d3 to f3.
However this seemingly irrelevant transfer allows many new
plans for White! In the next few moves it all becomes clear. 69.Ng5! White keeps everything protected. Only the e5 pawn
is "alone", but it is also indirectly protected by Re6.
69...Qb3+ 70.Kg4 Qd5 [Black quickly runs out of checks
after 70...Qd1+ 71.f3 Qg1+ 72.Kh5h which is similar to the
game.]
71.Re6+ Kf8
63...Kf8 64.Rg4! Qf5 65.Kg3! We can see now the

excellent position of the f3 knight. Black cannot even give a
check and White is ready to advance his h-pawn.
65...Qb1 66.h4 Qh7 Black prevents the further advance of
the h-pawn. White does not want to touch his e-pawn either,
therefore a new regrouping of his pieces is needed in order to 72.Kh5! Suddenly the white king goes to g6 or h6 and it
make progress. will not only be protected from the checks, but also creates
67.Rf4+ Ke8 68.Rf6! Qg8+ different kind of mating nets, such as Kg6, Nh7 and Re8 mate.
72...Qd4 73.f4! Bringing another defender against the
checks! The pawn cannot be taken because of Rf6!
73...Qd1+ 74.Kg6 White threatens to play Nh7 and Re8 now.
The only way to prevent it is to pin the knight.
74...Qg4 75.h5 It is clear that the game is over. White only
needs to be careful to avoid stalemate ideas.
75...Qg1 76.h6 Qg2 77.Rf6+! After White sends the king
to the e-file, he has no more hopes for stalemate. [Black
resigned in view of 77.Rf6+ 77...Ke7 78.h7 Qh2 79.Kg7h It
was instructive how hopeless Black was with his queen!] 1-0
Golden knowledge (16) EX-2
This is the oldest example of direct pawns break. We must
mention that if it was Black’s move, 1..g6 would stop this
dangerous maneuver.
(15) Ex-1
1.g6! hxg6 2.f6! gxf6 3.h6 1-0
(17) EX-3
A break is one of the most important methods in endgames.

Sometimes there is no other possibility to create a passed
pawn, so it is necessary to sacrifice. This method is used
mostly in pawn endings, but we want to show that it is also 1.h6! Here we have a preparation for the break since it is
frequently used in other types of endgames. necessary to control the f6 square longer.
1...a3! The simplest break! With the help of this pawn 1...Ke6 2.g6! 1-0
sacrifice, Black clears the way for his own c-pawn, which
becomes unstoppable.
2.bxa3 c3 0-1
(18) EX-4 (20) EX-6
1.f5!! exf5 [Another kind of break works after 1...Kb5 2.f6 gxf6
1...c4! 2.dxc4 [Things are simple after 2.bxc4 2...a4]
3.exf6 Kc6 4.h5 gxh5 5.g6 fxg6 6.f7]
2...a4 3.bxa4 b3! 4.cxb3 d3 0-1
2.h5! gxh5 3.g6! fxg6 4.e6 Finally everything was sacrificed,
but the last pawn is on its way to the top. 1-0
(19) EX-5
(21) Awerbah, Y.-Bebchuk, E.
Moscov, 1961
1...c3! 2.bxc3 b3! We can call this a long break or delayed

break.
3.axb3 a3 0-1
1.e4 Kc6 2.e5! Black has a dangerous passed pawn so White
has to try and create a passed pawn immediately.
2...fxe5 3.g5 hxg5 [3...Kd7 doesn’t help since after 4.f6
Ke6 5.fxg7 Kf7 6.gxh6 b5 7.Ke4 b4 8.Kd3 the white king
successfully wins both black pawns.]
4.f6 gxf6 5.h5 White gave all his pawns, but the last one is (23) Welling-Eingorn
unstoppable. 1-0 Bad Wiesee , 2006
(22) Cekro, E.-Arhangelsky, B.

Esent, 2002
1...g5?? This typical mistake happened in hundreds of games

on different levels. Here the strong GM Eingorn did not know
the typical blow and a very unpleasant break reverts the
1.g3? [1.f4 1...g4 2.Kd3 was correct.] evaluation of the position.
1...g4! 2.gxh4 gxh3 3.Kf3 f4! 2.g4!! hxg4 [2...gxh4 makes no big difference. 3.gxh5 Ke6
(3...f5 4.h6 Kf6 5.e5+ Kg6 6.e6 and White is winning.) 4.Kf4
Kf7 5.Kg4 and losing the h4 pawn means the end for Black.]
3.h5 f5 4.h6 f4+ 5.Kf2 Kf6 6.e5+! With the same idea as
before: the black king can’t fight with two such powerful
pawns.
6...Kg6 7.e6 1-0
Creating a typical box for the opponent’s king.

4.h5 Ke5 Now the king stops White’s pawn and it is time to
resign. 0-1
(24) Camacho, G.-Hernandez, A. (25) Koch, Ju-De Dovitiis, A.
Cuba, 1995 Argentina , 2005
This case seems to be much more complicated, but the win is A slightly similar position to the previous one, but here Black
very similar. prevents the break in a very technical way.
1.g4!! fxg4 [1...gxf4 2.gxf5h] 1...Kd6! [1...g5? 2.g4!! hxg4 (2...gxh4 3.gxh5 h3 4.Kf2 f5
2.f5 dxc5+ [Other options don’t help: 2...Kf6 3.cxd6 cxd6 5.h6 Kf6 6.exf5h) 3.h5 Ke6 (3...f5 4.h6 f4+ 5.Kf2 Kf6 6.e5+
4.b5h; 2...g3 3.Ke3 g4 4.c6 h5 5.b5 h4 6.Ke2!h] Kg6 7.e6h) 4.Kf2 Kf7 5.Kg3 Kg7 6.Kxg4 Kh6 7.c5! (7.Kf5
7...Kxh5 8.Kxf6 g4 9.e5 g3 10.e6 g2 11.e7 g1=Q 12.e8=Q+
3.bxc5 g3 4.Ke3 g4 Kh4 13.Qh8+ Kg3 14.Qg7+ Kf2 15.Qxg1+ Kxg1 16.Ke5 Kf2
17.Kd6 Ke3=) 7...b5 (7...bxc5 8.c4 Kg7 9.e5! fxe5 10.Kxg5h)
8.Kf5 Kxh5 9.Kxf6 g4 10.e5 g3 11.e6 g2 12.e7 g1=Q 13.e8=Q+
Kh4 14.Qh8+ Kg3 15.Qg7+ Kf2 16.Qxg1+ Kxg1 17.Ke5 Kf2
18.Kd6 Ke3 19.Kxc6h]
2.Kd4? [It was possible to keep the balance with 2.Ke2
2...Ke6 3.Kf2! (3.Kf3 3...g5 4.Ke2 gxh4 5.gxh4 Ke5 6.Ke3 f5
7.exf5 Kxf5 8.Kf3 c5) 3...g5 (3...b5 4.cxb5 cxb5 5.Ke3 Ke5 6.Kf3
g5 7.Ke3 gxh4 8.gxh4) ]
2...g5 3.c5+ bxc5+ 4.Kd3 [Or 4.Kc4 4...Ke5 5.Kxc5 gxh4
5.c6!! [Just not 5.d6+? 5...cxd6 6.c6 d5!=] 6.gxh4 Kxe4 7.Kxc6 f5 8.Kd6 f4i]
5...h5 6.f6+ Kxf6 7.d6 1-0 4...Ke5 5.Kc4 gxh4 6.gxh4 Kxe4 7.Kxc5 f5i
(26) Bronstein, D. (27) Kupreichik, V.-Marjanovic, S.
Shakhmaty Moskva, 1967 USSR - Jugoslavija , 1979
1.Kb2 f5 2.Kc3 h5 3.Kd3! h4 4.f4! g4 5.Ke2 g3 [5...Kd7 40...Kc6 41.g5 White has a dangerous pawn majority on this
6.hxg4 fxg4 7.f5] flank.
41...hxg5 [41...Kxc5 42.f6 gxf6 43.gxh6 and the h-pawn will
promote.]
42.f6! gxf6 43.h5 and once the h-pawn is unstoppable. It
cost a few pawns, but it paid in the end. 1-0
(28) Baramidze, D.-Khamrakulov, I.

Dresden, 2008
6.e4! This break has the idea to create two passed pawns with
a bigger distance between them than the black pair!
6...fxe4 7.f5 1-0
39.a3 a4 [Or 39...Ke6 40.b4 axb4 (40...Kxf6 41.c5 bxc5 42.bxa5 This is a much more complicated case because Black has his
Ke6 43.a6) 41.axb4 Kxf6 42.Ke2 Ke6 43.Kf3 Kf6 44.Kg4 own dangerous passed pawn.
Kg6 45.Kh4 Kf6 46.Kh5] 1.f5! b3 2.Kc3 gxf5 [After 2...Kd5 3.e6 fxe6 4.fxg6 Ke5 5.h5
40.b4! axb3 41.a4! White doesn’t care about the material, the white king starts to capture the black pawns and Black
his idea is to create two passed pawns. can’t do anything about it.]
41...h5 3.gxf5 Kd5 4.e6! fxe6 5.f6! gxf6 6.h5! and with the sacrifice
White managed to block the opponent’s king’s way to h8! 1-0
(30) Guliev, S.-Tukmakov, V.

Nikolaev, 1993
42.c5! Now White creatres two very distant passed pawns.

The Russians calls them in a funny way: TROUSERS!
42...bxc5 43.a5 h4 44.f7 Ke7 45.f8=Q+ Kxf8 46.a6 and
the pawn promotes with check. 1-0
(29) Mamedyarov, S.-Sokolov, I.

33.Ke3? [Chess is all about timing, as used to say the great
Essent Robert Fischer. It is useful to improve the position of the king,
but it is even more important to use the power and dynamism
of the passed pawns. 33.a4! 33...Kd6 34.a5 c4 35.a6! Kc5
36.d6 Kxd6 37.b6h]
33...Kd6 34.Ke4 c4 35.a4 c3 36.Kd3 Kxd5 37.Kxc3 Kc5
Black will use the e5 pawn to deflect the opponent’s king and
will win both pawns on the queenside, creating new a passed
pawn on the a-file. 0-1
(31) Chatalbashev, B.-Tratar, M.
20th TCh-CRO 1b, 2011
58.hxg6+ Kxg6 59.Kd6 Kf7 [59...h5 60.e5 h4 61.e6 h3 62.e7

Kf7 63.Kd7 h2 64.e8=Q+h]
60.e5 1-0
It is necessary to play a decisive move immediately here!
55.g5!! [55.Kh7? 55...Kf7 56.Kh8 Kf8= and; 55.Kf5 55...Kf7 (32) Vilela De Acuna, J.-Garcia Palermo, C.
56.f4 exf4 57.Kxf4 Ke6 58.Kf3 Ke5 59.Ke3= are indeed dead Bayamo , 1983
draws.]
55...fxg5?! [55...hxg5!? is more complicated: 56.h6 The
breakthrough continues. 56...gxh6 57.Kxf6 Ke8 58.Kg6! (Of
course not 58.Kxe5? 58...h5 59.Kf5 h4 60.Kg4 Ke7 61.f4 gxf4
62.Kxh4 Kd6 63.Kg4 Kc5 64.Kxf4 Kxb6=) 58...Kd7 (58...Ke7
59.Kxh6 Kf6 60.Kh5h) 59.Kxh6 Kc6 60.Kxg5 Kxb6 61.Kf5
Kc5 62.Kxe5 b5 63.Kf4!? is more logical than the other
winning option. (63.f4?! 63...b4 64.f5 b3 65.f6 b2 66.f7 b1=Q
67.f8=Q+ Kc4 68.Qd6 mates in 52 moves according to the
tablebase.) 63...Kd4 (63...b4 64.Ke3 Kc4 65.Kd2h) 64.e5
Kd5 65.Kf5 b4 66.e6 Kd6 (66...b3 67.e7 b2 68.e8=Q b1=Q+
69.Qe4+h) 67.Kf6 b3 68.e7 b2 69.e8=Q b1=Q 70.Qe7+ Kd5 1...c5! 2.h4 [2.dxc5 2...bxc5i; 2.Kg4 2...c4 3.Kf4 b5 4.e4
71.Qe5+ Kc6 72.Qe4+h] b4!i]
56.Kf5 Kf7 57.Kxe5 2...Kd6! [Wrong was 2...c4? 3.e4 b5 (3...dxe4? 4.Kxe4 b5
57...g6 [57...Ke7 does not help either: 58.Kf5 Kf7 59.e5 5.d5+ Kd6 6.Kd4h) 4.e5! b4 5.Ke3 c3 6.Kd3! cxb2 7.Kc2
Ke7 60.Kg6 Ke6 61.Kxg7 Kxe5 62.Kxh6 Kf6 63.Kh7 Kf7 bxa3 8.Kb1 Kd7 9.Kc2 Kc6 10.Kb1 Kb6 11.Kc2 Kb5 12.Kb1
64.h6h] Kc4 13.Kc2!=]
3.Kf3 c4! 4.Kf4 [Other options are not better: 4.e4 4...dxe4+ (34) Tzermiadianos, A.-Iuldachev, S.
5.Kxe4 b5 6.d5 b4! 7.axb4 c3 8.Kd3 cxb2 9.Kc2 a3i; 4.Ke2 Al ain, 2012
4...Ke6i]
4...b5 5.e4 dxe4 6.Kxe4 b4 7.axb4 c3 8.Kd3 cxb2 9.Kc2
a3 10.b5 Kd5! [10...Kd5 11.Kb1 (11.b6 11...Kc6i) 11...Kc4!
12.b6 Kb3i] 0-1
(33) Shirov, A.-Akopian, V.

Oakham YM, 1992
34.Ke2?? White did not see the break in the pawn ending,
but it was not so easy to find the best way to keep the balance
here. [34.Be4 ]
34...Nxf3 35.Kxf3 b5! This is the move White missed when
playing 34.Be2??.
36.Ke4 bxa4 37.Kd3 axb4 38.cxb4 Kb6 0-1
53...Bxf3? is the wrong transposition into a pawn endgame

as Black overlooked the break... [After 53...Ke6 Black still had
drawing chances.]
54.Kxf3 h2 55.Kg2 Kxe4 56.c5 Kd5 [56...bxc5 Ftacnik 57.a5
Kd5 (57...c4 58.b6h) 58.a6! c4 59.b6 c3 60.bxa7 h1=Q+
61.Kxh1 c2 62.a8=Q+h]
57.c6 Kd6 58.Kxh2 Kc7 59.Kg3 Kd6 60.Kf4 Ke6 61.Ke4
Kd6 62.Kf5 1-0
Chess and the City.
Li La Lueneburg
Lueneburg is famous for its beautiful half timbered houses...

Best rating: 2493
Besides that I hardly remember a chess event in
Germany (expect of course the German National Women
Finally the time has come to play again. In less than two days Championship) where so many national women players take
a rather huge open tournament is going to start in the small part. With Sarah Hoolt, Judith Fuchs, Melanie Ohme and
but very beautiful town of Lueneburg. myself we have almost the entire national team playing.
The tournament will consists of 4 events, two round robin However, we are funnily divided among 3 events. Melanie will
tournaments (IM and GM) in the morning and two open participate in the IM round robin tournament whereas Judith
tournaments (A and B) in the afternoon. I will participate and Sarah will go for the A-open in the afternoon.
in the GM round robin event where I hypothetically get the Some players, who cannot get enough, will play the round
chance to achieve a GM norm. The average of my tournament robin as well as the open in the afternoon, but I am not
will be about 2450 and the two strongest participants are GM ambitious enough or simply too lazy for such things...
Ovsejevitsch Sergei and IM Andreas Heimann. The latter just
recently played with me at the Mitropa Cup in Austria where
he was the top scorer of our team. With a rating of over 2550
he is not only likely to be the strongest IM in Germany but also
the hottest candidate for a GM norm.
... and its old and historical city center along the river "Ilmenau"
Clash of the Titans
(35) Chigorin, Mikhail

- Tarrasch, Siegbert [C00]
St Petersburg m(4), 1893
GM Kamil Miton
Best rating: 2655
& GM J.K Duda
8.Nc3?! Personally I don’t like this move: the knight has
no clear future and it freezes White’s potential counterplay
on the queenside. We cannot criticize Chigorin though:
1.e4 e6 2.Qe2!? This was Chigorin’s pattern, discovered by the game was played in the late years of the XIX century,
himself. The main idea behind this move is to forbid d5. and chess was not as developed as today. On the other
hand his plan is quite simple: he wanted to develop the
2...c5 3.g3 Nc6 4.Nf3 Be7!? This is an interesting try to play
pieces as soon as possible and just see what happens. [8.e5
d5 and later recapture with the pawn.
8...Nd7 9.c4 is the modern way: let’s check some variations
5.Bg2 [5.e5!? is an interesting way to disturb Black’s which we had a look at without an engine: 9...b6 10.cxd5
development, but inconsistent with the way of thinking of (10.Nc3 10...d4 11.Ne4 Bb7 12.Bf4 Qc7 13.Rfe1 (13.Nf6+
the old masters. 5...f6 (5...d6 6.exd6 Qxd6 7.Bg2 Nf6 8.O-O 13...gxf6 14.exf6 Bd6 15.Nxd4 Nxf6 16.Nb5 Bxf4 17.Nxc7
O-O 9.Na3+= The queen stands poorly on d6 because of Nc4 Bxc7e Three pieces seem to be much stronger than the white
or Bf4. ) 6.Bg2 fxe5 7.Nxe5 Nd4 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qd1 (9.Nxg6 queen.) 13...Ncxe5 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.Nd2 (15.Nxc5!? 15...bxc5
9...Nf6) 9...d6 10.Nc4 Bf6!? (10...Nf6 11.O-O e5 (11...O-O 12.c3 16.Bxe5 Qd7 17.Qg4 g6=) 15...Bxg2 16.Bxe5 Qc6 17.Qg4
Nf5 13.d4 cxd4 14.cxd4+=) 12.Ne3 (12.Nc3 12...Bg4 13.f3 Be6 f6 18.f3 Bxf3 19.Nxf3 fxe5 20.Nxe5 Qd6=+ and the white
14.d3 O-O 15.f4 e4) 12...O-O 13.Nc3 Kh8 14.Ncd5 Nxd5 15.Nxd5 knight cannot compensate for the missing pawn.) 10...exd5
Bg5 16.b4C) 11.O-O Ne7 12.Nc3 d5 13.Ne3 O-Ok] 11.Nc3 d4 12.Nd5 Bb7 13.e6 Here some crazy variations
5...d5 6.d3 [6.e5 6...Nh6! and the knight finds its own home.; appear: 13...fxe6 (13...Nf6?! 14.Ng5 Nxd5 15.exf7+ Kh8
6.exd5 6...exd5 The queen on e2 stands badly because it is (15...Rxf7 16.Nxf7 Kxf7 17.Qh5+h) 16.Nxh7 Rxf7 17.Qe6
hard to play d4 any longer.] (17.Qh5 17...g6 18.Ng5+ gxh5 19.Nxf7+ Kg7 20.Nxd8 Rxd8e)
17...Kxh7 18.Bxd5 Rf6 19.Qh3+ Rh6 20.Be4+h) 14.Nf4!
6...Nf6 7.O-O O-O (14.Qxe6+ 14...Kh8 15.Bf4 (15.Nxd4?? 15...Nxd4 16.Qxe7
Bxd5 17.Qxd8 Ne2+i) 15...Bf6=) 14...Qe8 15.Nxe6 Bf6
seems to be better. (15...Bd6?! 16.Nfg5 h6 (16...Nf6 17.Re1
and the rook is lost.) 17.Bd5 Na5 (17...Kh8 18.Nxf8!h) 15.Bd2 Nf8 16.Ne1 Although the white pieces occupy the
18.Nxg7+ (18.Nc7+!? 18...Bxd5 19.Nxe8 Raxe8 20.Ne4 two last lines, this setup isn’t senseless as he wants to attack
c4nwith some practical compensation.) 18...Kxg7 19.Ne6+ with the pawns. Now Tarrash makes some mistakes and loses
Kh8 20.Bxb7 Nxb7 21.Bxh6 Rf7 22.Rae1A) 16.Re1 Rf7 several tempi:
17.Nfg5 Re7 (17...Bxg5 18.Nxg5 Re7 19.Bd5+ Kh8 20.Nf7+
Qxf7 21.Bxf7 Rxe2 22.Rxe2 Nce5 23.Bf4!c The rook is coming
to the 7th rank.) 18.Bd5 Kh8 19.Qe4 (19.Qg4!? ) 19...Nf8
20.Bf4Cwith complex play.]
8...a6 is quite slow, but planned: Black wants to invade
the queenside with a pawn phalanx. [8...Nd4 9.Nxd4 cxd4
10.Nd1 dxe4 11.dxe4 e5]
9.Bg5!? This move shows Chigorin’s skills: he is provoking
Black to play h6 in order to use it as a weakening after a
16...Ne6?! 17.f4 Bb7 18.f5 Ng5 19.Nf2 Rc8 20.Qh5 [20.h4
potential g4-g5. It seems unreal, but the game shows that at
20...Nh7 21.Nf3 looks more natural, but what does White
this time everything could happen! ;-)
want to do in the future?]
9...h6 10.Bf4 b5 11.Rfe1 d4 [11...Bb7 was also possible,
20...Nh7 [20...c4 is maybe more precise.]
to keep the center tense. 12.exd5 Nxd5 (12...exd5 13.d4 c4
(13...cxd4 14.Nxd4) 14.Rad1) 13.Nxd5 Qxd5!? 14.Ne5 Qxg2+! 21.Nf3 c4 22.Bf1!? The Russian corrects the worst piece -
(14...Nd4 ) ] the light squared bishop. Now he is ready to push the g-pawn
forward.
12.Nd1 Now the knight is really passive, but it’s quite likely it
will come to play via f2. 22...cxd3 [22...Bb4 is a classical attempt to exchange the bad
bishop, but Black can play this anytime.]
12...Nd7 Black is gaining space.
23.cxd3 [23.Bxd3! Finally the bad bishop has its own function
13.Kh1 Re8 [13...Bb7 14.Ng1! Kh8 15.Bd2 f5 16.f4]
and the c-file is covered. I think in this case White’s attack
14.Rg1 Chigorin’s plan is quite clear now. He wants to would be crushing.]
attack on the kingside, like Steinitz before him. It’s obvious
23...Ng5 [23...Bb4 ]
that Black’s counterattack will come quicker, as he is better
prepared, but on the other hand White’s attack is more 24.Bxg5!? A dynamic move. White gives his excellent bishop
dangerous, because it is targeted on the black king. in order to get some tempi to prepare the attack. Now the
game sharpens.
14...e5 [14...Bb7 with idea to be flexible. 15.g4 e5 16.Bg3
g5!?e and White has no attack anymore.] 24...Bxg5 25.Ng4 Kf8 [25...Be3! 26.Rg2 f6 was the way to
block White’s attack. Now it becomes very strong.]
26.Be2 Bf6?! According to the computer this is a blunder. 29...Ng8! e Now Black overtakes the initiative. On the
Black loses too much time. On the other hand it is hard kingside White’s attack has been burst, and on the other side
to suggest anything better, but the computer prefers Rc7. Black is dominating.
[26...Be3 ] 30.Bd1 Chigorin is improving his bishop, but in fact it is only
27.h4?! Too slow. White had better to play [27.Raf1! to temporary.
improve his last piece. Black is already in deep trouble: 30...Rc7 31.Bb3 Rec8 32.Nf2 Bd8 33.Qe2 a5 34.Nf3 a4
27...Nb4 28.Nxf6 (28.a3!? ) 28...gxf6 (28...Qxf6 29.g4 and 35.Bd1 Did I not say it?!
Black is about to lose.) 29.Qxh6+ Ke7 30.Qd2 Qd6 31.Bd1!
and White has an overhelming advantage, for example after
31...Nxa2 32.Bb3 Nb4 33.g4A]
27...Qd6 [27...Nb4! With counterplay!]
28.Nfh2?! Again too slow. White could attack instantly:
[28.Nxf6 28...Qxf6 29.g4 Qd6 30.g5 and it is hard to believe
that Black can escape from this terrible position.]
28...Ne7!? Good defence! Black is using the fact that the king
on h1 and bishop on b7 are on the same diagonal. [28...Bd8
is the main computer defence, although after 29.Raf1 f6 35...Bc6 [35...Rc1 36.g4 For the computer everything it is
30.Nxh6 White grabs a pawn for nothing.] clear, but for a human it is not. White has some counterplay
which might be very dangerous in the nearest future. Now
both sides are regrouping their forces.]
36.g4 f6 37.Nh3 Be8 38.Qh2 [38.g5!? ]
38...Bf7 39.a3 Bb3 40.Nf2 [40.g5!? ]
40...Bxd1 41.Nxd1 Rc2 42.Qg3 b4 43.axb4 Qa6
[43...Qxb4!? ]
44.Nf2 [44.g5 The computer thinks it is better to give up the
d3 pawn rather than this one on b2, as the a-pawn might be
very dangerous.]
29.Raf1? [29.Nxf6! is the correct move order to get the queen
44...Rxb2 45.g5 hxg5 46.hxg5 Rcc2 47.Ng4 Now White has
to f6. Once again White’s attack is very strong now. 29...Qxf6
plenty of counterplay and I think it is harder to play this
30.Raf1 (30.Ng4?? 30...Qxf5!) 30...Ng8 31.g4! (31.Ng4?!
position with Black, even though he has a small edge.
31...Qd6 32.f6?? g6i) 31...Qd6 32.g5A]
47...Qd6? [47...fxg5! is the computer’s suggestion, although 52.Rxf6+?? Aooughh!!! The most natural move in the
it looks rather shaky. In my own opinion the most logical position, but what a blunder it is. Now White is dead lost.
attempt is to play for my own asset:; 47...a3!? White has to [52.Ng5!! An amazing move, missed by both players!! White
play very creatively to hold the balance: 48.b5! with the idea doesn’t take the poor black lady and instead improves his
to disrupt the communication in the black camp. 48...Rxb5 own knight! The computer thinks it is equal here, but
Not the only move, but a quite logical one. 49.Qh4 Rbb2 everything could happen between these players: 52...Ke8!
50.Qh8! fxg5 51.f6 Bxf6 52.Nxf6 gxf6 53.Rxg5 fxg5 54.Nd2+!! (52...Ke7 ) 53.Rxf6 gxf6 54.Qh7 Ne7 55.Qh8+ Kd7 56.Nf7!
It is very important to switch Black’s rooks off from play for (56.Ne6 only leads to a draw: 56...Rc8! 57.Qxf6 Rb1 58.Nc5+
a moment. 54...Ke8 (54...Ke7?? 55.Qg7+! Kd6 56.Qg6+ Rxc5 59.Qe6+ Ke8 60.Qxa2 Rxf1+ 61.Kg2 Rcc1 62.Qe6=)
Kc5 57.Qxa6h) 55.Qxg8+ Kd7 56.Rf7+ Kc6 57.Rf6+ Kb7 56...Kc7! 57.b5 Kb6 and according to the computer it is level.
58.Qd5+! (58.Rxa6? 58...Rc1+ 59.Kg2 Rxd2+ 60.Kg3 Rxd3+ What an incredible position!]
61.Kg4 Kxa6i) 58...Rc6 (58...Qc6!? ) 59.Qd7+ Rc7 52...gxf6i Now White is lost, because the black king is
60.Qd5+ Qc6!? is the last try to win the game, but an sheltered enough and the rooks and the a-pawn are too
unsuccessful one: 61.Rxc6 Rxc6 62.Nc4 a2 63.Na5+ Kb6 powerful.
64.Qxc6+ Kxa5 65.Qc5+ Ka4 66.Qc4+ Ka3 67.Qa6+ Kb4
68.Qc4+= and it is a perpetual. I guess even today’s top 53.Rd1 Rb1 54.Qf1 Rcb2 55.Nd2!? The last try, but it is not
grandmasters would have problems to find all the moves on enough.
either side. That is a computer!!!] 55...Rxd1 56.Qxd1 Rxd2 57.Qc1 [57.Qa1 57...Rc2!? 58.b5
48.gxf6 Bxf6 49.Qh3! A very strong move! White is Ke7 59.b6 Kd6 60.b7 Kc7 and White is out of good moves.]
improving the position of his queen. 57...Rxd3! 58.Kg2 Rc3 59.Qa1 Rc2+ 60.Kf3 d3 61.Qd1
49...a3 50.Nxf6 Qxf6 51.Rg6 a2! Both players have been Rb2 62.Qa4 d2 White resigns. What a fighting game! 0-1
playing their best chess. This is the critical moment of the
game.
(36) Mann (37) Moiseenko, A(2710)-Fier, A(2628)
1. h Biel Open, 2015.07.27
45.Qxg6+!! [45.e8=Q? 45...Qxf4+ 46.Kg2 Qg3+ 47.Kf1

Qxf3+ 48.Kg1 Bd4+i]
45...Kxg6 46.e8=Q+ Kh7 [46...Kh6 47.Qe6+=]
47.Qh5+ Kg8 48.Qe8+ Kh7 49.Qh5+ Kg8 50.Qe8+ 1/2
(38) Wagner, D(2569)-Adhiban, B(2627)
Biel Open, 2015.07.28
35...Ng3! 36.Qd8+ Re8! 37.Qd2 Nxf1i
(39) Gharamian, T(2649)-Nezad, H(2405) (41) Bartel, M(2631)-Esen, B(2567)
39.Qxg6! [39.Nf7+? 39...Kg8 40.Qxg6 Rf8!i] 32.Bh7+!! [32.Rxh3 32...Qg7]

39...b1=Q! 40.Nf7+ Kg8 41.Nh6+! Kh8 [41...Kf8?? 32...Kh8 33.Qxh3h Qg7 34.Bf5+ Kg8 35.Bxe6+ Bxe6
42.Qf7#] 42.Nf7+ 1/2 36.Qxe6+ Kf8 [36...Qf7 37.Rh8+!h] 37.Rh5h
(40) Bogner, S(2544)-Ivanisevic, I(2662) (42) Wirig, A(2511)-Wagner, D(2569)
39...Rh8+! [39...b2? 40.Re7+ Kf6 41.Bh4+ Kg6 42.Rg7+

43...Rxg2+! 44.Kxh3 Rh2+ 45.Kg3 Qf2+! 46.Kg4 Qe2+!
Kh5 43.g4#]
47.Kg3 [47.Nf3?? 47...Qg2+ 48.Bg3 Qh3+ 49.Kg5 Qf5#]
47...Qf2+ 48.Kg4 Qe2+ 1/2 40.Bh4 Rxh4+! 41.Nxh4 b2 42.Rb7 b1=Q 43.Rxb1
Bxb1i
(43) Wagner, D(2569)-Dragun, K(2586) (45) Bartel, M(2631)-Wagner, D(2569)
46.Bxg7! Qxg7 [46...Rxf2 47.Qh8#] 31.Rxe5! Qxe5! 32.Qf7+ Kh8 33.Re7! [33.Qh5+= ]
47.Rg3! Qxg3+ 48.Kxg3 R8c3+ 49.Rf3 1-0 33...Qg3! = 34.Qxf5 Be3 35.Qh5+ Kg8 36.Qd5+ Kh8
37.Qh5+ Kg8 38.Qf7+ Kh8 39.Qf6+ Kg8 40.Qf7+ 1/2
(44) Ivanisevic, I(2662)-Zoler, D(2498)
(46) Adhiban, B(2627)-Solak, D(2622)
Biel Open, 2015.07.30
Biel Open, 2015.07.31
25.Ng6!! Qc7 [25...fxg6 26.Rxe6 Qf7 27.Rxf6h] 28.Rxd7! Nxd7 29.Rxf7+ Kh8 30.Be6! Bxh4 [30...Nf8
26.Bxf6! gxf6 27.Rd7 Qc5 28.Ne7+h Kg7 29.Qg4+ 31.Rxe7 Nxe6 32.Rxe6c] 31.Nxh4 Rg5+
Qg5 30.Qxg5+ hxg5 31.Nxc8 Bxc8 32.Rc7 1-0 32.Kh3 Nc5 33.Ba2c Rh5 34.Rf8+ Kg7 35.Rf7+ Kh8
36.Kg4! Rg5+ 37.Kf3 a5 38.Rc7 b6 39.Bf7 1-0
(47) Jarmonov
1.Kg2 Kb2 2.Kf3 Kb3 [2...Kc2?? 3.Ke4 Kxd2

4.Kxd4h Ke2 5.Ke4 Kd2 6.Kf5h]
3.Kf4! [3.Ke4? 3...Kc4i]
3...Kb4 [3...Kc4 4.Ke4 d3 5.Ke3 Kxd5 6.Kxd3=]
4.d3! [4.Kf5 4...Kc5 5.Ke4 Kc4i]
4...Kb3 5.Kf5! Kc2! 6.Ke6! [6.Ke4 6...Kc3i]
6...Kxd3 7.Kxd6 Kc4 [7...Ke4 8.Ke6! d3 9.d6 d2 10.d7
d1=Q 11.Ke7=]
8.Kc6! d3 9.d6 d2 10.d7 d1=Q 11.Kc7=
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
A spectacular week of chess is behind us, but let us start with
Editorial Preface 2 the main events:
The new and fully deserved Russian Champion is Evgeny
Two best games of the past week 5 Tomashevsky who showed great play and finished on 7.5/11.
Second place went to Karjakin who was not doing too much
Puzzle section 11 himself, but happily accepted the presents and scored 7/11.
3rd place went to Vitiugov with 6.5/11.
In the women’s section the new Russian super talent- the
Endgame section 13
only 16-year old Goryachkina- dominated the event with 8/11,
while 2nd and 3rd places were shared by Kosteniuk and
Golden knowledge 19 Bodnaruk with 7/11.
Christian Bauer is the new French Champion. He won a very
Chess and the City. dramatic tiebreak match against Gharamian as they had
The worst tournament of my life.... 26 both finished on 7.5/11. The big favourite of the tournament
Etienne Bacrot took the 3rd position with 7/11.
Clash of the Titans 27 In the women’s section nobody could stop Almira
Skripchenko, who scored a fantastic 9/11.
Surprise section / study 31 The matches against the Chinese players are always tough
and Leko had to experience it once again. His match out of
Solutions 32 6 games ended with 4 draws and 2 wins for Li Chao.
In another 6 games match between Ragger and Mamedyarov,
after 3 games the score is 2.5-0.5 for Mamedyarov, which is
clearly not a surprise.
In the Spanish team Championship the team of Solvay (with
Harikrishna, Abdihan, Ganguly...) finished clear first.
Already very soon we can be very excited about the start of
the 3rd Sinquefield Cup, with all the leading top chess players
including Carlsen, Nakamura, Caruana etc...
Until then, enjoy the current issue of your weekly chess
magazine.
Best wishes,
Two best games of the past week 7.Nxd4 c5
(1) Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (2735)

- Ragger, Markus (2694) [C69]
Mamedyarov vs Ragger(1),
Best rating: 2737
We are in the first round of the match organised in Vienna 8.Nb3 This is quite a rare move and for a good reason... White
between Mamedyarov and Markus Ragger, the Austrian did not show any good results in it. [8.Ne2 This lines which is
Number 1. With 2694 ELO, Ragger is at his peak and is clearly often played by Mamedyarov’s compatriot Radjabov leads to
motivated to break the 2700 ELO bareer. But on the other a similar idea as in the game. 8...Qxd1 9.Rxd1 Bd7 10.Be3
hand to play a much more experienced and probably stronger O-O-O 11.Nbc3 b6 12.a4 but Black also seems to be doing fine
opponent is never easy. In the current game Mamedyarov, here after 12...Re8 13.Rd2 Bc6 14.Rad1 Ne7 and the position
who usually plays very sharply, is going for an endgame which is very complex.]
seems to be very close to equal. With one inaccurate move
8...Qxd1 9.Rxd1 Bg4! A good move. Black provokes White
Ragger blunders a very beautiful break which is perfectly
into playing f3 to make a weakness for later and this will
executed by White. A nice game to watch!
happen when Black can play c4-Bc5 and the king on g1 is
1.e4 Usually Mamedyarov prefers to start with 1.d4. pinned.
1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 No Berlin... 10.f3 Be6?! A very strange decision in my opinion. The main
4.Bxc6 The exchange Spanish is not played that often on the line continues with Bd7, which Ragger has already played and
top level, but clearly deserves attention. I think it should clearly be the best for Black. [10...Bd7 11.Bf4
O-O-O 12.Nc3 c4 13.Na5 Bc5+ Now we can see how useful the
4...dxc6 5.O-O f6 An old fashioned move, but a very solid Bg4 move was. 14.Kh1 b5 15.Nd5 Ne7 16.Bxc7 Nxd5 17.Bxd8
one. [At the moment Black more often plays 5...Qf6 6.d4 exd4 Ne3 18.Nb7 Nxd1 19.Nxc5 Nf2+ 20.Kg1 Nxe4 21.fxe4 Rxd8
7.Bg5 Qd6 8.Nxd4 with complex positions.] with an equal endgame in Guseinov-Ragger 2013.]
6.d4 exd4 [6...Bg4 is the other main line.] 11.Nc3 White gives Black the chance to play Bd6. [Another
interesting option could have been 11.Bf4 not giving Black the
chance to castle queenside and at the same time attacking
the c7 pawn. 11...c4 12.Nd4 (12.Na5 doesn’t work because of
12...b6! 13.Nc6 Bc5+ 14.Kf1 Bd7 15.Nd4 O-O-O and Black is 15.Rd2 15...Be7 and Black keeps the bishops.]
perfectly fine.) 12...O-O-O 13.Nc3 Bc5 14.Be3 Now it seems 15...cxd6 16.Nd2 A very logical move again. White wants to
like Black needs to give up the bishop. 14...Bxd4 (In case of choose between playing c4 next or maybe try the plan with
14...Bf7 15.Nf5! Bxe3+ 16.Nxe3 White manages to exchange c3-b4 or maybe just play Nf1, double on the d-file and then
the dark bishops and reaches a slightly better endgame.) play Ne3. [16.Bf4 16...d5]
15.Rxd4 Rxd4 16.Bxd4 Ne7 17.Kf2 and because of the better
pawn structure White should be a little bit better here even if 16...d5?! In my opinion this is a serious mistake, probably
it is of course not much.] based on White’s 18th move, which Ragger clearly missed.
[16...Ne7 looks very solid and now Black really wants to play
11...Bd6 12.Be3 b6 Black wants to castle queenside with a d5. 17.c4 f5 This positi on might be a bit better for White,
good position. In this type of endgame it is very important for but in case of good defense Black should be able to hold this
White to exchange one bishop. endgame.]
17.exd5 Bxd5? This is already a serious blunder... [17...Rxd5
would lead to an unpleasant position. 18.Re1 Bf7 and maybe
White can just continue with 19.Bf4 wanting to play Nc4 or
Ne4. Black’s position is very dangerous, but not lost.]
13.a4! A good choice and actually the only one logical

move, since after any other passive move Black would castle
queenside.
13...a5 Ragger is going for a slightly worse endgame. [More
fighting was 13...O-O-O 14.a5 Kb7 (Black would need to suffer
for a draw after 14...Bxb3 15.cxb3 b5 16.Rac1 and the c5 pawn 18.b4!! What a bueatiful push! Suddenly Black’s position is
is weak.) 15.e5! This beautful move probably gives White falling apart.
some edge at the end of a long forced line: 15...Be7 16.Rxd8 18...axb4 Black doesn’t have a choice.
Bxd8 17.Bxc5 Bxb3 18.Bf8! A difficult move to find! 18...Nh6
19.Bxg7 Rg8 20.Bxh6 and White is probably better.] 19.a5 bxa5 and this move probably just loses. [Tougher would
have been 19...Ne7 20.axb6 Nc6 21.Bxc5 and the endgame
14.Nb5 The d6 bishop has to be taken. is very difficult to safe for Black, but the opposite colored
14...O-O-O 15.Nxd6+ [Mamedyarov probably didn’t like bishops give him some theoretical chances for a draw.]
20.Bxc5 The black knight can’t reach the nice c6 square any
longer. (2) Vitiugov, Nikita (2719)
- Dubov, Daniil (2654) [D17]
20...Nh6 21.Rxa5 Rhe8 Another unlucky move by Ragger
who seems to be very nervous. Usually the Austrian Number
68th ch-RUS 2015(9), GM Csaba Balogh
1 is a very safe player. [21...Bb7 would lead to more of a fight. Best rating: 2672
2015.08.18
22.Bxb4 Rd5 But we have to admit that in the long run this
position should also be lost...]
We are facing a great fighting game with many unusual and
beautiful tactical motifs.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 The initial position of
the Slav defense.
5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nxc4 Nb6 8.Ne5 a5 Black has
many other theoritical lines at his disposal. I personally also
like to employ this opening. It has both many sharp and many
positional lines, depending on how White plays now.
9.g3 Nfd7 Quite a rare move, but it has been tried recently by
22.Bb6! Not missing the tactical blow. some very strong grandmasters. In general the exchange of
22...Rd6 [Ragger had probably missed that after 22...Rd7 the active knight on e5 is good for Black and a standard idea
White anyway has 23.Nc4! Bxc4 24.Rc5+ Kb7 25.Rxd7+ in this opening. [The main line goes with 9...e6 10.Bg2 Bb4
Kxb6 26.Rxc4 with a winning position.] 11.O-O O-O 12.e3 h6 with a complex fight with all the pieces on
the board.]
23.Nc4 There is already nothing left to do for Black...
10.Nxd7 Nxd7 However this is more or less new. Black would
23...Bxc4 [23...Rc6 24.Ra8+ also wins on the spot.]
like to free his position with e5. However it could not come
24.Rxd6 Re1+ 25.Kf2 Re2+ 26.Kg3 and of course Black’s as a surprise to Vitiugov, because Dubov played exactly the
position is just hopeless. A very nice win by White even if same two days earlier against Tomashevsky and he equalized
Black made it too easy... Anyhow, Mamedyarov gave us a good very easily. [Most of the games continue with 10...Qxd7 11.e4
lecture on that we should never relax too early, as the blow Bh3 12.Bxh3 Qxh3 13.Qb3 Ra6 with an unusual game. White
can come at any moment! 1-0 cannot castle kingside, but he ties up the black pieces on the
b6 square. Black tries to untie them with e6-Bb4, but White
also has many resources.]
11.e4 [That game continued with 11.Bg2 11...e5 12.d5 Bc5! 14...f6! This is the novelty. Most probably a prepared one as
13.O-O O-O Black sacrifices a pawn for activity. 14.Ne4 it is given as the best by the computers. A typical move of
Tomashevsky decided to avoid the complications but it led to the variation. The g6 bishop often gets out of the game while
quick simplifications... (If White accepts the pawn with 14.dxc6 now Black wants to bring it back to f7 and the other point is
14...bxc6 15.Bxc6 Rc8 16.Bg2 Nb6 all the black pieces are to support the e5 break.
standing perfectly. It is very important to mention the pawn 15.Be3 O-O Black finishes the development and slowly
structure on the queenside. If the white pawn was on a2, prepares for the e5 break. White directly tries to gain some
then I am not sure if the compensation would be satisfactory. benefits before Black can execute his plans.
However now the structure is fixed, the one pawn on a5
blocks the two white ones and Black has an extremely useful 16.Na2 Be7 17.Qb3 A double attack on e6 and b7. It
outpost on b4, which could be used by the bishop.) 14...Bxe4 looks very strong as it wins a pawn, however Black gets
15.Bxe4 Nf6 16.Bg5 cxd5 17.Bxf6 Qxf6 18.Qxd5 Qe7 19.Rac1 compensation...
b6 20.Rfd1 Rad8 and the players agreed a draw soon in 17...Bf7 It is clear that the e6 pawn is more important than
Tomashevsky-Dubov, Chita 2015.] the one on b7. Also the queen on b7 gets into tactical motifs.
11...Bg6 12.f4 White prevents the e5 break and intends to There is no concrete way to trap it, but still it gets into the
obtain a powerful center. danger zone.
12...e6 13.Bg2 Bb4 14.O-O White already threatens to trap 18.Qxb7 c5 This central blow mainly aims to get the c5 square
the bishop with f5. for the minor pieces. Black also threatens to restore the
material balance with Rb8-b2 as the c6 pawn is not hanging
anymore.
19.e5 [The alternative was 19.d5 but then Black replies with
19...Rb8 20.Qa6 exd5 21.exd5 Rxb2 and White cannot trap the
bishop with d6, because the a2 knight is hanging. Black could
play Re8 next, freeing the f8 square for the bishop.]
19...Rb8 20.Qa7! It is important to control the c5 square, threatening to take the rook because after Bc5 Qxc5 the d8
otherwise White can quickly get into trouble. The bishop on queen is also hanging, leaving White with an extra piece after
g2 works well now on the long diagonal, White does not need the simplifications. White also plans to play Be3 and the d7
to worry about trapping the queen. [20.Qa6 is stongly met by knight is in trouble because of the pin on the d-file. [23.Bxb2?
20...cxd4 21.Bxd4 Nc5! and losing the dark squared bishop 23...Bc5+; 23.Bc6 also looked strong, but Black saves himself
creates huge problems for White. 22.Qc4 Nb3 23.Rad1 Nxd4 with another unexpected tactical blow:
24.Rxd4 Qb6 25.Kh1 Rfc8 26.Qd3 Qxb2i Black wins the
a2 knight in this more or less forced line.]
20...cxd4 21.Bxd4 The best chance to fight for an advantage.
[White would like to bring back his queen to consolidate his
position, but it does not work concretely because Black wins
back the sacrificed pawn with 21.Qxd4 21...fxe5 22.fxe5 Bc5
23.Qc3 Bxe3+ 24.Qxe3 Rxb2 and Black is fine.]
21...fxe5 22.fxe5 White seems to have full control over the
position. He is a pawn up, his bishops control all the
important squares on the queenside. He isthreatenin g 23...Bc5!! 24.Bxc5 Nxc5 25.Qxc5 Qd2 26.Rf2 White seems
with Rad1, creating decisive threats against the d7 knight. to defend everything, but Black wins back the piece with
However Black comes up with unexpected tactical resources 26...Qxf2+! 27.Qxf2 Rxf2 28.Kxf2 Be8+! 29.Bf3 Bh5 and
and creates enough counterplay to save the game! Black is better.]
22...Rxb2! The first tactical blow! The rook cannot be taken 23...Rxg2+! Another great shot! White destroys the main
because Bc5 wins the queen. defender of the king, however his pieces seemingly do not
23.Rfd1 Of course it would be better to place the other rook stay actively enough to guarantee compensation. However,
on d1, but it has to protect the a2 knight. White is already chess is strange and the attack starts to roll!
24.Kxg2 Bh5! 25.Be3 It seems to be over! White gives up 27.Qxd7 Qc2+ White does not have an adequate response
his rook, but the d7 knight cannot be defended afterwards... here. Black always has something.
[25.Rd3? allows 25...Nxe5!; 25.Rf1 is beautifully refuted by 28.Kg1 [28.Qd2 is met by 28...Qe4+ 29.Kg1 Rd8! 30.Qxd8+
25...Nxe5! 26.Bxe5 (26.Rxf8+ 26...Bxf8 27.Bxe5 Qd5+ 28.Kh3 (30.Bd4 30...Bc5!) 30...Bxd8 31.Rxd8+ Kf7 White is
Qf3! will be the same as the 26.Bxe5 line.) 26...Qd5+ 27.Kh3 temporarily doing well materially, but his pieces are
discoordinated. The queen dominates the board and
gives Black the initiative!; 28.Kh3 28...Qf5+]
Kg1 was losing to Bc5, but now the king gets into mating net
after 27...Qe4! and White gets mated. 28.Rxf8+ Bxf8 29.Bf4
Bf3! Threatening with Qf5 after controlling the g2 square 28...Bg5! The final blow, another piece sacrifice! White must
30.Qxa5 Bg2+ 31.Kg4 Be7i and Qf3 or Qe2 is going to be agree to a draw by allowing perpetual check.
mate soon.] 29.Bxg5 [29.Ba7 29...Qxa2 wins back the piece and protects
25...Bxd1 26.Rxd1 the e6 pawn at the same time.; 29.Qxe6+? leaves the d1 rook
unprotected. White is in trouble after 29...Kh8]
29...Qf2+ 30.Kh1 Qf3+ 31.Kg1 Qf2+ 32.Kh1 Qf3+ 33.Kg1
A nice save by Black! A good example on how if we stay
tactically sharp we can save difficult positions! 1/2-1/2
26...Qc8! Black sacrifices a piece again, but he activates his

queen to create counterplay.
Puzzle section
(3) Artemiev, V(2671)-Motylev, A(2658) (5) Bukavshin, I(2655)-Khairullin, I(2662)
Russian Championship, 2015.08.11 Russian Championship, 2015.08.13
1. h 1. h
(4) Svidler, P(2739)-Khismatullin, D(2642) (6) Svidler, P(2739)-Lysyj, I(2673)

Russian Championship, 2015.08.12 Russian Championship, 2015.08.14
1... i 1. h
(7) Lysyj, I(2673)-Vitiugov, N(2719) (9) Pogonina, N(2460)-Kosteniuk, A(2526)
Russian Championship, 2015.08.16 Russian Woman Championship, 2015.08.12
1... = 1... i
(8) Savina, A(2429)-Gunina, V(2531) (10) Girya, O(2487)-Kashlinskaya, A(2441)

Russian Woman Championship, 2015.08.11 Russian Woman Championship, 2015.08.13
1... i 1... i
(11) Gharamian, T(2644)-Istratescu, A(2619) Surprise section / study
French Championship, 2015.08.11 (39) Neumann
h
1. h
(12) Edouard, R(2634)-Cornette, M(2586)

French Championship, 2015.08.17
1. h
Endgame section knight has a great position on d4 and keeps things together.
63.Ra3 It seems like the a4 pawn is not that easy to defend,
but Black has 63...Nb5! and White can’t take on a4 because
(13) Li Chao (2748) of Nc3+ so he needs to go back. 64.Ra1 with a very complex
- Peter Leko (2714) position, but I think that White doesn’t risk much here.]
61...a3! Of course! The black pawn has to run!
Leko - Li Chao(5), 62.Rc3 Li Chao continues what he started, and this is to go for
Best rating: 2737 the c5 pawn.
62...a2 63.Rcxc5+ Kb6 64.Rc1 The c5 pawn is gone, but the
a2 pawn is almost a queen!
64...Nb3! Simple and good!
65.Re1
We are in the 5th game of the match and Li Chao is leading

3-1 with only 2 rounds to go, so Leko needs a win. Both
players didn’t have much time on the clock and what we
are going to see during the next moves is one of the most 65...Nd2+ Leko plays the best move again. [65...a1=Q
exciting endgames I have ever seen! There are mistakes on 66.Rxa1 Nxa1 67.Re6+ Kc5 68.Rxg6 followed by f8Q after
both sides- yes, but the endgame is extremely complex and which White would easily win the h5 pawn and thus lead the
hard to calculate until the end. Enjoy the show! game to an easy draw.]
61.Re5? This is clearly a mistake based on miscalculation... 66.Ke3 The king has no other square...
[White absolutely needs to stop the a-pawn from moving, 66...Nc4+?! Although very tempting, this is not the best
so the very logical solution would have been toplay 61.Rd2! move. [Black could have won the game with 66...Nb1! and the
61...a3 62.Ra2 and the danger of playing f8Q keeps White’s threat of a1Q is deadly. 67.Re6+ Kb5 The black king is going
chances for a full point alive.; Not a bad move, but a bit to a3 to escape from the checks. 68.Re7 Ka4 (Of course not
too early would be 61.f8=Q 61...Rxf8 62.Nxf8 Rxf8 The black falling into the trap: 68...a1=Q?? 69.Rxb1+! Qxb1 70.Rb7+=)
69.f8=Q Rxf8 70.Nxf8 a1=Q with an easily winning position
for Black.]
67.Kf2 Nxe5 68.fxe5 Black seems to be completely winning,
but in fact things are not simple at all! The white threat of
playing e5-e6-e7 gives good drawing chances.
68...Rh8?! This move already leads to a forced draw... [Black
could still have won the game with 68...a1=Q 69.Rxa1 Rxa1
70.e6 (White is not in time with 70.f8=Q 70...Rxf8+ 71.Nxf8
g5! It is extremely important for Black to keep the pawns.
72.Nh7 g4 73.Nf6 Ra5! The only winning move! 74.Nxh5 Rxe5 74.Nxe7 The difference to the other lines is that Black can’t
75.Nf4 Kc6 with an easily winning endgame.) 70...Ra7! Not save the g-pawn any longer.
an easy move to find in time trouble... 71.f8=Q Rxf8+ 72.Nxf8 74...Rf8 75.Nxg6 Rxf7+ 76.Nf4 To make a draw White needs
g5 73.Nd7+ Kc6 and Black is winning.] to get the h5 pawn and he is in time for that!
69.Nf6! The right choice. Now things are very forced. 76...Kd4 77.Kg2 The h5 pawn is hanging and if Black would
protect it with a move like Rf5, White would just go Kh3-Kh4
and Nxh5. The position is a draw!
77...h4 78.Ne6+ The most simple, but White also had other
moves.
78...Ke3 79.gxh4 The last black pawn is gone, so the position
is an easy draw.
79...Rf6 80.Ng5 Kf4 81.Kf2 Rh6 82.Nf3 Ra6 83.Nd2 Ra3
84.Ke2 Rh3 85.h5 Rxh5
69...a1=Q Leko already didn’t have a choice.
70.Rxa1 Rxa1 71.e6 The white pawns are running!
71...Ra7 This is the only way to stop e7, but it doesn’t help.
72.e7! Of course!
72...Rxe7 73.Nd5+ Kc5
86.Kd3 To defend rook vs knight is really not difficult and the
last 10 moves don’t need any comments... (14) Jakovenko, Dmitry (2759)
- Vitiugov, Nikita (2719)
86...Rd5+ 87.Kc3 Rd8 88.Nc4 Ke4 89.Nd2+ Ke3
90.Nc4+ Ke2 91.Nb6 Ke3 92.Nc4+ Ke4 93.Nd2+ Kd5
Russian Championship, GM Csaba Balogh
94.Kd3 Rh8 95.Ke3 Rh3+ 96.Nf3 Rxf3+ 97.Kxf3 Ke5 A Best rating: 2672
2015.08.13
tragic end of the game for Peter Leko who was so close to get
the full point, but how beautifully Li Chao saved the game
with the two passed pawns was really great to watch! 1/2-1/2
This is a very interesting rook endgame to study. White is a

pawn up and he is going to win another one, because with his
last move (Kg5-f5) he set Black into zugzwang. If he moves
with his rook the g4 pawn is en prise, since e4 will not be
hanging anymore, while if the king moves e5 falls. Despite this
fact, Black has a huge trumph on a2, which compensates for
the material deficit.
71...Kc5! Black must support his a2 pawn with his king. He
gives up all his pawns on the kingside and a very interesting
race starts with the many pawns against the rook.
72.Kxe5 Kc4 73.Kf5 Kb3
of 80.h7 Re8 81.Kf5! shouldering the black king to net get
closer towards the pawns. 81...Kd6 82.g4 Ke7 83.Kg6h and
White wins.) 80.Kh5 Rh8! This is the point! Black keeps the
h-pawn on the 6th rank and wins time to get his king closer!
(80...Kd5? loses again to 81.h7! Ke6 82.Kg6h followed
by advancing the g- and f-pawns.) 81.g4 (81.Kg6 drops the
g-pawn. 81...Rg8+=) 81...Kd5 82.g5 (82.Kg6 82...Rg8+= The
checks force the king to go back to h5.) 82...Ke6 83.g6
(83.Kg6 83...Rg8+=) 83...Kf6 The black king arrived just in
74.e5 White decided not to waste time on collecting the last time. White cannot advance both of his pawns, because the
remaining black pawn on the kingside and pushes his passed g7 square is under control. 84.f5 Trying to lure the king with
pawn instead. [However it is interesting to analyse 74.Kxg4!? a sacrifice, but of course Black does not need to take it...
74...Rxe4+ 75.f4 Kb2 76.Rxa2+ (It would definitely be useful 84...Rc8 85.h7 Kg7 86.Kg5 Rc5= 87.Kg4=]
to lure the black king one square away to a1 instead of a2, but 74...Kb2 75.Re1 a1=Q [There was no time for the trick we
in this case Black does not need to promote his pawn at once, have seen in the 74.Kxg4 line: 75...Rc4? because the white
but couldplay 76.Rf1 76...Rc4!= forcing a draw by repetition pawn is far enough advanced as well: 76.e6! Rc1 77.Rxc1 Kxc1
with Rc1 next move. Rf2 would be the only mov, but Black then 78.e7h]
plays Rc2.) 76...Kxa2 77.h4 The black rook alone cannot stop
76.Rxa1
the pawns, he must hurry back with his king. 77...Kb3 78.h5
Kc4 79.h6
76...Rxa1! Leaving the g4 pawn unprotected, but it is more

We have reached the critical position. Black needs to find the important to have the king a square closer to the pawns. One
only move to save the game. The key is if the h-pawn reaches tempo could be decisive in such endgames!
the 7th rank, Black loses his counterplay with his rook. 77.Kxg4 [77.e6 does not change the outcome. 77...Kc3
Therefore the only move is 79...Re8! (79...Kd5? loses because 78.e7 Re1 79.Kf6 Re2 This is the simplest draw. (However
79...Kd4 also holds very instructively: 80.Kf7 Kd5 81.e8=Q 81...Ra6+ White does not achieve anything by going to the
Rxe8 82.Kxe8 7th or the 8th rank, because he has no shelter against the side
checks of the rook.
82.Kf5 Ra8 83.h5 White decides to avoid a repetition, but he
does not have realistic winning chances.
83...Rf8+ 84.Kg4 [84.Kg6 was a safer way to the draw:
84...Rg8+ 85.Kf7 Rxg3 86.e6 Rf3 87.e7 Rxf4+=]
84...Ke6 The black king has arrived. The pawns are not far
advanced. It is suddenly White who needs to fight for a draw.
Jakovenko finds the way to achieve it.
82...Ke6!= A very nice motif! The black king squeezes his
opposition to the 8th rank and White cannot create a passed
pawn despite being two pawns up.) 80.Kf7 Rxf2+=]
77...Kc3 78.f4 Kd4 There is no time to waste, Black must
rush back with his king!
79.h4 Kd5 80.Kf5 White tries to prevent Ke6. [80.h5 also
leads to a draw after 80...Ke6 81.Kg5 Ra8 although White has
to fight for it with 82.f5+! Kxe5 83.Kg6 Rg8+ 84.Kf7 Rxg3
85.h6=]
85.Kf3! [85.h6? 85...Rg8+ 86.Kh5 (86.Kh4 86...Kf5i)
86...Rxg3 87.h7 Black uses the unfortunate situation of the
king, that the pawn cannot be promoted because of the check
on the h-file. 87...Kf7! 88.Kh4 Rg1i]
85...Ra8 86.g4 The pawns are successfully stopped, but
Black cannot win them. There are too many of them...
86...Ra3+ 87.Kg2 Kd5 88.h6 Ke6 [The only possible
winning attempt was 88...Ke4 but it also fails because of
89.g5 and Black does not have enough time to capture
80...Ra8! Black wants to send away the king from f5 to have the f-pawn, because after h7 followed by g6 the pawns
Ke6 next move. promote. 89...Kf5 90.Kf2 and Black just waits with Kg2-f2.
81.Kf6 [81.h5 transposes to the game later.] (An instructive mistake is 90.Kh2? which loses to 90...Kg4!
and White cannot push his h- or g-pawn because of Rh3!) Golden knowledge
90...Ra4 91.Kg3 Rc4 92.Kh3! There is no trick like in the
90.Kh2 Kg4 line! 92...Rc3+ 93.Kg2 Rb3 94.Kf2!= Holding the
draw! Black cannot make progress.]
89.Kh2 Rb3 90.Kg2 Ra3 91.Kh2= 1/2-1/2
(15) Yagupov, Igor - Mukhametov, Eldar

RUS, 1995
In pawn endgames the subject of break is clear,but when

other pieces are on the board it becomes much more
complicated. It is true that sometimes it is still possible to
transpose into a pawn endgame later, but generally there are
much more complicated developments.
62.b5! axb5 63.c6! bxc6 64.Kc5! Now the king blocks the
opponent’s bishop and the a-pawn is ready to run.
64...b4 65.a6 b3 66.Nc4 Bf1 67.a7 Bxc4 68.a8=Q b2 (17) Zorigt, Z.-Korzin, B.
69.Qb7 1-0 Budva, 1963
(16) Lu Shanglei-Ji Dan

China, 2010
1.g4!! The creation of a passed pawn is now very easy.

1...gxh4 2.gxh5 Bg5 3.Bf8 h3 4.Kf3 Kd5 5.h6? [Correct
was the natural 5.Bg7 ]
39.f5+! gxf5 40.g5 White obtained a dangerous passed pawn 5...Bxh6? [Black could make a draw in the pawn ending:
and has a strong position of the King. So it was time for the 5...Kxe5 6.Bg7+ Bf6 7.Kg3 Kf5 8.Kxh3 Kg6 9.Bxf6 Kxf6
pawn sacrifice. 10.Kg4 Kg6 11.Kf4 Kxh6 12.c4 bxc4 13.b5 e5+ 14.Ke3 f5 15.b6
40...hxg5 41.hxg5 c5 A desperate try, as all normal moves f4+ 16.Ke2 c3 17.b7 f3+]
are losing easily. [41...Kd6 42.g6 Ke6 43.g7 Bf7 44.Kf4 6.Bxh6 Kxe5 7.Bg7+ Kd5 8.Kg3 f5 9.Kxh3 e5 10.Kg3
Kf6 45.Nxf7 Kxf7 46.Kxf5 Kxg7 47.Ke6 Kg6 48.Kd6 Kf5 Ke4 11.Bh8 f4+ 12.Kg4 f3 13.Kg3 1-0
49.Kxc6 Ke4 50.Kc5! wins after this typical zugzwang
maneuver. ]
42.bxc5 b4 43.Nd3! Stopping the opponent’s counterplay,
as the knight will block the f5 pawn.
43...b3 44.Nf4+ Kd7 45.Kd2 1-0
(18) Kovcan, V.-Antal, P. 64.gxh5 Ne6 65.h6 Nf8 66.hxg5 fxg5 67.Kf3 Kd3 68.Kg4
Hungary, 1995 Ke2 69.Kxg5 [69.f3 was better and simpler.]
69...Kxf2 70.Kf6? [70.Nd6 70...Kf3 71.Kf5 was correct.]
1.h5!! fxg5 [After 1...Bxe3 2.h6 gxh6 3.g6h promotes.] 70...e4? [70...Kf3 71.Kxe5 Nh7 was holding the draw.]
2.Bxb6 Kxb6 3.h6! gxh6 4.f6 1-0 71.Kf7 Nh7 72.Kg6 Nf8+ 73.Kg7 Ne6+ 74.Kf6 Nf8
75.Nd4 e3 76.Kg7 Ne6+ 77.Nxe6 e2 78.Nf4 1-0
(19) Kosteniuk, A.-Polgar, Ju

(20) Hoang Thi Bao Tram-Majdan, J.
Moscow RUS, 2009
Dresden GER, 2008
63.g4! A great break! 46...g5! With this sacrifice of the important passed pawn,
63...Nc7 [63...gxh4 64.gxh5 h3 65.Kf1 h2 66.Kg2 Nc7 67.h6 Black prepares to create a new one on the far side with
Ne6 68.h7 Nf4+ 69.Kxh2 Ng6 70.Kg3h] another sacrifice.
47.Nxd3 g4! 48.hxg4 h3 49.gxf5 h2 50.Ke3 Rd7 [50...Rd8 (22) Vistaneckis, I.-Sardarov, E.
was a bit simpler.] USSR, 1963
51.Ne5 h1=Q 52.Rc3 [52.Nxd7 did not help because of
52...Qc1+]
52...Qe1+ 0-1
(21) Aronian, L.-Svidler, P.

Moscow RUS, 2009
1.f5!! Here White uses the break not to create a passed pawn,
but to open the 7th rank.
1...exf5 [1...gxf5 2.g6 fxg6 3.Rh8]
2.e6 fxe6 [2...Ra6 3.exf7 Kxf7 4.Rh8]
3.Rh8 1-0
39...a3! 40.bxa3 [Or here is the break after the piece sacrifice: (23) Lasker, E.-Levenfish, G.
40.b3 40...Nxb3+! 41.axb3 a2] Moscow, 1925
40...b3! This break can only be stopped with an exchange
sacrifice.
41.axb3 Nxb3+ 42.Kc3 Nxd4 43.Kxd4 Ra8 44.Nd3 Rxa3
45.c5 dxc5+ 46.Nxc5 Rxf3 47.Ne4 Ke7 48.Kc5 Re3 0-1
49.Kf6? [It was necessary to try and conduct the break as
soon as possible: 49.f5 49...exf5 50.e6 fxe6+ 51.Kxg6 Kb5 3.Kb8 Ra5 4.hxg5 fxg5
52.Ra1 f4 53.h5 e5 54.h6 e4 55.Kf5 f3 56.Kxe4 f2 57.Ke3 Rh7
58.Kxf2 Rxh6 59.Ke2 Rd6 60.Rd1! Destroying the cutting of
the king and obtaining a theoretically drawn position.]
49...Kb5 50.Ra1 a4 51.f5 Better late than never... But it is too
late!
51...exf5 52.e6 fxe6 53.Kxg6 f4 54.h5 f3 55.h6 e5 56.Re1
[56.Kf5 56...f2 57.Kxe5 Rh7 58.Rf1 Rxh6 59.Rxf2 a3 and
Black is winning.]
56...a3 57.Rxe5+ Kc4 58.Re1 a2 59.h7 Ra8 60.Kg7 f2 5.Rb7+ [5.Kb7 5...Kf6 6.Kb6 Ra8 7.a5 Rb8+ 8.Kc5 Rxb4!=]
61.Ra1 Kb3 62.Rf1 a1=Q+ 63.Rxa1 Rxa1 0-1
5...Kh6 6.f6 Rxa4 1/2-1/2
(24) Stein, L.-Vaganian, R.

(25) Carlsen, M.-Wang Yue
Vrnjacka Banja, 1971
Bazna, 2010
With two powerful pawn moves Black creates an important 46.g4! The creation of passed pawns sometimes demands
passed pawn. sacrifices...
1...h5! 2.gxh5 [2.fxg6 2...hxg4 3.Rxg4 f5=] 46...hxg4 47.h5 Be4 48.Rc7! Now the ook is ready to
support the passed pawn.
2...g5!! [2...gxf5? would be wrong in view of 3.Kb8 Ra5
4.Kb7 Kh6 5.Kb6 Ra8 6.a5 Rb8+ 7.Kc5 Ra8 8.Ra4 Kxh5 48...f5 49.h6 f4 50.h7 g3+ 51.Ke1 f3 52.h8=Q f2+ 53.Ke2
9.Kb6!h] Bd3+ 54.Ke3 1-0
(26) Filip, M.-Mozhny, M. 49...g5? Black does not want to suffer in a slightly worse
Chehoslovakia, 1977 endgame. [49...Bd8 50.Kc4 Ba5 51.Kd5]
50.g4! Even here this break is possible.
50...gxh4 [Or 50...hxg4 51.h5 Bf8 52.Ke2 Bh6 53.Bd4 Bg7
54.Kf2]
51.gxh5 h3 52.Bg1 Ke6 53.b6 Kd7 54.h6 Bf8 55.h7 Bg7
56.Ke3 f5 57.exf5 d5 58.Kf4 d4 59.b7 Kc7 60.Kg5 1-0
(28) Sjugirov, S.-Blomqvist, E.

Chotowa POL, 2010
1...b5!! The only and last chance, since after [1...axb4 2.Bxb4
/ Be1-f2-b6= White will transpose into a endgame with the
bishop of the wrong corner color.]
2.bxa5 bxa4 3.a6 Kc6 4.Bb4 Bb6 5.Kxh4 Kb5 6.Ba3
Kxa6 7.Kg3 Kb5 8.Kf3 Bc5 9.Bc1 Kc4 10.Ke2 Kb3 [/
Bd4-b2i] 0-1
(27) Bacrot, E.-Fedorchuk, S.

Bundesliga 2006-7, 2006 48.a5 bxa5 49.c5!! A great move! The creation of a passed
pawn is the most important task here.
49...dxc5 50.bxa5 c4+ 51.Kxc4 Bd6 52.Kxd4 And Black has
no defence against the white king transfer to b7, winning the
bishop. 1-0
(29) Averbakh, Y.-Korchnoi, V. 46...Rd8+ 47.Kc6 b4 48.Kb7 b3 49.Rc3 1-0
Yerevan, 1965
(31) Akobian, V.-Wang, P.
Los Angeles 88e/5, 2003
36...g4! Taking the first chance to create a passed pawn.

37.hxg4 h3 38.Kc2 [38.f3 38...h2 39.Nf2 a5i]
1...Rxf5+!! 2.Kg6 [2.Kxh6? 2...Be3+i; 2.Kg4?
38...Rc4+! 39.Kd2 Rc1!! A typical blockade of the first rank
2...Rg5+i]
to prevent Rb1. 0-1
2...Rg5+ 3.Kxh6 Be3! 4.Rxg5 b5! The white king is pinned
and Black creates a passed pawn.
(30) Fressinet, L.-Grandelius, N.
5.h4 [Other moves didn’t help: 5.Kg6 5...Bxg5 6.Kxg5
Malmo SWE, 2014
bxa4i; 5.bxa5 5...bxa4 6.a6 Kc7i]
5...bxa4 6.Kh7 Bxg5 7.hxg5 a3 8.g6 a2 9.g7 a1=Q
10.g8=Q
45.b5! axb5 46.a6 The a6 pawn decides the game!
Black exchanges queens now and the last passed pawn 39.Kf1 Ke6 40.Nf4+ Kxd7 41.Nxg6 b4 42.Ke2 b3 43.Nf4
decides the game. Kd6 44.f3 exf3+ 45.Kxf3 Bb6 46.Bb2 Bc5 47.Nd3 Bg1
10...Qh1+ 11.Kg7 Qg2+ 12.Kh7 Qxg8+ 13.Kxg8 a4 0-1 48.Nc1 b5 49.Nxb3 Kd5 50.Nd2 b4 51.Kf4 Ke6 52.Nf3
Bc5 53.Nd4+ Kd5 54.Nxf5 Kc4 55.g4 Kd3 56.h4 b3 57.h5
Kc2 58.Be5 Kd3 59.Bg7 Bb4 60.Kf3 Ba5 61.Nd6 Bc3 1-0
(32) Svidler, P.-Dominguez Perez, L.
Moscow RUS, 2009
36.b5! Bxa5 This move is forced, as other captures

lose faster. [36...axb5 37.c6 bxc6 38.a6 and the pawn is
unstoppable.]
37.c6 axb5 38.cxd7 Kf7
Now White just has to be careful when realizing his extra piece.
Chess and the City. is still stable enough.
The worst tournament of my life.... The biggest problem about such a series is that you are not
only losing hope, but also confidence. This eventually affects
your play and decisions during the game.
Anyhow there is actually nothing to advice in such situations
but the will to survive and strike back. There are 3 rounds to
go and a dream of mainly damage compensation.
The tournament is currently led by Andreas, who is probably
the strongest IM in the world, especially if he finishes the
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz tournament the same style he has begun it.
Best rating: 2493 For those who are interested in the tournament or want
to participate next year, you can find all information at
No it is not about the place, not about the people (ok http://www.vmcg-schachfestival.de/
maybe my opponents just play outstandingly), nor about the
conditions - in fact they are all just great!
It is just me, who likely forgot how to move the pieces. As I
mentioned in my last newsletter I am currently playing a GM
round robin tournament in the very beautiful but small city of
Lüneburg, in the northern part of Germany.
But let us not get distracted from the main issue here - I lost
4 in a row and as far as my slowly fainting memory serves,
it is the very first time this happens to me. Usually one says
that "the first time" can be full of surprises, excitement or
adventures, but we are not talking about, well, you know
what I mean... Losing 4 games in a row is simply painful!
The Russian chess school suggests throwing in a draw after
a double loss, but they never explain what to do if your
opponent just does not agree...
My opponents never agreed until today! I finally managed to
draw in round 6! Being too scared of a refusal I even dared to
offer in the very early stage of the game to be sure my position
Clash of the Titans
(33) Euwe, Max

- Krause, Orla Hermann[A80]
London ol (Men)(5),
1927.07.21
GM Kamil Miton
Best rating: 2655
5...c5! A concrete move. Let’s check what would happen
if Black developed his pieces as usual: [5...Nf6 6.Bg2 g6
1.Nf3 f5 2.g3 d6 3.d4 Nc6 This move order is very rare. Black 7.O-O Bg7 8.Nc3 O-O 9.e4! Black has problems with the e6
wants to play e5 very quickly. The main line is [3...Nf6 4.Bg2 square. 9...fxe4 10.Nxe4 Bg4 (10...Nxd5 11.Ng5h) 11.Nxf6+
g6 5.O-O Bg7 6.c4 O-O 7.Nc3 and now Black has a few plans, Bxf6 12.f3 Bd7 13.f4c]
like 7...Nc6 or 7...Qe8, but the most solid and best one is 7...c6 6.dxc6 [6.Ne6 6...Bxe6 7.dxe6 Qc8 8.Bg2 Rb8 9.Bd5
with many complex possibilties from both sides. ] (9.Nc3 9...Qxe6 10.Nd5 Qd7e and White doesn’t have any
4.d5 The most logical to prevent e5. [4.Bg2 also deserves compensation.) 9...Nf6 10.c4 g6 11.Nc3 Bg7 12.O-O O-Ok]
attention. 4...e5 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Qxd8+ Kxd8 7.Nc3 Nf6 (7...e4 6...Nxc6 [6...bxc6 7.Bg2 with f4 next.]
8.Ng5C with f3 next.) 8.Bg5 and White has the initiative
thanks to his better development. One of the typical ideas 7.Bg2 Bd7 8.O-O
here can be to break the center with e4.; 4.Bf4!? with the idea
to play d5 a bit later.]
4...Ne5 5.Nd4 [5.Nxe5 5...dxe5 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.O-O e6 8.c4
(8.dxe6 8...Qxd1 9.Rxd1 c6 with good play for Black.) 8...exd5
9.cxd5 Bd6 10.Nd2! (10.Nc3 10...a6 XNc3) 10...O-O 11.Nc4
f4VBlack should have counterplay on the kingside.]
8...e5 Black is fighting for the center. The alternative

was [8...Nf6 9.c4 g6 10.Nc3 Bg7 11.Nc2 (11.b3 11...Ne4
12.Nxe4 Bxd4i) 11...O-O 12.b3 Qa5 (12...Ne4 13.Nxe4 Bxa1
14.Nxa1 fxe4 15.Qd5+c) 13.Bd2 (13.Bb2 13...Ne4 14.Nxe4 14.Qxd5 Bxg5 15.Bxg5 Qxg5 16.fxe4 O-O-Oe) 12...Be6 13.Nf4
Bxb2) 13...Qb6k] Bf7 14.Nfd5! White is doing everything to avoid d5! 14...O-O
9.Nf3 The knight on f3 is not fighting for the weak d5 square 15.Bf4; 10...Be7 A very solid move. 11.Nd5 (If white tries
but this is still the best option. [9.Nxc6?! improves the black to use the same idea as in the game 11.e4 11...fxe4 12.Ng5
center. 9...bxc6 10.c4 Nf6 11.Nc3 Be7 12.Bg5 O-O (12...Qc7 Bg4e then Black is a tempo up!) 11...Be6 (11...O-O 12.Nxe7+
13.Nb5 Qb8 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Nc3 Qxb2 16.Qd3 e4k; 12...Qb8 (12.Nxf6+ 12...Bxf6 13.Qxd6 e4C) 12...Qxe7 13.b3 d5 (13...Rad8
13.Qa4 e4k) 13.Bxf6 Rxf6 (13...Bxf6 14.Qxd6 e4 15.Rad1 Rf7 14.Ba3 Bc8 15.c4 f4k) 14.e3 (14.Bb2 14...d4=) 14...Rad8
16.Na4+=) 14.Nd5 Rf8 15.Nxe7+ Qxe7 16.Qa4 e4 17.Rfd1 f4V; 15.Bb2 Bc8 White has the bishp pair, but Black has a strong
9.Nb5 with the idea of playing according to the Sveshinkov center, so the position is unclear.) 12.Ng5 Bxd5 13.Bxd5
System. 9...Be6 10.N1c3 a6 11.Na3 Nf6 12.Bg5 Be7 13.Bxf6 Nxd5 14.Ne6 Qd7 15.Qxd5 Bf6 16.Rd1 with the trap 16...Ke7
Bxf6 14.Nd5 O-O 15.Nc4 e4 16.c3 (16.Nxf6+ 16...Qxf6 17.Nxd6 17.Nc5! and I have no idea if the knight on e6 is strong or
Rad8e) 16...b5 17.Nce3 Be5 Black is better, f4 will come weak.]
soon.]
9...Nf6 10.Nc3 Be6 With the idea to take control over the
d5 square, but this move is a bit slow and now White can
take advantage of his better development. Let’s check some
other options: [10...e4 11.Ng5 (11.Nd4 11...d5! 12.Nb3 (12.Bg5
12...Be7=+) 12...Be6 13.Nb5 Be7 14.N5d4 Qd7 Black is better
thanks to his space advantage and the limited bishop on g2.)
11...Be7 (11...h6 12.Nh3 g5 13.f3! The knight will come back
to play via f2. White is better because of the weak black
structure.) 11.e4! [11.Bg5 is too slow. 11...d5 (11...Be7= ) 12.Bxf6 gxf6
(12...Qxf6 13.Nxd5 Bxd5 14.Qxd5 e4 15.Rad1 (15.Nh4 15...g6
16.f3k) 15...Rd8 16.Qb5 exf3 17.Bxf3 and it looks likw White
has a strong initiative.) 13.e3! with the idea Nh4-Qh5-Rad1.
13...Bb4 with the idea Qd7-Ne7-0-0-0. The position is
unclear.]
11...fxe4 12.Ng5 Bg4 Black could give back the pawn and try
to finish his development after [12...Bf5!? 13.Ngxe4 (13.Nd5
13...Nd4 14.Nxf6+ gxf6 15.Nxe4 d5V) 13...Nxe4 14.Nxe4 d5
(14...Be7 15.c4! O-O 16.Be3 Qd7 and White has a stable
advantage. ) 15.Nc3 d4 16.Ne4 Be7 17.c3 Qd7 (17...dxc3
12.Nh3! (12.f3 12...d5! 13.Nxd5 (13.Nh3 13...d4e) 13...Nxd5 18.bxc3 (18.Qb3 18...Nd4 19.Qxb7 Rb8; 18.Qa4 18...Qd4)
18...Qxd1 19.Rxd1 Rd8 20.Be3 b6 With an equal endgame.) unplesant for Black.]
18.Qb3 Be6 19.Qb5 O-O= 20.Nc5 Bxc5 21.Qxc5 Bh3 20...Qe6 21.Qb3 [21.Rad1 21...Kd7V; 21.Nb6 21...Rb8
(21...Rad8 22.Bg5; 21...h6! White’s idea is to look for the 22.Rad1 Kc7 23.Bxf6 gxf6 24.Nd5+ Kd7 25.c3 White’s idea
initiative on the light squares.) 22.Qd5+! Qxd5 23.Bxd5+ is very simple: play Rd2-Rfd1 and win because of the weak
Kh8 24.Re1 and without queens White has chances to prove black king. 25...f5 Black is looking for counterplay. 26.Rd2 f4
the advantage of the two bishops. ] 27.Rfd1 fxg3
13.f3 exf3 14.Bxf3 Bxf3 [14...Qd7 15.Nd5 Bxf3 16.Qxf3
transpose to the game.]
15.Qxf3 Qd7 16.Nd5
28.Nb6+ (28.Nf4 was probably also winning. 28...gxh2+

29.Kh1 Qf5 30.Qxd6+ Kc8 31.Ne6 Qf3+ 32.Rg2 Rf7 33.Qd8+
Nxd8 34.Rxd8#) 28...Kc7 29.Rxd6 gxh2+ 30.Kh1 (30.Kxh2
16...Be7?! This is anoth er moment where Black could give 30...Rf2+ 31.Kg3 Rg8+ 32.Kxf2 Qf5+ and Black should mate.)
the pawn back but immediately solve the practical problems. 30...Qg4 31.Nd5+! (31.Rd7+ 31...Kxb6 32.Qb3+ Ka6 33.Qa3+
[16...O-O-O 17.Nxf6 (17.Be3 17...h6! Solving all the tensions. Na5 White doesn’t even have a draw! 34.R1d6+ b6i)
18.Nxf6 gxf6 19.Ne4 d5 20.Nxf6 Qe6=) 17...gxf6 18.Qxf6 Be7 31...Kc8 32.Ne7+ Kc7 (32...Nxe7 33.Qc5+ Nc6 34.Rxc6+
Black is fine. (18...d5 19.Nf7 Bc5+ 20.Kg2 Rhf8 21.Bh6c) bxc6 35.Qxc6#) 33.Rxc6+ bxc6 34.Qd6+ Kb6 35.Qxc6+ Ka5
19.Qe6 Qxe6 20.Nxe6 Rdg8] 36.Rd5+h]
17.Ne6! Now the black king will stay in the center. 21...Ne7 [21...Rb8 22.Nxf6 Qxb3 23.Ne4+h]
17...Bd8 18.Nxd8 [18.Nxg7+ 18...Qxg7 19.Nxf6+ Bxf6 22.Bxf6 [22.Rad1 22...Nexd5 23.Qxb7 Nb6 (23...Nc7 24.Qc6
20.Qxf6 Qxf6 21.Rxf6 and White is better thanks to the d5 25.Qxe6 Nxe6 26.Rxd5+ Kc7 27.Rxe5 Nxg5 28.Rxg5
pressure over the 6th rank and the f-file. 21...Ke7 22.Bg5C] g6e) 24.Qxg7 (24.Qc6 24...Ke7i) 24...Nd7 and Black is
well coordinated. 25.Bxf6+ Rxf6 26.Qh8+ Qe8 27.Qxe8+
18...Kxd8 19.Bg5 A good move. White maintains the tension. Kxe8 28.Rxf6 Nxf6 29.Rxd6 Ke7 30.Ra6 Rd8 31.Rxa7+
[19.Nxf6 19...gxf6 20.Qxf6+ Kc7 21.Bh6] Ke6e Black is very active.]
19...Rf8 20.Qa3 Threatening Nb6. [20.Qh5c looks very
22...gxf6 28...Rf7?! is too slow. [28...f5 29.Qg7+ (29.a5 29...f4! 30.Qg7+
Rf7 31.Qg5+ Rf6V and gxf4 doesn’t work.) 29...Rf7 30.Qg5+
Rf6k]
29.a5 Kf8 [29...f5 30.axb6 axb6 31.Qxb6 f4 It is too late now...
32.Qxd8+! Kxd8 33.Rxd6+ Qxd6 34.Rxd6+ Ke7 35.Rd4h]
30.axb6 axb6 31.Qxb6 Rfd7 32.Qd4 Kg7 The king is safe
now but Black lost the pawn and time, so now White’s position
is much better.
33.Re1c Re8 34.c4 Ree7 Preventing c5.
23.Rad1 It is logical that White wants to keep the queens 35.Re3
on the board but after [23.Nxf6 I think the endgame
should be easily winning. 23...Qxb3 (23...Rxf6 24.Qxe6
Rxe6 25.Rf8+h) 24.axb3 h6 (24...Rf7 25.Rad1 Nc8 26.Nd5c)
25.Nd5 (25.Ng4c ) 25...Rxf1+ 26.Rxf1 Kd7 27.Rf7 Ke6
28.Rxe7+ Kxd5 29.Rxb7 Ke4 30.Kf2 d5 and as usual the
point of counterplay is active play.]
23...Nxd5 24.Rxd5 b6 25.Rfd1 Ke7 26.Qd3 e4?! This move
saves the pawn but creates weaknesses. Now the black
structure is worse. [26...Rad8 27.Qxh7+ Rf7 28.Qh4! with the
idea to not let Black play f5-f4 too easily.] 35...Kf7 A very passive move. Black should at least try to
27.Qd4 Rad8 create some counterplay. [35...Ra7! Why not activate the
pieces? 36.Re1 (36.Rxd6 36...Ra1+ 37.Kg2 Qf5; 36.b4 36...Ra2
37.Rxd6 Qf5V) 36...Ra6 and at least Black improved the rook.
]
36.b4 f5 37.b5 Qf6 38.Qd2! Ke8 [38...Ra7 39.Rxd6 Qa1+
40.Re1h]
39.Ra3 and finally the a-file is useful for White!
39...Re5 [39...e3 40.Rxe3 Qa1+ 41.Kg2 Rxe3 42.Qxe3+ Re7
43.Qd2h]
28.a4! with idea to create additional weaknesses. 40.b6h Rxd5 41.Qxd5 Qb2 42.Qe6+ Kf8 43.Ra8+ 1-0
(34) Neumann (35) Guseva, M(2431)-Girya, O(2487)
1. h Russian Woman Championship, 2015.08.10
50...Nf3+!! 51.Qxf3 [51.gxf3 51...Qd2+i]

51...Rxe1i
(36) Edouard, R(2634)-Degraeve, JM(2551)
38...Qb1+! 39.Bc1 [39.Rc1 39...Qb7i]

39...Bd7!i
(37) Howell, D(2712)-Gormally, D(2485) (39) Gao Rui(2528)-Le Quang Liem(2699)
British Championship, 2015.07.29 Asian Continental, 2015.08.04
119...Rh2 [119...Rc2! 120.Nh4+ (120.Ke1 120...Rc1+ 121.Kd2 31...Rh1? [31...Re8! 32.Rf8 Rxf8 33.Qxf8+ Ka7i 34.Bb3
Bf4+! 122.Kd3 Rc3#) 120...gxh4 121.Rf8+ Ke3 122.a8=Q Rh1! 35.Qf2 Qg2!!i]
h3!i] 32.Nf1k
120.Kg1 1/2 (40) Gupta, A(2619)-Dzhumaev, M(2493)
(38) Arkell, K(2488)-Summerscale, A(2416) Asian Continental, 2015.08.04
British Championship, 2015.08.04
27.Nxe7+! Qxe7 28.Bxf6 Qf7 [28...Bxf6 29.Qxd5+h]

16.Nxd5! Nxd4 [16...Nxd5 17.Nxc6 Qxb2 18.Nxd8h] 29.Bxg7h
17.Bxd4 Qe6 18.Nxf6+ gxf6 19.Bxb7h
(41) Nguyen Ngoc Trungson(2662)-Salem, A(2595) (43) Van Wely, L(2654)-Van Foreest, J(2519)
Asian Continental, 2015.08.09 Vlissingen Open, 2015.08.04
42...e3! 43.Kg2 [43.b6 43...e2 44.b7 e1=Q 45.b8=Q+ 38.Nxe6! fxe6 [38...Bxe6 39.Bxe6 Bf6 40.Bc4h]
Kh7i] 39.Bxe6+ Bxe6 [39...Kh8 40.Bxc8 Rbxc8 41.Qxe7h]
43...e2! 44.Kf2 Nxh2! 45.b6 Ng4+ 46.Kxe2 Ne5 47.b7 40.Qxe6+ Kh8 41.Qxe7h
Nc6i
(44) Harutyunian, T(2472)-Cori, J(2635)
(42) Sethuraman, S(2635)-Khusnutdinov, R(2510)
Badalona Open, 2015.08.08
Asian Continental, 2015.08.09
27.Rxd6! Rxd6 28.Qxe5 Qd8 29.g5h

38.Re5! 1-0 [38.Re5 38...Nc4 39.Rxf5! Qxf5 40.Bd3h]
(45) Mann
1.Qa5+!! Kxd1 [1...Kc1 2.Kd3h]

2.Kd3! Qc1 3.Qa4+ Ke1 4.Qh4+ f2 [4...Kf1 5.Qh1+h]
5.Qe4+! Kf1 6.Qh1#
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents 5 rounds have passed in the 3rd edition of the Sinquefield Cup
and we find Aronian and Carlsen on top with 3.5/5. Carlsen
started into the event with a loss to Topalov with White and
Editorial Preface 2 was in big trouble in the second game against Caruana, but
luck was once again on the side of the World Champion who
Two best games of the past week 4 won the game on the 40th move after an incredible 1-move
blunder by Caruana.
Topalov had a perfect start with 2/2 but after drawing 2
Puzzle section 12
games, he lost the 5th game, in a very complicated fight
against Caruana.
Endgame section 15 Aronian is playing cunning chess with fantastic preparation
and is deservingly sharing first place.
Golden knowledge. We can be sure that we will see great fighting chess in the next
Rook and pawn against bishop 19 4 rounds, which will decide the winner of what is probably the
strongest event of the year.
Chess and the City. In the current issue we focus our attention mainly on this
All is well that ends well 25 super tournament.
A lot of other smaller tournaments are also under way, such as
Clash of the Titans 26 the Spanish Individual Championship, the Rubinshtein Open
or the Serbian Individual Championship.
Surprise section / study 29 For the first time two Chinese players have entered the top
15 in the World! Ding Liren is currently the World Number 7
Solutions 30 while Li Chao is Number 14, and we can be sure that these two
talented players will even further improve their rankings.
The pairings for the World Cup 2015 in Baku are official and the
event begins on the 11th September. The first 2 places qualify
for the Candidates tournament, so this is clearly an event to
watch out for on the calendar!
We hope you enjoy the current issue of Top GM secrets!
Two best games of the past week down, which doesn’t matter much.]
6...b5 7.c4 We are in a position with almost no games played
in it, but, there is one game Carlsen-Nakamura from the 2014
Zurich Rapid.
- Topalov, Veselin (2816) [B51]
3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015(1.1),

Best rating: 2737
And the history is repeating. Already in Stavenger we saw the

pairing Carlsen-Topalov in the first round- where Carlsen lost
on time(!) in a winning position. In the current game, things
developed very differently. Topalov managed to surprise 7...g5! I think this is a great reply and it is clear that this move
Carlsen very early with the aggressive 7...g5. Carlsen, after was nothing new to Topalov. [7...Ne5 8.Bf1 Nxc4 9.a4 Bd7
thinking for a long time, went for a very aggressive line. He 10.d4 cxd4 11.Nxd4 followed in the game Carlsen-Nakamura,
sacrificed a piece for the attack, which led nowhere after great with a slightly better position for White.]
defensive play by Topalov. From move 30 the players were in
quite serious time trouble and when it was over, Carlsen had 8.Nxg5 is clearly one of the most critical moves in the
nothing else left than to resign. position. [Another one is 8.cxb5 8...g4 9.Nh4 (9.e5 9...dxe5
10.Ng5 Bg7 with a very unbalanced game.) 9...Ne5 (9...e6
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Carlsen likes this move a lot. He 10.Nc3 Bh6 11.Be2 Bg5 and now White has the great 12.d4
had great results in this line, beating a lot of top players, like Bxh4 13.g3 Winning back the piece and clearly keeping some
Anand for example. advantage.) 10.Be2 e6 11.Nc3 followed by d4 and maybe
3...Nd7 is probably the most aggressive reply. The most White can hope for some advantage.]
played move is 3...Bd7. 8...Ne5 Black is going for the c4 pawn.
4.O-O [4.d4 is probably the most played move in the 9.Be2 bxc4 We are looking at a very complex position. The
position.] black king will most probably remain in the center, but for
4...Nf6 5.Re1 a6 6.Bd3 A strange-looking move, but nothing that Black has a great knight on e5 and will clearly develop
new. White is planning to play c3-Bc2 and d4. [The other some play on the kingside. The white bishop on c1 is also very
possible line is 6.Bf1 6...b6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bb7 9.f3 and passive for now. White should try to play actively and open
White is trying to reach a hedgehog system with a tempo the position as much as possible and as soon as possible.
10.Na3 Carlsen is going for the c4 pawn, but it looks a bit too Kxd8 15.Nxf7+ Ke8 is clearly better for Black. Two pawns are
slow. [Probably it is too early for 10.f4 10...Nd3 and the white not enough for a full piece.]
king is even more vulnerable than before.; But very interesting 13...Nxh5 The most principled and again Topalov’s
is 10.d4!? 10...cxd3 11.Bxd3 with the easy plan of playing Nc3 calculation is not letting him down.
and starting some play in the center. The position is very
complex. ] 14.Qxh5 Now Black has several options.
10...Rg8 Simple and strong. White needs to decide what to
do with the knight on g5.
14...Rg7 Probably not the most accurate move. [To a clearly

better position for Black leads 14...Rg6 15.Qxh7 (15.dxc5
15...dxc5 16.Qxh7 Rg7 17.Qh8 Qd4 and Black is much better.)
11.Nxc4?! I think that this piece sacrifice is a mistake. [The 15...Rg7 16.Qh8 cxd4 17.Nh7 Rxh7 18.Qxh7 e5 and Black has
best move was probably 11.d4 11...cxd3 12.Bxd3 but of course a clear advantage.; Playing the simple 14...Rxg5 15.Bxg5 cxd4
the white knight is already not that nicely placed on a3 as he should also give Black some edge. ]
could have been on c3. 12...h6 13.Nf3 Nxd3 14.Qxd3 d5 and I
think only Black can be playing for an advantage here.] 15.Nxh7 Carlsen is trying his chances.
11...Nxc4 The piece has to be taken. 15...Qd7?! Another unlucky move by Topalov, giving White
serious chances to make things very unclear. [I think the
12.d4 This was White’s plan. position after 15...Bg4 16.Qh6 Rxh7 17.Qxh7 cxd4 should be
12...Nb6 A very solid move. [A serious mistake would be to better for Black.]
play 12...h6? 13.Nxf7! Kxf7 14.Bxc4+ and White’s attack is 16.dxc5 White is opening the position even more.
very dangerous.]
13.Bh5 Carlsen was clearly going for this move before playing
11.Nxc4?!. [The endgame after 13.dxc5 13...dxc5 14.Qxd8+
16...dxc5
21...Bb7 A very solid move, developing a piece and at the

17.e5? What a present by Carlsen... [Clearly both players same time protecting the c5 pawn because of Bxf3.
misevaluated the position after 17.Nxf8 17...Qh3 18.Qxh3 22.h4 Carlsens starts looking for chances on the kingside.
Bxh3 19.g3 At first sight it seems like Black is going to win
the knight on f8 somehow, but in fact it is really hard to do. 22...Rc8 Another very accurate move. Black is slowly
White is two pawns up and wants to play Bh6 next. 19...Rg8 bringing his pieces into the game.
20.Nh7 f6 Trying to isolate the knight and threatening to play 23.h5 Rg8 24.Bd2 Ba5 is a threat now.
Rh8 next. 21.e5 Rh8 22.Nxf6+ exf6 23.exf6+ Kf7 24.Bg5 With
24...Nc4 Black wants to exchange some pieces.
a very complex position.]
25.Bc3 Bh6 Black’s pieces are now all in play.
17...Qc6! The right choice! The g2 pawn is hanging and at the
same time Black wants to play Qg6 next. This move probably 26.Rad1+ Ke8 The black king is feeling very safe on e8.
came as a surprise for Carlsen. 27.Rd3 Bf4! A strong move! White has big trouble defending
18.f3 [Not better is 18.Nf6+ 18...Kd8 19.Ne4 Be6 and all the the e5 pawn.
black pieces are in the game, so Black should be close to 28.Nf2 Bc6 Black is preparing to play Bb5 somewhere.
winning.]
29.Nh3 is clearly not the best, but it is hard to give White any
18...Qg6 Of course you dont need to think long before going advice. [Maybe to a bigger fight would lead 29.g4 with the
for the exchange of queens. idea of playing Kg2 next and dreaming of playing Nh3, but
19.Nf6+ Kd8 There are no more checks left and that means of course all that would not change much, since Black would
that White doesn’t have a choice but to enter a lost endgame. remain a piece up and with a clearly winning position in the
long run.]
20.Qxg6 Rxg6 21.Ne4 White still has some hopes as long as
the black king is on d8 and maybe there is a chance to grab 29...Bg3 30.Re2 Bb5 White’s pieces are totally hopeless.
the c5 pawn. 31.Rd1 Bc6 Being short on time, Topalov decided to repeat
the moves once. [31...Nb6 32.Rc2 Rh8 and there is no way to 40.Rde1
defend from Rxh5.]
32.Nf2 Carlsen do esn’t repeat the moves, which is not
because White is playing for a win, but he is looking for
chances before move 40, where both players will get an extra
hour.
40...Rc7 White can’t even attack anything and the time

trouble is over. Black’s position is totally winning so Carlsen
takes the only right decision and this is to resign this very
unpleasant game for him. Another great victory by Topalov
over Carlsen, who clearly was very emotional during the
32...Bxe5! The decisive blow! Even when he doesn’t have current game and didn’t play on his usual level. 0-1
much time, Topalov doesn’t miss such tactics.
33.Ng4 [After 33.Rxe5 33...Nxe5 34.Bxe5 Bxf3 White can
basically resign because Rxg2 is coming next.; 33.Bxe5
33...Bxf3 is over as well.]
33...Bxc3 34.bxc3 Kf8 Now White only has a pawn for a
piece. The end of the game is near.
35.Kf2 Rh8 Topalov continues playing very solidly.
36.Ne5 Nxe5 37.Rxe5 Be8 Everything is protected.
38.g4 f6 39.Re6 Bb5 There is only one more move to make
to reach time control.
weakens the dark squares on the queenside.
(2) So, Wesley (2779)
8...Ba5! A very nice idea! Black again prepares for the b5
- Aronian, Levon (2765) [E20]
break! The point of the last move was to temporarily close
the a-file and to create a pin between the two rooks. b5 did
3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015(4.3), GM Csaba Balogh
Best rating: 2672 not work before as White could simply take it with axb5, but
2015.08.26
with the bishop on a5, Black wants to take back with axb5 and
he threatens to win a rook with Bxc3 check. White’s next move
Levon Aronian had a bad period, he has dropped a lot of serves to prevent this idea by avoiding Bxc3 check at the end
ratings, but his form and great style seem to be back as the and then the a8 rook is hanging.
following nice victory shows.
9.Bd2 exd5 10.cxd5
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 The Nimzo with 4.f3 is a
clear sign that White also wants to win this game. Most of its
lines lead to unusual and sharp positions.
4...c5 5.d5 O-O 6.e4 d6 A recent approach by Black to deal
with this opening. He allows his opponent to occupy and to
build a strong center with his pawns, but he wants to create
counterplay by using his lead in development. The structure
might remind us of the Saemisch system of the King’s Indian
defense, with the difference that the bishop stands on b4
instead of g7 now. 10...Nh5! White succesful ly prevented the concrete ideas on
the queenside, therefore Black switches to the other flank.
By moving to h5 with the knight, Black sometimes opens the
possibility of Qh4. This is especially strong if White wants
to finish the development by removing his knight from e2.
Another idea is to open the lines in front of the central king
with f5.
11.g3 Due to the Qh4 check, White had no other way to
complete the development than g3-Bg2 and 0-0.
11...Nd7 12.Bg2 b5! Black uses the last moment to execute
7.Ne2 a6 Black immediately wants to undermine the center this break and gain space on the queenside. Otherwise White
with b5. castles in the next move and there will be no Bxd2 check to
8.a4 White prevents b5, but it also has the drawback that it open the a-file.
13.g4 White wants to push back the knight to f6 with especially with such discoordinated pieces.]
tempo with the idea of playing Ng3, which would also 16...Qf6! This double attack on g4 and f3 forces White to
vacate the ideal e2 retreating square for the c3 knight accept the sacrifice on h5. [Actually 16...Qe7!? 17.gxh5 f5 was
after getting attacked by b4. However, Black has a strong also possible, but the text move is even stronger.]
intermediate move... [White should not be too materialistic
with 13.axb5 13...axb5 14.Nxb5 because it lets the white 17.gxh5 Nxf3 18.Bf2 The only move for White to unpin
king run to the middle of the board. There are too many himself on the f-file.
pieces left for Black to create some dangerous compensation. 18...Bg4 Developing and pinning the e2 knight at the same
14...Bxd2+ 15.Kxd2 Ba6 followed by Qb6 next.; 13.O-O was time. Black is threatening to play Nd4! [Black could also play
the alternative, but in this case Black’s counterplay comes 18...Qxb2!? 19.Bxf3 Qxa1 20.Kg2 f5 but Aronian prefers to
very quickly too! 13...b4 14.Nb1 Bb6! with the idea of playing keep his active pieces on the board instead of gaining back
c4 check Nc5-b3 or Nd3, while after 15.Be3 a5 followed by Ba6 some material.]
looks very strong.]
19.Qc1 [19.h3 19...Bxh5 does not solve any problems. Black
13...b4! 14.Nb1 [White could win a pawn with 14.gxh5 is still threatening with Nd4 and White cannot unpin himself
but it ruins his structure and also lets the initaitve pass to with 20.Ng3? because it allows 20...Nh2+! 21.Rxh2 Bxd1i]
Black. 14...bxc3 15.bxc3 Qh4+ 16.Ng3 Ne5 With very strong
compensation for the pawn!]
14...Qh4+ 15.Kf1
19...Nd4! An amazingly strong move! Black changes one of

his big trumph for another one. He trades his strong knight,
15...Ne5! Great play by Aronian! He wants to sacrifice a piece but it turns out to be a more important factor that it also
to launch a devastating attack against the f1 king and the opens the c-file, where his rooks are going to invade very soon.
temporarily immobilized white pieces. White is forced to trade knights because of the Nb3 threat.
16.Be1 [16.gxh5 is strongly met by 16...f5! Opening the lines 20.Nxd4 cxd4 21.e5 [The beautiful key line goes with
in front of the king. White can hardly survive such an attack, 21.Nd2 Trying to finish the development. 21...Rac8 22.Qb1
d3! Otherwise White consolidates with Qd3, but now the 23...b3! lures the knight from e4 by sacrificing another pawn.
diagonals are opening... 23.Qxd3 Qxb2 24.Bd4 Black is ready to invade on c2, so White is yet again forced to
accept the sacrifice.
24.Nxb3 [24.Ne4 24...Qf4 and Rc2 next is decisive.]
24...Bb6 [Perhaps it was even stronger to play 24...d3!?
25.Qxd3 (25.Nxa5 25...Rc2 26.Qe1 Re2i) 25...Bb6 26.Qd2
e4! Threatening to crush with e3! Black wins in all the lines:
27.Bxe4 (27.Kg1 27...e3 28.Bxe3 Rc2! 29.Qxc2 Bxe3+i)
27...Rfe8i]
25.a5 Ba7 26.Kg1 White leaves from the pin on the f-file,
but it just prevents the concrete problems after d3! Black has
24...Rc3! 25.Bxc3 bxc3 With a double attack on two white other ways at his disposal to strengthen his position. [26.Qd3
pieces. The capture of any of them would be fatal from White’s is nicely refuted by
point of view and after 26.Rb1 c2!! is the point and Black wins!
27.Rxb2 c1=Q+ 28.Kf2 Qxb2i]
21...dxe5 22.Nd2 In comparison to the 21.Nd2 line, White gets
the e4 square for his knight and also closes the f6-b2 diagonal,
which was the key resource for Black after pushing d3. On the
other hand, it gave Black another pawn, even if he just plays
slowly and removes his queen, followed by pushing f5-e4, the
compensation looks to be very strong. But of course, Aronian
continues playing the most direct and active moves.
22...Rac8 23.Qb1 26...Rc2! 27.Qxc2 d3! wins the queen as 28.Qd2 loses to
28...Be2+i and mate on f2.]
26...Bf5! 27.Be4 [27.Qe1 27...e4!i The central pawns
supported by the pieces are swapping White away!; 27.Qd1
27...Bc2i wins back the piece and collects the full point!]
27...Qg5+ 28.Kf1
28...Qf4! [A very nice last move in the style of the entire

game! White resigned in view of 28...Qf4 29.Bxf5 d3 30.Qe1
Rc2i With decisive problems around the f2 square.] 0-1
Puzzle section
(3) Aronian, L(2765)-Caruana, F(2808) (5) Dubov, D(2654)-Motylev, A(2658)
Sinquefield Cup, 2015.08.23 Russian Championship, 2015.08.20
1. h 1... e
(4) Giri, A(2793)-Grischuk, A(2771) (6) Goryachkina, A(2474)-Pogonina, N(2460)

Sinquefield Cup, 2015.08.23 Russian Woman Championship, 2015.08.19
1. h 1... i
(7) Istratescu, A(2619)-Degraeve, JM(2551) (9) Kryvoruchko, Y(2697)-Vaibhav, S(2552)
French Championship, 2015.08.20 Abu Dhabi Masters, 2015.08.24
1. h 1. h
(8) Swiercz, D(2617)-Antonio, V(2255) (10) Fridman, D(2639)-Svane, R(2531)

Abu Dhabi Masters, 2015.08.23 German Masters, 2015.08.21
1. h 1. h
(11) Svetushkin, D(2580)-Ganguly, S(2631)
Spanish league, 2015.08.21
1. h
(12) Zhao Jun(2621)-Wei Yi(2706)

Chinese league, 2015.08.21
1... i
Endgame section enough time to ensure the flexibility of his pawns with Ke6-d5
at the initial position.
41...c4 [41...b6 does not make any difference. White can force
(13) Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime (2731) the advance of the c-pawn by attacking the pawns. 42.Bc7 b5
- Nakamura, Hikaru (2814) 43.Bb6 c4 44.Kd4 is basically the same as the game.]
42.Kd4 b5 43.Kc3 Ke6 [43...a5 would be a good move if
3rd Sinquefield Cup, GM Csaba Balogh
Best rating: 2672
the c4 was protected and Black could push b4 next. However
2015.08.26
now after 44.Bc7 Black is forced to play 44...a4 which allows
another blockade, by simply occupying the f8-a3 diagonal
with the bishop.]
44.Bc7
Black is a pawn up, but there are opposite colored bishops on

the board and we know that this sometimes makes it possible
to save positions with even bigger material imbalance. The
extra pawn is ideally placed, because the d6 passed pawn 44...Kd5 Black tries to play Kc5 and b4, which would
is well blockaded, while on the queenside Black has a three probably be enough for the win, because his pawns win back
against one situation, which could give him realistic winning their mobility, but of course White can simply defend against
chances if he could create connected passed pawns with the this plan.
help of the king. However, at the last move before time 45.Bd8 h3 [On 45...Kc5 White should not be greedy by
control, White comes up with a clever sacrifice... capturing the h4 pawn, but he prevents the advance of the
40.d7! The key is to get access to the pawns and by attacking b-pawn with 46.Be7+ Kb6 47.Bd8+=]
them with the bishop White will be able to create a successful
blockade!
40...Bxd7 41.Bd6! This was the point and Black is forced to
push his c-pawn, which allows Kd4. Black just did not have
(14) Topalov, Veselin (2816) -
Nakamura, Hikaru (2814)

Best rating: 2737
46.b4!? was not necessary, but White simplifies the position

and builds a fortress on the dark squares (b4-a5), which
makes the win impossible for Black.
46...cxb3 47.Kxb3 Kc5 Otherwise White goes Kb4.
48.Be7+! Kb6 Otherwise White plays Kb4 again and
establishes a blockade on the a5-b4 squares.
49.Bd8+ Kc5 [49...Kc6 50.Kb4 is a dead draw, as White
only waits with his bishop and the h2 pawn can also be easily
protected by the bishop.] We are in the second round and Topalov once again shows
his great class. With a wonderful win in the first round over
50.Be7+ Kb6 51.Bd8+ 1/2-1/2
Magnus Carlsen, Topalov was clearly going for nothing less
than a full point in this much better endgame for him. The
bishop pair is dominating the board and the 3 vs 2 pawns
situation on the kingside is clearly very positive for White, but
Black’s position is still very solid and the material is equal. Let
us take a look at the very nice technique of the current World
Number 2.
44.h5! A great move! White not only fixes the black pawn on
h6, but as we will see later on he is planning to put the king to
h4 and play g5, which will create a passed h-pawn as well as
probably win the f4 pawn.
44...Kf6 A solid move. Black cannot do anything active
anyway.
45.Kh3 The white king is going to the right position. once, White improves his position a bit by protecting the b4
45...b5 This is maybe practically Black’s only chance. White pawn for the future.
already wanted to play Bh4 followed by g5 and Kg4 at a good 52...Re6 53.Rc1 So we came back to the position from which
moment. we started and it is clear that White will try the plan with
46.Bd4+ Kg5 I think this is the most logical move, even if it Bf2-Bh4 next.
gives White the chance to end the game on the spot. 53...Ne7 54.Bf2 Kf6 55.Bh4+ Kf7 56.g5 A very logical
[In case of 46...Kf7 47.Bb3 White would continue to dominate move. White is creating a passed h-pawn and freeing the g3
the position and probably next to follow is g5. 47...Re2 48.g5! square for the king.
A very strong move. 48...hxg5 49.Rc1 and the game is close to 56...hxg5 57.Bxg5 Nd5
over.]
58.Kg4 Black really can’t to much but wait. It is clear that the
47.Bxd5?! White still has a big advantage, but Topalov f4 pawn is going to fall, but maybe Nakamura was still hoping
missed a very nice win here... [47.Bb3 47...Re2 (After to get some chances in the rook endgame!? As we know, the
47...Nxb4 48.Bf2! Kf6 49.Bh4+ Ke5 White had to see 50.Bf7! h+f pawns in the rook endgame is a draw in most cases.
and the game is over because of the huge amount of threats
to the black king. In case the black rook will move away from 58...Kg7 59.Bxf4 Nxf4 60.Kxf4 So we have reached a rook
the e-file, the deadly Re1+ will follow.) 48.Rc1! Re6 49.Rc5 endgame and if Black was able to trade the 3 pawns against
and Black is totally paralyzed, so White is winning.] the white a- and b-pawns, the position would be a threoretical
draw- but it is just impossible. The position of the white rook
47...Nxd5 48.Rc1 Re6 White’s pawn structure is much better on c1 is very active, keeping the black rook passive on the 6th
and the black pawns on the queenside are blocked, but how rank.
toproceed?!
60...Rd6 61.Rc3! Wonderful technique by Topalov. There
49.Rc5 Rd6 Black keeps on waiting. is absolutely no need to hurry with the play on the kingside.
50.Bg7 Re6 51.Bd4 Rd6 52.a3 After repeating the moves First it is important to avoid Black’s play with Rd3.
61...Kf6 62.Kg4 White wans to play f4 followed by Rh3 and and good nerves. 1-0
advancing the h-pawn.
62...a5 is maybe Black’s last practical chance. To keep on
waiting makes no sense any longer.
63.bxa5 It is never bad to take a pawn...
63...Rd4+ 64.f4 Ra4 The black rook is finally active, but it
just too late.
65.Rxc6+ Kg7 66.a6! The last precise move of the game. 3
passed pawns are just too many to even dream about a draw
any longer.
66...Rxa3 67.f5 b4 68.f6+ The white pawns are just too fast.
68...Kf7 69.h6 Kg6
70.Rc8 The poor king is trying to stop all the white pawns at
the same time, but it is impossible.
70...b3 [70...Rxa6 71.h7 Kxh7 72.f7 and White is promoting
next move.]
71.Rg8+ A lot of other moves would win as well.
71...Kf7 72.h7 Ra4+ 73.Kf3 All in all ally impressive
technique by Topalov, not giving Nakamura any chances for
survival. In my opinion to be good in endgames a player
must have these 3 attributes: patience, precise calculation
Golden knowledge. (15) Tomashevsky, E.-Movsesian, S.
Rook and pawn against bishop Tsaghkadzor ARM, 2015
102.d7?? is premature. Tomashevsky had to prepare this
move by improving his rook. The ideal position would
be with the rook on the fourth rank. In this case the
Theoretical knowledge is required when we play different opponent’s bishop will be cut off and unable to attack the
kind of endgames. Rook and pawn against bishop seems to be d7 pawn. [It was necessary to prepare d7 with 102.Ke6
easy business because of the great material advantage. But 102...Bg4+ 103.Ke5 Be2 104.Rf7 Bg4 (104...Bc4 105.Rf4 Ba2
even here there are precise recommendations about how to 106.Ra4 Bb3 107.Rb4 Ba2 108.Rb8+ Kd7 109.Rb7+ Kd8
handle such endings. There are three kinds of positions here: 110.d7 Ke7 111.Rb2 Be6 (111...Bc4 112.Rd2 Kd8 113.Kd6 Bb5
A) With central pawns 114.Rh2 Bxd7 115.Rh8+ Be8 116.Rg8) 112.d8=Q+) 105.Rf4
B) With bishop and knight pawns Bd1 (105...Bh3 106.Rh4 Bf1 107.Ke6) 106.d7! Ke7 107.Rd4]
C) With rook pawns 102...Ke7! 103.Kc6 Bg4 Now the white rook is stuck to
Everywhere there are different technical methods. The first protecting the d7 pawn. This is the key method of defence in
part will be about central pawn. As usual, even the top players this type of positions.
don’t know the exact technique!
104.Rb7 Bf5 105.Rc7 Bg4 106.Ra7 Bf5 107.Rb7 Bg4 155.Rg7+ Ke8 156.e7 Kd7 157.Rg2 Bf4 158.Re2 Ke8 159.Ke6
108.Rc7 Bf5 109.Ra7 Bg4 110.Kd5 Bxd7 111.Ke5 Ke8 Bg5 160.Ra2; 149.Rb1 149...Bd2 150.Rb2 Bc1 151.Rc2]
112.Kd6 Bf5 1/2-1/2 149...Kf7 150.Kd6 Ba3+ 151.Kd7 Bxe7 152.Rb1 Ba3
153.Rf1+ Kg6 154.Ke6 Kg5 155.Ke5 Bb2+ 156.Ke4 Bc3
(16) Wojtaszek, R.-Malakhov, V. 157.Rf3 Bb2 158.Rf5+ Kg6 159.Kf4 Bf6 160.Rb5 Bd4
Vladimir Petrov Memorial op, 2013 1/2-1/2
(17) Cernousek, L.-Rasik, V.

Brno GM, 2004
149.e7? This obvious and wrong move was played so many

times! It is necessary to use automatical knowledge here:
the rook on the fourth rank does the job! [149.Rc7 149...Be3
150.Rc3 Bd2 151.Rc2 Bf4 152.Rc4 63.Bg4! Trying to transfer the bishop to d5 via f3 and win the
pawn.
63...d5 64.Bf3 d4 65.Kd5 Kb2? [It was necessary to hurry
with 65...d3! 66.Kd4 Rf2! 67.Bh5 Rf5 (67...d2 68.Ke3 Rf5
69.Bd1 Rd5 70.Kf4 Kb2) 68.Bd1 Rf1 69.Bh5 d2]
66.Kc4! Bodycheck! The opponent’s king has to be
prevented from protecting the pawn.
66...Kc2 67.Be4+ d3 [67...Kd1 68.Bd3]
68.Kd4 Rd1 69.Bf5 Now the black pieces are pinned to
protecting the passed pawn. This is a typical defensive
152...Bg3 (152...Bh6 153.Kd6 Bf8+ 154.e7! Bxe7+ 155.Ke6
position.
Kd8 156.Rd4+ Ke8 157.Ra4) 153.Rg4 Bh2 154.Rg8+ Ke7
Ra5+ 71.Kf6 Kf4 72.Bh7 Ra6+ 73.Kg7 Kg5 74.Bg8 1/2-1/2
(19) Frois, A.-Rocha, S.

Loures2, 1996
69...Kb3 70.Bxd3 Kb4 71.Ke3 Kc3 72.Bf5 Re1+ 73.Kf4

Kd4 74.Kg5 Ke5 75.Bc2 Rc1 76.Bd3 Rc3 77.Bb1 Rg3+
78.Kh6 Kf6 79.Kh7 Rg7+ 80.Kh8 Rb7 81.Bc2 Kf7
82.Bd3 Rb4 83.Bc2 Rh4+ 84.Bh7 Rg4 85.Bb1 Rg8+
86.Kh7 Rg1 87.Ba2+ Kf6 88.Bb3 Rh1+ 89.Kg8 Rb1
1/2-1/2
Here is a correct and very instructive transposition into a
(18) Nepomniachtchi, I.-Bogosavljevic, B. drawn endgame.
World Youth Stars 1st, 2003 68.Rxc5! Bxc5 69.Kxc5 Kb2 70.Kd6 Rb5 71.Bd5! Kc3
72.Kxe5 Rxd5+ 1/2-1/2
(20) Arakelian, A.-Kudrin, S.

Yerevan (open) , 1996
64.Kd5! Preventing Kc4-c5-d6 and threatening Kd6.

64...Rg7 65.Bf5 Re7 66.Bg6 [No difference makes 66.Kd6
66...Re8 67.Kd5]
66...Kd2 67.Kd6 Rg7 68.Bf5 Ke3 69.Kxe5 Ra7 70.Bg6 14.Bg7 Ra3+ 15.Ke2 Ke6 16.Bd4 Kf5 17.Bb6 Rb3 18.Bc5
Ke5 19.Be7 Rb7 20.Bh4? [Better, but not saving the game, Absolutely flawless technique was demonstrated in this
was 20.Bc5 classic.
64.Rf7 Ke8 65.Rb7 Be1 66.Ke5! In this type of position the
king has to come to f5.
66...Bg3+ 67.Kf5 Bh4 68.Rb4! Be1 69.Re4 Bf2 70.e7
Bc5 71.Ke6 Bxe7 72.Ra4 1-0
(22) Dreev, A.-Hracek, Z.

EU-ch U21, 1989
20...Kd5 21.Bg1 Rb1 22.Bf2 (22.Be3 22...Rb2+ 23.Ke1 Kc4;

22.Ba7 22...Rb2+ 23.Ke3 Rb7!) 22...Rb2+ 23.Ke3 Rb3+
24.Ke2 Rh3 25.Bb6 Rh6 26.Ba7 Rh2+ 27.Ke3 Rb2 and
suddenly the bishop is in trouble. Black is threatening to play
Rb7! 28.Kf4 Rb3 29.Be3 Rd3 30.Bb6 Rf3+ 31.Kg4 Kc4 The
white king is cut off now and the black king comes to d3, so
Black is easily winning.]
20...Kf4 0-1
(21) Portisch, L.-Ftacnik, L. 57.Be6 There is no defence in this position. [57.Bd7 57...Rg2+
58.Kf1 Rg7 59.Bb5 Rb7 60.Ba6 Rb6 61.Be2 Rb1+ 62.Kg2
Wijk aan Zee , 1985 Kc3]
57...Rg2+ 58.Ke1 e2! 59.Kd2 Rg7! 60.Bh3 Re7 61.Ke1
Ke3 62.Bf5 Rf7 0-1
(23) Planinec, A.-Grigorian, K. 65.Rg8 Bb7 [65...Bd7 66.Rd8 Ke6 67.Ke4 Bc6+ 68.d5+
URS-YUG, 1965 Ke7 69.Rh8]
66.Rd8+ Kc6 [Or 66...Ke6 67.Kd3 Ba6+ 68.Ke4 Bb7+
69.d5+ Ke7 70.Rb8]
67.Rb8 1-0
(24) Kjartansson, G.-Hammes, M.

Budapest FS07 GM, 2007
Now we will see the starting position of this kind of endgame.

Simple technique was demonstrated here.
61.Rg5 Bc8 62.Kf4 [It is necessary to remember this
classical drawn position here (which is possible a rank up or
down)! 62.Ke4 62...Bb7+ 63.d5? Kc5=]
62...Be6 [62...Bb7 63.Rg8 Bh1 (It is necessary to remember
the powerful tool of transposing into a winning pawn
endgame. 63...Bc6 64.Rg6+ Kd5 65.Rxc6 Kxc6 66.Ke5 Kd7 60.Kb3? [60.c6+ 60...Kxc6 61.Rxe6+ Kb5 62.Kd3 Bh4
67.Kd5) 64.Rg6+ Kd5 65.Ke3 Kc4 66.Rg5 Bd5 67.Re5 Bh1 63.Rg6 Nb2+ 64.Ke4]
68.Rc5+ and the king is cut off. ] 60...Bxd4! 61.Kxa4 Kc6! 62.Rxe6+ Kxc5 63.Re8
63.Rg6 [A cheap trick was 63.Ke4 63...Bf7 64.d5 Kc5]
63...Kd5 64.Ke3 Bc8
63...Kd5 64.e6 Bf6! and there is no defence as White loses

the pawn after Kd6 and Be7.
65.Kb5 Kd6 66.Kc4 Be7 67.Kd4 Kxe6 68.Ke4 Kd6 (26) Mikhalevski, V.-Wiersma, E.
69.Kf5 Kd7 70.Ra8 Kc6 71.Ke6 Bb4 72.Rc8+ Kb7 73.Rc1 Dieren op, 1999
Ba5 74.Kd5 Bc7 75.Rc2 Bd8 76.Kd6 Bh4 77.Rb2+ Ka8
78.Rb3 Bf2 79.Kc7 Ba7 80.Rb4 Bf2 81.Ra4+ Ba7 82.Kc6
Kb8 83.Rb4+ Ka8 84.Ra4 Kb8 85.Rh4 Ka8 86.Rh8+
Bb8 87.Rd8 Ka7 88.Rd7+ Ka8 89.Kb5 Ba7 90.Ka6 Bb8
91.Rb7 Bf4 92.Rf7 Bg3 93.Kb6 Bb8 94.Rf3 Ba7+ 95.Kc6
Bb8 96.Rb3 Ba7 97.Ra3 1/2-1/2
(25) Kavutskiy, K.-Wang, P.

Southern California-ch, 2010
79...Rb3 80.Bh6 Ra3 81.Bg7+ Kd5 82.Bh6 e3! The
simplest way. [82...g3 leads to a theoretical position. 83.fxg3
Rxg3]
83.f3 [83.Bxe3 loses on the spot since after 83...Ke4 84.Bg5
Ra2+ 85.Ke1 Kf3 86.Bh4 Ra1+ 87.Kd2 Rf1 88.Bg3 Rxf2+
Black transposes into a winning pawn endgame: 89.Bxf2
Kxf2]
79.Rb6? [It is necessary to bring the king as soon as

possible! 79.Kc2 79...Ba1 (79...Bd4 80.Kd3 Bg1 81.Rb1
Bh2 82.Re1 Ke7 83.Kc4 Bf4 84.Kd5) 80.Ra5 Bd4 81.Kd3
Bg1 82.Re5 Ke7 83.Kc4 Achieving this theoretical position,
which demands another technique.]
79...Be5! 80.Kd2 Ke7 81.Kd3 Bd6 The classical cutting
maneuver is conducted and the pawn is lost. Draw! 83...gxf3+?? [Demonstrating completely wrong knowledge
of the theoretical position into which he transposed! Easily
82.Ke4 Kxe6 1/2-1/2 winningwas 83...g3 84.Bxe3 Ra1 85.f4 g2]
84.Kxf3 Kd4 85.Bg5 Rb3 86.Bh6 e2+ 1/2-1/2
Chess and the City. organizers who did their utmost to fulfill everyone’s dreams
and wishes.
All is well that ends well
My next tournaments will start in less than a month and until
then I hope I can succeed to find back to my old shape.

Best rating: 2493
The worst tournament of my life finally came to an end. After

performing my personal record of two ”short castles” in a row,
I could dare to say ”even a blind hen sometimes finds a grain”!
I even managed to find two grains and scored 2,5 points out
of the 3 remaining games. Personally I could not say I was too
unhappy with that experience however it was painful and sad
at the same time. Losing or playing bad is something every
chess player needs to face in their lives, but to return and
change the fate was eventually a feeling of pride and respect
to myself.
Our strongest IM from Germany Andreas Heimann - as well
as likely the strongest IM from the Netherlands, Jorden van
Foreest - both achieved their GM norms with 6,5/9. The latter
therefore needed to score 3/3 out of his three last games,
while his performance in the open probably therefore had to
suffer a bit. Playing 18 games would not be my cup of tea, but
true chess lovers or addicted ones may see that differently.
I can strongly recommend the tournament itself as it is
organized in a very nice hotel with an even nicer ”salt sea bath
thermae”, and not to forget an unbelievable caring group of
Clash of the Titans 7.e5 White still tries to keep the initiative and doesn’t hurry
with recapturing the pawn on d4. [7.Nxd4 7...c6 8.Nxe7
(8.Nc3k ) 8...Nxe7 9.Qd2 h6 10.Bh4 d5! 11.O-O-O O-O 12.exd5
(27) Alekhine, Alexander g5 13.Bg3 Qxd5V]
- Bogoljubow, Efim [C46] 7...h6 is logical in order to solve the problem with the
pin. [7...d6!? 8.Nf6+ Kf8 9.Nxg8 (9.Qxd4 9...h6) 9...Kxg8
Dresden(7), 1936 10.Qxd4 h6!? (10...Qe8 11.O-O-O Nc6 12.Qa4A dxe5?
13.Rd8!h) 11.Bf6 Bxf6 12.exf6 Nc6 13.Qf4Aand the black
GM Kamil Miton king can be weak.]
Best rating: 2655
8.Bxe7 Nxe7 9.Qxd4 Nxd5 [9...Nc6!? 10.Qf4 This is
probably the best place for the queen. (10.Qe3 10...O-OV
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6!? The more solid option is followed by Re8 next.) 10...O-O 11.O-O-O d6 12.Nf6+
[3...Nf6 ] Kh8Vand the white pieces lose coordination.]
4.d4 Black immediately takes ground in the center. The 10.Qxd5 Thanks to the pawn on e5 White has more space
alternative is [4.Bc4 4...Bg7 5.a3 d6 6.d3 Nf6 7.h3 O-O but on the other hand Black has the potentially strong bishop
8.O-O+=] pair.
4...exd4 5.Nd5!? White is playing for the initiative. [5.Nxd4 10...c6 [10...O-O!? 11.O-O-O d6 An interesting idea to play
would also bring an advantage. 5...Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Qd2 O-O for the attack. 12.exd6 Be6 13.Qa5 (13.Qxb7 13...Rb8 14.dxc7
8.O-O-O Re8 9.f3 followed by a typical attacking plan with Qxd1+) 13...Qf6 14.c3 cxd6 (14...b6!? 15.Qa4 c5 and the
g4-h4, like in the Dragon System.] d-pawn should be lost.) ]
5...Bg7 11.Qd6 Now Black’s main task is to develop the bishop from
c8.
6.Bg5 Nce7 The only move. Black prepares c6 to get rid of

the unpleasant knight from d5. [6...Nge7 7.Nxd4! With a nice
tricky line after 7...Bxd4 8.Qxd4 Nxd4 9.Nf6+ Kf8 10.Bh6#] 11...Bf8! Let’s check some other possibilities: [11...Qa5+
12.c3 Kd8 is an orginal idea. 13.Bc4 Re8 14.Bxf7 (14.O-O
14...Bxe5 15.Nxe5 Qxe5 16.Qd2 d5 The king goes to c7,
where it should be safe.) 14...Bxe5 15.Qxg6 (15.Nxe5
15...Qxe5+ 16.Qxe5 Rxe5+ 17.Kf1 (17.Kd2 17...Rf5) 17...b6
(17...g5 18.h4 g4k) 18.Bxg6 Ba6+ 19.Kg1 Re2 20.Rb1 Kc7 With
good compensation.) 15...Bxc3+ 16.Kf1 Qb5+ 17.Kg1 Bxb2
(17...Qxb2 18.Rb1) 18.Rb1 Re7k; 11...Qe7 12.O-O-O Qxd6
13.Rxd6 (13.exd6 13...b5 14.a4 a6!k Preventing the bishop
development to c4.) 13...Ke7 (13...b5 14.g3 With the idea
Bh3-Rad1.) 14.Bc4 Bxe5 is not a threat. 14...Re8 15.Re1 Kf8 20.Rexe6+! fxe6 21.Rxe6+ Kf5 22.Re7C White will grab a lot of
16.Re4!h with the idea Rf4.] pawns.) 19.Nc5 Bf4+ 20.Kb1 Bf5 21.Nxb7 Rhe8k]
12.Qd4! [12.Qd2 12...d5! This is why White put the queen on 17.Rhe1
d4.]
12...Qb6! Without the queens Black’s position will be safer.
13.O-O-O Qxd4 14.Nxd4 [14.Rxd4 14...Bc5 15.Rd2k]
14...d5! 15.exd6 [15.c4 White is trying to get an advantage
thanks to his more active pieces. 15...Bg4 (15...dxc4 16.Bxc4
Bc5 17.e6 fxe6 18.Nxe6 Bxe6 19.Rhe1!A) 16.f3 Bd7 17.cxd5
cxd5 18.Nb5 White’s idea is to play against the weak d5 pawn.
(18.Bb5 18...Rc8+ 19.Kb1 Bc5=) 18...Rc8+ 19.Kb1 Bc5 (19...a6
20.Nc3 Be6 21.Nxd5 Bxd5 22.Rxd5 Rc5 23.Rxc5 Bxc5 24.Bc4
Ke7 25.Bd5c) 20.Rxd5 Be6 21.Nd6+ Bxd6 22.Rxd6 Ke7 It 17...Bg4! Black is losing time but provoking weaknesses
looks like Black will be in time with counterplay.] which will help him to solve the problem with developing the
light squared bishop in the future.
15...Bxd6 16.Bc4 White’s initative is based on active pieces
Black has a huge problem with his bishop on c8. [16.Nxc6?? 18.f3 Bc8 [18...Bd7 19.Ne2!h Controling the f4 square!]
16...Bf4+] 19.g3 Bc5 20.Nb3 [20.Re5 20...Bd6 (20...Bb6 ) 21.Nxc6
16...O-O [16...Ke7 The idea to keep the king on f6 looks (21.Re2!? ) 21...Bxe5 22.Nxe5 Kg7 and Black doesn’t have
risky. 17.Rhe1+ Kf6 18.Ne6 (18.Rd3!?A ) 18...Bxh2 (18...Bxe6 enough compensation.]
19.Rxd6 Rad8 20...Bb6 21.Nd2! White’s idea is to bring the knight to d6.
[21.Re7 looks very logical. 21...Kg7! (21...Bd8 22.Rxf7! Bg5+
23.f4 Rxf7 24.fxg5 Bg4 25.Rf1h) 22.Rd6
have Bd5.]
30...Bxf3 31.Nd6
reventing Kf6. 22...Rb8! (22...Bd8 23.Rxd8 Rxd8 24.Rxf7+

Kh8 25.Nc5 With a huge initiative.) 23.Bd3 Kg8 Preventing
Rxg6. The white pieces look very active but I have no idea 31...Bd5? A serious mistake. Black should keep the strong
how to improve the position... 24.Bxg6 fxg6 25.Rxg6+ Kh8 bishop pair! For example [31...Kg7 32.Re7 Kf6 33.Rxa7 Bb6
26.Rxh6+ Kg8 27.Rg6+ Kh8=] With Bg1 next and Black has no problems.]
21...Bh3 [21...Bf5 22.g4] 32.Bxd5 cxd5 33.Nxb5 [33.Re7 also looks promising for
22.Ne4 [22.Re7 is premature. 22...Rab8 23.Ne4 Rbd8! White. 33...a6 (33...Bb6 34.Nxb5 Bg1 35.h3 Kg7 36.Nc7
With unexpected counterplay over the first rank. 24.Re1 Rd8 37.Ne6+ Kf6 38.Rxf7+ Kxf7 39.Nxd8+ Kf6 40.Kd3c)
(24.Nd6 24...Bc5 25.Bxf7+ Kh8 and the white pieces lost 34.Nxf7+ Kg7 35.Nd6+ (35.Ne5+ 35...Kf6 36.Nc6 Rc8i)
coordination.) 24...Bc8 25.Nf6+ Kg7 26.Ne8+ Kg8=] 35...Kf6 (35...Kg8 36.Ra7 Rf2+ 37.Kb3 Rxh2 38.Rxa6 Bc7
39.Nxb5 Bxg3 40.Rxg6+) 36.Ra7 Kg5 37.Rxa6 Bc7 38.Nxb5
22...Ba5 23.c3 Rad8 24.Nd6 b5?! In my opinion there was
Be5 With some hope to create counterplay on the kingside.]
no need for this weakening. [24...Rd7 25.Ne8!? (25.Nxf7 not
works 25...Rdxf7 26.Re7 Kg7i) ] 33...Bb6 34.Kd3 Thanks to his more active king and the
control over the e-file, White’s advantage is clear.
25.Bb3 Rd7 [25...Bc7? 26.Nxf7 Rxd1+ 27.Kxd1 Rxf7
28.Re7h]
26.Ne8 Rxd1+ 27.Kxd1 The knight on e8 paralyzes the rook
and king but Black can easily solve this problem.
27...Bg2 [27...Be6 leads to a draw. 28.Bxe6 Rxe8 29.Bd7
Rxe1+ 30.Kxe1 b4=]
28.Nf6+ Kg7 29.Ne8+ Kh8 Black is playing for a win.
30.Kc2! [30.f4 30...c5 With the idea c4 and White doesn’t
34...Kg7 [34...f5!? Only active defense can give some Surprise section / study
practical chances. 35.Re7 g5 (35...f4 36.gxf4 Rxf4 37.Nxa7
Rh4V) 36.Nxa7 (36.Ke2 36...f4 37.gxf4 Rxf4!V) 36...f4 37.gxf4 (28) Bouwmeester
gxf4 38.Nb5 (38.Ke2 38...f3+ 39.Kf1 Rg8i) 38...f3 39.Re1
f2 40.Rf1 Rf3+ 41.Ke2 Re3+ 42.Kd2 (42.Kxf2 42...Rxc3+) 1. =
42...Rh3 43.a4 Rxh2 44.b4c]
35.b4 [35.Re7 35...Kf6 36.Rd7 Ke6 37.Rb7 Bg1 38.h3 Bf2
39.g4 Ke5 40.Nxa7 (40.Ke2 With Kf3 next to prevent Kf4.)
40...Kf4 41.Nc6 Kg3 42.a4 Kxh3 43.a5 and it looks like White
is faster.]
35...Rd8 [35...Kf6 Preventing Re7. 36.a4 a6 37.Nd4 h5 38.a5
Bc7 39.Nb3 h4 Hoping to activate the rook.]
36.a4 a6 37.Nd4 Rd6 [37...Kf6 38.a5 Bc7 39.Nb3 Bd6
40.Nc5 Bxc5 41.bxc5 The black king is cut and White’s
position is easily winning.]
38.Re8! h h5 39.Ra8 Rf6 40.Rxa6 Bxd4 41.Rxf6 Bxf6
42.a5 Be5 [42...Bd8 43.Kd4 f5 44.Kxd5 g5 45.c4h]
43.b5 h4 44.a6 1-0
Solutions (31) Bukavshin, I(2655)-Khairullin, I(2662)
Russian Championship, 2015.08.13
(29) Artemiev, V(2671)-Motylev, A(2658)
56.Nd2!! Kg8 [56...Rxd2 57.Rxf7+ Kg8 58.Rxf6h]

57.Qxa2h [57.Rb8+ 57...Kg7 58.Qxa2h]
21.Rxd4! Bh2+ [21...cxd4 22.Qxe6+ Kg7 23.Nd5! h Nxd5
24.Bxd8 Rxd8 25.Qg4+ Kf8 26.Qxd4h] 57...Ne4 58.Rxf7!h
22.Kxh2 Qxd4 23.Qxe6+ Kg7 24.Ne2! 1-0 [24.Ne2 (32) Svidler, P(2739)-Khismatullin, D(2642)
24...Qd8 25.Nf4h] Russian Championship, 2015.08.12
(30) Svidler, P(2739)-Lysyj, I(2673)
26...Qa2+! 27.Kc1 Qa1+! [27...Qxb2+ 28.Kxb2 Nd3+

29.Kb1 Ra1#]
41.Ne5! 1-0 [41.Ne5 41...Rxf2+ (41...Rxb2 42.Bg6+ Kh8
43.Ra8+ Ng8 44.Nf7#) 42.Kg1h] 28.Bxa1 Rxa1+ 29.Kb2 Nc4# 0-1 [29...Nd3# ]
(33) Lysyj, I(2673)-Vitiugov, N(2719) (35) Pogonina, N(2460)-Kosteniuk, A(2526)
Russian Championship, 2015.08.16 Russian Woman Championship, 2015.08.12
40...Nxe3! 41.Kxe3 1/2 [41.Kxe3 41...Qb3+ 42.Kf2 Qc2+ 38...Qg4+! 39.Qg3 [39.Bg3 39...Nh3+ 40.Kg2 Rf2+ 41.Kh1
43.Kg3 Qd3+ 44.Kh4 Qf3=] Qe4+i]
(34) Savina, A(2429)-Gunina, V(2531) 39...Ne2+ 40.Kg2 Qe4+! 41.Kh3 Qf5+! 42.Qg4 [42.Kg2
Russian Woman Championship, 2015.08.11 42...Qf1#]
42...Qf1+ 0-1 [42...Qf1+ 43.Kh4 (43.Qg2 43...Nf4+i)
43...g5+ 44.Kh5 Qf7+ 45.Kxh6 Qh7+ 46.Kxg5 Rg8+ 47.Kf6
Raf8+i]
34...Ng4+! 35.Qxg4 [35.Kh1 35...Nf2+i; 35.Kg1

35...Qc5+ 36.Kh1 Nf2+i]
35...Rxg4 36.hxg4 Qd6i
(36) Girya, O(2487)-Kashlinskaya, A(2441) (38) Edouard, R(2634)-Cornette, M(2586)
Russian Woman Championship, 2015.08.13 French Championship, 2015.08.17
44...Rxb2!! 45.Ra7+ [45.Kxb2 45...e2i] 34.Qf5! 1-0 [34.Qf5 34...Bxf6 (34...Rxf1+ 35.Qxf1 Qxe3
45...Kf6 46.Ra6+ Ke5 47.Nd4 e2 48.Kxb2 [48.Nxe2 36.Rf8+! Bxf8 37.Qf7+ Kh8 38.Qh7#) 35.Qe6+! Kg7
48...Rxe2i] (35...Kh8 36.Qxf6+ Kg8 37.Qf7+ Kh8 38.Qh7#) 36.Qf7+ Kh8
37.Qh7#]
48...Kxd4! 0-1 [48...e1=Q? 49.Re6+! Bxe6 50.Nf3+]
(39) Neumann
(37) Gharamian, T(2644)-Istratescu, A(2619)
1.Kf3 Ke5 2.Kg4 Ke4 3.Kg5 Ke5 4.Kg6 Ke6 5.Kg7 Ke7
6.Kg8 Ke8 7.Kh7! Kf7 8.Kh6 Kf6 9.Kh5 Kf5 10.Kh4!
Ke4 11.Kg4 Ke5 12.Kg5 Ke4 13.Kf6h
30.Rxd7+! Kxd7 31.b7!h 1-0
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
The 3rd Sinquefield Cup was won by Aronian, who played very
solidly and deserved the clear first place with 6/9. Second
Editorial Preface 2 placed was shared by 4 players: Carlsen, Giri, Nakamura and
Vachier-Lagrave, all with 5/9. In the interview Carlsen was
very unhappy about his result and the level of play, the same
as Caruana who let slip away a lot of promising positions and
"only" scored 3.5/9.
Young & Talented 12
The very strong Abu Dhabi Open had 5 winners, all with 7
points. Best after tiebreak was Grandelius Nils, who admitted
Puzzle section 14
that it was his biggest success ever. Kravtsiv, Jobava,
Areschenko and Rapport were the other co-winners.
Endgame section 17
The Spanish Champion is Vallejo Pons, who was the clear
favorite for the title and had a start-finish victory.
Golden knowledge.
Rook and pawn against bishop - part II 21 Kasper Piorun won the Barcelona Open with the great score
of 8.5/10 2nd-3rd places were shared by Edouard Romain and
Daniel Vocaturo, both with 8/10.
Chess and the City.
Interview with GM Sergei Tiviakov 30 In just a week from now, the FIDE World Cup will start in Baku.
Most of the players are deep in the preparation because the
Surprise section / study 31 pairings were already published. The next week is quite calm,
but then the excitement will start.
Solutions 32 For now we wish you a great weekend.
(1) Caruana, Fabiano (2808)

- So, Wesley (2779) [A15]

Best rating: 2737
8...d6 Of course all this has been played many times before.
It was clearly not the tournament of Caruana or So, as both 9.Be3 Nbd7 10.Rac1 Rc8 Black is trying to delay the short
players missed a lot of chances in the previous games and castle to avoid Qh4-Bh6. In the current position after Qh4
were ranked on the lower end of the crosstable. Anyhow, the Black always has h6.
game we are going to see is a very exciting one. From the
11.b3 a6 12.Rfd1 Now that Black doesn’t have any more
opening Caruana managed to get a big attack on So’s king and
useful moves, So castles.
a huge advantage, but he missed the best continuation in the
tactical calculations. The game then became very unclear and 12...O-O 13.Qh4 and of course Caruana is going for the main
finally ended up in a draw. idea of the whole line.
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 To guess Caruana’s openings is a difficult task. 13...Re8 Very logical. In case White could exchange the dark
Fabiano is very well-prepared and plays both 1.e4 and 1.d4. squared bishops, White’s position should be a bit better, so
Black is preparing to play Bh8 after Bh6.
2...b6 3.g3 c5 In the current position there are a lot
of different move orders and many different positions
depending on who wants to reach what...
4.Bg2 The system with g3 and Bg2 is one of the most popular
ones.
4...Bb7 5.O-O g6 [5...e6 is the other main possibility.]
6.d4 cxd4 7.Qxd4 The line with Qxd4 is a very tricky one.
White’s idea is simple, to get the queen to h4 in a good
moment and to play Bh6 followed by Ng5, with attack.
7...Bg7 8.Nc3 14.Bh3! An excellent move with multiple ideas. First of all
White is not afraid of Bxf3 exf3 which would just lead to a
better position for White. Now he can move the knight from the h7 square. This is a veryunpleasant position in a practical
f3 without exchanging the white squared bishops, which is game.
good, and the rook on c8 is also sort of pinned. 18...e6 After this move White gets a clear target, the d6 pawn,
14...Rc7 15.g4 and here comes Caruana! White’s idea is but Black was clearly very afraid of the upcoming Nd5 move.
simply to play g5 next. [In case of a passive move like 18...Qd8 19.Nd5 Bxd5 20.cxd5
15...Qa8 A very logical reply, even if the queen is out of play White’s position is clearly much better.]
on a8, but now Black is prepared to answer g5 with Ne4. 19.Be3! Great play by White! The d6 pawn is in serious
16.Bd4 White wants to finally play g5 and exchange the trouble.
bishops, which would weaken the position of the black king 19...Qb8 20.Bf4 Another good move by White. [A big
a lot. [In case of 16.g5 16...Ne4 17.Na4 b5 things are looking mistake would be 20.Rxd6? 20...Rxc4 21.Qxc4 Qxd6 and
very unclear.] Black is fine.]
20...Bf8? This is just a blunder... [Th only way to go on was
20...e5 21.Be3 Bf8 with a bad position.]
21.Rxd6? and White gives back the present... [Of course
Caruana saw 21.Bxd6 21...Bxd6 22.Rxd6 Rxc4 23.bxc4 Qxd6
but here he clearly missed the winning move
16...h6?! Here I have to disagree with So. This move just

looks too dangerous to me. [16...b5!? Maybe Black could have
tried to complicate things after 17.g5 Nh5 18.Bxg7 Nxg7 but
maybe even here White can keep some advantage by playing
19.Nd5 Bxd5 20.cxd5 and it is still not that simple to achieve
equality for Black.; Black is almost losing after 16...Bxf3?
17.exf3 Qxf3 18.g5 Nh5 19.Nd5 with very strong play for the 24.Qh8+! A very nice combination! 24...Kxh8 25.Nxf7+ Kg7
pawn.] 26.Nxd6 With a winning endgame for White.]
17.g5 Of course there is no reason to hesitate about playing 21...e5 Now the position is really complex.
g5. 22.Rxd7 exf4 The threats around the black king are still not
17...hxg5 18.Nxg5 Now Black must always be careful about gone, but a little less dangerous.
23.Rcd1 Caruana wants to keep the d-file for himself. 28...Qd6 29.Qf3 Qc5 30.R3d2 As we can see, the position
23...Bg7? Another mistake... [Much stronger was 23...Kg7! is really complicated and hard to play for both players.
with the idea of moving the bishop from f8 and playing Rh8.] 30...R2e5 A good choice. Black wants to control the e-file
24.R7d3?! Caruana missed two much stronger options: and then the exchange of rooks would make things easier for
[White could have gone for the very complicated 24.Nxf7 White.
24...Rxd7 25.Bxd7 Kxf7 26.Bxe8+ Kxe8 27.Qg5 Kf7 28.Rd4 31.h4 b5 In case the knight on d5 could be chased away, Black
with a clearly better position, even if things are not that would already be better!
clear here from a practical point of view.; Much simpler was 32.Rc2 The pawn on c4 has to be defended.
24.R7d6 24...Ba8 25.Qxf4 Why not just win a full pawn?!
White is clearly better here.] 32...b4 33.Rcd2 Both players were already in time trouble.
24...Rce7 and although White is still a pawn up, things are 33...a5 34.Qg4 Caruana just keeps on waiting.
very unclear in thisposition. 34...Bh6 35.Kf1 Both players are trying to make solid moves.
25.Bg2 Very logical. The exchange of bishops will help White 35...Rf5 I think this is not the most logical. [Why not simply
to gain control of the white squares and the bishop on h3 has play 35...Bxg5 36.hxg5 Rf5 with the easy threat of playing
done his job. Ree5 next. The g5 pawn could be in danger.]
25...Bxg2 26.Kxg2
36.Nf3 Now the rook on f5 is sort isolated.

26...Nh5! So is back in the game. 36...Bg7 37.Qg2 A slightly strange move in my opinion, but
27.Nd5 Caruana finds nothing better than to give up the e2 White probably just wanted to make a safe move without
pawn, which is actually not a bad decision at all. changing much before the 40th move.
27...Rxe2 28.Qg4 The white queen is going to take place on 37...a4 38.Rd3 Qa5 Black is trying to annoy White a bit with
f3, which is a nice square for the queen. the idea of playing axb3 axb3 and Qa3 somewhere.
39.Ng5 axb3 40.axb3 Bf8 So the time trouble is over and it improve their position, the game ended with a draw offer. We
is time to think things over. just saw a very interesting game where White clearly missed a
41.Qf3 The queen clearly belongs to f3. lot of very promising chances. 1/2-1/2
41...Bc5 42.Ne4 The knight is well-placed on e4 too.

42...Kg7 Black keeps on waiting.
43.Nxc5 and Caruana finds nothing better than to exchange
the knight. After this move we should evaluate the position as
equal. Black just wanted to play Rfe5 and back to controling
the e-file, which gives him enough counterplay.
43...Qxc5 44.Rd4 Can White win the the f4 pawn?!
44...Kh6 Black just keeps on waiting...
45.Qd3 [Of course White cannot play 45.Nxf4?? 45...Qe5
since the knight on f4 is just gone.]
45...Kh7 46.Qf3 Re6 Could it be that So decided to play for
a win?! Well maybe, but maybe he just liked the position of
the black rook better on e6 than on e8.
47.Kg1 Qa5 48.Kg2 Now it is Caruana who keeps on doing
"nothing".
48...Kh6 49.R1d3 Qd8
50.Qg4 and because both players showed no ideas of how to
9...Nd7 10.f3 By starting with the 10.f3 or 10.Be3 move order
(2) So, Wesley (2779) (in comparison to 10.Nd3), White succesfully transfers his
- Nakamura, Hikaru (2814) [E99] bishop to the g1-a7 diagonal, from where it increases pressure
on the queenside and also vacates the c1 square for the heavy
3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015(6.4), GM Csaba Balogh pieces.
2015.08.29 Best rating: 2672
10...f5 11.Be3 f4 12.Bf2 g5 A typical King’s Indian game.
White soon executes the c5 break, while Black focuses all his
A brilliant attacking game by Nakamura! We don’t often see a pieces to the kingside for an attack. There are still thousands
top GM getting mated with the king on g6 whilst all pieces are of games in the databases for this position.
still on the board.
13.Nd3 [Wesley So had a game last year for 13.Rc1 and; he
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 The King’s Indian defense! A also tried 13.g4 which is another strategy. White tries to
clear sign that Nakamura wants to win this game, despite lock the kingside first (possibly with h4-h5) before continuing
having the black pieces. the queenside actions. Nakamura was definetely prepared
4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 The initial against all ideas.]
position of the classical main line. White has a wide range of 13...Ng6 14.c5 Nf6 The black pieces are going towards the
choice here, all of them with huge theory. His plans are mainly kingside. He soon prepares for the break with g4.
connected to the queenside, while Black soon launches an
15.Rc1 Rf7! A standard multifunctional move in the King’s
attack on the kingside with f5.
Indian. Black protects the critical c7 square against the cxd6
cxd6 Nb5 idea and at the same time he prepares to strengthen
his kingside attack by transferring his rook to g7 (after Bh6).
16.Kh1 h5 17.cxd6 cxd6 18.Nb5 We can see now the point
of 15. ..Rf7! White would threaten with Nc7 and the a7
pawn is hanging, as well as the positional threat of installing
the knight to e6 after which Black’s attack has much less
potentials.
18...a6 19.Na3
9.Ne1 The old main line. White drives his knight to d3 from
where it supports the queenside break with c5 and also allows
to stabilize the center with f3 against the f5 plans. [9.b4
recently became the most common line.]
c2-g6 diagonal with his queen, he could be more than fine,
but the d3 knight is standing poorly. Black seems to be doing
well.]
24.Be1 h4! This is the right way to continue the attack! Black
wants to explode the kingside with h3! If he had started
with g3, then White would have played h3 followed by Bf1,
strengthening all the pawns on the kingside.
25.fxg4 [25.Bb4 25...h3! 26.gxh3 g3! This looks like the most
effective way to open the lines in front of the king. Bxh3
19...b5! We are still following theory, but Black’s last move and Nh4 are coming next. 27.Bf1 a5 Black has to send the
is instructive anyway. The question was to weaken the c6 bishop away from b4, because the direct Nh4 runs into Nxe5.
square or to allow Nc4-b6?! The key idea is that Black needs 28.Be1 Nh4A; 25.Nb4 is also met by 25...h3! 26.gxh3 g3! Nh4
his light squared bishop for a succesfull attack. First of all is coming next combined with Bxh3 and it looks extremely
it supports g4 and secondly without the bishop White could dangerous from White’s point of view.]
defend perfectly with g4-Bg1-g3-h3, however with the bishop 25...f3! [25...Nxg4? loses to 26.Rxd7; 25...Bxg4 allows
on c8, Black always has the sacrifices on h3 at his disposal. exchanges, which helps White to survive the attack and
Therefore it becomes clear that giving up the c6 square has positionally he is better on the queenside. 26.Rxf7 Qxf7
smaller value than allowing the knight to jump to b6. 27.Bxg4 Nxg4 28.Qc7]
20.Rc6 White would like to lure the bishop to b7, because the 26.gxf3
bishop clearly belongs to the c8-h3 diagonal. Bd7 does not
work because of the d6 pawn and White wants to triple on the
c-file with Qc2 and Rc1.
20...g4 21.Qc2 Qf8! Another strong positional move! White
was ready to bring his rook to c1 and suddenly Black cannot
do anything with his bishop on c8! However now after Qf8, he
can play Bd7 as the d6 pawn is already defended.
22.Rc1 Bd7 23.Rc7 Bh6 [Another possible plan was 23...h4!?
just like in the game. Black wants to push h3 and g3,
destroying the kingside structure. The concrete question is 26...Nxe4!! Nakamura had correctly foreseen this move
24.fxg4 That is also the reason why Nakamura started with and its consequences two moves earlier, when he started to
23...Bh6, to push f3 now. 24...Nxe4 25.Bf3 Ng5 If White could sacrifice his pawns. The concrete line shows that the attack is
consolidate the e4 square with his knight or somehow use the extremely strong and White is probably in deep trouble. The
threat is Rxf3, completely destroying the defenders around 27...Rxf3! Nakamura calculates correctly! It is easy to feel
the king. [26...Bxc1? 27.Qxc1 would let the initiative pass that with so many pieces around the king the attack should
to White! Black needs the King’s Indian bishop to break break through!
through with the attack, while the rook is not doing anything 28.Rxd7 [28.Bxf3 28...Qxf3+ 29.Kg1 h3!i Just like in the
temporarily on c1.] 27.Rxd7 line, Be3 is coming next, followed by mate on g2!]
27.Rd1 [27.fxe4 is similar to the game. 27...Rf1+! 28.Kg2 28...Rf1+! 29.Kg2 Be3! [29...h3+! was even stronger
according to the computers, having in mind the following
amazing mate: 30.Kxh3
28...Be3!! This is the key move just like it happened later in

the game! Black threatens with mate after h3 orRg1! 29.Bxf1
h3+! 30.Kg3 Qxf1 and White has no adequate defense against
30...Rf2!! 31.Bxf2 Qxf2!! 32.Nxf2 (32.Rf1 32...Ng5#)
the mate! Bf4 is the direct mate threat, but Black also could
32...Nf4+ 33.Kh4 Bg5#
play Rf8 next. 31.Rxd7 Bf4+ 32.Nxf4 exf4# Unusual mate!;
27.Rxd7 is also met by 27...Rxf3! 28.Bxf3 Qxf3+ 29.Qg2
(29.Kg1 29...h3i Be3 comes next and after anything moves
to f2, there is mate on g2!) 29...Qxd3i The c1 rook is hanging
and Nf4 or h3 is coming next.]
It would have been shocking to finish the game like this!]

30.Bg3 [30.Bxf1 leads to forced mate after 30...h3+ 31.Kxh3
Qf3+ 32.Bg3 Ng5#]
35...Qh4+ 36.Kf5 Rf8+ 37.Kg6
30...hxg3! Nakamura leads the attack precisely! He frees the

h4 square for the knight! White cannot create any counterplay
Well, of course Black has many good moves against such king
against the g8 king and he is lacking coordination between his
on g6, but Nakamura finishes the game in style!
pieces to organize any kind of defense.
37...Rf6+! 38.Kxf6 Ne4+ 39.Kg6 [39.Kf5 could have
31.Rxf1 Nh4+ 32.Kh3 [32.Kh1 32...g2#]
prolonged the game by a move: 39...Qf4+ 40.Ke6 Qf6#]
32...Qh6! White cannot unpin himself on the h-file! It is clear
39...Qg5# WOW! 0-1
that the story should soon end in mate!
33.g5 [On 33.hxg3 the fastest mate is 33...Ng5+ 34.Kh2
Nhf3+ 35.Kg2 Qh2#]
33...Nxg5+ 34.Kg4
34...Nhf3! Another great sacrifice! Black threatens with Qh3

mate in one move and also to further haunt the king with Qh4!
35.Nf2 [35.Bxf3 35...Qh3#]
Young & Talented
GM Etienne Bacrot
Best rating: 2749
11.Rb1N An interesting noveltly, provoking the queen to go to
b6 before playing Be3. [11.Be3 11...Be7 12.Bd3 Nxe3 13.fxe3
(3) Rapport, Richard (2671)
O-O is the usual way to play and Black goes f5 next, with an
- Sandipan, Chanda (2585) [C02]
unclear position.]
Abu Dhabi(5),
11...h6 I don’t really like this move because it weakens the
2015.08.26
white squares around the future logical place of the king.
[11...Qb6 is the main move. 12.Be3 (12.Na4 12...Qa7!k
The 19-year old Richard Rapport is 3rd on the Junior FIDE list. The square was cleared by 10...a6!) 12...Be7 13.Bd3 Nxe3
He is having a difficult chess year but it seems like he is coming 14.fxe3kand one of Rapport’s ideas behind 11.Rb1 might be
back, as he shared first place in the strong Abu Dhabi open. 14...O-O 15.Na4!? Qa7 16.Nc5 Bxc5 17.Bxh7+ Kh8 18.Bc2]
1.Nf3 e6 2.e4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.d4 An unusual move 12.Kh1 Same strategy!
order to get the French advance.
12...b5 [12...Qb6 is even met by 13.g4! Nfxd4? 14.Be3h]
5...Bd7 6.Be2 cxd4 Not the most popular but quite a sound
13.Be3 Enough prophylaxis, it is time to play!
way to play.
13...Na5 [13...Be7 14.Bd3 Nxe3 15.fxe3 O-O 16.Qe2 f5 17.exf6
7.cxd4 Nge7 8.Nc3 Nf5 9.O-O Rc8 A good move. Chanda
Rxf6 18.e4 looks slightly better for White.]
knows this position well. [9...Be7 10.Bd3! g6 (10...Nfxd4 is
not possible: 11.Nxd4 Nxd4 12.Qg4!c) 11.Bxf5 gxf5 12.Bf4+= 14.Bd3 g6? This is very strange. Black was forced to take
Na5 13.b3 Rc8 14.Rc1 Rg8 15.Qd2 b5 16.Ne2 followed by the the bishop: [14...Nxe3 15.fxe3 Bxa3 (15...Be7 is also playable.)
knight march to h5, which gave White a huge advantage in 16.Qe1 (16.Nxd5 16...exd5 17.bxa3 Nc4k) 16...Bb4 17.Qg3 O-O
Sandipan-Belezky Bundesliga 2014.] 18.Ne2 with compensation.]
10.a3 a6 Another useful slow move. 10...Qb6 11.Na4 or 15.Bc1! The best move, but even 15.Bxf5 should be better for
10...Be7 11. Bd3 is better for White. White.
15...Nh4 24.g4 Ng7 [24...Nh4 25.Ng3c]
25.Ng3 f5! is the crazy idea behind 23....g5!
26.Bd2 [26.gxf5 26...exf5 (26...Nxf5 27.Nxf5 exf5 28.Qe2 Be6
29.a4c) 27.f4 h4 28.Ne2 g4 29.Ne3 Be6 is better for White,
but with a fighting position.]
16.Ne1+= Since there is no more pressure on d4, White

regroups before pushing with his space advantage.
16...Nc4 17.Ne2 Nf5 [17...a5 followed by a4 to save the c4
square for the knight was a better idea.]
18.Nc2 Na5 doesn’t look great, but b3 was coming anyway. 26...h4? The losing move. Now Black can’t close the kingside.
19.Bd2 Nc6 20.b4 White took control over the entire board. It was necessary to play [26...f4! 27.Nxh5 (27.Ne2 27...Kf7 is
more pleasant for White but playable.) 27...Nxh5 28.Bg6+
20...Qh4 21.Be1 h5 22.f3 Qd8 23.g3 (28.gxh5 28...Be7k followed by Kf8-Be8.) 28...Ke7 29.Bxh5
Be8 30.Bxe8 Kxe8+= Black invested a pawn but got rid of
the bad pieces and closed the kingside. A long fight is ahead.]
27.Ne2 Be7 [27...f4 is not possible because of 28.Bg6+ Ke7
29.Nxf4h]
28.f4! h The position becomes open and White’s light
pieces clearly surpass their counterparts. The black king is
also in big trouble.
28...fxg4 is obviously not the best defense but it is already too
23...g5 Black cannot wait. A move like [23...f6 might give late anyway.
practical chances: 24.f4 (24.g4 24...hxg4 25.fxg4 fxe5 26.gxf5 29.Bg6+ Kf8 30.fxg5+ Nf5 31.Nf4 Kg7 32.Qxg4 Nxe5
gxf5 27.dxe5 Nxe5 28.Bg3+=) 24...Bg7 25.Bf2 O-O+= White 33.dxe5 Rxc2 34.Nxe6+ Bxe6 35.Bxf5 Rxd2 36.Bxe6 Rf8
has a nice choice between two knight transfers: Nc1-b3-c5 or 37.Qh5 and fast mate is unavoidable. 1-0
Ne1-f3.]
Puzzle section
(4) Gabuzyan, H(2593)-Jobava, B(2664) (6) Onischuk, V(2618)-Harika, D(2509)
Abu Dhabi Open, 2015.08.25 Abu Dhabi Open, 2015.08.25
1... i 1. h
(5) Gupta, A(2619)-Belous, V(2566) (7) Rohan, A(2389)-Gupta, A(2619)

1... i 1... i
(8) Rapport, R(2671)-Sandipan, C(2585) (10) Areshchnenko, A(2661)-Salem, A(2595)
1. h 1. h
(9) Gabuzyan, H(2593)-Areshschenko, A(2661) (11) Kryvoruchko, Y(2697)-Romanov, E(2586)

1... i 1. h
(12) Akopian, V(2647)-Sumets, A(2596)
Abu Dhabi Open, 2015.08.27
1. h
(13) Kulkarni, R(2368)-Papp, G(2601)

1... i
Endgame section instance 39.Ba4 followed by Be3 and the rook penetration on
the b-file should give White a winning advantage. He could
also improve his pawn structure with h4-g3 before making
(14) Carlsen, Magnus (2853) progress. Black should collapse fairly soon.]
- Nakamura, Hikaru (2814) 39...Rb8! Black moves into the pin, but there is no check
which could win the rook. White has nothing better than
Sinquefield Cup, GM Csaba Balogh simplifying the position with
2015.08.31 Best rating: 2672
40.Bc4 Rxb2 41.Bxd5+ Kh8 We have reached another
interesting endgame to think about. The a-pawn is not
advanced far enough and White can block it with precise play,
but the question is rather if he has enough material left on the
board to win the game?!
We are facing an amazing mistake by the World Champion.

Black is more or less fine materially, but the power of the
two bishops in such endgames should give White a technically
winning position. However- as is typical in many kind of 42.Bd4 Rb1 43.Ke2 The king must hurry towards the
endgames- the attacking side needs some extra material to be queenside to stop the passed pawn.
able to create new weaknesses and let the two bishops work
with full power and automatically decide the outcome. All the 43...a4 44.g3 a3 45.Kd2 We can see how strong the two
circumstances are given in the present case as White’s rook bishops are. They control all the important squares, but the
will be able to cooperate with the bishops. However Carlsen problem is how to make progress?!
makes a horrible positional mistake which allows Nakamura 45...h5 46.h4 Kh7 Black improves his structure and rescues
to trade a pair of rooks. his king from its squeezed situation in the corner.
39.Be3?? Carlsen obviously knew that he needed the rooks 47.Bc4 g6 48.Kc2 Re1 Black always has some kind of tactical
for the win, but some kind of chess blindness deprived him idea in mind. As long as the bishop was on d5, he was always
from seeing Black’s easy next move... [Any other moves, for keeping an eye on the d1 square to penetrate with his rook.
Now with the bishop on c4 Re4 is in the air. For instance 53.Bb1 Re2 54.Kc4 Kg7 55.Kd5 Re1 56.Bc2 Re2 57.Bd3
49.Kb3 is a blunder in view of a2! 50.Ka2 Re4! As long as Black Re1 58.Be4 White has all the time to try and improve his
ties the pieces to the a-pawn, he tries to get rid of some pawns position, but in the critical situation when he is already close
on the kingside with f4. to the g6 pawn, he will be unable to make progress.
58...Rd1+ 59.Ke5 Re1 60.Bd2 Re2 61.Bc3 Kh6 62.Bb4
Rf2 Black only needs to care about his g6 pawn. Pinning
or attacking one of the bishops, attacking the g3 pawn or
simply preventing the king’s movement to f6 are all possible
defenses.
63.Bc5 Rf1 64.Bb4 Rf2 65.Be7 Rf1 66.Bf6 Rg1 67.Bg5+
Kg7 68.Bf4 Re1 Black has a very easy defensive task.
Carlsen tries everything, but his advantage is not enough to
win.
49.Be3 White avoids this Re4 idea and seemingly prevents f4!
69.Kd5 Rd1+ 70.Ke6 Re1 71.Ke5 Re2 72.Kd5 Re1 73.Bd3
However
Kh7 74.Kd4 Kg7 75.Be3 Ra1 76.Ke4 Ra4+ 77.Kf3 Ra3
49...f4! still works and it forces further simplifications! 78.Bb5 Rb3 79.Be8 Rb1 80.Bc6 Rb4 81.Bd2 Rb6 82.Bc3+
50.Bxf4 [50.gxf4 50...Rh1 is not what White wants.] Kh6 83.Bd5 Rb1 84.Kf4 Rf1+ 85.Ke5 Rg1 86.Bd2+ Kg7
87.Bf4 Re1+ 88.Kd6 [88.Be4 We have already seen this
50...a2 51.Bxa2 Re2+ 52.Kb3 Rxf2 The danger of position 20 moves ago and he could not make progress
the a-pawn is gone, but Black succesfully traded his anyway. The text move however allows Black to activate his
f-pawn, further reducing the material. He has only one king and force further simplifications.]
weakness/target left, the pawn on g6, but he can easily
ensure its safety with the king and rook. 88...Kf6 89.Bf3 Kf5 90.Kd5 Rf1 91.Be4+ Kg4! Nakamura
calculates the forced draw, otherwise he could also have gone
back to f6 and hold the fortress.
92.Bxg6
(15) Nakamura, Hikaru (2814)
- Grischuk, Alexander (2771)

Best rating: 2737
92...Rxf4! 93.gxf4 Kxf4! and White cannot save his h4

pawn.
94.Bxh5 Kg3 95.Bd1 Kxh4 1/2-1/2
We are in the last round and Nakamura really needs a full

point to share 2nd place. After a very fighting game where
Grischuk also had his chances, we are in an endgame which is
clearly much better for White. The e7 pawn is very dangerous
and the black pieces are very passively placed. During the
next moves, we will see a beautiful realization by Nakamura,
with a very nice final position where Black simply doesn’t
have any moves left to make!
63.Bg3! A very strong move. The bishop will cut the options
of the black knight on e8 and at the same time White wants to
put his rook on f8 to stop the black rook from moving as well.
63...h6 Black is preparing to put the king on h7 to defend from
Rf8.
64.Be5+ Kh7 65.Rf7+ Winning a tempo. The white rook
belongs to f8 anyway.
65...Kg6 66.Rf8 Kh7 So White has reached almost 75.Kh4! Just beautiful! The last white piece which was out
everything he could, but what next?! If it wasn’t for the a6 of the game is getting the decisive role.
pawn, a move like Kh4 would just finish the game, but for 75...Nc7 76.Kh5 Rf7 is a deadly threat and Black has no
now White needs an idea about how to continue next. defense.
76...Ne8 77.c7 A very beautiful finishing position of an
exciting game. With this win Nakamura also got back to the
2nd live rating position in the world. 1-0
67.Bf4! Nakamura manages his winning position very

precisely. White is going for all the black pawns.
67...a5 68.Bxh6 One pawn is gone.
68...a4 69.Be3 a3 70.Bxc5 And another one...
70...a2 71.Bd4 It is now already White who is a pawn up and
Black still can’t do anything.
71...Nc7 72.Ba1 Ne8 All Black can do is to move his knight
to c7 and back to e8.
73.c5 Nc7 74.c6 Ne8 White has improved the position of the
pawn, but how to finish the game?!
Golden knowledge.
Rook and pawn against bishop - part II
99...Kc8?? It is not sufficient to know that a certain position

GM Adrian Mikhalchishin is draw- it is necessary to know how to do it! The king in the
FIDE Trainers Commission Chairman white corner was an easy theoretical draw here.
100.Rh7 Be5 101.Re7 Bf6 102.Re8+ Bd8 103.Rg8 1-0
(16) Ravnik, F.-Znidaric, A.
Slovenija, 2011 (17) Doroshkevich, V.-Taimanov, M.
Rostov, 1971
The young generation knows some theoretical positions, but

not all!
A completely different story happened in this classical game.
95.c7?? The same mistake as in the Tomashevsky game! This pawn is an important theoretical draw and is frequently
95...Kb7! 96.Kc5 Bxc7 97.Kb5 Kb8 98.Kc6 Bh2 seen in practice. Black tried his last chance...
99.Rb7+ 1...c2 and White resigned! But a similar maneuver as in the
previous game,
2.Kd2 Kb3 3.Bg6 was an easy draw! 0-1 59.Ke6 Kc8 60.Rh7 Ba3 61.Kd5 Kb7 62.Rh3 Be7 63.Ke6
the king comes to d7.]
(18) De Firmian, N.-Georgiev, K. 59.Kd6 Kb7 60.Rg7 Bb6 61.c8=Q+ and Black resigned in
Nis , 1981 view of
61...Kxc8 62.Kc6 Ba5 63.Rg8+ Bd8 64.Re8 1-0
(19) Szabo, L.-Botvinnik, M.

Budapest, 1952
Now let us see how this positional draw is used in practice,

even in top games.
1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 d5 6.O-O O-O
7.b3 c6 8.Ba3 Nbd7 9.Qc1 Ne4 10.Nbd2 Bxa3 11.Qxa3 b6
12.Rac1 Bb7 13.Rfd1 Qf6 14.cxd5 exd5 15.Ne1 a5 16.Ndf3
Some experienced Grandmasters demonstrated bad f4 17.Nd3 fxg3 18.hxg3 Rae8 19.Rc2 Qh6 20.Qc1 Qd6
knowledge of handling this drawn position! 21.Bh3 Rf6 22.Kg2 c5 23.Bxd7 Qxd7 24.Nfe5 Qd6 25.f4
53...Bb6? [Correct was the simple 53...Bd6 54.Kd5 Bf4 cxd4 26.Rc7 Nc5 27.Rxc5 bxc5 28.Qxc5 Qxc5 29.Nxc5
55.c7 Kb7!=] Ba8 30.Rxd4 Rc8 31.Ncd3 Rc2 32.Ra4 Rxe2+ 33.Kf3 Rc2
34.Rxa5 Rf8 35.Ke3 d4+ 36.Kxd4 Rd8+ 37.Ke3 Rg2 38.g4
54.Kd5 Bf2 55.Rg7 Be3 56.Ke5 Bc5?? [The correct
Rc2 39.b4 Bd5 40.a4 Bh1 41.Ra7 Ra2 42.b5 Ra3 43.a5 g5
position for the bishop was 56...Bd2 57.c7 Kb7 58.Kd5 Bf4]
44.f5 Rd5 45.Re7 Rxb5 46.f6 Rxe5+ 47.Rxe5 Kf7
57.c7! h Bb4 58.Rf7 Ba5 [58...Kb7 did not help since after Now Botvinnik goes for a forced line to reach the theoretical
position: When the pawn did not reach the sixth rank, the win is very
48.Rf5 Bb7 49.Kd2 Bc8 50.Ne5+ Kf8 51.Rxg5 Rxa5 simple as the king comes to the sixth rank himself!
52.Nd7+ Bxd7 53.Rxa5 Bxg4 54.Ke3 Be6 The desired 63.Rh3 Kc8 64.Kc6 Kb8 65.Rh8+ Ka7 66.Rh7+ Kb8
position is finally reached and the h7 pawn is not important. 67.Kb6 Kc8 68.Rh8+ 1-0
(21) Dao, Thien Hai-Rohl Montes, J.

Elista ol (Men), 1998
55.Kf4 Bc4 56.Ra7 h5 57.Kg5 h4 58.Kxh4 Bb3 59.Kg5

Bc4 60.Rc7 Ba2 61.Rc1 Bd5 62.Kf5 Kf7 63.Ke5 Bb3
64.Rc7+ Kf8 65.Rb7 Bc4 66.Rb4 Ba2 67.Kf5 Bd5 68.Kg6
Bf7+ 69.Kg5 Bd5 70.Rh4 Bb3 71.Rh8+ Kf7 72.Rh7+ Kf8
73.f7 Ke7 74.Kg6 Bc4 75.Rg7 Bb3 76.f8=Q+ Kxf8 77.Kf6
Ke8 78.Re7+ Kd8 1/2-1/2 Now it is the other bishop and the position has to be winning
without problems too. But even strong players are not able to
(20) Timoshenko, G.-Rogozenko, D. win such positions.
Cappelle la Grande , 1998 87.Bb6 Ra6 88.Bg1 Ra2+ 89.Kc3 Ra3+ 90.Kc2 c3?
remature... Not the first time, not the last one...
91.Kd3! Ra1 92.Be3 Re1 93.Bb6 Rc1 94.Be3 Re1 95.Bb6 6.Bh5 [White has so many options here, but every one of
Rb1 96.Ba5 Rb3 97.Bxc3 Ra3 98.Kd2 Kc4 99.Bg7 and it them is losing: 6.Bg8 6...Ke4i; 6.Bc4 6...Ke4i; 6.Bb3
is time to agree a draw. 1/2-1/2 6...Rd2+i; 6.Ba2!? 6...Ke5! (6...Rd2+ 7.Kf3 Rxa2?=) 7.Bb1
(7.Bg8 7...Ke4i; 7.Bc4 7...Ke4i; 7.Bb3 7...Rd2+i; 7.Kf3
(22) Okhotnik, V.-Cvetkovic, Sr 7...Rd3+i) 7...Rd6! 8.Kf3 (8.Bh7 8...Rh6! 9.Bb1 Rb6 10.Bh7
Rb2+ 11.Kf3 Rb3+ 12.Kf2 f3! 13.Kg3 Rb7i) 8...Rh6! 9.Kf2
Satu Mare , 1985 Rb6 10.Bh7 Rb2+ 11.Kf3 Rb3+ 12.Kf2 f3! 13.Kg3 Rb7 14.Bc2
(14.Bd3 14...Kd4 / Ke3i) 14...f2! (14...Rf7! 15.Kf2 Kf4 16.Bd1
Kg4 17.Bc2 Rb7i) 15.Kg2 Kf4 / Ke3i]
6...Rh7 7.Bd1 [7.Be8 7...Kg4i]
7...Rh2+ 8.Kf3 Ra2 9.Bc2+! Trying a stalemate chance.
[9.Be2 9...Ra3+ 10.Kf2 Ke4i]
9...Kg5 10.Bd1 Ra3+ 11.Kf2
Now we can show the correct technique.

2...Rc5 3.Bg8 [3.Bb3 3...Ke4i; 3.Bf3 3...Rc2+ 4.Be2
Ke4i; 3.Bb7 3...Rc2+ 4.Kf3 Rc3+ 5.Kf2 Kg4i; 3.Bf7! ]
3...Rc8 [Simpler was 3...Rc2+! 4.Kf3 Rc3+ 5.Kf2 f3! 6.Kg3
Ke4 7.Bf7 f2+ 8.Kg2 Ke3]
4.Bd5 Rd8 5.Bf7 Rd7 11...Kh4!! 12.Be2 [12.Kg2 12...Rd3! Controlling the d-file.
13.Ba4 Kg4i]
12...Ra2 13.Kf3 Rxe2! Now it is time to transfer into a pawn
ending, according to Capablanca’s rule.
14.Kxe2 Kg3 0-1
(23) Miladinovic, I.-Beliavsky, A. 2.Bc5 Ke4 3.Kf2 Rc3 4.Ba7 Rc2+ 5.Kf1 Rc6 6.Kf2 1/2-1/2
Ohrid, 2001
(24) Beliavsky, A.-Haba, P.
Koszalin , 1998
But when there are multiple choices, even great players

sometimes mix up winning and drawish positions.
Knowledge of precise theoretical positions is the key It is very strange that such a great player decided correctly a
instrument for all players. few years before this game!
1...gxf3? [Correct was 1...Rxf3+ 2.Kg2 Rd3 3.Bc7 (3.Bf8 65.Rxf6 [After 65.gxf6+? the game is just a draw: 65...Kf7
3...g3 4.Kh3 Kf4) 3...Kg5! As in previous examples, the right 66.Kg5 Bb3 67.Rb4 Bd5 68.Rb5 Bc4 69.Rb7+ Kf8 70.Kg6
position of the king just wins! 4.Be5 (4.Bg3 4...Rd2+ 5.Kf1 Bd3+]
Kf5 / Ke4) 65...Be2 66.Kg3 Bd3 67.Kf4 Bb1 68.Rd6 Bc2 69.Kg4
Be4
4...Rd5! 5.Bc7 (5.Bc3 5...Kf4; 5.Bg7 5...Rd2+ 6.Kg3 Rd3+

7.Kg2 g3! / Kg4) 5...Rd2+ 6.Kg3 Rd3+ 7.Kg2 Kh4 8.Ba5 g3] 70.Rd4! As in all similar cases, the rook has to be placed
on the fourth rank- from where it cuts the opponent’s bishop 13.Bxg2 [13.Bd5 13...Rg6i]
maximally. 13...Rh6+ 14.Kg1 Kg3 0-1
70...Bc2 71.Rd7+ Kg6 72.Rd6+ Kg7 73.Kh5 1-0
(26) Kovalev, V.-Dubov, D.
(25) Bednarski, J.-Hecht, H.-J. EICC 2015 Jerusalem, 2015
Wijk aan Zee II , 1973
80...Kb4 81.Bd4 Rf4 [A simpler technique was 81...Rh5

9...Rb1+ 10.Kg2 Rb2+ 11.Kg1 g2! 12.Kh2 With the knight 82.Kb2 Rh2+ 83.Kb1 b2 84.Ka2 Rc2! Preparing a cage for
pawn this maneuver doesn’t save the game. the king. 85.Be5 b1=Q+ 86.Kxb1 Kb3 87.Bb8 Rc8 88.Ba7
Ra8 89.Bb6 Ra6 90.Be3 Re6 Completing the winning plan.]
82.Be5 Re4 83.Bg7 Rf4 84.Be5 Rf5 85.Bd4 Ka3 86.Bb2+
Ka4 87.Bd4 Kb4 88.Kb2 Rf1 89.Bc3+ Kc4 90.Be5 Rf2+
91.Kb1 Kb5 [91...b2 92.Ka2 Rc2]
92.Bd4 Rg2 93.Bf6 Re2 94.Bg7 Kb4 95.Bf8+ Kc4
96.Bg7
12...Rb6 [There are a few other ways here, like cutting the
king and transposing into a famous winning position with
rook against bishop. 12...Rf2 13.Bd5 g1=Q+ 14.Kxg1 Kg3
15.Bb7 Rb2 16.Be4 Re2 17.Bd3 Re1+ 18.Bf1 Rc1]
88.Rb3 Kf5 89.Rg3 Bg7 90.Rg2 Kf4 [Better was 90...Ke6 ]
91.Rxb2 Kg5 92.Rg2+ Kh6 93.Kc2 Bf6 94.Kd3 Kg7
95.Ke4 Bc3 96.Kf5 Ba1 97.Rd2 Bc3 98.Rd7+ Kg8
99.Ke6 Bb2 100.Rd3 Kg7 101.Kf5 Kg8 102.Rb3 Bd4
103.Kg5 Be5 104.Re3 Bb2 105.Re8+ Kg7 106.Kf5 Bc3
107.Rd8 Bb2 108.Rd7+ Kg8 109.Rc7 Bd4
96...b2 Finally!
97.Ka2 Rg2 [The black player did not know the direct way
here! 97...Rc2 98.Bf6 b1=Q+ 99.Kxb1 Kb3]
98.Bf6 Rh2 99.Be5 Rf2 100.Bg7 Kd3 101.Kb1 Rf7
102.Be5 Rb7 103.Bf6 Kc4 104.Bxb2 Kb3 105.Be5 Re7
106.Bg3 Re3 107.Bf2 Rf3 0-1
110.g7 This move was finally found as it was the last chance
(27) Bruzon, L.-Fridman, D. for White! We saw poor knowledge of main positions in the
36th Olympiad, 2004 endgame even among top players!!
110...Kh7 111.Ke6 Kg8 [111...Bxg7 112.Kf5 (112.Kf7 )
112...Kh6]
112.Rb7 Bc3 113.Kf5 Kh7 114.Rf7 Bd4 115.g8=Q+ Kxg8
116.Kg6 Bg1 117.Rf1 Bh2 118.Rh1 Bg3 119.Rh3 Bd6
[119...Bf2 120.Rh2 (120.Rc3 120...Kf8 121.Rf3+) 120...Bg3
121.Rg2]
120.Rd3 Be7 121.Rc3 1-0
79.Ke4 Kc7 80.Rb3 Kd6 81.Kd3 Be5 82.Kc2 Ke6 83.Rf3

Bd4 84.Rf1 Be5 85.g6 Bf6 86.Kb1 Ke7 87.Rf3 Ke6 [Better
was 87...Bd4 88.Rf7+ Ke8 (88...Ke6 89.Rb7 Be5 90.g7)
89.Kc2 Be5 90.Rf1 Bd4 and it is still not easy to win.]
(28) Timofeev, A.-Inarkiev, E. (29) Ilincic, Z.-Korchnoi, V.
Moscow RUS, 2008 GM, 2008
This is a good example on how to break a blockade of the 77.Bd2 Rg4 78.Be1 Re4 79.Bf2 Rf4 [79...b4 80.Bg1 Kc6
pawn at an early stage. 81.Ka4 Re1 82.Bf2 Rb1]
101.Kb4 Be6 102.Kc3 Ke5 103.Kd3 Kf6 104.Ra7 Kg5 80.Ba7 Kc6 81.Bg1 b4! The same as in previous
105.Ke3 Kf5 106.Kf3 Bd5+ 107.Kf2 Be6 108.Ra5+ Kg4 annotations.
109.Rc5 Bb3 [109...Bd7 110.Rc4+ Kg5 111.Kf3] 82.Ka4 Rf1 83.Be3
110.Re5 Bg8 [110...Bc2 111.Rb5 Bd1 112.Rb1 Bc2 113.Rb4+
Kg5 114.g4 Kh4 115.Kf3 Bd1+ 116.Kf4 Bxg4 117.Rb8]
111.Re4+ Kg5 112.g4 Kh4 As we mentioned before, this
typical move does not save the game because of the mate
threats in the end.
113.Ke3 Kg5 114.Rd4 Be6 115.Kf3 Kh4 116.Kf4! Bxg4
117.Rd8 1-0
83...b3 [Or 83...Rb1 ]

84.Ka3 Kd5 85.Kb2 Kc4 86.Bh6 Rf2+ 87.Kb1 b2! Great
player know this maneuver very well!
88.Ka2 Kc3 89.Bg7+ Kc2 90.Bxb2 Rf8 0-1
(30) Suetin, A.-Smejkal, J. (31) Khalifman, A.-Leko, P.
Sochi , 1973 Budapest (m/3) , 2000
59.Kg1!! Here White tries to get a drawish endgame. 54...Bh4 [Another way was 54...Be3 55.Rh7 Bd2 56.g7
[59.Kf3? 59...Ng4!e; 59.Kf1 59...Ng4! 60.Ke1 Rxf2 61.Rd4! Bg5!=]
Rf3! 62.Bxf5 Rxf5 63.Rxg4 Kg6!i] 55.Rh7 Bg5 56.g7! h5! The only chance to save the game
59...g4 60.Kf1 f4 61.Ke1 Ra2 62.Rd4! g3 63.fxg3 fxg3 here is to use one’s own passed pawn with stalemate defense.
64.Kf1 Rd2 65.Rd6 Ne4 66.Bxe4! = Rxd6 67.Kg2 Re6 57.Rxh5 Bf6! This move saves the game!
58.Rh3 Bxg7 59.Ke7 Bb2 60.Rb3 Bd4 61.Rd3 Bb2
62.Rg3+ Kh7 63.Ke6 Kh6 64.Kf5 Kh7 65.Rg6 Bc3
66.Kg5 Bb2 67.Kh5 Bc3 68.Rg2 Bd4 69.Rd2 Bc3 70.Rc2
Ba1 71.Rc7+ Kg8 72.Rd7 1/2-1/2
68.Bf5 Now White is able to win the passed pawn with the
typical rook cut.
68...Re3 69.Bg4! Kf6 70.Bf3 Kg5 71.Kxg3 Rb3 72.Kf2
Kf4 73.Ba8 Rb2+ 74.Kf1 1/2-1/2
Chess and the City. Sergey: Once I went to China and there I drank the blood of
the snake and turtles and another very interesting experience
Interview with GM Sergei Tiviakov was to go caving in Mexico and Iran.
E: Did not you catch any food poisoning from drinking blood
from such animals?
Sergey: Luckily not from drinking blood from snakes and
turtles but food poisoning happens quite often in poor
countries with bad hygiene.
E: In 1994 was the last time you played for the Russian
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz National team. Nowadays they are objectively the strongest
Best rating: 2493 chess nation in the world. However, they haven’t won any
Olympic gold medal for more than a decade. Do you have an
Sergei is one of the leading Dutch players and a well-known explanation as to why?
GM in the chess arena. Many active players regard him as a
guru on all topics related to the Scandinavian defense and the Sergey: The level of chess has increased dramatically in the
Alapin variation of the Sicilian. Moreover, amateurs who look last years and in any tournament or round or concrete game
for entertaining tournaments in exotic locations can surely anything can happen. On paper a weaker player can beat any
benefit from reading his colorful reports, which never lack stronger player. So there is nothing surprising in that.
in beautiful pictures. Today he is a welcome guest in my E: But if we look at Armenia for instance, they won the Chess
home here in Erfurt, and I took the chance to ask him a few Olympiad 3 times in the last 10 years, so there should be some
questions: explanation for their success. Also statistically Russia should
E: You have travelled the world, and have probably been have won at least one gold medal after their last victory in
to Germany hundreds of times. Which city or Land has Bled 2002.
impressed you most? Sergey: It also depends on the status of chess in the society
S: I think Hamburg impressed me most, where I also spent and the recognition that you get for victories. Although the
most of the time in Germany. In Germany I played only a few status of chess is high in Russia, it cannot be compared with
tournaments, mostly in Neustadt an der WeinstraSSe, which the status of chess in the Caucasus, where the victors in
is rather small and not too exciting but has good vineyards. In the team tournaments are treated like national heroes. So
Hamburg I saw a lot as I usually go there to record DVDs for the players have much higher motivation to win the team
Chessbase. tournaments and also you have to take into account that
all Russian players are already acknowledged players with
E: You are well-known as a globetrotter. Which is the weirdest high status. So they do not even try to perform above their
place, or situation, you have found yourself in?
expectations. Surprise section / study
E: Since 1999 you are an official member of the Dutch national
team. If you compare both teams regarding mentality, (32) Chekhover
discipline and team spirit, what are the biggest differences? 1. h
Sergey: There is not any pressure on the Dutch team to fight
for the medals because it is quite difficult to be on equal terms
with teams like Russia for example. In a certain sense our
team is an amateur team and for Russia every result besides
the first place is considered a huge disappointment.
E: How do you evaluate or see the current political situation
in Russia?
Sergey: Because of the unjust sanctions of the United States
and the European Union the economical situation in Russia
has become much worse than before. Also the fall of the
oil price contributed to that. But I hope that the European
Union will sooner or later understand that the sanctions
should be abolished and gradually the economical situation
will improve.
E: Thank you for the interview.
Solutions (34) Giri, A(2793)-Grischuk, A(2771)
Sinquefield Cup, 2015.08.23
(33) Aronian, L(2765)-Caruana, F(2808)
Sinquefield Cup, 2015.08.23
29.Rxa6! Qxa6 30.Nbc4!h

(35) Dubov, D(2654)-Motylev, A(2658)
28.Rf1!! [28.Qf7+ 28...Kh6! 29.Qxf5 Qxg5 30.Qxc2k]
28...Qf6 [28...Bg6 29.Rf7+! Kg8 30.Qh6 Bxf7 31.Qxh7+
Kf8 32.Qxf7#]
29.Ne6+ [29.Rxf5! 29...Qxf5 30.Ne6+ Kf6 (30...Rxe6
31.Qxf5h) 31.Qxe8h]
29...Rxe6 30.Rxf5 Qg6 31.dxe6 [31.Rg5h ]
31...Qxh5 32.Rxh5h Nd4 33.e7 Ra8 34.Rxe5 Re8
35.Re4 Nf5 36.Be6 Nd6 37.Bd7 Nxe4 38.Bxe8 Kf6
39.Bg6 1-0
25...Nxa4! 26.Qxb6 [26.bxa4 26...Qxf2 27.Rxf2 Rxe4!e]

26...Nxb6e
(36) Goryachkina, A(2474)-Pogonina, N(2460) (38) Swiercz, D(2617)-Antonio, V(2255)
Russian Woman Championship, 2015.08.19 Abu Dhabi Masters, 2015.08.23
33...Rd2+? [33...Rxc5!! 34.Rxc5 Rd2+ 35.Kg3 (35.Kg1 31.Qxe7! 1-0 [31.Qxe7 31...Rxe7 32.Ra8+h]
35...Qd6!i; 35.Kh3 35...Qf8!!i) 35...Qd6+ 36.Kh4 (39) Kryvoruchko, Y(2697)-Vaibhav, S(2552)
Qxc5i]
Abu Dhabi Masters, 2015.08.24
34.Kg3 Rxc5 35.Qe6!k
(37) Istratescu, A(2619)-Degraeve, JM(2551)
30.Nf6+!! gxf6 [30...Rxf6 31.Bxf6 gxf6 (31...Bf4 32.Rd8+h)

32.Rxd6h]
31.g7 Rf7 32.Qxh6h
30.Rc7! 1-0 [30.Qxh6h ; 30.Rc7 30...Rxd2 31.Rcxg7+ Kf8
(31...Kh8 32.Nf7#) 32.Rf7#]
(40) Fridman, D(2639)-Svane, R(2531) (42) Zhao Jun(2621)-Wei Yi(2706)
German Masters, 2015.08.21 Chinese league, 2015.08.21
47.c7! a1=Q 48.c8=N+! Rxc8 49.bxc8=N+h 1-0 34...Ng3+!! 35.Qxg3 [35.hxg3 35...Qh6#]
[49.bxc8=Qh ] 35...Bxg3 36.b8=Q+ Kg7i 37.h3 Qh4! 38.Rgd1 [38.Qe8
(41) Svetushkin, D(2580)-Ganguly, S(2631) 38...Qxh3+ 39.gxh3 Rh2#]
Spanish league, 2015.08.21 38...Bf4!! 39.Rxd2 Qg3! 40.Kg1 Qh2+ 41.Kf1 Qh1+ 0-1
[41...Qh1+ 42.Ke2 Qxg2+ 43.Kd3 Qxd2#]
16.Nxc6! Qxc6 17.Nxd5!! Rxd5 [17...Bxd2 18.Ne7+ Kf8

19.Nxc6h]
18.Qxd5 Qxd5 19.Rxd5h
(43) Bouwmeester
1.Qb2!! [1.Qc2 1...Rd2! i 2.Qb2 Ng5+ 3.Kg3 Rxb2i]

1...Rd2 [1...Rf2+ 2.Qxf2 Nxf2 3.Kxf2 Ke4 4.Ke2 d4 5.exd4
Kxd4 6.Kd2 Kxc5 7.Kc3=; 1...Rxb2= ]
2.Qc2! Kg5 [2...Ke6 3.Qa4=]
3.Qb2!!=
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
It is now all about the World Cup 2015 in Baku, with an
amazingly strong line-up ( just 3 players from the Top 20 are
Editorial Preface 2 missing: Carlsen, Anand and Li Chao).
Just one round has been played and we already have a lot of
surprises. Grischuk, Giri and Gelfand started with just a draw
and Dominguez even lost the first game of the match!
Of course the rating favorites managed to win most of their
Young & Talented 10 games, but in some match-ups the rating difference was just
too huge for the underdog to put up a fight.
Puzzle section 12 The most interesting fights are in the middle of the field,
where players with more or less the same rating are
Endgame section 15 competing against each other.
Many Chinese players have done very well by winning the first
Golden knowledge 19 rounds game, such as Lu Sheilong against Moiseenko or Wen
Yan against Kovolenko and we are not speaking about the
"Top Chinese" players like Ding Liren, Yu Yanyui or Wei Yi.
Chess and the City.
German Wedding Traditions 27 The other event of interest this week is the World Junior
Championship in Khanty-Mansiysk. After 9 rounds in the
Open section the Polish player Jan Krzysztof Duda is leading
the event with 7/9. In the girls section Zhansaya Abdumalik is
showing no mercy and is on 8/9. A total of 13 rounds will be
Surprise section / study 32 played.
We hope you all enjoy following the World Cup and we can
Solutions 32
definitely look forward to some exciting games and especially
tie-breaks, where nerves play an important role!
Two best games of the past week for long. The d4 pawn should not be taken, because Qxd4
drops material after Bxc6 intermediate check, while Nxd4
ruins his own pawn structure after taking on b7.
(1) Wojtaszek, Radoslaw (2746) 8...Qd7 9.e3 O-O-O This is the idea of the entire setup of
- Jakubowski, Krzysztof (2562) Black. It looks scary to castle in the long diagonal, but it
[E04] takes time to organize the attack and meanwhile Black aims
GM Csaba Balogh to create counterplay either with h5-h4 or in the center with
TCh-POL Ekstraliga 2015(6.3), Best rating: 2672 e5. Obviously after some calm development with Be7 and 0-0,
2015.09.06 White simple wins back the c4 pawn and gets a comfortable
advantage thanks to the g2 bishop.
Radoslaw Wojtaszek introduces a strong novelty against a 10.Nd2 [The alternative is 10.Qa4 after which Black plays
recently popular line of the Catalan opening, which seems to 10...Nd5 11.Qxc4 h5 followed by h4 and f5 (consolidating the
create real difficulties for Black. outpost of the d5 knight) and g5-Qh7. Looks slow, but actually
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Not the standard moveorder, White is also far away with his attack.]
but we have reached the initial position of the Catalan 10...e5 11.Nxc4 exd4
opening by transposition.
4...dxc4 5.Bg2 Bd7 Quite an unlogical move I must say.
Black gives up his light squared bishop and gives complete
control on the long diagonal to the one on g2 for winning
some tempi in the development.
6.Ne5! Bc6 7.Nxc6 Nxc6 8.O-O
12.Qa4! This is basically the novelty against which it is

not easy to find a proper reaction as Black. [The highest
level game continued with 12.exd4 12...Qe6 13.Qa4 Rxd4
14.b3 Black seems to be in trouble, because Be3 is coming
with tempo and the attack seems to be decisive, but hehas
14...Ne4! 15.Bb2 Nc5 traps the queen 16.Qxc6 bxc6 17.Bxd4
Ne4 18.Rae1 f5 19.f3 Qd5 and Black was just in time to
Black is temporarily up a pawn, but the one on c4 will not last consolidate in Giri-Harikrishna, Biel 2014.]
12...d3 Black solves the tension in the center, but it also gives 13...Bc5 14.Bd2! Simple and strong. White does not need
free hand to build an attack for White. Black is a pawn up, but to hurry with finding compensation for the pawn. He slowly
with queens in board, White has a very strong compensation wants to bring his rook to c1 or sometimes to play b4-b5 with
against the king on c8. The power of the g2 bishop is getting tempo, increasing the pressure on the queenside.
more sensible. [The most natural move to me was 12...Bc5
developing, protecting the a7 pawn and threatening with
dxe3 as White would prefer to take this back with the bishop.
However, most probably the preparation of Wojtaszek has
continued with
14...Nd5 [I tried 14...Kb8 but White has a comfortable

choice here between 15.Bxc6 simplification to a favorable
endgame... (Or 15.b4 15...Bb6 16.b5 Ne7 17.Bc3c looks also
very strong. The white pieces are just too active and he soon
wins back the d3 pawn.) 15...Qxc6 16.Qxc6 bxc6 17.b4 Bb6
13.b4! sacrificing another pawn in order to open the b-file, 18.a4! It is important to send the bishop first to a7 because
making the b7 square more vulnerable with the bishop on g2. of the following line 18...a6 19.a5 Ba7 20.Ne5 Rd5 21.Nxc6+
13...Nxb4 14.Qb3 I tried different defenses, but none of them Kb7 22.Nxa7 Kxa7 23.Bc3c and Bd4 next followed by taking
turned out to be adequate. 14...Qe6 (14...dxe3 15.Bxe3 Bxe3 on d3 leaves White with an extra pawn.]
16.fxe3 c5 17.a3 Nc6 (17...Qd3 18.Qa4 Qxc4 19.axb4AThe
15.Rac1 Kb8 16.Qb3 [It seemed to be even stronger to play
lines are opening and the black king is getting weaker in
16.Na5 16...Bb6 (The tactical point is, Black cannot trade the
each move. He cannot last for long.) 18.Rab1A looks also
pieces with 16...Nxa5 because he loses a piece after 17.Qxd7
more than dangerous.) 15.Ba3 b5 is a concrete line, but
Rxd7 18.Rxc5h doubleattack.) 17.Nxc6+ bxc6 18.Bc3c and
Black fails to trade queens, which would solve his problems...
Black is in big positional trouble. White wins back the pawn
16.Bxb4 Bxb4 (16...bxc4 17.Qa3 Bxb4 18.Qxb4c) 17.Qxb4
next move and he keeps all the structural and strategical
Qxc4 18.Qa3 Qa4 19.Qc5Awith full compensation for the
advantages he had before.]
pawns against such a weak king.]
13.Rd1 [Actually, I don’t see anything wrong with 13.b4!? The
pawn cannot be taken and otherwise White pushes b5 next
and the a7 pawn is hanging.]
16...Qe6 the b4 square for the knight and after 20.Bxa5 Nxe3! creates
counterplay. The rook on c4 prevents also this tactical idea.]
19...c5 [19...Ka8 20.Rdc1h]
20.Re4 Qd6 21.a4! The story is not the same anymore as it
was 2 moves before. Black has no tricks after 21...a5 22.Bxa5
and otherwise White traps the bishop with a5 next move. The
only move to delay it was
21...Nb4 22.Bxb4 cxb4 23.Rxb4 White just restored the
material balance, but his position is completely winning. The
principle says, that in case of opposite colored bishops, the
17.Ne5 White could not increase the pressure anymore, it was
side is better who is more active. The black bishop on b6 is
time to gain some concrete benefits.
not doing anything, the e3 pawn is safely protected, the d3
17...Bb6 [If 17...Nxe5 18.Rxc5 c6 19.e4 seems to win a piece on pawn is well blockaded, while on the other side, the b8 king
the spot, because after trading the queens the e5 is hanging, is naked and is under the attack of all the white pieces. a5 is
but Black has 19...Qd6! 20.Ra5! Nc7 If the knight goes the concrete threat.
some other place, Rxe5 Qxe5 Bf4 wins. 21.Bb4 Qf6 22.f4
Ng4 23.Bc5 and again Black ends up in trouble. 23...a6
24.Qb6h]
18.Nxc6+ bxc6
23...Qc5 [23...a5 24.Rb5 and Black has no defense against

Rxa5, even after 24...Ka7 25.Rxa5+ works 25...Bxa5
26.Qb7#]
24.Rb5 [Another pretty win was 24.a5 demonstrates well how
19.Rc4! A subtle move! White again continues his previous vulnerable the black king in reality is 24...Qxa5 25.Ra4 Qc5
strategy to increase the pressure as much as possible instead
of trying to do something concrete. The threat is to play Rdc1
or a4-a5. [On the direct 19.a4 Black could play 19...a5 getting
(2) Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (2736)
- Idani, Pouya (2569) [D05]
FIDE World Cup 2015(1.19),

Best rating: 2737
We are in the first knock-out match of the World Cup 2015

26.Rxa7! Kxa7 27.Ra1+h and mate either on a8 or on b7.] in Baku. Everyone has the same goal, to get into the Final,
24...Qc2 25.a5 wins the piece. All the white pieces are which would guarantee the participation in the Candidates
protected each other. Tournament. In the first round a lot of matches have a
clear favorite, but in a 2 games match anything can happen,
25...c6 26.Rb4 Black resigned. [Another stylish way to win which is why it is extremely important to start well and
was 26.Rxb6+ 26...axb6 27.Qxb6+ Kc8 28.Bh3+ Rd7 29.a6! Mamedyarov is doing it the right way. We are going to see a
Qxd1+ 30.Kg2h and Black has no defense against a7 or clear domination in understanding and precise finishing by
Qb7xd7.] 1-0 the Azeri Super GM. A very nice game to take notes from.
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 Hard to call this move a "preparation"
but on the other it is quite common for a strong player to try
and avoid the preparation of the "weaker" one in order not to
run into some deep analyses where the strenght of play would
not matter any longer.
3...e6 Black could have continued with 3...Bf5 or just 3...c6
but Idani was probably not ready to play the Slav defense
which would appear after 4.c4.
4.Bd3 Be7 A slightly strange move order. Usually Black
chooses to play 4...c5 and then to see where to put the bishop,
on e7 or d6. Usually it is a better idea to keep the bishop on d6
in connection with Nbd7 and on e7 in connection with c5-Nc6.
5.b3 b6 Black keep s on copying White’s moves. which will
give White a small opening plus- something that should not
happen in a normal case after a move like 3.e3.
6.Bb2 Bb7 7.Nbd2 Nbd7 In my opinion Black should have now at least.
tried the c5 move and then Nc6, which is a better setup. 14...c5? This is already a blunder. [Black should have tried
8.O-O O-O 9.c4 Now White has some opening advantage. to just be solid with 14...Rac8 15.Ndf3 (Of course White can’t
play 15.Nc6? since after 15...Bxh2+! it is already him who
is losing. 16.Kxh2 Qh4+ 17.Kg1 Qxf2+) 15...c5 With a better
position for White, but the fight has just begun.]
9...Ne4 and this is another very risky move for Black. In the
future Idani’s idea is clearly to play f5, but it will weaken a lot
of squares and give White some tactical motifs.
15.Nxe4!! Mamedyarov doesn’t miss his chance to almost
10.Rc1 The rook clearly belongs to the c-file.
finish the game.
10...Bd6 Why play Be7 in case you want to play Bd6 later?!
15...fxe4 16.Bxe4! This was White’s idea. Now we can see
This is not a good idea.
how useful the rook on d1 is.
11.Qc2 White wants to provoke Black into playing f5 and then
16...dxe4 Black has no choice.
put some more pressure on the c-file.
17.Nxd7
11...f5 The provocation has worked.
12.Rfd1 A very solid move, but maybe not the best. [12.cxd5!
looks very logical. 12...exd5 13.Ne5 Putting Black under a lot
of pressure. 13...Qe7 14.Ndf3 Black can n ever take on e5
because of the weak c7 pawn and White is just planning to
play Nc6 or Bb5 next. It is clear that White should be clearly
better here.]
12...Qe7 The queen is well placed on e7.
13.cxd5 exd5 14.Ne5 This is clearly White’s main idea, but
now we can see that a move like Rfd1 is not really useful- for 17...Qxd7? After this move Black’s hopes are all gone. [The
only move was 17...Rf5 but after 18.dxc5 bxc5 19.Qc4+ Kh8 25...Rf7 One of Black’s main problems still remains- the very
and the exchange sacrifice 20.Rxd6 Qxd6 21.Nxc5 Black is bad bishop on b7 against the great white bishop on b2.
also in deep trouble. White has 2 pawns for the exchange and 26.Qe8+ Rf8 27.Qa4 Now of course White is already
the bishop on b2 is a beast. Black still has some chances to threatening to play Bd4 and win the a7 pawn.
fight, but White is clearly better.]
27...a6 28.Qc4+ Rf7 In case of 28... Kh8 White would win
18.dxc5 Bxh2+ [Not better is 18...bxc5 19.Be5 and Black can’t with 29.Qc7!, attacking the g7 pawn.
defend the d6 bishop in a nice way. 19...Rf6 20.Bxf6 gxf6
21.Qxc5 Rd8 22.Qxa7 White has 3 pawns for the rook vs 2 29.Rd1 The c8 square is protected by the bishop on b7, so
black bishops, which gives White a totally winning position.] White is going for the d8 one.
19.Kxh2 Qc7+ 20.Kg1 Rac8 Black is hoping to escape into 29...Qc7 30.Qe6 Of course not exchanging the queens.
an opposite colored bishop endgame, but it is only possible 30...Qe7 and in a bad position Idani blunders again. [30...h6
in theory. 31.Rd6 would keep the game alive for a couple of more moves,
21.Qc4+ Rf7 22.cxb6 Very simple and strong. but the result would probably be the same.]
22...Qxb6 [In case of 22...Qxc4 23.Rxc4 Rxc4 24.bxc4 axb6
25.Rd8+ Rf8 26.Rd6 White would collect the b6 pawn and
just be 2 pawns up in a winning endgame.]
23.Qa4 With the idea of playing Bd4 at some point and win
the a7 pawn.
23...Rcf8 Attacking the f2 pawn.
24.Rd7 Exchanging one pair of rooks.
24...Rxd7 [24...Rxf2 25.Rxg7+ Kh8 26.Rxb7+ and the game
31.Ba3! It is all over. Of course Black can’t play 31...Qxe6
is over.]
because of 32.Rd8 Rf8 and 33.Rxf8 mate. A great start
25.Qxd7 for Mamedyarov into the World Cup in his home country
Azerbaidjan. 1-0
Young & Talented 7...d5?! [7...cxd4 8.Qxd4 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Qxa2 10.Rb2
Qe6 11.O-O With a great initiative for the small material
investment.; 7...a6 8.Bxd7+ Bxd7 9.O-O d5 10.Nxd5 e6
11.Qe1!c Naroditsky-Molner 2014]
GM Etienne Bacrot
Best rating: 2749
(3) Duda, Jan Krzysztof (2645)

- Gordievsky, Dmitry (2511) [B51]
World Junior Open 2015(5.2), 8.e6! A great sacrifice to disturb Black’s development.
2015.09.06
8...fxe6 9.O-O Nd6 The best practical move. [9...a6 10.Bxd7+
Bxd7 11.Nxe4 dxe4 12.Ne5 cxd4 13.Nxd7 Kxd7 14.Qxd4+ is
Here is one more game by the 17-year old Jan-Krzysztof just winning for White.]
Duda, the top seed and current leader of the World Junior
10.Bxd7+ The most logic al and human way, taking the
Championship held in Khanty-Mansiysk.
black squares but somehow letting the opponent go out with
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Some years ago this was mostly his pieces. The engine clearly prefers [10.Qe2 For example:
a drawish line but since the reply 3...Bd7 experiences some 10...Nxb5 (10...a6 11.Ba4! b5 12.dxc5 bxa4 13.cxd6c) 11.Qxb5
difficulty it became more fashionable lately. Qxb5 (11...Qc7 12.Qe2 cxd4 13.Nb5c) 12.Nxb5 Kf7 13.Nc7
3...Nd7 4.d4 Nf6 5.e5 A rare move. 5.Nc3 or 5.0-0 are Rb8 14.Re1 cxd4 15.Nxe6]
considered to be the main lines. 10...Bxd7 11.dxc5 Qxc5 12.Be3 Qc7 13.Bd4+=
5...Qa5+ [5...cxd4 seems to be the best answer. 6.exf6 (6.O-O
6...dxe5 7.Nxe5 a6=; 6.Qxd4 6...dxe5 7.Nxe5 a6k) 6...Qa5+
7.Qd2 Qxb5 8.fxe7 Bxe7 9.Nxd4 Qe5+ 10.Qe3 O-O The
bishop pair should compensate for the isolated pawn .]
6.Nc3 Ne4 7.Rb1! This improvement has already been
played. [7.Bd2 7...Nxc3 8.Bxd7+ Bxd7 9.Bxc3 Qa6
Anand-Gelfand 2012.]
19.b4h The most aggressive and expeditive way. I would
probably choose [19.Re3 followed by Ne2 and if 19...d4
20.Rd3!h]
19...d4 20.b5 Qa5 21.Bxd4 The more solid 21.Ne2 was
winning as well.
21...e5 22.Rxe5 e6 23.Qg4 With material up and the attack,
White is of course completely winning.
23...Qa3 24.Re3 Qa5 25.Qxe6+ Bd7 26.Qc4+ Kb8
13...O-O-O I cant understand this move. It is clear that for the 27.Be5+ Ka8 28.Nd5 Rc8 29.Nc7+ Kb8 30.Rd3 Black’s f8
moment Black’s king is much safer in the center and White’s bishop had no chance to go out since the strong 8.e6! move.
task would be much more complicated if his opponent would 1-0
try to go out with his kingside pieces, for example: [13...Rg8
14.Re1 g6 15.Be5 Bh6 16.Qd4 Qc4 and it is not easy to crack
Black’s position.]
14.Re1c Nf5 [14...Kb8 would be the logical follow-up, but
the simple 15.Ng5 wins material.]
15.Be5 Qb6 We can see that Black’s king is in big danger.
16.Nd4 It is a good idea to exchange the only semi-active
black piece.
16...Nxd4 17.Bxd4 Qa6 18.Be5 Be8 [18...b6 Trying to
improve the king’s position on b7 was better even if the
position is very difficult.]
Puzzle section
(4) Caruana, F(2808)-So, W(2779) (6) Dubov, D(2661)-Savchenko, B(2567)
Sinquefield CUP, 2015.09.01 Moscow blitz, 2015.09.06
1. h 1... i
(5) Leiva, G(2400)-Bluebaum, M(2580) (7) Oparin, G(2569)-Andreikin, D(2720)

World Juniors, 2015.09.07 Moscow blitz, 2015.09.06
1... i 1... i
(8) Mozharov, M(2573)-Zvjaginsev, V(2660) (10) Inarkiev, E(2660)-Mozharov, M(2573)
Moscow blitz, 2015.09.06 Moscow blitz, 2015.09.06
1... i 1. h
(9) Zvjaginsev, V(2660)-Dubov, D(2661) (11) Dubov, D(2661)-Malakhov, V(2694)

1. h 1. h
(12) Najer, E(2658)-Savchenko, B(2567)
Moscow blitz, 2015.09.06
1... i
(13) Navara, D(2751)-Matuszewski, M(2463)

Polish league, 2015.09.05
1. h
Endgame section 33...g6! Very nicely played! Black should not allow White to
play h5 and for the future the pawn structure of g6-h5 can be
good.
(14) Navara, David (2728) 34.Rb8 A solid move by Navara. There are no direct threats
- Nabaty, Tamir (2597) but the white rook is nicely placed on b8.
34...Kf6 An extremely risky move. [34...Kf7 is looking much
FIDE World Cup 2015(1.25), safer, not allowing Rf8+.]
Best rating: 2737
35.Rf8+! White is taking his chance.

35...Ke5 The only move, since in case of Kg7 White would just
go Rf4 and the game would be over.
White was putting pressure right away from the opening and 36.bxa4 Rxa4 37.f4+ White has to try this move. Now the a2
finally ended up being a pawn up in a rook endgame, but the pawn is of course getting lost, but Navara is hoping to collect
limited number of pawns give Black good drawing chances. some pawns on the kingside.
Let us take a look at a great defense by Tamir Nabaty. 37...Ke4 38.Rf6 The g6 pawn is lost for sure!
32...a4 A good start, the a-pawn has to be exchanged. 38...Ra3+! An important check! Before taking the a2 pawn
33.Rb5 White wants to force Black into playing axb3 axb3, BBlack is chasing away the white king to h2.
after which the rook endgame might be winning because of 39.Kh2 Rxa2 40.Rxg6 White doesn’t have a better move.
the idea of putting the rook to b8, pawn to b6 and start
running with the king to the b6 pawn. [If White would start 40...Kxf4 Now the big question is, can White take the pawn
with 33.h5 33...axb3 34.axb3 Rb4! would put the white rook on h6 and hope to win the game?
on a passive position. 35.Rc3 Rb5 with good chances to make 41.Kh3 This is probably the best try. [In case of 41.Rxh6
a draw.] 41...Kg4! secures the draw. 42.Rh8 e5 43.h5 Kg5 44.h6 Kg6
and the black king stops the h-pawn while the e-pawn will
start advancing. The position is a draw.]
54...Ke6 Even having the king on f3 doesn’t help...

55.Kf4 Ra5 56.Rh8 Rf5+ The last precise move to secure the
draw.
41...h5 Nabaty continues defending perfectly.
57.Ke4 We just saw a great defense by Black, almost not
42.g3+ Ke4 43.Rxe6+ [43.Rg5 also leads to a draw. 43...Kf3!
giving White any winning chances! 1/2-1/2
44.Rxh5 Ra1 and because there is no check on the f-file the
position is just a draw. 45.Kh2 Ra2+ 46.Kh3 Ra1]
43...Kd4 Black is planning to protect the pawn on h5 by
keeping the rook on the 5th rank.
44.Rg6 Ra5 45.Re6 [45.Rg5 didn’t help since after 45...Re5
46.Rxe5 Kxe5 47.Kg2 Ke4 48.Kf2 Ke5 49.Kf3 Kf5 the pawn
endgame is just a draw.]
45...Re5 Black keeps on waiting.
46.Ra6 Rb5 47.Re6 Kd5 48.Re3 Kd4 49.Re1 Ra5 50.Kg2
White’s only hope is to get his king to f4.
50...Re5 51.Rf1 Kd5 52.Rf6 Re6 53.Rf8 Re5 54.Kf3
(15) Czebe, Attila (2439)
- Derakhshani, Dorsa (2192)
Abu Dhabi Open, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.08.25 Best rating: 2672
The rest is already easy. White only needs to get closer

with his king to the c-pawn and he can get it by putting his
opponent into zugzwang. 47...Kc3 Trying to block the king’s
path towards the pawn, but Black cannot hold his position
for long. (47...c3 48.Kd3h) 48.Ke2 Kb2 Otherwise White
creates zugzwang with Ke3-e2 49.Kd2 c3+ 50.Kd3h]
46...c4! The game is drawn now! The black pawn reaches the
My friend showed me his instructive and study-like endgame c3 square and White cannot get his pawn to a4. We will soon
he just played. At first sight, White is completely winning as realize the point...
he has the light squared bishop which fits to the a8 square.
He also can easily protect the pawn on a2 and the c5 passed
pawn can be easily stopped with the king. We could ask, what
is the problem then with the win?! However chess is a very
tricky game, White has only one winning move here.
46.Kd2? The game is drawn after this most natural move.
[The winning plan was 46.Bd1! the key is to get the pawn
to a4 to avoid the stalemate idea, which occured later in the
game! 46...c4 (46...Ka3 47.Bb3 Kb4 48.Kd3h wins as the
black pawn did not reach the c3 square. White simple waits 47.Kc2 c3 48.Ba6 White has already realized the problems
with his bishop and soon Black finds himself in zugzwang.) and he tries to block the a-pawn, but it does not help
47.a4! anymore. Black sends away the bishop...
48...Ka5 49.Bc8 Kb4 50.Bd7 Ka3 51.Be6 Kb4 [I guess
the players did not agree yet to draw, but it does not change
the evaluation. White cannot make progress because of the
following idea... 51...Kb4 52.Bf7 a5 53.Be6 a4 54.Bf7
54...Ka3!! This is the point! Black has squeezed himself to

the a-file, therefore the pawn on c3 cannot be taken because
of the stalemate! From now on Black just plays the moves
Kb4-a3 and the story will never change. White cannot make
progress as the bishop must defend the a2 pawn and the
king must stay in front of the c3 pawn. The game is drawn!
55.Kxc3=] 1/2-1/2
Golden knowledge 63.Rg7+ Ka8 [63...Kb8 64.Ka6 / 65. Rb7 Kc8 66.Kb6
64...Be3 65.Rb7+ Kc8 (65...Ka8 66.a5 as in the game.)
66.Rb3! Bf2(66...Bd4 67.Kb5 / Kc4; 66...Kc7 67.Rc3+
transferring to the next variation.)
The most complicated win in this endgame is with the a- or

h-pawn. Even top players sometimes don’t remember the
correct maneuver. The main method is still the sacrifice of the 67.Rc3+! Kb8 68.Rf3! Bg1 (68...Bd4 69.Rb3+ Kc7 70.Kb5 /
pawn and creation of a mating net in one case (with one color Kc4; 68...Bc5 69.Rb3+ Kc7 (69...Ka8 70.a5 as in the game.)
of bishop) and careful cutting of the opponent’s king, using a 70.Rc3 Kd6 71.a5) 69.Rb3+ Kc7 (69...Ka8 70.a5) 70.Rb7+
smart tactical maneuver which has to be well remembered. Kc8 (70...Kc6 71.Rb1 Be3 72.Rb3 Bd4 73.Rb4 / Rc4, Kb5)
71.Rb5! Be3 72.Ka5 / Kb4-c4 72...Bd2+ 73.Kb6 Kb8 74.Re5!
(16) Hansen, L.-Romanishin, O.
Preventing the check and White is easily winning.]
Altensteig, 1993
64.Ka6 Be5 65.Ra7+ Kb8 66.Rb7+ Ka8 [66...Kc8 67.Kb6
Bd4+ 68.Kc6 Bc3 69.Rb5 (69.a5 69...Bxa5 70.Ra7)]
Let’s see the correct classical winning way in this position

where thousands of mistakes were committed. 67.a5 The theoretical winning position is reached!
67...Bf4 68.Rf7 Be5 69.Rf8+ Bb8 70.Kb5 Ka7 71.Rf7+ a pawn on a4. Now White’s king can use the a5-square:
Ka8 72.a6 Ba7 [72...Be5 73.a7] 68...Be3+ 69.Ka6 Bd4 70.Rb7+ Kc8 71.Rb5 Kc7 72.Rb3 Bf2
73.Rf8+ Bb8 73.Ka5 Be1+ (73...Bg1 74.Rb5h ) 74.Kb5 Kb7 (74...Bf2
75.Kc4h ) 75.Rf3 The rook dominates the bishop. 75...Bh4
76.a5 Bg5 77.a6+ Ka7 78.Rf7+ Ka8 79.a7 Be3 80.Ka6h;
Moves mentioned before are winning but the most technical
is as in the previuous game. 68.Rb7+ ) 68...Ka8 69.a5
Bh2 70.Ra7+ Kb8 71.Rg7 71...Ka8 72.a6 Be5 73.Ra7+ Kb8
74.Rd7 74...Ka8 75.a7 Bd4+ 76.Ka6 Bb6 77.Re7 Bd8 78.Rg7
Bc7 79.Rg8+ Bd8 80.Rxd8#]
67...Be3+ 68.Ka6 Bf4? [The king must escape from the
corner immediately with 68...Kb8!= ]
74.Ka5! Now the universal triangle maneuver is performed. 69.Rf7 Bh2 70.Ra7+ Kb8 71.Rh7? This allows the bishop
to reach the all important g1-a7 diagonal and misses the last
74...Ka7 75.Rf7+ Ka8 76.Kb6 Be5 77.a7 1-0 chance to win with [71.Rg7 71...Bf4 72.Rb7+ Ka8 73.Re7 Bg3
74.Re8+ Bb8 75.Kb5 Kb7 76.a6+ Ka7 77.Re7+ Ka8 78.Kb6
(17) Gritsayeva, O.-Gaponenko, I. Bg3 79.a7h]
UKR-ch 72nd (Women), 2012 71...Bg1!
[Mueller,Karsten] 72.Rh8+ Kc7 73.Rh1 Be3 74.Rh3 Bf2 75.Rf3 Bg1 76.Rc3+
Kb8 77.Rb3+ Kc8 Black must stay active with her king to
defend the fortress. [77...Ka8? loses to loses to 78.Rg3 Bh2
79.Rg8+ Bb8 80.Kb5 Kb7 81.a6+ Ka7 82.Rg7+ Ka8 83.Kb6
Bf4 84.Ra7+ (84.a7 is also possible immediately.) 84...Kb8
85.Re7 Ka8 86.a7 Be3+ 87.Ka6h]
78.Rb7 Bd4 79.Re7 Kb8 80.Kb5 Bf2 81.Kc6 Ka8 82.a6
Bg1 83.Rb7 Bf2 84.Kb5 Be3 85.Re7 Bf2 86.Rg7 Be3
87.Kc6 Bf2 88.Rg8+ Ka7 89.Rg7+ Ka8 [However, not Nicht
aber 89...Kxa6?? 90.Rg2 Bb6 91.Ra2+ Ba5 92.Ra1h]
67.a5? Now the position is only drawn. With a pawn on 90.Rg2 Be3 91.Re2 Bg1 92.Kb5 Bd4 93.Re7 Bf2 94.a7
a4 White always wins on the other hand. [67.Ra7+ 67...Kb8 Bxa7 95.Ka6 Bb8 96.Kb6 A good try.
68.Re7 (68.Rf7?! would of course be very bad technique,
but still wins. I just want to illustrate the difference with 96...Bg3 [Of course not 96...Bd6?? 97.Ra7+ Kb8 98.Rd7h]
97.Ra7+ Kb8 98.Rf7 [98.Rg7 98...Bf2+=]
98...Ka8 99.Rf3 Bh2 100.Rf8+ Bb8 101.Rf1 Be5 102.Rd1
Bf4 103.Rd3 Bh2 104.Rh3 Be5 105.Rh5 Bf4 106.Rh8+
Bb8 107.Kc6 Ka7 108.Rh7+ Ka8 1/2-1/2
(18) Khenkin, I.-Bartel, M.

Bundesliga , 2012
Now it’s OK to push the pawn - Black should just make sure
that the bishop does not get back to the b8-h2 diagonal.
91.Bc5 h3 92.Ba7 Rg8! 93.Bc5 Rd8 94.Bb4 Rd3 95.Kg1 Rd4
96.Bc3 Re4 97.Kh1 Re2i ) 89...Kh3+ 90.Kf1 Rg6 91.Bc5
Kh2 92.Bd4 Rg5i; 88.Kf3 88...Rg4 89.Bf4 (89.Kf2 89...Kg5
) 89...Kh3 90.Bd6 Rg6 91.Be5 Rg5 92.Bd6 Rf5+i) 88...Rg6!
89.Kf3 Rc6 90.Be5 Rc2 91.Bd4 Rd2 92.Ba1 Kh3i]
87.Bc7 Rg3 88.Kf2 Rg2+ 89.Kf1 Rg3 90.Kf2 Rc3 91.Bb8
Rc1 92.Be5 Rc8 93.Bd6 Rg8 94.Bc7 Rg6 95.Bb8 Kg4
82.Be5 h5 83.Bb8 This is a tricky endgame. In order to win, 96.Kg2 Rc6 97.Be5 Rc2+ 98.Kg1 Kf3 99.Bb8 Rg2+
Black must smoke out the enemy king from h1 and then get 100.Kh1 Rg8 101.Bc7 Rc8 102.Bd6 Rc2 103.Bb8 Rc6
his own king out of h3. That can’t be done with the pawn on 104.Kh2 Rc1 105.Bd6 Kg4 106.Bb8 Rc2+ 107.Kg1 Kh3
h4, so Black must not push his pawn too soon! 108.Bd6 Rc6 109.Bb8 Rf6 110.Bc7 Rf8 111.Bd6 Rc8
112.Kf2 Rg8 113.Bc7 Rg6 114.Bb8 Rg3 115.Bd6 Rg2+
83...Kg4 84.Bd6 Kh3 85.Kg1 Rg2+ 86.Kf1 [With the black 116.Kf1 Rd2 117.Bc7 Rd7 118.Bb8 Re7 119.Bd6 Re8
king on h3 the corner is no longer safe for the white king: 120.Bc7 Rf8+ 121.Kg1 Rc8 122.Bd6 Rc6 123.Bb8 Rb6
86.Kh1? 86...Rd2 87.Bc5 h4 88.Be3 Rd1+ 89.Bg1 Kg4 124.Bc7 Ra6 125.Bb8 Rc6 126.Kf2 Kg4 127.Kg2 Rc1
90.Kh2 h3 91.Be3 Rd3 92.Bg1 Rd2+ 93.Kh1 Kg3 94.Bc5 h2] 128.Bd6 h3+ 129.Kh2 Kf3 130.Be5 Rc2+ 131.Kh1 Kg4
86...h4?? After this move Black can’t win any longer. 132.Bb8 Kf5 133.Bd6 Kg4 134.Bb8 h2 135.Bxh2 Kh3
[86...Rg8! 87.Kf2 Kh4 88.Bc7 (88.Be7+ 88...Kg4 89.Kg1 136.Bg1 Rc1 1/2-1/2
(89.Bd6 89...Kf5 90.Kf3 h4; 89.Kg2 89...Rg6! 90.Kh1 h4
(19) Corrales Jimenez, F.-Mulyar, M. 61...h4?? [The simple winning way was 61...Kh3 62.Bd4
US op 114th, 2013 Rg2+ 63.Kf1 (63.Kh1 63...h4) 63...Kg3 64.Be5+ Kf3 65.Bf6
h4 66.Bxh4 Rh2 67.Bf2 Rh1+ 68.Bg1 Kg3]
62.Bd4 Kh3 63.Be5 Rg2+ 64.Kf1 1/2-1/2
(21) Fraczek, D.-Leniart, A.

POL-chT, 2009
[Mueller,Karsten]
80...Kh3 81.Bd6 Rg2+ 82.Kf1 Rg5 83.Bc7 Rg7 84.Bd6

Kh4 85.Kf2 Kg5 86.Kg2 Rd7 87.Be5 Kg4 88.Kg1 h4
89.Kh2 Rd2+ 90.Kg1 Kh3 91.Kf1 Rg2 92.Bd6 Rg6
93.Bc7 Kg4 94.Kg2 Rc6 95.Be5 Rc2+ 96.Kg1 Rc1+
97.Kg2 h3+ 98.Kh2 Rc2+ 99.Kh1 Kf3 100.Bd6 Rc1+
101.Kh2 Rc6 102.Be5 Rc2+ 103.Kh1 Kg4 104.Bd6 Rc6
105.Be5 Rc1+ 106.Kh2 Rc2+ 107.Kh1 Kf3 108.Bd6 Rc1+ 84.Ba7? [84.Kg1 and White cannot be driven out of his
109.Kh2 Rc2+ 110.Kh1 1/2-1/2 fortress. The king remains on f1, f2 or g2 and the bishop on
the b8-he diagonal.]
(20) Euwe, M.-Hromadka, K. 84...Rh2+ [84...Rc1+ 85.Bg1 Kg4 wins more quickly.]
Bad Pistyan Breyer Memorial-A, 1922 85.Kg1 Ra2? This allows White to get back into the drawing
fortress. [The winning procedure was: 85...Rg2+ 86.Kh1 Rb2
87.Bc5 Rb1+ 88.Bg1 Kg4 89.Kg2 h3+ 90.Kh2 Rb2+ 91.Kh1
Kg3 92.Bd4 Rh2+ 93.Kg1 Re2 94.Kh1 h2 95.Be5+ Kh3
96.Bg3 Rd2 97.Be1 Rb2i]
86.Bb8 Ra1+ 87.Kf2 Ra8 88.Bc7 Rg8 89.Kf1 Rg3 90.Kf2
[Of course not 90.Bxg3?? 90...hxg3 91.Kg1 g2 92.Kf2 Kh2i]
90...Rg7 91.Bd6 Rg8 92.Kf1 Rg6 93.Be5? [93.Bc7= ]
93...Kg4! 94.Bc7 [94.Kg2 94...Kf5+i shows why the
bishop is unfavourably posted on e5.] (23) Tal, M.-Zhidkov, V.
94...Kf3 0-1 URS-ch40, 1972
(22) Vancura
1924
With the bishop of the corner color the business is easy. It is

necessary to sacrifice the pawn correctly and not to allow the
opponent’s king out.
In this kind of position it is necessary to know that if the black 84.Rd6+ Kg7 85.h5 Be3 86.Rg6+ Kh7 87.Rf6 Kg7 88.Kf5
bishop will come on the diagonal b1-h7 then it will be a draw! Bd2
So White has to try to prevent it and to play h6-h7 with the
king on g5 (h5).
1.Rg2 Bd1 [1...Bb5 2.Rd2 Bc6 3.Rd4 Kh7 4.Kf6]
2.Rd2! [2.Kf6 2...Bf3 3.Rd2 Be4 and on this diagonal it is a
draw!]
2...Bf3 3.Rd4! Kh7 4.Kf6 Bc6 5.Kg5 Be8 6.Re4 Bb5
7.Re7+ Kh8 8.h7!
89.h6+! Bxh6 [89...Kh7 90.Rg6 Be3 91.Rg7+ Kxh6 92.Rg6+

Kh7 (92...Kh5 93.Rg3 Bf2 94.Rh3+ Bh4 95.Rh2) 93.Kf6 Bd4+
94.Kf7 With the classical win. ]
90.Rg6+! Kh7 91.Kf6 Be3 92.Kf7 Now the king is cut off
and the win is easy.
92...Ba7 93.Ra6 Bb8 94.Ra8 Bc7 95.Rc8 Bf4 96.Rc4 69.Kh2 Kf3 70.Bd5+ Kf2 71.Be6 Kf3 72.Bd5+ Kg4
Bg5 97.Rc3 1-0 73.Be6+ Kh5 74.Bf7+ Kg5 75.Be6 Re3 76.Bd7 Kf4
77.Bc8 Rg3 1/2-1/2
(24) Swinkels, R.-Hachijan, A.
Dieren op, 2010 (25) Timman
1972
Now let us see how young strong players are completing these
techniques. Not every position is won here- a great case found by Jan
65...Kg4 66.Be6+ Kf4 67.Bf7 h4 68.Be6 Timman.
1.Bc8 Rh8 2.Bg4 Kf4 3.Bd7 [3.Bxh3 3...Kf3]
3...Rd8 4.Be6! [4.Bxh3? 4...Rd2+ 5.Bg2 Kg4 6.Kg1 Kg3]
4...Rd6 5.Bc8 Rd3 6.Be6 Rc3 7.Bd7 Rc7 8.Be6 Kf3
68...Rg3+ [Correct was transposing to Tal’s game: 68...h3+

69.Kh2 Rg3 70.Bd5 (70.Bd7 70...Rg2+ 71.Kxh3 Rg3+ 72.Kh2
(72.Kh4 72...Rg7) 72...Kf3 73.Bc6+ Kf2) 70...Kg4 71.Be6+
Kh4 72.Bd5 Rd3]
9.Bf5 [9.Bd5+? 9...Kg4 10.Be6+ Kh4 11.Bxh3 Rc2+ 12.Bg2 (27) Can, E.-Mchedlishvili, M.
Kg4] EU-chT (Men) 18th, 2011
9...Re7 10.Bc8 Re8 11.Bd7 Rf8 12.Be6 Rd8 13.Bf5 Rd2+
14.Kxh3 Rd5 15.Bg4+=
(26) Jurek, J.-Marek, M.

Olomouc IM 2014, 2014
This endgame is won with very precise play.

86.Rb2 Bf3 87.Ra2 Bd5 88.Ra1 Bf7 [88...Bb3 89.Kc6
Bxa4+ 90.Kc5]
89.Kc6 Be8+ 90.Kc5 Bf7 91.Ra3 [A slightly shorter way
was 91.Rf1 91...Bh5 92.Rf2 Bd1 (92...Kxa4 93.Kc4 Ka3
52...Rh6 53.Kc3 Rh3+ 54.Kb2 Kc4 55.Bf8 Rf3 [Once 94.Kc3 Bd1 95.Rf1 Bb3 96.Ra1+ Ba2 97.Kc2) 93.Kc4 Bg4
more Tal’s game is an example: 55...a3+ 56.Ka2 Rb3 57.Bg7 94.Rf4 Be6+ 95.Kc3 Bg8 96.Rf8 Be6 97.Ra8+ Kb6 98.Kb4
(57.Bd6 57...Rb2+ 58.Kxa3 Rb3+ 59.Ka4 Rb6) 57...Kb4] Coming to Tal’s position.]
56.Be7 Kb5 57.Ka2 a3? 58.Bxa3 Now it is a draw! 91...Be6 92.Re3 Bg4 93.Re7 Ka6 94.Kb4 Bf5 95.Rf7 Bg4
58...Ka4 59.Bd6 Rf2+ 60.Kb1 Kb3 61.Kc1 Kc3 62.Be5+ 96.Rf6+ Kb7 97.Ka5 Be2 98.Rb6+ Kc7 [98...Ka7 99.Re6
Kd3 63.Bg7 Rc2+ 64.Kb1 Rc7 65.Bf6 Rb7+ 66.Kc1 Rb3 Bd1 100.Re7+ Kb8 101.Kb5]
67.Be5 Rc3+ 68.Bxc3 Kxc3 1/2-1/2 99.Rb2 Bf1 100.Rb1 Bd3 101.Rd1 Be2 102.Rd2 Bf1
103.Rb2 Bd3
2...Bf5 3.Ra4 [3.Rd4 3...Bxe6 4.Kf3 Kh7]
3...Bxe6 4.Ke3 d4+ 5.Kf4 [5.Rxd4 5...Kh7 6.Kf4 Bb3
7.Kg5 Bc2 The bishop came to the right diagonal and now
it is a draw!]
5...d3 6.Kg5 d2 7.Rd4 Ba2! 8.Rd8+ Kh7 9.Rxd2 Bb1
Mission completed.
10.Rd7+ Kh8 11.Rb7 Bc2 12.h7 Bxh7 13.Kh6 Bg8 14.Rb8
1/2-1/2
104.Kb4! Kc6 [The iea behind all this preparation is this:
104...Kb7 105.Kc3+]
105.Kc3 Bf1 106.Kd4 1-0
(28) Estremera Panos, S.-Sedina, E.

Genova , 2004
Here is a practical example of achieving the right draw in a

theoretical position.
1...Rxg4! [1...Bf3+? 2.Kf2 Rh3 (2...Rxg4 3.Kxf3 Rh4 4.Rg6
Kh7 5.Nf8+) 3.Re7 Bxg4 4.Re8+ Kh7 5.Ng5+ Kg6 6.Rg8+
Kxh6 7.Nxh3h]
2.Rxg4 [2.Ng5 2...Rxg5 3.Rxg5 d4]
Chess and the City. the pros and cons regarding that issue. Fortunately I still
consider myself lucky that he is not an active player anymore,
German Wedding Traditions but a professional researcher into infectious diseases, and
thus there is no danger of facing each other over the board
or getting into any fights connected with chess - at least that
is my belief. But let’s get back to the traditional games of a
German wedding, chiefly wood cutting!

Best rating: 2493
The idea of the game is that the newly-married couple proves

that they can master hard physical exercises together and can
be ready for any tasks in future. Moreover the cutting also
represents an equal balance of both partners in the marriage,
as the cutting only works when both partners alternately pull
and push. The next game (and here I want to mention that
I was the faster one ?) is cutting half each of a heart-shape
out of a bed sheet to represent team work. This way the
couple shows again that they can master a task together.
Basically a similar meaning, the only difference being that
Well the headline says it all - I just got married about a here speed actually matters and you may tease your beloved
week ago. However I did not plan to focus my newsletter about how hopeless he is. ? Besides all that, the event was full
entirely on the most beautiful day of my life, but rather on of chess players from all over the world, and I am very happy
some traditions which are common to my country. Before I and thankful that almost all my most important chess friends
introduce them to you, I shall add that I actually married a were able to join me on the precious day.
chess player, (former Italian national player Iart Luca Shytaj),
remembering that in a previous newsletter of mine I listed
Elisabeth Paehtz
I just wanted to add a brief perspective as one of Elisabeth’s

close friends. The whole day was beautifully and thoughtfully
organised. I say ’thoughtfully’ because every guest was given
a role to play in the festivities, and Lizzy went to some
lengths to describe how she got to know each of us - more
embarrassing for some than others... ? I’ll finish by wishing
the couple a wonderful, fulfilling and happy future together.
Keith Arkell
Clash of the Titans 21.gxf3 Rd8= and being a pawn up has no meaning here.)
12...Be6 13.Bf3 O-O-O 14.Be3 Bd6 15.Rd2 Be5 16.c3 Rd7
17.Rad1 Rhd8 18.Bb6 Bc7 19.Bd4 Black managed to hold the
(29) Blackburne, Joseph Henry weak pawn, but the position is very unpleasant for him.]
- Bird, Henry Edward[B46] 10.Bf3 White gets a huge advantage thanks to his better
development.
Vienna 1st(8),
1882.05.19 10...Be7 11.Re1 Another way which could also bring White
GM Kamil Miton a pawn up was [11.c4!c In my opinion this move was more
Best rating: 2655 accurate.]
11...O-O
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 6.Be2
[6.Nxc6 6...bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.O-O]
6...Nf6 7.O-O
12.Bxd5! Qxd5 13.Nxc6 Qxc6 [13...Qxd1 14.Nxe7+h]

14.Rxe7 Be6?! Black is trying to maybe catch the rook,
but more active was [14...Bf5! 15.Bf4 (15.c3 is too slow,
7...d5 It is too early to fight for the center. Nowdays we know since now the first rank is weak! 15...Rad8 16.Qe2 Be4! V
that the main moves are [7...Qc7 and; 7...d6 ] 17.f3? Qc5+i) 15...Bxc2 16.Qd2 Be4 (16...Rad8 17.Qb4 Rd7
8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 [9.Nxc6 9...bxc6 10.Ne4! and thanks 18.Rae1 Rxe7 19.Rxe7 Re8? 20.Qxb7+=) 17.Rc1 Qg6 18.Bg3
to his better structure White has a typical stable advantage.] Bc6 and Black is very solid.]
9...exd5 Objectively better was [9...Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Qxd5 15.Bf4 Rfd8 16.Qe2 Bd5 [16...Rac8 looks more logical, with
11.Qxd5 exd5 Let’s check how White can develop pressure the threats of Kf8 or Qxc2. 17.Rd1 (17.c3 17...Kf8!) 17...Rxd1+
against the weak d5 pawn. 12.Rd1 (12.Bf3 12...Be6 13.c4 18.Qxd1 h6 Now the pawns on a2 and c2 are hanging. 19.a3
O-O-O 14.cxd5 Bxd5 15.Bg5 f6 16.Rfc1+ Kb8 17.Bxf6 (17.Bf4+ Qe4V]
17...Bd6=) 17...gxf6 18.Rd1 Bxf3 19.Rxd8+ Kc7 20.Rxf8 Rxf8 17.Rc7 Qf6?! [17...Qg6 18.Bg3 Rdc8 19.Rxc8+ (19.Qe7
19...Rxc7 20.Qxc7 Qe4 21.f3 Qd4+) 19...Rxc8 20.Qd2 (20.c3 a draw.) 24.Qg5 Re6! Great! Black not only solves the
20...Bxa2!) 20...Qf5 21.Qa5 h6 22.c3+= (22.Rd1 22...Rxc2=) ] problem with the weakness on g7 but he gets counterplay
18.Qe5 [18.Be5 18...Qg6 19.f4 This kind of move usually against g2!]
cannot be good because now the h1-a8 diagonal is weaker. 22...Rf8 [Easier was 22...Qxc4 23.Rbxb7 Qd5 24.Qxd5
19...f6n] Bxd5=]
18...Qb6 Black is losing time because of the queen jumping 23.Re1 Qxc4
without any sense.
19.c4 Bc6? [19...Be6 20.b3c]
24.Re3 Nice! An additio nal piece joins the attack. I am

impressed by the chess understanding so many years ago.
[24.Qg5!? with the idea Be5. 24...Qd3 25.Re6 Avoiding
20.Qf5?? White could simply win after [20.Be3 20...Qb4
Qg6. 25...h6 26.Rxh6 Rae8 Preventing Be5 and preparing
21.Bd4 Qf8 (21...f6 22.Rxg7+h) 22.Bc5 Qe8 23.Re7h]
counterplay over the first rank . The position is very complex.]
20...Qxb2 21.Rb1 Qd4 So many years ago chess was very
24...Rae8 25.Rg3
sharp game, which is maybe why Black didn’t play more
solidly. [21...Qf6 22.Qxf6 gxf6 White should have no time
to create an attack after Rb3-Bh6 because of the weak back
rank.]
22.h4 A typical move for development initiative. White avoids
mates on the first rank and prepares h5-h6, which can create
additional weak squares. [22.Qxf7+ 22...Kh8 White needs
to avoid Rf8 and Qd1 threats now. 23.Qe7 Re8 (23...Qd1+
24.Qe1 Qxe1+ 25.Rxe1 Rd7! should also be enough. 26.Rxd7
Bxd7 27.f3 (27.Re7 27...Re8=) 27...Re8 28.Rd1 Bc6 White is
pawn up, but because of his bad structure Black should make 25...Re6?? A big blunder. Black should have played
[25...Re1+ 26.Kh2 g6 Black will probably be first with his course both players didn’t see strong moves in many
attack since Qf1 is coming.] important moments but the general play and understanding
26.h5?? Once again White missed an easy win... [26.Rxg7+! of how to develop an initiative was on a high level. 1-0
26...Kxg7 27.Qg4+ Kh8 28.Be5+ Rxe5 29.Qxc4h Black has
no chance to create a fortress.]
26...g6 [26...Re1+ 27.Kh2 Qf1 28.Rxg7+ Kxg7 29.h6+h With
mate to follow.; 26...Qd4!? This is a good place for the queen
to control the important a1-h8 diagonal.]
27.Be5 [27.hxg6 27...fxg6 (27...hxg6 28.Be5 Qc1+ 29.Kh2
Qh6+ 30.Kg1=) 28.Rg7+ Kxg7 29.Bh6+ Kxh6 30.Qxf8+ Kh5
31.Rh3+ Kg5 32.Rg3+ Kh5 33.f4 Qd4+ 34.Kh2 Qf6 35.Rg5+
Qxg5 36.fxg5 Kxg5= Black is not worse here.]
27...Qd5? Decisive mistake,black could save position after

queen exchange [27...Qe4! now white is force to exchange
queens,maybe black didnt see after 28.hxg6 Qe1+! this
important check 29.Kh2 Qxe5 30.gxf7+ Kh8i and rook
rook is pin! white is not able to play Rg8]
28.f4h Qd1+ [28...Qe4 Now it is too late... 29.hxg6 Rxg6
(29...hxg6 30.Qxe6h) 30.Rxg6+ hxg6 31.Qh3h]
29.Kh2 Qd5 30.hxg6 hxg6 31.Qh3 Qxe5 [31...Rxe5
32.Rxg6+!h]
32.fxe5 Kg7 33.Qxe6 An interesting fighting game! Of
(30) Bondarenko (31) Gabuzyan, H(2593)-Jobava, B(2664)
1. h Abu Dhabi Open, 2015.08.25
25...Qf7! 26.Bxa8 Rxa8 27.f4 [27.Qe4 27...d5! 28.Qf3

Rxa7i]
27...Rxa7i
(32) Gupta, A(2619)-Belous, V(2566)
26...Nc4! 27.Rxc4 Bxa1i
(33) Onischuk, V(2618)-Harika, D(2509) (35) Rohan, A(2389)-Gupta, A(2619)
25...Rxf2! 26.Kxf2 Qh2+ 27.Ke3 b5! 28.cxb5 Re8+

24.g6! h6 [24...Qxg6 25.Qxg6 hxg6 26.Rh4#]
29.Re4 Bh6+! 30.Kd4 [30.f4 30...Qxg3+ 31.Ke2 Qg2+
25.Bf4! e5 [25...Qf8 26.Rxe6h Re8 27.Rxe8 Bxe8 32.Ke3 (32.Kd3 32...Qf3+i) 32...Bxf4+! 33.Kxf4 Qf2+
(27...Qxe8 28.Bxh6h) 28.Bd6h] 34.Kg4 Qf5+ 35.Kg3 Rxe4 36.Qa8+ Kg7i]
26.Bxh6! Bf3 27.Bxg7+ Kxg7 28.Qh7+ Kf8 29.Rd7h 30...Qd2+ 31.Kc5 Rc8+ 0-1 [31...Rc8+ 32.Kb6 Qd6+ 33.Ka5
(34) Akopian, V(2647)-Sumets, A(2596) Ra8#]
Abu Dhabi Open, 2015.08.27 (36) Rapport, R(2671)-Sandipan, C(2585)

18.Nxc6 bxc6 19.Rxc6! Rxc6 20.Qb8+ 1-0 [20.Qb8+

34.Nxe6+! Bxe6 35.Bxf5 Rxd2 36.Bxe6h Rf8 37.Qh5
20...Bd8 21.Bg5+ Kf8 22.Bxc6h]
1-0
(37) Gabuzyan, H(2593)-Areshschenko, A(2661) 42.Rxc1h Nd3 43.Ng4 Qg5 44.c8=Q Rxc8 45.Rxc8 1-0
(39) Kryvoruchko, Y(2697)-Romanov, E(2586)

39...b5! 40.Bxd3 Rxd3! 41.Qa8+ [41.Rxd3 41...Qxf2#]

41...Kf7 42.Qh8 Rxg3+ 43.Kh1 [43.Kf1 43...Nh2#]
43...Qc6+ 0-1
(38) Areshchnenko, A(2661)-Salem, A(2595) 19.Nxh6!! Nxd3+ [19...gxh6 20.Re8+! Qxe8 21.Bxf6+ Kg8
Abu Dhabi Open, 2015.08.27 22.Qg4+ Kf8 23.Qg7#]
20.Qxd3! Qd7 [20...gxh6 21.Re8+ Qxe8 22.Bxf6+ Kg8
23.Qg3+ Kh7 24.Qg7#]
21.Bxf6h
39.Nxf5!! Rxc2 [39...gxf5 40.Bxf5+ Kg7 41.Rg1+ Kf8

42.Rbc1!?h]
40.Nxh6 Kg7 41.Rbc1! Rxc1 [41...Raa2 42.c8=Q Rxh2+
43.Qxh2 Rxh2+ 44.Kxh2 Qh4+ 45.Qh3h]
(40) Kulkarni, R(2368)-Papp, G(2601)
17...Ne5!! 18.Bxe4 Bxe4 19.Qf1 [19.Rxe4 19...Nf3+ 20.Kh1

Qxb5i]
19...Nf3+ 20.Kh1 Qf4! 0-1 [20...Qf4 21.gxf3 (21.g3
21...Nxe1+i) 21...Qxf3+ 22.Kg1 Qh1#]
(41) Chekhover
1.Qc8+! Kh7 [1...Kf7 2.Nh8+! Ke7 3.Qc7+ Kf6 4.Qc3+h]

2.Nf8+! Kh8 [2...Kh6 3.Qh3+ Kg5 4.Ne6+h]
3.Ne6+ Qg8 4.Qc3+! Kh7 5.Qf6!h
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
The World Cup 2015 in Baku has reached the 4th round and a
lot of top players have left the tournament. Already in the first
Editorial Preface 2 round Gelfand, Kasimdzhanov and Kamsky -3 former World
Cup winners- lost their matched. In the 3rd round big favorites
as Grischuk, Kramnik have left the tournament. Especially
Kramnik can blame himself a lot for not winning a totally
won position in the first rapid game against Andreikin (in the
Young & Talented 10 last World Cup these two played in the final! ). The match
between Nakamura and Nepomniachtchi went all the way to
Puzzle section 12 the armaggedon, but in the end Nakamura managed to win
the gam. However, Nepomniachtchi made an appeal because
Endgame section 15 Nakamura used both hands when castling, which is illegal in
chess. It is going to be very interesting which decision the
Golden knowledge. appeal’s committee will take.
Centralization of the queen 19 The other favorites like Caruana and Giri made it into the 4th
round quite easily.
From the 6 Azeri players only one has made it and that is
Chess and the City. Mamedyarov who won his first 3 matches quite easily and now
Two is better 25 has to face Caruana. Radjabov lost to Svidler after losing his
2nd rapid game.
Clash of the Titans 26 The 4th round is going to be very exciting as there are no more
big favorites left in any match.
Surprise section / study 29 In the current issue we of course focus our attention on the
World Cup! Enjoy!
Solutions 30
Two best games of the past week 10...Bb4+ There is still nothing new...

- Yu, Yangyi (2721) [B45]

Best rating: 2737
11.Ke2! A well-known, but still pretty move. The white king is

Karjakin is the fear of the Chinese players. Not so long ago, actually quite happy on e2.
he won all alone in the friendly match between Russian and
China against the 4 best Chinese players in a row! In the 11...f5 Black tries to open the position.
current game we are going to see a long theoretical line 12.exf6 Nxf6 13.Be3 Winning a tempo for development. So
which ends up very badly for Yu Yangyi. White managed to far both players were playing very quickly.
consolidate and easily converted his advantage. 13...Qd8 [In case of 13...Qc7 14.Nxf6+ gxf6 15.Kf2 White’s
1.e4 Karjakin is one of the few players at the top who keeps position should be clearly better because of the Qh5 threat
on playing mainly 1.e4. and it is the black king who is in trouble.]
1...c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Nf6 The 14.Nd6+ White is going for the bishop pair, which is a good
Chinese player clearly wanted to surprise Karjakin by decision.
choosing this quite rarely played line. Karjakin is usually very 14...Bxd6 [14...Ke7 would also lead to a better position for
well prepared with deep analyses in the openings he plays. White. 15.c5 Nd5 16.Qd4 and the great knight on d6 does the
6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.e5 Nd5 8.Ne4 We are in the main position job.]
where Black has a few moves to choose from. 15.Qxd6 Bb7 It seems like Yu Yangyi wanted to reach the
8...Qc7 The main idea is to provoke the f4 move and then to current position, which seems very strange to me. White
play Qb6, not letting the white king castle that easily. has the bishop pair and a much better structure. It is hard
9.f4 Qb6 10.c4 This is also the main move. Strategically to imagine that the bad position of the white king on e2
White’s position is clearly better because of the terrible bishop compensates for all the minuses of Black’s position. I think
on c8 and because of the hole on d6, so Black’s only chance White is clearly better here.
lies in dynamic play. 16.Rd1 Rc8 Black wants to play c5 to activate the bishop.
17.g4! A very strong move by Karjakin who is not wasting any 19.f5! Great play! Now it is White who is crushing in the center.
time but starting with the direct action. We can see that the [White could also have reached a better endgame after the
white king on e2 is actually not in any danger. calm 19.Bg2 19...Bxg2 20.Rxg2 Qb6 21.Qxb6 axb6 22.Kf3
17...c5 18.Rg1 White wants to play g5 or f5 or even Bg2. with some advantage.]
18...Rf8?! I can’t imagine this being the right decision. 19...Qb6?! But now Bl ack enters a very bad endgame... In
[Black should have continued with the very forced 18...Rc6 my opinion Yu should have looked for his chances in more
19.Qe5 O-O At least the black king is safe now. 20.Bg2 (20.g5 dynamic play. [19...Ne4 Now things are pretty forced again.
20...Nh5 21.Bh3 d6 22.Qxe6+ Kh8 and Black’s play could be 20.Qe5 Qf6 21.Qxf6 Rxf6 White has the bishop pair but it is
dangerous.) 20...Nxg4 21.Qc3 After the nice not that easy to make use of it. 22.Bg2 exf5 23.gxf5 Rxf5 and it
is unclear if White can put some serious problems, but Black’s
position remains quite dangerous.]
20.fxe6 dxe6 21.g5 Black’s pawn structure is horrible.
21...Nd5 It seems like there is nothing better for Black.
22.Qxb6 Nxb6 23.Ke1 Now White can breathe freely. The
queens are gone and he remains with the bishop pair and
a great pawn structure, which gives him a big advantage.
[23.Kd3 was possible as well.]
23...Nd7 24.Be2 Ke7?! Black misses White’s next move.
21...d5! the position is very concrete but White is probably [Better was 24...Ne5 25.Rf1 Rf5 and Black keeps on fighting.]
better after 22.Rxd5! exd5 23.Bxd5+ Kh8 24.Bxc6 Bxc6
25.Rxg4 Qd7 26.h3 but because of the opposite colored
bishops it is unclear if White’s pawn up is enough to win the
game. The white king is very open.]
25.Rd3! A very strong move. The rook is going to take a great

position on a3, attacking the black a-pawn.
25...Be4 26.Ra3 Rc7 27.Kd2 Now that the black pieces are
focused on defending the weak pawns, White improves his
king’s position.
27...e5 28.Rf1 The exchange of rooks is good for White.
28...Rb8 29.Kc3 What a domination of the white pieces.
Even with equal material on the board, White is almost
winning here.
29...Rb6 30.Rd1 White wants to put pressure on the c5 pawn
by playing Ra5 and Bg3. 38.Rxd7+ Too easy to miss...
30...Rbc6 31.Bg4 Following the plan... 38...Kxd7 39.Bxc5 The black rook has no squares to go and
31...Nb6 32.Ra5 It is already hard to find a move for Black. the a7 pawn is falling. The game is over.
32...g6 33.b3 A nice move, even if 33.Re1 was probably 39...e4 40.Bg4+ The time cont rol is reached and now Sergey
stonger. There is no need to rush things here, as Black is would get an extra 30 minutes to convert his winning position.
hopelessly busy with protecting the c5 pawn for the rest of the A great game and an important victory for the Russian prodigy
game. who thus entered the 4th round of the World Cup 2015 in Baku.
1-0
33...Bf5 Getting the knight back to d7.
34.Be2 Nd7 35.a3 Now Karjakin is pretending to prepare b4,
which he might really play somewhere, but of course White
has a lot of other options as well.
35...Be6 36.h4 Bf7 and Yu Yangyi blunders, which is very
rare for a Chinese player! But maybe it is just a sign he had no
more hopes of saving the game. [36...Rb6 would have been
the way for longer suffering.]
37.Bf3! Precision until the end! Black cannot save the c5
pawn any longer.
37...Rb6 [37...Rd6 is also hopeless after 38.Rxd6 Kxd6
39.Ra6+ Ke7 40.Bg4]
(2) Adams, Michael (2742)
- Laznicka, Viktor (2676) [B46]
FIDE World Cup 2015(2.15), GM Csaba Balogh

2015.09.15 Best rating: 2672
A dramatic fight in the second round between Adams and

Laznicka. In general they are both very solid players,
but the first draw they made was in the 7th game of the 9.Qf3 [9.Re1 9...Be7 10.e5 Nd7 11.Qg4 is the main line.]
match. Before somebody always took the lead, but the other 9...Be7 10.Qg3 O-O 11.Bh6 White forces the f6 knight to a
succesfully leveled the score. At the very end, Adams won the more possive place before occupying the ideal square with his
Armageddon game and passed to the next round, but now let bishop.
us see how convincingly he bounced back after losing the first
- normal timecontrol - game. 11...Ne8 12.Bf4 Black was threatening to win a piece with
Bh4 Qg4 e5 and the queen cannot keep any longer the pin on
1.e4 c5 Laznicka’s main repertoire is the Caro-Kan defense, the g-file.
but almost everybody prepared some surprises to the World
Cup. 12...Bh4 13.Qf3 Be7 A standard plan in this opening to send
away the queen from g3 even in a cost of a tempo. To be
2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 The Taimanov honest, I am not sure if Black really needs it, perhaps he could
Sicilian. try 12...Nf6.
6.Nxc6 The drawback of the 5...a6 moveorder. [By starting
with 5...a6 compared to the most popular and most common
5...Qc7, Black wants to anticipate the sharpest line with
opposite side castling. Now after 6.Be3 6...Nf6 7.Qd2 Bb4
8.f3 d5 9.a3 Qa5! This is the point! Black saved an important
tempo to play Qa5 in one move and a6 is very useful. Black is
considered to be fine at the end of the theoretical lines.]
6...bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.O-O Nf6 This is the moment, where
White has to choose between several setups and plans.
Adams seemed to be extremely well prepared and plays a 14.Na4! This is th e novelty! The most common plan in this
rare, but rather problematic line from Black’s point of view. structure, but somehow in this particular position it was not
played yet. The move has two ideas behind it, White keeps an
eye on the weakened dark squares on b6 and c5, but it is more
important to initiate favorable changes in the center and on
the queenside with c2-c4!
14...Nf6 15.b3 A necessary preparation to the c4 break. White
has to strengthen his knight on a4. [On the direct 15.c4 Black
has a strong tactical reply 15...Qa5! 16.b3 e5! pushing d4 next
move with a favorable structure. In case of d4, White should
always be able to play e5 himself. The pawn cannot be taken
now 17.Bxe5? as it loses a piece after 17...dxe4]
15...Qa5 Black parries the c4 idea by refreshing the e5 18.h4!? White once again uses the fact, that the black queen is
positional threat. However White changes his plan now and away from d8. He creates serious potential attacking chances
the queen gets a bit misplaced on a5. [White does not need by advancing the pawn towards h5. There will be a concrete
to worry, that he loses the bishop pair after 15...dxe4 16.Bxe4 threat as well to play Bh6 and after Bf8 Bxg7 Bxg7 h6 wins.
Nxe4 17.Qxe4+= because Black has seriously damaged his
18...c5 19.c4! Adams employs the standard plan again! By
own pawnstructure. He quickly comes with Rd1 and creates
playing c5, Black was threatening with c4, sending away the
problems on the dark squares. This could be good for Black if
bishop from the ideal diagonal. On the other hand, the d5
he could play Bb7 and c5, but now it takes too much time to
square is weakened and White immediately attack it with c4,
execute it.]
forces Black to make a serious decision. 19... dxc4 20.Bxc4
16.e5! Nd7 would again damage Black’s structure, he should not allow
cxd5 exd5, because after the white pawn majority on the
kingside creates dangerous attacking threats, such as e6 or
Bh6 followed by f4-f5. Therefore Laznicka decided to close the
center with
19...d4 Black creates a protected passed pawn which could
be an excellent trumph in all the endgames, but of course it is
very far away until Black could trade some pieces, especially
queens. White has gained two important light squares with
the changing of the pawn structure. He could later use the e4
17.Qg3! This is very unpleasant now! White is threatening square with his bishop and drive his knight back to d3 through
again with Bh6 and Black does not have Bh4 at his disposal. b2.
17...Re8 Black wants to strengthen the g7 pawn with Bf8. 20.h5 Qc7 Black prevents Bh6 by attacking the e5 pawn.
[20...Bb7 loses to 21.Bh6 Bf8 22.Bxg7 Bxg7 23.h6h]
21.Rae1! Bringing another piece to the attack and refreshing 25.Kf2! A spectacular attacking move! White drops his rook
the Bh6 threat. [21.Bh6 did not work in view of 21...Qxe5 to h1!
22.f4 Qe3+! (But not 22...Qf6? because of 23.Bg5! traps the 25...Rf8 [25...Qc6 is met by 26.Be4h preventing the
queen.) ] counterplay on the long diagonal.; 25...Nf8 defends the h7
21...Bf8 square against Rh1, but it allows 26.Bf6! threatening to
take on g7 followed by Qf6, h6 and mate on g7. 26...Bxf6
27.exf6h and again the queen soon appears on h6.]
26.Rh1 f5 A desperate attempt to run away with Kf7 and Rg8,
but White comes first with
27.hxg6 hxg6 28.Qh7+ Kf7 29.Rh6! Black resigned! A very
nice attacking game by Adams! 1-0
22.Bg5! It is getting more and more dangerous. Adams frees

the path of the f-pawn. White only needs two moves f4-f5 and
suddenly new lines are opening in front of the black king. The
structure is closed, Black should principally open the position
somehow against the attack, but he is unable to do it. He can
only try to defend somehow, but he does not have enough
time to organize it.
22...g6 23.f4 Bg7 Black would like to strengthen his kingside
with Nf8, but of course by playing g6, allowing White to open
the h-file, he faces new problems...
24.Qh4 Bb7
Young & Talented 8...Be7 9.b5 Na5 10.Bxd5 Qxd5 11.c4
GM Etienne Bacrot
Best rating: 2749
11...Qd7 This is a well-known sacrifice, since of course

(3) Antipov, M2. (2538)
defending the pawn with 11.Qe6 is not great.
- Van Foreest, Jorden (2541) [C50]
12.Nc3 A novelty that doesn’t change the evaluation, Black
World Junior Open 2015(8.3),
has no opening problem. [12.Bd2 12...e4 13.Bxa5 exf3
2015.09.10
14.Qxf3 a6 Black is better since the files will open quickly.
Vallejo and Fressinet played this already.]
Mikhail Antipov is the new Junior Champion! The 18-year old
12...f6 A logical reaction over the board, but it might be even
Russian won the title with 10/13, ahead of Duda on the third
better to first play [12...b6!? The complications seem to be
(!!) tie-break. He showed interesting chess but was also very
in Black’s favor: 13.Nxe5!? Qd4 14.Nd5 Bd6 15.Nf3 Qxa1
lucky in a few games, especially when he won the last one
16.Qc2 c6! 17.Nc3 cxb5 18.cxb5 Bf5 19.Bd2 Qxf1+ 20.Kxf1
from a totally lost position. Champions also need it! In round
Rac8=+]
8 he produced a brillant attack:
13.Nd5 Bd8 14.Ba3 White develops quickly but it doesn’t
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 The new champion is not very
bring anything for the moment. Black has the better structure
aggressive in his opening choices, here he goes for the Italian.
and two bishops.
3...Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.O-O O-O 6.c3 [6.Nbd2 is a better move
14...Re8 15.Rc1 a6!? It seems like White has no good
order, introduced by Radjabov, with the idea to meet 6...d5
solution to this question, but... [15...c6 would drive away the
with (6...d6 is normal.) 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Ne4! With some
knight but give it another strong square on c5. 16.bxc6 bxc6
advantage in Giri-Bacrot 2011.]
17.Nc3kfollowed by Ne4.]
6...d5 [6...d6 is still the more popular move.]
7.exd5 Nxd5 8.b4 This is not very good. 8.a4 and 8.Nbd2 lead
to an unclear game.
19.Re1 White only plays good developing moves.
19...b5 20.dxe4 fxe4? The losing move, but it was very easy
to miss White’s tactic. [20...Qf7 needs to be play to continue
the fight.]
21.Nxe4 Nxc4 22.Qh5 Re6 Black was definitely counting
on this defensive move but he missed the following beautiful
sequence:
16.b6! A nice reaction!

16...cxb6 [16...c6!? 17.Ne3 Bxb6 18.c5 Bc7 19.Qa4 with
unclear play, since the knight on a5 is not in great shape.]
17.Nd2 Thanks to the pawn sacrifice White improved the
position of the knight on d5 and tries to reach d6 with the
other one.
17...f5 Weakening the position, but Ne4 has to be stopped.
18.f4! The black pieces are strangely placed for the moment 23.f5!! Qxd5 24.Ng5!! Bxg5 25.Qe8+ Rxe8 26.Rxe8+ Kf7
so White acts very quickly. 27.Rf8#
18...e4? I was even thinking about not putting an 1-0

interrogation mark since it is a very logical move. The
best way to playis [18...b5 19.fxe5 bxc4 20.dxc4 b5 21.Bd6
Bb7 With unclear play.; on 18...exf4 19.Qf3 b5 20.Rce1 and
White has great activity.]
Puzzle section
(4) Cori, D(2419)-Kramnik, V(2777) (6) Nguyen Ngoc Troungso(2634)-Kempinski, R(2637)
World Cup, 2015.09.11 World Cup, 2015.09.11
1... i 1. h
(5) Mamedyarov, S(2736)-Idani, P(2569) (7) Espinosa Veloz, E(2495)-Karjakin, S(2762)

1. h 1... i
(8) Perunovic, M(2614)-Wang Hao(2712) (10) Iljushenok, I(2491)-Jakovenko, D(2748)
World Cup, 2015.09.12 World Cup tiebreak, 2015.09.13
1. h 1... i
(9) Guseinov, G(2634)-Matlakov, M(2689) (11) Ding Liren(2782)-Inarkiev, E(2660)

World Cup tiebreak, 2015.09.13 World Cup, 2015.09.14
1. h 1. h
(12) So, W(2773)-Balogh, C(2659)
World Cup, 2015.09.15
1. h
(13) Sethuraman, S(2640)-Harikrishna, P(2737)

World Cup, 2015.09.15
1. h
Endgame section
(14) Wojtaszek, Radoslaw (2741)

- Lalith, Babu M.R. (2557)
FIDE World Cup, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.09.12 Best rating: 2672
36.Bxd3!c (36.Rxd3? is a mistake because it allows Black to

build a blockade with 36...Rxd3 37.Bxd3 Nf6! 38.Nb3 Nd7
defending the c5 pawn and blocking the passed pawn on b6.
Black brings his king to d6 and he saves the game.) ]
35.Na1! White has already found the right plan, he only needs
to execute it properly.
35...Bc8 The only way to save the c5 pawn was to protect the
rook in order to be able to play Nb7.
36.Nb3 Nb7 37.Rxd7 Rxd7 38.Rxd7 Bxd7 White has
Black is just about to win back the pawn on d6 and restore accomplished the first task by driving the knight to b3. What
the material balance. However, it is not enough for equalizing to do next?
positionally, because the b5 protected passed pawn still gives
White a nice edge. The question is how should White improve
his position? Wojtaszek finds a subtle positional maneuver to
increase his advantage.
34.Nc2!! The knight is heading to a1-b3 from where it not
only attacks the weakness on c5, but also prepares to support
the b5 passed pawn with Na5.
34...Nxd6 [34...Rxd6 is also met by 35.Na1! Rxd3
39.f4! The knight on b7 protects the c5 pawn, but it does

not have stability. White needs to transfer his bishop to the
long diagonal before Black can reach the d6 square with his
king to replace his knight from defending the c5 pawn. 39.Bd3
would have been met by f5, but now White wants to play (15) Giri, Anish (2793)
either Be2-f3 or g3-Bg2. - Leko, Peter (2707)
39...Kf8 40.g3 Bc8 [Black is just missing one tempo to
reach the d6 square.... 40...Ke7 41.Bg2 Nd6 42.b6 Bc8 GM Arkadij Naiditsch
2015.09.18
43.Nxc5h] Best rating: 2737
41.Bg2 Nd6 Otherwise Bxb7 and Nxc5 is hopeless.
42.Na5! The last accuracy! White does not exchange his c5 Many players tend to evaluate an equal endgame as a draw,
pawn for the one on c4, but helps promote his passed pawn. which is a big mistake. An equal endgame means nothing
Black cannot stop it. else than an equal position, which could as well appear in any
42...Ke7 43.b6 Black resigned! It was very instructive to see random situation during the game and the current game is a
how Wojtaszek increased his advantage move by move with a great example. It seems like White is at most slightly better in
straightforward plan. 1-0 this endgame and Leko is a great defender, but even he went
down under the pressure Giri was creating. A great game to
follow and to learn from in this very typical Catalan endgame.
25.Kf3 White is not in a hurry and brings his king closer to the
center, where the action is clearly going to take place.
25...Nd7 A solid move. Black wants to put his bishop on f6.
26.Be3 Ke8 This is also the correct move. The black king has
to come closer to the center. [The exchange of the a-pawn
is usually good, but not now. 26...b5 27.axb5 axb5 28.Rxc8+
Rxc8 29.Ra1 and White takes control, with the easy threat of
playing Ra7 and Rb7. The black b-pawn might get in trouble.] 33...Kd6 34.Rc3 And as we c an see, Black is already in big
27.Bd4 Bf6 Leko continues defending very solidly and the trouble! White wants to play Rb3 with a very unpleasant
exchange of bishops brings the draw even closer. attack on the b7 pawn.
28.Bxf6 Nxf6 34...Ra6 Another unlucky decision by Leko. A mistake never

comes alone... Black should have continued with 34... f6.
29.Ne5! A nice move! In case Black could play Nd7 and Ke7
the position would probably already be very close to equal. 35.e5+! Giri doesn’t miss his chance! Now White is going to
have a fantastic knight on c5.
29...Ke7 30.e4 White puts some pressure with the little
material left on the board. His plan is clearly to push the pawn 35...Ke7 36.Nc5 The black rook has to get to a passive
to win some space. position on b6 and protect the b7 pawn.
30...Rxc1 31.Rxc1 Ne8! A strong defensive move! Black 36...Rb6 37.Rd3 Rd7 in unavoidable.
wants to get rid of the knight with the f6 push. 37...Rxb2 38.Rd7+ Kf8 39.Nxb7 and it is already unclear if
32.Nd3 a5?! The first move when Leko starts to go wrong. In White’s position is winning or not and just 14 moves earlier it
my opinion he should have continued with passive defense. looked like an endgame where many would expect players to
[The right way to go on was 32...Rd8! with the idea of agree to a draw.
exchanging rooks. 33.Ke3 Rd7 34.a5 (In case of 34.Rc8 39...Rb3+ 40.Kg4 A nice move. White is going to need his
34...Rc7 35.Rxc7+ Nxc7 36.Kd4 b6 the position would be very king in the near future.
close to a draw.) 34...f6 and Black can choose to play Nd6 next 40...Rb4 Other moves would lead to more or less the same.
or Kd8. Of course White can continue pushing but his winning
chances are not very big.]
33.Rc5 A nice move, checking what Black is going to do next.
41.Nd8! Giri continues playing excellently. The pawn on f7 is
falling.
41...Kg8 42.Re7 Now it is all over as the black knight has no
squares...
42...f5+ 43.Kh5 The last trick did not work for Leko.
43...Kh7 44.Rxe8 and White is just a full piece up.
44...Rb2 45.h3 Rh2 46.Kh4 With this win Giri proceeded to
the 4th round of the World Cup in Baku 2015 and Leko had to
take his ticket home. A very instructive endgame! 1-0
Golden knowledge. 1...Qe4! Total centralization and doubled pawns can in many
cases create a safe haven for the king.
Centralization of the queen
2.Qf1 g6! This is the most important part of the plan: to
create an own passed pawn.
3.hxg6 Qxg6 4.Qf4 [4.Qb5 4...Qg1+ 5.Ka2 Qg4 6.a4 Qg5
and then finally starting pushing the own pawn.]
4...Qg5 5.Qa4+ Qa5 6.Qh4 h5 7.Qe4 [7.Qc4 7...Qe5!]
7...Qb5! 8.Qf4 Qd7 9.Qe4 Qg4! 0-1
GM Adrian Mikhalchishin (17) Ballon-Mikhalchishin

Bern, 1995
As we have already seen, in queen endings two very important
factors are the safety of the king and the possibility of
penetrating the opponent’s position. At the same time the
role of the queen is also extremely important. The queen
attacks the opponent’s pawns and king and supports the
own passed pawn. For these purposes the position of the
queen is very important and the best solution is usually the
centralization of the queen.
41...Qf5! Black’s task is to penetrate White’s position with the

(16) Schoeneberg, M.-Vukic, M. queen and in coordination with it to try and push forward the
Ybbs , 1968 passed pawn on c4.
42.Kg1 [42.Ke1 would allow an unfavorable transposition
into a pawn ending, because of the strong protected c4 pawn.
42...Qe6]
42...Qd3! Another typical speculation with the useful pawn
ends for Black. White has to avoid it and then Black’s passed
pawn will be ready to move forward.
43.Qf4 c3 44.Qg4 Trying to start the mechanism of
perpetual, which is broken by the opponent on the next move.
44...f5! 45.Qh5+ Ke6 46.Qe8+
43...Qd3 44.h4 Qc4 45.Kh3 Qd3+ 46.Kh2 Qc4 47.Qf5+

Kh8 48.Kh3 Qc3+ 49.g3 Qc4 50.h5 Qc6 51.Qe5+ Kg8
52.Qd4 Qb5 53.Qg4+ Kh8 54.Qc8+ Kg7 55.Qc7+ Kg8
56.Qd8+ Kf7 57.Qc7+ Kg8 58.g4 White opens his king, but
46...Kd5! Simple and ffective. This is the most typical plan
he uses the typical idea of marching his king deep into his
of exploitation of the passed pawn.
opponent’s position.
47.Qe5+ Kc4 48.Qc5+ Kb3 49.d5 c2 50.Kh2 Qc4! 0-1
58...Qf1+ 59.Kg3 Qd3+ 60.Kf4 Qd2+ 61.Ke4 Qe2+
62.Kf5 Qf3+ 63.Qf4 Qc6 64.Qe4 Qc5+ 65.Qe5 Qf2+
(18) Minev, N.-Chaprazov, I. 66.Qf4 Qc5+ 67.Kg6 Qc6+ 68.Qf6 1-0
BUL-ch , 1965
(19) Lisitsin, G.-Capablanca, J.
Moscow, 1935
39.Qe5! Kh8 40.f5 White tries to open the opponent’s king

position.
40...Kh7 41.f6 gxf6 42.Qxf6 Qc4 43.Qe5 42.Qc4 The white queen is better centralized at the moment,
but it has to protect the isolated pawn. Black has to try and 49.Qd5! The powerfully placed queen attacks both black
remove the white queen from this strong position. pawns and stops the king’s activation.
42...h5 43.Kh1 g6 44.Kg1 Kg7 45.Kf1 Qd6 46.Kg1 Qf4 49...Qb2+ [Passive defense is deadly for Black: 49...Qc7
47.Qc3 Kh7 48.Kf1 Qf5 49.Qc4 Kg7 50.Kf2 Qg5 51.Qe2 50.Ke3 Ke7 51.Ke4 Kf6 52.h5]
Kf6 52.Qb2 Qd5 50.Ke3 Qc1+ 51.Ke2 White is not sure yet, but two moves
later the king decides to go forward.
51...Qc2+ 52.Ke3 Qc1+ 53.Ke4 Qe1+ 54.Kf5 Qxg3
55.Qxc5+ Kg8 56.Qc4+ Kh8
Finally the black queen dominates the board.

53.Ke3 e5 54.f4 exf4+ 55.Kxf4 Ke6 56.h4 f6 57.Ke3 Qc4
58.g3 g5 59.hxg5 fxg5 60.Qh2 Qb3+ 61.Ke4 g4 62.Qe2
Qxg3 63.Qc4+ Ke7 64.Qc8 Qf3+ 65.Ke5 Qf6+ 66.Kd5 57.Qg4! [57.Qe4 This centralization was good too.]
Qd6+ 0-1 57...Qe1? [57...Qh2 promised more defensive chances.
58.Qe4 Kg8]
(20) Romanovsky, P.-Stahlberg, G. 58.Kg6 Qc1 59.Qd7 Qg1+ 60.Kf7 Kh7 61.Qf5+ g6
Moscow, 1935 62.Qd7 1-0
(21) McDonald, N.-Csom, I. 44.Qxd6+ Kxd6 45.a6 Kc6 46.a7 Kb7 47.Kc5 Kxa7 48.Kxb5
Elekes Memorial, 1996 Kb7 49.Kc5 Kc7]
43.Qe6+ Kf8 44.Kd5 Qa8 45.c5! Black is close to running
out of useful moves. 1-0
(22) Gufeld, E.-Minev, N.

Sofia, 1967
28.a5 f6 29.c4 Kf8 30.Qe4! Putting the queen on the most

central position.
30...Qd1+ 31.Kg2 Qb3 [Keeping passive defense will be
deadly sooner or later: 31...Qd7 32.b3 (32.Qxh7 32...Qc6+)
32...g6 33.h4 Kf7 34.g4 f5 35.Qf4 Qe7 36.g5 Qd7 37.Qe5] White’s strong queen controls the board. Now it is possible
32.Qxe6 Qxb2 33.h4 Qb4 34.h5 Qe7 35.Qd5 Qc7 36.f4 for the white king to try and come to c4, attacking the black
Qc6 37.Kf3 Now both sides are trying to get a good pawn pawns.
ending. 1.Kf1 f5 2.h4 Qc7 3.Ke2 Qb6 4.Qf7+ Kh6 5.b3 Qd6
37...Ke7 38.Ke4 Qe6+ 39.Kd4 Qd6 40.Ke4 Qe6+ 6.Qc4 Kh7 7.Ke1 Qb6 8.Qb5 Qc7 9.Kd2 Qe5 10.Kc2
41.Kd4 Qd6 Qa1 11.Qxc5 Qa2+ 12.Kc3 Qxf2 13.Qc7+ Kg8 14.Kd4
42.f5! Qb8? [The best defense was 42...b5 43.cxb5 axb5 14...Qb2+ [14...Qd2+ 15.Ke5 Qxe3 16.Kf6]
15.Qc3 Qf2 16.Qxa5 Qxg3 17.Qd8+ Kh7 18.a5 Qe1 32...hxg4 33.hxg4 f6 34.Qc6 Qb4 35.Qxf6 Qxb3
19.Qb6 f4 20.Qc7+ Kg8 21.a6 Qd2+ [21...Qxe3+ 22.Ke5] 36.Qe7+ Kh6 37.Qxe4 b5 38.Qf4+ Kh7 39.Qc7+ Kh6
22.Ke5 Qb2+ 23.Ke6 Qxb3+ 24.Kf6 Qb2+ 25.Qe5 1-0 40.Kg3 Qb4 41.Qe5 Kh7 42.Qxb5 Qxb5 43.axb5 a4
44.b6 a3 45.b7 a2 46.b8=Q a1=Q 47.Qc7+ Kh6 48.Qf4+
g5 49.Qd4 Qg1+ 50.Kf3 Qh1+ 51.Ke2 Qc6 52.Qh8+ Kg6
(23) Levenfish, G.-Alatortsev, V. 53.Qh5+ Kf6 54.Qh6+ 1-0
URS-ch16, 1948
(24) Spassky, B.-Reshevsky, S.
Amsterdam Interzonal, 1964
26.Qd4 The beginning of the centralization.

26...b6 27.Kf1 h5 28.g3 Kh7 29.Bd5 Qe7 30.Kg2 Nxd5
31.Qxd5 g6
38.Re5! White starts to press the black pieces. The main
idea is to attack the weaknesses on b5 and g5. And the most
important plan is to occupy the central e5 square with the
queen.
38...Rxe5 39.Qxe5 Qd5 Black cannot protect both
weaknesses in another way, but now White can prepare the
correct transposition into a pawn ending.
40.Kf2! Kh7 41.Ke3 Kg6 42.Qe4+! Weakening the black
pawn structure.
32.g4! With such a strong queen position it is necessary to try
and create some weakness in the opponent’s position. 42...f5 43.Qe5! Kf7
44.Qb8 Kf6 45.Qf8+ Kg6 46.Qe7 Qc6 47.Kf2 Qd5
48.h4 g4 49.Qg5+ Kf7 50.fxg4 Qe4 51.gxf5 Qc2+ 52.Ke3
Qc1+ 53.Ke4 Qe1+ 54.Qe3 exf5+ 55.Kf4 Qb1 56.Qe2 g6
and Black resigned because the position is absolutely lost
after
57.d5 1-0
Chess and the City. ceremony!), overzealous party makers and a follow up illness
which knocked me out for another 10 days afterwards. This
Two is better time however I’ve decided to be clever. My dearly beloved’s
best friends will not be under the same roof, nor a room
next door, nor will they get the opportunity of extensive wine
imbibing the night beforehand! Also, I’ve made sure that the
most fervent of these won’t be there this time to indulge their
excesses! :) Last but not least I am really happy that I’ll soon
be repeating this experience, and even happier that the last
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz segment of my best friends - those who could not make it to
Best rating: 2493 Germany -will get to come to Albania. Pictures, stories and
gossip will follow in my next newsletter.
Two is always better than one and that is why I decided to
get married again! :) Well obviously to the same guy, but in a
different country with different traditions and mentalities. My
husband’s roots are Albanian and for that reason our second
wedding will take place in Tirana, the capital of Albania, in just
under 2 weeks. Getting wed to someone means that you do
not only marry him, but also his parents, family, relatives and
probably a bunch of his friends too!
For me this is a special challenge since my parents in law, my
parents and my lazy self have no real common language and
that often leads to unavoidable misunderstandings, escape
plans or even surprising head shakes. The most amazing
thing I have discovered so far involves the communication
between our mothers. In speaking to each other, one uses
German and the other Italian, and they handle this so well
that one might think that they have invented an entirely new
language which only the 2 of them understand!
I am really looking forward to this second marriage ceremony,
after the first one was a mixture of delays (naturally my
husband, being a true Italian citizen, always finds creative
new ways of being late - even on the day of our first wedding
Clash of the Titans Nd8-c6. 11.d4 Nd8 12.b3 c6 13.Ndc3 f5k]
11.d4 c6 12.Nxe7+ Qxe7 13.d5 [13.b3 13...exd4 (13...f5k )
14.Nxd4 (14.exd4 14...d5!) 14...d5 (14...c5 15.Nxe6! and the
(25) Zukertort, Johannes Hermann rook on f8 is also hanging. White is clearly better thanks to
- Blackburne, Joseph Henry [A25] the strong bishop on g2.) 15.cxd5 (15.Nxe6 15...Nxe6 16.Rb1
dxc4 17.bxc4 Nc5 Because the white bishops are very limited
London m(14), 1887 Black doesn’t have any problems.) 15...Bxd5 16.Bxd5 cxd5
17.Bb2 Ne6 Black is ready to fight for the important d4
GM Kamil Miton square. 18.Qd2 Ng5VThe weak light squares give Black good
Best rating: 2655
opportunities for counterplay.]
13...cxd5 14.cxd5 Bd7 15.e4 f5 16.Be3 Nf7 17.Qd2 b6
1.c4 e5 2.e3 Nc6 3.a3 Nowdays we can say that White’s idea Preparing Rc8. A more original idea was the following pawn
is to play a Paulsen System with a tempo up. sacrifice: [17...f4 18.gxf4 exf4 19.Bxf4 g5! (19...Ne5 20.Bg5 Qf7
3...g6 The best recation. Black prefers development over g6 21.f4 Nc4 22.Qd3 Nxb2 23.Qb3C and the black pieces lost a
where the move a3 is less need than after a plan with d5. bit of coordination.) 20.Be3 g4 with Ne5 next. Black has nice
compensation.]
4.Nc3 Bg7 5.g3 Nge7 6.Bg2 d6 7.Nge2 Be6 8.Nd5 The
only move, otherwise Black play d5 and the connection with 18.Rac1 Rac8 19.Nc3 Rc7 20.Rc2 Rfc8 21.Rfc1
the e3-g3 moves will be very bad for White.
8...O-O 9.d3 Qd7 10.O-O
21...h6 looks logical to improve the position. Black can still

use the idea with the pawn sacrifice after f4 or play [21...Qf8
10...Nd8! It is hard to believe that this main idea was known with the idea Bh6 to exchange the typical bad bishop on g7.]
so many years ago! Black is going to get rid of the knight from 22.f3 g5 23.exf5 [23.Bf1!? with the idea to get control over
d5. Sometimes is possible to first play [10...Nc8!? and then the c-file after Ba6-Nb5.]
23...Bxf5 24.Ne4 Kf8 [24...Rxc2 25.Rxc2 Rxc2 26.Qxc2 h5 c2) 41...Nxa5 42.Bxh6 b3 43.Bxg5 b2 44.Nd2c) 37.Ne4 Be7
and g4 next with the idea to weaken the e4 square and try to 38.Kf1 Kd8 39.Kg2 Be8 40.Bxe8 Kxe8
activate the pieces over g5-h6.]
25.Rxc7 [25.Rc6!? 25...Rxc6 26.dxc6 Be6!VPreparing d5 and
it is hard to say if the c6 pawn will be strong or weak.]
25...Rxc7 26.Rxc7 Qxc7 27.Qc3 Qxc3 28.Nxc3
41.h4 (41.Ng3 41...Bf8 42.Nf5 Kf7 43.Bb6) 41...Nd8! (41...gxh4

42.Kh3 Kf7 (42...Bg5 43.Nxg5 hxg5 44.Be3) 43.Bxh4 Bxh4
44.Kxh4 Kg6 45.g5 hxg5+ 46.Kg4 Kh6 47.Nxg5 Nd8 48.Ne4
Nf7 49.Kf5h) 42.Be3 Nf7 Black is on time!]
28...Bd7 Avoiding Nb5. 36...Kd8 37.Ne4 Ke7 38.Bb6 Black is paralyzed but this is
not enough for White to win the game, he will need to find a
29.Bf1! and White keeps a plus thanks to the better pieces
way to create some pawn weaknesses.
and potential pressure against the pawns on the queenside.
38...Bf8 39.Bf2 Bg7 40.h4 Bf6 41.hxg5 [41.Be3 41...gxh4
29...Ke7 30.Kf2 Kd8 It looks logical to bring the king to the
42.Bxh6 h3V]
queenside. Another idea was to play h5-g4-Bh6.
41...Bxg5 42.Nxg5 hxg5 White managed to create a weak
31.Bd3 [31.Nb5 31...Bxb5 32.Bxb5 e4!Vand the black pieces
pawn on g5 but on the other hand Black got rid of the limited
get activated.]
bishop.
31...Kc7 32.Bg6 Nd8 [32...Nh8 33.Bh5c]
43.Ke4 Kf6 44.Bh7 Be8 45.Bf5 Bg6 46.Bb6? White
33.b4 a6 34.Ke2 b5 35.g4 The character of the position is missed a nice winning idea: [46.Bxg6 46...Kxg6 47.Bb6 Kf6
closed but the black pieces are very limited (Bg7 and Nd8), 48.Bc7
which is why White keeps a stable advantage.
35...Nb7 36.Kd3 [36.Bf2 36...Bf6! The only move. (36...Kd8
37.h4 Ke7 38.hxg5 hxg5 39.Ne4 Bf6 40.Be3h; 36...e4!? with
the idea to find some counterplay. 37.Nxe4 Bb2 38.Be1
Bxa3 39.Bc3 a5! 40.bxa5 b4 41.Bg7 (41.a6 41...bxc3 42.a7
55.Kf5 Kg8 56.Ke6 Kf8 57.Kf5 Nd8 58.Bb6 Nf7 59.Bf2
Both sides have no idea how to improve their position.
59...Ke8 60.Bh4 Kf8 61.Bf2 Nh6+
48...Kg6 It looks like Black can build a fortress but after

49.Bxd6! Nxd6+ 50.Kxe5 Nf7+ 51.Ke6 the d-pawn will
decide the game in White’s favor.]
46...Bxf5+ 47.gxf5 Kf7 Now White is not able to improve his
position and objectively it is a draw. 62.Kg5? A mistake... [62.Kg6 62...Nf7= (62...Ng4 63.Bb6 f3
64.f7 f2 65.Bc7h) ]
48.f4?! A very optimistic idea.
62...Kf7! A strong move! Now the white king is out of play
48...gxf4 [48...exf4 49.Kf3 Kf6 50.Kg4 Ke5! (50...f3 and the two passed pawns supported by the black king will
51.Bd4+h) 51.Kxg5 f3 52.f6 easily win against the bishop.
63.Kxh6 Kxf6 64.Kh5 Kf5 65.Ba7 [65.Kh4 leads to similar
lines as in the game: 65...e4 (65...Ke4 66.Kg4 Kxd5 67.Kf5
Kc4 68.Ke4 Kb3
52...Nd8! and Black holds the position.]

49.Kf3 Ke8 50.Kg4 Nd8 51.f6 Nf7 52.Kf5 Kf8 53.Bf2
Kg8 54.Ke6 Kf8 [54...e4 55.Bd4! (55.Kf5 55...e3 56.Bg1
e2 57.Bf2 Ne5 58.Kxf4 Nd3+i) 55...e3 56.Ke7 e2 57.Bf2 f3
Probably with a positional draw because the f6 pawn stops 69.Bc5! This nice trick helps White to escape with a draw!)
the knight from helping promote the black pawns. ] 66.Kh3 e3 67.Bh4 Ke4 68.Kg2 f3+ 69.Kf1 Kxd5 70.Bg3 Kc4
71.Bxd6 Kb3 72.Bf4 Kxa3 73.Bxe3 Kxb4 74.Kf2 Kc3 and it Surprise section / study
looks like the white pieces are too far to stop the black pawns.]
65...e4 66.Kh4 e3i 67.Kh3 Ke4 68.Kg2 f3+ 69.Kg3 f2 (26) Grzeban
70.Kg2 Kd3 0-1 1. h
Solutions (29) Dubov, D(2661)-Savchenko, B(2567)
(27) Caruana, F(2808)-So, W(2779)
Sinquefield CUP, 2015.09.01
30...Bh1! 31.Qh3 Rxe1+ 32.Rxe1 Bxg5i

(30) Oparin, G(2569)-Andreikin, D(2720)
21.Rxd6? [21.Bxd6! 21...Bxd6 22.Rxd6 Rxc4 23.bxc4 Qxd6
24.Qh8+!! Kxh8 25.Nxf7+ Kg7 26.Nxd6h]
21...e5!k
(28) Leiva, G(2400)-Bluebaum, M(2580)
World Juniors, 2015.09.07
17...Be3+! 18.Bxe3 [18.Kh1 18...Qh4 19.h3 Qg3! 20.hxg4

Qh4#]
18...Nxe3 19.Qd2 Nxf1i
24...Nxf3+! 25.Rxf3 Qxc5+!i 0-1
(31) Mozharov, M(2573)-Zvjaginsev, V(2660) (33) Inarkiev, E(2660)-Mozharov, M(2573)
22...Nxf2! 23.Rc7 [23.Kxf2 23...Bxc2 24.Qxc2 Qe3+ 25.Kf1 36.f6+! Kg8 [36...Nxf6 37.Qg5+h]
Qxd4i]
37.Rh8+! 1-0 [37.Rh8+ 37...Kxh8 38.Qh6+ Kg8 39.Qg7#]
23...Qxe2i 24.Rf4 [24.Rd2 24...Nh3+! 25.Bxh3 Qe3+
26.Kg2 Qe4+ 27.Kg1 Bxh3i] (34) Dubov, D(2661)-Malakhov, V(2694)
24...Nh3+i Moscow blitz, 2015.09.06
(32) Zvjaginsev, V(2660)-Dubov, D(2661)

32.Rxe7! Rd6 [32...Kxe7 33.Qxf6+h]

33.Rfe1h
19.Nxg6!! Kh7 [19...Rfe8 20.Nxe7+ Rxe7 21.Rxe7h;
19...fxg6 20.Bc4h] 20.Nxf8+h
(35) Najer, E(2658)-Savchenko, B(2567) (37) Bondarenko
1.Bf4+! e5 2.Bxe5+! Kxe5 3.c8=Q! Bd5+ 4.Ke7 Rxc8

5.f4#
26...Rd1! 27.Rf1 [27.Qxd1 27...Nxf2+ 28.Kg1 Nxd1i]
27...Rxe1i
(36) Navara, D(2751)-Matuszewski, M(2463)
Polish league, 2015.09.05
30.Rxh7+! Kxh7 31.Qg2! 1-0 [31.Qg2 31...Rg8 (31...Bg5

32.Qxg5h) 32.Qh3+h]
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
The FIDE World Cup in Baku slowly coming to the final stage. 4
Editorial Preface 2 players qualified for the Semi-Finals and these are Anish Giri,
Pavel Eljanov and the two Russians Sergey Karjakin and Peter
Svidler.
Karjakin is playing Eljanov and Giri is playing Svidler.
Clearly the hero of the event is Pavel Eljanov. He started the
Young & Talented 9 event with 6 wins in classical chess, then made 2 draws and
in the 1/4 finals he easily beat Nakamura with 1.5-0.5. I cannot
Puzzle section 12 remember such an outstanding result by any player during
the World Cup event.
Endgame section 15 Giri has also been playing very well throughout the whole
event, sometimes winning in classical games, sometimes in
Golden knowledge. rapid, and generally showing very smart and practical play.
Drawing in winning positions 20 Svidler had a lot of tough matches but always managed to
consolidate in the most important moment and to get into the
next round.
Chess and the City. Karjakin is clearly the luckiest guy of the event, as already
Where the eagles dare... Part I 27 in the second round he was very close to get eliminated by
Onischuk after his loss in the first game, but somehow he
Surprise section / study 28 managed to get back in the match and win it in the tiebreaks.
His matches against Andreikin and Mamedyarov were also
Solutions 28 anything but easy.
The final matches of the World Cup are going to be very
exciting and we wish everyone great fun watching it!
Two best games of the past week developed and there are ideas of c5 or f6 pushes. I would say
that here White is just a bit better.
10.Be2 c5 A very logical move.
(1) Giri, Anish (2793)

- Wojtaszek, Radoslaw (2741) [A18]

Best rating: 2737
We are in the first game of the tie-break, which has the time
control of 25 min + 10 seconds per move. It is a very long 11.dxc5 The right choice. [11.O-O 11...c4 followed by Nc6 and
rapid game which often has almost the same quality as a b5-b4, with great play for Black.]
classical game of chess. Giri clearly tricks his opponent into 11...Nxc3 Now the exc hange is forced, otherwise the white
a position which he doesn’t know well out of the opening and bishop would take a superior position on d4.
later on crushes the black chances for survival with a nice
mating attack. 12.bxc3 Be4 White would put his knight to d4 anyway, so
Black is preventing it for one move.
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 White often uses this move order against
players who don’t like to play 1.c4 e5 or 1.c4 c5. 13.O-O Nd7 14.Nd4 Nxc5 It is hard to say if White is still
better here or if Black fully equalized. It is clear that Black’s
2...e6 3.e4 This is the key behind this move order. Wojtaszek play should be against the c3 pawn, by playing Rc8-Qa5, and
mainly plays the Nimzovich and now he cannot get it. White should do something on the kingside where he has
3...d5 4.cxd5 This is a quite recent development, before more space.
White was usually playing 4.e5 d4 etc. 15.f3 Bg6 16.Nb5 Very logical play. White covered the e4
4...exd5 5.e5 Ne4 6.Nf3 Bf5 Both players are clearly very square with f3 and now he is trying to get his knight to d6.
well-prepared, as a move like 6...Bf5 is not an easy move to 16...Re8 17.f4 Not the most accurate move. [Maybe White
play during a practical game. should have continued with 17.Qd4 17...Ne6 18.Qe3 and now
7.d4 Bb4 Black is winning a tempo and develops the bishop. f4-f5 is really a dangerous threat.]
8.Bd2 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 O-O Such a position is very difficult to 17...Be4? A big mistake. [Black should have continued with
evaluate. On one hand White has the better center and a bit 17...Ne4 using the fact that White doesn’t have anything but
more space, but on the other hand the black pieces are nicely an equal position after playing f5. 18.f5 Qb6+ 19.Kh1 Bxf5
20.Rxf5 and here comes the move that Black has probably 21...Ne6 22.Rad1 Bringing the last inactive piece into the
overseen: game.
22...Qb6+ 23.Kh1 White’s position is winning even if he has
no material advantage. The threat of playing f5 is just deadly.
23...g6 This move doesn’t really help.
24.f5 Of course!
24...Nd4 25.Qd2 The game is over now...
25...Nxf5
20...Rxe5! Now the position is a forced draw. 21.Qf1 Rxf5

22.Qxf5 Nf2+ 23.Kg1 Nh3+ 24.Kh1 Nf2+]
18.Nd6 Now the white knight on d6 is a monster.
18...Re7
26.Rxf5 The last accurate move.

26...gxf5 27.Nxf5 and Black cannot do anything against Qg5
next. It seems like White did nothing special to win this game,
but in fact such "easy" play is sometimes the hardest thing to
do. 1-0
19.c4! A very nice move. It is important not to let the black

pieces consolidate.
19...dxc4 20.Bxc4 The white pieces are dominating the game
and now the pawn on f7 is also in trouble.
20...Bc6 21.Qc2 Giri continues increasing the pressure by
making solid and good moves! Now Bxf7 is a threat.
4...c5 5.Qc2! White is familiar with the subtleties of the
(2) Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (2736) opening. [5.f3 was less accurate in view of 5...Qa5+! 6.Nd2
- Caruana, Fabiano (2808) [E60] Nxd2 7.Bxd2 Qb6! and the b2 pawn is under attack. That is
the reason of playing 5.Qc2.]
Best rating: 2672 5...Qa5+ 6.Nd2 f5 [Now on 6...Nxd2 7.Bxd2 Qb6 White
2015.09.20
has a pleasant choice between 8.dxc5 (and 8.d5 which is also
better for him due to the nice center after e4.) 8...Qxc5 9.Bc3
One of the favorites, Fabiano Caruana was eliminated by Provoking some unwanted weakening in the pawn structure
Mamedyarov. The local super GM won the first game of the with f6 or e5.]
match in a very nice and convincing attacking game.
7.f3! Forcing the active knight to make a decision. It either
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 retreats or takes on d2, but in both cases White will be able to
build a strong center with d5-e4.
7...Nf6 8.d5 d6 9.e4
3.Bg5!? A very rare move on the highest level, although it is

a clever attempt to confuse a Gruenfeld player. White wants
to avoid the 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Ne4 main line of the Gruenfeld 9...Na6! Nice prophylaxis against White’s main idea... [Black
defence! was rightly afraid of 9...Bg7 10.exf5 Bxf5 11.Bd3! with tempo,
3...Ne4 [3...Bg7 is the most natural move, but then White because Black is not really willing to trade the light squared
plays 4.Nc3 and Black either allows e4 and plays a King’s bishops after playing f5, because he loses the control over
Indian, which was definitely not the idea of a Gruenfeld player, the e6 square, which could be occupied quickly by the g1
or plays 4...d5 but then he could not play 4. ..Ne4 instead of knight. With the knight on a6, this idea obviously does not
4...Bg7.] work because of Nb4.]
4.Bf4 Jumping to with the knight before the white knight has 10.Ne2! A known idea from the King’s Indian Saemisch
developed to c3 allows White to occupy the center with f3-e4. defense. The knight cannot develop to its most natural square
Black must try to challenge the center anyway. on f3, but it goes to c3 from where it supports the central
pawns. Black is going to undermine them with e6 or b5 and to hang and the damaged situation of the black kingside will
then the knight on c3 could become very useful. also start to tell after Bh6.]
10...fxe4 Caruana decide s to release the tension in the center, 15.Bxh5 gxh5
since the g1 knight cannot develop to f3 anymore.
11.fxe4 Bg7 12.Nc3 O-O 13.Be2 White quickly wants to finish
the development with 0-0 after which he could conclude the
opening stage of the game with a slight edge thanks to his
strong center. Black must quickly try to make use of the
temporary loose position of the f4 bishop and try to gain some
benefits from the pin on the f-file.
13...Nh5?! Caruana comes to the right conclusion, but
executes it in a wrong version. [It was probably much stronger
to play 13...Ng4! 14.O-O (14.Bg5 14...Bd4 White is missing 16.Nf3! The opening stage of the game has clearly finished
one important tempo to find safety for his king.) 14...Bd4+ in favor of White! The only problem of his position was his
15.Kh1 Nf2+ 16.Rxf2 Bxf2 17.Bh6 Followed by Nf3, with uncastled king, but it is going to be solved now. At the
compensation for the exchange, but it is doubtful if it could same time he achieved many advantages, such as having
be also enough for an advantage... Black might even consider a strong center, keeping the strong dark squared bishop
giving back the material but completing the development and damaging the opponent’s kingside. He has potential
with 17...Bd7 18.Bxf8 Rxf8 Black cannot be worse here with attacking chances with Qd2-Bh6 or transferring the knight to
the two bishops.] the kingside through Ne2-g3 or Nf4.
14.Bg5! [14.Be3 14...Nf4 was Black’s idea and if White plays 16...h6 17.Be3 Bg4 18.O-O e6 19.Qd2! Kh7 20.Rad1! An
15.O-O Nxe2+ 16.Nxe2 Rxf1+ the a2 pawn is hanging, while excellent positional move, forcing Black to decide what he
after 17.Nxf1 b5!=+ Black grabs the initiative.] wants to do in the center by increasing the pressure on the
14...Qd8 is too passive. Black admits the mistake of his d6 pawn.
previous move. [14...Nf4 would have been consequent after 20...e5 This had to be a very sad moment for Caruana. He
the previous move, but it also fails to equalize. Whiteplays definitely wanted to avoid playing this move, which closes
15.O-O! Nxe2+ (On 15...Bxc3 16.Bxf4+= protects the knight the center and his dark squared bishop. The game becomes
on d2.) 16.Nxe2 Rxf1+ 17.Rxf1 Qxa2 18.Nc3+= followed by static, where Black remains without counterplay. [20...exd5
taking on e7 next move.; 14...Bd4 also fails to create enough was met by 21.Qxd5! winning the d6 pawn. Although
counterplay, because after 15.Bxh5 gxh5 16.Nf3! Qd2 is it probably would still have been preferable to try and
coming next, forcing back the bishop from its active position. compensate a pawn down in an opened position rather than
Then White could already castle kingside, the e7 pawn starts suffer in a cramped one with passive pieces.]
21.Rf2! The center is fixed, the d1 rook has already done its
job. It is time to activate it by doubling on the f-file.
21...Nc7 [This was the last moment for Black to trade on f3,
however it is not obvious to him this exchange favors him.
21...Bxf3 22.gxf3 Qh4 23.Kh1 Rf7
26.g3! By undermi ning the h4 pawn, White opens the path

for his knight towards the kingside. All his pieces are perfectly
focused for a successfull attack, while the black ones are
discoordinated and not well organized to defend properly.
Black also lacks the space for the movement of his pieces.
26...hxg3+ 27.Nxg3 Black cannot hold all the squares. Nh5
24.Ne2! followed by Ng3-f5, paralyzing Black with a single
is coming next and if he prevents it with Be8 then the knight
knight on f5 and clearly using the fact that the g6 pawn was
goes to f5, while in case of Qe8 the h4 square becomes free to
lured to h5 before.]
play Nh4-f5. In all the cases, the knight’s arrival is decisive!
22.Rdf1 Rb8 23.h3 Bd7 Black needs this bishop to try
27...Rg8 [27...Qe8 28.Nh4h]
and keep his position together. [23...Bxf3 24.Rxf3 Rxf3
25.Rxf3h is hopeless positionally. White can easily focus all 28.Nh5 Ne8 [28...Bf8 for instance loses to 29.Nf6+ Qxf6
his pieces to the kingside and Rf5 or Ne2-g3 are coming next.] 30.Ng5+h; 28...Bh8 29.Bxh6h]
24.Ne2! Mamedyarov is extremely strong in attacking chess. 29.Nxg7 Nxg7 30.Bxh6 The game is over. White has won
He drives his knight to g3. Black must prevent it, but he can material and he continues attacking.
only do it temporarily. 30...Nh5 31.Ng5+ Kg6 32.Rg1 From now on all the moves
24...h4 25.Kh2! Preparing for the opening of the kingside. are just winning for White. Mamedyarov finishes the game in
style.
25...b6 Another sad decision, but it was difficult to be
clever. [25...b5 is rather leading to suicide after 26.b4! cxb4 32...Qe7 33.Nf7+ Kh7 34.Bg5 Qe8 35.Qe2 Ng7 36.Rf6
27.c5!h Black just destroys himself on both sides of the Rf8 37.Rh6+ Kg8 38.Bf6 Rxf7 39.Qh5 and Rh8 is mate in
board.] the next move! 1-0
Young & Talented 14...g6 A rare move. [14...Bxg3 15.hxg3 Qxd4 16.Qd1 Qxd1
17.Rxd1 leads to an unbalanced endgame where White is
pushing.; 14...Bc5!? 15.Nf5 Re8 16.Bf4 Qb6 17.Kg2 Nxf2
18.e5 was very complex in Giri-Shirov 2014.]
15.Nb3 A good novelty. [15.h3 15...Nxf2 16.Rxf2 Bxg3 17.Be3
Bxf2+ 18.Bxf2 Re8 with an unclear position. Barbot-Gozzoly
2014]
GM Etienne Bacrot
15...a5 [15...Re8 16.h3 b4 might be checked as well.]
Best rating: 2749
16.h3 Ne5
(3) Bluebaum, Matthias (2580)
- Loiseau, Quentin (2419) [D46]
World Junior Open 2015(5.8),
2015.09.06
Back to the World Juniors, here is the game between the
18 year-old Bluebaum, who took bronze in Khanty, and my
compatriot Loiseau, who played excellently in Khanty and
finished in 4th place.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 17.f4!? Entering the forced lines. White could have chosen
7.Bd3 O-O 8.O-O dxc4 9.Bxc4 b5 10.Be2 This is an ant line a positional way as well: [17.Rd1 17...Qe7 18.Bg5 a4 19.Nd4
of the Meran. This retreat became more fashionable than Rfd8k; 17.Bh6 I prefer this move. 17...Re8 18.Rad1 a4 19.Nd2
10.Bd3, which I use to play. and I think White should be able to claim an advantage in this
10...Bb7 11.e4 e5 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nd4 Neg4 14.g3 line.]
17...Nc4 [After 17...a4 18.Nd2 Ned7 19.e5 Nxe5 20.fxe5
Bxe5 21.Nde4 Black definitely doesn’t have enough for the
sacrified piece.]
18.e5 a4 Freeing the c5 square.
19.Bxc4 bxc4 20.Nd2 Bc5+ 21.Kh2 Nd5
22.Nde4 Going for the attack. [Of course after 22.Nxc4 27.b4!! A prophylactic move! (27.Qh6 27...Rxf6 28.Bg5 Rb6!!
22...Nxc3 23.bxc3 Ba6 Black has good compensation.] lets black escape; 27.Nxh7 This human move leads to a better
position for White, but with counterplay. 27...gxf5 28.Nxf8
22...Bd4? Very risky and wrong. The f6 square should be
d4) 27...Be7 (27...axb3 28.Qh6 Rxf6 29.Bg5h is completely
defended: [22...Be7! 23.f5 Bc8 (23...a3 is also an option.)
lost.) 28.Bb2 Bxf6 29.exf6 gxf5 30.Bd4 and Black will be
24.f6 (24.fxg6 24...fxg6 25.Bh6 Rf5 White’s attack is over.;
destroyed on the dark squares.) 27.Nxe8 (27.Qh6 27...Qxf6!!
24.Bh6 24...Bxf5k) 24...Bb4 25.Bd2 (25.Qd2? 25...Re8e)
Again this strong queen sacrifice to attack the king. 28.exf6
25...Qd7 with unclear play.]
Re2+ 29.Rf2 Rxf2+ 30.Kg1 Rxf5+ 31.Be3 Bf8=+) 27...Qxe8
23.Nxd5 cxd5 24.Nf6+ Kh8 28.Qe2c Somehow the material advantage should prevail.]
26.Nd7 Qa7 [26...c3 27.bxc3 Qb5 28.Ba3h]
27.f5h Black is under big attack and will soon also have a
huge material deficit.
27...Rg8 28.Qh6 gxf5 29.Qf6+ Rg7 30.Bh6 Rg8 31.Rxf5
Qa6 32.Bxg7+ Rxg7 33.Rd1 The last piece joins the action.
33...a3 [33...Bxb2 34.Qxa6 Bxa6 35.Rxd5h with an
hopeless endgame.]
34.bxa3 c3!? Black finds some counterplay.
25.Qd2!! A very strong move, heading to h6 with tempo.
25...Qb6? [25...Bc5 would maintain some hope thanks to
the following great defensive idea: 26.f5 Re8 (26...Ra6 is
deadly met by
35.Rxd4 c2
36.Rf1 is good enough but it was more precise and prettier

to finish the game with [36.e6! 36...c1=Q (36...Qxe6 37.Qxe6
fxe6 38.Rf8+ Rg8 39.Rf1h) 37.Qd8+ Rg8 38.Qxg8+ Kxg8
39.exf7+]
36...Qe2+ 37.Kh1 Ba6 38.Qd8+ White is just winning some
time on the clock.
38...Rg8 39.Qf6+ Rg7 40.Rdf4 d4 [40...Bd3 is also lost:
41.Nc5 Qh5 42.Kg2 Bxf1+ 43.Rxf1 Qd1 (43...Qe2+ 44.Qf2)
44.Nb3h]
41.Qd8+ Rg8 42.Qf6+ Rg7 43.Nc5! It is all over...
43...Bc4 44.Qd8+ Rg8 45.Qf6+ Rg7 46.Qd8+ Rg8
47.Qxd4 Rxg3 48.e6+ f6 49.Qxf6+ Rg7 50.Qf8+ Rg8
51.Qxg8+ Kxg8 52.Rg1+ Kh8 53.Rf8# 1-0
Puzzle section
(4) Giri, A(2793)-Motylev, A(2649) (6) Grischuk, A(2771)-Eljanov, P(2717)
1. h 1. h
(5) Adams, M(2742)-Laznicka, V(2676) (7) Le Quang Liem(2697)-So, W(2773)

World Cup tiebreak, 2015.09.16 World Cup tiebreak, 2015.09.19
1... i 1... i
(8) Andreikin, D(2720)-Kramnik, V(2777) (10) So, W(2773)-Vachier-Lagrave, M(2744)
1. c 1... e
(9) Nakamura, H(2814)-Nepomniachtchi, I(2705) (11) Meier, G(2656)-Reich, T(2406)

World Cup tiebreak, 2015.09.19 German league, 2015.09.18
1. h 1. h
(12) Wagner, D(2579)-Shirov, A(2712)
1... i
(13) Jaracz, P(2503)-Cornette, M(2591)

1... i
Endgame section 49...Kf7 50.Kf3 Ke6 51.Ke3 Kd6
(14) So, Wesley (2773)

- Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime (2744)
FIDE World Cup 2015, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.09.21 Best rating: 2672
52.Kd2! White finds the most tenacious defense! He

correctly realizes that the position with the white king on d3
and the black one on c5 is a zugzwang, therefore he sidesteps
this square. [On 52.Kd3 52...Kc5 White cannot touch his
pawns, because e5 gives the f5 square for the kinght, while
f5 allows the knight to occupy e5. 53.Ke3 (The king can
never go too far from the h4 pawn, because it loses to 53.Kc3
53...Nd4i and Nf3 next.) 53...Kc4 White is in zugzwang
again. The king goes to d4... 54.f5 Ne5 55.Kf4 Kd4 56.fxg6
We are facing a very interesting endgame. Black is a piece up, Nxg6+ 57.Kf5 Nxh4+i White has no access to the h5 pawn
but he has only two pawns left against the four. However they because of his own pawn on g5.]
are ideally placed, White can only exchange one pair of pawn 52...Kc5 53.Kd3 Kb4 The most natural move. Black tries to
with f5, but the h5 remains on board. squeeze the king, however it does not bring success. A few
47...Rc6! A difficult decision! Vachier-Lagrave correctly moves later, Black already finds the right path towards the
evaluates that forcing the trade of the rooks leads to a winning win.
endgame, but it requires very subtle technique. 54.Kd2! White continues defending perfectly. We have
48.Rxc6 White has no choice. [48.f4? opens the king’s already seen that White is lost if it is his move with the kings
position and allows Black access to the h4 pawn after on e3 and c4, therefore he tries to give the move to his
48...Rc2+! 49.Kg3 Rc3+ 50.Kg2 Nf3i] opponent. [54.Ke3 54...Kc4i See the line 52.Kd3.; 54.f5
48...Nxc6 49.f4 White could have brought his king to e3 first, loses to 54...Kc5 55.fxg6 Ne5+i]
but he has to play f3-f4 at some point anyway and it is always 54...Kc4 55.Ke3 Kc5! Black admits his mistake and
going to be a transposition. searches for another plan... [The thematic way to squeeze the
king was 55...Kc3 however it allows White to push 56.e5! and 60...Ne8!! The only winn ing move, which was correctly
the point is that whenever White plays e5, Black should be foreseen by Vachier-Lagrave. The point is that the knight
able to play Kd5, otherwise the white king gets to e4. 56...Kc4 stands between the white pawns in any case. If he takes on
57.Ke4 Ne7 Otherwise White plays f5. 58.e6 Kc5 59.Ke5 g6, the knight goes to g7 while in case of f6, Nc7-e6 creates a
Kc6 60.Kf6 Kd6 61.Kf7 Black is in zugzwang and loses his perfect blockade. White will have no access to the h5 pawn
g6 pawn.] and the black king will collect all the pawns one by one.
56.Kd3 [60...gxf5 spoils the win after 61.Kf4! fxe4 62.g6 Ne8 63.Kxe4
and the king goes to the h5 pawn. 63...Ng7 64.Ke5 Kf6 is
coming next.]
61.fxg6 [61.f6 61...Nc7 62.Kf4 Kd4i; 61.Kf4 61...Kd4i]
61...Ng7 62.e5 Another clever attempt, but today nothing
helps, Black simply plays the endgame perfectly. [If White
decides to stay with 62.Kf4 62...Kd4 63.Kf3 Ke5 64.Ke3
the winning method is the following: 64...Ne6 65.Kf3 Nd4+
66.Ke3 Nc6 67.g7 Ne7 After provoking g7, the black king gets
access to it. Another important factor is the fixed situation
56...Nd8! Black realized that with the knight on c6, he
of the h4 pawn. Black can attack it in one move with Ng6.
cannot make progress. The question is where to drive the
68.Kf3 Ke6 69.Kf4 (69.g6 69...Kf6i) 69...Ng6+ 70.Kg3
knight before starting the same squeezing technique like it
Kf7i After taking on g7, Black goes for the e4 pawn and
happened unsuccesfully before...
collects the rest as well.]
57.Ke3 Nf7 58.Kd3 Nd6 This is the ideal placement of the
62...Kd5 63.Kf4 Kd4 64.e6
knight! White’s rescue with e5 like it happened in the 55... Kc3
line does not work anymore. The only saving attempt remains
to push f5. 59.Ke3 Kc4 60.f5
64...Kd5! The last accuracy! The path of the white king had
to be blockaded, the knight must stay on g7. [64...Nxe6+?
65.Kf5 Ng7+ 66.Kf6]
(15) Wei, Yi (2734)
65.e7 Ke6 66.Ke4 Kxe7 67.Ke5 Ke8 68.Kd5 [68.Kf6
- Svidler, Peter (2727)
68...Kf8 White must retreat. 69.Ke5 Ke7 transposes to the
game.]
68...Kd7 [White resigned in view of 68...Kd7 69.Ke5 Ke7 2015.09.25 GM Arkadij Naiditsch
70.Kd5 (70.Ke4 70...Ke6 71.Kf4 Nf5i) 70...Nf5 and Black Best rating: 2737
takes on h4 as the king stops the g-pawn. With this nice
endgame victory, Vachier-Lagrave eliminated Wesley So and
advanced to the final 8 players.] 0-1
Svidler was dominating this match throughout all the games,

but in the first 5 games he could not reach more than a draw.
With the crucial win which we are going to see, the Russian
progressed into the semi-final of the World Cup.
41.f5!? An interesting choice! It is clear that White is fighting
for a draw, but the bishop pair is very strong so Wei Yi clearly
has good chances to reach it. With the f5 move, the Chinese
player decides to open the position even more and exchanges
some of the pawns.
41...exf5 42.exf5 [Another interesting option was 42.Bg5+
42...Ke8 and now maybe the slightly strange looking move
43.Bc4!? (43.exf5 43...Rxf5 and Black is holding things
together.) 43...Nc6 (We can see White’s threat after 43...fxe4?
44.Bxd8 Kxd8 45.Be6 and the knight is lost.) 44.Bf7+
Kxf7 45.Rxd7+ Ke6 46.Rxc7 Ne5 47.exf5+ Kxf5 48.Bf4 and
because of the little material left on the board, White has 51.Kg2? This is a big mistake... [51.Bb4! would lead to a draw
decent chances to save the game into a draw.] as in many lines the bishop on c5 is under attack. 51...Ra7
42...Nf7 Black is defending against Bg5+. 52.h4 The black knight has no good squares. 52...Ne4 53.Re1
Kd5 54.Rd1+ Ke5 55.Re1 and Black doesn’t have anything
43.Bf4 Attacking the c7 pawn. better than to agree to a draw.]
43...Nde5 It is very important for Black to keep both 51...Ra8 52.Bb4 Ne4 53.Re1 Kd5 The black king is starting
connected pawns alive, as one would clearly not be enough his march into the white defenses.
to win the game.
54.Rd1+ Ke5 55.Re1 Kd4 56.Rd1+ Ke3
44.Rc1 [More logical was 44.fxg6 44...hxg6 45.h4 Trying to

57.Rc1? After this move all of White’s hopes are gone. [White
exchange another pawn by playing h5.]
would still keep some chances after 57.Re1+ 57...Kd3 58.Rd1+
44...c6 45.Be3 b5 Black continues to do everything he can to Ncd2 and 59.Bf7 The g6 pawn is under attack. 59...Kc2
keep both passed pawns alive. 60.Re1 Ra4 61.Bf8 and it is still unclear if the position is
46.Bc5+ Kf6 47.fxg6 hxg6 48.Rf1+ Ke6 49.Bd1 Ng5 The winning or not...]
knight will be out of the game for some time on g5. [49...Nd6 57...c5! Svidler doesn’t miss his chance to get into the
followed by Ndc4 looks more solid.] 50.Bb3+ Nc4 semi-final!
58.Re1+ Kd4 59.Rd1+ Ke5 The black pawns are rolling!
60.Bxc4 bxc4 61.Be1 Ra3 There is no more hope for White,
as Black wants to play Rd3 followed by c3 and Kd4 next.
62.Kf1 Ra2 To cut the king on the first rank is always a good
idea! [62...Rd3 63.Ke2 Kd4 would also be enough to win the
game.]
63.Rc1 Kd4 64.Rd1+ Ke3 White is just hopeless against the
upcoming c3 move.
65.Rc1 Kd3 66.Rd1+ Nd2+ 67.Bxd2 Rxd2 68.Ke1
68...c3 A very nice win by Svidler, but also a big pity for the
just 16-year old Wei Yi who played a great event with a lot of
tough matches! 0-1
Golden knowledge. (16) Gelfand, Boris-Henriquez Villagra, Cristobal
Drawing in winning positions FIDE World Cup 2015, 2015
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Qxf3 e6

7.Nc3 Nbd7 8.Bd3 Bb4 9.O-O O-O 10.Rd1 Re8 11.Qe2
Qe7 12.Qc2 dxc4 13.Bxc4 Nb6 14.Bf1 e5 15.dxe5 Qxe5
16.Ne2 Nbd5 17.Nd4 Rad8 18.Nf3 Qe7 19.a3 Ba5 20.Bd2
Bb6 21.Bc4 Rd7 22.Be1 Red8 23.Rd3 Ne4 24.Rad1 h6
25.b4 a6 26.Qb3 Nef6 27.a4 Ba7 28.b5 axb5 29.axb5
Bc5 30.Nd4 Bxd4 31.Rxd4 Ra8 32.Be2 Rc7 33.Bf3 Rcc8
34.Rc1 Qe6 35.Bd2 Rab8 36.bxc6 bxc6 37.Qc2 Ne7
GM Adrian Mikhalchishin 38.Rc4 Rb7 39.Bb4 Ned5 40.Bd2 Rbc7 41.Ra1 Nb6
FIDE Trainers Commission Chairman 42.Rc5 Nbd7 43.Rca5 Ne5 44.Be2 c5 45.Ra6 Rc6 46.f4
Ned7 47.Bc4 Rxa6 48.Rxa6 Qe8 49.Ra7 Rd8 50.Kh2
In chess loss of control is a typical thing, especially during Qe7 51.Qb3 Kf8 52.Qb7 Rb8 53.Qc6 Rb6 54.Ra8+
or after time trouble. Sometimes players resign in a drawn Ne8 55.Qf3 Rb8 56.Ra7 Nd6 57.Bd5 Nb5 58.Ra5 Nf6
position as they don’t know the theoretical way to achieve 59.Bc6 Nc7 60.Bc3 Ne6 61.Be5 Rc8 62.Bb7 Rd8 63.Ba6
the draw. It mostly happens in endgames, but there are many Ng5 64.Qc6 Nge4 65.Be2 Qd7 66.Qb6 Nd5 67.Qb3
cases of offering draws in winning positions. f6 68.Bb2 Qc7 69.Rb5 Nd2 70.Qa3 Qe7 71.Rxc5 Nb1
72.Qa5 Nxe3
The reasons are
1) Bad knowledge of theoretical maneuvers
2) Overlooking tactical ways of realization
3) Wrong calculation of some lines
Let us take a look at some of the most interesting and typical
cases.
Here such a great player like Boris Gelfand agreed a draw, but
he was easily obtaining winning chances after
73.Rc1 1/2-1/2
(17) Petrovs, Vladimirs-Keres, Paul
Munich ol (Men)(8), 1936
1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 d5 4.Bg5 Bb4+ 5.Nbd2 dxc4

6.Qa4+ Nc6 7.Ne5 Bd7 8.Nxc6 Bxd2+ 9.Bxd2 Bxc6
10.Qxc4 Ne4 11.Bf4 Qf6 12.Be3 Nd6 13.Qc3 Nf5 14.Bf4
Nxd4 15.e3 Nb5 16.Qxf6 gxf6 17.a4 Nd6 18.b4 e5 19.Bg3
Nf5 20.Ra3 h5 21.f3 h4 22.Bf2 h3 23.b5 hxg2 24.Bxg2 Bd7
25.f4 Nd6 26.Bg3 e4 27.Rc3 a6 28.bxa6 Rxa6 29.Rxc7 Rc6
61...Kg2 [Not better is 61...Kg4 62.Ke5 e3 63.Ba5 e2 64.Bd2
30.Rxc6 Bxc6 31.a5 Rh5 32.O-O Rxa5 33.Be1 Ra2 34.Bc3
Kf3 65.Kxf5 Kf2 66.Ke4 e1=Q+ 67.Bxe1+ Kxe1 68.Kd4 Kd2
Nf5 35.Rf2 Ra3 36.Bxf6 Rxe3 37.h4 Kd7 38.h5 Ke6
69.f5 b4 70.Kc4]
39.Bb2 Nh6 40.Bc1 Re1+ 41.Rf1 Rxf1+ 42.Bxf1 f5 43.Bb2
Ng4 44.Bc4+ Bd5 45.Bb5 Ke7 46.Ba3+ Kf7 47.Kg2 62.Ke5 Kf1 63.Ba5 Ke2 64.Kxf5 e3 65.Ke4 1/2-1/2
Ne3+ 48.Kf2 Nd1+ 49.Ke1 Nc3 50.Bd7 Be6 51.Bxe6+
Kxe6 52.h6 Kf7 53.Bb2 Kg6 54.Bxc3 Kxh6 55.Kf2 Kh5 (18) Smyslov, Vassily-Benko, Pal C
56.Kg3 b5
Candidates Tournament(4), 1959
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5

e6 7.f4 h6 8.Bh4 Qb6 9.a3 Nc6 10.Bf2 Qc7 11.Qf3 Be7
12.O-O-O Bd7 13.g4 g5 14.Nxc6 Bxc6 15.h4 gxf4 16.Qxf4
O-O-O 17.Bg3 Rdg8 18.Bh3 Rh7 19.Rhf1 Rhg7 20.Rd3
Nxg4 21.Nd5 exd5 22.exd5 Bxd5 23.Rxd5 Kb8 24.Be1
Ne5 25.Bc3 Rg3 26.Bf5 Rxc3 27.bxc3 Qxc3 28.Qd4
Here the Latvian Grandmaster agreed a draw, but by using

simple zugzwang he would have won the game easily!
57.Bb4 Kg6 58.Kf2 Kh5 59.Ke3 Kg4 60.Be1 Kh3 61.Kd4
Benko was as usual in terrible time trouble and agreed a draw (20) Nisipeanu, Liviu Dieter-Balogh, Csaba
in an absolutely terrific attacking position. Heviz Palace, 2008
28...Qxa3+ 29.Kb1 [Even worse is 29.Qb2 29...Qxb2+
30.Kxb2 Nc4+ 31.Kb3 Ne3] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Qxf3 e6
29...Rg3 30.Qf4 Rb3+ 31.cxb3 Qxb3+ 32.Kc1 Qxd5 With 7.Nc3 Bb4 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.O-O O-O 10.Rd1 Qe7 11.Qe2
a huge material advantage. 1/2-1/2 Rad8 12.a3 dxc4 13.Bxh7+ Nxh7 14.axb4 Qxb4 15.Rxa7
Ra8 16.Rxa8 Rxa8 17.e4 Ra1 18.Kh2 b5 19.e5 Nb6 20.Ne4
(19) Petrosian, Tigran V-Fuchs, Reinhart Nd5 21.Qg4 Rxc1 22.Rxc1 Qxb2 23.Qd1 c3 24.Qc2 b4
25.Nc5 Qxc2 26.Rxc2 Nf8 27.g3 Nd7 28.Nb3 f6 29.f4 Kf7
Yerevan(6), 1965 30.Rf2 Kg6 31.g4 fxe5 32.fxe5 N7b6 33.Kg3 Nc4 34.Kf3
Kg5 35.Ke4 Kh4 36.Kd3 Nb2+ 37.Ke4 g5
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Qb3 Be7 6.Bf4
O-O 7.e3 Nbd7 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Bd3 Re8 10.O-O Nf8
11.a4 a5 12.Qc2 Ng6 13.Bg3 Bd6 14.Bxd6 Qxd6 15.Rfe1
Bd7 16.Rab1 Re7 17.Na2 Rae8 18.b4 axb4 19.Rxb4 Bg4
20.Nd2 Ne4 21.Nf1 Nh4 22.Ng3 Qh6
Here a draw was agreed, but the win was fantastic:

38.Rf6 Nxf6+ 39.exf6 Nc4 40.Kf3 Nd6 41.Kg2!! Nf7
Here Petrosian offfered a draw (which was accepted) in a view

of his opponent’s powerful attack. But the attack was really
easy to conduct.
23.f4 Bf3 24.Bf1 g5 and White’s position will be destroyed
very soon. 1/2-1/2
42.d5!! [Another way is 42.Nc1 42...c2 43.Ne2 b3 44.Ng1
c1=Q 45.Nf3#] (22) Averbakh, Y.-Podgaets, M.
42...cxd5 43.Nd4 Ne5 44.f7! c2 45.f8=Q c1=Q 46.Qh6# USSR (ch), 1969
1/2-1/2
(21) Diez del Corral, Jesus-Ljubojevic, Ljubomir

Las Palmas, 1973
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 c5 6.f3 d5

7.cxd5 exd5 8.e3 O-O 9.Bd3 b6 10.Ne2 Re8 11.O-O Ba6
12.Ra2 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 Nc6 14.Nf4 Rc8 15.Re2 Rc7 16.g4
h6 17.h4 Na5 18.Rg2 cxd4 19.cxd4 Nh7 20.g5 hxg5 21.hxg5
Nxg5 22.Kf2 Ne6 23.Rh1 Nxf4 24.Qh7+ Kf8 25.exf4 g6
There are especially many cases of not seeing a win in the
endgame, even on the top level!
1.e5+? [White could make a draw in a correct way here after
1.Bf5! 1...Rg3+ 2.Kf2 Rd3 3.Be6 h3 4.Kg1! Re3 5.e5+! dxe5
6.fxe5+ Kxe5 7.Kh2 Kf4 8.Bxh3 Re2+ 9.Bg2 Kg4 10.d6 Rd2
11.d7 Kh4 12.Kg1 Kg3 13.Kf1=]
1...dxe5 2.fxe5+ Kxe5 3.Be6
Here Ljubojevic offered a draw (which was accepted!) as he

saw his opponent’s killing attack...
26.Rxg6 fxg6 27.Qxg6 Rf7 28.Rh8+ Ke7 29.f5 Rxh8
30.Bg5+ Ke8 31.Bxd8 1/2-1/2
Here Black agreed draw in an easily winning situation!

[3.Be6 3...Kf4 4.Kh2 Re2+ 5.Kh3 Kg5 6.Bc8 Rb2! 7.Bd7
Rc2 8.Be6 Rd2! Now White is in zugzwang and is forced or
to give up his pawn or to leave the attack of the h4 pawn. Kg5 53.Kd3 Kf4 54.Kc2 Ke3 55.Kc1
9.Bf7 Rd3+ 10.Kh2 h3 11.Be6 Kh4 Creating a mating net
after Rd2.] 1/2-1/2
(23) Malisauskas, V.-Laurusas, T.

Litva 2014
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6

7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.Bd2 Be7 10.Qe2 Qc7 11.h3
a6 12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.O-O O-O 14.Rac1 Nxc3 15.Bxc3 e5
55...c2! (55...Kd3 56.Kd1 c2+ 57.Kc1 Kc3 Stalemate!)
16.dxe5 Nxe5 17.Bc2 Bf6 18.Rfd1 Rad8 19.Bb3 Rxd1+
56.Kxc2 Ke2 and Black wins the b3 pawn with an outflanking
20.Rxd1 Rd8 21.Rxd8+ Qxd8 22.Qc2 Qd3 23.Bd4 Qxc2
maneuver.) 49...b3 50.axb3 a3] 1/2-1/2
24.Bxc2 Nd7 25.Bxf6 Nxf6 26.f4 Kf8 27.Kf2 Ke7 28.e4
Nd7 29.Ke3 f6 30.e5 fxe5 31.Bxg6 exf4+ 32.Kxf4 Kf6
33.Bc2 a5 34.h4 Nc5 35.g4 Ne6+ 36.Ke4 Nc5+ 37.Kf3 (24) Palmer, B.-Jessel, S.
Ke5 38.g5 b5 39.h5 Ne6 40.Kg4 c5 41.h6 gxh6 42.gxh6 Irish Championship, 2014
Kf6 43.Be4 c4 44.Kf3 Nc5 45.Ke3 b4 46.Kd4 [46.Bd5+=]
46...Nxe4 47.Kxe4?? [47.Kxc4= ] 1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Bd3 Bd6 5.Nc3 c6 6.Nf3
47...a4 48.Ke3 c3 Nf6 7.Bg5 O-O 8.O-O Bg4 9.h3 Bh5 10.g4 Bg6 11.Ne5
Qb6 12.Bxg6 fxg6 13.Qd3 Nbd7 14.Nxd7 Nxd7 15.Rae1
Rf7 16.Re6 Qc7 17.Kg2 Nf8 18.Re2 Bf4 19.Bh4 g5 20.Bg3
Ng6 21.Rfe1 Raf8 22.Re8 Bd6 23.Rxf8+ Rxf8 24.Nd1
Nh4+ 25.Bxh4 gxh4 26.Re6 Qd7 27.Re2 Bb8 28.Qe3
Qc7 29.Qe6+ Kh8 30.Re5 g6 31.Qe7 Rf7 32.Qxh4 Qd7
33.Re2 Kg8 34.f3 Bc7 35.Qe1 Kg7 36.Nf2 Qd6 37.Re5
Qf6 38.Qe2 Bxe5 39.dxe5 Qe6 40.Nd3 b6 41.f4 d4
42.Qe4 c5 43.b3 Rc7 44.f5 gxf5 45.gxf5 Qc6 46.Kf3 c4
47.Nb4 Qxe4+ 48.Kxe4 cxb3 49.cxb3 a5 50.Nd5 Rc2
51.Nxb6 Rxa2 52.Nc4 a4 53.bxa4 Rxa4 54.Kxd4 Ra1
It is strange, but here Black offered a draw in a won position! 55.Kd5 Rh1 56.Ke6 Rxh3 57.f6+ Kg6 58.f7 Rf3 59.Nd6 h5
He had a classical breakthrough maneuver though... [48...c3 60.Ke7 h4 61.f8=Q Rxf8 62.Kxf8 h3 63.e6 h2 64.e7
49.bxc3 (49.b3 49...axb3 50.axb3 Kg6 51.Kd3 Kxh6 52.Ke3
For some reason White rushed to offer a draw! But he is Very strong players (both trainers of National Youth and
practically forcefully mating after [64.e7 64...h1=Q 65.e8=Q+ Olympiad teams!) agreed a draw here. But White had a
Kg5 66.Qe5+ Kg4 67.Qf5+ Kg3 68.Ne4+ Kg2 69.Qf2+ Kh3 famous win here:
70.Qg3#] 1/2-1/2 64.Rb7+ Ka8 [64...Kc8 65.Rb2 Ra1 66.Rxh2 Rxa6 67.Rd2
The win is easy here since the black king is cut.]
(25) Levin, Naum-Sakharov, Yuri 65.Rb2 Ka7 66.Ra2! A very important move, winning a
UKR-ch, 1964 tempo.
66...Ka8
1.c4 c6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.cxd5 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.d4
Bg7 7.Nf3 O-O 8.Bc4 Nbd7 9.O-O Nb6 10.Bb3 Nfxd5
11.Re1 Be6 12.Ng5 Bf5 13.Qf3 Nb4 14.g4 Nc2 15.gxf5
Nxa1 16.Qh3 h6 17.Nxf7 Rxf7 18.Bxf7+ Kxf7 19.fxg6+
Kxg6 20.Qe6+ Kh7 21.Qe4+ Kh8 22.Be3 Qg8 23.Kh1
Qh7 24.Rxa1 Qxe4+ 25.Nxe4 Rc8 26.Nc5 Nd5 27.Rc1
e5 28.dxe5 Nxe3 29.fxe3 Bxe5 30.b3 Bb2 31.Rb1 Ba3
32.Nxb7 Rc2 33.Na5 Bd6 34.a4 Rxh2+ 35.Kg1 Rc2
36.Nc4 Bc5 37.Rd1 Rc3 38.Rd8+ Kg7 39.Kf2 Rxb3
40.Rd5 Be7 41.Rd7 Kf6 42.Rxa7 Rb4 43.Ne5 Kxe5
44.Rxe7+ Kd6 45.Ra7 h5 46.Kf3 Kc6 47.e4 Kb6 48.Ra8 67.Rf2! Protecting the king from first rank checks on the f-file.
Kb7 49.Ra5 Kc6 50.Ra8 Kb7 51.Ra5 Kc6 52.Kf4 h4 67...Ka7 68.Kf5 [68.Kf6? 68...Re1]
53.Kf5 h3 54.Ra6+ Rb6 55.Ra8 Rb1 56.Rc8+ Kd7 57.Rh8
68...Kxa6 69.e5 Kb7 70.Kf6 Kc7 71.e6 Kd8 [71...Kd6
Rh1 58.Rh7+ Kc6 59.Rh6+ Kb7 60.a5 h2 61.Ke5 Ka7
72.e7 Re1 73.Rd2+ Kc7 74.Rxh2 Rf1+ 75.Ke6 Re1+ 76.Kf7
62.a6 Ka8 63.Rh7 Kb8
Rf1+ 77.Ke8]
72.Kf7 Re1 73.Rd2+ Kc7 74.Rxh2 1/2-1/2
(26) Gufeld, Eduard-Dorfman, Josif D

URS-ch FL43, 1975
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5

e6 7.Qd2 Be7 8.O-O-O O-O 9.f4 h6 10.Bh4 e5 11.Nf5
Bxf5 12.exf5 exf4 13.Kb1 d5 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.Nxd5 Be5
16.Bc4 b5 17.Bxb5 Rb8 18.c4 Nd4 19.Rhe1 f6 20.Ba4
Nxf5 21.Bb3 Ne3 22.Nxe3 Qxd2 23.Rxd2 fxe3 24.Rd5
Rfd8 25.Rxe3 Rxd5 26.cxd5 Kf7 27.h3 Rb4 28.Re2 Ke7
29.Rc2 Rd4 30.a4 Rd3 31.Ka2 a5 32.Rc5 Rd2 33.Rxa5
Bxb2 34.Ra7+ Kd8 35.Rb7 Rxg2 36.Bc4 Be5+ 37.Ka3
Bd6+ 38.Kb3 Rg3+ 39.Kc2 Be7 40.Bb5
The famous GM Eduard Gufeld completed time control and

suddenly offered a draw in a practically winning position!
40...Bc5 41.d6 Bxd6 42.Rd7+ Kc8 43.Rxd6 Rxh3 44.Re6
h5 45.Re8+ Kc7 46.Re7+ Kb6 47.Rxg7 was winning easily.
1/2-1/2
Chess and the City. in the morning, and mind you, the definition of morning
can easily include early afternoon as well. Fortunately, I got
Where the eagles dare... Part I a very tough training in Italy to be able to cope with the
shock. The second difference is orientation. In Germany the
most important information needed to move from point A to
point B is the address of the latter. In Albania the address
is mostly useless and you should better know the names of
some arbitrarily "important" bars or clubs in the surroundings
which will be precious to eventually guide your driver to the
right destination. This lesson came after the severe mistake
of entrusting a taxi driver only with the name of our hotel
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz and its address. This lack of clarity on our part resulted
Best rating: 2493 in a 20 min trip for a 500 meters distance (it was raining
heavily and going by foot was not an option). After several
In my previous newsletter I already mentioned that my next stops accompanied by harsh insults profused by our driver
trip would lead me to the country of eagles - Albania. against random passerbies (including a policeman) "guilty"
As you know the connection between me and Albania is not of not knowing themselves the route to the hotel, we finally
strictly chess related, but connected with my freshly wed managed by pure chance to complete this titanic mission. To
husband, who happened to be born in Tirana, the capital of underline our mistake the driver also tried to charge us with
the country. The driving force to my new trip to Albania is an extra fee, maybe because we had forced him to insult more
indeed my second marriage, (un)surprisingly to the same guy. people than he expected for the evening.
However as is the case with every chess professional, the royal So the take home message from my first day in Tirana is - get
game is always sneaking in my activities and I can proudly say to know the names of the pubs and clubs in the surroundings
that the average rating of my guests will around 2400. quickly- and while studying the pubs give a try to the qofte
It is also relieving that adding my rating or that of my husband and dhalle, they are delicious!
would not lower this average...
That said, already from the first day, the main difference
between the German and the Albanian wedding struck me
immediately. The German wedding had a schedule based
on specific times, whereas the Albanian one has a schedule
based on...parts of the day. For example, what in Germany
would be an appointment with Herr and Frau XY at 10am
becomes in Albania a meeting with some friends or relatives
(27) Mandler (28) Cori, D(2419)-Kramnik, V(2777)
1. h World Cup, 2015.09.11
17...d4! 18.exd4 [18.Nxd4 18...b4! 19.Nce2 Be4i]

18...Bxf3 19.dxc5 Bxd1 20.Qxd1 Rxc5i
(29) Mamedyarov, S(2736)-Idani, P(2569)
World Cup, 2015.09.11
31.Ba3!! 1-0 [31.Ba3 31...Qxe6 (31...Qxa3 32.Rd8+h)

32.Rd8+ Rf8 33.Rxf8#]
(30) Nguyen Ngoc Troungso(2634)-Kempinski, R(2637) (32) Perunovic, M(2614)-Wang Hao(2712)
31.Rxd5! 1-0 [31.Rxd5 31...exd5 (31...Rxd5 32.Qxf6+h) 32.h5! Bxh5 [32...Bb1 33.h6+ Kg6 (33...Kf8 34.Qa3+h)
32.Qe7+h] 34.g4h]
(31) Espinosa Veloz, E(2495)-Karjakin, S(2762) 33.Ng3 Rfxf2 34.Nxh5+ Kg6 35.Nf4+ Kg7 36.a3h
World Cup, 2015.09.12 (33) Guseinov, G(2634)-Matlakov, M(2689)
World Cup tiebreak, 2015.09.13
42...Rxg2+!! 43.Nxg2 [43.Qxg2 43...Qxg2+ 44.Kxg2

Rxd8i] 21.Nc6!! Bxg3 [21...dxc6 22.Bxd6 Ba8 23.Bc5! Rd7
43...Bh2+! 44.Kf1 [44.Kh1 44...Bc7+i] 24.d6h]
44...Qf3+ 45.Qf2 Qxf2+ 46.Kxf2 Rxd8i 0-1 22.Rxe7+ Kf8 23.Rxd7h 1-0
(34) Iljushenok, I(2491)-Jakovenko, D(2748) (36) So, W(2773)-Balogh, C(2659)
17...f6! 18.Bg3 f5! 19.Nc5 Bxc5 20.dxc5 f4i 17.Bf6+! Kf7 18.f4!! [18.Bxh8? 18...fxe4]
(35) Ding Liren(2782)-Inarkiev, E(2660) 18...fxe4 19.fxe5 Nf3+ [19...Qb6 20.e6+! Nxe6+ 21.Bd4+h;
World Cup, 2015.09.14 19...Ndf5 20.Bxh8 Qxh8 21.exd6h Nc6 22.d7h]
20.Bxf3 exf3 21.Bxh8! Qb6+ [21...Qxh8 22.exd6 Nf5
(22...Bg4 23.dxe7 f2+ 24.Rxf2+h) 23.d7h]
22.Rf2 Bg4 23.exd6h
30.Bc2!! Qxc2 31.Nd3! Kg8 [31...Qxd3 32.Rxd3h]

32.Qxh7+ Kf7 33.Ne5+! Ke6 34.Qxc2h
(37) Sethuraman, S(2640)-Harikrishna, P(2737)
World Cup, 2015.09.15
38.g6! Nf6 [38...Nf8 39.Nd8+h]

39.Nxf6 gxf6 [39...Kxf6 40.Rd6+h]
40.Nd8+h
(38) Grzeban
1.Ba4+! Ka6 2.Nxc4 b5 3.Kc6! bxa4 [3...bxc4 4.Bb5#]

4.Nb2!! [4.Ne5 4...a3 5.Nd3 a4=]
4...a3 5.Na4! b3 6.Nc5#
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
After more than 20 days of high level and very exciting chess,
we are finally in the final of the FIDE World Cup 2015 in Baku.
Editorial Preface 2 The finalists are Sergey Karjakin and Peter Svidler. Both
Russian players are from the current national team, but from
two very different generations. Peter is close to 40 and Sergey
is just in his middle 20s.
Both qualified with hard fights, but especially Karjakin’s
Young & Talented 11 match against Eljanov was a test of nerves.
Who is now the favorite to win the World Cup?! It is hard
Puzzle section 14 to say... Karjakin is younger but seems to be very tired, and
Svidler already has a lot of experience of being in the final and
Endgame section 17 even winning it once.
Now that we know that Svidler started the mini match out of
Golden knowledge. 4 games with a nice victory, his chances are clearly better to
Bishop against Knight, inventive fight 20 make the needed 1.5 points in the next 3 games to get the title
and the nice price money of 120.000$ as a winner.
Both players were definitely also relieved after getting into the
Chess and the City. final stage because it guarantees them qualification for the
Where the eagles dare - Part II 26 Candidates Tournament in 2016.
Anyhow, we can expect Karjakin to do all he can to come back
in the match during the next 3 games!
Solutions 28 There are a few other big events starting soon, like the Poker
Stars Isle of Man tournament (which begins on Saturday) or
the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championship in Berlin, which
is to begin on the 9th of October.
For now we hope you enjoy the current issue of Top GM
Secrets!
Two best games of the past week 5...O-O 6.Nbd2 White is preparing to play e4.
6...c5 7.e4 Nc6 This position is also nothing new. It appears
more often after 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 and 3.d3 after which White
develops the bishop on g2 and we are back to the current
(1) Svidler, Peter (2727) position.
- Karjakin, Sergey (2762) [A08] 8.Re1 Quite a tricky move by Svidler, who is waiting to see
what Black is going to do next. [The usually more often played
FIDE World Cup 2015(7.1), 8.e5 8...Nd7 9.Re1 b5 leads to a very unclear fight, where
Best rating: 2737
White is playing with a Nf1-h4-N1h2-Ng4 plan and Black is
starting the rush on the queenside.]
We are in the final of the World Cup 2015 in Baku and we

see a fight between 2 Russian players who are already very
happy because of the qualification for the Candidates and a
nice price money that is awaiting both of them. But still, to
win a World Cup is something very special so we can expect a
huge fight. The mini match is out of 4 classical games, and in
case of a tie, tiebreaks will be played in shorter time controls.
But let’s come to the current game. After a rather unambitious
opening Black seemed to have comfortable play, but in fact 8...b5!? An interesting reply! [In case Black would hurry to
the postion was very tricky. With very dynamic play Svidler reload the center with 8...dxe4 9.dxe4 e5 White would keep
managed to put a lot of pressure in the center and in the end some advantage, playing some sort of KID with a few tempos
the game very quickly ended in his favour. We are going to see up. 10.Nc4 Qc7 11.Ne3 With nice play for White.]
a very nice and clean win by Svidler.
9.exd5 Nxd5 I’m not sure that this is the best move. [9...exd5
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 Svidler is one of the few players who still looks more solid and actually there were many games in this
enjoys playing the Reti with White. But Karjakin is also very position where White did not manage to get anything out of
experienced in it and even plays it from time to time himself. the opening.]
2...d5 3.Bg2 e6 This modest 3...e6 is just a try to get into a 10.Ne4 A slightly strange move in my opinion. [I think White
Catalan over a different move order. Other main moves are could have tried to be better after 10.c4 10...bxc4 11.dxc4 Nb6
3...Bg4 or 3...g6. 12.b3 (It is too early for 12.Ne5 12...Nxe5 13.Bxa8 Nd3 and
4.O-O Be7 5.d3 [5.d4 5...O-O 6.c4 and we are back into the it is Black who is playing for an advantage now.) 12...Qc7
Catalan.] 13.Bb2 and because of his better pawn structure I see White
as favorite here.] the center: it is great in case it is possible to keep them solid,
10...Bb7 Now Black is fully developed and I don’t see any but it can be a big problem when everything is falling apart.
reason why White should be having any opening advantage 15...Rf7 looks like a solid move, but Black probably had
here. better options to prepare against the d4 push.
11.c3 A move like c3 is clearly a prophylactical choice to cover
the b4 and d4 squares in the future.
11...a6 looks very solid, but is a bit passive. [Why not play
11...Qb6 with the idea of putting a rook on d8.]
12.a4
16.d4! Here we go!

16...bxc3 Now that the b-file is opened, the bishop on b7 is
going to "hand" all the way. [It was better for black to keep
the b-file shut. 16...cxd4 17.cxd4 exd4 But still White’s position
is clearly very promising. 18.Nc5 Bxc5 19.Rxc5 With nice play
for White.]
12...b4?! This is an inaccuracy. Karjakin doesn’t feel the 17.bxc3 cxd4 18.cxd4 Nxd4 [Not better was 18...exd4 19.Qb3
danger that is in this position. [An easy move like 12...h6 (19.Nc5 19...Bxc5 20.Rxc5 Qd6 21.Rxd5 Qxd5 22.Ng5 also
would guarantee Black comfortable play.] looks very interesting for White.) 19...Rb8 20.Nfg5! A small
13.Bg5! An excellent move! Svidler feels that Black’s center but pretty tactic. 20...fxg5 21.Nc5 and it seems like Black’s
is starting to shake.. . White’s idea is simply to create play on position is just falling apart.]
the c-file by playing Rc1. 19.Nxd4 exd4 20.Qb3 Now we can see how nicely
13...f6 Another very risky choice. [More solid was 13...h6 coordinated the white pieces are and that Black is in big
14.Bxe7 Qxe7 15.Rc1 bxc3 16.bxc3 Rab8 and maybe White is trouble.
already a bit better, but Black’s position is still very solid.] 20...Rb8 Not a nice move to make- but what else to play?!
14.Bd2 e5 15.Rc1 Now Black needs to be very careful! Svidler
is not only planning to play cxb4 somewhere, but also Qb3 or
d4. This is often the problem of having an advanced pawns in
[In case of 20...Qd7 21.Rc4! this simple attack on d4 is just 29.Qxe2 and being 2 pieces down Karjakin decided it was
deadly. 21...f5 22.Rb1 and it is hard to see how Black should time to stop the suffering. A nice dynamic win by Svidler which
hold here...] came almost out of nowhere, and a great example of how a
21.Rb1! A great move by Svidler! The pin on the b-file will now position can turn from a very safe one into an almost losing
stay forever. one with just a few "normal" moves. 1-0
21...Qd7 22.Rec1 Peter is playing moves like 22. Rec1 almost

instantly, feeling that it is the right choice- and in fact it is
probably the strongest move White can play in this position.
Black has no good defence against the upcoming Nc5.
22...Qe6 This move is losing, but the position is close to
being lost already anyway.
23.Nc5 Of course!
23...Bxc5 24.Rxc5 Rd8 The knight on d5 was hanging.
25.Ba5 Rd6 26.Qc4 and now Rxb7 is the threat. The game
is over.
26...Nc3 White is a full piece up now. [26...Ba8 of course
doesn’t help: 27.Rb8+ Rf8 28.Rxf8+ Kxf8 29.Rc8+ followed
by Rxa8.]
27.Rxb7 Qe1+ 28.Bf1 Ne2+
moves in the past has never come into consideration, because
(2) Giri, Anish (2793) everybody respected the center (rightly so). However the
- Svidler, Peter (2727) [C92] computers are changing the general understanding and after
making such an antipositional move, they start to defend
FIDE World Cup 2015(6.1), GM Csaba Balogh Black’s position. As we will see, we soon reach an unbalanced
2015.09.29 Best rating: 2672
middlegame, where both sides have their chances to outplay
the opponent. [11...Bf8 is the beginning of the old main lines,
We are in the semifinals of the World Cup. Giri was showing where White has a wide range of choice. ]
outstanding performance throughout the entire tournament 12.cxd4 Nd7 After giving up the center, Black is forced to put
with the white pieces and he had huge confidence to pressure on the d4 pawn as soon as possible, otherwise the
outplay Peter Svidler in the extremely complex Ruy Lopez exd4 move makes no sense at all.
middlegame. However, Svidler turned out to be the one, who
13.Nf1 White accomplishes the standard Spanish maneouvre.
is more familiar with the ideas and he succesfully organized
his counterplay on the queenside, before the attack could 13...Na5 14.Bc2 Bf6 Black is going to push c5 next move
have broken through... forcing some action in the center. He either takes on d4 after
which all his pieces start to participate in the game or White
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1
pushes typically d5 (closing the b7 bishop and grabs space
b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.c3 d6 9.h3 The old main lines of the Ruy
advantage), but it gives up the e5 square, opens the diagonal
Lopez are recently slightly disappeared from the highest level,
of the dark squared bishop and allows the a5 knight to join
but hopefully some games like this one will bring it back to the
into the game. This is the concrete point of this new setup
practice.
with 11...exd4.
9...Bb7 10.d4 Re8 The so-called Zaitsev variation.
11.Nbd2
15.Rb1 Played by Giri without thinking. A common plan in

the Spanish. White prepares to push d5 after c5 and intends
11...exd4 This is the modern development of the theory. Such the shut out the a5 knight from the game with b3. The
alternatives are: [15.Ng3 15...g6 Black prevents Nh5 first and of the game. In the last 2 moves, White was heading with
will follow his plan with c5 next.; 15.N1h2 is perhaps the his knights towards g4 and f5 and Black anticipates this plan
most natural with the idea of playing Ng4 and now on g6 by preparing to take one of them. [19...Bg5 was also i n
in comparison to the 15.Ng3 line, he has Ng4 Bg7 Nh6! at the spirit of the position. Black eases his position by trading
his disposal. However Black finds his counterplay here as pieces and in the same time he tries to establish control over
wellwith 15...c5 16.Ng4 cxd4 17.Nxd4 Bxd4 18.Qxd4 Rc8 the dark squares. 20.Nf5 Bxc1 21.Rxc1 Nf6 Bc8 next with
with a very concrete position, but practice shows, that Black counterplay.]
gets strong counterplay in all lines.; Just a few month before 20.Rf1 Somehow White gets confused from this point. He has
Svidler already employed this opening. That game continued several plans at his disposal. Now he intends to launch an
with 15.Bf4 15...Nf8 16.Ng3 Ne6 17.Bd2 Nc4 18.Bc3 c5 again attack with f4, but then in the next moves he switches to other
with counterplay.] ideas without being in harmony with each other. [On 20.Nf5
15...c5 16.d5 Nc4! A necessary maneouvre, otherwise the 20...Nb6 just like i n the game. The knight supports well the
knight is going to suffer in the entire game at the edge of the counterplay on the queenside from b6.]
board after b3. 20...Nb6 21.Ng4 [On 21.f4 21...b4! followed by a5-a4 and
17.b3 Nce5 sometimes even Ba6. Actually the white center looks very
dangerous, but it is difficult to make progress with it, because
Black controls perfectly the e5 break, while f5 allows the
knight to occupy an excellent outpost on e5.]
21...Bxg4 22.hxg4 h6 Preventing g5 just in case. It was not
threatening yet, I believe Black could have also started with
b4-a5, but the move is useful anyway.
23.Nf5 [After h6, I thought a plan with f4-g5 could be more
dangerous, but White cannot do it at once, because of Bd4
check followed by Qh4. If he prepareswith 23.Be3 Black can
18.N3h2 We are still following some games. Only one pair of simple continue his plan with 23...b4 24.f4 a5 a bit strange
pawns are traded and the position is full of subtle plans for , but actually it is similar to the 21.f4 b4 line, that it all
both sides. The last move is another typical and principled looks beautiful for White, but how to make progress with the
plan. White has space advantage and should aim for keeping attack?!]
the pieces on board. By exchanging pieces he would give 23...Ne7! Well, it is better to get rid of such knights. [On
more options for maneovering. 23...b4 White was probably intending to play 24.g3 followed
18...Ng6 19.Ng3 Bc8 Black improves his worst piece. After by Kg2, Rh1 and some sacrifices on h6.]
the structure got fixed in the center, the b7 bishop got out
24.Ne3
31...Ne7! Yet again! Just like in the 23rd move, Black wants to
24...b4! Black just starts his counterplay on the queenside, get rid of the f5 knight. He had to leave for a while until White
but within few moves he will be already there. At first was threatening with e5, but after the light squared bishop is
sight, this a5-a4 plan does not even look dangerous, but the gone, Black can initiate the favorable exchanges again. [On
opening of the a-file gives many extra options for Black. White 31...Rxa2 32.g5! hxg5 33.Qf3 was the plan.]
cannot oppose on the a-file, because the f6 bishop controls 32.g5 Kind of desperation! White has already lost the fight
the long diagonal. positionally, his only chance is to find a break through on the
25.g3 a5 26.Kg2 a4 27.bxa4 I don’t like this move, because it kingside. [32.Qf3 32...Nxf5 33.gxf5 Rxa2 34.Qg4 Kf8 Black
opens the a-file anyway and it just helps the b6 knight enter to simple walks away. White cannot create any serious threats.]
the game through a4-c3. [Even after 27.Rh1 27...axb3 28.axb3 32...hxg5 33.Ne3 [If White tries 33.Qf3 33...Nxf5 34.exf5
Ra2 Black seems to be fine, maybe even more than that.] Rxa2 35.Qh5
27...Qd7 Black wins back the pawn.
28.Qd3 White pinned his hopes to this move, he is
threatening with e5 and a decisive check on h7, but Black
simple prevents it...
28...Ng6! The b1-h7 diagonal is safe! The concrete threats
are parried and Black is coming with Na4-c3.
29.Nf5 Nxa4 30.Bxa4 Otherwise Nc3, but by giving up his
light squared bishop, White loses a huge potential attacker.
30...Rxa4 31.Rh1 35...Rxf2+! wins in a nice way (The simple 35...Kf8i is also
good. White has only one check.) 36.Kxf2 Qxf5+ 37.Bf4
(37.Kg2 37...Qc2+ 38.Kf1 Qd3+ 39.Kg2 Re2+ 40.Kh3 Qf5+
41.Qg4 Qh7+i) 37...Qc2+ and the b1 rook falls with check.
38.Kf3 Qe2#]
33...Rxa2 Black is already materially ahead. He keeps all his
positional trumphs he had before and White is very far from
any threats. The game is basically over.
34.Bd2 [34.e5 just drops further material, because after
34...Bxe5 35.Qh7+ Kf8 36.Qh8+ Ng8i Black is completely
safe!]
34...Ng6 35.Nf5 Ne5 36.Qe2 g6 37.Nh6+ Kg7 38.Nf5+
Kg8 Completing the timetrouble.
39.Nh6+ Kg7 40.Nf5+ gxf5 41.Qh5 Ng6 White resigned
as he soon runs out of checks! Very impressive victory and
understanding bySvidler! 0-1
Young & Talented
GM Etienne Bacrot
Best rating: 2749
7...a6 I don’t think this is precise here. [7...Bf8 is more logical
and if White wants to fight for an advantage, an interesting
(3) Wei Yi (2734) sequence is: 8.f4 exf4 9.Rxf4 Ne5! 10.Rf5 a6! 11.Bxe5 Rxe5
- Svidler, Peter (2727) [A01] 12.Rxe5 axb5nWith full compensation thanks to the oddly
FIDE World Cup 2015(5.6), placed rook.]
2015.09.25 8.Be2 Bf8 [8...b5!? ]
9.c4! The white pieces are nicely placed for this move.
Wei Yi won many unclear matches in the World Cup and was
stopped in the quarter finals by Svidler, losing the first game 9...d5 10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Rc1 Ndb4?! Not an
where he had some advantage after 5 difficult draws. easy position to play in a rapid time control. I would fight for
the e4 square with: [12...Nxc3!? 13.Bxc3 f5k]
1.b3 The Chinese prodigy had problems in the openings in this
match, so he correctly decided to change his first move. 13.d3 Qd7 Here it seems necessary to fight for the control of
c5 by playing [13...a5!? 14.a3 Na6]
1...e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bd6 5.Ne2 [5.Na3 is
more popular but Black has many good weapons at his 14.a3 Nd5
disposal.]
5...O-O 6.O-O Re8 Changing from the game Wei Yi-Karjakin,
where Black played 6...a6. 7.Ng3
15.Nce4+= White simply takes the bishop pair after the loss
of two tempi by his opponent. 27.Qxe6 Losing all the remaining edge, but the only way to
15...a5 16.Ng5 Nb6 17.Nxe6 Qxe6 18.Bg4 Qd6 19.Qc2 keep an advantage was too difficult to find with little time on
Nd5 This knight just moved too many times! the clock. [27.Rc3!! += and if Black tries to repeat moves with
27...Nd5 28.Rc2 Nde7 29.d4! is strong now that the bishop
20.Rfd1c Red8 21.Bf3 g6 22.Ne4 Qe6 on b2 is protected by the rook.]
27...fxe6k 28.b4 [28.Bxc6 28...Nxc6 29.Rc3 e4! is very ok for
Black.]
28...axb4 29.axb4 Nd5 30.Bc3 Rd7 31.d4 [31.Bxd5 is the
other way to play for equality.]
31...exd4 [31...Nxc3!? It is maybe a good idea to swap one
bishop. 32.Rxc3 Nxb4 33.dxe5 Rxd1+ 34.Bxd1 Nd5 35.Rc1 c6
The passed pawns should ensure Black’s advantage.]
32.Bxd4 Rxb4 33.Bc5?! The wrong diagonal. The bishop
23.Nc5?! White should keep the pressure and not go for the would be better placed on a1.
second bishop. Some improving moves like Qc4, g3, Kg2, h4
33...Ra4 34.Be2 Ra5 35.e4 Nf6 36.Rxd7 Nxd7 37.Be3
and waiting for a good opportunity to open the position was
Kf7=+ 38.Rb1 Nd8 [38...b6 immediately is more logical.]
better.
23...Bxc5 24.Qxc5 Ra6! This strong rook maneuver, putting
some pressure on the b3 pawn as well as parrying the Qb5
threat was probably missed by White.
25.Qc4 Rb6 26.g3?! A prophylactic move. Instead, 26.Ba1
followed by Rb1 was needed.
26...Nde7!
39.f4 On the verge of collapsing, White chooses the right path

and goes for opening the position.
39...b6 40.Rd1 Ke7 41.f5! exf5 42.exf5 Nf7 43.Bf4 Nde5
44.Rc1 White is provoking the pawns to advance. Much
more natural is [44.fxg6 44...hxg6 45.h4 with good drawing
chances.]
44...c6 45.Be3 b5 46.Bc5+ Kf6 47.fxg6 hxg6 48.Rf1+ Ke6 62.Kf1 Ra2 63.Rc1 Kd4 64.Rd1+ Ke3 65.Rc1 Kd3 66.Rd1+
49.Bd1 Ng5? The rook should be improved first. 49....Ra8 Nd2+ 67.Bxd2 Rxd2 68.Ke1 c3 The junior is eliminated after
would have given Black a big advantage. a tense fight. 0-1
50.Bb3+ Nc4
51.Kg2? Missing the chance: [51.Bb4! 51...Ra8 52.Re1+

Black has some problems now to stop the checks: 52...Kd5
53.Rd1+ Ke5 54.Re1+ Kd4 (54...Ne4? 55.Bc2h) 55.Rd1+
Ke4 56.Re1+ Ne3 A try not to repeat moves. 57.Kf2!
Nh3+ 58.Ke2 and somehow the black pieces completely lost
coordination.]
51...Ra8 More precise is [51...Ne4 52.Re1 Kd5e is almost
over.]
52.Bb4 [52.Bc2! 52...Kd5 53.Bf2! was still a fight.]
52...Ne4e Now the black moves play themselves.
53.Re1 Kd5 54.Rd1+ Ke5 55.Re1 Kd4 56.Rd1+ Ke3
57.Rc1? Strange. If White had continued with checks Black
would have needed to be precise to conclude the game:
[57.Re1+ 57...Kd3 58.Rd1+ Ncd2 59.Bf7 c5!? 60.Bxd2 Nxd2
61.Bxg6+ Ke2 62.Bh5+ Ke3e Black pawns should be faster
than White’s.]
57...c5i It is all over now.
58.Re1+ Kd4 59.Rd1+ Ke5 60.Bxc4 bxc4 61.Be1 Ra3
Puzzle section
(4) Karjakin, S(2762)-Andreikin, D(2720) (6) Sutovsky, E(2635)-Khismatullin, D(2651)
World Cup tiebreak, 2015.09.22 Poikovsky, 2015.09.28
1. h 1. h
(5) Morozevich, A(2711)-Bologan, V(2607) (7) Greenfeld, A(2535)-Koop, T(2407)

Poikovsky, 2015.09.28 Gutman Jubilee, 2015.09.23
1... i 1. h
(8) Meijers, V(2463)-Greenfeld, A(2535) (10) Pap, M(2488)-Greenfeld, A(2535)
Gutman Jubilee, 2015.09.24 Gutman Jubilee, 2015.09.28
1... i 1... i
(9) Harika, D(2508)-Karpatchev, A(2469) (11) Berg, E(2567)-Livner, A(2336)

Gutman Jubilee, 2015.09.25 Vasteras Open, 2015.09.26
1. h 1. h
(12) Tikkanen, H(2509)-Ernst, T(2336)
Vasteras Open, 2015.09.26
1. h
(13) Kotanjian, T(2495)-Volkov, S(2589)

Beirut Open, 2015.09.27
1... i
Endgame section could have restored the material balance with 47...Rd4 but
it lets the pawn run too far after 48.Rb2 Rxf4+ 49.Kh3 Re4
50.b5 Re7 51.b6 Rb7
(14) Giri, Anish (2793)
World Cup 2015,

Best rating: 2737
52.Kh4 We can see the reason why they say, activity in the
rook endgames play a key factor. Despite the limited material,
Black seems to be hopeless... 52...Kh6 53.Rb5 Kg6 54.h3
Black is in zugzwang. He either loses his h5 pawn with check
or plays 54...f5 but it allows 55.Kg3h followed by h4 and
Kf4.]
48.Rb2 Kf5 Vachier-Lagrave tries to defend actively, in
We are facing a very interesting rook endgame. At first general this is the right idea!
sight, despite the pawn down, Black should hold the draw 49.Kg3! White temporarily switches to passivity, but the
rather comfortably because of his active pieces and the f-pawn had to be protected. [49.Kxh5 gives Black an f- passed
vulnerable positions of the white pawns. However Giri plays pawn, which will always ensure adequate counterplay.
the entire endgame with great resourcefulness, he explores 49...Kxf4+ 50.Kh4 f5=]
all his chances and manages to convert his advantage.
49...Ke4 [Black cannot trade his h-pawn for the f, as White is
47.Rc2! Giri follows the very important principle, that in rook not forced to grab it. Actually it just helps White, because the
endgames the rook should stay behind the passed pawn! This king wanted to go to c4 anyway. 49...h4+ 50.Kf3]
is true for both sides, if it was Black’s move, he should also
quickly go behind the b-pawn. [47.Rc4 allows 47...Rd2 48.h3
Rb2 and Black is too active, White cannot make any progress.]
47...Rb5! Not the best place for the rook, but Black could not
avoid Rb2 whereafter the pawn must be blockaded. [Black
50.Rb1! Another very clever move by Giri! It gives the move 53...Rb3+ [53...h4 looks bad as well 54.Kg4 Kd3 55.Ra6 and
to Black, who again finds himself in a sort of zugzwang. He the pawns start to fall.]
cannot move his rook as it lets the b-pawn advance and all 54.Ke4 h4 [The critical line would have started with 54...Rh3
the other options have a drawback as well. In general, it is 55.Ra2+! Kb3 56.Rf2 Kc3 57.Kf5 Kd3 58.Kxf6 Ke3 59.Rf1
very good practical idea to ask ourselves, what would our Rxh2 60.f5 It is very ult to judge, wether this endgame is
opponent do if it was his move. We can find many zugzwangs drawn or winning for White. Actually in a practical game, I
like this. would say Black’s is in big trouble, but perhaps Black could
50...Kd3 [Black still cannot trade his h-pawn for the f4, save this endgame somehow?! 60...h4 (60...Ke2 61.Ra1 Kf3
because 50...h4+ is met by 51.Kg4 and the h-pawn just 62.Kg5 h4 63.f6h wins.) 61.Ke5! h3 62.f6 and White is
becomes weak.; 50...f5 with the idea of pushing h4 now is winning, because the king is cut along the f-file, he cannot
strongly met by 51.Re1+! Kd4 52.Kh4 and the black king is go to support the h-pawn. 62...Ra2 63.f7 Ra8 64.f8=Q Rxf8
cut.] 65.Rxf8 and Black cannot play Kf3 to ensure the draw...
51.Kf3 Kc2 Black could not find anything better, than 65...h2 66.Rh8h]
capturing the b-pawn by sending away the rook, but in the 55.Kf5 Kd3 [55...Rb6 56.Ra3 Kd2 57.Rh3 was also bad.]
same time his king gets too far from the kingside. There will 56.Kxf6 Ke4 57.f5 h3 Black pins his counterplay to the h2
be none to defend the f6-h5 pawns. pawn, but White is able to protect it with his rook and support
52.Ra1! Rxb4 53.Ra5! We have reached another scenario his f-pawn in the same time.
within our rook endgame. If Black could get back his king, let’s
say to g7 he could hold the draw even without his pawns, as it
is known, that f- and h-pawn in rook endgames is a theoretical
draw. However the problem is, that the king is too far and it is
going to be cut along the 5th or the 6th rank.
58.Ra4+ Kf3 59.Kg5 Rb5 [59...Kg2 60.Ra2+h followed by
pushing the f-pawn.; 59...Rb2 60.f6h and Black has no time
to grab the h2 pawn.]
60.Ra2 Rb4 [60...Ke4 is met by 61.Kg6! as the pawn cannot
be taken. 61...Rxf5 62.Ra4+h]
61.f6 The rest is easy...
61...Rg4+ 62.Kf5 Rf4+ [62...Rg2 63.Ra3+h wins the h3
pawn.]
63.Ke6 Re4+ 64.Kd6 Rd4+ 65.Ke7 Re4+ 66.Kf8 Rb4
67.f7 Rf4 68.Rb2 Ra4 69.Rb6! [The last accuracy! White
wins the bridge building method, Black has no time to collect
the h2 pawn. Black resigned in view of the following lines:
69.Rb6! 69...Kg2 70.Kg7 Ra7 (70...Rg4+ 71.Rg6h; 70...Rf4
71.Rf6h) 71.Rb2+ Kg1 72.Kg8h Great endgame by Giri! My
feeling says, that Black should have been able to hold the
draw somwhow, but it is difficult to suggest where he should
have improved his play...] 1-0
Golden knowledge. (15) Gashimov, Vugar-Ponomariov, Ruslan
Bishop against Knight, inventive fight FIDE World Cup 2011
In chess we have some legendary classical endings, which are
appearing from time to time and in such cases top players
In chess we have many cases of great Bishop versus Knight have to demonstrate knowledge of classics. Nowadays it
fights. There a lot of different, but very typical cases. Many is more difficult, as we have special time control without
of them are connected to different blockading themes and adjourbments and 30 sec increment. For this reason the
many are devoted to fighting for the promotion of the pawn. importance of studying endgames is obvious. It is interesting
Of course we first have to study what our great predecessors to see one recent example of how a top player found a
from the 19th century did in this certain area. Then we can classical maneuver. And if you still have this question- do they
check how this knowledge is used in practice by modern know it or do they try to find it during the game? We used to
players. We see here that with the modern time control with call this process many years ago: to reinvent the bicycle! This
30 seconds increment, there are a lot of wrong decisions in position was analyzed 150 years ago!
classical situations.
82.Kh4 Nf4 83.Kg3 Ke4 84.Ba1 Nd3 85.Kg2 Ke3
And my recommendation is simple: study as many typical 86.Kg3 Nc5 87.Kg2 Ke2 88.Kg3 Na4 Black built the
endgame positions as possible to be ready to handle them in perfect Harwitz position and can proceed with the king to c1
semi-automatic mode during the game! according to the Chekhover maneuver!
89.Kg2 Nb6 90.Kg3 Nc4 91.Kg2 Ne3+ 92.Kg3 Nd1
93.Kg2 Ke3 94.Kg3 Kd2 95.Kf3 Kd3 96.Kf4 Kc2 97.Ke4
Nb2 98.Ke3 Na4! 99.Ke2
99...Kc1! Yes, this is the exact position from Chekhover’s 3.Bh1!! Kxh1 [3...Ng2+ 4.Ke2 Nf4+ 5.Ke1]
study, which was first found by Horwitz. Now it is easy. 4.Kf2! The idea has to be conducted correctly. There is
100.Kd3 Kb1 101.Kd2 Nb2 102.Kc3 Kxa1 103.Kc2 Nd3 always room for wrong decisions. [4.Kf1? 4...Nf3 5.Kf2 Nd2]
0-1 1/2-1/2
(16) Loyd, S. (17) Chekhover, V.

The Chess Monthly, 1860 1939
Incredibly the first time this position appeared was in the 1.Na5 Ba8 2.Kc8!! This is was found by Harwitz many years
analysis of this great composer and it was well before Harwitz! ago. There were no endgame databases, so such eminent
composers repeated old findings!
1.Bd7 [1.Bc6+? 1...Kg1 2.Bh1? Kxh1 3.Kf1 Kh2 4.Kf2 Ng6
5.Kf1 Kg3 6.Kg1 Ne5 7.Kh1 Ng4 8.Kg1 h2+ 9.Kh1 Nf2#] 2...Ke8 3.Nc4 Ke7 4.Kb8 Kd8 5.Na5 Kd7 6.Nb7 Kc6
7.Kxa8 Kc7 8.Nd6 Exactly, as performed by Ponomariov!!
1...h2 [1...Nf3+ 2.Ke2 Nd4+ 3.Ke3 h2] 1-0
2.Bc6+ Kg1 [2...Nf3+ 3.Ke2 h1=Q 4.Bxf3+]
(18) Horwitz, B. Chekhover! 1-0
The Chess Monthly @2, 1885
(19) Harwitz, B.
1885
1.Kb6! Kc4 [1...Ka4 2.Nc6 Kb3 3.Na5+ Kb4 4.Nb7 Kc4

5.Kc7 Kd5 6.Kb8]
2.Na6 Kd4 [2...Bf3 3.Nc5 Ba8 4.Nb7 Kd5 5.Kc7 Ke6 When the white king is not on c8, then the winning maneuver
6.Na5 Ke7 Study Chekhover- it is just a sideline of Gorwitz!] doesn’t exist!
3.Nc7 [3.Nc5! 3...Kd5 4.Nb7 Ke6 5.Kc7] 1.Nc3 Ba8 2.Na4 Bg2 3.Nc5 Ba8 4.Nb7+ Kd7 5.Kxa8
3...Bg2 4.Ne6+ Ke5 5.Nd8 Ba8 6.Kc7 Kc8 1/2-1/2
(20) Lehmann, Heinz-Stephan, Werner

FRG-ch 02nd, 1953
6...Kd5! 7.Nb7 [7.Kb8? 7...Kd6! 8.Kxa8 Kc7]

7...Ke6 8.Na5 Ke7 9.Kc8 Ke8 10.Nc4! Ke7 11.Kb8 Kd8
12.Na5 Kd7 13.Nb7! Kc6 14.Kxa8 Kc7 15.Nd6 and it is
The after-war generation was not very precise in endgames
and in a German magazine this was considered as a DRAW!
It was written that everybody has to know how to play such
endings! But Ernst Gottschalk from Braunschweig wrote
a letter about this mistake. Then there were some long
discussions, during which the old analysis of Harwitz was
remembered.
1.Ba1 Nb2?? [The way to win is simple as classics found it:
1...Nc5+ 2.Ke3 Kb1 3.Bh8 Na4]
4.Kd2! = Kxa1 5.Kc1! Nc4 6.Kc2 1/2-1/2
2.Ke3 Kb1 3.Kd2 Kxa1 4.Kc1 Nd3+ 5.Kc2 1/2-1/2
(22) Sakaev, K.-Sunye Neto, J.

(21) Stein, Leonid-Dorfman, Josif
Sao Paulo , 1991
USSR , 1970
But the young generation was not better and the same
/ There are funny annotations by the legendary Yugoslavian
mistakes were repeated!
IM Rudolf Maric. First it seems that he does not know which
Dorfman plays- it was not GM Josif but the weaker player 1...Nc3+ 2.Ke3 Na4! 3.Ke2 [A similar win will be achieved
Cicero, and Maric is also not aware of Horwitz’ analysis! after 3.Kd4 3...Kb1 4.Kd3 Nc5+! 5.Kc3 (5.Kd2 5...Nb3+i)
5...Kxa1 6.Kc2 Nd3i]
1.Bf6 Nd3 2.Ba1! Nb2 3.Ke1 Kb1 [3...Na4 4.Ke2 Kc1
5.Ke1 Nc5 6.Ke2 Kb1 7.Kd1 Nd3 8.Kd2 Nb2 Nunn, but it
is known from Horwitz to Chekhover!]
idea in very concrete situations, forgetting about the
invention and the inventor. Everything was known before,
but the position was published!
1.Bf3 Nf4 2.Bh1 Ng2+ 3.Ke2 Nh4 4.Ke1 Nf5 5.Ba8 Nh4
6.Bh1 1/2-1/2
(24) Prokop, F.
1.p Ceskoslovensky Sach#251 @2, 1930
3...Nb2? [One of the best young GMs of the 90s did not
know the correct way... 3...Kc1! 4.Ke1 (4.Kd3 4...Kb1
5.Kd2 Nb2D) 4...Nc5 5.Ke2 (5.Bg7 5...Nd3+ 6.Ke2 Nb2i)
5...Kb1 6.Kd1 (6.Kd2 6...Nb3+i; 6.Bg7 6...Na4i) 6...Nd3
7.Kd2 Nb2 8.Kc3 Kxa1 9.Kc2 Nd3i]
4.Ke3 Kb1?? 5.Kd2= Now it is a draw!
5...Nc4+ 6.Kd1 Na5 7.Bg7 Nb3 8.Bf6 Nc5 9.Bg7 Nd3
10.Ba1 Nb4 11.Bg7 Nc2 12.Kd2 Na3 13.Kd1 Nc4 14.Ba1
Ne3+ 15.Kd2 1/2-1/2
(23) Gerbaus There were a few brilliant old studies on this subject.
1920 1.Ke5! Ba8 2.Nb6 Bb7 3.Ke6! Kd8 4.Kd6 Ke8 5.Kc7
Bg2
Few chess players were accidentally developing the same 6.Nc8! [A second solution was found here, which by no
means reduces the educational value of Prokop’s work.
6.Nc4! 6...Ke7 7.Kc8 Bf3 8.Na5 Ba8 9.Kc7 Ke6 10.Nb7
Ke7 11.Nd8 Ke8 12.Ne6 Ke7 13.Nd4 Ke8 14.Nf5!]
6...Ba8! 7.Kb8 Kd8 8.Nd6! Kd7 9.Nb7! Kc6 10.Kxa8
Kc7 11.Nd6 1-0
(25) Gufeld, Eduard-Smyslov, Vasily

Moscow, 1966
It is very funny that a slightly similar idea happened in this

knight endgame...
1...Na8 2.Kb7! [2.Kxa8 2...Kc7! (But not the wrongly
recommended by Gufeld 2...Kc8 since after 3.Nf7 Kc7 4.Nd6
is winning, as in our main examples.) ]
2...Nc7 3.Nc4 Na8 [3...Kd7 4.Ne3 Kd6 (4...Kd8 5.Nd5 Na8
6.Kc6) 5.Nd5]
4.Ne3 Nc7 5.Nd5 Na8 6.Kc6!! 1-0
Chess and the City. crisis - the Albanian wedding outfit.
Where the eagles dare - Part II

Best rating: 2493
I’m happy to say that for the second time my "old" husband
did not hesitate to marry me once again. The marriage itself
certainly went more smoothly than our Albanian-style taxi It was a big fight to actually choose the long beige coat, which
trip, which I mentioned in my previous newsletter. However, is not actually typical for the Tirana region. The initial "skirt"
without any obstacles, there would be no unforgettable I was supposed to wear reminded me of a huge white balloon
moments! And again this time there were moments when I which would require just the lightest of puffs to make me fly
just wanted to beam myself onto another planet. Naively I away. It’s hard to say whether it was the Albanian outfit or
imagined there would not be anything stressful as the entire my first Albanian hairdresser’s visit which brought me nearer
wedding was organized by my husband’s large family, but to a heart attack! It’s hard to describe the shock I got when
this is to overlook the proverb "too many cooks spoil the I looked at myself for the first time after an hour of hair and
broth". And not only that, but I got involuntarily roped into make-up. However many times I opened and shut my eyes,
the prolonged preparations thanks to my dear mother in the image wouldn’t go away. I barely recognized the creature
law. Any hope of being left alone in our hotel room was that was glaring back at me, horrified. Despite the cost being
rudely interrupted by constant demands from her from dawn double, maybe his family should have made it clear that I was
’till dusk, which were announced by my husband’s ringtone not attending a vampire show, but instead my own wedding!
of Mozart’s Turkish march, which rather reminded me of a
Russian invasion!
Unfortunately, this was just the tip of the iceberg. Albanian
weddings are very traditional, and this leads us to my next
Keith and I at my German wedding
Anyway, apart from looking like another person, and being

forced into some old and historical dress which at least did
not turn out to make me fly, I had a wonderful day! Comparing
the two weddings I would even dare to say that the Albanian
one was more to my taste, as the whole atmosphere seemed
more Eastern style, as opposed to the more modern German
wedding. The make-up however was not for nothing, as I may
use it to scare off my opponents over the chess board! :) P.S.
It is time to give a special thank you again to my dear friend
Keith Arkell, who transforms my articles into something which
sounds less "Germenglish" and a bit more English.
(26) Pogosiants (27) Giri, A(2793)-Motylev, A(2649)
1. h World Cup tiebreak, 2015.09.16
17.f4! b5 [17...Bxh4 18.Qxh4 Bg6 19.f5h; 17...Bg6 18.f5h]

18.axb5 cxb5 19.Ne3 [19.Nxa5h ]
19...Qd8 20.Nhf5 exf4 21.Nd5 Bg6 22.Bxa5 Rxa5
23.Ndxe7+h
(28) Adams, M(2742)-Laznicka, V(2676)
28...Rd2! 29.Qxd2 Rxd2 30.Kxd2 Qxc2+ [30...b4 31.axb4
axb4 32.Bd4 Qxc2+ 33.Ke1 (33.Ke3 33...Qe4+i) 33...Qc1+ (30) Le Quang Lie(2697)-So, W(2773)
34.Ke2 (34.Kf2 34...Qd2+i) 34...Qc4+i] World Cup tiebreak, 2015.09.19
31.Ke3 Be4 [31...b4!i ]
32.Rxf7 Qd3+ 33.Kf2 Qc2+ [33...b4!i ]
34.Ke3 Qd3+ 35.Kf2 Qc2+ 36.Ke3 Qd3+? 1/2
(29) Grischuk, A(2771)-Eljanov, P(2717)

World Cup, 2015.09.17
31...h4! 32.Nc5 [32.g5 32...Rf5#; 32.Nd4 32...g5#]

32...Rxc5i
(31) Andreikin, D(2720)-Kramnik, V(2777)
39.Kh3? [39.Qf5! 39...Qxb3 (39...e3+ 40.Kh5h; 39...Qe7+

40.Kh5h) 40.Ra5 Qb4 41.Kh5 Qxa5 42.Qxg6+ Kh8
43.Qe8+ Kh7 44.Qxe4+ Kh8 45.Qb7h]
39...Rg5i
19.Ba6!! Bxa6 20.Rxd1 Bc5 21.a4 Be2 22.Rd2 Bf1 23.g3

f6 24.d7 Be7 25.d8=Q+ Bxd8 26.Rxd8+ Rxd8 27.Bxd8
Kf7 28.Bxa5h
(32) Nakamura, H(2814)-Nepomniachtchi, I(2705) (34) Meier, G(2656)-Reich, T(2406)
World Cup tiebreak, 2015.09.19 German league, 2015.09.18
52.Be1!! Rc4 53.Rxd4! Rxc5 [53...Rxd4 54.Bc3h] 17.Qxe7! Kg8 [17...Bxg2 18.Ne6+ Kg8 19.Qxb4h]
54.Rd6 1-0 18.Qxf6 Bxg2 19.Ne6 fxe6 20.Qxe6+h
(33) So, W(2773)-Vachier-Lagrave, M(2744) (35) Wagner, D(2579)-Shirov, A(2712)
World Cup, 2015.09.21 German league, 2015.09.19
23...Ng6!! 24.Bxf7+ [24.c4 24...Bxb5 25.cxb5 Rxd5i; 27...Nh4!! 28.Kxh4 Rd8! 29.Bc1 [29.Rd1 29...Rxd1
24.Nc7 24...Rc8i] 30.Qxd1 Qxe3i; 29.Re1 29...g5+ 30.Kxg5 (30.Kg3
24...Kxf7 25.Nd6+ Kg8 26.Nxb7 Bc6! 27.Rd4 [27.Nxa5 30...Rd3i) 30...Rd6i]
27...Bxe4i] 29...g5+! i 30.Kh5 Rd3 31.Qb5 Qe2+ 32.Kxg5 Qg2+
27...Rxd4 28.Nxa5 Rd6e 0-1
(36) Jaracz, P(2503)-Cornette, M(2591)
28...Rxh2! 29.Kxh2 [29.Qxb7 29...Nf3+ 30.Kf1 (30.Qxf3

30...gxf3 31.Kxh2 Qh6+ 32.Kg1 Qh3i) 30...Nxd2+ 31.Rxd2
d5! i 32.cxd5 Qf3i]
29...Qh6+ 30.Kg1 [30.Kg2 30...Qh3+ 31.Kg1 Nf3+ 32.Qxf3
gxf3i]
30...Nf3+ 31.Kf1 Qh1+ 32.Ke2 Ng1+!! 33.Kd3 [33.Rxg1
33...Qxe4i] 33...Rb3+ 0-1
(37) Mandler
1.Kd3+! Rg2 2.Bf3! d5 3.Bf2! d4 4.Ke2! d3+ 5.Kf1! d2

6.Bxg2#
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
And the winner of the World Cup is Sergey Karjakin! He
showed amazing stability and self-control, defending very
Editorial Preface 2 bad positions again and again and fighting on in seemingly
hopeless situations! We can learn a lot from such great
Best game of the past week 5 fighting spirit!
The final match between Svidler and Karjakin was a very
Young & Talented 9 special one. Svidler started with a nice win with White and
continued with a very lucky win with Black, where Karjakin
Puzzle section 11 was pushing all game long and simply blundered a piece. Now
it was a must for Karjakin to win the next 2 games to come
back and get into the tiebreak, but how to win a game with
Endgame section 14
Black against somebody as solid as Svidler!?
So, in game 3 the position was quite calm until Karjakin did
Golden knowledge 18 the only thing he had to do, to push for all or nothing, and
it looked as if it was clearly going to be nothing... Svidler
Chess and the City. had around 5 different ways to win and many more to draw
How can a GM cope with a "4-some"? 25 the game, but after blundering move after move he finally
”managed” to lose. What a drama! In the 4th game Karjakin
Clash of the Titans 27 made his way to the full point in a long endgame where he
was better all the time and finally managed to win- a very nice
Surprise section / study 29 game to watch.
The tiebreak was similarly dramatic, win-lose-lose-win etc...
It was clear that both players were totally exhausted and
Solutions 30 fighting from the last drop of energy.
In the end, the really "lucky" winner was Karjakin but he did
absolutely the best he could, fighting until the very end and
taking all the chances he could get. Many congratulations to
the once youngest GM in the World!
Svidler also played a great event and can’t be too unhappy
as he qualified for the Candidates and won a nice amount of
money. Congratulations to him too, even if I guess he will be
not able to forget the final day for at least a few weeks, since
the victory was incredibly close.
The other big event that is underway is the Isle of Man
International Chess Tournament, sponsored by Pokerstars.
After 8 rounds, Harikrishna is leading with 6.5/8, followed by a
big group of players on 6/8. The last round is going to be very
exciting and is definitely worth following.
The World Blitz and Rapid is about to begin with an amazing
line-up. Carlsen is the top seed of this spectacular event,
which is held in Berlin.
The Millionaire Chess Open is also underway and the Top 3 US
Grandmasters are playing: Nakamura, Caruana and So. But
actually there are only 5 players over 2700 ELO and then the
list of GMs is dropping rapidly.
These are a lot of events for just one week but clearly the main
excitement is going to be seen in Berlin. Enjoy!
Best game of the past week 5...Nc6 6.Qe3 Nf6
(1) Svidler, Peter (2727)

- Karjakin, Sergey (2762) [B53]

2015.10.03 Best rating: 2672
We are in the third round of the World Cup final. Svidler leads
2-0 and he only needs a draw to win the championship. He
7.h3 A very useful move to avoid sometimes the disturbing of
played a perfect tournament until this point, but a terrible
the queen with Ng4 and also to prevent a dark square strategy
blunder in this game has brought back Karjakin into the
of Black, by fianchettoing his bishop to g7 and play Bg4, trade
match...It is fair to add, that the tournament was already in
the knight on f3 and Nd7, playing for the d4-c5-e5 squares.
progress since almost a month, both players were extremely
exhausted which has ruined the quality of their games. Their 7...g6 8.Nc3 Bg7 9.Be2 Nd7 Black has to play on the dark
main aim has been already fulfilled by reaching the final and squares, using the only drawback of the strong white center.
by this qualifying to the Candidates tournament next year. 10.Rb1 Standard plan in this opening. White already thinks
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Svidler wants to avoid about the ideal development of the c1 bishop. It should go to
the sharp lines of the Najdorf. b2 (the queen occupies the other diagonal anyway) to oppose
the strong one g7. White is going to play b3 but for this he
4...a6 [The other option is 4...Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Qd3
needs to leave the long diagonal with his rook. [On the direct
followed by c4. It leads to the same structure and similar
10.b3 Black could overtake the initative with 10...Qb6]
positions like in the game.]
10...Nde5 11.O-O O-O 12.Rd1 White takes the d4 square
5.c4 This is the point of this setup. White takes space
under control and intends to create a weakness with c5 or just
advantage by occupying the center with the pawns. It usually
finishing the development with b3-Bb2. A very safe a solid
leads to a positional game, where Black has to be accurate
position, it is just a dream when you only need to make a draw.
to maintain the balance. But of course, draw was not an
acceptable result for Karjakin. 12...Nxf3+ 13.Bxf3
the knight on c3 this move did not come into consideration,
because it allows Bd4, but now everything is under control.
18...Rae8 [18...Bd4? loses to 19.Qxd4! or 19.Nxe7 is also
good. 19...Nxd4 20.Nxe7+ wins a pawn.]
19.Bc3 The position is getting simplified. White has no
weaknesses, Svidler had all the reasons to be satisfied.
19...e6! Black uses the moment, that the knight has to
be misplaced a bit. Bxg7 does not work because of the
intermediate move exd5 and otherwise the knight cannot
13...f5! Even objectively it is the best, but considering the
retreat to a safe square (e3 or c3), has to get a bit out from
match situation it is the only chance. Black must play actively
the game.
to find some counterplay, otherwise he ends up in a long
term positional suffering after b3-Bb2. [13...Ne5 14.Be2 Be6 20.Nb6 d5! Very well played! Karjakin wants to create
15.b3+= followed by Bb2 and at some point jump Nd5, with a a passed pawn with d4, which could let him to grab the
riskless and comfortable advantage.] initiative. A critical moment for White, it is easy to lose the
thread now. He must pay special attention to his knight
14.exf5 Bxf5 15.Be4 Qd7 16.Nd5! White still wants to
on b6, but Svidler manages to deal with it... [After the
develop his bishop to b2, but it did not work tactically. [16.b3?
passive 20...Rd8 21.Re1+= and Rbd1 next, White occupies
would have dropped material after 16...Bxc3! 17.Bxf5 Qxf5
both opened files and puts pressure on the backward pawns.]
18.Qxc3 Qxb1]
21.Bxg7 Kxg7
16...Qe6! Prevents Nb6 and forces actions in the center.
17.Bxf5 Qxf5
22.Qc5! Strong reaction! White allows d4, but only in a

cost of exchanging the queens, which leads to a drawish
18.Bd2! Finally the bishop is on the way to trade the g7. With endgame. [It was temp ting to initiate further simplifications,
but Svidler correctly avoided it, because 22.cxd5?! 22...exd5 27.Rbe1 It is respectable, that Svidler wants to play the best
23.Qd2 d4! Suddenly all the black pieces are very active (after moves and plays for win even in a situation when he could
the exchange on d5, the e8 rook also takes part in the battle). practically force a drawwith [27.Qxe4 27...Nxe4 28.Rxf6 Kxf6
If White could put back his knight to d3, then of course there 29.Re1 and draw will be agreed soon.]
could be nothing to worry about, but now the knight still does 27...exd5!? Another very clever trick by Black. Objectively it
not find it’s place on the board. 24.Re1 (24.Nc4 24...Rf6=+ and loses, but this gives the biggest chance for White to go wrong.
Rfe6 next. White has problems with the knight.) 24...Rxe1+ [Objectively the best was 27...Ref8 28.Qxe4 Nxe4 29.Rxf6
25.Rxe1 Qb5e illustrates the problem of the b6 knight.] Nxf6 30.dxe6 and try to save this endgame somehow.]
22...Rf6 This is the moment when the game gets a bit weird. 28.Rxf2? A mistake which spoils the win, but the draw
Karjakin could not play "normal" moves because they lead remains still in the hand... [
to draw, he has to adopt some strange ideas to confuse his
opponent and create some tricks. This is obviously very risky
and not recommended strategy in general, but the match
situation showed, that draw or loss is equal to Karjakin. [If the
score of the match was level, then the game would have most
probably continued with 22...d4 23.Qxf5 Rxf5 (23...gxf5 24.f4!
prevents e5 to connect the black pawns.) 24.b4 e5 25.f3 with
a balanced endgame. White could slowly regroup his knight
to a4-c5 and d3 or e4.]
23.b4! White activates his b1 rook by opening the b-file with
b5. [The greedy 23.cxd5 23...exd5 24.Nxd5 allows 24...Re2! The winning move was 28.Qc3! 28...Qf5 (28...Qf4 29.Nxd5!
and suddenly White has some problems. This was the trick of all the pieces are hanging and tactics does not work for
22...Rf6.] Black. 29...Nxh3+ 30.gxh3 Qg5+ 31.Kh2h) 29.Rxe8 Nxh3+
30.Kh2! Qxf1 31.Nxd5h and game over. Black soon runs
23...Ne5 Trying to create complications, but Black does not out of checks. On this level, it is not so difficult to calculate
have enough pieces to get a serious one. such line, but of course the high stake, the tension and the
24.cxd5 Nd3 25.Qe3 Nxf2? A mistake, committed again pressure affects the player’s decision. 31...Qg1+ 32.Kxh3
because of the must-win situation. Black had to keep the Qh1+ 33.Kg3h]
queens on the board. [The right move was 25...Qxf2+ 26.Qxf2
Nxf2 27.Re1 but then the draw is inevitable. 27...Nd3=]
26.Rf1 Qe4 Sad, but nothing else to do, otherwise Black
loses a piece.
28...Qh4! Another great trap! It is very nice how
resourcefully Karjakin managed to create tricks from a dry
position. It also brought it’s fruits at the end. [28...Rxf2 loses
to 29.Qxe4h]
29.Qd2?? A terrible blunder, based on an oversight in the
next move... [The only move was 29.Qxe8 which leads to
draw after 29...Qxf2+ 30.Kh2 Qxb6 (30...Rxb6 31.Re7+ Kh6
32.Qg8= forces Black to give perpetual with Qf4-c1.) 31.Re7+
Kh6 and White can decide how to make a draw. 32.Rd7
intending to play Qg8, which was not possible immediately
because of Qd6. (32.Qd7 is also good. 32...Qd6+ 33.Kg1
Qxd7 34.Rxd7 White wins back the pawn and they can agree
to draw.) 32...Qxb4 33.Qg8= and Black again has to give
perpetual check.]
29...Rxf2 30.Qc3+ Svidler tho ught, that next move he takes
on e8 and then he checks the f2 rook with Qe3. However the
shocking surprise arrived... [30.Qxf2 30...Rxe1+i]
30...d4 and suddenly White has to resign. Chess is a cruel
game. 0-1
Young & Talented
GM Etienne Bacrot
Best rating: 2749
6...Nc6! A strong novelty. Black wants to fix the situation on
the queenside. 6...Bg7 was played in many games.
(2) Rambaldi, Francesco (2547)
- Naiditsch, Arkadij (2682) [A05] 7.b5 [7.bxc5 7...e5 8.d3 e4!? (8...Bxc5 ) 9.dxe4 Nxe4 10.Bg2
Bg7 seems ok for Black.]
PokerStars IoM Masters(4.5),
2015.10.06 7...Na5 The knight on the rim, which is quite unusual in this
structure, is Black’s only drawback.
16-year old Francesco Rambaldi missed the podium in the 8.d3 b6 9.Bg2 Bb7 10.O-O White should protect the g2
recent World Junior Championship by losing the last round bishop. [10.Bc1 is met by 10...e5!]
from an absolutely winning position. Here I will comment
a game he lost against Arkadij, but no doubt I will soon be
checking one of his victories again.
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.b3 d5 4.Bb2 It is maybe early to
develop the bishop on b2 as the game will show. [4.Bg2
4...Bg7 (4...c5!? ) 5.Bb2 c5 6.c4 d4 7.b4kwas played in
Kramnik-Svidler 2015.]
4...c5 5.c4 d4 6.b4 We get into some kind of reversed Benko
opening.
10...Bh6!? This is an interesting way to play against Bc1-d2
idea. 10...a6 is also possible.
11.Bc1 It is normal to exchange the bishops. On b2 White’s
bishop was against a wall on d4. [11.Nbd2 11...a6k]
11...Bxc1 12.Qxc1 Qd6 13.Nbd2 [13.Qh6!? was maybe a
better way: 13...Ng4 14.Qg7 Qf6 15.Qxf6 Nxf6 with a roughly
equal endgame.]
13...a6 14.bxa6?! A strange decision which alters the
structure in a bad way. 14.a4 was necessary.
14...Rxa6=+ 15.Nb3 O-O 16.Nxa5 Rxa5 17.Qd2 Rfa8
18.Rfb1 R8a7 19.Rb2 24.Nxh7+ To play such a risky move you need to be very exact
with calculation. [24.Ne4+ 24...Ke7 25.g4 is the normal way
to play with a probable draw.]
24...Kf5 25.e4+?? The lone knight is now lost, as is the
game. White had an incredible and unique way to salvation:
[25.h4 25...f6 26.Kh3! g5 (26...Ne5 27.Nf8 Rf7 28.g4+ (28.f4!?
) 28...Nxg4 29.Nxg6=) 27.hxg5 fxg5 28.f4! gxf4 29.gxf4 and
when Black takes on f4, Rf1-Nf8 comes with equality.]
25...dxe3 26.fxe3 g5! 27.h4 gxh4 28.gxh4 f6 29.h5 Ra8!
Arkadij is very precise and White has no chance to save the
19...Kg7?! After logical developing moves from both side, game.
Black gives a strong opportunity to White. 19. ..e5 is normal 30.Rf2+ Ke6 31.Raf1 Rxa2i This move was probably
with a little advantage. missed by White when he played 25.e4.
20.Qf4! White doesnt miss the chance to exchange queens. 32.Rxa2 Rxa2+ 33.Kh3 Ra8 34.Rg1 Kf7 35.h6 Rg8
20...Nd7 [20...Qxf4 21.gxf4 Nh5 22.Ne5k] 36.Rxg8 Kxg8 37.Nxf6+ Nxf6 38.Kg3 Kh7 39.Kf4 Kg6
40.d4 d5 41.cxd5 Nxd5+ 42.Ke4 c4 0-1
21.Qxd6 exd6 22.Ng5 Exchanging bishops also brings White
closer to equality.
22...Bxg2 23.Kxg2 Kf6
Puzzle section
(3) Karjakin, S(2762)-Svidler, P(2727) (5) Shirov, A(2712)-Laznicka, V(2676)
World Cup, 2015.10.02 Poikovsky, 2015.10.01
1... i 1. h
(4) Karjakin, S(2762)-Svidler, P(2727) (6) Laznicka, V(2676)-Khismatullin, D(2651)

World Cup tiebreak, 2015.10.05 Poikovsky, 2015.10.03
1... i 1... i
(7) Morozevich, A(2711)-Sutovsky, A(2635) (9) Jones, G(2623)-Berry, N(2355)
Poikovsky, 2015.10.03 Isle of Man, 2015.10.03
1... i 1. h
(8) Naiditsch, A(2682)-Koop, T(2407) (10) Harikrishna, P(2737)-Vishnu, P(2503)

Isle of Man, 2015.10.03 Isle of Man, 2015.10.04
1. h 1. h
(11) Short, N(2678)-Nakar, E(2463)
Isle of Man, 2015.10.04
1. h
(12) Rusev, K(2558)-Hracek, Z(2613)

Croatian league, 2015.10.04
1. h
Endgame section 64.Kd3 My next moves are clear, to play Ke2-f4-g5.
(13) Naiditsch, Arkadij (2682)

- Granda Zuniga, Julio E (2667)
PokerStars IoM Masters(5.3),

Best rating: 2737
64...Ne8! Exactly the right timing! This move is not that

difficult to find because of the simple reason that Black has no
other chance, but what is shocking is that all pawn endgames
are drawn here! But here I had another, better option: [Of
course g5 still doesn’t work because of 64...g5 65.Nh7+]
65.Nxe8 [The better try was to go for a queen endgame with
an extra f-pawn, which appears in many moves from now, but
is forced: 65.Ke3 65...Nxf6 66.exf6 Ke8 67.Kf4 Kd7 68.gxh5
gxh5 Now White has 2 choices: 69.Ke5 (A big mistake would
be 69.Kg5
After a very long fight I thought I finally had very good winning
chances. The knight on g7 can’t move because the h5 pawn is
going to fall, and all I need to do is to get my king to g5 to win
the game. All logical, but Granda Zuniga finds an amazing way
to draw this position!
62...Ke7 The correct move, the black king is going to f8. [Of
course White is just faster after 62...g5? 63.gxh5 gxh4 64.h6
and h7-h8Q is unstoppable.]
63.Kc3 Kf8 [It is too early for 63...Ne8 64.gxh5! A pretty
winning idea! 64...Nxf6 65.exf6+ Kxf6 66.h6! and Black 69...e5! A small but nice tactic! 70.dxe5 Ke6 71.Kf4 d4 and
obviously has to move his king after which h7 just wins the the position is immediately a draw after 72.Ke4 d3 73.Kxd3
game.] Kxe5) 69...Kc7! The only move, since Black must have Kc6
after White’s f4. 70.f4 Kc6 71.f5 exf5 72.Kxf5 Kb5 Again the
only move for Black. The king is going for the d-pawn. (White
is winning after 72...Kd6 73.Kg5 Ke6 74.Kxh5 Kxf6! and
the winning move is 75.Kh6 Kf5 76.Kg7 Kg4 77.Kxf7 Kxh4
78.Ke6) 73.Kg5 Kc4 The next moves are forced. 74.Kxh5
Kxd4 75.Kg5 Kc5 76.h5 d4 77.h6 d3 78.h7 d2 79.h8=Q d1=Q
Both players got a queen, but White is winning the f-pawn
now. 80.Qf8+ Kb5
70.g5+ [Another try is 70.h5 70...g5+ 71.Ke3 but Black keeps

the draw by exchanging the e-pawn: 71...e5 72.dxe5+ Kxe5
73.Kd3 Kf6 74.Kd4 Ke6 and I can’t improve my position any
longer, only by pushing the h-pawn: 75.h6 Kf6 76.Kxd5 Kg6
77.Ke6 Kxh6 78.Kf6 Kh7 79.Kxg5 Kg7 with a well-known
draw. ]
70...Kf7 71.Kg4 I want to play h5, after which the game
would be over, but again my opponent finds the only moves.
81.Qxf7 and objectively this position should be a draw, but to 71...e5! The only right way!
draw this queen endgame is a very hard task to manage, so I
would keep some practical chances for a full point.] 72.dxe5 d4! The only move that saves the game! [It was easy
to go wrong with 72...Ke6 73.h5! and now White is just in time:
65...Kxe8 66.Ke3 Ke7 [66...hxg4 67.fxg4 Ke7 woud lead to 73...gxh5+ 74.Kxh5 d4
the same.]
67.Kf4 [67.gxh5 67...gxh5 68.Kf4 f6 and the position is a
draw.]
67...hxg4 The only move again! [67...f6 loses to 68.exf6+ Kxf6
69.g5+ Kf7 70.Ke5 Ke7 I now have an extra tempo with 71.f4
and my king is entering Black’s position.]
68.fxg4 f6 Surely Black can’t let the white king go to g5.
69.exf6+ Kxf6 Now I have 2 choices, but both only lead to a
draw. 75.g6 d3 76.g7 Kf7 77.Kh6 Kg8 78.e6 d2 79.e7 Kf7 80.g8=Q+
Kxg8 81.e8=Q#]
73.Kf3 I need to go back to catch the pawn.
73...Ke6 74.Ke4 d3 75.Kxd3 Kxe5 76.Ke3 and of course
- Svidler, Peter (2727)
this position is nothing but a draw.
76...Kf5 77.Kf3 Ke6 78.Kf4 Kf7 This is still the only move FIDE World Cup 2015 (7.5), GM Csaba Balogh
to make a draw here... But of course it is too easy to miss. 2015.10.05 Best rating: 2672
[78...Kd6 would be a big mistake since after 79.Kg4 Ke6
80.h5 gxh5+ 81.Kxh5 Kf7 82.Kh6 the arising pawn endgame
is already winning for White.]
79.Kf3 Ke7 80.Ke3 Kd7 81.Kd3 Ke6
We have reached a study-like endgame with opposite colored

bishops. White is a pawn up, but it seems like Black has
succesfully built up an unbreakable blockade. He just moves
82.Ke4 The rest of the moves don’t need any comments, the Be6-d7 and White cannot do anything, because his king
position is a dead draw. cannot pass the 8th rank. However the truth is different. Both
82...Kd6 83.Kf3 Ke7 84.Kg4 Kf7 85.Kg3 Ke7 86.Kf4 players had less than a minute on the clock, but Karjakin
Ke6 87.Kg4 Kf7 88.h5 gxh5+ 89.Kxh5 Kg7 90.g6 Kg8 found a brilliant idea with which he could continue fighting
91.Kh6 Kh8 92.g7+ Kg8 93.Kg6 Well, it is difficult to be on and it seems like, even objectively his position is winning.
happy after such a game, where I was soooo close to the The only existing idea is to sacrifice pawn with d5 Kxd5 and
win, but on the other hand my opponent defended greatly Kc7, but then Black plays Ke6 keeping the blockade. The key
and that all the pawn endgames are drawish is just amazing! is, White can give the move to black with a triangulation and
1/2-1/2 he finds himself in zugzwang.
77.Bg5! Be6 78.Bh6! Bd7 79.Bf4! Here we are! It is Black
to move now and he has nothing other move than Be6.
79...Be6 and takes all the kingside with his king.) 83.e6 Kxc3 84.Ke5
b4 85.Kf6 Bxe6 86.Kxe6 b3 87.Kf6h and the same story
as in the 82...Bf7 line.]
81.Kc8! Black cannot prevent Kd8-e7-f6 or if he allows White
just advances his e-pawn.
81...Bb3 82.Kd8 Bc4 Svidler decides to wait. [Active
defense does not help either 82...Kd5 83.Ke7 Kc4 84.Kf7
Kxc3+ 85.Kxg6 b4 86.Kxh5 Bc4 87.Kg6 b3 88.Bc1h and
the white passed pawns decide the outcome.]
83.Ke7 Bb3 84.e6 [84.Kf6 84...Kd7 85.Kxg6 Ke6 86.Kxh5
80.d5+!! This is the fantastic idea! White gives up his material should be also winning.]
advantage, but he gets access with his king to the kingside
84...Bc4 85.Kf6 Bb3
pawns. The difference with the bishop on e6 is after Kxd5 Kc7
Black cannot block the way with Ke6!
80...Bxd5 [The alternative was 80...Kxd5 81.Kc7 The
unfortunate placement of the black pawns allows the king
to march towards f6 and collect the g6 and h5 pawns.
Black cannot protect the latter one, because the e5 passed
pawn must be blockaded and it occupies both of his pieces.
81...Kc4 running towards the c-pawn does not save Black...
82.Kd6 Bg8 (82...Bf7 also loses after 83.e6 Be8 84.Be5 Kd3
86.Bc1! White drives his bishop to a3 in order to push e7,

placing it to a protected square and then the king is free to
take on g6 and h5, gaining another passed pawn. [86.Bg5 was
also good with the same purpose.]
86...Bc4 87.Ba3 Bb3 88.e7 Kd7 89.Kxg6 [Black resigned
in view of 89.Kxg6 89...Ke8 (There is no time for 89...Bd1
90.Kf7) 90.Kxh5 Kf7 91.Kg5 Be6 92.h5 Bd7 93.h6h and
Black is unable to create a blockade.] 1-0
85.Ke7 Bc6 86.Kd8 Ke4 87.Bf4 Kd3 88.e7 Kxc3 89.e8=Q
Bxe8 90.Kxe8h White gives up his bishop for the b-pawn
Golden knowledge 12...Kg1 13.Ke1 Nh4 14.Ke2 Ng2 15.Kf3 Ne3?? [The
simple win is 15...Kxh1! 16.Kf2 Ne3]
16.Kxe3 Kxh1 17.Kf2 1/2-1/2
(16) De Feijter, C.
Tijdschrift v.d. KNSB#114 c @2, 1936
(15) De Feijter, C.
Tijdschrift v.d. KNSB#114 @3, 1936
1.Nb5 Kf6! 2.Nxa7 Bc4 3.Nb5! Ke7! [3...Bxb5 4.a7]

4.a7 Bd5 5.Nd6 Ba8! 6.Nc4! Bd5 7.Kc8 [7.Na5! cook RB
7...Ba8 8.Kc8]
7...Be4 8.Na5 Ba8 9.Nb7 [9.Kc7! cook JP 9...Ke8 10.Nc4
Ke7 11.Kb8 Kd8 12.Na5 Kd7 13.Nb7]
9...Ke8 10.Nd6+ Ke7 11.Kc7 Ke6 12.Nc4 Ke7 13.Kb8
Kd8 14.Na5 Kd7 15.Nb7 Kc6 16.Kxa8 Kc7 17.Nd6 1-0
But there were some wrong positions too!
1.Kc3! Nxh2 2.Bf5 Ng4! 3.Kd2! h2 4.Be4 Ne3 5.Bh1!
Nf5! 6.Bb7 Kf1 7.Ba8 Nh4 8.Bh1 Ng2 9.Kd1 Kf2 10.Kd2
Ne3! 11.Kd3 Nf5 12.Kd2 [Or 12.Bd5 12...Kg1 13.Ke2 Nh4
14.Be4 Ng2]
(17) Nunn, John 8.Na5]
Secrets of Minor-Piece Endings#120 ce, 1995 5.Kd4! Kb3 6.Kc5! Ka4 7.Kb6! Kb3 8.Ne5 Kb4 9.Nc6+
Kc4 10.Na5+ Kd5 11.Kc7 1-0
(18) Nunn, John

Secrets of Minor-Piece Endings#121 ce, 1995
GM John Nunn in his excellent book developed the subject in

his excellent book and said what is probably the last word in
the theory of this position (not in practice!). For every payer it
will be extremely instructive just to follow and to enjoy John
Nunn’s findings!
1.Kf5! [1.Kf4? 1...Kf2! 2.Ke5 (2.Nb3 2...Ke2! 3.Nc5 Kd2! 1.Kc1! [1.Kc2? 1...Ke2! 2.Kc3 Ke3! 3.Kc4 Ke4! 4.Kc5
4.Ke5 Kc3! 5.Na4+ Kb4 6.Nb6 Kc5) 2...Ke3! 3.Kd6 Kd4! (4.Nf7 4...Kf5! 5.Kc5 Ke6) 4...Ke5! 5.Kb6 (5.Nc6+ 5...Ke6!)
4.Kc7 Kc5 5.Nd3+ Kb5] 5...Kd6!]
1...Kf2 [1...Kg2 2.Ke6 Kf3 3.Kd7 Ke4 4.Kc7 Ke5 (4...Kd5 1...Kf2 [1...Ke2 2.Kc2!; 1...Bh1 2.Kc2 Ke2 3.Kc3 Ke3 4.Kc4
5.Nb3! Ke6 6.Na5) 5.Nb3!; 1...Kf1 2.Ke6] Kf4 5.Kc5 Ba8 6.Kd6; 1...Bd5 2.Kc2 Ke2 3.Kc3 Ke3 4.Kb4
Kd4 5.Kb5! Ba8 6.Kb6!]
2.Kf4! Ke1 [2...Bh1 3.Ke5 Ke3 4.Nb3! Kd3 5.Na5! Kc3
(5...Ba8 6.Kd6! Kd4 7.Kc7) 6.Kd6! Ba8 7.Kc7 Kb4 8.Kb8] 2.Kb2! [2.Kd2? 2...Kf3! 3.Kd3 Kf4! 4.Kd4 Kf5! 5.Kc5
Ke5!]
3.Ke3! [3.Ke5? 3...Kd2! 4.Nb3+ Kc3 5.Nd4 Kc4; 3.Nb3?
3...Ke2 4.Nc5 Kd2! 5.Ke5 Kc3!] 2...Ke2 3.Kc2! Kf3 [3...Kf2 4.Kb3 Kf3 5.Kb4! Kf4 6.Kb5!
Kf5 7.Kb6!]
3...Kd1 [3...Kf1 4.Nb3 Kg2 5.Kd4 Kf3 6.Kc5 Ke4 7.Kd6
Kf5 (7...Kd3 8.Kc7) 8.Kc7 Ke6 9.Na5; 3...Bb7 4.Kd4 Kd2 4.Kb3! Ke3 5.Kc3! Kf4 6.Kb4! Ke4 7.Kc4! Kf5 8.Kb5!
5.Nb3+ Kc2 6.Na5 Ba8 7.Kc5 Kc3 8.Kb6 Kd4 9.Kc7; Ke5 9.Kc5! Kf6 10.Kd6 1-0
3...Bh1 4.Kd4 Kd2 5.Nb3+ Kc2 6.Na5]
4.Nd3 Kc2 [4...Bb7 5.Kd4 Kd2 6.Nc5 Ba8 7.Nb3+ Kc2
(19) Nunn, John 8...Kg5 9.Kd4! Kf6 10.Nd5+! Kf5 [10...Kf7 11.Kc5! Bb7
Secrets of Minor-Piece Endings#122 ce, 1995 12.Nb4 Ke6 13.Kb6!]
11.Nc7! [11.Kc5? 11...Ke5! 12.Nc7 Bh1 13.Nb5 Ke6!]
11...Bb7 [11...Bc6 12.Kc5! Bb7 13.Kd6]
12.Kc5! Ke5 13.Kb6 Bh1 14.Nb5 1-0
(20) Nunn, John

1...Ba8 [1...Kg1 2.Ne3 Kh2 3.Kd2 Kg3 4.Kd3 Kf4 5.Kd4!

Ba8 (5...Bb7 6.Nc4) 6.Nd5+! Kf5 7.Nc7! Bb7 8.Kc5 Ke5
9.Kb6 Bh1 10.Nb5 Ke6 11.Kc7!]
2.Ke2! Bf3+ [2...Be4 3.Ke3]
3.Ke3! Ba8 [3...Bb7 4.Nd2 Kg3 5.Nc4 Kg4 6.Kd4 Kg5
7.Kc5 Kf6 8.Na5 Ba8 9.Kd6; 3...Bc6 4.Nd2 Kg3 5.Nc4 Bh1
6.Kd4 Kf4 7.Kc5 Kf5 8.Kd6]
1.Kg6! 1...Kf3 [1...Kf1 2.Kf5 Ke2 3.Ke6!]
4.Nd2! Kg3 5.Nc4! [5.Kd4? 5...Kf4! 6.Kc5 Ke5]
2.Kf5! Ke2 3.Ke6! [3.Kf4? 3...Kd3 4.Ke5 Kc4]
5...Kg4 6.Nb6! [6.Nd6? 6...Kg5! 7.Kd4 Kf6! 8.Kc5 Ke6;
6.Kd4? 6...Kf5! 7.Kc5 Ke6!] 3...Ke3 4.Ke5! Ke2 5.Kd6! Kd3 6.Kd5! Kc2 7.Kc6 Kb3
8.Kb5! Ka3 9.Nd6 Kb3 10.Nc8 Bb8 11.Kb6 Kb4 12.Kb7
6...Bb7 7.Nc8! Ba8 [7...Bh1 8.Nd6 Ba8 9.Kd4 Kf4 10.Kc5 Kb5 13.Ne7 Ka5 14.Nc6+ 1-0
Ke5 11.Nb5 Bh1 12.Kb6; 7...Kg5 8.Kd4! Kf6 9.Kc5! Ke6
10.Kb6!]
8.Ne7! [8.Nd6? 8...Kg5! 9.Kd4 Kf6]
(21) Nunn, John 1.Kg5? 1...Kf1! (1...Kf2 2.Kf4) 2.Kf4 (2.Kf5 2...Ke1? 3.Nd3+
Secrets of Minor-Piece Endings#128 ce, 1995 (3.Ke5 3...Kd2! 4.Nb3+ Kc3 5.Nc5 Ba8) 3...Kd2! 4.Nf4
Ba8) 2...Kf2! 3.Ke5 (3.a7 3...Ba8!; 3.Nd3+ 3...Ke2! 4.Nc5
Kd2!) 3...Ke3! 4.Nb3 (4.Kd6 4...Kd4!) 4...Kd3! 5.Nc5+ Kc4
6.Ne4 Kd3!]
1...Kf2 [1...Kf1 2.Kg3! Ba8 (2...Bh1 3.Kf4!) 3.Kf4! Ke1
(3...Kf2 4.a7!) 4.Ke3! Kd1 5.Nd3 Kc2 6.Kd4! Kb3 7.Kc5!
Ka4 (7...Kc3 8.Nb4 Kb3 9.Nc6 Ka4 10.Kb6) 8.Kb6! Kb3
9.Nc5+ Kb4 10.Nb7 Kc4 11.Kc6 Kb4 (11...Kd4 12.Kc7)
12.Kc7; 1...Ba8 2.Kf4 Kf2 3.a7!]
2.Kf4! Bf3 [2...Bc6 3.Ke5 Ke3 4.Kd6 Ba8 5.Nb3 Kd3
6.Na5 Kd4 7.Nb7; 2...Bh1 3.Ke5 Ke3 4.Nb3! Kd3 5.Nc5+!
1.Nf4! Bg4 [1...Bf5 2.Nd5! Be4 3.Nf6+] Kc4 6.Ne4! Kd3 7.Nf2+; 2...Ke1 3.Ke3! Ba8 4.Nd3+]
2.Nd3! Bh3 [2...Kc8 3.Ne5! Bh3 4.a7 Bg2 5.Nc6!] 3.Nd3+ Ke2 4.Nc5 Ba8 5.Ke5! Ke3 6.Kd6 Kd4 7.Nb7!
Kc4 8.Kc6! Kb4 9.a7 Kc4 10.Kc7 1-0
3.Ne5+! Kd6 4.Nc4+! Kd7 5.Ne3! 1-0
(23) Nunn, John

(22) Nunn, John
1.Kg4! [1.Kg3? 1...Kf1! (1...Ba8? 2.Kf4! Kf2 3.a7!) 2.a7 1...Bb7 [1...Bc4 2.Nf5+ Kf3 (2...Kd3 3.Nd6! Ba6 4.Kd5! Ke3
(2.Kg4 2...Ke1!) 2...Ba8! 3.Kf4 Kf2!; 1.Nd3? 1...Ba8 2.Kg3 5.Kc6 Kd4 6.Kb6! Bf1 7.Nb5+!) 3.Nd6 Ba6 4.Kd5! Kf4
Kf1! 3.Kf4 Ke2! 4.Nc5 Kd2! 5.Ke5 Kc3! 6.Kd6 Kb4; 5.Kc6! Ke5 6.Nb5 Bc8 7.Kc7 Ba6 8.Kb6! Bc8 9.Nc3!;
1...Bf1 2.Kd5! Ba6 3.Kc5 Bc8 4.Nc2+ Kd3 5.Nb4+ Kc3 2...Bb7+ 3.Nd5! (3.Kd4? 3...Kf3! 4.Nd5 Kg4! 5.Kc5 (5.Ke5
6.Nd5+ Kb3 7.Kb6; 1...Bc8 2.Kd5 Kf4 3.Ne6+ Ke3 4.Nc5 5...Ba6! 6.Nc7 Bf1 7.Kd6 Kf5 8.Kc6 Kf6 9.Kb6 Ke7)
Bh3 5.a6 Bf1 6.a7! Bg2+ 7.Ke5 (7.Kd6? 7...Kd4!) 7...Ba8 5...Kf5! 6.Nb4 Ke6 7.Kb6 Bg2 8.a6 Kd7) 3...Ba6 (3...Kf2
8.Nd7 Kd3 9.Nb6 Bb7 10.Kd6; 1...Kd3 2.Kd5! Ke3] 4.Kd4 Kf3 5.Nb4) 4.Nc7 Bb7+ 5.Kd4 Kf3 6.Kc5 Kf4 7.Kb6
2.Ne6! [2.Nb3? 2...Bg2! (2...Bf3? 3.Kd6! Be2 4.Kc5 Ke4 Bc8 8.Nd5+ Ke5 9.Nc3]
5.Nd4! Bf1 (5...Ba6 6.Kb6 Bf1 7.Nb5! Kd5 8.a6!) 6.Nb5!) 3.Kd5! [3.Kd4? 3...Kd2! 4.Nd5 Kc2! 5.Nb4+ Kb3 6.Nxa6
3.Kd6 (3.a6 3...Kd3!) 3...Bf1! 4.Kc5 Kf4! 5.Nd4 Ke5 6.Nb5 Ka4]
Ke6 7.a6 Kd7] 3...Kd2 4.Kd4! Ke2 [4...Be2 5.Nc4+!; 4...Bb5 5.Nc4+ Kd1
2...Ba6 [2...Bf3 3.Kd6 Be2 4.Kc6 Ke4 5.Nc7! Kd4 6.Kb6 6.Kc5 Ba6 7.Nd6; 4...Bb7 5.Nc4+ Kd1 6.Kc5 Ba6 7.Nd6]
Ke5 7.Nb5! Bf1 8.a6; 2...Bg2 3.a6 Kd2 4.Nf4 Ba8 5.Kd4 5.Nd5! Kf3 6.Nc7! Bc8 7.Nb5 Kf4 8.Kd5! Ba6 9.Kc6
Kc2 6.Kc4 Kb2 7.Nd5 Ka3 8.Nb6 Bc6 9.Kc5; 2...Kd2 Ke5 10.Kb6! Bc8 11.Nc3! 1-0
3.Kd6 Ba6 4.Nc7 Bf1 5.Kc5 Ke3 6.Nb5]
3.Kd5! Bb7+ 4.Kd6 Ba6 5.Nc7 Bf1 6.Kc6 Kd4 7.Nb5+! (25) Nunn, John
Kc4 8.a6 Bg2+ 9.Kb6! Kd5 10.a7 1-0
(24) Nunn, John
1...Kg1 [1...Bc4 2.Ne4! Ke1 (2...Kg1 3.a5) 3.Ke3! Kd1

4.Kd4! Ba6 5.Kc5 Ke2 6.a5 Ke3 7.Kb6 Bf1 8.Nd6 Kd4
9.Nb5+! Kd5 10.a6! Ke6 11.a7; 1...Be2+ 2.Ke3! Ba6 3.Nd3
1.Ke5! [1.Ke4? 1...Ke2! 2.Kd4 (2.Nd5? 2...Kd2! 3.Kd4 Kc2! Kg2 4.Nc5 Bc4 5.Kd4 Bf1 6.Nd3 Kf3 7.a5! Kg4 8.a6 Kf5
4.Kc5 Kb3! 5.Kb6 Bf1 6.Nc7 Kb4) 2...Kf3 3.Nd5 Kg4 4.Nb4 9.a7! Bg2 10.Kc5! Ba8 11.Kb6! Ke4 12.Nc5+ Kd5 13.Nb7;
Bb5! 5.Kc5 Bf1 6.Nd5 Kg5 7.Nc3 Kf6 8.Nb5 Ke7] 1...Ke1 2.Ke3! Bb7 3.a5 Ba6 4.Nd3+! Kd1 5.Nb4! Bb5
1...Ke2 2.Ke4! Ke1 [2...Bd3+ 3.Kd4! Ba6 4.Nd5 Kf3; 6.Kd4! Kc1 7.Kc5 Bf1 8.Nd5 Kb2 9.Ne3 Ba6 10.Kb4! Kc1
11.Nc4 Kc2 12.Nd6 Be2 (12...Kd3 13.Kc5) 13.Nb5 Kd3 14.a6 10.Nb5) 7.Kb4! Bf1 8.a5! Be2 9.Nd6]
Ke3 15.a7 Bf3 16.Kc5] 3.Kd2! Bf5 4.a4! Kf2 5.a5! Kf3 [5...Bc8 6.Kd3! Kf3 7.Kd4
2.Ne4! Kh2 [2...Bf1 3.a5 Kh2 4.Ke3! Kh3 5.Nf2+! Kh4 Kf4 8.Kc5! Ke5 9.Kb6!]
6.Nd3! Kg5 7.a6! Kf5 8.Kd4!] 6.a6! Bc8 7.a7! Bb7 8.Kd3! Kf4 9.Kd4! Kf5 10.Kc5!
3.Nc5! Bf1 4.Kf2! [4.Ke4? 4...Kg3 5.Nd3 Bg2+! 6.Ke5 Ke6 11.Kb6! Bg2 12.Kc7! 1-0
Bc6 7.a5 Bb5! 8.Kd4 Kg4]
4...Bc4 5.Ke3! Kg3 6.Kd4! Be2 [6...Bf1 7.Nd3! Kg4 8.a5! (27) Nunn, John
Kf5 9.a6! Kf6 10.a7! Bg2 11.Nf4! Ba8 12.Nd5+! Kf7 13.Kc5! Secrets of Minor-Piece Endings#140 ce, 1995
Bb7 14.Nb4 Ke6 15.Kb6! Ba8 16.Kc7!]
7.Nd3! Kg4 8.a5! Kf5 9.a6! Bf3 10.Kc5! Be4 [10...Ke6
11.Kb6! Ke7 12.Ne5 Bg2 13.Kc7! Ba8 14.a7]
11.Nf2! Bg2 12.Kd6! Bf1 13.a7! Bg2 14.Nd3 1-0
(26) Nunn, John

1.Ng4! Bh3 [1...Bb7 2.Ne3! Kh2 3.a5 Kg3 4.Nd5 Kf3 5.Ke5
Ba6 6.Nc7 Bc8 (6...Bf1 7.Kd5 Kf4 8.Kc6! Bg2+ 9.Kb6 Ke5
10.Nb5! Ke6 11.Kc7! Bf1 12.a6! Ke7 13.a7!) 7.Kd6 Ke4 8.Ne6
Kd3 9.Nc5+! Kd4 (9...Kc4 10.Kc6!) 10.Kc6! Bh3 (10...Kc4
11.Nb7) 11.a6! Bf1 12.a7! Bg2+ 13.Kb6 Ba8 14.Nb7]
2.Kf5! Bf1 [2...Kg2 3.Kf4! Kg1 4.a5 Bf1 5.Ke5 Be2 6.Ne3
Kf2 7.Nd5 Kf3 8.Kd6 Kg4 9.Kc6 Kf5 10.Nc3! Ba6 11.Nb5!
Ke5 12.Kb6! Bc8 13.Nc3!]
1.Nc3! [1.Ke3? 1...Ba4! 2.Nc3 Be8] 3.Kf4! Be2 [3...Ba6 4.Kg3! Kg1 5.Ne3! Bc8 6.Nd5! Ba6
1...Bc2 [1...Bg4 2.a4 Kf2 3.a5 Bc8 4.Ne4+ Kf3 5.Nc5 Kf4 7.a5 Bb7 8.Nb4 Kf1 9.Kf4! Ke2 10.Ke5! Ke3 11.Kd6!
6.Kd5!] Kd4 12.Nc6+! Ke4 13.Na7 Ba6 14.Kc6! Ke5 15.Nb5! Bc8
2.Ke3! Kf1 [2...Bf5 3.a4! Bc8 4.Kd4 Kd2 5.Ne4+ Kc2 16.Kc7 Ba6 17.Kb6! Bc8 18.Nc3!]
6.Kc4! Ba6+ (6...Bb7 7.Nd6 Bg2 8.a5 Bf1+ 9.Kb4! Be2 4.Kg3! Kg1 5.Ne3! Ba6 [5...Bd3 6.a5 Ba6 7.Nd5]
6.Nd5! Bb7 [6...Bc4 7.Nc3 Kf1 8.Kf3! Ke1 9.Ke3! Bf1
10.a5! Ba6 11.Nd5 Kd1 12.Nb4!]
7.Nc3! [7.Nb4? 7...Kf1! 8.Kf4 Ke2! 9.Ke5 Kd2]
7...Kf1 8.Kf4! Kf2 9.a5! Ke1 10.Ke3! Ba6 11.Nd5
Kd1 12.Nb4! Bb5 13.Kd4! Kc1 14.Kc5 Bf1 15.Nd5
Kb2 16.Ne3 Ba6 17.Kb4! Kc1 18.Nc4 Kc2 19.Nd6 Be2
20.Nb5 Kd3 21.a6 Ke3 22.a7 Bf3 23.Kc5 Kf4 24.Kd6
Bh1 25.Kc7 Ke5 26.Nd6 Ba8 27.Nc4+ Ke6 28.Kb8 Bg2
29.Na5 Kd7 30.Nb7 1-0
Chess and the City. K: Well in 1987 when I played 12-year old Judith Polgar, I
learned that my smugness was completely misplaced.
How can a GM cope with a "4-some"?
E: Did you actually manage to lose to her even as a kid?
K: To be honest, she completely outplayed me from start to
finish...
E: So how come after such an experience you can even dare to
feel superior nowadays?
K: First of all, clearly Judith is exceptional, and secondly my
psychological make-up predisposes me to placing the female
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz on a pedestal to which she is in reality unworthy. This is my
Best rating: 2493 psychological dichotomy. When they are in reality worthy of
placing on a pedestal, then I face a conflict.
As you already remember the name from previous E: Does it influence your performance whether she is
newsletters, my right hand, or work slave, or simply my attractive to you or not?
wannabe English teacher, GM Keith Arkell has a pretty rough
K: Very much so. If she is attractive to me I have to make
or some may even call it paradise kind of time here at the
a strong endeavour to fight against the feeling that I am
Isle of Men Poker star tournament, which by the way is the
unworthy to sit opposite her. My natural inclination is to offer
strongest open tournament to ever be held in the British
myself to her as a slave...
Isles. Well what is so special about him, but being honoured
to be a common English editor slave? He just played his 4th E: And yet you scored 3 out of 4... And objectively all 4 of them
women in a row and I decided to take this unique opportunity are actually quite beautiful, at least to my taste.
(I don’t remember any GM facing 4 women in a row in an K: There was a time when I was scoring very badly against
open tournament) to get an exclusive interview from him. women players. For example I lost twice against Harriet
E: Keith, how does it feel to face 4 women consecutively in an Hunt, twice against Ketevan Arakhamia and twice against
open tournament? Irina Krush. But at some moment, I had to overcome my
natural masochism, divorce myself from this sexual aspect of
K: There was a time in my past when I felt very uncomfortable
my personality and just fight as a professional chess player.
playing against women players. Instead of feeling
From this moment onwards I have scored against women as I
competitively towards them, I felt almost chivalrous. As
should do according to my strength.
condescending as this sounds, I felt almost smugly superior
to any female player I ever faced. E.: Do you believe you are unique amongst English GMs in
overcoming this problem?
E: Doesn’t it sound a little arrogant?
K: Yes! Because as far as I am aware I am the only masochist
amongst us! If you want to dig deeper into the subject of
human sexuality regarding chess, maybe the next person to
ask is my good friend, Sexologist Dr. Nigel Short! :)
Keith Arkell is an English chess grandmaster and recent

European and World Senior (50+) Champion.
Clash of the Titans 11.O-O Be7 12.Be5 O-O
(28) Harrwitz, Daniel

- Morphy, Paul [D35]
Paris m1(1), 1858
GM Kamil Miton
Best rating: 2655
13.Qe2 [13.Bxf6 13...Bxf6 14.Be4 White is too slow for the
d5 break. (14.d5 14...exd5 15.Nxd5 Bxb2e) 14...Rb8 15.Qd3 g6
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bf4 a6 5.e3 [5.cxd5 5...Nxd5! 16.Rad1 Ne7=]
(5...exd5 6.e3 The a6 move is not very useful now and forces
Black to play over c5, which leads to a position with an 13...Nd5 [13...Nxe5 14.dxe5 Bxf3 (14...Nd7 15.Be4) 15.Qxf3
isolated pawn.) 6.Nxd5 Qxd5 7.a3 c5 with easy equalization.] Nd7 16.Rad1 Ra7= (16...Nxe5 17.Bxh7+) ]
5...c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.a3 A typical waiting move. 7. Rc1 was 14.Bg3 [14.Nxd5 14...Qxd5 15.Be4 Nxd4!]
also possible. This is amazing understanding considering this 14...Kh8 I have no idea why Black played this move because
game was played so many years ago! White could play 15.Qe4 anyway.
7...cxd4 [7...Be7 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.Qc2 with Rd1 next and White 15.Rfe1 [15.Qe4 15...f5? (15...Nf6 16.Qh4!A A typical queen
keeps the initiative.] transfer into the attack.) 16.Qxe6 Nxc3 17.bxc3 f4 18.Qe4h]
8.exd4 dxc4 [8...Be7 with the idea to wait for the Bf1 to move, 15...Bf6 [15...g6 Avoiding a change of structure, like in the
but White gets the additional option to play 9.c5 but then game. 16.Nxd5 (16.Qe4 16...Nxc3 17.bxc3 Na5 18.Qg4 Bxf3!
9...Ne4! is a typical plan for counterplay. 10.Bd3 (10.Na4 Without the knight, White’s pressure is not enough. 19.Qxf3
10...g5 Trying to get the b8 square for the rook.) 10...Nxc3 Bf6 20.Bc7 Qxc7 21.Qxf6+ Kg8k; 16.Ne4!? Playing against
(10...f5!? ) 11.bxc3 b6! Otherwise White will play Rb1, with the weak c5 square.) 16...Qxd5 17.Be4 Qd7 18.Rad1 d5 is
pressure over the b-file. 12.cxb6 Qxb6 13.O-O O-O=] coming soon. White has a strong initiative.]
9.Bxc4 b5 10.Bd3 Bb7 [10...Nxd4 11.Nxd4 Qxd4 16.Qe4 g6 17.Nxd5 Qxd5 18.Qxd5 exd5
12.Bxb5+h; 10...b4 11.axb4 Nxb4 It looks like Black
takes control of the d5 square but 12.Bb5+! Bd7 13.Bxd7+
Qxd7 14.Ne5 Qb7 15.Qa4+ Nd7 16.O-O and d5 next should
crush the black position.]
19.Ne5 White has a stable advantage thanks to his better 28.Rc5! Bxe5 29.fxe5 Be6 30.a4 [30.Rxc8 30...Bxc8
structure and the limited bishop on b7. 31.Kd2 Bd7! 32.Kc3 a5= on time; 30.Kd2 with the idea
19...Rad8 [19...Nxd4 20.Nd7] to improve the king and I have no idea how to defend this
position. 30...Rxc5 (30...Kf8 31.Kc3 Ke7 32.Kb4h) 31.dxc5
20.Nxc6 is premature. White could have played [20.Rac1! Kf8 (31...d4 32.Be4) 32.Kc3 Ke7 33.Kb4h]
20...Nxe5 (20...Nxd4 21.Rc7; 20...Bxe5 21.dxe5c The dark
squares are too weak.) 21.dxe5 Bg7 22.Rc7 and because of 30...bxa4 31.Bxa6 Rb8 32.Rb5 Rd8 Once again Black
the strong rook on the 7th rank, things look very bad for Black. is losing time. Why not play [32...Ra8 33.Bb7 (33.Rb6
] 33...Bc8V) 33...Rb8 34.Bc6 Rc8 35.Bxd5 Bxd5 36.Rxd5
Rb8V]
20...Bxc6 21.Rac1 Rc8 22.Bd6 Rg8 [22...Rfd8 23.Be7 Bxe7
24.Rxe7 Rd7 25.Rxc6! h Rxc6 26.Rxd7 Rc1+ 27.Bf1] 33.Rb6 Ra8 34.Kd2
23.Be5 Kg7 24.f4 Bd7 25.Kf2 h6 This looks like Black is
just losing time, but it is not easy to find the correct way.
[25...Rxc1 26.Rxc1 Rc8 27.Rc5! Bxe5 (27...Rxc5 28.dxc5 Bxe5
29.fxe5 d4 30.Kf3 Bc6+ 31.Be4h) 28.fxe5 Be6 and compared
to the game Black is a tempo up, since h6 is not needed.;
25...Bf5 26.Bxf5 gxf5 27.Rc5 Sometimes just one weak square
can create huge problems.]
26.Ke3 Rxc1 27.Rxc1 Rc8
34...Bc8 Usually the biggest chance to get counterplay is in

rook endgames. [34...Kf8 35.Kc3 Ke7 36.Kb4 Kd7 37.Kxa4
Kc7 38.Ka5h; 34...Ra7! looks promising for Black. How
to improve the white position now? 35.Kc3 Rc7+ 36.Kb4
Rc2V37.Kxa4 Rxg2k] Surprise section / study
35.Bxc8 Rxc8 36.Rb5 Ra8 37.Rxd5 a3 38.bxa3 Rxa3
39.Rc5 Kf8 40.Ke2c Ke7 41.d5 Kd7 [41...Ra2+ 42.Kf3 (29) Pogosiants
Ra3+ 43.Kf4 Ra4+ 44.Ke3 Ra3+ 45.Kd4 Ra2 and now the 1. =
d-pawn should decide the game. 46.Rc7+ Ke8 47.d6 Rxg2
48.Re7+ Kf8 49.Ra7 Ke8 50.Kd5 Rd2+ 51.Kc6 Rc2+ 52.Kb6
Rxh2 53.Re7+ Kf8 54.Kc7h]
42.Rc6 h5 43.Rf6
43...Ke7? [43...Ke8 The white king is cut and that is

why it is not easy to improve the position. 44.e6 (44.d6
44...Ra5!) 44...fxe6 45.dxe6 (45.Rxe6+ 45...Kf7 46.Re3 Ra2+
47.Kf3 Rd2=) 45...g5 46.Rf5 Ra2+ 47.Kf3 g4+ 48.Kf4 Rxg2
49.Rxh5 Ke7 50.Kf5 Rf2+ 51.Kxg4 Kxe6=]
44.d6+ Ke8 45.e6 fxe6 46.Rxe6+ Kf7 47.d7! h This is why
43.. .Ke8 was more accurate.
47...Ra8 48.Rd6 Ke7 49.Rxg6 Kxd7 Now the black king is
too far and the h-pawn will be lost soon.
50.Rg5 Rh8 [50...h4 51.Kf3 Ra2 52.Rh5 Ra4 53.Re5 Ra2
54.Re2 Rxe2 55.Kxe2 Ke6 56.Kf3 Kf5 57.h3 Kg5 58.Ke4h]
51.Kf3 Ke6 52.Kg3 h4+ 53.Kg4 h3 54.g3 Kf6 55.Rh5
Deutsche Schachzeitung 1858, p. 462 1-0
Solutions (32) Sutovsky, E(2635)-Khismatullin, D(2651)
Poikovsky, 2015.09.28
(30) Karjakin, S(2762)-Andreikin, D(2720)
44.Qg3! 1-0 [44.Qg3 44...Qg8 (44...Qd5+ 45.Kg1h)

45.Qa3+! Kc4 46.Qf8h]
44.Qh8+!! Kxh8 45.Nxf7+ Kg7 46.Nxg5h (33) Greenfeld, A(2535)-Koop, T(2407)
(31) Morozevich, A(2711)-Bologan, V(2607) Gutman Jubilee, 2015.09.23
20.Bxe7! 1-0 [20.Bxe7 20...Qxe7 21.d6+h]

26...Nxb3! 27.Rab1 [27.Kxb3 27...Bc5+ 28.Kc2 Bxe3i]
27...Bd6i
(34) Meijers, V(2463)-Greenfeld, A(2535) (36) Pap, M(2488)-Greenfeld, A(2535)
Gutman Jubilee, 2015.09.24 Gutman Jubilee, 2015.09.28
22...Nf4! 23.exf4 Rxe2i 18...Bxf2! 19.Rg1 [19.gxf4 19...Qg3+ 20.Kh1 Bg4i]

(35) Harika, D(2508)-Karpatchev, A(2469) 19...Qg4i
Gutman Jubilee, 2015.09.25 (37) Berg, E(2567)-Livner, A(2336)
Vasteras Open, 2015.09.26
30.Nxf7! Rxf7 31.Rxf7 Kxf7 32.Rf1+ Kg8 33.Qd5+! Kh8

34.Qd4+ Kg8 35.Qd5+ Kh8 36.Rf7! 1-0 29.Ne6! 1-0 [29.Ne6 29...fxe6 30.Rh8+ Kf7 31.Rxd8 Bxd8
32.g8=Q+h]
(38) Tikkanen, H(2509)-Ernst, T(2336) (39) Kotanjian, T(2495)-Volkov, S(2589)
Vasteras Open, 2015.09.26 Beirut Open, 2015.09.27
34.Ng5!! Rxh4 [34...fxg5 35.Rxg7+ Kh8 (35...Kf8 36.Rbf7+ 31...Ra1! 32.Bxh5 [32.Qxa1 32...Bxf3+ 33.Kg1 Qg4+ 34.Kf1
Ke8 37.d6!h) 36.Rxh7+ Kg8 37.Rbg7+ Kf8 38.h5! h Bf6 Qg2#]
(38...Rc8 39.g3! (39.h6? 39...Rc1+ 40.Kh2 Rh4+ 41.Kg3 Rxh6) 32...Rxd1 33.Bxd1 Qxf2 0-1
39...Rc7 40.Rxc7 Bxc7 41.Rxc7h) 39.Rg6 Rf4 (39...Bd8
40.g3h) 40.h6h (40.g3 40...Rf5 41.Rxf6+ Rxf6 42.Rh8+) (40) Pogosiants
40...Re8 41.g3 Rf5 42.Rc7h]
35.Rxg7+ Kh8 36.Rgf7 Ba5 37.Nxh7h
1.Qb2+!! Rxb2 2.Bc3 Qa3 3.Bxf6! c4 4.Bc3! Qb4

5.Bxb2#
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
It has been an amazing week of chess, with a lot going on at
the highest level.
Editorial Preface 2 Let us start with the biggest event, the World Championship
in Rapid and Blitz in Berlin.
Two best games of the past week 5 Rapid: For the second year in a row it is Magnus Carlsen who
seems to just be unstoppable and wins by a full point margin,
Young & Talented 11 ahead of 3 players on 10.5/15: Nepomniachtchi, Radjabov and
Dominguez.
Blitz: In the blitz Carlsen was also leading the event, but
Puzzle section 13
things went wrong and he lost 3 games in a row. After that
Vachier Lagrave took the lead with a full 2 points advantage,
Endgame section 16 but there was no luck for him either, as he lost 2 games in a
row. Finally, the winner was Grischuk, who had a fantastic
Golden knowledge. finish and ended up on a great score of 15.5/21. Second place
THE ROLE OF CLASSICS 21 was shared by Vachier Lagrave and Kramnik, both with 15/21.
It was an amazing event with great fighting chess and
Chess and the City. suspense until the very last second! Clearly it makes a lot of
From one island to the other 25 sense to download the games and take a look at the crucial
moments!
Clash of the Titans 26 The Millionaire Open was won by Nakamura, who had a tough
event, but again and again he showed great fighting qualities
Surprise section / study 29 and his final match against Le Quang Liem was actually the
easiest part of the event for him. This victory brings Nakamura
a nice amount of 100.000$ and another trophy.
Solutions 29
In the PokerStars Isle of Man Tournament, 3 people shared
first place, all with 7/9: Harikrishna, Fressinet and Sargissian.
Already on Sunday the European Club Cup will begin in Skopje
and most of the top players will participate in it, so this is
clearly another event to follow online!
For now we hope you enjoy the current issue!
Two best games of the past week 5...Qb6 After taking the b2 pawn, the black queen is going
back to hide on d8. [Maybe Black had another interesting
choice: 5...d6!? with a very complicated position.]
(1) Grischuk, Alexander (2774) 6.Rb1 Qd8 7.dxc5 The material is equal and White has much
- Adhiban, Baskaran (2674) [A45] better development, but on the other hand White’s pawn
structure is really bad, so White will need to act dynamically.
World Rapid 2015(1.2), 7...g6 8.g3 To put the bishop on g2 is nice of course, as the b7
2015.10.10 GM Arkadij Naiditsch pawn will always be under attack.
Best rating: 2737
8...Na6 9.Qd4 The c5 pawn needs to be protected.
9...Bg7 10.Bg2 Grischuk is going for the piece sacrifice!
Grischuk is clearly one of the best players in the world, and
especially so in rapid and blitz, which he proved once again 10...Nh5 is Black’s best choice. If he would not try to fight,
by winning the blitz event. In the rapid things didn’t go too White’s position would be clearly better.
well for him, although he showed great and exciting chess. In 11.Be5 f6 The bishop has no moves, but it doesn’t matter!
the current game, things are getting very interesting already
from the beginning. White later on sacrificed a piece for the
attack and managed to mate the black king in beautiful style.
A great game to just enjoy the beauty of chess!
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 Lately we could see a few games by Grischuk
playing this slightly strange opening, but he is showing great
results in it, beating Anand in it in classical chess not that long
ago for example.
2...c5 Adhiban is going for one of the most forced lines
possible, but of course Black also has calm moves like 2...g6 12.Bf4 Strong play!
or 2...d5.
12...e5 13.Qc4 exf4 14.exf4 Grischuk is going for a big fight.
3.e3 Qb6 This is Black’s idea, to directly disturb White in the [14.Bxb7! seems to have been stronger. 14...Bxb7 15.Rxb7
development byattacking the b2 pawn. Nc7 16.g4 Trapping the knight on h5.]
4.Nc3 We are still following theory. White gives up the b2 14...Bf8! Adhiban is also playing a good game. Black can’t
pawn. castle so something needs to be done. By playing Bf8 Black
4...Qxb2 5.Nge2 An interesting move. [5.Nb5 5...Nd5 is the not only attacks the c5 pawn, but also brings the bishop to e7
main line.] if needed.
15.O-O Nxc5 A normal move for rapid chess, but it was better
to take the c5 pawn with the bishop. [15...Rb8 16.Nd4 Bxc5
Black’s position is still very dangerous, but it seems like White
doesn’t have anything immediate.]
16.Nd4 White only has a pawn for the piece, but because
of his excellent development and great position of his pieces
Black is introuble!
16...Ng7 The second knight joins the defense.
17.Rfe1+ Nce6 20.Nxe6! The beginning of a small, but nice combination.
20...Nxe6 21.Rxe6 dxe6 22.Nc7+ Kf7 23.Rxd8 Rxd8 The
material is now more or less balanced, but Black still has
problems with the king.
24.Bf3 Defending from Rd1 check and threatening to play f5,
but now Black is in time to defend from this threat. [White
could have tried 24.f5 24...Rd1+ 25.Bf1 gxf5 26.Qe2 and Qh5
check is very unpleasant.]
24...a6 Black doesn’t feel the danger. [24...f5 would have
been the right choice to defend, and the position is very
18.Nd5 All the white pieces are in the attack, but Grischuk unclear.]
once again doesn’t take on b7, which would have been the
strongest move. [The simple 18.Bxb7 18...Bxb7 19.Nxe6
Nxe6 20.Rxb7 Be7 21.Nd5 would have put big problems in
front of Black and it seems like the idea of playing Rxe6 is hard
to defend against.]
18...Rb8 19.Rbd1 The last piece joins the attack.
19...Be7 This is a mistake, as now White has a direct blow! [A
crazy move like 19...Kf7! would keep the game alive. It is hard
to see how White can win something directly and a piece up is
a piece up...] 25.f5! White is starting to crush.
25...b5 26.Qb3 Rb6 This move just loses on the spot.
[26...gxf5 would lead to a bad, but fighting position. 27.Bh5+
Kg7 28.Nxe6+ Bxe6 29.Qxe6 Bf8 and of course White’s
chances to win the game are good, but things are far from (2) Nakamura, Hikaru (2816)
over, especially in rapid chess.] - So, Wo (2760) [A18]
27.Qe3! A great move. The white queen is getting transfered
Millionaire TB Final 2015(3), GM Csaba Balogh
from b3 to h6! Best rating: 2672
2015.10.12
27...Rbd6 28.Qh6 and the game is over. Black cannot defend
against Qxh7.
The qualifier stage of the 2nd Millionaire Chess tournament
28...exf5 29.Qxh7+ Kf8 30.Qxg6 All the pawns are falling was very exciting. 3 players qualified with 6 points and there
and Bh5 is a deadly threat. was a 9-player tiebreak for the 4th and final place with 5.5
30...Be6 31.Nxe6+ Rxe6 points, including the three top seeds, Nakamura, Caruana
and Wesley So. This is already the last game of the tiebreak,
where with a brilliant victory Nakamura secured his place in
the Final Four!
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 A dangerous weapon against the
players who want to employ the Nimzo Indian defense.
3...d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.e5 Ne4 6.d4 Theory is just about to
develop here, there are not too many games played in the
database so far.
6...Nc6 [Most of the games continue with 6...Bb4 although
32.Bh5 There is no way to defend from Qf7 mate! A nice game I prefer White’s chances even here after 7.Qa4+ Nc6 8.Bb5
by Grischuk, showing great feeling for the position and the Bd7
active pieces! 1-0
9.Ne2+= followed by 0-0. White’s structure looks more
healthy. Black should undermine the center either with c5 14.f4 f5 (14...f6 15.f5 Be8 16.e6 This protected passed pawn on
or with f6, but the c6 knight or the weakness of the d5 pawn e6 cannot lead to anything good from Black’s point of view.)
prevents him from executing these plans properly.] 15.Rc1c with a clear positional advantage thanks to the space
7.Bb5 Be7 8.Nge2 O-O 9.O-O Bf5 We have already reached advantage, the protected passed pawn on e5 and the superior
a new position without any games in the database. It is quite pieces.]
rare on the highest level, that such things occur after only 9 13...Bxd3 14.Qxd3 Nc4
moves.
10.Be3 Na5 Black has in mind to explode the center with c5
or to play Nc4. [10...f6 seemed more principle to me, but it also
fails to equalize: 11.Nxe4 Bxe4 12.Ng3 Bg6 (12...fxe5 leads
to worse positions everywhere: 13.Nxe4 dxe4 14.Qb3+ Kh8
15.Bxc6 bxc6 (15...exd4 16.Rad1 bxc6 17.Rxd4 Bd6 18.Rxe4+=
with an obvious long-term advantage because of the ruined
pawn structure on the queenside.) 16.dxe5c Black is clearly
worse because of his damaged pawn structure.) 13.f4 fxe5
15.Bc1! White saves his bishop for the future. It might have
serious attacking potential, because the knight can go to h5
or f5 and if Black sends it away with g6, he must always deal
with Bh6!
15...f6 [Perhaps it was a better try to defend with 15...Qd7
putting the queen to e6 and in case of f4, Black could play f5!]
16.b3 Nb6
14.dxe5! White breaks the symmetry in his own favor. A very

dangerous queenside attack with f5-e6 or f5-f6 is in the air.
Black should play Ne7-f5 to be fine, but his pieces do not allow
it.]
11.Nxe4 Bxe4 12.Ng3 a6 13.Bd3 Nakamura evaluates that
his potential attack with f4-f5 is stronger after trading the light
squared bishops. [Actually it was quite a pleasant choice for
White, because 13.Be2!? also looks very promising. 13...Bg6 17.e6! This pawn completely paralyzes the black pieces! He is
not in time to quickly attack it and otherwise it is soon going 23.h4! Nakamura does not waste time until Black slightly
to be defended securely by the f-pawn. consolidates. He immediately opens the kingside to break
17...Qd6 [Another defensive attempt was 17...Bd6 18.f4 Nc8 through with his attack.
building a blockade, but it just solves the direct problems. 23...g4 [23...gxh4 24.Qh3h and Black cannot use the
In the long term, Black cannot coordinate his heavy pieces, opening of the g-file. All the squares are perfectly controlled
while White slowly builds his attack. 19.f5 Ne7 20.Nh5c] by the white pieces.]
18.Re1 g6 Nf5 had to be prevented. 24.Rf1! Freeing the e1 square for the other ook and also
19.Bh6 Rfe8 intending to attack the g4 pawn with Rf4 and Qe2!
24...Qd8 25.Qe2! Rf4 is the direct threat!
25...Qe8 26.Nf4 Bd6 27.Rae1! Bringing the last
unemployed piece to the game!
27...c6 Black protects his d5 pawn in order to transfer his
knight to c8-e7, but it is too slow. The penetration is coming
now!
20.f4! f5 is coming next, using the fact that Black cannot play
f5 followed by Bf6 himself because of a tactical refutation...
20...Kh8 [20...f5 loses to 21.Nxf5! gxf5 22.Qg3+h and mate
on g7.]
21.f5 g5 22.Nh5! The attack is rolling! White is threatening to
play Bg7xf6!
22...Rg8
28.e7! Qe6 is coming next!
28...Nc8 [There is no time for 28...Qf7 followed by Rae8,
because White is coming faster with 29.Qe6! Qxe6 30.Rxe6
and the f6 pawn falls. 30...Bxf4 31.Bxf4 Kg7 (31...Rae8
32.Rxf6 Rxe7 33.Be5h wins. Black cannot escape from the
deadly pin. 33...Nd7 34.Re6+)
32.Bc7! Quite an unusual trapping of the knight! 32...Nd7 33.Kf2! The final p art of the h5-Ng6-hxg6 idea. Rh1 is coming
33.Rd6!h shows well the power of the e7 pawn, which next and Black has no defense despite his extra piece. They
completely discoordinates the black pieces.] are completely tied up and paralyzed.
29.Qe6 [29.Bf8h was also quite spectacular and strong.] 33...g3+ 34.Kf3 Rxg6 Desperation, but it was over anyway.
29...Bxe7 30.h5!! Preparation for the final break! 35.fxg6 Qxg6 36.Qxc8+ Kh7 37.Rh1 Black resigned! A
30...b5 Black tries defending with Ra7, which could be great attacking game by Nakamura! 1-0
followed by Nd6-e4, but it is already too slow.
31.Ng6+!! The point of the previous move! White sacrifices a

piece in order to open the h-file. A rook arrives there soon and
Black will have no defense against the mates.
31...hxg6 32.hxg6 Ra7
Young & Talented 12...Bc5 Maybe not the best reaction: [12...Bd6!? is more
solid. 13.g3 (13.Nf5 13...Bxh2+ 14.Kh1 Kf8 15.g3 exf5 16.Kxh2
h5 seems fine for Black.) 13...O-O 14.Bg5 Be7 15.Qe2 h6
16.Bf4 Bd6 17.Bxd6 Qxd6 18.Rad1 Rd8 19.Nf3 Black is not
far from equality. Harikrishna-Lenderman Gibraltar 2015]
13.c3 Bd7 14.Bg5 [14.Qf3 14...Bxd4 15.cxd4 Bc6=]
GM Etienne Bacrot
Best rating: 2749
(3) Fedoseev, Vladimir3 (2659)

- Vovk, Yuri (2617) [C07]
World Rapid 2015(4.30), 2015.10.10
The World Rapid in Berlin was no great success for junior

players (for me neither!). Here is a nice attacking game played 14...Bxd4 Quite logical even if White’s pieces look strong.
by Fedoseev, who took 21st place. [14...O-O-O is the risky top choice of the computer as Black
has difficulty to castle kingside. But after 15.b4!? Bd6 16.b5!?
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 cxd4 5.exd5 Qxd5 6.Bc4 I doubt Black can defend, especially in rapid time control.]
Qd6 7.O-O Nf6 8.Nb3 Nc6 9.Nbxd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 a6
11.Re1 Qc7 15.cxd4 Bc6 16.Rc1 Qa5?! A dangerous journey that will
be nicely refuted. The backward move [16...Qd8!? gives
more saving chances: 17.Be4 (17.Rc5 17...Qxd4 18.Rxe6+ fxe6
19.Bg6+ hxg6 20.Qxd4 Rd8 21.Bxf6 Rxd4=) 17...Bxe4 18.Rxe4
Qd5 19.Re5 Qd7 20.Bxf6 gxf6 21.Rec5 Rd8+=]
12.Bd3!? Quite a rare move in this topical position of the

3.Nd2 french. 12.Bb3 is more often played.
17.Rc5! (4) Bacrot, Etienne (2697)
- Fedoseev, Vladimir3 (2659) [D87]
World Rapid 2015(5.9),

2015.10.10
17...Qxa2? loses to an easy tactic... [17...Qb4 18.Qc1 Rd8

19.Bxa6!? Qxd4 20.Bf1c]
18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.d5 Bxd5 [19...Bd7 20.dxe6 Bxe6 21.Bc4 is
no better way to end the game from Black’s point of view.]
30...Nxc4! With a few seconds left on the clock Fedoseev
20.Bb1! Take the piece and continue the attack! found this great saving idea. [30...Qxc4 31.Nxf6 is hopeless
20...Qxb2 21.Rxd5 Rc8 22.h3 h6 23.Rd7 Qb5 24.Rxe6+ for Black.] 31.Rxe8 Bxe8 32.Nxf6 Nxd6! 33.Bxd6?!
White concludes with an easy forced mate: [33.Be5 is just slightly better for White.]
24...fxe6 25.Bg6+ Kf8 26.Qd6+ Kg8 27.Qxe6+ 1-0 33...Qxd6 34.Nxe8
34...Qd7 A nice trap! Black wins back the piece and achieves
a draw.
35.Qe5 Qxe8 36.Qd5+ Kf6 37.Qd4+ Qe5 38.Qxa7 Qxc3
39.Qb6+ Kg5 40.Qxb7 1/2-1/2
Puzzle section
(5) Swiercz, D(2620)-Kryvoruchko, Y(2710) (7) Sanal, V(2501)-Ganguly, S(2652)
World Rapid Championship, 2015.10.10 World Rapid Championship, 2015.10.10
1... i 1... i
(6) Vidit, S(2651)-Volokitin, A(2639) (8) Eljanov, P(2717)-Korobov, A(2700)

1. h 1... i
(9) Korobov, A(2700)-Guseinov, G(2634) (11) Grigoriants, S(2603)-Andreikin, D(2720)
1... i 1... i
(10) Ponkratov, P(2604)-Bacrot, E(2697) (12) Vovk, Y(2617)-Vitiugov, N(2725)

1... = 1... i
(13) Savchenko, B(2567)-Grischuk, A(2774)
World Rapid Championship, 2015.10.11
1. h
(14) Ivanisevic, I(2653)-Kravtsiv, M(2621)

1... i
Endgame section if it was placed on the other side of the board. A well-known
defense in such endgames is to have the king on the shorter
side of the pawn and giving checks with the rook from the
(15) Dubov, Daniil (2661) longer side (here, king on g7 and rook checks along the a-file).
- Grischuk, Alexander (2774) However, the black king is on the wrong side, which allows
checks with the rook only from the shorter side, but it is too
World rapid Championship, GM Csaba Balogh close to the king and Black runs out of checks too fast. We see
2015.10.12 Best rating: 2672 all the details very soon.
59...Re7 Grischuk tries to defend with the frontal attack. As

long as the white pawn has not passed the half of the board,
We are facing a very instructive rook endgame, where often this defense gives the only salvation. [On 59...Kc5 an
the young russian talent Daniil Dubov wins with perfect important move is 60.Rd1! to cut the king along the d-file.;
technique, despite the most tenacious resistance of 59...Kc6
Alexander Grischuk.
57.Rf6! The unfortunate placement of the black pieces
prevents him from saving his f7 pawn. [57.Bxa6+ is not
enough. 57...Rxa6 58.Rxa6 Kxa6 59.Kd4 the black king
comes towards the e4 pawn in time. 59...Kb5 60.Kd5 Kb4
61.Kd6 Kc4 62.Ke7 Kd4=]
57...Bxf1 58.Rxf7+ Kb6 59.Rxf1 Here we are! The key of this
endgame is the bad position of the black king. First of all,
it has no chance to get in front of the e-pawn - which would
result in an immediate draw - it will be cut either vertically or It is very important to find the right move for the win here:
horizontally by the white rook. It still would not be a problem 60.Rf6+! (60.Rd1? does not work now because of 60...Rd7!
and the king gets in front of the pawn because the pawn
endgame is drawn. 61.Rxd7 Kxd7 62.Kf4 Ke6=) 60...Kc5
61.Kf4h and the cut along the 6th rank deprives Black from
reaching the defensive position.]
60.Rc1! Cutting the king with two lines from the pawn.
[60.Kd4 60...Kc7 leads to a draw, because White cannot cut
the king along the d-file.]
60...Re8 This should be the ideal placement of the frontal
attack. The rook should be on the 8th rank to be able to Here we can see the reason why the rook should give the
give as many checks when the white king leaves from behind checks on the longer side of the board. If he could continue
the pawn to support its advance. The black king should giving checks, that would lure the white king one file to the
be on b6 or b5; the point being that often the only way to right, which would already allow Re7 and the black king goes
make progress is Rc4, defending the e4 pawn and then going to d8-e8 and saves the game. However, there are no more
forward with the king. However, now Rc4 is met by Kb5 and checks now... 70...Rh2 71.Rd1! Cutting the king again and the
the rook must come back. Still the game is won, because pawn advances soon. 71...Rg2+ 72.Kf7 Rf2+ 73.Ke7 We soon
the black king is on the wrong side of the board. [60...Rc7 reach the bridge-building position. 73...Rh2 74.e6 Rh7+
does not work now, because the pawn endgame is winning
after 61.Rxc7 Kxc7 62.Kf4 Kd6 63.Kf5! Ke7 64.Ke5!h and
White gets the opposition!]
61.Kf4! Rf8+ 62.Ke5 Re8+ 63.Kf5 Rf8+ 64.Ke6 Gaining
some time.
64...Re8+ 65.Kf5 Rf8+ 66.Kg6! Re8 This is the method of
the frontal defense, but it does not help now.
67.Re1! Kc7 The king can finally come closer, but it is not
enough to save the game now. 75.Kf6 and again Black has the same problem! The rook is on
68.Kf7 Re5 [68...Rh8 leads to the same as in the game 69.e5 the wrong side, therefore he runs out of checks. If the black
Rh7+ (69...Kd8 70.Rd1+ Kc7 71.e6h) 70.Kg6 king was on g7 and the rook could give a check on a7, then the
game would be drawn. 75...Rh6+ 76.Kf7 Rh7+ 77.Kg6h]
69.Kf6 Rh5 70.Rd1! [But not 70.e5? because of 70...Kd7!=]
70...Rh6+ 71.Kg5 The 68...Rh8 line has already shown us
Black’s problems!
71...Re6 72.Kf5 Rh6 73.e5 Rh5+ 74.Kf6 Rh6+ 75.Kf7 52.Kb5 This is White’s best try.
Rh7+ 76.Kg6 Re7 77.Kf6 Rh7 78.e6 Rh6+ 79.Kf7 Rh7+ 52...a3 The first ina ccurate decision. Black could have kept
80.Kg6 Black resigned! A very instructive rook endgame and the passive strategy with 52...Ra3!, asking White what’s next.
it is useful to remember its defensive and attacking ideas, as
these are quite common in practice! 1-0 53.Kb4 Now the white king is getting to b3 and the black rook
is even more passive.
(16) Carlsen, Magnus (2850) 53...Ke5! The right move! Black activates his king, although
- Ivanchuk, Vassily (2726) the a-pawn is going to fall now.
54.Kb3 Ra1 55.Ra4 The question is whether Rxa3 is a threat
World Rapid 2015(12.1), or if the pawn endgame is just a draw?!
Best rating: 2737
55...Rc1! Another good decision by Ivanchuk! White can’t

take the a3 pawn with the king because the c3 pawn would
fall, so there is no other choice for Carlsen but to let the black
We are in a very interesting rook endgame and Carlsen shows king pass the 4th rank.
once again how well he can handle them! The material is 56.Rxa3 Kf4 57.Ra4+ Kf3 Now it is clear that Black’s target
equal, but it is not easy for Black to defend the a-pawn and is the g4 pawn.
in case it is going to fall, the position might just be lost. The
black king is also cut along the e-file, but still... All black needs 58.Rd4 White wants to play c4 next.
to do is to get one of the white pawns to achieve a draw. 58...Ke3?! Black miscalculates the pawn endgame, as he
50...Rc2 A normal move, Black keeps on waiting. only had very little time on the clock. [58...Rg1! would
have led to a direct draw: 59.c4 Rxg4 60.Rxg4 Kxg4 61.c5
51.Rc4 Now a4 is hanging. Kf5 62.Kb4 g4 63.c6 Ke6 64.Kb5 g3 65.Ka6 g2 66.c7 g1=Q
51...Ra2 Black continues waiting. 67.c8=Q+]
59.Kb4 Rf1 Black has another plan and that is to get the rook
to f4.
60.Kc5 Rf4 This is the wrong plan. [The tricky 60...Rc1 would
lead to a draw: 61.c4 and now the black rook is getting to the
8th rank. 61...Ra1 62.Kd5 Ra8 63.Re4+ Kf3 and White can
only free the rook from e4 by losing the g4 pawn, which would
mean a draw.]
61.Kd5
67.Qe6+! A very important check. Usually Black should keep
his king on h3-h2 and try to give as many checks as possible,
but now the black king is going to be stuck in the wrong side
of the board.
67...Kd2 68.c4 Kc3 69.Qe3+ Kb4 70.Qb6+ Kc3 71.Qd4+
Kb3 72.c5 The c-pawn starts to advance. It is almost
impossible to give the right checks in a rapid game.
72...Qf7+ [72...Qb5 would have been the right way to
61...Kf3? Black misses the only clear way to a draw... proceed.]
[61...Rf8 with a similar idea as in the line before would still 73.Kc6 Qe6+ 74.Kb7 Black is running out of checks, which
keep a draw, even if Black needs to be very careful.] means the game is over.
62.Rxf4+! Carlsen doesn’t miss his chance... The queen 74...Qe7+ 75.Kb6 Qe6+
endgame that is going to appear is going to be very difficult
to hold for Black.
62...gxf4 [Of course Black is not in time with 62...Kxf4 63.c4
Kxg4 64.c5 Kf3 65.c6 and White is faster.]
63.g5 Ke3 64.g6 f3 65.g7 f2 66.g8=Q f1=Q So from a rook
endgame we got a queen endgame with an extra c-pawn for
White, which is very hard to hold for Black.
76.c6 and Black resigned because there is nothing to do
against Kb7 followed by c7. The position would be a draw only
with the black king on h3-h2-g2, and even then it is very hard
to achieve it. So, another drawish endgame which was quite
easily won by the stronger side, which shows us once again
how tricky rook endgames are! 1-0
Golden knowledge.
THE ROLE OF CLASSICS
24.Rc1?? Such transpo sitions into pawn endgames are

GM Adrian Mikhalchishin completely wrong. In most cases in chess it is the most natural
FIDE Trainers Commission Chairman defence in rook endgames! [White could easily stop Black’s
rook activity with 24.Rg1 24...g6 25.f4]
24...Rxc1 25.Kxc1 Kf6 26.Kd2 Kg5 27.Ke2 Kh4 28.Kf1
Recently I spoke to the great trainer GM Lev Psakhis and he Kh3 29.Kg1
told me that he has huge problems finding good and proper
examples for his exercises in modern games. True, I had the
same experience, as the best and most instructive examples
are usually found in older classical games. Everybody used
this knowledge later. Here I want to present how one old and
great idea of Akiba Rubinstein was used by other great guys
and how these old ideas can be used in a wrong way too!
(17) Cohn, Erich-Rubinstein, Akiba
St Petersburg, 1909
And from this moment onwards starts the great plan of
Rubinstein: to exchange all pawns on the kingside and then
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.c4 dxc4 4.dxc5 Qxd1+ 5.Kxd1 Nc6 6.e3
come to the queenside and win the white pawns.
Bg4 7.Bxc4 e6 8.a3 Bxc5 9.b4 Bd6 10.Bb2 Nf6 11.Nd2
Ke7 12.Ke2 Be5 13.Bxe5 Nxe5 14.Rhc1 Rac8 15.Bb3 29...e5 30.Kh1 b5 31.Kg1 f5 32.Kh1 g5 33.Kg1 h5 34.Kh1
Rhd8 16.Nc4 Nxc4 17.Rxc4 Rxc4 18.Bxc4 Ne4 19.Ke1 g4 35.e4 fxe4 36.fxe4 h4 37.Kg1 g3 38.hxg3 hxg3 0-1
Bxf3 20.gxf3 Nd6 21.Be2 Rc8 22.Kd2 Nc4+ 23.Bxc4
Rxc4
(18) Saidy, Anthony Fred-Fischer, Robert James
USA-ch, 1964
1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Ndb5

Bb4 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.Nxc3 d5 9.e3 O-O 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Be2
Bf5 12.Nb5 Qb6 13.O-O a6 14.Nd4 Nxd4 15.Qxd4 Qxd4
16.exd4 Rac8 17.Bd1 Bc2 18.Be3 Bxd1 19.Rfxd1 Rc2
20.Rd2 Rfc8 21.Rxc2 Rxc2 22.Rc1 Rxc1+ 23.Bxc1 Nd7
24.Kf1 From this moment onwards one of the greatest
49...Ng3+! Here Fischer demonstrated his knowledge about
players in history starts with a great knight transfer to the
the Rubinstein method.
ideal square.
50.Kd3 [This position appeared after 50.Bxg3 50...Kxg3
51.Kf1 f3 52.gxf3 Kxf3 53.Ke1 Ke3]
50...Nf5 51.Bf2
24...Nf8! 25.Ke2 Ne6 26.Kd3 h5 27.Be3 Kh7 28.f3 Kg6

29.a4 Kf5 30.Ke2 g5 31.Kf2 Nd8 32.Bd2 Kg6 33.Ke3
Ne6 34.Kd3 Kf5 35.Be3 f6 36.Ke2 Kg6 37.Kd3 f5 38.Ke2
f4 39.Bf2 Ng7 40.h3 Nf5 41.Kd3 g4 42.hxg4 hxg4 43.fxg4 51...Nh4! 52.a5 [The Rubinstein position could appear once
Nh6 44.Be1 Nxg4 45.Bd2 Kf5 46.Be1 Nf6 47.Bh4 Ne4 more after 52.Bxh4 52...Kxh4 53.Ke2 Kg3 54.Kf1 f3]
48.Be1 Kg4 49.Ke2
52...Nxg2 53.Kc3 Kf3 54.Bg1 Ke2 55.Bh2 f3 56.Bg3
Ne3 0-1
(19) Sveshnikov, Evgeny-Kasparov, Garry
URS-ch47, 1979
1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.cxd4
d6 7.Bc4 Nb6 8.Bb5 dxe5 9.Nxe5 Bd7 10.Nc3 Nxe5
11.dxe5 Bxb5 12.Nxb5 Qxd1+ 13.Kxd1 Nd5 14.Ke2 a6
15.Rd1 O-O-O 16.Na3 e6 17.Nc4 Be7 18.Bd2 b6 19.g3 Kb7
20.Ne3 Nc7 21.Nc4 Rd4 22.Rac1 Nd5 23.f3 Rc8 24.Ne3
Nxe3 25.Bxe3 Rxd1 26.Rxd1 Rc2+ 27.Rd2 Rxd2+ 28.Kxd2
38...a5 39.Ka1 a4 40.bxa4 Kxa4 41.Kb1 [41.Kb2 41...b4
Kc6 29.f4 b5 30.Kd3 Kd5 31.h4 h5 32.Bf2 Bb4 33.b3 g6
42.Kc2 Ka3 43.Kb1 b3 44.axb3 Kxb3 45.Kc1 Kc3 46.Kd1
34.Ke2 Bc5
Kd3 47.Ke1 Ke3 48.Kf1 Kf3]
41...Ka3 42.Ka1 b4 43.Kb1 b3 0-1
(20) Hillarp Persson, Tiger-Ragger, Markus

Politiken Cup 2015, 2015
Hillarp Persson is a very interesting player, who has lately also

become a trainer and author. He is a real servant of Caissa.
And he knows a lot, but sometimes too much knowledge can
35.Bxc5?? An absolutely wrong exchange, although it lead to some strange decisions!
seemed to be logical. But there is no win for Black after
the following simple retreat [35.Ke1 The black king cannot 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3
penetrate White’s position! Unbelieveable!] Bg7 7.Be3 O-O 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.O-O-O Qd6 10.Nb5 Qd7
11.Kb1 Rd8 12.d5 a6 13.Nc3 Qe8 14.Qc1 Na5 15.h4 e6
35...Kxc5 36.Kd3 Kb4 37.Kc2 Ka3 38.Kb1 16.Bf4 Qe7 17.h5 exd5 18.hxg6 hxg6 19.Bg5 f6 20.Bh6
Be6 21.Nge2 dxe4 22.Rxd8+ Rxd8 23.Bxg7 Qxg7 24.Nf4
Bf7 25.Nxe4 Nac4 26.Bxc4 Nxc4 27.Rd1 Rxd1 28.Qxd1
Nd6 29.Nxd6 cxd6 30.Qxd6 g5 31.Qd8+ Qf8 32.Qxf8+
Kxf8 33.Ne2 Ke7 34.Kc2 Kd6 35.a3 Bc4 36.Nc3 Ke5
37.Kd2 Kf4 38.Ne2+ Bxe2 39.Kxe2 Kg3 40.Kf1 b5 41.b4
f5 42.Kg1 g4 43.fxg4 Kxg4 44.Kf2 f4
White resigned here, based on the knowledge of two classical
games! But there is a small difference here!
45.Kg1 f3 46.Kf1 Kg3 47.gxf3 Kxf3 48.Ke1 Ke3 49.Kd1
Kd3
50.a4!! This pawn sacrifice is the saving possibility!

50...Kc3 51.axb5 axb5 52.Kc1 Kxb4 53.Kb2 With a
theoretical draw! 0-1
Chess and the City. surroundings, but, as my readers already know he is not only
Italian by nationality, but also by character and it is taking
From one island to the other his time to stroll around. So you may expect some more info
on the very last day (hour?) of the tournament. Well, maybe
never at all! :)
Last but not least, some of my friends claim that upon
marriage you are supposed to lose about 50 rating points, in
my case the loss preceded the marriage so perhaps I will avoid
this dark fate and just take the opposite direction (that is
gaining points, not divorcing). Time will tell, stay tuned for the
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz updates! Here is one snapshot from one of the many beautiful
Best rating: 2493 landscapes of the island. The picture is kindly provided by
Irina Krush.
The strongest tournament ever to be held in the British Isles,

at the Isle of Man, finally came to an end. The tournament
winner turned out to be Harikrishna, the well-known Indian
grandmaster, and incidentally, one of my closest friends. This,
coupled with my good personal result, made the tournament
successful for me. Looking back at this year, I can even claim
this to be my most (perhaps the only) succesful tournament
so far. However, there was no time to rest and enjoy this good
feeling, since I had to immediately travel to an even stronger
event, the ”Checkmate” show-round robin event held in the
island of Gozo, Malta. This event draws its inspiration from
a successful TV show held by the BBC in the 80’s, involving
a very strong lot of players (5 men and 5 women) and a
lot of TV broadcasting, which is quite unusual for chess
players. The first impression was pleasant since I managed
to get a professional make-up and hairstyle right before the
game. Likely this joy was not shared by my men colleagues,
which may explain my unexpected first round victory. I had
relied on my husband to provide more insight into the island
Clash of the Titans Nf6C) 12...Nxe5 13.Nxe5 (13.Be2 13...Nc4=) 13...Bxe5Vand
White should not have enough time to build a blockade on
the d4 square. Black wants to exchange the isolated pawn by
(21) Seirawan, Yasser playing d4 and he also keeps ideas with the bishop sacrifice
- Tal, Mihail [D46] on h2.) 10...dxe4 11.Nxe4
Candidates Tournament(14),
1985
GM Kamil Miton
Best rating: 2655
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 [5.Bg5 ]

5...Nbd7 6.Bd3 [6.Qc2 Anti-Meran]
6...Bb4 Developing the bishop on this square is a rare choice.
[6...dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 leads to the main positions. Now 11...b5!? An interesting idea to get control of the d5 square.
Black has a choice between three plans: 8...a6, 8...Bb7, and (11...Nxe4 12.Bxe4 Nf6 13.Bg5c) 12.Nxf6+ (12.cxb5 12...cxb5
the recently most popular 8... Bd6.] 13.Nxf6+ (13.Nc5 13...a5!V) 13...Nxf6 14.Bxb5 Bb7 With good
practical compensation.) 12...Nxf6 13.Ne5 bxc4 14.Bxc4 Nd5
7.O-O O-O Otherwise Bg5 can be unpleasant. 15.Nxc6 Qd6 16.Ne5
(16.Bxd5 16...exd5 17.Ne5 f6 18.Nf3 Bg4A) 16...Bb7n) 9.bxc3
Nb6 Black is trying to take control of the light squares.
(9...b6 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.c4 Ba6 12.cxd5 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 and now
in both cases White gets a stable advantage thanks to his
better structure. 13...exd5 (13...Nxd5 14.e4) 14.a4) 10.c5 White
has a few promising options here. (10.a4 10...Nxc4 11.Bxc4
dxc4 12.Ne5 Qd5 13.f3c; 10.Ne5 10...Nfd7 11.Nxd7 Qxd7 12.c5
Nc4 13.Bxc4 (13.e4 13...b6 14.cxb6 axb6 15.Bxc4 dxc4 16.a4)
13...dxc4 14.Qe2 b5 15.e4 f6 16.Bf4 The strong bishop on d6
8.Bd2 White is not able to play e4, which is why it is necessary will paralyze the black rooks, so White is better.) 10...Nc4
to get rid of the bishop from b4. The alternative was [8.a3 (10...Nbd7 11.c4 b6 12.cxb6 axb6 13.Bb2 Ba6 14.Nd2 and White
8...Bxc3 (8...Ba5 9.b4 Bc7 10.e4 (10.Bb2 looks logical but keeps an advantage thanks to the bishop pair.) 11.Bxc4 dxc4
now Black gets typical counterplay in the center after 10...e5! 12.Ne5 b6 13.cxb6 (13.Nxc6 13...Qc7 14.Ne5 bxc5 15.a4 cxd4
11.cxd5 cxd5 12.dxe5 (12.e4 12...dxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 16.cxd4 Ba6 17.Ba3 Rfc8C) 13...axb6 14.Nxc6 Qc7 15.Ne5
Nd5 16.Bd2 f6 17.Nf3 b5 18.e4 Nb6 and Black has some 15...Nf6 16.Rfe1 Nxe4! (16...Qc7 17.d5A) 17.Rxe4 Qc7
compensation.] looks dangerous but Black is on time. 18.Qd2 Be6! 19.Qh6
8...Qe7 But not [8...b6?? 9.Nxd5! Nxd5 10.cxd5 Bxd2 Bd5 20.Ng5 f6]
11.dxe6h] 15.Rfe1 f5 16.dxe5 [16.Bd3 16...e4 17.Bc4+ Kf8! Avoiding the
9.Qb3 [9.a3 9...Bd6 10.c5?! Bc7 11.Re1 e5! 12.e4 exd4 bishop c3 activation. (17...Kg7 18.d5+ Nf6 19.Nd4 cxd5 (19...c5
13.exd5 Qxc5 14.b4 Qd6e] 20.Nb5 Bb8 21.d6 Bxd6 22.Nxd6 Qxd6 23.Rad1 White has
more than compensation.) 20.Bxd5 Kh6 21.Bb3c) 18.Nd2
9...dxc4 [9...Bd6 was also possibl e because the bishop on d2 Nb6Cwith Be6 next and a typical blockade on d5.]
and queen on b3 are not perfectly placed.]
16...Nxe5 17.Nxe5
10.Qxc4 Bd6
11.Ne4 [11.e4 11...e5 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Qxe5 14.f4 Qc5+ 17...fxe4! [17...Bxe5 18.Bf3 with b4-b5 next and White has a
15.Kh1 Qxc4 16.Bxc4 Bb4 Without queens this structure is stable advantage.]
safe for Black.] 18.Nc4 Bc7 19.Nd2! Otherwise Black was ready to play the
11...Nxe4 12.Bxe4 e5 [12...Nf6 13.Bc2 c5 14.e4!; 12...c5!? is very unpleasant Qh4!
another way to fight for the center.] 19...Bf5 20.Nf1 Rad8 [20...h5!? with the idea to play h4,
13.Qc2 g6 [13...Nf6 14.dxe5 Bxe5 15.Nxe5 Qxe5 16.Bd3 with thus preventing Ng3. 21.Ng3 Bd7 (21...h4 22.Nxf5 gxf5 23.Qe2
a clear advantage for White.; 13...h6!? 14.Bc3 exd4 15.Nxd4 Qf7A also looks good for Black.) 22.Rad1 Rad8 (22...h4
Nf6 16.Bf5 with the idea to get the useful f5 square for 23.Nxe4) 23.f3! (23.Qb3+ 23...Be6 24.Qxb7 h4 and Black is
the knight. 16...g6 weakens the black king a bit. (16...Nd5 winning because of the Bxh2 trick.) 23...Bxg3 24.hxg3 Bf5=]
17.Bxc8 Nxc3 18.Bxb7!) 17.Bd3!? (17.Bxc8 17...Raxc8 18.b3) 21.Ng3 Rd5 22.Rad1 Red8 23.Rxd5 Rxd5 24.Rd1
17...Bd7 (17...Nd5? 18.Bxg6 fxg6 19.Qxg6+ Qg7 20.Qxd6 Bh3
21.Qg3h) 18.Rad1k]
14.Bc3 Re8 [14...exd4!? 15.exd4 (15.Nxd4 15...Nf6=)
28.b3 [28.a3 28...Bb3 with the idea of playing Qd1 and getting
an equal position.]
28...c5 It is logical to put the pawns on dark squares. I also
thought about the idea of bringing the king to b7 to make
him safe, for example: [28...Kf7 29.Qf2+ Ke8 30.h3 (30.Qf6
30...Qd1+) 30...Qf7! (30...b6 31.Qf6 Qf7 32.Qe5!A) 31.Qd2
Qd7=]
29.h3
24...Bxg3?! Personaly I don’t like this move, because I think
it is too early to exchange this bishop. Why not play the
solid [24...Qd7 25.Qb3 b6! is the simplest. (25...Be6 26.Re1!
(26.Rxd5 26...Qxd5 27.Qxb7 Qd1+ 28.Nf1 Bc4 29.Qc8+
Bd8i) 26...Rd2 27.Qxb7 (27.Nxe4 27...Bxh2+! 28.Kh1
Bxb3 29.Nf6+ Kf7 30.Nxd7 Rxd7=) 27...Rxf2 28.Qa6 Bxg3
29.hxg3c The black king is weak.) 26.Rxd5 Qxd5 27.Qxd5+
cxd5=]
25.fxg3! is better than another recaptures on g3 because
White will be able to improve his position by playing h3-g4 or 29...b5? It seems very logical to push b4-c4 and reduce the
Qf2-Qf6 and the king will also be safe on h2. material but this move has the huge disadvanatge that it
25...Rxd1+ 26.Qxd1 Qd7 weakens the queenside a lot! In fact this was probably the
decisive mistake! [29...Qd3 30.Be5 Kf7 (30...Qd5 31.Bb2
Qd3 32.Qf2A) 31.Qf2+ Ke8 32.Qf6 Qxe3+ 33.Kh2Aand
Black lost coordination.; 29...b6 looks most solid! 30.Qf1 Qf7
31.Qb5 Qd7=]
30.Qf1 b4 31.Be5 Qd8 [31...Qf7 32.Qb5c The black pawns
are very weak now.]
32.Qb5 Qc8 33.Kh2c There are just too many weaknesses
to hold this position.
33...Bd5 34.Bd6 a6 35.Qa5 Kf7 36.Bxc5 Qc6
27.Qe1! White is playing for the win. 37.Qxb4h Be6 38.Bd4 h5 39.Qb8 Ke7 40.Qe5
27...Be6 Improving the bishop. Qd5 41.Qf6+ 1-0
(22) Fritz (23) Karjakin, S(2762)-Svidler, P(2727)
1. h World Cup, 2015.10.02
37...Kh8! 38.Rd5 [38.Bxf7 38...Qxb5i]

38...Nb6 0-1
(24) Karjakin, S(2762)-Svidler, P(2727)
18...b4? [18...Nxc3!! 19.bxc3 Qxc3i]

19.c4
(25) Shirov, A(2712)-Laznicka, V(2676) (27) Morozevich, A(2711)-Sutovsky, A(2635)
Poikovsky, 2015.10.01 Poikovsky, 2015.10.03
36.Rd8! Bxd8 37.Rxd8! 1-0 [37.Rxd8 37...Rxd8 (37...Bb7 12...Nxf3+! 13.Qxf3 g5!i
38.Ne7+h; 37...Kh7 38.Nxe5h) 38.Ne7+ Kf7 39.Nxc6h]
(28) Naiditsch, A(2682)-Koop, T(2407)
(26) Laznicka, V(2676)-Khismatullin, D(2651)
Isle of Man, 2015.10.03
34.Nd7! 1-0 [34.Nd7 34...Qxd7 35.Rh4h; 34.Rh4?

31...Rxf3! 32.Be1 [32.Nxf3 32...Qc4#; 32.Kxf3 32...Ne5+ 34...Qxh4 35.Qxh4 Rxc5k]
33.Kg2 (33.Ke2 33...Qg4+i) 33...Qg4!i; 32.Rf1 32...Rxf1
33.Rxf1 Qh5+ 34.Nf3 (34.Kd3 34...Ne5+ 35.Kc3 Qg6i)
34...Qg4i] 32...Ne5! 33.Rac1 [33.Nxf3 33...Qc4+i]
33...Bxe1 34.Rxe1 Rg3i
(29) Jones, G(2623)-Berry, N(2355) 26.Rxe8+ Kxe8 27.Qxa8h
Isle of Man, 2015.10.03
(31) Short, N(2678)-Nakar, E(2463)

Isle of Man, 2015.10.04
36.g5!! hxg5 37.h6! Qe8 [37...gxh6 38.Qf6h]

38.Qf8+!! Qxf8 39.h7+ Kxh7 40.Nxf8+ 1-0 [40.Nxf8+
40...Kg8 41.Nxd7h]
(30) Harikrishna, P(2737)-Vishnu, P(2503) 20.Bxh7+! Kxh7 21.Ng5+ Kg8 22.Qd3! Kf8 [22...g6
Isle of Man, 2015.10.04 23.Qh3h]
23.Qh7 Ne7 24.Qh8+ Ng8 25.f5h
23.Nc4!! [23.Nh6+ 23...Kf8!; 23.Nxd6 23...cxd6 24.Bxh7+

Kxh7 25.Qh5+ Kg8 26.Rxe8+ Qxe8]
23...Qxc4 24.Nxd6!! cxd6 25.Bxh7+! Kf8 [25...Kxh7
26.Qh5+ Kg8 27.Rxe8#]
(32) Rusev, K(2558)-Hracek, Z(2613)
Croatian league, 2015.10.04
14.Bxh7+!! Kxh7 [14...Nxh7 15.Qxf7+ Kh8 16.Ng6#]

15.Nxf7h
(33) Pogosiants
1.Re4+! Kg5 2.Re5+!! Kh6 [2...Qxe5 3.Nf7+=; 2...Nxe5

3.Ne4+=]
3.Rh5+!! Kxh5 [3...Kg7 4.Ne8+]
4.g4+! Kh6 [4...Kg5 5.Ne4+]
5.g5+! Kxg5 [5...Qxg5 6.Nf7+ Kh5 7.Nxg5]
6.Ne4+ Kf5 7.Nxf6=
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
And the winners of the European Club Cup are the new team of
Superstars Siberia, with Kramnik, Aronian, Grischuk, Li Chao,
Editorial Preface 2 Wang Yue and Korobov. They had an amazing event winning
the first 6 matches and drawing the last one. The performance
of Kramnik was especially impressive, as he scored 4.5/5 and
had a performance of over 3000!
Puzzle section 11 Second place was shared by 3 teams, but according to the
tiebreak, last year’s winners and first seed, the team of SOCAR
(with Topalov, Caruana, Giri, Adams, Mamedyarov, Radjabov,
Endgame section 14
Safarli and Mamedov) took silver, 3rd place went to Mednyi
Vsadnik and 4th to Obiettivo Risarcimento Padova.
Golden knowledge.
ROOK ENDGAMES 2 against 1 19 In the women’s section nobody could rival the team ”Nona”
from Georgia, who won all their matches!
Chess and the City. It was a great event with a lot of fighting games until the
There is no time to have a break... 26 very end. It is just a pity that the ECC only has 7 rounds,
which makes it very hard for the top teams to show their real
strength. One slip and it is all over for the first place...
In the end of the month we are going to see a great match
Surprise section / study 29 between Nakamura and Caruana in Saint Louis, which is
clearly going to be very exciting, and of course, from the 12th
of November the European Team Championship is going to
Solutions 30
begin, with all the strongest European players fighting for the
honor of their country.
Until then, we hope you enjoy the current issue!
Two best games of the past week diagonal with b6, White pushes c4 at better circumstances
even if it has cost him a tempo.
7...c6 Black wanted to play like this even if White pushes 6.c4
(1) Kramnik, Vladimir(2777) at once. However now, the c6 square and the long diagonal
- Nepomniachtchi, Ian(2705) [A49] is more vulnerable of which White immediately makes use.
[7...e6 leads to a Queen’s Indian type of structure, where
31st ECC Open 2015(3.1), GM Csaba Balogh White’s chances are preferable after 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Nc3 Bb7
2015.10.20 Best rating: 2672 10.Bf4+= and Rc1 next move.]
8.Ne5! White intends to play Nc3 and e4, gaining all the
Vladimir Kramnik plays a positional masterpiece. benefits of the b6 weakening.
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d5 5.O-O O-O 6.c3!? 8...Bb7 9.Nc3 [9.Qa4!? also made sense to me to avoid the
White avoids the theoretical discussions in the Gruenfeld most natural developing move Nbd7 by keeping the c6 pawn
defense. Actually the move is not as harmless as it might look under attack.]
at first sight. We will see some of it’s ideas later in the game.
9...Nbd7
6...b6 Seems to be an inaccuracy, which is met by a surpising
and unexpected next move... [The most common move is
6...c6 7.Nbd2 White wants to open the position with Re1 and
e4, achieving a small edge thanks to the space advantage
and if Black tries to prevent it with 7...Bf5 8.Nh4 and White
executes the e4 break anyway.]
10.Qa4! The most energetic developing move, putting

pressure on the c6 square. It forces Black to force
simplifications in the center. [Black is in time to react
properly on with 10.e4? 10...Nxe4! 11.Nxe4 dxe4 wins a
pawn.]
7.c4! Must have been a bit of a shock for Nepomniachtchi. 10...Nxe5 [10...Qc8 is bad in view of 11.Bf4 and the rook is
White just has played c2-c3 in the previous move and now coming to c1!]
pushes c4. The reason is clear, Black has weakened the long 11.dxe5 Ne4 A positional mistake after which White gets a
long term advantage. [The only move to fight for equality too slow, with the idea of pushing c5 without giving up
was 11...Nd7! 12.cxd5 cxd5 13.Nxd5 Nc5! A difficult move to the b2 pawn and using the fact that Black cannot push c5
foresee. The point is to have the b7 bishop protected. (White himself because of Rd7. However Black plays 16.b3 16...Bd6!=
gets a pleasant edge after 13...Nxe5 14.Rd1 e6 15.Nf6+ Qxf6 controlling the c5 square and closing the d-file in order to
16.Bxb7+= is better due to the two bishops.) 14.Qc4 e6! Black equalize the game with c5 next move.]
wins back the e5 pawn, although White might hope for a small 16...Bxb2 If White consolidates with lets say Qc2, Black is
edge after 15.Nc3 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 Bxe5 17.Bf4 Bxf4 18.Qxf4 obliged to suffer all the game.
and the rook comes to d1 with tempo followed by sending
away the strong knight from c5 with b4!] 17.Qb3 Bf6 18.cxb6 axb6 19.Bxb6+= The material is
balanced, but White has a small but stable advantage because
12.Nxe4 dxe4 13.Bf4 e3 The only move to keep the material of the more active pieces and the superior pawn structure.
balance. [13...c5 loses the e4 pawn after 14.Qc2!c] The c6 pawn is weak, while the distant a- passed pawn might
14.Bxe3 [14.fxe3 wins the pawn, but of course this kind of cause huge problems at the later stage of the game.
tripled pawns can hardly be called as a healthy extra pawn.
Black transfers his queen to e6 and gets compensation.]
14...Bxe5 15.Rad1 [White could also play 15.Rab1!? and
pushing c5 next move, like it happened in the game, just
saving the b2 pawn as well. Perhaps it was even stronger than
the textmove.]
15...Qc7
19...Qc8 20.Rc1! Bringing the f1 rook to the game. [20.Rd2!?

was also possible with the idea of doubling the rooks on the
d-file as Black cannot oppose on d8.]
20...Qg4 21.Rc2 Ra6 Nepomniachchi searches for
counterplay with active moves.
22.Bf3 Qa4 Black misevaluates the consequences of trading
the queens. It is going to be terrible suffering for him. He
16.c5! White changes the pawnstructure on his favor. This should have kept it on board with 22... Qf5.
move is known also from some Queen’s Indian lines. White
locks the b7 bishop and fixes the c6 weakness. The difference
between the two light squared bishops is going to tell. [was
Rd2-d8 or another highly unpleasant threat is Bb4 followed
by simple winning the c6 pawn.
26...e5 Black tries to shut the light squared bishop out of the
game. However it just partly succeeds.
27.e3! The bishop comes to the game from another diagonal
with even bigger power!
27...e4 28.Be2 Rb7 Resourceful defensive attempt. Black
wants to trade bishops with Be7, which would significantly
23.Qxa4! Obviously White must take the queen himself, improve his defensive chances he gets access to attack the a3
otherwise the Black takes on b3 and the power of the distant pawn with both of his rooks. However Kramnik anticipates
passed pawn is gone. this idea with another great prophylactical move... [Black has
no chance to trade the bishops with Ba6, because 28...Bb7
23...Rxa4 24.Rd1! White invades on d7! runs into the pin after 29.Rb1!]
24...Ba8 A sad decision! Black wants to free his position with
c5 which might be a pawn sacrifice, but at least he gets rid of
his poor bishop and activates his f8 rook afterwards. However
Kramnik avoids this chance with a strong prophylactic move.
[24...Rfa8 was strongly met by 25.Rd7!c; 24...Ra6 25.Bc5
Rfa8 26.a3c is also bad for Black.]
29.Rc4! Just great! In general it is very useful to ask our

ourself what is the plan of our opponent, what would he do
if it was his move. We realize that the idea is Be7, so Kramnik
prevents it tactically.
29...Rxc4 30.Bxc4 Kg7 [30...Be7? loses now as the rooks
are traded and the a8 bishop is no longer protected. 31.Bxe7
25.Bc5! Preventing the c5 break! Now the a8 bishop is dead. Rxe7 32.Rd8+h]
25...Rb8 26.a3! White has t wo ideas in mind. It puts the 31.a4! The other point of the 29.Rc4 move, that the passed
pawn to a protected square in order to free his c2 rook to play pawn can finally advance.
31...Be7 Black trades the bishops, but he cannot no longer 36...c5 37.Kf1 Kg7 38.Ke2 Bc6 39.Rc8 Bd7 40.Rg8+ Kh6
attack the a-pawn with both of his rooks. The a-pawn 41.Rb8! Threatening with Rb8, it forces the black bishop go
marches forward. back to his poor position on the long diagonal.
32.Bxe7 Rxe7 33.a5 f5 41...Bc6 42.Rb6 Ba8 Another sad moment for Black. He was
fighting for getting his bishop out of the corner and now it
has to go back. [42...Rc7 loses to 43.Rxc6! Rxc6 44.a7 Rc8
45.Bd5h; 42...Be8 43.Rb7h is also over.]
43.Bb5 Rc7 44.Kd2 Rc8 45.Kc3 Kg5 46.h3! Preventing
even the invasion of the king through g4-f3.
46...h5 47.Kc4 h4 48.Re6 hxg3 49.fxg3 Black resigned as
Be8 is coming next! A brilliant positional performance by
Kramnik! 1-0
34.Rd8! The most precise move, setting Black into complete

zugzwang.
34...Ra7 [34...Bb7 35.a6h traps the bishop.]
35.a6 Kf6
36.Re8! The last preci sion! White does not allow the king
come towards the queenside, which could have given some
practical hopes for Black. Now it is cut along the e-file. Black
runs out of counterplay. Despite the material balance the
game is over. White simple goes with his king to b6.
9...Nxd5 10.Ne5 This is the key! White immediately
(2) Kramnik, Vladimir(2777) launches his play on the kingside.
- Topalov, Veselin(2813) [A46]
10...O-O 11.Qg4 This is the critical position.
31st ECC Open 2015(5.1),
Best rating: 2737
The game between two former World Champions can’t be

anything but a brutal fight. The two chess legends do not
shake hands and clearly want to win their every encounter.
This time it is Kramnik who is favored by fortune. After the
opening Black is getting into a slightly worse position where 11...f5 A safe move, but maybe White is already better after
White manages to develop very dangerous play against the it. [The very concrete option was 11...Nf6 12.Qh3 Qxd4 with
black king and later on simply to mate. A very instructive very crazy play. Actually in practice we rarely see games on a
and strong display by Kramnik, who seems to be in a fantastic higher level here, even if it is quite unclear why Black didn’t
shape as he scored 4.5/5 in the ECC! choose this line.]
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 Lately Kramnik has changed his 12.Qe2 So White has reached what he wanted with the Qg4
approach in preparation a bit. Before he was playing the main move- to provoke a weakness.
lines with very deep analyses in it and now he likes to play
sidelines, but also with a lot of ideas within them. 12...Bf6 [Maybe another idea for Black is to play 12...Nc7
13.Rd1 Nc6 and hope to exchange this nasty knight on e5.]
3...c5 4.Bd3 This move order gives Black a wide choice of
options. 13.Bc4 A nice move. Now Black needs to be very careful with
the a2-g8 diagonal.
4...b6 one of the main lines, another one is the simple 4...d5
13...Re8 14.Rd1 Another useful move by Kramnik, who is
5.O-O Bb7 6.c4 White is fighting for the center. surely still in his preparation.
6...cxd4 7.exd4 Be7 8.Nc3 d5 and here we are in a very 14...Nd7 I think this is a mistake. [Maybe Black should still
well-known position which can be reached through a lot of have tried to put the knight on c6. 14...Nc6 15.Nxd5 (15.Bb5
different move orders. doesn’t lead anywhere now. 15...Rc8) 15...exd5 16.Bf4 The
9.cxd5 The most critical. In case Black was in time with 0-0 positio n is very interesting and sharp. It might be better for
and Nbd7, he would reach a very good Queen’s Gambit type White, but this still needs to be proved.]
of position. 15.Bb5! Kramnik shows a great feeling for the position and
basically forces Black to take with the bishop on e5. move like a6. Maybe Kramnik was worried about the Nc5-Ne4
15...Bxe5 No other move is possible without losing the maneuver, but in any case, Bxd7 guarantees White to have a
exchange. clear plan during the next moves, and that is an attack against
the black king.
16.dxe5 Qe7 So White has the bishop pair, but Black’s
position is very solid. 21...Qxd7 22.Bf6 All White needs to do now is to open the
position on the kingside by playing h4-h5 and Rd3-Rg3. On
17.Nxd5 Bxd5 the other hand, for now it is hard to imagine that White’s
threats are really that realistic.
22...Qf7 The black queen belongs to f7 anyway.
18.Qh5! Another great move. It seems hard to understand

where the white queen is going, but in fact it is very logical.
Kramnik is preparing to play on the kingside, using the fact
that his bishops are dominating most of the board. 23.b3 A prophylactical move against Rc2. Of course White
could also have started with h4.
18...g6 This is very very risky play in my opinion. [But after
the more safe-looking 18...h6 Blacks also needs to be aware 23...Qf8 24.Qf4 The queen left the h6 square, but it doesn’t
of 19.Qg6 with the simple threat of taking on h6. 19...Rec8! change much, since White’s main idea is still clearly to play
seems to keep the game more or less balanced, but it is a very h4-h5.
hard move to find during a practical game. 20.Bxd7 (20.Bxh6 24...Rc2 25.h4 Rac8 26.h5 Black improved his position to
20...Nxe5 21.Qg3 Ng4 and Black is perfectly fine.) 20...Qxd7 almost the maximum, the rooks are doubled on the c-file,
21.Bxh6 Rc2 and even being a pawn down, I think Black has but what to do next? This is the domination of the opposite
good chances to be OK here, as the bishop on d5 is a beast!] colored bishops on the board, when one bishop is well-placed
19.Qh6 Now White is dominating on the dark squares around and the other one is actually the strong one, doing a great job
the black king. in the mating attack.
19...Rec8 20.Bg5 Qf7 21.Bxd7! A very interesting decision 26...Qe8 A normal move. Black cannot do much...
to give up the bishop pair without even being asked by a 27.Rd3 R2c3 Black clearly needs to prevent White from
playing Rg3. 33...Rf7 34.Qh6+ Ke8
28.Rad1 and once agai n it is hard for Black to find a move.
Slowly things around the black king are getting very serious...
35.Re5 Winning the queen...

35...Rc6 36.Qxh5 A great game by Kramnik, who
understands excellently that the opposite colored bishops
28...gxh5? This radical decision is based on a miscalculation. will bring him a very dangerous attack in the long term. A
[Even in hard times, sometimes it is just better to stay cool: nice game to learn from! 1-0
28...Qf7 would continue an ugly fight for survival.]
29.Rxd5!! Kramnik doesn’t miss his chance for a tactical
blow!
29...exd5 30.e6 This it the move that Topalov probably
blundered. Black can’t take the e6 pawn and Qg5 is a deadly
threat.
30...R3c7 Nothing was helping already! [If Black would go for
the e6 pawn with 30...R3c6 White would have the calm and
not so hard to find winning move 31.Rd3 Rxe6 32.Rg3+ Kf7
33.Qh6 with mate to follow in the next couple of moves.]
31.Rxd5 Simple and strong. Next is Rxf5.
31...Qxe6 32.Qg5+ Kf8 33.Rxf5 There is ju st no escape for
Black with such an open king on f8. On the other hand, the
exchange up doesn’t help at all and the white king is feeling
very safe on g1. The game is over.
Puzzle section
(3) Ernst, S(2527)-Kravtsiv, M(2621) (5) Movsesian, S(2658)-Carstedt, J(2442)
World Blitz Championship, 2015.10.13 World Blitz Championship, 2015.10.13
1... i 1. h
(4) Cordeiro, M(2228)-Fedorchuk, S(2635) (6) Inarkiev, E(2660)-Salem, A(2624)

1. h 1... i
(7) Shabalov, A(2522)-Ponkratov, P(2604) (9) Carlsen, M(2850)-Karjakin, S(2762)
1. h 1... i
(8) Morozevich, A(2711)-Papin, V(2502) (10) Carlsen, M(2850)-Grischuk, A(2774)

1. h 1... i
(11) Tomashevsky, E(2758)-Grischuk, A(2774)
World Blitz Championship, 2015.10.14
1... i
(12) Dominguez Perez, L(2732)-Onischuk, V(2612)

1. h
Endgame section 42.Nd5 This was the idea behind 41.Rd1. The knight on e7 and
the rook on c3 are under attack.
42...Rch3 Absolutely correct. Black is threatening mate in
(13) Zvjaginsev, Vadim (2660) one. [
- Bacrot, Etienne (2697)
43.Rxe7+ Now the question is whether to go to f8 or to g6.
31st ECC Open 2015(6.5),
Best rating: 2737
43...Kf8? and this move allows White to escape in a

very beautiful way! [Black would keep very good winnng
chances after 43...Kg6 44.Kf1 Rh1+ 45.Ke2 Rxd1 46.Nxf4+
gxf4 47.Kxd1 Kf5 and it is hard to tell if this position is closer
to a draw or to a win, but in a practical game it is clearly
After a very exciting game, where White was very close to a something one should go for.]
full point, Black managed to not only hold the position in time
44.Kf1 The only move, and soon we are going to see what
trouble, but it even seemed like he was just winning! An extra
Etienne missed...
pawn and the white rook on d3 is under attack and has no
squares to go to, but miracles do happen in chess! The current 44...Rd3 A nice idea which looks like it is winning, but it is not!
position is anything but simple. 45.Rxd3 exd3 46.Rd7 The white moves are forced...
41.Rd1 The only right move. [41.Rd7? leads to a forced mate: 46...Rh1+ 47.Kg2 d2 and I guess this is where Black stopped
41...Rxc3 42.Nd5 Rc1+ 43.Kg2 Rh2#] his calculation, considering the game as done.
41...Rxc3 Black also had other moves, but why not to take a
full piece!
52...Ke7 Black’s only chance is to get the king to c7 to protect
the b-pawn, which would free the rook.
53.Rg6 Kf7 [In case Black would continue his plan with
53...Kd7 54.Kf3 Kc7 White would have the very strong
55.Ke4! Rc5 56.Kd4 and the white e-pawn would start to
move... The position is just a draw.]
54.Rc6 Rb4 The last try...
55.Kg3 g4 and here comes the last accurate move by White:
48.Ne3!! The only move that saves the game and actually it
56.e4! Now the position is just a draw! And once again we
is immediately just a draw!
saw a great example on that it is never too late to find some
48...Rb1 I guess Etienne didn’t see that his rook on h1 is hidden ideas to secure or fight for a draw, even when things
hanging after Bxe3. are looking pretty bad. 1/2-1/2
49.Rxd2 The main enemy - the pawn on d2 - is gone.
49...Kf7 [Black would keep almost no winning chances after
49...Rxb5 50.Rd7 followed by Rb7 next and the black king is
cut off on the 8th rank.]
50.Rc2! Another strong move by White. The rook is going to
take a perfect place on c6 - again at the same time attacking
the b-pawn and cutting the king.
50...Bxe3 There is already nothing better left than to try and
do something in this rook endgame.
51.fxe3 Rxb5 52.Rc6
practical idea, White does not need to hurry - Black has no
(14) Sutovsky, Emil (2635) move anyway - so, instead of making a hasty decision, White
- Ivanchuk, Vassily (2726) just waits until he gets enough time to think about the break
through.
ECC, 2015.10.20 GM Csaba Balogh
Best rating: 2672 35...Bd8 36.Bg3 Be7 37.Be1 Bd8 38.Bf2 It is only
important to avoid threefold repetition.
38...Be7 39.Kf4 Kh6 40.Kg3 Kg6 Sutovsky got the extra
time and he could start to make a plan. White cannot do
anything on the queenside, he must try to achieve something
on the side where he has the pawn majority. With the king
on e4, White could not make progress, since the only way to
proceed is to execute somehow the f4-f5 break, but for this the
g4 pawn had to be protected. This was the reason why White
drove his king to g3 and now he could play:
We have reached a typical Berlin endgame, when White has

managed to trade all the pieces and get a same colored bishop
endgame. In general, this is what White is aiming for in this
opening. The material is balanced, but Black has doubled
pawns on the queenside and he cannot create a passed pawn
because of this. The three pawns are stopping the four, while
on the kingside White’s extra pawn can be called healthy. The
only question is if he could break through or the position is
closed enough for Black to build a fortress. 41.f4 Bd8! Black must continue waiting. [41...hxg4? is
34.g4 Sooner or later this move had to be played, White a decisive mistake, because it allows the white king enter
cannot make progress without it. into the game... 42.Kxg4 Bd8 43.h5+ Kh6 44.Be3 Kh7
34...Be7 Black has nothing else to do than passing with the 45.f5h and White opens a route for his king f5-e6-d7.]
bishop on the d8-e7-f8 squares and wait patiently how White 42.Kf3 Be7 43.c4 Fixing the pawns on the queenside. This
intends to make progress. is also the principled decision, White puts his pawns to light
35.Bf2 In the following couple of moves White just wants to (a4-b3-c4) squares and blocks the black ones on dark squares
reach move 40 to get the additional 30 minutes on the clock to be able to attack them with the bishop.
and make his plans afterwards. In general this is very clever 43...Bf8 White again starts to wait now before making the
next step on the kingside. 56...Be7 57.Bf2 Bd8 58.Bg3 Be7 Finally the time has come
44.Be3 Be7 45.Kg3 Bd8 46.Bd2 Be7 47.Be1 Bd8 48.a3 to try to break through.
Be7 49.Bd2 Bd8 50.Be3 Be7 51.Bf2 Bd8 52.Kf3 Be7
53.Be1 Bd8 54.Bg3 Be7 55.a4 Bd8 56.Be1 [
59.f5+!? exf5 60.gxh5+ Kxh5 61.Kf4 [Now in case of

61.e6 61...Kg6! 62.Bc7 (62.h5+ makes no sense now, as
White cannot play Bd6. 62...Kxh5) 62...Bxh4 63.Bxb6 Be1!
The other attempt to break through was the same as in the Important to save the a5 bishop, otherwise the a-passed
game, just in the moment when the black bishop stands on would have decided the outcome. 64.Bxc5 Kf6 Black is in
d8. 56.f5+!? 56...exf5 57.gxh5+ and here Black has to play: time to control everything and he got his connected passed
57...Kf7!= (However the natural 57...Kxh5? loses to pawns. He is not in danger to lose.. . 65.e7 Kf7=]
61...g6! [Another way to go wrong was to play 61...Kg6?
because it allows 62.h5+! Kxh5 63.Kxf5h and the king
invades through e6-d7.]
62.e6 Kh6 Seemingly White has achieved a lot since the the
beginning. He has created an e-passed pawn, opened the
h2-b8 diagonal for the bishop to play Bc7 at some point, but
it is still not enough to win the game.
58.e6! White is threatening with Bd6, this is the point of

playing f5 with the bishop on d8. 58...Kg6 (58...Be7 loses to
59.Bc7!h White collects all the pawns! This also shows the
reason why it was so good to place the pawns on a4-b3-c4.)
59.h5+ Kf6 (59...Kxh5 60.Bd6) 60.Bh4+h)]
allows Black to save the game with 70...f4! 71.Kxf4 Kf6= We
came to the conclusion, that the endgame was drawn, which
is a bit sad from White’s point of view, because he could really
believe that he achieved everything he could, but it was still
not enough. Hard to break the Berlin.] 1/2-1/2
63.Ke5 [On 63.Kf3 63...Kg7 64.Bc7 Bxh4 65.Bxb6 Be1

66.Bxc5 Kf6 67.e7 Kf7= we have reached the same position
as in the 61.e6 line.]
63...Kg7 64.h5 [The alternative 64.Bf4 with the idea to
simplify into a winning pawn endgame after Bg5 also fails,
because 64...Kf8! 65.Bg5? actually loses to 65...Bxg5
66.hxg5 Ke7!i]
64...Kh6! 65.hxg6 Kxg6 Black holds the fortress! White
cannot invade through d6 with the king, neither he can attack
the b6 pawn with his bishop.
66.Bf4 Bf8 67.Be3 Be7 68.Bf4 Bf8 69.Bd2 Be7 Draw

agreed. [A last attempt could have been 69...Be7 70.Be1 now
the bish op cannot move because it either allows Kd6 or Bh4.
However the bishop has left the control of the f4 square which
Golden knowledge. I remember one of my endgames , which I considered to be an
elementary draw, but I managed to lose it...
ROOK ENDGAMES 2 against 1
70...Ra4 71.Rf2 Rb4 72.Kh2 Ke6 73.g4 Rb5 74.Rf3 Rb2+
75.Kg3
75...Rd2?? Simply careless. There were two clear ways

These endgames with pawns on one flank frequently occur in to draw: [Back attack: 75...Rb1 76.h4 (76.Rf5 76...Rb3+
practical games. First we can discuss positions with blocked 77.Kg2 Rb2+ 78.Kf3 Rb3+ 79.Ke4 Rb4+ 80.Kd3 Rb3+ 81.Kd4
pawns. There, the weaker side can even try to reach a drawn Rxh3 82.Rxg5 Kf6) 76...Rg1+ 77.Kh3 Rh1+; Or frontal attack:
position by sacrificing the pawn and using a blockade or even 75...Rb8 76.h4 gxh4+ 77.Kxh4 Rh8+ 78.Kg5 Rg8+ 79.Kh5
stalemate defense. But things are not that simple at all. Rh8+ 80.Kg6 Rg8+]
76.h4! Rd1 [The classical maneuver wins after 76...gxh4+
(15) Kozul, Zdenko-Mikhalchishin, Adrian 77.Kxh4 Rd8 (77...Rd7 78.Kh5 Rh7+ 79.Kg6 Rh8 80.g5 Rg8+
81.Kh6 Rh8+ 82.Kg7) 78.g5 Rh8+ 79.Kg4 Ke7 80.g6 Rf8
SLO-chT, 1996
81.Rf5!]
77.hxg5 Rg1+ 78.Kh3 Ke7 [78...Rh1+ 79.Kg3 Rh8 80.g6 Rg8
81.Kh4 Rxg6 82.g5]
79.Rf6 Rh1+ 80.Kg3 Ra1 81.Rf3 Rg1+ 82.Kh3 Rh1+
83.Kg2 Ra1 84.Rf4 Ra3 85.g6 Ra6 86.Kg3 Rf6 87.g7 Rg6
88.Kh4 Rxg7 89.Kh5 1-0
(16) Geller, E.-Fischer, R. 1.Rc2? In such a situation it is necessary to sacrifice a pawn
Palma de Mallorca Interzonal, 1970 in order to activate the pieces. [1.Rb7! 1...Rxa2 2.Rb4 Ra1+
3.Kh2 Rf1 4.Rb2 e3 5.fxe3+ Kxe3 6.Rb3+=]
1...Rg8+ 2.Kf1 Rb8 3.Kg1? [3.Rc1 ]
3...Rb1+ 4.Kh2 e3! 5.fxe3+ Kxe3 6.Rc3+ Ke2 7.Rc2+ Kd3
and White lost because he had not given up the a2 pawn.
If he could have played 8.Ra2 the game would have been a
draw. 0-1
(18) Paehtz, E.-Gustafsson, J.

Bundesliga 2015-16, 2015
Even classics were not precise in defense:
66.Rd2?! Not the most precise way to draw. Much simpler
was [66.Kg3 ]
66...Kh4 67.Kxf5 g3 68.f4 Kh3 69.Rd3 Kh4 70.Rd2 Ra1
71.Ke5? This is the decisive mistake. [71.Rd8 was leading to a
draw: 71...g2 72.Rh8+ Kg3 73.Rg8+ Kf3 74.Ke6 Re1+ 75.Kd6
g1=Q 76.Rxg1 Rxg1 77.f5 Kg4 78.f6 Rf1 79.Ke7 Kg5 80.f7]
71...Kg4 72.f5 Ra5+ 0-1
(17) Garcia, S.-Tseshkovsky, V. 102.Rc1 [White could also play 102.Ke1 ; or 102.Rd8+ ]
Cienfuegoes, 1981s 102...Ke5 103.Ke1? [Only 103.Kg1! allowed White to save

the draw. 103...Rg6+ (103...Kf4 104.Rc8) 104.Kf1 (104.Kh1 is
OK too - 104...Rg2 105.Rc5+ Kd4 106.Rc4+=) ]
103...Kf4 104.Rc8 [Or 104.Rb1 104...Rh6 105.Rb8 Rh1+
106.Kd2 e3+ 107.fxe3+ Kg3 108.Rg8+ Kh2i]
104...Ra1+ 105.Kd2 e3+ 106.fxe3+ Kg3 107.Rg8+ Kh2
108.Rh8+ Kg2 109.Rg8+ Kf1 110.e4 f2 111.e5
53.Kg2 Kg7 54.Rd6 Re4 55.Kf1 Kf7 56.Rh6
111...Ra2+? [After 111...Re1! Black is winning: 112.Rg5 Re2+

113.Kd1 Ra2 114.e6 Ra6 115.Rg6 Rd6+ 116.Kc2 Ke2 117.e7
Rd2+ 118.Kc3 Rd3+ 119.Kc4 Re3; 111...Ra5 wins too.] 56...Kg7? Black starts his maneuver at the wrong time, as his
rooks do not allow the king to come to e4 eventually. [Correct
112.Kd1? [The king has to go and help its own pawn!
was 56...Ra4 57.Ke2 Kg7 58.Rh4 Kg6 59.f4 Kf5 60.Rh5+
112.Ke3!= ]
Ke4 61.Re5+ Kd4 62.Rg5 Ke4 63.Rxg4 Ra2+]
112...Ra5 113.e6 Rd5+ 114.Kc2 Re5 115.Rg6 Ke1 0-1
57.Rh4 Ra4 [The problem for Black is that after 57...Kg6 58.f4
Kf5 59.Rh5+ there is no 59...Ke4.]
(19) Donchenko, A.-Melkumyan, H.
58.f4 Ra1+ 59.Ke2 Ra2+ 60.Kd1 Kf6 61.Rxg4 Kf5
PokerStars IoM Masters, 2015.10 62.Rg5+ Ke4 Black’s pieces are very active, but with best
play White can still win this endgame.
52...Ra4 [52...Rg7 would be a possible setup, but it is too 63.Kc1! Rf2 64.Kb1! The king belongs to this flank, not
passive. In rook endings the most important factor is the to the other one. [64.Kd1? 64...Kd3 65.Ke1 Ke3 66.f5 Ra2
activity of the king and rook!] 67.Kd1 Kd3 68.Kc1 Kc3 69.Kb1 Rb2+ 70.Ka1 Rf2=]
64...Kd4 65.f5 Kc3 66.g4 Rb2+ [66...Kb3 67.Kc1 Kc3 78.Rf8! Finally White found the right path!
68.Kd1 Kd3 69.Ke1 Ke3 70.Rg6 Rg2 71.Kd1 Kd3 72.Kc1 78...Rxg4 79.f6 Rd4 80.Kf2 Rf4+ 81.Kg3 Ke3 82.Re8+ 1-0
Kc3 73.Rc6+ Kd3 74.Rd6+ Kc3 75.Kd1 Rxg4 76.Ke2 Rf4
77.f6! Sacrificing the pawn right in time. 77...Kc4 78.Ke3 Rf1
79.Ke4 Kc5 80.Rd5+ Kc6 81.Rf5] (20) Harmon, L.-Akobian, V.
67.Ka1 Rf2 68.Rg6 Rf4 69.Kb1 Kb3 70.Kc1 Kc3 71.Kd1 National Open 2012, 2012
Kd3 72.Ke1 Ke3
73.Rg7 [73.Rg8! was similar.] The position is a draw, but now White makes a move which
73...Kd3 [73...Ra4 did not help: 74.Kd1 Kd3 75.Kc1 Kc3 allows Black to play f5-f4! Otherwise it was not possible
76.Rc7+ Kd3 77.Rd7+ (77.g5? 77...Ra5 78.Rf7 Kc3=) 77...Ke3 because of the check.
78.Rg7h] 73.Rd3?? f4! 74.gxf4+ Kxf4 75.Ra3 Rd2+ 76.Kc3 Rd8 Now
74.Rg8 [More precise would be 74.Rg6! 74...Ke3 75.Rg8! the king is cut and the win is easy.
Kd3 76.Rf8h] 77.Ra7 g3 78.Rf7+ Kg4 79.Rg7+ Kf3 80.Rf7+ Kg2 81.Rg7
74...Ke3 75.Rg6 Kd3 76.Rg7 Ke3 77.Rg8 Kd3 Kf2 82.Rf7+ Kg1 83.Rg7 g2 84.Rg5 Rh8 85.Kd2 Kh2
86.Ke2 g1=Q 0-1
(21) Ljubojevic, L.-Smeets, J. (22) Grischuk, A.-Lima, D.
NH Chess Tournament, 2007 World Cup, 2007
64...Ra3+? [The only way here was to try and play for
81.Rd1? [81.Rc1 81...Rd4+ 82.Kc7 Rc4 83.Rh1 Kxc5 stalemate: 64...Rxa6 Unbelievable, but this is a draw! 65.Rg8
84.Kxb7=] Rf6! (65...Ra5 66.Rg5+ Kh6 67.Kg2 Rb5 68.Kh3 Rc5 69.Kh4
81...Rb3? [81...b6 82.cxb6 Kxb6 83.Rc1 Rd4+ 84.Ke5 c5 Rb5 70.g4h) 66.Rg5+ Kh6 67.Ke3 Re6+ 68.Kd3 Re8!
85.Rb1+ Ka5 (85...Kc6 86.Rh1 Rd8 87.Rc1 Re8+i) ] 69.Rxf5 Rg8 70.Rf6+ Kh5 71.Ke4 Rxg3 72.f5 Ra3 73.Rg6
Ra4+ with checks on the long side.]
82.Rc1 Rh3 83.Rb1+ Kc4 84.Rxb7 Rh6+ 85.Ke5?? [85.Kc7
85...Kxc5 86.Rb1 Rh7+ 87.Kc8 It’s surprising, but this is not 65.Kf2 Ra2+ 66.Ke3 Ra3+ 67.Kd4 Kg4 68.Rg8+ Kf3
winning!] 69.Rg6 1-0
85...Kxc5 86.Ke4 Kc4 87.Ke3 Kc3 88.Rc7 Re6+ 89.Kf4

Kc4 90.Kf5 Rh6 91.Ke4 c5 92.Ke3 Rd6 93.Ke2 Kb4 (23) Segerberg, T.-Maiorov, N.
94.Rb7+ Kc3 95.Rb1 Kc2 96.Ra1 Re6+ 97.Kf3 c4 0-1 Rethymno , 2012
77.Rg4?? [The easy draw was 77.Kb3 77...Rb1+ 78.Kc4 Rb2 Rd2 99.Ka3 Rd5 100.Rg2+ Kd3 101.Rg3+ Kc4 102.Rg4+
79.Rh2=] Rd4 103.Rg1 Re4 104.Rh1 Re8 105.Rh4+ Kd3 106.Rh3+
77...Kd2 78.Rxb4 Kxc2 79.Rh4 Black is winning, but he did Re3 107.Rh2 Re1 108.Rh3+ Kc2 109.Rh2+ Kb1 110.Kb3
not know that the key is to control the first rank. Rc1 111.Ra2 Rg1 112.Rc2 Rg3 113.Rxc3 Rxc3+ 114.Kxc3
1/2-1/2
(24) Vila Gazquez, X.-Granda Zuniga, J.

30th Andorra Open, 2012
79...Kd2?? [79...Kc1!i; or 79...Kd1!i ]

80.Rh2+ Kd3 81.Rh3+ Re3 82.Rh1
62.Kf2 [The best way was 62.Kg3! 62...Ke4 63.Ra4+ Rd4

64.Ra5 Rd3+ 65.Kg2 Kf4 66.Ra4+!]
62...Ke4 63.Ra4+ [Now White could still have saved the
game after 63.Ra8 63...Rd2+ (63...Kf4 64.Ra4+; 63...Rd4
64.Re8+) 64.Kg3 Rd3+ 65.Kg2 Rh3 66.Ra5 Rxh4 67.Ra3= [
63...Rd4 64.Ra5?? [Immediately going to the back rank with
Now it is draw, as White controls the first rank! 64.Ra8 was necessary.]
82...Kc2 83.Rg1 Rd3 84.Ka3 Rd5 85.Rg2+ Rd2 86.Rg1 64...Kf4 65.Rxh5 But with equal pawns White is lost!
Kd3 87.Rh1 Rg2 88.Kb3 Kd2 89.Ka3 Kd3 90.Kb3 Kd2
65...Rd2+ 66.Ke1 [66.Kf1 66...Kg3!]
91.Ka3 Kc2 92.Ka2 Re2 93.Rg1 Kd3+ 94.Kb3 Rb2+
95.Ka3 Rh2 96.Kb3 Kd2 97.Ka3 Kc2 98.Ka2
61...Re3+ 62.Kd4 Re4+ 63.Kd5 Rg4 64.Ke6 Rg5!
66...Ra2? [Only 66...Rh2! would win the game against the

best defense. ] This move was missed here!
67.Rb5 [White could save the game had he played 67.Rd5! 65.Kf7 [Or 65.Rxg5 65...hxg5 66.Kf7 Kg4!]
The point is that after 67...Kf3 (67...Kg3 68.h5) 68.Rd3+ Kg2
White would have 69.Rd2+!=] 65...Kg4 66.Re6 [66.Kxg7 66...Kxh5]
67...Kf3! 68.Rb3+ Kg2 69.h5 g3 70.h6 Ra6 71.h7 Re6+ 66...Kxh5 0-1
72.Kd2 Rh6i 73.Ke3 Rxh7 74.Rb2+ Kh3 75.Rb3 g2 0-1 (26) Kempinski, R.(2630)-Spyropoulos, Ge
43rd TCh-GRE 2015, 2015
(25) Popov, I.-Predke, A.
18th Voronezh Master Open 2014, 2014
69.h5+ [69.h5+ Black’s resignation was certainly premature

as after 69...Kf6 70.Rh7 Ra4+! 71.Kg3 Ra6! 72.Rxh6+
61.Kd3? White is not careful. [He had to play 61.Rg1 61...Re3+ Kg5! this is a very important and typical stalemate defense!
62.Kd4 Re4+ 63.Kd5 Rg4 64.Rf1+ Kg2 65.Rf7 Kg3 66.Rf1 Everybody has to remember it!!] 1-0
and the game should end in a draw.]
Chess and the City. Anyway, since 2 days I am sort of resting in Hamburg before
I will go off to Porto Carras, Greece, for the World Youth
There is no time to have a break... Championships tomorrow. Of course it will not work out to
pretend to be a participant myself, as unfortunately nobody
would probably buy my teenage hood anymore, but I thought
it is time to try the other side of our sports - being a coach.
And to make things even more exciting, I will be coaching
two young girls in the age group under 16 and 18. Some may
believe that sounds easier, but as you probably still remember
my newsletter about women captains, it is likely to be the
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz tougher part. Especially if these two would turn out to be just
Best rating: 2493 as "easy" as I was when I was their age... :) But perhaps we
should not paint too gloomy a picture...
Well, I am happy to say that I survived the outcome of my I will naturally keep you informed about the outcome of that
tournament in Malta, even though I must confess I cannot event and perhaps even come up with some nice positions,
be that happy with my final results. Starting with 3 out of games or gossip. In the near future I will actually change the
4 and finishing with 4 out of 9 is not what you may call a style of my newsletter a bit and provide you with interesting
satisfying finish, but at least I got my "booby prize" by gaining positions or games and hopefully not surprisingly; exclusively
6 additional rating points. The tournament was won by the played by at least one female player!
youngest participant, GM Richard Rapport from Hungary, who
by the way declared to me 2 months ago he would throw in
the towel after having performed badly all year. Maybe his
outstanding result of 8/9 will eventually change his mind and
in my opinion at least he has a long and promising career to
go for.
The most important statement about that tournament is
however my strong belief we need to change the trend of the
so-called cursed elo loss after marriage. So far I am proud
to say I am in a plus of 15 points and if I ever manage to
gain more than 50, I may refute that top players’ superstition
openly! (Ok, maybe it is just because I cannot count myself as
a member of these "super top cursed victims"...)
Clash of the Titans
(27) Geller, Efim P

- Stein, Leonid [D87]
Moscow zt(7), 1964
GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda
Best rating: 2658
15...Qe8 Black is playing on the light squares. There was also
a second strategy: [15...Nxd3 16.Qxd3 Qf6 17.c4 Qc3!? and
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Black is fine.]
Bg7 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Ne2 Nc6 Quite a popular line at that time. 16.Rfe1 Nxd3?! This resolves the problem of White’s pieces,
It may transporte to the main line after c5, but generally it’s so it can’t be good. I wonder why Leonid didn’t play Qa4? I
less flexible. [8...c5 9.O-O Nc6 10.Be3 b6] guess he hadn’t realised how strong knight on d3 might be. Or
9.O-O Na5 10.Bd3 c5 11.Be3 b6 I think this is a little maybe he was a better tactican thanme? [16...Qa4 and White
uncorrect. From now, White obtains some extra moves faces some troubles.]
compared to modern theory. But we have to admit, the game 17.Nxd3 exd5 18.exd5 Qd8?! This is very passive move,
was played in 1964! After 8...c5 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Be3 b6!? was and White would have good attacking possibilities. [18...Qd7!
played e. g. by Anand. Compared to the above game after seems to be the sounder. Either way I don’t see anything
12 moves, White has his bishop already on d3, and queen on wrong with Black’s position. 19.c4 Qa4 (19...Ba6!? 20.Bh6
d2. Isn’t it better for White? Bxh6 21.Qxh6 Rae8! and White has a temporary advantage.)
12.Qd2 Perhaps [12.Rc1 is better, with the idea to play c4 in 20.Bh6 Qxc4 21.Bxg7 Kxg7 22.Ne5 (22.Nf4!? ) 22...Qb4
the long run.] 23.Qe3 Bf5kand both sides have their trumphs.; 18...Qa4
19.Bg5! A very good move, with idea to make d6-Be7
12...Nc6 13.d5 Ne5 14.Rad1 e6 White’s pawns are a little construction. I think White is better here: (19.Bh6 is harmless:
scary, so Black has to reduce them. 19...Bxh6 20.Qxh6 Bf5 21.Ne5 (21.Qd2 21...Rae8) 21...Rae8V)
15.Nf4 [15.c4 gives Black an extra developing move with 19...f6 (19...Bb7 20.Be7 Rfe8 21.d6 (21.Nb2? 21...Qxa2 22.d6
tempo: 15...Ba6] Bc6 and a pawn is a pawn.) 21...Bxg2! 22.Kxg2 Qg4+ 23.Kf1
Qh3+ 24.Ke2 Bh6 25.Nf4! The only attemp to play for a win.
(25.f4 25...Qxh2+ 26.Nf2?! Bxf4 27.Rh1 Bxd2 28.Rxh2 Bg5
29.Kf3 Bxe7 30.dxe7 Rxe7C) 25...Qg4+ 26.Kf1 Bxf4 27.Qd3+=
Bxh2?! 28.Re4!) 20.Bh6 Bxh6 21.Qxh6 Bf5 22.Nb2! Qd7
(22...Qxa2?? 23.Re7h) 23.Nc4 Rae8 24.Ne3+=] 27.Nc6
19.c4 Ba6 [19...Bf5 20.Bf4 Bxd3 21.Qxd3 gives White a
pleasant edge, due to the strong passed pawn on d5.]
20.Bh6! Now White will have a long term attack, just for a
pawn.
20...Bxh6 21.Qxh6 Bxc4 22.Ne5 Bb5
27...Bxc6 [27...g5!? was maybe the better practical try,

although White is better everywhere: 28.Qd6 Rxe3 29.Rxe3
gxh4 30.Re7 Qg5 31.Rxa7 Bxc6 32.dxc6 h3 33.Qe6+ Kh8
34.Qe4!c and the pawn on c6 gives White a large advantage.]
28.dxc6h Although Black has an extra pawn he is helpless,
because White has a terribly strong pawn on c6, a better king,
23.Re3? k White has to play [23.d6! in order to block the and other pieces. It’s amazing how quickly Black went
black rook. The same idea was seen in the famous game
Kasparov,G -Pribyl,J Skara 1980, where Kasparov had given 28...Re5 29.Rd1! The only, but quite simple move to make.
the whole piece to put the pawn on the 7th-rank. Here White Now there are also terrifying threats along the d-line, so Black
can do that just for a pawn. But Geller coudn’t learn from has to exchange all rooks, after each White’s passer will be
Kasparov’s game at thattime!] even more devastating.
23...Qf6 24.h4 Rae8 [24...Rad8!? ] 29...Qc7 30.Rxe5 fxe5 31.Qe4 Rd8 [31...Qf7 32.f3h]
25.Rde1 Qg7? Very passive defence, and very likely the last 32.Rxd8+ Qxd8 33.Qxe5 Kf7 34.c7 Qd1+ [34...Qc8 is
mistake: in the Grunfeld you have to play sharply! [25...c4!? more stubborn, but White is winning everywhere: 35.Qd6
; 25...Qf5! with the idea Qh5. 26.Re4 (26.g4 26...Qf6 27.h5 Ke8 36.h5! g5 (36...gxh5 37.f4! and f5 and Qe6+ ;-)) 37.h6 c4
Qg7! and now the pawn on g4 makes the difference: 28.Qf4 38.Qe5+ Kd7 39.Qg7+ Kc6 40.Qxh7h c3 41.Qd3h]
gxh5 29.a4 f6!V) 26...Qh5!? 27.Qxh5 (27.Qf4 27...Qf5 with
a likely repetition.) 27...gxh5 28.a4 with an unclear but
balanced endgame.]
26.Qf4! f6 [26...h6 doesn’t help either: 27.d6! Rd8 28.Ng4
and White’s attack is crushing.]
35.Kh2 Qd7 Surprise section / study
(28) Mitrofanov
1. h
36.f4! A good move, with the forced threat Qh8 and then
h5-h6.
36...Qg4 [36...Qc8 37.h5]
37.f5 Qxh4+ 38.Kg1 Qh6 39.Qe6+ and there is mate in 3.
A great game by Efim Geller! 1-0
Solutions (31) Sanal, V(2501)-Ganguly, S(2652)
(29) Swiercz, D(2620)-Kryvoruchko, Y(2710)
23...Qxc4! 0-1 [23...Qxc4 24.Bxc4 (24.Qxd6 24...Qxb5i)

24...Bxa3 25.Bxa3 (25.Bxe6 25...Bxb2i) 25...Bxc4 26.Bxf8
35...Rxd5! 36.cxd5 Nb5! [36...Kxc7? 37.Rxd4!] Bxf1i]
37.Rc4 Kxc7i (32) Eljanov, P(2717)-Korobov, A(2700)
(30) Vidit, S(2651)-Volokitin, A(2639) World Rapid Championship, 2015.10.10
29...Ne5! 30.Qg5 [30.Qxg7+ 30...Qxg7 31.Nxg7 Ng4+!

51.Ng7+! Ke5 52.Ng4+ Kd4 [52...Ke4 53.Nf6+h]
32.Kf3 Kxg7 33.Kxg4 Be2+i]
53.Nf5+! Ke4 [53...Kc4 54.Nge3+! fxe3 55.Nxe3+h]
30...Nd3+ 31.Rxd3 Bxd3i
54.Nf6+! Kxf5 55.Nxd5h
(33) Korobov, A(2700)-Guseinov, G(2634) (35) Grigoriants, S(2603)-Andreikin, D(2720)
31...Qe1+! 32.Kg2 Nh4+! 33.Kh3 Qe3+! 0-1 [33...Qe3+ 31...a3! 32.Qxa3 bxc2+! 33.Rxc2 Qf7! 0-1
34.Kxh4 Bg5+ 35.Kg4 h5#] (36) Vovk, Y(2617)-Vitiugov, N(2725)
(34) Ponkratov, P(2604)-Bacrot, E(2697) World Rapid Championship, 2015.10.11
23...Rxf3! 24.gxf3 Qb3+ 25.Kc1 [25.Kb1 25...Qxd1#]

36...Rh1+! 37.Kg2 Qd2+! 38.Kxh1 Qg2+! 39.Kxg2 1/2 25...Qxa2i
(37) Savchenko, B(2567)-Grischuk, A(2774) (39) Fritz
1.Rb8+! [1.Rxf6? 1...Ra2+ 2.Kb7 gxf6=]

1...Ka4 [1...Kc4 2.Rfc8+! Kd3 3.Rxb2h]
46.Ra8+ Kh7 47.Qd3+! g6 [47...Rg6 48.h5h] 2.Rxf6! Rxb8 3.Ra6+! Kb5 4.Kxb8 Kxa6 5.Kc7! [5.e5?
48.Qd8! Rxf2+ 49.Kh3h 1-0 5...Kb6]
(38) Ivanisevic, I(2653)-Kravtsiv, M(2621) 5...g5 [5...Kb5 6.e5h]
World Rapid Championship, 2015.10.12 6.e5! g4 7.e6 g3 8.e7 g2 9.e8=Q g1=Q 10.Qa4#
30...Rb1+! 31.Nxb1 Rd1+! 32.Kg2 Rg1+ 33.Kh3 Rxg6i
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
In the Bilbao Masters 2015 - a double round robin with Anand,
Editorial Preface 3 So, Giri and Ding Liren - there haven’t been many decisive
games after 5 rounds. In fact, there were only two: Giri won
his game against Anand and So against Ding. The last round
is to follow tomorrow.
Young & Talented 13 The World Youth Championships are under way in Greece.
The traditional rapid event of Cap d’Adge was won by Laurent
Puzzle section 15 Fressinet, who won the final match against Karpov.
The two other major events were the Bundesliga weekend
Endgame section 18 and another stage of the Chinese league.
Already in 11 days from now the European Team
Golden knowledge 23 Championship will start. For the moment in the open
section "only" 36 teams have registered, but of course the
Chess and the City. strongest teams are going on start.
Bodycheck in chess 28 We wish you all a nice week!

Solutions 35
Two best games of the past week 13...Ng6
(1) So, Wesley (2760)

- Ding Liren (2782) [E98]
8th Grand Slam Masters(1.1), GM Csaba Balogh

2015.10.26 Best rating: 2672
A great fighting game between two young prodigies. 14.c5!? A well-known line involving a pawn sacrifice. The
main strategy of White is to open the queenside, where all his
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 Ding Liren chooses his favorite
pieces are focused, and to gain enough benefits before Black’s
King’s Indian defense.
attack on the other side could break through.
4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 The initial
14...Nxc5 Is the only way. [14...dxc5? is a huge positional
position of the KID main lines. White has a wide choice here
mistake. Black’s position falls apart after 15.b4! cxb4
and Wesley So decides to repeat the line in which he suffered
16.Nb5h and the c7 pawn cannot be defended.]
a defeat to Nakamura recently.
15.b4 Na6 The only re treat as 15...Nc7 is met by 16.Nb5 and
9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Be3 f5 11.f3 f4 12.Bf2 g5 13.Rc1 This is
the c7 pawn falls. However, now the knight gets to the edge of
the deviation from the mentioned game, but of course it is
the board and will stay there forever. The c-file has opened
not a new idea, just another main move with thousands of
and White has long-term pressure on the c7 and a7 pawns
games in the database. [That game continued with 13.Nd3
with Nb5. Another important point is that the knight has gone
13...Ng6 14.c5 Nf6 15.Rc1 Rf7 16.Kh1 h5 17.cxd6 cxd6 18.Nb5
to a6, while in the other lines (also in the So-Nakamura game)
a6 19.Na3 b5 20.Rc6 g4 and Black mated his opponent in a
it goes to f6 and perfectly supports the attack with h5-g4.
beautiful game, which I have commented in a previous issue.
So-Nakamura, Saint Louis 2015] 16.Nd3 h5 Black must try to attack on the kingside even
without his knight, as it is clear that White is much stronger
on the other side of the board.
17.Nb5 b6 This is new on the highest level. [Most of the
games continue with 17...Bd7 18.a4 which was played even by
Kasparov, who ended up in a very bad position after 18...Bh6
19.Rc3! The rook is very well-placed on c3, it is ready to
exert pressure on the c7 pawn after Qc2, Rc1 and also defends
along the third rank whenever Black pushes g4. 19...b6 Here 21...Bd8
comes a great plan, which Wesley So also employs in his
game: 20.Be1! Rf7 21.Nf2! A prophylactic regrouping to
fight against Black’s main attacking idea, connected with
g4. 21...Nh4 22.Nxd6! Probably this is the reason why Ding
Liren kept his bishop on c8: to have the a6 knight protected.
22...cxd6 23.Bxa6+= White won back the pawn and has a big
positional advantage, while the Black attack is still far away.
Piket-Kasparov, Linares 1997.]
22.Qa3! The right follow-up of the previous move! White

leaves the pin and is threatening Nxd6 and taking on a6. At
the same time, he uses his queen queen in defense along the
3rd rank, just like Piket did with Rc3.
22...g4 Black has no time to waste, otherwise he ends up
strategically lost on the queenside after Nxd6.
23.fxg4 hxg4 We can realize the point of 20...Qe8 now!
18.Be1! Just as it was shown by Piket. The bishop has already The pawn cannot be taken on g4, because the b5 knight is
done his job on f2, he provoked the b6 weakening and it was hanging.
no longer attacking the a7 pawn, so now it gives its place to
the knight, which will be an excellent defender of the king and
the attack with g4. After the knight gets to f2, the light colored
bishop will also be useful on the f1-a6 diagonal.
18...Rf7 19.Bd2 Bf6 20.Nf2 Qe8! Very original strategies
by both players! White fights against g4 with Nf2, but Black
also drives his bishop to d8 and puts his rook on f7 to make
it as hard as possible to win back the sacrificed pawn. Black
also keeps an eye on the b5 knight, and in a few moves we will
see how deep this idea is.
24.Nc3! Removing the hanging knight creates a double
21.Qa4 White keeps an eye on the misplaced knight on a6!
attack on a6 and g4! Black must do something drastical,
otherwise his position collapses rightaway!
24...Nxb4!! Some shocking moves are coming now from
Ding Liren and the way he proceeds with his attack isamazing!
[The direct 24...f3 was simply met by 25.Bxa6 fxg2 26.Kxg2
Nh4+ 27.Kh1 White is in control and he makes a huge step
towards the successful defense by trading the light squared
bishops, which is often the key piece of Black’s attack.]
25.Qxb4 f3! 26.Bb5! Naturally, White should avoid the
opening of the g-file. [26.gxf3? 26...gxf3 27.Bb5 Qe7 followed
by Qh4 and Rh7, with decisive threats!]
28...Rh8!! Vacating the h7 square for the queen!
26...Qe7
29.Qc6 Qh7 30.h3! Standard defense! White should not
play h4, because there Black could sacrifice one of his minor
pieces, but plays h3 with the idea of gxh3 Kh2 and Black’s own
pawn prevents him from creating any serious threats along
the h-file. The check on e8 is temporarily harmless, as Black
simply plays Kg7, the queen gets under attack and White has
no follow-up.
30...Rb8 The rook cannot be sacrificed of course, as the
attack is not that progressed at the moment.
27.g3! Preventing Qh4! It seems like White has just ended up 31.Ncd1! A great defensiv e maneouvre! White drives his
with an extra piece and Nxb4 was an unsound sacrifice. Black knight to e3-f5 and also opens the c-file for his rook to set a
cannot even give a check. However Ding Liren was thinking hidden trap.
much deeper than this! He just continues to play like the 31...a6 Black wants to send back the pieces, first the bishop,
material was balanced and slowly attacks the h2 pawn (the then the queen with Bd7 and only after these start the
only target around the white king) with his heavy pieces. sacrifices, but he misses a beautiful idea... [31...Nf4!? was the
27...Rh7! 28.Qc4 White is ready to invade with Qc6, key attacking plan, where White must play precisely. 32.gxf4!
threatening the rook and also to trade the queens with Qe8. (32.Bxf4 32...exf4 33.e5 fxg3 and White should give perpetual
It seems to be over, but... before he gets mated: 34.Qe8+ (34.exd6 34...gxf2+ 35.Nxf2
Qh4 36.Qe8+ Kg7 37.Qe5+ Bf6 38.Rxc7+ Kh6 39.Qf4+
Bg5 40.Qe5 Bf6 is another kind of forced draw.) 34...Kg7
35.Rxc7+ Bxc7 36.Qe7+ Kg8 37.Qe8+=) 32...Qh4!
36...gxh3 37.Kh2 Rb7 White’s main idea was Ne3 and Rc1-c7,
so Black tries to be the first to occupy the c-file.
38.Be6 Nf8 [38...Rc7 39.Ne3 is also very bad. White controls
all the squares on the c-file, he can even play Bb4 next. Even if
he just plays Nfg4, Nf5 and Bg5, those minor pieces are going
to crush!]
39.Bf5 Qh5 40.Ng4 Nd7 41.Bh6+ Kh8 42.Nde3
33.Kh1! Ony this move seems to give an advantage! 33...Qg3

Black is threatening to play Qg2 and Rxh3, but here comes
(33...g3 is strongly met by 34.f5! closing the c8 bishop. White
has enough material advantage to give back something...
34...g2+ 35.Kh2 gxf1=Q 36.Bxf1h) 34.Qe8+! Kg7 35.Qxh8+!
Kxh8 36.Rg1! Qh4 37.Kh2! exf4 38.Nxg4c and White has
too many pieces for the queen!]
32.Qe8+! Kg7
What a harmony between the white pieces, while the black
ones are just discoordinated and stay without a target.
42...Rc7 [42...Nf6 43.Rc1!h is also decisive.]
43.Bxd7 The only inaccuracy by So in the game, although his
position remains winning. We must also admit that this is the
human reaction like he played, but the computers found a
more direct win... [43.Be6! was obejectively the best. White
wants to play Rxf3 next and after 43...Nf6 44.Nxf6 Qxh6
33.Qxd8!! This was the fascinating hidden idea behind 45.Rxf3h keeps everything under control. An illustrating
31. Nd1! White successfully trades the most dangerous line of what is going to happen with Black: 45...b5 46.Nfg4
attacking pieces, he gets enough material for the queen and Qg7 47.Rf6 Qg5 48.Rf8+ Kh7 49.Nf6+ Kg7 50.Rg8+ Kxf6
positionally, without giving mate, Black is going to be lost. 51.Ng4+h; 43.Rxf3 43...Nf6 is less clear.]
33...Rxd8 34.Rxc7+ Bd7 35.Rxd7+ Rxd7 36.Bxd7 Black 43...Rxd7 44.Rxf3 Rf7 Otherwise the invasion of the white
has a queen and a pawn for the 3 minor pieces, but they are rook on the f-file decides the outcome.
soon going to dominate the full board.
50.Nef5! Kg6 51.Bh4 White is ready to push f7, followed by
Be7 and f8Q. Black’s only chance is to create some threat with
his queen, but of course he is too far for this. He cannot even
activate his queen with Qc8 at once because of Ne7!
51...e4 52.f7 e3 53.Be7! Perfect technique!
53...e2 54.Nh4+ Kh7 55.Bxf8 e1=Q 56.Bxd6! As simple as
that. White promotes his queen, while Black soon runs out of
checks.
56...Qf2+ 57.Kxh3 Qf1+ 58.Kg4 Qc4+ [58...Qe2+ 59.Nf3
45.Rf5! Creating a powerful passed pawn, which thanks to
Qe4+ 60.Bf4h We again see the perfect harmony between
the great support of the minor pieces decides the game.
the minor pieces.]
45...Rxf5 [45...Qg6 46.Bf8!h wins the d6 pawn and Black
59.Bf4 Qe2+ 60.Nf3 Black resigned! A brilliant game! 1-0
collapses.]
46.exf5 Qf7 47.Bg5! It is instructive to watch how well
Wesley uses his minor pieces.
47...b5 48.Nh6! In the last two moves, White has opened the
path for the f-pawn until the f7 square.
48...Qf8 [The point is that after 48...Qg7 49.f6! the bishop is
indirectly protected by the h6 knight. 49...Qxg5 50.Nf7+h]
49.f6 Kh7 Black tries to break the coordiation with Kg6, after
which the bishop has no good square to leave, but the e3
knight also joins the game now!
6...O-O
(2) Anand, Viswanathan (2803)
- Giri, Anish (2798) [C65]
8th Grand Slam Masters(1),

Best rating: 2737
In a very often played line of the Anti-Berlin with 4.d3 Anand

is using a new idea which clearly deserves attention. It is an
aggressive new line with g4, which might not be that simple 7.Qe2!? A very rare move. White does not hurry with castling
to react to for Black. Giri reacts well, but maybe Anand still kingside, nor with developing the knight to c4 or b3, so he
missed some opportunities to be better and the game ends keeps all the options open. On the other hand- how can a
in a draw in a totally closed position. A great game to watch move like Qe2 help White in the future?! This we are going to
from a positional point of view! see during the next moves.. .
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 Anand also likes to play the 7...Re8 A very logical reply. The pawn on e5 has to be
Berlin with Black - one just needs to remember his games protected and often the main plan for Black is to get the knight
against Carlsen - and actually his results with Black in the from f6 to d4, so Nd7-Nf8-Ne6-Nd4.
d3 line are everything but fine... From time to time Anand is 8.Nc4 Nd7 9.Bd2 and here we see the first sign of a new plan
getting outplayed in these structures and maybe that is why by Anand, to castle queenside!
he decided to go for it with the white pieces.
9...Bd6 Another very safe move by Giri. To overprotect the e5
4.d3 This has been one of the main moves for a long time... pawn is never wrong.
4...Bc5 [4...d6 is the other option for Black, with much less 10.g4!? Let the fight begin! [Maybe White could also have
theory.] tried to continue with 10.O-O-O 10...b5 Black has no reasons
5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 A very common move. The idea of the to wait with his own play on the queenside. 11.Nxd6 cxd6 and
whole line for White is simple, to use the better pawn structure maybe now 12.d4!? and the position is quite complex.]
and try to get a minimally better position with almost no risk 10...Nf8 The black knight is going to take position on e6.
of getting worse.
11.Ne3 White is planning to put his own knight on f5.
11...Ne6 12.Nf5 We are in a very interesting position. White is
clearly going to play on the kingside and Black needs to start
his play on the queenside.
12...a5! Black doesn’t waste any time. 17.Qf3 Maybe white is planning to play Nxg7 or Bg5 at some
13.h4 a4 Now it is White’s turn to think about what to do next?! point.
The knight is standing perfectly on f5, but how to proceed with 17...Bf8 Protecting the g7 square just in case...
the attack... 18.Ke2?! This is a very strange decision by Anand. [Why not
14.Ng5 I am not sure about this move at all... [Maybe White just play 18.O-O-O 18...b5 19.h5 and I think Black is in quite
should have gone for the very aggressive 14.O-O-O 14...b5 some trouble... How to defend against Rdg1 and g5-g6?!]
15.Kb1 c5 16.Rdg1 Clearly this position is open for all 3 results! 18...c5 Now Black wants to play b5-c4 next and the white king
16...b4 17.h5 b3 18.cxb3 axb3 19.a3 with very fighting play, will feel everything but comfortable...
but to me White’s play on the kind side looks a bit more
promising.] 19.c4 White is blocking everything- but how to play for a win
in such a position?!
19...Ra6 A safe move, defending the 6th rank just in case...
20.Bc3 Bd7 Giri continues playing very safely.
21.Ne3 Rae6 22.g5
14...a3?! It is very unclear if Black really needs to close the

queenside that quickly. [14...Nd4!? looks very interesting.
15.Nxd4 exd4 16.f4 The position looks scary for White, but
maybe Black can just keep cool and play for the c4 push.
16...c5 17.O-O-O f6 18.Nh3 b5 with the idea of playing Bb7 and
c4. White’s pawn structure looks scary, but actually it is hard 22...c6 Of course Black is a bit passive here, but it is hard to
to find a way for White to proceed.] say if White really has some chances to break through.
15.b3 Bc5 Giri’s idea is to play Nd4 next and to take with the 23.Ng4 R6e7 Planning to play Bxg4 next, with probably just
queen on d4. a draw.
16.Nxe6 Bxe6 [16...fxe6 might not be that stupid. 17.Ne3 Rf8 24.Ne3 b5 25.Rag1 b4 The queenside is closed.
Of course the position looks terrible with pawns on e6 and e5, 26.Ba1 [In case of 26.Bd2 26...Bc8 it is also hard to tell how
but on the other hand White’s play is also blocked.] White can be better here... Black has some play on the d-file if
needed, and the bishop pair is keeping a lot of squares under 33...Ree8 34.Rh3 Bd6 35.Rf3 Qe7
control around the black king.]
26...Bc8 27.h5 Qd6 White’s position is of course a bit better,
but whether he can find a way to create some real threats is
unclear.
28.Nc2?! Where is Anand’s knight going?! [28.Nf5 looks
much more logical. 28...Bxf5 29.Qxf5 Qd7 But it is still hard
to imagine that White will be able to create any real threats.
Anyhow, Black will have to defend for a long time.]
36.Rd2 The position is just a draw.

36...Bc7 37.Rd1 Bd6 38.Rd2 Bc7 39.Rd1 Bd6 Well, what
can we say after such a game... Anand clearly introduced an
interesting idea in the opening and got some edge, which he
was unable to convert by underrestimating Black’s 28...f6!,
after which a draw was unavoidable. 1/2-1/2
28...f6! is very strong answer and clearly very unexpected.

Black is opening the play!
29.g6 This move is basically a draw offer. [White’s only chance
to play for a win was 29.gxf6 29...Rf7 30.Rg5 and now Black
needs to play the only move: 30...h6! (In case of the less
careful 30...Rxf6 31.Qg3! the e5 pawn is in big trouble...)
31.Rg6 Rxf6 32.Qxf6 Qxf6 33.Rxf6 gxf6 34.Rg1+ Kf7 35.Ne3
Be7 and once again we are in a position which is probably a
draw, but White can still try to play for a win for a bit...]
29...h6 30.Ne3 The white knight is returning to f5 and
everything is totally blocked.
30...Rd8 31.Rd1 Qc7 32.Nf5 Bxf5 33.Qxf5 Both sides are
paralyzed.
Young & Talented
GM Etienne Bacrot
Best rating: 2749
12.Nd4! Quite rare but very interesting. 12.Bd4 and 12.Re1 are
the main theoretical moves.
(3) Van Foreest, Jorden (2548)
- Timman, Jan H (2562) [C83] 12...Ndxe5 [12...Ncxe5!? 13.Nxe6N (13.f4!? ) 13...fxe6
14.Qh5+ Nf7 15.Qg4 e5 is a critical position for this line.;
van Foreest-Timman m 2015(5), 12...Nxd4 13.cxd4 O-O 14.Nc3 should be slightly better for
2015.10.23 White.]
13.Nxe6 fxe6 14.Nd2
Jan Timman won this match of generations in Hogeeven
3,5-2,5, but here is a nice victory of the youngster, who is only
aged 16.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.d4
b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Be3 Against the Open Spanish I
unsuccessfully employed 9.Nbd2 in the recent European Club
Cup.
9...Be7 10.c3 Nc5 This is the actual main line, an alternative
is [10...O-O 11.Nbd2 Qd7 12.Bc2]
11.Bc2 Nd7 14...Bf6 is not the best as now the king will stay in the center
of the board. [14...O-O 15.f4 Ng6 16.Qg4 Rf6 17.Nf3 With good
compensation for the pawn; 14...g6 15.f4 Nf7 16.Qg4 Qd7
17.Nb3n]
15.f4 Nf7 16.Qg4 Qc8 [16...Qe7 is more solid but still White
is better: 17.Nb3 O-O 18.Bc5 Nd6 19.Rae1 Rae8 20.Qh3 g6
21.f5! With a clear advantage.]
25.Bg6 Kd7 26.Qh7 Kc8 [26...Bf8 27.f5h]
27.Qxg7 Qe7 28.f5 Qf8 A wrong tactic in a lost position.
29.Qxf6 Be7 30.Bh6! White’s queen is safe, so Black
resigns. 1-0
17.Bc5c h5 This move is forced to remove the pressure from

g7, but if you have to play such a weakening move it means
something went wrong.
18.Qh3 Be7 19.Nb3 Bd6 [19...Qd7 20.Bg6 Rh6 21.f5! e5
22.Be3 Rh8 23.Bxf7+ Kxf7 24.f6! White wins a piece.]
20.Rae1 Rh6 21.Be3! Again the most precise way to
continue the attack. Because of the f5 threat Black has to
move the well-placed h6 rook.
21...Rf6
22.Nd4h Even stronger than the immediate 22.Qxh5.

White is just winning.
22...Ncd8 23.Qxh5 c5 24.Nf3 Qc7 [24...Kd7 Black should
at least try to hide the king. 25.Qh7 (25.f5 25...e5) 25...Nc6
26.Qxg7 Qh8 With little hope.]
Puzzle section
(4) Bauer, C(2623)-Tan, M(2447) (6) Dubov, D(2661)-Li Chao(2750)
ECC, 2015.10.18 ECC, 2015.10.20
1. h 1... i
(5) Sutovsky, E(2635)-Vernay, C(2460) (7) Nakamura, H(2816)-Ortega, L(2478)

ECC, 2015.10.19 ECC, 2015.10.20
1. h 1. h
(8) Wojtaszek, R(2734)-Baron, T(2541) (10) Saric, I(2678)-Vogt, L(2409)
ECC, 2015.10.20 ECC, 2015.10.22
1. h 1. h
(9) Leko, P(2707)-Ivanchuk, V(2726) (11) Kryvoruchko, Y(2710)-Wang Yu(2724)

ECC, 2015.10.22 ECC, 2015.10.23
1. h 1. h
(12) Rublevsky, S(2702)-D’Amore, C(2459)
ECC, 2015.10.24
1. h
(13) Rasulov, V(2505)-Najer, E(2658)

ECC, 2015.10.24
1... i
Endgame section 40.a4 Not a mistake, but this move makes things more
complicated. Anand could have calculated a difficult line
which would immediately lead to a drawafter [40.Kc3! The
(14) Anand, Viswanathan (2803) white king is moving torwards the f-pawn. 40...Kh4 41.Kd3
- So, Wesley (2760) Kxh3
8th Grand Slam Masters(5.2),

Best rating: 2737
42.b4! We are soon going to discover why it is important

to move the b-pawn and not the a-pawn... 42...f4 43.Ke4!
White’s main goal is to get the black king to g3! 43...Kg4 44.b5
f3 45.Ke3! Another very important move. 45...Kg3 46.b6 and
now the b-pawn gets to b8 with a check. 46...f2 47.b7 f1=Q
After a fighting game we are in a very unclear rook endgame,
which of course should be a draw, but things are very forced
here. White is attaking the b4 pawn, but on the other hand the
passed f-pawn is very fast.
37...f5! Wesley So calculates the complications very well.
This is clearly Black’s best try! [37...Rh4 would lead to a
drawish position. 38.Rxb4 Rxh3+ Now White needs to play
the accurate 39.Kc2 (39.Ka4 would be risky since after 39...h5
40.Kb5 Rg3 41.a4 Rg5+ 42.Kc6 Rg4 White would lose the a4
pawn.) 39...h5 40.a4 and the game should end in a draw, 48.b8=Q+ and White is holding the draw easily.]
because the h-pawn will probably get exchangec for the fast 40...f4 41.a5 Now both sides are going to queen.
running a-pawn.] 41...f3 42.a6 f2 43.a7 f1=Q 44.a8=Q Qxh3 But Black is a
38.Rxb4 Rxb4+ 39.Kxb4 Kh5 Now White has two options: pawn up, which clearly gives him good winning chances...
45.Qd5+ Kg6 Now that there are no more "good checks" to
give, Anand is preparing the march of the b-pawn.
46.Ka5 h5! Absolutely correct play. In every queen endgame
the most important thing is to push the passed pawn as far as
possible.
47.b4
53.Qc8+! A very strong check. Anand found a way to give a

perpetual check!
53...Ke5 54.Qe8+ Kf6 55.Qd8+ Kg6 The black king can’t
leave the f-pawn and the white queen is giving checks around
that pawn
56.Qg8+ Kf6 57.Qd8+ Ke6 58.Qe8+ Kd6 We once again
saw a very interesting endgame which ended in a draw after
47...Qf5? What a strange decision by So, basically forcing a
both sides missed their chances! 1/2-1/2
draw- or maybe he blundered the perpetual check?! [Black
should have tried to play for a win after 47...h4 48.b5 Qa3+
49.Kb6 h3 and White would still have a big job to do to hold
this position, not to say that I think in a practical game Black’s
chances are even very good to bring a full point back home.]
48.Qxf5+ Kxf5 49.b5 and once again both sides are going to
queen...
49...h4 50.b6 h3 51.b7 h2 52.b8=Q h1=Q The queen
endgame with an f-pawn is a theoretical draw, but it is very
hard to hold, so maybe this is what So was hoping for.
(15) Hracek, Zbynek (2613)
- Yu Yangyi (2721)
ECC, 2015.10.21 GM Csaba Balogh

Best rating: 2672
67.Kg3! White correctly realizes that in this situation he

can even allow the trade of the queens, because the pawn
endgame will still be a draw...
67...Qg5 [On 67...Qe5 68.Kf3! Qxf4+ 69.Kxf4 Black must
allow Kf5 followed by g5 next move, with a theoretical draw.
69...Kh6 70.Kf5 Kg7 71.g5 fxg5 72.Kxg5=]
68.Kf3 Qe5 69.Kg3?? A terrible blunder, which remains
After a very difficult middlegame the players have reached the without punishment... [If White switches back to his previous
following queen endgame, which should obviously be a draw, strategy and plays 69.Qc4 he holds the draw fairly easily.]
but Black can still set many traps. Of course the Chinese Super
GM tries all his chances and in the end he succeeds...
63.Qd4 Kg6 Black should try to win the the g4 pawn, but it is
going to be difficult, because White can always counterattack
the one on f7 or start to give many checks.
64.Qc4 White prevents Kg5 by keeping an eye on f7.
64...Qe3 65.Kg2 Qe6 The f7 pawn is protected and Black is
ready to play Kg5, but now the queen is gone from the central
squares, therefore White can also prevent his opponent’s
plan. 69...Qd5? Missing the chance... [Black could have entered
the same pawn endgame we have seen before, but with White
66.Qf4 Qd5+
to move, which would have changed the result... 69...Kg7!
69... Kh7 also does the job, as the point is that after trading the
queens on f4, Black must go back to g6 to avoid Kf5. 70.Kf3
Qxf4+! 71.Kxf4 Kg6! and now White is in zugzwang. Kg5
is coming next move... 72.Kf3 Kg5 73.Kg3 f5! 74.gxf5 Kxf5
75.Kf3 f6!i Black wins the opposition and the game is over!]
70.Qe3? Both players miss the same motif once again...
[White should have just waited, for instance with 70.Kh3 ]
70...Qd6+? [70...Qe5+ wins again.]
71.Qf4 Qd5 [71...Qe5 is already a draw as we know, because
after 72.Kf3 Qxf4+ 73.Kxf4 we reach the mutual zugzwang
position, but with Black to move.] It seems like White holds the opposition again, but after
72.Qe3? Qg5? Once again a counterblunder. 75...Kf6!i White cannot avoid the trade of the queens,
whereafter it is already Black who will oppose his king to the
73.Qf4 f5 Another tricky attempt by Black. White must be other...]
careful which pawn endgame he can enter and which one he
needs to avoid. 74...Kh7! Black wins the g4 pawn, as the pawn endgame is
losing now.
75.Qd7 [75.Qd4 75...Qxg4+ 76.Qxg4 fxg4 77.Kxg4 Kg6
78.Kf4 Kf6!i]
75...Qxg4+ 76.Kf2 The arising position is already won for
Black according to the tablebases. The official evaluation is
Black mates in 57 moves. :) Of course, in such endgames
humans cannot find the correct moves, they can just play
according to their feelings and calculate the lines themselves,
but there are so many threats that the endgame is basically
74.Qd6+? [74.Qd4? is also wrong, because of 74...Kh7!! hopeless from White’s point of view. The main problem is that
(74...Qxg4+? 75.Qxg4+ fxg4 76.Kxg4 Kf6 77.Kf4 is a draw.) Black will advance his f5 pawn and he will always threaten to
; The right move was 74.Kf3! 74...fxg4+ 75.Qxg4= and White trade queens and transfer into a winning pawn endgame.
is the one who holds the opposition. 75...Qxg4+ 76.Kxg4=; 76...Qf4+ 77.Kg2 Kg6 78.Qc8 Qe4+ 79.Kf2 f4 The
Another interesting trap is 74.Qf3 74...fxg4 75.Qxg4? centralized queen on e4 is very strong as it covers the full
board, and White has no chance to give a perpetual check
because of it.
80.Qg8+ Kf6 81.Qd8+ [In case of 81.Qh8+ 81...Kg5
82.Qg7+ Qg6! 83.Qe5+ Kg4 84.Qe2+ Kh3i Black is
ready to play Qg3 next.]
81...Kf5 82.Qc8+ [82.Qd7+ is also met by 82...Qe6 83.Qd3+
Kg5 84.Qd8+ f6i Black can put his pawn on f6, because
he will still be ready to trade queens as his king is advanced
enough to take the opposition.]
82...Qe6 83.Qc2+ Kg5 In this hopeless position, White
blunders a hidden trap...
84.Kg2
84...f3+!! A very nice check! Black sacrifices his pawn, but

he forces the trade of the queens regardless of where the
white king goes... [White resigned in view of 84...f3+ 85.Kxf3
(85.Kf2 85...Qe2+! 86.Qxe2 fxe2 87.Kxe2 Kf4i; 85.Kg3
85...Qg4+ 86.Kh2 Qg2+ 87.Qxg2+ fxg2 88.Kxg2 Kg4i;
85.Kf1 85...Qe2+! 86.Qxe2 fxe2+ 87.Kxe2 Kf4i) 85...Qf5+
86.Qxf5+ Kxf5i] 0-1
Golden knowledge (17) Example
In chess every piece can match another, similar one. But
(16) Sanal, Vahap king fights are very specific, as kings cannot come close to
one other. This feature is very important and it is performed
Porto Carras, 2015
wrongly in many cases, even by the greats.
1...Kh5! The only winning move as it prevents the white
king from coming back to help its own pawn or to attack the
opponent’s pawn. Two other logical moves would allow White
to save the game: [1...Kxh4? 2.Kg6; 1...f5 2.Kg6 f4 with a
draw in both cases.]
2.Kg7 f5 0-1
(18) Maizelis, L.
1.Kc4 [1.Kc5 1...g5 2.Ng2 (2.hxg5 2...Kxg5) 2...gxh4 3.gxh4 1925
Ke4 (3...Ke5 4.Kc6 Ke6 5.Nf4+ (5.Kc7 5...Ke7 6.Nf4) 5...Kf5
6.Nxh5 Kg4) 4.Kd6 Kf3 5.Ke5 Kxg2 6.Kf4]
1...g5 2.Ng2 [2.hxg5 2...Kxg5 3.Kd4 Kg4 4.Ne2 h4]
2...gxh4 3.gxh4 [3.Nxh4+ 3...Kg4]
3...Kg4 [3...Ke4 4.Kc5 Kf3 5.Kd5 Kxg2 6.Ke4 Kg3]
4.Kd4 Kg3 5.Ke5 Kxg2 6.Kf4 [6.Kf5 6...Kf3 7.Kg5 Ke4
8.Kxh5 Kf5]
1.Ke6 Kc3 2.Kd5! Stopping the black king from coming to 4.Kg3!! It is necessary to prevent the black king from
c4 or d4 and then trying to come to c7, thus obtaining the attacking the white pawn. So the plan is simple: the pawn
drawn position. goes to f6 and then the white king comes to attack the pawn
2...Kb4 3.Kc6 Ka5 4.Kb7 1-0 on f7. But on the way the black king must be prevented from
coming closer. [4.Kg5 4...Kg2 5.f4 Kf3 6.f5 Ke4 7.Kf6 (7.f6
7...Ke5) ]
(19) Manukovski-Pustovalov
4...Kg1 5.f4 Kf1 6.f5 [6.Kf3 6...Ke1 (6...f5! 7.Kg3 (7.Ke3
Russia, 1992 7...Kg2) 7...Ke2) 7.f5 Kd2 8.Ke4 Kc3 9.Kd5 Kb4 10.f6 and
the white king gets to the f7 pawn. 10...Kb5 11.Kd6 Kb6
12.Ke7]
6...Ke2 7.Kf4 f6 [7...Kd3 8.Ke5 Kc4 (8...Ke3 9.f6 Kf3
10.Kd6 Kg4 11.Ke7) 9.Kf6]
8.Ke4 1-0
(21) Szabo-Aleksandrescu
Romania, 1952
1...Kf4! [The materialistic 1...Kxf3? allowed 2.Kf5 with a
draw as now Black takes both white pawns. Because of the
bodycheck, the opponent is now in zugzwang.] 0-1
(20) Rogers, I.-Shirov, A.

Groningen , 1990
1...Kf2? [It was necessary to come around with the king, thus
avoiding the bodycheck: 1...Ke2! 2.h6 Kd3 3.Ke5 Kc4 4.Kf6
Kd5 5.Kg7 Ke6 6.Kxh7 Kf7=]
2.Ke5 Ke3 3.h6 Kd3 4.Kf6 0-1
(22) Ljubojevic, Lj-Browne, W. Ke2 5.Ke5 Kf3 6.Kd6 Kf4 7.Ke7h) 2.Kd5! Kb6 (2...Kb4
Amsterdam , 1972 3.f4 Kc3 4.f5 Kd3 5.f6h) 3.Kd6 Kb5 4.f4 (4.Ke7 4...Kc5
5.f4h) 4...Kc4 5.f5 Kd4 6.f6 Ke4 7.Ke7h]
1...Kc5! [1...Kc4? 2.f4 Kd3 3.f5 Ke3 4.f6 (4.Kf6?? 4...Kf4=)
4...Kf3 5.Kd6 Kf4 6.Ke7h]
2.f3 [2.f4 2...Kc6 3.Kf6 Kd5=]
2...Kc6 3.f4 Kd7 4.Kf6 Ke8 5.Kg7 f5! [5...Ke7?? 6.f5h]
6.Kf6 Kf8 7.Kxf5 Kf7 1/2-1/2
(24) Grogorjev, N.
1...f5?? [Correct was not to allow White’s king to come back: 1929
1...Kd5!! 2.b4 (2.Kb4 2...Kd4i) 2...f5 3.b5 f4 4.b6 Kc6!
5.Ka6 f3 6.b7 f2 7.b8=Q f1=Q+ 8.Ka5 Qa1+i]
2.Kb4! = f4 3.Kc4 1/2-1/2
(23) Malakhov, V.-Najer, E.

Moscow, 2007
This is a great example of chess geometry: for King it is not a

longer way to go from h4 to b4 directly or via d8 or e1!
1.Kg3! White has to reach the opposition by coming to b4
when the black king will capture on b6. But it is necessary
to avoid the bodycheck on the road. [Wrong is 1.Kg4?
1...Kc2! 2.Kf4 Kd3 3.Kf3 Kc4 4.Ke4 Kc5 5.Kd3 Kxb6
6.Kc4 Ka5i]
1.Ke5?? White choose the shortest way to the opponent’s
pawn, but correct was to block the opponent’s king first, then 1...Kc2 2.Kf2 Kd2 3.Kf1 Kc3 4.Ke2 Kc4 5.Kd2 Kb5
to push the own pawn, and just after this preparation to go 6.Kc3 Kxb6 7.Kb4 1/2-1/2
for the f7 pawn. [1.Kd4 1...Kb5 (1...Kb3 2.f4 Kc2 3.f5 Kd2 4.f6
(25) Zinar, M. 1...e4 2.h4 e3 3.Kf3
1984
(27) Molina, R.-Marrero Lopez, Y.
X Regina Helena Marques Prol, 2012
1.Ke2! Kg2 2.a4 Kg3 3.Ke3 Kg2 4.a5 Kf1 5.a6 Ke1
6.Kd4 Kd2 7.Kd5 Kd3 8.Kc6 Kd4 9.Kb7 Kd5 10.Kxa7
Kc6 11.Kb8 1-0 69.f6? Now Black gets back in time. [The amazing
retreat 69.Ke5!! gives Black a bodycheck, which wins
(26) Pogosianc, A. the all-important tempo: 69...Ke3 70.f6 Kf3 71.f7 Be7
72.Kf5 (Baburin) 72...Kg3 73.g5 Kh4 74.g6 Bf8 75.Kf6 Kh5
1967
76.g7h]
69...Ke4! 70.f7 Bh6 71.Kf6 Kf4 72.Kg6 Bf8 73.g5 Be7
74.Kh5 Kf5 75.g6 Bf8 1/2-1/2
1.Kg3! [Wrong was the direct 1.h4? 1...Kf2 2.Kf5 Kf3! Black’s
king bodychecks his white colleauge from e4 and performs
Reti’s idea: he threatens to attack the g4 pawn in the case of
capturing on e5 andthreatens to move his own pawn forward.
3.Kxe5 (3.h5 3...e4) 3...Kg4]
(28) Gibbs, Do-Cannon, Ri
Brighton ENG, 2010
52.Ke5! White tries to stop the black king from coming to the
kingside.
52...Kc4? White showed its bodycheck, so it was necessary
to go from the other side, where it was ipossible to perform
the bodycheck. [52...Kd2 53.h4 Ke3 54.h5 Kf3 55.g5 Kg4
Achieving a draw.]
53.h4 Kc5 54.h5 Bd1 55.h6 Bc2 56.g5 Kc6 57.Kf6 Kd7
58.g6 1-0
Chess and the City. (29)
Bodycheck in chess 14...Rc8

Best rating: 2493
The main reason I remember this game is not only the fact that
In sports, bodycheck is a famous method of blocking your Black here was a German girl. This position got so "famous"
opponent, especially in ice hockey or football. There two that even one of the strongest American coaches, Alejandro
players are fighting physically in order to block the opponent Ramirez, got to know about it. He was probably lucky enough
and prevent him from coming to the ball. In chess this type not to be the coach of that young American lady playing with
of fighting is just typical for the kings. They are very special the white pieces here, but whoever it was was likely close to a
pieces, as any other piece can be placed next to each other. heart attack when he saw what happend next...
But there has to be one square between kings- so a ’no 15.Bb1??
entrance zone’ is created.
Of course, the easiest examples are shown in pawn
endgames, which we will see in the first part.
But it is real life, that strong players do not feel the geometry
of chess kings, which have a few ways to reach their final
destination. And many instructive mistakes are shown here.
The last one is an example of my strong pupil, who spoiled a
great game as his knowledge of bodycheck was not sufficient.
Well logic sometimes has its own rules. At least I must confess
that we can consider this move quite creative if we try to
understand the deep idea behind it. My imagination tells me
it could be connected with the plan of Nce2 and c3, hoping
for a later mating battery of pushing e5 and attacking h7. last newsletter I would come up with a game, I am even
Yet one may wonder what she must have thought after she prouder to show you one, played by my youngest pupil under
got confronted with Black’s very logical reply just two moves 16, who is currently on 4 out of 5. In that game she beat the top
later.. . seeded and two times youth World Champion Zhou Qiyu from
15...O-O 16.Nce2 e5! Canada. My strategy for her was mainly based on showing her
the positional and tactical drawbacks of her opponent before
the game. High ratings combined with past successes always
put a huge portion of fear and respect into young girls, so the
main job psychologically is simply to just convince them of the
opposite. And I think this game may even prove that.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 O-O 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3
b5
And her world must have been fallen apart. Well now you
might finally understand why I still consider myself a lucky
and happy coach afterall!
(30) Rogozenco, Teodora (2110) - Zhou, Qiyu (2328)
WYCC 2015 U16 girls(3.1), The first shock for my soft but weak heart. I spent all
2015.10.27 the day teaching her the main lines of the Qc2 variation (I
must confess I am unfortunately not really familiar with that
Why coaching is not for weak nerves... My first experience line), since she played it very successfully in the past games
of coaching turned out to be tougher than expected. Mainly (without knowing too many theoretical things about it). I
tough because you put all your energy into it and yet the believed she must have a good intuition for this structure
chance they may just blunder or come up with something and she would do just fine. When b5 appeared on the live
beyond imagination will always be given. The other issue boards, I asked my friend " is that a dangerous line". Well
is responsibility combined with guilt which appears when he answered me that even strong players like Nakamura or
you do an opening experiement which goes terribly wrong. Naiditsch used to play it and unless she would be too greedy
Today is my free day and I can say I got my portion of heart by grabbing all the pawns, she cannot run into huge trouble.
stitches, guilt but also happiness. Since I announced in my Knowing Teodora’s nature, I was not 100 percent sure, yet
usually young girls are rather afraid to take too many presents
of their opponents.
7.cxb5 c6 8.e3 What a relief I thought! [Another interesting
idea here is actually 8.f3 8...cxb5 9.e4 with a nice center and
easy game. This was actually her second choice, but e3
seemed to her more natural and yet she wanted to keep the
pawn and eventuly show some riskless greediness! :)]
8...Bb7 9.Nf3 cxb5 10.Bxb5 Ne4 11.Qb4 Nc6?!
18...d6 19.Nc4 Nc6 20.b4 Nd5 21.Bb2 f4? A strange
decision. It is psychologically never easy to play a worse
position but such mistakes are elementary and can only be
explained by grief and sadness about the development of that
game.
22.e4 Nb6 23.d5! exd5 24.exd5 Re8 25.Bxh7+ Leaving her
opponent without the hint of a chance!
25...Kxh7 26.Qd3+ Kh8 27.dxc6 Nxc4 28.cxb7 [28.Qxc4!?
28...Qb6+ 29.Bd4 Qc7 (29...Qxc6 30.Qf7h) 30.Rac1 Rac8
Logical but wrong. Black sacrificed a pawn in the oppening 31.cxb7h]
and is without the bishop pair. This game actually shows the
risk of too creative experiments. Teaching your pupil a line 28...Nxb2 29.bxa8=Q Qb6+
with a sacrifice also means that he or she is forced to prove
compensation and as for the young and talented Canadian
I believe it was a premature choice. [11...a5 12.Qa4 Ng5
13.Nxg5 Qxg5 14.Bf1k]
12.Qa4 a6?! Helping White to improve the bishop to a better
square. [12...Na5 13.O-O Bd5 would still give Black some
play.]
13.Bd3 Ne7 14.O-O Bc6 15.Qc2 f5 16.Ne5 Bb7 17.f3
Nf6 18.Qe2! I was impressed by Teodora’s feeling for the The last hope for a blunder... but...
position. She understood that she should take her queen to
e2 before developing her bishop. 30.Kh1! [30.Rf2?? 30...Qxf2+ 31.Kh1 (31.Kxf2 31...Nxd3+e)
31...Rxa8=+]
30...Rxa8 31.Qd5 Rd8 32.Rac1 Qb5 33.Qd4 Qe5 34.Qd2 Clash of the Titans
Na4 35.Rfe1 Qf6 36.Rc4 Rf8 37.Rc6 Rd8 38.Qc2 Qh4
39.Rc1 Re8 40.Rc8 Rxc8 41.Qxc8+ Kh7 42.Qc2+ I was
so proud of Teodora’s performance in that game that I (31) Kortschnoj, Viktor
even started to consider her to have serious chances in the - Hutchings, Stuart J [A34]
tournament. The next day however she killed my hope by
blundering a piece on move 10. Well young girls are full Nice ol (Men) qual-A(8),
of surprises and instability is probably based on nature and 1974.06.14
puberty. Strong nerves are required for coaching and if I see GM Kamil Miton
what happend in other games here I can be still quite happy Best rating: 2655
with my destiny! :) Last but not least let me give you a taste & GM Jan Krzysztof Duda
of how coaches may be suffering, just have a short look at my
1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.d4 [5.e4!?
next diagram... 1-0
5...Nb4 (5...Nxc3 6.dxc3 (6.bxc3 6...g6 7.d4 transposes to
the Gruenfeld.) 6...Qxd1+ 7.Kxd1 Nc6 8.Be3 e6 9.Kc2 Be7
10.Nd2 and White keeps a symbolic advantage here.) 6.Bc4
Nd3+ 7.Ke2 Nf4+ 8.Kf1 Ne6 9.b4! cxb4 10.Ne2CWhite has
central pawns and the better development for the pawn.]
5...Nxc3 6.bxc3 g6 7.Bf4 [7.e4 7...Bg7 leads to the main
Gruenfeld variations.]
7...Bg7 8.e3
8...cxd4 was not obligatory, Black could also keep the tension
in the center.
9.cxd4 Qa5+?! Probably too fast, more accurate was didn’t find how to improve White’s position... Black has a
[9...Nc6 10.Be2 (10.Bd3 10...O-O 11.O-O Bg4k) 10...Qa5+ strong bishop on d5 and he all the time keeps the opportunity
11.Qd2 Qxd2+ 12.Kxd2 O-O and compared to the game the for counterplay with f6-e5.]
white bishop is not activated over e4.] 14.Rhc1 Rac8
10.Qd2 Qxd2+ 11.Kxd2 O-O 12.Bd3! Nc6 13.Be4
15.Rab1! Forcing Black to weaken the a6 square.

13...Bd7 looks natural but one of the ideas in this typical 15...b6 [15...Na5 16.Bxb7c]
endgame is dynamic play over the center, for example after 16.Bd3! Nice technical play. White is going to take control of
[13...Rd8 14.Bxc6 ( the important c-file.
a) 14.Ke2 14...Be6!V; 16...Na5 17.Ba6 Rxc1 18.Rxc1 Bc6 Preventing Rc7.
b) 14.Rhc1 14...e5 15.Rxc6!? [Kamil] 15...exf4! (15...bxc6 19.Ke2! A very strong move. White is preparing g2-g4, which
16.Nxe5 with strong initiative.) 16.Rc7 fxe3+ 17.fxe3 Rb8 helps take more space and allows the knight to move.
18.Rb1 Bf8!V with the idea to get rid of the active rook.)
19...Re8 [19...f6 20.g4 e5 (20...e6 21.Bd6 Rd8 22.Bb4 Bf8
14...bxc6 15.Rhc1 It is better to play this rook because of the 23.Bxa5 Bxf3+ 24.Kxf3 bxa5c and Black will suffer for a long
Ke1 option. (15.Rac1 15...f6!V (15...Be6!? ) ) 15...Bg4 (15...f6 time.) 21.Bg3 (21.dxe5?? 21...Bxf3+) 21...Bxf3+ 22.Kxf3 exd4
16.Ke1!+=) 16.Ke1 ( 23.exd4 f5 24.d5 Bh6 (24...f4 25.Bh4h) 25.g5 25.Rc8 should
a) 16.Ne5 16...Bxe5 17.Bxe5 f6 18.Bg3 e5 19.Rxc6 exd4 also be enough. 25...Bxg5 26.Bf4h]
20.Rxf6 dxe3+ 21.Kxe3 Rac8n; 20.g4 f6 21.g5! e5 22.gxf6 Bxf3+ 23.Kxf3 Bxf6 24.dxe5
b) 16.Rxc6 16...Bxf3 17.gxf3 e5! 18.Bg3 (18.Bg5 18...exd4! Bxe5 25.Bxe5 Rxe5
19.e4 Rdb8=) 18...exd4 19.e4 d3 20.Rac1 Bh6+ 21.f4 Rd4V)
16...Rac8 17.Rc5 Be6 18.a3 Bd5 19.Rb1 Rd7+= White has
a better structure and controls the b-file, but somehow we
26.e4 and because of the limited knight Black’s position is 32...b5! It is very important for Black to reduce the material.
very hard. 33.Bxb5 Nxa2 34.Bc4! [Jan] (34.Kxh7 34...Nc3 35.Bd3
26...Kf8 [26...Rc5 27.Rxc5 bxc5 28.e5 Kf7 29.Ke4 Ke6 (35.Bc6 35...Kd6V) 35...g5! [Kamil] (35...Kf6 36.f4 Nxe4?
30.f4!h (30.Bc8+ 30...Ke7 31.Kd5 c4 32.Ba6! c3 33.Bd3h) [Kamil] 37.Bxe4 g5 38.f5 a5 39.h3! [Jan] 39...a4 40.Bc2 a3
; 26...Rh5 27.Rc7 Rxh2 (27...Rh3+ 28.Kg2 Ra3 29.Rxa7 Rxa2 41.Bb1 a2 42.Bxa2 Kxf5 Unfortunately for Black his king is
30.Bc4+h) 28.e5 Rh5 29.Ke4 Rf5 30.e6 Rxf2 (30...Kf8 not in the corner. 43.Kg7 g4 44.Be6+!h; 35...a5 36.Kxg6
31.a4!h [Jan]) 31.e7 Kf7 32.Bb5 Nc6 33.e8=Q+ Kxe8 a4 37.e5 a3 38.Bc4 a2 39.Bxa2 Nxa2 40.f4h Now the white
34.Bxc6+ Kd8 35.Rxa7h] 26...Kf8 [26...Rc5 27.Rxc5 bxc5 pawns are very advanced.) 36.f3 (36.Kg6 36...g4 37.Bc2
28.e5 Kf7 29.Ke4 Ke6 30.f4!h (30.Bc8+ 30...Ke7 31.Kd5 (37.Kg5 37...Nd1!) 37...a5 38.Kf5 a4 39.Bxa4 Nxa4 40.Kxg4
c4 32.Ba6! c3 33.Bd3h) ; 26...Rh5 27.Rc7 Rxh2 (27...Rh3+ Kf6
28.Kg2 Ra3 29.Rxa7 Rxa2 30.Bc4+h) 28.e5 Rh5 29.Ke4 Rf5
30.e6 Rxf2 (30...Kf8 31.a4!h [Jan]) 31.e7 Kf7 32.Bb5 Nc6
33.e8=Q+ Kxe8 34.Bxc6+ Kd8 35.Rxa7h]
27.Rc8+ Re8 28.Rxe8+ Kxe8 29.Kf4 Kf7? Black’s position
is very unpleasant but the last practical hope was to
bring back the knight to the game! [29...Ke7 30.Kg5
(30.Ke5? 30...Nc6+V) 30...Nc6 (30...Kf7 31.Kh6 Kg8 32.f4
Nc6 33.Bc4+ Kh8 34.f5 and with this very passive king on
h8, White has a few winning ways. 34...gxf5 35.exf5 Ne5 36.f6!
Ng4+ 37.Kg5 Ne5 38.Be6h Kh6-f7) 31.Kh6 Nb4! [Jan] 41.f4= This is the only moment where we switched on the
32.Bc4 engine to check the evaluation of this interesting endgame!
:-)) 36...Kf6 37.Kh6 a5 38.e5+ Kxe5 39.Kxg5
(43...Nxh2 44.Bc4!h This is the point!) 44.Bd5 Ng6+ 45.Kf5
Nf8 (45...Nxe5 46.Kxe5 Kf8 47.Kf6!h Preventing Kg7-Kh8.)
46.h4h with an easy win.; 29...Nc6 30.Bb5! Kd7 31.Kg5
Kd6 32.Bxc6 Kxc6 33.Kf6h]
30.Ke5 Ke7 [30...Nc6+ 31.Kd6c and the activity of the
white king should be decisive!]
39...a4 (39...Nd5! [Kamil] This was probably an easier way

to make a draw. 40.h4 Nf4 41.Bc2 (41.h5 41...Nxh5 42.Kxh5
Kf4=) 41...Ne6+ 42.Kg6 Otherwise the black king will escape
to the corner. 42...Nf4+=) 40.f4+ Kd6 (40...Kd4? The black
king should fight with the white pawns! 41.Bc2 a3 42.Bb3c)
41.h4 a3 42.Bc4 Ke7 43.h5 Kf8 44.h6 (44.f5 44...Ne4+! [Kamil]
45.Kg6 Nd6 In case of a bishop move comes Nxf5! and Kg7
and Black is on time. 46.h6?? Nxc4 47.h7 Ne5+i) 44...a2 31.Kd5! Preventing the knight from joining the game!
45.Bxa2 Nxa2 46.Kg6 (46.Kf6 46...Kg8 47.f5 Nb4 48.Ke6 31...Kd7 32.f4 Kc7 33.Ke6! h Nc6 34.Kf6 Nd4 Now it is
Nd3 49.f6 Nf4+ 50.Kf5 Nd5=) 46...Kg8 47.f5 Nb4 48.f6 Nc6 too late...
Once again Black is on time!) 34...Nc3 35.e5 (35.f3 35...a5
36.Kxh7 Kf6 37.e5+ Kxe5 38.Kxg6 Nd5!=) 35...Nd1 36.f3! 35.Bc4 b5 36.Bg8 a5 37.e5 Kd8 38.Bxh7 b4 39.Bxg6 a4
(36.f4 36...Ne3 and Ng2 next.) 36...Ne3 37.Bb3 Nf5+ 38.Kxh7 40.e6 1-0
g5 39.Bd5 Ne3 40.Bb3 (40.Be4 40...Nc4=) 40...Nf5
41.Kg6!! [Jan] 41...Nh4+ 42.Kxg5 Nxf3+ 43.Kf4 Nh4
(32) Mees (33) Ernst, S(2527)-Kravtsiv, M(2621)
1. h World Blitz Championship, 2015.10.13
44...Qc1+! 45.Ke2 [45.Kg2 45...Ne1+i]

45...Ng1#! 0-1
(34) Cordeiro, M(2228)-Fedorchuk, S(2635)
25.Rxf7!! Rfd8 [25...Rxf7 26.Qa8+h; 25...Rxe4 26.Rxf8#]

26.Qb7 R4d7 27.Qf3!h
(35) Movsesian, S(2658)-Carstedt, J(2442) (37) Shabalov, A(2522)-Ponkratov, P(2604)
28.Qxh5! 1-0 [28.Qxh5 28...Rxh5 29.Ne8+ Kh7 30.Nxc7h]

24.Bg5!! Nxf5 [24...hxg5 25.hxg5! Qg6 26.Qh4+ Kg8
27.Nxe7#] (38) Morozevich, A(2711)-Papin, V(2502)
25.Qh3! h [25.Qg4!h ] World Blitz Championship, 2015.10.13
25...Qg6 26.exf5 Qh5 27.g4 1-0
(36) Inarkiev, E(2660)-Salem, A(2624)
23.Qc2! Rc6 [23...Qxc2 24.Bxc2h]

24.Rxf7!! Qc8 [24...Qxf7 25.Qxc6 dxe4 26.Qxa8+h;
24...Rxc2 25.Rxc7 Rxc7 26.Bxd5+ Kg7 27.Bxa8h; 24...Kxf7
25.Bxd5+h]
32...Qc1+! 33.Rb1 [33.Rxc1 33...Rxc1+ 34.Rb1 Rxb1#] 25.Qb3! Rc1+ [25...Kxf7 26.Qxd5+h]
33...Nxb3+! 0-1 [33...Nxb3+ 34.axb3 Qa3#] 26.Rf1! 1-0
(39) Carlsen, M(2850)-Karjakin, S(2762) (41) Tomashevsky, E(2758)-Grischuk, A(2774)
31...Kg7? [31...Ra1!! 32.Qxa1 (32.Rxa1 32...Qg2#) 32...Qxf2+ 30...f4! 31.Qxg6+ Nxg6 32.Bxc4 [32.Bf2 32...Rxe2i]
33.Kh1 Bf3+i]
32...fxg3i
(40) Carlsen, M(2850)-Grischuk, A(2774)
(42) Dominguez Perez, L(2732)-Onischuk, V(2612)
38...Ne2+? [38...Qe1!! 39.Re8+ (39.Qxe1 39...Nxf3+ 40.Kh1

Rh2#) 39...Kh7! (39...Kg7? 40.Qxd4+! Rxd4 41.Rxe1h) 40.f4 17.Bc5! Qf6 [17...Qxc5 18.Bxf7+! Rxf7 19.Qxc5h]
(40.Qxe1 40...Nxf3+ 41.Kh1 Rh2#; 40.Qxd4 40...Qg3+ 41.Kh1 18.Bxf8h
Rh2#) 40...Nf3+ 41.Qxf3 Qxe8i]
39.Kg2 Nf4+ 40.Kg3k
(43) Mitrofanov
1.Kf5! c1=Q [1...Kg3 2.Rg6+! Kh4 3.Bf2+ Kh5 4.g4#;

1...h1=Q 2.Rh6+ Kg3 3.Rxh1h; 1...Kh5 2.Rc6 h1=Q 3.g4+
Kh4 4.Rh6+ Kg3 5.Rxh1h]
2.Rh6+!! Qxh6 [2...Kg3 3.Rg6+ Kh4 4.Bf2+ Kh5 5.g4#]
3.Bf2+! Kh5 4.g4#!
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
In the current week there is not much going on. Some opens
Editorial Preface 2 like Bad-Wiessee are under way, as is the traditional round
robin in Barcelona with your weekly commentator Balogh
Csaba, who had a solid start with 3 draws, including one
against Morozevich, who has been in poor shape lately, but
started to win again and is leading the event with 2.5/3 the
Young & Talented 11 event.
In Cap d’Agde the winner was Fressinet, more or less as
Puzzle section 13
expected. He won his final match against Karpov in the blitz
games tiebreak.
Endgame section 16
The main announcement of the week is that the Candidates
will take place in Moscow and surprisingly Aronian is getting
Golden knowledge. the wild card.
Bodycheck in rook endgames 20
Anyhow, we hope you enjoy the current issue and we
can already look forward to the start of the European
Chess and the City. Ecce puer 26
Team Championship in Reykjavik, with most of the leading
European chess stars participating in it.
Solutions 27
Two best games of the past week since after h5 and Rh4 it defends the central pawns and
attacks the vulnerable black pawns with Rg4 or Rf4. [7.Qg4
is the main line, but I believe that 7.h4 is a very decent
(1) Parligras, Mircea-Emilian (2586) alternative nowadays.]
- Bluebaum, Matthias (2588) [C19] 7...Qa5 8.Bd2 Qa4 A standard plan by Black. He puts
pressure on the center and intends to trade the "bad French
Kings Tournament ROU-GER(3.2), GM Csaba Balogh bishop" with b6-Ba6.
2015.11.01 Best rating: 2672
9.Nf3 [Another plan was played by Leko just a few weeks ago
in a rapid game: 9.h5 continuing the plan. As we will see,
White does not need to be afraid of losing his central pawn...
A friendly preparation match is played for the European 9...h6 (It is very dangerous to accept the sacrifice with 9...cxd4
Team Championship between Romania and Germany. In
the following game, the Romanian grandmaster manages to
score a crushing victory.
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 The Winawer French is on the
board.
4.e5 Ne7 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5
10.Rb1! Threatening with Bb5. 10...a6 (10...Nbc6 is strongly

met by 11.Bb5! Qxa3 12.cxd4 Black had won a pawn, but
all his pieces are discoordinated, White has a safe center and
he is threatening with Bb4 as well as Qg4, with a very strong
attack.) 11.cxd4 Qxd4 12.Nf3 Qa4 13.Rh4! All white pieces are
joining the game with tempo, while Black is only moving with
his queen. This cannot lead to anything good from Black’s
7.h4!? This is a kind of new direction of the theory
point of view. 13...Qd7 14.Bd3! with huge compensation
development. The game demonstrates well the main ideas
for the pawn.) 10.Nf3 Nbc6 11.Rh4 c4 Usually when Black
of this moves. In general, White wants to push h5 and if Black
decides to close the center with c4, a long term strategical
allows it, then also h6, damaging Black’s pawn structure. The
fight begins with subtle maneuvering for both sides.
other key idea is to use the h1 rook for multiple purposes,
I personally prefer White’s chances and the recent Leko game 12...Qc6 13.Rg4 Nf5 14.Bd3 O-O? This natural move of
shows some nice ideas... 12.Rf4 Bd7 13.g3 Rf8 Castling protecting the g7 pawn is the decisive mistake! Black
kingside is a kind of suicide, so Black must go towards underestimates the potential of White’s attack! [Black had
the queenside, but first he had to protect the f7 pawn. a beautiful positional sacrifice at his disposal, which would
14.Bh3 O-O-O 15.Kf1 Artificial castling. 15...Nf5 16.Nh4 Nxh4 have solved all his problems: 14...Ba6! Black is ready to take
17.Rxh4 Ne7 18.Kg1 Qa6 19.Rg4 Rg8 20.Rf4 Rdf8 21.Qf3 on d3 after which his g7 pawn is safe and if White accepts the
Be8 sacrifice with 15.Bxf5 exf5 16.Rxg7
22.a4! A very typical plan in this opening. White activates 16...Qa4! is the poi nt and suddenly the white king becomes
his dark squared bishop by driving it to the a3-f8 diagonal. very weak. The missing of the light squared bishop is really
22...Kb8 23.Bc1+= Leko-Romanov, Berlin 2015] going to tell.]
9...b6 10.dxc5!? A very intere sting decision, which worked
perfectly in the game. White actually opens the game, he
wants to avoid those kind of positional fights like in the
Leko-Romanov game. Now it is getting very sharp... [I believe
that objectively it is still better to play 10.h5 10...h6 11.Rh4 Nf5
12.Rf4 like we had seen in the 9.h5 line.]
10...bxc5 11.h5 h6! In general it is considered to be better for
Black to avoid the h6 break, which seriously damages the dark
squares. Like this he ends up with only one weakness on g7,
but it could be defended with Nf5. [11...Ba6 allows White to 15.Qc1!! This subtle and brilliant attacking move, combined
play 12.Rh4 Qc6 13.h6! g6 14.Bg5! demonstrates well the with the following sacrifice decides the game. The direct
weakness of the dark squares.] threat is Bxh6.
12.Rh4! Using the standard rook lift.
15...Kh8 [15...c4 with the idea of trying to force White to
take on f5, after which the queen becomes a good defender
along the 6th rank. However White wins after 16.Nd4!
Nxd4 (16...Qc7 17.Bxf5 exf5 18.Rxg7+! Kxg7 19.Bxh6+ Kh7
(19...Kg8 20.Qg5+) 20.Bxf8h White wins material and
continues attacking.) 17.Rxg7+! Kxg7 (17...Kh8 18.Rh7+ Kg8
19.Bxh6h Black has no defense against Qg5.) 18.Bxh6+ Kh8
19.Qg5h Mate is coming soon.]
18.Bg5! As simple as that. White just plays Bf6 and then Qh6.
18...Nxh5 [18...Nd7 19.Bf6h]
19.Bf6+ Rg7 [19...Nxf6 20.Qh6+h]
20.Qh6+ Kg8 21.Qxh5 Black resigned! A very nice mating
attack, but Black’s defensive resource with 14...Ba6 involving
a pawn sacrifice would also have been instructive. 1-0
16.Rxg7!! The crushing blow!

16...Nxg7 [16...Kxg7 is met by another sacrifice: 17.Bxh6+!
is the point of the previous rook sacrifice! 17...Nxh6 (17...Kh8
18.Qg5 Rg8 19.Qf6+ Kh7 20.Ng5+ Rxg5 21.Qxg5h and mate
is coming on g7.) 18.Qg5+ Kh8 19.Qxh6+ Kg8 20.Qh7#]
17.Bxh6 White is threatening with Bxg7, followed by Qg5 Kh8
Qh6 and Qh7 mate.
17...Rg8 How to continue the attack? If White could play Qh6,
it was mate right away, but what to do with the bishop on
h6? Parligras finds a pretty subtle move, realizing that Black
is very far away from organizing any kind of defense.
(2) Narciso Dublan, Marc (2529)
- Morozevich, Alexander (2695)
[B23]
Barcelona GM 2015(3.1), GM Arkadij Naiditsch

2015.11.06 Best rating: 2737
We are going to see a complicated game, where both players

quickly get into an unclear and unexplored position. Slowly 10...Nc6 Black is still not playing d5, which would actually
but surely, Morozevich outplays his opponent in a nice way be a normal decision to avoid the position being closed after
until basically White has no other option but to give a piece e5, which would help White to develop strong play on the
after which the game is over! A nice game to enjoy the high kingside. As long as the center is not closed, White needs to
level chess of Morozevich, who at his best was Nr 2 in the be extra careful with moves like g4.
World! 11.Nf2 a5 Logical play. Black is winning even more space
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 a6 This slightly strange move is actually on the queenside and wants to somehow play a4-b3 in the
well-known in the current position. Black is playing the fast future. [Maybe it was already time to play 11...d5 12.e5 Nd7
b5 to win some space on the queenside, andespecially now with the idea of playing c4 or f6 next.]
that the white knight is placed on c3 it is makes a lot of sense. 12.Nf3 a4 13.a3 A typical way of stopping the black pawns at
3.g3 b5 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.Nh3 A possible way of developing but least for a little.
I am not a big fan of it. The idea is to play f4-f5 in the future. 13...bxa3 A strange move in my opinion... [13...Qb6 with the
I think 5.Nge2 with the idea of playing d4 next should be the idea of playing b3 next or maybe even just to keep the tension
main line. looks more logical.]
5...e6 Black does not hurry with Nc6, as this move will not run 14.bxa3 c4 This was Morozevich’s plan. The Russian is often a
away. bit "too creative" in his play.
6.O-O b4 7.Nb1?! and this just can’t be good! White should 15.Rb1 I think white should have went for a more fighting line
clearly have played 7.Ne2. [Why not try 15.e5 15...Nd5 16.dxc4 Nb6 17.Rb1 Ba6 18.Nd4
7...Nf6 Trying to provoke the e5 move, which is good for Black and of course Black can’t be worse here, but it is unclear
because of the exchange of the bishops. whether he is better.]
8.d3 Be7 9.Nd2 O-O 10.f4 We finally see the idea behind
5.Nh3, but everything this is somehow looking very strange.
15...Na5 and once again Black doesn’t play the most logical 20...Rxb1 21.Qxb1 Nxa3 Now White’s problem is not only
move. [Why not just 15...Ba6 with big pressure on White’s the a-pawn, but also the huge pressure on the c-file and on
center.] the c2 pawn.
16.Bd2 Ba6 22.Qb2 Qc7 Perfect play!
23.Rc1 Nb5 Another very strong move. Now Black is using
the moment to push a3 with tempo and to place his knight on
c3.
24.Bb4 a3 25.Qb3 Bxb4 26.Qxb4
17.Bb4?! White is missing a great chance to come back into

the game. [17.Nd4! This pawn sacrifice would bring White
back to life. 17...Bxa3 and here comes the trick 18.Bb4!
(18.Nb5 would lead to a better position for Black. 18...Bxb5
19.Rxb5 cxd3 20.cxd3 Nb3 and the a-pawn is very dangerous.)
18...Bxb4 19.Rxb4 and Black is losing the a-pawn, which 26...Nc3 What a domination of the black pieces! Not only is
would lead to a more or less equal position.] the e4 pawn now under attack, but after a2 White will also
17...Rb8 18.d4 Now in case White would take the bishop on simply have no more moves and no way to get rid of the knight
e7 the a3 pawn would be really weak and hard to defend. on c3. Black’s position is practically winning.
18...c3! An excellent move. The black pieces are getting into 27.Ra1 a2 28.Qa3 Bb7 Not a bad move, but not finishing the
play against the a3 pawn. game on the spot. [28...Ra8 was leading to an almost winning
endgame: 29.Nd2 Ne2+ 30.Kh1 Bb7 31.Qd3 Qc3 32.Qxc3
19.Re1 Nc4 How to defend the a3 pawn now?!
Nxc3 and it is hard to imagine White surviving for long here.]
20.Bxc3? This is already a serious mistake. [White had
29.Nd2 Ra8 [Morozevich could have finished the game with
only one chance here: 20.Bxe7 20...Qxe7 21.Rxb8 Rxb8 and
29...d5 30.e5 Nfe4 31.Nfxe4 dxe4 and White’s suffering would
now the very beautiful 22.Qd3! Pinning the knight on c4.
probably end very soon.]
22...Qxa3 23.e5 with the idea of playing Ng5 next and trying
to attack the black king. The position is very unclear!]
30.Qb2 h5 Well, it is hard to go wrong for Black here, but 42.Kg3 Rb4 43.Nc1
clearly h5 is not the move to end the game.
31.Bf3 h4 Morozevich is trying to win the game on both
flanks.
32.g4 Wow, Narciso has no mercy for his own king... Clearly
Kg2 was safer.
32...d5 [32...Rb8 was more precise.]
33.e5 Nfe4 34.Nb3 Qc4 Black’s domination is amazing!
35.Nd3 h3 36.Qc1 Bc6 White just has no moves that really
make sense... 43...Rb2 of course there is no reason to care about the h3
37.Qe3 Nb1 38.Ne1 Bb5 pawn.. .
44.Kxh3 Nd2 The next move is Rb1, so White has nothing
better than to give the piece.
45.Nxa2 Nxa2 and of course being a piece down doesn’t
improve the chances to survive this game...
46.Bd1 Nc3 47.Rc1 Rb1 Very safe play by Black, but not the
fastest way to win this game.
48.Rxc3 Rxd1 49.Nc2 Nf3 Black is starting to win material.
50.Kg3 Rxd3 51.Rxd3 Bxd3 52.Nb4 Be4 There is no hope
39.Qd3 and this endgame is not really helping White. The to survive this.
rook on a1 is just dead. 53.Nc6 Kf8 Now the black king is going to d7, after which the
39...Qxd3 [39...Qb4 40.Qe3 Ned2 was once again winning d4 pawn is going to fall.
on the spot.] 54.f5 Ke8 55.f6
40.cxd3 Nec3 The little time trouble is over and White is
still fighting, even if the position is still very bad and Narciso
should clearly not have made it past move 40...
41.Kf2 Ra4 The black rook is entering the position.
55...g5 All in all an interesting game and an important one
from a strategical point of view and to collect ideas about how
to break White’s queenside pawns in the Sicilian. 0-1
Young & Talented 7...Nge7
GM Etienne Bacrot
Best rating: 2749
(3) Marin, Mihail (2580) 8.f5?! This is not best. [8.c3 is the slow way to play but Black
- Wagner, Dennis (2575) [B23] equalizes comfortably. 8...O-O 9.Na3 exf4 10.Bxf4 (10.gxf4
Bazna(4), 10...d5!=+) 10...Ne5= 11.Nc4 N7c6 In this unclear position
2015.11.02 a very strong player blundered recently: 12.Ne3?? Nxf3+
13.Qxf3 g5iand the bishop is lost. Morozevich-Sutovsky
Poikovsky 2015.; 8.Nc3 is the most testing way to play. 8...O-O
This week I chose a game of Dennis Wagner - now 19th in the
9.f5! Now is a good moment to play this move. 9...gxf5
FIDE junior list - who is doing well at the Bazna match between
10.Nh4 Nd4!? (10...fxe4?! I played this after a long think
Germany and Romania and won a game in an old-fashioned
over the board but I ended up in trouble: 11.dxe4 f6 12.Nf5
opening that I played long ago.
Bxf5 13.exf5 Kh8 14.Nd5 Qd7 15.c3 Rad8 16.Qh5 White gets
1.g3 c5 2.Bg2 g6 3.e4 An unusual way to enter the closed reat compensation, but in this unpleasant position I later
Sicilian. managed to save a draw. Bujisho-Bacrot 2004.; 10...f4 11.gxf4
3...Bg7 4.d3 Nc6 5.f4 d6 6.Nf3 e5 I like this setup. The exf4 12.Qh5k is also looking nasty for Black.) ]
alternatives are: [6...Nf6 7.O-O O-O 8.Nc3 Rb8k; 6...e6 7.O-O 8...gxf5 9.Nh4 f4! This is the refutation of White’s 8th move.
Nge7k]
10.Qh5 [10.gxf4 is simply met by 10...Ng6!e]
7.O-O [7.Nc3 7...Nge7 8.Be3 b6 9.Qd2 O-O 10.h4 Nd4
10...Nd4 11.Na3 Not the best square for the knight but after
with unclear play, as it happened in the Berlin Blitz World
[11.Rf2 11...Ng8! e is very strong. 12.gxf4? Nf6 13.Qd1
Championship in Bachmann-Wagner.]
Ng4i]
15...e4! The strongest move, but not the only one. White
needs to remove his king from the threat of discovery check.
16.Kh1 exd3 17.Nc4?? Some kind of desperation mistake. Of
course White should at least play 17.cxd3, even if he has a very
bad position.
17...dxc2 18.Bd2
11...Ng6? The only mistake from the German, but it was not
easy to find [11...Bf6! A very strong move, but one needed
to find further difficult moves. 12.gxf4 (12.c3 12...Ne6 13.Nf5
Nxf5 14.exf5 Ng7 15.Qe2 fxg3 16.hxg3 Nxf5e) 12...Rg8! 13.f5
Ng6!e This is the key move that gives Black the advantage.]
12.Nf5 Nxf5 13.exf5 Ne7
18...b5! i With two pawns up and even without that Black’s

attack would be winning. The game is almost finished from
this point.
19.Bg2 bxc4 20.Bxa8 Bxf5 21.Bf3 Bxb2 22.Rae1 Qd7
23.Rf2 Bf6 24.Bd5 Rg6 25.Qf3 Kf8 26.Bxc4 d5 27.Bd3
Bxd3 28.Qxd3 Bh4 Black solidi fied his position and gets the
exchange back, so it is soon time to resign.
29.f5 Nxf5 30.Rxf5 Bxe1 31.Bc1 d4 32.Qf3 Qc6
14.Bh3? It is difficult to understand this mistake. White needs Exchanging queens to avoid any kind of tricks.
to open the lines and can simply take back some material. 33.Rxf7+ Ke8 34.Rf8+ Kd7 35.Rf7+ Kc8 36.Rf8+ Kb7
Now Black has some ways to take the advantage, but he 37.Rf7+ Kb6 There are no more checks so White resigned!
found the best one. [14.gxf4 14...Bxf5 15.fxe5 Bg6 16.Qf3 dxe5 0-1
17.Bg5 leads to an unclear position where I’d prefer to play
White.]
14...Rg8! 15.gxf4 [15.Bd2 15...Bf6 followed by Rg5 gives
Black a big advantage.]
Puzzle section
(4) Giri, A(2778)-So, W(2767) (6) Wang Yue(2726)-Liu Guanch(2379)
Bilbao playoff (blitz), 2015.11.01 Chinese league, 2015.10.28
1. h 1. h
(5) Karpov, A(2628)-Fressinet, L(2702) (7) Bachmann, A(2593)-Medarde Santiago, L(2324)

Cap’d Agde (rapid), 2015.10.28 Iberoamerican Championship, 2015.10.27
1... i 1. h
(8) Larrea, M(2311)-Peralta, F(2563) (10) Del Rio Angelis, S(2512)-Rodriguez Fontecha, M(2309)
Iberoamerican Championship, 2015.10.27 Iberoamerican Championship, 2015.10.31
1... i 1. h
(9) Bachmann, A(2593)-Rodriguez Fontecha, M(2309) (11) Das, A(2467)-Shabalov, A(2522)

Iberoamerican Championship, 2015.10.28 Hoogeveen Open, 2015.10.24
1. h 1... i
(12) Alekseenko, K(2539)-Kaczur, F(2376)
World Youth Boys U18, 2015.11.01
1. h
(13) Sanal, V(2501)-Vavulin, M(2441)

1. h
Endgame section good winning chances.]
38.h3 Rg3 Fixing the white rook on a passive square like h1.
39.Rh1 Kh6 Still preparing the g5 move.
(14) Narciso Dublan, Marc (2529)
- Grigoryan, Karen H (2616) 40.Nd2 g5 and finally g5 is played.
41.Nc4 The white knight is going to e3 and White is also
Barcelona GM 2015(1.2), thinking about playing d6 at some point.
Best rating: 2737
41...Rc3 Avoiding d6. [If Black played the slow 41...Kg6 42.d6
exd6 43.Nxd6 White would have exchanged one pawn, which
After an interesting game where Black managed to outplay
clearly makes the defense simpler... ]
White, finally the game came to an endgame where Black is
a clear pawn up and has quite good winning chances. The 42.Ne3 d6 is not possible any longer, but the rook on h1 is
white h-pawn could be a potential weakness and the bishop free now. 42...Kg6 43.Rd1 and once again White wants to
on f6 is greatly placed. Still, Black has just 3 pawn left, the play d6.
white king is on a good position on e4 and the knight on f3 is
holding things together. Let’s see how the game developed...
36...h5 The right direction. Black has to start moving the
pawns forward.
37.d5 I am not sure about this move, as now the 4th rank is
getting weaker and why hurry with a move like d5?! I think
White should have just kept on waiting.
37...Kg7 A very safe move. [37...g5 would also lead to an
interesting position. 38.Kf5 g4 39.Ng5+ Ke8 and Black keeps 43...Be5! A very nice move! The bishop did its job well on f6
and now is getting transferred to d6. let’s say a doubled pawns on the e-file.
44.h4?! White is risking a lot with this tactical blow- it was 51.Kg2
safer to just keep on waiting with the rook on the 1st rank. The
position is passive, but Black needs to put a lot of effort to get
the full point.
44...gxh4?? What an error by Grigoryan! [Black was soooo
close to a winning position after 44...Bd6! 45.hxg5 h4 and
it is almost impossible to stop the h-pawn. 46.Rh1 Bc5!
Maybe Black underestimated this possibility, but in fact his
position is already winning now! 47.Nf5 Kxg5 and the game
is basically over. There is no way for White to stop Black from
playing h3 followed by Kg4 and the pawn on h4 can’t be taken 51...Re3 The rest of the game doesn’t really need any
because of Rc4.] comments.
52.Rd5 Ra3 53.Rb5 h3+ 54.Kh2 h4 55.Rc5 Rf3 56.Ra5 Rf6
57.Kxh3 Rf5 58.Rxf5 Kxf5 59.Kxh4 and once again we saw
how first White rushed things in the wrong direction and Black
immediately answered with a double ?? move. 1/2-1/2
45.Kxe5! Of course! White enters a drawn rook endgame.

45...Rxe3+ 46.Kf4 Black cannot stop White from playing d6
next and the rook endgame with extra doubled pawns on the
h-file is of course a draw.
46...Re2 Any other move leads to about the same.
47.d6 It’s hard to miss this move for a GM!
47...Rf2+ This of course doesn’t change anything.
48.Ke3 Rf8 49.dxe7 Re8 50.Kf3 Rxe7 Actually this position
would even be a draw if Black didn’t have the h-pawns, but
(15) Socko, Bartosz (2617)
- Nyback, Tomi (2608)
German league, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.11.01 Best rating: 2672
32...c6! The c5 rook got a bit out of the game. Black is

threatening with gxf3 and after g3 he has Rd4 as Rcd5 does not
work anymore. Therefore White must hurry with coordinating
his rooks again. 33.cxb5 axb5 34.Rc3 gxf3 35.Rxf3 White has
won a pawn, but Black has a target on a2 and what is more
important is that he can finally also create a passed c-pawn.
35...Rxf3+ 36.gxf3 Ra8! 37.Re2 Kc5! 38.f4 Kd4! followed by
pushing the c-pawn and Black should hold the draw without
The material is balanced, but White has a passed pawn on the any difficulty. This kind of play is called "active defense",
kingside, while Black’s task to create one on the queenside, the one usually people should aim for in most of the rook
where he has his pawn majority, is very difficult due to the endgames.; 30...R4f6 31.Re7 R8f7 32.Rxf7 Rxf7 33.Ke2 gxf3+
doubled c-pawns. This fact gives White the advantage and 34.Rxf3]
means that Black must defend very carefully to avoid ending
up in big trouble soon.
30...gxf3? Black perhaps blundered the next intermediate
move, otherwise I don’t believe he would have taken on f3.
[The most natural move seems to be 30...b5! trying to do
something with the pawn majority. The computer does not
like this idea at first, because it drops a pawn after 31.Rdd5
Kb6 (31...gxf3 32.g3 is good for White indeed. The f3 pawn is
going to fall in the long term.) 32.Rxc5
31.Re6+! A highly unpleasant check, which forces the king far
away from the soon arising passed pawn.
31...Kb7 32.Rxf3 Rxf3+ 33.gxf3 Here we are! In a
middlegame with many pieces on the board, this f3 pawn after 36...Rxa2 37.f6 Ra1 38.Kf2 Rd1 (38...Ra2+ 39.Re2h)
could rather be a weakness. However, in this rook endgame, 39.f7 Rd8 40.Re8h]
this is a decisive factor. White can easily support its advance 37.f6 Rh1 [37...Rh6 with the idea that after f7 the rook
with his king and rook, while the black king is too far to be a is hanging with check, but White prevents it first with
blockader, he cannot create an own passer and activating his 38.Kf4h and wins.]
rook takes too much time.
38.Kf2! It is important not to allow the black rook to go
behind the pawn!
38...Rh2+ [38...Rh5 is strongly met by 39.Re3!h and on the
check, White always has Rf3. The pawn promotes.]
39.Kg3 Rh1
33...b5 Black’s problem is that White is not forced to take on

b5 which would allow him to create a c-passer and without
that the 3 pawns perfectly holds the 4. [33...Kc8 34.Re7 keeps
the black king in passivity.]
34.Ke3 Preventing Rf4 and preparing to advance the passer.
34...Rg8 Black tries to activate the rook. This is the best idea 40.Re2! With the same idea as in the 38...Rh5 line! White
in general, but now it takes too much time until it goes to g2, prevents the black rook from getting behind the passed pawn
collects the pawns, since meanwhile White simply promotes and puts his own rook behind it. This justifies the principle
his f-pawn. [Perhaps a better defense was 34...Rf5 although that in rook endgames both sides should aim for placing their
White has pleasant options here as well: 35.Rh6 (Focusing rooks behind the passed pawn.
only on the f-pawn with 35.f4 35...Rh5 36.h4 Rxh4 37.f5 also 40...Rg1+ 41.Rg2 Rd1 [41...Rf1 42.Rf2 Rg1+ 43.Kf4 Rg8 44.f7
looks promising.) 35...Re5+ 36.Kd3 Black seems to be in Rf8 45.Kg5 Kc6 46.Kf6h]
deep trouble.] 42.Rf2 Rd8 43.f7 Rf8 44.Kg4! Black is helpless against the
35.f4! White correctly foresees that the f-pawn is more king’s march to g7. The game is over.
important than the invasion of the black rook to the second 44...Kb6 45.Kg5 Ka5 46.Kf6 Kb4 47.Rc2 Of course other
rank. moves were also winning, but White does not even give his
35...Rg2 36.f5 Rxh2 [Black cannot stop the passed pawn pawn. Black resigned. 1-0
Golden knowledge. 59.Kf6! [Just not 59.Kh7 59...Ke6 60.g7 Rh2+ 61.Kg6 Rg2+
62.Kh7 Kf7]
Bodycheck in rook endgames
59...Ra6+ 60.Kf7 Ke5 61.g7 Ra7+ 62.Kg6 1/2-1/2
(17) Urmancheev-Podolsky
USSR, 1972
In pawn endgames, kings’ bodycheck is one of the greatest

methods of play. In rook endgames it is less used, but when 1.Kb6? Automatic and wrong, as it allows the opponent’s
both players have passed pawns it is still a very important king to come closer. Correct was to block it with [1.Kb4!!
method and is frequently used. Here the most important is stopping the Black King and winning time to advance the
not the maneuver in itself, but in many cases to avoid the pawn. 1...Kd4 2.a6 Kd5 3.a7 Rh8 4.Kb5]
bodycheck. And as you can see a lot of top players perform it 1...Kc4 2.a6 Rh6+ 3.Kb7 Kb5 4.a7 Rh7+ 5.Kb8 Kb6
wrongly. Yes, we all study from mistakes and better not from 6.a8=N+ Kc6 0-1
our own ones!
(18) Huebner, R.-Pfleger, H.
(16) Pachman, L.-Trifunovic, P.
Bundesliga 8889, 1989
Treybal Memorial, 1946
White wrongly decided to go for a pawn endgame:
75.Kf6?? Kxf4 76.Rxf7 Rxf7+ 77.Kxf7 19...Kg6 20.Kb7 g4 21.Kc6 Kg5 22.Kd5 g3 23.Rf8 Kg4
24.Ke4 1-0
(20) Holuba, S.-Boiselle, R.
Wuerzburg, 1996
77...Kf5!! Driving the white king into zugzwang.

78.Kg7 g5 79.h5 g4 80.h6 g3 81.h7 g2 82.h8=Q g1=Q+
83.Kf8 Qc5+ 84.Kg8 Qc8+ 85.Kg7 Qxh8+ 86.Kxh8
Kxe5 0-1 71.Rg8? [Correct was to follow the opponent’s king with
71.Kd5! 71...Kb4 72.Kd4 g2 (72...a4 73.Rb8+ h; 72...Kb3
(19) Lerner, K.-Dorfman, J. 73.Rc3+ h) 73.Rc1! Kb3 74.Kd3 a4 75.Rb1+ Ka2 76.Rg1
a3 77.Rxg2+ Kb3 78.Rg8! a2 79.Rb8+ Ka3 80.Kc2! a1=N+
1980
81.Kc3 h; Siepelt]
71...a4 72.Rxg3 Kc4 73.Ke5 Kb4 74.Kd4 a3 75.Rg8 a2
76.Ra8 Kb3 77.Kd3 Kb2 1/2-1/2
(21) Kukovec, B.-Podlesnik, B.
Bled op , 2001
This move is in reality a prophylactic one, preventing the

bodycheck from the opponent’s king.
19.Rf2! [Wrong was immediately bringing the king back
with 19.Kb7 19...Kf6 20.Kc6 Ke5 with bodycheck and a
theoretical draw.]
53.Rxh3? [Correct was not the materialism, but to try and (23) Pancevski, Filip-Welz, Peter
escape the bodycheck with 53.Kc4 53...Ke4 54.Kc3 Ke3 Rijeka, 2010
55.Kc2 f3 56.Kd1 Kf2 57.Rxh3 Kg2 58.Rh8 f2 59.Rg8+ Kf1
60.Rf8 Kg2 61.Ke2]
53...Ke4 54.Kc4 f3 55.Rh8 f2 1/2-1/2
(22) Mortensen, E.-Hillarp Persson, T.

Koge op, 1997
57...Rf8? The king must be brought closer as quickly as

possible, at the same time preventing the opponent’s king to
help its passed pawn: [57...Kd4! 58.Kf5 Kd5 59.Kf6 Kd6
60.b7 Rb8 61.Kg7 Ke7i]
58.Ke5 Rxf7 59.Kd5! Bodycheck!
59...Kc3 60.Kc6 1/2-1/2
57...f4?? [Correct was to bodycheck the white king with
57...Kd4= 58.Rd8+ Ke3 59.Kc5 f4 60.Re8+ Kd3 61.Rf8 Ke3 (24) Mikhalchishin, A.-Azmaiparashvili, Z.
62.Kc4 f3 63.Kc3 f2]
Tbilisi, 1980
58.Kc5 Ke4 59.Kc4 Ke3 60.Kc3 g5 61.Re8+ Kf2
62.Kd2 g4 63.Re4! g3 [63...Kf3 64.Ra4 g3 65.Ke1 g2
66.Ra3+h Kg4 67.Kf2]
64.Rxf4+ Kg1 65.Ke2 1-0
11.Ke6! It is necessary to stop the opponent’s king. [Losing

was the natural 11.f6 11...Kd5 12.Kg8 Ra8+ 13.Kxh7 Ke6
14.Kg7 Ra7+ 15.Kg6 Rf7]
11...Re1+ [After 11...Ra6+ White plays 12.Ke5!=]
12.Kd6 Rf1 13.Ke6 1/2-1/2
(25) Fischer, R.-Bisguier, A.

USA-ch, 1958
73.Kc4 [Wrong was 73.Rb2 73...Kf3! (73...d3? 74.b5 Rc1

75.Rd2 Rb1 76.Kc5 Rc1+ 77.Kb6 Rc3 78.Ka5 Kf3 79.Kb4
Making a full circle and winning the pawn.) 74.b5 Ke3 75.b6
Rg1 76.b7 Rg8 77.b8=Q Rxb8 78.Rxb8 d3; One more winning
option was 73.b5 73...d3 74.Rb2!]
73...d3 74.Kc3 Rb1 75.Rd2 Kf4 76.Rxd3 Ke4 77.Rd8 Rc1+
78.Kb3 Ke5 79.Ka4 [Also possible was 79.b5 ]
79...Ke6 80.Rd2 Rc7 81.b5 Rd7 Here transfering into a
In Rook endgames there are a few very complicated cases of pawn endgame is losing:
king fighting.
82.Rxd7 Kxd7 83.Ka5 Kc7 84.Ka6 Kb8 85.Kb6 Kc8
69...d5 [The prophylactical 69...Rd4 was required to stop 86.Ka7 1-0
pawn b2.]
70.b4 d4? [Correct was to stick to the opponent’s pawn (26) Neishtadt, V.-Volovich, A.
immediately: 70...Rb3 71.Kc5 Rb1! 72.Rd2 (72.Re8 72...Kf6!)
72...Ke6 73.b5 Rc1+ 74.Kb6 Ke5 and now the d5 pawn can Moscow, 1958
move forward.]
71.Kd5! Attacking the opponent’s pawn and bodychecking
the opponent’s king at the same time!
71...Rd1 [Now attacking the white pawn is too late: 71...Rb3
72.Rf2+ Kg5 73.Kc4 Rb1 74.Rd2 Kf6 75.Rxd4 Rc1+ 76.Kb5
Rc8 77.Ka6 Ke5 78.Rd7]
72.Rf2+ Kg4
1.c5? [Correct was to immediately avoid the attack of the
opponent’s king with 1.Ke6! 1...Kd4 (An easy draw is reached
after 1...Kf3 2.c5 Kg2 3.Rxh2+ Rxh2 4.c6 Kf3 5.c7 Rc2 6.Kd7)
2.Kf6 Kxc4 3.Kg6 Rh8 4.Kf5 Kd3 5.Kf4 Ke2 6.Kg3 Rg8+
7.Kf4!]
1...Rh6+ 2.Ke7 Kd5! Now the white king is separated from
its pawn and it is too far away from the h2 pawn.
3.Kf7 Kxc5 4.Kg7 Rh3 5.Kg6 Kd4 6.Kg5 Ke3 7.Kg4
Rh8 8.Kg3 Rg8+ 9.Kh3 Kf2 10.Rxh2+ Kf3 0-1
65...Ke5! i This was underestimated by Korchnoi, as he
did not see that the black king will not go to help his own
(27) Korchnoi, V.-Kasparov, G. pawn, but to attack his king.
London , 1983 66.d6 [Or 66.Rg1 66...Kxd5 67.Kf7 Rg3 68.Kf6 Ke4]
66...Re6+ 67.Kd7 Rxd6+ 68.Rxd6 g1=Q 69.Re6+ Kf5
70.Rd6 Qa7+ 71.Kd8 Ke5 72.Rg6 Qa5+ 73.Kd7 Qa4+
74.Ke7 Qh4+! 75.Kf8 Qd8+ 76.Kf7 Kf5 77.Rh6 Qd7+ 0-1
(28) Alekhine, Alexander A-Bogoljubow, E.

Wch14-GER, 1929
63.d5? [The only way was 63.Rd1! 63...g2 64.Rg1 Ke4 65.d5
Rg6+ 66.Kf7=]
63...Rg6+! [But not 63...g2? 64.Rd4+! Ke3 65.Rd1=]
64.Ke7 g2 65.Rd1
Even classics did not perform bodycheck correctly!

70...Kg4? [Only way was 70...Ke4 71.b7 f5 72.b8=Q Rxb8
73.Rxb8 f4 74.Re8+ Kd4 75.Rf8 Ke3 76.Kd5 f3 77.Kc4 f2
78.Kc3 Ke2]
71.b7 f5 72.b8=Q Rxb8 73.Rxb8 f4 74.Kd5 f3 75.Ke4 f2
76.Rf8 Kg3 77.Ke3 1-0
(29) Grischuk, A.-Svidler, P.

Wch Blitz playoff, 2006
59...Ke2?? Even in blitz top players are expected to perform

technical maneuvers correctly: [59...Kg2 60.Rxf5 Kxh2
61.Ke3 g3 62.Rg5 g2 63.Kf2 h3 64.Rg3 g1=Q+ 65.Rxg1]
60.Rxf5 g3 61.h3 g2 62.Rg5 Kf2 63.Ke4 g1=Q 64.Rxg1
Kxg1 65.Kf3! Bodycheck! White wins the h4 pawn now, but
the black king has no time to reach the draw haven on f4.
[65.Kf4? would be a deadly mistake! 65...Kf2 66.Kg4 Ke3
67.Kxh4 Kf4] 1-0
Chess and the City. point B will not be fulfilled since I have only 6 days to recover
before the start of the main event this year - the European
Ecce puer Team Championship in Reykjavik, which will be held between
12-23rd of November. In my next newsletter I hope to come up
with some more good news for German chess and also with
another nice game from that event.

WGM Elisabeth Paehtz (30) Comay
Best rating: 2493
1. h
After two tough weeks of coaching teenagers (thus two of the
toughest weeks in my life) the World Youth Championships
came to an end. Call it a strange coincidence if you like, but
Germany managed to win once again in the category of boys
under 16! After Leonid Sawlin, who took gold at the European
Championship this year, we can proudly congratulate Roven
Vogel who managed to collect gold in Porto Carras, Greece.
As for my two beloved pupils, I have positive news on their
side as well. Even though one started well and the other
rather unwell, at the end both managed to get a decent
rank in the top 20 of their category. My older pupil Josefine
even missed a medal in the girls under 18 section, tying
for 3-5th place, due to bad tiebreaks; a consequence of her
unfortunate tournament start. As for myself, I can draw the
following conclusions from this experience: A) I could be
in trouble whenever I should face Josefine with the black
pieces (being a coach also means revealing some of your
secrets and weaknesses). B) Even though I still managed
to avoid growing grey hair, I urgently need vacations and C)
suffer...ahem coaching is not for beginners! Unfortunately
Solutions (33) Dubov, D(2661)-Li Chao b(2750)
ECC, 2015.10.20
(31) Bauer, C(2623)-Tan, M(2447)
ECC, 2015.10.18
37...Qxe5! 0-1 [37...Bxe5? 38.Qe7+h; 37...Qxe5 38.Bxe5

Bxe5+ 39.Rc3 Rc8 40.Qe7+ Bg7! i 41.Qxg7+ Kxg7
24.Nxh6+! gxh6 25.Qxh6 Bf6 [25...Nf6 26.Rc6!h] 42.Rxc8 Bxc8i]
26.Bc7! Qe7 27.Qxh5h (34) Nakamura, H(2816)-Ortega, L(2478)
(32) Sutovsky, E(2635)-Vernay, C(2460) ECC, 2015.10.20
ECC, 2015.10.19
33.Rd5! Qxd5 34.Nf6+ gxf6 35.Qxd5h
23.Nxh7! Kxh7 24.Qh3! 1-0 [24.Qh3 24...Kg8 25.Bc1! Qd6

26.Qh6 Qxe6 27.Qxg6+ Kh8 (27...Kf8 28.Bh6#) 28.Bc2!h]
(35) Wojtaszek, R(2734)-Baron, T(2541) (37) Saric, I(2678)-Vogt, L(2409)
ECC, 2015.10.20 ECC, 2015.10.22
32.Rxg7! Kxg7 33.Ng3! 1-0 [33.Ng3 33...Kg6 (33...Rh8 27.Nxe5! Rc5 [27...Qxc2 28.Qxf7+ Kh8 29.Nxg6#]
34.Nh5+h) 34.h8=Qh] 28.Rxc5 dxc5 29.Nc4h
(36) Leko, P(2707)-Ivanchuk, V(2726) (38) Kryvoruchko, Y(2710)-Wang Yu(2724)
ECC, 2015.10.22 ECC, 2015.10.23
38.Qg8+! Qf8 [38...Ke7 39.Qxf7+ Kd8 40.Qxb7h; 40.g5!! Qd7 [40...hxg5 41.Qh5+ g6 42.Qh7+h]
38...Kd7 39.Bf5+ Kc7 40.Qxg2h]
41.gxh6! Qe8 [41...gxh6 42.Qh5+h; 41...Qxc8 42.e8=Q+!
39.Bxf7+! 1-0 [39.Bxf7+ 39...Rxf7 40.Qxg2h] Qxe8 43.Qxe8+ Kxe8 44.h7h]
42.Qh5+ 1-0 [42.Qh5+ 42...g6 43.Qd5#]
(39) Rublevsky, S(2702)-D’Amore, C(2459) 37.Kf4 g5#; 31.Rxg2 31...Qf4+ 32.Rg3 (32.Kh1 32...Re1+
ECC, 2015.10.24 33.Rg1 Rxg1+ 34.Kxg1 Qxd6i) 32...Re2+! 33.Nxe2
Qxd6i]
31...Bxh3! 32.Qxf5+ [32.Qxh3 32...Qf4+ 33.Qg3
Qxd2+i]
32...Bxf5i
(41) Mees
34.Rxc7! Bf5 [34...Kxc7 35.d6+ Kd8 36.dxe7+ Kxe7

37.Nd5+! (37.Nxd7? 37...Rd8) 37...Ke6 (37...Kf8 38.Nxb6h)
38.Nc7+h]
35.Rxe7 Kxe7 36.fxe5h
(40) Rasulov, V(2505)-Najer, E(2658)
ECC, 2015.10.24
1.Bd3+! b5 2.Be4! Nxe6 3.Bf5! Nd8 4.Bc8+! Nb7 5.Kf2!
e5 6.Ke3! e4 7.Kd4! e3 8.Kd5! e2 9.Kc6! e1=Q 10.Bxb7#
30...Bxg2!! 31.Qd3 [31.Kxg2 31...Qg5+ 32.Kh2 (32.Kf1

32...Qf4+ 33.Kg2 Rg5+ 34.Kh1 Qf1+ 35.Kh2 Qg1#) 32...Qf4+
33.Kh1 Re1+ 34.Kg2 Qf1+ 35.Kg3 Re3+ 36.Kg4 Qxh3+
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
And the European Chess Championship has begun. After the
Editorial Preface 2 first 2 rounds, the big favorites have a perfect score in both
sections, open and women. In the open section, already in
the 3rd round we will see a huge fight between Ukraine and
Best game of the past week 4
Azerbaijan, the Nr2 and Nr3 on the starting list.
Already in the first round of the event, we saw some very
Young & Talented 8 exciting games between super GMs and a lot of different
upsets and surprises.
Puzzle section 10 For the moment, the team of Norway is playing without
Magnus Carlsen, but we can be sure that in tomorrow’s match
Endgame section 13 against Armenia the World Champion will take his seat on the
first board.
Golden knowledge. Russian has so far been playing without Grischuk, probably
How opening novelties were born - Part 1 17 keeping him for the more important matches.
Everything else is more or less as usual, the playing hall is not
great, but to call it bad would be unfair as well. The weather
Chess and the City. Icy Iceland 22 is cold and windy, very usual for Reykjavik.
On the free day, the organizers offer some excursions and to
Surprise section / study 23 visit the grave of Bobby Fischer.
So the most important rounds are yet to come in the next
Solutions 23 week and we wish you a lot of fun watching the games live.
Best game of the past week [6...O-O is the main move and also what all the top players
play. We have reached the initial position of the line and it is
considered to be equal according to the latest theory.]
(1) Bachmann, Axel (2601) 7.a4! The standard way to win back this pawn in many
- Morozevich, Alexander (2695) openings, otherwise Black protects it with b5. Na3 and Qc2
[A07] are coming next, it will be difficult to hold it for long.
GM Csaba Balogh 7...Ne4 Another unusual move with the idea of Nd6. Black
Barcelona GM 2015(5.1), Best rating: 2672
wants to save the c4 pawn as long as possible, but he loses
2015.11.08 further tempi, while White just developes his pieces to natural
places.
In the last round, the top seed former World Nr.2 Alexander 8.Qc2 Nd6 9.Na3 [9.e4! looks preferable to avoid Bf5 tempo
Morozevich has run into a nice defeat. and Na3 only in the next move.]
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 This move is very popular since the first 9...Bf5 10.Qc3 O-O [10...c5 seems like a move, which solves
World Championship match between Carlsen and Anand, the opening problems right away, however White has a very
where the Indian succesfully neutralized the Reti opening with nice trick at his disposal.
this move.
3.Bg2 Bg7 The point of delaying the development of the g8
knight to f6 can be seen here. Black wants to play now e5 and
Ne7 with a perfect position, therefore White is more or less
forced to transpose to the g3 system of the Gruenfeld defence.
4.d4 Nf6 5.O-O c6 6.c4 dxc4 Breaking the symmetry is a
clear sign, that Black wants to win this game.
11.Bh6!! could come as a shock for most of the players and

suddenly Black faces difficulties 11...Bxh6 (11...cxd4? is simple
met by 12.Nxd4! Bxh6 13.Nxf5) 12.dxc5 O-O 13.cxd6 Qxd6
14.Nd4+= suddenly the white pieces are standing extremely
well. The long diagonal has opened, Nxc4 is coming with
tempo, the rooks are also coming to the opened files.]
11.Nxc4 Re8?! Well, this is a very strange move to
understand. I dont really get the point of it. Black had a very 16...Bxg2 [The alternative was 16...cxd4 but it also fails to
strong direct alternative, but even if 11...c5 does not exist, any equalize after 17.Qxd4 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 Nxc4 19.Qxc4! Rxc4
other natural developing move like 11...Nd7 should have been 20.Rxd8 Rxd8 21.Nxc4+= after the simplifcations, White
played. [11...c5! seems to be completely fine now, as Bh6 does enjoys a stable advantage in the endgame. The e7 pawn is
not work anymore. Nc6 is coming next, Black equalizes the hanging and Na5 breaks into the Black’s position in the next
game. 12.Nxd6 exd6 and Nc6 with a balanced game.] move. The a6 knight is shut out of the game by the a3 bishop.]
12.Rd1 White prepares for the different kind of attempts to 17.Kxg2 Qc7 Black leaves the pin on the d-file, but it still
open the game with e5 or c5. He has some space advantage needs another move to get to b8 in order to leave the pin of
thanks to the d4 pawn, sooner or later it will be more difficult the other rook on c1.
to maneouvre with the black pieces.
12...Na6 13.b3! White decides to develop his bishop to a3,
where it cannot be disturbed by the knights. The same cannot
be said after Bf4, because then Nc7-d5 could come.
13...Be4 14.Ba3 Rc8 15.Rac1 Both sides finish the
development of their pieces, but the white ones are standing
more active and Black suffers in lacking of space, therefore
he tries to break out with a central break, however White is
excellently prepared to the opening of the game.
18.Qf3! Another nice positional move! White opens the c-file
15...c5
and also keeps an eye on the new target, on the f7 pawn.
18...Nf5 Knowing what happens in the next move it looks
very ugly, but Black did not have anything better. The f7 pawn
had to be defended.
19.e4! Nh6 Both black knights are standing poorly at the
edge of the board, but at least Black has managed to avoid
the concrete problems, although White’s big advantage is
undisputable.
20.g4! Bachmann leads the game very ambitiously. He
16.Nfe5! Perfect reaction! White actually closes the diagonal creates the threat of g5, which forces another unwanted move
of the g7 bishop. He stands ready for the opening of the d-file, by his opponent.
on the other hand the black queen is misplaced and stays in
the pins.
20...f6 Black is forced to temporarily close his bishop.
21.Nd3 f5! Morozevich rts to create complications. They
don’t work objectively, but it gives the best practical chance
to survive somehow by by confusing the opponent. [On
21...cxd4 22.Nd6h wins material, Black cannot get enough
compensation.]
22.gxf5 Bxd4
23...e5! This is a great defensive resource and suddenly White

needs to be precise to retain his advantage. Such moves can
often change the result of a clear-cut game.
24.Nd5! White chooses the right outpost for his knight.
[24.fxe6 was met by 24...Rf8! this was the trick of 23...e5.;
24.Ne6 looked also tempting, but actually it deprives White
from the possibility of taking on g6 and the e6 knight alone
cannot win the game itself. 24...Qc6]
23.Nf4 Another highly natural human move. White wants
24...Qd8 25.fxg6 Rc6! Black has to control the f6 square
to install his knight to e6 or d5. However Black gets some
to avoid losing big material. [25...Rf8 looks strong at first
counterchances after the following great move...
sight, but actually Black has only one check on f2. White wins
[The very difficult winning move was 23.b4! 23...gxf5 (23...cxb4
26.Qh5 Rxf2+ 27.Kh1 and the rook also arrives soon to g1.]
24.Nxb4h is over. The d4 bishop loses it’s outpost.
Black is totally discoordinated.) 24.b5 Nb8 25.Nxc5! Only 26.Kh1 [Perhaps it was better to play 26.gxh7+ 26...Kxh7
computers can foresee all these complications before playing 27.Kh1 White should be winning, but Black could still create
23. b4. 25...Bxc5 26.Bxc5 Qxc5 27.Nd6! exd6 28.Rxc5 dxc5 some complications.]
29.exf5h Despite Black is doing fine materially, his pieces 26...Rxg6?! This is a mistake, after which Black has no
are lacking harmony, the queen dominates the board and the chance to come back to the game anymore. The problem
black king might also easily get into trouble after f6 and a is Rg1 is coming anyway, which trades the important rook,
queencheck.] which was perfectly defending the Black’s camp along the 6th
rank. [The position after 26...hxg6 is not so easy anymore.]
27.Rg1 White is threatening again with Nf6. 32.Qxg6+ Kf8
27...Kg7 [On 27...Re6 White has a pleasant choice between
28.Bb2 (28.Nce3 followed by Nf5 looks also very promising.)]
28.Rxg6+ hxg6 29.Rg1 Nc7 Very natural idea to trade the
strong knight on d5, but it loses tactically. However Black was
in trouble anyway.
[The only move was 29...Qh4 30.Bc1 Rf8 31.Qg2 Qh5 32.Be3
White’s attack is too strong. Ne7 is also hanging in the air after
protecting the f2 pawn.]
33.Qg7+! The last accuracy!

33...Ke7 34.Bg5+ Black resigned! Very nice game by
Bachmann! 1-0
30.Bc1!! After this great regrouping of the bishop, Black

suddenly cannot avoid getting mated. White has several
decisive threats, such as Qh5 with a double attack on h6 and
g6 or Bg5, exploring the f6 square.
30...Nxd5 31.Qh5! This very important intermediate move
is the key idea of the previous Bc1 move. [31.exd5 31...Nf7
would consolidate.]
31...Nf7 [31...Nf4 32.Bxf4 exf4 33.Rxg6+h Black soon gets
mated.]
Young & Talented 16...Qd5 This is one of critical position of the open
Caro-Kann. No surprise, as in youth events most of the
time players are deeply prepared by well-known trainers.
17.Be3 [17.Ne5 17...Rad8 (17...Qe4!? ) 18.f3!? has just been
played in Grigoriants-Tomashevsky in Berlin.]
17...b5 A natural and sound move, also [17...Ng4 which
appeared in more than 20 games should be checked.]
GM Etienne Bacrot
Best rating: 2749 18.Ne5 Bd6 19.Nd3 In case this move doesn’t bring an
advantage, the alternative is 19.f4!?
(2) Mosadeghpour, Masoud (2420)
- Lai, Hing Ting (2334) [B19]
WYCC Open U18(3.5),
2015.10.2
The World under 18 Championship in Greece crowned Iranian
Masoud Mosadeghpour, a full point ahead of Russians
Alekseenko and Yuffa. Having looked at all his games, he
completely deserved the title even though he had some lucky
moments with his energetic active style. Here is one of his
attacks. 19...a5!? Going for a sharp opposite castle fight, which I like.
Black might also try the center breakthrough: [19...Rfe8!?
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4
20.g4 (20.f4 20...Ne4k Alsina Leal-Cuartas 2013) 20...e5!
h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bd2
21.g5! The most fighting move. (21.dxe5 leads to an equal
Ngf6 12.O-O-O Be7 13.Kb1 O-O 14.Ne4 Nxe4 15.Qxe4
endgame. 21...Bxe5 22.Nxe5 Qxe5 23.Qf3 Qe4=) 21...hxg5
Nf6 16.Qe2
22.dxe5 Bxe5 23.h6! Bd4 (23...g6 24.Nxe5 Qxe5 25.Qf3+=)
24.hxg7k(24.Nc1 24...c5 25.hxg7 Qf5k) ]
20.g4 a4 21.f3 Taking control over the important e4 square.
21...Qc4 [21...b4!? ]
22.g5!? 27.Qe1 Precise again. Black has no correct defense against
Ne5.
27...Qxd4 [27...a3 28.Ne5h]
28.Nf4 Qg7 29.Nxe6 Qf7 30.Rxd5
(3) Yuffa, Daniil (2485)

- Mosadeghpour, Masoud (2420) [A05]
WYCC Open U18(6.1),
2015.10.31
22...hxg5? The only and final mistake! It was not easy to
see that after [22...Nd5 23.gxh6 a3! 24.Qg2 g6! White has no
mate and will lose the game. 25.hxg6 Nxe3i; So 22...Nd5
should be met by 23.Qd2! hxg5 24.Rdg1 f6 25.h6 g6 26.f4
(26.Bxg5 26...a3!) ]
23.h6 It is not obvious that this easy move brings anything:
23...g6 24.h7+ Kh8 [24...Nxh7 25.f4!c; 24...Kg7 25.Bxg5
Nd5 26.Qf2c]
25.Bxg5 Nd5 Everything seems under control, but
16.Kc3? is one of the moves that might have changed

the issue of the tournament had the bronze medalist found
the very strong [16.e4!! 16...Ra5 (16...Nxd3+ 17.Kc3 Nxf2
18.exd5h; 16...Rxd3 17.Bxd3 Nxd3+ 18.Kc3 Nxf2 19.Rhe1c;
16...Rd4 17.Nc5+=) 17.d4 Rxa4 (17...Rd8 18.a3 Na6 19.Bxa6
Rxa6 20.Nc5c; 17...Rb8 18.Nc5c) 18.bxa4 Rb8 19.Be2!c]
16...Rb8 17.d4 Rf5 18.f3 Nxa2+! A cool sacrifice! Now White
fights for equality.
26.Qe4!! completely destroys Black’s position thanks to a 19.Rxa2 Rxb3+ 20.Kc2 Rb4 21.Nc3? [21.Kc3! might
nice mating threat. still hold: 21...Rfb5 22.Ra1 Rb3+ 23.Kc2 Ra5 24.Rd1 Rxa4
26...f5 [26...a3 27.Qxd5! cxd5 28.Bf6#] 25.d5!k]
21...Bb3+ [21...Bxa2 22.Nxa2 Rxd4e] Puzzle section
22.Kd3 Bxa2 23.Nxa2 Rb2 24.Nc3 Ra5e The Champion
later converted his sixth full point in a row. 0-1 (4) Balogh, C(2645)-Grigoryan, K(2616)
Barcelona GM, 2015.11.06
1... =
(5) Grigoryan, K(2616)-Asis, H(2483)

1... i
(6) Baklan, V(2617)-Pirrot, D(2370) (8) Maletin, P(2581)-Tkachiev, V(2658)
Bad Wiesee Open, 2015.11.04 Bad Wiesee Open, 2015.11.05
1. h 1. c
(7) Maletin, P(2581)-Welling, G(2334) (9) Khenkin, I(2594)-Meins, G(2426)

1. h 1. h
(10) Pezerovic, E(2408)-Wacker, P(2299) (12) Perez Ponsa, F(2576)-Alonso, S(2499)
Bad Wiesee Open, 2015.11.06 Aloas Cup, 2015.11.03
1. h 1. h
(11) Lima, D(2522)-Della Morte, G(2421) (13) Laznicka, V(2665)-Jakubowski, K(2564)

Aloas Cup, 2015.11.02 Czech league, 2015.11.08
1. h 1... i
Endgame section 48.Ke4 Kxg5 49.Kxe5 c6! The most natural move is also
the best! Black intends to put his rook on d5, from where it
attacks the c5 pawn and also keeps the white king cut from
his own pawns along the d-file. [It is easy to go wrong with
(14) Sutovsky, Emil (2642)
49...Rd3 50.Rh7 Rxb3? 51.Rg7+! Sending the king another
- Haba, Petr (2488)
line further from the happenings on the queenside. 51...Kh5
52.Rxc7 and the difference between the two kings should
Austian league, GM Csaba Balogh
Best rating: 2672 decide the game on white’s favor. The rook will go to b7 and
2015.11.07
the c-pawn advances with the help of the king.]
50.Rg2+! We have reached the critical position of the game.
Black has three options and surpirsingly only one of them
holds the draw.
The game is approaching quickly towards draw. The bishop

is going to be exchanged soon and only 3 vs 3 pawns remain
on board in the rook endgame. White still has a principle 50...Kh4? This is the worst. [Black should have forseen, that
advantage by having a distant g-passed pawn, which could be the only problem to avoid is the mating net, which occurs
traded to the black’s e-pawn and after this the white king will after the king goes to the h-file. Black needs to put his rook
stand closer to the queenside. to d5 in any case, therefore it would have been really logical
to play 50...Kh5!= with the idea, whenever White plays Kf5,
46.Rh2! The best attempt. White cannot support his g-pawn Rd5 check is coming anyway, occupying the ideal square and
from behind as the black king blockades it perfectly, therefore preventing Rh2 mate in the same time. White cannot do
he switches to the h-file to invade and try to get the c7 anything, the game is drawn.; 50...Kh6 also loses in view of
pawn. [46.Rd2 with the idea of playing e4 is too slow. Black 51.Kf6! Kh5 (51...Rf8+ allows the king to collect the c-pawn
equalizes with 46...Rd5! 47.c6 Rd6=] 52.Ke7 Rf3 53.Kd7 Rxb3 54.Kxc6h and again the black king
46...Bxe3 47.Kxe3 Kg6 The following couple of moves are is too far to take part in the actions on the queenside. White
logical and more or less forced. promotes his pawn with the help of his king.) 52.Rg5+ Kh4
(52...Kh6 is met by 53.Rg6+! Kh5 54.Ke7!h) 53.Ke7! Rd3
54.Rg6 Rxb3 55.Rxc6 Rc3 56.Kd6h with the usual story, (15) Steingrimsson, Hedinn (2566)
that the black king is too far.] - Sargissian, Gabriel (2689)
51.Rg6! White wins now, as the c6 pawn falls.
20th European Teams(1.2),
51...Rd3 [The point is after 51...Rd5+ 2015.11.13 GM Arkadij Naiditsch
Best rating: 2737
Black has most probably completely forgot about 52.Kf4!

and the c5 pawn cannot be taken because the pawn endgame
is lost afterwards. 52...Rxc5 53.Rh6+! Rh5 54.Rxh5+
Kxh5 55.Ke5 Kg5 56.Kd6 Kf6 57.Kxc6 Ke7 58.Kc5 Kd7 This game was played at European Team Chess
59.Kxb4h Black is lacking of a tempo to take the opposition Championship 2015, where each point is important for
with Kb6.] the result of the match, which makes it more valuable than in
individual tournaments.
52.Rxc6 Rxb3 53.Rb6 The rest is easy. The c-pawn promotes
automatically. 51...Ke6 It is hard to say who is better at this moment. White
has strong central pawns that are looking quite dangerous
53...Kg3 54.c6 Kf3 55.c7 Rc3 56.Kd6 Black resigned. and a flexible knight, but on the other hand the white pawns
A good example on, one can relax only after the game have been stopped and Black has an a-pawn that might
has finished, otherwise there could be hidden traps which promote soon...
suddenly changes the outcome. 1-0
52.Ne2 Kxd7 [52...Kd5 is also an interesting opportunity
for Black, where he sacrifices his bishop for the three white
pawns. 53.Nf4+ (53.Nd4 or) 53...Kxc5 54.Ne6+ Kxd6
55.Nxd8 Kxd7 56.Nb7 After this moment White and Black
should be very careful, because it seems like the result of the
game depends on calculation. Black will try to attack the
white knight and to approach the a-pawn, while White should 57...Bf6
not allow Black to queen. 56...Kc6 57.Na5+ Kb5 58.Nb3
Kc4 59.Nd2+ Kb4 (59...Kd3 also makes a draw. 60.Nb3 Kc4
61.Nd2+) 60.Nb1
58.Ne7+? The wrong decision. White starts taking the pawns

and for a while forgets about the dangerous a-pawn. The
right way was to continue running to the queenside. [58.Kd3
60...Kb3 (60...a5 Let us try to move the a-pawn towards the 58...Kxc5 59.Nf4 Kxd6 (59...h4 If black does not want to
desired square on a1. 61.Kh2 a4 62.Kg3 Kb3 63.Kf3 Kc2 give his h-pawn, he will lose another one! 60.Nh5 Bd8
64.Na3+ Kb3 65.Nb1 Kb2 66.Nd2 Kc2 67.Nc4 Kc3 68.Na3 61.Ng7 Kxd6 62.Nxf5+) 60.Nxh5 Be5 61.Kc4 Kc6 62.g3 Kb6
and Black cannot win even when the white king is so far away. 63.Kd5 a4 64.Kc4 and White is fine.]
The knight is a very tricky piece!) 61.Kh2 Finally the white 58...Kxc5 59.Nxf5 Here White had the last chance to fight
king also makes a move, but it does not help to win. 61...Kc2 for a draw, but the variation is already very tricky and hard to
62.Na3+ Kb3 63.Nb1 with a draw.] find. [59.Ng8 59...Bd8 60.Nh6! This very hard to find move
53.Kg1 The white king is running to the queenside, with the still secures the drawish outcome. 60...Kxd6 (60...Bf6 61.Ng8
hope to stop the a-pawn. Bd8 62.Nh6 with a draw.; 60...a4 Now black cannot be on time
53...f5 54.Kf1 Bxh4 55.Nf4 a5 56.Ke2 Kc6 57.Nxg6 with the a-pawn! 61.Kd3 a3 62.Kc2 a2 63.Kb2 White has this
[57.Kd3 is also good to continue the main idea. 57...Kxc5 move, compared to the position when the bishop was on f6.)
58.Nxg6 Bf6 59.d7 Kd6 60.Nf4=] 61.Nxf5+ Kc5 62.Kd3 To achieve a draw all White needs to
do is to exchange his knight for the a-pawn, which would lead
to a theoretically drawn position, but only with the white king
on g2-h1!]
to secure the draw and finally found himself in big trouble to
stop the a-pawn. 0-1
59...a4! 60.d7 [It is too late for 60.Kd3 60...a3 61.Kc2 a2i]
60...a3 61.Nd4 a2 Go, go, go!
62.Nc2 Kd6 63.Kd3 Kxd7 64.Kc4 Ke6 65.Kb3 a1=Q
66.Nxa1 Bxa1 Now the question is if white king can reach the
h1 square on time. If yes it is a draw, if no, then Black will win
easily.
67.Kc2 Kf5 68.Kd3 Kg4 69.Ke2 Kg3 70.Kf1
70...Kh2! and Black is just in time to secure the full point.

71.Kf2 Be5 72.Kf3 Bg3 73.e4 h4 With the first zugzwang
Black is winning the e-pawn.
74.e5 Bxe5 75.Kf2 Bg3+ 76.Kf1 Kh1 and with the second
zugzwang he wins the g2 pawn and the game. We just saw an
interesting endgame where White missed a few opportunies
Golden knowledge. (16) Mikhalchishin, A.-Sveshnikov, Evgeny
How opening novelties were born. USSR , 1978
Part 1
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6
7.e4 dxe4 8.Nxe4 Nxe4 9.Qxe4 e5 10.dxe5 Nxe5?! [My
friend Aleksandr Beliavsky tried against me here 10...Qe7
11.Bf4 Bb4+ 12.Bd2 Bxd2+ 13.Nxd2 Qxe5 14.O-O-O
(An advantage here promised 14.f4 14...Qxe4+ 15.Nxe4
Ke7 16.O-O-O Nf6 17.Ng5 Bg4 18.Re1+ Kf8 19.h3 Bd7
20.Bd3) 14...O-O 15.Bd3! g6 * 16.Qh4 Qf6! 17.Qxf6 Nxf6
18.Ne4 Nxe4 19.Bxe4 Bg4 20.f3 Be6= Mikhalchishin,
GM Adrian Mikhalchishin A-Beliavsky,A/USSR (ch) 34/(516) 1981]
In the good old times Grandmasters were sitting and trying

to find new ideas in the openings for many many hours.
And there were some fantastic discoveries. We can name
Botvinnik, Fischer and Polugaevsky as real gold diggers.
Others like Rubinstein, Smyslov, Spassky were preparing
systems of play rather than precise opening ideas. Then
came the times of computer databases and great players
like Kramnik were going through thousands of games to find
something worth developing. I want to share my great story 11.c5! This is the move which I first found in 1974- now Black
of beating Meran. In 1974 before the Soviet team Cup I was is in trouble.
trying to find something against Meran and saw a few games
of the Yugoslavian Grandmaster Milorad Mnezevic, but could 11...f5? [Vitali Tseshkovsky tried here 11...Bc7 12.Nxe5 Qe7
not understand what he wanted to do in the main line. The 13.f4 f6 14.Bc4 fxe5 15.O-O]
main book at that time was Ludek Pachman’s ’Halboffene 12.Qe2! [12.Qe3? 12...Qa5+ 13.Bd2 Qxc5 14.Qxc5
Spiele’ and it gave a clear refutation of it. But suddenly I found Nxf3+i]
an incredible queen sacrifice! Developing it was not difficult
and I started to wait for a victim. The main practitioner of 12...Qa5+ [12...O-O 13.cxd6 Nxf3+ 14.Qxf3h]
the Meran was Grandmaster Sveshnikov, but it was only in the 13.Bd2 Qxc5 14.Bc3h Be6 15.Nxe5 O-O-O 16.Qe3
1978 Soviet Championship that I got the chance to play it... [16.f4! #C5 #CAf2, g3]
16...Qxe3+ 17.fxe3 Rhe8 18.Nf3?! [18.Kf2?! ] 43.Ra1!]
18...Bc5 [18...Bd5 19.Kf2h] 42.Ne4+ Kc7! [42...Ke5 43.Nd2! Be6 44.Rc3c]
19.Bd4 [I did not like 19.Kf2 19...f4 20.Bd4 fxe3+ 21.Bxe3 43.Ra1 Re5 44.Rc1 b5 45.Kf4 [45.Rc5!? 45...Re7 46.g5+=]
Bxe3+ 22.Kxe3 Bxa2+ 23.Kf2 Bd5 24.Rxa7 Kb8 25.Ra4 45...Rd5 46.Bc2 Bxc2 47.Rxc2 Kb6 48.Ke3 b4 49.Rd2?
Bxf3 26.Kxf3 Rd1 27.Rf4 Ree1 28.Kg3 Ka7] [49.Rf2! ]
19...Bxd4 20.Nxd4 [20.exd4 20...Bd5+ 21.Ne5 Bxa2 49...Kb5 50.Rd4 Now Sveshnikov found a precise way to
22.Rxa2 Rxd4n] draw: [50.Rxd5+ 50...cxd5 51.Nd2 a3 52.Kd4 Ka4!=]
20...f4 [20...Bxa2 21.Nxf5h]
50...a3! [50...Rxd4 51.Kxd4 a3 52.Nd6+! Ka4 53.bxa3 bxa3

21.O-O-O? Here the best winning chance was [21.Nxe6 54.Kc3c]
21...Rxe6 22.Be2 Rxe3 23.Rd1 Rde8 24.Rd2] 51.bxa3 Rxd4 52.Kxd4 bxa3 53.Kc3 a2 54.Kb2 Kc4
21...Bxa2 22.exf4 Re4 23.Ne2?! [23.Nf3 ] 55.Nd6+ Kd5 56.Nf5 Ke5 57.Nxg7 Kf4 58.h3 Kg3
59.Nf5+ Kxh3 60.Nxh6 Kh4 61.Kxa2 Kg5 A slightly tragic
23...Rc4+ 24.Nc3 Rxd1+ 25.Kxd1 Bb3+ 26.Ke1 Rxf4 result at the end. 1/2-1/2
27.Bd3 h6 28.Ke2 Kc7 29.Rf1 Rd4 30.Ke3 Rd8 31.Ne2
[31.Ra1 ]
31...a5 32.Ra1 [32.Nd4 32...Bd5 33.g4 b5 and then b4,
a4-a3.]
32...Kb6 33.g4 Re8+! 34.Kd2 Rf8 35.Ke3 Re8+ 36.Be4
a4 37.Nc3 Ra8 [37...Ka5 38.Nxa4! Bxa4 39.b3h]
38.Kd4 Kc7 39.Ke3? [39.Bf3! ]
39...Kd6 40.Ra3 Ra6 41.Bd3 Ra5 [41...b5 42.Ne4+ Kd5
(17) Mikhalchishin, A.-Flear, Glenn C
Mexico , 1980
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6

7.e4 dxe4 8.Nxe4 Nxe4 9.Qxe4 e5? 10.dxe5 O-O 11.exd6!
N
11...Re8 12.Qxe8+ Qxe8+ 13.Be3
19.f5! b6 [19...Bxf5 20.Bg5 Qe6 21.Bxf5 Qxf5 22.d7h]

20.Bc2 Qh4 21.Kb1 c5 [21...Qxc4 22.fxg6 hxg6 23.Rxg6+!
fxg6 24.Bb3h]
22.Bg5 Qxf2 23.fxg6 hxg6 24.Rdf1 Qd4 25.Be7 a5 26.h4
Bg4 27.Bf6 Qxc4 28.h5?! [28.d7 28...Bxd7 29.h5h]
28...gxh5? [28...Be2 29.Rf2 Bxh5 30.Rd2 Qf4 31.Bg5c]
29.d7 Qxf1+ [29...Qd5 30.Rd1h]
13...Ne5 [Just ten days later another top game was played.
30.Rxf1 Bxd7 31.Bd1h Bg4? 32.Bxg4 hxg4 33.Rh1 1-0
A few other players had found this queen sacrifice. Mark
Dvorecky told me that they found this idea with Artur Yusupov
a year before this game! 13...Nf6 14.O-O-O Be6 15.Bd3
Rd8 16.b3 Bg4 17.Bf4 Bxf3 18.gxf3 Nh5 19.Rhe1 Qxe1 (18) Mikhalchishin, A.-Pavasovic, Dusko
20.Rxe1 Nxf4 21.Rd1 c5 22.a3 g6 23.Be4 b6 24.b4 f5 25.Bc6
Ne2+ 26.Kb2 Nd4 27.Rxd4 cxd4 28.c5 bxc5 29.bxc5 Rb8+ Nova Gorica 78/423, 2000
30.Kc2 Kf7 31.Bd5+ Ke8 32.c6 Rb5 33.c7 Rc5+ 34.Kd3 Kd7
35.Bb7 1-0 Dorfman,J (2540)-Sveshnikov,E (2570)/Tashkent My pupil GM Dusko Pavasovic tried to refute my sacrifice a few
1980/MCL ] years later:
14.O-O-O Nxf3 [14...Ng4 15.Bd3 Nxe3 16.Rhe1h] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e3 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6
15.gxf3 Bd7 16.Bd3 [16.h4!? ] 7.e4 Nxe4 8.Nxe4 dxe4 9.Qxe4 e5 10.dxe5 O-O 11.exd6
Re8 12.Qxe8+ Qxe8+ 13.Be3 b5!? N is the most logical try.
16...Qe5 17.Rhg1 g6 18.f4 Qf6 [18...Qh5 19.f5! Bxf5 20.Rg5
Qxd1+ 21.Kxd1 Bxd3 22.Re5! Bxc4 23.Bg5 Be6 24.Rxe6 fxe6 14.O-O-O [14.cxb5? 14...Bb7 15.O-O-O Rc8V; 14.Rb1!? ]
25.d7h] 14...Nf6 [14...Nb6 15.c5 Nd5 16.Bd2c]
15.Bd4 [15.Bd3 15...Be6 16.c5 Bxa2 17.Rhe1 Qd8 18.Bd4 21.Nb3! Qd8 22.Bc4 Be4+ 23.Ka1 Qd7 24.f3 Bf5 25.Nd4
Qa5k; 15.Kb1 15...Be6 16.c5 Nd5 17.Bd2 Bf5+ 18.Ka1 Qe4] Re8 26.Rhe1 Re5 27.Rxe5 fxe5 28.Nxf5 Qxf5 29.Rd1 Qd7
15...Be6 16.Bxf6!? [16.c5!? 16...Bxa2 17.Bd3 with Bhe1 30.Bb5! 1-0
next.]
16...gxf6 17.c5 b4? [17...Bxa2 18.Bd3 Bd5 19.Rhe1 Qd8
20.Be4!c] (19) Karpov, Anatoly(2705)-Kasparov, Garry
World Championship 31th-KK1, 1984
I was in Anatoly Karpov’s team during his first two matches

against Garry Kasparov. When Kasparov’s favorite Tarrasch
defence failed, he started with the Meran. We spent three days
with Karpov preparing my line, but Garry was ready with an
absolute new idea.
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6
18.Kb1! [18.Bd3 18...Bxa2 19.Rhe1 Qd8 20.Nd4 Qa5k] 7.e4
18...Qd8 [18...b3 19.a3 Bf5+ 20.Bd3 Bxd3+ 21.Rxd3 Qe4

22.Rd1c]
19.Nd4 Bd5
7...e5! Can you imagine- a novelty on move 7 in the World

Championship match!
8.cxd5 cxd5 9.exd5 exd4 [Later I found some chances to fight
for an advantage, but did not succeed: 9...O-O 10.Bg5 exd4
20.Rc1! c Preparing Bc4, exchanging Black’s only strong 11.Nxd4 Nb6 12.O-O-O Bb4 13.Kb1 Bxc3 14.Qxc3 Nbxd5
piece. 15.Qb3 Qa5 16.Qb5 Qxb5 17.Bxb5 a6 18.Bc4 Re8 19.Rc1 h6
20...Qa5 [20...Qd7 21.Bd3c] 20.Bd2 Re4 21.Nf3 Re7 22.Rhd1 Bf5+ 23.Ka1 Nb6 24.Bf1
Rd8 25.Ba5 Rxd1 26.Rxd1 Nbd5 27.Nd4 Bd7 28.Bc4 b6
29.Be1 a5 30.a3 Bg4 31.Rc1 Rc7 32.Bd2 Bd7 33.f3 Rc8 34.b3
Kf8 35.Kb2 Ke7 36.g4 Kd6 37.Be1 Ke7 38.Bg3 Kf8 39.h4
Ne3 40.Bd6+ Kg8 41.Ba6 Rxc1 42.Kxc1 h5 43.Kd2 Ned5
44.g5 Ne8 1/2 Mikhalchishin,A (2512)-Mikac,M (2358)/Celje
2004/ CBM 103 ext]
10.Nxd4 O-O 11.Be2 Nb6 12.O-O [The pawn cannot be
protected. 12.Bf3 12...Be5]
12...Nbxd5 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.Rd1 Qe7 15.Bf3 Re8 16.g3
Bh3 17.Bd2 Bc5 18.Bxd5 Bxd4 19.Bc3 Bxc3 20.Qxc3
1/2-1/2
Chess and the City. of luck, succeeded in securing an important 2,5-1,5 victory.
Favorites this year (as well as last year, and the year before
Icy Iceland and...well you got it) are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, England,
France, Russia and Ukraine in the men competition. Among
us ladies, the odds favor Georgia, Russia and Ukraine. The gap
in the women section is rather high, and many think that the
main question is not who will take the medals but in which
order they will be taken!
Last but not least, some may wonder about the forfeit on
board one in the match of Ukraine versus England today.
Best rating: 2493
The reason is simple. The current world champion Marya
Muzychuk and her elder sister just missed their connection
Today the European Team Championship started in flight in Frankfurt. And, for a change, this is not related to
Reykjavik, Iceland. For most of those coming from European the Lufthansa strikes, but to a rather risky choice of flight
cities the first feeling was, rather unsurprisingly, a freezing connections, which backfired due to a delayed departure of
cold. A good reminder for many us of our careless choice the first flight from Lvov, Ukraine.
of baggage packing. But, a good German is able to plan
Today being the first round, the heavyweights did not face
for surprises as well, and I have thus quickly taken note of
each other yet, so I will postpone the choice of a game to show
avoiding mountain climbing and sightseeing trips. Moreover,
you to the next newsletter.
I won’t be joined by my husband for this tournament, thus
avoiding the heartbreaking sight of his freezing southern face Greetings from Iceland!
genuinely surprised that people can survive so far from the
Equator.
As I may have already mentioned my team this year is likely to
be one of the youngest team ever, an implicit reminder that I
may slowly be approaching retirement age. I can, however,
still cling to the idea of being only the second oldest (better
said as less young) in my team. Unfortunately, our youthful
enthusiasm was not enough today, when we faced the team
of Montenegro in the first round and could not do better than
a draw.
As for the German men team, they were also in trouble today
versus our Swiss cousins, but eventually, perhaps with a bit The German women’s team (picture by Fiona Steil-Antoni)
(20) Mitrofanov (21) Giri, A(2778)-So, W(2767)
1. h Bilbao playoff (blitz), 2015.11.01
39.Nxf5? [39.Bg8+!! 39...Qxg8 (39...Kh8 40.Ng6+ Kxg8

41.Nxf8h) 40.Nxg8h]
39...Nxg2! 40.Kxg2 Qxf5 41.Bc2+=
(22) Karpov, A(2628)-Fressinet, L(2702)
Cap’d Agde (rapid), 2015.10.28
18...Nxf2! [18...Qb6! 19.Qxc4 Qxf2+ 20.Kh1 Qxb2i]

19.Kxf2 Qb6+! 0-1 [19...Qb6+ 20.Kf1 Rxb4i]
(23) Wang Yu(2726)-Liu Guanch(2379) (25) Larrea, M(2311)-Peralta, F(2563)
Chinese league, 2015.10.28 Iberoamerican Championship, 2015.10.27
18.Rxh7! Rxh7 19.Qg8+ Ke7 20.Qxh7+ Kd6 21.Rxb7h 32...Rxg3! 33.Nxe6 [33.Bxg3 33...Qxg3+ 34.Kh1 Qxh3+
1-0 35.Qh2 Qf3+i]
(24) Bachmann, A(2593)-Medarde Santiago, L(2324) 33...Rxh3+! 0-1 [33...Rxh3+ 34.Kxh3 Qg4+ 35.Kh2 Qh4#]
Iberoamerican Championship, 2015.10.27 (26) Bachmann, A(2593)-Rodriguez Fontecha, M(2309)

Iberoamerican Championship, 2015.10.28
30.Nb8! Rxc5 [30...Rxb8 31.Bxb8c]

19.Ng6! fxg6 [19...Rd8 20.Bxd6 Rxd6 21.Ne7+h; 19...Bxf4
31.dxc5 Ra7 32.Nxa6 Rxa6 33.c6 1-0 [33.c6 33...Ra2 34.c7 20.Ne7+ Kh8 21.Nxc8h]
Rc2 35.Bb7h]
20.Bxd6 Rf7 [20...Rd8 21.Be7 Rd7 22.Bxf6 gxf6
23.Qxg6+h] 21.Qxg6h
(27) Del Rio Angelis, S(2512)-Rodriguez Fontecha, M(2309) (29) Alekseenko, K(2539)-Kaczur, F(2376)
Iberoamerican Championship, 2015.10.31 World Youth Boys U18, 2015.11.01
26.Qxe7+! 1-0 [26.Qxe7+ 26...Kxe7 27.Rb7+ Kf8 28.e7+h] 25.Qg4! Qxf2+ [25...Qxg4 26.Rxd8+h]
(28) Das, A(2467)-Shabalov, A(2522) 26.Rg2 Qxg2+ [26...Qf6 27.Rxd8+ Qxd8 28.Qxg7#]
Hoogeveen Open, 2015.10.24 27.Kxg2 1-0
(30) Sanal, V(2501)-Vavulin, M(2441)
45...Nxg3+! 46.hxg3 Rf2+! [46...Rxf1+ 47.Kh2k]

47.Kg1 Rg2+ 48.Kh1 Rd2+ 0-1 [48...Rd2+ 49.Kg1 h2#]
26.Qg4+! Kf8 27.Bh7!h
(31) Comay
1.Bd5+! Bb7 2.Bxb7+! Kb8 3.exf7 Rxf7 4.Rf3!! Rxb7

5.Rf8#
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
The European Chess Championship in Reykjavik is over, so let
us draw some conclusions:
Editorial Preface 2 About the organization:
All in all it was a disappointment. The playing hall was OK, but
Two best games of the past week 5 the rest could have been better. There was no real opening
ceremony - which is quite unusual for such a big event - and
Puzzle section 13 the closing ceremony was also nothing special. There were
almost no anti-cheating measures, which is a big topic in top
Endgame section 16 events right now.
About the winners:
Golden knowledge. In the open section Russia basically killed the event and
Novelties which are born during the game 21 secured tournament victory with a 2-2 draw against Hungary
in the last match. So the Russian team scored a total of 15/18
Chess and the City. 26 points (with 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw). Armenia
came 2nd with a very lucky finish and the same goes for the
Surprise section / study 27 team of Hungary who came 3rd, also with 13 points. France
also finished on 13 points, but came in 4th and was thus left
Solutions 28 without a medal. This was actually a pity because they fought
well and played against the strongest teams, but somehow
the tiebreak put them on the 4th position. Clearly the French
deserved more...
In the women’s section we saw more or less the same picture,
with the Russian ladies totally dominating the event and
finishing in a totally deserved 1st place with a fantastic score
of 17/18 points (they only made one draw against Ukraine).
Ukraine came 2nd with 15/18 and Georgia 3rd with 14/18.
Some good news was that your two main commentators
played very well: Arkadij Naiditsch took 2nd place on board
3and Csaba Balogh 3rd place on board 5.
We hope you will enjoy the nice games from this strong event!

- Aronian, Levon (2781) [C65]
20th European Teams(3.6), GM Csaba Balogh

2015.11.15 Best rating: 2672
10.Bb3 White improves his bishop with a useful waiting

Levon Aronian crushes the World Champion in a brilliant
move and also prepares to play Nc4, when after Bc7 Black is
game, which brought the victory for Armenia against Norway.
threatening with b5 fork. [Before Black has not castled yet
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 The game starts with the usual 10.Bg5 is risky because of an early attack with 10...h6 11.Bh4
Berlin defense. We already cannot be surprised if a top level g5! 12.Bg3 h5!]
game sees this opening.
10...a5 Black prepares to retreat this bishop on the g1-a7
4.d3 Carlsen prefers to play a complex middlegame today diagonal and he also delays castling to avoid Bg5. This
instead of allowing the Berlin endgame. deep idea has been already played earlier this year in a
4...Bc5 5.O-O Nd4 6.Nxd4 Bxd4 7.c3 Bb6 8.Na3 This Karjakin-Caruana game.
move became popular since Topalov has reached an 11.Nc4 Ba7 12.a4 This is the novelty. Yet another useful
advantage against Andreikin last year, but of course theory waiting move. White fixes the a5 pawn and prevents the b5-a4
develops very quickly and Aronian was very well prepared ideas. [Karjakin played 12.Bg5 but then again, Black was fine
against it. after the standard attack with 12...h6 13.Bh4 g5 14.Bg3 h5]
8...c6 9.Ba4 d6 [The main idea of the 8.Na3 move can be 12...O-O 13.Bg5 White finally develops his bishop.
seen in the following line. If Black plays some inaccurate
13...h6 14.Bxf6?! Too greedy decision. The World Champion
moves like 9...O-O 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 d6 12.Nc4 Bc7 13.Ne3
goes for the poisened pawn. [The game should have
followed by Qf3 with some advantage because of the pin on
continued with 14.Bh4 14...g5 15.Bg3 Bg4 16.Qd2 Nh5
the h4-d8 diagonal. If Black unpins himself with g5, then the
17.Ne3 Be6 This kind of positions are quite common in the
knight would get an excellent outpost on f5.]
Spanish. Black either goes Nf4 or rather retreats to Ng7 to
neutralize the f5 hole and maybe push f5 himself at some
point. The position remains playable for both sides.]
14...Qxf6 15.Nxa5 Black cannot restore the material 19.Rad1 Bg4i wins.; 18.Qc1 avoids the Qg5 ideas, but it has
balance with Bxf2 because after Rxf2 the queen is hanging, another drawback of 18...Bg4! and it is not easy to deal with
but Aronian had a much deeper plan to create long term the simple threat of Be2!]
compensation... 18...Qg5! Black is threatening with Bh3 and also intends to
invade with his rook to the second rank.
19.Kh1 White had no other choice to prevent Bh3.
19...Rd2! All the active moves are coming with tempo. It is
clear, that Black’s compensation for the pawn is much more
than enough.
20.Bd1 Another ugly move, but at least White preserves his
only trumph in his position, the extra pawn! [On 20.Bb3 Black
could simple win back the pawn 20...Rxb2e and keeping all
15...d5! Black opens the position for his bishop pair and cuts his advantages.]
the way back of the a5 knight towards his camp. Black is 20...Be6! Developing and threatening with Rxb2, which was
simple threatening to win a piece with b6 or Bb6. not possible right away because of Nc4 suddenly traps the
16.Bc2 Vacating the b3 square for the knight. [The tactical rook.
justification of the entire idea is 16.exd5 16...cxd5 17.Bxd5 21.b4 Carlsen still tries to save his extra pawn, but it gives
Qd8! this pretty retreat creates a decisive double attack. more time for Black to further activate his pieces. He does not
18.Bxb7 Bxb7 19.Nxb7 Qc7e traps the knight.] even have tricks like f4, trying to cut the queen from the d2
16...dxe4! Following the principles by further opening the rook because of the mate on g2.
game. 21...Rad8! Just great play by Black! Aronian has excellent
17.dxe4 Rd8 18.Qe1 A very sad move to make, but White had feelings for finding active counterplay for the material.
nothing better. [18.Qe2 seemed to be the most natural, but it 22.Nxb7 White grabs another pawn and tries to close the
also strongly met by 18...Qg5! threatening with Rd2 and Bg4 a7 bishop with Nc5. [22.Bb3 The following beautiful lines
sending away the queen followed by Bf3 or Bh3. The main demonstrate well the power of the black pieces.
problem of White is that he cannot play f3 because of the a7
bishop. If his king was on h1, he could play Rad1 and answer
Bg4 with f3 would consolidate his extra pawn. However this
missing one tempo turns out to be decisive.
22...Bh3!! 23.gxh3 Qf4! An unexpected blow followed by a 22...Bc4!! After building up his position Aronian continues
subtle silent move! Black is threatening with Qf3 Kg1 R8d6 the game with perfect calculation! Black uses his moment,
and mate on g6. 24.Bd1 (24.Nc4 24...R8d3! and the only move otherwise after White puts his knight on c5 he can already
to avoid mate is 25.Qxd2! Rxd2 26.Nxd2 Qxd2i but Black move his rook to g1 after Bc4.
soon takes all the pawns. A nice example when the queen 23.Nxd8 Bxf1 24.Qxf1 [24.Bf3 loses to 24...Rxf2i]
dominates the two rooks.) 24...R8d3! 25.Kg2
24...Rxf2 25.Qg1 White is a piece up, but it is easy to feel that
something must work for Black. All his pieces are standing
actively, while the white ones are standing discoordinatedly
at the rim of the board. However Black has only one winning
move!
Black wins after 25...Rxd1! 26.Rxd1 Qf3+ 27.Kg1 Rxd1!

28.Qxd1 Bxf2+! 29.Rxf2 Qxd1+i]
25...Ra2! Only this discovered attack on the queen wins

material! [White’s defensive resource was 25...Rd2? 26.Nxf7!
counterattacking the queen and the a7 bishop is hanging with
check.]
26.Rxa2 Only move! [26.Qxa7 26...Qxg2#; 26.Nxf7 32.Ke3 Qa3+! A subtle check to drive the king to wrong
26...Bxg1 27.Nxg5 Rxa1i] square. The point becomes clear in a few moves. [32...Qxg2
26...Bxg1 27.Kxg1 allows the pawns to run 33.a5 White reaches the a6 square as
it is indirectly protected by Ne7.]
33.Kf2 Qxa4 34.Nxe5 Qc2+! [Black could have also gun
for 34...Qxb4 35.Rd8+ Kh7 White cannot save his e4 pawn,
although he retains some practical drawing chances. 36.Nf3
Qxe4]
35.Kf3
27...Qc1! Another great decision! Black had a choice to take

both minor pieces. Aronian rightly goes for the bishop, which
could have held the white position much better together.
[27...Qxd8 28.Be2 followed by advancing the a-pawn, I don’t
believe that Black could have realistic winning chances,
despite that the computer disagrees me.]
28.Kf2 Qxd1 29.Nxc6 Qb3! Black starts to collect the 35...f5!! Very nice, that Black could have taken both b4 and e4
pawns. At first sight, this connected passed pawns might look pawns, but instead he prefers to trade one of his pawns. Black
dangerous, however the white pieces cannot support them is actually uses the disharmony between the white pieces. All
properly, the queen has full control over the board. are standing in different kind of geometrical motifs. White is
simple unable to save his g2 pawn, which is more important
30.Rd2 [If White tries to defend passively with 30.Re2
than the b4, because then it will be much easier to create a
30...Qxc3 31.b5 Black plays 31...Kf8i avoiding Ne7 check,
passed pawn.
followed by f6, protecting the e5 pawn and then Black goes for
the a4 pawn with Qc4. White cannot push any of his pawns, 36.Rd3 [36.Rd4? loses a piece after 36...Qc3+ 37.Rd3
as a5 drops the b5 after Qc5, he is lacking of an active plan.] Qxe5i; 36.Nd3 36...fxe4+ 37.Kxe4 Qxg2+i the h2 also
falls.; 36.exf5 36...Qxf5+i]
30...Qxc3 31.Rd6 Qb2+ [Black could have eliminated the
queenside pawns with 31...Qc2+ 32.Ke3 Qxa4 33.Nxe5 36...fxe4+ 37.Kxe4 Qxg2+ 38.Nf3 Qg4+ 39.Ke3 g5! Black
Qxb4 Losing the e5 pawn would significantly improve White’s could have again taken the b4 pawn, but Aronian knows that
chances for a succesful fortress 34.Rd8+ Kh7 35.Nf3 The it is not running away. He rather creates the threat of Qf4
game should most probably end in a draw.] followed by g4, which wins the h2 pawn.
40.Kf2 [40.b5 40...Qf4+ 41.Ke2 g4i]
(2) Naiditsch, Arkadij (2689)
40...Qf5 41.Rd8+ Kg7 42.Kg2 g4 43.Nd2 Qe6! 44.Nf1
- Esen, Baris (2565) [B91]
This loses on the spot, but the game was over anyway. White
is simple unable to coordinate his pieces. [For instance
44.Rd4 loses to 44...Qe2+ 45.Kh1 h5i followed by simple GM Arkadij Naiditsch
2015.11.16
advancing the pawn to h3 and giving mate.] Best rating: 2737
44...Qc6+! White resigned because he loses his rook next
move either after Qb6 or Qc7 check depending on where
The European Team Championship was my first participation
the king goes. Just a perfect game by Aronian and a very
for the team of Azerbaijan. I played on the 1st board for
unpleasant defeat by Carlsen. 0-1
Germany for over 10 years and of course I wanted to do well
for my new team. Right out of the opening I managed to get
a decent advantage with a nice positional idea, which led to
easy play for White on the kingside, where Black needed to be
very careful. My opponent seemed to clearly underestimate
how dangerous things could become and finally gave me the
opportunity for a very nice mating combination
1.e4 c5 Usually the Turkish players are well prepared, but their
opening repertoire is pretty much the same, so before the
game I knew that in case I went for the main Sicilian, it would
most probably be a Najdorf.
2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 and indeed, it is
the Najdorf.
6.g3 I recently added this calm but tricky system with 6.g3 to
my repertoire. Usually I played the more sharp and direct 6.
Bg5, followed by f4.
6...g6 This is clearly not the main move, but Esen is just
repeating my game against Sebag, where I got no advantage
out of the opening with White. [6...e5 7.Nb3 would lead to the
main lines.]
7.Bg2 Bg7 8.O-O O-O We have a sort of Sheveningen with
g3-Bg2 but now Black has already played the a6 move, which c4. 14.Bd4! A strong reply! Now White’s idea is to play b3
just cannot be so good. The usual idea of black is Nc6-Bd7 and next, blocking the movement of the knight on a5 and there is
Rc8 where a6 is not really needed. also no reason to be afraid of Black’s play on the c-file, since
9.h3 I wanted to play Be3 next, so I needed to prevent Ng4. the simple Rc1 would protect the pawn, followed by Qd2 and
Rfe1 with a slightly better position for White.]
9...Nc6 10.Be3 Bd7 So far the game is very logical and of
course I had this position in my preparation. 14.Nd4 Preventing Bb5. Now the black knight has no squares
to go to from b8.
14...a5 the knight is going over a6 in the game, but all this is
very slow.
15.Qd2 Re8 The e7 pawn has to be protected anyway in the
near future and maybe I wanted to play Bh6 at some point.
16.Rfe1 My play is simple, I just bring the pieces into the game.
16...Na6 17.Re2 To double on the e-file can’t be wrong.
17...b5 Black seems not to care too much about my actions,
11.Nde2!? This is almost a novelty and a very cunning move. which is a bit strange. It was really time to think about how to
The position is very complex and not easy to understand, but stop White’s play, maybe with the e6 push at some point?!
to put it simply: White’s basic idea is to play Nd5 next and 18.Rae1 b4 It is finally time for some direct actions!
hope for Nxd5 exd5, after which the e7 pawn is becoming a
long term target. It is also useful not to exchage all the knights
as the knight on c6 could get in trouble after exd5 in case Nxd4
is not possible (which is why 11.Nde2 was played).
11...Rc8 Again Black chooses the most natural move.
12.Nd5 Now White’s idea becomes visible. I want to play Bb6
or Nb6 next. We can also see the weakness on b6 and why the
version of the variation with a6 is clearly in favor of White.
12...Nxd5 [12...e6 13.Nb6 and I am winning the d6 pawn
next.] 19.Bg5! The pawn on e7 is in big trouble!
13.exd5 Nb8? This move is just a big mistake. What was very 19...Qb6 What else to do?! [After 19...Be5 I wanted to
strange was that my opponent played it instantly... [Black continue with the simple 20.f4 Bxd4+ 21.Qxd4 f6 22.Bh6 and
should have continued with 13...Na5 The knight is going to Black’s position is very dangerous. White’s plan is simple, to
push on the e-file and maybe to play g4-g5 next or even h4-h5, a draw: 24...Nb4 25.Nd8+ But now Black has the g7 square for
with big pressure.] the escape of his king in comparison to the game. 25...Nxd5
20.c3 Protecting the knight on d4. [For some time I was 26.Bxd5+ Kf8 27.Rxe8+ Bxe8
calculating 20.Nc6 20...Bxc6 21.dxc6 Now Black has to
continue with 21...e6 22.Qxd6 Bxb2 and I was not that sure
about the evaluation of this position. I thought I should be
better with the very strong pawn on c6, but Black is solid as
well, so of course 20.c3 looks much simpler.]
20...e5? This move just loses by force. [Before doing
something, Black should have taken on c3 in any case.
20...bxc3 21.bxc3 e5 (In case of 21...Be5
28.Bh6+ Bg7 29.Ne6+ Kg8 30.Nd8+ Kf8 31.Ne6+ and this

forced line just leads to a draw.) 24...Bxd2 25.Rxe8+ Bxe8
26.Rxe8+ Kg7 27.Re7+ The black king is fighting alone
against all the white pieces. 27...Kf8 28.Ne6+ Kg8 29.Rg7+
Kh8 30.Bf6 But here as well Black finds a way to continue the
fight with 30...Qb1+ 31.Bf1
22.Kh2! Preparing the f4 push. (It is too early for 22.f4

22...Bxd4+ 23.cxd4 f6 and now the direct win of the pawn on
e7 doesn’t work: 24.Rxe7 fxg5 25.Rxd7 Rxe1+ 26.Qxe1 Qxd4+
27.Kh2 and here comes the saving move: 27...Nc5! Attacking
the rook on d7 and protecting the e6 square at the same time.
28.Rxd6 gxf4 with a very unclear position.) 22...Nc7 23.f4 and
White is clearly much better.) 22.dxe6 fxe6 and now I would
have to decide what to do next, to choose a forced line or play
the simple 23.Nxe6 which leads to crazy complications, for 31...Bc3 32.Rb7+ Bxf6 33.Rxb1 Nc5 White is a bit better, but
which I would probably not have gone. (23.Bh6 is the move I the position is objectively close to a draw. Why do all beautiful
liked the most. White is better.) 23...Bxc3 24.Nd8! A beautiful lines always end up in nothing?! :)]
move with similar motifs as in the game. (24.Qd5 just leads to 21.dxe6 fxe6 22.Nxe6 Now I am just winning!
22...bxc3 23.Qd5! This is the key. White does not need to was 11.Nde2!?, which put the strategic direction for White’s
take on c3. play during the next moves! 1-0
23...Nb4 There is already nothing else to play...
24.Nd8+! My opponent probably blundered this idea when

playing 20...e5.
24...Nxd5 25.Rxe8+ The black king is in a mating net!
25...Bf8 [25...Bxe8 also leads to mate: 26.Bxd5+ Bf7
27.Bxf7+ Kf8 28.Re8#]
26.Bxd5+ There are too many white pieces around the black
king.
26...Kg7 27.R1e7+ Bxe7
28.Rg8# A beautiful end to a nice game, but the key to victory
Puzzle section
(3) Tomashevsky, E(2743)-Ipatov, A(2624) (5) Rapport, R(2693)-Svetushkin, D(2585)
European Team Championship, 2015.11.13 European Team Championship, 2015.11.13
1. h 1. h
(4) Ivanchuk, V(2720)-Lupulescu, C(2631) (6) Wojtaszek, R(2748)-Ragger, M(2688)

1. h 1... i
(7) Kovalenko, I(2694)-Agopov, M(2452) (9) Kveinys, A(2510)-Ivanisevic, I(2662)
1... i 1. h
(8) Kantans, T(2514)-Nyysti, S(2353) (10) Melkumyan, H(2632)-Urkedal, F(2505)

1... i 1. h
(11) Ragger, M(2688)-Grandelius, N(2644)
European Team Championship, 2015.11.15
1... i
(12) Grigoryan, K(2616)-Jones, G(2615)

1... i
Endgame section 55...g4! This is the right way to go on. Black needs to open
the position to activate the bishop pair.
56.hxg4 fxg4 57.fxg4 White of course needs to try and
(13) Aronian, Levon (2781) exchange as many pawns as possible.
57...Bg5! Another great and deep move by black! [57...Bd5?
58.Kxd3 Bxe3 59.Kxe3 Bxg2 60.Kf4 of course leads to an
immediate draw.]
Best rating: 2737 58.Ke1 It seems like White is in sort some of zugzwang and
needs to move the king from d2.
58...Bb3 59.Kd2 Bc4 60.Ke1 Bd5 This is the key! Black
is attacking the g2 pawn and asking why to calculate very
carefully the complications after Nxd5.
The current game decided the outcome of the match

Armenia-France in favour of "Les Bleus". After the opening
Maxime managed to equalize and slowly even outplayed his
opponent, but Aronian was defending very well and it seemed 61.Kf2?! A mistake... [61.Nxd5 was leading to a draw.
to be very hard for Black to create some real threat in the 61...Kxd5 62.Kd1 It seems like White can’t do anything
current position. Anyhow, Black was being very inventive and against Black collecting the a3 pawn and later on winning the
again and again put new small problems in front of White. game, but in fact there is a defense. 62...Kc4 63.Ke1 Kb3
Being under pressure, Aronian thought he found a nice way 64.Kd1 Kxa3
to force a draw, but he missed a nice trick and the game was
over...
75...Ba4 So the black bishop is out at least.
76.Nd2 Kf5 77.Nf3 Bg3
65.Bf2! Kb3 66.Be1 followed by Bd2 next, with a draw.]

61...d2 62.Nd1 Bb3 Maybe not the best, even if it is a good
move. [62...Bf4 seems to be very strong, followed by Kf7-Kg6 78.Be1? A mistake which is based on a miscalculation
and Kg5, winning the g4 pawn. ] which costs the game. [78.Ke3 and although White needs to
63.Ke2 Bc4+ 64.Kf2 Bb3 65.Ke2 Kf7 Not the best move continue defending very carefully, the game should end in a
again... [Better was 65...Kd5 66.Bg7 Ke4 67.Nf2+ Kf4 draw.]
68.Kxd2 Kg3+ 69.Ke2 Bc4+ 70.Ke1 Kxg2 and Black is 78...Kg4 Of course!
simply winning.]
79.Bxg3 Kxg3 80.Kd2 Aronian is thinking that the position
66.Nb2 Kg6?! and this is a real mistake. Black is not careful is a draw, and soon we will see why!
! [66...Bd5 was the right way to go on...]
80...Bc6 81.Nxh4 Kxh4 82.Kc3 It seems like all White
67.c4!! A fantastic resource that came out of nowhere! needs to do is to get rid of the c4 pawn and get the king back
67...bxc4 68.Bc3 Not only is the d2 pawn falling now, but the to a1.
bishop on b3 is also out of play now.
68...Bf4 69.Bxd2 Kg5 Black is trying his best...
70.Nd1 Kxg4 71.Ne3+ But now the position is already much
closer to a draw than to a win for Black. The d-pawn is just
gone. ..
71...Kh5 72.Nd5 Be5 73.Bc3 Bh2 Black’s idea is to get the
king to g3, but White is easily fighting against it.
74.Nf6+ Kg6 75.Ne4 [75.Nd7 gives Black almost no chance
to go on.] 82...Bb5!! The winning move! It is obvious that Aronian
thought he is drawing the position after 83.a4 and of course
it would be a draw after 83... Bxa4 84.Kxc4, but Black can (14) Leko, Peter (2708)
just play 83. ..Kxg3 and after 84. axb5 axb5 he gets an - Ivanchuk, Vassily (2720)
easily winning pawn endgame. So both players missed some
chances and in the end it was White who made the last European Teams, GM Csaba Balogh
2015.11.17 Best rating: 2672
mistake. 0-1
The rook endgame would be naturally a dead draw with 5

vs 5 pawns, but White has the option to enter into a very
interesting pawn endgame.
29.Rc2! Rxc2 30.Kxc2 The material is balanced, but White
has the principal advantage because of the possibility of
creating a distant passed pawn with b3-a4, which is a decisive
factor is many pawn endgames.
30...c5 31.a3! White must pay attention on some technical
details while creating the passed pawn. [31.b3 allows Black
to fix the queenside with 31...b4 32.Kd3 Kd6 33.Kc4 Kc6
and White d oes not reach anything by setting Black into
zugzwang, because the e6 pawn controls the d5 square,
therefore Black can simple move Kb6-c6. 34.f4 h5 35.h3 Kb6
36.g4 hxg4 37.hxg4 Kc6=]
31...Kd6 [Black has no time to fix the queenside now
with 31...c4? 32.Kc3 Kd6 33.Kb4 Kc6 34.a4! bxa4
35.Kxc4!h and White wins the a4 pawn and the game.] next move.) 36.axb5 (36.Ke5 is already met by 36...c4! 37.bxc4
32.b3 g5 33.Kd3 White activates his king first. The direct a4 bxa4 White can still hold the draw with 38.Kd6! the pawns
does not bring anything because of Kc6. promote in the same time and if Black goes 38...Kb7 with the
idea of 39.c5 Kc8, then White forces repetition with 39.Kd7!
33...Kd5 A very risky move, which just does not lose by one Kb6 40.Kd6=) 36...Kxb5 37.Ke5 Kb4
tempo in a long and forced line. Both players calculated it
until the end, but still it is better practically to avoid just
decisions. [It would have been easier to play 33...Kc6 we will
discuss these positions later in the game.]
34.f4 [The very interesting option was
38.Kd6! This is the key resource of White’s plan. It looks

like he is winning because the after eliminating the c5 and b3
pawns his king against stands closer to the kingside. However,
Black just survives... (38.Kxe6 38...Kxb3 leads to easy draw
39.f4 gxf4 40.gxf4 c4 41.f5 c3 42.f6 c2 43.f7 c1=Q 44.f8=Q=)
38...Kxb3 39.Kxc5 Kc3 40.Kd6 Kd4 41.Kxe6 Ke3 42.Kf5
34.a4!? the point is, with the king on d3, Black could counter Kxf3 43.Kxg5 Kg2! Just in time to restore the material
this move with c4! and after bxc4 bxa4 and suddenly he is balance. It is still not over yet, because the white king stands
the one who has created a distant passed pawn. However well, but not well enough to win the game... 44.h4 Kxg3 45.h5
with the king on d5, c4 bxc4 is check! Black is forced to take
back, but then, White has the distant a-passer. 34...Kc6! Only
move! (34...bxa4 leads to the typical loss with the distant
passer 35.bxa4 c4+ 36.Kc3 Kc5 White has different wins here.
The key is, that at some point he will give up his a-pawn for
the c and then his king will be closer to the other pawns to
collect them. 37.h4 gxh4 38.gxh4 e5 39.h5 h6 40.a5 Kb5 41.a6
Kxa6 42.Kxc4h and Kd5 wins next.) 35.Ke4 Kb6! Another
only move! Black wants to play c4, which was not possible
immediately because of axb5 is a check. (35...c4? loses to
36.axb5+ Kxb5 37.bxc4+ Kxc4 38.f4! gxf4 39.gxf4 and Ke5 wins White wants to go h6 and Kf6-g7, but Black is just in time to
squeeze the king into the corner. 45...Kf3 46.h6 Ke4! 47.Kf6 36...Kd6 37.h3
Kd5! 48.Kg7 Ke6 49.Kxh7 Kf7= This was all forced after
34.a4. A nice line to calculate as a training exercise.]
34...gxf4 35.gxf4 Kc6 [Another instructive line goes with
35...Kd6 36.Ke4
37...Kd7! Ivanchuk does not fall into the trap! This or 37...Kc7
holds the draw. He just needs to be careful that with the white
king on e4, he should not move to Kc6. [37...Kc6? loses as we
have seen in the 35...Kd6 36.Ke4 Kc6 line. 38.a4h]
36...Kc7! is the way to draw! With the white king on e4, Black 38.Kd3 Kc6 39.Ke4 Kd6 40.h4 Another invitation for Black
should avoid moving to the mined square on c6! The point to go wrong with Kc6, but of course he does not miss it.
is again the same as before, on a4 he must be able to reply 40...h5 41.Ke3 Kc7 42.Kd3 Kc6 43.Ke4 Kd6 44.Ke3
with c4, but for this the king cannot stay in the axb5check! Kc7 45.Kd3 Kc6 46.Ke4 Draw agreed! A seemingly easy
(The most natural looking 36...Kc6? loses to 37.a4! and the endgame, but there were many subtleties. 1/2-1/2
difference to the 34.a4 line is, that the white pawn already
stands on f4, therefore White is winning in the same line.
37...Kb6 38.axb5 Kxb5 39.Ke5 Kb4 40.Kd6! Kxb3 41.Kxc5
Kc3 42.Kd6 Kd4 43.Kxe6h) 37.Ke5 Kb6= This is Black’s
easiest defensive resource. He actually does not need to do
anything else, then waiting with Kc7-b6 and White cannot
make progress, because of c4 and the pawn promotes too
quickly.]
36.Ke4 [The king has moved to the mined c6 square,
however the white king also stands there, therefore 36.a4
could be met by 36...c4+! check! 37.Kc3 cxb3 38.axb5+ Kxb5
39.Kxb3=]
Golden knowledge. (15) Mikhalchishin, Adrian(2485)-Bareev, Evgeny(2590)
Novelties which are born during the Dortmund op, 1990
game
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Ngf3 Nf6 6.Bb5+
Bd7 7.Bxd7+ Nbxd7 8.O-O Be7 9.dxc5 Nxc5 10.Nb3 Nce4
Practically every deviation from theory can be considered a 11.Be3 [The Moscow chess school of Bareev and Dokhoian
novelty. But we believe that a novelty doesn’t just mean developed the following classical line very deeply: 11.Nfd4
something new, but also valuable. During the game there 11...Qd7 12.Qf3 O-O 13.Nf5 Bd8 and won a few nice games
is a moment when we must find really something serious. here. So I started to think about how to deviate and decided
Usually in such moments new ideas are not especially deep. to develop simply.]
Sometimes it is possible to find a really great idea and then 11...O-O 12.Qd3 Nd6 13.Bd4 Qc7 14.Rfe1 Rfe8 15.Rad1
to develop it in the next games. I want to show here how one Rad8 16.Be5 Qc8 After completing the setup, I started to
really powerful opening idea was born. think about the next developments. I established that my
control over the d4 square is meaningless and the knights
are badly place on d3, as the black knight on c4 will be very
strong. I remembered words of the great Bent Larsen, who
said that isolated pawns don’t have to be blocked, but simply
attacked. I saw that the best place for the knight from b3 is to
be transferred to e3. But I just placed it on b3 a few moves ago!
I could not force myself to put the knight back for 15 minutes!
I was thinking what my friends would say about the logic of
myplay!
27...b5
17.Nbd2! [17.Bxf6 did not work: 17...Bxf6 18.Rxe8+ Nxe8

(18...Rxe8 19.Qxd5 Nc4) ]
28.Qxf7+! Kxf7 29.Ne5+ Chess is the game of double
17...Nde4 [17...Ng4 was maybe worth trying.]
attacks, as the great David Bronstein taught me!
18.Bd4 Nc5 19.Qb5 a6 20.Qa5 Ne6 21.Bb6 Rd6 22.c3
29...Ke6 30.Nxg4 Nxg4 [30...Nxg2 did not work: 31.Bc5
Nf4 23.Nf1 Qg4
Rd8 32.Bxf8 Nxg4 33.Bxg7]
31.Bxf4 Rb6 32.h3 Nf6 33.Be3 Rb7 34.Ne2 Bd6 35.Nd4+
Kf7 36.Nf5 Bf8 37.Bd4 b4 38.Ne3 bxc3 39.Bxc3 Bc5
40.Nxd5
24.Ng3 [Here I could complete my original plan with 24.Ne3

but I was so happy with my position that I decided to stop any
sign of counterplay!]
24...Bf8 25.Rxe8 Nxe8 26.Be3 [26.Bc5 ]
1-0
26...Nf6 27.Qc7! With this strong move I created three
threats; two clear ones and one hidden one, which was
overlooked by Bareev.
(16) Brunner, L.(2460)-Atalik, S.(2420) 11.Nf1! N [11.Nb3 ]
Kecskemet , 1991 11...Nce4 12.Be3 Rc8 [The sharp line was not dangerous
here: 12...Ng4 13.Bd4 Ngxf2 14.Bxf2 Nxf2 15.Kxf2 Bc5+
Then I analysed this variation well enough, found a few 16.Ne3 d4 17.Nc4 d3+ 18.Kf1h]
new ideas and established that Nd2-b3 is an automatical 13.Bd4 Bd6 14.Ne3 Bb8 15.Qd3 Re8 16.Rad1 Qd6
stupidity! Then I presented this line to my pupil, the first Swiss
GM, Lucas Brunner.
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Ngf3 Nf6 6.Bb5+
Bd7 7.Bxd7+ [I am sure that the following sharp line is good
too: 7.Qe2+ 7...Be7 8.dxc5 O-O 9.Nb3 Re8 10.Be3 but I had
no time to dig there and top players did not do it either!]
7...Nbxd7 8.O-O [I was checking a similar idea here to skip
Re1: 8.Nf1 8...Be7 9.Ne3 O-O 10.O-O; 8.Nf1 ]
8...Be7 9.dxc5 [A very interesting try is to start this
maneuver immediately: 9.Re1 9...O-O 10.Nf1 Re8 11.c3 17.g3?! An automatic prophylactic move, which is always
Qb6 12.Qc2 cxd4 13.Nxd4 Bc5 14.Be3 Ng4 15.Rad1 Ndf6 useful. But Lucas did not see the tactical element here. It
1/2 Mikhalchishin,A (2530)-Piskov, Y (2440)/Copenhagen was a long and quite forced line: [The positional 17.Qb3
1991/TD] 17...b6 18.Qb5 Rcd8 19.Bxf6 Nxf6 20.c4c; Or tactical
9...Nxc5 10.Re1 [10.Nb3 10...Nce4 11.Nfd4 Qd7 12.Qf3 O-O 17.Bxf6! 17...Nxf6 18.c4 Qb6 (18...Qa6 19.Nxd5 Rxe1+ 20.Rxe1
13.Nf5 Bd8] Nxd5 21.Qxd5 Qxa2 22.Ng5 Rf8 23.Nxf7h) 19.Nxd5 Nxd5
20.cxd5 Qxb2 21.d6 Rf8 (21...Rxe1+ 22.Rxe1 Rf8 23.d7 Qf6
10...O-O Yes, this is the main idea, without losing two tempi! 24.Qd5h) 22.d7 Rcd8 23.Ng5 g6 24.Qd5 Qf6 25.Ne4 Qc6
26.Nc5 Qxd5 27.Rxd5 Bc7 28.Nxb7 Rb8 29.Nc5c]
17...Rcd8 18.Kg2 Nh5?! Now Lucas felt he was ready for the
tactical fight! [More cautious was 18...Qc6+= ]
(17) Malaniuk, Vladimir P(2610)-Zelcic, Robert(2455)
Nova Gorica , 1997
We can see a very similar strategy against isolated pawns in

closed openings.
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.e3 e6 4.c4 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bb5+ Bd7
7.Bxd7+ Nbxd7 8.dxc5 [Very similar is 8.b3 ]
8...Nxc5 9.O-O Bd6 10.Bd2 O-O 11.Bc3 Nfe4 12.Bd4 Ne6
19.Be5! Qb6 [19...Rxe5 was losing: 20.Nxe5 Qxe5 21.Nxd5 13.Nc3
Re8 22.Ne7+ Qxe7 23.Rxe4 Qf8 24.Rxe8 Qxe8 25.Qe2
(25.Qb5 25...Qe4+ 26.Kg1h g6 27.Rd8+ Kg7 28.Rxb8
Qe1+ 29.Qf1) 25...Qc6+ (25...Nf6 26.Qxe8+ Nxe8 27.Rd8)
26.Kg1h]
20.Bxb8 Rxb8 21.Qxd5c Nhf6 22.Qd4 Qa5 White won a
pawn and it is very difficult for Black to draw. [22...Qc6 23.c4
Ng5 24.Nd5 Nxf3 25.Kxf3 Rxe1 26.Rxe1 Rd8 27.Rd1c]
23.Nd5 [Very good was 23.a3 23...Rbd8 24.Qb4]
23...Rbd8 [23...Qxa2 24.Nxf6+ Nxf6 25.Ra1 Qd5 26.Qxd5
Nxd5 27.Rxe8+ Rxe8 28.Rxa7c] 13...Qa5 [It is clearly worse to exchange this bishop:
13...Nxd4 14.Qxd4 Nxc3 15.Qxc3 Qb6 16.Rac1 Rad8 17.Rfd1]
24.c4 Nxd5 25.Rxe4! [The pawn could be blocked after
25.cxd5 25...Nd6+=] 14.Ne2 [Not bad was 14.Qd3 14...Nxd4 15.Nxd4 Nxc3
16.bxc3 Rfc8 17.Rfc1 a6 18.Nb3]
25...Nf6 26.Rxe8+ Rxe8 27.a3 h6 28.Qd3 Qb6 29.b4 a5
30.c5 Qc6 31.Rc1 axb4 32.axb4h Qa4 33.b5 Rc8 34.Ne5 14...Rac8 15.Qb3 [15.Qd3 ]
Qb4 35.c6 Qe7 36.Qf5 [36.Nd7 was a more difficult win. 15...Rc4 16.a3! Qa6 17.Qd3 Rfc8?! [17...Rd8 ]
36...bxc6 37.bxc6 Rc7 38.Nxf6+ Qxf6 39.Qd5 Kh7]
36...Qd8? 37.Rd1 Qxd1 38.Qxc8+ Kh7 39.cxb7 Qd5+
40.Nf3 1-0
18.Bc3
25.Qb4! A typical realization of material. Malaniuk

speculated that offering a queens’ swap would kick the
18...N4g5!? Black decided to go for complications instead of
opponent’s queen to a bad position.
the logical improvement [18...Qb5 ]
25...Qc6 26.Rad1 Rc5 27.Qb3 Kh8 28.h3 h6 29.f4 b5 30.f5
19.Nxg5! Nxg5 [19...Bxh2+ did not work:
Ng5 31.h4 Nh7 32.Qxf7 Rf8 33.Qe7 Rg8 34.Rd7 Qc8
35.f6 Rc7 36.fxg7+ 1-0
20.Kh1! (20.Kh1 ) 20...Rh4 (20...Nxg5 21.f4 Qh6 22.fxg5 Qh5

23.Ng1! Bg3+ 24.Nh3) 21.Qxa6 Bd6+ 22.Nh3]
20.Qxd5! R4c5 [Other tries are not dangerous either:
20...Bxh2+ 21.Kxh2 Qh6+ 22.Kg1 Rh4 23.Ng3 Ne4
24.Qxe4!h; 20...R8c5 21.Qd1]
21.Qd4 Be5 22.Qg4 Ne6 23.Bxe5 Rxe5 24.Nc3 Qb6
Chess and the City. (18) Wagner-Grigorian
2015.11.22

Best rating: 2493
Double gold for Russia! The European Team Championship

came to an end. The Russians smashed the field convincingly 1.Qc8+ [1.h7!! would have finished the issue and levelled the
(for a change), and did so in both sections. Especially for the score...]
men’s team, which despite its monster rating average rating
often performed disappointingly in the last few years, it was 1...Ke7 2.Qc5+ Ke8 3.Qc8+ Ke7 4.Qc5+ and his opponent
due time to collect gold at the European Championship. As for claimed a draw after Ke8.
the women’s team, their result is nothing short of expected,
given that that their last trophy only dates back to the Tromso If the previous example would have been all, I might even
Olympiad, just one year ago. Taking a look at both German not have mentioned it... After 6 hours of play, with only
teams, we missed a few opportunities, a mistake that you seconds left for each move and lots of pressure, it is quite
cannot afford when you want to fight for a medal. As far as natural to miss a golden opportunity or blunder the game.
I can judge, the most crucial round was round 6 - a black day However, here we have the second example, and I invite the
when both our men’s and women’s teams lost their matches reader to imagine the following scenario. Georg raises his
against Armenia and Hungary respectively. Our "tragedy" is hand towards the right piece... and then put it on the wrong
nothing new for sportsmen, but in order to share with you square! I am not quite sure how our team captain must
some of the pain that we had to endure, I will show you two have felt in that moment, but I am pretty confident that it
little excerpts which changed a potential match victory into caused a lot of hair graying.... After this blunder there were
a loss, and this alle happend while facing the three times only 6 moves left to change something, but this time fate
Olympic Champions... Grrrrrrrr..... The first "upset" happened was against us. It is hard to say whether this match would
on our last board in time trouble. Dennis kind of felt the win have changed something, but it certainly hurt us a lot at that
was close and decided to repeat the moves, but unfortunately moment. But in the end both German teams can be quite
one time too many.... happy with their overall results. The men’s team managed
to draw their last match against Azerbaijan, whereas despite
our final loss against Russia, we can be satisfied of having Surprise section / study
played the last round on the first board and to have managed
to finish in the top 6. (20) Mitrofanov
1. h
(19) Meier, Georg-Sargissjan, Gabriel
2015.11.20
1.Ne5 Touching the very right piece, but placing it on the

wrong square must have felt like a stitch in our captain’s
heart... After that blunder nothing could be changed anymore
since Georg had only 6 moves left until the 50-moves rule
would apply. One missed chance, but unfortunately not the
only one we had to endure... [After 1.Nb6+! 1...Kb8 (1...Kd8
2.Rxb7h) 2.Rg8+ Black can resign since mate is coming on
a8 or c8.]
Solutions (23) Grigoryan, K(2616)-Asis, H(2483)
(21) Balogh, C(2645)-Grigoryan, K(2616)
62...Nc3+!! [62...f4? 63.Bxf4 Nxb2? 64.Be5+]

63.bxc3 [63.Kc5 63...Ne2i]
31...Qxd1+! [31...Qc6 32.Qd3h]
63...f4 64.Ke4 [64.gxf4 64...g3i]
32.Bxd1 Rb1 33.Rc5! Rxd1+ 34.Kh2 Rxc5 [34...c2?
64...fxg3 65.Ke3 [65.Kd3 65...Kf5 66.Be3 g2 67.Kd2
35.Rxc8+ Bxc8 36.Qe8+ Kh7 37.Qe4+!h]
Ke4i]
35.Qxc5 Rc1= [35...Rd3= ]
65...Kf5 66.Ba3 g2 67.Kf2 Ke4 68.Kxg2 Kd3i
(22) Baklan, V(2617)-Pirrot, D(2370)
(24) Maletin, P(2581)-Welling, G(2334)
Bad Wiesee Open, 2015.11.04
Bad Wiesee Open, 2015.11.04
21.c4! Nf6 [21...Nb6 22.Be3h]

30.Bxd5+! 1-0 [30.Bxd5+ 30...Nxd5 31.Qxg7#]
22.Bb4 1-0 [22.Bb4 22...Rc7 23.Ba5h]
(25) Maletin, P(2581)-Tkachiev, V(2658) (27) Pezerovic, E(2408)-Wacker, P(2299)
35.Nf4! Qc4 36.Qa2! Rg7 37.Nxd5c 13.Nc4! dxc4 14.Nxc6+ Kc8 15.Rxa7! Rxa7 16.Qd8+!! 1-0
[16.Qd8+ 16...Qxd8 17.Nxa7#]
(26) Khenkin, I(2594)-Meins, G(2426)
Bad Wiesee Open, 2015.11.05 (28) Lima, D(2522)-Della Morte, G(2421)
Aloas Cup, 2015.11.02
19.Nxf7! Kxf7 20.Bxf6 Kxf6 21.Rxd7c

37.Re7! Qxe7 [37...Qa8 38.Bg2h]
38.a8=Qh
(29) Perez Ponsa, F(2576)-Alonso, S(2499) (31) Mitrofanov
Aloas Cup, 2015.11.03
1.Bc5+! [1.Bd4 1...a3 2.Bc5+ Ke8=]

1...Ke8 [1...Kg8 2.Ba3h]
21.Bxg7! Kxg7 22.Rg3+ Kh8 23.Qh6 Rg8 24.Bd3! f5 2.Nb7! b2 3.Nd6+! Kd8 [3...Ke7 4.Nc4+h]
25.exf6 Bxb4 26.Rxg8+ Kxg8 27.Bxh7+! 1-0 [27.Bxh7+
27...Rxh7 28.Qg6+ Kf8 (28...Kh8 29.Qe8+h) 29.Qxh7h] 4.Bd4!! b1=Q 5.Bf6#
(30) Laznicka, V(2665)-Jakubowski, K(2564)
Czech league, 2015.11.08
39...Nxg3! 40.fxg3 Qxg3+ 41.Kf1 Qg6!! 42.Rf8 Qd3+!

43.Be2 [43.Kf2 43...Qxe3+i]
43...Qb1+ 0-1 [43...Qb1+ 44.Kf2 Qxh1i]
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
In this issue we are back to the European Team
Editorial Preface 2 Championship, which recently concluded but had a lot
of interesting games, which actually could cover at least
3-4 issues, but already starting from next week the London
Chess Classics begins! There are many different events: a
Super-rapid, an open, the British knock-out, as well as of
Young & Talented 11 course the main tournament which is part of the Grand Chess
Tour series, with all the best players in the world participating
Puzzle section 14 in it, such as the current World Champion Magnus Carlsen,
who is clearly very hungry after a disappointing result in the
Endgame section 17 European Team Championship in Reykjavik.
There are not many top events currently under way, only 2 big
Chess and the City 21 ones:
In China the "Kings vs Queens", where the best Chinese
Clash of the Titans 23 players are competing against each other in knock-out
matches, and the 11th Ugra Governor’s Cup, a small event with
Surprise section / study 24 many 2650 players from Russia.
We want to apologize for the delay during the last couple of
Solutions 25 weeks, but most of your weekly commentators were busy at
the ECC.
We hope you enjoy the current issue and wish you a nice week!
Two best games of the past week 6.exd4 Bf5 Now we are in a sort of Caro-Kann structure with
a position which could arise after 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5.
7.Qb3 A smart choice, since now that cxd4 was played, Black
can’t play Qb6 because of the simple Qxb6 with a better
(1) Carlsen, Magnus (2850) endgame for White.
- Wojtaszek, Radoslaw (2748) [A45] 7...Qc8 8.Ngf3

Best rating: 2737
Carlsen was not playing that well in the European Team

Championship, even sometimes blundering in one move
(against Pelletier) but he still remains the clear Number 1 and
he proves it in the current game against Wojtaszek with a nice
win. After the opening Black got a comfortable position, but
when Wojtaszek castled queenside, things started going very 8...e6 A normal choice, but why actually give up the bishop?!
wrong for him and White’s advantage grew move by move. [8...h6 A simple move like this seems a better option to me.]
Finally Carlsen finished the game in great style! 9.Nh4!? White is winning the important bishop on h4 now.
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 Clearly not the most ambitious opening 9...Be4 [9...Bg6 10.Nxg6 hxg6 would just lead to a slightly
choice, but against such a well-prepared opponent as better position for White.]
Wojtaszek maybe not a bad idea. The repertoire of Wojtaszek 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Nf3 Bd6!? A good choice! Of course Black
is very solid and he knows it extremely well, so maybe Magnus should fight against White having the bishop pair.
saw no sense in trying to win the game by having a "better
computer". 12.Bxd6 [It makes no sense for White to try and keep the
bishop pair: 12.Be3 12...Qc7 and Black would play Bf4 at
2...d5 3.e3 c5 Now it is Black who takes the center first. some moment anyway and be perfectly fine.]
4.c3 A logical reply. Usually it is wrong to play dxc5 as White 12...Nxd6 13.Bd3 Qc7 14.Qc2 White is trying to provoke the
also needs to prepare against the Qb6 move. h6 move, which could be useful in case Black castles kingside.
4...Nc6 Now after Qb6 White can always reply with Qb3. 14...O-O-O A risky decision in my opinion. [14...h6 looks safer.
5.Nd2 cxd4 I am not sure about this move at all. Why hurry 15.O-O O-O 16.Rfe1 and maybe White is slightly better, but
with the exchange on d4? Black also has a safe position.]
15.O-O h6 Maybe Black is planning to continue with g5 next. 23.Ne1 A nice move! Now a simple move like Nd3 is already a
16.a4 White is starting his play. The idea is simple, to play solid threat...
b4-a5 and b5. 23...e5 is probably already the best move.
16...Kb8 A prophylactical move like Kb8 is often a good idea. 24.b5 is probably already the best move.
24...Na5 25.Rxe5 Rxe5 26.dxe5 Qxe5 27.c4 Now it is
already clear that White has some advantage. The threat of
playing c5-c6 is very dangerous and the black knights on g5
and a5 don’t make for a beautiful picture. It is a bit strange
because White hasn’t done much in the last moves and Black
seems to just destroy himself.
27...Ne6 28.Nf3 Qf4 and this move already leads to huge
trouble. [Black would keep a playable position after 28...Qe4
29.c5 Rc8 and of course White is better, but things are not that
clear.]
17.Rfe1 A slightly strange in my opinion, why play a4 and not
continue on thequeenside? ! [The following pawn sacrifice
looks tempting to me: 17.a5 17...Nxa5 18.Qa4 Nc6 19.b4 and
I think White clearly has enough play for the pawn.]
17...Rc8 Black wants to play Nb4 at some point.
18.Qd1 Rhe8 19.Bf1 looks a bit too passive. White is waiting
too long with his play.
19...Re7 [Why not just play 19...g5 followed by g4 or maybe
f5-g4 and Ne4.]
29.cxd5! Carlsen is always very accurate in converting his
20.Rc1 Does White want to play c4 next?! advantage, and this game is no exception.
20...Rd8 Black is also still waiting with g5. 29...Rxd5 30.Qxd5 Qxc1 31.g3! This silent move is clearly
21.Re2 Ne4?! [Now it was really time to push on the kingside: the strongest one. Black is having huge trouble defending the
21...g5 22.b4 f5 and in my opinion Black’s play is at least as pawn on f7 and the knight on a5 is also totally out of the game.
good as White’s.] 31...Qc5 [The best defensive move was 31...Qc8 was hard to
22.b4 Ng5 Clearly Black is choosing the wrong path, as the find, but White would anyway have a big advantage after the
black knight will be out of play on g5. simple 32.Bh3]
32.Qd7 White of course doesn’t exchange queens.
(2) Wang, Yue (2729)
32...Qf8 33.Ne5 Nc5 34.Qd5! White does not care about
- Bu, Xiangzhi (2710) [D44]
the win of some material, the pawn on f7 is hanging and Qxc5
is also a deadly threat.
1st China Chess King 2015(1.2), GM Csaba Balogh
34...Kc7 There were already no better moves... 2015.11.25 Best rating: 2672
35.Nxf7 Now the game is basically over.

35...Nxa4 36.Qe5+ Kb6 37.Nd6 Combining several mating Usually we see subtle positional fights between these two
ideas. Chinese top GMs, but this time it turns into a very sharp game
right after the opening.
37...Nc5
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 The pet line of most of
the Chinese players is the Slav defence with 4...dxc4, but Bu
Xiangzhi plays another main system now.
4...e6 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5 hxg5
10.Bxg5 We are at the initial position of the extremely
interesting Botvinnik system of the Semi-Slav defense. Many
lines are analysed up to move 40. The current theory
considers it playable for both sides.
38.Ne8! A great finish, as Qc7 cannot be stopped. Of course

to lose such a game for Black is a bit of a shock, what did White
do to deserve a full point?! But on the other hand, maybe
Carlsen was provoking Wojtaszek into mistakes by giving him
a wide choice with moves like 19.Bf1 and 21.Re2 without any
direct idea. Anyhow, a nice game to learn from! 1-0
10...Be7 This is not the most common move, but it seems to

be also quite playable. Recently it was employed few times by
the young Chinese GM Lu Shanglei. Bu follows his compatriot.
[The main line starts with 10...Nbd7 ]
11.exf6 Bxf6 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.g3 This is the ideal 19...Kb8 20.Qb5+ Ka8 21.Qc6+ Kb8 22.Qb5+ Ka8 draw after
development of the bishop. White should already consider a forced perpetual check. 1/2 Svidler-Lu Shanglei, Ningbo
where is he going to ensure safety for his king. The best is 2015) 15...Qe7 16.O-O O-O-O 17.a4 both sides require huge
to do with kingside castling after Bg2. The opened h-file preparation to draw a conclusion of this line.]
looks scary, but actually White can simple play h4 at some 14...Nb4! Bu Xiangzhi correctly sacrifices his pawn, he
point and Black is missing his g- and h-pawns to explode the feels, that the the compensation should worth this minimal
king with g5 or h5-h4. This is known from many lines of this material if he could quickly activate his pieces.
opening.
15.axb5 cxb5 16.Nxb5 Accepting the challenge. Consequent
13...Na6 14.a4?! This is a basically the novelty. White follow up at least. [Another way of winning a pawn was
would like to make use of the fact, that the bishop is still 16.Bxc4 altough Black has pleasant choices here as well
on f1 and it keeps an eye on the c4 pawn. If Black does 16...Bb7 (16...bxc4 is also possible 17.Qa4+ Bd7 18.Qxb4
something with the b5 pawn or just let it falls, the c4 will also Qxd4 White might find some accurate moves to stay in the
hang afterwards. However White is going to miss his bishop game. 19.Qb7! preventing Bc6! 19...Qe5+! with the idea of
from the long diagonal which turns out to be a much more Rb8 next move
important factor of the game, than being ahead in material.
[White should play the most natural moves 14.Bg2 14...Bb7
15.Ne4 seems to be the most critical (A recent top game
continued with 15.Nxb5 but Black is well prepared for the
complications
20.Ne4! Rb8 21.f4! Just in time! White manages to trade

queens and the endgame is drawish. 21...Rxb7 22.fxe5=)
17.Bxb5+ Kf8 looks horribly for White with human eyes, but
the computer holds it together with some tenacious moves.]
15...O-O-O! 16.Qa4 cxb5 17.Bxb7+ Kxb7 18.Qxb5+ Ka8
19.Qc6+ (19.Qxa6? loses to 19...Qf3! and White suddenly
gets mated. His rook is hanging and Black is coming with
Rxd4. 20.O-O runs into 20...Rxh2!i and mate to follow.)
draw with 22.Rf2 as it loses to 22...Qxa1! 23.Qxa1 Rh1+i)
22...Qh2+ draw by repetition.; Unfortunately for White, he
cannot play 17.Bg2? anymore because of 17...Nd3+]
17...a5! Keeping the dangerous knight on it’s outpost.
18.Bxc4 Bb7 19.f3 [19.Rf1 19...Rxh2e is too bad with such a
weak king on e1.]
16...Kf8! Excellent prophylactic move! Black removes his

king from the different threats, like Qa4, Nd6 or Nc7. Black
also creates the threat of Bb7 and Qf5 with a doubleattack on
b5 and Nc2.
17.Qd2 Trying to develop with tempo, but it turns out to be a
mistake. The queen was better to control the f3 square. [White
should have taken the second pawn with 17.Bxc4! 17...Bb7
18.f3! (18.Rf1 18...Rxh2 Black has an enormous attack.; 18.O-O 19...Rc8!! This great intermediate move to attack the bishop
is refuted brilliantly by first before taking on f3 wins the game! Most probably it
was missed or underestimated by Wang Yue when he played
17.Qd2. The following lines show how strong it is. [19...Qxf3
20.Rf1 Qe4+ 21.Kd1]
20.Qc3 [20.Nd6 loses to 20...Rxc4! 21.Nxc4 Qxf3 This is th
e point of 19... Rc8! Without the light squared bishop, White
gets mated with Nd3! 22.Rf1 Nd3+i; 20.Rc1 has the same
refutation 20...Rxc4! 21.Rxc4 Qxf3 22.Rf1 Nd3+i]
20...Rxc4! There is no mate with Qf3-Nd3 like it happened in
18...Qh4!! and mate is coming soon. (but not 18...Rxh2? the previous lines, because the d2 square is free for the king,
because of 19.d5! and White is alive.) 19.gxh4 Rg8+i) but it is clear, that the attack is still going to break through
18...Bxf3 19.O-O! White survives at the end of this following somehow. I am quite sure, that Bu Xiangzhi was not sure at
concrete line 19...Qh6! 20.Rxf3! Qxh2+ 21.Kf1 Qxb2! this point, what will be his concrete moves, but top players
(21...Qh1+? does not work in view of 22.Ke2 Rh2+ 23.Ke3 trust in their intuitions.
Nc2+ 24.Qxc2!) 22.Kg1 (White cannot play for more than 21.Qxc4 Qxf3 22.Kd2 [22.Rf1 loses quickly to 22...Nd3+
23.Kd2 Rxh2+ 24.Kc3 Black has different wins, the fastest is 24.Re2
24...Nf2+ 25.Kd2
24...Bd5! Bu leads the attack with great power until the end!
25...Nd1+! 26.Kc1 Qe3+ 27.Kb1 (27.Kxd1 27...Qd2#) White has an extra exchange, but the a1 rook is out of the
27...Rxb2# picturesque mate with the knight on d1!] game, while all the black pieces are looking at the lonely king.
The last move requires precise calculation, but it is not so
difficult on this level.
25.Qc8+ Kg7 26.Rxh2 Qd3+ 27.Ke1 [On 27.Kc1 27...Qe3+
28.Rd2 on any other king moves a bishop check is fatal
and now 28...Bb3!i White gets mated! We can see great
harmony between the 3 black pieces and how useless the
white rooks are.]
27...Qxg3+ 28.Rf2 [28.Kf1 28...Qxh2i]
22...Rh5!! A cold-blooded follow up to the exchange 28...Nd3+ 29.Ke2? [The only move was 29.Kd2! 29...Nxf2
sacrifice. The direct queen checks on f2 or g2 were neutralized 30.Re1! but Black has an easy technical win here as well
by Qe2, but after the rook move, the b5 knight is hanging at 30...Ne4+ 31.Rxe4 Bxe4i a pawn up, a dominating bishop
the end. Black is also threatening with Ba6! White has no over the knight and vulnerable white king, who still needs to
adequate defense. be careful to not get mated despite the simplification of the
position.]
23.Rhe1 [23.Nc3 saves the knight, but loses to 23...Ba6!i;
23.Raf1 23...Qg2+ 24.Qe2 (24.Kc1 24...Rxb5 25.Qxb5 Qc2#) 29...Nxf2 White has no defense against Qf3, Qg2, Be4 or
24...Qxe2+ 25.Kxe2 Bxh1 26.Rxh1 Rxb5i] many other threats. He cannot regroup his pieces to give a
shelter for the king.
23...Rxh2+ The human win! [Machines prefer 23...Bd5
24.Qe2 Qb3i]
30.Qc3 [30.Ra3 30...Qg2i]
30...Qg2! Obviously the queens stay on board. White cannot

avoid a knight jump in the next move, which is going to be
decisive.
31.Ke1 Ne4 [White resigned in view of 31...Ne4 32.Qe3
Otherwise Qf2 or Qd2. 32...Qh1+ 33.Ke2 Bc4+i] 0-1
Young & Talented 7...Be6 A novelty. This bishop retreat is connected with the
advance of the f-pawn. 7...Nf6 is another option and a great
game continued with [7...Qc7 8.d4 f6 9.Ne3 Be6 10.N5c4
f5 11.O-O Nf6 12.f3! exf3 13.Rxf3 g6 14.g4! f4 15.g5 Nh5
16.d5c White later won in Grischuk-Rodshtein 2004.]
8.Qc2 f6 9.Ng4 Of course the knight is not lost!
9...f5 [9...b5 is the alternative to push the knight back, but
GM Etienne Bacrot it also weakens the pawn structure: 10.Na3 f5 11.Ne3 Nf6
Best rating: 2749 12.O-O Qb6 13.d3 with some advantage for White.]
10.Nge3 Nf6 Everything seems fine for Black but once White
(3) Rapport, Richard (2693) will open the position with d3 he will have strong pieces.
- Svetushkin, Dmitry (2585) [A11] 11.O-O Na6
2015.11.13
Richard Rapport climbs back to the second rank in the World
junior list (behind Wei Yi) with 2715 after a year’s low at 2649.
He played brilliantly in the European Team Championship,
helping Hungary to take the bronze medal. Here he uses a
very classical opening from his repertoire, the Reti.
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c6 3.Bg2 Bf5 4.c4 dxc4 Usually Black plays
this move after 3...Nf6. Here 4...e6 seems more solid. 12.a3 White slowly prepares the break, but the direct [12.d3!?
5.Na3 e5 6.Nxc4 e4 7.Nfe5 also brings some advantage: 12...exd3 (12...Nb4?! 13.Qc3 exd3
14.exd3 Qxd3 15.Qe5 Qd7 16.Rd1c) 13.exd3 Be7 14.Bd2 O-O
15.Ba5 Nc7 16.Rfe1+=]
12...Bc5 13.Rd1 [13.b4!? develops faster but lets Black
exchange the bishop: 13...Bd4 14.Bb2 Bxb2 15.Qxb2 O-O
16.d3 exd3 17.Rad1+=]
13...O-O 14.d3+= When this move is played Black has
problems finding good squares for his pieces.
14...Qe8 15.dxe4 fxe4 16.b4 Bxe3 If Black has to give the
bishop pair in an open position, it shows that something went 24.fxe4 [24.Rc7 was also strong.]
wrong. 24...Nxe4 25.Rxf8+ Kxf8 26.Qd4 Re7
17.Nxe3 Visually this move loses time, but e3 is the best 27.Bf3 A human move, but the computer prefers to crush with
square for the the knight and b2 for the bishop. [27.Bxe4 27...dxe4 28.Qd6 Qe8 29.Rc7h Kg8 30.Rxb7 Qf7
17...Qf7 18.Rf1 A last consolidating move. 31.Be5! e3 32.Bf4!h and Black cannot approach the white
18...Nc7 19.Bb2 Ncd5 Without this exchange sooner or later king.]
the e4 pawn would fall. 27...Qg5 28.Qxa7 All pieces are already on the best squares
20.Nxd5 cxd5 21.Rac1 Qh5 so White needs to take some decisive actions, and taking a
pawn is not bad.
28...Nd2! 29.Qb8+?? This is the unnoticed mistake. The
very precise 29.Rc3 to avoid the d4 move like in the game was
winning. [29.Rc3! 29...Ne4 30.Rd3 Bb5 31.Rd1h]
29...Kf7 30.Rc3 d4! 31.Rd3
22.f3! c With this pawn move, especially the bishop on g2

but also the rook on f1 gets into play. Of course White’s main
trump is his unchallenged dark squared bishop.
22...Rae8 23.Qd2 Bd7?! An almost losing move in a very
difficult position. Black should try to keep the position with a
move like Rf7. 31...Bb5?? Missing White’s very strong reply... [31...Re3!
is also easy to miss! 32.Bd5+ (32.Rxd2 32...Rxf3= is an
immediate draw.) 32...Qxd5 33.Rxd4 (33.Qf4+ 33...Qf5
34.Qxf5+ Bxf5 35.Rxd2 Rb3 Black has great chances to
save the endgame.) 33...Nf3+! (33...Qe6 34.Rxd7+ Qxd7
35.Qf4+h) 34.exf3 Re1+ 35.Kf2 Rf1+! It was not easy to
calculate this line! 36.Kxf1 Qxf3+ and now White has to allow
the perpetual because of an unusual mate: 37.Ke1 (37.Kg1
37...Qe3+=) 37...Qe3+ 38.Kd1 Ba4#]
32.h4!! Now it is immediately all over.
32...Qh6 33.Bd5+ Kg6 34.Qd6+ 1-0
Puzzle section
(4) Ivanisevic, I(2662)-Jobava, B(2668) (6) Carlsen, M(2850)-Pelletier, Y(2566)
1... i 1... i
(5) Fridman, D(2627)-McShane, L(2687) (7) Van Wely, L(2632)-Borisek, J(2565)

1. h 1... i
(8) Tomashevsky, E(2743)-Mchedlishvili, M(2618) (10) Can, E(2535)-Gallagher, J(2445)
1. h 1. h
(9) Fressinet, L(2712)-Eljanov, P(2753) (11) Perunovic, M(2624)-Stevic, H(2604)

1. h 1. h
(12) Giri, A(2778)-Shirov, A(2689)
1. h
(13) Rombaldoni, A(2539)-Kozul, Z(2617)

1. h
Endgame section
(14) Nepomniachtchi, Ian (2705)

- Movsesian, Sergei (2666)
European Teams, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.11.21 Best rating: 2672
39.Rd1! White finally manages to leave from this unpleasant

pin, he is threatening to promote his pawn and suddenly the
h5 is also hanging. If it had the time to move towards to h4,
White could even gotten into trouble, because of his fixed g2
pawn.
39...Rd4 No choice for Black. [39...Kd8 loses to 40.Bf3h]
40.g3! Suddenly, the g2 pawn, with which White only had
problems before becomes a hero. Black cannot save his h5
pawn.
It is very difficult to evaluate this endgame at first sight. 40...Kxd7
White is a pawn up, but his pinned on the e-file, the g2 pawn
looks week and Black is threatening with Kc7 to eliminate the
most dangerous the most dangerous pawn of White on e6.
However by using some nice tactical ideas, Nepomniachtchi
manages to simplify the position into a winning endgame.
37.Rd7! Pure calculation! Black is forced to go into the arising
endgame.
37...Rxd7 [37...Rxe6 loses to 38.Rxb7+! Kxb7 39.Bf3h]
38.exd7 Kc7 It would be still unclear, what was the point of 41.c3!! Perfectly played! Nepomniachtchi uses the fact, that
37.Rd7, but here comes the next blow! the h5 pawn does not run away. Meanwhile he forces the
trade of the rooks and creates another passed pawn on the
queenside as well. [After 41.Bxh5 41...Ke6 Black’s drawing
chances would have been excellent. It is very difficult to make king to e3.
progress with White with the rooks on board and after the 45...Kc6 [Going towards the g-pawn is also hopeless
trade on d4 42.Rxd4 exd4 White cannot create a passed pawn 45...Ke6 46.Kd2 Kf5 47.Ke3 Kg5 48.Be2h followed by
anymore. 43.Kd2 Ke5 followed by a5 and moving with the pushing c4-c5 and Bf3, supporting the further advance of the
bishop. The game should end in draw. The black king is very c-pawn.]
active and it easily neutralizes the g-pawn.]
46.Be2 Be4 47.Kd2 Kd5 48.Ke3 Bg6 49.g4 The rest is
41...Rxd1+ [41...bxc3 42.bxc3 Rxd1+ 43.Kxd1 will be the same already easy. White simple pushes g5 and plays Bd3.
as the game.]
49...Ke6 [The only way to avoid Bd3 was 49...e4 but it does
42.Kxd1 a5 [Black had a chance to play 42...bxc3 43.bxc3 not change the outcome. White wins after 50.Ba6 Ke5
Bd5 attacking the a2 and preparing to protect the h5 51.Bb7 Black is in zugzwang, he can only move with his bishop
pawn with Bf7, but the unfortunate situation of his pieces on the g6-h7 squares. 51...Bh7 52.c4 Bg6 53.c5 Bh7 and here
deprives him from keeping the material balance. 44.a3 Bf7 the easiest is 54.Bc6 Bg6 55.g5 Bh7 56.Be8!h Showing
45.Bxa6h Now the a6 is hanging. The white king goes perfect harmony between the bishop and the pawns.]
towards the e5 pawn and the a-pawn starts to advance soon.
Black has no chance to hold.] 50.Bd3 Be8 51.g5 Bh5 52.c4 The position wins by itself.
White only needs to advance his pawns.
43.Bxh5 Bd5
52...Kd6 53.g6 Kc5 54.g7 Bf7 55.Ke4 Kd6 [55...Bg6+
56.Kxe5h]
56.Kf5 Bg8 57.Kf6 e4 58.Bxe4 Bxc4 59.Bg6! [Black
resigned in view of 59.Bg6 59...Bg8 60.Bf7 Bh7
61.Kg5!h followed by Kh6. Black cannot even give up
his bishop for the pawn. ] 1-0
44.a3! Another precise technical move! White forces the

exchange and creates his second passer, but he does it by
keeping most of his pawns on board. (Compared to cxb4 axb4
a3).
44...bxa3 45.bxa3 This endgame is hopeless for Black.
The two passed pawns supported with the bishop are
unstoppable, while the e5 does not do much, White puts his
Black was scared of this situation, but there is nothing to be
(15) Kveinys, Aloyzas (2510) afraid of. 35.Bc5 a5 36.Kf1 f5! 37.gxf5 Bxf5=]
- Solak, Dragan (2628)
32.gxh5 A pawn is a pawn!
20th European Teams(9.1), 32...Bf5 33.Kg2 Be6 34.Bxe6 fxe6 Now we are in the
2015.11.22 GM Arkadij Naiditsch critical position. Most probably Dragan evaluated this
Best rating: 2737 position as equal because of the threat of playing Kh7-Kh6
next and winning back the h5 pawn, but White had an idea
in mind...
From the first look at the current situation you might decide 35.f4! [35.f3?! 35...Kh7 36.fxe4 Kh6 and Black is alright.]
that the drawish result is so obvious that the agreement 35...Bc7 [35...exf3+ couldn’t save Black. 36.Kxf3 Kh7
would come soon, but in practice you can see that it is not Preventing the h6, g-h6 Bh6 idea in the future. 37.e4 a6 38.Bf4
that easy to defend such an endgame. Bd4 39.Ke2 White is going for the a-pawn. 39...Bc5 40.Kd3
28...Bxd7 29.Bd5 Bf5 30.g4! A very strong move! White Bb6 41.Kc4 Bf2 42.Kb4 Bb6 43.Bg5 and there is no way to
forces the black bishop to go back to g6, where it will be defend this position for Black in the long term.]
staying quite uncomfortably. 36.Bb2 a6 37.Bd4 Kf7 38.Kg3! White is playing perfectly!
30...Bg6 31.b3 h5?! and here comes the first mistake. Black He should play on the kingside, with the idea of pushing
does not feel happy with his limited bishop, so he is trying f4-f5, thus creating another weakness: the black pawn on e4.
to fix things with a pawn sacrifice, but in an endgame it is [38.Kf2?! There is no time to get the king to the queenside.
important to be very careful with pawns. [31...Kf8! looks 38...g6 (38...e5?? A nice idea, but it does not work: 39.Bxe5
quit logical. Both sides should develop their pieces as well as Bxe5 40.fxe5 Ke6 41.Kg3 Kxe5 42.Kg4 Kf6 43.Kf4 and White
activate the kings, and besides they have an additional idea is winning.) 39.hxg6+ (39.h6? 39...Kg8 40.Be5 Bb6= White
to move the pawn f7 - f5. The more exchanges, the bigger the cannot improve his position. The king should defend the
chance for a draw. 32.Ba3+ Ke8 33.h4 h6 34.h5 Bh7 Maybe e-pawn and the bishop the h-pawn.) 39...Kxg6 40.Ke2 Kh5
41.Bf6 Ba5 Black is in trouble, but it is also hard for White to
find a winning plan. This position might be a draw.]
38...Bb8 39.Kg4 Bd6 40.Bb6 Be7 41.Ba7 Bb4 42.Bd4
Bd6 43.Bb6 Be7 After a long moving back and forth, White
is finally proceeding with the right plan.
44.f5 e5 45.Bc7
54.f6+ The pawns are marching.

54...Kh7 55.Kf5 and the game is over. Once again we saw
how easy it is to destroy a more or less equal position and that
it is usually a very bad idea to give pawns for free in endgames!
1-0
45...Bc5?! This move loses on the spot. [45...Bf6 was

another possibility for Black, but anyway it does not change
anything and White is winning. 46.Bb8! A very tricky move,
that puts Black into zugzwang! White is forcing Black to move
his king from f7 and then exchanges the h-pawn. (46.h6?
46...gxh6 47.Kh5 Bg5=) 46...Kg8 47.h6 gxh6 48.Kh5 Kh7
49.Bc7 Black almost has no moves at all. 49...Kg7 50.Bd6
Kh7 51.Bf8h Bg5 52.f6 Bxf6 53.Bxh6]
46.Bxe5 Bxe3 47.Bf4 Bd4 48.Bg5 white wants to play Kf4
next, keeping the idea of playing h6 in mind.
48...Be5 49.h4 Bd6 [49...Bd4 50.Kf4 e3 51.Kf3h and the
e-pawn is gone.]
50.h6 and from a doubled pawn on the h-file, White got a
passed h-pawn.
50...gxh6 51.Bxh6 Bc5 52.Bg5 Bd6 53.h5 Kg7
Chess and the City knowledge about these kind of positions.
7...b5 8.Be2 Bb7 [8...Nbd7 would be a way to prevent the
endgame, however it has the clear drawback of 9.d5! exd5
10.Nxd5 Bb7 11.Nxf6+ Qxf6 12.a4+=]
9.dxc5 Qxd1 This move is definitely not a bad one, but it
already shows that my opponent was not too familiar with
that line. The difference is that the black king would at some
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz point go to e7 anyway and therefore I get the additional Rd1
Best rating: 2493 move for free. [9...Bxc5 10.Qxd8+ Kxd8 11.Nd2 Ke7 12.Nb3
Bd6 13.Rd1 Rd8
The European Championship is finally over and I got some

time to wonder about my next newsletter. As I already
mentioned in previous issues I will come up with an
interesting woman’s game from time to time. The game
I decided to start with was for myself a rather unique
experience, as I am not the type of player who would
voluntary go for a rather boring ending where one may
even be forced to show good technique in order to fight for
something. This game however also proved to myself that I
am able to play these kind of positions. Naturally I will never ]
become an endgame grinder like Magnus Carlsen, but at least 10.Rxd1 Bxc5 11.Nd2 Nbd7 [11...Ke7 12.Nb3 Bd6
I may pretend to be one from time to time! :)
(16) Paehtz, Elisabeth (2462)-Peng, Zhaoqin (2383)

20th European Teams Women,
2015.11.17
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.c4 dxc4 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 Nf6 6.O-O a6

7.Nc3 A rather rare move which is not considered to be very
dangerous for Black, but on the other hand there are not and in comparison to 9...Bxc5 White has a better version as
too many games in the database, which avoids a too great Black still has his rook on h8...]
12.Nb3 Rc8?! This move just puts Black into trouble... 25...Ne4 [25...Bc7 26.f3 Nc3 27.e4c]
[12...Bb4 13.Bd2 O-O 14.a3 Nc5 15.Nc1 would get us to 26.f3 Nec3 27.Nxa5 e5 28.Ba7 Nxb5 29.axb5 Rc3 30.b6!
Kramnik-Tomashevsky from 2012.]
13.Na5!? [13.Nxc5 13...Nxc5 14.f3 Ke7 (14...b4 15.Nb1 Na4
16.Nd2 O-O 17.e4+=) 15.e4 b4 16.Nb1 Nfd7 (16...Na4 17.b3c)
17.Be3+=]
13...Rb8 14.a4 b4 15.Nxb7 Rxb7 [15...bxc3 16.Bxa6h]
16.Nb1 a5 17.b3 [17.Nd2!? would have been my second
choice, however I was not sure how to react after 17...Nd5
Now b3 and Bb2 is not possible anymore, but here White has
a simple way to get a nice advantage with 18.Bb5 Ke7 19.Nc4
Ra7 20.Bxd7 Rxd7 (20...Kxd7 21.e4h) 21.Nxa5c] finishes the game!
17...Ke7 18.Bb2 Rd8 19.Nd2 Nb6 20.Bb5 Preventing Black 30...Bc5 31.Nc6+ Kd6 32.b7 Bxa7 33.Nxa7 Kc7 34.Nb5+
from doubling on the d-file. Kxb7 35.Nxc3 bxc3 36.Rc1 Nxe3 37.Rxc3 Nf5 38.Rc5 f6
39.f4 Kb6 40.b4 Overall I must confess that I was a bit proud
20...Rc7 21.Rac1 Bd6 22.Bd4 Rxc1 23.Rxc1
about my achievement. Not only do I not remember ever
playing such a technical game before, also this line was one
of my preparations for the Women’s World Championship in
Sochi 2015. Even it took more than 9 months, I finally see that
my hard work eventually paid off. 1-0
23...Nbd5? The last decisive mistake. The only chance to

fight for a draw was to exchange the last rooks on the board!
[23...Rc8 24.Rxc8 Nxc8 25.Nc4 Bc7 would still be a very long
battle...]
24.Nc4 Rc8 25.Re1 A rather careful choice which does not
destroy my nice position. But there must also have been other
ways to keep the advantage... [25.Bb2 25...Ne4 26.Nxa5c]
Clash of the Titans 9...a6 10.Bb2 Nxd4 11.Qxd4 Qc7 12.Qh4 dxc4 13.Bxc4
Rd8! Somehow White has developed quicker and Black
has to be careful. [13...b5?! 14.Bd3 h6 15.Rac1!? (15.Ne4
(17) Bisguier, Arthur Bernard 15...Nxe4 16.Qxe4 f5 17.Qxa8 Bb7 18.Qa7 Bxh2+ 19.Kh1
- Stein, Leonid[D40] Bxg2+ 20.Kxg2 Qxa7 21.Kxh2 Qf7k) 15...Qb8 16.Ne4Cand
White starts an offensive.]
Stockholm Interzonal(15), 14.Rfd1 Bd7 15.Rac1 Bc6= Black solved his main problem
1962.02.20 with the light-squared bishop and equalized easily.
GM Jan Krzysztof Duda
16.Bd3 Qe7 [16...h6! ]
Best rating: 2663
17.Ne2 [17.Na4!? Using the fact that the pawn on h7 is
hanging. 17...h6 18.Nb6 Rab8 19.Nc4 Bc7 20.Ne5CWith
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.c4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.e3 This is neither pleasant play, e.g. 20...Be8? 21.Ng4!h]
the main, nor the principled way to get some opening 17...h6 18.Nd4 Be8 19.Rc2 Ba3 20.Ba1?!
advantage. Bisguier was probably playing for a draw, but as
we already know sometimes that ends badly. And of course
this is no exception to the rule. [5.Nc3; 5.g3]
5...d5 When the white pawn stands on e3 the hedgehog type
of structure also has a nice point.
6.Nc3 Nc6 7.Be2 Bd6 8.O-O O-O
20...Rd7 [20...e5!? 21.Nf3 e4 22.Bxf6 gxf6 23.Nd4 Rxd4

(23...exd3 24.Nf5 Qf8 25.Rc4 (25.Rc5!? A typical computer’s
non-standard move, but Black is better. 25...Bxc5 26.Nxh6+
Qxh6 27.Qxh6 Bf8 28.Qxf6 Bg7 29.Qf4 Rac8e) 25...Kh7
26.Qh5 Bd7! 27.Rxd3 Bb5 28.Rxd8 Rxd8 29.Rh4k This
position looks unclear to me, but White definitely has easier
9.b3 [9.cxd5 9...exd5 As far as I know this kind of isolated play here.) 24.exd4 exd3 25.Qg3+ Kh8 26.Qxd3 Rd8=+ and
pawn is harmless and Black may easily start the attack on the bishops are bishops.]
white king. So it’s logical that the American didn’t go for this.] 21.Nf3 Rad8 22.Rcd2 Bb4!? A very creative and brave
concept. Black gives up a pawn, weakens his king a little, but Surprise section / study
on the other hand he maintains an unpleasant pin.
23.Bxf6 gxf6 24.Qxh6 f5 25.Ng5 Bc3! (18) Herbstmann
1. h
26.h4?? [26.Qh7+ 26...Kf8 27.Qh6+ Bg7 (27...Kg8= )

28.Qh4 Qc5!? With the threat Rxd3. White’s position is
definitely unpleasant, though the computer evaluated it as
0.00 after both 29.Qh5 and 29. h3. Either way only Black can
strengthen his position, but objectively it should be level.]
26...Qf6! 27.Qh7+ Kf8i and White lacks good moves.
28.Qh5 Qh8 29.Nh7+ Kg8 30.Qg5+!? Qg7! [30...Kxh7??
31.Bxf5+ exf5 32.Rxd7 Bxd7 33.Qh5+ Kg8 34.Qg5+=]
31.Rc2 Qxg5 32.Nxg5 Rxd3 0-1
Solutions (20) Ivanchuk, V(2720)-Lupulescu, C(2631)
(19) Tomashevsky, E(2743)-Ipatov, A(2624)
32.Ng6+! Kh7 33.Rh8+! Kxg6 34.Qc6+! f6 [34...Kg5

35.h4+ Kg4 36.Qd7+h]
24.Bf6!! Rxe4 [24...gxf6 25.Rg3h] 35.Qe8+ Qxe8 36.Rxe8h
25.Rg3! Nxf6 26.exf6 g6 27.Rh3! h6 28.Qxg6 Qd2 (21) Rapport, R(2693)-Svetushkin, D(2585)
[28...Rf4 29.Rxh6+ Bxh6 30.Qxh6+ Kg8 31.Qg7#]
29.Qxe4h [29.Rg3h ]
32.h4! Qh6 [32...Qf5 33.Rxd2h]

33.Bd5+ Kg6 34.Qd6+ 1-0
(22) Wojtaszek, R(2748)-Ragger, M(2688) (24) Kantans, T(2514)-Nyysti, S(2353)
44...Be4! 0-1 [44...Be4 45.Rxg4 Rh1#] 19...Bxf2+! 0-1 [19...Bxf2+ 20.Nxf2 Rxf2 21.Nxd7 Rxg2+
(23) Kovalenko, I(2694)-Agopov, M(2452) 22.Kh1 Rg3+i]
European Team Championship, 2015.11.13 (25) Kveinys, A(2510)-Ivanisevic, I(2662)

29...Bxh2+! 30.Kf1 [30.Nxh2 30...Qg3i]

30...Rxg2! 31.Kxg2 Qg3+ 32.Kh1 Qxf3+ 33.Kxh2 Qf4+ 34.Rxd6! Qxd6 35.Nb5+! 1-0 [35.Nb5+ 35...axb5 36.Rc3+
34.Kg2 Qxc1i Kb8 37.Qxd6+h]
(26) Melkumyan, H(2632)-Urkedal, F(2505) (28) Grigoryan, K(2616)-Jones, G(2615)
37.Rc7! exf3+ 38.Kh2 1-0 [38.Kh2 38...Qxc7 39.Qf8#] 39...e4! 40.g3 [40.Bxg7 40...Qxg2#]
(27) Ragger, M(2688)-Grandelius, N(2644) 40...Bxc3i
European Team Championship, 2015.11.15 (29) Mitrofanov
1.Be3! h3 2.a6!! bxa6 3.Ne6! h2 4.Nd4+! Ka5 [4...Kc5

33...Rh8! 34.Rb6 [34.hxg6 34...Rh2+ 35.Kg1 Rh1+! 36.Kxh1 5.Nf3+ Kd5 6.Nxh2h]
Qf1+ 37.Qg1 Qh3+i] 5.Bf4! g1=Q [5...Kb6 6.Bxh2h]
34...Bxb6i 6.Bc7#
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
Starting from this week, the world’s best chess players,
Editorial Preface 2 including Magnus Carlsen, are gathering in London for the 7th
London Chess Classic. It is a 9-round round robin event with
10 players. There are also a lot of interesting side events in
London, with one of them already under way, and that is the
British Knockout Championship 2015. David Howell and Nick
Young & Talented 11 Pert have qualified for the final and these two are going to
play a 6 games match with a classical control to determine the
Puzzle section 14 winner now. A strong open is also starting today, in parallel to
the main event.
Endgame section 17 The China Chess Kings event was won by Wei Yi, a Chinese
super talent who is just 16-years old and has a rating of 2730.
Golden knowledge 22 He defeated Bu Xiangzhi in the final in a beautiful attacking
game with White-which you can find in the current issue.
Chess and the City 27 The 11th Ugra Governer’s Cup in Khanty Mansisk had a 3-way
tie for first place, all with 6/9: Bukavshin, Rakhmanov and
Clash of the Titans 29 Eliseev.
We hope you enjoy watching Carlsen, Caruana, Nakamura
Surprise section / study 33 and others competing in London and of course also the
current issue of your weekly chess magazine.
Solutions 33
Two best games of the past week exchange the knights. 9...Nxd2 10.Bxd2 and we would be in
a position which is just better for White. Hiss main plan is
usually to develop play on the kingside by playing Ng5 and
quickly getting the queen from d1 into play.]
(1) Iskusnyh, Sergei (2482)
- Khismatullin, Denis (2654) [A40]
11th Ugra Governor’s Cup(8.10),

Best rating: 2737
We are going to see a totally crazy game from move 1 until the
very end. For a game like that, clearly two players are needed
who are creative, and have no fear of making a mistake. With 9.Ng5! A strong move! The queen from d1 immediately gets
Iskusnyh and Khismatullin we clearly have this king of guys... into the game. Now Nxe6 is a deadly threat with the idea of
1.d4 b5? Well, what to give to a move like this except from a Qh5 next.
question mark... 9...g6 is probably the best defense. [9...Be7? 10.Nxe6! A
2.e4 a6 The current position is mainly famous from the game typical blow in this kind of structure! 10...fxe6 11.Qh5+ Kf8
Karpov-Miles, where Anthony won a great game after playing 12.Re3 and the black king is in big danger.]
1.e4 a6. 10.Qg4 White is playing in a very dynamic way. Once again
3.Bd3 A solid move, even if it is maybe not the most critical. the pawn on e6 is his target.
Anyhow, White just keeps the center pawn alive, which gives 10...Qe7 It looks like Black has defended from the worst, but
him a clear edge. here comes another blow:
3...Bb7 4.Nf3 e6 5.O-O c5 Black’s position is a mix between 11.Nxh7! Using the fact that the black queen doesn’t have
Sicilian and French defenses. many squares to go to.
6.c3 White is keeping the central pawns alive. 11...Rxh7 12.Bg5 Nxe5 Black doesn’t have a choice... [12...f6
6...Nf6 7.Re1 Very solid play by White again. Maybe 7.Nbd2 13.exf6 and Black can just resign.]
was worth considering instead of Re1, but both moves are 13.Rxe5 White is going for the direct kill of the black king!
good. [After the more solid 13.dxe5 13...Qd7 14.Nd2 White’s position
7...d5 White already wanted to play d5 somewhere. is just clearly better.]
8.e5 Nfd7 [In case of 8...Ne4 9.Nbd2 Black would have to 13...Qd7 14.Nd2 The black king is still in the center and he
needs to be worried about Bxg6 in a good moment or maybe
even Rxe6. A lot of threats to think about... [14.Bxg6?! doesn’t
work yet. 14...fxg6 15.Rxe6+ Kf7 16.Qf4+ and although
Black’s position is looking very dangerous, a piece is a piece.
16...Kg8 17.Rxg6+ Rg7 and only Black can hope to be better
here.]
14...Nc6
17.a4! would end Black’s suffering! 17...f5 (17...Nxe5 just loses

to 18.Nxe5 Qc7 19.Bxe7 Qxe7 20.axb5) 18.Qf4 Nxe5 19.Nxe5
Bxg5 20.Qxg5 Qc7 21.Qf6 and the game would probably not
last much longer...]
17...Rh5? Black is missing his chance... [17...e5! would keep
the fire burning. 18.Qxd7+ Rxd7 19.Bxe7 Rxe7 20.Bc2 and
White "just" has a better endgame.]
15.Nf3!? White shows no mercy. [The silent 15.Re2 followed 18.a4 One move too late, but still very strong!
by Rae1 also looks good for White.] 18...Bxg5 19.axb5 axb5 20.Nxg5 Black’s position remains
15...Be7 Black wants to castle queenside. [But maybe it very bad. White is a pawn up and he has a dangerous attack
was worth trying to take the exchange after 15...f5 16.Qg3 on the a-file.
Nxe5 17.Nxe5 Qg7 18.Re1 and although White probably has 20...e5 is maybe the best chance.
a very promising position with good compensation for the
exchange, Black is still fighting for 3 results here.]
16.dxc5! A good move, as the rook on e5 cannot be taken now.
16...O-O-O [16...Nxe5 17.Nxe5 Qc7 18.Re1 With many deadly
threats, like Nxg6 or Nxf7.]
17.Ree1?! White is still better after this move, but why not
continue in the style of the past moves?! [
21.Qxd7+? A serious mistake, White is too careless. [The
winning move 21.Be2!! was very hard to find, but the game is 26...Bxc6 27.Ne5 and here comes the move White probably
just over, as Black is losing even more material. 21...f5 22.Qg3 blundered:
f4 23.Qg4 and Black has to give up the exchange.] 27...Rxe5! 28.Rxe5 Rd2 Now it is already Black who is
21...Rxd7 22.f4 exf4 White is still better, but the game is winning! White has no defense against Rxg3 followed by f3.
turning! 29.Rc1 Rxg2+ 30.Kf1
23.Nf3?! Another inaccurate move. [White would keep
a clear advantage after 23.Nxf7 23...Rxf7 24.Bxg6 Rhh7
25.Bxh7 Rxh7 26.Re8+ Kd7 27.Rf8 and the question can only
be if this is enough to win the game or not.]
23...d4! Of course! Now that the pawns are equal, the black
rooks are actually very well placed for play in the center. The
pawn on c5 is also under attack.
24.Bxb5 dxc3 Slowly it seems like the game should end in a
draw...
30...f3 and Bb5 decides the game on the next move. What
25.b4 Over ambitious play leeds to nothing good, but White
a game... White was first playing brilliantly and not getting
simply cannot admit that from a winning position it is already
provoked by a shocking opening of Black. And just when
time to think about how to reach a draw. [25.bxc3 25...Rxc5
victory seemed so close, everything went wrong and Black
26.c4 and the position is very equal.]
first got the chance to come back into the game, before even
25...Rd8! A strong move! The rook on d8 is covering the e8 winning it with a not too complicated exchange sacrifice. 0-1
square and the simple Nxb4 is a threat.
26.Bxc6? Another miscalculation by White... [26.Rac1 was

still leading to an equal position. 26...Nxb4 27.Rxc3]
9.Qf3 The standard development is f3 and Qd2 (without h3 of
(2) Khismatullin, Denis(2654) course). The queen on f3 supports better the kingside attack
- Sjugirov, Sanan (2646) [B90] with g4-g5-h4-h5-g6. Another common plans are to trade
bishops with Bh3 or changing the pawn structure by jumping
11th Ugra Governor’s Cup(3.2), GM Csaba Balogh with the knight to d5. It also has a drawback, that the queen
2015.11.25 Best rating: 2672
cannot participate in the defense after castling queenside.
9...O-O 10.g4 a5 Black immediately starts to act. He intends
to destroy the pawn structure with a4-a3. White has many
A fighting game with many nice tactical motifs. options, but all of them has a drawback.
1.Nf3 c5 2.e4 Not the usual move order, but we reached the 11.O-O-O White decides to allow a4-a3. [11.a4 gives up the b4
Sicilian defense. square, Black occupies it with his knight. 11...Na6 12.O-O-O
2...d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 A recently Nb4; 11.a3? is the worst, Black immediately overtakes the
popular weapon against the Najdorf defense, but current initiative with 11...a4 12.Nd2 d5!; 11.Bb5 temporarily prevents
theory is already highly developed even here. a4, but Black plays 11...Na6 12.O-O-O Nc7]
6...e5 7.Nb3 [7.Nde2 is more common, but of course the text 11...a4 12.Nc5 Here is another benefit of having the queen on
move is another main line.] f3 instead of d2.
7...Be6 8.Be3 We transposed now to the line with 6.Be3 e5 12...a3 13.Nxe6 This is the novelty, I doubt if it was
7.Nb3 Be6 and here the main move is 8.f3, but this alternative a prepared one. [Previous games continued with 13.g5
of playing 8.h3 has it’s ideas as well. One of them is to take 13...axb2+ 14.Kxb2 Nfd7 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.Qg4 according to
control over the g4 square and play f2-f4 at once. The other the computer, Black gets more than enough compensation
option is what we are going to see in this game... after 16...Nc6 17.Qxe6+ Kh8 followed by Nd4. The exposed
king on b2 becomes very vulnerable. ]
8...Be7
13...axb2+ 14.Kxb2 fxe6 The most natural and of course a
good move, however Black had another interesting option:
[14...Qa5!? 15.Nxf8 Qb4+ 16.Kc1 Qxc3 White has only
one move to avoid resignation due to the threatening Rxa2.
17.Rd3 Qa1+ 18.Kd2
18...d5!e This is the point of entire idea started with 14...Qa5. 16...b5! A very unpleasant move to face with! Black happily
Suddenly the center explodes and Black is also threatening gives up his b-pawn in order to open the lines in front of the
with Bb4.] white king.
15.Bc4 Bringing a defender around the king. 17.Bb3 [17.Nxb5 17...Nxe4 this exchange favors Black. d5 is
coming next and White collapses.; 17.Bxb5 can be countered
15...Qc8 [15...Nd5 looked very tempting to lure the king
in different ways, 17...d5 (17...Na6 and; 17...Qb7 looks also
towards the middle of the board, but actually it is not
very strong.) 18.exd5 Ba3+ 19.Kb3 Qb7 in a practical game,
so easyafter 16.Qe2 Nxc3 17.Bxe6+ Kh8 18.Kxc3 Black of
White’s position looks quite hopeless.]
course has huge compensation, but the king is running back
to b2-b1.; It looks like the strongest attacking move was
15...Qa5! 16.Bxe6+ Kh8 Black is threatening to win the c3
knight with Qa3. 17.Bd2 (17.Bb3 runs into the very strong
17...d5!i and the bishop is coming to a3! In all these lines
we can see, that the f3 queen is standing poorly, it is all the
motifs along the f-file.) 17...Nc6 followed by Nd4. White could
hardly avoid big problems.]
16.Qe2 White finally leaves the pin on the f-file, but of course
his king still remains very weak.
17...d5! Excellent dynamic move! Black opens the diagonal
of his bishop, creates the threats of Ba3 and d4. [Black could
have gone for the central pawn with 17...b4 18.Nb5 Nxe4 but
it allows White to consolidate his position with 19.Qc4!]
18.Nxb5 Nxe4 The game seems to be over. Black intends to 24.Bxa8
swap off his opponent with Qb7, d4 or any other attacking
move, since White is lacking any coordination between his
pieces and his king is still very weak. Khismatullin knows, that
he must find something extraordinary if he wants to stay in the
game.
19.Rxd5!! Eliminating the rolling central pawns.
24...Nc6! Vacating the b8 square for the rook to join into the
game with a decisive check.
25.Bxc6 [25.Bxa3 both bishops are hanging, but 25...Rb8+!
this intermediate check finishes the game 26.Kc1 Qxa3+i]
25...Qxc6! This is the key move, which was probably missed
by White! Black recaptures the bishop first before giving Rb8
19...Nc3!! Great counterblow and a shocker for White. He check, using the fact that the rook is hanging on h1! The
just thought, that he found relief with his last move and game is over. [25...Rb8+? 26.Bb5 was unclear in view of
then comes such a surprise. [19...exd5 allows too much 26...Qb4+ 27.Ka1 Rxb5 28.Qxb5! Qxb5 29.Bxa3 and White
simplification 20.Bxd5+ Kh8 21.Bxa8 and suddenly White is has excellent drawing chances. Finally his king is safe. The
doing well.] bishop cooperates perfectly with the rook. The a-pawn could
20.Nxc3? The decisive mistake. White probably missed the also be an important factor.]
25th move of his opponent at the end of the forced line! 26.Bxa3 [26.Rd1 leads to mate after 26...Rb8+ 27.Ka1 Qc3+]
[20.Rxe5! would have been the only move, which leads to
the following interesting endgame 20...Nxe2 21.Bxe6+ Qxe6 26...Qxh1+ 27.Kb2 [27.Bc1 27...Rb8+i]
22.Rxe6 Bf6+ 23.Kb3 White has 3 pawns for the piece. The 27...Rb8+ 28.Kc3 Qa1+ 29.Kd2 Rd8+ White resigned! 0-1
e2 knight is trapped. The queens are off, but his king still
cannot be considered to be in safety. This last factor should
turn the balance on Black’s favor. 23...Na6! with the idea if
White wants to trap the knight with 24.Re1?! Rfb8! and it is
coming out with Nd4 next move. 25.Rb6 Nd4+e]
20...Ba3+ 21.Kb1 Qxc3 22.Bc1 exd5! 23.Bxd5+ Kh8
Young & Talented 14.cxd4 Nd7 15.Nf1 Na5 16.Bc2 Bf6 17.N1h2 It is very
logical to go for the g4 square when the black bishop is on f6.
17.Bf4 or 17.Ng3 are possible but the latest trend prior to this
game was [17.Rb1!? 17...c5 18.d5 Nc4 19.b3 (19.N1h2 would
lead to our game with a different move order.) 19...Nce5
was played the famous Giri-Svidler game from the World Cup
and more recently in Leko-Nyback from the European Team
Championship.]
GM Etienne Bacrot
Best rating: 2749 17...c5
(3) Wei Yi (2737)

- Bu Xiangzhi (2710) [C92]
1st China Chess King 2015(3.2),
2015.11.30
Wei Yi won a very strong event with all the best Chinese
players. In this spectacular game where he again showed an
interesting opening idea he was a little lucky.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 18.d5!? The new move. Black has no problems after [18.Ng4
b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Bb7 10.d4 Re8 11.Ng5 Rf8 18...cxd4 19.Nxd4 Bxd4 20.Qxd4 Rc8 21.Qd1 h5 22.Nh2 Qc7
12.Nf3 Re8 13.Nbd2 23.Bb1 Nf6 Black was very fine with good development and
an attack on e4 in Svidler-Kjartansson Gibraltar 2015. After
this game, Svidler who often employs the Spanish, added
13...exd4 to his opening arsenal.]
18...Nc4 19.Rb1 Nde5 The best move. The knight on c4
should stay there to provoke the b3 move. [19...Nce5 20.Nxe5
Bxe5 (20...Nxe5 21.f4+=) 21.Be3 (21.f4 21...Bd4+ 22.Kh1 f5
23.Nf3 Nf6 Black is more than fine.) 21...Rc8 22.Re2+=
(22.Ng4 22...Bd4) ]
13...exd4 The Kjartansson (first player to employ this move) 20.Nxe5 Bxe5 21.b3 Nb6 22.Ng4 Bd4 23.Be3 [23.Bb2 is
Spanish is becoming very fashionable lately thanks to Peter also interesting to force the exchange of bishops but the rook
Svidler. on b2 will be oddly placed. 23...Bxb2 24.Rxb2]
26.Re3 This is definitely wrong. White is too slow, he should
try to transfer the queen but it involves an unclear sacrifice.
[26.Qd3! 26...Ba6 (26...Kh8 27.e5 g6 28.exd6 Nxd5 29.Bg3
looks good for White.) 27.Qg3 Bxe2 28.Nh6+ Kf8 29.Bxd6+
Re7 30.Nf5 Nc8 31.e5! White might have missed this strong
intermezzo. 31...g6 32.Nxe7 Nxe7 With a crazy position.]
26...Bc8! It is important to kill the strong knight.
27.Rg3 Bxg4 28.hxg4 a4=+ It is clear that Black arrives first.
23...Bc3! A very brave over the board decision. But 29.g5 axb3 30.axb3 g6 Black might first improve the bishop
exchanging now gives a clear advantage to White. [23...Bxe3 before this defensive move. [30...Bd4! 31.Rh3 g6 32.Qg4 Ra2
24.Rxe3+=] 33.Rc1 c4=+]
24.Re2 Visually very dangerous is [24.Qd3!? 24...Bxe1 25.e5 31.Be3! Taking the important diagonal.
g6 26.Nf6+ Kg7 (26...Qxf6 27.exf6 Bb4 is also interesting but 31...c4 32.Rh3
I don’t think it’s enough for the queen.) 27.Nxe8+ (27.Bg5
27...Rxe5 28.Nh5+ Kf8 29.Bxd8 Rxd8k) 27...Qxe8 28.Rxe1
Nxd5 29.exd6 Qc6! and it seems Black wins the d6 pawn,
leading to an unclear position.]
24...b4! Black gets easy play on the queenside. [24...f5
25.Qd3! is pretty strong, but not (25.exf5 25...Nxd5 26.Qd3
Qd7 27.f6 gxf6=+ when Black is ok.) 25...fxg4 26.Qxc3 gxh3
27.gxh3 Qh4 28.f3! White has a nice attack on the dark
squares.]
25.Bf4 a5 32...Ra2? Now that the break was already done, the
improvement on the a-file is ok but was not needed. A simple
move was very good for Black. [32...cxb3! 33.Rxb3 (33.Bxb3
33...Rxe4e) 33...Nc4e]
33.g3 Improving the king and implementing some threats on
the h-file.
33...Qc7 34.Kg2 Rea8 35.Rc1 [35.Bd4 35...Bxd4 36.Qxd4
Qc5!i]
42...Qxf6 43.Bg4 Re8 44.Qa7 Qe5? Making things easy.
More stubborn defende was [44...Kf8! 45.Be6 Re7 46.Qb8+
Re8 47.Qb6 Kg7 48.Qa7+! Re7 49.Qe3 g5 50.bxc4h But
White has too many pawns!]
45.Rh7 Rxf2+ The last try but it is clearly not enough.
46.Kxf2 Rf8+ 47.Kg2 Qxe4+ 48.Kh2 Rf2+ 49.Qxf2 Kxh7
50.Qf7+ Kh8 51.Qf4 Qc2+ 52.Kh3 Kg7 53.Qd4+ Kh7
54.Qxc4 Qf2 55.Qf4 Qg1 56.Qf3
35...Rb2?? A big mistake that ruins all of Black’s efforts. [The
simple 35...Ra1 36.Bb1 cxb3 37.Qxb3 Qc4 38.Qc2 Nd7=+ is
clearly better for Black.]
36.Bd4! c White was not very active but with this simple
move he already gets a mating attack! The exchange is not
possible because the rook on b2 is hanging now.
36...f6! The best defense.
37.gxf6 Bxd4 38.Qxd4 Raa2
39.Rxh7!! A great killing blow!

39...Qxh7 [39...Kxh7 40.Rh1+ Kg8 41.f7+ of course leads to
mate.]
40.Qxb6 Qf7 41.Rh1 Ra8 42.Bd1! The three remaining
white pieces are in the attack!
Puzzle section
(4) Yu Yangyi(2734)-Ni Hua(2696) (6) Tan Zhongyi(2492)-Lei Tingjie(2431)
Taizhou, 2015.11.24 Taizhou, 2015.11.24
1. h 1. h
(5) Wei Yi(2737)-Bu Xiangzhi(2710) (7) Aleksandrov, A(2615)-Bukavshin, I(2657)

Taizhou, 2015.11.30 Yugra Cup, 2015.11.29
1. h 1... i
(8) Sarana, A(2426)-Ponkratov, P(2604) (10) Paveto, K(2424)-Bachmann, A(2601)
Yugra Cup, 2015.11.29 Patagonia Open, 2015.11.28
1... i 1... i
(9) Diaz, N(2442)-Bachmann, A(2601) (11) Landa, K(2625)-Zeller, F(2392)

Patagonia Open, 2015.11.26 Heusenstamm Open, 2015.11.29
1... i 1. h
(12) Ivanov, M(2396)-Nabaty, T(2603)
Belgrade trophy, 2015.11.28
1... i
(13) Benitez Lozano, J(2257)-Cordova, E(2611)

Sisniega memorial, 2015.11.13
1... i
Endgame section winning as White cannot counter it with Kf3, therefore White
needs to find the only move here.
(14) Yu Yangyi (2734)

- Wei Yi (2737)
Taizhou, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.11.27 Best rating: 2672
63.Kf2! Well done!

63...Kf4 64.Bg3+! is the point and Black must retreat.
64...Kf5 65.Bh4 Bf4 66.Be7 Be5 [66...Be3+ does not bring
anything 67.Kg3 and Black cannot make progress.]
67.Bh4 Ke6 Black employs very good practical technique.
Although this endgame is from the blitz tiebreak of the Yu He does not see the win, but he tries all his chances. The first
Yangyi-Wei Yi match and both players were probably living attempt with Kf4 has been neutralized, now he goes to the
from the 2 seconds of increment after each move, it is very other side of the board.
interesting to analyse whether Black can convert his extra 68.Bg5 Kd5 69.Be7 Bf4 70.Bf8 Be5 71.Be7 Kc6 Black
pawn or White is able to build a fortress. Black does not has all the time to do something, since White can only sit and
achieve anything by advancing his pawn to g3 as it is perfectly wait. The only thing to pay attention is the 50 moves rule, but
met by Kf3, the only question if Black could break in somehow it is very far from this point.
with his king. 72.Bf8 Kb5 73.Ke2 [Actually, White could have continued
59.Bg3 Bd8 60.Bf2 Bf6 61.Bg3 Be5 The bishop occupies waiting with 73.Be7 as 73...Ka4 allows 74.Bc5! and Black
an ideal square in the center of the board. It controls all cannot avoid the forced draw. 74...Kb3 75.Bxd4! Bxd4+
the diagonals, supports the advance of the g-pawn and also 76.Kg3=]
protects the d4 pawn. 73...Ka4 74.Bh6 Kb3 75.Bg5 Kc2 The king has entered,
62.Bh4 Kf5 It is time to achieve something by activating the but is it enough to win the game? Black can already consider
king. Black is threatening with Kf4 followed by g3. It is already to push g3 as Kf3 drops the d3 pawn or another threat
could Bh2 supporting the advance of the g-pawn until the cannot make progress. The bishop is in cage and if Black
promotion. approaches with his king it is always a stalemate! 82...Ke3
83.Kh1 Unfortunately for Black 83...Bg1 is not winning
either because of 84.Kxg1 Kf3 85.Kf1= and White takes the
opposition.) ]
78.Be5 Be3 79.Bg3 Black realizes, that he cannot make
progress again, therefore he switches back with his king to the
kingside. White gets more and more tired after each attempt
and the chance for a mistake grows.
79...Kb3 80.Be5 Kb4 81.Bd6+ Kb5 82.Kf1 Kc6 83.Be5
Kd5 84.Bc7 Ke6 85.Kg2 Kf5 86.Bb6 Kf4 87.Bc7+! White
76.Bh4 Bh2 [The problem with 76...g3 is, that Black still only allows Kf4 if he can send the king back with a check.
cannot make progress because after 77.Bd8! or 77.Be7! (But 87...Kf5 88.Bb6 Kg5 89.Bd8+ Kg6 90.Bb6 Kf5 91.Bc5
not 77.Bg5?? 77...g2 78.Kf2 Kxd3 and White cannot sacrifice Kf4 92.Bd6+ Kg5 93.Be7+ Kf5 94.Bc5 The game is drawn,
his bishop. 79.Kxg2 Ke2 80.Bd8 d3 81.Ba5 and the easiest White has already shown the correct defensive methods
way to win is 81...Bd4 82.Kg3 Bf2+ 83.Kf4 Be1i and the against Black’s attempts. However, Wei Yi keeps on trying,
pawn promotes.) 77...g2 78.Kf2 White is in time to sacrifice hoping for better luck for the next time.
his bishop for the d4 pawn and the game is drawn. ]
94...Ke6 95.Kg3 Kf5 96.Kg2 Kg5 97.Kg3 Bf4+ 98.Kg2
77.Bf6 Bg1 [On 77...Kc3 78.Be7 White just continues waiting Be5 99.Bb4! To meet Kf4 again with a check!
and if Black pushes 78...g3 79.Bd6 (An unnecessary, but
99...Kf5 100.Bd2 Bf4 101.Bb4 Bc7 102.Bc5 Be5
very instructive theoretical draw can be reach after 79.Kf3
79...Kxd3 80.Bc5 Kc4 81.Bxd4! Kxd4 82.Kg2
103.Bb6?? Here comes the sign of tiredness and the fruits

With a theoretical draw! White just play Kh1-g2 and Black of Black’s excellent practical play. White has a blackout for
one moment, he forgets, that Kf4 must be met by check and
his position is already lost. [holds the draw as it was already (15) Alonso, Salvador (2499)
played before. 103.Bb4 ] - Granda Zuniga, Julio E (2678)
103...Kf4 104.Kf2 Otherwise Ke3 wins the game.
1st Patagonia Open 2015(6.1),
104...g3+ 105.Ke2 [105.Kg2 105...Ke3i White cannot 2015.11.25 GM Arkadij Naiditsch
sacrifice his bishop properly to get both pawns.] Best rating: 2737
105...Kg4 106.Ba5 Kh3 The g-pawn cannot be stopped.

107.Be1 Bf4 Other moves were also winning on the spot.
108.Kf3 g2 [White resigned in view of 108...g2 109.Bf2
Be3i] 0-1
After a non-ambitious opening by White, we are in a more or

less equal endgame. White is controlling the d-file and Black
has a slightly better pawn structure, which gives both sides
equal chances. Anyhow, Granda Zuniga manages to win this
position without any serious trouble! Let’s take a at look how
he is doing it...
23...g5 A logical move. Black is winning some space on the
kingside, which is clearly useful for the future.
24.g3 is also a normal reaction. White wants to keep his
bishop on the diagonal.
24...e5 Black continues pushing his pawns.
25.Bd5 Black wanted to play e4 and White is placing his
bishop on d5.
25...Be8 26.c4 then Black will just dominate the d-file.
26...a6!? A small, but very important move. White wanted to

play b5 after which Ra1 would be a real threat, attacking the 33.Ra2? This move is already a serious mistake. [33.Rxd7
a7 pawn. would lead to a bad endgame and after 33...Bxd7 34.Bd5
Bc6! it is unclear if White can save the game.; But the
27.Kc3 Both players are playing very well so far. White is
right choice was 33.Rd6+! 33...Rxd6 34.cxd6 Bc6 White
slowly improving the position of the pieces and the king is
should always be very careful about Black’s e4-Ke5. 35.Bg8!
nicely placed on c3.
followed by Kd3 next and it is hard to see how Black can
27...h5 28.Ra1 Does White want to put his rook on a5?! improve his position, even if things are still unclear. But White
[Maybe White could have tried 28.h4!? 28...g4 and now to would keep very good chances to draw here.]
bring the king to e3. 29.Kd3 Kf6 30.Ke3 and I think the
33...Rd1! and White is in big trouble! Black is going for the
position should remain equal.]
h-pawn.
28...Rcd7 29.Rad1 This move is not bad, but it doesn’t make
34.gxh4 gxh4 35.f4 Things are already looking bad for White
much sense to first play Ra1 and then Rad1.
now... [Maybe the best chance to survive the game was
29...Kf6 Black is slowly but surely improving his position. 35.Bxa6 35...bxa6 36.Rxa6+ Ke7 37.Ra7+ Rd7
30.c5?! is quite a risky choice from a strategical point of view.
Now the bishop on e6 will have a great position on b5 and
Bc6 will also be possible somewhere with the Bxc6 bxc6 idea,
especially after the exchange of rooks.
30...h4 Black is following the golden rule of playing where
you are stronger, in this case the kingside.
31.Bc4 Rxd2 32.Rxd2 Rd7! A very smart move. Now White
has to decide whether to go into a bishop endgame and if not,
38.Ra8 and although the position looks lost for White, maybe was 42...axb5 43.Bxb5 Rg1 with the deadly threat of playing
things are not that clear... White’s pawns could become very Rg2.]
dangerous in just 2 moves after b5-c6.] 43.Rxf1 Black’s position is of course still winning.
35...exf4 36.Re2 Bd7?! [36...Bc6 would end the game on 43...axb5 44.b4 f4 45.h3 Kf5 and White cannot do anything
the spot.] against Black’s upcoming Bc6-Ke4 idea. All in all, a very clear
37.Rf2 Rc1+! A good move! The white king has no good victory by Granda Zuniga from what looked like an equal
squares to go to. endgame. 0-1
38.Kd4 [38.Kd2 38...Rg1 and again the f4 pawn can’t be
taken.]
38...Rh1 Now that there is no more Bd5, of course Black is
placing his rook on h1.
39.Bf1 [39.Bd5? 39...Rd1+ 40.Kc4 Bb5+ and White is losing
the bishop.]
39...f3 A safe decision. White again cannot take the f-pawn
because of the simple Rxh2.
40.Kd5 Bc6+ 41.Kd6 The little time trouble is over, and with
it basically the game. Black is a clear pawn up and White
doesn’t even have a threat.
41...Be4 A lot of other moves were winning here as well.
42.b5
42...Rxf1 Black is going for a beautiful finish! [More pragmatic
Golden knowledge
GM Adrian Mikhalchishin 52.Rh8 The exchange of rooks was losing easily, as the white
FIDE Trainers Commission Chairman pawns are without defense.
52...Rc3+ 53.Kb2 Re3 54.a5 Kc5 55.h4 Rxg3 56.h5 Rh3
(16) Carlsen, Magnus-Pelletier, Yannick 57.h6 Nf6 58.a6 Kb6 59.Rd8 Ne4 A disappointing loss for
20th European Teams, 2015 Carlsen. 0-1
(17) Dzagnidze, Nana(2566)-Atalik, Ekaterina(2385)

20th European Teams Women, 2015
The blunder of the tournament was made by none else than

the World Champion himself!
45.Rg8?? Ne7!
52...h5?? [The text move looks logical, but suddenly a mating
46.Rxg7 Rxd3+ This check was probably overlooked by idea appears. The correct and easy way to draw was 52...Bxh3
Magnus. 53.Rxh3 Ng2 54.Bh6 Ne1 55.Kf1 Rd3 56.Bg5+ Kg7; The
47.Kc4 Rd7 The rest is pretty straightforward. most interesting thing is that Black saw this mating idea in
another variation: 52...Nf3+ 53.Rxf3 Bxf3 54.e5#]
48.Rf7 f5 49.Rf6 Kd6 50.Rxh6 Rc7+ 51.Kb3 Nd5
53.Ra6+ Followed by mate with e4-e5 on the next move! 1-0
(18) Topel, Zehra(2106)-Calzetta Ruiz, Monica(2252) (19) Dolzhikova, O.(2145)-Isgandarova, K.(2200)
20th European Teams Women, 2015 20th European Teams Women, 2015
30.g3 Kf6 31.Kd3 g5 32.c5 Bc7 33.b4 g4 34.b5 Ke6 51...Bb5 [It was necessary to use tempo winning moves:
35.Kc4 h5 36.b6 Be5 37.c6 h4 51...Ba6 52.Kc1 (52.f5 52...gxf5 53.gxf5 exf5 54.Bf3 Bc4 55.Bd1
Bb5 56.Kc1 f4) 52...Be2 53.Bb3 Bxg4]
52.Kc1 Bc4 53.Kc2 Bb5 54.Kc1 Bc4 1/2-1/2
(20) Giri, Anish(2778)-Beliavsky, Alexander G(2622)

20th European Teams, 2015
38.c7?? [Zehra Topel saw the following easy win: 38.Bf4

38...Bxf4 39.gxf4 g3 40.hxg3 hxg3 41.cxb7 g2 42.b8=Q g1=Q
43.Qe5+ But she decided to come with the king and to take
all the pawns on the other side. But it was too slow...]
38...Kd7 39.Bf2 hxg3 40.hxg3 f4 41.gxf4 Bxf4 42.Bg1 g3
43.Kd3 Bxc7 1/2-1/2
55...Kc6?? [It was necessary to keep an eye on the a-pawn

with 55...Be5 56.a4 a5]
56.a4 Ne8 57.Bc8 Nc7 58.Ke4 Now the white king goes pawns using his rook, bishop and king. [95.g7? 95...Rg6i;
through the light squares and the win is just a matter of time. 95.Rb7! This move would have given White the draw. The
58...Kd6 59.Kf5 Be3 60.a5! Ke7 61.Kg6 Kd8 62.Bb7 point being that the bishop has no real good squares on the
Ke7 63.Kxh6 Kf6 64.Kh7 Kf7 65.Bc6 Kf6 66.Kg8 Kg6 board to go to. 95...Ba1 96.g7 Ra5+ (96...Rg6 97.Rb1 97...Bxg7
67.Bd7 Kf6 68.Kh7 Kf7 69.Kh6 Kf6 70.Kh5 Ke7 71.Bc8 98.Rg1+ Kf5 99.Rxg6 Kxg6 100.Ke4= The king runs back to
Kf6 72.Kh6 Kf7 73.Bb7 Kf6 74.Bc6 Kf7 75.Kh7 Kf6 the h1 square.) 97.Ke4 Ra8 98.Ra7! Re8+ 99.Kd3 Bf6
76.Bd7 Kf7 77.Kh6 Kf6 78.Bc8 Kf7 79.Bb7 Kf6 80.Kh7 (99...Bb2 100.Rb7 Bf6 101.Rf7=) 100.Rf7 Bxg7 101.Rxg7+=]
Kf7 81.Bg2 Kf6 82.Bc6 Kf7 83.Bb7 Kf6 84.Kh6 Kf7 95...Kg5 96.Ke4 Ra8 97.Kf3 Bf6 98.Rh7 Rg8 Next up is
85.Bc6 Kf6 86.Bd7 Kf7 87.Bf5 Kf6 88.Bc8 Kf7 89.Bb7 Bg7 and then the king picks up the f5 and g6 pawns or it goes
Kf6 90.Bg2 Kf7 91.Bf3 Kf6 92.Bb7 Kf7 93.h4 gxh4+ to f6 and the rook does the rest. 0-1
94.Kh5 h3 95.Kh4 h2 96.Kg3 Bg1 97.Nd2 Kf6 98.Nf1
Kg5 99.Nd2 Kf6 100.Nf1 Kg5 101.Nxh2 Bxh2+ 102.Kxh2 (22) Aronian, Levon-Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
Kxg4 103.Kg2 Kf4 104.Kf2 Ke5 105.Kf3 Kf5 106.Bc8+
Ke5 107.Ke3 Kd6 108.Ke4 Ne6 109.Bxa6 Ng5+ 110.Kf4 20th European Teams, 2015
Nf7 111.Bb7 Kc7 112.Bd5 Nd6 113.Ke5 Nc8 114.Bf3 Na7
115.Kd5 Nc6 116.Kxc5 1-0
(21) Shirov, Alexei(2689)-Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar(2743)

20th European Teams, 2015
72.Nd5 [Simpler was 72.Bc3!= ]

72...Be5 73.Bc3 Bh2 74.Nf6+ Kg6 75.Ne4 Ba4 76.Nd2
Kf5 77.Nf3 [77.Nxc4! 77...Bb5 78.Kd3 Ke6 79.Kd4 Bg1+
80.Ne3= White is pinned, but Black cannot use it at all.]
77...Bg3 78.Be1? Kg4 79.Bxg3 Kxg3 80.Kd2 Bc6
The position is close to a draw, but it still demands precise 81.Nxh4 Kxh4 82.Kc3 Bb5 [82...Bb5 83.a4 Kg3!i This
play. move was overlooked by Aronian! Capture is not obligatory
94.h6 gxh6 95.f5? Now Black is able to easily blockade the in chess!] 0-1
(23) Bogner, Sebastian(2550)-Fridman, Daniel(2627) (24) Tiviakov, Sergei(2608)-Mamedov, Rauf(2653)
20th European Teams, 2015 20th European Teams, 2015
48.Bf3? looks perfectly logical, but loses the game! [48.Kg3 58.b8=Q [Correct in such cases is to cut the king: 58.Rf1!
48...Bg4 49.Bf3 e2 50.Bd5+ Kf6 51.Kf2 Ke5 52.Bc4] 58...c2 59.b8=Q Rxb8 60.Kxb8 h4 61.Kb7 h3 62.Kc6 h2
48...Kf6 49.Kg3 Ke5 50.Be2 [50.Kg2 50...Kd4 51.Kf1 Bf5 63.Kd5 Kg4 64.Kd4 Kg3 65.Rc1]
52.Ke1 Bb1 53.a3 Bd3 54.b4 Kc3 55.Be2 Bf5 56.Bd1] 58...Rxb8 59.Kxb8 Kf4
50...Kd4 51.Kf3 Bd5+ 52.Kf4 Bf7!
60.Re1 [60.Rxc3 did not help: 60...Kxe4 61.Kc7 Kf4 62.Rc1

Zugzwang! h4 63.Re1 e5 64.Kd6 h3 65.Kd5 h2]
53.Bf1 Bh5 54.b4 e2 55.Bxe2 Bxe2 56.a4 Bd1 57.a5 a6 60...c2 61.Kc7 h4 62.e5 h3 63.Kd7 h2 64.Kxe7 Kf3 65.e6
58.Kf5 Bc2+ 59.Ke6 Kc4 60.Ke5 Kxb4 61.Kd4 Bg6 Kg2 66.Re2+ Kf3 67.Re1 Kg2 68.Re2+ Kf3 69.Re1 Kg2
62.Ke3 Kxa5 0-1 1/2-1/2
(25) Sargissian, Gabriel(2689)-Howell, David W L(2693) 53.Kh1 Rg4? [The right way was 53...Rg3 54.Kh2 Kh4
20th European Teams, 2015 55.Ra4+ Rg4 56.Ra3 Rg2+ 57.Kh1 Rg3 58.Ra4+ Rg4
(58...Kh5 59.Kh2 Rb3) 59.Ra7]
54.Ra3 Kh4
56...a3? [It was not so complicated to find the following draw:

56...axb3 57.axb3 Ra1 58.Rf6+ Kh5 59.Rxf5+ Kg4]
[Now it is a draw after 54...Rh4 55.Kh2 Kg4 56.Ra4+ Kh5
57.Kh3 Rc6 58.Kxh4 Rc2 59.Rf6+ Kg7 60.Kg5 Rxa2 57.Ra3 g6 58.Rg3! (But not 58.Rxh3?? 58...Kg4!! 59.Rxh4+
61.Ra6 Rb2 62.Ra7+ Kg8 63.Kg6 Kf8 64.Kf6 Kg8 65.e6 Kxh4 60.Kg2 Kg4 61.Kf2 Kh3) 58...Kh6 59.Rg1 g5 60.Ra1 g4
Rxb3 66.e7 Re3 67.Ra4 Kh7 68.Rxb4 Kh6 69.Rb8 Kh5 61.Kg3]
70.e8=Q+ Rxe8 71.Rxe8 Kg4 72.Ke5 1-0
55.Rxh3+! Kg5 56.Ra3 Kf4 57.Ra4+ Kg3 58.Ra3+ Kf2
59.Ra2+ Kf3 60.Ra3+ Kf4 61.Ra4+ Kf5 62.Ra5+ Kf4
(26) Stojanovic, Andjelija(2357)-Sebag, Marie(2496) 63.Ra4+ Kg5 64.Ra5+ Kh4 65.Ra3 Rg3 66.Ra2 Kh3
20th European Teams Women, 2015 67.Rh2+ Kg4 68.Ra2 g5 69.Kh2 Rd3 70.Kg2 Kh4 71.Ra4+
g4 72.Ra2 Rg3+ 73.Kh2 Re3 74.Kg2 Re4 75.Rb2
52...Rg2+ [Wrong was 52...Kh5 53.Ra3]
Chess and the City (27) Sebag, Marie-Muzychuk, Mariya[C83]
20th European Teams Women,
2015.11.21
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.d4

b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 In this position White has a couple
of choices.
9.c3 Going for the main line. Interesting alternatives are
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz [9.Nbd2!?; 9.Qe2!?; 9.Be3!? ]
Best rating: 2493
9...Be7 is one of Black’s main replies, with Bc5.
Why is flexibility so important? Well, this is a question which 10.Nbd2 O-O 11.Bc2 f5 12.Nb3 Qd7 13.Nbd4 Nxd4
is not very hard to be answered! Nowadays engines rule the 14.Nxd4 c5 15.Nxe6 Qxe6 16.f3 Ng5 17.a4 Rad8 So far
chess world and to avoid home preparation is essential for both players followed the absolute main line in the Be7
survival over the 64 squares of our favorite game. Mariya variation. Here however Marie went for the rare continuation.
Muzychuk is not only the current women’s World Champion,
but usually has very deep and precise home preparations. Her
opponent Marie Sebag is the all-time French women hero but
I would also say one of the most principled players among
women in chess. This approach in general is good, as it should
mean that her own opening reportoire is well organized and
rarely allows surprises. However this game went in a rather
unfortunate way.
Perfectly aware that the women’s World Champion plays the
open Spanish, I was astonished to see 20 minutes left for
Marie after only 25 moves of the game (to her opponent’s
18.Bxg5 Marie’s own novelty, which she had already chosen
1h30)... But let’s have a look!
in a game in 2013...against Mariya Muzychuk! [18.axb5
18...axb5 followed by 19.Ra7 promises a good score for White-
at least according to the Mega Database statistics!]
18...Bxg5 19.f4 Be7 20.axb5 axb5 21.Kh1 d4 22.cxd4 c4
23.b3 Bc5 24.bxc4 Rxd4 25.Qb1 bxc4 26.Ra5
29...Rb8 30.Bf3 c3 [30...g6!? ]
31.Rc1 Kh8
Qc6N and here it comes! Mariya’s novelty, compared to

her game back in 2013! According to the engine, a clear
improvement over her old move Qb6. Yet I cannot understand
why Marie was ready to repeat an entire game which was 32.Ra8?? When things go wrong, they usually go very wrong.
so easy to be analyzed in advance... Would it not be Being short on time, Marie makes a serious blunder by likely
less risky to come up with something else than 18.Bxg5 for missing the intermediate move 33. ..Rd8 in her calculation....
instance, when the alternatives even promise a rather good 32...Rxa8 33.Bxa8 Rd8! 34.Bf3 Be3i 35.Rc2 Bxf4
percentage for White?! [26...Qb6 27.Rb5 Qc6 28.Bd1 g6 36.e6 Rb8 37.Qd5 Rb1+ 38.Bd1 h6 39.Qd3 Qd6 I chose
29.Bf3 Qc8 30.Rb7 Rfd8 31.Qb5 Bf8 32.g3 Qc5 33.Qa6 this game as it reminded me about the deep psychological
Re8 34.Rb5 Qa3 35.Bd5+ Rxd5 36.Qxa3 Bxa3 37.Rxd5 c3 factor about chess. As my psychology is sometimes rather
38.Ra5 Bb2 39.Rc5 Rd8 40.Rf2 Kf7 41.Rc2 Rd3 42.Kg2 week, I usually do not tend to repeat my openings too often
Ke6 43.Kf2 Rd7 44.Ke3 Rd1 45.Rc6+ Ke7 46.Rc7+ Ke6 and therefore even change my starting move all the time.
47.Rxh7 Re1+ 48.Kd3 Rd1+ 49.Kc4 Rd2 50.Rxc3 Bxc3 On the other hand having a strong reportoire such as Mariya
51.Kxc3 Rg2 52.Kd4 Rd2+ 53.Ke3 Ra2 54.Rg7 Kd5 55.Rxg6 or top women player Valentina Gunina gives security, but it
Ra3+ 56.Kd2 Ra2+ 57.Kc3 Rxh2 58.Rd6+ Ke4 59.e6 Re2 bears a risk of entering nasty home preparation. However,
60.Rd3 Ra2 61.e7 1-0 (61) Sebag,M (2501)-Muzychuk,A (2566) repeating the same line against the same opponent and being
Beijing 2013] surprised that there would be a change seems strange to me. I
27.Bd1?! If I am surprised and I realize my opponent has done do of course not know the real circumstances as I was not part
her homework, would it not be smart to be satisfied with a of the French team nor spoke to the captain, but this game is
draw and force an endgame?! Well I am by my own character a a good proof to say that sometimes it is wise to either change
rather frightened chicken, yet being scared is a good sensor to the line or do your homework better... 0-1
know when it is time to give in... [27.Qb5! 27...Qxb5 28.Rxb5
Ba3 29.Rf3 would likely end up in a draw.]
27...Qc7 28.Qb5 Bb6 29.Ra6 [29.Ra4!? ]
Clash of the Titans the same pawn twice, but in this hanging center the knight
on d2 is placed worse than on c3. An alternativeis [5...Nbd7
6.Bd3 (6.b3 is another plan for White. 6...b6 7.Bb2 Bb7 8.Bd3
(28) Alekhine, Alexander Bd6 9.O-O O-O With solid play from both sides.) 6...Bd6 7.O-O
- Vidmar, Milan Sr[D30] O-O 8.e4 e5! According to modern theory, this move allows
Black to equalize after exchanges in the center.]
Semmering Panhans(13), 6.Be2 Nc6 7.O-O Bd6 [7...a6 8.a3 with the idea of waiting a
1926.03.24 little bit.]
GM Kamil Miton
Best rating: 2655 8.a3 cxd4 9.exd4
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 c6 4.e3 e6 [4...Bf5 is a very popular

line nowadays. 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 (6.Bd3 This concept doesn’t
allow White to fight for an advantage. 6...Bxd3 7.Qxd3 Nbd7
8.O-O Bb4 prevent e4 9.Bd2 a5 (9...O-O? 10.Nxd5!) 10.a3 Be7
and now White should not fall into the trap and play 11.Rad1
(11.e4? 11...Nc5! 12.dxc5 dxe4) 11...O-O 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4
Nxe4 14.Qxe4 and one of Black’s ideas can be to play b5 to
get the d5 square for the knight. ) 6...Be4 (6...Bg6 ) 7.f3
Bg6 8.Qb3 Qc7 9.Bd2 This is only the beginning of complex 9...a5 An interesting move with the idea of stopping White
theory.] from grabbing space on the queenside.
5.Nbd2 10.Bd3 [10.c5!? 10...Bc7 11.Rb1 O-O (11...a4 12.Bb5) 12.b4

axb4 13.axb4 e5 A typical counterplay idea. (13...Ne4 14.Qc2
f5 15.b5 Ne7 16.Ne5 It looks like White is better here because
of the weak e5 square.) 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Nxe5 Bxe5 16.Nf3
White should be better thanks to his superior structure.
16...Bf5 17.Bd3 Bxd3 18.Qxd3 Bc7 19.Bg5C]
10...O-O 11.Re1 b6 [11...a4 Preventing b3-Bb2, but this is a
very risky move, since now the pawn on a4 can be weak.
12.Nb1 A nice improvement of the knight, but White is losing
2 moves, which means that Black should be on time with his
counterplay! (12.Bc2 12...Qa5 13.cxd5 exd5 14.Nf1 Bg4k; 12.c5
5...c5 is one of the possible reactions. It looks ugly to move 12...Bb8 13.Nb1!?
14.Ne5 Ng6 15.Ndf3 Ne4 [15...a4 This kind of idea to win
control over the d5 square is very well-known.]
16.cxd5 White is going to change the structure but it was
hard to find another plan. [16.Rc1 16...f6 (16...Rc8 ; 16...Qe7
) 17.Nxg6 hxg6 18.Nd2 f5 19.Nf3 g5 20.Ne5 g4k]
16...exd5 17.Bb5 Qe7 There was no better place for the black
queen.
18.Nd7 Rfd8 19.Nxb6 Alekhine won the pawn but now his
13...Re8! Preparing for counterplay. 14.Nc3 e5 15.dxe5 pieces lost a bit of their coordination.
Nxe5 16.Nxe5 Bxe5 17.Nxa4 Bxh2+!V) 12...dxc4 13.Bxc4 e5! 19...Rab8
(13...Na5 14.Ba2 Bd7 15.Nc3 Nb3 16.Bxb3 axb3 17.Qxb3 Bc6
18.Ne5 There is no play over the light squares. 18...Bxe5
19.dxe5 Nd5 20.Ne4c) 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Nxe5 Bxe5 16.Qxd8
Rxd8 17.Nc3 Bxc3 18.bxc3 Bf5=]
12.b3 Bb7 13.Bb2
20.Ne5? [20.Na4 20...Bc8AWe should notice that the white

pieces are placed very far away from the kingside and Black
has a nice initative against king, with Bg4-Nf4 or Nh4 coming
soon.]
20...Bxe5 21.dxe5 Qc5 22.Qd4 Qxb5 23.e6 Alekhine’s idea
13...Ne7 A typical knight maneuver with the idea of is to try and make use of the a1-h8 diagonal.
supporting the position of the black king. [13...Re8 with
idea Bf8-g6-Bg7 was possible as well.; 13...dxc4?! 14.bxc4
with the idea of playing for hanging pawns makes less sense
because of two reasons: the Bb2 starts to be active and the
b-file is weakened after a5.]
27...Re8 [27...Ba6!? 28.Re3 a4 With the idea of getting the c4
square and activating the bishop.]
28.Rxe8+ Qxe8 29.Kf2 Preventing the active Qe2 and
improving the king a bit. [29.Qa7 was premature: 29...Nf4!
30.Qxb7 Qe3+ 31.Kh1 Nd3 32.Qc8+ Ne8 33.h3 Nxb2e]
29...Qb5
23...Nf6? Black could win after [23...f6 24.Nd7 Rbc8 25.f3

and Vidmar was probably afraid of the upcoming sacrifice on
f6, but I turned on the engine here to see what is happening
and Black has 2 winning options: 25...Nf4 (25...Qxb3 26.fxe4
dxe4 27.Nxf6+ gxf6 28.Qxf6 Qb6+ 29.Kh1 Qc7 with Qe7 next
andthe g7-h8 squares are well-protected.) 26.fxe4
30.Qe3 Ba6 [30...d4! A very strong practical idea! Black

gets rid of the pawn which limits his pieces. 31.Qxd4 (31.Bxd4
31...Nd5) 31...Qxb3e]
31.a4 Qb7 32.Rc5 White is dominate on the dark squares.
32...Nh5 Black wants to improve the knight over f4 or force
White to weaken the light squares after g3.
33.g3 Qd7V 34.Ke1 The white king is going to escape to a
26...Qe2!! A nice move, but hard to see from the beginning of safer place.
the line.] 34...Qh3 35.Rxa5 Qxh2 36.Qf2 Qh1+ 37.Kd2 Qb1 The
24.Nd7 Rxd7 25.exd7 Qxd7 26.Rac1 Usually two pieces are black pieces get activity but White is fully controlling the dark
of course stronger than a rook but in this case all white pieces squares, which is why the king should be safe here.
are nicely placed and the position is unclear.
26...h6 27.f3 Limiting the black pieces.
38.Qd4 43...Qf5
38...Qf1 [38...Ne5 forces a draw by perpetual check. 44.Qb8+? A very ugly move! To help promote the a-pawn,
39.Qxe5 Qd3+ 40.Kc1 Qf1+ 41.Kd2 Qd3+ 42.Ke1 Qf1+] the queen was best placed on b7! [44.a5!k]
39.Qxd5 [39.Rxd5 39...Nf6 (39...Qxf3 40.Rxh5h) 40.Rd6 44...Kh7 45.a5 Qxf3 It is hard to explain why White gave a
Qe2+ 41.Kc1 Qxf3 42.Qb6kWith very complex play. White check on b8...
should try to keep the pieces on dark squares and help them 46.Qc7 Nxg3i Now the black knight very quickly activates
protect each other. ] and Black is winning.
39...Qe2+ [39...Nxg3 is suggested by the engine. 40.Qa8+ 47.Kb4 Nf4 48.Ka3 Ne6 49.Qe5 Ne4 50.Bb4 Qd3
Kh7 41.Qxa6 Qb1 The knights unexpectedly become very 51.Ka4 Nd4 52.Qd5 f5 [52...Nc5+ would have won faster.
strong and the evaluation says that Black is winning, but of 53.Bxc5 Qb5+ 54.Ka3 Qxa5+ 55.Kb2 Qd2+i]
course in a practical game things are not that easy. 42.Bd4
Nf1+ 43.Kc3 Qa1+ 44.Kc4 Nd2+ 45.Kd5 Qh1 46.Kd6 53.Qc4 Qd1 54.Ba3 Qa1 55.a6 Nc3+ 56.Kb4 Nc2+
Qxf3A] 57.Kc5 Qxa3+ 58.Kb6 Ne3 0-1
40.Kc3 Bb7 41.Qxb7 A very ambitious move. White is
playing for the win. [41.Qxh5 41...Bxf3 42.Qc5 Qe1+ 43.Kc4
Be2+ 44.Kd5 Bf3+ 45.Kc4=]
41...Qe1+ 42.Kc4 Qxa5 43.Bc3 White is a piece down, but
the a-pawn is really dangerous.
(29) Fritz (30) Ivanisevic, I(2662)-Jobava, B(2668)
1. h European Team Championship, 2015.11.17
52...Rf1+! 0-1 [52...Rf1+ 53.Kxf1 (53.Kg2 53...Qxe2+ 54.Kh3

Rh1+ 55.Kg4 Qe6+ 56.Kf4 c1=Q#) 53...c1=Q+i]
(31) Fridman, D(2627)-McShane, L(2687)
40.Bf8+! Kxf8 41.Qxf6 1-0
(32) Carlsen, M(2850)-Pelletier, Y(2566) (34) Tomashevsky, E(2743)-Mchedlishvili, M(2618)
45...Ne7! 46.Rxg7 Rxd3+ 47.Kc4 Rd7i 32.Nxf7! Rf8 [32...Qxf7 33.dxe6h; 32...Rxd5 33.Rxd5 exd5
(33) Van Wely, L(2632)-Borisek, J(2565) 34.Qxf5 Qxf5 35.Rxf5h]
European Team Championship, 2015.11.17 33.dxe6h

(35) Fressinet, L(2712)-Eljanov, P(2753)
27...Ne3!! 28.Bxe3 [28.Bxd6 28...Nf1+ 29.Kh1 Nxg3+

30.Kh2 Rh1#; 28.Qxe3 28...Rdd1 29.Qxe1 Rxe1i]
28...Rdd1 29.Qxd1 Rxd1i 32.Bxc5! 1-0 [32.Bxc5 32...Bxc5+ 33.Rxc5+! Kxc5 34.e7h]
(36) Can, E(2535)-Gallagher, J(2445) (38) Giri, A(2778)-Shirov, A(2689)
28.Qxa5! Qe8 [28...Qxa5 29.Rc8+h] 31.Rd1! 1-0 [31.Rd1 31...Rxd1 (31...Rxe3 32.Rxd8+h)
29.Re1 1-0 32.Rxc3h]
(37) Perunovic, M(2624)-Stevic, H(2604) (39) Rombaldoni, A(2539)-Kozul, Z(2617)
20.Bd2! Nc4 21.Ng5!h 57.Rh8+! Kg6 [57...Kxh8 58.exf7 b1=Q 59.f8=Q+ Kh7
60.Qg7#]
58.Rh6+!! 1-0 [58.Rh6+ 58...Kxh6 59.exf7 b1=Q 60.f8=Q+
Kg6 61.Qg7#]
(40) Herbstmann
1.b7 c5 2.b5+! Bxb5 3.b8=N+! Ka5 4.Bd8#
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
The last part of the London Chess Classic is under way,
with only 2 rounds to go, and it is very exciting. Maxime
Editorial Preface 2 Vachier-Lagrave is leading with 4.5/7, but a lot of players are
just half a point behind him, like Carlsen, Giri, Grischuk and
Aronian. Topalov is having one of his worst events in the last
few years, with only 1.5/7.
Puzzle section 11 The British Knockout Championship was won by David

Howell.
Endgame section 14 In the ACP Rapidplay Masters 2015 in Israel, nobody could stop
Ivanchuk, who won his final match against Bacrot 2.5-0.5.
Golden knowledge. The wrong corner 20 The Ukrainian Championship as well as the Russian Cup Final
are also under way.
Chess and the City. The next round of the German Bundesliga is going to be held
The feast of gorging! 26 this weekend, so it seems like a very busy weekend chesswise!
We hope you enjoy the games!
Solutions 28
Two best games of the past week 11.Bg5 h6 [11...Qxc4 is met by 12.Qxc4 dxc4 13.Nd2+= White
wins back the pawn and gets some advantage because of his
strong light squared bishop.]
(1) Nakamura, Hikaru (2793) 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Na3 White protects the queen and the c4
- Anand, Viswanathan (2803) [E06] pawn in the same time. He soon intends to take on d5, but
first he needs to spend another tempo on defending the b2
7th London Classic 2015(4.1), GM Csaba Balogh pawn. Therefore Black uses to moment to develop another
2015.12.07 Best rating: 2672 piece.
13...Bd7 Both players are following the computer’s
Nakamura has an excellent personal best against Anand. He recommendation, they are still in their home preparations.
leads 6-1 in their classical games and now he convincingly
14.Rab1 The d5 is already hanging, since after cxd5 Qxc2 Nxc2
improved the score with another win.
Ba4, White can simply play b3. [The immediate 14.cxd5 is met
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.Qc2 A by 14...Qxc2 15.Nxc2 Ba4! and White cannot deal properly
sideline of the classical Catalan opening, but of course it is with the pin.]
also deeply analysed. [The main line goes with 6.O-O 6...dxc4
14...Rac8 15.Qd3 Rfd8 16.cxd5 Qa4! We have reached a
7.Qc2 a6 and here White has two big options, 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2
very interesting position after the preparation of both players
or 8.a4.]
are soon coming to the end. Actually both players achieved
6...c5 7.O-O cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qb6 9.Rd1 Nc6 10.Nxc6 what they wanted. White has won a pawn, while Black
Qxc6Just a few months before, Anand has already played a succesfully completed the development and he wants to
blitz game against Aronian, which has continued with 11.Na3. compensate the material deficit with the two strong bishops
Nakamura was clearly prepared the following improvement, and the misplaced knight on a3. In the 13th move it has done
which is also recommended by the computers as the best an important job, but since then the situation has changed a
move. lot and the knight is doing poorly at the edge of the board.
17.Rd2 [17.d6 saves the extra pawn, but Black has more than 19.Bxd5 Bc6 20.e4 a6! Black keeps on playing against the
enough compensation after 17...b5 he can restore the material a3 knight adn strengthens his b5 pawn.
balance with b4 and taking on a2 whenever he wants. ] 21.h4 Calm propylaxis against Bg5, which sometimes could
17...b5 Principled follow up, Black plays against the knight. have been an unpleasant move to deal with, because White
18.Rbd1! After long thinking, Nakamura correctly decides to never wants to weakend his king with f4 and if the rook
keep the tension. [The alternative was 18.dxe6 which leads goes away from d2, some tactical oportunities might open for
to forced draw after mass of exchanges.. . 18...Bxe6 19.Qxb5 Black around the d1 rook.
Qxb5 20.Rxd8+ Rxd8 21.Nxb5 Bxa2 22.Ra1 Bc4 23.Nxa7 21...Bxd5 22.exd5 Qb4 [Perhaps Black could have doubled
Bxb2 24.Rb1 Bxe2=] his rooks with 22...Rd6 and Rcd8 next. It is extremely hard
to make progress with White. The knight is too far from
the happenings and the heavy pieces does not seem to have
enough power to break through.]
23.Rb1 After protecting the b2 pawn, White is threatening
with activating his knight with tempo through Nc2-e3.
23...Qa5 24.b4 [White could have again exchange his
material advantage to initiative with 24.Nc2!? 24...Qxa2
25.Ne3 suddenly the knight’s arrival to the game looks very
unpleasant from Black’s point of view.]
18...exd5 Another difficult decision. In each move, Black has
24...Qa4? This is the mistake which causes all the further
a wide range of moves and it is very hard to give a preference
problems of Black. [24...Qb6 is not clear at all. With his last
to one of them. In such situations it is very easy to go
move, White gave up the control over the c3 square, he must
wrong. [Black could win back the sacrificed pawn with 18...b4
quickly do something against Rc3 25.Rb3 (25.Nc2? allows
however it allows the bad knight enter to the game which lets
tactics with 25...Rc3 26.Qe4 Rxg3+) 25...h5 26.Nc2 g6 with
the initiative pass to White. 19.Nc4 Bb5 (19...Qxa2 20.Nd6
the last two pawn moves, Black has changed the structure
(20.b3 20...Qa6 21.Qb1 is also advantegous for White. He has
and prepares for the welcome of the knight on e3. It does not
a very strong support with all his pieces around the d5 pawn.)
look so dangerous anymore as he cannot jump neither to g4
20...Rb8 21.Ne4 Be7 22.d6 Bf8 23.Nc5 is a nice example, how
nor to f5. 27.Ne3 Qd6 White should be better, but it is not
the worst piece on the board (a3 knight) gets the best one just
easy to make progress.]
in a few moves.) 20.b3 Qa6 21.Qb1 Bxc4 22.bxc4 Qxc4 Black
wins back the pawn, but White retains some advantage after
23.Bh3!+=]
28.Qf3 Re7 29.Rd2 [29.Nb1!? White could have also bring
his knight back, because the concrete lines are working for
him. 29...Red7 (29...Rxe2 30.Qxe2 Rxd5? 31.Qe8+ Kh7
32.Qe4+h) 30.Nd2 Rxd5 31.Ne4! The knight is looking at
three direction. Nxf6, Nc5 are the direct winning threat, in
case of Be7-Nc3 wins and if 31...Bd4
25.Rb3! Now the queen on a4 gets out of the game. White

cannot trap it, but it is enough to neutralize it completely with
the b3 rook and the a3 knight and use the other pieces to gain
some benefits.
25...Be7 26.Re2! Very concrete and accurate play by
Nakamura.
26...Rc7 [26...Bxb4 is met by 27.Re4 a5 the situation looks 32.Rd2!h and Black has no adequate defense against Rxd4
quite funny on the queenside. Everything is pinned, but Rxd4 and Nc3, winning the queen! ]
things are working on White’s favor. 28.Kg2! c Rb8 and if 29...Red7 30.Qe2 This queen move serves against Black’s
White wants he can simplify to an endgame with extra pawn queen rescuing attempt with a5.
after 29.Nc2 (29.Qe2 is also good.) 29...Qxa2 30.Nxb4 axb4
30...g6 Black tries to set up the ideal pawn formation with h5,
31.Rexb4 and Rxb5 next.]
but he has no time to complete the plan. It was very difficult
27.Kg2 Very useful move to leave from the checks on the to suggest something for Black, since all the normal looking
backrank and enjoying the fact, that Black does not really moves were just bad. [30...Rxd5? never works 31.Rxd5 Rxd5
have a move... 32.Qe8+ Kh7 33.Qe4+h; 30...a5 31.Nxb5 axb4 32.Qc4!c]
27...Bf6 [27...Rcd7 loses to 28.Nc2! Qxa2 (28...Rxd5 31.h5! g5 We can already see the big drawback of Black’s 30th
29.Qf3h and Ra3 traps the queen next move after Black does move. It is the hole on f5!
something with his bishop on e7.) 29.Nd4 Qa1 30.Nc6h;
32.Qd1 Last preparation for the knight transfer. [The
27...Bxb4 is again met by 28.Re4 a5 29.Qe2!c White creates
hasty 32.Nc2 allows Black the pretty simplification 32...Qxa2
a doublethreat with this quiet retreat. Re8 is one of them and
33.Nd4 Qxd2! 34.Qxd2 Rxd5 with excellent chances to
White has also protected the a2 which makes the b5 pawn
create a fortress.]
hanging.]
32...Bg7
(2) Eljanov, Pavel (2753)
- Bacrot, Etienne (2686) [E11]
ACP Masters GpB 2015(3.3),

Best rating: 2737
We are in the ACP rapid qualification tournament, where

6 players are fighting to get into the semi-final. After the
opening, White seems to have a nice advantage but Bacrot
33.Nc2! The time has come to switch the knight to the
is quickly changing the way the game goes by sacrificing
kingside! Ra3 is threatening, Black has no choice, but it allows
some material and gets a strong attack on the white king.
the knight to continue it’s journey again with a tempo...
In a complicated position, White is losing the overview and
33...Qxa2 34.Ne3 Qa1 35.Qxa1 Bxa1 36.Ra2! Precise giving Black the chance to win the material back and later
until the end! [36.Ra3 36...Bg7 37.Rxa6 Bc3 is the reason on the game. Had Eljanov defended a bit more luckly, it
why 36.Ra2 is better.] would probably be Bacrot who would regret his possibly too
36...Bd4 [36...Bg7 37.Rxa6h is a hopeless endgame for optimistic play.
Black.] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 The last 6 months have been fantastic
37.Nf5! Bg7 [37...Rxd5 38.Ne7+h; Black just fails to win for Eljanov, who won over 40 ELO points and went to the
the d5 pawn because he cannot control the e7 square 37...Bf6 semi-final in the World Cup where he lost very dramatically
38.Rxa6 Rxd5 39.Rxf6h] to Karjakin, the future winner.
38.Rxa6 Bf8 39.d6! Another great move! Nakamura gives 3...Bb4+ The Bogoljubov remains a solid opening for Black,
up his trumph to gain another one. The point is actually to even if it maybe gives some advantage to White.
save the dominant knight over the bishop. If he takes on h6 4.Bd2 [4.Nbd2 is the other main move.]
right away, Black could always hope in the rook endgame.
4...a5 The funny thing is that Bacrot is also playing this line
39...Bxd6 40.Nxh6+ Kh7 [40...Kg7 41.Nf5+ Kf6 42.g4h] with White and showed great results in it lately.
41.Ng4 [Black resigned in view of 41.Ng4 41...Be7 5.Nc3 b6 It is very usual to develop the bishop on b7 in these
42.Rf3h We can see the harmony between the white structures.
pieces. Black just managed to control the f6 square, but now
6.e3 d5 A modern line, but I am not a big fan of it. [6...Bb7
new problems are coming through e5.] 1-0
leads to the usual play.]
7.cxd5 A good choice. Black wanted to play Ba6. position of the pieces. Could Black want to play Bxh2 at some
7...exd5 8.a3 Asking Black whether to go back with the bishop stage?! [I think Black should not hurry with 16...c4?! 17.Be2
or to take on c3. Qd7 because of 18.b3! and White can hope to be better
again.]
8...Be7 [8...Bxc3 9.Bxc3 and White is just better here.]
17.Nb5 Bb8 Very risky play. [Black had a much simpler
solution: 17...Bxb5 18.Bxb5 Ne4 19.Be1 and now there are
different moves, but the following leads to a draw: 19...cxd4
20.Qxc8 Qxc8 21.Rxc8 Rxc8 22.exd4 Bb4 and the game
should end peacefully.; 17...Bxh2+? 18.Kxh2 Ng4+ 19.Kg3!
and White is winning.]
18.dxc5 bxc5 A move that eventually brought the full point to
Black, but objectively it is bad. [18...Bb7 and the position is
still around equal.]
9.Qa4+! A very important move. Before playing the usual

Bd3-0-0-Qc2 White is forcing the black bishop onto a bad
square on d7.
9...Bd7 There is no better defense from the check.
10.Qc2 O-O 11.Ne5 Now we can see how useful Qa4 was.
11...Be8 Of course Black doesn’t give up the bishop pair.
12.Bd3 c5 13.O-O White is fully developed.
19.Qxc5! Absolutely correct calculation by Eljanov.
13...Nc6 14.Nxc6 A slightly strange move to me. Why not
keep the tension in the center?! [I think White is better after 19...Ng4 Black has to do something fast, so all pieces turn
14.Rad1 ] towards the king.
14...Bxc6 Now Black’s position is perfectly fine. 20.h3 The best move again. [20.g3 20...Qf6 and the position
is very unclear because of the Qh6 threat.]
15.a4 Taking the b5 square under control, but on the other
hand why should Black be worse here? The white bishop on 20...Bh2+ 21.Kf1 [Of course not 21.Kh1? 21...Nxf2+ 22.Kxh2
d2 is very badly placed and all the black pieces are nicely Nxd3]
placed. 21...Nxf2 When you say A you need to say B...
15...Rc8 16.Rfc1 Bd6 Both players are improving the 22.Kxf2 Qh4+ Black is trying to combine the bad position of
the white king with the potential threat of moving the bishop
away from the c-file with a tempo.
23.Kf1 d4 24.Qf5 Not the most accurate move. [Eljanov had
to calculate better and find the line with 24.Qxd4 24...Bxg2+
25.Kxg2 Qg3+ 26.Kh1 Qxh3 27.Bf1! Qh5 28.Be2! and White
is easily winning.]
24...g6 25.Qf2 Bg3 26.Qe2 dxe3 Now things are much
more complicated.
34.Bxe2 and Black is probably better here, but I think White

keeps good chances for a draw.]
29...Rxd3! The game is basically over now.
30.Qe2 Bxf2 The material is equal and Black keeps on
attacking the white king.
31.Qxf2 Bxg2+! A nice final blow!
32.Kg1 [No better was 32.Kxg2 32...Qg5+ 33.Kh2 Rxc1
27.Be1? This is a heavy mistake. [White had to be brave 34.Rxc1 Qxc1]
and take the nasty pawn 27.Qxe3 and actually Black doesn’t 32...Rxc1+ 33.Rxc1
have so many direct threats while White has one... 27...Rce8
28.Qg5! Forcing the exchange of queens and with it winning
the game!]
27...Rfd8! A great move and suddenly Black is totally taking
over the game. Rxd3 is a heavy threat.
28.Qxe3 Now it is already too late to be greedy... [Better was
28.Rc3 28...Bxe1 29.Rxe1 Qg3 and now a very hard move to
find is 30.Rc2! with an unclear position.]
28...Qf6+ 29.Bf2? Another, this time decisive mistake by
White. [29.Kg1 had to be played. 29...Bf4 30.Qe2 Bxc1 33...Qg5 The rook on c1 is hanging and there are many other
31.Rxc1 Bf3 and now the best is to give up the queen: 32.Rxc8 threats, so White resigned. Clearly it is a big pity to lose a game
Bxe2 33.Rxd8+ Qxd8 like that with White, but again we see that even on the top
level there is a big difference between "sitting at home" with
an engine on and practical play in a rapid game! 0-1
Puzzle section
(3) Topalov, V(2803)-Giri, A(2778) (5) Melkumyan, H(2632)-Lam, D(2138)
London, 2015.12.04 London Open, 2015.12.04
1... i 1. h
(4) Carlsen, M(2850)-Caruana, F(2787) (6) Andersen, M(2459)-Postny, E(2672)

London, 2015.12.05 London Open, 2015.12.06
1... = 1... i
(7) Guseinov, G(2649)-Georgiev, K(2627) (9) Fedorchuk, S(2633)-Kryvoruchko, Y(2717)
ACP Masters rapid, 2015.12.07 Ukrainian Championship, 2015.12.06
1. h 1. h
(8) Nepomniachtchi, I(2705)-Georgiev, K(2627) (10) Shirov, A(2689)-Medar, M(1984)

ACP Masters rapid, 2015.12.07 Puhajarve rapid, 2015.11.27
1. h 1. h
(11) Shirov, A(2689)-Nyback, T(2594)
Puhajarve rapid, 2015.11.29
1. h
(12) Najer, E(2674)-Miton, K(2612)

Czech league, 2015.12.06
1. h
Endgame section 42.Ra1! A great move. White sacrifices the g-pawn for the
control of the a-file. [42.Kc4 42...Ra7 and it remains unclear
how to make progress.]
(13) Anand, Viswanathan (2803) 42...Bxg5 43.Kc4 Now that Black doesn’t have Ra7, white is
- Topalov, Veselin (2803) preparing the b5 move.
43...Bd8 44.f3 Anand does not hury with b5, but
7th London Classic 2015(5.5),
overprotects the e4 pawn because Black seems to not
Best rating: 2737 have anything better than playing f5 anyway.
44...f5 It is hard to give Black any better advice.
45.Rh1 The rook is switching to the other side of the board.

Anand played a nice game and managed to get this very nice
[To more or less the same position as in the game would lead
looking endgame. The knight on d5 is a beast and the passed
45.b5 45...fxe4 46.fxe4 g5 47.Rh1]
b-pawn could become very dangerous at any moment. Still,
the material is equal and the pawn on g5 is under attack which 45...fxe4 46.fxe4 g5 47.b5 White is totally dominating the
seems to block the white rook on the g-file. During the next game on the white squares. Black can’t play Ra7? because of
moves, we are going to see great technical work by Anand, the check on the 7th rank, so the only hope lies in the g-pawn.
who converts his advantage into a full point without leaving 47...Rb8?! After this move it seems that White is in time to
any chances to his opponent. make progress. [Black had much better chances for survival
41.Rg1 White needs to activate the rook. after 47...g4! 48.Rh8 Rb8 49.Rh7+ Kc8 Black’s position is
looks lost, but in fact it is not simple at all to find a way to a
41...Rb7 Black keeps on waiting.
full point 50.Rg7 Ra8! With this activation of the rook, Black
is just in time with his counterplay.
51.Ne3 (51.b6 51...Ra4+ 52.Kb5 Rxe4 and the position seems 57...Ba5+! Playing for stalemate.
to be a draw.) 51...Ra4+ 52.Kd5 Rd4+ 53.Ke6 Rxe4 54.Nf5 58.Kc4? Why repeat the moves when White had two easy
Ra4 and here too Black is keeping the equality in a miraculous winnning moves?! [A bit dangerous, but winning is 58.Kxa5
way.] 58...Rxb5+ 59.Ka4 Ra5+ 60.Kb3 Ra3+ 61.Kc4 and Black
48.Rh7+ Ke6 Black is hoping to give an exchange for the runs out of good checks. 61...Ra4+ 62.Nb4; 58.Ka4! is the
b-pawn and maybe save the game, but it is not going to easiest direct win. 58...Bd8 59.Ra7 and the game is over, as
happen. [48...Kc8 was a better way to fight on. 49.Rg7 Rb7 Black needs to move the rook or bishop after which b6 will be
(49...Ra8 50.b6! Now this move is winning. 50...Ra4+ 51.Kd3 possible.]
Ra3+ 52.Kc2 Ra2+ 53.Kb3 Re2 54.b7+ Kb8 55.Nc3 followed 58...Bd8 59.Rg8 Rc8+ 60.Kd3 Rb8 61.Rh8 Kd7 62.Rh7+
by Rg8 next and the position with a piece up should be easily Ke6 63.Kc4 What Anand has been doing during the last
winning. ) 50.Rg8 Kd7 and the fight goes on.] moves is a bit strange, but of course the position is still
49.Kb4! A nice move, putting Black into zugzwang. winning.
49...g4 Now the g-pawn is getting lost, but there was nothing 63...Rc8+ 64.Kb4 Rc1 Topalov is trying to activate his
to do. [49...Ra8 50.b6 Ra1 51.b7 Rb1+ 52.Kc3 and White is rook-finally!
winning by threatening to play Kc2 next.]
50.Rg7 White is eliminating the only theoretical danger.
50...g3 51.Rxg3 Rb7 52.Rg6+ Kd7 53.Rg7+ Kc8 54.Rg8
Now we have the same position as 10 moves ago, except that
the blak g-pawn is gone.
54...Kd7 55.Kc4 Rb8 56.Rg7+ Ke6 57.Kb4 It seems like
Black is in zugzwang but Topalov finds his only chance.
65.b6 But now the b-pawn is moving...
65...Rb1+ 66.Ka5 Bxb6+ White just wanted to play Ka6 and
b7. (14) Topalov, Veselin (2803)
- Caruana, Fabiano (2787)
67.Nxb6 Ra1+ All black needs to do to secure a draw is to win
the e4 pawn-but this is just impossible.
London Classic, GM Csaba Balogh
68.Kb5 Rb1+ 69.Kc6 Rc1+ 70.Kb7 Rb1 [70...Re1 didn’t 2015.12.07 Best rating: 2672
help. 71.Rh4]
71.Kc7 Rc1+ and the white king is going to hide behind the
black pawns.
72.Kd8 Re1 73.Rh4 Kf6
Black seems to be in deep trouble despite the material

equality. White has dominant pieces and much better pawn
structure. One of the plans to make progress is to transfer
the king to g2 after which the pawns on c5 and e6 will
74.Rg4 All in all a very nice technical victory by Anand, where
becomes more vulnerable as Black cannot create any serious
we saw how the knight on d5 can dominate the black bishop
counterplay anymore. Caruana finds a brilliant defensive idea
on d8. 1-0
to stay in the game...
45...Rc8! Black protects the c5 pawn, but of course it looks
like a terrible blunder.
46.Ba6 Topalov goes for the material. [Probably it was better
to continue the squeezing by completing the journey towards
the kingside with 46.Kd2+= Black is still lacking any active
counterplay. But, who could restrain himself from grabbing
a "free" rook?!]
46...Qa7 47.Bxc8 Qxa2+ 48.Kd1 Black gave up a full rook
and his knight is also hanging. He pins all his hopes to the
connected passed pawns on the queenside. 49.Rd2 Qa1+ 50.Ke2 c3! The pawns are marching! White
must give up his rook to stop them.
51.Qxf8 [51.Rc2 51...b3; 51.Rd1 51...Qb2+ and c2 next.]
51...cxd2 52.Kxd2 White is a piece up, but his pieces are far
away from the king, which allows Black to give hundreds of
checks. The first question is wether White is able to run away
with his king or it is already a perpetual?
48...c4 [48...b3 was actually also possible 49.Rd2 Qa1+!

Black must send the king to wrong square first before
advancing the pawn. (49...b2 is met by 50.Rxb2 Qxb2 51.Qxf8)
50.Ke2 b2 51.Rd1 (51.Rxb2 51...Qxb2+ is coming with check
now.) 51...Qa2! Black still could not promote his pawn, but
he creates new threats. Cold-blooded defense, especially
considering the fact, that he is rook down. 52.Ke3
52...Qb2+ 53.Ke3 Qc1+! Otherwise Kf4 and Black soon runs
out of checks.
54.Kf2 [Of course not 54.Kd4?? 54...Qc3#]
54...Qd2+ 55.Kf1 Qd1+ 56.Kg2 Qe2+ 57.Kh3
52...c4!! The key move of the 48...b3 line. Black creates the
threat of Qb3, which was not possible right away because
of Qd3. (52...Qb3+ 53.Qd3h) 53.Qb4 c3! 54.Qxc3 b1=Q
55.Rxb1 Qxb1 and the white king is too exposed and has
no shelter against the checks. Black should hold the draw It seems like White wins as his king is going to be completely
without much difficulties.] safe on g4. However his pieces are still lacking the
coordination, they are not threatening with anything, which accuracy!
gives Black a free move to find some subtle resource for 64.Kc4 [64.Kc5 is met by 64...b3! using the fact that the king
creating new ideas. stands in the Qa3 motif, Black advances his passed pawn!]
57...h5! That is it! Black is threatening again with perpetual 64...Qc3+ 65.Kb5 Black ran out of checks, but the king got
check after Qf1! It is not easy to avoid it. misplaced on the b-file! This allows him to create counterplay
58.g4 Opening a new way for the king to run away from the with his b-pawn.
checks towards the center. [The other option was 58.Qc5
but then, Black could simple play 58...Qxf3 threatening with
Qh1! 59.Kh2 (59.Qg1 59...Qxe4 and Black already has two
pawns for the piece. The b-pawn could create real problems
and the white king is still exposed, which limits the options
to do something. This should be enough for Black to hold.)
59...Qe2+=]
58...hxg4+ 59.Kxg4 Qg2+ 60.Kf4 Black must be precise
again. One careless check and the king hides on the other side
of the board. 65...b3! 66.Bxe6 [A tricky winning attempt would have been
66.Ka4 66...b2 67.Bxe6 when Black has to find 67...Qc6+!
(67...b1=Q? Black gets mated after
60...Qh2+! To avoid Ke5!

61.Ke3 Qg1+ 62.Kd3 Qf1+! The only move again!
[62...Qd1+ 63.Kc4h is over.] 68.Bg8+! Kh8 (68...Kh6 69.Qf4+ Kg6 70.Qg5#) 69.Bf7+
Kh7 70.Qg8+ Kh6 71.Qh8#) 68.Ka3 Qxe6 69.Kxb2 Finally
63.Kd4 [63.Kc2 is met by 63...Qc4+ White cannot hide from White seems to consolidate and end up with 2 extra pawns,
the checks.] but he is unlucky, because it is still not enough for the win
63...Qa1+! Caruana continues defending with extreme because of 69...Qb6+! 70.Kc3 Qe3+ Black cont inues giving
hundreds of checks. The f8 queen cannot come back to help should not affect the final result.
the king hide away.] 79...Qd1+ 80.Ke3 Qe1+ 81.Kf4 Qc1+! This is precis e to
66...Qe5+! 67.Kb4 [White cannot save his bishop put the king into the Qc1-c5-g1 triangle! White cannot avoid
with 67.Bd5?? 67...b2 68.Qb4 (68.Qg8+ 68...Kh6 perpetual.
69.Qh8+ Kg6 White does not even have a draw after 82.Kf5 Qc5+ 83.Kf4 A tough, but well deserved draw for
all.) 68...Qb8+i promotes the b-pawn.] Caruana! 1/2-1/2
67...Qxe6 68.Kc3 Qb6 [68...b2!? 69.Kxb2 Qb6+ would
have transposed to the line 66. Ka4.]
69.Qf5+ Kg8 70.Qd5+ Kf8 71.Qxb3 Qf6+ 72.Kc2
Qxh4After the great and tenacious defense by Caruana, we
have reached this queen endgame with extra pawn. White
finally does not need to worry about getting perpetual check.
At least for the moment. However the problem is, if he wants
to make progress, he must advance his pawns, to support
them, he must centralize his queen, but it all allows Black to
start to give his checks again. I would say, White could only
win this game if he was able to trade queens somehow, but
of course it is not possible. In any other cases, Black will be
able to save the game with accurate defense.
73.Qb8+ Kf7 74.Kd3 Qe1 75.Qf4+ Ke6 76.Qf5+ Ke7

77.Qc5+ Kf7 78.Qf5+ Ke7 79.Qg6? This allows perpetual
check, but the game was drawn anyway. The torture could
have been prolonged a bit with some other moves, but it
Golden knowledge. years ago!
The wrong corner 1...Ra1+ 2.Rf1 Rxf1+ 3.Kxf1 Bh3!!
(16) Beliavsky, Alexander G-Ivanovic, Bozidar

Boskovic Memorial, 2000
In chess material is a decisive factor in most cases, but there

are two cases where it doesn’t matter: stalemate and wrong
corner bishops. We will see a few instructive examples of the But sometimes even on the top level things get out of control:
wrong bishop. There are of course examples from the top 51.h6? Wrong - winning was transferring the king to b5 after
players and even they make many instructional mistakes. It [51.Kc2! – 52.Kb3 – 53.Ka4 – 54.Kb5 – 55.Kc6 – 56.Kb7 Bc5
is necessary for every player to be very careful in endgames 57.a7h]
where such bishops can appear.
51...gxh6 52.gxh6
(15) El Greco
And Black resigned here - but the corner is wrong! [52.gxh6

This was the first example of sacrificing material with the idea 52...Kf7 53.Kc2 (53.Bh7 53...Kf6) 53...Kg8 54.Kb3 Kh8
of creating a wrong bishop. It was composed more than 500 55.Ka4 Kg8 56.Kb5 Kh8 57.Kc6 Kg8 58.Kb7 Bc5 59.a7
Bxa7 60.Kxa7=] 1-0 1...Nh6 2.gxh6+?? Automatical capture is an usual mistake,
but White expected automatic capture from the opponent
(17) Portisch, L.-Kavalek, L. too! [2.h4 2...Ng4 3.Kf5 Nh6+ 4.Kf4]
Montreal, 1978 2...Kh8! Yes, no materialism. Capturing would lose as the

white king would prevent the black king from coming to the
corner. [2...Kxh6 3.Kf6] 1/2-1/2
(19) Altuneger, A.-Vombek, S.

Maribor, 2007
1.b4?? White acts too simply - it was necessary to cut

the opponent’s knight first, but who could expected Black’s
brilliant maneuver? [1.Bb4+ 1...Kc6 2.Be7 Kb6 3.b4 Nb8
4.Bc5+ Kb7 5.Kd5 Nc6 6.b5 Na5 7.Bb4 Nb3 8.Kc4 Nc1
9.a5 Ne2 10.a6+ Ka7 11.Bc5+ Ka8 12.b6]
1...Nb8!! 2.b5 Nc6+ 3.bxc6 Kxc6 and the king comes to the 1.Kg4?? [The correct winning way was 1.Kf3 1...Nf6 2.Bg6]
corner. 1/2-1/2 1...Nf6+! 2.gxf6 Kxf6
(18) Chandler, M.-Polgar, Z. (20) Bartel, Mat-Kempinski, R.

Biel, 1987 ch-POL, 2011
88.Bf5 Ng8 89.Kf4 [Simpler was 89.h5 89...Ne7 (89...Nh6 68...Na6 Black’s only chance is to sacrifice the knight for the
90.Be6 Kh7 91.Kf6) 90.h6+ Kh8 91.Be4 Ng8 92.Bg6 Ne7 b-pawn.
93.Bf7 Kh7 94.g4 Kh8 95.Kf6]
89...Nh6 90.Ke5 Nf7+ 91.Ke6 Nh6 92.Be4 Ng4 93.Bf3
Nf6 94.Kf5 Ng8 95.Kg5 Nf6
69.Bd2 [Endgame tablebases give the following line:

69.Be5! 69...Kc6 70.a5 Kb7 71.Kb5 Ka7 72.Bd4+ Kb7
73.Bb6 Nb8 74.Bc5 Nd7 75.a6+ Ka8 76.Bb4 Nb8 77.Ba3
Ka7 78.Bc5+ Ka8 79.b4 Nd7 80.Bd4 Nb8 81.Bb6 Nd7
96.h5?? White does not follow the correct proceedure...
82.Bc7h]
[96.Bc6 96...Nh7+ 97.Kf5 Nf6 98.Kg5 Nh7+ 99.Kf4 Nf6
100.Kf5 Kf7 101.Bb5 Kg7 102.Bd3 Kf7 103.Kg5 Kg7 69...Kc6 70.Be3 Kb7 71.Kb5 Nc7+ 72.Kc5 Na6+ 73.Kd6
104.Bg6 Ng8 105.Bd3 Nf6 106.h5] Nb4 74.Bd2 Nc6 75.Kc5 Ne5 76.Bc3 Nc6
96...Nh7+ 97.Kf5 Kh6 98.g4 Ng5 99.Be2 Nh3 100.Bf1
Ng5 101.Bg2 Nh7 102.Ke6 Ng5+ 103.Kf6 Nh7+ 104.Kf7
Kg5 [104...Ng5+ 105.Kg8 Ne6] 1/2-1/2
(21) Alexandrova, O.-Worek, J.

Warsaw, 2013
77.a5?? Na7! Now it’s a draw as Black builds a blockade on

the a6 and b5 squares.
78.b4 Ka6 79.Bb2 Nb5 80.Be5 Na3 81.Bd4 Nb5 82.Bb2
Na7 83.Kc4 Nb5 84.Kb3 Nc7 85.Ka4 Nb5 86.Be5 Na7
87.Bd4 Nb5 88.Bc5 Nc3+ 89.Kb3 Nb5 90.Bb6 Nd6
1/2-1/2 (24) Salgado Lopez, I.-Sos Andreu, E.
80th ch-ESP 2015, 2015
(22) Marangunic, S.-Matanovic, A.
Jugoslavija , 1971
Now let us see the correct technique:

64.Bg4 Nd5 65.Ke4 Nf6+ 66.Kf4 Nd5+ [66...Kh6 67.Kf5
1...Nf6! and White can never capture this knight. The black Kg7 68.Be2 Ng8 69.Kg5 Nf6 70.Bd3 Nd7 71.Bf5 Ne5
knight moves to all squares and this cannot be prevented by 72.Kf4 Kf6 73.Ke4h]
White’s king and bishop. 1/2-1/2
67.Ke5 Nf6 68.Bf3 Nd7+ 69.Ke6 Nf6 70.Bd1 Kg7 71.Kf5
Nd5 72.Bb3 [72.Kg5 ]
(23) Selesniev, A.
72...Ne3+ 73.Kf4 Ng2+ 74.Kg4
35 Endspielstudien v. Selesniev#31, 1919
A great study master did some work on the subject too: 74...Ne3+ [74...Kh6! was keeping some chances.]
1.Nd2+ Ke2 2.Nb1 Bd5+ 3.Ka1 Kd1 4.Nxa3 Kc1 5.Nc4 75.Kh5 Kh7 76.Be6 Kg7 77.Bh3 Nd5 78.Kg5 Nf6 79.Bf5
Bxc4 1/2-1/2 Ng8
(26) Dizdarevic, Emir-Short, Nigel D
Solingen, 1988
80.Be6 [80.h5!h ]
80...Nf6 81.Kf5 Nh5 82.g4 Ng3+ 83.Kf4 Nh5+ 84.Ke5
Kg6 85.Bf5+ Kf7 86.g5 Kg7 87.Bg4 Ng3 88.h5 Nh1
57.Ke3 g5!! The only way is to sacrifice a pawn and then the
89.h6+ 1-0
bishop to come into a classical drawn position with pawn and
bishop of the wrong corner. [57...Bc8 58.Kf4 Be6 59.e5+ Kg7
(25) Dreev, A.-Onischuk, A. 60.Kg5 Bf5 61.Bc6 Be6 62.Be4 Bf7 63.Bd3 Be8 64.e6 Kh7
Cap dAgde, 2002 65.Kf6]
58.Bxh5 gxh4 59.gxh4 Bf5!! 60.exf5 Kxf5 61.Be8 Kf6
62.h5 Kg7 1/2-1/2
(27) Tajmanov, M.-Awerbach, Y.

Leningrad, 1956
With correct technique it was possible to prevent the black

king from coming to the corner.
1.Kc5?? [1.Be3! 1...Kc7 2.Bf2 Kc8 3.Kc6]
1...Bd6+ 2.Kd5 Kc8! 3.Kxd6 Kb8 1/2-1/2
1...Bxf7 Black tries his last chance to get a wrong corner
bishop, but it is necessary to have time to come with his king (29) Estrin, Y.-Ravinsky, G.
to the corner. Moscow-ch, 1950
2.Bxf7 Kd6! 3.h3?? [White commits a very big error. Easily
winning was 3.Bb3 3...c5 4.d5]
3...c5 4.dxc5+ [Now 4.d5 does not work any longer: 4...c4
5.Kc8 c3 6.Bg6 Kxd5 7.Kd7 Ke5 8.Ke7 Kf4 9.Kf6 Kg3
10.Bf5 c2]
4...Kxc5 5.Kc7 Kb5! 1/2-1/2
(28) Dreev, A.-Yudasin, L.

Manila, 1991 Here White obtains the necessary position with a fantastic
and unexpected sacrifice.
47.Re6+!! Bxe6 48.Rf6+ Qxf6+ 49.Nxf6 Bxa2 50.Kg3
Now the plan is simple: the knight will be sacrificed for the
f7 pawn and the king has to run to a1.
50...Bb3 51.Kf4 a5 52.Ke3 a4 53.Kd2 a3 54.Kc1 Ba2
55.Kc2 Kg6 56.Nxh7 Kxh7 57.Kc3 Threatening Kc3-b4.
57...Be6 58.Kc2 and the king finally comes to the corner!
1/2-1/2
To get a proper wrong bishop position, Black has to use
tactical measures here:
1...Rf5+! 2.Ke2 Rxf6! 3.Re8+ Rf8 4.Rxf8+ Kxf8 5.Bxc2
1/2-1/2
Chess and the City. to blunder in the most inappropriate moments... Arriving in
Bejing, going to the domestic airport and realizing that his
The feast of gorging! onward flight number slightly differed from my own was just
the beginning... His onward flight to Hangzhou was one hour
later than mine, which does not actually sound that bad....
But not when you are being hunted by "luck" as Jonny is.... His
flight eventually took off with a delay of 3 hours, forcing us to
wait for him for 4 hours at the Hangzhou airport.... Stupidity is
punished - and three times harder when Jonny is on board...
So far so good, but my trip would have been really boring if
Best rating: 2493
this was already it...
The next challenge was not that far behind... When you are
5 people (including one native Chinese) you expect when
As a sort of globetrotter I have seen a lot of different places,
ordering a big Taxi, that you would actually get a big one.
cultures and traditions in my life and I could even have made
"Big" seems to be a very flexible Chinese term and luggage
a bet that nothing - absolutely nothing - could really surprise
storage problems can easily be solved the Chinese way...
me anymore, but this time my arrogance was very far from the
truth.
Currently I am in Hangzhou and only yesterday I attended my
first Chinese wedding - the wedding of my brother Thomas
and his wife Xiaojen.
Since her family is not from a large city but a rather
small village close to Hangzhou called "Tongxiang" I was
not sure what was awaiting me, but the eventual turnout
overshadowed my deepest dreams and imaginations...
But let me start with the obstacles of my trip. Preferring not
to be alone for this adventure I took my dearest friend Jonny
with me and this is where the problems started. Naturally the
trust to a friend is a 100 percent safe bet, but unfortunately
not when it comes to trip arrangements. Naive as I was I sent Our flexible taxi
him my ticket 4 weeks back, convinced that copying the data
and joining the same flights couldn’t be a tough challenge. We finally reached the hotel and each of us got a non-smoking
Indeed - but not when it is Jonny! Jonny has the unique talent room, which was anyything but a non-smoking room.
However, I must confess that I have made this experience The next day nothing really changed from the usual
before in China. procedure, apart from the fact even more food was added
After relaxing for a bit we finally got to the house of my on the table. One of the funniest scenes I remember was the
brother’s wife’s parents where the first part of the wedding way they served us the wine. We each got a bowl and a bit
was just about to start - eating...hmmm...gorging! of wine was poured into it, rattled around until the red color
was spread and then thrown away just on the floor right next
to you. Likely we can predict this procedure was made to
enlarge the flavor... I don’t know, but I imagine the heart of a
true Italian and wine lover would have bled in this moment.
Anyhow, we survived and I am even delighted to announce
that Jonny managed to book the right return flight at least!
As for my brother, he finally became a part of a Chinese
family and when it is about food they are truly like chalk and
We can actually compare a Chinese wedding to a feast, a feast
cheese...
of gorging, gorging and gorging! And if you skip most of the
traditional procedures (likely to the mercy of my brother who
was holier than a Virgo in this matter), you may simply look at
it as if it was for feeding the entire village!
My brother and his wife
Jonny and me
(30) Mitrofanov (31) Yu Yangyi(2734)-Ni Hua(2696)
1. h Taizhou, 2015.11.24
96.a6! bxa6+ 97.Kc6! 1-0

(32) Wei Yi(2737)-Bu Xiangzhi(2710)
Taizhou, 2015.11.30
45.Rh7! Rxf2+ [45...Qf6 46.Be6+! Rxe6 47.dxe6h Qxf2+

48.Qxf2 Rxf2+ 49.Kxf2 Kxh7 50.e7h; 45...Qxe4+ 46.Bf3
Rxf2+ 47.Qxf2!h]
46.Kxf2 Rf8+ 47.Kg2! Qxe4+ 48.Kh2! Rf2+ 49.Qxf2h
(33) Tan Zhongyi(2492)-Lei Tingjie(2431) (35) Sarana, A(2426)-Ponkratov, P(2604)
Taizhou, 2015.11.24 Yugra Cup, 2015.11.29
27.Bd1! Qd7 28.Rxd4! cxd4 29.Qh6! [29.Bxd4+h ] 25...Bxc3! 0-1 [25...Bxc3 26.bxc3 Rxc4! 27.Qxc4 Bxd5+i]
29...Qd8 30.Bxd4+ e5 31.Bxe5+ f6 32.Nxg6+h (36) Diaz, N(2442)-Bachmann, A(2601)
(34) Aleksandrov, A(2615)-Bukavshin, I(2657) Patagonia Open, 2015.11.26
Yugra Cup, 2015.11.29
21...Bd6! [21...Qxe3+ 22.Kd1 Nf2+ 23.Kc1k]

27...Bxf3! 28.gxf3 Rxb5! 0-1 [28...Rxb5 29.Qxb5 Qd1+ 22.Rxh8 Bg3+ 23.Kd1 Nxe3+ 24.Kc1 Nxc2i
30.Kg2 Qxc2i]
(37) Paveto, K(2424)-Bachmann, A(2601) (39) Ivanov, M(2396)-Nabaty, T(2603)
Patagonia Open, 2015.11.28 Belgrade trophy, 2015.11.28
41...Bxf3! 0-1 [41...Bxf3 42.gxf3 h3i] 27...Bd7! 28.Be5 [28.Qd1 28...Qxb2i]

(38) Landa, K(2625)-Zeller, F(2392) 28...Bh3+ 29.Kg1 b2! [29...Qxe2 30.Qb2 Qf3i]
Heusenstamm Open, 2015.11.29 30.Bf1 Qf2+ 31.Kh1 Bxf1i
(40) Benitez Lozano, J(2257)-Cordova, E(2611)
Sisniega memorial, 2015.11.13
37.Qg2!! Rxa3+ 38.Ba2h Be8 39.Rg1h
25...Nxg3!! 26.hxg3 Bxd4+! 27.Kg2 [27.Qxd4 27...Qxg3+

28.Kh1 (28.Bg2 28...Re2 29.Qg4 Rxg2+i) 28...Re6! 29.Bg2
Re2! 30.Qg4 (30.Rg1 30...Re4! (30...f5!i ) 31.fxe4 Qh4+
32.Bh3 Qxh3#; 30.Qg1 30...d4! 31.Qh2 (31.c6 31...Rd6i)
31...Rxg2 32.Qxg2 Bxf3i) 30...Rxg2 31.Qxg3 Rxg3 32.Rd4
(32.c6 32...Rd6! 33.Kh2 Rg5i) 32...Bc6i]
27...Be3i
(41) Fritz
1.Ne7+! Kh8 [1...Kf8 2.Ne6#]

2.Ndf5! Qf8+ 3.Be8! Kh7 4.Kd7! Qh8 5.Bg6#!
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
The London Chess Classic 2015 is over and 3 players finished
Editorial Preface 2 on 5.5/9: Carlsen, Giri and Vachier-Lagrave. But, because the
tournament also counted as a part of the Grand Chess Tour
series, there had to be a tiebreak played for the tournament
winner as well as for the overall champion of the series. The
first very dramatic match was won by Vachier-Lagrave against
Young & Talented 13 Giri, but then in the final rapid match Carlsen easily overcame
the Frenchman. So, another title for the World’s best player!
Puzzle section 16
The Russian Cup Final 2015 in rapid chess was won by Dennis
Khishmatullin.
Endgame section 19
In Minsk, the European Rapid and Blitz Championship is
under way, and the winner of the blitz leg was Rauf Mamedov
Golden knowledge. Montreal classics 24 with a great 18/22 points, while Boris Savchenko finished on
the same score, but had a worse tiebreak.
Chess and the City. All ways lead to Rome 30
Tomorrow the strongest open tournament in chess history
is going to begin in Doha, Qatar. The event has a very
Clash of the Titans 31 nice prizefund of 130.000$, but this is clearly not the main
attraction - it is all about the starting list: Carlsen, Kramnik,
Surprise section / study 33 Giri etc. In total there are 18 players over 2700! What can you
say about that, except WOW!
Solutions 34 In Russia we are once again going to follow the Nutcracker
match between top level players liked Gelfand, Leko,
Morozevich, Najer against the young Russian. The match is
going to be held in classical, as well as rapid and blitz chess.
There are also a lot of other smaller events currently under
way, which is very usual for December - probably the busiest
month of the year chesswise.
We hope you enjoy the current issue of your weekly
newsletter!
Best wishes,
Two best games of the past week 10.Qd3 O-O 11.c4 A rare continuation, but Vachier was
familiar with the ideas, why this natural move of fortifying the
d5 knight is less common in the practice... [Most of the game
(1) Anand, Viswanathan (2796) continue with 11.O-O A recent game on the highest level went
- Vachier Lagrave, Maxime (2773) with 11...Bxd5 12.exd5 Rc8 13.c4 This is the changing of the
[B92] structure we mentioned before. White would like to execute
GM Csaba Balogh a longterm plan with b4-c5, but of course, Black also got new
7th London Classic 2015(7.3), Best rating: 2672 ideas after the e4 pawn has moved to d5...
2015.12.11
We are facing a theoretical battle in the Sicilian Najdorf

defense between two of it’s greatest expert. Vachier-Lagrave
manages to outplay the former World Champion in the
complex middlegame.
1.e4 c5 In the London Classic tournament, we had to be very
happy, if somebody played another opening instead of the
Berlin defense against 1.e4.
2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 A few 13...Ne8 with the idea of trading the strong dark squared
rounds earlier in the same tournament, Anand has beaten bishop with Bg5, which could create many holes on the
Topalov with the 6.h3 line, this time he chooses another queenside after putting the pawns to b6-a5. Ending up only
system. with the e2 bishop would be a strategic disaster for White,
therefore he played 14.Qd2 b6 15.Rac1 a5 Slowing down
6...e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Be3 The main move is 8.0-0, but there the actions on the queenside. 16.Na1 Nice idea! White
are subtleties in the different kind of move orders. needs to execute the b4 plan and also Nc2-a3-b5 could be an
8...Be6 9.Nd5 This is a common plan in the 6.Be2 and 6.Be3 option sometimes. Actually, these plans are known also from
setups. White would like to obtain queenside pawn majority other openings. 16...g6! again with the intention of getting
after changing the pawn structure. the dark squared bishop after Ng7-f5. 17.b4 Ng7 18.bxa5
bxa5 with a complex game, which was won later by Black.
9...Nbd7 After preventing Bb6, Black is threatening to take
Carlsen-Grischuk, Saint Louis 2015]
on e4.
knight arrives to e4.]
15.cxd5
11...b5! Black immediately undermines the center, using the

fact, that the e4 pawn is always hanging if White takes on b5.
12.Nd2 This is basically the novelty, which was definitely 15...Ne8! As a Gruenfeld player, Black is familiar with
prepared by Anand. [The previous games continued with this idea of transferring the knight to d6. It also follows
12.cxb5 12...axb5 13.O-O but Black had no problem after the principles, that the knight is considered to be the best
13...Bxd5 14.exd5 Nb6 either winning the important central blockader.
pawn or getting rid of the dark squared bishop.]
16.O-O Nd6 17.a4 White needs to gain some benefits on the
12...Nc5! Good reaction, other moves seems to lead to worse queenside as the center is static and on the kingside if he
positions. [12...bxc4 13.Nxc4 Bxd5 14.exd5+= also looks like a plays f4, he just helps Black to activate his bishop with Bf6.
good version for White. Especially if he could get his knight to [17.Rfc1 was met by 17...Bg5! pinning the knight and the pawn
c6, say after b4-Na5-c6.; On 12...Bxd5 13.cxd5+= works now is indirectly protected 18.Rxc5? Bxd2 19.Qxd2 Nxe4]
perfectly. White is going to play a4 after which he is going to
exert pressure on the queenside with the two bishop.] 17...Bg5! Vachier-Lagrave is a great dynamic player, this
character is needed if someone employs the Najdorf and the
13.Bxc5 We already discussed the importance of the dark Gruenfeld as the main repertoire. He activates his bishop,
squared bishop, but the big difference now is the changing of this is of course very logical, but the execution required to
the pawn structure. White either has a very strong knight on foresee some tactical details. [A normal developing move like
d5 or if Black takes it, then he gets a protected passed pawn. 17...Qb6 lets the initiative pass to White after 18.Qe3! using,
13...dxc5 14.b3! Otherwise Black takes on c4 and White that the queen has left the d8 square and Black cannot Bg5
cannot hold his trumph on d5. anymore. White exerts pressure on the c5 pawn. 18...Rab8
14...Bxd5 [The other option was 14...Nxd5 15.cxd5 Bd7 but (18...h6 is met by 19.Nf3! preventing Bg5 and attacking the e5
it looks less human to keep the bishop in a closed position. pawn.) 19.Rfc1 Rfc8 20.g3+= Black stands passively.]
16.O-O Bd6 17.a4 might give some edge for White. Black 18.Nf3 [If White allows the capture on d2, he might end up
cannot open the game f5 for his bishops, because then the in an inferior position where the strong d6 knight dominates
the bishop 18.axb5 18...Bxd2 19.Qxd2 axb5 20.Qe3 c4 If Black 22.exf5
could support the c-pawn properly with Rc8, White should
suffer in the endgame.]
18...Bf4! At first sight a blunder, but of course Black has his
ideas...
19.axb5 [19.g3 seems to win a pawn for free, but Black was
ready to counter it by 19...f5! and due to the fork on e4, Black
is doing fine!]
19...f5!? Black feels the moment and immediately wants
to overtake the initiative, which sharpens the game a lot.
22...Ra3! Vachier-Lagrave consequently follows his dynamic
19...axb5 was possible.
style. Such and the following moves are impossible to find for
20.Nd2 Qg5?! Vachier continues playing actively, however most of the players, but if someone plays the Najdorf and the
objectively it is a mistake. [It was better to play 20...axb5 Gruenfeld, he must always stay ready to find such resources.
21.exf5 (21.Rxa8 21...Qxa8 22.exf5 White tries to work out Black pins the queen and wants to push c4!
the light squares, but Black compensates with dynamic play
23.Ne4 [White should have left the pin with 23.Qc2 although
22...Qa2! 23.Ne4 c4! 24.bxc4 bxc4 25.Qf3 Nxf5 and Nd4 next.)
Black had his tactical ideas here as well 23...Bxd2 24.Rxd2
21...Rc8! and the c-pawn is getting supported perfectly with
Rxb3! 25.Qxb3 Qxd2 26.Bxb5 Rb8 27.Qd3! White is lucky
the active pieces.]
to stay in the game, but he must still suffer a bit for the
21.Rad1 Anand spoils his chance. [He could have played draw 27...Qxd3 28.Bxd3 e4=+ followed by bringing the king to
21.Nc4! 21...fxe4 (21...Nxe4 22.bxa6c is an extra pawn.) e5. The c-passed pawn could be a very dangerous long term
22.Qh3! Nxb5 23.Nb6! This is the key move, which was factor in all the endgames. We can see a nice example for the
probably missed by both players! White wins a pawn and strong knight vs. the bad bishop.]
the compensation does not seem to be adequate. 23...Nd4
23...c4! Another excellent intermediate move!
24.Bc4! Ra7 25.Nd7!c The reason why the queen has to be
on h3! The c5 pawn falls. Nf3 does not bring much, White 24.Qc2 The decisive mistake. Anand loses the thread in
simple goes Kh1.] the complications. [The only move was 24.Qb1 although
his position remains suspicious 24...Qh6 25.g3 Rxb3 26.Qc2
21...axb5 [21...Bxd2 leads to drawish endgame after 22.Qxd2
Nxf5! and it is easy to see, that the black pieces are bringing
Qxd2 23.Rxd2 Nxe4 24.Rc2 axb5 25.Bxb5=]
stormy clouds around White. For instance 27.gxf4 is met by
27...Qg6+ 28.Kh1 Nd4 and White is in trouble.; 24.Nxg5?
drops a piece after 24...cxd3]
24...Qxf5! Temporarily restoring the material balance and 34.Ng5 [34.Rxd6 loses to 34...Bxd6! (But not 34...Rxf1+?
and Black wins even more because of the pin. It is actually because of 35.Kxh2! and mate on the backrank.) 35.Rb1
unclear what Anand has missed. Rc2!i and White has no defense against Rc1!]
25.Qb2 [25.Bf3 25...Rxb3i] 34...Bg3!! White resigned after this other brilliant move
25...Rxb3 26.Qxb3 Desperate attempt to confuse the in view of the following lines [34...Bg3 35.Rxd6 (35.Nf7+
matters. [26.Nxd6 loses to 26...Bxh2+! 27.Kxh2 Qf4+ 28.g3 35...Rxf7 36.Rxd6 Rxf1+ 37.Bxf1 Bxd6i) 35...Rxf1+ 36.Bxf1
Qh6+i and after some checks, the black queen is not Bxd6i and the b-pawn cannot be stopped.] 0-1
hanging anymore, while the b2 falls.]
26...cxb3 27.Nxd6 Qg6 28.Nxb5 White pins his hopes to the
d-pawn, but actually the one on b3 is more dangerous.
28...e4 Black wants to advance his b-pawn, but first he
prevents the transfer of the bishop to the d3-b1 diagonal in
order to make the passed pawn powerful.
29.d6 b2 Black has in mind to play Bc1, cutting the rooks from
the b1 square.
30.Nd4 [The d-pawn can be simply and perfectly blockaded
by the rook 30.d7 30...Rd8i]
30...Qxd6! Forseeing the tactics!
31.Bc4+ Kh8 32.Ne6 Bxh2+ 33.Kh1
33...Rxf2!! A beautiful move to play over the board, which

serves to promote the b2 pawn.
7.Be2!? I would advise this setup for White. It is important
(2) Maze, Sebastien (2582) to have the bishop on e2 and not on d3, which is the usual
- Aroshidze, Levan (2525) [B41] position for the white bishop, and we are going to see why
soon.
Sunway Sitges Festival,
7...b6 Black continues trying to set up the Hedgehog in a
2015.12.18
Best rating: 2737 usual way.
8.f4! This is the key! White is quickly playing f4, with the idea
of putting the bishop on f3, which is a great position for it.
We are going to see a good example on how to crush the
Hedgehog system for White. Directly out of the opening, 8...Bb7 9.Bf3 Black needs to be very careful about the e5
White showed great preparation and knew exactly how to threat now.
put his pieces so Black quickly found himself in big trouble. 9...Qc7 Defending against the f5 move and the queen is also
By playing dynamically Maze reached a winning position placed on a square where it attacks the c4 pawn.
and finally won the game, even though he gave Black some
minimal chances for escape. 10.O-O [10.e5 of course doesn’t work. 10...dxe5]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 The Paulsen is especially often seen in open 10...Be7 [Black cannot get greedy with 10...Qxc4 11.Be3!
tournaments, where both players are searching for chances. followed by Rc1, and Black is not in time with the
development.]
3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 The 4...a6 system is not played as often
as 4...Nc6 in the last years. 11.Be3 White is trying to save a tempo by not playing b3,
which is very smart.
5.c4 This is currently the main fashion, and even Carlsen
himself used it in his match against Anand. 11...O-O 12.Rc1 And indeed the b3 move was not needed!
5...Nf6 6.Nc3 d6 Clearly not the most ambitious move. The 12...Rc8?! A move that clearly goes in the wrong direction.
main should be 6...Bb4 or 6... Qc7. Black should put his rooks on e8 and c8, not a8 and
Rfc8. [12...Nbd7 looks more normal and now White has two
options: 13.g4 (13.f5 13...e5 14.Nd5 Qd8 15.Ne2 but maybe
now Black can try 15...b5! with a very complex position.)
13...Nc5 14.Qc2 with the double threat of playing b4 and g5.
I think White’s chances are better here.]
15...fxe6 16.Nxe6 Qd7 Black is still hoping to be fine by
taking the c4 pawn, but of course these are just dreams. It
is impossible to play with Nb8 and Ra8.
17.Nf4 White continues playing a perfect game. The knight
on f4 will soon be very useful and controls the d5 square as
well.
17...Nxc4 18.Ncd5 A good choice again. Usually White
should stick to not giving away the dark squared bishop, but
13.g4! Of course, there is nothing to wait for. What is also very right now it is all about timing. Black is so undeveloped that
important is that the white king is still placed on g1 and not h1! aggressive play is clearly the right strategy.
In case White wants to play for the g4 move, it is better to have 18...Nxe3 19.Rxc8+ Bxc8 20.Nxe3 [20.Qb3 20...Kh8
the king on g1. 21.Qxe3 would be very strong as well.]
13...Nfd7 White just wanted to rush on the kingside with g5 20...Nc6 The black knight is trying to reach the e5 square.
and f5, followed by f6.
14.f5 Another good choice! Now that the knight is chased
away from f6, the f5 move is getting even stronger.
14...Ne5 Black’s position is already very difficult... [Not better
is 14...e5 15.Nd5 Qd8 16.Nxe7+ Qxe7 and now White has the
beautiful
21.e5! Another excellent move! White is totally crushing

Black’s hopes.
21...Bb7 [21...dxe5 22.Bd5+ Kh8 23.Ng6+! hxg6 24.Qf3 with
the deadly threats of playing Qh3 and Bxc6.]
22.e6 [22.Nf5 would have been a bit more accurate.]
17.f6! Qxf6 18.g5 Qd8 19.Nf5 with a mating attack. Here we 22...Qe8 23.Nf5 White’s pieces are dominating the game
can clearly see how badly the black pieces are placed.] and the threats around the black king are getting very serious.
15.fxe6 Of course! Black’s position is falling apart. 23...d5 Probably the best practical chance. With this pawn
sacrifice, Black is getting his bishop into play.
24.Nxd5 Bc5+ 25.Kg2 White’s position is of course still
winning here.
25...Rd8 26.Qe2? A rather big mistake after a fantastic
game. [White could have finished the game with a little
tactical trick: 26.b4 26...Nxb4 27.Qa1! and Black has no good
defense for the g7 pawn.]
26...Nd4! Black is using his chance to get rid of the nasty
knigh on f5. 31.e7! The right choice after a very good game!
27.Nxd4 Bxd5 28.Bxd5 Rxd5 31...Rd2 32.Qxd2 Bxd2 33.Nd6 This is the key move to end
the suffering. We just saw a very constructive win by White,
with nice and direct play! 1-0
29.Nf5 White’s position is still winning, but Black is fighting

a bit harder now... If he manages to reach an endgame, the
position might already not be that simple...
29...Qc6 [After 29...Qb5 30.Qxb5 axb5 31.e7 Re5 White is
winning thanks to a little tactic: 32.Nh6+! gxh6 33.Rf8+ Kg7
34.e8=Q with an easily winning endgame.]
30.Rf3 [30.Kh3 would end the game immediately.]
30...Bb4 This move gives White the chance to win the game
in beautiful style.
Young & Talented 11.O-O-O!? Funnily this novelty was played one day prior to
our game, but I have no idea if it influenced my opponent!
[11.Qxe3 11...f5 12.Nc3 Bh4+ 13.Nxh4? Re8i; 11.O-O 11...f5
12.Nc3 f4 13.Qc2 g6 14.Bxg6 hxg6 15.Qxg6+ Kh8=]
11...Bg4 [11...f5!? 12.Nc3 f4 13.g3 Bg4 14.Rhg1 This complex
position didn’t really appeal to me.]
GM Etienne Bacrot 12.Qxe3 Nc6 13.d5 Nb4 14.Bb1 White should keep his
Best rating: 2749 bishop even if this move makes a strange impression
(3) Rapport, Richard (2715) with the king on c1. [14.a3 14...Nxd3+ 15.Qxd3
- Bacrot, Etienne (2692) [C34] Bh5kVetoshko-Ostrovskiy 7 December 2015.]
ACP Masters GpB 2015(4.3), 14...f5 Black also gets a very normal game after 14...Re8.
2015.12.08 [14...Re8 ]
15.Ned2 [15.Nc5 gave easier play, to exchange what will be
Here is a rapid game I played in the ACP Masters against Black’s very strong bishop. 15...Bxc5 16.Qxc5 Bxf3 17.gxf3
Richard Rapport. Qg5+ 18.Rd2 a5 with an unclear position.]
1.e4 e5 2.f4 1.e4 is often followed by the King’s gambit in 15...Qd6 16.a3 Na6
Richard’s hands.
2...exf4 3.Nf3 Ne7 4.Nc3 [4.d4 4...d5 5.Qe2 is the line he
played against me last year.]
4...d5 5.d4 dxe4 6.Nxe4 Nd5 7.Bd3 Be7 8.c4 This very
logical move was new to me, I had to face 8.0-0 once.
8...Ne3 [8...Bb4+ 9.Kf2 Ne3 10.Qe2 looks good for White.]
9.Qe2 O-O 10.Bxe3 fxe3
17.h3 An interesting idea would be to play against the knight

on a6 with 17.b4.
17...Bxf3 18.Nxf3 Rae8 19.Rhe1?! [19.Qe6+ White should
have played for equality with this queen exchange.]
19...Nc5 I didn’t like the alternative but is it also playable:
[19...Bf6!? 20.Qxe8 Rxe8 21.Rxe8+ Kf7 22.Rde1 Qf4+
23.R8e3 Qxc4+ 24.Bc2 Nc5=+] 27.Na4?! [27.d6! 27...Rfd8 (27...Ne4 28.Qd5+ Kh8 29.Na4! is
20.Bc2 [20.b4 20...Ne4 21.Bxe4 fxe4 22.Nd2 Bh4 23.Re2 the strong defensive move that needed to be seen. 29...Nc3+
Qg6 is not very appealing for White.] 30.Nxc3 Rxc3k) 28.g4 with an unclear fight.]
20...a5 21.Kb1 27...Nxa4 28.Bxa4 Bc3 29.Re6! An unexpected defense! I

still have a way to push.
29...Qxe6 30.dxe6 Bxd2 31.Rxd2 Rc7 32.Bd7 Ra8 33.e7
Kf7 34.e8=Q+ Rxe8 35.Bxe8+ Kxe8
21...Qb6 Here I was very happy about this move and my

position, especially with around 10mn against 3. But Richard
started plyaing good defensive moves.
22.Nd4 Bf6 23.Qd2 [Of course not 23.Qxe8 23...Rxe8 36.Rd5 After this forced sequence I have to decide how to try
24.Rxe8+ Kf7 25.Re2 Bxd4! 26.Rxd4 Na4i and Black wins this advantageous rook endgame.
big material.] 36...b6 The safe way. [36...Rd7!? 37.Rxa5 Rd2 38.Rb5 Rxg2
23...g6 24.Nb5! White’s knight heads for a safer place. 39.Kc1 (39.Rxb7 39...f4!) ]
24...c6 25.Nc3 cxd5 This move seems very logical to me but 37.Rd6 Rb7 [37...Re7 38.Rxb6 Re2 39.g4 f4 40.Rf6=]
it brings nothing. My position still is slightly favorable after 38.Kc2 Ke7 39.Rc6 Kd7 40.Rf6 Rc7+ It definetely gives
25...Rd8. 26.cxd5 Rc8 good chances with less than 2 minute on clock for both of us.
My king gets a very strong central position.
41.Kd2 Rc6 42.Rf7+ Ke6 43.Rxh7 Ke5 44.h4 Great
defense!
44...Rc4 [44...Kf4 45.Rh6! and the h5 threat allows White to
equalize.]
45.Ke3? Once again this move gives me some hope. [45.g3!
was easier and after 45...Rg4 46.Re7+! Kd4 47.Re3= we
would soon agree a draw.]
45...Rc2 46.b4 axb4 [46...f4+ 47.Kf3 Rc3+ gives better
chances.]
47.axb4 Rb2 48.Rh6
48...f4+? [48...Rxg2 49.h5 (49.Kf3 49...Rg4 50.h5 Kf6 51.hxg6

Rxb4!i) 49...g5 is of course the way to play. With the best
defense it might be a draw but playing with the 10 seconds
extra we got per move Black should convert. (49...gxh5
50.Rxb6=; 49...Kf6 50.hxg6 Rxg6 51.Rh8) 50.Rxb6 f4+ 51.Kf3
Rg3+ 52.Kf2 g4 53.Rb5+ Kf6 54.h6 Rh3 55.Rc5 Rh2+ 56.Kg1
g3 57.Rc3 I continued because I couldn’t believe White is
saving, but it seems Black can’t break. 57...Kg5 58.b5 Kg4
59.Rc4 Rxh6 60.Rb4 Rd6 (60...Rb6 61.Kg2=) 61.b6 Rd1+
62.Kg2 Rd2+ 63.Kg1=]
49.Kf3 Kf5 50.h5 g5 51.g4+! Of course White avoids mate in
one!
51...fxg3 52.Kxg3 Rb3+ 53.Kg2 Rb2+ 54.Kg3 Rb3+
55.Kg2 1/2-1/2
Puzzle section
(4) Topalov, V(2803)-Adams, M(2737) (6) McShane, L(2687)-Georgescu, T(2453)
London, 2015.12.10 London Open rapid, 2015.12.12
1... = 1. h
(5) Grischuk, A(2747)-Aronian, L(2788) (7) Hansen, E(2573)-McShane, L(2689)

1. = 1... i
(8) Jakovenko, D(2737)-Nepomniachtchi, I(2707) (10) Anikonov, D(2370)-Rublevsky, S(2692)
ACP Masters rapid, 2015.12.08 Russian rapid GP, 2015.12.14
1. = 1... i
(9) Ivanchuk, V(2710)-Bacrot, E(2692) (11) Olszewski, M(2548)-Wojtaszek, R(2741)

ACP Masters rapid, 2015.12.10 German league, 2015.12.13
1. h 1... i
(12) Zhao Yuanhe(2217)-Ding Liren(2755)
1... i
(13) Wan Yunguo(2477)-Lysyj, I(2691)

1... i
Endgame section 45...Rd2! This is the key idea of Black’s defense! He attacks
the f2 pawn, which can only be defended after taking on d5,
because the direct Kg1 is met by Rd1. However after Bxd5 cxd5,
Black gets a passed pawn, which is a big trumph in all the
(14) Grischuk, Alexander (2747)
endgames.
- Anand, Viswanathan (2796)
46.Bxd5 cxd5 47.Kg2 Kf5! Another perfect decision! The
London Classic, GM Csaba Balogh d-pawn itself is not dangerous as the white king is close
2015.12.10 Best rating: 2672 enough to stop it, however with the help of the king, Black
creates a very serious source of counterplay. [47...d4? is
a grave error, because it cuts the king along the 5th rank.
48.Ra5 d3 49.Kf3h]
48.Ra5 White must go for the second extra pawn to advance
his own passers more easily, but of course it gives two extra
tempi for Black to make his d-pawn even more dangerous.
48...Ke4! 49.Rxa7 d4 We have reached a very complex
rook endgame. Despite the two extra pawns, the objective
evaluation seems to be the draw. This undermines again the
principle, that activity is often more important than material.
White is a pawn up and he also has a healthier pawn structure, 50.b5 Rb2! The ideal place of the rook is behind the passed
but Anand finds a clever resource to keep the hopes alive for pawn! [50...d3? is a mistake, because it allows White to
salvation. occupy the ideal place with his rook behind his own passed
pawn with
43...Rd1+ 44.Kh2 Bd5! A perfect square for the bishop.
White has no choice, he must get rid of it as soon as possible.
45.Bg2!
51.Ra4+! Kd5 52.Rb4! Re2 53.b6 d2 54.b7 d1=Q
55.b8=Qh and Black has just a few checks and then to the unfortunate king move in the 53th 57...Qh1#; 53.Rd8
he gets mated.] leads to a theoretical drawn position in forced line 53...Rxa4
51.a4 (With the king on g2 it makes no sense to play 53...Rd4?
54.Rxd4+ Kxd4 55.b6 d2 56.b7 d1=Q 57.b8=Q) 54.b6 Rb4
55.Rb8 d2 56.Rd8 Rxb6 57.Rxd2 and here probably the easiest
is 57...Rb1! with the idea to prepare for the Kh3-h4 plan with
a check on h1 and White does not have a useful move which
could prevent the Black’s king retreat towards the h5 pawn...
58.Rd6 Kf5=) 53...Ke3 54.Re7+ Kd2 55.f4
51...Kd3?? This is very strange! Anand has defended

perfectly until now and in the most obvious moment, instead
of advancing his passer, he stops it with his own king. The idea
is to play Ke2 or Kc2 and only then advance the pawn, but it
is just too slow. [We reach the critical position after 51...d3!
52.Rd7 Rb4
This looks like the most interesting try for White and perhaps
the reason why Anand refused to play 51...d3. Sometimes
seeing too much is harmful, we refuse to play some obvious
looking moves just because of some idea which happens at
the end of a long line, instead we rather choose something
else, which turns out to be much worse. This is a typical
mistake, which seem to occur even on the highest level.
55...Kc3! The only move! The big difference between having
the king on c3 instead of c2 is the option of playing Rc4 and
Rd4 against Rc7 or Rd7. (55...Rxa4? loses because of 56.b6
Obviously Anand was considering this position and he was Rb4 57.b7 Kc2 58.Rc7+! Kd1 (58...Kb2 goes too far from
afraid of something, but I was unable to figure out what it the support of the pawn, suddenly the white king arrives
could be. I tried some different attempts, but Black holds 59.Kf2h) 59.f5 d2 60.f6h Ke2 61.Re7+ Kd3 62.Rd7+h)
everywhere. 53.f3+ (53.Kh3?? even loses after 53...Rd4! 56.Kf2! Approaching with the king to stay in the square of the
54.Rxd4+ Kxd4 55.b6 d2 56.b7 d1=Q 57.b8=Q and thanks d-pawn! White is ready to trade rooks as he could quickly run
to d1. (56.Rc7+ 56...Rc4 57.b6 d2 58.Rxc4+ Kxc4 59.b7 d1=Q pawn, to avoid getting cutted along the 4th rank which would
60.b8=Q Qe2+ with perpetual check due to the f2-f4 move. isolate the passer from it’s supporter.) 62.Rxg2 Ra3+ 63.Ke2
61.Kh3 Qg4+=; 56.Kf3? with similar ideas like 56.Kf2, but it Ke4= Black becomes too active and he easily holds the draw.]
runs into 56...Rd4!) 52.Rb7! Thanks to the huge waste of time in the previous
move, White got enough time to simple protect the b-pawn
and he is ready to push the other one.
52...Ra2 [52...Kc3 also fails to hold 53.a5 d3 54.a6 d2 and the
easiest win is 55.Rc7+ Kb4 56.Rd7 Kxb5 57.a7 Ra2 58.Rxd2
Rxa7 59.Rd5+h]
56...h4! (56...Rd4? loses now 57.Rc7+h and the king has no

good square to leave. If White goes Ke1-d1, the game is over.)
57.Ke3 hxg3 58.Rd7 White finally eliminates the d-pawn and
the g3 is already less dangerous. However Black holds after
58...g2! 59.Rxd3+ Kc4 60.Rd1 Rxa4 61.Rg1
53.b6! Rxa4 54.Rb8! [Black resigned in view of 54.Rb8

54...Rb4 55.b7! The point is Black cannot leave with his king
the d-file, because then after a rook check White promotes
his pawn. Otherwise White simple advances his other passed
pawn. Perhaps Anand has forgotten about this plan. 55...Kd2
(55...Rb2 56.Kh3 followed by f4-f5...) 56.f4 d3 57.f5 Kd1 Black
can never leave the d-file, but it just takes forever to push the
pawn like this. White is much faster. 58.f6 d2 59.f7h] 1-0
61...Kd5! Very nice retreat! It turns out to be more important
to neutralize both pawns, than eliminating one of them. (But
not 61...Kxb5? after which the king gets too far from the
f-pawn 62.Rxg2 and White cuts the king with Rd2 next move,
followed by Kf3-g4-g5 and pushing the f-pawn. It is important
to pass the 4th line with the king before the advance of the
39.Rd3 White continues the safe strategy but maybe he had
(15) Giri, Anish (2784) a better move. [In my opinion 39.Ra4! looked stronger.
- Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime (2773) 39...Rxa4 40.bxa4 and although Black would keep some
small chances to play on, this knight endgame just MUST be
7th London Classic TB(1.2), drawish.]
Best rating: 2737 39...Ra2 40.h3 Rb2 Now White starts suffering a bit, the
black rook on b2 is very active and the worst thing is that there
is no forced draw in sight.
41.Nd4 White is preparing to play f5 and exchange another
pawn.
41...h5 Planning to play g5 after White’s f5.
42.f5! This looks a bit dangerous, but is the correct choice!
White is just in time - for now.
We are in the second rapid game of the tiebreak for the final
rapid match against Carlsen, to decide the winner of the
Grand Chess Tour and the London Chess Classic 2015. In the
first game Maxime lost with White and he needs a full point
now. The position looks pretty equal, material is equal and
White is not in any danger - for now. During the next moves
we are going to see how inventive the young Frenchman is in 42...g5 Of course Black needs to avoid the exchange.
searching for winning chances and putting again and again 43.Ne6 Kf6 44.Nd8?! This is clearly not the best. [44.g4!
some problems in front of Giri. was the right solution! 44...h4 (44...Rh2 45.Kg3 Rh1 46.Kf2
35...a4! A good move! Black needs to open an extra file for and it is unclear how Black can improve.) 45.Nc5 The white
the rook. knight is getting to e4, which means he is no longer in danger
36.Bd4 This is also very logical play by White. With every of losing.]
exchange the draw is coming closer. 44...Rh2! The h3 pawn is falling and the position starts to get
36...Bxd4 37.Rxd4 axb3 38.axb3 Ra8 Black is trying to be very dangerous for White.
active. 45.Nxb7 Rxh3 46.Nd6 [46.Kg2? of course loses to
46...Nf4+!] 54...Nd5+ 55.Kd6 h4?! This move almost throws away the
46...Rh2 White needs to defend the f5 pawn and be careful win... [55...Nc3 would have been a better way to continue.
with the black pawns g5 and h5. This is a very tricky position Black wants to play Nb5-Nd4.]
to defend, especially in rapid chess. 56.gxh4+ Kxh4 57.Ne5? Short on time, Giri misses the draw!
47.Ke4! The best move! The white king is going for the c6 [57.Re5! would have seen Giri through to the final! 57...Rxe5
pawn. 58.Nxe5 Ne3 and what Giri probably missed is 59.Nxg4! Of
course not letting the g4 pawn alive. 59...Nxg4 60.Kxc5]
47...Re2+ 48.Kd4 Ne7 How to defend the f5 pawn?!
57...Nf4 58.Rh6+ Kg5
49.Kc5? This is already a mistake. [White had a nice escape
with 49.g4! 49...c5+ (49...hxg4 50.Ne4+ and the pawn on f5
cannot be taken because of Ng3.) 50.Kxc5 hxg4 51.b4 and
although black keeps better chances, the position should be
very close to a draw.]
59.Rh8?! Another blunder... [White would keep drawing

chances after 59.Rh7 although the position is not easy at all
to hold after 59...Nh5 with g3 coming next.]
59...Rxe5! Maxime doesn’t miss the winning tactic. Of course
after 60.Kxe5 Black plays Ng6+. A sad end of the game for Giri,
49...g4 [Black could have won on the spot with 49...Re5+ who was defending well and even had a direct chance to force
50.Kb6 Rd5 51.Rxd5 cxd5 followed by h4 with a winning a draw, but the big credit clearly goes to Vachier-Lagrave who
knight endgame.] was putting again and again problems in front of White. 0-1
50.Kb6 Re5 Black’s chances for a full point are still very
good. The f5 pawn will fall sooner or later.
51.Kc7 c5 52.Nc4 Rxf5 So the f5 pawn is finally gone.
53.Rd6+ Kg5 54.Re6 But the white pieces are quite active
and the white king can attack the c5 pawn quickly, so things
are far from over.
Golden knowledge. White starts active counterplay, which is never clear.
Montreal classics 30.c4? Black has a strong knight, but White could keep
stubborn defense after the correct [30.Kg1 30...Rc8 31.Ra3]
30...Nxb4 31.Rb1 Nd3 32.Rxb7 Nc5
It is always interesting and useful to compare the level of top

players nowadays and of former times. It is not easy, but 33.Rc7? [Better is immediately showing attacking intentions
we can analyze some best achievements from the classical with 33.Rb6!?]
tournaments. In the past there were not too many super 33...h5 34.Kg1 Kf8 35.Kf2 Rb8 36.Rc6 Ke7 After soft play
tournaments; much less than nowadays. Montreal 1979 was of White, the black king came to the center to protect the key
convincingly won by Mikhail Tal and Anatoly Karpov. There a d6 pawn.
few great endgames were played, and especially three which
demonstrated the fight of knight against bishop. Enjoy it!
(16) Hort, Vlastimil-Ljubojevic, Ljubomir
Montreal, 1979
37.Rc7+ [Nothing special promised the activization of the

king: 37.Ke3 37...Rb3+ 38.Kf4 Ra3 39.Kg5 Rxa5 40.Rc7+
Nd7 41.Be2 Ra2]
37...Kf6 38.Ke3 Rb3+ 39.Kd2 Rb7 40.Rc8 Ke5 41.Kc3
Rb3+ 42.Kc2 Kd4 43.Rc6 Rc3+
26.Kd2 f6
44.Kd2 [44.Kb1 was more stubborn, but couldn’t save the

game either: 44...Ke5! 45.Rc7 Kf6! 46.Rc6 Ke7 47.Rc7+ 27.d4! It looks like this move is against the rules, as usually
Ke8 48.Rc6 Kd7!] pawns have to placed on the opposite color than the bishop,
but here it is important to help the most important white
44...Ra3 45.Kc2 Ra2+ 0-1
asset: the e5 pawn.
27...Nf7 28.Bb4 fxe5 29.fxe5 Nh6 30.Ra5 Nf5 31.Kd3
(17) Spassky, Boris V-Ljubojevic, Ljubomir
g6 32.Bc5 Rcb8 33.Ra6 Rc8 34.Ke4 Rcc7 35.Kf4!
Montreal, 1979 Threatening to come to f6.
35...h6 36.Ke4 g5 37.Rba1 Rc8
White has the advantage, as after a2-a4 it will be possible to

create a weakness in Black’s position. 38.Rxe6! The decisive sacrifice!
21.Rhb1 Rab8? [Correct was the immediate attack of the 38...Rxc5 [38...Kxe6 39.Ra6+ idee Kf5 h]
opponent’s center: 21...f6! ; Weaker was 21...Rhc8 22.a4 Ne7 39.Kxf5 Rxc3 40.Rxh6 Kc7 41.Rh7+ Kb6 42.Rxb7+ Kxb7
23.Bd2 Nd5 24.Rb3 f6 25.Rg1!c] 43.e6 Kc7 44.Ra7+ Kb6 45.Ra8 1-0
22.Bc5! Rhc8 23.Bd6 Rb7 24.a4 Nd8 25.axb5 axb5
(18) Spassky, Boris V-Karpov, Anatoly 26...Kf7! 27.Rxd6 Rxd6 28.Rxd6 Ke7! Thanks to this pawn
Montreal, 1979 sacrifice Black managed to limit White’s activity. Then it will
be time to attack the white pawns.
29.Rd3 Re1 30.Ba2
22.dxc5 bxc5! [Two other recaptures were much weaker:

22...Nxc5 23.Nd5 Bxd5 24.cxd5; 22...dxc5 ] [Even weaker was 30.Bc2 30...Ne5 31.Rd2 Nxc4e]
23.Rd1 [23.Nd5 didn’t work: 23...Bxd5 24.cxd5 Rb8 followed 30...Rc1! One of the most important moves in the game, as
by Nd7-b6.] commented by Anatoly Karpov.
23...Bxc3! In most cases it is useful to create double pawns, 31.Nf3 [31.Bb3 31...Ne5 32.Re3 Kf6 with the idea Rb1.]
which will become targets very soon.
31...Bxf3! Now it is time to exchange the important knight.
24.bxc3 Rf6! 25.Rfd2 Re3! [Much weaker was 25...Bxf3
26.gxf3 Ree6 27.f4 Nb6 28.Bd3] 32.Rxf3 Ne5 33.Re3 Kf6 34.Bb3
26.Ng1 [Wrong was 26.Rxd6 26...Rxd6 27.Rxd6 Bxf3 28.gxf3

Ne5]
34...a5! White is practically in zugzwang.
35.Ba4 Nxc4 36.Re8 Rxc3 37.Rc8 Ne3 38.Bb5 84.Be4! Threatening Be4-c6.
84...Ra5 85.Ne5 [Even simpler was 85.Rxb4 85...Ra6+
86.Rb6]
85...Ra6+ 86.Nc6+ Kc7 87.Rxb4 Rb6 88.Rxb6 Kxb6
89.Kd5 Kb5 90.Bc2 1-0
(20) Karpov, Anatoly-Ljubojevic, Ljubomir

Montreal, 1979
38...c4 [Here Karpov missed a faster win with 38...Rc2 39.Bc6

Nf1+ 40.Kg1 Nxg3 with the idea f5-f4.]
39.Kg1 Rc2 40.Bc6 c3 41.Bf3 g5 42.g4 f4 0-1
(19) Larsen, Bent-Kavalek, Lubomir

Montreal, 1979.04.18
Karpov played like Carlsen does nowadays, trying to exploit

the slightest advantage and his oppenents cracked under the
pressure usually.
65...Bd4 [It was better to hold the position after 65...Rb6
66.Ba2 Rb2 67.Ra6 Rxf2+ 68.Kh3 Rxa2 69.Rxa2 Kf6
70.Kg2 e4]
66.Ra3 Nc7 67.Ba2+ Ke8 68.Rf3! Ne6 69.Bb1 Nc5
82...Kc7?? [Black would have excellent chances for a draw 70.Rf8+
after the logical 82...Rb6+ 83.Kf5 Kc7 84.Rxb2 Bc5]
83.Nd7! Suddenly the black rook will come under attack and
the bishop on b4 will be left without protection.
83...Kd8 [83...Kc6 84.Be4+ Kc7 85.Bf3]
46.Rg7 Re8 47.Kxh7?! [Simpler was 47.Nf5 47...c5 48.b5!! A
great break! 48...axb5 49.Rxe7+ Rxe7 50.Nxe7 Kxe7 51.a6]
47...c5 48.bxc5 dxc5 49.Nf3 [It was better to block the pawn
with 49.Ne2 49...c4 50.Nc3]
49...Kc6
70...Ke7? [Here it was necessary to defend with 70...Kd7!

71.Rg8 e4 72.Bf8 Rf6 73.Bxc5 Bxc5 74.Bxe4 Rxf2+ 75.Kh3
Bd6+= 76.Bxg6? Rf3 77.Bxh5 Rxg3+ 78.Rxg3 Bxg3 79.Kxg3
Ke7=]
71.Rg8! e4 [No big difference was 71...Kf7 72.Ba2+; 71...Rb6
72.Bxg6 Rb2 73.Bg5+ Ke6 74.Rf8]
50.Rg5 [And here stronger was 50.h4 50...Nd5 51.Rg6+ Kb5
72.Bf8+ 1-0 52.Rg5 Rd8 53.h5]
50...Nd5 51.Ne5+ Kb5 52.Nf7 Re7
(21) Tal, Mihail-Hort, Vlastimil
Montreal, 1979
53.Kg6? [White still had winning chances in the rook

endgame: 53.Rxd5 53...Rxf7+ 54.Kg6 Rc7 55.g4 Kxa5 56.h4
Kb4 57.h5 c4 58.h6 c3 59.Rd1]
45.Rg4! Ne7 [Worse was 45...Rxb4 46.Rg7+ Kc8 (46...Ne7 53...Rd7 54.Ne5 Rd6+ 55.Kf5 Ne7+ 56.Ke4 Rd4+ 57.Kf3
47.Rxe7+ Kxe7 48.Nxc6+) 47.Nf5] Nd5 58.Nd7?! [58.Nd7 58...Kc6 59.Ne5+ Kb5 60.Nd7; It
was possible to try a last chance 58.Rg4! and Black still has 56.a6 Ke6 [56...Ke8? 57.Ba5h]
to fight for a draw.] 1/2-1/2 57.a7 Ra3 58.Bb6 Kd7 59.Kb4 Rxa7 [59...Ra1 60.Ba5h;
59...Ra6 60.Kb5=]
(22) Timman, Jan H-Huebner, Robert 60.Bxa7 1/2-1/2
Montreal, 1979
50...Rg4 51.Bxa5 Rxh4 [51...Rxa4 52.Be1=]

52.g6 Rh3+? [There was a cheap trick here: 52...Kxf6?
53.Bd8+; But 52...Rg4! promised winning chances. 53.f7 Ke7
54.Bd8+ Kf8 55.a5 Rxg6 56.Ke3 Kxf7 57.Kf4 Ke6 58.Bg5
Rg8 59.a6 Ra8]
53.Kc4 Kxf6 54.Bd8+ Kxg6 55.a5
55...Kf7 [55...h4 56.Bxh4! Rxh4+ 57.Kb5 Kf5 58.a6 Rh1

59.a7 Ra1 60.Kb6]
Chess and the City. out by my brother, and lead us to the wrong airport, where we
soon discovered that we may end up being stuck in China for
All ways lead to Rome at least another day. What Jonny got right was to convince
me to leave for the airport well in advance thus bypassing the
Italian education on delays that I got used to in the last few
years. Eventually we managed to board another taxi, begging
the driver to speed up in order to be able to catch our right
flight in the right airport. Once again we were lucky that out
of 1.3 billion Chinese we got the one with a Swiss mentality,
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz who sheepishly respected every single speed limit and was
Best rating: 2493 overtaken by all kind of motorized vehicles.
Eventually running for our lives we managed to catch the
flight to Beijing and from there I came to Rome, where my
I was uncertain whether to focus my report on the last husband was surprised to see my new immense love for the
bits of my China trip, but since that part turned out to be city which I was so used to criticizing before.
even more adventurous than the first one, I felt compelled
to share this unique experience with you. At this point The story ends here at the moment but in about 2
you should already be familiar with Chinese delicacies and months’ time I may head to China again, and be sure I
Jonny’s luck. However, you are not familiar with my brother’s will personally check every single detail of my reservation
booking style. Among his highlights are booking rooms with and accommodation.
completely misspelled when not totally invented last names
(e.g. Jonathan alias Jonny English), but this time he went
further and simply booked the wrong hotel. This would have
not been that bad, if the hotel had not been our starting place
for the airport shuttle. Cleverly my brother left the day before
us, headed to San Francisco, and his shuttle brought him to
the right airport, the international Pudong airport. Alas we
did not know that this was not the only airport in the city
and what we also missed is that this airport is specialized for
international flights. So our Shanghai-Beijing was - surprise
surprise - leaving from a different airport. Learning from
mistakes is one of the keys to chess success, but unfortunately
in this case my intuition failed me and I again relied on Jonny’s
organization. Naturally Jonny fell into the trick, cunningly laid
Clash of the Titans 7.Qxb6 axb6
(23) Portisch, Lajos

- Smyslov, Vassily[A11]
Hoogovens(3), 1972.01
GM Kamil Miton
Best rating: 2655
8.Nc3 We have a more or less equal endgame.

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 The Reti System is a very solid
option for White. 8...Nc6 [8...Bd7 Interestingly a very similar idea was used in
the Janowski-Capablanca game, when the bishop is coming
3...Bf5 Black has other ways of developing as well, for to d7 to support play on the queenside. 9.d3 e6 10.O-O Bc5
example g6-Bg7 and the position can tranpose to the 11.a3 (11.e4!? White should hurry otherwise there is no chance
Grunfeld, c6-Bg4 or c5-Nc6. for an advantage.) 11...O-O 12.Bf4 Rc8 13.e4 Nc6 14.exd5
4.c4 [4.O-O 4...c6 5.d3 e6 6.Nbd2 h6 7.Qe1 with e4-b3-Bb2 Nxd5 15.Nxd5 exd5 16.Rfe1 h6 17.Rad1 Be6 18.h3 b5 19.g4 b4
next.] Black is completely fine. 20.axb4 Bxb4 21.Bd2 Bxd2 22.Rxd2
Ra4= 1/2-1/2 Giri,A-Burmakin,V/Sochi RUS 2012 (42)]
4...c6 5.cxd5 [5.O-O 5...e6 (5...dxc4 6.Na3 b5 7.b3 gives White
the initiative.) 6.d3 Nbd7 7.Nc3 Be7 8.cxd5 exd5 with the 9.d3 e6 [9...e5 The black center looks strong, but the pawn on
main idea of playing over e4 to activate the bishop on g2, for e5 gives White more opportunities to create pressure over the
example Qc2-e4 or Nd4-e4.] h1-a8 diagonal.; 9...Bd7 10.Be3]
5...cxd5 6.Qb3 Qb6 There is no better option to protect 10.Nb5 [10.Bd2 10...Be7 11.Nh4 Bg4 12.h3 Bh5 13.g4 Bg6
the b7 pawn. [6...Qc7 7.Nc3 e6 8.d3 Nc6 9.Bf4 Qd7 14.f4 (14.Nxg6!? The bishop pair should guarantee a stable
10.O-O Black’s development is worse and White should get the advantage. 14...hxg6 15.g5 Nd7 16.h4 Nc5 17.O-O-O with Kb1
initative after a quick break in the center over e4.] next and I like White here.) 14...Nd7 15.Nf3 Ra5 16.Nd1 Ra6
17.Nc3 Ra5 18.Nd1 Bb4 19.Ne3 h6 20.Nc2 Bxd2+ 21.Kxd2
Ke7 22.Nfd4 Ra4 23.Ke3 Rha8 24.a3 Rc8 25.Rac1 with a
very similar position as in the game. 25...Raa8 26.Bf3 1-0
Radjabov,T-Kamsky,G/Beijing CHN 2012 (83)]
10...Bb4+ Black develops his pieces with tempo.
11.Bd2 Ke7 12.Nfd4 Bxd2+ 13.Kxd2 Bg6
25.Bg2! It is time to activate the bishop!

25...g6 26.Nb5 Nb8 Black is going to put the knight on c6
to prevent the attack against the b7 pawn. [26...e5 27.fxe5
14.f4! A strong move which helps to maintain the knight on
fxe5 28.Kc3 g5 29.Kb4Aand it is not easy to play for Black.;
d4.
26...Nc5 was a very promising option in my opinion. 27.Kc3
14...h6 Black is preparing a long-term plan to activate the (27.e4 27...dxe4 28.dxe4 e5!; 27.b4 Now the white king will not
bishop. [14...Ne8 15.f5! (15.Rhc1 15...Nxd4 16.Nxd4 Nd6 be able to come to b4 and b5. 27...Na6 28.e4 Kd7 29.Ke3 Nc7
17.Rc7+ Kd8=) 15...Bxf5 16.Nxf5+ exf5 17.Bxd5 and the strong 30.Nc3 Kd6= and Black is on time.) 27...Kd7 28.b4 Na6 29.e4
bishop gives White the advantage.] Nc7 30.Nxc7 (30.Na7 30...e5 To not lose control of the dark
15.a3 Rhc8 16.Rac1 Bh7 17.Bh3 Nd7 In my opinion a better squares. 31.fxe5 fxe5 32.Bh3+ Be6 33.Bxe6+ Kxe6 34.Nc8 b5=)
option was [17...Ne8 A typical move which helps improve the 30...Kxc7 31.Kd4 Kd6 and without the knights Black is safe.]
pieces and make some exchanges. 18.f5 Nxd4 19.Rxc8 Rxc8 27.e4 dxe4 Another option was to allow the weakening
20.Nxd4 Bg8 and the knight is going to d6.] of the pawn on d5 instead of b7. [27...Nc6 28.exd5
18.Rc3 Nxd4 19.Nxd4 Rxc3 20.Kxc3 Rc8+ 21.Kd2 [21.Kb4 exd5 29.Kc3 (29.Nc7 29...Kd6 30.Na8 b5k (30...Kc5 31.b4+
was premature because now White will not play Rc1.] Kb5 32.Kc3c) ) 29...Kd7 30.Bh3+ f5 (30...Be6 31.Bxe6+
Kxe6 32.Nc7+ Kd6 (32...Kf5 There is no chance for active
21...Bg8 22.Rc1 Rxc1 23.Kxc1 The endgame looks drawish counterplay. 33.Nxd5 Kg4 34.Nxf6+ Kh3 35.d4h) 33.Na8
but the position is not completely equal because of the weak b5 34.Nb6A) 31.Nd4 Nxd4 32.Kxd4 Kd6 33.Bg2 Be6=]
doubled pawns.
28.Bxe4 Nc6 29.Kc3 e5 [29...Be8 with the idea Nd8-Bc6,
23...f6 24.Kd2 Bf7 [24...e5 25.Nf5+ with Nd6 next.] but it is too slow. 30.Nd4 (30.Nc7! with two threats, Nxe8
and Na8!) 30...Kd6 31.Nxc6 bxc6 32.b4 c5= and there is no
time to create a passed pawn with a4-a5.]
30.fxe5 fxe5 Surprise section / study
(24) Fritz
1. h
31.a4! Preparing the strong maneuver Na3-Nc4.

31...Kd7 [31...g5 32.Na3 Kd6 33.Nc4+ Bxc4 34.Kxc4 Nd8
35.Kb5 Kc7 36.b4 and Black is in zugzwang, since if the
knight moves then Kc4-Kd5 is coming. 36...Nc6 37.Bxc6
bxc6+ 38.Ka6 g4 39.b5 c5 40.a5h]
32.Na3 g5 33.Nc4 Bxc4 [33...Kc7 34.Bxc6h]
34.Kxc4 Kd6 35.Kb5 Kc7
36.Bxc6! Now the pawn ending is easily winning.

36...bxc6+ 37.Ka6 g4 38.b3 c5 39.Kb5 Kb7 40.a5 bxa5
41.Kxc5 1-0
Solutions (26) Carlsen, M(2850)-Caruana, F(2787)
London, 2015.12.05
(25) Topalov, V(2803)-Giri, A(2778)
London, 2015.12.04
37...Rxd6! 38.Qb8+ Kg7 39.Qxd6 Qe3+ 40.Kg2 [40.Kf1

40...Qf3+=]
33...Nxf2!! 34.Bxe2 Nxh3+ 35.Kf1 [35.Kh2 35...Qxe2+ 40...Qe2+ 41.Kg1 [41.Kh3 41...Qh5+=]
36.Kxh3 Rd2i]
41...Qe3+ 42.Kg2 Qe2+ 1/2
35...Qd5!! 36.Bh5 [36.Ke1! 36...Qh1+! 37.Bf1 Qf3! 38.Be2
(27) Melkumyan, H(2632)-Lam, D(2138)
Qxg3+ 39.Kf1 Rd6i]
London Open, 2015.12.04
36...Qh1+ 37.Ke2 Qg2+ 38.Ke1 Re8+ 39.Kd1 Nf2+
40.Kc2 Ne4+ 0-1 [40...Ne4+ 41.Kd3 Qd2+ 42.Kc4 Rc8+i]
27.Nxf7! Rxf7 [27...Qxf7 28.Be6h]

28.Re8+ Bf8 29.Be6h 1-0
(28) Andersen, M(2459)-Postny, E(2672) (30) Nepomniachtchi, I(2705)-Georgiev, K(2627)
London Open, 2015.12.06 ACP Masters rapid, 2015.12.07
41...Bxd5! 0-1 [41...Bxd5 42.Rxd7 Rh1#; 41...Rxd5? 20.Bxd4!! Bxd4 21.e4! Qxb5 [21...Qd6 22.Qc4+h]
42.Rxb7!=] 22.Nxd4 Qe5 [22...Qb6 23.Qc4+ Kh8 24.Rab1h]
(29) Guseinov, G(2649)-Georgiev, K(2627) 23.Nf3 Qe7 24.Qb3+ Kh8 25.Rxc7h
ACP Masters rapid, 2015.12.07 (31) Fedorchuk, S(2633)-Kryvoruchko, Y(2717)
Ukrainian Championship, 2015.12.06
35.Rxg5+! 1-0 [35.Rxg5+ 35...hxg5 36.Qxg5+ Kh8

37.Rd4!h] 23.Nxg7!! Nxf3 [23...Kxg7 24.Rxf6h]
24.Nxe8! [24.Nxh5? 24...Nxh5 25.Qxf3 Ng3+]
24...Nxe8 [24...Nxd2 25.Nxf6+h] 25.Qxf3h
(32) Shirov, A(2689)-Medar, M(1984) (34) Najer, E(2674)-Miton, K(2612)
Puhajarve rapid, 2015.11.27 Czech league, 2015.12.06
20.Rxd5! cxd5 21.Nxd5 Rfc8 [21...Qe6 33.Ra8! Rxa8 34.Rxf7! Qxf7 35.Bxf7+ Kxf7 36.Qxc1h
22.Nf6+!h (22.Qh4+? 22...Qh6) ] (35) Mitrofanov
22.Qg3! [22.Nxe7? 22...Nd3+]
22...Qf8 23.Qh4+ Kg8 24.Nf6# 1-0
(33) Shirov, A(2689)-Nyback, T(2594)
Puhajarve rapid, 2015.11.29
1.Bd3!! Qh5+ [1...Qxd3 2.Qb2+! Kh7 3.Qg7#]

2.Bg6 Qh4 3.Qb2+! Bf6 4.Qb5! h Qg5 5.Qe8#
36.e6! 1-0 [36.e6 36...Qxd4 (36...Nxb3 37.Qh8#) 37.exf7+

Kh8 38.Bxd4+ Bg7 39.fxe8=Q+h]
Editorial Preface
Table of Contents
With the last issue on the year 2015 (which also happens to be
Editorial Preface 2 number 200!), we want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and
all the best in 2016! Thanks a lot for staying with us and we
hope that you enjoy our weekly chess magazine!
In the past week, we could see a lot of great games in the Qatar
Young & Talented 11 Masters 2015, the strongest open tournament in chess history.
Surprisingly, Carlsen started the event with a disappointing
draw with the white pieces in round 1, but with 4 straight wins
Puzzle section 15
he finds himself in the sole lead with 4.5/5. He is followed
by a big group with 4 points in which we can find names like
Endgame section 18 Kramnik, Giri, Mamedyarov and many more top class players.
The last 4 rounds are going to be very exciting!
Chess and the City. Christmas Chess Puzzle 22 In the "Nutcracker" Match in Moscow, the ’old guys’ are in the
lead for now, with Gelfand showing the best performance with
Clash of the Titans 23 a great score of 3/4.
The other two big open events which are under way are
Surprise section / study 26 the 53rd Groningen Chess Festival and the 4th Al Ain Chess
Classics.
Solutions 27
Many other smaller opens are going to be played from the
26th-31st of December.
Once again, Merry Christmas to all!
Two best games of the past week 7.Bd2 According to current theory this is the most critical line.
7...Nxd2 8.Qxd2 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Qb6 [It would be great to
put the knight immediately on 9...Ne5 but White has the very
good 10.Nf3! and the c4 pawn cannot be taken because of
(1) Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (2748) Qd4.]
- Lenderman, Aleksandr (2626)
10.e3
[E21]
Qatar Masters Open 2015(3.8), GM Arkadij Naiditsch

2015.12.22 Best rating: 2737
Shakhriyar is famous for his aggressive attacking chess with

many beautiful wins, even though from time to time the
games are not very "clean". But for practical chess it is
working very well. In the current game Black’s position
seemed to be fine after the opening, but with 22.Bxc6 White
is launching very sharp play with beautiful sacrifices, which 10...Ne5 White really needs to defend the c4 pawn now.
ends in a spectacular mate of the black king. 11.b3 Qa5 It is important to immediately play 11...Qa5
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 One of the main lines of Shakh, who because in case of 11...0-0 White would be in time with castling
likes to go for the Nimzo or for 3.Nf3, which he plays with both and Rfc1, with the idea of playing a3 in the future.
colors. 12.Rc1 O-O 13.O-O a6 Let us take a fresh look at the position.
3...Bb4+ Black picks the Bogoljubov variantion; not a very Black has the bishop pair, which is clearly good, but the
active choice but a solid one. bishop on c8 is out of play and White’s play with f4 could be an
idea at some moment, just like the domination on the d-file.
4.Nc3 and we are back in the Nimzo.
14.Rfd1 Ba3 I am not sure if this move was really needed.
4...c5 One of the most principled lines against the current
Usually it is Black’s main idea to play Be7 followed by d6-Rd8
variation, any other main line arises after 4...b6.
and hope to develop the bishop from c8 as soon as possible.
5.g3 Nc6 [5...O-O 6.Bg2 cxd4 7.Nxd4 d5 is the very main line.]
15.Rc2 Rb8 Could Lenderman be preparing b5?!
6.Bg2 Ne4 A tricky choice by Black, which I also used in my
16.Qe2 A nice solid move. Now b5 is not possible anymore
game from October 2015 against Melkumyan. Black is quickly
and White has a nice idea in mind.
getting the bishop pair, but White is going to dominate in the
center.
16...Rd8 17.h3 A strange move to me. [
22.Bxc6?! This is actually a clear miscalculation by White,

but it brought him victory...
I think 17.Nb1! looks strong 17...Be7 and now 18.a3 preparing 22...Bxc1? Giving back the present. [It is quite clear that both
to play b4, which is clearly good for White. In my opinion players missed the following line: 22...dxc6 23.Nxc6 Rxd3
White’s position is a bit better here.] 24.Nxa5 and now both players were looking at 24...Rxd1, but
in fact Black has a killer move in this position: 24...Rd7!! A
17...Be7 18.f4 White starts being active, but a move like f4 can
difficult move to find, but almost a winning one! The threat of
also be dangerous for him, because it is weakening the pawn
playing Bb4 is deadly.]
structure seriously.
23.Be4 Now things start getting very dangerous around the
18...Nc6 19.Kh2 Clearly the white king is going to feel better
black king.
on h2 in the future.
23...Bb2 Black is not careful enough. [It was really time to
19...Nb4 It is hard to find a plan for Black... [In case of
think about the king’s position. 23...Ba3 with the idea of
19...Nxd4 20.exd4 b5 21.c5 White’s position is looking clearly
playing Be7 next and defend the g5 square. 24.Bxh7+ Kh8
better.]
25.Nf3 with a very unclear fight.]
20.Rcc1 Nc6 Black just keeps on waiting.
21.Qd3 It is not clear what White can do next... [21.Ne4 would
allow Black to play 21...d6 followed by Bd7.]
21...Ba3 Now that the move Rc2 is not possible any longer
Black tried to chase away the rook from the c-file.
24.Nxe6!? A very spectacular move, but was it really
needed?! [The silent 24.Bxh7+ 24...Kh8 (24...Kf8 is possible 27...gxf6 28.Qg6 and now Black needs to see 28...Rf8! which
as well, but it is a very hard move to make because of the seems to save the game. 29.Qh6 Rf7 30.Bg6+ Kg8 31.Bxf7+
mating threats linked to Qd6+.) 25.Ne4 seems to bring White Kxf7 32.Qh7+ Kf8 and White has nothing better than to give
a strong attack.] a perpetual check.]
24...fxe6 [Black had this interesting line as well: 24...Qxc3 27.Bg6 Nice play! White is a full rook down but it seems like
25.Bxh7+ Things are forced now. 25...Kh8 26.Nxd8 Qxd3 he actually has more pieces! The bishop on c8 and the rook
27.Bxd3 Kg8 The white knight on d8 is trapped. 28.Bf5 Bf6 on b8 are just spectators.
29.Nxf7 Kxf7 30.Bxd7 White has 4 pawns for the piece, but it 27...Kg8 28.Qe2! White is playing perfectly! The white
is unclear whether it’s enough for victory.] queen is getting to h5 and it is game over.
25.Bxh7+ Black has to choose between 3 moves now... 28...Bf6 29.c5 There is no defense against Qh5. The game is
25...Kh8 This seems to be the safest option. [25...Kf8? was over.
losing on the spot: 26.Qd6+ Kf7 27.Ne4 Bf6 28.Ng5+ Bxg5 29...Bc3 Nothing was helping any longer...
29.fxg5 and White is going to mate with Rf1.; An interesting
option was 25...Kf7 26.Ne4 (White can force a draw after 30.Qh5 Rf5 Lenderman seems to have decided to play until
26.Bg6+ 26...Kg8 27.Bh7+ Kf7) 26...d5 27.Ng5+ Now we are the very end.
in a very crazy position. 27...Ke7 28.Qg6 Rf8 29.cxd5 and 31.Bxf5 exf5 32.Qe8+ Kh7
White’s attack is looking really dangerous!]
26.Ne4 The white knight is going to g5.
33.Ng5+ Mate is coming!

33...Kh6 34.Rd6+ Bf6 35.Qh8+ Kg6 36.Qh7# A very
26...Rf8? and this move is actually just losing! [Black’s only
beautiful end to a spectacular game, although Black missed a
chance was 26...Bf6! 27.Nxf6 (27.Bg6 deserves attention
lot of chances. This shows once again that it is really difficult
as well. 27...d5 28.Nxf6 gxf6 29.Bf7 and we are in a very
to play a position with a lot of choices and how easy it is to go
spectacular position. Black is a rook up but the threat of
wrong... 1-0
playing Qg6 is very dangerous. The position is very unclear.)
10.e5 The pawn structure has changed. Black has got a
(2) Carlsen, Magnus (2834) perfect control over the light squares, after Nb4 and Be6, his
- Li, Chao b (2750) [D70] pieces are doing a great job on all the squares of the a2-g8
diagonal. However there is a huge drawback as well, that he
Qatar Masters Open 2015(5.1), GM Csaba Balogh actually lost his Gruenfeld bishop on g7, which has quite a
2015.12.24 Best rating: 2672
small chance to come back to the game.
10...Nb4 11.Nh3! This is the key move for White to fight
Magnus Carlsen celebrates the Christmas with a nice crushing against the light squares. Be6 is now met by Ng5 and
victory. otherwise he intends to play Nf4 followed by launching an
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 Li Chao would like to play his favorite attack with h4-h5.
Gruenfeld system and Carlsen goes for the 3.f3 line...
3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 O-O
8.Qd2 Nc6 9.O-O-O The initial position of the 3.f3 d5 line.
11...Qe8!? This is the novelty of Black. Clearly a prepared

one as it was played without thinking. The main point is quite
deep. Black prepares to meet Nf4 with g5 (he just has taken
under control the h5 square) and when the knight leaves, f4
also comes with tempo followed by Bf5. A kind of patient
9...f5 The development of the theory was the following: the fight is about to start now, because Black makes all his useful
old main line was 9...e5, but the computers have managed moves, but he has to wait with his key resource of Be6 to avoid
to prove some advantage for White. Then the Black players Ng5. On the other side, White also makes all his useful moves,
started to play 9...f5, but after some nice and successful games but he also waits with his main idea of playing Nf4 and h4 to
by White, it was also considered to be dubious and the current avoid g5-f4. [Previous games went with 11...Be6 but White is
main move what all the experts play is 9...Qd6. However, Li considered to be better after 12.a3 N4d5 13.Ng5]
Chao decides to switch back to 9...f5 ...perhaps for only one
game after this defeat.
12.Kb1 Just like in the Sicilian defenses, it is a very useful
preparation on Black’s attack. It also protects the a2 pawn.
12...a5 Black protects his b4 knight and in some lines, he
ready to meet the a3 move with some random move, allowing
White to take axb4 because axb4 the opening of the a-file
could become very dangerous.
13.Be2 [A nice example to demonstrate the idea behind
11...Qe8 can be seen after 13.Nf4 13...g5! 14.Nd3 Nc4 15.Qe1
Nxe3 16.Qxe3 f4 17.Qf2 Bf5! Black becomes very active 18.a3 17.h4!! This is the point of 15.Ka1! The a2 pawn is not hanging
c5! and this is the demonstration of the of the idea behind with a tempo,therefore White will not waste any time with his
12...a5. Black undermines the center to take the e5 pawn and attack on the kingside!
let his Gruenfeld bishop enter to the game, while axb4 axb4
looks very dangerous for White as Qa4 arrives.] 17...Bxa2 [17...Nxa2 is met by 18.Nxa2 Bxa2 19.h5! Black has
taken a pawn, but he cannot make progress in the attack.
13...c6 Another useful move, strengthening the d5 square. 19...g5 is always met by 20.Ng6+! and the knight cannot be
[13...Be6 is still met by 14.Nf4 Bc4 15.h4! and White has taken.]
achieved what he wanted.]
18.h5! Kg8 This is a sign, that probably the Kh8-Be6 plan was
14.Rc1 Another deep waiting move. In some lines it could be still premature. White’s attack is rolling now. [18...g5 loses
useful to have the c2 square under control to avoid tricks like again to 19.Ng6+!]
f4 and if Nxf4 Bf5 check and on Ka1 Nc2 works.
19.hxg6 hxg6
14...Kh8 The last preparation for Black to play Be6. Now after
Ng5 he will be able to keep his bishop on the diagonal with
Bg8, but on the other hand White wants to play Nf4 and then
after h4-h5 the king will just stay in the motifs on the h-file.
15.Ka1! Another great prophylactive move by the World
Champion! Two moves later we will understand his idea!
15...Be6 16.Nf4 Qf7 [16...Bg8 17.h4 White is coming fast
with h5!]
20.g4! Carlsen opens the lines in front of his opponent’s
king, but the main point is actually something more hidden.
White wants to drop his queen to the attack through h2 after
removing his bishop.
20...Bb3 To be able to recapture the f5 pawn with the queen 26.Nxg6+ Qxg6 27.Qxg6 axb2+ 28.Kb1 Ra1#]
(to avoid opening of the g-file), the bishop is not hanging 25...Ke8 [25...Qxg6 26.Qxg6 a3 White mates first now with
anymore on a2. [20...g5 trying to close the kingside with 27.Rh8+! Bxh8 28.Bh6+h]
f4. However it is strongly met by 21.Nh3! (21.gxf5 looks also
tempting at first sight, but it does not work well 21...gxf4 26.e6 a3! Only move again! [26...Qf6 leads to quick mate
22.Bxf4 Qxf5 23.Bh6 could be crushing after Rg1, but Black after 27.Qg8+ Bf8 28.Nxf8 Qxf8 29.Qg6+h]
has 23...Bxh6! 24.Qxh6 Kf7 and runs away with his king on 27.exf7+ A queen for free, but White needs to prevent the
the light squares.) 21...f4 22.Bf2 and the g5 pawn cannot be mate! There is no time to calm down, as there are quite many
protected 22...Bh6 23.Nxf4!] black pieces around his king.
21.Bd1! Opening the second rank for the queen to h2. 27...Kd7 [27...Kxf7 is also met by 28.Ne5+! deflecting the c4
21...a4 The best practical chance. Black must try to attack knight 28...Nxe5 29.Bxb3h]
with a3. [Black also s to control the e6 square, because if he
allows e6 the game is over. Let’s say 21...Bxd1 loses to 22.e6!
Qf6 23.Qh2h]
22.Qh2 Rfd8 23.Qh7+ Kf8
28.Ne5+!! Perfect calculation! Everything works with tempo

for White. Without the c4 knight, Black’s attack would be
completely harmless.
28...Bxe5 29.Qxf5+ Kc7 30.Qxe5+! White was so much
ahead materially, that he could already give back his queen
24.d5!! A beautiful move to make! Black controls the d5
just to remove two attacking pieces of his opponent.
square with 6 pieces, but still White manages to make the
break through work. The b6 knight is hanging and White is 30...Nxe5 31.Bxb3 axb2+ 32.Kxb2 Nbd3+ 33.Kb1 Nxc1
threatening again with e6! 34.Rxc1 The complications are over and White is completely
winning materially and positionally as well.
24...Nc4 [24...N6xd5 25.e6h]
34...Kc8 [34...Nxf7 35.dxc6h and the f7 is hanging.]
25.Nxg6+! Precise moveorder! [25.e6?? is less forcing and
it allows Black to turn the game on his favor with 25...a3 35.dxc6 bxc6 36.f4 Black resigned! What a great game! 1-0
Young & Talented
GM Etienne Bacrot
Best rating: 2749 7.dxe5!? Almost a new move. After a quick analysis I am quite
sure it is Wei Yi’s preparation and it might become a main
(3) Wei, Yi (2730) move.
- Vignesh, N R. (2422) [C72] 7...Nxe5 Black should take with the pawn, but it looks very
Qatar Masters Open 2015(4.26), nasty over the board, for example: [7...dxe5 8.Nc3 (8.c4!?
2015.12.23 After this Black should take the e4 pawn, which is very
dangerous but probably equalizes. For example: 8...Nxe4
9.Qe2 (9.Re1 9...Nc5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5+ Be7 12.Bxd7+
Here is a game between the 16-year old Wei Yi, World number
Qxd7=) 9...Nc5 10.Bxc6 Bxc6 11.Nxe5 Qe7! 12.Re1 O-O-Ok)
1 junior, against the 17-year old Indian player Vignesh from the
8...Bd6 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bh4 and the position doesn’t look great
Qatar Masters.
for Black. Further analysis is needed.]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.O-O Bd7 Quite an
8.Bxd7+ Qxd7 9.Nc3 Be7 10.Nd4+= White has an easy play
unusual way to play the Spanish.
thanks to his better pawn structure.
6.d4 [6.c3 is the main alternative.]
10...O-O 11.Nf5 Rfe8 12.Bg5
6...Nf6 [6...b5 7.Bb3 Nxd4 8.Nxd4 exd4 9.c3 dxc3 10.Qh5 It
is quite well known that White gets a strong initiative here.;
6...exd4 is the main move, but after the logical 7.Nxd4 b5
8.Nxc6 Bxc6 9.Bb3 Nf6 10.c4 Be7 11.Nc3 O-O 12.Re1 it
seems White has the easier game.]
12...Bd8 An odd looking square for the bishop, but Black has
no choice. 25...Kxg7 26.f5 Ng6! 27.f6+ This is clearly what White
13.f4 Ng6 14.Qd3 Qc6 15.Qd4 15.Kh1 or 15. Bxf6 are also intended while playing Nxg7. He could have won a pawn with
interesting. [27.Rg3 27...Kh8! 28.fxg6 fxg6 29.Rxg6 Qe7c but Black has
some saving chances.]
15...Nf8 The best defense.
27...Kh8 28.Qh6 Rg8 29.Rg3
16.Bxf6 Ne6 [16...Bxf6 17.Nh6+!]
17.Qd3 Bxf6 18.Nd5 Bd8 19.Rae1 Qd7 20.Qh3
29...Qe8! The only, but strong saving move!
20...c6?! Black should strive for counterplay with 20...Qa4! 30.Rf5 Qf8 Directed against the Qxh7 threat.
21.Nde3 Bb6 22.Kh1 Bxe3 23.Rxe3 White can develop his 31.Qh3 h6! 32.Rh5 Kh7 33.Rgg5 Now Black has two
attack on the kingside now. possibilites against Rxh6 Rh5.
23...Rad8 24.Qh4 Nf8 33...Rh8 [33...Nf4 34.Qf5+ Ng6 35.Rxh6+ (35.Qh3= )

35...Qxh6 36.Rh5 Rh8 37.Rxh6+ Kxh6 38.Qh3+ Kg5
39.Qf5+=] 34.Qg4
25.Nxg7 A spectacular move, but certainly based on a

miscalculation. It was much easier to play the simple
[25.Qg4!? 25...f6 26.Rg3 Ne6 27.e5 with a crushing attack.] 34...Re8?? Missing a great tactical shot. [34...Rg8 35.Qh3
(35.Rxh6+ Here White has nothing more than a perpetual
check: 35...Qxh6 36.Rh5 Ne5=) 35...Rh8=]
35.Rxg6! Rg8 [35...fxg6 36.Rxh6+!! Qxh6 37.Qd7+ Kg8
38.Qxe8+ Kh7 39.Qf7+ Qg7 40.Qxg7#]
36.Rxg8 This gives Black some saving chances, much simpler
was [36.Rgxh6+ 36...Qxh6 37.Rxh6+ Kxh6 38.Qh3+ Kg6
39.Qf5+ Kh6 40.Qf4+ Kg6 41.g4 and White will win soon.]
36...Qxg8 37.Qf4 White is a pawn up but the attack
disappeared and it is not so easy to convert. [53...Qa1! 54.Rb5 is not that strong: 54...Rxf6 55.Qg4+ Ke7
37...Qg6 38.Rf5 Rg8 39.Qf1 Qg4 40.Rf4 Qe6 41.b3 Rg5 56.Rxb7+ Kf8=]
42.h3 Re5 43.Qd3 Kg8 44.Qf3 Kf8 Going to a safer place. 54.Kh3 [54.Rb5!! 54...Qxf6 is the only move. (54...Rxf6
45.Qg3 Rg5 55.Qg4+ Ke7 56.Rxb7+ Kf8 57.Rb8+ Ke7 58.Qg8 Qxc2+
59.Kh3h) 55.Qf5+ Qxf5 56.exf5+ Kf6 57.Rxb7 Kxf5
58.Rxf7+ and White should win this endgame.]
54...Rxf6 [54...Qa1!? Even here this move is possible.]
55.c3 White has some chances in the queen endgame.
55...Rxf5 56.Qxf5+ Ke7 57.e5! dxe5 58.Qxe5+ Kf8
59.Qh8+ Ke7 60.Qe5+ Kf8 61.Qh8+ Ke7 62.Qxh6?!
[62.Qc8! 62...Qxc3 63.Qxb7+ Kf6 64.Qxa6 Qf3 65.Qc4 and
it is very difficult for Black to defend.]
62...Qxc3 Now it is a draw. Or....
46.Qf2? Letting Black’s queen into play. Strong was
[46.Qh4! 46...Rg6 47.Rf5c followed by Qf4.] 63.Qf4 Kf8 64.h5 b5 65.b4 Kg7 66.Kg4 Qc4
46...Qe5 47.h4 Rg6 48.g3 Ke8! The king arrives to put
pressure on f6!
49.Kh2 Kd7 50.Qb6 Kc8 51.Qf2 Kd7 52.Qf3 Ke6 53.Rf5
Qb2 Allowing an unexpected and unnoticed blow. Best is
67.Qxc4?? A strange mistake.
67...bxc4 68.Kf4 f5! And White resigned! 0-1
Puzzle section
(4) Bologan, V(2654)-Basso, P(2438) (6) Saric, I(2654)-Rezan, S(2423)
Qatar Masters, 2015.12.20 Zadar Open, 2015.12.19
1. h 1. h
(5) Grandelius, N(2632)-Giri, A(2784) (7) Olhovik, A(2308)-Short, N(2684)

Qatar Masters, 2015.12.21 European Rapid Championship, 2015.12.19
1... i 1... i
(8) Inarkiev, E(2668)-Trifonov, D(2198) (10) Mikhalevski, V(2535)-Motylev, A(2653)
European Rapid Championship, 2015.12.19 European Rapid Championship, 2015.12.20
1. h 1... i
(9) Navara, D(2730)-Stupak, K(2542) (11) Navara, D(2730)-Popov, I(2650)

European Rapid Championship, 2015.12.19 European Rapid Championship, 2015.12.20
1. h 1... i
(12) Melkumyan, H(2654)-Alekseev, E(2642)
1. h
(13) Antipov, M(2569)-Morozevich, A(2692)

Nutcracker, 2015.12.20
1. h
Endgame section 41...f6! Excellent play! Black is not only defending from the
d5 push, but also preparing to play g5.
42.Re7+ Kg8 43.Re8+ Kh7 44.Re7+ Kg8 45.Bd2 White’s
(14) Carlsen, Magnus (2834) position is not better, but of course Magnus is playing on and
- Batsiashvili, Nino (2498) testing his opponent.
45...Rg2! Another very good decision. Black is forcing some
Qatar Masters Open 2015(1.1),
exchanges, which brings the game even closer to a draw.
Best rating: 2737 46.Bf4
46...g5 Following the plan of exchanging as much as possible.

The World Champion is White against a top 10 woman player, 47.hxg5 White has no better move.
which seems to be a clear thing, but not in this game! Already 47...fxg5 48.Bxg5 Rxg3 Two more pawns are gone and
in the opening Carlsen gave a lot of chances to his opponent opposite colored bishops are on the board, which makes the
to even be better, but then around move 25 the game entered position almost drawish, but good play is still needed.
an endgame with a small edge for White, which is clearly
Carlsen’s specialty. But Nino was defending perfectly and 49.Nc3 Bc6 Again Black chooses strong safe moves! The
now that the time trouble is over, we find ourselves in an equal knight on c3 is under attack and in case the knight moves the
endgame. pawn a4 is going to fall.
41.Re8 There is no better move, since Black’s threat of playing 50.Kd2 Rg2+ 51.Re2 I guess Magnus hated playing this
Re2 was very dangerous. move, but there was just nothing inside the position any
longer.
Qatar Masters, GM Csaba Balogh

2015.12.24 Best rating: 2672
51...Nf2! Black remains very precise! The bishop on g5 is

under attack and the idea of playing Ne4 just gives Black the
desired drawish result.
52.d5 [in case of 52.Bd8 52...Ne4+ 53.Nxe4 Bxe4 54.Bxb6
Rxe2+ 55.Kxe2 Kf7 and all Black needs to do is to bring her
king to a8 and give the bishop for the d-pawn. The position is
a total draw now.]
52...Bxd5 53.Nxd5 Now the exchanges are forced.
We will see a very instructive endgame lesson by Kramnik. We
53...Ne4+ 54.Ke3
can name a few general principles of the queen endgames,
what Kramnik is going to use. As in all the endgames, passed
pawns are playing a very important role, Black has one on d5,
while White is very far from creating one. A well supported
passed pawn is much more important, than the material. If
Black could advance his d-pawn, he would not mind to lose all
his other pawns. The material is balance, but Kramnik shows
with great technique the power of the d5 passer.
57...Kc5!! Kramnik breaks in with his king! Between the
b3-a4 pawns, it will be hidden from the checks and it will also
54...Rxe2+ 55.Kxe2 Nxg5 and of course it is just a draw... be close enough to support the d-pawn. [57...d4 allows White
56.Nxb6 Ne6 57.a5 Nc7 What a great result for one of to exclude the black king from the game with 58.Qb5+ Ka7
Georgia’s best players, which was very deserved, as she 59.Qxa5+ Kb8 White runs out of checks, but he blocks the
showed good and solid play against the World Champion! d-pawn in time with 60.Kg1! d3 61.Qd2= followed by Kf1,
Congratulations! 1/2-1/2 White holds. The Black king is too far to help.]
58.Qb5+ [58.Kg1 demonstrates well, that with an active 61...Kc2! Kramnik resists to the temptation and continues
black king the situation is not the same anymore as it was in focusing on the support of his d-pawn instead of being
the previous line 58...Kb4! 59.Qb5+ Ka3 Black is ready to materialistic.
advance his pawn and in any moment he can take on b3 after 62.Qe1 d4
which the a4 also falls. 60.Qxb7 For Black it is only important
to preserve his d-pawn, the b7 and any others do not count.
60...Qc5+ 61.Kf1 Qc1+ 62.Ke2 d4! with excellent winning
chances.]
58...Kd4 The king temporarily blocks his own pawn, but it
soon hides himself on the queenside.
59.Qxa5
63.Qe2+ White finally manages to force Black to take his

queenside pawns, otherwise the king cannot hide away from
the checks.
63...Kxb3 [63...Kc3 64.Qe1+ Black sooner or later needs to
take on b3.]
64.Qd1+ Kb4 65.Qb1+ Kxa4 [65...Kc5?? would have been
a nice gift to Matlakov on Christmas day, but of course
59...Kd3! Kramnik is ready to give up all his pawns (now the Kramnik does not give such presents :) 66.Qb5#]
b7 is hanging after Qb5 check), he only cares about supporting 66.Qxb7 [White could have tried to give perpetual check with
his passed pawn properly with all his pieces! 66.Qa2+ although Black runs away with some precise moves
60.Qb5+ [60.Kg1 is too slow again 60...d4 61.Kf1 Kc2 66...Kb5 67.Qb3+ Kc6 68.Qc4+ Qc5 69.Qe6+ Kc7 70.Qf7+
White does not even have a check and the pawn continues Kb6 71.Qe6+ Qc6 72.Qb3+ Qb5 73.Qe6+ Ka7 74.Qa2+
marching.] Qa6 and finally there are no more checks.]
60...Kc3 61.Qa5+ Matlakov invites his opponent to grab his 66...d3 The material is still balanced, but the position is not
queenside pawns in order to be able to give dozens of checks equal until the the d-pawn is on board.
and not be hidden by his own pawns. [61.Qxb7 was met by 67.Qb2 [White soon runs out of checks after 67.Qa7+
61...d4 62.a5 (62.Qxg7 62...Kc2i and d3 next.) 62...d3 63.a6 67...Kb3 68.Qb7+ Qb4! 69.Qf7+ Qc4! 70.Qb7+ Kc2i the
d2i Black is faster.] pawn and the queen gives a perfect shelter for the king and
Black soon promotes his pawn.]
67...d2 68.Qa2+ Kb5 69.Qb2+ Qb4 70.Qc2
70...Qd4! The perfect square for the queen! In the center it

controls all the important diagonals, lines and ranks and in
the same time it supports the d-pawn. White has only a few
checks and then he is obliged to block the pawn on d1, but
such passive defends already indicates, that it is going to be
the end of the game.
71.Qb3+ Kc5 72.Qc2+ Kb4 73.Qd1 [73.Qb1+
73...Ka3i No more checks!]
73...Qb2! White resigned as Qc1 and the new queen is
coming next! A very instructive endgame for all of us! 0-1
Chess and the City. 7: What is the name of the "anti-cheating" scanner device Yuri
Garrett introduced in several open tournaments this year?
Christmas Chess Puzzle
8: Which tournament became famous for its unique decision
regarding one participant and is also known as the "secret
tournament" of 2015?
9: Which two famous top class Grandmasters got married this
year and to whom?
10: The Erfurt Christmas Open will be attended by three male
WGM Elisabeth Paehtz players, married to German national women players. Who is
Best rating: 2493 the husband, who is left playing all by himself?
It has been a long and quite eventful year, full of interesting Answers will follow in my next newsletter!
events and chess games. That some of you cannot even get
enough of chess is just seen at the strongest open tournament I wish you all a happy Christmas time!
of all time - The Qatar-Masters- , the Open of Al Ain, just
a few hundred kilometers away from it, and the traditional
Groningen Festival in the Netherlands.
I prepared an easy quiz for you, filled with questions related
to 2015. Let’s see what a real chess geek you are!
1: Which strong female chess player likes to bring her own
cooking equipment to tournaments?
2: Which two Top Ten Grandmasters are listed in open
tournaments in 2015 and 2016 for the very first time in years?
3: How many medals did the German youth players achieve
at this year’s World and European individual Championships?
4: Can you name them?
5: Which three German national players celebrated their
premiere at the European Team Championship in Reykjavik?
6: Who achieved Gold on board 1 in the open section at this
tournament?
Clash of the Titans 7.O-O O-O
(16) Tal, Mihail

- Kupreichik, Viktor D[E67]
URS-ch37(13),
1969.09.24
GM Kamil Miton
Best rating: 2655
8.Qc2 An interesting flexible line. White doesn’t declare yet
where he will put the e-pawn. The main lines [8.e4 8...c6
(8...a6 The idea of this move is to take on d4 at some point and
1.Nf3 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 e5 4.d4 d6 5.g3 [5.e4 probably
then play immediately c5-b5.; 8...exd4 9.Nxd4 Re8 10.h3 Nc5
leads to the Classical variation, but Black has alternatives to
11.Re1 a5 Black develops the pieces Bd7-Qc8 and sometimes
fight for the dark squares after 5...Bg4 6.dxe5 Bxf3 7.gxf3 dxe5
has the idea Re5-Rh5 in case the white king goes to h2.) 9.h3
(7...Bxe5 8.f4 Bg7 9.Be3 with Qd2 and 0-0-0 next.) 8.Qxd8+
Qb6 10.c5!? is an old line, which was analyzed by Kasparov.
Kxd8 9.f4 with the initiative.; 5.dxe5 5...dxe5 6.Qxd8+ Kxd8
(10.d5?! 10...cxd5 11.cxd5 Nc5 gives Black good play on the
7.Bd2 (7.Ng5 7...Nh6) 7...c6 Usually this kind of endgames are
queenside.; 10.Re1 10...exd4 11.Nxd4 Re8 with very dynamic
equal. 8.O-O-O Kc7 9.e3 f6 10.Ne4 Nd7 11.g4C]
play.) 10...dxc5 11.dxe5 Ne8 12.e6 fxe6 13.Ng5 Ne5 14.f4 Nf7
5...Nd7 6.Bg2 Ngf6 Black can also develop the knight to e7. 15.Nxf7 Bd4+! 16.Kh2 Rxf7 17.e5 One of White’s ideas is
[6...Ne7 7.O-O O-O 8.e4 (8.dxe5! 8...dxe5 9.Qc2 h6 10.Rd1 with to play a4-Ra3-g4-Ne4 etc.; 8.h3 8...c6 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.Be3
a better position for White.) 8...exd4 9.Nxd4 Nc6 10.Nde2!? with the idea to improve the position on the queenside with
A typical reaction. B0ecause he has more space White keeps b4-Qb3.]
more pieces on the board. (10.Nxc6 10...bxc6 When the pawn is
8...Re8 [8...exd4 9.Nxd4 Nb6 This idea deserved attention.
already on e4, this structure is fine for Black.) 10...Nde5 11.b3
Black wants to play d5 at some moment.]
f5 and Black has active play.]
9.Rd1 c6 10.b3 Qe7 [10...e4!? 11.Ng5 e3 (11...d5? 12.cxd5 cxd5
13.Nb5c) 12.fxe3 (12.Bxe3 12...Rxe3! 13.fxe3 Ng4) 12...Ng4
13.e4 (13.Nge4 13...Ndf6 with the initiative over the e-file.)
13...c5V]
11.e3 [11.Ba3 11...e4 (11...exd4 12.Nxd4 Nc5= and White needs 16.Ncxe4!? An interesting sacrifice, but White will get
to lose time to go back to b2 with the bishop.) 12.Ng5 e3 nothing more than compensation.
13.f3k] 16...Nxe4 17.Bxe4 Rad8 18.Bd5 [18.Re1 18...Rxd2]
11...Nf8 [11...exd4 12.exd4 (12.Nxd4 12...Nc5 13.Bb2 a5 14.h3 18...Bxd1 Of course Black captures the correct rook.
Bd7 White has some plans like a3-b4 or Rd2-Rd1, but
Black is very solid.) 12...Nf8 13.Re1 Qxe1+ (13...Qd8 14.Bf4 19.Rxd1 b6 20.Bc6 Nd7 21.Ne4 Rf8 22.Bb2 The bishop has
Bf5=) 14.Nxe1 Rxe1+ 15.Bf1 Ne6 16.Bb2 Nxd4 17.Qd3 Rxa1 nothing to do on a3. [22.Nc3 22...Ne5 23.Bd5k]
18.Bxa1 Nf5k] 22...Bxb2 23.Rxd7 [23.Qxb2 23...Ne5 24.Bd5 Rxd5!i]
12.dxe5 dxe5 23...Rxd7 24.Bxd7 Rd8 25.Bc6 Bg7 26.Bd5 White is a
pawn up and his well coordinated pieces give him enough
compensation for the exchange. The position is more or less
equal.
13.a4! with the idea to develop the bishop on a3 and take

more space.
13...e4 14.Ba3 c5 White provokes this move to weaken the d5
square. 26...Qe5 A logical, active move.
15.Nd2 [15.Nd4 15...a6 (15...h5 16.Ndb5; 15...cxd4 16.Bxe7 d3 27.a5!? An aggressive move. I’m not sure for which side it is
17.Qd2 Rxe7 18.f3h) 16.h3kWhite should make use of the d5 useful to open the a-file.
square, but Black can try to create pressure against the white 27...Qa1+ 28.Kg2 Qxa5 It was Tal’s idea to sacrifice the
king after h5-Nh7-Ng5 etc.] pawn, but now the black queen is a bit out of play and White
15...Bg4! I like developing moves that come with tempo. can focus on the f7 pawn.
[15...Bf5 16.Rab1! Simple but strong! Escaping from the 29.Ng5 [29.Bxf7+ leads to a draw: 29...Kxf7 30.Ng5+ Kg8
diagonal and preparing to open the position after b4. 16...a5 31.Qe4 Rf8 32.Qe6+ Kh8 33.Nf7+ Rxf7 34.Qxf7 h6 35.Qxg6
17.Nd5 Now after the exchange on d5 the white knight will get Qa1 36.Qe8+ Kh7 37.Qe4+ Kg8 38.Qe6+ with perpetual
a strong place on c4.] check.]
29...Bf6? Black should play [29...Rf8 30.Qe4 Qc3 The queen
is back. 31.Nxf7 Qf6 32.Ne5+ Kh8 33.f4 (33.Nd3 33...Qc3V
Xb3) 33...Re8 and Black can always take on e5 to make a
draw.]
37...Kf7? Losing time! Black should immediately try to get

counterplay after creating a passed pawn and put the bishop
behind the white pawns. [37...a6 38.Ke4
30.Nxh7! Very nice! The whole attack is based on the

fact that Black puts the queen on a5. [30.Bxf7+ 30...Kg7
31.Ne6+ Kxf7 32.Nxd8+ Bxd8 33.Qd3 and the engine shows
a perpetual, but for a human is not easy to be sure about this.]
30...Kxh7 [30...Kg7 31.Nxf6 Kxf6 32.Qb2+ Ke7 33.Qe5+
Kf8 34.Qc7h]
31.Bxf7 Rg8 32.Bxg8+ Kxg8 33.Qxg6+ Bg7 34.h4 Qc3
35.h5 Qf6 From a pratcial point of view this is a very
logical move. White will avoid many checks and make 38...Bc3! (38...b5 39.Kd5 Bc3 40.Kxc5 bxc4 41.bxc4 Be1 42.f4
play much easier. [35...Qxb3 36.h6 Qc3 37.Qe6+ (37.hxg7 Bxg3 43.Kd5h) 39.Kd3 (39.g4 39...Be1 40.f4 Bd2 A typical
37...Qxc4!) 37...Kh8 38.hxg7+ Kxg7 39.Qd7+ Kg8 40.Qxa7 place fo the bishop to fight against the pawns. The same idea
Qxc4 41.Qxb6 Qd5+ 42.f3 Qd2+ 43.Kh3 Qxe3+= with long works in endgames with opposite colored bishops. 41.g5 b5
play.] 42.Kd3 Bc1 43.f5 bxc4+ 44.bxc4 a5 45.f6 Kf7 46.Ke4 a4 47.Kf5
Bxe3 48.h6 Kg8
36.Qxf6 Bxf6 37.Kf3
(17) Votava
1. h
49.Ke6 a3 50.h7+ Kxh7 51.f7 a2 52.f8=Q a1=Q with a draw!)

39...Be1 40.Ke2 Bc3 41.f4 b5 42.cxb5 axb5 43.g4 (43.Kd3 )
43...c4 44.bxc4 bxc4 45.h6 Bb2 46.Kd1 Ba3 47.e4 Bc5 Black
is trying to force White to put his pawns on the light squares
to make it easier to control them. 48.e5 Be3 49.e6 Kf8
(49...Bxf4 50.h7+h) 50.h7 Bd4 51.g5 Ke7 52.f5 Bh8!
53.Kd2 and the position is drawish! White is not able to

improve his position. 53...Kd6 54.f6 Kxe6 55.Kc3 Kf7
56.Kxc4 Kg6 57.Kd5 Kxh7 58.Ke6 Kg6 Black is on time and
the game is a draw!]
38.Ke4 Ke6 39.f4 Now the white pawns are too fast!
39...a5 40.g4 b5 41.cxb5 1-0
Solutions (20) McShane, L(2687)-Georgescu, T(2453)
London Open rapid, 2015.12.12
(18) Topalov, V(2803)-Adams, M(2737)
London, 2015.12.10
19.Nxg7!! h6 [19...Qxg7 20.Rxg5 Ng6 21.hxg6 hxg6 22.Nh4

Bf7 23.Qg3h; 19...Kxg7 20.Qxg5+ Kh8 21.Qf6+h]
44...Kg7!! 45.Qxa4 Qf2+ 46.Kh1 Qf1+ 47.Kh2 1/2 20.Nxe8h
(19) Grischuk, A(2747)-Aronian, L(2788) (21) Hansen, E(2573)-McShane, L(2689)
36.Nh6+! gxh6 37.Nf6+ Kh8 38.Nh5+ Kg8 39.Nf6+ Kh8 23...Nb3!! 24.Nb2 [24.Rb1 24...Qxd3i; 24.Qxb3
40.Nh5+ Kg8 1/2 24...Qxd3i]
24...Nxa1i
(22) Jakovenko, D(2737)-Nepomniachtchi, I(2707) (24) Anikonov, D(2370)-Rublevsky, S(2692)
ACP Masters rapid, 2015.12.08 Russian rapid GP, 2015.12.14
28.Rfe1! Nxd1 29.Nh5! gxh5 30.Qg5+= 22...Qxe5!! [22...Rdh8? 23.Nxg4!]

(23) Ivanchuk, V(2710)-Bacrot, E(2692) 23.dxe5 Rdh8 0-1 [23...Rdh8 24.f3 Bc5+ 25.Kg2 Rh2#]
ACP Masters rapid, 2015.12.10 (25) Olszewski, M(2548)-Wojtaszek, R(2741)
38.Rd7+! Ke6 39.Re7+! Kxe7 40.Rxe5+ Kf6 41.Rxa5h

32...Qg4!! [32...Qh5 33.Nh4]
33.Rg6 [33.Qg6 33...Qh3 34.Nh4 Rfg8i]
33...Qh3 34.Nh4 Rxh4i
(26) Zhao Yuanhe(2217)-Ding Liren(2755) (28) Fritz
1.h8=Q+! Nfh7+ 2.Kf5 Rxh8 3.Nf2!! Nxf7 4.Ng4+ Kg7

5.Ne6+ Kg8 6.Kf4!! Nf8 [6...Nfg5 7.Nh6#]
30...Ne2+! 31.Rxe2 Qxa4 32.Nxa4 Rxc1+ 33.Kf2 7.Nf6#
Bxa2i
(27) Wan Yunguo(2477)-Lysyj, I(2691)
34...dxc2! 35.Nc3 Rd1+!! 36.Nxd1 Qxf1+! 37.Kxf1

cxd1=Q+ 38.Kf2 Qxg4i

Chess Evolucion 2019

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Editorial Preface

(1) Grandelius, Nils(2581)

44th Rilton Cup 2014-15(4.1),

15.Nxe6! Clearly White had prepared this move before

My good friend and countryman IM Miklos Galyas wins a nice

5...Qe7 A dubious novelty.... I think that Rodshtein mixed up

11.Qb3!+= either wins a huge tempo or trades the queens,

22.Bxh6! The last accurate decision! White calculates

(5) Marusenko, P(2194)-Mista, A(2614) (7) David, A(2578)-Ramnath, B(2405)

(9) Meier, G(2640)-Rambaldi, F(2476) (11) Mikhalevski, V(2571)-Smith, A(2479)

(13) So, W(2762)-Batchuluun, T(2525)

Rilton Cup, GM Csaba Balogh

30...a5? A committing decision. Black would like to use

However after 36...Nd7!! It is very important to keep the

37.f5! The decisive break. White either creates a passed pawn

36.f5! The last important move, otherwise Black locks the

We are in a very interesting rook endgame, but already on

68...Kd3! 69.Rd8+ Kc4 The black king is going to b3. 70.Rh8

70.Rd3!! 70...d1=Q+ What else to try? 71.Rxd1 Rh1 (White

It is well known that chess players often display a broad

10...c4?! I don’t like this move. In my opinion Black could

15.g4! White’s only plan is to regroup his pieces and to create

28...e5?? A huge strategical mistake. Black opens the

10...Qxb3!! 0-1 [10...Qxb3 11.Qxb3 Nf3+ 12.Kd1 (12.Ke2

27.Be8+! Rxe8 28.Rxh6h 25.Bxf7+! Kxf7 26.Rd7+ Kg6 27.Rxc7h

(23) Zherebukh, Y(2631)-Shen, V(2410) (25) Riazantsev, A(2684)-Girya, O(2457)

1.Bb6+!! cxb6 2.a7 Bxa7 3.Nd6! Rb8 4.Ka3!! Rc8

16...c4! 17.Bxe7 [17.Bxc4 17...Bxa3i]

 Two best games of the past week 4

 The K-Files. Accelerated Queen’s Indian, 3.Nf3 13

 David vs. Goliath 17

 Chess and the City. Ben Oni 26

 Clash of the Titans 27

 Surprise section / study 30

Please click on the images of the covers or visit

16.c5 (I guess Ding Liren wanted to improve his own game

26...f6! Here comes the freeing break! There is huge

33...Qd7 Black was in some time trouble and quickly plays

77th Tata Steel GpA(3),

Ivanchuk’s games are usually fun to watch, with a lot of

24.h4 Ivanchuk starts to joke... [Why not take a piece with

27.Bxd7 White has 3 pieces and 2 pawns for Black’s both

GM Alexander Khalifman continues his review of the Queen’s

(5) So, W(2762)-Aronian, L(2797) (7) Paakkonen, T(2247)-Agrest, E(2590)

(9) Karthikeyan, P(2435)-Gupta, A(2631) (11) Zelcic, R(2535)-Kozul, Z(2631)

(13) Duessel, U(2198)-Iturrizaga, E(2649)

(14) Ivanchuk, Vassily(2715)

Wijk aan Zee, GM Csaba Balogh

36...Kd7 This is the only attempt for Black if he wants to

White must force a draw here by playing 46.cxb4!! Rxa3

And here comes the brilliant point! 47.e6! fxe6 48.f6! A

21.Rad1?! I think this is clearly not the best. White’s idea

5.Qa4 is one of the options. White has many other moves:

17.Ne1?! A very strange move in my opinion. Why not play

62...Nxg4! The decisive blow at last!

31...Nxb6! 32.Qxe6+ Kh8 33.Qxb6 Bd4+ 34.Rxd4

37...f5+! 38.Kg5 Rh5+ 39.Kxg6 Qg7+! 40.Kxh5 Qh6# 0-1

(27) So, W(2762)-Batchuluun, T(2525)

40.Bxh6+! Kxh6 41.Rxf7 Be8 [41...Nh7 42.f4!h; 41...Ng8

1.Rh1!! Rf5+ 2.Kg1! d3 3.f7 d2 4.f8=Q+ Rxf8=

From the creators of the ”Top GM Secrets” newsletter:

17...g5! No choice! Black committed himself to this idea

27...Qxg5!? An extremely deep decision! Black decides

31...Rf4!! An amazing move! Black does not grab the

Two best games of the past week 4

The K-Files. Accelerated Queen’s Indian, 3.Nf3 13

David vs. Goliath 17

Chess and the City. Ben Oni 26

Clash of the Titans 27

Surprise section / study 30