CHESSBASE: GURGAON OPEN

Kuzubov wins the Gurgaon Open GM Tournament

Second seed Yuriy Kuzubov of Ukriane won the Gurgaon International Open Grandmasters Chess Tournament with eight points at Suncity World School today. Kuzubov tied for the top spot along with countrymate and top seed Alexander Areshchenko, Indian Grandmaster Neelotpal Das, Kazak Grandmaster Anuar Ismagambetov and International Master RR Laxman. But better tie break score helped Kuzubov to take the top position and winner’s trophy.

The winner of Gurgaon, Ukrainian GM Yuri Kuzubov

In the final round, Kuzubov settled for a quick draw against National Under-25 champion RR Laxman in just 8 moves while Areshchenko had the same results against Neelotpal Das. Anuar Ismagambetov defeated T. U. Navin Kanna in the final round encounter and tied for the pole position with eight points. The five ways tie resolved by bucholz score and Kuzubov edged out rest four. Areshenchenko finished second while Laxman, Anuar and Neelotpal secured third, fourth and fifth position respectively. But all the five pocketed Rs.1,12,000 (1,765 Euros or US $2,300) as prize money as the prize money shared among the tied players as per the tournament rules.

Laxman, Girinath and Shivanda achieved their grandmaster norms while Shashikant Kutwal and Akash Thakur achieved International Master Norms. Uzbek girl, Muminova Nafisa declared as the best women player of the tournament and she also achieved her Women International Master Norm from this tournament. A P Joshua finished first among unrated players while in the veteran category International Master Boris Arkhangelsky finished at the top.

Final standings (top finishers: 7.0 points or higher)

Rnk	Sd	Ti.	Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	BH.
1	2	GM	Kuzubov Yuriy	2626	UKR	8	69
2	1	GM	Areshchenko Alexander	2673	UKR	8	68½
3	14	IM	Laxman R R	2478	IND	8	65
4	6	GM	Ismagambetov Anuar	2523	KAZ	8	64
5	12	GM	Neelotpal Das	2490	IND	8	63½
6	15		Lalith Babu M R	2477	IND	7½	67½
7	9	GM	Ulibin Mikhail	2511	RUS	7½	66½
8	4	GM	Gleizerov Evgeny	2544	RUS	7½	66½
9	19	IM	Sengupta Deep	2445	IND	7½	65
10	31	IM	Girinath P D S	2404	IND	7½	65
11	28	GM	Ibrayev Nurlan	2407	KAZ	7½	61
12	45		Shivananda B S	2347	IND	7½	60
13	65		Anwesh Upadhyaya	2269	IND	7½	59½
14	62		Thakur Akash	2281	IND	7½	59
15	29	IM	Himanshu Sharma	2405	IND	7½	57½
16	76		Mehar Chinna Reddy	2246	IND	7½	57½
17	26	IM	Sethuraman S P	2415	IND	7	67½
18	3	GM	Solodovnichenko Yuri	2571	UKR	7	67
19	30	IM	Das Arghyadip	2404	IND	7	64
20	78		Saravana Krishnan P	2243	IND	7	63½
21	24	IM	Shyam Sundar M	2426	IND	7	63½
22	18	GM	Thipsay Praveen M	2453	IND	7	63
23	35	IM	Narayanan Srinath	2397	IND	7	63
24	27	IM	Saptarshi Roy	2410	IND	7	62
25	10	IM	Adhiban B	2504	IND	7	61½
26	16	IM	Konguvel Ponnuswamy	2462	IND	7	61½
27	49		Sangma Rahul	2322	IND	7	60
28	37	IM	Suvrajit Saha	2368	IND	7	60
29	59		Shashikant Kutwal	2285	IND	7	59½
30	21	IM	Rathnakaran K	2431	IND	7	59
31	54		Navin Kanna T U	2302	IND	7	59
32	25		Thejkumar M S	2424	IND	7	58½
33	43	FM	Djuraev Sokhib	2353	TJK	7	58½
34	97	FM	Mohammad Javed	2188	BAN	7	57
35	91		Anilkumar O T	2207	IND	7	54
36	72		Jain Shreyansh Daklia	2250	IND	7	53

CHESSDOM: CORUS R9 - WESLEY SO

Bitalzadeh - Wesley So

Round 9
Corus 2009
Wijk Aan Zee

27.01.2009

Welcome to the round 9 live comments of Corus 2009 on Chessdom.com! Today's games will be commented by GM Dimitrov and our special guest commentator at the Chessdom studio - GM Christian Bauer (2610). After I have commented about a dozen games of Magnus Carlsen in a row, one may think ' GM Dimitrov obviously has a life-long contract of some kind with the Norwegian Chess Federation '. To disperse such suspicions / :) /, as the votes of the audience determine the choice, today I'll be following for you the young Filipino star Wesley So. If you have other favorites for featured games then the solution is simple - just vote! And stay tuned for today's game at 13.30 CET.

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 Very ambitious move.

3.g3 ( I consider 3.d4 to be the only chance for White to get opening advantage.)

3... Nc6 4.Bg2 Bg7 In the symmetrical lines of English Opening - where I personally have more than a hundred tournament games with both colors - Knights are not placed well on 'f3' - or 'f6' respectively. There they restrict the area of effect of the fianccetoed Bishop and only are of use to prepare d2-d4, which in most situations is no great achievement.

5.Nc3 a6 In such positions Black is in no hurry to castle. Much more important is who will be able first to start active play on the queenside. (5... b6 neutralizing Bg2 is an reliable option.)

6.O-O Rb8 7.d3 d6 ( The direct 7... b5 would let a nasty surprise: 8.cxb5 axb5 9.Be3 and all of a sudden Black has it hard to protect its central squares.)

8.Bg5 b5 Though generally the chess programs would evaluate such position as about equal or even slightly favorable foe White, in fact Black has every chance the establish a long lasting advantage as his pieces are better positioned in the long run.

9.Qc1 Bg4 10.Rb1 Qd7 Both payers develop their pieces in a similar fashion but So managed to gain space on the queenside by delaying his kingside.

11.b3 Bxf3 12.Bxf3 Nd4 So uses the position of Qe2 - unprotected 'e2' - to spoil White pawn structure.

13.Ne4 Nxf3+ 14.exf3 f5 It's time to deprive that Knight of its central outposts.

15.Nc3 b4 16.Nd5 Retreating on 'e2' would not be sufficient to equalize but now Bg5 is suddenly endangered.

16... e6 17.Re1 Kf7 18.Nf4 h6 Sentencing the Night to an exile on 'h3' is nasty.

19.Nxe6 Re8 Getting some material advantage.

20.Nd8+ Rxd8 21.Bxd8 Qxd8 22.a3 Without making obvious mistakes, Bitalzadeh got in a very bad situation.

22... a5 23.axb4 axb4 There is no way to prevent Ng8-e7-c6-d4 which will seal Black advantage. Generally Rook + pawn are almost enough compensation for 2 minor pieces. Well, is every of this pieces is stronger than a Rook because of position specifics then things are different.

24.Qe3 Qd7 25.f4 Bc3 26.Re2 Nf6 The Filipino is in no hurry, he plans to control the 'e' file first.

27.Qf3 Qa7 28.Rc1 (28.Qc6 preserving the Queens offers more resistance.)

28... Qa8 29.Kg2 Qxf3+ 30.Kxf3 Ra8 Without Queens the light squares are no longer vulnerable and for a player of So's class the rest should be a piece of cake.

31.h3 h5 32.Rb1 Ra3 33.Rc2 d5 Both opponents are well aware of the situation on the board and moves are made in rapid succession.

34.cxd5 Nxd5 35.g4 Ne7 36.gxh5 gxh5 There is no way to defend 'b3' if attacked by Nd4/Na5. White resigned. So won the game with deceptive ease. His great talent just shoes through and predicting him bright chess career won't be any risk at all. 0-1

SEVILLANO WINS in US CHESS TOURNEY

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 01/22/2009 7:51 PM

Printer-friendly version | Send to friend | Post Comment

Filipino chess player Enrico Sevillano prevailed over International Master Andranik Matikozyan by tie-break points to win the over-all championship of the recently concluded Western Class Championships in Agoura Hills, California.

BilliardPhilippines.com reported that Sevillano and Matikozyan both finished 5.5 points Monday (Tuesday in Manila) in the seven round-Swiss System tournament organized by the Continental Chess Association.

"Maraming salamat sa suporta ng mga kababayan natin dito sa Amerika, lalu na ang kanilang mga panalangin sa aking paglalaro dito" said the Cebu native, who is also a former Southwestern University stand-out.

The California-based Sevillano said his main goal is to win a grandmaster title.

Sevillano, won the Asian Junior crown in 1986 and took part in the Manila Olympiad of 1992. Soon after, he migrated to the US.

Three other Filipinos also shined in their respective class in the Western Class Championships.

Filipino and US Chess master Almario Marlon Bernardino Jr., a sports journalist, finished seven in the Expert section with 4.0 points; Remigio Pampliega finished second in the Class A group with 5.5 points; and Alex Guillermo finished third in the Class E with 5.0 points.

as of 01/22/2009 7:51 PM

CHESSBASE: PARSVNATH OPEN

Ganguly wins 7th Parsvnath Open in New Delhi
20.01.2009 – He was Anand's second at the World Championship in Bonn, and when Vishy himself arrived at the tournament an inspired Surya Shekhar Ganguly defeated the leading GM Petr Kostenko to lay the foundation for his ultimate victory. A case for the doping commission of FIDE? Hardly – inspiration is as far as we know not on the list. Ganguly beat Russian GM Mikhail Ulibin on tiebreak points. Report.

7th Parsvnath International Rating Chess Tournament

The event, organised by the Capablanca Chess Club, is took place from January 11th to 19th in the Modern School, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi. The event was a ten-round Swiss, and the winner was Indian GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly, who beat Russian GM Mikhail Ulibin on tie-break points. Ganguly received Rs.200,000 (US $4,500) Indian Rupees of the total prize fund of Rs.11,50,000.

The winner of the 7th Parsvnath Open: Surya Shekhar Ganguly

In the final round National Champion Ganugly settled for a quick draw against P Karthikeyan, while Ulibin got better of M S Thejkumar. The two ways tie was resolved by Bucholz points, and Ganguly edged out Ulibin with just half point. Grandmaster Petr Kostenko drew his final game against Indian Grandmaster Neeltopal Das and finished a creditable third with 8 points.

P Karthikeyan and S P Sethuraman achieved grandmaster norm during this tournament and finished fourth and fifth respectively. International Master Prathamesh Mokal also achieved Grandmaster norm while Shahikant Kutwal, Prantik Roy and Arindam Mukherjee secured their International Master norms.

Shalmali Gagare bagged the best women prize while Altykenov Yerlan of Kazakhstan finished first among the unrated players. Joshi G B and Arunima Kalra become the best Delhi Player and Best Delhi Girl respectively.

In the closing ceremony, Air Marshal JN Burma AVSM VSM, Air Officer-in-Charge Administration, Indian Air Force gave away the prizes in presence of Shri. Harish Rawat, Member of Parliament and D V Sundar, Secretary All India Chess Federation.

Final standings after ten rounds (first 23 of 425 players)

Rnk	Name	Ti	Fed	Rtg	Pts	Bh.
1	Ganguly Surya Shekhar	GM	IND	2614	8½	69
2	Ulibin Mikhail	GM	RUS	2511	8½	68½
3	Kostenko Petr	GM	KAZ	2501	8	70½
4	Karthikeyan P	IM	IND	2450	8	70½
5	Sethuraman S P	IM	IND	2415	8	69½
6	Kuzubov Yuriy	GM	UKR	2626	8	66
7	Neelotpal Das	GM	IND	2490	8	64
8	Laxman R R	IM	IND	2478	8	63½
9	Ismagambetov Anuar	GM	KAZ	2523	8	62½
10	Kunte Abhijit	GM	IND	2527	7½	67
11	Prathamesh Sunil Mokal	IM	IND	2389	7½	67
12	Sriram Jha	IM	IND	2442	7½	66½
13	Praveen Kumar C		IND	2360	7½	66
14	Negi Parimarjan	GM	IND	2600	7½	65½
15	Roy Chowdhury Saptarshi	IM	IND	2444	7½	65
16	Thejkumar M S		IND	2424	7½	63½
17	Thipsay Praveen M	GM	IND	2453	7½	63
18	Gleizerov Evgeny	GM	RUS	2544	7½	63
19	Solodovnichenko Yuri	GM	UKR	2571	7½	62½
20	Arindam Mukherjee		IND	2259	7½	62
21	Areshchenko Alexander	GM	UKR	2673	7½	59½
22	Premnath R		IND	2303	7½	59
23	Ibrayev Nurlan	GM	KAZ	2407	7½	57

NM CABRIDO MEMORIAL SIMUL MATCH

MERALCO Chess Club made its first move for 2009 by holding the CABRIDO MEMORIAL SIMUL in memory of National Master Victor Cabrido, a former MERALCO employee and one of the pillars of MERALCO and RP chess. And according to Bobby Ang in his Business World's Chess Piece, NM Cabrido was one of World Champion Anand's trainer when he was studying here in Manila. Invited chess master was National master Mirabeu Maga, a 2-time Olympian and a MILO Checkmate Instructor. He registered 13 wins and 1 draw (vs Drunken Master Cup Champion Jay Dicen of Security).

Vuelban wins Montecatine Chess title in Italy

MANILA, Jan. 12 (PNA)--Virgilio Moreno Vuelban stamped his class by finishing at the top of the standings in the XV International Montecatine Chess Tournament in Montecatine, Italy recently.

The Rome-based Vuelban, a native of Balingasag, Misamis Oriental,clinched the championship trophy after posting five points, edging four others who scored the same output with a superior tie break.

Vuelban, who is a nephew of Misamis Oriental Governor Oscar S. Moreno drew his last-two match against GM Igor Naumkin and GM Igor Efimov in order, who also scored five points in the six-round event.

Naumkin finished second while GM Efimov settled third.

Also with five points were fourth placers IM Pierluigi Piscopo and fifth placers FM Mario Sibilio.

Vuelban, also the president of the Filipino Chess Club in Rome, earlier beat Constantino Giobbi, Gaetano Bocchicchio, Doriano Tocchioni and FM Mario Sibilio, respectively in the event which attracted 104 chess players with 3 GMs and 4 IMs.

Vuelban who enjoyed the full support of Philippe J. Lhuillier, Philippine Ambassador to Italy, become the Philippines' newest International Master (IM) after his 2390 rating jumped to 2411 in the (FIDE) World Chess Federation January 2009 list.

According to Fide Handbook rules, aside from getting at least three IM norm, an IM aspirant needed to break 2400 Elo barrier to complete his IM title requirement. However, Vuelban needed to wait the Fide General Assembly to confirm his coveted IM title.

In the same event, the IM-elect Vuelban informed fellow IM and sports journalist Marlon Bernardino that he is seeking help to National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr., for financial assistance for his GM title quest in the European circuit.

Pichay, the former congressman from Surigao del Sur and the current administrator of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) already produced four GMs under his term in the likes of RP whiz kid Wesley So, Darwin Laylo, Jayson Gonzales and John Paul Gomez.

The Philippines already had a total of 10 GMs including Asia's First GM Eugene Torre, the late Rosendo Balinas, twelve (12) time RP Open champion Rogelio "Joey" Antonio Jr., Buenaventura "Bong" Villamayor, Nelson Mariano II, Mark Paragua, So, Laylo, Gonzales and Gomez.

"I hope NCFP under will help process my IM Title application through NCFP FIDE delegate, Casto "Toti" Abundo for official confimation so I could use my IM priviledge for international competition in Europe as I concentrate in my aspiration for a GM title.

"It is difficult to be a professional chess player if you are only a FIDE master because there are fewer invitations and you have to pay for your own accomodation," said Vuelban. (PNA)
LOR

DepED Adopts Chess in School Curriculum

PIA Press Release
2009/01/11

Tacloban City (January 11) -- Chess will soon become a part of the school curriculum, per DepEd Memorandum No. 1 series of 2009, issued on January 8.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said that the Department of Education will adopt Chess as a strategy to promote the development of higher order thinking skills and values Grades 3 - 6 in the subject Edukasyon sa Pagpapalakas ng Katawan (Physical Education).

Chess will also be used at the secondary level as part of the Physical Education curriculum.

Furthermore, Chess will remain as a game category in the Provincial, Regional and National athletic games.

Global studies have shown that Chess is a game that improves individual organizational and analytic skills, Secretary Lapus said. Children when exposed to this game at an early age achieved academically better or even faster than those who have not been engaged in this game.

Chess is also among the activities that help build memory skills, concentration, self-confidence, self esteem, and in making disciplined divisions. Playing Chess provides opportunities to practice such values as perseverance, honesty and sportsmanship.

In order to facilitate the successful inclusion of Chess in the curriculum, Secretary Lapus has given specific directives to the DepEd Central, Regional and Division Offices.

He has directed the Division Offices to conduct mapping of Chess experts in the community to mentor teachers and children. The Division Offices have been directed to purchase chess sets using their MOOE and to provide each school with Chess sets following the three sets per class ratio.

The Divisions will also launch Project Chess with parents, local government units and non-government organizations in the community in order to generate awareness, support and appreciation of such strategy. Distribution of Chess sets will be done during the launching.

The Regions will monitor the utilization of Chess as strategy to develop higher order skills and values and provide technical assistance.

The Central Office will formulate guidelines, manual and or lesson exemplars on the use of Chess in developing higher order thinking skills and values in the elementary level and to enhance the existing practice at the secondary level. (PIA 8) [top]

CHESSBASE: REGGIO EMILIA

Ni Hua wins Reggio Emilia 2008/2009 with 1½ points

07.01.2009 – Last year Zoltan Almasi or Hungary took first place in the traditional Italian tournament, scoring half a point more than Ni Hua. This year the Chinese grandmaster came to the event with a 69-point higher rating, while Almasi had dropped by 28 points. The result: Ni Hua took first place with 7.5/9 and a 2840 performance, while Almasi came a distant second with 6.0/9. Illustrated report.

51st Torneo di Capodanno in Reggio Emilia, Italy

The 51st Reggio Emilia Tournament took place from December 27th 2008 to January 4th 2009. Our Italian Playchess Sysop Andrea Natoli tells us about the history of the tournament:

One cannot help wondering if a tournament’s longevity has anything at all to do with New Year’s Day, since the only yearly tournament that can boast a longer tradition is Hastings, which is played exactly in the same period. The Reggio Emilia Tournament was first conceived by GM Enrico Paoli, who at the end of the Fifties decided to create an event that could evoke the glories of tournaments past like San Remo 1930 or Venice 1949.

Enrico Paoli in the early days of Reggio Emilia

While the tournament rapidly established itself as a stronghold of Italian chess, it was only during the Seventies that it really came to the attention of the International chess community. It started to grow at a faster pace and by end of the Eighties, under the auspices of main sponsor Banco di San Geminiano e Prospero, it was already one of the leading events in the world. No wonder that in only few years it was to stage one of the strongest events ever: the famous “Six-World Champions event” that saw Anand’s fabulous win ahead of Kasparov and Karpov (with Botvinnik, Spasskij, Smyslov and Tal as guests of honour). In retrospect, one could well say that Reggio Emilia 1991/92 was a convention of Seven World Champions...

After this peak, the tournament suffered somewhat of an implosion and was able to survive only by virtue of Enrico Paoli’s strong will and charisma. When Paoli prematurely passed away, aged just 97, members of the local club led by Giuseppe Ferraroni carried on the tradition. After years of stagnation, the occasion of the Jubilee edition gave new impulse to the Reggio Emilia club, that doubled its fundraising and organisation efforts. Mr. Yuri Garrett was introduced as a new member of the team and asked to become the Technical Director of the 50th Torneo di Capodanno.

The event designed by Garrett was a hard fought Cat. XVI that ended in a clear win by Hungarian GM Zoltan Almasi, half a point ahead of three excellent young players, Gashimov, Ni Hua and Harikrishna. In view of the exceptionally high level of the chess played, GM Mihail Marin and Yuri Garrett decided to co-author a tournament book that also collects annotations from all other players (Landa, Godena, Korchnoj, Navara, Tivjakov and the selfsame Marin). The book, already quite a success in the Italian language, is due to be translated in English by Quality Chess in 2009, a rare event for Italian chess books.

Reggio a year ago: the winner is Zoltan Almasi

On the wings of this success, the Reggio Emilia people doubled the effort for this 51st edition and, for the first time in years and with the contribution of many volunteers, put up two round robin events, a Cat. XIV and a cat. V. Both tournaments were played in the Hotel Astoria, just footsteps away from the city centre. this time the winner was Ni Hua, who scored 7.5/9, a point and a half more than the second-placed Zoltan Almasi.

This year: same sofa, different player, different notebook: Ni Hua

The final standings of this year's event (a link to the games is at the end of this report)

CHESSCAFE: The TEN BEST GAMES of Volume 101

by Milan Bjelajac, Informant@ChessCafe

Viswanathan Anand showed that he was in good spirits and had great
ambitions to fight for the World Championship title in Mexico City. His
victory against Aronian in the second round of this tournament was voted
as the best game of Volume 101.
Anand, as black in a very popular variation of Semi-Slav Defense, played
the very strong novelty 17…c5!. It came as such a surprise to Aronian
that he followed up with the unnecessary 19.Kh1?! and the weak 21.
Nd5?. Anand began a strong counter-attack with the excellent 22…Be5!
and kept an initiative until the end of the game.
There are also many other interesting and beautiful games in Volume 101.
Of note are the games Ivanchuk–Bacrot, Bruzon–Ivanchuk, and Kramnik–
Aronian. The former received just slightly fewer points than Aronian–
Anand. We hope you enjoy these fine achievements.

1. Aronian 2750 – V.Anand 2792
Mexico City 2007 — 101/337 [D43]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3
b5 9.Ne5 h5 10.h4 g4 11.Be2 Bb7 12.0-0 Nbd7 13.Qc2 Ne5 14.Be5 Bg7
15.Rad1 0-0 16.Bg3 Nd7 17.f3 c5! [a novelty; 17...Qb6 see 93/368] 18.
dc5 [18.Nb5 cd4 19.Nd4? Qb6 20.Bf2 g3! 21.Be3 Qd8 with the idea 22.
Bg5? Bd4 23.Rd4 Qb6 and Black is winning; 18.d5 Be5 19.f4 Bd4 weak
point Be2] Qe7 19.Kh1?! [19.Bd6 Qh4 20.g3 Qh3 21.Rf2 Ne5!; 19.Rd6
a6! 20.c6 Bc6 21.Rc6 Ne5 22.Rb6 Qa7 23.Bf2 g3 24.Be3 Qe7! and Black
is superior; 19.fg4 Qc5 20.Bf2 Qc6 21.gh5 Ne5 with compensation; 19.
Rf2!?] a6 20.a4 Bc6 21.Nd5? [21.Rd6 Be5 22.Rd7 Bd7 23.Be5 Qh4 24.
Kg1 g3 and Black is superior; 21.ab5 ab5 22.Nd5 ed5 23.ed5 Be5 24.f4
Bg7 25.dc6 Nc5 26.Rd5 Ra2; 25...Nf6; 21.fg4! hg4 22.Nd5 ed5 23.ed5
Nc5 (23...Be5? 24.Rf5!) 24.dc6 Ne4] ed5 22.ed5
22...Be5! 23.f4 Bg7 24.dc6 [24.Rfe1 Qc5 (24...Nc5 25.Bc4) 25.dc6 Qc6
a) 26.Bd3 Nc5 27.Bh7 Kh8 28.ab5 ab5 29.Qf5 Na4 (29...Nd3? 30.Qh5)
30.Qh5 Qh6 31.Qh6 Bh6 32.Be4 Nb2 33.Rd6 Bg7 34.Ba8 Ra8; b) 26.b3
Nc5 27.ab5 ab5 28.bc4 Ne4 (28...b4 29.Rd5 b3 30.Qf5) 29.Kh2 Ng3 30.
Kg3 Ra3 and Black is superior] Nc5 [24...Nf6 25.f5 Qc5 26.Bd6 Qc6 27.
Bf8 Rf8] 25.Rd5 Ne4 26.Be1 Qe6 27.Rh5 [27.ab5 Qd5 28.Bc4 Qd4 29.
b6 (29.Bd3; 29.ba6 Rfe8 30.b3 g3 and Black is winning) Nd6 and Black
is winning] f5! [weak point Rh5; 27...Qg6 28.f5 Qh5 29.Qe4] 28.Kh2
Rac8 29.Bb4 Rfe8 30.ab5 ab5 31.Re1 Qf7 32.Rg5 Ng5 33.fg5 [33.hg5
Qh5 (33...Bd4 34.Bf1 Be3 and Black is winning) 34.Kg3 Re3 35.Kf2
Bd4?? 36.Bc4!; 35...Re4! and Black is winning] Rc6 [33...Re3? 34.Bc4!]
34.Bf1 [34.Rf1 Rce6 35.Bd1 Qc7 36.g3 Re3 and Black is winning] Re1
35.Be1 Re6 36.Bc3 Qc7 37.g3 Re3 38.Qg2 [38.Qf2 f4] Bc3 39.bc3 f4 40.
Qa8 Kg7 41.Qa6 fg3 [42.Kg1 Qf7 43.Qh6 Kg8] 0-1 [V.Anand]

2. Ivanchuk 2787 – Bacrot 2695
Hersonissos 2007 — 101/299 [D15]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.c5 Nbd7 6.Bf4 Nh5 7.Bd2 Nhf6 8.
Qc2 g6 9.g3 [9.e4 see 96/279] e5 10.de5 Ng4 11.e6 Nc5 12.ef7 Kf7 13.e4
Bg7 14.Bg2 Bc3! [a novelty; 14...Re8] 15.Bc3 de4 16.Bh8 [16.Nd2 a)
16...e3 17.0-0 a1) 17...ed2 18.Bh8 Qh8 19.Qc5 and White is superior; a2)
17...Bf5 18.Ne4 ef2 19.Rf2 Nf2 20.Qf2 Nd3 21.Qe3 Re8 22.Rd1 Re4 23.
Be4 Qe7 24.Rd3 Qe4 (24...Be4 25.Rd1 and White is superior) 25.Rd7
Ke6 26.Qd2 Qb1 27.Kf2 Qc2 and White is slightly better; a3) 17...ef2 18.
Rf2 Nf2 19.Bh8 Nh3 20.Kh1 Nf2 equal; b) 16...Nd3 17.Kf1 Ndf2 18.Qb3
Be6 19.Qb7 Qe7 20.Qe7 Ke7 21.Bh8 Rh8 22.Ne4 Nh1 23.Bh1 Rb8 24.b3
Nh2 25.Kg1 Ng4 and Black is slightly better; c) 16...Qd3! 17.Qd3 Nd3 18.
Ke2 Re8 and Black is slightly better] Nd3 17.Kf1 [17.Ke2 ef3 18.Bf3
Qh8 19.Qb3 Kf8 20.Kd3 Bf5 21.Ke2 Qd4 22.Bg4 Bg4 23.Kf1 Qe4 with
attack] ef3 18.Bf3 Ngf2 19.Qb3 Ke7 20.Bg7 [20.Qa3 c5 21.Re1 Ne1 22.
Qc5 Qd6 (22...Ke8 23.Qe3 Qe7 24.Kf2 Qe3 25.Ke3 Nf3 26.Kf3 equal) 23.
Bf6 Ke6 24.Qd6 Kd6 25.Kf2 Nf3 26.Kf3 equal] Bh3! [20...Nh1 21.Bh1
Bh3 22.Kg1 and White is slightly better] 21.Bg2? [21.Kg1! a) 21...b5? 22.
Qc3 Qd6 23.Bh6 Nh1 (23...Qf6 24.Re1 Kf7 25.Re3 Qc3 26.bc3 and White
is superior) 24.Kh1 Kd7 25.Qg7 Kc8 26.Be3 with initiative; b) 21...Qd7
22.Bh6 Re8 23.Bg5 Kf8 24.Bh6 equal] Qd7 22.Bh3 [22.Re1 Ne1 23.Bh3
Nh3 and Black is winning] Qh3 23.Kg1
23...Qf5! [23...Qg4? 24.Re1! Ne1 25.Kf2! and White is winning] 24.
Qb7?! [24.Re1!? a) 24...Ne1 25.Qb7 Kd6 26.Qb4 Kd5 (26...Kc7 27.Qe7;
26...c5 27.Qb6 Kd5 28.Qb7 Ke6 29.Qb3 Qd5 30.Qd5 Kd5 31.Kf2 equal)
27.Qd4 Ke6 28.Qc4 (28.Qf2 Qe4 29.Qf6 Kd5 30.Qg5 Kc4 31.Qf4 Qf4 32.
gf4 Nd3 33.Kg2 Nf4 34.Kf3 Ne6 35.Bc3 and Black is superior) Kd7 (28...
Ke7 29.Qb4) 29.Qd4 Kc7 30.Qf2 Qe4 31.Qf4 Qf4 32.gf4 Nd3 33.Kg2
Nf4 34.Kf3 Ne6 35.Bc3 and Black is superior; b) 24...Kd6! 25.Re3 Rd8
26.Bd4 b5 27.h3 (27.Kg2 Kc7 and Black is winning) Rf8 28.Kg2 h5‡ 29.
a4 (29.Qa3 b4 30.Qb3 Kc7 31.h4 c5 32.Bg7 Rf7 and Black is winning)
Kc7 (29...c5 30.Bg7 Rf7 31.ab5 ab5 and Black is superior) 30.ab5 Ng4
31.Re7 Kd8 32.hg4 Qf3 33.Kh2 Ke7 and Black is superior; 24.h4 Qf3 25.
Re1 (25.Rh2 Qg3 26.Kf1 Qf3 and Black is winning) Ne1 26.Qf3 Nf3 27.
Kf2 Nd2 and Black is superior] Kd6 25.Qb6 Qf3 26.Qd4 Kc7 27.Be5
Kc8 0-1 [Ivanchuk, Sulypa]

3. Bruzon Batista 2607 – Ivanchuk 2787
Merida (m/1) 2007 — 101/218 [C43]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 Ne4 4.de5 Bc5 5.Qd5 [5.Bc4] Bf2 6.Kd1!? [6.
Ke2 f5 7.Nbd2 c6 8.Qd3 Qe7 unclear] f5! [6...Nc5?! 7.Bg5 c6 8.Qd2 Ne4
9.Bd8 Nd2 10.Nbd2 Kd8 11.Ne4 Bb6 12.Nd6 with initiative] 7.Bc4 Qe7
[7...Rf8 8.Nc3 c6 9.Ne4 cd5 10.Nd6 Ke7 11.Bg5 Rf6 12.Bd5 Nc6!
unclear] 8.Nc3 [a novelty; 8.Nbd2 c6 9.Qd3 Bc5 10.Rf1 (10.Ne4 fe4 11.
Qe4 d5!) Nf2 11.Rf2 Bf2 12.Qf5 unclear; 8.Rf1 a) 8...Nc6 9.c3 (9.Nc3
Nb4!) Bb6 10.Nbd2 Nc5 11.Nb3 Ne6 12.Kc2 with compensation; b) 8...
c6 9.Qd3 Bb6 10.Nc3 with compensation] c6 9.Qd3 b5! [9...Bb6 10.Rf1!
Nf2 11.Rf2 Bf2 12.Ke2 Bc5 13.Bg5! with attack; 9...Na6 10.Ba6 ba6 11.
Rf1! with initiative] 10.Bb3 a5!? [10...Na6 11.Ne4 fe4 12.Qe4 Nc5 13.
Qe2 Nb3 14.ab3 Bc5 15.Bg5 Qf7 16.Be3 with compensation] 11.a4 b4!
[11...ba4 12.Ra4 Na6 13.Ne4 fe4 14.Qe4 Nc5 15.Bg5 Ne4 (15...Qf8 16.
Qe2 Na4 17.Ba4 with compensation) 16.Be7 Ke7 17.Re4 equal] 12.Ne4
fe4 13.Qe2 [13.Qe4 d5 14.Qf4 Nd7 and Black is slightly better] d5 14.
ed6 [14.Qf2 ef3 15.Qf3 (15.gf3? 0-0 with initiative) Qh4! (with the idea
Bg4) 16.e6 (16.h3 Rf8 with initiative) Rf8 17.Qg3 (17.Qe3 Rf6! with
initiative) Qh5 18.Ke1 Ba6 and Black is superior] Qd6 15.Bd2 e3 16.Rf1
[16.Bc4 Ba6!] Ba6 17.Bc4 Bc4 18.Qc4 Ra7! [with the idea Re7; 18...Nd7
19.Ke2 ed2 20.Rf2 unclear] 19.Ke2 Re7 20.Be1 [20.Rad1 Qg6 21.Rf2
ef2 22.Kf2 Rf8 and Black is winning]
20...Qg6! [weak points c2, g2] 21.g3 (only move) Re4! 22.Qd3 [22.Qa2
Be1 23.Rae1 Rf8 24.Nh4 Qg4 25.Rf3 Rf3 26.Nf3 Re6 and Black is
winning, zugzwang] Nd7! 23.Rd1 [23.Bf2 Nc5! (23...ef2? 24.Kf2 Nc5 25.
Qd2 0-0 26.Kg1 with counterplay) 24.Qd1 Qe6 (24...Qh6 25.Bg1 0-0 with
attack) 25.Be3 (25.Bg1? Qc4) Re3 26.Kf2 0-0 27.Kg1 Re2 and Black is
winning] 0-0! and Black is winning [23...Qf5? 24.Bf2 ef2 25.Kf2 0-0 26.
Qd7 Qf3 27.Kg1 equal] 24.Qd7 Qh5 25.g4 Qh3 26.Ng5 Qg2 27.Bf2 Rf2
28.Rf2 ef2 0-1 [Ivanchuk]

4. Kramnik 2769 – Aronian 2750
Mexico City 2007 — 101/419 [E15]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bc3
d5 9.Ne5 Nfd7 10.Nd7 Nd7 11.Nd2 0-0 12.0-0 Rc8 13.e4 de4 14.Ne4 b5
15.Re1 bc4 16.Bf1 Nb6
17.Rb1! [a novelty; 17.Nc5 see 95/(370)] Nd5 [17...c5 18.dc5 Bc5 19.
Qh5 Qd5 20.Qh4 and White is superior; 17...Rb8 18.bc4 (18.Nc5 Bb5 19.
a4 Nd5 20.Ba1 c3 21.ab5 cb5 22.b4 a5 23.Bg2 ab4 24.Bd5 and White is
superior) Nc4 (18...Bc4 19.Rb6 and White is superior) 19.Rb8 Qb8 20.
Nc5 Nb2 21.Bb2 Bf1 22.Ba3 Bh3 23.Qh5 (23.Nd7 Qb7) Bf5 24.Nd7 and
White is superior] 18.Ba1 Bb4 [18...Qa5 19.bc4 Nb6 20.Qc2 and White is
superior; 18...Rb8 19.bc4 (19.Nc5) Rb1 20.Qb1 and White is superior] 19.
Nc5! [19.bc4 Be1 20.Qe1 Nb6 21.Qc3 with initiative] Be1 [19...Qa5 20.
bc4! Be1 21.Qe1 Qe1 22.Re1 Nc7 23.Bc3 and White is superior, with the
idea Ba5; 19...Nc3 20.Bc3 Bc3 21.Re4 and White is superior, with the
idea 21...Qa5 22.b4 Qa2 23.Na6 Qa6 24.Qc2] 20.Qe1 cb3 [20...Nc7 21.
bc4 and White is superior] 21.Na6 [21.Ba6 ba2 22.Rb2 Rb8 23.Ra2 Nb4
and White is slightly better] ba2 22.Rb2 Nc7 [22...Re8 23.Ra2 Re7] 23.
Ra2 (and White is superior) Na6 [better is 23...Nb5!?] 24.Ra6 Qd7 [24...
c5 25.Qe5! c4 (25...cd4 26.Bd4 f6 27.Qe6 Kh8 28.Be3 Re8 29.Qb3 and
White is winning; 25...Qd5 26.dc5 and White is winning, with the idea
26...Qe5 27.Be5 Rc5 28.Bd6) 26.d5 Qf6 27.Qf6 gf6 28.Bf6 ed5 (28...c3
29.Ra4 Rfe8 30.Rg4 Kf8 31.Rg7 and White is winning) 29.Bh3 and White
is superior] 25.Qc3 f6 26.Qc5 Rf7 27.Bc3 Qb7 [27...Kh8 28.Bc4; 27...
Qd5 28.Bc4 Qc5 (28...Qe4 29.Ra1) 29.dc5 Re7 30.Ra7 Kf8 31.Ra6 and
White is superior] 28.Qc4 Qd7 29.Bg2 Kh8 30.Bc6 Qb7 31.Kg2! (and
White is winning) h6 [31...Re7 32.Bb4 Ree8 33.Bd6 Red8 34.Qa4 Qb1
35.Be7 Rg8 36.Bc5] 32.d5 Qb8 [32...ed5 33.Bb7 Rc4 34.Bd5] 33.de6
Re7 34.Bb4 Rec7 35.e7 1-0 [Kramnik]

5. M.Carlsen 2714 – Mi.Adams 2729
Khanty-Mansiysk (m/1) 2007 — 101/434 [E36]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.a3 Bc3 6.Qc3 dc4 7.Qc4 b6 8.
Bf4 Ba6 9.Qc7 Qc7 10.Bc7 0-0 [a novelty; 10...Nbd7 see 101/(434)] 11.
Nf3 Rc8 12.Bf4 Nbd7 13.Nd2!? Rc2 [better is 13...Nh5! unclear] 14.Rb1
[14.e4 Bf1 15.Rf1 Rb2 and Black is slightly better] Rac8
15.Nb3! and White is slightly better [15.Kd1 Ng4!? 16.Bg3 f5; 15...Nh5
unclear] Bc4 [15...Nd5 16.Bd2 f5 17.Na1 R2c7 18.e3 Bf1 19.Kf1 e5 20.
de5 Ne5 21.Ke2 and White is superior] 16.Na1 Ba2 17.Nc2 Bb1 18.Na1
Nd5 19.Bd2 e5 20.e3 [20.de5 Ne5 21.e3 Bd3 (21...Nd3 22.Bd3 Bd3 23.f3
and White is slightly better) 22.Be2 and White is slightly better] ed4 21.
ed4 Nb8 [21...Re8 22.Kd1; 21...Nf8 22.Ba6 (22.f3 Ne6 23.Ba6 Rd8 24.
Kf2 Bf5 25.g4 Bg6 26.Bc4 Nd4 27.Rd1 Ne6 28.Bc1 Ndc7 29.Rd8 Nd8 and
White is slightly better) Re8 23.Kd1 Ne6 and White is slightly better] 22.
f3 Nc6 [22...Bf5!?] 23.Bc4 [23.Kf2 (M.Carlsen) Ba2 24.b3 Nd4 25.Bc4
and White is superior; better is 23...Bf5 and White is slightly better] Rd8
[23...Ncb4 (M.Carlsen) 24.b3 Nd3 25.Kf1 Nc7 26.Ke2 Re8 27.Be3 Nf4
28.Kf2 Nd3 29.Bd3 Bd3 30.Rd1 and White is superior] 24.Kf2 Bf5 25.
Nb3 Be6 26.Rc1 f6 27.a4 a5?! [27...Kf7 28.Re1 Nce7 29.g3 Nc7 and
White is slightly better] 28.Bc3 Bf7 [28...Kf7 29.Re1 Nce7 30.Nd2 and
White is superior] 29.Nd2 Nde7 30.Bf1! [30.Rd1 Bc4 31.Nc4 Nd5 and
White is slightly better] Nd4 31.Re1 Ndc6 32.Nc4 Nd5 33.Rb1 Kf8 [33...
Bg6 (M.Carlsen) 34.Rd1 Bc2 35.Rd5 (35.Rd2 Bb3 36.Nb6 Nb6 37.Rd8
Nd8 38.Ba5 Na4 39.Bd8 Nb2 equal) Rd5 36.Ne3 Bb3 37.Nd5 Bd5 and
White is slightly better; 33...Be8 34.Be1 and White is slightly better] 34.
Be1 Ke7?! [34...Bg6 35.Rd1 (35.Rc1 Ncb4) Bc2 36.Rd2 Ba4 37.Nb6 Bb3
38.Nd5 Rd5 and White is slightly better] 35.Kg1 Nb8? [35...Bg6 36.Rc1
Ncb4 37.Bf2 and White is superior; 35...Ne5 36.Ne5 fe5 37.Bh4 (37.Bf2
Rc8 unclear; 37.Rc1 Kd6 38.Bf2 Be8 39.b3 Rb8 and White is slightly
better) Nf6 38.Re1 Kd6 39.Bg3 Re8 and White is slightly better] 36.Bf2?
[36.Nb6! (M.Carlsen) Nb6 37.Ba5 a) 37...N8d7 38.Bb4 Ke6 39.Re1 a1)
39...Kf5 40.Bd3 Kg5 41.Re7 Nb8 42.Bd2 Kh5 43.g4 Kh4 44.Be1 Kg5 45.
h4 Kh6 (45...Kf4 46.Kg2 and White is winning) 46.Bd2 g5 47.Rf7 Rd3 48.
Rf6 Kg7 49.Rb6 Nd7 50.Bc3 Rc3 51.Rb7 Rd3 52.a5 and White is
winning; a2) 39...Ne5 40.Ba5 (40.f4?! Rd4 41.Bc5 Rf4 42.Bb6 Ra4 43.b3)
Rb8 41.f4 Nd5 42.fe5 fe5 43.Bb5 Be8 44.Bc4 and White is winning; a3)
39...Kd5 40.Bb5! f5 41.a5 Nc8 42.b3 and White is winning; b) 37...Rd6
38.Bb4 Nc6 39.Bd6 Kd6 40.Ra1 and White is superior] Nd7 37.Re1 Kf8
38.Rd1 Ke7 39.Re1 Kf8 40.Nd6 Ne5? [40...Nc5? 41.Nf7 Kf7 42.Bc5
bc5 43.Bc4 Rd7 44.Rd1 Ke6 45.f4 g5 46.g3 and White is winning; 40...
Bg8 41.Bb5 Ne5 42.Ne4 Rc8 and White is slightly better] 41.Nf7 Kf7 42.
Rd1 Ke7 43.f4 Ng4 44.Re1 Kf8 [44...Kd6 45.Bd4 Nf4 46.Bb6 Rb8 47.
Rd1 Ke6 48.Ba5 (48.Bc7 Rb4 49.b3 Ne5 50.Rb1 Nc6 and White is
superior) Rb2 49.Bd2 and White is superior] 45.Bd4 Rd6 46.h3 Nh6
[better is 46...Nf4 47.Re4 (47.Rd1? Ke7 48.hg4 Ne6 equal) Ne6 48.Re6
Re6 49.hg4 Re4 50.Bb6 Ra4 and White is superior] 47.Rd1 Nf5 [47...Ne7
48.Rd3] 48.Bf2 Ke7? [48...h5 49.g4 (49.g3 Ke7 and White is superior)
hg4 50.hg4 Nf4 51.Rd6 Nd6 52.Bb6 Nb7 53.Ba6 Nd5; 53.Bc4 and White
is superior] 49.g4 Nh6 [49...Nfe3? 50.Re1 Re6 51.f5 Re5 52.Bg3 Re4 53.
Bg2 and White is winning] 50.f5 Nf7 51.Bg2 Nf4 52.Rd6 Nd6 [NB 9/d]
53.Bb6 Nc4 54.Bc5 Kd7 55.Bf1 [better is 55.b3 Ng2 56.Kg2 Nd2 57.b4
Ne4 58.Bf8 Ke8 59.ba5! and White is winning] Nb2 56.Bb5 Kd8 [better
is 56...Kc7 a) 57.Bf8 a1) 57...Nh3 58.Kh2 Nf2 59.g5 fg5 60.Bg7 Nbd1 61.
Bd4 (61.f6 Ng4 62.Kg1 Ne5) Kd6 62.f6 Ng4 63.Kg1 and White is
winning; a2) 57...g6 58.Bg7 gf5 59.Bf6 Na4 60.Ba4 Nh3 61.Kg2 fg4 and
White is superior; b) 57.Kh2 Nd1 58.Bf8 g5 59.fg6 hg6 60.h4 and White
is superior] 57.Bb6 Ke7 58.Kh2! and White is winning [58.Ba5 Nh3 59.
Kh2 Ng5 60.Bb4 Kd8 61.a5 Nf3 62.Kg3 Nd4 63.Bf1 Nc6 64.a6 Kc7 65.
Bf8 g6 66.g5 and White is winning] Nd5 59.Ba5 Kd6 60.Bd2 Kc5 61.
Kg3 Nc7 62.Be3 Kb4 63.Bd2 Kc5 [63...Kb3 64.Bf4! Nd5 65.a5 Kb4 66.
Bc6 Nf4 67.a6] 64.Bc1 Nc4 65.Bc4 Kc4 [NB 4/d] 66.Bd2 Na6 67.a5
Kb5 68.Kf3 Nc5 69.Bc3 h6 [69...Na4 70.Be1 Nc5 71.Ke3] 70.Ke3 Kc4
71.Bd4 Na6 72.Ke4 Nb4 73.h4 Kb5 74.Bc3 Na6 75.Kd5 Nc5 76.Bd4
Nd3 77.Ke6 1-0 [Mi.Adams]

6. Kasimdzhanov 2690 – Predojevic 2645
Deutschland 2007 — 101/305 [D17]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 dc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nc4 Qc7 8.
g3 e5 9.de5 Ne5 10.Bf4 Nfd7 11.Bg2 g5 12.Ne3 gf4 13.Nf5 0-0-0 14.
Qc2 Ng6?! 15.0-0 fg3 16.hg3 h5 17.Rfc1! Kb8 18.b4! h4 19.Nb5! [a
novelty; 19.b5 see 101/304] Qc8!? [19...Qb6 20.a5!! Qb5 (20...Qa6 21.
Nbd6 Bd6 22.Nd6 and White is winning) 21.Nd4 Qg5 22.Nc6 Kc7 23.
Qe4! and White is winning; 19...Qe5 20.Nbd4! (with attack) Rc8 21.b5
hg3 (21...c5 22.Nc6 bc6 23.bc6 Nb6 24.a5) 22.bc6 gf2 23.Kf1 Bc5 (23...
Nc5 24.Rab1 b6 25.a5 Nf4 26.ab6 Ng2 27.c7 Kb7 28.ba7 Kc7 29.Qd2) 24.
Nf3 and White is superior] 20.Qb3!! [20.Nfd6? Bd6 21.Nd6 Qc7 22.Nf7
hg3 with attack a) 23.Nd8 gf2 24.Kf2 Qf4 25.Bf3 Nde5; b) 23.Nh8 gf2
(23...Nh4!?) 24.Kf2 Nge5!? with compensation; c) 23.Qg6 gf2 24.Kf1
Ne5 25.Ne5 Qe5] h3 [20...hg3 21.Qg3 Nde5 22.Qe3 Bc5 (22...c5 23.bc5)
23.Qc5 (and White is superior) cb5 24.Qe3 (24.ab5 Qc5 25.bc5 Nf4) Qe6
(24...Qf5 25.ab5; 24...Nc4 25.Qg3 Nge5 26.Rc4 Qf5 27.Rc5 f6 28.Rb5) 25.
ab5 Qb6 26.Qb6 ab6 27.Rd1 Nf4 28.e3 and White is superior] 21.Qe3! c5
[21...Nb6 22.Na7 Ka7 23.a5 Kb8 24.ab6 Bb4 25.Ne7! (and White is
winning) Be7 26.Qb3; 21...Nc5 22.Be4 cb5 23.bc5 b4 24.c6 and White is
winning; 21...Bc5 22.bc5 hg2 23.Nfd6 Rde8 24.Qd4 and White is
winning] 22.Be4! Nf6 23.bc5 Ng4
24.c6!! Rd1 [24...Ne3 25.c7 Ka8 (25...Qc7 26.Rc7 Nd5 27.Rd1 and White
is winning) 26.cd8R Qd8 a) 27.Rab1 Nd5 (27...Nf5 28.Nc7 Qc7 29.Rc7
Nd6 30.Rcb7 Nb7 31.Rb7 f5 32.Bd5 a6 33.Kh2 Rh6 34.f4 and White is
winning) 28.Rd1 and White is superior (28.Nc7 Nc7 29.Bb7 Kb8 equal)
Nge7 29.Ne7 Qe7 30.Bd5; b) 27.Nc7 Kb8 28.Rab1! (28.Na6?! ba6 29.
Rab1 Qb6) Qc7 29.Rc7 Kc7 30.Rb7 Kc8 31.Ne3 Bc5 32.Rf7 Ne5 33.Rf5
Be3 34.fe3 h2 35.Kh1 Ng4 36.Rf3 Kc7 37.Bf5 Ne5 38.Rf4 and White is
winning] 25.Rd1 Ne3 26.Ne3 bc6 27.Rab1 cb5 [27...h2 28.Kh1 Qh3 29.
Nd6 Kc7 30.Rb7 Kd8 31.Bf5] 28.Rb5 Kc7 29.Nd5 1-0 [Kasimdzhanov]

7. V.Anand 2792 – Svidler 2735
Mexico City 2007 — 101/263 [C89]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.
c3 d5 9.ed5 Nd5 10.Ne5 Ne5 11.Re5 c6 12.Re1 Bd6 13.g3 Bf5 14.d4
Qd7 15.Be3 Rae8 16.Nd2 Bg4 17.Qc2 Bf5 18.Qc1 Re7 [18...Re6 see
92/342] 19.Nf3! [a novelty; 19.Nf1 Rfe8 20.Qd2 Bh3 21.Bc2 Bf1 22.Rf1
Ne3 equal] Bg4 20.Nh4 Rfe8 21.Qd2 h6 22.Qd3 g6 23.Bd1 Bh3 [23...h5
24.Bf3; 23...Ne3 24.fe3 Bd1 25.Rad1 Re4!? with compensation] 24.Bf3
g5 25.Ng2 Bf5 26.Qd1 Nf6 [26...Be4 27.Be4 Re4 28.Bd2] 27.a4! [27.
Bd2 Ne4 28.Ne3 Bg6 29.a4 f5 with counterplay] Ne4 28.ab5 ab5 29.
Ra6! Qb7 [29...Bg6!? 30.d5 c5 31.Be2 Nf6 32.Bb5 Qb5 33.Rd6 Ne4 34.
Rc6 Qb2 35.c4 and White is slightly better] 30.Qa1 Bc8 [30...Qd7! 31.
Rd1 Bh3! (31...Bg4 32.Bg4 Qg4 33.Rc6 Bg3 34.hg3 Ng3 35.fg3 Re3 36.
Rh6 Rg3 37.Rh2; 35.Re1! and White is winning) 32.Ne1 f5; 31.Bc1! and
White is slightly better, with the idea Ne3] 31.Ra8 Bb8 32.Bc1! Nf6 [32...
Ba7? 33.Rc8! and White is winning] 33.Re7 Re7
34.Qa3! [34.Bc6? Qc6 35.Rb8 Kg7 36.d5 Qd5 37.Bg5 hg5 38.Rc8 Re2
and White is slightly better] Rd7 [34...Re8 35.Ne3] 35.Ra5 [35.h4! Ba7
36.Rc8 Qc8 37.hg5 hg5 38.Bg5 Nh7 39.Bh4 and White is winning] Ba7
36.Ne3 (and White is winning) Qc7 [36...Re7 37.Bc6; 36...Rc7 37.Qd6]
37.Nf5 c5 38.Nh6 Kh7 39.Bg5 1-0 [V.Anand]

8. Svidler 2735 – Grischuk 2726
Mexico City 2007 — 101/163 [B90]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cd4 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bg5 h6 8.
Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 Bg7 10.h3 Ne5 11.Nf5 Bf5 12.ef5 Nbc6 13.Nd5 e6 14.fe6
fe6 15.Ne3 Qa5 16.c3 Nf3 17.Qf3 Bc3 18.Kd1 Qa4 19.Nc2 Bb2
20.Rc1! [a novelty; 20.Qb3 see 94/180] Bc1 [20...0-0-0 21.Qg4! Qg4
(21...Nd4 22.Bd3 and White is superior) 22.hg4 Bc1 23.Kc1 and White is
superior; 20...Rc8 21.Bd3 Bc1 22.Qf6 Kd7 23.Kc1 see 20...Bc1; 20...
Ke7!? 21.Qb3 Qb3 22.ab3 Bc1 23.Kc1 Rac8 24.Kb2 and White is slightly
better] 21.Qf6 [21.Kc1?? Qc2 22.Kc2 Nd4] Kd7 [21...Bb2 22.Qb2 0-0-0
and White is slightly better] 22.Kc1 Qa2 [22...Rac8 23.Bd3 Nb4 (23...
Qa2 see 22...Qa2) a) 24.Qf7?! Kd8! (24...Kc6 25.Nb4 Qb4 26.Qe6 Kb6
27.Kd1) 25.Qf6 Kd7; b) 24.Qg7 Kc6 25.Nb4 Qb4 26.Qb2 Kd7 27.Kb1
Qb2 28.Kb2 Rc6 29.h4 and White is slightly better] 23.Bd3 Rac8?! [23...
Rhc8! 24.Rd1 Ne7! 25.Rd2! (25.Bd6 Nd5! 26.Be5 Nf6 27.Bc4 Ke7 28.
Ba2 Ne4 with counterplay) Rc6 26.Kd1! Rac8 27.Ne3 with initiative,
with the idea Ke2] 24.Rd1 d5 [24...Ne7? 25.Bb5! and White is winning]
25.Bf5 Rhe8 26.Qf7! [26.Re1? d4! unclear] Kd8 27.Re1 (and White is
superior) Qa3 [27...Re7 a) 28.Qg8 Re8 29.Qg6 Ne7 a1) 30.Qe6? Qa1 31.
Kd2 Qc3 (31...Rc2? 32.Bc2 Qd4 33.Ke2! Ng6 34.Bc7! Kc7 35.Qe8 and
White is winning) 32.Kd1 Qc6 unclear; a2) 30.Qf6! Qa3 31.Kd1 Qc3 32.
Nd4 and White is superior; b) 28.Qf6!? (Grischuk) ef5 29.Bd6! Kd7 30.
Be7 Kc7 31.Qf5 and White is winning; 27...Qa1 28.Kd2! (28.Na1 Ne5 29.
Kd2 Nf7 30.Be6 Rc6 unclear) Qc3 (28...Qa5 29.Kd1 and White is
winning) 29.Kc3 (29.Kd1?! Re7 30.Qg8 Re8 31.Qg6 Ne7 32.Qe6 Qc6
unclear) Ne5 30.Kd2 Nf7 31.Re6 and White is superior] 28.Na3 [28.
Kd1!? Qe7 (28...Qf8 29.Qf8 Rf8 30.Be6 and White is superior) 29.Qg6 e5
30.Nd4! and White is superior] Ne5 29.Kd2 Nf7 30.Be6 Rc6? time [30...
b5! 31.Bc8 (31.Bf7 Re1 32.Ke1 b4 with counterplay) Re1 32.Ke1 Kc8 33.
Nc2 and White is superior] 31.Bf7 Re1 32.Ke1 (and White is winning)
b5 [32...Rc3 33.Bd6 Kd7 34.Bf8] 33.Kd2 b4 34.Nc2 b3 35.Nd4 Rb6 36.
Kc1 a5 37.Bd5 a4 38.Be5 b2 39.Kb1 a3 40.Ba2 Rb7 41.Bd6 Rd7 42.
Nb5 1-0 [Svidler]

9. Kramnik 2785 – Evgeny Alekseev 2716
Moscow 2007 — 101/45 [A60]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.d5 ed5 5.cd5 b5 6.e4 Ne4 7.Qe2 Qe7 8.Bg2
Nd6 9.Be3 b4 [9...Na6] 10.Bc5 Qe2 11.Ne2 Na6 12.Bd6 [a novelty; 12.
Bd4 Nf5 13.0-0 see 23/124; 13.Nd2 and White is slightly better] Bd6 13.
Nd2 Rb8 [13...Bb7 14.Nc4 Bc5 15.0-0 0-0 16.d6 (16.Na5 Rab8) Bg2 17.
Kg2 and White is slightly better] 14.Nc4 Be7 [14...Bc5 15.d6 Bb7 16.Bb7
Rb7 and White is slightly better] 15.d6 Bf6 16.Nf4 Nc5 17.0-0 [17.Nd5
Ba6 18.Nf6 gf6 19.Kd2!? Kd8; 17.0-0-0 0-0 18.Nd5 Ba6 with
counterplay] Ba6 [17...0-0 18.Nd5 Bd8 19.Rfe1 and White is superior] 18.
Nd5 [18.Rfe1 Ne6 19.Ne5 and White is slightly better] 0-0 [18...Bc4 19.
Nf6 gf6 20.Rfc1 and White is superior; 18...Kd8 19.Nf6 gf6 20.Rfd1 (and
White is superior) Bc4 21.Rdc1] 19.Nf6 gf6 20.Bd5 [20.Rfd1!? Bc4 21.
Rdc1 Be6 22.Rc5 with the idea 22...Rb6 23.f4!] Na4? [20...Rfc8 21.Rfd1
(21.b3 Na4 22.Rfe1 Nc3) Na4 22.Rd4 Bc4 23.Bc4 Nb2 24.Bb3 Rc3 and
White is slightly better; 20...Rfe8 21.Rfd1 Re2 22.b3 and White is
slightly better]
21.Rfc1! Rfe8 [21...Rfc8 22.Ne3 Nb2 23.Rc7! Rc7 (23...Bb5 24.Rac1
Re8 25.Ra7 Rb6 26.Nf5 and White is superior) 24.dc7 Rc8 25.Rc1 Na4
26.Nf5 Nc3 27.Ne7 Kf8 28.Nc8 Bc8 29.Bf3 and White is superior; 21...
Bc4 22.Rc4 Rb6 23.Rd4 and White is superior] 22.Ne3 Rb6 [22...Nb2 23.
Rc7 Bb5 24.Ra7 and White is superior] 23.Rc7! Rd6 [23...Bb5 24.Bc4
and White is winning] 24.Rd1 (and White is winning) Kh8 [24...Kf8 25.
Nf5 Rd5 26.Rd5 Re1 27.Kg2] 25.Nf5 Rb6 26.Bf7 Nb2 [26...Rf8 27.Bb3
(27.Ra7 Bb5 28.Rd4 Nb2 29.Rb4) Bb5 28.Nd6 Nb2 29.Rd2] 27.Rdd7
Re1 28.Kg2 Bf1 29.Kf3 Be2 30.Kf4 Rb8 [30...Nd3 31.Rd3] 31.Bc4 1-0
[Kramnik]

10. Sutovsky 2656 – Miton 2648
Montreal 2007 — 101/270 [C92]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.
c3 0-0 9.h3 Bb7 10.d4 Re8 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.a4 Na5 13.Bc2 b4 14.Bd3
bc3 15.bc3 d5?! 16.Qc2! [a novelty; 16.ed5?! see 100/266] de4 [16...ed4
17.e5 dc3 18.Qc3 c5 19.ef6 Re1 20.Ne1 c4 21.Be2 d4 22.Qg3 and White
is superior; 16...Bd6 17.de5 Be5 18.Ne5 Re5 19.Nf3 Re4 (19...Rh5 20.e5
Ne4 21.Rb1 and White is superior) 20.Be4 de4 21.Nd2 and White is
superior; 16...c5! 17.ed5 cd4! (17...ed4 18.Re8 Qe8 19.c4 and White is
superior) 18.c4 (18.cd4 Rc8 19.Qb1 ed4 20.Re8 Qe8 21.Bb2 Bc5 22.Nd4
Qd8! equal) Qc7 19.Rb1 and White is slightly better] 17.Ne4 Ne4 [17...
Be4 18.Re4!] 18.Re4! g6 [18...Be4 19.Be4 ed4 20.Bh7 Kh8 21.Qf5! g6
(21...Nc6 22.Qh5 and White is winning) 22.Qf7 Bg7 23.Bg6 and White is
winning; 18...c5 19.Rg4 (19.Re5!? Bf3 20.Re8 Qe8 21.gf3 and White is
superior) Bf3 (19...g6 20.Ne5 Bg7 21.Nf7! Kf7 22.Bg6 and White is
winning) 20.Bh7 Kh8 21.gf3 and White is superior] 19.Bg5! [19.Re5?!
Bf3 20.Re8 Qe8 21.gf3 Qe6 22.Kg2 Nb3 and White is slightly better]
Qd6 [19...f6 20.Bh4 Be4 (20...Qd6 21.Rg4 and White is winning; 20...g5
21.de5! gh4 22.Rg4 Bg7 23.Bh7 Kh8 24.Nh4 and White is winning) 21.
Be4 ed4 22.Ba8 Qa8 23.Bf6 Qd5 (23...dc3 24.Qa2!) 24.cd4 and White is
winning] 20.de5 [20.Re5 Bf3 21.Ra5 Bb7 and White is superior] Qe6
[20...Qc5 21.e6! Re6 22.Re6 fe6 23.Be3! Qc6 24.Bd4 Bg7 25.Bg7 (25.
Bg6? hg6 26.Qg6 e5!) Kg7 26.Re1 and White is winning] 21.Nd4 Qd5
22.Bf6! c5
23.c4! Nc4 [23...Qd7 24.e6 fe6 25.Rg4 Qf7 26.Be5 Bg7 27.Bg6 hg6 28.
Rg6 and White is winning] 24.Nf3! [24.Bc4? Qe4 25.Qe4 Be4 26.e6 fe6
27.Ne6 Kf7! and Black is superior] Na5 25.Rh4! Bg7 [25...c4 26.Bg6 fg6
27.Qg6 hg6 28.Rh8 Kf7 29.Ng5 mate] 26.Be4 Qd7 [26...Qb3 27.Qd2!
Bf6 28.ef6 Qe6 29.Qf4!! Be4 (29...Qe4 30.Qh6) 30.Ng5 Qf5 31.Rh7! Qf4
32.Rg7 Kf8 (32...Kh8 33.Nf7 mate) 33.Nh7 mate] 27.Bg7 Be4 [27...Kg7
28.Qc1 h5 29.Rh5! gh5 (29...Rh8 30.Rh8 Rh8 31.Qc3 and White is
winning) 30.Qg5 Kf8 31.Qh6 Ke7 32.Bb7! Nb7 33.Qf6 Kf8 34.Nh4! Qd3
35.Nf5 and White is winning] 28.Qc1! Bf3 29.Qh6 f5 30.Qh7 Kf7 31.gf3
Rg8 32.Bf8! 1-0 [Sutovsky]

CHESSCAFE: BACK to BASICS

by Gary Lane in OPENING LANES

There is nothing better in a chess opening than to set a trap and have your opponent fall for it. What they don’t mention on the DVDs and books is the heartache when you don’t find the winning move.

It is worth knowing how to make the most of your advantage, as Khozaima Khairulla from Australia can attest. He e-mailed the following extract from a recent Internet game: “1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 Ng5 d5 5 exd5 Nxd5 6 Nxf7 Kxf7 7 Qf3+ Ke6 8 Nc3 Nce7 9 d3? after which I proceeded to lose. I am just an amateur player, and I do not have an engine to check this. But I was wondering what the best reply is to 7…Ke6. The king looks nice and exposed, but catching him is a difficult proposition. I checked on the Internet and 6 Nxf7 is not all that good, but what is the best way to proceed? I found this on some blog: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 Ng5 d5 5 exd5 Nxd5? 6 Nxf7 Kxf7 7 Qf3+ Ke6 8 Nc3 Nb4 9 Qe4 c6. The king can now wander to safety on either side.”

It is annoying to be on the verge of a winning game and not find the right move. There are so many openings traps that it is difficult to keep track of each one, but this is one you need to know if you want to beat the Two Knights. I can understand the frustration of not quite being able to clinch victory, because when I was starting out in chess this line was played by a number of players defending with black. It took a while, but I eventually found the answer is 6 d4. Here is a recent example:

Capucine Saucey-Kevin Seewer Saint-Chely d’Aubrac 2008

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 Ng5 d5 5 exd5 Nxd5?

6 d4! This is definitely the best move in the position, despite the fact that 6 Nxf7 has been played more often. The first time I realised that it was the key to numerous victories at junior level is when I saw Bobby Fischer recommend it in My 60 Memorable Games. It was just a throwaway line in the game Fischer-Bisguier, when he writes in a note on move five, “On 5...Nxd5 6 d4! (6 Nxf7!? is the Fried Liver Attack) is so strong that 5...Nxd5 is practically extinct.” If a world champion such as Fischer says it is the best move, then it is easy for me to recommend it. Just for the record, let’s take a quick look at 6 Nxf7 Kxf7 7 Qf3+ Ke6 8 Nc3 Nce7 9 d4, and now: a) 9...Qd6? 10 Qe4? (10 Bg5! is great for White, when 10...c6 11 0–0–0 gives White a tremendous attack) 10...c6 11 f4 Kd7 12 dxe5 Nxc3 13 bxc3 Qg6 14 Qd4+ Ke8 15 0–0 Bh3 16 Qf2 Nf5 17 Bd3? Bc5! 0–1, D.Cazzaro-H.Oges, La Fere 2007. b) 9...c6! 10 Bg5 Qd6? (10...h6 is probably best) 11 0–0–0! Kd7 12 dxe5 Qxe5 13 Bxe7 (13 Bf4! is crushing in view of 13...Qf5 14 Bxd5 cxd5 15 Nxd5 winning comfortably) 13...Bxe7 14 Nxd5 Bg5+ 15 Kb1 Kd8 16 Rhe1 Qxh2 17 Qf7 1–0, G.Ballan-F.Audinette, Creon 2008. 6...exd4 If 6...Nxd4, then 7 c3 is very strong. The advantage of opening the e-file is that now White is able to sacrifice on f7 in the knowledge that Re1+ is extremely strong if the king comes to e6. 7 0–0 Be7 Also possible is a) 7...Bc5 8 Nxf7! (as usual in this variation the knight sacrifice on f7 works wonders) 8...Kxf7 9 Qf3+ Ke6 10 Re1+ Ne5 11 Bf4 Bd6 12 Qxd5+ Ke7 13 Qf7 checkmate 1–0, F.Harmel-A.Labat, Condom 2005. b) 7...Be6 8 Re1 Be7 (or 8...Qd7 9 Nxf7! Kxf7 10 Qf3+ Kg8 11 Rxe6 1–0, R.Huerta-J.Ballinas, Cuidad del Carmen 1997) 9 Nxe6 ( I prefer the more accurate 9 Rxe6!, when 9…fxe6 10 Nxe6 Qd7 11 Bxd5 wins) 9...fxe6 10 Rxe6 0–0 11 Qh5 Nf4? (this loses in dramatic fashion, 11...Ncb4 is the best chance, but 12 a3 is very strong) 12 Rh6+! Kh8 13 Rxh7 checkmate 1–0, U.Baumgardt-L.Van Dijk, Internet 2004. 8 Nxf7 Kxf7 9 Qf3+ Ke8 Or 9…Ke6 10 Re1+ Ne5 11 Bf4 with a tremendous position. 10 Bxd5 Rf8 11 Bxc6+ bxc6 12 Qxc6+ Bd7 13 Qc4

White is a pawn up, but the bonus is that Black has a rotten position with the king badly exposed. 13...c5 14 Re1 Rc8? 15 Bg5! Rf7 16 Bxe7 Qa5 Of course 16...Rxe7 allows 17 Qg8 checkmate. 17 Na3 Bf5 18 Bd6+ 1–0

This was one of the opening traps I featured in my latest book The Greatest Ever Chess Tricks and Traps, although I used old Fischer games from his simultaneous displays in the 1960s to illustrate how White wins. In the book I try to make sure that the reader has a good chance of getting his trap on the board by proposing tricks that happen within ten moves and still offer a decent position if avoided by the opponent. In the Two Knights section I noticed that 6...Bb4+ is the best chance for Black and I used the following game to illustrate the point:

StepahneZafirov-Louis Deslile Montreal 2004

1 e4 Nc6 2 Nf3 e5 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 Ng5 d5 5 exd5 Nxd5? The main line runs 5…Na5! 6 Bb5+ c6 7 dxc6 bxc6 8 Be2 h6 9 Nf3 (9 Nh3!? looks odd, but has been successfully tried by stars such as Bobby Fischer and Nigel Short) 9...e4 with roughly equal chances. 6 d4 Bb4+ 7 c3 Be7 8 Nxf7! It is easy to play spectacular chess when you can remember the right move. Here Zaifirov is following the excellent role model of a game L.Barden-W.Adams, Hastings 1950. 8...Kxf7 9 Qf3+ Ke6 10 Qe4! This is the move that makes life hard for Black. In the past people have tried to make 10 0–0!? work in White’s favour, but 10…Na5 11 Qg4+ (perhaps 11 Bd3 is worth considering) 11...Kf7 12 Qf3+ Ke6 is not what White wants. 10...b5 Also possible is a) 10...Qd6 11 f4 Na5 12 f5+ Kf7 13 Bxd5+ wins. b) 10...Bf8 11 0–0 Nce7 12 f4 c6 13 fxe5 led to a strong initiative in L.Barden-W.Adams, Hastings 1950. c) 10...g6 11 f4 Na5? (when you have a lousy position, it is easier to blunder because you are so demoralised) 12 Qxe5+ Kf7 13 Bxd5+ 1–0, I.Heine-J.Jagtenberg, Hengelo 1996. 11 Bb3!? This is not the best, but Zafirov can be excused for not knowing all the nuances. After all, the position favours White, so even if you go slightly wrong, it is Black who has to do all the hard work of finding accurate defensive continuations. The line 11 Bxb5 Bb7 12 f4 is the best way to seek an advantage. 11...Bb7 12 Bf4 Instead, 12 dxe5 is met by 12…Na5, when it is not clear how White should proceed. 12...Na5? It is understandable that Black wants to exchange the powerful bishop on b3, but the queen’s knight is needed to defend e5. Maybe 12...Rf8!? should be preferred in view of the variation 13 Bxe5 (13 Bg3!?, intending to castle kingside, keeps the attack going) 13...Nxe5 14 Qxe5+ Kf7 is good for Black because there is no obvious way for White to make the most of the pinned knight on d5. 13 Bxe5 Kf7 14 Bxc7! An easy tactic to add another pawn in the box to make up for the sacrificed piece. 14...Qxc7 15 Bxd5+ Bxd5 16 Qxd5+

16...Kg6 After 16...Kf8?, 17 Qxa8+ wins a rook; while 16...Kf6 17 Qf3+ Kg6 18 0–0 and the exposed black king is a big liability. 17 g4!? I would be tempted to add another pawn to my collection with 17 Qxb5, but White chooses to threaten checkmate in two moves that forces Black to think carefully. 17...Qf4! Instead, 17...Qc8? 18 Qh5+ Kf6 19 g5+ Ke6 20 0–0 Kd7 21 Re1 gives White a clear advantage; and 17...Bg5 18 Qf5+ Kh6 19 h4 wins easily. 18 Qh5+ Kf6 19 Nd2 Bd6?! Dsille needed to find a few top moves such as 19…Rae8 20 0–0–0 Qg5, when he has stopped the attack and of course Ne4+ is not possible because of the pin. 20 g5+ Qxg5?? This mistake is likely the result of time-trouble, because it gives the game away. The position after 20...Ke7 21 Qe2+ is uncomfortable for Black, but he should survive with equal opportunities. 21...Kf7! (21...Kf8?! 22 Qxb5 is good for White because the black rooks are not coordinated) 22 Qxb5 and now he would have to find the superb line 22...Rhe8+ 23 Kd1 Rab8! in order to generate some counterplay. 21 Ne4+ Kf5 22 Qxg5+ Kxe4 23 f3+ Kd3 24 Qd2+ Kc4 25 Qe2+ Kd5 26 Qe4+ Kc4 27 Qe6+ Kd3 28 Qe2# 1–0

Micah Smith from the USA wrote, “I have a question about the London System. In the King’s Indian after 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 Bf4 Bg7 4 e3 d6 5 h3 0-0 6 Be2 and now 6...Nbd7 is usual, but what should White do against 6...Nfd7? This move allows Black to play ...e5, ...f5, and launch his kingside attack a lot quicker than after 6...Nbd7. The main plan against 6...Nbd7 is to attack on the queenside with c4, b4, Rc1, and c5, but if White tries to adapt this plan against 6...Nfd7, play can become very unclear after a continuation such as 7 0-0 e5 8 Bh2 Nc6 9 c4 f5 10 Nc3 g5. 7 e4 has been suggested against 6...Nfd7. What are your thoughts on this variation?”

I think 6…Nfd7 is a line that has to be treated seriously, although it looks as if it gets in the way of the rest of the pieces, the rapid advance of the kingside pawns can be irritating for White.

Daniel Moldovan-Vladislav Nevednichy Romanian Championship, Targoviste 2001

1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 Bf4 The bishop moving to the f4-square is a prelude to White playing the London System. 3…Bg7 4 e3 0–0 5 Be2 d6 6 h3 Nfd7!?

This is the idea that interests Mr. Smith. The king’s knight retreats to allow Black to safely advance the e-pawn two squares. It can be argued that the drawback is that Black has moved a piece twice in the opening, so his development is not as good as it could be and that the d7-square is no longer available for the queen’s knight. 7 0–0 I have to say I don’t think much of 7 e4, because 7…c5 allows Black to equalise comfortably. The advance of the e-pawn might try to make a mark on the centre, but is easily undermined. Indeed, it is difficult to trace hardly anyone who thinks it is a good idea. 7…e5 8 Bh2 Qe7!? The queen often shifts to the e-file in such positions to support the advance. However, there is an argument that one should not commit the queen to a particular square until later. For instance, if you play ...h6 and ...g5 to start a kingside attack, you might wish to play ...Qe8-h5, which would now mean you have wasted a developing move. The main alternative is 8…Nc6, when 9 c4 is suggested by Mr. Smith and 9..f5 10 Nc3 g5 11 dxe5 Ndxe5 12 Nxe5 dxe5 13 Qxd8 Nxd8 14 e4 led to equal chances in A.Payen-F.Nijboer, Koszalin 1998. I think White should prefer the solid 9 c3, when Black might play a) 9…f5 and now: a1) 10 b4 an early sign that Black wants to gain space on the queenside in the traditional manner of advancing the pawns 10…e4 11 Nfd2 Nf6 12 b5 Ne7 13 c4 c5 14 Nc3 Be6 15 Rc1 Rc8 16 Qc2 with roughly equal chances, M.Rivas Pastor-K.Movsziszian, Albacete 2005. a2) 10 Nbd2 Kh8 11 dxe5 dxe5 12 Bb5 Qe7 C.Gabriel-J.Gustafsson, German Team Championship 2002. a3) 10 Na3 e4 11 Nd2 Nf6 12 f3 Ne7 (12…d5!? 13 c4 Bh6 with roughly equal chances, and 12…exf3 13 Bxf3 g5 14 Qb3+ Kh8 15 e4 f4 16 Rae1 gives White a slight edge) 13 fxe4 fxe4 14 Qb3+ Kh8 15 c4 Be6 16 Nc2 b5?! 17 Qxb5 Rb8 18 Qa5 (or 18 Qa4!? Rxb2 19 Rac1) 18…Rxb2 19 Qc3, when I prefer White, but Black eventually won in B.Alterman-B.Avrukh, Tel Aviv 1999. b) 9…h6 10 Nbd2 Qe7 11 dxe5 dxe5 12 Qc2 f5 13 a4 g5 (it looks scary for White, but Black really needs to add more pieces to the kingside to aid the onslaught) 14 Nc4 a5 15 Na3 Nc5 16 Nd2 e4 17 Nb3 Be5 18 Nxc5 Qxc5 19 Qb3+ Kg7 20 Rad1 Bxh2+ 21 Kxh2 Qe5+ 22 Kg1 Ne7 23 Nc4 Qc5 24 Qb5?! (the offer to exchange queens is tantamount to offering a draw, but 24 Qc2!? maintains the game as a contest, when 24…Be6 25 b3 is about level) 24…Qxb5 25 axb5 Be6 26 b6 cxb6 27 Nxb6 Rad8 28 Bc4 Kf6 29 Bxe6 Kxe6 30 Nc4 Nc6 31 Rfe1 b5 ½–½, S.Ledger-D.Mason, Swansea 2006. 9 c4 Moldovan prepares Nc3, when Black will have to worry about Nd5 at some point, attacking the queen. 9 a4 is another idea to stake a claim on the queenside: 9…Re8 (maybe 9…f5 is also worth consideration) 10 c3 Nf8 (this looks odd, but the logic is that the knight will emerge on g6 after a future ...g6-g5) 11 Na3 e4 12 Nd2 g5 13 Nb5!? (White is relying on the predict-a-move method to win, because Black is so committed to his plan of bringing his knight out to g6, the hope is that he will be oblivious to a clever trap) 13...Ng6? (13…a6 is necessary, when 14 Na3 leaves White with a slight edge) 14 Nxe4! Qxe4? (14…a6 15 Nxc7 Qxc7 16 Nxd6 is very strong, because White has three pawns for the piece and the knight on d6 is an excellent outpost) 15 Nxc7 Qe7 16 Nxa8 Na6 17 b4 Nh4 18 b5 1–0, O.Gladischev-N.Papenin, Sevastopol 2000. 9…Nc6 After 9…f5, 10 Nc3 c6 otherwise Nd5 is bothersome with equal opportunities. 10 Nc3 a5 If the Black strategy is to hold back the usual expansion plans of White on the queenside, then it can only do a temporary job. The question is whether exchanging queen’s rooks is an advantage after White engineers the continuation a2-a3 and b2-b4. 11 a3 Or 11 Nb5 Nb6 12 Rc1 Bf5 is level, while 11 Nd5 is more direct, when a sample line runs 11…Qd8 12 Rc1 Ne7 13 dxe5 dxe5 14 Qc2 with promising play. 11…Re8 12 Re1 I also like 12 Rc1 just to keep Black guessing about White’s true intentions in the centre, while also improving his pieces. 12…h6 It is difficult for Black to find useful moves. 13 Rc1 Qd8 An admission that the opening has been a failure, or, more to the point, the idea of placing the queen on e7, because it finally has to meekly retreat. If 13…e4 14 Nd2 Nf6, then the extra scope of the bishop on h2 is revealed upon 15 c5, with a good initiative. 14 Nb5 The knight hops to the useful b5-square, which is made possible now that Black has a pawn on a5, because in other lines ...a7-a6 is possible. Black now needs to watch out for the advance c4-c5. 14 Na4 is also possible to help advance the c-pawn and the line 14…exd4 15 exd4 Qf6 16 c5 Nxd4 17 Nxd4 Qxd4 18 cxd6 cxd6 19 Bxd6 Re6 20 Bc7 is encouraging for White. 14…b6 15 b3 White can just about afford to take his time because Black’s position is cramped. Then again 15 Rb1, intending b2-b4, seems logical, while 15…a4?! is easily rebuffed by 16 Nc3 successfully chasing the a-pawn. 15…Bb7 16 Qc2 Instead, 16 d5 Ne7 17 e4 is doubled-edged even if the bishop on b7 appears to be misplaced. 16…Na7

17 Nxa7!? There is a golden rule not to exchange pieces if your opponent’s position is cramped. The secret to good chess is to know when to defy such sayings, but in this case I prefer 17 Nc3! and then peer despairingly at the poor knight on a7. 17…Rxa7 18 dxe5?! Moldovan needs to exert more control on the centre, so the logical move is to avoid the pawn exchange and opt for 18 Rcd1 in an effort to maintain the tension. 18…Nxe5 Black is happy to exchange his passive pieces. 19 Nxe5 Bxe5 20 Bxe5 Rxe5 After a series of exchanges, things have become clearer. The position is level and the rook on a7 can swiftly return to normal duties upon Ra8. 21 Rcd1 Qe7 22 Bf1 Ra8 23 Qc3 Re8 24 Rd2 f5 25 Red1 g5 26 b4 axb4 27 axb4 Bc6 28 Rd4 Qf6 29 g3 Kg7 30 Bg2 Bxg2 ½–½

It is worth returning to Mr. Smith’s idea of playing c2-c4 in this system. The twist being that White delays castling kingside to provide the further option of moving the king to the queenside.

Boris Grachev-Vladislav Tkachiev Rapidplay Moscow 2008

1 d4 d6 2 Bf4 g6 3 h3 Bg7 4 Nf3 Nf6 5 e3 0–0 6 Be2 Nfd7 7 Bh2 e5 8 c4

At least with a pawn on c4 the queen’s knight can be developed to c3, where it has the most influence in the opening. 8…Nc6 Or 8…e4 9 Nfd2 f5 10 Nc3 Nf6 11 b4 (11 0–0 is a reasonable option) 11…Nc6 12 Qb3 Ne7 13 b5 Be6 14 Qa3 g5 15 Nb3 Ng6 16 c5 f4 17 0–0–0 led to double-edged play, where I prefer Black in B.Grachev-E.Vorobiev, Moscow 2007. 9 Nc3 exd4 Also possible is a) 9…f5 10 0–0 Kh8 11 Rb1 g5 12 dxe5 (12 d5 Nb4 (12…Ne7? allows 13 Nxg5) 13 a3 Na6 14 b4 gives White a slight edge) 12…dxe5 13 b4 e4 14 Nd4 Nxd4 15 exd4 with roughly equal chances, J.Plaskett-A.Hunt, British Team Championship (4NCL) 2003. b) 9…Kh8 10 Qd2 a6 (10…Re8!? has also been tried) 11 0–0–0 b6 12 dxe5 (the danger of exchanging in the centre is that White’s edge tends to fizzle out unless there is an immediate tactic, so instead 12 h4 should be examined) 12...Ndxe5 13 Nd4 Bb7 14 Nd5 Nxd4 15 exd4 Nc6 16 Qf4 Ne7 (Black can take advantage of the queen having to defend the d4-pawn with 16…g5!, when 17 Qe3 Re8 18 Qd3 Nxd4 is good for Black) 17 Bf3 with equal opportunities, D.Luminet-N.Faybish, Antwerp 1998. 10 exd4 Nf6 11 0–0 Re8 12 Re1 A logical continuation to contest the e-file by adding a rook to e1. In the game Z.Ribli-W.Hug, Thessaloniki 1984, White tried 12 d5, when the players were in a peaceful mood: 12…Nb4 13 a3 Na6 14 Rc1 Bh6 15 Rb1 Bf5 16 Bd3 Bxd3 17 Qxd3 Nc5 18 Qc2 a5 19 Rfd1 ½–½ . 12…Bf5 13 d5 Now that there is a bishop on f5, there is more to be gained by making room on d4 for a white knight. 13…Nb4 14 Nd4 Bd7 Perhaps 14…Qd7, but 15 a3 Na6 16 g4 looks good for White. 15 a3 Na6 16 Bf3 Rxe1+ 17 Qxe1 I would assess the position as level, but admittedly it is Black who has to do all the hard work of activating his pieces to better squares. 17…Nc5 18 Qd1 a5 19 b4 axb4 20 axb4 Rxa1 21 Qxa1 Nd3 22 Qb1

22…Ne5!? Tkachiev misses the clever 22…Qe7!, which is primarily based on the line 23 Qxd3 Qe1+ 24 Qf1 Qxc3 with the much better position. 23 Be2 Bc8 24 Bf1 Ne8 25 Ncb5 c6 26 dxc6 bxc6? 26…Nxc6 is essential ensuring a level position. 27 Bxe5 dxe5 Instead, 27…cxb5 28 Bxg7 Nxg7 29 Nxb5 leaves White a pawn up. 28 Nxc6 White is a pawn up, but more importantly he now has two passed pawns on the queenside. Black might huff and puff, but he can’t blow the White position apart. 28…Qd7 29 Nba7 Bb7 30 b5 f5 31 c5 The white pawns advance and Black does tries to distract him, but to no avail. 31…e4 32 Nb8 Qd4 33 c6 33 Qc1 is more precise, but I am sure by now that they are in time-trouble. 33…Qxa7 34 Qb3+ Kh8 35 Nd7

35…Bd4? A better chance is 35…Bxc6 36 bxc6 Qa8 and the fight goes on, but White is still on top. 36 Qf7! Bxf2+ 37 Kh1 Ng7 Or 37...h6 38 Qxe8+ Kh7 39 Qe7+ Kh8 40 Qf8+ Kh7 41 Nf6#. 38 Qf8# 1–0

Finally, Ravi Dahiwala from India has come across an old article of mine from September 2000. He writes “I am very inspired from your article on the French advance with 6 b4. I have beaten a computer games with this line and I would like to play this variation in my recent tournament, but I do not have enough analysis or games on this variation, especially after 6...cxb4 7 Bd3 Bd7 8 0-0 Rc8. How should I continue my game with best attacking chances?”

Ravi is referring to the line 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 c5 4 c3 Nc6 5 Nf3 Qb6 6 b4, which was brought to my attention by Erwin van Pelt from The Netherlands. He wrote, “I have two questions about an interesting, I think, variation in the French Advance Variation. The variation goes this way: 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 c5 4 c3 Nc6 5 Nf3 Qb6 6 b4!!?? I have never seen it in a theoretical book or any database. Here are some variations: a) 6…cb4 7 Bd3 bc3 8 Nc3 Bb4 9 Bd2 Nd4 10 Rb1 Qa5 11 Rb4 Nf3 12 Qf3 Qb4 13 Nb5 Qe7 14 Nd6 Kf8 15 0-0 f5 16 Bb4 Qh4 17 Bf5 and White is winning (Van Steenis-Geurink (+/– 2300), Groningen 1998); b) 6…cb4 7 Bd3 Bd7 8 0-0 bc3 9 Nc3 Nd4 10 Rb1 Nf3 11 Qf3 Qc7 12 Nb5 Qd8 13 Qg3 Bc6 14 Bg5 Qd7 15 Rfc1 a6 16 Nd4 g6 17 Nc6 bc6 18 Ba6 and White is winning. The best variation for Black is 6…cxd4 7 b5 Na5 8 Nd4 Bd7 9 Bd3 Rc8 and White has some play with his pawn on e5, but Black has good play against c3 and c4. To be honest, it is not my variation, but from my Staunton team mate, the very creative player Menno van Steenis (usually he plays like Tal or Shirov, sometimes like Uncle John) from Groningen. He has played many interesting games with this variation.”

Now more than eight years later, I can reveal exactly how many times it has been played at international tournaments: zero. Therefore, it is not to be trusted. If you really want to sacrifice a pawn in the Advance French, then I would recommend you have a closer look at the line: 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 c5 4 Nf3

4…Nc6 5 Bd3 cxd4 6 0–0

If anyone plays this gambit line successfully, then please let me know.

---

Opening Lanes is based in large part on readers’ questions. Do you have a question about a particular opening line? Baffled by a branch of the Benoni or Budapest? Submit your questions (with your full name and country of residence please) and perhaps Gary will reply in his next ChessCafe.com column...

CHESSCAFE: A LOOK BACK at 2008

by GM Susan Polgar

Happy New Year! I wish all of you a happy, healthy, peaceful and prosperous 2009! In this column, I will briefly recap some of the biggest chess events of 2008.

The first big tournament of 2008 was the Corus event. This year, Carlsen and Aronian tied for first with a +3 score. Radjabov took third. One of the big battles of this tournament was the game between Topalov and Kramnik.

Following Corus was the prestigious Morelia/Linares super tournament, where half of the event was played in Morelia, Mexico and the other half was played in Linares, Spain. The 2008 winner was Anand with a +3 score. Carlsen placed second with a +2 score while Topalov and Aronian tied for third with a +1 score. Another major event in 2008 was the Baku Grand Prix. In this tournament, we saw the emergence of Gashimov as a world class player. He tied for first with Wang Yue and Carlsen with a +3 score. The M-tel Masters is now an annual super tournament. Ivanchuk ran away with the tournament with a whopping +6! Topalov came in at a distance second at +3. Ivanchuk’s performance was nearly 3000 for the tournament!

The Bosna tournament was also quite strong. Morozevich won this one with a +5 score, while Cuban top GM Dominguez came in second at +2. Carlsen made his mark in 2008 by winning the Foros Aerosvit tournament with a hefty +5 score, which was a full point ahead of Ivanchuk at +3. Leko joined the winner circle by capturing Dortmund in 2008 with a solid +2 score. The big story here was Kramnik’s minus score, which is quite rare. Four players tied for first at the 2008 Karpov Poikovsky tournament. Shirov, Jakovenko, Gashimov, and Rublevsky were all at +2.

Dominguez of Cuba had a breakout year in 2008. After coming in second place in Bosna, he tied for first in Biel with Alekseev at +3, ahead of Carlsen by a ½-point.

Aronian won Sochi, the second Grand Prix event of the year. He scored +4, while Radjabov logged in second with +3.

Ivanchuk won again at the 2008 Tal Memorial. His +3 score was good enough to win this one by a full point over Kramnik and Morozevich.

The highest rated tournament of the year, as well as highest rated tournament in history, was the Bilbao Grand Slam. I was there as the official commentator with my friend Leontxo Garcia. Topalov won the event by 1½ point over Aronian, Carlsen, and Ivanchuk. Anand finished at –2, but this was his last big event before the match in Bonn against Kramnik.

In Bonn, Anand jumped out to a +3 score in the twelve game match, and ended up winning by the score of 6½ – 4½.

Peter Svidler won his fifth Russian Championship title. He won the playoff after tying for first with Jakovenko and Alekseev with a +3 score.

The 2008 Dresden Olympiad was the largest chess Olympiad in history. Armenia won Gold again, while Georgia returned to super power status in women’s chess by winning Gold in the women’s Olympiad. The U.S. came in third in both Olympiads.

China hosted its most prestigious tournament ever in Nanjing. Topolov won another super event by a 1½ point margin with his +4 score and a hefty performance of nearly 2900. Aronian finished at a distant second with a +1 score.

The third Grand Prix of the year moved from Doha to Elista, Carlsen and Adams jumped ship because of changes to the cycle. Radjabov notched another win under his belt by tying for first with Grischuk and Jakovenko. All three were at +1.

In the U.S., the 2008 SPICE Cup (average rating over 2605) at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX was the first ever category 15 tournament in the United States. GMs Harikrishna, Onischuk, Akobian, and Kritz shared first place. In 2009, I expect the SPICE Cup to reach a historic category 16 (perhaps even 17), something which has never been seen in the U.S. Please check out www.spice.ttu.edu and www.susanpolgar.blogspot.com for updates.

The 2009 Susan Polgar National Open for Boys and Girls will have over $250,000 in scholarships and chess prizes! It will be held on February 13-15, 2009 in Phoenix, Arizona. The winner of each scholastic section will receive a state-of-the-art laptop computer (eight altogether). More information can be found here. There have been quite a few changes in the top ten rating list in 2008:

January 2008: Kramnik and Anand share the top honor.

• Kramnik, Vladimir 2799
• Anand, Viswanathan 2799
• Topalov, Veselin 2780
• Morozevich, Alexander 2765
• Svidler, Peter 2763
• Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2760
• Shirov, Alexei 2755
• Leko, Peter 2753
• Ivanchuk, Vassily 2751
• Aronian, Levon 2739

April 2008: Anand took over the #1 spot while breaking 2800.

• Anand, Viswanathan 2803
• Kramnik, Vladimir 2788
• Morozevich, Alexander 2774
• Topalov, Veselin 2767
• Carlsen, Magnus 2765
• Aronian, Levon 2763
• Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2752
• Radjabov, Teimour 2751
• Svidler, Peter 2746
• Leko, Peter 2741

July 2008: Anand maintained the #1 spot, but fell just below 2800. Morozevich moved up to a tie for second with Kramnik.

• Anand, Viswanathan 2798
• Morozevich, Alexander 2788
• Kramnik, Vladimir 2788
• Ivanchuk, Vassily 2781
• Topalov, Veselin 2777
• Carlsen, Magnus 2775
• Radjabov, Teimour 2744
• Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2742
• Shirov, Alexei 2741
• Leko, Peter 2741

October 2008: Topalov regained the #1 spot. The top five were separated by eight points!

• Topalov, Veselin 2791
• Morozevich, Alexander 2787
• Ivanchuk, Vassily 2786
• Carlsen, Magnus 2786
• Anand, Viswanathan 2783
• Kramnik, Vladimir 2772
• Aronian, Levon 2757
• Radjabov, Teimour 2752
• Leko, Peter 2747

Closing out 2008: Topalov maintains his #1 ranking at year end in spite of FIDE not counting Nanjing. He would have been at 2809 if Nanjing had been rated. Jakovenko and Movsesian are the two new faces in the top ten.

• Topalov, Veselin 2796
• Anand, Viswanathan 2791
• Ivanchuk, Vassily 2779
• Carlsen, Magnus 2776
• Morozevich, Alexander 2771
• Radjabov, Teimour 2761
• Jakovenko, Dmitry 2760
• Kramnik, Vladimir 2759
• Leko, Peter 2751
• Movsesian, Sergei 2751

The top five rating performances of the year were:

• Ivanchuk 2981 in Sofia
• Topalov 2892 in Nanjing
• Carlsen 2877 in Foros
• Topalov 2876 in Bilbao
• Morozevich 2872 in Sarajevo

Below are two games from 2008 that received votes by the fans as games of the year:

Veselin Topalov (2780) – Vladimir Kramnik (2799)
Wijk aan Zee, Corus A (9), 22.01.2008

12.Nxf7!?

A very impressive positional knight sacrifice in this popular variation of the Moscow gambit. White has no immediate forced win, but has long-term strong compensation.

12...Kxf7 13.e5 Nd5 14.Ne4 Ke7 15.Nd6 Qb6 16.Bg4

Black is up a full piece, but his position is not easy to defend. His king is in a very vulnerable position and the white knight on d6 is scary.

16...Raf8 17.Qc2 Qxd4?

Better was 17...Rhg8.

18.Qg6! Qxg4 19.Qxg7+ Kd8 20.Nxb7+

White has recaptured the piece and maintained a strong attack.

20...Kc8 21.a4! b4 22.Rac1 c3 23.bxc3 b3 24.c4 Rfg8 25.Nd6+ Kc7 26.Qf7 Rf8

Here Topalov should have played the simpler 27.h3, but I can understand that it may be hard to resist the temptations of another spectacular sacrifice.

27.cxd5!?

This is certainly beautiful, but objectively speaking it gives Black hope.

27...Rxf7 28.Rxc6+ Kb8 29.Nxf7

29...Re8?!

Missing the opportunity for 29...Qe2! and if 30.Nxh8? Qxf1+! 31.Kxf1 b2.

30.Nd6 Rh8 31.Rc4

Now Black’s position becomes hopeless as White’s rook gets behind the b-pawn.

31...Qe2 32.dxe6 Nb6 33.Rb4 Ka8 34.e7 Nd5 35.Rxb3 Nxe7 36.Rfb1 Nd5 37.h3! h5 38.Nf7 Rc8 39.e6! a6 40.Nxg5 h4 41.Bd6 Rg8 42.R3b2 Qd3 43.e7 Nf6 44.Be5 Nd7 45.Ne6 1–0

Black resigned, because if 45…Nxe5 46.Nc7+ Ka7 47.Rb7#.

Vladimir Akopian (Armenia) – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France)
Dresden Chess Olympiad (8), November 21, 2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.Be2 Qc7 8.a4 b6 9.f4 Bb7 10.Bf3 Nbd7 11.Qe2 g6 12.0–0 e5 13.Rad1!

Amazingly White can ignore the threat against the attacked knight.

13...Be7

If black accepts the sacrifice by 13...exd4, White gets an excellent position after 14.Bxd4 Bg7 15.e5.

14.fxe5 Nxe5

Perhaps 14...dxe5 would have been better.

15.Bh6

A good move to prevent Black from castling kingside.

15...Bf8 16.Bxf8 Kxf8 17.Qe3 h6?

This is a mistake. Better would have been 17...Kg7, and if 18.Qg5 Qc5 19.Kh1 Nxf3 20.Qf4 Qe5.

18.Bh5! Qe7

Of course 18...Nxh5? would not work, because of the fork with 19.Ne6+, thanks to the pin on the f-file.

19.Bxg6!

A nice combination!

19…Nxg6

If 19...fxg6, 20.Rxf6+! Qxf6 21.Rf1 Qxf1+ 22.Kxf1 with a clearly better endgame for White.

20.Nf5 Qe5 21.Qxb6

White gets a number of pawns for the sacrificed bishop, plus the black king is in danger.

21...Bxe4 22.Qxd6+ Qxd6 23.Nxd6 Bxc2

24.Rxf6!

This is another elegant move, sacrificing the rook on d1 to end the game in a few more moves.

24...Ra7

If 24...Bxd1 25.Rxf7+ Kg8 and after the quiet 26.Nd5, Black is helpless against the checkmate threat with Nd5-f6.

25.Rd2 Kg7 26.Rf3 1–0

Black resigned as the material loss is unavoidable. For example, if 26...Bb3 27.Nf5+ Kh7 (or 27...Kg8) 28.Ne4, while after 27...Kf6 28.Nd4+ wins.

---

Paul Truong assisted Susan Polgar in the preparation of this column. Susan Polgar is the director of the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) at Texas Tech University. For more information, visit www.spice.ttu.edu or email: SusanPolgar@aol.com.