14 August 2015
Lack of Sleep and the Fight of Generations
Sergey Shipov analyzes the most interesting games of the first three rounds of the Superfinal.
I believe it to be one of the main trends of the modern Superfinals when the seasoned soldiers, regulars of the national team come to fall under pressure of the young championship participants who are thirsty for wins.
This trend is especially pronounced in the men's championship. I truly support the young wave in this battle, although I am perfectly well aware that the current performance level of Dubov, Bukavshin and Artemiev falls short of that of Svidler and Co. However, this gap is well compensated by presence of energy and motivation.
A quick start by Karjakin and Tomashevsky came as no surprise. These players are in their prime and it would be wrong for them not to strive for the best possible results.
Evgeny took the lead in the championship both in terms of the points scored as well as in terms of the quality of his performance. His delivery during the after the game press conferences deserves special praise. Should all players start commenting their games with such level of clarity and depth of analysis, the commentators would have been left without much job to do.
The women's section of the tournament sees the players whose family names starts with the letter "G" dominating the tournament right from the start, just like it happened a year ago (and of all this in the absence of Galliamova, for that matter). The leaders Goryachkina and Girya display very confident and solid play. As for Gunina, however...
The Russian Champion performs in her trademark style. She is being very creative in the opening part of the game, so to speak, but then she would emerge triumphantly from the hopeless situations. Valentina has so far got the worst of it only once at the start of the tournament here in Chita (however, let’s recall what happened in the Kazan tournament!). Thus, she goes on keeping excellent chances to hold her title. By the way, taking into account the last year's Super Final games she has by now delivered as many as 12 decisive games. This is a real janissary of a girl!
The chess content of the first three rounds has turned out to be many and various.
I will mostly focus on the games that ended in wins, of course. It should be noted, however, that there are worthy examples among the games that were drawn.
Round 1. Trying to Wake Up
The night flight from Moscow took its heavy toll by seriously disturbing the sleep pattern so that the players were not expected to come up with a vivid performance during the first day of the tournament. But some players still managed to wake up earlier than others.
Bukavshin – Lysyj
1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.0–0 cxd4 8.exd4 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b6 10.Bg5 Bb7 11.Ne5 h6 12.Bh4 Nbd7
Many experts were aware of the two pieces’ sacrifice available in this position. It appears that it has been considered to be nothing else but a way to fix the draw, whereas Ivan has uncovered new latent opportunities.
13.Nxf7! Kxf7 14.Bxe6+ Kxe6 15.Qb3+ Kf5 16.Qc2+ Ke6 17.Qb3+ Kf5 18.Qc2+ Ke6
Is it just going to end up in a perpetual check? No way!
19.Qg6!
The black king is deprived of the opportunity of going back to g8, therefore he is in for a hazardous voyage through the middle of the board.
Finding your way through the subsequent complications is possible only with the aid of a strong computer, which I do not have at the moment (I left it home in Moscow). So, I kindly ask you consider my lines and evaluations as an easy sketch rather than a finalized picture of what really took place.
19...Bxc3!
This is the only correct approach to the position.
20.bxc3 Re8!
This is also the strongest move as Black prepares the bishop plunge Bb7-e4 with subsequent escape of his king over to the queen side. The immediate 20...Be4 was no good in view of 21.Rfe1, followed by taking on e4 to meet any possible response of Black’s.
21.Rfe1+
It would be the first choice of the majority of players, I should say.
To Bukavshin’s credit, he subjected the computer move 21.Rae1+!? to analysis as well. The idea of such placement of rooks is that the exchange on e1 comes without the white king being checked. This approach pays off should Black make up his mind to stick to the line that he went for in the game: after 21... Kd5 22.c4+ Kc6? 23.Qg3! Rxe1 24.d5+! Kc5 25.Rxe1, the black king is in for a big thrashing.
However, rather than retreating to c6 Black should react stronger with the bold move 22 ... Kxd4!, after which the Black's king is still in time to get away. The analysis discovers a lot of hidden tricks, but it seems most likely that White is unable to claim the victory. For example, 23.Qxg7 Kc5 24.Bxf6 Qxf6 25.Qxd7 Rxe1 26.Rxe1 Rf8 27.Qc7+ Kb4!? (let’s go to the limit!) 28.Rb1+ Ka3 29.Qg3+ Bf3! etc.
In the case of 21.c4 Black can already get away with 21…Be4 in order to meet 22.Rfe1 with Kd6, whereas in the case of 22.Qxg7 Rg8 23.d5+ the strongest rejoinder is 23...Kf5! 24.g4+ Nxg4 25.Qh7+ Rg6 26.Bxd8 because Black is not confused by the loss of his queen. After 26...Nge5+! some other factors of more weighty nature start coming into consideration.
21...Kd5 22.c4+
22...Kc6
This is a correct decision from the human point of view. However, as it turned out later, Igor underestimated the White’s next move.
Anyway, there are very few players who would have gone to the length of 22...Kxd4!?. I will refrain from supplying you with any of my analytical lines as they are far from perfection. Suffice it to say that this position hides no end of fighting possibilities.
23.Qg3!
This is much stronger than the stereotyped approach 23.Bg3, when after 23…Ba6 the game is virtually over once the black king finds himself on b7.
This time around in the case of 23...Ba6? White can start delivering checks from f3 and g3, resulting in the white queen capturing the rook on a8.
23...Rxe1+
This is again the only reasonable move from the human point of view.
On the other hand the engine is literally mocking us by recommending the 23... Ne5! lunge with the idea of meeting 24.dxe5 with 24…g5! In my analysis the black king is given a perpetual check seven moves from now, but I would not venture into claiming that the line if free from the equal number of errors: 25.Qc3 (25.exf6 Qxf6!) 25... gxh4 26.exf6 Qd7 27.c5 bxc5 28.Red1 Qf5 29.Qa5 Re2 30.Qa4+ Kc7 31.Qa5+, etc.
24.Rxe1
Now White is forced to recapture the black rook because delivering the counter check on d5 would be an illegal move.
24...Qg8!
What a beautiful geometry. Black is ready to capture the white pawn on d5, while the rook is now free to move to e8.
25.Rc1!
This is a fresh powerful resource: White is once again reintroducing the threat of d4-d5+.
After 25.d5+? Nxd5 26.cxd5+ Qxd5 the White’s offence is about to vanish, while the Black’s material advantage in the form of an extra piece is going to seal the fate of the encounter.
25...Nc5!
This is the only, but sufficient resource to let Black stay in the game.
26.dxc5
26...Qe6!
This is the only continuation. After 26...bxc5? 27.Qf3+ Kc7 28.Bg3+ Kc8 29.Qf5+ Nd7 Black is virtually reduced to playing without his a8-rook, which makes his defensive formations fragile, for that matter. For example, after 30.Qf4 Qd8 31.Re1 Nf6 32.Qf5+ Nd7 33.Qh5 Black cannot prevent Re1–e8 without having to abandon the pawn on с5 to its fate.
27.Qxg7
White could have started by taking on b6 first.
27...Nd7
During the game Igor was also contemplating the 27...Nh5 move in order to discourage the white bishop from dropping to g3, which was certainly not a bad idea. However, he must have seen that 28.Qb2 should have been mandatorily met by 28...Kc7!
28.Bg3
Following 28.cxb6 axb6 29.Bg3 Black could have cold-bloodedly taken the White’s a2-pawn without any fatal consequences for him.
28...Rg8
Black pins his hope on getting through to g2 one day, whereas in the case of any real danger to the black king he is always ready to sacrifice his exchange on g3.
29.Qc3
29.Qb2! would have left more practical chance for success. Against this the Russian Champion was planning to move 29... Ba6, in which case White was then to go for 30.cxb6 axb6 31.a4! with the intention of opening new lines on the queenside. Further details will be revealed in the course of analysis.
30...Qf5
31.Re7
The winning potential has almost depleted, while the risk of gradually losing the game due to lack of material has increased quite substantially.
31...Qb1+ 32.Re1 Qf5 33.Re7 Qb1+ 34.Re1 – and a draw was agreed here.
What a superb game! Both players rose up to the occasion. Instead of half a point I would have awarded each with three-quarters of a point -:)
Tomashevsky - Jakovenko
Evgeny has been defending efficiently and for a long time, but lost his concentration in the time trouble.
35.Rc2?
Having protected one weakness, Black neglected another one. The c4-pawn could have taken care of itself by 35.c5!
35...Qa4?
As the time trouble was mutual, Dmitry rushed to make his next move. Nevertheless, after 35...Rd3! Black would have succeeded in getting through to the f3-pawn to win the game.
36.Rc3
Further exchanges proved harmless for White.
36...Nxf3+
36...Re2 is strongly met by 37.Qb5!
37.Rxf3 Rxe1+ 38.Kg2 R1e2+ 39.Kh3 R2e6 40.Rf2 Qc6 41.Qxc6 Rxc6 Draw.
Karjakin - Khismatullin
Black is down two pawns, but his passed pawn is a lot closer to the queening square.
51...b2! 52.Nxc5 Rg1+?
This is a wrong choice. Black should have chosen another material ratio to remain on the board: 52...Rc1! 53.Rb3 b1Q (53...Rxc5 is a mistake in view of 54.Rb8+! Ke7 55.f4! Rc2+ 56.Kf3 Rxh2 57.Rb6+-) 54.Rxb1 Rxb1 55.f4 Kf7. Having three pawns for the exchange sacrifice is a lot of extra material; however, Black would have still retained his drawing chances due to the weakness of the White’s h-pawn.
53.Kxg1 b1Q+ 54.Kg2
A rook and a knight are quick to establish coordination, covering the king from checks, while the pawns advance forward inexorably. An engine, playing Black, could have maintained prolonged resistance, but it defies the capabilities of an ordinary human player.
54...Qc2 55.Nd3 Qc6+ 56.Kg1 Qe4 57.h3 Ke7 58.Re3 Qd5 59.Ne1 Qd1 60.Kh2 Qb1 61.Kg2 Qg6+ 62.Rg3 Qe4+ 63.Nf3 Kf8 64.Rg4 Qf5 65.Kg3 Qb1 66.h4 Qh7 67.Rf4+ Ke8 68.Rf6 Qg8+ 69.Ng5 Qb3+ 70.Kg4! Qd5 71.Re6+ Kf8 72.Kh5! Qd4 73.f4 Qd1+ 74.Kg6 Qg4 75.h5 Qg1 76.h6 Qg2 77.Rf6+ Black resigns.
Gunina– Goryachkina
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.e3 c5 4.b3 b6 5.Bb2 Bb7 6.Be2 Be7 7.0–0 0–0 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 a6 10.Nc3 Qc7 11.Rc1 d6 12.Bd3 Nbd7 13.Bb1 Rac8
Such placement of white bishops has been seen more than once. All possible plans and tactical possibilities available for White in this position have been analyzed in great details in some of the books. I've seen hundreds of games on this subject, but have never so far witnessed the following maneuver
14.Qe1!
The idea proved to be quite an excellent one. The queen is transferred to the kingside after the pawn moves from f2.
14...Qb8 15.f4! Rfe8 16.Qg3 Bf8 17.a4
White overextends the battle front. An obvious mix of different plans is clearly seen... to the same extent as a huge talent of the current Russian Champion is seen also!
White should have returned into the sphere of a standard type of play, building up tension in the center and on the kingside.
17.e4?! would have been premature in view of 17...b5 18.cxb5 Qa7, and the d4-knight is in trouble. Therefore White should have started with 17.Rcd1! in order to meet the scheduled 17...Qa8 with 18.Qh3, intending to advance the g2-pawn. The analysis proves that White features strong initiative, while Black’s counterplay is impeded.
17...Qa8
Black should have probably moved the queen towards the center with 17...Qc7, followed by Qc7-c5. The queen will then be able to infiltrate into b4.
18.Nf3 h6 19.Rcd1 Red8
Aleksandra is just marking her time, waiting for her opponent to launch some action. It is in fact not clear how she can set up any sort of counterplay.
20.Nd2 Nc5
21.a5!??
This move shocked both spectators and commentators. Liberating the a4 square for the knight looked impressive, but was not especially productive. It was not yet too late to go for 21.Qh3! with the idea of g2-g4-g5.
21...bxa5 22.Na4 Nfe4! 23.Nxe4 Nxe4
It turns out that winning the exchange sacrifice by White leads to a significant advantage for Black in view of the weakness on b3 – 24.Bxe4 Bxe4 25.Nb6 Qb8 26.Nxc8 Rxc8 etc.
In the subsequent time trouble the girls lost control over the course of the game.
24.Qg4 Rc7?! 25.f5 e5 26.f6 (26.Bxe4!? Bxe4 27.Bxe5) 26...Qc8 27.Qh5 Qe6?
In the case of 27...Nxf6! Aleksandra was apprehensive of 28.Rxf6 gxf6 29.Bf5 Qb8 30.e4 followed by the rook lift and transfer along the third rank. In reality, however, the White's attack is harmless: 30...Bc6 31.Rd3 Bg7 32.Rg3 Kf8 33.Qg4 Bh8, and the black king finds shelter on e7.
28.Bxe4?
This is a wrong move order. Had White started with 28.fxg7!, she would have gained an advantage. In the main line 28...Be7 29.Nc3 Nxc3 30.Bf5! Black ends up losing his queen. 28...Kxg7 29.Nc3 Nf6 30.Qh4 looks rather grim, whereas 28...Bxg7 is simply bad due to 29.Bxe4 Bxe4 30.Qh4! with a fork against e4 and d8.
28...Bxe4 29.Qh4
Getting even further along the wrong path. 29.fxg7 Be7 30.Nc3 would have been more stubborn.
29...Bc2!
Now Black goes on eliminating the entire queenside of White’s, while fxg7 is not much of a threat in view of Bf8-e7. The final part of the game was really one-sided:
30.Rd2 Bxb3 31.Nb6 Rb8 32.Nd5 Rxc4 33.e4 g5! 34.Qe1 Ra4 35.Bc3 Bxd5 36.Rxd5 Qg4 37.h3 Qxe4 38.Qd2 Rc8 39.Rd3, and Valentina lost on time.
Girya – Ovod
Two passed pawns are better than one.
41.d5! exd5 42.Ne2!
The knight is going to dominate in the center of the board.
42...Kh5 43.a6! d4
43...Kg6 44.Nd4 Ba8 45.Kf3 is also hopeless.
44.Nxd4 Ba8 45.Ne6 Kg6 46.a7 Bb7 47.h3!
White demonstrates a good technical play. 47.Nc7 was intended to be met by 47...g4! However, after 48.Ne6 Kf5 49.Nxf4 Kxe5 50.Kg3 etc. White was still winning, whereas the straightforward approach 48.a8Q? Bxa8 49.Nxa8 Kf5 would have allowed Black to bail out.
47...Kf5 48.Nc7 Kxe5 49.a8Q Bxa8 50.Nxa8 Ke4 51.Nb6 f3 52.Nd7 Kf4 (52...g4 53.Nf6+!) 53.Nf6 Kf5 54.Ng4 Kf4 55.Nh2 Ke4 56.Nxf3 Kf4 57.Nh2 Black resigns.
Round 2. Fire on the Chess Boards
In round two the participants started performing to their full capacity and generated as many as 7 resultative games of 12. It was extremely interesting to follow and comment.
Vitiugov - Bukavshin
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e3 Nf6 5.b3 Bd6 6.Bb2 0–0 7.Bd3 e5 8.dxe5 Bxe5 9.Nf3 Bg4 10.Qc2 Bxf3 11.gxf3
It is obvious that Ivan overestimated his position.
11...d4?
Simple development of pieces would have afforded Black reasonable counterplay after: 11...Na6! 12.a3 Nc5 13.Be2, at which moment Black can start contemplating both 13...dxc4 and 13...d4 14.Rd1 Ne6 15.f4 Bd6 with sharp play.
12.Ne2 Qa5+
After 12...c5 13.f4 Bc7 14.exd4 cxd4 15.0–0–0 Nc6 16.Kb1! the d4-pawn was doomed.
13.b4!
Rather than 13.Kf1? dxe3 with an obvious edge for Black.
13...Qxb4+ 14.Kf1
Now that the e5-bishop is undefended White grabs control over the center.
14...c5
The position arising after 14...Nbd7 15.f4 (also good is 15.exd4 Bc7 16.c5) 15...Bc7 16.Bxd4 is not a cup of tea.
15.f4 Bd6 16.exd4!
Nikita was right not to allow himself to be tempted into 16.e4, because after 16...Nc6! 17.e5 Bxe5 18.fxe5 Nxe5 Black would have obtained multiple pawns for the sacrificed piece and an active piece play.
16...Nbd7 17.Rg1
This is the irony of fate. The black king has castled in accordance with all prescriptions of the chess science, whereas his white counterpart, on the other hand, has lost this right. However, it turns out that it is the black monarch that is being exposed to great dangers, while his white counterpart feels safe and sound.
17...g6?
Youth knows no fear. Having created a hook for White to attack, Bukavshin has doomed himself to a defeat
In a couple of years from now he will play more prudently. For that matter he could have transferred his bishop to f8 via 17...Rfe8!, trying to take it from there...
18.Rb1 Qa5 19.f5! g5
This is a forced decision. The crushing sacrifices on g6 would sooner or later lead to White’s victory. One of the possible lines may run as follows: 19...cxd4 20.fxg6 fxg6 (more stubborn is 20...Qh5) 21.Bxg6! Kh8 22.Bxh7! Nxh7 23.Bxd4+ Ndf6 24.Rb5 Qc7 25.Rh5 Rae8 26.Qf5 Qe7 27.Rxh7+ Qxh7 28.Bxf6+ and the game is over.
20.Qc1! Kh8 21.dxc5 Be7
21...Qxc5 22.Qxg5+-; 21...Be5 22.Bxe5 Nxe5 23.Qxg5 Ne8 24.Qe7+-.
22.Bd4 Qc7 23.Be4! Rab8 24.Nc3
Cleaver maneuvering in the center allows White to create irresistible threats.
24...h6 25.Nd5 Qd8
26.h4! Bxc5 27.hxg5! Bxd4 28.gxf6 Black resigns.
Khismatullin – Tomashevsky
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 Bb4 5.Bg2 0–0 6.0–0 e4 7.Ng5 Bxc3 8.bxc3 Re8 9.f3 exf3 10.Nxf3 Qe7 11.e3 Ne5 12.Nd4 d6 13.d3 c5 14.Nf5 Bxf5 15.Rxf5
White intends to advance with e3-e4 and, if allowed that, to have a free hand to build up pressure indefinitely long. Therefore, Evgeny hastens to deliver a counterstrike.
15...d5! 16.cxd5 c4! 17.d4 Nd3
The pawn sacrifice helped Black to grab the light squares in the center. White’s bishops are restricted in their scope.
18.Rxf6!?
A human desire to turn the course of the game around in order to overtake the initiative is perfectly understandable. In his home analysis Tomashevsky believed 18.Bd2! Ne4 19.Bxe4 Qxe4 20.Qf3 Qxf3 21.Rxf3 Rad8 22.Rb1! to be more a dangerous line for Black because the active queen rook prevents White from enjoying his superiority in the center.
18...Qxf6 19.Qe2
It is very dangerous for White to let the black queen appear on f2. For example, 19.e4 Qf2+ 20.Kh1 Ne1!
19...Nxc1 20.Rxc1 Qg5 21.Re1 Rad8
The Black’s rooks maintain pressure that does not allow White to advance his central pawns in a comfortable manner.
22.e4
22.Qf2 is met by 22…Qe7, preventing White from carrying out e3-e4 without losing material.
22...Rxd5 23.e5 Rd7 24.Qxc4
White can hold this position together with precise play, I believe. After all, his bishop is active and the pawn structure is flexible. However, coming up with precise lines over the board was extremely difficult, and Denis crumbled in time trouble. The game continued as follows:
24...g6 25.Qe2 Qd8 26.Bh3 Rde7 27.Qf2 b5! 28.Bg4 Rc7 29.Qd2 b4! 30.cxb4 Rc4 31.Re4 Qb6 32.Bd7 Re7 33.Ba4 Qxb4 34.Qxb4 Rxb4 35.Bb3 a5 36.Kf2 a4 37.Bd5 Rc7! 38.Ke3 Rb5 39.e6 Kf8 40.Ba8 Ra5 White resigns.
Motylev – Khairullin
Ildar took the poisoned central pawn in the opening and the king was forced to seek shelter on the queenside. But there would be no peace to him there either. Sudden rescue arrived from where it was by no means expected...
25.Na2?
This is a blunder. Any reasonable move would have allowed White to retain his sizeable advantage, one of them being 25.Bd3, for example.
25...Nxc2!
Alexander must have calculated towards another direction: 25...Nxa2? 26.Qxa6+ Kd7 27.Rxd5+ Ke7 28.Rf5!, when 28...Qxb2 is met by 29.Rxf7+!
26.Qxa6+
In the case of 26.Qxc2 Rxb2 White would have faced the choice of losing a piece or getting mated.
26...Kd7 27.Nc3
This is White’s last hope.
27...Nxe1! 28.Nxd5 Qe5!
White failed to get away with his bluff. Black calmly grabs material, not fearing any discovered checks.
29.c6+
29.Nxc7+ is simply met by 29...Ke7.
29...Ke8 30.Qa7 Rd8 31.Nxc7+ Qxc7! 32.Qxc7 Rxd1 33.Qb8+ Ke7 34.Qb4+ Kf6 35.Qc3+ Kg6 36.Kf1 Re8 White resigns.
Pogonina - Savina
Sometimes an assault against the enemy’s king can be launched even without queens on the board, especially if your position features an extra pawn and positional advantage.
30...f5! 31.b4
Passive defense did not promise any saving chances since White’s queen side is weak also: 31.f3 Bf6 32.Bd3 Re3! 33.Re2 Rhe8 34.Kf1 R8e5 35.Rdd2 g4, etc.
31...axb4 32.axb4 g4 33.c5 bxc5 34.bxc5 dxc5 35.Rxc5
White managed to break through, having reduced the amount of material remaining on the board. Now, however, it is Black’s turn to start acting.
35...Bd6 36.Rc2 f3
Preliminary 36...Kf6 would have been more accurate.
37.Bb5?!
White should have given a try to 37.gxf3 gxh3 38.Bf1! in order to discourage the black rook from infiltrating to g2, as happened in the game.
37...Rb8 38.Bd3 Kf6 39.Re1 gxh3 40.gxf3 Rhg8+ 41.Kh1
41...Rg2!
Now the black fox drives the white hare out of his own dwelling.
42.f4 Bxf4 43.Rc6+ Kf7 44.Bxf5 Rh2+ 45.Kg1 Rg8+ 46.Kf1 Rh1+ 47.Ke2 Rxe1+ 48.Kxe1 Rg1+ 49.Ke2 h2 White resigns.
Guseva - Girya
Good positional play was crowned by a spectacular finish.
50...Nf3+! 51.Qxf3 (51.gxf3 is answered by 51...Qd2+) 51...Rxe1 White resigns.
Round 3. Forest Fires
The atmospheric environment in Chita changed dramatically on that day. The wind had carried a huge volume of air masses over from the area of forest fires resulting in the dense smoke enveloping the entire city so that it reminded us of the infamous Moscow summer of 2010.
Trying to do your mental work while inhaling the fumes (it is just impossible to have the tournament venue isolated from the surrounding atmospheric air) proved extremely challenging. The human bodies readjusted instinctively to combat the oxygen deficiency, therefore round three lacked the aggressive type of play.
However, there turned up a young talent who would not be hassled by any lack, especially that of the air. Could it be that it was his natural reaction to stress? He might have desired to get as soon as possible away from the playing hall to lock himself in his hotel room in order to start enjoying the air conditioned environment.
This is what has come of it.
Artemiev– Motylev
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 e5 4.Bxc4 exd4 5.exd4 Bd6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.0–0 0–0 8.h3 Nc6 9.Nc3 Bf5 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4
Black is not going to have easy time attempting to untangle himself out of the pin on f6. Alexander tries to solve the issue once and for good.
11...g5!?
White could of course have dropped his bishop to g3, keeping a small edge, but Vladislav wanted more from this position.
12.Nxg5! hxg5 13.Bxg5 Re8!
This is the most precise rejoinder. The only bad news is that Motylev has spent a great deal of his time contemplating this move. He admitted later in the course of the press conference that he had not have a good sleep at nights, finding it difficult to perform over the board...
Black experienced shortage of these unduly wasted minutes later in the game.
14.Qd2?!
14.Nd5 Be7 15.Nxf6+! Bxf6 16.Qh5!, aiming at the weak f7-pawn, would have been a somewhat stronger continuation.
16...Be6 would have resulted in White developing a strong attack after 17.d5 Bxg5 18.dxe6 fxe6 19.f4.
On the other hand, the continuation 16...Rf8 that we subjected to analysis in the course of the press conference, is disputable in view of 17.Bh6 Qd7, at which point is it followed not by the dismal taking on f8 (which allows the black king to occupy the critical g7-square), but rather by 18.Rae1! in order to lift the rook along the third rank to take its share in the king assault.
14...Nxd4 15.Rad1
Artemiev also paid attention to 15.Rfe1, which is strongly met by 15...Qd7! with the idea of 16.Bxf6 Nf3+! 17.gxf3 Bh2+ 18.Kxh2 Qxd2 19.Rg1+ Kh7 20.Rg7+ Kh6 21.Bg5+ Qxg5 22.Rxg5 Kxg5 and Black should prevail, being up an exchange sacrifice.
15...c5 16.b4 b6 17.bxc5 bxc5 18.Rfe1 Rxe1+
Now 19.Rxe1 is no good once again as it runs into a previously mentioned resource 19...Qd7! Therefore, it was followed by
19.Qxe1!
Being in time trouble, Alexander failed to guess which bishop to use to consolidate his position.
19...Be6??
After 19...Be7! 20.Qe5 Black is already entitled to play 20...Be6, retaining big advantage.
20.Bxe6 fxe6
Or 20...Nxe6 21.Bxf6 Qxf6 22.Rxd6+-.
21.Rxd4! Bh2+
In the case of 21...cxd4 22.Qxe6+ Kg7 23.Nd5 Nxd5 24.Bxd8 Rxd8 25.Qg4+ (25.Qxd5? Bh2+) 25...Kf7 26.Qxd4 an ending would have arisen in which White’s victory is only a matter of time.
22.Kxh2 Qxd4 23.Qxe6+ Kg7 24.Ne2!
The white knight heads for f4 in order to deliver a deadly check on h5 upon prior exchanges on f6. Black resigns.
Tomashevsky - Lysyj
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.d4 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 0–0 11.Bc4 Nc6 12.0–0 b6 13.Rad1 Na5 14.Bd3 Bb7 15.h4 Rc8 16.h5 h6 17.Rfe1
17...Qe7?!
This is a poor decision as the queen is being lined up against the white rook, but not only…
It appears that the road to equality ran through the 17... Qd6 18.d5 continuation, when Black is entitled to make any type of moves, including those of a completely incoherent nature. For example, 18...Rc5 or 18...Rfd8, making use of the fact that White features no real threats.
18.d5 Nc4
18...exd5 is followed by 19.exd5, making the well-established idea of Bd3-b1 and Qd2-d3-h7 very awkward for Black to meet.
19.Bxc4 Rxc4 20.Ne5! Rc5
Having the benefit of knowing what happened in the game, coupled with the lines shown by the engine, 20...Ra4 can be suggested, but in this case White features the advantage also: 21.d6 Qh4 22.Nf3! Qd8 (22...Qxh5 23.d7 Rd8 24.Qc2!) 23.d7 Bxe4 24.Ne5 Bd5 25.Rc1 f6 26.Rc8 fxe5 27.Rxd8 Rxd8 28.Rc1 Rxd7 29.Rc8+ Kf7 30.Qd3 with dangerous threats.
21.d6! Qd8?!
From the practical point of view a sharp 21...Qh4! should have been given a try.
After the end of the game Evgeny admitted that he was likely to meet it with 22.Nf3 and that he gave priority to analyzing the capture on h5 mostly (which is losing), whereas a lot stronger was 22...Qg4! 23.d7 Rd8 24.Qd6 Bxe4. Now the 25.Rd4 continuation that he planned in his advanced calculations (more stubborn is 25.Rxe4 Qxe4 26.Qe7 Qa8) was losing to 25...Rg5! 26.Nh4 (there is no other move for White to play) 26...Rd5 27.Qe7 Rxd4 28.Qxd8+ Kh7 29.Qe7 Qg5!
It could have turned into a good test for Tomashevsky anyway.
As a matter of fact, the position on the diagram features a much stronger move, suggested by Igor Lysyj: 22.d7 Rd8 23.Qd6! Qf6 24.f4!, and I failed to find any path for salvation for Black. The d7-pawn decides the fate of the game in all lines. The main line was shown by the winner in the course of the press conference: 24...Qxf4 (there are also some other moves available in this position) 25.Qe7 Rc2 26.Qxd8+ Kh7 27.Nf3 Qg3 28.Qh8+! Kxh8 29.d8Q+ Kh7 30.Rd2+-.
22.Qf4 f6 23.Ng6 Rf7 24.e5
Simpler is 24.Qg4.
24...fxe5
25.Ne7+
25.Qg4 was worthy of paying attention to once again with the idea of crushing through the Black’s center after 25...Bd5 26.Rxe5 Qxd6 27.Rxe6!
In the case of 25... Qf6 26.d7 Rd5 instead of the ephemeral queen sacrifice on e6, which I was entertaining the audience with during the press conference, a solid 27.Nxe5! leads to winning because the check on f2 is no more terrible for White than a mosquito biting an elephant.
25...Kf8 26.Ng6+ Kg8 27.Ne7+ Kf8 28.Qg4 Bd5
28...Rxe7 29.dxe7+ Qxe7 30.Rc1! would be in White’s favour.
29.Nxd5
29.Ng6+ Kg8 30.Rxe5 Qxd6 31.Rxe6! was a much shorter way to the goal
29...exd5 30.Rxe5 Qxd6 31.Rde1
Instead of winning immediately, White is now up facing a new round of fighting after Black came up with an unexpected
31...Rf6!
Nevertheless, Tomashevsky managed to pull himself together to squeeze the win out of his opponent:
32.Re8+ Kf7 33.Qa4 Rc7 34.Qb5! (threatening Re8-f8+!) 34...Qc6
Discovering the magic salvation 34...Qd7 35.Qe2 Rf4!! with the idea of 36.g3 Re4, while being in time trouble, was beyond possible.
35.Qe2 Qc5 (35...Rf4!) 36.g3! Rd7 37.Re6 Rd8 38.Rxf6+ gxf6 39.Qg4 Rg8 40.Qd7+ Black resigns.
Savina - Gunina
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3 0–0 8.0–0 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b5 10.Bd3 Bb7 11.e4 e5 12.h3 a6 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bh4 Re8 15.Rad1 exd4 16.Nxd4 Qb6 17.Nf5 Be5 18.Kh1 c5 19.f4 Bxc3 20.Qxc3 b4 21.Qb3 Qc6 22.Rf3 c4 23.Bxc4 Rxe4
Valentina has emerged out of the opening in a very bad shape and is now suffering the severe pressure of her opponent’s bishop pair. White has more than one way to bring his advantage home in this position.
24.Bxf7+
This is also not a bad move. White wins spectacularly after 24.Rg3 Kh8 (24...Rxf4? 25.Ne7+) 25.Bb5!, letting his queen direct access into decisive spot of the battle. After 25...axb5 26.Qxf7 Rg8 27.Rxg7 the black king is getting mated.
24...Kh8 25.Nd6
25.Rf2! is by way simpler and stronger. 25...Rxf4 is then met by 26.Ne7!, winning material.
25...Rxf4 26.Nxb7 Rxh4 27.Bd5?
This move, however, changes the evaluation of the position. Correct was 27.Nd6 Ne5 28.Rxf6! gxf6 29.Qg3 (the black rook is almost trapped) 29...Qc2 30.Bb3 Qxd1+ 31.Bxd1 Rd4 32.Nf7+!? Nxf7 33.Bb3 and White retains his initiative.
27...Qc7 28.Nd6 Rf8
29.Nf7+?
Anastasia could not have resisted the temptation. This is nothing short of an oversight.
29.Bb7 or 29.Be6 Nc5 30.Qe3 would have allowed White to stay in the game.
29...Rxf7 30.Bxf7 Ng4!
The white king suddenly finds himself under the mating attack.
31.Rg3 Nf2+ 32.Kh2 Nxd1 33.Qxd1 Nf6 34.Bg6
Now the second knight revisits the path trodden by his colleague.
34...Ng4+! 35.Qxg4 Rxg4 36.hxg4
I believe that White had good chances to build a fortress by advancing the pawn to b3 so that this square is later jointly controlled by his rook and bishop.
Savina must have been greatly upset by what happened in the game.
36...Qd6 37.Bd3 g6 38.Kh3 Kg7 39.Rf3 Qe6 40.Kg3 Qxa2 41.b3 Qxb3 42.Bxa6 Qe6 43.Bd3 b3 44.Bf1 b2 45.Bd3 Qd6+ 46.Kh3 Qxd3 47.Rxd3 b1Q 48.Rf3 Qe1 White resigns.
Thus, upon completion of three rounds there no longer remain any players who scored all possible points, while there also remain no players without a certain amount of points. It essentially means that we are in for an interesting fight and each player still keeps chances to take any prize.
