11 May 2015

A Fiery Arc of the Moscow Battalion

Round Six review of the Russian Club Championship by Dmitry Kryakvin.

The Russian Club Championship is nearing completion, and in the last few rounds the club teams will have yet to provide answers to some outstanding issues of local nature such has if the team from Belorechensk or St. Petersburg is going to take the second place, whether the ShSM team can still compete for the last pass into the European Cup or whether in the final encounter with "University" the women’s team of "Our Inheritance" will be capable of retaining her chances to pass into the European Cup? And, of course, who will be the unlucky one to drop from the Premier League?

So, the squad of Sergey Beshukov succeeded in outplaying the team from Yamal in a very confident manner with a 4.5-1.5 score. The only anxious moment for “University” was Aleksej Aleksandrov’s getting fined for being 11 minutes late for his game, whereas on the rest of the boards the match favourite was steadily collecting his wins.  By this match “Yamal” also decided to join the hall of glory named after Alexei Fedorov and Konstantin Maslak. 

Andreikin (“University”) - Potapov (“Yamal”)



39... Bc8 40.Rc6 Bd7 41.Rd6 Ke7 42.gxf5 Black resigned.

Belyakov (“Yamal”) – Jobava (“University”)




It is extremely difficult to outperform Baadur even if you have one knight more, and you only need to cast a cursory glance at this position…

25.f3 Rfd8 26.Rfd1 Qb6+ 27.Kf1 Qe3 28.Nf2

The knight is finally back in the game, but this fact offers poor consolation now.

28…Rd2 White resigned.

However, Aleksandra Goryachkina does not give up soldiering on for the entire team. This time it was a draw with Alekseev, and the hour is near when Aleksandra’s rating is going to negotiate the level of 2500! 

Much less dramatic struggle happened in the match between St. Petersburg’s “Bronze Horseman” and "Zhiguli". After the score was quickly opened by Peter Svidler, most of the remaining boards of "The Bronze Horseman" started drawing their games in order to save energy for the upcoming match with "University".

Sjugirov (“Zhiguli”) - Svidler (“Bronze Horseman”)
Ruy Lopez C84

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.d3 d6 7.c4 

This is a super reliable continuation, which has been employed by Sanan before. White plans to carry out the d3-d4 advance and obtain the pawn structure very similar to that in the super solid Maroczy variation. 

7…0–0 8.h3 




8…Nd4!? 

However strange it may seem, but this logical move has almost never been tested, except for the recent game of Beliavsky. In the final of the 2013 Russia Cup the game of Jakovenko against Sanan went on as follows: 8... Nd7 9.Nc3 Nc5 10.Bxc6 bxc6 11.d4 exd4 12.Nxd4 Bd7 13.Be3 Bf6 14.Re1, with an approximate equality; Sjugirov, however, kept putting some pressure at his opponent’s position. Perhaps White can avoid taking on d4, but in this case the structure "Ba4 with the pawn on c4" looks somewhat clumsy.

9.Nxd4 exd4 10.Nd2 Nd7 11.f4 c5 12.Nf3 Rb8 

It is quite feasible that Black plans to disturb White on the queenside. 

13.Bd2 b5 14.Bb3 bxc4 15.dxc4?! 

This is the first mysterious moment of the game as the leader of "Zhiguli" weakens the e4-pawn. After 15.Bxc4 the pawn cannot be captured in view of: 15 ... Rxb2 16.Bb3 and the rook is trapped, 15 ... Nb6 16.Ba5 or 15 ... Bb7 16.Re1 preventing Svidler from quickly and profitably advancing with d6-d5. Now the plan of GM from St. Petersburg is very simple and includes exerting additional pressure on the e4-pawn.

15...Bf6 16.Rb1 Re8 17.Bc2 Bb7 18.Re1 Bh4 19.Nxh4 Qxh4 





20.Kh2?! 

This is another step towards the disaster. But what else can be done? Poor is 20.Qg4? Qxg4 21.hxg4 Nf6, but following the preliminary 20.b4! Re7 21.Qg4 Qxg4 22.hxg4 White has reasonable chances to hope on attaining equality.

20...Re7 21.g3 Qf6 22.b4 Rbe8 23.Ba4? 

This is a miscalculation, but good advice is already beyond price for White in this position. 

23…Bxe4 24.Bxd7 Rxd7 25.bxc5 





Now, the straightforward 25 ... dxc5? is answered with a stunning 26.Qf3 !! Rde7 27.Rxe4 Rxe4 28.Qxe4, when White emerges up a piece! But Peter Veniaminovich is not the one to be guided easily into the traps.

26…Qd8! 26.c6 

Also hopeless is 26.Rb6 dxc5 27.Rxa6 Rde7, when in all continuations the assault on the weakened white king with the opposite-coloured bishops decides the outcome of the game.

26...Rde7 27.Rb7 Rxb7 28.cxb7 Bxb7 29.Ba5 Rxe1 30.Qxe1 Qd7 

White even succeeded in trading both pairs of rooks, but that does not bring any relief. It is not possible to protect the king and stop the passed d4-pawn at the same time. Peter Svidler finishes the game in an elegant style.

31.g4 Qc6 32.Kg3 h5! 33.Qe2 hxg4 34.hxg4 d3! 35.Qxd3 Qg2+ 36.Kh4 Bf3, with inevitable mate.

When the score was already “+1” in favour of “Bronze Horseman”, the fate of the match suddenly hung by a single thread due to the blunder that happened on board four. 

Rodshtein (“Bronze Horseman”) – Predke (“Zhiguli”)




The grandmaster from Israel kept pressing throughout the entire game, while Alexandr Predke was defending his position resourcefully. Now, after 59.g4 Bd5+ 60.Ka1 Rf1+ 61.Rb1 Rxb1+ 62.Bxb1 Rb5 63.Bf5+ Ke7 64.Rxh6 White would retain his winning chances, whereas Black had to search for ways to escape with a draw by organizing his small in number but well consolidated forces against the weakened position of Rodshtein’s king. Maxim, tired of struggle, probably believed that he had an immediate win. 

59.Bf5+? Rxf5 60.Re2+ Re5! 

Oh, my! Now in case of 61.dxe5 the bishop pierces both rooks with 61…Bf3! as if barbeque on a skewer. 

61.Rexe5+ fxe5 62.Rxe5+ Kf6 63.g4 




All of a sudden Black is a piece up for just a pawn! Bringing advantage home is not easy, if at all possible, in view of the very limited amount of material on the board, when White has two passed pawn in the centre, and with Black’s pawns on the a-file being doubled. Nevertheless, it was worth trying 63...Rb5 64.h4 Rb3 65.g5+ hxg5 66.hxg5+ Kf7 67.d5 Bb5 68.c6 Rc3, in order to prepare the a4-pawn advance. Alexandr, however, discredited the chance that had unexpectedly turned up.

64…a3 64.h4 Bb5?! 65.g5+ hxg5 66.hxg5+ Kg6 67.c6! Bc4+ 68.Ka1 Rxe5 69.dxe5 Be6 70.c7 and the game ended in a draw and an overall win of “Bronze Horseman” in the match. 

It has become somewhat boring to talk about the wins of "Siberia", which crushes everything in its way. In the match with "Ladya" the tournament leaders let their two reserves into play, one of whom was our regular contributor, and now President of the Novosibirsk Chess Federation, Pavel Maletin, resulting in the match being won nonetheless by a margin of 4.5-1.5. Interestingly enough, two of the three wins were chalked up on high boards as Wang Yue succeeded in tricking Artemiev out, and everyone and everything crushing Kramnik outperformed Kamsky in a convincing manner. 

Kramnik (“Siberia”) – Kamsky (“Ladya”)
Reti Opening A04

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.e3 Bg7 5.d4 

Generally speaking, there are some openings that just cannot be employed, although talented and strong practicing players make themselves some exceptions in this regard. Dubov, for one, playing in this round against Riazantsev opted for a "wrong opening" with 1 ... e6, 2 ... b6 and won a convincing game. It has been well known for 50 years now that a combination of moves Nc6, g6, Bg7 does not bring Black any good as White carries out the d2-d4 advance, whereas the counter-advance d7-d5 fails. But there are still some players who do not only employ such combination of moves on a regular basis, but even manage to achieve definite practical results in the tournament games.

5…d6 6.Be2 

This is a calm move. Here, besides possible knight retreats after 6.d5, there may also follow 6...Bxc3 + !? 7.bxc3 Na5 8.e4 Nf6, as it was once played in a blitz game between Kramnik and Anand. I do not want to take any responsibility to say whether it is OK for Black, but it should be noted that such option exists.

6...f5 

The author of this novelty is Pavel Dvalishvili. The only disturbing point is that in the primary source-game Kostin – Dvalishvili Black failed to earn any special accolades. Kamsky himself had played here pretty solid 6... e6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.b3 0-0 9.Bb2 b6, whereas Vladimir Malakhov had pinned his hopes on knights  successfully fighting bishops in the style of Chigorin: 6 ... Bg4 7.d5 Bxf3 8.Bxf3 Bxc3+ !? 9.bxc3 Ne5 10.Be2 f5!?

In the meanwhile I would like to go back to what Lev Polugaevsky wrote in his book analysing his loss against Botvinnik after 6 ... Nf6 7.d5 Na5 8.e4 0-0 9.0-0 where he regretted very much the fact that he decided to come up with such  a questionable strategy against the World Champion. The words of Lev Abramovich are the best prelude to the game Kramnik – Kamsky.

7.0–0 Nf6 8.d5 Nb4!? 9.a3 Na6 

This is no flight of fancy as the knight’s task in this Dutch pawn structure is to guard the e6-square.

10.Rb1 0–0 11.b4 Kh8 12.Qb3 b6 13.Bb2 Nc7 14.Rfd1 Bd7 15.Ba1 




Vladimir Borisovich handles this position in quite a logical manner: he has prevented the е7-e5 advance and is preparing to open lines on the queenside. Black has no useful moves except for h6 and g5 and Kamsky decides to go towards the aspirations of his opponent.   

15…a5!? 16.bxc5 bxc5 17.Qc2 Rb8 18.Rxb8 Qxb8 19.e4 

This is a minor inconsistency: probably more precise is preliminary 19.Bd3. Now the American GM had to take a responsible decision.

19...fxe4 20.Nxe4 Nce8? 

Correct was 20...Nxe4 21.Bxg7+ Kxg7 22.Qxe4 e5!, when the game simplifies and, what is most important, the dark-squared bishops are traded. In a couple of moves the dark-squared bishop of White will be assigned to decide the fate of the а5-pawn.

21.Ng3 Ng4 

In this position 21...e5 is not a good move due to 22.dxe6 Bxe6 23.Ng5.

22.Bc3! 

This move is well-timed; now the question is how to go about saving “Private Ryan”? 

22…Qc7 23.h3 Nh6 

Not possible is 23...Ngf6 due to 24.Ng5, when the weakened squares start to tell. It is very much true what Arthur Yusupov once noted about the Leningrad Dutch that the best move for Black would be to move the pawn back with f5-f7!

24.Ng5 Nf7 25.Nxf7+ Rxf7 26.Rb1 Kg8 





27.Bg4! 

Trading light-squared bishops is inevitable, which results in white rook penetrating into the opponent’s camp via the b-file. 

27…Bxc3 28.Bxd7 Qxd7 29.Qxc3 e6 

This is too late now!

30.dxe6 Qxe6 31.Re1 Qd7 32.Qxa5 Nf6 33.a4, and being a pawn up Kramnik experienced no problems converting his material advantage. 

The encounter between Yekaterinburg and Moscow turned into the central event of the round. Naum Rashkovsky’s armada continued to contest the medals in the Championship, while the Moscowites remained with no more than the hope for qualifying into the European Cup, but for that to become true it was necessary not just to defeat "Malakhit", but preferably to defeat by a significant margin, because, as you know, having previously defeated "Yamal" with just a 3.5-2.5 score you do not gain a lot of points for your additional indicators. It was a real life and death struggle, and for the first time in the tournament the Moscow battalion has proved his mighty strength.

Motylev (“Malakhit”) – Najer  (“ShSM Our Inheritance”) 
Caro-Kann Defence B11

1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3

This is not an unexpected move as it has been recently employed not only by Alexander, but by his trainee Sergei Karjakin as well.

3…Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 

This set-up, featuring the bishop pair advantage, was favourite of Robert Fisher in which, however, he used to be mercilessly pounded by the Soviet chess heavyweights.

Through the efforts of modern analysts this interesting tabiya has taken its pride of place among worthy responses to the super-solid Caro-Kann.

5…Nf6 

This is the most popular move in this position because such continuations as 6.d4 dxe4 and 6.e5 Nfd7 7.Qg3 e6 8.Be2 c5 9.0–0 Nc6 are considered to be more than fine for Black.

6.d3 e6 7.Bd2 Qb6 

Other than 7...Bb4 or 7...Nbd7 this is yet another one of Black's main ideas when he immediately plans to start playing against the opponent’s king. Interestingly, this position has happened in the game between our National Women’s Team players Girya and Goryachkina. Here we see the women's headquarters investing a lot of time and effort into it! On the other side, Vladimir Belov cannot be ruled out as having had his hand here as well.

8.0–0–0 d4 9.Ne2 c5 10.e5 




This game has kept so far to the beaten track of the predecessor game Dominguez - Rodshtein, where following the partially forced sequence of moves 10 ... Nd5 11.Qe4 Nc6 12.Kb1 0-0-0 13.g4 c4 14.dxc4 Ba3 15.b3 Ne3 16.fxe3 dxe3 17.Bg2 Rxd2 18.Rxd2 exd2 19.Qf4! Rd8 20.Rd1 Black found himself struggling for a draw. However, Najer plays in a proactive manner and introduces a crushing novelty.

10…Nfd7 11.Qe4 Nc6 12.f4 0–0–0 

Black avoided committing his knight to the central square but, on the other hand, is ready to undermine White’s centre as may happen, for example, in case of 13.Ng3 g5!? Alexander’s response is aimed at restricting active possibilities of Black, but this aim cannot be achieved in full as initially intended.

13.c4 h5 14.g3 f5! 

This is a strong move that leaves White with no alternative but to take the “poisoned” pawn. White loses in case of 15.Qf3?? Ndxe5! 16.fxe5 Nxe5 17.Qg2 Nxd3+ 18.Kc2 Qxb2+ 19.Kxd3 Qa3+ 20.Kc2 Qxa2+ 21.Kc1 d3, on the other hand there is nothing to boast about after 15.Qg2 Nb4 16.Bxb4 cxb4 17.Qf3 Nc5, and Motylev decides to go to all lengths.

15.exf6 Nxf6 16.Qxe6+ Kb8 17.Ng1 

This is essentially a forced move, as in case of 17.Kb1 Black could either force a draw via 17…Rd6 18.Qf5 g6 19.Qxg6 Rg8 20.Qf5 Ne7 21.Qe5 Nc6, or choose between some interesting options to play for a win. 

17...Re8 18.Qf5 Nb4! 

This is an effective geometrical motif, as 19.Kb1 is answered with 19…Qc6! 20.Rh2 Qa4 with a winning position. The knight has to be captured and Black seizes the outpost on e3, which means they have full compensation in exchange for an insignificant material loss.

19.Bxb4 cxb4 20.Nf3 b3 




21.axb3 

Although it may look terrible, but White still had to go for 21.a3! g6 (neither 21...Qa6 22.Kb1 Bxa3 23.bxa3 Qxa3 24.Rh2 nor 21...Re3 22.Bg2 Qa6 23.Qb5 is about to bring any success) 22.Qxg6 Rg8 23.Qf5 Rxg3 24.Ne5 – so, the straightforward taking on b3 is not a good idea. Now the white king has become exposed and its future is rather grim.

21...Re3 22.Ne5 Qxb3 

Insufficient is 22...Bb4 23.Qg6 Qc7 24.Bg2, and White takes aim at the b7-square.

23.Ng6?? 

This is a decisive mistake! In case of 23.Nd7+ Nxd7 24.Qxd7 Bb4 25.Rh2 the main fight was still to be expected.

23...Bb4! 24.Rh2 

If 24.Nxh8, then White is mated in a puzzle-like style after 24…Bd2+; while the rook cannot be captured all black pieces begin to take part in the assault on the poor white king.

24...Rc8 25.Ne5 a6 

26.Rc2 is met with a simple 26…Rc5, as Black is no longer susceptible to the back rank tricks.

26.Nd7+ Nxd7 27.Qxd7 




The preparatory work has come to completion and the moment for the combination is ripe!

27…Rxc4+! 28.dxc4 Rc3+! 29.bxc3 Ba3+, and Motylev resigned just in time not to get mated on e3 as in keeping with the best traditions of the Czech school of chess composition. 

Riazantsev (“Malakhit”) – Dubov (“ShSM Our Inheritance”)




Straightforward 29...exf4 30.gxf4 Nxf4! 31.Rxf4 Qb1+ 32.Kh2 Qb2+ wins on spot, but Daniil kept his teammates in a state of suspension. 

29...Rf5?! 30.Re3 Ref8 31.Ref3 exf4 32.gxf4 Nxf4? 

32...Re8 with subsequent capturing on f4 was an easy win for Black, as the g5-knight can be protected no longer. Following this mistake of the Moscow GM the game transposed into a rook ending with reasonable drawing chances for White. 

33.Rxf4 Qxg5 34.Qxg5 Rxg5+ 35.Kh2 Re8, and Alexander went on to lose the game in the final run upon having failed to make use of all available defensive resources. 

Since we are on the subject of rook endings we also need to mention that a very instructive one was won by Alexander Grischuk against Ian Nepomniachtchi to collect the only consolation victory for “Malakhit”. As ShSM and “Malakhit” are now sharing the same amount of team points, the last round is going to present interest not only in terms of the encounter between Beshukov’s and Bykov’s teams. 

In the women’s tournament the first defeat was suffered by “Boavishta”, which lost to “Yugra” with a 1-3 score. This result allowed the enthusiastically performing team from the Neva River to take the sole lead. 

Ovod (“SDYUSSHOR Hilti”) - Markelova (“Ladya”)




As the а8-bishop is not really a piece, it’s time for some gambling!

26.gxh5! Nc1 27.Raxc1 Rxc1 28.hxg6 Rxe1+ 

If the queen is allowed on g4, as in the line 28...fxg6 29.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 30.Kg2 Rc6 31.Qg4, the struggle will not last long.

29.Qxe1 f6? 

For better or worse, Black was obliged to go for 29...fxg6 30.Bxg6 Rf8 31.Qe2 Qf6. Now, however, Evgenija Ovod can bring her attack to a quick finish.

30.Bf5! Rc6 31.Nf7 b5 32.Qe2 Rc1+ 33.Kg2 Qf8 34.h5! Bc6 35.h6 Be8 36.h7+ Kg7 37.h8Q+ Black resigned.

The competitiveness of the teams in the women's tournament is so high that even in the final round (the focal event of which is going to be the encounter between the Moscow and Belorechensk teams) any surprises are possible. At this point let me, my dear readership, bow out, and pass the baton to Sergey Shipov, who will summarize the overall results of the tournament in his final review. Good luck to all, and I wish that in the last round there were neither boring nor fictitious draws, because there are some among the team captains who are quite willing to do this for the sake of attaining their goals.