Summing up the Olympiad in Chennai | CHESS AT THE BAG OF CATS

As you might have noticed I am not aspiring to be a news outlet, and a week after the Olympiad finished I have recuperated well enough to have the energy to write a last post on the subject; so with the news all out there, it is enough to say that we (the Swedish team in the open section) gave it our all, but it did not get us as far as we had wished. The Women’s team fared better, and Pia Cramling scored a Gold medal on board one, for the second time! Her overall score of 8,5/10 was well deserved, and I could not find a game where she was really in trouble. On the day that she played the game below I had a day off, and helped Deniz Arman to comment on the games for the Sweidish audience. As you will see, I got some things wrong:
   [Event "Olympiad Women 2022"]  [Site "Chennai IND"]  [Date "2022.08.06"]  [Round "8"]  [White "Cramling, Pia"]  [Black "Efroimski, Marsel"]  [Result "1-0"]  [ECO "D32"]  [WhiteElo "2459"]  [BlackElo "2456"]  [EventDate "2022.07.29"]  [EventType "team"]  [WhiteTeamCountry "SWE"]  [BlackTeamCountry "ISR"]   1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 $5 ({There are a number of new ways in the  Tarrasch complex where Black aims to get a worse position where the material  is so reduced that White's advantage does not count for enough that White can  win the game. The line} 3... Nf6 4. Nf3 c5 5. cxd5 cxd4 6. Qxd4 exd5 7. e4 Nc6  8. Bb5 dxe4 9. Qxd8+ Kxd8 10. Ng5 Be6 {has been dubbed "the Berlin defence of  1.d4", due to the difficulties White is facing to break it down (although  Black is definitely a bit worse here).} 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. Nxe6+ fxe6 13. Ke2  Bb4 14. Rd1+ Ke7 15. Na4 {Black's position is not quite as miserable as it  might seem, and the reduced material makes it hard to win for White.}) 4. cxd5  cxd4 5. Qa4+ Bd7 6. Qxd4 exd5 7. Nf3 $5 {A surprising choice, but Pia does not  want a knife fight in a dark alley, even if she has a knife more than the  opponent, so she steers the game towards a more open situation.} (7. Qxd5 Nf6  8. Qd1 Nc6 9. Nf3 {is known to be better for White, but also very dangerous.  After} Bc5 10. e3 (10. a3 $5) 10... Qe7 11. Be2 O-O-O 12. O-O g5 {, the  street-fight is on.}) 7... Be6 $2 {This is a very weird choice. First you  sacrifice the pawn, and then you decide to protect it? Also, the bishop does  nothing but protect the pawn, and one should generally avoid such one  dimensional moves in the opening.} 8. e4 $1 Nc6 9. Bb5 dxe4 10. Qxe4 $1 Nf6 11.  Bxc6+ bxc6 12. Qxc6+ Bd7 {So, Black got to sacrifice a pawn after all, but Pia  has avoided the unpleasantness of opposite castling.} 13. Qa6 Be7 14. O-O O-O  15. Re1 {There are a-plenty of possible moves here: h3, b3, Bf4, Q-somehwere,  and Rd1. Pia's move is flexible. Perhaps the other rook is better off on d1?!  Perhaps White would rather play the knight to d4 (from where it enters some  kind of mutual domination with the bishop on d7), and follow up with f3 and  Be3, rather than play h3. And, it is probably not a good idea to play both h3  and f3. In the mean time, the queen is not threatened and is also quite  annoying, since the rook must protect the a7-pawn. There is a lot to be said  for Re1.} (15. Bf4 {is the best alternative, taking a strong stance on the  dark squares. Basically, if White is allowed to exchange the dark squared  bishops, then Black has not whiff of compensation.}) 15... Re8 16. Be3 {  I can hear Capablanca sigh with approval. White prepares to place the knight  on d4, where it will now be protected.} (16. Bf4 $5) 16... Bc8 17. Qa4 Bd7 18.  Qf4 $1 Qb8 $1 {Clearly the strongest move. White is a pawn up and is better  developed. It is unrealistic for Black to try to get compensation with the  bishop pair with the queens still on the board. With the exchange of the  queens the mission becomes clear; to exchange a pair of pawns on the queenside  and aim for a position with bishops of different colours. Such a position  might be held.} 19. Qxb8 Raxb8 20. Bd4 (20. Bxa7 {White could also consider}  Rxb2 21. Bd4 Rc2 22. a4 {, when Black will have a hard time to try to save the  position:} Bb4 (22... Be6 23. a5) 23. Bxf6 gxf6 24. Rxe8+ Bxe8 25. Nd5 Bc5 26.  Nxf6+ Kf8 27. Nxe8 Rxf2 28. Kh1 Kxe8 29. a5 $16) ({Capablance would have played  } 20. Re2 {and he would also have given it an (questionably deserved)  exclamation mark. After} Rb7 21. h3 Bf8 22. Rd2 h6 23. Nd4 Bb4 24. Rc1 {  White's pieces are protecting each other, but it is unclear what the next step  is. Black might be almost fine here.}) 20... Be6 21. Ng5 $1 {When commenting  on the game together with Deniz Arman, I was quite critical of this move,  saying "what is the knight doing there?". Indeed, it is not doing a lot there,  but it is part of a series of moves which destroy Black's coordination.} Bf5  22. Re5 $1 {Otherwise the last move makes no sense. Now Black has to make a  choice; either the bishop has to go back to where it once belonged, or White  can force the exchange of a pair of rooks (which will make the bishops less  prone to whip up an attack).} Bd7 (22... Bg6 23. Rae1 Bf8 24. Rxe8 Nxe8 25. Re2  a5 26. Nge4 {and Bc5 is coming next, leaving Black a clear pawn down with no  compensation.}) 23. Rae1 Bd8 $1 {Black is making it hard for Pia to exhange  off the bishops.} 24. R1e2 a5 25. Rxe8+ Nxe8 26. Nf3 f6 {Black has played  quite well and with no way in sight for White to exchange the dark squared  bishops, White's advantage is not that big really.} 27. Be3 {A bit slow, but  not getting into time trouble is one of the traits that make it possible for a  player to score 9,5 out of 11, against decent opponents.} (27. Bc5 a4 28. Rd2  Ba5 29. Rxd7 Bxc3 30. Kf1 Bxb2 31. Ne1 Bc3 32. Nd3 {and although Black has  reached material parity, she is far from equality, since the knight on d8 is a  sorry sight and the a4-pawn is more weak than it is strong.}) 27... Kf7 ({  Black should jump at the opportunity to play} 27... a4 $1 {This freezes  White's queenside pawns, and the ...Ba5/...a3-idea, makes it hard for White to  do without a3 at some stage. It is rather unlikely that White will win such a  position.}) 28. Rd2 Rb7 29. h3 Be7 30. Nd5 $1 Bf8 31. Nb6 Be6 32. b3 Nd6 33.  Na4 {Very systematic play from Pia. Now Black's a-pawn is on a dark square and  can be attacked by the bishop. White's two pawns are more difficult to attack  since they support each other.} Ne4 ({Black should try to be as active as  possible. For instance} 33... Rc7 $1 {,when White has to watch out and not  fall for} 34. Bb6 $2 Rc1+ 35. Kh2 Ne4 36. Re2 Bd6+ 37. g3 Bd5 $1 {, when White  is struggling to find a good way to deal with the threats Nxg3 and Nd2.}) 34.  Rd4 Nc5 35. Nxc5 Bxc5 36. Rh4 Bd6 37. Nd4 Bd5 {The bishop is superficially  more active here. It was better to use it for achieving the a5-a4-plan.} (37...  Bd7 $1 38. Rxh7 a4 {and Black is closing in on the defensive goal, to reach a  position one pawn down, with bishops of different colour:} 39. Rh5 axb3 40. axb3  Be5 41. Rh4 Ra7 42. Kf1 Ra3 43. Ke2 Bxd4 44. Rxd4 Bb5+ 45. Kf3 Rxb3 $14) 38.  Nf5 Bf8 39. Rd4 Ke6 (39... Rd7 $1 40. Kf1 Kg6 41. Ng3 Bc6 {and in the ensuing  endgame, the bishop pair make up for White's extra pawn.}) 40. Rd1 g6 41. Nd4+  Kf7 {The position has stabilized. Now we get to see Pia at her best. Watch how  her pieces bit but bit reaches better squares than the opponents:} 42. Ne2 Bc6  43. Rc1 Bd7 44. Bc5 Bh6 45. Rc3 Bf5 46. Be3 Bf8 47. Nd4 Bb1 48. a4 $1 Be4 (  48... Ba2 $1 {, followed by Bf8-d6-e5xd4, was the best option here.}) 49. Nb5  Bb4 50. Rc4 Bd5 51. Rd4 Ke6 52. Rd3 Rd7 (52... Be4 $1) 53. Bd2 {White has  looked for this opportunity for the last thirty moves, and finally it has  become reality. If only the queenside pawns were not on light squares...} Bxd2  54. Rxd2 Rb7 (54... Bxb3 $2 55. Nd4+ Kf7 56. Nxb3 Rxd2 57. Nxd2) 55. Rd3 f5 56.  f3 ({In the studio, I thought} 56. f4 {, keeping Black's king away from the  queenside, was the right choice here. I was delusional. After} Be4 57. Rd6+ Ke7  {the weakness of Black's queenside pawn is now quite problematic, as there are  also weaknesses on the kingside. Pia's choice is much more sensible; she takes  the e4-square away from the bishop.}) 56... g5 57. Kf2 f4 58. Ke1 h5 59. Kf2  Ke5 60. Rc3 Kf6 61. Rc5 $1 {If White is to win the game, one must get active.}  Bxb3 62. Nd6 $1 Rb4 $2 {The losing move. Black had to hold on to the a-pawn:} (  62... Ra7 63. Ne4+ Kg7 64. Rxg5+ Kh6 65. Rf5 Bxa4 66. Rxf4 Be8 {and the a-pawn  is strong enough to keep the balance. For instance:} 67. Nd6 Bd7 68. Nc4 a4 69.  Rf7 h4 $1 70. g4 hxg3+ 71. Kxg3 a3 72. Nxa3 Rxa3 73. Rxd7 Ra1 {and although  this endgame is unpleasant for White, it should not be hard to hold for  someone above 2400 in rating.}) 63. Ne4+ Ke7 64. Re5+ Kf7 65. Rxa5 {Now the  pawns fall, one after another.} g4 66. Rxh5 g3+ 67. Ke1 Rxa4 68. Rf5+ Ke6 69.  Rxf4 Ra1+ 70. Kd2 Ra2+ 71. Ke3 Bd5 (71... Rxg2 72. Nc5+ Ke5 73. Re4+ Kf6 74.  Nxb3 $18) 72. Nd2 Ra3+ 73. Ke2 Ra1 74. Rg4 Bb7 75. Rxg3 Kf5 76. Ne4 Ra2+ 77.  Ke3 Ra3+ 78. Kf2 Ra2+ 79. Kg1 Bxe4 80. fxe4+ Kxe4 81. Rf3 Rb2 82. Kh2 Ra2 83.  h4 Ra5 84. Kh3 Ra1 85. Kg4 Ra2 86. g3 Ra8 87. Rf4+ Ke5 88. h5 1-0
I am currently playing a tournament in Skanderborg, Denmark. I will write more about that next time.