Tiviakov wins… | CHESS AT THE BAG OF CATS

This is a game that I intended to post a long time ago, but my new book on the Modern came in between.

I often tell ambitious players to find and study the games of a player who has strengths others than the ones they have themselves. It is honest advice since I have myself done just that for at least fifteen years. In October last year I went to play the annual Guernsey Chess Festival and was especially looking forward to playing since it would give me an opportunity to play against one of the players that I had formerly studied, Sergei Tiviakov. In the end it so happened that I played so badly that I did not even get a chance to play him. Tiviakov, on the other hand, played a convincing game and in round 5 he faced his main adversary, Mark Hebden, with the black colours:

   [Event "Guernsey International Chess Festival"]  [Site "Guernsey"]  [Date "2013.10.24"]  [Round "5"]  [White "Hebden, Mark L"]  [Black "Tiviakov, Sergei"]  [Result "0-1"]  [ECO "E14"]  [WhiteElo "2548"]  [BlackElo "2652"]  [Annotator "Tiger"]  [PlyCount "94"]  [EventDate "2013.10.20"]  [EventType "swiss"]  [EventRounds "1"]  [EventCountry "ENG"]  [SourceDate "2011.03.24"]   1. d4 {Sometimes when you are commenting on an important game, the kind that  wins tournaments, you come to struggle with your own narrative. In this game I  pursued a kind of "this is how a super-strong GM like Tiviakov wins an  important game against a fellow GM ", but the more I was looking for the "how"  the less obvious it all became. In the end I hope I have managed to make sense  of it.} Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 b6 4. Bd3 Bb7 5. O-O d5 6. c4 Bd6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. b3  Nbd7 9. Bb2 a6 {This is basically a Semislav where Black has avoided playing  c7-c6 and thus has an extra tempo and better control of e4.} 10. Rc1 dxc4 $5 {  This is a rather uncommon plan in combination with the next move.} (10... Qe7 {  would be more "normal", but not necessarily better.}) 11. bxc4 e5 ({In  Vaganian,R (2594)-Miroshnichenko,E (2593)/Antwerp 2008, play continued:} 11...  c5 12. d5 $1 exd5 13. Nxd5 b5 $5 14. Nxf6+ Nxf6 15. Qc2 Bxf3 16. gxf3 b4 17. f4  {with - what seems to me like - some advantage for White.}) 12. d5 $5 {Trying  to cut Bb7 out of the game is clearly the most ambitious move, but it also  hands Black the c5-square on a silver platter.} ({In an earlier Tiviakov game  the thematic} 12. c5 {was seen. Then after} bxc5 13. dxe5 Bxf3 $5 14. gxf3 Nxe5  15. Be2 Ng6 16. f4 Nh4 17. Nd5 Nxd5 18. Qxd5 Bxf4 19. Qxc5 (19. Rxc5 {is a bit  better and leaves White with some chances due to the existence of the weak  a-pawn.}) 19... Bd6 20. Qh5 Re8 21. Rc4 Ng6 {Black was doing all right  (Peralta,F (2478)-Tiviakov,S (2628)/Copenhagen 2002).}) ({The superficial} 12.  Bf5 {does not do a lot to improve the White position. After} Re8 13. Re1 exd4  14. exd4 Rxe1+ 15. Nxe1 g6 16. Bh3 Qe7 17. Rc2 Re8 18. Nd3 Qd8 {the chances  were rather balanced in Rindlisbacher,L (2370)-Pelletier,Y (2604)/Zuerich SUI  2012.}) 12... Nc5 13. e4 {After this move I start doubting that d4-d5 was such  a good idea.} ({Instead I wonder what Tiviakov had planned after the critical}  13. Ng5 {I guess} Bc8 14. Bc2 b5 $5 {is a promising line!?}) 13... Bc8 $1 {The  bishop is finished with the b7 square and there is no reason to wait with this  maneuvre.} 14. Re1 Nh5 {The start of a rather primitive, but efficient, attack.  } 15. Bf1 Nf4 $1 ({After} 15... f5 16. Nxe5 $1 Bxe5 17. Qxh5 Qf6 18. Ba1 {  there is no convincing continuation for Black.}) 16. Na4 $1 {Mark starts  breaking up Black's control of c5.} Nxa4 17. Qxa4 Qf6 18. Qb3 $1 {If Mark can  neutralize Black's initiative on the kingside then he should be able to gain  some advantage on the queenside. One might say that the static features of the  position favour White, whereas the dynamic factors favour Black.} Bg4 19. Re3  $1 {A standard defensive idea that is often seen in the King's Indian.} Rab8 $1  {Seeing that there is nothing direct on the kingside Tiviakov prepares to make  some trouble on the other side.} 20. Qc3 Rfe8 $1 ({After} 20... Rbe8 21. Ba3 c5  22. Rb1 {Black has nothing better than returning with the rook to b8.}) 21. Ba3  c5 $5 22. Nd2 ({If White plays} 22. Kh1 {intending Ng1, f3 and g3, then} b5 $1  23. cxb5 axb5 24. Bxc5 Rec8 25. Qb4 Nh3 $1 {leaves Black with a strong  initiative.}) (22. Rb1 Qg6 23. Nh4 (23. Ne1 b5 $1) 23... Qf6 24. g3 b5 $1 {is  very messy. It seems that Black has enough counterplay.}) 22... Bd7 23. Qc2 Qg6  24. Rg3 Qh6 25. Nb3 $6 {Hebden was rather unhappy with this move and rightly  so. He knew that it was quite unlikely that the knight would become strong on  b3, still he played it there. I can only sympathize. Been there, done that.  Still it is far from clear that Black is in any way better here.} Be7 26. Rb1  f5 {The engine does not like this one bit, but the question is what Black  should do otherwise?} 27. exf5 $6 ({It is clearly stronger to play} 27. Nd2 {  when Black might come to regret playing c7-c5 earlier, since the b6-pawn has  become quite weak.}) 27... Rf8 {Now Black takes the initiative and it becomes  quite difficult to play the white side.} 28. Bc1 $6 ({An accident seldom comes  alone. Here} 28. Re1 Bxf5 29. Qd1 {intending} Bh4 30. Bb2 {was quite unclear.  Maybe I have been too hard on White's moves before this?}) 28... Bxf5 29. Bd3  Bxd3 $6 ({The computer comes up with} 29... Qh5 $1 30. Bxf4 exf4 31. Bxf5 fxg3  32. Be6+ Kh8 33. hxg3 {with some advantage to Black.}) 30. Qxd3 $2 {With this  move Black finally ends up in real trouble.} ({Here Mark could have played} 30.  Rxd3 $1 {intending} Qg6 31. Bxf4 Rxf4 32. Rc3 {with an unclear game.}) 30...  Bh4 $1 31. Bxf4 Rxf4 {Now 32.Rf3? is met with 32...e4, forking the queen and  rook, so Hebden goes fishing in murky waters...} 32. Nxc5 Rd4 33. Qe2 $6 (33.  Qb3 Rc8 34. Ne6 Rdxc4 35. h3 Bxg3 36. Qxg3 b5 {is better for Black, but still  far from won.}) 33... Bxg3 34. hxg3 ({This leaves White with a serious back  rank problem. It was better to play} 34. fxg3 $1 {intending h2-h3, although  Black is still winning after} Rc8) 34... Rc8 35. Nb3 Rdxc4 36. Qxe5 Qf6 $1 {  Now Sergei is in his element. The rest is instructive.} 37. Qe1 a5 38. Nd2 Rd4  39. Qe3 Rxd5 40. Nf3 b5 41. Re1 Rcd8 $1 42. g4 h6 43. Qa7 a4 44. Re7 Rd1+ 45.  Kh2 Qf4+ 46. g3 Qxg4 47. Kg2 R1d7 {0-1}

In the end chess is about making many strong moves and Sergei just seems to make quite a lot of them.