Smuk GM Skanderborg

Posted on September 5, 2022 by Tiger

I had an experimental summer, playing five tournaments in less than 2 months, and two days after arriving from Chennai I went to the idyllic town of Skanderborg to participate in a closed GM-tournament. I was perhaps not in my most inspired mood, and I tried to make the best of circumstances by studying new stuff and expanding my repertoire. We played at Skanderborg Kulturhus, a lovely venue overlooking the lake. During the one and a half month before I had only had a few hours at home with my piano, and I was starting to suffer from something close to abstinence. I am thankful that the organizer put in a good word for me so that I was allowed to practice on the Steinway (once owned by Mercer Ellington) that was sitting in the concert hall.

I spent hours at the piano, and got back some of my inspiration, although my attention to detail and focus never quite caught up. My game against Nicolai Vaesterbaek Pedersen was symptomatic for my tournament as a whole:

   [Event "Smuk Skak GM"]  [Site "Skanderborg"]  [Date "2022.08.19"]  [Round "7"]  [White "Hillarp Persson, Tiger"]  [Black "Pedersen, Nicolai Vesterbaek"]  [Result "1/2-1/2"]  [ECO "E59"]  [WhiteElo "2514"]  [BlackElo "2366"]   {I felt I ought to share one of my own games from the tournament, although I  did not feel happy about any of them. I did win three games, but it was rather  the four games that I ought to have won (in rounds 1, 2, 7 and 9) that sticks  in my memory. This game is quite representative of them.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3.  Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 {At this stage of the tournament is was clear to me  that I would not win, and in order to save some energy for the next tournament  (in Öbro, Copenhagen) I decided to quite my daily four hours of prepration.  Instead I watched a lot of Netflix and tried to relax. So, this move was not a  choice born out of preparation, but rather a way to play something that I did  not need to prepare.} d5 6. Nf3 c5 {I was expecting that my opponent would  choose something else, but now I was back in my "old", pre-Stockfish,  repertoire.} 7. O-O Nc6 8. a3 Bxc3 9. bxc3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Qc7 11. Ba2 ({I used  to play} 11. Bd3 e5 12. Qc2 Re8 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 14. dxe5 Qxe5 15. f3 {rather  frequently, so I decided to try something else.}) 11... e5 12. h3 Bf5 $6 {  This is already a mistake. Black should not waste a tempo on moving the bishop  to a place which might not be the best one in the end.} (12... e4 13. Nd2 Bf5  14. a4 (14. d5 Ne5 15. c4 Rfe8 {and White does not get the chance to play the  d5-d6 idea, like in the game.}) 14... b6 15. Ba3 Rfe8 16. Qe2 Rad8 {with a  balanced position, in Babula,V (2576)-Navara,D (2682) Usti nad Labem 2022.})  13. d5 $1 Rad8 (13... e4 14. Nh4 $1) 14. c4 Na5 $6 ({I expected the game to  continue} 14... e4 15. Nh4 Bc8 16. Bb2 Qe7 ({I funny detail is that we both  noticed that} 16... Ne5 {fails to} 17. d6 $1 Rxd6 18. Bxe5 Rxd1 19. Bxc7 Rxa1  20. Rxa1 g5 21. Bd6 {with a winning position. In the game I get an even better  chance to use the same type of tactic, by neither I nor my opponent noticed it.  }) 17. f4 {, with a strong initiative for White, I thought. However, White's  advantage is not as big as I expected after} exf3 18. Qxf3 Ne5 19. Qg3 Rde8 20.  Rf5 $1 Ng6 $1 21. Rxf6 gxf6 22. Re1 f5 23. Nxg6 hxg6 24. Bb3 {although Black  will have to play with great precision, in order to stay in the game.}) 15. Bb2  Rfe8 $2 {My opponent was not in great shape either...} (15... e4 $1 {and  although there is more than one way for me to get an advantage, it is  generally better to not lose a pawn than to lose one.}) 16. Nh4 $2 ({I do not  think I have missed such an easy tactic in the opening stages, for more than  two decades.} 16. Nxe5 $1 Rxe5 (16... Bxh3 17. Qf3 Bc8 18. Rad1 {Black can  resign here.}) 17. d6 {just wins, so Black has to go for the side-line, which  is hopeless.}) 16... Bg6 17. Nxg6 hxg6 18. Qc2 e4 19. Qc3 b6 {I thought for a  very, very long time here, trying to evaluated the concequences of 20.f3, but  in the end I just went for the positional move.} 20. f4 $5 (20. f3 $5 Nh5 (  20... Qg3 21. Bb1 Qh4 22. fxe4 Qh6 23. e5 Nd7 24. e6 fxe6 25. e4 e5 26. Bc2 Nf6  27. Rf3 Nb7 28. Re1 Nd6 29. Rg3 $18) 21. f4 Qe7 22. g4 Qh4 23. Rf2 Nf6 24. Kg2  Re7 25. Raf1 Ne8 {Black is somewhat worse coordinated here due to the weird  position of the queen. Still a lot to play for though.}) 20... Nb7 21. g4 Re7  22. a4 Nd6 23. Bb3 a6 24. Rfc1 Rc8 25. Bd1 $6 {I played this quite fast,  trying to make up for some of the time I had squandered on my 20:th move.} (25.  Qd2 $1 Nfe8 (25... g5 26. fxg5 Nd7 27. Qh2) 26. Bd1 Qd8 27. g5 Rb8 28. Be2 Nf5  29. Bg4 Nh4 {is better for White, but once again, Black is not without  counter-chances.}) 25... b5 (25... g5 $1) 26. axb5 axb5 27. cxb5 Nxb5 28. Qa5  Qb8 (28... Nxd5 29. Qxb5 Nxe3 30. Be5 Rxe5 31. Qe2 Rf5 32. Qxe3 Rxf4 33. Ra3  $16) 29. Bxf6 $4 {Immediately after the game Nicolai pointed out that this is  a big mistake, and I came to the conclude that this is one of the worst moves  I have ever played. Well, perhaps it had more with my mind-set to do. I did  not expect myself to play good at this stage, and my bad decisions seemed  worse than they actually were. There is actually a (mistaken) logic behind my  play.} ({I wanted to play} 29. Rab1 $1 Ra7 30. Qd2 {, but got annoyed by the  possibility of} (30. Qe1 Nxd5 $2 31. Be5 Qb6 32. Be2 {wins.}) 30... Ra2 {  Indeed that is correct. Instead I should move my queen all the way to e1, when  there is no pin and White is hugely better.}) (29. Qd2 g5 $5) 29... gxf6 30.  Rab1 Rb7 {I had missed the fact that Be2 can be met with ...Nc3! All in all,  the result is that my concept with Bxf6 was a huge mistake.} 31. Qa1 Nc7 (31...  Rb6 $5 32. Ba4 Nd6 33. Bc2 {is balanced, but would have been extremely  unpleasant for me to play in time trouble.}) 32. d6 $2 {I was down to the  minute by now, and failed to find the best moves. It is a miracle that I  survived:} (32. Bc2 $1 Nxd5 33. Bxe4 Nb4 34. Qxf6 Rb6 35. Qc3 $13) 32... Nd5  33. d7 Rd8 34. Ba4 Rxb1 ({During the game I worried about} 34... Nxe3 $1 35.  Rxb7 Qxf4 {, which indeed is dangerous for me:} 36. Rb2 Qg3+ 37. Kh1 Qxh3+ 38.  Rh2 Qf3+ 39. Kg1 Qxg4+ 40. Kh1 Qf3+ 41. Kg1 Qg3+ 42. Kh1 Ng4 43. Rcc2 Qf3+ 44.  Kg1 Nxh2 45. Rxh2 e3 46. Bb5 Kg7 47. Qe1 $15 {In practical play this is close  to winning for Black.}) 35. Rxb1 Qc7 36. Qb2 g5 37. Qd2 {I am out of the woods.  } Nb4 38. Qc3 Nd5 39. Qd2 Nb4 (39... gxf4 {I did not have to time to properly  analyze what would happen after} 40. Qxd5 f3 {, but it seems that} 41. Qd2 Qg3+  42. Kf1 Qxh3+ 43. Kg1 {is enough for a draw.} Qg3+ 44. Kf1 Qh3+ $11 45. Kg1  Qxg4+ $2 46. Kh1 $18) 40. Qc3 Nd5 {And I claimed a threefold repetition on the  next move.} 1/2-1/2

Summing up the Olympiad in Chennai

Posted on August 18, 2022 by Tiger

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.

Olympiad Round 8.

Posted on August 6, 2022 by Tiger

So what happened to round 7? Well, I was tired and there was a free day and a friend of mine invited me to go on a sightseeing tour, so… they cancelled round 7. Also, Sweden had the greatest go success ever when Fredrik Blomback took the bronze at the European Go Congress in Vatra Dornei, Romania. On the road to the 3rd place he won against three professionals, so I had to celebrate it properly, by going through his games. I would have posted links to them here, if it was not for the annoying fact that the games were not properly reported; that some moves were wrong, and that I do not want you to think that Fredrik played any less great than he actually did. The ever entertaining Benjamin Drean-Guenaizia won the title by winning against Artem Kachanovskyi in the final. Through the link you can watch both the bronze match and the final.

So, Olympiad, Chennai, today. In the open, Sweden managed to win against Zambia, which was kind of expected although Zambia has performed very well so far in the tournament. The Swedish women were up against the higher rated Israelis, and although Pia Cramling were the one to finish the match in Swedens favour, it was Inna’s game that was most impressive:

   [Event "Chennai Women's Chess Olympiad"]  [Site "chess24.com"]  [Date "2022.08.06"]  [Round "8.2"]  [White "Belenkaya, Dina"]  [Black "Agrest, Inna"]  [Result "0-1"]  [ECO "C45"]  [WhiteElo "2256"]  [BlackElo "2217"]  [WhiteTeamCountry "ISR"]  [BlackTeamCountry "SWE"]   1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Nd2 {An uncommon  move.} (6. e5 Qe7 7. Qe2 Nd5 8. c4 {is the old main line,} ({with} 8. h4 {  being prefered among top players lately.})) 6... Bc5 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O Re8 9.  Nb3 {Tarrasch - probably jokingly - said that the knight is always misplaced  on b3 (and perhaps also g3, I cannot remember), but if only chess was that  easy. White's move is not common here, but it is logical. White tries to make  the bishop leave the long diagonal, and will try to box it in with c4-c5 next.}  Bb6 10. c4 d6 $1 11. Qc2 a5 $5 {While commenting on this game together with  Deniz Arman, before I had a chance to look at the position with an engine, I  said that White only has two candidate moves here: c5 and a4. It feels good to  see the engine confirm this. The point is that White cannot allow a5-a4, since  Black will get total domination on the dark squares...} (11... Ng4 $5 12. h3  Ne5 13. Be2 Qh4 14. c5 dxc5 15. Nxc5 Bxh3 16. gxh3 Qxh3 17. a4 $1 Re6 18. Nxe6  Qg3+ {with perpetual checks.}) 12. Bg5 h6 (12... a4 $1 13. Nd2 h6 {was a more  precise move order.}) 13. Bh4 (13. Bxf6 $1 Qxf6 14. c5 Ba7 (14... Bxc5 15. Nxc5  dxc5 16. Rac1 Be6 17. b3 Qd4 $132) 15. Nxa5 Bxc5 16. Nxc6 Bd7 17. Bb5 {would  have been about balanced.}) 13... a4 14. Nd2 g5 $1 15. Bg3 Nh5 $1 {When the  bishop on g3 is exchanged, Black's control of the dark squares will be  crushing.} 16. Nf3 $2 Bg4 $5 (16... Nxg3 17. hxg3 g4 $1 ({While commenting  together with Deniz, I missed that White can block the long diagonal after}  17... Ra5 $6 18. Qc3 $1 h5 19. b4 axb3 20. axb3 Rxa1 21. Rxa1 {and White is  playing b4/c5 next.}) (17... Qf6 18. e5 $1) 18. Nh4 Qf6 (18... Bd4 19. Rae1 Qf6  {is also very good for Black.}) 19. Rad1 Ra5 {with an attack. Still not clear  how Black will break through though.}) 17. Nd2 $2 ({White need to throw a  stick into Black's wheel before she the pawns start rolling on the kingside.}  17. e5 $1 Bxf3 18. gxf3 dxe5 19. Be4 Bd4 20. Bxc6 Rb8 21. Bxe8 Qxe8 22. b3 Bxa1  23. Rxa1 Ng7 {followed by f7-f5-f4, or just f7-f6; playing with a piece up on  the rest of the board, is better for Black, but White is not yet lost.}) 17...  Nxg3 18. hxg3 Qf6 {There is no defence against h6-h5-h4.} 19. Kh1 h5 20. f4 (  20. f3 Qh8 21. Kh2 Bd4 22. Rac1 Be5 23. Kg1 Bxg3 $19) 20... h4 21. gxh4 (21.  fxg5 Qh8) 21... gxf4 22. Nf3 Ra5 $1 {The reservs are brought in, so that every  Black piece gets to participate.} 23. g3 fxg3 24. Qg2 Bxf3 25. Qxf3 Qxh4+ {  and facing mate in one, White resigned. Another great game by Inna.} 0-1

Olympiad Round 5.

Posted on August 2, 2022 by Tiger

Not very inspired today, from neither the women’s team, nor for us in the open section. There were many interesting games today, and I enjoyed scrolling through the top matches for such a long time that I forgot to go to dinner. So, consider the game below the top of the iceberg.

   [Event "Chennai Chess Olympiad Open"]  [Site "Chennai"]  [Date "2022.08.02"]  [Round "5"]  [White "Giri, Anish"]  [Black "Hansen, Eric"]  [Result "1-0"]  [ECO "E11"]  [WhiteElo "2760"]  [BlackElo "2606"]   1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 Bb4+ (4... Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2  b5 8. a4 b4 9. Nfd2 {is the main line here, and it explains my comment to move  8.}) 5. Bd2 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O dxc4 {It is rather uncommon to take on c4 in  this position. I presume Eric's choice of line is an expression of ambition.} (  {The idea behind the Bf8-b4-e7 maneuver, is usually to leave the bishop on d2  in a bad place, further away from its ideal square on b2, thus forcing it to  move early on.} 7... c6) 8. Qa4 (8. Qc2 b5 9. a4 b4 {and Bd2 is in the way of  the knight (see comment on move 4.).}) 8... Bd7 (8... a6 9. Qxc4 b5 10. Qc2 Bb7  11. Rc1 {would give White and extra tempo in a famous line (here Bd2 is a very  good move to have played).}) 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Rc1 (10. Nc3 {has been played a  number of times, and Giri's move order, might just be a way to give the  opponent something extra to think about.}) 10... Nbd7 11. Nc3 a6 12. Bf4 Rc8  13. a3 Nd5 14. b4 (14. Nxd5 Bxd5 15. Qc2 Bd6 16. Ng5 Nf6 17. Be5 g6 18. e4 {  also looks better for White.}) 14... N7b6 {At this stage there is nothing  wrong with Black's position.} 15. Qd3 Nxc3 (15... Nxf4 16. gxf4 f5 {, followed  by Kh8 and g5, has been played in similar situations, and here it seem quite  good.}) 16. Rxc3 Nd5 $6 {This invites a promising sacrifice. I wonder what mad  Eric Hansen go for this line; if he thought it gave him chances?} (16... Bb5 $1  17. Qe4 c6 18. h4 {is a suggestion from the engine. With an equal game.}) 17.  Rxc6 $1 {Clearly, yes, there are no longer any pieces in Black's position that  can fight properly for the light squares.} Nxf4 (17... bxc6 18. Bd2 a5 19. Ne5  {is even worse.}) 18. gxf4 bxc6 19. Rc1 (19. Qxa6) 19... Bd6 (19... a5 20. bxa5  Ra8 {, looks like a good alternative, not allowing White to build a solid  chain of pawns.}) 20. e3 h6 21. Qxa6 $2 {Giri did not produce his best level  today. This pawn is not urgent to take, and the queen is needed on the  kingside.} (21. Rxc6 g5 22. fxg5 hxg5 23. Qe4 $16) 21... Ra8 22. Qd3 g5 $1 23.  fxg5 hxg5 24. h3 f5 25. Rxc6 {Eric is back in the game!} Qf6 $1 26. Nd2 g4 27.  hxg4 fxg4 28. Ne4 Qf5 $2 {I am guessing there was time trouble involved. It is  rarely a good idea to double the heavy pieces with a queen in front, and here  it is really quite puzzling.} (28... Qh4 $1 29. Rc2 Qh2+ 30. Kf1 g3 31. Ng5)  29. Rc2 Ra7 30. Rd2 (30. Qb3 $1) 30... Be7 31. Ng3 Qg5 ({Black could have  fought on in a depressing endgame with} 31... Qxd3 32. Rxd3 Bd6 33. Ne4 e5) 32.  Qb3 Kh8 33. d5 Rd8 34. Rd3 exd5 35. Bxd5 Qe5 36. Qc4 (36. Be4 $1 {wins for  White since the rook on a7 is out of the game after the exchange of the of the  d-rooks:} Rxd3 37. Qxd3 Bd6 38. Qd1 $1 Rxa3 39. Qxg4 {and Black will soon have  to give up material.}) 36... Bh4 37. Ne2 $2 {The amount of mistakes at this  stage of the game surprise me somewhat. I would certainly not have committed  less myself, but I expect more of these guys. Again, time trouble is the  likely explanation.} Bg5 $2 (37... Qf6 $1 38. Nf4 g3 {and the game is once  again balanced, although it is in no way easy to explain why.}) 38. Kg2 Rd6 39.  Nf4 Bxf4 40. exf4 Qf6 {Perhaps Black lost on time, and perhaps he realized  that he is playing without his rook on a7, and resigned. (I got a complaint  that I did not explain properly why Peralta resigned against Mamedyarov, two  rounds ago. Perhaps it is so that you can learn something from trying to grasp  it yourself. Perhaps I am just lazy.)} 1-0

CHESS AT THE BAG OF CATS

Tiger Hillarp on Chess

Smuk GM Skanderborg

Summing up the Olympiad in Chennai

Olympiad Round 8.

Olympiad Round 5.