10 Games from 2014

[Event "Italian Team Championship"][Site "Condino ITA"][Date "2014.04.30"][EventDate "2014.??.??"][Round "1"][Result "0-1"][White "Alberto David"][Black "Maxime Vachier-Lagrave"][ECO "A15"][WhiteElo "2579"][BlackElo "2758"][PlyCount "54"]1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. b4 {Vachier-Lagrave is known for his extremely deep knowledge of the Gruenfeld defence. White would like to avoid the long theoretical lines and decides to handle the position in an original manner. } Bg7 4. Bb2 O-O 5. g3 {White fianchettoes both of his bishops. He delays the decision whether to play in the center or on the queenside.} c6! {Creating the positional threat of playing a5. The move has prevented the principled reply of b5, while in case of a3, Black might quickly attack the b4 pawn with Na6 and Qb6. Additionally the pawn is going to be well placed on c6 because it limits the power of the g2 bishop.} 6. Na3! {I like this answer a lot. White prepares to strengthen his b4 pawn with Nc2 and the direct a5 could be met by b5!, followed by recapturing with the knight.} Qb6 {Vachier is a tactical player and he looks for tactical motifs right in the opening. The d6–e5 plan from the game was also possible.  } 7. Nc2 d6 [{The c6–d6– e5 is the most logical way to occupy the center, because it locks both white bishops. A principled follow-up of Qb6 could have been}(7...Ne4!?{The double attack on f2 and b2 forces White to take a committing decision.} 8.c5 (8.d4{creates a nice outpost for the knight on d4, as it cannot be kicked out with d3 anymore.} 8...d5) 8...Qd8 9.Bxg7 Kxg7) {and the c5 pawn allows Black the undermining ideas of b6 and d6. Black has solved the opening problems.}]8. Rb1! [{Protecting the b2 bishop. On the natural}(8. Bg2{Black had interesting options, like} 8. ... Ne4{as c5 is not an option for White anymore and on} 9. d4 a5 10. a3 Be6{with a quick attack on the queenside pawns, with the idea to create holes on the light squares}11. c5 Qb5) {Black has the initiative.}] e5 9. Bg2 [{If White was better developed, he could have achieved favorable exchanges on the pawn structure by playing}(9.c5 dxc5 10.bxc5 Qa5! (10. ... Qxc5 {immediately doesn't work because of}11. Ba3!)Bxe5 Qxc5){White has traded his sidepawn for a central one, which would be excellent, but there are some concrete problems with which it is not easy to deal. Black is again threatening to play Ng4 or Bf5.}] e4 [{Vachier wants to grab the initiative, but he opens the a1–h8 diagonal. I am not sure if it was the best idea. Simply developing with}(9...Re8 10.0–0 a5 11.a3 Bg4){was comfortable for Black.}] 10. Nfd4 a5 11. a3 [{Because of the fact that White could take back with the knight on b5, he should have played}(11.b5! {with the idea to open the queenside and after}11...c5 12.Nb3 a4 {temporarily pushes back the pieces, but Black seriously weakens his d5 square} 13. Nba1!) {Ne3 and Nac2 are coming next, both knights are headed to d5. Sooner or later White will also undermine the e4 pawn with d3 and he achieves an edge.}] axb4 12. axb4 Nbd7 {Logical development of the pieces. The knight is heading to e5, which was the whole point of the e4 push.} 13. O-O Re8 14. Bc3 [(14. Ra1!?){made sense. The b2 bishop does not need to be protected anymore, therefore White might fight for the opened file. If Black trades the rooks, the queen will be excellently placed on a1, strengthening the pressure on the long diagonal}] Ne5 15. Ne3 {This is the moment, when Black decides to launch an attack against the king.} h5 {The position is closed and the center is locked, therefore such an action is completely justified. Black would like to annoy his opponent with h4. If White prevents it by playing h4 himself, he would give an excellent outpost on g4 for the black minor pieces.} 16. Ra1 Rxa1 17. Qxa1 h4 {Consequently following the plan.} 18. b5 [{If White was afraid, he could have exchanged the queen with}(18. Qa5){but at the moment it was not obvious what Black wants on the kingside, therefore White decided to make progress on the queenside, where he is better}] hxg3 19. hxg3 Neg4 {The plan is clear. Black would like like to mate on h2 and he only needs two moves to drive his queen there with Qc5–h5.} 20. Ndc2 [{The most logical move. White opens the long diagonal and prepares to take on g4 and put his other knight to e3. The Qc5 move seemingly loses a piece, however Vachier-Lagrave finds a brilliant idea to make it work.}(20. Nb3!){should have been played, preventing the Qc5 idea and opening the long diagonal.}] Qc5!! {Black had to foresee the entire line which happened in the game. It required extremely good calculation.} 21. Nxg4 Nxg4 22. Bxg7 [(22. Ne3{prevents the mate, but drops a pawn after}22...Bxc3 23.Qxc3 cxb5)] Qh5 23. Rb1 {White thought that there is only one check on h2 and he ends up with an extra piece. But Black had seen things much further.  } Qh2+ 24. Kf1 Ne5!! {With this calm retreat Black has prepared the decisive threat of Bh3 with the idea of Qh1 mate! There is no adequate defense against it.} 25. g4!? [{A very nice defensive attempt along the 3rd rank, but Vachier finds another beautiful tactical blow!}(25. Ne3 {is refuted by} Bh3 26. Ke1 Qg1+ 27. Bf1 Kxg7){And White cannot survive for long with such a pin on the back rank. Black simply wants to leave the pin with Kg8 followed by Ng4, deflecting the defender of the f1 bishop.}]Nf3!! [{What a move! The only way to win! White gets mated in any case.}(25. ... Bxg4?{is bad in view of} 26. Bxe5! {attacking the queen, so Bh3 does not work at once, while after} Rxe5 27.Rb3!){and Rg3 protects everything!}] 26. exf3 {Otherwise White would have played Qg1.} exf3 27. Bxf3 Bxg4! [{The point of Nf3! Mate is now inevitable and White resigned.}(27...Bxg4 28.Bxg4 (28.Bg2 (28.Qc3 (28.Ne3 Bxf3 29.Ke1 Qg1#) Bh3+ 29.Bg2 Qxg2#) Be2+ 29.Ke1 Qg1+ 30.Bf1 Qxf1#) 28...Qh1#){It is amazing that from seemingly nowhere Black suddenly gave mate in a few moves.}{0-1}

[Event "76th Tata Steel Chess"][Site "Wijk aan Zee"][Date "2014.01.12"][Round "2"][White "Gelfand, Boris"][Black "Rapport, Richard"][Result "0-1"][ECO "A52"][Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez, Alejandro"][WhiteElo "2777"][BlackElo "2691"][PlyCount "120"][EventDate "2014.??.??"]  [EventCountry "NED"]1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 {Not one to shy away from unusual openings, and one not dismayed by his unsucessful 1.b3 yesterday against So, Rapport decides to spice things up with a Budapest Gambit - a gambit that is not all that bad, but certainly does not enjoy top-tier reputation.} 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Nf3 (4. Bf4 { is sharper and scores better} g5 5. Bg3 Bg7 6. Nf3 Nc6 {with a very complex game, though White does score significantly better than Black.}) 4... Bc5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Nc3 O-O 7. Be2 Ngxe5 8. Nxe5 Nxe5 9. O-O a5 {This move was supposed to be inexact.} (9... Re8 {is the usual preference of the Budapest's main exhibitor - Mamedyarov. The move is useful and it gives the bishop a nice retreat on f8.}) 10. Kh1 $6 {A hard move to explain. White will follow up with f4, its the only idea of Kh1, but that is not necessarily good as it will leave the e-pawn as a permanent weakness.} (10. Na4 $1 {Is supposed to be the correct response. The point of 9...a5 is to sometimes swing the rook from a8 to a6 and then to the kingside, creating threats on that flank. This move poses the question to the bishop on where it wants to go - a question that is not so easily answered as it is rather awkward on e7.}) 10... d6 11. f4 Nc6 12. b3 Re8 13. Rf3 Bf5 {White's position is already slightly uncomfortable. His weakness on e3 ties him down - he cannot play Bb2 as he would like to.} 14. Rg3 Re6 $1 {Swinging the rook to the kingside allows Black to stop any shenanigans on that side, not to mention that it allows for the possibility of doubling on the e-file and improving the pressure on the e-pawn.} 15. Bd3 Bxd3 16. Qxd3 Nb4 17. Qd2 Qe7 18. e4 Qh4 $1 {With a nasty threat.} 19. Rf3 $6 (19. Bb2 $4 Qxg3 $1 ) (19. f5 $1 Qxg3 20. hxg3 Rh6+ 21. Qxh6 gxh6 22. Bxh6 Bd4 23. Bd2 a4 {And Black's activity and threats outweigh White's extra pawn - but White should be ok with good defense.}) 19... Nc2 (19... f5 $1 {Was even stronger, also taking advantage of the weak back rank but now putting pressure on e4. Rapport's sequence is good enough for a slight edge.}) 20. Rb1 Qe1+ 21. Qxe1 Nxe1 22. Rg3 $6 (22. Rh3 {was better, the trade of rooks does not favor White as the rook on h3 is currently preventing the Black knight from reaching d3.}) 22... Rg6 23. Nd5 $6 (23. Rxg6 hxg6 24. Bd2 Nd3 25. g3 {was not too bad for White.}) 23... Rxg3 24. hxg3 c6 $1 25. Be3 (25. Nc3 Nd3 {is now difficult for White as the king cannot quickly go to f3, therefore the e4 pawn is running out of defenders.}) 25... Nd3 26. Bxc5 cxd5 27. Bxd6 dxe4 {Black's powerful knight on d3 and his passed pawn on e4 guarantee him an advantage. White must be careful so as to not lose immediately.} 28. Kg1 f5 29. Kf1 Ra6 30. Bc7 Kf7 31. g4 Rc6 $1 32. Bxa5 Ra6 $1 {A nice maneuver trying to activate the rook.} 33. Bc3 $2 { Letting the rook into the game is suicide.} (33. b4 b6 34. gxf5 bxa5 35. b5 { Gave White hope to retain a half point thanks to his counterplay with the pawns.}) 33... Rxa2 34. gxf5 e3 35. g3 Rc2 36. Be1 Kf6 {White is simply too passive. Black is threatening to waddle his king all the way to f3 and claim the victory. Gelfand stops this, but only temporarily.} 37. g4 h5 38. Bh4+ Kf7 39. gxh5 Rh2 $2 {Missing a much easier win.} (39... e2+ $1 40. Kg1 Rd2 {And White loses a full rook.}) 40. Be1 Kf6 41. Kg1 Re2 42. Bc3+ Kxf5 43. Bxg7 Kxf4 44. Bh6+ Kg3 {Black is still winning.} 45. Bxe3 Rxe3 {If White can eliminate the b7 pawn he should hold the draw, but with his king being so weak and his rook being so passive this is nothing but a dream. Rapport finishes off with good technique.} 46. Kf1 Kf4 47. Ra1 Rf3+ 48. Kg1 Rg3+ 49. Kf1 Rf3+ 50. Kg1 Kg4 51. h6 Nf4 52. h7 Rh3 53. Kf2 Kf5 54. b4 Nd3+ 55. Ke2 Ke4 56. Ra8 Rh2+ 57. Kd1 Rxh7 58. Kd2 Nxb4 {The extra pawn has been stabilized and Gelfand has nothing left but to resign.} 59. Kc3 Nc6 60. Re8+ Re7 {A nice bounce-back from the Hungarian prodigy.} 0-1