Reply #8: Bareev - Jackovenko, Round 3, Sochi

[Jack Rabbit]

Evgeny Bareev
Photo: ChessBase.com

Evgeny Bareev (Elara) vs. Dmitry Jakovenko (Tomsk-400)
Russian Team Championships, Round 3
Sochi, May 2007

East India Game: Nimzo-Indian Defense

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 5. dxc5 0-0 6. a3 Bxc5 7. Nf3 b6 8. Bf4

• 8. Bg5 Bb7 9. e4 h6 10. Bh4 Be7 11. Rd1 Nh5 12. Bg3 a6 13. e5 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Qc7 15. f4 d6 16. f5 dxe5 17. fxe6 fxe6 18. Qg6 Nf6 19. Rg1 gives White the edge in space (Gagunashvili-Macieja, Eur Club Cup, Rethymnon (Greece) 2003)./li]

8. -- Bb7 9. Rd1 Nc6 10. e3 Nh5

• 10. -- Rc8 11. Be2 Be7 12. 0-0 a6 13. Bd6 Bxd6 14. Rxd6 Qc7 15. Rfd1 Na5 16. R6d4 Rfd8 17. Rh4 h6 18. b4 Nc6 gives White more space, but Black's position is solid (Hjartarson-C. Hansen, Eur Jr Ch, Groningen 1981)./li]

11. Bg3 h6

• 11. -- f5 12. Be2 Nxg3 13. hxg3 Rf7 14. Nb5 Qf6 15. Qc3 Qxc3+ 16. Nxc3 h6 17. e4 fxe4 18. Nxe4 Nd4 19. Nxc5 Nxf3+ 20. gxf3 bxc5 21. Rh5 Rc8 is balanced (Matveeva-Xu Yuhua, Ol, Bled 2002)./li]

12. Be2

• White's varies from one of Jakovenko's previous games.
• 12. Ne4 Nxg3 13. hxg3 f5 14. Nxc5 bxc5 15. g4 Ne7 16. Qd2 Bxf3 17. gxf3 d5 18. Bh3 Ng6 19. gxf5 Ne5 20. Qe2 gives Whit the opportunity to blast away Black's center (Bu Xiangzhi-Jakovenko, Team Match, Taiyuan 2006)./li]
• 12. Qd2 Nxg3 13. hxg3 Qb8 14. g4 Ne5 15. Nxe5 Qxe5 16. Rh5 f5 17. gxf5 Rxf5 18. Rxf5 Qxf5 19. Qxd7 Rf8 20. Qd2 is level (Matveeva-Bojkovic, FIDE Women's KO Ch, Elista 2004).

12. -- Rc8

• If 12. -- Be7 then:
• 13. Bd6 Bxd6 14. Rxd6 Qe7 15. Rd2 Rac8 16. 0-0 Nf6 17. e4 d6 18. Rfd1 Rfd8 is equal (Lysyj-Tomashevsky, Russian U20 Ch, Cheboksary 2006).
• 13. 0-0 Nxg3 14. hxg3 d6 15. Rd2 Qb8 16. Rfd1 Rd8 gives White an edge in space (M. Gurevich-Marin, EU Ch, Batumi 2002).

13. Qd3 Nxg3 14. hxg3 Nb8 15. g4!?

• White breaks out of the book altogether with a move intended to fix Black's kingside.
• 15. Nb5 a6 16. Nd6 Bxd6 17. Qxd6 Qc7 18. Rh4 Qxd6 19. Rxd6 Rc6 20. Rhd4 Rfc8 21. Ne5 Rxd6 22. Rxd6 Bc6 23. b4 Kf8 24. b5 Ke7 25. Rd4 Bb7 26. a4 draw agreed, although Black has a superior position (Herraiz-Spassov, Cullera 2003)./li]

15. -- Be7!

• This, in turn, is to keep White from advancing to g5.
• If 15. -- a6 16. Na4 Be7 17. Qb3 b5 then:
• 18. cxb5 Bd5 19. Rxd5 exd5 20. b6 Rc1+ 21. Bd1 is even.
• After 18. Nc3? Bxf3 19. gxf3 bxc4 20. Bxc4 d5 Black has a very distinct advantage in mobility.
16. Nb5 Ba6 17. Nfd4 Bxb5 18. Nxb5 a6 19. Nd6!


• If one has the opportunity to take advantage of a hole at d6, do it.
19. -- Rc6!


• Obviously, 19. -- Bxd6 20. Qxd6 doesn't solve any of Black's problems. This does.
20. Ne4 b5 21. cxb5?!


• This move is far from the best. White has just opened the queenside for Black at a moment when Blach has his pieces there.
• If 21. c5 f5 22. gxf5 then:
• After 22. -- exf5 23. Nd6 Bxd6 24. cxd6 Rf6 25. Qd5+ Kh7 Black has more freedom.
• 22. -- Rxf5 23. b4 Qc7 24. Rh5 Rxh5 25. Bxh5 gives White a fimr advantage in space.
21. -- axb5 22. b4 Ra6 23. 0-0!?


• White castles with the idea of moving the heavy pieces queenside.
• If 23. Qb3! then:
• 23. -- Qb6 24. Nc3 Qc6 25. e4 Bf6 26. Nxb5 Qxe4 27. Nd6 Qe5 28. Rh5 Qc3+ equalizes.
• 23. -- d5 24. Bxb5 Ra8 25. Nd2 Qb6 26. Bd3 Nd7 27. Bc2 is level.
23. -- Qb6


• Black brings his Queen into action, grabbing some space.
• If 23. -- d5 24. Qb3 Qd7 25. Nc3 Rb6 26. e4 d4 27. Nxb5 Rxb5 28. Bxb5 Qxb5 29. Rxd4 gives White two connected remote passers and a Rook for two minor pieces.
• After 25. Nc5 Bxc5 26. bxc5 Qa7 27. Qxb5 Ra4 28. c6 Rc8 29. c7 White has equalized.

Black: Dmitry Jakovenko
!""""""""#
$ M + Tl+%
$+ +oVoO %
$tW +o+ O%
$+o+ + + %
$ P +n+p+%
$P +qP + %
$ + +bPp+%
$+ +r+rK %
/(((((((()
White: Evgeny Bareev
Position after 23. -- Qd8b6

24. Qb3?

• White misses an opportunity to take over the queenside.
• If 24. Rc1 d5 25. Nc5 Ra7 26. Rc3 then:
• 26. -- Bf6 27. Rb3 Na6 28. Qxb5 Qxb5 29. Bxb5 Nxc5 30. bxc5White's queenside pawns will play the tune to which Black must dance.
• After 26. -- Bxc5 27. bxc5 Qc7 28. Qxb5 Nc6 29. Qb6 Qe5 30. Rfc1 White owns the queenside.
• 24. Qxb5 does not win a pawn on account of 24. -- Qxb5 25.Bxb5 Rxa3 26. Nc5 Bxc5 27. bxc5 Ra5.

24. -- Qa7 25. Ra1 Rb6 26. a4!?

• Having mostly esctuted his plan, White finds that Black is still holding the queenside and has the backward a-pawn in his sites. Therefore, White goes for complications.
• 26. Qd3 Nc6 27. Nc3 Rfb8 28. Rfc1 Bf6 gives Black more space and mobility.

26. -- bxa4

• Black picks one of the better coninuations.
• 26. -- Qb7 27. a5 Rc6 28. Rfb1 Na6 29. Nc5 Bxc5 30. bxc5 Rxc5 is also strong for Black. ,

27. Rxa4 Qc7!

• Black takes command of the dark squares.

28. b5 d5 29. Nd2

• White digs in deeper -- he's really in hole, now.
• Better is 29. Qc3! when
• 29. -- Qxc3 30. Nxc3 Bf6 31. Na2 Rb7 32. Nb4 Rc8 33. Ra8 White has drawing chances.
• 29. -- Rb7 30. Qxc7 Rxc7 31. Ng3 Bd6 32. Kh2 Rfc8 33. Rfa1 g6 gives Black more freedom.

29. -- Nd7 30. Qa2 Rc8

• Black doubles on the c-file while maintaining command ot the dark squares.
• After 30. -- Rfb8 31. Nb3 Qe5 32. Nd2 Bd6 33. Nf3 Qf6 34. Ra1 Ne5 Black has more mobility and enough defensive resources to withstand anything White throws at him in the a-file.

31. Nb3 Qe5 32. Nd4 Bd6?!

• Usually, it's a good thing to threaten mate. In this case, it helps Black's opponent to beat him to the punch.
• Better is 32. -- Nc5 33. Ra7 Bd6 34. g3 Bb8 35. Ra8 Ne4 36. Bd3 Qg5 when it's still Black's game to lose.

33. g3!

• Of two possible ways to deal with the threat of mate, White picks the right one.
• After 33. Nf3? Qf6 34. Ra8 Rbb8 35. Rxb8 Rxb8 36. Qa6 Nb6 37. Rc1 Qb2 Black wins a piece.

33. -- Rc3

• Black makes another inferior move. This threatens nothing.
• If 33. -- Rb7 34. Ra8 Rxa8 35. Qxa8+ Rb8 36. Qc6 Bc5 then:
• 37. Qxd7! Bxd4 38. Rc1 Bxe3 39. Rc8+ Rxc8 40. Qxc8+ gives White a modest advantage in that, although a pawn down, he still has the most important pawn on the board.
• 37. Rd1? Rd8 38. Qb7 Qb8 restores Black to dominance.

34. Ra8+! Kh7?

• The is the worst possible place to retreat the King. It is on a square where an open diagonal and a file half-open for White meet.
• White's objective is to demolish Black's kingside pawns.
Memorize the above remarks.
• After 34. -- Bf8 35. Nc6 Qd6 36. Ra1 Rc5 37. Qd2 Nb8 38. Nd4 Rb7 39. Nb3 Rc8 Black continues to enjoy better mobility.

Black: Dmitry Jakovenko
!""""""""#
$r+ + + +%
$+ +m+oOl%
$ T Vo+ O%
$+p+oW + %
$ + N +p+%
$+ T P P %
$q+ +bP +%
$+ + +rK %
/(((((((()
White: Evgeny Bareev
Position after 34. -- Kg8h7

35. Qd2!

• Also winning is 35. Nc6 Qe4 36. Qa7 Ra3 37. Qxd7 Rxa8 38. Qxd6 Ra2 39. Qd8 when White has a dangerous initiative and two minor pieces for a Rook
• Black's remaining moves are forced.

35. -- Rc7 36. f4 Qf6 37. g5 Qe7 38. Bd3+

• White takes command of the open diagonal with tempo (see the note to Black's 34th move).

38. -- g6

• 38. -- f5 39. gxf6+ wins the Queen.

39. Qh2 Nb8 40. Qxh6+!

• White has just opened the h-file (see the note to Black's 34th move).

40. -- Kg8

Black: Dmitry Jakovenko
!""""""""#
$rM + +l+%
$+ T Wo+ %
$ T Vo+oQ%
$+p+o+ P %
$ + N P +%
$+ +bP P %
$ + + + +%
$+ + +rK %
/(((((((()
White: Evgeny Bareev
Position after 40. -- Kh7g8

41. Bxg6!!

• White sacrifices a Bishop and gets a mating attack. This demolishes White's remaining kingside pawns (see the note to Black's 34th move).

41. -- fxg6 42. Qxg6+ Qg7 43. Qxe6+ Qf7 44. Rxb8+!

• White sacrifices the exchange and caps off the game.

44. -- Rxb8 45. Qxd6 1-0

• White has the sacrificed Bishop back and has four pawns for the exchange.
• Jakovenko resigns.