The Jack Rabbit Chess Report (March 15): Hou Yifan leads in Istanbul

[Jack Rabbit]

Reykjavik Open finishes in three-way tie



Two Chinese grandmasters, Wang Hao and Wang Yue, and Icelandic GM Hannes Stefansson finished tied for first place with 7 points each out of nine rounds in the Reykjavik Open completed last Tuesday.

Wang Hao was declared the tournament champion on tie break points. Hannes and Wang Yue share second place.

Fifteen-year-old Fabiano Caruana, the American-born national champion of Italy, who led the tournament at the halfway mark, finished tied for fourth with 6½ points.

Former women’s world champion Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria had the highest score among women players in the event with 6 points.

Wang Yue finished with the most victories in the tournament with 6. Wang Yue was upset in the opening round by Bjorn Thorfinnsson, a federation master from Iceland who doubled as tournament organizer. Wang Yue then won his next five games in a row, drew in rounds seven and eight and scored a victory in the final round over Greek grandmaster Stelios Halkias to secure a share of first place and Wang Hao and Hannes played each other to a draw.



Hou Yifan leads Women Masters’ Tournament in Istanbul



Ten women are competing in the Women Masters’ Tournament that began Tuesday in Istanbul.

The women are: Zhu Chen, formerly of China and presently of Qatar; Hou Yifan, the 14-year-old phenomenon from China; grandmaster Pia Cramling of Sweden, a pillar of women’s chess for a quarter century; international master Zhao Xue from China; Anna Usheinina of Ukraine; international master Irina Krush, the reigning US women’s champion; international master Lela Javakishvili of Georgia; seventeen-year-old IM Dronavalli Harika of India; international master Ekaterina Atalik, the Russian-born wife of Turkish grandmaster Suat Atalik; and eighteen-year-old rising star Betul Cemre Yildiz of Turkey.

After four rounds, Hou Yifan leads with 3½ points, with Pia Cramling and Ekaterina Atalik right behind at 3 points each. The fifth round will be played today (Saturday) beginning at 5:30 am PDT with live broadcast on the official website of the event.

The tournament is sponsored by the Isbank Ataturk of Turkey.


Melody Amber Rapid/Blindfold Tournament begins today



The annual Melody Amber Rapid/Blindfold Tournament begins today (Saturday) in Nice in southern France.

Twelve players are participating this year: world champion Vishy Anand of India, who has long been regarded as the world’s premiere rapid player; former world champion and defending tournament champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia; former FIDE champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria; Alexander Morozevich of Russia; Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan; Peter Leko of Hungary; Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine; Levon Aronian of Armenia; Boris Gelfand of Israel; seventeen-year-old Magnus Carlsen of Norway; eighteen-year-old Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine; and veteran Loek van Wely of Holland.

On each day, each competitor will play two games against another competitor; one game is rapid and then, with the color reversed, the same two participants will play each other without sight of board or pieces.

Live coverage begins at 14:30 Nice time (6:30 am PDT) on the official website of the tournament.

[Jack Rabbit]

1. Games from Linares

Diagrams on the Jack Rabbit Chess Report are made with Chess Mérida, a true type font that can be downlaoded free here.
BLACK
!""""""""#
$tMvWlVmT%
$OoOoOoOo%
$ + + + +%
$+ + + + %
$ + + + +%
$+ + + + %
$pPpPpPpP%
$RnBqKbNr%
/(((((((()
WHITE
White to move
(This position is a theoretical draw)

[Jack Rabbit]

2. Carlsen - Topalov, Round 12

Magnus Carlsen
Photo: ChessBase.com


Magnus Carlsen - Veselin Topalov
Morelia-Linares International Tournament, Round 12
Linares, Andalucía (Spain), 4 March 2008

King's English Game: Four Knights' Opening

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d3

• If 4.g3 then:
• 4...Bb4 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 e4 7.Ng5 Bxc3 8.bxc3 Re8 9.f3 e3 10.d3 d5 11.Qb3 Na5 12.Qa3 c6 13.cxd5 cxd5 14.f4 Bg4
• 4...d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.0-0 Be7 then:
• 8.d3 0-0 then:
• 9.a3 Be6 10.b4 a5 11.b5 Nd4 12.Nd2 c6 13.bxc6 Nxc6 14.Rb1 gives Black the advantage in space.
• 9.Be3 Be6 10.a3 a5 Black has the advatage in space.
• 8.a3 0-0 9.b4 Be6 10.d3 a5 11.b5 Nd4 12.Nd2 c6 13.bxc6 Nxc6 14.Rb1 a4 gives Black a considerablew advantage in space.
• 4...Be7 5.Bg2 d6 6.d4 0-0 7.0-0 Bg4 8.d5 Nb8 9.h3 Bh5 10.g4 Bg6 11.Nh4 Nfd7 12.Nxg6 hxg6 13.e3 g5 14.Rb1 a5 15.a3 Na6 16.b4 g6 17.Ne4 gives White the advantage in space (Morovic-Sellos, Skien, 1979).
• 4.e3 then:
• 4...Bb4 5.Qc2 0-0 6.Nd5 Re8 7.Qf5 d6 8.Nxf6+ gxf6 9.Qh5 d5 10.Bd3 e4 11.cxd5 exd3 12.dxc6 bxc6 13.b3 Bf8 14.Bb2 Re4 15.Rc1 Bg4 16.Qa5 gives White plenty of weak pawns to attack (Tirabassi-Barten, corr, 1999).
• 4...Be7 5.d4 exd4 6.Nxd4 0-0 7.Be2 d5 8.cxd5 Nb4 9.0-0 Nbxd5 10.Nxd5 Qxd5 11.Nb5 Qe5 12.Bd2 Ne4 13.Be1 c6 14.Qd4 Qxd4 15.Nxd4 Bf6 16.Rd1 Rd8 17.f3 is balanced (Seirawan-Nunn, Hastings, 1979).
• 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 then:
• 5...Bb4 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 Ne5 9.f4 Ng6 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.g3 0-0 12.Bg2 d6 13.0-0 a6 14.Qd2 Re8 15.Rab1(Pachman-Simic, Baden-Baden, 1987).
• 5...Bc5 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.g3 then:
• 7...0-0 8.Bg2 Re8 9.0-0 Rb8 then:
• 10.Qc2 Bf8 11.b3 g6 12.Bb2 Bg7 13.Rad1 Qe7 14.e4 d6 15.Rfe1 Bb7 16.f4 gives White a substantial lead in space (Bu Xiangzhi-Jakovenko, Team m, Moscow, 2007).
• 10.b3 Bb7 11.Bb2 Qe7 12.e4 d6 13.Qc2 a6 14.Rae1 Qe6 15.Ne2 Ng4 16.Nd4 Bxd4 17.Bxd4 c5 18.Bc3 Qg6 19.Re2 Re7 20.Rfe1 Rbe8 21.f3 Ne5 22.Qd2 is equal (Reti-Janowski, Semmering, 1926).
• 7...d5 8.Bg2 Be6 9.0-0 0-0 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.Bg5 c6 12.Rc1 Be7 13.Na4 Rc8 is equal (Rejfer-Kupka, Czech Ch, Ostrava, 1960).

4...d5

• 4...Bb4 5.e4 d6 6.g3 0-0 7.Bg2 a6 8.0-0 Bc5 9.h3 Be6 10.Kh2 h6 11.Ne1 b5 12.Nd5 Nd4 13.f4 Bxd5 14.cxd5 c6 15.dxc6 Rc8 gives Black the advantage in space (Holland-Adams, Op, Sutton, 1997).

5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4

• 6.g3 Be7 7.Bg2 Nb6 8.0-0 0-0 9.a3 Be6 10.b4 transposes into the darkred line in the note to White's fourth move.

6...Nb6 7.Be2 Be7 8.0-0

• 8.a4 Bg4 9.0-0 0-0 10.Be3 Bxf3 11.Bxf3 Nd7 12.Nd5 Nf6 13.Qb3 Nxd5 14.exd5 Nd4 15.Bxd4 exd4 16.Qxb7 Bd6 17.a5 gives White an extra pawn and an advantage in space, but with the usual drawbacks of the poisoned pawn (Jobava-Rukhaia, Op, Batumi, 2003).

8...0-0 9.a4 Be6!?

• 9...a5 10.Be3 f5 11.Rc1 f4 12.Bd2 Bb4 13.Nb5 Bxd2 14.Nxd2 Kh8 is equal (Agdestein-Ivanchuk, Tilburg, 1993).

10.Be3

• 10.a5 Nd7 11.d4 exd4 12.Nxd4 Nxd4 13.Qxd4 Nc5 14.Qe3 Nb3 gives Black an edge in space.

10...Nd7

• 10...Bb4 11.d4 exd4 12.Nxd4 Nxd4 13.Qxd4 Qxd4 14.Bxd4 gives White the advantage in space.

11.d4 exd4 12.Nxd4 Nxd4 13.Qxd4

• White has the advantage in space.

13...c6 14.a5 Nc5 15.Qe5 Nb3

• If 15...f6 16.Qh5 f5 17.a6 b5 18.e5 then:
• 18...b4 19.Bxc5 Bxc5 20.Na4 Bd4 21.Bf3 White continues to enjoy the edge in space.
• If 18...Nb3 19.Rad1 Qa5 20.f4 Qxa6 21.Rf3 g6 22.Qh6 Rad8 23.Rg3 Rxd1+ 24.Bxd1 is equal.

16.Ra4

• If 16.Rfd1 Nxa1 17.Rxd8 Rfxd8 18.Qg3 Nc2 then:
• 19.Bh6 Bf6 20.Bd3 Nb4 21.Be2 Bd4. is equal.
• 19.Bf4 Rd7 20.Bd1 Nb4 21.Be2 Rad8 22.Bh6 Bf8 23.Bg5 Re8 gives White more space, but Black has two rooks to a Queen.

16...Bd6 17.Qh5 g6

• 17...Qc7 18.Rd1 Be5 then:
• 19.Ra3 g6 20.Qh4 Nxa5 21.b4 Nc4 22.Bxc4 Bxc4 23.Bd4 gives White a conderable advantage in space to compensate for his pawn minus.
• 19.a6 gives Black material and spatial advantages after 19...b5 20.Rb4 Bd6 21.Rxb5 cxb5 22.Nxb5 Bxh2+ 23.Qxh2 Qc2.

18.Qh6 Be5 19.Bg5 Qc7 20.Be3

• If 20.Qh4 Nxa5 then:
• 21.Be7 Rfe8 22.Bf6 Bb3 23.Ra3 b6 24.Bd1 Bxf6 25.Qxf6 Bc4 26.Re1 White retains the lead in space.
• After 21.Bf6 Bxf6 22.Qxf6 Bb3 White still enjoys a huge spatial advantage with 23.Rb4 Rad8 24.Ra1.

20...Nxa5 21.f4 Bg7 22.Qh4 Bb3 23.Rd4?

• White is already a pawn down, and now proposes a dubious exchange sacrifice.
• After 23.Raa1 a6 24.e5! (cutting off Black's counterplay) 24...Nc4 25.Bc5 Rfd8 26.Ne4 Nd2 27.Nf6+ Bxf6 28.exf6 White continues to enjoy a huge advantage in space.

23...Rad8?

• When behind in space, one should exchange pieces. Cleary, Black should have taken the Rook.
• If 23...Bxd4! 24.Bxd4 Qd6 25.Qf2 Rfd8 26.Bxa7 Nc4 then:
• 27.Bxc4 Bxc4 28.Rc1 Qe6 leaves space even and Black is an exchange to the good.
• 27.Rb1 Qd2 28.Bxc4 Bxc4 gives Black a small but sustainable edge in space in addition to the exchange.

BLACK: Veselin Topalov
!""""""""#
$ + T Tl+%
$OoW +oVo%
$ +o+ +o+%
$M + + + %
$ + RpP Q%
$+vN B + %
$ P +b+pP%
$+ + +rK %
/(((((((()
WHITE: Magnus Carlsen
Position after 23...Ra8d8

24.e5!

• There will be no second chance.

24...Rxd4 25.Bxd4 c5 26.Be3

• Due to his dubious 23rd move, White's spatial advantage is much diminished, but Black's counteryplay has been slowed thanks to White's fine 24th move.

26...f6 27.Nb5

• After 27.Ne4? fxe5 28.fxe5 Qxe5 29.Rxf8+ Bxf8 30.Nf6+ Kf7 the space count is even and Black is two pawns to the good.

27...Qd8

• 27...Qb6 28.Qf2 Nc4 29.Nd6 Nxe3 30.Qxe3 Be6 31.exf6 then:
• 31...Rxf6 32.Rd1 Bb3 33.Bc4+ Bxc4 34.Nxc4 Qc6 35.b3 gives White a small advantage in space, but not enough to compensate for his pawn minus.
• 31...Qxd6 32.Rd1 Qb6 33.fxg7 restores a small advantage in space to White, who must lose a pawn in this position.

28.f5 fxe5

• Black has won a second pawn.

29.Bg5 Qb6 30.f6

• 30.fxg6 c4+ 31.Kh1 Rxf1+ 32.Bxf1 hxg6 33.Nc3 Qd4 gives Black a two-pawn advantage in which White does not dare accept the invitation to exchange Queens.

30...c4+ 31.Kh1 Qxb5

• If 31...Bh8 32.Be3 then:
• 32...Bxf6 33.Bxb6 Bxh4 34.Rxf8+ Kxf8 35.Bxa5 a6 36.Nd6 b5 leads to a likely draw.
• If 32...Qxe3? 33.f7+! Kg7 34.Nc7 h5 35.Ne6+ then:
• 35...Kh6 36.g4 Qe4+ 37.Bf3 Qf4 38.g5+ Kh7 39.Nxf8+ Kg7 40.Ne6+ Kxf7 41.Nxf4 with an easy win for White.
• 35...Kh7 36.Nxf8+ Kh6 37.Ne6 Qe4 38.f8Q+ Kh7 39.Ng5#.

32.fxg7 Rxf1+ 33.Bxf1 Kxg7

• 33...Qd7 34.Bh6 Nc6 35.Bxc4+ Bxc4 36.Qxc4+ Qf7 37.Qc1 b5 gives Black the edge in space and an extra pawn.

34.Bd8

• If 34.Bh6+ Kf7 35.Qd8 then:
• 35...Bc2 36.Bg5 Ke6 37.Qf6+ Kd7 38.Qe7+ Kc6 39.Qf6+ Kd5 40.Qf7+ Kd6 41.Qe7+ Kc6 42.Qf6+ draws by repetition.
• 35...Ba4 36.Bg5 Ke6 37.Qe7+ Kd5 38.Be2 Qe8 39.Bf3+ e4 40.Bxe4+ Kd4 is a likely draw.

34...Nc6??

• When Topalov blunders, he really blunders.
• If 34...Kg8 35.Qe7 Qd5 then:
• 36.Bxa5 Qxa5 37.Qe8+ Kg7 38.Qe7+ then:
• 38...Kh6 39.Qh4+ Kg7 40.Qe7+ draws by perpetual check.
• 38...Kg8 39.Qe8+ Kg7 40.Qe7+ draws by perpetual check.
• 36.Qe8+ Kg7 37.Bxa5 Qxa5 38.Qe7+ Kh6 39.Qh4+ Kg7 40.Qe7+ Kg8 41.Qe8+ draws by perpetual check.
• 34...Qd5 35.Bxa5 Qxa5 36.Qe7+ draws by perpetual check.

BLACK: Veselin Topalov
!""""""""#
$ + B + +%
$Pp+ + Lo%
$ +m+ +o+%
$+w+ O + %
$ +o+ + Q%
$+v+ + + %
$ P + +pP%
$+ + +b+k%
/(((((((()
WHITE: Magnus Carlsen
Position after 34...Na4c6

35.Qf6+!

• This forces mate.

35...Kg8

• 35...Kh6 36.Qf8+ Kh5 37.Be2#.

36.Qe6+ Kf8 37.Bg5 1-0

• After 37...Kg7 38.Qf6+ Kg8 39.Bh6 White mates on the next move.
• Topalov resigns.

[Jack Rabbit]

3. Topalov - Shirov, Round 11

Veselin Topalov
Photo: ChessBase.com (Spanish Language)


Veselin Topalov - Alexey Shirov
Morelia-Linares International Tournament, Round 11
Linares, Andalucía (Spain), 3 March 2008

West India Game: Indian Queen's Gambit Grünfeld Defense

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5

• This is the variation that was played in the inagural game of this opening (Kostic- Grünfeld, IT, Teplitz-Schonau, 1922) and has been the most frequently played since.
• Also of good repute is the Russian Opening, a favorite of former world champion Anatoly Karpov: 4.Qb3 dxc4 5.Qxc4 Bg7 6.Nf3 0-0 7.e4.

4...Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Ne2 c5 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Be3 Bg4

• 10...Qc7 11.Rc1 Rd8 then:
• 12.Bf4 Qd7 13.d5 Na5 14.Bd3 then:
• 14...e5 then:
• 15.Bg5 Re8 16.c4 b6 17.Qd2 Nb7 18.Bh6 f6 19.Bxg7 Qxg7 20.f4 Nd6 21.Kh1 Bd7 22.Ng1 Qh6 23.Rce1 f5 24.Qc3 fxe4 25.fxe5 exd3 26.exd6 Rxe1 27.Rxe1 d2 28.Rd1 Qf4 29.Rxd2 draw (Balashov-Ftacnik, Trnava, 1988).
• 15.Be3 Qe7 16.Qd2 b6 17.f4 c4 18.Bc2 exf4 19.Bxf4 Nc6 20.Nd4 Nxd4 21.cxd4 Ba6 22.Rf3 gives White the advantage in space (Jussupow-Kamsky, Tilburg, 1992).
• 14...b5 15.Be3 e6 16.Nf4 c4 17.Be2 Qe7 18.Qd2 e5 19.Nh3 Bxh3 20.gxh3 Nb7 21.f3 Nd6 is equal (Najdorf-Gheorghiu, IT, Manila, 1973).
• If 12.Qd2 Qa5 13.Rfd1 then:
• 13...Bd7 14.Bh6 cxd4 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.Qf4 Be8 17.cxd4 e5 18.dxe5 Rxd1+ 19.Rxd1 Qxe5 20.Qxe5+ draw (Polugaevsky-Vaganian, IT, Linares, 1985).
• 13...Bg4 14.f3 Ne5 15.Bd5 Rxd5 16.exd5 Nc4 17.Qd3 Nb2 18.Qb1 Nxd1 19.Qxb7 Rd8 20.Rxd1 Bc8 21.Qxe7 Bf8 22.Qf6 gives White the advantage in space (Ftacnik-Stohl, IT, Trnava, 1984).

11.f3 Na5 12.Bd3

• If 12.Bxf7+ Rxf7 13.fxg4 Rxf1+ 14.Kxf1 cxd4 15.cxd4 e5 then:
• 16.Kg1 Rc8 17.d5 Nc4 18.Bf2 Nd6 19.Ng3 Bh6 20.h4 Bf4 21.g5 Qd7 22.Qf3 White still has the extra pawn.(Jussupow-Sutovsky, IT, Essen, 2001).
• 16.d5 Nc4 17.Bf2 Qf6 18.Kg1 Rf8 19.Qe1 Bh6 20.Ng3 Qa6 21.Kh1 Qa4 22.Qe2 b6 23.h4 Bf4 24.Nf1 Nd6 25.Re1 Rc8 26.g3 Rc2 27.Qf3 Qxa2 gives Black a huge advatage in space (K.Georgiev-Ivanchuk, IT, Reggio Emilia, 1989).

12...cxd4 13.cxd4 Be6
BLACK: Alexey Shirov
!""""""""#
$t+ W Tl+%
$Oo+ OoVo%
$ + +v+o+%
$M + + + %
$ + Pp+ +%
$+ +bBp+ %
$p+ +m+pP%
$R +q+rK %
/(((((((()
WHITE: Veselin Topalov
Position after 13...Bg4e6

14.d5

• This sacrifice, quite commonplace nowadays, made its debut in the early years of the cold war.
• The inagural game continued 14...Bxa1 15.Qxa1 f6 16.Kh1 Bd7 17.g4 b5 18.e5 Bc6 19.Be4 Bxd5 20.Rd1 Bxe4 21.Rxd8 Bxf3+ 22.Kg1 Raxd8 23.Nd4 Nc4 with spatial and material advantages for Black (Maicherczyck-Niephaus, West German Ch, Bad Pyrmont, 1949).
• By the following year, it was being played at the highest levels of chess: 16.Bh6 Qb6+ 17.Nd4 Bd7 18.Rb1 Qc5 19.Rc1 Qb6 20.Bxf8 Rxf8 21.h4 gives the advantage in space to White (Bronstein-Boleslavsky, Candidates' Trmt, Budapest, 1950).

14...Bxa1 15.Qxa1 f6

• 15...Bd7?! 16.Bh6 f6 17.Bxf8 Qb6+ 18.Qd4 Qxd4+ 19.Nxd4 Kxf8 20.Rc1 Rc8 21.Rxc8+ Bxc8 22.f4 a6 23.Kf2 b5 24.Ke3 Kf7 25.Nf3 Bg4 26.Kd4 gives White a centralized and active King and a pawn majority in the centerGustafsson-Oral, Budesliga, Stuttgart, 2005).

16.Qd4

• 16.Rb1 Bd7 17.Bh6 Rf7 18.e5 fxe5 19.Qxe5 b5 20.Be3 Qb8 21.Qc3 Qd8 22.Qe5 Qb8 23.Qc3 Qd8 draws by repetition (Kavalek-Timman, IT, Wijk aan Zee, 1978).
• 16.Bh6 Re8 17.Kh1 Rc8 18.Nf4 Bd7 19.e5 Nc4 20.e6 Ba4 21.Nxg6 hxg6 22.Bxg6 Ne5 23.Be4 Bc2 24.Bxc2 Rxc2 25.Qd1 Kh7 26.f4 Kxh6 27.fxe5 Qc8 28.exf6 Rg8 29.f7 is balanced and, after some more moves, the players agreed to a draw (Korotylev-Timofeev, Russian Ch Qual, Tomsk, 2004).

16...Bf7 17.Bh6 Re8 18.Bb5 e5 19.Qf2 Re7 20.Bd3!?

• 20.f4 exf4 21.Qxf4 Qb6+ 22.Kh1 Bxd5 23.exd5 Qxb5 24.Qxf6 Qe8 25.Qd4 Rd8(Topalov-Shirov, Corus A, Wijk aan Zee, 2007).

20...Rc8

• 20...Rc7 21.f4 Qd6 22.fxe5 fxe5 23.Bg5 b6 gives White an edge in space, but it does not compensate for the exchange.

21.f4 Nc4

• 21...exf4 22.Nxf4 Nc4 23.Qxa7 Ne5 24.Be2 Ra8 25.Qf2 Qd6 giving Black the advantage in space.

BLACK: Alexey Shirov
!""""""""#
$ +tW +l+%
$+ + Tv+o%
$ + + OoB%
$+ +pO + %
$ +m+pP +%
$+ +b+ + %
$p+ +nQpP%
$+ + +rK %
/(((((((()
WHITE: Veselin Topalov
Position after 21...Na5c4

22.fxe5!

• White times the pawn exchange well.22.Ng3 exf4 23.Bxf4 Ne5 24.Bxe5 fxe5 25.Qxa7 b5 26.Qf2 b4 27.Qf6 gives White enough play to compensate for a small material deficit.
• If 22.Bxc4 Rxc4 23.fxe5 Rxe5 24.Ng3 Ra4 then:
• 25.Be3 Raxe4 26.Nxe4 Rxe4 27.Bxa7 Qxd5 28.Qxf6 gives Black an edge with his centralized pieces.
• 25.Bf4 Re7 26.Qb2 Ra6 27.Bd2 Qd6 28.Be3 f5 gives White more space, but not near enough to compensate for the exchange.

22...Nxe5?!

• If 22...Rxe5 23.Ng3 g5 24.Qxa7 then:
• 24...Nd6! 25.Qf2 Bg6 26.Qxf6 Qxf6 27.Rxf6 Nf7 28.Rxf7 Kxf7 gives Black a material edge.
• 24...b6?! 25.Nh5 f5 26.Qd7 Ne3 27.Qxd8+ Rxd8 28.Nf6+ Kh8 29.Bxg5 gives White better piece activity.

23.Qxf6!

• After 23.Qd4 Nxd3 24.Qxd3 f5 25.Ng3 Qb6+ 26.Be3 Qb2 27.d6 Rc2 Black is clearly better.

23...Bxd5

• 23...Qb6+ 24.Qxb6 axb6 25.Bg5 Rec7 26.Bb1 b5 27.Kf2 Kf8 28.Ke3 Nc4+ 29.Kd4 gives White a centralized King and two passers in the center.

24.exd5

• White emerges from the complications with two Bishops for a Rook.

24...Ng4 25.Qf4 Nxh6 26.Qxh6 Qb6+?

• After playing so well in a sharp position, Black falters.
• 26...Qxd5 27.Qd2 Rd7 28.Rf3 Qe6 is equal.

27.Kh1 Qe3
BLACK: Alexey Shirov
!""""""""#
$ +t+ +l+%
$+ + T +o%
$ + + +oQ%
$+ +p+ + %
$ + + + +%
$+ +bW + %
$p+ +n+pP%
$+ + +r+k%
/(((((((()
WHITE: Veselin Topalov
Position after 27...Qb6e3

28.Qh4!!

• If 28.Qxe3 Rxe3 29.Rd1 then:
• 29...Rce8 30.Ng1 Re1 31.Rxe1 Rxe1 32.g3 a5 33.Bc4 Rc1 34.Bb3 b5 35.d6+ Kf8 allows the King inside the magic square and is equal.
• 29...Re5 30.d6 Kf8 31.Nf4 Rd8 32.Bf1 g5 33.Nh3 White's advanced

28...Re5

• This move further spoils Black's position, but the game was lost in any event.
• 28...Rf8 29.Rxf8+ Kxf8 30.Qc4 Rf7 31.Ng1 gives White the upper hand owing to the d-pawn.

29.Qf6 Ree8 30.Bxg6!! hxg6 31.Qxg6+ Kh8 32.Qf6+ Kh7 33.Qf7+ Kh8 34.Nf4 1-0

• 34...Qe4 prevents mate, but at the cost of the Queen after 35.Ng6+.
• El señor Shirov resigns.

[Jack Rabbit]

4. Games from Reykjavik

Diagrams on the Jack Rabbit Chess Report are made with Chess Mérida, a true type font that can be downlaoded free here.
BLACK
!""""""""#
$tMvWlVmT%
$OoOoOoOo%
$ + + + +%
$+ + + + %
$ + + + +%
$+ + + + %
$pPpPpPpP%
$RnBqKbNr%
/(((((((()
WHITE
White to move
(This position is a theoretical draw)

[Jack Rabbit]

5. Wang Hao - Caruana, Round 7

Wang Hao
Photo: ChessBase.com

To view this game:

• Please click here;
• Select Round 7
• Select the second game on the list under the Java-based display, Wang Hao - Fabiano Caruana;
• Enjoy!

Wang Hao - Fabiano Caruana
Open Tournament, Round 7
Reykjavik, 9 March 2008

Slav Queen's Gambit: Karlsbad Defense

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5

• If 6.Nh4 then:
• If 6...Bc8 7.e3 then:
• If 7...e6 8.Bxc4 c5 9.Nf3 cxd4 10.exd4 Nc6 11.0-0 Be7 then:
• If 12.Bf4 then:
• If 12...0-0 13.Re1 Bd7 14.d5 exd5 15.Nxd5 Nxd5 16.Bxd5 then:
• If 16...Bb4 17.Re4 a5 18.Bg5 Qc7 19.Qb3 gives White a small advatage in space (Dreev-Grigoriants, Aeroflot Op, Moscow, 2008).
• 16...Rc8 17.Qb3 Na5 18.Qa2 Bc5 19.Rad1 then:
• If 19...Qb6 20.Be3 Bxe3 21.Rxe3 Rc2 22.Rde1 White maintains the advantage.
• 19...Qf6 20.Bg5 Qb6 21.Bh4 Bg4 22.Qb1 White continues to enjoy the advatange in space.
• 12...Qa5 13.Rc1 0-0 14.Re1 Rd8 15.Nb5 White retains the spatial advatantage.
• 12.Qe2 0-0 13.Rd1 Nb4 14.Ne5 Bd7 15.Ne4 Nxe4 16.Qxe4 Bc6 17.Nxc6 bxc6 18.Ra3 gives White a significant advatage in space (Jobava-Iskusnyh, Op, Moscow, 2008).
• 12.Bg5 0-0 13.Re1 Bd7 14.Qe2 h6 15.Bf4 Nb4 16.Ne5 Bc6 17.Rad1 Nbd5 18.Bc1 Bb4 19.Rd3 gives White a clear edge in space (Navara-Svidler, Ol, Torino, 2006).
• 12.Be3 0-0 13.Ne5 Nd5 14.Nxc6 bxc6 15.Qe2 Rb8 16.Rfc1 Nxe3 17.fxe3 c5 18.d5 exd5 19.Nxd5 gives White a small advatage in space (Ubilava-Matulovic, Op, Belgrade, 1988).
• 7...e5 8.Bxc4 exd4 9.exd4 Be7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Re1 Na6 12.Nf3 Nc7 13.Qb3 Nfd5 14.Ne5 a5 15.Bd2 Bb4 16.Rad1 Be6 17.Nxd5 Nxd5 18.Bxb4 axb4 is equal (Bocharov-Yevseev, Op, St. Petersburg, 2003).
• If 6...e6 7.Nxf5 exf5 8.e3 Bb4 9.Bxc4 0-0 10.0-0 Nbd7 then:
• If 11.Qc2 then:
• If 11...g6 12.f3 Rc8 13.Kh1 c5 14.Ba2 Qb6 15.dxc5 Nxc5 16.e4 then:
• 16...Ne6 17.Bh6 fxe4 18.Bxf8 Bxf8 19.fxe4 Bg7 gives White the exchange and an advatage in space(Peralta-Bu Xiangzhi, Ol, Torino, 2006).
• 16...fxe4 17.Bg5 exf3 18.Bxf6 Qxf6 19.Rxf3 Qe5 20.Raf1 Ne6 comment (Bocharov-Rublevsky, Russian Ch Qual, Tomsk, 2004).
• 11...Nb6 12.Bb3 Qd7 13.a5 Nbd5 14.f3 Rfe8 15.Nxd5 Nxd5 16.e4 Nf6 17.Be3 gives White a slight edge in space (Onischuk-Rublevsky, Karpov Trmt, Poikovsky, 2007).
• 11.Bd2 Qa5 12.Qc2 Rac8 13.Rad1 c5 14.Bb5 cxd4 15.exd4 a6 16.Bxd7 Nxd7 17.d5 g6 18.Bh6 Rfe8 19.d6 Bxc3 20.bxc3 Qxc3 21.Qb1 b6 22.Rfe1 Qf6 23.Qc2 g5 24.Re7 Qxe7 25.Qxc8 Qxd6 26.Qc1 Nc5 draw agreed (Zaja-Haba, Austrian ChT, 2003).

6...Nbd7 7.Nxc4 Nb6

• If 7...Qc7 then:
• 8.g3 8...e5 9.dxe5 Nxe5 10.Bf4 Nfd7 11.Bg2 then:
• 11...g5 then:
• 12.Ne3 gxf4 13.Nxf5 0-0-0 14.Qc2 Nc5 15.0-0 Ne6 16.Qe4 fxg3 17.hxg3 a5 18.Nb5 cxb5 19.axb5 Nc5 20.Qe3 Ng4 21.Qc3 Ne4 22.Bxe4 Qxc3 23.bxc3 b6 24.Nd4 Nf6 25.Bf3 gives White an extra pawn and an advantage in space (Shirov-Pentala, IT, Foros, 2006).


• 12.Bxe5 Nxe5 13.Qd4 f6 14.0-0-0 Be7 15.Ne3 Be6 then:
• 16.Qe4 Bb3 17.Rd2 0-0 18.h4 Bc5 19.hxg5 fxg5 20.Bh3 Rf7 21.Nf5 Kh8 22.f4 gxf4 23.gxf4 Nc4 24.Rd4 draw (Vitiugov-Sakaev, World Cup, Khanty Mansiysk, 2007).
• 16.Be4 Qb6 17.Bg6+ hxg6 18.Qe4 Qb4 19.Rd4 Qb3 20.f4 gxf4 21.gxf4 Rh4 22.Rhd1 Kf7 23.Ng2 Rg4 24.h3 Rxg2 25.fxe5 Rg3 26.exf6 Rxc3+ 27.bxc3 Qxc3+ 28.Qc2 Qa1+ 29.Qb1 draw (Adianto-Zhou Jiancho, Asian Ch, Cebu, 2007).
• 11...f6 12.0-0 Nc5 13.Ne3 Bg6 14.b4 Ne6 then:
• 15.b5 Rd8 16.Qb3 Nd4 17.Qb2 Bc5 18.a5 0-0 19.a6 bxa6 20.bxc6 Ndxc6 21.Rxa6 Qc8 22.Ra4 Bd4 23.Ned5 Kh8 24.Rd1 Bc5 gives White the advantage in space (Mikhalevski-Onischuk, IT, Montreal, 2006).
• 15.Qb3 Bf7 16.Qb1 Be7 17.Nf5 Nxf4 18.gxf4 Ng6 19.e3 0-0 20.b5 Rad8 is equal (E. Alalik-Haznedaroglu, Turkish Ch, Istanbul, 2006).
• 8.Bg5 e5 9.e3 Nd5 10.Bd3 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 Bb4 12.0-0 0-0 13.Nxd5 cxd5 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.dxe5 Qxe5 16.Bf4 Qxb2 17.Qxd5 b6 is equal (Nguyen Ngoc Truongson-Sundararajan, Asian ChT, Esfahan (Iran), 2005).

8.Ne5 a5 9.g3

• 9.f3 Nfd7 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.e4 Bg6 12.Be3 Qb6 13.Qd2 e5 14.dxe5 Bc5 15.Bxc5 Qxc5 16.f4 0-0-0 17.Rc1 Nxe5 18.Nd5 Qa7 19.fxe5 Kb8 20.Qc3 cxd5 gives White a respectable advantage in space (Rogers-Tiseir, Op, Reykjavik, 2006).

9...Nfd7

• 9...e6 10.Bg2 Bb4 11.0-0 0-0 12.e3 h6 13.Qe2 Bh7 14.Rd1 Nfd7 15.Nxd7 Nxd7 16.e4 Qe7 17.Be3 Rfd8 18.Rac1 Rac8 19.Qc4 Nf6 20.f3 Qe8 21.Qb3 Rd7 22.Ne2 c5 23.dxc5 Rxd1+ 24.Qxd1 Nd7 25.c6 Rxc6 26.Rxc6 bxc6 27.Nd4 Ne5 28.Bf2 is equal (Zhao Xue-K.Grigoriev, Op, Gibraltar, 2008).

10.Nxd7 Qxd7 11.e4 Bh3 12.Bxh3

• 12.Be2 e6 13.Be3 Qc7 14.d5 exd5 15.Qd4 Nc4 16.exd5 Nxe3 17.Qxe3+ Be7 18.Qf3 Bd7 19.Rd1 Bf6 20.Ne4 Bxb2 21.Nc5 0-0 22.d6 Qd8 23.0-0 Bh3 24.Rfe1 b6 25.Qb3 Bf6 gives White the advantage in space (Bu Xiangzhi-I. Sokolov, Ol. Torino, 2006).

12...Qxh3 13.Qb3 Ra6 14.Bf4 e6 15.Be5 Bb4 16.Bxg7 Rg8 17.Be5 Qg2 18.0-0-0 Bxc3

• 18...Qxf2 19.Bf4 Qg2 20.Rde1 Nd7 21.Qc2 Qxc2+ 22.Kxc2 gives White the advantage in space, although he isn't focused on any targets in Black's field.

BLACK: Fabiano Caruana
!""""""""#
$ + +l+t+%
$+o+ +o+o%
$tMo+o+ +%
$O + B + %
$p+ Pp+ +%
$+qV + P %
$ P + PwP%
$+ Kr+ +r%
/(((((((()
WHITE: Wang Hao
Position after 18...Bb4c3:N

19.bxc3!?

• 19.Qxc3 Qxe4 20.Rhe1 Qd5 21.b3 Qd7 22.Qc2 Qe7 23.Qxh7 gives White an extra pawn in a game that was eventually drawn (Aronian-Carlsen, Candidates' M, Elista, 2007).

19...Qxe4

• The space count is approximately equal.

20.c4 Qe2 21.c5 Nd5?

• 21...Qc4+! 22.Qxc4 Nxc4 23.Rd3 b5 24.Kc2 remains equal.

22.Rde1!

• Also good, although slower, is 22.Rd2 Qe4 23.f3 Qe3 24.Qxe3 Nxe3 25.Rb2.

22...Qh5

• If 22...Qxf2 23.Rhf1 Rb6 24.cxb6 Qxh2 25.Rh1 then:
• 25...Qf2 26.Ref1 Qe2 27.Rf3 Nxb6 28.Rxf7 Kxf7 29.Rxh7+ Kg6 30.Qb1+ Kg5 31.Bf4+ Kf6 32.Rh6+ Kf7 33.Qxb6 gives White an extra piece.
• 25...Qg2 26.Rxh7 Nb4 27.Reh1 Qe4 28.R7h4 Qf5 29.Kd2 leavees White up by an exchange.

23.Qxb7 Nb4 24.Bd6 Qg5+ 25.f4 Qd8

• This is the only move that prevents mate on e7 without immediately losing a piece.

BLACK: Fabiano Caruana
!""""""""#
$ + Wl+t+%
$+q+ +o+o%
$t+oBo+ +%
$O P + + %
$pM P P +%
$+ + + P %
$ + + + P%
$+ K R +r%
/(((((((()
WHITE: Wang Hao
Position after 25...Qg5d8

26.Rxe6+!!

• The sacrifice heralds a mating attack against the Black King.

26...fxe6 27.Qxh7 1-0

• 27...Rf8 28.Qg6+ Kd7 29.Qg7+ Kc8 30.Qxf8 leaves White three pawns to the good.
• Fabiano resigns.

[Jack Rabbit]

6. Wang Yue - Adly, Round 6

Wang Yue
Photo: ChessBase.com

To view this game:

• Please click here;
• Select Round 6
• Select the second game on the list under the Java-based display, Wang Yue - Ahmed Adly;
• Enjoy!

Wang Yue - Ahmed Adly
Open Tournament, Round 6
Reykjavik, 8 March 2008

Orthodox Queen's Gambit: Exchange Opening

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.cxd5 exd5 7.e3 Be7 8.Bd3 Ne4

• 8...0-0 9.Qc2 Re8 10.0-0 Nf8 11.h3 g6 12.Rab1 Ne6 then:
• 13.Bh4 Ng7 14.b4 a6 15.a4 Bf5 16.b5 axb5 17.axb5 Bxd3 18.Qxd3 Nf5 19.Bxf6 Bxf6 20.Ra1 Ra6 21.Rxa6 h5 22.Rc1 g5 23.Ne2 Re6 24.Nd2 Black resigns (Vera-Almeida, Cuban Ch, Las Tunas, 2001).
• 13.Bh6 Ng7 14.b4 a6 15.a4 Bf5 16.Bxg7 Bxd3 17.Qxd3 Kxg7 18.Rfc1 Bd6 19.b5 axb5 20.axb5 Ra3 21.Qc2 Qa5 22.bxc6 bxc6 23.Rb7 Qa8 24.Rcb1 gives White a small edge in space (Lobron-Smagin, Bundesliga, Germany, 1991).

9.Bxe4

• 9.Bxe7 Qxe7 10.Qc2 Ndf6 11.0-0 0-0 12.Ne5 Bf5 13.Na4 g6 14.Qd1 Nd6 15.Be2 Nd7 16.Nxd7 Bxd7 17.Nc5 Rae8 18.Re1 Bc8 19.Rc1 h5 gives White more freedom (Enevoldsen-Dr. Euwe, Euro Ch, Dresden, 2007).

9...Bxg5 10.Bd3 Be7 11.Qc2 h6!?

• If 11...Nf6 12.0-0 0-0 13.Ne5 c5 14.dxc5 Bxc5 15.Rfd1 Qe7 16.Nf3 Bg4 then:
• 17.Be2 Rac8 18.Nd4 then:
• 18...Bb4 19.Bxg4 Nxg4 20.h3 Bxc3 then:
• 21.bxc3 Nf6 22.Qb3 Ne4 then:
• 23.Nf5? Qf6! 24.g4 g6 White resigns on account of 25.f3 Nxc3 26.Nd4 Nxd1 27.Rxd1 Qe7 losing the exchange and a pawn without compensation (Enevoldsen-Dr. Euwe, Ol, Stockholm, 1937).
• 23.Rac1 Rfe8 24.Nf5 Qf6 25.Rxd5 Nxc3 26.Ne7+ Qxe7 27.Rxc3 is equal still.
• 21.Nf5 Qf6 22.bxc3 Rxc3 23.Qd2 Qxf5 24.hxg4 Qc8 25.Qxd5 remains equal.
• Black intends to weaken White's pawn structure with 19...Bxc3 20.bxc3.
• 17.Nxd5 Nxd5 18.Bxh7+ Kh8 19.Rxd5 gives White an extra pawn.

12.0-0-0

• 12.0-0 0-0 13.Rfb1 Bd6 14.b4 Nb6 15.a4 Bg4 is equal.

12...Nf6 13.Ne5 Ng4

• 13...0-0 14.h3 Bd6 15.g4 Re8 16.Nf3 is equal.

14.Kb1 Bb4

• 14...Nxe5 15.dxe5 Qa5 16.Bf5 0-0 17.Bxc8 Raxc8 gives Black more space and better pawn structure.

15.h3 Nxe5 16.dxe5 Qe7

• If 16...0-0 then:
• 17.a3 Ba5 18.e4 d4 19.Ne2 Bb6 20.f4 Re8 21.Bc4 Be6 then:
• 22.Rd3 c5 23.Ng3 Bxc4 24.Qxc4 gives White a spatial plus.
• 22.Bxe6 Rxe6 23.Qc4 c5 24.Nc3 Qh4 25.Nd5 is equal.
• 17.f4 Qh4 18.Ne2 Re8 19.e4 Be6 20.g3 Qe7 21.Nd4 Bd7 is equal.

17.f4 Qc5 18.e4

• The space count is now 12-12.
• 18.Rhe1 Qa5 19.a3 Be7 20.e4 d4 21.Ne2 c5 22.Bc4 0-0 remains equal.

18...Bxc3?!

• 18...d4 19.Ne2 Qxc2+ 20.Bxc2 c5 21.a3 Ba5 22.b4 cxb4 23.a4 is equal.

19.Qxc3 Qxc3 20.bxc3 dxe4 21.Bxe4

• The space count is 13-2 in White's favor.

21...Ke7

• If 21...Bd7 22.Rd6 then:
• 22...0-0-0 23.Kc2 Be6 24.f5 Bc4 25.Rhd1 Rhe8 26.Rxd8+ Rxd8 27.Rxd8+ Kxd8 28.a3 is equal and likely to remain so.
• 23.Rhd1 g5 24.Rf6 Be6 25.Rxd8+ Rxd8 26.g3 Rd1+ 27.Kc2 Rg1 28.g4 is equal.
• 21...0-0?! 22.Rd6 Re8 23.Rhd1 h5 24.a4 Be6 25.a5 Rab8 26.Kc2 gives White a great deal more freedom.

22.f5!?

• White momentarily shuts the Bishop out of the game.
• If 22.Rhe1 Bd7 23.Re3 then:
• 23...Rad8 24.Red3 Be6 25.f5 Rxd3 26.Rxd3 Bc4 27.Rd4 Ba6 28.Kc2 White is better, but he is not winning.
• If 23...Rhd8 24.Red3 Be6 25.f5 Rxd3 then:
• 26.Rxd3 Bc4 27.Rd4 Ba6 28.Kc2 Re8 29.Bd3 Bxd3+ 30.Kxd3 leaves White a little better, but not decissively.
• 26...Bd7 27.Rg3 Re8 28.Rxg7 Kf8 29.f6 Rxe5 30.Rh7 White retains his advantage.

22...g6?

• In order to free the Bishop, White takes on pawn weaknesses.
• 22...a5 23.g4 a4 24.Rhe1 then:
• 24...Re8 25.Bg2 Ra5 26.Re3 g6 27.fxg6 fxg6 28.Kc2 Rf8 gives White a little more room, but Black has much better pawn structure.
• White retains the advantage after 24...Ra5 25.Bc2 Re8 26.Rd4 Rc5 27.Kb2 b5 28.Re3.

23.g4 gxf5 24.gxf5 Rg8

• After 24...f6 25.e6 Rg8 26.Rhg1 Rg5 27.Kc2 Rb8 28.h4 Rxg1 29.Rxg1 Black's queenside pieces can't get out of the box.

BLACK: Ahmed Adly
!""""""""#
$t+v+ +t+%
$Oo+ Lo+ %
$ +o+ + O%
$+ + Pp+ %
$ + +v+ +%
$+ P + +p%
$p+ + + +%
$+k+r+ +r%
/(((((((()
WHITE: Wang Yue
Position after 24...Rh8g8

25.Rd6!

• White invades Black's weakened pawn position.

25...Rg5 26.Rf1 Rh5 27.Rf4

• If 27.Kc2 then:
• 27...Ke8 28.Rg1 Rxf5 29.Bxf5 Bxf5+ 30.Kb3 Bg6 31.Rgd1 gives White extra material and command of the d-file; Black will have problems developing his Rook.
• 27...Rb8 28.f6+ Ke8 29.e6 Bxe6 30.Rxe6+ fxe6 31.Bg6+ will leave White a piece to the good.

27...a5 28.h4 a4 29.Bd3 f6

• This move, which is as bad as it looks, is necessary to prevent 30.f6+!.

30.Rxf6 Ra5 31.Rg6 Rxe5 32.f6+ Kf8 33.Kb2

• 33.Bc4 Be6 34.Bxe6 Rxe6 35.Rxa4 leaves White a pawn to the good.

33...Bf5

• Even worse is 34.Bc4 when after 34...Rxc4 35.Rxc4 Be6 36.Rxa4 Kf7 37.Rg7+ Kxf6 38.Rxb7 White has an easy win.

34.Rxf5 Rexf5 35.Bxf5 Rxf5 36.Rxh6

• White is a pawn to the good.

36...Rf2+ 37.Ka3 b5 38.f7 c5 39.Rb6 Rc2 40.Rxb5 Rxc3+ 41.Kxa4

• White is now two pawns to the good.
• To give an example of what can go wrong in a position like this. 41.Kb2? Rc4! 42.a3 Rxh4 43.Rxc5 Kxf7 equalizes for Black.

41...Rc4+ 42.Ka5 Rxh4 43.Rxc5 Kxf7

• If White's last pawn were a Bishop's pawn or a royal pawn, Black might consider resigning here.

44.Re5 Kf6
BLACK: Ahmed Adly
!""""""""#
$ + + + +%
$+ + + + %
$ + + L +%
$K + R + %
$ + + + T%
$+ + + + %
$p+ + + +%
$+ + + + %
/(((((((()
WHITE: Wang Yue
Position after 44...Kf7f6

45.Re3!

• White's plan is:
  • Keep the Black King away from the pawn by confining it to the other side of the board with the Rook;
  • Advance the pawn along the a-file with the King in front of it (while Rooks belong behind a passed pawn in the endgame, Kings belong in front of it;
  • at the appropriate moment, use the Rook as a shield in the b-file to allow the King to make way for the pawn to promote.

45...Rh2

• If 45...Rh5+ 46.Kb6 then:
• 46...Rh4 47.a3 Rg4 48.Kb5 Rg5+ 49.Kb4 Rg4+ 50.Kb3 Rg5 51.a4 Re5 52.Rd3 Black's King is still cut off from the pawn.
• 46...Rh6 47.a4 Kf5+ 48.Kb5 Rh5 49.Rc3 threatens 50.Rc5+!.

46.a4 Rb2 47.Ka6 Rb1 48.a5 Rb2

• If Black tries 48...Rf1 then after 49.Kb7 Kg5 50.Re5+ Kf6 51.Rb5! the pawn scores or Black surrenders the Rook stopping it.
• 48...Ra1 49.Kb6 Rb1+ 50.Ka7 -- followed by 51.a6 doesn't help Black at all.

49.Ka7 Kf7 50.a6 Rb1 51.Ka8 Rb2 52.a7

• This is all according to plan (see note to White's 45th move).

BLACK: Ahmed Adly
!""""""""#
$k+ + + +%
$P + +l+ %
$ + + + +%
$+ + + + %
$ + + + +%
$+ + R + %
$ T + + +%
$+ + + + %
/(((((((()
WHITE: Wang Yue
Position after 52.a6a7

52...Rb1 53.Re5 Rb2 54.Rh5 Ke7

• If 54...Kg7 then after 55.Rd5 Kg6 56.Rd7 Kf5 57.Rb7 White's plan laid out in the note to his 45th move is complete.

55.Rh8

• If 55.Rh7+ Kd6 then:
• 56.Rh4 Kc6 then:
• 57.Rc4+ Kb6 58.Rc8 Ra2 59.Rb8+ Ka6 then:
• 60.Re8 Rb2 61.Re6+ Ka5 62.Rd6 Rb1 63.Rc6 Rb2 64.Rh6! (cutting off the King from the seventh and eighth ranks) 64...Rd2 then:
• 65.Kb8 Rd8+ 66.Kc7 Ra8 67.Kb7 wins.
• 65.Kb7 Rd7+ 66.Kb8 Kb5 67.a8Q Rd8+ 68.Kb7 Rd7+ 69.Kc8 wins.
• 60.Rb7? Re2 61.Rb4 Re8+ 62.Rb8 Re7 draws.
• 57.Rh6+? Kc7 58.Rh8 Re2 59.Rb8 Re5 60.Rb7+ Kc6 61.Rb3 Kc7 62.Rb8 Rh5 63.Re8 Rh7 64.Rf8 Kb6 65.Rb8+ Ka6 draws.
• 56.Rb7? Rg2!! 57.Rb1 Kc6! 58.Rb8 Rg7 59.Re8 Kb6 draws.

55...Kd6 56.Rb8 Rh2

• 56...Re2 57.Kb7 Rb2+ transposes into the game.

57.Kb7 Rb2+

• After 57...Rh7+ 58.Kb6 Black must surrender the Rook to stop the pawn from queening.

58.Kc8 Rc2+ 59.Kd8 Rh2 60.Rb6+ Kc5

• if 60...Ke5 then after 61.Rb5+ Kd6 62.Kc8 Rh8+ 63.Kb7 Rh7+ 64.Ka6 Rh8 65.Rb8 White wins.

61.Rc6+ Kd5 62.Ra6 1-0

• The pawn queens after 62...Rh8+ 63.Kc7 Ra8 64.Kb7
• Ahmed Adly resigns.

[Jack Rabbit]

7. Mikhalevski - Stefansson, Round 8

Hannes Stefansson
Photo: ChessBase.com


Victor Mikalevski - Hannes Stefansson
Open Tournament, Round 8
Reykjavik, 10 March 2008

Orthodox Queen's Gambit: Cambridge Springs Defense

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 Qa5

• Black's idea is to mount aggression on the queenside straight away.

7.cxd5

• If 7.Nd2 Bb4 8.Qc2 then:
• If 8...0-0 then:
• If 9.Be2 then:
• If 9,,,e5 then:
• If 10.0-0 exd4 11.Nb3 then:
• 11...Qb6 12.exd4 dxc4 13.Bxc4 a5 14.a4 Qc7 15.Rae1 h6 16.Bh4 Bd6 17.h3 Nb6 18.Bxf6 Nxc4 19.Ne4 Bh2+ 20.Kh1 Nd6 21.Kxh2 Nxe4+ 22.Be5 Nd6 23.Qc5 give White a comfortable advantage in space (Carlsen-Kasparov, Rapid, Reykjavik, 2004).
• 11...Qc7 12.Nxd4 dxc4 13.Bxc4 Bxc3 14.bxc3 Qe5 15.Nf3 Qc5 16.Bd3 h6 17.Bh4 Nd5 18.Rac1 N7b6 19.Nd4 Bd7 20.Rfe1 Qa3 21.e4 Nf4 22.Bf1 Rfe8 gives Black the advantage in space (Sasikiran-Srinam, Indian ChT, Nagapur, 2002).
• Else 9...c5 then:
• 10.0-0 cxd4 11.Nb3 Qb6 12.exd4 dxc4 13.Bxc4 Qc7 14.Qe2 Bxc3 15.bxc3 Ne4 16.Qxe4 Qxc4 17.Rae1 Re8 18.Qf3 f6 19.Bf4 Nb6 20.Nd2 Qd5 21.Qg3 Nc4(Sulypa-S. Atalik, Med Ch, Antalya, 2006).
• 10.Nb3 Qa4 11.Bxf6 Nxf6 12.dxc5 dxc4 13.Bxc4 Qc6 14.0-0 Bxc5 15.Nxc5 Qxc5 16.Ne4 Nxe4 17.Qxe4 Qb6 18.Bd3 g6 19.Qe5 Bd7 20.h4 Rac8 21.Rac1 f6 22.Qg3 Qxb2 23.Rxc8 Bxc8 24.h5 Rd8 25.Bxg6 hxg6 26.Qxg6+ Kf8 27.Qh6+ Kg8 28.Qg6+ draw (I. Sokolov-Dreev, IT, Stepanakert (Armenia), 2005).
• Else 9.Bh4 e5 10.dxe5 Ne4 11.Ncxe4 dxe4 12.a3 Nxe5 13.Rd1 Bxd2+ 14.Qxd2 Qxd2+ 15.Rxd2 Bf5 16.Bg3 Nd3+ 17.Bxd3 exd3 draw (Bellon-Vera, García Mem, Santa Clara (Cuba), 2001).
• If 8...Ne4 9.Ndxe4 dxe4 10.Bh4 0-0 11.Be2 e5 12.0-0 f5 13.c5 exd4 then:
• 14.exd4 Bxc3 15.bxc3 Nf6 16.f3 e3 17.Bg5 Nd5 18.c4 Qc3 19.Qxc3 Nxc3 20.Bd3 Re8 21.Rfe1 b6 22.a4 bxc5 23.dxc5 Rb8 24.Ra3 Black resigns (Kavalek-Janosevic, Natanya, 1971).
• 14.Bc4+ Kh8 15.exd4 Bxc3 16.Qxc3 Qxc3 17.bxc3 Nf6 18.Rab1 Nd5 19.Bxd5 cxd5 20.c4 h6 21.cxd5 g5 22.f3 gxh4 23.fxe4 Rd8 24.Rbe1 h3 25.d6 fxe4 26.Rxe4 Rg8 gives White the lead in space (Leonhardt-Mieses, Masters A, Barmen, 1905).
• If 8...e5 then:
• After 9.dxe5 Ne4 10.Ndxe4 dxe4 11.0-0-0 f6 12.exf6 Qxg5 13.Nxe4 Qa5 14.a3 Bf8 15.fxg7 Bxg7 16.Nd6+ Kd8 17.Nf7+ Kc7 18.Nxh8 White went on to win (Lutz-M. Gurevich, IT, Munich, 1993).
• 9.Nb3 Qa4 10.cxd5 exd4 11.dxc6 dxc3 12.cxd7+ Bxd7 13.bxc3 Qc6 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Rc1 Rc8 16.Nd4 Bxc3+ 17.Kd1 Bxd4 18.Qxc6 Bxc6 19.exd4 0-0 20.Kd2 Rfd8 draw (Jussupow-Kamsky, IT, Tilburg, 1992).
• If 8...dxc4 9.Bxf6 Nxf6 10.Nxc4 Qc7 11.a3 Be7 then:
• If 12.g3 0-0 13.Bg2 Bd7 14.b4 then:
• 14...b6 15.0-0 a5 16.Ne5 axb4 17.axb4 Rxa1 18.Rxa1 gives White a huge advantage in space (Capablanca-Alekhine, World Ch, Buenos Aires, 1927).
• 14...Nd5 15.0-0 Nxc3 16.Qxc3 Rfd8 17.Rac1 Be8 18.Rfd1 gives Whit a comfortable advantage in space (Alekhine-Bogolyubov, Bad Nauheim, 1936).
• Else12.Be2 0-0 13.b4 Bd7 14.0-0 Nd5 15.Rfd1 Rfd8 16.e4 Nxc3 17.Qxc3 Be8(Donchev-Jussupow, Ol, Thessaloniki, 1988).

7...Nxd5 8.Qd2 Bb4 9.Rc1 h6

• 9...0-0 10.Bd3 then:
• 10...h6 11.Bh4 e5 12.0-0 Re8 13.Qc2 exd4 14.Nxd5 Qxd5 15.Rfd1 Ne5 16.Bh7+ Kh8 17.Nxe5 Qxe5 18.Rxd4 Be7 19.Rcd1 Be6 20.Bxe7 Rxe7 21.Bd3 c5 22.Re4 Qh5 gives Black the edge in space (Jobava-M. Gurevich, Euro Ch, Batumi, 2002).
• 10...e5 11.0-0 exd4 12.exd4 N7f6 13.Rfe1 Qd8 14.Bb1 Be6 15.Ne5 Be7 16.a3 Nxc3 17.Qxc3 Qd5 18.Nf3 Rfe8 19.Re5 Qd6 White has more space, but is also saddled with a weak pawn(Vaganian-Libeau, Bundesliga, Germany, 1995).

10.Bh4 c5 11.a3 Bxc3 12.bxc3 b6 13.Ne5!?

• 13.Bd3 Ba6 14.0-0 cxd4 15.Bxa6 Qxa6 16.Qxd4 0-0 17.e4 Nf4 18.Qxd7 Ne2+ 19.Kh1 Nxc1 20.Rxc1 Qxa3 21.Qd2 Rac8 22.Nd4 a6 23.f3 draw (Khalifman-Dreev, Russian Ch Qual, St. Petersburg, 2004).

13...Nxe5

• If 13...Qa4 (threatening 14...Nxe5 15.dxe5 Qxh4) then:
• 14.Nc4 0-0 15.e4 N5f6 16.e5 Nd5 17.Qc2 Qa6 18.a4 gives White the edge in space.
• 14.Nxd7 Bxd7 15.c4 Ne7 16.Bxe7 Kxe7 17.Qc3 Bc6 18.Bd3 cxd4 19.exd4 is equal.

14.dxe5 g5 15.Bg3 Bb7 16.e4

• If 16.Be2 Qxa3 then:
• 17.Bb5+ Kf8 18.0-0 a6 19.Bd3 Rd8 20.e4 Nb4 21.Ra1 Rxd3 22.Qxd3 Nxd3 23.Rxa3 c4 gives White the exchange for a pawn, but Black has a little more space and the best minor piece on the board.
• 17.0-0 0-0-0 18.Qc2 h5 19.h3 g4 20.h4 a5 gives Black the edge in space.
• 16.Qb2 Nc7 17.Rd1 Rd8 18.Rxd8+ Kxd8 19.f3 Nd5 20.Kd2 Kc8 21.e4 Nc7 is equal.

16...Ne7

• If 16...Nf4?! 17.Bxf4 then:
• 17...Rd8 18.Qe3 gxf4 19.Qxf4 a6 20.Be2 yields an extra pawn for White.
• 17...gxf4 18.Qxf4 Qxa3 19.Bb5+ Kf8 20.0-0 Rg8 gives White the advantage in space and better piece activity.

17.h4

• If 17.Bd3 Rd8 18.Qc2 then:
• 18...Qxa3 19.0-0 Ba6 20.Bxa6 Qxa6 21.Ra1 Qb7 22.Rfd1 Rxd1+ 23.Rxd1 gives Black an extra pawn and White more than enough space to compensate for it.
• 18...Ng6 19.0-0 h5 20.h3 h4 21.Bh2 g4 22.hxg4 h3 23.Rfd1 hxg2 24.Be2 Nh4 25.Bf4 is equal.

BLACK: Hannes Stefansson
!""""""""#
$t+ +l+ T%
$Ov+ Mo+ %
$ O +o+ O%
$W O P O %
$ + +p+ P%
$P P + B %
$ + Q Pp+%
$+ R Kb+r%
/(((((((()
WHITE: Victor Mikhalevski
Position after 17.h2h4

17...Bxe4!

• Black takes a pawn in order to return it for more space.
• If 17...gxh4 18.Bxh4 Bxe4 19.Bxe7 Kxe7 20.Qf4 then:
• If 20...Qxa3 21.Qf6+ Kd7 22.Qxf7+ Kc8 23.Qxe6+If then:
• 23...Kb7 24.Qf7+ Kb8 25.Qf4 a6 26.Rxh6 then:
• 26...Ka7 27.Rd6 Rae8 28.Rdd1 Bb7 29.Qf5 gives White the advantage in space.
26...Rxh6 27.Qxh6 Ka7 28.Qe3 Re8 29.f4 gives White both an avantage in space and dangerous passed pawns in the center.
• 23...Kb8 24.Qd6+ Kb7 25.Qd7+ Kb8 26.Qd2 a6 27.Rxh6 Rxh6 28.Qxh6 gives White an extra pawn.
• 20...Bg6 21.Qf6+ Kd7 22.Rd1+ Kc7 23.Qe7+ Kb8 24.Rh3 b5 25.Rd7 gives White more than enough space to compensate for the pawn minus.
• 17...g4 18.Qf4 then:
• 18...a6 19.h5 Qxa3 20.Bd3 Rd8 21.Bb1 Qb2 22.Bh4 Rd7 23.0-0 Rg8 24.Rc2 Qb3 gives Black an advatage in space and an extra pawn. White should paly 25. Rd2!? in an effort to exchange pieces, although this is not normally a good idea when a pawn down.
• 18...Qxa3 19.Bb5+ Bc6 20.Bxc6+ Nxc6 21.0-0 h5 22.Rfd1 gives White an extra pawn.

18.hxg5

• 18.f3 Rd8 19.Qb2 Nf5 20.Bf2 Bd3 gives Black a comfortable advantage in space and an extra pawn.

18...h5!

• The pawn is returned. See note to Black's 17th move.

19.Qb2 0-0-0

• After 19...a6 20.Be2 Nf5 21.Bf4 h4 22.f3 Bc6 Black has the advantage in space and better minor pieces.

20.Qb4 Qxb4

• If 20...cxb4 21.cxb4+ Kb7 22.bxa5 Nf5 23.Rh3 then:
• 23...b5 24.Bf4 Nd4 25.Rhc3 Rc8 26.Rxc8 Rxc8 27.a6+ Kb8 28.Rxc8+ Kxc8 White retains his extra pawn.
• 23...bxa5 24.Bf4 Rd4 25.Bd2 a4 26.g4 Ng7 27.gxh5 Rxh5 28.Rhc3 allows White to raid Black camp along the c-file.

21.cxb4 Bd3

• 21...Nf5 22.bxc5 Nxg3 23.cxb6+ Kb7 24.fxg3 Rd5 25.Rc3 axb6 26.Re3 leaves White a pawn to the good.

22.bxc5 b5 23.Rh4

• 23.Rh3 Bxf1 24.Kxf1 Nc6 25.Bh2 a5 26.Rf3 Rh7 27.Rf6 gives White an extra pawn and more space.

23...Bxf1 24.Kxf1 Kb7 25.a4 a6 26.Rf4

• 26.Rb4 Kc6 27.f4 Rd3 28.Be1 Nd5 29.Re4 Rb8 is unclear with a small advantage in material for White and an advantage in space for Black.

26...Nf5 27.c6+ Kb6 28.a5+!

• White sees an opportunity to gain a second advanced passed pawn.
• 28.axb5 axb5 29.Rxf5 exf5 30.Bf4 Rhe8 31.g3 Rc8 32.c7 Re7 Black has the equivalent of an extra pawn in material, but White has more space and a nasty passer knocking at the gate.

28...Kxa5

• 28...Kc7 29.Rxf5 exf5 30.e6+ Kc8 31.exf7 is a position from which White should win easily.

BLACK: Hannes Stefansson
!""""""""#
$ + T + T%
$+ + +o+ %
$o+p+o+ +%
$Lo+ PmPo%
$ + + R +%
$+ + + B %
$ + + Pp+%
$+ R +k+ %
/(((((((()
WHITE: Victor Mikhalevski
Position after 28...Kb6a5:p

29.Rxf5!!

• White, who has one passed pawn, sacrifices the exchange (and he tosses in a pawn on the next move) in order to pass a second pawn. Both will reach the seventh rank.

29...exf5 30.e6

• After 30.c7 Rc8 31.e6 fxe6 32.Be5 Rhg8 33.f4 34.Ke2 Kb6! Black will mobilize his queenside passers while White is tied to the defense of the pawn at c7.

30...fxe6 31.Bc7+!

• After 31.c7? Rc8 32.Be5 Rhg8 33.f4 Kb6 34.Ke2 a5 the difference in the game is Black's two connected queenside passers.

31...Ka4 32.Ra1+ Kb4 33.Rxa6

• White spoils all his hard workl.
• 33.Bxd8! Rxd8 34.g6 a5 35.c7 Rc8 36.g7 a4 37.Rb1+ Ka5 38.Rd1 is a position from which White should win.

33...Ra8 34.Bd6+

• After 34.Rxa8! Rxa8 35.Be5 Rc8 36.g6 Kc5 37.c7 b4 38.Ke2 b3 39.g7 Kc4 the movement of Black's Rook is restricted by the two pawns knocking at the castle gates.

34...Kc4 35.Rb6 Kd5 36.c7 e5 37.Be7

• The position is unclear with Black holding a material advantage but White advancing his passed pawns.
• 37.f4 exf4 38.Bxf4 Ke4 39.Bh2 Rhg8 40.Rb8 Ke3 41.Be5 h4 42.g6 is unclear: although White is down an exchange, his two menacing count for an awful lot.

37...Rhc8 38.Rd6+ Kc4

• 38...Ke4 39.Bd8 Ra1+ 40.Ke2 Rc1 41.g3 Rc2+ 42.Rd2 Rxd2+ 43.Kxd2 remains unclear.

39.Rd8?

• Who's guarding the c-pawn?
• If 39.Rc6+! Kd3 40.g3 Ra7 then:
• 41.Bd8 f4 42.g6 f3 43.Kg1 Ra1+ 44.Kh2 Rf1 45.g7 Rxf2+ 46.Kh3 Rf1 47.Kh2 Rf2+ 48.Kh3 Rf1 draws.
• 41.g6 Ra4 42.Bd8 Rd4 43.Rb6 Rdxd8 44.cxd8Q+ Rxd8 45.Rxb5 is equal.

BLACK: Hannes Stefansson
!""""""""#
$t+tR + +%
$+ P B + %
$ + + + +%
$+o+ OoPo%
$ +l+ + +%
$+ + + + %
$ + + Pp+%
$+ + +k+ %
/(((((((()
WHITE: Victor Mikhalevski
Position after 39.Rd6d8

39...Ra1+! 40.Ke2 Rxc7 41.Bf6

• After 41.Bd6 Black wins another pawn with 41...Ra2+ 42.Ke3 Rca7 43.g6 Rg7 44.Bxe5 Rxg6.

41...Rg1 42.g3 Rc6 43.Rf8 f4?!

• This is a mistake that would be more serious in most games. White will regain the pawn and merely be down by an exchange.
• Better is 43...Kd5 44.Rd8+ Rd6 45.Re8 Re6 46.Rd8+ Kc5 47.Rc8+ Kb4 when Black retains all his extra material.

44.Bxe5 fxg3 45.Bxg3 Rg6

• White has his pawn back, but Black is still winning.

46.Rf4+ Kb3 47.Rf5 b4 48.Bf4 Kc4

• Stronger is 48...Re6+! 49.Be3 h4 50.Rf6 Rxf6 51.gxf6 Rg6.

49.Bd2 Re6+ 50.Be3 b3 51.Rc5+ Kb4 52.Rc8 Rxg5

• Black has the pawn back.

53.Kd3 Rd5+ 54.Bd4

• After 54.Ke2 b2 55.Rb8+ Rb5 Black could resign.

BLACK: Hannes Stefansson
!""""""""#
$ +r+ + +%
$+ + + + %
$ + +t+ +%
$+ +t+ +o%
$ L B + +%
$+o+k+ + %
$ + + P +%
$+ + + + %
/(((((((()
WHITE: Victor Mikhalevski
Position after 54.Be3d4

54...Red6!

• White could have resigned here.

55.Rb8+ Ka5

• Sacrificing the pawn allows Black to win the Bishop. White could have resigned here.
• 55...Rb5 56.Re8 b2 57.Kc2 Rxd4 also works,

56.Rxb3 Rxd4+ 57.Ke2 Rb4 58.Re3 Rd5 59.Kf3

• Black's only hope (if that's the right word) of saving a half-point is to take Black's last pawn and make Black exchange a Rook for White's lone remaining pawn.

59...Kb5 60.Kg3 Rg4+ 61.Kh3 Kc4

• If 61...Rf5 62.f3 Rgf4 then:
• 63.Kg3 h4+ 64.Kf2 Ra4 then:
• 65.Kg2 Rg5+ 66.Kh2 Rg3 67.Re5+ Kc6 then:
• 68.Re3 Ra2+ 69.Kh1 h3 is lights out.
• 68.Re2 Rxf3 69.Kg2 Rd3 the pawn advances.
• 65.Rc3 Ra2+ 66.Ke3 Ra8 67.Kf2 h3 68.Rb3+ Kc4 69.Rb1 Raf8 the White pawn is kaput.
• 63.Re4 Rxf3+ 64.Kh4 Rf1 65.Re3 Kc4 66.Re4+ Kc3 67.Re8 Kd3 is almost over.

62.f3 Rg1 63.Kh2 Rg8 64.Kh3 Kd4 65.Re4+ Kd3 66.Ra4 Ke3 0-1

• 67.Ra3+ Kf2 68.f4 Rg4 69.Ra2+ Kf3 wins White's last pawn.
• Mr. Mikalevski resigns.

[Jack Rabbit]

8. Limontaite - Stefanova, Round 1

Antoaneta Stefanova
Photo: ChessBase.de (Germany)


Simona Limontaite - Antoaneta Stefanova
Open Tournament, Round 1
Reykjavik, 3 March 2008

Slav Queen's Gambit: Saduleto Opening
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 dxc4 4.e4 b5 5.a4 e5

• 5...b4 then:
• 6.Na2 Nf6 7.e5 Nd5 8.Bxc4 e6 9.Nf3 Be7 10.Bd2 a5 then:
• 11.Nc1 Nd7 12.Nb3 Bb7 13.0-0 0-0 14.Qe2 Qb6 gives White the advantage in space (Farago-Neelotpal, First Saturday, Budapest, 04.2005).
• 11.0-0 Ba6 12.Qe2 Bxc4 13.Qxc4 Nb6 14.Qc2 Qd5 15.Nc1 N8d7 16.Nb3 c5 17.dxc5 Nxc5 18.Nxc5 Qxc5 19.Qe4 0-0 20.Rfc1 Qd5 21.Qxd5 Nxd5 22.Nd4 Rfc8 23.Nc6 Bd8 24.Nxd8 Rxd8 25.Kf1 is equal (Kostanjian-Peralta, Acropolis Op, Athens, 2006).
• 6.Nce2 Nf6 7.Ng3 e6 8.Bxc4 a5 9.Nf3 Be7 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Qe2 Bb7 12.Rd1 0-0 13.Be3 Nb6 14.Bd3 Qc7 15.Rdc1 Rfc8 gives White the early edge in space (Ward-Mannion, Op, Gibraltar, 2004).

6.dxe5 Qxd1+ 7.Nxd1

• 7.Kxd1 b4 8.Nb1 Ba6 9.Nd2 c3 10.bxc3 bxc3 11.Nc4 c5 12.f4 Bb7 13.Ne2 c2+ 14.Kxc2 Bxe4+ 15.Kc3 Nc6 16.Ng3 Bd5 17.Nf5 Nd4 18.Nxd4 cxd4+ 19.Kxd4 Bc6 20.Ba3 Nh6 21.Bxf8 Rxf8 22.Nd6+ gives White an extra pawn and a huge advantage in space (Docx-Danner, Euro ChT, Saint Vincent, 2005).

7...Na6!?

• 7...Nd7 8.axb5 cxb5 9.Nc3 Bb4 10.Bd2 Bxc3 11.Bxc3 Nc5 12.Bd4 Nb3 13.Rxa7 Rxa7 14.Bxa7 Ne7 15.Nf3 Bb7 16.Nd2 Nxd2 17.Kxd2 Bxe4 18.b3 Nc6 19.Bc5 Nxe5 20.bxc4 bxc4 21.Bd4 draw (Ippolito-Sarkar, Smartchess IT, New York, 2001).

8.Nf3

• If 8.axb5 cxb5 9.Nc3 Bb4 10.Bd2 then:
• 10...Nc7 11.Nd5 Bxd2+ 12.Kxd2 Kd7 13.Nf3 Bb7 14.Nd4 Nxd5 15.exd5 Bxd5 16.Nxb5 a5 is equal.
• 10...Bxc3 11.Bxc3 Ne7 12.Nf3 Nc5 13.Ra5 a6 14.Bxc4 bxc4 15.Rxc5 gives White an extra pawn and a huge advantage in space.

8...Nb4 9.Ne3 Bc5

• Black has the advantage in space.

10.Bd2 Ne7 11.b3

• After 11.Bc3 a6 12.Rd1 0-0 13.Bd4 Bxd4 14.Rxd4 Ng6 15.Be2 Re8 Black threatens the pawn at e5.

11...a5 12.Rb1 cxb3 13.Rxb3 Bxe3 14.fxe3?

• It's usually not a good idea to voluntarily triple a pawn; there's nothing about this position to make it an exception.
• 14.Bxe3 bxa4 15.Rc3 a3 16.Kd2 a2 17.Bc4 Ng6 is unclear: Black is up by a pawn, but White may have enough extra space in compensation..

BLACK: Antoanetta Stefanova
!""""""""#
$t+v+l+ T%
$+ + MoOo%
$ +o+ + +%
$Oo+ P + %
$pM +p+ +%
$+r+ Pn+ %
$ + B +pP%
$+ + Kb+r%
/(((((((()
WHITE: Simona Limontaite
Position after 14.fe3:B

14...bxa4 15.Rb1

• This second error compounds the first.
• White gets more play from 15.Rc3 a3 16.Kd1 a2 17.Ra3 c5 18.Bc4, but it's still an uphill battle.

15...a3 16.Kf2 a2

• Also good is 16...Be6 17.Nd4 a2 18.Ra1 0-0.

17.Ra1 0-0 18.Bc4 Be6 19.Rhc1

• If 19.Bxe6 fxe6 20.Ke2 c5 21.Rhc1 then:
• 21...Rfc8 22.Bc3 h6 23.Nd2 a4 24.Nc4 Rab8 Black has the upper hand with an extra pawn, better pawn structure and passers running wild on the queenside, but Black could try for some counterplay on the d-file.
• 21...Rac8 22.Rc4 Rc6 23.Bxb4 cxb4 24.Rxc6 Nxc6 25.Rxa2 b3 followed by 25...Rb8 Black wins.

19...Bxc4 20.Rxc4 c5 21.Ke2 Rac8 22.Ne1

• After 22.Bxb4 cxb4 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Rxa2 Ra8 25.Kd3 a4 Black's pawns continue to march.

22...Rc6!

• This is in preparation to recapture the Rook at c6. See next note.

23.Nd3 Rd8 24.Nc1

• After 24.Nf4 h6 25.Bxb4 cxb4 26.Rxc6 Nxc6! (this is made possible by 22...Rc6; the Knight is in position to protect both passers and also attacks the lead pawn in White's triplet) 27.Rxa2 Rb8 28.Ra1 b3 Black wins.

24...Rh6 25.h3

• White could put up a more stubborn resistance with 25.Rxc5 Rxh2 26.Bxb4 axb4 27.Kf3 Rh6 28.Rxa2 Kf8 29.Nb3 Re8.

25...Rg6 26.g4 Rh6 27.Rxc5 Rxh3 28.Be1 Rh1 29.Nxa2 Rh2+ 0-1

• After 30.Kf3 Rxa2 31.Rxa2 Nxa2 32.Rxa5 Nc1 Black has an extra piece.
• Ms. Limontaite resigns.

[Jack Rabbit]

9. Games from Istanbul

Diagrams on the Jack Rabbit Chess Report are made with Chess Mérida, a true type font that can be downlaoded free here.
BLACK
!""""""""#
$tMvWlVmT%
$OoOoOoOo%
$ + + + +%
$+ + + + %
$ + + + +%
$+ + + + %
$pPpPpPpP%
$RnBqKbNr%
/(((((((()
WHITE
White to move
(This position is a theoretical draw)

[Jack Rabbit]

10. Pia Cramling - Hou Yifan, Round 3

Hou Yifan and Pia Cramling at the start of the present game
Photo: from the official website of the Isbank Ataturk Women Masters Tournament (Turkey)


Pia Cramling - Hou Yifan
Isbank Ataturk Women Masters' Tournament, Round 3
Istanbul, 13 March 2008

East India Game: Queen's Indian Defense (Kasparov-Petrosian Opening)

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.Nc3 Bb7 5.a3 d5 6.Bg5

• If 6.cxd5 then:
• If 6...Nxd5 7.Qc2 then:
• If 7...Be7 then:
• If 8.e4 Nxc3 9.bxc3 then:
• If 9...c5 10.Bb5+ Bc6 11.Bd3 0-0 12.0-0 then:
• 12...Bb7 13.Bf4 Qc8 14.Qe2 Ba6 15.Rfd1 gives White the advantage in space (Jankovic-Tania, Op, Reykjavic, 2008).
• 12...Nd7 13.Bb2 b5 14.d5 exd5 15.exd5 Bxd5 16.Rad1 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Qc7 18.Bxh7+ Kh8 19.c4 Nf6 20.Be4 Rab8 gives White a comfortable advatage in space and an atrocious pawn structure (Yevseev-Lanin, Muni Ch, St. Petersburg, 2007).
• If 9...0-0 10.Bd3 c5 11.0-0 then:
• 11...Qc8 12.Qe2 Ba6 13.Rd1 Bxd3 14.Rxd3 Nd7 15.e5 cxd4 16.cxd4 Qc4 17.Bg5 Bd8 18.Rad1 Qd5 19.h4 f6 20.exf6 Bxf6 21.Re3 h6 22.Bf4 Rae8 23.Bg3 Rf7 24.a4 Rfe7 25.Qc2 (White has a huge advantage in space) 25...Qf5 26.Qb3 Qd5 27.Qc2 Qf5 28.Qc6 Qd5 draws by repetition (Radjobov-Leko, Sparkassen, Dortmund, 2003).
• If 11...Qc7 12.Qe2 Nd7 13.Bb2 Rac8 14.Rad1 Rfd8 15.Nd2 Qf4 16.e5 f5 17.exf6 Qxf6 18.Ne4 Qf7 19.Rfe1 cxd4 20.cxd4 Nf8 21.Qg4 Rd5 22.Rc1 Rxc1 draw (Cmilyte-Kunte, Op, Gibraltar, 2006).
• 8.Bd2 0-0 9.e4 Nxc3 10.Bxc3 Nd7 11.Rd1 Qc8 12.Bd3 Rd8 13.0-0 c5 14.d5 c4 15.Be2 exd5 16.exd5 Bf6 17.Nd4 Bxd5 18.Nf5 Be6 19.Bxf6 Bxf5 20.Qxf5 Nxf6 21.Rxd8+ Qxd8 22.Bxc4 Qd4 23.b3 is equal (Miles-Polugaevsky, Biel, 1990).
• If 7...Nxc3 then:
• 8.bxc3 Be7 9.e4 0-0 10.Bd3 c5 11.0-0 Qc7 12.Qe2 Nd7 13.Bb2 Rac8 14.Nd2 Bg5 15.a4 Rfd8 16.Rfd1 Nf8 17.a5 Ng6 18.axb6 axb6 19.g3 Bf6 draw (Ruck-Z, Almasi, Hungarian Ch, Szekesfehervar, 2006).
• If 8.Qxc3 then:
• 8...h6 9.Bf4 Bd6 10.Bg3 Nd7 11.e3 0-0 12.Bb5 Bxg3 13.hxg3 c6 14.Ba4 Rc8 15.Rd1 Qe7 16.b4 Rfd8 17.0-0 Nf6 neither side is able to make much progress (Lobron-Portisch, Op, Cannes, 1992).
• 8...Nd7 9.Bg5 Be7 10.Bxe7 Kxe7 11.e3 Nf6 12.Be2 Qd6 13.0-0 draw (Tomoshenko-Tiviakov, Euro ChT, León, 2001).
• 8.Qa4+ c6 9.Bg2 0-0 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Bf4 Nh5 12.Rad1 Nxf4 13.gxf4 Nf6 14.Ne5 Qd6 15.Kh1 Nh5 16.e3 f6 17.Nd3 g5 18.Ne2 Kh8 19.Ng3 Ng7 20.fxg5 fxg5 21.Ne5 gives White the advantage in space (Jussapow-Short, Ol, Dubai, 1986).
• If 6...exd5 7.g3 Be7 8.Bg2 0-0 9.0-0 c5 10.Bf4 then:
• 10...Na6 11.Ne5 Nc7 12.dxc5 bxc5 13.Nc4 Rb8 14.Bxc7 Qxc7 15.Nxd5 Bxd5 16.Bxd5 Rfd8 17.e4 Nxe4 18.Qe2 Rxd5 19.Qxe4 Qd7 20.Rfe1 Bf6 21.Rac1 h5 22.h4 Bd4 23.Rc2 a5 24.Rce2 Rf5 draw (Browne-Ljubojevic, Brasilien, 1981).
• If 10...Nc6 11.dxc5 bxc5 12.Ne5 Nd4 13.b4 Ne6 14.bxc5 Bxc5 15.Nd3 Bd4 16.Rb1 Ba6 17.Nb5 Bxb5 18.Rxb5 Ne4 19.Rb3 Qa5 20.Nb4 Rac8 gives Black the advantage in space(Gaprindashvili-Ioseliani, Candidates' semif m, Tbilisi, 1980).

6...Be7 7.Bxf6

• If 7.Qa4+ c6 8.Bxf6 Bxf6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.g3 0-0 11.Bg2 then:
• 11...c5 12.Rd1 Qe7 13.0-0 Rd8 14.e3 Na6 15.Rfe1 Nc7 16.h4 Ne6 17.Nh2 h5 18.Qb3 Qd7 19.dxc5 Nxc5 20.Qc2 Qe6 gives Black the advantage in space (van Wely-Onischuk, Tilburg, 1997).
• If 11...Re8 12.0-0 then:
• 12...Na6 13.Rfd1 Nc7 14.Rac1 g6 15.e3 Bg7 16.b4 Qd6 17.Qb3 a5 18.bxa5 b5 19.a4 Rxa5 20.axb5 Nxb5 21.Bf1 Nxc3 22.Rxc3 Ba8 gives White a slight edge in space (Poluljahov-Sulkis, Areoflot Op, Moscow, 2002).
• If 12...Nd7 13.Rfd1 g6 14.Rac1 Bg7 15.e3 a5 16.Qc2 Qf6 17.Ne1 Qd6 18.Nd3 Ba6 19.Nf4 Bh6 is equal (Rabrenovic-Menghi, cyberspace, 2000).

7...Bxf6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.g3

• 9.Qb3 0-0 10.Rd1 Re8 11.e3 c6 12.Bd3 Ba6 13.0-0 Bxd3 14.Rxd3 Na6 15.Rc1 Qd7 16.Rd2 Qb7 17.Ne2 Rac8 18.Nf4 gives Black the advantage in space (Riazantsev-Brodsky, Essent Op, Hoogeveen, 2002).

9...0-0 10.Bg2 c5

• 10...Nd7 11.0-0 Re8 12.Rc1 Nf8 13.b4 Ne6 14.b5 Qd6 15.a4 a6 16.e3 axb5 17.axb5 gives Black the edge in space based on command of the a-file (Browne-Rubinetti, Buenos Aires, 1979).

11.0-0 Na6 12.e3 Nc7

• 12...Re8 13.Rc1 Rc8 14.h4 Nc7 15.Qd2 c4 16.b3 cxb3 17.Qb2 Ba6 18.Rfd1 Bc4 19.Nd2 Qd6 20.Nce4 dxe4 21.Rxc4 Nb5 22.Qxb3 Rxc4 23.Nxc4 Qd5 is equal (Bischoff-Rozenthalis, Bundesliga, Castrop Rauxel (Germany), 2001).

13.Rc1!?

• 13.Qb3 Rb8 14.Rfd1 Qe7 15.Rd2 Rfe8 16.h4 g6 17.Re1 c4 18.Qc2 b5 19.Rde2 Qd6 20.b4 a5 21.Rb1 axb4 22.axb4 Bc8 draw (Dokhoian-Brodsky, Soviet ChT, Nabereznye Chelny, 1988).

13...Qe7

• If 13...Ne6 14.Qd3 Qe7 then:
• 15.Rfd1 Rad8 16.Qf5 Rfe8 17.Qc2 cxd4 18.Nxd4 Nxd4 19.exd4 Qd7 is equal.
• 15.dxc5 bxc5 16.Rfd1 Rfd8 17.Qf5 g6 18.Qd3 Rab8 19.Rb1 Bg7 20.Ne2 Qd6 gives Black a small advantage in space.

14.Qd2

• 14.Qa4 Rfc8 15.Rfd1 c4 16.Nd2 b5 17.Qa5 Qd7 18.b3 Bc6 19.bxc4 bxc4 20.Nf3 gices White a small advantage in space.

14...Rfd8 15.Rfe1

• 15.Ne2 c4 16.Nf4 Ne6 17.Nh5 Bg5 18.Nxg5 Qxg5 19.Nf4 Nxf4 20.exf4 Qg6 21.Rfe1 is equal.

15...Rac8 16.h4

• 16.Qc2 c4 17.Bh3 Ne6 18.Qf5 g6 19.Qc2 Re8 is equal.

16...g6 17.Rcd1

• If 17.dxc5 bxc5 18.Ne2 Nb5 19.Nf4 then:
• 19...Nd6 20.Qc2 Ne4 21.Nd2 c4 22.Bxe4 dxe4 23.Nxc4 Bg7 24.Qa4 is equal.
• 19...c4 20.h5 g5 21.Ne2 g4 22.Nh2 Qd7 23.a4 Nd6 24.Nc3 Bxc3 25.bxc3 f5 26.Qd4 is equal.

17...Ne6

• 17...Bg7 18.h5 Re8 19.Rc1 Rcd8 20.Ne2 c4 is even for now, although Black would easily win a king and pawn ending.

18.Qc1

• If 18.b4 Bg7 then:
• 19.bxc5 bxc5 20.a4 Qf6 21.Ne2 Ba8 22.Rb1 c4 23.Qa5 brings White's pieces to life in a hurry.
• 19.dxc5 bxc5 20.Ne2 d4 21.exd4 Qf6 22.Qe3 Nxd4 23.Nfxd4 cxd4 24.Qd3 is equal.

18...Bg7 19.Qb1 Qf8 20.Qa2

• If 20.Qd3 a6 21.h5 Qd6 22.hxg6 fxg6 then:
• 23.Ne5 c4 24.Qe2 Bxe5 25.dxe5 Qxe5 26.f4 Qg7 is equal.
• 23.e4 Nxd4 24.Nxd4 Bxd4 25.Nxd5 Qe5 26.b4 Rf8 gives Balck a small advantage in space.

20...Ba8

• If 20...Qd6 21.Qb3 Ba8 22.h5 gxh5 then:
• 23.Nb5 Qd7 24.a4 h4 25.gxh4 Qe7 26.Qd3 a6 27.Nc3 cxd4 28.exd4 gives White the advantage ins space.
• 23.Nh4 cxd4 24.Nf5 Qd7 25.exd4 Bf6 26.Ne3 Bxd4 27.Ncxd5 is equal.

21.Ng5?

• This loses a pawn.
• After 21.dxc5 Qxc5 22.Ne2 Qe7 23.Nfd4 Black is slightly better.

BLACK: Hou Yifan
!""""""""#
$v+tT Wl+%
$O + +oVo%
$ O +m+o+%
$+ Oo+ N %
$ + P + P%
$P N P P %
$qP + Pb+%
$+ +rR K %
/(((((((()
WHITE: Pia Cramling
Position after 21.Nf3g5

21...Nxg5!

• Black finds the maneuver than wins a pawn.

22.hxg5 Qe7 23.f4 cxd4

• If 23...c4 then:
• 24.Kh2 Qc7 25.Qb1 f6 26.gxf6 Bxf6 is equal.
• 24.b3 Qe6 25.Qb2 cxb3 26.Qxb3 Rc4 is equal.

24.exd4 Bxd4+

• Black is a pawn to the good.

25.Kh1

• If 25.Kh2 Qc5 then:
• After 26.Rd3 Bxc3 27.bxc3 Re8 28.Rxe8+ Rxe8 29.Bxd5 Re1 30.Qg2 Bxd5 31.Rxd5 Qc4 Black's most pronouced advantage is in pawn structure.
• After 26.Nxd5? Black wins with 26...Bxd5 27.Bxd5 Rxd5 28.Rc1 Bg1+ 29.Kh3 Qf2.

25...Qc5 26.Na4

• 26.Rd3 a6 27.Red1 Bxc3 28.bxc3 Rd6 29.Qb2 the d-pawn is momentarily paralyzed.

26...Qa5!

• If 26...Qc2 27.Qb1 Qxb1 28.Rxb1 Bf2 then:
• 29.Re2 Bxg3 30.Re7 b5 31.Nc3 Bxf4 32.Rxa7 Bxg5 leaves Black three pawns up.
• 29.Re7 b5 30.Nc3 Kf8 31.Re5 Bd4 32.Ree1 Bxc3 33.bxc3 Rxc3 leaves Black two pawns up.

27.b4 Qxa4 28.Rxd4 Rc2

• Better is 28...Rc3 29.g4 Rxa3 30.Qe2 Ra1 31.Kh2 Rxe1 32.Qxe1 Qd7 leaving Black two pawns up.

29.Qb1 Rc3 30.Qb2

• 30.Qd1 Qxa3 31.g4 Re3 32.Qd2 Rxe1+ 33.Qxe1 Qb2 34.Qe3 a5 35.bxa5 bxa5 gives Black a remote passed pawn.

30...Rc2?

• Black throws away the win by allowing an exchange of Queens without picking up another pawn or two in the process.
• If 30...Qxa3 31.Qxa3 Rxa3 32.g4 Ra4 then:
• 33.Red1 a5 34.bxa5 Rxa5 Black is two passed pawns to the good.
• Worse is 33.Kh2 a5 34.Red1 Rxb4 35.Rxb4 axb4 when Black is three pawns up.

BLACK: Hou Yifan
!""""""""#
$v+ T +l+%
$O + +o+o%
$ O + +o+%
$+ +o+ P %
$wP R P +%
$P + + P %
$ Qt+ +b+%
$+ + R +k%
/(((((((()
WHITE: Pia Cramling
Position after 30...Rc3c2


31.b5!

• 31.Qb1 Rdc8 32.Rd3 Qd7! 33.Rd4 Qg4 34.Qb3 Qh5+ is a win for Black.

31...Rxb2 32.Rxa4 Rxb5 33.Rxa7 Ra5

• 33...Kg7 34.Ree7 Rf8 35.g4 Rb2 36.Kg1 Rc2 37.Ra6 is equal.

34.Rxa5

• After 34.Ree7 Rxa7 35.Rxa7 Kg7 36.Kg1 Rc8 37.Bh3 Rb8 38.Rd7 Re8 39.Kf2 Black's extra pawn doesn't count for much; the game is equal.

34...bxa5 35.Kg1 Kg7 36.Re7 a4 37.Rc7

• If 37.Ra7 Bc6 38.g4 Re8 39.Kf2 Rb8 then:
• 40.Rc7 Rb2+ 41.Kg3 Rb3+ 42.Kf2 Be8 43.Bxd5 Rxa3 Black remains a pawn up with no winning prospects.
• 40.f5 gxf5 41.gxf5 Rb2+ 42.Kg1 Rd2 43.Rc7 Black still can't do anything with her extra pawn.

37...Rb8 38.Ra7

• If 38.Bh3 h6 39.gxh6+ Kxh6 then:
• 40.Bd7 Rb3 41.Ra7 Bb7 42.g4 d4 43.Rxa4 is equal.
• 40.Ra7 Bc6 41.Rxf7 Rb3 42.Kh2 Rxa3 43.g4 g5 44.Rf6+ Kg7 45.Rxc6 gxf4 46.Ra6 remains a likely draw.

38...Bc6

• 38...Rb1+ 39.Kh2 Bc6 40.Rc7 Bb7 41.g4 Rb6 42.f5 gxf5 43.gxf5 is equal.

39.Rc7 Rb1+ 40.Kf2

• 40.Kh2 Bb7 41.Bf3 Rb6 42.Kh3 Bc6 43.Kg4 Kf8 nobody is going anywhere.

40...Rb2+ 41.Kg1 Bb7 42.Bf3

• If 42.g4 Ba8 43.Rc8 Rb1+ then:
• 44.Kf2 44...Bb7 45.Rc7 Kf8 46.Bf3 Ke8 47.Be2 d4 48.Rc4 is equal.
• 44.Kh2 Bb7 45.Rc7 Rb6 46.f5 gxf5 47.gxf5 Rb3 is equal and lifeless.

42...Rb3 43.Kf2 Rb2+ 44.Kg1 Rb3 ½-½

• The players are clearly headed for a draw by repetition and simply opt for a draw by agreement.

[Jack Rabbit]

11. E. Atalik - Zhu Chen, Round 3

Ekaterina Atalik
Photo: from the official website of the Isbank Ataturk Women Masters' Tournament (Turkey)


Ekaterina Atalik - Zhu Chen
Isbank Ataturk Women Masters' Tournament, Round 3
Istanbul, 13 March 2008

Slav Queen's Gambit: Tikhi Opening

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6

• If 6...Be4 7.f3 Bg6 8.Qb3 Qc7 9.Bd2 then:
• 9...Nbd7 10.cxd5 exd5 11.0-0-0 0-0-0 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxg6 hxg6 14.fxe4 Nb6 15.Bg5 Re8 16.Bd3 Ng4 17.Rhf1 gives White the advantage in space (Tregubov-Peng, Corus B, Wijk aan Zee, 2002).
• 9...Be7 10.Nxg6 hxg6 11.0-0-0 Nbd7 12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.Nxd5 exd5 14.e4 Nb6 15.g3 0-0-0 16.Bf4 Bd6 17.e5 Be7 18.h4 gives White a considerable advantage in space (Najer-Wang Yue, Areoflot Op, Moscow, 2006).

7.Be2

• 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Bd2 Nbd7 9.Rc1 Bd6 10.g3 Qe7 11.c5 Bc7 12.f4 Ba5 13.Nb1 Bxd2+ 14.Nxd2 Ne4 15.Nxe4 dxe4 16.h4 f5 17.Kf2 Nf6 18.Be2 Kf7 19.a3 a5 20.Qd2 Rhb8 21.Rc2 b5 draw (Bareev-Dreev, Russian Ch, Moscow, 2004).
• 7.Qb3 then:
• 7...Qc7 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.g3 Nbd7 10.Bd2 Be7 11.Rc1 Nb6 12.cxd5 then:
• 12...exd5 13.a4 13...Qd7 14.h4 g5 15.a5 Nc8 16.Bg2 g4 17.e4 dxe4 18.Nxe4 0-0 19.a6 Nb6 20.axb7 Qxb7 21.0-0 Nfd5 22.Nc5 Qc8 23.Nd3 Rb8 24.Qc2 Bf6 25.Ne5 Bxe5 26.dxe5 Qe6 27.Rfe1 Rfc8 28.Re4 Nd7 29.Rce1 Rb6 draw (Hort-Zhu Chen, Op, Amsterdam, 2001).
• 13.Be2 Qd7 14.a4 Nc8 15.f3 Nd6 16.0-0 0-0 17.Nd1 Rae8 18.Nf2 Nf5 19.Rfe1 Bd6 20.Bf1 Qc7 21.Bg2 g5 22.Qd3 Nh6 23.e4 dxe4 24.fxe4 Nfg4 25.Nxg4 Nxg4 26.h3 Bxg3 27.hxg4 Bxe1 28.Rxe1 gives White much the better ending (Bercys-Bierkens, Op, Foxwoods, 2005).
• 7...Qb6 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.Bd2 Nbd7 10.Bd3 Be7 11.h3 Rc8 12.Qxb6 axb6 13.Ke2 0-0 14.Rac1 Rfd8 15.Rhd1 dxc4 16.Bxc4 b5 17.Bb3 e5 18.Be1 exd4 19.Rxd4 Nc5 20.Rxd8+ Rxd8 gives Black a considerable advantage in space (Dreev-Gelfand, FIDE Knock Out, Groningen, 1997).

7...Nbd7 8.g3

• If 8.Bd2 then:
• 8...Be7 9.Nxg6 hxg6 10.Qc2 Qc7 11.h3 a6 12.Rc1 Rc8 13.0-0 dxc4 14.Bxc4 g5 15.e4 g4 16.e5 gxh3 17.g3 Nd5 18.Qe4 Nxc3 19.Bxc3 Nb6 20.Ba5 Bd8 21.Qg4 Kf8 22.Bxb6 Qxb6 23.Rc3 Rh6 24.Bb3 Bc7 is unclear: Black has an extra pawn and White barely enough space to compensate for it (Malakhov-M. Gurevich, World Cup. Rd 4.2, Khanty Mansyisk, 2005).
• 8...Bd6 9.Nxg6 hxg6 10.Qc2 dxc4 11.Bxc4 Qe7 12.0-0-0 Nb6 13.Be2 e5 14.Kb1 0-0-0 15.Nb5 exd4 16.Ba5 Bb8 17.Nxd4 Bc7 18.Bxb6 Bxb6 19.Nxc6 bxc6 20.Qxc6+ Qc7 21.Qa8+ Qb8 22.Qc6+ Qc7 23.Qa8+ Qb8 24.Qc6+ draw (Malakhov-Domínguez, FIDE Knock Out, Tripoli, 2004).

8...Bd6 9.0-0 Qe7

• 9...0-0 10.Nxg6 hxg6 11.Qc2 dxc4 12.Bxc4 c5 13.dxc5 Bxc5 14.Rd1 Rc8 15.Bf1 Bb4 16.Bd2 Nd5 17.Bg2 Bxc3 18.bxc3 Qc7 19.Be1 N7b6 20.Rd4 Nxc3 21.Qxc3 Qxc3 22.Bxc3 Rxc3 draw (Ivanchuk-Gelfand, Amber Blind, Monte Carlo, 2007).

10.a3!?

• 10.Qb3 Rb8 11.Bd2 Ne4 12.Nxe4 Bxe4 13.f3 Bg6 14.Rae1 dxc4 15.Qxc4 c5 16.dxc5 Bxc5 17.b4 Bb6 18.a4 0-0 19.a5 gives White a small advantage in space (Vladimirov-Nei, Soviet Ch semif, Moscow, 1963).

10...dxc4

• 10...0-0-0 11.cxd5 exd5 12.b4 a6 13.Bb2 Rhe8 14.Qb3 Kb8 15.Rfc1 is equal.

11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.Bxc4 e5

• 12...Nb6 13.Bd3 0-0-0 14.f4 Rh3 15.e4 Bc7 is equal.

13.Re1

• 13.b4 Rd8 14.Bb3 a6 15.Bb2 Bc7 16.Qc2 Ng4 17.h4 is equal.

13...0-0-0

• 13...Nb6 14.Ba2 0-0-0 15.b4 Rh5 16.b5 Rdh8 17.h4 is equal.

14.b4 Rh7 15.f4 Bc7

• 15...Rdh8 16.Ra2 Nb6 17.Bb3 e4 18.Rc2 Kb8 19.Rf1 Qd7 is equal.

16.Bf1

• 16.b5 c5 17.Na4 e4 18.Re2 Ne8 19.Qc2 Nd6 is equal.

BLACK: Zhu Chen
!""""""""#
$ +lT + +%
$OoVmWoOt%
$ +o+ Mo+%
$+ + O + %
$ P P P +%
$P N P P %
$ + + + P%
$R BqRbK %
/(((((((()
WHITE: Ekaterina Atalik
Position after 16.Bc5f1

16...Qe6!

• Black makes her bid for aggressive play.

17.Ra2 Ne4 18.Rc2

• After 18.Nxe4? Black gets the upper hand with 18...Qxa2! 19.Re2 Qd5 20.Ng5 Rh5 21.Bg2 Qc4.

18...Nxc3 19.Rxc3 Kb8 20.Rd3

• 20.Qb3?! Qxb3 21.Rxb3 e4 22.Bg2 f5 23.h4 Nb6 24.Bb2 a6 gives Black a firm grip on the light squares.

20...e4

• If 20...Rdh8 21.dxe5 Nxe5 22.fxe5 Rxh2 then:
• 23.Bg2 Qf5 24.Rd2 Qxe5 25.Qf3 Qxg3 26.Qxg3 Bxg3 27.Red1 leaves no practical way for Black to prevent White from planting a Rook on the seventh rank.
• 23.Qf3 Qxe5 24.Bg2 g5 25.e4 f6 26.Red1 Qe6 27.Rd7 puts a Rook on the seventh rank with which White can make mischief.

21.d5 cxd5 22.Rxd5 Rhh8

• 22...Rdh8 23.Rd2 Nb6 24.Qc2 g5 25.Red1 gxf4 26.exf4 Qg6 27.Bb2 is equal.

23.Bc4 g5

• If 23...Qe7 24.Qb3 f6 25.Red1 g5 26.Bb5 Nb6 27.Rxd8+ Bxd8 28.fxg5 then:
• 28...f5 29.g6 Bc7 30.Rd2 Qg5 31.Bf1 f4 gives Black the advantage in space.
• 28...fxg5 29.Qc2 Qe5 30.Bf1 Bf6
gives Black a small edge in space.

24.Qe2

• The text is better than 24.Qc2 gxf4 25.exf4 Bb6+ 26.Be3 Rc8 when:
• After 27.Qd2 Bxe3+ 28.Rxe3 Nb6 29.Bb3 Nxd5 30.Bxd5 Qb6 Black is winning.
• 27.Rc5 Bxc5 28.Bxc5 Qh6 29.Rxe4 Nxc5 30.bxc5 Rxc5 Black is an exchange to the good.

24...gxf4 25.exf4 Bb6+

• If 25...Qh3 26.Qg2 Bb6+ then:
• If 27.Be3 Bxe3+ 28.Rxe3 then:
• 28...Qxg2+ 29.Kxg2 Nf6 30.Rxd8+ Rxd8 31.Bxf7 Rd2+ 32.Kf1 Rxh2 33.Bg6 Ra2 34.Bxe4 Nxe4 35.Rxe4 Rxa3 36.Kf2 gives White better prospects in the endgame; her pawns are better protected.
• 28...Qh6 29.Rxe4 Qb6+ 30.Kf1 Nf6 31.Rxd8+ Qxd8 32.Re1 gives White an extra pawn.
• 27.Kh1 Qg4 28.Rd2 f5 29.Bb2 Nf6 30.Be5+ Ka8 31.Rxd8+ Rxd8 is equal.

26.Be3

• 26.Kh1 Qh3 27.Qg2 Qg4 28.Be2 Qe6 29.Red1 Nf6 30.Rxd8+ Bxd8 is equal.

26...Rc8 27.Rc5

• 27.Ba2 Rc3 28.Bxb6 Qxb6+ 29.Kg2 Qh6 30.h4 Nf6 31.Rg5 Rhc8 gives White the spatial edge.

BLACK: Zhu Chen
!""""""""#
$ Lt+ + T%
$Oo+m+oO %
$ V +w+ +%
$+ R + + %
$ Pb+oP +%
$P + B P %
$ + +q+ P%
$+ + R K %
/(((((((()
WHITE: Ekaterina Atalik
Position after 27.Rd5c5

27...Qe7!?

• Black enters a sharp line.
• 27...Qg6 28.Rxc8+ Rxc8 29.Bxb6 Nxb6 30.Bb3 f5 is equal.

28.Rxc8+ Rxc8 29.Bxb6 Nxb6 30.Bb3

• If 30.Ba2 f5 31.Qb5 then:
• 31...Qd8 32.Qe5+ Ka8 33.Qb2 e3 34.Qe2 Qd2 35.Kf1 Rc1 puts Black in an excellent position to gain material.
• 31...Rc2 32.Bb1 Rc3 33.Qxf5 e3 34.Qe5+ Qxe5 35.fxe5 is equal.

30...Rc3 31.Qb2

• If 31.Qa2 f5 32.Be6 Qf6 then:
• 33.Qa1 Na4 34.Qd1 Qxe6 35.Qxa4 Qb6+ leaves Black with the central passed pawn, which, as in the text, will give her a strong initiative over the next several moves.
• 33.Rd1 Rd3 34.Re1 Nd5 35.Bxd5 Qd4+ then:
• 36.Qf2 Qxd5 37.Qb2 Qd4+ 38.Qxd4 Rxd4 gives Black the passed pawn for the Rook ending.
• 36.Kh1 Rd2 37.Qa1 Qxa1 38.Rxa1 Rxd5 yields to Black the same advantage.

31...Qf6 32.Re2?!

• 32.Kh1 Nc8 33.Rf1 Nd6 34.Rd1 Kc7 35.Rd5 a6 36.Re5 is equal.

32...Qd4+ 33.Kg2

• 33.Kf1 e3 34.Bxf7 Na4 35.Qa1 Qd7 36.Qe1 Qxf7 37.Rxe3 Qc4+ 38.Kf2 Qd4 yields Black a piece for two pawns.

33...Nc4 34.Bxc4 Qxc4 35.f5 Qd3?!

• If 35...e3! then:
• After 36.Kf3 catches the White King in a mating attack after Qd5+ 37.Kf4 Qd3 38.Kg5 g6 then:
• 39.fxg6 39...Qxg6+ 40.Kf4 Qf6+ 41.Ke4 Qe6+ 42.Kf3 f5 43.Kg2 Qc6+ 44.Kh3 f4 threatening a timely f4f3!.
• 39.Kh6 gxf5 40.Kg5 b5 41.h3 a6 42.Rg2 is followed by the forcing maneuver 42...Qd8+ 43.Kf4 Qd6+ 44.Kg5 Qg6+ 45.Kf4 Qh6+ 46.Kf3 Qc6+ 47.Kf4 Rc4+ 48.Kxe3 Qe4+ 49.Kf2 Rc2+ winning the Queen for a Rook.


• 36.h3 f6 37.Qa2 Qe4+ 38.Kh2 Qf3 39.Rb2 e2 Black forces mate in most variations and wins a piece in the others.

36.Qd2

• Black maintains a slight advantage based on the advanced passed e-pawn after 36.Rd2 Qf3+ 37.Kg1 Qe3+ 38.Kg2 f6 39.b5 b6 40.Rf2.

36...Qf3+

• 36...Kc8 37.Qxd3 exd3 38.Re4 Rxa3 39.Kf3 d2+ 40.Ke2 Rf3 41.Kxd2 Rxf5 42.Re7 gives Black an extra pawn for the ending.

37.Kg1 Rd3
BLACK: Zhu Chen
!""""""""#
$ L + + +%
$Oo+ +oO %
$ + + + +%
$+ + +p+ %
$ P +o+ +%
$P +t+wP %
$ + Qr+ P%
$+ + + K %
/(((((((()
WHITE: Ekaterina Atalik
Position after 37...Rc3d3

38.Qf4+!

• The exchange of Queens is the best way out of this tight spot.

38...Qxf4 39.gxf4 e3 40.a4

• 40.f6 g6 41.a4 Rb3 42.b5 Kc7 43.Kg2 Kb6 44.Kf3 Rd3 is equal.

40...Rb3 41.Kg2 Rxb4 42.Rxe3 f6

• If 42...Rxa4 43.Re8+ Kc7 44.Re7+ Kc6 45.Rxf7 then:
• 45...Rxf4 46.Kg3 Rf1 47.Kg2 Rd1 48.Rxg7 is equal.
• 45...a5 46.Kf3 Ra3+ 47.Ke4 Ra2 48.h4 Re2+ 49.Kd3 is equal.

43.Kf3 Rxa4 44.Re8+ Kc7 45.Re7+

• 45.Rg8 Rd4 46.Rxg7+ Rd7 47.Rg6 Rf7 48.h4 gives Black the advantage of remote connected passed pawns, while White has a dangerous passer on the kingside.

45...Kc6 46.Rxg7 b5?

• Black loses this game pressing for a win.
• 46...Ra3+ 47.Ke4 Ra2 48.h4 Rh2 49.Rg6 Rxh4 50.Rxf6+ remains equal.

47.Rf7

• If 47.Rg6 b4 48.Rxf6+ Kd5 49.Rf8 then:
• After 49...Ra6 50.f6 Ke6 51.Kg4 Ra2 52.f5+ Kd5 53.Rd8+ Ke4 54.f7 the pawn queens.
• After 49...Kd6 50.Re8 Kd7 51.Re4 Ra3+ 52.Kg4 b3 53.Rb4 a5 54.Rb7+ White may begin advancing her pawns.

47...b4

• If 47...Kd5 48.Rxf6 then:
• After 48...Ra3+ 49.Kg4 Ra2 50.h4 Rg2+ 51.Kh5 White will be able to get his Rook out of the way and push her pawns forward.
• 48...b4 transposes into the previous note.
• 47...Ra3+ 48.Kg4 Ra2 49.Rxf6+ Kd5 50.h4 is the secondray line above by transposition.

48.Rxf6+ Kd5 49.Rf8 Ra6 50.Rb8 Kc4 51.Kg4 b3 52.Kg5 Ra5

• 52...Rb6 53.Rxb6 axb6 54.f6 b2 55.f7 b1Q 56.f8Q gives White the advantage as her King can find shelter behind his pawns.

53.h4 Kc3 54.h5 b2 55.h6

• Also good for White is 55.Rxb2 Kxb2 56.Kg6 Ra3 57.f6 Rg3+ 58.Kf5 Rg8 59.f7 Rc8 60.Kf6 a5 61.Kg7 winning.

55...Ra1 56.f6 Rg1+ 57.Kf5 Rg8

• After 57...b1Q+ White wins with 58.Rxb1 Rxb1 59.f7 Rb8 60.Kf6 a5 61.Kg7.

BLACK: Zhu Chen
!""""""""#
$ R + +t+%
$O + + + %
$ + + P P%
$+ + +k+ %
$ + + P +%
$+ L + + %
$ O + + +%
$+ + + + %
/(((((((()
WHITE: Ekaterina Atalik
Position after 57...Rg1g8

58.Rxb2!!

• This wins immediately.

58...Kxb2 59.f7 Ra8 60.Kg6 a5 61.Kg7 1-0

• A pawn on the seventh rank supported by the King trumps a Rook almost every time.
• Ms. Zhu resigns.