[Event "Wijk aan Zee"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2021.01.21"] [Round "5.6"] [White "Grandelius, Nils"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B97"] [WhiteElo "2663"] [BlackElo "2784"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 { The Poisoned Pawn Variation carries this title for a reason. Black risks to gain a seemingly worthless pawn and gets heavily behind in development. Modern engines made the defenders far braver than before. On top of that, Vachier-Lagrave trusts his position.} 8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. f5 ({The other main direction of the line was tested by Radjabov recently:} 10. e5 h6 11. Bh4 dxe5 12. fxe5 Nfd7 13. Ne4 {In this line White often sacrifices three to four pawns in the blink of an eye:} Qxa2 14. Rd1 Qd5 15. Qe3 Qxe5 16. Be2 Bc5 17. Bg3 Qd5 18. c4 Bxd4 19. Rxd4 Qa5+ 20. Rd2 O-O 21. Bd6 {which means that Black is always ready to part with some material to slow down the opponent's initiative:} f5 22. Bxf8 Nxf8 {with sharp and interesting play Radjabov,T (2765)-Ding,L (2791) Online 2020}) 10... Be7 ({Another way to defend is} 10... Nc6 11. fxe6 fxe6 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Be2 Be7 14. e5 dxe5 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. Bh5+ g6 17. Ne4 O-O 18. O-O Qe7 19. Bf3 Qa7+ 20. Kh1 Be7 21. Qc3 Rb8 22. h3 Rxb1 23. Rxb1 Qc7 {as in Karjakin,S (2752)-Duda,J (2757) Chess.com 2020}) 11. fxe6 Bxe6 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. Bc4 {A fashionable line, and a favorite choice of the Chinese top GM Wei Yi. White's play is very straightforward and logical.} Nbd7 14. Bxe6 Nc5 15. Bb3 {An over-the-board novelty.} ({Both Vachier-Lagrave and Nepomniachtchi defended against the Chinese GM after} 15. Bf5 g6 16. Bh3 Nfxe4 17. Nxe4 Nxe4 18. Qd4 Qc3+ 19. Qxc3 Nxc3 20. Bxe7 Kxe7 { Wei,Y (2721)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2774) Chess.com 2019 and Wei,Y (2736) -Nepomniachtchi,I (2773) Moscow 2019}) ({However, the French GM suffered a heavy blow in the following game:} 15. Bc4 {Taken by surprise, Vachier-Lagrave followed the stream:} Ncxe4 ({However, in another game that year Black defended with} 15... b5 16. O-O bxc4 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Qxd6 Qxc3 19. e5 Qe3+ 20. Kh1 Ne4 21. Qc6+ Kf7 22. exf6 gxf6 23. Qd7+ Kf8 24. g3 Nf2+ 25. Kg2 Ne4 { Radjabov,T (2759)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2775) Dortmund 2019}) 16. Nxe4 Nxe4 { but was in for a nasty surprise:} 17. Bf7+ $3 Kxf7 18. Qd5+ Ke8 19. Qxe4 Qa5+ 20. Kd1 Qxg5 21. Rxb7 {when White regained the piece and eventually won thanks to his superb preparation in Caruana,F (2819)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2779) Stavanger 2019}) 15... Rc8 {Played without much hesitation.} ({Armoured with his hard-learned knowledge from the game against Caruana, MVL naturally stays away from the line} 15... Ncxe4 16. Nxe4 Nxe4 17. Bf7+ Kxf7 18. Qd5+ Ke8 19. Qxe4 Qa5+ 20. Kd1 Qxg5 21. Rxb7 {which transposes to the game from above.}) ({ The immediate capture of the bishop} 15... Nxb3 16. Rxb3 Qc5 17. Rxb7 {simply wins a pawn for White.}) 16. O-O Nxb3 {It's a good moment to get rid of this beast and bring the queen back into the play.} 17. Rxb3 Qc5+ 18. Be3 Qc4 19. Rf4 {With the strong threat of e4-e5.} (19. Nd5 {is not dangerous for Black after} Nxd5 20. exd5 Bf6) 19... Qe6 {N Technically speaking, only this is a novelty. But not a good one. Black spent 18 minutes on his clock and might have messed up the lines.} ({There was a correspondence game where Black immediately attacked the annoying rook in return:} 19... Nh5 $1 20. Rf1 (20. Rf3 Nf6) (20. Rg4 O-O) (20. Rf5 Nf6) 20... Rf8 21. Re1 b5 22. Nd5 Qxc2 23. Qd4 Nf6 24. Qa7 Nxd5 25. exd5 Rc7 26. Qxa6 Kf7 27. h3 Kg8 {and the game eventually ended peacefully, Rothman,I (2158)-Pessoa, F (2525) ICCF email 2010}) ({ Note that the queen cannot retreat easily on the c-file:} 19... Qc6 20. Nd5 Qxc2 21. Qxc2 Rxc2 22. Rxb7 {still wins a pawn for White.}) ({Whereas} 19... Qc7 20. Nd5 Nxd5 21. Qxd5 Rf8 22. Qh5+ {with a strong attack would be even more unpleasant than the previous retreat.}) 20. Rxb7 {Picking up a nice, healthy pawn while occupying the seventh rank. How bad can it get?} O-O 21. h3 $1 {A cool consolidation move. There will be no back-rank mates, nor Nf6-g4-e5 maneuvers.} ({Black is fighting after} 21. Nd5 Nxd5 22. exd5 Qe5) 21... Rb8 { One more small subtlety by Grandelius. He does not even give the b-file without a fight.} ({The other route to e5 is not advisable:} 21... Nd7 $2 22. Qd5) ({If Black waits with} 21... Rc4 {then} 22. Nd5 $1 Bd8 23. Qd3 {improves White's position further.}) 22. Ra7 $1 ({As i:} 22. Rxb8 Rxb8 23. Qd3) 22... Ra8 23. Rxa8 Rxa8 24. Nd5 ({Also good was} 24. Qd3 $1 Rc8 ({No time for} 24... Rb8 25. Qxa6) 25. Nd5 Nxd5 26. exd5 Qg6 27. Qxg6 hxg6 28. Ra4 Rxc2 29. Rxa6 { and White should win the endgame.}) 24... Rb8 ({Perhaps Vachier-Lagrave had to try and defend the position after} 24... Nxd5 25. exd5 Qg6 26. Rg4 Qf5) 25. c4 Bd8 ({The last chance was} 25... Nxd5 26. exd5 Rb1+ 27. Kh2 Qe5 28. Bd4 Qe1 { Although White should also win here with} 29. Qd3 $1 ({Rather than the endgame } 29. Qxe1 Rxe1 {where Black has chances thanks to his active rook.})) 26. Qf2 Nd7 27. Bd4 Bg5 (27... h6 $5 {to open air for the king was more resilient.}) 28. Rf5 Bh6 ({It was probably here where the French GM spotted} 28... h6 29. h4 g6 ({Without the bishop on the kingside Black is quickly mated:} 29... Bc1 30. Qg3 g6 31. Nf6+) 30. hxg5 $1 gxf5 31. exf5 Qe4 32. g6 {and nothing can stop the white pawns.}) 29. Kh2 {The last preparatory move. Grandelius is converting in style.} Rc8 30. Qg3 g6 (30... Qxe4 31. Qxd6) 31. Qh4 $1 {A nice final touch.} Bf8 ({White regains all the material with interest in the line} 31... gxf5 32. exf5 Qe8 33. Ne7+ Kf7 34. Nxc8 Qxc8 35. Qxh6) 32. Rf6 {Not even a sacrifice. The white pieces are mercilessly surrounding the opponent's king.} Qe8 ({Or} 32... Nxf6 33. Nxf6+ Kf7 34. Qxh7+ Bg7 35. Ng4 Rg8 36. Nh6+ {winning. }) 33. Rxf8+ Qxf8 34. Ne7+ Kf7 35. Nxc8 (35. Nxc8 Qxc8 36. Qxh7+) 1-0