[Event "EU-ch 19th"] [Site "Batumi"] [Date "2018.03.22"] [Round "6"] [White "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"] [Black "Saric, Ivan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D43"] [WhiteElo "2738"] [BlackElo "2657"] [Annotator "Mikhalchishin,A"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2018.03.17"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "GEO"] [SourceTitle "CBM 184"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2018.05.16"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.05.16"] [SourceQuality "1"] {This was probably the best game of the Championship, but Saric was not deeply affected by this loss!} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 g6 8. Be2 Bg7 {Wojtaszek has played this position a few times, so he is really well prepared.} (8... Nd7 9. O-O Bg7 (9... dxc4 $6 10. Nd2 $14) 10. e4 (10. cxd5 exd5 11. b4 {is a typical position that is supposed to be pleasant for White}) 10... dxe4 11. Nxe4 Qf4 12. Qc2 Nf6 (12... f5 13. Ned2 c5 14. g3 Qc7 15. d5 O-O 16. dxe6 Nf6 17. Nh4 Kh7 18. Bd3 Bxe6 19. Rae1 Bf7 20. Ndf3 Rfe8 21. Ng2 Nd7 22. Nf4 Ne5 {Wojtaszek,R (2727)-Ding,L (2766) Huaian 2016, with very good play.} (22... Qc6)) 13. Nxf6+ Qxf6 14. c5 O-O 15. Rad1 Rd8 16. Ne5 Bd7 17. Rd3 Be8 18. Rfd1 Qe7 19. Bf3 Rac8 20. g3 b6 21. b4 bxc5 22. bxc5 Qc7 23. Nc4 {Wojtaszek,R (2727)-Ding,L (2766) Huaian 2016, White keeps strict control of the centre,}) 9. O-O O-O ({White can start a minority attack after} 9... Nd7 10. cxd5 exd5 11. b4) 10. Ne5 ({Usually White has opened the centre here with} 10. e4 Nd7 (10... dxc4 11. Bxc4 (11. e5 Qe7 12. Bxc4 Nd7 13. Qe2 b5 14. Bd3 b4 15. Ne4 c5 16. Nd6 cxd4 17. Qe4 Rb8 18. Qxd4 Bb7 19. Nxb7 Rxb7 20. Rad1 Qc5 21. Qe4 Rbb8 22. Rfe1 Rfd8 23. h4 Qa5 24. Bc4 Rbc8 {Sebenik, M (2534)-Bok,B (2611) Hersonissos GRE 2017, with equality.}) 11... Qd8 12. e5 c5 13. dxc5 Nd7 14. Qe2 Nxc5 15. Rfd1 Qe7 16. Nb5 Bd7 17. Nd6 a5 18. Qe3 { Lenic,L (2650)-Giri,A (2762) Hersonissos GRE 2017, the strong knight on d6 guarantees an advantage.}) (10... dxe4 11. Nxe4 Qf4 12. Qc2 f5 13. Nc5 Bxd4 14. Nd3 Qd6 15. c5 Qd8 16. Nf4 Bg7 17. Nxg6 Re8 18. Nfe5 Nd7 19. Rad1 Qc7 20. Nc4 Nf6 21. Nd6 {Moiseenko,A (2670)-Korobov,A (2684) Kharkov 2010, The power of the knights!}) 11. exd5 ({The critical move could be} 11. e5 {while the game could continue:} Qe7 12. Re1 Rd8 $1 13. c5 b6 14. b4 a5 15. a3 axb4 16. axb4 Rxa1 17. Qxa1 bxc5 18. bxc5 f6 19. exf6 Qxf6 $13) 11... exd5 12. cxd5 c5 13. Ne4 Qb6 14. dxc5 Nxc5 15. Nxc5 Qxc5 16. Rc1 Qb6 $5 $146 (16... Qb4 17. b3 Bf5 ( 17... Rd8 $5) 18. Bd3 Bd7 {0-1 (57) Bacrot,E (2722)-Eljanov,P (2732) Shamkir AZE 2014, was also quite fine for Black, and after} 19. Rc7 $5 $146 Rfd8 20. Qd2 Qd6 21. Rxb7 Qxd5 22. Be4 Qxd2 23. Nxd2 Bf5 24. Bxf5 Rxd2 {Black would easily make a draw.}) 17. b3 Qd6 $1 {Preventing Nd2. Black, again, has typical compensation for the pawn.} 18. Qd2 (18. Nd2 Qxd5 19. Bf3 Qa5 20. Nc4 Qxa2 21. Bd5 Be6 $11) 18... Bf5 19. Nh4 Bd7 20. g3 Rac8 21. Ng2 h5 22. Ne3 {1/2 (22) Edouard,R (2679)-Matlakov,M (2685) Helsingor 2014 CBM 162 [Edouard,R]} (22. a4 {with the idea} a6 23. a5 {was also critical, but I believe that in the long-term the pawn would be weak on a5. After something like} Rfe8 24. Ne3 Bh6 25. Rxc8 Bxc8 {I do not think White can be better, and I would even prefer to play the position with Black.}) (22. Ne3 b5 23. Rxc8 Rxc8 24. Rc1 Rxc1+ (24... Re8 $5) 25. Qxc1 Bd4 $11)) ({The whole idea of delaying ...Nd7 was shown in the following game:} 10. cxd5 exd5 11. b4 Be6 $1 {Black has the time to develop his light-squared bishop before going ...Nd7, which makes a quite important difference.} 12. Qb3 Qd8 13. Rfd1 Nd7 $11 {0-1 (57) Bacrot,E (2722) -Eljanov,P (2732) Shamkir AZE 2014}) 10... Nd7 11. f4 Qe7 ({There was the passive, but playable elimination of this strong knight:} 11... Nxe5 12. fxe5 Qe7 13. Qc2 Bd7 14. a3 f5 15. c5) 12. Qb3 Nxe5 ({White kept an advantage also after} 12... g5 13. g3 Nxe5 14. fxe5 f6 15. exf6 Bxf6 16. Rf2) 13. fxe5 Bd7 14. cxd5 ({It was necessary to calculate carefully} 14. Qxb7 Rab8 (14... Rfb8 15. Qc7 Rxb2 16. Rab1) 15. Qxa7 (15. Qa6 Rxb2 16. Qxa7) 15... Ra8 16. Qb7 Rfb8 17. Qc7 Rc8 18. Qd6 $2 Qd8) 14... cxd5 15. e4 $1 {The most energetic treatment.} dxe4 ({Saric did not like to have a weakness on d5 for a long time:} 15... Bc6 16. exd5 exd5 17. Rae1 Rae8 18. Bf3) 16. Nxe4 Bc6 17. Nf6+ Bxf6 18. Rxf6 ({ Black would suffer even in the rook ending:} 18. exf6 Qd6 19. Qe3 Qd5 20. Bf3 Qg5 21. Qxg5 hxg5 22. Bxc6 bxc6 23. Rac1 Rfb8 24. Rf2 Rd8 25. Rc4) 18... Rad8 19. Rd1 Rd7 20. h4 Rfd8 21. Qc3 Qf8 22. a3 Qg7 23. Rf4 g5 $2 {Nobody forced this weakening move.} ({Here and before it was necessary to build a passive defence like} 23... a6 24. Rdf1 Rc7 25. Qe3 Rdd7) 24. hxg5 hxg5 25. Rg4 f5 26. exf6 Qxf6 27. Rf1 Qh6 28. d5 $1 {Opening the position means starting a decisive attack on the kingside.} Bxd5 29. Rf6 Qh5 ({Or} 29... Qg7 30. Qe5) 30. Rg3 Qh7 31. Bd3 Be4 32. Rxg5+ Rg7 33. Rxg7+ Qxg7 (33... Kxg7 34. Rf4+) 34. Bxe4 1-0