[Event "Wijk aan Zee"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee"] [Date "2022.01.28"] [Round "11"] [White "Van Foreest, Jorden"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E24"] [WhiteElo "2702"] [BlackElo "2772"] [Annotator "Bojkov,Dejan"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 b6 6. f3 {The Samisch line. As in all the relative lines that are named after the German GM, the modest f2-f3 move aims for a solid central occupation, followed by a monstrous kingside attack.} Nc6 7. e4 Na5 ({Instead} 7... d6 8. Nh3 Na5 {was recently tested in another hot game that went} 9. Bd3 Ba6 10. Rb1 Qd7 11. Qe2 c5 12. O-O Qa4 13. Bf4 Rd8 14. Bxd6 Rxd6 15. e5 Rd8 16. exf6 gxf6 17. d5 {and anything was possible in Carlsen,M (2855)-Aronian,L (2782) Online 2021}) 8. Bd3 Ba6 9. Qe2 d6 10. f4 {\"I wanted to go for a fight today after my loss two days ago so I thought, let's give it a try.\" (Van Foreest) What the young Dutch meant was that he was basically burning the positional bridges behind him. If his kingside attack would not succeed, he was doomed to a miserable failure on the opposite wing.} (10. Nh3 {is certainly a move too.}) 10... Qd7 {Giri started to burn quite a lot of time on the clock, but follows the most straightforward path towards the enemy weaknesses.} 11. Nf3 Qa4 12. Nd2 e5 $146 {A novelty, played after a lengthy thought.} ({Black ran away from the fire as fast as he could in this game:} 12... O-O-O 13. O-O Nd7 14. Rb1 Nb8 15. Rb5 c5 16. Rb1 Rd7 17. f5 exf5 18. exf5 Nbc6 19. Ne4 Bxc4 {and that worked pretty well for the second player in Deze,V (2220)-Aleksic,N (2420) Barcelona 1991}) 13. O-O O-O { Now that is certainly play with the fire game.} ({This was the last moment for } 13... O-O-O) 14. fxe5 dxe5 15. Rb1 {After a lot of hesitation, White finally declines the immediate sacrifice.} ({The instant} 15. Rxf6 $3 {was great though, with the following out-of-the-space line to follow} gxf6 16. Qf2 $3 { All of this is absolutely illogical to the human eye.} ({The human way would be } 16. Qf3 Qc6 17. d5 Qd6 18. a4 c5 19. Nf1 $1 {which however leads to a very similar situation as in the game as the c4-pawn is immune due to the line} Bxc4 20. Ne3 $1 Bxd3 21. Nf5 {and wins.}) 16... Qd1+ 17. Nf1 $3 {Go figure!} Qxd3 ({ Perhaps Black needs to try and defend with} 17... Qg4 18. Be2 Qg6 19. Ng3 { but his chances of a successful defense are very slim.}) 18. Qh4 $3 {The main point is that the black queen cannot help her king.} h5 (18... Bb7 19. d5 h5 20. Bh6 Kh7 21. Ne3 $3 Bc8 22. Qxh5 {and White wins according to the machine.}) 19. Bh6 Kh7 20. Qxh5 Qxe4 21. Bxf8+ Kg8 22. Be7 {and wins. Luckily, people still do not see that much!}) 15... c5 {But Giri invites the sacrifice once more! He desperately needs to win in the contest for the first place and this might explain the logic behind his decision.} ({The move} 15... Ne8 $1 { was more or less mandatory. It does not even matter if White will win a pawn, or not, as in the line} 16. Nf3 f6 17. dxe5 fxe5 18. Nxe5 Rxf1+ 19. Qxf1 Nd6 { The king priority is all that matters.}) 16. Rxf6 $3 {And White does not need a second invitation! From the times of Bronstein, this might be White's most famous sacrifice in the Nimzo-Indian. The first player often even sacrifices a pawn there with some f5-f6, lures the black knight back on the f6-square and then takes it.} ({Instead} 16. d5 $4 Ne8 {would be the typical Nimzo-Indian failure for the first player once that the black knight reaches d6.}) 16... gxf6 17. Qf3 $1 {The point behind the sacrifice is that the black king has been weakened forever. And that is a permanent weakness. Which, by the Dorfman theory, means that White needs not to rush; he holds the long-term trumps!} ({ The greedy machine wants its material back and suggests instead} 17. Nb3 Nxb3 18. Bh6 Kh8 19. Qf3 Qc6 20. d5 Qd6 21. Bxf8 Rxf8 22. Rxb3 {but this seems much easier to defend for Black as there will be no white Nf5.}) ({The inhuman sacrifice from above} 17. Qf2 {does not work this time as after} Qd1+ 18. Nf1 Qxd3 19. Qh4 {Black would not take a second rook} Qxb1 $2 ({But would defend instead with} 19... Bb7 $1 20. d5 ({Or} 20. Bh6 $2 Qxe4) 20... h5 21. Bh6 Kh7 22. Bxf8 Qxb1 23. Qxf6 Rxf8 24. Qf5+ {with a perpetual check.}) 20. Bh6) 17... Qc6 18. d5 Qd6 19. Nf1 Kh8 {Giri is in a hurry to bring the rook out to defend the f6-pawn.} ({We already know what happens after} 19... Bxc4 $2 20. Ne3 $1 Bxd3 21. Nf5) 20. Ne3 Bc8 ({A more resilient defense was} 20... Rg8 $1 21. Bd2 ({After} 21. Nf5 Qd8 {the white c4-pawn finally starts to hang.}) 21... Rg6 22. Be1 Rag8 23. Bh4 Bc8 {and in comparison to the game the black queenside rook is where it is needed.}) 21. Bd2 {No rush! Just bring everyone out there and the weaknesses will start dropping.} Rg8 22. Be1 Rg6 23. Bh4 Rh6 ({After} 23... Bd7 {White would have likely continued as in the game} 24. Qf2 $5 Kg7 25. Be2) 24. Qf2 Bd7 {Giri does everything that he can but the avalanche is about to move.} 25. Rf1 {Now almost all the white pieces are where they are needed, just one last reserve player is left behind.} Kg7 {This can hardly be called a mistake.} ({Although, bringing the knight into the game with} 25... Nb7 $1 { as Van Foreest suggested might have been better, True, Black needs to find a further pawn sacrifice:} 26. Be2 f5 27. exf5 f6 {and self-lock his rook which also lowers his chances for a survival, but that is another story.}) 26. Be2 $1 {Last reserves en route.} Rg6 ({Or else the light squares will be cleared after } 26... Rg8 27. Bg4 Kf8 28. Bxd7 Qxd7 29. Bxf6) 27. h3 $1 {A pretty way to make it to the f6-pawn!} ({The alternative was} 27. Bh5 $1 Rf8 28. h3) 27... Bxh3 28. Bh5 {It is not just the exchange that Black loses, it is mainly about the f6-pawn.} Bd7 29. Bxg6 fxg6 30. Bxf6+ {and Black is due to collapse on the dark squares.} Kg8 31. Qh4 ({Or} 31. Qg3 Re8 32. Qg5) 31... Rf8 32. Rf3 ({ A tad faster was} 32. Qg5 $1 Re8 33. Nf5 Bxf5 34. exf5) 32... Rf7 33. Qg5 Qf8 34. Qxe5 Nb7 35. Qf4 Nd6 36. e5 Ne8 37. d6 ({Here} 37. g4 $1 {followed by g4-g5 would have been nice too.}) 37... Nxf6 38. exf6 Qe8 39. Nd5 Qe1+ 40. Kh2 Qd1 41. Ne7+ Kh8 {For a moment Van Foreest is frustrated, but then finds the last brilliancy:} 42. Rh3 $3 ({Giri resigned as in the line} 42. Rh3 Bxh3 43. d7 $1 {the back rank is opened and the only way to prevent the mate from there is} Rf8 {which allows} 44. Nxg6+ $1 hxg6 (44... Kg8 45. Nxf8) 45. Qh6+ Kg8 46. Qg7#) 1-0