[Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"] [Site "Riga LAT"] [Date "2021.10.30"] [Round "4.6"] [White "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Black "Demchenko, Anton"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C60"] [WhiteElo "2763"] [BlackElo "2651"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2021.10.27"] {[%evp 0,55,25,25,25,18,25,21,71,20,60,39,57,62,57,57,65,36,48,29,29,46,27,36, 37,34,28,0,18,20,9,29,51,9,20,0,-12,-1,-1,-38,-23,-6,100,-23,86,207,174,-2,150, 151,273,308,322,311,301,374,456,685]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 {A Demchenko specialty, it seems - I found 22 of his games with this in the database.} 4. c3 Bg7 (4... a6 {is more common both in general and for Demchenko in particular, but he has played 4...Bg7 as well.}) 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 a6 7. Ba4 (7. Bc4 d6 8. O-O Nf6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. h3 b5 11. Bd3 Bb7 12. Bg5 h6 13. Be3 Re8 14. d5 Na5 15. Qd2 Kh7 16. Rad1 c6 17. dxc6 Bxc6 18. b3 Rc8 19. Nd5 Nb7 20. Nxf6+ Qxf6 21. Bd4 Qe7 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 23. Rfe1 Qf6 24. b4 Bd7 25. e5 dxe5 26. Bxg6 Rcd8 27. Be4 Bxh3 28. Qc2 Bc8 29. Rxd8 Rxd8 30. Qc3 Nd6 31. Nxe5 Nxe4 32. Rxe4 Bf5 33. Rf4 Rd5 34. Qg3+ Kh7 35. Ng4 Rd1+ 36. Kh2 Qa1 37. Qe3 Bxg4 38. Rxf7+ Kg6 39. Qe8 Rd8 40. Qxd8 Kxf7 41. Qc7+ Ke8 42. Qc6+ Bd7 43. Qxa6 Qe5+ 44. g3 Qf5 45. Kg1 h5 46. Qh6 Be6 47. a3 Bd5 48. Qc1 Kd7 49. Qf1 Bc6 50. Qa1 Qd5 51. Qg7+ Kc8 52. Qf8+ Kb7 53. Qe7+ Ka6 54. Kf1 Qd1+ {0-1 (54) Hovhannisyan,R (2639)-Demchenko,A (2655) Khanty Mansiysk 2019}) 7... b5 8. Bc2 d6 9. h3 Nf6 10. O-O (10. Nc3 O-O 11. O-O Bb7 12. Re1 Re8 13. a3 Na5 14. Bf4 Nc4 15. Qc1 c5 16. Bh6 Bxh6 17. Qxh6 cxd4 18. Nxd4 Nxb2 19. Re3 Kh8 20. Bb3 Nc4 21. Bxc4 bxc4 22. Rf3 Qe7 23. Re1 Rac8 24. Qf4 Nd7 25. Rb1 Bxe4 26. Re3 f5 27. Nxe4 fxe4 28. Rb7 Qf8 29. Rxe4 Rxe4 30. Qxe4 Nc5 31. Qe7 Qxe7 32. Rxe7 Rb8 33. Kf1 Rb2 34. Ne6 Nxe6 35. Rxe6 c3 36. Re8+ Kg7 37. Rc8 Rc2 38. Ke1 d5 39. g4 d4 40. Rc4 Rd2 41. f4 Kf7 {0-1 (41) Lobanov,S (2514)-Demchenko,A (2600) Cheboksary 2021}) 10... Bb7 $146 (10... O-O {was the only move played in this position prior to this game.}) 11. a3 O-O 12. Re1 $146 Re8 $146 13. Bg5 (13. Bf4 $142 $14 {/+/-}) 13... h6 14. Bh4 (14. Bf4 $142) 14... Ne7 15. Nc3 Nh5 ( 15... g5 $142 16. Bg3 Nh5 17. Bh2 Ng6 $11 {/+/= is decent for Black.}) 16. e5 $1 Qd7 17. d5 Nf4 $8 18. e6 $1 fxe6 19. dxe6 {A critical moment. Can Black take on e6?} Qc6 $2 ({Surprisingly, he can. In fact, he *must*, or he's losing. } 19... Nxe6 $1 20. Ne5 ({There's no way to make} 20. Rxe6 $4 Qxe6 21. Bb3 { work. For example,} d5 22. Bxe7 Bxc3 $1 {and Black enjoys an overwhelming material plus.}) (20. Bxe7 Bxc3 21. bxc3 Rxe7 22. Nh4 Nf4 23. Bb3+ Kh7 24. Qg4 Rxe1+ 25. Rxe1 Qxg4 26. Re7+ Kh8 27. hxg4 {looks scary for Black, who is indeed hanging on by a thread. That thread apparently suffices:} g5 28. Nf5 Bxg2 29. Nxh6 Bd5 30. Bc2 Bg8 31. Rxc7 Rf8 {Threatening ...Nh3+, but also intending to break up White's attacking party with ...Rf6.} 32. Bf5 Rf6 33. Nxg8 Kxg8 34. Rc6 a5 $11) 20... Bxe5 21. Rxe5 c5 $1 22. Ne4 Bxe4 23. Rxe4 Nd4 24. Rg4 Nxc2 25. Qxc2 Qf5 26. Qd2 Kh7 $11) 20. Re4 $1 Ned5 (20... g5 21. Rxf4 $1 gxf4 22. Qd3 $1 {Threatening 23.Qh7+ Kf8 24.Bf6, with annhilation. (24... Bxf6?? 25.Qf7#.)} Nd5 23. Qh7+ Kf8 24. Qf5+ Kg8 25. Qf7+ Kh8 26. Qg6 Kg8 27. Re1 $1 Re7 28. Qh7+ Kf8 29. Nxd5 Qxd5 30. Bxe7+ Kxe7 31. Qxg7+ $18 {mates in a couple of moves.}) 21. Nxd5 Nxd5 22. Rg4 Rxe6 (22... g5 {would probably be met by the obvious "sacrifice"} 23. Bxg5 hxg5 24. Nd4 Qc5 25. Rxg5 $18 {with five attackers (the queen will be the fifth) going after Black's denuded king.}) 23. Bb3 Bxb2 24. Rb1 Bxa3 25. Nd4 Qe8 26. Nxe6 Qxe6 27. Qd2 h5 (27... Kh7 {looks more natural, but it's not much of an improvement - if any.} 28. Re1 Qg8 29. Bxd5 Bxd5 30. Re7+ Bf7 31. Qa2 Rf8 32. Qxa3 {leaves White with a rook for three pawns. In a different sort of position, Black's queenside pawns might cause some problems, but not here. The pawns are more vulnerable than powerful, and Black's king is still in terrrible shape.}) 28. Re1 {A nice finishing touch.} (28. Re1 Qf7 29. Rf4 {separates the queen from the knight, with lethal results.}) 1-0 [Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"] [Site "Riga LAT"] [Date "2021.10.30"] [Round "4.38"] [White "Van Foreest, Jorden"] [Black "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A18"] [WhiteElo "2691"] [BlackElo "2617"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2021.10.27"] 1. c4 (1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 $6 5. Nxf6+ Qxf6 (5... gxf6 $142) 6. Nf3 Bd6 $6 7. Bd3 O-O $4 8. Bg5 $18) 1... Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 d5 4. e5 d4 5. exf6 dxc3 6. bxc3 Qxf6 7. Nf3 b6 {This is a position I've seen many times, and while I haven't had it in a tournament game I've studied it a little, both for myself and for students. What comes next is brand spanking new, and not just for me but in the database as well.} 8. c5 $5 $146 {A remarkable gambit idea! White sacs a useful near-center pawn for a tempo (in case Black plays ...Bxc5) or to wreck Black's structure (in case of ...bxc5). I hope we'll see some more games with this gambit in the future.} (8. d4 { is the main move, and has been played hundreds of times.}) 8... Bxc5 (8... bxc5 {is very much worth considering. Simply from a structural perspective, it would be better to grab with the bishop, but as this gives White less stability in the center after the inevitable d2-d4 it's probably worth it.} 9. d4 h6 10. Bd3 Nd7 11. Rb1 Bd6 12. O-O cxd4 13. cxd4 O-O 14. Re1 $44) 9. d4 Bd6 10. Bd3 {Threatening Bg5, a well-known queen trap from a similar position in the French that comes up in lower-level club play. (See the note on move 1.)} h6 (10... Qe7 11. O-O Bb7 12. Bg5 f6 (12... Bxf3 $4 13. Qxf3 Qxg5 14. Qxa8 $18) (12... Qd7 13. Re1 $44) 13. Bd2 $44) (10... Bb7 $6 11. Bg5 Bxf3 12. Qd2 Bf4 $8 (12... Bxg2 $2 13. Bxf6 Bxh1 (13... gxf6 14. Rg1 $18) 14. Bxg7 Rg8 15. Qh6 $18) 13. Bxf4 Bxg2 14. Rg1 Bb7 15. Rg3 $16) 11. Be4 c6 12. O-O O-O $6 (12... Bb7 $142 13. c4 Nd7 14. Rb1 O-O 15. Re1 Rfd8 $11 {was the right way to reach the position in the game.}) 13. Re1 Rd8 $2 14. c4 $2 (14. g4 $3 $18 Bf4 15. h4 $1 g5 16. hxg5 hxg5 17. Kg2 $1 {Threatening Rh1-h5.} Nd7 18. Rh1 e5 19. Rh5 Nc5 20. Bh7+ Kf8 21. Bxf4 Qxf4 22. Nxe5 Be6 23. Bf5 $18) 14... Bb7 (14... Qe7 $142) 15. Rb1 (15. g4 $1) 15... Nd7 $11 {The position is equal, but it's not a boring equality. White retains plenty of attacking ideas, fully compensating for the sacrificed pawn.} 16. Rb3 Rac8 (16... Rab8 {makes sense to prevent C4-C5, The Sequel. Then White may switch to a plan we've already seen:} 17. g4 Bf4 18. h4 g5 19. hxg5 hxg5 $44 {and this time White only enjoys sufficient compensation for the missing pawn, not more.}) 17. Bb2 Re8 $2 {Clearing d8 for the queen's retreat, but this doesn't seem to be the best way to handle the position.} (17... Nf8) (17... Qe7) 18. c5 $1 Bf8 $18 (18... Bb8 {was better, but not much better.} 19. d5 e5 20. d6 $16 {/+-}) 19. h4 (19. Bb1 $1) 19... Qd8 20. Bb1 Rc7 (20... Be7 $142) 21. Qc2 f5 22. Rbe3 Bc8 (22... Nf6) 23. Qb3 $1 Nf6 24. Bxf5 {White has regained the sacrificed pawn without giving Black any real breathing room. Black has weaknesses on c6 and e6, and very little space. Unsurprisingly, White went on to win comfortably.} Nd5 $2 (24... Qd5 $142) 25. Bb1 $1 Nxe3 26. Rxe3 Be7 27. Qc2 Bf6 28. Qh7+ Kf8 29. Ne5 Bxe5 30. dxe5 Qxh4 31. Bg6 Bd7 32. Rd3 1-0 [Event "FIDE Grand Swiss 2021"] [Site "Riga LAT"] [Date "2021.10.28"] [Round "2.8"] [White "Predke, Alexandr"] [Black "Yakubboev, Nodirbek"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E71"] [WhiteElo "2666"] [BlackElo "2621"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2021.10.27"] {[%evp 0,67,26,30,11,4,42,37,33,33,45,39,46,13,41,46,54,57,68,54,106,112,102, 44,43,-92,-88,-98,-94,-97,10,7,32,11,21,65,123,160,258,237,212,93,111,11,21,45, 41,91,152,1,110,1,14,4,9,52,78,57,57,58,98,144,184,199,440,431,602,626,670,653] } 1. d4 ({The readers who alerted me to the Predke-Yakubboev game were reminded of a much earlier, quite famous game won by the brilliant Rashid Nezhmetdinov. That game likewise featured a long-term sac of a queen for two minor pieces and play against Black's weakened dark squares.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Bb3 Ng4 9. Qxg4 Nxd4 10. Qh4 Qa5 11. O-O Bf6 12. Qxf6 Ne2+ 13. Nxe2 exf6 14. Nc3 Re8 15. Nd5 Re6 16. Bd4 Kg7 17. Rad1 d6 18. Rd3 Bd7 19. Rf3 Bb5 20. Bc3 Qd8 21. Nxf6 Be2 22. Nxh7+ Kg8 23. Rh3 Re5 24. f4 Bxf1 25. Kxf1 Rc8 26. Bd4 b5 27. Ng5 Rc7 28. Bxf7+ Rxf7 29. Rh8+ Kxh8 30. Nxf7+ Kh7 31. Nxd8 Rxe4 32. Nc6 Rxf4+ 33. Ke2 { 1-0 (33) Nezhmetdinov,R-Chernikov,O Rostov on Don 1962}) 1... Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. Bg5 Nc6 {This move is rare, scores poorly, and isn't liked by the computer. (Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?) Nothing in the previous sentence could have been a surprise to Yakubboev (could it?!), so we'll have to wait to see what he had in mind.} ({Black has many other, more popular, probably better options, of which the most common is } 6... c5 {.}) 7. Nf3 h6 8. Be3 e5 9. d5 Nd4 (9... Ne7 {is more common, but even more hated by the computer. (And, again, it scores badly.)}) 10. Nxd4 exd4 11. Qxd4 $1 ({The obvious} 11. Bxd4 {is what White would like to play, but clearing the e-file allows} Nxe4 $1 12. Nxe4 {and now not 12...Re8? but} Qh4 $1 {, with equality.} 13. g4 (13. Bxg7 Qxe4+ 14. Qe2 (14. Be2 $2 Qxg2 $19) 14... Qxe2+ 15. Bxe2 Kxg7 $11) 13... Re8 14. Bg2 Bf5 $1 15. O-O Bxe4 16. Bxg7 Bxg2 17. Kxg2 Kxg7 18. Qd4+ Qf6 19. Qxf6+ Kxf6 20. Rfe1 a5 21. f4 {1/2-1/2 (21) Sidiropoulos,N (2112)-Kanakaris,G (2403) Thessaloniki 2019}) 11... Ng4 { After the queen retreats, Black takes on e3 and plays ...f5, with full compensation for the pawn thanks to his bishop pair and attacking chances. All very logical...but a bluff.} 12. hxg4 $1 $146 {Very good instincts, or good preparation. The computer likes this, so either Yakubboev prepared poorly or didn't expect his opponent to prepare this or dare try it over the board. Alas for him, but good news for Predke - and us.} (12. Qd2 $2 Nxe3 13. Qxe3 f5 $44 14. O-O-O a6 (14... Bxc3) 15. Bd3 b5 (15... f4 {followed by ...Be5 is good.}) 16. exf5 bxc4 17. Bxc4 Bxf5 18. g4 Re8 $6 19. Qg3 Be4 $2 20. Rhe1 $18 Qf6 $2 21. f4 Rab8 {Hinting at the possibility of ...Rxb2. White finds the worst possible way of neutralizing that (potential) threat.} 22. Rd2 $4 (22. Re3 $18) (22. Re2 $18) (22. Bb3 $18) 22... Qxc3+ $1 {0-1 (22) Potapov,A (2399)-Goluch,P (2231) Pardubice 2014}) 12... Bxd4 13. Bxd4 $16 {Two minors and a pawn for the queen isn't enough by itself, but when we add White's humongous space advantage and attacking chances, it's clear that White has good compensation at a minimum.} Kh7 $6 (13... f6 $142) 14. Be2 $18 f5 $2 {Natural, but bad. White proves far better equipped to handle the opening of the position.} 15. exf5 gxf5 16. Rh5 $1 Kg6 (16... fxg4 $2 17. Bd3+ Kg8 18. Rxh6 {will gain serious material very soon.}) 17. Kd2 fxg4 18. Rah1 Bf5 19. Rxh6+ Kf7 20. R1h5 Ke7 21. Nd1 c5 22. Bc3 Kd7 23. Ne3 Bb1 24. Bxg4+ Kc7 25. f3 $2 {White is still winning, but giving away a valuable tempo gives away most of his advantage.} ( 25. Kc1 $1 {is a better way to deal with the ...Rxf2(+) idea.} Bd3 26. Bf5 $1 Bxf5 27. Nxf5 $18) 25... Qe8 (25... a5 $142) 26. Rh1 (26. Re6) 26... Bg6 27. Re1 $6 (27. Be6 $142) 27... Rg8 28. Be6 Qf8 $6 (28... Qa4) 29. Reh1 $18 Re8 $2 30. R1h4 Rxe6 31. dxe6 Qe8 32. Nd5+ Kc6 (32... Kb8 33. Rh8) 33. Nf6 Qe7 34. Rg4 {White is winning still more material without allowing Black even a shred of compensation, so Black gives up.} 1-0