[Event "7th Sharjah Masters 2024"] [Site "Sharjah UAE"] [Date "2024.05.15"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Niemann, Hans Moke"] [Black "Vakhidov, J."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C74"] [WhiteElo "2689"] [BlackElo "2599"] [Annotator "Monokroussos,Dennis"] [PlyCount "73"] [GameId "499873072633"] [EventDate "2024.05.14"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "UAE"] [SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1541"] [Source "Mark Crowther"] [SourceDate "2024.05.20"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2024.05.20"] [SourceQuality "2"] {[%evp 0,73,18,38,25,25,25,8,28,-4,35,6,16,2,1,6,12,38,9,21,56,49,146,141,138,36,57,24,45,81,81,57,46,40,80,86,123,110,132,139,155,68,156,185,160,143,173,173,170,258,191,395,492,431,431,238,509,312,346,965,963,948,1362,1466,1694,1833,1605,151,219,564,1008,1420,1622,1738,29991,812]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c3 f5 {The Siesta Variation, which generally doesn't lead to sleepy play.} 6. exf5 Bxf5 7. O-O Bd3 8. Re1 Be7 9. Qb3 {Not the most common move, but it has been played a respectable number of times.} (9. Bc2 {is the main line, which continues} Bxc2 10. Qxc2 Nf6 11. d4 e4 12. Ng5 d5 13. f3 h6 14. Nh3 O-O 15. Nd2 exf3 16. Nxf3 {. This goes back to the 1940s.}) 9... b5 (9... Rb8 {is the alternative, and it's arguably best.} 10. Qd5 Bf5 {and now White should avoid the greedy 11.Bxc6+ and the cute 11.Nd4 in favor of} 11. Bb3 Nf6 12. Qf7+ Kd7 13. d4 Rf8 14. Qxg7 e4 {with lots of excitement after} 15. d5 Ne5 16. Nxe5+ dxe5 17. d6 cxd6 18. Bg5) 10. Qd5 Bf5 $2 {Only played once before, and Black lost that game, too. In fact White is already winning.} (10... Qd7 {had to be played. In fact, there are almost 100 games with this in the database, so I guess that Vakhidov was new to the Siesta.} 11. Qxd3 bxa4 12. Qc2 Nf6 13. d3 O-O {etc.}) 11. Bb3 $18 Kd7 $146 (11... Qd7 {was tried in the earlier game, which ended speedily:} 12. a4 Nf6 $2 13. Qf7+ Kd8 14. axb5 {1-0 Ghysens,D (2419)-Kolasa,P WS TT/6/18/2 email ICCF email 2018}) 12. Nd4 $1 {Flashy and strong, but there was a flashier and stronger alternative.} (12. Rxe5 $1 {Picking up a valuable pawn while maintaining good attacking chances.} Nf6 (12... Bg4 13. Re1 Nf6 14. Qd3 $18) 13. Rxe7+ $1 Qxe7 (13... Nxe7 14. Ne5+ Ke8 (14... Kc8 15. Qxa8#) 15. Qf7#) 14. Qxf5+ $18) 12... Nxd4 13. cxd4 Nf6 14. Qf3 Bg4 15. Qg3 (15. Qd3 {was also good.}) 15... exd4 16. h3 Bf5 17. Qf3 $1 g6 $2 {Keeping control over e6 - for now - but endangering the f5-bishop.} (17... Bg6 18. Be6+ Ke8 19. d3 Bf7 20. Qc6+ Kf8 21. Nd2 $18 {There's no immediate win, but Black will never manage to untangle.}) 18. d3 {Threatening 19.g4.} h5 19. Bg5 {Threatening to take on f6 and - again - play g4.} c6 {A clever indirect defense against the threat mentioned in the last note.} 20. Nd2 {There's no rush. Black's position is terrible everywhere, so Niemann finishes his development and then adds queenside play to Black's problems.} (20. Bxf6 $2 Bxf6 21. g4 $2 hxg4 22. hxg4 Bh4 $3 23. gxf5 Qg5+ 24. Qg2 Bxf2+ $1 25. Kxf2 Qf4+ 26. Kg1 Rh5 $19) 20... Qf8 21. a4 $1 Qg7 22. Rec1 $1 d5 {Closing the diagonals of the queen and the bishop on b3, but now the dark squares are weak.} 23. Qf4 $1 c5 24. Nf3 Bd6 25. Ne5+ Kc7 {I often remind my students, especially younger ones, to look for lineups. Here that's a bright red flag directing White's attention to 26.Rxc5+, both looking to blast open the c-file and the h2-b8 diagonal.} 26. Rxc5+ $1 Bxc5 27. Rc1 Kb6 28. Bxf6 Qh6 (28... Qxf6 29. Nd7+ {shows off some beautiful geometry.} Bxd7 30. Qxf6+ $18) 29. Nd7+ $1 (29. Qxh6 Rxh6 30. a5+ Kxa5 31. Rxc5 Kb4 32. Bxd5 Kxc5 33. Bxa8 {is boring but an easy win without pyrotechnics. Niemann's way is far more entertaining.}) 29... Bxd7 30. a5+ $1 Kxa5 (30... Ka7 31. Qc7#) (30... Kb7 31. Bxd5+ Bc6 32. Bxc6+ Kxc6 33. Qe4+ Kd7 34. Rxc5 {leaves Black able to stop either 35.Qe7# or 35.Qc6#, but not both. (Not counting the spite check 34...Qc1+, which delays the mate by a move.)}) 31. Qc7+ Bb6 32. Ra1+ Kb4 33. Qxb6 ({It's a small pity that Niemann didn't play the slightly faster} 33. Be7+ $1 Kxb3 34. Ra3+ Kxb2 35. Ra2+ $1 Kxa2 36. Qc2+ Ka1 37. Ba3 {, with mate in at most two moves. White has driven Black's king all the way across the board, and has the pleasure of winning even though he's down two rooks, a bishop, and two pawns.}) 33... Kxb3 34. Qxd4 (34. Qc5) (34. Qa5) 34... Rhc8 35. Qxd5+ $1 Kc2 36. b4 (36. Qa2) 36... Kd2 37. Bg5+ {Not the fastest win, but there's no doubt here as White wins Black's queen on the way to an inevitable mate.} (37. Qa2+ $1) 1-0