Cherry

Sergey Viktorovich Volkov – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
7th Aeroflot Open; Moscow, February 22, 2008
Nimzo-Indian Defence E24

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c6 7. e4!?(a) dxe4 8. fxe4 e5(b) 9. Nf3 Qa5 10. Qd3!? exd4 11. Bd2 dxc3 12. Bxc3(c) Qc5 13. Bb4 Qb6 14. e5 Ng4 15. c5 Qc7 16. Qd4 0-0(d) 17. Bc4 Qd7?(e) 18. e6! Qxd4 19. exf7+ Kh8 20. Nxd4 Na6 21. Bxa6 bxa6 22. 0-0 Nf6 23. Nxc6 Rxf7 24. Ne5 Re7 25. Rfe1 Be6 26. c6 Ree8 27. c7(f) Bd5 28. Ba5 Kg8 29. Nd3 Ne4 30. Nf4 Bb7 31. Rab1 Nd6 32. Red1 Nc4 33. Be1 Nb6 34. Bg3 Rac8 35. Rbc1 g6 36. Rd2 Be4 37. Ne2 Bd5 38. Rc5 Bb7 39. Rc3 Be4 40. Nd4 Bb7 41. Nb3 Na4 42. Rcd3 Nb6 43. Rd4 Bc6 44. Na5 Be4 45. a4 h5 46. h4 Re7 47. Nb3 Rce8 48. a5 Nc8 49. Nc5 Bf5 50. Kh2 Re3 51. Nxa6 Ra3 52. Rd5 Ree3 53. Rxf5 gxf5 54. Rd8+ Kf7 55. Rxc8 Rac3 56. Rd8 Re8 57. Nb4 Rc4 58. a6 Rc1 59. Nd5 Rc6 60. Rxe8 Kxe8 61. Nb6!!(g) 1–0.

(a) A Pawn sacrifice favoured by Volkov, and, indeed, a very interesting one!
(b) If 8. ... Nxe4 then 9. Qg4 Nf6 10. Qxg7 Rg8 11. Qh6 c5 12. Nf3 cxd4 13. cxd4 Nc6 14. Bg5 Rg6 15. Qh4 with the initiative.
(c) White’s initiative more than compensates for the sacrificed Pawn.
(d) Black ought to play at once 16. ... Qd7! 17. Qe4 Qf5 offering to repeat moves.
(e) But now it’s too late... 17. ... Na6! was still reasonable enough to enjoy a decent standard of development.
(f) Material is equal, but Black’s endgame is hopeless as the c7-Pawn has a paralysing effect on her.
(g) Previously White could have won in many ways, more or less easy, but his solution had the merit of featuring a study-like win!