Easy Livin’

Ruslan Olegovich Ponomariov – Francisco Vallejo Pons
7th Grand Slam Masters; Bilbao, September 16, 2014
Sicilian Defence B90

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3. “Black’s loss of time with ... a7-a6 may possibly justify this loss of time”, wrote Bobby Fischer in his “My 60 Memorable Games”, New York, Simon and Schuster, 1969, page 212. 6. ... e6 7. g4 Be7 8. Bg2 Nfd7 9. Nce2. Another try is 9. Be3 Nc6 10. Qe2 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 0-0 12. 0-0 b5 13. e5 d5 14. a3 (14. f4!?) 14. ... Qc7 15. f4 Bc5 16. Qe3 Bxd4 17. Qxd4 Bb7 18. Rae1 Rac8 with roughly equal chances, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – 王皓 (Wáng Hào), Chinese Chess Championship, 兴化市 (Xīnghuà) 2009. 9. ... Nc6. For 9. ... Qc7 10. Be3 b5 see Vibbert – Sarkar, Arlington 2013. 10. c3 h5? Risky play, in the style of the Spanish Grandmaster. 10. ... Qb6 was worth considering. 11. gxh5 Rxh5? As then tweeted by Vallejo Pons: “Hoy derrota inapelable, Ponomariov no me dio opción tras 11. ... Rxh5? – Esas cosas pasan. A ver si no me quedo peor/perdido en 12 un día XD”. 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Nd4 Rc5. Sadly forced. 14. b4! An energetic refutation! 14. ... Rxc3. The Exchange sacrifice 14. ... Rc4 15. Bf1 Rxd4 16. cxd4 can hardly be regarded as a way out. 15. Bb2 Rc4

16. Nxe6! “I missed 16. Nxe6. That means I’m already lost after 11. ... Rxh5. Sometimes this happens”, said Vallejo Pons. “He played well”. 16. ... Qb6. Clearly not 16. ... fxe6 17. Qh5+ Kf8 18. Qh8+ Kf7 19. Qxg7+ Ke8 20. Qg6+ Kf8 21. Bg7+ Kg8 22. Bh6+ and mate next move. 17. Nxg7+ Kf8 18. 0-0 Ne5 19. Nh5 Qxb4 20. Rb1 Qc5. If 20. ... Qa5 then 21. f4 Ng6 22. Bg7+ Kg8 (else 22. ... Ke8 23. Nf6+ Kd8 24. f5 Ne5 25. Ng8 winning) 23. f5 Ne5 24. Kh1! (Δ Rf1-g1) with an irresistible attack. 21. Kh1! Simply intending the deadly f2-f4. 21. ... Ng6 22. Nf6 Rb8. Anything but good, but also after 22. ... Ne5 23. f4 Ng6 24. f5 Ne5 25. Nh7+ Kg8? 26. Rg1! White wins. 23. Qd2. Another way was 23. Bc1! with overwhelming threats. 23. ... Bxf6 24. Bxf6 Rb5 25. Rbd1 d5 26. Qh6+ Ke8 27. exd5 cxd5 28. Rfe1+ Kd7 29. Qg7 Qf8 30. Bxd5 Rxd5 31. Rxd5+ Kc7 32. Be5+ Kc6 33. Qxf8 1-0. For if 33. ... Nxf8 then 34. Rd8 wins a piece. “Today I was lucky that I got this position with so much initiative so easily and so quickly. At some point I only needed to calculate well as to not spoil it”, said Ponomariov. “It’s very difficult to defend for Black”.

Ruslan Olegovich Ponomariov. Photo: Manu de Alba