For the Beauty of the Heart

Peter Veniaminovich Svidler – Baadur Jobava
FIDE Grand Prix; Tbilisi, February 23, 2015
Caro-Kann Defence B12

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Nd7 6. 0-0 f6!? 7. c4 fxe5 8. dxe5 Bc5 9. Nc3 a6. For 9. ... Ne7 10. Na4 0-0 see V. Popov – Kukhmazov, Saint Petersburg 2013. 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Be3!? “Cementing White’s hold over d4 at the cost of a long term weakness on e3 and e5”, Grandmaster Alejandro Tadeo Ramírez Álvarez writes. 11. ... Bxe3 12. fxe3 Ne7 13. Qb3 Qb8 14. Qa3 Nxe5 15. Nd4 N5c6 16. Nxf5. 16. g4 Nxd4 17. exd4 Bg6 18. Na4 would have possibly offered White better prospects to compensate the sacrificed Pawn. 16. ... exf5 17. Bf3 Qe5 18. Qc5 0-0-0 19. Rfd1 Kb8. Good news for Svidler: White has absolutely nothing for the sacrificed Pawn. 20. b4 Rd6! 21. b5

21. ... Rc8! A killer! After both 22. bxc6 Rcxc6 and 22. bxa6 Nd8! (protecting b7) White’s game is past any redemption. 22. Rac1 Na7 23. Qa3 axb5 24. Ne2 Rxc1 25. Rxc1 Nac6 26. Qc5 g5! The genial Jobava launches the final assault against White’s King. 27. h3 b4 28. a3 Re6 29. Kf2 d4! 30. exd4 Qxc5 31. dxc5 Ne5 0 : 1.

Baadur Jobava
Photo: Maria Alekseevna Emelianova