Cactus Flower

Timur Gareev – Samuel Sevian
59th U.S. Chess Championship, Saint Louis, April 9, 2015
Trompowsky Attack A45

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 c5 3. d5 Qb6. Very risky, very greedy. 4. Nc3!? It would not be out of place to mention here the alternative 4. Bxf6 Qxf6 5. Nc3 Qb6 6. Rb1 d6 7. e3 g6 8. Bd3 Bg7 9. Nge2 Nd7 10. 0-0 0-0 11. Ng3 a6 12. Qd2 Qc7 13. f4 b5 14. Be2 Rb8 15. Nce4 c4 16. c3 Bb7 17. Bf3 Nb6 18. Nf2 f5? (18. ... e6!) 19. Rbd1 Qc5 20. e4 fxe4 21. Nxe4 Qc7 22. Ng5 Bc8 23. Bg4 Bxg4 24. Nxg4 Qc5+ 25. Ne3 Rfe8 26. Ne6 Qc8 27. f5! Bh6 (27. ... Nd7 28. fxg6 hxg6 29. Nf5!+-) 28. Qd4! 1 : 0 Castaldi – Giustolisi, 15th Italian Chess Championship, Ferrara 1952. 4. ... Qxb2 5. Bd2 Qb6 6. e4 d6 7. Rb1 Qd8 8. f4 g6 9. Bb5+. For 9. Nf3 Bg7 10. Bb5+ Nfd7 11. a4 see Nasriddinzoda – Khademalsharieh, 40th Women’s Chess Olympiad, Istanbul 2012. 9. ... Nfd7 10. a4 Bg7 11. h4!? h5 12. Nh3 a6 13. Be2 c4!?? “A little panicky, and the start of bad times for Sam. 13. ... Nf6 and it isn’t clear to me where White’s attack will come from”, Grandmaster Josh Friedel wrote. 14. Ng5 Qa5? “This is just asking for it. 14. ... Nc5 is a reasonable continuation to ... c5-c4, and the position remains unclear”, Friedel said.

15. e5! White boldly sacrifices two more Pawns to blow up the position. 15. ... dxe5 16. d6! exd6 17. Nce4 Qc7 18. Bb4. White has all his pieces involved in the attack! 18. ... 0-0 19. Bxd6 Qc6 20. f5! Much more enterprising than 20. Bxf8 Bxf8. “I think 20. f5 was the last move that takes away all the chances from him”, Gareev said. 20. ... Nf6. If 20. ... gxf5 then 21. Bxc4! fxe4 (21. ... Qxc4 22. Qxh5 loses outright) 22. Qxh5 Nf6 23. Bxf7+ Rxf7 24. Qxf7+ Kh8 25. Bf8! and White wins easily. 21. Bf3 Qd7 22. fxg6 Nxe4. Also after 22. ... fxg6 23. 0-0 Black is helpless. 23. gxf7+ Qxf7. Sheer desperation! 24. Nxf7 Nc3 25. Qd2 Nxb1 26. Nh6+ Kh7 27. Qg5 Rxf3 28. gxf3 Bxh6 29. Qe7+ 1 : 0. “The way I built up the game was pretty adventurous, but not really solid”, Gareev said. “I was playing in the spirit of the gambit”.

Timur Gareev vs. Samuel Sevian
Photo: Lennart Ootes