Bad Blood

Baadur Jobava – Hikaru Nakamura
FIDE Grand Prix; Khanty-Mansiysk, May 22, 2015
Richter–Veresov Attack D01

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 Bf5 4. f3 e6 5. g4 Bg6 6. h4 h5 7. g5 Nfd7 8. e3 a6. For 8. ... Bd6 9. Nh3 Nc6 see Jobava – Zhigalko, FIDE World Blitz Championship, Dubai 2014. 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. cxd3 Nc6. If, instead, 10. ... c5 might follow 11. dxc5 Bxc5 12. d4 as in the game Vojinovic – Baymuratova, 41st Women’s Chess Olympiad, Tromsø 2014.

11. g6!? The show begins! 11. ... fxg6 12. Bg5 Be7 13. f4 Nf6 14. Qb3 Qd7 15. Nf3 Ng4! Prevents White from castling Kingside and Queenside as well. 16. Ke2!? Bf6 17. Rac1 b6 18. Rc2 Ne7 19. Rhc1 0-0 20. Qa4 Qd8. Against 20. ... Qd6 White intended to play 21. Qa3 as “it is good for White to trade the Queens”, then Jobava said. 21. Nd1 Ra7 22. Nf2 Nh6 23. Rg1 Nf7 24. Qa3 Kh7 25. Nh3 Nd6 26. Ne5 Ndf5 27. b4? “A very bad move”, Jobava said. “I should have played 27. Qa4 and I think Black is in trouble here”. 27. ... Qd6 28. Qc3. “I made two stupid moves in a row”, Jobava said. 28. ... c6 29. Nf3 a5 30. bxa5 Rxa5 31. Qd2 Ra3 32. Rgc1 Rfa8 33. Nf2 c5! Black comes out a Pawn ahead with a commanding position. 34. dxc5 bxc5 35. Rxc5 Rxa2 36. R5c2 Rxc2 37. Qxc2 Ng3+ 38. Ke1 Qb4+ 39. Qd2 Qxd2+ 40. Nxd2 Nef5 41. e4 Bxg5 42. hxg5 Nd4 43. Nh3 Ra3. 43. ... Ra2! (Jobava) would perhaps have been still stronger. 44. f5 exf5. Much simpler was 44. ... dxe4 45. dxe4 gxf5 with an overwhelming advantage. The text move makes things more difficult. 45. exd5 Nge2 46. Rc8 Rxd3 47. Nc4. Baadur holds on fighting with the courage of desperation! 47. ... Rxh3 48. Ne5. With the threat of Ne5-f7 and then Rc8-h8 mate. 48. ... Nf3+ 49. Nxf3 Nf4 50. Kf2 Nxd5 51. Ne5 Rc3 52. Rd8 Ne7 53. Rd7. Now 53. Nf7 is answered by 53. ... Rc8. 53. ... Rc2+ 54. Kg3 f4+ 55. Kxf4 Nf5 56. Rd8 Rf2+ 57. Ke4 Ng3+ 58. Kd3 h4. “Nakamura seems to have blown a completely winning position. ‘It’s impossible to believe!’ Draw now?”, Tarjei J. Svensen argued. 59. Rd4 Nf5 60. Rd8 Ng3 61. Rd4 Rf5 62. Rxh4+ Nh5 63. Ke4 Rxg5 64. Kd5 Rg1 65. Ke6 Rf1 66. Rh2 Rf6+ 67. Ke7. “A key moment came on move 67, when Jobava played 67. Ke7. Given his intention to play Ne5xg6 next, he should have played 67. Kd5 instead, when the same continuation as in the game would lead to a draw: 67. Kd5 Kg8 68. Nxg6 Rxg6 69. Rxh5 Rg4 70. Ke6! g6 71. Rh1! Kg7 72. Ke5! Ra4 73. Rh2 etc., and when Black plays ... g6-g5 White plays Ke5-f5, and then it’s trivial. In the 67.Ke7(?) version, the sac failed, as there was no way to get the King back or to create a sort of mutual standoff where Black must let the King back in order to make progress. Maybe White could have held if he hadn’t played 68. Nxg6 – I’ll leave that to you guys to work out”, Dennis Monokroussos said. 67. ... Kg8 68. Nxg6?? Jobava plays his worst possible move! The ensuing endgame is definitely a “technical win” for Black. 68. ... Rxg6 69. Rxh5 Ra6 70. Rf5 g6 71. Rf6 Ra7+ 72. Ke6 Kg7 73. Rf3 Ra5 74. Rf7+ Kh6 75. Rf1 g5 76. Kf6 Ra4 77. Rh1+ Rh4 78. Rg1 Rf4+ 79. Ke5 Kg6 80. Rh1 Ra4 0 : 1.

Baadur Jobava vs. Hikaru Nakamura
Photo: Kirill Merkurev

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