Halfway There

Evgeny Yurievich Tomashevsky – Igor Lysyj
68th Russian Chess Championship; Chita, August 11, 2015
Queen’s Gambit Declined D41

“Evgeny Tomashevsky demonstrated once again the depth of his home preparation. In an Improved Tarrasch Defense, White chose a fairly rare plan, and the Russian champion, Igor Lysyj, failed to respond in the best way. White made a breakthrough in the center and on the Kingside, weakening his opponent’s King seriously. A major piece endgame ensued on the board, and Lysyj found it very difficult to defend it given his time trouble. By skillfully combining various threats, the Saratov grandmaster secured his second win in a row and became the tournament’s only leader”, the editor-in-chief of ruchess.ru said.

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. d4 c5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 cxd4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 0-0 11. Bc4 Nc6 12. 0-0 b6 13. Rad1 Na5 14. Bd3 Bb7 15. h4 Rc8 16. h5 h6 17. Rfe1 Qe7. For 17. ... Qc7 18. Rc1 Qd6 19. d5 see Naiditsch – Vallin, French Team Chess Championship, Clichy 2007. 18. d5 Nc4 19. Bxc4 Rxc4 20. Ne5 Rc5 21. d6 Qd8. After 21. ... Qh4 22. d7 (22. Nd7?? fails to 22. ... Rxh5) 22. ... Rd8 23. Qd6 Qf6 24. f4! White stands much better. 22. Qf4 f6 23. Ng6 Rf7

24. e5 fxe5 25. Ne7+ Kf8 26. Ng6+ Kg8 27. Ne7+ Kf8 28. Qg4 Bd5 29. Nxd5 exd5 30. Rxe5 Qxd6 31. Rde1 Rf6! A most ingenious defensive resource. 32. Re8+ Kf7 33. Qa4 Rc7 34. Qb5. “"In seconds, I managed to find 34. Qb5, which luckily turned out to be brilliant”, then Tomashevsky joked. 34. ... Qc6 35. Qe2 Qc5 36. g3 Rd7? Here 36. ... g5 37. hxg6+ Kg7 offers the best prospect of defence. 37. Re6 Rd8. Another questionable move due to serious time trouble. However, after 37. ... Qc8 38. Rxf6+ gxf6 39. Qe6+ Kg7 40. Qf5 Qd8 41. Re6 Kf7 42. Rc6 Rd6 43. Rc7+! White equally wins. 38. Rxf6+ gxf6 39. Qg4. It is now clear even to Lysyj that Black King is in serious trouble! 39. ... Rg8?? In sheer desperation Black self-mates, but the game was lost anyway. 40. Qd7+ 1 : 0.

Evgeny Yurievich Tomashevsky (left) vs. Igor Lysyj (right)
Photo: ruchess.ru