Dynamite Kid

韦奕 (Wéi Yì) – Alexander Areshchenko
6th Chess World Cup; match game 2; Baku, September 18, 2015
Sicilian Defence B97

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6!? Areschchenko goes into the Poisoned Pawn Variation. 8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. e5 h6 11. Bh4 dxe5 12. fxe5 g5 13. exf6 gxh4 14. Be2 Qa5 15. 0-0 Nd7 16. Rbd1. Instead 16. Kh1 Qg5 17. Qe1 [for 16. Kh1 Qg5 17. Rf4 e5 18. Nd5 exd4 19. Qxd4 (for 19. Nc7+ Kd8 20. Nxa8 d3 see Bromberger – Areshchenko, Schachbundesliga 2010/2011, Munich 2010) 19. ... Kd8 20. Ne7 Qe5 see Guseinov – Areshchenko, 9th World Team Chess Championship, Antalya 2013] 17. ... h3 18. gxh3 Qe5 occurred in the game Swiercz – Areshchenko, Polish Team Chess Championship, Katowice 2014. 16. ... h3 17. g3!? Theoretical novelty. For 17.Qe3 Qe5 18.Qxh3 Bc5 19.Qd3 Nxf6 see Tritt – Isaev, correspondence game, 2010. 17. ... Bb4

18. Qe3 Bxc3. Black accepts the challenge and takes the Knight. 18. ... Qg5(!) was probably the soundest alternative. 19. Nxe6!? Again a sharp, speculative sacrifice! 19. ... Qe5? Black panics and refuses the gift. The critical line was 19. ... fxe6 20. Qxe6+ Kd8 21. Qe7+ Kc7 22. Qd6+ Kd8 23. f7 Bg7 24. f8=Q+ Bxf8 25. Rxf8+ Rxf8 26. Qxf8+ Kc7 27. Qd6+ Kd8 28. Bg5 Qb5 29. Qf8+ Kc7 30. Qd6+ Kd8 apparently leading to a draw by perpetual check. 20. Nc7+ Kf8 21. Qxe5 Bxe5 22. Nxa8 Nxf6 23. Nb6. “Yì Wéi looks close to winning... must be scary facing this kid who will surely be world champion in a few years”, Grandmaster Daniel W. Gormally said. 23. ... Kg7 24. Nxc8 Rxc8 25. Rf5 Bb8 26. Rdf1 Ba7+ 27. Kh1 Bd4 28. Bd3 Rc6 29. g4 Rc7 30. g5 hxg5 31. Rxg5+ Kf8 32. Rg3 Nd5 33. Rxh3 Ne3 34. Rf4 Ba7 35. Re4 Nd1 36. Rh8+ Kg7 37. Rh7+! Kf8 38. Rc4 Bc5 39. Bg6 1 : 0.

韦奕 (Wéi Yì) vs. Alexander Areshchenko
Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Daniel W. Gormally (@elgransenor1)