Invincible

Francesco Rambaldi – Ulvi Bajarani
54th World Junior Chess Championship; Khanty-Mansiysk, September 13, 2015
French Defence C03

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Be7 4. e5 c5 5. Qg4 Kf8 6. Ndf3 Nc6 7. Bd3 h5 8. Qf4 cxd4 9. Ne2 Bb4+ 10. Kf1 Be7 11. Nexd4 h4? Over-hazardous play, since Black has no attacking prospects along the open h-file. The immediate 11. ... Nh6 12. Bd2 Qb6 deserves consideration. 12. Bd2 Nh6 13. g4 Nxd4 14. Qxd4 g5? With this “coherent” move Black makes matters even worse. 15. h3 a5 16. Qe3 Rg8 17. Rg1 Qc7. White now wins a Pawn, cashing in on his manifest superiority: 18. Nxh4 Bc5 19. Qe2 Bd4 20. Nf3 Bxb2 21. Rb1 Bc3 22. Bxg5 Rxg5. Evidently forced, as 22. ... Rh8 is refuted by 23. Bf6. 23. Nxg5 Bxe5 24. Nf3 Bc3 25. Qe3 Ng8 26. Nd4 Bb4 27. Nf3 Bd7 28. Ne5 Be8 29. g5. Black has no compensation at all for his sacrificed Exchange and his game appears already irremediably lost. 29. ... Ba4 30. Qf4 Kg7 31. g6 f6 32. Qh4. The Knight is taboo, since 32. ... Qxe5 is met by 33. Qh7+ Kf8 34. Qf7 mate, while 32. ... fxe5 33. Qh7+ leads to the win of the Queen. 32. ... Kf8 33. Qh7. Here Rambaldi misses a very elegant way to win: 33. Rxb4! axb4 34. g7+ Ke8 35. Qxb4 Qe7 36. Qb6! fxe5 37. Bg6+ Kd7 38. Qxb7+. 33. ... Qg7 34. Nf3 b6 35. Rg4 Bd7 36. Rh4 Rd8 37. Nd4. Another winning method is 37. Qxg7+ Kxg7 38. Rh7+ Kf8 39. Nd4. 37. ... f5 38. Bb5 Bxb5+ 39. Nxb5 Rd7 40. Nd4 Rd6 41. c3 Bc5 42. Re1 Bxd4 43. cxd4 Rc6 44. Qh5 Ne7 45. Qg5 Qxg6 46. Qf4. Again Francesco misses the coup de grâce: 46. Rh8+ Kg7 47. Qh4 f4 48. Rh6! Qxh6 49. Qxe7+ Kg6 50. Qe8+. 46. ... Qg7 47. Rh5 Kf7 48. Qh4 Ng6 49. Qg3 Nf8? “Azerbaijani Grandmaster ingeniously defended, and after 49. ... b5! 50. Qb8 Kf6 got real chances for a draw [since] White cannot take the Pawn (51. Qxb5? Nf4) [...]”, writes International Master Vladimir Barsky.

50. Rxf5+! Very pretty solution! 50. ... exf5 51. Re7+ Kxe7 52. Qxg7+ Ke8 53. Qe5+ Ne6 54. h4 Kf7 55. Qxf5+ Kg7 56. h5 Rc1+ 57. Kg2 Re1 58. Qg6+ Kh8 59. Qf6+ Kh7 60. Qf7+ Kh8 61. h6 Re4 62. f3 1 : 0.

Francesco Rambaldi
Photo: Maria Alekseevna Emelianova