Monolith

Benjamin Bok – Francesco Rambaldi
54th World Junior Chess Championship; Khanty-Mansiysk, September 10, 2015
Caro-Kann B12

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Nd7 6. 0-0 h6 7. c3 a6 8. Nbd2 Ne7 9. b4 Nc8. For 9. ... a5 10. a4 Ng6 see Vishnu Prasanna – Lupulescu, 3rd Chess Classic, Al-’Ain 2014. 10. Nb3 Be7 11. Bd3 Bxd3 12. Qxd3 b6 13. Be3 Qc7 14. Rfc1 0-0 15. a4 Qb7 16. Rab1 a5 16. Rab1 a5 17. bxa5 bxa5 18. Nxa5 Qc7 19. Nb3 Ncb6 20. a5. Here Bok was already in very serious time trouble. 20. ... Nc4 21. Nfd2 Nxa5 22. c4 Nxb3 23. Rxb3 Qa7 24. c5 Rfb8 25. Rcb1 Rxb3 26. Rxb3 f5 27. exf6 Bxf6 28. Nf3 e5 29. dxe5 Nxe5 30. Nxe5 Qa1+ 31. Rb1 Qxe5 32. g3 d4 33. Qc4+ Kh7 34. Bd2 Qf5 35. Rb3 Ra1+ 36. Kg2 Rd1 37. Rf3 Qe4 38. Qd3 Qxd3 39. Rxd3 Bg5 40. f4 Be7. Time control is reached just when Francesco is going to win a Pawn, even if under the actual circumstances it will be very hard for White to exploit his Pawn advantage. 41. Kf3 Bxc5 42. Ke4 Bb6 43. f5 c5 44. Bf4 Rh1 45. Rb3 Bd8 46. Be5? Bok is in time trouble again! Correct was 46. Kd5 Rxh2 47. Be5 Rh5 48. Rb7 Rg5 49. Rd7 Ba5 50. f6 Kg8 51. f7+ Kf8 52. Ke6 Rg6+ 53. Kd5 Rg5 with a draw by repetition.

46. ... Bf6? Rambaldi misses his chance! Instead, 46. ... Re1+! 47. Kd5 c4 48. Rb7 (else 48. Rf3 d3 49. Bc3 d2! 50. Bxd2 Rd1 is a more prosaic win) 48. ... Rxe5+ 49. Kxe5 c3 50. f6 c2 51. f7 Bf6+! would, in fact, win in all variations, as originally demonstrated by Edo. 47. Bxf6 gxf6 48. Kd5 Re1 ½ : ½.

Benjamin Bok vs. Francesco Rambaldi
Photo: Vladimir Barsky