Once Upon a Time in the West

Radoslaw Wojtaszek – Julio Ernesto Granda Zúñiga
6th Chess World Cup; match game 2; Baku, September 18, 2015
Queen’s Gambit Declined D37

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 0-0 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Be2 dxc4 8. 0-0 a6 9. a4 Nh5. For 9. ... c5 10. d5 Nxd5 11. Nxd5 exd5 12. Qxd5 Nf6 13. Qe5 Qe8 14. Bxc4 Bd7 15. a5 Bc6 16. b3 see Gelfand – Kasimdzhanov, Grand Prix 2014/2015, Baku 2014. 10. Bxc4 Nxf4 11. exf4 c6 12. Qe2 Qa5 13. Bb3 Rd8 14. Rfd1 g6 15. Ne4 Nf6 16. Neg5 Nd5 17. g3 Bd7 18. h4 h5 19. Ne5 Be8. The Peruvian Grandmaster is a highly skilled defender, as yesterday’s game demonstrated. 20. Qf3 Bf8

21. g4! The most difficult move of the game! Wojtaszek launches a wild attack against the enemy King! 21. ... hxg4 22. Nxg4 Bg7 23. h5! gxh5 24. Ne5 Nf6 25. f5! Rxd4. Black tries a desperate Exchange sacrifice in a last ditch attempt to upset his opponent’s bloody attack. 26. Rxd4? White is too greedy and “[...] maybe he missed 26. fxe6 Rg4+ 27. Qxg4! and a sweet mate next”, Grandmaster Jon Ludvig Nilssen Hammer said. Another pretty variation is 26. fxe6 Qxe5 27. exf7+ Bxf7 28. Nxf7 Qf4 29. Ne5+! Kh7 30. Rxd4 Qxd4 31. Qf5+ Kh8 32. Ng6+ Kh7 33. Nf8++ Kh8 34. Qh7+! Nxh7 35. Ng6 mate. 26. ... Qxe5 27. Rad1 Nd5 28. Bc2 exf5 29. Qxh5 Nf4? But here Granda Zúñiga goes astray: after 29. ... Qf6 30. Bb3 Qh6 Black still can defend. 30. Qh7+ Kf8 31. Nf3 Qe2? Black should have resigned himself to 31. ... Qc7 32. R4d2 when White stands much better. 32. Rxf4? Here 32. Qxf5 was much stronger, e.g. 32. ... Bxd4 33. Rxd4! Ng6 34. Re4! with an easy win. 32. ... Qxc2 33. Rd2 Qb1+? Her Majesty checks at the wrong square! Black’s last chance was 33. ... Qc1+! 34. Kg2 Rd8, although after 35. Rxd8 Qxf4 36. Rxe8+ Kxe8 37. Qxg7 Qxa4 38. Qe5+ White should win in the long run anyway. 34. Kg2 c5 35. Rxf5 1 : 0.

Julio Ernesto Granda Zúñiga
Photo: Eteri Kublashvili

Mateusz Bartel (@MateuszBartel)