Firelight

Daniele Vocaturo – Razvan Gabriel Iagar
31st European Chess Club Cup; Skopje, October 18, 2015
French Defence C14

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. f4 a6 8. Nf3 c5 9. Qd2 Nc6 10. dxc5 Qxc5 11. Bd3 b5 12. Ne2 Nb6 13. b3 Bd7 14. c3. Departing from the Star Tales of the Magician from Riga: 14. a3 f6 15. Ned4 Nxd4 16. Nxd4 fxe5 17. fxe5 0-0 18. Qb4 Rac8 19. Qxc5 Rxc5 20. Ke2 Nc4 21. bxc4 bxc4 22. Rhb1 cxd3 23. cxd3 Rfc8 24. Rb7 R8c7 25. Rab1 Kf7 26. Rxc7 Rxc7 27. Rb6 Bc8 28. Kd2 Kg6 29. Ke3 Kg5 30. Rxe6 Rc3 31. Re7 Bf5 32. Nxf5 Kxf5 33. Kd4 Rxa3 34. Rxg7 h5 35. Rf7+ Ke6 36. Rf6+ Ke7 37. Rh6 h4 38. Rd6 Ra2 39. Kxd5 Rxg2 40. Rxa6 Rxh2 41. d4 1 : 0 Tal – Lahav, Tel Aviv 1990. 14. ... Rc8. If, instead, 14. ... a5 15. Ned4 b4? then 16. Rc1! Na7 17. cxb4 Qxb4 18. 0-0 0-0? 19. Bxh7+! Kxh7 20. Ng5+ Kg8 21. Qd3 Rfe8 22. a3! Qxa3 23. Qh7+ Kf8 24. f5! with a mating attack, Brimble – Krstev, 34th Waitakere Licensing Trust Open, Auckland 2011. 15. b4 Qe7 16. 0-0 Nc4 17. Bxc4 bxc4 18. Ned4 0-0 19. a4 Rb8 20. a5 Nxd4 21. Nxd4 Kh8 22. Rae1 g6. Black’s last two moves seem quite inconsistent to me. 23. Rf3 Rg8 24. Qf2 Qd8

25. Ree3 Qe7 26. Rh3. With the threat of Rh3-h6 eventually followed by Re3-h3 and Nd4-f3-g5. Black is helpless against White’s straight attack. 26. ... Rg7 27. Rh6 Qd8 28. Reh3 Rb7 29. Nf3 Bc8. 29. ... f6 loses to 30. Qh4, while 29. ... f5 is met by 30. Ng5! Bc8 31. Qg3! (much less accurate is 31. Qh4? Kg8!) with the deadly threat of Ng5xh7. 30. Qd4 f6 31. exf6 Rgf7 32. Rxh7+! Rxh7 33. f7+ 1 : 0. Black resigned, as mate follows in two moves.

Daniele Vocaturo
Photo: David Kaufmann