Vintage Superbrand

Yannick Pelletier – Alexander Genrikhovich Beliavsky
20th European Team Chess Championship; Reykjavík, November 22, 2015
Queen’s Gambit Declined D46

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 0-0 8. 0-0 dxc4 9. Bxc4 b5 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. Ng5 h6 12. Nge4 Be7 13. a3 a5 14. Rd1 Qb6 15. Qe2. For 15. Nxf6+ Bxf6 16. Bd2 e5 see So – Navara, Prague 2015, match game 4. 15. ... Nxe4 16. Bxe4 b4 17. Na4 Qc7 18. axb4 axb4 19. Bd2 c5 20. Bxb7 Qxb7 21. Nxc5 Nxc5 22. dxc5 Bxc5 23. Rxa8 Rxa8 24. Qc4 Be7 25. Rc1 Qa6 26. g3 Qd6 27. Be1

27. ... g5! “Think Like a Grandmaster”. 28. e4 Bf8 29. Kg2 Qe5 30. b3 Rd8 31. Qe2 Rd4. “Train Like a Grandmaster”. 32. f3 g4! “Play Like a Grandmaster”. 33. Bf2 gxf3+ 34. Kxf3? After 34. Qxf3 Rxe4 White is down a Pawn; however, this would be the lesser evil. 34. ... Qh5+ 35. g4 Qh3+ 36. Bg3 h5!? Here 36. ... f5! looks even stronger. 37. Ke3? Pellettier’s last chance was the (unpleasant) Pawn-down ending by 37. gxh5 Qxh5+ 38. Kf2 Qxe2+ 39. Kxe2 Rxe4+ and so on. Now Black wins by force: 37. ... Rd8! 38. Qb5 Bh6+ 39. g5 Qg2! 0 : 1. For after 40. gxh6 Qd2+ 41. Kf3 Rd3+ Black wins everything.

Douglas Griffin (‏@dgriffinchess)

Garry Kimovich Kasparov vs. Alexander Genrikhovich Beliavsky
Photo: ChessPro.ru