East of the Sun and West of the Moon

Baadur Jobava – Vladimir Veremeichik
European Rapid Chess Championship; Minsk, December 19, 2015
Richter–Veresov Attack D01

1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c6 4. e3 Bf5 5. h3!? A bit of improvisation. For 5. f3 e6 6. g4 Bg6 7. h4 h6 8. Bd3 Bxd3 9. cxd3 Bd6 see Rapport – Tania Sachdev, 12th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival, Catalan Bay 2014. 5. ... h6 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. g4 Bh7 8. Bd3 e6 9. Bxh7 Nxh7 10. Qd3 Nhf6 11. 0-0-0 Qa5 12. a3 Nb6? A bit convoluted. After 12. ... b5! followed by ... b5-b4 as soon as possible, the game is dynamically balanced. 13. Nd2 Nc8. As it will be soon clear, Black’s formal consistency is not sufficient to guarantee safety. It’s complicated but interesting HAL 9000’s suggestion 13. ... Bxa3!? 14. Nb3 Bxb2+ 15. Kxb2 Qb4 eventually followed by ... a7-a5-a4. But 13. ... Qa6, forcing the exchange of Queens might have been relatively best. 14. Rhg1 Be7 15. h4! Nd7 16. g5 hxg5 17. hxg5 Nf8 18. g6! f6 19. e4! The breakthrough in the centre secures White an overwhelming game. 19. ... Bd6 20. e5! fxe5 21. dxe5 Be7 22. Qf3 Qc7 23. Be3! Bd8. Not 23. ... Qxe5 on account of 24. Qf7+ Kd7 25. Nde4 with potentially devastating threats, such as Ne4-c5+ and Rg1-g5.

24. Nde4! An inspired Knight sacrifice. 24. ... b6. Accepting the sacrifice equally leads to catastrophe: 24. ... dxe4 25. Nxe4 and Black is without resource against all White’s threats. 25. Nf6+! The pointe. 25. ... gxf6 26. exf6. Of course 26. g7 is also very good, but Jobava is not a “black bull” and enjoys playing chess. 26. ... Nxg6 27. Rxg6! Qf7 28. Rdg1. Such a dream position! 28. ... Nd6 29. Bd4 Nf5 30. Qd3 Nxd4 31. Qxd4 Rf8 32. Nxd5! The final touch! The Knight is taboo, for if 32. ... exd5 then 33. Qe5+ followed by Rg6-g7, while if 32. ... cxd5 then 33. Rg7. 32. ... Qd7 33. f7+! Qxf7. If 33. ... Kxf7 then 34. Rg7+ Ke8 35. Nf6+ and mate in two moves. 34. Qc4! Rc8 35. Rxe6+! Kd7 36. Rgg6 Bg5+ 37. Kb1 Qxe6 38. Nxb6+ 1 : 0.

Baadur Jobava
Photo: ruchess.ru