Starred Up

Fabiano Caruana – Pavel Eljanov
78th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 16, 2016
Queen’s Gambit Declined D44

1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bxc4 Nxe4 7. 0-0 Nf6 8. Bg5 0-0 9. Qe2 h6 10. Bh4 Be7 11. Rad1 Nbd7 12. Ne5 Nb6 13. Bd3 Nfd5 14. Bg3 Bd7. For 14. ... f5 15. h3 Bd6 16. Rfe1 Qg5 17. Qf3 Nf6 18. Bf4 Qh5 19. Qg3 see Mamedyarov – Kramnik, World Blitz Championship, Moscow 2009. 15. Ne4. White must search for a way to develop a lively play in order to compensate for his Pawn deficit. 15. ... Ba4 16. Rc1 Nd7 17. b3 Nxe5 18. dxe5 Bc6 19. Rfd1 a5 20. a4 Qe8 21. h4. Fabi continues his committal approach as he is hardpressed to find compensation for the Pawn. 21. ... Rd8 22. h5 Nb4 23. Bb1 Kh8. It would have made sense to exchange a pair of Rooks by 23. ... Rxd1+ 24. Rxd1 Kh8 – maybe so; maybe not. 24. Bf4 Rg8 25. Bd2! Rd5. Eljanov’s plans start going astray. 26. Bxb4 axb4 27. Rxd5 exd5 28. Ng3 Bg5 29. Re1 g6 30. Qg4 Qe7 31. Qd4

31. ... b6?? It is not understandable why Eljanov allowed White to advance the e5-Pawn. 31. ... Qe6 seems sound enough to hold out for at least a while. 32. e6+ Bf6. Not 32. ... Kh7 33. Nf5! and wins. If, instead, 32. ... Rg7 then 33. exf7! Qxe1+ 34. Kh2 Qe7 35. hxg6 and, despite being a Rook down, White wins in all variations. 33. Qf4 g5!? Dramatically desperate, but 33. ... Kg7 34. Re3! Bg5 35. exf7! would be equally ruinous. 34. Qf5 Rg7 35. Qc2! Qc5 36. Qxc5 bxc5 37. Nf5 Rg8 38. exf7! 1 : 0.

Fabiano Caruana vs. Pavel Eljanov
Photo: Alina l’Ami