The Knight’s Tale, and, The Flower and the Leaf

Gergely Antal – Urii Eliseev
12th International RSSU Chess Cup “Moscow Open”; Moscow, February 7, 2016
Sicilian Defence B31

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. 0-0 Bg7 6. Re1 Nh6 7. c3 0-0 8. d4 cxd4 9. cxd4 d5 10. e5 f6 11. Nbd2 fxe5 12. Nxe5 Bxe5 13. dxe5 Qb6 14. Nf3 Nf5 15. Qc2. For 15. Bg5 Be6 16. Qd2 c5 17. Rac1 d4 see Areshchenko – 韦奕 (Wéi Yì), 6th Chess World Cup, Baku 2015, match game 1. 15. ... c5 16. b3 Bb7 17. Bg5 h6 18. Bd2 d4 19. Qd3 Qe6. White is doing pretty badly out of the opening, and his next three moves actually make matters much worse. 20. h3 g5 21. Nh2 Nh4 22. f3

22. ... Rxf3! Forcing the decisive breakthrough. 23. Nxf3 Bxf3 24. Re4. Not 24. gxf3 Qxh3 and wins. 24. ... Bxe4 25. Qxe4 Rd8 26. Rf1 Rd5 27. g3 Ng6 28. Rf6. Firing his last guns in a desperate attempt. 28. ... exf6 29. Qxg6+ Kf8 30. exf6 Rf5 31. Qxh6+ Ke8 32. Qh8+ Kd7 33. Qg7+ Kc6 34. Qxa7 Qxf6. Eliseev survived White’s tricks and now he can easily capitalize his advantage. 35. Qa6+ Kd7 36. Qb7+ Ke6 37. Qb5 Qe5 38. Qe8+ Kf6 39. Qh8+ Kg6 40. Qxe5 Rxe5 41. Kf2 Re6 42. Kf3 Ra6 43. a4 Rb6 44. b4 cxb4 45. Bc1 Rc6 46. Bb2 Rc2 47. Bxd4 b3 0 : 1.

Urii Eliseev: A Knight amid flowers
Photo: Galina Popova