Almost Shakespeare

Pentala Harikrishna – 卜祥志 (Bǔ Xiángzhì)

7th 海南 (Hǎinán) 儋州 (Dānzhōu) Super Grandmaster Chess Tournament “人民网 (People’s Daily Online) Cup”; 儋州 (Dānzhōu), July 8, 2016

Catalan Opening E04

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. Qa4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Nd5 8. Qb5 Bxd2+ 9. Nbxd2 c3 10. bxc3 Nxc3 11. Qb2 Na4 12. Qc2 Nb6 13. e3. For 13. Nb3 Qe7 14. 0-0 e5 see Carlsson – Pourkashiyan, 15th International Open, Dubai 2013. 13. ... 0-0 14. 0-0 Qe7 15. Rac1 Rd8 16. Nb3 Rb8 17. Nc5 Nd5 18. a3 h6 19. Rfe1 b6 20. Nxe6 Bxe6 21. Qxc6 Qxa3 22. Ra1 Qd6 23. Qxd6 cxd6 24. Rxa7 Nc3 25. e4 b5 26. d5 Bg4 27. Nd4 b4 28. h3 Bd1 29. e5? Worried by the speed with which Black’s b-Pawn is advancing, Harikrishna tries to distract his opponent by a sudden central breakthrough. Objectively speaking, it’s not sound, but I’m not sure that 29. Nc6 b3! would be better. 29. ... b3!

30. e6!? Speculatively consistent. 30. ... fxe6? Harikrishna’s pray worked! Instead, 30. ... b2 seems to give Black an easy path to a likely win; for instance: 31. exf7+ Kh8 32. Ne6 (or 32. Nc6 Rf8 33. Nxb8 b1=Q 34. Nc6 Ne2+ 35. Kh2 g5∓/-+) 32. ... Rdc8∓/-+ and so on. 31. Rxe6? “How to retake on e6? On 31. dxe6?? b2! wins. But after 31. Nxe6! Re8 32. Rxd1! Nxd1 33. Rxg7+ Kh8 34. Be4 Rxe6 35. Rh7+ Kg8 36. dxe6 White would have stayed in the game”, Grandmaster Bachar Kouatly said in his commentary for Europe Échecs. 31. ... Bc2 32. Nxb3 Rxb3 33. Ree7 g5 34. Rac7 Bf5. “The control of the seventh rank obviously does not compensate for the lost Knight”, says Kouatly. 35. Rg7+ Kh8 36. Rgf7 Ne2+ 37. Kh2 Nd4 38. g4 Bd3 39. f4 gxf4 40. Rxf4 Rb2 41. Rcf7 Ne2 42. Rf2 Rdb8 43. R7f6 Nc3 44. Rxh6+ Kg7 45. Rhf6 Nd1 46. Rxb2 Rxb2 47. Rxd6 Bf1 48. Kg3 Rxg2+ 49. Kf4 Rf2+ 50. Kg5 Nc3 51. Rg6+ Kf7 52. d6 Ne4+ 53. Kh6 Rd2 54. Rg7+ Kf8 55. g5 Nxd6 56. Kh7 Bxh3 57. g6 Be6 0 : 1.

Pentala Harikrishna vs. 卜祥志 (Bǔ Xiángzhì)
Photo: cmsa.cn