Hardening

Jorden van Foreest – Loek van Wely
72nd Dutch Chess Championship; Amsterdam, August 27, 2016
Sicilian Defence B51

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+. Who’s afraid of Loek van Wely? Besides jokes, Jorden does not intend to challenge his opponent – a very strong tactical player – on a controversial ground such as for instance the Najdorf Variation. 3. ... Nd7 4. 0-0 Nf6 5. Re1 a6 6. Bd3 b5 7. c4 Rb8 8. Na3. I think this novelty can hardly be a good idea – if nothing else, because it requires extraordinary planning of development harmonization. For 8. cxb5 axb5 9. a4 see Haslinger – Vereggen, 8th OGD Prinsenstad Tournament, Delft 2015, while for 8. Nc3 b4 9. Nd5 see Čolović – J.-S. Christiansen, 29th International Open, Reykjavík 2014. 8. ... b4 9. Nb1. Maybe 9. Nc2 does not make that much difference, but seems a bit more natural. 9. ... g6 10. b3 Bg7 11. Bb2

11. ... Nh5! This is positionally well founded, because it accentuates Black’s space advantage, leaving White with the problem of the light-squared Bishop which risks to become a kind of superPawn. 12. Bxg7 Nxg7 13. a3 a5 14. axb4 axb4 15. Be2 e5! Loek is confident that the hole at d4 and the White “bad” Bishop will eloquently tell in the mid-long run. 16. d3 0-0 17. Nfd2 h5. Prevents Be2-g4. 18. Nf1 Bb7 19. Nbd2 Ra8 20. Ne3 Rxa1 21. Qxa1 Nb8 22. Qa7 Qc8 23. Nd5 Nc6 24. Qb6 Kh8 25. Ra1 Ne6 26. Bd1. After 26. g3 Kg7 27. Bf1 Ned4 Black also stands better, but it looks to me as if somehow the embarrassment of White’s position is more bearable. 26. ... Kg7 27. Nf1 Qd7. Intending ... Rf8-b8 followed by ... Bb7-c8. White is now in a very uneasy situation, given that he appears to be deprived of any counterplay. The young van Foreest must show all his coolness to defend. 28. Nfe3 Rb8. Threatening ... Bb7-c8. 29. Qb5 Qd8 30. Qb6 Qd7 31. Qb5 Qd8 32. Qb6 Qxb6. Black has not clear ideas on how to capitalize dynamically his advantage and, by trading the Queens, decides to exploit it in the safest possible way. And, not incidentally, it could be the strongest move! 33. Nxb6 Ncd4 34. Nbd5 Ra8 35. Rxa8 Bxa8 36. g3 Bxd5 37. Nxd5 Nd8! Intending ... Nd8-c6-a5. 38. Ne3 N8c6 39. Nf1 Kh6 40. Kg2 Na5 41. Nd2 Ne6 42. Kh3 Nc6 43. Kg2 Ncd4 44. Nf1. Black stands clearly better, but still must find a way to win. It would be easy if the Black c-Pawn was on a5 rather than on c5. 44. ... h4 45. Kh3 Kg5 46. Ne3. Obviously not 46. gxh4+?? Kh6 followed by ... Ne6-f4+ winning easily. 46. ... hxg3 47. hxg3 f5! Today Loek is displaying his endgame skills. Jorden cannot but attend the lesson, but obviously without conceding anything to the teacher. 48. Kg2 f4 49. Nf1 f3+! 50. Kh1! Not 50. Bxf3?? Nxb3 winning immediately. 50. ... Kf6. This is tantamount to a draw offer. Most chess engines give a very interesting line in which Black sacrifices a Pawn in order to try to force a Zugzwang position: 50. ... Ne2! 51. Nh2! (best) 51. ... Nc3 52. Nxf3+ Kh5 53. Bc2 g5 54. Kg2 g4 55. Ne1 Nd4 – it takes much imagination to figure out that Black’s gonna win, but, from a practical point of view, that would have put much more pressure on Jorden’s shoulders. 51. Nh2 Ng5 52. Kg1 Ne2+ 53. Kf1 Nc1 54. Ng4+ Ke7 55. Ke1 Ne6 56. Kd2 Ne2 57. Nh2 N6d4 58. Nxf3 Nxf3+ 59. Kxe2 ½ : ½.

Jorden van Foreest (seated) vs. Loek van Wely (standing)
Photo: nkschaken.nl