The Fly on the Wall

Baskaran Adhiban – Wesley So
79th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 20, 2017
King’s Gambit Accepted C33

1. e4 e5 2. f4. Adhiban boldly challenges his opponent to a “romantic” duel. 2. ... exf4 3. Bc4 d5 4. Bxd5 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nxd5. Theoretically more probing is 5. ... Bb4(!), e.g. 6. a3? (“6. Qf3 is much stronger. The move in the text loses a valuable Pawn”, Howard Staunton wrote in The Chess Player’s Chronicle, Vol. IV, 1856, p. 87) 6. ... Bxc3 7. dxc3 c6 8. Bc4 Qxd1+ 9. Kxd1 Nxe4 10. Ke2 g5 11. Bd3 Bf5 12. Nf3 f6 13. Re1 Kf7 14. Kf1 Nd6 15. c4 Nd7 16. b4 c5 17. Bb2 Rhe8 18. Rxe8 Rxe8 19. Re1 Bxd3+ 20. cxd3 Rxe1+ 21. Kxe1 b6 (“Black has maintained the advantage that his opponent’s sixth move gave him with considerable coolness. A great distinction between the games of a finished and those of a rising player, is shown in the address with which the former will adopt for a time waiting tactics, whilst the latter will be apt to make premature attacks, writes Staunton, ibidem) 22. Ke2 Ke6 23. Nd2 Nf5 24. Ne4 g4 25. Bc1 Nd4+ 26. Kf2 f5 (“The second player now advances, never to retreat”, writes Staunton, ibidem) 27. Nc3 Ne5 28. Bxf4 Nxd3+ 29. Kg3 Nxf4 30. Kxf4 cxb4 31. axb4 a5 32. bxa5 bxa5 33. h4 h5 34. Na4 Kf6 35. Nc3 Ne6+ 36. Ke3 Ke5 37. Na4 f4+ 38. Kd3 g3 39. Nc3 f3 40. gxf3 g2 41. Ne2 Nf4+ 0 : 1 de Rivière – Dubois, Paris 1855. 6. Nxd5 Bd6 7. Nf3 0-0 8. d4 Re8 9. e5 c6!? It doesn’t make great impression 9. ... f6 10. Bxf4 Bg4 11. 0-0 fxe5 12. dxe5 Bxe5?? 13. Bxe5 Rxe5 14. Nb6+- Nc6 15. Nxa8 Qxa8 16. h3 Bxf3 17. Qxf3 Qe8 18. Qb3+ Kh8 19. Qxb7 Nd4 20. Qxc7 Ne2+ 21. Kh2 Rg5 22. Rad1 1 : 0 Reprintsev – Afonin, 17th Chigorin Memorial, Saint Petersburg 1998. However, 9. ... Bf8 10. Nxf4 c5 could be regarded as an improvement, H. Rudolf – Weill, Vienna 1994. 10. Nxf4 f6 11. Nd3 fxe5 12. dxe5 Qb6! 13. Qe2 Bf5 14. Be3 Qa5+ 15. c3 Bc7 16. 0-0 Qa6! 17. Rad1 Nd7. Not 17. ... Qxa2?? on account of 18. Ng5 Bg6 19. Nf4 with overwhelming preponderance. 18. Bd4 c5 19. Bf2 Nxe5. Black finally won back the Pawn, while remaining with the Bishop pair. 20. Nfxe5 Bxe5 21. Qf3

21. ... Be4! 22. Qh3 Bxd3 23. Qxd3 Qxa2 24. Bxc5 Qxb2 25. Bxa7! Bxc3! Temporarily winning a Pawn. If, instead, 25. ... Rxa7 then 26. Qxd5+ Kh8 27. Qxe5 and Black has only the answer 27. ... Raa8. 26. Bf2 Be5 27. Rb1 Qa2 28. Rxb7 Rf8 29. Qb3+ Qxb3 30. Rxb3 Ra2 31. Rf3 Rxf3 32. gxf3 Kf7. Black has a symbolic advantage, but he cannot realistically hope to achieve more than a draw. 33. Bg3 Bd4+ 34. Kh1 Rd2 35. Bf4 Re2 36. Rd1 Bc3 37. Rd3 Bb4 38. Rd4 Bc5 39. Rd2 ½ : ½.

Baskaran Adhiban vs. Wesley So
Photo: Tata Steel Chess (Facebook)