The One After 909

Magnus Carlsen – 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
79th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 17, 2017
Bishop’s Opening C24

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 c6 4. Nf3 d6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Bb3 0-0 7. c3 Nbd7 8. Re1 Nc5 9. Bc2 Bg4 10. Nbd2 Ne6 11. h3 Bh5 12. Nf1 Nd7 13. g4 Bg6 14. Ng3 Ng5 15. Bxg5!? Maybe new shoes. For 15. Kg2 Nxf3 16. Qxf3 Bg5 see Shanava – Zeynalov, 2nd President’s Cup, Baku 2007. Another reference is 15. Nxg5 Bxg5 16. d4 Bxc1 17. Rxc1 Re8 18. Qd2 Qf6 19. Rcd1 h6 20. d5 c5 21. Ba4 Re7 22. Bxd7 Rxd7 23. Kg2 b5 24. Re3 Rb8 25. Rh1 Qh4 26. Qe2 b4 27. c4 Rb6 28. Rg1 Ra6 29. b3 Ra3 30. Kh2 a5 31. Nf5 Qd8 32. Rg2 a4 33. Reg3 axb3 34. axb3 Rda7 35. g5 hxg5 36. Rxg5 Ra2 37. Qg4 R7a3 38. Rh5 Qf6 39. Ne7+ Qxe7 40. Qc8+ Qf8 41. Rh8+ Kxh8 42. Qxf8+ Kh7 43. Rg4 Rxb3 44. Rh4+ Bh5 45. Rxh5+ Kg6 46. Qh8 ½ : ½ Pikula – Nikčević, 54th Yugoslavian Team Chess Championship, Budva 2002. 15. ... Bxg5 16. d4 Bf4 17. Ne2 Qf6 18. Kg2 exd4 19. Nfxd4 Rfe8 20. Nxf4 Qxf4 21. f3 Nb6 22. Qc1 Qxc1 23. Raxc1 d5. Black gets rid of his only weakness, at the cost, however, to cede some ground to his opponent. 24. e5 Nd7 25. f4 Bxc2 26. Rxc2 Nc5 27. Re3 Rad8 28. Kf3 Ne4 29. b4. Thanks to his space advantage White stands quite better, but it would not be easy to get something more tangible out of it if 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) were not in time trouble, with only 7 minutes left. 29. ... g5? Very ambitious, maybe too nervous. Now Black’s centre collapses like a cards’ castle. Stockfish’s first line 29. ... f6 30. exf6 Nxf6 31. Ne6 is certainly not appealing, but it looks less unrealistic. 30. c4! c5? With almost no time to move, 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) ends up self-destructing.

31. Nb5! The End. 31. ... gxf4. Or 31. ... cxb4 32. cxd5 as in the actual game. 32. Kxf4 cxb4 33. cxd5 1 : 0.

Magnus Carlsen (R.) vs. 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
Photo: Tata Steel Chess (Facebook)