Mr. Easy

Wesley So – Alexander Anatolyevich Shabalov
61th U.S. Chess Championship; Saint Louis, March 29, 2017
Slav Defence D12

1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 Nf6 4. d4 Bg4 5. h3 Bf5 6. Nc3 e6 7. g4 Bg6 8. Ne5 Nbd7 9. Nxg6 hxg6 10. g5 Ng8 11. h4 Ne7 12. Bd2 Nf5 13. Qg4 a6!? Maybe new, and maybe unfortunate, as afterwards Black will suffer from the weakening of the dark squares on the Queenside. In any event, Shabalov decided to not challenge the Will of God: 13. ... Be7 14. Rh3 Rh5 15. 0-0-0 Qc7 16. Kb1 dxc4 17. Bxc4 0-0-0 18. Ne2 c5 19. Bb3 Kb8 20. Bc3 Rdh8 21. Rdh1 Bd6 22. dxc5 Be5 23. e4 Bxc3 24. Rxc3 Rxh4 25. Rch3 Rxh3 26. Rxh3 Rxh3 27. Qxh3 Ne7 28. Qh8+ Nc8 29. Qxg7 Nxc5 30. Bc2 Qe7 31. f4 a6 32. Nc3 Nd7 33. e5 Qf8 34. Qxf8 Nxf8 35. Be4 Nd7 36. Kc2 Ne7 37. Bf3 Kc7 38. Kd3 b5 39. b4 Nb6 40. Kd4 Nf5+ 41. Kd3 Ne7 42. Kd4 Nf5+ 43. Kd3 ½ : ½ G. Meier – So, 43rd Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting, Dortmund 2015. 14. 0-0-0 dxc4 15. Bxc4 c5 16. dxc5 Bxc5? Wesley played so well that I wonder where Black could have done better. Maybe here 16. ... Nxc5 17. Be2 Rc8 was a little more evolved. 17. Be2 Be7 18. Kb1 Qb6?! 19. Na4 Qc7 20. Rc1 Qd6 21. Ba5! Ne5. If 21. ... b6 then 22. Qf3! with a storm coming on. 22. Qe4 Nc6

23. Rhd1! A powerful Pawn sacrifice that leads to a complete destruction of Black’s field. 23. ... Rxh4 24. f4! Qb8. The alternative 24. ... Nxa5 25. Rxd6 Nxd6 (Stockfish) may seem a lesser evil, but after 26. Qb4 Nc6 27. Qe1 followed by Be2-f3 White keeps dominating the board. 25. Nb6! Nd6. Both 25. ... Nxa5 and 25. ... Ra7 are met by 26. Bf3! with a kind of Zugzwang grave. 26. Qa4 Ra7 27. Bf3 Nb5 28. Qc2 Qc7 29. Rd7 1 : 0. What a wonderful easiness!

Wesley So
Photo: Lennart Ootes/(@CCSCSL)