Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

熊奕韬 (Jeffery Xióng) – Wesley So
61th U.S. Chess Championship; Saint Louis, April 7, 2017
Catalan Opening E06

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 0-0 6. 0-0 dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 Bd7 9. Rd1 Bc6 10. Nc3 Bxf3 11. Bxf3 Nc6 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Bg5 Rb8 14. e3 c5 15. dxc5 Qe8 16. Rd4 Nd7! Far more convincing than 16. ... Rb4 17. Na2 Qxa4 18. Nxb4 Qxa1+ 19. Kg2 Qa5 20. Nc6 Qxc5 21. Nxe7+ Qxe7 22. Rxc4 c5 23. Bxf6 Qxf6 24. Rxc5 g6 25. b4 Qe7 26. Qd1 ½ : ½ Sjugirov – Smirnov, Siberian Bank Cup, Novosibirsk 2012. 17. Bxe7 Qxe7. The position appears to be quite balanced, but a bit easier to play for Black. 18. c6? It might be the only mistake Jeffery made in the whole game! 18. f4 (Stockfish’s move) after, for instance, 18. ... e5 leaves Black with quite a comfortable game. 18. ... Ne5 19. Qe4 Qc5 20. Nd5!? A clever attempt to claim back the initiative, for after 20. ... exd5? 21. Qxe5 White would suddenly stand better.

20. ... Nd3! The start of a masterclass in tactics worthy of Mikhail Nechemevich Tal! 21. Nxc7 Nxf2! The pointe is a purely intuitive sacrifice. 22. Kxf2 Rxb2+ 23. Kf1 Qh5! And the epitaph is a quiet Queen move. 24. Qg4 Qxh2 25. Qf3 c3 26. Rc1 e5! Much stronger than 26. ... h5!? as Grandmaster Rauf Mamedov was expecting. 27. Rh4!? As 27. Rc4 Rfb8! is absolutely hopeless, Jeffery tries something more speculative. 27. ... Qd2! 28. Rd1 Rd8! Very brilliant and very unique as well – in fact, it is the only winning move! 29. Nd5. On 29. Rxd2 Rdxd2 30. Kg1 Rb1+ 31. Qf1 Rdd1 (or even 31. ... c2) wins handily. 29. ... Rxd5! 30. Rd4 Rxd4 31. exd4 Qxd1+! 0 : 1. It’s time for Jeffery to thank Wesley for the lesson.

熊奕韬 (Jeffery Xióng) vs. Wesley So
Photo: Lennart Ootes (@CCSCSL)