Ghost in the Machines

Anish Giri – Wesley So
2nd Speed Chess Championship; match game 30; Chess.com, May 25, 2017
nbrkbrnq/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NBRKBRNQ w KQkq - 1 1
Position 376

1. c4 g6 2. d3 c6 3. Bc3 Be5 4. Nf3 Bxc3 5. Rxc3 Nc7 6. h4 Nf6 7. Nb3 d6 8. 0-0 Bd7 9. Qh2? Strategically, White was not able to handle the odd position of his Queen on h1, and it seems to me that the whole plan of castling on the h-side (at least after playing 6. h4) diminished his chances to give Her Majesty a better role to play on stage. Black is probably slightly better even after 9. d4 0-0-0(!), but White’s situation would have been far less compromised. 9. ... Ng4 10. Qg3? Peter Doggers recommends 10. Qf4 after which there might follow 10. ... f5 11. d4 0-0-0 with Black apparently keeping the upper hand. 10. ... f5 11. e3. Giri keep pursuing his slow (and very wrong) course... 11. ... e5 12. d4? f4! White’s Queen suddenly finds herself buried alive, and Giri, just for not giving up hope too quickly, accepts to suffer heavy losses. 13. exf4 exf4 14. Qh3 Ne3 15. Qxd7+. Absolute desperation. However, after 15. Qh2 Nxf1 16. Kxf1 0-0-0 White’s cause would be doomed anyway. 15. ... Kxd7 16. fxe3 fxe3 17. Rxe3 Rce8 18. Rxe8 Rxe8 19. Bd3 Ne6 20. d5 Nf4 21. dxc6+ bxc6 22. Bb1 Qxb2 23. Nfd2 Rf8 24. Kh2 Ne6 25. Re1 Rf2 0 : 1. “The final game was one of the most expensive Chess960 games ever played. So got $1516.67 for the match win (and is assured of more money in round two) whereas Giri received $483.33”, Doggers wrote in his report on Chess.com.

2017 Speed Chess Championship schedule, results and information