The Whisky Muse

Ian Aleksandrovich Nepomniachtchi – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)
11th World Team Chess Championship; Khanty-Mansyisk, June 24, 2017
Scotch Game C45

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. e5 Qe7 7. Qe2 Nd5 8. c4 Ba6 9. b3 g6 10. g3 Bg7 11. Bb2 0-0 12. Bg2 Rfe8. In his book “Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov, Part 3: 1993-2005”, London, Everyman Chess, 2014, p. 19, 13th World Chess Champion Garry Kimovich Kasparov punctuated the text with a “?!”, recommending instead 12. ... Rae8 13. 0-0 Bxe5 14. Qxe5 Qxe5 15. Bxe5 Rxe5 16. cxd5 Bxf1 17. Kxf1 cxd5 18. Nc3 (18. f4 Re3 19. Bxd5 Rd3! 20. Bf3 Re8=) 18. ... c6 “with an unclear and non-standard ending”, Rublevsky – Pr. Nikolić, 33rd Rubinstein Memorial, Polanica-Zdrój 1996. 13. 0-0. “With some advantage”, writes Kasparov (ibidem). 13. ... Bxe5. No good is 13. ... Nb6 14. Re1 d5 15. Qc2 Qc5 16. Nd2 Rad8 17. Rac1 d4 18. Nf3 d3 19. Qd2 Bc8 20. h3 h5 21. Rcd1 Bf5 22. e6 Rxe6 23. Rxe6 Bxe6 24. Bxg7 Kxg7 25. Qc3+ Kg8 26. Rxd3 Rxd3 27. Qxd3 Nd7 28. Qc3 Bf5 29. Nd4 Qe5 30. Qd2 c5 31. Nxf5 Qxf5 32. Qa5 Ne5 33. Qxa7 h4 34. Qa8+ Kg7 35. Qe4 Qf6 36. Qxh4 1 : 0 Kasparov – I. Sokolov, 32nd Chess Olympiad, Yerevan 1996. 14. Qxe5 Qxe5 15. Bxe5 Rxe5 16. cxd5 Bxf1 17. Kxf1 cxd5.

18. Na3!? Nepomniachtchi’s novelty won’t prove to be all that different from 18. Nc3 c6 19. Rc1 Rae8 20. Bf3 Kf8 21. Na4 Ke7 22. Nc5 Kd6 23. Nd3 R5e7 24. b4 Ra8 25. a4 a5 26. b5 ½ : ½ Lékó – Almási, 2nd International Chess Open, Úbeda 1997. So, maybe, it is worth considering Kasparov’s recommendation: 18. f4! Re3 19. Bxd5 (“with gain of tempo!”) 19. ... Rae8 20. Nd2 which leaves Black with only one extra Pawn as a compensation for his dynamic deficit. 18. ... c6 19. Nc2 a5 20. Rd1 Kf8 21. Rd4 Ke7 22. Rf4 Rf5 23. Ra4. In spite of his heroic efforts to draw something out of nothing, Nepomniachtchi cannot change the drawish evaluation of this “unclear and non-standard ending”. 23. ... Kd6 24. Ke2 Re8+ 25. Kf1 Ra8 26. Ne3 Re5 27. Ke2 Kc7 28. Kd2 Kb6 29. Bf1 Re4 30. Ra3 Rae8 31. Bd3 R4e6 32. Ra4 Rf6 33. Ng4 Rf3 34. Be2 Rf5 35. Bd3 Rf3 36. Be2 Rf5 37. f4 h5 38. Ne5 d6 39. Nf3 c5 40. Ng5 d4 41. Bd3 Rf6 42. Be4 h4 43. Rc4 Re7 44. Rc1 d5 45. Bxd5 Rf5 46. Bc4 hxg3 47. hxg3 f6 48. Ne6 Rh5 49. Re1 Rh2+ 50. Re2 Rxe2+ 51. Kxe2 Kc6 52. g4 Kd6 53. f5 gxf5 54. gxf5 Rh7 55. a4 Rh5 56. Bd3 Rh2+ 57. Ke1 Rh3 58. Kd2 Rh2+ 59. Ke1 Rh3 60. Kd2 Rh2+ 61. Be2 Rf2 62. Nd8 Kc7 63. Ne6+ Kd6 64. Ng7 Rg2 65. Ne8+ Ke5 66. Nc7 Kxf5 67. Na6 Ke5 68. Nxc5 f5 69. Nd3+ Kd6 70. Ke1 Rg1+ 71. Kd2 Rg2 72. Ke1 Rg1+ 73. Bf1 Rg3 74. b4 axb4 75. Nxb4 Ra3 76. Bb5 Kc5 77. Nd3+ Kb6 78. Ke2 f4 79. Kf3 Ka5 80. Kxf4 Rxa4 81. Bxa4 Kxa4 82. Ke4 Kb5 ½ : ½.

Ian Aleksandrovich Nepomniachtchi vs. 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)
Photo: Anastasiya Balakhontseva/Ugra Chess Academy