After Before

韦奕 (Wéi Yì) – Bator Sambuev
7th Chess World Cup; tie-break game 1 (25+10); Tbilisi, September 5, 2017
Slav Defence D31

1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. d4 c6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 b5 6. Ne5 Bb7 7. 0-0 a6 8. Nc3 Bb4 9. a4 Ne7 10. Ne4 Nd7?? However natural it may appear, this automatic move is a monstrous blunder. For 10. ... 0-0 11. Bd2 c5 12. dxc5 Bxd2 13. Qxd2 Qxd2 14. Nxd2 Bxg2 15. Kxg2 Nbc6 see Bruzón Batista – Vera González-Quevedo, 5th Torneo Internacional de Maestros “Douglas Martínez”, Guarenas 2012.

White to move and win. Solution: 11. Bd2!+− Bxd2. 11. ... Qa5? 12. Nd6+! was a funny corollary to the previous move. If, instead, 11. ... f5 then 12. Ng5 Bxd2 13. Nxe6 Qc8 14. Nxg7+ Kf8 15. Ne6+ Ke8 16. Nxd7 Qxd7 17. Nc5 Qxd4 18. Nxb7 (Stockfish) and pretty soon either White will breakthrough the Queenside or he will gain material – or possibly both things. Now the rest is going to be very easy for 韦奕 (Wéi Yì). 12. Nd6+ Kf8 13. Nexf7 Qc7 14. Qxd2 Nc8 15. Qf4 Nf6 16. Nxc8 Qxf4 17. gxf4 Rxc8 18. Nxh8 Nd5 19. axb5 cxb5 20. f5 Re8 21. Rfc1 exf5 22. Bxd5 Bxd5 23. Rxa6 Rxe2 24. Rd6 Bf3 25. Ra1 b4 26. d5 c3 27. bxc3 b3 28. Rd7 Re8 29. Rf7+ Kg8 30. Re7 Rd8 31. c4 Be4 32. Rb7 Bc2 33. Nf7 Rf8 34. Ng5 Rc8 35. Raa7 f4 36. Rxg7+ Kh8 37. Rxh7+ Bxh7 38. Rxh7+ Kg8 39. Rb7 1 : 0.