Basil The Great Mouse Detective

Vassily Mykhaylovych Ivanchuk – Anish Giri
7th Chess World Cup; match game 1; Tbilisi, September 12, 2017
Russian Defence C43

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7 6. Nxd7 Bxd7 7. 0-0 Bd6 8. Qh5 Qf6 9. Be3!? The alternative is 9. Nc3 Qxd4 10. Be3 Qe5 11. Qxe5+ Bxe5 12. Nxd5 Nf6 13. Rae1 (or 13. Rfe1 0-0 14. Nxf6+ Bxf6 15. c3 ½ : ½ Tiviakov – Giri, 14th Univé Chess Festival, Hoogeveen 2010) 13. ... Nxd5 14. Bd4 0-0-0 15. Bxe5 Nb4 with more or less equality, Efimenko – Giri, 29th European Club Cup, Rhodes 2013. 9. ... 0-0-0!? Giri is in fighting mood, even though he took about 30 minutes to decide on avoiding the temptation of a draw: 9. ... Bf5 10. f3 g6 11. Qh6 Bf8 12. Qf4 Bd6 13. Qh6 Bf8 14. Qf4 ½ : ½ Iordachescu – Landa, New Year’s Tournament 2006/2007, Reggio Emilia 2006. 10. Nc3 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Qe6 12. Rfe1 f6 13. Bd2 Qg8 14. Rab1 Kb8 15. h3? It would be hard to call this a waiting move, as it loses time and creates a target (more precisely a breaking point) at g4. 15. ... b6 16. Ba6 g5 17. Qf3? White is playing with fire. More consistent and better was 17. c4 dxc4 18. Qf3 Bc8 19. Bxc8 Rxc8 20. a4 g4! 21. hxg4 h5 22. g5! fxg5 23. a5 Rh6 with a decidedly unclear game. 17. ... g4! 18. hxg4 Bxg4. Ivanchuk seems to be on the verge of the abyss; he can only rely upon Giri’s notorious non-aggressivity. 19. Qxf6 Rf8 20. Qh4

20. ... h5? Here 20. ... Rf5!! was very strong, intending ... Rf5-h5. 21. Bg5 Rh7. And now 21. ... Qg6 seemed far more promising, intending ... Rh8-g8. 22. Re3 Bc8 23. Bxc8 Kxc8 24. Rbe1 Qg6 25. Be7. The worst is over. 25. ... Bxe7 26. Rxe7 Qxc2 27. Qg3 Rxe7 28. Rxe7 Qc1+ 29. Kh2 Qf4 30. f3 a5 31. Re5 Qf7. 31. ... Qd2 32. Re7 Qxc3 should lead to a substantial balance. 32. Qh3+ Kb7 33. Rxh5. The nerves are dominating now. Safer was 33. Qe6 Qf4+ 34. Kh3 with unclear play, possibly with some chances more for White. 33. ... a4. Giri, too, does not play at his best. 33. ... Qf4+ 34. Qg3 Qd2 could be rather annoying for White. 34. Rh7 Qf4+? Now this is fatal. 34. ... Qe8 was good and fine as after 35. Qd7 Qxd7 36. Rxd7 Black has both the time and the way to infiltrate the Rook to the 2nd (7th) rank: 36. ... Re8 37. Rxd5 Re2 with equality. 35. Qg3 a3 36. Qxf4 Rxf4 37. Re7. Now the Black Rook has no access and the two united passed Pawns win easily. 37. ... Rf6 38. Re3 Rh6+ 39. Kg1 Ka6 40. f4 c5 41. f5 1 : 0. Youth triumphed.