Boys in Black and White

韦奕 (Wéi Yì) – Vassily Mykhaylovych Ivanchuk
Match game 4; Hoogeveen, October 24, 2017
Sicilian Defence B46

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. 0-0 Qc7 9. Re1 Bb7 10. Qf3 Bd6 11. e5!? Tricky Pawn pseudo-sacrifice which Black should not accept, for after 11. ... Bxe5 12. Qh5 Bd6 13. Rxe6+ Ne7 14. Re2 White stands much better, Melia – Vega Gutiérrez, 11th European Individual Women’s Chess Championship, Rijeka 2010. 11. ... Bf8 12. Ne2 Ne7 13. Ng3!? Previous theory gave 13. Nf4 g6 14. c4 Bg7 15. Qe2 0-0 16. Bd2 when after 16. ... dxc4 (probably not Black’s best) 17. Bxc4 c5 18. Rac1 White seized a Queenside positional initiative, Topalov – Svidler, 33rd Sparkassen Chess Meeting, Dortmund 2005. 13. ... c5 14. c4!? 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)’s pushing very hard for a win. The more modest 14. c3 was here also worth considering. 14. ... dxc4 15. Be4 Nc6! 16. Qc3

16. ... h5! Ivanchuk is fantastically “defending” on the whole chessboard. 17. Bg5 h4 18. Bxc6+ Bxc6. Here 18. ... Qxc6 19. Ne4 h3 seemed promising, but after 20. Rad1! White’s powerful centralized position would have given him a manifest advantage. 19. Ne4 Bxe4 20. Rxe4 h3! Another finesse, aiming to open files versus White’s castled King. 21. Rd1. This may seem a bit pointless, but the immediate 21. gxh3 Be7 22. Bxe7 Qxe7 23. Rxc4 0-0 would lead to consequences very similar to those of the game. 21. ... Be7 22. Bxe7 Qxe7 23. gxh3 0-0 24. Rxc4 Rfd8 25. Rxd8+ Rxd8 26. Rxc5 Qg5+ 27. Qg3 Qd2! 28. Qh4 Rb8 29. Qc4 Qg5+ 30. Qg4 Qd2 31. Qc4 Qg5+ 32. Qg4 Qd2 33. Qc4 ½ : ½.