Blue Moon

Francesco Sonis – Sabino Brunello
77th Italian Chess Championship; Cosenza, November 30, 2017
Two Knights Defence C55

Sabino Brunello doesn’t seem too happy to be playing here and now, or maybe, who knows, he’s not too happy with the Sports Court’s sentence that he may perceive as too light and inconsistent with the seriousness of the misconducts denounced by him and nine other Italian top players. Whatever it is, it is quite obvious that he’s playing visibly under his own standards. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Be7 5. 0-0 0-0 6. Re1 d6 7. a4 Na5 8. Ba2 c5 9. Na3 Bd7. For 9. ... Nc6 10. c3 a6 11. Nc2 Rb8 12. h3 b5 13. axb5 axb5 14. Ne3 Be6 see Giri – Carlsen, 2017 “Your Next Move” Grand Chess Tour Blitz, Leuven 2017. 10. c3 a6 11. b4 cxb4 12. cxb4 Nc6 13. b5 axb5 14. axb5 Na7 15. Qb3 Be6. Here the immediate ... Na7-c8-b6 was well worth considering. 16. Nc4

14. ... Nd7. 16. ... d5! (Stockfish) seemed the best way to “stay in the game” with interesting play for both colours. Now Black gradually falls into an unpleasant position, in a way that may resemble Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi’s blue mood during the 32nd (and last) game of the 1978 World Chess Championship match against Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov. 17. Be3 Nc8 18. Qb2 Kh8 19. Bb3 Rxa1 20. Rxa1 Bxc4 21. Bxc4 Ncb6 22. Qb3 f5? Black had no reason to be happy with his position, but this is indeed the losing move. Suddenly, the power of White’s Bishop pair comes out prepotently, and, after the infiltration of the light-squared Bishop (which exchanges itself with the d7-Knight) Black’s Queenside falls apart. 23. exf5 Rxf5 24. Be6 Rf8 25. Bxd7 Nxd7 26. Qd5 Qc8 27. Ra7 1 : 0.