Fire and Ice

Anish Giri – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Agon Grand Prix; fourth stage; Palma de Mallorca, November 17, 2017
Sicilian Defence B96

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 h6 8. Bh4 Qb6 9. a3 Be7 10. Bf2 Qc7 11. Qf3 Nbd7 12. 0-0-0 b5 13. g4 Bb7. The alternative is 13. ... g5!? 14. h4 gxf4 15. Be2 Rg8 16. Rdg1? (Grandmaster Rafael Duailibe Leitão recommends 16. g5! Ne5 17. Qxf4 hxg5 18. hxg5 Nfd7 19. Nxe6!? fxe6 20. Rh7 with a dynamic mess of complications) 16. ... d5! 17. exd5 Ne5 18. Qh3 exd5 19. Re1? Kf8 20. Nf5 Bxf5 21. gxf5 Bc5 22. Qf1 d4 23. Nb1 Ne4−+ Giri – Vachier-Lagrave, 4th Altibox Norway Chess, Stavanger 2016. 14. h4. Giri is not curious to find out Vachier-Lagrave’s amendments with respect to 14. Bg2 Rc8 15. Kb1 g5 16. Qh3 Nc5 17. Rhe1 h5 18. Nf5! Ncxe4 19. Bxe4 Nxe4 20. Bd4 Rg8 21. Nxe7 Kxe7 22. gxh5± Nakamura – Vachier Lagrave, 8th London Chess Classic, London 2016. 14. ... Nc5. If, instead, 14. ... d5 then 15. e5 Ne4 16. Rh3 Nxf2 17. Qxf2 b4 18. axb4 Bxb4 19. f5 Nxe5 20. fxe6 0-0 21. Qg1 Rae8 22. g5 h5 23. Be2 g6 24. exf7+ Qxf7 25. Nb3 Nc4 26. Rf3 Qg7 27. Rxf8+ Rxf8 28. Qd4 Qxd4 29. Rxd4 Rc8 30. Bd3 Nxb2 31. Rxb4 Nxd3+ 32. cxd3 Rxc3+ 33. Kd2 Rc7 34. Ke3 Bc8 35. Kd4 Kf7 36. Nc5 Ra7 37. Kxd5 a5 38. Rf4+ Bf5 39. Kc6 Ke7 40. Rd4 a4 41. Kb6 Ra8 42. Nxa4 Bxd3 43. Nc5 ½ : ½ Caruana – Vachier-Lagrave, 4th GRENKE Chess Classic, Karlsruhe 2017. 15. Bd3 h5 16. g5 Ng4 17. Rhg1!? With this move, followed by the next Exchange sacrifice, Giri introduces a powerful novelty in a sharp Najdorf. White’s compensation appears to be more than worthy of further analysis by the mighty supercomputers. 17. ... g6

18. Rxg4! hxg4 19. Qxg4 e5 20. Nf3 Rc8 21. fxe5 dxe5 22. Kb1 Rd8 23. Nd5 Bxd5 24. exd5 Nxd3 25. Rxd3 0-0. Stockfish evaluates 25. ... Qc4 26. Nxe5 Qxg4 27. Nxg4 f6!? 28. gxf6 Bd6 29. Rc3 Kf7 30. Rc6 Bf4 as a safer option for Black, but, from a human viewpoint, it was not so easy to assess. 26. h5. And here, 26. Bg3! Bd6 27. Nd2!± (Stockfish) apparently gave White a manifest advantage. 26. ... Qc4! Well, Vachier-Lagrave doesn’t miss his chance and equalises through a very elegant Queen forth and back. 27. Qh3 Qc8! 28. Qxc8 Rxc8 29. Nxe5 Bxg5 30. d6 Bf4 31. d7 ½ : ½. For after 31. ... Bxe5 32. dxc8=Q Rxc8 the game is equal.