Master class

韦奕 (Wéi Yì) – Pyotr Veniaminovich Svidler
80th Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 14, 2018
Grünfeld Defence D80

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bg5 Ne4 5. Bh4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 dxc4 7. e3 Be6 8. Nf3 Bg7 9. Qb1 Qd5. 9. ... b6 10. Be2 0-0 11. 0-0 c5 12. Rd1 Qc7 13. Qb2 Re8 14. Ng5 Bd5 15. e4 Bb7 16. Bg3 Qc8 17. Bxc4 e6 18. d5 didn’t bring 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) good luck in the end, Trần Tuấn Minh – 韦奕 (Wéi Yì), 16th Asian Continental Chess Championship, 成都 (Chéngdū) 2017. 10. Be2 Bf5 11. Qb4 c5 12. Qb5+. If 12. Bxc4 then 12. ... Qxf3 13. Qa4+ Bd7 14. Qxd7+ Nxd7 15. gxf3 Rc8 16. Bd5 cxd4 17. cxd4 e5 18. dxe5 Bxe5 19. Rd1 Rc7 20. 0-0 0-0 and pretty soon a draw was agreed, Aronian – Svidler, 17th European Team Chess Championship, Novi Sad 2009. 12. ... Bd7 13. Qxc4 Bc6. More toned down is 13. ... Qxc4 12. Bxc4 Nc6 13. Rb1 cxd4 14. cxd4 Rc8 15. Be2 Na5 16. Kd2 e6 17. Rhc1 0-0 18. Be7 Rxc1 19. Rxc1 Rc8 20. Rxc8+ ½ : ½ Mitkov – Bogdanovski, Spring Open Tournament, Skopje 2011. 14. Qb3 e6 15. c4 Qd7 16. Ne5 Qc7 17. 0-0 0-0. Thus Svidler gives his opponent a lasting positional edge, perhaps trusting in his own defensive skills. A sharper option could be to grab a Pawn by 17. ... cxd4 18. exd4 Bxe5 19. dxe5 Qxe5 though after 20. Qb4(!) White’s compensation seems at least good. 18. Bg3 Qb6 19. Rfd1 Qa6 20. a4 Nd7 21. Nxc6 bxc6 22. Rab1 cxd4 23. exd4 Nb6 24. Ra1 Rfd8 25. a5 Nc8 26. Ra2 Ne7 27. d5! exd5 28. cxd5 Qc8 29. Bh4 Qc7! Black’s decision seems both the more practical and the more correct, since at the cost of a Pawn he puts his opponent up to almost insurmontable technical difficulties. If, instead, 29. ... Re8 there might follow 30. d6 Nd5 31. Bc4 with great advantage to White. 30. Bxe7 Qxe7 31. dxc6 Rxd1+ 32. Qxd1 Rd8 33. Qc2 Be5 34. g3 Rb8 35. Kg2 Kg7 36. Qc1 Rb3 37. Bf3 Bc7 38. Qc4 Ra3 39. Qd4+ Be5 40. Re2 Rxa5 41. Qd7 Kf8 42. Qc8+ Qe8 43. Qb7 Rc5 44. Qxa7 Qe7 45. Qa3 h5 46. Rd2 Bd6 47. Qd3 Be5 48. Qa3 Bd6 49. Qd3 Be5 50. Qb3 Rc3 51. Qd1 h4 52. Rd7 Qg5 53. Qd5 Qf5 54. Bg4? Much better seems 54. Be4 so as to met 54. ... Qf6 by 55. Rxf7+! Qxf7 56. Qxe5+− – which as the game goes on is unplayable due to the undefended Pawn on c6. 54. ... Qf6 55. f4

55. ... Bxf4! Svidler does not hesitate to sacrifice also the Bishop in order to set up an impregnable fortress. 56. gxf4 Rc2+ 57. Kh3 Rc3+ 58. Kg2 Rc2+ 59. Kg1 Rc1+ 60. Bd1 Qxf4 61. Qd4 Qxd4+ 62. Rxd4 Rxc6 63. Rxh4 Kg7 64. Rd4 Rf6 65. Kg2 Kh6 66. Bf3 Kg7 67. Kg3 Kh6 68. Kf2 Kg7 69. Rd7 Kg8 70. Ke3 Kg7 71. Bd5 Kg8 72. Bc4 Kg7 73. Rc7 Rf5 74. Ra7 Rf6 75. Rb7 Rf5 76. Ba2 Rf6 77. Bb3 Rf5 78. Rd7 Rf6 79. Bc4 Rf5 80. Bd5 Rf6 81. Rb7 Rf5 82. Ke4 Kg8 83. Ra7 Kg7 84. Kd4 Rf2 85. h3 Rf1 86. Kc5 Rf6 87. Rb7 Kg8 88. Kd4 Rf5 89. Kc4 Kg7 90. Kc5 Rf6 91. Rc7 Kf8 92. Be4 Kg7 93. Kd5 Re6 94. Kd4 Rf6 95. Ra7 Kf8 96. Ra3 Kg7 97. Kd5 Re6 98. Rc3 Rf6 99. Bc2 Kf8 100. Bb3 Kg7 101. Ke5 Rf5+ 102. Kd6 Rf4 103. Bd5 Rf5 104. Rc7 Kf8 105. Ra7 Rf6+ 106. Kd7 Rf5 107. Ra8+ Kg7 108. Kd6 Rf6+ 109. Ke7 Rf5 110. Rd8 Re5+ 111. Kd6 Rf5 112. Be4 Rf6+ 113. Ke5 Re6+ 114. Kf4 Rf6+ 115. Kg5 Re6 116. Rd4 Rf6 117. h4 Re6 118. Bf3 Rf6 119. Bg4 Rf1 120. Rd7 Rf2 121. h5 gxh5 122. Bxh5 Rf1 123. Bxf7 Rxf7 124. Rxf7+ ½ : ½.

Pia Sprong’s drawing of 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)’s and Pyotr Veniaminovich Svidler’s game. Artwork © Pia Sprong.