Short track

Samuel L. Shankland – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Champions Showdown Chess960 2018; blitz match game 1 (5+5); Saint Louis, September 11, 2018

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Position 309

1. d4 d5 2. c3 Ng6 3. Bc2!? c6 4. Ng3 0-0 5. h4!? f5 6. h5 f4 7. Nf5 e6? Time is too precious to waste in games that end with only one winner! Best seems the immediate 7. ... e5! as after 8. Nxg7!? Kxg7 9. hxg6? (White should rather content himself with 9. Bxg6 hxg6 10. Qxg6+ Kh8 11. Qh6+ drawing by perpetual check) Black can advantageously reply with 9. ... e4 — now, instead, the extra tempo makes White’s script a lot more pleasant. 8. Nxg7! Kxg7 9. hxg6 e5 10. dxe5 h6 11. Nb3 Qxe5 12. Bd2? Now 12. Nd4(!) seemed obvious, strong, and natural, leaving White with a powerful positional compensation for the Pawn. One might think that Shankland completely forgot he could still castle on the a-side. 12. ... Nb6 13. Qd1? And this leads to a quick breakdown. White had probably nothing better than to set himself to give back his extra Pawn after 16. Bd3 Nc4 17. Bxc4 dxc4 18. Nd4 Qh5, eventually having to be content with getting only a slightly inferior endgame. 13. ... Nc4 14. Nd4. Just too late! Of course, 14. Bc1 Ne3+! would lead to a similar catastrophe.

14. ... Ne3+! 15. Bxe3 fxe3 16. Nf3 exf2! The most elegant solution. 17. Nxe5 Bh4 18. g3 Bh3+ 19. Rg2 Bxg3! 0 : 1.