#299

Pyotr Veniaminovich Svidler – Garry Kimovich Kasparov
3rd Fischerandom Chess (Online) Showdown; Lichess, September 11, 2020
qnrkbrnb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/QNRKBRNB w FCfc - 0 1

Position #299

1. g3 g6 2. c4 f5 3. d3 d6 4. Bc3 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bc6 6. 0-0 0-0 7. b4 b6. Quite a hypermodern game, featuring quadruple fianchettoes! 8. a4 Nbd7 9. Nbd2 (9. a5!) 9. ... e5 (9. ... a5! 10. bxa5 Nc5) 10. a5 a6 11. axb6 cxb6 12. Qa3 Bb7 13. b5 Nc5 14. bxa6 Qxa6 15. Qxa6 Bxa6 16. Ra1 e4 17. d4 Bxc4 18. Nxc4

18. ... Ncd7? Very interesting was 18. ... Ne6! 19. Nfd2 d5 20. Bb4 dxc4 21. Bxf8 Kxf8 with strong compensation for the Exchange. 19. Nfd2 b5. Now the Exchange sacrifice is far less effective due to the misplaced Knight on d7: 19. ... d5 20. Bb4 dxc4 21. Bxf8 Kxf8 22. Ra7 would clearly favour White. 20. Nxd6 Rxc3 21. Nxb5 Rc2 22. Rfd1 e3? Very mysteriously Black gives up a second Pawn for nothing. He ought rather to have played 22. ... Rfc8 hoping to make it hard for White to take advantage of his extra Pawn. Now, it’s very easy for Svidler to prove victory: 23. fxe3 Bg7 24. Na3 Rc3 25. Nf1 Rb8 26. Rdc1 Rcb3 27. Bf3 Bh6 28. Nc4 Nb6 29. Nxb6 R3xb6 30. Kf2 Re8 31. Rc3 Rbe6 32. Ra7 R6e7 33. Rxe7 Rxe7 34. h3 Bg5 35. h4 Bh6 36. Nh2 g5 37. hxg5 Bxg5 38. g4 Bh4+ 39. Kg2 Bg5 40. gxf5 Bxe3 41. d5 h5 42. Nf1 Bf4 43. Rc6 Kg7 44. Re6 Rxe6 45. fxe6 Kf8 1 : 0.

Kasparov apparently felt the tiredness climb onto his hands in his round 3 game against Svidler. Screenshot from the live stream.