#902

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Garry Kimovich Kasparov
3rd Fischerandom Chess (Online) Showdown; Lichess, September 13, 2020
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Position #902

1. d4. A “rated” game of theoretical significance went instead 1. e4 e5 2. d4 d6 3. Nf3 Ng6 4. Bc4 Be6 5. Bxe6 fxe6 6. dxe5 dxe5 7. Qxd8+ Rxd8 8. Ng5 Re8? (8. ... Rd6! Δ 9. Nxh7 0-0-0! gave Black excellent compensation for the Pawn) 9. Nxh7± Gashimov – Gutman, 6th FiNet Rapid Open, Mainz 2007. 1. ... d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Ne5 Nd7 4. Ng3 Nxe5 5. dxe5 Ng6 6. f4 e6 7. e4 dxe4 8. Bb5 c6 9. Qxd8 Rxd8 10. Bf1 b6 11. Nxe4 Be7 12. g3 Bb7 13. a4 c5 14. Nc3 Bf8 15. a5 Ne7 16. Bd3 Nf5 17. b3 h5 18. Kb2 Be7 19. Bd2 Nd4 20. Be3 Bc6 21. Red1 Kc7 22. Be4 b5. After struggling a bit with his coordination, Kasparov has finally reached an optimal position and can now look to the future with confidence.

23. Bxc6 Kxc6 24. Ne4 Nf5 25. Bf2 a6 26. c3 Rab8 27. Kc2 Rd5 28. h3 Rbd8 29. Rd2 Rxd2+ 30. Nxd2 g5 31. fxg5 Bxg5 32. Ne4 Be3 33. g4 hxg4 34. hxg4 Bxf2 35. gxf5 Be3 36. Rf1 Rd5 37. fxe6 fxe6 38. Rf3 Bg1 39. c4 Rxe5 40. Kd3 bxc4+ 41. bxc4 Rf5 42. Rh3 Bd4 43. Rh6 Rf3+ 44. Kc2 Re3 45. Rxe6+ Kd7 46. Nxc5+ Bxc5 47. Rxa6. A draw is on the board, but... 47. ... Ra3 48. Rg6 Rxa5 49. Kd3 Ra1 50. Rg5 Kc6 51. Rd5 Rd1+ 52. Kc2 Rh1 53. Kc3 Rh3+ 54. Kc2 Bb4 55. Rd3 Rh8 56. Rd5 Bd6 57. Kc3 Rh4 58. Kb3 Rh3+ 59. Kc2 Bc5 60. Kb2 Bb4 61. Rb5 Bc5 62. Kc2 Bd4 63. Rb3 Rh2+ 64. Kd3 Bh8 65. Rb8 Rh3+ 66. Ke4 Rh4+ 67. Kd3 Bf6 68. Rb5 Rh3+ 69. Kd2 Rh2+ 70. Kd3 Rh3+ 71. Kd2 Rc3 72. Rf5 Bd4 73. Rh5 Rxc4. Kasparov keeps tormenting Vachier-Lagrave for a long time, as the Rook and Bishop versus Rook endgame, despite being theoretically drawn, may be difficult to draw. 74. Kd3 Ra4 75. Rf5 Kd6 76. Rh5 Be5 77. Rf5 Kd5 78. Rf3 Bf4 79. Kc2 Ke4 80. Rc3 Be5 81. Kb3 Ra8 82. Rh3 Kd5 83. Rh5 Rb8+ 84. Ka4 Rb1 85. Ka5 Rb2 86. Rg5 Kd4 87. Ka6 Rb1 88. Rh5 Kd5 89. Ka5 Ke4 90. Ka6 Bd4 91. Rb5 Ra1+ 92. Ra5 Rg1 93. Rh5 Kd3 94. Kb5 Rb1+ 95. Kc6 Kc4 96. Kd6 Rb3 97. Ke6 Rf3 98. Rf5 Re3+ 99. Kd6 Ra3 100. Ke6 Ra6+ 101. Kf7 Kd3 102. Rf4 Ke3 103. Rh4 Be5 104. Rb4 Bd4 105. Rb1 Ke4 106. Re1+ Kd5 107. Rd1 Rf6+ 108. Ke7 Rf2 109. Kd7 Rf5 110. Ke7 Rf2 111. Kd7 Rf7+ 112. Kd8 Rh7 113. Rd2 Ke5 114. Rd1 Bc5 115. Rd7 Rh6 116. Rd1 Ke6 117. Kc7 Ke5 118. Kd7 Bd4 119. Re1+ Kd5 120. Rd1 Rh7+ 121. Kd8 Rg7 122. Rd2 Rh7 123. Rd1 Rg7 ½ : ½.

Just for the record — Magnus Carlsen shared first prize with Hikaru Nakamura, while Fabiano Caruana tied for third with Levon Grigori Aronian. Kasparov finished 8th out of 10, which, considering his age and retirement status, can well be worth a victory! Screenshot from the live stream.