Among the Hidden

Anish Giri – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)
Candidates Tournament 2020–21; Yekaterinburg, April 23, 2021
Spanish Game C85

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. d3 Bd6 8. Nbd2 Be6 9. Nb3 Qe7!? Here 9. ... a5 9. Qe1 a4 10. Na5 Qb8 seems quite good for Black, although he then went astray and ended up badly: 11. b4 Bg4 12. Nh4 0-0 13. Nc4 Be6 14. Nxd6 cxd6 15. f4 exf4 16. Bxf4 Re8 17. a3 Nh5 18. Bd2 d5 19. Qe2 Nf6 20. Rxf6 gxf6 21. Rf1 dxe4 22. Bc3 Qd6 23. Bxf6 h6 24. Qh5 Kh7 25. Nf5 Qf8 26. dxe4 Rad8 27. Rf4 Rd2 28. Rg4 Rd1+ 29. Kf2 Rd2+ 30. Ke1 Rxc2 31. Bg7 1 : 0 Domínguez Pérez – Aronian, 5th Grand Chess Tour, 4th stage, Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, Saint Louis 2019 (time control: 5 minutes plus 3 seconds per move). 10. Na5 0-0-0 11. Qe2 Bg4 12. c3 c5 13. a3 c6 14. b4 Bc7 15. Nb3 Nd7 16. h3 Bh5 17. Be3

17. ... f5! A brilliant Pawn sacrifice to open files on the Kingside. 18. Bxc5 Qf7 19. Rab1 g5 20. exf5 g4? It’s not always rough ways to make smooth. Probably best was 20. ... Qxf5 21. Qe4 Qf7! Δ 22. Nxg5 Qf6 with excellent compensation for the two Pawn minus. 21. Ng5! Qxf5 22. h4! b6?! Of course White also stands much better after 22. ... Rhe8 23. Ne4, but at least it would have avoided indulging in further self-defeating moves.

23. Ne4! The Bishop immolates itself with cathartic effect. 23. ... bxc5 24. bxc5 Nf6 25. Nd6+! White’s attack triumphs. 25. ... Bxd6 26. cxd6 Rxd6 27. d4! c5 28. Nxc5 Re8 29. Qc4! 1 : 0.

Once again Giri showed every sign of being in excellent shape. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili/Russian Chess Federation.