10（十）

Arjun Erigaisi – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)

1st Champions Chess Tour; 7th stage; Goldmoney Asian Rapid; Prelims Tournament; time control: 15 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; chess24.com, June 27, 2021

Nimzo-Indian Defence E46

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 0-0 5. Bd2!? b6 6. Nf3 Bb7 7. Bd3 Bxc3?! (7. ... d5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. 0-0)
8. Bxc3 Ne4 9. Bxe4 Bxe4 10. d5! c5? Indian Grandmaster Kannappan Priyadharshan, in his analysis for Chess Informant (Šahovski Informator) issue No. 149, gives his preference to the following continuations:
a) 10. ... f6 11. Nh4!? (11. Nd2 Bg6 12. h4 h6 13. Qg4↑) 11. ... Qe8 12. f3 Bg6 13. e4⩲);
b) 10... exd5 11. Qd4! f6 (11. ... Qf6 12. Qxf6 gxf6 13. cxd5 Bxd5 14. Bxf6⩲) 12. cxd5 Re8 13. Nd2 Bg6 14. 0-0⩲.
11. Nd2 (11. h4!?)

11. ... Bf5?! A new idea, but not a good one. On the other hand, 11. ... Bxg2?? is out of question on account of 12. Qg4+−, while after 11. ... exd5 then 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. Qg4 f6 14. Qxe4 Nc6 15. Rd1± White stands clearly better (Priyadharshan). Finally, if 11. ... Bg6 then 12. h4 exd5 13. cxd5 h6 14. Qg4 h5 15. Qf3 Qe8 16. g4 f6 17. Rg1 Na6 18. Qf4 Kh7 19. gxh5 Bxh5 20. a3 Qf7 21. Ne4 Qxd5 22. Rxg7+ Kxg7 23. Nxf6 Qh1+ 24. Kd2 Qg2 25. Ng4+ 1 : 0 Blübaum – Zysk, 1st Josef Kupper Memorial, Zürich 2019.
12. e4. ⌓ 12. Qf3 Na6 13. e4 exd5 14. cxd5! (14. exf5?? Re8+ 15. Kf1 d4⩲) 14. ... Bg6 15. h4+− (Priyadharshan).
12. ... exd5 13. cxd5. After 13. exf5?? Re8+ 14. Kf1 d4 Black regains the piece with interest.

13. ... Re8? Perhaps the best way to give a sense to 11. ... Bf5 is 13... Bxe4 14. Nxe4 Qe7 15. f3 f5 16. 0-0 fxe4 17. Re1 e3 18. Qd3 Re8 19. Re2 Qd6 20. Rxe3 Rxe3 21. Qxe3± (Priyadharshan).
14. Qf3 Bg6

15. h4! h5 16. g4! Bxe4 17. Nxe4 Qe7 18. 0-0-0. ⌓ 18. Kd2 (Priyadharshan).
18. ... Qxe4 19. Qxe4 Rxe4 20. gxh5 f6 21. Rdg1 Kh7. 21. ... Re7 22. Rg6 may well transpose to the game.
22. Rg6 Na6 23. Rhg1 Re7

24. h6! Nb4 (24. ... gxh6 25. d6 Rf7 26. Bxf6+−)
25. Bxb4 cxb4 26. Rxg7+ Rxg7 27. hxg7 Kg8. Or 27. ... Rg8 28. Kc2 Rxg7 29. Rxg7+ Kxg7 30. Kb3 Kg6 31. Kxb4 Kh5 32. Kb5 Kxh4 33. Ka6 Kg4 34. a4 Kf3 35. Kxa7 Kxf2 36. Kxb6+− (Priyadharshan).
28. h5 Rc8+ 29. Kd2 Rc5 30. h6 Rxd5+ 31. Ke3 Rh5 32. Rg6 Rh3+ 33. f3 1 : 0.