Berliner Luft

Nikita Kirillovich Vitiugov – Seyyed Mohammad Amin Tabatabaei
FIDE Grand Prix 2022; 3rd stage; Pool D; Berlin, March 22, 2022
Spanish Game C83

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Qe2 Be7 10. Rd1 0-0 11. c3 (11. c4 bxc4 12. Bxc4 Qd7 13. Nc3 Nxc3 14. bxc3 f6 15. exf6 Bxf6 16. Bg5 Na5? 17. Qxe6+!+− Qxe6 18. Bxd5 Qxd5 19. Rxd5 Bxc3 20. Rc1 Bb4 21. Rxc7 Rac8 22. Ra7 Rc2 23. Rdd7 Bc3 24. Rac7 h6 25. Be3 1 : 0 R. J. Fischer – Ree, 4th International Tournament, Netanya 1968) 11. ... Qd7 12. Nbd2 Nxd2 13. Qxd2!?TN (13. Bxd2 Na5 14. Bc2 c5 15. Qd3 g6 16. Bh6 Rfe8 17. Qd2 Nc4 18. Qc1 Qc7 19. Re1 Rad8 20. b3 Nb6 21. Qf4 d4 22. cxd4 Nd5 23. Qg3 Nb4 24. Be4 cxd4 25. Ng5 Qd7 26. Re2 Nd5 27. Nxe6 Qxe6 28. Bd2 Ba3 29. Rb1 Qxe5 30. Qf3 Bd6 31. g3 Nc3 32. Bxc3 dxc3 33. Bxg6 Qg7 34. Bc2 Rxe2 35. Qxe2 Bc5 ½ : ½ H. Wolf – J. Bernstein, 3rd International Chess Tournament, Karlsbad 1923) 13. ... Rad8 14. a4 f6 (14. ... b4 15. Qd3⩲) 15. axb5 axb5 16. exf6 Bxf6 17. Qe2

17. ... Rfe8? A Pawn sacrifice, but which turns out to be quite unjustified, eventually leaving Black with a bad endgame a Pawn down. 17. ... Ne7 18. Nd4⩲ might be Black’s best worst choice. 18. Bg5 d4 19. Qxb5 Bxg5 20. Bxe6+ Qxe6 21. Nxg5 Qd5 22. Qxd5+ Rxd5 23. Nf3 d3 24. b4 Ne5 25. Nd2 Ng4 26. Nb3 Ne5 27. h3 Nc4 28. Nd2 Nxd2. Black bets on a four-Rook ending to offer the best chances of minimising to its maximum his Pawn deficit. On the other hand 29. ... Nb6 30. Ra5± was similarly unpleasant. 29. Rxd2 Re6 (29. ... Re2?? 30. Rad1+−)

30. Ra5. Much better seems 30. Rad1 Red6 31. f4 followed by the centralisation of the King. 30. ... Rd7? 30. ... Re1+! 31. Kh2 Rd7 was the toughest defence. 31. f3 Re1+ 32. Kf2 Rc1 33. Rc5 Kf7 34. Rc4 g6 35. h4 h5 36. Rd4 Rxd4 37. cxd4 Rc4

38. Ke3 Rxb4 39. Kxd3 Rb1 40. Rc2. The attack on the c-Pawn combined with the threat of invasion on the sixth rank give White an easy going. 40. ... Rh1 41. Rxc7+ Kf6 42. Rc6+ Kf7 43. Ke4 Rxh4+ 44. Ke5 Rh2 45. Rc7+ Ke8 46. g4 Rg2. 46. ... hxg4 47. fxg4 Rg2 48. Kf4+− is a tablebase win for White. 47. Kf4 Rd2 48. Rc4 Rd3 49. Ke4 Rd1 50. d5 h4 51. Rc7 Kf8 52. Rh7 Rh1 53. d6 Ke8 54. Ke5 Re1+ 55. Kf6 Rf1 56. Kxg6 Rxf3 57. Rxh4 Kd7 58. g5! Kxd6 59. Re4 Rf1 60. Kg7 Rf2 61. g6 Rf1 62. Kg8 Rg1 63. g7 Kd5 64. Rh4 1 : 0.

As the ancients say, there is a lot of theory and technique involved in milking the cow. Photo © Niki Riga.