King Without a Castle

Vladimir Vasilyevich Fedoseev – Benjamin Bok

2nd World Fischerandom Chess Championship Qualifier 1; Quarterfinal match game 1; time control: 15 minutes plus 2 seconds per move; chess.com, August 23, 2022

bnqbrnkr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/BNQBRNKR w HEhe - 0 1

Position #113

1. e4 c5 2. b3 b6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Bxd4 Ne6 5. Bb2 0-0 6. Ng3 Bc7 7. Bg4 Bf4 8. Qd1 Nc6 9. Nc3 Be5 10. Nge2 Qb8. White has not yet castled, and Black does not intend to allow him to do it. 11. Bc1? White doesn’t succeed in solving his development issue(s) and soon falls into an uncomfortable pattern. Probably best was 11. h4! b5 12. Rh3 (developing and pseudo-castling) 12. ... b4 13. Na4 with an interesting game in true hypermodern style. 11. ... Ncd4 12. Nd5 Nxe2+ 13. Bxe2 Nc5 14. f3 e6 15. Ne3 d5 16. exd5 exd5 17. Ng4 Bc3 18. Bd2 Bd4+ 19. Nf2

Black has already an appreciable advantage in his much better development, but that does not seem enough for Bok, who, quite adventurously, does not hesitate to sacrifice a Knight for the sake of preventing White from castling h-side: 19. ... Ne4?! 20. fxe4 dxe4 21. c3 Bxf2+ 22. Kxf2 f5 23. Be3 f4 24. Bd4 f3? Now it is consistent, but too hasty. In fact by allowing White to get the two Bishops against Black’s castle cannot but bring disgrace on the defender. Correct was 24. ... b5! 25. Rhf1 (or 24. Bg4 e3+ 25. K~ b4!) 24. ... f3! with interesting compensation. 25. Bc4+ Kh8 26. g3 b5 27. Bf1 b4 28. Qd2 Rd8 29. Qe3 Qc7 30. Bc4 Qa5 31. Ra1 bxc3 32. Bxc3 Qf5 33. Rhd1 Rd7 34. Rxd7 Qxd7

35. Rd1! Qe7. The Rook is taboo, for if 35. ... Qxd1 then 36. Bxg7+! Kxg7 37. Qg5+ Kh8 38. Qe5+ followed by mate. In any event, what follows is only a cat and mouse affair, which Fedoseev handles with merciless coolness. 36. h4 Bc6 37. Qg5 Qc7 38. Be5 Qb6+ 39. Bd4 Qc7 40. Be3 Qc8 41. Bf1 a6 42. Qc5 Rg8 43. Rc1 Qd7 44. Qxc6 Qe7 45. Qc5 Qe6 46. Qc4 Qe5 47. Qd4 Qe6 48. Rc7 a5 49. Qd7 Qe5 50. Bd4 e3+ 51. Bxe3 Qb2+ 52. Qd2 Qe5 53. Rc5 Qe6 54. Qd4 a4 55. Qxa4 Qf6 56. Qd4 Qe6 57. Rc7 Qf5

58. g4! A beautiful deflection. Nevertheless, 58. Rxg7! would force mate in a few moves. 58. ... Qb1 59. Qxg7+! Rxg7 60. Rc8+ Rg8 61. Bd4# 1 : 0.