Nothing Certain But The Uncertain

Dommaraju Gukesh – Nodirbek Abdusattorov
44th Chess Olympiad; Mamallapuram, August 8, 2022
Queen’s Gambit Declined D38

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Qa4+ Nc6 6. e3 0-0 7. Bd2 a5 8. a3 Bxc3 9. Bxc3 Ne7 10. Qc2 b6 11. b3 Ba6 12. a4. If 12. Nd2 then 12. ... a4 13. bxa4 dxc4 14. e4 Qd7 15. Be2 Bb7 16. Bxc4 Rxa4 17. Bb3 Rxd4 18. Bxd4 Qxd4 19. 0-0 Nxe4 20. Nxe4 Qxe4 21. Qxe4 Bxe4 22. Rfc1 Rc8 with a dynamic equilibrium, Sevian – Bok, 9th Chess World Cup, Krasnaya Polyana 2021, match game 2. 12. ...Ne4 13. Bb2 Nc6 14. Ba3 Nb4 15. Bxb4 axb4 16. Bd3 Nf6 17. 0-0 c5 18. dxc5 bxc5

19. e4! dxe4? (⌓ 19. ... dxc4 20. Bxc4 Bb7) 20. Bxe4 Ra7 21. Ne5 Qd6 22. Rfe1 Nxe4 23. Qxe4 Rd8 24. Qf3. Heading for a much better ending. 24. ... Qc7 25. Rad1 Raa8 26. Rxd8+ Rxd8

27. Rd1! Rc8? Black had no other choice but to exchange Rooks. 28. Qg3? But, luckily for Abdusattorov, White misses 28. Qh5! (Δ Rd1-d7) which wins on the spot. 28. ... h5 29. h3 Rd8. So all’s well that ends bad. The ending is quite hopeless for Black, but, as they say, while there’s life, there’s hope. 30. Rxd8+ Qxd8 31. Nd3 h4 32. Qe3 Bb7 33. f3 Qd6 34. Kf1 e5 35. Nxc5 Bc8 36. Ke1 Bf5 37. a5 Qc7 38. a6 Bc8 39. Nd3 Bxa6 40. Qxe5 Qb6 41. Nc5 Qa5 42. Kd1 Qd8+ 43. Kc2 Bc8 44. Ne4. But much stronger seems 44. Nd3! winning the b4-Pawn (44. ... Qf8 45. c5). 44. ... Be6 45. Kb2? A grave misstep, allowing Black to infiltrate with his Queen. 45. Ng5! would have maintained much of White’s advantage. 45. ... Qa8! 46. Nc5 Qa3+ 47. Kb1 47. Kc2 Qa2+ 48. Kc1 Qa3+ 49. Kd1 g6 is similar to the game. 47. ... g6 48. Kc2 Qa2+ 49. Qb2 (49. Kc1 Bf5=) 49. ... Bf5+ 50. Ne4 Qa7 51. Kd3 Qg1 52. Qc2 Qc5 53. Qd2 Qg1 54. Kc2 Qa1 55. Kd3 Qg1 56. Qe2 Qa7 57. Qe3 Qa2 58. Kd4 Qxg2 59. Ng5 f6 60. Qe8+ Kg7 61. Qe7+ Kh6 62. Nf7+ Kh5 63. Kc5!? Apparently Gukesh’s not interested in 63. Qe3! g5 64. Qe8 Qd2+ 65. Kc5 Qd7 66. Qh8+ Kg6 67. Qg8+ with a draw by perpetual check. 63. ... Qxf3 64. Qxf6 Qe3+ 65. Kxb4 Bxh3 66. Ne5 (66. Qg7!?) 66. ... Qd2+ 67. Kb5 Bd7+ 68. Kc5? Perhaps Gukesh still thinks he can win. It is just the case to note that the Queen endgame after the exchange of Knights must be drawn. 68. ... Qe3+ 69. Kb4 Bf5 70. Qh8+ Qh6 71. Qd8 Qg7

72. Nf3?? Blundering the Knight. 72. Qd5 would have given White very real drawing chances still. 72. ... Qb7+ 0 : 1.

“The scenes at the end reflected Gukesh’s agony. After moving his Knight to f3 to prevent Abdusattorov’s Queen from capturing it, he picked up his pen and dutifully noted down his 72nd move, not realising his blunder. It took Abdusattorov moving his Queen to b7 and giving a check for his irreversible error to dawn on him. Soon, his hands were on his head with utter disappointment etched on his face. For the next 30 seconds, he sat there in disbelief. Eventually, his Uzbek opponent pointed out that Gukesh’s time had run out”, Vivek Krishnan wrote in his report for Hindustan Times on August 8. Photo © Lennart Ootes.