Ten Minutes in the Fourth Dimension

Denis Lazavik – Luca Moroni

2nd World Fischerandom Chess Championship Qualifier 1; time control: 10 minutes plus 2 seconds per move; chess.com, August 22, 2022

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Position #243

1. b3 b6 2. e4 e5 3. 0-0-0 g6 4. g3 f5 5. exf5 Bxh1 6. Rxh1 gxf5 7. d4 e4. Fixing the centre may make Black’s situation just a little uneasy, so perhaps 7. ... Ng6 8. dxe5 f4 was here to be considered. 8. Ne3 Qg6 9. Nc3 0-0-0 10. Ncd5 Nc6 11. Qe2 Kb7 12. Nf4 Qf7 13. d5 Ne5 (13. ... Bxa1? 14. dxc6+ Ka8 15. Qa6 Rb8 16. Qb5+−) 14. Rd4 Nfg6. 14. ... Ra8 15. Ra4 a6 also seems playable. 15. Ra4 a5

16. b4! Sometimes less is better than more as the showy sacrifice 16. Rxa5!? is neutralised by 16. ... Ra8! (but not 16. ... bxa5?? by reason of 17. Qb5+ K~ 18. d6!+−) 17. Rxa8 Rxa8 18. Kb1 Nxf4 19. gxf4 Ng6 20. Bxh8 Nxf4 21. Qxd2 Rxh8= with equality. 16. ... Nxf4? This is probably Black’s crucial mistake. He had to play at once 16. ... Ra8 17. bxa5 Ra6 18. Qb5 Rga8 with a sufficient defence. 17. gxf4 Ng6 18. Bxh8 Rxh8 19. bxa5 Ra8 20. Qc4 Rhc8. Not 20. ... Nxf4? on account of 21. a6+! Kc8 (21. ... Kb8 22. a7+!+−) 22. a7!+− winning. 21. Kd2! Making room for the other Rook. 21. ... Qf6 22. Rb1 Nxf4

23. Qb5? Throwing away the win: consistent was 23. Qc5! Ra6 (now neither 23. ... Qd6 nor 23. ... Qh4 are playable for Black because of 24. Rxb6+!+−) 24. Nc4 with an irresistible attack. 23. ... Qd6? (23. ... Qh4!⇄) 24. Ke1 Rg8 25. Kd2

25. ... Ra6? As Tarrasch said, “When you don’t know what to do, wait for your opponent to get an idea — it’s sure to be wrong!”. 26. axb6 Rxb6 (26. ... Qxb6 27. Qa6+!+−) 27. Qa6+!   1 : 0.