Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter

Hikaru Nakamura – Alexander Igorevich Grischuk
3rd Sinquefield Cup; Saint Louis, September 1, 2015
Sicilian Defence B51

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. 0-0 a6 5. Bd3 Ngf6 6. c3 b5 7. Bc2 Bb7 8. Re1 Rc8 9. a4 b4 10. a5 Qc7. For 10. ... e6 11. d3 bxc3 12. bxc3 Be7 13. h3 0-0 14. Nbd2 Qc7 15. Nf1 Rfd8 see Sivuk – Artemiev, 21st Russian Team Chess Championship, Loo 2014. 11. d3 bxc3 12. bxc3 e6 13. h3 Be7 14. Bf4 0-0 15. Nbd2 Bc6 16. Nc4 Bb5 17. Nfd2 Rfd8 18. Bg3 Ne8 19. Kh2 Rb8 20. Ne3 Ne5 21. Qe2 Nc6 22. Nb3 Ne5 23. Nd2 Nc6 24. Ndc4 Nf6 25. Kh1 Ne5 26. f4 Nxc4 27. dxc4 Bc6 28. Nd1 g6 29. Bh2 Nh5 30. Qe3 Bh4 31. g3 Be7 32. Kg1 Re8 33. e5 Ng7 34. g4 f5 35. exf6 Bxf6 36. Nf2 Bh4? Quite illogically, Black decides to part with the Bishop pair. We would have preferred 36. ... Rb2 37. Re2 Ba8 with satisfactory play for Black. 37. Re2 Bxf2+ 38. Rxf2 Rf8 39. Bg3 Rbe8 40. Kh2 Rf7 41. Rd1 Rd7 42. Rfd2 Qd8 43. h4. “I didn’t see a clear win, but intuitively it felt like the right decision”, then Nakamura said. 43. ... Rf8 44. Rf2 Kh8 45. Rb1 Qxa5 46. h5! Nakamura launches an assault in order to break up Black’s castled position pointing out the strength of his Bishop pair. 46. ... gxh5 47. f5! exf5 48. gxf5 Qd8 49. f6 Ne8 50. Bh4. Naturally, White tightens the noose. 50. ... Rdf7 51. Qh6 Rg8

52. Re1? Nakamura on the right track, but his Rook to the wrong square! The right way was 52. Rg1! (with the deadly threat of Rg1-g7), e.g. 52. ... Rxg1 (or 52. ... Qc7 53. Rxg8+ Kxg8 54. Bf5 winning easily) 53. Kxg1 Nc7 54. Qg7+! forcing an elegant win. 52. ... d5 53. Qxh5 Qd6+ 54. Re5 d4 55. cxd4? The last winning chance would have been 55. Bg3! Nxf6 56. Qxf7 Ng4+ 57. Kg1 Qh6 58. Qxh7+ Qxh7 59. Bxh7 Kxh7 60. Rc7+ and White should prevail in the short-mid-long run. 55. ... Qxd4 56. Re7 Rxe7 57. fxe7 Qd6+? When afterwards asked what about 57. ... Qg7, Nakamura winced. “I didn’t see 57. ... Qg7 at all. I would’ve probably had a heart attack”, he said. When, indeed, after 58. Bg5 the situation remains unclear. 58. Kh3 Bd7+? The last chance lay in 58. ... Qe6+, although after 59. Qf5 Rg6 60. Qxe6 Rxe6 61. Bf5 White retains good chances. 59. Bf5 Qd3+ 60. Rf3 Bxf5+ 61. Qxf5 Qxf5+ 62. Rxf5. White is a Pawn behind, but the e7-Pawn is worth a Queen! 62. ... Kg7 63. Bg3 h6 64. Be5+ Kh7 65. Rf7+ Kg6 66. Rf8 Kh7 67. Bf4. Nakamura exhibits an elegant technique. 67. ... a5 68. Bxh6 a4 69. Be3 a3 70. Bxc5 a2 71. Bd4 Nc7 72. Ba1 Ne8 73. c5. Or – as a “dual” – 73. Kh4 Nc7 74. Kh5 Ne8 75. c5 Nd6 76. cxd6 Rxf8 (hoping for stalemate) 77. d7! and wins. 73. ... Nc7 74. c6 Ne8 75. Kh4 Nc7 76. Kh5 Ne8 77. c7 1 : 0.

Hikaru Nakamura (R.) vs. Alexander Igorevich Grischuk (L.)
Photo: chess24.com (@chess24com)

Youth Gets a Break

Magnus Carlsen – Alexander Igorevich Grischuk
3rd Sinquefield Cup; Saint Louis, August 30, 2015
Sicilian Defence B92

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Be3 Be6 9. Qd3 Nbd7 10. Nd5 0-0 11. 0-0 Bxd5 12. exd5 Rc8. More convincing than 12. ... Nc5 13. Nxc5 dxc5 14. Bf3 Qc7 15. c4 as occurred in the game Nakamura – Topalov, FIDE Grand Prix, Thessaloniki 2013. 13. c4 Ne8 14. Qd2 b6 15. Rac1 a5

16. Na1. “16. Na1 by Carlsen. I have to admit that is not the first move that came into my mind. Not that it matters!”, Tarjei J. Svensen said, but as argued by Grandmaster Nigel David Short, “It is a pretty standard idea”. 17. ... g6 17. b4!? “17.b4!? by Magnus Carlsen. That surprised me as it looks so antipositional. I try to learn from these great players”, Short said. 17. ... Ng7 18. bxa5 bxa5 19. Bd3 Nc5 20. Bc2. “I’d prefer Black here. Nice Knight on c5, ... f7-f5 coming with advance on Kingside. Black better?”, Svensen wondered. 20. ... a4. “If Magnus had been Black here, I would declare this game over!”, Grandmaster Jon Ludvig Nilssen Hammer said. 21. Rb1 e4. “Very peculiar decision by Grischuk. He needed his advanced e-Pawn as a battering ram to obtain counterplay”, Short said. 22. Bxc5 Rxc5 23. Bxa4 Rxc4 24. Bc6. “a2-a4-a5-a6-a7-a8=Q and Magnus is home and dry”, Short joked. 24. ... Nf5 25. Qe2 Rc3 26. Qxe4 Ra3 27. Qe2 Bf6 28. Nb3 Qe7! “I am guessing that Carlsen has overlooked that 28. ... Qe7! is a good response to 28. Nb3”, Short said. 30. Nd2 Rxa2 31. Nc4 Rd8 32. g4!? “Carlsen sees that Aronian is winning, then goes 32. g4!?. Brilliant, brave, foolish or just stupid?”, Svensen wondered. 32. ... Bd4 33. Rbd1? As a matter of fact, the text implies the loss of a Pawn. 33. ... Bc5 34. Rd2 Rxd2 35. Nxd2 Nxc6 36. dxc6 Rc8 37. Ne4 Rxc6 38. Rd1 h6 39. h4 Kf8 40. Kg2 Ke7. Time control is reached. “Carlsen is going to suffer for another two hours at least. Grischuk is going to take all his time to figure out this”, Svensen said. 41. Rc1 Rc8 42. Kf3 Ke6 43. Rc2 Rc7 44. h5. “44. h5 is a curious decision, but serves to remind Black, even here, that his h-Pawn is ‘the wrong colour’”, Grandmaster Jonathan Rowson said. 44. ... gxh5 45. gxh5 Bb6 46. Re2. “Magnus thought taking on c7 was lost – bad news for his defensive prospects. 46. ... Bd4 now, leaves no good discovered check”, Rowson said. 46. ... Bd4 47. Kg3 d5 48. Nd2+ Kf5 49. Kg2 Be5 50. Nf3 Bf6 51. Ra2 Rd7 52. Ne1 Rc7 53. Kf3 Bg5 54. Ra5 Ke5 55. Ke2 Ke4 56. Ra4+ d4 57. f3+ Kd5 58. Ra5+ Kc4 59. Nd3!? Re7+ 60. Re5 Re6? Here 60. ... Kc3! 61. Rxe7 Bxe7 is much more promising, although after 62. Nf2 f5 63. Nd3 Bf6 “it doesn’t seem that Black can break through here. White just maintains the status quo, shuttling his Knight to a safe square and then back to d3”, writes Dennis Monokroussos. It will require further investigation and analysis to prove if White survives. 61. f4! Bf6 62. Rxe6 fxe6 63. Nf2? After a long and difficult struggle, and with a draw finally in sight, White goes astray. The right way was 63. Kd2! (Deviatkin) and Black can’t break the blockade. 63. ... Be7! White will be soon forced into Zugzwang. 64. Ng4. Now it’s too late for 64. Kd2 Bd6 65. Nd3 Kd5 winning easily. 64. ... Kc3 65. f5. 65. Kd1 Bf8 was equally hopeless. 65. ... exf5 66. Nxh6 Kc2 0 : 1. “The way I lost it is really shameful... To lose so many games with the White pieces is ridiculous”, then Magnus said.

Magnus Carlsen
Photo: Lennart Ootes (@LennartOotes)

Thirty Seconds to Mars

Baadur Jobava – Alexander Igorevich Grischuk
FIDE Grand Prix; Khanty-Mansiysk, May 17, 2015
Italian Game C53

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. h3 0-0 10. 0-0 f6 11. Bxc6. For 11. Nc3 fxe5 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Nxe5 Ba6 see Horwitz – Staunton, London 1846, match game 6. 11. ... bxc6 12. Be3 fxe5 13. Nxe5 Ba6 14. Re1 Ba5!? A novelty. A little more promising, however, was 14. ... Qh4 15. Qg4 Qxg4 16. hxg4 Rae8 as in the game Kiroski – V. Georgiev, 19th Macedonian Team Chess Championship, Struga 2010. 15. Nxc6 Qh4 16. Nxa5 Rxf2 17. Nc3! Obviously, after 17. Bxf2? Qxf2+ 18. Kh2 Qg3+ 19. Kg1 Ng5! White would get into serious trouble.

17. ... Rxg2+! An ingenious blow by which Black forces perpetual check. 18. Kxg2 Qg3+ 19. Kh1 Qxh3+ 20. Kg1 Qg3+ 21. Kh1 Qh3+ 22. Kg1 Qg3+ 23. Kh1 Qh3+ ½ : ½.

UGRA 2015 (@ugra2015)

晶体学

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Brief notes by King Lear

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Boris Abramovich Gelfand – Alexander Igorevich Grischuk
International Tashir Tournament; Moscow, November 5, 2014
Grünfeld Defence D83

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 0-0 6. Rc1 Be6 7. c5 c6 8. Bd3. If 8. b4 may follow 8. ... Nbd7 9. Bd3 Nh5 as in the game Ivanchuk – Grischuk, Elancourt 2013. 8. ... Bc8! A pure Steinitzian move, aiming for a centre break with ... e7-e5. For 8. ... Bg4 9. Qc2 Nfd7 see 王玥 (Wáng Yuè) – Carlsen, 南京 (Nánjīng) 2009. 9. h3. 9. Nf3 Bg4 promises anything but an uninteresting game! 9. ... Nfd7 10. Nf3 e5 11. dxe5 Nxc5 12. Bb1 Nbd7 13. b4. Probably sounder was 13. 0-0 Qb6 14. Qc2 Re8 with a fairly even game. 13. ... Ne6 14. 0-0 Nxf4 15. exf4 Nb6 16. Qd4 f6! Opening up the lane for the dark-square Bishop. 17. b5 Nc4 18. bxc6 bxc6 19. Bd3 fxe5 20. Nxe5 Bxe5! “I played this because I just hadn’t found anything else. It took me a long time to believe in this idea... Very unexpected”, Grischuk said afterwards. 21. fxe5 Nd2 22. Rfd1 Qg5 23. Qe3. 23. Kh1 Nf3! may transpose into the game. 23. ... Nf3+ 24. Kh1 Qxe3 25. fxe3 Nxe5. Black’s position is manifestly superior, and he is furthermore a Pawn ahead. 26. e4. Possibly White’s best practical chance. 26. ... d4 27. Na4 Rb8! Black gives back the Pawn, but in exchange he obtains an overwhelming position. 28. Bc4+ Kg7 29. Rxd4 Rb4 30. Nc5 Rf2 31. a3 Rbb2 32. Na4

32. ... Bxh3! A most elegant sacrifice. 33. Nxb2 Bxg2+ 34. Kh2 Rxb2 35. Kg3 g5! Threatening simply ... h7-h5-h4 mate. 36. Rcd1. No better is 36. Bf1 Bxf1 37. Rxf1 h5, e.g. 38. Rb4 h4+ 39. Kh3 Rc2 40. Rb7+ Kg6 41. Rxa7 Rc3+ 42. Kh2 Nf3+ 43. Kh1 g4 (Deviatkin’s analysis). 36. ... h5 37. R4d2 Rxd2 38. Rxd2 Bxe4 39. Re2 h4+ 40. Kf2 Ng4+ 41. Kg1 Nf6. There was a simpler win: 41. ... h3 42. Rxe4 h2+ 43. Kg2 h1=Q+ 44. Kxh1 Nf2+ 45. Kg2 Nxe4-+. The text move, however, lets Grischuk display his superb endgame technique. 42. Be6 Kg6 43. Re1 Bf3. As they say, the rest is a question of technique. Black’s connected passed Pawns are unstoppable. 44. Re5 g4 45. Bf5+ Kh6 46. Bd3 Bd5 47. Bf1 g3 48. Bh3 Ne4 49. Be6 Nf2 50. Bxd5 cxd5 51. Kg2. On 51.Rxd5 h3 wins outright. 51. ... d4. Another way was 51. ... Nd3! 52. Rf5 Ne1+ 53. Kh3 g2 54. Kh2 h3-+ (Deviatkin’s analysis). 52. Rd5 d3 53. a4 a5 54. Kf3 Kg6 55. Rd8 Kf7 56. Rd4 Kf8 57. Rd5 Ke8 58. Rd4 Ke7 59. Rd5 Kf6 60. Rd6+ Kf5 61. Rd4 Ke6 62. Rd8 Ke5 63. Rd7 h3! 64. Kxg3 Ne4+ 65. Kf3. Else 65. Kxh3 d2 64. Rd3 (otherwise ... Ne4-d6) 64. ... Nf2+ winning. 65. ... h2 66. Kg2 d2 0 : 1. A very pretty finish: if 66. Rd3 (otherwise ... Ne4-d6) then 66. ... h1=Q+! 67. Kxh1 Nf2+ finis.

客串

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) spettatrice d’eccezione al v turno del Grand Prix della FIDE a 北京 (Pechino) (3-17 luglio 2013):

侯逸凡来了
Foto: qipai.org.cn

侯逸凡 in contemplazione di Alexander Grischuk
Foto: Anastasiya Karlovych

Autografo per un ammiratore
Foto: Anastasiya Karlovych