Meister des Tegernseer Hochaltars

Alexander Anatolyevich Donchenko – Alexandr Fier
Tegernsee Masters 2020; Bad Wiessee, October 31, 2020
King’s Indian Defence E97

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 0-0 6. Be2 e5 7. 0-0 Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. b4 Nh5 10. Re1 f5 11. a4 Nf4. A questionable variation. 12. Bf1 fxe4 13. Nxe4 h6!? A novelty, but no improvement on 13. ... Bg4 14. Ra3 a5 15. bxa5 Rxa5 16. h3 Bd7 17. c5 which quickly led to a strategic win for White: 17. ... Bf5 18. cxd6 cxd6 19. Bd2 Rxd5 20. Bc4 Kh8 21. Bxd5 Nfxd5 22. Bg5 Bxe4 23. Rxe4 Qc8 24. Rb3 Nf6 25. Bxf6 Rxf6 26. Reb4 Nc6 27. Rxb7 h6 28. Qd5 Kh7 29. a5 Nd4 30. Rb1 Nxf3+ 31. gxf3 h5 32. Kg2 Qf5 33. Qe4 Qg5+ 34. Kf1 Rf4 35. Qd5 Qf5 36. R7b4? (36. Ke2+−) 36. ... Qxh3+ 37. Ke2 Rf5? (37. ... e4! 38. R1b3 Rf5−+) 38. Rb7 e4 39. Rxg7+ Kxg7 40. Rb7+ Kh6 41. Qd2+ Rg5 42. Rf7 exf3+ 43. Rxf3 Qe6+ 44. Re3 Qc4+ 45. Rd3 Qe4+ 46. Re3 Qg4+ 47. Ke1 Qg1+ 48. Ke2 Qg4+ 49. Ke1 Qg1+ 50. Ke2 Qg4+ ½ : ½ P. H. Nielsen – Korobov, MrDodgy Invitational Blitz Knockout Blitz Chess Tournament, chess24.com, June 12, 2020, match game 1 (time control: 5 minutes without increment). 14. Ra3 g5. 14. ... a5 15. bxa5 Rxa5 16. Bd2 is also much better for White.

15. h4! gxh4 (15. ... g4 16. Nh2) 16. Nxh4 Nexd5 17. Ng6! Nxg6 18. Qxd5+ Kh8 19. c5! Of course, Black’s extra Pawn counts for nothing because of White’s overwhelming position (and Black’s shattered Kingside). 19. ... Ne7 20. Qd1 d5 21. Ng3 e4 22. Nh5 Nf5 23. Nxg7 Kxg7 24. Rh3 Be6 25. f3 Kh7 26. Qd2 Qf6 27. fxe4 dxe4 28. Rxe4. Now Black cannot even console himself with a Pawn. 28. ... Rad8 29. Bd3 (Δ Re4xe6) 29. ... Kg8 30. Bb2 Qg6 31. Qe2 Ng3

32. Rxg3! A final brilliancy, leaving the stage to White’s Bishop pair. 32. ... Qxg3 33. Re3 Qg4 34. Rxe6 Qxe2 35. Bxe2 Rd2 36. Bc3 Rc2 37. Rg6+ Kh7 38. Rg7+ Kh8 39. Rg3+ 1 : 0.

Beijinho

Alexandr Hilário Takeda Sakai dos Santos Fier – Maximo Iack Macedo
83rd Brazilian Chess Championship; Rio de Janeiro, February 13, 2017
English Opening A13

1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Qa4+ Bd7 6. Qxc4 c5 7. Qc2!? Shuffling cards. For 7. Ne5 Qc8 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Nxd7 Qxd7 10. 0-0 Rc8 see Macedo – Mekhitarian, 82nd Brazilian Chess Championship, Rio de Janeiro 2016. 8. ... Nc6 8. 0-0 Rc8 9. d3 Be7 10. a3 0-0 11. e3 Nd5 12. Nbd2 b5 13. b3 f6 14. Bb2 Be8 15. Rad1 Nb6 16. Ne4 Nd7 17. Qe2 Qc7? 17. ... Na5 appears much better, maintaining a more balanced game. 18. d4! Now White opens up the centre under much more favourable conditions than before. 18. ... cxd4 19. exd4 b4 20. axb4 Bxb4 21. Rc1 Bf7 22. Nfd2. Stockfish lists on top the flashy 22. Nfg5! which could indeed be even stronger; for instance: 22. ... fxg5 23. Nxg5 Ndb8 24. d5! exd5 25. Bxd5 Bxd5 26. Qd3 g6 27. Qxd5+ Rf7 28. Nxh7! Kxh7? 29. Rc4 with an irresistible attack. 22. ... Qb6 23. Nc4 Qb8 24. Ra1 e5? The final crisis. Grandmaster Rafael Duailibe Leitão rightly recommends 24. ... Rfd8. 25. Bh3 Rcd8. White to move and win (it’s very easy!):

26. Bxd7! Rxd7 27. Nxf6+! 1 : 0. For if 27. ... gxf6 then 28. Qg4+.

Brazil

Alexandr Hilário Takeda Sakai dos Santos Fier – Paulo Jatobá de Oliveira Reis
83rd Brazilian Chess Championship; Rio de Janeiro, February 8, 2017
Nimzo-Indian Defence E46

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 0-0 5. Nge2 c6 6. a3 Ba5 7. Ng3 d5 8. Be2 Nbd7 9. 0-0 dxc4 10. Bxc4 e5 11. Bb3 exd4 12. exd4 Bc7 13. Bc2 Re8 14. Bg5 h6 15. Be3 Nb6 16. Qd3 Nbd5 17. Nxd5 cxd5 18. f3 Bd6 19. Rac1 Bd7 20. Qd2 Qb6 21. Nf5 Bf8 22. Bf4 Rac8 23. Ne3 Be6 24. Be5 Be7 25. Nf5 Bxf5 26. Bxf5 Rxc1 27. Rxc1 Bd6 28. Bxf6 gxf6 29. g3 Kg7 30. Kg2 Qb5 31. Rc2 Re7. Black’s King’s position on the Kingside is very weak and Fier breakthroughs without too much difficulty. 32. Qd1! Rc7 33. Rd2 Re7 34. f4 Bc7 35. Rc2 Qb3 36. Qg4+ Kf8. Or 36. ... Kh8 37. Kh3! with the deadly threat of Kh3-h4-h5xh6.

37. Bh7! 1 : 0.

Alexandr Hilário Takeda Sakai dos Santos Fier
Photo credit: Rafael Duailibe Leitão

Crazy Beautiful You

Alexandr Fier – Igor-Alexandre Nataf
French Team Championship Top 12; Port-Camargue, June 5, 2015
King’s Indian Defence E75

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 0-0 6. Bg5 c5 7. d5 h6 8. Bf4 e6 9. dxe6 Bxe6 10. Bxd6 Re8 11. e5. For 11. Nf3 Nc6 12. 0-0 Nd4 see Polugaevsky – Kasparov, Bugojno 1982. 11. ... Nfd7 12. f4 Nc6 13. Nf3 f6 14. 0-0. White decides to give back the Pawn and fight for the initiative. 14. ... fxe5 15. Bd3 Bf7 16. f5 gxf5 17. Bxf5 Nb6 18. Bxc5 Qxd1 19. Rfxd1 Nxc4 20. b3. 20. Rd7 b6 doesn’t look much more promising.

20. ... Nd4 21. Be4 Rac8 22. bxc4 Rxc5 23. Bxb7 Rxc4 24. Ne4 Rd8 ½ : ½.

Teimour Radjabov (@rajachess)

Amaurosis scacchistica

Lars Oskar Hauge – Alexandr Hilário Takeda Sakai dos Santos Fier
International Chess Open; Reykjavík, March 12, 2015
Larsen’s Opening A01

1. b3. “Lars Oskar opening with 1. b3 and is confident as usual. Pawn up!”, Tarjei J. Svensen tweeted. 1. ... c5 2. Bb2 d6 3. e3 e5 4. d4 cxd4 5. exd4 e4. Possibly sounder is 5. ... exd4 6. Nf3 Nf6 as in the game Jobava – Bologan, 2th SportAccord World Mind Games; Blindfold Event; 北京 (Beijīng) 2012. 6. d5 Nf6 7. Nc3 Qb6 8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. Bxd7+ Nbxd7 10. Qe2 Be7 11. 0-0-0. “Something has gone wrong for Fier in the opening”, Svensen said. 11. ... 0-0 12. Nxe4 Nxe4 13. Qxe4 Bf6 14. Bxf6 Nxf6 15. Qd4 Qa6 16. Kb2 Rac8 17. Qd3 Qb6

18. Ne2?? This is a bad error from Hauge. After 18. Nh3 h6 19. f3 White remains a Pawn ahead, although Black has some vague compensation for it. 18. ... Ng4. “Oops. Lars Oskar missed 18. ... Ng4!. Norwegian in trouble now”, Svensen cried. 19. f3 Nf2 20. Qd4 Nxd1+ 21. Rxd1 Qc7 22. Rd2 b5 23. Ng3 Rfe8 24. Nf5 f6 25. a3 g6 26. Ng3. A little better, perhaps, would be 26. Nh6+ Kg7 27. Ng4, but after 27. ... Qe7 White’s position is still very uncomfortable (if 28. Re2 then 28. ... Qf7). 26. ... f5 27. Ne2 Qc5 28. Qxc5 dxc5 29. c4 bxc4 30. bxc4 Kf7 31. Nc3 Ke7 32. Ka2 Kd7 33. Nb5 a6 34. Na7 Rb8 35. Nc6 Rb6 36. f4 Re4 37. g3 Kd6 38. Ne5 Rb7 39. Rc2 Re3 40. Rd2 Rbb3 41. Nf7+ Ke7 42. d6+ Kxf7 0 : 1. For if 43. d7 then 43. ... Rxa3+ 44. Kb2 Reb3+ 45. Kc2 Ra2+ 46. Kxb3 Rxd2 wins.

Lars Oskar Hauge vs. Alexandr Hilário Takeda Sakai dos Santos Fier

Höfuðborgarsvæðið

Alexandr Hilário Takeda Sakai dos Santos Fier – Jean-Christophe Thiry
International Chess Open; Reykjavík, March 10, 2015
Queen’s Gambit Declined D51

1. d4 d5 2. Bg5 Nd7 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 Ngf6 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. e3 e6 7. Bd3 Be7 8. f4!? For 8. Nf3 a6 9. 0-0 b5 10. a4 b4 11. Nb1 see Taimanov – Bondarevsky, 19th USSR Chess Championship, Moscow 1951. 8. ... h6 9. Bh4 Ne4 10. Bxe7 Nxc3 11. Qg4 Kxe7 12. bxc3 Nf6 13. Qf3 Qa5 14. Ne2 b6 15. 0-0 Ba6. Also after 15. ... Rd8 16. Rc1 Kf8 (artificial castling!) 17. g4 White has a powerful initiative. 16. Bxa6 Qxa6 17. f5 Rhf8. If 17. ... exf5 then 18. Ng3 g6 19. Nxf5+ gxf5 20. Qxf5 Nd7 21. Qxf7+ Kd6 22. Rf5 and White’s attack compensates for the sacrificed Knight. 18. Nf4 exf5 19. Nxd5+ Nxd5 20. Qxd5 Qd3. Desperately striving for counterplay, Black falls into an abyss. 21. Rxf5 f6 22. Qb7+ Ke6 23. Raf1 Rad8 24. e4 Rd7 25. Qc6+ Rd6 26. d5+ Ke7 27. Qc7+ Rd7

28. Re5+! 1 : 0. For if 28. ... fxe5 then 29. Qxe5+ Kd8 30. Rxf8 mate.