The Hours After

Andrey Evgenyevich Esipenko – Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina
74th Russian Chess Championship Superfinal; Ufa, October 13, 2021
Giuoco Piano C54

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 a6 (7. ... g5 8. Bg3 0-0 9. Bb3 a6 10. Nbd2 Ba7 11. Qe2 Nh5 12. h3 Ne7 13. Nh2 Nf4 14. Bxf4 gxf4 15. g3 Ng6 16. h4 Qf6 17. Qf3 Kh8 18. h5 Ne7 19. gxf4 Qxf4 20. Qxf4 exf4 21. Nhf3 b5 22. Rh4 Be6 23. Rxf4 Bxb3 24. axb3 f5 25. Kf1 Bb6 26. Re1 fxe4 27. Rxf8+ Rxf8 28. dxe4 d5 29. Kg2 Rg8+ 30. Kf1 Rf8 31. c4 dxe4 32. Rxe4 Ng8 33. cxb5 axb5 34. Re5 Nf6 35. Rxb5 ½ : ½ Kuipers – Esipenko, 81st Tata Steel Challengers Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 2019) 8. Nbd2 Ba7 9. 0-0 Qe7 10. b4 g5 11. Bg3 Nh7 12. a4 h5 13. h4 g4 14. Ne1 Nf8. Targeting the h4-Pawn. 15. Nc2 Ng6 16. Ne3

16. ... Bxe3?! A new move which, however, can barely justify the time Goryachkina devoted to it. Of course it was not yet time for Black to take the Pawn with 16. ... Nxh4 because of 17. Nd5 Qd8 18. Nxc7+! with White on top. Indeed, the critical line to which theory refers is 16. ... Be6 17. b5 Nd8 18. d4 Nxh4 19. dxe5 dxe5 20. Bxe5 0-0 21. Bxe6? fxe6! 22. Bd4 c5 23. bxc6 Nxc6 24. Bxa7 Rxa7 25. Ndc4 Rd8 26. Qb3? (⌓ 26. Qe2 Qg5 27. Rfd1) 26. ... Raa8? (the mighty engines found an anything but obvious win for Black: 26. ... b5! 27.axb5 Nf3+! 28. gxf3 gxf3 29. Ng4! Re8! with irresistible attack) 27. Rfd1 Kh8 28. Rab1 Rxd1+ 29. Qxd1 Rd8 30. Qb3 Ng6 31. Rb2 Rd7 32. Nb6 Rd8 33. Nbc4 Rd7 34. Nb6 Rd8 35. Nbc4 Rd7 ½ : ½ Domínguez Pérez – Svidler, 9th Sinquefield Cup, Saint Louis 2021. 17. fxe3 Be6 18. d4 Bxc4 19. Nxc4 b6

20. b5. White probably pushed matters a little too hastily. There is more than one good move here — for instance: 20. Ra2 (intending to double Rooks on the f-file) 20. ... Nxh4 21. dxe5 Nxe5 22. Qd5 with great advantage to White. 20. ... axb5 21. axb5 Rxa1 22. Qxa1 Nd8 23. dxe5. Apparently Esipenko can find no way to breakthrough his opponent’s “Maginot Line”, even if now the only advantage he has is with time. 23. ... Nxe5 24. Nxe5 dxe5 25. Qa8? An adventure into a dead end. Better was 25. c4 f6 26. Rf5 Rh6= with more or less equality. 25. ... f6 26. Qc8

26. ... 0-0! Almost the only move — and indeed a good one! 27. Qf5 Qe8! With a few minutes left, Goryachkina cannot afford anything but right moves. Here for example 27. ... Qf7?? would prove irreparably wrong on account of 28. Bxe5! fxe5 29. Qg5+ Qg7 30. Rxf8+ Kxf8 31. Qxd8+ Kf7 32. Qxc7+ Kg8 33. Qxg7+ Kxg7 34. c4 with an elementary win. 28. Qc8 Qe7. Perhaps, with more time on the clock, Goryachkina would dare to play 28. ... Qf7! after which 29. Qf5? Nb7! followed by ... Nb7-d6 is very inadvisable, while either 29. Qa8 (29. ... Qd7) or 29. c4 (29. ... Ne6) would leave Black with the upper hand. 29. Qf5 Qe8 30. Qc8 Qe7 31. Qf5 ½ : ½.

As they say, winning is not always everything. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili/Russian Chess Federation.

Mode One

Aryan Tari – Andrey Evgenyevich Esipenko
83rd Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 29, 2021
Spanish Game C79

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. 0-0 Nf6 6. Re1 Bd7 7. c3 g6 8. d4 Bg7 9. Nbd2 0-0 10. Bc2 Nh5 11. dxe5!? New by simple means. Data base theory gave 11. Nf1 Bg4 12. d5 Ne7 13. h3 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 f5 15. Qd1 f4 16. Nh2 Nf6 17. c4 g5 18. Rb1 Qe8 19. b4 Qg6 20. c5 h5 21. f3 Bh6 22. Rb3 Kh8 with chances for both colours, Makropoulou – Öztürk, 3rd Women’s World Team Chess Championship, Mardin 2011. 11. ... dxe5 12. Nf1 Nf4 13. Ne3 Kh8 14. Nd5 Ne6 15. h4

15. ... h5? Thus Black denies himself any possibility for Kingside counterattack, instead leaving White with a free hand on the Queenside. 15. ... f5!? was much more to the point. 16. Be3 f6 17. b4 Ne7 18. Qe2 Nc8 19. c4 Qe8 20. c5 a5 21. a3 Na7 22. Bb3 Nb5 23. Bc4 axb4 24. axb4 Rxa1 25. Rxa1 f5?! One cannot but say that this came too late, even though now Black had indeed fallen into disgrace — as neither 25. ... c6 (26. Nb6) nor 25. ... Bc6 (26. Ra5) might have changed the story. 26. exf5 gxf5 27. Ng5 Nxg5 28. hxg5 f4

29. Ra8! A bolt from the blue, winning decisive material or mating. 29. ... Qg6. Of course the Rook is taboo: 29. ... Qxa8 30. Qxh5+ followed by mate in two. 30. Rxf8+ Bxf8 31. Bd2 Na3 32. Bd3 Qxg5 33. Qe4 1 : 0.

Tari scored today his first win in his “youth showdown” with Esipenko. Photo © Jurriaan Hoefsmit/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021.

A Day Out

Andrey Evgenyevich Esipenko – Magnus Carlsen
83rd Tata Steel Chess Tournament; Wijk aan Zee, January 24, 2021
Sicilian Defence B84

Esipenko, 18, made the headlines today by winning in style against Carlsen. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. Be3 Be7 8. g4 b5 9. g5 Nfd7 10. a3 Bxg5 11. Qd2 Bxe3. The darkest omen of today dates back to 11 years ago: 11. ... Bf6 12. 0-0-0 Bb7 13. Rhg1 Nc5? 14. e5! Bxe5 15. Ndxb5! Nb3+ 16. cxb3 axb5 17. Bxb5+ Bc6 18. Bd4 Qc8 19. Bxe5 dxe5 20. Kb1 Rg8 21. Ne4 1 : 0 Ivanchuk – Negi, 38th Greek Team Chess Championship, Peristeri 2010. And — to add damage to injury — 11. ... Be7 also showed poorly in a subsequent rated game: 12. 0-0-0 Bb7 13. Rhg1 g6 14. Bh6 Nc6 15. Bg7 Rg8 16. Nxc6 Bxc6 17. Qh6 Qc7 18. Qxh7 0-0-0 19. Bd4 Ne5 20. Qh3 Qb7 21. Nd5 Kb8 22. Nxe7 Qxe7 23. Qe3 Qb7 24. f3 Rd7 25. b3 f5 26. exf5 exf5 27. Bxe5 dxe5 28. Rxd7 Qxd7 29. Qxe5+ Kb7 30. Rd1 Qe8 31. Qf6 Rf8 32. Qg7+ Qf7 33. Qxf7+ Rxf7 34. Rd4 Kc7 35. h4 Re7 36. Kd2 Re5 37. Rd3 Re8 38. Rd4 Re7 39. c4 bxc4 40. Rxc4 a5 41. Rd4 Re5 42. b4 axb4 43. axb4 Re7 44. b5 Be8 45. Rd3 Re5 46. f4 Re7 1 : 0 倪华 (Ní Huá) – 徐英伦 (Xú Yīnglún), 9th “弈诚杯” (“Yìchéng Cup”) Chinese Chess League, 无锡 (Wúxī) 2013. 12. Qxe3 Qh4? As the merits of the Queen’s sortie are anything but obvious, it can be definitely argued that it implies loss of time which will seriously affect Black’s position. Comparatively better would have been 12. ... Bb7 13. 0-0-0 Qe7 14. Nb3 Nc6 15. Qg3 Nc5 16. Nxc5 dxc5 17. Qxg7 Rf8 18. Bg4 Nd4 19. Ne2 0-0-0 20. Nxd4 cxd4 21. Rxd4 Rg8 22. Rxd8+ Qxd8 23. Qc3+ Qc7 24. Qxc7+ Kxc7 25. Bf3 f5 26. Re1 Kd7 27. Kd1 Rf8 28. Ke2 fxe4 29. Bh5 Rc8 30. Kd2 Rg8 31. Ke3 Bc6 32. Be2 ½ : ½ Frotscher – Gomila Martí, WS/MN/A/3, by correspondence, 2019. 13. Rg1 g6. If 13. ... 0-0 then 14. Rg4 followed by Queenside castling. 14. 0-0-0 Qe7 15. f4 Bb7 16. Kb1 Nc6? The losing mistake. 16. ... Nc5 17. b4! is relatively best, which perhaps Carlsen didn’t like too much either.

A crushing refutation now falls on Black: 17. Ncxb5!+− axb5 18. Nxc6 Bxc6 19. Qc3! 0-0 20. Qxc6 d5 21. exd5 Rfc8

22. d6! Qd8 23. Qxb5 Rcb8 24. Qc4 Rxa3

25. Qc7! Qe8. This is only a suffering, but neither 25. ... Qf6 26. Qxb8+! Nxb8 27. bxa3+− nor 25. ... Ra4 26. Bb5 Qf6 27. Qxb8+! Nxb8 28. Bxa4+− would change the outcome. 26. Rg5! Ra4 27. Ra5. Not 27. Bb5? on account of 27. ... Rxb5! 28. Rxb5 Qa8→ turning the tables.27. ... Rab4 28. b3 R4b7 29. Qc3 Qd8 30. Bf3 Rb4 31. Qc7 Qf6 32. Ra8. Avoiding a little trap: 32. Qd7?? Rxb3+! followed by mate in two. 32. ... Rxa8 33. Bxa8 Qf5 34. Kb2 (34. Qd7?? Rxb3+! 35. Kc1 Qxf4+ 36. Rd2 Ra3−+) 34. ... Rb5 35. Qxd7 Rc5 36. Rc1 Qxf4 37. Qe8+ Kg7 38. d7 1 : 0.

“Had a very unpleasant experience at the playing hall today, felt like a swab was being shoved into my nostril and all the way inside my brain, causing a lot of pain. Covid test after the game was not that bad though”, Carlsen tweeted afterwards. Photo © Jurriaan Hoefsmit/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021.

The Year Without Summer

熊奕韬 (Jeffery Xiong) – Andrey Evgenyevich Esipenko

1st Online Chess Olympiad Semifinal Russia – United States; Match 2; time control: 15 minutes plus 5 seconds per move; chess.com, August 29, 2020

Nimzo-Indian Defence E32

And thus, after all, India e Russia are the two finalists of the 1st Online Chess Olympiad. However, both semifinals were tough and very hardly fought. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 0-0 5. e4 d5 6. e5 Ne4 7. Bd3 c5 8. Nf3 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Nd7 10. Bf4 Qh4. It should be noted that four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) preferred here 10. ... Ndc5 11. 0-0 Bxc3 12. bxc3 Bd7 13. Be2 Na4 14. cxd5 exd5 15. c4 Rc8 16. Qb3 dxc4! 17. Bxc4? Nac3! 18. a4 Bxa4! 19. Rxa4 Nxa4 20. Nf5 Nac3! 21. e6 Rxc4! 22. Qxc4 b5 23. Qb3 Qd3 24. exf7+ Rxf7 0 : 1 Ushenina – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), 台州 (Tāizhōu) 2013, Women’s World Chess Championship match game 3. 11. g3 Qh5 12. h4 Nxe5 13. Be2 Ng4 14. Bxg4 Qxg4 15. f3 Qh5 16. g4 Qg6 17. fxe4 e5! Only this way! If, instead, 17. ... Qf6? then 18. Ne2! e5 19. Bg5 Qf3 20. 0-0-0 and Black’s game is desperate, Vallejo Pons – So, 31st Torneo Magistral de Ajedrez “Ciudad de León”, León 2018, match game 1 (time control: 20 minutes plus 10 seconds increment per move). 18. 0-0-0. 18. Bxe5 Bxg4 followed by ... Ra8-e8 provides Black with enough compensation for the Knight. 18. ... Bxc3 19. Nf5 Bxf5 20. gxf5 Qa6!? Here is finally the long awaited novelty. A recent game went instead 20. ... Qg4 21. Be3 Bd4 22. Bxd4 exd4 23. exd5 Rac8 24. Kb1 b5 25. c5 Rfd8 26. Rhg1 Qxh4? (“Yorkshire’s James Adair has been very close to the GM title for years now, but has not reached the required 2500 rating. His live rating was in the upper 2490s when he took on Howell, which explains Black’s ambitious opening. It was level until Black took a hot Pawn where 26. ... Qf3! 27. Rxd4 Rxd5 would draw. As played, White’s central Pawns overran the Black Rooks”, Leonard Barden wrote in his The Guardian chess column of August 3, 2018) 27. c6! g6 28. fxg6 hxg6 29. Qf5 Kg7 30. c7 Re8 31. d6 Re6 32. Rdf1 Rf8 33. c8=Q! 1 : 0 Howell – Adair, 105th British Chess Championship, Hull 2018. 21. Qxc3 d4 22. Qb3 exf4 23. Rxd4 Rad8 24. Qd3 Rxd4 25. Qxd4 Rc8 26. b3 Qxa2

27. Rd1!? Now 27. Rg1 g6 28. fxg6 hxg6 29. Rxg6+ fxg6 30. Qxd5+ is only a draw by perpetual check, while instead the team needs a win. 27. ... g6 28. f6??! 熊奕韬 (Jeffery Xiong) is in the same dilemma as before, and courageously goes on attacking. 28. Qf6 was probably safer, but 28. ... Qxb3 29. Rd8+ Rxd8 30. Qxd8+ Kg7 31. f6+ Kh6 32. Qf8+ Kh5 33. Qxf7 Qc3+ would end up with a draw. 28. ... h5 29. Rd3? White can no longer afford himself the luxury of such a “loss of time”. If nothing else, 29. Qd7 would be consistent with his previous choices, still hoping for 29. ... Rf8 (29. ... Ra8!!−+ is not a human obvious: if 30. Qxb7 there may follow 30. ... Re8−+) 30. Qe7 with tricky tactics (Δ Qe7xf8+), rather similarly to the game. 29. ... Qg2? This hasty move radically changes the balance of powers, as White can snatch the initiative from his opponent’s hands. Black should first have played 29. ... Re8−+ followed by the penetration of the Queen to the Kingside (if 30. e5 then 30. ... Qe2−+). 30. Qd7 Rf8 31. Qe7. Threatening Qe7xf8+ followed by mate. 31. ... Qg1+ 32. Kc2 Qb6 33. Rd6 Qa5 34. Rd5 Qb6 35. Rd6 Qa5 36. Rd5 Qb6

37. Rg5! Qf2+? And in the end, White’s bet succeeded, as His Majesty goes forward to conquer his enemy’s Kingdom. 37. ... Rc8! is the unanimous proposal of the engines, for after 38. Rxg6+ Kh8 39. Rg5 (38. Rg2!? is at least interesting) 39. ... Qf2+ 40. Kb1 Qe1+ 41. Ka2 Qd2+ 42. Ka3 Qc1+ 43. Ka4 Qa1+ 44. Kb4 Qe1+ 45. Kb5 any similarity with the position of the game after 43. Kb5 is a mere appearance, since Black would play 46. ... Qc3! (47. Rxh5+ Kg8=). 38. Kb1 Qe1+ 39. Ka2 Qd2+ 40. Ka3 Qc1+ 41. Ka4 Qa1+ 42. Kb4 Qe1+ 43. Kb5 a6+. Now it’s too late for 43. ... Rc8 44. Rxg6+ Kh8 45. Rg7 Qc3 on account of 46. Rh7+! with mate in two. 44. Kb6 Qe3+ 45. Kc7 Qc3 46. Rxg6+ Kh7 47. Rg7+. Or 47. Rh6+! Kg8 48. Qxf8+! followed by mate. 47. ... Kh6 48. Qxf8 Qe5+ 49. Qd6 1 : 0.