Momentum

Black grouses at a mating ground in Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve near the village of Kraitsy, northeast of Minsk, Belarus. Photo: Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters.

Of Ice and Snow

Swans on the Krynica Reservoir, Minsk, Belarus scrabble for food. Photo: Natalia Fedosenko/TASS.

Blowin’ in the Wind

A stag bellows in a field in the Naliboki Forest (Nalibotskaya Pushcha) at nearby of Koz’liki village, Belarus as rutting season approaches. Photo: Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters.

A Duck in Luck

A duck cleans its feathers sitting next to a lake in Navahrudak, Belarus. Photo: Sergei Grits/AP.

Eyes Wide Shut

Vygonoshchi, Belarus: Three long-eared owl chicks at a wildlife sanctuary. Photo: Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty Images.

Draniki

Daniele Vocaturo – Alan Tate
18th European Individual Chess Championship; Minsk, May 30, 2017
Two Knights Defence C55

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. e5 d5 6. Bb5 Ne4 7. Nxd4 Bd7 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. 0-0 Bc5 10. f3 Ng5 11. f4 Ne4 12. Be3 Bb6. No doubt Vocaturo knows very well what is playing. If 12. ... 0-0 there might follow 13. Nd2 f6 14. Nxe4 dxe4 15. Qe2 Qe7 16. Qc4+ Kh8 17. Nf5 Bxe3+ 18. Nxe3 Rab8 19. b3 Rb4 20. Qc3 h6 21. Rad1 a5 22. exf6 Rxf6 23. Qe5 Re6 24. Qxa5 Rb5 25. Qxc7 Qc5 26. Rfe1 Be8 27. Qc8 Qe7 28. Qd8 Qc5 29. f5 Re5 30. f6 gxf6 31. Qxf6+ Kh7 32. Rd6 1 : 0 Vocaturo – Martínez López, 17th Sants Open 2015, Barcelona 2015. 13. Nd2 Nxd2 14. Qxd2 c5 15. Nf3 d4 16. Bf2 0-0. Probably sounder is 16. ... Bc6, e.g. 17. Bh4 Qd7 18. Rad1 0-0 19. f5 Qxf5 20. Nxd4 Qh5 21. Nxc6 Qxh4 22. Qd5 c4+ 23. Kh1 Rae8 24. a4 Qg4 25. a5 Be3 26. Rf3 Bg5 27. Rd4 Qe6 28. Qxc4 f6 29. h4 fxe5 30. Re4 Qxc4 31. Rxc4 Bd2 32. Re4 Re6 33. Nd4 Rxf3 34. Nxe6 Rf1+ 35. Kh2 Bxa5 36. Rxe5 Bb4 37. Nc5 Rf2 38. c3 Bxc5 39. Rxc5 Rxb2 ½ : ½ G. C. B. Jones – E. l’Ami, 5th Remco Heite GM Tournament, Wolvega 2014. 17. a4!? Just a little diversion. For 17. Qd3 Qc8 18. b4 cxb4 19. Nxd4 c5 20. Nf3 c4 21. Qd6 Rb8 22. Rad1 Bf5 see Smerdon – Wallis, 23rd Australian Open, Sydney 2015. 17. ... a5 18. Qd3 Qc8 19. Nh4. Prevents ... Bd7-f5. 19. ... f6? This will turn out to be a wrong and very detrimental idea, as it dramatically weakens Black’s Kingside. Probably best is 19. ... f5 (Stockfish) eventually followed by ... Bd7-e6-d5. 20. Rae1 Be6? After which White’s attack is easy and unbearable. Perhaps Black might do a little better by 20. ... Qa6, but, even in such a case, 21. Qf3 followed by f4-f5 would be very unpleasant for him to bear.

21. f5! Bd5 22. c4! Qa6 23. b3 Bc6 24. exf6 Rxf6 25. Bg3 Raf8 26. Be5 R6f7 27. f6! gxf6. No better is 27. ... g6 28. Nxg6 hxg6 29. Qxg6+ Kh8 30. Rf4 with mate to follow in three moves. 28. Rxf6! With the deadly threat of Rf6-g6+. 1 : 0. For if 28. ... Rxf6 then 29. Qg3+ Kf7 (neither 29. ... Kh8 30. Nf5 nor 29. ... Rg6 30. Nxg6 would change the outcome) 30. Bxf6 Kxf6 31. Qe5+ Kf7 32. Rf1+ and mate in three moves.

House Or Home

Zembin, Belarus: A cat keeps an eye on a bird from a window. Photo: Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty Images.

The Flight of the Stars

Minsk, Belarus: Dragonflies on the surface of a lake on a sunny day in the village of Viazynka. Photo: Sergei Grits/AP.

(Wild)Life in a Nuclear Desert

Orevichi, Belarus: A wolf looks into the camera at the 30km exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the abandoned village of Orevichi. Thirty years after the disaster, booming populations of wolf, elk and other wildlife can be found in the vast contaminated zone in Belarus and Ukraine. Photo: Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters.

Forgiveness Sunday

Otradnoye, Belarus: Belarusians dance during Maslenitsa celebrations, or Shrovetide, to say farewell to winter. Photo: Sergei Grits/AP.

Royal Swans

A pair of mute swans on the Molchadka river near the village of Dvorets, Belarus. Photo: Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters

Yellow Submarine

Nigel David Short – Alexander Anatolyevich Motylev
European Rapid Chess Championship; Minsk, December 20, 2015
Caro-Kann Defence B12

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3. Of course, Sir Short is faithful to his system. 4. ... e6 5. a3 Ne7 6. Nc3 Ng6. For 6. ... Nd7 7. Be3 Bg6 8. Nh4 c5 9. dxc5 Nc6 see L. Vajda – Vedmediuc, Romanian Team Chess Championship, Mamaia 2015. 7. Bd3 Bxd3 8. Qxd3 c5 9. 0-0 Nc6 10. Re1 cxd4 11. Nb5 Bc5 12. b4 Be7 13. Nbxd4 Rc8 14. g3 Nf8 15. c3 Nd7 16. h4 0-0 17. Bg5 h6 18. Bxe7 Qxe7 19. Kg2 a6 20. Re2 Rc7 21. Qe3 Rfc8 22. Rd1 Nxd4 23. cxd4 Nf8? A surprisingly passive move. Much better looks 23. ... Nb6 intending ... Nb6-c4. 24. Rd3 Qd7

25. g4!! Maybe not the best move in absolute terms, but from a practical point of view it turns out to be the decisive turning-point. White creates out from nothing a metaphorical attack against the enemy King. 25. ... Qb5 26. h5 Nh7 27. Red2 Rc1 28. g5 hxg5 29. Nxg5 Ra1 30. Nh3! Prophylaxis combined with attack. 30. ... Rcc1 31. h6 g6 32. Rc3 Qf1+ 33. Kg3 Qh1! With the terrible threat of ... Nh7-g5. Now Short must walk the tightrope. 34. Rxc1 Rxc1 35. Rd3! Re1 36. Qf3 Qxf3+ 37. Rxf3 Rc1 38. Rb3 Rc4. 38. ... b5 39. a4! is also very unpleasant for Black. 39. b5! a5 40. b6! White’s main idea is Rb3-b5-c5. 40. ... Rxd4 41. Rb5 Rd3+ 42. f3 f6. If 42. ... Rxa3 then 43. Rc5! (the pointe) and Black cannot hold the endgame anyway. 43. Rxa5 fxe5 44. Ra8+ Kf7 45. Ra7 g5 46. Rxb7+ Kg6 47. a4 Nf6 48. h7 Nxh7 49. a5 Nf6 50. a6 Rd2 51. Nf2 Nh5+ 52. Kg2 g4 53. a7 Ra2 54. Rb8 Nf4+ 1 : 0. A splendid game.

David Nigel Short (@nigelshortchess)

East of the Sun and West of the Moon

Baadur Jobava – Vladimir Veremeichik
European Rapid Chess Championship; Minsk, December 19, 2015
Richter–Veresov Attack D01

1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c6 4. e3 Bf5 5. h3!? A bit of improvisation. For 5. f3 e6 6. g4 Bg6 7. h4 h6 8. Bd3 Bxd3 9. cxd3 Bd6 see Rapport – Tania Sachdev, 12th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival, Catalan Bay 2014. 5. ... h6 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. g4 Bh7 8. Bd3 e6 9. Bxh7 Nxh7 10. Qd3 Nhf6 11. 0-0-0 Qa5 12. a3 Nb6? A bit convoluted. After 12. ... b5! followed by ... b5-b4 as soon as possible, the game is dynamically balanced. 13. Nd2 Nc8. As it will be soon clear, Black’s formal consistency is not sufficient to guarantee safety. It’s complicated but interesting HAL 9000’s suggestion 13. ... Bxa3!? 14. Nb3 Bxb2+ 15. Kxb2 Qb4 eventually followed by ... a7-a5-a4. But 13. ... Qa6, forcing the exchange of Queens might have been relatively best. 14. Rhg1 Be7 15. h4! Nd7 16. g5 hxg5 17. hxg5 Nf8 18. g6! f6 19. e4! The breakthrough in the centre secures White an overwhelming game. 19. ... Bd6 20. e5! fxe5 21. dxe5 Be7 22. Qf3 Qc7 23. Be3! Bd8. Not 23. ... Qxe5 on account of 24. Qf7+ Kd7 25. Nde4 with potentially devastating threats, such as Ne4-c5+ and Rg1-g5.

24. Nde4! An inspired Knight sacrifice. 24. ... b6. Accepting the sacrifice equally leads to catastrophe: 24. ... dxe4 25. Nxe4 and Black is without resource against all White’s threats. 25. Nf6+! The pointe. 25. ... gxf6 26. exf6. Of course 26. g7 is also very good, but Jobava is not a “black bull” and enjoys playing chess. 26. ... Nxg6 27. Rxg6! Qf7 28. Rdg1. Such a dream position! 28. ... Nd6 29. Bd4 Nf5 30. Qd3 Nxd4 31. Qxd4 Rf8 32. Nxd5! The final touch! The Knight is taboo, for if 32. ... exd5 then 33. Qe5+ followed by Rg6-g7, while if 32. ... cxd5 then 33. Rg7. 32. ... Qd7 33. f7+! Qxf7. If 33. ... Kxf7 then 34. Rg7+ Ke8 35. Nf6+ and mate in two moves. 34. Qc4! Rc8 35. Rxe6+! Kd7 36. Rgg6 Bg5+ 37. Kb1 Qxe6 38. Nxb6+ 1 : 0.

Baadur Jobava
Photo: ruchess.ru