Kiss of the Frog Prince

Baskaran Adhiban – 王皓 (Wáng Hào)
1st Sharjah Masters International Chess Championship; Sharjah, March 29, 2017
Queen’s Gambit Declined D45

1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Qc2 Bd6 6. d4 Nbd7 7. b3 0-0 8. Bb2 e5 9. Be2 e4 10. Nd2 Re8 11. g4 Nf8 12. Rg1!? Adhiban shows his aggressive intentions. The sacrifice in the text is very probably a (wild) novelty, at least with respect to 12. h3; for instance: 12. ... Be6 13. 0-0-0 a6 14. f3 exf3 15. Bxf3 b5 16. c5 Bc7 17. g5 b4 18. Ne2 Ne4 19. Nxe4 ½ : ½ Rychagov – Lekić, 6th Open, Rethymno 2014. 12. ... Bxh2 13. Rg2 Bd6 14. g5 Bh3 15. Rg1 N6d7 16. 0-0-0 Rc8 17. Rde1 b5 18. c5 Bc7 19. b4 Bf5 20. f3 exf3 21. Qxf5 fxe2 22. e4 dxe4 23. Ndxe4 a5 24. a3 axb4 25. axb4 Ne6 26. Nxe2 Ndf8 27. Rd1 Qd7 28. N4c3? A big blunder which loses at least another Pawn.

28. ... Nxc5! 29. Qc2. Adhiban suddenly realizes that after 29. Qxc5 Bd6 30. Qb6 Rb8 31. Qa6 Ra8 32. Qb6 Reb8 Her Majesty would be trapped. 29. ... Na6 30. Qb3 Bd6 31. Rgf1 Nxb4. So Black emerged three Pawns up, which, of course, will prove enough for 王皓 (Wáng Hào)’s technique. 32. Rf3 Nd5 33. Rdf1 Re7 34. Kb1 Qe6 35. Nxd5 cxd5 36. Nc1 Nd7 37. Nd3 Nb6 38. Bc1 Nc4 39. Qa2 Qe4 40. Qf2 Rce8 41. Re1 Qg6 42. Rxe7 Rxe7 43. Rf5 Ne3 44. Bxe3 Rxe3 45. Qxe3 Qxf5 46. Qe8+ Bf8 47. Qxb5 Qxg5 48. Kc2 Qf5 49. Kc3 h5 50. Ne5 Qe6 51. Qb8 h4 52. Qd8 h3 53. Qh4 Be7 54. Qh5 Bd6 55. Ng4 h2 0 : 1.

Baskaran Adhiban (R.) vs. 王皓 (Wáng Hào)
Photo: Anastasiya Valeryevna Karlovich

The Frog Prince

王皓 (Wáng Hào) – Raunak Sadhwani
1st Sharjah Masters International Chess Championship; Sharjah, March 26, 2017
King’s Indian Defence E81

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. d4 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 0-0 6. Be3 c5 7. dxc5 dxc5 8. Qxd8 Rxd8 9. Bxc5 Nc6 10. Be3 b6 11. Rc1 Ba6. 11. ... Nd7 12. Nh3 Nc5 is here more usual; for instance: 13. Nf4 Ba6 14. Nfd5 e6 15. Nc7 Rac8 16. Nxa6 Nxa6 17. f4 Nc5 18. e5 g5 19. g3 gxf4 20. gxf4 f6 21. exf6 Bxf6 22. Be2 Nd4 23. b3 Nf5 24. Bf2 Kf7 25. 0-0 Rd2 26. Rfe1 Rg8+ 27. Kf1 Bd4 28. Bh5+ Kf6 29. Re2 Bxf2 30. Rxd2 Be3 31. Rcd1 Rg1+ 32. Ke2 Rg2+ 33. Ke1 Rg1+ 34. Ke2 Rg2+ 35. Ke1 Rg1+ ½ : ½ Édouard – Shyam, 49th International Master Open, Biel/Bienne 2016. 12. Nh3 Rac8 13. Nf2 e6!? Sadhwani’s new one. For 13. ... Nd7 14. Be2 Nd4 15. b3 Ne5 see Kroll – Søgaard, Aarhusmesterskabet, Aarhus 1991. 14. Be2 Nb4. I don’t like this move, which shows really bad judgment. The immediate 14. ... Nd7 seems more to the point. 15. b3 Nd7 16. 0-0

16. ... Bxc3? Here is the (radically bad) corollary to the previous idea: Black gives up the Bishop pair, weakens the dark squares around the King, and uncoordinates his Knights on the Queenside for the sake of a mere Pawn. After 16. ... Nc5(!) Black’s position seems perfectly tenable. 17. Rxc3 Nxa2 18. Rc2 Nb4 19. Rd2 Nc5 20. Rfd1 Re8? This is a gross blunder, but after 20. ... Rxd2 21. Bxd2 Nc2 22. b4 Nb3 23. b5 Ncd4 24. Bf1 Bb7 25. Bg5 Kg7 26. Ng4 White stands very much better and should win anyway. 21. Ng4 Kg7 22. Bh6+ Kh8 23. Nf6. The Black Rook has any good square. 23. ... Nc6 24. Nxe8 Rxe8 25. b4 Nb3 26. Rd6 Ncd4 27. R6xd4 Nxd4 28. Rxd4 1 : 0.

王皓 (Wáng Hào) vs. Raunak Sadhwani
Photo: Maria Alekseevna Emelianova

The Golden Salamander

王皓 (Wáng Hào) – Sethuraman Panayappan Sethuraman
1st Sharjah Masters International Chess Championship; Sharjah, March 25, 2017
Spanish Game C88

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 0-0 8. a4 Bb7 9. d3 d5 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nbd2 f6! 12. axb5 axb5 13. Rxa8 Bxa8 14. c4!?? White goes for tricky adventures (which will soon imply a Pawn sacrifice), since otherwise Black seems to have completely equalised (for instance: 14. Ne4 Na5 15. Ba2 c5=). 14. ... bxc4 15. Nxc4 Kh8 16. d4 Bb4 17. Re4. This was 王皓 (Wáng Hào)’s idea, heading for Black’s King. 17. ... Nde7 18. Rh4 Nf5. Clearly not 18. ... exd4?? on account of 19. Ng5! winning immediately. 19. Rh3 Ncxd4 20. Nxd4 exd4. All White’s hopes vanish: 20. ... Nxd4? 21. Nxe5! fxe5?? 22. Rxh7+ Kxh7 23. Qh5 mate. 21. Qg4. Yet believing. After 21. Qh5 Black gives back his extra Pawn by 21. ... Nh6 22. Bxh6 gxh6 23. Qxh6 Qe7 for securing a clear advantage. 21. ... Nh6?? And a miracle happens! Had Black played 21. ... Qd5! it would almost certainly have been another story. 22. Bxh6 gxh6 23. Rg3 Rg8

24. Nd6!! 1 : 0. For after 24. ... Rxg4 25. Nf7+ Kg7 26. Rxg4+ Kf8 27. Nxd8 White remains a Rook ahead.

Shaking hands before tea time. Photo: Maria Alekseevna Emelianova.

The Suicide Club

Musunuri Lalith Babu – Kantholi Rathnakaran
1st Sharjah Masters International Chess Championship; Sharjah, March 24, 2017
4r2k/1p4bp/p2p2p1/3P4/P4p2/1P3Q1P/3qNPP1/2R3K1 w - - 3 28

Position after 27. ... Rf8-e8

White’s position is just a little uncomfortable, as his pieces appear quite clumsy, and you would expect something like 28. Kf1 Kg8 with Black keeping the initiative himself. But no! 28. Rc4?? It is really an awful oversight. White thought he had time for a Rook lift along the 4th rank (thus attacking the f4-Pawn), without fearing for his Knight, as after 28. ... Qxe2? 29. Qxe2 Rxe2 30. Rc8+ Bf8 31. Rxf8+ Kg7 32. Rxf4 White would regain the piece with a Pawm ahead, while 28. ... Rxe2?? 29. Rc8+ Bf8 30. Rxf8+ Kg7 31. Rxf4 would expose Black to the worst and foreseeable consequences. It seemed everything alright, but Lalith has just overlooked something trivial: 28. ... Qe1+! 29. Kh2 Rxe2 0 : 1. For now Black can answer 30. Rc8+ by 30. ... Re8 remaining with a clear piece ahead.

Musunuri Lalith Babu
Photo: Maria Alekseevna Emelianova

Springtime

Baskaran Adhiban – Mishra Swayams
1st Sharjah Masters International Chess Championship; Sharjah, March 23, 2017
Torre Attack D03

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. e3 c5 5. c3 h6 6. Bh4 Nc6 7. Nbd2 Qb6 8. Rb1 Be7 9. Bd3 0-0. Also after 9. ... Nh5 10. Bxe7 Nxe7 11. 0-0 Nf6 12. Ne5 0-0 13. f4 White set up an ideal “Pillsbury Formation”, Andreikin – Karjakin, 5th Chess World Cup, Tromsø 2013. 10. 0-0 Re8 11. dxc5 Qxc5 12. b4 Qd6 13. Qe2 Nh5 14. Bxe7 Qxe7 15. b5 Na5 16. Ne5 Nf6 17. f4 b6 18. g4! Nd7 19. Ndf3 Nxe5 20. Nxe5 Bb7 21. g5! Nc4 22. Bxc4 dxc4 23. gxh6 gxh6? Possibly Swayams’s crucial mistake. Despite all Black suffered (and will suffer) it seems that after 23. ... g6! he might still have defended himself. 24. Qh5 f6

25. Kf2! Making room for the Rook on g1. 25. ... Be4. Or 25. ... fxe5 26. Rg1+ and mate in a few moves. 26. Qxh6 1 : 0.

Baskaran Adhiban (L.) vs. Mishra Swayams
Photo: Maria Alekseevna Emelianova