Just a Few Seconds

Ian Aleksandrovich Nepomniachtchi – Denis Rimovich Khismatullin
71st Russian Chess Championship Superfinal; Satka, September 1, 2018
Russian Defence C42

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bf5 7. 0-0 Be7 8. Re1 0-0 9. Nc3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Bxd3 11. Qxd3 Nd7 12. a4!? A bid to improve on 12. Rb1 Nb6 13. Qf5 Re8 14. Bg5 f6 15. Bf4 Bd6 16. Rxe8+ Qxe8 17. Bxd6 cxd6 18. Qf4 ½ : ½ Nepomniachtchi – Jobava, 7th Chess World Cup, Tbilisi 2017, match game 1. But indeed also with the text move White achieves very little. 12. ... c6 13. a5 Re8 14. c4 dxc4 15. Qxc4 Qc7 16. Bd2 Bd6 17. g3 Nf6 18. Bg5 Ne4 19. Qd3 Nxg5 20. Nxg5 g6 21. Ne4 Be7 22. Qb3 Red8 23. Rad1 b5 24. axb6 Qxb6 25. Qa4 a5 26. c3 Qb5 27. Ra1 Qxa4. Khismatullin opts for a superactive defence, finally ceding a Pawn that he judges as being of little importance. 28. Rxa4 c5 29. dxc5 f5 30. Nd2 Bxc5 31. Nc4 Rd3 32. Rc1 f4 33. gxf4 Rf3 34. Rc2 Rxf4 35. Rxa5 Rxa5 36. Nxa5 Kf7 37. Nb3 Bb6 38. c4 Ke6 39. Kg2 g5 40. Re2+ Kf6 41. c5 Bc7 42. h3 h5 43. Rc2 Ke6 44. c6 Kd6 45. Rd2+ Ke5. 45. ... Kxc6 46. Nd4+ Kb7 47. Ne6 Rf6 48. Nxg5 leads to a worse version of the same ending. 46. Rc2 Kd6. Aiming to repeat moves — but 46. ... g4! 47. h4 Rf3 48. Nd2 Rd3 seems very close to a draw. 47. Nc5 Bb6 48. Na6 Rf7 49. Kg3

49. ... Ra7?? Obviously a dramatic blunder that loses immediately. Of course, equally disastrous was 49. ... Bxf2+?? 50. Rxf2 Rxf2 51. Kxf2 Kxc6 52. Ke3! with an elementary win, but 49. ... Rf8(!) appears to offer a possible way to save the day, as after — for instance — 50. c7 Kd7 51. Nc5+ Kc8 52. Ne6 Rf5 it seems hard — and in any case harder — for White to make progress. 50. c7! Bxc7 51. Nxc7 Rxc7 52. Rxc7 Kxc7 53. h4! Sic et simpliciter. The King and Pawn ending is trivially won. 1 : 0.

Ian Aleksandrovich Nepomniachtchi. Photo: Eteri Kublashvili.

A Day with Aeroflot

余泱漪 (Yú Yāngyī) – Denis Rimovich Khismatullin
15th Aeroflot Open; Moscow, February 24, 2017
Sicilian Defence B23

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. g3 b5 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. d3 e6 6. Nh3 b4 7. Ne2 d5 8. e5 Nc6 9. f4 Nh6. Very similar consequences may arise from 9. ... Nge7 10. 0-0 Nf5 11. g4 Nh4 12. Ng3 Nxg2 13. Kxg2 Qd7 14. Qe1 0-0-0 15. a3 a5 16. axb4 axb4 17. Kg1 f6 18. c3 d4 19. c4 Re8 20. Qe2 f5 21. Bd2 g6 22. Kf2 Be7 23. Ke1 Kc7 24. Kf2 Ra8 25. Ng1 Na5 26. h3 h5 27. gxh5 gxh5 28. Nf3 h4 29. Nh1 Nb3 30. Rab1 Qc6 31. Kg2 Rag8+ 32. Kh2 Rg6 33. Ng5 Rhg8 34. Rg1 Bxg5 35. Rxg5 Qf3 36. Re1 Rxg5 37. fxg5 Qxe2+ 38. Rxe2 Nxd2 39. Rxd2 Rxg5 40. b3 Kd7 0 : 1 Mack – Hillarp Persson, 35th Guernsey International Chess Festival, Guernsey 2009. 10. Nf2 Nf5 11. 0-0 Qb6 12. c3 Be7 13. g4? Nh4⩱ 14. Bh1 h5! 15. g5 f6. Grandmaster Rafael Duailibe Leitão much prefers 15. ... g6⩱, apparently not too convinced by Black’s following Pawn sacrifice. 16. exf6 gxf6 17. Ng3 fxg5 18. fxg5 0-0-0! 19. Qe2. As a matter of fact, it seems a loss of time. After 19. Re1! (Leitão) 19. ... e5 20. Nxh5 Kb8 21. Qg4 Ng6 the same position of the actual game occurs, but with the difference that the White Rook is on e1 (White has magically gained a move!). 19. ... e5 20. Nxh5 Kb8 21. Qg4 Ng6. Black’s attacking prospects more than compensate for the Pawn. 22. Nf6 e4! Leitão recommends 22. ... Bc8!∓, but, indeed, Black’s second positional Pawn sacrifice appears very powerful. 23. dxe4 Nce5 24. Qg3 Bd6 25. h3 Qc7 26. Rd1 Nd7! 27. Qf3 Nxf6 28. gxf6 dxe4 29. Qg4 Rhg8 30. Kf1 Nf4 31. Qf5

31. ... e3! Another convincing line is 31. ... Rg1+!? 32. Kg1 Ne2+ 33. Kg2 e3+ 34. Ne4 Ng3−+ (Leitão’s analysis). 32. Bxe3 Bxh1? Black misses the most forcing 32. ... Rg1+! 33. Kxg1 Ne2+ 34. Kf1 Ng3+ winning heavy material. 33. f7? Returning the favour. Best was 33. Rxd6 Bg2+ 34. Ke1 Qxd6 35. Qxf4 Qxf4 35. Bxf4+ Kc8∓ (Leitão’s analysis). 33. ... Bg2+ 34. Ke1 Qe7! 35. Ng4 Rxg4! 0 : 1.

Gifted Hands

Denis Rimovich Khismatullin – Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina
69th All-Russian Higher League; Kolomna, June 24, 2016
English Opening A28

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 Bb4 5. e4 Bxc3 6. bxc3 d6 7. d3 0-0 8. Nf3 Bd7 9. 0-0 Qc8. Goryachkina goes for unfianchettoing. The alternative was 9. ... Kh8 10. Nh4 Ng8 11. Be3 Be6 12. Qd2 Nge7 13. f4 exf4 14. Bxf4 f6 15. Be3 Qd7 16. Rab1 b6 17. Nf5 Ne5 18. Nxe7 Qxe7 19. h3 Rae8 20. g4 Qd7 21. Kh2 Bf7 22. Bf4 Bg6 23. Qe2 c6 24. Rbe1 Bf7 25. Bg3 Kg8 26. Qd1 Re7 27. Rf5 ½ : ½ Uhlmann – Kortschnoi, Interzonal Tournament, Leningrad 1973. 10. Rb1 Rb8 11. Nh4 Bh3 12. f4 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 Qg4 14. Qc2 Qd7 15. Qe2 Ne7 16. fxe5 dxe5 17. Ba3 Rfe8 18. Rf3 b6 19. Rbf1 c5 20. Bc1 Ng6 21. Nf5 Re6. In spite of coriaceous defence by Goryachkina, the open f-file seems to offer White a definite initiative.

22. Nxg7?! A controversial choice among many interesting possibilities. The simplest could be 22. h4! h5 23. Ne3 with very promising prospects; for instance: 23. ... Nf8 24. Rxf6! Rxf6 25. Rxf6 gxf6 26. Nd5 and White’s position appears dominant. 22. ... Kxg7 23. Qf2 Kg8?! Chess-News.ru’s commentator Alexey Borisovich Yarovinsky recommends 23. ... Qd6! 24. Bg5 Nd7 25. Rxf7+ Kh8 with unclear variations, in his opinion, more favourable to Black. 24. Bg5?? An awful blunder. After 24. Rxf6 Nf4+ 25. Rxf4 exf4 26. Qxf4 both material and dynamic assets more than compensate White for the Exchange. 24. ... Nh5 25. Qe2. Yarovinsky suspects that Khismatullin may have overlooked — after 25. Rxf7 — the trivial refutation 25. ... Ngf4+! which wins instantly. 25. ... f6 26. Bc1 Rd8 27. Bh6 Rd6 28. Rf5 Ng7 29. Rxf6 Nf4+ 0 : 1.

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina. Photo: Chess-News.ru.