No Other Way

Emil Sutovsky – David Wei Liang Howell
25th Paul Keres Memorial; Tallinn, January 10, 2016
Spanish C60

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 4. Nc3 g6 5. d4 exd4 6. Nd5 Bg7 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bf6 Bxf6. The alternative is 8. ... Kf8, e.g. 10. 0-0 Kg7 11. Nd5 a6 12. Bxc6 Nxc6 13. Nxd4 Re8 14. Qd3 f6 15. f4 d6 16. Rae1 Nxd4 17. Qxd4 Be6 18. f5 Bxd5 19. exd5 Re5 20. Qb4 b5 21. fxg6 Qd7 22. Qh4 Rf8 23. Rf3 Rxd5 24. Rh3 Rh8 25. Rf3 Rf8 26. Rh3 Rh8 27. Rf3 Rf8 ½ : ½ 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) – Dzagnidze, 1st Hángzhōu Women Grandmaster Tournament, 杭州 (Hángzhōu) 2011. 9. Nxf6+ Kf8 10. Qd2 d5 11. Bxc6 Nxc6 12. Nxd5 Bf5 13. Qf4. For 13. Nxc7 Qxc7 14. exf5 Re8+ 15. Kf1 gxf5 16. g3 Qd8 17. Qd3 Qd5 18. Qb3 Qxb3 19. axb3 Kg7 20. Rd1 Kf6 21. Rd2 Re4 22. Kg2 Rhe8 23. Rhd1 see Giri – Cornette, French Team Chess Championship Top 12, Montpellier 2015. 13. ... Bxe4 14. Nxc7. 14. Qxe4 Qd6 15. Nxc7 Qxc7 leads to nothing special, Haznedaroglu – Chan Wei Xuan, 1st Campomanes Memorial Cup Open, Manila 2010. 14. ... Qe7

15. Nxa8. This is hardly an improvement over 15. 0-0-0? g5 16. Qg3 (Kutuzović – Stević, 8th International Open, Županja 2014) and now, after 16. ... Qc5 17. Rd2 Rc8 White would get into serious trouble. 15. ... Bd3+! 16. Ne5 Nxe5 17. 0-0-0 Qc5 18. Rd2 Kg7 19. Re1? Sutovsky’s last chance was 19. b4! Qd6 20. Nc7! g5! 21. Qg3 Qxc7 22. Re1 f6 23. Rxe5! fxe5 24. Qxd3 Re8 and, although Black’s position is easier to play, White keeps reasonable drawing chances. 19. ... f6 20. Qg3? 0 : 1. For 20. ... Bf5 will leave Black with two pieces for the Rook and an imposing position.

David Wei Liang Howell (@DavidHowellGM)

The Luck You Got

Emil Davidovich Sutovsky – Alexei Dmitrievich Shirov
16th Poikovsky Karpov Chess Tournament; Poikovsky, September 29, 2015
Sicilian Defence B90

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Nc3 a6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. h3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f4 Nbd7 9. f5 Bxb3 10. axb3 d5 11. exd5 Bb4 12. Bd2 0-0 13. Qe2 Bxc3. Aiming to improve on 13. ... Rc8 14. 0-0-0 Qa5 15. Kb1 Bxc3 16. bxc3 Qxd5 17. c4 Qc6 18. Qf3 Ne4 19. Bb4 Ndc5 20. Bd3 Qb6 21. Bxe4 Qxb4 22. f6 Nxe4 23. Qxe4 gxf6 24. Rd7 b5 25. Qg4+ Kh8 26. Qf3 Rxc4 27. Qxf6+ Kg8 28. Qg5+ Kh8 29. Qxe5+ Kg8 30. Qg5+ Kh8 31. Qf6+ Kg8 32. Rd5 Rfc8 33. Rhd1 1 : 0 Sutovsky – Das, 13rd Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival, Catalan Bay 2015. 14. bxc3 e4 15. 0-0-0 a5 16. Be3 a4 17. b4 Nb6 18. Qb5. This seems rather committal, even if it turns out to be a... real stroke of luck! Objectively speaking, 18. Qf2 looks much stronger, e.g. 18. ... Nfxd5!? 19. c4 a3! 20. cxd5 a2 21. Kb2 Qxd5! 22. Bd4 a1=Q+ 23. Rxa1 Na4+ 24. Kc1! Rfd8 25. Be2! Qxd4 26. Qxd4 Rxd4 27. c4 and White stands better. 18. ... Nbxd5 19. Bc4. Now 19. c4?? is refuted by 19. ... a3! 20. cxd5 a2 21. Kb2 Nxd5! and wins. 19. ... Nxe3. Shirov sacrifices his Queen for White’s Rook and Bishop – nothing but a forced brilliancy. 20. Rxd8 Rfxd8 21. Ba2 a3 22. g4

22. ... Ned5? “In Sutovsky – Shirov, the line 22. ... Nfd5 23. Qxb7 Rdb8 24. Bxd5 Rxb7 25. Bxb7 Rd8! 26. Bxe4 Nd1!! is fantastic”, Grandmaster Jon Ludvig Nilssen Hammer said. 23. g5 Nxc3 24. Bxf7+. White turned the tables. It was a lucky day for the ACP President! 24. ... Kxf7 25. Qxb7+ Nd7 26. Qc6 a2 27. Kb2 Na4+ 28. Ka1 Kg8 29. f6 Ne5 30. Qxe4 Re8 31. Re1 Nc3 32. Qd4 Rac8 33. h4 g6 34. b5 1 : 0.

Emil Davidovich Sutovsky
Photo: ruchess.ru

The Phantom Menace

Mariya Muzychuk – Emil Davidovich Sutovsky
12th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival, Catalan Bay, February 4, 2014
Sicilian Defence B50

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c3 Nf6 4. Be2 g6 5. 0-0 Bg7 6. Bb5+ Nc6 7. d4 0-0 8. d5 Ne5 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. Qe2. This move looks more natural than 10. Qc2 e6 11. dxe6 Bxe6 12. Nd2 Qb6 13. Bc4 Rfd8 14. Bxe6 Qxe6 15. Nf3 b6 ½ : ½ R. Bellin – Lalić, Staffordshire Centenary Team Tournament, Walsall 1997. 10. ... a6 11. Bd3 b5 12. a4 e6 13. dxe6 Bxe6 14. b4 cxb4 15. axb5 a5 16. cxb4 axb4 17. Ra6 Rc8 18. Be3 Ng4

19. Ba7. Mariya becomes just a little over-confident, on the assumption that her passed b-Pawn will promote, but in practice matters are not so easy. 19. ... Qd7 20. b6 Rfd8 21. Ra5 b3! It seems a very risky strategic decision, but no! In any event, consideration deserves 21. ... Qxd3 22. Qxd3 Rxd3 23. b7 Rf8 24. Rb5 Nf6 25. b8=Q Rxb8 26. Bxb8 Bf8 27. Bxe5 Nxe4 28. f3 Bc5+ 29. Kh1 Nf2+ 30. Kg1 Nh3++ which allows Black to give perpetual check. 22. Rb5 Nxf2? A serious error of judgment. Correct was 22. ... Qb7! (threatening 23. ... Rxd3 24. Qxd3 Bc4) when Black stands decidedly better. It is not easy for White to get out. Here’s a sample variation: 23. Rxb3 Bxb3 24. Ba6 Qd7 25. b7 Rc2 26. Qd3 Qxd3 27. Bxd3 Ra2 28. b8=Q Rxb8 29. Bxb8 Bf8 30. Nc3 Rxf2! 31. h3 Bc5 32. hxg4 Rc2+ 33. Kh2 Rxc3 when Black comes out a Pawn ahead with a clear advantage. 23. Kxf2. Perhaps Sutovsky was hoping for 23. Rxf2 Rc2! 24. Bxc2 bxc2 25. Rf1 Qd4+ 26. Qf2 Qxf2+ 27. Kxf2 Rd1 28. Rxd1 cxd1=Q 29. b7 Qc2+ with perpetual check. 23. ... Bg4 24. Rd5 Bxe2 25. Rxd7 Rxd7. No better is 25. ... Bxd3 26. Rxd8+ Rxd8 27. Rd1 followed by b6-b7. 26. Kxe2. Black has fallen into a desperate endgame scenario. 26. ... b2 27. Bb5 Rc2+ 28. Kf3 Rb7 29. Ba6 Rc1 30. Kf2 Rc2+ 31. Kg1 Rd7. A little better is 31. ... Rxb6 32. Bxb6 Rc6, but after 33. Ba5 Rxa6 34. Bc3 White should win in the short-mid-long run. 32. b7 Rxb7 33. Bxb7 Rc7 34. Bd5 Rxa7 35. Rf2. As they say, the rest is just a matter of technique. 35. ... Bh6 36. Rxb2 Be3+ 37. Kf1 Bd4 38. Rb7 Rxb7 39. Bxb7 Kg7 40. Bc8 Kf6 41. Ke2 Bg1 42. h3 Kg5 43. Kf3 f5 44. Nd2 f4 45. Ke2 Kf6 46. Nf3 Bb6 47. Kd3 Bc5 48. Kc4 Ba3 49. Kd5 Bb2 50. Ne1 Bd4 51. Nd3 Bc3 52. Nc5 Kg5 53. Bg4 h5 54. Bf3 Kh4 55. Nd7 Ba5 56. Ke6 Bc3 57. Kf7 g5 58. Nf6 1 : 0.

Mariya Muzychuk enjoys playing Wizard’s Chess
Photo: Sophie Triay