Bamboozled

Elshan Moradi Abadi – Baadur Jobava
9th Hogeschool Zeeland Chess Tournament; Vlissingen, August 8, 2015
Grünfeld Defence D94

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 g6 5. d4 Bg7 6. Be2 0-0 7. 0-0 b6 8. b3 Bb7 9. Ba3 dxc4 10. bxc4 Nbd7 11. Qb3 c5 12. Rad1 Qb8 13. d5. White can rely on a solid advantage in space. 13. ... Re8 14. Bb2 e6 15. a4 a6 16. dxe6 Rxe6 17. Nd5 h6 18. Bc3 Bc6 19. Rb1 Ra7 20. Rfd1. Not 20. Nxb6? Qxb6! 21. Qxb6 Nxb6 22. Rxb6 Bxf3! 23. Rb8+ Re8! and Black remains a piece ahead. 20. ... Rb7 21. Qa2 Kh7 22. Qa1 Qh8. “A somewhat unusual stand off on the a1-h8 diagonal in this Jobava game”, Olimpiu G. Urcan said. 23. a5 b5 24. Nf4 Re7 25. cxb5 Bxb5 26. Bc4? Here, probably, Iran’s Grandmaster misses his chance. After 26. Bxb5 Rxb5 27. Rxb5 axb5 28. a6 the position looks quite unpleasant for Black. Now Jobava snatches the initiative. 26. ... Ne4 27. Bxg7 Qxg7 28. Qxg7+ Kxg7 29. Nd5 Re6 30. Nf4 Re8 31. Bd5 Ra7 32. Rbc1 Ndf6 33. h4 Rd7 34. Bb3. We would recommend, instead of the text, the simplifying 34. Bxe4 in order to make things more difficult for Black. 34. ... Rxd1+ 35. Rxd1

35. ... g5 36. hxg5? The opening of the h-file gives the Black Rook a way to bite the enemy King. After 36. Nd5 g4 37. Nxf6 Nxf6 38. Nd2 g3 Black stands better, but the game is not yet over. 36. ... hxg5 37. Nd5 Ng4 38. Nc7 Rh8 39. Rd5. If 39. Nxb5 then equally 39. ... Ngxf2 threatening both ... Rh8-h1 mate and ... Nf2xd1. 39. ... Ngxf2 40. Nh2 g4 41. g3. Else 41. Nxb5 g3! and wins. 41. ... Bc6 42. Nxa6. Not 42. Rf5 Nh3+ 43. Kg2 Nd6+ and wins. If, instead, 42. Re5 there follows 42. ... Nd2! threatening both ... Nf2-h3 mate and ... Nd2xb3. 42. ... Rh3 43. Nf1 Bb5 0 : 1.

Elshan Moradi Abadi vs. Baadur Jobava
Photo: Ad Bruijns and Frans Peeters

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Starship Enterprise

Robby Kevlishvili – Baadur Jobava
9th Hogeschool Zeeland Chess Tournament; Vlissingen, August 7, 2015
Philidor Defence C41

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7. The so-called Hanham Variation, favoured by Aron Nimzowitsch. 5. Bc4 Be7 6. a4 0-0 7. 0-0 a5 8. Re1 b6!? Probably it is not without reason that 8. ... c6 is much more common than the text, but Jobava is notoriously a deep thinker, so let’s take it serious. 9. h3 Bb7 10. b3 h6 11. Bb2 Re8 12. Bb5 Bf8 13. dxe5 dxe5 14. Nd5 Nxe4 15. Rxe4. After 15. Nxc7 Qxc7 16. Qxd7 Qxd7 17. Bxd7 Red8 18. Nxe5 Bc5 19. Rf1 Ba6 20. c4 Nd2 Black wins back his Pawn with satisfactory play. 15. ... c6 16. Nxe5 Nxe5 17. Bf1 Qxd5 18. Qxd5 Nf3+ 19. gxf3 cxd5 20. Rxe8 Rxe8 21. Rd1 Bc5 22. Bb5 Re6 23. Bd4 h5 24. Kg2 h4 25. Rd3 Kf8 26. Kf1 g5. Baadur continues to play with great energy. 27. Rd1. If 27. Bxc5+ bxc5 28. Rc3 then 28. ... Ke7! 29. Rxc5 Kd6 30. Rc3 Rf6 31. Rd3 Rf4 32. c3 Kc5! 33. Re3 d4! 34. Re5+ Kd6 35. cxd4 f6 followed by ... Rf4xd4, when Black’s strong position fully compensates for the minus Pawn. 27. ... Ke7 28. Kg2 f5 29. Kf1 Bxd4 30. Rxd4 Kf6 31. Rd1. Maybe it was better to play 31. f4 gxf4 (31. ... g4!? is quite an interesting Pawn sacrifice, but after 32. hxg4 fxg4 33. Bd7 Re4 34. Rxe4 dxe4 35. Bxg4 Bd5! 36. Bh3 Be6! 37. Bg2 Bf5 38. Kg1! White holds the draw) 32. Rxf4 Re4 33. Rf3 d4 34. Rd3 Ke5 when Black’s edge is perhaps not enough to win. 31. ... d4! Jobava gradually improves his own position eventually reducing his opponent to total passivity. 32. Rxd4 Bxf3 33. Bc4 Rc6 34. Kg1 Ke5 35. Rd8 Rd6 36. Re8+. The ending with King, Bishop, and Pawns would be equally hopeless for White, e.g. 36. Rxd6 Kxd6 37. c3 Bd5! and Black must win. 36. ... Kf4 37. Bd3 Rd5 38. Rf8 Re5. Threat: 39. ... Re1+ 40. Bf1 Be2. 39. Kh2? The losing move, but also 39. Kf1 Bh1! followed by ... g5-g4 would have been very unpleasant for White (if 40. Kg1 there follows 40. ... Bb7! 41. Kf1 g4! 42. hxg4 h3! winning easily for Black).

Of course Black cannot play 39. ... Re1?? on account of 40. Rxf5 mate, but... 39. ... g4! Sic et simpliciter. 40. hxg4 Re1 41. Rxf5+ Kxg4 42. Rxf3 Kxf3 43. Kh3?? This is a self-mate, but Robby would also lose after other moves, e.g. 43. Bb5 Kxf2. 43. ... Rh1 mate.

Mythos

Baadur Jobava – Julian van Overdam
9th Hogeschool Zeeland Chess Tournament; Vlissingen, August 5, 2015
Bogo-Indian Defence E11

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Qe7 5. e3 Nc6 6. Be2 Bxd2+ 7. Nbxd2 d6 8. 0-0 0-0 9. Ne1 e5 10. d5 Nb8 11. e4 a5 12. g3 Na6 13. Ng2 Nc5 14. Qc2 Bd7 15. Rae1 c6 16. Qb1 b5 17. dxc6 Bxc6 18. cxb5 Bxe4 19. Nxe4 Ncxe4 20. Rd1 d5 21. Ne3 d4 22. Nc4 Nc5 23. Rfe1 Rfd8 24. Nxa5 Rxa5 25. b4 Raa8 26. bxc5 Qxc5 27. Rc1 Qd5 28. Bc4 Qd6 29. Bd3 Re8 30. Rc6 Qe7 31. b6 Rab8 32. a4 Qa3 33. Qb5 e4

34. Rxf6!? Unsurprisingly, Jobava goes in for a rather speculative Exchange sacrifice. Objectively speaking, 24. Bc4 was probably stronger. 24. ... gxf6? But this automatic recapture is very bad. After 34. ... Qxd3! 35. Rf5 g6 36. Rd5 Qc3 37. Rf1 e3! Black has at least equality. 35. Rxe4 Rxe4 36. Bxe4 d3 37. Bxd3 Rxb6 38. Bxh7+ Kxh7 39. Qxb6 Qc3? An incomprehensible error. After 39. ... Qxa4 40. Qxf6 Black at least has eliminated the terrific passed a-Pawn. 40. Kg2 Kg7 41. a5 Qe5 42. h4 1 : 0.

Baadur Jobava
Photo: Ad Bruijns and Frans Peeters

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No Man’s Land

Dirk van Dooren – Baadur Jobava
19th Hogeschool Zeeland Chess Tournament; Vlissingen, August 2, 2015
Bird’s Opening A02

1. f4. “1. f4 against Jobava – what could go possibly go wrong? :)”, the editor-in-chief of chess24.com joked. 1. ... b6 2. d3 Bb7 3. e4 e6 4. Nf3 Ne7 5. c3 d5 6. e5 c5 7. Na3 Nbc6 8. Be2 Nf5 9. 0-0 h5 10. Nc2 d4 11. Ng5 h4 12. Bf3 Be7 13. Ne4 Qd7 14. c4 0-0-0 15. a3

15. ... h3 16. g3 f6 17. exf6 gxf6 18. b4 Ne3 19. Nxe3 dxe3 20. Bxe3 Qxd3 21. Kf2 cxb4 22. Qxd3 Rxd3 23. axb4 Rhd8 24. c5 f5 25. b5? Less committal is 25. Ng5 Nxb4! 26. cxb6 Bxf3 27. Nxf3 (not 27. Rxa7? Bg2 28. Rc1+ Kb8 when 29. Rxe7 is met by 29. ... Rxe3 30. Kxe3 Nd5+) 27. ... a6! with mutual chances in a very complex-looking position. 25. ... Rxe3 26. Kxe3 fxe4 27. bxc6? Here is Dirk’s real mistake. After 27. Rfc1! Bxc5+ 28. Rxc5 bxc5 29. bxc6 exf3 30. cxb7+ Kxb7 31. Kxf3 Kc6!? – Black’s extra Pawn would in any case be difficult to exploit – 32. Rxa7 Rd2 White, despite Black’s initiative, should hold the endgame. 27. ... Bxc5+ 28. Kxe4 Bxc6+ 29. Ke5 Bxf3 30. Rxa7. If 30. Rxf3 then 30. ... Bd4+ and wins. 30. ... Bd5 31. Rd1 b5 32. Rh7 Ba3 33. Rb1 b4 34. Ra7 Rd7 35. Ra5 Kd8 36. f5 Ke7 37. g4 Bc4 38. fxe6 Bxe6 39. g5 Rd2 40. Ra7+ Bd7 41. g6 Bb2+ 42. Kf4 Bc3 43. Re1+ Kd6 44. Re3 Rf2+ 45. Kg3 Rg2+ 46. Kh4 Bf5 47. Ra6+ Kd7 48. Ra5 Bf6+ 49. Kh5 Bxg6+ 50. Kh6 Bc3 51. Ra7+ Kd6 52. Ree7 Bd2+ 53. Kg7 Be4+ 54. Kf8 Bh6+ 55. Ke8 Rg8+ 56. Kf7 Rf8 mate.

Dirk van Dooren vs. Baadur Jobava
Photo: Ad Bruijns and Frans Peeters