Not yet twenty-one

Grandmaster Ivan Aleksandrovich Bukavshin died unexpectedly on Tuesday, apparently of a stroke. He was not yet twenty-one. News of his sudden death was reported in the early morning of today by the Russian Chess Federation. Ivan Aleksandrovich was born on May 3, 1995, in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. He lived in Tolyatti.

Ivan Aleksandrovich Bukavshin – Ernesto Kazbekovich Inarkiev
13th Aeroflot Open; Moscow, March 30, 2015
Grünfeld Defence D85

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5 8. Be3 Nc6 9. Rc1 cxd4 10. cxd4 e6!? A very interesting novelty in a well-known tabiya. 11. Bc4 0-0 12. 0-0 Na5 13. Bd3 b6 14. h4 Bb7 15. h5 f5 16. e5 gxh5 17. Ng5 Qd5? A fatal slip. Correct was 17. ... Qe8 keeping cool.

18. Be4!! A deadly interference, which was evidently overlooked by Inarkiev. 18. ... Qd7. Not 18. ... fxe4 19. Qxh5 and wins. 19. Bxb7 Nxb7 20. Qxh5 Bh8. 20. ... h6 21. Nh3 Qf7 22. Qh4 was equally hopeless. 21. f4 Rae8 22. Rf3 Re7 23. Rg3 Rg7 24. Bf2 Qe8 25. Qh3 Nd8 26. Nxh7 Rxg3 27. Bxg3 Rf7 28. Ng5 Rd7 29. Rc8 Bg7 30. Bf2 Qg6 31. Qb3 Bf8 32. Qa4 Qg7 33. Rc3 Rc7 34. Rg3 Rc1+ 35. Kh2 Qh6+ 36. Rh3 Qg7 37. Qe8 Qe7 38. Qh5 Bg7 39. Qg6 Kf8 40. Nh7+ Kg8 41. Nf6+ Kf8 42. Rh8+ 1 : 0. It’s mate next move.

Ivan Aleksandrovich Bukavshin
Photo: ruchess.ru

Vu du pont

Evgeny Yurievich Tomashevsky – Ivan Aleksandrovich Bukavshin
68th Russian Chess Championship; Chita, August 18, 2015
Queen’s Gambit Declined D44

Notes by Grandmaster Andrey Alekseevich Deviatkin.

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9. Be2 Bb7 10. Qc2. Tomashevsky (at the press conference with Sergey Rublevsky): “I’ve already played 10. Qc2, meeting 10. ... Nbd7 with 11. Nd2 [he meant his win against Matlakov in the Russian Championship Higher League in Vladivostok 2014 – Ed.]. Ivan has prepared a novelty suggested by all engines”. 10. ... Nh5 11. Be5 Rg8 12. h4 Nf4? “Vanya’s preparation was strange, because if I don’t react this way, White is perhaps just worse... Maybe he thought I’d play 10. Rd1 transposing to a theoretical line known to be drawish. It’s clear that 12. ... Nf4 shouldn’t be the main move here. I think Black has to play 12. ... g4, and this is just the beginning”. 13. hxg5 hxg5 14. Bxf4 gxf4

15. d5! Tomashevsky: “I remembered for sure that this is almost the end for Black... Okay, maybe I’m overoptimistic, but I had analysed this line for about two weeks two years ago. The only problem was that I didn’t repeat exactly this sideline before the game, paying more attention to other tricky variations – in the Anti-Moscow, there are quite a few. But I remembered this position to be extremely dangerous for Black, and also that I had to break through at once. If 15. 0-0-0 then Black is in time with 15. ... Na6, and 16. d5 already doesn’t work because of 16. ... Nb4”. 15. ... Nd7. If 15. ... Na6 then 16. dxe6 fxe6 17. e5 Qe7 18. 0-0-0 (Tomashevsky). 16. 0-0-0. The winner isn’t sure it was the best. In his opinion, the King might be better situated in the center than on the Queenside, since it could hide on f1 in some lines – 16. Rd1!?. 16. ... Qb6 17. dxe6 fxe6 18. Nd4 Nc5. In turn, Black should try to evacuate his King, but he doesn’t have time for that due to the following important line shown by Tomashevsky: 18. ... 0-0-0 19. Nxe6 Re8 20. Qd2! Ne5 [the same idea follows after 20. ... Nf6, while 20. ... Nc5 is no good because of 21. Nxc5 Bxc5 22. Qxf4 Bxf2 (the point is 22. ... Qc7 23. Qf5+ with the double attack] 23. Bxg4+ winning the Exchange] 21. Qxf4! Rxe6 22. Qf5 c5 23. Nd5 Qc6 24. Nf4, and the e6-Rook is lost. The move chosen by Bukavshin holds everything, but now his King is condemned to stay in the center forever. 19. Bh5+ Ke7 20. Be2!? White didn’t find any forcing ways, so he decided to switch to calm play, retaining strong initiative for a Pawn. His plan is to play e4-e5, Kc1-b1, and then “to look for something decisive” (Tomashevsky). In fact, Evgeny was reproaching himself during the press conference for not making best use of the Black’s 12. ... Nf4. According to him, Black should hold this position if he plays with mathematic precision. At the same time, Tomashevsky realized that “the e7-King is a very long-term factor” and Black had to solve many difficult practical problems. For instance, the attempt to simplify the game – 20. ... Nd3+ 21. Bхd3 Qxd4 – would be refuted by 22. Bxc4! Qxc4 23. Qd2 followed by the Queen’s invasion with enormous attack. 18 moves later, the leader’s strategy proved to be successful – Black wasn’t able to repel White’s numerous threats without big material losses. 20. ... Rd8 21. e5 Rg7 22. Nf3 b4 23. Ne4 Rxd1+ 24. Rxd1 c3 25. Nd6 b3 26. axb3 Nxb3+ 27. Kb1 cxb2 28. Bc4 Nc5 29. Nh4 Nd7 30. Ng6+ Kd8 31. Nxb7+ Kc7 32. Nd6 Qa5 33. Ba2 Rxg6 34. Qxg6 Qxe5 35. Ne8+ Kb6 36. Qxe6 Qxe6 37. Bxe6 Nc5 38. Ba2 1 : 0.

Evgeny Yurievich Tomashevsky has become the Russian Champion for the first time in his life. Photo: Суперфинал Чита (‏@SuperfinalChita).

Jumpin’ Jack Flash

Ivan Aleksandrovich Bukavshin – Ildar Amirovich Khairullin
68th Russian Chess Championship; Chita, August 13, 2015
Queen’s Indian Defence E18

“In the men’s tournament, Ivan Bukavshin scored his first victory at the Superfinal, defeating Ildar Khairullin. In a position with hanging Pawns, Bukavshin repositioned his pieces successfully and gained the initiative. While looking for counterplay, Black weakened his Pawn structure and allowed his opponent to grab an open file on the Queenside. The grandmasters, being in mutual time trouble, couldn’t avoid inaccuracies, but White played more soundly on the whole, built up pressure consistently and finished the game with a fine tactical blow”, the editor-in-chief of ruchess.ru said.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. 0-0 0-0 7. Nc3 Ne4 8. Bd2 d5 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Bf4 Nd7 11. Rc1 c5 12. dxc5 Nxc3 13. Rxc3 bxc5 14. Ne1 Nb6. Apparently more convincing than 14. ... Nf6 15. Nd3 Qb6 16. Be3 Rac8 17. b4 as in the game Bukavshin – Yanchenko, Moscow 2015. 15. b3 Rc8 16. Rc2 Re8 17. Nd3 Ba6 18. Bh3 Ra8 19. Bg4 c4 20. Ne5 Bf8 21. Nf3 Bc8 22. Bxc8 Rxc8 23. Be3 Bc5 24. Bxc5 Rxc5 25. Qd4 Qc8 26. Rfc1 Rc6 27. Qd1 Rf6 28. Rd2 h6 29. Rd4 Qa6 30. Rc2 Qa3 31. Rcd2 Rc6 32. Kg2 Rce6 33. e3 Re4 34. Qc2 Qa5 35. Rd1 Qb4 36. Rc1 Qa3 37. Rcd1 Qb4 38. h3 Qa5 39. Nh4 Qc5 40. Nf5 Rxd4 41. Rxd4! Stronger than 41. Qc3 Qf8! 42. Nxd4 Qe7 with roughly equal chances. 41. ... Qf8 42. a4 g6 43. a5 Nd7 44. Nh4 cxb3 45. Qxb3 Nf6 46. Rb4 Qd6 47. Rb7 Qa6 48. Rb5 Rc8 49. Nf3 Rc1 50. Nd4 Kg7 51. Qb2 Rd1 52. g4 Kh7 53. Qb3 Rd2 54. Nf3 Ra2? Surely a mistake. Instead the very interesting Exchange sacrifice 54. ... Rxf2+! 55. Kxf2 Ne4+ 56. Ke1 (if 56. Ke2 then 56. ... Qxb5+!) 56. ... Qf6 was worth considering. 55. Rb7 Qe2

56. Nd2!! A pretty tactical diversion. 56. ... Kg8. Also after 56. ... Qxd2 57. Rxf7+ Kg8 58. Rxf6 Rb2 59. Qa3 Black is helpless. 57. Qxa2 Ne4 58. Rxf7! Unsurprisingly Bukavshin finds the only move that wins (which he must have foreseen when he played 56. Nd2). 58. ... Nxd2 59. Qxd5 1 : 0. After 59. ... Qf1+ 60. Kg3 Qg1+ 61. Kh4 g5+ 62. Kh5 also White’s King joines the party.

The Red Badge of Courage

Ivan Aleksandrovich Bukavshin – Igor Lysyj
68th Russian Chess Championship; Chita, August 9, 2015
Nimzo-Indian Defence E54

“The opening round’s most spectacular game was the showdown between the Superfinal first-timer Ivan Bukavshin, aged 20, and the reigning Russian Champion Igor Lysyj. White sacrificed two pieces, forcing the Black King to make a dangerous promenade around the board center under enemy fire. Black defended skillfully, sometimes finding the only moves. White could have forced a draw by perpetual check several times, but the young Togliatti player persistently kept looking for winning chances. Nevertheless, Igor avoided all the traps, and on move 31 the opponents started repeating moves and a draw followed”, the editor-in-chief of ruchess.ru said.

1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 0-0 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. 0-0 cxd4 8. exd4 dxc4 9. Bxc4 b6 10. Bg5 Bb7 11. Ne5 h6 12. Bh4 Nbd7

13. Nxf7. A very interesting decision. Colourless is 13. Nxd7 Qxd7 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. d5 Bxc3 16. bxc3 Bxd5 17. Qg4+ Kh7 ½ : ½ Wojtaszek – Alekseev, Vladimir Petrov Memorial, Jurmala 2013. 13. ... Kxf7 14. Bxe6+ Kxe6 15. Qb3+ Kf5 16. Qc2+ Ke6 17. Qb3+ Kf5 18. Qc2+ Ke6 19. Qg6. Such a wild game: White rejects the perpetual check! 19. ... Bxc3 20. bxc3 Re8 21. Rfe1+ Kd5 22. c4+ Kc6 23. Qg3 Rxe1+ 24. Rxe1 Qg8 25. Rc1. With the deadly threat of 26. d5+ Kc5 27. Qa3+ Kd4 28. Qe3 mate. 25. ... Nc5! The saving clause: Black must give back a piece to make room for his King. 26. dxc5 Qe6 27. Qxg7 Nd7 28. Bg3 Rg8 29. Qc3 Nxc5 30. Re1 Qf5 31. Re7 Qb1+ 32. Re1 Qf5 33. Re7 Qb1+ 34. Re1 ½ : ½.

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