On the Line

Mateusz Bartel – Vladislav Mikhailovich Artemiev

1st European Online Chess Club Cup; Playoff Group A; time control: 15 minutes plus 5 seconds per move; Tornelo, March 29, 2021

Spanish Game C77

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bc5 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. d3 Qe7 8. h3 h6! 9. Be3TN (9. Nd2 Be6 10. a3 c5 11. Ne2 0-0-0 12. Nc3 g6 13. Qe2 Nd7 14. g4 Nb8 15. Nd5 Bxd5 16. exd5 f5 17. f3 Qf7 18. c4 b6 19. Nb1 Be7 20. Nc3 Bf6 21. 0-0-0 Rde8 22. Qd2 Nd7 23. Rhf1 Qe7 24. Rde1 Bg5 25. Re2 Bxe3 26. Qxe3 Qh4 27. Qg1 Rhf8 28. Kc2 Re7 29. Qg2 Ref7 30. gxf5 Rxf5 31. Qxg6 Qxh3 32. Rff2 R5f6 33. Qe4 Rf4 34. Qh7 R4f7 35. Qg6 Rf6 36. Qh7 R6f7 37. Qg6 ½ : ½ Barcenilla – Ippolito, 1st Copper State International, Mesa 2009) 9. ... Bd6 10. 0-0 c5 11. Nd2 g5! 12. Nc4 Be6 13. Nxd6+ cxd6 14. Ne2 g4 15. h4 Nh5 16. g3

16. ... f5! Black offers a Pawn for a volatile initiative. 17. exf5 Bd5 18. Nc3? A strange error, giving Black more than he was hoping for. Best was 18. Re1! Ng7 19. d4! with very complex play. 18. ... Bf3 19. Qd2 Ng7 20. Bxh6? This greedy capture just precipitates things. 20. ... Nxf5 21. Bg5

21. ... Nxh4!! Black’s Queen sacrifice must have come as a shock to White. 22. Bxe7 Nf5. 22. ... Ng6 is the dual. 23. Bh4 Nxh4 24. Qg5 Nf5! The final touch. Mate can only be delayed by a few useless checks. 25. Qg6+ Kd8 26. Qf6+ Kc7 27. Nd5+ Kc6 0 : 1.

Mosaics in an Afternoon

居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) – Mateusz Bartel

1st Prague International Chess Festival; Challengers Tournament; Prague, March 11, 2019

Spanish Game C78

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 b5 6. Bb3 Bb7 7. d3 Be7 8. a4 0-0 9. Nc3 Na5 10. axb5 Nxb3. Probably best is 10 ... axb5 11. Nxb5 Nxb3 12. Rxa8 Qxa8 13. cxb3 Rb8 14. Na3 d5 15. Nxe5 dxe4 16. dxe4 Bxe4 17. f3 Bd5 18. Nac4 Qb7 19. Bg5 ½ : ½ Ljubojević – Planinc, 3rd Milan Vidmar Memorial, Ljubljana/Portorož 1975. 11. cxb3 axb5. Apparently Bartel is not interested in repeating 11. ... d6 12. bxa6 Rxa6 13. Bg5 which didn’t leave Black with enough for the Pawn, Naiditsch – Bartel, Before Trzcianka GM Blitz 2014, Poznań 2014. 12. Rxa8 Bxa8 13. Nxb5 c5 14. Nc3 d6 15. Bg5 Nh5 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. Nd2 Nf4 18. Nc4 d5!? This and the next move are as much ambitious as unsound, weakening the light squares in the centre. 19. Nb6 d4 20. Ne2 Ne6 21. Nc4 Qc7 22. Qd2 Rb8 23. f4!? White’s splendid Knight pair as well as her “half Pawn” up could have well justified the entering into an endgame by 23. Qa5. 23. ... exf4 24. Nxf4 Bc6? This indifferent move — no doubt a grave mistake — should have lost the game. Black had to play 24. ... Nxf4 25. Qxf4 Qxf4 26. Rxf4 Rxb3 (on 26. ... g6 27. Rf6! can be annoying) 27. Rf5 Bb7 28. Rxc5 g6 with good drawing chances.

25. Nxe6? 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn) performs her task too scholastically, without even suspecting that she was very near to a win: indeed, 25. Nd5! Qd8 (25. ... Bxd5 26. exd5 Nf8 27. Qf2!+−) 26. Qf2! Rb7 27. b4! would have given White an overwhelming advantage. 25. ... fxe6 26. Qg5 Be8! 27. Ra1 h6 28. Qg3. 28. Qg4 Bf7 29. Ra3 keeps alive the illusions of advantage, but nothing decisive is likely to happen. 28. ... Qxg3 29. hxg3 Kf8 30. Ra3 Bb5 31. Ne5 Ke7 32. Ra7+ Kd6 33. Nf7+ Kc6 34. Ne5+ Kd6 35. Nf7+ ½ : ½.

“Some GMs find 居 (Jū) vs. Bartel game very interesting 😊”. Caption and photo: Prague Chess Festival (@PragueChess).

Mazurek

Mateusz Bartel – Radosław Wojtaszek
73rd Polish Chess Championship; Poznań, April 3, 2016
Sicilian Defence B90

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Nb3 e6 7. g4!? b5!? 8. Bg2 Bb7 9. g5 b4 10. Nd5! Most likely, it was a surprise that Bartel especially cooked up for the taste of his opponent.

10. ... Nxd5. If 10. ... exd5 there might follow 11. gxf6 dxe4 12. Rg1 gxf6 13. Qh5 with powerful compensation for the two minus Pawns. 11. exd5 e5 12. a3 Be7 13. axb4 Bxg5 14. Na5. White’s position appears to be quite impressive, but Wojtaszek somehow manages to hold together his goods as well as his bads. 14. ... Bc8 15. Bxg5 Qxg5 16. Qf3 0-0 17. Qg3 Qe7 18. 0-0-0 f5 19. f4 e4 20. h4 Nd7 21. Bf1 Nf6 22. Qe3 Bd7 23. Be2 Be8 24. h5 h6 25. Rh3 Kh7 26. Qd4 Bf7 27. c4 Qd7 28. Kb1 Qe8 29. Rdh1 Rg8 30. Nc6 Qd7 31. Rg1 Qb7 32. Qd2 Be8 33. Nd4 Rb8 34. Rhg3. Clearly not 34. Nxf5?? because of 34. ... Qd7 winning material. 34. ... Qxb4? A very serious mistake, which in fact loses the game. 34. ... Bd7 was mandatory, in order to answer 35. Nc2 by 35. ... Qb6. 35. Qxb4 Rxb4 36. Nxf5 Nxh5. If, instead, 36. ... Bxh5 then 37. Rxg7+ Rxg7 38. Rxg7+ Kh8 39. Bxh5 Nxh5 40. Rc7 Nxf4 41. Kc2 h5 42. Kc3 Rb6 43. b4 with decisive preponderance for White. 37. Bxh5 Bxh5 38. Rxg7+ Rxg7 39. Rxg7+ Kh8 40. Rc7 Be2 41. Nxd6 Bd3+ 42. Ka2 e3 43. b3 Bc2 44. Re7 Bxb3+ 45. Ka3 a5 46. Nb7 Bd1. Also after 46. ... Bxc4 47. Nxa5 Rb5 48. Nxc4 Rxd5 49. Nxe3 White must win. 47. d6 Ra4+ 48. Kb2 Bg4 49. c5 e2 50. c6 Rd4 51. f5 Bxf5 52. Rxe2 Kg7 53. d7 Bxd7 54. Re7+ Kf6 55. Rxd7 Rc4 56. Rd6+ Ke5 57. Rxh6 a4 58. Na5 Kd5 1 : 0.

Mateusz Bartel
Photo: mp2016.pzszach.pl

Ubi maior minor cessat

Mateusz Bartel – Daniele Vocaturo
17th Open International; Dubai, April 11, 2015
French Defence C12

DubaiChess.ae report: “Following a sensational opening-round debacle, GM Daniele Vocaturo, the first Italian to play in Dubai Open Tournaments, has ignited a fierce comeback as the Italian 24th seed won a fifth straight game to join the leaders after six rounds in the Dubai Open Chess Tournament – Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Cup Saturday night at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club.
Vocaturo, who was derailed by untitled Mokal Amruta Sunil of India in the opening round, used the French Defence to defeat Polish GM Mateusz Bartel in 51 moves to up his tally to five points in six games”.

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Be3 Ne4 7. Ne2 c5 8. dxc5 0-0 9. a3 Bxc5 10. Nxe4. The alternative was 10. Bxc5 Nxc5 11. f4 Nc6 as in the game Bartel – Buchenau, Chigorin Memorial (Rapid), Saint Petersburg 2012. 10. ... Bxe3 11. fxe3 dxe4 12. Qd4 Nc6 13. Qxe4 Qg5 14. 0-0-0 Qxe5 15. Nc3 Qxe4 16. Nxe4 Ne5 17. Bb5 a6 18. Be2 Bd7 19. Rd4 Bc6 20. Rhd1 Rfc8 21. Nd6 Rc7 22. g3 Kf8 23. Nc4 Nxc4 24. Rxc4 Rac8 25. b4 Ke7 26. Kb2 f5 27. Rc5 g5 28. Bd3 Kf6 29. Rf1 Bb5

30. Rxb5. White’s Exchange sacrifice is a sign only of his bad judgement. After 30. Rxc7 Rxc7 31. Kb3 b5 Black still has a slight advantage – but nothing more. 30. ... axb5 31. e4 Rd8 32. exf5 e5 33. Re1 Rd4 34. Re2 h5 35. h3. 35. Bxb5 e4 does not make much difference. 35. ... g4 36. h4 e4 37. Bxb5 Kxf5 38. c3 Rd8 39. a4 Ke5 40. a5 Rf7 41. a6 bxa6 42. Bxa6 Rf3 43. Bb7 Rxg3 44. Rxe4+ Kd6 45. Rc4 Re3 46. Rc6+ Ke5 47. Rc5+ Kf4 48. Rxh5 g3 49. Kb3 Rg8 50. Rg5. The final mistake. 50. Rh7 g2 51. Bxg2 Rxg2 was White’s last-ditch swindle to save a lost game. 50. ... Rxg5 51. hxg5 Re4 0 : 1.

Daniele Vocaturo
Photo: DubaiChess.ae