Two Sides

Nihal Sarin – 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié)

1st Julius Bär Challengers Chess Tour; 2nd stage; Gelfand Challenge; time control: 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move; chess24.com, June 11, 2021

Réti Opening A06

1. Nf3 d5 2. b3 Nf6 3. Bb2 e6 4. e3 b6 5. c4 Bb7 6. Nc3 Nbd7 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Rc1 a6 9. d4 Bd6 10. g3 Qe7 11. Bg2 0-0-0 12. 0-0 h5!?TN 13. Re1 Ne4 14. Qc2 Kb8 15. h4 f6 16. a4 g5 17. b4 Rhg8 18. b5 a5. A typical opposite-side castling position, but with a non-typical morphology as only Black is attacking so far. 19. Qb3 Nxc3 20. Bxc3 Qg7 21. Rc2 Rde8 (⌓ 21. ... Nf8! 22. hxg5 Ng6→) 22. Rec1

22. ... Re4! 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié) goes for the jugular by giving up an Exchange. 23. hxg5 h4 24. Nxh4 Rxh4?! Having said A, Black feels she must say B too, but probably she should content herself with 24. ... Qxg5. 25. gxh4 fxg5 26. Bxd5? It will soon be obvious why White should have kept the file closed by 26. h5. 26. ... gxh4+ 27. Kf1 Qg1+? (27. ... Bxd5 28. Qxd5 h3−+) 28. Ke2 Qg4+ 29. Kd2? (⌓ 29. f3!) 29. ... Bxd5 30. Qxd5 Nf6 31. Qh1? Of course after 31. Qc6 Qf5 Black’s superior coordination and her passed Pawn more than compensate for the material deficit, but that probably was “the best of all possible worlds”.

31. ... Qf5 32. Rg1. Tantamount to capitulation, but neither 32. Qxh4 Rg2−+ nor 32. Ke2 h3−+ can be taken in consideration. 32. ... Rxg1. Or 32. ... Qxf2+ followed by the capture of the Rook on g1. 33. Qxg1 Ne4+? 33. ... h3 would have won at once. 34. Kc1 h3 35. f4? Probably to prevent ... Qf5-f3, but it loses vital time. Best seems 35. Kb2! Qf3 36. Qg8+ Ka7 37. Bxa5! bxa5 (37. ... h2 38. Bxb6+! cxb6 39. Qc8 Nc5! 40. dxc5 Qf6+=) 38. b6+! cxb6 39. Qh7+ Ka6 40. Qd7 forcing perpetual check. 35. ... Qe6 36. Kb2 Qc4 37. Qh1?

37. ... Ba3+! 38. Kxa3 Nxc3 39. Rxc3 Qxc3+ 40. Ka2 Qd2+ 41. Kb3 Qxe3+ 42. Kc4 Qe2+ 43. Kc3 Qg2 44. Qe1 h2 45. Qe8+ Ka7 0 : 1.

A win against all odds for 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié) and a great satisfaction for her coach as well. Screenshot courtesy of chess24.com.

1（一／壹）

雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié) – Nihal Sarin

1st Julius Bär Challengers Chess Tour; 1st stage; Polgár Challenge; time control: 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move; chess24.com, April 8, 2021

Spanish Game C79

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 d6 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 Na5 8. d4 Nxb3 9. axb3 Bb7 10. dxe5 Nxe4

11. exd6 Qxd6!? And there is the novelty, but actually only a diversion from what 4th World Chess Champion Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine called “a forced draw”: 11. ... Bxd6 12. Qd4 Qe7 13. Nc3 (13. Qxg7? 0-0-0 14. Bg5? Nxg5!−+) 13. ... f5 14. Bg5 Qd7 (14. ... Qf7? 15. Nxe4 fxe4 16. Rxe4+! Bxe4 17. Qxe4+ Kd7 18. Nd4+−) 15. Nxe4 fxe4 16. Rxe4+ Bxe4 17. Qxe4+ Kf7 18. Re1 Rae8 19. Qd5+ Kf8 20. Re5 Rxe5 21. Nxe5 Qe8 22. Qf3+ Kg8 23. Qd5+ ½ : ½ Aurbach – Alekhine, Paris 1922. 12. Qxd6 Bxd6 13. Ng5 0-0 14. Nxe4 Rae8 15. Nbc3 f5 16. f3 Bb4 17. Bd2 fxe4 18. fxe4 Re6 19. Rad1 Bxc3 20. Bxc3 Rxe4 21. Rxe4 Bxe4 22. Rd7 Rf7 23. Rd8+ Rf8 24. Rd7 Rf7 25. Rd8+ Rf8 26. Rd7 ½ : ½.

Two-up

Aleksandra Yuryevna Goryachkina – Nihal Sarin
1st Trophée CapÉchecs Online; europe-echecs.com, October 24, 2020
Catalan Opening E06

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 0-0 6. Nc3 dxc4 7. Ne5 Nc6 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. Nxc6 Qe8 10. Nxe7+ Qxe7 11. Qa4 c5 12. dxc5 Qxc5 13. Be3 Qc7 14. f3 Bb7 15. 0-0!? Goryachkina just trusts in the typical Catalan opposite-coloured Bishop middle game with a slight advantage to White. Her last move may be a novelty, as a recent game continued instead: 15. Rd1 Nd5 16. Nxd5 exd5 17. Bd4 Rfe8 18. Kf2 Re6 19. Qb4 Rae8 20. Rde1 f6 21. Qd2 a6 22. g4 Qf7 23. Rhg1 R8e7 24. h4 Qg6 25. Rg2 Bc6 26. g5 f5 27. Qf4 Qh5 28. e3 Bd7 29. Rh1 Re8 30. Rc1 R6e7 31. b3 Be6 32. g6 h6 33. Rg3 Rb7 34. Kg2 a5 35. Rc2 Rc8 36. bxc4 dxc4 37. Rb2 Rxb2+ 38. Bxb2 Bd5 39. Qe5 Bxf3+ 40. Kf2 1 : 0 L. van Foreest – Elgersma, 57th International Open, Groningen 2019. 15. ... Nd5 16. Nxd5 Bxd5 (16. ... exd5 17. Bd4⩲) 17. Qa3 Qe5 18. Qc3 Qxc3 19. bxc3 Rfb8 20. Rab1 f6 21. Rfd1 a6 22. Bf4 Rb5 23. Bd6 Bc6. 23. ... Ra7 was also worth considering, in order to double Rooks by ... Ra7-b7. 24. Kf2 Rd8 25. Bc7 Rxd1 26. Rxd1 Rd5 27. Rxd5. The opposite-coloured Bishop endgame should not produce anything more than a draw, but 27. Rb1 e5 28. Rb6 Bb5 leads nowhere as well. 27. ... Bxd5 28. Ke3 e5 29. f4 exf4+ 30. gxf4 Bc6 31. Kd4 Bb5 32. e4 Kf7 33. Kd5 Ke7 34. Bd6+ Kd7 35. e5 fxe5 36. fxe5 g6?! Much better was 36. ... Bc6+ 37. Kxc4 g5 38. Kc5 Bf3= with a drawn ending. 37. e6+ Ke8 38. h4

38. ... h5? A grave error which crucially weakens the Kingside. The continuation of the game seems hard to crack, provided the Pawn is still on h7. 39. Kc5 Kd8 40. Kb4 Ke8 41. Kc5 Kd8 42. Kd4 Ke8 43. Bf4 Ke7 44. Kd5 Kf8 45. Bg5 Ke8 46. Kc5 Kf8 47. Kb4 Ke8 48. a4 Bc6 49. Kxc4? With such a time control (10 minutes plus 3 seconds per move), no wonder the rush. 49. a5! Bb5 50. Kc5 was obviously the way to keep squeezing Black.

49. ... Bxa4?? A tragic mistake likely due to time’s tick. 49. ... a5!= 50. Kb3 (otherwise there follows ... Bc6xa4) 50. ... Bd5+ is a trivial draw. 50. Kb4+− Bd1 51. c4 Bg4 52. e7 Kd7 53. Ka5 Be6 54. c5 Bf7 55. Kb6 a5 56. c6+ Kc8 57. Kxa5 Kc7 58. Kb5 Kd6 59. Kb6 Be8 60. c7 1 : 0.

Game On

Nihal Sarin – Eltaj Safarli
8th Chess World Cup; match game 1; Khanty-Mansiysk, September 13, 2019
Spanish Game C95

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 0-0 9. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. Nf1 Bf8 14. Ng3 g6 15. a4 Bg7 16. Bd3 c6 17. Bg5 h6 18. Be3. 18. Bd2 Kh7 19. Qc2 is the “vintage reissue series”, which after 19. ... d5? (19. ... exd4!? 20. cxd4 c5) 20. exd5 Nxd5 21. h4! exd4 22. h5→ gave White a tremendous attack, Karpov – Kavalek, 3rd Interpolis Chess Tournament, Tilburg 1979. 18. ... Qc7 19. Qd2 Kh7 20. b4 Nb6? Black somehow hold his own after 20. ... d5 21. dxe5 Nxe4 22. Nxe4 dxe4 23. Bxe4 Nxe5 24. Nxe5 Qxe5 25. Bd4 Qd6 26. axb5 axb5 27. Bf3 Rxa1 28. Rxa1 Bxd4 39. cxd4 Bc8 30. Rc1 Bd7 31. h4 h5 32. g3 Qf6 33. Bg2 Re6 34. Rc5 Rd6 35. d5 cxd5 36. Rxd5 Rxd5 37. Qxd5 Qe6 38. Qxe6 Bxe6 39. f4 Kg7 40. Kf2 Kf6 41. Bf1 Bd7 42. Ke3 Ke7 43. Kd4 Kd6 44. Be2 f5 45. Bf3 Be6 46. Be2 ½ : ½ Zhigalko – Doležal, 16th Czech Open GMA, Pardubice 2007, but it’s highly likely that White may do better with other moves somewhere here and there. So maybe it’s better to prepare for ... c6-c5 by 20. ... Rac8(!) with reasonable chances of defending. 21. dxe5 dxe5 22. a5 Nbd7? At least from a practical perspective, Black ought to have preferred 22. ... Na4 23. Bc2 Red8, however good or however bad it might be. Now it’s all very easy for White. 23. c4 Rad8 24. Qa2 Kg8 25. Bc2 Qd6 26. Bb3 Qe7 27. Rad1 Rc8 28. Nh4 Kf8 29. c5 Nb8 30. Rd6 Red8

31. Ngf5! gxf5 32. Nxf5 Qc7 33. Nxg7 Kxg7 34. Bxh6+! Kxh6 35. Rxf6+ Kg5 36. Rf5+ Kh6 37. Qe2 1 : 0.

The legend says that, at three years of age, Nihal Sarin could recognise the capitals and the flags of all the world’s 190-odd countries. Photo: Kirill Merkuryev/FIDE World Cup 2019.