Only In This World

Magnus Carlsen – Nodirbek Abdusattorov

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; first leg; Stage 2: Knockout; Quarterfinal match game 1; time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move; Wangels, February 9, 2025

nrkbrnbq/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NRKBRNBQ w EBeb - 0 1

Position #381

1. f4 f5!? That is a very unusual situation as they both sacrifice the Exchange after only one move! The alternative was 1. ... Nb6 2. Nb3 f5 3. e4 fxe4 4. Rxe4 Bd5 5. Re1 Qg8 6. Bf2 Ng6 7. f5 Nf4 8. Ne3 e5 9. Nxd5 Nfxd5 10. g4! c6 11. Ra1!⩲ Gukesh – Caruana, 1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour (first leg), Stage 2: Knockout, Wangels 2025, Quarterfinal match game 1 (time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move).
2. Bxa7 Bxa2 3. e4

3. ... Bxb1. “If I manage, let’s say he’d taken the Pawn immediately, I go g2-g3 up, make up for the Queen, protects the Pawn with Pawn to d5. Then I think I can probably give a check with the Bishop. And then after he blocks the check, I can, like move the Rook from b1 to d1 castling. As far as I can see, the rules allow that”, Carlsen explained in the confession booth.
4. Kxb1 fxe4 5. g3! “So at first, I’m thinking what is he doing because now g2-g3... The thing is his Bishop is covering the squares along the diagonal. So it seemed that nonsensical to take the Rook and also tactically, d5 was hanging in some lines or even if he was protecting e6. But I think that’s what he was worried about. Now I think ... d7-d5, looked very unappetising without the light squared control. So I think I will be able to bring the Queen out to e4 and I think be a little bit better”, said Carlsen.
5. ... c6 (5. ... d5 6. c4!⩲)
6. Qxe4 g6 (6. ... e6 7. Nb3 g6 8. d4 Nc7 9. Bxb8 Kxb8 10. Nfd2⩲)
7. Ne3 Bb6?! (7. ... e6 8. Nc4 Bc7 9. Bxb8 Kxb8 10. Ne5 d5 11. Qe3⩲)
8. Bxb8 Kxb8 9. Nb3

9. ... Nc7? (9. ... Ne6 10. Qb4 Nd4 11. Nc1!±)
10. Qb4 Bxe3 11. dxe3 Nd5 12. Qa5 e5 13. Bf3 e4 14. Bg2 Qg7 15. c4 Nf6 16. Kc2 Qf7 17. Bf1 d6 18. Ra1 N8d7. Or 18. ... Ne6 19. Qa7+ Kc7 (19. ... Kc8 20. Bh3+−) 20. Ra6! Nd8 21. Na5 with irresistible attack.
19. Nd4 Nc5 20. b4 Na6

21. b5! cxb5 22. Qb6 Nb4+ 23. Kd2 1–0.

Old Made New

Nodirbek Abdusattorov – 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén)

Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge; Quarterfinal match game 1; time control: 90 minutes per 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game plus 30 seconds per move starting on move 41; Wangels, February 11, 2024

brnbqknr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/BRNBQKNR w HBhb - 0 1

Position #513

1. e4 b5 2. b4 Nf6. 2. ... e5 might transpose into Firouzja – Carlsen on the adjacent table, where there followed 3. Nh3 Nce7 4. f4 exf4 5. 0-0 Ng6 6. d3 Bf6 7. Bxf6 Nxf6 8. Nxf4 Qe5 9. Qg3 Re8 10. Nxg6+ hxg6 11. Qxe5 Rxe5 12. Rb3 a6 13. Ra3 Bb7 14. Rc3 Ne8 15. Nb3 with advantage to White.
3. d3 e5 4. Nh3

4. ... d5!? 丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) boldly sacrifices a Pawn for an uncertain compensation. 4. ... d6 5. f4⩲ was a quieter affair, although White seems to have slightly the better of it.
5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Qxe5 Qxe5 7. Bxe5 0-0 8. Bf3 Re8 9. Bd4 Be7 10. Bxd5 Bxd5 11. Nf4 Bc6 12. Bc5 Bg5 13. Nce2 Nb6 14. h4 Bxf4 15. Nxf4 Ra8 16. Rh3 Nd5 17. Nxd5 Bxd5 18. a3 a5 19. bxa5 Rxa5 20. Re3 Rc8?! Thinking classically, the presence of opposite-coloured Bishops should have suggested Black to exchange a pair of Rooks.
21. h5 h6 22. f3 c6 23. Kf2 Ra4 24. g4 f5 25. c4

25. ... Bf7? A faux pas probably due to overcalculation. Black had to play 25. ... bxc4! at once; for example: 26. Re7 (26. Rb7 Kh8 27. Ree7 Rg8 28. Be3 cxd3 29. Bxh6 d2! 30. Bxd2 Rxa3 31. g5 Rxf3+ 32. Ke2 Rh3 33. h6 c5 should hold for Black) 26. ... Ra5 27. Bb4 Rb5 28. g5! hxg5 29. Rg1⩲ with a slight initiative.
26. gxf5 bxc4? 26. ... Bxh5 seems more tenacious, although after 27. Rg1 Re8 28. f6 g5 29. f4 Rxe3 30. Kxe3 Kf7 31. fxg5 hxg5 32. Rxg5 Bg6 33. cxb5 cxb5 34. Be7 Rh4 35. Rg3 White comes out with two Pawns ahead.

27. f6! Now this is devastating. The rest is quite easy.
27. ... cxd3. Neither 27. ... gxf6 28. Re7 nor 27. ... c3 28. Rg1 c2 29. Re7 would have been of any use.
28. Rg1 d2 29. Rxg7+ Kh8 30. Rd3 Bd5 31. Bd4 Bxf3 32. Rxd2 Bxh5 33. Be5 Rg4 34. Re7 Kg8 35. Rdd7 Rf8 36. Rg7+ Kh8 37. Rxg4 Bxg4 38. Rg7 Be6 39. f7 Bxf7 40. Rxf7+ Kg8 41. Rxf8+ Kxf8 42. a4 Ke7 43. a5 Kd7 44. a6 Kc8 45. Ke3 1 : 0.

丁立人 (Dīng Lìrén) has shown signs of recovery and is to play all-out for a win tomorrow. Photo: Amruta Mokal/ChessBase India.

A World of Change

No doubt the composition of the podium of the 86th Tata Steel Chess Tournament reflects the geography of chess superpowers changes over the very last few years as old superpowers decline and new ones emerge. And so hats off to China’s 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) (first prize), India’s Dommaraju Gukesh (second prize), and Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov (third prize). Photo © Jurriaan Hoefsmit.

A Messy Affair

Nodirbek Abdusattorov – Fabiano Caruana
11th Norway Chess; Stavanger, June 5, 2023
Spanish Game C65

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6. Caruana then confessed that he was still shocked by yesterday’s débâcle, so he opted for the inexpugnable Berlin Defence, not disdaining to draw and play it all in the Armageddon. But fortunately for him, Abdusattorov was not interested in any peaceful settlement!
4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. 0-0 Bd6 7. Nbd2 Be6 8. Nb3 b6 9. Ng5!? A challenge to himself as well as to his opponent:
a) 9. Bg5 Qd7 10. Bh4 c5 11. Nbd2 Nh5 12. Ng5 Nf4 13. Nxe6 Nxe6 14. Nc4 f6 15. f3 a5 16. a4 h5⇄ Caruana – Aronian, 2nd American Cup — Elimination Bracket, Saint Louis 2016, tie-break game 2 (time control: 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move);
b) 9. Qe1 Nd7 10. Qc3 c5 11. Ng5 Nf8 12. f4 f6 13. Nxe6 Nxe6 14. Qc4 Qd7 15. f5 Nd4 16. Nxd4 cxd4 17. a4 a5 18. Bd2 Qf7 19. Qc6+ Ke7 20. Rf3 Qe8 21. Qc4 Qf7 22. Qc6 Qe8 23. Qxe8+ Raxe8 24. Kf2 g5 25. fxg6 hxg6 26. Rf1 Ke6 27. h4 f5 28. g3 Ref8 29. Ke2 Be7 30. Kd1 c5 31. b3 Rh7 ½ : ½ Abdusattorov – Aronian, 85th Tata Steel Chess Tournament, Wijk aan Zee 2023.
9. ... Bg4 10. f3 Bh5 11. Kh1 Nd7 12. Nh3 f6 13. Be3 Qe7 14. Nd2 Nc5 15. Nc4 Ne6 16. Ng1 g5 17. Ne2 Bf7 18. Qe1 h5 19. Nxd6+ cxd6 20. a4 h4 21. a5 b5 22. h3 a6 23. d4 c5 24. c3 Kf8 25. Rd1 Kg7 26. Qf2 Rac8 27. Rd2 Qc7 28. Ra1 Rhd8

29. b4 cxd4. Finally, the first exchange of Pawns appeared on the board.
30. cxd4 Qe7 31. Rad1 Rh8 32. Qe1 Rc4 33. dxe5 dxe5 34. Rd6 Rd8 35. Rxd8 Nxd8 36. g3 hxg3 37. Nxg3 Be6 38. Qd2 Nf7 39. Bc5 Qe8 40. h4 Qh8 41. h5 Qh7 42. Kg2 Qh6 43. Kf2 g4 44. Be3 Qh8 45. fxg4 Qc8 46. Bc5 Bxg4

47. Rf1. Here, and at move 49, White would have done better to force the exchange of Rooks along the c-file.
47. ... Bh3 48. Rg1 Kh7 49. h6? Qg4 50. Nf5 Qxe4 51. Rg7+ Kh8 52. Ne3 Nxh6 53. Nxc4 Kxg7 54. Bf8+ Kxf8 55. Qxh6+ Kg8

56. Ne3? 56. Qxh3 bxc4 57. Qd7 still gave chances to defend, in spite of the two Pawns minus.
56. ... Bf5 57. Qh5 Bg6 58. Qh3 f5 59. Qh6 Kf7 60. Qh8 Qd4 61. Ke2 f4 62. Ng4 f3+ 0 : 1. As Caruana himself candidly said afterwards, “I have no idea what happened in this game. I mean, the position was slightly better for me for a long time, but then I lost control and it became very dangerous. I don’t know if it was bad or not, but we were both low on time, and somehow, I won in the complications, but I feel like I was much worse at some point and, yeah, also with low time it was very dangerous but really good end”.

4X

Nodirbek Abdusattorov – Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi

2nd World Fischerandom Chess Championship Group A; match game 3; time control: 25 minutes for the first 30 moves, plus 5 minutes for the rest of the game, plus 5 seconds per move starting from move 31; Reykjavík, October 27, 2022

nrkrbbnq/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NRKRBBNQ w DBdb - 0 1

Position #378

1. g4 Nb6 2. f4 d5 3. e4 Nf6 4. exd5 Nfxd5 5. Ne2 Bc6 6. Bg2? 6. Qg1 Nb4! (Δ ... Nb4xa2#) 7. b3 Nxa2+ 8. Kb2 Nb4 leaves Black a Pawn up, which all considered would be White’s best compromise!

6. ... g5! Vehemently taking the upper hand. Black’s Knights are ready to jump to b4 and c4 with winning threats.
7. fxg5 Qe5! 8. Qf1 Nb4? Threatening a smothered mate (... Nb4xa2#), but allowing White to recoordinate. Much better was 8. ... Ne3! 9. dxe3 Rxd1+ 10. Kxd1 Nc4 11. Bf2 0-0-0+ with a forcing attack.
9. Nc3 Bxg2 10. Qxg2

10. ... N6d5? Another mistake that compromises Black’s game quite irreversibly. Black ought to play 10. ... Nc4, because if now 11. Bg3?? (10. a3 Nd5= is correct) then 11. ... Qxc3!! 12. bxc3?? Nxa2#.
11. Bg3! Qxg5 12. 0-0 f6 13. Nb5 e5 14. Nxa7+ Kd7 15. a3 Bc5+ 16. Kh1 Bxa7 17. axb4 Nxb4. Black has temporarily recovered his Pawn, but his development suffers a grave lack of coordination.
18. Qe4. Double attack.
18. ... Nc6 19. Qxh7+ Kc8 20. Nb3 Rd7 21. Qh8+ Nd8. So now White’s got the Black King bottled up.
22. Qxf6 Qxg4 23. Qxe5 Qc4 24. Na5 Qa6

25. Rf8! Threatening Rf8xd8+.
25. ... Qh6. To avoid the Bishop check at h4 after 26. Rxd8+ Kxd8.
26. Rxd8+! Kxd8. Of course Black cannot take with the Rook, because of the mate on c7.
27. Re1! Kc8 28. Qe8+ Rd8 29. Qf7 1 : 0. For mate follows in a few moves.

Nothing Certain But The Uncertain

Dommaraju Gukesh – Nodirbek Abdusattorov
44th Chess Olympiad; Mamallapuram, August 8, 2022
Queen’s Gambit Declined D38

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Qa4+ Nc6 6. e3 0-0 7. Bd2 a5 8. a3 Bxc3 9. Bxc3 Ne7 10. Qc2 b6 11. b3 Ba6 12. a4. If 12. Nd2 then 12. ... a4 13. bxa4 dxc4 14. e4 Qd7 15. Be2 Bb7 16. Bxc4 Rxa4 17. Bb3 Rxd4 18. Bxd4 Qxd4 19. 0-0 Nxe4 20. Nxe4 Qxe4 21. Qxe4 Bxe4 22. Rfc1 Rc8 with a dynamic equilibrium, Sevian – Bok, 9th Chess World Cup, Krasnaya Polyana 2021, match game 2. 12. ...Ne4 13. Bb2 Nc6 14. Ba3 Nb4 15. Bxb4 axb4 16. Bd3 Nf6 17. 0-0 c5 18. dxc5 bxc5

19. e4! dxe4? (⌓ 19. ... dxc4 20. Bxc4 Bb7) 20. Bxe4 Ra7 21. Ne5 Qd6 22. Rfe1 Nxe4 23. Qxe4 Rd8 24. Qf3. Heading for a much better ending. 24. ... Qc7 25. Rad1 Raa8 26. Rxd8+ Rxd8

27. Rd1! Rc8? Black had no other choice but to exchange Rooks. 28. Qg3? But, luckily for Abdusattorov, White misses 28. Qh5! (Δ Rd1-d7) which wins on the spot. 28. ... h5 29. h3 Rd8. So all’s well that ends bad. The ending is quite hopeless for Black, but, as they say, while there’s life, there’s hope. 30. Rxd8+ Qxd8 31. Nd3 h4 32. Qe3 Bb7 33. f3 Qd6 34. Kf1 e5 35. Nxc5 Bc8 36. Ke1 Bf5 37. a5 Qc7 38. a6 Bc8 39. Nd3 Bxa6 40. Qxe5 Qb6 41. Nc5 Qa5 42. Kd1 Qd8+ 43. Kc2 Bc8 44. Ne4. But much stronger seems 44. Nd3! winning the b4-Pawn (44. ... Qf8 45. c5). 44. ... Be6 45. Kb2? A grave misstep, allowing Black to infiltrate with his Queen. 45. Ng5! would have maintained much of White’s advantage. 45. ... Qa8! 46. Nc5 Qa3+ 47. Kb1 47. Kc2 Qa2+ 48. Kc1 Qa3+ 49. Kd1 g6 is similar to the game. 47. ... g6 48. Kc2 Qa2+ 49. Qb2 (49. Kc1 Bf5=) 49. ... Bf5+ 50. Ne4 Qa7 51. Kd3 Qg1 52. Qc2 Qc5 53. Qd2 Qg1 54. Kc2 Qa1 55. Kd3 Qg1 56. Qe2 Qa7 57. Qe3 Qa2 58. Kd4 Qxg2 59. Ng5 f6 60. Qe8+ Kg7 61. Qe7+ Kh6 62. Nf7+ Kh5 63. Kc5!? Apparently Gukesh’s not interested in 63. Qe3! g5 64. Qe8 Qd2+ 65. Kc5 Qd7 66. Qh8+ Kg6 67. Qg8+ with a draw by perpetual check. 63. ... Qxf3 64. Qxf6 Qe3+ 65. Kxb4 Bxh3 66. Ne5 (66. Qg7!?) 66. ... Qd2+ 67. Kb5 Bd7+ 68. Kc5? Perhaps Gukesh still thinks he can win. It is just the case to note that the Queen endgame after the exchange of Knights must be drawn. 68. ... Qe3+ 69. Kb4 Bf5 70. Qh8+ Qh6 71. Qd8 Qg7

72. Nf3?? Blundering the Knight. 72. Qd5 would have given White very real drawing chances still. 72. ... Qb7+ 0 : 1.

“The scenes at the end reflected Gukesh’s agony. After moving his Knight to f3 to prevent Abdusattorov’s Queen from capturing it, he picked up his pen and dutifully noted down his 72nd move, not realising his blunder. It took Abdusattorov moving his Queen to b7 and giving a check for his irreversible error to dawn on him. Soon, his hands were on his head with utter disappointment etched on his face. For the next 30 seconds, he sat there in disbelief. Eventually, his Uzbek opponent pointed out that Gukesh’s time had run out”, Vivek Krishnan wrote in his report for Hindustan Times on August 8. Photo © Lennart Ootes.

17（十七）

Nodirbek Abdusattorov – 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié)

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

Giuoco Piano C54

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. Bb3 h6 7. Nbd2 a5 8. h3 Bd7 9. Nf1 Ne7 10. Ng3 Ng6 11. 0-0 a4 12. Bc2 0-0 13. d4 Ba7 14. Be3 b5 15. Qd2 Re8 16. Rad1 Qe7 17. Rfe1 Be6 18. b3 axb3 19. axb3 Rad8 20. Ra1 Bb6 21. d5 Bxe3 22. Qxe3 Bd7 23. Ra7. White took control of the a-file, so maybe now Black could even think to give up a Pawn by 23. ... Ra8 (Δ 24. Rxc7 Nf4) in order to gain counterplay. 23. ... Rc8 24. Bd3 Nf4 25. Bf1 Qf8 26. Rea1 c6 27. Rxd7 Nxd7 28. dxc6 Rxc6. Probably safer is 28. ... Nb8 29. Bxb5 Nxc6 30. Qb6 Rb8! 31. Qxc6 Rec8 32. Qd7 Rd8 forcing a draw by repetition. 29. Bxb5? It was time for White to regain the Exchange by 29. Ra7! Nc5 30. Bxb5 Ra8! 31. Rxa8 Qxa8 32. Bxc6 Qxc6 33. Nd2 remaining a Pawn ahead. 29. ... Rc7 30. Ra7 Rec8? A very strange move. If nothing else, after 30. ... Rxa7 31. Qxa7 Rd8 Black can hope to cash in on her material advantage. 31. Bxd7 Rxc3 32. Qb6 Rb8 33. Rb7 Rxb7 34. Qxb7 Qd8 35. Bc6

35. ... Nxh3+!? 36. gxh3 Rxf3 37. Kg2? Black’s trick worked well. White ought to play 37. Bd5! keeping his grip over the board. 37. ... Qf6 38. Nf5 Rc3. Now the game is unclear but probably equal, even though easier for Black.

Emotionality takes over and White commits harakiri: 39. Qe7?? Qxe7 40. Nxe7+ Kf8 41. Nd5 Rxc6 42. b4 Rc4 43. Kf3 f5 44. exf5 Rd4 45. Nc7 Rxb4 46. Kg3 Kf7 47. f3 Rf4 48. Nb5 Ke7 0 : 1.

小学

• Akshat Chandra, Nine-year-old rips through GMs!, Chess News, 2 luglio 2014

[Event "VIII Agzamov Memorial"]
[Site "Taškent"]
[Date "2014.05.17"]
[Round "3.9"]
[White "Abdusattorov, Nordibek"]
[Black "Khusnutdinov, Rustam"]
[ECO "A07"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "77"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d3 Nc6 4. g3 Nge7 5. Bg2 g6 6. O-O Bg7 7. c3 e5 8. a3 O-O 9. b4 d6 10. Bb2 h6 11. Nbd2 Be6 12. b5 Nb8 13. c4 Nd7 14. Ne1 Qc7 15. Nc2 f5 16. exf5 gxf5 17. f4 Rf7 18. Qe2 Nf8 19. Rae1 Rd8 20. Ne3 Nfg6 21. Kh1 b6 22. a4 Kh7 23. Qh5 Bc8 24. Nd5 Nxd5 25. Bxd5 Bb7 26. Nf3 Rf6 27. Kg1 Bxd5 28. cxd5 Re8 29. fxe5 dxe5 30. Ng5+ Kg8 31. Ne4 Rff8 32. Rxf5 Rxf5 33. Qxf5 Nf8 34. Nf6+ Bxf6 35. Qxf6 Qf7 36. Qxh6 Qf5 37. Rf1 Qxd3 38. Bxe5 Qh7 39. Qg5+ 1-0