Bolo de rolo

Rafael Duailibe Leitão – Ricardo da Silva Teixeira
82th Brazilian Chess Championship; Rio de Janeiro, January 9, 2016
Dutch Defence A96

1. d4 e6 2. c4 f5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nc3 0-0 6. Nf3 d6 7. 0-0 a5 8. Re1 Ne4 9. Qc2 d5 10. Ne5 c6 11. Nxe4. For the vintage alternative 11. f3 dxc4 12. Nxe4 Qxd4+ 13. Kh1 Qxe5 14. Bf4 Qb5 15. Nd6 Qc5 see R. Marić – Janošević, Liberation Tournament, Belgrade 1962. 11. ... fxe4. After 11. ... dxe4 12. Rd1 Qc7 13. c5 White’s position is surely more pleasant to play, del Río Angelis – Pomés Marcet, Spanish Team Chess Championship, Barcelona 2000. 12. f3 Nd7 13. Nxd7 Bxd7 14. fxe4 dxc4 15. Qxc4 b5 16. Qd3 c5 17. Bf4 c4 18. Qe3 Qb6 19. h4 Rac8 20. Rac1 b4 21. h5 a4 22. h6 g6 23. Be5 b3. A very interesting, double-edged position has arisen. 24. a3

24. ... Bxa3! Making the right decision! 25. bxa3 b2 26. Rc3. Leitão cannot allow his opponent to play ... c4-c3. 26. ... b1=Q 27. Rxb1 Qxb1+ 28. Kh2 Qe1 29. Bf3. White has only a Pawn for the Exchange, but the Bishop pair and his latent initiative give him more than adequate compensation. 29. ... Rf7! 30. Kg2 Qb1 31. Bd6 Qb2 32. g4 Be8 33. g5 Rb7?? An awful blunder, probably due to time trouble. There were many reasonable moves worth considering, after which it would not have been easy for White to make progress. 34. Bg4. Suddenly Black has no defence. 34. ... Bd7 35. Qf2! The pretty coup de grâce, which must have been overlooked by Teixeira. 35. ... e5. The Rook is taboo: 35. ... Qxc3 36. Qf6 and mate in very short order. 36. Rf3 1 : 0. His Majesty is doomed.

The Tie That Does Not Bind

Rafael Duailibe Leitão – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)
6th Chess World Cup; tie-break game 2 (25+10); Baku, September 13, 2015
Nimzo-Indian Defence E46

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 0-0 5. Ne2 d5 6. a3 Be7 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Nf4 c6 9. Bd3 Na6. Here the first classical match game continued: 9. ... a5 10. 0-0 Na6 11. f3 Nc7 12. Bc2 c5 13. Na4 Na6 14. dxc5 Nxc5 15. Nc3 Be6 16. Nb5 Bd7 17. Nd4 Ne6 18. Nfe2 Re8 19. Bd2 Bc5 20. Re1 Qb6 21. Bc3 Nc7 22. b4 axb4 23. axb4 Rxa1 24. Qxa1 Bxb4 25. Rb1 Bxc3 26. Qxc3 Qd6 27. Rxb7 ½ : ½ Leitão – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), 6th Chess World Cup, Baku 2015, match game 1. 10. 0-0 Nc7 11. f3 b6 12. Bd2 c5 13. Be1 Bb7 14. Qd2 c4 15. Bc2 b5 16. e4 a5 17. e5 Nd7 18. Nce2 f6? This leads to trouble very quickly. Instead with 18. ... Ra6! Black would have put up an excellent defence. 19. e6! Nb6 20. Bf5! g6

21. Nxg6? Duo cum faciunt idem, non est idem. Much stronger was 21. Bxg6! hxg6 22. Nxg6 Kg7 (22. ... Nxe6 23. Qh6 looks quite scary) 23. Nef4 Bc8 24. Qe3 with very powerful pressure. 21. ... hxg6 22. Qh6 (22. Bxg6 Kg7!∞) 22. ... gxf5 23. Qg6+ Kh8 24. f4? Objectively speaking, White had to content himself with perpetual check by 24. Qh6+. 24. ... Qe8! 25. Qh6+ Kg8 26. Rf3 Nxe6 27. Rg3+ (27. Rh3 Ng7 28. Rg3 Qf7 29. Rh3 Nh5! 30. Rxh5 Qg7−+) 27. ... Ng5 28. fxg5 fxg5 29. Bd2? Qc6? (29. ... g4 30. Qxb6 Qc6−+) 30. Qh5? [30. Qh4! g4 (30. ... Kf7 31. Qh7+ Ke8 32. Bxg5 Bxg5 33. Rxg5 Nd7 34. Nf4↑) 31. Qxe7⩲] 30. ... g4−+ 31. Rf1 Qe8? (31. ... Bc8 32. h3 Qe8−+) 32. Qh6? Once again, White had to be content with 32. Rxg4+ fxg4 33. Qxg4+ drawing by perpetual check. 32. ... Rf6 33. Rxg4+ fxg4 34. Rxf6 Bxf6 35. Qxf6 Qxe2? (35. ... Nd7−+) 36. Qg6+ Kh8 37. Qh6+ Kg8 38. Qg6+ Kh8 ½ : ½.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán): All’s well that ends well. Photo: Zsuzsa (Susan) Polgár.

Blow by Blow

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Brief notes by Gladstone Gander

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Rafael Duailibe Leitão – Fabiano Caruana
39th Chess Olympiad; Khanty-Mansiysk, September 30, 2010
Grünfeld Defence D76

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nb6 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. e3 0-0 9. 0-0 Re8 10. Re1 a5 11. Qe2 Be6. For the crucial alternative 11. ... e5 see Sargissian – Vachier-Lagrave, Leon 2012. 12. Rd1 Bc4 13. Qc2 Nb4 14. Qb1 e5! The most straightforward rejoinder. 15. a3!? Clearly not 15. dxe5?? on account of 15. ... Qxd1+! 16. Nxd1 Bd3 and as Black recovers immediately the Queen, he remains the Exchange ahead. If, instead, 15. b3 may follow 15. ... exd4 16. Nxd4 Bd3 17. Qb2 Ba6 18. Ne4 Rxe4 19. Bxe4 c5 20. Qa3 cxd4 21. Bb2 Qe7 22. Qxa5 Qxe4 23. Qxb4 Nd5 24. Qa4 b5 25. Rxd4 bxa4 26. Rxe4 Bxb2 0 : 1 Stockmann – Erdogdu, 12th European Individual Championship, Aix-les-Bains 2011. 15. ... exd4! 16. axb4

16. ... dxc3! A brilliant conception. Black gets a satisfying compensation for the Queen. 17. Rxd8 Raxd8. With the deadly threat of ... Rd8-d1+. 18. Qc2? As then suggested by Caruana, the proper play was 18. bxc3 Rd1+ 19. Bf1 Bxf1 20. Qc2 Be2+ 21. Kg2 Bf1+ with a draw by perpetual check. 18. ... axb4 19. Nd2! Blow for blow! Of course, both 19. bxc3? b3! and 19. Nd4? Rxd4! would lose outright. 19. ... cxd2 20. Bxd2 Ra8! Black is aiming to conquer the first rank. 21. Rxa8 Rxa8 22. Bxb7? White has no time for such amusements. Mandatory was 22. h4 Ra1+ 23. Kh2 b3 24. Qe4 Bxb2 25. Qe7 Rd1 with only a slight edge for Black (Arsovic’s analysis). 22. ... Ra1+ 23. Bc1. Reluctantly, but also after 23. Kg2 Bf1+ 24. Kf3 Nc4! Black’s attack is overwhelming, e.g. 25. Bxb4 Ne5+ 26. Kf4 Nd3+ 27. Kf3 Rc1 28. Qa4 Ne5+ 29. Kf4 Rc4+ 30. e4 Nd3+ with an easy win. 23. ... b3 24. Qd1? A final error. However, even after 24. Qd2 Be6 White is doomed. 24. ... Bxb2 0 : 1.