The Flight of the Stars

Minsk, Belarus: Dragonflies on the surface of a lake on a sunny day in the village of Viazynka. Photo: Sergei Grits/AP.

Forgiveness Sunday

Otradnoye, Belarus: Belarusians dance during Maslenitsa celebrations, or Shrovetide, to say farewell to winter. Photo: Sergei Grits/AP.

Royal Swans

A pair of mute swans on the Molchadka river near the village of Dvorets, Belarus. Photo: Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters

Yellow Submarine

Nigel David Short – Alexander Anatolyevich Motylev
European Rapid Chess Championship; Minsk, December 20, 2015
Caro-Kann Defence B12

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3. Of course, Sir Short is faithful to his system. 4. ... e6 5. a3 Ne7 6. Nc3 Ng6. For 6. ... Nd7 7. Be3 Bg6 8. Nh4 c5 9. dxc5 Nc6 see L. Vajda – Vedmediuc, Romanian Team Chess Championship, Mamaia 2015. 7. Bd3 Bxd3 8. Qxd3 c5 9. 0-0 Nc6 10. Re1 cxd4 11. Nb5 Bc5 12. b4 Be7 13. Nbxd4 Rc8 14. g3 Nf8 15. c3 Nd7 16. h4 0-0 17. Bg5 h6 18. Bxe7 Qxe7 19. Kg2 a6 20. Re2 Rc7 21. Qe3 Rfc8 22. Rd1 Nxd4 23. cxd4 Nf8? A surprisingly passive move. Much better looks 23. ... Nb6 intending ... Nb6-c4. 24. Rd3 Qd7

25. g4!! Maybe not the best move in absolute terms, but from a practical point of view it turns out to be the decisive turning-point. White creates out from nothing a metaphorical attack against the enemy King. 25. ... Qb5 26. h5 Nh7 27. Red2 Rc1 28. g5 hxg5 29. Nxg5 Ra1 30. Nh3! Prophylaxis combined with attack. 30. ... Rcc1 31. h6 g6 32. Rc3 Qf1+ 33. Kg3 Qh1! With the terrible threat of ... Nh7-g5. Now Short must walk the tightrope. 34. Rxc1 Rxc1 35. Rd3! Re1 36. Qf3 Qxf3+ 37. Rxf3 Rc1 38. Rb3 Rc4. 38. ... b5 39. a4! is also very unpleasant for Black. 39. b5! a5 40. b6! White’s main idea is Rb3-b5-c5. 40. ... Rxd4 41. Rb5 Rd3+ 42. f3 f6. If 42. ... Rxa3 then 43. Rc5! (the pointe) and Black cannot hold the endgame anyway. 43. Rxa5 fxe5 44. Ra8+ Kf7 45. Ra7 g5 46. Rxb7+ Kg6 47. a4 Nf6 48. h7 Nxh7 49. a5 Nf6 50. a6 Rd2 51. Nf2 Nh5+ 52. Kg2 g4 53. a7 Ra2 54. Rb8 Nf4+ 1 : 0. A splendid game.

David Nigel Short (@nigelshortchess)

East of the Sun and West of the Moon

Baadur Jobava – Vladimir Veremeichik
European Rapid Chess Championship; Minsk, December 19, 2015
Richter–Veresov Attack D01

1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c6 4. e3 Bf5 5. h3!? A bit of improvisation. For 5. f3 e6 6. g4 Bg6 7. h4 h6 8. Bd3 Bxd3 9. cxd3 Bd6 see Rapport – Tania Sachdev, 12th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival, Catalan Bay 2014. 5. ... h6 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. g4 Bh7 8. Bd3 e6 9. Bxh7 Nxh7 10. Qd3 Nhf6 11. 0-0-0 Qa5 12. a3 Nb6? A bit convoluted. After 12. ... b5! followed by ... b5-b4 as soon as possible, the game is dynamically balanced. 13. Nd2 Nc8. As it will be soon clear, Black’s formal consistency is not sufficient to guarantee safety. It’s complicated but interesting HAL 9000’s suggestion 13. ... Bxa3!? 14. Nb3 Bxb2+ 15. Kxb2 Qb4 eventually followed by ... a7-a5-a4. But 13. ... Qa6, forcing the exchange of Queens might have been relatively best. 14. Rhg1 Be7 15. h4! Nd7 16. g5 hxg5 17. hxg5 Nf8 18. g6! f6 19. e4! The breakthrough in the centre secures White an overwhelming game. 19. ... Bd6 20. e5! fxe5 21. dxe5 Be7 22. Qf3 Qc7 23. Be3! Bd8. Not 23. ... Qxe5 on account of 24. Qf7+ Kd7 25. Nde4 with potentially devastating threats, such as Ne4-c5+ and Rg1-g5.

24. Nde4! An inspired Knight sacrifice. 24. ... b6. Accepting the sacrifice equally leads to catastrophe: 24. ... dxe4 25. Nxe4 and Black is without resource against all White’s threats. 25. Nf6+! The pointe. 25. ... gxf6 26. exf6. Of course 26. g7 is also very good, but Jobava is not a “black bull” and enjoys playing chess. 26. ... Nxg6 27. Rxg6! Qf7 28. Rdg1. Such a dream position! 28. ... Nd6 29. Bd4 Nf5 30. Qd3 Nxd4 31. Qxd4 Rf8 32. Nxd5! The final touch! The Knight is taboo, for if 32. ... exd5 then 33. Qe5+ followed by Rg6-g7, while if 32. ... cxd5 then 33. Rg7. 32. ... Qd7 33. f7+! Qxf7. If 33. ... Kxf7 then 34. Rg7+ Ke8 35. Nf6+ and mate in two moves. 34. Qc4! Rc8 35. Rxe6+! Kd7 36. Rgg6 Bg5+ 37. Kb1 Qxe6 38. Nxb6+ 1 : 0.

Baadur Jobava
Photo: ruchess.ru