An Officer and a Gentleman

Rustam M. Kasimdzhanov – Baadur Jobava
FIDE Grand Prix; Tbilisi, February 26, 2015
Queen’s Gambit Declined D16

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. a4 Bg4 6. Ne5 Bh5 7. f3 Nfd7 8. Nxc4 e5 9. g3 Bb4 10. dxe5 0-0 11. Bh3 Qe7 12. f4 f6. No better seems 12. ... f5 13. Nd6 Bxd6 14. Qxd6 Qxd6 15. exd6 Na6 16. e4 Nac5 17. e5 Nd3+ 18. Kf1 N7c5 19. Be3 Ne6 20. Nd1 Bxd1 21. Rxd1 Nxb2 22. Rb1 Nc4 23. Kf2 Nxe3 24. Kxe3 b6 25. Rhc1 Nc5 26. Bg2 Rfc8 27. Kd4 Kf7 28. Rxc5 bxc5+ 29. Kxc5 Rab8 30. d7 Rd8 31. Rxb8 Rxb8 32. Kd6 1 : 0 Kopylov – Gerber, Novosibirsk 2001. 13. e6 Nc5 14. f5 Nba6 15. 0-0 Rfd8 16. Qc2 Rd4 17. Rf4 Rad8 18. Be3 Rxf4 19. Bxf4 Bxc3 20. bxc3. White stands much better due to the extra Pawn and his powerful grip on the enemy position, but Jobava is always in the mood to play chess! 20. ... Nxe6! By far Black’s best practical chance. 21. fxe6 Qc5+ 22. Ne3 g5. The corollary. 23. Kf2 gxf4 24. gxf4 Nc7 25. Rg1+ Kh8. White has still his extra Pawn, but his weakened King’s position gives Baadur some vague hope of a counter-chance. 26. c4. Stronger seems 26. Qe4! (Ramírez Álvarez). 26. ... Rd4 27. Qf5 Qxf5 28. Nxf5 Rxc4? Relatively best was 28. ... Rxf4+ 29. Ke3 Nxe6 and if 30. Ng3 (or 30. Ng7) then 30. ... Ng5 gives Black some chances to survive.

29. Nh6?? Rustam blunders, with only eight minutes on his clock. White now could easily win by 29. Ne7! Bg6 30. f5+- Rf4+ 31. Ke3 Rxa4 32. fxg6 as 32. ... Ra3+ 33. Ke4 Rxh3?? is buried by 34. g7 mate. 29. ... Rxf4+ 30. Ke1. As then Kasimdzhanov said, he had overlooked that 30. Ke3 would be simply met by 30. ... Nd5+. 30. ... Bg6 31. Nf7+ Kg7 32. Nd6 Rxa4. The tables turned! Black is clearly winning. 33. Kf2 ½ : ½. “It was a losing position at the end but Baadur decided it was not the time to win and offered a draw”, Kasimdzhanov said. The question is – to be a gentleman or to be a killer?

Rustam M. Kasimdzhanov vs. Baadur Jobava
Photo: Maria Alekseevna Emelianova

贝叶挂毯

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Brief notes by King Lear

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Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Rustam M. Kasimdzhanov
FIDE Grand Prix; Tashkent, October 22, 2014
Spanish C65

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Nbd2 d6 6. 0-0 Bd7 7. c3 0-0. For 7. ... a6 8. Ba4 0-0 9. h3 Ba7 see Yurtaev – Ionescu, Debrecen 1990. 8. Nc4 h6. For 8. ... a6 9. Bxc6 Bxc6 10. Na5 see Vachier-Lagrave – Sargissian, Paks 2008. 9. b4 Bb6 10. a4 a5 11. Nxb6 cxb6 12. bxa5 Nxa5. As they say, “A Knight on the rim is dim”. 13. h3 d5!? 14. exd5 Bxb5?! After which the a5-Knight remains completely cut off. 12. ... Nxd5 13. Bd2 f6 deserves consideration, although after 16. c4 White reatins a small plus. 15. axb5 Qxd5 16. c4! Qe6. Also after 16. ... Qd8 17. Qc2 (or 17. Qe2) White keeps a slight edge. 17. Bb2 e4. If 17. ... Nd7 then 18. Nxe5!? Nxe5 19. Re1 with unpleasant consequences for Black. 18. Re1 Rad8 19. Bxf6 Qxf6 20. Rxe4 Nb3?! A dubious escapade, trying to “free” his Knight at the cost of a Pawn. After the tricky 20. ... Rxd3 21. Qxd3 Qxa1+ 22. Kh2 Qf6 23. g3 (intending Kh2-g2) White stands a little better, due to the Na5 badly placed. 21. Ra3! Nc5 22. Re3 Ne6. If 22. ... Qb2 – as perhaps intended earlier – then 23. d4 with an extra Pawn for White in a definitely advantageous position. 23. Qa1 Qe7 24. d4 Qf6 25. Re4 Rd6 26. d5 Qxa1+ 27. Rxa1 Nc5 28. Re3 Rc8 29. Nd2 Rd7 30. Kf1 Kf8 31. Ne4 Rdc7. In his live commentary Grandmaster Alexei Barsov preferred 31. ... Nxe4, but after 32. Rxe4 Re7 33. Rxe7 Kxe7 34. Ra7! White should equally win. 32. Nd6 Rd8

33. Rae1. The decisive blow! 33. ... g6. Of course the Knight is taboo: 33. ... Rxd6 34. Re8 mate. If, instead, 33. ... Ne6 may follow 34. Nxf7! with an easy win. 34. Re8+ Rxe8 35. Rxe8+ Kg7 36. Ke2 1 : 0. Simple means, convincing results!