Morphy-style

韦奕 (Wéi Yì) – Stefan Bromberger
2nd Qatar Masters Open; Doha, December 26, 2015
Russian Defence C42

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 0-0 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. 0-0-0 c6 10. c4 Nc5. This novelty is nothing special theoretically speaking, but it doesn’t look so bad. For 10. ... Re8 11. h4 Nf6 12. Bd3 see Hamdouchi – Neiman, French Team Chess Championship Top 12, Saint-Quentin 2014. 11. Bxc5 dxc5 12. Qf4 Qa5 13. Bd3 Bf6 14. a3 Be6 15. Ng5 Bxg5 16. Qxg5 Rad8 17. Rhe1 Rfe8 18. f4 h6 19. Qh5 f6? This implies a fatal weakening of the light squares. A better move would have been 19. ... Bc8 when White would have probably played 20. Re5! eventually doubling the Rooks, quite in Morphy’s style. 20. Bg6 Rxd1+ 21. Qxd1 Rd8

22. Rxe6!! A fantastic positional Queen sacrifice! 22. ... Rxd1+ 23. Kxd1. Black is absolutely tied down to defend against the impending threat of Re6-e8 mate. 23. ... Qd8+ 24. Ke2. The plan is amazingly simple: White will bring his King to h5, in order then to advance the Kingside Pawns, finally forcing either a won King and Pawn ending or a Zugzwang position. 24. ... Kf8 25. Kf3 Qd7 26. Re1 Qd8 27. Kg4 Qd7+ 28. Kh5 Qd8 29. a4 a5 30. g4 Qd7 31. h4 Qd8 32. Re8+ Qxe8 33. Bxe8 Kxe8 34. Kg6 Kf8 35. Kh7 Kf7 36. g5 1 : 0. 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) went on to win a game of Morphy-like simplicity and elegance.

韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
Photo: sports.sina.com.cn

Шәк-шәк (Çäkçäk)

Stefan Bromberger – Zhansaya Daniyarqyzy Abdumalik
2nd Qatar Masters Open; Doha, December 21, 2015
Giuoco Piano C53

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 a6 6. 0-0 0-0 7. Bb3 d6 8. Re1 Bb6 9. h3 Be6 10. Bc2 h6 11 d4. This seems a bit committal. 11. Nbd2 Ne7 12. Nf1 Ng6 transposes into the game Yankovsky – 居文君 (Jū Wénjūn), Chigorin Memorial Open, Saint Petersburg 2009. 11. ... exd4 12. cxd4 Nb4 13. d5. Herr Bromberger decides to give up his Bishop pair in order to gain a space advantage in the centre. It’s difficult to approve for someone born in the twentieth century! In any event, after 13. Bb3 Bxb3 14. Qxb3 Nc6 White doesn’t seem to have any significant advantage. 13. ... Nxc2 14. Qxc2 Bd7 15. Bf4 Re8 16. Nc3 Qc8 17. Rad1

17. ... Bxh3! Bold play on the part of the young Abdumalik, who sacrifices her Bishop on purely intuitive grounds. 18. gxh3 Qxh3 19. Nd4 Nh5. With two Pawns for the Bishop and a vehement attack on the enemy King, Zhansaya Daniyarqyzy can look to the future with optimism. 20. Re3 Qg4+ 21. Bg3 f5 22. Qe2. It is probably not the best move. After 22. Nxf5 Rf8 Black should have to demonstrate the correctness of her speculation. 22. ... Qg5 23. Nxf5 Bxe3 24. Qxe3 Qxf5 25. exf5 Rxe3 26. fxe3 Nxg3. After all, Black emerged from the scuffle a clear Pawn ahead and still with a definite dynamic advantage. Miss Abdumalik confidently converts it into a win. 27. e4 Nh5 28. Rd4 Nf6 29. Rb4 Rb8 30. Ne2 a5 31. Rc4 c5 32. dxc6 bxc6 33. Rxc6 Nxe4 34. Nc3 Nxc3 35. bxc3 Rf8 36. Rxd6 Rxf5 37. Rd2 Rc5 38. Rc2 Kf7 39. c4 Ke6 40. Kf2 g5 41. Ke3 Ke5 42. Rh2 Rxc4 43. Rxh6 Rc3+ 44. Kf2 Ra3 45. Rc6 Rxa2+ 46. Kf3 Ra4 47. Rc5+ Kf6 48. Kg3 Kg6 49. Rc8 Rb4 50. Rg8+ Kh6 51. Rh8+ Kg7 52. Ra8 a4 53. Ra6 Kf7 54. Kf3 g4+ 55. Ke2 Ke7 56. Rg6 a3 0 : 1.

Zhansaya Daniyarqyzy Abdumalik in Reykjavík last March
Photo: Tengrinews.kz