First Semester

Chess-News.ru (@Chess__News)

On the new year’s first day, Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov will give a simultaneous chess exhibition against the members of the European Commission. For further details, see http://chess-news.ru/node/22935. Former World Chess Champion Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov will give a twenty-eight simultaneous chess exhibition against the members of the European Commission in Sofia, Bulgaria on January 1, 2018, thus marking the start of Bulgaria’s six-month Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The idea was proposed (and unanimously welcomed) by Topalov’s manager, Mr. Silvio Danailov, at the forum “The future of Europe and the Bulgarian Presidency”, held in Sofia on March 16, 2017.

Silvio Danailov (L.) with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria Ognyan Stefanov Gerdzhikov. Photo: Silvio Danailov/Chess-News.ru.

Who’s Who

World Chess (@theworldchess)

Antonio Ligabue, Tiger

Straw Dogs

Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov – Levon Grigori Aronian
3rd Sinquefield Cup; Saint Louis, September 1, 2015
Queen’s Gambit Declined D39

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. Qa4+ Nc6 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Qd5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd2 b5 11. Qc2 a6 12. e4 Qd7 13. g3 Bb7 14. Bg2 Ne7 15. 0-0 0-0 16. Rfd1 Rad8 17. a4 c5 18. axb5 axb5 19. Nf3 Qc7 20. Rab1 f5 21. exf5 Nxf5 22. Rxb5 Bxf3. “I thought I should exchange all the pieces and make a draw so my parents can go to sleep!”, then Levon Grigori said. 23. Bxf3 cxd4

24. Qc1. Since White has achieved nothing but a vague compensation for the Pawn, Topalov has to be content to hold the draw: after the text move Aronian can force it immediately. 24. ... dxc3 25. Rxf5 Rxd1+ 26. Bxd1 exf5 27. Qg5+ Kh8 28. Qf6+ Kg8 29. Qg5+ Kh8 30. Qf6+ Kg8 31. Qg5+ ½ : ½. Thus Levon Grigori Aronian is the 2015 Sinquifield Cup Champion!

Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov (R.) vs. Levon Grigori Aronian (L.)
Photo: chess24.com (@chess24com)

Jonathan D. Tisdall (@GMjtis)

A Hatful of Rain

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov
3rd Sinquefield Cup; Saint Louis, August 29, 2015
Spanish C67

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 h6 10. Rd1+ Ke8 11. Nc3 Ne7 12. Nd4 Ng6 13. f4 Bc5 14. Be3 h5 15. Ne4 Bxd4 16. Rxd4 h4 17. Rad1 Bf5

18. e6! Nihil sub sole novum, but very unpleasant for Black. 18. ... Bxe6. “18. ... fxe6 19. Ng5 Bxc2 20. R1d2 Bf5 21. Rd7 Ne7 22. Bc5 Nd5 23. R2xd5 cxd5 24. Rxc7 is an amusing line. White is down a Rook for a Knight and Pawn, but Black’s King is being hunted and he’ll lose many Pawns”, Grandmaster Robert Lee Hess said. 19. Nc5 Rh5. 19. ... b6 20. Nxe6 fxe6 21. Rd7 Ne7 22. Rxc7 is no better at all: 22. ... Rf8 23. c4 e5 24. fxe5 Rf5 25. Bf2 g5 26. e6 Re5 27. Re1 Ra5 28. Bd4 Rc8 29. Rd7 Rf5 30. Rxa7 c5 31. Bc3 Rc6 32. a4 Ng6 33. e7 Rc8 1 : 0 Šarić – Šulava, 11th Croatian Chess Championship, Marija Bistrica 2011. 20. Nxb7 Rd5 21. b3 Rb8 22. Rxd5 cxd5 23. Nc5. “Black’s pawn structure seems fixed, but the a7 Pawn is vulnerable. White has no weaknesses, while Black is likely to lose a Pawn at any moment”, Hess said. 23. ... c6 24. Rd4 Bc8 25. Ra4 Ra8 26. c4 dxc4 27. Rxc4 Bf5 28. Nb7 Kd7 29. Rd4+ Kc7 30. Nd6. White’s finally cashing in! 30. ... Bb1 31. Nxf7 Re8 32. Kf2 Bxa2 33. f5 Nf8 34. Ra4 Bxb3 35. Rxa7+. 35. Bf4+! wins on the spot, but even this does not give Black any hope. 35. ... Kb8 36. Nd6 Rd8 37. Rxg7 1 : 0.

Nigel David Short (@nigelshortchess)

Young Hearts Run Free

Garry Kimovich Kasparov @Kasparov63)

Mekitsa

Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov – Fabiano Caruana
3rd Norway Chess; Stavanger, June 23, 2015
Grünfeld Defence D79

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 c6 4. Bg2 d5 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. Nc3 0-0 8. Ne5 e6 9. 0-0 Nfd7 10. Nf3 Nf6 11. Bf4 Nc6 12. Ne5. For 12. Rc1 h6 13. Ne5 Nxe5 14. Bxe5 Bd7 see Giri – Lê Quang Liêm, Dortmund 2011. 12. ... Nxe4 13. Bxe5 Bd7. “Here it’s quite equal”, then Caruana said. 14. Qd2. If 14. Qb3 might follow 14. ... Bc6 15. Rfc1 Bh6 as in the game Kurnosov – Frolyanov, FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship, Khanty-Mansiysk 2013. 14. ... Qe7 15. Rac1 Bc6 16. Rc2 Rfd8 17. Rfc1 Ne8 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. e3. This modest move is apparently a novelty. The institutional framework was 19. Qf4 Nd6 20. b3 Qf6 21. Qxf6+ Kxf6 22. e3 Rac8 23. f3 Ke7 24. Kf2 f6 25. Bf1 Be8 26. Bd3 Bf7 27. Ne2 Rxc2 28. Rxc2 Rc8 29. Rxc8 Nxc8 30. h4 Nd6 ½ : ½ Jussupow – Svidler, 10th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival, Catalan Bay 2012. 19. ... Nd6 20. Ne2 Bb5. “I felt I was under some slight pressure”, Caruana said. 21. Nf4 Rac8 22. h4 Rxc2 23. Rxc2 Rc8 24. Rxc8 Nxc8 25. Qa5 Qd7 26. b3 b6 27. Qc3 Qc6 28. Qa1 Qc7 29. Bh3. Somewhat committal (White is threatening Bh3xe6). After 29. a4 Ba6 30. b4 Nd6 the game seems equal.

29. ... Qc2! A Queen infiltration which appears to have been overlooked by Topalov. 30. a4 Ba6 31. Qa3 Qd1+ 32. Kh2 Qd2 33. Bg2! h6! On 33. ... Qxf2 34. Qc1 followed, sooner or later, by Qc1-c7. 34. a5! Qxa5 35. Qc1 Qb4 36. e4 Qxd4. If 36. ... dxe4 then 37. d5 e5 38. Qa1 Qd4 39. Ne6+ fxe6 40. Qxa6 Nd6 41. Qxa7+ Kf6 with fairly even chances. 37. exd5 e5 38. Ne6+! The only move to keep the balance. 38. ... fxe6 39. Qc7+ Kf6 40. Qd8+ Kf7 41. Qd7+ Kf8 42. Qd8+ Kf7 43. Qd7+ Kf8 44. Qd8+ ½ : ½.

Fabiano Caruana (Warsaw, 2013)
Photo: Przemysław Jahr

直布羅陀巨巖

2015 Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival
Catalan Bay, 26 January – 5 February 2015

Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival: Miss Gibraltar, Shyanne Azzopardi, and Miss (Chess) World, 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán). Photo: John Saunders.

Skin and Bones

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Brief notes by King Lear

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Fabiano Caruana – Veselin Topalov
2rd Sinquefield Cup; Saint Louis, September 2, 2014
Sicilian Defence B46

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. 0-0 Nf6 9. Re1 Be7 10. e5 Nd7 11. Qg4 Kf8. The alternative is 11. ... g6 12. Bh6 Rb8 13. Nd1!? Rb4 14. c4 as in Caruana – Svidler, World Rapid Championship, Dubai 2014. 12. Na4. For 12. Qe2 c5 13. b3 Bb7 14. Bb2 g6 15. Nd1 Qb6 16. c4 d4 17. Bc1 see Solak – Caruana, 41st World Olympiad, Tromsø 2014. 12. ... Qa5!? A theoretical novelty, but not for Caruana. 13. Re2!? Another idea due to Caruana’s distingued coach, Grandmaster Vladimir Chuchelov. “How else to get the Bishop to d2?” – he asked rhetorically. The idea is simple, but not too exciting. 13. ... h5. Another try is 13. ... c5 14. b3 c4 15. Bd2 Qb5 and the position is not easy to evaluate. 14. Qf4 g5 15. Bd2 Qc7. As noted by Dennis Monokroussos: “15. ... gxf4 16. Bxa5 h4 looks strange and even a little ugly, but may actually be best”. 16. Qg3 h4 17. Qg4 Rg8? A bit too passive. 17. ... h3 is worth considering. Suppose 18. Bxg5 Bxg5 19. Qxg5 c5 20. c4 and White retains a slight edge. 18. Rae1. As a result Black stands cramped and without counterplay. 18. ... c5 19. c4 dxc4 20. Bxc4 Bb7 21. h3 Rd8. Intending to reroute the Knight to b8, c6 and d4, but Caruana will not be watching... 22. Bc3 Nb8 23. Re3! Nc6? Oblivious to the danger! Nolens volens, Black should have played 23. ... Bd5.

24. Bxe6! A beautiful break-up sacrifice. 24. ... fxe6 25. Rf3+ Ke8. No better is 25. ... Kg7 26. Qh5 Rdf8 27. Rf6! with an overwhelming attack. If, firstly, 27. ... Bxf6 then 28. exf6+ Rxf6 29. Rxe6 finis. And if, secondly, 27. ... Rxf6 then 28. exf6+ Bxf6 29. Nxc5 Bxc3 30. Nxe6+ Kf6 31. Nxc7 Bxe1 32. Qh6+ Rg6 (else 32. ... Kf7 33. Qe6+ Kg7 34. Qxe1+-) 33. Ne8+ Kf7 34. Qh7+ winning easily. 26. Qxe6 Rg7. Or, for the worst, 26. ... Rf8 27. Nxc5 Rxf3 28. Qg6+ Rf7 (28. ... Kf8 29. Ne6 mate) 29. e6+-. Equally hopeless is 26. ... Nd4 27. Qxg8+ Kd7 28. Qf7 Nxf3+ 29. gxf3 Kc8 30. e6+-. 27. Qh6! The way is cleared for the e-Pawn, with a gain of tempo. 27. ... Nd4 28. e6! The terminating moves on the part of Caruana are singularly beautiful! As noted by the former World Chess Champion Garry Kimovich Kasparov: “Caruana not happy only with the winner’s trophy. He also wanted the brilliancy prize! Topalov the fighter always a good opponent for those!”. 28. ... Nxf3+. 28. ... Bxf3 would also have been no better than the text move. Suppose 29. Qxg7 Nxe6 30. Qg6+ and White must win immediately. 29. gxf3 Bf8. Of course, after 29. ... Rg8 30. Qh5+ White mates next move. 30. Qh5+ Ke7 31. Bxg7 1 : 0. For after 31. ... Bxg7 32. Qf7+ Kd6 33. e7! Black is busted.

Fabiano Caruana vs. Veselin Topalov
Saint Louis, September 2, 2014
Photo: U.S. Chess Champs

• Simone Battaggia, Scacchi, Caruana mostruoso: sei vittorie su sei partite, La Gazzetta dello Sport.it, September 3, 2014
• Brian Jerauld, On Chess: Super GM Caruana Comes Home, St.LouisPublicRadio, August 28, 2014