Playing It Cool

Vladimir Vasilievich Fedoseev – Marco Codenotti
17th European Individual Chess Championship; Gjakova, May 22, 2016
Giuoco Piano C54

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. 0-0 Bb6 7. a4 h6 8. Na3 0-0 9. Bb3 a5 10. Re1 Re8 11. h3 Be6 12. Nc4 Ba7 13. Bc2 Bxc4 14. dxc4 Nh5 15. Kf1 Nf4 16. Ng1 Qf6 17. Qf3 Nh5 18. Qxf6 Nxf6 19. g3 h5 20. Nf3 g6 21. Kg2 Kg7 22. Bd2 Bb6 23. Rad1 Nd7 24. b4 axb4 25. cxb4 Nd4 26. Nxd4 Bxd4 27. a5 b6 28. Ba4 Red8 29. Bc6 Ra7 30. Rb1 Nb8 31. Bb5 Rc8. Black’s position is surely easier to handle, but now White, rather than play to keep his slight uncomfort within acceptable terms by 32. axb6, decides to leave the a-Pawn to its fate, for focusing on the Kingside. 32. f4 bxa5 33. bxa5 c6 34. Ba4 Nd7 35. f5 Nc5 36. Bd1 Nb7 37. fxg6 fxg6 38. Rf1 Rc7

39. Bg5!?? White launches into a reckless attack, evidently overestimating his own Bishop pair. Maybe 39. g4 hxg4 40. hxg4 Nxa5 41. Bg5 Rf7 was not appealing to him as Black has a Pawn to the good and clearly better chances, but yet it would have been the best offering he could find. 39. ... Rxa5 40. Bf6+ Kh7 41. g4. As consistent as bad. 41. ... Ra2+ 42. Kh1 hxg4. Fedoseev to play and selfmate: 43. hxg4?? What a blunder! After 43. Bxg4 Kh6! 44. Bf3 Nc5 45. Rb8 Rh7 46. h4 Be3! Black should win anyway, but must play carefully for a while yet. 43. ... Kg8! 0 : 1. Very bad news for Fedoseev: mate is unstoppable.

Marco Codenotti
Photo © Andreas Kontokanis

Attacker You!

Vladimir Vasilievich Fedoseev – 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
China – Russia Match; 宁波市 (Níngbō), July 15, 2015
Grünfeld Defence D87

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 0-0 9. Be3 Nc6 10. Rc1 Qc7 11. h4 Rd8. No better is 11. ... Na5 12. Bd3 f5 13. e5 Rd8 14. h5 c4 15. Bb1 Bxe5 16. hxg6 17. Rh6 Qc6 18. Nf4 Bxf4 19. Bxf4 Qxg2 20. Qe2 Nc6 21. Qxc4+ Rd5 22. Qe2 e5 23. Bg3 Rd6 24. Bd3 Kg7 25. Rh2 Qd5 26. dxe5 Rd8 27. Qe3 Qg8 28. Qg5 Rf8 29. Rh6 Ne7 30. Bh4 Bd7 31. Qxe7+ 1 : 0 Durarbayli – Tate, 14th European Individual Chess Championship, Legnica 2013. 12. h5 b5 13. Bd5 e6 14. Bxc6 Qxc6 15. hxg6 fxg6 16. f3 a5 17. Kf2 Ba6 18. Qg1 b4 19. Qh2 h5 20. Nf4 Qe8 21. Qg3 bxc3 22. Nxg6. Almost all chess engines recommend 22. dxc5 Rd2+ 23. Kg1 (obviously not 23. Bxd2?? cxd2 threatening both ... Bg7-d4 mate and ... d2xc1=Q) 23. ... Rad8 24. Qg5 and White stands better. 22. ... cxd4. “Wéi Yì coolly accepted the challenge with 22. ... cxd4, knowing that if White couldn’t break through the central passed Pawns would give him excellent winning chances”, Colin McGourty said. 23. Bf4 Qb5

24. e5? Here 24. Ne5! appears very strong, as after 24. ... d3 (or 24. ... Qb2+? 25. Kg1 d3 26. Qg6 and White’s attack is overwhelming) 25. Qg5! (the stereotyped 25. Qg6 Qe8 leads nowhere) 25. ... d2 26. Qxh5 Ra7 27. Qh7+ Kf8 28. Ng6+ Kf7 29. Be5 Black is busted. 24. ... Kf7? Needless to say, 24. ... Qb2+ 25. Kg1 d3 would have won immediately. 25. Qg5 Qe2+ 26. Kg3 Rd7 27. Rxh5? Apparently, as a result of Black’s omission on the 24th move, White can get out of all danger by 27. Qxh5 Bd3 28. Nh4+ Kf8 and the position is dynamically balanced. 27. ... Qd3 28. Nh4 Rg8 29. Kh2 Bh8 30. Qh6 Bg7 31. Qg5 Bc4 32. Re1 Bf8 33. Qf6+ Ke8 34. Bg5 Be7 35. Qh6 Bf8 36. Qf6 Be7 37. Qh6 Bd5 38. Bf6 Bf8 39. Qf4 Qd2 40. Qxd2 cxd2 41. Rd1 Bb4 42. Bg5 Rxg5! The End. 43. Rxg5 Bxa2 44. Rg8+ Kf7 45. Rb8 Bb3 0 : 1.

韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
Photo: qipai.org.cn

chess24.com (@chess24com)

Restlessness

Vladimir Vasilievich Fedoseev – David Wei Liang Howell
17th Open International; Dubai, April 14, 2015
Queen’s Gambit Declined D35

DubaiChess.ae report: “In a classic final-round showdown between the top two seeds, Howell, the pre-tournament favourite and top-seed, methodically outplayed the second-seeded Fedoseev with the Black side of a Queen’s Gambit Declined. With his two Bishops influencing action on both sides of the board, Howell proceeded to win a Pawn on the 38th move and then picked up a second Pawn on the 43rd move. Desperate for counter-play, Fedoseev sacrificed two more Pawns to create back-rank mating threats with his advanced e6-Pawn and Knight on the f5-square cutting off the exit route of Howell’s King.
Howell failed to react precisely to maintain his advantage as he chose to attack White’s e6-Pawn with his Rook on the 50th move, instead of moving his King out of harm’s way via a flight square on d8 to the Queenside. Fedoseev quickly pounced on the opportunity by attacking Black’s King with his Rook from an entry point on the h-file, at which point computer analysis showed Howell’s advantage had all but dissipated, as the Russian’s counter-attack was enough to force Howell to repeat moves to avoid getting checkmated. A draw was thus agreed on the 55th move”.

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bf4 c6 7. e3 Nh5 8. Bd3. Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine recommended 8. Be5 f6 9. Bg3. 8. ... Nxf4 9. exf4 Bd6 10. g3 0-0 11. 0-0 Re8 12. Qc2 Nf8 13. Rfe1. For the ugly 13. Nd1 see Alekhine – Em. Lasker, New York 1924. 13. ... Rxe1+ 14. Rxe1 Bd7 (14. ... Bg4) 15. f5 Qf6 16. Ne5 Re8 17. f4 Qd8 18. Qb3 Qb6 19. Qxb6 axb6 20. Kf2 Ra8 21. a4 Bc8 22. Bc2 Nd7 23. Kf3 Kf8 24. g4 f6 25. Nd3 Nb8 26. b4 Na6 27. Rb1 Nc7 28. Ne2 Bd7 29. Ng3 Be7 30. h4 Ne8 31. h5 h6 32. Ne2 Nd6 33. Nb2 b5 34. a5 Ne4 35. Bxe4 dxe4+ 36. Kxe4 Bxb4 37. Nd3 Re8+ 38. Kf3 Bxa5 39. Nc5 Bc8 40. d5 Bb6 41. Ne6+ Bxe6 42. fxe6 Rd8 43. Ng3 Rxd5 44. Nf5 Bc5 45. Ra1 Rd8

46. g5 fxg5 47. fxg5 hxg5 48. h6 gxh6 49. Rh1. “Black had managed to outplay his opponent in a positional battle and seize the initiative, but in the end, the Russian GM’s creative defence bamboozled the Englishman”, the editor of Chess-News.ru said. 49. ... Rd5. “It was not easy to decide on 49. ... Ke8 50. Rxh6 Rd1! 51. Rh8+ Bf8, and Black retains good chances after 52. Ng7+ (worse is 52. e7 Rf1+ 53. Ke4 Rxf5 54. Kxf5 Kxe7) 52. ... Ke7 53. Nf5+ Kxe6 54. Rxf8 Rf1+ 55. Kg4 Rg1+ 56. Kf3 b4”, the editor of Chess-News.ru said. 50. Kg4 Re5. “Here too, it was still not too late for 50. ... Ke8! with the idea of giving up the Bishop for the Pawn and using the King to support the passed Pawns on the Queenside: 51. Rxh6 Kd8 52. Rh8+ Kc7 53. e7 (After 53. Kxg5 we sooner or later reach a similar ending with either a Knight or the Exchange for three Pawns) 53. ... Bxe7 54. Nxe7 Rd1. Only Black can win, and his chances are very real”, the editor of Chess-News.ru said. 51. Rxh6 Kg8. “If 51. ... Ke8, then 52. Rh8+ Bf8 53. Kxg5, and he cannot take on e6 because of 54. Ng7+, whilst otherwise, White plays 54. Kf6 and is already in no danger of losing”, the editor of Chess-News.ru said. 52. Rg6+ Kh7 53. Rh6+ Kg8 54. Rg6+ Kh7 55. Rh6+ Kg8 ½ : ½.

Hitting time

Vladimir Vasilievich Fedoseev – Daniele Vocaturo
17th Open International; Dubai, April 12, 2015
King’s Indian Defence E97

DubaiChess.ae report: “Russia’s Grandmaster (GM) Vladimir Fedoseev, who turned 20 in February, broke through 25-year-old Italian GM Daniele Vocaturo’s King’s Indian Defence with a crushing Queen-and-Rook attack on the seventh rank, culminating with a Rook sacrifice on the 35th move that would either lead to mate or inflict heavy material loss. The Italian opted to resign”.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 0-0 6. Be2 e5 7. 0-0 Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Bd2 Ne8 10. Qb3. For 10. Rc1 f5 11. Qb3 see Taimanov – R. J. Fischer, Vancover 1971, match game 3. 10. ... h6. For 10. ... b6 11. Rac1 h6 12. Ne1 Kh8 see Ftacnik – Meinsohn, Groningen 1974. 11. Ne1 c5 12. Qa3 f5 13. b4 b6 14. bxc5 dxc5 15. Qc1 g5 16. exf5 Nxf5 17. Nc2 Ned6 18. Ne3 e4 19. Rb1 Be5 20. Nxf5 Bxf5 21. Rb3 Bg6 22. Nb5 Nf5 23. Bg4 Nd4 24. Nxd4 cxd4

25. h4 Bf4 26. Be6+ Kh7 27. Bxf4 gxf4 28. c5 e3? This error perhaps owes something to time trouble. Correct was 28. ... d3! and if 29. Qb2 then 29. ... Qxh4 30. cxb6 axb6 31. Rxb6 Ra7! holding everything. 29. Qc4 bxc5 30. Qxc5 exf2+ 31. Rxf2 Qf6 32. Rb4 Qxh4. Similarly, after 32. ... Rae8 33. Qxd4 Qxh4 34. Rb7+ Re7 35. Rxa7 White has an easily won endgame. 33. Qc7+ Kh8 34. Rb7 Qf6 35. Rxf4! 1 : 0.

Vladimir Vasilievich Fedoseev vs. Daniele Vocaturo
Photo: FIDE News