The In Between

The Unending Game

Volodar Arturovich Murzin – Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa

1st Julius Bär Challengers Chess Tour; 4thd stage; 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) Challenge; time control: 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move; chess24.com, September 19, 2021

Sicilian Defence B40

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. Qe2 e5 6. 0-0. One cannot but quote at this juncture the following game for theoretical reference: 6. d3 Be7 7. 0-0 d6 8. c3 0-0 9. a4 Re8 10. Na3 h6 11. Nc4 Bf8 12. Re1 Be6 13. Bd2 Rc8 14. Ne3 Na5 15. c4 g6 16. Nd5 Nxd5 17. cxd5 Bd7 18. Qd1 c4 19. Bf1 Nb3 20. Ra3 Nxd2 21. Qxd2 cxd3 22. Bxd3 h5 23. h4 a6 24. a5 Qf6 25. Be2 Bg4 26. Rc1 Qe7 27. Rac3 Qd7 28. Kg2 Be7 29. Ng1 Rxc3 30. Qxc3 Rc8 31. Qxc8+ Qxc8 32. Rxc8+ Bxc8 33. Nf3 Kf8 34. Nd2 Bd7 35. Nc4 Bb5 36. Kf1 Ke8 37. Nb6 g5 38. Bxb5+ axb5 39. Nc8 gxh4 40. Nxe7 Kxe7 41. gxh4 Kd7 42. Ke2 Kc7 43. Kd3 Kb8 44. b4 Kc7 ½ : ½ 林晨 (Lín Chén) – 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), 45th Chinese Chess Championship, 兴化 (Xīnghuà) 2014. 6. ... Be7 7. Nc3. Both the opponents had their good reasons for coming here. First of all Praggnanandhaa who was savoring the still-fresh memory of 7. c3 0-0 8. Na3 Re8 9. d3 d6 10. Nc4 h6 11. h3 Be6 12. Kh2 Bf8 13. Bd2 g6 14. a4 Bg7 15. b4 cxb4 16. cxb4 d5 17. Na5 Nxa5 18. bxa5 Bd7 19. Bc3 Qc7 20. Rfc1 Bc6 21. Nd2 a6 22. Qd1 Rad8 23. Qb3 h5 24. Bb4 Qd7 25. Ra2 Bh6 26. Re1 h4 27. exd5 Bxd5 28. Bxd5 Qxd5 29. Qxd5 Nxd5 30. Rb1 hxg3+ 31. fxg3 Nxb4 32. Rxb4 Rxd3 33. Ne4 Re7 34. Nc5 Rd5 35. Rxb7 Rxb7 36. Nxb7 Be3 37. Re2 Ba7 38. Rc2 e4 39. Kg2 Rd7 40. Rc8+ Kh7 41. Nd8 Kg7 42. Nc6 Rd2+ 43. Kf1 Bf2 44. Re8 f5 45. g4 Bg3 46. g5 f4 47. Rxe4 f3 48. Rd4 Rh2 0 : 1 Bersamina – Praggnanandhaa, 9th Chess World Cup, Krasnaya Polyana 2021, match game 1. 7. ... d6 8. Nd5 Be6!? The same goes for Murzin, he too must have felt fine as well: 8 ... 0-0 9. c3 Nxd5 10. exd5 Nb8 11. d4 cxd4 12.cxd4 exd4 13. Nxd4 Bf6 14. Be3 Re8 15. Qd2 Bd7 16. b4 Na6 17. Rfc1 h5 18. Rab1 h4 19. Rc4 h3 20. Bf3 Nc7 21. b5 Rc8 22. a4 Nxb5 23. Rxc8 Nxd4 24. Rxd8 Nxf3+ 25. Kh1 Rxd8 26. Qd1 Ne5 27. Bd4 Bg4 28. Qb3 Rc8 29. Qxb7 Rc2 30. Bxe5 Bxe5 31. Qxa7 Bf3+ 32. Kg1 Bxd5 33. Qa5 Bg2 34. Qd8+ Kh7 35. Qh4+ Kg6 36. Re1 f5 37. Qb4 Rb2 38. Qc4 d5 39. Qc6+ Bf6 40. Qe8+ Kh6 41. Qc8 Kg5 42. Qc1+ Kg6 43. Qf4 Bg5 44. Re6+ Bf6 45. f3 Rb3 46. Kf2 d4 47. g4 fxg4 48. fxg4 Kf7 49. Rxf6+ gxf6 50. Qxd4 Kg6 51. Qf4 Rb6 52. Qc4 Rc6 53. Qg8+ Kh6 54. Ke3 Ra6 55. Qc4 Ra5 56. Kf4 Re5 57. Qf7 Re1 1 : 0 Murzin – Potkin, 28th Russian Team Chess Championship Premiere League, Sochi 2021. 9. Nxf6+ Bxf6 10. d3 0-0 11. c3 d5!

12. Ng5. It is just a little tactic. 12. exd5 was probably preferable. 12. ... Bxg5 13. Bxg5 f6. After 13. ... Qxg5 14. exd5 and White will regain the piece with equality. 14. Be3? It’s amazing how little it takes for White to be inexorably crushed. 14. Bd2 at once was much better.

14. ... d4! 15. Bd2 b5 16. Rfc1 Qd6 17. Bf1 Rac8 18. Qe1 a5 19. a4 dxc3 20. bxc3 b4 21. Be3 Rfd8 22. Rc2 f5 23. f3?! ⌓ 23. f4 seems to make a little more sense, even though Black would play 23. ... fxe4 24. dxe4 c4 anyway, with great superiority. 23. ... fxe4 24. dxe4 c4 25. cxb4? A ruinous error, which loses immediately, but by now White had very little hope of stopping the avalanche — for instance: 25. f4 b3 26. Rf2 Nb4! and there’s a roller coming.

25. ... Nd4!−+ 26. Rf2 axb4 27. f4 c3 28. Rc1 Bg4 29. Kg2 Qc6 30. Bd3 Nb3 0 : 1.

In the Blink of an Eye

Volodar Arturovich Murzin – Jonas Buhl Bjerre

1st Julius Bär Challengers Chess Tour; 3rd stage; Kramnik Challenge; time control: 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move; chess24.com, August 12, 2021

2r1q1k1/5ppp/Q3pn1b/2r1N3/3Nn2P/2P2R2/P4PPB/4R1K1 w - - 1 32

Position after 31. ... Rd5-c5

The 3rd stage of the 1st Julius Bär Challengers Chess Tour has started today with much work for the teams’ coaches who have to do their best to get the best out of their pupils. If nothing else, Danish Grandmaster Bjerre, who’s tutored by four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán), in his game against Russian prodigy Murzin, managed to miraculously escape being checkmated. And yet, from the position of diagram, White began well: 32. Nxf7! Nd2? After 32. ... Kxf7 33. Rxe4 Rxc3 34. Rxc3 Rxc3 35. Re1 White’s extra passed Pawn on the Queenside is enough to guarantee a win. 33. Nxh6+ Kh8 (33. ... gxh6 34. Rxf6 Rxc3 35. Qe2+−) 34. Rxf6! gxf6 35. Rxe6 Qg6 36. Bf4 Qb1+ 37. Kh2 Nf1+ 38. Kh3 Rxc3+ 39. g3 Nd2 40. Re8+ Kg7 41. Ndf5+ Kg6

42. h5+!? White goes King hunting, apparently overlooking that His Majesty was already in a mating net: 42. Qxf6+!! Kxf6 43. Be5+ Kg6 44. Re6+ Kh5 45. Ng7#. 42. ... Kxh5 43. Qe2+? Actually, Murzin overlooked it. White was still in time for 43. Ng7+ Kg6 44. Qxf6+!! Kxf6 45. Be5+ Kg5 (or 45. ... Kg6 46. Re6+ Kg5 47. Nf7#) 46. Nf7+ Kg6 47. Nh8+ Kg5 (or 47. ... Kh6 48. Re6+ Kg5 49. Nf7#) 48. f4+ Kh6 49. Re6+ Qg6 50. Nf7#. 43. ... Nf3 44. g4+ Kg6. Now White’s two Knights cannot checkmate: 45. Ne7+ Kg7 46. Nhf5+ Kf7 47. Nd6+ Kg7 48. Nef5+ Kg6 49. Ne7+ Kg7 50. Ndf5+ Kf7 51. Nh6+ Kg7 52. Nhf5+ ½ : ½.

Doomsday Clock

Volodar Arturovich Murzin – Vladislav Mikhailovich Artemiev

9th Chess World Cup; tie-break game 1; time control: 25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; Krasnaya Polyana, July 17, 2021

4b3/kp5p/p7/P3q1K1/1PB3Q1/8/6P1/8 w - - 2 41

Position after 40. ... Qh2-e5+

In the position of the diagram, White’s King (in check) should quite easily find his way towards survival, but, needless to say, both the contestants were short of time. 41. Qf5? (41. Kh6! Bg6=) 41. ... h6+! 42. Kg4 Qg7+? Black, in turn, misses the subtle 42. ... h5+! 43. Kg5 Qg7+ winning the Bishop. 43. Kf3?! Safer seems 43. Kh3 and if 43. ... Bd7 then 44. Be6 with roughly even chances. 43. ... Qc3+ 44. Qd3 Bc6+ 45. Kf4 Qf6+ 46. Ke3 Qg5+ 47. Kd4 Qxg2 48. Qe3 h5 49. Kc5? White’s instinct goes wrong again. His best was 49. Kc3+ Ka8 50. Qe5! with a very probable draw. 49. ... Qe4? The exchange of Queens leads to an ending which White just holds by a hair. Black had to play 49. ... h4! 50. b5 axb5 51. Bxb5 Ka8! with a win in sight. 50. Qxe4 Bxe4 51. Kd4 Bc6 52. Ke3 h4 53. Kf4 Bd7 54. Bd5 Kb8 55. Be4 Kc7 56. Bf3

56. ... Bc8. Apparently Black can’t make any progress. For instance: 56. ... Bc6 57. Be2 Bb5 58. Bd1! Kd6 59. Kg4 Ke5 60. Kxh4 Kd4 61. Bf3 Bc6 62. b5!! forcing a book draw. 57. Be2 Kc6 58. Bd3 Kc7 59. b5 axb5 60. Bxb5 Bd7 61. a6 bxa6 ½ : ½.

Murzin, 14, left the scene only after he lost his 2nd tie-break game against a formidable opponent such as Artemiev, thus confirming himself to be a rising star of Russian chess. Photo © Eric Rosen.

氪星石 (Kryptonite)

The Gelfand Challenge, named after Grandmaster Boris Abramovich Gelfand, has started today, thus inaugurating the 2nd stage of the 1st Julius Bär Challengers Chess Tour, an online combined which features four Challenges and one Final for a total of five online tournaments. Twenty top young stars, split in two teams of ten each, captained by Judit Polgár and Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik, will compete for glory and wealth, mentored and tutored by world-renowned coaches. Four-time Women’s World Chess Champion and Rhodes Scholar 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) is one of the coaches for Team Kramnik, and Grandmaster 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié) one of her beneficiaries.

雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié) – Volodar Arturovich Murzin

1st Julius Bär Challengers Chess Tour; 2nd stage; Gelfand Challenge; time control: 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move; chess24.com, June 10, 2021

Caro-Kann Defence B12

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nd2 e6 5. Nb3 Nd7 6. Nf3 Ne7 7. Be2 h6 8. 0-0 g5 9. a4. Distancing herself from an unpleasant memory: 9. Ne1 Qc7 10. Nd3 b6 11. Be3 Bg7 12. f4 c5 13. dxc5 gxf4 14. Bxf4? (of course White must first play 14. cxb6 and only then taking on f4) 14. ... bxc5∓ 雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié) – Gunina, 5th Women’s World Rapid Chess Championship, Saint Petersburg 2018. 9. ... Bg7 10. a5 Qc7 11. Bd2 Ng6 12. c4 dxc4 13. Bxc4 Rd8 14. Qe2!?TN (14. Rc1 0-0 15. Qe2 b6 16. Ne1 Qb8 17. Ba6 Ne7 18. Bb4 c5 19. Ba3 Nd5 20. dxc5 bxc5 21. Nxc5 Nxe5 22. Nb7 Nf4 23. Qb5 Rd5 24. Nc5 Qxb5 25. Bxb5 Rb8 26. Ba6 Rd2 27. Na4 Ned3 28. Nxd3 Nxd3 29. Bxd3 Bxd3 30. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 31. Rxd1 Bc2 0 : 1 Feygin – Chabanon, Belgian Interclubs 2016–17, Amay 2017) 14. ... 0-0 15. Rfc1 Rfe8 16. Ne1 Ne7 17. Bb4

17. ... c5. A tactically flawed, though strategically thematic, Pawn sacrifice. 18. Nxc5. 18. Bb5! would have seriously tested Black’s speculation. 18. ... Nc6 19. Nxd7 Qxd7 20. Bd6 Nxd4!? Quite understandably, Black is in a hurry to regain the Pawn. 20. ... Bf8 was probably also good for equality. 21. Qe3 Nb5 22. Bc5 a6. 22. ... g4 also seems to have its merits. 23. Nf3 Rc8 24. b4 Nc7 25. Rd1 Nd5 26. Qb3

26. ... Qc6?? An awful blunder which loses material — or maybe only a mouse slip. Conversely, the immediate 26. ... Qc7 seems to be perfectly playable. 27. Nd4+− Qc7 28. Nxf5 Bxe5 29. Nxh6+ Kg7 30. Ng4 Bxa1 31. Rxa1 Qf4 32. Bxd5 exd5 33. Ne3 Red8 34. Rd1 d4 35. Nd5 Qg4 36. Bxd4+ Kh6 37. Ne3 1 : 0.

18（十八）

雷挺婕 (Léi Tǐngjié) – Volodar Arturovich Murzin

1st Julius Bär Challengers Chess Tour; 1st stage; Polgár Challenge; time control: 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move; chess24.com, April 11, 2021

Slav Defence D10

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Bf4 Nc6 5. Nc3 e6 6. e3 Bd6 7. Bxd6 Qxd6 8. Qg4 Kf8 9. Nf3 Nge7TN (9. ... Nf6 10. Qg3 Qxg3 11. hxg3 Bd7 12. Rc1 Ke7 13. Bb5 Rac8 14. Bxc6 Bxc6 15. Ne5 h6 16. Kd2 Rhd8 17. f3 Ne8 18. b3 Nd6 19. a4 Be8 20. Nd3 ½ : ½ Schleining – Mádl, 22nd Frauen-Bundesliga, Mülheim an der Ruhr 2012) 10. Qg3 Nf5 11. Qxd6+ Nxd6 12. Rc1 Bd7 13. Nb5 Ke7 14. Nxd6 Kxd6 15. Kd2 f6 16. Bb5 Rhc8 17. h4 Be8 18. Bd3 h6 19. g4 Nb4 20. Bb1 Rxc1 21. Rxc1 Nc6 22. Rg1 Ne7 23. g5 Bh5 24. Ne1 Rg8 25. Bh7 Rf8 26. Nd3 fxg5 27. hxg5 g6 28. Nf4 hxg5 29. Rxg5 Rf7

30. Bxg6? White makes a faux pas. Correct was 30. Nxh5 gxh5 31. Rxh5 Rxf2+ with equality. 30. ... Bxg6 31. Nxg6 Rxf2+ (31. ... Rg7?? 32. Ne5!) 32. Kc3 Nf5. Now Black gains a couple of Pawns: 33. Rh5 Nxe3 34. Rh7 Nd1+ 35. Kd3 Nxb2+ 36. Ke3 Rg2?? A devastating blunder. After 36. ... Nd1+ 37. Kd3 Kc6 the ending was anything but won, yet certainly very appealing to Black.

37. Ne5. Threatening mate by Rh7-d7#. 37. ... Nc4+ 38. Nxc4+?? Melodramatically returning the courtesy. 38. Kf3!+− was easy and merciless enough to force Black’s surrender. 38. ... dxc4−+ 39. Rxb7 Rxa2 40. Rb4 c3 41. Rc4 Rh2! 42. Kd3 c2 43. Rc8 a5 44. Rc4 a4 0 : 1. What a pity!