日語書寫系統

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Notes by Grandmaster Lubomir Kavalek

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Hikaru Nakamura – Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin
4th Zürich Chess Challenge; Zürich, February 16, 2015
English Opening A33

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 e6 6. g3 Qb6. Although this attack along the diagonal a7-g1 was played in 1950, it was a big surprise for Donald Byrne during his game against [Efim Petrovich] Geller, played in the match USA–USSR in Moscow in 1955. Byrne took 75 minutes on his next move! 7. Ndb5 Ne5. Now it was Geller’s turn to think and he spent 30 minutes on his Knight move, threatening not only ... Ne5xc4 but also ... Qb6-c6. It had such a big influence on the opening theory that the variation has not been tried by White in two decades and only appeared in serious tournaments in 1989. 8. Bf4 Nfg4 9. Qa4!? It was only in 2008 when the Armenian players came up with this daring move, ignoring the threat to the Pawn on f2. 9. ... g5. This deflection became the main line. Other moves are risky. 9. ... Qxf2+ 10. Kd2 threatening Nb5-c7+ and h2-h3. 9. ... Bc5 10. 0-0-0 f6 11. b4±. 10. Bxe5 Qxf2+ 11. Kd1 Nxe5 12. Nc7+ Kd8 13. Nxa8 Qd4+ 14. Kc2 Nxc4. After some forced moves, we have reached a critical stage. At this point the game Magnus Carlsen – Leinier Domínguez Pérez, Linares 2009, was quickly drawn after 15. Kb3 Nd2+ 16. Kc2 Nc4 17. Kb3 Nd2+ 18. Kc2. 15. e4!? Karjakin didn’t expect this move and it confused him. Black is already a Rook down, but has to sacrifice the Knight to equalize. Computers can deal with that but Karjakin falters. 15. ... Ne3+? Black had to play 15. ... Qd2+ 16. Kb3 Qxb2+! 17. Kxc4 and now Black has two ways to continue: 17. ... Bg7! {17. ... d5+ [Nakamura expected this move] 18. Kd3! [Hikaru’s plan. 18. exd5?! Bg7 19. Qb3 exd5+ 20. Kc5 Qf2+ 21. Kb4 Bd7 22. Be2? (A blunder. 22. Bb5 a5+ 23. Ka4 Qd4+ 24. Ka3 Bf8+ 25. Kb2 Qd2+ 26. Qc2 Ba3+ 27. Kxa3 – 27. Kb3 a4+; 27. Kb1 Bf5! – 27. ... Qxc2 28. Rac1+/=) 22. ... Bf8+ 23. Ka5 Qc5+ 24. Nb5 b6+ 25. Ka4 (25. Ka6 Qc8+ 26. Kxa7 Bc6 wins) 25. ... Qd4+ 0 : 1 Ponkratov – Zablotsky, Voronezh 2009] 18. ... Bg7 19. Ne2! Qxa1 20. Bg2 Qe5 21. Qxa7 dxe4+ 22. Ke3 with White’s edge} 18. Qa5+ (18. Qb4 d5+ 19. exd5 b5+ 20. Kxb5 Bd7+ 21. Kc4 exd5+ 22. Nxd5 Qd4+ 23. Kb3 Qxd5+ 24. Bc4 Qf3+ 25. Kc2 Bf5+-+) 18. ... b6 19. Qxg5+ f6 20. Qb5 Ba6 21. Qxa6 f5 22. Qxa7 Qxc3+ 23. Kb5 Qc6+ leads to a draw by perpetual check. 16. Kb3 Qd2 17. a3! And just like that Black’s attack is over. The White King can nest on the square a2. 17. ... Qc2+ 18. Ka2 Qxa4 19. Nxa4 Nxf1 20. Rhxf1 b5

21. N4b6! Stronger than 21. Nc3 Bb7. 21. ... axb6 22. Nxb6 Bb7 23. Rxf7 Bc6 24. Rd1 Be7 (24. ... Ke8 25. Rfxd7+-) 25. Rf3! The Rook helps to hunt down the Pawn on d7. 25. ... Kc7. 25. ... Ke8 26. Rc3 Rf8 27. Nxd7 Bxd7 28. Rc7 and the light Bishop is trapped. 26. Nxd7! Rd8 (26. ... Bxd7 27. Rc3+ Bc6 28. Rdc1+-) 27. Rc3! The final nail. 27. ... Rxd7 28. Rdc1 Rd6 29. e5 wins. 1 : 0. (Lubomir Kavalek, The Huffington Post, February 23, 2015).

Funny Games

Viswanathan Anand – Hikaru Nakamura
4th Zürich Chess Challenge; Zürich, February 17, 2015
Queen’s Gambit Declined D37

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bf4 0-0 6. e3 Nbd7 7. c5 Nh5 8. Bd3 Nxf4 9. exf4 b6 10. b4 a5 11. a3 c6 12. 0-0 Qc7 13. g3 Ba6 14. Re1 Bf6 15. Kg2. For 15. Bc2 Bc4 16. Qd2 Ra7 17. Ne5 see Nakamura – Nielsen, Amsterdam 2010. 15. ... Bxd3. Not convincing would have been instead 15. ... bxc5? 16. bxc5 Nxc5 17. dxc5 Bxc3 18. Bxh7+! with advantage to White. 16. Qxd3 Rfb8 17. h4! Qa7 18. Ne2 g6? Both players blamed this move during the press conference. “As soon as I played the move 18. ... g6 I realized I had completely blundered it. I couldn’t recover after this move. The worst thing in chess is missing a good move and having to continue the game as though nothing happened”, then Nakamura said. Also 18. ... axb4 19. axb4 Qxa1 20. Rxa1 Rxa1 21. b5 appears to be in White’s favour, but it might be worth considering 18. ... Qb7 (Deviatkin), aiming to one of the thematic plans of either doubling along the a-file or exchanging all the Rooks. 19. Rab1 axb4 20. axb4 Qa2 21. Rec1 bxc5. 21. ... Ra3? 22. Qd1! would not have been any better. 22. bxc5 h5. A questionable move, which precludes the possibility of ... f7-f6 for Black. 23. Ne5! Nxe5. “If Black takes with the Bishop that is what I meant: the d7-Knight is now dead”, then Anand said. 24. fxe5 Bg7? A clear error. As Anand pointed out, 24. ... Bd8 would have been far better. During the press conference, Nakamura was not able to explain why he didn’t play it.

25. Rb6! “I just started to get excited after this”, then Anand said. 25. ... Rc8. After 25. ... Rxb6 26. cxb6 the powerful passed b-Pawn leaves Black without any hope. 26. Nc3 Qa7 27. Rcb1. Now White easily penetrates into the hostile camp, surrounding and targeting the c6-Pawn. 27. ... Qd7 28. R1b4 Bh6 29. Na4 Qd8 30. Ra6 Kg7 31. Rb7 Rxa6 32. Qxa6 g5 33. Qe2! g4 34. Qa6 Qg8 35. Nb6 Rf8 36. Nd7 Qh7. The last ditch try was 36. ... Ra8 (Anand) setting a pretty trap: 37. Qxc6? Ra2 38. Nf6 Be3! 39. Nxg8? Rxf2+ with a draw by perpetual check. However, Vishy was ready to play 37. Ra7! Rxa7 38. Qxa7 with an easy win (as 38. ... Qh7 is met by 39. Nf6). 37. Nxf8 Qe4+ 38. Kh2 Kxf8 39. Rb8+ Kg7 40. Qc8 Kg6 41. Qh8 1 : 0. Black’s King is doomed: 41. ... Qf3 42. Rg8+ Kf5 43. Qh7 mate.

Viswanathan Anand
Photo: Evgeny Surov

Hikaru Nakamura (@GMHikaru)

All in the Family

Viswanathan Anand – Levon Grigori Aronian
4th edition of the “Zürich Chess Challenge”; Zürich, February 16, 2015
Grünfeld Defence D97

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 0-0 7. e4 Na6 8. Be2 c5 9. d5 e6 10. 0-0 exd5 11. exd5 Re8 12. Rd1 Bf5 13. d6 h6 14. Be3. Another way is 14. Bf4 Nd7 15. Rd2 Nb4 16. Qb3 Be6 17. Bc4 Nb6 18. Bxe6 Rxe6 19. Na4 Re4 20. Bg3 Nc4 21. Nxc5 Nxd2 22. Nxd2 Re2 23. Qxb4 a5 24. Qxb7 Rxd2 25. d7 Rxb2 26. Qd5 Rb5 27. Rd1 Bf8 28. Bd6 Bxd6 29. Qxd6 Rab8 30. h3 Rb1 31. Rxb1 Rxb1+ 32. Kh2 Rb6 33. Qe5 Kf8 34. Qh8+ Ke7 35. Qe5+ Kf8 36. f4 h5 37. Qd5 h4 38. Qe5 g5 39. Qh8+ Ke7 40. Qe5+ Kf8 41. fxg5 1 : 0 Piket – Kasparov, 9th Euwe Memorial, Amsterdam 1995. For a very interesting article about this game we especially recommend “A Walk with Garry Kasparov” (1995) by Tim Krabbé. 14. ... Ng4. The most forcing reply. The colourless alternative was 14. ... Bd7 15. Rd2 Qa5 16. Rad1 Rad8 as in the game Reilly – Tukmakov, Antwerpen 1993. 15. Bf4 Bxc3 16. bxc3 Re4 17. Qb5 Rxf4 18. Qxb7 Ra4. Why a professional ends up buying the Mega Database? Just to prevent wasting time re-analyzing already analyzed positions!? So maybe Aronian was expecting White to fall into the variation contemplated by the archivists, that is 19. Bxa6?? Rb8 19. Qc6 Bd7 and Black wins.

19. d7! But Vishy had prepared this opening novelty at home. The obvious threat is Qb7xa8. Now Aronian began to think. As they say, “too little, too late”. 19. ... Be4. Grandmaster Alejandro Tadeo Ramírez Álvarez suggests 19. ... Nc7! 20. h3! Nf6 21. Ne5∞ – “The position will need more practical tests”. 20. Qb3 Bc6? With 20. ... Ra5 Black would be able to put up a stubborn resistance. After 21. Nd2! White stands clearly better, but the position is still very complex. 21. Rd6. Now it is all over. 21. ... Bxd7. Or 21. ... Rb8 22. Qd1! Bxf3 23. Bxf3 with an easy win. 22. Rad1 Qb8 23. Rxd7 Qxb3 24. axb3 Ra2 25. Bc4 Rf8 26. R7d6 Kg7 27. Rxa6 Rxf2 28. Re1 1 : 0.

Vishy Anand: All in the family
Photo: Evgeny Surov

狮子王

Wolfgang Uhlmann – Viktor Lvovich Kortschnoi
Clash of the Legends; match game 3; Zürich, February 16, 2015
English Opening A29

“I’m satisfied with the third game, although it seems he had some chances for a draw at the end of it. Earlier, he had compensation for a Pawn”, then Kortschnoi said. 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nde7 7. 0-0 g6 8. b4 a6 9. Rb1 Bg7 10. a4 0-0 11. d3 Nd4 12. Nd2 c6 13. e3 Ne6 14. Qe2. It was preferable 14. Nc4 Nd5 as in the game Sarno – Martorelli, 55th Italian Chess Championship, Verona 1995, after which International Master Sagar Shah suggests 15. Bb2! Nxb4?! 16. Ba3! and White gets the upper-hand. 14. ... Nd5 15. Nxd5 cxd5 16. f4 exf4 17. gxf4 Re8 18. Nb3 Qd6 19. Qf3 Qxb4 20. f5 gxf5 21. Qxf5 Nd8 22. Qxd5 Qxa4 23. Nc5 Qc2 24. Rb6 Be6 25. Qh5 Bg4? This is a bad tactical slip. 26. Qg5? Uhlmann missed his golden chance! After 26. Qxg4! Qxc5 27. Bb2! Qxe3+ 28. Kh1 Black is busted. 26. ... Re5 27. Qxg4 Qxc5 28. Rb4 Rg5 29. Qf4 Rg6 30. Re4 Qb5 31. Ba3 Rf6 32. Qh4 Rxf1+ 33. Bxf1 Ne6 34. d4 Qb1. 34. ... Qb3! looks much more powerful, threatening both ... Qb3xa3 (winning the Bishop) and ... f7-f5 (trapping the Rook). 35. Rg4 Kh8 36. d5 Nf8

37. Be7?? A palpable blunder which loses the Exchange. 37. Qe7 looks much more to the point, e.g. 37. ... Ng6 38. Qxf7 Rg8 with a double-edged position. 37. ... Ng6 38. Rxg6. White has no choice as 38. Qg5 is refuted by 38. ... h6. 38. ... Qxg6+ 39. Bg2 Rc8 40. Qh3 Rc1+ 41. Kf2 Qc2+ 42. Kf3 Qd1+ 43. Kf4 Rc4+ 44. e4 Qxd5 0 : 1.

Viktor Lvovich Kortschnoi
Photo: Zürich Chess Challenge 2015

狮子今晚睡着了

Viktor Lvovich Kortschnoi – Wolfgang Uhlmann
Clash of the Legends; match game 2; Zürich, February 15, 2015
King’s Indian Defence E70

“The second game was horrible even though I won: he chose the King’s Indian having no idea of it”, Kortschnoi said. 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. e4 d6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Bg5. The Averbakh System used to be a Kortschnoi’s favourite. 5. ... Nbd7 6. f4 0-0 7. Nf3 c5 8. d5 Qa5. It looks better to play immediately 8. ... b5!? 9. cxb5 a6 with a thematic compensation for the sacrificed Pawn. 9. Qd2 b5. Consistent but risky. 10. Nxb5. 10. cxb5 a6 would have justified Black’s counter-gambit. 10. ... Qb6. Less committal seems 10. ... Qxd2+ 11. Nxd2 with an edge for White. 11. Nc3 Rb8 12. Rb1 e6. International Master Sagar Shah suggests 12. ... h6 13. Bh4 Nh5 as sounder play.

13. dxe6! fxe6 14. Bd3 Bb7 15. 0-0 d5 16. e5 Ne8. If 16. ... Ne4 then 17. Qe2 Nxg5 18. Nxg5 with a clear-cut advantage to White. 17. Kh1 Nc7 18. Be7 Rfe8 19. Bd6 Bf8 20. Bxf8 Nxf8 21. b3. And the rest is just a matter of technique. 21. ... Rbd8 22. Na4 Qc6 23. Qe3 d4 24. Qd2 Na6 25. Ng5 Nb4. A gross blunder, which loses a second Pawn. 26. Be4 Qc7 27. Bxb7 Qxb7 28. Nxc5 Qb8 29. Nge4 Kg7 30. a3 Nc6 31. b4 Nd7 32. Nxd7 Rxd7 33. Nf6 Ree7 34. Nxd7 Rxd7 35. Qd3 Ne7 36. c5 Nf5 37. b5 Rd5 38. c6 Qc7 39. Rbc1 h5 40. a4 Rd8 41. Rfd1 Ne3 42. Rd2 h4 43. Qb3 Qf7 44. Rxd4 Rxd4 45. Qxe3 Rxf4 46. Kg1 1 : 0.

Viktor Lvovich Kortschnoi vs. Wolfgang Uhlmann
Photo: Zürich Chess Challenge 2015

Viktor Lvovich Kortschnoi
Photo: Zürich Chess Challenge 2015

Extraordinary time

All set for the clash of the legends: Wolfgang Uhlmann vs. Viktor Lvovich Kortschnoi
Photo: Zürich Chess Challenge 2015

Nightmare before Valentine

Fabiano Caruana – Hikaru Nakamura
4th edition of the “Zürich Chess Challenge”; Zürich, February 14, 2015
Sicilian Defence B90

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nde2 h5 8. g3 Nbd7 9. Bg5. For 9. Bg2 b5 see Sax – Tatai, Bratto 2007. 9. ... Be7 10. a4 Nc5 11. Bg2 Be6 12. a5 b5 13. axb6 Qxb6 14. b3 0-0 15. 0-0 a5 16. Qd2 Rfc8 17. Rfd1 a4 18. bxa4 Bc4 19. a5 Qd8 20. Bxf6 Bxf6 21. Qxd6 Qxd6 22. Rxd6 Nb7 23. Rd2 Rxa5 24. Rb1 Nc5 25. Nd5 Bd8 26. h4 Ra3 27. Nec3 Rca8 28. Rdd1 Ba5 29. Nb5 Ra2 30. Bf3 g6 31. Ne7+. “31. Nd6 Bxd5 32. Rxd5 Rxc2 33. Bd1 Rd2 34. Rxc5 Rxd6 35. Rxe5 gives White an extra Pawn, and although sometimes having opposite-colored Bishops can increase the advantage (the weaker side’s Bishop can’t defend against its opponent’s attacks) it looks like Black’s drawing chances are better than White’s chances for a full point. Still, it’s a two-result position that White will never lose”, Dennis Monokroussos wrote. 31. ... Kg7 32. Nc6. “Not yet fatal, but a first misstep on the way to disaster. Caruana wants more than the position has to offer. To be fair, it seems hard to believe that in just five moves White will be mated by force, doesn’t it? 35. Nxf7 Nc5 36. Rb5 Bxf7 37. Rxa5 Rxa5 38. Nxa5 is another safe position that White can never lose, though after 38. ... Ne6 Nakamura’s also extremely unlikely to lose it”, Monokroussos wrote. 32. ... Na4 33. Nd6 Be6 34. Rb7 Rxc2 35. Nxe5 Nc5 36. Re7 Kf8 37. Nc6. Very interesting, and probably better, is 37. Rxe6! Nxe6 38. Ndxf7 Bc3 39. Nh8! with a somewhat unclear situation. 37. ... Nb3 38. e5 Bb6

39. Rb7? With 39. Rxe6! fxe6 40. Nd4! White would have retained some drawing chances; for example: 40. ... Bxd4 41. Bxa8 Bxf2+ 42. Kh2 Bd4+ 43. Bg2 Bxe5 44. Ne4 (Monokroussos’ analysis). 39. ... Bxf2+ 40. Kg2 Bc5+ 41. Kh1 Raa2 0 : 1.

Fabiano Caruana vs. Hikaru Nakamura
Photo: Zürich Chess Challenge 2015

The Neverending Story

Tarjei J. Svensen (‏@TarjeiJS)

4th edition of the “Zürich Chess Challenge 2015” Coming soon! The rapid match between Grandmasters Viktor Lvovich Kortschnoi and Wolfgang Ulhmann will be held on February 15th (games 1 and 2) and 16th (games 3 and 4), both days at 11am at the Hotel “Savoy Baur en Ville” and preceded by a short overview about the bygone chess history by the president of the “Emanuel Lasker Gesellschaft”, Paul Werner Wagner.

Back to the Future

In late December 2012, it was reported that Viktor Lvovich Kortschnoi was recovering from a stroke and was unlikely to play competitive chess again. On March 28th and 29th 2014, however, Kortschnoi played an exhibition match of two games in the University of Leipzig, against Wolfgang Ulhmann, with the time control of 60 minutes/game for each. Kortschnoi won 2-0. Pretty soon we’ll see Viktor Lvovich over the board again, also against Ulhmann. The match will be held on February 15th and 16th as surplus of the 4th edition of the “Zürich Chess Challenge 2015” and consist of 4 rapid games. In March 2015, Kortschnoi and Ulhmann will celebrate their 84th and 80th birthdays respectively.

University of Leipzig, March 29, 2014. Wolfgang Ulhmann vs. Viktor Lvovich Kortschnoi.