9 September 2015
Artistry and vigilance
IM Vladimir Barsky reviews the fourth round of the World U20 Championships.
In the fourth round the Russian grandmaster Mikhail Antipov won and overtook the leader Karen Grigoryan, who drew his game.
Antipov – Bluebaum
There are no pawns on the queenside, the structure on the kingside is almost symmetrical. But all pieces are still on the board, and White has initiative, because his army is more active.
23.Nf5!
The knight gets a strong outpost and in addition indirectly defends the bishop – 23...Bxc6? 24.Ne7+ Kh7 25.Nxc6 with a double-rook fork.
23…Kh7 24.Be7 Nb4
Black had a way to equalize, which is hard to find: 24...Bxc6! 25.Bxf6 Nb4 (of course not 25...gxf6 26.Qc1 Kg8 27.Qxh6 Qf8 28.Qxf6, and White wins) 26.Qc4 gxf6 27.Qxb4, and now not an automatic trade 27...Rxa1 28.Rxa1, but tricky 27…Qf8! White are obliged to exchange queens, because after 28.Qc4 (White cannot lose the e4-pawn) 28…Rc5 29.Qb4 Rb8 Black grasps initiative.
25.Bxb4
After 25.Bxd7 Nxc2 26.Bxe8 Rxe8 27.Rxa5 Bxa5 28.Bxf6 gxf6 29.Rd1 (29.Rb1 Nd4!) 29…Rd8 30.Rd5 Bb6 of course, White has a better endgame, but this advantage is more likely not big enough for a victory.
25...Rxa1 26.Rxa1 Bxc6 27.Be7
27…Bxe4
It seems like Black could make a draw, but not without complications: 27...Ra8! 28.Rxa8 Qxa8 29.Bxf6 Bxe4! (29...gxf6?? 30.Qc1) 30.Qxc7 Bxf3, and White should return an extra piece because of a back rank checkmate threat: 31.Qxe5 (31.Bxe5 Qe4!, bad is 32.Ne3? Qb1+ 33.Nf1 Be2) 31…Qb7! 32.Ne3 Qb1+ 33.Nf1 gxf6 34.Qxf6 Bd5, and White cannot unpin the knight.
28.Qxc7 Rd7
More obstinate was 28...Ra8 29.Qxe5 Rxa1+ 30.Qxa1 Nh5! (more accurate, than 30...Bxf5 31.Bxf6 gxf6 32.Qxf6) 31.N3h4 g6 32.Qd1 Ng7 33.Nxg7 Qxe7 34.Nh5 gxh5 35.Qxh5 Qf6 – White's chances to win Black's to draw are nearly equal.
29.Qxe5 Rxe7 30.Nxe7 Bxf3 31.Qf5+ Kh8 32.Ng6+ fxg6 33.Qxf3
And White has rolled out his extra exchange: 33…Kh7 34.Ra7 Qe1+ 35.Kg2 Qe5 36.Qd3 Qc5 37.Rf7 Qe5 38.Qc4 Qd6 39.h3 Nd7 40.Qe4 Ne5 41.Ra7 Qf6 42.h4 Qd6 43.h5 Qf6 44.Rc7 Black resigned.
On that day the Elo favorite of the championship also converted an extra exchange.
Arat – Duda
The position came from the Catalan Opening: a mighty black bishop serves as compensation for weak pawns on the queenside. It's hard to say if White has anything better than 14.Nxe5 Qxe5 15.Qf3 Qxb2 16.Qxc6+ Bd7 17.Qe4+ Be6 18.Qc6+ with a perpetual check or 17.Qc3 with an equal endgame, but after 14.Nbd2? Nxc4 15.Nxc4 Bh3 it turned out that he is forced to part with the exchange – 16.Qf3, because after 16.Re1 the fork 16…Qe4 decides.
16...Bxf1 17.Qxc6+ Qd7 18.Qe4+ Qe6 19.Qxe6+ fxe6 20.Kxf1 Rf8
Of course, there are many technical difficulties laying ahead (after all, White has a pawn for the exchange), but Jan-Krzysztof finally managed to win.
In the women's section Zhansaya Abdumalik from Kazakhstan leads after 4 rounds with 4 points.
Abdumalik – Khomeriki
The hard-fought battle spread out on the queenside in the Breyer Variation of the Ruy Lopez.
23.a5!
An important move: White occupies the space and takes the a4-square under control.
23…Qxd2 24.Nxd2 Rb4 25.Ne2 Bb7 26.Nc3 Rc8 27.Bd1
White has successfully reorganized her pieces and wants to focus on the pawn c4 now. But Black has some strengths too.
27…Nc5 28.Be2 Nb3?
Apparently losing sight of the opponent's reply. After 28...Nfd7 29.Bxc4 f5 Black gets good compensation: she puts pressure on the center, her pieces are quite active, and White is fixed on defending her extra pawn on b2.
29.Ra4! Rb5
29...Nxa1 is hardly any better, for example, 30.Rxb4 Rc7 31.Rxc4 Rxc4 32.Nxc4 Nc2 33.Bb6. The most persistent is 29…Rxa4 30.Ra4 Nd4 31.Bxc4 Nd7 32.Rb4 Rc7, though here White also has a better hand.
30.Nxb5 axb5 31.Nxb3 bxa4 32.Nd2 c3 33.bxc3 Rxc3 34.Rxa4 Nd7
The outside passed pawn quickly decide the battle.
35.a6 Ba8 36.Bb5 Nc5 37.Bxc5 Rxc5 38.Bc6 Black resigned.
Bivol – Pratyusha
In the first half of the game Alina faced some problems, but she solved them unscathed, and later received a generous present.
34…e5?
The present – a splendid d5 square for the knight. Black has already lost her lead, but there was no matter to panic: 34...Bf6 35.Nh5 Bxc6 or 35.Rd6 Qc7 36.Qd3 Qa5, maintaining an equal position.
35.Nd5 Qc5 36.Nf6+!
Bivol plays artistically. Even stronger is a bit brutal 36.Rxd4! with the fork on е7.
36...gxf6 37.Qg4+ Kf8 38.Qxc8+
White has a decisive advantage, but after several inaccurate moves she was close to losing it.
38…Kg7 39.Qg4+ Kf8 40.b3 f5 41.Qh5 Bb5 42.Qd1 Bxc6 43.Qc2 Bc3 44.Rd8+ Ke7 45.Rc8 e4 46.Rc7+ Ke6 47.g4
Involving the bishop into attack by 47.Bf1! looks very strong.
47…Qd6 48.gxf5+ Kf6 49.Ra7?
The bishop should be taken care of – 49.Rc8!
49…e3! 50.fxe3 Bd2?
Black plays for a trap and misses her chance: 50...Qc5! 51.Rxa6 Qxe3+ 52.Qf2 Qc1+ 53.Bf1 (53.Qf1? Bd4+ 54.Kh1 Qxf1#) 53...Be5. Two bishops in all their glory – it's not clear how White can make away with a pin. The computer already offers to return the exchange – 54.Rxc6+, but after 54…Qxc6 55.Qh4+ Kg7 56.Qxb4 Bc7 Black should draw in the ending with opposite-colored bishops.
51.Qb2+! Bc3 52.Qe2 Bb5 53.Qh5 Qd2 54.Qh6+ Ke5 55.Re7+ Kxf5 56.Bh3#.
Bayarmaa – Buksa
At first glance it seems, that White will recover the material balance and end the game in a draw. However, the Ukrainian player finds a fine way to continue the battle.
51…Bc3! 52.Nd3 (it's clear that the bishop is invulnerable) 52…d4+ 53.Ke2 Ke6!
Even now the bishop doesn't think of retreating!
54.Nc1?
White wrongly believed on the opponent's bare word: after 54.bxc3 dxc3 55.Kd1 Kf5 56.Nb4 Ke4 57.a4! Black cannot find a decisive way to strengthen her position.
The pawn on а4 ensures White with sufficient counter play – Black should constantly pay attention to the maneuver Nb4-d5xb6. Further can follow
1) 57…Kd4 58.Kc1 Kc4 59.Na6 Kd3 60.Nb4+ Ke4, and we are coming back to where we started from,
2) 57...g5 58.fxg5 fxg5 59.g4! (the last accurate move; if 59.Kc1 Kf3 60.Nd5 Kxg3 61.Nxb6 g4 62.hxg4 h4 White loses) 59...h4 60.Kc1 – a positional draw.
54...Bxb2 55.Nxb3 Kd5
Now Black is up a pawn and soon she gets another one thanks to the zugzwang.
56.Kd3 b5 57.g4 hxg4 58.hxg4 g5 59.fxg5 fxg5 60.Nd2 Ke5 61.Ne4 Kf4 62.Nd6 Bxa3 63.Nxb5 Bb2 64.Nd6 Kxg4 65.Nc4 Bc3 66.Ke4 Kh3 67.Ne5 g4 68.Nd3 Kh2 69.Nf4 g3 70.Kf3 Bb2 71.Ng2 d3 72.Ne3 d2 73.Nf1+ Kh3 74.Nxd2 g2 75.Ke2 g1Q White resigned.
The final game demonstrates how important it is be attentive in the simplest positions.
Ivanova – Rodriguez
The position is absolutely equal, but after the reckless 23.Ke2? g5 White lost a piece.
