A curious finale
The penultimate round of the 25th Sigeman tournament in Malmo saw a very curious finish in the game between Grandelius and Nihal.
Photo courtesy of tournament The young Indian star courageously grabbed a hot pawn in the early middlgegame and then tried to hang on for dear life, weathering his opponent’s initiative.
Nihal seemed to be out of the woods when all of a sudden he allowed a brilliant tactic that almost snared his Queen! He managed to save the Queen, but the cost was too much and he soon resigned.
gm Grandelius — gm NihalMalmo 8.5.2019
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.O-O!{[#]<strong style="color:black;">A pleasant change from the boring capture on c6 which is so popular these days, even though nobody knows why! </strong>} Bg7 5.Re1 Nf6 6.e5 Nd5 7.Nc3
Nc7 8.Bxc6 dxc6 9.Ne4 ( 9.h3{<strong style="color:black;">used to be all the rage, but theory moves on… </strong> } ) b6$5 ({<strong style="color:black;">Courageous, allowing the check on f6, but theory has decided that the check is not dangerous. </strong> } 9...Ne6$5{<strong style="color:black;">Is the more cautious alternative, and here is a recent example: </strong> } 10.d3 h6 11.Be3 b6
12.a4 a5 13.Qd2 g5 14.h3 f5 15.exf6 exf6 16.d4 f5 17.Bxg5 hxg5
18.Nexg5 Rh6 19.Nxe6 Rxe6 20.Rxe6+ Bxe6 21.Re1 Qd6 22.Qg5 Bf8
23.Ne5 Be7 24.Qh5+ Kd8 25.dxc5 Qxc5 26.Qh8+ {<strong style="color:black;"> 1-0, Kovalenko,I 2632 – Stremavicius,T 2444 , Palanga LTU 14/ 6/2018 Baltic zt II </strong>}
) 10.Nf6+{[#]<strong style="color:black;">The dog’s bark is worse than its bite! White gains very little with this check other than stopping his opponent from castling. </strong> } Kf8! 11.Ne4 Bg4{[#] <strong style="color:red;">This is Black’s idea (instead of 9…Ne6). He is able to chop wood and remove White’s attacking chances </strong>} 12.d3 Ne6 13.Neg5$5 ({<strong style="color:black;">More stable is </strong> } 13.Ned2 Qd5 14.h3
Bxf3 15.Nxf3{<strong style="color:black;">when the pawn on e5 is well defended. However, Grandelius intends to offer the pawn as a sort of Greek gift. </strong> } ) Nxg5 14.Bxg5 Qd5 ({<strong style="color:black;"> A recent game saw the alternative</strong> } 14...h6$5 15.Bd2 Qd5 16.Re4 Bf5
17.Ra4 b5 18.Ra5$13 {<strong style="color:black;">Naiditsch,A 2721 – Roganovic,Milo 2527 , Batumi GEO 5/10/2018 43rd Olympiad </strong>}
) 15.Re4! Bxf3{[#] <strong style="color:red;">A new move. Nihal decides to take the bate, something that has not been seen in other games.</strong>}
({<strong style="color:black;">The normal move is </strong> } 15...Bf5$5{<strong style="color:black;">with reasonable chances in praxis </strong> } )
16.Qxf3 Bxe5{[#] <strong style="color:red;">For his pawn White gets a slight initiative and Black will find it hard to coordinate his pieces, especially his King Rook.</strong>} 17.Qe3{[#]} ( 17.Bh6+ Bg7! )
f6
({<strong style="color:black;">Can Black capture on b2? I think so </strong> } 17...Bxb2$5{<strong style="color:black;"> The best that I can find for both sides is </strong> } 18.c4$5 Qf5 ( 18...Qxe4$6 19.Bh6+ Kg8 20.Qxe4 Bxa1
21.Qxc6{<strong style="color:black;">and the Queen is better than the Rooks </strong> } ) 19.Bh6+ Bg7 20.Re1 Qh5{<strong style="color:black;"> with a messy position, but not clear. Black will have to watch out for tricks</strong> } 21.Bf4 Bf6 22.Rxe7! )
({<strong style="color:black;">Of course not </strong> } 17...Bf6$4 18.Bxf6 exf6 19.Qh6+ Kg8 20.Rae1 )
18.Re1 Re8{[#]}
( 18...fxg5$6 19.Rxe5 Qd4 20.Qxg5 ) 19.Bh6+{<strong style="color:black;"> This move seems natural, but Black is able to navigate the pressure and get a fine position. </strong> }
( {<strong style="color:black;">Best is the immediate </strong> } 19.Bf4! Bd4 20.Qe2
Qd7 21.c3 f5 22.Re6 Bf6 23.Bh6+ ( 23.h4$5 ) Kf7 24.h3 Rd8 25.g4$5 {<strong style="color:black;">with pressure </strong> } )
Kg8 ( 19...Kf7 20.Bf4!{<strong style="color:black;">when there will be a check on e7, explaining Black’s decision to move his King to g8 </strong> } ) 20.c3$6
({<strong style="color:black;">Once more Grandelius does not find the most testing line of play </strong> } 20.Bf4! Bxf4 21.Qxf4 Qd7 22.Qxf6$5
)
Bd6!{<strong style="color:black;">Now Black has little to fear of White’s initiative, and I consider the game relatively balanced. </strong> } 21.c4 ( 21.f4 ) Qh5 22.h4 Be5$4
( {<strong style="color:black;">Of course not </strong> } 22...e5$4 23.g4
Qxh4 24.Kg2 f5 25.Bg5! )
({<strong style="color:black;">But correct is the simple </strong> } 22...Kf7! {<strong style="color:black;">When White’s idea will not work: </strong> } 23.g4$2 Qxh4 24.Kg2 Qh2+! ) 23.Bg5$3{[#]<strong style="color:black;">Checkmating the Queen. The threat is g4. Curious how Nihal was always concerned about his King, but in the end it is his Queen that is his problem! </strong> }
Bd4$5 {<strong style="color:black;">Fighting on bravely, but to no avail. White’s attack now becomes unstoppable. </strong> }
( 23...Bd6 24.g4! )
24.Rxd4! fxg5 ( 24...cxd4 25.Qe6+ Kg7 26.g4! )
25.Rd7 ( 25.Re4$5 Kg7 26.Rxe7+ Rxe7 27.Qxe7+ Kh6{<strong style="color:black;">will reach the same position as in the game </strong> } ) Kg7
( 25...e5 26.Qxg5 Qxg5 27.hxg5 {<strong style="color:black;">is a hopeless ending </strong> } ) 26.Rxe7+ Rxe7 27.Qxe7+ Kh6
28.Re5 Qd1+ ( 28...Qxh4 29.Re3! ) 29.Kh2 Qh5 30.Qxg5+
( 30.g3 ) Qxg5 31.hxg5+ {[#] <strong style="color:black;"> Black resigns. If he moves his King up then it will be mated. If he moves it back, then the ending is completely hopeless.</strong> } 1-0
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