Some chess…
by
kevinspraggettonchess
·
Published October 18, 2016
· Updated October 18, 2016
Some Chess!
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Interesting events, as usual, in Holland! I will get around to the Open games later, but the matches are on the ‘Youth’ vs ‘Experience’ theme. Nigel is a youthful 50-ish, (Hou Yifan not yet in her mid 20’s), while Ivan is late 40-ish, (and his rival, Van Foreest, still a teenager!)
Great photos by Lennart Ootes gm Short,N (2670) —gm Hou Yifan (2649) (G3 18-10-2016)
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Qc2
a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7{[#] Both Short and Hou Yifan has extensive praxis in this line from the Black side, being a major part of both players’ opening repetoire. Hou Yifan has atleast a dozen games according to my database ; Nigel has more than double that. This appears to be the first time where he handles this position with the White pieces. I suspect that Nigel has a specific idea in mind for his opponent }
10.Bf4
{[#] No doubt a prepared surprise hor his adversary. It turns out to be a wise decision, especially as the Chinese star soon reveals a lack of familiarity with the finesses of this move}
Nc6 11.Nc3 Nb4 12.Qc1 Qc8?!
({ The correct move is} 12...Rc8 {with a reasonable game. The point is that not just the pawn is defended by the Rook, but it will be more comfortable to play c5 later} ) 13.a3 Nbd5 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.Bg5! f6 {An unpleasant weakening, but hard to avoid} 16.Bd2 c5 17.Ba5!{[#] Now it is difficult for Black to find a good move}
f5 ( 17...cxd4 18.Nxd4$16 ) 18.dxc5 Qxc5 19.Qxc5 Bxc5 20.Ng5! {Now White will win atleast a pawn} Rfe8
21.Rad1 Ba7 22.Nxe6 ( 22.e3! ) Rxe6 23.Rxd5 Rxe2 24.Bc3 Bc6 25.Rxf5
Bxg2 26.Kxg2 Rf8 27.Rxf8+ Kxf8 28.Kf3 Rc2 29.Ke4! Re2+
( 29...Rxf2 30.Rxf2+ Bxf2 31.Kd5 ) 30.Kd5! {[#] For a player of Short’s pedigree, the rest is just a question of time} Kf7 31.Kc6 Re6+ 32.Kb7
Bc5 33.Rd1 g5 34.Rd5 Be7 35.f4 gxf4 36.gxf4 Rh6 37.f5 Rxh2 38.Kxa6
Rc2 39.Rd7 Ke8 40.Rd2 Rxd2 41.Bxd2 h5 42.Kxb5 h4 43.Kc6 Bf6 44.b4
Be5 45.Be3 h3 46.Bg1 Kf7 47.a4 Kf6 48.a5 Kxf5 49.a6 Bd4 50.Bh2
Be5 1-0
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Some days you give a lesson, some days you learn a lesson. Today Nigel gave the lesson…photo by Ootes.
Jordan van Foreest’s orange juice was not enough to stop Sokolov! gm Sokolov,I (2623) —gm Van Foreest,J (2615) (G3 18-10-2016)
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.d4 Bg7 5.Be2 O-O 6.Be3!? {[#] Same opening variation as in the first game, where Black also did not equalize. Such are the risks of playing the KingsIndian} e5 7.d5 Na6
8.g4 c6 9.g5 Ne8 10.h4 f5 11.gxf6 Nxf6 12.h5! Qa5 13.hxg6 Nxe4
14.gxh7+ Kh8 15.Nf3! Nxc3 16.bxc3 cxd5 17.Kf1! {[#] There is little to discuss up to now about strategy and planning. This is all caveman stuff. The game revolves around White trying to play his Knight to g6}
Bf5 18.Nh4 dxc4 19.Bxc4 Rac8?? 20.Be6! {[#] The rest is just for the spectators. And very pretty, too!} Be4 21.Qg4 Bd3+ 22.Kg1 Rce8 23.Bf5 Bxf5 24.Qxf5
Rf6 25.Bg5 Rfe6 26.Ng6+ Rxg6 27.Qxg6 Rf8 28.Be7 Rxf2 {Black immediately resigned after making this move. There must be more than one way to mate} 1-0
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A well deserved standing ovation!
