This weekend saw more action in the German Bundesliga, gathering many of the world’s top players. Not surprisingly, we could witness some pretty impressive chess!
Below are two quick crushes by two of my favourite players, Alexi Shirov and Maxime Vachier Lagrave. Enjoy!
gm Shirov – gm Carlstedt Berlin 23.3.2019 (1-0)
{<strong style="color:red;"> PLAY THROUGH THE GAME USING THE ARROW KEYS BELOW THE BOARD ABOVE. ANNOTATIONS TO THE MOVES ARE GIVEN BELOW. ENJOY! </strong> }1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.O-O Bg4 6.h3 Bh5$5{<strong style="color:black;">A rarely played system, but a good way to take your opponent out of the book </strong> } 7.c4$5 {<strong style="color:black;"> Also rarely played, but I like very much the way Shirov plays the opening</strong> } Nf6
8.g4!{<strong style="color:black;">New </strong> } ({<strong style="color:black;">More often seen is the slower </strong> } 8.Nc3 Be7 9.d3 ) ({<strong style="color:black;">Shirov’s move avoids the following possibility </strong> } 8.d4 Bxf3! 9.Qxf3 b5! 10.cxb5 Nxd4 11.bxa6+
c6 12.Qd3 Qb6$13 ) Bg6 9.d4!{<strong style="color:black;"> Shirov is treating the opening in a very direct and energetic manner</strong> } Nd7 ( 9...Bxe4$2 10.Nc3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 Nd7
12.Bxc6 bxc6 13.Qxc6$16 ) ( 9...h5$5{<strong style="color:black;">Should be seriously considered </strong> } ) 10.Nc3 Be7 ( 10...f6 11.Be3
( 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.Qa4 ) h5 12.Qe2 hxg4 13.hxg4 Qc8 14.Bxc6 bxc6
15.d5 Nb6 16.Nd2 c5 17.Kg2$13 { Kapengut Albert Z (BLR) – Sakharov Yuri N (RUS) , URS 1971}
) ({<strong style="color:black;">Also worth considering is </strong> } 10...Nxd4$5 11.Nxd4 exd4 12.Qxd4 c6 13.f4 f6 14.Be3$14{<strong style="color:black;">Black has a solid, though passive game. </strong> } ) 11.Bxc6!
bxc6 12.Qa4! {<strong style="color:black;">Typical Shirov energy! </strong> } O-O$6 ({<strong style="color:black;">Black had to play </strong> } 12...exd4 13.Nxd4 c5! 14.Nc6 ( 14.Nf5 ) Nb6!{<strong style="color:black;">without this move Black would be in real trouble </strong> }
15.Qc2 Qd7 16.Nxe7 Qxe7 17.b3 h5$5 {<strong style="color:black;">White is better, but Black is not without some chances </strong> } ) 13.dxe5!$16
( 13.Qxc6$6 exd4 14.Nxd4 Bf6 15.Be3 Ne5 16.Qa4 c5 17.Nf5 Bxf5 18.exf5
h5$13 ) c5 14.Rd1 Qe8 ( 14...h5$5 ) 15.Qc6! Ra7 16.Bf4 Nxe5 17.Nxe5
dxe5 18.Qxe8 Rxe8 19.Bxe5{<strong style="color:black;">White is a pawn up for nothing. The rest is simple enough </strong> } Rb7 20.b3 h5 21.f3 hxg4 22.hxg4 Bg5
23.Bg3 Bf6 24.Rac1 c6 25.Na4 Bg5 26.f4 1-0
You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.
gm VachierLagrave – gm Dziuba Berlin 24.3.2019 (1-0)
{<strong style="color:black;"> PLAY THROUGH THE GAME USING THE ARROW KEYS BELOW THE BOARD ABOVE. ANNOTATIONS TO THE MOVES ARE GIVEN BELOW. ENJOY! </strong> }1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c6 3.Bg2 Bg4 4.O-O{<strong style="color:black;">When Maxime is not playing his favourite 1.e4, he is quite fond of this Reti-ish system </strong> } Nd7 ( 4...e6 5.h3 Bh5 6.d4 Nd7
7.c4 Be7 ( 7...Bxf3 8.Bxf3 Ngf6 9.Qb3 Qb6 10.Nc3 Be7 11.Rd1 O-O
12.e3 {Vachier Lagrave,M – Wojtaszek,R , 30/12/2016 World Blitz 2016}
) 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Nc3 Ngf6 10.Nh4 {Vachier Lagrave,M – Gunina,V , 27/ 1/2016 Gibraltar Masters 2016}
) 5.h3$5 Bh5 ( {<strong style="color:black;">Also possible is </strong> }5...Bxf3 6.Bxf3 e6 7.d3 Bd6 8.e4 Ne7 9.d4 dxe4 10.Bxe4
Nf6 11.Bd3 h5 {Vachier Lagrave,M – Dubov,D, Skopje 23/10/2015 31st ECC Open 2015}
) 6.d4 e6 7.c4 Bd6 8.Qb3 Qb6$6 ( 8...Rb8!{<strong style="color:black;">has a better reputation </strong> } ) 9.Nc3 Qxb3 10.axb3 a6
( 10...Ne7$5 {<strong style="color:black;">is also known </strong> } ) 11.e4!$14 {<strong style="color:black;"> Almost effortlessly, Maxime has got a solid plus from the opening.</strong> }Ne7 12.exd5! exd5 13.Re1! Kd8 ( 13...O-O$2 14.c5! )
14.cxd5 Nxd5 15.Nxd5 cxd5 16.g4!{<strong style="color:black;">Now White begins to increase the pressure </strong> } Bg6 17.Bd2 Rc8 ( 17...Be4$2 18.Ng5!$16 )
( 17...f6$5 18.Nh4! Nb6 19.Ba5 Bc7 20.Nxg6 hxg6 21.Rac1$16 ) 18.Ba5+!{<strong style="color:black;">Deceptively simple, but actually a masterly touch. White creates further weaknesses in Black’s game. </strong> }
b6 19.Bc3 a5 20.Ne5!$18 Nf6 ( 20...Nxe5 21.dxe5 Bc5 22.Bxd5 h5 23.e6 )
21.f4 Bxe5 22.dxe5 Ne4 23.Bd4 f5 24.exf6 Nxf6 25.Bxb6+{<strong style="color:black;"> Black could resign here.</strong> } Kd7 26.f5
Rb8 27.Bc5 Rb5 28.b4 axb4 29.Re7+ Kc6 30.Bd4 1-0
You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.
Download both games h ere
