19.5.15

Humans Too

The last tournament from the Grand Prix series is in progress in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.
A game that I liked (ChessBase 13) Fabiano Caruana is leading before the free day with 3/4, but it could have been different if Evgeny Tomashevsky had won his game in round two. This game proved that the top GM are also human beings, tending to make mistakes.

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix - Khanty-Mansiysk"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.05.15"]
[Round "2.5"]
[White "Tomashevsky, Evgeny"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2749"]
[BlackElo "2780"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "147"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:03:00"]
[BlackClock "0:11:03"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. h3 {The Bagirov's is
Tomashevsky's beloved weapon against the KID.} e5 7. d5 Nh5 8. g3 {Diagram [#]
Tomashevsky's pet move. He is the guiding force behind the whole line and the
creator of the theory here.} (8. Nh2 {is considered to be the main line.}) 8...
Qe7 {Quite an unusual move by Grischuk that forced his opponent into some
thought. However, I doubt that it will attract any followers.} ({If you have
missed the last issue of the Master bulletin, then you missed a lot! GM
Abhijeet Gupta annotated extensively the topical theory after} 8... f5 9. exf5
gxf5 10. Nh4 Nf4 (10... Nf6 {is the other option.}) 11. Bd2 Qe7 12. Qc2 Na6 13.
a3 Bd7 14. O-O-O {Tomashevsky,E (2716)-Kasimdzhanov,R (2705) Tbilisi GEO 2015})
({The other main move is also covered there} 8... a5 9. Be2 Na6 10. Nh2 Nf6 11.
Ng4 {Ipatov,A (2592)-Bacrot,E (2711) Jerusalem ISR 2015}) 9. Nh2 Na6 $146 {
This is a novelty.} ({The only predecessor saw the illogical} 9... Nf6 10. Bg5
h6 11. Be3 Kh7 $16 {Stromer,A (2272)-Bremond,E (2300) Etang Sale 2001}) 10. Be3
{Tomashevsky proceeds with development.} (10. Be2 Nf6 {looks less convincing.})
10... Nc5 11. h4 $1 {[%csl Yf7][%cal Gg3g4,Gh4h5] Diagram [#] White's idea is
to gain space on the kingside and to basically kill any counterplay there. A
very mean strategy!} (11. Be2 {leads White nowhere after} Nf6 12. f3 Nh5 $1)
11... a5 12. Be2 Nf6 13. Qc2 c6 14. g4 {This is the position that White is
heading for. He is now better on both flanks. In comparison to some lines of
the Averbakh sistem Black did not have time to push the b pawn, or at least
bring his queen on a5.} Na6 ({If} 14... cxd5 {White can simply recapture} 15.
cxd5 ({but there is an even more decent option} 15. Bxc5 $1 dxc5 16. g5 Ne8 17.
Nxd5 {followed by Be2-g4 and total domination.})) (14... Bd7 15. g5 Ne8 16. h5
{is also great for White.}) 15. g5 Ne8 (15... Nd7 16. h5 $16) 16. h5 Nb4 17.
Qd2 cxd5 18. cxd5 Bd7 19. O-O-O {[%csl Yd7][%cal Gc1b1,Yd1c1,Yc1c2,Yh1c1,Ya2a3,
Re2b5] Diagram [#] White finished his development and intends to strengthen
the position with Kc1-b1, doubling of the rooks along the c file and of
course- trade of the light squared bishop via b5 whenever possible.} f5 {
Grischuk tries to counter attack.} 20. Kb1 b5 (20... f4 21. Bb6 {would leave
Black completely paralized.}) 21. hxg6 {White completely ignores the
opponent's provocations on the other wing.} ({Instead} 21. Bxb5 $2 Bxb5 22.
Nxb5 f4 23. Bb6 Qb7 {would drop a piece for White.}) ({And} 21. Nxb5 $6 Rb8 22.
Nc3 f4 {would work well for Black as well.}) 21... hxg6 22. f3 Nc7 23. Rc1 {
The kingside is stable, it is time to take care of his "own" one.} Nba6 24. Bd3
b4 25. Ne2 Nb5 {Grischuk need one more more to play Rf8-c8 and things would
not be that clear but...} 26. Rc6 $1 {[%csl Gc6][%cal Rb3g8,Rh1h8] Diagram [#]
Splendid!} Rfb8 ({The rook is not delicious} 26... Bxc6 27. dxc6 Nbc7 28. Bc4+
Ne6 {would lead to a completely helpless position for Black, e.g.} 29. Rd1 {
(not the only winnning move)} Kh8 (29... Rfd8 30. Bb6) 30. Qxd6 Qxd6 31. Rxd6 {
and White wins.}) 27. Rhc1 f4 (27... Bxc6 28. dxc6 d5 29. exf5 {is again bad
for Black.}) 28. Bf2 Bf8 (28... Qxg5 29. Bxb5 Rxb5 30. Rxd6 $18) 29. Ng4 {The
game is practically over. However, at the stage appears his Majesty, the
Time-Trouble.} Qxg5 30. Rh1 Qe7 ({Please note that the rook always invincible
due to the weakness of the light squares} 30... Bxc6 31. dxc6 Be7 32. Bc4+ Kg7
33. Qd5 {and in order to save the checkmate Black will have to give up the
knight on b5.}) 31. Bxb5 Rxb5 {Diagram [#]} 32. Nxf4 $1 {So far so good,
Tomashevsky acurately calculated the win.} Bxg4 ({The choice is decisive
attack for White after} 32... exf4 33. Bd4 Bg7 34. Nh6+ Kf8 (34... Bxh6 35.
Rxh6) 35. Qxf4+ Ke8 36. Bxg7 Qxg7 37. Qxd6 $18) 33. Nxg6 Qf6 34. Nxf8 Rxf8 35.
Rg1 {With seconds on the clock White plays it safe.} ({A more spectacular win
would have been} 35. Rxd6 Qxd6 36. Qg5+ Kf7 37. Rh7+ Ke8 38. Qxg4 Rb8 39. Qh5+
Kd8 40. Bh4+ Kc8 41. Qg4+) 35... Qxf3 36. Qg5+ Kf7 37. Rxg4 Ke8 (37... Qxf2 38.
Qg7+ Ke8 39. Rc8#) 38. Qg6+ Qf7 {Two more moves and the time trouble will be
over. Almost everything wins for White. Tomashevsky fevereshly calculates the
capture on d6 but at the last moment looks at the clock and realizes that
there are only four seconds left. He grabs the first available piece instead...
} 39. Qxf7+ {Which also wins.} (39. Qxd6 {is forced mate instead} Rb8 (39...
Qxf2 40. Rc8+ Kf7 41. Rxf8#) 40. Qxe5+) 39... Rxf7 {Diagram [#]} 40. Be3 $4 {
If the previous move had thrown away the mate, this one throws away the win!} (
{One more check would have done the job} 40. Rg8+ Kd7 41. Rxa6 {as the knight
is invincible} Rxf2 42. Ra7+ Rb7 43. Rxb7#) 40... Nc5 $2 {And Grischuk returns
the favour! Needless to say, he was also in time trouble.} (40... Rf1+ $1 {
would be a draw instead} 41. Rc1 {Best or else Black might get better.} (41.
Bc1 $2 Rc5 {is very good for Black.}) (41. Kc2 {fails to} b3+ 42. axb3 $2 Nb4+)
41... Rxc1+ 42. Bxc1 b3 $11) 41. Rg8+ {The time trouble is over, both players
have time to take breath and reasses the situation. Tomashevsky is still
winning, but miracles are not yet over...} Kd7 42. Ra8 Rb7 43. Bxc5 (43. Bg5 $1
{would have been better! The only way to stop the checkmate is} Rf1+ 44. Kc2
Rf2+ 45. Kd1 Ne6 {when White wins a piece and the game after} 46. dxe6+ Kxc6
47. e7 Rxe7 48. Bxe7 Rxb2 49. Rxa5 b3 50. a3 $1) 43... dxc5 44. Rxc5 {Diagram
[#] The wrong pawn!} (44. Rxa5 $1 {was still good enough for the full point as}
Rf4 45. Rh6 $1 {leaves Black no time to capture the pawn} Rxe4 46. Rh7+ Kc8 47.
Ra8+ Rb8 48. Rh8+) 44... Rf1+ 45. Rc1 Rxc1+ 46. Kxc1 b3 $1 {Grischuk creates
counterplay! We all know that "the rooks endgame are always draw".} 47. a3 Rc7+
48. Kd2 Rc2+ 49. Kd3 Rxb2 50. Rxa5 Rh2 51. Rb5 Rh3+ 52. Kd2 Kd6 $1 {Black
activated all his pieces and managed to hold the draw later.} 53. a4 Rh2+ 54.
Kc3 Rh3+ 55. Kd2 (55. Kb2 Re3 56. Rb4 Kc5 $11) 55... Rh2+ 56. Kc3 Rh3+ 57. Kc4
Re3 58. Rb6+ Kc7 59. Rxb3 Rxe4+ 60. Kc5 Rxa4 61. d6+ Kd7 62. Rb7+ Ke6 63. Re7+
Kf5 64. d7 {Diagram [#]} Rd4 65. Kc6 e4 66. Re8 Kf4 67. d8=Q Rxd8 68. Rxd8 e3
69. Kd5 e2 70. Re8 Kf3 71. Kd4 Kf2 72. Kd3 e1=Q 73. Rxe1 Kxe1 74. Kd4 {A
delightful conclusion- the top Grandmasters are human beings too!} 1/2-1/2



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1 comment:

Alberto said...

Loved the annotations! "His Majesty the Time Trouble" was excellent, haha.
Also, I know it's mean of me, but I always feel delighted indeed when I see top GMs make such mistakes. :p