7.7.15

Wesley and the Kingside

It is always a great day for chess when two creative players meet over the board. In Dortmund this happened at round five and the game in question was between Wesley So and Ian Nepomniachtchi:
A game that I liked (ChessBase 13)

[Event "43rd GM 2015"]
[Site "Dortmund GER"]
[Date "2015.07.03"]
[Round "5"]
[White "So, W."]
[Black "Nepomniachtchi, I."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E60"]
[WhiteElo "2778"]
[BlackElo "2720"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2015.06.26"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 {This Anti-Gruenfeld line is extremely popular
nowadays.} e6 {Diagram [#] A very interesting way to get into another opening.}
4. e4 c5 ({Another Gruenfeld specialists has passion for the original} 4... d5
$5 {One recent example of his saw} 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Nc3 dxe4 7. fxe4 Bb4 8. Bd3
Nxe4 $1 9. Qe2 O-O 10. Bxe4 Re8 {with wild complications in Giri,A (2750)
-Vachier Lagrave,M (2766) Biel 2014}) 5. d5 d6 6. Nc3 {Now the game transposes
into the Benoni.} ({Bogdanovich played instead} 6. Ne2 {against Nepomniachtchi
but failed to impress with opening advantage} Bg7 7. Nec3 Nh5 8. Be3 exd5 9.
cxd5 f5 10. Bb5+ Nd7 11. exf5 gxf5 12. f4 Nhf6 $1 13. O-O Ng4 {and Black was
happy in Bogdanovich,S (2581)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2714) Moscow 2015}) 6... Bg7 7.
Nge2 exd5 8. cxd5 O-O 9. Ng3 a6 {Diagram [#]} ({I have the feeling that the
immediate} 9... h5 {is more accurate. But that is a matter of taste.}) 10. a4
h5 11. Be2 {Most commonly White prefers the move 11.Bg5 in this situation.} ({
One more recent example in this line goes} 11. Bg5 {seems unpleasant for Black,
but he can easily get rid of the bishop, with a tempo} Qc7 12. Be2 Nh7 13. Be3
h4 14. Nf1 f5 15. exf5 gxf5 16. f4 Nf6 17. Bf2 Re8 18. Bxh4 Ne4 19. Ra3 Qa5 {
1/2-1/2 (19) Aronian,L (2770)-Ding,L (2755) Tsaghkadzor 2015}) 11... Qe8 $146 {
Diagram [#] Nepomniachtchi played this novelty in a flash. The queen moves
away from the possible pin on g5.} ({Practically all previous games continued}
11... h4 {Right now, before the knight gets the h1 square! The knight on f1 is
somewhat misplaced while from h1 it easily gets to f2 to overprotect the e4
pawn. One example} 12. Nf1 Nbd7 13. Bg5 h3 14. gxh3 Rb8 15. Ng3 Qb6 {with
counterplay for Black in Ivanchuk,V (2733)-Bacrot,E (2730) Cap d'Agde 2013})
12. Bf4 $1 {So wants to prove that the queen sortie was premature.} ({A
natural reply would be} 12. O-O h4 13. Nh1 Nh5 14. Nf2 {with somewhat better
position for White.}) ({Black's idea is revealed in the line} 12. Bg5 Nh7 13.
Bf4 (13. Be3 f5) 13... h4 14. Nf1 Qe7 {followed by f7-f5 and possibly g6-g5.})
12... Qe7 13. Bg5 Qe8 {Black lost a couple of tempoes, but he intends to take
back one of them with the mauver Nf6-h7. Creativeness is a good thing, but
tempoes are tempoes.} (13... Nbd7 14. Qd2 {is not what Black was hoping for.})
14. Qd2 Nbd7 15. Bh6 $6 {Possibly a bit premature. White had good alternatives
in his disposal. Both} (15. a5 $5) ({and} 15. O-O $5 {lead to slight advantage
to White.}) 15... Qe5 $1 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Bd3 $6 {So frees the e2 square for
the g3 knight and prevents the unpleasant check on d4. Still, this looks
rather slow.} ({In case of} 17. O-O Qd4+ $1 {[%csl Yc3] Diagram [#]} 18. Qxd4
cxd4 19. Na2 h4 {Black has no problems whatsoever.}) ({Thus} 17. Nf1 {although
as said before the knight is not extremely happy on f2.}) 17... Rb8 {Prepares
the standard b7-b5 break.} (17... h4 18. Nge2 {is also OK for Black.}) 18. Rd1
({Once again White cannot castle due to} 18. O-O Qd4+ 19. Rf2 Ne5 $17) 18...
Re8 19. Be2 {White admits his mistake.} (19. O-O $6 {[%csl Yd3][%cal Re5d4]
Diagram [#] leads to Black's advantage after} Qd4+ 20. Rf2 Ne5 21. Bc2 Qxd2 22.
Rfxd2 Nc4 (22... b5 $1 {might be even better.})) 19... h4 20. Nf1 h3 {
Nepomniachtchi can be happy with his opening idea. He had equalized at least.}
({Safer was} 20... Nh5 21. Ne3 Nf4 $11 {not pushing the "h" pawn too far.}) 21.
g4 b5 22. axb5 axb5 23. Ng3 b4 ({Another way to play the position is} 23... c4
$5 24. b4 ({Or} 24. f4 Qe7 25. g5 Nh7 26. O-O Nc5 27. e5 dxe5 28. d6 Qb7 {with
huge complications.}) 24... cxb3 {with counterplay.}) 24. Na4 {If anything,
White will get some time to finish his development.} Ra8 25. b3 Ba6 {And Black
is also happy to trade his light-squared bishop. All in all the position
remains balanced.} 26. Bxa6 Rxa6 27. O-O {[%cal Ge1g1] Diagram [#] White
catsles on move 27! His plan is to attack on the kingside, while Black should
look for a way to get counter-play on the other wing.} Rea8 28. f4 Qe7 $6 {The
first inaccuracy by Black in this game.} ({Strong was to get into an endgame
and to kill any kingside attack before it had even started} 28... Qd4+ $1 {
However in the line} 29. Qxd4 cxd4 30. g5 (30. Rxd4 Nxg4 $17) 30... Ng4 31.
Rxd4 Nc5 32. Nxc5 ({Safer is} 32. Rxb4 Nxb3 33. Rxb3 Rxa4 34. Rb2 Ra2 {
although here too Black has more than enough for the pawn and does not risk to
lose.}) {Black had to foresee the fantastic resource} 32... Ra2 $3 {[%csl Ra2,
Yg1][%cal Ra2g2,Rg2h2] Diagram [#] after which White has no salvation!} 33. Na4
Rg2+ 34. Kh1 Rxh2+ 35. Kg1 Rg2+ 36. Kh1 Rxg3 {with winning position for Black.}
) 29. Qe2 Nh7 30. Rf3 {So nicely regroups his forces and is ready to pick up
the h3 pawn.} (30. g5 $5 {not to allow the queen on h4 was perhaps better.})
30... Qh4 31. Kh1 $3 {[%csl Yg7,Yh4][%cal Rg1g7] Diagram [#] A crafty move
which White should have foreseen in advance. Black is in trouble and the lack
of time on his clock does not help him find the best moves.} c4 $2 {Not the
most optimal decision. So is happy to see the "g" file opened for his rooks.} (
{The pawn on g4 is poisoned} 31... Qxg4 32. Nf5+ $1 gxf5 33. Rg3 {as the queen
will be lost.}) ({If Black moves the king out of the check} 31... Kg8 {White
will simply continue with his attack} 32. Rg1 $1 {as} Qxg4 33. Nf5 $1 {is once
more crushing for him} Qh5 34. Qf1 $1 {and White wins.}) (31... Nb6 $1 {[%csl
Yd1][%cal Ra8a1] Diagram [#] was mandatory to open the "a" file asap and to
find counterplay along it. For example} 32. Nxb6 Rxb6 33. Rg1 Rba6 34. g5 Ra2
35. Qf1 Ra1 (35... Rc2) 36. Qxa1+ Rxa1 37. Rxa1 Qg4 {with counterplay.}) 32.
Qxc4 Qxg4 33. Qd3 Kf8 ({It is already late to open the file} 33... Nc5 34. Nxc5
({But not} 34. Qd4+ $2 Nf6 35. Nxc5 $4 Qxf3+ 36. Kg1 Qg2#) 34... dxc5 35. Rg1
Ra1 36. Nf1 $1 Qh4 37. e5 {is huge advantage for White.}) 34. Rg1 Rxa4 {
Desperation. Or else White will mount further pressure with} (34... Nhf6 35.
Qf1) 35. bxa4 Nc5 36. Qe3 Rxa4 37. Nf5 $1 {[%csl Yg4] Diagram [#] White wins
the queen and the game.} gxf5 ({The black queen is trapped after} 37... Qh5 38.
Rxh3) ({White the tricky} 37... Ra1 {is met by} 38. Rfg3 $1 (38. Rxa1 $4 Qg2#)
38... Rxg1+ 39. Rxg1 Qh5 40. Nxd6 {with a win.}) 38. Rxg4 fxg4 39. Rf1 Nf6 40.
e5 Nfe4 41. f5 $1 {Diagram [#] The time control is over and So energetically
wrpas up the game.} Ra2 (41... dxe5 42. Qh6+ Ke7 43. f6+ Kd6 44. Qf8+ Kxd5 45.
Qxf7+ $18) 42. e6 g3 43. hxg3 Ke8 44. g4 h2 45. Qh3 f6 46. g5 Nxg5 47. Qh8+ Ke7
48. Qg7+ Ke8 49. Qxf6 {Diagram [#]} 1-0



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