Tomashevsky Attacks

After the free day the ETCC in Iceland entered the decisive matches. In the men section Russia managed to score one more important win. The big Man in this match was Evegeny Tomashevsky. Known for his clean positional style, the Russian champion proved that he is also a dangerous attacker.

[Event "Open European Team Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.11.19"]
[Round "6.2"]
[White "Tomashevsky, Evgeny"]
[Black "Mchedlishvili, Mikheil"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2743"]
[BlackElo "2618"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:01:08"]
[BlackClock "0:00:34"]

1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 e6 6. e3 c5 7. Bxc4 Nc6 8. O-O
cxd4 9. exd4 Be7 {[%csl Gd4] Diagram [#] From the Slav defense the game went
into a typical QGA position with an extra tempo for White (in the Queens
Gambit the black pawn is on a6). Evgeny Tomashevsky's knowledge in these
positions should be huge thanks to his great coach Yuri Razuvaev.} 10. Qe2 {
A typical regroupment. The rook gets on the d file, ready to be shifted along
the third rank for a kingside attack.} (10. Bg5 O-O 11. Re1 Bd7 12. Qe2 Rc8 13.
Rad1 Nb4 14. Ne5 Nfd5 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. Bxd5 Bxg5 17. Bxb7 Bxa4 18. Ra1 Rc7 $11
{Onischuk,A (2662)-Rublevsky,S (2702) Berlin 2015}) 10... O-O 11. Rd1 Nb4 12.
Bg5 h6 {This move prepares the development of the black light-squared bishop.
A famous mistake is the hasty:} (12... Bd7 $2 13. d5 $1 {[%cal Gd1d8] Diagram
[#]} exd5 14. Nxd5 Nbxd5 15. Bxd5 Nxd5 16. Rxd5 Bxg5 17. Nxg5 {with serious
advantage for White. White recent example goes} h6 18. Qd2 hxg5 19. Rxd7 Qf6
20. Rxb7 {with a solid extra pawn for White in Rodshtein,M (2660)-Duda,J (2591)
Jerusalem 2015}) 13. Bxf6 {White decided to trade the bishop. This is
obviously a concession as the first player wants to have as many pieces as he
can for the future attack. But at the same time White gets some important
squares for his knights.} ({In case of} 13. Bh4 {Black can already proceed
with the development} Bd7 14. Ne5 ({As the line} 14. d5 exd5 (14... Nbxd5 {
is also possible.}) 15. Nxd5 Nbxd5 16. Bxd5 Nxd5 17. Rxd5 Bxh4 $11 {is no
longer dangerous for Black.}) 14... Bc6 15. Bg3 Nbd5 16. a5 Rc8 17. Bb3 a6 18.
Rdc1 Bb4 19. Bh4 Qd6 20. Qd1 Bb5 21. Nxb5 axb5 22. Rxc8 Rxc8 23. Qf3 Qc7 24. h3
Ra8 25. Qd1 Bd6 {1/2-1/2 (25) Ivanchuk,V (2748)-Tkachiev,V (2639) France 2010})
13... Bxf6 14. Ne4 b6 {The most natural development.} (14... Be7 15. Ne5 Nc6
16. Nxc6 bxc6 17. a5 $14 {Van Wely,L (2654)-Van Foreest,J (2519) Vlissingen
2015}) 15. Ne5 Bh4 {In case of the natural} (15... Bb7 {White has} 16. Nxf6+
Qxf6 17. Nd7 Qg5 18. f4 {winning the exchange.}) 16. Ra3 {The other rook also
does not mind to get shifted on the kingside.} Bb7 17. Rh3 Bd5 $146 {[%csl Yc4,
Yd5][%cal Yd5c4,Yc4d5] Diagram [#] A novelty. Mchedlishvili is happy to trade
a pair of light pieces. I am curious to see what did Tomashevsky prepare
against:} ({Black did well after} 17... Nd5 18. Qg4 Bg5 19. Nxg5 Qxg5 20. Qxg5
hxg5 {in Ikonnikov,V (2527)-Van Foreest,J (2514) Dieren 2015}) 18. Nc3 Bxc4 19.
Qxc4 Be7 {Careful defense. The knight is more valuable than the bishop in the
line:} (19... Nd5 20. Nxd5 exd5 21. Qd3 $14) 20. Qe2 Rc8 (20... Nd5 {can be
met in a similar way} 21. Qg4 Nxc3 22. bxc3 {with pressure for White on the
kingside.}) 21. Qg4 {[%csl Yg8][%cal Gg4g8,Gh3h8] Diagram [#] A common picture
in the isolated pawn positions. Thanks to his extra space White can lift his
heavy pieces in front of the pawn chain to attack. Hoever, since Black's
pawn structure is almost intact his resources should prove sufficient to hold
the attack.} Kh7 22. Rg3 Bf6 ({The weakening moves are punished at once} 22...
g6 $4 23. Nxf7) 23. Ne4 {The threat is to capture on f6 and fork on d7 with
the second knight, thus} Rc7 24. h4 $1 {Razuvaev's trademark. The pawn is
getting ready to worry the black king anytime he goes g7-g6.} Qe7 {It is
somehow strange, but Black lacks good moves. The computer suggestion} (24...
Nd5 25. Kh2 g6 (25... Rc2 $4 26. Nxf6+) 26. h5 g5 {is hardly any human
player's choice.}) 25. Kh2 $3 {[%csl Gh2] Diagram [#] A deep preparatory move.
The king moves away from the possible checks along the first rank and White
ask his opponent-"What are you doing next?"} Nd5 $6 {Probably the first real
mistake that Mchedlishvili committed in the game. The knight is getting closer
to the black king and on a wonderful outpost, but it lets the second white
rook join the attack.} ({The natural} 25... Rfc8 $2 {to trade the rooks with
Rc7-c1 is concretely bad due to} 26. Nxf6+ Qxf6 27. Rf3 $18) ({But Black could
have been equally prophylactic with} 25... Kh8 $1 {Diagram [#]}) 26. Nxf6+
Qxf6 27. Rdd3 {Logically follows the plan of kingside attack. The threat is
Rd3-f3! But I like one other idea that reveals the idea behind the deep Kh2
move:} (27. Rc1 $1 {[%cal Gg1h2] Diagram [#] which will force the black rook
to abandon the open file as} Rxc1 {loses the queen after} (27... Rfc8 {also
loses due to} 28. Rxc7 Rxc7 29. Rf3) 28. Nd7 $16) 27... Ne7 28. Rgf3 Nf5 29. g3
Kg8 ({Nothing changes} 29... Rd8 30. Qe4 Kg8 ({Black loses the knight in the
line} 30... Rd6 31. g4 Qxh4+ 32. Kg2 Kg8 33. Rh3) 31. d5 $1) 30. Qf4 {The
threat is d4-d5 and there is nothing that Black can do to stop it!} Rd8 31. d5
$1 {[%csl Gd5,Rf5][%cal Gd4d5,Yf3f8] Diagram [#] The most typical IQP break
spells trouble for Black.} Rc2 $2 {This hangs material.} ({Naturally, Black
cannot capture the pawn} 31... Rxd5 32. Rxd5 exd5 33. Qxf5) ({Most resilent was
} 31... Rcc8 32. dxe6 fxe6 {Although here too, White has large advantage after
the simple} 33. Qe4 $16 ({Or he may win a pawn with} 33. g4 g5 34. Qe4 Rxd3 35.
Nxd3 Nd6 36. Rxf6 Nxe4 37. Rxe6 $16)) 32. Nxf7 $1 {[%csl Rd8,Rf5] Diagram [#]
Small combination a'la Capablanca which crowns the great technical job of
Tomashevsky.} Rf8 (32... Qxf7 33. dxe6 {loses everything.}) (32... Kxf7 33.
dxe6+ Kxe6 34. Rxd8) 33. dxe6 Rc5 ({Or} 33... Qxe6 34. Qxf5 Qxf5 35. Rxf5 Rxf7
36. Rd8+) 34. b4 {Diagram [#] A very important win for Russia!} 1-0

Report.

Great Chess from Iceland

Reykjavik has is all for a top-level chess event. The history, the passion for chess and even the climate. Since the historical match Spassky-Fischer in 1972 no Icelander is indifferent to the game of chess. The country is a proud owner of a chess record- it has the largest number of GMs per capita of the population. And is currently running another great event- the European Team Championships. Here is a game from round one:

[Event "European Team Championship - Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.11.13"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Kveinys, Aloyzas"]
[Black "Ivanisevic, Ivan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2510"]
[BlackElo "2662"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:01:17"]
[BlackClock "0:00:54"]

1. Nf3 {Aloyzas Kveinys is a frequent played at the famous Reykjavik open and
good friend of the local chess players. At least one of Iceland's best GMs is
his student and the Lituania's top board feels at home in Reykjavik as this
game shows.} d5 2. d4 Bf5 3. Bg5 f6 {[%csl Yg5][%cal Gg8h6,Gh6f5] Diagram [#]
Black often plays this move without his bishop on f5, the idea being to trade
the white bishop in case it retreats to h4 after the maneuver Ng8-h6-f5.} ({
The alternative} 3... h6 {led to highly interesting position after} 4. Bh4 c6
5. e3 Qb6 6. b3 Qa5+ 7. c3 Bxb1 8. b4 Qa3 9. Rxb1 Qxc3+ 10. Nd2 Qa3 11. Rb3 Qa4
12. Nb1 {in the game Papaioannou,I (2622)-Stevic,H (2607) Khanty-Mansiysk 2010}
) 4. Bf4 ({The bishop has hardly much to do on h4} 4. Bh4 {and Black can still
go for} Nh6 {followed by Bf5-g6 and Nh6-f5.}) 4... Nc6 5. e3 e6 6. Nh4 {
Only six moves were played and the position became extremely unusual and
complex. Original too- according to Megabase there were only three games
played so far.} Be4 {Another interesting try was} (6... g5 $5 {Looks risky as
Black loses the right to castle after} 7. Qh5+ Kd7 8. Nxf5 gxf4 9. Qf7+ Nge7
10. Bd3 $5 {[%csl Yd7,Rf7][%cal Gd8e8] Diagram [#] But the immediate trade of
queens solves all the problems-} Qe8 (10... exf5 $4 11. Bxf5+ Kd6 12. Qe6#) 11.
Qxe8+ Rxe8 12. Nxe7 Bxe7 $11) 7. f3 Bg6 8. Nxg6 hxg6 9. c4 e5 $5 $146 {Diagram
[#] A sharp, rich novelty-Ivanisevic fights for the initiative. Previously
another logical move was tried:} (9... Bd6 10. Bxd6 Qxd6 11. c5 Qd7 12. Bb5
Nge7 {with approximate equality, Rufino Bengoetxea,A-Sion Castro,M (2390)
Mondariz 1995}) 10. cxd5 {The only attempt to get something out of the opening.
} ({Black is fine after} 10. dxe5 fxe5 11. cxd5 exf4 12. dxc6 Qxd1+ 13. Kxd1
O-O-O+) 10... Qxd5 (10... exf4 11. dxc6 bxc6 12. exf4 $16 {is better for White.
}) 11. Nc3 Bb4 12. dxe5 Qc5 {[%csl Rc3,Ye3,Re5][%cal Rb4c3,Rg6g5,Yc5e3,Rc5e5,
Rc5c3] Diagram [#] The point behind Black's play. Ivanisevic is ready to
sacrifice a pawn but to keep the white king in the center.} 13. Qd3 $1 {
The lines after} (13. exf6 Nxf6 (13... Bxc3+ 14. bxc3 Qxc3+ 15. Kf2 Rd8) 14.
Qd3 g5 15. Bxc7 Rc8 16. Bg3 Rd8 17. Qg6+ Kf8 {are too risky for White.}) 13...
g5 14. exf6 (14. e6 $1 {was objectively stronger as Black cannot take the piece
} gxf4 ({After the correct} 14... Kf8 15. Bxc7 Rc8 16. Qd7 Qxe3+ 17. Be2 Nge7 {
Black has good compensation for the pawn.}) 15. Qd7+ Kf8 16. Qf7#) 14... Nxf6
15. Bxc7 Rc8 16. Bg3 Ke7 {Ivanisevic misses a golden chance. The incredible} (
16... Rd8 17. Qg6+ Ke7 $3 {Diagram [#]} 18. Qxg7+ (18. Qc2 {is objectively
better when Black has rich compensation after} Nd5 ({Or} 18... Ne5)) 18... Ke6
{is a resource that would make any living person proud. The black king laughs
at the efforts of the white queen, while without it around it will be the
white king that will suffer.}) 17. Rc1 a6 18. Be2 {[%cal Ge1g1] Diagram [#]
Now White is in control.} Rhd8 19. Qc2 Qxe3 20. Bf2 Qe5 21. O-O {Kveynis
saveguarded the king and is ready to attack through the center. The extra pawn
and bishop pair would not hurt neither.} Nd4 {Black's only chance is connected
with kingside attack.} 22. Bxd4 Qxd4+ 23. Kh1 Rh8 {Creates a mating threat.}
24. g3 (24. Rfe1 $4 {walks into it} Rxh2+ {Diagram [#]} 25. Kxh2 Rh8+ 26. Kg3
Qh4#) ({Worse is} 24. h3 Qf4 25. Qg6 Bd6 {Diagram [#] when White needs to find
the cute} 26. Qxf6+ $1 ({But not} 26. Qxg7+ Ke6 $1) 26... gxf6 27. Nd5+ Kf7 28.
Nxf4 Bxf4 {although due to the opposite-colored bishops this should wnd
peacefully.}) 24... Bd6 25. f4 $1 {A counter-attacking signal. Kveynis needs
that tempo to get his queen close.} (25. Qg6 $4 {would be answered in another
checky-matie-fashion} Rxh2+ {[%csl Yh1][%cal Rd4h4] Diagram [#]} 26. Kxh2 Qh4+
27. Kg2 Qxg3+ 28. Kh1 Qh2#) 25... gxf4 26. Qg6 Rcg8 27. Rcd1 {Now White has
all the fun.} Qb6 {Black's last chance was} (27... Qc5 28. Nd5+ Nxd5 29. Qe4+
Kd8 30. Rxd5 Re8 31. Qd3 Rxe2 32. Rxd6+ (32. Rxc5 $4 Rhxh2+ 33. Kg1 Reg2#)
32... Kc7 33. Qxe2 Qxd6 34. Qc4+ Kb8 35. Qxf4 {although the extra pawn should
give be sufficient for the full point here as well.}) 28. Bc4 {[%csl Ye7][%cal
Ge1e8,Gd1d8] Diagram [#] Strangely enough, it is the black king that gets in
trouble now in the middle of the board.} fxg3 29. Rfe1+ Kd8 30. Qxg3 $1 Qc6+ (
30... Kc7 31. Re7+ ({Or first} 31. Rxd6)) 31. Kg1 Qc5+ 32. Re3 {Checks are
over, Black loses the bishop and the game.} Kc8 33. Be6+ {Not the hasty} (33.
Rxd6 Qxc4) 33... Kc7 34. Rxd6 $1 {[%csl Rc5,Rc7] Diagram [#] A nice finish of
a beautiful game.} Qxd6 35. Nb5+ {Ivanisevic resigned due to the checkmate} (
35. Nb5+ axb5 36. Rc3+ Kd8 37. Qxd6+ Ke8 38. Rc8#) 1-0

Report.