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.

A Sudden OCB Attack

The Tata Steel tournament keeps on producing games of very high quality. The following encounter demonstrated excellent defensive skills by both the players. At least until a moment when Black erred. Then Radjabov finished the game in a great attacking style in the endgame,

[Event "Tata Steel Masters"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.01.18"]
[Round "8.7"]
[White "Radjabov, Teimour"]
[Black "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2734"]
[BlackElo "2744"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "117"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:00:07"]
[BlackClock "0:03:23"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 {The main idea of
this line is to achieve an improved version of the Fianchettoe line with an
extra tempo for White (g2-g4 in one go instead of g2-g3 first).} e5 7. Nde2 b5
{Not the most common reaction for Black. But since Wojtaszek is one of the
leading specialist in the Najdorf this move is definitely worth a try!} ({Both
the developing moves} 7... Be7) (7... Be6) ({Or the restricting} 7... h5 {are
more popular than the text move.}) 8. Bg5 {Radjabov chooses a rare, but very
logical line in return. The d5 square is a magnet for the white pieces.} ({The
main move is} 8. g4 Bb7 9. Bg2 Nbd7 (9... h6 10. Be3 Nbd7 11. Qd2 {Mamedyarov,
S (2728)-Sadvakasov,D (2596) Astana 2006}) 10. a4 b4 11. Nd5 Nxd5 12. exd5 Qa5
{Inarkiev,E (2682)-Adly,A (2594) Dubai 2014}) 8... Nbd7 9. Nd5 {White is
willing to trade pretty much every single light piece except for the black
dark-squared bishop.} Bb7 10. Nec3 Rc8 {A cunning idea.} ({White is slightly
better after} 10... Be7 11. Bxf6 Nxf6 12. Nxf6+ Bxf6 13. a4 b4 14. Nd5 {when
both the positions with a knight versus a dark-squared bishop or pure opposite
colored bishops are favourable for him.}) 11. Nxf6+ ({Radek's idea becomes
clear in the line} 11. a4 b4 12. Bxf6 Nxf6 13. Nxf6+ Qxf6 14. Nd5 Qg6 $1 {
which looks awkward for the first player.}) 11... Nxf6 12. a4 $1 {It makes
sense to create some weaknesses before occupying the d5 square.} b4 13. Nd5 Be7
$1 {Black sacrifices a pawn. The alternatives are not appealing:} (13... Bxd5
$6 {leads to the above-mentioned opposite colored bishop position} 14. Bxf6
Qxf6 15. Qxd5 Rxc2 16. Qa8+ Qd8 17. Qxa6 Be7 18. Bb5+ Kf8 19. O-O {which White
would love to have.}) (13... a5 $2 {is simply bad due to} 14. Bb5+ Bc6 15. Bxf6
gxf6 16. O-O {with strategically won position for White- superior minor piece,
better pawn structure, bad king, etc...}) 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. Nxb4 {Radjabov
accepts the challenge.} ({The line} 15. b3 O-O 16. Bc4 a5 17. O-O Bg5 {leads
to equality.}) 15... O-O ({Naturally, not} 15... Bxe4 16. Bxa6 Rc5 17. Bb5+)
16. c3 $146 {Diagram [#] I need to bitterly disappoint you. All of this have
been previously played and the pawn sacrifice is not original. The strong move
in the game though is a novelty.} ({An important improvement. White reacted
poorly in the predecessing game} 16. Bd3 $6 Qb6 17. Qd2 a5 18. Na2 Qxb2 (18...
d5 $1 {was even better}) 19. O-O Qd4 20. Qxa5 Bxe4 {with advantage for Black
in Milovanovic,R (2399)-Sadvakasov,D (2605) Minneapolis 2005}) 16... Bxe4 17.
Bxa6 Rc5 {There is no time to digest the g pawn} (17... Bxg2 $2 18. Rg1 Bxh3
19. Qf3 $1 Be6 20. Bxc8 Bxc8 {normally would be a nice sacrifice of an
exchange if it was not the loose position of the black bishop on f6} 21. Nc6
Bb7 22. Rg3 $1 {the queen is now hanging and Black has to part with his bishop
pair} (22. Nxd8 $2 Bxf3) 22... Bxc6 23. Qxc6 {White is much better.}) 18. O-O
Ba8 {As a result of the opening battle White won a pawn but Black has distinct
compensation for it- a hefty bishop pair and central majority.} (18... Qa8 {
was another way to search for compensation} 19. Qg4 Be7) 19. Re1 {Now both the
players skillfully maneuver. Wojtaszek tries to advance his pawns in the
center and on the kingside while Radjabov carefully prevents this plan.} d5 20.
Bf1 ({Also interesting is} 20. Bb5 e4 21. Nc2 Be5 22. Nd4) 20... e4 21. Nc2 Be5
22. Nd4 Bb8 {One idea is to create a battery, another to advance the f pawn.}
23. g3 $1 ({Or else Black may advance the f pawn} 23. Qd2 f5 24. Ne6 $4 Qd6)
23... Qb6 24. Qe2 $1 {Diagram [#] Once more excellent profilaxys!} ({Teimour
should never allow the f7-f5 advance, as then f5-f4 will immediately follow
and the white position will fall appart on the dark squares.} 24. Qd2 f5) 24...
Rcc8 {The consequences of the direct assault are of a paramount importance for
the evaluation of the position. After the critical} (24... f5 {White has} 25.
Qa6 Qxb2 {and the fantastic resource} 26. Red1 $3 ({But not the tempting} 26.
Ne6 Bxg3 $1 27. fxg3 Rc6 28. Qb5 Qxb5 29. axb5 Rxe6) (26. Qxa8 Bxg3 27. Qxf8+
Kxf8 28. fxg3 Rxc3 {if anyone is better here, it is not White.}) 26... f4 {The
other tries do not work neither} (26... e3 27. Qe6+ Kh8 28. Qxe3 f4 29. Qe7) (
26... Qxc3 $2 27. Rac1 Qxc1 28. Rxc1 Rxc1 29. Qxa8) (26... Rxc3 27. Qxa8) 27.
Rab1 Qxc3 28. Rb3 Qa5 29. Ne6 {in all these lines White has the upper hand.})
25. a5 Qg6 26. Qg4 $1 Qh6 27. h4 $1 {[%cal Gg4g5] Very well played. Radjabov
will soon trade the queens.} Kh8 28. Qg5 Qd6 29. Nf5 Qe5 30. f4 $1 h6 31. Qxh6+
gxh6 32. fxe5 Bxe5 33. Be2 {As a result of his excellent strategy, Teimour
managed to trade the queens and took away one of Black's trumps- the possible
kingside attack. However, converting the advantage is far from easy.} Rb8 34.
Ra2 (34. Reb1 Bc6) 34... Kh7 35. Rd1 (35. a6 $1 {was more precise} Rg8 36. a7
Rb7 37. Kf2 {with excellent winning chances.}) 35... Rb3 ({Black couls also
sacrifice a second pawn} 35... d4 36. cxd4 Bd5 37. Raa1 Bf6) 36. Kf2 Rfb8 37.
Rd2 Kg6 $1 38. Ne7+ Kf6 39. Nxd5+ Bxd5 40. Rxd5 Rxb2 41. Rxb2 Rxb2 42. Ke3 {It
was Wojtaszek's turn to defend and he did it greatly as usual. The Polish GM
is one of the best defenders in the world.} (42. c4 Rb3 43. g4 Ra3 {is most
likely a draw.}) 42... Bxg3 (42... Bxc3 43. a6) 43. a6 {Diagram [#]} Bh2 $2 {
BBut this is wrong. Black could have drawn with} (43... Rc2 $1 44. Bb5 (44. Bc4
Rxc3+) 44... Rxc3+ 45. Kxe4 Ra3 {in this case the white bishop will not reach
the a2-f7 diagonal. All Black will need is to trade the rooks and sacrifice
the bishop for the a pawn.}) 44. Bc4 $1 {Suddenly, Radjabov creates an attack
which is usually unstoppable in the opposite colored bishop endgames!} Rc2 45.
Kxe4 Rxc3 46. Rf5+ Kg7 47. Rxf7+ Kg6 48. Bd5 Bg1 49. Rf1 Bc5 50. Ke5 Ra3 51.
Rf6+ Kh5 52. Rf4 Kg6 {The pawn is poisoned} (52... Rxa6 53. Bf7+ Rg6 54. Kf5
Be3 55. Bxg6#) 53. Rg4+ Kh7 (53... Kh5 $4 54. Kf5 {is instant mate.}) 54. Be4+
Kh8 55. Rg6 h5 56. Rc6 Bf8 57. Kf6 {Diagram [#] Total domination! The light
squares are undefendable.} Kg8 58. Bd5+ Kh7 59. Kf7 {A game with plenty of
content in which both the players skillfully defended when needed. Wojtaszek
committed only one mistake in the endgame and this was enough for Radjabov to
create deadly attack. Never underestimate the opposite colored bishops!} (59.
Kf7 Ra5 (59... Bb4 60. Be4+ Kh8 61. Rh6#) 60. Be4+ Kh8 61. Rc8 (61. Kxf8 Rxa6
$1 62. Rxa6)) 1-0

Report.

Andreikin-Karjakin (Part 2)

This is the second part of the game in question. The attack that Andreikin conducted was highly instructive, flawless.