24.2.15

No Jokes in the Poisoned Pawn

Round six of the Tbilisi Grand Prix was exciting as usual with Teimour Radjabov convincingly winning a short, but important game in the Poisoned Pawn variation of the Najdorf Sicilian.
A game that I liked (ChessBase 13)

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix - Tbilisi"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.02.21"]
[Round "6.3"]
[White "Radjabov, Teimour"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2731"]
[BlackElo "2810"]
[Annotator "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:20:04"]
[BlackClock "0:04:11"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 {A small surprise.
In his younger days Teimour liked to play very sharp in the opening. However,
he did not play the Main line since 2011.} e6 7. f4 Qb6 {Diagram [#] The
Poisoned Pawn variation has its ups and downs. Of lately it seems as the
interest towards it is rising again. White waits until the second player gets
the deceptive feeling that all is good in this line for him and stops checking
the forced lines. And then White strikes! At least this is the way I explain
the fashionable trends in the line :)} ({In their previous encounter Alexander
chose a different plan} 7... Qc7 8. Bxf6 gxf6 9. f5 Nc6 10. fxe6 fxe6 11. Bc4
Nxd4 12. Qxd4 Rg8 {Radjabov,T (2744)-Grischuk,A (2728) Sochi 2008}) 8. Qd2 Qxb2
9. Rb1 Qa3 10. e5 h6 11. Bh4 dxe5 12. fxe5 g5 {This particular line dates
since the distant...2007 year!} 13. Bg3 ({Another line was tested by two
promising young players of lately} 13. exf6 gxh4 14. Be2 Nd7 15. O-O Qa5 16.
Kh1 Qg5 {Yu,Y (2697)-Robson,R (2628) Las Vegas 2014}) 13... Nh5 14. Ne4 Nd7 {
Black bought some time to develop a piece with his last moves, but created too
many weaknesses in his camp.} 15. Rb3 Qxa2 16. Be2 {[%csl Ya2,Gb3,Gd2,Gd4,Rd6,
Yd7,Ge2,Ge4,Rf6,Gg3,Yh5] Diagram [#] A very typical picture for the Poisoned
Pawn variation had arisen. Black has two extra pawns and White-three extra
pieces in the attack. It can hardly be sharper than that. Both the sides have
to be extremely precise in what they are doing. Grischuk came up with a novelty
} Nc5 $2 $146 {Which I personally doubt will attract many followers.} ({It was
mandatory to start with a check} 16... Qa1+ 17. Bd1 {and only then go for} ({
One point behind the check is that Black meets the witty} 17. Kf2 $6 {Not with
the natural capture} Qxh1 $2 ({But with the cunning} 17... Nxg3 $1 18. Nxg3 {
[%csl Rf2] Diagram [#]} (18. Rxa1 Nxe4+) 18... Qxd4+ $1 19. Qxd4 Bc5 {and
White is too many pawns down}) 18. Nxe6 fxe6 19. Bxh5+ Kd8 20. Qa5+ b6 21. Rxb6
) 17... Nc5 {This has been tested in three correspondence games with good
results for Black that far. One example} 18. Re3 Nxe4 19. Rxe4 Nxg3 20. hxg3
Qa3 21. O-O Bg7 22. Bh5 O-O {and Black seems in a good shape, Hervet,G (2352)
-Matei,C (2527) ICCF email 2009}) ({Black can also investigate the
consequences of the move} 16... Nxg3 17. hxg3 Bc5) 17. Nc3 $1 {A strong reply.
The knight moves away with a tempo.} (17. Bxh5 $6 Nxe4) (17. Nxc5 $6 Nxg3)
17... Nxb3 {Forced or else Black loses a piece after} (17... Qa1+ 18. Rb1 Qa5
19. Bxh5) 18. Nxb3 Bb4 ({Objectively speaking, Black's best try was} 18... Nxg3
19. Nxa2 Nxh1 {but since the knight is trapped after} 20. Kf1 Be7 21. Kg1 O-O {
White's chances are much better.}) 19. Bxh5 Qb2 {The vulnerable position of
the queen allows White decisive attack after} (19... Bxc3 20. Qxc3 Qb1+ (20...
O-O 21. O-O {with the threat Rf1-a1}) 21. Bd1 Bd7 22. O-O Rc8 23. Qf3 O-O 24.
Nd2 $1 {[%csl Yb1,Rg8][%cal Rd2e4,Re4f6] Diagram [#] and the knight is heading
for the juicy f6 square} Qb6+ 25. Bf2 Qb4 26. Ne4 {Once that this knight goes
to f6 it is all over.}) 20. O-O Qxc3 {Alas the king is not getting any peace
on the kingside as well} (20... O-O 21. Qf2 Qxc3 22. Bxf7+ Kh7 23. Qf6 Qxc2 24.
h4 $1 Qd3 25. h5 $1 {[%csl Yd3,Yh7] Diagram [#] and White wins.}) 21. Bxf7+ Ke7
22. Qf2 {The king stayed in the middle and the rest is a piece of cake for
Radjabov.} Kd7 ({Or} 22... Rf8 23. Qf6+ Kd7 24. Be1 Qc4 25. Bxb4 Qxb4 26. Bxe6+
Ke8 27. Bf7+ Kd7 28. c3 $1 Qa3 29. Ra1 {and the queen is deflected from the d6
square.}) 23. Qb6 Rf8 24. Be1 {One mistake in a sharp position proved one too
many for Grischuk. It is good to see Radjabov back in sharp battle!} 1-0



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