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# 1.) Black to move here. |
# 2.) White to move and win. |
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# 3.) White to move and win. |
# 4.) Black to move. (And win?) |
Learning Chess (#09), by A.J. Goldsby I
Greetings! It will be spring soon, its a time of renewal and the re-birth of growing things. Much has changed since the last lesson, and although I must - somewhat regretfully - close the chapter on the CORUS Tournament, (Wijk ann Zee); we open a new one ... that is equally interesting.
One of the largest Swiss tournaments ... anywhere in the world, is the Aeroflot Open. (For more details, a brief report, and many valuable links, click here.) A positively huge number of titled players flocked to the cold of Moscow to play some of the hottest chess around.
GM Baadur Jobava, still a relatively young 22 years old, won first place in this extremely powerful event. He played some stimulating and remarkable chess, and we will be focusing on his games in this month's lesson. (We will touch on all phases of the game, to include openings, middle-games, endings, and even problem solving.
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# 1.) Black to move here. |
# 2.) White to move and win. |
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# 3.) White to move and win. |
# 4.) Black to move. (And win?) |
All of the above positions were taken from Jobava's games in the Aeroflot Open. They range from fairly simple to rather difficult, you will probably not solve all of them.
I suggest you take about 5-15 minutes for each problem. Set up a board and see if you cannot accurately discover the correct solution. (Write down your answers, we will look at all of these games in the course of this lesson, and the answers will {also} be given at the end of the lesson.)
Now please take about 30 minutes on EACH one ... and study both of the following two games:
There are brief notes, just so you will not be completely lost, and directions at the end of each contest. Try to learn and absorb as much as you can. Its OK if you still have some questions, even after going over the games a few times.
I highly advise setting up a board. Maybe take notes, and write down any thoughts you might have.
We will come back to both of these games - before the end of this lesson.
A quick note: The first two rounds that GM B. Jobava played in Moscow were not available from TWIC. Thus we begin our coverage with round three of this event.
I purposely have not deeply analyzed all of these games. There were many reasons for this, mostly it would have taken too much time. Also - I deeply desired to spur the student to do some serious investigative analysis on their own.
1.d4
Nf6; 2.c4 g6; 3.Nc3
Bg7; 4.e4 d6; 5.Be2
0-0; 6.Nf3 e5; 7.0-0
Na6!?;
This is slightly off-beat, but it is no big deal if you have studied the King's Indian before. (If White plays d4-d5, as he so often does in the King's
Indian Defense, then Black's Knight finds a useful post on c5.)
8.Be3 c6;
9.dxe5,
A line for players who like to squeeze their opponents to death ... with little or no risk. (The normal KID counterattack does not usually occur, as the Queens come off the board.)
[ 9.d5, "+/=" is the more commonly played continuation.
See MCO-14, beginning on page 580, for more details. ]
9...dxe5;
10.Qxd8 Rxd8; 11.Rfd1 Re8;
12.h3 Bf8!; 13.Nd2 Nc5;
14.f3 a5!; ("=")
Black has played a solid opening, and should fear nothing at this point.
15.Nb3 Nfd7; 16.Kf2 a4;
17.Nxc5 Nxc5;
Black has a fantastic position, his play has been nearly perfect thus far, and should serve as a model for students to study, if anyone out there is thinking about playing these lines.
18.Rab1!?,
Rd2, preparing to double on the file, might have made more sense.
18...Ne6; 19.b4 axb3; 20.axb3 Nd4; 21.Na4 Be6; 22.Bxd4 exd4; {Diagram, below.}
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The critical position of the whole game, White fails to find the courage to play 23.Rxd4!, and thus achieves a slightly inferior game.
23.f4!?, ('?!') 23...Reb8;
24.Bg4 b5;
This is OK for Black, yet 24...f5; could have been even better.
25.cxb5 Bxg4; 26.hxg4 cxb5;
27.Nb2 Rc8;
It is either the late middle-game, or early in the ending ... Black has slightly better chances than White here.
28.Nd3 Ra2+; 29.Kf3 Rcc2; {Diagram, below.}
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There can be no doubt that Black is better here, he has all the play.
30.g3,
See problem # 1, (at the beginning of this lesson); for this position.
30...Bb4!;
An excellent move. (White cannot capture, due to the tactics.) The main point is that Black plans on slowly improving his position. (Playing the B to c3, ...Re2-e3+; and then ...Rg2; possibly winning a Pawn.) In the face of these threats - White, possibly in time pressure, panics and plays a horrendous blunder.
31.e5??,
White was in a tight spot, but there was no need to lose his head. (After 31.g5, it is not clear if Black could still have won the game; even 31.Ra1 was a much better defense than this move.)
[ >/= 31.g5 Bc3; 32.Kg4 Kg7; "=/+" ]
31...Re2;
With the threat of 32...Re3#.
32.g5?! Re3+; 33.Kg4 Rg2;
"-/+"
Black threatens a mate in three, (34.Kh3, Rexg3+; 35.Kh4??, etc.); the only way for White to prevent this, is to shed a piece.
[ After the moves of: 33...Rg2; 34.Kh3,
There are not many good choices here for White, 34.Rg1?!, Rexg3+;
costs White a whole Rook.(But not: </= 34.Kh4?! h5!; 35.gxh6?? Be7+; and mates.)
34...Rgxg3+; 35.Kh2 Rxd3; "-/+" it is obvious that White is lost. ]
An excellent game by GM B. Jobava, he understood not only chess factors here, but he also shows an intuitive grasp of psychology as well. (He seemed to know exactly when - and where - to place the greatest challenges in front of his opponent.)
To be frank, the ability to win key games, {especially with the Black pieces}; is not a trait that all GM's possess. To be successful in such a high-pressure situation shows not only solid chess talent, but also steady nerves ... and a man resolutely determined to succeed. [Replay just the moves of this game, without annotations.]
In round four, Jobava {as Black} lost to an equally talented GM, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. (Mamedyarov eventually wound up in a tie for first, although he lost out in a system of tiebreaks that I do not believe is completely fair. In many Swiss-system tournaments down south, one of the first tiebreaks used is "head-to-head," and this would have given the nod to Mamedyarov instead of Jobava.)
I won't analyze this game, but I will just give you a few brief impressions.
It was a main line Queen's Indian, and it was a very close struggle. I really do not think Jobava should have lost this magnificent struggle, it should be interesting to see this game annotated in the Informant. I {personally} have annotated many games in this line, (the QID); see my "Game of The Month" website for more details.
The endgame, with both sides having two rooks, is one of the most complex and difficult that you can play. {I personally witnessed a game at a U.S. Championship, quite a number of years ago - where both sides badly misplayed this ending.} It is highly deceptive, you might think you have everything in hand, then unexpected tactics and threats can arise that will throw you off track. (I may eventually analyze this contest ... especially the ending itself ... for my "Rook-and-Pawn Endgame School," [go there] I am intrigued as to how such a strong GM could lose such a promising position.)
An IM - who played in this tournament - was kind enough to send me an e-mail. He relates that both players were short of time, not once, but twice! It is entirely possible that a wild time scramble may have ruined a fairly good position for Jobava. (Either this, or he was trying too hard to 'force' a win in a position that may have been drawn.)
[Replay just the moves of this game, here on this website, but without any annotations.]
The following "brief bio's" should NOT be considered in depth profiles ... but just brief sketches, and few my own, personal overall impressions.
See my lesson for February, 2006; for more details on this feature.
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GM Baadur Jobava, born November 26th 1983, (now age 22); this player first came to my attention when he was only fifteen or sixteen years old. He had a solid performance in a junior event, and had played some impressive combinations as well. While not a prodigy in the truest sense of the word, (like say Garry Kasparov or Bobby Fischer); his elo graph, {see the image above the photo's}; shows that his rating since 1998 has been going up in a relatively smooth and even progression - resulting in a nice curve.
Today Jobava is one of the top GM's from his country of Georgia. His games show a solid feel for the various phases, and I think his future is very bright indeed. When he was just 16 or 17, he won his first international tournament. (Kharkov, 1999.) Since then he has won the Dubai Open and the Batumi (BCSA) Open in 2003, and now the Aeroflot Open in 2006. (In addition, GM B. Jobava has won many important junior events as well.)
I generated a "dossier" on this player, using ChessBase 9.0. It shows that he mostly plays 1.d4, as White, and that he generally counters 1.e4, with the Sicilian. As Black versus 1.d4, he plays a fairly varied mix of openings. It also showed that he scored nearly an 80% winning average with White, but only a little over 57% as Black. (My results may vary from yours, I started with the "Mega" 2005 database, but I add games on a weekly basis from many different sources, but mostly TWIC.)
He seems to be a fairly aggressive player, with really fine tactics - if given the chance. He prefers solid openings, but can mix it up in any line.
His favorite opening with Black at the Aeroflot Open ... was the Caro-Kann Defense!
GM Jobava has already developed quite a reputation as a deep analyst. Like Lev Polugaevsky, many of his best ideas were worked out in the quiet of home study, and then deeply checked with the best computer programs.
(His Corus bio. His FIDE card. His games on the popular CG server.
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GM Alexander Rustemov, (rated 2573); is currently 32 years old. (06,07,1973.) I do not remember when I first heard of this player, but I do remember going over a game of his from one issue of the Informant back in the early 1990's.
I have around 850 of his games in my main database.
He won clear first in Swidnica, 1999.
His highest rating was 2620 in the January, 2001 rating list.
His winning percentage is about 68% with the White pieces, but only around 55% with the Black pieces.
One of his prettiest wins was versus GM D. Sadvakasov. (Moscow, RUS; 1996.)
(His FIDE card. His games on the CG server.)
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Remember - in the previous round - Jobava suffered his only loss of the tournament.
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This is our featured game for this month. [replay here.]
1.d4
d5; 2.Nf3 Nf6; 3.c4
e6; 4.Nc3 Be7; 5.Bf4
0-0; 6.e3 c5; ('!?')
{Diagram.}
One of the first critical positions of the game.
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The position is nearly symmetrical, except that White's dark-squared Bishop is much better placed than Black's counterpart. Having made the first move, White should naturally have (at least) a slight advantage.
7.dxc5
Bxc5; 8.cxd5 Nxd5; 9.Nxd5
exd5; 10.Bd3 Bb4+; 11.Kf1!, {Diagram.}
This is the next key position in this encounter.
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White willingly places his King on a funny-looking square and also gives up his castling rights. Why?
I think the easiest answer is that this is better than all the alternatives. (More than likely, this was all prepared before the game by GM B. Jobava.)
11...Bd6;
12.Bg3 Nc6; 13.e4!?
dxe4; 14.Bxe4 Be7!?; {Diagram?}
Black could have exchanged Queens here with 14...Bxg3.
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So why did he choose to keep the material on the board? I think the answer is complex, and touches on many aspects that have little to do with the board position. Rustemov is an experienced competitor, and he understands that too many draws will knock him out of contention for one of the top prizes. (The fun thing about big Swiss tournaments, is that players are forced to take some risks and even gamble a little, in order to have a chance at a big payday. And my analysis clearly demonstrates that this is not where Black went astray.)
15.Qe2
Be6; 16.h4 Re8;
This looks like a perfectly natural move, the Rook indirectly menaces the White Queen on the e-file.
17.Ng5
Bxg5; 18.Bxh7+!, ('!!')
{Diagram, below left.}
This is the next critical position in this game, White just offered a possible sack of his Bishop on
the h7-square.
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| The game position after White's 18th move. | The position after 20...Kh8; in the analysis. |
After long thought, Black declines to capture the "Greek gift," but was this the correct decision?
[ After the moves of:
>/= 18...Kxh7; 19.hxg5+ Kg8; 20.Qh5 Kf8; {Diagram, above right.}
This position looks scary for Black, yet I never found a forced win for White.
(I did find a recurring perpetual check, but the variations are long and complex,
I hope you do not mind that I pruned my analysis tree at this particular point.)I gave the above analysis - in the replay version of this game - I am sure that
someone may have challenged this ... eventually. The analysis below is an
attempt to "prove" my statement just above.After the moves of: >/= 20...Kf8[]; {Box.}
This is forced, 20...f6??; is too gross ... a good player would never even
seriously consider such a move.(</= 20...f6??; 21.Qh8+ Kf7; 22.g6+! Ke7; (Only move.)
If Black takes, Qh5 is mate. 23.Qxg7+ Bf7; 24.Qxf7#.)21.Kg1! Bxa2;
Trying to simplify. (Black tries to make a draw, some of the other lines
are too risky for A. Rustemov to even consider.)(Other moves lose badly, i.e., </= 21...Rc8?; 22.Rd1 Bd5;
23.Qh8+ Ke7; 24.Qxg7 Rg8; 25.Qf6+ Ke8!?; 26.Rh8 Rxh8;
27.Qxh8+ Ke7; 28.Qh6 Qd7; 29.Qf6+ Kf8; Forced.(</= 29...Ke8?!; 30.Re1+ Be6; 31.g6, "+/-" with a winning attack.)
30.Bd6+ Kg8; 31.Rxd5, +2P '±±' (Maybe "+/-")
White has regained his sacrificed material, with interest - Fritz considers
this position to be simple win for White.)22.Rxa2,
This is probably the most sensible course.
(White could play for a win with 22.Rh4!?, but if his attack ever peters out,
then the extra material will weigh against him.)22...Re1+; 23.Kh2 Rxh1+; 24.Kxh1 Kg8; "~" (Unclear.)
This is a very unbalanced position, but several computers rate this position
as being approximately level. My evaluation is "unclear," but both sides
retain relatively equal chances from here. ]
18...Kf8;
19.hxg5 g6; 20.Qf3, {Diagram.}
The next important position in this amazing contest, White has the initiative, but Black looks only to
be slightly worse here.
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What move should Black play?
Black to play in this position.
20...Nd4?; {Diagram?}
A mistake of some significance for this level of play, only GM Rustemov could explain the exact causes for his
failure here. (Correct was >/= 20...Qxg5; when the outcome of the contest is still very much in doubt.)
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Now its a chess problem ...
"White to move and win."
21.Qa3+ Re7[];
This is forced, obviously the line of 21...Qe7??; 22.Bd6, was unplayable for Black.
(Black's Queen is pinned to his King.)
And 21...Kg7??; 22.Be5+, would also cost Black the lady.
22.Bxg6!
fxg6; 23.Rh8+ Bg8; 24.Rd1
Kg7; 25.Rh4 Bc4+; 26.Kg1
Ne2+;
27.Kh2 Qf8; {Diagram?}
The last key position of this game.
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Now White can win with a rather simple move, but one that has dire consequences for Black.
28.Qc5!?,
Not the most accurate move for White, can you discover the move that the GM missed here?
28...Rae8;
29.Qxc4 Qf5; 30.Bd6
Re4; 31.Rxe4 Rxe4;
32.Qc7+ Kg8; 33.Qb8+
Kg7;
34.Qxb7+ Kg8; 35.Qb8+ Kg7;
36.Qxa7+ Kg8; 37.Qb8+
Kg7; 38.Qc7+ Kg8;
39.Bg3, ("+/-") {See the diagram - just below.}
White has overwhelming threats, so Black decides to call it quits.
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The final position of this contest.
[ For those who may have felt that Black resigned too soon, the following
variation might help to convince you: 39.Bg3 Rd4; (Box?)
Fritz 'thinks' that this is forced. (White's last move - 39.Bg3 - threatened
Rd8+, which is a disastrous for Black.)(After 39...Re8?!; 40.Rd7, "+/-" the box shows that Black must
surrender the Queen or be mated.)40.Rxd4 Nxd4; 41.Qd8+, "+/-"
and White will win the Black Knight on the d4-square. ]
[See this game nicely annotated - in the games section.] [This same contest, but on the CG server.]
In
round six, Jobava got a key win ... ... ... but analysis
clearly demonstrates that it was far from
easy.
[replay]
1.d4 Nf6; 2.c4 g6; 3.Nc3 Bg7; 4.e4 d6; 5.f3, {Diagram.}
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A King's Indian, Samisch System, White can often use this system to aggressively attack Black on the King-side. Conversely, White can also play for the endgame, and just squeezes Black from a slightly superior position. (More space.)
[See any good reference work for more details on this particular branch of this opening. See also my lesson for January, 2005; and the game, Spassky-Evans, which I did for the annotated games section.]
5...0-0; 6.Be3 e5; (Center,
Pawn structure.)
This is thematic, and the way that I like to play this system. However, Black has many different ways to play this line. (I personally have some experience in this line. I lost a tough game to FM S.
Muhammed at the Space City Open in 2000 from the Black side of this
system. Click here
to see a few of the games that I have played as Black. Also, there are at least
three games in the King's Indian that I have played ... that are in this collection
as well.)
[ Black can also play:
6...Nc6; 7.Qd2 a6; 8.Nge2 Rb8; 9.Nc1 e5; 10.d5 Nd4;
11.N1e2 Nxe2; 12.Bxe2 Nh5; 13.0-0-0, "+/=" 13...f5;
when the first player has an edge, but Black has a playable position.GM A. Karpov - GM C. Hansen; / Groningen, NED; 1995. (1-0)
{White won a long game in 58 incredible moves.}[ See MCO-14, page # 601; column # 43 and all applicable notes,
especially note # (f.). ] ]
7.Nge2 c6; 8.Qd2 Nbd7; 9.0-0-0 a6; 10.Kb1 b5; {Diagram.}
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White has a solid edge, but thus far, there has been nothing about Black's game that is even remotely wrong or could be considered inaccurate ... in any way.
11.Nc1 bxc4; 12.dxe5 Nxe5;
Black refuses to block his Bishop's diagonal with a Pawn, the box shows that this would have given White a really large advantage.
13.Qxd6 Qxd6; 14.Rxd6 Rb8;
This ending looks to be only a little better for White than Black. (The second player has an inferior pawn structure, but a great deal of piece play to make up for it.)
15.Ba7 Rb7; 16.Bd4 Nfd7!?;
This looks like the expected square for the Knight, but h5 might have been a slightly better option.
17.Nd1!,
A nice strategic retreat, White wants to re-organize his position so that his pieces may find their best squares. (Another sensible alternative was f4 here for GM Jobava.)
17...c5; 18.Bc3 Rb6;
19.Rxb6 Nxb6; 20.Ba5 Na4?!;
This is too risky, (maybe - '?'); Black had to put his Knight in the corner, no matter how ugly this move looked.
21.Bc7 Be6;
See problem # 3, (at the top of the page); for this position. (21...Bd7; or 21...f5; might have been better than the text move here.)
22.b3,
Too simple, and not even deserving of an exclam, White wins material.
(The Black Knight has no good/safe square that he could retreat to.)
22...Nc6!?; 23.bxa4 Rc8;
24.Bg3, ('!?'/'?!')
A natural-looking square for the Bishop, but f4 might have been superior to the text, and prevented
some of Black's ensuing counterplay. (It would have kept the Black Rook off of the seventh rank.)
24...Rd8; 25.Be2?!, ('?')
White appears to be drifting and is unsure of where to place his forces. The move that Jobava has chosen - here - places a piece on a highly exposed square.
[ >/= 25.Ne3, "+/=" (Maybe "+/") ]
25...Rd7!; {Diagram.}
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For the sacrificed material, Black has a great deal of play ... not only is White's win not assured, (here); it is problematical ... at best.
26.a3!? c3?; (Maybe - '??')
An error in judgment, after 26...Nd4; it is not readily apparent that Black is losing.
[ After the superior continuation of:
>/= 26...Nd4!; 27.Nc3!? Rb7+; 28.Ka2 Nxf3!; "<=>"
Black seems to have great play. ]
27.Bxa6 Rd2; 28.Bd3 Nd4!?; 29.Nxc3 c4; 30.Rd1, {Diagram.}
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The simplest solution, White returns the piece, but remains several pawns ahead in the endgame.
[ Fritz preferred to play: 30.Be1, "+/-" instead of the game continuation. ]
The rest does not requite a lot of comment. (Black struggles on to the point where it is obvious that
White is easily winning before he will admit defeat.)
30...Rxd1; 31.Nxd1 cxd3;
32.Nxd3 Bb3; 33.N1b2 Ne2;
34.Be5 f6; 35.Nc5 Bf7;
36.Bd6 f5!?; 37.e5 Bd5;
38.Nbd3 g5; 39.a5 Nc3+;
40.Kc2 Nb5; 41.a4 Na3+;
"+/-"
A difficult contest. While neither party played perfect chess, it was an engaging struggle. It was also
the type of game that the student could learn a lot from, especially with some careful study.
[ This game, but on the popular CG server. (Often there are many good notes and comments there.) ]
In round seven, Jobava played on Table Five and drew a young and talented GM Dmitrij Jakovenko, rated 2662. [replay] We are NOT going to attempt to analyze that game, {If I tried, I would be here all year.}; instead I am just going to leave you with some passing impressions.
It was a model opening, (Caro-Kann); and was 'book' for MANY moves.
While there were many different possibilities at nearly every juncture, I never found a single move that I could label as an error ... ... ... or even consider slightly inaccurate.
At no time did it appear that Jobava was truly in danger of losing the game.
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This is the position after 18 moves have been made. White has a slight edge, but that is all.
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An EXTREMELY complex position has arisen. (Black's last move was 34...Nc7.) The ending is in sight. (Now 35.Qb3! might be White's best winning try.)
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The final position. After 55...Ne5+; 56.Kxg3, g6!; ("=") the game is quite drawn. A great game!
In round eight, Jobava played GM Evgeny Alekseev, rated 2634. [replay, with brief notes]
Your mission, should you have decided to accept it, was to discover the turning point ... the exact place where Black stumbled off the straight and narrow, and basically lost the whole contest.
After close study, I found literally dozens of divergent pathways, it would be too time consuming and impractical to try and cover them all. But consider the position just below:
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White has just played his move, 37.Qd2, so it is Black's turn to play here.
Black actually played: 37...Qb6?; ('??' Time trouble?) and after the simple 38.Nc2, White won the exchange and the game. ("+/-") Correct (instead) for Black was 37...Qc5; after which White will hold a small advantage, but it is far from certain if Jobava would be able to decide the game in his favor.
Did
you find the correct solution? Was this the point that you looked at? If so,
congratulate yourself!
(This was a difficult and complex game. It was not easy
for me to make this discovery, and I used several different computer programs
for practically the whole exercise!)
In round nine, Jobava played another highly rated player on Table (board #) Three. This time Jobava's task appeared impossible ... given the current situation. In order to be guaranteed a shot at the highest prize - something that he had promised his Father he would do, before the event began - he would have to WIN against a player who was rated nearly 2700! (vs. GM Vladimir Malakhov, 2694. bio, more) Not only this, he had to do so with the BLACK pieces!!
*******
GM Vladimir Malakhov - (born 1980) Since the amount of info on this player is rather sketchy, I thought that I would contribute what I know about him. Malakhov first caught my eye in the early 1990's, he scored 9.5 (from a possible 11, or +8) in a World Youth (U12) tournament. He has won many Junior events, like the "Lausanne Young Masters" (rapid) tournament in 2000. Although he has placed highly in most events, (like the FIDE knock-out tournaments); that he has played in, he has yet to win clear first in any (major) international event. (If you want to see a few good pictures of this player, click here, than type in his last name and hit the search button.)
Malakhov has been rated over the impressive 2700 level, I have studied several of his games in NIC and the Informant. (He seems to play many different openings.) I don't know who he is currently working with, but at one time, Malakhov's trainer was none other than GM Vladimir Kramnik! (Kramnik won the 'Classical Chess World's Championship' in 2000 after defeating Garry Kasparov.) Malakhov is also highly educated, when he is not 'moonlighting' as a chess player, he works as a scientist.
A good game by V. Malakhov. Probably my favorite game by this player would be his King hunt against GM Sergey Volkov. (From the 17th European Cup Championships, in 2001.)
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(See also the replay version of this game, the link is at the top of this page.)
1.e4 c6; 2.d4 d5; 3.e5 Bf5; 4.Nd2 e6; 5.Nb3 Nd7; 6.Nf3 h5!?; {Diagram.}
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<< A very unusual move, ... >>
Ultra-modern chess, if a student had played this, I would have been tempted to harshly condemn such a venture! (Note that this works for Black only because the closed nature of the game.)
7.Be2 Be7;
8.h3 Nh6;
9.Bf4 Be4; 10.Nfd2!?,
White is working hard to gain the upper hand here, but 10.c3, or 10.Nbd2 might have been a better
choice than the move chosen in the game.
10...Bxg2; 11.Rh2 Be4; 12.Nxe4 dxe4; 13.Bxh5!?, {Diagram.}
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This might be inadvisable, after the opening of the h-file, Black seems to have no real problems.
(And could be gaining the upper hand.)
[ Maybe better was: 13.c3 c5; 14.Qc2, "=" with fair chances for both sides. ]
13...Nf5;
14.Bg4 Nb6;
15.Qe2 Nxd4; 16.Qxe4 Nxb3;
17.axb3 Bg5;
This is good, but 17...Nd5; might have been even better.
18.Rd1?!,
One of those rare cases where moving a rook to a center file, (with a gain of time); is wrong!
(Both 18.Bxg5 or even 18.Rg2 was preferable to the text.)
18...Nd5; 19.Bg3!?, (Maybe dubious?) {Diagram.}
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White - a near 2700 player - has clearly been outplayed in the opening phase of the game. 19.Bg3
is probably less than best, White had to go into "damage control mode" and play BxB/g5, but the
big-time GM may not have been ready to admit that his game has slowly gone south.
In a normal situation, neither party may have played in this fashion. But here, both combatants are in the last round of a huge swiss ... and both may be thinking more about a big payday than anything else. (Also, tension can do funny things to your thought processes.)
[ 19.Bxg5 Qxg5; 20.Rg2 Qf4; ("=/+") ]
19...Bh4;
This is OK, even good for Black, but it is possible that 19...Qa5+! was a small improvement.
[ (>/=) 19...Qa5+; 20.b4 Qb6; "=/+"
This looks to be better for Black, although Jobava may have been worried
about a possible sacrifice on e6, (followed by a Queen check on g6). ]
20.c4,
For this position, see problem # 4, at the top of the page.
20...Bxg3!;
21.fxg3 Qb6!; ('!!')
{Diagram.}
This is the current position.
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After 21...Qb6!; Black is at least equal ... and probably even a little better. And - of course - after playing his Queen to b6, Black (now) has a fairly obvious threat. (Its 22...Qg1+; winning White Rook.) Yet Jobava has also set a very nasty trap for his erstwhile opponent ...
22.Re2?, {Diagram.}
A horrible mistake for a GM; while tricky, Black's next move is NOT so difficult that a near-2700 GM should miss such a shot!
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Take a few minutes, and study this position carefully.
[ After the moves: >/= 22.Qd4 Qxd4; 23.Rxd4 Nb4; "~"
Black might have the slightly better game, but a loss for White is not imminent. ]
Black to move and win.
22...Nc3!; (Maybe - '!!')
Now Jobava will triumph, no matter how well White plays from here.
23.bxc3 Qg1+;
24.Kd2 0-0-0+;
25.Qd4, (Forced?)
At first blush, I thought this might be a mistake - but after some work, analysis reveals that the alternatives are even worse.
[ Less appealing was: </= 25.Kc2?!, ('?') 25...Qxd1+; 26.Kb2 Rd2+;
27.Rxd2 Qxd2+; 28.Qc2 Qe3!; "-/+" (Black strongly threatens ...Rd8-d2.);
with a fairly easy win. ]
25...Rxd4+;
26.cxd4 Qxd4+; 27.Kc2 Qc5;
28.Rf1 Rf8;
While this wins, the computer clearly shows that a Queen retreat to e7 was probably more prudent.
(Jobava wants to force an ending as soon as possible - and he does not wish to surrender the
initiative.)
29.Rxf7 Rxf7;
30.Bxe6+ Rd7;
31.Rd2 Qxe5; 32.Bxd7+ Kc7;
33.Bg4!?, {Diagram.}
Now there can be no doubt that all Malakhov wants to do is hold the draw.
(Or 33.Rd3, a5. "-/+")
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Study this position carefully.
Black to move, what move would you make if you had this position?
33...Kb6!!;
Black could grab a Pawn on g3, but this might allow his opponent some counterplay.
Instead, Jobava plans to march his King to b4, where it will greatly menace all of White's forces.
White plays the best that he can, but objectively his situation is lost, and Jobava's accurate play
gives him almost no real chances to hold his position.
34.Rd3 a5; 35.Bd1 Kc5;
36.h4 Qe1; 37.h5 Qf2+;
38.Kc1 Kb4; 39.g4 Ka3;
40.Bf3 Qb2+; 41.Kd1 Kb4;
42.Be2 Qe5; 43.Kd2 Qf4+;
44.Kd1 b6; {Diagram.}
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After patient maneuvering and through the use of Zugzwang, Black has reduced his opponent to a state of almost total helplessness.
45.Ke1 a4!; {Diagram.}
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The key breakthrough, now all of White's Queenside disintegrates.
46.bxa4 Qxc4; 47.Rd7 Qc3+; 48.Kd1 Kxa4; {Diagram.}
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Now Black's two connected passed Pawns will roll merrily down the chess board, with little to stop them.
49.g5 Qa1+;
50.Kd2 Qe5; 51.g6 b5;
52.Kd1 Qf4; 53.Rf7,
White could not grab the g-Pawn, due to the Queen fork on d4.
53...Qd4+; 54.Ke1 c5;
55.Kf1 Qh4!; 56.Bf3,
Now the g-Pawn is off-limits, due to the Queen check on f6.
56...Qg5;
One more trap, now if White grabs the g-pawn, ...Qc1+; followed by ...Qb2+; does the trick.
57.Kf2 Qh6; "-/+" White Resigns. {Diagram}
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With the King-side completely secured, White has no real way to halt the advance of Black's dynamic duo.
A wonderful game by Jobava, to win such a game with the Black pieces requires not only great chess talent, but also nerves of steel. Also - you should closely study Jobava's technique in this endgame, it was a model for this type of ending.
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[Replay this game, but with limited notes.]
This concludes my coverage of GM Baadur Jobava's games for the 2006 Aeroflot Open.
# 1.) Black plays 30...Bb4! (White cannot take, due to the threat of mate-in-one on f2.) [replay]
# 2.) White plays 21.Qa3+, ('!') 21...Re7[]; 22.Bxg6!, with a great advantage. [replay]
# 3.) White plays 22.b3, snaring a piece. (easy) [replay]
# 4.) Black plays 20...Bxg3!; 21.fxg3, Qb6!; ('!!') with some advantage. (And White inexplicably committed a blunder on his twenty-second move.) [replay]
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In the Jobava - Rustemov game, White played 28.Qc5!? According to Fritz, 28.Bd6!, Qxf2!?; 29.Qh3! won much more quickly for White.
Well ... that's a wrap for this month. (We shall see you good folks next month!)
I hope you have enjoyed this month's lesson. Please contact me if you have any questions. Also, be sure to contact the webmaster here, and let him know what you think of this lesson. Thank you for your time and attention ... and I will see you next month!
Copyright © A.J. Goldsby, 2006. All rights reserved.
