[Event "Millionaire Chess Semifinal"]
[Site "Las Vegas"]
[Date "2014.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Yu, Yangyi"]
[Black "Robson, Ray"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B97"]
[WhiteElo "2697"]
[BlackElo "2628"]
[Annotator "GM Lubomir Kavalek/The Huffington Post"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[EventCountry "USA"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 h6 8. Bh4
Qb6 {The postponed Poison Pawn variation of the Najdorf Sicilian.} 9. Qd2 $5 {
Accepting the challenge is the most principled decision.} ({White does not
have to sacrifice the pawn and can play} 9. a3 Be7 (9... Qxb2 $2 10. Na4 {wins.
}) 10. Bf2 {with good play.}) 9... Qxb2 10. Rb1 Qa3 11. e5 dxe5 12. fxe5 g5 {
A sharp variation, leading to playable game for black.} ({The second popular
line is rather unbelievable:} 12... Nfd7 13. Ne4 Qxa2 14. Rd1 $5 (14. Rb3 Qa1+
15. Kf2 Qa4 {is good for black.}) 14... Qd5 15. Qe3 Qxe5 16. Be2 {and despite
being three pawns down, white pieces radiate a lot of energy.}) 13. exf6 gxh4 {
Up to here, the line is rather forced.} 14. Be2 Nd7 15. O-O Qa5 16. Kh1 Qg5 17.
Qe1 {According to GM Lubomir Ftacnik, this move was tested three years ago 2,
500 times in computer games, while humans ventured there only a few times.} ({
The main choice in this position was} 17. Rf4 e5 18. Nd5 exd4 19. Qxd4 {with a
good compensation for the piece.}) 17... Nxf6 $5 {An improvement.} ({After the
previously played} 17... Bd6 18. Ne4 Qe5 19. Nxd6+ Qxd6 20. Qxh4 {white has a
big advantage.}) ({The computers suggest} 17... h3 18. gxh3 Qe5 19. Nf3 Qe3 $11
) 18. Nf3 Qc5 ({Black wants to keep his queen active, but} 18... Qg7 19. Nxh4
Be7 20. Bf3 O-O {is roughly equal.}) 19. Na4 Qc7 20. Nb6 Rb8 21. Qxh4 Be7 22.
Qd4 {Trying to secure the square e5 for his knight.} Rg8 23. Ne5 Rg5 24. Ng4
Nxg4 25. Bxg4 f5 $2 {A reckless move and white finds the  refutation.} ({Black
should have tried} 25... Bc5 26. Qh8+ Bf8 (26... Ke7 27. Rxf7+ Kxf7 28. Qh7+
Rg7 29. Rf1+ $18) 27. Bf3 Qe5) 26. Bxf5 $1 {Robson might have overlooked this
sacrifice. White gets a strong pressure on th e-file.} exf5 ({Or} 26... Rxf5
27. Rxf5 exf5 28. Re1 $18) 27. Rbe1 Kf8 28. Qh8+ ({This should win, but} 28.
Nd5 Qd6 29. Rxe7 {was even better.}) 28... Rg8 29. Qxh6+ Rg7 30. Nxc8 Qxc2 {
Suddenly, black is threatening a mate and Yu gets nervous.} ({But not} 30...
Rxc8 31. Rxf5+ Kg8 32. Qe6+ Kh8 33. Rh5+ Rh7 34. Rxh7+ Kxh7 35. Qf7+ Kh8 36.
Rxe7 $18) 31. Qh8+ Rg8 32. Qh3 ({White misses a winning tic-tac-toe
combination:} 32. Rxf5+ $1 Qxf5 33. Qxg8+ $1 Kxg8 34. Nxe7+ Kf7 35. Nxf5 $18)
32... Rxc8 33. Rxf5+ Ke8 34. Qh5+ $2 {The last moment when white misses the
win, but the combination is not easy to calculate for human players. The
computers provide the answers:} (34. Rxe7+ $1 Kxe7 35. Qh7+ Kd6 36. Rf6+ Ke5 (
36... Kd5 37. Qd7+ Kc5 38. Qe7+ Kb5 39. Qxb7+ Kc4 40. Rf4+ Kd3 41. Qd5+ Ke2 (
41... Kc3 42. Qd4#) 42. Qe5+ Kd1 43. Rf1+ Kd2 44. Rf2+ Kc1 45. Qa1+ Qb1 46.
Rf1+ $18) 37. Qe7+ Kd4 38. Rf4+ Kd3 (38... Kd5 39. Qd7+ Kc5 40. Qd4+ Kb5 41.
Qb4+ Kc6 42. Rf6+ Kd5 43. Rd6+ Ke5 44. Qd4+ Kf5 45. Rf6+ Kg5 46. Qf4+ Kh5 47.
Rh6#)) ({White also has} 34. Rf2 {, trying to deflect the queen, but it is not
as strong.}) 34... Kd8 {White lost the thread and the black king is escaping.}
35. Rd5+ $2 {The wrong check. White had to play} (35. g3) ({or} 35. Qf3) 35...
Kc7 36. Qe5+ Kb6 37. Re2 Qb1+ 38. Re1 Qxa2 $1 39. Qe4 Qc2 $1 {Robson played
two precise queen moves and the flashy combination is easily twarthed.} 40.
Rb1+ Ka7 41. Rxb7+ Ka8 $1 {The refutation. White is weak on the first rank and
his pieces are hanging.} ({But not} 41... Kxb7 $2 42. Rb5+ Kc7 43. Qxe7+ Kc6
44. Qb7+ Kd6 45. Rd5+ Ke6 46. Qd7+ Kf6 47. Qd6+ {white wins.}) 42. Qf3 Qxg2+ $1
{The final mating combination.} 43. Qxg2 Rc1+ (43... Rc1+ 44. Qg1 Rcxg1#) 0-1

