CBM 219: Abdusattorov shines

by Nagesh Havanur
6/5/2024 – ChessBase Magazine offers a window to the world of professional chess. Our columnist, Nagesh Havanur, takes a look at our latest issue, CBM 219. 217 games from the Prague Chess Festival and the American Cup 2024, 12 opening surveys, 3 opening videos, 6 demo lectures and several exercises for training. Annotators include Nodirbek Abdusattorov, R Praggnanandhaa and David Navara, among others. The icing on the cake is a special feature on Fabiano Caruana with 26 annotated games. | Photo: ChessBase India
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The Prague contest

When the FIDE Candidates’ Tournament concluded with the phenomenal victory of 17-year-old Gukesh, there was one little disappointment. Abdusattorov wasn’t there. He would have mounted a challenge to the rising Indian star. The rivalry between the two young talents is too well-known to our readers here to need elaboration.

Among other things, this issue features Abdusatttorov’s victory in the Prague Chess Festival. He won with a score of 6½ out of 9 ahead of experienced campaigners like David Navara and Richard Rapport, not to mention the three Indian talents, Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh and Vidit Gujrathi. In this issue he annotates his game with Parham Maghsoodloo:

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This was a truly crucial game in the tournament. Knowing Parham I expected a big fight. The game was very intense, with many beautiful ideas - and horrible mistakes! 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 I prepared this line before the game. I had played a couple of games with h3, but it was long time ago. e5 7.Nb3 Be7 I was little bit surprised after this move, because usually Parham played Be6 in this position. 7...Be6 1-0 (76) Shankland,S (2718)-Maghsoodloo,P (2716) Prague 2022 CBM 209 8.Be3 Be6 9.Qf3 Nbd7 A rare line, but quite interesting. 9...0-0 is considered as the principled approach. 10.g4 h6 11.0-0-0 Rc8 12.Nd5 Nf8 ] Here I thought for a while. White has many options, but I didn't find the convincing one and decided to play natural moves. 12...Bxd5?! is dubious. 13.exd5 Qc7 14.c3± and White has big advantage. 13.Bd3 13.Kb1!? Ng6 14.c3 has been played in many correspondence games. 14.Rh2!? is also interesting. 14.Rg1!? Nh7 15.Bb6 15.c4 0-0 15...Qd7 16.Na5 0-0 17.Nxe7+ Qxe7 18.Qa3 Nf6∞ 14...b5 15.Rg1∞ 1/2 (39) Staroske,U (2514) -Habermehl,T (2476) GER email 2016 13...Ng6 14.Rhe1 14.Nxe7 Qxe7 15.Kb1 14...Nd7! I didn't like my position at this point. I have weaknesses on dark squares and his king will be very safe on the kingside. 15.Kb1 Bg5 Black exchanges the dark-squared bishops ang gets pleasant positional edge. 16.c4 0-0 17.Bf1 ] I tried to play very solid and waited for him to make the game complicated. Nh4?! The knight is misplaced here and Black has to spend a tempo later. 17...b6! I like this move, just improving the position and preparing Nc5. 18.Bxg5! hxg5 19.Qd3 19.Qe3!? was another option. Bxd5 20.cxd5 Qf6∞ is a concrete way to complicate. 19...Ng6 Black spends an important tempo after White quickly regroups the pieces to better squares. 19...Nc5!? is a good alternative: 20.Nxc5 Rxc5 21.Nc3 21.b4 Rc6 21...Rc6 22.b3 Qf6∞ 19...a5! I like this move. 20.Nc3 20.a4 Nb6! 20...a4 21.Nxa4 Rxc4 22.Nc3 Rc6 and White's king can become weak potentially. 20.Ne3! Rc6 21.Qd2! I'm threatening Na5. b6 22.Nd5?! I can't explain why I didn't play Nf5, as this would be logical continuation of the previous moves. 22.Nf5! After this Black's position becomes unpleasant. Qf6!? Perhaps the best move, sacrificing a pawn for some activity. But obviously that's not what Black wanted. 22...Bxf5 is just worse for Black. 23.exf5 Nf4 24.Nc1! Qf6 25.Ne2 22...Nh4 23.Re3 23.Nxd6 Nh4 24.Re3 a5 22...a5 23.a4 Nf4 24.Re3 g6! Black is preparing to play Kg7/Rh8 and slowly putting pressure on the weak pawn on h3. 25.Nc3 I also want to exploit the weakness on d6. Nf6 25...Nb8!? is the engine's preference. 26.Nb5 Na6 27.Nxd6?! Qb8 26.f3 Kh7 27.Nd5 Kg7 28.h4! I immediately use the moment to complicate the game and change the dynamics of the position. Bxd5 28...Rc8!? is the way to control White's counterplay. 29.hxg5 N6xd5 30.cxd5 Bd7 31.Ba6! 31.Bb5 Bxb5 32.axb5 a4 33.Nd4 exd4 34.Qxd4+ f6 31...Rc7 32.Bb5 Bxb5 33.axb5 Qxg5 33...a4 34.Nd4! exd4 35.Qxd4+ f6 36.gxf6+ Qxf6 37.e5 dxe5 38.Rxe5 Kg8 39.d6! Rd7 40.Rd2 34.Rc3 Rxc3 35.Qxc3 Qh4∞ with some further mess. 29.cxd5 Rc8 30.hxg5 Now things get out of control for both sides and we started to make many mistakes. Nh7?! 30...Nd7! is much better. 31.Bb5 Nc5 32.Nxc5 bxc5∞ 31.Ba6 Rc7 32.Rc1! Rxc1+ 33.Qxc1 Nxg5 34.Qc6? 34.Rc3! is logical, regrouping the pieces in a much better way. Rh8 35.Ka2! Rh3 35...Rh2 36.Qg1 Rg2 37.Qe3± 36.Nd2 Rh2 37.Qe1± 34...Ng2!∞ 35.Rc3 Ne1 36.Nd2 Rh8= 37.Re3 Rh2 Once again Parham shows his uncompromising character. 38.Nf1! But now White can force the game into a favourable endgame. Nc2 38...Nexf3! is better according to the engine. But it's almost impossible to correctly evaluate it and go for it in a practical game. 39.Nxh2 Nxh2 40.Be2 Qf6! 41.Qxb6 Qf2! 42.Qb3 Qf4! 43.Qd3 Nxg4 44.Bxg4 Qxg4 and Black has enough counterplay to hold the position. 39.Rc3 Nb4 40.Nxh2 Nxc6 41.dxc6 Ne6 We passed the time control and an interesting endgame has arisen. Intuitively I thought White is close to winning, but the more I looked at the board the more I understood that Black has enough counterplay and it's not so easy. 42.Bc4 Nc7 42...Nc5 is an active and very concrete way to hold the position. 43.Nf1 Nxa4 44.Rc2 Nc5 45.Ne3 b5! - very important move. 46.Bxb5 Qb6= 43.Nf1 ] My plan is very easy. I need to exchange the knights, and then when Black blocks the pawn with his queen on c7, I start to run forward with my king to a6, play the rook to b3 and eventually the black pawns starts to fall. Qe8 44.Bd5? 44.Bb3! is a much more natural way. For some reason I thought that Black will gain a tempo after b5 and bxa4, so I decided to go Bd5. But obviouly it's total nonsense and probably I was getting tired and started to confuse myself. b5 45.Ne3 Qb8 46.g5!? 46.Nd5 b4 47.Rc1 Nxd5 48.exd5 Qc7 49.g5 44.Bb5 d5!∞ 44...b5 45.Ne3?! 45.axb5 Nxb5 46.Rb3 Nd4 47.Rc3= 47.Rb6!? Qd8! 48.Rb7 Qh4 49.c7 Qe1+ 50.Ka2 Nc2! 51.Kb3 Nd4+= 45...bxa4 46.Rc2?! I totally lost the sense of danger and was still fighting for the win. In reality White's position became dangerous and he should be accurate to hold equality. 46.Ka2! Kh6! 46...Nb5 47.Rc4! 46...Qb8 47.Bc4! 47.Nc4 Nb5 48.Rc1 46.Ba2?! a3! is the trick! 47.bxa3 Nb5 48.Rc1 Na7! 49.Bd5 Qb8+ 50.Ka2 Qb5-+ 46...Qb8?! 46...Qh8! is much stronger. 47.Ka2 47.Bc4 Qh1+ 48.Ka2 Qxf3 49.Nd5 Qxe4-+ 47...Qb8! The difference is that White's king is not supporting the rook on c2 and Black has a check on b3 at the end of the variation. 48.Bc4 Qb6 49.Nd5 Qxc6 50.Bd3 Qb7!-+ 47.Bc4! a3 48.Nd5 Ne6 49.b3?? Weakening my king and the whole 2nd rank. 49.g5!∞ 49...Nd4? At this point Parham was looking very confident and was sure that Black is winning, but somehow the rook covers the 2nd rank and Black doesn't have a decisive blow. 49...Qa7!-+ Black threatens... Nd4 and White's position is collapsing. 50.c7 Qh8 51.Rd2! Qh1+ 52.Ka2 Qc1 53.Rh2 And Black has nothing better than making a draw by repeating. a4 53...Qg1!= I think, it was time to make a draw. 54.g5! Very important move, fixing Black's pawns and creating a mating net around the king. Nxf3 55.Rf2 axb3+ 56.Bxb3 Nd2 57.Rxd2 Qxd2+ 58.Kxa3 Now Black has to be accurate to make a draw. Qa5+? The decisive mistake. Probably my opponent thought that the position should be draw in any case. But after this check Black's queen is misplaced and dominated by my pieces. 58...Qc1+ 59.Ka2 Qc5 60.Kb2 Qd4+= is an easy draw. 59.Ba4 Qa6 60.Kb4 Qb7+ 61.Bb5? 61.Kc3! Qc8 62.Bc6!+- was a clean win. 61...Kh7 61...Kf8! is apparently holding by some luck. But still I have a very good feeling that I would win the game later. 62.Kc4 Qc8 63.Kc3 f5! 64.gxf6 g5= 62.Kc4+- Now it's over. This is one of the most beautiful positions I have ever had in my career! Kg7 63.Bd7 Qa6+ 64.Kb3 Qb7+ 65.Kc2 Qa6 66.c8Q Qe2+ 67.Kb3 Qxe4 68.Qg8+ This was truly a spectacular game that I played in Prague. With this victory I won the tournament with one round to spare. It was one of my best tournament performances in my career so far! 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Abdusattorov,N2744Maghsoodloo,P27151–02024Prague Masters 6th

Aronian wins the American Cup (Open)

Ever since Aronian settled in the USA, he has found a life ideal for his creative spirit. As he does not try to win every chess tournament, he is free from the anxiety of finishing at the top. It’s one of the reasons why he performs so well in tournaments. In March, he won the American Cup, eliminating Sevian, Caruana and Wesley So one after another. Here is the decisive game between him and Wesley So:

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.e4 c5 6.e5 cxd4 7.a3 Ba5 8.exf6 dxc3 9.b4 Bc7 10.fxg7 Re8 11.Nf3 d5 12.Qxc3 e5 13.cxd5 e4 14.Nd4 Be5 15.Bb2 Nd7 16.Bb5 a6 17.Bxd7 Bxd7 18.0-0 Qh4 19.g3 Qh3 20.f4 Bf6 21.Qe3 Bg4 22.Rf2 Rad8 23.Nb3 Rxd5 24.Re1 Bxb2 25.Rxb2 Qh6 26.Rd2 Qd6 27.Rxd5 Qxd5 28.Nd2 Bf5 29.Nf1 Bh3 30.Nd2 Re6 31.Rc1 Kxg7 32.Rc5 Qd3 33.Rg5+ Kf8 34.Qc5+ Rd6 35.Rh5 Qxd2 36.Rxh3 b6 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
So,W2757Aronian,L27220–12024American Cup Champ4.4

Incidentally, Robert Ris analysed this game on the ChessBase News Page:

Alice Lee wins the American Cup (Women)

There was also a women’s section and both the Main Event and the Elimination Rapid were won by 14-year-old Alice Lee ahead of veterans like Irina Krush and Nazi Paikidze. The decisive round between the finalists, young Alice Lee, and the experienced fighter, Irina Krush, was a dramatic battle:

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 Nbd7 7.Be3 e5 8.d5 Ng4 9.Bg5 f6 10.Bc1 f5 11.exf5 gxf5 12.Ng5 Ndf6 13.h3 Nh6 14.Ne6 Bxe6 15.dxe6 c6 16.g4 Ne4 17.Nxe4 fxe4 18.Be3 Qe7 19.Qc2 Qxe6 20.Qxe4 d5 21.Qc2 e4 22.Rd1 Nf7 23.cxd5 cxd5 24.Qb3 Rfd8 25.0-0 Ne5 26.Bd4 Rd7 27.Bb5 Nf3+ 28.Kg2 Nxd4 29.Rxd4 Bxd4 30.Rd1 Qf6 31.Bxd7 Qxf2+ 32.Kh1 Rf8 33.Qxd5+ Kh8 34.Qxd4+ 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Lee,A2356Krush,I24211–02024American Cup Champ (Women)5.6

The final phase of the game saw an enjoyable commentary by Yasser Seirawan and his team:

All the games from the American Cup 2024 may be found in this issue. I would have liked to see a detailed report here with annotated games.

A Caruana Special

This issue has a special feature on Caruana with a selection of 26 annotated games. The opponents include Gelfand, Vachier-Lagrave, Nepomniachtchi, Duda and Firouzja, among others. I would have liked to see a game or two against Carlsen with whom he contested a whole world championship a few years ago.

Fabiano Caruana

Fabiano Caruana | Photo: FIDE

Opening videos and surveys

There are 3 opening videos in this issue:

In the first video, Nico Zwirs draws attention to new trends in the Italian Game 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.c3 d6 6. Bg5 (C54)

In the second video, Christian Bauer presents analysis of the Marshall Gambit of the Slav Defence, 1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 c6 4.e4 (D31), with a recent game, Abdusattorov-Erigaisi, Qatar Masters 2023.

In the third video, Felix Blohberger offers a commentary on a rare line in English Opening that occurred in a recent game, Gukesh-Navara, Prague Masters 2024, 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.e3 Nc6 4.Qb3 (A25)

Take your pick.

What is more, there are as many as 12 opening surveys ranging from the Ruy Lopez to the Reti. Here I would make a special mention of the articles on the Ruy Lopez Anti-Marshall Variation (C88) by Krisztian Szabo and the Semi-Slav Botvinnik Variation (D44) by Evgeny Postny. The first of them deals with a variation that was also seen in Carlsen-Nepomniachtchi, World Championship Match 2022:

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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.h3 Na5 9.Nxe5 Nxb3 10.axb3 Bb7 11.d3 d5 12.exd5 Qxd5 13.Qf3 Bd6 14.Kf1 14.Nc3? is losing, because of Qxe5! 15.Rxe5 15.Qxb7 Qxe1# 15...Bxf3-+ and Black is a piece up. 14.Qxd5 Nxd5 15.Bd2 gives Black a better version of the game. 14...Rfb8 In case of 14...Rfe8 15.Nc3 Qxf3 15...Qxe5 16.Rxe5 Bxf3 17.Rxe8+± 16.Nxf3 Rxe1+ 17.Kxe1 Bxf3 18.gxf3 and White is a healthy pawn up. Still nobody played 14...Qxe5!? but it is also possible, 15.Qxb7 Qh2 Black doesn't pose an immediate threat, but the queen close to the king is a bit uncomfortable. 16.Qf3 16.Nc3!? 16...Rae8 17.Be3 Nh5! A straightforward move with the idea of pushing f5-f4, but the knight is hanging... :) 18.Qxh5 f5 19.f4 19.g3 Bxg3! 20.fxg3 f4! 21.Qd5+ 21.gxf4? Rxf4+ 22.Bxf4 Qh1+ 23.Kf2 Qxe1+ 24.Kg2 Re2+-+ 21...Kh8 22.gxf4 Qxh3+ 23.Qg2 Rxf4+ 24.Bxf4 Rxe1+ 25.Kxe1 Qxg2∞ with an unclear endgame. 19...Bxf4 20.Qf3 Bxe3 21.Rxe3 f4 22.Re4 Rxe4 23.Qxe4 23.dxe4 Qh1+ 24.Kf2 Rd8 23...f3 24.gxf3 Qxc2 with huge complications. 15.Qxd5 Nxd5 16.Bd2 c5 "Black will rely on the greater space, activity and the long term potential of the bishops to maintain the balance." (Adams) 17.Nc3 17.Nf3 see Nepomniachtchi,I (2782) - Carlsen,M (2855) Dubai 2021. 17...Nb4 18.Rac1 Rd8 18...Re8 (Sanal,V (2574)-Olson,H (2343) Chennai 2022) 19.Nf3 Be7 19.Ne4!? Tries to complicate the position. 19.Nf3 is another way, Rac8 20.Ne4 Bf8 21.Re2 f6 Sethuraman,S (2598)-Ahmadzada,A (2494) Doha 2023. 19...Bxe5 20.Nxc5 Bxb2 21.Nxb7 21.Bxb4? was worse, Bxc1 22.Rxc1 Bd5 and White has to fight. 21...Rdb8 21...Bxc1? doesn't work because, 22.Nxd8 Rxd8 22...Bxd2 23.Re8# 23.Bxb4+- wins. 22.Rb1 Ba3 22...Nxc2!? was also possible to simplify the game, 23.Rxb2 Nxe1 24.Nc5 Nxd3 25.Nxd3 a5!= and after ...a4 rook vs two minor pieces without pawns on both sides. Black has a good chance of saving the game. 23.Na5 Nxc2 24.b4! White sacrifices his e1-rook for a knight and eventually the a3-bishop. Rd8 24...Nxe1 25.Kxe1 Rd8 26.Rb3 Bxb4 27.Bxb4 Rac8 28.Kd2 and thanks for the d-pawn White has some chances to play for win. 25.Rb3 Rac8 26.Re4 h6 27.g4 Rd5 28.Re2 28.Ke2! 28...f5? 28...Kh7! 29.Bc3 Bxb4 30.Bxb4 Nd4? 30...Nxb4 31.Rxb4 Rxd3 32.Kg2± 31.Rc3! Rxc3 32.Re8+ Kf7 33.Rf8+ Kg6 34.Bxc3+- fxg4 35.Bxd4 Rxd4 36.Nc6 Rd6 37.Ne5+ Kh7 38.hxg4 Rd5 39.f4 g5 40.Rf7+ Kg8 41.Rd7 Rxd7 42.Nxd7 gxf4 43.Ke2 Kf7 44.Nc5 Kf6 45.Nxa6 Ke5 46.Kf3 Kd4 47.Kxf4 Kxd3 48.Nc7 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Pichot,A2637Flores,D25411–02022ARG-ch 97th5

The second article deals with a more complex area of opening theory. Here we have room only for a sparkling miniature in one of the lines:

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1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5 hxg5 10.Bxg5 Be7 11.exf6 Bxf6 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.Be2 Na6 14.a4 14.Bf3?! Nb4 14...Bb7! 15.axb5 Nb4! 15...cxb5?! 16.Nxb5± 1-0 (26) Maghsoodloo,P (2721) -Durarbayli,V (2628) Shusha 2022 16.b6 16.Bxc4 c5! 17.dxc5 Bxg2 18.Rg1 Rxh2 19.c6 Rd8 20.Qb3 Qf4 21.Rd1 Bxc6 22.Rxd8+ Kxd8 23.Nd1 Qe4+ 24.Kd2 Qd4+= 16.Ne4 Qe7 17.Nc5 cxb5 18.Nxb7 Qxb7 19.Bf3 Nc6! 20.0-0 Qc7 21.h3 Rd8 22.Bxc6+ Qxc6 23.Rxa7 Rh4= 16...c5! Black is sacrificing one pawn after another, but achieves the desired activity. 17.Rxa7 17.dxc5 a5 18.Nb5 18.0-0?? Rd8 19.Qc1 Qh4 20.h3 Bxg2-+ 18...Rd8 19.Nd6+ Kf8 20.Qd2 Bxg2 21.Rg1 Rxh2 22.0-0-0 Bd5 and even in this wild position the engine evaluation is 0.00. 17...Rxa7 18.bxa7 Ke7 19.dxc5 Rd8 20.Qa4 Qg5! Leads to a forced draw. 21.Qxb4 Qd2+ 22.Kf1 Qc1+ 23.Bd1 Rxd1+ 24.Nxd1 Qxd1+ 25.Qe1 Bxg2+ 26.Kxg2 Qg4+ 27.Kf1 Qh3+ 28.Kg1 Qg4+ 29.Kf1 Qh3+ 30.Kg1 Qg4+ ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Yilmaz,M2609Mishra,A2559½–½2023Tata Steel-B 85th2

Besides opening surveys, this issue has standard features on tactics, strategy and the endgame. Here I would make a special mention of the section “Excelling in Endgames”, in which Karsten Müller offers a demo lecture on pawns versus knight endings. This section also offers a column called “Readers write”, in which we find contributions by experts like Charles Sullivan and Zoran Petronijevic.

Last, but not least, we have Jan Markos’ demo lecture on active defence. Practical advice for the tournament player.

Summing up

The main database of the issue has games, of which 11 are deeply annotated. There is much else in this DVD that deserves to be explored. Apart from the players I have already mentioned, the commentators include David Navara, Praggnanandhaa and Abhimanyu Mishra, among others. It may be noted that there are more annotated games in the opening and training sections of this issue. Well, practice makes perfect.

Note

Abdusattorov scored 7 points out of 11 (+3, =8, -0) in the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2023 and finished 12th in a field of 114 players in the qualifying event for the Candidates’ Tournament held this April. He was unbeaten, but dogged by tough, fighting draws.

Tata Steel 2024 with analyses by Wei Yi, Firouzja, Giri, Pragg, Vidit and many more. Opening videos by Jan Werle, Daniel King and Mihail Marin. 11 repertoire articles from Alekhine to the King's Indian and much more.

Links

Prof. Nagesh Havanur (otherwise known as "chessbibliophile") is a senior academic and research scholar. He taught English in Mumbai for three decades and has now settled in Bangalore, India. His interests include chess history, biography and opening theory. He has been writing on the Royal Game for more than three decades. His articles and reviews have appeared on several web sites and magazines.
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