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Krishnan Sasikiran (2551) - Pino Verde (2475)
ICCF, 20.06.2020
1.e4 g6 2.d4 d6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Be3 a6 5.Qd2 b5 6.h4!? h5 7.a4!?
A new trend in correspondence chess and one that has been doing well recently. Black has a tough choice now: either the queenside gets closed after b4 or the pawn structure is broken.
7...b4 7...bxa4!? Looks terrible, but now the black king acquires a safe haven on the kingside as the queenside is open.
8.Nd5 a5 I certainly considered 8...Nd7!? 9.Nxb4 c5 10.dxc5 dxc5 11.Qd5!? A forcing line in which White remains an exchange up at the end.
9.Nh3!? A novelty in this position. However, after h5 by Black, establishing a knight on g5 is a fairly standard scheme.
9...Bb7!? 9...Bxh3!? 10.Rxh3 With the inclusion of a4–a5 this exchange favours White as Black does not have the a4–a3 space gainer which is a key idea for Black to create counterplay.
10.f3!?
Not an easy choice at all. I shall provide some sample lines with some basic ideas for both sides. There is huge scope for exploration here.
10.0–0–0!? Nd7! 11.Bd3 (11.f3 Bxd5 12.exd5 Ngf6 13.Nf4 Rb8! Aimed against Bb5. (13...Nb6 14.Bb5+ Kf8 15.Bc6 Nc4 16.Qe2 Nxe3 17.Qxe3 Bh6 18.Rde1! Ra6 19.Kb1 Rxc6 20.dxc6 Qe8 21.d5 Bxf4 22.Qxf4 Nxd5 23.Qd4 Nf6 24.Qc4) 14.g4 (14.Bb5 Rxb5 15.axb5 Qa8!) 14...hxg4 15.Bd3 g3! 16.Ne6 fxe6 17.Bxg6+ Kf8 18.dxe6 Nb6 19.Bg5 Nc4 20.Qf4 d5 21.b3 Qd6! 22.bxc4 Qxf4+ 23.Bxf4 dxc4 Despite two bishops and an extra pawn I thought White's advantage if at all was very minimal.) 11...Qc8! 12.Rhe1 e6 13.Ndf4 Ne7 14.Ng5 0–0 15.Bc4 d5! 16.Bb3 dxe4 17.Kb1 Bd5 18.g4 hxg4 19.h5 Bxb3 20.cxb3 e5 21.dxe5 Nxe5 22.hxg6 N7xg6 23.Nxg6 Nxg6 24.Qd5 c6 25.Qxe4 Re8 26.Qc2 Re5 27.Rg1 Rd5!? Both colours have many alternatives in this long line. Even in the final position White can simply play Ka2 and comparitively his king is much safer for just one pawn.; 10.Bd3 Nd7 11.0–0–0 transposes.
10...Nd7 11.Ndf4 Now Black has to undertake something in the centre as after Ng5 the white squares start to creak.
11...e5!? 11...c5!? 12.Bc4! The easier way going for development. 12...Qc8 13.c3!? Ba6 (13...cxd4 14.Bxf7+! Kxf7 15.Ng5+ Ke8 16.cxd4 With the knight landing on e6 next and Black unable to castle, this is obvious compensation. 16...Nf8 17.Rc1 Qd7 18.d5!) 14.Bd5 Rb8 15.Ng5 Nh6 16.Nxg6!? bxc3 17.bxc3 fxg6 18.Ne6 Bf8 19.c4!? Rb4 20.dxc5 Nf7 21.c6 Nf6 22.0–0 Nd8 23.Nxd8 Qxd8 24.Rfb1
12.dxe5 Nxe5 12...dxe5 13.Nd5!
13.Ng5!?
13.Bb5+!? An obvious choice creating a weakness on d6. A long forcing line follows: 13...c6! 14.Be2 Qxh4+ 15.Nf2 Qe7 16.Rd1 Ba6! 17.Qxd6 Qxd6 18.Rxd6 Bxe2 19.Kxe2 Nc4 20.Rxc6 Nxb2! 21.Rc7 Nxa4 22.Nxg6 Rh7 23.Nf4 Nc3+ 24.Kd3 a4!? Although White is somewhat better ( pawn structure and active pieces) I thought Black had enough counterplay with the a-passer.
13...Qd7? Trying to prevent White from castling queenside by hitting a4, but this does not work tactically and White achieves the aim of closing the queenside and Black is just one tempo short in getting d5 break.
13...Nf6! Development was the priority here. 14.Bb5+ c6 15.Be2 Qe7! 16.Rd1 d5 17.exd5 Nxd5! The exchange of pieces helps Black as the knights on f4 and g5 paralyse the black kingside. 18.Nxd5 cxd5 19.0–0 0–0 20.Rfe1 Rac8 21.Bd4 Qc7! 22.b3!? Rfe8! 23.Bb5 Re7!= Black has some weaknesses to protect (a5/d5) but the pieces are working well and this position is quite defensible.
14.b3!! Protecting a4 and getting ready for long castling.
14...Nf6 14...Nxf3+ does not work and the following line shows the importance of co-ordination of pieces over material. 15.gxf3 Bc3 16.Qxc3! It is imperative that Black must be stopped from getting in Nf6 and hence each tempo counts. 16...bxc3 17.Bd4! d5 (17...Rh6 18.0–0–0! Ba6 19.Bh3 Qc6 20.Nd5!+– Black is barely able to move and Re1–e3–c3 is coming.; 17...f6 18.Nge6 Ne7 19.0–0–0! Kf7 20.Nc5! dxc5 21.Bc4+ Nd5 22.Bxc3!+–) 18.Bxh8 f6! 19.Nge6 Qd6 20.Rh2!! The quickest way to the e-file. 20...Bc8 21.e5! fxe5 22.Bb5+ c6 23.Re2 e4 24.Rxe4!! cxb5 25.Be5 Qb6 26.Nc7+ Kf7 27.Rd4!+–
15.0–0–0 0–0 16.Bd4 Qe7 16...Rad8 17.Bb2 Qe7 18.Nd5! Nxd5 19.exd5 Nd7 20.Bxg7 Kxg7 21.Kb1! Avoiding any tricks on the a1 square. 21...Nb6 22.Bc4! and White is ready to crash the kingside with g4.
17.Bb2 Nh7
18.Nd5! Bxd5 19.exd5 Nxg5 20.hxg5 f5!? Trying to get in f4 when the knight on e5 is super solid.
20...f6 21.f4 Nd7 22.Re1 Qf7 23.Re6! fxg5 (23...f5 24.g4!+–) 24.Bd3!+–
21.Qf4!? A technical solution. With the possession of two bishops it may be a good idea to open with gxf6. But here the light-coloured bishop conveniently lands on b5 giving the control of e-file to White. The possibility of breaking the kingside with g4 and c3 break on the queenside should be more than enough to secure the win.
21...Nd7 The computer's top choice . Personally I thought Nf7 was more challenging as the queens go off the board by force.
21...Nf7!? 22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.Qd4+ Qe5 24.f4 Qxd4 25.Rxd4 Nd8 26.c3!? (26.Bb5 Nb7 27.Bc6 Rab8 28.Bxb7 Rxb7 29.Re1 Kf7 30.Rc4 Ra8 31.Rc6 Raa7) 26...bxc3 27.Bb5 Nb7 28.Rh3 Nc5 29.Rxc3 With the eventual exchange sacrifice on c5 and the b4–break, White should be able to breakthrough, although it is a long way to go.
22.Bb5! Rae8 23.Rhe1 Bxb2+ 23...Qxe1 24.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 25.Kd2 Re7 26.Bxg7 Rxg7 27.Bxd7 Rxd7 28.Qe3!+– White picks up a5 and the king can escape via c4 if needed.
24.Kxb2 Qg7+ 25.Kb1 Rxe1 26.Rxe1 Nc5
27.Re3! Stopping counterplay with Qc3.
27...Kh7 27...Kh8 28.Re2 Qc3 29.Qe3!+–
28.Re2! Clearing the way for the queen to reroute.
28...Rf7 28...Qc3 29.Qe3! Qxe3 30.Rxe3 Rf7 31.Be8 f4 32.Bxf7 fxe3 33.Kc1!+–
29.Qd2 Re7 29...f4 30.Qe1! Qc3 31.Qxc3 bxc3 32.b4 axb4 33.a5+–
30.Re3! Avoiding Re5 altogether.
30...Qf8 30...Re5 31.Rxe5 Qxe5 (31...dxe5 32.d6!+–) 32.Qe2!+– As queens go off c3 break simply wins the game as the a-passer is very hard to stop by the knight.
31.Qe2 Rxe3 32.Qxe3 The rest does not require any commentary as White sets about getting a passer on the queenside with the c3 break.
32...Qd8 33.Kb2 Kg7 34.c3 bxc3+ 35.Qxc3+ Kg8 36.Qe3 h4 37.Kc2 Kf7 38.f4 Qb8 39.Qc3 Ne4 40.Qxa5 The early 9.Nh3 poses some serious problems for black players to solve. Black could have held the game with 13...Nf6! but the defensive task even after this move is not simple. In general i had the impression that the Modern/Pirc is more suitable for OTB play (I have had a few games with both colours) and the game merely confirms this impression.
1–0
Other authors in the "Lucky bag" of CBM Extra 201: Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Yu Yangyi, Spyridon Kapnisis, Romain Edouard, Sury Vaibhav and Tanmay Srinath
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qd2
Video playing time: 23:38 min
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.c4 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e4 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Bg4!?
Video playing time: 25:02 min
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