Game of the Week #667: Lu Shanglei vs Eltaj Safarli, Reykjavik Open 2025

by Merijn van Delft
4/19/2025 – In his latest Game of the Week show, Merijn van Delft analyses an encounter played at the Reykjavik Open between Lu Shanglei and Eltaj Safarli. Lu conducted the game in beautiful positional fashion, and once White gained the upper hand, the tactics all started to work in his favour. | Merijn's show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.
In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM” with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.

Game of the Week #667

A few days before the start of the Reykjavik Open, the legendary first Islandic grandmaster Fridrik Olafsson passed away at the age of 90. Our Game of the Week was played at the Reykjavik Open between Lu Shanglei and Eltaj Safarli.

Just like Olafsson did so many times, Lu Shanglei conducted the game in beautiful positional fashion, with a keen eye for the dynamic features of the position. Once White gained the upper hand, the tactics all started to work in his favour.

Warm-up question: What would you play here with White?

This week's show

In this opening Black opts for active piece play and is not afraid to fight for the initiative from an early stage. One of the many good features of this opening is that Black is often the side which controls the pace of the game.

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Topics: The Game of the Week, Training and improvement
Merijn van Delft is an International Master from the Netherlands who lived in Hamburg for many years and is currently based in Amsterdam. After scoring a GM norm in 2017 he is eager for more. His ChessBase show on Wednesday evenings has been running for over ten years now.
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Video

60m English Anti-Bayonet

King’s Indian fans who choose the Mar del Plata attack (7...Nc6) against White’s classical system (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0) usually aim for a complex position with mutual attacks on open wings, requiring long-term strategic planning and tactical sharpness in critical moments. Computers often do not know how to handle the arising complex strategic positions, which suits players who like to think on their own instead of memorizing long variations. However, the fashionable Bayonet Attack (9.b4) interferes with Black’s ideas. After Black’s main move 9...Nh5 the positions opens, the lines get forced and computer analysis is important again. But this DVD offers an antidote against White’s Bayonet Attack, namely 9...a5! This move leads to sound positions with very few concrete lines, in which the focus is on strategy not on tactics. Objectively chances are equal but if Black knows what to do things might quickly become dangerous for White.