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In round 7, Victor Mikhalevski defeated rating favourite Tamir Nabaty — in 17 moves!
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Bf5 3.Bg2 c6
This position has often been reached at the highest level.
4.Nh4 But this concrete, early attack on the f5-bishop has rarely been played. One must always be prepared for the attack after placing the bishop on f5. It’s annoying for Black at the very least!
4...Bg4 5.c4 A logical move. Should Black lose focus, even the white queen could create problems for the g4-bishop by going to a4.
A World Champion's Repertoire against the Queen's Gambit Declined
This DVD offers a complete repertoire for handling this solid opening, often featuring a dynamic approach to pose the opponent more practical problems. Both of the main continuations 3...Nf6 and 3...Be7 are covered in two separate parts.
5...dxc4 Black is still solid with his pawn on c6, but this capture might help White some other way.
6.Na3 e5 7.Nxc4 The knight is well-placed now. From e3, it could briefly trouble the black bishop again.
7...Nd7 8.d4 Bb4+?!
Black wants to develop quickly, but to exchange the piece that was guarding the d6-hole does not seem to be a good idea.
9.Bd2 Qe7 10.Ne3 [Stronger was the simple 10.0-0! and White has a big edge.]
10...Be6 11.Nef5 Bxf5 12.Nxf5 Bxd2+ 13.Qxd2 Qf6
14.Bh3 [Perhaps the best was 14.e4 exd4 15.Nxd4 Nh6 16.0-0 0-0 when White has many great possibilities. He could, for example, advance with his majority on the kingside.]
14...g6?? Black has badly placed pieces, weaknesses in his position and lacks development, but he is only finally lost after this serious tactical error.
15.dxe5 Nxe5 [15...Qxe5 16.Nd6+ Ke7 17.Nc8+ did not work either.]
16.Nd6+
The interactive format encourages the viewer to study and find the brilliancy, following the footsteps of some of the greatest players of the game.
16...Kf8 [16...Ke7 17.Ne4 would have been terrible as well.]
17.f4 The black knight is lost. 1-0
Victor Mikhalevski also won the Israeli Championship in 2014 | Photo: Mark Lyvshitz
| Rk. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | |
| 1 | GM | Mikhalevski Victor | 2552 | 7,0 | 0,0 |
| 2 | FM | Gorshtein Ido | 2387 | 6,5 | 1,0 |
| 3 | GM | Nabaty Tamir | 2638 | 6,5 | 0,0 |
| 4 | GM | Boruchovsky Avital | 2541 | 6,0 | 0,0 |
| 5 | GM | Kobo Ori | 2460 | 6,0 | 0,0 |
| 6 | IM | Gorodetsky David | 2495 | 5,5 | 0,0 |
| 7 | IM | Birnboim Nathan | 2381 | 5,5 | 0,0 |
| 8 | IM | Parkhov Yair | 2407 | 5,5 | 0,0 |
| 9 | GM | Smirin Ilya | 2614 | 5,5 | 0,0 |
| 10 | GM | Postny Evgeny | 2605 | 5,0 | 0,0 |
Rating favourite Yuliya Shvayger, who won the title for the first time in 2018, dominated the women’s section, scoring 8/9 points to finish 2 points ahead of Nadejda Reprun. WFM Michelle Katkov, who beat Shvayger in round 3, got third place on 5½/9.
How to play the Sicilian Defence!
The continuous stream of new ideas in the Sicilian makes 1..c5 the most popular answer to 1.e4. On this DVD I do give an introduction to the most important Sicilian systems.
Yuliya Shvayger | Foto: Dorit Ritvo
| Rk. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | |
| 1 | IM | Shvayger Yuliya | 2327 | 8,0 | 38,50 |
| 2 | Reprun Nadejda | 1968 | 6,0 | 23,25 | |
| 3 | WFM | Katkov Michelle | 2078 | 5,5 | 28,00 |
| 4 | Federovski Adi | 1995 | 5,5 | 24,25 | |
| 5 | Orian Noga | 1658 | 5,0 | 21,25 | |
| 6 | Kochavi Dana | 1572 | 5,0 | 18,75 | |
| 7 | Lian Marina | 1870 | 5,0 | 16,00 | |
| 8 | WCM | Gadasi Noam | 1781 | 4,5 | 16,00 |
| 9 | Golovchanskaya Alina | 1681 | 4,0 | 14,75 | |
| 10 | Vardi Shlomit | 1901 | 3,5 | 13,25 |
