Olympic highlights: a brilliancy in round 4

by Johannes Fischer
9/28/2018 – Round four of the Chess Olympiad in Batumi brought a number of interesting games. Particularly amazing was how the Lithuanian grandmaster Sarunas Sulskis creatively outplayed Baadur Jobava by coming up with one incredible sacrifice after the next. | Photo: Sarunas Sulskis by Andreas Kontokanis from Piraeus, Greece, via Wikimedia Commons
Ever since the beginning of chess, the assault on the king has had its own special magic; masterly attacking games, crowned by sacrifices and unforgettable combinations, have never ceased to attract and thrill the audience. On this DVD in FritzTrainer video format, Rustam Kasimdzhanov shows us that particularly the World Champions were outstanding attackers from who we can learn a lot. From Steinitz, Lasker and Capablanca to Fischer, Karpov and Kasparov, one exemplary attacking game is presented reflecting the individual playing attitude of each of these chess legends.

Amazing creativity

At Chess Olympiads the top matches obviously get the most attention. These matches decide who will win gold and these matches often feature the world's best players. However, not only the top matches lead to interesting games.

One case in point is the game between Baadur Jobava against Sarunas Sulskis played on board one in the match Georgia I vs Lithuania in round four of the Olympiad. Jobava is known for his creative chess and his unusual ideas but in this game it was Sulskis who set the pace.

The Lithuanian grandmaster surprised the creative powerhouse Jobava with one stunning sacrifice after the other. This led to one of the most unusual and most interesting games of the Olympiad in Batumi - if not the year.

 
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1.b3 a5!? The first unusual move in a game full of unusual moves. 2.a4 e5 3.Bb2 d6 4.e3 g6 5.d4 Bg7 6.dxe5 Nd7 7.Nc3 Nxe5 8.Qd2 Nf6 9.0-0-0 0-0 10.h3 Ned7 11.g4 Nc5 12.Bg2 Be6 13.Kb1 b5!? Creative - White's queenside seems hard to crack but Black wants to open it at any cost and with this move he invites White to take or an exchange. But in both cases White's king might get into danger. 14.g5 Taking the exchange is too risky. After 14.Bxa8 Qxa8 15.f3 bxa4 16.bxa4 Rb8 Black has a very strong attack and according to the engine Black is already winning here. 14...Nfd7 15.Nxb5 Bxb2 16.Kxb2 Rb8 17.Ne2 White does not defend the pawn on g5 but prefers to develop his knight instead. But 17.h4 was playable. Black has compensation for his pawn but not more than this. 17...Qxg5 18.Nf4 Nb6 19.Qd4 Ncxa4+! Black continues with his creative attacking play. 20.bxa4 Nxa4+ 21.Qxa4 Rxb5+ 22.Kc1 Rb4 23.Qc6 Black has two pawns for the piece and a "normal" move would be something like 23...Qf6 after which Black has compensation for the slight material deficit. But... Rxf4!? ... Black instead prefers to sacrifice even more material. After the text-move Black's a rook down but White's king has trouble to find a place to hide. 24.exf4 Qxf4+ 25.Rd2 Rb8! Weaving an unusual mating net. 26.Qc3 Ba2! 27.Kd1 Bc4 28.Qa1?! White is a whole rook up and though Black has pressure he does not seem to have any concrete threats. However, the engines still evaluate the position as equal which indicates how difficult it is for White to defend. White's best continuation probably was 28.Kc1 which after Ba2 29.Kd1 Bc4 might lead to a repetition and a draw. 28...Qg5 29.f4 Qf6! A nice tactical shot - White cannot take the queen because he would be mated on b1. But it is amazing that in this highly tactical position Black's best moves are just sidesteps with his queen. Black's queen goes from g5 to f6 to f5 and every little queen move creates a big threat. 30.c3 Qf5! 31.Kc1 Bd3?! The engines mark this move as an error. Objectively best was another little move with the queen. After 31...Qxf4! the engines evaluate the position as won for Black - White has problems to find an adequate defense against the threat 32... Bd3. 32.Rb2 Qxf4+ 33.Kd1 Bb5 34.Rd2 Qf5 35.Re1 Bd3 36.Rb2 Bb5 37.Be4 Qxh3 38.Qxa5 Qg4+ 39.Kc2 Qg5 40.Ra2 d5 41.Qxc7 Re8 42.Ra7 Qf6 43.Qc5 Bc4 44.Rc7? White never had more than a draw but this move even loses. The engines recommend 44.Bd3 Bxd3+ 45.Kxd3 Qf3+ 46.Kd2 Qf4+ 47.Kd1 Qg4+ 48.Kd2 Qg2+ 49.Kd1 Qg4+ with a perpetual. 44...Qh4 45.Bxd5 Qh2+ 46.Kd1 and White resigned at the same time. 46... Rxe1+ 47.Kxe1 Qe2# is mate. A phantastic game and a great creative effort by Sulskis. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Jobava Baadur2634Sulskis Sarunas25250–12018A01World Chess Olympiad 20184.1

From beginning to an end a truly remarkable game!

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Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".

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