[Event "Russian Superfinal 2013"] [Site "Novgorod, Russia"] [Date "2013.10.08"] [Round "4"] [White "Svidler, P."] [Black "Andreikin, D."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2740"] [BlackElo "2706"] [Annotator "Friedel,Joshua"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] {Somehow I always end up annotating Andreikin's games.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 d6 5. O-O Bd7 6. c4 {This space grabbing system has been played quite a few times in recent years.} g6 7. Nc3 Bg7 8. Be3 O-O 9. h3 {The pieces have all developed to their logical squares, and now Black has to make a decision.} Nb8 {This move is new, but the idea is a typical one in these positions. Black offers the bishop trade in order to free up some space.} ({ Another possibility was} 9... Nh5 {trying to play in King's Indian style.}) 10. Qb3 $5 {White tries to force Black's hand on the queenside, though this move looks a bit awkward to me.} (10. Rc1 {improves White's position while keeping the tension, and would probably be my choice.}) 10... c6 (10... Bxb5 11. cxb5 { and the open c-file would favor White.}) (10... c5 11. Bxd7 Qxd7 {These positions typically give a slight edge to white, since the e3 bishop is more active than the g7 one.}) 11. Ba4 Qc8 {The queen ends up being rather misplaced here.} (11... Qc7 {looks better to me, though it is less forcing since Bxh3 isn't an idea now.}) 12. Qd1 Na6 13. d4 {White chooses the proper moment to expand in the center.} exd4 14. Bxd4 Be6 {If White can consolidate, he'll simply be better. Black's best chance is to take advantage of White's temporarily awkward pieces.} 15. Qe2 Re8 16. Rad1 Nc5 17. Bc2 {White has nearly consolidated, and if he succeeds he will have a large advantage due to the extra space and the weak d6 pawn. Black needs to act immediately.} Ncd7 $2 (17... b5 $1 {was definitely the best chance.} 18. cxb5 cxb5 19. Nxb5 (19. Qxb5 Bxh3 $1 {This shot always has to be covered.} 20. gxh3 Qxh3 21. Qe2 Ncxe4 22. Nxe4 Qg4+ 23. Kh2 Qh5+ 24. Kg2 Qg4+ $11 {with a perpetual.}) (19. b3 a6 {and black should be fine.}) 19... Ncxe4 {and now the position is a complete mess. I've given a few sample variations.} 20. Bxf6 (20. Bxe4 Bc4 $36) 20... Bc4 21. Qxe4 $1 Bxb5 (21... Rxe4 22. Nxd6 Qb8 23. Nxe4 Bxf1 (23... Bxf6 24. Nxf6+ Kg7 25. Nd7 Qxb2 26. Bd3 Bxd3 27. Rxd3 {and White has too many pieces.}) 24. Rd8+ Qxd8 25. Bxd8 Bxg2 26. Kxg2 Rxd8 27. b3 {and I think White should have good winning chances once his pieces get organized.}) 22. Qd5 Bxf6 23. Bxg6 hxg6 24. Qxb5 Rb8 25. Qa4 Rxb2 26. Rxd6 Re6 27. Rxe6 Qxe6 28. Qxa7 Rxa2 {and while White can press, Black should draw this comfortably.}) 18. Ng5 $1 {Now Black is close to lost.} Qc7 19. f4 Qa5 20. a3 h6 21. Nf3 $6 (21. Nxe6 {This is a simpler way to do it.} Rxe6 22. Qf2 {and White has too much. For example, if} Rae8 23. b4 $1 Qc7 (23... Qxa3 {Grabbing this pawn gets the queen trapped.} 24. f5 gxf5 25. exf5 R6e7 26. Ra1 Qxb4 27. Ra4 $18) 24. c5 $1 dxc5 25. bxc5 $18 { Now that the d-pawn has been swept away, a combination of e5 and f5 will crush Black.}) 21... Nh5 $6 {This active try actually frees White a bit.} (21... Rad8 {looks more resilient, and I don't see a clear way to proceed. The problem is that f5 can't be played due to the e-file pin, and the queen can't go to f2 because c4 hangs. The computer wants to play Qd3 for this reason, but you don't have to be an art critic to see why that move isn't pretty.}) 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 23. Qd2 {and now we see the problem: c4 can't be captured due to Qd4+.} Qb6+ 24. Rf2 $1 {Most accurate.} (24. Kh2 Bxc4 {is now with tempo.}) 24... Bxc4 {This loses right away, but Black was busted anyway.} (24... Qxb2 {was a good practical try, but after the accurate} 25. Qd4+ $1 (25. f5 gxf5 26. exf5 Bxc4 27. Qd4+ Nhf6 28. Qxc4 Qxa3 {and while Black should almost certainly get mated, at least White would have to do some work here.}) 25... Nhf6 (25... Kg8 26. f5 {is curtains.}) 26. e5 dxe5 27. fxe5 {and Black has to give up a piece, since if the knight moves Bf5! will be a killer.}) 25. Na4 Qc7 (25... Qa6 26. Qc3+ Kg8 27. Rxd6 {and Black can resign, since all of his pieces are bad and his king is weak.}) 26. Qc3+ Nhf6 27. Qxc4 b5 {Svidler is accurate from here on out.} 28. Qb4 bxa4 29. Rxd6 Rab8 30. Qd2 Red8 31. e5 Ne8 32. Qc3 $1 Nb6 33. Rxc6 Qb7 34. f5 Nd5 35. Qc5 Qxb2 36. fxg6 f6 37. Nd4 {and Black resigned seeing that he's in no position to stop any of White's threats, the most important of which being Ne6+.} 1-0

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.10.08"] [Round "?"] [White "Charochkina"] [Black "Kovanova"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C58"] [Annotator "Abrahamyan, Tatev"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 {it's really nice to see all kinds of openings being tried at these events. Also nice to know I'm not the only one who likes this move} d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3 Nd5 9. Nf3 Bd6 10. Nc3 {a really rare move. For the sacrificed pawn, Black gets a better center, quicker development and White's pieces are all on awkward squares. White has to quickly castle and put pressure on the e5 pawn to stop Black's center from advancing, otherwise she will never finish developing her pieces.} (10. O-O O-O (10... Nf4 11. Re1 Nxd3 12. cxd3 O-O 13. Nc3 Re8 14. b3) 11. Re1 Re8 12. Nc3 f5 13. Nxd5 cxd5 14. Bb5 Bd7 15. Bxd7 Qxd7 16. d3 {unlike what happened in the game, here White gets in Bb5 with a tempo, enabling a piece exchange and untangling with d3}) 10... O-O 11. O-O f5 12. Nxd5 cxd5 13. Be2 { I really don't like how White handled the opening. It looks like Black got in free moves, as White wasted too many tempi moving her Bishop. The king side attack looks crushing} e4 14. Nd4 f4 15. f3 Qb6 16. c3 Nc6 17. Qa4 {White is barely hanging on} Bc5 18. fxe4 Nxd4 19. cxd4 Bxd4+ 20. Kh1 f3 $2 {although winning an exchange, this moves allows White to survive} (20... dxe4 {this simple move looks winning. White simply can't finish developing. I am assuming Black didn't want to allow the queen exchange} 21. Qb3+ Be6 22. Qxb6 axb6 $17 { and it's not clear what White's next move is going to be}) 21. Rxf3 Bg4 22. d3 {this still looks tough for White, but at least now her King is safe and she has two pawns for the exchange} Bxf3 23. Bxf3 Rae8 24. Qd1 dxe4 25. dxe4 Kh8 26. a4 Qf6 {I don't like this move as much. Black needs to keep pressure both on the queen side and the king side and keep her pieces active to stop White from developing} (26... Be5 {now the queen is not tied to protecting the d4 bishop and moves like Rb8 or Rd8 are a threat}) 27. Bg5 {The prospect of finally developing that bishop is too tempting} Qe5 (27... Qxg5 28. Qxd4 Rc8 29. h3 a5 {also looks good for Black.}) 28. Bh4 Bxb2 29. Rb1 Rc8 30. Bf2 Rfd8 { if Black can exchange the dark square bishops, winning should be quite easy. White would really like to have her f3 bishop on d5} 31. Qe2 Bd4 32. Bh4 Re8 33. Rd1 Bb6 34. Bg3 Qg5 35. Qb2 Rc4 36. Qa3 $2 (36. Qb5 Qxb5 37. axb5 Rec8 38. Bf4 Rb4 {and White can try pushing her e5 pawn and utilize the pair of bishops, although it does not look too promising}) 36... Rec8 {proving that the White king is still vulnerable} 37. Rf1 Rc1 38. Bd1 Qf6 39. Qd3 Rd8 40. Rxf6 Rxd1+ 41. Qf1 gxf6 42. Be1 Bd4 {and Bc3 is unstoppable} 0-1