Six perfect in Reykjavik

[Event "Reykjavik Open 2015"] [Site "Reykjavik ISL"] [Date "2015.03.12"] [Round "4.1"] [White "Tari, Aryan"] [Black "Eljanov, Pavel"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B48"] [WhiteElo "2509"] [BlackElo "2727"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "2015.03.10"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qf3 {It was a great co-incidence that on exactly the same day that this game was played, Robert Ris had his show on PlayChess server named "Fast and Furious with 7.Qf3 in the Taimanov". This is quite a new and fashionable line. It may not replace the main line with 7.Qd2 but it is definitely a worthy alternative.} Bd6 { Eljanov goes for a relative side line. Just six games have been played with this move and almost all of them in 2014-15.} (7... Ne5 8. Qg3 h5 {Single handedly Anish Giri is trying to make this the main line for Black by playing it against Mamedyarov, Radjabov, Saric and Karjakin!}) 8. Nxc6 (8. O-O-O {with the threat of Ndb5 is met with} Be5 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Bd4 {With a complex position.}) 8... bxc6 9. O-O-O Rb8 10. Bd4 Nf6 (10... e5 $5 {is not such a bad idea.} 11. Ba7 $5 (11. Be3 Nf6 12. g4 O-O 13. g5 Ne8 14. h4 Bb4 15. Bd2 d6 { With a nice position for Black.}) 11... Qxa7 (11... Rb7 12. Be3 $14 {The rook on b7 doesn't stand so well.}) 12. Bc4 (12. Rxd6 Qc5 $11) 12... Nf6 13. Rxd6 $14) 11. Qd3 (11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. Qxf6 {would not be a good idea because of} Be5 13. Qf3 O-O {And thanks to this monster on e5, Black is better.}) 11... c5 12. Bxf6 Bf4+ 13. Kb1 gxf6 14. g3 Be5 15. f4 Bd4 {The bishop settles down on a very strong square x-raying the b2 point. Black is already better.} 16. b3 Bb7 $6 (16... f5 $5 {Black needed to act decisively.} 17. exf5 Bb7 18. Be2 Bxh1 19. Rxh1 Bg7 $15 {White might have some compensation but it may not be sufficient.} ) 17. Bg2 $6 {This slow move gives away the initiative to Black which he exploits in excellent fashion.} (17. Ne2 $1 {Would have asked the question to Black about what he would like to do with his d4 bishop.} f5 18. Nxd4 $1 Bxe4 19. Qc3 Bxh1 20. Nxe6 $1 dxe6 21. Qxh8+ Ke7 22. Qxh7 $16 {With a huge advantage.}) 17... f5 $1 {Making way for the bishop to go back in case it is attacked.} 18. Rhe1 O-O 19. Bh1 (19. Ne2 Bg7 $1 20. Qxd7 Qb6 $15) 19... Qa5 { The knight is attacked.} 20. Ne2 fxe4 21. Qd2 (21. Bxe4 Bxe4 22. Qxe4 Bg7 $1 { With the idea of d5 and c4 launches a very powerful attack. For eg.} 23. Qe3 c4 24. Nd4 Rfc8 {And the White king wont survive for many moves.}) 21... Qxd2 22. Rxd2 Bf2 $1 23. Rf1 d5 $1 {A very nice move by which Black gets to preserve all his winnings.} (23... e3 24. Rxd7 $13) 24. Nc3 Bd4 25. Na4 Bc6 26. c3 Bxa4 27. cxd4 c4 28. Kb2 cxb3 29. a3 Rfc8 {A very interesting battle in this new and fashionable line of 7.Qf3 in the Taimanov. Eljanov definitely seemed like the better prepared player but Aryan Tari had his chances which he failed to take advantage of.} 0-1

[Event "Reykjavik Open 2015"] [Site "Reykjavik ISL"] [Date "2015.03.12"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Abdumalik, Zhansaya"] [Black "Gretarsson, Hjorvar Steinn"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C60"] [WhiteElo "2379"] [BlackElo "2554"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "46"] [EventDate "2015.03.10"] {Zhansaya Abdumalik is one of the greatest rising talents in Women Chess currently. She beat GM Henrik Danielsen in round three but in round four she was unable to keep the momentum and lost to Gretarsson in a very interesting game.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 4. c3 (4. O-O {is more popular than 4. c3 that was played in the game.}) 4... d5 {A very interesting variation which allows White to take the pawn on e5.} 5. Nxe5 (5. exd5 Qxd5 $15 {is just better for Black as a knight can no longer develop on c3.}) 5... dxe4 6. Nxc6 ( 6. d4 {and}) (6. Qe2 {are the main moves in this position.}) 6... bxc6 7. Bc4 Nd5 {By the looks of it things look pretty good for White. Black pawn structure is completely ruined. While seeing static features is easier, the dynamic ones are a tad difficult to spot. Look at the black bishops. They have excellent open diagonals to work with while the white bishop on c1 is sort of locked in. All in all Black is doing excellently in this position.} 8. Qe2 Be6 $1 9. Qxe4 Bd6 $1 {White wins a pawn but Black keeps developing.} 10. Bxd5 $2 { What was the need to give up the bishop?} (10. d4 $1 O-O 11. Bd3 (11. O-O $6 Nxc3 $1 12. Qxc6 (12. bxc3 Bxc4 $15) 12... Nd5 $11) 11... Nf6 12. Qh4 {And with 0-0 coming up White is doing pretty well but Black has compensation.}) 10... cxd5 $15 {Black is just better now.} 11. Qf3 O-O 12. d4 Qh4 $5 13. h3 ( 13. g3 Qh3 {would be quite irritating. 0-0 is no longer possible and Bg4 is coming up.}) 13... Rae8 14. O-O {If given time White would develop and gain an equal position but Black gives no such respite!} (14. Be3 {would run into the very pretty} Bg4 $1 15. Qxg4 Rxe3+ $1 16. Kf1 Qf6 17. Nd2 Rfe8 18. Nf3 Re2 $17 {Black has a dangerous initiative.}) 14... g5 $1 {The pawn on h3 is a perfect hook and Black exploits it perfectly.} 15. Qf6 (15. g3 Qxh3 16. Bxg5 Bg4 17. Qh1 (17. Qg2 Qh5 $17) 17... Re2 $1 $15 {Black is better but this was the best option available for White.}) 15... h6 $1 $19 {A cool and calm move! The threat is Bxh3 with a mating attack. The queen has to retreat.} 16. Qf3 (16. Be3 Bxh3 17. gxh3 Qxh3 $19) (16. Nd2 Bxh3 17. gxh3 Qxh3 18. f4 Qg3+ 19. Kh1 Re2 $19) 16... g4 $1 {Black's attack rolls on like clock work.} 17. Qe3 Kg7 $1 {It is already difficult to give White any advice. Look at his undeveloped queenside pieces.} 18. f4 gxh3 19. Qf2 Qh5 20. Nd2 (20. g3 Bf5 21. Nd2 Re2 $19) 20... hxg2 21. Qxg2+ Kh7 22. Qh1 Rg8+ 23. Kf2 Bh3 {With a decisive attack. The game ended after a few moves. A great game by Steinn Gretarsson.} 0-1

[Event "Reykjavik Open 2015"] [Site "Reykjavik ISL"] [Date "2015.03.12"] [Round "4.5"] [White "Christiansen, Johan-Sebastian"] [Black "Stopa, Jacek"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A13"] [WhiteElo "2351"] [BlackElo "2544"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r1b2rk1/pp1nq1pp/2pbpn2/3p1p2/2P5/1PNPP1P1/PB2NPBP/R2Q1RK1 b - - 0 10"] [PlyCount "23"] [EventDate "2015.03.10"] {I would like to show you this game in order to learn the art of bringing your pieces to good squares. Have a look at this position and the posting of the black pieces. The knight on d7 is blocking the bishop on c8 and it all looks pretty cramped for black just like a normal Stonewall position. But now Jacek Stopa tries to unwind his pieces one by one.} 10... Ne5 $1 {The knight jumps to a square on the middle of the board from where it can easily be kicked. The idea is to go back to f7 and free the d7 square for the development of the bishop.} 11. Qd2 Nf7 {On f7 the knight stands well and can always come to g5 to pressurise the White kingside.} 12. Rad1 Bb4 $5 {When White played Rad1, a3 became impossible. Black uses this opportunity to establish an irritating pin.} 13. Nd4 Bd7 {Just developing. The bishop looks bad at the moment but glory awaits him on the square h5.} (13... e5 14. Nc2 $14) 14. Qe2 (14. Nc2 {was a better move forcing the bishop to move back.} Bd6 $13) 14... dxc4 $1 {A very nice move to change the structure and get the central pawns rolling.} 15. bxc4 e5 16. Nf3 e4 17. Nd4 Rad8 {Bringing the last piece into the game.} 18. Nc2 Bd6 19. d4 Be8 $1 {Still maximally trying to improve the positioning of the pieces. } 20. Ne1 Ng5 $1 {The knight as promised jumps to g5 probing the light squares and making way for the bishop.} 21. f3 Bh5 $1 $17 {Look at how beautifully black has activated each and every piece in his position. The important maxim to follow is always try to improve your worst placed piece and find good squares for it to be developed on. Black went on to win the game easily in 46 moves.} 0-1

[Event "Reykjavik Open 2015"] [Site "Reykjavik ISL"] [Date "2015.03.12"] [Round "4.22"] [White "Colovic, Aleksandar"] [Black "Poley, Vladimir"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B06"] [WhiteElo "2482"] [BlackElo "2269"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "6R1/8/8/8/1p2kp2/1r6/3K2P1/8 w - - 0 62"] [PlyCount "15"] [EventDate "2015.03.10"] {The sequence of moves shows a very common phenomenon that happens in chess. The lower rated player gets a winning position against his much higher rated opponent but is then met with stiff resistance in converting his advantage. Instead of playing objectively, the lower rated player in his bid to win often goes for lines without calculation, just out of intertia. The result can be highly dangerous. Here, Poley Vladimir, the player with the black pieces has played well upto this point to get a pawn up position against his much higher rated opponent. The problem now is that he is unable to find a win. What happens next is heartbreaking.} 62. Re8+ Kf5 63. Rf8+ Kg4 64. Rg8+ Kh4 65. Rh8+ {I would say that it is impossible to win this position because the Black king cannot escape the checks. But Poley doesn't want a promising position to be drawn and blunders a rook.} Kg3 $4 66. Rh3+ Kxg2 67. Rxb3 f3 68. Ke3 f2 69. Rb2 {A highly unfortunate result but something that we all can learn from.} 1-0