So on So

by Albert Silver
1/20/2017 – In round five at the 2017 Tata Steel Masters, Wesley So won a beautiful game against Harikrishna in which he completely asphyxiated his Indian opponent even with the queens off very early. Both players spent a great deal of time in the opening, working out the cunning complications, but the clincher came about after: they had unwittingly replayed the opening masterpiece by Kramnik against Nepomniachtchi in Dortmund 2015. We bring you the game with So’s analysis and comments by Kramnik.

ChessBase 18 - Mega package ChessBase 18 - Mega package

Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

More...

Photos by Alina L'Ami

It was by all measures a brilliant game. Even the engines could see what was coming, and in spite of Black being up a pawn on the board, they unflinchingly declared White as ‘up a pawn’. Note that their main line did not show a sudden material reversal anytime soon, so it was another example of how advanced they are.

Wesley So has been on fire and is now rated 2817 on the Live Ratings list (as of this writing)

 
Position after 6.d4

His surrogate mother and permanent companion, Lotis, has been a stabilizing force in his life

After the game, Wesley So joined GM Robin Van Kampen and shared detailed analysis of the game, and notably the opening. Both he and his opponent had spent a huge amount of time, and on move six So had spent a good 14 minutes. It was hardly the only time too, and equally large amounts of time were consumed by Harikrishna, who was on the receiving end of this masterpiece.

 
Here too, So studied the position for 13 minutes, and commented that he felt a critical move was the possible 7…e5

Wesley was unsure about its consequences, and commented that if Harikrishna, himself no.12 in the world, had chosen to avoid it, he had probably not felt comfortable or happy with it. As a matter of fact, the databases do have one master level game from 2011 featuring it played by the unlikely names, Fischdick and Schlick (Black won). I would be wont to make better ones up…

The curious thing in all this was that both players were following to the move a brilliant game by Vladimir Kramnik against Ian Nepomniachtchi played in 2015 in Dortmund. They followed it, not for five or ten moves, but a full 15. In fact, any doubts they did not know could be seen from the time spent after 17 moves: Wesley So had spent one hour and 21 minutes, while Pentala Harikrishna had used up one hour and 31 minutes. Astonishing.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but about when it is unintentional? Above is an image of the game that was its spiritual preecessor.

Vladimir Kramnik was actually watching the game live as it unfolded, time spent and all, and was quite baffled. Even if Wesley So had been deliberately luring Harikrishna to his death on the board, remembering it all, it hardly seems possible he would spend 81 minutes of his clock time, most of it very early, just to camouflage it. So what did the former World Champion think of all this?

He had a few wry comments, understandably. A player who has epitomized the standard bearer of opening preparation, out-thinking even his own great predecessor for the title, had to find this all just short of incomprehensible. Wesley So admitted he recognized the position somewhat, though failed to identify exactly where and when. There is no reason to doubt his sincerity, though Kramnik did point out, “Well it is logical that So was slightly more aware of the game since it was played two meters away from his”.

As to Pentala Harikrishna, who followed the Pied Piper to his demise, Kramnik offered the following words of wisdom: “My approach is quite old fashioned, and I prefer to avoid, especially with black, playing openings I know nothing about...”

Here is the full game, with analysis from Wesley So’s post-game conference:

So on So

New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.Nf3 (0s) Nf6 (17s) 2.g3 (0s) g6 (24s) 3.Bg2 (53s) Bg7 (14s) 4.c4 (104s) c5 (131s) 5.Nc3 (131s) d5 (267s) 6.d4 (815s) cxd4 (415s) 7.Nxd4 (799s) dxc4 (703s) Wesley mentions that he felt the really testing move was 7...e5 Indeed the database shows the strongest game as being from 2011 between Fischdick vs Schlick. (Yes, those are really the names) , which Black won. 8.Qa4+ ( 833s) Nbd7 (171s) 9.0-0 (9s) 0-0 (136s) 10.Rd1 (128s) Nb6 (794s) 11.Qa3 (365s) Qd6 (768s) 12.Qxd6 (86s) exd6 (6s) 13.a4 (114s) a6 (1815s) I thought 13...Be6 was possible. I'm not sure it works. For example, 14.Nxe6 fxe6 15.Rxd6 This is one variation I saw. Rad8 16.Rxe6 Kf7 and somehow this rook is under pressure. So I have to move here: 17.Re3 Nbd5 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 19.Rf3+ Ke8 and now I am a pawn up, but he's got some pressure on b2, so I can't move my bishop away. 20.Rxf8+ Kxf8 Probably much better for me, but it is one possibility. 14.Bf4 (382s) I didn't try to recapture my pawn right away and instead hinder his development. d5 (180s) 14...Ne8 15.Rac1 a5 16.Ndb5 Bd7 17.Bxd6 Nxd6 18.Rxd6 Bc6 19.Bxc6 bxc6 20.Rxc6 Rab8 21.Rc5 Rfd8 22.Na7 Rd2 23.Rb5 Nd7 24.Rxb8+ Nxb8 25.Ncb5 Nd7 26.Rxc4 Bxb2 27.Kf1 Nb6 28.Re4 f5 29.Re8+ Kf7 30.Rb8 Nxa4 31.Nc6 Nc3 32.Nxa5 Rd1+ 33.Kg2 Nxe2 34.Nc4 Ba1 35.Nbd6+ Kg7 36.Rb7+ Kg8 1-0 (55) Kramnik,V (2783)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2720) Dortmund 2015 15.a5 (1038s) Nbd7 (8s) 16.Rac1 (60s) Another point of Rc1 is that it asks Black where he will play his awkward knight on d7. 16...Nc5 is not possible due to 17. Bd6. By the way, here he (Harikrishna) had less than 20 minutes left, so he is in some time trouble already. After 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Bxd5 Ne5 I can win a pawn, but then he completes his development. 18.Bxe5 Bxe5 19.Bxc4 Bg4 Now White is better, but it is not so easy to convert. 16...Rd8 (261s) 17.Bc7 (331s) Re8 (9s) 18.Bd6 (232s) After 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 19.Bxd5 he once again has the idea Ne5 18...Ne5 I was attracted to 19.Bxd5! because after Nxd5 (42s) Taking is forced or I will play Bg2 and he will be completely paralyzed. He probably didn't play 19...Rd8 in view of 20.Bxb7 Bxb7 21.Bxe5 20.Nxd5 (4s) the knight is hitting b6, c7, and e7. Bg4! (5s) A very strong move. I have to be very careful here. 21.Rd2 (445s) I wasn't too happy with this move, but maybe it works, since I could not see anything refuting it. For example, after 21.Nc7 he plays Nd3! and it is really really tricky. I can probably equalize with 22.exd3 If I were to blunder with 22.Rxc4? Nxb2 23.Nxe8 Rxe8 and most of my pieces and pawns are hanging. 21.f3? would be a serious mistake because of Nd3! and here the knight on d4 is threatened to be captured with check. 21...Red8 (319 s) The next moves are forced due to the threat of Nc7 or Nb6. During the game I worried about 21...c3?! which forces 22.Rxc3 due to the possible ...Nc4, but after Nc6 After 22...Red8 23.Nb6 Rxd6 24.Nxa8 I have Nc6 25.e3 23.Nxc6 Bxc3 White just takes back with 24.bxc3 since now after bxc6 25.Nf6+ Kg7 26.Nxe8+ Rxe8 so I was probably just imagining things. 22.Nb6 (66s) Rxd6 (101s) You wouldn't want to play 22...Ra7 23.Nxa8 (2s) Nc6 (44s) 24.Nf3 (15s) Rxd2 (67s) 25.Nxd2 (2s) Bxb2 (11s) 26.Rxc4 (3s) Bxe2 (17s) 27.Re4 (9s) Bd3 (40s) 28.Re3 (7s) I still wasn't sure I was winning due to his powerful bishops. Nb4? (104s) A serious mistake. Instead Black should play something like 28...Bf5 29.Rb3 Bf6 30.Rxb7 Nxa5 31.Rb6 Bc3 and the point is that Black really needs to keep the bishop pair at all costs. For example, and endgame like 32.Nb3 Nxb3 33.Rxb3 Bf6 34.Rb6 Kg7 35.Rxa6 and this endgame could easily be a draw, as long a White is unable to exchange his knight for one of the bishops. 29.Nb6 (151s) There is a small trap here. Bd4 (57s) Here he would be forced to let one of his bishops be exchanged for a knight after 29...Bc1 30.Nbc4 with the idea of Re1. 30.Re7 (70s) Nc6 (8s) 31.Rxb7 (9s) Nxa5 (27s) 32.Rd7 (5s) Nc6 (49s) 33.Nb3 (271s) Bf5 (12s) Black clearly felt that after 33...Bxb6 34.Rxd3 he is technically lost, but it had to be more resistant than the game move, which just drops a piece. 34.Rxd4 (22s) Nxd4 (6s) 35.Nxd4 (2s) Bd3 (18s) 36.Kg2 (77s) Kf8 (31s) 37.Kf3 (2s) Ke7 (10s) 38.Ke3 (9s) Bf1 (72s) 39.Nf3 (65s) Kd6 (89s) 40.Kd4 (0s) f6 (35s) 41.Nd2 (93s) Be2 (305s) 42.Nd5 (88s) f5 (21s) 43.Nc3 (164s) Bh5 (47s) 44.Nc4+ (29s) Ke6 (23s) 45.f4 (25s) Kd7 (160s) 46.Kc5 (265s) h6 (67s) 47.Nd5 (90s) Ke6 (18s) 48.Nc7+ (5s) 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
So,W2808Harikrishna,P27661–02017A3479th Tata Steel Chess 2017-Masters5

Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register

We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.