Jon Speelman: Fireworks old and new

by Jonathan Speelman
11/5/2023 – Marking Guy Fawkes Day in the UK, Jon Speelman goes over a number of suitably pyrotechnic games. Three correspondence-chess marvels from the 1980s are followed by recent games from the Qatar Masters and the FIDE Grand Swiss. Fire on board!
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Pyrotechnics

[Note that Jon Speelman also looks at the content of the article in video format, here embedded at the end of the article.]

Guy Fawkes DayA fortnight ago, I noticed that my next column today would be on November 5th — Guy Fawkes Day in the UK — and asked readers for any suitably pyrotechnic games to mark it. I’m very grateful to the Portuguese Correspondence Grandmaster Alvaro Pereira for heeding my call by bringing my attention to three splendid examples.

I’ve always been too impatient to play correspondence chess myself, and also too consumed by games when they are in progress to contemplate having a number hanging over me for months and years. But before modern engines, top-class correspondence chess was a marvel, and the three games he has chosen from the 9th Correspondence Olympiad in the early 1980s all very much fit the bill. They are a draw between Jonathan Penrose and Pereira, and their two wins as White against Yugoslav Borislav Vukcevic.

I’ve finished with some recent games which you may or may not have seen. The first is a victory by Nodirbek Yakubboev, who went on to win the Qatar Open after beating his fellow Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov in a rapidplay play off. And I’ve got two games from the FIDE Grand Swiss, which finished today on the Isle of Man: Jan-Krzysztof Duda’s heart-pounding win against Iranian Pouya Idan in the first round, and a truly mind-blowing endgame between Arjun Erigaisi and Rinat Jumabayev.

[Pictured: A Guy Fawkes wax model burning on the bonfire at the Billericay Fireworks Spectacular in Lake Meadows Park, Billericay, Essex | Photo: William Warby]

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,166,62354%2421---
1.d4947,29855%2434---
1.Nf3281,60256%2441---
1.c4182,10256%2442---
1.g319,70256%2427---
1.b314,26554%2427---
1.f45,89748%2377---
1.Nc33,80151%2384---
1.b41,75648%2380---
1.a31,20654%2404---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d395450%2378---
1.g466446%2360---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c343351%2426---
1.h328056%2418---
1.a411060%2466---
1.f39246%2436---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bb7 7.Re1 Bc5 8.c3 d6 9.d4 Bb6 10.Bg5 10.Be3 and the immediate 10.a4 are more common today. 10...h6 11.Bh4 Qd7 12.a4 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Bd5 controls the white squares, but Black has the g-file and the ...f5 break. 12...0-0-0 13.axb5 axb5 14.Na3 g5 15.Bg3 h5 16.h4 gxh4 17.Bxh4 Rh6 18.Ng5 18.dxe5 Nxe5 19.Nxe5 dxe5 20.Qxd7+ Rxd7 21.Rad1 Nxe4 22.Rxd7 Kxd7 23.Rd1+ Nd6 24.Bxf7 Rh7 25.Bg6 Rg7 26.Bf5+ Ke8 27.Bh3 Kf7 28.Nc2 Bf3 29.Rd2 Bg4 30.Kh2 Ne4 31.Rd5 c6 32.Rxe5 Bc7 33.f4 Bxe5 34.fxe5 c5 0-1 (34) Kanatov,A-Belozerov, A (2460) Tomsk RUS 1998 18...Rg6 19.Qf3 Rf8 19...exd4 20.Bxf7 Ne5 21.Qf5 Qxf5 22.exf5 Rg7 23.Be6+ Kb8 24.cxd4 Bxd4 25.Nxb5 Bb6 26.Rad1 Rh8 27.b4 Nh7 28.Rxe5 dxe5 29.Nxh7 Rgxh7 30.f6 Rf8 31.Nc3 Rh6 32.f7 Bd4 33.Be7 Rxe6 34.Bxf8 Rf6 35.Bc5 Rxf7 36.Bxd4 exd4 37.Rxd4 Rg7 38.g3 Re7 39.Kf1 Ka7 40.Nd5 Re5 41.Ne3 Ba6+ 42.Ke1 Kb6 43.Kd2 Kc6 44.f4 Re8 45.Rd5 Rg8 46.Rc5+ Kd7 47.Nf5 Bb7 48.Ke3 Ra8 49.Ra5 Re8+ 50.Re5 Ra8 51.Kd4 Ra1 52.Ng7 Rd1+ 53.Kc3 Rc1+ 54.Kb2 Rg1 55.Nxh5 Bf3 56.Nf6+ Kd6 57.Rg5 Ke6 58.Ne8 c6 59.Nc7+ Kf6 60.Na6 Be4 61.Nc5 Bf5 62.Nb3 Rg2+ 63.Ka3 Be6 64.b5 cxb5 65.Nd4 Ra2+ 66.Kb4 Ra4+ 67.Kc3 b4+ 68.Kd3 Ra3+ 69.Ke4 Bc4 70.Rc5 Bd3+ 71.Kd5 b3 72.Rc6+ Kf7 73.Rb6 Ra5+ 74.Kd6 Bc4 75.Nxb3 Ra3 76.Nc5 Rxg3 77.Rb4 Ba2 78.Ke5 Re3+ 79.Ne4
79...Bb3?? 80.Kd4! 1-0 (80) Van Kampen,R (2447)-Van de Oudeweetering,A (2337) Netherlands NED 2009 20.Nxb5 exd4 20...Kb8 defends a8, and so threatens to take on d4 without being hit by e5. 21.cxd4 Bxd4 22.e5! Nb8 22...Nxe5?? 23.Ra8+! Bxa8 24.Qxa8# 23.Nxd4 Stockfish actually prefers Qd4 but it's immensely complicated - and the queen sacrifice is much more aesthetic. 23.Qd3 Qg4 23...dxe5 24.Nxd4 Qxd4 25.Qxd4 exd4 26.Bxf7 Rxf7 27.Nxf7 Rxg2+ 28.Kf1 Nbd7 29.Rec1 Bd5 29...Rg4 30.Bg3 30.Ra7 24.g3 Rxg5 25.Qxd4 Qf3 26.Nxd6+! cxd6 27.Rec1+! Bc6 27...Kd7 28.Qxd6+ Ke8 29.Qxb8+ 28.Rxc6+ Nxc6 29.Qb6 Nd7 30.Qa6+ Kc7 31.exd6+ Kxd6 32.Rd1+ Qxd1+ 33.Bxd1 23...Bxf3
24.e6 24.Ndxf3! Ng4 25.Nxf7 d5 25...Rxf7 26.e6 26.N7g5 White only has two pieces and a pawn for the queem. But his king is completely safe while Black's is not and the e-pawn is immense. Apparently this is winning for White. 24...fxe6 25.Bxe6 Bd5 26.Bxd7+ Nfxd7
27.Ra7 Now it peters out. Dredging his memory, Alvaro Pereira ressurrected a very nice line after 27.Re7, ending in a king fork of White's two rooks: 27.Re7 Nc6 28.Nxc6 Bxc6 29.Rc1 Ne5 30.Ne6 Nf3+ 31.Kf1 Nxh4 32.Rxc6 Rxe6
33.Rxe6?! 33.Rcxc7+ Kb8 34.Rb7+ Ka8 35.Ra7+ Kb8 36.Reb7+ Kc8 37.Rh7 Kb8 33...Kd7 34.Rc4 Kxe6 35.Rxh4 27...Nc6 28.Ra8+ Kb7 29.Rxf8 Nxf8 30.Nf5 Ne6 31.Nxe6 Rxe6 32.f4 Nb4 33.Rxe6 Bxe6 34.Nh6
A very honourable end to a ferocious batlte. Obviously this is close to equal, and in correspondence games, they were able to verify that it's completely so: 34.Nh6 Bd5 35.f5 Nd3 36.f6 36.Bg3 Kc6 37.f6 Kd7 36...Ne5 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Penrose,J-Pereira,A-½–½1982C78olm9 fin B1 corr
Penrose,J-Vukcevic,B-1–01982C78olm9 fin B1 corr
Pereira,A-Vukcevic,B-1–01982C78olm9 fin B1 corr
Yakubboev,N2616Garv,G24011–02023A01Qatar Masters Open 20231.19
Duda,J2726Idani,P26331–02023D31FIDE Grand Swiss 20231.10
Erigaisi,A2712Jumabayev,R25851–02023C65FIDE Grand Swiss 20235.7

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Jonathan Speelman, born in 1956, studied mathematics but became a professional chess player in 1977. He was a member of the English Olympic team from 1980–2006 and three times British Champion. He played twice in Candidates Tournaments, reaching the semi-final in 1989. He twice seconded a World Championship challenger: Nigel Short and then Viswanathan Anand against Garry Kasparov in London 1993 and New York 1995.
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