The Weekly Show: The French Top 12

by Lawrence Trent
5/21/2019 – On the show today, the French team championship is taking place in Brest, and Lawrence was intrigued by some upset wins scored by 2200 players. A harbinger of the improvement of average standard? Live beginning at 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST, 12 Noon EDT) and free for a limited time, or forever on-demand with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can register a free 90-day account to watch.
Welcome to the Bombastic Bird's, a revolutionary repertoire for one of the most enterprising and underrated openings in chess theory (1.f4). In this series, IM Lawrence Trent uncovers a number of groundbreaking theoretical novelties and new ideas that will soon have scorners of this romantic system regretting they ever doubted its soundness.

"Échec et mat"

Each week, I bring you the latest trends, games and combinations from elite chess tournaments on Tuesday at 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST, 12 Noon EDT).

Today I am going to be looking at the French Top 12 (the team championship of France) with a focus on a few defeats if GM Sebastian Maze vs 2200 players. How difficult is it for GMs to play lower rated opponents nowadays?

But first...The diagram below is the final position between Daniil Dubov and Anish Giri from the first round of the ongoing Moscow Grand Prix knockout tournament. How would Dubov have finished off the game if given the chance?

 
Dubov-Giri, Moscow Grand Prix
White to play and mate in 3

Give up? You'll find the complete game at the bottom of this article!

This week

Lawrence is live this week and free to watch, or to replay on-demand, you can register a free 90-day account and will gain access to this and many more shows from a variety of authors.

Follow along, and try your own analysis in the game viewer below

 
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1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e4 Bc5 5.Nxe5 Nxe5 6.d4 Bb4 7.dxe5 Nxe4! 8.Qf3 A28: English Opening: Four Knights Variation d5 Threatens to win with ...d4. 8...Nxc3 9.bxc3 Be7 10.Qg3 g6 11.Bh6 d6 12.Be2 Be6 13.Rd1 Qd7 14.exd6 cxd6 15.0-0 0-0-0 1-0 (24) Carlsen,M (2835)-Giri,A (2783) St Petersburg 2018 9.Be2 Qe7 10.0-0 White is slightly better. Bxc3! 11.bxc3 Qxe5 11...0-0!= remains equal. 12.Bf4± Qxc3 12...Qf5± might work better. 13.Bd3! Black is under strong pressure. 13.Bxc7 Qxf3 14.Bxf3 Nd2= 13...Bg4 14.Qxg4 Qxd3 15.Rad1 15.Qxg7?! 0-0-0= 15...Qxc4 16.Be5N Predecessor: 16.Qxg7 16...Nd6? 16...Qxa2? 17.Qxg7 0-0-0 18.Ra1+- 18.Qxf7 Nd6± 16...Nc3± 17.Qxc4 17.Qxg7 Ne2+ 18.Kh1 0-0-0 17...dxc4 18.Bxc3 0-0 17.Rd4 Qxa2 18.Bxg7 f5 19.Qh5+? 19.Re1+ Kd7= 19.Qd1+- Kf7 20.Bxh8 Rxh8 21.Rd2 21.Rxd5 Re8+- 19...Kd7 20.Bxh8 Rxh8 21.Qh6 Re8 22.Qxh7+ Re7 23.Qg8 c6 24.Rh4 White has compensation. Qe2? 24...c5!= 25.Rh8+- White threatens Qd8+ and mate. Re8 26.Rh7+ Re7 27.h4! d4 27...Rxh7 is a better defense. 28.Qxh7+ Qe7 28.Rxe7+ Qxe7 Endgame KQR-KQN 29.h5 Qf7? 29...Qf6 was necessary. 30.Ra1 Qh6 30.Qh8 Qe8 31.Qg7+ Qf7 32.h6 c5 33.Re1 d3 34.Qc3 34.Qh8+- Qh5 35.f3 34...c4 35.Qd4 a6? 35...Kc6 36.h7 36.Qxa7 d2 36.Re5 b6± 36...d2 36.Re3? 36.Rb1+- Kc7 37.Qc5+ Kd7 38.Rb6 36...Kc6?
36...Qh5!= and Black has nothing to worry. 37.Rh3?? Don't do 37.Re5?! b6+- 37.h7!+- was the only winning move. Qxh7 38.Re6! 37...Qd5-+ 38.Qxd5+? 38.Qa1 d2 39.Qd1 38...Kxd5 KR-KN 39.Kf1
Strongly threatening h7. 39...Nf7? Black should try 39...Kd4!-+ White must now prevent ...Kc3. 40.h7 Nf7 40.h7? 40.Ke1= and White is okay. Kd4 41.Kd2 c3+ 42.Kc1 40...Kd4 41.Rf3 41.h8R Nxh8 42.Rxh8 41...Kc3 42.Rxf5 d2 43.Ke2 Kc2 44.Rd5 c3 45.g4
45...a5! 46.g5 46.Rxa5 d1Q+ 46...Nh8 47.f4 a4 48.f5 a3 49.g6 a2 50.g7 a1Q 51.g8Q d1Q+ 52.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 53.Ke3 Qd3+ Double Attack 54.Kf4 Qd4+ 55.Kg5 Kb2 Accuracy: White = 55%, Black = 47%. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Maze,S2579Dornbusch,T22850–12019FRA-chT Top 12 20193.5
Lefebvre,H2291Maze,S25791–02019Top 12 French Teams2

Lawrence is live most Tuesdays at 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 12 Noon EDT)

Previous shows on-demand

After each show, the video is available along with all previous editions in the videos archive. To watch those you'll need a ChessBase Premium Account.

Lawrence Trent's latest

Read a recent review of Trent's previous FritzTrainer on the "Baffling b3 Sicilian"!

Make life difficult for the Sicilian! 2.b3 is a thoroughly venomous but still solid kind of "Anti-Sicilian". No matter what setup black chooses, the bishop on b2 will always be unpleasant for him.

Solution to today's puzzle:

In the final position, White would win after 37.♘xf7+ ♜fxf7 38.♖d8+ ♜f8 39.♖xf8# 1-0.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Bg5 dxc4 5.e4 b5 6.a4 c6 7.Nc3 b4 8.Nb1 Ba6 D44: Semi-Slav: Botvinnik System 9.e5 h6 10.Bxf6 gxf6 The position is equal. 11.exf6 c5N Predecessor: 11...Qxf6 12.Nbd2 c3 13.bxc3 bxc3 14.Ne4 Qf4 15.Bd3 Bb4 16.0-0 1-0 (49) Riazantsev,A (2649)-Hovhannisyan,R (2637) St Petersburg 2018 12.Nbd2 c3 13.bxc3 bxc3 14.Ne4 cxd4 14...Bxf1 15.Kxf1 Nd7 15.Bb5+!± Bxb5 16.axb5 Qd5 Black should try 16...d3 17.Qxd4 Double Attack Qxb5 18.Nxc3 18.Qxc3?! Nc6= 18.Ne5!± Nd6+ is the strong threat. Qb4 19.Ra4 Qxd4 20.Rxd4 18...Bb4= And now ...Nc6 would win. 19.0-0-0 Qa5 Black should play 19...Qb6!= 20.Qxb6 axb6 20.Nb5 20.Rd3!? Bxc3 21.Rxc3= 20...Na6! 21.Qd7+ Kf8 White must now prevent ...Qa1+. 22.Kb1 White mounts an attack. Ba3? 22...Bc5= and Black stays safe. 23.Rd2 23.Ne5 Qb4+ 24.Kc1 Qf4+ Double Attack 25.Qd2 Qxd2+ 26.Rxd2 Kg8± 23...Rb8 23.Rd3!+- Worse is 23.Nxa3 Rb8+ 24.Kc1 24.Ka2? Nb4+ 25.Kb2 Nd5+ 26.Kc1 Qxa3+ 27.Kd2 Qa5+ 28.Ke2 Nf4+ 29.Ke3 Rb3+ 30.Rd3 Nxg2+ 31.Ke2 Nf4+ Double Attack 32.Ke3 Rxd3+-+ 24...Qxa3+ 25.Kd2 Kg8= 23...Qb4+
24.Kc2! Intending Qd8+! and mate. Qa4+
25.Kd2! Bb4+ 25...Qf4+ was called for. 26.Ke2 Qxf6 26.Ke2! Threatening mate with Qd8+! Kg8 Strongly threatening ...Nc5. 27.Ne5 Qc2+ 28.Kf3 Rf8 intending .. .h5. 29.Rhd1 h5
Much weaker is 29...Nc5 30.Qd4! 29...Qb2 30.Qd4! Rh7 31.Qf4 Bc5 32.Nd4 Qa2 33.R1d2 Qd5+ 34.Ke2 Bb4
35.Ndc6! White threatens Rg3+ and mate. Double Attack, Discovered Attack Qc5 36.Ne7+ Kh8 Accuracy: White = 81%, Black = 40%. 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
Dubov,D2690Giri,A27871–02019Grand Prix Moscow 20191.2

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Born in 1986, Lawrence Trent is an international master, who has represented England in numerous international youth championships (including a 7th place in the U18 WCh in 2003). The Londoner, who has a degree in Romance languages, already has a lot of experience as a trainer. Trent has recorded several DVDs for ChessBase.

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