WR Masters: Abdusattorov on the attack

Youthful, tactical battles

Half the field at the 10-player WR Chess Masters are aged 20 or younger. In round 2 of the Düsseldorf event, the two games that featured two young players facing each other were both the most entertaining and the ones that finished with decisive results. By contrast, the more experienced GMs showed much more cautious approaches and drew their not-as-interesting confrontations.

Understanding Middlegame Strategies Vol.5 & Vol.6

Understanding an opening doesn’t stop after the theory. It’s essential to understand ideas and structures connected to the opening moves. Topic: Rossolimo & Maroczy structures in the Sicilian Defence and Ruy Lopez.

Particularly entertaining was Nodirbek Abdusattorov’s victory over Andrey Esipenko. Playing white, the Uzbek star mercilessly attacked his Russian opponent after the latter erred by playing an over-optimistic move out of the opening. Esipenko thus returned to a fifty-percent score, as he had won his inaugural game on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the all-Indian battle of prodigies saw Dommaraju Gukesh getting the better of Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu for a second tournament in a row. Gukesh (aged 16) had defeated Pragg (17), also with white, in one of the most fascinating games from the Tata Steel Masters. In their Düsseldorf encounter, a tense struggle came to a sudden end when Pragg overlooked a tactical motif that had been lurking for several moves in the position.

Pragg will try to bounce back from his consecutive losses in the one game from round 3 featuring two youngsters, as he will play white against 18-year-old Vincent Keymer. Three of the four remaining encounters will be intergenerational battles, with Abdusattorov and Gukesh getting the black pieces against Levon Aronian and Wesley So — in games that, incidentally, see the four co-leaders facing each other.

Levon Aronian drew Vincent Keymer with black in the one intergenerational battle of the second round | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Abdusattorov 1 - 0 Esipenko

 

Abdusattorov, Nodirbek2734

1–0

Esipenko, Andrey2675

WR Chess Masters 2023 Duesseldorf17.02.2023[Besenthal,Klaus-Günther]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd2 b6 6.Bd3 d5 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Nf3 Re8 9.Rc1 Bf8 10.0-0 Bb7 11.Ne5 c5 12.f4 Nc6 13.Ne2 Ne4 14.Ng3

This is a well-known variation - it has been played in a handful of grandmaster games. 14...Nxd2? But this faulty move by Esipenko gives Abdusattorov the opportunity to show that he is not only strong when he plays calmly and positionally. Also playable was 14...Nxg3 15.hxg3 g6 or 14...Nxe5 15.fxe5 g6 15.Bxh7+! Kxh7 15...Kh8? 16.Qh5 leads to a quick checkmate. 16.Qh5+ Kg8 17.Qxf7+ Kh8 18.Ng6+ Kh7 19.Nh5

This is certainly not what Esipenko had in mind when he captured the bishop on d2. There is a threat of Nxf8+ and mate with Qxg7. 19...Re6! Black is in a miserable position, but Esipenko finds the best move. 20.f5? A flashy continuation, but not the strongest move in the position. Better was 20.Qxe6! Nxf1 21.Rxf1+- There is a decisive threat of Rf3, etc. As so often happens in such attacking games, many of the black pieces play no role at all. 20...Nxf1 21.Rxf1 Qg5? This can also be observed frequently: the defender has initially, with luck and skill, successfully held his ground, but the next mistake follows immediately. Correct was 21...Qe8 22.Nxf8+ Qxf8 23.fxe6 Qxf7 24.Rxf7 Rb8 25.Nxg7 White has three pawns for the bishop, and the endgame is not easy for Black, but it would have certainly offered drawing chances. 22.Qxe6 Qxh5 23.Rf3! The shocked Esipenko had likely foreseen this move, but he hadn't looked energetically enough for an antidote (which was available to him in 21...De8). cxd4 24.Qf7‼ Or perhaps Esipenko had simply overlooked this sophisticated recourse. 24.Rh3? Qxh3 25.gxh3 dxe3 26.Qf7 e2 27.Kf2 Bc5+ 28.Kxe2 Nd8= 24...Bd6 The queen cannot escape: 24...Qh6 25.Rh3 Qxh3 26.gxh3 Black loses too much material. 25.Nf8+ Rxf8 26.Qxh5+ Kg8 27.f6 Ne5 28.Rf5 g6 29.Qg5 dxe3 30.Rxe5

30...Kf7 30...Bxe5 31.Qxg6+ Kh8 32.Qg7# 31.Rxe3 Bc5 32.b4 Bxe3+ 33.Qxe3 Re8 34.Qc3 Bc8 35.a4 Bf5 36.h3 Rd8 37.Qd4 Be6 38.g4 Rc8 39.g5 Rc1+ 40.Kf2 Rc2+ 41.Kg3 A wild game has come to an end in a confrontation between two absolute top players! 1–0

How to attack - principles of training

Most players prefer to attack rather than defend. But what is the correct way to do it? GM Dr Karsten Müller has compiled many rules and motifs to guide you, along with sharpening your intuition for the exceptions.

A memorable battle — Andrey Esipenko playing black against Nodirbek Abdusattorov | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Gukesh 1 - 0 Praggnanandhaa

 

Gukesh D2718

1–0

Praggnanandhaa R2690

WR Chess Masters 2023 Duesseldorf17.02.2023[Besenthal,Klaus-Günther]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.b4 Bb6 7.a4 a5 8.b5 Ne7 9.0-0 Ng6 10.Nbd2 0-0 11.Bb3 c6 12.Nc4 Bc7 13.Bg5 d5 14.Bxf6 Qxf6 15.exd5 Bg4 16.Ne3 Bh5 17.dxc6 bxc6 18.bxc6 e4 19.dxe4 Nh4 20.Nd5 Qh6 21.Re1 Bxh2+ 22.Kf1

In this position White has, temporarily at least, two extra pawns, but also has issues related to king safety. But somehow the possibility for the d5-knight to give a check from e7 jumps to the eye - this will actually decide the game later on. By the way, computers nonchalantly evaluate the confusing situation with a cold "0.00"... 22...Ra7!? Pragg has come up with an impressive idea, which is probably only the third best from an objective point of view. Stronger was according to the engines 22...Kh8= 23.Qd3! Gukesh does not go for it and prefers to keep his beautiful knight on d5. After 23.c7?! he had probably planned Rxc7! which would have likely been followed by 24.Nxc7 Bxc7 25.Qd7 Bxf3 26.gxf3 Ng6 27.e5 Nf4 28.Kg1 Bb6 The weakness of the dark squares and the magnificent f4-knight are extremely uncomfortable for White. 23...Bxf3 24.gxf3 Qxc6 He can now take this pawn - thanks to Ra7. 25.f4 Qh6 The threat is Bxf4. 26.f5 Rb7 27.Rab1 Rfb8 28.Bc2 Qg5 Better was 28...Rxb1 29.Rxb1 Rxb1+ 30.Bxb1 Qc1+ 31.Ke2 h5 32.Ne3 29.Rxb7 Rxb7 30.e5 Rb2??

Pragg's blunder is quickly punished by Gukesh. 30...Qg2+ 31.Ke2 g6 32.f6± offered drawing chances. 31.Ne7+ Qxe7 32.f6 1–0

Master Class Vol. 12: Viswanathan Anand

This DVD allows you to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess and from the explanations of the authors how to successfully organise your games strategically, and how to keep your opponent permanently under pressure.

The youngest players in the field — Gukesh (16 y.o.) defeated Praggnanandhaa (17) on Friday | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Results - Round 2

Standings - Round 2

All games

Links

• Tournament page
• Creating a super tournament from scratch: Interview with Wadim Rosenstein