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GM Arkadi Naiditsch (2727) led the German Team at ETCC'13 and won a prize on first board with a spectacular 2854 peformance Photo: ETCC2013.com
We are in the second round. The pairing system of the tournament is quite random, so it is impossible to predict who is playing who and why!? We got the team Poland I ( Poland has 3 teams participating).
1.e4 e6 After my opponent played 1...e6 ( Socko plays a lot of different openings) I was very much hoping to get the variation that we will see in the game.
2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 So we are in the very main position of the French Defence. Black has 2 major choices here, to play 7... 00 or 7...Qc7. Both of them lead to very unclear play. 7...Kf8?! After this move I said to myself "yes". Socko had already been playing it a couple of times before so I was able to prepare a very unpleasant answer. In general, I can't believe that a move like 7...Kf8 can be a good one. It just looks too ugly!
8.a4! A very strong and logical move. The white bishop wants to go to a3.
8...Qc7 Black is going for the pawn and this is probably the best thing to do. If White was in time to play Nf3Bd300 and Ba3, Black's position would just fall apart.
9.Qd1 A logical move. Black wanted to play cxd4.
9...cxd4 10.cxd4 Qc3+ 11.Bd2 Qxd4 Black is a pawn up, but a better development and the very bad position of the black king on f8 make White's position quite enjoyable.
12.Nf3 Qe4+ 13.Be2 Nbc6 Trying to take another pawn on e5.
14.Bc3 There is of course no reason to give it immediately.
14...Ng6 15.00 I completed my development. 15...Nf4 A logical decision of my opponent, who tries to exchange my white squared bishop. [15...Ngxe5 would lead to a very dangerous position for Black: 16.Nxe5 Nxe5 17.Re1 White clearly has enough compensation for the two pawns thanks to the bishop pair and his open position.]
16.Bd3! I cannot avoid the exchange, but I can improve my pawn structure with it.
16...Nxd3 17.cxd3 Qf5 Black's position is looking pretty dangerous, but it is clear that White needs to act quickly. If Black was in time to play h6Kg8Kh7 I would just be a pawn down. 18.a5 A rather logical move. My idea was to play Ra4 next, followed by maybe Qd2 and Rf4, bringing my rook into the attack.
18...a6? This move just cannot be good. Black is already in trouble and such a loss of a tempo is a serious mistake. [Black should hurry to secure his king's position on h7: 18...h6 19.Ra4 Kg8 20.Qd2 I think White should have more than enough compensation for the pawn, but the position would remain unclear.]
19.Qb1! A strong move. White's main idea is to stop Black from playing Bd7. Things are pretty forced now.
19...h6 Black has no choice...
20.Nd4 I am removing the only black defender from the c-file.
20...Nxd4 [Black is not in time for 20...Qxe5 21.Qb2! The most simple. 21...Nxd4 22.Bxd4 Qg5 23.f4 Qg6 24.Rf3 White brings all his pieces into the attack and during the game I was sure it had to end with a mate. 24...f6 25.Rg3 Qf7 26.Rc1 Black's position is just lost.] 21.Bxd4 Kg8 22.Rc1 At this moment I was thinking for quite a while. 22.Qb6 was also looking very tempting. [22.Qb6 If White was in time for Qc7 Black's position would just be lost, but it seems like I am not. 22...Qxd3 Black wants to play Bd7 next. 23.Rab1 Kh7 (23...Bd7 didn't work immediately: 24.Rfd1 followed by Qxb7 and White is winning.) 24.Rfd1 Qc4 Once again I just don't have enough time for Qc7. 25.Rdc1 Qa4 26.Rb4 Qe8 I was calculating until here and could not see a way to stop Black from playing Bd7 next. The position is still unclear, but the move in the game seems to be much more convincing.]
22...Kh7 23.Rc7 Rd8 So far everything was forced, but the question if Black is in time for Bd7 remains. 24.Bc5! Probably the only move to keep me on the winning road. [It is a pity, but the most logical 24.Re7 doesn't work. 24...Bd7 25.Bb6 It seems like White won an exchange, but no... 25...Bc6 26.Bxd8 Now comes the fantastic
26...d4!! and White cannot play 27.Bb6 because of Qg5!, with a double attack on g2 and e7. The position is very unclear. I was very happy I found this defence for Black but I am very curious to know whether my opponent saw it as well.]
24...d4 What else to do?! [24...Qxe5 25.Rxf7 And White is close to be winning.; 24...Bd7 25.Be7 White is an exchange up.]
25.Be7 I continue my plan of not giving Black any chance to play Bd7.
25...Rd5 26.Bd6 The black bishop got stuck on c8 and with it the rook on a8 too.
26...f6 Somehow I had a feeling that my opponent was not too upset with his position, but I was very happy with mine! :) 27.Re7 The simplest.
27...fxe5
28.Qb6
The white queen is going to c7, then I play Re1 and Be5. The game is over.
28...Qf8 This is losing, but nothing helps anymore.
29.Qc7 b5 This move surprised me a little bit, as now I have a huge amount of winning moves.
30.Rf7 [Of course 30.axb6 Bb7 31.Rf7 would end the game as well.]
30...Qxf7 [30...Qg8 31.Rf8 And White has trapped the black queen.]
31.Qxf7 Rxd6 32.Rc1 The most simple. Black still cannot develop the c8 bishop!
32...Rd8 [32...Bd7 33.Rc7 Rd8 34.Qe7 And White is winning.]
33.Rc7 Rg8
34.g4! A very easy move, but still quite beautiful. Black is totally paralyzed.
34...e4 35.g5 e5 36.Qh5 There is still no time to develop the bishop from c8.
36...Kh8 37.gxh6 gxh6+ 38.Kf1 The funny thing is that the bishop is still standing on its starting position on c8! :) It was a great pleasure to win such a game, but sadly the team played only 22.
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