Game of the week September 1, 2019 by Robert Huntington [Event "Chicago Open 1997"] [Round "?"] [White "Anna Hahn (2190)"] [Black "Raset Ziatdinov (2535)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D09"] [WhiteElo "2190"] [BlackElo "2535"] [Annotator "ATH"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "1997.05.??"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "7"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "StarBase 4.56"] [SourceDate "2004.11.04"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2004.11.04"] [SourceQuality "2"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 {When faced with a lower-rated opponent, one often takes chances in the opening} 3. dxe5 d4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. g3 ({Stockfish thinks} 5. Nbd2 {is better, e.g.,} Nge7 (5... Bg4 {is the book move}) 6. Nb3 Nf5 7. a3 a5 $1 { best according to Stockfish but not in my database} 8. e4 dxe3 9. Qxd8+ Nxd8 10. fxe3 $14) 5... Bg4 {The book move in this position but Stockfish much prefers} (5... Nge7 {e.g.,} 6. Bg2 Ng6 7. O-O Ngxe5 8. Nxe5 Nxe5 9. Qa4+ Bd7 10. Qb3 $14) 6. Bg2 Qd7 7. Nbd2 (7. O-O $1 O-O-O 8. Qb3 Bc5 $1 ({The usual} 8... Nge7 {is much worse, again according to Stockfish}) 9. h3 $1 Be6 (9... Bxh3 $2 10. e6 Bxe6 11. Ne5 Qe8 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Qa4 $18) 10. Ng5 $16) 7... O-O-O (7... Nge7 {is slightly better}) 8. O-O (8. a3 $1 Nge7 (8... d3 $5) 9. h3 Bf5 10. b4 $16) 8... Bh3 (8... h5 9. b4 $1 Bxb4 10. Qa4 d3 11. exd3 Bxd2 12. e6 Qxe6 13. Bxd2 Bxf3 14. Bxf3 Nge7 15. Rfe1 $16) 9. a3 $6 (9. Qa4 $1 $16) 9... h5 $2 (9... Bxg2 10. Kxg2 h5 11. h3 h4 12. g4 $14) 10. e6 $1 Bxe6 11. b4 f6 ({ Better is} 11... h4 12. b5 $16) 12. Qa4 (12. b5 $1 $16) 12... Kb8 13. Bb2 (13. b5 $1 $16) 13... d3 14. exd3 Qxd3 (14... Bh3 $1 15. d4 Nxd4 16. Qxd7 Nxf3+ 17. Nxf3 Bxd7 18. Rad1 $16) 15. b5 $18 Nce7 (15... Ne5 {is much better but still losing, e.g.,} 16. Nxe5 fxe5 17. Rad1 Qf5 18. Be4 Qg4 19. Bxb7 $1 Kxb7 20. Nf3 $1 Rxd1 21. Rxd1 Bd6 22. Nxe5 {etc. At least in this line, Black's king's bishop sees the light of day.}) 16. Rfe1 (16. Rfd1 {is even more bone-crushing} ) 16... Bf5 ({Black's position is so bad that Stockfish sees losing a piece with} 16... Nc8 17. Rxe6 {as the better option. After all, it might allow Black to do something with his kingside before he dies, e.g.,} Nb6 18. Qa5 Bc5 19. Qc3 Nh6) 17. Rac1 (17. Ne4 $1 Bxe4 18. Rad1 {is another even more bone-crushing continuation but it doesn't matter. You can hear the bones cracking.}) 17... Nc8 (17... h4 18. Ne4 $18) 18. Re3 Qd7 19. c5 Nge7 {He finally gets out but it's far too late.} (19... Bxc5 {Stockfish suggests giving up the exchange first with} 20. Rxc5 Nge7 {not that it would make any difference (it wouldn't)}) 20. Nd4 Bg4 {It's amazing that White can be up (according to Stockfish) the equivalent of over 15 pawns when material is still equal (if White doesn't take the pawn on b7, it's still almost 10 pawns). } 21. Bxb7 $1 Bh3 22. Qa6 c6 23. bxc6 Qxd4 {Since this move is tantamount to resignation, why not just resign?} 24. Bxd4 $6 (24. Ba8 $1 {leads to mate in ten}) 24... Rxd4 25. Nf3 Rd5 26. Rb3 1-0 your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard; alternatively your wordpress theme might suppress the html iframe tag from articles or excerpts Views: 55