Kostya's Games of the Day: August 8th and 9th

IM Eric Rosen

In our first game, GM Illia Nyzhnyk plays a model strategic effort, transforming a lead in development into a positional advantage (dominating the c-file) and keeping a large plus deep into the endgame, smoothly converting and winning in the style of Botvinnik.

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[Event "2019 US Open 6-Day Schedule"]
[Site "Orlando, Florida, United Stat"]
[Date "2019.08.07"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Nyzhnyk, Illia"]
[Black "Jei, Tianhui"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D41"]
[Annotator "Kostya"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. e3 Be7 5. d4 cxd4 6. exd4 d5 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O
b6 $2 {Logical, but flawed. Black needed to first take on c4 and leave White
with an isolated pawn.} ({There's tons of history and theory in the position
after} 8... dxc4 9. Bxc4 {where White gets the early initiative but Black will
keep the better structure in the long-term.}) 9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 exd5 {
The structure is now symmetrical, but that doesn't mean things are equal! In
such positions, the only way to fight for an edge is to get a lead in
development. Here White is already a little ahead and is also on move, which
Nyzhnyk is able to use to maximize his advantage.} 11. Qc2 {A good start,
gaining a tempo and improving the queen.} h6 12. Bf4 Bd6 {Stopping Bc7 and
trying to exchange pieces.} (12... Bb7 {could run into trouble after} 13. Bc7
$1 Qe8 14. Rfe1 Nc6 15. Bh7+ Kh8 16. Bf5 $16 {where Black can hardly move.})
13. Bxd6 Qxd6 14. Rfc1 $1 {A fantastic move. How many of us would play Rac1
here without blinking, preparing to develop the f1-rook to e1? Well with both
moves the idea would be to play Qc7, but with Rfc1 White can avoid the trade
of bishops in case of Ba6, keeping a much larger advantage--a grandmaster move!
} (14. Rac1 Ba6 (14... Bb7 15. Qc7 Qxc7 16. Rxc7 {Black can play} Ba6 $1 {
trading off bishops and getting much closer to equalizing. In the game, with
White's rook on a1, White could instead play Bf5 in this position, keeping a
huge advantage.})) 14... Be6 (14... Ba6 {shows the point of White's play:} 15.
Bh7+ Kh8 16. Bf5 $1 $16 {Keeping the c-file under control and planning to
infiltrate Qc7 next.}) ({And after} 14... Bb7 15. Qc7 Qxc7 16. Rxc7 Ba6 17. Bf5
$1 $16 {White would have a huge advantage. But with the rook on f1, this would
not be possible, and Black would be much closer to equalizing.}) 15. Qc7 $1 {
Transferring White's advantage into the endgame.} Qxc7 16. Rxc7 Nd7 17. Rac1 {
White now dominates the c-file, but it's not always so simple to grow the
advantage in this kind of position. A plan for further improvement is needed.}
a6 $6 {I'm guessing the idea was to prevent Ba6, but this does weaken Black's
position further.} 18. h3 $1 {Following the Soviet Chess School principle of
'Do not hurry!' - Before doing anything else, White creates luft and stops Bg4
ideas.} Rfb8 19. R1c6 {Threatening Rxe6.} Nf8 20. Ne5 b5 21. f4 $1 {Including
another piece into the attack. The threat of f4-f5 is very uncomfortable for
Black.} Rc8 22. f5 Rxc7 23. Rxc7 f6 {This ends up losing a piece but was a
good try, as Black was completely lost anyways.} ({After} 23... Bc8 {White can
take on f7 either way and will continue to dominate the position.}) 24. fxe6 {
White could have just moved the knight away and kept a huge advantage, but
Nyzhnyk finds a tactical refutation of Black's idea:} Nxe6 (24... fxe5 25. e7
$18 {is over.}) 25. Re7 Nf4 26. g3 $1 {The only way, keeping an extra piece
for White.} Nxh3+ 27. Kg2 fxe5 28. Kxh3 e4 29. Bc2 $18 {Black has two pawns
for the piece but it's far from enough, as White's pieces are way too active.}
Kf8 30. Re5 Rc8 31. Bb3 Rc1 32. Bxd5 Rc2 33. Bxe4 Rxb2 34. Bg6 1-0

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In today's second game, NM Matthew O'Brien plays in the style of Spielmann, sacrificing an exchange early in the opening for a somewhat speculative attack. But the attack plays off, as IM Elliot Winslow is unable to find a sufficient way to deal with White's threats. An energetic win!

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[Event "2019 US Open 6-Day Schedule"]
[Site "Orlando, Florida"]
[Date "2019.08.08"]
[Round "6.10"]
[White "Obrien, Matthew J"]
[Black "Winslow, Elliott Charles"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B08"]
[WhiteElo "2307"]
[BlackElo "2222"]
[Annotator "Kostya"]
[PlyCount "43"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Be3 c6 6. Qd2 Nbd7 {Not the most
common move, but logical.} (6... b5 7. Bd3 {is the main line.}) 7. Bh6 O-O (
7... Bxh6 8. Qxh6 $14 {is usually not a lot of fun for Black to play, with the
king stuck in the center.}) 8. e5 $5 {A very interesting and direct
continuation.} ({The main move is} 8. O-O-O {and I would encourage readers to
check out the game after} Qa5 9. h4 $40 {as played in 1-0 Vitiugov, N (2720)
-Harsha,B (2481) Gibraltar 2019}) 8... dxe5 9. dxe5 (9. Bxg7 {was also worth
consideration:} Kxg7 10. dxe5 Ng4 11. O-O-O Qb6 12. e6 $1 $36 {with an
extremely sharp position.}) 9... Bxh6 10. Qxh6 Ng4 11. Qf4 $146 {A new move,
though it's not clear if O'Brien was prepared here.} (11. Qg5 Qb6 12. O-O-O
Nxf2 13. Bc4 Nxd1 14. Rxd1 Kg7 {was played in 0-1 Stefanova,A (2481)-Vocaturo,
D (2620) Batumi 2018}) 11... Qb6 $1 {Critical, hitting both f2 and b2. White's
reply is forced.} 12. O-O-O $1 {Offering the exchange, which by this point
Black is simply obliged to take.} (12. Qxg4 Qxb2 $19) 12... Nxf2 13. Bc4 ({
Stockfish likes} 13. Re1 $5 {with a huge mess after} Nxh1 14. Qh6 Rd8 15. e6
Nf8 16. exf7+ Kh8 17. Qg5 Bf5 18. Qxe7 Nd7 $13) 13... Kg7 $1 {An important
move, stopping Qh6.} (13... Nxh1 $6 14. Qh6 $1 {is too dangerous for Black.}
Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Nf2 16. Nxf7 $1 Rxf7 17. Bxf7+ Kxf7 18. Qxh7+ Kf6 19. Re1 $16) (
13... Nxd1 $6 {threatening Qe3+ would also be an error:} 14. Nxd1 $1 Kg7 {
Otherwise Qh6.} 15. h4 $1 h5 16. g4 $1 $40 {with a vicious attack.}) 14. Ng5 {
Going after the f7-pawn and giving Black problems to solve.} (14. h4 $5 {
was another possibility.}) 14... Nxd1 (14... h6 $1 {was best, just giving up
f7 on the spot, but at the same time forcing White to lose coordination.} 15.
Nxf7 g5 16. Qd2 Nxh1 17. e6 $1 $132 {and the position would remain incredibly
complicated, but overall Black's chances would not be worse.}) 15. Rxd1 Nf6 $2
{Likely overestimating the importance of defending f7, Black decides to
instead give up a knight. However, this doesn't delay White's attack much.} (
15... e6 {was possible but after} 16. Rf1 $1 $18 {Black would continue to have
serious problems.}) (15... Nc5 16. Nxf7 Be6 {was another try, though here
White wins with} 17. Qh6+ Kxf7 18. Na4 $3 {with the point:} Nxa4 19. Rf1+ Kg8
20. Bxe6+ $18) ({Again the key idea} 15... h6 $1 {was needed, though White's
attack would rage on after} 16. Nxf7 g5 17. Qg3 $44 {threatening Nxg5, where}
Rxf7 $6 18. Bxf7 Kxf7 19. Qf3+ Kg7 20. Rf1 $1 Qd8 21. Qf7+ Kh8 22. e6 $18 {
is winning for White.}) 16. exf6+ exf6 17. Nge4 {White now has two active
knights for the rook, and Black's king is still in huge trouble.} Bf5 18. g4 $1
{Not giving a moment of respite.} Bxe4 19. Nxe4 Rae8 20. Qxf6+ Kg8 21. Nd6 $1 {
Once again targeting f7!} Qe3+ 22. Kb1 {Black resigned - Qe7 can be met with
Nxe8, winning.} 1-0

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