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Vidit's imaginative pawn sacrifice stuns Bogner as White truimphs in all games!

by Tanmay Srinath - 29/07/2019

Change is never pleasant, but when one succeeds in expanding his skill set the results are often staggering - ask Vidit Gujarathi! His attacking masterclass over Bogner sees Vidit  just 3 points away from his 1st Biel title! Sam Shankland was a surprise victim today - Jorge Cori played splendidly in a reversed French structure to hand the American a potentially decisive loss and come closer to the coveted 2700 mark. Abdusattorov came back from the brink to stun Georgiadis, while Leko blundered deep into the endgame to switch places with Maghsoodloo in the points table. Tanmay Srinath analyses all the instructive moments in a comprehensive report from Biel.

The tournament of Biel is entering the last two rounds. Vidit Gujarathi, who has had a lean couple of months, has bounced back with some scintillating chess to take an almost unassailable lead of 4 points. All he needs now is a win from his remaining two games to guarantee sole first, and two draws to guarantee tied first at least (that is if Sam wins his remaining two games!). On the other boards, Abdusattorov and Maghsoodloo improved their prospects of finishing in the top 3 with contrasting wins over Georgiadis and Leko (The latter has currently displaced Leko). Jorge Cori drummed up a creative attack against Shakland and won a piece on move 30, but took his time to force resignation, and has now returned to a plus score in the classical section. It's time to go deep:

Vidit 1-0 Bogner

Players need to constantly reinvent themselves to reach the top, and Vidit is no exception. He was known for being a solid player who rarely lost, but also struggled to win against opponents rated lower than him. In Danzhou Vidit showed glimpses of how he wanted to play, by beating Inarkiev in a Sicilian and taking risks in every game. The trials have finally paid off, as he demolished the Chebanenko Slav with a pawn sacrifice:

The rise of a great champion? | Photo : Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

Vidit-Bogner

Bogner chooses the Chebanenko Slav to defend against Vidit's 1.d4. In reply, White chooses a relatively rare system involving an early Nh4 and a kingside pawn advance.

The battle lines have been drawn. White has the bishop pair and easier development, while Black has pawn weaknesses to attack. Judging by how the game went, I'd say that White's position is easier to play, but there is nothing objectively wrong with Black's choice of strategy.

This position requires the deepest analysis. It is easy to understand the material balance - Black has won a pawn. However, to my eyes, it seems very difficult for Black to consolidate the pawn. The engines remain unconvinced with their 0.00 evaluation, but they often suffer from the horizon effect - the inability to see a good move 4-5 moves into a variation. Black needs atleast three moves to fully mobilise his pieces, and it is not apparent where they stand best. This is the reason why I personally don't prefer grabbing pawns and defending - it requires a lot of stamina and a nerveless psyche! Against a well prepared and (theoretically) stronger player like Vidit, Bogner had better choices at his disposal!

Black spent two moves dilly dallying with his knights, making his position all the more vulnerable. Here the best way to defend was 1...Qa4! (1...h6!? is another interesting option) intending to exchange pieces. Instead, 1...Nd3+? gives White a winning advantage. This goes to show how difficult defending positions in practice is!

Bogner might have not realised that his position is close to hopeless, otherwise he would have gluttonously grabbed a second pawn with 1...Nxf2! inviting Vidit to be precise. Instead, 1...Nb4? is a blunder, losing almost immediately after 2...Bxb4! Qxb4 3. Rg4! Qb6 4. h6!

This strike is reminiscent of Anand-Lautier 1997. Vidit further opens up the position, aiming to improve his pieces with tempo. Black's position is disastrous.

Vidit played 1.Nc4 forcing resignation. 1.Nf5! also wins, forcing mate in 3.

Vidit is one win away from the title. How well he has played! | Photo : Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

Cori 1-0 Shankland

After the bad luck in the 14th Blitz game yesterday, Sam still possessed realistic chances of catching Vidit. However, after this loss, he is under enormous pressure - he needs to win two in two and hope Vidit scores just one point from the remaining two games to get sole first. Credit to Jorge Cori, who has slowly grown into this tournament. He played this game fantastically well, and finished it off without allowing realistic chances to Black. Here are a few critical moments:

Will this loss be costly for Shankland? | Photo : Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

Cori-Shankland

g5 was a novelty from Sam, aiming to keep the kingside closed. Here instead of castling queenside and allowing Ng6-h4, Cori had the disruptive 1.h4!, with the key point being that 1...Nxg4 2.cxd5! wins back the pawn favourably.

1.fxe4! played by White, was a superb exchange sacrifice. With no open files for Black's rooks, he has no way to exploit his material advantage. Cori correctly assessed that Black's king is in severe danger, and his decision payed off, as Shankland soon erred.

Shankland had to counter punch here - 1...b5! with a worse but fighting position. Instead, 1...Nh5? was just a one move trick and after 2.Rf3! Cori was winning.

Note how the extra exchange is lying useless on a8? White is effectively a piece up!

It seems better to immediately take on f7 - 1.Nxf7 with the point that 1...Qxa3 is bad in lieu of 2.Nh6+ Kf8 3.Ne2! and Black's shelter is torn apart. Cori played 1.Bc5!? and was still winning, but this (1.Nxf7) is a finesse that ensures lesser counterplay. Thereafter White steadily traded pieces and fought off counterplay to win.

Cori is slowly closing in on the landmark 2700 rating - his live rating is currently at 2688.6 . | Photo : Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival 

Abdusattorov 1-0 Georgiadis

Nodirbek is making a living out of winning lost positions! Today he was outplayed in a Ruy Lopez middlegame, and found himself staring down the barrel in a hopeless endgame. Just as it seemed to be a straightforward win for Nico, he started committing mistakes, and after further twists and turns lost painfully:

Things are not going as planned for Nico this year. | Photo : Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

Abdusattorov-Georgiadis

1..c5! is the most accurate way to win, shutting off the bishop from the kingside. Black wins on a canter after 2. g5 f3+! 3.Kg3 f2. The game move 1...e3? throws away most of the advantage and allows White back into the game after 2.Kf3!. The reason for this is that Black can't effectively control the light squares he just relinquished with e4-e3. Even 1...f3+! was better!

This was the last chance saloon for Nico. He played 1...Kf3? in the game and lost after 2.Bxc5! as his king was too far from the c-pawn. Instead, 1...b3! was the only way to draw, keeping his king flexible. The key thing to note is that after Bxc5?? is now impossible due to b2! which wins immediately. White has to give back the piece with 2.Rxa3! Re1 3.Rxb3 Rxg1 4.Rb5. Seems similar to the game, doesn't it? The key difference is the placement of the king - now after 4...Kf5! Black's king is close enough and he draws! After 5.Rxc5+ Ke6 we reach the following diagram: 

The Black king is cut off by just one file, which is insufficient to win.

Will Caissa smile on Georgiadis in the last two rounds? | Photo : Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

Maghsoodloo 1-0 Leko

This was a game which stayed on course for a boring draw for a long time, till a couple of mistakes from Leko skyrocketed the evaluation for White:

Maghsoodloo returned to his happy hunting ground with 1.Nf3, and in reply Leko chose the symmetrical double fianchetto English.

These sort of endgames are irritatingly difficult for Black. He lacks space, and White can try all sorts of plans to try and cause havoc.

Here it is not hard to gauge that White has made progress - h5 is now a serious weakness. Leko however found the right sequence of moves to defend, and nearly neutralised White's pressure.

Black has made some progress. It is true that White has a passed pawn, but the fact is that it is hard to support.Here Leko had to go 1...Rd2! removing a pair of rooks and making it easy to endlessly check the White king. After 2.Rc1 Rb2 White has no way to make progress. Instead, 1...Kd6? was a serious mistake. 

This was the best opportunity for Black to reduce the game to a dead draw - 1...Qxh5! and White has to watch out for Rd1 in some variations. Instead, Leko's move 1...fxe4? was inadequate, and after 2.c5+ White won easily.

After a rough patch, the last two days of chess have gone well for Parham. | Photo : Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

It's Vidit's tournament to lose now. Can the Indian No.3 seal his win tomorrow?

About the Author

Tanmay Srinath is an 18-year-old chess player from Bangalore, Karnataka, currently pursuing both chess and engineering at BMSCE Bangalore. Tanmay is also a Taekwondo Black Belt, who has represented the country in an International Tournament in Thailand. He is a big fan of Mikhail Tal and Vishy Anand, and sincerely believes in doing his bit to Power Chess in India!


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