Pretoria News

CHESS BY VICTOR STRUGO

With 8/9 points, 20-year-old displaced Ukranian GM Kiril Shevchenko was the emphatic winner of the 84-player (Swiss system) Romanian Championship last month. The most spectacular game of the event was won by GM Gergely Szabo (17) who finished in a tie for 4th place on 6 points. With a 2514 Elo, he out-ranked his opponent by a massive 231 points, yet still drifted into a virtually losing position after a lacklustre opening. He then mixed things up with a Queen sac that led to some inspired sacrifices and ended in a King Hunt.

Szabo, GAG - Stepanencu, NC (Caro-kann):

1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 Bf5 4 h4 h5 5 Bd3 (Mikhail Tal’s ultra-sharp alternative is 5 Bg5?! inviting tense lines such as 5 Qb6 6 Bd3 Bxd3 7 Qxd3 Qxb2 8 e6 f6 9 Be3 Qxa1 10 Qb3) 5 ... Bxd3 6 Qxd3 Qa5+ 7 Nd2 (Intriguing is 7 b4?! giving a Pawn for a promising initiative, eg, 7 Qxb4+ 8 Nd2 e6 9 Rb1 Qe7 10 Ng3) 7 ... e6 8 Nf3 Nh6 9 O-O Nf5 10 c4?! (Bad plan. Better is 10 Nb3) 10 … Be7 11 g3 O-O 12 b3? (12 a3!)

12 … Rd8 13 Rd1 c5! 14 dxc5 Qxc5 15 Nf1?! dxc4 (White is lost if he retreats the Queen, so ….) 16 Qxd8+ Bxd8 17 Rxd8+ Kh7 (Black is winning if he can unlock his Qside pieces)

18 Ne3? Qa5? (Not capturing the Knight will cause Black big problems) 19 Ng5+ Kg6 20 Ng2 Nxg3 (Now things get really interesting!)

21 Nf4+ Kf5 22 Nxf7 Qc3 23 Kg2! Ne4 (23 … Qxa1? loses to 24 Nd6+ Kxe5 25 Nxc4+ Kf5 26 Kxg3 Qxc1? 27 Rf8+ Ke4 28 f3+ Kd4 29 Ne2+) 24 Rf8! Kg4? (Loses. He had to see that 24 … Nd7 25 Nd6++ Kg4 26 Be3 Nxe5! draws after 27 Nxe4! Qc2! 28 Nf6+ gxf6 29 Rxa8 Qe4+ 30 Kg1 Nf3+ 31 Kf1 Nh2+. Chess is NOT easy!) 25 Be3 (More elegant was 25 Nh6+ gxh6 26 Nd3!! Kxh5 27 Bxh6, mating in 4) 25 … Nxf2 26 Nd5!! Qxa1 (26 … exd5 27 Nh6+ Kxg4 28 Rf4+ Kg5 29 Rg4 mate. The Rook capture lengthens the chase – and the entertainment!) 27 Nh6+ Kxh4 28 Bxf2+ Kg5 29 Be3+ Kg6 30 Ne7+ Kh7 31 Nf7 Nc6 32 Ng5+ Kh6 33 Nf7+ Kh7 34 Ng5+ Kh6 35 Nxe6+ Kh7 36 Ng5+ Kh6 37 Nf5+ Kg6 38 Nh4+ Kh6 39 Nf7+ Kh7 40 Ng5+ Kh6 41 Rxa8 g6 42 Rg8 Nxe5 43 Rxg6+ 1-0 (43 … Nxg6 44 Nf5 is a beautiful mate!).

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Useful sites: https://chesswp.co.za/calendar-events/ , www. chesshub.org.za & facebook.com/sachessplayers .

SPORT

en-za

2023-03-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://pretorianews.pressreader.com/article/282136410646753

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