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Novelty niche

By Alexey Bezgodov

GM Bezgodov Introduces October’s
Best Novelties

The hottest and latest moves with GM
analysis!

Out of the many thousands of games played in various tournaments
throughout the world, here are the thirteen of the most interesting ones.

Important note: The first two games are available in the text of the
article, while the other eight can be browsed with the aid of our chess
viewer; they are also available for downloading.

Sutovsky, E. (2609) - Volkov, S. (2554) [C11]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Bxf6 gxf6

A sharp move. More cautious advocates of the French Defense prefer capturing with the
bishop, which looks more reliable, but leaves less possibilities of complicating the play for
Black.

7.Nf3 b6 8.Bc4 Bb7 9.Qe2 c6 10.0-0

Why does Sutovsky castle kingside, paying no attention to the semi-opened g-file? He is sure
Black will not have enough time to use it.

10...Qc7

RR 10...Nd7 11.c3 Nf8 12.Ba6 Bxa6 13.Qxa6 Ng6 14.Ng3 h5 15.Ne2 h4 16.h3 Qc7 17.Rfe1
Rh5 18.Qd3 0-0-0 19.a4 Kb8 20.b4 Ne5 21.Qe4 Nxf3+ 22.Qxf3 Rg5 23.Kh1 Rdg8 24.Rg1 Bd6
25.Qxf6 Johansson, C.-Croonenborghs, T./Hallsberg 1999/EXT 2000/ - (36).

11.Ng3!?N

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After 11.Ng3!?N

This looks extremely strange: nobody persuades
the knight to retreat there.

11...Nd7 12.Nf5!!

An outstanding move, both beautiful and sudden,
by the Israeli GM! The impression is that it
completely blocks the possibility of the popular
and attractive developmental scheme with the
queenside castling for Black.

12...exf5

Acceptance of the sacrifice is obligatory for Black:
if he retreats with his e7-bishop, then the sacrifice

of the white bishop on e6 is decisive.

13.Rfe1 Nf8 14.Nh4

Black has no sound defensive plan and he simply has to refute White’s direct threats. There are
not many of them, for a while, but Black’s chief trouble is that he cannot evacuate his king
from the center without substantial material losses.

14...Ng6 15.Nxf5 h5 16.Qf3 Kf8 17.Nxe7 Nxe7 18.Qxf6

Sutovsky’s idea is especially valuable, because even an outstanding defender like Russian
champion Sergei Volkov cannot completely handle all the problems. White has only two pawns
for the piece, but the position is full of pleasant possibilities for him.

18...Ng6 19.Re5! Rh7 20.Rg5!

After 20.Rg5!

An unusual but extremely efficient trip by the
white rook! Trading off the queens remains an
unrealizable dream for Black, because now the
capture of g6 looms.

20...Rg7

20...Qf4 21.Rxg6

21.Re1! c5

Black cannot trade off the rooks on e8: 21...Re8?
22.Rxe8+ Kxe8 due to the loss of his g7-rook: 23.
Qxg7; the move 21...Rd8 is met with the spicy 22.
Bxf7!!, destroying Black’s defense completely.

22.dxc5 bxc5 23.f4!

The horrible threat of f4-f5 leaves Sergei with nothing, but transition into the endgame is
difficult for him after trading off the queens.

23...Qxf4 24.Rxg6

So, White wins back the knight.

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24...Qxf6 25.Rxf6 Rxg2+ 26.Kf1 Rg7

Black must defend the f7-point with the last bit of his strength. Using his constraint, White
enriches himself without embarrassment, for the opponent’s four weak pawns are too attractive
for him...

27.Re5 Rd8 28.Rf2 Bc8 29.Rxc5 Bg4 30.Rd5 Re8 31.Rd3 Re4 32.Bd5 Re5 33.c4 h4 34.Rb3
a5 35.Rb8+ Ke7 36.Rb7+ Kd6 37.Rfxf7 Be2+ 38.Kf2 Rxf7+ 39.Rxf7 Bd3 40.Rf6+ Kc5 41.
Re6 Rg5 42.Rh6 Re5 43.Re6 Rg5 44.Rh6 Re5 45.Bf3 Bxc4 46.Rxh4 Bxa2 47.Ra4 Bc4 48.
Rxa5+ Bb5 49.h4 Kb4 50.Ra8 Be8 51.Kg3 Bg6 52.Rg8 Bf7 53.Rg7 Be8 54.Rg4+ Kb3 55.
Re4

After 55.Re4

Volkov does everything possible to save himself,
but Sutovsky acts precisely until the very end. His
sole pawn decides the outcome of the struggle in
the resulting textbook endgame.

55...Rxe4 56.Bxe4 Bh5 57.Kf4 Kxb2 58.Kg5 Be2
59.Bf5 Kc3 60.Bg4 Bc4 61.h5 Kd4 62.h6 Bg8 63.
Be6 Bh7 64.Bf5 Bg8 65.Kf6 1-0

Yermolinsky, A. (2596) - Gurevich, D. (2542)
[D20]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 Nc6

The other systems of counterplay for Black, in the

Queen’s Gambit Accepted, start with the moves
3...e5, 3...Nf6, 3... c5. Gurevich chooses one that leads to extremely sharp positions resembling
ones from the Chigorin Defense.

4.Be3 Nf6 5.f3 e5 6.d5 Nd4 7.Bxc4 Bc5!N

After 7...Bc5!N

An excellent move, which apparently deprives
White of any hopes for advantage and casts doubt
on his interpretation of the opening. Impossible is
8.Ne2? due to 8...Nxf3+. RR 7...c5 8.dxc6 bxc6 9.
Ne2 c5 10.Nbc3 Bd6 11.0-0 0-0 12.Nc1 Rb8 13.
Nd3 Qa5 - Varga, P.-Fancsy, I./Budapest 1996/
CBM 51 ext (13).

8.Bf2?

A serious loss of tempo. White can fight for
equality with the simple 8.Nc3

8...c6! 9.dxc6

And now, 9.Nc3 does not lead to equality due to
9. ..b5 or simply 9...cd -- the white king is stuck in the center!

9...Qb6!

An outstanding development of Black’s initiative! White already cannot save himself, for
crushing blows are threatening from everywhere!

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