Print By David R. Sands - The Washington Times - Tuesday, February 21, 2023 With a possibly life-changing match just over a month away, Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi is giving little away at the powerful WR Chess Masters tournament now underway in Duesseldorf, Germany. With his $2. 1 million world title match against Chinese star GM Ding Liren due to kick off in Astana, Kazakhstan, on April 7, the top-seeded “Nepo” took the traditional prematch strategy of not giving his rival any insights into his preparation, opening the tournament with five consecutive draws. Ding is not in the field and American GM Levon Aronian has the lead at the halfway point in the 10-player round robin through Tuesday’s Round 5 at 4-1. With the top seed playing it close to the vest, we turn to the other boards for some entertainment. The venerable “Greek gift” Bxh7+ sacrifice is a rare visitor to top-level chess, since even your decent club player has learned to spot the tactical motif a mile away. So kudos to young Uzbek superstar GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov for pouring some new wine in an old wineskin against Russian GM Andrey Esipenko at Dusseldorf. As you might expect, the next-level tactics here are still pretty tricky, but give White bonus points for alertness early in this Rubinstein Nimzo-Indian for spotting 13. Ne2 Ne4 14. Ng3 (setting a sly trap; tempting was 14. Bxe4 dxe4 15. Nxf7!? Kxf7? 16. Qb3+, another familiar sacrificial motif, but Black can foil things with 15…Qd5! instead) Nxd2?? 15. Bxh7+! (Qxd2?! Rc8 is only equal) Kxh7 16. Qh5+ Kg8 17. Qxf7+ Kh8. Truth be told, White wasn’t taking much of a risk, as he has a perpetual check already if he wants it. Things get interesting as Abdusattorov hunts for more. Thus: 18. Ng6+ Kh7 19. Nh5! (the only move to keep the attack humming, already threatening 20. Nxf8+ Rxf8 21. Qxg7 mate) Re6!? (with two extra bishops in the bank, Black can afford to give back material if it will defang White’s attack) 20. f5?! (brave but not best; the engines like the cold-blooded 20. Qxe6! Nxf1 21. Rxf1 cxd4 22. Rf3!, with a winning attack in lines such as 22…Qe8 23. Nxf8+ Qxf8 24. Rh3 Qe7 25. Nf6+! Kg6 26. f5+ Kg5 27. Rh5 mate) Nxf1 21. Rxf1, and now Esipenko had a subtle saving resource — 21…Qe8 22. Nf6+ (Nxf8+ Qxf8 23. fxe6 Qxf7 24. Rxf7 Ba6 25. Nf6+ Kh6 26. Nxd5 Rd8, with a roughly equal ending) Rxf6 23. Rf3! Kh6!! 24. Rh3+ Kg5 25. Rg3+ Kh6 and White, down a boatload of material, has nothing better than perpetual check. Black’s more human reaction, 21…Qg5?, allows the White attack to crash through: 22. Qxe6 Qxh5 23. Rf3 cxd4 24. Qf7! (and not 24. Rh3? Qxh3 25. gxh3 dxe3, with plenty of material for the lost queen) Bd6 (the threat was 25. Nxf8+ Rxf8 25. Qxh5+) 25. Nf8+ Rxf8 26. Qxh5+ Kg8 27. f6 — Black has collected three minor pieces for the queen, but White’s attack is by no means finished. One last sacrifice clarifies things on 29. Qg5 dxe3 30. Rxe5! Kf7 (Bxe5 31. Qxg6+ and mate next) 31. Rxe3 Bc5 32. b4 Bxe3+ 33. Qxe3 Re8 34. Qc3, and Black has only a poorly coordinated rook and bishop for the queen and two pawns. In the final position after 40. Kf2 Rc2+ 41. Kg3, the push of the White h-pawn is one path to victory in lines like 41…Rc7 42. h4 Rd7 43. h5 gxh5 44. Qd3 Ke8 45. g6 Rc7 46. Qd4 and wins. —- Unlike Nepomniachtchi, fellow Russian GM Alexandra Kosteniuk built on a blistering 4-0 start to claim the second leg of the 2022/2023 FIDE Women’s Grand Prix series last week in Munich, edging Indian GM Humpy Koneru by a half-point with a 7½-3½ score. Kosteniuk was both lucky and good on her way to victory, benefiting from some major howlers from her opponents to claim a big lead, and proving tough in the clutch against her main rivals. In Round 8 against Ukrainian GM Anna Muzychuk, the Russian GM got little out of the opening in a Closed Sicilian and by 30. a5 Rfe8 21. Rad1 was looking at an ending with distinctly drawish tendencies. But modern theory is finding a few exceptions to the long-held idea that opposite-colored bishop endings are impossible to win, and White here offers another example when Black appears to get careless on 37. fxg4 Rc7?! (giving White a risk-free opening to transform the position; stingier was 37…Rd7 38. g5 fxg5 39. Bxg5 Rd3, keeping a lid on things) 38. g5 Rc4 39. g6+ Ke7 40. Bd4!, and now the unfortunate Black pawn on g7 is nailed in place and must be constantly watched. White slowly but surely makes progress and even a little tactical trick can no longer rescue Muzychuk’s game: 46. Kg4 Rh8 47. h5 f5+ (lashing out, but White’s plan was 48. Rd2 Bc4 49. b4 Bd5 50. Bxf6! gxf6 51. Rxd5! Kxd5 52. g7 Rg8 53. h6 Ke6 54. Kh5 Kf7 55. h7! Kxg7 56. hxg8=Q+ Kxg8 57. Kg6 and wins, while 47…Rxh5 48. Re1+ Re5 49. Bxe5 fxe5 50. Rf1 also wins for White) 48. Kg5 Rxh5+ (cute but insufficient) 49. Kxh5 Bf3+ 50. Kg5 Bxd1 51. b4 Bd3 52. Bxg7, and the sad little g-pawn is lost. White still must be accurate, but the path to victory is clear: 53. Bd4 f4 (Bd3 54. Be3 Ke7 55. Kh6 f4 56. Bxf4 Kf6 57. Bg5+ Ke6 58. Kg7 Be4 59. Be3 Ke7 60. Bd4 Ke8 61. Kf6 Kf8 [Bd3 62. Bd5] 62. g7+ Kg8 63. Ke6 and the queenside pawns will fall) 54. Kxf4 Bb3 55. Kg5 Bc4 56. Kh6 Kd7 57. Kg7 Bd3 58. Kf7, and Black resigned facing lines like 58…Kd6 59. g7 Bc4+ 60. Kf8 Be6 61. g8=Q Bxg8 62. Kxg8, with an elementary endgame win. Kosteniuk’s greatest stroke of good fortune came two rounds later, as she found herself in desperate straits against her closest pursuer, Indian GM Humpy Koneru. Koneru as Black ambushed her opponent with an unusual Ruy Lopez sideline, building up a strong queenside attack that netted her two pawns. The problem, as we pick up the game from today’s diagram after Kosteniuk has just played 49. Qg6+-e8+, is that queen-and-pawn endings are fiendishly tricky, even with a two-pawn edge. The tournament turned on the next few moves: 49…Qf8 50. Qc6 Qf6? (throwing away the win; Black understandably wants to keep the more advanced c-pawn, but it turns out 50…Qe7! is the only path to victory — 51. Qxc3 Qg5+ 52. Kf1 Qxh5 53. Qxc7 Qxf3, and Black can advance her h-pawn while keeping the White queen boxed out) 51. Qxc7 Kxh7 52. Kh3 f4 53. Qc5 Kg8 54. Qc8+ Kf7 55. Qd7+ Kf8 56. Qc8+ Ke7 57. Qc7+ , and it’s increasingly clear Koneru will never be able to advance the c-pawn without exposing her king to endless checks. After 57. Ke6 58. Qc6+ Ke7 59. Qc7+ Kf8 60. Qc8+ Kf7 61. Qd7+ Kg8 62. Qc8+ Kh7 63. Qc5 Qg5 , Black’s last bid for victory leaves her just one pawn up on the kingside, nowhere near enough to force the matter: 64. Qxc3 Qxh5+ 65. Kg2 Qg6+ 66. Kh2 Qf5 67. Qa1 , and White’s defense will not break; the draw was conceded 11 moves later. (Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard. ) Abdusattorov-Esipenko, WR Chess Masters 2023, Duesseldorf, Germany, February 2023 1. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd2 b6 6. Bd3 d5 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Nf3 Re8 9. Rc1 Bf8 10. O-O Bb7 11. Ne5 c5 12. f4 Nc6 13. Ne2 Ne4 14. Ng3 Nxd2 15. Bxh7+ Kxh7 16. Qh5+ Kg8 17. Qxf7+ Kh8 18. Ng6+ Kh7 19. Nh5 Re6 20. f5 Nxf1 21. Rxf1 Qg5 22. Qxe6 Qxh5 23. Rf3 cxd4 24. Qf7 Bd6 25. Nf8+ Rxf8 26. Qxh5+ Kg8 27. f6 Ne5 28. Rf5 g6 29. Qg5 dxe3 30. Rxe5 Kf7 31. Rxe3 Bc5 32. b4 Bxe3+ 33. Qxe3 Re8 34. Qc3 Bc8 35. a4 Bf5 36. h3 Rd8 37. Qd4 Be6 38. g4 Rc8 39. g5 Rc1+ 40. Kf2 Rc2+ 41. Kg3 Black resigns. Kosteniuk-Muzychuk, FIDE Women’s Grand Prix, Munich, Germany, February 2023 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Bc4 e6 5. Nge2 a6 6. a4 Nf6 7. O-O d5 8. exd5 exd5 9. Ba2 Nxe2+ 10. Qxe2+ Be7 11. d3 O-O 12. Nxd5 Nxd5 13. Bxd5 Qxd5 14. Qxe7 Be6 15. Qg5 Qxg5 16. Bxg5 f6 17. Be3 c4 18. dxc4 Bxc4 19. Rfe1 b5 20. a5 Rfe8 21. Rad1 Rad8 22. Rxd8 Rxd8 23. f3 Kf7 24. Kf2 h5 25. h4 Be6 26. Rc1 Rc8 27. Ke2 Rc4 28. g3 Rc8 29. Bd4 Re8 30. Ke3 Bd5+ 31. Kf2 Be6 32. Rg1 Bf5 33. c3 Bc8 34. Bb6 Re7 35. Be3 Be6 36. g4 hxg4 37. fxg4 Rc7 38. g5 Rc4 39. g6+ Ke7 40. Bd4 Rc8 41. Kg3 Bd5 42. Re1+ Kd7 43. Rd1 Ke6 44. Be3 Rc4 45. Bd4 Rc8 46. Kg4 Rh8 47. h5 f5+ 48. Kg5 Rxh5+ 49. Kxh5 Bf3+ 50. Kg5 Bxd1 51. b4 Bb3 52. Bxg7 Bc4 53. Bd4 f4 54. Kxf4 Bb3 55. Kg5 Bc4 56. Kh6 Kd7 57. Kg7 Bd3 58. Kf7 Black resigns. • David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes. com. • David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes. com . Copyright © 2023 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission . Please read our comment policy before commenting. Click to Read More and View Comments Click to Hide.