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| Chess ... championship edition |
One game that particularly caught my attention, and certainly deserves deeper scrutiny, is the following round-three clash, which features a long-term positional piece sacrifice.
Notes in italics are by international master Andrew Ledger.
Syvatoslav Bazakutsa (IM 2579 ECF/2488 Fide) - Kenneth Hobson (FM 2349 ECF/2244 Fide)
Réti
1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nf3 d4!?
We get a reversed Benoni, and White will get decent dynamic chances, given that he has the extra move and Black is committed to ...e6.
On the other hand, 4...d4!? is the top choice of Stockfish18 and Dragon1, narrowly ahead of 4...dxc4, while the engines agree the most popular continuation, 4...Be7, leaves White slightly better, or at least with the better part of equality, after 5.d4 or 5.0-0.
5.0-0 c5 6.e3 Nc6
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| This position occurs 1,929 times in ChessBase's 2026 Mega database, and is equal, according to the engines |
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7.d3 h6!?
7...Bd6 is most common, although as this is usually met by 8.exd4 cxd4 9.Bg5, you can see the point of ...h6.
8.exd4 cxd4 9.Bf4 Nd7!?
Challenging White's dark-square bishop with 9...Bd6 looks much more natural, but the engines rate the two moves as more-or-less equivalent.
10.Re1 g5!?
An aggressive attempt to stir things up.
11.Be5
I'd be nervous about committing my bishop to e5, but Bazakutsa, quite rightly, has no such fears.
11...Rh7!?
After 11...N(either)xe5 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.Rxe5, Black has the bishop-pair, but White is ahead on development, and it is unclear where the black king will find a safe haven.
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| How should White proceed? |
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12.Bxd4!!
This appears to be a novelty, initiating a long-term piece sacrifice, relying on Black's lack of coordination and development.
I am sure the text would not have seriously crossed the mind of most players, but it is engine-approved, and may well have been preparation. The known continuation is g4 but, as AL points out, it "looks pretty ropey after simply 12...h5."
12...g4
Black has to accept the piece sacrifice, as otherwise White is winning, according to the engines.
13.Bc3 gxf3 14.Bxf3 Bg7
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| How would you assess the coming middlegame? |
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White has two pawns for a knight, which, materially, is clearly not enough, and has a slight lead in development. But the main factor is surely the plight of the black king, which will struggle to reach the queenside, and is unlikely to be very safe in the centre or on the kingside. The engines give White a slight edge.
15.d4 Kf8!
Bearing in mind White's threatened 16.d5, this is the only move to stay in the game, according to the engines.
16.Na3!? Kg8 17.Nb5 a6?!
Black has defended well up to this point, but this looks wrong, sending the knight to where it wants to go. 17...Ne7 looks better, and the engine [unspecified] assesses it as close to equal.
18.Nd6 Bf8?
The engines give 18...Qf8!?, but award White the upper hand.
19.d5!
Really strong.
19...Nce5
19...Bxd6!? looks catastrophic for Black after 20.cxd6, but the engines reckon it is not much inferior to the text, which shows how bad Black's position already is.
20.dxe6 Bxd6 21.Be4!
Excellent play, following up with all the best moves. White will soon start to recoup material.
He needs to - Black has two knights for three pawns!
21...Qf8 22.exd7 Nxd7 23.Bxh7+ Kxh7
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| The position has clarified somewhat, leaving White with rook and two pawns for bishop and knight |
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Often two pieces are well worth a rook and two pawns, but not here - Black's position is a wreck, with a weak king and far behind in development.
24.Qd3+ Kg8 25.Rad1 Bb4!? 26.Bxb4 Qxb4 27.Qd4 Qf8!?
The engines reckon there is nothing better.
28.Qg4+ Kh8 29.Rxd7
The rest is pretty easy.
29...Bxd7 30.Qxd7 Qb4
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| It is KH's misfortune that, being 'only' two pawns down, he probably feels compelled to play on in the hope a swindle will somehow appear, and it may be his opponent is short of time |
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31.Re7 Qxb2 32.Rxf7 Qb1+ 33.Kg2 Qe4+ 34.Kh3!? Qg6 35.Qxb7 Re8 36.Rf4 h5 37.Kg2 Kg8!? 38.Qd5+ Re6 39.h4 Kh7 40.Rf5 1-0
It is said that only when you become really good do you realise how really bad you are. Alas, I am fairly certain I am one of those players for whom 12.Bxd4!! would not have been a candidate move.
