The Altibox Norway super tournament (NorwayChess.no) is ongoing as we write this. After eight rounds, it seemed that world champion Magnus Carlsen had everything under control with a point lead and only two games to go. But an unexpected and bad loss to Levon Aronian in the ninth threw the event very much up in the air with many exciting possibilities for the last round.
Very much in the mix is the French number one and the world’s number four, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, or MVL for short. Today’s game is his fine win over the Dutch number one, Anish Giri. Giri is a well-known theoretician, and he came to the board with something prepared for MVL’s Poison Pawn Najdorf. But it all went terribly wrong for him after MVL’s over the board inspiration of 19…Rg8. Faced with a growing Black initiative, Giri’s play went from bad to worse, and he was well on the way to being mated when he resigned.
4th Norway Chess, 2016, Stavanger, Norway
Anish Giri (2790) – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2788)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 h6!? This seems to be a pet line of MVL’s. It is a slightly different way of entering the Poison Pawn and in such sharp lines; a little difference can go a long way. 8.Bh4 Qb6 The Poison Pawn variation of the Sicilian Najdorf defense, long a favorite of MVL and Bobby Fischer, who even had the courage to face Soviet preparation by playing it twice in his 1972 match vs. Spassky. 9.a3 An easy way of defending the b-pawn (9...Qxb2 10.Na4 traps the queen). The main line is the very complicated 9.Qd2 Qxb2 10.Rb1 Qa3 9...Be7 10.Bf2 Qc7 11.Qf3 Nbd7 12.0–0–0 b5 13.g4 g5!? Slowing down White’s kingside pawn storm as well as gaining e5 for his knight. 14.h4 gxf4 15.Be2 15.g5 Ne5 16.Qxf4 Nfg4 17.gxh6 Bf8 18.Kb1 is interesting. 15...Rg8 16.Rdg1? 15…Rg8 seemed to have taken Giri out of his preparation as he used around 46 minutes for this bad move. The computer and the commentators thought that the immediate 16.g5 hxg5 17.hxg5 Rxg5 18.Rh8+ Rg8 19.Rxg8+ Nxg8 20.Qg2 Ngf6 21.e5 Bb7 22.Nxe6! is better and very interesting. 16...d5! If you are White in Sicilian positions, you should always check if Black can play d5 safely. If he can, then you are in trouble and White is now in trouble. 17.exd5 Ne5 18.Qh3 18.Qg2 runs into 18…Bb7 18...exd5 Now White’s g-pawn is in peril. 19.Re1? 19.Bf3 or even 19.Nf5 are better keeping Black’s advantage to a minimum. 19...Kf8 The direct 19...h5 is more to the point, after which the usually calm and collected computer panics with several variations revolving around White sacrifices on b5 but all to no avail. 20.Nf5 Bxf5 21.gxf5 Bc5! Now d4 is threatened and after an exchange of bishops, g3 becomes available for the rook. Black’s initiative grows. 22.Qf1 or 22.Bxc5+ Qxc5 23.Bf3 Rg3 22...d4 23.Nb1 Back, Back. Now White’s king is trouble 23...Ne4 Another Black piece joins the fray. Knights love central squares and Black knights are very happy here. Black pieces are so much more active than White’s. 24.Bf3 Hoping that this pin does something to slow Black down but it doesn’t 24...Nxf2 25.Bxa8 25.Qxf2 loses to 25...d3 25...Ned3+ The beginning of the end for White. 26.Kd2 Or 26.cxd3 Bxa3+ 27.Kd2 Bb4+ 28.Ke2 f3+ 29.Kxf3 Qg3+ 30.Ke2 Qe3# 26...Nxe1 27.Qxf2 27.Kxe1 Qe7+ 28.Qe2 (28.Kxf2 Qe3#; 28.Be4 Qxe4+ 29.Qe2 Qxh1+) 28...Nxh1 29.Qxe7+ Kxe7 winning. 27...d3 28.Qxe1 Be3+ After 29.Kxd3 Qc4 is mate or 29.Kd1 Qxc2+ mate; 0–1
