With knockout, Alexander Grischuk eyes slot in 2020 chess world title hunt

Veteran Russian GM Alexander Grischuk has put himself in a prime position for another run at the world championship, capturing the 16-player FIDE Grand Prix knockout tournament in Hamburg, Germany, and all but clinching a slot in March’s Candidates tournament for the right to challenge Norwegian champion Magnus Carlsen.

Like our beloved Washington Nationals, Grischuk endured some near-death experiences on his way to the winners’ circle. He lost the first game of the four-game rapid playoff in the finals to 21-year-old Polish star Jan-Krzysztof Duda, but bounced back with wins in Games 2 and 3 to take the match. In the critical second game, Black opts for a Queen’s Indian, a defense that seems to always produce interesting play. Grischuk’s 10. Bc3 Nfd7 11. Nd3!? is a relatively new move that seems to catch his young opponent off guard.

On 11…cxb3 13. Nxa6 Nxa6 14. Bxc6 Rb8 (Rc8!? was worth a look, as Black gets better compensation than in the game after 15. Bb7 Rxc3! 16. Nxc3 b2 17. Rb1 Qc7 18. Bxa6 Qxc3) 15. axb3 Nb4 16. Bxb4 Bxb4 17. Rxa7, White emerges a clear pawn to the good.

Duda puts up stout resistance, but White never releases his grip on the position, leading to the decisive infiltration with 25. Rc1 Rxc1+ (trades only help White, but Black can hardly just hand away control of the open files) 26. Qxc1 Qa7 27. Qc8 b4 28. Bb7!, cutting off the Black queen from the defense.

It’s over on 29. Kg2 Qa5 30. Bc6 Qa7 31. Be8! Nxe8 32. Nd7! (much cleaner than 32. Qxe8 Qe7 33. Qc8 g5 and the fight goes on), and a frozen Black resigns facing lines like 32…Qc7 33. Qxe8 Qd6 34. Kf3! g6 35. Qxf8+! Qxf8 36. Nxf8 Kxf8 37. Ke2 Ke7 38. Kd3, and White collects the b-pawn and the game.

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Materialism vs. idealism is an ancient debate, in the academy and at the chessboard. Capturing more of the other guy’s pieces than he has of yours is always nice, but not if it comes at the expense of more “spiritual” values, such as rapid development, control of the center, or open lines to the king.

Score one for the idealists in the entertaining game between Swiss FM Norbert Friedrich and Ukrainian GM Yuriy Kryvoruchko at the recent European Club Cup team championships in Montenegro, where Black’s intangibles make up for his very tangible material deficit.

We pick it up from today’s diagram, where White is about to go three pawns up but finds that’s not enough: 17. Qxc6 Qg4!? (the most aggressive path, though 17…Rac8 has its merits as well) 18. Qa4?! (Ne4 may be better, as 18…Nh3+ 19. Kf1 Rfd8 can be met by 20. Qxf6!) Rac8 19. c6 h5 20. Ne5? Bxe5 21. Rxe5 Rce8!, and now the floodgates open.

Black throws more logs on the sacrificial pyre in a nice mating attack: 22. f3 (Qb5 Qh3 23. gxf4 Qg4+ 24. Kh1 Qd1+ 25. Kg2 Bh3+! 26. Kxh3 Qg4 mate; or 22. Rxe8 Rxe8 23. Nf1 Nh3+ 24. Kg2 Be4+ 25. f3 Bxf3 mate) Nh3+ 23. Kg2 Qd4! (devastating) 24. Rxf5 Nf4+! 25. Rxf4 (gxf4 Re2+ 26. Kh3 Qf2 27. Rxh5 Qxh2+ 28. Kg4 Qg1+ 29. Kf5 Qg6 mate) Re2+ 26. Kh3 Qg1 27. Kh4 (Nf1 g5 28. Re4 Qg2 mate) Qxh2+, and White resigned with mate in the offing.

Grischuk-Duda, FIDE Grand Prix, Hamburg, Germany, November 2019

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Bg2 d5 8. O-O O-O 9. Ne5 c6 10. Bc3 Nfd7 11. Nd3 dxc4 12. Nb4 cxb3 13. Nxa6 Nxa6 14. Bxc6 Rb8 15. axb3 Nb4 16. Bxb4 Bxb4 17. Rxa7 Nf6 18. e3 Rc8 19. Bg2 Re8 20. Nd2 Re7 21. Rxe7 Bxe7 22. Nc4 Bf8 23. Qa1 b5 24. Ne5 Qb6 25. Rc1 Rxc1+ 26. Qxc1 Qa7 27. Qc8 b4 28. Bb7 Qa1+ 29. Kg2 Qa5 30. Bc6 Qa7 31. Be8 Nxe8 32. Nd7 Black resigns.

Friedrich-Kryvoruchko, 35th European Club Championships, Budva, Montenegro, November 2019

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. O-O Nge7 5. Re1 Ng6 6. c3 d5 7. Qa4 Be7 8. exd5 Qxd5 9. d4 O-O 10. c4 Qh5 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. dxc5 e5 13. Nbd2 Nf4 14. Rxe5 Qg6 15. g3 Bf6 16. Re3 Bf5 17. Qxc6 Qg4 18. Qa4 Rac8 19. c6 h5 20. Ne5 Bxe5 21. Rxe5 Rce8 22. f3 Nh3+ 23. Kg2 Qd4 24. Rxf5 Nf4+ 25. Rxf4 Re2+ 26. Kh3 Qg1 27. Kh4 Qxh2+ White resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email dsands@washingtontimes.com.