Shanglei y Goryachkina, reyes juveniles 2014

[Event "WJCC U20 Open"] [Site "Pune"] [Date "2014.10.19"] [Round "13"] [White "Wei, Yi"] [Black "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C57"] [WhiteElo "2645"] [BlackElo "2599"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "IND"] {The first board of the final round of the World Junior and what do we find? One of the most romantic and crazy openings in chess!} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 {No subtle play today: White goes all out! Wei Yi had played this once, in the Reykjavik Open 2013. So it might not have come as a complete surprise for Duda.} d5 5. exd5 Nd4 $5 {A very tricky move. But Wei Yi remained unfazed and kept playing at good speed, which means that he had come well prepared.} (5... Na5 {Usually Black goes for this move.}) 6. c3 b5 7. Bf1 {Of course the knight on d4 cannot move here because then b5 would hang. But in any case both the players have come to this game to create their own threats and not to respond to their opponent's!} Nxd5 8. cxd4 (8. Ne4 {was the safer way to play} Qh4 (8... Ne6 9. Bxb5+ Bd7 10. Bc4 $14) 9. Ng3 Nc6 10. Bxb5 $14) 8... Qxg5 9. Bxb5+ Kd8 (9... Bd7 10. Bxd7+ Kxd7 11. O-O $16 {gives White a clear advantage.}) 10. Qf3 exd4 11. Bc6 (11. Qxf7 Bd6 $19 {gives Black a winning position because the black pieces are just so active.}) 11... Nf4 ( 11... Nb4 {looked like another possibility.} 12. Bxa8 Nc2+ 13. Kd1 (13. Kf1 Nxa1 $17) 13... Bg4 (13... Nxa1 14. d3 Qc5 15. Na3 $16) 14. Kxc2 Bxf3 15. Bxf3 $14 {gives White a small advantage.}) 12. O-O (12. Bxa8 $2 {Taking the rook is not so good.} Bg4 13. Qc6 Nd3+ 14. Kf1 Bd6 $17 {Black has a very dangerous initiative.}) (12. g3 {was what has happened before.} Qc5 13. Nc3 $1 Nd3+ $1 14. Qxd3 Qxc6 15. Qxd4+ Bd6 $11) 12... Bg4 $1 13. Re1 (13. Bxa8 Bxf3 14. Bxf3 Bd6 $19 {White has not enough compensation for a queen over here.}) 13... Bd6 14. Qe4 $1 {Once again threatening a mate on e8.} (14. Bxa8 $2 Bxf3 15. Bxf3 Nd3 $19) 14... Bd7 $1 15. d3 (15. Bxd7 Kxd7 $19 {and with the rook coming to e8 Black is just winning.}) 15... Bxc6 16. Qxc6 Qd5 $1 {It was necessary for Black to exchange queens, as his king is just too weak on d8. Once the queens are exchanged the king that was weak in the center, now becomes a strength.} 17. Qxd5 Nxd5 {If someone is better in this position, then it has to be Black. But White's disadvantage is not so significant and hence he can hold on.} 18. Nd2 {Looking to plonk the knight onto the weakened c4 square.} Kd7 19. Nc4 Rhe8 20. Bd2 c5 21. Kf1 Rac8 22. g3 Nb6 23. Nxd6 (23. Rac1 {looked much more preferable, but the position is nothing more than equal.}) 23... Kxd6 24. Rxe8 Rxe8 25. Rc1 Kd5 {Black has a small edge thanks to his centralized king, but the problem is that he cannot do much damange and hence the game will be drawn pretty soon.} 26. b3 Re6 27. f4 f5 28. Kf2 Rh6 29. Kg2 Re6 30. Kf3 Rh6 31. Kg2 Re6 32. Kf3 Rh6 33. Rh1 {At this point Lu Shanglei was already winning his game. That meant that Wei Yi had to continue if he wanted to win the title. But there is absolutely no chance to play for a win in the position. It's just dead equal.} Nd7 34. h3 Nb8 35. Re1 Nc6 36. Kg2 Re6 37. Rxe6 Kxe6 38. a3 h5 39. Kf3 g6 40. Ke2 Kd5 41. Kd1 Ne7 42. Ke2 Ke6 43. b4 cxb4 44. Bxb4 Nc6 45. Bf8 Kd5 46. Kd2 a5 47. a4 Nd8 48. Be7 Ne6 49. Kc2 Nc5 50. Bd8 Nxa4 51. Bxa5 Nc5 52. Bb4 Ne6 53. Be7 Kc6 54. Kb3 Kb5 55. Bf6 Nc5+ 56. Kc2 Ne6 57. Kb3 Nc5+ {A crazy opening, that led to great excitement. But as is always the case with such sharp openings, they more often than not peter out to equality if both sides play accurately. More than anything the players must be commended for their brave opening choice in such an important game.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "WJCC U20 Open"] [Site "Pune"] [Date "2014.10.19"] [Round "13"] [White "Dragun, Kamil"] [Black "Fedoseev, Vladimir"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2545"] [BlackElo "2677"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "IND"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Qe7 5. g3 Bxd2+ {The modern treatment of the Bogo Indian main line.} (5... Nc6 {used to be played a lot here, but lately people have realized that} 6. Nc3 {is a dangerous move.}) 6. Qxd2 { Taking with the queen is the most logical in order to keep the option open for the knight to develop on c3.} Nc6 7. Nc3 d5 8. cxd5 (8. Bg2 {is the other option, but Black seems to be doing fine after} dxc4 9. Ne5 O-O 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Bxc6 Rb8 $11) 8... exd5 9. Bg2 O-O 10. O-O Rd8 (10... Bg4 {is the other main option in this position.}) 11. Rfe1 {This is a novelty but a pretty natural move.} Bf5 12. Qf4 Be4 {Black has equalised easily in the opening but we still have a fighting game ahead.} 13. Rac1 a6 $6 {This move was completely unnecessary. It weakens the queenside and allows the knight to plonk itself on c5.} (13... h6 {was much better.}) 14. a3 h6 15. Na4 Rd6 $5 {Defending the c6 knight and preparing to kick the white knight with b6 when it comes to c5.} 16. Nc5 b6 (16... Nd8 17. Qe3 $14) 17. Nd3 (17. Nb7 Re6 18. Bh3 Nh5 19. Qd2 (19. Qg4 Bxf3 20. Qxf3 Nxd4 $17) 19... Rf6 $11) 17... Nd8 18. b4 a5 19. Qd2 Ne6 20. b5 $1 {This move fixes the weakness on c6 and also renders c7 a backward pawn. Black slowly drifts into an inferior position.} Rdd8 21. Qc3 Qe8 22. a4 Bh7 23. Bh3 (23. Nfe5 {looks equally strong.} Ne4 24. Qb2 Rac8 25. Nc6 Rd6 26. f3 Nf6 27. e4 $16 {and White has a crushing advantage.}) 23... Ne4 24. Qc6 (24. Qb2 { looks stronger. The idea is to of course take on e6 and then on c7.} Rac8 25. Nfe5 $14 {and once again the idea is f3 followed by a later e4.}) 24... N4g5 25. Nxg5 Nxg5 26. Qxe8+ (26. Bg2 {was stronger.} Bxd3 27. exd3 Qxc6 28. Rxc6 Ne6 29. Re5 Nxd4 30. Rxc7 {and Black's defensive task is really difficult.}) 26... Rxe8 27. Bg2 $6 (27. Bd7 $1 Re7 (27... Bxd3 28. Bxe8 Rxe8 29. h4 $1 $16) 28. Bc6 (28. Rxc7 $2 Bxd3 $19) 28... Rd8 29. Nf4 $16 {White has a lot of pressure.}) 27... Bxd3 $1 28. exd3 Rxe1+ 29. Rxe1 Rd8 {Now the position is too static for White to create many threats. His c7 and d5 are the two weakness which can be easily defended. And as the pawns are on d3 and d4, White has no meaningful breaks in the position.} 30. Rc1 Rd7 31. Rc6 Kf8 (31... Ne6 32. Bh3 Rd6 33. Rxd6 cxd6 34. Bxe6 fxe6 $11 {would have been an immediate draw. But the lust for a gold medal often makes people to go for objectively dubious decisions.}) 32. f4 Nh7 33. Kf2 Ke8 34. g4 Nf6 35. Bf3 (35. g5 hxg5 36. fxg5 Nh5 $11) 35... Ng8 36. g5 hxg5 37. Bg4 Rd6 38. Rxd6 (38. Rxc7 Nf6 39. Bf3 gxf4 $11) 38... cxd6 39. fxg5 Kf8 40. Kg3 $11 {The white king has no entry points and bishop has no pawns to attack. A draw looks like a logical result of the game.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "WJCC U20 Open"] [Site "Pune"] [Date "2014.10.19"] [Round "13"] [White "Indjic, Aleksandar"] [Black "Lu, Shanglei"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A80"] [WhiteElo "2548"] [BlackElo "2544"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [EventCountry "IND"] 1. d4 f5 $5 {What a brave choice by Lu Shanglei! Playing the Dutch shows that he is going for a win at all costs.} 2. Nc3 $5 {Trying for a sharp and double edged battle.} Nf6 3. Bg5 d5 $5 4. e3 g6 5. h4 Bg7 6. h5 Be6 (6... Nxh5 7. Rxh5 gxh5 8. Qxh5+ Kf8 9. Nf3 $36) 7. h6 Bf8 {Black is being pushed back and White has a very comfortable and in fact a good advantage} 8. f4 $6 {Completely unnecssary} (8. Nf3 Nbd7 9. Be2 Bf7 10. Bf4 $16 {White has excellent control over the e5 square.}) 8... Bf7 9. Nf3 e6 10. Ne2 Be7 11. Nc1 Ng4 $6 (11... Ne4 {looked much more normal.} 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. Nd3 Nc6 $11 (13... c5 14. Nxc5 Nxc5 15. dxc5 Qxc5 16. Qd4 $16)) 12. Qd2 O-O 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Nd3 Nd7 15. Nf2 (15. Be2 $14 {was a simple developing move.}) 15... Ndf6 16. c3 c5 17. Nxg4 Ne4 18. Qc2 $2 {This is a horrible mistake. But what I didn't understand was why White let Black take on g4 and alter the pawn structure in his favour.} (18. Nf6+ $1 {That is the move that would have given Black absolutely no advantage in the position as the pawn structure would remain symmetrical.} Qxf6 19. Qc2 $11) (18. Qd1 {was also a fine move.} fxg4 19. Ne5 cxd4 $2 20. Qxd4 $1 $16) 18... fxg4 19. Ne5 cxd4 {It is an interesting question: what exactly did White miss in this position? Was it Qb4+ after cxd4 or Be8 after exd4? Your guess is as good as mine.} 20. exd4 (20. cxd4 Qb4+ $19 {is simply winning.}) 20... Be8 $1 {a nice move by Lu Shanglei. Not only does it attack the f4 pawn but also makes the bishop more active on the e8-a4 diagonal.} 21. Qc1 (21. Nd3 Bb5 { would already make the f4 pawn difficult to defend.}) (21. O-O-O Rxf4) 21... Ng3 22. Rh2 (22. Rg1 Qh4 $19) 22... g5 $1 {If you watch carefully, ever since the Lu Shanglei got the initiative he keeps making active moves in order to increase his advantage. Every move made by him is a threat, and soon the opponent collapses.} 23. Bd3 (23. Nxg4 Rxf4) 23... Rxf4 {The game is effectively over.} 24. Qd2 (24. Qe3 {is met by a cute trick} Nf1 $1 25. Bxf1 Re4 $19) 24... Ba4 $1 {A strong move which not only prevents White from 0-0-0 but also clears the way for the rook on a8 to join in the party.} 25. b3 (25. -- Qf6) 25... Raf8 26. Qe3 (26. bxa4 Rf1+ 27. Bxf1 Rxf1#) (26. O-O-O Rf2 $19 { [%cal Ge7a3]}) 26... Nf1 27. Qg1 (27. Bxf1 Rxf1+ $19) 27... Nxh2 28. Qxh2 Qc7 $1 {Not relaxing right until the end.} 29. Kd2 Rf2+ 30. Be2 Rxe2+ 31. Kxe2 Qxc3 {A fantastic game by Lu Shanglei. What was particularly impressive was that once he held the initiative he never let it go.} 0-1