Tata Steel R7: jornada maratoniana en Wijk aan Zee

[Event "79th Tata Steel GpA"] [Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"] [Date "2017.01.21"] [Round "7"] [White "Wei Yi"] [Black "Van Wely, L."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B94"] [WhiteElo "2706"] [BlackElo "2695"] [Annotator "Alex Yermolinsky"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2017.01.13"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 Nbd7 $5 {An interesting attempt to delay e7-e6 and change the move order of the regular Najdorf theory.} 7. Bc4 $1 {The most principled reply.} ({For some time everybody went gaga over} 7. Qe2 {but this move gets more credit for its edgy unorthodox appearance than it really deserves for its quality.} h6 8. Bxf6 Nxf6 9. O-O-O e5 $1 {A true Najdorf reply!} 10. Nf5 g6 11. Ne3 Be6 {White has no attack, and for the slow plans of controlling the pace of events through occupation of the d5-square his king really doesn't belongs in the Q-side.}) ({ Inaccurate is} 7. f4 Qc7 {White never gets to place his bishop on c4, which has always been considered the best weapon against Black's setup with Nbd7.} 8. Qf3 b5 9. O-O-O Bb7 10. Bd3 {and...} g6 $1 {Welcome to the Dragon's Den, courtesy of the late, great Vugar Gashimov.}) 7... Qb6 8. O-O (8. Bb3 {appear the most logical, but White cannot quite transpose to the regular lines of Bg5 Najdorf.} e6 9. Qd2 {This is more like a Richter-Rauser attack of the Classical with a pinch of Fischer-Sozin's Bc4-b3 thrown in.} ({if} 9. f4 Be7 { then White cannot place his queen on f3.}) 9... Be7 10. O-O-O Nc5 11. Rhe1 O-O 12. f4 h6 13. h4 {was played by Andreikin, but Dmitry's opening choices are not to be always taken for granted.}) (8. Qd2 $5 {is a Poisoned Pawn combined with Bc4. Velimirovic would be ecstatic!} Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. O-O Qc5 11. Bd5 { We follow a recent game Tsydypov-Yu Yangyi which I witnessed at Hainan International just a month ago.} e6 12. Rfe1 Ne5 (12... Qc7 13. Bxe6 fxe6 14. Nxe6) 13. Na4 Qc7 14. Nb6 Rb8 15. f4 {Black's position came under considerable pressure.}) 8... Qc5 ({Recently Black tried (and survived!)} 8... Qxb2 9. Nd5 Nxd5 10. Rb1 Qc3 11. Bxd5 Qc7 {One wonders what the Chinese GM analytical team has up their collective sleeve.}) 9. Bd5 e6 ({Call me coward, but I'd choose} 9... g6 10. Qd2 Bg7 11. Rad1 O-O {just to play a game of chess, not some memory contest.}) 10. Re1 Be7 11. Be3 Qa5 12. Bxe6 {Figures. This typical sac has been tested in practice with good results since 2014. The ownership belongs to Belorus GM Sergey Azarov.} ({Previously Wei Yi played} 12. Bb3 { and didn't get much:} Nc5 13. f3 Qc7 14. a4 Nxb3 15. Nxb3 b6 {Wei Yi-Xu Yinglun, China Team Ch 2015}) 12... fxe6 13. Nxe6 Nc5 {It only took Loek 50 minutes to come up with this over-the-board innovation. In reality it's not such a good move, but additional value is placed on a surprise factor. Nobody wants to let his opponent just follow his computer-approved preparation all the way to victory.} ({Like it or not, Black has to follow the main line,} 13... Kf7 14. Ng5+ Ke8 (14... Kg8 15. b4 $1 Qe5 (15... Qxb4 16. Nd5) 16. Qd3 h6 17. f4) 15. Nd5 Nxd5 16. exd5 Ne5 (16... Nf6 17. Bd4 Kf8 18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. Qh5 {was an Azarov quick kill against Xiong in 2014. Rest assured Jeffery doesn't lose game in this fashion anymore!}) 17. Bf4 Bf6 18. Ne4 Qc7 {Adhiban-Swiercz, 2014 is a reference game, but to my eye Black's position stops inspiring any confidence once you recall that he had already moved his king and therefore cannot castle}) 14. b4 ({We can also look at} 14. Nxg7+ Kf7 15. Nd5 Kxg7 16. Nxe7 {Black is just hopeless here.} Qc7 17. Nd5 Nxd5 18. exd5 {etc.}) 14... Qxb4 15. Nc7+ Kd8 16. N3d5 Nxd5 17. Nxd5 Qa3 18. Nb6 {One and only miss by Wei Yi in the whole game.} (18. Qf3 $1 {would make this a typical van Wely Najdorf miniature loss in Wijk aan Zee tournaments - I recall he had three of those in 2010 alone.} Rf8 (18... Qa5 19. Qf7 Bf6 20. Bg5 Bxg5 21. Qxg7) 19. Qg3 Qa5 ( 19... Be6 20. Nxe7 Kxe7 21. Bg5+ {and there goes the queen.}) 20. Qxg7 Re8 21. Bg5) ({Also, pretty strong was} 18. e5) 18... Rb8 19. Nc4 Qb4 20. Nxd6 Nd3 $1 21. Qxd3 {Wei Yi is still very young but his play shows maturity. Here he goes for a technical solution, hoping to win slowly but surely.} (21. Nf7+ Ke8 22. Qh5 g6 23. Qd5 {seems murky when you sit at the board.}) 21... Qxd6 22. Qxd6+ Bxd6 23. Rad1 Kc7 24. Rxd6 Kxd6 25. Bf4+ Ke6 26. Bxb8 {Just like this we have arrived at an ending Black may or may not lose. Of course, Loek had maybe a minute left on his clock and was all but mentally spent.} Bd7 27. Ba7 Rc8 28. Rc1 Rc4 29. f3 Ra4 30. Ra1 Rc4 31. c3 b5 32. a3 a5 {No, not this.} (32... Rxc3 33. Bd4 Rc2 34. Bxg7 a5 {offers some counterchances.}) 33. Bb6 Ra4 34. Bd4 g6 35. Kf2 g5 36. Ke3 Bc6 37. Kd2 h5 38. Kc2 b4 $6 {This offers White an easy expressway ride to victory.} (38... h4 {had to be played to be able to trade the h-pawns once White begins to make his connected passers.}) 39. cxb4 axb4 40. axb4 Rxb4 41. Kc3 Ra4 42. Rxa4 Bxa4 43. g3 $1 h4 44. f4 gxf4 (44... hxg3 45. f5+ $1 (45. hxg3 $2 gxf4 46. gxf4 Bc6 47. f5+ Kf7 48. Kd3 Bb7 49. Ke3 Bc6 50. e5 Bd7 $11 {is what Every Russian Schoolboy Knows about opposite-color bishop endings.}) 45... Kf7 46. hxg3 {having saved his g-pawn White is happy to trade e- and f-passers for the black bishop.}) 45. gxf4 {Same story here, because White's bishop is of the right color for the remaining rook pawn.} h3 46. Kd2 Kd6 47. Ke3