A few days ago, I embarked upon a chess trail of links and games. It began two days ago when I saw greenpawn34’s post in the Chess Forum remarking on the number of decisive games in the Sinquefield cup:
Thread 165280. I saw the Giri–Grischuk game and the So- MVL game and was enthralled. I then, attempting to find similar things, searched online these keywords: “red hot pawn exchange sacrifice” and got this link:
old rhp thread , and this one:
online chess thread, each with an interesting game. The first one connected to a variation from a book, which I then pulled from the shelf. And that’s my rambling intro for today. Onto the games.
Anish Giri–Alexander Grischuk Sinquefield Cup 2015
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. g3 Bb4 5. Bd2 Be7 {Black claims the bishop is misplaced on d2, while white attempts to beg to differ.} 6. Bg2 {Simple and good development from White.} O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 {Not blocking the c-pawn and so keeping options open.} 8. Qc2 {An often useful move in case of an open c-file which helps to bolster a usual e2-e4.} c6 9. Rd1 {e1 seems more natural for the rook, and I think it belongs there, but this move has the point of protecting the d-pawn.} b6 10. Bf4 {White is forced to admit that the bishop on d2 was simply gumming up the works.} Ba6 11. b3 {This helps support c4, and White can then recapture with a pawn, helping the center.} Rc8 {Preparing for a possible c5 push.} 12. Nc3 dc4 13. e4 {The first point where I was a bit surprised. White can take back: 13. bxc4 Bxc4 14. Nd2 puts the finger on the bishop’s weakness and gets the pawn back quickly. However, this is about as accurate, taking control of the center more quickly. If 13…cxb3 axb3, the rook is activated with disastrous conferences for Black.} Nh5 14. Be3 Nhf6 {The knight’s sally has proven unproductive, simply driving itself back.} 15. h3 b5 16. bc4 bc4 {The position is about even. Black’s extra pawn is compensated by the weakness of it and White’s greater coordinator.} 17. Rab1 Qa5 18. Bd2 {The bishop redirects, aiming at the queen.} Qa3 19. Re1 Nb6 {A protection of the 2nd black c-pawn.} 20. Re3 {This maneuver takes aim at the queen once more, taking advantage of its misplacement.} Rb8 21. Rb6 {21.Nd5 cxd5 22.Rxa3 Bxa3 is perhaps better, but White loses the initiative.} Rb6 22. Na4 Rb1 23. Kh2 c3 {Black sacrifices a pawn to extract the queen.} 24. Rc3 Qb4 25. Rc6 Qb5 26. Ne5 {White now dominates the board, for the mere cost of an Exchange.} Ra1 {Black tries to get the semi-trapped rook out, but fails.} 27. Bc3 Rf1 {Grischuk tries to toss the rook in more favorable circumstances, but Giri declines. If he takes with the bishop, he begins to have king safety problems.} 28. Nb2 {Giri makes his worst minor a bit less dim.} Qb7 {An inaccuracy. To offer a trade of queens at e2 was superior.} 29. Ra6 Qa6 30. Nbc4 {The point. White can now scarf the Black rook at his leisure.} Ne4 {The best move was the desperado sacrifice Rxf2!, getting a pawn for the rook.} 31. Be4 {Now the kingside pressure has built to the breaking point. Grischuk soon succumbs.} Rb8 32. Bh7 Kf8 33. Qe2 Rc1 34. Qh5 {This forces resignation. The king has been hunted down.} 1-0
This game, with its two exchange sacrifices, is amazing! Giri slowly, non-obviously, builds pressure and breaks through. This game inspired the theme of this blog: Exchange Sacrifices.
Wesley So–Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Sinquefield Cup 2015
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cd5 Nd5 5. g3 Bg7 6. Bg2 c5 7. Qa4 {This seems unorthodox.} Nc6 8. Ng5 {And this move even more so.} e6 9. Nge4 Nb6 10. Qb5 {The plan is now revealed! This is like a bit of artistry! White attacks the c5-pawn.} c4 {However, unfortunately, Black easily deals with this.} 11. Na4 {White exchanges off the defender of the c4-pawn.} O-O 12. Nb6 ab6 13. Qc4 {White has the pawn! However, now Black has the initiative, and White has no recompense for it.} e5 14. Qc2 {White retreats before he can be chased back.} Be6 15. Nc3 b5 {If White takes, then 15…Nb4 works as a counterattack.} 16. Bc6 bc6 {Counter-intuitive, but the knight is a very strong, and it needs to be gotten rid of.} 17. b3 {Perhaps to fianchetto? No, to protect the a-pawn.} Bf5 18. d3 e4 19. de4 {This looks like a gambit, but it’s not. Black picks up a bishop.} Be4 20. Ne4 Ba1 {An unintentional exchange sacrifice. Black now has the material <i>and</i> the compensation.} 21. O-O Re8 22. f3 Bd4 23. e3 Bg7 {23…f5! is a little better, because the knight is very strong here.} 24. Rd1 Qc7 25. Rd6 c5 {Black now breaks open the White kingside.} 26. Rd5 Re5 27. Rd1 c4 {Attacking the pawns, and creating a Black passer which is much further along than White’s a-pawn.} 28. a3 Re7 29. bc4 Qc4 30. Qd2 {White avoids a trade, which would leave Black better because of his material.} Qb3 31. Qd6 Rc8 {White is now facing a severe attack.} 32. Nf2 Rec7 33. Bd2 Bf8 34. Qd4 Ba3 35. Kg2 Bb2 {Black is now clearly better, and White has a resignable position. So he resigned.} 1-0
What a game! Black took advantage of White’s early opening misstep to slowly build an attack.
Andrei Volokitin–Alexandr Bortnik 1nd Loo Russia Team Championship 2014
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. exd6 exd6 6. Nc3 {White, because of his central control and the misplaced Black knight, has a small edge.} Be7 7. h3 {White begins to deny the black queen’s bishop its natural squares.} O-O 8. Bd3 {The best square, but also stopping a black Bf5.} Re8 9. Nge2 {Blocking the rook’s possible check.} Bf6 {Bortnik begins to menace d4.} 10. O-O Nc6 {d4, however, is still defended because of a Bxf7+ on an undefended piece.} 11. b3 d5 12. c5 Nd7 13. Bc2 {13. Nxd5 seems best, and after 13…Nxc5 (threatening a discovery) 14. Nxf6+ Qxf6 (pinning the knight) leads to an open, tactical position that is roughly equal.} Nf8 {Defending the kingside and unstopping Black’s center.} 14. Be3 {Defending the soon-to-be attacked pawn chain.} b6 {Attacking the pawn chain.} 15.cxb6 axb6 16. a3 Na5 {Preparing c5, challenging d4, and probing the possibly-weak b3.} 17. Bd3 {17. Nf4, counter-attacking the other weak isolated pawn is a bit better.} Bb7 18. Qc2 c5 {Black takes over the center.} 19. Rfd1 Rxe3 {The best move, removing the useful defensive bishop.} 20. fxe3 Qe8 {The e3-pawn is now untenable. If the queen tries to protect, Nxb3 is a fork.} 21. b4 Qxe3+ 22. Kh1 cxd4 23. bxa5 dxc3 24. a6 Rxa6 {Another exchange sac, which removes the bishop, and smashes the remains of the White position to shreds.} 25. Bxa6 Bxa6 26. Nc1 d4 {The pawns now steamroll White.} 27. Nd3 {The pawns are temporarily blockaded, but the weak White kingside now collapses.} Bb7 28. Nf2 Bh4 {Bortnik now begins to continue to outplay Volokitin, converting his won position.} 29. Rf1 Ne6 30. Nd1 Qxh3+ 31. Kg1 Qg4 32. Ra2 Bd5 33. Qa4 Bxa2 34. Nxc3 {The d-pawn is pinned, but…} Bb3 35. Qxb3 dxc3 36. Qxc3 Qd4+ 37. Qxd4 Nxd4 {After this trade of queens, Black is completely won.} 38. Rb1 Bd8 39. Kf2 Ne6 40. Ke3 Be7 41. a4 h5 42. Kd2 Bc5 43. Kc3 h4 44. Kc4 g5 {0-1}
Another double exchange sac, another amazing game.
morgski-mikelom RHP 2011
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bf1c4 cxb2 5. Bc1xb2 Ng8f6 6. Nb1d2 Bf8b4 7. Ng1f3 Nf6xe4 8. O-O {White nw begins to develop faster…} Ne4xd2 9. Rf1e1 Bb4e7 10. Qd1xd2 {White develops even faster, regaining the piece.} O-O {d5 works better, sacrificing the pawn to unravel.} 11. Re1xe7 {five active pieces to one, at the expense of three pawns and a RxB positional sac <i>–morgski</i>} Qd8xe7 12. Ra1e1 Qe7d6 13. Qd2e3 {12. Qg5 wins immediately. The kingside was indefensible.} Nb8c6 {Black now has a few valuable tempi.} 14. Nf3g5 Qd6g6 15. Ng5xf7 {15. Bd3 is a little more immediate.} d5 16. Bc4xd5 Bc8e6 17. Qe3xe6 {17. Nh6+ end up with an equal endgame, with Black’s rook to White’s two pieces.} Qg6xe6 18. Nf7h6 {does this count as a positional sac? <i>–morgski</i>} gxh6 19. Re1xe6 Rf8f7 20. Re6f6 Ra8f8 21. g4 {20. Rxh6 is best.} Nc6b4 22. Bd5e6 Nb4d3 23. Bb2c3 b6 24. f3 c5 25. a4 {The bishops are completely lethal.} Nd3c1 26. Kg1f2 Nc1d3 27. Kf2e3 {White centralizes his king. Black is helpless to prevent this slow encroachment.} Nd3b4 28. Bc3e5 h5 29. Rf6f5 h6 30. Rf5f6 Nb4c6 31. Be6xf7 {White cashes in, coming out a piece up. The rest is a well-played endgame by morgski.} Rf8xf7 32. Rf6xc6 Rf7e7 33. Ke3f4 hxg4 34. fxg4 Kg8h7 35. a5 Re7f7 36. Kf4g3 Rf7b7 37. axb6 axb6 38. Be5c7 b5 39. Rc6xc5 b4 40. Bc7e5 b3 41. Be5b2 Kh7g6 42. h4 Kg6f7 43. Rc5c6 Rb7e7 44. Rc6xh6 Re7e3 45. Kg3f4 Re3e2 46. Bb2e5 Re2f2 47. Kf4e3 Rf2g2 48. g5 Rg2g4 49. Rh6b6 Kf7e7 50. g6 Rg4g1 51. g7 Ke7f7 52. Ke3f2 Rg1g4 53. Kf2f3 Rg4g1 54. Be5d4 Rg1xg7 55. Bd4xg7 Kf7xg7 56. Rb6xb3 Kg7f6 57. h5 Kf6e5 58. Rb3b6 Ke5d5 59. h6 Kd5c5 60. Rb6b1 Kc5d5 61. h7 {1-0}
Bravo! But I wasn’t done. I spent half an hour looking for another Rxe7 sac in my favorite opening book, Mayhem in the Morra, by IM Marc Esserman. And I found it!
He gives
Analysis
1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 g6 6. Bc4 Bg7 7. e5 Qa5 8. 0-0 Nxe5 9. Nxe5 Bxe5 10. Nb5 Nf6 11. Re1 Bb8 12. Rxe7+ {A gorgeous blow, pleasing the masters of the old guard. <i>–Esserman</i>} Kxe7 13. Qe2+ Kf8 14. Bh6+ Kg8 15. Qe7 {And White wins.}
Brilliant, eh?
–HikaruShindo
P. S.
I have a few more games to show in this vein, but I want to put this out today, and also my last series was met with a drop-off in viewership. So I’ll post one or two more exchange-sac games as part of the next blog, but that’ll be part of it, not the whole thing. Just a heads-up.