Tapani Sammalvuo tapani@sammalvuo.fi
The opening rounds of big opens tend to see vast rating differences between the opposing players. This was also the case in XXX Heart of Finland’s first round, and the favourites went on to trounce their opponents with a huge score. Only two upsets were seen (not counting a bunch of draws), Marko Remes (1834) and Sara-Olivia Sippola (1704) beating FM Henri Pohjala (2339) and CM Rickard Engman (2159), respectively.
Typical of the treatment given and received was IM Alexander Mikhalevski’s win over young Tamás Martinec.
[Event "XXX Heart of Finland Open / Nordic Cham"]
[Site "Jyvaskyla, Finland"]
[Date "2022.07.18"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Mikhalevski, Alexander"]
[Black "Martinec, Tamas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A52"]
[WhiteElo "2428"]
[BlackElo "1848"]
[Annotator "Sammalvuo,Tapani"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 {Budapest gambit is Martinec’s favourite
opening. It is always a risky choice, and especially so against a higher rated
player, but it does offer some chances to confuse the matter against an
opponent groggy from a long trip. However, judging from the game it seems that
Mikhalevski was more than well rested…} 4. Nf3 ({The main alternative is} 4.
Bf4 {, when the bishop develops outside the pawn chain. The game continuation
usually leads to somewhat sharper play.}) 4... Bc5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Nc3 O-O 7. Be2
Re8 8. O-O Ngxe5 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. f4 ({Avrukh advocates} 10. b3 {in his
popular book Grandmaster Repertoire 1. Then the main line is} a5 {planning to
bring the queen’s rook to the kingside with the unconventional manouver …
Ra6-h6. The text move is sharper and, incidentally, the first line of the
computer.}) 10... Ng6 11. Bd3 {Now White is the one playing a gambit! Black’s
lagging development makes accepting the sacrifice risky.} d6 12. Qh5 $5 {
N Insisting on giving up the e3-pawn.} (12. Kh1 $1 {was probably more accurate.
Here} Bxe3 $6 13. f5 Nf8 14. f6 {is extremely dangerous for Black and
otherwise White can play 13.e4.}) 12... Bxe3+ 13. Bxe3 Rxe3 14. Rad1 f5 $2 {
[#] Black is ready to give back the pawn in order to complete his development.
However, this weakens Black’s king unnecessarily.} ({Continuing the
development traditionally with} 14... Bd7 {(intending …Bc6) was better.
White’s attack is not as strong as it might seem at first glance. For example,}
15. Nd5 ({preferable is} 15. c5 $5 {, with compensation}) 15... Re8 16. f5 $6
Re5 $1 {and the pin is difficult to break.}) 15. c5 $1 (15. Bxf5 Bxf5 16. Qxf5
{was also slightly better for White, but the text is more energetic.}) 15...
Be6 {What else?} 16. Bxf5 {[#]} Qf6 $2 (16... Bc4 $1 {would have required more
inventiveness from White. In practice, I believe the game would have continued}
17. Rf3 (17. Rf2 $6 Qe7 {is not at all clear}) ({AI’s (Stockfish 15’s, that is)
} 17. cxd6 $1 Bxf1 18. Kxf1 cxd6 19. Nd5 Re8 20. Rc1 $1 {leads to a beatiful
domination, but would be hard to find for a human.}) 17... Qe8 {, when Black
is OK.}) 17. Bxe6+ Rxe6 18. cxd6 cxd6 19. Qd5 {White’s threat of 20.f5 forces
Black’s reply.} Ne7 20. Qxb7 Re8 21. Qxa7 {White is two pawns up. The game is
over.} Nf5 22. Qb7 R8e7 23. Qf3 Ne3 24. Nd5 1-0
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Artikkelikuva: Panu Laine
