Tapani Sammalvuo tapani@sammalvuo.fi
In the second round the rating gaps got smaller and the games more interesting. The first grandmaster casualty was Bence Korpa from Hungary, who was outplayed by Tuomas Simola in an instructive Grünfeld Reversed. This was the kind of game all amateur players dream of in open tournaments!
Other notable results include Henrik Lönnqvist’s (2019) draw against FM Elham Abdrlauf and Sverre Lye’s (2009) draw against IM Alexander Mikhalevski who thus joined his brother GM Victor Mikhalevski on 1½ (the latter took a bye in the first round). Third round pairings promise a lot of excitement as titled players are finally starting to face each other.
[Event "XXX Heart of Finland Open / Nordic Cham"]
[Site "Jyvaskyla, Finland"]
[Date "2022.07.19"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Simola, Tuomas"]
[Black "Korpa, Bence"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2128"]
[BlackElo "2537"]
[Annotator "Sammalvuo,Tapani"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2022.??.??"]
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 c5 4. Bg2 {White is playing a kind of Grünfeld
Reversed. An important difference is that Black still hasn’t played his knight
to c6.} cxd4 5. O-O $1 (5. Nxd4 $6 e5 {doesn’t work very well for White, as he
loses time retreating with his knight.}) 5... h6 ({Interestingly, computer’s
main line is actually the counterintuitive} 5... e6 6. Nxd4 (6. b3 Bc5) 6... e5
{. The move played in the game is an attempt to win a tempo for Black, but
White is not in a hurry to recapture on d4.}) 6. b3 $1 {Now Black finally has
nothing better than to play the knight to c6 or move his e-pawn, allowing
White to take back on d4 without loss of time.} Nc6 (6... e6 7. Bb2 Be7 {
is a safer way to play.}) 7. Nxd4 e5 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Bb2 Bd6 $6 {A very
natural move that has the drawback of making it difficult to defend the
d5-point, as we are about to see after White’s 11th move.} (9... Qc7 {was
better} {(intending} 10. c4 d4 $1 {). Still, putting the queen on the c-file
doesn’t feel ideal if White prepares c4 with e3. After all, the c-file is
likely to open up.}) 10. c4 {With his 6th move White has committed to a less
aggressive set-up, which makes it harder to put strong pressure on Black’s
centre. Still, there are many lines of Grünfeld where White fianchettoes his
both bishops and his position makes a harmonious impression.} Be6 11. Nc3 {
[#] Now Black faces a concrete problem: how to defend the d5-pawn?} Bb4 {
N This doesn’t feel right: Black moves his bishop for the second time and he
hasn’t even castled yet. It is not so easy to suggest a clear improvement,
though.} (11... Qa5 {looks like the most natural solution to me. The problem
is that after} 12. a3 O-O 13. b4 {Black has to retort to the awkward} Qa6 {
in order to keep the material balance. Even here} 14. cxd5 cxd5 15. Nxd5 Nxd5
16. Bxd5 Bxd5 17. Qxd5 Qxe2 $1 18. Qb3 {leaves White some initiative.}) 12. Rc1
Rb8 ({My hand would play} 12... O-O {almost automatically – I hold the basic
principles of chess in high regard! White is still better after} 13. cxd5 cxd5
14. Nb5 $1 {, with a double threat of 15.Bxe5 and 15.Nc7.}) 13. Na4 {Even here
defending e5 is not easy. This is Grünfeld at its best: we give our opponents
a large centre but put strong pressure on it.} d4 $5 {A slightly speculative
pawn sacrifice. Black hopes to create some attack against White’s king, but
with careful play White can extinguish Black’s temporary initiative. After all,
Black’s king is stuck in the centre, so how could this work?} ({In a practical
game against a much lower rated opponent Black’s choice is understandable,
especially since} 13... Bd6 14. cxd5 cxd5 15. Nc5 {forces the exchange of one
of Black’s bishops and leaves White with a clear advantage.}) 14. Bxc6+ (14. e3
$1 {is a nice intermediate move that would have immediately refuted Black’s
idea.} dxe3 15. Bxc6+ Ke7 16. fxe3 {is horrible for Black.}) 14... Bd7 15.
Bxd7+ Qxd7 {[#]} 16. Qd3 $6 {An inaccuracy.} ({The most thematic was} 16. e3 $1
{, continuing to attack Black’s centre.} Qh3 {(threatening 17…Ng4) can be
met by} 17. Qf3 e4 18. Qg2 Qxg2+ 19. Kxg2 dxe3 20. fxe3 {and} Bd2 21. Rcd1 Bxe3
22. Rfe1 {is just crushing.}) 16... h5 $1 17. f3 {In order to keep the h-file
closed.} h4 18. g4 h3 $6 {Speculating with …Nxg4, but now White finally does
break Black’s centre.} (18... O-O {was the way to go: Black needs to get his
h8-rook into play and here White’s weakened kingside offers Black some
long-term compensation.}) 19. e3 $1 Nxg4 $6 ({I as Black would try to find
bluffing chances with a full development after} 19... dxe3 20. Qxe3 O-O {
. Even so, I wouldn’t believe them to be very likely to succeed.}) 20. exd4 (
20. fxg4 $4 Qxg4+ 21. Kf2 Qg2# {is a mate.}) 20... Nf6 21. Rcd1 {[#]White is a
pawn up, he has a huge pawn mass in the centre and Black’s king is still stuck
in the centre. White is simply winning.} Nh5 {Out of necessity, Black
sacrifices another pawn.} (21... exd4 22. Qxd4 {would force a trade of queens
leaving Black with a hopeless ending.}) 22. Qe4 Rd8 23. Qxe5+ Kf8 24. Nc5 {
After activating his knight White has no bad pieces and it is clear that Black
would need a miracle to survive.} Qc6 25. Kh1 ({The text doesn’t spoil
anything, but I like the centralizing} 25. Ne4 {more.}) 25... Re8 26. Qg5 Kg8 (
26... Re2 {didn’t work in view of} 27. Qd8+ Re8 28. Nd7+ {.}) 27. Rf2 Be1 28.
Rf1 {Repeating the position once in order to get closer to the time control.}
Ba5 29. Nd3 Bc7 30. d5 Qd6 31. f4 Rh6 (31... Re2 32. Rfe1 Rg2 33. Re8+ {
highlights Black’s problem of not having completed his development.}) 32. Be5
Qb6 33. Bxc7 Qxc7 34. Rde1 Rf8 35. Qe5 Qa5 36. Re2 {White has coordinated his
pieces, so it’s game over.} Nf6 37. Rfe1 Rg6 38. Qe3 Ng4 39. Qf3 f5 40. Ne5
Nxe5 41. fxe5 {In Grünfeld White sometimes get a large centre like this, but
this game was Grünfeld Reversed!} Rg4 42. e6 Re4 43. Rxe4 fxe4 44. Qxe4 Rf4
45. e7 $1 ({Black resigned, as White gets a new queen after} 45. e7 $1 Rxe4 46.
Rxe4 {. An excellent game by Simola!}) 1-0
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