Democratic Underground - Almasi - Ni Hua, Round 8, Reggio Emilia

Ni Hua won the 51st annual Torneo di Capadanno in Reggio Emilia, Italy by a point and a half over his nearest rival.

Ni Hua
Photo: ChessBase.com

Zoltan Almasi - Ni Hua
Torneo di Capadanno, Round 8
Reggio Emilia, 3 January 2009

Open Sicilian Game: Sveshnikov Defense (Chelyabinsk Opening)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5

If 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5 Nb8 9.c4 Be7 then:

If 10.Be2 0-0 11.0-0 a6 12.Nc3 f5 13.f4 Bf6 14.Kh1 Nd7 15.Qc2 then:

15...exf4 16.Bxf4 Be5 17.Qd2 Qf6 18.Bxe5 Nxe5 19.Rac1 f4 20.Ne4 Qh6 21.c5 Bg4 22.c6 bxc6 23.dxc6 gives White an advanced passer (Schneider-Ramirez, IT, Richardson, Texas, 2007).
15...g6 16.Be3 exf4 17.Bxf4 Be5 18.Rad1 b6 19.a3 Ra7 20.Qd2 Bxf4 21.Qxf4 Ne5 is equal (Turunen-Topi Hulmi, Finnish ChT, Finland, 2000).

If 10.Bd3 0-0 11.0-0 a6 12.Nc3 f5 13.f3 Bg5 14.Kh1 Nd7 15.b4 a5 16.a3 axb4 17.Bxg5 Qxg5 18.axb4 Rxa1 19.Qxa1 Qe3 20.Be2 then:

20...b5 21.Qc1 Qxc1 22.Rxc1 bxc4 23.Nb5 Bb7 24.Nxd6 Bxd5 is equal (Leko-Kramnik, Amber Blind, Monte Carlo, 2003).
If 20...Nb8 then:

21.Qb2 Na6 22.Rb1 Bd7 23.Nd1 Qd4 24.Qxd4 exd4 25.Kg1 Rb8 is equal (Svidler-Timofeev, Russian Ch, Moscow, 2004).
21.Qc1 Qb6 22.Na2 Na6 23.Qc3 Bd7 24.g3 Ra8 25.Kg2 Qd4 26.Qxd4 exd4 27.Rd1 Nc7 28.Nc1 gives White better pawn structure and, for the moment, more activity (Xu Yuhua-Stefanova, No Urals Cup, Krasnoturinsk, 2005).

13...Nd7 14.Be3 Bg5 15.Bf2 Qf6 16.Qc2 Nc5 17.Be2 a5 18.Na4 Nxa4 19.Qxa4 e4 20.Qa3 Bf4 21.fxe4 Be5 22.Rab1 Qh6 23.g3 fxe4 is equal (Smeets-Pavlovic, Corus C, Wijk aan Zee, 2004).

7...a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6

If 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c3 0-0 12.Nc2 then:

If 12...Bg5 13.a4 bxa4 14.Rxa4 a5 15.Bc4 Rb8 16.b3 Kh8 17.0-0 then:

If 17...f5 18.exf5 Bxf5 19.Nce3 Bg6 20.Bd3 then:

20...Bxd3 21.Qxd3 Bxe3 22.fxe3 Rxf1+ 23.Qxf1 Rxb3 24.Rc4 Rb5 25.Nc7 Rb6 26.Nd5 Rb5 27.Nc7 draw (Bologan-Timofeev, IT, Sarajevo, 2005).
20...Bf7 21.Be4 Bg8 22.Ra3 Na7 23.Qd3 Bxe3 24.Qxe3 Nb5 is equal (Leko-Topalov, Amber Blind, Monte Carlo, 2002).

If 17...g6 18.Nce3 f5 19.exf5 gxf5 20.f4 exf4 then:

21.Nc2 Ne5 22.Nxf4 Bb7 23.Ne6 Qb6+ 24.Qd4 gives White the advantage in space (Rechel-Halkias, op, Pardubice, 2000).
After 21.Nxf4 Qb6 22.Qf3 Ne5 23.Qf2 Bxf4 24.Qxf4 Ng4 has White fighting to preserve her Knight (Zdebskaja-Anhchimeg, Mindsports, Beijing, 2008).

If 12...Rb8 13.Be2 Bg5 14.0-0 a5 15.Qd3 then:

15...Be6 16.Rfd1 Kh8 17.Nde3 Qb6 18.Bg4 Rfd8 19.Qe2 Qb7 20.Bf5 Bxe3 21.Nxe3 b4 gives White a slight advantage in space (Strautins-Sakai, Cyberspace, 2001).
15...Ne7 16.Nce3 Be6 17.Nxe7+ Qxe7 18.Nd5 Qa7 19.a3 Kh8 20.Rad1 f5 21.Qg3 Bh6 22.exf5 Bxf5 23.Bd3 Be6 is equal (Coenen-Gustafsson, Euro ChT, Panormo, 2001).

9...gxf6 10.Nd5 f5

If 10...Bg7 11.Bd3 Ne7 12.Nxe7 Qxe7 then:

If 13.0-0 0-0 14.c4 f5 15.Qf3 then:

If 15...d5 16.cxd5 fxe4 17.Bxe4 Rb8 then:

If 18.Rfd1 then:

If 18...Qd7 19.d6 Rb6 20.Qd3 Rd8 21.Rac1 Bf8 then:

22.Rc7 Qxc7 23.Bxh7+ Kg7 24.dxc7 Rxd3 25.Bxd3 Rc6 26.Nc2 f5 27.Ne3 e4 28.Bb1 Rxc7 29.g4 fxg4 30.Bxe4 gives White an extra pawn.(Galkin-Khairullin, Aeroflot Op, Moscow, 2006).
22.Qg3+ Bg7 23.Qd3 Bf8 24.Qg3+ Bg7 25.Qh4 Rxd6 26.Bxh7+ Kf8 27.Qb4 Bb7 28.Nc2 gives White an extra pawn (Vallejo-Radjabov, IT, Linares, 2004).

18...Qh4 19.g3 Qg5 20.Qb3 Bg4 21.Bf3 f5 22.Bxg4 Qxg4 23.Rac1 f4 24.d6+ gives White an extra pawn and command of the open c-file, but Black has plenty of play (Topalov-Radjabov, IT, Linares, 2004).

18.Rad1 Rb6 19.Qd3 Qd7 20.Bxh7+ Kh8 21.Qe3 Rh6 22.Bc2 Qd6 23.g3 Bh3 24.Rfe1 f5 25.f4 exf4 26.Qe7 Qb6+ White resigns (P. Smirnov-Radjabov, FIDE Knock Out, Tripoli, 2004).

15...bxc4 16.Nxc4 d5 17.exd5 e4 18.Qe3 Bb7 19.d6 Qf6 20.Bc2 f4 21.Qh3 Rac8 22.b3 Qg5 23.d7 Rc6 24.Bxe4 gives White two extra pawns (Anand-Kasimdzhanov, World Cup, Hyderabad, 2002).

If 13.c3 f5 14.Nc2 0-0 15.0-0 then:

15...Rb8 16.exf5 e4 17.Re1 Bxf5 18.Nd4 Bxd4 19.cxd4 d5 20.Qd2 Rb6 21.Rac1 Rg6 22.Bf1 Qh4 23.Re3 Qg5 24.g3 h5 25.Rc5 Be6 26.Re2 is equal (Short-Illescas, IT, Madrid, 1997).
15...f4 16.a4 bxa4 17.Rxa4 Qg5 18.Qe2 a5 19.Ne1 Bb7 20.Nf3 Qd8 21.Bc4 leaves White very comfortable for the time being (Goloshchapov-Jakovenko, Euro ChT, Saint Vincent, 2005).

11.Bd3

If 11.c3 Bg7 12.exf5 Bxf5 13.Nc2 0-0 14.Nce3 Be6 15.Bd3 f5 then:

If 16.Qh5 e4 17.Bc2 Ne7 18.Rd1 b4 19.0-0 bxc3 20.bxc3 then:

20...Kh8 21.g3 Rc8 22.Bb3 Bf7 23.Qe2 Bxd5 24.Nxd5 Nxd5 25.Bxd5 a5 26.c4 Rb8 draw (Ponomariov-Leko, World ChT, Yerevan, 2001).
20...Rc8 21.g4 Nxd5 22.Nxd5 Bxd5 23.Rxd5 Rxc3 24.Bb3 Kh8 25.Rxf5 Rf3 26.Be6 Qe7 27.Rxf3 Rxf3 28.Qd5 is equal (Langer-Aigner, US Ch, Stillwater, 2007).

If 16.0-0 Ra7 17.a4 Ne7 then:

If 18.Nxe7+ Rxe7 19.axb5 axb5 20.Bxb5 d5 21.Ra6 f4 then:

22.Nc2 Bc8 23.Ra8 Qd6 24.Nb4 gives White more activity (Anand-Leko, Corus A, Wijk aan Zee, 2005).
22.Rxe6 Rxe6 23.Qxd5 Qxd5 24.Nxd5 Kh8 25.f3 White's minor pieces and passed pawns look to have more potential than Black's Rooks (Agdestein-Johannesson, Norwegian Ch, 2005).

18.axb5 Nxd5 19.Bc4 Nf4 20.Bxe6+ Nxe6 21.Qd5 Qe8 22.Rxa6 Raf7 23.Qc4 f4 24.Nd5 e4 is equal (Topalov-Leko, Amber Rapid, Monte Carlo, 2004).

11...Be6 12.c3

If 12.Qh5 Rg8 13.g3 then:

If 13...Rg5 then:

14.Qxh7 Bxd5 15.exd5 Ne7 16.0-0-0 Qb6 17.Rhf1 Rg6 18.Qh3 e4 19.Be2 Bg7 20.Bh5 Rh6 21.g4 Qc5 22.gxf5 Qb4 23.c3 Bxc3 24.bxc3 draw (Mrugala-Brueckner, Corres, 1998).
14.Qd1 Bxd5 15.exd5 Ne7 16.c3 Bh6 17.Be2 Qb6 18.Nc2 Qb7 19.a4 Nxd5 20.0-0 Nf4 21.Bf3 e4 22.Qxd6 Rg6 23.Qe5+ Kf8 is equal (Sakai-Savchak, Corres, 2003).

If 13...Nd4 14.c3 fxe4 15.Bxe4 Bg4 16.Qxh7 Rg7 17.Qh6 Nf3+ then:

If 18.Ke2 Ng5+ 19.f3 Nxe4 20.fxg4 Qc8 21.Qe3 Qxg4+ 22.Qf3 Qxf3+ 23.Kxf3 f5 24.Nc2 Kf7 then:

25.Nce3 Ke6 26.Nxf5 Kxf5 27.Ne3+ Ke6 28.Kxe4 d5+ 29.Nxd5 gives White two extra pawns (K. Lie-Gabrielsen, Norwegian Ch, Moss, 2006).
25.Nde3 Ke6 26.Nxf5 Ng5+ 27.Kg4 Rg8 28.Rhf1 d5 29.Rae1 Ne4+ 30.Kh3 Bc5 31.Kg2 Raf8 32.Nfe3 b4 33.Nxd5 draw (Asrian-van Wely, Aeroflot Op, Moscow, 2004).

If 18.Kf1 Rg6 19.Qe3 Bh6 20.Qd3 Nd2+ 21.Kg2 Nxe4 22.Qxe4 Rc8 then:

If 23.f3 Be6 24.Rad1 Rc5 25.Nb4 Qc8 26.Rhe1 Kf8 27.Kf2 draw ((Turlej-Karasalo, Corres, 1991).
23.Ne3 Bd7 24.f3 Qg5 25.Nac2 f5 26.Qd3 f4 27.Nf1 Bf5 gives Black the initiative (Thi Diem Huong Nguyen-Nakhbayeva, World Youth Girls, Vung Tau, 2008).

12...Bg7

If 12...Bxd5 13.exd5 Ne7 14.0-0 Bg7 15.Qh5 e4 then:

If 16.Bc2 Qc8 17.Rae1 0-0 then:

18.Kh1 Ng6 19.Bb1 Re8 20.f3 b4 21.cxb4 Bxb2 22.Nc2 Bc3 23.Re2 Qc4 24.fxe4 Rxe4 25.Ref2 Re5 26.Qh3 f4 27.Na3 Qxb4 28.Bxg6 fxg6 29.Nc2 Qb2 30.Qd3 Rae8 31.Qxa6 Bd4 32.Nxd4 Qxd4 33.Rxf4 Qxd5 draw (Motylev-Reinderman, Euro Ch, Ohrid, 2001).
If 18.Bb3 a5 19.Nxb5 a4 20.Bd1 Qc5 21.Be2 Nxd5 22.Qg5 then:

22...h6 23.Qg3 f4 24.Qh4 Rae8 25.c4 Nc7 26.Nxc7 Qxc7 27.Qxf4 gives White an extra pawn (Asrian-Ni Hua, World ChT, Beer Sheva, 2005).
22...Rab8 23.c4 Nc7 24.Nxc7 Qxc7 25.Qxf5 Rfe8 26.b3 axb3 27.axb3 Rxb3 28.Bd1 White retains the initiative (Pelletier-McShane, IT, Biel, 2004).

If 16.Be2 0-0 17.Nc2 f4 18.Qg5 f5 19.Rfd1 f3 20.gxf3 Kh8 21.Kh1 then:

21...Be5 22.f4 Rg8 23.Qh4 Bg7 24.Bh5 Qf8 25.Ne3 Bf6 26.Qh3 Qh6 27.Nxf5 Nxf5 28.Qxf5 Raf8 is equal (P. Smirnov-Nijboer, Euro Ch, Istanbul, 2003).
21...Rg8 22.Qe3 Ng6 23.Nd4 Be5 24.Nc6 Qh4 25.Nxe5 Nxe5 26.f4 Ng6 is equal (Jakovenko-Maletin, Russian ChT, Sochi, 2004).

13.Nxb5

If 13.Qh5 0-0 14.0-0 f4 then:

If 15.Rfd1 Rb8 16.Nc2 Qd7 17.h3 f5 18.Ncb4 Nxb4 19.Nxb4 a5 20.exf5 then:

20...Bxf5 21.Nc6 Rbe8 22.Bxb5 Qc7 23.Qf3 gives White an extra pawn (Ramesh-Deepan, Op, Dubai, 2004).
20...Bf7 21.Qh4 axb4 22.f6 Bg6 23.fxg7 Qxg7 24.Bxg6 Qxg6 25.cxb4 gives White an extra pawn (Moranda-Bobras, Polish Ch, Poznan, 2005).

15.Nc2 f5 16.Ncb4 Nxb4 17.Nxb4 d5 18.exd5 Bd7 19.Rfd1 Be8 20.Qh3 Qg5 21.d6 gives White an extra pawn at d6 (Spraggett-Day, Zonal, Calgary, 1975).
If 15.Rad1 Kh8 16.g3 Rg8 17.Kh1 Bf8 18.Be2 Rg5 19.Qf3 f5 20.gxf4 exf4 21.Nxf4 Bxa2 then:

22.c4 fxe4 23.Qxe4 Qe8 24.Bf3 Qxe4 25.Bxe4 Rc8 26.Ne6 Re5 27.Bxc6 Rxc6 28.Nxf8 b4 29.Nc2 gives White an extra piece (Anand-Hernandez, IT, Mereida, 2001).
22.exf5 Rxf5 23.Qe4 Rf7 24.Bh5 Rf6 25.c4 Ne5 is equal (Anand-Topalov, Amber Rapid, Monte Carlo, 2001).

13...axb5 14.Bxb5 Bd7 15.exf5

White has three pawns for the piece.

15...Nb8 16.Qg4

16.a4 Bxb5 17.axb5 Rxa1 18.Qxa1 0-0 19.Qa4 Nd7 20.0-0 Nf6 21.Nxf6+ Bxf6 is equal (Murariu-Rogozenko, Op, Timisoara, 2005).

16...0-0!?

16...Kf8 17.Bc4 h5 18.Qf3 Bc6 19.f6 Bh6 20.0-0 Nd7 21.Rfd1 Ra7 22.Qd3 Bxd5 23.Qxd5 Qxf6 24.Qxd6+ Qxd6 25.Rxd6 Ke7 26.Rad1 Nf6 27.Rc6 e4 28.g3 Rb8 29.b4 Bg7 30.a4 Nd7 31.Bb5 draw (Istratescu-Felgaer, Ol, Dresden, 2008).

17.0-0

The game is equal.

BLACK: Ni Hua
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WHITE: Zoltan Almasi
Position after 17.0-0

17...h5

White's Bishop is perfectly safe.
17...Bxb5 loses in short order to 18.f6 Qxf6 (else White mates on g7) 19.Nxf6+.

18.Qf3 e4?!

Black sacrifices a pawn, but all he gets for it is the pleasure of harrassing the Queen for a couple of moves.

19.Qxe4 Re8 20.Qd3 Bxb5 21.Qxb5 Nd7 22.Rfd1!?

White has the material advantage with four pawns to a piece, but the text move allows Black to equalize.
22.Qd3 Nf6 23.Nb4 Ng4 24.a4 Qh4 25.h3 maintains White's advantage.

22...Rb8!

That was easy, wasn't it?

23.Qa6 Rxb2

The game is equal.

24.Rab1?!

Black's more important Rook is the one in the center.
24.Re1 Rxe1+ 25.Rxe1 when White's remaining Rook, although on the seventh rank, can cause no further damage.

24...Rxb1 25.Rxb1 Nf6
BLACK: Ni Hua
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WHITE: Zoltan Almasi
Position after 25...Nd7f6

26.Qd3

White's strongest asset is the passed pawn on the a-file. He can win if he can force an endgame in which he weakens and captures Black's kingside pawns, exchanges heavy pieces and advances his pawns on both sides of the board in an attempt to stretch and snap Black's defense.
26.c4 Nxd5 27.cxd5 Re5 28.Qd3 Qa8 29.Qf3 Qxd5 maintains Black's advantage in the position.

26...Nxd5 27.Qxd5 Re5

Black demonstrates that his remaining Rook is the strong one.
Black still has a piece for three pawns. His plan also involves picking off enemy pawns while preserving his own. The c-pawn is a specific pawn he needs to target in order to obtain a passed pawn on the d-file. Once that is done, Black will exchange heavy piece and use his Bishop to block White's a-pawn, but he must be careful of how he uses the Bishop in the event White breaks through with his kingside majority.
Fritz is rating this position heavily in Black's favor, but your humble hare disagrees. Chances are about equal.

28.Qd3 Qf6 29.g3 Qxf5 30.Qxf5 Rxf5 31.Rd1 Bf8

31...Bxc3 32.Rxd6 Ra5 33.Rd3 Bb2 34.Rd2 Rxa2 removes White's biggest threats.

32.c4 Ra5 33.Rd5

33.Rd2 Ra4 34.Rc2 Bg7 35.Kg2 Kf8 36.f4 Ke7 gives Black the active Rook.

33...Rxd5

33...Rxa2 34.Rxh5 Re2 35.Rh4 f5 36.Kg2 Bg7 37.Rf4 gives White some counterplay.

34.cxd5 Be7 35.a4 Bd8!

Black must challenge the right of the remote passer to advance.

36.f4!?

This move is not as strong as it appears. There is nothing that White can threaten or restrain by advacing the f-pawn.
36.Kg2! Kg7 37.f4 Ba5 38.Kf3 f5 39.Kf2 Kf6 yields no advantage to either side.

36...f5!

On the other hand, this makes it difficult for White to advance his g-pawn.

37.h3?!

White weakens his g3 square, allowing Black to maneuver for a passed pawn or otherwise penetrating White's postion through h4.
37.Kf2 Ba5 38.Kf3 Kf7 39.Kf2 keeps Black a longs way from a win.
37...Bb6+ 38.Kg2 Kf7 39.Kh3 Bd8 40.Kg2 Ba5 is equal.

37...Kf7 38.Kf2 Kg6!?

If 38...Ba5 then after 39.Kf3 Kf6 40.Ke3 Kg6 41.Kf3 Be1 Black threatens to play 42...h4 breaking up White's kingside pawns.

39.Ke2?

If 39.Kg2 Kf6 40.Kf3 Ba5 then:

41.Kg2 h4 42.g4 fxg4 43.hxg4 Bd2 doesn't guarantee either side a win.
No one is making progress after 41.Ke3 Be1 42.Kf3 Bb4 43.Kg2.

BLACK: Ni Hua
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WHITE: Zoltan Almasi
Position after 39.Kf2e2

39...h4!

This is well-timed with g3 point uncovered and the King is just beyond reach of h4, the square on which Black invades.

40.g4

After 40.Kf3 hxg3 41.Kxg3 Ba5 42.Kf2 Kh5 43.Kg2 Kh4 White's pawns start to fall.

40...fxg4 41.hxg4 Ba5 0-1

If 41...Ba5 42.Kf2 Bd2 43.Kf3 Kf6 44.Ke4 then:

If 44...h3 45.Kf3 Be1 then:

46.a5 Bxa5 47.Kg3 Bd2 48.f5 Ke5 Black wins.
46.f5 Ke5 47.a5 Bxa5 48.f6 Kxf6 49.Kg3 Bd2 Black wins.

If 44...Be1 45.Ke3 h3 46.Kf3 Bd2 then:

If 47.Kg3 Bxf4+ 48.Kxh3 Ke5 49.Kh4 Kxd5 then:

If 50.g5 Ke6 then:

51.a5 Kf5 52.a6 Bxg5+ 53.Kg3 Be3 54.Kf3 Ba7 Black wins.
51.Kh5 Bd2 52.g6 d5 53.g7 Kf7 puts White in Zungswang.

50.a5 Kc5 51.Kh5 d5 52.g5 Kb5 53.g6 Be5 Black wins.

47.f5 Be1 48.a5 Bxa5 49.Kg3 Ke5 50.Kxh3 Kxd5 the Bishop stops the remainign pawns and the d-pawn advances forward, escorted by the Black King, winning.

Grandmaster Almasi resigns.

Reply #2: Almasi - Ni Hua, Round 8, Reggio Emilia [View All]