Mr. Tambourine Man

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Baadur Jobava
FIDE Grand Prix; Khanty-Mansiysk, May 14, 2015
Caro-Kann Defence B12

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 f6!? 6. 0-0 fxe5. 6. ... Nd7 7. c4 fxe5 8. dxe5 Bc5 9. Nc3 transposes to Svidler – Jobava, FIDE Grand Prix, Tbilisi 2015. The text move is “[...] interesting but it shouldn’t be good”, Vachier-Lagrave said. 7. dxe5 Bc5 8. Nbd2 Ne7 9. Nb3 Bb6 10. Nfd4 0-0 11. c4 Nd7 12. g4. Maxime accepts Baadur’s challenge! 12. ... Bxd4. Less convincing was 12. ... c5 13. Nxf5 exf5 14. f4 fxg4 15. Kh1 (Jobava’s analysis). 13. Nxd4 c5 14. Nb5 Bg6 15. f4 Nb6 16. b3 Be8 17. Nd6 Bc6 18. Be3 d4 19. Bd2 Nbc8 20. Nxc8 Qxc8 21. Bd3. They now take the opposite point of view! “I only need to prepare f4-f5”, Vachier-Lagrave said. “My Knight is much stronger than your Bishop on d2. I’m not risking anyting”, Jobava said. 21. ... Be8 22. Be4 a5 23. a4

23. ... Ra7. Genius erupts against the dark wall of conformism! 24. Qe1 b6 25. Qg3 Bg6 26. Bg2 Be8 27. Be4 Bg6 28. Bg2 Bc2 29. Rae1. Another idea was 29. Rac1!? d3 30. f5 (Vachier-Lagrave’s analysis). 29. ... Qe8 30. f5!? MVL launches his attack. 30. ... exf5 31. e6 h6 32. h3 Kh7 33. Rf2 fxg4 34. Rxf8 Qxf8 35. hxg4 Qd8. “I saw non plan for White, and my plan was to win the game with the extra Pawn”, then Jobava said. 36. Rf1 Bg6 37. Qe5. If 37. Bxh6? gxh6 38. Be4 then 38. ... Ng8 (Vachier-Lagrave). 37. ... Qc7 38. Bf4 Qxe5 39. Bxe5 Ng8 40. Bd6. Here all chess engines recommend 30. Rf8!? with better prospects for White. 40. ... Nf6 41. Bc6 Nxg4 42. e7 Nf6 43. Rf4. If 43. Rxf6 gxf6 44. Be4 (after 44. e8=Q? Bxe8 45. Bxe8 d3 White cannot survive) there follows 44. ... f5! 45. Bxf5 Ra8. 43. ... d3 44. Kf2. Again, 44. Rxf6? gxf6 45. e8=Q? is met by 45. ... Bxe8 46. Bxe8 d2 47. Bh5 Rd7 and wins. 44. ... Ne8 45. Bxe8 Bxe8 46. Rf8 d2 47. Ke2 Rd7 48. Rxe8 d1=Q+ 49. Kxd1 Rxd6+ 50. Ke2 Re6+ 51. Kf3 g5 52. Rb8 Rxe7 53. Rxb6 h5 54. Rc6 Rf7+ 55. Kg2 h4. Here 55. ... Rf5 56. Kg3 g4 looks a little more promising. 56. Rxc5 Kg6 57. Rxa5 g4 58. Ra8 Rf3 59. Rg8+ Kf5 60. Rf8+ Ke4 61. Re8+ Kf4 62. Rf8+ Ke3 63. Re8+ Kd2 64. Rg8 h3+ 65. Kh2 Rf2+ 66. Kh1 Rf1+ 67. Kh2 Rf2+ 68. Kh1 ½ : ½.

Baadur Jobava
Photo: Kirill Merkurev