Nine-year-old rips through GMs! by Akshat Chandra 7/2/2014 – When a 2600 GM loses a game to a player 550 points lower on the rating scale, this will cause us to take note. But if the winner is just nine years old, then surprise turns to stunned shock – especially if the win did not come through a fluke blunder by the GM, but was a gritty, square-by-square grind-down in which the youthful master prevailed. Akshat Chandra has carefully annotated the game. [Event 8th Agzamov Memorial 2014] [Site Tashkent UZB] [Date 2014.05.15] [Round 1.10] [White Abdusattorov, Nodirbek] [Black Zhigalko, A.] [Result 1-0] [ECO A08] [WhiteElo 2057] [BlackElo 2600] [Annotator Chandra,Akshat] [PlyCount 135] [EventDate 2014.05.15] [EventRounds 9] [EventCountry UZB] [Source Mark Crowther] [SourceDate 2014.05.19] {Its the first round of the 8th Agzamov Memorial, and nine-year-old Nodirbek Abdusattorov finds himself playing a 2600 GM, Andrei Zhigalko, who is 550 points higher than him!} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d3 {An old favorite of Fischers, who enjoyed good results with this move. White is aiming for a Kings Indian setup with g3-Bg2-0-0.} (3. d4 {is of course the main move.}) 3... Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. Bg2 $2 {An opening inaccuracy, after which Black can reach a highly favorable endgame.} (5. Nbd2) ({or} 5. Qe2) 5... g6 $5 ({While 5...g6 is not a bad move, Black could have immediately taken advantage of Whites imprecise move order by playing} 5... dxe4 6. dxe4 Qxd1+ 7. Kxd1 b6 { with the idea of either Ba6, or Bb7 followed by 0-0-0. By no means is it winning for Black, but its very hard to come up with a constructive plan for White. However, perhaps Black didnt want to go to an endgame he wasnt sure he couldnt win, and decided to maintain the tension in the center.}) 6. O-O Bg7 7. c3 Nge7 8. Qc2 $5 {This is a bit unorthodox. The queen usually heads to e2.} (8. Qe2 {is the standard square for the queen in this line.}) 8... O-O 9. a4 {Restricting Blacks queenside play, which begins with b5.} b6 10. Na3 {The knight seems to be a bit misplaced here, but Nbd2 Ba6, pressuring the d3 pawn would be annoying.} a6 11. Be3 h6 {Im not sure what the point of this move is, but it shouldnt be too bad.} ({Continuing the development with} 11... Bb7 { [%cal Rd8d7,Ra8c8,Rf8d8] seems more natural.}) 12. Rad1 {Preparing to open up the center with d4, which would cause discomfort in Blacks position.} d4 { Quite understandbly, Black prevents White from playing d4, by playing d4 himself!. This changes the pawn structure and releases the central tension, but it allows Black to develop more naturally.} (12... Bb7 {is playable for Black, but} 13. d4 {would be awkward to meet.}) 13. cxd4 cxd4 14. Bd2 e5 { Bolstering the center, but more importantly preparing the development of the bishop to e6, where it stands much better than it would be on b7.} 15. Nh4 $6 { Perhaps White wants to play f4, but that wont happen for a while, as well see. Black seems to ease into his development now, and Im starting to prefer Zhigalkos position.} (15. b4 {seems quite reasonable, gaining some space on the Queenside and preparing an eventual Nc4.}) 15... Be6 16. Rc1 Rc8 17. Qd1 Na5 $1 {The knight prepares to hop into b3, where it would cause disarray in Whites army.} 18. Bxa5 bxa5 19. Nc4 Nc6 ({By no means is the move played in the game bad, but} 19... Bxc4 {deserves some thought. It seems strange to isolate oneself with the bad g7 bishop, but this bishop is only temporarily bad. After} 20. Rxc4 Rxc4 21. dxc4 Nc6 {White is already facing some serious trouble. Blacks next few moves are very logical, Qb6/Rb8 and the relocation of the f8 bishop to the f8-a3 diagonal, where it doesnt seem so bad at all!}) 20. Nf3 Rb8 21. Nfd2 h5 $2 {A common idea in which Black tries to relocate his bishop to h6, where it would apply pressure on the c1-h6 diagonal. However I feel that this gives White a target to chew on...} (21... Nb4 22. Qe2 Qd7 { [%csl Ra4][%cal Rd7a4] was another alternative, but perhaps Black was worried about} 23. f4 {after which the positions remains unbalanced. Black has nice queenside pressure, while White is stirring things up in the center and on the kingside.}) 22. f4 $1 {Usually when the pawn has been pushed to h5, the advance with f4-f5 can be quite difficult to deal with.} Bh6 23. f5 Bd7 {White develops a nagging edge now.} (23... Bxc4 {was the other alternative.} 24. Rxc4 Be3+ 25. Kh1 Nb4 26. Qe2 {The position seems roughly even, perhaps slightly favorable for Black, but I think that Whites counterplay on the kingside compensates for his minor pieces, which are poorly placed if you compare them to their counterparts!}) 24. Qe2 Kh7 {The king seems worse on h7 then it was on g8, but its already hard coming up with a constructive move/plan for Black. Id say that the ball is in Whites court now.} 25. Kh1 {White follows up with a king move of his own, but it doesnt really seem required at all!} ({The immediate} 25. Bh3 $16 {looks stronger. White can then follow up with Kg2, followed by a doubling of the rooks on the f-file.}) 25... h4 $2 {This creates new weaknesses.} ({Although not an easy decision, it was probably best to go back with} 25... Kg8 {and wait. Perhaps Black was still thinking about a win.}) 26. Bh3 hxg3 27. hxg3 g5 $2 {A horrifying positional move, which condemns Blacks dark-squared bishop to eternal prison.} (27... Rh8 28. Kg2 Kg7 29. Bg4 Bg5 30. Rh1 Qe7 {seems like the best try. White still has to prove he has something here.}) 28. Kg2 {Preparing f6, Bg4 or Rh1! There are so many tempting possiblities for White...} f6 29. Bg4 {[%cal Rg4h5,Rh5g6] The once entombed bishop on g2 has now sprung to life, and is clearing the h-file for Whites heavy artillery to infiltrate.} Kg7 30. Rh1 Rh8 31. Rh3 {[%cal Rc1h1]} Ne7 32. b3 {Whites not trying to force matters, and is simply enjoying his position!} Be8 $2 {Now White crashes through.} (32... Kg8 {might have been the last chance, with the idea of playing Bg7 to try and trade of a pair of rooks, which will greatly diffuse Whites attack. Of the top of the bat, I dont see a clear way to break through for White, but he should probably start with} 33. Bh5 {[%cal Rc4d6]} Qc7 {I fed this position into the computer, which just gives long forcing lines, not budging from the evaluation of 1.20. Perhaps this means that Black might be able to escape in the long run, although it will require some precise defense.}) 33. Bh5 Bc6 {Black basically just wasted a move, White was going to play Bh5 anyways.} 34. Qf3 ({White misses the immediate knockout with} 34. Nxe5 fxe5 35. f6+ $1 Kxf6 36. Qf3+ Ke6 (36... Kg7 37. Qf7#) 37. Nc4 Kd7 38. Qf6 {and Blacks entire position crumbles. It is very possible both players were short on time here, and this is not an easy line to calculate.}) 34... Qd7 35. Nxe5 $1 {White doesnt miss his chance now.} Qxf5 (35... fxe5 36. f6+ Kg8 37. fxe7 Qxe7 38. Rxc6 $18) 36. Qxf5 (36. exf5 { was also winning.}) 36... Nxf5 37. Nxc6 g4 38. Bxg4 (38. Rhh1 {is the computer move, after which White retains the piece by force.} Bxd2 39. exf5 Bxc1 40. Nxb8 $18) 38... Bxd2 39. Bxf5 Bxc1 40. Nxb8 Rxb8 {The players have reached 40 moves, and Black has managed to create an oppositie colored bishop situation, but it wont be enough.} 41. Rh7+ Kg8 42. Rd7 Bb2 43. Be6+ Kh8 44. Kf3 Re8 45. Bc4 Re5 46. Rf7 Bc3 47. Rxf6 Kg7 48. Rxa6 Rg5 49. g4 Bd2 50. Rd6 Bc3 51. Rd7+ Kf6 52. Rf7+ Ke5 53. Re7+ Kf6 54. Re6+ Kf7 55. Re5+ Kf6 56. Rxg5 Kxg5 57. e5 Bb2 58. Be6 Kg6 59. Ke4 Kg7 60. Kd5 Kf8 61. g5 Kg7 62. Bf5 Bc1 63. g6 Be3 64. e6 Kf6 65. Kd6 Bd2 66. Kd7 Bb4 67. g7 Kxg7 68. e7 {A very impressive performance by Nodirbek!} 1-0
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 11:17:06 +0000