Emil Sutovsky, an Israeli grandmaster, won the spectacular Aeroflot Open in Moscow last Thursday and qualified for a super-tournament in Dortmund, Germany. The former world junior champion shared first place with Vladimir Akopian of Armenia, Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, and two Russians, Andrei Kharlov and Alexander Motylev. They all scored 6 1/2 points in nine games, but Sutovsky won the tie-break, playing more games with the black pieces.
Daring Champion
Sutovsky plays entertaining, imaginative and almost reckless chess. Bobby Fischer once said of players like him that they have "too much talent." They often pay a high price for their adventures. Against Ivanchuk in the Paulsen Sicilian, Sutovsky threw his knight away, but did not manage to turn sparks into a full fire.
Sutovsky-Ivanchuk
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.Qe2 Bd6?! (Ivanchuk prevents 8.e5, provoking white to sacrifice a piece.) 8.Nf3 (Two minds collide over the advance e4-e5. It would be more interesting to see what Ivanchuk had in mind against the piece sacrifice 8.Ncb5!? axb5 9.Nxb5. Accepting it with 9...Qa5+ 10.Bd2 Bb4 leads to an entertaining play after 11.Bxb4 Qxb4+ 12.c3 Qc5 13.e5 Nd5 14.Nd6+ Kf8 15.Qh5 with white's powerful pressure, for example 15...g6 16.Qh6+ Kg8 [On 16...Ke7 comes 17.Bxg6!] 17.Be4! Nc6 18.Bxd5 Qxd5 [On 18...Nxe5 19.Ne8 wins.] 19.0-0 Qxe5 20.Ne8! Ne7 21.g4!, threatening to win with 22.Rae1.) 8...Nc6 9.0-0 b5 10.Re1 Ng4! (Still controlling the square e5.)
11.Nd5?! (A tempting knight sacrifice, forcing black to defend accurately.) 11...exd5 12.exd5+ Ne7 13.Bf4! (Threatening 14.Qxe7+!) 13...Qc5! (Only move. The queen has to defend from the a3-f8 diagonal.) 14.Nh4 (The knight aims for the square f5.) 14...h5! 15.b4 (Trying to deflect the black queen. After 15.Nf5?! Bxf4 16.Nxe7 Bxh2+ 17.Kf1 Be5 18.Nxc8 Rxc8 19.Bf5 Kf8 20.c3 Rh6, black beats the attack.) 15...Qxb4 (Not 15...Qxd5? 16.Nf5! and white wins.) 16.Bd2 Bxh2+ 17.Kh1 Qc5! 18.f4 (After 18.Nf5 comes Be5!) 18...Bg3 19.Nf5?! (White should have settled down with 19.Qxe7+ Qxe7 20.Rxe7+ Kxe7 21.Nf5+ Ke8 22.Nxg3, although black should win.) 19...Nf2+ 20.Kg1 Nh3+ (Gaining time on the clock.) 21.Kh1 Nf2+ 22.Kg1 Nxd3+ 23.Be3 Nxf4 24.Qf3 (After 24.Bxc5 Nxe2+ 25.Rxe2 d6 26.Nxe7 Bg4 27.Re3 Kd7 wins.) 24...Qxd5 25.Qxg3 Nxf5 26.Bxf4+ Kf8 27.Qa3+ d6 (White's attack is over.) 28.Rad1 Qc6 29.Re2 Be6 30.Bxd6+ Kg8 31.Be5 Rh6 32.Red2 Rg6 33.g3 Kh7 34.Rd8 Qb6+ White resigned.
Against Sergei Volkov in the Russian variation of the Grunfeld Indian, Sutovsky intentionally walks into a dangerous pin.
Volkov-Sutovsky
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0-0 7.e4 Na6 8.Be2 c5 9.d5 e6 10.0-0 exd5 11.exd5 b6 (Preparing 12...Nb4, this variation is relatively unexplored.) 12.Qh4 (Threatening an unpleasant pin 13.Bg5. The immediate 12.Bg5 is met by 12...h6.) 12...Nxd5!? (A bold exchange sacrifice, forced after 13.Nxd5!? Qxd5 14.Ng5 h6 15.Bf3 hxg5 16.Bxg5 and white wins the rook on a8. However, after 16...Qd4 17.Bxa8 Qxh4 18.Bxh4 Be6 19.Bb7 Nb4, black picks up a pawn on the queenside with a sufficient compensation.) 13.Bg5 Qd6! (Opening the diagonal a2-g8 with 13...f6? is dangerous and after 14.Bc4! Nac7 [or 14...Be6 15.Nxd5 fxg5 16.Nxg5 h6 17.Qe4! wins.] 15.Rad1 Be6 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Bc1 Qd6 18.Rxd5! Bxd5 19.Rd1 white wins.)
14.Rad1?! (White bets on pinning the knight on d5, but black has enough pieces to protect it. More ominous looks 14.Nxd5! Qxd5 15.Rad1! and black does not have an easy choice where to go with his queen. For example 15...Qxa2?! 16.Bc4! Qxb2 [Surprisingly, after 16...Qa5 17.Bd2! Nb4 18.Ra1 the queen is caught.] 17.Be7 black is in trouble. Also after 15...Qb7 16.Bh6! Bf5 17.Bc4! [threat 18.Ng5] 17...Be6 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.Bxe6 fxe6 20.Ne5!, threatening 21.Rd7+. The black queen can't make it to the kingside: 15...Qf5 is met by 16.Bd3! and 16...Qg4? 17.Qxg4 Bxg4 18.Bxa6 wins for white.) 14...Nac7 15.Nxd5 Nxd5 16.Bc4 Bb7 17.Rd2 (A new attempt, but hardly better than the previously played 17.Rd3.) 17...f6 18.Rfd1 (After 18.Bf4 Qe6 19.Rfd1 Rad8, black is fine.) 18...fxg5 19.Nxg5? (Dropping a piece. Volkov was still in the game with 19.Qxg5. Black has to avoid 19...Rf5 20.Rxd5!, but 19...h6 gives him an edge in the endgame.) 19...Rf5! (Defending everything and stopping the attack.) 20.Qxh7+ Kf8 21.Ne4 Qe6 22.Ng3 (After 22.f3? Rh5 wins.) 22...Re5 23.Rd3! Re1+! 24.Rxe1 Qxe1+ 25.Nf1 Nf6 26.Qxg6 Qe8! 27.Qg3 b5?! (Missing 27...Be4! 28.Re3 Qc6 29.Qf4 Rd8 and black consolidates and wins.) 28.Re3? (Allowing black to exchange the queens and win easily. White should have tried 28.Bxb5! Qxb5 29.Qd6+ Kf7! [29...Kg8 30.Qe6+!] 30.Qc7+ Kg8 31.Rb3 with fighting chances.) 28...Qb8! 29.Bxb5 Qxg3 30.Nxg3 Ng4! 31.Rb3 Bd5 32.Rd3 Bd4 33.Rd2 Bxa2 34.Nf5 Bxf2+ 35.Rxf2 Nxf2 36.Kxf2 Rb8 37.Bc6 Rb6 38.Bf3 Rxb2+ 39.Ke3 a5 40.Kd3 Bb1+ 41.Kc3 Rc2+ 42.Kb3 c4+ White resigned.
Solution to today's study by V. Korolkov (White:Kf8,Rh2,Nd3,P:g6; Black: Kb1,Ra1,Ra2,P:b2,f7): 1.Kg7! fxg6 2.Kh6 g5 3.Kh5 g4 4.Kh4 g3 5.Kxg3 followed by 6.Rxb2 mate; or 1...f5 2.Kh6 f4 3.Rd2 f3 4.Rf2 and white mates next move.
