🔸chess.com IoM Masters Douglas ENG 2018
🔸Round 1
⚪️Vachier-Lagrave,Maxime (2780)
⚫️Lubbe,Nikolas (2447)
🔸1-0

22.Nd4! [A very strong move. Vachier improves the position of the knight by tactical means.]

22...Rg8 [22...exd4? 23.Re6 Qc7 24.Rc1 Nbc6 25.Bxc6 Nxc6 26.Rcxc6 Qd7 27.Qb5 △R×b6 27...Bc7 28.Rxb6 Qxb5 29.Rxb5]

23.Be8 [23.f4!? Bc7 24.fxe5 fxe5 25.Nf3 Nxf5 26.Rac1 Nd4 27.Nxe5 Rf8 28.Bc3 Nxb5 29.Qxb5 h6 30.Rf1+–]

23...Nxf5? [A mistake that increases White's advantage.]

[23...Nxa6™ would allow Black to struggle on: 24.Nb5 Qb8™ 25.Bd7 Nc7 26.Nd6 Rf8 27.d4 a6 28.Qd1 Ne6 29.dxe5 fxe5 30.Ne8±]

24.Nxf5 Qe6 25.Bb5?! [25.Bh5! △Nd4 25...Qxf5 26.Bf7 Qxd3 27.Qa2 Bc7 28.Rec1 Rd8 29.Rxc7 Nxa6 30.Rcc1+–]

25...Qxf5 26.Rac1 g5 27.Qc2± Be7 28.d4? [Vachier should have kept his queen on the board to penetrate into the enemy position via the 7th rank.]

[28.Qc7 △Qb7 28...g4 29.h4 g3 30.fxg3 Qe6 31.Re3 Bd6 32.Qb7 Nxa6 33.Bxa6]

28...e4? [After this mistake, Black won't be able to rescue himself.]

[He could have put up more resistance with 28...Qxc2 29.Rxc2 Bd6 30.dxe5 Bxe5 31.g3 h5 32.Kg2±]

29.Qc7+– g4 30.h4 Qe6 31.g3

1–0

⚫️#164 (Strategy-Black to Move)
🔸Esipenko,Andrey (2603)
🔸Dai,Changren (2473)
🔸Aeroflot Open A Moscow RUS 2019

23...Ba6?? [The active 23...Rac8! would be correct: 24.Kd2 Rfd8 25.Nxe6 Rd6 26.Qxh5 Rxe6=; 23...Rfd8 24.Qg4 a6 25.Nxf7 Kxf7 26.Qxg6+ Ke7 27.Qh7+ Kd6 28.Qxh5+–]

24.Ne4 Bb7 [24...Bxb5 25.Qxh5+–; 24...Kh7 25.Nf6++–]

25.Nc5 Nf4 26.Qg3 Qc7 27.Nxb7 a6 28.Be2 e5 29.Nc5 Rfe8 30.Nd3

1–0

⚪️#164 (Endgame-White to Move)
🔸Kevlishvili,Robby (2463)
🔸Donchenko,Alexa (2600)
🔸Aeroflot Open A Moscow RUS 2019

36.Ra3?? [36.Nf3! Rg3 37.Bd1 Nf4 38.Nxh4 Rxg2+ 39.Kh1 Rf2 40.Rxf2 Nxf2+ 41.Kh2 Nxd1 42.Rf3 Ke6 (42...Ne6 43.Nxf5++–) 43.Rxf4=; 36.Bf3?? Nf4 37.Bg4 (37.Bxe4 dxe4 38.Rf2 Rxg2+ 39.Rxg2 Rxg2+ 40.Kh1 Rf2 41.b4 Nh5–+) 37...fxg4 38.Rxf4 g3+ 39.Kh1 Nf2+]

36...Nf4 37.Bf3 Rxg2+ 38.Bxg2 Rxg2+ 39.Kh1 Ng3+ 40.Rxg3 hxg3 41.Nf3 [41.Rxf4 Rh2#]

41...Rxb2 42.Rg1 g2+ 43.Kh2 Rxa2

0–1

⚫️#165 (Strategy-Black to Move)
🔸Harika,D (2471)
🔸Gordievsky,D (2603)
🔸Aeroflot Open A Moscow RUS 2019

Unity Chess Strategy Multiple Choice 165
public poll

C) Be6 – 11
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 69%
Masoud, Max, Gavin, Nikhil, @Sophia_On_The_Loose, @A_Wild_Richard, Sahil, Srikar, Hansika, Kasyap, محمد و علی

B) Nc4 – 3
👍👍 19%
Saghana, Adhvaith, Pranav

A) f5 – 2
👍 13%
@fantastic45, Jayden

👥 16 people voted so far.

⚪️#165 (Endgame-White to Move)
🔸Alekseenko,K (2634)
🔸Narayanan,SL (2593)
🔸Aeroflot Open A Moscow RUS 2019

Unity Chess Endgame Multiple Choice 165
public poll

B) Qf7 – 19
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 95%
@payam6661, Max, Gavin, H@$$@n, Nikhil, Jayden, Dariush, Saghana, @Sophia_On_The_Loose, @A_Wild_Richard, Adhvaith, Sahil, Srikar, Atharva, Hansika, Pranav, Pravin, Kasyap, محمد و علی

C) h4 – 1
▫️ 5%
@mahyarebrahimi1983

A) Qa7
▫️ 0%

👥 20 people voted so far.

Amsterdam, 21st May 1981. The 5th round of the IBM tournament (the last in the series) is in progress.
L to R: Tony Miles (with his back turned), Jan Timman, Lev Polugaevsky, Anatoly Karpov (in play v. Hans Ree.)

@UnityChess

“Every time I win a tournament I have to think that there is something wrong with modern chess.”

🔸 Viktor Korchnoi

@UnityChess

Waiting room at the marriage registration office.
USSR, Tallinn, 1973

@UnityChess

🔸chess.com IoM Masters Douglas ENG 2018
🔸Round 7
⚪️Ganguly,Surya Shekhar (2622)
⚫️Harsha,Bharathakoti (2492)
🔸1-0

55.Rf4! [A dual-purpose move: Defending the f2–pawn and also creating the strong threat of 56.Qf6+.]

55...Rd1?? [A strange blunder. Black could have put up more resistance with the following continuation:]

[55...Qe5 56.Qa7 Qe6 57.a5 Rd7 58.Qc5 Rd6 59.Rb4 Rd1 60.Rd4 Rf1 61.Kg2 Rb1 62.Rb4 Ra1 63.Qd4+ Qf6 64.Qd5± White is a pawn up, but it is not easy to convert it into a full point.]

56.Qf6++–

1–0

⚫️#165 (Strategy-Black to Move)
🔸Harika,D (2471)
🔸Gordievsky,D (2603)
🔸Aeroflot Open A Moscow RUS 2019

18...Nc4?? [Gordievsky has neglected a tactical shot.]

[He should have completed his development: 18...Be6 19.Nc5 Bf8 20.Qd4 Bc8 21.exd5 Nxd5 22.Bh2 b6; 18...f5? 19.exd5 Nxd5 (19...Rxe1 20.Rxe1 Qxd5 21.Re8+ Kf7 22.Qe3 Bf6 23.Bh6+–) 20.Bg5 Qd7 21.Bc4±]

19.Bxc4 dxc4 20.Qxd8 Rxd8 21.Nxa5 Bf8 22.Nxc4+–

1–0