French League Round 7

May 03, 2009 • General

Aleksander Delchev (2647) – Hikaru Nakamura (2699), French League (7) 3.5.2009

1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Be3 Bg7 4.Nc3 a6 5.f4!? b5 6.Bd3 Bb7 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.e5 c5!? 9.Be4 (diagram)

9…Qc8 10.Bxb7 Qxb7 11.dxc5 dxe5!? (According to GM Finkel Black is supposed to play 11…dxc5 however, after 12. Qd5 Qxd5 13.Nxd5 Rc8 14.0-0-0 Nh6 15.Rhe1 White has a big advantage. However, as my game proves the variations are not so clear after 11…dxe5.) 12.Qd5! (diagram)

12…Qxd5 13.Nxd5 Rc8 14.Nb6 Nxb6 15.cxb6 Nf6 (15…e4 was featured in the game Grischuk-Bacrot, Fide Grand Prix Dubai 2002 but after 16.Ne5 Bxe5 17.fxe5 e6 18.Bc5! Ne7 19.Bd6 Bacrot would resign within ten moves.) 16.0-0-0 Ng4 17.b7 (17.Rhe1 was played in the game Mortensen-Hillarp Persson, Denmark 2003. But after 17…Nxe3 18.Rxe3 Bh6! 19.Ra3 Bxf4+ 20.Kb1 e4 21.Nd4 Rd8 white was completely lost.) 17…Rb8 18.Bb6 (I also considered the following variations. A) 18…0-0 19. Rd7 Nf6 20. Rhd1 Nxd7 21.Rxd7 Bh6 22.Kd1! Bxf4 23.g3 e4 24.gxf4 exf3 25.Ke1 f6 26.Kf2 Kf7 27.Bc5 Rfe8 28.Kxf3 Ke6 29.Rc7 to be extremely unpleasant. B) 18…e6 19.h3! Nf6 {19…Rxb7? 20.Rd8 Ke7 21.Rxh8 Bxh8 22.Bc5 winning a piece} 20.Rd8 Ke7 21.Nxe5! Rhxd8 22.Nc6 Kd7 23.Nxd8 Nd5 24.Rd1 to be completely winning for White.) 18…f6 19.Rd8 (19.h3 was also possible however, White fails to obtain any advantage after 19…Rxb7 20.Rd8 Kf7 21.Rxh8 Bxh8 22.hxg4 Rxb6 23.Rxh7 Bg7 24.fxe5 fxe5 with approximate equality.) 19…Kf7 20.Rd7 (diagram)

20…Bh6! 21.g3 (21.Re1 concerned me a lot more as I did not see how I would obtain counterplay after 21…Bxf4 22.Kb1 Ke6 23.Rc7 followed by either Nd4 or Ba7.) exf4 22.Kb1 Ne5! 23.Nxe5 fxe5 24.Ba7!? (According to the engines this is not the best move. However, after 24.Bc5 Rhe8 it is hard to see how White can make progress due to potential passed f and e pawns.) 24…Ke6 25.Rhd1 f3! (The pawns go marching towards promotion!) 26.Rc7 e4 27.Rdd7 Rhe8 (diagram)

28.a3 (28.Bxb8 did not work in view of 28…f2 29.Rd1 Rxb8 followed by e3-e2.) Bg5! ( Not the easiest move to find as it looks like everything should be winning. For instance if I had tried 28…e3 29.Bxb8 f2 30.Rxe7! Rxe7 31. Rxe7 Kxe7 32.Bd6 Ke6 33.b8=Q f1=Q+ 34. Ka2 Qc4 35.Kb1 e2 36.Bb4 Qxb4 should be winning, but I was worried about overlooking some checks.) 29.h4 e3! 30.Bxb8 f2 31.Ba7 f1=Q+ 32.Ka2 e2 (diagram)

0-1

Overall I am still quite unsure about this game as it seems to be very confusing. At the start I thought I was in a lot of trouble, but after I got in 23…Ne5 I thought that I would at least draw if not more. Therefore, the ultimate conclusion which I come to is that more analysis is needed before a conclusive evaluation can be reached in this theoretical variation of the modern.

As the second leg of the French League draws to a close, our team has a substantial lead in the A group ahead of our nearest rival Clichy who trails us by seven points. In general, the results of the players have been spectacular thus far with Vachier-Lagrave, Feller and Milliet all having scored 6.5/7! While Svidler and I both have 3.5/4 respectively. The final four rounds will be played at the end of May and hopefully we can repeat our success then.

For now, I am just going to rest up and relax before the US Championship which starts on Friday of this week. Hopefully this solid result is a sign of things to come, but once again I will just have to wait and see how things unfold. Hopefully this result will give me something to build on though after a horrible past six months. That’s all for now!

Team Results:

Marseille Echecs-Evry Grand Roque (0-5)

Bacrot-Vachier-Lagrave 0-1

Svidler-DeGraeve 1-0

Delchev-Nakamura 0-1

Feller-Nataf 1-0

Gozzoli-Yusupov 1/2-1/2

Jednyak-Relange 1/2-1/2

Marzolo-Hauchard 1/2-1/2

Milliet-Delorme 1-0