Boris Gelfand vs Teimour Radjabov (2008)

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Boris Gelfand vs Teimour Radjabov
Corus Group A (2008), Wijk aan Zee NED, rd 11, Jan-25
King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation. Positional Defense (E94) · 0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

Given 18 times; par: 49 [what's this?]

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Jan-25-08		Eyal: <Boris Gelfand is in bad form. Today he lost with the white pieces against Teimur Radjabov’s signature King’s Indian, despite having a much better position for a long time. The Israeli was in complete control, but his plan of penetrating with his knight on c7 was a very poor one. It is highly likely that Boris simply should have taken on a7 on move 21. Instead, all of a sudden the c7 intruder was in danger, and with 25.Qc2? Gelfand simply dug himself into a hole. He had to play 25.Nxg4 Qxg4 26.Nb5!? and if 26...Ba5 27.Nxd6 with compensation. Radjabov could have decided the game at once with 29...Nh5!, instead of his 29...Ne8. Just when it looked as if Gelfand would escape with a draw, very short on time he came up with the terrible 35.Qxh7?? (35.Qe7+ and 36.Qxd6 would have drawn), and found himself in a mating net.> (http://www.coruschess.com/report.ph...) Btw, the difference that <35.Qe7+ Kh6 36.Qxd6> would have made compared with the line actually played in the game, is that with the black king at h6 instead of g5, after 36...Re1+ 37.Rf1 Qd4+ 38.Kg2 Re2+ White would be able to play <39.Kh3> without being mated on g4.

Jan-25-08		IMlday: Radjabov played Fischer-style! 21.Nxa7 looks risky to me as the Kingside is weak on the light squares and the Queenside majority is slow counterplay. A sample line 21..Ne8 22.Nf2 Bf3 23.Nb5 Qd7 24.Nc3 Nf6 25.Rf1 Ng4 26.Nxg4 Qxg4 27.Qd3 Bh4 when the threat of ..Bxg3 is decisive.

Jan-25-08		Eyal: Keeping the knight on b5 (with some pressure on c7 and d6) by 24.a4 might be a significant improvement for White in this line.

Jan-25-08		Marmot PFL: Having played Nb5 taking a7 does look the most consistent, but these positions are hard to play if not in top form.

Jan-26-08		IMlday: Yes 24.a4 is more logical to get the majority going and keep some pressure on c7 and d6. Play might go 24..Bd8 25.Rc4 Nf6 26.Rac1 Ng4 27.Nxg4 Bxg4 28.b3 Bh3 29.Qe2 Bg4 30.Qc2 Rf3 31.Bf2 Bh3 32.Rc3 Rxc3 33.Qxc3 Bg5 34.Rc2 Rf8 35.Qd3 Bg4 36.Rc7 Qd8 37.b4 Qf6 38.Rc2 Qd8 when for White to continue with his plan by 39.a5 would be dangerous after ..Rf3 40.Qc4 Qf8 when suddenly the tactical threats become very strong. However White can simplify by 39.Nxd6! Qxd6 40.Bc5 Rf3 41.Qxf3 Qxc5+ and maybe White can win with the ♖+2♙s vs the ♗ pair. Of course this variation is nowhere near forced. It just illustrates Black's positional compensation based on White's permanently weak ♔. Still White should have done it since otherwise he has similar problems without the material compensation.

Jan-26-08		percyblakeney: It's a pity that Radjabov missed the quickly winning 29. ... Nh5, but in the end things worked out anyway...

Jan-26-08		ahmedabdo: Well, that's good control of the game from timi I think he's the king of king's indian defence

Jan-26-08		Eyal: <It's a pity that Radjabov missed the quickly winning 29. ... Nh5> Btw, if White plays 30.Qxb7 - defending from Nxg3 for the moment because of mate threats - Black wins by 30...Rf8! protecting the back rank and creating a new deadly threat of Qd1+ followd by Qf1#. White can prevent that only by suffering heavy material loss such as after 31.Bf4; and if 31.Rc1 or Qb3, Nxg3 would be back on the agenda.

Apr-25-09		ROO.BOOKAROO: Ray Keene gives his analysis in TIMESONLINE of April 25, 2009http://entertainment.timesonline.co...

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