Fight for the central squares! Anto Guijarro - Harikrishna, Gibralter; 2016

As we all know, the primary struggle in chess is to control as many squares as possible, which will extend to control of areas; files and diagonals.  But, the most intriguing aspect is the control of center and center resolution in particular, which is like a childbirth.....has to happen at the appropriate time, not too early; not too late!

Whilst watching the games played in the current Gibralter tournament, I was particularly intrigued by the game played in the penultimate round between Guijarro - Hari.

This is the position after Hari's 12th move ......Nbd7.


This was also the position reached in a game played between Lajos Portisch - Gennadi Sosonko, Tilburg, 1984; with a little difference that they had played only 11 moves and White's Bishop was on d2 instead of c1!

Portisch took a different path to control the pivotal 'e5' and 'd4' squares in conjunction with the control of the light diagonal which crosses these two squares!

This game is very interesting to see note how a moment of nap, in this regard, is enough to screw-up the game quickly! The game continued....

12.Bf4 Re8; 13.Rc1

This move threatens Nb5 which will be very unpleasant to meet up with.  

13.....Nf8

This is indirectly directed against Nb5; whilst manoeuvring the Knight to a better square 'e6' from where it can have its bearing on 'd4' and 'c5' squares.  13....c6 would lose control of the vital 'e4' square and though .....a6 is ok, the move played is more precise.

14.Bg5!

Very interesting decision! Portisch quickly realises the futility of the Bishop on f4 and before the Knight lands on the 'e6' square, pounces on the 'f6' Knight which is a defender/controller of the light squares in the center!

14.....Ne6; 15.Bf6 Bf6; 16.e3 c5; 17.Re1 Nc7

This and the next move is aimed at destabilising that White Knight on e5 - always considered a nuisance by the opposition!

18.f4 Be7; 19.Ne2 Bf8; 20.Qd2 Ne6

The issue with 20.....f6 is that, it will drive the Knight to a right square and Black would struggle to keep the c5 square (with or without the pawn).

21.dc5 Nc5

The piece positioning of Black is not conducive for hanging pawns.  But the move played allows White to place his other Knight too on a fine post in the center!  This indicates that Black's strategy has backfired a bit....which explains for the blunder that follows!

22.Nd4 f6?? 

Perhaps, 22....Nd4 would have kept Black afloat, though White's position may still be preferable.

23.Ndc6!

.....and it was curtains for Black!

Interestingly, in a somewhat similar position (below), Portisch adopted a similar strategy against Timman in Bugojno, 1986; and the game went...

22.Be5 Bc6; 23.Bf6 Bf6; 24.e3 g6; 25.Ne2 Qe7; 26.Nf4 Bb7; 27.Nh2! Bg7; 28.dc5 Rc5; 29.Rc5 Qc5; 30.h5

Portisch plays on all fronts! A typical wing overture after determining the center.

30.....g5; 31.Ne2 Nc7; 32.Nd4

White Knights....one by one gets attracted by the f5-weakness!

32.....Ne8; 33.Nf5 Nf6; 34.Rc1 Qb4; 35.Ng7 Kg7; 36.Qb2 Bc8;

Comes a bit too late!  The pin on the long dark diagonal is fatal!

37.Nf3 Qd6; 38.Nd4 Bd7; 39.

....and Portisch won the game subsequently.


Coming back to Hari's game, finally!

With the passage of years and sitting on the shoulders of those giants, a similar position from the same opening is viewed differently.

13.Bb2 Bf8; 14.f4 c5; 15.e3 cd4; 16.ed4 Ne4!? 17.Ne4 de4; 18.Qe2 Nf6; 19.g4

Hola! This modern position happened in a game player 44 years back!!  It was between Larry Evans - Bent Larsen in San Antonio where Larsen chose to play ....Nd5 in this position and won subsequently....but perhaps due to mistakes by Evans.

19....a5!? 20.g5 Ba6; 21.Qe3 Bf1; 22.Rf1 Nd7; 23.Be4 Ne5; 24.fe5 Rc8!?!

Was this a bluff or invitation!!?  Try walking without "crutches" in this position, interesting to analyse!

25.Rf7!!?  Almost looks crushing! 25....Kf7; 26.Qf3 Ke7 (of course 26....Kg8 loses to the conventional 27.Bh7!! etc) 27.Ba3 Rc5 (again any other move is mate - the Bishop on e4 is like a damocles sword....ready to behead Black's monarch!) 28.bc5 possibly here Qd4 check comes in handy and then recapture on c5 and possibly Black may still be holding!

But, this was definitely worth a try, over the board!

25.Bd3 Re7; 26.Qe4 g6; 27.h4 Bg7; 28.a4 Qd7! 29.Ba3 Re6!

Hari defends the position admirably!  The White Bishops are really hungry and ferocious!

30.Bb5 Qd8; 31.Bc4 Qd7

Black is trying to build a fortress.

32.Rf3 Rd8; 33.Be6 fe6; 34.Bd6 Bf8; 35.Bf8 Rf8; 36.Rf8 Kf8; 37.Kf2 Qd5!

The fortress is complete!  Black has enough weakness in the White's camp to keep the Queen not venture into his territory and a swap on "d5-square" would build a wall and prevent both Kings from crossing over to the enemy side!

38.Qe3 Ke8; 39.Qd3 Kd8; 40.Qc4 Kd7; 41.Qb5 Kc7; 42.Qc4 Kd7; 43.Qd5 ed5; 44.Kf3 Kf6; 45.Kg4 Ke6; 46.Kf4 Ke6; 47.Kg4 Ke7 Drawn

A fine defence by Hari and as I post this article, he seems to be doing fine for a play off for the first place!