Szabo’s February brilliancy among the many better of chess in 2023

GM Gergely Szabo’s fabulous sacrificial win at February’s Romanian championship event was tipped early on as a candidate for “game of the year.”

Now, in our penultimate column of 2023, the early front-runner may nonetheless be within the lead.

It might not match the ultimate sport of the Ding-Nepomniachtchi world title match for drama, plot twists or affect on the sport, however Szabo’s win in an Advance Caro-Kann over grasp Nicodim-Cosmin Stepanencu is a refreshing reminder that Caissa’s favor can fall on any participant at any venue at any time.

After a comparatively regular opening, the enjoyable begins with a speculative queen sacrifice — maybe the least attention-grabbing sacrifice of the sport — with Szabo’s 15. Nf1!? (organising the sharp play to come back; 15. Bb2 was sound however boring) dxc4 16. Qxd8+!? Bxd8 17. Rxd8+ Kh7 18. Ne3 — White solely will get a rook and minor piece for the queen, however his rook on d8 locks up Black’s queenside and permits the kingside mating assault to proceed.

Stepanencu understandably seeks some operating room for his harassed king, however runs right into a buzzsaw of impressed strikes: 20. Ng2 (already threatening 21. Nf4+ Kh6 22. Rh8 mate) Nxg3?! (the cold-blooded computer systems like 20…Nh6!?, when Black survives after 21. Rf8 Nc6! 22. Rxa8 Qc3 23. Bb2 Qxb2 24. Nf4+ Kf5) 21. Nf4+ Kf5 22. Nxf7! (the White knights dance nimbly; now the risk is 23. Nd6+ Kg4 24. Kg2 Qc3 25. Be3 Qxa1 26. f3+ Kxh4 27. Ng6 mate) Qc3 (attention-grabbing right here would have been 22…Ne2+!? 23. Nxe2 Qe1+ 24. Kg2 Qxe2 25. Nd6+ Kg6 26. Bf4, with advanced play) 23. Kg2!, ignoring the attacked rook to tighten the mating internet.

The hits simply maintain coming: 23…Ne4 (Qxa1? 24. Nd6+ Kxe5 [Kg4 25. f3+ Kxh4 26. Ng6 mate again] 25. Nxc4+ Kf5 26. Kxg3 Qxc1 27. Rf8+ Ke4 28. f3+ Kd4 29. Ne2, with a dominating place) 24. Rf8 Kg4? (the final mistake — on 24…Nc6!, White may play on or bail out with the perpetual 25. Nh6+ Kxe5 26. Nf7+ Kf5 27. Nh6+ Ke5 28. Nf7+, as 28…Kd4? 29. Be3+ wins on the spot) 25. Be3!? (organising the fireworks to come back, so it’s maybe a blessing White missed the pc’s putaway right here of 25. Nh6+! gxh6 26. Nd3!! Kxh4 27. Bxh6 Nf6 28. Rh1+ Kg4 29. f3+ Kf5 30. Rxf6 mate) Nxf2 (see diagram) 28. Nd5!!, placing a knight en prise with a rook already hanging to be able to run down the Black king.

Stepanencu’s king proves remarkably onerous to pin to the canvas, making White’s concluding play all of the extra exceptional: 26…Qxa1 27. Nh6+! Kxh4 (gxh6 28. Rf4 mate) 28. Bxf2+ Kg5 29. Be3+ Kg6 30. Ne7+ Kh7 31. Nf7 Nc6 (lastly growing the knight, however White is not going to hassle to take the hapless Black rook for one more 10 strikes) 32. Ng5+, and the knights harass the Black king proper to the tip.

Fittingly, White winds issues up with one final cool sacrifice: 42. Rg8 Nxe5 (Qb1 43. Ne4+ g5 44. Bxg5+ Kh7 45. Nf6 is mate) 43. Rxg6+!, and Black lastly concedes because the knights will ship the kill after 43…Nxg6 44. Nf5 mate.

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A century from now, 2023 additionally could also be remembered because the yr the post-Anand era of superstars inaugurated the Indian chess dynasty.

Viswanthan Anand, world champion from 2007 to 2013, sparked a chess craze in his nation that exhibits no indicators of slowing down. At least two Indian grandmasters can be within the FIDE Candidates Tournament subsequent spring, and, remarkably, three Indian younger weapons — GMs Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Dommaraju Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi — made it to the quarterfinals of the elite FIDE World Cup knockout occasion in August.

Praggnanandhaa — “Pragg” for brief — not solely made it to the finals, shedding to ex-world champ Magnus Carlsen, however his sister Vaishali scored a sensational win within the FIDE’s Women’s Grand Swiss final month and can be within the ladies’s Candidates area in 2024 area searching for a world title.

Pragg’s path to the World Cup finals included wins excessive three seeds, together with American stars Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura. His finest effort, although, might have been the match-clincher towards French GM Maxime Lagarde earlier within the occasion.
Black’s Cozio Defense (3…Nge7) is a not-too-often seen variation of the Ruy Lopez which has the benefit of being a not-too-often seen variation of this closely analyzed opening.

White’s aggressive early pawn pushes, neglecting his growth, are punished after 10. f4 0-0 11. h4?! d5! (a principled central push towards a untimely flanking maneuver) 12. h5? (doubling down disastrously; 12. exd5 Rd8 was roughly equal) dxe4 13. Qg3 (Qxe4?? Bh4+ 14. Kd1 Rd8+ 15. Bd2 Qxb2 wins) Nh4! 14. Rxh4 (this leaves the again rank unguarded, however permitting 14…Nf5 was positional poison) Qg1+ 15. Bf1 (Kd2 Rd8+ 16. Bd3 Bxh4 17. Qxh4 e3+ 18. Ke2 Bg4+! 19. Qxg4 Qf2+ 20. Kd1 Qf1 mate is only one pattern of the tactical landmines White now faces) e3!, far stronger than capturing the rook on h4.

As within the first sport, the attacker prefers to accentuate the assault reasonably than get well materials losses: 17. Ke2 (finest; 17. Nxe3 is met by 17…Bxh4 18. Qxh4 Rxe3+ 19. Bxe3 Qxe3+ 20. Be2 Bg4! 21. Qxg4 Qg1+ 22.Bf1 Re8+ 23. Kd2 Qe3+ 24. Kd1 Qe1 mate) Be6 18. b3? (this stops the terrifying 18…Bc4+, however now Black’s final cannon will slide into place; White needed to attempt 18. f5 Bxh4 19. Qxh4 Bd5 20. Bxe3 and hope to outlive) Rad8 19. Nxe3 Bf6!, once more disdaining the rook on h4 to maintain the assault buzzing.

Cute is 21. Qf2 Bxh4!, when 22. Qg1 Bg4 is mate, and even after 22. Qxh4 Bxc2 23. Qxd8 (the risk was 23…Bd1+ 24. Ke1 Rxe3+ 25. Bxe3 Qxe3+ 26. Be2 Qxe2 mate) Rxd8 24. Nxc2 Qc5, White’s jumbled items and uncovered king result in doom. The carry 30. Kg3 Re6!, eyeing the g- and h-files, solely underscores Lagarde’s helplessness.

It’s over shortly on 36. Ke4 Rd6 37. Re2 (Bc3 Re6+ 38. Kd3 Qxf4 would solely extend the agony) f5+!, and White resigned going through 38. Nxf5 (Kxf5 Qg6+ 39. Ke5 Qe6 mate; or 38. Ke5 Qg6 39. Nc4 Rd5 mate) Qd3+ 39. Ke5 Qd5 mate.

(Click on the picture above for a bigger view of the chessboard.)

Szabo-Stepanencu, Romanian Championship, Sebes, Romania, February 2023

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h5 5. Bd3 Bxd3 6. Qxd3 Qa5+ 7. Nd2 e6 8. Nf3 Nh6 9. O-O Nf5 10. c4 Be7 11. g3 O-O 12. b3 Rd8 13. Rd1 c5 14. dxc5 Qxc5 15. Nf1 dxc4 16. Qxd8+ Bxd8 17. Rxd8+ Kh7 18. Ne3 Qa5 19. Ng5+ Kg6 20. Ng2 Nxg3 21. Nf4+ Kf5 22. Nxf7 Qc3 23. Kg2 Ne4 24. Rf8 Kg4 25.Be3 Nxf2 26. Nd5 Qxa1 27. Nh6+ Kxh4 28. Bxf2+ Kg5 29. Be3+ Kg6 30. Ne7+ Kh7 31. Nf7 Nc6 32. Ng5+ Kh6 33. Nf7+ Kh7 34. Ng5+ Kh6 35. Nxe6+ Kh7 36.Ng5+ Kh6 37. Nf5+ Kg6 38. Nh4+ Kh6 39. Nf7+ Kh7 40. Ng5+ Kh6 41. Rxa8 g6 42. Rg8 Nxe5 43. Rxg6+ Black resigns.

Lagarde-Praggnanandhaa, FIDE World Cup, Baku, Azerbaijan, July 2023

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 4. Nc3 Ng6 5. d4 Nxd4 6. Nxd4 exd4 7. Qxd4 c6 8. Be2 Qb6 9. Qd3 Be7 10. f4 O-O 11. h4 d5 12. h5 dxe4 13. Qg3 Nh4 14. Rxh4 Qg1+ 15. Bf1 e3 16. Nd1 Re8 17. Ke2 Be6 18. b3 Rad8 19. Nxe3 Bf6 20. Rb1 Bf5 21. Qf2 Bxh4 22. Qxh4 Bxc2 23. Qxd8 Rxd8 24. Nxc2 Qc5 25. Ne3 Re8 26. Kf3 Qd4 27. Ke2 Qc5 28. Kf3 Qxh5+ 29. g4 Qh1+ 30. Kg3 Re6 31. Bd2 h5 32. gxh5 Qxh5 33. Re1 Rg6+ 34. Kf2 Qh4+ 35. Kf3 Qg3+ 36. Ke4 Rd6 37. Re2 f5+ White resigns.