Best Game Of The Month! - Muzychuk vs Kobo | Gibraltar Masters 2020

Opening: Taimanov Sicilian
Title: Best Game Of The Month! - Muzychuk vs Kobo | Gibraltar Masters 2020

The Gibraltar Masters is a 10 rounds swiss which takes place from 21-30 January in Gibraltar. Top seeds are Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime, Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar and Wang, Hao.

Time control : 100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for 20 moves, then 15 minutes until the end of the game, with a 30-second increment.


Hello Chess Friends and Welcome to the Channel. In today's video we are going to watch the game that won the best game prize at the Gibraltar Masters 2020. A fantastic game that it's also my favourite game of the entire month of January. The players are Annna Muzychuk with the white pieces against the young grandmaster Ori Kobo with Black. Let's get started


1. e4 c5 {the Sicilian Defense} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e6 {after} 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4
Qc7 {we are in the Taimanov Sicilian. In this position the most played plan is
the English Attack that beginning ith Be3 and Qd2, leads to the long castle.
Instead white continues with} 6. f4 {this is one of the most aggressive
systems against the Taimanov. White's plan is to seize space in the center and
immediately bother the Black's development on the kingside. If Nf6, e5 will
come} a6 7. Nxc6 Qxc6 8. Bd3 b5 9. Qe2 Bb7 {this bishop in fianchetto is also
controlling d5, a square where the Knight can jump} 10. Bd2 Bc5 11. a3 Ne7 12.
O-O-O O-O {With the opposite castling, White will attack on the kingside while
Black will advance on the queenside. Still 72 games in database: among them
Nepomniachtchi vs Vitiugov won by Nepo in 2013} 13. h4 f5 {f5 is a good move
that tries to open the long diagonal for the battery bishop and queen. why not
b4? It seems that black can be the first one to reach a contact point with
white castle} (13... b4 {is a bit useless now. After} 14. axb4 Bxb4 {Black is
still far from a real dangerous attack against the King}) 14. g4 d5 15. gxf5 {
to open some lines} exf5 16. exd5 Nxd5 17. Nxd5 Qxd5 18. Rhe1 {of course white
would prefer Rg1 but the square is controlled by the bishop} Qf7 {let's watch
if Qa2 is dangerous or not} (18... Qa2 19. Bc3 {d2 is a safe heaven for the
king and Black has no time to build the attack because his bishops have no
targets while White's are in a perfect attacking position. There is the
terrible threat Qe5 threatening checkmate and to win the bishop}) 19. Bc3 Rfe8
{good move} 20. Be5 {This is an important moment of the game. Black will lose
the chance to improve his piece coordination. What's the best plan for Black?
At first to centralize the rook on a8} Re6 {with the idea to lift the rook to
the h-file} (20... Rad8 21. Kb1 {then to improve the bishops} Bd5 {and white
has no good ideas to play}) 21. Qf1 Rf8 22. Qh3 Rh6 {here comes the fun. Anna
captures on f5} 23. Bxf5 Qxf5 {but here comes} 24. Rd7 {that is idea behind
the piece sacrifice. The queen can't win the white queen} Rg6 {because} (24...
Qxh3 25. Rxg7+ Kh8 26. Rg6+ Rf6 27. Bxf6#) (24... Rf7 25. Qxf5 Rxf5 26. Rxg7+
Kf8 27. Rxb7 {white is two pawns up. And now if} Rxh4 {with} 28. Rd1 {there is
also the checkmate threat}) 25. Qb3+ {the white queen moves away from the
possible queen's exchange with tempo} Kh8 26. Rxb7 {regains the piece and
white is a pawn up} Bf2 {Black wants to regain his pawn and then move the
bishop to f6 to exchange the powerful white bishop on e5. It's not possible to
play} 27. h5 {A beautiful move. Black can't capture on e1} (27. Rh1 Qe4 {
wins the game}) 27... Rg3 (27... Qxh5 28. Qf7 {and Black has the back rank
problem} Rxf7 (28... Rg8 29. Bxg7+ R8xg7 30. Re8+ Rg8 31. Rxg8+ Rxg8 32. Qf6+
Rg7 33. Qxg7#) 29. Rb8+ Rf8 30. Rxf8#) (27... Bxe1 28. hxg6 Qxg6 29. Rxg7 {
but Black can't even capture qith the queen on h5}) 28. Qd5 {Black cannot
capture the rook} h6 (28... Bxe1 {after} 29. h6 {is game over. To prevent
checkmate, Black will lose his queen. That's why Kobo plays h6 to stop the pawn
}) 29. Re2 Rg1+ 30. Kd2 Bh4 {with the idea Rd8 winning the queen} 31. Qd4 {
what happens if now Black plays Rd8} Rc8 (31... Rd8 {it's a forced checkmate.}
32. Bxg7+ {Only two possible answers} Kg8 (32... Rxg7 33. Re8+ Kh7 34. Rxg7#)
33. Qxd8+ Bxd8 34. Re8+ Kh7 35. Rh8#) 32. Bxg7+ Kg8 33. Qxg1 Rxc2+ 34. Ke3 Qh3+
35. Kd4 {Black can already resign. Now Rc4+ is the best idea} Bf2+ (35... Rc4+
36. Ke5 Bg3 {to block the g-file because a discovered check is crushing} 37.
Bf6 {now the bishop is pinned and the queen can't leave the protection of the
bishop} Rc8 {protecting the back rank} 38. Rg7+ Kf8 39. Rxg3 Qxh5+ 40. Kd6 {
no more checks and Black gets checkmated in few moves}) 36. Rxf2 Rc4+ 37. Kd5 {
Black resigns. Even} Qxh5+ {doesn't solve any problem} 38. Be5+ Kf8 39. Qg7+
Ke8 40. Qe7# 1-0


Photos by:

Niki Riga
You Can Follow Niki on Twitter
She is Chess Photographer and International Arbiter
@riga_niki

Kobo snapshot from GibChess