Evergreen! - Nepomniachtchi vs Kramnik | World Blitz Championship 2019

Title: Evergreen! - Nepomniachtchi vs Kramnik | World Blitz Championship 2019
Opening: Four Knights, Spanish Variation

Hello Chess Friends and Welcome to the Channel. This is the first video of the year, so at first I wish you a fantastic new year. I also hope that 2020 will be a great year for the channel and I'll try my best to give you the best possible analysis of the top chess games. Now let's talk about this month's tournaments. Starting on January the third there is the Women World Championship match between Ju Wenjun and Aleksandra Goryachkina. Starting the 12th the classic Tata Steel in Wijk aan Zee and to close the month the Gibraltar Chess. A great month for Chess, so don't forget to subscribe to the channel. In today's video we are going to watch Nepo vs Kramnik played in the World Blitz Championship. Let's get started


1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {the Ruy Lopez} Nf6 {the Berlin Defense. Nepo goes
for the third most played move. Not short castle, nor d3 that is an
anti-berlin setup but} 4. Nc3 {the opening becomes the four knights, spanish
variation} Nd4 5. Bc4 {and Ba4 are the most played moves} (5. Nxd4 {is
playable but in practice seems to favor Black. Let's watch why} exd4 6. Ne2 {
is bad} (6. e5 {is the best idea} dxc3 7. exf6 Qxf6 8. dxc3 {with equality but
with Black that has the best structure}) 6... c6 7. Bd3 d5 8. exd5 Qxd5 {
a disaster for white's development}) 5... c6 6. Nxe5 {white is a pawn up} d5 7.
exd5 {two pawns up} Bd6 8. Nf3 Qe7+ {there are 5 games in database and believe
it or not even if they are not top grandmasters, the all play the best move} 9.
Be2 {is a novelty and a bad one} (9. Kf1 {with advantage for white}) 9... Nxf3+
10. gxf3 {with a great damage to the pawn structure and a lack of development.}
Nxd5 {regains one pawn but with} 11. Nxd5 cxd5 {Nepo is able to give Black an
isolated pawn} 12. d4 Bf5 13. Be3 O-O 14. c3 {is a strange choice.} (14. Qd2 {
looks easier to play} Rac8 15. Bd3 Bg6 16. O-O-O Qf6 {f3 is lost but who cares?
}) 14... Rac8 15. Qb3 Rfd8 {is a mistake or a bluff because the rook doen't
defend the central pawn} (15... Qe6 {is the move to play. Nepo can't capture
on b7} 16. Qxb7 Rb8 {it's minus 3}) 16. h4 (16. Qxd5 {and white is better.
There is good discovery and the bishop is under attack}) 16... Qe6 {the right
move} 17. h5 Rc6 18. Qd1 b5 19. a3 {controlling b4 is good} (19. Bxb5 Rb6 20.
a4 a6 21. Bd3 Rxb2) 19... a6 20. Bd3 Re8 21. Qc2 Bxd3 22. Qxd3 Qf6 23. Rh3 {
not a blunder but an inaccurancy, but in a 3 minutes game it's more than
natural. Anyway, just to talk about the position, it seems better to castle
long and sacrifice the doubled f-pawn} Bf4 24. Kd2 Rce6 25. Re1 h6 26. Kc2 Qe7
{the white king is forced to move back} 27. Kd2 Qg5 {trying to invade. THere
are two solutions to this problem} 28. Re2 {played by Nepo doen't work} (28.
Bxf4 {is even better} Qxf4+ 29. Re3 {shields the King and saves the rook}) (28.
Rhh1 {is decent} Qg2 29. Qe2) 28... Qg2 29. Rh4 Bxe3+ 30. fxe3 Qxf3 31. Rhh2
Re4 32. b3 f5 33. a4 f4 34. Kc2 {the position is completely lost} Rxe3 35. Rxe3
Rxe3 36. Qd2 Qe4+ 37. Kb2 f3 38. Ka3 Re2 39. Rxe2 fxe2 40. Qe1 Qf3 41. Qh4 Qf1
{and Nepo resigns because the pawn will promote and it's not possible to draw
by perpetual check} 42. Qd8+ Kh7 43. Qe8 e1=Q 44. Qg6+ Kh8 {everything is
protected.} 0-1


Kramnik played a fantastic blitz tournament and finished in third position. I hope that you liked the game and if you did please don't forget to like the video and to subscribe to the channel because I cover all the top chess tournaments


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