Beyond the Candidates: Checking out the buzz in Bishkek

The recent Candidates extravagances in Toronto, elite events that determined the challengers for the upcoming open and women’s world title matches, sucked up a lot of media oxygen and column inches over the past month, so we thought we check in with some of the column’s farther-flung news bureaus as a reminder that interesting chess is being played every week at sites all around the world.

Today’s first game, played against FM Erzhan Zhakshylykov at the recent Kyrgyzstan National Championship, helped propel IM Nikita Khoroshev to the national crown in the 12-player round-robin event in Bishkek earlier this month.

Black’s 8. Qd2 Qh4+!? may not be the soundest line in the solid King’s Indian Saemisch line, as Khoroshev is pretty much bound to follow through with the queen sacrifice after 9. g3 Nxg3 (the retreat 9…Qe7 10. 0-0-0 Bd7 11. Bd3 is still playable, but hardly in the spirit of the thing) 10. Qf2 Nxf1 (insufficient is the diversionary 10…Bh6? 11. Bxh6 Qxh6 12. Qxg3 Qe3+ 13. Kd1 Bd7 14. Qe1 Qb6 15. Kc2) 11. Qxh4 Nxe3 12. Kf2 Nxc4.

An intriguing position arises as the smoke clears: Black has only two minor pieces and two pawns for his lost queen, but his position is ultra-solid, offering no obvious way for White to exploit his material advantage. Khoroshev by contrast can just develop his pieces and put his bishops, knights and rooks to work going after the White king.

Black’s active minor pieces force White to shed the exchange, lessening even further the material imbalance, and White’s laborious  efforts to activate his prize queen backfire badly: 22. Qc3 Ba6 23. Qxc7 Rac8! (Black is happy to shed some pawns to get his pieces into the play; the timid 23…Rfd8? 24. Nb6 Rab8 25. Rc1 would play right into White’s hands) 24. Qxd6 Rc2+ 25. Kg1 Bh6!, and now the pair of Black bishops lay down a withering crossfire on the exposed White king.

Black’s sacrificed queen is not missed a bit in the final assault: 26. Nb6 (Qxe5? Bg7) Be3+ 27. Kh1 Be2 28. Kg2 (there are no winning discovered checks, but Khoroshev does not need one) Bd1+ 29. Kf1 (Kh3 Bf4 30. Kg4 h5+ 31. Kh4 Rxh2 mate) Bxf3 30. Nc4 Bd4, and White resigned facing 31. Rb1 Rxh2 32. Ke1 Rh1+ 22. Kd2 Rxb1 and wins. 

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Someone once described soccer as a game where 22 players run around kicking a ball for 90 minutes and, at the end, Germany wins.

Top-level chess for the past decade-plus might similarly be defined as two players pushing 32 pieces around a checkerboard for a few hours and, at the end, Magnus Carlsen wins.

The Norwegian superstar voluntarily relinquished his world chess crown last year after more than a decade on the throne, but he remains the planet’s highest-rated player and the clear alpha dog at both classical and faster time controls. Carlsen was at it again at a just-concluded tournament in Warsaw, ripping off seven straight wins in the blitz competition to surpass front-running Chinese star GM Wei Yi and win the Superbet Poland Rapid & Blitz Tournament by 2 points.

Carlsen punctuated the win by handing Wei his only defeat in the 10-grandmaster rapid tournament, with a suffocating positional crush from the Black side of a Sicilian Rossolimo. Both sides come out of the opening with queenside pawn weaknesses, but when Wei unwisely eschews the draw in an equal position, he is severely punished for his impertinence.

White dominates the b-file and Black the d-file in the game’s critical passage after 23. Kh2 g5 24. Rb7?! (Rb3 Qc2 25. Qxa5 Qxe4 26. Qc5 Qf4+ 27. g3 keeps a lid on the play) h5!? (Qd3 might be even stronger here) 25. R1b3? (this clearly hands the advantage to Black, as it turns out Carlsen’s king is far more secure in the center than is Wei’s lodged in a seemingly secure fortress on the kingside) Qc1! (you don’t get a second chance to mess up against the champ — White will soon be in a bind that ties him down for the rest of the game) 26. Qa7 (see diagram; White’s best chance may have been to upset the apple cart with 26. h4 g4 27. Nxe5+!? fxe5 28. Qxe5 Qh4 29. f4, with some counterplay for the sacrificed piece) Ke6!, and the cheeky Black king protects d7, ends any tricks on e5 and allows Black to go on the offensive.

Black establishes a mean bind after 27. Rxd7 (one threat here already was 27…g4 28. hxg4 hxg4 29. Nh4 Qf4+ 30. g3 Qxe4 31. Rxd7 Rxd7 32. Qc5 Qd4 33. Qxd4 Rxd4 34. Rc3 Rd2 35. Kg1 Ra2, with a big advantage) Rxd7 28. Qxa5 g4 29. Ng1 (Ne1 Qf4+ 30. Kg1 Qxe4 31. Re3 Qxc4 is great for Black as well, but at least this line would avoid the entombment of king and knight that follows) Qf4+ 30. Kh1 Qxf2 31. Qb6 g3! 32. Rb1 (Qxf2 gxf2 costs White a piece) Qxb6 33. Rxb6 Rd1 and White’s kingside is paralyzed. 

Wei still has an outside passed pawn but his rook is effectively playing on its own against Black’s king, knight and rook. It’s no contest: 36. c5 f5! (advertising his opponent’s helplessness) 37. exf5+ Kxf5 38. Rb7 Nd5 39. a7 Nf4 40. a8=Q Rxa8, and, cruelly, White’s knight still can’t escape as the e2 square is guarded.

After 41. Rb1 e4 42. Rf1 Ra2, White resigned rather than face the asphyxiation of lines like 43. Re1 (Ra1!? was worth as shot, as 43…Rxa1?? is stalemate, but the champ would likely have gone with 43…Rxg2 and wins) Nd3 44. Rf1+ Nf2+ 45. Rxf2+ Rxf2 46. Nf3 gxf3 47. Kg1 Rxg2+ 48. Kf1 Re2 49. Kg1 Re1 mate.

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Zhakshylykov-Khoroshev, Kyrgyzstan National Championship, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, May 2024

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 e5 6. d5 Nh5 7. Be3 Na6 8. Qd2 Qh4+ 9. g3 Nxg3 10. Qf2 Nxf1 11. Qxh4 Nxe3 12. Kf2 Nxc4 13. b3 Na3 14. Nge2 Nc5 15. Rhd1 a5 16. Qg5 Bd7 17. Qc1 Nb5 18. Nxb5 Bxb5 19. Nc3 Nd3+ 20. Rxd3 Bxd3 21. Na4 O-O 22. Qc3 Ba6 23. Qxc7 Rac8 24. Qxd6 Rc2+ 25. Kg1 Bh6 26. Nb6 Be3+ 27. Kh1 Be2 28. Kg2 Bd1+ 29. Kf1 Bxf3 30. Nc4 Bd4 White resigns.

Wei-Carlsen, Superbet Poland Rapid and Blitz, Warsaw, May 2024

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Qc7 6. Be3 e5 7. Qd2 b6 8. a4 a5 9. Na3 f6 10. O-O Be6 11. Nc4 Bxc4 12. dxc4 Rd8 13. Qe2 Bh6 14. c3 Bxe3 15. Qxe3 Ne7 16. b4 Qd6 17. bxa5 bxa5 18. Rab1 Kf7 19. h3 Rd7 20. Rb2 Qd3 21. Qxc5 Qxc3 22. Rfb1 Rhd8 23. Kh2 g5 24. Rb7 h5 25. R1b3 Qc1 26. Qa7 Ke6 27. Rxd7 Rxd7 28. Qxa5 g4 29. Ng1 Qf4+ 30. Kh1 Qxf2 31. Qb6 g3 32. Rb1 Qxb6 33. Rxb6 Rd1 34. a5 h4 35. a6 Ra1 36. c5 f5 37. exf5+ Kxf5 38. Rb7 Nd5 39. a7 Nf4 40. a8=Q Rxa8 41. Rb1 e4 42. Rf1 Ra2 White resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.