Zhao,Zong Yuan – Kortschnoj,Viktor. 2009 Zhao,Zong Yuan (2567) Kortschnoj,Viktor (2584) Result: 1-0 Metadata » Click to open. Date: November 19, 2008 Location: Dresden, Germany Tournament: 38th Chess Olympiad Round: 6 Opening: A17 English (1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6), Hedgehog Defence Submitted by: Zhao,Zong Yuan Published on: February 5, 2023 [Event "38th Chess Olympiad"] [Site "Dresden, Germany"] [Round "6"] [Date "2008.11.19"] [White "Zhao,Zong Yuan"] [Black "Kortschnoj,Viktor"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Zhao,Zong Yuan"] [ECO "A17"] [WhiteElo "2567"] [BlackElo "2584"] [Puzzle "0"] [CS_Reference "294"] [CS_Content ""] [DateTime "2008.11.19"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 {An opening choice recommended by Darryl. The idea was to keep the pace slow and slowly increase the pressure. This worked to perfection in this game.} 4...0–0 5.a3 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 a5 7.b3 {7.b4 axb4 8.axb4 Rxa1 9.Qxa1 d6 10.Bb2 e5 {is also quite possible but I wanted to avoid exchanges for now.} 7...d6 8.Bb2 e5 9.g3 c5!? {An interesting setup which despite the final result I quite like.} 10.Bg2 Nc6 11.0–0 Bg4 {Black has played pretty much all the obvious moves but by now I think he spent more than 30 minutes compared to my 5 minutes. This time factor really affected black's play later on.} 12.Rfe1 Qb6!? {Threatening Nxf3 and Qd4} 13.e3 a4 14.bxa4 Rxa4 15.d3 {Black has got a nice position although white's position remains solid and I still have the two bishops.} 15...Rd8 {It's not clear for me that the rook should come here. It looks impossible to get d5 in for black. (15...Ra7!? 16.Rab1 h6 17.Nd2 Re8÷)} 16.Rab1 Qa5?! {A definite mistake as now the rook is hemmed in} 17.Qb3 Qa6 18.Nd2 Ra5 (18...Bf5! 19.f4 h6 20.Rf1! Bh7 21.f5) 19.f4! {Stepping up the pressure} Be6 20. Bc1 Bc8 21. Qb6 Qxb6 22. Rxb6 Nd7 23. Rb3 Nf6 24. Bb2 Ra6 {[24...Ra7!? 25.Bxc6 bxc6 26.fxe5 dxe5 27.Bxe5 Ng4 28.Bf4 Rad7 in the actual game the rook was unable to get to the d-file fast enough although even here white has a clear edge 29.Reb1 h6 30.Ne4±]} 25. Bxc6 Rxc6 26. fxe5 Ng4 {26...dxe5 is a better try 27.Bxe5 Ng4 28.Bf4 f6 (28...h6 29.h3 Nf6 30.g4±) 29.h3 Ne5 30.Bxe5 fxe5 31.Nf3 e4 32.dxe4 Bxh3} 27. exd6 Rcxd6 28. d4 Rh6 29. Nf3 Bf5 {A blunder but black's position was rather difficult anyway} 30. e4 Bc8 31. d5 b6 32. Bc1 Rg6 33. Nh4 Rgd6 34. e5 Re8 35. Nf3 Rg6 36. h3 Nf6 {Desperation... 36...Nh6 37.Nh4 Rd6 38.g4} 37. exf6 Rxg3+ 38. Kf2 Rxe1 39. Kxe1 gxf6 40. Kf2 Rxh3 41. Rxb6 Bg4 42. Rxf6 Rh1 43. Bb2 Bxf3 44. Kxf3 {A nice victory and I would like to say Korchnoi was very much a gentleman after the game. He is indeed one of the finest figures in chess, much like Bobby Fischer as both single handedly battled their way through the Soviet ranks by themselves.} 1–0 1. Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 {An opening choice recommended by Darryl. The idea was to keep the pace slow and slowly increase the pressure. This worked to perfection in this game.} 4...0–0 5.a3 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 a5 7.b3 {7.b4 axb4 8.axb4 Rxa1 9.Qxa1 d6 10.Bb2 e5 {is also quite possible but I wanted to avoid exchanges for now.} 7...d6 8.Bb2 e5 9.g3 c5!? {An interesting setup which despite the final result I quite like.} 10.Bg2 Nc6 11.0–0 Bg4 {Black has played pretty much all the obvious moves but by now I think he spent more than 30 minutes compared to my 5 minutes. This time factor really affected black's play later on.} 12.Rfe1 Qb6!? {Threatening Nxf3 and Qd4} 13.e3 a4 14.bxa4 Rxa4 15.d3 {Black has got a nice position although white's position remains solid and I still have the two bishops.} 15...Rd8 {It's not clear for me that the rook should come here. It looks impossible to get d5 in for black. (15...Ra7!? 16.Rab1 h6 17.Nd2 Re8÷)} 16.Rab1 Qa5?! {A definite mistake as now the rook is hemmed in} 17.Qb3 Qa6 18.Nd2 Ra5 (18...Bf5! 19.f4 h6 20.Rf1! Bh7 21.f5) 19.f4! {Stepping up the pressure} Be6 20. Bc1 Bc8 21. Qb6 Qxb6 22. Rxb6 Nd7 23. Rb3 Nf6 24. Bb2 Ra6 {[24...Ra7!? 25.Bxc6 bxc6 26.fxe5 dxe5 27.Bxe5 Ng4 28.Bf4 Rad7 in the actual game the rook was unable to get to the d-file fast enough although even here white has a clear edge 29.Reb1 h6 30.Ne4±]} 25. Bxc6 Rxc6 26. fxe5 Ng4 {26...dxe5 is a better try 27.Bxe5 Ng4 28.Bf4 f6 (28...h6 29.h3 Nf6 30.g4±) 29.h3 Ne5 30.Bxe5 fxe5 31.Nf3 e4 32.dxe4 Bxh3} 27. exd6 Rcxd6 28. d4 Rh6 29. Nf3 Bf5 {A blunder but black's position was rather difficult anyway} 30. e4 Bc8 31. d5 b6 32. Bc1 Rg6 33. Nh4 Rgd6 34. e5 Re8 35. Nf3 Rg6 36. h3 Nf6 {Desperation... 36...Nh6 37.Nh4 Rd6 38.g4} 37. exf6 Rxg3+ 38. Kf2 Rxe1 39. Kxe1 gxf6 40. Kf2 Rxh3 41. Rxb6 Bg4 42. Rxf6 Rh1 43. Bb2 Bxf3 44. Kxf3 {A nice victory and I would like to say Korchnoi was very much a gentleman after the game. He is indeed one of the finest figures in chess, much like Bobby Fischer as both single handedly battled their way through the Soviet ranks by themselves.} 1–0 White to move: find the best move... click the ? for the solution Black to move: find the best move... click the ? for the solution Warning: This game can only be seen if JavaScript is enabled in your browser.
