Annotated by GM Alexander Kalinin

The exciting tournament race, with its leaders changing every day at the finish, is over. It has brought the triumph to young chess players from Moscow – GM Yuri Eliseev and FM (!!) Dmitriy Gordievsky! Due to the better tiebreak, Eliseev became the winner of the 2016 Moscow Open - one of his games will be the finishing touch in our round reviews.

Fulfilled predictions

The strongest points of the board can be liable to tactical explosions, as predicted by an outstanding analyst and profound philosopher, Russian GM Igor Zaitsev in his magic book «An Attack in a Strong Point».
In the game, the Hungarian grandmaster wanted to neutralize Eliseev's pressure along the h1-a8 diagonal as well as the f-file by playing 21.Nh2 and 22.f3.
Probably you have already guessed that it resulted in the strongest f3-point being blown up.

Antal, Gergely – Eliseev, Yuri
Russia Cup Stage 2016

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6
This move has become very popular due to Moldavian chess coach Vyacheslav Chebanenko and the practical achievements of his students.

4…bxc6 5.0–0 Bg7 6.Re1 Nh6 7.c3 0–0 8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 d5
Another way of fighting against the White's pawn center is the calm 9…d6 10.Nc3 f6 etc.

10.e5 f6 11.Nbd2
More popular and solid move is 11.h3 protecting the g4-square.

11...fxe5
The idea of this concrete solution is revealed on the next move.
The old game J.Timman – Y. Yakovich (Koge 1997) went 11...g5 12.e6 Qd6 13.Qe2 Nf5 14.Nb3 g4 15.Nfd2 a5 16.Nf1, and White kept his pressure.

12.Nxe5 

12...Bxe5!
The point is that the f2-pawn is vulnerable now.

13.dxe5
The alternative was to sacrifice an exchange - 13.Rxe5!? Ng4 14.Nf3 with the positional compensation.

13...Qb6 14.Nf3 Nf5 15.Qc2 c5 16.b3
White wants  to restrict the central black pawns.

16…Bb7 17.Bg5
An attempt to organize pressure on the c5-pawn brings no result: 17.Ba3 Rac8 18.Rac1 c4 19.bxc4 dxc4 etc.

17...h6 18.Bd2 d4 19.Qd3 Qe6 20.h3 g5
Black's initiative along the a8-h1 diagonal and the «f»-file is getting unpleasant, so White decides to neutralize it by putting the pawn block on f3. However, this is exactly the case when the cure is worse then the disease!

21.Nh2? Nh4 22.f3 

22...Rxf3!
A blow in the very heart of White's defense! A computer points out another way of fulfilling this idea - 22...Bxf3! 23.gxf3 (23.Nxf3 Rxf3! 24.gxf3 Qxh3) 23...Qxh3 24.Qf1 Qg3+ 25.Kh1 Nxf3 26.Qc4+ Kg7 27.Re2 Qh3! with strong attack for Black. But the Eliseev's move is more simple from the practical point of view.

23.Nxf3
Or 23.gxf3 Qxh3 24.Re2 Nxf3+ 25.Nxf3 Bxf3 with decisive threats.

23...Bxf3 24.Re4 Bxe4 25.Qxe4 Rd8 26.Rf1 Rd5 27.g3 Ng6 

The e5-pawn is about falling, and the following exchange sacrifice is the only practical chance for White.

28.Rf6 exf6 29.Qxg6+ Kf8 30.exf6 Rf5 31.Qxh6+ Ke8 32.Qh8+ Kd7 33.Qg7+ Kc6 34.Qxa7

Finally there is a break in the series of checks, and Black can just capture the f6-pawn - then his king will return to the kingside and be safe again. Basically, the game is over.

34...Qxf6 35.Qa6+ Kd7 36.Qb7+ Ke6 37.Qb5 Qe5 38.Qe8+ Kf6 39.Qh8+ Kg6 40.Qxe5 Rxe5 41.Kf2 Re6 42.Kf3 Ra6 43.a4 Rb6 44.b4 cxb4 45.Bc1 Rc6 46.Bb2 Rc2 47.Bxd4 b3 0–1