
Sergei Azarov vs Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu
European Championship (2011), Aix-les-Bains FRA, rd 10, Apr-01



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Kibitzer's Corner
Premium Chessgames Member
  devere: 30.Ne3 and Black resigns seems like the correct plan.
Sep-02-20  nalinw: I selected

30. Rf6 ... which is given +3

The text move gets +7 but the simple

30. Ne3 gets +11!

Sep-02-20  Walter Glattke: Several possbilities, even 30.Rxc3 Qxg4+ 31.Rg3 Qh4 32.R6xg6+ wins, 30.Rxg6 Kxg6 (30.-Qxg6 31.Qe7+ Kh8 32.Qf8+ Kh7 33.Nf6+ Qxf6 34.Qxf6 Rxg3+ 35.Kxg3) 31.Nxe5+ Kf6 32.Rxg5 hxg5 33.Qd4 R3c2 34.Ne3+ wins, Q and P for R they played 33.-Rbc2 34.Qd6+ could follow 34.-Kg7 35.Qxe7+ Kh8 36.Qf8+ Kh7 37.Qf7+ Kh8 38.Nf6# or 37.-Kh6 38.Qg6#
Sep-02-20  saturn2: 30. Ne3 wins

30...Qh5 31. Rgxg6+ Qxg6+ 32. Rxg6+ Kxg6 
33. Qxe7 or

30..Rxf2+ 31. Kxf2 Qf4+ 32. Ke2 Qf7 33. Nf5+ Nxf- 5 34. Qxf7+ Kxf7 35 Rxc3

Sep-02-20  stacase: 31.Nxe5+ Ouch!
Sep-02-20  Brenin: The flashy 30 Rxg6+ works, but I would have played the quieter 30 Ne3, retaining the extra firepower: it blocks 30 ... Rxg3+, threatens Nf5+, attacks the Black Q, and skewers the weak P on g6.
Sep-02-20  saturn2: <nalinw30  Rf6 > yields a Q vs R+N won endgame

30...Rxg3+ 31. Kxg3 Qxf6 (forced)  32. Nxf6 Kxf6

Sep-02-20  Cheapo by the Dozen: I went with 30 Ne3 too. It's one of those moves that gets better the longer you look at it. At first I thought it was just about safely making a discovered attack on Black's queen to skewer her against g6, but there's actually a further issue in that she's defending the e7 knight as well.
Sep-02-20  malt: Gone for 30.Ne3 also
Sep-02-20  paavoh: For some reason, I first saw 30.Rxg6+ and found it sufficient after 31.Ne5+.

Like others said, 30. Ne3 is great. If you see a good move, look for a better one...

Sep-02-20  areknames: <The flashy 30 Rxg6+ works, but I would have played the quieter 30 Ne3, retaining the extra firepower> I suppose it hinges on how much time one would have had on the clock; I saw Rxg6 almost immediately but of course Ne3 is devastating. Great move.
Sep-02-20  Cellist: I saw 30. Rg6: rather quickly and stopped looking for alternatives. I expected 30. ... Qg6:, which I considered to be slightly better for black than 30. ... Kg6:. I was confident that 31. Qe7:+ would put enough pressure on the black royal couple, for example: 31. ... Qf7 32. Ne5:+, winning the queen and threatening mate soon. Not interposing the queen on move 31 seems not much better for Black.
Sep-02-20  mel gibson: I chose the text move but Stockfish 11
gives a different move:

30. Ne3

(30. Ne3 (♘g4-e3
♖b2xf2+ ♔g2xf2 ♕g5-f4+ ♔f2-g2 ♕f4xe4+ ♖g3-f3 ♕e4-h4 ♕a7-d7 ♖c3xe3 ♖f3xe3 e5-e4 ♖e3-h3 ♕h4-g5+ ♖h3-g3 ♕g5-e5 ♖d6-e6 ♕e5xe6 ♕d7xe6 g6-g5 ♕e6xe7+ ♔g7-g6 ♕e7-e6+ ♔g6-g7 ♖g3-a3 ♔g7-h8 ♖a3-a7 h6-h5 ♕e6-c8+) +M15/68 92)

White wins - mate in 15.

Forcing Stockfish 11 to follow the text ply we have:

(30. Rxg6+ Qxg6

(♕g5xg6 ♕a7xe7+
♔g7-h8 ♕e7-f8+ ♕g6-g8 ♕f8xh6+ ♕g8-h7 ♕h6xh7+ ♔h8xh7 ♖g3xc3 ♖b2-b5 ♖c3-c7+ ♔h7-g8 ♘g4-f6+ ♔g8-f8 ♖c7-a7 ♖b5-b2 ♘f6-d7+ ♔f8-f7 ♘d7xe5+ ♔f7-e6 ♘e5-g4 ♖b2-b6 ♔g2-f3 ♔e6-d6 e4-e5+ ♔d6-c5 ♖a7-a3 ♖b6-e6 ♔f3-f4 ♖e6-e7 ♔f4-f5 ♔c5-b4 ♖a3-e3 ♖e7-f7+ ♔f5-g6 ♖f7-a7 e5-e6 ♖a7-a6 ♔g6-f5 ♖a6-a5+ ♔f5-f4 ♖a5xa2 e6-e7 ♖a2-a8 e7-e8♕ ♖a8xe8 ♖e3xe8 ♔b4-c5 ♔f4-f3 ♔c5-c6 ♖e8-e5 ♔c6-c7 ♔f3-e4 ♔c7-b6 ♔e4-f4 ♔b6-c7 ♔f4-g5 ♔c7-d6 f2-f4 ♔d6-d7) -147.92/50 79)

score for Black -147.92 depth 50.
That means it's -mate but not solved
even given a lot of computer time.

Sep-02-20  TheaN: Hah! So what's correct here? The text isn't best, but clearly the intended answer. Pretty happy with myself still as I pictured the text <to the ply> to resignation, where Black's losing the slight material balance he has, but gets mated to boot.

After <30.Rxg6+!?> Black's left with two evils, and it's White's most destructive way to victory. There's no way for Black to decline the rook, 30....Kf7 31.Rxg5 Rxg3+ 32.Kxg3 hxg5 33.Nxe5+ +- and he's in shambles.

<30....Kxg6> typical, the alternative seems playable but it isn't. After 30....Qxg6 31.Qxe7+ Black's left with a lot of evils. 31....Kg8? 32.Nf6+ Kh8 33.Qf8+ Qg8 34.Rxg8#, 31....Qf7 32.Qxf7+ (32.Ne3+! is best but somehow I overlooked this move in its entirety) Kxf7 33.Nxh6+ Kf6 34.Rxc3 +-, and lastly 31....Kh8 32.Qf8+ Qg8 (Kh7 33.Nf6+ Qxf6 34.Qg8#) 33.Qxh6+ Qh7 34.Qxh7+ Kxh7 35.Rxc3 +-.

<31.Nxe5+> of course this is the only way to continue. <31....Kf6> and this is the only way to keep defending Ne7 and not lose an additional tempo. Every other move fails to 32.Rxg5(+) and 33.Qxe7. <32.Rxg5 hxg5 33.Qd4!>. I do have to say that if you play it via this route, you have to see Qd4:

click for larger view

With the simultaneous threat of Qxc3 and Nc4+/Nd3+ Black can only defend both rooks by moving Rb2 to defend Rc3. So <33....Rbc2>, but now the coup de grace <34.Qd6+> and Black gets mated instead after <34....Kg7 35.Qxe7+ Kh8 (Kg8 36.Qf7+ Kh8 37.Ng6#) 36.Qf6+ Kh7 37.Qf7+ Kh6 38.Ng4#>, among other options.

The reason 30.Ne3 is better is that Black has the option to go just a piece down in the Qxg6 lines, whereas he doesn't in the Ne3 line. Rxg6+ however is more forcing and slightly easier to execute. Take your pick, I'd say.

Premium Chessgames Member
  drollere: i also had 30. Ne3, which actually seems quicker no matter what the naked Q does.
Sep-02-20  Cfachini28: I went with Ne3 also but I certainly couldn't calculate M15. Just to deflect the queen off the defense of either g6 or e7.
Premium Chessgames Member
  agb2002: Black threatens Rxg3+, drawing at least.

The rook on g3 x-rays Black's king and queen. This suggests 30.Rxg6+, removing the remaining shield:

A) 30... Kxg6 31.Nxe5+

A.1) 31... Kf6 32.Rxg5 hxg5 (32... Kxg5 33.Qxe7+ and mate in two) 33.Qd4 Rbc2 (33... Rc2 34.Nd3+ and 35.Nxb2 wins decisive material) 34.Ng4+

A.1.a) 34... Kf7 35.Qf6+ Ke8 36.Ne5 wins decisive material (36... Rc7 37.Qf7+ Kd8 38.Qf8#; 36... Nc6 37.Qf7+ Kd8 38.Qd7#).

A.1.b) 34... Ke6 35.Qf6+ Kd7 36.Ne5+ Ke8 (36... Kd8 37.Qf8+ Kc7 38.Qxe7+ wins decisive material) 37.Qf7+ Kd8 38.Qf8+ wins decisive material.

A.1.c) 34... Kg6 35.Qd6+ Kh5 (35... Kf7 36.Qf6+ transposes to A.1.a) 36.Nf6+ Kg6 (36... Kh4 37.Qh2#) 37.Nd5+ wins decisive material.

A.2) 31... Kh5 32.Rxg5+, followed by Qxe7, wins.

A.3) 31... Kh7 32.Rxg5 as in A.2.

B) 30... Qxg6 31.Qxe7+

B.1) 31... Qf7 32.Qxf7+ (32.Nxe5+ Rxg3+ wins for Black) 32... Kxf7 33.Nxh6+ and 34.Rxc3 wins decisive material.

B.2) 31... Kg8 32.Nf6+ wins.

B.3) 31... Kh8 32.Qf8+ Qg8 (32... Kh7 33.Nf6+ Qxf6 34.Qg8#) 33.Qxh6+ Qh7 34.Qxh7+ Kxh7 35.Rxc3 wins decisive material.

Sep-02-20  eblunt: Ne3 is a great move. Looks quiet but does about 3 very threatening things all at once. Opens up the rook on the queen, threatens f5+ , blocks the line to g3. Suddenly black has too many threats to answer.


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