Brighton e2-e4 Masters 2012 (9)
Rausis struggles at Brighton e2-e4 Masters
IM Malcolm Pein - Tuesday 28th February 2012
GM Igors Rausis, the top seed at the Brighton e2-e4 Masters tournament had a very poor result, scoring 5/9 when he outrated the field considerably.
Here he is outplayed by Michael White who employs a swashbuckling pawn sacrifice against the Philidor Defence that was developed by Alexei Shirov.
M White (2229) - I Rausis (2498)
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.g4
Igor Rausis
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Michael White
Position after 5.g4
5...Nxg4 6.Rg1 exd4 7.Nxd4 Nde5 8.h3 Nf6 9.f4 Ng6 10.Qf3 c5
(10...d5 11.e5 Nh4 12.Qf2 Ne4 13.Nxe4 dxe4 14.Be3)
11.Nb3 Bd7 12.Be3 Bc6 13.0-0-0
White has a big lead in development and this provides full compensation for the sacrificed pawn
13...Qb6 14.Bc4 Be7 15.Nd2 Rf8 16.Qe2
(Nd2 and Qe2 prepare f4-f5 so that Ne5 does not gain a tempo)
16...0-0-0 17.f5 Ne5 18.Rxg7 Rg8 19.Rxf7! Nxf7 20.Bxf7 Rg3?!
Not the time to be grabbing pawns and leaving rooks unprotected
21.Bf4! Rxh3?
(21...Rxc3)
22.Nc4
(22.e5)
22...Qa6 23.e5! Bf3 24.Qf1 Bxd1 25.exf6! Bxf6 26.Qxh3 Bxc3 27.Qxc3 Bg4 28.Qf6 Kc7 29.Be6 1-0
Igor Rausis
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Michael White
Final position after 29.Be6
One of Shirov's wins in this line
A Shirov - A Hoffman
Leon Open 2008
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.g4 Nxg4 6.Rg1 Ngf6 7.Bc4 h6 8.Be3 Nb6 9.Bb3 Bg4N 10.dxe5 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 dxe5 12.Qf5 Nbd7 13.0-0-0 c6 14.f4 Qe7 15.fxe5 Nxe5 16.Bd4 Nfd7 17.Bxe5 Nxe5 18.Nd5!
A Hoffman
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Alexei Shirov
Position after 18.Nd5!
18...cxd5 19.Ba4+ Nd7 20.Rxd5 0-0-0 21.Bxd7+ Rxd7?
(21...Kb8! survives)
22.Rgd1 Qg5+ 23.Qxg5 hxg5 24.Rxd7 1-0
Today's puzzle is White to play and mate in 3
Anna Zatonskih
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Sergei Movsesian
White to play and mate in 3
Answer: 1.Qf7+ Kh8 2.Qh7+! 1-0 in view of 2...Nxh7 3.Nf7 mate Movsesian-Zatonski Gibraltar 2012
