Chess News

Malcolm Pein on…Radjabov’s Solid Show

Malcolm Pein

March 9, 2021

Malcolm Pein returns to the recent Opera Europe Rapid tournament in today’s Daily Telegraph chess column to take a look at the third-place play-off, in which he was impressed by Teimour Radjabov’s solid show.

Malcolm Pein on…Radjabov’s Solid Show

The third-place play-off at the Opera Europe Rapid saw a comfortable victory for Teimour Radjabov over Maxime Vachier- Lagrave. Radjabov won the first set and the first two games of the second, to reach an unassailable position. Each set was the best of four games. Radjabov lies second in the overall tour standings, just behind Wesley So. Between them, the pair have won all three events in the Meltwater Tour. Radjabov’s earnings so far are $73,500 (£53,000), while So has won $70,000. The next tour event begins on March 13.

Test Your Strength

Radjabov took the lead in game two of the first set with a crisp finish here.

White to play and win

M. Vachier-Lagrave – T. Radjabov

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 (The Sicilian Kalashnikov; as combative as its name suggests) 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 (White sets up the Maroczy Bind and aims to dominate d5. Black tries to break out with f7–f5 or b7–b5 and hopes to exchange dark bishops and ensconce his knight on d4) 6…Be7 7.N1c3 a6 8.Na3 Nf6 9.Nc2 0–0 10.Be2 Be6 11.Be3 Rb8 12.0–0 Qd7 13.f3 Na5 14.b3 b5 15.cxb5 axb5 16.Nb4! (Controlling the key square) 16…Nc6 17.Na6 (An audacious pawn grab, 17.Nbd5 b4 18.Nxf6+ Bxf6 19.Nd5 Bd8 20.Bc4 was good for an edge)

17…Ra8 (The knight on a6 proves hard to corral, if 17…Rbc8 18.Bxb5 Qb7 19.Qd3 Nd4! muddies the waters after 20.Bxd4 exd4 21.Ne2 d5) 18.Bxb5 Qb7 19.Qd3 Rfc8 (19…Bc8 20.Bxc6! Qxc6 21.Nb4! Qc7 22.Nbd5; 19…Nd4! 20.a4! d5!?) 20.a4 Na5 (20…Bxb3 21.Rab1 Nd4 22.Bxd4 Bc2! 23.Qxc2 exd4 was probably better) 21.Nb4 Nxb3 22.Rab1 Nc5 (22…Nd4 23. Bxd4 exd4 24.Ncd5! keeps control) 23.Qe2 Bf8 (23…Bd8 24.Rfd1 Ba5 was more active) 24.Rfd1 Ra5 25.Nbd5 Nxd5 26.Nxd5 (White has achieved his strategic objective)

26…Rb8 27.Qe1 Raa8 28.h4 Qc8 29.Rbc1 Qb7 30.h5 Rc8 (30…h6!) 31.h6 Nxa4 32.Rxc8 Bxc8 33.Bxa4 Rxa4 34.hxg7 Bxg7 35.Rb1 Qa6 36.Qh4! 1-0 Qd8+, Ne7+ or Rb8 will win material.

Highlight the space below this line to reveal the answer.

46.Rxe7+! Rxe7 47.Rxg8 Rf3 (47…Rg4 48.Bxe7 Kxe7 49.Rc8 Rxg7 (49…Kf7 50.g8Q+) 50.Rxc7+ Kf6 51.Rxg7 Kxg7 52.Kxa6) 48.Rd8+ Kxd8 49.g8Q+ Re8 50.Qg5+ 1-0 In view of 50…Kc8 51.Qg4+ and of course not 51.Kxa6?? Ra3#. 46.Kxa6 Rg4 47.Kb7 Rxg7 48.a4 must also win, albeit more slowly.

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Malcolm Pein

Malcolm Pein is a British International Master, chess organizer, author and journalist. He was a child prodigy and a former British Junior Champion. He qualified for the International Master title in 1985. Malcolm is a distinguished writer, journalist and editor. He has been a chess correspondent of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph for over 30 years, has written numerous chess books and is the Executive Editor of CHESS Magazine. In 1992, he founded the London Chess Centre, a games store in central London and the UK's only chess shop. He is also the founder and CEO of Chess in Schools and Communities, a UK charity whose aim is to introduce chess to state schools and has taught the game to over 250,000 children since its inception in 2009. Malcolm is also well-known for his chess event management. He was responsible for the pre-planning of the World Chess Championship match between Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik in London 2000. In 2002 he was appointed as Technical Director of the 'Brains in Bahrain' match between Vladimir Kramnik and the computer program Fritz. In 2009, Malcolm devised and organized the 1st London Chess Classic - the UK's first world-class elite all-play-all tournament since the 1980s which ran annually until 2019. Malcolm is also very active with the English Chess Federation. In 2016, he was appointed as the Manager and Captain of the England national team. He was also appointed as English Chess Federation delegate to the European Chess Union and FIDE and is the Director of International Chess. In 2018, he also stood for the post of Deputy President of FIDE. In 2021, Malcolm joined the ranks of Chessable authors by bringing the highlights of his column in the Daily Telegraph in the form of an interactive Chessable course, titled Telegraph Tuesday. Profile photograph © Lennart Ootes