SPOT ON CHESS PUZZLES: Opponent "Deac"-tivated!

How to defeat your chess opponent?

You can win with a nifty opening trap... catch them out in a discredited opening line, beat them tactically or even out play them in the endgame. But when it comes to the endgame, that is where real chess understanding can be appreciated the most. And playing endgames comes down to a contest of wills between each of the players.

A solidly artful or scientifically played game of chess is a story in three acts: The Opening, the Middle-game and the Endgame. When skilled players lock horns what they do in the opening is the base of a pyramid that, if solidly constructed, will support a solid Middle-game, and if the Middle-game portion of the pyramid is solid then atop that sits the endgame. Of course sometimes an opponent gets to write the plot to their own game with logical play that threads between and connects all three stages of the game. Not all stories are one sided and, in fact, a lot of games have messy plots!

Online Resources:

Official FIDE Website at:

https://grandswiss.fide.com

TWIC (The Week In Chess) by Mark Crowther.

https://theweekinchess.com

Leading the FIDE GRAND SWISS OPEN at 5.5 points after 7 rounds is GM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit. He plays American GM Hikaru Nakamura in round 8 tomorrow... with a lot of other players standing only half a point behind the tournament leader.

THE GAME:

Bogdan-Daniel Deac vs Nodirbek Yakubboev
FIDE Grand Swiss 2023, Round 7
Douglas/Isle of Man 11/01/2023

1. e4 [e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. O-O a5 7. Re1 Ba7 8. Na3 O-O 9. h3 Ne7 10. d4 Ng6 11. Be3 Bd7 12. Qc2 Bc6 13. Bd3 Re8 14. Nb5 exd4 15. Bxd4 Bxb5 16. Bxb5 c6 17. Bf1 Ne5 18. Nd2 h5 19. Rad1 Qe7 20. Bxa7 Rxa7 21. f4 Ned7 22. Nc4 d5 23. Qf2 Qc5 24. exd5 Rxe1 25. Rxe1 Qxf2+ 26. Kxf2 cxd5 27. Nd6 Kf8 28. Kf3 Nc5 29. g4 hxg4+ 30. hxg4 b6 31. Rd1 Rd7 32. Nf5 Ne6 33. Bb5 Rd8 34. Rh1 Ng8 35. Rh8 d4 36. Bc4 dxc3 37. bxc3 Rd2 38. g5 Rc2
39. g6 Rxc3+ 40. Ne3 Nd8 41. Ke4 b5 42. Bd5 Rc1 43. f5 Rg1 44. Kf4 a4 45. Ng4 Rd1 46. Ke4 Re1+ 47. Kd4 Rd1+ 48. Kc5 Rxd5+ 49. Kxd5 fxg6 50. fxg6 b4 51. Ne5 b3 52. axb3 axb3 53. Nd7+ Ke7 54. Rxg8 Kxd7 55. Rxg7+ Ke8 56. Ra7 Resigns 1-0

Thanks for "checking" this video out - see you all later on down the timeline! ~ S.