[Event "Ch Europe (team)"] [Site "masterchessopen.com Leon (Spain)"] [Round "4"] [White "Tiviakov Sergei (NED)"] [Black "Hertneck Gerald (GER)"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2599"] [BlackElo "2570"] [ECO "C05"] [Opening "French: Tarrasch, Closed, 4.e5"] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 { Tarrasch system of the French Defence. } 3...Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.c3 c5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.Ne2 cxd4 8.cxd4 f6 9.exf6 { Just recently, in CT-364 we discussed another popular line } ( 9.Nf4 ) 9...Qxf6 { !? } ( 9...Nxf6 ) 10.Nf3 h6 11.O-O Bd6 12.Ng3 { White also has another ways here, for example: } ( 12.Nc3 O-O 13.Be3 Rd8 14.a3 Nf8 15.Qc2 Bd7 16.Rfe1 Be8 17.Rad1 Bg6 18.h3 Rd7 { Mamedov - Radjabov, Cannes 1997. } ) 12...O-O 13.Bc2 { In many lines the battery "bishop c2 + queen d3" will be very unpleasant because black has weaken his king with h7-h6!. } 13...Rd8 { Black is ready to play Nd7-f8 to protect his king now. } 14.Re1 Nf8 { Sooner or later black has to do this move in order to develop the c8 bishop. But now white can occupy the weak e5 square. } 15.Ne5 Bxe5 { Black has tried another ways here, but without success, for example: } ( 15...Qh4 16.f4 Bd7 17.Be3 Be8 18.Rf1 Rac8 19.Rc1 Rc7 20.Qd2 Rdc8 21.Bb1 Bb4 22.Qf2 { ? Nadyrhanov - Shapar, Krasnodar 2001. } ) ( 15...Bd7 16.f4 Be8 17.Be3 Qh4 18.Rf1 Ne7 19.f5 Bxe5 20.dxe5 exf5 21.Rf4 Qg5 22.Qf3 Neg6 23.Rxf5 Qe7 24.Rf1 { ± Motylev - Iljushin, Samara 2000. } ) 16.dxe5 Qh4 ( 16...Nxe5 { ?? } 17.Nh5 { +?? } ) 17.Nh5 { !? A novelty which looks very strong. As we wrote yesterday, very often a crude threat is the best threat. White simply wants to checkmate his opponent's king. } ( 17.f4 Bd7 18.Be3 Rac8 19.Rc1 Be8 20.f5 Nxe5 21.fxe6 Ng4 22.h3 Nxe3 23.Rxe3 d4 { ? Ni Hua - Zhang Pengxiang, China 2001. } ) 17...Rd7 { Black has to defend the g7-point. Worse was } ( 17...Bd7 18.Re3 Be8 19.Nxg7 { ! } 19...Kxg7 20.Rh3 Qxh3 ( 20...Qd4 21.Bxh6+ Kg8 22.Rg3+ { +?? } ) ) 18.Re3 Rf7 19.f4 Qd8 { Black couldn't play } ( 19...Ne7 { (with idea Nf5) in view of } 20.Rh3 { , so he prepares this move. } ) ( 19...Bd7 { and the following line isn't very clear: } 20.Nf6+ { ?! } 20...gxf6 21.Rh3 Qxh3 22.gxh3 fxe5 23.fxe5 Nxe5 { ? } ) 20.Rg3 Ne7 { ?? It's a blunder, after } ( 20...Kh8 { all the struggle will be ahead. } ) 21.Nf6+ { Of course. Black resigned in view of 1-0, Tiviakov, Sergei(2599) - Hertneck, Gerald(2570), Leon ESP 9.11.2001 EuTCh } ( 21.Nf6+ Kh8 22.Qh5 { ! and rook f7 is undefendable. } ) {#r} 1-0