[Event "New York International"] [Site "Marshall Chess Club"] [Date "2017.06.17"] [Round "9"] [White "Hess, Robert"] [Black "Paragua, Robert"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2574"] [BlackElo "2512"] [ECO "D82"] [Opening "Gruenfeld: 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 {GM Paragua selects the double-edged Gruenfeld as his weapon of choice and GM Hess declines the offer to build up his center. I must confess that I have no more than a cursory knowledge of the Gruenfeld but I was present at the opening phase of this game. GM Paragua was playing his moves quickly while GM Hess was taking his time, so I assumed the next several moves were more of Black's preparation than White's} Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.Rc1 {Both players are heading down the most popular moves of this sideline where there have been hundreds of predecessor games.} c6 {This is the first deviation of sorts.} (6...c5 {Has been more popular and has the optical appearence of a more aggressive continuation}) 7.Nf3 Bg4 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 { This postion has been reached 130 times with a 64% score for White. Black relinquishes one of his bishops for solidity and a slight lead in development. While White needs to still castle, Black hopes to organize some action in the center and recieve some kind of concession in return. Nevertheless I would guess White did not mind this type of game in the final round. If Black is unsuccessful in using his intiative in the next couple of moves then he will face a long defense against White's bishops. Overall, White is playing for "two results"} dxc4? {I wonder if GM Paragua mixed up his opening moves here. As I recall he was still playing quickly} (9...Qa5! {is a similar idea as in the game but with more precise execution. There is no rush to take on c4 while the Bf1 hasn't move} 10.Bd3 Nbd7 11.O-O dxc4 12.Bxc4 {Black is up a tempo here compared to the game. This position has been reached 73 times and while Black has been successful in neutralizing the bishops, White still scores 56%. Example:} e5 13.Bg3 exd4 14.exd4 Nb6 15.Bb3 Qb4 16.Be5 Nfd7 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 {Black has eliminated the pair of bishops and has great harmony in combating the Isolated Queens' Pawn (IQP). The strong GM ended up grinding down his opponent} 18.Ne2 Qd6 19.Rfd1 Nf6 20.Qf4 Rad8 21.Qf3 Rfe8 $15 { '0-1' (56) Levin,F (2472)-Marin,M (2597) Benasque 2010}) 10.Bxc4 Nbd7 11.O-O Qa5 {Compared to the game and theory above, GM Paragua has lost a tempo. That is exactly the tempo White needs to meet e7-e5 effectively!} 12.Qe2! Rfe8 13.Rfd1 e5 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Bb3 $16 {White has successfully kept his bishop pair advantage. Furthermore the open position benefits the bishops, one can see the Bb3 is a formidable piece. Nevertheless the "bishop pair advantage" is often an academic advantage in the hands of inexperienced players. It is instructive to see how a Grandmaster exploits his positional advantage (against another Grandmaster!)} Rad8 16.e4! {GM Hess wastes no time in advancing his pawn majority. General chess education tells us that asymmetrical pawn structure is favorable for the side with the bishops. Here both White and Black have a respective pawn majority. The bishops are in good theoretical shape to shepherd their majority forward while impeding the opponents!} Rxd1+ 17.Rxd1 Qb4 18.Bh2!? {Bishops are often quite happy away from the action as they can influence the position from the first or second row. Here White's idea is to clear the road for the advance of the f and e pawns} a5 19.f4 Ned7 20.e5 {Consistent. The dark square pawn structure also perfectly complements the Bb3 while restricting the Bg7} Nc5 21.Qc4! { Maintaining the bishop on the impressive diagonal while the transition to the endgame helps White continue advance the kingside pawns} Qxc4 22.Bxc4 Nfd7 23.a3 {A nice prophylactic move. On one hand White creates a bolt hole on a2 for the Bc4 (in case of Nb6 or b5). On the other hand White also has ideas of b2-b4! A good prophylactic move not only defends against the opponent's ideas, but also improves one's position.} Nb6 24.Ba2 Bf8 25.g4 {Again GM Hess very consistently advances his pawn majority with the support his a2 and h2 snipers. } Be7 26.f5 Rd8 27.Rxd8+ Bxd8 28.e6! {Well calculated. White will win a pawn due to tactics:} gxf5 (28...fxe6?? 29.Bd6! {Black's knights are very clumsy. The combination Bxc5 and ef-e7 is unstoppable} Nca4 30.Nxa4 Nxa4 31.fxe6) 29.gxf5 Kf8 (29...fxe6?? 30.Bd6 $18) 30.exf7 {White's grand plan has yielded an extra passed pawn on f7} Bf6 (30...Nbd7 {The engine offers this move as the only serious way to resist. The Nd7 protects the important f8 and c5 squares. Obviously While is in the drivers seat but it will take more maneuvering to overcome the dark square blockade}) 31.Bd6+ Be7 32.Bf4 { Nice pendulum to gain a tempo. The tactics generated by the passed f7 pawn are too much for Black's position now} Bf6 33.Be6 Ncd7 34.Ne4 Bxb2 35.f6 { A textbook positional victory for GM Hess that propelled him to a tie for first in the 2018 New York International! White's simple but effective plan of utilizing his pawn majority was too much to handle even at Grandmaster level.} (35.f6 {The Nd7 is deflected so f7 will promote:} Bxf6 (35...Nxf6 36.Bd6+) 36.Nxf6 Nxf6 37.Bd6+) {#r} 1-0