Judit is in good spirit and she is confident. No one knows what will happen in the next 3 games. One thing you can be sure is she will throw the kitchen sink at Bareev for the remainder of the match. Hold on to your seat for some exciting actions ahead 🙂 Never count Judit out!
I have to admit that it is a lot more difficult for me to watch Judit, Sofia or my children play than playing myself. It is also a lot more rewarding for me when they do great. One of the happiest chess moments of my life was when Judit won the Hungarian Championship. This was more special to me than winning my own World Championships. This is the Polgar way. We root for each other and we are always there for each other.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0–0 0–0 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Qc2 Nxc3 9.Qxc3 c5 (All book moves so far)
10.Rd1 d6 (White has some popular choices here. 10.b3 to put the Bishop on b2. 10. Bf4 to put pressure on the d6 pawn. 10.d5 and try to lock in the Bishop on b7. There are others but these are the more popular plans.)
11.b3 Nd7 12.Bb2 (I like 12.Bf6. Black has equalized the game.)
12…Nf6 (Also a playable line and perhaps will lead to a more unbalanced position which is what Judit wants.)
13.d5 (Other options are 13.Ne1 or 13.dxc5. All are playable.)
13…exd5 14.cxd5 (This was that Judit aimed for, something with play, something sharp, and not something that Bareev can coast to a draw. Now Black can play either 14…Ne8 or 14…Re8. I probably prefer 14…Ne8 so the Bishop can get to f6.)
14…Re8 15.e4 (Black can play 15…Nh5 with the idea of Bf6. Black is doing fine with this position.)
15…Bf8 (Protecting the g7 pawn and mate threat. Now Black can put pressure on the e4 pawn and the e semi-open file.)
16.Nd2 b5 (Judit chose something that may not be the strongest. However, it is quite often that attacking players like Tal, Shirov, Topalov, Browne and of course Judit would choose something inferior to keep the actions going. This is one of those cases.)
17.a4 (This is a critical moment. Black can play 17…b4, 17…a6 or 17…bxa4. Each will lead to a completely different position. 17…b4 allowing White to play Nc4 at some point is intriguing.)
17…b4 18.Qc2 (One idea for Black now is 18…g6 and then Bg7. This is the most logical plan.)
18…g6 19.a5 (Black can either ignore a6 and play 19…Bg7 or block it with 19…Ba6. White is better in both lines but Judit is willing to accept an inferior position in exchange for complications. You live by the sword and so you will win or lose by your own sword.)
19…Ba6 (Logical and better choice than 19…Bg7. Now, White should continue to dominate the center with 20.f4.)
20.Bf1 (20.f4 would be a stronger move. As Black, I would be happy to trade the Bishops.)
20…Bxf1 21.Rf1 (The problem for Black here is White has an excellent c4 square for the Knight. Black’s limited play would be on the e file. Advantage White in this position.)
21…Bh6 22.f4 Bg7 23.Rfe1 (White continues to hold his lead. It would be interesting to see how he will break open this position. This is the area where he is suspect in. He sometimes has a problem when having superior positions, choosing the wrong plans when there are too many choices. Of course objectively speaking, I would take White in this position. Black can play 23…Qe7 followed by Rad8.)
23…Qd7 24.Nc4 (This is why I would have played 24…Qe7, temporarily stopping Nc4 with the idea of bringing my a Rook to d8.)
24….Nh5 25.Rad1 (This is a posibility: 25…Bxb2 26. Qxb2 f6 27. e5 fxe5 28. fxe5 dxe5 29. Nxe5 Qd6 and White is better.)
25…Bxb2 26.Qxb2 Ng7 (Black is in trouble here if White plays 27.Qf6.)
27.Qg2 (Much weaker than 27.Qf6. Now Judit should defend the d6 pawn with Rad8 while freeing her Queen. It is still bad but better what could have been with 27.Qf6)
27…Rad8 28.g4 (I would attempt to stop the advancement of the pawns with f6.)
28…f6 (This is usually where Bareev falters in the past. White’s position is good but there are so many ways to proceed and each will have different dynamics.)
29.h3 (As I said, this is the kind of positions where Bareev becomes indecisive. He does not know what to do so he basically play a waiting but and no risk move. I would do the same as Black with 29….Rf8 and force White to make a move.)
29…g5 (A Judit move. Bareev understands chess very deeply. He sees the position quite clear. That is why he was over 2700 and one of the best in the world. One of his few drawbacks in indecisiveness in some advantageous positions. Because of this, he spends extra time and sometimes gets himself in trouble. Don’t look at him as a 2640 player. He is a 2700+ player.)
30.fxg5 (I would consider doubling up the Rooks on the f file as White instead of taking the pawn. There is no reason to open up this position yet. Black is going no where.)
30…fxg5 31.e5 dxe5 32.d6 Qf7 (White still has a considerable advantage but the dynamics are different. The position has opened up)
33.Qd5 (In my opinion, this is the strongest and most logical move. Why? When the position opens up, the Queen can be dangerous. Therefore, by getting the Queens off the board, White has no worry left. Now White can just slowly capitalize on his advantage without risks.)
33…e4 (The correct plan here for White is 34.Qxf7+ Kxf7 35.Rd5 and White is in excellent shape to score a full point.)
34.Qg5 (Now Black can play 34…Qf3 with some small hopes.)
34…Qf3 (She found the strongest response.)
35.Qd5+ Re6 36.Re3 Rdxd6 37.Rxf3 Rxd5 38.Rxd5 exf3 39.Kf2 (It now comes down to techniques and nerve for Bareev. White is a lot better here.)
39…Re2+ 40.Kxf3 (I would play 40…Re7 with the idea of Ne6)
40…Rc2 (40…Ne6 gives small chances.)
41.Rd8+ (White’s position is too powerful here.)
41…Kf7 42.Rd7+ Kg6 43.Rxa7 Ne6 44. Ke4 Nd4 (Unless there is a horrible blunder, White should score a full point here.)
45.h4 Rh2 46.a6 Nxb3 47.Kd5 Kf6 48.Rxh7 +- Ra2 49.a7 Nc1 50.Ne5 Rd2+ 51.Kxc5 Ra2 52.Nd7+ Kg6 53.Nf8+ Kf6 54.Kxb4 1-0
Well done by Bareev. Now Judit needs to win the last 2 games to tie up the match. It’s not over yet 🙂
Good luck to Judit.
Good luck!
Hey! Isn’t that young guy in the photo a Nobel Peace Prize winner?
Judith Polgar is one of my favourite players. In fact,first time I found your blog by searching for information on Judith polgar. Go Judith Go!
Hello Susan Polgar,
this is of topic but has to be addressed: Did you notice the feud developing between Mig, the Dirt Community on one side and MonRoi on the other?
What are your thoughts on this?
As a candidate for the USCF Board, what position should a national federation take towards such behavior by the company?
Since this is about the freedom of speech and the ability to controversially discuss new developments in the chess world I would like to hear your thoughts on it!
clawe
What was the company (bad) behaviour you’re addressing? The community? Dirt? What’s that have to do with today’s game? Which will by the way be the most watched one today, cause Judit will start attacking the white king from the opening already.
Great picture! Your optimism is catching. Go Judy!!
Go Judy, go!!
what are the plans now for Judit? (after 14.cxd5) b5 and b4?
misprint … actual move was 14cxd5
Susan, please elaborate about Bareev, what kind of style, strengths weaknesses, favorite lines, etc..
Do you respect his attitude to the game if he has got any.
Do you think he knows the position they have reached in the game ?
With thanks
Abie
I would add Lasker to the list of players that would choose inferior lines to create an unbalanced game with opportunities. Lasker was a much more defensive player than those Susan mentioned, but a strong player can make the difficult postions work for them irrespective of his or her style. “Best play” may look good in the long term, but you don’t score match points in the post-mordem analysis session (lol!)
Pushing pawns doesn’t always is a sign of an attacker, but yet of a pawn-pusher. Ponomariov will celebrate tonight if he manages to push some pawns in the next 6 moves.
With Idea Qh3+Ng4+Qh2+ 0-1!!
Objectively speaking, not a good position for the black. Black should offer draw.
White surely has a big advantage. Bxg7, then Qg2 to prepare e5; d6 to follow. Creates a powerful passed pawn supported by the Nc4. Judit can only react. Of course, Bareev might over-reach.
can some1 at the press conf ask judit if she overlooked 13.d5?
Karpov would know the winning plan for white here.
Superficial analysis. The comments don’t add up. You’d be happy with white, then without an explanation white is clearly better. etc.
Why do you e.g. think that trading the bishops was bad? It helped white to strenghten his grip on the position.
Now black is lost, and not just because of 27.Qf6. The eventual e5 will work in white’s favour with his huge space advantage.
My bad. What I ment was that you say you’d be happy with black and then white is nearly winning all of a sudden. I think black’s troubles go deeper than some odd mistake around move 20.
The whole concept looks suspect because white has such a huge grip on the position.
looks like Kasim will beat Gelfand today
27.Qf6. I saw this move, but can’t Black then trade queens with 27….Qe7?
Might it be even better for White to retain queens?
The h1-a8 diagonal is a very good one as well if the p advances to d6.
We are con Judith ! 🙂
but what about Shirov-Adams ?
Xargon , the true one …
Susan, can you comment a bit on 29…g5, please? What might be the idea, does it make Judith’s position worse? I have the feeling that Bareev plays waiting-moves also because he knows that Judith will react exactly in this (aggressive) way.
Now 30f5 seems to leave Black with no counterplay. White has a space advantage, no clear way to win, but all the chances.
Bareev took time on move 30 and played a more double-edged line. Interesting. He’s going for the win.
Anonymous Frank
With 33…e4 Judit seems to be in serious trouble. 34 Qxc5 seems good enough to win, and may not be the best move.
Anonymous Frank
In a tough match, a win is a win is a win. Bareev is wise enough to know that he has weaknesses. He will try to find the surest way within his capacities. AS mentioned earlier, matches (and all sporting events) involve practical considerations beyond “best play.”
churchill40
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in my opinion
34.qxg5 allowing 34… qf3
was a draw offer by Bareev…
not a good game by GM J. Polgar
strange…now it looks like a copy of the last game judit lost with black…huh!?
Magnus lost after getting into serious time trouble. 🙁
incredible how aronian manouevered his rock and bishop around to the winning blow
Kamsky Victorious!
Does anyone have a chess engine readout on Judit’s game?
I’m thinking if Mr. Polgar had son how good he would?
Does anyone have a chess engine readout on Judit’s game?
I do. After 43. Rxa7 Rybka indicates 2.40 advantage to white if black’s 43.rd move is h6. Otherwise worse
Polgar boy??? Hypothesis contrary to fact. Intro to logic : “Love is a Fallacy” by Max Shulman
Anonymous Frank
Bacrot vs. Kamsky … the better chess player is winning (sorry to all my french friends!)
He’d be very lucky to be as good as Judit.
I don’t think she has played her very best so far in this match but in fairness to Bareev he seems to have prepared really well.
We haven’t seen one really wild/complicated position yet in which Judit could give him a real kicking. He seems to be taking absolutely no risks whatsoever. Probably a good strategy when you are ahead but may not work out too well if Judit can claw one back.
All positions have come down to technical endings – almost a Karpovian performance.
Thanks, Gabor! While engines should not replace all of our anlysis, there is a place for them in the pursuit of “truth and logic.” churchill40
I hope that Judit will finally return to her former love, the King´s Indian, which fits her style much more than the dry and technical Queen´s/Nimzo-Indian. She will not beat Bareev by playing in his garden… May the better player win!
Thanks, Gabor! While engines should not replace all of our anlysis, there is a place for them in the pursuit of “truth and logic.”
I will be honest. I am a horrible chess player. I had difficult times to beat the chess computers in the early 80’s. I still simply overlook pieces and lose that way. I can’t think ahead more than 2-3-4-max 5 moves, but even in that only a very limited number. But for some totally illogical reason I love the game of chess for decades. So, for me to appreciate a chess game played by a real chess player, I must read comments by other real chess players and/or follow it with the computer. That way at least I understand why somebody is in a better position than another and why.
Gabor
Dear GM Polgar,
Thank you for your wonderful analysis of the game between GM Judit and GM Bareev. It means a lot to so many.
Sincerely,
Charlemagne
Yes,S.Polgar:Bye Bye Judit Polgar.
She is certainly in a bad form
these days.Congrats to Bareev.
Too bad for Judit 🙁
It’s over…
So what exactly went wrong? She draws the white games, but loses the black games?….
It seems her black opening repertoire seems not waterproof?!
It’s sad….she is out of shape….she lost against a player that is rated 100 points less :((