Giri, le stratège qui fait mouche

This video analyzes a chess game between Anish Giri (playing Black) and Pragnananda, focusing on Giri's strategic play. The game opens with Giri playing D4, and Pragnananda responding with Knight F6. The initial phase revolves around control of the central E4 square. Giri aims to exchange a flank pawn for a central pawn to diminish Black's control over E4. Pragnananda plays E6, and Giri responds with Knight F3, followed by D5 from Black, maintaining pressure on E4. Giri then plays Knight C3. Pragnananda makes an unconventional move by taking on C4. Typically, Black players hold onto their D5 pawn, but in this instance, Black deviates the pawn from the center, allowing White to immediately establish a strong pawn center with E4 and liberate the bishop, which threatens to capture the C4 pawn and secure a strong position. Pragnananda’s rationale for this move is to overload White’s Knight on C3. By playing B5, Black defends the C4 pawn, and if White captures B5, the Knight would be detached from its defensive role on E4. In response, Giri plays E5. While this move pushes back the Knight, it also concedes the D5 square and opens the black diagonal for Black’s C8 bishop, potentially allowing it to move to B7. Black plays Knight D5. This allows Giri to recover his pawn and weaken the C4 pawn. Black responds with B6, retreating the Knight to defend C4. Both players develop their pieces: Bishop E2, Bishop E7, short castling, short castling. Giri then plays A4, introducing the A-pawn into the battle, with the intention of pushing back the Knight to recapture the C4 pawn. Black plays Bishop A6 to counterattack the Knight on B5, which retreats to A3, creating a double attack on C4. Although Black defends C4 twice, there is a looming threat of A5. Black plays C5, attempting to open the center, possibly to provoke a queen exchange and transition to an endgame. However, Giri plays A5, redirecting the Knight to D5. Bishop C4, Queen A5. Knight C2, protecting the rook, and the rook attacks Queen B6. Queen B6 marks a critical moment in the game. A critical moment is defined as a point where there is an imbalance in the position, a move that disrupts the normal flow of the game. Here, the most dynamic and critical move involves a bishop, as it will alter the material balance, leading to different pieces on the board, and modify the pawn structure after the recapture of the E6 pawn on D5. Giri captures the Knight with his bishop (Bishop takes Knight), and Black recaptures with a pawn (Pawn takes). The bishop attacks the rook, forcing the rook to move to E1. At this point, an imbalance is created. Black has the bishop pair, but their effectiveness is limited. The black bishops are designed to control the white squares, but the presence of pawns on D5 blocks these squares, obstructing the bishops' potential. Consequently, the opponent's bishops may struggle to find active play. The modification of the pawn structure is also advantageous for White, as they gain a 4-on-3 pawn majority on the kingside (right flank) of the board, where the Black king has castled. This majority often provides better attacking capabilities against the king. Black plays Bishop B7, defending D5, as the D5 pawn could also become a target. Giri plays Bishop G5, a strong move. The bishop, previously inactive, moves to G5, and Giri aims to break Black's bishop pair. He intends to capture the dark-squared bishop, leaving Black with a less effective bishop. This exchange of dark-squared bishops will enhance Giri's superiority on the dark squares. Although he will no longer have a dark-squared bishop, he will have three pieces (two knights and a bishop) against two for Black to control the dark squares. After the exchange, he will have two pieces against one, specifically a pair of knights, and a single bishop against zero for Black. Giri's objective is to transition to a Queen-Knight tandem against Black's Queen-Knight and "bad" bishop. The Queen-Knight tandem is highly cooperative in attack. Furthermore, Giri, playing White, has a 4-on-3 pawn majority on the kingside. Thus, the imbalance created in the opening has been shaped to Giri's advantage. Black captures on G5 (Bishop takes G5), and White recaptures with the Knight (Knight takes). Pragnananda pushes back the Knight, but Giri does not immediately retreat. He exchanges on C5 first, which is crucial for liberating the D4 square. Queen takes C5, Knight F3. Giri's idea is to establish a Knight on D4, blocking the passed D5 pawn, thereby preventing the B7 bishop from becoming active. The Knight on D4 will also support the attack against the king. Additionally, if the Knight on F3 moves to D4, it can also help to break the opponent's defense by pushing E6 or F6, more likely F6, to weaken Black’s position, particularly their weak color squares. Pragnananda plays C6, and Giri responds with Knight D4. The exchange of knights is precisely what Giri desired. As mentioned earlier, he had three light pieces against two for Black. After the exchange of the dark-squared bishops, it became two against one. Now, the Knight on D4 is almost impregnable, blocking D5 and condemning the F7 square. This 4-on-3 pawn majority now targets the Black King. Black's C8 rook changes diagonals. At least the Bishop will control F5 to prevent the Knight from getting too close. Giri plays Queen D2, showcasing the strong placement of his pieces. The C8 rook is not on a good square. The B8, C1, and B6 queens are strong. The Knight is very powerful in this position. Black plays Fd7, and Giri plays H3, creating an escape square for the king on the white squares, and H3 can also be used for G4. This further benefits White's position. Black plays C8. Giri does not exchange rooks. C5, H2. Why H2? The king moves away from the queen to free F2 and enable an attack on F2, F4, F5, and perhaps F6, targeting G7 and gaining H6. This illustrates how an attack can be developed. Since White has a central space advantage, they can also slide the rook along the third rank towards the king. However, on H2, the king could also be exposed on that diagonal, as will be seen in the game. Black plays A5, and Giri plays F4. Black, anticipating F5-F6, which would be disastrous for them, plays F6. Giri plays E1, E8, E2, captures on E5, captures on E5, and White now also has a passed pawn. Queen C7, pinning the king, as discussed earlier. Rook A to E1, A4, an exchange occurs (pawn takes, bishop takes), and finally, Anish Giri moves his king to H1 to avoid being targeted by a queen on its two black diagonals. Queen F7 is played, and Giri plays E6. The D5 pawn is completely blocked, and the E-pawn will progress, moving rank by rank, dangerously approaching the promotion square. It effectively cuts Black's position in two. G6. F2. Giri also has E7, with a plan to bring the queen to F8 at some point. C4. F4. H5. F2. This idea of E7 and F8 is now taking shape with the queen pushing. Bishop C2, the bishop will try to reposition itself on E4 to exert pressure on the white squares. E7, Bishop E4, Rook and escape. It is crucial not to capture, otherwise the pawn will recapture and promote to a queen. So the king will move. White takes the rook, and Black takes the rook. At this point, the game is nearing Pragnananda's resignation. Anish Giri will play the rook. Before discussing the sacrifice of quality, one might consider Queen F8, which is a good move, but not as straightforward as it seems. Obviously, Black would not capture, but they could use their bishops for defense. The goal of winning is then a Knight. Knight E6 attacks Queen G7, truly inciting the Black Queen to capture and allow White to promote a new Queen. If the Black Queen moves to F7 to defend, White would promote the pawn, then deflect the Black Queen, and finally mate on G7. So Queen F8 is a strong move. However, if Black captures, and with F5 no longer present, the Queen moves to F5, attacking the King. The idea is to expose the King to a fork on an unprotected rook. For example, if the King moves to G8, White can play Queen E6 or Queen D5 for a fork and win the rook. If the King is on H6, White has Queen E6. If the King is on H8, White has Queen F8, and will win the Queen. Finally, if the King is on H6, again Queen F8, and White will win the Queen. The rook can also move to C8, but Knight E6 threatens Queen G7. In case of capture, White can capture the pawn, promote a new Queen, recapture with the Knight on check, and eventually win the E4 pawn. The Knight will also allow White to eliminate the remaining black pawns and win this endgame calmly by promoting new queens. This game showcases Anish Giri's positional play, the imbalance created by the exchange of the bishop for the knight, how he broke the bishop pair by exchanging the dark-squared bishops, and how he managed to impose a centralized blocking knight. His play with colors, his strength on the dark squares, making Black's dark-squared bishop passive, and playing with the pawn majority demonstrate great positional understanding. In the tournament standings, Sindarov has 6.5 points, making it very difficult to catch him. The speaker believes this candidate tournament is almost decided for Sindarov, as he has a 2-point lead over his closest competitors, Caruana and Anish Giri, who both have 4.5 points. The other players are quite far behind. This contrasts with other candidate tournaments where there might be five players tied at 4.5 points after eight days, making it a very serious and open competition.