Chapter 138: Getting Pushed Back?!
Tak!
Tak!
Tak!
Tak!
Both players blitzed their way through the opening stage very quickly, only spending about five to ten seconds every move. If anyone didn’t know better, they would think that it was a rapid or blitz game when they saw this. After all, it was quite rare for players to just use their memory and intuition for that long, especially in a standard game.
As a result, there was a unique situation where both players had around 94 minutes left after the first eight moves, even though they started the game with 90 minutes each. This showed that each move they spent was never more than 30 seconds, resulting in them getting too much additional time here.
As usual, though, the computer showed that Sheva was at a disadvantage. The boy himself also realized that even without having to look at the computer. However, he wasn’t worried at all. He knew that this was the nature of the opening, as the Dutch Defense was one of the few openings that the engine didn’t like. What mattered the most was that Sheva had already expected this kind of situation, so he still thought that the game was pretty much equal, even though the evaluation was +0.7 for Gukesh.
Both players went for a solid approach, with Sheva fianchettoing his light bishop to the B7 square while also developing all of his pieces into a good position. He was ready for whenever Gukesh was about to castle on the kingside, trying to overwhelm the boy with all of his pieces.
Meanwhile, Gukesh himself also didn’t stay idle. He pushed all of the pawns on the queenside forward, trying to create a counterplay while also killing all the space for Sheva’s light bishop to stare at his kingside. Even though it was still the eighth move of the game, the position had already turned into a dynamic one, promising everyone who watched it that the game would turn into an exciting one.
After a while, the waiting game was finally over. It was Sheva who made the first move. He slid his knight on the F6 square to the H5 one, threatening to take Gukesh’s dark bishop that was in a good position. However, the Indian boy welcomed it with open hands, letting Sheva force the exchange with the risk that now he had a doubled-pawn on the F file.
*Author note: If you want to visualize the position better, check the comment below.
At first glance, the situation seemed to favor Sheva. However, anyone proficient in the Dutch Defense wouldn’t like his position, as a knight in the F6 square was necessary to control the E4 spot. However, this was the risk that Sheva was willing to take to change the situation on the board.
Even though maintaining such a static position and aiming for a draw would be a good result, he still wanted to challenge himself, as it was quite rare for him to face such a strong player, so he decided to go all out for a win.
’Not that a defeat against him would hurt my rating too much, anyway. I would probably only lose 3 or 4 points here.’ He thought to himself. ’Also, even if I didn’t do anything, he would be the one who would flip the table. Rather than letting him control the pace, let’s try to create a surprise play that would force him to think more.’
After that, the pace seemed to be a little bit slower, but that was only because the tension was about to reach its peak. Now, both players were concentrating hard, trying to find a way to get an upper hand in this game.
However, after a while, it was clear that once again, Sheva found himself struggling to maintain his position. First, his fianchettoed bishop on the B7 square was forced to be traded to protect his rook, then Gukesh’s pawn managed to infiltrate far to the D6 square while all of his pieces themselves were blocked in his own area. The worst, though, was that he was forced to exchange his rook for Gukesh’s knight. That was a necessity, as if Sheva didn’t want to do that, he would get smothered by Gukesh’s knight in the next few moves. It would be embarrassing to suffer from the smothered mate in this kind of game.
*Author note: If you want to visualize the position better, check the comment below.
The situation looked pretty bad for Sheva. The computer engine also evaluated +1.1, showing that Gukesh had an upper hand right now. However, the position itself was quite maintainable. As long as Sheva was willing to exchange his queen with Gukesh’s, which had already infiltrated deep into his defense, the computer thought that Sheva’s chance to equalize the situation was still pretty open.
Unfortunately, that was the problem.
Adhering to the principle of never exchanging pieces when he was down something on the board, Sheva avoided the trade offer like the plague. Instead of that, he went to take the pawn on B2 with his dark bishop, eager to equalize the material advantage that Gukesh had. It was a normal reaction, as a lot of people would do that if they were down by two points material. However, the engine clearly didn’t like this position, as the evaluation bar spiked up for the white’s advantage, showing +3.4 just for this mistake.
Seeing this, Gukesh’s eyes lit up immediately. As a tactical genius, there was no way he wouldn’t notice such a blunder from Sheva. His eyes moved rapidly, calculating every possibility on the board.
In the end, even though he was forced to let Sheva’s dark bishop into a good square, one of his rooks was staring on an open file, ready to support the queen that was infiltrating deep into Sheva’s defense. The pawn anchored on the D6 square was also going to be a problem in the future, as it was very close to the promotion square.
Looking at his own position, Sheva furrowed his brows deeply, crossing his arms in front of his chest while also staring at the board intently. Inwardly, though, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
’How in the hell did my situation get this bad so quickly?!’