Baden-Baden rolls through powerful German chess league

Smells like team spirit in the chess world these days.

Spring is the traditional season for team chess competition finals, with national leagues competing or just concluding play in Russia, China, England, Switzerland and Italy, among other locales.

The German Bundesliga is perhaps the deepest and most prestigious league competition in the world, regularly recruiting elite grandmasters to hold down a board or two. The 2016-17 season that wrapped up May 1 saw an unprecedented sweep, as OSC Baden-Baden scored a clean 15-0 match record, three full match points ahead of runners-up SV Hockenheim and 2016 champ SG Solingen.

In one sense it’s not a shocker, as Baden-Baden recruited such superstars as U.S. GM Fabiano Caruana, Armenian GM Levon Aronian and former world champ Viswanathan Anand of India for some critical matches. But the workhorse alongside the team’s show ponies was Latvian-born German GM Adkardij Naiditsch, who was an undefeated 13-0-2 while playing in all 15 of the team’s matches.

A perfect season in any sport requires a few lucky bounces along the way, and Naiditsch got one in a showdown Round 14 match with fellow German GM Florian Handke of SG Solingen. White builds up a dangerous attack but misses the one move that would have put the game away. Given new life, Naiditsch takes over the play.

In a Classical French, both sides have weak and strong points after 12. Rc1 b5 13. Nb2 Nb6, and the queenside is locked up after 19. a4 0-0 20. a5. Handke’s advantage becomes apparent on 21. Bb6 Qc8 22. Nd2! (White’s knight is proving far more nimble than its Black counterpart, posing real problems for the defense) Nb8 23. Ne4 Nd7 24. Bd4!? Bxb4?! (a provocative pawn grab in an unstable position; interesting now would have been 24…Rxd4!? 25. cxd4 Bxb4 26. f5 Qd8 27. fxe6 fxe6 28. Bg4 Qe7, with balanced play) 25. Ng5 g6 26. cxb4 Rxd4 27. Qc3!, attacking the rook and gaining a tempo for the very powerful transfer to the h-file.

Black is quickly on the verge of collapse after 28. Qh3 h5 29. Bxh5! Kg7 (see diagram; 29…gxh5? 30. Qxh5 Rd8 31. Qxf7+ Kh8 32. Qh7 mate), when probably winning now is 30. Bxg6! Rh8 (fxg6 31. Qh7 mate) 31. Bh5!, and White is clearly on top in lines such as 31…Rd2 32. Rf2 Rxf2 33. Kxf2 Qc6 34. Rd1 Kf8 (c3 35. Qg3 Rxh5 36. Nxe6++ Kh6 37. Qg7 mate) 35. Bf3, and Naiditsch does not have enough compensation for his material deficit.

Instead, after the game’s 30. Bf3? Rh8!, Black can organize a defense and White is lured into a string of errors trying to keep his attack alive: 31. Nxe6+ (it’s still a game after 31. Qg3 Rd3 32. Rfd1 Rxd1+ 33. Rxd1 Bxf3 34. Qxf3 c3 35. Rc1 Qc4) fxe6 32. Qxe6 Re8 33. Qg4 (Bxd5 Rxe6 34. Bxe6 Qc6 35. Bh3 Qe4! is also strong for Black) Rd2 34. Bxb7 Qxb7 35. Rc3 Qe4!, and the queen’s dominating position for both offense and defense effectively decides the game.

It’s over on 40. Qg5 Rd3, and White resigns as the coming simplification clarifies Black’s decisive edge in lines like 41. h5 Rxg3 42. Qxg3 Rf6 43. hxg6 Qd4+ 44. Kh1 c3, and the passed pawn will cost Handke even more material.

Handke-Naiditsch, Bundesliga, Round 15, April 2017

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 a6 7. Be3 Qb6 8. Na4 Qa5+ 9. c3 cxd4 10. b4 Qc7 11. Bxd4 Nc6 12. Rc1 b5 13. Nb2 Nb6 14. Bf2 Nc4 15. Nxc4 dxc4 16. Be2 Bb7 17. O-O Rd8 18. Qc2 Be7 19. a4 O-O 20. a5 Rd5 21. Bb6 Qc8 22. Nd2 Nb8 23. Ne4 Nd7 24. Bd4 Bxb4 25. Ng5 g6 26. cxb4 Rxd4 27. Qc3 Rd5 28. Qh3 h5 29. Bxh5 Kg7 30. Bf3 Rh8 31. Nxe6+ fxe6 32. Qxe6 Re8 33. Qg4 Rd2 34. Bxb7 Qxb7 35. Rc3 Qe4 36. Rg3 Rf8 37. h4 Nxe5 38. Qg5 Nf7 39. Qg4 Nh6 40. Qg5 Rd3 White resigns.

• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email dsands@washingtontimes.com.