Subscribe

Ruy Lopez: Fianchetto Defence

Anand–Nakamura, Tal Memorial 2013 · Vachier-Lagrave–Demchenko, FIDE Grand Swiss 2021 · 5:58 · ECO C60

Open on YouTube ↗

In this video

Game 1: Viswanathan Anand (2786) vs Hikaru Nakamura (2784)

Tal Memorial 2013, 19 June 2013 · Black won (0-1) · 45 moves

Click a move to jump the video to it. Dotted moves are the opening line the video is about.

  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
  9. 9.
  10. 10.
  11. 11.
  12. 12.
  13. 13.
  14. 14.
  15. 15.
  16. 16.
  17. 17.
  18. 18.
  19. 19.
  20. 20.
  21. 21.
  22. 22.
  23. 23.
  24. 24.
  25. 25.
  26. 26.
  27. 27.
  28. 28.
  29. 29.
  30. 30.
  31. 31.
  32. 32.
  33. 33.
  34. 34.
  35. 35.
  36. 36.
  37. 37.
  38. 38.
  39. 39.
  40. 40.
  41. 41.
  42. 42.
  43. 43.
  44. 44.
  45. 45.

Key moments

  1. 4.O-OThe first move after the opening line0:23
  2. 26.Qd5The evaluation moves from −0.53 to −1.811:59
  3. 27.exd5The queens come off2:04
  4. 28...Ne5The evaluation moves from −1.85 to −0.512:12
  5. 30.Kh2The evaluation moves from −0.43 to −2.20, and Black stays more than two pawns ahead from here2:19
  6. 45...h5Black wins after 45 moves3:36

Evaluation

Above the line, White is better; below it, Black. Scores are in pawns, capped at five either way.

Game 2: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2763) vs Anton Demchenko (2651)

FIDE Grand Swiss 2021, 30 October 2021 · White won (1-0) · 28 moves

Click a move to jump the video to it. Dotted moves are the opening line the video is about.

  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
  9. 9.
  10. 10.
  11. 11.
  12. 12.
  13. 13.
  14. 14.
  15. 15.
  16. 16.
  17. 17.
  18. 18.
  19. 19.
  20. 20.
  21. 21.
  22. 22.
  23. 23.
  24. 24.
  25. 25.
  26. 26.
  27. 27.
  28. 28.

Key moments

  1. 4.c3The first move after the opening line3:59
  2. 19...Qc6The evaluation moves from +0.24 to +2.29, and White stays more than two pawns ahead from here5:02
  3. 24...Bxa3The evaluation moves from +4.53 to +7.515:28
  4. 27.Qd2The evaluation moves from +5.19 to +7.725:40
  5. 28.Re1White wins after 28 moves5:45

Evaluation

Above the line, White is better; below it, Black. Scores are in pawns, capped at five either way.

About these games

After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5, Black answers 3...g6 to put the bishop on g7, where it bears down the long diagonal against the centre and White's queenside. White's most direct reply is to build a broad centre with c3 and d4, while Black aims to exchange on d4 and use the g7-bishop against White's pawns, or to gain the bishop pair if White exchanges on c6.

Anand–Nakamura went 4.O-O Bg7 5.c3 a6 6.Bxc6 dxc6. White had a central pawn majority after 7.d4 exd4 8.cxd4, and Black, with the bishop pair, took space on the kingside with 10...h6 and 11...g5. The scores stayed close until 26.Qd5 took them from −0.53 to −1.81, though 28...Ne5 brought them back to −0.51 in the knight ending that followed the exchanges. The decisive slip was 30.Kh2, which swung the evaluation from −0.43 to −2.20, and Black never dropped below a two-pawn edge again. Black's king marched to c3 and picked up the c3-pawn, Nakamura's c-pawn ran free, and Black won after 45...h5.

Vachier-Lagrave–Demchenko kept the bishop on the board with 4.c3 and 5.d4, so the centre stayed intact. White pushed 16.e5, 17.d5 and 18.e6 to break open Black's kingside. After 19...Qc6 the score jumped from +0.24 to +2.29. Black took material with 23...Bxb2 and 24...Bxa3 (+4.53 to +7.51), but 27.Qd2 reached +7.72 and White won after 28.Re1. This was a quick attack, where Game 1 was a slow ending.

Chapters

  1. 0:00Introduction and the opening line
  2. 0:10Game 1: Anand vs Nakamura, Tal Memorial 2013
  3. 3:45Game 2: Vachier-Lagrave vs Demchenko, FIDE Grand Swiss 2021

The opening line

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6

See every video from this position →