Morozevich,A (2755) - Inarkiev,E (2674) [C78] Ruy Lopez Archangelsk and Moller Defense

60th ch-RUS Superfinal Moscow RUS (11), 30.12.2007

 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.a4 b4 8.d4 d6 9.dxe5 Nxe5 10.Nxe5 dxe5
11.Qxd8+ Bxd8 12.f3 Be7 13.Be3 Bd6 14.Nd2 a5 15.Rfc1 Ke7 Black's bishop on c8 still needs to be developed. White has already connected its rooks.

16.c3 bxc3 17.Rxc3 Bd7 18.Bc4 Rhb8 19.b3 Rb4 20.Kf2 Rab8 21.Ke2 Rd8 Both players have activated their kings. I am not sure what the purpose of Black's doubled rooks is.

22.Nb1 Nh5 23.g3 g6 24.Rd3 Ng7  Black's knight is not active whatsoever.

25.Nc3 Bc6 26.Nd5+ Bxd5 27.Rxd5 Ra8  With this series of exchanges, white gains a more active position for his pieces.

28.Bc5 Ne6  Not Bxc5 Rxc5 Kf6 Rxc7 with an advantage for White (X3D Fritz analysis) 29.Bxb4 Bxb4 Inarkiev sacrifices the exchange for no real positional advantage, hoping for a possible blockade of the  white pieces.... 30.Rd3 Nd4+ 31.Kf2 Bd6 32.h4 h6 33.Kg2 c5 34.Rf1 Rg8 35.f4 Rg7 36.Rc3 f6 37.Rf2 Kd8 38.Bd5 Rc7 39.Rc1 Ke8 40.Rcf1 Ke7 41.h5 gxh5  This was a pleasant move for white because the doubled pawns will be taken later anyway.

42.Rh1 Kd8 43.Rxh5 Rg7 44.Kh3 Rh7 45.Rh4 Ke7 46.Rg4 h5 47.Rg8 h4 48.f5 hxg3+ 49.Kxg3 Bc7 50.Rg2 c4 51.Bxc4 Rh1 52.Rg7+ Kd6 53.Rf7 Bd8 54.Kf2 Nc6 55.Rgg7  The old maxim goes: two connected rooks on the seventh rank leads to a winning position. This rings true for Morozevich.

Rc1 56.Rd7+ Kc5 57.Rd5+ Kb4 58.Rb7+ An interesting position for a grandmaster with 2674 eloquence points to be in. The best escape route for Inarkiev is to Ka3, but there is no possible counterplay and the black pieces are scattered across the board, while black has sacrificed the exchange for nothing. The moral of this game is not to sacrifice the exchange unless one can gain an advantage. Morozevich completely dominated this game from beginning to end and brought Inarkiev to his knees. 1–0