Greetings to all chess fans! The following game I will show today is from the Super United Blitz tournament in Croatia this year. Filipino GM Wesley So was playing against the World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju in the tenth round. It was an exciting game featuring a double piece sacrifice leading to an enduring king attack.
The game started with Italian Opening or Giuoco Piano. Wesley So has a Chessable course on this opening so it's safe to say he's an expert in this opening. 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 a6 6. O-O d6 7. Re1 O-O 8. h3 h6 9. Nbd2 Re8 10. Nf1 Ba7
The moves are still standard Giuoco Piano stuff. The Queen Knight manuevers to the king side eyeing the square f5 for the attack. 11. Bb3 Be6 12. Bc2 d5 13. exd5 Bxd5 14. Ng3 Qd7 15. Nh4 Rad8 16. Nhf5 Qe6?
Gukesh made a mistake, allowing d4 and opening the diagonal for the light squared Bishop. There are a lot of alternatives that were not bad (Ne7, b5). 17. d4 Qd7
Removing the Queen from e-file and avoiding the pin. {17. ...e4 is an alternative but will be met by 18. f3} 18. Nxg7 Kxg7 19. Bxh6+ Kh8
Offering the Bishop after a Knight sacrifice on g7. Black has to decline {19. ...Kxh6 20. Qc1+ Kg7 21. Qg5+ Kf8 22. Nf5 wins} 20.Bg5 Qe6 21. Bf5 Qd6 22. Nh5 Nh7
Amazing position. Black's is a piece up and his pieces are developed but they can't come fast enough to defend their King. Meanwhile, White's Queen and Rook will soon join the attack. 23. Bxh7 Kxh7 24. Qg4 Qg6 25. Qh4 Kg8 26. Re3 exd4
It's over, Black has to give his Queen to avoid mate. White covers all the squares while Black only has the Queen to defend the King. 27. Rg3 Re4 28. Nf6+ Kg7 29. Nxe4 1-0
Link to game: https://lichess.org/broadcast/gct-2025-superunited-rapid--blitz-croatia/blitz-10/UfaI8nAU/xsVvxgUq
An amazing display of Wesley's attacking prowess. This game reminds me of his Immortal Blitz Game against the legend, Gary Kasparov. I'll post about that game next time.
Playing chess is fun but let's not forget about physical activities. I recently committed to exercise and to keep me motivated, I joined actifit.io
