After doing a chessbase search for Tiviakov’s wins in the Ruy Lopez, I came across this instructive positional game. We will see how he chose the right moment to close the center, creating the e4/d5 vs. e5/d6 pawn structure often seen in the Ruy Lopez. His destruction of the opponent’s pawn structure, and conversion of a statically winning heavy pieces position, also deserve attention. The experienced Indian International Master Ravi Gopal Hegde played Black, in the 2018 Chennai Open.
Opening
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Qe2 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.c3 O-O Black’s treatment of the opening is very standard, combining …b5 and …Be7. 8.d4
White chooses to quickly occupy the center 8…d6
8… exd4 is mentioned as playable by the man himself. 9.e5
9…Re8!
(9… Ne8? 10.cxd4 gives White a serious positional advantage; the knight on e8 is very misplaced. I think I lost like this as Black to Grandmaster Alex Shabalov in the Miami Open many years ago!)
10.O-O Bf8 11.cxd4 according to Tiviakov this is equal – however, he adds that it is a position that requires considerable theoretical knowledge from Black, and that many players will not want to enter such complications.
Returning to the game:
9.Nbd2 Tiviakov was very successful with this alternative to kingside castling.
9…Bb7 This move is not bad, but it does give White the time to build up his position.
9… exd4 10.cxd4 Bg4 Puts immediate pressure on White’s center. Then 11.Qe3 Bh5! is indicated by Tiviakov as the critical line, as Grandmaster Mark Hebden played against him. Black intends to pressure e4 with moves like …Bg6, …Re8, and so on.
10.O-O Nd7 This starts a regrouping that was ultimately not successful in the game. 11.Rd1 A recurring feature of Tiviakov’s games in this line: The rook goes to d1, where it is more actively placed, rather than e1.
11…Bf6?! This leads to a position where White has more space and Black’s minor pieces are rather tripping over each other.
11… exd4 12. cxd4 Bf6 If Black wanted the …Nd7 and …Bg6 idea, this was the way to do it. 13.Nf1 Na5 14.Bc2 Re8 and White stands well, but Black maintains some pressure on his center.
Closing the Center, Maneuvering
12.d5! By closing the center, White makes both Black’s bishops quite passive. There will be no second chance for …exd4.
12…Ne7 13.Nf1 White carries out the standard regrouping of the queenside knight. This move also unblocks the dark squared bishop. 13…Ng6 14.g3 Tiviakov is planning Ne3, but he doesn’t want to allow Black’s knight to jump into f4. So he makes this prophylactic move.
14…Qb8 15.Ne3 From here the knight aims at both f5 and g4. 15…Ne7 There was nothing for the knight to do on g6. 16.Ng4
16…c6? Here Black’s position goes from uncomfortable to borderline lost.
16… Kh8 is how the engine tries to defend. The idea is that unlike in the game, taking on f6 and then playing Bg5 allows Black to retreat a knight to g8, leaving White with no way to compromise his pawn structure. Instead, White would make an improving move, possibly 17.a4.
17.dxc6
17…Bxc6? After this Black cannot save themselves: White’s next two moves force the destruction of their kingside pawn structure.
17…Nxc6 18.Bg5! Bxg5 19.Nxg5 Prepares Qf3, when Black has trouble defending f7. This is Black’s best chance, though.
Destroying the Enemy Pawn Structure
18.Nxf6+ Nxf6 19.Bg5!
Without this, White’s previous move wouldn’t have made any sense. 19…Ra7 Now that the knight on e7 is protected, Black is threatening to move their Nf6. 20.Bxf6 gxf6 Black has too many weaknesses: The king position, the d6-pawn, the f5 square, the d5 square, the f6 pawn.
21.Nh4 The knight aims at the f5 outpost and opens the queen’s road to the kingside. 21…Rd7 22.Qg4+ Kh8 23.Qf3 Kg7 24.Nf5+
Tiviakov wants to enter a position with only heavy pieces for both sides. In heavy pieces positions, king safety and weak pawns are major positional factors, since the heavy pieces are excellent attackers and not great defenders. This is not the engine’s preference, but I don’t think that’s a problem. 24…Nxf5 25.Qxf5
25.Qg4+! Kh8 26.Qxf5 looks like a clever intermediate move, since now f6 has to be defended.
25…Rdd8 26. Qg4+ Kh8 27.Bd5
Consistently following the plan of entering a heavy pieces position. White’s rook will be able to use d5 as an outpost with the bishops exchanged. 27…Bxd5 28.Rxd5 Rg8 29.Qf3 Rg6 30. Rad1 Kg7 31.Kg2
A useful consolidating move, covering the kingside light squares. The position is statically winning: Black’s weak kingside and weak pawns are not going away. Therefore White is in no rush, and gradually improves the position. 31…Kf8 32.Qd3 Ke7 33.a4
Since there is no forced win in the center, White creates another weakness by attacking the queenside. Notice that this a4 pawn break continues appearing in Tiviakov’s Ruy Lopez games. 33…bxa4 34.Qxa6 h5 35.Rb5
Swinging over to the b-file to access the seventh rank. 35…Qc8 36.Rb7+
Black cannot protect his weak pawns and king. 36…Ke6
(36… Ke8 37. Qxa4+ Kf8 38. Qb3 Qe6 39. Qb6 will win the d6-pawn.)
37.Qb5 and Black resigned, unable to reasonably prevent Qd5 mate.
It was very one-sided, but there is something extremely aesthetic about this game! Some take-aways:
- The way a well-timed d4-d5 left Black’s minor pieces tripping over themselves
- The destruction of Black’s kingside pawn structure with Nxf6+ and Bg5, making Bxf6 inevitable
- Black’s impossible task defending both their weak king and weak pawns in a heavy pieces position
- The opening of a second front with a4!, eventually winning the game by entering through the queenside