Wesley So vs David Navara, Neo-Grünfeld Defense, Delayed Exchange Variation (D76)
2011 Tata Steel Tournament (Group B), Round 7, Wijk aan Zee
This game is very good example of how Wesley So’s chess rapidly improved and evolved constantly, especially in 2010.-2012. He was 18 when this game was played and his chess career was only just beginning, but his style and precision were already on a super-high level. In this game he faced the best Czech player – David Navara, who was only slightly higher rated at the time.
They went into a Neo-Grunfeld (King’s Indian hybrid in the opening) in which they both played the most theoretical moves almost into the middlegame. At one point, in an almost equal position, Wesley So found a remarkable pawn break which gave him a clear edge. He played d5! A pawn sacrifice which is hard to justify in advance. Navara could have taken three ways, two of which were immediately losing, and the third one was indeed a pawn sacrifice, but it gave Wesley more than enough compensation. From that point on Wesley seemed to dominate the position completely, and he managed to increase his advantage until it became insurmountable and Navara resigned. A highly instructive game for all players, regardless of what opening they play. The pawn break Wesley played should be in textbooks!
Final standings:
Luke McShane 8.5/13
David Navara 8.5/13
Zahar Efimenko 8/13
Le Quang Liem 7.5/13
Gabriel Sargissian 7.5/13
Wesley So 7.5/13
Vladislav Ivanovich Tkachiev 7/13
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 6.5/13
Laurent Fressinet 6/13
Li Chao 6/13
Surya Shekhar Ganguly 5.5/13
Wouter Spoelman 5/13
Jon Ludvig Hammer 4/13
Friso Nijboer 3.5/13
Game Moves:
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nb6
7. Nc3 Nc6 8. e3 O-O 9. O-O Re8 10. Re1 a5 11. Qe2 a4 12. Rd1
Be6 13. d5 Nxd5 14. Nb5 Qc8 15. Ng5 Rd8 16. Nxe6 fxe6 17. Rb1
Kh8 18. Bh3 Nf6 19. Bd2 Ra6 20. Bc3 Rd5 21. Rxd5 Nxd5
22. Bxg7+ Kxg7 23. Qc4 Nf6 24. Rd1 Kf7 25. Qf4 Rb6 26. Qxa4
Ne5 27. Nd4 c5 28. Qc2 Rd6 29. f4 Neg4 30. Re1 b6 31. Nf3 Qd7
32. Bxg4 Nxg4 33. h3 Nxe3 34. Rxe3 1-0