IM Fabian Bänziger (SUI, 2426) vs IM Dejan Marjanović (BIH, 2390) · 1-0
Board 1, Switzerland vs Bosnia and Herzegovina · French Defence, Steinitz Variation, Boleslavsky Variation (C11) · 90 minutes for 40 moves, then 30 minutes, plus 30 seconds per move
By Bogner AI Coach AI Coach . This analysis was written by a Bogner Chess AI coach.
Board one, White, against the Bosnian IM Dejan Marjanović, 2390. For Fabian Bänziger this is the first round in Samarkand at the very front, and the question before the start is a plain one: what does the team need from this board today? The opponent is a shade below him on paper, but he brings the tournament years a rating card does not show, and in a team match a player like that weighs more than his number. Half a point holds the match, a full one opens it. There is work here for White.
The game arrives in two parts. Up to move fifteen it is a French Steinitz with the Boleslavsky manoeuvre, in which White spends thinks of ten and seven and a half minutes on moves that are not the best, and in which Black has a window he does not see. From move fifteen it is a different game: one black move opens the position, Fabian spends fourteen minutes and forty-one seconds on the reply and finds the one that works, and from there the game runs in a forced turn to move twenty-eight. From the earlier rounds one observation carries over, that the clock held this time: in round nine it fell under five minutes from move twenty-seven, here it stayed above until the end.
The window for Black: 12.Rd1
After eleven moves White stands a bare pawn better, and the move that carries the position on naturally is , developing the last bishop. Fabian thought ten minutes and four seconds and chose .
develops nothing. The rook brings pressure on the d-file, but the move leaves the b2 pawn undefended, and in that moment Black had a concrete chance: , and the queen wins the pawn. That was the window in this game, the one move in which a rating stops mattering. Dejan Marjanović chose the natural , a queenside move that still keeps his queen at home, and with it the white edge climbed back to a full pawn.
The rule for your own play: when the opponent makes a rook move that develops nothing and defends no pawn, the first question is not where to push a pawn of your own, but what he has left unwatched. The second look goes to your own queen in its starting square. An undefended pawn in the opponent camp and a queen that has no move yet usually belong together.
IM Dejan Marjanović (BIH, 2390)
IM Fabian Bänziger (SUI, 2426)
The move that turned the game: 15...Nd7 and 16.Nd4
After White is up a good two pawns. Black still has his king on e8, his light-squared bishop on c8, and the only normal continuation is , bringing the bishop into play at last. Marjanović chose , and objectively that is an error of about one and a half pawns: the knight leaves c5, blocks his own bishop, and lets the white reply arrive with tempo.
Fabian thought fourteen minutes and forty-one seconds. That is the longest think of the game, and it produced the strongest move: , hitting the knight on c6 twice over, taking the c5 square away from Black, and opening the road for White's attacking pieces. After the e5 pawn is off the board, the white king is castled, and the black king still sits on e8. The edge has climbed to a good three and a half pawns.
The length of that think deserves a note. Fourteen minutes for the move that decides the game is expensive, but it is the right investment: a tactical error by the opponent becomes a concrete advantage that can then be brought home, thanks to calculation. The rule is short. When the opponent leaves his king in the centre in an open position, the only reply that has to be calculated is the sharp one, and the time for it is worth taking.
IM Dejan Marjanović (BIH, 2390)
IM Fabian Bänziger (SUI, 2426)
The second long think: 22.Rde1
After White has the open position, the wide advantage, and the next step to find. The strongest move is , the black king on e8 has to go to f8, and from there the game runs to its end in a forced sequence. Fabian chose , and he thought seven minutes and thirty-three seconds on it.
Objectively gave back a good half pawn, because was the faster route. And Black had a concrete defensive try after the rook move: , and after a run of exchanges the position would still have been bad but no longer the short calculation it became. Marjanović did not see it and played , and with that knight move the last chance at resistance was gone.
The rule for your own clock: in a position where you stand clearly better and a direct attack is ready, the first move for your calculation to touch is the check with tempo. A check forces one reply, and the calculation trees stay short. A rook move onto the file where your own queen already stands is preparation, and preparation is the second question, not the first.
IM Dejan Marjanović (BIH, 2390)
IM Fabian Bänziger (SUI, 2426)
The finish: 23.Bh5+ and three pieces on e6
From here the game is a calculation. , and the knight takes the pawn that kept the e-file closed and forks the queen on c7 in the same move.
The move is the point at which three white pieces bear on e6 at once: the knight captures and forks the queen, the white queen on e3 aims down the same file, and the bishop on h5 is waiting its turn. After the bishop attacks the knight on c6, which only the queen defends. Black has no defender left and resigned.
The rule for your own play sits inside the sequence. When three of your pieces bear on one square and the defender can hold it with only two, the square is to be taken and the sequence is to be worked out, whichever order your pieces arrive in. In this game they arrived in the order knight, queen, bishop, and the bishop was the one that finally locked the position down.
IM Dejan Marjanović (BIH, 2390)
IM Fabian Bänziger (SUI, 2426)
Verdict
A full point with White on board one, against a Bosnian IM rated 2390 who brings the tournament years a number does not show, and who is not put away with half a point. The game had two long thinks that did not find the best move: in ten minutes and in seven and a half. And it had one that did: in fourteen minutes forty-one, the move that turned the opponent's tactical error into a concrete edge. Marjanović had a window on move twelve and a second try on move twenty-two, saw neither, and the game ran to its end with no further resistance. For Fabian Bänziger this is the first win on board one at this event, and for the team the full point from their own top board. That is how one sits at the front.
Moves
1-0
Was this analysis useful?