Chess with Sam Collins

Ian Nepomniachtchi vs Viktor Laznicka

European Team Championship 2017

Russia is typically the top seed in European and World Team Championships, often with an entire team of players rated over 2700. The following game is from board two of an important match between Russia and the Czech Republic.

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.Be3 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Ne7 8.0–0 Nbc6 9.Bb5 a6 10.Bxc6+ bxc6 11.c4 Qd7 12.Nc3

Black has ...