Serbia face Russia at the 2014 Chess Olympiad in Tromsø. Robert Markuš has White for Serbia against Peter Svidler, one of the Russian team’s leading names. At the Olympiad, each individual encounter contributes to the team’s match score.
Serbia face Russia at the 2014 Tromsø Olympiad, with Robert Markuš sitting opposite Peter Svidler. The opening gives little hint of a quick finish: White develops behind his pawns, the knight looks for a useful square, and the queen moves between b3 and b5.
When Svidler advances his central pawns, Markuš replies with h5 and the position opens up. Watch the white knight: from c4 it travels through e3 to f5, where it attacks both queen and bishop. Black tries an intervening check, but that does not solve both problems. The game ends on move 34 with a win for Markuš and Serbia.