Greetings to all chess fans. I saw this game in a book before and I was impressed by the play. In fact, the game won a brilliancy prize at that time. It was known as "Vadim's Apple". It's a spectacular game played between Vladimir Malakhov and Vadim Zvjaginsev at a tournament in 2004. Zvjaginsev won by an exciting king hunt that featured a Queen sacrifice.
The game started with 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. O-O e5
The King's Indian Defense. An aggressive defense against Queen Pawn Openings. Black will launch a king side attack while White counters in the queen side. 7. d4 Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Nd2 a5 10. a3 Bd7 11. b3 c6 12. Bb2 Qb6 13. dxc6 bxc6 14. Na4 Qc7 15. c5 d5 16. Nb6 Rad8 17. Bc3 Nxe4
Looks like a mistake by Black. In exchange for a broken pawn structure, Black claims compensation on the open d file. 18. Nxe4 dxe4 19. Bxa5 Nf5
Sacrifices the exchange. Black has to play actively to make up for the lost material. 20. Nc4 Qb8 21. Bxd8 Rxd8 22. b4 Be6
White's Queen side pawns are ready to roll. Black has to counter in the King side. 23. Qe1 Nd4 24. Na5?
Instead of Na5 which blocked the path of the a pawn, White should have moved Nd6, establishing an octopus Knight. 24. ...Qc8 25. Rd1 Bh6 26. Kh1 Bf4 27. a4 Bd5 28. Bc4 Nf3
The Knight cannot be taken. Qh3 follows and mate on h2 cannot be stopped. 29. Qe2 Nxh2 30. Bxd5 cxd5
It's a battle between Black's central pawns and White's queen side pawns. White's Knight on a5 is misplaced and should have been on d6. 31. f3 Nxf1 32. Rxf1 e3 33. c6 d4 34. Rd1 Bg3 35. f4 e4 36. Nb3 d3 37. Qxe3 Qg4
Black gains time by attacking White's Rook on d1. 38. Rb1 Qh4+ 39. Kg1 Qh2+ 40. Kf1 Qh1+ 41. Qg1 e3
A brilliant Queen sacrifice to finish the game. 42. Qxh1 e2+ 43. Kg1 d2 0-1
Up a whole Queen, White cannot stop Black's pawns and mate.
Game link: https://lichess.org/9AGld49s
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