A Knight Sacrifice Wins a Rook, Not the Game | Shabalov vs Pavasovič, World Cup 2007

First round of the 2007 FIDE World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, game 1: Alexander Shabalov (2626) against Duško Pavasovič (2597), in the Open Catalan. Shabalov goes for it with a knight sacrifice, 12.Nxg6, and after 13.Qe5+ and 14.Qxh8 he has won a rook, yet the position stays level: his queen gets trapped, and 19.Qxg7 is the only way to get something for it. From there White drifts, 33.Be3 is a mistake, and after a string of small inaccuracies Shabalov resigns after 42...Kc8. Shabalov vs Pavasovič — Alexander Shabalov vs Duško Pavasovič, Khanty-Mansiysk 2007. FIDE World Cup 2007, round 1, game 1. Catalan Opening: Open Defense (E04). Black wins: white resigns in 42 moves. Key moments: 0:00 Intro 0:10 Opening: Catalan Opening: Open Defense 2:12 12. Nxg6!! — Knight sacrifice 8:42 Result: Black wins Every move is analysed with Stockfish 18. "Winning chances" apply lichess's published win-probability model to the engine evaluation, and each move's label (Brilliant, Mistake, Blunder...) comes from how much it changes those chances. Credits: · Photo of Alexander Shabalov — © James F. Perry (CC BY-SA 3.0): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... · Photo of Duško Pavasovič — This photo was taken by Przemysław Jahr Autorem zdjęcia jest Przemysław Jahr Wykorzystując zdjęcie proszę podać jako autora: Przemysław Jahr / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... · Game moves — PGN Mentor (moves are facts, not copyrightable): https://www.pgnmentor.com/events/Worl... · Opening name — lichess-org/chess-openings (CC0): https://github.com/lichess-org/chess-... · Music and sound effects: original, synthesized for this channel. #chess #chesshistory #AlexanderShabalov