About the series
Miniatures to Memorize is a series of short games (30 moves or fewer) that I highly recommend beginner- and intermediate-level players to commit to memory. Some games show how to quickly punish your opponent’s natural-looking but inaccurate moves, while others demonstrate how easily you can go wrong and completely blunder your game. Even if you’re in the world top 20.
Follow along on a physical chess set. I cannot stress this enough. Only if you don’t have one right now, go to the lichess study.
Why should you memorize this game?
As White
This game is a lesson in how to punish overextension. Bacrot shows how to coordinate pressure—first fixing Black with queenside tension, then pivoting sharply to the kingside once the defenses cracked. It’s a reminder that in modern chess, the initiative is worth more than material.
As Black
The defeat warns against premature pawn lunges like …h5 in cramped positions. Giri’s move was ambitious but gave White the exact lever he needed. This teaches a broader truth: pawn moves around your king cannot be retracted, and they often define the course of the battle.
Game Details
White: Etienne Bacrot
Black: Anish Giri
Event: Bundesliga 2013/14
Site: Emsdetten, Germany
Date: October 12, 2013
Round: 1
Result: 1–0
Opening: Sicilian Defense, Canal–Sokolsky Attack (B52)
This was the opening round of the German Bundesliga, a team event where results often hinge on early momentum. Etienne Bacrot, the French prodigy-turned-veteran, faced the young Anish Giri, already in the 2700 club and feared for his meticulous preparation.
The pairing symbolized a clash of styles: Bacrot, known for clarity and precision, versus Giri, a theorist par excellence. In a sharp Anti-Sicilian, Bacrot would demonstrate how clean positional pressure, when timed with tactical energy, can overwhelm even a well-prepared opponent.
Pull out your chess board
If you don’t have one conveniently with you, follow on Chessgames.
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7
The Rossolimo variation’s cousin—the Canal Attack. White avoids the main Open Sicilian battlegrounds and aims for quick development and pressure on d7. White will create a bind on d5, while Black will try to control d4.
4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6
Giri steers into a fianchetto structure to control d4, echoing Accelerated Dragon themes, though with subtle differences.
6. O-O Bg7 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 O-O 9. Bxd7 Qxd7
The bishops are exchanged, leaving Black’s light squares slightly tender. White hopes to exploit this later.
10. b3 Nc6 11. Bb2 a6
The queenside expansion begins. Black would love …b5 to gain space.
12. Nxc6 Qxc6 13. Nd5 Nxd5 14. exd5 Qc5
Central simplifications. White’s knight exchange leaves him with a nice grip on d5, while Black’s queen looks active but a bit loose.
15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. Re1 Rfe8 17. Qd2 b5
Black finally breaks on the queenside, but White is poised to seize the initiative.
18. Rac1 Qa7 19. b4 bxc4
Both sides push for space. Black captures, but this opens lines against his own king.
20. Rxc4 h5
Giri tries to generate counterplay with a kingside pawn push. Yet this move loosens his monarch further.
21. Qc3+ Kg8 22. Rc7 Qb6
White’s rook invasion is devastating. The queen’s retreat shows Black is already fighting for survival.
23. a4 The only winning move!
23….Rab8 24. Re4 f6
Black defends tactically but his pieces are paralyzed.
25. g4!
The hammer blow. White switches fronts instantly. A model example of stretching the defense.
25…Rb7 26. Qxf6!! 1–0 Black Resigns
After 26…Qxc7 27. Qxg6+, the attack crashes through. Giri saw there was no escape.
From my Chess Journal dated 25-Oct-2024
Minakhi Misra 