Ilya Makoveev

There exist a myriad of incredibly talented young players nowadays. Wei Yi (19, 2728 FIDE), Jeffery Xiong (18, 2677 FIDE) and Sam Sevian (18, 2655 FIDE), to name a few. Ilya Makoveev (13, 2275 FIDE) is from an even younger generation, but I can’t help but admire the simplicity of his chess style.

Makoveev plays every chess opening, which makes it impossible to prepare against him. He prefers quiet, positional, static positions, which is rather unusual for young players, who are notorious for their ability to calculate variations. Furthermore, Makoveev plays people in the same rating range as me, but beats them with moves that seem extremely natural, and little to no calculation. I, as a talentless fish, admire how these chess prodigies can make it seem that chess is a simple game. Indeed, it might be for them!

So let’s have a look at some of Ilya’s games.

[White "Dmitry Morozov (?)"] [Black "Ilya Makoveev (?)"] [Result "0-1"] 1. c4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. e4 Nc6 5. Ne2 e6 6. Nbc3 Nge7 7. O-O O-O 8. d3 d6 { Makoveev is an anomaly in the community of young chess players. Most young and higher-rated players are notorious for their ability to calculate, and thrive in complicated positions. This position, however, is of very quiet and positional nature. Makoveev seems to feel more comfortable in these kinds of positions, as you will notice in later games. } 9. Be3 Nd4 10. Qd2 Re8 11. Bh6 Bh8 12. Rab1 Nec6 13. Nxd4 Bxd4 14. Ne2 Bh8 15. f4 Bd7 16. h3 Nd4 17. Nxd4 Bxd4+ 18. Kh2 Rb8 19. b3 b5 20. Qe2 f6 { The position is about equal. White seems to overestimate his chances on the kingside, and pushes too far. } 21. h4 a5 22. Rbe1 a4 23. Qf3 Bc6 24. h5 Kf7 (24... f5 { was perhaps a bit more accurate, but it’s hard to criticise any of Black’s moves, considering what happened later. }) 25. Qg4 Rg8 26. Bh3 Qe7 27. e5 dxe5 28. fxe5 f5 29. Qf4 bxc4 30. dxc4 axb3 31. axb3 Rxb3 32. Re2 g5 33. Qc1 g4 34. Bg2 Qh4+!! { Preferring positional chess to tactical chess doesn’t mean that he’s weak at tactics! } 35. gxh4 Rh3+ 36. Bxh3 g3# { 0-1 Black wins by checkmate. } 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

Impressive victory! Let’s have a look at another of his seamless victories:

(Note: In this game, he didn’t beat any old fish, but IM Raja Harshit, rated 2446 FIDE during this game!)

[White "Ilya Makoveev"] [Black "Raja Harshit"] [Result "1-0"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3 Be7 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O-O Nbd7 11. g4 b5 12. g5 Nh5 13. Nd5 Bxd5 14. exd5 f6 15. h4 Ng3 16. Rg1 Nxf1 17. Rdxf1 { This position has transpired over 50 times in my database, so it we haven’t reached the exciting part of the game yet. Bear with me for a few more moves. } 17... a5 18. g6!? { also possible was: } (18. Qd3 a4 19. Nd2 { which could have lead to a different kind of game. }) 18... f5 19. h5 f4!? { This position already seems tough for Black, even though I don’t think Black’s made any significant mistakes yet. Makoveev tackles the position now in an enterprising manner: } 20. h6? { As cool as this move looks (and it worked out really well!), it is a mistake. He would have had a nice position with: } (20. gxh7+ Kh8 21. Qg2 Rf7 22. Qg6 Qf8 23. Bf2 Nf6 24. Qd3 { defending d5. While there is no straight forward way to break through on the kingside, it’s not hard to see that White has the advantage with the safer king and the e4 square. }) 20... gxh6 21. Qh2 Kg7 22. gxh7+ Kxh7? { This leads to trouble, better would have been: } (22... Bg5 23. Bf2 Kh8 24. Nd2 Nf6 $13) 23. Bf2 Rf5? { Big mistake. He should have played: } (23... Rg8 24. Rh1 Rg6 25. Rfg1 Rxg1+ 26. Rxg1 Bg5 27. Nd2 Kg6 28. Bh4 Nf6 29. Bxg5 hxg5 30. Rh1 Qe7 31. Qh6+ Kf5 32. Qh3+ Kg6 33. Ne4 { with a complicated position to play out, but probably not that bad for Black. } 33... Nxe4 34. fxe4 Rf8 { and winning isn’t as easy as it was in the game for White. }) 24. Qh3 Qf8 25. Nd2 Qf7 26. Ne4 Rf8 27. Rh1 h5 28. Rfg1 Rg8 29. Bh4 Rxg1+ 30. Rxg1 Bf8 31. Rg5 Rf6 32. Qxd7! { 1-0 Black resigns. } { winning the game in extra style! } 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.

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