{"id":7286,"date":"2026-03-20T08:44:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T08:44:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/?p=7286"},"modified":"2026-03-20T08:44:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T08:44:45","slug":"murtas-kazhgaleyev","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/murtas-kazhgaleyev\/","title":{"rendered":"IM Guillermo Baches vs GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev (2619)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this post I share what I still consider the best game of my life: my win with White against GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev (2619) in Solsona 2005, in a sharp Najdorf Sicilian. I\u2019ll add the full PGN so you can replay it and follow my comments move by move.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"rpbchessboard-spacerBefore\"><\/p>\n\n<div class=\"rpbchessboard-chessgame\">\n    <noscript>\n        <div class=\"rpbchessboard-javascriptWarning\">\n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        <\/div>\n    <\/noscript>\n    <div id=\"rpbchessboard-6a2fbc6b331e5-1\"><\/div>\n    <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n        (function() {\n            function renderThisPGN() {\n                RPBChessboard.renderPGN(\"rpbchessboard-6a2fbc6b331e5-1\", {\"pgn\":\"[Event \\\"Solsona\\\"]\\n[Date \\\"2005.??.??\\\"]\\n[Round \\\"9\\\"]\\n[White \\\"Baches, G.\\\"]\\n[Black \\\"Kazhgaleyev, M.\\\"]\\n[Result \\\"1-0\\\"]\\n[WhiteElo \\\"2355\\\"]\\n[BlackElo \\\"2619\\\"]\\n[Annotator \\\"Baches,G\\\"]\\n[GameId \\\"363599390881\\\"]\\n[Variant \\\"Standard\\\"]\\n[ECO \\\"B94\\\"]\\n[Opening \\\"Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation\\\"]\\n[StudyName \\\"My memorable games of chess\\\"]\\n[ChapterName \\\"Baches, G. - Kazhgaleyev, M.\\\"]\\n[ChapterURL \\\"https:\\\/\\\/lichess.org\\\/study\\\/eczYRziO\\\/MOAVPO6R\\\"]\\n\\n1. e4 c5! 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6! 6. Bg5! Nbd7 7. Bc4 e6 8. O-O h6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 Ne5 11. Bb3 b5 12. Qe2 Bb7?! 13. Rad1! Qc7 14. f4! gxf4 15. Rxf4! Be7 16. Bh4 Qd8 17. Rdf1 (17. Ncxb5 axb5 18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. Qxb5+ Qd7 20. Rxf6 Bxe4) (17. Bxe6 fxe6 18. Nxe6 Qb6+ 19. Kh1) 17... b4? $15 (17... Qb6) 18. Ba4+! Nfd7 19. Rxf7!! Nxf7 20. Rxf7!! bxc3 21. bxc3 (21. Qh5! Qb6 22. Bxe7 Qxd4+ 23. Rf2+ Kxe7 24. Qf7+ Kd8 25. Qxd7#) 21... Bxh4 22. Qh5 Qe7 23. Rxe7+ (23. Rh7+ Kd8 24. Qa5+ Kc8 25. Rxh8+ Nf8 26. Nxe6) 23... Kxe7 24. Qxh4+ Nf6 25. Qh3! Bc8 26. Nc6+! Ke8 27. e5! Nd5 28. c4! Nb6 29. Qh5+ Kf8 30. Qf3+! Ke8 31. Qf6! Rh7 32. Qd8+ Kf7 33. Qxb6 { 1-0 White wins. } (33. Qe7+ Kg8 34. Qe8+ Kg7 35. Nd8 Ra7 36. Bd7 Bxd7 37. Qf7+ Kh8 38. Qf8#) 1-0\",\"pieceSymbols\":\"figurines\",\"navigationBoard\":\"above\",\"withPlayButton\":true,\"withFlipButton\":false,\"withDownloadButton\":false,\"nboSquareSize\":32,\"nboCoordinateVisible\":true,\"nboTurnVisible\":true,\"nboColorset\":\"scid\",\"nboPieceset\":\"cburnett\",\"nboAnimated\":true,\"nboMoveArrowVisible\":true,\"nboMoveArrowColor\":\"b\",\"nboSound\":true,\"idoSquareSize\":32,\"idoCoordinateVisible\":true,\"idoTurnVisible\":true,\"idoColorset\":\"scid\",\"idoPieceset\":\"cburnett\"});\n            }\n            if (document.readyState === 'loading') {\n                document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', renderThisPGN);\n            }\n            else {\n                renderThisPGN();\n            }\n        })();\n    <\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"rpbchessboard-spacerAfter\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6, we entered the Najdorf, and I chose the aggressive 6.Bg5, going straight for a complex, double\u2011edged battle. Black castled queenside late, kept his king in the center, and tried to hit back with &#8230;h6, &#8230;g5, and &#8230;b5, but that gave me exactly what I wanted: an unbalanced position with kings on opposite wings and a lot of tension around the f\u2011file and d6.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first critical moment came after 14.f4! gxf4 15.Rxf4, when I sacrificed a pawn to open lines against the black king and seize the initiative instead of calmly defending my structure. A few moves later, after 17&#8230;b4, I realized Black\u2019s king was too exposed in the center and I went all\u2011in with the spectacular sequence 18.Ba4+! followed by the <strong>double rook sacrifice 19.Rxf7!! and 20.Rxf7!!<\/strong>, tearing open the king and hunting it down with queen and minor pieces.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From there, the game became a pure attacking exercise: I gave up material, brought every piece into the attack, and kept Black\u2019s king under fire with moves like Qh5, Qh3, Nc6+, e5, and c4, never letting him consolidate. In the final phase I calmly transitioned from a direct mating attack into a winning endgame, forcing favorable exchanges and finally capturing on b6, with my extra material and active pieces deciding the game.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/best-games-of-chess\/\">MY BEST GAMES OF CHESS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I love this game because it shows exactly the kind of chess I enjoy playing: dynamic, initiative\u2011driven, and full of sacrifices against a much higher\u2011rated opponent. I hope you find it as instructive and inspiring as it was unforgettable for me back in 2005.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this post I share what I still consider the best game of my life: my win with White against GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev (2619) in Solsona 2005, in a sharp Najdorf Sicilian. I\u2019ll add the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[111],"class_list":["post-7286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-14","tag-b99"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/kazhgaleyev.png",320,323,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/kazhgaleyev-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/kazhgaleyev-297x300.png",297,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/kazhgaleyev.png",320,323,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/kazhgaleyev.png",320,323,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/kazhgaleyev.png",320,323,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/kazhgaleyev.png",320,323,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Guillermo Baches","author_link":"https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/author\/guillermo\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"In this post I share what I still consider the best game of my life: my win with White against GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev (2619) in Solsona 2005, in a sharp Najdorf Sicilian. I\u2019ll add the...","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7286"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7294,"href":"https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7286\/revisions\/7294"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guillembaches.com\/games\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}