By Leontxo García, journalist specialized in chess for EL PAÍS.
The promising Catalan junior exploits the strength of his bishops with tactical virtuosity, by means of two brilliant strokes. The brilliant trajectory of Álex Villa since he was a child was consolidated in August with the bronze in the U18 Spanish Championship and this brilliant victory.
From the opening a very instructive structure is reached. As the analysis points out, “this type of positions are interesting to analyze and learn; the pawn on d4 is stronger than weak, and therefore gives, in principle, a comfortable game to Black, who also lacks other weaknesses; now, the white bishops are powerful, and will be even more so if Atares takes on e2; the situation would be different if a black knight managed to install itself without problems on d5, but that will not happen.”
White had an alternative plan on the kingside. For his part, “the problem with betting on the knight on d5 is that it would not be very stable …, and the white position would be clearly preferable”.
Then comes a critical decision by Black: “a very debatable decision, as the game will show; … it seems more sensible”. Later appears a novelty whose main defect is one of stability: “instability is once again the big problem for Black, who will not be able to keep this rook on e6 for long; therefore, it was better than what was known”. After Villa’s series of accurate simplifications, the verdict is clear: “clear white advantage”. In that stretch, a white choice is “not bad, but it was better …” to tighten up even more.
The important moment is reached: “Villa sees that the rook exchange would give him a very favorable endgame of bishop against knight; but that exchange implies a tactical problem, which he will solve brilliantly”. From there, the plan is methodical: activate the king, fix weaknesses and coordinate the long bishop with the majority of pawns. In that phase, Black had a more natural defense (“…”), but opted for another, less precise route; soon after, “it makes Villa’s task easier; it was necessary to play …”. We arrive then at the critical position indicated in the original (diagram), from which the technique of the white side is conclusive.
The final section reflects Villa’s total control: the pawn advance is well calculated, the king’s entries are safe and the bishop dominates the knight. With no real counterplay, the evaluation no longer offers any doubts. .. “and Atares surrendered.” 1-0
