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MJCB's favorite MVL games
Compiled by MJCB
--*--

Maxime Vachier Lagrave is such an entertaining player. He can generate complex tactics like Alekhine or casually sac his queen like Tal.

I had the good fortune of meeting him briefly at the 2014 Qatar Masters (when I lived and work there at the time), and he is a very kind person.

Some of the games I like from MVL are shown below.

(A thank you note to "ionnn" for his extensive and well chosen collection of MVL games that helped selecting mine)

Great tactics at an early age!
Karjakin vs Vachier-Lagrave, 2000 
(B39) Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto, Breyer Variation, 27 moves, 0-1

Unexpected queen sac leads to minor pieces win against queen
G Goldsztejn vs Vachier-Lagrave, 2004 
(A85) Dutch, with c4 & Nc3, 31 moves, 0-1

Knives are out! Whethering an attack while counterattacking!
Sadvakasov vs Vachier-Lagrave, 2006 
(B42) Sicilian, Kan, 38 moves, 0-1

Smart tactics support execution of strategic objectives.
Naiditsch vs Vachier-Lagrave, 2006 
(B96) Sicilian, Najdorf, 52 moves, 0-1

Sacrifices, underpromotion, king hunt and... mate...
R Fontaine vs Vachier-Lagrave, 2007 
(A89) Dutch, Leningrad, Main Variation with Nc6, 39 moves, 0-1

The art of attack!
Vachier-Lagrave vs P K Wells, 2008 
(C64) Ruy Lopez, Classical, 34 moves, 1-0

Strategic queen sac for winning imbalanced pieces ending!
Vachier-Lagrave vs Kosteniuk, 2008 
(C89) Ruy Lopez, Marshall, 85 moves, 1-0

White attacks first but in reality is lost to conclusive finish
T Abergel vs Vachier-Lagrave, 2008 
(B90) Sicilian, Najdorf, 34 moves, 0-1

Bishop and queen diagonals magisterial tactics play!
Vachier-Lagrave vs Macieja, 2008 
(B48) Sicilian, Taimanov Variation, 32 moves, 1-0

Queen sac for minor pieces activity
D Pira vs Vachier-Lagrave, 2008 
(A36) English, 51 moves, 0-1

Rook fianchetto(!) sacrifice(!) and other mutual crazy tactics!
Morozevich vs Vachier-Lagrave, 2009 
(B80) Sicilian, Scheveningen, 76 moves, 0-1

A pinned knight ends failing to protect his king.
Vachier-Lagrave vs Kasimdzhanov, 2009 
(B77) Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack, 46 moves, 1-0

Maneuvering and domination around black weaknesses
Vachier-Lagrave vs Y Yu, 2009 
(B33) Sicilian, 61 moves, 1-0

Pins and a subtle rook sac bag the game.
Vachier-Lagrave vs M Mchedlishvili, 2010 
(B12) Caro-Kann Defense, 24 moves, 1-0

"Capuera" rooks fight dance to support pawns promotion
Vachier-Lagrave vs Gelfand, 2010 
(D44) Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, 37 moves, 1-0

Steady attack with surprise beautiful final mating touch!
Vachier-Lagrave vs Nepomniachtchi, 2011 
(D94) Grunfeld, 36 moves, 1-0

Strategic patient domination
Vachier-Lagrave vs Carlsen, 2011 
(B30) Sicilian, 96 moves, 1-0

Tactics fireworks until crescendo attack delivers mate!
G Meier vs Vachier-Lagrave, 2012 
(A35) English, Symmetrical, 27 moves, 0-1

Pawn push on move 26, and black position collapses!
Vachier-Lagrave vs Bacrot, 2012 
(A13) English, 32 moves, 1-0

Neat tactical blows .. until the end!
Vachier-Lagrave vs K Grigoryan, 2012 
(B12) Caro-Kann Defense, 35 moves, 1-0

Beautiful knight sac exploits back pieces poor placement
Vachier-Lagrave vs Caruana, 2013 
(A81) Dutch, 66 moves, 1-0

Queen sac snowballs game into mating attack!
Vachier-Lagrave vs I R Ortiz Suarez, 2013 
(B30) Sicilian, 39 moves, 1-0

Energetic attack, beautiful tactics..... and win!
Vachier-Lagrave vs A Volokitin, 2013 
(E60) King's Indian Defense, 45 moves, 1-0

King enters battlefield early as cramped opponant is squeezed
Vachier-Lagrave vs Ding Liren, 2013 
(B12) Caro-Kann Defense, 39 moves, 1-0

Neat energetic tactical coups carry game to won ending
Vachier-Lagrave vs S Volkov, 2013 
(D15) Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, 38 moves, 1-0

Control of weak squares allows mating net combination!
Vachier-Lagrave vs I Nataf, 2013 
(A46) Queen's Pawn Game, 32 moves, 1-0

Bold piece sacrifice initiates killer attack!
A David vs Vachier-Lagrave, 2014 
(A15) English, 27 moves, 0-1

King is blocked on light squares, and mated on dark ones
Vachier-Lagrave vs T Batchuluun, 2014 
(D10) Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, 30 moves, 1-0

Early sacrifice tactics until reaching won ending!
Vachier-Lagrave vs A Vaisser, 2014 
(A04) Reti Opening, 22 moves, 1-0

Piece sac for attack, and forceful finish!
Saric vs Vachier-Lagrave, 2015 
(B90) Sicilian, Najdorf, 32 moves, 0-1

Tactics, complications, simplifications, win!
Vachier-Lagrave vs Ding Liren, 2015 
(B12) Caro-Kann Defense, 45 moves, 1-0

White king is ingeniously trapped into mating net!
Caruana vs Vachier-Lagrave, 2015 
(B90) Sicilian, Najdorf, 35 moves, 0-1

Restraint, attack build-up, nice tactics and win!
Anand vs Vachier-Lagrave, 2015 
(B92) Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation, 34 moves, 0-1

The art of finale finesse
So vs Vachier-Lagrave, 2015 
(A33) English, Symmetrical, 68 moves, 0-1

Casual sac of queen for minor pieces activity!
Vachier-Lagrave vs N Studer, 2015 
(A00) Uncommon Opening, 20 moves, 1-0

Paws sac for deviation and sudden mating attack
Vachier-Lagrave vs V Gunina, 2016 
(A06) Reti Opening, 34 moves, 1-0

Careful opening sequence followed by pure pounding and mate!
Giri vs Vachier-Lagrave, 2016 
(B96) Sicilian, Najdorf, 28 moves, 0-1

Quality sac to create victorious passed pawn
Vachier-Lagrave vs Kramnik, 2017 
(A00) Uncommon Opening, 30 moves, 1-0

Sac of a rook for long term advantage
Leko vs Vachier-Lagrave, 2018 
(B90) Sicilian, Najdorf, 71 moves, 0-1

39 games

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