This month’s sample articles are from the April 2016 issue of - The UK’s biggest and best magazine for chess players.

If you’re not already a subscriber you might like to consider our introductory offer below.

THE BEST CHESS MAGAZINE IN THE UK!

Coverage of ALL major chess tournaments Regular features on Opening Theory (mainline & offbeat) Interviews with top GMs Lots of instructional articles by top players 2 pages of tactics puzzles every month Features on Chess History Chess Studies & Problems and much more!

Contributors include: GM Michael Adams, GM GM Danny King, GM Danny Gormally, GM Simon Williams, IM Erik Kislik, GM , IM Richard Palliser, IM , IM Erik Kislik, John Saunders, Steve Giddins, and more. Subscribers can now receive an annotated database by email with all the chess from the magazine in an eletronic format directly by email, completely free of charge! Play through the games & puzzles without setting up a board! OFFER 1-year Subscription (12 issues) RRP £49.95 Subscribe to CHESS SPECIAL OFFER £29.95* FOR JUST £29.95 That’s just £2.50 per issue delivered! (RRP £49.95) * Special offer open only to UK residents who have not previously subscribed to CHESS Magazine That’s just £2.50 per Subscribe Online: www.chess.co.uk/shop issue delivered! ... or by calling: 020 7486 7015 or 020 7288 1305 As a subscriber you also receive a 10% discount on all orders Chess Contents Founding Editor: B.H. Wood, OBE. M.Sc † Executive Editor: Malcolm Pein Editorial...... 4 Editors: Richard Palliser, Matt Read Malcom Pein on the latest developments Associate Editor: John Saunders Subscriptions Manager: Paul Harrington 60 Seconds with...... 7 WIM Natasha Regan Twitter: @CHESS_Magazine Twitter: @TelegraphChess - Malcolm Pein Another for Hikaru!...... 8 Website: www.chess.co.uk Hikaru Nakamura continued his fine run of form in Zurich

Subscription Rates: Beer & Blitz ...... 12 United Kingdom 1 year (12 issues) £49.95 A rather special memorial blitz event took place at the Kings Head 2 year (24 issues) £89.95 The Show Rolls On...... 14 3 year (36 issues) £125 Guildford and Cheddleton kept up the gallop at February’s 4NCL Europe 1 year (12 issues) £60 How Good is Your Chess? ...... 20 2 year (24 issues) £112.50 Daniel King has been busy in the ChessBase studio 3 year (36 issues) £165 Aspects of Exchanging ...... 23 USA & Canada 1 year (12 issues) $90 Some useful advice from Steve Giddins, focussing on 3 openings 2 year (24 issues) $170 Find the Winning Moves ...... 26 3 year (36 issues) $250 Can you do as well or even better than the grandmasters? Rest of World (Airmail) 1 year (12 issues) £72 Recent ‘Cheating Controversies’ ...... 30 2 year (24 issues) £130 Junior Tay on some recent rather unsavoury incidents 3 year (36 issues) £180 Studies with Stephenson...... 35 Distributed by: News from the British Chess Solving Championship Post Scriptum (UK only), Unit G, OYO Business Park, Hindmans Way, No Second Chance...... 36 Dagenham, RM9 6LN - Tel: 020 8526 7779 James Essinger on why writers have it easier than chess-players LMPI (North America) 8155 Larrey Street, Montreal (Quebec), Memories of Miles ...... 40 H1J 2L5, Canada - Tel: 514 355-5610 Charles Higgie looks back on his student days in Sheffield Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Editors. Contributions to Forthcoming Events ...... 41 the magazine will be published at the Editors’ Where will you be playing in April? discretion and may be shortened if space is limited. Never Mind the Grandmasters...... 42 No parts of this publication may be reproduced Carl Portman would like to discuss the species without the prior express permission of the publishers. All rights reserved. © 2016 The Girls at the Terafinal...... 44 Mike Basman on the play of some more rising young stars Chess Magazine (ISSN 0964-6221) is published by: Chess & Bridge Ltd, 44 Baker St, London, W1U 7RT Overseas News ...... 48 Tel: 020 7288 1305 Fax: 020 7486 7015 Hou Yifan regained her world title from Mariya Muzychuk in Lviv Email: [email protected], Website: www.chess.co.uk Home News...... 52 FRONT COVER: Further weekend success for Arkell, Hebden and Vakhidov Cover Design: Matt Read Cover Photography: 123rf.com Solutions...... 54 US & Canadian Readers – You can contact us via our American branch – Chess4Less based in West Palm New Books and Software...... 55 Beach, FL. Call toll-free on 1-877 89CHESS (24377). Sean Marsh reviews works on Botvinnik and Chigorin You can even order Subscriber Special Offers online via www.chess4less.com Saunders on Chess ...... 58 John very much enjoyed playing blitz at the Kings Head

Printed in the UK by The Magazine Printing Photo credits: Calle Erlandsson (p.50), John Henderson (p.4), Eteri Kublashvili (p.51), David Company using only paper from FSC/PEFC Llada (pp.8-9, 11), Ray Morris-Hill (pp.14-15, 17, 31) Sabrina Needham (pp.13, 58), suppliers www.magprint.co.uk Brendan O’Gorman (pp.7, 53), San Sebastian Open (p.32), John Saunders (p.13), Fiona Steil-Antoni (p.16), Sophie Triay (p.49), John Upham (pp.44-46, 48). www.chess.co.uk 3 Beer & Blitz

The King’s Head pub in Bayswater was used to host a blitz tournament, a rather strong blitz tournament!

Following on from the late 2014 event to commemorate the life of Kings Head stalwart, IM Andrew Whiteley, very kindly supported another memorial blitz event at the Kings Head on the final Saturday of February. Fittingly 64 chess players gathered to commemorate a number of leading figures who had passed away over the previous months, not least IM Colin Crouch, to whom David paid a fine tribute in his opening remarks. There’s always something fun about playing blitz chess in a pub and under the capable hands of Messrs. Chan and Read, the eight all- play-all groups concluded all too quickly, albeit not without time for the odd beverage or two to be consumed along the way. The last four rounds were run as a knock- out, with some great attacks, plenty of drama and a fair few blunders seen even in the games of the fancied GMs. The semi-final stage saw and Simon Williams finish all square at 1-1 and after a single game play-off was drawn (there were no The tournament commemorated the lives of a number of chess players and personalities Armageddon games), Hebden won the who had passed away in 2015-16 resulting coin toss. In the final he faced Mickey Adams, who had perhaps been a little fortunate to get by Luke McShane, but it was Group E Richard Bates 0-1 David Norwood to be the Cornishman who pocketed the 1 Richard Palliser 6½ Peter Roberson 1-0 Peter Wells £700 first prize. 2-3 Jon Speelman, Mike Basman 5 (Speelman won resulting play-off) Quarter-Finals: Luke McShane 1-0 Peter Roberson Group A (2 players qualified from each group) Group F David Norwood 0-1 Michael Adams 1 Michael Adams 7/7 1 6 John Nunn 0-1 Simon Williams 2 Robert Bellin 5 2-3 Richard Bates, Pall Thorarinsson 5½ Mark Hebden 1-0 Albert Pires 3-6 , Evgeny Tukpetov, (Bates won resulting play-off) Semi-Finals Diana Serbanscu, Joun Saunders 3 Group G: Game 1: 1-2 David Norwood, Peter Roberson 6½ Michael Adams ½-½ Luke McShane Group B 3-4 Richard Black, Jochen Wittman 4 Mark Hebden 0-1 Simon Williams 1 Luke McShane 7/7 2 Adam Hunt 5 Group H: Game 2: 3-4 Chris Duncan, Byron Jacobs 1 Peter Wells 7 Luke McShane 0-1 Michael Adams 2 Guillame Camus 6 Simon Williams 0-1 Mark Hebden Group C 3 John Richardson 4 (Mark Hebden progressed to the final via 1 Mark Hebden 7/7 coin-toss after a third game was drawn) 2 Albert Albert Pires 5½ Last 16: 3-5 Gavin Wall, Malcolm Pein, Tom Villiers Jon Speelman 0-1 Michael Adams Final: Mark Hebden 1-0 Richard Palliser Game 1: Group D Yang Fan Zhou 0-1 Albert Pires Mark Hebden 0-1 Michael Adams 1 Simon Williams 7 Simon Williams 1-0 Robert Bellin 2 Yang Fan Zhou 6 Adam Hunt 0-1 Luke McShane Game 2: 3 James Coleman 5 John Nunn 1-0 Guillame Camus Michael Adams ½-½ Mark Hebden

April 2016 12 The crowd’s attention is on the new ECF Mark Hebden (left) enjoys a beverage with Chief Executive Mike Truran’s game, as he his game, while our Executive Editor (right) is takes on blitz expert Simon Williams. already deep in thought after 1 e4 e5.

Luke McShane was the second seed. The A delighted Mickey Adams (left) won the A crowded Kings Head pub and how fine it random draw meant he played Adams in the tournament and is pictured with his good friend, was to see such a venue full of contented semis and was rather unfortunate to lose. the sponsor of this top event, David Norwood. chess players busy enjoying their blitz.

Lawrence Cooper almost won a very dramatic game against Yang-Fan Two legends, Jon Speelman (left) and Mke Basman (right), had a lively Zhou, but is pictured here playing next to Zhou against the Ginger GM. play-off as they tried to qualify from Group H behind our Editor. Video of the final is available to watch online, visit www.youtube.com and search for “Beer and blitz - Celebration in Memoriam”

www.chess.co.uk 13 The Show Rolls On

The key action from the February 4NCL weekend, where champions Guildford and closest challengers Cheddleton continued their winning ways

The top flights of the 4NCL returned to Birmingham Airport for the third weekend of the season in mid-February. Champions Guildford continued their generally dominant ways, crushing White Rose 7-1 and then even going one better against Cambridge. , Gawain Jones, Romain Edouard, Sebastian Maze and Mark Hebden all won both their games, with the boards 1 and 3 in particularly brutal mood.

M.Sadler-J.Adair Guildford vs White Rose Giuoco Piano

1 e4 e5 2 Íc4 Ìf6 3 d3 Ìc6 4 Ìf3 Íc5 5 c3 0-0 6 Íb3 d5 7 Ëe2 a5 8 a4 Íe6 Adair sensibly wants to retain the tension against White’s Steinitzian approach with delayed castling, although 8...d4 9 0-0 h6 10 Ìbd2 Ëe7 11 Ìh4 Îd8 12 h3 Íe6 also seemed fine for Black in Radjabov-Shirov, Baku (rapid) 2009. 9 Ìbd2 h6 10 exd5!? A novelty, beginning to unbalance the position and by this point it must be added that Sadler was on his own, whereas the ever well- prepared Adair continued to blitz out his reply. 10...Íxd5 11 Íc2 Ìd7!? Ambitious. Instead, 11...Îe8 simply looks pretty comfortable for Black, and if 12 Ìe4 Íb6 13 0-0 only then 13...Ìd7. 12 g4!?

James Adair has been a real start of the 4NCL in recent seasons, but was simply no match for a determined Matthew Sadler. Matthew went on to triumph too at the Blackpool Congress.

Shocked by Sadler’s last, Adair fails to ambitious kingside launch. react well. White’s move was, of course, 13 Îg1 directed against ...f5, but 12...f5! would still White has effectively been given two free have been critical: for example, 13 gxf5 Îxf5 tempi and, as has long been known, his 14 Ìe4 (14 d4 Îxf3 15 Ìxf3 exd4 offers a attacking chances are never to be sizeable, ongoing initiative for the exchange) underestimated in such a structure. An extremely brave decision. White’s king 14...Ëe7 15 Íe3 Îaf8 16 Ìfd2 Ìd4! 13...Íxf3?! is still in the centre, his queenside 17 cxd4 exd4 18 0-0-0 dxe3 19 fxe3 when A further concession. 13...Ëe7 14 g5 undeveloped and yet he begins play on the even 19...Ía3!? is possible. This position is hxg5 15 Ìxg5 followed by 16 Ìde4 would other flank. pretty murky and hard to assess, but one have been pretty pleasant for White, but 12...Ìf6? suspects that White might come to regret his again Black might have taken the fight back

April 2016 14 to White, here with 13...Ëd7!? 14 g5 Ìg4. 14 Ìxf3 Îe8 15 g5 hxg5 16 Íxg5 Ëd6 The pin was annoying and by now even aggressive attempts would have come up short, as shown by 16...e4!? 17 dxe4 Ëd6 18 Ìd2 Ìe5 19 0-0-0 when White is a pawn up and in full control. 17 0-0-0 Ëe6

18 Ìd2 Thematic, preparing to exploit Black’s major weaknesses on the light squares, but 18 d4!? would actually have won material, and if 18...exd4 19 Ëxe6 Îxe6 20 cxd4 Íb6 21 d5. 18...Íf8 19 Ëf3 Ìh7 20 Íb3 Talk about complete domination. By now Sadler must have been delighted with how 12 g4!? had turned out, while Adair, who otherwise has a most impressive 5/6 this season, could hardly wait for the game to end. 20...Ëd7 21 Ìe4 Ìd8 22 d4 Ìe6 23 dxe5 Ëc6 24 Íf6 Êh8 25 Ëg4! Ìxf6 26 Ìxf6 1-0 Romain Edouard is another Guildford star who, like Sadler, simply keeps winning game after Mate is forced. game for them. The French GM is also the author of ‘The Chess Manual of Avoidable Mistakes’.

and if 28...Îxg3 (Wells would likely have 31...g3+? R.Edouard-P.Wells preferred 28...Îxe1+ 29 Ëxe1 Ëxd5 when This attempt to gain some counterplay Guildford vs White Rose only a machine could point out the winning fails to convince. Watching live I was continuation 30 Ëa5+ Êe7 31 Ëa3+ Êd8 confident that Black had to be lost, but the 32 f3! gxf3 33 Íf2!) 29 Îd1 Ëa7 30 Ëg5+ silicon monster points out the incredible when the black king is hunted to its death. 31...Ëb2! with the idea of 32 Íxh6 Ëxf2 28...Ëxb2 29 Íxe5 Ëc1+ 30 Êh2 33 Íg5+ Êc7 when ...Íxd5 is threatened White has just bishop and knight for the and there is a definite counterattack after all. queen, but what minor pieces they are. Indeed, the oracle merely opines its favourite Moreover, there are also a couple of quite ‘0.00’, indicating 34 d6+! Êxd6 35 Îd3+ nasty threats, to which the English GM finds Êc7 36 Îc3+, and if 36...Íc6 37 Íe4 Ëe1 the only response. 38 Íf4+ Êd8 39 Íg5+. Amazing stuff. So 30...Îh6! 31 Íf4 too is the line 32 Ìc5!? Íxd5 33 Îd3 Îd6 34 Êg3 when in practice anything might have happened and I shall leave it to the interested reader to pursue the truth of this fascinating position. 32 Êxg3 Îg6+? And this loses mundanely, although even after 32...Îh8 33 Íg5+!? (or just 33 Îe8+ Black, in desperate time trouble and Îxe8 34 Íxc1) 33...Êc7 34 d6+ Êc6 35 suffering somewhat on the dark squares, has Ìe5+ Êb6 36 Ìxf7 one suspects that just tried the shot 27...Îc3-e3. White would have prevailed. 28 Îxe3?! 33 Íxg6 fxg6 34 Ìf6 1-0 Edouard is provoked! This flashy choice is The mating net proves a game-ender. objectively unsound, but would have been pretty hard to resist once one had seen what sort of initiative White was gaining for the queen. Those crushing results highlight the gulf in Correct, though, was the calm 28 Ëc1!, class between a league-winning squad and a www.chess.co.uk 15 pretty decent top division side. Indeed, White Rose bounced back in round 6, overcoming Barbican II 6-2 to book their place in the Promotion Pool. Who, though, from Pool B will join Guildford and the Yorkshire side remains a tricky question. Blackthorne Russia were well placed, but after drawing with Grantham Sharks, suffered a surprise 6-2 defeat at the hands of South Wales Dragons. That drawn match was itself quite a bloodthirsty affair, with the point only split on the bottom two boards and the pick of the games Danny Gormally’s neat attack on top board.

D.Gormally-P.Roberson Blackthorne Russia vs Grantham Sharks

Danny Gormally, pictured here enjoying a post-mortem, is another GM with a recent book out. Indeed, we expect ‘Insanity, Passion and Addiction - A Year in the Chess World’ to prove pretty popular at Chess & Bridge, and we’ll hear more from Danny himself in our next issue.

unfortunate veteran Welsh IM John Cooper blundering at the death after defending G.Sarakauskas-D.Howell immaculately up to that point in a pawn- Guildford II vs Cheddleton down rook ending. It’s amazing what confidence can do and despite again being out-rated the next day, the Martlets recorded a 4½-3½ victory over the Sharks, which was a significant blow in the latter’s Having battled back well after being hopes of making the Promotion Pool. heavily out-prepared in a ...Ëxd5 French The Dragons now find themselves in the Tarrasch, Roberson was already somewhat lofty position of third, but will likely need to down on time. Here he had to retreat with score at least a couple of board points 22...Ëg7 when White can pick off e6, but the against Guildford in round to make the resulting unbalanced position should be OK Promotion Pool. Elsewhere there is a big for Black. Instead, Roberson thought he could match between Barbican II and Grantham repeat moves. Sharks, which Cambridge will hope is drawn. 22...Îg7? 23 Ìxf5!! The light blue university-based side kept But he’d missed this hammer blow. Having their chances of avoiding the Relegation Pool already this season seen his own extremely alive by overcoming Barbican II 6-2 in the tempting double-piece sacrifice come to February weekend and will now hope for naught against James Adair, as we saw in the another big win against Blackthorne. In 32...Ìc3! 33 Êf3 April issue, poor Peter Roberson must be in short, expect more bloodthirsty as well as Giving up the exchange and effectively despair with the 4NCL Gods. Full credit to some quite nervy matches come the pivotal the game, although there was little choice in Danny Gormally, though, for a lovely spot and round 7! view of 33 bxc3? Íd5+ 34 Êh2 Îh1#. fine piece of calculation. 33...Ìxe2 34 Íxe2 Îxb2 0-1 23...Ëe1+ A Similar Story in Pool A... Even this desperate counterattack will fail, also impressed for but there was little better as shown by The other top-flight pool presented a Cheddleton, his 2/2 including outplaying 23...Îxf7? 24 Îd8+ Îf8 25 Îxf8#, pretty similar picture to Pool B after six of Daniel Fernandez. That score was also 23...exf5? or 23...Ëxf5? 24 Îd8+, and even its seven rounds, albeit with the hapless recorded by , who was even 23...Îg8 24 Ìe7. White Rose II tailed off in last. Cheddleton spotted playing of all things a Tiger Modern! At 24 Êh2! Îxg2+ continue to match Guildford stride for stride the end of the day, despite Guildford supremo Once again, 24...Ëe5+ fails to 25 g3 Îg8 in their quest to enter their round 11 Roger Emerson’s best efforts, his second team 26 Ìe7. encounter with the champions on even simply weren’t quite good enough, despite 25 Êxg2 Íb7+ 26 Ëxb7 Îg8+ 27 Ìg3 terms. In February, Cheddleton were simply Yang-Fan Zhou’s crushing victory on board 3. 1-0 too strong for a Christian Bauer-less 3Cs, running out emphatic 6½-1½ winners Kudos, indeed, to the Dragons for before overcoming a pretty decent Y.F.Zhou-V.Hamitevici bouncing back from a slightly disappointing Guildford II side 5½-2½. David Howell had Guildford II vs Cheddleton draw with Sussex Martlets to crush to be at his best on top board, first Evans Gambit Blackthorne so. A resolutely-grinding Rhys converting a tricky queen endgame against Cumming was the hero as the Martlets his former second, Stephen Gordon, before 1 e4 e5 2 Ìf3 Ìc6 3 Íc4 Íc5 4 b4!? obtained their first point in the top flight, the producing a bolt from the blue. Maybe if Zhou had ventured this against

April 2016 16 David Howell back in the second game of December’s British Knockout he would have had a better chance of evening the score. 4...Íxb4 5 c3 Ía5 6 d4 d6 7 Ëb3 Ëd7 8 dxe5 Íb6 9 Ìbd2 Ìa5 The players follow one of the main lines of the Evans as Black returns the extra pawn to bag the bishop-pair. 10 Ëc2 Ìxc4 11 Ìxc4 Íc5?! Hamitevici is too keen on his bishops. After this Black comes under pressure, whereas 11...d5 12 exd5 Ëxd5 is fine for him, as if 13 Ìxb6 axb6 14 c4 Ëc6 15 0-0 Íe6 with good play on the light squares. 12 0-0 Ìe7 13 exd6 cxd6 14 Îd1

Suddenly there are all manner of threats in the centre and it becomes clear that White Yang-Fan Zhou must have been delighted with how his bold choice of the Evans turned out has obtained an early initiative. against Vladimir Hamitevici, although his win wasn’t enough to prevent Guildford II from losing. 14...Ëe6 15 Ëb3!? Tempting, although one might also make a 21...g6 22 Ëe4! Íxf2+ they really had to battle against Oxford. That good case for 15 Ìe3 followed by 16 Ìd4. This tactic won’t help matters, but what match reflected extremely well on both sides, 15...Ëxe4?! else was there with 22...h6 23 Ìxe6 fxe6 with the shortest game of the eight some 50 Far too ambitious. By now Black had to get even able to be met by the sadistic 24 Îd2 moves and the longest – 92. David Zakarian his king to safety and after 15...0-0! 16 Íf4 and 22...Êf8 23 Ìxd6 Íxd6 24 Îxd6 also and Zoe Varney won for Oxford in what was (16 Ìxd6 Íxd6 17 Ëxe6 Íxh2+ 18 Êxh2 looking pretty terminal? quite a topsy-turvy match, but James Íxe6 must be fine) 16...d5 17 exd5 Ìxd5 23 Êxf2 Ëc5+ 24 Ëd4 Jackson, John Cox and Sam Franklin all 18 Íg3 b6 would have found himself close eventually did the business for Barbican. We’ll to equality. have more on Jackson’s endgame courtesy of 16 Îe1!? John Cox himself next month. Hardly bad, although White might also The day before Oxford had, however, have cashed in with 16 Ìxd6+ Íxd6 17 scored an important 4½-3½ victory over Îxd6 0-0 18 Ía3, as now after 18...Íe6 3Cs, with the talismanic Zakarian again there’s 19 Îxe6 followed by picking off the involved at a pivotal moment. knight on e7. 16...Ëd5?! It seems that 16...Ëc6 was a better try, D.Zakarian-G.Quillan Í Í Ì Í and if 17 g5 e6 18 d4 xd4 19 cxd4 Oxford vs 3Cs followed by the cold-blooded 19...Ìf5. 17 Íg5 Íe6 18 Íxe7! Êxe7 19 Îad1 Ëc6 20 Ìg5 White is a pawn down and faced with the two bishops, but as Zhou must have realised, he’s doing very well. Quite simply, the black The Cambridge undergraduate has it all king remains in huge trouble. worked out. White has won a piece, unless Black 20...Ëc8 now elects to be mated. Can you see why? 20...Îhe8 allows 21 Ìxe6 fxe6 22 24...Ëxg5 25 Îxe6+! 1-0 Îxe6+! and even after 22...Êf8 23 Ìe5 25...fxe6 26 Ëg7+ wins the rook on h8 Îxe6! 24 Ìxc6 Îae8 25 Êf1 bxc6 26 Ëc4 for starters. Black shouldn’t survive in the long run. 21 Ëb1! Barbican I have also booked their spot in A lovely switch-back, heading for e4 to the Promotion Pool. Their 5½-2½ victory increase the pressure and preparing to invade over White Rose II was straightforward on g6 should Black now weaken with 21...h6. enough, bar on the lower boards, but then www.chess.co.uk 17 White most certainly couldn’t be faulted take any chances and already for the February 16...Ëe7 was perhaps wiser, although for bravery or creativity in this game and now weekend they fielded their strongest team of even here after 17 Îf3 or just 17 f6 Ìxf6 seized his chance on the kingside. the season, with Neil McDonald coming in on 18 Îxf6 Ëxf6 19 Íh7+ Êxh7 20 Íg5+ 35 Ìh5! gxh5? board 5 behind Jon Speelman and the Quality one can’t really imagine Black surviving. One tends to associate Gary Quillan with Chess trio of Jacob Aagaard, John Shaw and 17 f6! brutal attacks rather than solid defence, but Andrew Greet. The star move and not, of course, 17 here he had to settle for 35...Ëh8! 36 Ëf4 Wood Green’s reward for strengthening Ëxh6 Ëf6 when the tables would have been Ìe8. After, say, 37 Ëg5 Îc8 38 Î1e3 Íd7 was a pair of narrow 4½-3½ victories over turned. 39 Îh3 matters look pretty scary, but the Guildford II and 3Cs. Scottish GM John Shaw 17...Ëe8 silicon is unable to find a deadly blow for the continued his fine run of form at the Holiday A last try, as if 17...Ìxf6 then simply 18 first player after 39...Îc4. Inn, winning both games in February, Ëxh6 Íe7 19 Îxf6. 36 Îg5+ Êh8 37 Îxh5+ Êg8 38 Îg5+ including another crushing attack. 18 Ìc2 1-0 38 Îee5! would have been even stronger, Covering the e3-square and so leaving based on the neat point 38...Îfc8 39 Îh6. Black with nothing good to do about h6. 38...Êh8? J.Shaw-G.Sarakauskas A horrible mistake, if just the sort we can Wood Green vs Guildford II Should Oxford falter one would expect all make when frantically trying to reach the Guildford II to make the Promotion Pool with a time control. Black has drifted, but after seventh-round victory over Spirit of Atticus, 38...Êh7 39 Ëd3+ Ìf5! 40 Îh5+ Êg7 41 although 3Cs aren’t totally out of things gxf5 Îg8 he would still have been on the either. Indeed, the only teams who will board. definitely be moving from Pool A to the 39 Îe3! Relegation Pool are Spirit of Atticus and White This is the problem – the black queen is a Rose II, the Liverpudlians running out 5-3 goner. winners when those sides met in round 6. 39...Ëh6 40 Îh3 Ëxh3 41 Íxh3 f6 42 Îh5+ Êg7 43 Ëh6+ Êf7 44 g5 Not only has Zakarian bagged a major piece, even more importantly he has retained a devastating attack. 44...Ìe4 45 Ëh7+ Êe8 46 g6 1-0

Oxford are now likely to need a win against Wood Green to make the Promotion Pool. That won’t be easy against the former 16 Íxh6! champions, but in general the stronger the A standard-enough blow, but did you spot opposition, the better Oxford tend to do. the key follow-up? Most certainly Wood Green won’t want to 16...gxh6

4NCL 2015/16: Division 1 - Pool A Team 12345678GP Pts 1 Cheddleton 1 X 5½-2½ 5-3 5½-2½ 5½-2½ 6½-1½ 5½-2½ 33½ 12 2 Barbican 4NCL 1 2½-5½ X 4½-3½ 4½-3½ 5-3 7-1 5½-2½ 29 10 3 Wood Green HK 3-5 3½-4½ X 4½-3½ 4½-3½ 6-2 7½-½ 29 8 4 Oxford 1 2½-5½ 3½-4½ X 3½-4½ 4½-3½ 5-3 6-2 25 6 5 Guildford 2 2½-5½ 3-5 3½-4½ 4½-3½ X 4-4 7½-½ 25 5 6 3Cs 1 1½-6½ 3½-4½ 3½-4½ 4-4 X 4½-3½ 6½-1½ 23½ 5 7 Spirit of Atticus A 2½-5½ 1-7 2-6 3-5 3½-4½ X 5-3 17 2 8 White Rose 2 2½-5½ ½-7½ 2-6 ½-7½ 1½-6½ 3-5 X 10 0

4NCL 2015/16: Division 1 - Pool B Team 12345678GP Pts 1 Guildford 1 X 7-1 6-2 8-0 4½-2½ 8-0 8-0 41½ 12 2 White Rose 1 1-7 X 7½-½ 4-4 5-3 6-2 6-2 29½ 9 3 South Wales Dragons ½-7½ X 6-2 4-4 3½-4½ 5-3 4-4 23 6 4 Blackthorne Russia 2-6 4-4 2-6 X 4-4 4-3½ 0 7-1 23 6 5 Grantham Sharks 1 0-8 3-5 4-4 4-4 X 6-2 3½-4½ 20½ 4 6 Barbican 4NCL 2 2½-4½ 2-6 4½-3½ 3½-4 X 2-6 5½-2½ 20 4 7 Cambridge University 1 0-8 2-6 3-5 2-6 6-2 X 6-2 19 4 8 Sussex Martlets 1 0-8 4-4 1-7 4½-3½ 2½-5½ 2-6 X 14 3

April 2016 18 Subscribers OnlyApril Order online*: www.chess.co.uk/shop - Call 020 7288 1305 - Or use the included carrier sheet * Enter SUBSCRIBER in the ‘Coupon Code’ box to claim the subscriber discount when ordering online. * UK based readers should also enter SUBSCRIBERSPECIAL in the ‘Coupon Code’ box to ensure they receive free postage on their order. 1: Botvinnik's Complete Games (1957-1970) and Selected Writings (Part 3) Mikhail Botvinnik, 380 pages, hardback RRP £29.95 SUBSCRIBERS £26.95 2: The Queen’s Indian: move by move Lorin D’Costa, 304 pages, paperback RRP £17.99 SUBSCRIBERS £16.19 3: Chess Competitions, 1971-2010 Gino Di Felice, 376 pages, paperback 1 2 3 4 RRP £34.95 SUBSCRIBERS £31.46 4: A Year Inside The Chess World 248 pages, paperback RRP £20.99 SUBSCRIBERS £18.89 5: Mikhail Chigorin: The Creative Genius Jimmy Adams, 750 pages, hardback RRP £32.50 SUBSCRIBERS £29.25 6: Tal: Move by Move Cyrus Lakdawala, 400 pages, paperback RRP £19.99 SUBSCRIBERS £17.99 5 6 8 7: The Safest Scandinavian (based on 3...£d6) 7 Vassilios Kotronias, 220 pages, paperback RRP £17.99 SUBSCRIBERS £16.19 8: The Power of Pawns ALL ITEMS ARE POST FREE FOR UK CUSTOMERS Jörg Hickl, 192 pages, paperback RRP £14.99 SUBSCRIBERS £13.49 9: Chess for Life Matthew Sadler & Natasha Regan, 224 pages, paperback, RRP £15.99 SUBSCRIBERS £14.39 £5 £5 10: Improve Your Positional Chess Carsten Hansen, 192 pages, paperback RRP £14.99 SUBSCRIBERS £5! 11: English Attack Tapani Sammalvuo, 272 pages, paperback 9 10 11 12 RRP £16.99 SUBSCRIBERS £5! 12: Understanding the Scandinavian Sergey Kasparov, 176 pages, paperback RRP £15.99 SUBSCRIBERS £14.39 13: A Repertoire for Blitz & Rapid Evgeny & Vladimir Sveshnikov, 416 pages, paperback RRP £19.99 SUBSCRIBERS £17.99 14: Bologan’s Ruy Lopez for Black Victor Bologan, 544 pages, paperback RRP £22.99 SUBSCRIBERS £20.69 13 14 15 16 15: The Chess Manual of Avoidable Mistakes: Part 2 - Test Yourself Romain Edouard, 176 pages, paperback RRP £14.99 SUBS’ £13.49 16: Zuke’Em: Expanded 2015 Edition David Rudel, 348 pages, paperback RRP £17.99 SUBSCRIBERS £16.19

17: Master Class Vol. 6: Anatoly Karpov (PC-DVD) Various presenters, running time: 7 hours RRP £23.99 SUBSCRIBERS £21.59 18: The Chess Player’s Mating Guide Vol. 1 (PC-DVD) Robert Ris, running time: 5 hours 17 18 19 20 RRP £23.99 SUBSCRIBERS £21.59 19: Queen’s Gambit Declined - Lasker Variation (PC-DVD) Sam Collins, running time: 5 hrs 50 mins ONLY subscribers to CHESS MAGAZINE may order items at the prices and conditions shown on this RRP £23.99 SUBSCRIBERS £21.59 page. All offers expire 30/6/2016. These offers are POST FREE in the UK only. Please add 20% 20: Learning from the World Champions (PC-DVD) (of the undiscounted price) for EU countries and 30% (of the undiscounted price) Rest of the World. Sergei Tiviakov , running time: 5 hrs 45 mins RRP £23.99 SUBSCRIBERS £21.59