DOCSLIB.ORG

Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2014

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2014 Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2014 Monday 27 January - Friday 6 February 2014 Round 2 Report: 30 January by John Saunders WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH WIN THE ENDGAME The second round of the Tradewise Gibraltar Masters on 29 January at the Caleta Hotel brought together the elite players with fellow grandmasters for the first time. The tougher opposition meant that the top players had to work harder for their points, and there were a number of interesting endgames played. Top seed Mickey Adams was soon into his stride, showing the sort of class which has kept him in the world's elite for the entire century so far. Untypically he didn't need to grind out an endgame to get his point, simply generating enough middlegame pressure to get his opponent to crack. Gibraltar Masters 2014, Round 2 M.Adams (2754) - M.Al-Sayed (2476) 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Nbd7 7.Be2 e6 8.g4 Mickey is patriotic, playing the English Attack against the Najdorf. 8...h6 9.f4 g5 10.f5 Ne5 11.h3 b5 12.a3 A lot of pawns have moved, which in the long term means it might be hard for the kings to find a safe billet. This is quite a sharp variation, requiring great positional precision. 12...Qe7 At first sight strange, but 'book'. The queen overprotects the e6^-pawn so that the c8 bishop can move to b7, while the g7 bishop is going to be developed at g7. 13.fxe6 fxe6 14.Nf3 Nfd7 14...Bb7!? 15.Nxe5 dxe5 16.Bd3 Qc7 17.h4 Bc5 18.Qe2 Bxe3 19.Qxe3 Nxg4 20.Qg3 eventually led to a draw in a game between Ponomariov and Topalov in 2013. 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.Qd2 Bb7 16...Bg7 17.0-0-0 Nf7 18.Bd4 Be5 19.Bxe5 dxe5 20.h4 gxh4 21.Qe1 was played in the seventh game of the world championship match between Hou Yifan and Anna Ushenina in 2013, and White went on to win. 17.0-0-0 One positional plus for White is that his king has a safe post on c1. In return, Black's knight on e5 has a good square, while his bishop keeps an eye on White's isolated e-pawn. 17...Rd8 18.Kb1 Bg7 19.Rhf1 Nf7 20.Bd4 0-0 21.Bxg7 Kxg7 22.Qd4+ Ne5 23.Rxf8 Qxf8 24.a4 White generates pressure on the queenside. 24...bxa4 25.Nxa4 Kg8 26.Nb6 White is playing to swing the knight round to challenge the opposing knight on e5 but this is also in keeping with the usual Adams plan of stopping his opponent from moving his pieces. 26...Qg7 27.Nc4 Nf7 The snag with 27...Nxc4 is that 28.Bxc4 Qxd4 allows the intermezzo move 29.Bxe6+, winning a pawn. 28.Qe3 A typical Adams 'wait and see' move. It was good enough to cause his opponent to think for 15 minutes and get himself further into time trouble. 28...Bc6 29.e5! d5 Black has to give up a pawn after this. The main alternative was 29...dxe5 30.Rxd8+ Nxd8 31.Nxe5 Bb7 32.c4 but even then White's plan of advancing the c-pawn is very hard to meet. 30.Qb6! Rc8 31.Qxa6 Rc7 32.Qb6 Nxe5 The best Black could do was probably 32...Rc8 33.Nd6 Nxd6 34.exd6 Qd7 35.Ba6 Rd8 36.Re1 Qxd6 37.Rxe6! Qxe6 38.Qxd8+ and take his chances a pawn down in a queen and bishop endgame, but the text loses quickly. 33.Qb8+! Kh7 34.Nxe5 Qxe5 35.Rf1! 1-0 The obvious 35.Bd3+ is also quite good but this sets up a killing pin on the b8-h2 diagonal. If 35...Kg7 36.Qf8+ Kh7 and now 37.Bd3+ wins the queen. Second seed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (or 'MVL', as he is generally known – making him very popular with your long-name-phobic reporter) was paired with English GM Glenn Flear. This was, in a sense, an all-French pairing. Glenn has long been resident in Montpellier in France. Those of us well stricken in years will recall his remarkable achievement in 1986 when he finished first in a very strong London tournament (Spassky, Short, Larsen, Polugaevsky, Portisch, Nunn, etc) despite being a rank outsider. He was drafted in as a last-minute substitute and got married on a rest day during the tournament to many-times French women's champion Christine Leroy. Seems like yesterday to me and it comes as a shock to think that it was 28 years ago, and some years before MVL was born (he was fruit of the vintage crop of chessplayers born in 1990). But that was then and this is now. Like Mickey on top board, MVL established a positional grip on the position leading up to the time control. This was the denouement. Gibraltar Masters 2014, Round 2 G.Flear (2471) - M.Vachier-Lagrave (2745) White has a difficult position, with just 6 minutes left (plus increments) left for his final ten moves. 31.Qg3 Aiming for a queenless opposite bishop endgame in return for a pawn. 31...Qxg3 Black could possibly do better than this with 31...Rf4, intending h5-h4 and pushing the white queen into a corner on h3. 32.hxg3 Bxg3 33.Be4 Kc7 34.Kg1 g5 35.Rc1?? White is still alive after 35.Rd3 though it wouldn't be easy. The text allows Black an instant win. 35...Bf2+! 0-1 36.Kh2 Rf4 wins the bishop because of the threat of Rh4 mate. 37.Rxc6+ Kd7 wouldn't help. And 36.Kf1 loses the rook to 36...Be3+. Third seed Vassily Ivanchuk found himself held to a draw by the young Spanish GM David Lariño Nieto. Tweeting (in Spanish), Leontxo García commented that Lariño was a bit like Ivanchuk both in terms of genius and absent-mindedness, so they were well matched. Last year's winner Nikita Vitiugov seems to have taken up where he left off in 2013. Luis Galego is an experienced Portuguese GM and he put up a stout defence until they reached a bishop versus knight endgame, with the Russian having the bishop. It was actually a good example of how an active bishop can trump a knight in such circumstances. Gibraltar Masters 2014, Round 2 L.Galego (2465) - N.Vitiugov (2737) White had around 2 minutes remaining, while Black had 27 minutes. They would receive another 15 minutes each at move 60, and of course a 30-second increment per move. White has two linked problems: how best to defend the g-pawn whilst preventing the black king from gaining an entry. 51.Nf3 It is possible that 51.Nh3 is a better set-up. It would leave the white king to occupy the f3 square when manoeuvring. Of course, such niceties are hard enough to evaluate at the best of times, but even more so when your time is running short. 51...Bb2 52.Kf4 52.Kd3 Bc1 53.Kc2 Bf4 54.Kd3 Ke6 55.Ke4 Bc1 56.Kd3 Kf5 57.b4!? could be playable. 52...Bc1+ 53.Kg4 Be3 Black took ten minutes over this. It leaves White with a tough decision. 54.Kh4? This loses by force. There is a computer line which looks improbable to a human eye but may be OK: 54.Ne1!? Ke5 55.b4 cxb4 56.Nd3+ Kd6 57.Nxb4 a5 58.Nd3 Ke6 59.c5 Kd5 60.c6! and it is possible that White has enough to survive. 54...Ke6 55.Kg4 55...a5! Zugzwang. White must cede entry to the black king on either e5 or f5, fatally in both cases. 56.Ne1 56.Kg3 Kf5 57.Kh4 Bf4 and it is zugzwang again. 56...Ke5 57.Nc2 Bc1 58.Ne1 Ke4 59.Nf3 Be3 60.Ne1 60.Kg3 Bf4+ 61.Kg4 Bd6 leads to a very simple win. 60...Bd2 61.Nf3 Bc3 62.Ng1 Kd3 0-1 Ukrainian super-GM Pavel Eljanov and top German woman player Elisabeth Paehtz contested a very exciting game which ended in a draw. I am going to skip trying to annotate since Elisabeth herself, in tandem with Nigel Short, gave a superb master class based on it which is available from the tournament website. Evgeny Tomashevsky of Russia was well held by the Belgian IM Stefan Docx, but Gata Kamsky was once again in good form, using his bishop pair to good effect to defeat WGM Guo Qi of China. Paco Vallejo Pons gave us another endgame feast to enjoy. The opposite-coloured bishop endgame looked drawn on a very superficial level but Paco found a way to make it very hard for his youthful compatriot, David Pardo Simón. Gibraltar Masters 2014, Round 2 D.Pardo Simón (2450) - P.Vallejo Pons (2707) As a spectator, you count the pawns (equal) and note a key positional factor (opposite-coloured bishops) and immediately think 'draw'. But chess is rarely that simple when 2700+ rated players are involved. 39...Be4 It's tempting to go after the c4 pawn with 39...Ba6 but Black wants to prevent the possibility of 40.e4 while he can, and also tie down the white king to the defence of the g2-pawn. The capture of the c4 pawn can wait. 40.hxg4 hxg4 41.Kf2 Bd3 42.Kg3 Ke8 43.Kh4 Kd7 44.g3? Oops - this is the chessboard equivalent of slamming the door to go out and realising you've left your keys indoors.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 1. Development
    By Natalie & Leon Taylor 1. DEVELOPMENT ID Shelf Title Author Brief Description No. No. 1 1.1 Chess Made Easy C.J.S. Purdy & G. Aimed for beginners, Koshnitsky 1942, 64 pages. 2 1.2 The Game of Chess H.Golombek Advance from beginner, 1945, 255pages 3 1.3 A Guide to Chess Ed.Gerard & C. Advance from beginner Verviers 1969, 156 pages. 4 1.4 My System Aron Nimzovich Theory of chess to improve yourself 1973, 372 pages 5 1.5 Pawn Power in Chess Hans Kmoch Chess strategy using pawns. 1969, 300 pages 6 1.6 The Most Instructive Games Irving Chernev 62 annotated masterpieces of modern chess strat- of Chess Ever Played egy. 1972, 277 pages 7 1.7 The Development of Chess Dr. M. Euwe Annotated games explaining positional play, Style combination & analysis. 1968, 152pgs 8 1.8 Three Steps to Chess MasteryA.S. Suetin Examples of modern Grandmaster play to im- prove your playing strength. 1982, 188pgs 9 1.9 Grandmasters of Chess Harold C. Schonberg A history of modern chess through the lives of these great players. 1973, 302 pages 10 1.10 Grandmaster Preparation L. Polugayevsky How to prepare technically and psychologically for decisive encounters where everything is at stake. 1981, 232 pages 11 1.11 Grandmaster Performance L. Polugayevsky 64 games selected to give a clear impression of how victory is gained. 1984, 174 pages 12 1.12 Learn from the Grandmasters Raymond D. Keene A wide spectrum of games by a no. of players an- notated from different angles. 1975, 120 pgs 13 1.13 The Modern Chess Sacrifice Leonid Shamkovich ‘A thousand paths lead to delusion, but only one to the truth.’ 1980, 214 pages 14 1.14 Blunders & Brilliancies Ian Mullen and Moe Over 250 excellent exercises to asses your apti- Moss tude for brilliancy and blunder.
    [Show full text]
  • Sample Pages
    01-01 Cover -March 2021_Layout 1 17/02/2021 17:19 Page 1 03-03 Contents_Chess mag - 21_6_10 18/02/2021 09:47 Page 3 Chess Contents Founding Editor: B.H. Wood, OBE. M.Sc † Executive Editor: Malcolm Pein Editorial....................................................................................................................4 Editors: Richard Palliser, Matt Read Malcolm Pein on the latest developments in the game Associate Editor: John Saunders Subscriptions Manager: Paul Harrington 60 Seconds with...Jorden van Foreest.......................................................7 Twitter: @CHESS_Magazine We catch up with the man of the moment after Wijk aan Zee Twitter: @TelegraphChess - Malcolm Pein Website: www.chess.co.uk Dutch Dominance.................................................................................................8 The Tata Steel Masters went ahead. Yochanan Afek reports Subscription Rates: United Kingdom How Good is Your Chess?..............................................................................18 1 year (12 issues) £49.95 Daniel King presents one of the games of Wijk,Wojtaszek-Caruana 2 year (24 issues) £89.95 3 year (36 issues) £125 Up in the Air ........................................................................................................21 Europe There’s been drama aplenty in the Champions Chess Tour 1 year (12 issues) £60 2 year (24 issues) £112.50 Howell’s Hastings Haul ...................................................................................24 3 year (36 issues) £165 David Howell ran
    [Show full text]
  • Commission for Women's Chess (WOM) REPORT for 88Th FIDE Congress 7-15 October 2017
    Commission for Women's Chess (WOM) REPORT FOR 88th FIDE Congress 7-15 October 2017. Goynuk, Antalya, Turkey _______________________________________________________________________________ Co-Chairperson: GM Susan POLGAR & IM Martha Fierro BAQUERO Secretary: IA Anastasia SOROKINA Councilors: Ms. Keenese KATISENG (Botswana), GM Zhu CHEN (Qatar), GM Antoaneta STEFANOVA (Bulgaria) Members: Ms. Fiona STEIL-ANTONI (Luxembourg), Ms. Nilufer CINAR (Turkey), Ms. Damaris ABARCA (Chile), IM Irene SUKANDAR (Indonesia), IA Anemone KULZCAK (France), Ms. Evita SIMANGO (Mozambique), Ms. Dina Mei-Fang CHEN (Chinese Taipei), Ms. Aleksandra MILOVIC (Montenegro), Ms. Sonia ZEPEDA (El Salvador), IM Elisabeth PAEHTZ (Germany) Special Advisors: GM HOU Yifan (China), GM Maia CHIBURDANIDZE (Georgia), GM Xie JUN (China), GM Xu YUHUA (China), GM Alexandra KOSTENIUK (Russia), GM Anna USHENINA (Ukraine) _______________________________________________________________________________ The Women’s Commission has been very active in promoting the participation of all female players, arbiters, trainers and organizers in various events and activities around the world. This report will highlight the main FIDE activities whilst noting a number of continental and regional initiatives. More detailed information can be obtained from: http://womenchess.fide.com/ 1. EVENTS 1.1 Women's World Chess Championship 2017 Teheran, Iran, 10 FEBRARY – 5 MARCH 2017. Women’s World Chess Championship was held in the Espinos Palace Hotel in Tehran, Iran, from February 10 (day of arrival) to March 4 (day of departure) 2017. 63 players (excluding Ms.Foisor, who passed away just few weeks before championship) from 28 countries participated in the WWCC2017. A tournament was played according to the knock-out system of 6 rounds, according to the FIDE WCC regulations for the event (FIDE Handbook, D 07).
    [Show full text]
  • Is It Time to Bring Back Adjournments? the United States’ Largest Chess Specialty Retailer
    GOLD, SILVER, AND BRONZE AT THE WORLD CADETS February 2020 | USChess.org Is It Time To Bring Back Adjournments? The United States’ Largest Chess Specialty Retailer 888.51.CHESS (512.4377) www.USCFSales.com Keep It Simple 1.d4 Beyond Material ^ŽůŝĚĂŶĚ^ƚƌĂŝŐŚƞŽƌǁĂƌĚŚĞƐƐKƉĞŶŝŶŐZĞƉĞƌƚŽŝƌĞĨŽƌtŚŝƚĞ /ŐŶŽƌĞƚŚĞ&ĂĐĞsĂůƵĞŽĨzŽƵƌWŝĞĐĞƐĂŶĚŝƐĐŽǀĞƌƚŚĞ Christof Sielecki 432 pages - $29.95 /ŵƉŽƌƚĂŶĐĞŽĨdŝŵĞ͕^ƉĂĐĞĂŶĚWƐLJĐŚŽůŽŐLJŝŶŚĞƐƐ ^ŝĞůĞĐŬŝ͛ƐƌĞƉĞƌƚŽŝƌĞǁŝƚŚϭ͘ĚϰŵĂLJďĞĞǀĞŶĞĂƐŝĞƌƚŽ Davorin Kuljasevic 336 pages - $24.95 ŵĂƐƚĞƌƚŚĂŶŚŝƐϭ͘ĞϰƌĞĐŽŵŵĞŶĚĂƟŽŶƐ͕ďĞĐĂƵƐĞŝƚŝƐƐƵĐŚĂ &ŽƌŐĞƚĂďŽƵƚĐŽƵŶƟŶŐƚŚĞƐƚĂƟĐǀĂůƵĞŽĨLJŽƵƌƉŝĞĐĞƐ͕ůĞĂƌŶ ĐŽŚĞƌĞŶƚƐLJƐƚĞŵ͗ƚŚĞŵĂŝŶĐŽŶĐĞƉƚŝƐĨŽƌtŚŝƚĞƚŽƉůĂLJϭ͘Ěϰ͕ ƚŚĞǀŝƚĂůƐŬŝůůŽĨƚĂŬŝŶŐĐĂůĐƵůĂƚĞĚƌŝƐŬƐ͘ Ϯ͘EĨϯ͕ϯ͘Őϯ͕ϰ͘ŐϮ͕ϱ͘ϬͲϬĂŶĚŝŶŵŽƐƚĐĂƐĞƐϲ͘Đϰ͘ ͞ĞƐĞƌǀĞƐĂǁŝĚĞĂƵĚŝĞŶĐĞ͘KŶĞŽĨƚŚĞďĞƐƚŬƐ/ŚĂǀĞ ͞Ɛ/ƚŚŝŶŬƚŚĂƚ/ƐŚŽƵůĚŬĞĞƉŵLJĂĚǀŝĐĞ͚ƐŝŵƉůĞ͕͛/ǁŽƵůĚƐĂLJ ƌĞĂĚƚŚŝƐLJĞĂƌ͘͟ Et͊ ͚ũƵƐƚŐĞƚŝƚ͛͊͟ʹ'D'ůĞŶŶ&ůĞĂƌ /D:ŽŚŶŽŶĂůĚƐŽŶ New In Chess 2019#8 <ĂƵĨŵĂŶ͛ƐEĞǁZĞƉĞƌƚŽŝƌĞĨŽƌůĂĐŬĂŶĚtŚŝƚĞ ZĞĂĚďLJĐůƵďƉůĂLJĞƌƐŝŶϭϭϲĐŽƵŶƚƌŝĞƐϭϬϲƉĂŐĞƐͲ$14.99 ŽŵƉůĞƚĞ͕^ŽƵŶĚĂŶĚhƐĞƌͲĨƌŝĞŶĚůLJŚĞƐƐKƉĞŶŝŶŐZĞƉĞƌƚŽŝƌĞ DĂŐŶŝĮĐĞŶƚƐƚƵī͕ĨƵůůLJĂĐĐĞƐƐŝďůĞĨŽƌĂŵĂƚĞƵƌƐ͊DĂŐŶƵƐ Larry Kaufman 464 pages - $32.95 ĂƌůƐĞŶ͛ƐƚƌĂŝŶĞƌƌĞǀĞĂůƐŚŽǁůƉŚĂĞƌŽƌĞǀŽůƵƟŽŶŝnjĞĚƚŚĞ ůƵĐŝĚůLJĞdžƉůĂŝŶĞĚ͕ƌĞĂĚLJͲƚŽͲŐŽĂŶĚĞĂƐLJͲƚŽͲĚŝŐĞƐƚ ƉůĂLJŽĨŚŝƐďŽƐƐ͘ĂƌĞͲĚĞǀŝůĂŶŝŝůƵďŽǀĂŶŶŽƚĂƚĞƐŚŝƐǁŝŶ ƌĞƉĞƌƚŽŝƌĞǁŝƚŚƐŽƵŶĚ͕ƉƌĂĐƟĐĂůůŝŶĞƐƚŚĂƚĚŽŶŽƚŐŽŽƵƚŽĨ ŽĨƚŚĞLJĞĂƌ͘tĞƐůĞLJ^Ž͗ŚŽǁ/ďĞĂƚƚŚĞtŽƌůĚŚĂŵƉŝŽŶĂƚ ĚĂƚĞƌĂƉŝĚůLJ͘^ƵŝƚĂďůĞĨŽƌŵĂƐƚĞƌƐǁŚŝůĞƉĞƌĨĞĐƚůLJĂĐĐĞƐƐŝďůĞ &ŝƐĐŚĞƌZĂŶĚŽŵ͘:ƵĚŝƚWŽůŐĂƌ͛ƐĞdžĐůƵƐŝǀĞĐŽůƵŵŶ͘dŚĞůŝƚnj ĨŽƌĂŵĂƚĞƵƌƐ͘zŽƵĂůǁĂLJƐŐĞƚƚǁŽŽƉƟŽŶƐĂŶĚĚŽŶ͛ƚŚĂǀĞ tŚŝƐƉĞƌĞƌDĂdžŝŵůƵŐLJ͗ƉƌĂĐƟĐĂůĞŶĚŐĂŵĞŝŵƉƌŽǀĞŵĞŶƚ͘
    [Show full text]
  • Starting Out: the Sicilian JOHN EMMS
    starting out: the sicilian JOHN EMMS EVERYMAN CHESS Everyman Publishers pic www.everymanbooks.com First published 2002 by Everyman Publishers pIc, formerly Cadogan Books pIc, Gloucester Mansions, 140A Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8HD Copyright © 2002 John Emms Reprinted 2002 The right of John Emms to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 857442490 Distributed in North America by The Globe Pequot Press, P.O Box 480, 246 Goose Lane, Guilford, CT 06437·0480. All other sales enquiries should be directed to Everyman Chess, Gloucester Mansions, 140A Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8HD tel: 020 7539 7600 fax: 020 7379 4060 email: [email protected] website: www.everymanbooks.com EVERYMAN CHESS SERIES (formerly Cadogan Chess) Chief Advisor: Garry Kasparov Commissioning editor: Byron Jacobs Typeset and edited by First Rank Publishing, Brighton Production by Book Production Services Printed and bound in Great Britain by The Cromwell Press Ltd., Trowbridge, Wiltshire Everyman Chess Starting Out Opening Guides: 1857442342 Starting Out: The King's Indian Joe Gallagher 1857442296
    [Show full text]
  • Marchapril2012.Pdf
    Junior Four Nations League - a report by Mike Truran This season’s competition was bigger and better than ever, with teams of all ages competing over three weekends in two separate divisions. Like its senior equivalent, the Junior Four Nations Chess League (J4NCL) has the advantage of taking place in excellent qual- ity playing conditions in premier hotels across the UK. This season’s competition took place at Barcelo UK’s flagship Hinckley Island Hotel, so parents could also have a relaxing week- end away at a top four-star hotel while their children locked horns over the chess board. And with bedrooms and meals at the usual discounted 4NCL rates it meant that a family weekend away wasn’t going to break the bank either. 1 As well as the high quality playing conditions, the J4NCL and winning team members being presented with medals differentiates itself from most other junior events in and a trophy. So everyone got something to take home as offering free structured coaching between rounds for all a memento. the children, and the coaches also go through games on a one-to-one basis with any juniors who finish their games The standard of the chess was generally excellent, and early. This season’s coaches (GM Nick Pert, IM Andrew various parents commented on how much better many of Martin and WFM Sabrina Chevannes) did a fine job; on the juniors were playing by the third weekend compared occasion the job seemed (to this observer at least) to be as with the first. Children do of course improve fast at this much an exercise in riot control as anything else, but the age, but we like to think that the J4NCL coaching had coaches all came through in grand style and we had lots of something to do with it as well! Nonetheless, in any event compliments from parents about the quality of the coach- with a range of chess playing ability some memorable ing.
    [Show full text]
  • ECU NEWSLETTER November 2018
    NL NOVEMBER 2018 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION MAGNUS CARLSEN JU WENJUN DEFENDS 2ND ECU SCHOOL TEAM PRESIDENT OF ECU OPENS RETAINS THE TITLE OF THE FIDE WOMEN'S INTERNET CHESS WORLD YOUTH U16 CHESS FIDE WORLD CHESS WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP OLYMPIAD CHAMPION CHAMPION TITLE CONCLUDED EUROPEAN CHESS UNION NEWSLETTER CHESS IS BACK! 1 NL NOVEMBER 2018 EUROPEAN CHESS UNION Magnus Carlsen retains the title of FIDE World Champion Magnus Carslen defended the FIDE World Chess Champion title after defeating the challenger Fabiano Caruana in the tiebreak match with three consecutive victories and result 3-0. After all twelve games of the regular part of the Championship ended in a draw, Carlsen and Caruana proceeded to a 4 rapid-games tiebreak match. Magnus Carlsen had the white pieces in the first game of the tiebreaks and picked to play the English opening. Carlsen gained the small advantage already in the opening, but after the middlegame, Caruana equalized the position and the players entered the rooks endgame with Carlsen having the pawn up. Although the position was drawish, Caruana missed right moves order for draw, and Carlsen used that opportunity to get the lead already in the first round. Caruana started sharply in the game two, and the players repeated the Sveshnikov varation, when Carlsen surprised his opponent in the opening, and took advantage very shortly after. Fabiano tried to keep the position sharp, but eventually blundered in the move 26th, and already two moves after, resigned. Magnus Carlsen needed a draw in the last game to remain the World Chess Champion position.
    [Show full text]
  • 2019 Gibraltar Masters: Round 10 – 31 January
    Monday 21 January - Thursday 31 January 2019 2019 Gibraltar Masters: Round 10 – 31 January New Vlad Conquers the Rock John Saunders reports: As they probably don’t say in Russian, “as one Vlad closes, another Vlad opens”. The old Vlad (Kramnik) won everything worth winning in chess, except the Gibraltar Masters, before bringing down the curtain on his chess career the other day. By contrast, the new Vlad (Artemiev) hasn’t won anything of note... until today, that is, when he won the Gibraltar Masters, and in the most accomplished style in a last round that featured wins for the lower-rated player on all three of the top boards. I should get the day’s headlines out of the way before trying to assess the magnitude of today’s results. 20- year-old Russian grandmaster Vladislav Artemiev, overnight leader, completed a brilliant victory in the final round of the Gibraltar Masters, played at the Caleta Hotel, after defeating the fourth seed Yu Yangyi (China) in his last game to reach an unassailable score of 8½ points out of 10 and obviate the usual need for a tie-break. The young Russian, who was making his debut on the Rock and only three-months married, takes home the winner’s cheque for £25,000. Artemiev’s score of 8½ has only been bettered once in the history of this tournament by Vassily Ivanchuk when he scored an amazing 9/10 in 2011, and it has been equalled only a couple of times. Vladislav Artemiev hoists the winner's trophy The destination of the £20,000 second prize was an even bigger shock, going to the 19-year-old Indian grandmaster Karthikeyan Murali, rated 2570 and seeded only 49th in the tournament pecking order, who finished with a sensational win against the tournament number one seed, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, to finish on 8 points.
    [Show full text]
  • Chess.Org E F G H
    See our 2017 USCF Sales Spring Buying Guide in the center of this issue! J’adoube! Fabiano Caruana re-adjusts to life in the U.S. as he begins his Championship defense April 2017 | USChess.org e f g h 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 e f g h a b c d e f g h 8 7 7 6 5 5 4 4 a b c d e f g h 3 8 2 7 7 1 1 6 5 5 a b c d e f g h 4 4 a b c d e f g h 3 8 7 2 6 1 1 5 a b c e f g h 4 3 2 1 a c d e f g h World’s biggest open tournament! 45th Annual WORLD OPEN 9 rounds at luxurious Philadelphia Downtown Marriott June 29-July 4, June 30-July 4, July 1-4 or 2-4 - $225,000 guaranteed prize fund GM & IM norms possible, mixed doubles prizes, GM lectures & analysis! A HISTORIC SITE SPECIAL FEATURES! 4) Provisional (under 26 games) prize The World Open returns to the 1) Schedule options. 5-day is most limits in U1200 to U2000. Marriott Downtown, near many historic popular; 6-day leisurely, 4-day and 3-day 5) Unrated not allowed in U900 to landmarks including Independence Hall, save time & money. Open is 5-day only. U1800; prize limited in U2000 & U2200. Franklin Institute, Philadelphia Museum of 2) Open Section includes large class 6) Mixed Doubles: $3000-1500-700- Art, the Liberty Bell, and restaurants, prizes: $5000-2500-1500 to each of FIDE 500-300 for male/female teams.
    [Show full text]
  • Mar-Apr 2007
    MARCH2007 APRIL IN THIS ISSUE .*%8&45$-"44"//05"5*0/4'30. *."/(&-0:06/( 5)&$0"$)4$03/&38*5)7*/$&)"35 '."-#&35$)088&*()4*/0/ i50*-&5("5&w 5)&30"%8"33*03 "/%.6$).03& ILLINOIS CHESS BULLETIN Illinois Chess Bulletin Contents Page 2 Table of Contents e-ICB http://ilchess.org/e.htm Ica Supporters Life Patron Members Helen Warren James Warren Todd Barre Features Century Club Patron Members Michael Aaron Kevin Bachler Bill Brock Lawrence Cohen Vladimir Djordjevic Sometimes a Draw is OK ..... 6 William Dwyer In Memory of Victor George by Vince Hart Thomas Fineberg Thomas Friske Samuel Naylor IV James Novotny A Master’s Notes on “Toilet Gate” ... 12 Daniel Pradt Randall Ryner Frederick W Schmidt, Jr. Pradip Sethi Games from the ICCA Individual . ...... 8 Scott Silverman Bill Smythe Kurt W Stein Phillip Wong Gold Card Patron Members Todd Barre Clyde Blanke Jim Brontsos departments Phil Bossaers Aaron Chen Chess-Now Ltd. David Cook Joseph Delay John Dueker Editor’s Desk .......................... 4 Fred Gruenberg David Heis Vincent Hart Steven Klink Richard Lang Mark Marovitch Games from IM Young ............. 10 Mark Nibbelin Alex Pehas Joseph Splinter Michael Sweig James Tanaka Robert Widing Road Warrior ..................................... 18 Patron Members ICA Calendar ...................................... 22 Bacil Alexy Adwar Dominic Amodei Roy Benedek Roger Birkeland Jack Bishop Foster L Boone, Jr. Dennis Bourgerie Robert J Carlton Mike Cronin Tom Duncan Brian Dupuis Charles Fenner Gregory Fischer Shizuko Fukuhara Fulk Alan Gasiecki David
    [Show full text]
  • Chess Mag - 21 6 10 19/05/2020 13:11 Page 3
    01-01 Cover_Layout 1 19/05/2020 14:27 Page 1 03-03 Contents_Chess mag - 21_6_10 19/05/2020 13:11 Page 3 Chess Contents Founding Editor: B.H. Wood, OBE. M.Sc † Executive Editor: Malcolm Pein Editorial....................................................................................................................4 Editors: Richard Palliser, Matt Read Malcolm Pein on the latest developments in the game Associate Editor: John Saunders Subscriptions Manager: Paul Harrington Chess Tops the Bill...............................................................................................8 Twitter: @CHESS_Magazine The Magnus Carlsen Invitational was timely - and proved a hit Twitter: @TelegraphChess - Malcolm Pein Website: www.chess.co.uk The End of an Era ..............................................................................................12 Glenn Flear reports from the World Senior Team Championship Subscription Rates: United Kingdom Candidates Chaos .............................................................................................18 1 year (12 issues) £49.95 There wasn’t just chaos at the halfway point, but on the board too 2 year (24 issues) £89.95 3 year (36 issues) £125 2700 or Bust?....................................................................................................24 Danny Gormally test runs David Howell’s new Ginger GM course Europe 1 year (12 issues) £60 How Good is Your Chess?..............................................................................26 2 year (24 issues) £112.50 Daniel King
    [Show full text]
  • Alekhine Alert!: a Repertoire for Black Against 1 E4, 2010, Timothy Taylor
    Alekhine Alert!: A Repertoire for Black Against 1 E4, 2010, Timothy Taylor Checkmate!, Games, ISBN:1857443586, 2004, G. K. Kasparov, In Checkmate! readers are invited to learn chess with Garry Kasparov, the World number one and the most famous figure in chess history, as their teacher. In this book chess, 96 pages, My First Chess Book 1.d4, 614 pages, Grandmaster Repertoire is a new series of high quality chess books based on the main lines, written by strong grandmasters. The aim is to provide the reader with a complete, ISBN:1906552339, 2010, Games, Boris Avrukh, Volume 2 Chess, ISBN:0713481609, 1997, 365 pages, The basics of mastering chess are laid out in this book by well-known player, Edward Lasker. This edition has been typeset in algebraic notation and takes the reader though an, The Complete Self-tutor, Games, Edward Lasker, John Nunn, Graham Burgess Play the Ruy Lopez, 376 pages, Games, ISBN:1857444272, A Complete Repertoire in a Famous Opening, The Ruy Lopez is an incredibly popular opening at all levels of chess; this is perhaps unsurprising given that it s recognized by most experts as White s greatest chance of, Andrew Greet, 2006 Alekhine's Defence, This book contains all the information necessary to start playing the opening, or meeting it as White, ISBN:1857442539, Games, Nigel Davies, 158 pages, Feb 1, 2002 How to Reassess Your Chess, 402 pages, How to Reassess Your Chess is the popular step-by-step course that will create a marked improvement in anyone's game. In clear, direct language, Silman shows how to dissect a, Jeremy Silman, ISBN:1890085006, The Complete Chess Mastery Course, 1993, Games Starting Out, Glenn Flear, Sep 15, 2004, ISBN:1857443624, 192 pages, Games, In this innovative book, Grandmaster and renowned endgame expert Glenn Flear concentrates on the very basics of pawn endings.
    [Show full text]