01-01 Cover_Layout 1 14/04/2020 13:10 Page 1 03-03 Contents_Chess mag - 21_6_10 15/04/2020 14:55 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... Gary Lane........................................................................7 Twitter: @CHESS_Magazine Living in Sydney, Gary has to rise at 2am to follow Torquay United Twitter: @TelegraphChess - Malcolm Pein Website: www.chess.co.uk Candidates Chaos ................................................................................................8 MVL defeated and caught up Nepo before play was suspended Subscription Rates: United Kingdom How Good is Your Chess?..............................................................................21 1 year (12 issues) £49.95 Did you know that Daniel King is a fan of the King’s Gambit? 2 year (24 issues) £89.95 3 year (36 issues) £125 Best of Bunratty ...............................................................................................24 Europe Tim Wall presents more highlights from a weekend in Co. Clare 1 year (12 issues) £60 2 year (24 issues) £112.50 Find the Winning Moves.................................................................................26 3 year (36 issues) £165 Can you do as well as the players at the 4NCL and Bunratty? USA & Canada The Coldest Game.............................................................................................30 1 year (12 issues) $90 Michael Renouf reviews a recent offering from Netflix 2 year (24 issues) $170 3 year (36 issues) $250 The Rules of Toddler Chess ..........................................................................31 Rest of World (Airmail) Shannon Carpenter on why you must expect the unexpected 1 year (12 issues) £72 2 year (24 issues) £130 Sultan Khan..........................................................................................................32 3 year (36 issues) £180 Daniel King describes Khan’s extraordinary first weekend in London Distributed by: Post Scriptum (UK only), The Infant Queen of Chess...........................................................................34 Unit G, OYO Business Park, Hindmans Way, Brian Gosling ran a solving competition to remember Lilian Baird Dagenham, RM9 6LN - Tel: 020 8526 7779 , LMPI (North America) Cécile and Giorgi: A Story of Love and Chess .....................................36 8155 Larrey Street, Montreal (Quebec), James Essinger introduces the happy couple H1J 2L5, Canada - Tel: 514 355-5610 Readers’ Letters ................................................................................................38 Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Editors. Contributions to More on stalemate and the longest decisive capture-free games the magazine will be published at the Editors’ discretion and may be shortened if space is limited. Never Mind the Grandmasters...................................................................40 Carl Portman has a clear message: Don’t give up! No parts of this publication may be reproduced without the prior express permission of the publishers. Meeting Old Friends ........................................................................................42 All rights reserved. © 2020 Gary Lane enjoyed a catch-up at the East Devon Congress Chess Magazine (ISSN 0964-6221) is published by: Chess & Bridge Ltd, 44 Baker St, London, W1U 7RT Home News..........................................................................................................44 Tel: 020 7288 1305 Fax: 020 7486 7015 Mitchell-Hymer was a humdinger of a game at Blackpool Email: [email protected], Website: www.chess.co.uk Overseas News...................................................................................................47 FRONT COVER: Ju Wenjun struggled, unlike Aleksandra Goryachkina, in Lausanne Cover Design: Matt Read Cover image: FIDE Solutions ...............................................................................................................52 For Find the Winning Moves and February’s Studies winner US & Canadian Readers – You can contact us via our American branch – Chess4Less based in West Palm This Month’s New Releases ..........................................................................53 Beach, FL. Call toll-free on 1-877 89CHESS (24377). You can even order Subscriber Special Offers online Detailed reviews from Sean Marsh, Danny Gormally and Ben Graff via www.chess4less.com Saunders on Chess............................................................................................58 John reminds us that having a won position is not always easy Printed in the UK by The Magazine Printing Photo credits: Chess24 (p.4), Chess.com (p.4), CHESS Magazine Archive (p.33), FIDE (pp.1, 6, 9-12, 15, Company using only paper from FSC/PEFC 17, 19), Gerry Graham (p.25), Tao Bhokanandh (p.4), Bob Jones (pp.42-43), Rakesh Kulkarni (p.48), suppliers www.magprint.co.uk Jasmine Lane (p.7), David Llada (p.50), Ray Morris-Hill (p.47, left), Brendan O’Gorman (p,45), Saint Louis Chess Club (p.23), Sunway Sitges Chess Festival (p.47, top), The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery (p.35). www.chess.co.uk 3 24-25 BunrattyPart2_Chess mag - 21_6_10 14/04/2020 13:15 Page 24 Best of Bunratty Tim Wall continues to explain what makes a February weekend in County Clare so special One of my personal highlights of this attempt to play for the win. 59 Îbd7? year’s Bunratty International Chess Festival 34 Îa7+ Êd6 35 fxe6 fxe6 36 Êg3 And here’s the slip. White loses the was watching the gripping final round Changing the guard, and allowing the coveted h7-pawn and now faces an uphill encounter between GMs Vlastimil Hort and white rook on g4 to get active. struggle for the draw, if it is still there at all. Keith Arkell. To see Hort playing in the flesh, 36...Îh8 37 Îgg7 Îc8 38 Îgd7+ 59 Îdd7 would have kept the draw. all those years after watching him pronounce After 38 h5 Îxc3+ 39 Êg4 f5+ 40 Êh4 59...Î1h4+ 60 Êf3 Îxh7 61 Îd6 Îf7+ “Vell, vot to do now?” on BBC2’s The Master White is a pawn down, but active enough to 62 Êg3 Îe4 63 Îa8 Îg7+ 64 Êf3 Îf7+ Game, was a treat in itself. The double-rook draw, as after 40...Îc4 41 Îad7+ Êc6 65 Êg3 Îc7 66 Êf3 Îe3+ 67 Êf4 Îe1 endgame arising from a Carlsbad pawn 42 Îc7+ Êb5 43 h6 Îxd4+ 44 Êg5 Îb8 68 Îa3+ Îc3 69 Îa4 Îf1+ 70 Êg4 Îc4 structure, where Arkell is probably one of the 45 Êf6 Îh8 46 h7 Îh4 47 Êxe6. 71 Îa2 Êc3 72 Êg3 Îf8 73 Êg2 Êd3 world’s leading experts, did not disappoint, 38...Êc6 39 h5 Îb3 74 Îa3+ Êe4 75 Îe6+ Êd5 76 Îaa6 with end-to-end play as first Hort and later Îc2+ 77 Êg3 Îc5 78 Îed6+? Arkell pressed for the advantage. Allowing the black king to easily join the attack (78 Îe7 was a better try). How Arkell finishes off is instructive. V.Hort-K.Arkell 78...Êe4 79 Îa4 Îg5+ 80 Êh4 Îd5 81 Round 6 Îe6+ Êf4 82 Êh3 Êf3! Caro-Kann Defence 1 e4 c6 2 Ìc3 d5 3 d4 dxe4 4 Ìxe4 Ìd7 5 Ìf3 Ìgf6 6 Ìxf6+ Ìxf6 7 Íc4 Íf5 8 0-0 e6 9 Îe1 Íg4 10 c3 Íe7 11 h3 Íxf3 12 Ëxf3 0-0 13 Íd2 Ìd5 14 Îad1 Íg5 15 Íxg5 Ëxg5 16 Îe5 Ëf6 17 Íxd5 cxd5 18 Ëxf6 gxf6 19 Îe3 b5 20 f4 Îfe8 21 Îde1 Îab8 22 f5 Îb6 23 a3 a5 24 Êf2 Êf8 25 g4 Êe7 26 Êg3 Îg8 27 Êf4 h5 28 Îg3 hxg4 It looks risky to have allowed the white h- pawn to reach h7, but Black should have enough counterplay with the central pawns. 40 h6 Îxc3+ 41 Êf2 Îh3 42 h7 e5 43 Îg7 Îb8 44 Êg2 Îh5 45 Îa6+ Not 45 Îg8?? Îxh7!. 45...Îb6 46 Îa8 Îb2+ 47 Êg3 Îbh2 Using the king to set up a mating net. A 48 Îa6+ Êb5 49 Îxf6 exd4 50 Îb7+ virtuoso, even Carlsen-like, practical Êc4 51 Îc6+ Êd3 52 Îcc7 performance from GM Keith Arkell. The engines still give the double-rook 83 Êh4 Îh8+ 0-1 ending as dead equal, but playing out these endgames is what gives endgame experts Drink Like A Grandmaster such as Arkell so many points. Both sides have to keep coming up with accurate moves, The book Soviet GM Alexander Kotov when even a single slip can spell disaster. should have written, but never did, was ‘Drink 52...Îc2 53 Îd7 Îc8 54 Êg4 Îh1 like a Grandmaster’. It would have made for 55 Îxd5 Îcc1 56 Îd8 Îcg1+ 57 Êf5 interesting reading, if only to work out how to We join the game just as the double-rook Îh5+ 58 Êf4 Îgh1 do the tree of analysis after a pint of endgame starts to get interesting. Hort could Guinness or three. head for a draw by recapturing on g4 with the Bunratty has always prided itself on h-pawn, but instead elects to keep the encouraging players to enjoy a drink during outside passed h-pawn at the cost of games, and perhaps this is part of the Irish allowing Arkell a greater preponderance of Chess Union’s Five-Year Plan to produce five pawns in the centre. This imbalance leads to an homegrown grandmasters: Get the visiting epic struggle between the two grandmasters. foreign titled players generally hammered, and 29 h4!? then gently separate them from their Elo points. A gutsy move. Who says veterans can’t Except that – it isn’t. Bunratty is not FIDE- fight? Instead, 29 hxg4 Îh8 looks about equal. rated, and therefore visiting GMs can come 29...b4 30 axb4 axb4 31 Îxg4 Îh8 32 and enjoy themselves, have a few pints, and Îa1 bxc3 33 bxc3 Îh5!? play with a slightly sore head in the morning Forcing the exchange of pawns on e6 without it affecting their rating (and thus (33...Êd6 was the alternative). We now see their earning potential). Of course, it does both sides repeatedly going for it in an help to attract strong players, who can May 2020 24 24-25 BunrattyPart2_Chess mag - 21_6_10 14/04/2020 13:15 Page 25 provide valuable experience to promising young local players. But that’s as far as the Machiavellian plan goes – the rest is just down to the legendary Irish hospitality and the innate desire for good craic. Plenty of fun and frivolity was indeed had over the weekend, if the scenes in the hotel bar and in Durty Nelly’s across the road were anything to go by.