Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2013

Monday 21 January – Thursday 31 January 2013

MASTERS ROUNDS 1/2: 24 JANUARY 2013

FORMER WINNERS STUMBLE IN GIBRALTAR

John Saunders reports: Early rounds of big opens rarely produce major surprises, as the top half of the draw tends to murder the bottom half in cold blood. But this year’s Gibraltar Masters produced a couple of shocks in the first round as the two highest rated competitors, former Gibraltar winner Vassily Ivanchuk and world championship runner-up Gata Kamsky, were held to surprise draws by amateur players in the first round as the players got down to business at the Caleta Hotel. 

In the second round there was a bigger shock as three times Gibraltar winner Nigel Short succumbed to 40-year-old Spanish IM Ismael Teran Alvarez, who is ranked only 72nd in the Masters line-up. Five of the other top seeds, Michael Adams (England), Radoslaw Wojtaszek (Poland), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) and Le Quang Liem (Vietnam), are amongst the 45 players still on a 100% score.

Nigel Short holds the record for the most Gibraltar Masters titles (three) and he had only previously lost two games in the 53 games he has played in his six visits to the tournament, so his defeat came as a big surprise. Nigel refused to make any excuses and admitted he couldn’t explain his poor play in this game. 

Vassily Ivanchuk, 43, is through to the last eight of the World Chess Championship qualifier to be held in London in March but in round one he couldn’t make any impression on Hristos Zygouris, an untitled 38-year-old amateur player ranked 90th in Greece. Ivanchuk allowed an early exchange of queens but found he could not make progress against solid play from his opponent, agreeing a draw on move 31. Chucky may have been fractionally worse when the point was split but the Caleta Hotel bar was echoing with the opinion that a certain young man currently playing in the Netherlands would not have agreed a draw before move 231.

Similarly, 38-year-old grandmaster and former world championship runner-up Gata Kamsky from the USA was held to a draw by 23-year-old Andreas Aerni, who is not even rated within the top 100 players in Switzerland. Aerni took a different path to a draw against his distinguished opponent, mixing things up in the opening and then sacrificing a piece to force a draw by perpetual check. The American arrived at the board rather late (fortunately FIDE’s absurd ‘zero tolerance’ rule is not enforced in Gibraltar) and seemed a little out of sorts, but it took some enterprising play by the Swiss player to achieve the draw.

Gibraltar Masters 2013, Round 1

A.Aerni (2206) – G.Kamsky (2740)

1 e4 c5 2 c3 Nf6 3 e5 Nd5 4 d4 cxd4 5 Nf3 Nc6 6 cxd4 d6 7 Bc4 Nb6 8 Bb5 Bd7 9 e6!? A plausible move in analogous positions to stymie Black’s centre but not often seen in this particular line. 9…Bxe6 10 Ng5 Possibly a bluff, but quite a good one. 10…Bd5 After 10…Bd7, the move 11 Qf3!? is perhaps a little worrying for Black, though the computer is content to reply 11…f6 12 Bd3!? g6 13 Nxh7 Rxh7 14 Bxg6+ Rf7 and not worry about any tactical complexities. 11 Nc3 e6 11…Bxg2 12 Rg1 Bd5 gains time for White in return for a pawn, and now 13 a4 gives White compensation for the two pawns. 12 0‑0 Be7 12…h6 looks like a decent alternative. 13 Qh5 Bxg5 14 Bxg5 Qd7 15 a4 a6 16 a5 White is determined not to let Black’s king get too comfortable on either side of the board. 16…axb5 There doesn’t seem to be anything Black can do to avert the draw now. If 16…Nc4 17 Ba4 Nxb2 18 Nxd5 Nxa4 19 Rfe1 and White is better. 17 axb6 0‑0

17…Rxa1 18 Rxa1 0‑0 19 Bf6 is similar to the game. 18 Bf6! A surprising coup. 18…gxf6 19 Qg4+ Kh8 20 Nxd5 Exploiting the pin along the diagonal. 20…f5 21 Qh4 exd5 22 Qf6+ Kg8 23 Qg5+ Kh8 24 Qf6+ Kg8 ½‑½

There were a few other surprise results in round one further down the field, with Swedish grandmaster Pia Cramling losing to Portuguese player Paulo Pinho, and grandmasters Zhao Xue of China and Sebastien Maze of France conceding draws to Johannes Kvisla of Norway and David Jameson of Wales respectively. Apart from the five games mentioned, the leading players took a heavy toll of the amateur competitors.

Gibraltar Masters 2013, Round 1

P.Cramling (2518) – P.Pinho (2128)  

38 f4 Not a mistake but it necessitates the taking of a couple of major decisions, just before the time control. 38…Bg7 39 h5 39 Ng3!? h6 40 Rxd6 hxg5 41 hxg5 looks like a handy way to sacrifice a piece. 39…h6 40 Bh4? 40 Rxd6!? hxg5 41 Rxg6 still looks like a possibility but this is that familiar phenomenon – an error on move 40. 40…g5! Now White is on the back foot. 41 Be1 Qxh5 42 Rxd6 42 Rh1 Qg4+ 43 Kf1 looks very unpleasant and, sure enough, Black’s attack comes crashing through: 43…Rxf4+!, etc. 42…Bh3+! 43 Qxh3 Qxe2+ White’s king and exposed pawns leave her no hope of survival. 44 Kh1 Rxe4 45 f5 g4 46 Qg2 Qxe1 47 Rg6 Qh4+ 48 Qh2 Qxh2+ 49 Kxh2 Rf6 0‑1

Vietnamese grandmaster Le Quang Liem caused a sensation a few years ago when he won the prestigious Moscow Aeroflot tournament and Moscow Open in the same year. The following game from round two showcases his remarkable talent.

Gibraltar Masters 2013, Round 2

Le Quang Liem 2705 – K.Roser (2409)

 

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 g3 d5 4 Bg2 dxc4 5 Nf3 a6 6 0‑0 Nc6 7 e3 Bd7 8 Qe2 b5 9 Nc3 Nd5 10 e4 Nxc3 11 bxc3 Bd6 12 Bg5 Be7

13 d5!? This seems to be new. 13 Bf4 0‑0 and now 14 d5 was played in Smirnov-Belov, Plovdiv 2008, and Black won. 13…Na5 The knight is out of play here. 13…Bxg5 14 dxc6 Bxc6 15 Ne5! Bb7 16 Rad1 looks too risky for Black; maybe 13…Nb8 is a better choice. 14 dxe6 Bxe6 14…fxe6 15 Ne5 Bxg5 16 Qh5+ g6 17 Nxg6 hxg6 18 Qxh8+ Kf7 19 Qh7+ Ke8 20 Rad1 15 Rad1 Qc8 16 Bxe7 Kxe7 By playing d5 a move earlier than previously, White has managed to deprive Black of the ability to castle. 17 Nd4 Rd8 17…Bg4 looks feasible but 18 Qe3! is a strong reply. Black cannot accept the exchange sacrifice with 18…Bxd1 because 19 Nf5+ gives White a winning attack. 18 Qh5!

Black is already lost as he cannot cope with threats of Qxh7 and Qc5+. 18…c5 19 Nf5+! Bxf5 20 exf5 Rxd1 21 Rxd1 f6 22 Re1+ Kf8 23 Qxh7 Qd8 24 Bxa8 1‑0

Gibraltar Masters 2013, Round 2

I.Teran Alvarez (2399) – N.Short (2690)

1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 e5 Nfd7 5 f4 c5 6 Nf3 Qb6 7 Be3 a6 Taking on b2 is not a great idea: 7…Qxb2? 8 Nb5 Na6 9 Bd2 and the black queen’s escape route has been cut off. 8 a3 Qa7 8…Qxb2 would be even worse here: 9 Na4 traps the queen. 9 Ne2 Nc6 10 c3 c4 A committal decision. The blocked position that ensues is not to every chess player’s taste. Perhaps we should mark it “to be played by GMs only”. 11 g4 b5 11…h5 12 gxh5 Rxh5 13 Ng3 Rh8 was played in Kritz-Ulibin, Biel 2010, with White eventually winning. 12 Ng3 Nb6 13 Bg2 Na4 14 Qc2 Bd7 15 0‑0 h6 16 Rae1 0‑0‑0 17 f5 Kb8 18 Rf2 Bc8 19 Nh5 Qd7 20 Nh4

Here some of us were hoping for 20…Na5, simply for aesthetic reasons – four ‘dim’ knights on the rim could be a record. More seriously, Black’s position is starting to look creaky. White is calling all the shots on the kingside, while Black’s counterplay has so far failed to materialise. 20…Rg8 21 Ref1 Qe8 22 h3 exf5 ‘Pass’ moves are no longer an option: 22…Nb6 23 fxe6 Bxe6 24 Qh7 Be7 25 Nf5 puts major pressure on Black’s kingside. 23 Nxf5 f6 23…Bxf5 is probably better, but after 24 Qxf5 g6 25 Qf4! gxh5 26 e6+ Bd6 27 exf7 Bxf4 28 Bxf4+ Kc8 29 fxe8Q Rgxe8 30 Bxh6, Black is a pawn down and liable to be mauled by the white bishop pair. 24 exf6! Bxf5 If 24…g6 25 f7! Qxf7 26 Nxh6 is crushing. But the position is now utterly lost anyway. 25 Bf4+ Bd6 26 Bxd6+ Rxd6 27 Qxf5 g6 28 Qf4 Qd8 29 f7 Rf8 30 Ng7 g5 31 Qg3 Ka7 32 Re1 1‑0

NIGEL SHORT TESTS MY CHESS

Nigel Short came into the press room the other day and we happened to be chatting about teaching chess, and endgames in particular. Nigel’s recommendation was to give pupils interesting positions to solve. As an example he gave me the position below and challenged me to solve it. Suddenly I realised I had become, albeit temporarily, Nigel’s pupil. Here’s the position…

With something of a glint in his eye, Nigel got up to leave the room, saying “I shall be back in five minutes” – with the clear implication that I should have an answer ready for him when he got back. The realisation that a super-GM is putting your chess to the test is a little unnerving. I did my best to avoid the various pitfalls, prepared what I thought was the answer and awaited the teacher’s return. Sure enough, he was back in a few minutes and, with a quizzical expression on his face, wordlessly enquired after the solution. I gave what I thought was the answer. Nigel was visibly delighted – I had, of course, fallen into onto one of the traps in the position. He gave a one-move refutation of my plan, and then went off, and I again inferred that he expected an answer on our next meeting. At the beginning of the second round, whilst taking photos, I bumped into Nigel in the playing hall. Again, the wordless question – had I figured it out? This time my illustrious teacher was satisfied with the answer I gave. Phew…

Now it’s the reader’s turn. White to play – what should happen? I’ll publish the answer in the next report.

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A SNOWY PLACE

One of the joys of coming to Gibraltar is to escape the arctic winter being experienced further north in Europe and elsewhere in the world. I’ve had fun taunting my UK Facebook friends with pictures of people eating outside, beautiful sunrises and the like. But the downside of the severe weather in Europe was that it cost us some competitors because of the flight cancellations in the UK and France. One of casualties was French grandmaster Marie Sebag who had been hoping to play here for the first time but was unable to travel from France. 

Another top woman player who we feared might not be able to come was reigning European Women’s Champion Valentina Gunina, who had just had an operation to extract her wisdom teeth and was told she shouldn’t travel. But Valentina was determined to come and both her chess and her health are doing fine here. She’s on 2/2 and is going to have her stitches removed tomorrow.

Round three of the Masters takes place at the Caleta Hotel at 3.00pm on Thursday afternoon.

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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